Say it isn't so

As usual I spent Labor Day consulting my crystal ball, CB2, to obtain its official forecast for the NFL season. And after it churned out the 2025 forecast having the Green Bay Packers winning the Super Bowl, well, my first thought was the words being used as the title of this post. No, that's not accurate. "Say it isn't so" was my second thought. The very first thing that came to mind was "ugh!" (I'm a Bears fan.) And then after a brief pause my third thought was that this is going to be one time I won't be hoping my crystal ball is right. Just to be sure I offered CB2 a chance for a retraction, but instead it reiterated not to put your money on a rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 60. Because for this year, at least, Green Bay will be living up to its moniker as Titletown.

BUST

The conclusion of Super Bowl 59 nearly 7 months ago actually had my thoughts turning to ..... baseball? Huh? The end of the game, I thought, needed to be punctuated by the phrase familiar to fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates, uttered by their former longtime announcer Lanny Frattare. Whether the game was a blowout or the outcome wasn't decided until the final pitch, after victory by the Pirates was secured Frattare would proclaim, "... and there was no doubt about it!" Well, after time expired in SB 59 a tape of Frattare's famous phrase would have been appropriate on the Fox telecast. Because there was no doubt - absolutely no doubt - about it after the Philadelphia Eagles were done stomping and romping all over the Kansas City Chiefs to pick up the franchise's 2nd Super Bowl victory ever and 5th NFL championship overall.

History Making

Can you truly be described as "going out on a limb" when the team you're picking to win the Super Bowl has won 3 of the last 5 Super Bowls, is the betting favorite to win another one this season, and has arguably the best quarterback and best coach in the league? That hardly sounds like going out on a limb to me. Putting your money on the favorite? That's about as safe as it gets in betting. But in this case my crystal ball, aka CB2, really is going out on that limb in its forecast for the 2024 season .... because in this case CB2 is predicting something that has never been done before.

The confetti had barely stopped falling at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas 7 months ago, after the Kansas City Chiefs had just become the NFL's first repeat champion in 19 years with their thrilling 25-22 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58, when thoughts began to turn to the most obvious question: Can the Chiefs do it again? Can they become the first team ever to win 3 Super Bowls in a row?

Close Only Counts .....

How does that old saying go? Right. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Or something like that. Maybe it counts in curling and darts too. But close certainly does not count for anything in the NFL. Being close in the NFL means nothing but frustration and disappointment for teams and a whole lot of heartbreak and heartburn for their fans. Just ask the San Francisco 49ers.

Once upon a time the Buffalo Bills were the NFL's poster child for coming close. You can't get much closer than losing the Super Bowl .... 4 years in a row. But that was a long time ago. And although the Bills still give their fans plenty of heartbreak nowadays, you'd have to say there's a new sheriff in town when it comes to disappointing endings. And that sheriff's name is, of course, the 49ers.

2022 NFL House Calls - Part 1

Another NFL season has already come and gone, and yet another is about to begin; and having watched and enjoyed many of the games of the 2023 season but not yet viewed a box score/game book from any of them, I have no idea how many touchdowns were scored by players with dreads and who scored them. I could only guess. But I most certainly can tell you which player with dreads had the most TD during the 2022 season. Hint: you're looking right at him. 

After the scoring free-for-all that was the 2020 season, the defense struck back the next 2 years. Even with 16 more games played in 2021 (with the change from a 16 to 17-game schedule) the total number of touchdowns leaguewide dropped by 50 - from a most-ever 1473 in 2020 to 1423. And then in 2022 the total plunged all the way down to 1315 - the fewest in a season since 2017. Despite that plunge the percentage of touchdowns scored by players with dreads remained above 20% for the 2nd straight season. 272 touchdowns were scored by players with dreads in 2022, with that number equaling 20.7% of all touchdowns scored - not too big of a drop from 21.1% in 2021. 78 different players accounted for the 272 TD, numbers lower than the 82 players and record 300 TD in 2021.

Gold Touch

Ah, yes. The beginning of September, one of my favorite times of the year. Not only does it mean it's the start of another football season, it also means I get to dust off the old crystal ball and see what kind of nonsense it is spewing out in its annual NFL forecast. Well, most of the time it has been nonsense. But just like that blind squirrel, my crystal balls - CB and CB2, for short - actually attain that moment of success every now and then. Not once or twice but three times in the last 15 NFL seasons they actually have correctly picked the winner of the Super Bowl. CB got the Saints right in 2009 and the Ravens in 2012. And after I retired CB at the end of the 2015 season, CB2 has gotten the winner right one time in its 7 forecasts, that being the Chiefs in 2019.

Our Cup Runneth Over

Has there ever been a better time than now to be a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs? Well, any longtime follower of the team (and having been a follower/fan since the mid-1980's I think I qualify as longtime) will tell you the answer to question is very simple: NO! Of course not. The Chiefs have enjoyed their share of regular season success over the past 30 years - several seasons during the Coach Schottenheimer era, one season in particular during the Coach Vermeil era, and several more during the first part of the Coach Reid era. But postseason success? That was elusive, to say the least. Between 1990 and 2017 the Chiefs went a not-very-stellar and often head-scratching 4-14 in playoff games, concluding with that horrible game in the 2017 wild card round, when they blew a 21-3 halftime lead and lost at home to the Tennessee Titans 22-21.

