The Weak Ender

Because somebody had to work on Friday!

Tawny Kitaen busted for drugs. Seems about inevitable as USC's impending beat down of Notre Dame. Kitaen has long denied that she has used drugs, but the truth says otherwise. As in having more coke in your house than they had onset for Bachelor Party. Likewise, many folks have tried to deny that USC is way better than Notre Dame, even when the truth indicates that the Trojans are.

Notre Dame has coasted through the season against the academy schools like it was the hood of a car in a White Snake video. The Domers have played one tough game against Michigan and how did that end up? It is time for the media to finally concede that USC is a pretty good football team. The Trojans are 43-2 in its last 45 football games, losing a heart-breaker to Texas in the Rose Bowl last year and a triple overtime contest in 2003. The Trojans, in the midst of a rebuilding year, are 120 minutes away from playing in its fourth consecutive title game.

Yet week after week, people keep saying that Cal, or Oregon, or Notre Dame is going to trip them up. It just isn�t happening. Make your dinner reservations early tomorrow night because this game won�t be close.

• Two weeks in, and the Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson courtship is already tiresome. But did anybody wonder how awkward it must have been for Romo to shake hands with Matt Leinart a few weeks ago when these reports started to surface?

• Anybody want to let Joe Buck and Troy Aikman know that it is Tony Romo, not Tony Roma, as his name was messed up repeatedly on Thursday. BTW, did you see Buck�s kids during the telecast? Pre-teen kids tend to be embarrassed by their parents, but it is sad to say that it won�t get any easier for Buck�s brood. In fact, it will get worse. What must life be like to grow up in that house hold. Imagine, in a few years, you are a guy calling one of those girls for a date. �Hi, my name is Joe Buck and my daughter will be along in a moment. But in the mean time, let me pontificate on one of my favorite subjects, that being Joe Buck.� At least he won�t have to worry about his daughters dating.

• How bad are the Lions? Even Joey Harrington is beating them. Harrington slammed the Lions when he mentioned in his press conference that he enjoyed playing for the Dolphins, a team he could be proud of. And has anybody else noticed the Mike Martz is standing on the sidelines, while nearly every other offensive coordinator in the league is up in the booth? Seems like somebody is still trying to play head coach on the Lions sideline.

• How will you remember the Jake Plummer era?

• Dennis Green will not return to the Arizona Cardinals next season. Shocker. The team is reportedly interested in Steve Mariucci. That actually would be a good choice. You can't hold the Lions ordeal against Mooch. Compared to the Lions, the Cardinals would be an organization that Mooch could be proud of. Mooch had the 49ers in the playoffs seemingly every year and his teams always played well. Nobody would be able to get the Lions off the ground.

• Terrell Owens said that he would not send any well wishes to Donovan McNabb following his injuries. This despite the fact that McNabb sent him a text message following T.O.'s accidental overdose. Peyton Manning, is not so callous, instead he called the fallen Eagles quarterback and left a message. How did McNabb respond? With a text message. What is this guy a teenage girl? Was McNabb too busy hanging out in the mall to return Manning�s phone call? You kids might not realize this, but there was a time when quarterbacks were, well, men. At least McNabb can now spend his time dog-sitting for the Barber brothers.

AND FINALLY
Warren Sapp has said that he no longer fears food poisoning while playing for the Raiders. Sapp said, in the story, that he feared eating out while on the road, especially in places like Philly, because restaurant owners would try to tamper with his food.

"You get your food poisoned," Sapp said at Raiders headquarters. "They don't want you out there on Sunday. You don't think about it. It just got crazy."

He pointed specifically to three incidents: Before the NFC Championship Game in Philadelphia at the end of the 2002 season, which the Bucs won en route to the Super Bowl title; before a divisional playoff game at Green Bay in January 1998; and at New Orleans, where the Bucs played a game during the 1998 season.

"I know it's real, especially in Philly, come on," said Sapp, long an unpopular figure in the NFL for his play and his mouth.

You know, maybe they were just targeting Sapp because he is an a-hole.