Black Ball Sports

Last week, Kali lamented the death of the Notre Dame program as a national power.  This week, I layout my ideas for fixing the Syracuse Orange.

The most important task is probably the hardest of all, finding a coach. Greg Robinson waited something like 30 years for his chance and failed miserably.  The coach hiring trend has seemed to be to hire young, energetic assistants.  The Orange need to act swiftly in identifying the particular guys they want.  Right now, I believe Washington, Clemson and Tennessee are the only other big programs are overtly seeking coaches.  The Cuse can’t wait for other teams to start firing.

I don’t know enough about potentially available coaches, but I think it is a pipe dream to think that Randy Edsall from UConn or Mike Leach from Texas Tech is going to Syracuse.   Edsall as a Cuse alum, would probably be more likely, and since he’s been syphoning away talent that used to be Syracuse property, he’d be a great fit.  But the reality is he’s too hot.  They wouldn’t be able to negotiate with him until after the season, and by then SEC, ACC and Pac-10 etc, schools will be calling.

They should be looking first at coaching style.  The Orange have a potentially dominate home field advantage.  The dome is loud and no teams play regularly in a dome.  Syracuse might have once been running back U, but they need to become Spread U.  Indoors and on turf, they need to exploit speed.  They need to spread defenses and play fast tempo games.  Unfortunately, Rich Rodriguez and Urban Meyer are completely unavailable.  So pluck their most valuable assistant, find the guy beside the coach leeching off his brain.

To run a wide open, speed dependent offense you need athletes, and for whatever reason athletes seem to be most abundant in Florida, Texas and California.  The South Florida program has built itself up on the Floridian leftovers.  Cal, Texas Tech etc have done the same thing.  The Northeast isn’t as stocked, so the next coach will have to be able to find some players that fall through the cracks elsewhere.

That being said, his first job is to shutoff the thefts from Rutgers and UConn.  It’s one thing for the big national programs, ND, USC etc to steal players.  And the Cuse have always had to battle Penn State, Pittsburgh and BC for talent.  But seriously, UConn and Rutgers shouldn’t be able to outrecruit Syracuse in the Northeast.  That has to change.

There is the basic plan, nothing sophisticated.  Take advantage of the dome, find a lesser known assistant coach, recapture the Northeast in recruiting and steal some leftovers from the south and west.

Fans though need to temper their expectations of this program.  Without a playoff and with so many quality big programs, it will be hard for Syracuse to even get a change to play for a championship.  They should though be a 7-4, 8-3 program playing in a decent bowl yearly.  They should be another Donovan McNabb away from a BCS game every year.  Right now, their talent level seems so low, I suspect you could line McNabb up with Marvin Harrison, Jim Brown and Art Monk and still lose 5 games.

Lastly, the uniforms are horrid.  I don’t mind teams seeking new avenues of revenue by recreating an identity.

Change the stink of the program and take these unis with it.

I picked the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles to make the Superbowl.  I’m now ruling them both out.  The Steelers still stand a very good chance of the playoffs, but I’m officially ruling my Eagles out of the playoffs.

For the Steelers, Ben Rothelisberger just isn’t cutting it right now.  His shoulder has apparently been hurting all season.  But it is more than that, the offense isn’t performing with him on the field.  His decision making is slow, and he’s taking more hits then he should.  Maybe the offensive line isn’t very good; but he’s holding the ball forever.

Byron Leftwich came in at halftime of the Redskins game, throwing 7-10 with a TD and two scoring drives.  The Steelers are committed to winning with defense and a running game.  They have bought in for years to the Dick Lebeau defensive system, hard running and timely passing.  But right now the running game isn’t working, and Big Ben is throwing too many ints.

Unless Rothelisberger gets healthy and suddenly starts passing faster, they will be easy fodder for a teams like the Titans and Patriots who will hit the QB relentlessly.  And their upcoming schedule includes SD, Baltimore, Dallas, New England and Tennessee.

Back to my Eagles, consider that Andy Reid, Donovan McNabb and tackles John Runyan and Tra Thomas have been together for 10 years.  Brian Westbrook and LJ Smith each have been there for 6+ years.  And this is an offense which can’t gain 1 yard on the ground in crucial moments?  This is an offense which is notoriously inefficient at the 2 minute drill?  This is a QB which in the past two weeks has started a combined 0-13 passing?

I’ll get to the defense in a minute, however, the Eagles offense holds the biggest key to this team’s constant disappointments.  In each of their close losses this year, the offense had the ball with less than 10 minutes to play and an opportunity to take the lead.  They failed each time.

To make it worse, I’m stunned that Reid seems to trust his offensive line to run block in short yardage more then he trusts McNabb to pick up two yards either passing or running.  NBC showed that the Eagles are something like 3-3 passing in short yardage on 3rd or 4th down while like 3-14 running.  Huh?  A notoriously high passing team, suddenly gets running religious when they need to convert the most?  Reid and his offensive coordinator Marty Mohrneingway are clearly over thinking.  When a coach can no longer trust his QB to pick up 1st downs like this, then he needs a QB change.  I’m not saying the Eagles should do that, but the point is, why do you have the guy there if you don’t have confidence in him?  You can say you do, but your action speak otherwise.

