Here is what I learned this weekend in sports:
Pitchers and Catchers Reporting Day, the most beautiful words in the English language. For those in the frozen midwest, it means the promise of warmer days to come. In the east, it’s an excuse to head to Tampa and Fort Myers to escape the grip of winter. For us in San Diego, it means the dawn of another year of Padres baseball and the eternal optimism that this will be their year.
Pitchers and catchers start reporting TODAY.-- IT'S BASEBALL SEASON! pic.twitter.com/VcRThU40zN
— MLB (@MLB)
February 11, 2019 The Alliance of American Football is legit. Many have asked and speculated on what we would see when the San Diego Fleet and the AAF kicked off their season last weekend. Well, we didn't see a kickoff because the AAF eliminated them from the game, and guess what? I didn't notice, and I bet you didn't either.
It was a better quality game than I expected. I've been a sideline reporter on both the NFL and college football level for years. The one thing you pick up being on the sideline is the speed of the game. Watching on TV, it's hard to pick up, but standing there you see how much faster the game is in the NFL.
From the first play of the game for the Fleet, I picked up right away that the speed of the AAF was better than NCAA football.
Week 1 ✅ #JoinTheAlliance pic.twitter.com/fupQg9Dj1u
— The Alliance (@TheAAF)
February 11, 2019 The way the league got their message out for the first week of games was strong. It set the tone for what the AAF is all about and set the bar for what we can expect.
The AAF is not designed to replace or challenge the NFL. It's a league for players who are on the bubble for NFL rosters or for whatever reason didn't get a shot coming out of college. It's a mixture of players from Power 5 schools and smaller schools you’ve never heard of.
You can see the ability is above par for a typical Saturday afternoon game on ESPN2, but not as consistent as what you’d see on Sunday Night Football. It's a league of underdogs and second chances, and who doesn't like a good comeback story?
Nick Truesdell with an impressive grab, touchdown @aafstallions!#SLvsAZ pic.twitter.com/yL3G2ef4jl
— The Alliance (@TheAAF)
February 11, 2019 The signature play of the first week was a shot the San Diego Fleet's QB Mike Bercovici took. It was a big hit that you saw over and over again. Don't expect that to happen every week. The AAF is stressing player safety because if they become the pipeline to send players to the NFL, they aren't going to want send players that have been beaten up.
The AAF is no joke…(via @TheAAF)pic.twitter.com/1a4EUIv5FO
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport)
February 10, 2019 Topps already out with the BIG Hit card! #AAF @aafcommanders------ pic.twitter.com/mssHc8Q7rP
— The AAF Online (@TheAAFonline)
February 11, 2019 A story is going around that the Pats got some help from their backup QB who noticed some things on tape about the Rams offense, prompting him to dig up TV shows from the time Sean McVay was coaching in Washington, including the terminology.
Teams are notorious for protecting their playbook and trends. Hearing that the Pats got a lift, getting the inside skinny from old footage and TV shows will send a shockwave through the league.
Teams are begged to expose their inner workings for HBO's Hard Knocks. Think of how many teams will line up to be on the show next year - not many. It's like having a webcam on your laptop that might get hacked to show things you don't want anyone else to see.
No, replace the word "MIGHT" with "will get hacked." The day and age of all-access will be challenged now that opposing teams see you are inviting a spy into your camp and he has a camera recording everything.
How exactly did the #Patriots stifle the Rams in Super Bowl LIII?Apparently backup QB Brian Hoyer played a big part: https://t.co/016bmba0ej
— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston)
February 11, 2019
