"Its not like we were puposely trying to not score points. They were chanting 'More' -that they wanted more points. And we were trying to give it to them."

            -David Carr, Carolina QB, after the Panthers lost 31-6 to the New Orleans Saints. Carr was 10 of 22 for 95 yards, with 2 interceptions.

For those who are dont know, Matt Moore is the Panthers 3rd string quarterback. The crowd was obviously chanting for him.

Im giving Carr the benefit of the doubt and saying he realized this, but tried to make light of the situation. If thats the case, Carr is one of the funniest men alive.

If its not, well, he is just an ####.

As the college basketball season really begins to take off, here is a quick look at some of the most intruiging stories right now:

• Bruce Weber is one of the best coaches in college basketball but he has had a difficult time recruiting at Illinois. Andy Katz breaks down Weber's struggles with recruiting, off-court problems, and the local media. My Take: Dont expect the off-court problems to continue under Weber; he is too principled. However he better pick his recruiting efforts up. Weber's extremely successful coaching record at Illinois is not a fluke. He is a great coach. But recruiting is the lifeblood of college athletics. If it doesnt pick up in Champaigne, Weber will be back coaching a mid-major.
• West Virginia has never been a school top rercruits want to go to, no matter what the sport. They have always had to rely on players other schools missed to succeed. Mike DeCourcy shows how Bob Huggins is already changing that in his first year in Morgantown. My Take: In an industry that breeds work-aholics, no coach works harder than Bob Huggins. West Virginia fans are about to see talent in Morgantown they havent seen in a long time. John Beilein leaving West Virginia felt like a hit at the time, but the Mountaineers traded up when Huggins agreed to coach at his alma matter.
• Pat Forde writes that Louisville's David Padgett could be lost for the season. My Take: Rick Pitino, as expected, has built a great team at Louisiville and like most Pitino coached teams, they are a very strong team from the perimeter. Because of their ability to shoot the 3, the Cardinals are sure to have a very impressive regular season. However, the loss of Padgett will hurt Louisville in the NCAA tournament, where they wont have the offensive or defensive balance to reach the Final Four.
• Gregg Doyle takes issue with coaches coming down hard on players after inexcusable losses. My Take: Its a stupid article. Of course coaches are going to be tough on players when they dont play hard . Taking away some of the amazing benefits college athletes recieve is a tool for motivation. That doesnt mean coaches arent self-critical. I dont see Doyle's point.
• Gary Parrish takes a look back at the weekend that was college basketball: My Take: There are a lot of interesting quick reads within the article, but what I find most noteworthy is the early season preformance of Kansas State freshman Michael Beasley. To date, he is averaging 30 points and 20 rebounds per game, yet he still doesnt get the love of Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, Kevin Love or OJ Mayo. This is a spectacular freshman class, but Beasley is the best player of the bunch. KSU fans hate Bob Huggins for leaving after just one season. They should be thankful they get to watch Michael Beasley and fellow freshman star Bill Walker. They wouldnt have either if it werent for Huggins.

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are widely (and correctly) regarded as the best quarterbacks in the NFL. My question for you guys is which quarterback you would build your team around if you had the choice, assuming you cant choose Brady or Manning. Leave your choice and reason or even rank them if you wish...

Choices include:

• Ben Roethlisberger
• Carson Palmer
• David Garrard
• Derek Anderson
• Donovan McNabb
• Drew Brees
• Eli Manning
• Jay Cutler
• Marc Bulger
• Matt Leinart
• Matt Schaub
• Phillip Rivers
• Tony Romo
• Vince Young

Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, Jon Kitna, Matt Hasselbeck, JaMarcus Russel, Brady Quinn, John Beck, Trent Edwards, JP Losman, Michael Vick, Tavaris Jackson, Alex Smith, Steve McNair, Kyle Boller and others were excluded because of age, inexperience, lack of success or other obvious reasons.

• How many more SportsCenter Specials can ESPN devout to topics like Joe Torre, Barry Bonds, Michael Vick and Alex Rodriguez?


• Mike Tyson was sentenced to 24 hours in jail for drug possession and drviving under the influence. This is just the harsh punishment Tyson needs to get his life turned around.


• Take the Titans (+1) tonight against the Broncos. Despite Vince Young's struggles, Denver will be torched by the Titans extremely strong running game.


• The writers who didnt vote A-Rod for AL MVP should never have a vote again. Maglio Ordonez had a great season, but it simply didnt compare to what Rodriguez did. And to add to that, the Yankees made the playoffs while the Tigers did not.


