Updates and Blogging

OK...so this blog is not being updated frequently enough. I can continue to put my picks up here and still hope that its purpose is met, but right now it is not the dialogue of two voices that I wanted it to be.

I did have to post that Sunday was proof that football is still a game played in the elements. The New England - Chicago game was on opposite of the game I wanted to watch of Cardinals-Broncos but I found myself continually drawn back to that game just to see the play in the heavy snow! It was awesome!

And as to why I wanted to watch that other game - I live in Arizona so have to support the local team - the Cardinals...I think this is part of the code of allegiance for being a fan. Now it is not my top team, as my allegiance is still rooted in where I grew up with the Indianapolis Colts, but the significant time I have now lived in Colorado and Arizona make the Broncos and Cardinals two more teams that I follow and heavily root for.

This brings up my personal rankings of the 32 football teams...and while there are many other factors which play into which way I root on a particular game...this is the balance of "liking" certain clubs in my mind. Of course it's biased, and I know that even with the respect I have for the way that the Patriots prepare and play football, the "team" concept employed there, etc. I still have to greatly dislike them from their traditional rivalry with the Colts. Ditto with the Jets and Dolphins...the old AFC East line-up from my upbringing make some of these teams un-rootable for in the big picture (not a particular game).  One other story of why a certain team is near the bottom of the list.

The one Indianapolis Colts game I got to go to as a birthday present growing up was in the midst of the terrible years. Going with my Dad and Grandpa, we watched the Colts vs. Chargers game in October of 1994, I think it was. Natrone Means was the running back for SD, and they killed the Colts. Means ran all over them. It was rough. Because of that, SD sticks out as a team I dislike. While there were a few years that I enjoyed San Diego - it was because of Drew Brees and not the team. Another story for another blog, but you can like a team if the player is your favorite college player and he gets drafted to a team...no? Needless to say, the way the Chargers let Brees go was excellent leverage to return San Diego to the bottom of my rankings!

Without further ado - here are my Personal NFL Franchise Rankings:

1. Indianapolis Colts
2. Denver Broncos
3. Arizona Cardinals (these are near ties...but have to still a slight nod to Denver b/c of Amanda's family)
4. New Orleans Saints
5. Buffalo Bills
6. Chicago Bears
7. Detroit Lions
8. San Francisco 49ers
9. Kansas City Chiefs
10. New York Giants
11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
12. Green Bay Packers
13. Atlanta Falcons
14. Cleveland Browns
15. Baltimore Ravens
16. Dallas Cowboys
17. St. Louis Rams
18. Seattle Seahawks
19. Tennessee Titans
20. Pittsburgh Steelers
21. Houston Texans
22. Philadelphia Eagles
23. Carolina Panthers
24. Jacksonville Jaguars
25. Cincinnati Bengals
26. Minnesota Vikings
27. Oakland Raiders
28. Miami Dolphins
29. Washington Redskins
30. San Diego Chargers
31. New England Patriots
32. New York Jets

*One note is that each team is not on a continuous like-dislike scale. In other words, there is a big gap in the rankings a certain points, like between New Orleans and Buffalo or between Minnesota and Miami.