Thanksgiving

I've realized not too many are still posting and viewing Xanga, but I'll post my Thanksgiving blog anyway.  It's one time of the year when we all take stock in what we have and how we are blessed.  How can I not post after the ways I have been blessed in the last year. 

I have a wonderful son Isaac, now 9 1/2 months old.  Everyday I see more in him and the true spirit of wonder and joy is deep within him.  I have a beautiful, charismatic and loving wife who piles blessings upon me daily.  I have a great family, including my in-laws, and enjoy spending time with them.  Our home provides us shelter from the cold and rain and brings us comfort.  While I'm not nuts about my Orioles or Redskins, the Terps football and basketball (men's and women's) are also having great years.

So now you know just a few of the reasons why I am thankful this year.  Why are you? 

Parity

Yesterday's college football action proved one thing, if nothing else:  there is more parity in Division I College Football than any time in recent history.  Going into this week there were as many as 10 teams believing they had a chance to play for the national title.  Now, thanks to wins by seemingly weaker teams, the national championship picture is 50% solid and 50% free-for-all. 

Cal, Auburn and Texas all had title hopes after Louisville was dropped by schedule-weak Rutgers on Thursday night, but each fell short on Saturday and will be out of the discussion.  Meanwhile, Rutgers and Boise St. stand as undefeateds which have no right to play for the national title.  Those benefitting from the carnage of late:  USC, Notre Dame and Florida, likely the only three who could find themselves facing the best of the Big 11 in January. 

Usually a cliche, it appears there is even less separation from the top programs to the bottom programs in each conference.  Take the Georgia Tech/North Carolina game.  GT won 7-0 over last place UNC to CLINCH THE DIVISION.  Mighty Ohio St. and Michigan have each been tested by smaller conference foes in the last 2 weeks.  If this parity is true, who am I to bid Rutgers and Boise St. as unworthy title contenders?

Wanna go bowling?

Maryland was picked to go down by 20 yesterday, but eked out the W at Clemson 13-12.  What is most impressive about this game is that the top scoring offense in the country was held to 4 field goals on their home field by Maryland's defense.  We stand at 7-2, 3 tough games remain and a chance to do more than just go to a bowl game--we could be in the BCS...

I had a great time yesterday NOT watching the game.  You see, I attended a marriage conference with my wife Erin.  It was led by Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott titled "Becoming Soulmates".  Check out their website, http://www.realrelationships.com/  It was a nice day and they were very entertaining in addition to providing real examples and ideas for avoiding the typical drop in intimacy over the course of a marriage.  Good stuff.  Worth missing a football game for.

It's Sunday, the Skins play the Cowboys, but I'm not going to touch that one.  Here's what I've got, after gaining back some respectability at .500 last week. 

St. Louis (-2) over Kansas City.  KC has really stepped it up in the past 2 weeks with big games from LJ, but the Rams are at home and have the most underrated QB in the NFL in Bulger.

Atlanta (-5 1/2) over Detroit.  Let's be honest here.  The points in this one were too good NOT to pick Atlanta.  It's in Detroit and they've surprised some people with stats, but not the ones that count...Ws.

Chicago (-13 1/2) over Miami.  Is there any team that has fallen shorter of their expectations this season than the Dolphins?  I picked Culpeper to be my QB!  Points are a little high, but I'll give the 2 TD victory.

Cleveland (12 1/2) beats spread against San Diego.  It's lights out for Merriman this week and San Diego is a little hobbled on defense.  Cleveland loses, but not by 12 1/2.

Seattle (-7) over Oakland.  Seneca Wallace at QB is still better than Andrew Walter or anyone the Raiders can throw out this week.  Is anyone East of Las Vegas even going to watch this game?

Not Perfect

Welcome to a warm slice of humble pie.  So I'm not the wonderful prognosticator I thought I was.  0-4 is the end result of my "NFL Locks of the Week."  The best thing is that we're staring another big weekend full of fun and adventure. 

You may have heard about Shawne Merriman.  Apparently he did not use the "I got steroids from some Vitamin C that I borrowed from Miguel Tejada" defense.  Instead it appears he says another supplement he used included some sort of steroid or tested as a steroid.  I'm not defending a fellow Terp, but this is interesting.  So interesting that the man defending him in his appeal to the league is none-other than the man who crafted the NFL language on banned substances.  Does he have a case?  Afterall, do we read every label on the food we take?  There may be steroids in my apple juice, but I'm not sure...

Maryland is on the verge of breaking out of a 2-year football slump.  Big game with FSU and I'll be there, shivering and blowing my nose for the black and gold (I know, they're red & white, but it's black & gold in the alma mater, listen at  http://fightmusic.com/acc.html).  Yes, sportsfans, you can also listen to the Notre Dame and Ohio State music on this site too...

NFL Picks:

1.  Jacksonville (minus 7) at Philadelphia  Jax is starting Gerrard over Leftwich.  Sorry Jags, it's not your QB that will win or lose this game.  Philly to cover.

2.  San Francisco (minus 16) at Chicago  Alex Smith still doesn't look like the #1 overall, but they should have enough to stay in this game and beat the spread.

3.  Tampa Bay (minus 9) at New York Giants  Giants got what they wanted, winning in big D.  At home against a rookie QB will be a feast.  Giants to cover.

4.  St. Louis Rams (minus 9 1/2) at San Diego  Chargers are an enigma, wrapped in a riddle.  They're at home, but face the best passing offense and a great O-Line.  Rams pull the upset.

5.  Indianapolis (minus 3) at Denver  Last time I picked someone to win in Denver I was wrong.  Oh well, this fool never learns, Colts to win.

Mr. Obvious

Still hoarse from the Maryland/NC State game yesterday, it's good that I'm typing up a column instead of dictating it.  Tell me, sports fans, is there any better time of the year?  College football practically every day of the week.  World Series game 1 last night.  NFL action is just starting to heat up as we head toward mid-season.  College basketball kicked off across the country last weekend and the Lady Terps defend their national title.  This doesn't even mention the start of the hockey season (if you're into that), the MLS soccer playoffs and the college soccer tournament about to start. 

NCAA Football has to be first.  BCS standings released last week and it's easy to see there will be another bunch of upset teams at the end of the season.  Why?  Ohio St. and Michigan are undefeated and it's hard to pick anyone to beat either team before they matchup in Columbus.  No undefeateds left in the ACC, Big 12, Conference USA, Independents or SEC.  Boise St. is 8-0 and there's no reason to think they won't finish undefeated.  USC hasn't killed teams and is picked to lose to Cal.  With Louisville, WVU and Rutgers all undefeated, who's betting any one of them finishes that way?  Each team has yet to play either of the other two, but will before the end of the season.  So is your championship game Ohio St. vs. Boise St.?  Maybe play that one on the blue turf...and start the playoff system next year.

The NFL is so unpredictable.  Consider the Bengal's powerful offense, Miami's return to the playoffs and the Bear's inability to score points.  Well, you'd at least think that if you read the preseason rankings with a good dose of Kool Aid.  All this uncertainty and I'm still willing to pick games?  San Diego over Kansas City (in KC), Carolina over Cincinnati (in Cincy), Seattle beats Minnesota at home, and Arizona wins at Oakland.  No points, just right.  

World Series.  The team that scores the most points in each game will win.  Mr. Obvious also says that the Tigers could be rusty from their week off, but the Cardinals could be weary from their 7-game series in the NLCS.  The real question is not the winner of this series, but how the Tigers got there.  How does a 119-loss team complete a 2-year turnaround to get to the Series and the O's and Nats each had (seemingly) more talent to start but couldn't get into October play?