The Philly Phanatics

This could probably be written every single year. So it'll be short.

"(Insert undefeated non-BCS conference school name here) should get more respect. Why don't the good schools from non-BCS conferences get any chances to play in the spotlight against their BCS school peers? This is why they need a playoff. C'mon, it's not like the students are doing much between the end of college football season this past weekend and the 'ever-later in January' finale to the college football season."

This season concluded with five undefeated college football teams. Three of these automatically qualified for BCS bowls by winning a BCS conference championship (Alabama, Texas, and Cincinnati). The two automatic qualifiers were #3 ranked TCU and #6 Boise State.

I understand that Texas and Alabama will be playing in the "BCS Championship Bowl." Alabama completely embarassed Florida this past weekend. Texas limped into the bowl bid with their near-loss to Nebraska. But the idea to match the two non-BCS conference schools against one another in the Fiesta Bowl is absolutely horrific. With the way the "national championship" and the voting in the polls tends to favor the more widely known and widely televised BCS conferences, it would be hard to believe that the non-BCS schools do not hold a grudge against the BCS schools and do not eagerly want to have a shot at the larger schools to prove that they belong and, in the process, to destroy the public's confidence in the BCS system.

Give the non-BCS schools a chance to prove their abilities. But it seems unlikely based upon past experience that the non-BCS schools will ever have this chance.

2009: #6 Utah over #4 Alabama (31-17) - only undefeated team in college football
2008: #10 Hawaii loses to #5 Georgia - Hawaii enters game undefeated, not in BCS championship
2007: #8 Boise State over #10 Oklahoma (43-42 OT) - end season only undefeated team in college football

Notice a trend here?

"Practice? You talkin' 'bout practice?" Anyone who has paid any attention to the Sixers or Allen Iverson over the past decade plus knows that story already. But are the Sixers foolish to think about writing the next chapter in the Philadelphia-Iverson novel? or even the next chapter in a fading career?

From a business standpoint, maybe not. Allen Iverson, when on top of his game, is a prolific scorer. He has the fire and determination to put point on the board, even if he doesn't want help doing so. He can take over games and put the ball in the basket, which will put more spectators in the blue chairs at the Wachovia Center, which might bring excitement to a team who now ranks in the bottom 2 in attendance so far this season and after a disappointing 104-102 loss to the Mavericks, are now on a 7-game skid.

From Allen Iverson's point of view, it's also not a bad decision. The man doesn't want to ride the bench and with Lou Williams out of action for at least 8 weeks, he would fit into the starting 5 perfectly. He could also see a rebirth in his career coming back to the team that drafted him and allowed him to explode into the superstar he soon after became, where he won an MVP and took a trip to the NBA Finals. Allen has not averaged 30 points per game since his last stint in Philadelphia, has seen his playing time drastically decrease (hasn't averaged 40 minutes a game since his Nugget days), and has seen his steals and assists per game also fall off since Philadelphia. The last statistic proving that he lost the little idea of a team effort he may have had at one time. He most likely will not have too much leverage on an asking price due to his declining production, age, and rough departures from his previous 2 teams, but if he can settle for not much above a veterans minimum, he may prove that he does have "a whole lot left in (his) tank."

With the Eagles now wearing on every Philadelphia fans last nerves and no baseball until March, the Philadelphia Phaithful need something to rely on besides the Flyers. A town that once buzzed about basketball and was ever present near the top of the East standings is now 5-13 and in desperate need of a change. Fans would most likely be happy to see Iverson. He did receive an amazing ovation when he returned to Phladelphia with the Nuggets. Fans would have a player who should potentially be able to scare 22 to 23 points a game based on his playing time and average scoring in Memphis but with more consistent time on the floor you should be able to see better numbers even than those.

Of course, with a superstar like Iverson, there's always a downside. I personally am worried how he and Andre Iguodala will get along after their rough patch while Allen departed for Denver. Some are thinking ahead to when Lou Williams returns and Iverson sees a cutback in playing time, will he react professionally? Most likely not. He wanted to start in Memphis, didn't get his wish, and 3 games into the season decided to take a personal leave and then announce retirement. Also, what kind of influence will he be on younger players like Marreese Speights, Thaddeus Young, and the youngest player in the NBA, 19 year old Jrue Holiday. Is this really a guy you want around players who are trying to come up and just be good team players?

