Suoer Bowl Media Day-----What I Learned

Here are just a few observations I took away
from media day, or "What I learned"
>Eli Manning will always remind many of us
of Gomer Pyle USMC (real old reference there)
>Terrel Owens should not have more to say or
more air time than Plaxico Burress. His team
lost, remember?
>Plaxico Burress has really matured, and that
is showing both on and off the field right now.
>A "prediction" is NOT a "guarantee"
>Amani Toomer looks much better and younger
with hair.
>Michael Starhan is having too much fun, he
needs to get serious about this.
>Tom Brady is one heck of a media savvy charmer.
>Robert Kraft needs to get help from Zone Chefs.
>This game will be closer than people think.
>Deion Sanders makes for a lousy interviewer.
>Steve Mariuicci does too.

Sportspage Rejects

Super Bowl Tom Brady does his best impression
of Claude Rains (The Invisible Man), and Giselle
actually gets attention with her clothes on.
What does this have to do with X's and O's?
NFL It breaks my heart, but I can't even begin
to explain what's going on in Oakland Raiders
camp, other than to say that Al Davis has everything
under control. Hence the expression "There's a
method to his madness". I say that respectfully
of course, I'm a fan. Just a confused one right now.
NBA The NY Knicks have won five of their last
seven games. I wonder how much of that has to do
with the absence of Stephon Marbury, or how much
of it has to do with the fact that the Miami Heat and
Minnesota Timberwolves are so bad that they now
realize they have no shot at the first overall draft pick.
Golf It seems odd to me that such a big deal was made
over the "lynching" comment towards Tiger Woods and
the "Noose" on the cover of Golf Magazine, but very
little was made outside of the Golf world.
NHL Is Sidney Crosby that much a better player than
Alexander Ovechkin or is it that the reason he seems
more popular is because has more teeth than him?

Super Bowl Hits

If the Giants can avoid at least these couple of
things, they can certainly give themselves an
opportunity to win vs the Patriots in SuperBowl
XLII. One thing that's always prudent is to make
sure that Eli Manning doesn't get sacked via the
illegal "leg wip" sack the Pats got away with vs
the Chargers on Sunday, I guess if the ref doesn't
call it a penalty, the it's OK to break a guys leg,
or in this case further rip his ACL. Second thing
they may want to avoid is the forearm of Rodney
Harrison, which Rodney believes is the best way
to sack the QB during crunch time. I'm sure
Phillip Rivers is glad he missed with a clear hit,
otherwise his ACL might not be his biggest worry
on Monday morning, and again, if the ref doesn't
call it then I guess it's not dirty. Right Rodney?
Thirdly, but certainly not lastly is to make sure
that they don't repeat the same mistake of allowing
Randy Moss to beat them deep on back to back
plays like their first meeting, even if he does only
catch one of those passes.................More to come.

Stone C O L D Lock

35-14 is nice but I wanna get one wrong this
week after a 1-1 week last week. There will
be only one pick this week

Patriots (Hope I'm wrong)

Bye the way the Giants have an excellent chance
of beating the Packers this week, but I'm afraid
I can't make that one a lock. Just a hunch

Wide World Of Spurts

NFL The Cowboys must certainly be breathing a
sigh if relief now that Jason garret has decided to
stay in Big D, especially since their lost their pseudo
Mafia connection Tony Sparano to the Dolphins.

NBA Now that the Knicks have won three in a row
for the first time this season without Stephon Marbury
to boot, do you think that Isiah Thomas regrets not
sitting him in Phoenix after the players voted the he
be sat for his insubordination?

NHL FYI: Willie O'Ree became the first black player
in the NHL fifty years ago, and if that doesn't impress
you consider this. When he played, the NHL only had
six teams, and he was also invited to tryout for the
second base position with the Milwaukee Braves.

Spurts
Dumb - Randy Moss- for even knowing the woman
that made the accusation. He might be the least
guilty of the bunch.
Dumber - Billy Donovan for brushing off Joakim
Noah's insubordinate behavior towards his coach by
saying, "he just wants to win"
Dumberer - TIE - OJ Simpson & Adam "Pacman"
Jones I won't even get into it, but the way they behave
you would think they have the same Daddy.
What a bunch of dolts.

Man(ning) Handled

If you live in the NY area and /or get to listen to
sports talk radio in NY, it's clear that Eli Manning
will never, ever be Peyton Manning. You don't really
need to be a rocket scientist to see that either, however
it really kind of goes beyond that. To Giants fans the
expectations they have can never truly be met, and
that's unfair. To any of us who have had a sibling or
such that we felt we weren't as good as or were made
to feel that way, this is a jagged pill to swallow.
I don't necessarily know that Eli feels this way, but
Giants fans certainly behave as though he should.
Eli Manning has had two very good playoff games,
back to back, and that is no small feat, unless your
Tom Brady that it, but to the rest of the humans, it
is a nice little accomplishment. The truth however
here is that Giants fans are just waiting for the other
shoe to drop. As soon as the Giants lose, if they lose,
the critics will begin to crow at how he must go, and
how overrated he is. The next two opponents for the
G men, should they win their next game are virtual
no win games. Going to Green Bay in January is not
a place you should expect to win if you're a fan, if you're
a player, yes, you need to exude that confidence, but
as a fan, cross your fingers and hope for the best.
After that you are most certainly looking at a Pats
team that is breaking records that haven't even been
set yet.

