Some more NBA ideas right below......





I received a little flak from some readers about my endorsement of the Houston Rockets. Questions have been raised about team chemistry and Tracy McGrady's willingness to play within the framework of a team concept. Normally, I would heed these concerns, bu head coach Rick Adelman has a hostory of dealing with these types of things quite well. Thats a prediction I'm not backing off.





However, I'll give you a prediction I'm starting to back away from. I'm not sure Michael Curry has a clue what to do in Detroit. It appears as though the only right move he's making is bringing Richard Hamilton off the bench. The Pistons play good, agressive team defense. But for a team with this much offensive talent, it shouldn't be such a struggle to score, yet somehow it is. The problem tends to be when Rodney Stuckey is not on the court. When Stuckey is on the court, he's the point guard and no oen has to play out of position. When Stuckey is on the bench, Curry plays with a different point guard each possession. This is fine on every third possession when Allen Iverson is handling the ball. But to have Hamilton and 6'10" Tayshaun Prince on the peimeter handling the ball is assinine. It appears that Curry is trying not to ask Iverson to be too much of a distributor. Yet when Stcukey isn't in the game, thats exaxtly what Iverson should be. Taking Prince away from the baseline offensively really takes away from his game. Him and Rasheed Wallace do a great job occupying space together. This has been a very successful organization most of the decade with this core group. Iverson should be asked to fit in around the other guys, not vice versa. If Pistons general manager Joe Dumars is not committed to Curry long term, it would be a great idea to break Chuck Daly out of mothballs and let him try to make one run with this team. He'd get them right. Then start over next year with someone new. they're only going to be loading uo for the 2010 free agent class anyway next year.





Over the last few years, I've been pretty critical of Cleveland Cavaliers' coach Mike Brown. But as far as this season is concerned, no one has done more to this point to earn Coach of the Year than he has. He has the Cavs competing with the Celtics for the top spot in the West and he's done it with injuries to two key guys, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Delonte West. Now, you can call the Cavs Team LeBron if you'd like and I couldn't argue with you, because without him they are a 25 win team. However, Brown does an outstanding job of using LeBron's wide range of abilites to put the Cavs in the Best possible matchups. Brown is not afraid to play LeBron at any of the 5 positions on the floor, if the matchup or the opponent calls for it. He will go deep into his bench and without Ilgauskas and West, he's had to. It looks like every player has a well defined role and there's never a question of how any player fits in to a particular situation. This and Lebron's maturity and commitment to defense have been the chief reasons that the Cavs are part of the league elite. S they get healthier, they'll only get tougher nad they may end up being too deep for the Celtics in a 7 game series.





Most times that a coach is fired and a general manager is asked to move down to the sidelines to coach the mess they've made, its normally the last step out the door for said general manager. Last year's dictionary definition was the New York Knick swan song of Isiah "they can't do that to our interns, only we can do that to our interns" Thomas. However, there's a version of this scenario playing out this year in Minnesota that is starting to appear as quite the opposite. Kevin McHale appears to be getting the Timberwolves onto the right track. He has a very young team with a few talented pieces and a few pieces that don't fit. The Wolves are 12-14 since Mchale took over and were 4-15 under Randy Wittman. But the record doesn't matter as much as the fact that plyaers are improving under McHale's watch. The centerpiece of the Kevin Garnett deal, Al Jefferson, is playing at an all star level night in and night out. Rookie big man Kevin Love has had a very productive rookie year coming off of McHale's bench. And potential disappointments Randy Foye and Sebastian Telfair have shown progress under McHale. Now will all of this be enough to get McHale a stay of execution at the end of the season? That remains to be seen, but its nice to see him give it a run. He's been portrayed as a clueless personnel guy and some of that could be true. But he's taking advantage of the opportunity to prove his critics wrong.





