Are You Ready For Some Football?

The SEVEN
September 7th, 2011

I. Back To Work

On Labor Day, a day set aside as a holiday to commemorate the efforts of the American worker, many people had the day off to spend with family, attend parades, eat some barbeque, and just generally have a good time. I myself did much of that myself, and I hope that you enjoyed yourself as well. But in the case of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker - whose union-busting and anti-labor policies have resulted in two of his Republican state senators being recalled, with a similar recall movement for him possibly on the docket - I hope he did not enjoy it as much. Quite frankly, he did not deserve a day off on this day celebrating workers…so my earnest hope is that he spent the entire day in the office.

II. New Work

Belated Happy Birthday wishes to a young man embarking on a new career, that of broadcasting Rutgers football games. That young man is Eric LeGrand, the former Rutgers football player who is in the midst of an amazing recovery from an injury that paralyzed him last October. What's also amazing - whether you attribute it to "fate," a "higher power," or God - is that Eric's inspiring recovery and life is touching and will touch more people now than he probably ever would have on the field. You can visit the Eric LeGrand Believe Fund at scarletknights.com/believe.

And another belated Happy Birthday to a brilliant and talented individual, Rogette Harris, who is seeking new work as well…she is a candidate for Dauphin County Register of Wills & Clerk of the Orphans' Court in the Harrisburg, PA area. You may not know her name now, but I can almost guarantee that you will before long. Check her out at www.voterogette.com.

III. Unemployed and All Non Void

Since the unemployment numbers did not fall in the last month, and all of these polls show people are really concerned about jobs, when President Obama decided he wanted to address a joint session of Congress about jobs, you would think that that would be welcomed…you wouldn't think that Speaker John Boehner would ask the president to postpone it until the next night (which just happens to be the NFL opening night), would you? Sometimes…well, just about all the time…I think the Republicans couldn't care less about jobs - except for Joe Biden's and Barack Obama's.

IV. Are You Ready For Some Football?

I was somewhat surprised recently to find that the most valuable sports franchise on the planet, according to Forbes, is Manchester United, the soccer powerhouse in Britain. Kinda took me back to my first job, as a camp counselor, where one of the campers was from the U.K. and continually asked which football (soccer) teams I liked. So as not to seem like I knew nothing about any of them…which I didn't…I learned to say I liked the ones he liked.

Man U beat out the two teams I would have bet on to be in the number one position, the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys…but the NFL was well represented in the Top 10, specifically the NFC East, which had the Cowboys at number three, the Washington Redskins at number four, and the New York Giants at number eight.

V. Kickoff

As you prepare to watch the first weekend of NFL action, you may want to have a bunch of projections and predictions in front of you - but you won't get them here. All I will say that if you want to know who to expect to see in the Super Bowl…well by that time in February, the fans in Philly might be getting tired of Broad Street parades.

VI. Redemption

S&H green stamps are gone, but there may be a story of redemption - and green - that surrounds the teams I see to be in the Super Bowl this year; in other words, I'm predicting the Eagles' Super Bowl opponents to be the New York Jets.

Both teams have star players that have recently missed two seasons due to imprisonment. My thought is that the addition of Plaxico Burress will be what puts the Jets over the top in the AFC. In Philly, Michael Vick has been rewarded with a six-year, $100 million dollar contract, of which I am only too happy - but I would offer the Birds the following advice: don't make him into a pocket quarterback. Let Vick be Vick.

VII. It's Like A Jungle Sometimes…

As was said in Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five's "The Message," makes me wonder how I keep from going under…Just learned that there is an execution date in Georgia for Troy Davis, despite all of the statements from witnesses recanting their testimony, which does nothing but create questions about his guilt.

Please visit www.naacp.org, as soon as you can, where you can join with the NAACP in an effort to save Davis' life.