Jack Altiere

It’s that time of year again…..football season.  I’m in full blown football mode, I’m in more fantasy football leagues than I can count.  It’s really sick when you can rattle off the 3rd string RB for every team in the NFL.  This is going to be my NFL preview issue.  I’ll give my own version of power rankings, since Pete Prisco is apparently on crack, and I will dazzle you with my division predictions.  At the end of the year we’ll circle back and determine if I should be sending my resume to ESPN or not.

Anyway, on to the fun.  I’ll start with the power rankings.

Now for my divison predictions.  And just to clarify, just because a team is higher on my power rankings than another doesn’t mean they will win their respective division…other factors come into play here such as strength of schedule.  When you see Pittsburgh winning the AFC North instead of Baltimore that’s why. *cough*

AFC East

The Patriots are clearly the class of the division, and in my opinion are the only team in the division realistically in the hunt for a playoff birth.  I think the Bills are still a year or two away, and the Jets won’t be as good as they were last year.

AFC North

This is the toughest division in football.  I think the Steelers rebound from their mediocre season and play more like the team that won the Super Bowl 2 years ago.  Cincinnati will also be in the hunt, but their lack of a defense holds them back, and Cleveland will play better than everyone thinks, although they won’t be able to overcome their brutal schedule in the early part of the year.

AFC South

Indianapolis continues to dominate this division, the only question really is what week the division gets wrapped up.   Tennessee will make some strides, and Jackosnville will compete for a wild card birth.  Matt Schaub will figure out that he’s in fact not the golden boy.

AFC West

San Diego will roll in this division, and Kansas City and Oakland will battle for the cellar all year.  Denver should be in the hunt for a wild card birth when it’s all said and done.

NFC East

This division will be the dogfight it usually is, but I like Philadelphia to win the division as long as McNabb stays healthy.  Dallas should compete for the wild card with a bunch of teams.

NFC North

Chicago should dominate this weak division, despite having Rex Grossman at the helm.  Favre will keep things interesting in Green Bay, and Detroit will be in a lot of shoot outs.  Minnesota needs help.

NFC South

The high flying New Orleans offense will catapult them to a division crown this year, and Carolina will make a run at the wild card.  The Falcons will have to deal with the whole Vick situation all year in the media, and will rely on Joey Harrington to lead them…..a certain recipe for disaster.

NFC West

Arizona is my surprise team of the year, I think Whisenhunt and Grimm figure out that you need to be able to run the ball, and Edge comes back with a decent year.  St. Louis will also be in the hunt all year, and Seattle has the weapons to keep things interesting. 

Well, those are my predictions, I’m definitely ready for the season to start.
I’ll leave you with my top 10 fantasy football predictions:

1.  LT won’t put up the same monster numbers he did last year, but he’ll still be the best RB in fantasy football.  (I know, I really went out on a limb there)

2.  The rookie receiver to make the biggest impact this year won’t be Calvin Johnson. 

3.  Vincent Jackson will have a good year in San Diego, but he won’t live up to all the fantasy hype, he won’t be a top 15 receiver.

4.  Vernon Davis will compete with Antonio Gates for the honor of being the best TE in fantasy football.

5.  Ben Roethlisberger will be a top 10 fantasy football QB this year.

6.  Lawrence Maroney will be a top 5 fantasy football RB this year.

7.  Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin both take hits to their value as Arizona emphasizes the run more this year.

8.  Warrick Dunn will be a non-factor as far as fantasy football goes, with Jerious Norwood raising in value.

9.  Larry Johnson will not be a top 5 RB this year, maybe not even top 10.

10.  Brandon Jacobs will shine as the lead back in New York and put up excellent fantasy numbers.

Good luck in your football leagues this year! (except if you’re in one of mine!!)

OK, I admit it. I bought into the hype. We won 93 games last year, this is our year to get back into the playoffs! 7 members of the ESPN staff picked them to win the division this year.

Yeah right. I should have taken a step back and looked at the off season moves. Then I wouldn’t feel so crappy about a season that has been absolutely painful to watch. Let’s break down some of the brilliant moves. And for the record, I’m with everyone else who thinks Larry Dolan should sell the team to someone who actually cares about winning. Someone who will actually spend money on the kind of players it takes to build a championship team.

• They let Kevin Millwood walk and replaced him in the rotation with Paul Byrd.

Nobody in Cleveland expected them to be able to keep Millwood with Larry Dolan paying the bills, but it still hurts to lose the Americal League ERA leader from 2005. Millwood is 10-6 in Texas with an ERA of 4.53 as of when I wrote this article. Paul Byrd, is currently 7-6 with a 4.71 ERA. That’s not terrible, but when you are as close as we were last year you are supposed to take steps FORWARD to get over the hump.

• For some reason that I can’t even begin to understand they let Bob Howry walk.

This guy had an ERA out of the bullpen of 2.47 in 79 appearances, and was just nails down the stretch. Tribe fans will be happy to know that he’s putting up another solid season with the Cubs, one of the few teams with more problems than Cleveland. Who did we get to plug this gap in the bullpen? Guillermo Mota. He’s been an oustanding addition, posting an ERA of 6.21 in 37.2 innings so far this year.

• They traded Coco Crisp to Boston

Another brilliant move. Coco was a key part of the top of the order in 2005, he batted .300 with 16 HR and 69 RBI. Not only did they trade him, they traded him to a team that a lot of people thought would be one of the teams competing for a playoff birth with us in the Boston Red Sox. That makes no sense. In exchange, we got Kelly Shoppach, who is batting a sizzling .231, and the highly touted Ande Marte, who is batting .261 in AAA. I hope he lives up to the hype, but I’m a little worried that he’s already been in 3 farm systems. If he was that good why would 2 teams trade him? Coco Crisp is a solid player, but he’s not a superstar by any stretch of the imagination.

So now, here we are. It’s not even August yet and we are about as far away from meaningful baseball as you can get. Hell, getting back to .500 may be a pipe dream. The fire sale has started, we have already traded Broussard and Wickman. (along with Perez earlier this summer) Go Tribe! I wonder if that guy still hits the drum at every home game. I’m not buying a ticket to find out, that’s for damn sure.

As down as I am about this team, there are some bright spots. Grady Sizemore is an All Star, and is an example of how this game should be played. The sky is the limit for this guy, I hope he stays in an Indians uniform for a long time. Travis Hafner should be an All Star. The fact that he didn’t make it is an absolute joke. Seriously. The guy is batting .304 with 29 HR, 83 RBI and 73 R. He had better numbers than most of the starters on the damn All Star team. Victor Martinez is also a bright spot, at least on offense. Defense is another story though, he really needs to move to first. I could steal second on him, as long as they had oxygen waiting for me when I got there.

There are some guys I hope we can move before the deadline too, now that this season doesn’t mean a damn thing. I’m gonna start with Aaron Boone. He sucks. He has a cement block for a glove and can’t hit. Nothing like a corner infielder hitting .250 with 5 HR at the end of July. OK, enough about him…..I’m about to throw something at my TV. They could also get rid of Belliard. He’s a solid player, but he won’t be here long term, so we might as well get something back for him. Lastly, maybe they could move Jake Westbrook. I don’t think they will be able to keep him long term either, and he would probably have some trade value.

I don’t care if they win another game this year. The only thing I want them to do is lock up Cliff Lee to a long term contract. If we lose him because Dolan is a cheapskate I’m gonna be pissed. But not suprised, that’s the Indians way. Oh well, enough pain and torture for one night.

Thank God for football season.