One of the more amazing implosions of a franchise is going on right in front of our eyes and yet no one seems no take much note of it because its being done by an organization with whom we have always directly associated futility. Considering the talent level and interesting mix of young and veteran players on the Los Angeles Clippers, their pitiful season is inexcusable and a direct indictment on head coach Mike Dunleavy. It is amazing that just 2 1/2 years ago, the Clippers made a run into the 2nd round of the playoffs. If owner Donald Sterling does not unload Dunleavy at the end of the season, then he gets what he deserves, whcih would hopefully be loads of season ticket holders not renewing. As in most situations like this one, the guy that made the mess should not be the one to clean it.

Y'all be cool. giddyap

More NBA thoughts going coming out of the weekend.



Statement win for the Celtics Friday night, soundly beating Orlando by 10 in Orlando. The Magic have a very nice, young roster and an excellent coach, but they are one solid rebounding big man away from being able to beat teams like the Cavaliers and the Celtics in a 7 game series. It gets very difficult on the defensive end to compete when you start two small forwards and no power forward. As good as Dwight Howard is, he needs help inside against the bigger front lines. Orlando will win at least 60 games by beating up on lesser teams. But they will not advance far in the playoffs against the bigger tougher teams.



The coaching massacre continued on Friday with the Grizzlies firing Marc Iavaroni. Out of all the firings we've seen this year, this one made the most sense. With very young talent like Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo, the Grizzlies needed a better teacher. And although Iavaroni had a stretch this year where he seemed to be almost getting something out of these guys, ultimately it all collapsed. The Grizzlies actually followed through well also, reportedly offerring the job to former Dallas coach Avery Johnson. Johnson turned them down, but its nice to see an organization make a run at a guy with a proven track record as oppossed to a team like the Wizards who fires a true pro like Eddie Jordan for a life long pencil pusher like Ed Tapscott, whose claim to fame was passing on Ron Artest for Frederic Weis, but I digress. The Grizzlies ended up hiring Lionel Hollins who has been an interim coach for them 2 separate times. He may not be the long term answer, but at least they're out there looking for one.



So I see where the Detroit Pistons have decided to bring Richard Hamilton off the bench in favor of starting Allen Iverson and Rodney Stuckey in the back court. Gutsy move by rookie head coach Michael Curry. And from this angle, I believe it to be the right decision. Firstly, Hamilton will most definitely still average in excess of 30 minutes a game. He will provide to the Pistons what San Antonio Spur fans have come to mknow as the "Ginobili effect." Manu Ginobili is a big time player in the NBA and a prolific winner. Spurs coach Greg popovich brings him off the bench and derives a big advantage in late first quarter/early second quarter action of games. Philosophically, its simple. Ginobili is better than anyone else's 1st or 2nd guy off the bench and inevitably ends up with a matchup that can be exploited. A coach can only get away with this with decent starters. This year's version of the Spurs has Tony Parker and Roger Mason. And the Pistons have Iverson and Stuckey. Hamilton is going to thrive in this arrangement and this will make the Pistons a much tougher out come May for Cleveland or Boston than Orlando could ever be.



Don't look now, but Larry "Next Town" Brown is starting to weave his magic in Charlotte. Six weeks ago it looked like they were throwing in the towel on their season by trading their best individual player in Jason Richardson. The two players they brought in, Raja Bell and Boris Diaw, are generally perceived as role players whose productivity was tied to Mike D'Antoni's system and Steve Nash's generosity. But they have come into Charlotte and fit in very well with a group of raw young players. This combined wuth the improved play of point guard Raymond Felton and the emergence of Emeka Okafor as a real solid inside player, and Next Town Brown has the Bobcats playing over .500 basketball since the Richardson trade. If Brown can turn this team into a winner, this will be a very nice notch on the belt of Larry's coaching career. I give the wandering one a lot of credit for not allowing his coaching career to end on the blemish that was his ill fated tenure as coach of the New York Knicks. The lesson is, everyone who gets attached to Isiah Thomas comes out of it dirtier than they came in. Just ask his daughter....

