The fall always makes for an exciting sports season, and with
the 2007-2008 school year kicking off this week many are looking
ahead to the re-ignition of prep-sports, college and professional
football, and playoff baseball.
The fall always makes for an exciting sports season, and with the 2007-2008 school year kicking off this week many are looking ahead to the re-ignition of prep-sports, college and professional football, and playoff baseball.
Starting with the latter, we A’s and Giants fans won’t have much to look forward to as both teams sit at the bottom of their respective divisions.
As of Monday morning the A’s are 11.5 games behind the first place Angels in the American League West division, while the Giants begrudgingly linger 17.5 games out of first place in the National League West division. Sitting significantly low in their division the Giants own the second worst record in the National League at 52-70.
These standings aren’t very comforting to Bay Area baseball fans, however the Barry Bonds home run hype will overshadow any playoff run either team might have going into the last months of the season.
Professional football in the Bay Area is already making the front pages with a young but steadily maturing 49ers team, and a controversial quarterback situation in Oakland.
San Francisco hopes to continue building upon their quasi-successful 7-9 2006 season behind third-year quarterback Alex Smith and freak of nature tight end Vernon Davis. In a rare trade between division opponents the Niners acquired veteran wide receiver Darrell Jackson from the Seattle Seahawks on draft day, strengthening their receiving core.
While he might be sitting out the pre-season with a broken hand, no one is forgetting about Frank Gore’s prolific performances.
The third-year pro from Miami rewrote almost all of the 49ers rushing marks, setting a franchise record with 2,180 combined yards, and breaking Garrison Hearst’s 1998 single season record of 2,105 total yards.
The team added several defensive playmakers from free agency in defensive tackle Aubrayo Franklin (Baltimore), linebacker Tully Banta-Cain (New England), cornerback Nate Clements (Buffalo), and safety Michael Lewis (Philadelphia).
The Niners also used six of their nine draft selections on defensive players.
Guys to look out for on defense include linebackers Patrick Willis (Mississippi) and Jay Moore (Nebraska), defensive end Ray McDonald (Florida), and tackle Joe Coehn (Florida).
San Francisco’s East Bay and AFC counterpart, the Oakland Raiders, are coming off an embarrassing 2-14 season, needing to improve to stay relevant.
The team already has run into problems in the 2007 season with the refusal of the No. 1 overall draft pick, quarterback JaMarcus Russell, to sign a contract.
Demanding a contract that will guarantee him close to $30 million, Russell would be the highest-paid rookie in NFL history and the highest paid Raider on their roster, all before taking his first snap on the field. As he sits in his Oakland home waiting on Raiders’ owner Al Davis to sign the bank-buster contract, he has also become the first No. 1 overall pick to miss all of training camp since Rams tackle Orlando Pace in 1997.
Oakland’s front office and Russell could sit down, negotiate, and hammer out a contract, but neither side seems willing to budge.
In the meantime Oakland picked up veteran QB Dante Culpepper with the hopes he can lead the charge out of last place, and eventually help mold the stubborn Russell.
With cross country, girls field hockey, football, girls tennis, water polo, and girls volleyball slated for action in less than two weeks, students at both Live Oak and Sobrato High Schools are abuzz with fall sports talk.
Keep an eye on the Morgan Hill Times for coverage of prep sports starting with a football preview insert before the season’s first kickoff.
The Friday night lights of the Live Oak football field will shine on Sept. 1 as the Acorns take on Saratoga in the opening game of the 2007 season.
The Times will publish weekly schedules, scores, highlights, game coverage, player profiles and features throughout the year, and attempt to balance coverage on the most important games and stories at both Sobrato and Live Oak.
The Times will have its hands full covering the games and players, so coaches and fans alike are encouraged to help us keep tabs on scores and standings.
Send any updates throughout the season to sports editor Paul Doherty at
pd******@*************es.com
or enter scores, photos, highlights, and quotes at
www.morganhilltimes.com/submitsurvey
