Weekend Wrapup Part II

Wow, two Weekend Wrap-Ups in one weekend? I am either excited that I am getting better at writing or that I am depressed about a lack of life. Either way, it is your gain!

Let's start off with the Polls. Can we finally get the Coach's ballots out in the open? Until then, I am going to assume that Pete Carroll put USC #2 in his ballot and Oregon off the top 25. There is NO way USC should be ranked ahead of Oregon just a week after getting destroyed by 25+ points in Eugene. Sad part is, even USC has a gripe, because Ohio St. is somehow ahead of them in the polls. Such political bullshit.

We hope here at SportsTown that Cal RB Jahvid Best is alright. That was one of the more brutal falls I have ever seen. It is time for RB's to realize that vaulting 8 feet in the air over defenders is not exactly the best way to get into the endzone.

Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson just got my respect this week. In overtime, going for it on 4th Down and 2, when a chipshot FG ties the game took some serious minerals to do. Billy Raftery was somewhere in the US screaming out "ONIONS!".

The main game of the week was the LSU-Alabama clash that was a good physical game. Alabama was the better team of the two in the game, but Alabama was also very fortunate on two occasions. First, LSU stud CB Patrick Peterson getting hurt. Peterson had Julio Jones on lockdown and there is no way Jones gets the big touchdown if Peterson is on the field.

The second part was the refs blowing a clear interception by Peterson while Bama was driving in the 4th quarter around midfield. Now, we all know that the SEC referees have been working like they take an evelope from some guy in a trenchcoat named Guido, but then the replay Crew did not overturn it. NCAA rules state that one foot has to be inbounds. Peterson got both feet in. At least the SEC cannot fine me 30k for saying outloud how awful their officiating is.

Notre Dame loses to Navy. The lynch mob is back after Charlie Weis's neck. We already heard the Jon Gruden and Brian Kelly rumors, but ND fans should think about one thing. If Weis is canned, kiss Jimmy Clausen goodbye to the NFL. He might bolt to the NFL anyway, but there is no way Clausen sticks around for one season to learn a new playbook. Clausen stays, the Irish are a pre-season Top 5 program.

-Now, onto Week 9 of the NFL season. I have to get one thing off my chest before I get into any of the games, and yes, my hatred will be shown.

The Patriots showed how much of a cutthroat, classless organization they are when they mocked Joey Porter on the big screen at the end of their home game. It is one thing for Tom Brady to grab a mic from Rachel Nichols and trash Joey Porter. It is entirely different when a franchise is alright with publicly displaying how a certain player had a subpar game. An organization has to at least come off as appearing above nonsense like that.

Ladies and Gentleman... I called the Bengals being a tough team from jumpstreet. I did not think they would be 6-2 at the cut off point, but I knew they had a stingy defense that started showing up in the 2nd half of last season. Now, they are 4-0 in their own divison, smacked up the Ravens twice and have a win against the Steelers. Their offense is now rolling to the point where Chad Ochocinco is back having fun on the field. Watch out for this team...

I also said I thought the Texans would be the darkhorse team, and although they really should be, have failed me miserably. This team is actually 2 goal line stands and a missed FG from potentially being 8-1. They are just a team that cannot finish, kinda like Brian Fuentes looking like he just saw Freddy Kruger when taking the hill in the 9th inning of a postseason game.

How scary has this season been when the Giants looked like gangbusters and dropped like a middle aged woman's chest? They have looked awful, but the coaching might even be worse. They miss former Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and Tom Coughlin is making some bonehead decisons in the Red Zone.

Hey, look at that, Vince Young is 2-0 as a starter this season. Making the Titans have to make a big decison in the offseason. Stay tuned to this one.

Finally, the game of the week was the Cowboys-Eagles tilt on Sunday Night. Whether the NFC East is perhaps on a down year or not, they always give a smashmouth game. I came out of watching this game thinking three things:

1. Andy Reid is the best dumb coach of all time. It is amazing that he has won this much, with the way he uses clock management, timeouts, and short yardage situations.

2. Tony Romo can win a big game. It looks like without TO, Romo can be himself and spread the ball out. It is working.

3. The Dallas defense is for real. Holding that high powered offense to 16 points on their turf is very impressive.