A few weeks ago, I predicted in this space an epic Western conference final with the Spurs and the Lakers. If there is one team out West that can definitely blow that up, it is certainly the Houston Rockets. They are the most well rounded team in the NBA. They are also the only team in the entire league with two perimeter defensive stoppers, in Shane Battier and Ron Artest. They play well in the half court and catch match up with big teams. They are athletic and deep enough to run with the fast teams. Their coach, Rick Adelman, has a lot of experience bringing teams deep in the playoffs. He was always blocked from a title by Jordan's Bulls and Shaq and Kobe's Lakers. If he can get this Rockets team to think more like an ensemble cast (more shots for everyone, and less for Tracy McGrady), he has the team that no one wants to play including the big bad Lakers.

Back with more later in the week.

Y'all be cool giddyap.

With a yawner of a Super Bowl on tap, its time for more random thoughts, NBA style.........

Is it me or does Greg Oden have bust written all over him. I've seen enough franchise centers over the years to know one when I see one, and he's not it. But he's definitely the type of guy who ends up collecting a ring or two as a role player right as everyone has written him off.

The biggest disappointment through the first half of the season has to be the Toronto Raptors. I have a question for their general manager Bryan Colangelo. If he thought that he might want to fire Sam Mitchell 17 games into the season, why didn't he try to get Mike D'Antoni in the offseason. If the answer is money, then its the wrong answer. Too many teams skimp on coaches, but when you look at the dollars committed to payroll, a healthy investment in the right coach can yield enormous dividends, but I digress. Their new coach Jay Triano clearly has not been an upgrade in comparing Mitchell's 8-9 record to Triano's 8-18 record. And he's just finding out what Larry Bird has known for 3 years. You can't win with Jermaine O'Neal. He's too selfish, too injury prone, and can't jump anymore. 2009-10 better be one great season if the Raptors are interested in keeping Chris Bosh around come 2010 offseason.

As far as disappointments go, the Chicago Bulls have to be a close second. There is too much talent there to be 18-24 at the halfway pole. Their impressive victory against Cleveland last Thursday notwithstanding, they're clearly underachieving. It was the wrong team for a rookie coach. The roster is an interesting talented mix of rookies and veterans. And they have very good personnel for an uptempo style. But their coach Vinny Del Negro has a disjointed rotation and can't seem to keep his young players focused. Think Jerry Reinsdorf would like that meeting with Mike D'Antoni back. D'Antoni would have won 55 games this year with that roster.

Speaking of wanting D'Antoni back, how's that whole defensive focus thing working out in Phoenix? Despite being 24-17, they're only 7th in the West and with Amare Stoudemire eligible for free agency after next season and their reliance on basketball senior citizens, Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash, and Grant Hill, I'd say the future isn't so bright. Terry Porter not doing a bad job. he's just playing the hand he's dealt.

D'Antoni IS doing a great job. He has the Knicks competitive night in and night out, despite their 16-24 record, with a team full of bench players. If Donnie Walsh can bring him some better talent, the future at Madison Square Garden is very bright.

You don't have to look further than across the Hudson River to find another coach doing a great job. New Jersey Nets coach Lawrence Frank has a young, raw roster. He overhauled the offensive system in the offseason to better fit his personnel, which is so obvious, yet so many coaches in the league don't do it. (Don Nelson, are you reading this?) Devin Harris is the perfect penetrate and kick point guard for that system. If a few of their young big players get better, they may be a very attractive option for one of the free agent superstars hitting the market in 2010.

And speaking of the Nets, Vince Carter has done a tremendous job this year leading a young group in a positive way. Carter has an awful reputation for quitting on the Toronto Raptors his last season there. But the job he is doing with this young Nets team proves he has grown up. At one point, the Nets will probably trade Vince, to get younger and clear more salary cap space. And because of Carter's unselfish play and positive influence on their young players, he should be a very attractive option for a veteran team who needs a shooting guard to put them over the top. Vince learned something Jason Kidd has never learned. When you do the right thing by the organization that pays you, kharma will reward you.

Kharma certainly is not rewarding Jason Kidd at this point. He dogged his way out of New Jersey to get a chance to win a title. The one problem is that the player the Mavericks traded to get him is younger and better than him, yet putting him that much further away from his elusive ring. They're further away from winning a title than the Suns. Kidd's jump shot is so bad, we can take the J out of his name and call him Ason. Now his defense is so bad, I'm not even sure he deserves the two d's at the end of his name. So let me say this. The Dallas Mavericks will not make the playoffs this year because of the skill deterioration of Ason Ki.

