Enough with T.O.!!!!!

That's it. It's official. I cannot tolerate one more article about Terrell Owens.

I am officially sick of hearing about the biggest news source to come to sports since every single tidbit of information about a needle that potentially went into Barry Bonds.

This morning as I was watching sportscenter, I heard that Plaxico Burress, the giants WR had called TO a coward because he "had taken a dive" to avoid taking a big hit. Now, I don't know what's more ridiculous, Burress' claim, or the fact that it was actually considered important enough to dedicate an entire 8 minutes of sportscenter's time.

And just to clear the air, TO didn't take a dive. If you watch the replay (and all you have to do is flip to sportscenter to see it for the 100000000000th time today), TO had to turn back on a slant route and he slipped to the ground. Earlier, he had taken a huge hit when he was sandwiched between a CB and a linebacker. You're talking about one of the biggest WRs in the league, who could probably make the transition to playing DB easily, and you're saying he dived to take a hit?! it's completely bogus

Alright, that little rant aside, it's time to move on to my main rant. For the past two years (ever since the whole Philly-TO thing fell apart) there has been a weekly article about TO. And quite frankly, i've had about enough of it. Every single action of this man's life is put under the microscope! When he was angry that he wasn't getting the ball a couple of weeks ago, he wasn't exploding and becoming a cancer on the cowboys. he just wanted to make the big plays. If you saw the interview after the game, the guy wasn't trying to divide the team in any way. After the whole attempted suicide debacle, I couldn't help but think "poor guy". He's one of the most hated guys in sports, and the guy has trouble and people who don't know about what really happened are making assumptions about what happened and what they "knew happened". I for one believe that the guy deserves the benefit of the doubt, but hey, its one against the entire sports journalism world.

And by the way, did no one notice that Shawne Merriman--yes San Diego's golden boy--was suspended for STEROIDS!?! How is this possible. there has been more news about the burress-TO non-issue than about one of the top players in the league's potential steroid use!?

To date, I have only seen 2 articles about Shawne Merriman, but I'm sure that if it had been TO, ESPN.com would have dedicated the front page to TO's steroid use, and 10000 articles would have been written about it

So this is where I put my foot down. I can't stand to hear a single thing about TO, even if he does turn out to be the antichrist. I don't care anymore.

And that, readers, is the rant of a dissapointed sports fan

How good do you have to be to win in the NFL? Well, how lucky are you feeling this Sunday?

I think the most recent and most obvious example is the Bears win last night in Monday Night Football. Needless to say a 21 point comeback with zero offensive touchdowns is hardly anything to be proud of, especially since they gave up 6 turnovers against the Arizona Cardinals. Who's to say that Zona hasn't arrived? They have a surprisingly good quarterback in Matt Leinart who has the highest passer rating of any rookie QB since 2003. Heck, the Cardinals were stompin' all over the (now) number two defense in the NFL.

Yes, defense does win championships and Chicago tore it up in the second half, but the defense shouldn't also lead the team in offensive points... unless of course luck is on your side. With the way things were going for the Bears, it didn't surprise me one bit that Rackers missed yet another potential game-winning FG to put the cherry on top of a lucky win for Da Bears.

Has anyone seen the Saints lately? How else can you explain [overrated] Reggie Bush's game-winning punt return for a TD in the final minutes to give him his first score of the season to beat the Bucs? The Bucs were controlling the final two quarters until the lucky stars shined on the Saints. But who's surprised--they're the feel-good team of the year and everyone and their mailman wants them to win. And what happens the next week? They kick a game-winning field goal to beat the Eagles. This is the same New Orleans team that barely beat the now 1-4 Cleveland Browns by only 5 points and squeezed by the now 1-4 Green Bay Packers by a single touchdown (and allowed 27 points). If you take away New Orleans win against Atlanta where they were obviously destined to be victorious for their first home game at the Superdome (or else the NFL would've cancelled the season), the Saints are a painfully mediocre team that scrapes by against crappy teams. There's no need to be good when they've also got luck on their side (and the NFL on their side, and the referees on their side, and the Pope on their side...)

Of course the cliché (and unoriginal) response to this is that "it doesn't matter how close the game was, all that matters is that they won." Wow, what a great point; it sounds like you put a lot of thought into that response. In actuality, what really matters is how lucky you are on Sunday. Sports fans wouldn't be talking about how close a game was if luck didn't have an influence on the score. But that of course would mean that you couldn't say that unclever cliché. Too bad.

How else can you explain why the 1972 Dolphins are the only team to go undefeated the entire season in the history of the NFL? They played a bunch of pee-wee teams and made history. Even the "greatest" teams of the past face the unfortunate flip-side of luck, i.e. the '85 Bears, the '84 Niners, or the '03 Patriots had a loss or two that blemished their record despite their domination.

There has also only been one team in the history of the NFL that has lost every game in a single season: the 1976 Tampa Bay Bucs. This only further proves my point. Even if your NFL team is worse than my cooking ability, there's a really good chance that they will get lucky—even if they have just enough luck to win only one game (Keep the hope alive Raiders fans!).

It pays dividends to be lucky in the NFL more so than it does in the NCAA. Haven't you seen Georgia play this year? A few lucky plays aren't going to help you beat Vanderbilt or Tennessee. Defense may have helped Chicago win last night, but it sure hasn't helped Georgia against their last two opponents.

When it comes to the NFL, luck plays a much bigger role in the outcome of games. Sure, there are lucky plays in college football, but tell me how many undefeated teams have their been in the NCAA? A lot. The dynasties of college football are much more likely to be immune to getting beaten by a lucky team. However, in the NFL, luck is what makes the Colts tremble when they have to come from behind late in the game against the Tennessee Titans, or when the Denver Broncos beat the painfully bad Raiders by only 10 points. Luck is a scary thing when you're the team that doesn't have it.

