After week 3, there are only 5 remaining unbeaten teams in the league. Let’s examine them all, and then I’d like to hear your opinion on who you think has the best chance of actually finishing the season… 16-0. I know, very tough to accomplish, but its fun to wonder.

1) NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: This team has no holes. A great defense, and possibly one of the most balanced offenses we’ve seen in years. On every play, you have absolutely no idea what they are going to do. Trust me, I know this, I own Laurence Maroney on my fantasy team. And even though he is their featured back, and even though he’s the one that marched them down the field, and even though it would only be fair to all of his fantasy owners to give him the ball at the goal line and let him run it in for the touchdown, I know they won’t. Why? Becauase you never know what the Patriots are gonna do. They might hand it off to back-up running back, Sammy Morris. Or back-up to the back-up running back, Kevin Faulk. Or maybe they’ll hand it off to Defensive Back Junior Seau, and let him pick up the TD. Or maybe Bill Bellicek himself will take the handoff from Tom Brady, and jump over the middle for the score. They’re so unpredicatable, making it very difficult for any defense to prepare for them. On Yahoo Sports, Laurence Maroney mentioned, that “he’s not worried about all the other backs. He’s sure he will get a plenty of touchdowns and still become, as promised, an offensive force”. This led me to believe that Laurence Maroney writes for Yahoo Sports.

2) INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: Their defense looks pretty strong, and their offense, well, you know their offense. Peyton Manning no longer has anything to prove, which is seemingly resulting in a more laid back style of play. This is always good for a team aspiring to go 16-0. They’re not demolishing opponents like the Patriots, but they do whatever it takes to win the game. Also, isn’t it time for Nike, Reebok, or Gatorade to produce a series of commercials featuring Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. It would be like those Michael Jordan/Larry Bird ads from the 90s where they called their shots (Remember — “off the building, through the senior-care center, off the backboard, etc…”) Maybe Brady and Manning could battle in pithy competitive contests, like playing chutes and ladders or SORRY!, all leading up to their week 9 showdown. C’mon, this is a great idea. I’m positive about this.3) PITTSBURGH STEELERS: They clobbered the Browns in Week 1, struggled a bit on offense in Week 2, then manhandled the 49ers this week. Their defense is stellar, and their offense knows how to comfortably move the ball down the field and the eat the clock; a key component to winning games. Their running back, Willie Parker, went undrafted and STILL plays with something to prove — EVEN THOUGH HE ALREADY LED THEM TO A SUPER BOWL VICTORY!! When you have a guy like that on your team, your chances of 16-0 significantly improve. However, Roethlisberger is injury prone, and when your back-up QB is Charlie Batch, your chances of 16-0 significantly decrease.4) DALLAS COWBOYS: Their offense is seriously putting up some points, and they even dissected that wall of a Bears defense last night on NBC. Their defense is certainly beatable, as their secondary (meaning the guys who stop receivers from catching the ball) is abysmal. However, as the Colts teams of the first part of this decade proved — you can give up a lot points, just make sure you score a lot more. These guys are now definitely the favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Then again, Joey Harrington threw for over 300 yards this week, so you neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever know. And, my fantasy team would have won this week if we had only, only played the Cowboys D not the 49ers defense….so very sad for us.5) GREEN BAY PACKERS: The underdog of the bunch. Most people were sticking a fork in the Packers, awaiting the inevitable and long overdue Brett Favre retirement. But these guys have become fighters. It’s like they want to prove everyone wrong. They have Willie Parker-itis. All the sudden, the franchise you love to hate (due to their NFC dominance in the late 90s) has become the team… well… the team, um… you kinda wanna see win. Everybody senses this is Favre’s last year, and there is a kind of feeling in the air that you REALLY want to see him go out on top. Like Super Bowl really. Like 16-0 really. Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, they hate McNabb if he loses; they want him off the field. They couldn’t care less that he brought them to 3 consecutive NFC title games and a Super Bowl. He’s gotta go, no allegiences in Philly. And the sad truth is even though he helped score over 50 points this week against Detroit, this only buys 6 days of ‘no-booing’. And what if he set a precedent? What if he has to score over 50 points every week to be even mildly appreciated in Philly. This would be extremely frustrating. Can you imagine those same expectations at your job? Man…Watercooler Discussion: Who has the best chance of actually going 16-0. Also, take note, the 5 currently undefeated teams are also 5 of the NFL’s biggest and most historic franchises. I can’t put my finger on it now, but trust me, this is interesting in some way… right?

