the 4th star

Is it too early to be thinking about the National Football League? No way, Jose. The season is ready for take-off, and my tray table is in its secure and upright position. So, in the spirit of looking ahead to things that really don’t matter in a big picture sense, let’s take some time this week, away from the patio and laughing at those with green Bud Lights on their table, to consider each of the NFL divisions — what happened last year and what will (probably) shake down once the snaps are for real and the volume of the television analysis increases:

AFC WEST

2008 regular season standings:

San Diego Chargers (8-8)
Denver Broncos (8-8)
Oakland Raiders (5-11)
Kansas City Chiefs (2-14)

Despite the .500 record, the Chargers were in the post season dance as the division champs. Amazingly, a four-game win streak to close out the season helped them get in. A playoff win against Indianapolis was followed up with a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the AFC West stench was removed from the NFL for another year.

Outlook for 2009:

San Diego Chargers (10-6)
Kansas City Chiefs (6-10)
Oakland Raiders (5-11)
Denver Broncos (3-13)

If the Chargers don’t wrap up a division title by Week 12 it will be an embarrassment. Six games against division foes = six wins, so all they need is to find four others out of the remaining 10. Should be no problem for another division title. One question: When does LT go down with a toe injury? I would say the pre-season, but we all know he doesn’t play in the pre-season. A two-win Kansas City club should be better with Matt Cassel under centre and a middling Oakland outfit will continue to be a middling Oakland outfit, but the real story of the AFC West will be the Broncos. From the Jay Cutler experience to the continuing Brandon Marshall mess, what is the over/under on Josh McDaniels in his first season? Has a rookie head coach ever come into a new situation and completely mishandled things like this before? I mean, outside of the Winnipeg city limits, of course. Barring a miracle, can’t see McDaniels lasting more than a year in Colorado.

Consuming four beers into the first 20 minutes of the game certainly makes the Winnipeg Blue Bombers a fun outfit to watch, but it does little to change reality.

I looked it up after the game with Calgary last night. The Canadian Football League does not award any points for moral victories or working hard. Showing grit? Turns out that is just a part of football and the league holds no statistical measure in the standings for that character trait.

A third of the way into the season, Winnipeg is 2-4 and tied with Toronto for last in the East Division. Next up, mighty Montreal — a team that should be 6-0 and looking for hotels in Calgary for late November.

Moral victories will be the theme of this week, no doubt, and there are some positives to pull out of the game with the Stamps. Running back Fred Reid dominated the second half, breaking long run after long run on a disinterested Calgary defence. Is it a Stamps team policy to miss three tackles before finally taking a player down? Much will be made about the Bombers return to the running game, with some accolades handed out to the offensive line for pushing around a home side that seemed to think the game was over in the second half.

The Blue defence will certainly get some props for keeping the team’s collective head above the surface through a dreadful first 30 minutes. They were out there for 20 of those, holding the Stamps to a manageable 20-point lead. Damon Allen? Michael Bishop? He might even get some love for his ability to take a pounding — even if he knocked himself out by running into one of his own guys, fumbled the ball, and saw the resulting turnover account for the bulk of the point differential.

No problem, though. Moral victories don’t need a scoreboard. Besides, the Bombers covered the 14 and a half point spread. And yet another victory which doesn’t count in the standings.

The infuriating part of all this for Winnipeg fans has to be that if there was ever a CFL season that was right for the taking, it would be this one. Outside of Montreal, there is no decent or consistent operation out there. The league is terrible this year, meaning any club that can get on a roll at the end of the schedule has a real chance to win it all. Can the Bombers be one of those teams? Of course, but most knowledgeable fans aren’t in the business of blind faith. Eventually professional sport measures itself as a results-based industry, not one built on empty promises and moral victories.

Did you get a chance to hear head coach Mike Kelly and the handful of players on the post game show? They sounded almost giddy with the way they played in the second half, tempering their enthusiasm with old favourites of working hard, not giving up, and having to be better.

Eighty-two yards in the first half? Not ready to play at the opening kick-off? Let’s not talk about that. Those were only the contributing factors on WHY the game WAS LOST.

As I listened to Kelly joke about how the call-in show should be a little more friendly this week (ed note: doubt it), I revisited a column in Saturday’s paper, as the lines at the end of it re-entered my thoughts for some strange reason.

Besides, the only way to change perception is action. Would covering an embarrassing spread, at the very least, be a decent start? You bet.

That’s what it’s come to. Staying positive through glacier-like progress. Opening the window and seeing the rain fall but smiling because there’s no tornado in sight. Satisfying the frustrated faithful with occasional hope, hard work, and moral victories.

The very least, indeed.