Michigan/West Virginia, Steroids Thought, Dickie V, Brian Westbrook, Vikings/Bears

If I were Bill Martin, University of Michigan Athletic Director, I would watch my back pretty closely. I would imagine there are some pretty ticked off Mountaineer fans now that Martin has stolen West Virginia's football coach to go with the hoops coach that he stole less than a year ago. Green is the prevailing color here as the path from Gold & Blue to Maize & Blue continues.

I still think college football somehow needs a rule in place keeping moves from happening until after bowl games. It is not fair to the West Virginia kids that they now will be coached by an interim coach in the bowl game.

Andy Pettitte. Brian Roberts. Fernando Vina. These are some of the players that came out with some sort of admission after their names appeared in the Mitchell Report last week. The message in each case was similar. I only used it once or twice and it was only to recover from an injury. Well, you know what, I was not there, so I cannot say whether this is true or false. (I think Jemele Hill in her espn.com article yesterday took some liberties with her assumptions.) However, what I would have said if I were being paid to write for espn instead of Jemele Hill, is that while I have no proof as to what happened or why or how many times, these apologies/rationales reek of, to use two words, insincerity and bullshit. Maybe Brian Roberts only used steroids one time? Maybe Andy Pettitte only used twice and to recover from injury for the good of the team? Maybe, maybe not. But if I were the agent for either, I would have advised to a) make a sincere apology that is not riddled with disclaimers, excuses, and mitigating circumstances, or b) keep your mouth shut.

Well, America got its college basketball wish. No, the Duke team plane did not blow up, not that wish. Instead, Dick Vitale is having throat surgery and is sidelined until February. While I think Dickie V is certainly excitable, I actually think his enthusiasm, passion and excitement for the game combined with his knowledge are good for college hoops, and that people will actually miss his doing games more than most will admit. So I will be in the minority and say get well and hurry back Dickie V!

John Runyan strategized and Brian Westbrook executed one of the best, most unselfish plays I have seen in football in a long time when Westbrook fell down on the 1 yard line so the Eagles could run out the clock without ever giving the Cowboys the ball back, instead of scoring an easy touchdown. Just a breath of fresh air in today's greedy world of professional athletics.

Speaking of the Eagles/Cowboys game, I had previously switched to sort of rooting for the Eagles to lose games (at least until the games actually started). After all, it would be better long term for the team to improve their draft status, and since it has been clear for a few weeks that they were not going to the playoffs much less Super Bowl, losing could help. Of course that never really works out when I sit down to watch the game with my 4-year-old and we always end up cheering heartily for the Birds as always (in other words, rationally it is OK to improve draft position, but emotionally you just can't do it). But even if I were rooting for the Birds to lose, the one loophole is always the Cowboys. The bile that comes to my throat at the mere thought of Jerry Jones or T.Blows is just overwhelming. So it was pretty damn special to beat the Cowboys in Texas Stadium on Sunday. For an Eagles fan, this was as good as it is going to get this year. With any luck, we can hurt their momentum, have them lose again, coughing up home field advantage in the process, and get Brett Favre one more shot at a ring.....

Because I had my Fantasy Football Semi-Finals on the line, I actually watched the entire Vikings/Bears game despite the constant urge to stab both eyes out. In case you are wondering, I pulled out a 79-76 win over Blacksnake thanks to a complete no-show from Bernard Berrian). Let me say, if these teams do not get into a bidding war with the Eagles for the services of one Donovan McNabb next year, they are insane. McNabb has ties to both teams. He is from Chicago, and played several years for Brad Childress of the Vikings when he was the Eagles Offenisive Coordinator. Either team can make a Super Bowl run with McNabb. The Eagles and McNabb need a clean break after this year. It is in the best interests of both parties. If it happens, he could win the MVP and the Super Bowl in the same year. You heard it here first.