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Wednesday
April 15 2026
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PREVIOUS SPORTS
• Sideline: Yes, Non–Conference Games DO Count
• NCAA Preview 2009
• Sideline: Time For The Talking To Stop
• Sideline: In Memory of Air McNair
• Sideline: Will Goodell Hand Out Hard Time?
• Sideline: Marshall's Not Joshing
• NFL Draft: No Rush To Judgment
• NFL Draft Analysis 2009 (Part 2)
• Sideline: NFL Draft Thoughts (Part 2)
• Sideline: NFL Draft Thoughts
• Sideline: Will Play For Food
• Sideline: Wonderlic Scores
• Sideline: Manning and Sanchez
• Sideline: 2010 Leagues Sci–fi, or Fantasy? / March Madness
• Sideline: Break Out The Brackets
• Sideline: LaDainian Tomlinson On The Record
• Sideline: The Incredible Sulk Continues
• Sideline: Guildford Heat Fired Up
• Sideline: Super Bowl thoughts from the Valley of the Sun
• Sideline: I know I came in here for something
• Sideline: College Football National Signing Day
• Sideline: 27 Points — 27 Super Bowl thoughts
• Sideline: An Epic QB Matchup?
• Sideline: Appreciating Arizona for What They Were
• Sideline: NFL Divisional Weekend Preview
• Sideline: Bowl Season Hangover
• Sideline: Six weeks Later
• Sideline: Wildcard Weekend Preview
• Sideline: Santa's Sackings
• Sideline: A Weis Decision ...for Now
• Sideline: Eye on the Ticker
• Sideline: Lions — An Anagram of Losin
• Sideline: Ready for the Turkey
• Sideline: Making it to the Big Dance
• Sideline: Brighter Days Ahead for Chargers?
• Sideline: Unnecessary Hits To The Pocket / Upset: BYU
• Sideline: Romo's Pause / Seattle Seahawks
• Sideline: Weekend Prep: Red River and More
• Sideline: College Football's 'Crossroads' Weekend
• Sideline: Gramatical Error
• Sideline: Turning The Page
• Sideline: So Cal 'Quizzed
• Sideline: 3rd Tuesday Panic / Forté Yard Dash
• Sideline: Two and Oh; Oh and Two
• Sideline: No More NCAAffeine
• Sideline: Week 1 College Football
• Sideline: How To Spell Heisman / Chad Ocho Cinco
• Sideline: A Second Slice
• Sideline: The Favre story STILL won't go away
• Sideline: Olympic Notes / Ricky's Still Relevant
• Sideline: Committee Meetings
• Sideline: Let the QB Battles Begin
• Sideline: Slinging The Slinger — More Favre
• Interview: Clint Dempsey
• Sideline: Welcome to the 2008 season
• Sideline: Plus One
• 2008 NFL Draft Review
• Sideline: Draft: The Morning After
• Sideline: Draft: Thinking the Unthinkable
• Sideline: Draft: Ready For The Long Haul
• Sideline: Sofa–bound Sport
• Sideline: Post–Winter Wonderland
• Sideline: Six Impossible Things
• Sideline: Brady's Misdirection Play
• Sideline: Colorful Language
• Sideline: Let the Romo–bashing begin
• Sideline: Bowl Bites: The Wrap
• Sideline: All About The Coaches
• Sideline: Bowl Bites 3
• Sideline: Bowl Bites 2
• Sideline: Bowl Bites 1
• Sideline: Coach Situations Vacant
• Sideline: For Some, The Playoffs Are Now
• Sideline: A Certain Lack Of Welcome
• Sideline: Unrelated Notes
• Sideline: Two Thanksgiving thoughts
• Sideline: Halftime: NFC
• Sideline: Halftime: AFC
• Sideline: London / A Tale of Two Chads / Intimidation
• Sideline: Damp Squib / Other London Notes
• Sideline: Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em / Dolphins – The Aftermath
• Sideline: The Dolphins Did What?
• Sideline: Notes on the Defenses
• Sideline: Habits to be Broken
• Sideline: Overtime
• Sideline: This Week's Starters
• Sideline: USF: Covering The Spread / Fantastic Football
• Sideline: Grossman: The Final Act? / McNabb, the Epilogue
• Sideline: Eagles QB in Slight Controversy
• Sideline: Leftwich's Parting Gift / Boos cruise
• Sideline: Notre Dame M.I.A.
• Sideline: Looking Beyond NFL Wk. 1
• Sideline: Best Hope For Heisman
• Sideline: Coaching Hot Seats / AP Poll Feeling ’Appy
• Sideline: The NFL’s Prime Cuts
• Sideline: Michigan Falls to Killer Apps
• Sideline: Look Out Couch / The Taint's On You, Bud
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SPORTS
SIDELINE
Observations, Opinion & Occasional Silliness by Richard L Gale
LOOKING BEYOND NFL WEEK 1
After so much offseason, I found myself
unusually distracted during the NFL's opening Sunday. Women's World
Cup, Men's International Soccer, Rugby World Cup, Formula One Racing,
NCAA football, and the small matter of the US Open Tennis finals
conspired to turn the NFL into a series of impressions rather than
the sense–drowning experience the offseason had promised.
There was Justine Henin, landing the US
Open title after a blistering run in which she had to defeat both
Williams sisters in front of their home crowd before dismissing
Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–1 6–3 in the final. There was Roger Federer,
claiming his 12th Grand Slam title in a tight battle with Novak
Djokovic that displayed exactly what kind of mettle this great for
the ages is made of. And there was Lewis Hamilton, the rookie F1
driver, clinging to his championship lead against defending champion
and (fiercely rivalous team–mate) Fernando Alonso.
As normal life does go on in our household,
watching all of these sports is sometimes reduced to a single Sunday
of replays, recordings, and channel–hops, devolving at times into a
montage of blipverts. Rest assured though, the NFL underpinned it all
(if you haven't guessed by now, this is predominantly a football
column).
And my conclusions from the first week of
the NFL are... that it IS too early for conclusions. There weren't
any wins and losses in strange places, merely points and margins that
call for closer scrutiny by fantasy football fans. Take these notes
and log them, but weeks 2–4 will give them context:
– QBs answering doubters: Tony Romo had 5
TDs, Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning four apiece.
– Contenders looking the part: New England
and Indianapolis will keep this rivalry going for a year yet.
– Predictable story lines: Tom Brady looked
sharp, Rex Grossman stunk, Chad Pennington broke.
Here's the 'context' games for week 2:
Houston at Carolina: One of these middling
teams could break out of the pack. It would have been a spicier sell
if David Carr were the starter for Carolina, but with victories in
week one and divisional opponents in week 3, this makes for a nice
sandwich game. Somebody will go 2–0, and with troubled Atlanta in the
sights of Carolina in week 3 and Houston in week 4, a win here will
be worth a lot to momentum.
San Diego at New England: If San Diego beat
New England, they've already beaten two of the popular Superbowl
picks – yuh, we heard that one already. But that would probably
involve an excellent game from Philip Rivers and a major step forward
from a receiving corps that has to establish more than Antonio Gates
and LT out of the backfield, if it is to have the tools for playoff
progress.
Dallas at Miami: Wade Phillips didn't
deliver on the idea that his more aggressive defense would work, but
the Cowboys did put up 45 points last week (including 5 TDs from the
QB who's warming my fantasy bench, dagnabbit!). Miami shouldn't
provide an upset for the Cowboys, but the Dolphins defense may
provide a down–to–earth moment for Dallas' offense, as well as a
snack–worthy backfield for the Cowboys' blitz.
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