Okay I get it...most of you don't like O.J. Simpson. To many of you, Orenthal James Simpson is a murderer and a thug who breaks the law like the Seahawks drop playoff passes. Anyone who is under the age of 25 has seen photos of him in handcuffs or a courtroom more than in any other pose.

But for those of us with just a few more years under our belt, we remember when O.J. was magic on Sunday and one of the most prominent faces of the NFL in the 1970's. The man running through the airport jumping rows of seats in the Hertz commercials. The man every one of us wished we had on our team. The best Buffalo Bill player to EVER take the field.

Some of you will come at me with Bruce Smith. He IS the career sack leader in the NFL with 200 (two more than the legendary Reggie White, but Reggie did it playing 47 fewer games). He is an 11-time probowler and 8-time All-Pro; and was also a first pick by the Bills in 1985. But his was more of a career of being consistent for a long time time than being spectacular. His 19-year career was extremely long for NFL standards (279 games). He amassed the numbers he did because of the sheer number of games that he played. He never led the league in sacks averaged 10 1/2 sacks per season for his career. He was a great guy off the field too...but not the best to ever don the Bills uniform.

Jim Kelly, some of you will say, is the greatest Bill ever. After all, this H.O.F. QB did lead the Bills to four consecutive (albeit losing) SuperBowls and ranks 14th all-time in passing yards and 18th in TD's thrown. He went to the Pro Bowl 4 times and was 1st-team All-Pro once. But, he also never led the league for passing yards for any season, led the league only one season for most TD's (31 in 1991) and then followed that year up with a season in which he led the league with 19 interceptions thrown. Is known as a great guy off the field, role model, father, friend, better than average sportscaster and all around good guy - bust not the best to lace em up for the Bills.

Some will throw Thurman Thomas at me. His career rushing numbers were better than Simpson (12,704) and he ranks 12th all time in career rushing yards and also has 12 more touchdowns than O.J. and only trails Orenthal by one Pro-Bowl appearance. He is also now (2007 class) a Hall of Famer. But you have to compare him to his contemporaries at the time that he played. He never led the league in rushing yards or TD's in any season during his career and was only 1st-team All-Pro once.

Maybe your favorite is Andre Reed; the 7-time Pro-Bowl wide receiver. He ranks 8th in career receiving yards and 5th in career receptions. However, he was also never selected to be a 1st-team All-Pro during his career and never led the league in receiving yards or touchdowns in any season. Great guy with a great career - but not the greatest to play for Bufallo.

Now, let me make my case for the greatest Bufallo Bill of all; one, Orenthal James Simpson:

In only 2 years at USC, he rushed for 3,423 yards, scored 36 TD's andled the Trojans to a 19-2-1 record. USC won the National Title behind him in 1967 and he won the Heisman Trophy with the highest vote total (2,853)ever after finishing a close 2nd the year before.

He was then drafted as the first pick by the Bills in 1969 and went on to becaome a 6-time Pro Bowler & 5-time 1st-team All-Pro. He led the league in rushing four times and touchdowns twice in his 9 years with the Bills.

In 1973, he broke Jim Brown's seemingly unbreakable record of 1,853 yards in a season with 2,003 of his own. When he retired, that ranked as first all time and now still ranks as 5th.

He was selected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 1985; his first year of eligibility. When he left the league, he was the 2nd leading rusher of all time behind only Jim Brown. He now ranks as 14th.

His contemporaries at the time are mostly all hall of famers which makes his records even more improbable and impressive; Gale Sayers, Earl Campbell, Walter Payton, Tony Dorsett, Franco Harris, John Riggins and Larry Csonka all played during Simpson's NFL tenure. Each of these are on the short list of the best that have ever played and O.J. bested them all.

The facts in this post don't mean that I like him or would like to play golf with him, but, based on his place in the recordbooks and performance against his contemporaries, I believe O.J. to be the greatest player ever to put on the Bills uni.

What'ya think out there?

How do you like me now? 

That has to be what every blogger who has defended the SEC conference against the claims of being "overated" wants to stand on his pick-up truck and shout.  In one of the craziest years in recent history in which ranked teams were falling as fast as Britney Spears inhibitions, the SEC beat each other up in their conference schedule.  But the teams have come through when it comes to matchups against their non-conference foes in the bowl games.

The SEC had nine teams earn a place in bowl games which is more the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.  Of those nine games, eight have been played with the SEC member team coming out on top in six of those contests. 

