With somewhat of an empty feeling, it's time to readily admit the gravity of the upcoming situation.
The coming days are going to be bleak.
Short of a major scandal, a high-profile breaking story or some shattering development in the world of sports, we're about to enter the real "dog days" of summer.
Once the Stanley Cup final and the NBA Championships are done, it's a full slate of Major League Baseball coverage.
Alongside that, we'll have a lot of tennis talk, golf analysis, talking heads droning on about NASCAR, or it'll be "trumped up" talk (clearly, for lack of a better term) about what guy said this or what this team is doing wrong or right during the NFL or college football offseason.
Hey, I know I'm prepared. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is coming. There's surely going to be more than one inappropriate thing uttered from LaVar Ball in the coming weeks leading up to the NBA Draft, and if we're lucky, the proposed superfight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather will finally be announced. If we're truly blessed, there will be a press conference with the two megalomaniacs.
That, my friends, is radio gold.
But the truth of the matter is.... we need our NFL.
We need something to remind us that the season is out there, looming in the distance, the dim light growing just a bit more prominent at the other end of this proverbial tunnel.
How do we do this? How do we present you some ideas on how we see this upcoming season going?
Let's start at the bottom and move our way up.
Today, we present to you, the worst of the NFL.
In the coming days, I'll try and point out my thoughts on all 32 NFL teams, ranking them from worst to first in the upcoming season.
I'm not going to predict games. I'm not going to tell you that a Week 11 matchup between ABC and XYZ is a must-win game. Fact is, in the NFL, they're kind of all "must-win games", so let's leave individual game analysis to the true geniuses.
I'm going off what we know now about these teams. Rosters, draft choices, off-season moves and my own grandiose or cellar-dwelling expectations.
Let's start with the team I expect to be the biggest train wrecks this season.
CHICAGO BEARS
There's a lot to genuinely dislike about this team going forward. As much as I respect the decision to part ways with Mr. Personality Jay Cutler, the signing of Mike Glennon followed by the draft selection of Mitch Trubisky (2nd overall) has a lot of people scratching their heads.
In addition to parting ways with Cutler, the Bears also lost Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley this offseason. Some might argue those are not necessarily great losses, but there's a lot of work that needs to be done on both sides of the ball this upcoming season, and with a lot of heat on coach John Fox to get some instant results, a slow start could lead to roster shakeups at the quarterback position. Recent history tells us that doesn't bode well for teams that closed out their last season with a 1-7 record.
BUFFALO BILLS
A brand new regime, but a whole lot of the same issues remain for new head coach Sean McDermott.
For the record, the Bills haven't had a winning head coach since Wade Phillips left the team in 2000, so this is just a broken record with a new needle on the turntable.
It can be argued the team lost its best defensive player, Stephen Gilmore, in the offseason. It can further be stated that this defense took a notable step backwards last season, so the task for McDermott, former DC of the Carolina Panthers, is a difficult one.
I still don't know who Tyrod Taylor wants to be when he grows up. He's a super-talented quarterback, but he will under a great deal of pressure to produce this season.
CLEVELAND BROWNS
This is really no surprise to anyone, especially beleaguered fans of the Browns.
In fact, the famed members of the "Dawg Pound"-- as we speak -- probably are preparing themselves for a long hibernation if and when the Indians falter during this baseball season.
The Browns are terrible. And that's not a judgement call by me, and it's not said with malice. It's just a fact.
Brock Osweiler was shipped off to the NFL's version of Siberia after a tumultuous time in Houston. It's been told to me that he was "hated" (again, not my words) in both the Texans locker room, and before that, with the Broncos. Then the Browns decided to make sure Osweiler had every opportunity to worry about that shaky starting spot by drafting Notre Dame's latest experiment gone awry DeShone Kizer.
For what it's worth, the defense should be better this season.
They made some smart moves on the defensive side of the ball, which can go a number of ways. If the offense doesn't produce at all, and/or they're led by a quarterback who cannot seem to get out of his way most of the time, you need a special defense to make things happen.
The Browns defense is young, they're aggressive, but at this point, they're simply being asked to do too much too soon.
NEW YORK JETS
I actually feel bad for head coach Todd Bowles, because he won't be around in 2018 to help usher in the new era of whatever quarterback this team with the number one selection next year.
When the team gets worse because of the loss of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, then it's quite likely the team wasn't exactly brimming with talent coming in.
A new offensive coordinator, minus a talented WR (Brandon Marshall) and adding QB Josh McCown to the roster is another reason to believe this is going to be a rough season for that "other team" in East Rutherford.
So that's a preview of the bottom 4.
Check back here soon for the next early, early, early preview of the upcoming NFL season.