World Series dreams

Wow, what a tremendous weekend. A classic college football game that actually lived up to the hype. A crazy day in the NFL, which included the Bears pitching their second shutout of the season. And then of course there was the Cubs making a bigger splash then an Eddy Curry cannon ball. But what’s it all mean? Time for random thoughts.


-You want to know how bad the NFC is these days? With Donovan McNabb hurt, Eli Manning struggling, Michael Vick not putting back to back games together and Mark Brunell, Drew Bledsoe and Matt Hasselback out, Rex Grossman will probably make the Pro Bowl. Yes, this is the same Rex Grossman threw for the grand total of seven yards in the first half last week against the Jets. The same Rex who stunk up the field so horribly against the Cardinals and Dolphins. The same Rex who has started only 18 games in his entire career. But other then Drew Brees, who else has been a better NFC quarterback thus far? Now if Grossman could start playing like a Pro Bowler, I think a lot of people would stop doubting the Bears and start giving them the respect they deserve.

-Speaking of that respect, why aren’t the Bears getting the props they deserve as a legitimate Super Bowl contender? I think it has to do with three reasons. One is the media’s love affair with the Dallas Cowboys. Not only are they America’s Team, but they have a well-known owner, a press conference sound bite coach and an arrogant wide receiver whose every move is documented. The Bears have none of that. Add in that they are playing well now and the media is all over them. Two is that people automatically dismiss the NFC as the inferior conference. I agree that the AFC is better, but don’t take that to mean that the Bears aren’t for real. Stack the Bears against any squad in the AFC and I’d take my chances with Urlacher and Co. And the third reason is that the Bears are far from flashy. They don’t the big time Pro Bowl offensive player that the other elite teams like San Diego and Indianapolis have. They don’t mouth off to the media about their opponent. And they don’t completely annihilate teams the way they should. Still, the Bears are defiantly the class of the NFC in my book and should have a clear path to the Super Bowl.

-How about that game between Ohio State and Michigan. An absolute classic. The way you can determine if a game is classic in my book is if you already knew the outcome of the game, would you fast-forward any of the game? Like even if you already found out that Jordan dropped 37 against Utah in Game 5 of the ’97 Finals with the stomach flu, would you watch all four quarters or just skip to the end? I of course would watch all 48 minutes. And the same goes for this game. Even when down 14 at halftime, Michigan never gave up and made some big plays in the second half. Mike Hart was a monster, and Chad Heane played surprisingly well. Even the defense, which got shredded in the first half, forced some turnovers. But Troy Smith was just too much for the Maze and Blue. He made throw after throw and it seemed that by the end of the game, Michigan had no ideas on even how to consider stopping him. They tried blitzing, they tried dropping back into coverage, they even attempted to knock him out of the game with that late hit. But none of it worked. Smith is the Heisman winner and Ohio State is onto the National Title game.

-But who will Buckeyes play in a month and a half in Glendale, Arizona? As I stated before, I am against an OSU-UM rematch. The Wolverines already got their shot at number one and they lost. Even though it is hard to doubt that UM is the nations second best team, it would complexly ruin the system to allow them a rematch if you have a one loss SEC or Pac-10 school just sitting there. And then there’s Notre Dame. If they beat USC on Saturday, the Irish will be 11-1. So should they be playing Ohio State? No, because there one loss was to Michigan back on September 15. This just proves that the B.C.S. is a mess and a new system is needed.

-So cancel all my plans for next October. I’m going to be a bit busy. That was the first thought through my mind when I heard the Cubs had inked Alfonso Soriano to an eight year, $136 million contract. Now of course, I’m just being a Cub fan here, always thinking that the most recent acquisition is the one missing piece to a World Series title. And the Cubs obviously still need to upgrade the pitching staff. But signing Soriano can’t hurt. Just thinking about a lineup with Alf (his new nick-name in my book) leading off, Derek Lee hitting third and Aramis Ramirez hitting fourth is making me smile. While the critics and Cub bashers are yelling that all Soriano does is strike out, I say just look at the numbers. In 2006, playing a new position in a league he’s never been in before, Soriano had an amazing season, becoming only the forth player in MLB history to hit over 40 home runs (He hit 46) and steal 40 bases (He stole 41) in the same year. (Meaning he also now has his jersey hanging in Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club, which is tight.) Add in 41 doubles, and this guy is a pure offensive machine. My only problem is that Jay Marriotti supported the move, which has me skeptical that it’s a good descion.

-Remember over the summer when I discussed the Bulls signing of Ben Wallace for like five columns in a row? When I said that Big Ben didn’t really help the D and he just made the offense worse. When I discussed how John Paxon should have signed another scorer instead of spending the cash on an over the hill, 6’8” center. Looks like I was right. Now I know it has only been ten games and there is still 7/8 of the season left. But thus far, Ben Wallace has been a huge disappointment. He hasn’t produced on the offensive side of the ball, which was expected, but he also hasn’t done much for the D. Last night versus the Nuggets, when a guy they gave up for free torched the Bulls, Wallace was almost non-existent on defense. Marcus Camby, Wallace’s responsibility on defense, dropped 13 points and 15 rebounds, making this the fifth time in the five game road trip that the Bulls opponent has had their center record a double-double. And because the Bulls perimeter players think there is going to be a presence in the paint, they are taking more chances and letting their man go right by them. Either the Bulls defense has to improve quickly or Scott Skiles and Paxon may be searching the classifieds section.



With the greatest American holiday on tap for tomorrow, I will make my NFL picks today. Speaking of the holiday, I’d like to say that I am thankful for the NFL deciding to add a third Turkey Day game and to DirecTV for carrying the NFL Network so I will be able to watch Broncos/Chiefs. On to the picks…

My picks in bold

Miami at Detroit

Tampa Bay at Dallas

Denver at Kansas City

Pittsburgh at Baltimore

Cincinnati at Cleveland

San Francisco at St. Louis

Arizona at Minnesota

Houston at New York Jets

New Orleans at Atlanta

Carolina at Washington

Jacksonville at Buffalo

Oakland at San Diego

New York Giants at Tennessee

Chicago at New England

Philadelphia at Indianapolis

Green Bay at Seattle




Happy Thanksgiving everyone