The Pride of the Northeast

The interest in college football in the Northeast has waned like the ecstasy a chocolate lover has after consuming 20 pounds of it. At one time, Syracuse University was a powerhouse (in the 50’s and 90’s), Pittsburgh was formidable, Rutgers had Ray Rice traverse to the N-F-L and Boston College was a school that earned a reputation of winning the most important games.

But existentialists know that Penn State is the only power among what is considered Northeastern Schools. Most of the other universities are as complimentary to the success as a mechanic is with knowing how to teach calculus.

Football has certaintly underachieved in a region which has enough of a past to reflect upon. But if there’s any compensation this area is predominantly about it’s professional sports and how those teams are competing.

For that reason, it’s why the N-F-L is put on such a high pedestal throughout the season.

But now, it’s center stage for the cities of New York and Boston. It’s a re-match of two teams that absolutely hate each other and know one-another equally as well. Ty Law signed with the Jets for the rest of the season, beginning this week, against New England. Four Patriots players are out for the season because of previous injuries, the most recent being outstanding linebacker Adalius Thomas. Although, the most important, obviously including quarterback Tom Brady.

The expectation is that the Jets will come through in spite of enormous pressure to take down New England with talent. One issue remains though: will Pats coach Bill Belichick maneuver his way to another victory over his pupil Eric Mangini.

Final score: Jets 38, Patriots 35

Jets Talk

Jets fans should not be worried any longer. Brett Favre is coming to town to make the offense exciting, Alan Faneca will open up holes for running backs, Leon Washington and Thomas Jones, to secure. Kris Jenkins is going to be the two-way defender the Jets have longed for in stuffing the run and attacking the quarterback. Vernon Gholston could be the next Mo Lewis for New York.

There's only one probem, projections and reality are far different phenomena and the Jets are a farce to this point. The team could easily be 0-3 if it were not for Chad Pennington's weak arm. This running game has been much improved because of Faneca but Jenkins cannot afford to sit out any more contests because the defense looks lost without him. Favre is being helped by an offensive coordinator who comes from the same school of coaching as a person who has no playoff victories and does not take chances. Then, when Brian Schottenheimer experiments, he goes to an extreme (the way he did with San Diego).

The schedule is definitely in favor of the Jets but they have to take advantage of the holes that are available. The next opponent is not an easy one in the Arizona Cardinals, who before losing to the Redskins in week three, blasted the Dolphins 31-10.

Get your offense in order and allow Jenkins to re-join the lineup. It won't be pretty if the two don't.

By the way if the Jets do not perform well without the services of Jenkins, how fit are they to get to the postseason? The Giants suspended Plaxico Burress and the squad still possesses Amani Toomer, Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon, Ahmad Bradshaw, and David Tyree.

Get a grip Jets! Or your handl on a playoff spot wil be long gone by week eight.

Tom Terrific Goes Tumbling

While the Giants were methodically taking advantage of a flat Redskins defense in the first half (which led to victory) on Thursday and the Jets hung by a thread to pull out the contest against the Miami Dolphins (Sunday) the Patriots were dealt a knockout punch that might kill their 2008-09 season.

It seemed like an odd opponent to go down against. The Kansas City Chiefs just drafted Glen Dorsey, out of LSU, to help one of the worst pass-rush defenses in all of the League. Yet, it was not him who forced quarterback, Tom Brady, to the sidelines for the rest of the year with a torn ACL.

Regardless of the kind of talent New England exhibits on a week-to-week basis, Brady is irreplaceable because he is the best quarterback in the League. The weapons he was provided were extraordinary because Brady tossed the ball to those receivers and opened up the running game for Sammy Morris and Laurence Maroney.

While New England still has Randy Moss and Wes Welker at the wide receivers' position having a USC third string starter should not soothe the worries of fans in the Boston area.

Who is Matt Cassel?

He was the backup quarterback for two Heisman Trophy winners at the University of Southern California: Carson Palmer (the signal caller for the Bengals) and Matt Leinart (the backup quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals). The last time Cassel started a game was in high school. He's only thrown 57 NFL passes in a little more than three years.

Note this: the Patriots have a rookie backup and just signed a third stringer, Matt Gutierrez , who was their third fiddle last year.

There is no doubt Tom Brady's torn ACL gives Jets and Bill fans huge hope in winning a division title. The last season the Patriots did not win the division was in 2002 when the Jets blew out the Packers in the last game of the season and the Patriots succumbed to the Dolphins in Miami.

Brett Favre and Trent Edwards have to be infinitely better than Matt Cassel for the two squads to overtake the Patriots because in spite of losing Asante Samuel during the offseason, the Pats always refuel.

In the end, The Jets will probably win the division because of the acquisition of Brett Favre and the seasons injury to Mr. Brady.

Giant Step?

Caterpillars crawl around the ground struggling to find their adaptive environment (whether it be as a butterfly or a moth).

In a similar fashion, the Giants identity was in disarray during the first half of last year. But matters changed on the presence of two pro-bowl caliber players in Michael Strahan and Osi Uymenyora and three others (Kavicka Mitchell, Reggie Torbor, and Gebril Wilson). Offenses were slowed to a crawl during the last half of the season, including the playoffs.

This year there's new life to the Giants defensive environment...featuring Justin Tuck, Matthias Kiwanuka, and Jerome McDougle. Combine the efforts of those three with Fred Robbins and company and the Giants defense looked in prime gear against the Washington Redskins in Week one

Washington's Clinton Portis was unable to exploit and explode on the newly crafted Giants defense. The 'Skins ran for 83 yards but was unable to score in the last 30 minutes of the game. This is only the start of what could possibly be another magical run to the postseason for New York.

As for the offense, Eli Manning was effective enough to not give up the contest as he tossed for 200 yards with an interception on 19/35 passing. Brandon Jacobs earned another hundred yard gain while Derrick Ward replaced the graduate of Southern Illinois with solid bulldozing.

It is no doubt a solid victory by a club which not getting he respect it deserves after winning the Super Bowl.

But let me explain the format:

If players execute actions to perfection, teams can separate themselves even further. The Giants' first drive was fantastic; but looking at the rear view mirror after the game the G-Men scored three field goals the remainder of the game.

All in all: if the Giants want to repeat as champions, take charge and throw teams down when they allow it. Mental mistakes are inexcusable especially when the tougher teams arrive on Nw York's schedule.

Take a check of my football blog after the Jets play Sunday afternoon.

Cliff Lee All Alone

How many of you would have guessed that the starter with the most wins in all of Major League Baseball would be Cleveland’s, Cliff Lee?

Or for that matter, how sparse is the population who thought Lee would have a better campaign than C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona with the Indians?

