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Sure, these August temperatures are approaching 100 degrees – every single day. My yard is ready to wave its annual summertime white flag of surrender and turn crunchy once again. The pine trees are shedding a fresh layer of allergy-triggering needles onto the ground and my roof.
Those of us living along the Gulf Coast or Atlantic Coast know that August also means that we have two more months to be watchful of approaching hurricanes and tropical storms.
It sounds pretty miserable, doesn’t it?
Au Contraire!
August also means the season for a brand new start.
We are now at the beginning of football practices from elementary schools up to the NFL. For students, many school systems are set to open this month. College students are beginning to gear-up for the start of the fall semester, too.
From grade school through the NFL, August football practices are usually quite memorable. Once you’ve survived even one August filled with football practices, you’ll forever say, “If you think it’s hot now, I remember when…”
These sessions are definitely hot and humid whether you are taking the field at 6AM or at 6PM (or, in some cases, both). This heat affords many players a chance to shed some of their summer pizza and burgers weight. A few of us struggle trying to maintain our current weight.
Best of all, this is a time to bond with your fellow players and the coaches. Being on the practice field during this late summer heat has a way of creating long-lasting friendships which remain for decades. The entire process of making any sports team and playing during the season (whether in football or any other team sport) is a special time for millions of young people every year.
August is the time to clean the slate and start anew
Whether in school or on the field, it’s time to forget about last season’s disappointing results. Last year is over. It’s history. August is the time to set new goals for the upcoming year.
For some football teams, August means feeling the pressure of trying to live up to the high standards set by last season’s winning team.
The chase for excellence is tempered by the fact that some teams (and people) will inevitably fall short of their goal. Even a few pre-season favorites are likely to come up short this year.
A former Louisiana college basketball coach once said, “Last year we were picked to be the team to beat. Sure enough, everyone beat us!”
My top three NFL teams looking forward to a new season in 2024
1. Los Angeles Chargers
NFL teams with great quarterbacks should be able to lead their squad into the playoffs on a regular basis. Now entering his fifth year, highly touted quarterback Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers has been to the playoffs just one time in his first four NFL seasons.
Hope is on the horizon, though. The former coach of college football’s reigning champion Michigan Wolverines, Jim Harbaugh is returning to the NFL to lead the Los Angeles Chargers. After a pitiful 5-12 record in 2023, the new coaching staff is already making positive changes. The Chargers had an excellent college draft this spring.
Don’t be surprised if the Chargers are knocking on the door to the playoffs beginning this season. Coach Harbaugh has been on quite a roll the past twelve months!
2. New York J-E-T-S
After the Jets signed former Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers last year, the signal caller was injured in the first game of 2023 and was out for the season. The New York Jets would go on to post a 7-10 record after being considered a stylish pick to make the AFC Playoffs.
Aaron Rodgers is now 40 years of age, but he seems healthy heading into the new season. The quarterback’s health (one way or another) will keep Jets fans on the edge of their seats as the team attempts to make the NFL playoffs for the first time in 13 years (2010).
For fans, it might be wise to “Cool your Jets” for a few months and let the NFL season unfold.
3. Dallas Cowboys
There is no doubt that Dallas Cowboys fans desperately want to forget the 48-32 thrashing at the hands of the Green Bay Packers in January’s playoffs. While nearly everyone expected team owner Jerry Jones to fire head coach Mike McCarthy, ol’ Jer opted to let the coach continue through the final year of his current contract.
Dallas finished the 2023 NFL regular season with a 12-5 record. In addition to keeping the team’s head coach, Dallas has yet to open their checkbook to sign a few of the Cowboys’ star players to longer-term contracts, either.
It’s almost like Jerry Jones (gasp) may be in the midst of a long-term rebuilding plan (thinking “Bill Belichick is available to coach next season”). Nah!
Now, here are a few college football teams looking forward to a new start
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
Legendary coach Nick Saban has retired and will be critiquing his former team (along with the rest of the college football teams) on ESPN’s College Football GameDay Saturday morning show. New Bama coach Kalen DeBoer did some magical things during the past few years at the University of Washington. Though quite well compensated, he has America’s toughest job in following in the footsteps of Nick Saban.
Good luck with that!
Bama will be heavily dependent on the play of third-year quarterback Jalen Milroe. A former understudy for 2022 Heisman winner Bryce Young, Milroe had a solid season in 2023. Entering 2024, it is Jalen Milroe in this year’s Heisman Trophy discussion. With the team’s new head coach and the loss of several key players, the Tide may rise (or fall) on the quarterback’s play this year.
2. Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns (tie)
Moving into the perennially tough Southeastern Conference this year, the OU Sooners and Texas Longhorns will quickly notice the difference from their former Big 12 competition.
Oklahoma’s new schedule features SEC home games vs. Tennessee, South Carolina, and Alabama. The road games are at Auburn, Ole Miss, Missouri, and LSU. Plus, the Sooners play their annual game against Texas in Dallas. Ouch!
The Texas Longhorns jump into the newly expanded SEC pool this year, too. Texas will host Mississippi State, Georgia, Florida, and Kentucky. The Horns will visit Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and Texas A&M. The game against the Aggies renews their rivalry which ended after A&M joined the SEC in 2011.
Let’s not forget that Texas will also travel to play defending champion Michigan on September 7. Oof!
3. USC Trojans
USC will have a chance to “Prove it!” to many doubters (like me) beginning in 2024.
In the past few years, the Trojans have struggled to win games against defensive-minded teams. Now entering the Big Ten this year, the Trojans and three former Pac-12 schools (UCLA, Washington, and Oregon) must navigate longer road trips and play a few more defensive-minded teams on their annual schedule.
The Trojans start the 2024 season on Labor Day weekend in Las Vegas with a Sunday evening encounter against SEC power LSU. This should be a high scoring game as both teams’ defenses were relatively weak in 2023.
USC has Big Ten conference road games at Michigan, Minnesota, and Maryland along with former Pac-12 schools Washington and UCLA. USC will host Big Ten games in Los Angeles against Wisconsin, Penn State, Rutgers, and Nebraska.
If you add USC’s annual game vs. Notre Dame, the Trojans will show the nation whether they are tough enough to warrant a College Football Playoff spot by season’s end.
As Frank Sinatra famously sang, it takes “High Hopes”! *
So, August is upon us once again.
Everyone (whether those who are heading off to school and/or playing for your favorite football team) has a sense of optimism about the new season ahead.
That’s what makes this month of August (despite the heat and unsettled weather) special and slightly more bearable!
Huddle-up! 1-2-3…Ready, break!
“Just what makes that little old ant
Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant
Anyone knows an ant can’t
Move a rubber tree plant.
But he’s got high hopes
He’s got high hopes
He’s got high apple pie
In the sky hopes
So any time you’re gettin’ low
‘Stead of lettin’ go
Just remember that ant!
Oops, there goes another rubber tree plant!”
*Written by James Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn, 1959