Daily Quiz On November 18, 1997, Carl Pavano was traded with Tony Armas from the Red Sox to the Montreal Expos for what player? Tuesday's Quiz Ohio State's Jim Tressel won four I-AA national championships as head coach at Youngstown State. Monday's Quiz Jim Harbaugh, brother of Ravens' coach John, threw the first-ever TD pass at Dolphins' Stadium, when he played for the Bears.

Thought of the Day Lot of competition between DirecTV and cable TV for customers; to me, the programming is better on DirecTV, but customer service is better with cable companies. DirecTV is the only way to get the NFL Sunday Ticket, and they have better packages as far as the extra FOX Sports channels go. The other sports packages are the same, for the most part. I like horse racing channel TVG too.

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Wednesday's List of 13: Odds and ends on a winter Wednesday
13) Giants' defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo made more cash this season than Eric Mangini did as head coach of the Jets.

12) Have the Jets fired their team doctors yet? How was Brett Favre playing with a torn tendon in his bicep? Did they know he had the injury, and if so, why was he allowed to play? I mean, the coach got fired because the QB didn't play well, but the QB was hurt, so you can make a case that Mangini got fired because Favre played hurt.

11) Sacks became an official stat in 1982; the Chiefs had only 10 as a team this season, the least by any team since 1982. Lions picked off only four passes this year, the least by any team in a full season.

10) Celtics lost five of last seven games since their 19-game winning streak ended Christmas Day- they lost in Charlotte last night.

9) NFL teams spend so much money on scouting, but Steelers cut James Harrison three times before he stuck with the team, and how he is one of the best players in the league. Same with the Patriots and Tom Brady, who was drafted in the sixth round, after all.

8) Conference play is starting to rev up in college hoops; Seton Hall took Villanova to OT last night, before losing by four. Illinois State lost for first time this season, losing at Bradley for sixth year in row.

7) Arkansas upset Texas at home, its 7th straight home win against a Top 25 team. Pelphrey is working wonders with the young Hogs.

6) Indians got sucked into signing Carl Pavano to an incentive-laden contract; he is guaranteed $1.5M in '09, with a possible $5.3M he can earn in incentives. Pavano started 26 games the last four years since he was 18-8 for the Marlins in 2004. Good luck with him.

5) Earth to Oakland: Jason Giambi turns 38 on Thursday.

4) I'm neutral on the NFL's overtime debate; the current system isn't unfair; after all, if you stop the other team, then you get the ball, but the college system is kind of fun, too. It wouldn't be horrible if they guaranteed each team one possession on offense.

3) FBI has apparently lost lot of people to attrition, so they posted around 3,000 job openings, 850 for agents, 2,100+ support people. Good opportunity for someone to get in with the federal government.

2) Tulsa crushed a disappointed Ball State in the GMAC Bowl, with much of the second half played in a monsoon. Second year in a row the Golden Hurricane won big in Mobile.

1) If Oklahoma beats Florida Thursday, how does Texas not get some votes as national champion? Sooners, Longhorns would both have a single loss, and Texas beat Oklahoma in their head-to-head meeting. It would seem ridiculous to keep Texas completely out of the picture.

Tuesday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but.........
13) High drama in the desert late last night, as Texas converted a 4th down play with 0:38 left, then scored winning TD with 0:16 left in a 24-21 win against Ohio State, handing Buckeyes their third straight loss in a bowl game.

12) Game really picked up in second half, after Ohio State led 6-3 at the half-- Ohio State used 6th-year QB Boeckman to rally after the Longhorns had grabbed a 17-6 lead late in the third quarter.

11) I just realized this: Buckeye freshman QB Pryor was in 8th grade when Boeckman was a freshman at Ohio State. Pryor actually caught a TD pass from Boeckman, was a blocking back on another play.

10) I'm wondering how many people actually saw the game; FOX doesn't do many college games-- will have to check out the ratings.

9) Screwup in communication is costing Phillies reliever JC Romero a 50-game suspension and $1.25M in salary-- he tested positive for a supplement last summer, after he was told the supplement was OK, even asking the Phillies trainer about it.

8) Kicker is that Romero was winning pitcher in Games 3 and 5 of the World Series-- if he did indeed take an illegal substance, why was he pitching in the postseason? If you read all the info that is out there on this case, though, it seems like Romero did what he could to make sure he was legal, and shouldn't be suspended at all. Seems like this is a middle ground that is obviously unfair, one way or the other.

7) Tampa Rays gave Pat Burrell $16M for two years Monday; he'll be the Rays' DH, and play LF when Carl Crawford gets days off.

6) Why do the Cubs always lose? Because they give Milton Bradley types $30M for three years-- what are they thinking? Can't wait 'til Bradley's first meltdown, when the poor umpire has to deal with the player and then the manager, mild-mannered Lou Piniella.

5) Big Sky favorite Portland State was down 16 at half Sunday night at Northern Arizona, rallied to force OT, then wound up surviving a 4-OT marathon, 92-91 in Flagstaff. Vikings have won at Gonzaga, so they have to be taken seriously as a March Cinderella.

4) Western Kentucky continues to be schizophrenic, losing by 28 at Mississippi State (were down 22 at half). This is a team that won at Louisville, but then lost by 32 at Evansville-- very strange team.

3) Tennessee-Martin, which has very good guards, but no history of success in hoops, ended a long losing skid against Murray State when they beat the Racers 75-71 at home, their first win in last seventeen games against Murray State.

2) Strong rumors have Jason Giambi signing up with A's, which isn't good news for me, an A's fan-- you sell out and take money from the Bronx, don't come crawling back when your career goes in the toilet. I'd much rather have Adam Dunn to play first or DH.

1) Kansas plays Siena tonight; last Tuesday, they beat UAlbany by 36- fans in Lawrence have to be wondering where the hell Albany is, and why their team is playing two teams from there in same week? (Siena and UAlbany are both within five miles of my house)

Monday's List of 13: Wrapping up a sports weekend
13) Strange doings in Boston Sunday, after Boston College shocked the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill (I seriously thought they were going to go unbeaten this season), word came out that BC administrators have threatened football coach Jaff Jagodzinski that he'll be fired should he go to his interview for Jets' head coaching job Monday.

12) According to reports, Jagodzinkski is going to the interview, so it looks like former East Carolina coach Steve Logan (he is current BC offensive coordnator) will get hired as Eagles' new head coach. Wow.

11) What does it say about NFL officiating this season that the crew of Ed Hochuli graded out #1 in the league, even after the debacle out in Denver in Week 2, when an inadvertent whistle cost the Chargers a huge game? Hochuli worked a playoff game this weekend, so his crew was downgraded because of that error, but still..........

10) If you're old enough to remember Pat Haden butchering playoff games for the Rams in the 70's, then you must have had a flashback Sunday, watching Chad Pennington play against Baltimore. They're the same player, thirty years apart- they even look alike.

9) To listen to certain former players who now give their opinions on TV, you'd think Andy Reid benching Donovan McNabb for second half of the Baltimore game in Week 12 was the greatest injustice since the '72 Olympic basketball game. Well, McNabb was 10-23 for 73 yards and two INTs in that game, and Eagles are 5-1 since that game, so maybe the move actually sparked both McNabb and the Eagles.

Isn't that what coaches are supposed to do?

8) For those of you who hate football in domes, gametime temp for the Eagle-Viking game was 2 degrees, with a windchill of 14 below.

7) I guess I'm surprised they don't have Sunday nite playoff games.

6) If there is any justice in this world, Jim Mora get royalties every time his "PLAYOFFS!?!?!?!" rant get used on TV these days.

5) Switching to hoops, total shock over Boston College pulling upset in Chapel Hill Sunday night- they were 22-point underdogs. Just a guess, but Tar Heels won't stay in ACC cellar too long.

4) If I coached either Kentucky or Louisville, wouldn't want a rivalry game like that so close to start of conference play. I realize that TV probably chooses when the game is played, but December seems like a much better time to play such an intense game.

3) I am 100% convinced those who announce Big East basketball are coached to pump up the league, as if all 16 teams are one step away from the NBA. You watch all these other games, and no one else in anyother league dishes out propaganda like the Big East. Well, with 16 teams, you're going to have some stiffs-- St John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall, and to a degree Providence are stiffs.

2) Lets say Cincinnati finishes 10th in the Big East- they're OK, but not a great team, a bubble team for sure. Should a team that finishes 10th in its league be allowed to compete for a national title? There are leagues that don't even have ten teams in them. I'm guessing they are going to get nine teams in (top nine are all ranked in top 27) NCAAs.

1) When I was a kid, today was my least favorite day of the year, the first day back to school after Christmas vacation- it was way worse than the first day of school-- at least the weather was good then. But sis weeks of school before the next vacation? Absolutely hated it.

Sunday's List of 13: Wrapping up a sports Saturday........
13) What in the name of Edward R. Murrow is NBC thinking when it puts Matt Millen on its airwaves, as an "expert"? This guy was one of the most inept executives in NFL history, yet he is rewarded for his incompetence with a spot on a pre-game show. Terrible idea.

12) Luckily, NBC doesn't have the NBA contract, or they'd be hiring Isiah Thomas to analyze NBA games.

11) Colt-Charger game was a tremendous NFL game; didn't seem like a Wild Card game. After San Diego fumbled on the 1 and threw a pick in end zone, you didn't think they'd win, but they did. Norv Turner is not considered to be much of a head coach, but he seems to have the Colts' number. Funny how that works sometimes.

10) You look at how Darren Sproles saved the Chargers against Indy, and you realize once again that the most important person on an NFL team is the personnel director, who has to find good players to add depth to a team. Same with the Giants and their running backs, and it is why Dallas missed the playoffs, not having a decent backup QB.

9) Larry Fitzgerald is one great WR who doesn't act like a baby-- he has tremendous hands, catches everything thrown to him, then goes back to the huddle like an adult. Good for him.

8) Funny about the Colt-Charger game: Indy had been 8-1 in games decided by eight or less points, San Diego 2-7. Could be there was a little luck involved in those numbers, and it evened out somewhat in Saturday night's game.