Of course there is other very exciting sports news filling the airwaves right now (Pedro Martinez season debut with the Mets and striking out his 3002 batter (only the 15th player to do so and certainly a boost to the Mets as they eye the post season) for example, but for me it’s all about fantasy football right now.

For those that are unfamiliar with fantasy football, the beauty of the game is that you pretend you are an NFL coach and you draft your own team of players (from all 32 teams in the League). The draft takes place before the start of the season (which is Thursday, September 6th this year).

My draft is Tuesday, September 4th. Our League will gather in a conference room in New York where the winning team from last year (unfortunately not us) will provide pizza and drinks and we’ll spend the better part of 3 hours drafting what each of us thinks will be the winning combination of players. According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, 15 million Americans play fantasy sports and 90 percent play fantasy football. Most of these players will have spent the last few months sifting through magazines, newspapers and sports web sites attempting to have a leg up on who might be the “sleeper” of the season. Of course this is a great strategy, but just to play devils’ advocate, the best year our team ever had, we went into the draft completely unprepared. With the first pick of the draft we spent over half of our money on a superstar running back and then picked up our remaining team with whatever money we had left. We won the League that year. I’d love to say we played brilliantly, but in all honesty, we simply got lucky, didn’t have any significant injuries and had great matchups. So with that said, maybe we’ll wing it again this year and see what happens. In any case, we are guaranteed to be brilliant for at least a few days (until Thursday night at least when the NFL season officially begins).

And speaking of Thursday night, the New Orleans Saints vs. last years’ Super Bowl champs, the Indianapolis Colts. What a way to start the season….stay tuned for our preview and how to talk the talk Thursday night.

Watercooler Discussion: If you play fantasy football or would like to, whom would you draft with your first pick?

Saratoga Springs, NY is one of the all-time best places to watch horse racing. The month of August is dedicated to Thoroughbred horse racing in Saratoga. Swarms of fans descend on this quant, beautiful town that lives and breathes horses. The most famous race during this month is the Travers Stakes, which was run this past Saturday and attracted 38,909 people. Street Sense, winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby, took the prize by only half a length. Street Sense barely edged out Grasshopper who was racing in his first stakes (the highest level of racing) competition. Look for Street Sense to try and win the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Monmouth Park October 27th. If he wins the Classic, there should be no doubt he will crowned horse of the year.

Watercooler Discussion: Where’s your favorite place to watch a thoroughbred horse race?

I wanted to avoid mentioning Michael Vick this week, but unfortunately that’s not possible. Vick is expected to formally plead guilty Monday (on the same day that his Falcons will play the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football). With pre-season games not getting the attention of the regular season (for obvious reasons), you can bet that MNF will have high ratings this week. People will tune in for the Vick banter and more importantly for observing whether the Falcons’ new quarterback, Joey Harrington, will lead the team to a few wins.

Watercooler Discussion: How many games will the Falcons win this year? Will we ever stop talking about the Falcons and Vick in the same sentence?

On a happier note, congrats to Georgia for winning the Little League World Series Championship over Japan. These boys could be the future of Major League Baseball. And, what touched me was that before the game, the Japanese coach gave the team a listing of players’ names and addresses in case the boys wanted stay in touch. Now that’s sportsmanship!

Baseball
Johan Santana made history with 17 strikeouts in 8 innings this weekend against the Texas Rangers. Got to love this time of year….it seems almost every week some baseball player is putting himself in the history books. Congrats Johan.

Watercooler Discussion: Which teams do you think will make the playoffs?