Lee was sent to the minors to work on his mental toughness and improving the location of his pitches. After all, the left-hander was anything but adequate on the mound last season which prompted the team to demote him.

How could a demotion motivate someone to the extent that the person becomes the frontrunner for a pitchers’ highest prize?

Sabathia was the Cy Young award winner in the American League (the honor going to the best pitcher in each League) while Carmona had an exceptional power fastball with great deception on his off-speed pitches. The two earned 19 wins a year ago in leading the Tribe to Game seven of the American League Championship Series.

Just imagine if Sabathia had not started as slowly as a turtle with the Indians and he pitched with such conviction with Cleveland in as many starts as he has with Milwaukee. Could we have proclaimed Cleveland to win the division?

Probably not! Without Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner in the lineup there is no lightning rod in the order

But the probability that Cleveland is within a couple of games is not unreasonable!

Instead, like most other franchises who have a history of selling off all assets of the team (in the hope of rebuilding into a contender), Cleveland’s level of pay was inferior compared with the Royals for a while.

Keep the players and play out the string! Wait for your stars to get healthy and stop making rash decisions that could destroy the team for years.

Yankees flounder Red Sox plunder

The Red Sox got the better of last night's contest by a score of seven-three in spite of Johnny Damon's two solo home runs.

Which begs to question why the leadoff hitters' efforts are in vain.

One can point to a number of elements and a clear indicator is the inability hit with runners in scoring position.

But how about a nerve factor? Can we put that into the equation?

It's possible and probable.

There are four hitters who seem to bat with runners in scoring position: Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi.

Let's start with the captain.

He has hit well with runners on base in the past but I believe he is more injured than letting everyone know. His physical limitation is getting to his head when runners are on base (he's been a hot hitter for the last three weeks but that is not indicative of his capabilities).

Mr. headcase (Abreu) is the best hitter with runners in scoring position on the team. Last night, he earned two hits off starter Tim Wakefield. On his third appearance, however, with runners on base, he chopped to Dustin Pedroia. He was not the worst performer from last night or in fact this season; but notgetting the runs home is a contagious matter.

But Alex Rodriguez is probably the worst case from last night and perhaps the season. The highest paid player in all of baseball is 0-5 hitting for the cycle in terms of leaving runners on Great news Yankees fans; your highest paid player is a pad stacker and a large part of it may have to do with his emotional state revolving around his divorce and his late-night visits with Madonna.

Finally, Jason Giambi has to come to the reality that if he starts hitting the ball towards left field, defenders will have no choice but to switch defensive strategy. This will open up the right side of the infield where he loves to hit it. Higher average, increase run production, and improved offense would be the benefactors leading to a more successful team.

But that's why the Yanks will not make it and why either the Twins, White Sox, or Red Sox will
finish as the Wild Card team; Boston leads the Minnesota by 2.5 games and New York by six.

LPGA goes America on US!

The end of World War II was just the beginning of another era where the United States and another superpower would dominate the world’s power struggle, while most other nations had to recover from the devastation during the fighting.

But that period ended in 1989 when the Berlin Wall collapsed and the United States was the only remaining superpower. Countries worried that the United States would impose it’s will in every aspect; culture, customs, languages, foreign policy, and ethics. One could argue that Middle Easterners despise the intrusion of Western Civilization on Middle Eastern tradition causing the terrorist actions.

A less significant, yet obtrusive barrier has been crossed again; the re-instatement of English as a language; this time in America. Golf week is reporting that the LPGA tour is forcing it’s competitors to pass an exam which tests a person’s ability to speak English. If the players do not pass an oral exam within two years of the individuals’ first lessons’, she will have her Tour card taken away.

Another prospect comes into question as well; if the players fail the oral exam, then the Tour will work with the players on what needs to be improved.

There is some understanding as to why the LPGA is promoting the advancement of the English language (after all, many countries communicate with it as a second language). The most common language in the world is English and interviews need to be conveyed to fans and listeners alike. However, is imperialistic golf what the LPGA should be aiming for? That might be the fourth most important issue that the women’s PGA has to deal with.

First, the LPGA is not going to draw more than the mens’ tour but at least try to develop a product that is worthy of having them on national television more often. Regardless of how well Lorena Ochoa has performed, relatively speaking, no one is watching women’s golf

Second, the competitions are usually during the weekend. In the summertime without Tiger Woods, women’s golf should have been able to step out of the shadows and shine. Thus far, there has been only one or two tournaments aired on a high definition network. The two major celebrities of the sport are no longer performing the way they were capable of (Annika Sorenstam retired and Michelle Wie can’t seem to show consistency). Even if the pay for the most recent tournament (The Safeway Classic) was 1.7 million, who is watching?

Third, with baseballs excitement reducing to the average fan (because of performance enhancers leading to lower home run numbers and offensive production) there were some people who wanted to shift to a cleaner game. Without Tiger Woods, the focus shifted from the PGA to the LPGA.

One last endeavor: why do people have to adjust to our way of life? Was this country not built on mixing people in for the betterment of everybody? Why does the LPGA have to revert to imperialism for the sport? Since the LPGA did this, why doesn’t another women’s tour force their competitors to only speak French?

It’s a preposterous idea to force people to speak English when the LPGA spans the globe and is not strictly an American institution. LPGA headquarters might be located in the United States but does it give them the right to discriminate based on language of origin?

I thought we had the Constitution revised for that specific purpose. Reading strictly by that interpretation, this imposition would clearly violate an amendment for a public place. But for private citizens, if you pay to enter and play, the liberties are not the same when they should be.

Everyone in the mainstream sports world is discussing about the Lakers-Celtics series as if it were back in the 1980's. The attributes included Larry Bird's smooth jumper or Magic Johnsons' artistry with the basketball, Kevin McHale's toughness in the pressure cookers or James Worthy sliding and gliding to the rim. What I can tell you is...I was not alive to witness all the greatness between two teams that most fans of the NBA love or hate. The accounts are based on one of the shows "The NBA's greatest games" on ESPN Classic or the NBA network.

It was quite difficult to get to that point in the season. There were so many high-quality players including Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Moses Malone, Karl Malone, Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman that it was going to be a dogfight all the way through.

This time around, only one of the two final squads faced those obstacles to the extreme. The players might not have been comparable on the Hawks, Cavs, and Pistons (except Lebron James) but certainly provided tests on the defensive end that propels tams to play much better against the less defensive oriented clubs in the Western Conference.

All in all, game one was like a ballet where the first act is enticing but by act three or four you know it's time to go home because you're either greatly amused or terribly disappointed. Start with a bang and end with a ka-boom. Either way, Celtic Green lives on past it's performances of a ten point win in game one and a six-point victory in game two...in spite of dominance throughout the first three quarters.