• How many more times are we going to see the Patriots play on NBC's game of the week this year? Do their network executives think that football fans that dont cheer for the Patriots or the team they play are actually going to watch the second half of a blowout win?


• The Ravens, who many proclaimed a Super Bowl contender, have lost 4 games in a row to the Bills, Steelers, Bengals and Browns. Dont worry though, a team led by Ray Lewis will turn it around, right? Um...definitely not. Their next three games are against Chargers, Patriots and Colts and they still have another game against the Steelers. They are a bad team with little reason for optimism. They need a new coach, new qb, new wrs, better olineman and the best part of their team (their defense) is getting old fast. The great Ozzie Newsome isnt looking too good right now.


• The Detroit Lions are not a good football team and Jon Kitna is not a good quarterback. In his best seasons, he will lead you to 8-8 (see Cincinnati in 2003). The Lions are well on their way there right now.


• Jevon Kearse's benching in Philadelphia is the exact reason the Eagles never go after big name free agents. Teams like New England, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and even Philadelphia themselves have proven free agency is not the key to success in the NFL.


• While it does get mentioned every so often, New England's offensive line is the main reason for their teams success. Brady generally has a 5 foot circle of emptiness surrounding him.


• There is no reason for the NFL to not allow the review of field goals. However, there is no excuse for the referees who initially botched the call at the end of regulation of the Browns/Ravens game. Those referees should be fired.


• Carson Palmer is a very good NFL quarterback. The Bengals will never win an Super Bowl title with him though. When his team is behind in the 4th quarter and his team needs a big drive, the Bengals almost always fail despite an abundance of offensive talent.


• The Big East is a very underrated football confrence. They went 5-0 in bowl games last year and West Virginia, who will likely play for the national championship this year, has a very good chance of upsetting LSU (or whoever else they would play) yet all you hear about when it comes to the title game is LSU, the Big 12, maybe Ohio State and Pac 10. Cincinnati, South Florida, and Connecticut will be tough matchups for whoever plays them in their respective bowl games as well.

The NFL is one of the most successful businesses in American history. It will surely be studied in generations to come by business students all over. And because of their success and the huge contracts CBS, FOX, NBC and ESPN have signed to have the rights to televise games, advertising is a big part of each broadcast. But is there anything more annoying than a 2 minute commercial break after a touchdown followed by a kickoff and then another immediate commercial break. This is a staple of every NFL game that only stops late in 4th quarters to make sure games dont go too long. When watching a game it isnt uncommon to see a touchdown, full commercial break, kick off, full commercial break, a couple of plays before an injury, full commercial break, a couple of more plays before the end of the quarter, full commercial break, a couple of more plays, a punt, and another full commercial break. While this may seem exaggerated, excessive commercial breaks occur all the time in the NFL. College football games last quite a bit longer than NFL games, but that is because the clock stops after every first down and halftime is 18 minutes instead of the NFL's 12 minutes. If the NFL planned commercials similarly to the NCAA, games would last 2 and a half hours instead of 3+ hours.

Of course imminent change is extremely unlikely because the NFL's popularity continues to soar, but games can become extremely boring due to excessive television timeouts. The only way to fix this would be to create more in game advertising that didnt ruin the product on the field or how it was viewed. While this may seem impossible, advertising companies are exploring this option in all areas of television (not just sports) because of the invention of TIVO, which greatly reduces the number of commercials the average viewer sees.

Lets hope the NFL addresses this in the near future.

• Despite the extremely flawed BCS, college football is far more interesting than the NFL this year.


• It took about 15 minutes of coverage for the news of Barry Bonds' indictment to get old. Special after special and 4 days later and it is almost unbearable. This is going to be a long offseason.


• I dont understand why NBC would choose to play a Patriots game in prime-time. Is it any suprise they are winning 56-10 with 5 minutes left in the game? Most of their audience wont bother watching the second half of games like these.


• Terrell Owens (the original 81) caught four TD passes today, something Randy Moss (the other 81) has never done.


• Interestingly enough though, Randy Moss has 4 TD catches in the first half tonight against Buffalo.


• It will be interesting to see if New England is willing to spend enormous amounts of money on Moss this offseason. The Patriots traditionally refuse to pay top dollar for players, thinking someone can always be replaced. Brady to Moss may be the most unstoppable QB-WR combination ever though.


• Michigan has far too much talent to consistently lose 3 games. Lloyd Carr had a very good career, but his teams have underachieved far too often recently. Couple that with losing 6 of the past 7 to Ohio St and his retirement shouldnt suprise anybody.