As far as Donovan McNabb goes, I love the man.  I can say that and keep my masculinity.  I’m a Syracuse fan and I’ve basically watched him play now for about 15 years.   The reality is and has always been, he’s streaky and he has choked in the clutch.  Boy it took me a lot to admit that, since I’m a staunch defender of his.  What really bugs me about that, is not so much that is part of his traits, but that Andy Reid hasn’t found a way to ensure that these flaws don’t kill the team.  Knowing that McNabb is streaky, wouldn’t you rely more on running early in games to get the offense going with or without a hot McNabb?  No, instead they often throw a lot early, you can book it, within the first 3 plays of any game, they will play action and look for DeSean Jackson deep.  And this scenario has gone back 10 years, even in the Todd Pinkston days.

Can McNabb win the big one?  Not with Philadelphia, not with Andy Reid.   Maybe somewhere else, a perfect storm will come together for him.

Picks:

Last week: Antonio (3-3), Kali (4-2)

Overall: Kali 27-20, Antonio 25-22

Chicago at Green Bay:

Antonio: The Brett Farve lovers will point out the Packers record last year with him, and this year with Aaron Rodgers.  They’ll then point out the Jets record last year without Farve and then this year with him, and talk about how great Farve is.  And he is great, but last year, the Packers won because they were a very good team.  This year they are struggling because a) they can’t run the ball, and b) their defense isn’t nearly as good.  Rodgers has been very good for a first year starter.  The Bears need to be able to run the ball, even more so if Rex Grossman starts.
Pick: Packers

San Diego at Pittsburgh:

Kali: Big Ben is losing games for Pittsburgh this year.  I don’t know if he is hurt or what, but right now he is hurting the team.  It makes sense to let him rest a week or two to get him healthy for the playoffs.  Because the way he is playing right now they won’t go far.  But at least they aren’t the Chargers.  Who because they’re in such a terrible division could still win it and make the playoffs.
Pick:  Pittsburgh

Antonio: As good as Peyton Manning is, the Colts have a disappointing record because of their running game.  He can only carry them but so much, and he needs to be able to play action pass for the big scores they are known for.  They are the NFL’s worst rushing team, 900 yards less then the best, the Giants.  They need to turn that around to make noise.  This week they are at home, against one of the weaker rushing defenses, a good chance to get it rolling.
Pick: Indy

Kali: Does anyone in Atlanta even wear a #7 jersey anymore?  Atlanta has to be the surprise of the year, not just with the play of Matt Ryan, but the defense as well.  There is no” D” in enver this year.
Pick:  Atlanta

Antonio: Memo to Al Davis: retire.  Pull a George Steinbrenner and take a step back away from the day to day franchise concerns.  Look at Miami across the field this weekend.  They were the worst team in the NFL last year, 1-15.  They cleaned house, turned the reins over to a true football man, Bill Parcells, and stayed out of the way.  If the Raiders are to return to glory anytime soon, then Davis will just need to become a fan like mostly everyone else.
Pick: Miami

Detroit at Carolina:

Kali: Do you believe we are going to have to watch the Lions on Thanksgiving?  I love Culpepper but why would you bring him into a team that is this bad.  Play the young QB and see what you got cause you aint going nowhere this year anyway.
Pick:  Carolina

Kali: Cincy has been playing well recently.  But Philly is basically in a must-win scenario the rest of the season.  And Philly’s biggest weakness, run defense, can’t be exploited in this game.
Pick:  Philly

Antonio: I’ve stated before that the Eagles are a Bully team which can’t step up to the plate against the bigger bullies down the block.  Which of course means they’ll win this one against an NFL version of a nerd, Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Pick: Philly

Antonio: I’m continually impressed by the Giants.  They are showing NFL teams how to win games.  Why worry about installing the ultra popular Wildcat when you can just batter a team into submission running the ball?  The Giants don’t run the ball as well as they do, because they can’t pass; they run it because they believe in it, which makes it really hard to beat them, unless of course their running backs keep trying to leap over tacklers.
Pick: NY Giants

Kali: This is going to be a great match up between the Giants 3 headed running attack and the best rush defense in the NFL.  I know statistically someone may have better stats, but the Ravens haven’t allowed a 100 yard rusher in 27 games.  To me that makes them the best.  Many time I’ve picked against the Ravens because I keep expecting Flacco to play like a rookie and he has proven me wrong.  But finally this has to be the week against the Giants D.  I hope.
Pick:  NY Giants

Kali: Both teams coming off the bye week were supposed to be as healthy as they could be.  But now it looks like Clinton Portis may not play.  That is a huge loss for the Skins.  But the Skins D always plays well against Romo and Marion Barber.  I see this as a close game with the Skins somehow, some way winning it late.
Pick:  Redskins

Antonio: Dallas has managed to survive the loss of Tony Romo thanks to the bye week.  They played without him for 3 games, going 1-2 with only the St. Louis loss being a true problem.  If Romo comes out ready to play, they can win this one.  If they do, they are looking at running to 8-4 due to two upcoming patsies (49ers and Seahawks at home).  Meanwhile, a win here for Washington would create drastic separation between the Redskins and Cowboys.
Pick: Cowboys

It’s all over.  We have hoped and prayed and done everything we could.  I just don’t think there is anything that anyone can do for us now.  Let me be the first one to admit it.  NOTRE DAME IS DONE AS A BIGTIME PROGRAM.

