First week thoughts…

The first week of the much-anticipated NFL season is in the books, and I don’t think anyone is saying it went exactly as they predicted.

A couple things really stuck out — and two of them came from the same game (Bears-Chargers, which incidentally, I blogged over at si.com).

First of all, Bears fans need to shut the hell up (not all, I generalize). The team didn’t deserve to win the Super Bowl last year (yes, they did deserve to get there), and Rex Grossman is not the quarterback of the future. The guy sucks. On most passing plays yesterday, he looked more concerned with stepping back and slinging it as far as he could than moving the chains.

Sadly, this team could still represent the NFC, it’s so weak.

On a similar note, the Bears’ D is ridiculous. How every player on that side of the ball can stand behind Grossman is beyond me.

Secondly, the way the Chargers played yesterday, they don’t have a shot of representing the AFC in the Super Bowl. The Patriots, and yes, the Colts looked astoundingly better than San Diego. Granted, that Chicago defense probably played a large role, so we’ll see how the Chargers fare in the coming weeks.

The Fynal Out: Buh-bye first

Many, including us, were fooled by the Chicago Cubs.

They actually made us believe they had what it takes this year.

They weren’t only going to win their division, they were going to represent the National League in the World Series!

Sights were aimed high.

But, reality has set in lately.

The Cubbies managed to go to Pittsburgh and lose not a game, but an entire series to the struggling Pirates.

All this while the Brewers were in Cincinnati winning their bout with the Reds.

Now a game out of first, the Cubs welcome the hated St. Louis Cardinals to Chicago this week, a crucial series for both teams.

Cubs 5, Pirates 10: Steve Trachsel has gotten off to a rough start in his Cubs re-debut. Yesterday, he was lit up for 6 runs in the 2nd inning, 3 coming off a Freddy Sanchez triple. That is all. The Cubs lost a series in Pittsburgh.

Brewers 10, Reds 5: On the other side of that N.L. Central race is Milwaukee, a team that made a bit of history in Cincy by becoming the first team to start a road game with 3 straight home runs. Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun were involved in the feat that help the Brew Crew jump to the division lead.

Cardinals 5, Diamondbacks 6: We’ll just go all-N.L. Central today. The Cardinals, failing to hold up their end of the “race,” proceeded to get swept out of Arizona, dropping their second 1-run game in the series last night. Rick Ankiel’s HGH allegations seemed to have killed the St. Louis momentum — the team has now dropped 3 straight.

More scores…