By Mike Luce

Welcome to another season of The College Football Report, featuring once again contributions from the Beachwood Sports Seal, the College Football Report Free Range Chicken, and other crackerjack members of the CFR staff.
The Saturday kick-off to the season is upon us, bracketed by Navy vs. Notre Dame (played in Dublin, Ireland) at 8 a.m. and #8 Michigan visiting #2 Alabama at 7 p.m. We do not recommend you fill any of the eleven hours with drinking games. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Kristen Saban would agree.
We have been diligently tracking some of the hottest stories in the sport during the offseason. To get caught up, see below. Remember, dear reader, we are here for you.

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Posted on August 31, 2012

By The Beachwood Lame-Ass Affairs Desk

It’s hard to tell right now which of our local franchises is the lamest. Here are the contestants:
The White Sox: “The White Sox have struggled to fill the seats this season and the team’s latest move finally embraces a real (but painful) solution: cheaper tickets,” Crain’s reports.
“The Sox announced Tuesday that they’ll offer discount tickets throughout the next three home stands (Twins, Royals and a critical four-game stint with the Tigers). That includes two ‘Value Mondays’ on Sept. 3 and 10, when upper-deck seats will start at $7 (normally $16) and lower-level seats at $17 (normally in the high 30s).”
The White Sox hold a three-game lead over the Tigers in the AL Central. So how lame is that?

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Posted on August 31, 2012

By Dan O’Shea

If you wanted to completely disregard preseason fantasy wide receiver rankings, you could probably do pretty well just trying to draft WRs from Green Bay, New England and New Orleans, the teams with the most talented and prolific QBs.
Or, maybe you wouldn’t. With one exception, none of these teams has a wideout ranked as a fantasy top 10 WR (and while that exception makes the top 10 on my list, you won’t find him that high on many others).
Actually, if you want to make things simple for yourself, you should focus on limiting your WR selection to two other teams – Atlanta and the New York Giants.
My top 20 WRs:

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Posted on August 29, 2012

By Marty Gangler

Giving Theo and Co. the full benefit of the doubt, does this season feel like a success? I’d say no, it feels like a huge failure. Theo hasn’t kept up his end of the bargain.
The bargain was that we’d accept a team that didn’t win a whole lot in order to engage in an organizational housecleaning and culture shift. But we’d get a team at the major league level filled with kids who hustled and “played the game right.”
Is that the team we’ve been watching? Resoundingly, no.

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Posted on August 28, 2012

By Jim Coffman

Jay Cutler has a to-do list longer than Julius Peppers’ arms. He is running out of time. And real-life issues threaten to intrude.
Other than that, everything Bears is peachy keen.
Except for Brian Urlacher’s knee . . . and the possibility that cornerback Charles Tillman is getting old in a hurry . . . and other stuff. But a fan focuses on the quarterback first.

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Posted on August 27, 2012

By Roger Wallenstein

It was a short week ago that the White Sox limped home after being swept in Kansas City with the mighty Yankees lying in wait. Even the lousy Mariners who would follow the Yanks in had won eight in a row and 10 of 11. It looked like the collapse everyone seemed to be waiting for was at hand.
Sorry, that’s not this team, this season. Pay attention.
This team, this season is Chris Sale striking out 13 to complete the sweep of the Yankees.
This team, this season, is Tyler Flowers (!) leading the Sox to a sweep of the Mariners. (Nate Jones got the vulture win out of the bullpen, running his record to 7-0.)
It’s a shame the Cubs are still outdrawing the Sox, ’cause the mystique is all on the South Side this year.

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Posted on August 27, 2012

By Dan O’Shea

I’ve never been a big fan of handcuffs – at least not in a fantasy football context. Drafting two RBs from the same team seems like a good idea in theory if the so-called star is an injury risk. It also can be worth doing if that team is committed to the run, and serious about splitting the workload between its top two RBs, especially the end zone opportunities.
However, it also usually means you’re using a high draft pick on a guy you don’t have complete faith in, and a mid-level pick on his teammate earlier than anyone else might draft him just so you can get your house in order.
Having said that, the RB pickings this year are rife with risky bets, and in a lot of situations, using a handcuff strategy might make sense. I probably still won’t do it, but that’s just me. See below for some ideas won who to handcuff to whom.
My top 20 RBs:

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Posted on August 22, 2012

By Marty Gangler

Am I the only one who thinks it stinks to be a Cub fan right now?
Because it does.
Not only does the team stink, the new management has come out and admitted it stinks.
And this doesn’t really sit well with me.
True, I’m so used to management trying to blow smoke up my butt that the honesty is refreshing.
It’s like being relieved that your wife is at least telling the truth about her affairs instead of pretending she’s been out late taking macrame classes. She’s still having an affair, though.

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Posted on August 21, 2012

By Jim Coffman

Welcome back football! We missed you, especially us Cubs fans.
What’s that you say? Football started the weekend before last? Well I can’t remember anything before Thursday. Heck, I barely recall Friday.
But Saturday, that was memorable. Bears fans won’t soon forget that evening’s delightful come-from-ahead and then behind, and then ahead by the margin of the foot or two by which Robbie Gould’s (welcome back especially to you Robbie!) 57-yard, last minute field goal cleared the crossbar. Actually they almost certainly won’t remember the 33-31 victory at all after the regular season opener in a few weeks but work with me here.

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Posted on August 20, 2012

By Roger Wallenstein

Golfing legend Ben Hogan once said, “The most important shot in golf is the next one.”
When it comes to playing the Kansas City Royals, especially at Kauffman Stadium, our White Sox could use a dose of Hogan’s wisdom. It matters not what happened yesterday, or last month, or a year ago. Don’t tell me about jinxes or curses. Hitting and catching the ball, effective pitching and a dose of intelligent baserunning determine whether the Sox can beat the Royals, or any other opponent for that matter.
Yet prior to Friday night’s 4-2 loss at Kauffman – even with Chris Sale poised to take the mound – Chuck Garfien, Bill Melton and Frank Thomas were already setting the stage on Comcast’s pre-game show by highlighting the problems that the Royals have caused the Sox this season. At that time, Kansas City held a 5-4 advantage over the South Siders, disappointing but far from disastrous.

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Posted on August 20, 2012