Athol A&M 2008 Preview: Alcky's Ready For A Fight?

With the students congregating back onto the beautiful campus of Athol A&M, the excitement for another FAC-10 season has this small Quabbin town buzzing. With two-a-days a distant memory, and final roster cuts due in less than a week, the preparation for the Alcky’s has reached its final stretch. Before we know it the boys in black and red will be lining up to knock the enemies heads off, just for wearing the wrong school colors. As pre-season winds down though, Athol finds themselves with more questions than answers. Exactly who will be on the field come September 4th? A slew of in-fighting and injuries has clouded camp all summer long.

Coming off a roller coaster type season that saw Athol A&M jump out to a league-best 6-0 start, only to have their character tested as they would drop their next three contests, the team made the decision to switch starting QB’s and rode the ageless Brett Favre to two consecutive wins to finish up the regular season. Finishing the season at 8-3, coming off a last place finish in 2007, would normally be thought of as a very successful season. Unfortunately, early success was this teams downfall. From 6-0 to losing their hold on the FBCS poll, the Alcky’s found themselves getting blown out by Golden U. in the lowly Miller High Life Beer Bowl; from there come the locker room crumble and finger pointing.

"Me and Carson, I mean, we're fighting and bickering a lot and he's pissing me off," Chad Johnson said following a practice at BeerFridge Field last week. "But other than that, you know, it's cool. Carson and I are going to fight. I'm just telling you now. We're going to frustrate each other, and I'm going to hit him in his knee - the bad one…” This has got to be a nightmare for Alcky’s fans, and a disaster for the teams coaching staff. It was found today that Palmer showed up at the team headquarters sporting a broken nose. As of now no details have been given on where it came from, but it’s clear that it did not come on the playing field. With Favre transferring to Weymouth this season, Athol is looking for Palmer to lead the way. With Palmer and Ocho Cinco donning the Captain jerseys for this team, things could get even uglier than a Twin City Homecoming Queen for this team. Don’t be surprised if Johnson is hung out to dry on a few balls over the middle this season. In addition to Johnson’s bitching, Anquan Boldin has threatened a walkout if Athol’s Athletic Director isn’t able to manipulate a grade from Boldin’s “Cartoons of the 90’s” class from last semester.

On top of Johnson’s yapping (and possible right hook), he’s also banged up, this one actually coming on the field of play. As of right now, the Alcky’s locker room looks more like an infirmary then a college Field House. On top of Johnson’s bum shoulder and Palmer’s broken nose, there is grave concern for Willis McGahee’s reconstructed left knee, Jamal Lewis’s hamstring (and the cocaine deals he continues to set up for the local River Rat participants). Even non-athlete Jason Hanson is questionable for the season opener after a towel-snap gone bad has left him with a damaged ‘upper thigh area’. As if it couldn’t get worse, the calling card of the 07-08 Alcky’s is suspect going into the year. Defensive Captain Michael Strahan ran out of eligibility as has moved on to greener pastures, and now Osi Umenyiora is out for the year. That is 22 of the teams 53 sacks from last year; leaving a lot to be accounted for.

Some people believe turmoil builds character. I’d truly like to believe that, but with this team I feel as though this much turmoil could end up with failure, expulsions, jail, or maybe even murder. The Alcky’s have set themselves up to be a ticking time bomb every single Sunday, and if nothing else, should provide for must-see TV, and great ratings. With a difficult schedule and more drama than a Twin City Tech whorehou… err sorority house; my final prediction is for the Alcky’s to finish this season at 6-7. Truly a disgrace for what was an up and coming program.

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Preseason QB controversy brewing in Weymouth?

On some days, fantasy sports parallels reality.

Today is one of those days.

FAC-10 expansion school, Weymouth, headed by newcomer Nick Bruce has put his team at the front of conference discussions after the draft. With Aaron Rodgers slated as the opening day starter, The Islanders made waves with their last pick of the draft. That pick - Brett Favre. Obviously, these two couldn't produce on the same team in reality for the Pack attack, but now we have the two battling for playing time out in Weymouth.

With the running back position pretty stable with Darren McFadden (and his 11 illegitimate children), Laurence Maroney and rookie Jonathan Stewart. One way or another, these guys will find a spot in the rotation.

The WR position is a bit of a question mark, with some young unproven talent flanking outside (on a side note: I can't help but applaud the great pickup in Anthony Gonzalez. He could turn out to be outstanding with all those weapons in Indy).

The rest of the roster is made up young guys who should produce with time. That's what makes the Brett Favre pickup such a mystery. Most of the schools are under the assumption that this is "Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood", but now we're questioning if Brett isn't a quick fix - hired gun... What we do know is that Aaron is definitely looking over his shoulder.

Primetime's prediction: Weymouth finishes 4-9, playing the matchups with Rodgers and Favre. The QB controversy divides the locker room, and one of McFadden's kids has an exclusive interview with EHSPN demanding a trade on behalf of his 'pops'.

(he better not run the 4.33 from his child support payments)

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