Quarterly Review: Don’t Miss TV

I’m pretty sure I’ve used the Bueller quote in this forum before, the one about taking a minute to smell the roses, but Matthew Broderick’s mantra has stood the test of time, or at least the last 20 years, and once again proves to be a valuable pop culture reference in the sports blogoshpere. (Can you believe it’s been 21 years since we saved Ferris?) In any case, whether it’s your senior year of high school or the start of the NFL season, it’s important that we heed his advice and take a moment to stop and look around. And after four games and a full month of football, here are ten things I think you may have missed:

1) A Baltimore Ravens wide receiver has the second most receptions of anyone in the league. Derrick Mason has amassed 33 receptions over the first quarter of competition, tying him with Antonio Gates for second place behind the Bengals T.J. Houshmandzadeh (39).

2) A Baltimore Ravens running back ranks in the top ten in the league in rushing yards. Willis McGahee sits in seventh place thus far this season with 375 yards, ironically just 5 yards ahead of our former feathered friend, Jamal Lewis (8th, 371).

3) The Office is back with four straight weeks of one-hour episodes, staring with last week’s “Fun Run”. Despite the brilliant writing and Emmy award winning acting, I have to say that one of the best aspects of the show is the swag it produces. Less than a week after Dwight debuted his new duds, you can now pick from 52 different “Schrute Farms Beets” products for your own Rabies Run.

4) Brett Favre is 37. Tony Romo is 27. And age doesn’t mean a thing as both are tearing up the National Conference. Considering the fact that the two teams that made it to the NFC Championship game last year are a combined 1-6, it’s a good bet that these gunslingers will have a showdown next January. (Okay, I know this one isn’t a secret since Chris Berman declared that “Rooting for Brett Favre is like rooting for America” and the Cowboys are America’s Team, but they are dominating their divisions at this point, which makes it pointless to talk about most of the other teams on that side of the ledger.)

6) .Devin Hester has already returned TWO kicks for a touchdown. Maybe teams took Spygate to heart and threw out ALL their tapes, but how does anyone kick to this guy?

7) Donovan McNabb is a big fan of Ryan Howard. Besides the fact that an unidentified man showed up at an Eagles game wearing a Ryan Howard Eagles jersey (it said R.Howard #6) the success of the new Sultan of South Philly has taken the heat off D-Nabb for at least a week or two. The same cant be said for the Broncos, as the regular season finale for the Rockies on Sunday attracted just one quarter of the audience garnered by the Colts-Broncos game, which Denver lost to fall to 2-2.

8) Prison Break is back for its third season (yes, somehow they were able to make it to a third year despite the premise of the show pretty much running its course in season 1). Surprisingly, Scofield and Co. have picked up some steam in the first two episodes, however, not as surprisingly is the fact that it took a return to prison to provide the drama.

9A) Fantasy Footballers are depressed. Larry Johnson and Stephen Jackson have combined for 0 rushing touchdowns (Sammy Morris has 3!). Drew Brees and Marc Bulger have combined to throw 3 touchdowns (Derek Anderson has 9!). Laurence Maroney has 0 catches. Reggie Bush has rushed for 80 yards TOTAL, tying him for 52nd in that category with Jason Campbell of the Redskins, yes, their quarterback. Sorry if I sound bitter, BushMaroney’07 may need some new names on the ticket real soon.

9B) Fantasy Footballers are delighted. Kevin Curtis put up 200 yards against the Lions. Wes Welker is on pace for more than 90 receptions. Jon Kitna is going to throw for 4,000 yards. Tom Brady has hit Randy Moss for 7 touchdowns – I think Chad Johnson should have handed that HOF jacket over to Moss on Monday night, it seems like he’ll actually need it. The Giants Defense recorded 12 sacks against the Eagles. And how about Duante Culpepper pulling a Tim Tebow and rushing for 3 touchdowns, while throwing for 2 more on just 12 passes in a Raider victory at Miami.

10) The Ravens are 2-2. Not 1-3. Not 0-4. And yes, if you want to be inclusive, we’re not 3-1 or 4-0 either. But only three teams in the entire AFC have 3 wins or more, and the Ravens have a better record than both the Chargers and Bengals right now. The point is that four games does not a season make and if fans stay focused on the final record or the looming triple header following Thanksgiving, you might miss some really good football in between. Or at least some really good television from Scranton and coming soon, from Utica, NY. Either way, there’s some must see TV coming this fall, don’t miss it.