7) Ironic that Kurt Warner and Edgerrin James are teammates, since it was the Colts' drafting James that led Indy to trade Marshall Faulk to the Rams, which helped make Warner's Rams world champions.

6) San Diego beat the Colts in last two playoffs, despite Tomlinson's combined 12 rushes for only 53 yards in the two games.

5) Big win out west for Wake Forest last night, snapping long home court win streak that BYU had--- 94-87 game that BYU led 48-45 at the half, but deep, talented Deacons prevailed in second half.

4) Pitt controlled their game at Georgetown from the start and kept its undefeated record intact; Panthers could be 2nd-best team, behind a North Carolina squad that could very well go unbeaten this season.

3) Illinois State pulled away from Creighton in the second half, won 86-64, keeping Redbirds unbeaten and establishing them as the team to beat in Missouri Valley this year-- league is little down, but ISU is a really good team and could make some noise in March.

2) Wonder how baseball executives feel about ESPN promoting their televising The Masters already? Baseball season starts way before that, but you don't see any commcials for that anywhere.

1) The more I think about Matt Millen getting a TV gig, the worse it seems to me; imagine if you put CNBC on, and Bernie Madoff was an expert on how to build wealth-- it would be offensive, no?

Saturday's List of 13: Random thoughts on a winter day
13) Pete Carroll is 82-9 at USC; thats 82 and freakin' 9. Wow.

12) Weird road trip for Santa Clara's basketball team this week: they went east, and played Harvard last night, New Hampshire Sunday. Broncos got upset by Harvard Friday, not a good sign, seeing as the Ivy League teams are a combined 30-57 so far this season. .

11) Best play of bowl season so far was when the Rutgers lateraled ball to an offensive lineman, who then threw pass into the end zone. Pass was incomplete, but damn nice play they tried.

10) No Big 11 team has won the Rose Bowl in this decade; USC is first team ever to win the Rose Bowl three years in a row.

9) Worst bowl performance so far-- South Carolina, which went in the tank late in season for second year in a row. They looked totally disinterested in competing against Iowa.

8) Derek Lowe scoffed at $36M for three years. Wow. Lets see what he winds up signing for-- doubtful he gets any more than that.

7) MLB Network has a Dodger-Phils playoff game on, and as I write this, I'm hearing Rafael Furcal make three errors in same inning in a close game. This is the same guy who since that night, turned down a four-year, $40M contract from the A's. Thanks for small favors.

6) If the Sun Bowl is in El Paso, shouldn't the bowl in San Francisco be called the Fog Bowl? The Bridge Bowl? Certainly not the Emerald Nut Bowl, although they do have some creative commercials.

5) ABC's Todd Blackledge, former NFL QB, said Georgia's Stafford should stay in college another year. Don't hear lot of candid opinions like that on TV. Most people think Stafford will be going pro.

4) Who made the Rutgers hoop schedule? They're playing the #1-3 teams in country, all this week!!! Carolina-Pitt-UConn-- someone in that AD's office doesn't like hoop coach Fred Hill.

3) Its damn cold here in Albany, but the PGA Tour starts Thursday in Hawai'i, and thats never a bad thing.

2) I'm thinking all this BCS stuff, with bowl games stretched out over almost three weeks, has really hurt the status of bowls that play on New Year's Day. If you asked 20 college football fans, how many, in truth, would know difference between Capital One, Outback Bowls?

1) If you're a Cleveland Browns' fan and you read that Eric Mangini is the leading candidate to be your new coach, are you happy today?

Friday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but.........
13) The two Washington schools might be awful, but the rest of the Pac-10 kicked butt this bowl season, going 5-0, with wins ranging all over the map, from Oregon State's unwatchable 3-0 win in Sun Bowl, to USC's pasting of Penn State in Pasadena. Very impressive.

12) Tough times for Big 11, with Iowa the only bowl winner so far in this bowl season. Yes, it seemed weird without Michigan in a bowl.

11) Kid on Clemson made one of the great defensive plays you'll ever see in Tigers' loss to Nebraska; he deflected an option pitch, scooped the ball up and ran it in for the first touchdown of the game. You do not see plays that great very often.

10) Was fun listening to Dan Fouts/Steve Beuerlein on Gator Bowl-- former QBs are like former coaches; because they have to think about the game more than most players, they make better analysts.

9) Best college hoop game of new year so far was Marquette's 79-72 win vs Villanova Thursday afternoon in Milwaukee. Looking at some of these teams' resumes, that game meant more to Marquette, due to their lower RPI- they might be a bubble team in March, without an impressive showing in Big East play. This was an excellent start.

8) If you live in the Albany area, MLB Network is channel 621 on digital cable. At first glance, looks like a pretty good operation, but they really won't have much to show before spring training starts.

7) MLB Network showed Don Larsen's perfect game Thursday nite, which made me curious about Larsen's career- he lasted 14 big league seasons, posting a 81-91 career record. There is some more trivia on his career in the 6-pack posted on top of this page.

6) They put over 40,000 people in Wrigley Field for Detroit-Chicago hockey game Thursday; this is going to be an annual event, which is going to be in the Bronx next year, for a Rangers-Bruins tilt.

5) The crawl on bottom of ESPN's screen has changed a lot recently; now you see rumors going across screen, then 20 minutes later, those rumors are often responded to by the people involved. Newspapers are so far out of the news cycle now-- things move very quickly.

4) Tulsa signed football coach Todd Graham to a 10-year extension to his contract this week; what are the odds that Graham will still be in Tulsa in 2018? Couple of years ago, he signed a 6-year extension with Rice, and quit the Owls for Tulsa three days later.

3) Oregon State coach Mike Riley was once coach of San Antonio in the old WLAF, team called the Riders that lasted two years. One of his QBs with Riders was Jason Garrett, now offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys. Riley also won two Grey Cups in Canada.

2) Not only are all four road teams favored in Wild Card round in the NFL this weekend, but two of the four road favorties have a rookie QB, and a rookie head coach. No way that has ever happened before.

1) Suggestion to make next season's bowls little more interesting; no Big 11 opponents for USC. How about finally ending the drought of 20 years since an SEC team played a Pac-10 team in a bowl? Would you like to see Florida play USC, or Alabama-Oregon? Me, too.

Thursday's List of 13: Ranking the 32 NFL teams, kind of......
13) All the teams that missed the playoffs, from Lions to Patriots; if you missed the playoffs, you're all in same boat right now.

12) Dolphins-- Season is already tremendous success, but what if Parcells takes the money and runs? Can they maintain this in 2009?

11) Cardinals-- Played awful football in December, but have a home game this weekend-- they need to win it.

10) Vikings-- Last two weeks at home, they lost to Atlanta, were life and death to beat Giants team that didn't need the game. A red flag.

9) Eagles-- Lot of things fell their way last Sunday, then they went out and took advantage, pounding on Dallas. They're going to blitz young QB Jackson an awful lot Sunday.

8) Chargers-- Only 4-8 team to ever make playoffs; they're hot, but draw an even hotter Indianapolis team in first round Saturday night.

7) Falcons-- 10 years after winning NFC title, Atlanta had another great season. Interesting playoff opener at Arizona Saturday.

6) Ravens-- Won at Miami earlier this year, after being only team to lose to Dolphins last season. 2008 has been lot better for both sides.

5) Colts-- Were 3-4 at one point, haven't lost since. How hard are the Titans rooting for Baltimore to win in Miami, so they don't have to play Indy next week?

4) Steelers-- When the starting QB is on a bodyboard with facemask cut off his helmet, and thats his last football action before playoffs, it is not a good sign for that team. Unless you like Leftwich a lot.

3) Giants-- I can't lose the feeling they're going out in their next game, don't even know why. KL Wheat, a Giants' season ticket holder, says he wants to avoid the Eagles next week. I agree with him.

2) Titans-- This is why the NFL is so much fun-- who would have guessed that Kerry Collins would have had such a great season? Drafting Young has been a disaster, Collins has made it a moot point.

1) Panthers-- My pick to win it all.

Wednesday's List of 13: Suggestions for 2009 (yeah, right).....
13) The one thing we need next year is Plaxico Burress to come up with a line of sports clothes, complete with kevlar pants. You can never be too safe when you go clubbing.

12) I'd like to see some of those NHL teams that are struggling in the Sun Belt to move back to Canada, where hockey is king.

11) I know this is a pipedream, and I've ranted about it a lot this fall, but could we get the NFL Network on basic cable? I know Sunday Ticket is stuck on DirecTV, but the NFL Network we should get.

10) I'd like to see NBA teams be allowed to play any defense they want to; in what other sport are there illegal defenses? College hoops are fun, and they allow zones. Market teams and not stars.

9) I'd like to see Terrell Owens become a pro wrestler. Fulltime.

8) I'd like to see ESPN hire Billy Packer to work a couple of games a week; the guy was working college hoop back when we saw one game a week on the CD Chesley network.........he deserves that much.

7) I'd like NBC to tell Notre Dame that if they want to cash checks like they're a football factory, then start acting like one-- re-invest a little cash into their athletic facilities, and relax admission standards so they can compete with the USCs of the world. Its not too much to for NBC to ask that Notre Dame be an 8 or 9-win team every year,

6) I'd like the NFL to take the radios out of players' helmets, make the game more human, less robotic and coach-driven.

5) How about if ESPN hired Maria Bartiromo as an anchor? Why do I have to put CNBC on to see her? Is this too much to ask?

4) Actually, I'd like to be able to tailor my own cable system, with no CSPANs, no soccer, no food channels, but lot of sports and movies. Why isn't this possible? We put a man on the moon 40 years ago, but I can't watch any TV stations I want? Hmmmmmmm

3) Baseball needs to lift the blackout on Extra Innings package for the Saturday afternoon games; because FOX shows a Game of the Week, I get to watch less baseball, even though I'm paying $180 for season to supposedly watch every game. This makes no sense.

2) I'd like to see a PGA Tour event where each player is allowed to use only four or five clubs, just something different. They're usually allowed to use fourteen clubs.

1) We need the NBA to hold a 64-player 1-on-1 tournament in the summer, with each player naming a charity to play for. How great would this be? They'd raise a freakin' fortune.......