I know. It wasn't that funny. Sometimes I type things just to amuse myself.

I would not be surprised to see a Lamar Odom for Shawn Marion swap completed between now and the trade deadline. Odom and Kobe Bryant are like oil and water in LA. And as much as Odom is being a good soldier coming off the bench, one of their on court tiffs is likely to bite the Lakers at the wrong time. And Marion is a much better fit for the Lakers as a small forward playing next to Kobe and Pau Gasol. He's in a contract year, so the motivation is there. And for the Heat, bringing Odom in could give Dwayne Wade the sidekick he needs to make a decent playoff run. last time those two were side by side in Miami, the Heat made an improbable run to the 2nd round of the playoffs giving them invaluable playoff experience the year before they traded Odom for Shaq. If the Heat picked up Odom, that could be that team that gives the Cavaliers or Celtics fits.

Staying in the east for a minute, isn't it so very interesting how Elton Brand gets hurt and the Philadelphia 76ers heat up. Obviously this is a roster that is built much more for an uptempo style of play for the sole exception of Brand. By the time Brand comes back this year, it will be too late to move him, but don't be surprised if general manager Ed Stefanski finds a home for him in the offseason. Despite Brand's enormous contract and extensive injury history, he is still highly regarded by most NBA executives.

Catch you later in the week with more. Y'all be cool. Giddyap.

More random thoughts on the NFL and some other stuff.....

The NFL playoffs have officially become like the NCAA tournament. Starting with the 6 seed Pittsburgh Steelers in 2005 to the #3 seed Indianapolis Colts in 2006 to the Giants magical run in 2007 to what we have right now. The Arizona Cardinals are the NFL's version of George Mason. Lets see how long Cinderella's slipper stays on.

Speaking of the Cardinals, this little run they're mucks up the Kurt Warner contract situation that much more. If Warner takes them to the Super Bowl, how do they not re-sign him? But how do you pay him when you've got big money committed to Matt Leinart and Warner's 37? Because Cardinals' ownership is not big on spending money, its probably less of an issue than I'm making it, but lets see how far they get.

And by the way, who woke Edgerrin James?? Probably his agent, considering he's positive he's getting cut and he needs a new contract. The way he's running now, he'd look nice on some team's running back committee. But Edge better be prepared to take a pay cut.

Speaking of pay cuts, Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo isn't having the best 2009 so far. He originally wouldn't interview for the St. Louis Rams head coaching position because he was " out of their price range." Now, his vaunted Giants defense was shredded by the Eagles and most of the open jobs seem to be filling up quickly. The Broncos hired Josh McDaniels today, who by the way looks so much like Ashton Kutcher that I thought he was going to get Punked during the press conference, but I digress. It looks like the Lions are sweet on Jim Schwartz and the Jets are waiting for Rex Ryan. That leaves the Rams and the Raiders. The Rams really like Jason Garrett and the Raiders haven't come calling. And before someone says that Spags is a highly paid coordinator, remember so is Garrett. Opportunuties for the big chair are fleeting, thats why you've got to grab them when they're there.

WHile I'm on the Giants, maybe I spoke a little soon abiut wanting Eli in Green Bay in January. Or maybe I just needed to be more specific. I'll take Eli in Green Bay in January with Plaxico Burress and only with Plaxico Burress.

Can Andy Reid shave already? I expected the side judge to drop a quarter in his pocket as he walked by on the sideline yesterday. And doesn't he look like Chris Farley dressed up in his "DA Bears" costume??