I know it even hurts to say it out loud.  But the truth has to be told.  I know
Notre Dame has more national championships and more all-americans than everyone else.  But that is the past.  The last time Notre Dame was really relevant was all the way back in the Lou Holtz era.  The last time they were really in contention for the National Championship was 1993.  That’s not even this century.  The program is living too much in the past and in all honesty it may never ever get back to that.

Looking around the college landscape at the top teams:  USC, Texas, Florida, Alabama etc. one thing pops into my mind.  ATHLETES.  Those teams have players at skill positions that are going to be first round picks.  The only 1st round skill position player from Notre Dame in the last few years is Brady Quinn.  Obviously the good players aren’t going to Notre Dame anymore and the question has to be why?

There are a couple reasons.  Programs like Texas, Florida and Alabama get the bulk of their rosters from their state.  And these states each and every year produce the top talent in the country.  If you’re a top player in these states what is better than going to the State University.  Notre Dame is in Indiana.  I don’t get to scout many high school games, but I don’t think Indiana is one of the top football producing states.

So if the majority of your players aren’t coming from your home state what do you do?  Well, you can be like USC and have your recent reputation and location to recruit to.  USC has multiple recent Heisman trophy winners.  And every first round since Pete Carroll has been there is full of USC players.  So if you want to go to the NFL why would you go to Notre Dame over USC?  There are programs that produce NFL players on a regular basis and right Notre Dame isn’t one of them.

And honestly without the NFL pedigree and recent success what does Notre Dame have to offer.  South Bend, Indiana doesn’t seem to be a great place to recruit the star athletes.  It’s not like other schools that are rebuilding like Miami.  Miami can always say hey I know we are down, but at least you can party in Miami.  That can’t be said about South Bend.

Notre Dame’s history is long and great, but right now the future doesn’t look so
bright.  I don’t think it can all be blamed on the coaches, (even though Weis sucks) it is about the talent.  And right now Notre Dame is not getting the top players.  There are so many other top programs in better locations, with better recent history that I don’t know if Notre Dame can ever get back.

Kali:

Because overall it was such a dominating game no one really noticed that Eli had a bad game against the Cowboys last week.  If that was against a quality team they probably should’ve and would’ve lost last week.  I just don’t see it happening 2 weeks in a row and he always seems to play well against the Eagles. 

Pick:  Ny Giants

Not long ago, I discussed the struggling NFL teams and where they were headed.  At the midpoint, let’s see how the best teams in the league thus far project down the stretch.

• Tennessee and NY Giants - Year in and year out teams which play top notch defense, run the ball and limit turnovers win.  The Giants and Titans are playing this to a tee.  I’m not 100% sold on the Titans, but I think even if they hit some rough patches, they’ve pretty much headed for a 1st round bye.  The Giants are just a continuation of their late season heroics last year.  The only thing that could stop them now, is severe injury to Eli Manning or a Plaxico Burress, TO style cancer situation.  I doubt that is going to happen and figure they are headed to at least the NFC Championship game, at home.
• Pittsburgh and Carolina - Again these are teams which play very good defense.  I worry about Carolina’s ability to win on the road, which I fully expect they’ll have to do in the playoffs.  The return of Mushin Muhammed and Jake Delhomme has this team back on track.  Pencil them into the playoffs.  Pittsburgh was my AFC pick to make the Superbowl, however, they’ve had a brutal time keeping Ben Rothelisberger protected.  Part of this is because he tends to hold the ball too long.  They need to fix this or they’ll never get past the Titans.
• Buffalo and Washington - These two teams are 5-2 and 6-2, but they have only a roughly 20 point differential.  Compare that to Titans (93) and Giants (76).  Is this alarming? Maybe, it could just be an anomaly, but they are clearly winning the tight close games, and that is a tough thing to do for an entire season.  I think they are likely to make the playoffs, but I wouldn’t be surpised if either has the wheels start to come off in a long NFL season.
• Dallas and New England - Seemingly going in opposite directions.  Dallas is still talented enough to make a run of it, but I’m not sure they have the dedication to win tough games.  Without Tony Romo they should still be able to post more than 13 and 14 points.  New England on the other hand, has managed to redefine their offense on the fly after the Tom Brady injury.  The Patriots will still have the bad games as expected with an inexperienced QB, but they’ve recovered quite well overall.
• Tampa Bay and Philadelphia - Jon Gruden is apparently Brian Billick all over again.  Both managed to win Superbowls with veteran QBs and ridiciously good defenses; yet despite being considered offensive “geniuses” their offenses were constantly terrible.  I expect nothing good from Tampa.  They might make the playoffs but they aren’t going anywhere.  The Eagles are simple to figure, Donovan McNabb (healthy and confident) plus Brian Westbrook (healthy and consistent touches) = Eagles win.
• San Diego fires defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell - They didn’t go far enough in firing coaches.  They should have fired Norv Turner as well.  Why does Turner have a job?  He’s 72-95 as a head coach with only 2 playoff appearances in 10 seasons.   San Diego needs a young aggressive coach, not a retread.
• Mike Singletary done lost his mind - I thought benching Vernon Davis was a great stand for a coach to turn around his team.  I thought his post game tirade was bit dramatic, but generally agreed with his comments just not necessarily his method.  However, dropping his pants at halftime to demonstrate how the 49ers were getting their butts kicked is just crazy.  If these 3 events had happened over a long season at different times, I’d think he was crazy like the Chicago White Sox coach Ozzie Guillen who is notorious for firing off his mouth.  But Singletary did all this in what 4 hours?  No way he’ll last as a NFL head coach, what could he possibly do now to motivate his players?

