Joey Harrington's mother should be proud.

      Her son isn't the flashiest quarterback in the NFL, or the most talented, and according to Tony Siragusa he isn't the manliest either- but at least Harrington is the poster child for manners.

      Unfortunately for Harrington, manners don't get you anywhere in the busy world of the NFL. In four seasons with the Lions, Harrington compiled an 18-37 record and threw 62 interceptions, but none of his short comings are the reason for his recent departure from Detroit.

 The Games Don't Lie.

     It has no doubt been a difficult four years in Detroit for Harrington, but when all is said and done he won't be remembered for not singling out teammates or letting up while on the field. When fans got down on him Harrington played through. When things got really bad, that's when he heated up.

      Fighting criticism and a 100 degree temperature two years ago in Minnesota, Harrington led Detroit back from 14 points down. Just when the Lions looked like a real team again, rookie center Don Muhlback fumbled a snap, and the Lions were sent home with a loss. When the losing continued, it wasn't Muhlback who was critcized, it was Harrington.

            Already shouldering the blame of two losing seasons which was arguably more Matt Millen's fault than anyone else, Joey did what most people in his position wouldn't do. I kept quit, kept playing and kept trying to turn things around.

            And that's the way things continued for Joey until the 2004 season.

            By week three, Joey had already thumped Green Bay, and taken his lumps from a stifling Chicago defense, after a bye week, it was time for Joey to show the NFL if he was real or not.

            Down one with under a minute two go, Harrington led the Lions on another offensive drive reminiscent to his 2005 campaign versus the Vikings. After reaching the red zone on second down, Harrington zinged a pass to an open receiver who dropped the ball blowing a chance at a touchdown and a potential game winning touchdown. On third down he threw a bullet to Marcus Pollard who was called out of bounds on a controversial play. On fourth down Joey Harrington overshot his target. And although two for three isn't bad..... he still got blamed for the loss, and Jeff Garcia still cut into him on the radio the next day.

            Let's also not forget about vocal defensive leader Dre' Bly who is quick to point out the mishaps of his offensive teammates without realizing the faults on his own side of the ball.

            Two weeks after Tampa Bay debacle, Harrington led the Lions back against the Panthers giving them a six point lead with less than two minutes to go. The end result? Lax defense by Dre' Bly and the rest of the Lions secondary allowed Jake Delhomme to march down the field for a touchdown, and an ensuing Panthers victory.

            When all was said and done the Lions were 2-3 and only one of those losses was Harrington's fault.

            Regardless, Garcia got the nod for the next two games, and ended up throwing one game away to the Bears on a "moon ball" in overtime. So in essence Garcia, and Harrington were equal. Equally mediocre. And Harrington will be the first person to tell you that, (although don't expect Garcia to admit it).

The Real Problem

     After an illustrious college career where Harrington only lost three games, he was thrust into an organization run by the Isaiah Thomas of football. He played his first season when he probably should have learned the ropes like Steve Mcnair, Donovan Mcnabb, and other seasoned veterans did, but he didn't. In doing so, Harrington wasted precious time, and wore out his welcome with fans at points, so when things started to get better, it was too late. But then again, you'd have to consider 5-11 to be better in the first place.

     Five and eleven being a worse record than the year before the initial rebuilding phase which brought in Marty Morninghwheg.

            Don't get me wrong, Harrington was no savior, he didn't play good football at points but neither did his offensive or defensive counterparts. The real problem for Harrington was he got stuck in a rebuilding phase got wrong. Once it seemed like things should go right, players used him as a scapegoat for the whole team's collective problem.

What He Did Right.

     In four years in a Detroit uniform Harrington never sat out because of an injury or illness. He never called out a teammate or tore down a coach in a press conference. As a rookie, when he tried to put a positive spin on a loss, the media slammed him for being a "selfish me first player", but that wasn't how it was with him. Harrington just wanted to work hard, in a city known for hard work. It just didn't work out because there was no team cohesion. Players were turning their backs on each other and on coaches; the fans were turning on management, injuries rose to an all time high and star offensive components were getting suspended for substance abuse violations. The NFL life didn't give Harrington lemons, but he tried to make lemonade anyway.

