Love him or hate him, Rivers is quietly enjoying a pro bowl season if that’s somehow possible. Look for continued success against a Browns team that can’t get out of its own way.

Matt Shaub

Schaub had a great first half against the Colts last week, the coaches have reminded him there is another half after the first one for this weeks playoff elimination type matchup with the Jags.

Vince (gulp) Young

Never thought I would see his name in this column, but hey, isn’t life full of second chances, we just may have found the next Jim Plunkett. Look for Young to be effective against a young colts secondary.

Carson Palmer

The Bengals offense has been on holiday the last 3 weeks, look for Palmer to show some veteran leadership in lathering up the Lions this week.

Aaron Rodgers

When he gets time to throw, he can light you up ! That will be the question against the Ravens defense this Monday Night, having Chad Clifton and Mark Tausher healthy are key here.

RB’s

Chris Johnson

Move over Adrian Peterson, there’s a new kid in town ! The colts don’t know what they’re in for this sunday.

Adrian Peterson

“Hey, did you just tell me’s to move over ? Watch me tears it up gainst the Cardinals dis weekend !”

Larry Johnson

They’re working him in slowly, Cincinnati adding another character in the locker room makes them replace the Raiders as the kookiest team in the league.

Ricky Williams

Everyone knows the Dolphins are going to run the ball, yet, who can stop them, Pats showing you can lay the wood to them this year with their defense in tatters.

Maurice Jones Drew

Everytime Jags get whooped, they get this brilliant idea to run the ball more next game, well, good news, the Jags got whooped last week !

Felix Jones

This kid is a Chris Johnson clone, only problem is he can’t stay healthy, giants defense is a shell of itself since Spagnuolo Aiglie Olio…anyways since that italian guy left !

WR’s

Desean Jackson

This guy can flat out fly. Look for him to do some damage this weekend as McNabb is going to him more often.

Chad Ochcinco

Showing veteran leadership this year, let’s give Chad some credit as he was off everybody’s radar when the year started and he’s definately putting up good numbers this year.

Andre Johnson

It’s time for AJ to show up in a big game for Houston, if he likes his coach, we will see the results this Sunday.

Devery Henderson

Came out of the same draft class as Sheili Manning, finally delivering on the potential he’s always had, having Drew Brees doesn’t hurt either.

Kilometres Austin

Roy Williams does all the talking, Miles Austin does all the receiving ! Only problem here is that the QB known as Mr. November is throwing him the ball !

TE’s

Antonio Gates

Mr. Gates is from Michigan, close enough that I’m sure he’ll put on a fine show for family and friends

Tony Gonzales

The Eagles are vulnerable against the tight ends, Atlanta has one of the best ones in the league.

Dallas Clarke

The guy is just too good not to mention , he and Peyton do the Vulcan mind meld once a week (we have any trekkies out there ?)

Visante Shiancoe

Brett Farve was embarrassed to throw to a guy who’s name he couldn’t pronounce , I just learned last week he can call him Shank, so know he can  throw the ball to him because they have a  new friendship to build on .

The sound you probably didn’t hear last month was Tim Floyd waving goodbye to College Basketball. By accepting a job on the bench of the New Orleans Hornets, Floyd made it clear that he was done with college basketball, at least for now. Things unraveled very quickly for the coach of the Trojans basketball team that advance to the Sweet-16 in last year’s edition of March Madness. Just three months later, without saying a word beyond his terse one paragraph resignation letter to USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett, the embattled coach indirectly fired a shot across the bow of the late Myles Brand and his gang at the NCAA.  Hard on the heels of last year’s pathetic performance by Indiana’s Kelvin Sampson, who despite mounting evidence of his unwillingness to comply with NCAA rules, refused to release the death-grip he had on his job without first tossing loyal assistants, staffers and even players under the team bus, Floyd simply refused to fight. You could argue that Floyd saw the writing on the wall and turtled, realizing that he has very little support among his peers in College basketball and that no one at USC including his A.D. is going to stick their neck out for someone who might jeopardize Pete Carroll’s juggernaut. You could say that given the choice between quit now or get publicly tarred and feathered later, Floyd chose the easier route.  You could say that…but you’d be wrong.

