Did you know?

It's NFL kickoff weekend. That's supposed to take center stage. Everything else is on the back burner, under the radar, because us American's can't get enough of this foosball.

But uh.....anyone notice what's going on with the Red Sox right now? Losers of 5 in a row, as well as 10 of their past 13, what once seemed like a mortal lock of a post-season birth is now anything but that. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are a mere 3.5 games back of the BoSox right now in the wild card chase. The Southern California Angels of Los Angeles and Anaheim are 5 back. Jon Lester, our only healthy reliable pitcher, got shelled yesterday. Dustin Pedroia is hitting .174 in September. Adrian Gonzalez dipped below the .340 mark for the first time last week since June 11. If they even make it to the playoffs, there's a very strong chance Andrew Miller, John Lackey, Tim Wakefield, or Kyle Weiland will be our Game 2 starter.

This has a chance to be the biggest collapse in baseball since the 2007 Mets. I guess a lot of it comes back to that 2-10 start, when I posted this doozy of a blog. The most frustrating aspect of all this is that the Yankees haven't exactly been lighting the world on fire either; they had lost four in a row before winning yesterday. We're still just 3.5 back of them. But you don't need Shea Hillenbrand to come out of retirement to tell you that this is a sinking ship. It's not over yet, but boy it doesn't look good.....

NFL Week 1 Picks

Ran outta time last night to make these things so here we go now at just about 9 o'clock on a Saturday. Normally I'll go into more elaborate details over the selections but since I just did that whole preview thing I'll make 'em short and sweet.

Pittsburgh (+2) over Baltimore
Polamalu just became the latest Steeler defender to get a contract extension in the past month. Not like he'd be milking it anyways.

Tampa Bay (-2) over Detroit
Two teams a lot of people foresee breaking into the NFC playoff picture. It starts here.

Atlanta (-3) over Chicago
Let's see how good this Atlanta offense is. They'll be tested right off the bat by the ageless Bears defense.

Kansas City (-6) over Buffalo
Great opportunity for the Chiefs to get off to a quick start again and build momentum off of last season's success.

Houston (-8.5) over Indy
Is this, once and for all, FINALLY Houston's year? Couldn't ask for a better way to start things off than at Peyton's Place....without Peyton.

Philadelphia (-4.5) over St. Louis
Fitting that the Philly offense gets to open up in the Edward Jones Dome, the same place where the "Greatest Show on Turf" rewrote the record books.

Cleveland (-6.5) over Cincinnati
Colt McCoy was drafted in 2010 after both Tim Tebow and Jimmy Clausen. Just sayin'.

Tennessee (+2) over Jacksonville
It isn't often you get the chance to bet against Luke McCown in a season opener after he was just named starter the previous week. Gotta take advantage while you can.

NY Giants (-3) over Washington
Not that anyone on the Redskins is worthy of publicly raving about their chances of winning the NFC East, but Rex Grossman of all people?

Carolina (+7) over Arizona
The dawn of the Cam Newton era in Carolina vs. the beginning of the Kevin Kolb period in Arizona. I'll take the money and run with Scam.

Seattle (+5.5) over San Francisco
When Tarvaris Jackson and Alex Smith are both involved, take the points.

San Diego (-8.5) over Minnesota
The Chargers are notorious for their slow starts, while the Vikings just might be the biggest enigma in the NFL this year. We'll know more after this one.

Dallas (+5.5) over NY Jets
Look for the Cowboys to make a statement in the series premier of the Jason Garrett and Rob Ryan Show.

New England (-7) over Miami
Consider this my lock of the week.

Denver (-3) over Oakland
Not that I'll be staying up to watch this one or anything.