The Carolina Panthers very rapidly reached an organizational crossroads this past Saturday night. They've got very good personnel on both sides of the ball for the exception of two areas, defensive back and quarterback. They can certainly address the secondary in free agency because they don't have a first round pick. But what do you do at quarterback? Its clear that Jake Delhomme is not the same quarterback after Tommy John surgery. Its not like he's a relief pitcher who can just throw more curveballs. He doesn't have it and he was horrifically exposed on Saturday night. Their best bet is a one year solution to see if they can make one more run before they decide to draft a qb. Think Kurt Warner might be available? Or what about bringing Kerry Collins back?

Speaking of Collins, I don't think the Titans bring him back. He had a very good year. But they're paying Vince Young a lot of money. Young is only going to sit for so long at that pricetag. And its the right move. Collins took them as far as he's capable of taking them. They're going to have to Young the keys at some point to see if he's got it. If he isn't any good, their 3rd stringer, Chris Simms, can do the same thing for them that Collins can do and he'll be much cheaper. I'm not a Young fan, but the Titans are smart. They manage their cap very well and stay competitive year after year, even with shaky first round picks like Young and Pacman Jones.

Whats the over/under on how long it takes Tony Dungy to take a lucrative long term contract to turn around a 3-13 franchise? I say 3 years and I'll take the under. A man's faith may help him sleep at night, but it doesn't pay the bills.

A few NBA thoughts before I leave you this evening........

The Celtics are not as good as their 27-2 start and they're not as bad as they've looked losing their last 7 out of 10. But the fact that their 3 best players are all advancing well into their thirties and that they do not have enough depth may very well undermine their chances to repeat. As regular readers of this space know, I'm not the biggest fan of the Danny Ainge/Doc Rivers team in Boston. And they've done nothing but shut me up. But if they think that Stephon Marbury is the answer to what ails them, they get what they deserve. They'd be better off adding another big man, because to get through Cleveland they're going to have to match up with Wallace, Ilgauskas, and Varejao and that might not even be enough.

I understand that the free agent class of 2010 is rich with talent. But with all these teams making trades designed to be big players that year, isn't it inevitable that one or two organizations get caught holding the bag. If its the Knicks, watch how fast Donnie Walsh jets out of town.

I know that the Pistons made the Billups/Iverson trade to create cap room for 2010, but they've created an athletic, experienced group that can be a brutal matchup for the Celtics or the Cavaliers in the playoffs. The whole key is to keep Rasheed Wallace and Iverson from killing each other before the playoffs. I'm not sure if Michael Curry is the guy to handle that but he's got them moving in the right direction.

I'm not sure what round of the playoffs this is going to happen but something tells me we are in for a Spurs-Lakers epic this spring.

Lots of coaches fired early in the season, which is a surprising but makes sense especially when general managers sell ownership on the quality of the talent. But the replacements that have been hired is downright shocking. Guys with no head coaching experience get hired while Jay Triano, Tony DiLeo, and Ed Tapscott are roaming the NBA sidelines while established winners like Mike Fratello and Jeff Van Gundy remain behind microphones. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Back later in the week. Y'all be cool. Giddyap.

Things I'm thinking about getting all fired up for today's divisional round of the NFL playoffs

Great job by Norv Turner these past few weeks keeping all the attention on Tomlinson's injury with no clear intention to play him a lot, healthy or not. Takes pressure off of other potential distractions, i.e Vincent Jackson's DUI and Phillip Rivers' need for a new hair stylist.

Andy Reid gets a very bad rap as a coach. They've been to 4 NFC title games, one Super Bowl, and they're competitive every year. And lets face it.... McNabb's not that good. Yet, all you ever hear about Reid is that he doesn't run enough and he's bad with replay challenges. That may be true, but the results are there. The only problem I would ever have with Andy Reid is if I got caught behind him on a buffet line.

If you're a Kurt Warner fan, enjoy tonight's swan song. His contract is up at the end of the year and with the money they've committed to Matt Leinart, it would be foolish to re-sign a 37 year old former MVP who will expect to get paid after a great year. The Cardinals have proved their point to Leinart. No one cares what you did in college. In the NFL, you've got to work for everything.