When Floyd arrived on the scene of big-time college basketball in 1994 with a team at Iowa State that would go on to set a school record for victories and a #5 seed in the Tourney in his first year, he was described in the local Ames, Iowa paper as “combining school-boy good looks with a fierce determination to win”. Floyd’s erstwhile good looks are long gone, having been replaced in recent years with a perma-scowl of such psychopathic intensity that a ref once “T’d” Floyd for looking at him. But the determination to win remained and Floyd finally figured out something that everyone figures out who hangs around on the inside of college hoops long enough, you can play by the rules or you can win, but you can’t do both!

 “Whoaaa there big fella”, you say.  “Are you saying that Mike Cryzewski, Roy Williams and…and…and…” Go on, try to come up with another name that you would categorically state has not broken the rules to win. The point is that even if the Dukes and UNCs of the world don’t pay players to play for them they certainly are receiving “benefits” not available to players at South East Missouri State or Lafayette. Have you seen the way these teams travel, or the facilities the players train in and live in? And for the coaches of the other 300+ teams in Division 1 not in the class of the Top 10 programs, a more overt type of cheating is the only solution.  In 2003, SMU coach Dave Bliss, a coach who had worked in College basketball for over 20 years and was regarded as a sterling example of coaching integrity, publicly admitted that he paid players to play and to avoid detection had tried to implicate a player as a drug dealer to explain his lifestyle while in college.  Oh by the way, that player happened to have been recently murdered by a teammate. What could possibly explain this level of “scumbaggery” by a seemingly upstanding coach? The system created by the NCAA.

It is the highest form of hypocrisy for the NCAA to accuse any coach of unethical behavior. For the NCAA and its member institutions to benefit to the tune of 100s of millions of dollars in TV and licensed product revenue from the efforts of unpaid players and then impose a set of rules on these athletes so draconian and pervasive as to make them all but incomprehensible and ensure a poverty level existence for these players away from the comfort of their campuses, is immoral. That ethics and the NCAA sound as compatible as Jessica Simpson and a MENSA convention, is hard to argue. But everyone except the players has such a vested interest in the continuity of the situation that no one breathes a word about it. Not the media that generates sales and ratings, not the coaches and administrators that make a fine living of the avails of the game and certainly not the ticking heart of the goliath, the pencil-pushing evil geniuses at the NCAA.

So, Tim Floyd was left with no choice at all. He went home knowing that he would return down the road on the bench of some NBA team. As a throw-back, discipline oriented coach more at home in another age of college basketball, Floyd never looked comfortable stalking the sidelines of this modern game.  A newer mindset exists among these athletes who are now surrounded by handlers and acolytes from the time they lace up their shoes in high school. “I’m going to get mine” is the mantra of these players, but it is the NCAA that has created a world in which playing for school pride and for the love of the game is not only gone but are ideals more retro than the David Thompson shirts this unpaid workforce sport on the blacktop.

It’s amazing that in the decades of 4th Quarter collapses, I don’t ever remember one like this. To lose on a ‘too many men on the field’ penalty is hard to fathom even for a Rider fan. There seems to be a difference this time around though. I feel it myself and was surprised to find that I wasn’t alone. This was a loss with hope. In fact, notice below a letter forwarded to me, that was sent this morning to the Mayor of Regina:

Dear Mayor Fiacco,

I know you and City Council are among the many people of the province who share the feeling of disbelief and devastation after the end of last night’s game…. Watching the Montreal players celebrate, and listening to the eloquent but painful interview with Coach Ken Miller (especially his statement that “the disappointment of this loss is going to affect us as long as we’re on this planet”), an idea started to percolate:  that Rider Nation should hold a parade for the Riders in a couple of days – a ‘Rising Above Defeat’ parade, held in a spirit of snatching hope (if not victory) from the jaws of defeat.  I know there is a gathering at Mosaic Stadium this afternoon, but here are ten reasons for one more celebration for the Riders of 2009:

1.  The Riders had a great season, won the Western division, hosted and won the Western final, and in the process, brought a whole province (and a whole lot of fans outside the province) a great deal of joy.  The way in which we lost the Grey Cup has left all of us shaking our heads in absolute dismay, but it doesn’t seem right to end the season on that note, given the tremendous year we had.