The Bottom Line Is Respect.

     If it were up to Harrington, he'd still be practicing with the Lions, learning another new offense, under his third head coach, in just five short years in the NFL. He'd be throwing passes to another group of players who don't respect him, behind a line that won't block for him opposite the ball of players like Dre' Bly who don't respect him.

            Harrington admitted in an interview with Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom that even his former coach, Steve Mariucci gave up on him during the beginning of last season. But what really got to Harrington more than his coach not supporting him, was his teammates not supporting him. Mid-way through last season, Dre Bly called out Harrington in front of the whole Detroit locker room. Meanwhile, Jeff Garcia, who had already gotten a chance to start for the Honolulu blue and silver, was doing Monday morning rounds for local radio stations cutting into his teammate like he was Terrell Owens.

            Despite all the negativity from "Mooch", Garcia and his loud mouth girlfriend (who also frequented the Detroit talk show scene) and Dre Bly, Harrington kept quit and kept it respectable. That can't be said about a lot of player but it can be said about him. Even though things didn't end up being sunshine lollipops and rainbow everything in the Motor City for Joey Ball Game when all is said and done, Harrington will be known for taking shots down field, not at his teammates.

Jon Gunnells is journalism senior at Michigan State University who can't wait for the Lions-Dolphins game on Thanksgiving Day. He can be reached at gunnell2@msu.edu

For a complete transcript of Harrington's amazing interview with Mitch Albom visit freep.com.

            More than a decade removed from his wife's murder, you would think O.J. Simpson would have finally started the search for "the real killer."

            But you cannot blame him if he hasn't, he's probably too busy with visits to USC football practices and filming a hidden camera show for the Pay-Per View channel.

            That's right, the man we remember as the stone face murder suspect is now trying his hand at a new show called "Juiced."

            O.J.'s new comedy show is said to feature playful gags involving O.J. selling orange juice to old ladies (pun intended), and a controversial skit involving the sale of a certain White Bronco.

            "It was good for me -- it helped me get away," Simpson said, in the candid-camera show.

   Now is it just me, or is O.J. being incredibly tasteless? Let's pretend for a moment that he had nothing to do with the double murder of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown. Shouldn't he feel even a small amount of remorse? How can he make light of a situation that stemmed from the brutal murder of the mother of his children. It may be twelve years later, but that simply isn't funny.

O.J.  also still owes over $30 million to the family of Ron Goldman after O.J. lost his civil suit, but instead of trying to pay the money he owes, he's making practical joke shows, that disrespect the families of the murder victims. If O.J. wanted to prove that he truly didn't have anything to do with the 1994 double murder of Goldman and Brown, he should start by respecting the honor of his late wife.

Lets not forget, about O.J.'s children, how can he joke about their mom being stabbed to death. What's next a candid-camera show showing O.J. buying black gloves, and cleaning maroon stains off the interior of his car?

Whatever his next step is, I think it's time the O.J." puts the juice back in a can.

            Jon Gunnells is a journalism senior at Michigan State University he can be reached at gunnell2@msu.edu

     If you did not catch a first glimpse of my list you can access it here. And while were on the subject of accessing archives check out my last blog containing my picks for the NGS II.

Now, on with the show.....

49. Blades of Steel is my favorite hockey video game.

48. Tecmo Super Bowl is my favorite video game of all time.

47. I think Penn State has some pretty cool football uniforms, but not Indiana.

46. I just ordered some kung pow chicken but the Asian restaurant gave me moo shu pork.

45. I really liked the Simpson's episode where Homer meets Gerald Ford.

44. I've never seen the Red Wings win a hockey game in person, but I did see the Pistons beat the Bulls during the Jordan era.

