Holiday Special

It's been a long couple of weeks of traveling and heading out of town again tomorrow so I've got to my takes and jabs in now as it might be a while before the next post.

MLB:
Man, where in the world is rock bottom with this steroid thing - and for Bud Selig. At this point, isn't enough to say, "yea, we know a ton of people have done/been doing steroids for a while - what are we going to do about it."

Neither Selig nor any governing body will be able to punish these guys in any way, for a number of reasons including the whole document is really nothing more than hearsay. I'm not sure why they named these names - I presume to show the widespread issue, but at what cost? The point is this - whether or not these guys who were named actually used steroids (and I would venture to guess most of them have), it will probably not ever be proven, but their reputations will be adversely affected to some extent.

Bottom line: who cares who's been doing it over the last 10 years - what is the league AND the players union going to do going forward? My guess is very little in the short term. Owners have to take a bit of the responsibility here as well as you know they were privy to what was going on and turning a blind eye. I'd say it's a mess.

Oh, and by the way, Alex Rodriguez signed the largest contract in MLB history....again.

College Football Notes:

• I'm struggling to get excited about this year's bowl games....I really am.
  
• Nice hire by Michigan to get Rich Rodriguez - I hope it works out for him. He's certainly taking a step up in competition, but I think he'll do good things there.
  
• All of a sudden, Greg Schiano is the top dog in the Big East.
  
• I've neither sought out nor seen any information on the Horns as they prepare to go back "home" to San Diego. I would be more nervous about this game for them...if they weren't playing Arizona State.
  
• I'm going with the Aggies over Penn State - it's a home game for them after all (San Antonio). Of course I have no idea if Fran is coaching....or who is coaching them for that matter. Now that I think about it - what in the world are these guys playing for???
  
• I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Bobby Petrino has a very short margin for error at Arkansas - what a complete putz this guy is, he makes Nick Saban look like a saint. I think this guy will have a very hard time recruiting over the next couple of years - I think other coaches will use his actions against him.
  
• Early Heisman hopeful for next season: Kevin Smith is returning to Central Florida for his senior year. Look out.
  

NFL Notes:

• And all of a sudden the NFC top spot is interesting again - nice game by Philly. If I'm the facing the Cowboys over the next 2 weeks I'm watching that tape pretty closely. Not sure how they did it, but Philly hassled Romo all day long.
  
• Love Westbrook's move by going down on the 1 yard line there at the end of the game - smart play to ensure the ball stays out of the Cowboys' hands.
  
• I've said it before and I'll say it again - if the Giants happen to make the playoffs and my team is facing them, I'm not too worried. They look horrible and they just lost Shockey for the year. Will be interesting to see how they respond down the stretch.
  
• I'm quite happy for the Dolphins - what a play in overtime for them....their longest play from scrimmage all year.
  
• Cleveland and Jacksonville in the AFC and Minnesota in the NFC are 3 teams I would not want to see in the opening round (or any round) of the playoffs.
  
• GREAT game by Vince on Sunday - 2 TD passes (including a beautiful 40-yarder) and no INTs. Great game.
  
• Crazy thing is the Titans could win out and go 10-6...and miss the playoffs. It would be an improvement from last year's 9-7 record, but goes to show you how tough the AFC is. They could sneak in, but HAVE to win out and have Cleveland and/or Jacksonville falter. Long shot, but Titan fans have to be optimistic about the future of this team - they are a few elements short of being a more formidable contender.
  
• Wes Welker, Fred Taylor and Mario Williams: 3 players who are having tremendous years and who were left off of the original Pro Bowl selection list - travesty. There are others...
  
• December 30: Minnesota at Denver. Denver is playing for nothing and has the worst run defense in the league. Minnesota could very well be playing for a wild card spot and Adrian Peterson will most likely be standing up and healthy. I'm looking in the crystal ball and predicting a 200+ game by Peterson.
  
• Saints will need some help, but could conceivably end up with that other playoff spot. Right now I think the Giants and Vikings have it, but it's certainly not sewed up...and the Giants play at Buffalo and host New England to close out the year - that's a very reasonable 0-2 right there. I'll say Giants go 1-1 down the stretch and get in along with the Vikings...leaving many people's super bowl pick out of the playoffs. I assure Vegas is happy with that.
• 2 really stupid things that occurred in last Monday night's game. 1) Players wore "Free Vick" t-shirts (as did some of the fans). Look, I understand supporting "your boy", but the dude ran an illegal gambling ring, literally killed dogs in horrible ways, and lied about it on numerous occasions. Let the man do his time and embrace him when he gets out. But, 2) the league fined them for it. WHAT? That's crazy.
  
• I'll reiterate this here as it's more of an NFL story: Bobby Petrino is a chump. I imagine (and frankly would like to think) that his reputation will be tarnished for his behavior. Unprofessional, irresponsible and gutless - no other way to describe it.
  
• Memo to Roy Williams - the penalty was created because of you. STOP doing it!!!
  
• Huge game for Green Bay traveling to Chicago this weekend - game of the weekend I think.
  

That's what I got folks. I'll get an update in between ball games over the next week or so. Have a great holiday!