Tuesday's List of 13: Random thoughts on a winter day.......
13) Eric Mangini was 23-25 in three years with the Jets, but had a couple winning seasons out of three, 9-7 this year, but he got fired on Monday. Why? Because the Jets' nitwit owner needed to quell an overly negative fanbase that is less likely to buy expensive PCLs for the new stadium they didn't need to build.

12) Disgruntled fans are less likely to shell out big bucks to watch a team that didn't make the playoffs; hiring a big name (Bill Cowher is the preferred choice, obviously) creates buzz, and sells PSLs.

11) Alabama lost its best offensive lineman for Sugar Bowl because of alleged dealings with an agent, which are a no-no. Its kind of sad that everyone else makes a fortune off college sports, but the kids are the ones punished for least little thing. How about suspending the agent? Isn't he, as the adult, more responsible?

10) The economy is going to hit the PGA Tour hard, and soon; back in 1995, total prize money on Tour was $67M; four years later, the total was $134M, in 2007, $270M, but now they've lost at least one tournament off the '09 schedule, and more could be on the way. Look for the Tour to lower the minimum to sponsor a tournament in order to keep a full schedule of events in 2010 and beyond.

9) Thanks to the geniuses of the cable TV industry for putting the Western Michigan-Rice bowl game on the NFL Network, which, as you might remember, I DON'T HAVE ON MY CABLE SYSTEM!! Rice is one of the best teams to watch, they throw it on every play, so now we're going out tomorrow the watch the Owls.

8) Brian Billick is getting paid $15M over the next three years not to coach the Ravens; I wish people would pay me not to do things.

7) Stupid stat of the week: Arizona Cardinals are 6-1 when they get eight or more penalties in a game, 3-6 when they don't.

6) Over the last ten years, or since John Elway retired, the Broncos are 1-4 in playoff games, diminishing Mike Shanahan's reputation as a football genius. After reading Shanahan's book a few years ago, I had the feeling he fancied himself a combination of Walsh and Lombardi. Without Mr Elway under center, not so much.

5) I forgot to put this in Sunday's Den, but Florida State's punter had one of the greatest games I've ever seen a punter have Saturday night in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando. He was voted MVP by the TV people. Graham Gano's first three punts were downed inside the Wisconsin 4-yard line; he drew a roughing penalty after that, and had another punt downed at the 7. Tremendous game for a kid who also made 24 of 26 field goals this year for the Seminoles.

4) Miami Dolphins were 1-15 LY, under head coach Cam Cameron, who was fired; his only win was at home in OT, against the Ravens. Cameron is now Baltimore's offensive coordinator; he'll be in Miami this weekend for a playoff game-- who would have guessed it?

3) This is how fragile coaching in the NFL is: at midpoint of the 2007 season, Detroit Lions were 6-2, and Rod Marinelli was in running for Coach of the Year. 14 months later, the Lions are 1-23 in their last 24 games, and Marinelli is unemployed. Did he suddenly become dumb? Players stop playing well, and coaches stop getting paid.

2) Bad news for Raider fans; Al Davis' mom lived to the age of 103.

1) Another popular theory out of New Jersey is that Brett Favre did not like Mangini much, and the Jets need Favre back to sell the PSLs and create hope for immediate future. Putting Kellen Clemens under center next year ain't going to sell any luxury boxes.

Monday's List of 13: Wrapping up an NFL Sunday
13) Eagles scored 41 points in a little bit more than 21:00 Sunday, as they handed Dallas one of the worst beatings in a big game in history of the NFL. Not a whole lot of heart/guts/spunk shown by Cowboys Sunday, which is what happens when you assemble a team with lot of characters, as opposed to a team with a lot of character.

12) Lets just hope Denver's first round draft pick next April plays on the defensive side of the ball. And is not from Vanderbilt.

11) It would be easy to kill Denver's defensive coordinator for just a pathetic exhibition of defense this season, but lets face it, this rests in the lap of coach Shanahan, who has a 24-24 record of the last three years, just 13-11 at Invesco Field. Going to be a long winter there.

10) Another el foldo was done by Tampa Bay, which collapsed down the stretch, allowing 30.8 ppg points in its last four games, or since the same time Monte Kiffin's move to Tennessee was discussed.

9) Ominous report from NBCSports.com Sunday night; Tom Brady is well behind schedule in his rehab, and may need another operation to remove scar tissue. There is no guarantee that he'll play in 2009, which puts Patriots in a position where they have to pay Mr Cassel a boatload of money, in case he has to be the '09 starter.

\8) Mike Singletary got the full-time 49ers' gig; they're going to be the fashionable choice as an NFC sleeper next season, its already started. History tell us how those fashionable choices usually wind up- not very good. I want to see who Singletary replaces Mike Martz with as offensive coordinator- no QB has improved after Martz left him.

7) Uh-oh alert: with 16:00 left in game Sunday night, Stanford led at home against Texas Tech 70-44. Its beginning to look like Pat Knight may be a tad overmatched as a bigtime college head coach. The final was 111-66, Stanford,as Johnny Dawkins is doing really well so far.

6) Al Davis wasn't in Tampa Sunday, just second game he's missed in 45 years he's worked for the Raiders.

5) Cleveland Browns scored total of 31 points in their last six games, grtting shut out in their last two- their only TD in Week 15 was by the defense. Cleveland needs to start from scratch, and their first big question will be how to ease Brady Quinn into the starting role.

4) Detroit Lions may be 0-16, but they covered their last six games on the road, and that isn't something that gets done a lot, either. No way does that dull the pain of a winless season, but it does point out that they rarely quit, they just were a terrible team.

3) Quick baseball note: Red Sox finally did something this offseason, giving oft-injured Brad Penny $5M for one year. Good luck there.

2) I don't want to hear the names "Tony" and "Romo" in a sentence again until next July. No interviews, no People Magazine covers, no nothing. Just go away until next season starts. Please.

1) OK, next week's playoff matchups: Saturday, Falcons go out west and will play the Cardinals, followed by terrific Colts-Chargers game in San Diego Saturday night.

Sunday, the Ravens visit Miami, and the Eagles go to Minnesota.

Sunday's List of 13: Wrapping up a slow sports Saturday
13) Good day to be a West Virginia fan; Mountaineers won the best game of the day, pulling out 31-30 win over North Carolina, making Pat White the first college QB to win four bowl games as a starter. Thats the first college QB, ever, a very impressive feat.

12) White was so impressive in this game, Chris Spielman said he is an NFL prospect; no one would have said that two months ago, the Mountaineer coaches have done an awesome job with him. He really is a little like Michael Vick; better passer, not as good a runner.

11) Mountaineers' hoop team went to Columbus, outscored Ohio St. 41-20 in second half, crushing the Buckeyes 76-48, handing OSU its first loss of season. West Virginia is playing very well right now.

10) North Carolina WR Nicks looked like Harold Carmichael, making catches over the smaller West Virginia DBs, but when I looked him up, he is only 6-1, 215, so Mountaineers must have some tiny DBs. Nicks is basically the same size as Terrell Owens, an NFL prospect for sure. He can go back to UNC for one more year, if he wants.

9) Pete Carroll couldn't have enjoyed seeing Wisconsin get smoked in the Emerald Bowl; USC players have beaten up on Big 11 teams lot lately, seeing Florida State crushing the Badgers could feed into the Trojans' overconfidence for their Rose Bowl game against Penn State.

8) Weird seeing both teams' benches on same side of field at Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park; reminds me of old Metropolitan Stadium in Minnesota, that had the same feature. Being a Ram fan, anything that reminds me of the Met isn't good.

7) If you've ever been to Mall of America in the Twin Cities, that is the exact site where they tore down Metropolitan Stadium when the Metrodome was built. Mall is so big, it has a rollercoaster inside it.

6) The sideline reported at the Emerald Bowl was wearing gloves; the freakin' game was in San Francisco!!!!! Cal's coach wasn't wearing a jacket, and this guy was wearing gloves........we need tougher sideline reporters, for sure, if we need them at all.

5) Speaking of San Francisco, Randy Johnson hooked up with the Giants for 2009, so he can get the five wins he needs for 300 in his career. Pretty decent rotation the Giants have.

4) WAC teams are already 0-3 in bowls, with Nevada and Louisiana Tech still to play; how are those two teams in same league anyway?

3) Steve Spurrier, Jeff Tedford are known as QB gurus, but if you watched their teams play the last couple years, you'd wonder how in the name of Joe Kapp they ever got that tag. Cal's QB play has been shaky at best since Kyle Boller left Berkeley.

2) St John's hoop team has no luck, their two best players are out on injured list- you watch them play, and you think there's no way that coach Roberts will be back next year- they're just not very good, but they do have some decent younger players. The one thing that could save Roberts is a bad economy; schools might be little more reluctant to pay two coaches at once in this economic environment.

1) Saturday wasn't the greatest sports day, but Sunday promises to make up for it, with drama all over the NFL map, plus a better slate of college hoop games than we had Saturday. Should be a fun day.

Saturday's List of 13: Random post-Christmas knowledge
13) Must have been a Merry Christmas at Al Groh's house; Virginia's coach fired his son as offensive coordinator two weeks ago. Wonder how he likes sleeping on the couch........

12) New York Times has had a 20% drop in ad revenue over the last year, as financial crisis hits newspapers hard.

11) Times owns a 17% stake in New England Sports Ventures, the company that owns the Red Sox, Boston Globe and NESN. Rumors have the Times selling their stake in NESV.

10) Some collector from Arkansas paid $1.62M for a Honus Wagner baseball card in August, and turned down $1.7M for the card a month later. Wonder what its going for these days........

9) In case you care about such things, Pepsi owns Gatorade, Vitamin Water is owned by Coca-Cola. Gatorade has new packaging now and has had vitamins added to it for the first time, not that they help.

8) According to a CNN poll, 23% of Americans say they will miss George W. Bush as President; most of them have to be the comedians who will have to work a lot harder for their material now.

