Monday Night Mayhem

I was tired of hearing about the NFL replacement refs but the last and deciding play of tonight's game was a disgrace. No game should ever end the way tonight's game ended. They say that it is not a missed call that cost a team a win and that had they played better they would not have had to let 1 play beat them. Well in this case that is not true, Green Bay was jobbed at least 3 times during the last drive due to terrible and wrong calls that should have been able to be fixed at some point. What is the point of having coaches call for red flag video reviews or having video replay in the game if it is not used to make obvious wrong calls overturned. If a bad call is made on the field it should be fixed if possible. This was a play that could have been overturned but because the ref with the worst position to see the play makes a call on the field there is no way to have the correct call made, ridiculous. Golden Tate somehow came up with the ball in the end zone to grab a last-gasp "win" Tate not only pushed off 1st but didn't even have possession at any point. The real refs had better be in place by next Sunday after this gong show.The refs didn't even know that after the wrong call was made that Seattle needed to try for an extra point. It took nearly 10 minutes for the refs to get the teams back for the extra try. That oversight just magnified how bad they botched the game. In a Billion dollar industry to have the integrity of the game compromised is a very dangerous thing. Worst of all is that was not the only bad call of the night. Every mistake just gets compounded and that is huge. The money that powers the NFL is outrageous and that doesn't even come close to touching what is generated from both legal and illegal gambling. Somebody in Vegas is getting his legs broken right now after this fiasco.  A lot of money will be changing hands but in the wrong direction.

In a 16 game season each game means even more then in just about any other sport and that could be the deciding factor if they make the playoffs, win the division or get home field advantage. A horrible and wrong call by replacement refs should not potentially ruin a teams season. Hopefully that is not the case but we will know by week 17.

NFL has to get the real refs back, 1 to show they are serious about the integrity of the game and 2 to prevent anything worse from happening. Tempers are already wearing thin and things are already breaking down.

Week 9 NFL Picks

Last Week was another great one a 6-8 sub-par performance. Week 9 is here and without further delay. Minnesota to just barely cover in a tight game
Jacksonville because Cincinnati doesn't want to win this year
KC played decent last week, and may keep it close
Cleveland just because they are at home
Buffalo in a bounce back game and Lynch should be strong
Arizona has Bolden back so the offence should be able to handle St. Louis
Detroit plays hard, just arn't good 13.5 is just too much to give
Tennessee looks strong and should keep rolling
Denver in a very tight game, Miami just won't go away
Atlanta with White, Ryan and Turner to score enough
Giants, as Dallas is just too banged up and Johnson starting again
Philly for Donovan to put up some numbers
New England to win outright
Washington at home with there cheerleaders being the 12 man

Week 6 NFL Picks

• Aaron Rogers if at least 75% should be able to handle a very bad looking Seattle team

• No Kellen Winslow for Cleveland should let the Giants Roll

• Dallas V Arizona may be the one of the games of the week, look for the Cards to keep it close

• Lions are just bad, Look for Peterson to run all over them

• Rams, new coach or not are bad and Washington has looked good the last few weeks

Fingers are crossed for some redemption this week, and man do I need it!

Around the Horn

Wth all the postponed, cancelled and relocated games over the weekend due to Hurricane Ike made the sports scene a scheduling nightmare.
What is worse I heard that Ike was so dangerously powerful and destructive that Tina Turner had to postpone her current tour and retreat even more inland!

The San Diego Chargers lost in the last seconds for the second straight week. This time it was partially the result of an admitted blown call by the usually great and respected Ed Hochuli.
Norv Turner and The Chargers can only be so upset as Hochuli is an established lawyer that has huge guns in his Smedium shirt, not one to mess with. If Hochuli was on the San Diego D the Broncos would not have rolled the dice in that ballsy call and gone for 2

As a Michigan fan it was an epic game to watch as USC beat the living crap out of THE Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday
Again Coach Tressel blew the big one on the national stage, hang your head all the way back to Columbus nice drop of some 10 spots in the polls...no stickers on the helmets this week fellas!

