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The fourth best sports day of the year

By Mark La Monica

Get the grill out! It's time to tailgate !

Slap some bacon, eggs and sauzeech on there for the early morning session. Fire up the burgers, hot dogs and sauzeech for the late-morning session before the game.

Who cares if you're not actually at a football stadium today, it's the first NFL Sunday of the season and it requires the proper apprecation.

The first Sunday of the NFL season is the fourth best sports day of the year. It fits all the criteria for inclusion on this list:

- Occurs every year around the same time.
- Is completely worthy of all its hype.
- Gets sports fans around the country fired up.
- Has a national scope to it.
- Is considered a worthy news event for the regular front-of-the-newspaper readers.
- Every team involved has hope, excitement and a chance to win it all.

So put on that jersey of this year's big free-agent signing or top draft pick. Or maybe you like it old-school and still have the jersey from your team's 1983 Pro Bowl linebacker. Heck, even wearing a Curtis Conway No. 81 Jets jersey would be acceptable on this day.

Throw those Nerf Turbos all over the stadium parking lot or the street in front of your house. Run across your neighbor's lawn, cut around the tree, then use your dad's car as a pick to get open for the touchdown.

Football is back.  Every team has a chance to make the Super Bowl today, even the Jets. And with the salary cap era of the NFL, no one really knows who will be good enough to get to Miami in February.

Every sport's season opening deserves some pomp and even some circumstance.  Only Major League Baseball's Opening Day carries more excitement.

Today, we get nine games in the 1 p.m. slot, three at 4:15 and the Sunday Night game. Then, a Monday Night doubleheader, which is my opinion, is a complete travesty but the networks paying hundreds of millions to broadcast the games would disagree.

Every game matters in the NFL. It's not like baseball or the NBA or the NHL where a two-game losing streak is acceptable and understood.  In the NFL, a two-game losing streak can be much more brutal.

The NFL has positioned itself as a truly national sport. They've made Jaguars fans care how the Cardinals did last week. Eagles fans need to know if the Broncos won. Or whatever combination you prefer to use. The point is football fans are interested in everything NFL.

And it all begins today, the fourth best sports day of the year.

The Best Sports Days of the Year
1. Opening Day for baseball
2. The start of March Madness
3. Pitchers and catchers report
4. NFL Sunday Week 1
5. Selection Sunday
6. TBA
7. NFL Draft
8. TBA
9. Sunday at The Masters
10. First televised spring training game*

* Inclusion under review by the replay booth.

My crazy Super Bowl XLI prediction

By Mark La Monica

It's the Colts vs. the Panthers in the Super Bowl this year. Or maybe the Patriots against the Seahawks. 

Way to go out on a limb, NFL "experts" and "analysts." Why don't you go actually take candy out of a baby's hand next. Hey, maybe you could even tap in a 3-inch putt after your professional playing partner in a charity pro-am nailed the 211-yard approach shot from the rough.

It gets no easier than picking the chalk to win the Super Bowl.  Anyone can walk up to the betting window and play the 2/1 horse in an exacta with the 3/1 horse.

You receive no points for chalk in Keyboard Quarterbacks land.  Here, we play for value and bragging rights if and when that value pays off.

Here is my Super Bowl XLI prediction: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Dallas Cowboys.

You may say to yourself right now, "What sort of access to hallucinogens does this La Monica kid have?"

None is the answer to that question.

The Chiefs will reach the Super Bowl for the following reasons:

- Larry Johnson ran for 1,750 yards last season and only started 9 games.

- With Herm Edwards as the new coach in KC, Johnson has a great chance to become the sixth running back in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season.

- Edwards coached the Jets last season then left. Anyone remember Bill Belichick, the one-time HC of NYJ?

- This is just the type of luck for the New York Jets: run a coach out of town, then watch him achieve glory elsewhere.

- Edwards can fix a defense pretty quickly.