• The national championship game will be LSU vs West Virginia


• According to his head coach, Dennis Dixon played Thursday night with a torn ACL that he further injured on the 3rd drive of the game. Has that ever happened before? Better yet, how can that be considered a good idea? Dixon was (deservingly) the Heisman frontrunner heading into this weekend, but playing with a torn ACL is a bad idea for both the player and the team, no matter the circumstance.


• Tim Tebow, with his unparralled stats, will win the Heisman this year despite Florida's 3 losses, leading to the obvious questions of a repeat.


• I didnt think throwing 3 stars together would work out as well for the Boston Celtics as most 'experts' predicted. I was wrong. The intensity and unselfishness the Celtics play with will earn them an NBA championship this year, adding to Boston's dominance of the professional sports world.


• If Sam Bradford is healthy, the winner of the Missouri vs. Kansas game next weekend will lose to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game.


• The Pittsburgh Steelers are a very good football team capable of beating anyone in the NFL (yes that includes the Patriots). However, losses to the Cardinals, Broncos and Jets are unacceptable and show an inconsistency that wont allow them to run the table through a tough AFC.


• The Jacksonville Jaguars, if they are led by David Garrard, will be an extremely difficult out no matter who they play in the AFC playoffs.


• Green Bay and Dallas are head and shoulders above the rest of the NFC. The first two rounds of the playoffs will be a mere formality leading up to what should be a great game matching up two very strong teams.


• If you wouldnt want A-ROD on your team, I hope my team would get to play your team a lot. The Yankees would have been the laughing stock of baseball last year without Rodriguez, missing the playoffs by at least 10 games.


• While others may get more attention (ie: Rose, Love, Mayo, Gordon), Michael Beasley is the best freshman college basketball player in the country. KSU fans might hate Bob Huggins for leaving them after one year for his alma matter, but they can thank him for a year of amazing moments Beasley and fellow freshman star Bill Walker are sure to bring.

The NFL is easily the most popular sport in the United States and at first glance its hard to imagine that changing any time soon. If you take a closer look however, the NFL has a glaring flaw that could lead to its downfall if it isnt corrected.

The most glaring problem, interestingly enough, is what makes the NFL so great: parity. The problem with parity is that it has created, with a few exceptions, mediocre to bad football being played all around the league. Teams like the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, and Atlanta Falcons are flat out horrible. Whats interesting about these teams is that just a season ago Miami was considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender, the 49ers were supposed to be the most improved team in the NFL this year, Steven Jackson was a frontrunner for the NFL MVP and was supposed to lead his team to the playoffs, or atleast somewhere close, and the Baltimore Ravens were hailed as the supposed best team in the tough AFC North. All of those predictions obviously werent even close. In the NFL teams can turn it around quickly. But will that be because these teams dramatically improve, or will other teams just get worse.

Then look at a group of teams that consist of the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings, Houston Texans, Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, Washington Redskins, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. These teams have varying records and some are sure to make the playoffs, but does anybody really consider them very good. All have serious flaws, meaning they pose no real threat at even making the confrence championship game, let alone challenging for a superbowl.

A next group of teams consists of the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers and Tennessee Titans. These teams have pretty good records, but again dont pose a real threat to the NFL elite while having flaws that at times make them just as difficult to watch as the previous teams mentioned. Detroit has had terrible preformances in Philly and Arizona this year. Clevelands defense is awful, wasting what has been a suprisingly good offense. San Diego has a tremendous amount of talent, but even when they beat a great team like Indy they didnt look impressive doing it. Tennesse has had a good start to the season, but they arent a real threat to anyone if they cant pass the ball consistently. 

As for everyone else (yes only 7 teams): Does anyone know how good the Giants are. They lost to the two best teams in the NFC in the first two weeks of the season, then went on to reach 6-2 like they seem to do every season under Tom Coughlin before again losing to the Cowboys. They also havent really beaten anyone good. Jacksonville has put together a nice team, excpet they dont have a good recievers or a good quaterback. Pittsburgh, Indy, Dallas, and Green Bay certainly look good and all would challenge the Patriots (clearly NFLs best right now) but that is only 5 teams that have a legitimate chance of winning the superbowl.

