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Football season is coming.

I know this because my brother is sporting a Tim Tebow jersey. Bronco fans have been looking for another John Elway since the savior went helicoptering into retirement.

I get under his skin, questioning why he supports a team over 200 miles away. Geography is the basis for 90% of fans rooting for teams. I just made up that stat, but my brother buys it.

I'll tell him these kids come from all over the country to play in one place, and once here, he treats them as Coloradoans. A silly practice.

He likes to try and turn the tables, telling me I have no personal attachment to the players on my fantasy teams, yet I will openly root for them as he does for the Broncos. Guilty as charged.



In the end, him, rooting for the Broncos fills an emotional void. Me, it is a monetary thing as well as a 'I'm better than you' fantasy machismo that is the drive.



I'll never understand rooting for the same professional team with different players, he'll never understand rooting for a fantasy team with different players each year, and we can live with that.

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On paper, Jack Zdurenick, the Mariners GM is a genius. On the field, not so much.

Building with defense, a good bullpen, and a rotation headed by King Felix and Cliff Lee....Brilliant!

Well, until they had to play.

Casey Kotchman can play a mean 1b, he just has a hard time reaching it offensively. Figgins and Lopez have been major disappointments. The catching has been manned by players that should be in AA.

Zdurenick has learned three things this year.



1.Pitching and hitting still come before defense.



2. Trading Carlos Silva and getting the worst of the deal humbles a man.



3. How to spell his name.

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I held on to Brett Anderson this year. I'm kicking myself. Although Anderson is back, it's not really Anderson.

Last year, Anderson got most outs with a nasty slider and good heat. In rehab and last week, the A's have emphasized using his slider less to evade arm problems.

A little like a boxer that can't hit his opponent above the shoulders.

Anderson has the Royals at home this week. A certain tell if I have been playing all year with 'Brandon Webb disease'.

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'Votes of Confidence' means somebody sucks. It could be temporary suckage or long lasting suckage.Votes of confidence are also meaningless. Torre and Manual's votes of confidence about their closers changes nothing. Broxton is either hurt or hitting a bad patch. Lidge is the National League's answer to Kerry Wood. Pitch and pray.

Giving a vote of confidence to Lidge is like giving a vote of confidence to a five year old firecracker performing.



(My spell checker says suckage is not a word, if it ain't, it should be)





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Looking at team schedules, I noticed that the Texas Rangers are going to be home the week of August 9-15.

Sounds juicy, right?

Wrong.

From a fantasy perspective, the worst home week possible.

They are home all week, yet only have five games.

Their opponents are the Yankees and Red Sox.

They will be facing Hughes, Vazquez, Beckett, Lester, and Matsuzaka.

The Angels are the only ones liking that home stand.

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Is it just me, or did Ken Williams get his lunch handed to him over the trade deadline?

Williams, the White Sox GM, seemed intent on getting Adam Dunn.

The Nats didn't want Dan Hudson, but really liked Edwin Jackson. Walla! Williams trades Hudson for Jackson.

Williams goes back to the Nats, who have since cooled on Jackson. No deal.



We don't know if Jackson will outperform Hudson this year or next. Personally, I think Hudson has more upside and Jackson has already reached his zenith.

Williams has learned three things this weekend.



1. Next time, a 3 way deal would be preferable.



2. Not to leak to the press that a 'Huge Deal' is coming



3. Asian players might be a problem for the White Sox.

As an A's fan since about 2000, I have some thoughts on why I am a fan of the team even though it has an ever-rotating cast of characters.



Back then I lived about a mile from the coliseum. If you've ever been there, you know that is nothing to brag about. But when your next door neighbors go to the playoffs, that's kind of exciting. It has a way of rubbing off. And when 90% of the games you see involve one team I think it is natural to want to see them win. I guess that is another way of saying that you must not be a Rockies season ticket holder, Dan. How many season ticket holders are indifferent to the team?



Also, though, there is a method to the way the team is run. Love them or hate them, the A's clearly have a philosophy. So I am a fan of their way of doing things. I'm not looking for an argument if you disagree, but I am a fan of the method. I promise you that if Dusty Baker comes in as the manager and Jerry Dipoto comes in as the GM tomorrow, I am going to start looking for a new team.



Finally, I think the culture plays a part. I think if I lived in Boston or St. Louis, I'd be swept up by what great baseball fans those towns have and have an affinity toward the same team.



So...proximity, management, and culture: three reasons people aren't just rooting for a uniform.

Well done, Brian.



I was born and raised in the Bay Area.

Getting out of the Coliseum parking lot, the same way we came in, was a W.