43. I am perturbed by the fact that Tom Green now has a show on Disney.

42. I repeat Tom Green has a show on Disney.

41. Ferris Bueller's Day Off is one heckuva movie.

40. Rookie of the Year is a much better movie.

39. I've never caught a tee shirt from a tee shirt gun at a sporting event.

38. I'm not an efficient three point shooter.

37. I can probably run, bike or swim faster than you, but I won't beat you in ice hockey, golf, or tennis.

36. I've fallen and I can't get up.

35. Jerry Rice used to be my favorite football player, but now it's Shaun Rogers.

34. I once hit a home run after a ground ball went under the first baseman's legs. No it shouldn't be scored as a single with three errors.

33. I haven't scored a baseball game that I have attended but I scored a high school softball game for work.

32. I'm watching Soul Train right now. I definitely didn't know it was still 1990.

31. I find the Dallas Mavericks offensive strategy to be exhausting.

30. I used to own a Brett Favre poster, not really sure why.

29. I used to be a huge hockey fan; I'm not really sure why that is.

28. I get the Canadian Broadcast Channel in my apartment, it has poor sports programming.

27. I'm getting really good at darts.

26. I don't doubt NASCAR is a sport, but that also means go carting is a sport too.

25. I can't bring myself to watch figure skating, fishing, bowling or boxing.

24. I can't bring myself to watch the WNBA, if I wanted to see bounce passing, I'd watch a middle school basketball game.

23. Flag football is not a sport for real men.

22. I think rugby, lacrosse, and track and field are underrated.

21. I used to love WWF wrestling before I found out wrestling was fake.

20. I did not like the WCW at all, nor did I like Ric Flair. Woooo!

19. I can't root for any teams in the AL that aren't the Tigers.

18. The Patriots are my fall back plan when the Lions lose.

17. I'm not a bandwagon fan, I swear.

16. I don't really like the Washington Redskins helmets, or Bobby Bowden in general.

15. I think Brewster's Millions is a great sports movie.

14. I have a drawer full of dodgeball jerseys.

13. I am about an inch shy of being able to dunk a basketball.

12. My friends call me the hammer when we play volleyball.

11. I think the Tigers are going to win the pennant every year.

10. Sometimes I am delusional.

9. Pro-Stars with Wayne Gretzky, Bo Jackson and Michael Jordan was an underrated television show.

8. I don't like Deion Sanders' taste in suits.

7. Chris Berman is slowly starting to annoy me, but not as much as Stuart Scott.

6. I met Al Kaline, Craig Monroe, John Clayton and Chris Berman all in the same year. It was a good year.

5. I'm sad that Malcolm in the Middle is off the air. It was fox's fault. They put it in a bad time slot.

4. Rocky Movies need to stop being made.

3. I believe there is no crying in baseball.

2. I wish the World Baseball Classic would have been more popular.

1. I can be really random when it comes to blogging about sports.            

Jon Gunnells is journalism senior at Michigan State University. He can be reached at gunnell2@msu.edu

     If it were up to me every day would be a college football Saturday, Slurpees would be cheaper, and blonde cheerleaders would be more readily available to date. That's not how it goes in life, everything isn't up to me. But if the balance of the universe hinged on my decisions, or at least the NGS II Finalists selections were up to me, this is how everything would play out.

In no particular order, of course.

Sports With More by Mooresports- What more can you say about a blogger who has an avatar of Ron Burgandy? Moore posts comments on other peoples pages and always keeps it friendly which would be something nice to have in the later rounds of the NGS II- especially with all the negativy that is sure to come. One of my all-time favorite Mooresports lines (funny how I say this like I've been reading the blog for decades) comes from his May 10th post titled King George's Crumbling Empire:

"Dynasties crumble. Empires fall. And the luck runs out.
Welcome to baseball for the rest of us, Yankees."

All though he can use pop-culture references to be funny, he doesn't have to be, which is pretty unique in this competition.