Picks:

Last week: Kali 4-2, Antonio 3-3 - Overall: Kali 19-16, Antonio 18-17

Green Bay at Tennessee:

Kali: The last undefeated team risks a slight drop off this week after beating their big rival, the Colts. But the Titans are so physical on both sides of the ball, and that usually doesn’t take a week off.

Pick: Tennessee

Houston at Minnesota:

Antonio: Houston is on a roll with three straight wins after starting 0-4. Andre Johnson when healthy is as good as any receiver in the league. He’s healthy now and on pace for nearly 1800 yards. Minnesota had a much needed bye last week to try to regroup after giving up 48 points to the Bears. Oh, forgot to mention Houstons three wins were all at home, now they are in Minnesota, facing a desperate team.

Pick: Minnesota

Miami at Denver:

Antonio: The Bronos looked great offensively early this season, but have lost 3 of 4 including one to the Kansas City Chefs. Then they got completely trashed in New England. They are coming off a bye and like Minnesota are desperate. If they somehow drop this one at home to the Dolphins, it may be time for Mike Shanahan to move on.

Pick: Denver

NY Jets at Buffalo:

Kali: Eric Man”genius” told Brett Favre to cut down on interceptions. I’ve been telling him that for the last 5 years. Buffalo is the better team with or without Favre taking the advice.

Pick: Buffalo

New England at Indianapolis:

Kali: Is this the week Indianapolis finally stands up? They were actually in the game with the Titans late. I think Peyton and the boys will show up this week. This is also Cassell’s first big time national TV road game.

Pick: Indianapolis

Antonio: For years this may have been the most important game on the NFL regular season schedule. Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning. Well, this year it is Matt Cassell versus the ghost of Peyton. Cassell has improved week in and week out, and the Patriots have continued to have an effective running game despite being down to a practice squad back. Meanwhile, Manning, Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison just haven’t been on the same page all year. Tough call on this one.

Pick: Indianapolis

Dallas at NY Giants:

Antonio: The Georgia Bulldogs last year stormed the field after taking a 7-0 lead against rival Florida, showing them up in route to an upset win. Unless Dallas does something so completely obnoxious and causes the Giants to go completely off their game. They will be stomped out like that end zone.

Pick: Giants

Kali: Giants won a slug fest in Pittsburgh last week. Probably the best road win in the NFL all year. It doesn’t matter who starts for Dallas at QB, the Giants see this as a way to maybe knock the Cowboys out of the playoff hunt.

Pick: NY Giants

Philadelphia at Seattle:

Kali: Westbrook is the most important player in the league to his team. He won’t win the MVP because of the year’s Drew Brees and Clinton Portis are having. Seneca Wallace vs. Jim Johnson, I wonder who I’m going with?

Pick: Westbrook and the rest of the team

Antonio: Seems like a total mismatch. If this game is going to be the blowout it should be, the Eagles will start out hot. They have one major issue, looking ahead. The Giants come to Philly next week, and if they don’t get up quickly by a couple of touchdowns, this will be an oddly close game.

Pick: Eagles

Pittsburgh at Washington:

Antonio: The Steelers are facing a tough game, but for some reason I just don’t see the Redskins being able to abuse Big Ben the way they need to as they are tied for 28th in the league in sacks with 10. If Big Ben has time, he’ll find Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes. I see an upset brewing.

Pick: Washington

Kali: The Redskins are banged up this week with Moss and Portis hurting. Pittsburgh plays physical enough to be in the NFC East but are 0-2 against the division this year. Redskins have a Black quarterback and we will have our first Black President by this time next week. So the country is going in one direction:

Pick: Washington “Jason Obama” Redskins

The NFL is the greatest and best run sport in the country. Don’t know enough about soccer and rugby, but I would venture to say it’s the best run sport in the World. They have trained the fans to care more about the front of the uniform than the back of the uniform. And in most major cities in the country football is the number #1 sport. But this past week the NFL and one of it’s most storied franchises made mistakes that need to be remedied midseason.

In the Pittsburgh vs. New York Giants game the Pittsburgh long snapper got injured and was unable to return to the game. Most fans can’t even name the long snapper on their team, because the only time you hear the name is when they make a mistake. But Pittsburgh leading by 2 points in the 4^th quarter had to punt. So they had no designated backup long snapper so supposedly a linebacker James Harrison volunteered for the job. What happened next could only be expected. He snapped it over the punter’s head for a safety. Which then led to great field position for the Giants and the winning touchdown. I’m not blaming James Harrison for the loss. I’m blaming the Pittsburgh coaching staff. The NFL now has mini camps, OTA’s and basically no off-season for the players. All those practices and no one else on the team is able to take a few minutes each practice to work on long snapping in case of emergency. I know the guy volunteered, but how wasn’t the first choice the starting center or the backup center. How can you only have one person on your roster that you can trust to make a long snap? Imagine if they had gone down and scored a touchdown to bring themselves within one point, but then lost because they couldn’t successfully make an extra point because of the snap. This is an outrageous lack of foresight by a coaching staff that spends 70 hours a week working and 10 months a year working on nothing but football.

