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Tom Brady:
In his first game without mentor Charlie Weis, Brady
established early MVP bonafides (24/38, 306 yds). Who
needs a run game when passing is that easy?
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
THE. MAN.
What's it take to be The Man?
Sam Jackson and Eugene Levy might be battling it out
on the movie screen for the title, but in the NFL,
there's a formula:
*National prominence.
*Universal respect.
*Proven results.
*Intimidating cool.
That makes picking The Man easy:
Bill Belichick.
Last night, he showed it all:
What brain drain? Tom Brady looked better than
ever.
3-4 D has gaps? The Pats held an explosive
Raiders O mostly in check.
TV time? How many shots did we get of him in
that plastic bag-looking Pats top? (What was
that? And is it the new hoodie?)
The biggest reason?
Nothing seems to faze him.
Even with all the notable issues that could derail the
team, his outward appearance is of the calm that comes
with total mastery.
Total mastery?
Sounds like The Man to me.
NFL Week 1 Subplots
Game of the Week:
IND/BAL: Best O vs. best D.
Sentimental Rooting:
NO/CAR: Yes, be a Saints fan.
Must Prove '04 Wasn't Fluky:
TEN/PIT: Big Ben as a Soph?
DAL/SD: 'Boys the new Bolts?
Something's Gotta Give:
GB/DT: Lions O shreds Pack D?
2005's "Hot" Teams:
CIN/CLE: Palmer will explode.
SEA/JAX: Leftwich will Leap.
ARI/NYG: Yes, the Cardinals!
Fantasy Do-or-Die:
NYJ/KC: All eyes on Priest.
See Big 5, right, for more.
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CHECK OUT THE QUICKIE EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING! |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
Chris Carpenter: NL Cy runaway wins 21st (7 IP, 7K, 0 ER)
NASCAR: Final "Chase" race before playoffs; time to watch
Euro-MLB in '07: I didn't know England liked baseball... |
| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
Brian Westbrook: Cut off contract talks with the Eagles
Kyle Lohse: Twins P busts up hand in clubhouse bat rage
Magglio Ordonez, on his Tigers: "I think we stink." |
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CFB Wknd Preview
Quasi-Title Game of the Week:
Texas (No. 2) at Ohio St (4):
Simply put: One team's national title hopes will end.
If only the "O" in Ohio really meant "Oklahoma." Pick:
UT. (8, ABC)
"Prove It" Game of the Week:
Notre Dame (20) at Michigan (3):
Who else wants to believe in Weis? I'll bet he schemes
ND's way into keeping it close, but Michigan has the
huge talent edge. Pick: UM. (12, ABC)
Emotional Game of the Week:
LSU (5) at Arizona St (15):
Considering the game was supposed to be in Baton
Rouge, ASU students should wear purple and gold. LSU
will be motivated. Pick: LSU (9, ESPN)
Heisman Watch: Wisconsin RB Brian Calhoun (258
yds, 5 TDs LW vs. B. Green) will rack it up against
Temple. Watch out for a monster game.
More: Spurrier has a "This-ain't-Florida"
moment when he takes SC to Georgia (5:30, ESPN);
Oklahoma will obliterate Tulsa. (They better.)
MLB Wrap
Red Sox at Yankees: Who would guess
that ending a series with Tampa to play Boston would
be seen as a relief by Yankee fans?
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Bonds Update: This weekend?!
NL Wild Card: The Marlins (.5 GB HOU) play the
struggling Phillies; the Astros play the Brewers and
feature a Clemens start.
AL Wild Card: Thanks to the Yankees' ineptitude
vs. the D-Rays, the Indians, who actually won, moved
into the WC lead for the first time.
Katrina Update
Saints Scheduling: 4 games in San
Antonio and 3 at LSU, reportedly; let's hope it's not
the knee-jerk reaction to put them in NY for Week 2
that ends up being the difference between playoffs and
not.
Quickie Book Club
I love any studies of fandom, so I
really enjoyed Jere Longman's book about Eagles fans
in 2004, "If Football's a Religion, Why Don't We
Have a Prayer?" Eagles fans are a sick
bunch.
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Under-.500 Mockery:
Can't kick around the Padres anymore: They went one
game over .500 on Thursday night. But there's still a
lot of season left...
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Quickie: Live! |
| Week 1 picks |
| NFL Eliminator |
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| More NFL Subplots |  Bucs-Vikings
| Life without Randy
|  Broncos-Dolphins
| Debut of rookie RB Brown
|  Texans-Bills
| Both want fast starts
|  Bears-Redskins
| Two sick Ds; two sickly Os
|  Rams-49ers
| | Doesn't get much uglier |
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NFL Week 1 Office-Pool Suggestions: BUF, CIN, KC, DEN,
MIN, PIT, WAS, CAR, JAX, DET, ARI, SD, ST, IND (SNF),
PHI (MNF). (LW: N/A, Season: 1-0).
More from Thursday's NFL Opener: If the *Pats* can
barely contain Randy Moss, he's going to be even more
awesome for the Raiders O than expected.
US Open: Agassi-G should be entertaining; Federer will
dominate Hewitt in the other men's semi. Women's side:
Everyone will be watching Sharapova.
So ripe that it HAD to happen: Those blog all-stars at
Gawker Media have launched a sports blog
(Deadspin.com). Oh, come on: Mock me! Mock ME!
It's not too late to sign up for the Quickie's Pick
'Em and Eliminator leagues. SIGN UP under the group
name "Daily Quickie Readers."
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