7) MLB Network, starting in 50 million homes (but not in mine) on New Year's Day, will have Harold Reynolds, Al. Leiter, Joe Magrane and Dan Plesac as studio analysts. They'll have a live game on every Thursday night-- no word if they'll have spring training games.

6) Army hired Rich Ellerson away from Cal Poly to be football coach which means the Cadets will run the same triple option offense that Navy runs so well. Cal Poly lost in OT at Wisconsin this season.

5) '76 Tampa Bay Bucs have gotten lot of publicity this week with the Lions being winless; Bucs were a first-year expansion team that then started '77 0-12, but two years after that, they played in NFC title game, losing 9-0 to the Rams, so there is hope for the Lions.

4) Jeff Withey, a 7-footer from San Diego who transferred away from Arizona after Lute Olson retired, will play at Kansas next year, and will be eligible as a freshman after the first semester ends.

3) Miami, OH lost senior point guard Kenny Hayes for the season with a hand injury, which helps explain their dreadful performance at West Virginia in their last game.

2) You wonder why the Suns won't win the NBA title? On the last possession Thursday, they leave Roger Mason open for a 3-pointer; Mason may not be a household name, but he is third in NBA, hitting 48% of his 3-pointers. Not the best guy to leave open.

1) SEC football is a cash cow; 15,061,000 viewers watched the SEC title game between Florida, Alabama on CBS, the most-watched game all season in college football.

Friday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but.........
13) From looks of things, Hornets weren't too thrilled playing on the road Christmas Day; New Orleans got down 30 in first half, making the Law and Order marathon on TNT a much more appealing viewing option. Rest of the day's games were highly competitive.

12) When Dennis Felton moved from Western Kentucky to Georgia, and Jeff Capel went from VCU to Oklahoma, part of the language in their contract buyouts said they had to play home/home series with their old schools, guaranteeing the old school two big paydays.

11) There is a high school sports league in the San Diego area called the Avocado League; who wouldn't want to live in an area where the local high school plays in the Avocado League?

10) How bogus will it be if Eldrick Woods loses his #1 golf ranking because he has been out hurt since June? It would be embarrassing to be the guy who takes his place, especially if it happens before Woods returns to competition, which could happen in March.

9) Watching the Spurs-Suns game today, unusual that Terry Porter played D-III college ball in Wisconsin; Gregg Popovich went to the Air Force Academy. Wouldn't expect them to be NBA head coaches.

8) Chris Paul's streak of games with a steal ended Thursday at 108, which is the NBA record.

7) Denver Broncos went 0-7-1 vs spread at home this year (4-4 SU).

6) Road team is 12-3 vs spread in the Lions' games this season.

5) The ACC has a half-page ad in The Sporting News touting both the present and past of its conference, with a player from each of the 12 schools shown; problem is, Rick Barry and Dell Curry are two of the players shown-- Miami and Virginia Tech were not in the ACC when those future NBA stars played in college.

4) When Portland State upset Gonzaga earlier this week, it probably improved their seed in NCAA tournament by a seed or two, if they win the Big Sky tournament, which is a big deal, since a lot more 13 and 14 seeds pull upsets than 15 seeds (only four ever). .

3) Interesting difference in philosophy; NBA schedules five games on Christmas Day, all nationally televised; the NHL, which could use a little exposure, opts not to play, when they definitely could get NBC to put them on Christmas afternoon. NHL has an outdoor game on New Year's Day at Wrigley Field, but they think Christmas is day for family, so they don't schedule games. Interesting choice.

2) Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio thinks baseball might now need a salary cap (ya think?), noting that the Bronx Bombers just shelled out $420M for three guys-- he paid $220M for his entire franchise when he bought the Brewers from Bud Selig's daughter.

1) Pittsburgh Penguins are getting a new arena soon, but their season ticket holders will not have to buy hideous PSLs in order to purchase their season tickets. Thank the Lord someone has some sense-- with the economy struggling like it is, charging for PSLs is now ludicrous, if it wasn't (????) before now. How greedy can people be?

Thursday's List of 13: Random stuff on Christmas Day
13) When you add up what CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Mark Teixeira will earn in the Bronx next summer, it is more than what four teams paid their entire bankrolls LY, including the AL champ Rays.

12) The biggest advantage Bronx has is fact that they can afford to make mistakes; they paid total of $86M for Carl Pavano and Kei Igawa, for instance. The less resources you have, the fewer mistakes you can afford to make.

11) High school QB named Shavodrick Beaver from Texas chose Tulsa over Michigan, an unusual choice. Shouldn't a kid named Beaver have to play at either Oregon State or Penn State (PSU plays home games in Beaver Stadium)?

10) If Rich Rodriguez can't outrecruit Tulsa for a QB, makes you wonder how soon the Wolverines will be bouncing back.

9) Rough basketball night for Big 12 Tuesday; Kansas got crushed by Arizona in desert, Missouri lost to Illinois (again), Iowa State lost at home to South Dakota State, and Nebraska lost at home to UMBC (Maryland- Baltimore County). Colorado beat UL-Monroe, but only by three. Rough night, even though Texas did beat Wisconsin in Madison.

8) Through Week 12 of pro football season, NFL players had been fined a total of $3,527,000 in 2008, 22% more than after 12 weeks LY, and that doesn't include Plaxico Burress' donations after Glockgate. Big year for the charities that receive the NFL's fine money.

7) I need an explanation, please; why has it been 20 years since there has been a bowl game between an SEC team and a Pac-10 club? Cal is playing Miami this year in the Emerald Bowl, but Miami is an ACC team. Probably has something to do with wanting to keep teams reasonable close to their fan bases, so people can travel if they like, but you figure once in two decades isn't too much to ask.

6) College football players are allowed to receive up to $500 in "swag" (free gifts) when they go to a bowl game-you'd be surprised at some of the nice stuff they get.

5) Kenpom.com reports that of the 73 college basketball teams in the six BCS-related conferences, Nebraska and Marquette have shortest players, with both teams' average player a little bit under 6-3.

4) Syracuse just won 72-65 at Memphis a few days ago, but a writer from San Jose didn't rank Orangemen in the Top 25 this week, but he did rank Memphis. Is anyone out there paying attention?

3) Georgia Tech football coach Paul Johnson gets a $75,000 bonus if his Yellow Jackets make it to a bowl; if that bowl is a BCS bowl, the bonus jumps to the $200,000 mark.

2) This is how stupid I am; was reminded last week I had 50 shares of stock in this company that I bought a long time ago, then forgot about. Was excited to see the stock selling for around $30 a share, until I looked and saw the stocks were selling for $93 a share eleven months ago. What a dope.

1) According to one of the New York newspapers, maybe Bronx Bombers broke the bank to sign Mark Teixeira because they wanted to sell out those last seven luxury boxes that remain unsold in their expensive new ballpark. Can't imagine paying a guy $22.5M a year who made the All-Star team once in his six-year career.

Wednesday's List of 13: Assigning a grades to NFC teams......
Cardinals-- C. Will host first playoff game since 1947, but they are struggling bigtime. Has any division winner ever trailed four different games by 28-0 or bigger scores? They really need a playoff win.

Falcons-- A+. Can win division if they beat the Rams and Panthers lose in Superdome; what a great season for Atlanta, using both rookie coach and rookie QB to erase the stench of the Bobby Petrino era.

Panthers-- B. Grade turns into an A if they beat Saints and get first round bye; came thisclose to getting home field edge thru whole NFC playoffs, losing in OT Sunday night. Still dangerous playoff team.

Bears-- Inc-- (will be B-- if they miss playoffs). Since 1990, 22 QBs have started for Chicago, more than any other team. Their OT loss to Tampa Bay (Brian Greise) will sting the most, after all is said/done.

Cowboys-- B--. Another dismal December, but still controlling own destiny for playoffs, heading into very hostile Linc Sunday at 4:15. They've sacked opposing QBs 29 times in their last five games.

Lions- F. Ugh. They're 0-15, heading to Lambeau to face 5-10 Pack, which is on short week after OT loss Monday. Lions have covered their last five road games, but Lambeau has been poison for them, even in the rare years when Detroit was good (before Matt Millen).

Packers-- D. Luckily for them, Favre's Jets look to be in tank, which has to take some of heat off Packer brass. Not too often teams sinks from 13-3 to five or six wins, but thats where Green Bay is now.

Vikings-- B. Will be division champs if they beat Giants, who have nothing to gain by winning Sunday-- Jackson will be starter at QB. Would help if they don't fumble seven times, like they did Sunday.

Saints-- C. Fun to watch, unless you like defense. Were terrible on road this season, with only wins at Chiefs/Lions, and neutral court win vs 7-8 San Diego. Used three different kickers, punters in 2008.

Giants-- A. Defending champs have home field thru NFC playoffs, but they're not same cohesive unit as they were earlier in the season. Prediction here is they go down in first playoff game, and then media can start pointing fingers, one of their favorite pasttimes.

Eagles-- C--. Need Raiders to upset Tampa Bay, which isn't likely, so looks like tumultuous season will end too early. Question becomes if McNabb will be back in '09. They'd be idiots to fire Andy Reid.

Rams-- F. I've been Ram fan since 1966-- this was the worst except for the one year in Anaheim when they lost their last 10 games. They need new, fresh leadership, a new QB, and some damn enthusiasm. It shouldn't be too much to ask pro athletes to play with passion!!!!!

49ers-- C. Next summer, this will be fashionable choice to make run in NFC West, because of their improvement since Singletary became head coach. Beware the fashionable choice in the summer, though.

Seahawks-- F. Announcing the coach is a lame duck is a terrible idea, and its a worse idea when the QB gets hurt. Next question becomes will they draft their next QB in April? Seattle wasn't very good in pre-Holmgren era-- will they regress back under Mora Jr?

Buccaneers-- Inc. (grade will be B if they make playoffs, D if they do not). Monte Kiffin's defense became sieve-like after his son took the Tennessee Vols' job, whether that is coincidence or not. They need a win Sunday, and I think they need the Eagles to beat Dallas.

