We have just a few more days to wait before next week\u2019s Wednesday launch of the NFL regular season. My excitement is down a notch in large part because I won\u2019t see hardly any action in real time.<\/p>\n
I work during all four of the Sunday\/Monday game slots and there\u2019s no television in the work space I\u2019ve been relocated to. The job\u2019s so busy I wouldn\u2019t have time to look at a TV screen even if there was one.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m free for the Thursday nighter but my cable provider is the lone holdout (among the majors) without a contract to carry the NFL Network now that Cablevision cut a deal with the league.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also part of me that believes football\u2019s extinction is a matter of when – not if. So why bother getting wrapped up in a sport that will shut down little by little starting at the high school level (which is the best all-around version of the game experience from a fan\u2019s standpoint).<\/p>\n
Despite these personal constraints, I\u2019ll try to keep up with the Jets and their circus. I\u2019ll keep an eye on my Mizzou Tigers as they get knocked around by Georgia, Alabama and new conference rivals in the SEC. I plan on hitting a high school game back in suburban Chicago in a month.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also gonna revive this website\u2019s long dormant discussion of punters and punting. Each week of the NFL season, TSR will review the performance of a single punter. Seventeen weeks. Seventeen punters. The new feature will keep me engaged with the art of punting even though I\u2019ll be out of the loop on Sunday afternoons. I mean, I\u2019d rather be in my chair at home with cold beer, hot pizza and the clicker doing the noon to midnight football-on-tv routine. But since I can\u2019t do that, I\u2019ll sit down when the weekend\u2019s over and watch a game on tape.<\/p>\n
TSR has chosen rookie Steelers punter Drew Butler as the focus for the first week of this new feature. Butler has not yet officially won the punting job in Pittsburgh but he will. He\u2019s the son of legendary Bears kicker Kevin Butler. He\u2019s been boomin\u2019 em in the preseason.<\/p>\n
Look for an installment of TSR\u2019s \u201cPunter of the Week\u201d every week during the NFL season. If you have a favorite punter you\u2019d like included beyond Butler in week 1, submit a suggestion in the comments section below.<\/p>\n
-Despite a NFL assertion that it will start the regular season with replacement officials, I believe you\u2019ll see the union stripes back on the field in time for Wednesday\u2019s opener. The pressure on Roger Goodell to cut a deal with locked-out union refs has grown exponentially since players\u2019 union boss DeMaurice Smith hinted at a player revolt if the dispute isn\u2019t settled. SI\u2019s Peter King says it would cost the league only about $2 mil annual to settle with the regulars. That\u2019s total chump change given the likely chaos that would unfold if the current batch of confused rookie call-ups work the regular season.<\/p>\n
-Hannah Lew of the band Grass Widow has recorded a beautiful cover version<\/a> of the great Mantles tune \u201cDon\u2019t Lie.\u201d You can stream the number at Lew\u2019s Tumblr page which features several excellent demos. The Mantles were the first act of five to play the first day of Woodsist Fest 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We have just a few more days to wait before next week\u2019s Wednesday launch of the NFL regular season. My excitement is down a notch in large part because I won\u2019t see hardly any action in real time. I work … Continue reading