The Weak Ender

Thank you to Martina Hingis and the photog who snapped crotch shots of Maria Sharipova for providing those of us sick of Patriots/Colts coverage, and oppotunity to focus on something else. Until Bill Belichick defended the photographer, reasoning that everybody is trying to take snatc... err ..., snap hots of Sharipova.

Hoodie has a point there.

It was tempting to try to be the only NFL site to not devote much of its space to the Patriots vs. Colts game, but then, did you see the rest of the schedule? Would you like to see an 800 word essay on Panthers starting quarterback David Carr? No, as much as this game has been over-hyped, you can't ignore it.

Even the Bay Area is going to watch this game because the Raiders did not sell out their home game against the Houston Texans. (Hahaha Houston, you will be stuck with watching that game.) But that's telling when Pharaoraider, Gladiraider, and the rest of Hell's Satans would rather watch a regular season game instead of watching the Raiders lose again.

So indulge us one thought on the Patriots and Colts, and that is this; You really want to pull for the Colts in this game. Even so much than looking past Gomer's numerous commercials. But then there's Tony Dungy. Who had to compare the Patriots to Barry Bonds.

"You kind of feel like there is a code of honor, a code of ethics in the league," he said at the time. "You want to win and you want to do things the right way."

Dungy also compared the Pats to Barry Bonds, where he said the slugger's accomplishments were tainted and implied that perhaps the Pats' were as well.
Yesterday, as his team prepared to host the Patriots in Sunday's battle of the NFL's unbeatens, Dungy stood by those remarks.

"To me, that's what it is," he said. "That was my opinion at the time and that's what I believe. I don't think it takes away from anything they've done. It's just disappointing that it wasn't a good situation for the league or any of the players in the NFL."

Ethics. That's a good one, Tony. Or maybe this was just another opportunity for you to jump on your soapbox and look down his nose on the rest of the league with his moral indignation.

So if you are looking for an angle this week, look at it this way. If the Patriots win, then Gomer Manning and Dungy go back to holding that loser label that strangled them for years. If the Colts win, then Belichick will have to know that God really hates him and his running up the score.

And if you want to read a great interview with Tony Dungy, part one and part two.

• Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen is having a great season, going so far as to say that the mullet has turned his season around. Allen is the kind of guy that you really want to pull for. Until you hear that the only reason he really believes he is playing better is because he quit drinking. Talk about your bad role models. Now where are coach�s sons supposed to get their inspiration from? This is especially in bad taste coming so soon after the passing of Max McGee. Way to soon to start being sober. What a slap in the face.
  

• Eagles coach Andy Reid is rumored to be mulling his resignation from the Eagles, to join his son's drug-dealing ring. Do you think Hingis is one of their customers?

• The judge in the Garrett Reid case said that the coaches house was a drug emporium. So you mean that Andy Reid lives in a Walgreens?

• Is it time to revisit the Eagles Super Bowl Buzz Kill?

• How do the Jaguars keep finding 6-foot-5 black quarterbacks, well over their listed weight of 250 who can�t run a lick? You can have your prototypical quarterback, but this is just pushing it. Kind of like how the Cowboys scout quarterbacks based on who can bend the needle on the gaydar.

SATURDAY NIGHT�S ALL RIGHT
College football has it�s own game of the century this week � Arizona State vs. Oregon. The Ducks are in the final game of their gauntlet (unless you want to count UCLA, but we don�t) and they are going to be in a position of win and wait. If they win, that is. Dennis Dixon has played great this season. And like Brett Favre in Green Bay, his magic kind of overshadows what the rest of the team is doing. But don�t be fooled, Oregon has some of the best talent in the country.

ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter is going to need to play nearly flawless to win this game. If forced to pick a winner in this game, it has to be the Ducks. They just can�t lose two games at home this season with this team. And if they do, hopefully the run the table.

• The key for Arizona State: Don�t fall behind.

• USC is going to drift through the rest of the season, maybe losing one more game (ASU). But this is still a very talented team. The Trojans are going to end up going to the Las Vegas Bowl or something, play an overmatched foe � like New Mexico � and win by 70. Not quite what they expected when they started the season, but something for the gamblers to look forward to.

• How is everybody enjoying the Chuck Long era at San Diego State? Why is it hard to recruit kids to San Diego?

• Why does everybody hate Nick Saban so much? He left Michigan State to go to LSU, won a BCS game, and then he cashed in and went to the NFL once he realized what a (expletive) hole Baton Rouge can be. So what does it matter that he came back to the college game to coach Alabama? And the next person who complains that he lied about taking the Alabama job needs to get hit in the temple with a tack hammer. Of course, Saban lied, he was negotiating in order to get more money. That�s not lying, that�s being smart.

AND FINALLY
Joe Torre to the Dodgers. Good luck with all of that.