The Lake show are looking sloppy and appear to have met it's match in the playoffs. LA was 12-3 heading into the NBA Finals including the depositing of the Spurs and Nuggets in nine total games. The Lakers have already equaled the most number of losses in a playoff series this postseason. As if that was not bad enough, the Lakers have never come back from an 0-2 hole to win an NBA Finals series.

Oddly enough, the situation presents itself in front of our very eyes. The defensive mentality is what is going to accelerate a championship run and the Lakers do no exhibit that confidence in any form. Whn a squad allows 103 points per game against the league's best defensive team and overall record during the regular season,not much is going to change.

The key is not to stop the big three but to eliminate the presence of oncoming bench players who would otherwise be silent; so much for a Laker bench that was considered the deepest in the NBA. It does not matter how many players are coming from the sidelines because if you have athletes including forwards Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and backcourt mate Ray Allen, all you need is two other players to score in double figures for the team to breed success and another scorer to win an NBA championship.

These ingredients are exactly what the Celtics mix up. In the playoffs, the C’s were having a very hard time dealing with Eastern Conference opponents because Ray Allen was doing horribly. Boston needed to find other parts to the winning equation. If Allen was there you would have had a Reggie Miller type shooter to go along with inside presences Garnett and Kendrick Perkins and grit like Pierce and Rondo. For a championship caliber club one needs to examine the bench to get the required scoring, rebounding and most importantly defensive prowess.

Once again, the relative importance of the depth of a bench is becoming smaller and smaller. All a team needs is a different hand or two coming off the bench and giving major contributions if your starting lineup is as dynamic as Boston’s is.

It appears the Celtics will win it’s 16th NBA championship and many of the anaylsts completely overratd the Lakers. Game two tonight

Rough and Tough: Hockey's east

At the beginning of the year, it was projected by ESPN's Barry Melrose and Sports Illustrated that the New York Rangers---behind the sparkling play of Czech superstar, Jaromir Jagr and the Vezina winning performance of a lifetime from "King" Henrik Lundqvist---would be the frontrunners in the East.

What was unexpected was the poor start to the season offensively and the lack of a defense midway through. In the first 26 games, the Rangers allowed a grand total of 51 goals and Lundqvist was on his way to claiming the top prize between the pipes. The Blushirts were also 15-9-1 during that stretch (in spite of being on of the worst goal-scoring teams in the league).

Unfortunately, for the Rangers faithful...the path to greatness was interrupted by a slew of Western Conference and intra-conference matchups leading to a 7-12-4 mark in the next 23 games...including a 0-7-2 record against the West.

Not only was the defense breaking down but Lundqvist looked vulnerable as well. Marc Staal appeared to hit a wall...Jason Strudwick wasn't himself... Marek Malik showed his non-fleet of foot...and even more importantly...the Rangers third line was despicable.

The third unit which was originally comprised of Marcel Hossa, Petr Prucha and Brandon Dubinsky was broken up in several ways: Hossa was traded to the Phonix Coyotes along with Blueshirt prospect Al Montoya for the services of defenseman Frederick Sjostrom and forward Christian Backman. In addition, Brandon Dubinsky was moved to the first line with Jagr and Sean Avery. Meanwhile, Prucha has been unable to crack the lineup on a regular basis sinc the Rangers hav been on th bright end of the spectrum recently.

In spite of how well the squad has played...there is still some hesitation as to whether this team can meet the expectations of what the analysts predicted during the pre-season. The trade deadline was perhaps the greatest indicator for teams like Washington and Pittsburgh. The Penguins have two excellent scoring lines now which fature Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa and Jared Staal...while the Caps add a marquis goaltender in Cristobal Huet.

Ultimately, I didn't think the Rangers had enough to make it out of the east before the season began and I still believe the Blueshirts lack the scoring intensity to get through in the conference. I still stand by my pre-season pick of th Penguins winning the cup with Ty Conklin as the key to success.

Daring and dramatic: College Basketball excels

How exquisite is the timing of the best college basketball matchup of the year betwen two teams...in an out-of conference game...inthe state of Tennessee? What even more incredible is how the four best teams in the country are located near or along Interstae 40 in the states of Tennessee and North Carolina (Memphis #1, Tennessee #2, North Carolina #3, and Duke #4)

Meanwhile, there seems to be an issue in accepting the fact that the Tigers may be the best team in the country. While the outside shooting is suspect, surprising efforts about of freshman, Derrick Rose along with junior guard, Antonio Anderson, and guard Doneal Mack. Also among the elite include leading scorer Chris Douglas-Roberts and Joe Dorsey (who's been a beast in averaging double figure rebounds).

The Tennessee Volunteers feature Chris Lofton who is averaging more than twenty-points per game over his last seven contests as their star. Jajuan Smith is earning about 14 and a half per contest, Tyler Smith, J.P. Prince and Ramar Smith are contributing nearly three betwen the thre competitors. The Volunteers have two losses to go along with 23 victories for a team that seem to dissipate in last year's NCAA tournament. The two losses came at the University of Kentucky and at the University of Texas.

Ultimately, Memphis has too much defense in spite of the game being played in Nashville...and the contest considered a Vols home game. Memphis takes out Tennessee 86-76.

The hottest team in colege basketball (with the exception of Memphis at 25-0) has been the UCONN Huskies. During this stretch of brutally difficult Big East matchups, the team has gone 10-3 in the conference including nine straight wins against Big East foes and ten in a row overall.

In that stretch the team has climbed from the depths of the unranked...all the way to the 13th ranked club in the nation and edging close to a cvete number one seed in the conference tournament. Conneticut has lost to Providence, Georgetown, and Notre Dame. But the key with this squad is the monstrous play of leading shot blocke$r Hasheem Thabeet (4.4 BPG)

He led the club to it's tenth straight victory against DePaul last night and did he come up with some sesnational stops at the other end or what!

The team has defeated five top-25 teams (at the time the squads played) including Indiana, Marquete, Louisville, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh

God luck ranking the rest!

The Big East schedule only gets easier for the Huskes.

Super Sunday Stumper

How on earth does a perfect season go by the waste side? When does a team of destiny show it's true colors in the spirit of battle? At what point does anyone believe a twelve point underdog can manage to not only hang around with the Patriots but then overcome the gargantuan team from Foxborough, Massachusetts and come out on the winning end of the biggest spectacle in North American Sports.

Yes, 100 million people were tuning into the Super Bowl as people were searching for the a perfect team to continue it's pursuit of playoff prominence and be the first team to finish 19-0. It was almost a miracle the team completed a 16-0 season. But was that the miracle almost larger than life the way the holiday of Chanukah is celebrated with one candle lasting eight days when everyone was full of despair? A glimmer of light, length, and victory at Lambeau proved the experts wrong in this sense: the G-men were counted out, bashed, and scolded for ineffective efforts from their "star" players.

