Sounders til I die!

Yet again my Rams had a terrible outing. I was hoping for some points but instead received another shut out straight to my retinas. Indeed my eyes burn.

However, all was not lost this weekend as the Sounders (gasp! Soccer!) went into Columbus and beat the Crew ending a 22 game league unbeaten streak. The Crew has previously won or tied their last 22 league games there and until recently had a non-league win streak as well. Usually this would be an occasion all by itself, but the victory was made particularly sweet by the fact that the Sounders gained a leg up on all their competition for a playoff spot.

I was a casual soccer fan until the Sounders launched their season in Major League Soccer. I enjoyed following the national team and occasionally catching a game on TV here and there of MLS. But when it was announced that the Sounders would be an expansion team for this year, I was stoked. I began following the US Open Cup, in which the USL Sounders lost in the semi final last year. And then there was a crescendo when the opening game hit the air waves. And I’m still at that peak. I’m addicted to soccer. I’ve been watching English Premier, MLS, US national team and admittedly I watched a full game of the Under 20 World Cup.

Maybe this is just a bi-product of the “Summer of Soccer” in which ESPN marketed plenty of soccer matches and we were actually exposed to the sport if we chose to take a look. Maybe my new found hooliganism is a result of the Rams losing 31 of their last 36 games and being shut out twice already this year. It could also be that I am just addicted to the exciting style of soccer that the Sounders play. Whatever the reason, I am hooked.

I used to watch baseball in the summer, because it was on and sporting events were few and far between, unless I wanted to watch the WNBA. But from now on I will be watching the Sounders, and with their recent US Open Cup victory and a chance to win the MLS cup, perhaps they will be a winning team I can cheer for.
Here is to hoping the Sounders become the Evil Empire of MLS

Cheers,

Nate

Bitter

Originally I was going to write about how awful the Rams are, because if I am honest, they will be lucky to win 2 games this year. However, after watching the Cardinals roll over for Indy and seeing the Seahawks and 49ers find a way to lose; I decided instead I would talk about how terrible the NFC West is. Sure, the Cardinals made the Super Bowl last year. The Seahawks would be doing better without injuries. The 49ers were a Favre throw away from remaining undefeated for the season. But as a whole, the Division has only 1 win against non-conference teams.

I know it is only the third week of the season and that there are plenty of games left, but I can’t help wondering what the NFL would do if a division ended up with a losing team as their playoff representative. Before we get all loopy and cry “impossible” we should just take a glance back to last season when San Diego made the playoffs with an 8-8 record. In fact, Arizona, having gone 6-0 in the division, would have qualified for the playoffs with a 7-9 record. The Patriots were already spurned by having to go golfing after posting an impressive 11-5 without Tom Brady. Imagine the outcry had a team with a sub .500 record made the playoffs!

Initially, I had high hopes for teams in the NFC West, but with injuries plaguing the Seahawks, Arizona looking flaky, the Rams just being terrible and San Fran losing Gore, it could be a repeat of last year. While I think that 3 of the 4 teams still have a decent chance of ending with a winning record, it would please me greatly to see a losing team make the playoffs.

Why? Because it would force the NFL to look at their playoff structure. I’ve never understood exactly why every division must have a representative in the playoffs. If a team doesn’t deserve to go, then they shouldn’t go. You might think that what this is all leading to is a proposal of some kind that somehow fixes the playoff system. You’d be wrong. I’m just giddy that I’ve found a reason to cheer against everyone in the NFC West but the Rams.

Since the Rams are going to be horrible for the 3rd straight year in a row, I’ll be cheering for the entire NFC West to continue losing. Here is to the least terrible team in the NFC West making the playoffs!

Cheers,
-Nate

Introduction

Sports Illiteracy is ran by Josh Gaertner and Nate Jensen.Our goal is to talk about sports and ask questions about the current structure in professional and collegiate sports primarily in the United States of America.We reserve the right to delve into the obscure and occasionally the ridiculous.We are not interested in eliminating bias from our views and as such our bias will not be hidden.

Since we are based in Washington State our bias will generally be towards the West Coast, although there will be some variation depending on the sport and league. Comments are encouraged as long as they remain on topic and are not intended to be inflammatory toward any demographic. In addition, attempting to point out that we are idiots, unqualified or any intelligent or non-intelligent name calling indicating we don’t know what we are talking about will not be taken seriously. We know we are not experts. When we get a chance to watch sports, it is mainly on Television or the internet. A good portion of our knowledge will come from box scores and statistics since we do not have the time to watch every single game in every single sport. In other words, we know we are unqualified or we would have named out site Sports Elitists.

In general, our articles will be based purely in speculation and hypothetical scenarios, although we may sometimes delve into the realm of “fact.” Occasionally we may be completely sarcastic, satirical and comical it is up to the reader to decide what to take seriously.
Without further ado, we begin the launch of Sports Illiteracy, enjoy at your own risk.

-Josh and Nate