Redskins-- C--. Coaches change, GMs change, players change, but in December every season, this team seems to sag. When things looked up in October, they somehow lost at home to the Rams, and they've never been quite the same. Need to keep coaches intact for continuity

Tuesday's List of 13: Assigning a grades to AFC teams......
Ravens-- Inc (Will be A if they beat Jaguars Sunday)-- Rookie coach, rookie QB, and the best offense they've had since Vinny Testaverde was calling signals in Baltimore. An amazing season.

Bills-- D. Not many NFL teams start season 4-0 and miss playoffs. Playing a home game indoors against Miami in Toronto, instead of in the elements of Orchard Park, didn't help the cause any.

Bengals-- D--. Carson Palmer's injury gives them a little slack, but at end of the day, failing to trade Chad Johnson created more negativity in a place where they don't need any more of that.

Browns-- F. Is there an F-minus? Networks gave them five games in primetime, and they responded with an 0-4 preseason, then a worse regular season. Heads are going to roll and they're going to roll soon.

Broncos-- Inc (Will be F if they blow playoff spot by losing in San Diego Sunday)-- Go through running backs like Charlie Sheen goes through hookers. Maybe they should draft some more players from Vanderbilt-- Commodores have such a winning tradition, after all......

Texans-- C. Houston was down 11 late in game Sunday, threw pass on 3rd-and-1 from Oakland 5. Incomplete pass, which shows no faith in running game. So they kick a FG and get within 27-19 right? Um, no, they throw another incomplete pass on 4th down, and lose by 11, in process ending their chance for a first winning season. Terrific.

Colts-- A+. Grinded whole month of September, going 2-2 when they trailed by double digits in second half of both wins. Now they're on a serious roll, and will be road favorite in Wild Card round of playoffs.

Jaguars-- D--. Were popular choice to contend for AFC title, but lost pair of offensive linemen in September, and things fell apart quickly. In a world that loves scapegoats, defensive coordinator Williams will take the fall for this disaster of a season.

Chiefs-- D+. Longtime team president Peterson got whacked; it will be a miracle (not for Chief fans) if Herm Edwards is back next year. Upside for this season is that they found a QB in mobile Thigpen.

Dolphins-- Inc (will be A+ if they make playoffs). Miami was 1-15 last year, 1 and freakin' 15. Their dilemma for 2009 will be how they are going to integrate young QB Henne into lineup, since Pennington has done such a terrific job this season.

Patriots-- Inc (will be B+ unless they make playoffs, A+ if they get into postseason). Tom Brady is one of five best QBs of alltime, so replacing him in first half of first game of season was Herculean task. Now Matt Cassel is going to be really rich, while Brady's knee is ??

Jets-- Inc (will be D if they miss playoffs). In the words of Micheal Ray Richardson, "....the ship be sinkin'." 1-3 in their last four games, with the win a gift from strategically-challenged Buffalo. Favre looks old, Maginious looks comatose, the media is blood-thirsty. Uh-oh.

Raiders-- D. Fired the coach in first half of season, had wildly erratic performances after that. Gave up a TD on fake FG to Chiefs, but the punt returner Higgins is as good as anyone in NFL. It looks as if the game has passed Al Davis by, but no one wants to tell him.

Steelers-- B+. Have played lot of dramatic games. Are really lucky Ernie Accorsi was so enamored with Eli Manning, since thats how it fell that Ben Roethlisberger became a Steeler. Still confused why the Heinz Field playing surface is grass and not FieldTurf.

Chargers-- Inc. (B if they beat Denver and win AFC West with 8-8 record.) 4-8 at one point, San Diego can atone for everything and win AFC West Sunday, if they beat Broncos at Qualcomm. How they had 4-8 record is one thing, but recovering from it trumps that, and Norv Turner gets credit for keeping the ship afloat.

Titans-- A+. Its one thing when your franchise QB is a bust, but if the veteran journeyman backup steps in and has MVP-type season, and the rookie RB is one of fastest guys in NFL, and the defense has depth and speed and toughness, then you win top seed in the AFC.

Monday's List of 13: Wrapping up a snowy sports Sunday
13) Can you believe that if the playoffs started Monday morning, the Cowboys would make it? Tampa and Philly both lost as favorites, so Dysfunction's Team is still alive. God forbid we don't hear from their cast of characters on ESPN all week.

12) NBC flexed into the Denver San Diego game Sunday night; either the Jet-Dolphin or Giant-Viking game has to get moved to 4:15, since the Jets/Giants are not allowed to play at the same time, unless they are playing each other. Carolina has to win in New Orleans to be the NFC South champ and get a first round bye, since it figures that the Falcons will dispose of St Louis fairly easily.

11) Cardinals looked totally disinterested in playing Sunday; they ran Hightower up the middle the first five or six plays in a row, as they got crushed 47-7 in Foxboro. Has any other division winner in NFL history been down 28-0 or worse in four different games?

10) Pittsburgh turned ball over four times and missed a 33-yard FG as Tennessee clinched homefield edge thru playoffs with a 31-14 win over the Steelers. 21 of 31 Titan points came off of turnovers.

9) Not the best day for DeSean Jackson, who dropped the two best passes McNabb threw all day, including one in end zone as Eagles lost 10-3 to Washington, a crippling loss for Philadelphia.

8) The great Isaac Bruce caught his 1,000th career pass Sunday, so I congratulate him. I didn't know it at the time, but in October, 1990, I saw Bruce play for West LA Junior College in a game against Santa Monica on a crummy field with about 100 people watching. What a long way he has come from there, going to Memphis, then the NFL, and eventually a few years from now, he'll wind up in Canton.

7) Sometimes even really good handicappers are wrong-- guy named Wildcat in the New York Post does a good job, but his NFL pick for this week was the Miami-Kansas City game, under 40. Chiefs led at the half, 28-24, on a day with sub-zero wind chills. Whoops.

6) Minnesota drove 90 yards for a TD on its first drive, then on next three possessions, they lost three fumbles, all in Atlanta territory. In all, Vikings fumbled seven times, lost four of them. Not good.

5) There were seven teams that didn't ball turn ball over this week; all seven of them won, by 7-17-40-7-7-7-17 points. Six of seven teams were underdogs-- all seven covered, with Patriots the only favorite.

This excludes the Giant-Carolina game, which had no turnovers in it.

4) I'd love to know the percentage of second down running plays that follow an incomplete pass-- it has to be a pretty high figure. No one seems to want to throw on 2nd and 10.

3) What a warrior Derrick Mason was Saturday night- his shoulder is obviously bothering him, causing to leave the game just about every time he got tackled, but he made a huge fumble recovery to keep one drive alive, then caught a TD pass as Ravens had big win in Dallas.

2) I want NFL ref Walt Coleman's travel schedule; his crew has called the least penalties of any crew in the NFL, so it figures that games he works would have better chance of going over the total. Hmmmmm

1) After wasting another hour of my life researching this info, here is what I found-- over is 9-7 in the games Coleman has worked in 2008, underdogs are 8-7 vs spread (one game was pick 'em), road teams are 8-8, after starting season 5-1. His average total is 46.0, pretty high. I had to re-do these figures after the Giants covered in overtime.

1) All of us have a day now and then that is just plain hideous, and Sunday was one of mine-- good news is now I have one less hideous day to look forward to the rest of my life. Rod Marinelli, Jim Haslett have one more hideous Sunday before a nightmarish 2008 is over.

Sunday's List of 13: Wrapping up a wild sports Saturday
13) I wonder if an NFL team has ever had two 75+-yard TD runs in the last 4:00 of the same game, with two different runners doing the honors. Those two plays are the longest two running plays Cowboys have given up in their 49-year history.

12) Baltimore K Stover sold game programs in Texas Stadium when he was a kid. He kicked four field goals Saturday night.

11) After gaining 163 yards on their first 43 plays, Ravens gained 278 yards on next 24. Baltimore's 33-24 win Saturday night helps all NFC contenders (Falcons-Eagles-Bears-Bucs), hurts all the AFC hopefuls (Patriots-Dolphins-Jets).

10) Cowboys now need to win at Philly next week and get a decent amount of help to make the playoffs. Have fun selling those 100,000 seats with the PCLs attached if Dallas misses the playoffs.

9) Xavier was unbeaten, with emphasis on WAS- they were down 31 at the half to Duke in the Meadowlands Saturday. Xavier made final score respectable (82-64) but it was a severe beating, one that could leave little bit of a hangover attached to it.

8) Tubby Smith!!! Minnesota is still unbeaten after his Gophers beat Louisville 70-65 on a neutral court in Arizona; you for the feeling on Saturday that this result will be significant on Selection Sunday.

7) Another good win for Big 11 was Michigan State's 74-72 win in Houston against the Texas Longhorns. Sutan's return to lineup is big thing for Izzo's club. Texas is playing a really hard schedule.

6) Purdue led Davidson 21-0, Duke led Xavier 18-2, as couple of the CBS made-for-TV games got out of hand quickly. Davidson's league isn't very good, so they overscheduled in pre-conference-- it caught up with them in West Lafayette Saturday.

5) Kid on Wofford missed a foul shot with 0:05 left and Terriers up by a hoop in OT, then Georgia player came down, hit running trey at the buzzer to give struggling Dawgs a highly dramatic 74-73 win at home Saturday afternoon. The outburst was more relief than joy, I'm thinking-- a loss to Wofford would have been very damaging.

4) Morale of story in Navy-Wake Forest bowl game is that its really, really hard to beat same team twice in same season. Deacons rallied from 10-0 deficit to beat Middies 29-19 and end their season 8-5.

3) Fresno State's defense looked slow all season long, never moreso than in 40-35 loss to very mediocre Colorado State club. For a team with a senior QB, Bulldogs had a dismal season.

2) The lighting at Tropicana Field is weird for baseball, even weirder for football; South Florida broke out white helmets for game 20 miles from their campus and crushed Memphis 41-14, putting good ending on a disappointing season.

1) Arizona won its bowl game, the first in a decade, as senior Tuitama QB'd his team to a 31-21 win in a sloppily-played game over a BYU team playing in the Las Vegas Bowl for the four consecutive season. You don't normally associate Mormons and gambling, but they must like it in Vegas, or else they wouldn't go there four years in a row.