There are a lot of questions to ask yourself when considering the idea of Iverson reuniting with the 76ers, but there is one that stand out above them all, is A.I. once again, "The Answer?"

What do you say about a coach who goes for it near the 2-minute warning on 4th and 2 on his own 28 yard line with the powerful offense of the Colts behind future hall-of-famer Peyton Manning? You may think he is a fool, that it was the worst decision he has ever made in his coaching career, that he should have avoided the situation, punted, and hoped his defense could stop this power house offense. If you are a Colts defensive player you might say you feel disrespected, that you feel Belichick should have punted because you and your men are that good. Indy linebacker Clint Session was quoted as saying "They disrespected us and got what they deserved. They fought hard throughout the game, but they disrespected us at the end and they got what they deserved."

Do we really feel that Belichick disrespected the Colts defense, or do you feel that Billy had that much faith in his high powered offense? To be honest, the Colts have had an amazing defense this season, being the best scoring defense in the league coming into the game, but to say that they were disrespected is a little irrational. The Patriots offense had already scored 34 points, a season high against the Colts defense, so they already proved that they could score on your defense.

My main beef with the disrespect card is that if they convert the 1st down, do you still feel disrespected? Is it gonna be all you talk about after the game? Do they still get what they deserve? And futhermore, does Belichick get hounded by the sports media for making "The worst mistake of his career?" I am sorry but one more yard, ONE MORE YARD, and no one reads a single article about how foolish one of the best coaches of the past decade was in his teams 35-34 loss on Sunday. It may have ended the same way had he punted the ball with Peyton leading the way.

One of the few Colts players to put it in perspective was Defensive End Jerraud Powers: "I was surprised. I thought maybe he was going to try to get us to jump offside or something. I didn't think he'd actually try to run a play. That's the confidence Belichick has in his players and his quarterback. But we just stepped up to the challenge and made plays when we had to." The Colts weren't disrespected, but they did step up when they had to, like a top defense should. The Patriots just weren't so lucky on the Offensive end.

Although Any Given Sunday was released in 1999, I saw it for the first time yesterday. Twice. One version starred Jamie Foxx and Al Pacino. The second Kevin Craft and Rick Neuheisel.

For those of you who were unable to see UCLA's overtime victory over the #18-ranked Tennessee Volunteers, let me summarize. Much like Any Given Sunday, UCLA's top two quarterbacks were injured prior to the game and were unable to play, leaving third-string QB Kevin Craft as the only quarterback left. I can imagine Neuheisel telling Craft what Pacino's character told Foxx, "You don't have to worry about getting pulled, you're all I've got left!"

Well, Craft's first half was a crash course in what not to do as a QB. He threw four interceptions in the first half with one being returned for a touchdown with under one minute to play in the first half. Needless to say, UCLA's last possession of the first half ended with Craft taking a knee and cutting their losses. Yet, somehow, UCLA entered the locker room down only 7 at the half.

Craft turned his game around at halftime in almost as much time as it took for Foxx's character to turn his season around in the film version. Craft came out in the second half and looked like the type of player that deserves to be a starter at UCLA. His second half line read 18 of 25 passing, 193 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. Included in that was the triumphant march down the field in the two minute drill to take the lead.

After Tennessee brilliantly forced overtime with a field goal as time expired, UCLA was able to pull off the upset 27-24, give Neuheisel a cold Gatorade shower on the sideline, and save their quarterback an embarassing start to the season.

Sports are a funny thing sometimes. Sometimes the parallelism is uncanny. A previously unfathomable sports movie turns into a tale of UCLA football lure and a reminder of why college football is an addiction that afflicts sports fans across the nation. And the homecoming of Rick Neuheisel mirrors his own first start as a walk-on quarterback at UCLA where he threw four interceptions, then eventually became a legendary story in UCLA history.

Is it possible to give the NL Cy Young to a pitcher who has only spent half of the current season in the NL?

C.C. Sabathia is 7-0, 1.55 ERA in 8 starts in the NL. In those eight starts, he has four complete games including two shutouts.

Nothing against guys like Brandon Webb who is also having a career year, but Sabathia's NL stats are absolutely Koufax-esque.

When will Michelle Wie's mis-adventures on the PGA Tour end? Does she really need to keep humiliating herself? I understand that she is eager to prove herself, but is this really the way to do so?