- Even he can't mess up this offense.

- He has a quarterback to work with.

- The Midwest will eat up Herm's motivational magic.

- Jake Plummer will not match his 2005 season for Denver; Philip Rivers is the QB in San Diego and the Oakland Raiders should have to submit their defensive scheme to an NFL committee for approval before the game.

The Cowboys will reach the Super Bowl for the following reasons:

- Terrell Owens.

- Bill Parcells has precious little time left in his coaching career before he bolts and leaves another franchise in salary cap hell.

- Drew Bledsoe is the starting quarterback, making this prediction even higher in value if it pans out.

- Terrell Owens.

- Their defense.

- The Giants are supposed to be very good this year, which traditionally means they will underachieve. The Eagles have Donovan McNabb and lesser known receivers than your town's high school team. Washington will lose a lot of close games.

- Carolina has some hamstring issues with Steve Smith and the rest of the league might have finally figured out how to defend those quick hitch passes.

- Seattle Seahawks? Three words: Super Bowl Hangover.

- Terrell Owens.

Prediction: Chiefs 24, Cowboys 20.

How it plays out: "Idiot kicker" Mike Vanderjagt misses a field goal at the end of the first half, which forces the Cowboys to go for it on fourth down at the Chiefs' 24-yard line. Bledsoe's pass to Jason Witten falls incomplete.

Hurricane Bobby

By Mark La Monica

Well, there goes my college football season. Washed away on the first weekend of the season as my Miami Hurricanes decided to forget how to play football in the second half and lost to archrival Florida State on Labor Day Night.

Such a disappointment to have nothing to look forward for the next three months. One loss destroys a college football season. It's quite painful to end a season three hours and 40 minutes after it started. It's quite, quite painful to end it against the Seminoles.

Why Sam Shields chose to drop a pass late  in the fourth quarter on third down when he was wide open and the ball was thrown perfectly and he was beyond the first-down marker is mind-boggling.

Miami, for a second straight season, lost its opener to Florida State by a field goal. Miami, for a second straight season, lost its national title aspirations in the opener to Florida State.

The best 'Canes fans can hope for now is the NCAA changes the rules before this Saturday and allows two teams to lose the same game. This way, maybe Texas and Ohio State can both chalk up a loss on the same weekend. Then, we'd need Penn State and Notre Dame to do the same thing.

Otherwise, the 'Canes have no shot at anything except maybe getting a chance to play Florida State in the ACC championship. A loss then for FSU would be more devastating than a loss now for Miami. Of course, there's the little matter of Virginia Tech, USC and those pesky SEC schools named LSU, Auburn and Florida, and my darkhorse pick Michigan.

Oh, the gravity of such a negative start to the season. So many angles to have worry about just to get a chance to be close to the outside looking in. This stinks.

After the game I sent a text message to Hurricane fan friend Fletcher, who was unfortunate enough to be in the Orange Bowl for this awful display of football. It read: "My name is Kyle Wright and I don't know how to read a defense."

His response: Unprintable!

The season is over before it barely began.  Oh well, at least the NFL starts soon. Then I can cheer on my Jets and Raiders. Oh lord, this is going to be an awful football Autumn. Maybe I'll just watch reruns of "Entourage" this fall.

Match of a lifetime

By Mike Casey

Let's be honest. No one came to Arthur Ashe Stadium last night expecting Andre Agassi to win. We knew all about his balky back, his 36 years, and what little we knew about his opponent, Marcos Baghdatis, was enough for many of us to consider last night's match a grand finale for a brilliant champion.

Well, a funny thing happened. Three hours and 49 minutes later, Agassi was blowing kisses to the crowd, celebrating one of the most shocking outcomes in U.S. Open history.

But what made the match so great was not just the unexpected result. It was that the unexpected kept happening... Over, and over, and over again, until there wasn't one ounce more of drama to be squeezed out of the 23,000-seat stadium.