2.  The Riders played well enough to win.  All those prognostications about the Alouettes being a far better team, about them being ahead of the Riders in most statistical categories, being the class of the league, 9 point favourites, we disproved and defied all of that.  We didn’t win, so this is not a victory parade – we’re still hungry for one of those – but we certainly showed we were capable of being Grey Cup champions.

3.  A small mistake on the penultimate play of the game cost us big.  But there is no value in scapegoating anyone.  In fact the end of the game eerily resembles much of human life, where often enough, things that go really wrong are at least in part our own doing.  Nothing is going to let us play that play over, or a handful of others plays which could have won us the game.  So rather than concentrating on who is to blame and dumping on their lawn, let’s do something positive and thank the players and coaches for a great season.

4.  This is not only a talented team which evokes a great deal of hope for coming seasons; it is also a classy team, with very likeable players and coaches, especially a head coach and starting quarterback who are two of the more intelligent and articulate people in football, who have the ability to keep things in perspective, and who have gained our respect not only for their coaching/playing, but for who they are.

5.  A great deal has been made about Rider Pride in the past weeks, and rightly so, but Rider Pride isn’t only about winning, about jumping on a bandwagon because we happen to have a championship-contending team.  Rider Pride has shown itself strong in the midst of football’s equivalent to the great depression (a couple of decades of losing seasons).  Doing something for the team now would show that Rider Pride is about supporting a team, players, a franchise, even when we didn’t quite pull it off this time.

6.  The players have obviously been grateful for the fan support from Rider Nation especially in recent weeks.  Celebrating the team in the days ahead would be a way of showing the players that there really is something different about this publicly owned franchise, and that there are some serious advantages to playing here rather than in the larger markets of the CFL.  It would show the class of the Rider Nation.

7.  Part of what makes sports exciting is that someone wins and someone loses.  But ‘loss’ isn’t the right word to describe that game or that season.  We certainly can’t call it a victory parade, but perhaps a ‘rising above defeat’ parade to show our resilience, to help put things into perspective, and to remind the rest of the CFL that we’ll be back….

8.  It would be somehow revealing about our knowledge and love of football on the prairies if we managed to have more people out for a parade for the Riders than the Alouettes would have at their victory parade in Montreal.

9.  What are our choices, eh?  Sulk and rage, or deal with it, make the best of it, and let our coaches and players know our gratitude for a year that has been special in many ways.

10.  It would be an anticipation and foreshadowing of a victory parade (hopefully) next year at this time.

Yours Sincerely,
Don Quixote and Friends (bleeding green)

Well Don Quixote, I couldn’t agree more!

I’m not sure if I’m fooling myself or not but it sure feels better than just focusing on another devastating loss.

NR

According to legend, Hercules attempted to regain his position on Mount Olympus by redeeming himself from some past misdeed.  In accomplishing this Hercules successfully completed 12 outrageous tasks that proved his worthiness.  If fixing the mess that is the BCS had been on his list instead of merely slaying the 9-headed hydra, the ending might have been altogether different.  It’s fitting that if the original “Hurculean tasks” took 12 years to complete, that after 12 years of squabbling and complaining over the BCS format someone finally came up with the perfect solution.  Yes folks, read on as I untie the ultimate “Gordian knot” and provide the means to determine the Men’s Division 1A NCAA Football Champion.  First, let’s be clear on what the issues are that afflict the current system and have to be addressed moving forward.