For a league that is supposed to be so good, there is A LOT of bad. Take a look at the schedule this week and there are only 3 games worth watching, meaning good teams will be playing each other. Jacksonville plays San Diego in what is a decent game. New England plays Buffalo, and even that will probably end up a decisive Patriot win, and the Giants play the Lions. Monday Night football promises to be a bad matchup AGAIN as Tennessee is sure to destroy Denver with their running game. ESPN has done a very poor job picking games since it has taken over Monday Night Football, but to their defense, they dont have much to choose from. CBS and Fox each get to hold 5 games a year to be shown on their network, meaning a game like the Pats vs. the Colts has no chance of making Monday Night. NBC gets next pick for the Sunday Night game of the week. After all of that ESPN get to pick their game of the week. Its no wonder there are so many bad games being played on national television. THERE ARE TOO MANY BAD TEAMS IN THE NFL.

It could be argued that baseball has more parity at the top of the league than the NFL, which hard to imagine given there is no salary cap. Free agency is supposed to be good for the NFL, but it seems to be hurting a lot of teams that cant maintain unity in their system. Instead of team play rising around the league as talent spreads, it seems to be falling. Maybe this is just a blip on the radar. Or maybe its a problem the NFL needs to seriously look at, because college football (with all of its flaws) is easily more entertaining this season (and this is coming from a NFL fan first).

1. Dennis Dixon: This would be a no brainer if it were'nt for a fumble near the goal line that went out of the endzone against Cal by WR Cameron Colvin. If not for that play (and subsequent loss) Dixon would not be going unnoticed by so many around the country. His brilliance against Michigan doesnt look nearly as average now as it did in the second week of the season. Dixon has tremendous stats, but even they dont tell the story. He runs one of the best offenses in the country in a masterful fashion. It is simply fun to watch.


2. Darren McFadden: Despite playing on a team with 3 losses, McFadden is simply an amazing player. Without much of a passing game (besides what he bring to the table) he, along with teamate Felix Jones, is destroying offenses. It was especially on display against South Carolina last weekend when both torched a respected Gamecock defense. McFadden has already run for over 1300 yards and 12 TDs (throwing for 2 more). He is ultimately the best player in the country, however his teams lack of success is holding him back.


3. Mike Hart: He is the main reason Michigan has been able to rebound from such a terrible start to the season. Hart has some of the best stats in the country (over 1100 yards and 12 TDs), especially when you factor in the time he has missed due to injury, but what makes him such a strong Heisman contender is his toughness and leadership that have kept the Wolverines in line for their ultimate goal, the Big 10 Championship. If Michigan reaches the Rose Bowl, Lloyd Carr can thank Mike Hart for saving his job.


4. Pat White: He is responsible for 17 total TDs, 1070 yards passing and 656 yards rushing. His Heisman chances were significantly hurt by a poor individual and team preformance against USF on national tv, but a dominant preformance against Rutgers has regained him the attention he deserves. White and his teamates play on another nationally broadcasted this Thursday against Louisville's terrible defense. A strong showing is sure to get him a lot of attention.


5. Matt Ryan: I honestly dont believe he has a real shot at winning the award after Boston College's loss to Florida State this past weekend. He was outpreformed by a very inconsistent Drew Weatherford and a poor strength of schedule has to raise questions about just how good Ryan has been this year. All of that said, you still cant take away from Ryan's accomplishments. Boston College is one of the biggest suprises in college football this season and Ryan is the main reason why. He is a tremendous quaterback that pro scouts love and defenses hate to play against. If he leads his team to an ACC championship, he is sure to get an invite to New York.

MLB's GMs voted today to use instant replay, but limit it to boundry calls (if a home run is fair or foul, fan interference with a home run, whether or not a home run goes over the fence or hits the top of the wall). This is a good step for baseball, despite the minor delays that it will cause. If they are smart, they will have an official upstairs that monitors replay and can communicate with the umpires on the field in order to make replay as quick as possible. The plan still needs approval from the players association and umpires.

It is being reported that Curt Schilling and the Red Sox have reached an agreement to have Schilling back for one more year. The contract is reportedly $8 million with $3 million in preformance based escalators base on innings pitched and $2 million in weight clauses. This appears to be Schillings last seasos.

Don Shula again recently emphasized the thought that Spygate tarnishes everything the Patriots are doing this season, comparing it to the tainted records of Barry Bonds. While Shula has every right to feel this way, saying this now makes him sound like a whiny old man trying to protects his team's undefeeated season. Clearly Shula thinks its very like the Patriots are going undefeated. What other reason would he have for bringing this up now?

The Yankees offseason has continued to go get worse as Andy Pettite has filed for free agency. Pettite's agent, Randy Hendricks, reiterated that the only two options for Andy are retirement or playing with the Yankees. Still, the offseason struggles have continued for a team that was already a mess, who currently dont have Joe Torre, Don Mattingly, Larry Bowa, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettite, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Roger Clemens under contract.