The NFL needs to figure out a better way to handle replays. The Atlanta Falcons were trailing the Philadelphia Eagles by 6 in the last couple of minutes of the game. The Eagles had the ball and the Falcons were using their timeouts as they should to stop the clock before the 2 minute warning. The Eagles then punted the ball and the Falcons should’ve have gotten the ball back down 6 with a little over 2minutes left. But during the punt the Falcon returner ran up to make the catch and then backed up to let the ball bounce. The Eagles jumped on the ball because it appeared that the Falcon returner might’ve touched the ball. The replays clearly showed that the Falcon didn’t touch the ball. Yet, the Falcons coach couldn’t throw the red challenge flag because he had used all of his timeouts as he should’ve to stop the clock before the punt. So everyone in the stadium and on television knew it was a bad call that in all effect had ended the game. But because of the ridiculous rules that you can’t challenge without a timeout outside of 2 minutes caused an obvious terrible call to stand. So the Falcons coach got punished because he had made the right call in using his timeouts. The NFL needs to adopt the college rule for replay immediately. Luckily this was a regular season game. Imagine if that was a playoff game or even the Super Bowl. Truthfully speaking imagine if later in the season the Eagles get into the playoffs in a tiebreaker over the Falcons because of this win. It makes no sense that every reviewable play can’t be looked at in a game. I would still give the coaches a certain number of challenges, but their should be a ref whose only job at the stadium is to buzz down to the head official on questionable calls. People will say that it will make the game longer. I ask you all to watch NFL games this week and see how many times a game plays would need to be reviewed. If it happens 5 times a game that is probably an unusual game. And it shouldn’t be about time, it should be about getting it right. And how the greatest league in the game would want to put itself in a position where a call that could be changed and isn’t because of arbitrary rules is too big of a risk.

The Philadelphia Phillies won a World Series, not just for themselves, but also for their fans and sister franchises in the city.  We’ve been inundated with reminders that Philly hadn’t won a major sports title since the Sixers in 1983.   Philly is a city desperate for sports success which has never had any franchises have consistent, dynasty level success.  The great Sixers teams of the late 70s, early 80s only won the ‘83 championship.  The Eagles of the early new millienium failed in their only Superbowl.  The Broad Street Bullies of the 70s basically won two and have been silent since.  So no doubt last night was a ridiculous night in Philly lore.

But was it all about the partying and chaos that ensued?  Surely not, for many children and teens, they were able to establish their own memories.  A championship like this ensures a new generation of Phillies fans, who now have their own heroes, not their parents’.  I had my 6 year old daughter watch the final inning last night.  Did she understand much?  No, not really, she’s never watched much baseball.  The point was, that even if she remembers only the Phillies players jumping on top of each other at the mound, she does have a memory of this.  And while the rain suspension left fans with a long period of anticipation, the resumed game allowed the children of Phillies fans to see the game finished at a reasonable time.

All sports have to some extent sold out to the mighty TV dollar, and the result has been games which end far past children’s bedtimes.  The NFL has the best scenario, being able to have their championship game start at about 6:30 on a Sunday.  MLB more than any of the pro leagues usually needs to capture their fans very early, before the more action packed sports become attractive to preteens.  Thanks to the rain suspension, baseball may have gotten lucky and developed some new fans (at least those in Philly as no other city apparently watched).

For the city of Philadelphia, this was obviously a big deal, and Philly fans can only help the good feeling spreads to the other franchises.  A similar thing happened to Boston, when the Patriots broke through for a Superbowl.  It had roughly been 16 years since a Boston team won a title, and the Patriots first win was followed by a dynasty for them, and championships for the Red Sox and Celtics.  Will it happen in Philadelphia?  Who knows, but the Sixers and Eagles both should be in playoff contention and at that point, anything can happen.

For fans in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington, Seattle, Kansas City etc., I as a Philadelphia fan, feel your pain.  You’ve all had varying success at different times, but it now seems like it’s been forever.  Your time will come, be patient, and hopeful that your children are able to witness a championship that will embed fandom into them.

Thank you Phillies, you’ve gained at least one new fan.

Last week, the NFL’s standings continued to tighten in the middle.  There are 12 teams, with records of 4-3, 3-3 or 3-4.  The Bills showed they were legit, as they trashed San Diego.  Tenneessee continued to run wild against lesser opponents and Carolina made a statement against New Orleans.