The only two losses being Arkansas - to a Missouri team playing with a huge chip on their shoulder after being snubbed by the BCS for one of their bowl games and Florida who was beaten by an inspired Michigan team wanting to send their coach, Lloyd Carr, out into retirement on a winning note.

Neither loss was that huge of a surprise.  Missouri plays in the Big 12, who historically has handled SEC teams pretty well and Arkansas has never regained their early-seaon defensive intensity since their big loss to Tennessee in their 10th game.

Lloyd Carr is 5-2 in his career at Michigan against SEC teams, but this was still a bit more surprising, with Florida having the ultra-mobile Tebow at quarterback and several good targets for him ot throw to.  Michigan used their size and ability to get off on the snap to put major pressure on Tebow causing him to have to take his eyes off of his receivers to salvage yardage and protect the ball.  They negated Florida's speed advantage on offense with a good zone scheme in the backfield and constant pressure at the line.  Lloyd Carr did a masterful job of coaching this game - Michigan WILL be sorry they dismissed him the way they did.

So here is a breakdown of how the conferences have shaped up in the Bowl Games with one game left to play on Monday Night.  No matter how that game turns out {LSU Wins}, the SEC will still hold a decided edge {OSU loses} in the bowl matchups from this year.

Conference-by-conference bowl records
How each has fared during the 32 postseason games:

Conference Schools Record Percentage
Sun Belt (1) Fla. Atlantic 1-0 1.000
MWC (5) AF,BYU,NM,TCU,Utah 4-1 .800
SEC (9) Ala,Ark,Aub,Fla,Ga,Ky,LSU,MissSt,Ten 6-2 .750
Pac-10 (6) ASU,Cal,Ore,OSU,UCLA,USC 4-2 .667
Big East (5) Cin,Rut,UConn,USF,WV 3-2 .600
Big 12 (8) CU,KU,Mis,OU,OSU,Tex,TexA&M,TT 5-3 .625
Big Ten (8) Ill,Ind,Mich,MichSt,OSU,PSU,Pur,Wis 3-4 .429
ACC (8) BC,Clem,FSU,GT,Mary,UVa.,VT,WF 2-6 .250
WAC (4) BSU,FresSt,Haw,Nev 1-3 .250
C-USA (6) EC,Hou,Mem,SMiss,Tul,UCF 1-4 .200
Independents (1) Navy 0-1 .000
MAC (3) BallSt,BG,CMich 0-2 .000

Records through 1/5

Georgia 41              Michigan 41              Missouri 38
Hawaii 10                Florida 35                  Arkansas 7

Tennessee 21       Mississippi St 10     Alabama 30
Wisconsin 17        UCF 3                         Colorado 24

Kentucky 35           Clemson 20              LSU
Florida St 28          Auburn 23                  Ohio State

That's it: My two cents worth.  No bravado - just proof by the numbers.

 

 

EXTRA---EXTRA---READ ALL ABOUT IT!  
EXTRA---EXTRA---READ ALL ABOUT IT!

COLUMBUS DISPATCH HEADLINES:

January 8, 2008: Ohio State loses to LSU 24-21.  Now 0-9 vs. SEC teams.

It happened...again.  Taking cues from Lloyd Carr's game plan against Florida, Jim Tressel's Buckeyes had this game in hand well into the 4th quarter.  Having a lead against an SEC team this late in the game was uncharted waters for the otherwise very successful coach and those waters proved to be treacherous.  Hungry to finally score a win, Tressel didn't want to make a mistake.  He decided to go conservative, so he  pulled back and started reverting to the style of football Ohio State has played all year against its Big Ten brethren.  In a play that will  be known in infamy for years to come, he sent his linebackers to the line in their vaunted 6-1 defensive position and put the DB's in a three deep zone.  When the ball was snapped, an all out blitz was sent towards the LSU quarterback who quickly threw the ball downfield to a streaking receiver who had easily gotten behind the zone for what turned out to be the game-winning 65-yard touchdown pass with only 23 seconds left on the clock.  When asked why he chose to change his gameplan when he seemingly had the game won, Jim Tressel replied, "I believe in dancing with the one who brought you.  I wanted to beat them by playing the same way that got us to this championship game - with some good, hard Big Ten style football. In hindsight, maybe it was the wrong decision." Somewhere in heaven, the famous, late Ohio State supporter Jimmy Neutron cries once again today.