But who is a real "star for this team offensively? No one made the Pro Bowl for the Giants on the offensive side of the ball. How about defensively? Osi Umienyora is a backup and that's it! From a team that won it's third super Bowl in team history there is (for lack of a better word) a lack of superstars on a squad that closely resembles the personality head coach Tom Coughlin.

The Giants may not sport the statistical leader in yards by a Wide Receiver (Reggie Wayne- Ind), Touchdown passes (Tom Brady- NE), Rushing Yards (Ladainian Tomlinson)...and may not be there by a long-shot...but somehow the team concept strengthened the Giants to whip up on the Buccaneers. The G-men followed that up with a decimating win against the Cowboys...followed by a 47-yarder by Lawrence Tynes (some were saying he should be cut) in Overtime to win the contests versus the Packers.

This is not your prototypical star-studded team with egos and locker room trouble. Tiki Barber is wishing he hadn't made those egregious comments when Eli manning was "soft" and that the New York wasn't very good. Jeremy Shockey had been nursing a broken ankle ending his season in week 15.

Get rid of two of the most emotional (and sometimes reckless) players on the field and suddenly you have a hungrier and deeper appreciation for playing the game rather than talking up a storm and not backing it up the way Barber disappeared in the Super Bowl against Baltimore and the way the former Miami Hurricane (Shockey) has done so often as a Giant in the post-season. Kevin Boss is not a ghost and if you think Shockey will retain his position next year as a starting tight end...it'll be a more difficult task than originally anticipated.

How does 10-6 become 14-6 and 16-0 grow to 18-1 where the team with a lower winning percentage had a more successful season? The 14-6 club wins the Super Bowl in the biggest upset in the history of the NFL.

By the way, Syracuse University receiver, David Tyree, emerged like Jabar Gaffney did last season in the Pats victory over the Jets in theWild-card round last year...with one difference; Tyree made the play of the year on the game winning drive...and an early fourth quarter TD reception to give the Giants their first lead since the beginning of the second quarter.

The Parade is on Tuesday and most fans are exhilirated not only for the success of the Giants but also for the failure of the Patriots to establish the teams' ultimate goal; Spygate could be another reason why the fans despise New England...but it may be more of a dislike for coach Bill Belichick or perhaps the fact that the Pats are the salary cap version of the Yankees; the team wins all the time.

Super Bowl XLII will be remembered on this precedent; the team that shouldn't have won did...and the one that should've...now has to address it's issues during the offseason to toughen up the squad.

The Patriots were smacked in the mouth and Tom Brady looked ordinary for the first time since his college days at the University of Michigan.

Finally, I feel the Giants still need another receiver, depth at linebacker, and possibly a pass rusher to replace long-time G-men representative...Michael Strahan...who might seize the day to retire after winning the first Super Bowl of his illustrious career.

Henin down Under

The New England Patriots are one of the most well-run franchises in all of sports these days; the squad has been en rout to three Super Bowl Championships in the last six years and four championship appearances while being able to retain many of the core players from histories' past.

Team sports are one identity; take on a similar kind of domination with "an individual" having a thirty-two match winning streak snapped

Justin-Henin might be the world's number one women 's player (in spite of losing in the Austrailian Open quarters to Maria Sharapova last night 6-4, 6-0) but there are clear indications that this just might be Sharapova's tournament PERIOD.

The powerfully swift and fabulous looking tennis star from Russia advanced to the Aussie Open semifinals for the fourth consecutive year...winning for only the the third time in nine opportunities against the world's elite player.

Meanwhile, after this Henin loss along with Serena Williams being elimnated from the tourney there is a guarantee of the road being a little bit easier for Sharapova...who is 2-3 against the former world's number one.

Later on in the tournament Venus Williams tries her luck against Ana Ivanovic in an attempt to salvage any American pride left on the women's side (there is only one United States representative left on the men's side...James Blake).

Men's tennis has been vastly more exciting than the women's side especially with third round action going late into the early afternoon on Saturday

The two matches going the distance included number one Roger Federer against Janko Tipsarevic in a clasic ending in overtime with Federer taking ten games and Tipsarevic grabbin only eight.

Later on in the Melbourne night, #19 Leyton Hewitt took out #15 Marcos Baghdatis in a five-setter that broke the record for the longest match played in this history of the Austailian Open. The summation of matches ended the latest in the history of the Aussie Open by more than an hour.

More tennis to come

Pat's on the Back

After all the various conclusions people came across during the NFL season, one could infer how the Patriots might join the victory parade with a slew of weapons at the wide receiver position, a Hall-of-Fame caliber quarterback and a defense featuring all-pro quality players at each spot. The American tradition is to celebrate the countries' independence on July 4th after what the colonists fought for during the War for Independence. This year's many are showing patronage for the Pat's of New England has yet to complete a 19-0

But which squad is representing the tories from the NFC.

The opposition coming into the playoffs was believed to be the Dallas "star" Cowboys or Lambeau Legend. But after contemplating the situation for three weeks of wild-card, divisional, and conference championship round action...how many would have said the G-men would be standing as tall as a beanstalk and be victorious?

It's not only the concept of victory that brings Giants fans in awe:
1.) The team was 10-1 on the road this year (including playoffs)
2.) Eli Manning has thrown four TD passes with no turnovers in the postseason
3.) The Giants have one giveaway the entire postseason (R.W. Mcquarters on an interception return)
4.) Brandon Jacobs established himself amassing more than 1,000 yards on the ground while missing five games this year
5.) Tight end Kevin Boss, taking over for injured Jeremy Shockey, in week 15 and helping to block for the running backs and making key receptions
6.) The Michael Strahan holdout wound up giving him additional energy for the latter part of the season and the playoffs (9 sacks in the regular season)
7.) How about the Giants General Manager and his ability to muster draft picks that were widely used in the offenive, defensive, and special teams schemes.


After the retirement of Tiki Barber, the former star running back made comments detrimental to New York; the Giants responded using an incisor of tricks and manipulations to ruin Jeff Garcia's run at a possible championship. That victory catapulted the G-men over Tony Romo and the 'Boys in Dallas the next week. After that...zero degrees didn't bother them in Green Bay

Simply put, the Patriots will defeat the Giants and master all of NFL history becoming the first 19-0 team and a squad that will be remembered by NFL Films, the fans, and especially teams who hate them for "spygate" and a lack of supposed class in victory.

Patriots 35, Giants 28

Lame duck and luck at the same time!

Most people would agree that sports has undergone some of the worst publicity in the word today (only the war in Iraq might be worse). In basketball, a referee, Tim Donaghy admitted to fixing basketball games he officiated. This event not only stunned the NBA but also gave the league an even bigger black eye than what stemmed fom the Ron Artest fight at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the Carmelo Anthony slap and run like a girl routine against the Knicks and the antics of Tim Hardaway about homosexuals.