• Infectiongate - The knee injury to Tom Brady is taking a turn for the worse, and it has now been reported that he has had several “clean-up” surgeries to address infections.  Rumor is the Patriots are now in “told you so” mode after Brady bucked their doctors to use his own for the initial surgery.  If Brady does indeed need to have the surgery redone, then he’s likely to miss part of next season too, and the Patriots might finally be seeing the end of their good fortune.
• Infectiongate part 2 - “Gasp” Kellen Winslow had the audacity to voice his displeasure over the Browns handling of his “mysterious illness”.  Whether it was by his choice or the Browns choice that the initial reports of cause of his illness were not reported is of little concern.  What is of serious concern is the fact the Browns have had at least 6 cases of staph infection.  Here’s part of Winslow’s statements “They didn’t even want me going to the Cleveland Browns’ facility because they didn’t want me to get re-infected. Something is wrong up there. It needs to be fixed.”  I’m sorry if I was running the Browns, rather then getting all upset over Winslow’s comments, I’d stop sending my players to a place, even my own facility, if they were at risk for worsening conditions.  Would you send your child back to a doctors’ office, after going there for the a previous treatment, she came home with staph?
• Know your role… After hearing of Winslow’s suspension, it occurred to me that this season there especially seems to be hard stances taken on anything which “causes embarassment to the league”.  I’m not talking about the Larry Johnson spitting in a woman’s face type incidents.  I’m talking about the celebration fines, the suspensions like Winslow’s and the “we want you to play hard, but not ever hurt anyone” fines.  I’ve mentioned these things before, but I think the league is going too far.  Chris Johnson of the Titans was fined 10k for celebrating a touchdown by banging on some drums which were used by the Chiefs to motivate their fans.  Really, is this type of thing bothering anyone?
• Farve in the middle - Seems like Brett just can’t play football.  He supposedly had contact with the Vikings while “retired”.  Then he was giving Matt Millen insider info on how to beat the Packers.  And to top it off he was giving medical advice to Tony Romo.  He’d like everyone to think these are pure fabrications, but I think there is a nugget of truth in each story.  The next rumor about him may be that he was in the bathroom with Pacman and his bodyguard.  Or that he texting Matt Jones when he was getting high.  Maybe it will come out, that he was instrumental in the fall of Communism in the 80s.  Come to think of it, since he’s now Dr. Farve, maybe he did the surgery on Brady.  It would be one way to push the Jets to the top of the AFC East

Picks:

Last Week, Antonio 2-4, Kali 5-1
Overall: Antonio 15-14, Kali 15-14

San Diego at New Orleans:

Kali: How the NFL picked of all cities New Orleans to lose a home game to London is ridiculous.  The city just a few years removed from Katrina needs all revenue it can get.  This is a disgrace. Pick:  No Pick as a protest

Antonio: I’m with Kali on this one.  This is a long way for teams to travel for little benefit.  Saints lose a home game (a big advantage as a dome team) and the Chargers were scheduled like this @ Miami (East coast), vs Patriots (big rival), @ Buffalo (East coast) then off to London.  Think they are going to be charged up to play this week?  Pick: None, protesting as well

Indianapolis at Tennessee:

Kali: I keep expecting for the old Indianapolis to show up.  But as I look at them play and their battered offensive line, I’m not sure if that is possible.  And going against the physical Titans on both sides of the ball will not start their road back. Pick:  Tennessee

Buffalo at Miami:

Antonio: Miami is playing better then expected, and Buffalo has it rolling.  But they are coming off a big win at home versus San Diego, with the Jets coming up next week.  Can they possibly take Miami lightly?  Yes, but I don’t think they’ll actually lose it.  Pick: Buffalo

Arizona at Carolina:

Kali: These two teams represent more than any the difference between how teams play at home and on the road.  If either of these teams get home field advantage through the playoffs they could make it to the Super Bowl.  But that is unlikely because when either go on the road they usually play so poorly.  This game is in Carolina, nothing more needs to be said.  Pick:  Carolina

Cleveland at Jacksonville:

Antonio: The Browns suckered me with that win against the Giants.  I didn’t believe in them too much after that, but I thought maybe they’d had enough momentum to knock off Washington.  Well I’m not falling for them again.  They stink, their QB stinks, their coach stinks and their medical staff stinks.  Pick: Jacksonville

Washington at Detroit:

Kali: This is one of those games where the Redskins have to make a statement.  Right now Detroit is a bad team without a lot of top-notch talent.  The Redskins must show their mettle and dominate this game.
Pick:  Redskins by 10+. If they don’t win by that much, I’m taking it as a loss.

Antonio: Good I get to write Kali in a loss.  The Redskins just don’t blow anyone out.  However, they play a solid consistent brand of football.  They’ve relied heavily on Clinton Portis, so I fully expect him to have a big day.  Pick: Redskins

Atlanta at Philadelphia:

Antonio: The Eagles are 9-0 the week after a bye in the Andy Reid era.  They’ve always used it to get their game on track (they tend to also lose the game before a bye).  I doubt things will change this week, despite Matt Ryan.  Pick: Eagles

Kali: I guess nobody in Atlanta is missing Mike Vick anymore.  Matt Ryan has been an early surprise and the defense has exceptional.  But going to Philly off a bye week, with a rookie QB and the return of a healthy Brian Westbrook doesn’t bode well. Pick:  Philly

Tampa Bay at Dallas:

Kali: The Cowboys are in a tailspin, injuries have been the excuse given.  But even with a healthy Romo they hadn’t been playing well.  I don’t like Brad Johnson, he’ll be unable to move the ball against the Bucs defense. Pick:  Tampa Bay

Antonio: I thing in some weird way I have to give credit to Tony Romo.  I’m one of his critics, I’ll admit it.  However, they are clearly a different team with him.  They have a chance to win any game with him.  Clearly, the way they were abused last week by the Rams shows the drop off.  Pick: Tampa Bay