And speaking of college, I believe I'm in the minority in being of the opinion that Tim Tebow is going to be a very good pro quarterback. He throws well on the run, is hard to sack, and has a strong enough arm. Plus from everything I read and hear, he's smart as a whip and no one can doubt that he's a winner. If you don't think there's a place for him in this league, keep in mind that Tarvaris Jackson started a playoff game last week.

How's that Jet coaching search coming along? Did Woody Johnson find any qualified candidates last week in Europe? The best thing you can say is that at least they've abandoned any hopes of being a "win now" team. Favre doesn't want to be there next year and it appears as though the Jets don't want him back. Someone finally explained to Woody that people aren't going to pay $25,000 per PSL to watch a has been lead the league in interceptions. The Packers knew exactly what they were doing last year. And the good news for them is that once the Jets release Favre, the Vikings will repeat the Jets mistake. I can see it now. CHarles Woodson returning an interception 90 yards to a booing Metrodome crowd while Zygi Wilf sits in the press box throwing up in his mouth.

Speaking of the Jets, Eric Mangini didn't stay unemployed long. He's just what the doctor ordered for the Browns. My guess is that he's learned plenty from his experience with the Jets. They'll get a good defensive player with their early draft pick and they've got lots of offensive talent including a monster offensive line. The big question is can they win with the quarterback. I say yes and think the Browns are a serious threat to challenge Pittsburgh for AFC North supremacy for a long time. We will all learn to appreciate Mangini/Tomlin chess games for years to come. And throw John Harbaugh's Ravens in the mix and that is soing to be a tough division for a long time.

There's been a lot of debate this week over the NFL's overtime rules. There's probably some sort of change coming and its probably the right thing. But can we please eliminate the notion that the overtime rules cost the Colts a game they should have had. The Colts had several opportunuites to win that game last Saturday night. But poor play calling, poor pass protection, and a lack of discipline cost them that game, not a coin flip. Their coach's playoff record is spotty at best, even with a Super Bowl ring on his resume. And as amazing a regular season player as Peyton Manning is, his playoff record isn't something to write home about either. His one Super Bowl ring removes the "choker " tag from his career resume, but there's no doubt he's proven to be a regular season phenom and an ordinary guy in the playoffs. Need to win one in New England in November, I'll take Peyton. Need to win one in Green Bay in January, I'm taking Eli.

This Pacman Jones story out of Dallas this week is kind of puzzling. Try to follow me here. The Cowboys sign him with a history of felonies that would make Tony Soprano cringe. He beats up his team hired bodyguard midseason, gets suspended, and goes to alcohol rehab. The Cowboys take him back to help for the stretch run and he really doesn't help that much. From a football standpoint, kind of a tough season for Pacman. But Pacman and the Cowboys declare him a changed man ready to move on with his career. Then an ESPN report leaks that he tried to arrange for a murder at a Strip club in 2007 before he was ever on the Cowboys, which by the way was the same thing he got arrested in Vegas for when he got suspended for the 2007 season. Was Jerry Jones naive enough to believe that the only time he ever did something this egregious was when he got caught? Did any of this come as a surprise? And if alcohol rehab changed him, then why cut him for something that occurred way before he was a Cowboy? ANd all this assumes the report is somewhat credible. The Cowboys, nor any other organization shouldn't have gotten involved with him in the first place. And I'm not in the business of defending convicted felons. But once they brought him on board, don't they owe him a tad more loyalty than to cut bait before these allegations are further investigated. This is a strange organization that has a knack for making every move they make wreak of awkwardness.

And while we're on the topic of the Cowboys, they need to get the coaching staff straightened out because they've got the ingredients to win now. They've got the quarterback, they've got an emarassment of riches with skill position players, they've got the the top defensive player in football, but somehow they remain a mess. If they can use this year's draft to straighten out the offensive line, they're a good coach away from being a Super Bowl contender. And waiting a year for Mike Shanahan to be ready to coach is a recipe for disaster.

Too much football stuff to get to hoops or hot stove this week, but I'll shoot for it next week. Enjoy the games. Y'all be cool. giddyap.

Its been over 18 months since I've last done this, but I figured that there was no better time to get this going again than on the eve of the NFL playoffs. So here are some random thoughts in no particular sequence.

