The new Monday Night Football debuted last night to great expectations. It’s still preseason and we got a match up of the Raiders vs. the Vikings but it was still a big deal because it was the debut for ESPN. Before ABC’s Monday Night Football used to be the main game of the week. Now NBC is touting its Sunday night game as that because it’s on network television while ESPN is only shown on cable. They can both battle it out on which one has more importance but to me it’s still football.

I was at work so I didn’t get a chance to listen to the new booth. The game was on but volume was low. Probably a better thing. I enjoy ESPN’s coverage because it’s still football on tv. But I never enjoyed the booth they assembled in the past seasons and probably not this season either. I already do not like Mr. Know-It-All Theismann and I’m fairly sure he didn’t follow the yellow brick road to get a new brain. Mike Tirico is okay with me. Suzy Kolber drank her Red Bulls and was as perky as ever. Tony Kornheiser is the new pawn in Monday Night Football. He’s a newbie in any announcing capacity. I wouldn’t say he has an enormous following of fans but he certainly will bring a huge following of critics analyzing his every word this season.

They got a guy who said he hasn’t stayed awake to see the end of the Monday night game in about 30 years. He can name maybe eight other players, besides quarterbacks, in the NFL. He dreads the flying and never played football. This is a guy who’s supposed to invigorate the ESPN booth? Sounds like he’d rather read a good book after taking a hot bath than watch football. Plus how can you cover all sports for a living and not reel off names of players in the most popular sport in the country?

So I can’t be a critic of Korenhesier’s first performance cause I couldn’t hear him but from the buzz on the message boards it seems the positives are in the minority.

But what I did see completely baffled me. My “WTF!” moment came when I saw the scoreboard graphic implanted directly in the middle of the bottom part of the screen. The sight became extremely annoying after the first time I saw it. What’s up with the shape of it? Where’s the traditional symmetrical box or rectangle? They’re trying to be modern and new wave when it’s not the right place for it. We’re used to having the scoreboard with flat edges in the corner where it’s out of the way but easily able to reference if we need. Never have we asked for it to be in the middle where there is dead space on both sides of the graphic. We’ve asked for Theismann to be fired but they don’t listen!

It’s still football but after paying so much money for the rights you would think a producer would think of a better place for the graphic. There are four corners to choose from which provides many options. It’s a nice comfortable spot. The graphic must have felt like he was on an episode of “Lost”. Get 10 football fans in a room and a case of beer and they’ll offer better advice.

Let’s hope we get some good games on Monday night because that’s all that will make us truly happy and forget about the flaws.

Football season is here which means it’s time for everyone to channel their inner GM for fantasy football. In my main fantasy league that I’ve competed in with friends since the old days when we scored our own stats each week because the internet didn’t do that for us, I’m hoping for a breakout season.

No matter how much researching and mock drafts I do to prepare myself for this league, I tend to pick players who under perform or get injured. Injuries and more so season ending injuries are equivalent to chopping away at the tree trunk. It’s a matter of time and gravity before the weight of the tree comes crashing down. Difficult to recover from it unless you pick up sleeper fantasy studs early on free agency or have a deep bench.

This season I have the #2 to pick. After I found out, I began to see who the top rated players on the board were. At ESPN.com they have Larry Johnson ranked #1 and Shaun Alexander #2. Yahoo has them both a tie for the first spot in a poll by fantasy experts (a job we would all crave). So the question is if Larry Johnson goes first overall, do I automatically take Alexander?

Most would say take Alexander and start counting the weekly touchdowns but the only thing holding me back is the fact that Shaun is on the cover of Madden 2007. Before you say I’m stupid or don’t believe it just take a look at the history of the Madden curse. Every year you think no way the curse continues yet it keeps taking down players. You can’t deny it. It’s like playing roulette and a black number has come up six times in a row. Do you play on the streak or against the streak? A lot of people I know would play against it thinking a red has to hit. But I always believe in betting on the streak until it breaks. Betting against the streak until a red comes up can lose you money really quickly.

Shaun had probably his best year ever last season. To outperform the season he had would be as likely as seeing Paris Hilton picking up a quarter. He was going to be a free agent and playing for a new long term contract. He now has the huge contract which always makes me fearful he will under perform. You also have the curse which affects teams who lose the Super Bowl. The trend is they don’t even make the playoffs. Finally the Seahawks lost guard Steve Hutchinson who helped open holes for Shaun.

Larry Johnson has fresher legs and with Herm Edwards coaching will feature him as the offense. He ended the season with nine consecutive 100+ yard games. In leagues that reward bonuses for 100 yard games Johnson gives you consistent performance. Finally he is likely to get the ball in goal line situations just as Priest did.

The general strategy is to take a running back in the first round. Maybe the owner will take Peyton Manning first overall, which is a good pick but one round too early if playing by the book. Then I’d take Larry Johnson and avoid having to make a tough decision. Same goes if he selects Alexander, Tomlinson, Manning, or his favorite Jaguar player first.