NY Giants at Pittsburgh:

Antonio: Ben Rothelisberger is the NFL’s most sacked QB over the past few years, and now he’s going against a team which is second in the league in sacks.  Pittsburgh will be at home, but I think they are going to have trouble against the Giants this week.  Pick: Giants

Kali: The battle of Eli and Big Ben will be the highly publicized part of this match-up.  But I’m more interested in the Pittsburgh run defense vs.  Brandon Jacobs.  Jacobs is becoming one of the most physical runners in the league.  But the return of “Fast” Willie Parker makes the difference.
Pick:  Pittsburgh

…and in Tampa???  Yes, as improbable as it seems, there is a World Series beginning tonight between Tampa (perennial AL East doormats) and Philadelphia (a franchise with 10,000+ losses).

Does anyone really care?

Philly does.  The city of brotherly love and constant losing hasn’t seen a major professional championship since 1983.  Oh, and to make it worse they’ve had chances in each sport.  Since June, 1983 when Dr. J and the Sixers defeated the Lakers for the NBA title.  The major franchises are 0-7 in the finals of their sport, each of them having at least one appearance.

Philly bleeds Eagle green, but they are also immensily driven to win in all sports.  When there is belief of an opportunity the fans come out of the woodwork in droves.  The city is awash in Phillies red, which means they will likely erupt into the street if they win this series.  Heck, they did it just because they advanced to the Series.

Tampa cares.  At least this week they do.  I really don’t care to hear from anyone who claims to be a Rays fan.  Just admit you fell in love with the story and their players about two weeks ago.  Only roughly 22,000 fans showed up on average, which was higher than all but their debut 1998 season.  Many casual baseball fans will now stick to the Rays, and good for them.  You have to appreciate their young talent.  BJ Upton, Evan Longoria, Scott Kazmier, Carl Crawford, David Price etc.

The rest of the sports watching world, likely won’t care much.

Which leads me to some of the ridiculousness of MLB.

Team Building and Payroll

The disparity in payrolls has been discussed at length, but it is insane to consider the Rays payroll is in the range of $43 million, while the Phillies is in the range of $95 million.  Thats more than double…oh, but wait, the Rays rise to the top corresponded with a fall from grace by the New York Yankees who’s payroll is about $207 million or about 5 times as much.

The other 3 major sports all have caps, but baseball in it’s infinite wisdom sees no logic in a cap.  All they have is a luxury tax.  And sure there is some reasoning to conclude that the Yankees as the most profitable organization deserve the right to spend the money as they see fit.  But really $160 million difference?

One must appreciate the team building philosophy of these teams.  They arrived in the world series primarily due to their acquistion and development of their own talent.  Other than Brad Lidge, the Phillies stars (Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers and Ryan Howard) are homegrown.  The rest of the team was low rent signings and minor trades.  No major theft’s from the poor teams of the leagues.  GM Pat Gillick (and give some credit to the prior regime) amassed the team smartly.  The prime reason even for the $93 dollar payroll is the  fact that $47 million of that comes from contracts for Rollins, Utley, Burrell, Myers and Howard.

Meanwhile, the Rays feature a roster of young stars who haven’t even struck their first pay day.  They have used desperate moves from high payroll teams such as the Mets to acquire players like Scott Kazmir.  They have traded away talented by troubled players such as Josh Hamilton, Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young.    Their highest paid player, Carlos Pena, was aquired as a minor league free agent prior to the 2007 season.  He responded with 46 HRs (no apparent failed drug test, but I have my suspicions).

Seeing either one of these teams win a championship this way is a shot to the ego of the Yankees, who of course “took advantage” of the Phillies in a salary dump move two years ago in acquiring Bobby Abreu.  Consider that Abreu’s $16 millon dollar salary this year equates to the salary of Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.  Will the Rays and Phillies be able to keep their salaries within these meager by comparison salaries?  Of course not, some of these players will be due for raises.  But it is easy to get the sense the GMs of these teams recognize the folly of the Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Mets and LA Dodgers (who gave Andruw Jones a 2 year $36 million contract despite being noticeably overweight and coming off a .222 BA season and responded by hitting .158, 3 HR and 14 RBI in 75 games).

The DH

I don’t care which way the league goes, either DH or no DH.  The traditionalists want no DH, the modernist feel it is long past the time of pitchers hitting.  Who really cares?  The problem is the two sets of rules.  The Rays have an addtional advantage at home because they’ve played all year with a DH, Cliff Floyd.  He’s no longer a major player, but he’s received regular at bats all year.  The Phillies will trot out their 4th outfield or some other part time player who receives 6-8 at bats per week.

Consider if other sports had similar rules, like the AFC playing without kickers.  Each team would be used to having to convert two pointers and fourth downs.  The NFC with kickers would have to bench a weapon, and be forced to convert plays they’d normally do rarely.  Or if the NBA had no 3 point shot in the East.  The West would have it’s usual 3 point specialist or even additionals because the East would have little need for such players.  Then in the finals, you’d have players gunning for extra points on shots they’d normally not take.  This might seem extreme, but really is it any more ridiculous to have significant separate rules for leagues.

