Front Row.com Blog

 Far from being the impressive frontrunners in the AFC South the Indianapolis Colts are giving off the smell of weakness. Mannings surgery before the season certainly didn’t help. His timing was off for the first few games, the passing game wasn’t in sync. The Colts now stand at 3-4 and the classic matchup between Indianapolis and the New England Patriots this week just doesn’t carry the pizzaz it has for the last few years. The Patriots without Tom Brady and the Colts struggling just isn’t a prime time matchup.

 The new demon in the AFC South is the Tennessee Titans. At 7-0 the only undefeated team left in the NFL is simply beating opponents to death. And they’re doing it without Vince Young. Kerry Collins has been steady, engineering methodical drives with efficient passing and a heavy dose of running. The Titans defense has been dominating. Is this the harbinger of the future? Has Jeff Fisher built a squad that can become the new beast in the AFC? The Titans have the formula to make a Super Bowl run. Solid D, ball control O, and the former champs on the ropes. At 7-0 and a 4 game lead over the rest of the division,  a playoff spot is almost a foregone conclusion. Now it’s up to Fisher to keep the game going.

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 Heated matchups are pretty much the norm in college football. This weekend in Georgia should be one of the better ones. The Georgia Bulldogs entered the 2008 college football season with every intention of getting to the BCS National Championship Game, which they felt they deserved last year. Hopes for an undefeated season went by the wayside after a loss to a surprisingly good Alabama Crimson Tide team. Now every SEC game assumes major import to the Bulldogs. Enter Florida:

 The Bulldogs have set themselves up for a very tough game. Last season, on the way to a 42-30 victory over the Florida Gators, the Bulldogs put on a very insulting celebration in the end zone on the Gators home field. Nobody on the team has forgotten it. The problem for Georgia is that the Gators are as hot a team as you’ll find in the SEC. Tim Tebow is orchestrating quarterback clinics every weekend. Florida has outscored opponents 152-33 in their last three games.

Now Georgia will have to face an irate Gators squad playing at their peak. So their actions last season will have a direct effect on their 2008 season, possibly providing the motivation for Flrida to derail their BCS National Championship hopes.

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 For all the college football fans who reminisce about the good old days, they might try tickets to the Nebraska Cornhuskers vs Oklahoma Sooners game this weekend. This is a game that used to draw fans like flies, one of the great rivalries of college football. Unfortunately it fell victim to Big 12 re-alignment and the Cornhuskers and Sooners only meet up for two out of every four years these days. But there’s still a lot of emotion and a lot of tradition hanging over the contest, a feel that makes colege football something special. Try as they might the pro leagues can’t recreate the feel of an alma mater or the sones of a state tieing up in an annual contest. We need more of that.    

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 The Boston Celtics played high quality NBA basketball from day one last season and throughout the whole year. On a team made up of offensive stars the Celtics made defense their game. Now Doc Rivers will take basically the same team back into the fray. Can Boston recapture the drive, determination, and mostly the unselfish team first attitude that prevailed last season?

 Minus any injuries the Celtics starting five should remain intact. And a starting five that includes Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett is about as good as it gets. The Celtics lost a solid backup in James Posey but he should be replaced without too much problem. Let’s not forget that while the top trio has some age, the other two, namely Rondo and Perkins, should be ready to step up and take more of the load, creating an almost impossible situation for opposing defenses.

 It all boils down to chemistry and remaining relatively injury free. If Doc Rivers can once again create the right atmosphere the Celtics have a chance of repeating their NBA Championship. If not, talent alone should bring a playoff spot.   

Tags: sports by edrouant
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OK, so I missed R.E.M. at the Voodoo fest in New Orleans. I wish I could have been there but duty calls. with the economy collapsing, millions losing their homes due to foreclosure, banks failing, and no way for me to get in line for the bailout money I figured it wasn’t the time to tell the boss I was taking the day off. I do have the rght to dream though and here’s what I’m thinking I might want:

Metallica Tickets – These heavy metal bandits visit my hometown in November. Who cares if their last album didn’t make the grade? They’ve got too much older stuff that’s better than anything.

The Eagles Tickets – Heck, I can drive to Houston for the Eagles. No sweat.

Coldplay Tickets – This means a trip to Atlanta to make my wife happy. But I would get to visit my friend Dancin Dave. He’ll probably want me to see The White Stripes, according to him “The best band ever.”

Tina Turner Tickets – Another trip to Hotlanta is in the cards. Now, if we can only persuade Bryan Adams to show up and do ”It’s Only Love” 

That my concert ticket wish list for the time being. There’s more to see and do but hey for right now it’s just dreaming.