Saturday's List of 13: Ranking collegebasketball conferences
We're using www.kenpom.com for our ratings.......
13) Horizon-- Butler is 8-1 against the 14th-ranked schedule, but it is still ranked just 33rd in country. A definite one-bid league.

12) WAC-- Idaho isn't a walkover anymore; which helps the ratings, but Utah State is only team in WAC ranked in top 97 in country.

11) WCC-- Strange league; Gonzaga, St Mary's are NCAA teams, LMU, Pepperdine are 0-20 vs D-I teams, and the other four are in the middle, ranked anywhere from 136-171.

10) Conference USA-- Memphis is like UNLV was in the late 80's, dominating a bad league, even worse than Big Wesr was then. UAB is horrible disappointment, so this is still a one-bid league. Houston is 2nd-ranked team at #43. Another one-bid league, unless Memphis is upset on conference tournament.

9) Missouri Valley-- League has slipped badly from 2-3 years ago; Evansville is top-rated team right now, at #48. When was last time So. Illinois was 4-5? Back to being a one-team bid conference.

8) Atlantic 14-- Xavier is best team in league, but they got crushed by Duke Saturday; Rhode Island, Temple are on rise. This league is all over the place, from Charlotte to St Louis to Olean to Pittsburgh.

7) Mountain West-- Utah, San Diego State are only teams in league that have played schedules ranked in top 150 in country. BYU is #11 but has played #259 schedule. Lot of mediocre teams in the league.

6) SEC-- Ole Miss is in deep trouble with three guards out for year; Arkansas has played 340th-ranked schedule, LSU 344th (before its game vs Texas A&M Saturday). Tennessee is by far best in SEC.

5) Pac-10-- Oregon schools are combined 7-11, but Arizona St, Cal and Stanford are improved. UCLA is only team in top 25, but they have seven teams ranked from 26th to 55th.

4) Big 12-- Have six of top 23 teams; Baylor, Missouri a lot better, but Texas A&M has played 312th-ranked schedule so far. Texas is playing tough schedule, Kansas is rebuilding, Okla State is better, and Oklahoma's Blake Griffin is one of four best players in the country.

3) Big East-- 16 teams is too many for one league- they definitely are going to have eight teams in NCAA's; right now, Marquette is on the fence with Cincinnati for extra bids. Marquette playing 302nd sked isn't going to look good in March, though Big East will improve that.

2) Big 11-- I will be 49 next week, and have never seen Northwestern ranked 3rd in Big 11, but they're 7-1 heading into Saturday night tilt at 6-0 Stanford. They have five teams ranked 39-55th. Purdue finally is playing well vs a good team, pounding Davidson as I type this.

1) ACC-- Bottom feeders in Big East drag them out of top spot; no easy outs in ACC, with six of top 32 teams in country. UNC/Duke are still 1-2 in league, with Clemson-Maryland-Miami-Wake Forest lurking in background. All six should be in the NCAAs.

Friday's List of 13: Random knowledge, mostly about college
13) They had 3.6 inches of snow in Las Vegas this week, the most of the white stuff they've seen since 1979. They closed the airport, but its still my favorite city on earth, snow or no snow.

12) According to Power Sweep. one of the bibles of college football, Oregon State played the toughest schedule of all the bowl teams, and Ball State played the easiest schedule of anyone in the country.

11) Over the last decade, non-January 1 bowl underdogs of 12 points or more are 9-2 against the pointspread.

10) Ryne Sandberg moves up from A ball to AA Southern League in 2009, as he goes about learning to manage the right way, in minors. You look at Willie Randolph's failure with the Mets, and you wonder if he had spent some time riding buses instead of just sitting next to Joe Torre, if he would be a better skipper now.

9) Southern Mississippi goes to the New Orleans Bowl, despite its five-game losing streak- they went seven weeks in between wins.

8) Fresno State covered just one of its last eleven games.

7) An indication of just how dreadful the Rams are: 49ers are a road favorite for the first time since midway through the 2003 season.

6) Favorites are 23-11 against the spread in Pac-10 teams' games vs non-conference teams this season.

5) South Florida gets a home game when they play at Tropicana Field in the St Petersburg Bowl, but Bulls covered just two of their last 11 games on artificial turf, which is what the Trop has.

4) Florida State is 18-10-1 in bowls under Bobby Bowden.

3) SEC teams are 2-7 against the spread in the Music City Bowl.

2) Underdog won five of last seven Fiesta Bowls SU; favorites have covered five of the last seven Orange Bowls.

1) Howard Schnellenberger has won, covered all five of his bowls; he has Florida Atlantic facing Central Michigan in Motor City Bowl. Butch Davis is 4-0 in bowls; his Tar Heels take on West Virginia in the bowl game in Charlotte, Meineke Muffler Bowl, or whatever.....

Thursday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but...........
13) Last weekend, kid on North Dakota State scored 60 points in an OT loss-- he was 14-32 from floor, 30-35 from foul line, tying Pete Maravich for most points scored from charity stripe in one game. If you tie a record held by Pistol Pete, thats a hell of a night.

12) In their last four games, Cleveland Browns have zero offensive TDs on 40 drives- they've had a positive turnover ratio in last three games and still lost all three, which doesn't happen much.

11) ESPN's Mike Tirico now also subtly lets viewers know if game that has already been decided goes over the total in fourth quarter, a little thing Al Michaels started doing. Is funny how gambling isn't mentioned on network TV, but fantasy football always is. They're kind of the same thing, just one is accepted and one isn't.

10) Vanderbilt is going to bowl for first time since 1982; they're 1-1-1 all-time in bowls, with only win back in 1955, a 25-13 win in Gator Bowl against the Auburn Tigers.

9) Would have been ironic had Iowa State tried to replace departed coach Chizik with Turner Gill, but when Gill signed his extension in Buffalo, he said no more job interviews this year, so he'll be back in western New York next season. College football has gone nuts-- this Iowa State job probably isn't bad right now, since it appears Chizik was doing a solid rebuilding job in Ames.

8) Eagles are 33 for 50 on third down in their last three games, since McNabb was reinstated as the #1 QB after being benched in a game against the Ravens. They've also run ball better in last three games. Say what you will, but the benching has sparked the Eagles.

7) ESPN has to cut down on rumor-mongering and get back into the fact-reporting business; they had Furcal going to every team but the Yakult Swallows over the past week. When a guy signs a contract to play for a team, let us know, Until then, just show poker replays.

6) I forgot to pass this on after my trip to Hilton Head, but if you ever get the chance to eat Church's Fried Chicken, you have to do it, if you like fried chicken. Best stuff I ever had. Good biscuits, too.

5) While I'm recommending things, if you need to ship packages for the holidays, no place better than the UPS Store; I'm lucky enough to have a found a slightly out of the way place that is never crowded, and always efficient. They get you in and out in under 10 minutes.

4) Is still bothers me that this Ponzi scheme creep is out on bail, or house arrest I guess now; his ass should be behind bars, moreso than Michael Vick. This guy is the biggest crook in the history of America and he is still kind of free. It doesn't seem fair.

3) Gas is down to $1.89 a gallon in America's second-favorite city, down from a high of $4.33 this summer, so of course, the bastards are cutting production by 2.2 million barrels a day, so the price will go back up. The worse the financial crisis gets, the more weasels pop up

2) ESPN.com had a cool study of all the big league ballparks and the effect they have on runs scored; turns out Petco Park is by far, and I mean by like 12%, the most pitcher-friendly park. We knew hitters hated Petco, but just never knew how justified they were.

1) The whole Mark Teixeira situation raises two questions for me:
a) If someone offers you $160M for eight years, how do you not just say yes immediately, before they change their mind?
b) How do you offer a guy $160M for eight years, who didn't make the All-Star team last year, and he was healthy? Shouldn't someone making a freakin' salary of $20M a year be a perennial All-Star????

Wednesday's List of 13: Random thoughts on a snowy day......
13) Did you hear about this guy in New York who concocted a $50B Ponzi scheme that ripped people off for millions of dollars? How is this greedy, corrupt bastard not in prison? Lot of the money he stole came from charities, for Christ's sake. Lock him up, toss the key.....

12) Couple years down the road, this story will be an amazing movie.

11) Bottom line is this: When it comes to money, you're a jackass to trust strangers, not in this day and age. In the words of philosopher Oscar Madison, "There is no such thing as a sure thing. Thats why they call it gambling." Investing money in markets is gambling, just like wagering on the Buccaneers or a college hoop game. Anyone who tells you they win all the time is a liar.

10) Producers of Without a Trace probably already have an episode about this kind of thing in the can, ready to go. Its a natural, a greedy SOB rips people off for millions, then disappears into thin air........

Catching up on stuff from elsewhere in the world.........
9) How about Kenny Lofton trying to talk CC Sabathia out of taking the money and signing with Bronx? At the end of the day, if you hire scumweasel agent Scott Boras, you're grabbing the most money, but you have to wonder about a guy taking that much money who isn't 100% into playing with that team. .

8) Just when we're finally getting rid of the Bush family, and the last of the Clintons are leaving elected office, up pops another Kennedy, who feels entitled that her first public office should be US Senator. Just what we need-- freakin' terrific.

7) Some dude named Guy Ritchie is getting $92M in his settlement after getting divorced from Madonna. 92 freakin' million dollars, just to go away. She must really despise the guy.........

6) Some nitwit from Long Island owes New York City $81,039 in unpaid parking tickets, 451 of them. Supposedly, he owns five cars. He claims to be a victim of identity theft. We'll see.

5) Chris Paul of the Hornets has had at least one steal in 105 straight games, which ties an NBA record.

4) Kid on Cleveland State drained a 60-footer at the buzzer to beat Syracuse in the Carrier Dome Monday, excellent win for the Vikings and the Horizon League-- they had earlier lost at West Virginia by 10, so they're a capable team, but the home loss to Butler still hurts

3) Guy I knew was leading semi-finals of his fantasy football league playoffs late Monday night, when Eli Manning threw an INT on the Giants' last play-- in my friend's league, thats minus-one, and it tied the game, so now they have to replay the game this week, costing my friend the automatic $170 he would have won if he made the finals.

