Call it the week of four angry men - eight fewer than needed to really get the dander up of jurors No. 3 and 10, but enough to recognize the need of Henry Fonda's enlightened intelligence. Oklahoma State's head coach Mike Gundy got things going with a three-minute-20-second post game tantrum over comments made by Daily Oklahoman columnist Jenni Carlson about Cowboy quarterback Bobby Reid. Carlson suggested that coaches had lost confidence in the player, and that he may not have the guts to tough out minor injuries or the confidence to perform under pressure. She quotes Reid from an article by another Oklahoman reporter, Andrea Cohen, in which he talked about his pregame nerves. "I get sweaty palms. I get the butterflies in my stomach. I sweat lot," he said then. "I've been playing this game for 15 years. And I can honestly say every game I've played in, I've been nervous. It's not so much me being scared; I just get to a point where I start worrying about a lot of things I can't control." At the press conference, Gundy glared at someone, obviously Carlson, and screamed how it was unfair to attack a "kid," and likened his feelings to that of a mother having to help console a child who was teased for dropping a pass in a pickup game or because he was fat. He went on to say that three-fourths of the information was untrue and called it fiction. Unfortunately, when queried by Carlson about what facts she had gotten wrong, Gundy declined to offer an example saying, "I don't have to." Good retort. In a week of overheated macho bullcrap, this was the worst. A head coach at a large university talks about the impropriety of criticizing an adult old enough to vote, drink and walk a post in Iraq, all the while screaming at a woman in a manner that could be construed as a physical threat. At one point Gundy shouts, "... come after me! I'm a man! I'm 40! Write something about me or our coaches, don't write about a kid that does everything right." Carlson may have gone overboard suggesting Reid was soft because his mother was feeding him chicken before the team's charter flight prior to the game, or that he showed disconnect from his team by laughing on the sidelines as they were losing to Troy, but whatever errors she made failed in comparison to Gundy's actions. It's fine to stick up for your players, but it is simple cowardice to verbally attack a woman without even having the guts to discuss any perceived errors in her reporting. Gundy said he questions what this country has become when stories like this can be written. If Gundy really wants to discuss the direction of the nation, he should look no further than the 81 percent of 11,686 respondents to a television poll that said Gundy acted appropriately or the 98 percent of the 1,400 e-mails the school got in support of the coach. It's amazing to think that the namesake of the company that brought us such peaceful playtime activities as Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Hi Ho Cherry-O and the My Little Pony Memory Game could be such a hyper-aggressive, short-fused powder keg. But Milton Bradley has been just that during his time in the Major Leagues. It could be that Bradley is just not wired correctly or that he has more in common with Trouble, Battleship, Aggravation and the designed-to-be-unstable Jenga. Whatever the reason, something was bound to go wrong when Bradley met Mike Winters. Baseball let this happen. By allowing its officials to get into verbal altercations with players and managers, the league has created a caste of elitist officials who believe they can never miss a call and are in the right to shout down any descending opinion. Or in this case, to stir up trouble between a player and the home plate umpire by telling the umpire that the player had thrown a bat at him following a called third strike. In every other sport, officials are supposed to be the invisible, non-emotional interpreters of the rules. In baseball they are part of the show. That's why this incident happened. For far too long Winters and others umpires have been an unregulated force of confrontation. While Winter's guilt is obvious, we would be remiss to think that Bradley didn't have a hand in the encounter. After the game Bradley admitted that his past behavior has been a problem, but that he had no intent of harming Winters and that he just wanted the first base umpire to hear what he had to say. No matter how contrite Bradley may have sounded after the game, he still had to be restrained by first base coach Bobby Meacham and manager Bud Black. That's one physical discussion. Atlanta corner back DeAngelo Hall rounds out the fourfecta with his sideline tirade at head coach Bobby Petrino and an assistant. Being that the coaches were to blame for his three penalties that included two personal fouls during a single possession, Hall decided to straighten things out. So did Petrino, slapping him with a $100,000 fine. By this time we'll know if he was forced to sit out an entire quarter due to his transgression. The discipline is a joke. Apparently, his behavior is bad enough to cost him some cash, but not bad enough to risk putting a game on the line. Hall filed an appeal with the union, saying he felt the punishment was unjustified. As a manner of scale, he may be right. With his signing bonus, Hall will make $2.46 million this season which means he earns $38,437. 50 per quarter. Therefore, Hall is playing 1.6 quarters for free. Fight the power!