January 15, 2008:  Ohio State Applies for Membership in the SEC
It's just been a week and already the fallout from Ohio State's 4th quarter collapse against the LSU Tigers has started.  In a surprise move, in the spirit of "if you can't beat them - join them", the Athletic Director of Ohio State University has formally applied to become a member of the SEC.  The Big Ten had initially filed a protest until the SEC reciprocated by offering a two-for-one deal packaging Mississippi and South Carolina.  Hesitant at first, the Big Ten director accepted because he reasoned that now the Big Ten will now have 12 teams and can earn some much needed respect among its conference peers by adding a conference championship game.  The SEC officials were giggling as they left the room saying, "I can't believe they fell for it.  We traded two cellar-dwellers for a team that will be average in the SEC.  Now we only have 11 teams. [{chuckle-chuckle} - no more curs-ed championship game -  now we can back a team into the National Championship game every year.  The situation was explained delicately to South Carolina and Mississippi, but neither team minded because now they will both have a shot at winning seasons and bowl games.  Sensing the end of his gravy train, Jim Tressel pleaded his case to the Big Ten admin saying "really, we're gonna beat them this time", but was told "we've trusted you for seven years now, just as we had the coaches before you, and we just can't take your word for it anymore.  We hope you can understand."

January 16, 2008: Jeff Foxworthy takes to the airwaves to taunt Buckeye fans

The young comedian and recognized authority on red-necks, Jeff Foxworthy, caused quite a stir in the Columbus community today when he visited a local radio station to promote his Blue Collar Comedy tour.  What was supposed to be a short preview of what you might hear at  the concert with his "You might be a red-neck" shtick, morphed into an outright taunting of a group of people who's psyches still have not mended from the events of the past couple of weeks. Calls immediately began pouring into the station with enraged and outraged Buckeye fans.  The OSU Athletic director issued a statement characterizing the statements as being "in poor taste", to which Mr. Foxworthy responded, "hey, y'all - I just call 'em like I see 'em". 

The following is a short excerpt of some of the heinous things Mr. Foxworthy said:

"If your team hasn't beaten a  SEC team in a bowl game - EVER...you might be a Buckeye."  He then adds, "heck, even Vandy wins one in the SEC every once in a while."

"If your Alma Mater was written in 1902 on the train ride home, after the worst loss your team has ever suffered,  to your most bitter rival Michigan 86-0...you might be a Buckeye." {mutters under his breath} "memorializing a butt-whipping - wow, that's pathetic."

"If you consider a 33-14  win against a 4-9 Washington team even remotely comparable to a 48-7 LSU whipping of an 11-2 Virginia Tech team...you might be a Buckeye."

"If you have to resort to rubbing necklaces made of barely-edible chestnuts because you "think it will help"...you might be a Buckeye."

"If you consider flipping off the winning team's bus as they leave the stadium, your state bird...you might be a Buckeye."

"If every time you get a Woody, it makes you briefly reminisce about college football...you might be a Buckeye."

and finally, "If the conference you constantly label as being "overrated" went 7-2 in bowl games and whipped your butt again this year...you just might be a Buckeye."

This reporter is, frankly, appalled.

January 21, 2008: In a surprise move, OSU Chancellor decides  Ohio State coaching position to be decided by popular vote

The Chancellor at Ohio State University announced a controversial decision today  that the coaching position at Ohio State University would no longer be a hired position decided upon by school officials, but rather an elected position decided upon by the students, boosters and fans of the University every two years.  When asked why he made this decision, he explained that all of the correspondence he has received from boosters and fans in the last couple of weeks were chocked full of advice about how to better prepare for next year and what kind of players Jim Tressel needs to recruit in order to compete with our friends from the South.  He reasoned that since the fans seemed to have all the answers that OSU has been searching for all these years, they should be involved in the decision making process of who should lead their team.  Off the record, he also noted that if the fans decided on the coach, then if they lose to the SEC again, he couldn't be blamed.  When contacted, Jim Tressel said, "I am confident that I will be re-elected as coach.  I stand by my moves and my record speaks for itself", but then conceded that he has tried to convince newly retired Michigan coach, Lloyd Carr, to be his running mate to boost his chances noting that Lloyd's 5-2 record against SEC teams also speaks for itself.

 

Remember...I was ASKED to do this by an Ohio State Fan.  He said take your best shot...so I did.