In terms of other sports, hockey went through a lockout which eliminated the 2004-2005 season and destroyed any hope of retaining many of the mainstream fans. Football continues to have suspensions, videotape controversies and other questionable ordeals.

Baseball, however, was the most brutal in the sports ability to make money and cheat the fans and the public simultaneously. Yet, the owners of Major League Baseball agreed to extend commisioner Bud Selig's contract another three years for the morally reprehensible act of not pursuing the steroids matter more thoroughly...when it was a big issue in the late 90's and early 2000's.

Even though the fans flocked to the ballpark, neither the public nor the media identified the main problem of drug use in the game. Now, the owners are rewarding the man who was apprehensive in nailing the players who abuse the system and wrecked their lives and the lives of others.

It's a sad state of affairs for the Major Leagues and while te main objective is to earn profits and win at ths level, it was thought to not deceive the public or lie to them about alleged dug use. Second chances are afforded to those who comply and admit to their wrongdoing and yet there are others on the Mitchell investigation list who haven't shown any sign of being forthright.

In conclusion, Selig should BE BANNED from the game for not correcting the problem when the situation exploded right in front of his very eyes. He may not have known if competitors were injecting but he is responsible for leading some of the darkest ages in the history of baseball.

Another Syracuse athlete that doesn't think

It's incredible how many college football players think they can make it to a great position in the professional ranks after their junior seasons'. Of course, some of them are physically, mentally and emotionally mature and do not have anything to play for in their respective sport. For example, running back Steve Slaton is about to be NFL bound because of his aptitude in running it and the way he matriculated the ball down the field. His 211 carries led the Mountaineers along with his 1,051 yards on the ground were immense for a spread offense. He also caught twenty-six of Pat White's passes and turned it into 350 yards. In total Slaton amassed 18 touchdowns. He appeared ready for the NFL.

There are other cases where one could make the claim that the athletes belong in the pro ranks; the Arkansas tandem (in the backfield) of Daren McFadden and Felix Jones who each gained at least 1,000 yards this yer for an 8-5 club. The Heisman candidate went for 1830 yards running on 325 attempts with 16 TD's while Jones accumulated 1162 yards on the ground.

Then there are fringe players who hav yet to play out their senior year of eligiblity including Syracuse wide receiver Taj Smith. ESPN analysts predict the ball-retriever or the Orange wil go in the seventh round of the draft. If your expected to be that low in the draft, why don't you improve your game to the point that you can make yourself more marketable.

Something must be going on underneath the surface that the athletic department does not want to reveal to the public...oher than the ineptitude of his once proud franchise. Is it possible that Smith was on academic probation and was not going to be able to play the sport he loves next year because of his grades?

None of us know what the truth is behind friendly lines except what media sources are told and the information various outlets provide. Even if Taj Smith is drafted, unless the player selected is on the defensive or offensive lines, it's extraordinarily difficult for someone to make an NFL team from there. If he isn't drafted, Smith will be forced to go to a tryout for a team and even there he may not be able to crack the professional ranks.

So why go pro if your projected that low in the draft. What's the worst that can happen if you play another year? Injury! It's not as if players cannot use the medical red-shirt to play one ore season. A bad team! It's a way for Smith to make himself stand out more than a seventh round pick. If Andrew Robinson is tossing the ball to Taj now, imagine a guy like Ben Rothelisberger doing the same! The diference in abilities are obviously night and day.

Taj, you made a mistake. You weren't even leading our own team in receptions and yards. The honor went to sopomore Mike Williams who caught 60 passes for 837 yards and ten touchdowns. Smith went for 82 yards on 44 receptions and five TD's

Bolts strike Colts!

I know this blog is being written a day later but think of it as a way to digest everything from the Aussie open's first round of action. This included a 3:30 in the morning match featuring the men's number one player, Roger Federer blasting Diego Hartfield allowing the Argentinian to get 3 games in the second set of a straight sets win.

Getting back on point, the Chargers beat the Colts without LaDainian Tomlinson in the second half and Philip Rivers...after the third quarter. The Chargers came up enormously in spite of a road game at Indianapolis and Bill Volek calling the plays in the huddle.

Once again the history of the success of the Chargers against the Colts came into effect and now the squad has amassed a three-game winning streak from the now departed Super Bowl champion's

Antonio Cromartie played a huge role in forcing a fumble and intercepting a pass at the end of the first half to hold the Colts to a tenseven lead. Cromaie returned the bal for a touchdown but the call was reversed after olding penalty on the return at the forty yard lne. The call was fictional because the players were battling ach other and both competitors did not let each other go.

What's exhiliaring and mortifying is that Peyton Manning was productively efficient...completing 22 of 27 passes and had two passes deflected for interceptions. The pro-bowl quarterback tossed for 402 yards on 33-of-48 but it wasn't enough to compensate for the losses of wide receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne.

The Chargers became the King Midas while the Colts touched the gold before realizing false promise of another Super Bowl run. In light of these circumstances, it's time to look forward to a brutal conquest next weekend as San Diego heads to Gillette Stadium for a playoff re-match from last year with the Pats. This time around, however, the game is played in New England and I give the Chargers almost no chance to come out on top.

The Pats will go to 18-0 on the season afer Tom Brady, Wes Welker, Ben Watson, and Randy MOs pick apart one of the best secondaries in football. Philip Rivers and L.T wil play hurt but won't impact how the front seven of the Patriots perform.

Patriots go to the Super Bowl with a 31-17 victory.

Amazingly shockng!

On how many occasions do you see a 10-6 squad make it to the NFC Championship game? How often does a team with no identity at the quarterback position...form one where the starter steps up his play from the mediocre season he had? If one were to tell you that two starters in the secondary were injured and that the third string corner had to watch Terrell Owens, would it be logical to say the Giants had a chance to contain the Dallas offense? If Marion Barber III amassed 101 yards on the ground in the first half, who would have believed the G-Men would have kept the game tied? After a ten-minute and twenty-eight second drive leading to a touchdown for the Cowboys...who would have expected Tom Coughlin to have the guts to coordinate Eli Manning to lead a TD drive in 46 seconds?

All of those othe factors were key to the contest yesterday when the Giants took out the Cowboys. A 10-6 team defeated the NFC's number one seed. It's the first time since 1996 that an NFC's top seed has lost in the Divisiona Round since 1996.

By the way, the last time Dallas smelled victory in the postseason, Barry Switzer was the head coach as the team won the Super Bowl in 1996. Since the trumph against the Pitsburgh Steelers, the Cowboys have shown an ability to collapse and an 0-5 record in the process.