Bread and Circusses by Dudski- In terms of comedic value I think dudski is the funniest blogger around. I didn't know much about him until mid-way through the NGS I. Had I known about him sooner, I would have demanded a recount. I think dudski said he wouldn't be participating in the NGS II but that's cool, it's my list and I can put him on there if I want to. If it were up to me I would freeze everyone else out of the competition until dudski got selected as a finalist, just like Jordan froze Zeke out of the Dream Team. Or at least I think that's what happened. The point is... dudski equals good sports humor.

Between the Lines by James Morrisette-Not only is Morrisette sweet at life because he is a Detroit native and serves our country, he also has a pretty good blog. I also remember him being pretty vocal during the last contest, while stearing clear of all the negativity and controversy. That should count for something.

NorcalUnfiltered by Norcalfella- The judges made previous finalists eligible for finalists positions for a reason. Norcalfella and another previous finalist (clears throat really loudly), are that reason. The judges said if a blogger was a finalist once, it doesn't  neccesarily make them a finalist again, giving an impression that there won't be any repeat offenders. If that happens a severe injustice will have occured because Norcal, and the other guy (cough, cough) the other guy, really deserve it. In fact I think Norcal and this other guy have better work the second time around. I mean did you see that one post on the NFL draft that had like 397 billion comments, that's like second only to Peter Schrager's Rose Bowl blog. Plus, Norcal and this other character (clears throat even louder) always keep it clean, and always keep it real on the comment threads. Norcal and this other guy- (okay fine I admit as me, and I admit that was a more shameless plug than the porn stars on the Howard Stern Show, but come on, every wacko is entitled to his opinion).

The NGS Judges Blog by the NGS Judges- Whoops, how did that get there?

Dan's Take by Dan McGowan- This ladies and gentlemen is my sleeper pick. He may only be 19 but that doesn't mean he isn't a good blogger. I seem to remember a certain 20 year old making it pretty deep into the last competition (last shameless plug I swear). Dan's posts are good and he also gets points because he was the first person that I noticed had my blog on the his favorite's list.

      I know there are probably hundreds of other bloggers who worked very hard on their blogs and got overlooked because they didn't add the tagline of "Who Shot Mamba," which by the way was Dick Cheney. There are probably hundreds of others who got overlooked because they came in late, and certainly others that I am straight up oblivious to. So if I forgot you, I'm sorry. Honestly, all of you guys (and gals) rule because in the last six months this site has become the greatest sports blogosphere. No longer do we need blogspot, or Xanga to spread our sports sports next to some crazy english professor writing bleak poetry. I guess what I am trying to say is that if you weren't mentioned on this list it isn't because your a bad writer, it's because I'm a bad reader. Having said that I will leave you with a few honorable mention picks that I think are worth viewing.

Drum Beater by Rivjo.

The Sports Intellectuals blog by The Sports Intellectual - Quite unique, quite funny.

Gerbil Sports Network and Half Baked have also caught my attention.

Okay so even though there are only ten finalists, including the four honorable mention candidates I stick by my decision. Then again these things aren't up to me anyway, and unless you are the judges they aren't up to you either, but what do you think?

Jon Gunnells is on a blogging tear to the point that his fingers are cramping and the keys on his computer are wearing out. Expect no slow down in the coming weeks because he is on a mission. He can be reached at gunnell2@msu.edu

     Long live the days of unique sports team nicknames. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Texas State Fightin' Armadillos. Even if that last one is from a fictional sports movie, it's still more creative than most of the garbage we consider name-worthy nowadays. Mascots and team names nowadays are pretty much one in the same. If a team isn't named after a specific sock color or boring bird, it's named after a furry animal or a type of pirate.

  I understand some team names are historical, and others have lost their meaning over the years but some things are ridiculous. In the big four we have two teams sporting the nickname kings,  and at one point we had two named the jets. I'm even willing to bet that roughly one in six college teams are named the wildcats or cougars.