Rough week for the Patriots and extended family.First Tom Brady goes down with a torn ACL and torn MCL and Notre Dame coach Charlie Weiss did the same after being taken out by one of his own players with help from a Michigan player
What’s the matter Tom, Charlie stayed in the game until the end couldn’t you? And you call yourself an athlete

Wayne Gretzky will again be part of Team Canada but not as Executive Director. Possibly that opens the door for Steve Yzerman to take that position.
The FOG (Friends of Gretzky) may be lifting from Hockey Canada’s men’s team

Chris Cooley wanted to show the readers of his popular blog some of the study materials the players were given by coach Jim Zorn.
A good idea and good of him to show the behind the scene happenings of the NFL.Next time consider using a picture that doesn’t let your junk show for all to see, may I suggest a towel, jogging pants, a pair of boxers or even a jock...Chris put that thing away, you’ll scare the children

U of T's Varsity Blues broke a 49 game losing streak versus the University of Waterloo at the beginning of the season, the first win since 2001.
This was a huge win for U of T, breaking the longest Canadian University losing streak but more importantly allowed the bare-chested guys from the phys. ed. department to fervently chant "Waterloo smells like poo"

Carlos Zambrano pitched the quietest No Hitter in recent memory after being played in Milwaukee as a home game for Houston due to Hurricane Ike.
Few people seemed to talk about it or praise it as a great feat. Dan Patrick said it right it was like a game of Clue.. Zambrano- in Milwaukee against the Astros-with a 4 seam fastball

NFL Picks Week 2

PROGRAMMING NOTE:
Around the Horn will be moved from its regular Friday Time slot to make room for the NFL Picks.
It will be moved to a yet to be determined day so STAY TUNED!

So here is the plan. Friday’s I will post my NFL Football prognostications for each weeks games. I am starting Week 2 so I could see some of the teams in action and try and get a feel.
I will give the final tally on Tuesday as to the success/FAILURE rate. Games will be selected against the spread that has been provided by Proline at the time of the predictions.
Over the course of the season I will keep track of the record and use that to prove why I should NOT play Proline.
I am by no means saying I am an expert, or that I will even hit 50%, heck I don’t even think I would take my own advice (also note that this is going in early on Fridays before some injury reports.....Ok, Ok enough excuses) but maybe I will get lucky and end up with a good record. Who knows. Let the games begin!

Down And Out - The Tom Brady Story

Not much is left to be said about the New England Patriots and of Tom Brady. Most of the angles have been covered by this point. All I can say is that from the moment that I saw his leg bend the wrong way while watching the game I knew it was bad, the fans knew it was bad, the team knew it was bad, but most of all Brady knew it was bad. You could see both the disappointment and the pain on his face.
What New England will do is anyone’s guess, and guess they must....as Coach Belichick usually plays it close to the vest. A few QB's have been contacted and/or signed eg. Matt Gutierrez. They are still a good team and are one of few teams that a next guy in line mentality that may be able to handle the adversity but it will be an uphill battle.

Gone for the season is tough but what is worse is not knowing what kind of player will come back after surgery and rehab. It is a lot to expect the same player to return and it will be interesting to see whet level he can perform at and for how long. Lets not forget it was Brady who took over the team when then starter and thought to be franchise QB Drew Bledsoe went down with injury and except for 1 playoff game never gave the job back. Could history repeat itself? Will Matt Cassel take the ball and run with it? Remember he was behind many a good QB throughout his career (Carson Palmer and Matt Lienart at USC and Brady in New England) and is probably a pretty good QB just waiting for his chance, and in New England...wouldn’t surprise me one bit. I hope that is not the case as I am a fan of what Brady has done but only time will tell.

To some it is debatable about overall greatness and Hall of Fame worthiness, to me there is no doubt. Top 5 All Time and no brainer Hall of Famer. The Super Bowls, the undefeated regular season and the TD passing record and most importantly the Michigan pedigree all add up to one of the all time greats. Here is to hoping for a fast and successful recovery and that there is still a job for him when he returns.