The Steelers and Patriots opened the season Thursday night, but the NFL comes out of the gate with a full field on Sunday.
SUNDAY'S KICK: It's at 4:25 Cincinnati time at O.co Coliseum. It's the old Oakland Coliseum with the strange name.
WHAT THE HECK IS O.CO: My understanding is that it's the marketing name for Overstock.com
HISTORY: It's the site where the Reds won games three and four of the 1990 World Series, exactly 25 Octobers ago.
ANCIENT HISTORY: It's also where games three, four and five of the 1972 World Series were played between the Reds and the A's. Cincinnati won game 3, but Oakland won the next two. The A's then won the Series in Cincinnati.
UNIQUE: It's the last multi-purpose stadium in the NFL, shared by both the NFL Raiders and the MLB Athletics. That means we'll see the baseball infield come into play Sunday.
BIG MAN: Oakland buzzes about Friday's signing of linebacker Aldon Smith, who was cut by the 49er's after three brushes with DUI charges. He's a force if he plays, and we'll be watching Sunday morning to see if the NFL yanks him out for his missteps.
WALK IN THE PARK: I found a walking trail not far from the hotel and did a few miles this afternoon. It was very pleasant. The temperatures here had been over 100 degrees for five straight days, but it dropped back to the tolerable 80's Saturday. I'm told it's cooler in Oakland which is about 20 miles away. They're expecting it to be in the mid 70's with only a slight chance of rain.
MUST-SEE VIDEO: I shot a short video of my walk. I'll let one of our talented web team people attach it to this story.
STEPPING OUT: There's a small shopping area with a few stores and restaurants not far from the hotel. I saw several Bengals out walking there today. The players did a walk-thru at the Coliseum late this morning and then had some time to themselves before some short meetings tonight
OUCH! I had hoped the UC defense improved after getting pummeled in the early season of 2014. Watching Temple explode in the second half indicates it has a long way to go. And Blair Kiel turnovers didn't help the situation at all. It just pushed it out of control.
JUST BUSINESS: I ran into one of the leaders of our company when I was coming back from dinner tonight. He asked what I did today. I told him what any smart employee would say "I worked most of the day." That's what any boss wants to hear. He doesn't want me to say that I was out drinking and chasing women and spending company money. Which of course, I wasn't.
Hope your Saturday was great.
Popo
