PCP Sports

by John Ryan

With Columbus Day smacking me in the face with a day off this year for the first time in ages, weekend ramblings give you the spoiled privilege of also hearing my ramblings on a wild Monday/Early Tuesday in sports. Why waste any more time:

1.) Several teams were given new life this weekend in sports, one of which we thought was the Los Angeles Dodgers with a big win Sunday night. It proved to be fruitless (at least until after Wednesday) as the Phillies put a severe dagger in the Dodgers hopes with an improbable win amidst much disgust from FOX’s team of post game analysts. Note to Mark Grace: Come to the Bank with a Phillies tee to see how great the fans are here; don’t just use a worn-out, beaten-down, ignorant, media-driven view of Philly fans. You’re a moron, and were a plain player anyways. You never did anything for me. BTW: from all accounts from Philly fans in Los Angeles, those Dodger fans were horrible last night, and the stories rival any I’ve heard from even the vet. And memo to Eric Karros: You have to be OBJECTIVE when you work for a network. Idiot. Another player who was enormously overrated.

2.) Texas and Oklahoma was one of the better college football games of this century (by century I mean since 2000). You heard me. It was great drama on top of the built in Red River Shoot Out angle. Well played game, and entertained a house full of people at my humble dwellings. Note to Notre Dame haters: They WEREN’T supposed to win that game. UNC is ranked #22 (rankings aren’t that accurate a barometer, but they do mean something) and they were at home. They were SUPPOSED to beat Notre Dame. And Jimmy Klausen will be a good college QB…. one day. He’s only a sophomore. Brady Quinn struggled mightily until his junior year. I’m not a Notre Dame apologist (although I am a huge fan). They are not a good team, but they will be as soon as next year. Trust me.

3.) The Flyers defense has been horrid. I can’t say much more, because I’m not much educated on hockey, but it doesn’t take Barry Melrose to know that the Might Ducks could score on the Flyers right now, even without coach Gordon Bombay. BTW: They traded for a huge lumbering defenseman in an era of speed and finesse. Bob Clarke may still be running the Flyers. Don’t rule it out.

4.) Pac Man is suspended again. It never surprises me, nor does it ever stop delighting me to read about such things. NFL players especially are the funniest of criminals. I guess some people are good at football, some are good at crime. Isn’t that why Charlie Ward should have been a QB? He was much better at that then being a PG for the Knicks. Same rules apply to Pac Man with CB and criminal, right? (BTW: Romo was hurt and the Boys’ looked bad before that. Not good in Cowboy land. And who thought Wade Phillips was a good idea??!!) (Wryly grinning)

5.) No action on the NFL trade deadline. Is that really considered news? Shouldn’t we file that one under: DEATH AND TAXES. (Side note: why do columnists even waste time on that issue when there is so much else going on at this time of year, like arrests and injuries?!)

6.) The 76ers picked up the options on both Thad Young and Jason Smith. Thad Young = future all-star. Jason Smith = future Jim Mcilvane (I’ll give anyone 2-1 odds that one of the following gives him a ridiculous mid-level max deal after he averages 5 pts and 3 boards for the Sixers one of these years: Kevin McHale, one of the Paxson’s, Mark Cuban, Billy Knight, Elgin Baylor. Book it.)

7.) Big Brown is finally down for the count. Now he gets to either a.) Bang on a stud farm all day b.) Go to a glue factory c.) Get bought by Johnny Drama because his grand daddy won him enough money for the down payment on the Lincoln.

8.) Entourage is heating up. Getting better. January Flight of the Conchords and Big Love come back, so I can’t wait until then. January 11 is the rumored start back date, but there are some rumblings that it may be pushed to Tuesdays. We’ll see. On other release fronts: Today is Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (which I WILL purchase on Blu-Ray), and December 9 is The Dark Knight (ditto).

As of publishing time, Roy Williams has been traded to the Cowgirls. Big deal? Now they have two under achieving Roy Williams’ on their team. They need defense, not another receiver who only forces the coaching staff to give FEWER touches to Barber. Barber = best play maker, not T.O.