Tags: concerts by edrouant
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 R.E.M. is playing at the New Orleans Voodoo Music Festival and I won’t be there to see them. Will You? I certainly hope so. If you’ve never been to this musical event in New Orleans City Park you’re missing out on a good ne. A collection of the big names with a sprinkling of up and comers and local talent all converging under the moss covered oaks of the greatest party city in the world. Need I say More?

Tags: concerts by edrouant
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This week in the NFL I go out on a limb. here’s my upset picks for the week:

St. Louis Rams over the New England Patriots – Somehow some way Jim Haslett has these Rams fired up. The key will be having Stephen jackson rack up another big day against a suspect New England defense.

Atlanta Falcons over the Philadelphia Eagles – The Eagles get lukewarm crowd support from a fan base distracted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. Matt Ryan pulls off another improbable win in an improbable season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Dallas Cowboys – This may not count as an upset pick. The Cowboys are hurting and everyone knows it. Still, if you look at pre-season expectations, there’s no way anyone could have the Cowboys as underdogs in this one.

San Francisco 49ers and a new head coach prevail over a simply pitiful Seattle Seahawks. Face it, the Seahawks suffer from a lack of leadership, no wide receivers, and no defense. The San Francisco 49ers have the same afflictions but will be motivated by a new start. The slate has been wiped clean in San Francisco and if the Rams can do it why not the 49ers?

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 This weekend you’ll find a Big Ten showdown that will determine the future for two of the nation’s top teams. The Penn State Nittany Lions, possibly the most surprising team in the conference, will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes were erly season favorites in the Big 10 but had their BCS National Championship hopes derailed by a stunning 35-3 loss to USC. that game was supposed to feature two contenders for a national title. Since then both Ohio State and USC have proven to be vulnerable.

 Along comes Joe Paterno and Penn State, a team that few picked to be anywhere near a powerhouse. yet here they are at 8-0 and undefeated in the Big 10 at 4-0. Paterno is an old man with a few tricks still up his sleeve apparently. Should the Nittany Lions knock off the Buckeyes on saturday it could herald a changing of the guard in the Big 10 and a final flare in Paterno’s legacy.  

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 And so it goes in the grand game of baseball as played in the MLB. Two of the most unlikely teams to ever meet in a World Series will take the field. On the one hand you have the Philadelphia Phillies, the first team in history to lose 10,000 games and owners of only one World Series Championship in their history. On the other hand is the rags to riches story of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, ascending from the cellar in 2007 to the top of the AL in 2008.

 The Rays got there by topping what may be the hottest team in baseball, the Boston Red Sox, in Tropicana Field on a night when the stadium wasn’t even filled. They deserved better. The Phillies knocked off the Dodgers and a Ramirez surge. Now that they’re both here one will reap vindication, the other heartbreak. Until hope returns in the spring.

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 If you’re lucky enough to have Chicago Bears tickets you don’t want to miss this game against the Minnesota Vikings. Or maybe you do. After dropping two winnable games in the last quarter the last two weeks the Bears have their backs against the wall. The Vikings on the other hand have been winning, although not convincingly enough to keep fans from crying for a coaching change. A solid win is a necessity for both teams and that should make this game worth seeing.

 The Dallas Cowboys seem to have a breather on their hands with the St. Louis Rams. It’s going to be interesting to see whether Jim Haslett can keep his Rams riding the high of their win over Washington. With everything that’s been happening in Dallas a distracted Cowboys team might be ready for the plucking.

 On the AFC side the Buffalo Bills get a boost with the return of Trent Edwards and a bye week. The Bills still have something to prove as their leading the division seems to be something of a mirage to most people. The San Diego Chargers on the other hand, find themselves in a familiar spot, recovering from a bad start. There’s just something wrong on the Chargers defense though, something more than the loss of Merriman. Still, it’s going to be up to the Bills D to disrupt the groove of Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers to win this one.

 The New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina Panthers in Carolina should also be a top priority. The Saints are coming off of their best game of the season against the Raiders and hope to have both Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey back. Carolina is trying to rebound after being blasted by the Bucs 27-3 in their worst showing of the year. Look for the Panthers to try and get the running game working against a defense that held Adrian Peterson in check but is still vulnerable in the passing game. If Carolina gets Jake Delholme hot the Saints are in trouble. If Drew Brees even approaches the numbers he racked up against Oakland the Panthers are going down. So, while it seems the QB’s are the key, I’m saying the defenses will really make this game.   

Tags: sports by edrouant
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