I think Lefty Gomez had it right when he said, "I'd rather be lucky than good." The Falcons could definitely use some of that luck for their last-ranked passing offense this Sunday against the Steelers. Unless of course the Steelers are the team with all the luck.

The first ever weekly (by weekly I mean whenever i remember) Heisman watch!

alright, here's the deal. Not to be out done by my colleague the KE, every week, or two weeks i'll put out a list of MY top 10 Picks for the Heisman, although I can be quite biased against any player from WVU (sorry steve slaton) or anyone named Brady Quinn (Sorry, ehem.....brady quinn). So without further ado, I give you my TOP 10!!!!! (in reverse order for dramatic effect)


10. Chase Daniel, QB, Missouri (128-199, 1446 yds. 14 TD, 5 INT)
Thats right, Missouri's man behind center. Quietly, he's putting together quite a season while leading the tigers to an impressive 6-0 that's landed them in the top 25. with a passer rating of 143.5, I'd say that mr. Daniel one of the top QBs in the NCAA

9. Chad Henne, QB, Michigan (80-129, 1103 yds. 13 TD, 4 INT)
Chad henne has made a quasi-strong case for himself. But his cause is greatly aided by his favorite target, Super Mario Manningham. His performance against ND was an eye opener, and he has been consistent all season long

8. Chris Leak, QB, UF (101-156, 1395 yds. 14 YD, 5 INT)
Although he hasn't put up "Heisman-like" Stats, Leak has consistently lead his team to victory. He's a solid QB who makes good decisions under pressure. And don't forget, his stats have been slightly dented by the introduction of Tim Tebow to UF's offense.

7. Ted Ginn Jr. WR, OSU (33 Rec. 459 Yds. 6 TD)
His stats may not be as amazing as other WRs, but Ginn is one of the best WRs in the country right now. He makes a habit of coming up with big plays when his team needs them, and is an explosive player from scrimmage.

6. Steve Slaton, RB, WVU (112 Att. for 768 yds. 7 TD. 7 Rec. 70 yds.)
OK, so the guy can run the ball. But so far, he hasn't been tested at all. His stats are highly inflated because of the crummy defenses and because after 2 quarters, WVU can simply run the ball for the rest of the game to grind down the clock. But other than that, he is a great running back and a dangerous weapon against any defense

5. Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame (148-233, 1634 yds. 16 TD. 4 INT. 1 rushing TD)
As much as I hate ND's poster boy, I have to give credit where credit is due. Quinn is a solid QB, and he can make plays happen almost at will. After his dismal performance against Michigan, He's been solid and as close to amazing as you can get.

4. Calvin Johnson, WR, Ga. Tech (35 Rec. 559 yds. 8 TD. 1 rush, 21 yds.)
I only have one problem with Calvin Johnson. He always seems to underachieve. He's potentially one of the best WRs in recent years, but not until this year has he begun showing his explosiveness and his awesome talent.

3. Troy Smith, QB, OSU (101-148, 1261 yds. 15 TD. 2 INT, 29 Rushes, 78 yds.)
Probably the best QB in heisman contention, Smith has lived up to his hype. Moving away from the "mobile QB'' stereotype, smith has shown that he can throw the ball as well or better than most QBs in the country. And, as evidenced last week, he can still apparently run the ball pretty well

2. Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma (142 att. for 752 yds. 8 TD. 5 rec. 82 yds. 1 TD)
Peterson started the season off with a bang, and kept it going until he faced Texas. he had an "off day" running for 109 yards and a td. However, what most hurts his stock in most voters view is his dropped lateral that was returned for a TD by texas. Still, look for Peterson to make a big case for the trophy to come to his living room before year's end.

1. Garrett Wolfe, RB, N. Illinois (185 att. 1,343 yds. 13 TD. 13 rec. 162 yds. 1 TD)
Wolfe is drawing comparisons to Barry Sanders, and with good reason. He's arguably the best tailback in the nation, leading in rushing, and tds. And he can also be a threat catching the ball. Well rounded, and always a threat. You can see greatness when an off night for him is 169 yards.

NFL meet defense. Defense, NFL


As I sat befuddled in my couch watching the broncos-ravens game tonight on MNF tied at 3-3 in the late third quarter, I was hit right between the eyes by an epiphany. This year, the NFL isn't dominated by flashy quarterbacks, or amazingly fast runningbacks. It's been the year of the D, as evidenced by tonight's kicker's duel. These have become more common this year than I've seen in the past few years. Either that or a complete lack of offense by some teams, but roll with me on this.

First off, you have the Bears defense, who has allowed 36 points in 5 games. that boils down to a whopping 7.2 points per game. They've allowed only one touchdown in soldier field, they're ranked sixth in running defense, fifth in passing defense, and third in total defense. Some other notables the bears join in the top ten of all three categories? the ravens, San Diego, Atlanta, and Jax. The bears are still undefeated, the ravens suffered their first loss of the season tonight against an equally tough Denver defense, who by the way are 4-1, San Diego is 3-1, and so is Atlanta. The only team with 2 losses in this list is Jacksonville, who have had a killer schedule so far (Dallas, Pitt, Indy, and Washington).

I'll give you this, Atlanta has the best rushing attack in the league, and Chicago has been aided by a suddenly surging Offense, but the rest of these teams aren't exactly offensive juggernauts.

Defense is going to dictate who'll win the superbowl, and it will be the most important part of a lot of coaches' gameplans come january.