Problem #1 – Playoff or no Playoff ?
Everyone agrees that playing some type of playoff format would result in a clear National Champion.  The problem however is that nobody is prepared to mess with the “third rail” of college football, the marquis Bowl games.  Having a single BCS Championship game is bad enough, but no one is prepared to go further to undermine the importance of the January classics, the Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and the “Granddaddy of them all”, the Rose Bowl.  Add to that the fact that tacking further weeks on to the end of the season is a non-starter as well.  Injuries, weather, conference play in college basketball and the specter of going head-to-head with the NFL playoffs all mean that an end-of-season playoff is not going to happen. Some have suggested having the playoff occur at the end of the conference season and prior to the Bowl games. As long as the NCAA continues with the pretense that these are “student-athletes” and pay lip-service to an academic component in the lives of their players, this can’t work either as exams fall right in that time-frame. So to recap, forget a playoff.  That is not the solution.

Problem #2 – Non BCS Undefeated Teams
The second major problem that has never been addressed by the BCS is the complaint from the non-BCS conferences that they are not being given any love.  This year, with undefeated teams like TCU and Boise State playing well and undefeated teams from power leagues like Florida and Alabama winning but not doing so convincingly, the problem is magnified and the murmuring that the National title game will not feature the two best teams is heating up.  Even teams from BCS Conferences that have run the table like Cincinnati and until this weekend Iowa create problems because questions remain about their strength of schedule.  Just how good is the Big East? How much stock do we put into wins over Connecticut and Rutgers? In the case of the non-BCS teams, their argument has been that they have no way of proving themselves to the voters because the power leagues won’t put them on their schedule.  Often, it’s too late that fans (and voters) realize just how good these teams are, as in 2007 when undefeated Boise State defeated Big-12 Champion Oklahoma in a classic tilt and last year when 12-0 Utah dismantled an Alabama team that had flirted with the #1 position all year.  As long as their in-season scheduling is entirely in the hands of the individual institution this situation will continue.  Oregon came into this season with realistic expectations of winning the Pac-10 and competing for a National title.  Those hopes were severely damaged in their first game of the season as they scheduled non-BCS Boise State and lost.  It didn’t do much for Boise State’s position in the polls as Oregon’s credentials were immediately questioned, but it effectively took Oregon out of any championship conversations.  Why would Florida or Alabama run the risk of such a scenario?  They are perfectly happy scheduling Troy or Charleston Southern knowing that their in-conference games will bump up their S.O.S. number to an acceptable level.

Solution

For his 5th task, Hercules had to literally deal with a lot of crap in coming up with a solution.  He was required to clean the Stables of Augean that housed tens of thousands of cattle and do it in a single day! I’ve heard of some dirty jobs before, but yikes! He accomplished this by the ingenious, if somewhat impractical idea, of diverting a couple of rivers to flow through the stables.  I mention this, not just as a visual to illustrate the mess that the current system is in, but to set up some seriously out-of-the-box thinking. To solve the current problems, the organizers of the BCS have to institute the…..(drum roll please)… “BCS ELIMINATION WEEKEND”.  Just what is the “BCS Elimination Weekend” you might ask?  It’s a spectacular set of non-conference games, organized and scheduled by the BCS at neutral sites in the middle of November that pits the top 16 teams in the BCS against one another. The purpose is to clarify the strengths of the various conferences and weed out the pretenders from the contenders.  It will help determine prior to the Bowls just which of the non-BCS conferences deserve to be mentioned as National title game contributors.  It would be a television ratings hit and generate a boatload of money for the conferences and all of the networks involved in college football.  It would ensure that the non-BCS teams are given a chance to play the power-conference teams without taking the scheduling completely out of the hands of the schools. Most of all, it would be a rip-snorting, all out battle-royale that would probably produce some of the most exciting football in years.