Tennis

Speaking of history books, Roger Federer just keeps getting better and better. At only 26 years old, he just won his 50th tournament title (5th youngest player ever to do this).

Watercooler Discussion: Is there anyone playing today that can rival Federer?

Soccer

Beckham seems to be on his way to earning his exorbitant salary. Saturday night at Giants stadium against the Red Bull New York, Beckham played a full 90 minutes and attracted a crowd of 66,237 people. Even though he didn’t play all that spectacularly (apparently he’s still getting used to artificial turf), he did manage to make some good plays and the game (by soccer standards) was unusually high scoring. With a total of 9 goals (5 for Red Bulls and 4 for the Galaxy), this game marks the first major league soccer match this year and the 10th in League history to record this number of goals.

Watercooler Discussion: Is Beckham changing how soccer is viewed in this country yet?

Football

Pre-season games are here and we can’t help but join the hype in who’s hot and who’s not (and I do mean their performance on the field and not who’s currently dating Paris Hilton). I’m loving the hype, but really more concerned right now with pre-season injuries. I can’t even watch my favorite players take the field in fear that they’ll twist their ankle (which happened a lot around the League this weekend) or worse. With that said, September 6th is the first game of the year and you can be sure I’ll be glued to the TV then!

Watercooler Discussion: Is the Pre-season too long? Does it unnecessarily create more injuries?

Wow, this has been some weekend for baseball. If you’re just waking up and haven’t seen the news all weekend, before you do another thing, you have to be aware that

3 major milestones were achieved this weekend.

1)      Barry Bonds (SF Giants) ties the all-time home run record set by the legendary Hank Aaron by hitting 755 home runs. Bonds has been close to tying this record for weeks, leaving everyone wondering just when it was going to happen. Now, we’re just waiting for him to officially break the record (which could happen any day now as well). .

2)     Alex Rodriguez (NY Yankees) became the youngest major league player (32 years old) to hit 500 home runs.  Taking the field to the theme from the movie “The Natural”, ARod became only the 22^nd player ever to reach this milestone. ARod’s had somewhat of a controversial year (although in New York, it’s kind of par for the course). In case you’ve forgotten, ARod and some mystery woman’s picture were splashed all over gossip columns coming and going from various “hot spots”. Not to be outdone, his wife Cynthia became the object of ridicule when she attended a Yankee game (accompanied by their 2 year old daughter) while donning a profanity laced t-shirt). Even with all of his domestic difficulties, he blew a kiss into the crowd (supposedly aimed at his wife and daughter) although his wife was running late and wasn’t in her seat (and the 2 year old wasn’t there because her Mom thought it would be too hot to be at the Park all afternoon). You can’t blame them though….who knew this game against the Kansas City Royals would put him in the record books?

3)      And last but certainly not least, Tom Glavine (New York Mets Pitcher) became only the 23^rd player in MLB history to win 300 games. This is one of the most prestigious records in baseball.  It looks like we’ll be celebrating this milestone for a long time as there doesn’t appear to be anyone else who will hit this milestone for a very long time. The 41 year old Glavine was very gracious after the game and thanked his family for letting him focus on baseball. 

Wow, this has been some weekend for baseball. If you’re just waking up and haven’t seen the news all weekend, before you do another thing, you have to be aware that

3 major milestones were achieved this weekend.

1)      Barry Bonds (SF Giants) ties the all-time home run record set by the legendary Hank Aaron by hitting 755 home runs. Bonds has been close to tying this record for weeks, leaving everyone wondering just when it was going to happen. Now, we’re just waiting for him to officially break the record (which could happen any day now as well). .