But ever since then Chiefs fans have had smiles on their faces almost continuously for the past 5 years. After going 50 years without a championship, the Chiefs have won 2 of the last 4 Super Bowls, the latest coming 6 months ago with their thrilling 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57 to finish the 2022 season.

MLB '23 with Dreads - Part 1

So, what's up in the MLB in 2023? I mean dreads-wise, of course. Well, if you've been paying attention, surely you already know that things are a far cry now from where they were when I started this blog nearly 15 years ago. Long gone are the days when you only needed the fingers on your hands to count the number of players with dreads on MLB rosters. Long gone is the time where the only dreads worth seeing were wherever the Pittsburgh Pirates were playing - until Andrew McCutchen cut his dreads off, that is - or on the one day out of every five that Johnny Cueto was pitching for the Cincinnati Reds. Today, on every given night, in more games than not, you'll be able to see at least one player with dreads in action. No, there hasn't been (and won't likely ever be) an explosion in the number of baseball players with dreads like there has been in football; but there are enough that I here now (finally) can introduce a full, 26-man team consisting entirely of players with dreads. 

MLB '23 with Dreads - Part 2

The much anticipated major league debut of Elly De La Cruz couldn't come soon enough for Cincinnati Reds fans (not to mention De La Cruz himself) but come it finally did on the evening of June 6, 2023; and, as far as debuts go, well - it could have gone better. I mean, after being welcomed to Cincinnati with a standing ovation before his first plate appearance (photo on right) and reaching base 3 straight times on 2 walks and a double, the 21-year old slugger/speedster actually was retired on his last 2 trips to the plate. But that's O.K. Nobody's perfect. Imperfection notwithstanding, yet another ho-hum baseball season for Reds fans suddenly has become really interesting in a hurry. Not only has Elly done nothing but live up to his billing as one of baseball's best and most exciting prospects, his arrival has sparked the Reds in a major way. In fact the Reds have been so successful since Elly came aboard that if they're not careful, they're going to have their fans worried about having enough money for playoff tickets.

But wait. Part 2 of our look at dreads in the MLB this year isn't all about Elly De La Cruz. So, in addition to him let's take a look at some 34 other MLB players with dreads in all at work and at play in this dread gallery - featuring photos mostly from the first 2 months of the 2023 season.

2021 NFL House Calls

For every NFL season - except for one - between 2013 and 2020 a player with dreads led the league in touchdowns scored. Familiar names like Todd Gurley, Alvin Kamara, Aaron Jones, Marshawn Lynch, and Jamaal Charles were among those at the very top of the lists during that 8-year span. And even during the one exception a player with dreads finished in 2nd place (LeGarrette Blount in 2016). Going back even further, during each and every season - without exception - since Edgerrin James finished in 4th place in touchdowns in 2005 there has been at least one player with dreads in the top 10 in the league in TD scored. Sadly, and shockingly, that 16-year streak came to an end in 2021.

Last season indeed was a strange one for the league's dreadheads when it came to touchdowns. While none of them were among the league leaders, they still managed to make more house calls than ever before.

There was a tie for the player with dreads with the most touchdowns in 2021. No surprise that Packers WR Davante Adams (top photo on right, finishing off his 38-yard catch and run for a TD against the Bears in Week 14) was one of them. But the other one? I'm not even going to ask for a show of hands because I know when the season began nobody had Cordarrelle Patterson scoring the most TD among players with dreads. The 11 scored by Patterson (including his 7-yard reception against the Buccaneers in Week 2 in bottom photo on right) in his first season with the Falcons and by Adams in what turned out to be his final season with the Packers was the lowest leading total for a player with dreads since James scored 9 in 2004. And the 11 weren't enough for a top 10 finish in the league, as 11 players without dreads scored 12 or more TD.

Bills Due

I guess it's too late for a spoiler alert. Sorry about that. So, now that you've seen the title of this post, you already know which team my crystal ball is predicting will rule the NFL during the 2022 season. No need to read any further. But if you must, go ahead and keep on reading anyway.

It's always dicey when your pick to win the Super Bowl is a team that has never won the Super Bowl. But this time it just makes too much sense; and I'm sure my crystal ball, aka CB2, isn't the only one that thinks it's a no brainer that the Buffalo Bills will be the team celebrating underneath the confetti shower following Super Bowl 57, to be played 5 months from now on the home field of the Arizona Cardinals.

Rambunctious

"What the hell's going on out here?!"

Coach Lombardi screamed it so eloquently all those years ago during one of those rare times when things weren't going the Packers' way. And today I'm the one screaming it, because something has gone amiss in the NFL over the past few seasons. I mean, whatever happened to the NFL I used to know? Certain things that used to be sure things aren't anymore. I'm talking about three things in particular that, before each season started, were given. Automatic. No matter what you knew you could depend on them to come through for you. But not anymore. Tom Brady-led teams took a hatchet to two of them.