  If it were up to me, I would be implementing some sports nickname rules of my own, and making some serious changes.

 Rule No. 1- The team nickname must have something to do with the current state of team or the history of the geography of the team. For example: The Detroit Pistons, are from the motor city, hence the automobile themed name.

 Rule No. 2- If at all possible the team nickname should involve some alliteration by using the same beginning letter as the city or state it stands next to. This is commonly found in famous athletes names. Examples include: Hulk Hogan, Bubby Brister, and The Texas Tornado.

 

 Rule No. 3 - If the team does not have a rich history (we aren't talking about the Cowboys or Lakers) the name can be changed on a rotating basis, to fit the current mold of the franchise.

 Rule No. 4 - No more teams shall be named after animals with claws or sharp teeth.

 Rule No. 5 - Naming a team after celebrities to represent pitfalls is not only acceptable, but it is strongly encouraged. For example: The Miami Hurricanes, a team known for producing murderers, drug addicts and thugs could be the Darryl Strawberry All-Stars.

 Now onto some team name changes that have already begun to take shape in my scattered brain.

 In the NFL....

 The Houston Texans become the Texas Train Wrecks:

Houston we have a pone call over here, it's from a guy named Creativity. Yeah, he says something about you not being allowed to name your team after your state. This would be like having a football team named the Florida Floridians. The Texas Train Wrecks however, is a much more fitting name that includes alliteration while also describing the current situation of the Houston franchise. I can almost picture a logo now. There's a train driving recklessly into a an opponents stadium. And the conductor you ask? David Carr.

 The Detroit Lions become the Detroit Dodos:

Detroit gets a new nickname in the form of a flightless bird because as a franchise they have not gotten off the ground. The Dodo bird can also represent a cast of characters present in the Lions locker room over the years including Jeff Garcia, Joey Harrington, Charles Rogers, Matt Millen, and Mike Williams.

 In the MLB...

 The Atlanta Braves become the Atlanta Albatross:

The team ditches the potentially offensive Indian themed mascot for the Albatross who is known for many dominating bird feats. Like the Albatross, the team from Atlanta is found in the South, relatively close to the ocean. Still not convinced? Atlanta also has an impressive winning streak in the NL East and the Albatross has an impressive wingspan. The two are destined to be together. If you believe that I have some property in California to sell you.

 The San Diego Padres become the San Diego Stirrups:

In this politically correct world we live in today naming a team after a Spanish priest is not a good omen. A better way to go would be naming the team after a variety of leggings- and not that of the usual colored tube sock variety. Just think about the upcoming home game giveaways. I can see the first 10,000 kids lining up already for their chance at getting a pair of Dewon Brazleton replica stirrups.

In the NHL....

 The Boston Bruins become the Boston Bottomfeeders:

In the Bruins defense, Boston was the original Hockeytown. In everyone else's defense, Boston still stinks.

 The Detroit Red Wings become the Detroit Dominators:

What the heck is a Red Wing anyway? Has anyone ever seen an actual Red Wing growing off the side of a chrome spoked rim with surrounding tire?  Neither have I. Besides, thirteen years of Western Conference (wait, no. Yeah. Western Conference) dominance couldn't be wrong.

 In the NBA...           

 To be honest, when it comes to the NBA, or NCAA sports I haven't thought of many useful changes other than eliminating the nickname wildcats all-together. My only other suggestion is moving the Atlanta Hawks to the West Coast so they could be renamed the Pacific Pac-Men to go along with their logo from the '80s.

 I'm sure if I have enough time though, I'll be able to figure out some more good ones to add to this list. Then again that's what I said about the anagram names a few months ago. And now, I'm honestly beginning to believe Eli Manning's anagram name "Nailing Men," will never be topped.

 Jon Gunnells is a journalism senior at Michigan State University who wishes Necessary Roughness was on TBS right now. But all they play is Down Periscope and reruns of the Drew Carey Show. Jon Gunnells can be reached at gunnell2@msu.edu