The Rambling Geek: Death of the NFL

Hey Bleacher Creatures.

Yes, that's a picture of me, and it represents how the next month is going to go, as I anxiously await training camps, preseason, and finally the 2008 NFL regular season.

Until then...I'll drink. It's not as bad as you think, but it is a good alternative to sitting in my apartment and doing nothing.

I know, the title of this article is a little dramatic, but hey, it got your attention. I'm only referring to the month of July, and how most of the NFL players, coaches, and personnel take the greater part of the month off. It makes us diehard followers feel a little abandoned.

I should apologize to Andrew Kneeland and Joe Willet. We were supposed to be doing a series of predictions pieces that would outline each team's entire schedule and eventually give us a final standings prediction for the whole league.

Somewhere between moving across the country, looking for (and landing) a new job, waiting for my furniture to come (never use "California New York Express...they suck), and the general nuances that come with moving into a new apartment...I dropped the ball on following through with the articles.

Now, it's a little late to dub them "Way Too Early". Sorry guys.

That being said, I've come to the conclusion that I'm a geek. While I do love my sports, I'm more of an IT geek than a sports writer.

This doesn't mean I will stop writing for Bleacher Report. All it means is that I have thought of a new way to approach writing my articles here. My pieces will be given the tag "The Rambling Geek", and I will do my best to describe what the column will contain with the rest of the title.

This could prove to be tough, as I plan to include everything from what I learned recently in the world of computers, to movie reviews, to food recipes that are just awesome, to just about anything.

They will all have one common denominator though ... it will always end with sports. You'll see. You might even like it.

Now that I've got that out of the way...

I'd like to "stamp" something right now. (Those of you who listen to ESPN Radio know what I'm talking about)

The Oakland Athletics will win the AL West this season. There, I said it. I've been waiting a long time to put that out in the open, but I think they've finally cured whatever was wrong with their defense in the outfield. The hitting is looking good, even from younger guys like Hannahan and Gonazalez.

Pitching was never really much of a problem, but now that Harden is back and Duchscherer is continuing to pitch out of his mind...These guys have a very good chance to stay with the Angels and make a run at the AL West title come season's end.

September should be a really fun month.

Did I mention that I miss football?

Oh...one more thing. The addition of Derrick Rose will not bring the Bulls to 50 wins. They still need a big-guy in the paint, and they still don't have it. It's great to have a good point guard, but the game plan won't change, and the Eastern Conference obviously has no problem defeating the Bulls under the current plan.

'Til next time....

Chris Radez is a columnist at Bleacher Report, and he is one of the founders of TheScoreBoards Sports Forums. You can reach Chris by commenting on this article, leaving a note on his BR profile page, or by sending him a note at TSB, where he lives under the moniker NEsince92.