The NFL is back, the MLB is in the middle of the pennant race (although my Red Sox have a 1.7 % shot at making the playoffs after tonight's win against the Rays) and the Premiership is in week 3.
This is truly the time of year when the sports fan needs more than 24 hours in the day. At least if he or she wants a decent nights sleep and a semblance of a social life.
Shockingly one NFL pundit has my beloved 49ers as the Super Bowl XLV (is that a shirt size?) winner in Arlington. I'm not sure I'll go that far, but the NFC West should be theirs for the taking.
As usual, the Niners fortunes rests on the shoulders of the QB. Alas, a team spoiled with not one, but two HOF QBs in the last 20 years now has to rely upon the last chance saloon member Alex Smith.
Yes, Smith played in an offence at Utah that highlighted his skills and diminished his flaws, but I am one of the few supporters around, or at least that's what it seems. When he replaced Shaun Hill in week 7 last season it brought a new dimension to the Niner offense. Obviously Hill's strenghts did not include a rocket arm, but his intangibles allowed opposing defenses to put 8 in the box and dare Frank Gore to run against them. With Smith, Vernon Davis and Crabtree they have to balance out the defense and protect against the deeper pass.
With a much improved o-line, stability with the offensive co-ordinator (Smith went through 4 in his first three seasons in the Bay Area) and one of the better supporting casts around plus a defense led by Patrick Willis the Niners might cause a few upsets this year.
The Seahawks are aging and under new leadership in Pete Carrol, the Cardinals lost not only Kurt Warner but also Anquan Boldin (welcome to triple coverage Fitzgerald!) and the Rams are....well, the Rams. Bradford will help them, but not this year.
Super Bowl champions might be a stretch and the road to Arlington clearly will go through Green Bay or New Orleans. An injury to Brees or Rodgers and the picture changes markedly....
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For years I've been complaining about the standard of refereeing in the Premiership (and in this years WOrld Cup!), but sadly the MLB is doing its best to catch up. CB Bucknor in last years ALDS, Joe West's need to be centre stage, a myriad of minor league call ups who struggle and finally one of the worst umpires of all time, Bob Davidson. Although I'll freely admit that my 7+ years of following baseball pales in significance with many fans, at least I can say that I have rarely seen a more arrogant, obstinate and incompetent umpire than Davidson.
Jim Joyce robbed the Tigers Galarraga of a perfect game earlier in the season when he blew an obvious call at first base. What did Joyce, who is considered one of the best, if not the best umpire in the league do? He almost broke down when he realised his mistake.
Davidson ruled a ball fair ball foul that lost a game for the Marlins, and in the process of backing his call changed the rules of physics. Video replay show that the ball bounced fair approx 3 feet in front of the third base bag and again bounced fair another 3-4 feet past the bag. What did he do? He went the other way from Joyce and said after the game:
I was right on top of it and it was wide of the bag, that's all. I had it foul," Davidson said. "In my opinion, where it goes over the bag, you can't tell. After a bounce, it came an inch or two on the fair side, but ... it was very close. But I'm right there. I know what I saw.
So the ball is fair, then in mid air shifts 3 inches into foul, passes the bag foul and then curves back to land fair? Both Barry Zito and Albert Einstein would have been impressed with those physics...
You can see for yourself here:
"Balking Bob" (for the frequent balks that only he sees) is down right horrible and if the MLB had any guts they would kick him out now.
After being ejected by Davidson in a 1993 game, Philadelphia catcher Darren Daulton said of the ump: "He's one of those impact umpires. In my opinion the game was on ESPN and he couldn't wait to suit up and make an impact. He's one of those guys where you go into his house, there's lots of pictures of himself and none of his family."
I think that pretty much sums it up. When I took my umpire certification the instructor told us: "The best umpires are the ones nobody remembers". I suspect Davidson and Joe West never heard that.
As a counter point, Ed Hochuli, voted as the best referee in the NFL, famously blew a call in a 2008 game between the Chargers and Broncos when he ruled a fumble by Jay Cutler an incomplete pass, which ended up costing the Chargers the game.
Hochuli responded to the situation, writing,
Affecting the outcome of a game is a devastating feeling. Officials strive for perfection – I failed miserably.
Apparently he also replied personally to each of the myriad of complaints he received from aggreived fans.
If a player or a coach screws up, he'll possibly find himself in the minors or fired. If a MLB umpire screws up, he'll just ump the next game as if nothing happened. There needs to be some accountability among the men in black too...
Of course now we'll just wait for the next blown call in the Premiership and start the whining again....
Divorce is never an easy "out", regardless of the alternatives. Whether it's in our personal life or a divorce of less intimate proportions, a departure will always create a gap. 