Talk about a lot of work for nothing. In 1892, while pitching for the Chicago Colts, "Wild Bill" Hutchison could manage only a .500 record even with a 2.74 era. A season after winning 25 more games than he lost, Hutchison could only muster a 36-36 mark while pitching a back-breaking 622 innings. Between 1890 and 1892, Wild Bill averaged 595 innings pitched. It may be why he only lasted nine years in the league.

Notre Dame is in some serious trouble. Not that this is any real news after its fifth straight loss over two seasons by a combined score of 187-51. Thirty eight of which came last year. While the Georgia Tech game was horrific and Penn State just simply bad, those four quarters against Michigan may have been the worst in school history. Against the Wolverines, the Fighting Irish could only muster 79 yards of total offense against a team that itself had been a sieve on defense. After three games, Notre Dame was last in nation in scoring, yards per game and rushing while giving up an inexcusable 23 sacks. They have rushed for a pathetic -14 yards while giving up an astonishing 712. Notre Dame is not just bad, they may be the worse team in the country. Not an acceptable position for a school who's history is nearly as big as the sport itself. Big losses are not the only problem for Notre Dame. The players seem to have no idea what they are doing. They can't block, don't tackle, can't hold on to the ball nor run or throw. It's a situation so dire that if it were anyone other than a three time Super Bowl winning coach with an impossible to swallow $36 million remaining on his 10 year deal, he would be facing a midseason firing. Minus a criminal indictment, Weis' job is secure. Not even God's favorite college football team can afford that buy out. Those who supposedly know about such things say that Weis had the best recruiting class in the country this past off season and that the players already on the roster just need some seasoning. Fair enough. The Irish did lose 15 starters and 24 letter winners from a year ago and were looking at an uphill climb even though as Weis says in the media guide "tradition never graduates." He's right. History remains. So does the stench of failure. So what's the problem? When Weis took the job at Notre Dame three seasons ago, he promised his team that no one would be better prepared than the Irish. This was Charlie's way of telling the guys that they've got the best coaching staff - or at least the best head coach - in the business and if they played to their abilities, championships would follow. The problem is that the Irish have executed so poorly that it's hard to determine exactly how much talent they have. The one thing we do know is that this team is slow and that blame falls squarely on Weis. True, he does not yet have all his own players and has to make due with some of his predecessor's recruits. But it was with that same coach's players that Weis opened his Notre Dame career with a .760 winner percentage. Even if Weis' two recruiting classes were not enough to restock the shelves, it does not excuse their inability to perform the basics. At this point, he has failed in his job to prepare his team. A direct reversal of the promise, or boast, he made at the beginning of his tenure. Weis' idea to basically restart training camp seems like a desperate move and one that if taken literally would leave little time to prepare for upcoming opponents. But that has not been his only bizarre move. Weis could have put his players' health at risk by holding a full contact practice the Sunday after the Michigan loss. The Irish got beat and beat up and his players needed recovery time and not another practice that can only be seen as a punishment. If there was anyone deserving forced extra labor it's the coaching staff. The situation with Demetrius Jones was another strange moment in a frustrating season. Named the starting quarterback at the beginning of the season, Jones was benched for poor performance during the 33-3 loss to Georgia Tech. Jones was 1-3 for four yards passing and ran the ball 12 times for 39 yards before giving way to Evan Sharpley and eventual games two and three starter, freshman Jimmy Clausen. Reportedly unannounced to his coaches, Jones had packed up his belongings and hightailed it to Northern Illinois while the team waited for him on the team bus. Two days later in an interview with the South Bend Tribune, Jones said he felt he was lied to by the coaches about his chances to start for the Irish. "When I heard Jimmy was the No. 1 all the way through spring and that the only thing that was keeping him out of the lineup was his surgery, well that's not what I was led to believe going into the summer," said Jones in the article. "I thought I was getting a chance because coach Weis believed in me. Then I didn't know what to believe anymore.'' Jones definitely handling the situation poorly. He ran out on his team at its low point and even had the gall to tell reporters of his plans before his coaches. Notre Dame was well within its rights to not release Jones from his scholarship. The school said that it may help Jones find another program and release him from his commitment so long as his new team is not on the Irish's schedule and not Northern Illinois. If Jones decides to play for the Huskies, he will have to either pay his own way or sit out a season. No matter what may have been said, Jones shouldn't have bolted on his team. But while Jones is to blame for his own