Please keep your comments above board and intelligent.  If you can't do that...at least keep them clean.  Enjoy!

Oh, and Buckeye fans...Don't forget to cast your vote!

What a season so far.  How have your picks held up?    Who would have forseen the total implosions of Philadelphia and New Orleans in the NFC and the disappearance of the Jets and Ravens in the AFC.  The rising of Green Bay into the winners bracket on the NFC side and the late resurgence of the Redskins to make the playoffs have also been quite unexpected.  And,  who would have guessed that Peyton Manning's touchdown pass and Jerry Rice's touchdown reception records would fall so soon?

The following 3 brackets are my pre-season picks and my picks just before Week 12 and my final picks. My week 12 picks were pretty close to the final match-ups. ;)

If you have your preseason picks, let me know what they were.  It's fun to see just how much things change in one season.

 

2007 Official NFL Playoff Match-ups:

Wildcard:

NFC:  N.Y. Giants vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs have been surviving by the sheer will of their defense since Garcia's injury.  The Giants played with a new intensity against the Patriots and they have lost only one road game all year.  This will be a low scoring game and I think the Giants win a close one

NFC: Seattle Seahawks vs. Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins have a quarterback who has been on fire the last four weeks and the Seahawks have seemingly removed all of the running plays from their playbook.  This one won't be a war of attrition, rather an air show.  The Redskins win in a high scoring contest.

AFC: Pittsburg Steelers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars are the best team that has been flying under the radar all year.  No one has wanted to meet this Jags team in the Playoffs.  The Steelers have key injuries and don't look to get healthy before next week.  Big Ben has a good game but succumbs to the Jacksonville defense by at least a touchdown.

AFC: San Diego Chargers vs. Tennessee Titans
The Titans squeaked into the playoffs against the Colts in a game that Peyton Manning only played one quarter and Marvin Harrison stayed on the bench to heal a little more before coming back.  With a healthy Albert Haynesworth they might be able to stuff the running game of the Chargers.  With Haynesworth operating as he is now, at about half capacity; they are no match for LaDanian Tomlinson and the Chargers.  Chargers, quite literally, run away with this one.

2nd Round:

NFC: Washington Redskins vs. Dallas Cowboys
The Redskins have been hot lately and are throwing the ball exceptionally well, but they beat a Dallas team on the last day of the regular season that was resting it's players for the playoffs.  The story will be much different with a healthy and rested starting lineup in there.  Romo has matured a lot as a football player since last years playoff goof-ups.  Where he cracked under pressure last year, this year that is when he is at his best.  Dallas will be sending everyone but the cheerleaders at the Washington QB and will try to force the Redskins to beat them on the ground.  Washington will key on T.O., so Jason Witten will have a monster game.  Dallas by 10.

NFC: New York Giants vs. Green Bay Packers
Brett Favre is his best in the playoffs and I don't see this game as an exception.  Eli has a great arm and Green Bay has a suspect backfield, so this one promises to be a high scoring contest.  Eli, however, seems to make his worst decisions when the pressure is on and costs his team with his mistakes.  The Giants as a team also have a tendancy to lose their composure when the game is on the line and get silly, costly penalties.  Packers take this one by 14.

AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New England Patriots
Indianapolis, Philadelphia and New York showed that you can almost beat this Patriot team.  Jacksonville will be the one to close the deal.  When most teams come after Tom Brady, he has the quick outlets to Faulk and Moss coming back to bail him out.  Jacksonville has the speed in their defensive ends and line-backing corp to take away these outlets and make  Brady have to move out of the pocket.  Jacksonville also has the power running game with Fred Taylor to keep the Patriots secondary honest and allow Garrard to throw the short routes he has been so successful with all year.  In a shocker, Jacksonville by 3.

AFC: San Diego Chargers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis' defense that was absent for most of last year until the playoffs is alive and well in 2007.  The defensive line of the Colts will stuff the run and force Phillip Rivers to beat a secondary which features one of the best DB's in the league in Sanders.  Peyton Manning will have a big game against the Chargers.  Indianapolis by 14.
 

Conference Finals:

NFC: Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas Cowboys
If you saw the game between them earlier in the season, I think this game will be more of the same.  The Packers can't rely on the home-field advantage of their frozen wasteland of a field and they have a horrendous record in Dallas; in fact, Favre has never won there.  Look for T.O. to burn the Green Bay secondary yet again and Jason Witten to have a big second half when the Packers make adjustments to keep T.O. from beating them during halftime.  Favre and his mini-me Romo will both have good games, but I think Dallas' receiving corp will prove to be better. Cowboys by a touchdown.
 

AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts
This is going to be a tough game.  The Jaguars will just be coming off of a week in which they ended the Patriot's hope for an undefeated season, but will have no trouble with a let down for this game since it decides who plays Dallas in the Super Bowl.  Indianapolis will be trying to earn their second consecutive trip to the SB behind the arm of Peyton Manning.  Jacksonville will apply pressure to Manning, but I think Manning will have prepared for it.  Jacksonville WILL be able to run on Indianapolis and will methodically work the ball down the field.  I think Indy will go up early, but Jacksonville will make it close in the second half as their offense wears down the Indianapolis defense.  There won't be many punts in this game.  I almost had to flip a coin on this one.  Indianapolis wins this one by 7.

Super Bowl:

Dallas Cowboys vs. Indianapolis Colts
These two teams are more evenly matched, I think, than people have previously thought.  Manning, of course, is the better quarterback.  He has all of the same intangibles as Romo, but with a better arm and better mind for the game.  Dallas defense is stronger than Indianapolis, with the exception of the secondary.  Dallas does have a receiver that can outrun the Colts DB Sanders in the cover two - Terrell Owens.  I think this game will go down to the wire and, once again, Indianapolis will be beaten in a big game by a kicker.  Dallas by a field goal.

Well, THERE ARE MY PICKS!

If you are gonna come on this site and gloat after the playoffs, then you'd better register your opinions now as to who you think will win each game.  I don't want to hear from you afterwards if you don't have the onions to put your picks out there now.

***I hate to have to add this, but considering the kind of stuff that has been showing up lately:
Please keep your comments above board and intelligent.  Remember that the season is not over, so everything at this point is simply yours or someone else's opinion.  Respect the opinions of others and yours will also be respected.  Incindiery, vulgar or crassly offensive comments have been and will be deleted.***

 

 Here are my prospective NFL  Playoff matchups as picked from the beginning of Week 12. I still stand by my picks, only now I have different reasons for believing some of them.

 NFC:

Bucs vs. Giants
Cowboys vs. Giants
I think the Bucs will be upset by the Giants. Now that I have seen the Giants play New England, I believe it even more.  One and they're done though as I believe Dallas will throw over the top to Terrell Owens and keep them honest in their coverage with Jason Witten.

Seahawks vs. Vikings**
Vikings** vs. Packers
The Vikings shock  the Seahawks with their streaky running game (pronounced Adrian Peterson)  and the Packers, normally porous run defense, step and stuff that same running game the following week to meet Dallas in the NFC Final.

Packers vs. Cowboys
It's off to the races and this proves to be anything but a defensive battle. Dallas beats the Packers in a high scoring game to advance to the Superbowl.

AFC:

Jaguars vs. Titans**
Patriots vs. Jaguars
The Patriots have a perfect record because they played a Marvin Harrison-less Colts team and because they didn't have to play Jacksonville in the regular season. Jacksonville beats them by a touchdown.

Steelers vs. Chargers
Chargers vs. Colts
Big Ben eats up the Chargers secondary only to meet the Colts and have Sanders return the favor. Colts advance to play the Jaguars in the AFC Final.

Colts vs. Jaguars
Colts beat Jaguars in a very physical and low-scoring game in which Jacksonville manhandles the Colts receivers at the line forcing Addai to be the man to beat them.

SUPERBOWL:

Cowboys vs. Colts
Once again Indianapolis gets beaten by a kicker in a big game with Dallas winning in the final minute with a long field goal.


**CAVEATS:
It looks like two of my picks might not make it into the playoffs, so I'll make these adjustments.

• If the Redskins beat the Cowboys tomorrow and make it into the playoffs. I believe that Seattle will beat them and lose to the Packers in the next round.
• The Browns could make the playoffs instead of the Titans. In that instance, it doesn't change much. Either one of them is going to lose to Jacksonville in that game.

There's my picks.  I'm pretty close so far.  How are yours holding up?


***I hate to have to add this, but considering the kind of stuff that has been showing up lately:
Please keep your comments above board and intelligent.  Remember that the season is not over, so everything at this point is simply yours or someone else's opinion.  Respect the opinions of others and yours will also be respected.  Incindiery, vulgar or crassly offensive comments have been and will be deleted.***