Either way, it's LUDICROUS to put the load of the loss on quarterback, Tony Romo. There were numerous dropped passes by the wide receiving core of Terrell Owens, Terry Glenn and especially Patrick Crayton (one he could've taken the distance if he focused more on catching the ball rather than running with it).

The 'Boys hurt themseles with eleven penalties for 84-yards includin three on the potential game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter.

One more astonishing moment was the play of the secondary afte the injury to Sam Madison forced him to miss the game and the injury to Aaron Ross sidelined him during the second half.

Ultimately, one would have to consider the Giants the better team; but New York faces an uphill challenge next week at Leaping Lambeau where the love of football is prevalent and historic; the weather is brutal and unforgiving; and the plaers are all young (with the exception of Mr. Favre). It's too cold or the Giants to win when the high temperature is scheduled to be eight degrees

Packers 17, Giants 10

Patriots and Chargers tommorrow...

How predictable are the playoffs?

Take a magician like Harry Houdini and pose him as a caricature of himself on an actor such as Danny DeVito. It would be an interesting perspective, but you never know or can tell what's going to happen. It's almost as unpredictable (for me) as finding out that Ellen Page (the star from the movie Juno) is an actress from British Columbia and was never a Disney movie star with a show on Nickolodeon. She was in more sophisticated Canadian films including Hard Candy and American adventures, X-Men: The Last Stand.

But all adventure is out of the picture in the NFL playoffs for now as both favorites played it safe this time around and did what the squads needed to do...rather than pull tricks from their playbooks...to win the game.

In New England, Jacksonville came out raking.

the Jaguars pulled a baseball bat out of a hat and connected as quarterback David Garrard found former signal-caller at Arkansas, Matt Jones and it was seven nothing.

But in typical New England fashion...the Patriots struck back like Jedi. Tom Brady's arm threw the Jaguars defense out at the plate as the sixth rounder from the University of Michigan dwindled any hope of stopping the Pats on any possession. It started with a three-yard pass. This tied the game at seven.

Then the Pats squashed Garrard on the ensuing possession which led to a fumble and a recovery by New England set up near the end of the first quarter. The team would exploit the opportunity through starting fullback Kevin Faulk who nabbed 19 of the twenty nine yards on the drive...which culminated into a one yard touchdown run from Maroney. It was 14-7

Jacksonville would follow New England's response and pulled a snake out of the playbook. Beginning at the Jaguars 19 yard line, the Jags slithered 81 yards for the score...capped off with wide receiver Ernest Wilford catching the leather cowhide ball in the end zone. The battle went forward with the game squared at fourteen.

A 35 yard field-goal miss towards the end of the first half makes it 14-14 at halftime.

Since Jacksonville began the competition with the ball, the tricks were directed back to the Pats. This team came out majestically, orchestrating an 82 yard touchdown drive. Laurence Maroney carried the ball three times for twenty-nine yards on this drive...but the ball was slammed home by Brady on a Favreian toss to Wes Welker in the back of the end zone.

It appeared as if it didn't matter what animals the Jaguars created with their magic wands in the second half because the defense bent but didn't break. The southern squad drove down the field three times in the second half...accounting for two Josh Scobee field goals as the only scores in the last 30 minutes

The final score in Foxborough, Patriots 31 and Jaguars 20

The big killer for the Jags was not only their inability to stop New England's chances later in the ballgame...but it was the incompetency of Fred Taylor and Maurice-Jones Drew to stomp over teams the way the duo is accustomed to. The dynamic tandem had two consecutive poor performances in combining for 66 yards on 19 carries this week after gaining only 77 yards on 24 carries the week before against Pittsburgh

The question becomes...who takes the wrath of the punishment from the Pats next week; the Indianapolis Colts or the San Diego Chargers? The Colts provided a better matchup as Indy only lost by four points and now the team has Marvin Harrison back at Wide Receiver. The Bolts were blasted at Gillette Stadium in week two, 38-13. Although, this is a different squad than the one that initiated it's season 5-5, the squad has not defeated three opponents with a winning mark including an earlier matchup with the Colts

While cornerback Antonio Cromartie led the NFL in interceptions this season (with ten), he might be the x-factor in this game between the Chargers and Colts. Indy brings along a wide-receiving core the Chargers haven't seen since week two against the Patriots ( during week 10, Harrison was out with a knee injury) with Marvin Harrison (questionable) and Reggie Wayne at wide receiver, Joseph Addai Catching screen passes and with the potential for Anthony Gonzalez (foot) and Dallas Clark to combine for the rest of the yardage.

Even more importantly, if the Colts have more threats, then Peyton Manning will most likely complete the ball to the other team fewer times. In essence, it took six interceptions and a missed field goal at the end for the Chargers to win. Is it possible, San Diego might be in Manning's head?

I don't think that's the case. Colts 38, Chargers 31

The Seattle Seahawks looked like pigeons after the first quarter of yesterday's matchup with the Green Bay Packers. The running game was feeble, the defense was enigmatic and the team was desperate to find a crumb of hope in it's repertoire to earn a victory.

Pack running back, Ryan Grant, fumbled the ball twice leading to two touchdowns...one by former MVP Shaun Alexander and the other...a pass by pro-bowl play-caller, Matt Hasselbeck. It was 14-0, four minutes and one second in.

The turnaround began with Brett favre's determination and persistence as he led a 75 yard drive for a score.

After a forced punt,Grant avenged his ball-handling issues and accounted for 49 yards on the ground of the sixty-four total for the drive and a one-yard rumble into the end zone. The score was knotted at 14.

After a Seattle fumble at the beginning of the second quarter, the Packers recovered and Favre converted as he found Wide Receiver Greg Jennings for six.

The Seahawks tried responding but only added field goals the rest of the day as the Packers took down the hawks...in blizzard conditions...42-20.

If the Giants upset the Cowboys today and play at Lambeau Field next weekend the team will do it without Safety Sam Madison and possibly without the number one wide receiving services of Plaxico Burress. The two tried practicing this week but it was difficult for them to do so. As a matter of fact, Burress did not practice on Wednesday.

Dallas' offense will be too much without Sam madison considering Terrell Owens is a go for this weekends' matchup with the G-men. The receiving core is almost as dynamic as New England's...but not as deep. Marion barber will carry the Cowboys to an explosive lead and will hold on

Cowboys 45, Giants 31

Let the games begin!

Tennis Trickery...or Not!

The legend of McEnroe, Connors, and Courrier lived in the days of hard-hitting, sweat-filled, and intense tennis action At the time, you could also find Ivan Lendl, the early days of 12-time slam champion Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi when he either wore a toupee or he dressed his hair like a hippy. Those days were fabulously unpredictable with great matchups from top to bottom...with many upsets and people flocking to tyhe arenas and buildings for this burning passion for racquet sports.