2)     Alex Rodriguez (NY Yankees) became the youngest major league player (32 years old) to hit 500 home runs.  Taking the field to the theme from the movie “The Natural”, ARod became only the 22^nd player ever to reach this milestone. ARod’s had somewhat of a controversial year (although in New York, it’s kind of par for the course). In case you’ve forgotten, ARod and some mystery woman’s picture were splashed all over gossip columns coming and going from various “hot spots”. Not to be outdone, his wife Cynthia became the object of ridicule when she attended a Yankee game (accompanied by their 2 year old daughter) while donning a profanity laced t-shirt). Even with all of his domestic difficulties, he blew a kiss into the crowd (supposedly aimed at his wife and daughter) although his wife was running late and wasn’t in her seat (and the 2 year old wasn’t there because her Mom thought it would be too hot to be at the Park all afternoon). You can’t blame them though….who knew this game against the Kansas City Royals would put him in the record books?

3)      And last but certainly not least, Tom Glavine (New York Mets Pitcher) became only the 23^rd player in MLB history to win 300 games. This is one of the most prestigious records in baseball.  It looks like we’ll be celebrating this milestone for a long time as there doesn’t appear to be anyone else who will hit this milestone for a very long time. The 41 year old Glavine was very gracious after the game and thanked his family for letting him focus on baseball. 

Wow, this has been some weekend for baseball. If you’re just waking up and haven’t seen the news all weekend, before you do another thing, you have to be aware that

3 major milestones were achieved this weekend.

1)      Barry Bonds (SF Giants) ties the all-time home run record set by the legendary Hank Aaron by hitting 755 home runs. Bonds has been close to tying this record for weeks, leaving everyone wondering just when it was going to happen. Now, we’re just waiting for him to officially break the record (which could happen any day now as well). .

2)     Alex Rodriguez (NY Yankees) became the youngest major league player (32 years old) to hit 500 home runs.  Taking the field to the theme from the movie “The Natural”, ARod became only the 22^nd player ever to reach this milestone. ARod’s had somewhat of a controversial year (although in New York, it’s kind of par for the course). In case you’ve forgotten, ARod and some mystery woman’s picture were splashed all over gossip columns coming and going from various “hot spots”. Not to be outdone, his wife Cynthia became the object of ridicule when she attended a Yankee game (accompanied by their 2 year old daughter) while donning a profanity laced t-shirt). Even with all of his domestic difficulties, he blew a kiss into the crowd (supposedly aimed at his wife and daughter) although his wife was running late and wasn’t in her seat (and the 2 year old wasn’t there because her Mom thought it would be too hot to be at the Park all afternoon). You can’t blame them though….who knew this game against the Kansas City Royals would put him in the record books?

3)      And last but certainly not least, Tom Glavine (New York Mets Pitcher) became only the 23^rd player in MLB history to win 300 games. This is one of the most prestigious records in baseball.  It looks like we’ll be celebrating this milestone for a long time as there doesn’t appear to be anyone else who will hit this milestone for a very long time. The 41 year old Glavine was very gracious after the game and thanked his family for letting him focus on baseball. 

Wow, this has been some weekend for baseball. If you’re just waking up and haven’t seen the news all weekend, before you do another thing, you have to be aware that

3 major milestones were achieved this weekend.

1)      Barry Bonds (SF Giants) ties the all-time home run record set by the legendary Hank Aaron by hitting 755 home runs. Bonds has been close to tying this record for weeks, leaving everyone wondering just when it was going to happen. Now, we’re just waiting for him to officially break the record (which could happen any day now as well). .

2)     Alex Rodriguez (NY Yankees) became the youngest major league player (32 years old) to hit 500 home runs.  Taking the field to the theme from the movie “The Natural”, ARod became only the 22^nd player ever to reach this milestone. ARod’s had somewhat of a controversial year (although in New York, it’s kind of par for the course). In case you’ve forgotten, ARod and some mystery woman’s picture were splashed all over gossip columns coming and going from various “hot spots”. Not to be outdone, his wife Cynthia became the object of ridicule when she attended a Yankee game (accompanied by their 2 year old daughter) while donning a profanity laced t-shirt). Even with all of his domestic difficulties, he blew a kiss into the crowd (supposedly aimed at his wife and daughter) although his wife was running late and wasn’t in her seat (and the 2 year old wasn’t there because her Mom thought it would be too hot to be at the Park all afternoon). You can’t blame them though….who knew this game against the Kansas City Royals would put him in the record books?