Adrian Peterson has already began to hit major contract incentives in his amazing rookie season of which is only 8 games old. Some respected media members league wide are already considering Peterson the best running back in the league. Its hard to argue considering he is the only weapon on his offense and is still shredding defenses. Hopefully the Vikings dont overwork Peterson and he is able to stay away from the injury bug, something he couldnt avoid after a tremendous freshman season in college.

Check out the early cbs.sportsline.com bowl projections. Let me know what you think about some of the matchups. How awesome would a tournament be?

Check out the top 50 MLB free agents from mlbtraderumors.com. This list just shows that if you want good pitching, you better develop it yourself or be able to trade for it.

The Florida Marlins have announced that Miguel Cabrera is on the trading block. They will also listen to offers for Dontrelle Willis. While Willis has struggled recently, the Marlins are sure to demand tons of talent for both of these players, making it very difficult for any team to acquire them. Cabrera however is one of the best and most underrated hitters in the game today. He also will only be 24 next season. Any team would be lucky to have him.

Dennis Rodman wants to coach basketball...in the WNBA. While this would be a terrible idea for any real organization, Rodman would at least bring attention to the WNBA which would not be able to survive without extreme financial help from the NBA.

Finally, watch the best (or worst, depending on your preference) flop in the history of the NBA. Anybody who watches the sport knows that is saying something...

Sorry I wasnt able to post the video directly on this blog.

I believe:

• The Colts are better than the Patriots, despite losing Sunday.
• Oregon is the best college football team in the country.
• No one will pay A-Rod anywhere near the $350 million Scott Boras is suggesting.
• It would be a travesty if injury ruined Adrian Peterson's pro career like it did his college career. He was amazing in his first year at both levels. Hopefully it continues in the pros.
• The Baltimore Ravens arent a very good football team, but they will play a close game with Pittsburgh because they matchup well with the Steelers.
• Charlie Weis better have an amazing offseason with his players. I have always been a supporter of his, but he has done a truly awful job with his team this year.
• Watching the Celtics open their season against the Wizards was the most enjoyable regular season NBA game I have seen since the days of MJ. Its amazing what basketball looks like when a team plays with passion emotion.
• The Patriots wont end the season undefeated. Its very unlikely they take the last game of the season very seriously. However, that game could mean quite a bit to the New York Giants, who have the pass rush to disrupt the Patriots offense (like the Colts did yesterday).
• Trading Kobe Bryant will almost surely fail the Los Angeles Lakers. I would still like to see it happen though.
• I cant get over how good of a three weeks an 8 team tournament that consisted of the teams Ohio State, LSU, Oregon, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kansas and others would be. Its hard for me to imagine that this wouldnt be more profitable for the NCAA than the current bowl system.

Even though they lost today, I came away thinking the Colts were better than the Patriots. Give credit to New England, they made plays at the end of the game when it counted, but Indy squandered a lot of opportunities early. That game should have been over with about 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Instead, the Pats were within 10 points and had plenty of time to come back.

As obvious as this is, how amazing is Adrian Peterson. To set the single game NFL rushing record in your 8th professional game is flat out remarkable. He already has over 1,000 rushing yards and is almost a shoe-in for offensive rookie of the year. He is already in the class of LaDanian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson, which is hard to comprehend.

How disappointing is Denver? They were already embarrassed at home by division rival San Diego earlier in the season, but today was just as bad. This was supposed to be a team that could contend with the Patriots, Colts and Chargers for the a Super Bowl berth. Instead the look awful. They could easily be winless this year as all three of their wins have come on last second field goals.

Terrell Owens and the Cowboys showed up in Philadelphia and showed who the NFC East goes through this year. For all the talk the Eagles did entering the game, they sure failed to show up. What a pathetic preformance in every aspect. Like John Madden said, there is nothing in this game that would give any Eagle fan hope. Any chance at the playoffs were ended tonight at the hands of the Cowboys. If that wasnt bad enough, Im sure seeing Owens do an eagle motion with his arms after a touchdown made Philly fans feel even better. Boy did they leave early.