actions, Weis must also explain - to his bosses - how the situation with Jones had spun completely out of control. Players quit programs over playing time every season, but they don't pull a Bob Irsay midnight move without serious problems in the program. For all his headlines and huge paychecks, Weis has not live up to the hype. Not that it's all his fault. With the Notre Dame job comes unreal expectations. An Irish coach is expected to win, win big and win championships while the players maintain a high GPA. Though his record remains an impressive 19-9, Weis is only 4-6 against ranked opponents and is facing the real possibility of an 0-8 start before beginning its annual chase of the Commander in Chief's Trophy. The Notre Dame faithful has so far remained loyal to their costly coach. As they should. A man doesn't create a Super Bowl winning offense around a sixth round draft choice at quarterback and mediocre wide receivers without knowing something about the game. Though to be honest, Tom Brady's draft status was due more to teams misreading his ability than the offensive magic of Charlie Weis. Weis' popularity will give him some breathing room, but that won't continue if the loses keep piling up. The last thing the folks in South Bend want is to relive the Gerry Faust era.

To: National Baseball Hall of Fame Subject: Ichiro Suzuki Dear sirs, You might as well get the engraver started. The outline for the plaque is written and you just need to fill in the blanks. Better known by his first name, Ichiro, the speedy outfielder reached the 3,000 hit plateau faster than anyone in baseball history finishing with (__) hits. A winner of (__) batting titles, he hit (__) with (__) stolen bases during his (__) year career. In 2001 he was named the American League Rookie of the Year and MVP after hitting .350 with 56 stolen bases. Three years later he became baseball's single-season hit leader with 262. The (__)-time All Star was also one of the best defensive players of his era winning (__) Gold Glove Awards and known for a strong and accurate arm. Suzuki was a legend in his native Japan prior to arriving in the United States. In eight seasons with the Orix Blue Waves, Suzuki complied a .353 career batting average. The question is not if, but when Ichiro Suzuki will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The answer is five years after retirement when he's first eligible. He's a certain first ballot guy, who at the age of 34 appears to have another 10 productive years ahead of him if he so desires. The only thing that could derail him in his chase for 3,000 is an injury - always a possibility for any athlete, but one that should be of little concern for the man who keeps himself in tremendous physical condition and who has only missed 15 games in his first six complete seasons. Serious talk about Suzuki's future in the Hall began in 2004 when he hit a career high .372 while establishing a new single season hit record that Hall of Famer George Sisler established 84 years prior. Since then he has just added to his legacy as not just one of the best players of his era, but as one of the best players of all time. In July he became the third fastest to reach 1,500 hits behind Sisler and another Hall of Famer, Al Simmons. Ty Cobb, a rather decent hitter in his day, is fourth on the list. On Sept. 2, Suzuki joined Wade Boggs and Wee Willie Keeler - two more Hall of Famers - as the only men in the history of the game to have seven straight 200-hit seasons. Keeler holds the record with eight, and would anyone bet against Ichiro's chances of tying and then passing Keeler? During his short time in the Major Leagues, Suzuki has won six Gold Gloves and has been named to seven All-Star teams. He has two batting titles, has finished no lower than second in hits in any one season and no lower than fifth in stolen bases. This season has been more of the same. As of this writing Suzuki has 203 base hits, 37 stolen bases, is hitting .352 and is playing Gold Glove quality defense in center field. The only thing missing from Suzuki's resume is the one thing that will be most difficult - a serious run at .400. If anyone has a shot at reaching the mark that was last broached by Ted Williams in 1941, it's the guy from Kasugai, Japan. Suzuki's bat control is unparalleled, which allows him to foul off pitches until he gets one he can deposit behind the infield. His speed is a huge factor allowing him to bunt for base hits and to leg out any misplayed ball in the infield. He's got everything needed to succeed except for patience at the plate. For all his amazing ability with the bat, Ichiro walks very little and strikes out too much. Since his rookie season with the Mariners, Suzuki's best year for free passes was in 2002 when he drew 68. Since then he's only gotten within 20 of that mark on two occasions. And while his average of 64 k's per season does nothing to threaten Adam Dunn, it's too many compared with his walk totals. Unfortunately, those are two things that's he's going to need to improve on to reach a mark that has only been hit 28 times by 15 different men. At his current pace of averaging 682 at-bats per season, Suzuki would need 273 base hits - or 48 more than the norm - to reach .400. That's just not going to happen, so he's going to have to cut down on his at-bats. Since 1900 only three men have hit .400 with more than 600 at bats. Ichiro may not become No. 16, but no matter. He's hall-bound and just waiting for the official invite.