How It Would Work

A BCS Selection Committee would be formed and be modeled along the lines of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Committee, comprising representatives from all of the affected conferences.  Their job would be not just to match-up the teams by seed, but create games that would be of regional interest and provide the necessary information to produce the Bowl game pairings and ultimately the National Championship match-up at the end of the season. After the third BCS Poll comes out (this year November 1st), the match-ups would be announced and the top 16 teams in the standings would be paired together. The games would be played two weeks later over the course of three days from Thursday to Saturday.  Two games each on Thursday and Friday and four games on Saturday. If you win that weekend you continue to be considered for the Championship game, lose and you are eliminated from consideration.  Since no one would know prior to the season which 16 teams would be involved, no games could be pre-scheduled for that weekend.  The committee would therefore also match-up all remaining teams from the affected conference in a series of games played on home fields with those locations being balanced among the conferences and rotated yearly.  Going back to the top-16, based on the standings after Week 3 this year, some of those match-ups could have included Boise State (BCS #7) vs LSU (#9) giving the country an idea of how strong the WAC is and whether their win over Oregon was an early season aberration. Cincinnati (#5) vs Oregon (#8) pits the top teams in the Big East and the Pac-10.  What about a game between TCU and Texas played at the new Texas Stadium in front of 100,000 fans? The bottom line is that everybody wins with this solution and it takes the BCS organizers off the hook when it comes to the mid-majors.  It’s effectively a playoff but it doesn’t conflict with any of the obstacles to a post-season tournament.

Are you convinced? It’s said that after Hercules completed his 12 tasks, one of the gods tried to cheat him out of his reward and all his work almost went for nothing. It’s unlikely that this will be anything more than a great idea on paper because we are dealing after all with the geniuses at the NCAA. But if it does happen, remember where you heard it first.

My favourite story of the week was hearing Markus Naslund was coming out of retirement. He and Peter Forsberg recently decided to come out of retirement to play in the Swedish Elite league. They are playing for their home-town team Modo.  Modo is in last place in the league and in financial trouble, so the two ex-NHL’ers decided to suit up for free to help out their old team. With so much greed and selfishness in sports it was great to hear a feel good story.

Being a cynic by nature maybe the above story wasn’t my fav. nothing made me laugh more this last week than hearing that former presidential press secretary Ari Fleischer was hired by the BCS to as BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock put it,  “highlight the positive aspects of the BCS.”

Finally, the 2010 NFL Draft board received some much needed help in slotting the upcoming crop of QB’s.  Jimmy Clausen getting punched out this last week has draft gurus scrambling.  With his mother acting as his left tackle, he still couldn’t avoid the rush.  For any who have questioned his pocket presence this should seal the deal.  With this development look for Jimmy to go in the 5th or 6th round at best, unless the Raiders take him in the first round.

Well if Mr. Bettman wasn’t a buffoon enough by completely ruining the sport of hockey, he has now embarrassed the baseball historians. Its’ not enough to reduce the historical aspect of hockey by moving teams to non-hockey markets where the only ice people care about is the one they put in their coke, instead of having teams in Canadian markets where they actually play the sport, You see Mr. Bettman has now decided to have a hockey game at Fenway, the  icon stadium of baseball. What was he thinking about, was he hoping for a contest to see if Zendeno Chara can jump the green monster as if he is going to jump the bench or maybe he is a hugh Neil Diamond fan and wants to hear ,“sweet caroline”, sung by 15000 frezzing Bostonians .  The point of having outdoor hockey is to bring us back to pond hockey times, therefore an oval football stadium is what is needed , not a nostalgic baseball park. If this is his idea of getting hockey on a the map,  then its time for Bettman to hang his “skates” before he is hung out to dry!!

The Grey Cup, Canada’s largest annual sports and television event, takes place this Sunday at six pm eastern. It regularly draws a Canadian viewing audience of about 4 million persons which, as far as Canadian audiences go, is higher than Super Bowl ratings.

The Grey Cup is the trophy awarded each year to the champion of the Canadian Football League; but it hasn’t always been that way. Donated by the then Governor General of Canada, Earl Grey, in 1909, it was initially to be awarded to the Rugby Football Champion of Canada. For the first 45 years of its history, football teams from various leagues in Canada could bid to compete for the championship and the trophy. In the early years, the winners were teams representing universities and even local athletic associations. Since 1954, however, only teams that are members of the CFL have been allowed to compete for Earl Grey’s Cup.

There are a number of story lines in this, the 97th Grey Cup.

Can the Alouettes win a second Cup in this their seventh chance over the past decade? How much impact will Rider Nation invading Calgary have on the outcome of the game? Will this be the end of the line for so many veterans in the Montreal line-up, if they manage to win?