What is wrong with Chad Johnson? The Bengals lost today to the Bills and allowed 33 points to a team that hasnt scored more than 17 in 5 of their other 7 games. However with the Bengals leading 21-19 early in the 4th quarter, Carson Palmer hit Johnson squarely in the hands on a deep post. Because the saftey took such a poor route on the ball, Johnson appeared to have a clearly 60 yards ahead of him for the endzone...except he dropped the ball. Johnson has recieved a lot of undeserved criticism during the Bengals awful first half, but it appears like he is letting that get to him now. He appeared to be badly injured and had to be carted off the field near the end of the game today. Thankfully he flew home with the team and appears to be alright. The cynic in me wonders how badly he was injured though because he stayed on the ground after dropping another pass, his third of the game.

I guess the New Orleans Saints are back. For Drew Brees to throw for 445 yards and his team to score 41 points is a great display of football. While Tampa Bay is 1/2 a game ahead of the Saints for first place in the NFC South, it seems pretty clear to me the Saints will run away with it. They are lucky to be in such a poor division this year. Now that they are playing good football, they have to be considered a Super Bowl contender in the NFC with Dallas, Green Bay and New York being the other 3.

For my money, Michigan's WR Mario Manningham is the best wide reciever in the country. While his numbers havent been as big as expected this season and other recievers have posted better numbers and recieved more hype, Manningham is simply a great combination of size, spead and hands.

Ohio State, after trailing late in the third quarter, dominated the fourth quarter against Wisconsin to remain undefeated. This team is becoming a scary blend of both offense and defense and clearly has a legitimate shot to win a national title, despite what happened against Florida last year.

LSU struggling in Alabama was no suprise, but John Parker Wilson making a bone headed play that led to a fumble at the end of the game was. LSU may have won anyway, but that was a terrible play in a crucial situation. LSU now appears to control its own destiny toward reaching the national title game.

Oregon is flat out good. It would be a shame if they didnt get an opportunity to play for that national title if they win out. Dennis Dixon should win the Heisman Trophy. He is extremely difficult to defend. The Ducks handled a very solid Arizona State team today.

Matt Ryan can close the door on his Heisman Trophy hopes after throwing 3 interceptions in a loss against Florida State today. The last of Ryans picks was returned for a touchdown that sealed BC's fate. He is a great quarterback, but Boston College simply isnt as good other elite teams in the country such as Ohio State, LSU, Oregon, Oklahoma or West Virginia.

Connecticut continues to suprise me. While they were outgained by Rutgers today, they flat out dominated on the scoreboard. I guess its time for me to start taking them seriously. They still have tough games against Cincinnati and West Virginia, but how weird would it be to see Connecticut in a BCS game.

What a poorly coached game by Notre Dame's Charlie Weis today. Forget the 2 point conversion that wasnt converted in the third overtime, Weis decided to go for it on 4th and 8 around the Navy 25 at the end of regulation instead of kicking a FG that could have won the game. While Notre Dames kicking game is pretty weak this year, that is a no brainer. Weis also decided to try a fake FG on 4th and 15 early in the game. Congratulations to Navy on their big win in Notre Dame stadium.

Speaking of bad coaching, Brian Kelly of the University of Cincinnati made some terrible mistakes today. The ultimate mistake came with about 45 seconds left in the game. UC had the ball at the South Florida 25 yard line facing a 4th and 13. Instead of puntin or trying a field goal, Kelly decided to try a fake field goal. South Florida easily picked it up and got the ball at the 40. This gave them time to march down the field and have three shots at the end zone. Fortunately the UC defense stepped up (as they did all game forcing 8 turnovers) and held on for a 38-33 victory.

Nebraska is bad. REALLY BAD.

Is there a more unnoticed great team than Oklahoma. Its unfortunate that there isnt a playoff in college football, even if it was just 4 teams. Ohio State, LSU, Oregon and Oklahoma in a 4 team playoff would be absolutely amazing. While this topic has been beaten to death, its still hard to let go.

Last week I was 3-2 picking against the spread. I will try my best again this week:

Green Bay (+2.5) @ Kansas CIty: I expect the packers to win this game outright. Kansas City's offense has struggled mightly this year against good defenses and I expect that to happen Sunday. While KC is a very tough place to win, Brett Favre appears to be connecting very well with Driver, Jennings and Jones. Green Bay in a low scoring game. CORRECT

San Diego (-7.0) @ Minnesota: San Diego has been playing great football recently. Antonio Gates has been having a monster season which should continue this weekend against a weak pass defense in Minnesota. Minnesota's lack of a passing threat will give them no chance against one of the NFL's elite. Chargers win easily. WRONG

Baltimore (+10) @ Pittsburgh: While Pittsburgh is clearly the better team in this matchup, the Ravens and Steelers almost always play tough games. The division lead is on the line Monday night and I expect a tough low scoring game. Baltimore covers.