Earlier this year before the season started during a
radio show I was co-hosting I took a call from a Giants
fan that expected the worst. I said two things, and I am
by far no Nostradamus. First the Giants would win
more than 8 games, and that would be more than the
Mangenius led Jets, and second, that Eli would have
a good year. I guess I got lucky, but I'll take it.
The point? This is more than you expected, ease up,
don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Think of how great
a season Eli would be having if the Giants didn't lead the
NFL in dropped passes. Peyton Manning is watching
on TV, Eli is still on the field, and he deserves you
allegiance if your a Giants fan. The pessimists out there
will likely hide if they win it all this year (Unlikely), and
make sure to trounce if they Giants follow that up with
a 7-9 season next year. HEY, GET A LIFE, WILL YA ! ! !

NFL Divisional Locks

Now that the record has hit 34-13 and a very
healthy 21 games over .500, I want to finish
up with a bang. Two more picks this week
and then we'll go one pick at a time for the
final two, so here are this weeks "locks".

Indianapolis

Green Bay

FYI If you're a betting man, Jacksonville looks
good at +13, but I'm not sure that they overcome
the pile of doggie doo doo the Pats have stepped in.

Tough Guys

Now that the Federal government has chosen
to sentence Marion Jones to 6 months in
Federal prison for lying about doping under
oath and check fraud it will be interesting
to see if they have the guts to do the same
to Bonds, McGwire, and Clemens among
others. If they do I suggest many of you
loosen up your pitching arms, as the number
of no name being caught continues to grow
at a very steady pace.

Bangers & Mash

NFL So how long do you think it will be before
the "bada bing" jokes, and references to Jimmy
Hoffa start if the Miami Dolphins name Cowboys
Assistant Tony Sparano as their head coach.


NFL/NCAA You would think that after the
failed experiment with Steve Spurrier and the
failure of Nick Saban, coupled with the Bobby
Petrino fiasco, that would be enough to discourage
owners from going after college coaches hot and
heavy, but apparently this hasn't diswayed the
man the suffered the worst of these shames.
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank of the
aforementioned Bobby Petrino embarrassment
is now going after Pete Carrol, and offering to
give him everything but the team itself.
Though I'll be the first to say that I respect
Carroll a heck of alot more than the other three,
his record in the NFL (33-31) and recent history
still would lead you to believe that you might wanna
go in a different direction. Will they ever learn???


NFL If Tony Romo going to Mexico with Jessica
Simpson is the biggest headline a sportswriter
can come up with this week, it's time to look
for a new profession.

NBA As dismal as the Knicks look this season, may

I remind you that there are three teams with worse

records than them. Miami Heat (Shaq, Wade, Pat Riley),

the Seattle SuperSonics (#2 Pick Kevin Durant, Kurt

Thomas, Wally Szczerbiak), and the Minnesota

Timberwolves who have every excuse in the book to

be this bad (5-29)

NCAA Football After the job June Jones did for

Hawai'i's football program it's no wonder he had the

Governor begging him to stay, and even less wonder

that he left and the Athletic Director got canned for

taking him for granted. At SMU, Eric Dickerson's

Alma Mater, he gets a better budget, better facilities,

and probably a better shot to compete for a national

championship if his team goes 12-0. I just wonder

how the Rainbows are going to handle opening the

2008 season against Florida now that they lost

both Jones, and their Heisman Trophy candidate

Quarterback Colt Brennan, and the schools all

time reception leader Davone Bess, who leaves a

year early to head for the NFL Draft.

What Did They Say?

If you made the mistake of listening to the
fiasco that Roger Clemens and his bone headed
reps put together to supposedly clear his name
yesterday, then you can't be too impressed.
Should we believe a man who pretended to be
someones friend in order to clear his own
name and secretly record him? Did you hear
his trainer once admit to lying about Clemens
being involved, or did you hear a man ready
to lie in the opposite direction in order to
save Clemens when he asked "what do you want
me to do?", and "I will go to jail for you if I have
to". Should we NOW believe a man who only
seven short years ago threw a jagged edged bat
at a fellow major leaguer, and explain it away
by saying it was the ball? By the way, that
explanation would have held much more weight
had they been playing Dodge ball instead.

Not once did his ex trainer clear Clemens' name
in that phone call, not ONCE. What a joke!
Clemens is clearly grasping at straws. He asked
if he should have to defend himself after all he's
done for baseball. I would beg to differ, because
if it not for baseball, he would be just another
working class citizen were he not arrested sooner
rather than later for some boneheaded crime
instead. WHAT HAS HE DONE FOR BASEBALL?
WHAT? Should he be found guilty of perjury
along with the likes of Bonds, and McGwire,
they should all be made examples of and suffer
the same fate as Shoeless Joe Jackson, who by
now should certainly have been reinstated.
I will add however that if they are not guilty,
then I hope that their names are cleared.
I just highly doubt this will be the case however.

Wild Card Locks

32-13 in the regular season, and now it's
playoff time so I'll try to give you two
winners from the limited number of
games and hope to "lock" em up.

San Diego

NY Giants

And I can't believe I just put the future of
these picks in the hands of Norv Turner,
and Tom Coughlin

Kill Bill? Why?

It's clear that the NFL is the number one
sport in America for more that just the
touchdowns and great catches. With all
the sports that have become more popular
like Ultimate Fighting (UFC) and even
underground sports like the ones that
get people like Michael Vick in trouble,
dog fighting, the thirst for hits and violence
is certainly something that should raise
concern. These are not the days of the
Roman empire, and civilized society's
are not supposed to behave like this.
South Korean boxer Choi Yo-sam was
declared dead shortly after being
crowned Champion and collapsing, luckily
for others his organs were donated.
Is this the price we wish that our athletes
should pay for their success, or our jealousy
of that success? On a lighter note Buffalo
Bills special teams player was almost
paralyzed after a play early in the season,
and others before him have been. I'm not
sure I have a solution, and I'll be the first to
tell you that I LOVE football, but I thought
I would leave you some food for thought.