Thats just one league amongst neighborhood friends-- multiply that by thousands of leagues around the country, and you get an idea of how big fantasy football has become in this country, and the amount of money that changes hands-- a very big business.

2) Bowl season starts Saturday at 11am, with four games on slate for the day-- first one is Navy-Wake Forest, which sadly is a rematch of a Septenber game that Navy won. Starting tomorrow, we'll analyze all 34 bowl games. Log on to the college football page daily for this info.

1) I'm only going to say this once, but loudly-- THE PURPOSE OF INSTANT REPLAY IS TO CORRECT OBVIOUS ERRORS!!!!!!! It is not to re-officiate close plays. If you look at the replay and it is not an obvious mistake, the ruling on the field is supposed to stand.

Tuesday's List of 13: Our NFL List of 13.............
13) Jets-- Very, very lucky The Three Stooges were calling plays for the Bills Sunday, or they would have had third straight hideous loss. They're 0-3 on west coast this season, and on their way to Seattle.

12) Vikings-- QB controversy waiting to happen, but at least its one where both guys are pretty good, instead of both guys being awful. One of the Williams brothers is out (shoulder); that hurts defense.

11) Cowboys-- Lord am I sick of them, all the drama, the bad apples getting big contracts, the egotistical owner craving publicity, but their defense is really good, as it showed the last two weeks.

10) Eagles-- Andy Reid has terrific record in December; they're on a roll the last three weeks, so if they make it to playoffs, they're going to have lot of momentum when they get there.

9) Patriots-- Interesting to see what happens with Brady's knee; if the infection isn't gone, he has to get operated on again, which means Patriots have to give Cassel a big contract and keep him. Otherwise, Mr Cassel is going to be really, really rich next spring.

8) Dolphins- Haven't allowed a TD in last three games, albeit against terrible teams, but they haven't turned ball more than once in a game this season, which is am amazing stat.

7) Falcons-- Finish up with sadsack Rams, so a win vs Vikings this week puts them in a strong position to make playoffs; who would have thought that at this time last season?

6) Ravens-- Red flag is their sub-.500 passing in three of the last four games; during that time, their defense allowed a total of 33 points.

5) Colts-- Rod Marinelli used to work for Dungy in Tampa; not that Colts took it easy on Detroit Sunday, but, well........they did just did the minimum to get the win and continue their winning streak.

4) Giants-- Starting to suffer some injuries; tackle McKenzie got hurt Sunday night. Finish up with Panthers/at Vikings; no guarantee they even get a first round bye.

3) Panthers-- Are hot team right now; have running game to succeed in cold weather, which is good since thats where they're headed this week, to the Swamp in New Jersey for a huge Sunday night game.

2) Steelers-- Won in Baltimore despite Ravens having 20-yard edge in average field position. All they do is find ways to win games.

1) Titans-- Can clinch home field thru AFC playoffs Sunday, but the two best defensive linemen they have won't be playing.

Monday's List of 13: Wrapping up an NFL Sunday........
13) Steelers scored controversial TD with 0:43 left in the game to nip Ravens 13-9, and clinch AFC North title, only TD Pittsburgh scored all day. Rough day for rookie QB Flacco. Better be a rough week for the ref who decided that the ball crossed plane of the goal line.

12) Cowboys sacked Eli Manning eight times, survived 11 penalties for 108 yards, as they beat Giants 20-8. Romo hurt his back, which is bad news with hard-hitting Ravens coming to Dallas Saturday night.

11) Falcons ran ball for 175 yards, averaged 8.3 yards/pass attempt, but had to survive three turnovers and a blocked punt before beating Tampa Bay 13-10 in OT. Bucs played without QB Garcia.

10) After the game, Monte Kiffin told the Bucs he's leaving Tampa to go to Tennessee to coach with his son Lane. He takes a million dollar a year pay cut to leave the NFL.

9) Lions were tied 21-all at Indianapolis in fourth quarter, but lost to Colts 31-21, to fall to 0-14; they host Saints next week, then make a visit to Lambeau Field, as they search for that elusive first win.

8) Patriots scored TDs first four times they had ball in their 49-26 win at Oakland; there were four TDs scored in 1:36 in this game, with teams running back consecutive kickoffs back for TDs.

7) Carolina was impressive in 30-10 win over Denver; Delhomme is back to old form, averaging 9.7 ypa, after couple of dreadful games against Raiders, Lions last month. Panthers are a hot team right now.

6) Chargers were down 21-3 in Kansas City, rallied for 22-21 win, in process keeping very slim playoff hopes alive. Denver would have to lose at home to skidding Buffalo next week to make Week 17 game against the Chargers winner-take-all for AFC West title.

5) Why in the name of Joe Pisarcik were the Bills passing with 2:05 left and a 27-24 lead? Disaster ensued, Jets scored defensive TD and the three-way tie atop AFC East remains intact. Patriot fans where I was were a little bit less than enthused with Buffalo's strategy.

4) Miami struggled to beat the 49ers 14-9, are now 4-23 vs spread in last 27 home games when they were favored. They are 9-5, though, and have a Week 17 showdown with the Jets looming on horizon.

3) Green Bay averaged 7.3 ypa, was 10-16 on third down, but scored only one TD on three red zone trips, while Jaguars scored TDs both times they were in red zone, and won game between two struggling teams, 20-16, scoring winning TD in last 2:00.

2) Arizona played a horrific game, allowing a punt return by Berrian for a TD, then a long TD pass to Berrian, and before you knew it, it was 21-0 Vikings and that was that. Cardinals have clinched a woeful NFC West, but are now 8-6 and have a trip to Foxboro next week.

1) Next Sunday night's Giant-Carolina game will decide who is the #1 seed in NFC, after Giants got beaten up 20-8 in Dallas by a desperate Cowboy team. Tennessee-Pittsburgh next Sunday also will go a long way to deciding who the top seed in AFC will be.

Sunday's List of 13: Random thoughts on a cold Saturday night
13) Where is Terrell Owens' next stop, the WWE? I can see him with a metal chair, bashing his tagteam partner over the head, but I can't see another NFL team signing him after the Cowboys get sick of him.

12) Knicks scored 43 points in first quarter at Sacramento Saturday, as Kings made New York look like the '87 Lakers. Has team ever had worse interior players than Sacramento? What happened to Kings' franchise? Ton of empty seats at Saturday night's game.

11) I still don't understand why the Heisman Trophy is such a big deal; maybe its because college football doesn't have a playoff system to focus on. To me, such hype over an individual award is stupid.

10) That said, you know Urban Meyer is going to use Sam Bradford winning the Heisman as a psychological ploy for his Gators as they get ready to face Oklahoma. Cheesy maybe, but it'll happen.

9) Memphis-Georgetown would have been a great college hoop game if it had been played in March; in December, was even better. Teams went at each other for 45 entertaining minutes, before Hoyas finally avenged their loss to Memphis LY with a 79-70 win in overtime.

8) Halftime score: Kentucky 36, Indiana 13; going to be a long winter for Tom Crean, but he has an excellent recruiting class for next year.

7) The son of Titans' coach Jeff Fisher is a DB at Montana-- they'll be playing for I-AA national title next weekend, ironically enough in Chattanooga, TN against the Richmond Spiders.

6) Next spring, Phillies are going to be in same position Giants were in this summer-- the defending champ no one gives a chance. With the Mets signing K-Rod and trading for JJ Putz, they're back to being the favorite in NL East, which has to delight Charlie Manuel.

5) Christmas came early in Philly Saturday, as Dionte Christmas had 35 in Temple's upset over Tennessee. JP Prince, one of best players for the Vols, sprained an ankle in practice Friday and didn't play.

4) Western Kentucky won at Louisville, then beat Georgia, won at Tulane easily, so how do they go to Evansville and lose by 32? They were down 36-13 at the half-- some scores just don't make sense.

3) Atlanta Hawks (14-9) ended Cleveland's 11-game winning streak, 97-92; in a game the Cavaliers lost by 5, Cleveland was +11 in 19:53 that Wally Szczerbiak played, a significant stat. Lebron was +1.

2) It is December 14, and already five NBA coaches have been fired, and none of them are Reggie Theus, who would appear to be next on the chopping block. Do the 76ers really think this guy they installed as interim coach is an upgrade over Maurice Cheeks?

1) This is what college football has come to: Auburn wasn't happy with its coach, so Iowa State has to hire a new coach, even though the Cyclones were 5-19 the last two years. When was the last time a guy went 5-19 and got a much better job?

A team meeting wasn't held in Ames to inform the players what was up, so younger players Chizik recruited are understandably upset, and could transfer, which forces ISU to hire a coach quickly, to keep returning players and their 16 recruiting commitments in the fold.

Saturday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but.........
13) From the Unmitigated Gall Department: Bronx Bombers actually asked the Brewers to pick up part of Mike Cameron's salary as teams discussed a swap of centerfielders (Cameron for Melky Cabrera). It didn't go over very well, and the trade still hasn't been made.

12) Somehow, the Mets convinced someone to take Scott Schoenweis off their hands, trading the hideous lefty to Arizona. Omar Minaya should get a raise for dumping Joe Smith, Schoenweis in same week, but Mets also cut 2B Argenis Reyes, who would be a good pickup as a utility guy for someone. He's a pretty good fielder.

11) If I'm the Cardinals, I gobble up free agent pitcher Daniel Cabrera and hope pitching coach Duncan can work more wonders; if he could straighten Cabrera out, he has All-Star-level ability.

10) Bronx Bombers have now spent roughly $250M this week to fix their starting rotation, after throwing $84M at AJ Burnett Friday, but this signing raises significant questions, unlike the Sabathia deal.

9) Sabathia is a warrior, making 28+ starts in every season since 2001 30+ starts in every year but one; Burnett has made 30+ starts three times, in 2002-2005-2008.......he averaged 24 starts a year since 2001, not what you'd expect for $16M a year.

8) Not sure if this is relevant or not, but Burnett is from Arkansas, and the Bronx is about as far away from Arkansas as you can get; his first two big league stops were Miami/Toronto-- what we could have here is second coming of Carl Pavano. For his sake, he better not be.