As the August 29th draft date gets closer, I have to decide whether to believe in the curse if Alexander falls to me. I’m sure many of you will be faced with the same situation. What would you do if you had the second pick? Keep in mind if Alexander falls past the fifth pick in any draft, I’d pick him up right away. You’re into Edgerrin James, Clinton Portis, Rudi Johnson, Lamont Jordan territory. It’s worth a gamble to think Shaun might have a better season than them even with the curse.

Everyone now thinks Maurice Clarett has totally lost it. Fortunately, Jim Terry, owner-coach of the Mahoning Valley Hitmen of the Eastern Indoor Football League, isn’t so negative about his player.

“We gave him a chance and now we’ll wait to see what happens,” he said. “I’ve seen far worse situations than this.”

What kind of leauge does it this? This isn’t the state prison league. Correct me if I’m wrong but Clarett was driving erratically, led police on a chase which ended when spikes punctured his tires, had four loaded guns, a bottle of Grey Goose, got tasered but didn’t hurt him because he had a bulletproof vest on, and by the way has sizable $5 million bond. I heard they found gel, toothpaste, cologne, and a bottle of water which they thought he’d later turn into an explosive.

Jim Terry what have you seen that’s been worse? It better be something like two guys playing slip-n-slide after the contents of a port-a-let tipped over while you had a picinic. But having a $5 million bond speakers even louder. A man like that does not come out of jail for a long time.

After reading ESPN’s Tom Friend’s phone conversation with Marucie Clarett hours before he was arrested it showed a person knowing it was all over. We don’t know what Maurice intended to do that night with all those guns but it sounded like a man who knew either he was going to jail for a long time or was preparing to die in a blaze of glory.

People say maybe if Maurice surrounded himself with the right people he wouldn’t have been in this situation. I don’t buy it. Short of being in a vegatative state, no one could have gotten Maurice to see the bigger picture. Too many times now athletes are treated like gods. Therefore they start to believe it and act like it. Then factor in this euphoria as a freshman and “Boom Goes the Dynamite”. Maurice could do nothing wrong because he believed it. What didn’t he get for free that season? That cocky swagger and confidence showed in his performance on the field but followed him off it. In the end the only person he could blame was the person he saw in the mirror everyday.

Maurice Clarett can be another example the NFL makes during its rookie symposium. Or the Cincinnati Bengals can put his mugshot in their locker room as a quick reminder. The sadder part is that some won’t get the message. They won’t learn from his mistakes. They’ll have five guns instead of four. Smoke crack instead of drinking Grey Goose. Actually shoot back instead of just trying to get away. They’ll think they’re untouchable and think it can’t happen to them because they’re a star. But don’t worry when you’re in jail, Jon Terry still might have a job somewhere for you because he’s seen worse than this. Someone get that man some help as well.

For those who watched the World Cup religiously this post if for you. For those who can think of many reasons to hate soccer then it’s best to just move on.

Since the finals of the World Cup, international soccer has been at a lull. Four more years can’t be here any quicker (Though I wish it’d crawl by because I don’t want to think about being four years old these days). I had the Italy-France final on my Tivo until today when I finally had to say goodbye. Here in the United States where the only soccer action that has been going on has been regular season MLS and US Women’s exhibition game. Both instances the games were probably watched by only those who attended the game.

But now soccer fans here have a reason to watch soccer played on US soil. Saturday’s MLS All Star game features the best of MLS against the New York Yankees of English Premier League. Chelsea comes into town boasting a payroll near $200 million. The owner has paid nearly $800 million in player contracts and transfer fees since 2004.

The owner of Chelsea is gazillionaire Roman Abramovich. He is a Russian oil tycoon and the richest person in Russia with an estimated fortune of $18.2 billion. He bought the team is 2003 for a reported $233 million with change he found under his couch cushions. Chelsea then was a team in debt and had a history of losing. He then opened his deep pockets and poured massive investments into the club. The result has been consecutive Premier League titles for the “Blues,” whose lone title before the 2004-05 season in their 101-year history came in 1954-55. A record of 58-6-12 record while outscoring opponents 144-37 en route to its two titles shows its recent dominance.

They have 14 players who participated for their respective countries at the World Cup this summer. If you watched the World Cup then you know names such as Ballack (Germany), Shevchenko (Ukraine), Robben (Holland), Terry, Cole, Lampard (All from England), Essien (Ghana), Drogba (Ivory Coast). To put it simply, this is a roster full of stars and salaries it would make Steinbrenner blush.

This is a pre-season game for Chelsea who will defend their English Premier League title starting August 19th. So they’re looking to get ready for the season and avoid any major injuries. However they want to put on their best performance. This is their opportunity to broaden their market to the United States, gain new fans, and beat those silly Americans soccer players.

For the MLS this is a brilliant move. The opposition is top notch. It’ll be a measuring stick of the level of the MLS. If the MLS gets slaughtered then it’s not a suprise.

Jeremy Shockey has proclaimed he’s ready for the season. Ready to party hard and play just as hard.

“If I go out and drink one night, I guarantee the next day I am getting heavily replenished with water and massages,” he added. “I respect my body tremendously.”

Please do whatever type of drinking you have to do so we can see another moment like the one above this season again. I still never get tired of seeing it.

Jeremey Shockey’s Mastercard Moment