3)      And last but certainly not least, Tom Glavine (New York Mets Pitcher) became only the 23^rd player in MLB history to win 300 games. This is one of the most prestigious records in baseball.  It looks like we’ll be celebrating this milestone for a long time as there doesn’t appear to be anyone else who will hit this milestone for a very long time. The 41 year old Glavine was very gracious after the game and thanked his family for letting him focus on baseball. 

photo: Andrew Hood

Cycling

Not sure anyone even cares at this point, but Alberto Contador won the grueling Tour de France. He’s 24 years old and the youngest athlete to win in a decade. The problem is no one is talking about Contador. We’re all talking about how the leader, Michael Rasmusen who was disqualified due to suspicion of doping charges and lying about where he was during training. Last year the Tour Champion, Floyd Landis also tested positive for an illegal substance.

Watercooler discussion: Will the Tour de France ever regain its credibility or will the race and cycling in general suffer?

Football

The Falcons quarterback, Michael Vick continues to slide deeper and deeper into trouble (and now it’s financial). In case you haven’t been following, Michael Vick was indicted on charges that he participated in illegal dog fighting. Nike suspended his contract (which he’s had ever since he became the first draft pick in 2001), and Reebok pulled his jersey from the shelves in its stores.

Watercooler discussion: If you owned a Vick jersey, would you still wear it or burn it?

Baseball

The San Francisco Giants’ Barry Bonds is just one homerun away from tying Hank Aarons’ hallowed home run record and two away from breaking it. Bonds is generally unpopular due to suspicion of taking illegal substances during his career and because of his surly personality.

Watercooler discussion: Will Bonds break the record this week and do you care? 

You’ve got to love sports, every time it brings you down, something happens to cheer you up. After all the talk of the tainted Tour de France, the disgust over Michael Vick, the reluctant Bonds watch and the Donaghy referee scandal, we finally have something to cheer about. Two of the most revered baseball players were inducted in to the Hall of Fame, Cal Ripken Jr. (Baltimore Orioles) and Tony Gwynn (San Dieog Padres).

I happened to catch the moment soccer history was made in this country when David Beckham entered the field in the 78^th minute of the LA Galaxy exhibition match against Chelsea on Saturday night.Chelsea won the match 1-0, but no one seemed to really care. It was all about watching Beckham, who was mostly on the sidelines due to an ankle injury. I hadn’t planned my evening to watch Beckham (sorry LA Galaxy) but when I looked up at the bar and saw the match on TV, I watched intently like everyone else in the room. I’ve got to admit, the most exciting thing about the game was watching the cameras follow all the celebrities in the stands, but I’m willing to keep an open mind. I played soccer growing up, my Kids play soccer now and I think it is an incredible sport. With that said, I just don’t see myself getting all that excited on a Sunday afternoon to watch 2 plus hours of a match where we might only see one goal scored. Another indication that soccer has a long way to go in becoming one of our “mainstream” sports is by looking at the navigation bars on any of the major sports internet sites. Soccer is hidden in the “other sports” category and not displayed prominently at the top of the page like NFL, MLB, NHL, Nascar, Golf and Tennis. It will be interesting to see if Beckham can help change this.

Watercooler discussion: Will Beckham change the way we view soccer in this country? Will soccer every overcome baseball or football as

Danica Patrick finished 5^th in the Honda Indy 200 this weekend. This was her best finish so far in an Indy car race, although she might have finished even better if it were not for Tony Kanaan knocking her into the grass for a few seconds in the first lap. Kanaan excused himself by claiming that Danica was sliding.  For his third straight time (and on his 27^th birthday), Scott Dixon won the race.  

Watercooler discussion: Should Danica be getting this much attention just because she’s a woman? 

SF Giant Barry Bonds could break Hank Aaron’s prestigious home run record this week while he’s in his hometown of

Watercooler discussion: Is Bud Selig making the right decision in not attending the game?