7) Goalie for Washington Capitols got hurt during morning skate on Friday, so they called the 3rd stringer up from minors to be backup in Friday's game; problem is, the minor league team was in Texas, so he wasn't going to be there in time for the start of the game........

6).......strapped for a backup goalie, Caps turned to the director of their website, a 6-7 kid who played goalie at D-III Oswego State in college. He suited up, went thru warmups, worse jersey #80, then quickly exited when the minor leaguer arrived during the first period.

5) After the game, as the starting goalie was being interviewed by the media, who is behind the camera filming for the website but the kid (26 years old) who is the website director, back to his day job.

4) Golf Channel is running a reality series with Charles Barkley this spring, where golf teacher Hank Haney tries to make Charles into a decent golfer, no easy task. He hit a couple balls on post-game show after the Portland-Utah game Thursday, and his swing looked better.

3) One of the stipulations Haney put it when they signed up for the project was that, on any day they filmed, Barkley would have to hit 1,000+ balls, thats how hard pros work at their game. There are forty golf balls in a large bucket-- thats 25 buckets to hit, every day they filmed. Thats lot of free lessons and two very sore hands he'll have.

2) Either ESPN or Baseball Channel should hire former pitching coach Rick Peterson, who speaks very well and knows ton of stuff about pitching; plus, his dad used to run the Pirates back on the 80's. He'd be a terrific addition for one of the TV networks.

1) Saturday afternoon's college basketball card should be re-named Cupcake Day; for lot of teams, its their first game after Exam Week, so they ease back into their routines, playing stiff teams so they can get a win. Not a very stimulating card of games Saturday, to be sure.

Friday's List of 13: Random thoughts on an icy night........
13) High drama at Soldier Field, as Bears kicked tying FG on the last play of regulation, after Saints went ahead 24-21 with 3:05 left; when it was over, Bears won on a Gould FG, after a really borderline pass interference call put Chicago in position to win. Bears had led game 21-7 at halftime, and survived a horrendous INT by Orton with 5:17 left, when Bears led 21-17.

Really a tough way to lose; when they see film of the interference in OT, New Orleans players/coaches are going to be really unhappy.

12) On a very cold night in the Windy City, Sean Payton wore a big jacket with a sun visor!!!!! This is a bad idea, wearing a sun visor on a wintry night in the midwest. This is part of why dome teams struggle in cold weather, the coaches show bad judgment in what gear to wear.

10) Was looking forward to going to out and watching this game, but an ice storm here in America's 2nd-favorite city made going out a bad idea, so followed it on the computer, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE NFL NETWORK ON OUR FREAKIN' CABLE SYSTEM!!! There, I said it again, and yes, I'm bitter about this.

9) And if I had gone out to watch this game, I sure as hell wouldn't have worn a sun visor, and I would have been inside!!!!!

8) Let me get this straight, Lincoln High from Brooklyn travelled to Dallas to play a nationally-televised game against Duncanville on a Thursday night? They must have travelled to Texas Wednesday and they weren't in school Thursday and won't be there tomorrow, so kids are missing three days of a school for a high school hoop game? That doesn't seem right, wouldn't you agree?

7) Reason game was televised is that Lance Stevenson of Lincoln is one of best players in country, and Duncanville has two kids who'll be playing for Oklahoma State next year. Travis Ford was there, as was Kansas coach Bill Self, who is recruiting Stevenson.

6) If kids could still jump from high school to NBA, I think we would have seen a 16-seed upset a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament- the gap was closing, but the talent difference between those teams now, with NBA-level players on all the 1-seed teams, you won't see it for a long time, if ever.

5) Charles Barkley was ranting on the air last night that Auburn, his alma mater, should hire Turner Gill as its next football coach. Wonder if that is because Gill is a fine tactician (he has done terrific job with what had been a terrible Buffalo program), or is there another reason?

4) Rutgers fired AD Mulcahy; you wonder if football coach Schiano will follow him out the door (voluntarily), since Mulcahy seemed to be a gung-ho football guy; his firing indicates a philosophy change in New Jersey. Schiano has been rumored to be next coach at Penn State

3) Ironic how the NBA screwed Seattle out of the Sonics, after four decades of loyal support, but the team they gave to Oklahoma City is on pace to be the worst in NBA history. Lucky them.

2) I have a vested interest in this, because Mark Teixeira is 1B on my fantasy baseball team, but why in the name of Andy Messersmith would Teixeira consider signing with the Nationals? If he goes there, I'll puke; big ballpark, lousy team, NL team, so less runs are scored. Just sign with the Angels or Red Sox already.

1) Call me crazy, but I'm guessing its not a lot of fun being around the Dallas Cowboys every day, or any day. You can't win by having a team of characters, as opposed to a team with character. Thats not a cliche, its a damn fact.

Thursday's List of 13: Rating the 32 starting QBs in the NFL...
We're putting the 32 starting QBs from last Sunday into one of five categories; within each group, we'll just list them alpabetically.......

The Elite
The best of the best; who you'd want playing for you right now.
-- Drew Brees-- Saints have had lot of injuries, but Brees has kept the Saints afloat and in contention. Imagine the Chargers had they traded Rivers and kept Brees? Norv Turner's job might be more secure now.
-- Brett Favre-- Was once best of the best, but he has Jets in playoff contention in twilight of his career, with a new team in a strange city. Would like to see him play here next year, when he has developed a little chemistry with his receivers.
-- Eli Manning-- Unflappable, has done nothing but win, both at Ole Miss and with the Giants. Weird that he and Peyton aren't mobile, since Archie Manning played a lot like Steve Young.
-- Peyton Manning-- Most of his commercials are terrible, but he is the state of the art NFL QB, plus he calls his own plays, which is a rarity in this age of robotic quarterbacks.
-- Ben Roethlisberger-- Only started one year in high school, because he played behind the coach's son, who went on to play WR at a D-III college in Ohio. That guy must be a real genius.
-- Kurt Warner-- Two-time MVP has played in two Super Bowls, and has two highest passing yardage games in Super Bowl history. Now his Cardinals are hosting playoff game for first time since 1947.

Obviously, Tom Brady would also be here if he were healthy.......

Guys you'd be happy with if they QB'd your team
They're pretty good, not the best, but you could live with them.....
-- Kerry Collins-- Comeback Player of the Decade; what a job he has done, but he played in NFC title game with Carolina, in a Super Bowl with Giants and now this, so he knows how to win.
-- Jay Cutler-- Wanted to put him in the Elite category, but he hasn't won enough yet; its a little weird that he and Elway are the two best QBs in Denver history, yet neither one played in college bowl game.
-- Jake Delhomme-- What a leader, what enthusiasm, love this guy. Reminds me of Billy Kilmer, the old Redskin QB. Has come back from Tommy John surgery and has the Panthers in first place.
-- Donovan McNabb-- Always feared him as a runner, but he never seems to be in great shape, which is weird, since he was a basketball player. You know he's into the game when he scrambles more.
-- Philip Rivers-- Much like Delhomme, an inspirational kind of guy who started 50+ games at NC State, so he has played lot of football. Think anyone in San Diego regrets keeping him and trading Brees?
-- Tony Romo-- Hasn't been at his best in big spots, but he is mobile seems like a leader and loves the spotlight, maybe a little too much. If he suddenly appeared as QB of the Rams, I wouldn't mind at all.

Promising, but unproven........
Haven't been in NFL long enough to move to another list........
-- Matt Cassel-- Will be very rich, very soon. Has made himself very wealthy with his performance this season.
-- Joe Flacco-- Left Pitt because Dave Wannstedt wouldn't start him. Imagine being the coach at I-AA Delaware and seeing this guy walk into your office? He's already the best QB in Raven history.
-- Shaun Hill-- How in the name of Bubby Brister did Mike Martz have Hill playing behind JT O'Sullivan????? Does he like to change jobs every offseason? Hill is 5-2 in his first seven NFL starts.
-- Matt Rodgers-- Tough act to follow in Green Bay, and wins have not been there yet, but Rodgers is obviously capable and should have a terrific career as You-Know-Who's successor in Lambeau Field.
-- JaMarcus Russell-- Whoever coaches the Raiders next year better develop this guy, or else he'll go down as a bust. He has the tools to be really good, but it hasn't come close to happening yet.
-- Matt Ryan-- If you didn't know, you'd peg him as a veteran who is on the Elite List. Time is the only thing keeping him off that list.
-- Tyler Thigpen-- Pride of Coastal Carolina got thrown to wolves in Kansas City and hasn't been bad. We'll see what happens to Chiefs down the road; if Thigpen is lucky, Herm Edwards will get fired.

Harmless game managers........
They're not winning games by themselves, but they're not hideous
-- Jason Campbell-- Has played for 42 different coordinators, but he has gotten better; red flag now is that he seems to fade late in season.
-- Jeff Garcia-- Maybe he's better than this, but I prefer guys who set their feet before they throw. His wife is incredibly hot, though.
-- David Garrard-- Kind of like Marc Bulger, in that Jaguars gave him a huge contract, then he regressed. He uses his mulligan for 2008.
-- Kyle Orton-- Bears seem to win more when he plays, but not like he's Sid Luckman or anything. At least he hasn't been arrested, like the last two governors of Illinois. What a state that must be.
-- Chad Pennington (or Pat Haden II)-- Doesn't make mistakes, can't throw the ball past the second telephone pole, the perfect guy to be your QB while your young franchise QB learns the ropes.
-- Matt Schaub-- Had officials discovered Michael Vick's dogs little bit sooner, Schaub would be the Falcons' QB, Matt Ryan would be saving a different franchise, and Sage Rosenfels would be the mayor of Houston. By the way, bad news for Vick if the Arena League does not do business in 2009; he was rumored to play there next year.

Guys who make you wonder when next year's draft is........
-- Marc Bulger-- Weak arm, immobile, shell-shocked, no emotion, and those are his good qualities. Couldn't get to Super Bowl when he had two Hall of Fame receivers, he simply has to go.
-- Daunte Culpepper-- Did you k