What's the catch here; for the last four years, the world has been given an opportunity to watch some of the best tennis by an individual in the history of the world while the world's youth tries catching up to a Swiss Lambourgini. Unfortunately, the older mechanism adapts itself to the changes in it's environment and performs better than the newest of models out thre including Novak Djokovic, and Nikolai Davydenko.

Roger Federer is no surprise to be the men's number one seed entering the Aussie Open. It's even more shocking, though, that every seed determined at the end of the year has not changed for this tournament especially considering most have competed in one tournament by now. The top 32 seeds have been named. Either way, it would be assinine to believe anyone else but the worlds number one would be the favorite in this tournament to win everything.

The new plexicushion surface at the Open may not have rave reviews by Novak Djokovic, Jelena Jankovic, but it may provide Rafael Nadal a clear advantage like the one he enjoys at the French Open because of how slow the ball moves from one side of the court to the other. According to Jankovic and Djokovic...the thought was that te ball was going to be faster. As it turns out, the two players believe the opposite is true.

Even American competitor, Mardy Fish, had the same idea saying, "It's a little bt slow for me. The balls get really fluffy and it plays extremely slow. I am not a big fan."

STOP TRYING TO SLOW ROGER FEDERER'S PURSUIT OF PERFECTION and his glory to get to number one in all-time grand slam marks...let the Austrailian open be one of the hard court surfaces in the world and do not change the traditional surface there.

By the way, Justin-Henin wil win the Austrailian Open in spite of the court controversy with te changes in the surface. There is no woman out there who has come quite clos to knocking her out of a competition and I don't see why it could happen now.

The Goose is Hall-bound

I was not alive when Rich "Goose" Gossage performed at an exceptional level and when he was relevant as the closer for the New York Yankees. As a fan for a long time, I've come to the conclusion that the ultimatum of being a fan is to remember the triumphs of the time and reflect on what was sweet and endearing about the people and the glory. What's extraordinarily impressive is finding out that the pinstripes were finally able to settle a situation in the bullpen that was long overdue; searching for a replacement to this man who saved more games than any Yankee.

It only took until 1996 to find the appropriate man for the job to finsh Yankee games in Mariano Rivera. Gossage saved 310 games...tossed more than 100 innings on five occasions and had 125 two inning saves during the regualr season which far outweighs the accomplishments of Mo who only has 11 to speak of.

With that said, Gossage deserved to be in Cooperstown and commemorated for his efforts during his career. He becomes the fifth reliever in baseball history to earn his maksmanship in baseball's main enshrinement.

The pitcher spent five seasons as a reliever with the White Sox, seven seasons with the pinstripes and four other with the San Diego Padres. His other stops included the Pirates, Cubs, Giants, Rangers, A's and Mariners during his 22 year career.

Samuel and Roger Clemens

Mark Twain was a man whose destiny brought him from the Midwest to a fame he could never have imagined growing up as a writer. What he envisioned was a society full of realistic dreams, goals and expectations. In one of his most famous novels...Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the description of people is quite straight forward because it's what's expected from people living near the Mississippi River, in Missouri, at the time. Defiant racism and entrenched attitudes were prevalent; I would love to take a closer approach at the latter (because five states including Mississippi have banned slavery entirely and in sports the latter is more relevant in finding news).

When defining attitude, I mean the way people show themselves out to be. Each region should have a distinguishing feature about it that allows people to associate to his or her different environment...wherever he or she may go. Eventually, Huckleberry Finn joins the Grangerford family (a rival of the Sheperdsons). After a member of each of the rival families elopes, fighting ensues and there are only two survivors (similar to when many baseball players have been deemed guilty during the Mitchell investigation and Clemens was not named by Jason Grimsley)

There is still one person who remains partly blemished, like Huckleberry Finn, who has an opportunity to clear his name entirely in the public eye; Mr. "Rocket" Roger Clemens. He took that chance to deny using steroids on 60 Minutes and filed a lawsuit to at least show some interest on maintaining innocence.

Clemens began his career in the spotlight and may end it that way. The native of Houston won the College World Series for the University of Texas. Two seasons after his major league debut, he led the Red Sox to a world series birth...losing to the Mets in seven games. It was clear that year, he would be one of the great ones as he went 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA. His first world series ring was with the Yankees in 2000

This was just the summation of his career. If he was not injected with extra testosterone, everybody would consider him one of the most dominant pitchers of all-time. The flame-thrower is second in strikeouts with 4672...8th in wins with 354...amassing a 3.12 ERA and tied for 26th in shutouts with 46.

It's still odd that Brian McNamee, former trainer for the New York Mets and Yankees, listed Raja as one of the culpraits in the steroid investigation...claiming to have personally injected the future hall-of-famer with testosterone. The indication by Clemens was that the shots taken were of B-12 and lidocaine.

Whether he is guilty or not, Clemens' original attitude shows how futile the excuses are becoming because the public is sick and tired of all the potential cheaters and steroid allegations made against Major League players; the fans are accustomed to hearing a new name every day and people flock to the parks because the individuals want to see home runs. By the way, if McNamee gave many of the Yankees and Mets names up, where are other personal trainers from clubhouses who might know something?

According to McNamee's testimony, the personal trainer didn't want to give Clemens to Mitchell until Brian's hand was forced on whether to spend time in prison.

Either way, Clemens' lawyers are suing McNamee for defamation of character and indescribable humiliation in what he alleges to be an assassination of his pitching resume and his public image. According to ESPN, a countersuit will most likely be filed to show how Clemens destroyed the life of McNamee.

All in all, Clemens is playing every appropriate hand to suggest to the public he is innocent; however, if other trainers step up and try to eliminate steroid use, Clemens' career could be tainted for the good of Major League Baseball. All we know is what's being reported; but if Clemens was injected, he probably won't make the Hall-of-fame for a long time.

Bowl Games

The Coach of the Year in the Big-12 and the country should be headman Mark Mangino. After all, the crusading Jayhawks had their record go from a mediocre six-and-six, to a national title contending 12-1 after a victory last night over a hungry and angry Virginia Tech team.

The Hokies squad...which returned a punt for a touchdown and whose defense play their tails off in an effort to supress Kansas from a coveted one-point three million bucks, fell short. We congratul;ate VA Tech for it's recovery after the worst murder by a single person (on the Blacksburg campus) in U.S. history

In light of the events...lets have a lucid idea about how Todd Reesing played...he managed the game well enough for his team to come out on top. Reesing was 20/37 for 227 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the air and one score running the ball. The key to last night's affair, however, was the Jayhawk defense. The team intercepted Sean Glennon twice and caused the Hokies problems moving the ball all night. Here's another idea: ten offensive starters return from a team that set all kinds of offensive marks for any K-U team.