The story line I’m most interested in is the impact of this game on discussed changes to the Can-Con rule. There are 42 roster spots in the CFL, three of which are occupied by the QB’s. The other 39 though need to be made up of 20 non-imports (mostly Canadian-born) with the remaining 19 spots taken up by American recruits.

Further to that rule, it is also required that of the 20 Canadians, seven need to be starters. The proposed rule change has the seven Canadian starters reduced to four. The Riders have been making a case recently both vocally and by their play that that would be a ridiculous idea.

Historically the non- imports have been utilized on the offensive line, as place kickers and safeties. Uniquely, the Riders use Canadian players in many of their skill positions. Most of their receiving core is home-grown talent, and even after losing their most dangerous receiver Winston Dressler (an import), for the year, they haven’t missed a beat. The Riders, on top of putting a high premium on Canadian talent, have taken it a step further. Over a third of the non-imports on the Riders are Saskatchewan-born. Further to that, the practice roster is also loaded with local recruits. Why? They are being groomed to be the next wave of great Saskatchewan talent.

So while many want to change the Can-con rules, there is no point. What is really needed is for other teams to put the same premium on grooming and developing home-grown talent. There is no doubt that a country of over 300 million could supply more than enough talent to flood the CFL. The real question though is: is that necessary?

While it is true that football is a game that showcases athleticism, it requires an equal measure of precision and savvy. These are qualities that are often developed to a greater degree in individuals of lesser athleticism. There is plenty of room for both types of player in the CFL. There is no reason to further drop the amount of required non-import starters (already been done once in the 90’s). If they really want to change the rule, why doesn’t the league require each team to have a minimum of seven Saskatchewan-born players on each team? If you want true quality play, that’s the only answer!

The New Orleans secondary will be facing their stiffest challenge this year.   If Matt Ryan can do damage, imagine what Tom Brady and his arsenal will do Monday Night !

Drew Brees

Looking for a real track meet on Monday Night.  His numbers will be great just to keep up with the Patriots.  Very important to have a nap Monday to stay up and watch this one !

Matt Cassel

Coming off a great game against the champs, look for him to put up some numbers even though the Chargers defense has been improving of late. 

RBs

Adrian Peterson

Quite simply – the Bears are going to be the cubs when Mr. Peterson and the Vikings O-line get done with them on Sunday !

Brandon Jacobs

Denver has given up big rushing yards lately, and with Jacobs at 6′4 and 260 pounds – who wants a piece of that coming at you ?

LeSean McCoy

He looked like the real McCoy against the Bears on Sunday Night.  Look for Philly to exploit their newfound success.

Jamaal Charles

If you need a back, he’s starting to show some of the toughness he’s been lacking since he was drafted last year plus he can take kickoffs to the house for an added bonus.

Chris Johnson

We have to respect the yardage leader in the league this year, and his offensive line ain’t bad either.  Titans have to control the ball to keep it out of Warner’s hands.

WRs

Mike Sims-Walker

I’m getting carpel tunnel syndrome spelling his name every week, but he keeps producing !  Not too many teams run the ball on the Niners.

Randy Moss

Because Tom Brady is his quaterback, they’re on Monday Night, and he’s Randy Moss !!

Robert Meachem

Too many weapons on the Saints to stop. Meachem is emerging as one of Brees favorite targets.

Greg Jennings

He’s been lighting it up lately, Mr. Rodgers always throws the ball to Jennings’ neighborhood.

Vincent Jackson

Kansas City is bringing their police chief with them to arrest Jackson for the crimes against the secondary he performed last month.   Look for him to be a repeat offender. 

TEs

Vernon Davis

He’s been tearing up the league in a year tight ends have been dominating.

Tony Gonzales

Just a gifted athlete who knows how to get open and run after the catch. Starting to build nice rapport with Matt Ryan.

Kevin Boss

Boss always flies under the radar.  We just bought a radar detector from Home Depot, and we found you Kevin Boss ! 

Hope you have success in your leagues this week.

VV 

It is time for my fearsome predictions of teams headed for playoff bliss and teams headed for playoff whiffs – the contenders versus the pretenders, the players versus the dreamers, and the combatants versus combustibles. Read the full story