Agassi took the court to flashbulbs and thunderous applause, with many fans believing it would be their last chance to salute the 21-year pro.

But he quickly dispelled any notions that his 'final match' would be a walkover, breaking Baghdatis to go up 4-3 in the first set. Almost immediately, you could sense something special happening.

When Agassi broke Baghdatis again in the second set, the crowd finally allowed itself to believe their favorite had a chance to win. Baghdatis looked lost; nothing like the up-and-coming player we'd heard about leading up to the match. Agassi was in control, poised to end the match in straight sets if he could get another break, which by this point, seemed inevitable.

But instead it was Baghdatis who broke Agassi in the third set, taking it by a score of 6-3. It was a match again. . . or so it seemed.

Agassi roared back, winning the first four games of the fourth set, twice breaking Baghdatis' serve and again looking the dominant player. I briefly contemplated an escape to the parking lot to beat the traffic. 'Do tennis matches even have traffic?' I wondered. I decided they didn't and remained in my seat.

I'm glad I did, because 15 minutes later, Baghdatis had turned the match completely around again. Cheered on by a small rooting section in the upper deck, he evened the set at 4-4, and now it was Agassi who looked lost and helpless. Suddenly, he was as old and slow as we expected him to be.

Baghdatis finished off the fourth set, and then broke Agassi's serve in the first game of fifth set. The capacity crowd, raucous all night, grew quiet, sensing impending disaster.

But here again, an unxpected turn. Agassi broke back to tie it at 1-1. The two traded service holds until it was 4-4 in the fifth.

That's when things got even more strange/bizarre/dramatic/(you can come up with your own word here, because at this point, I'm out of vocabulary).

At the end of a rally, Baghdatis' right leg gave way. He rolled around on the ground for a few seconds before a trainer finally approached him. The problem was obviously a severe cramp, but Baghdatis had already used his injury timeout, so the trainer could do very little to help him.

The anticipated climax of a fifth-set tiebreaker between the two combatants was shattered in an instant. "Is that it?" people asked one another. "Will he be able to go on?"

Incredibly, Baghdatis made it to his feet, and putting up his hand, indicated to Agassi he was ready to continue. Think Rocky vs. Apollo Creed in the 15th Round.

But even with Baghdatis back on his feet, it seemed an unfair fight. Agassi would surely exploit the Cypriot's lack of mobility. The match which had been building to a satisfying crescendo would end with a sudden thud.

That's when Agassi's concentration disappeared. Obviously distracted by his opponent's plight, he began missing his first serves -- badly -- and suddenly found himself down a break point. Baghdatis, meanwhile, had summoned the inner strength to return ball after ball after ball, with most of his shots off of one leg.

Agassi fought off that break point, forcing a deuce. And then another break point. And another deuce. And another break point. And another deuce. Eight in all, until finally Agassi held serve.

Minutes later, Agassi took a 30-40 lead and held a match point. But again, the wounded Baghdatis found a way to survive. He won the 10th game, tying the set at 5-5. Agassi held again to make it 6-5, and then earned double match point on Baghdatis' serve.

The 21-year-old saved both those points, sending his supporters into a frenzy.  The tiebreaker fans had been preparing themselves for was just two Baghdatis points away. But the final plot twist had already unfolded.

Agassi gained the advantage and finally finished off his young opponent, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5.

When the match was over, I did something I probably shouldn't have done -- I broke the sacred code of "no cheering in the press box." (Then again, I wasn't in a press box, I was in the stands amongst cheering fans.) I clapped not just for Agassi, but for Baghdatis too. After what I had just seen, I figured a little applause from an embedded journalist wouldn't draw much attention anyway. Everyone else was caught up in the moment, and so was I.

Moments earlier, I had heard an older gentleman sitting behind me say, "This is the best tennis match I've ever seen."

It may be the best tennis match any of us ever sees. I'm just grateful I was there to see it.

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