Thursday Grab Bag: Oh Deer, Football Galore

I hit a deer last night. One less of those suckers on the streets!

Well, it wasn't like I made a drug bust. The only thing that busted was the front of my car.

There wasn't a sequence. I never saw the doe until it was dead. I was driving on CO-184. Then I hit something at 60 mph. I saw a flash frame of deer outline against the front of my car. I heard myself scream something incomprehensible as if I was detached from the scene.

And then my car peed all over the road and died. Right next to an apple orchard.

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Football Power Poll: Most of the Four Corners football teams crashed last week.

Aztec is the only District 1-4A team that played decent the first week. They'll stay atop the power poll, probably for the rest of the season.

They host Belen in the game of the week. The Tigers knocked them off 42-20 in last year's 4A semifinals.

Week 2 Rankings

1. Aztec -- The Tigers imposed their will against Santa Fe despite a lack of polish. They'll need a bit more of that this week in a rematch of last year's state semifinals against Belen. (Previous: 1)
2. Bloomfield -- The Bobcats lost their third straight close game to St. Michael's. Still, they shouldn't face another challenge within 3A until the state playoffs. (Previous: 3)
3. Piedra Vista -- The Panthers got trounced by Durango last week. Their lineup, full of underclassmen, expects to take lumps during a difficult early schedule. But 41-0 was not acceptable in fans' eyes. (Previous: 2)
4. Kirtland Central -- The Broncos lost to a good Utah team -- badly. This team is almost starting a program. Despite its history, Tom Adair took over this offseason and 20 starters graduated. We didn't learn much about this team the first week. (Previous: 4)
5. Farmington -- The Scorpions played a competitive, if uneven, game and earned a dramatic opening-week win. That's one less than they won last season. They did win their 2008 opener before finishing 1-7. It's too early to decide this team is any better. (Previous: 5)
6. Shiprock -- The Chieftains proved they are closing the gap on Farmington for the fifth spot while getting closer to 3A with every game. They won their opener 40-28 as they try for an undefeated season as an independent. (Previous: 6)
7. Navajo Prep -- The Eagles might be in for another long season. They lost 22-6 to a Bloomfield JV team that looked terrible in the scrimmage with PV's JV team. (Previous: 7)

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Martin makes case: Piedra Vista graduate Charly Martin has one last chance to make a case to the San Diego Chargers.

The Chargers play San Francisco in their preseason finale Friday night. The Chargers must cut 22 players from their roster by 3 p.m. Saturday.

Martin, an undrafted free agent, expected his best chance to make the team was as a special teams player. He got some attention after catching five passes in the first preseason game against Seattle, particularly on the team message board.

Said Martin to Chargers.com: "I sleep good at night because I've come in and taken advantage of every opportunity I've been given. Sure, I've made a few mistakes and done a few things wrong, but adjusting to the NFL level, that's going to happen. So far I don't have any regrets."

I still don't think Martin will make the roster in San Diego, but I'd be surprised if he didn't end up on their practice squad, or another team's.

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DT Fantasy Draft: The Daily Times (current and former) staff held our fantasy football draft yesterday.

The team names and individuals have been removed to protect the innocent. I will disclose my picks in bold.

Here are the first few rounds:

Round 1

1. Adrian Peterson
2. Peyton Manning
3. Michael Turner
4. Matt Forte
5. Maurice Jones-Drew
6. Chris Johnson
7. LaDainian Tomlinson
8. Steven Jackson
9. Jay Cutler
10. DeAngelo Williams

Round 2

11. Frank Gore
12. Greg Olsen
13. Larry Fitzgerald
14. Drew Brees
15. Randy Moss
16. Steve Slaton
17. Andre Johnson
18. Brandon Jacobs
19. Clinton Portis
20. Calvin Johnson

Round 3

21. Tom Brady
22. Steve Smith
23. Marion Barber
24. Roddy White
25. Brian Westbrook
26. Ronnie Brown
27. Greg Jennings
28. Reggie Wayne
29. Devin Hester
30. Marques Colston

*****

Links of the Week: An 18-year-old QB/DE in Mississippi disarmed a 14-year-old brandishing a cheap handgun on a school bus by tackling her.

The narrative is fascinating. He's already signed to play at Mississippi State.

* Tiger Woods called Ernie Els, for lack of a more appropriate term, a lazy baby after Els plummeted in the rankings following ACL surgery three years ago.

"Ernie is not a big worker physically and that's one of the things you have to do with an ACL injury," Woods said.

Good? Bad? Woods' personality grates on me sometimes, but it's hard to criticize an athlete for blunt honesty, which as a whole doesn't exist in interviews.

*****

Stay true and keep pounding,
Christopher