If Chad Pennington had given the Jets the same year that Brett Favre just gave them, I'm kinda thinking Eric Mangini would still be employed.

Think the Niners aren't a little bummed they didn't wait a few days to give Mike Singletary a 4 year deal. If they had waited, Mike Shanahan could have come home to a hero's welcome.

Speaking of Shanahan, someone is going to hire a very good football coach in him. But they better make sure that someone else is shopping for the groceries.

If Jerry Jones doesn't get serious about running an organization, as opposed to a fantasy football team, the Cowboys are well on their way to becoming a very expensive laughing stock. But these are things that happen when owners make football decisions designed to sell PSLs instead of winning football games.

Do you think Woody Johnson read that last line? Not likely.

How did Jack Del Rio survive Shack Harris in Jacksonville? Wasn't Garrard Del Rio's guy? Seems to me that if Jacksonville doesn't make the playoffs next year, both Garrard and Del Rio will be looking for work. Del Rio's in trouble. You can't win with Garrard.

The Raiders are much closer to being good than their record would indicate. They can run the football and they play good pass defense. One more big defensive tackle and just a bit of improvement from the quarterback and they're a playoff team next year. But Al Davis definitely isn't reading this, so he'll probably take a player they clearly don't need.

Is it just me, or do the Giants kind of look like every other playoff team now that they don't have Plaxico Burress?? Earlier in the year, they looked good to repeat. Burress may have shot more than himself in the foot.

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

Excluding the league MVP, Philip Rivers was the best quarterback in football for the month of December. And a great job by Norv Turner in changing the identity of that offense to adjust for the fact that LeDainian Tomlinson is shot.

I really like Herm Edwards. He is very well respected and very well liked in the football community. But he's 6-28 in the last two seasons. Just the mere fact that Chiefs owner Clark Hunt is considering keeping him employed is enough to make Chiefs fans believe that the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train.

It hasn't exactly been a stellar end of the season for the Belichick coaching tree. Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini get the axe and Charlie Weis is stuck at Notre Dame if he wants to collect his money.

The big buzz with the NFL playoffs is the three first year coaches, Tony(The Dyxlexic Don) Sparano, Mike Smith, and John Harbaugh. So with so many jobs open, teams are going looking more at assistants who've never coached before as oppossed to "recycled" coaches. Yet. when you look back at the last two seasons, the Super Bowl winning coach each year (Tony Dungy and Tom Coughlin), were on their 2nd job. Now please explain to me while teams aren't lining up to interview Brian Billick and Mike Shanahan.

And while I'm on it, is someone going to be smart enough to hire Marty Schottenheimer. Last regular season he coached, he went 14-2. He has been the victim of some incredibly bad luck in the playoffs. With the right team at the right time, Marty definitely could be the right guy.

You'd think I was endorsing him for office......

There's a significant chance, Terrell Owens will not be in the league next year. Would you take him? And I will organize a national boycott of the network that chooses to hire him as an analyst.

And if its ESPN, shouldn't they make him apologize to Ed Werder?

And speaking of ESPN, isn't it hysterical when John Clayton reports a scoop and Chris Mortensen's scoop refutes Clayton's scoop 10 minutes later. ESPN treats these guys like the Menendez brothers got treated by their parents.

But I digress....

Also, I think I'm in the minority in not being 100% convinced that Bill Cowher will be as good a coach outside that Pitttsburgh cocoon. With all due respect to the tremendous job that Mike Tomlin does, that orgainizational system plays an enormous role in their consistent success.

Chad Johnson better pray that the Bengals don't decide to cut bait this off season. Between the butcher job that TO did in Dallas, and the constant whining of Jeremy Shockey in New Orleans, the market for divas who catch the football is starting to run thin.

Speaking of Shockey, can we now say that its no coincidence that Eli Manning grew up as a quarterback as soon as he didn't have Shockey screaming in his ear for the ball.

I'll be back early in the week with some more NFL stuff and a little hoops and hot stove baseball. Enjoy the weekend.. Y'all be cool.