Michael Vick's "apology" - his first steps toward what he hopes is reinstatement into the NFL in 2009 - has been called honest and contrite. I don't buy it. Because he never actually admitted to committing any crime, the "apology" is nothing more than an attempt to build credibility. Vick did not say he was sorry for betting on and financing a dog fighting ring - he said dog fighting is a terrible thing and that he rejects it. Why no admission of guilt? Because the deal he cut with federal prosecutors may not end his legal troubles. Early last month, Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Gerald Poindexter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he will in fact look into prosecuting Vick on animal cruelty and dog fighting charges. A conviction on animal cruelty in Virginia carries a sentence of up to five years per animal killed. The federal indictment against Vick and his co-defendants states that in April 2007, Vick, Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips had executed eight dogs that did not test well. The indictment contains other accusations of dogs being killed but does not name Vick in those accounts. In June, the Virginia Pilot reported that authorities found 17 dog carcasses on the property owned by Vick. That's a possible 136 years for just those dogs discovered at the Virginia home he purchased in 2001. True, he didn't use notes, but he was certainly coached up enough not to admit to crimes while investigations into his actions are still taking place. What may have been the most ridiculous thing said during the nearly five-minute mea culpa was that "we all make mistakes and I made a mistake in using bad judgment and making bad decisions and those things just can't happen." Misreading a pass coverage and throwing the ball to a defender is a mistake; running a dog fighting ring over a period of several years is a pattern of behavior that he enthusiastically embraced. This wonderful grab at responsibility was followed by Vick saying "What I did was immature and I need to grow up." What he did was criminal and in the words of commissioner Roger Goodell "cruel and reprehensible" - not immature, which hints at childlike enthusiasm and misunderstanding. Everyone at one time or another is immature. Not eveyone kills and uses it as an excuse. In another attempt to put a positive spin on things and to make people think that he's not the lowlife he really is, Vick said that he has asked Jesus for forgiveness and that he has put his life in the hands of God. A good PR move, but one that lacks any sort of knowledge of the heavenly process which requires a person to be truly repentant of their sins to be forgiven. Quite possibly Vick's 10-minute conversion did not leave enough time for such in depth ecclesiastical discussion. On Dec. 10 we'll know just how much time he has to brush up on such minor details. The purpose of his statement was to help quell the fires around him and to make him seem like a sympathetic figure. Not an easy thing to do when you refer to yourself in the third person on two separate occasions. But as Vick said, he's a football player and not a public speaker. Vick says that he accepts full responsibility for his actions, but that's a load of bull. Responsibility means more than just tip toeing around the truth and trying to win brownie points by evoking the name of the big guy up stairs. He lied in the face of everyone and now calls it "not being honest and forthright." Lawyer words for a liar. Is Vick sorry? Of course he is. Sorry he got caught. For all the self-finger pointing, the fact is that if his idiotic cousin had not lead drug investigators to the home, the cruel enterprise would still be occurring and Vick would still be enjoying his celebrity status among the outstanding individuals who comprise the dog fighting community. Officials removed 54 dogs from the property that will most likely have to be put down as no one will want to take a chance befriending an animal that may have been trained to kill. Vick's plea agreement says that he must pay for the care of the animals, but what facility has the endless space and time to care for so many possibly dangerous animals? Some have called his press conference sincere. I'm here to tell you it was a load of crap.