Home Field Advantage

Again with the ridiculousness.  MLB in it’s infinite wisdom thinks it is better to tie the most important set of games in the season to a mid-season exhibition game.  No, they can’t come to a consensus on the DH, but it makes perfect sense to have the winner of the All-Star game win home field advantage in the World Series.  I don’t care what the reasons are, this is stupid.  The Rays deserve home field advantage because they had the best record between the two series teams.  There are 162 regular season games, and another potential 12 post season games, but MLB has come to the conclusion that the All-Star game is integral to determining a teams’ destiny.

My Phillies

I won’t deny it, I’m rooting for the Phillies.  I grew up in South Jersey, spent 10 years across the river from the Vet in Camden.   My first memory of professional sports, came from the 1980 World Series.  It wasn’t from a play or a hit.  I remember the crown scoreboard at Kauffman field.  I don’t remember the Eagles, Sixers or Flyers from that time period, despite their all being in Finals.  I remember attending a Phillies game probably in about 1983 against the Padres and became a fan of Tony Gwynn.  I used to have a Pete Rose bat from a promotional game.  I was insane over the 1993 Phillies, and their misfits of likely heavy boozing, steroid abusing overacheivers.  By the way, even at 16, 17 years old, I knew something was up with those players.  Lenny Dykstra was a stick before joining the Phils, and the next thing you know he’s got legs like Brian Westbrook.

Like most Philadelphia area fans, I’m a huge Eagles fan.  But I have a soft spot for our loveable losers, the Phillies.  And this years’ special players Howard, Rollins, Victorino are good guys, good for professional sports.  Go Phils.

The NFL season is ridiculously dramatic.  Best part is, it is like this every season, and we never seem to get it.

• NFC East Inverted - Last week, the Eagles were buried in the NFC East because all the other teams just flat out looked better and had at least two game advantages on them.  The Redskins promptly lost at home to the Marshall Thundering Herd; the Cowboys lost in Arizona (coming out of the game with mass injuries too) and the Giants managed to completely undo everything they’d done right in their past 10 games going back to last season in a loss at Cleveland.  Meanwhile the Eagles, did everything in the fourth quarter they couldn’t do in their three previous losses.
• Cowboys hurting - Really, the only thing that happened of note was the injuries the Cowboys suffered.  Tony Romo’s pinkie injury was thought to keep him out four weeks, but now Dr. Brett Farve told him he could and should play through this.  I think that is somewhat unwise.  He may be able to pull it off, but there is apparently risk that he could be further hurt.  And last week, Trent Dilfer broke down how Romo throws and hold the ball, showing he puts a lot of pressure on that pinkie.  Romo makes the Cowboys a legitimate offensive force, but he also kills them with turnovers (leading the league in fumbles); Brad Johnson will keep the offense from losing games, but won’t make big plays for them. Felix Jones has a bad hammy, Pacman was rightfully suspended; Terrance Newmann is out for a few weeks.  The Cowboys need to somehow keep pace through this stretch.  Glad to know they have the “brilliant” Wade Philips to do that.
• NFL Trading Deadline - Comes and goes with only one deal, Roy Williams to the Cowboys.  I don’t have a clue why NFL teams are so insistent on trading only when they a) get an amazingly sweet deal, or b) totally rip the other team off.  And shockingly the Lions were the smartest team in the league on Tuesday.  They had a lethargic, temperamental, under performing young WR with value, and rather than holding out they jumped on an opportunity.  The Lions have a ton of needs, and a 1st, 3rd and 6th will help them tremendously to rebuild.  Williams wasn’t going to help them get better.  The only things I’d say about the Cowboys on this one is, I don’t know that they need a WR at this point, and I doubt Williams is worth the picks plus a rumored $45 million extension.  I’d have made him show he was worth the cash before giving it to him.  Meanwhile, Kansas City couldn’t get it done with Tony Gonzalez.   Similar to the Lions, they are a train wreck and Gonzo ain’t going to help them.  Rumor is they turned down a 3rd round pick.  Rumor also says Gonzo balked at going to Buffalo who may have offered better than the 3rd.  Whatever the reason, the Chiefs should have accept the best they could get, from a team Gonzo was willing to go to.  GM Peterson basically said that Shockey went for a 2nd and 5th why should they accept less for Gonzo.  True, but you are in no position to negotiate.  Gonzo isn’t young, this is midseason, and you stink.  Accept what you can get, and rebuild.
• NFL is fine crazy - Troy Polamantu said the NFL is now becoming a pansy league.  He’s right.  The most popular American sport now no longer allows players to hit each other, celebrate TDs or *gasp* criticize referee’s.  Should there be limits on these types of actions? Of course, there are always lines that shouldn’t be crossed.  The NFL wants players to play hard through the whistle, hit each other hard, but rather than addressing player safety through better (read more expensive) equipment, they’ll just fine players who’s head is two inches two high and hits another players head.  We are one or two seasons away from players not being able to high five each other after a TD.  A referee costs a team a game and no one can talk about it.  So the NFL now legislates free speech, physical contact in a contact sport and spontenaity in celebration.  Change the name soon to the Nazi Football League.

Picks:

Last week, Antonio (3-3) Kali (2-4).  Overall, Antonio (13-10), Kali (10-13).

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