Seattle (+1.5) @ Cleveland: The Browns have a bad run defense that will be exploited by Shaun Alexander and the Seahawks on Sunday. After a week off I expect Seattle to win a tight game in Cleveland against a suprisingly good Browns team. WRONG

Washington (-3.5) @ NY Jets: Washington isnt nearly as bad as the score of their game last week would indicate. The Jets however are a bad football team. Expect a big game from Clinton Portis as the Redskins roll. WRONG

FOR THE WEEK I AM 1-3 WITH THE MONDAY NIGHT GAME STILL TO GO. I AM 4-5 SO FAR ON THE SEASON.

Since I am late posting this week, it will be a quick version. So far this year I am 74-43 picking games straight up.

Arizona @ Tampa Bay: Arizona has struggled since their big win against Pittsburgh. I expect Tampa to respond after a tough home loss last week. CORRECT

Denver @ Detroit: Denver has an absolutely attrocious run defense. I expect Kevin Jones to have a big game at home and Mike Martz and company to mix in the pass effectively in another win for the suprising Lions. CORRECT

Carolina @ Tennessee: Despite a struggling offense, especially in the passing game, Tennessee has still been winning with excellent defensive line play. I expect that to continue at home in a tough game. CORRECT

Green Bay @ Kansas City: Teams genearlly struggle after a Monday night game and KC is a great home team, but I just dont see their offense mounting much of an attack against the Packer defense. I expect Green Bay to win another tough game at home. CORRECT

San Diego @ Minnesota: After a tough start, the Chargers are playing great football. While Minnesota has had a great running game this year, their passing game sucks. San Diego wins easy on the road. THIS IS MY SURVIVOR PICK OF THE WEEK. WRONG

Jacksonville @ New Orleans: Even though I was wrong on this last week, I am picking against Quin Gray. New Orleans has been playing much better football recently and I dont think the Jags will have the balance to win on the road. CORRECT

San Francisco @ Atlanta: Atlanta is in bad shape and the players arent happy. While the 49ers have been playing very poorly as well, I think their defense shuts down the Falcons and they win on the road. WRONG

Washington @ NY Jets: Washington isnt nearly as bad as the score showed last week. The Jets are bad though and Washington wins easy in the Meadowlands. Not a bad pick for Survivor Football as well. CORRECT

Cincinnati @ Buffalo: The Bills are playing much better football recently. Their defense gives up a lot of yards, but not many points. They are also facing a bad defense in Cincinnati. Buffalo hasnt scored many points this year though, even against a team like the Jets. Cincinnati's offense wins. WRONG

Seattle @ Cleveland: Cleveland has been a big suprise this week, while the Seahawks have been inconsistent. Despite early season struggles, I expect Shaun Alexander to have a big day and lead Seattle to a close road win. WRONG

New England @ Indianapolis: I expect this game to live up to the huge hype. I think the Patriots have the slight advantage because of their edge at defensive scheming. New England in a great game. CORRECT

Houston @ Oakland: I dont expect Oaklands offense be able to do much against the Texan defense. Josh McCown gets the start this weekend and I expect him to struggle. CORRECT

Dallas @ Philadelphia: This is a great rivalry that the Eagles have owned recently, winning the last 2, 4 of the last 5 and 12 of 14. I expect Dallas to win this game though simply due to superior talent. They are rested coming off a bye week and should hold onto their lead in the NFC East. CORRECT

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh: Two extremely physical football teams that hate eachother should make for a good Monday Night Football game. Pittsburgh is simply a better all around football team and should win a close game at home.

I picked a lot of road teams this week, which will probably lead to a bad record picking. We'll see...

FOR THE WEEK I AM 9-4 WITH THE MONDAY NIGHT GAME STILL TO GO. FOR THE YEAR I AM 83-47.

Even with the World Series wrapped up, this weekend is sure to be another entertaining weekend in the sports world. Being from Cincinnati, where high school football is king of Friday night, the playoffs start this weekend. My alma matter St. Xavier takes on another state powerhouse in division rival Elder. Elder beat Independence High School from Charlotte, North Carolina earlier in the season. Independence at the time had a winning streak of over 100 games. St. Xavier on the other hand has been ranked in the top 5 of almost every national poll, including number 1 in many, all season long. Few would argue they have played the toughest schedule in the country. Earlier in the year, St. X beat Elder 18-0. These two schools share an intense rivalry that should provide a great first round playoff matchup. Now on to some things other on this site will care about:

Friday:

The Boston Celtics and their big three, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, debut tonight when they take on the Washington Wizards. While I think the NBA regular season is largely unwatchable, I will still take interest in how the three preform together.

