Nothing makes sense any more

A lot is going on right now, from tense times in college and pro football to new beginnings in NCAA basketball to all sorts of moves in baseball. Because of that, I felt now was the time for five random thoughts on five different sports. Following that are my Week 11 NFL picks.

1- How do you know the Bears have an important game on Sunday? Well for one, FOX is sending their best announcers- Joe Buck and Troy Aikman- to cover the contest. Two, Lovie Smith is being coy about if Kyle Orton is going to play or not, something I’m guessing he wouldn’t do if the game had little impact. And three, it’s the Packers, which means regardless of records, it’s important. The fact that the Bears are tied for first in the NFC North with Green Bay one game back just adds to the significance.

Unlike last week, when the game went down pretty much exactly as I figured, I have a good feeling about Sunday. And that’s even if Rex is our quarterback. Obviously the pass D concerns me, because it has been downright dreadful all year long and the Pack can throw the ball as well as anybody in the league. But two positives stand out. One is that the Packers run defense stinks worse than hard-boiled eggs. Matt Forte, who really has been impressive over the past six quarters, should be able to dominate the game, limit whoever is playing QB’s pass attempts, and keep Rodgers on the sideline. And two is, despite all of my disagreements with his moves over the years, Lovie Smith always has his team ready to play Green Bay. On the day he took over as Bears head coach, Smith told Bears fans everywhere that, “Our #1 goal will be to beat Green Bay.” Since that day in January 2004, the Bears are 6-2 versus the Packers, including 4-0 at Lambeau Field. I’m not sure what he does, but Lovie’s Bears are always ready to smash the cheese-heads.

2- Most players, regardless of sport, will say that individual awards are nice, but team titles are the most important thing somebody can win. And that is true. But when it comes to the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious individual award in all of sports, it gets personal. Players may say they aren’t thinking about it, but don’t believe them. Heisman winners get remembered forever (Even you Eric Crouch) while many people even would have a tough time naming the last four National Championship winning quarterbacks (For those of you too laze to look it up, they are Matt Leinart (‘05), Vince Young (’06), my boy Chris Leak (’07) and Matt Flynn (’08). This season, the popular thinking is the famous stiff-arm will go to a quarterback in the Big XII, either Texas Tech’s Grahm Harrell, Texas’ Colt McCoy or Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford. All are deserving, and it may come down to which of their teams actually wins the conference. But if it comes down to the wire, expect these three quarterbacks to do a little extra to ensure they win it all, which will be a treat to college football fans everywhere.

3- Despite my love of sports, there are aspects of them that I hate. Baseball games where there are four pitching changes in one inning, which causes three outs to take 45 minutes. Football coaches who don’t understand simple clock management. When fans pay more attention to the TV cameras than the game. But not much is more annoying than when team’s let go of a fan favorite player, especially when there is little warning beforehand.

This topic is on my mind currently because it appears the Cubs and Kerry Wood will be going their separate ways after ten years of marriage. Because of a trade for former Florida Marlins closer Kevin Gregg (As I said to a friend today, with all the letters in his name, Kevin better be a G on the mound), Wood is no longer needed on the North Side. And that in its own right is sad. Despite under-performing for much of his career, Kid K still was beloved by Cubs fans. Why? Because we remember his 20K game in May of 1998, when Wood wasn’t even old enough to drink a beer but pitched (statistically) the greatest game in baseball history. Because we remembered how dominant he was in the ’03 playoffs, both pitching and hitting. And because in a way, we were all fighting through those never-ending arm and shoulder injuries with him. When he came back last season as a successful closer, he proved everybody that he was a true team player, able to make a late-career adjustment for the benefit of the franchise.

Because Wood was good in the back of the bullpen, it appeared the Cubs were going to re-sign him this winter. But this sudden deal for Gregg changes all that. Wood can now go to whichever team that wants him, even to one of the other squads in the NL Central. There’s a great chance that at some point in 2009, Kerry Wood will return to Wrigley Field in a road uniform. And as a long-time Cubs- and Wood- fan, I’m not sure I will react to that. I understand its all part of sports; I just wish I’d had more of a warning.

4- A few things I immediately regret about my pre-season NBA picks:
-Having the Wizards (currently 1-5) as my four seed in the East
-Not having the Hawks (currently 6-1) in the playoffs
-Even though I still think the Hornets will be great, right now, the Lakers look un-beatable
-Picking OJ Mayo as my Rookie of the Year instead of Derrick Rose or Rudy Fernandez.

5- With college basketball beginning this week, I wanted to do an in-depth preview like I’ve done with other sports. But because of time concerns, that was not possible. So instead, here is a list of six questions I have for the upcoming season, one’s that will be answered as the season progresses:

1- Everybody is saying its North Carolina and everybody else. But since they took down my beloved Illini in 2005, the Hells have disappointed every March. So can Tyler Handsbrough and UNC finally put it all together and cut down the nets?
2- Last year’s story of March was Davidson and star guard Stephen Curry. Now that everybody knows who he is, will Curry and the Wildcats be a top team all year long?
3- 2006 was the year of Durant and Oden. Last year, it was Beasley, Rose and May. Who will be the freshman sensations of 2008?
4- After their amazing National Title game last year, both Kansas and Memphis lost a lot of important players. The Jayhawks and Tigers may not be able to return to the Final Four, but what can fans expect from these two always-dangerous programs?
5- The three-point line has been moved back to 20 feet, 9 inches. How will this change affect mid-major schools that rely so much on the long-distance shot?
6- After their disastrous season a year ago, can the great Fighting Illini return to form in 2008-09 and make a run at the NCAA Tournament?



After my best week of the year, here are my Week 11 NFL picks, with my winners in bold.

Denver at Atlanta

Philadelphia at Cincinnati

Chicago at Green Bay

Houston at Indianapolis

New Orleans at Kansas City

Oakland at Miami

Baltimore at New York Giants

Minnesota at Tampa Bay

Detroit at Carolina

St. Louis at San Francisco

Arizona at Seattle

San Diego at Pittsburgh

Tennessee at Jacksonville

Dallas at Washington

Cleveland at Buffalo


Last Week: 11-3