From what happened last night, it's clear that Todd Reesing should have been mentioned in the same conversation as Chase Daniel, Tim Tebow, and Colt Brennan...but the Heisman Committee can only select a certain number of people anyway. The choice was to leave Colt Brennan and Todd Reesing off the Heisman balloit and allow the producers on big-name programs to compete for the honor (with the exception of Brennan).

After watching some of the matchup last night...it begs to question whether Missouri really belonged there over Kansas.

Some of the critics indicated the second team from the Big-12 should have been Missouri. I'm not sure the Tigers would have done anything against Virginia Tech because of the lack of defense Missouri has shown throughout the season until Arkansas (23.2 PPG). This is represented best by the 41 and 38 points surrendered to Oklahoma in two losses, 34 squandered versus Illinois, and 32 against Kansas State.

Ultimately...if the BCS system is kept, the statute of limitations needs to change because the best teams were not entirely represented in the games. why not go with the top 10 teams in the rankings and forget about traditional Rose Bowl matchups between the Pac-10 and Big-Ten Conferences. Is Juice Williams a better quarterback than Chase Daniel (even if he had a poor performance)? Is Rashard Mendenhall more qualified of a running back than Tony Temple?

Either way, the top ten squads should make it to a BCS game and no one else should sniff an opportunity...it's then up to the bowl committees to decide which teams battle it out.

Bowl Fiasco

This is not one of my favorite times of the year, with the exception that I am off for a month. Let's be clear about something; while fans are attracted to the idea and the idiosyncracy of the bowl season, it is terrible to see teams like the Cal Golden Bears have an opportunity at 6-6 to revamp their season and compete in any bowl after finishing 1-6 (despite beating Air Force).

At one point, wasn't their a standard of excellence necessary to earn a spot for a coveted bowl. For one, I cannot remember a time when a three-loss team, such as the Illinois squad, competed for the Rose Bowl and was ranked number 13. How about the moment a squad such as the University of Florida was as highly ranked as number nine in the BCS when there were two loss teams better than the one the Gators posed. Too much Tim Tebow hyping and not enough of a magnifying glass was placed on Tigers on the prowl (who spanked Darren McFadden and the Razorbacks).

How about earning a bowl bid period. There used to be a method of determining how 6-6 clubs did not make any ground and were left out of all bowls. Should six and six clubs...such as Colorado and Alabama be rewarded for a postseason when the two clubs never experienced excellent results this year?

There was a point where the new chairman of the BCS declared that as soon as the current contract with the BCS was finished in 2011, there was a possibility to re-consider all the options of having a plus-one system or a playoff format. Hey, Illinois is going to wind up in the bottom half of the top twenty-five with four regular season losses. I recall the way running back Rashard Mendenhall was cruising up and down the field against the Syracuse Orange and how Juice Williams squeezed the life out of S-U...but here's the problem...the team was defeated by Missouri on the road and upset Ohio State in Columbus. Since the rules for the BCS system state no more than two teams can represent the ten available spots for the bowl games, it was down to a select few for the Rose Bowl

The rule automatically eliminated the University of Florida because Georgia and LSU were there from the SEC. Missouri was stricken from the competition as a result of the conquests made by Kansas and Oklahoma in the Big12 (in which leaving Missouri out appeared to be egregious).

College football's bowl committee was left with an inopportune and brutal decision; put Illinois in a traditionally renowned Pac-10 versus Big-Ten matchup in the Rose Bowl or go with another club (possibly Boston College or Clemson) at numbers 14 and 15 respectively?

The rule is bogus...but if one goes by the standards set by the committee, then Illinois (by default) would be the team that poses the greatest challenge to USC's Rose Bowl hopes...in spite of what happened

All in all, scrap the bowl system...it stinks...it puts colleges on a pedestal that they won't be able to attain...and rewards medocrity. Do you think players USC, Miami or LSU would devote themselves 100 percent to a bowl which one of those teams was 6-6 and the opponent was as well?

AFC playoffs

Now that we have discussed the NFC playoff race and possible divisional round previews, lets go further into the AFC hunt. The two divisional matchups in the opening weekend. They include the Tennessee Titans traveling to the West Coast to take on the San Diego Chargers while an exact re-match occurs between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Pittsburgh Steelers from Heinz Field.

Tennessee At San Diego

These two teams squared off during week 14. In that game, played in Nashville, the Chargers trailed 17-3 before making up ground to tie the game in regulation and finish the comeback in overtime. LaDainian Tomlinson had two touchdown runs of 6 and 17 yards for the Bolts and finished with 147 yards on the ground. Meanwhile, quarterback Philip Rivers tossed for 228 yards and two scores...but also two interceptions.

This time around, however, it will be a home game for the Chargers and I fully expect the League's leading rusher to have a field day. Tennessee's defense will not be able to hold down the San Diego offense in spite of an anticipated average performance out of Philip Rivers.

There are question marks about the Titans quarterback situation whether Vince Young is healthy enough to take the field after suffering a quad injury. If Kerry Collins starts the game, it'll be the first time he's entered the postseason since his Super Bowl run with the Giants in 2000...succumbing to eventual Super Bowl Champion...the Baltimore Ravens. With this in mind and the lack of faith I have in LenDale White continuing to have a monster of a season, the Chargers will snap a streak of losing three consecutive years in the first round the team plays in.

The count is San Diego 31, Tennessee 17

Jacksonville at Pittsburgh

The first matchup between the two was late in the season and Pittsburgh running back Willie Parker was playing. He is now on injured reserve which should indicate the Jaguars are going to handle less of a load from whichever runner comes at the defense. In week 15, Parker rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries but quarterback Ben Rothelisberger only gained 142 yards through the air.

Jacksonville also had a slate of athletes who performed well that week. Starting running back Fred Taylor ran 25 times for 147 yards and a touchdown while second year back out of UCLA, Maurice-Jones Drew pounded the Heinz Field surface for 69 yards on twelve attempts.

In spite of all these statistics, the outcome (a Jags victory over Pittsburgh in week 14) and the injury to the Steel City's Willie Parker, Jacksonville has not won a playoff game since 1998. This cast of characters is almost the same group (except for Jones-Drew) as the one that got smashed in New England. The team is identical because that squad had no running game and a bunch of good but not great receivers. Pittsburgh has a similar construct as the Pats and while the offense for Jacksonville has been prodigent this year, the Steelers will squeak out a victory led by Big Ben, Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and most importantly...Najeh Davenport (the former Green bay Packer) will relive his playoff destiny and rush for 100 yards.

Pittsburgh 21, Jacksonville 20