Saturday:

There are two marquee matchups this weekend in college football. The first will take place in Tuscalusa, where the Alabama Crimson Tide will play host to the LSU Tigers. The obvious headline in this matchup pitts first year Alabama coach Nick Saban against his former team. Obviously there will be a lot of emotion from both sides, including their fanbases, because of the Saban connection. This game, however, will be a tremendous matchup of two very good football teams. LSU clearly has the advantage in terms of all around talent level, but Alabama has some play makers that can keep this game close. Also working in the Crimson Tide's favor is the coaching advantage Nick Saban will have over his former disciple Les Miles. Couple that with homefield advantage and Glen Dorsey injury concerns and there is no reason why Alabama cant stay with LSU.

The game of the week however will take place when Oregon hosts Arizona State. ASU has been one of the biggest suprsises in the country this year. They were picked to finish fourth in the Pac 10 before the year, instead they are fourth in the country and one of the few undefeated teams left in the country. Oregon is playing great football as well, led by Heisman candidate Dennis Dixon. In fact, they are about 6 inches away from the possibility of being undefeated. Since they are at home, they will be favored in the matchup. It will be interesting to see how ASU responds to their toughest challenge to date. Oregon has had big wins already at Michigan and at home against USC. This could be ASU's coming out party. Or it could be Oregons next step in a possible national championship appearance.

Other games of note:

Wisconsin travels to Ohio State. The roles were supposed to be reversed coming into this game. Wisconsin was the team that was going to challenge for a national title while Ohio State was supposed to be rebuilding after losing a lot of key offensive starters. Instead Ohio States defense carried them early and their offense is becoming very formidable. On the other hand, Wisconsin has been inconsistent this year and one of their best players, PJ Hill is ####ed up. Couple that with the fact that Wisconsins second string running back isnt allowed to travel with the team and Wisconsins offense could be in trouble. They have given OSU more recent trouble than any other Big Ten school though.

Connecticut hosts Rutgers. UConn is probably college football's most suprising team this year while Rutgers has had a disappointing season after their cinderella run last year. Still Rutgers has the ability to knock off UConn and possibly derail their dream season. The recievers of Rutgers simply cant drop as many passes as they did against West Virginia though.

South Florida takes on Cincinnati. Three weeks ago both of these teams were undefeated. There was even talk that ESPN's College Gameday may travel to Tampa Bay for this game. Since then both teams have lost two games in a row and the game has lost some significance. Still, these are two teams are both rising powers in college football and still have a great opportunity to represent the Big East in the BCS.

Other interesting games include Boston College vs. Florida State, Wake Forest vs Virginia, and Notre Dame vs Navy.

Sunday:

The weekend peaks when the New England Patriots travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts. This is the first time in NFL history that undefeated teams play each other this late in the season. These teams have created a huge rivalry over the past 7 years and it doesnt get any bigger than this...at least in the regular season. For weeks we have heard about this game, even before we knew both teams would be undefeated. NFL Network even plans on doing 36 1/2 hours of coverage leading up to the game. I dont think it could be hyped anymore. The good news is the game should live up to the hype. There is too much talent on both teams for Sunday to be a major letdown. The Patriots are on a mission this year while the Colts have to be motivated being the underdog at home. While both of these teams are sure to make the playoffs, a regular season game couldnt be more exciting.

To follow that game up, Dallas and Philadelphia renew their rivalry Sunday Night. Earlier in the week Donovan McNabb said he still believes the NFC East championship goes through the Eagles even though they are in last place right now. Roy Williams took exception to that and some words have been flying. Despite the Eagles early season struggles, including Andy Reids family issues, this game still promises to be a good one in primetime. While it wont top the Pats vs the Colts, it should be an entertaining follow up.

Monday:

The weekend wraps up with the Monday Night matchup of the Ravens and the Steelers. This is a great rivalry of two teams who play extremely physical football. It has been a very even series recently, but the Ravens absolutely crushed the Steelers last year. Dont expect Pittsburgh to forget that embarrassment when they see Baltimore for the first time this season. Baltimore has an extremely difficult schedule remaining with games against the Chargers, Colts, Patriots, Bengals and two against the Steelers. A win in this game would be a huge momentum boost for the rest of the season. Steve McNair is back healthy, which should give the offense some confidence. Pittsburgh is playing very complete football right now though and are deserved favorites. It should be a great matchup to finish up a great weekend.