Merry X-Mas Everybody

in the morning, we take a train outta town (outta Gotham City) so i most likely won't be posting for a while.  not that you will be necessarily reading as everybody has some sort of travel/celebration/down time/up time in the works for X-Mas.  happy holidays and enjoy this festive photo of a cat toy.

Hasta La Vista, Sonics

these photos are of Key Arena in Seattle (note the SEATTLE painted on the baseline but the SONICS, or SUPERSONICS, has been painted over).  i took these (off the TV) on Saturday as the Gonzaga Bulldogs (ranked #8 in college hoops) lost to UConn (#2) in OT.  the game was billed as "The Battle in Seattle" (this was painted on center court).  its just weird to watch a nationally televised basketball game from Key Arena and the Sonics are dead.  even weirder when the court still looks like the Sonics play there (except, as noted, the painted over SUPERSONICS portion).  long live the Oklahoma City Thunderpants.  

the game was pretty good as the Washington State home crowd had the Bulldogs into it and holding a second half lead.  but UConn had too much depth and talent in the end.  they got a combined 45 points from AJ Price and Jerome Dyson.

photos of the "white stuff"

perhaps a New Orleans cocktail?

nothing really mind-blowing to comment on:  its cold here (as it is just about everywhere in the nation this X-mas time).  snow and slush and ice outside.  football on the TV.  people having parties and drinking coffee, cocktails, beer, coffee with liquor in it, smoking cigs, smoking other things like chimneys and fireplaces.  folks wearing sweaters and big coats - trying not to fall on the iced over sidewalks.  the news is that we (as a country) are not spending enough to help the economy this holiday season.  bullocks to that.  if folks don't have money - or even worse are in big-time debt - buying toys or t-shirts or blenders isn't going to resurrect the problems that were created by rich people (politicians/Wall Street/CEOs).  economical diatribes aside, here's hoping that we can all get enough to have a modest but fruitful holiday.  even CC Sabathia, the new pitching acquisiton of the NY Yankees, is included in my "goodwill to all".  he will receive a 9.5 Million dollar signing bonus (before he even throws a pitch) and make 161 Million over 7 years.  bullocks to that.  most people can't even afford to attend a Yankees game.

unfortunately, the gap between rich and poor widens.  best to just have a New Orleans cocktail.  or just a cocktail, and drink to New Orleans.  one of the oldest known cocktails, the Sazerac, traces its roots back to pre-Civil War New Orleans.  the ingredients vary a bit but it generally contains rye whiskey, brandy, absinthe, simple syrup, and bitters.  in some combination.

happy first day of winter!

happy holidays!

2 cents (mini pumpkin as mini basketball)

i think X-mas and i have an understanding.  i really try to stay calm and remain uninvolved in the season's traditions.  i'm not religious, i don't have children, and i don't like buying or collecting things (at least things that can be found easily in big chain stores, malls, boutiques).  i feel i am involved in the season's cheer as i try to rest and enjoy the heated inside confines of whatever house or apartment i'm currently at provides.  i try to sleep and eat and watch TV (sports).  i give some gifts but its usually after X-mas in JAN when i can get to a post office and i feel that my package won't get lost amid the millions of packages traversing the continent in late DEC.  basically i'm opposed to the stress involved in this holiday that should be a time of celebration without stress (isn't that part of the definition of "celebration" ... "stress-free"?) (i guess some people enjoy stress in their celebrations, that's what loud dance clubs are for) (me, i'm inclined to just unplug and turn my cell phone off) (the winter's day is much more enjoyable from inside with pajamas on near a heater than it is outside in the cold wind with wet and frozen feet) ...

what am i talking about?  oh yeah, X-mas.  on that note let's segue into some NBA.  there are 5 games on TV on X-mas Day and hopefully i will be able to catch a majority of them.  some fun NBA facts to tide you over this holiday season:

-> John Paxson, the current GM of the Chicago Bulls and former player for the Chicago Bulls, has the middle name of "MacBeth".

-> Al Thornton plays forward for the LA Clippers and is averaging 17 points per game on the season.  the architect of the US Capitol building in Washington DC was William Thornton.  he died in 1828.  Al Thornton was born in 1983.

-> in the 1989-90 NBA season, Ralph Sampson played for the Sacramento Kings and averaged 4.2 points per game.  he played in 26 games at the age of 29 that year.  Sampson had averaged 21 and 22 points per game in his first two seasons in the league (1983-84/1984-85).

-> in the same NBA season ('89-'90), Manute Bol averaged 1.9 points per game while playing for the Golden State Warriors.  Bol would end his career playing in 11 NBA seasons and averaging 2.6 points per game.

-> in the same 1989-90 season Patrick Ewing played all 82 games and averaged 28.6 points per game.  Hakeem Olajuwon also played in all 82 games and averaged 24.3 points per game.  Hakeem averaged 4.6 blocks per game that year (wow).

              

Gotham City Snow Globe

okay i should probably chill on the Super Hero stuff but i wore this shirt to bed, and in keeping with the previous post, i had to photograph it.  and we have snow today.  a good amount and its still falling.  its big and thick and fat and wet (i'm guessing, i haven't been out in it yet).  i'll probably bust out my digital camera and get a few snow shots.  its supposed to snow for a while and through the night so we'll see how much we do get.  just wanted to throw this out there: Portland's Brandon Roy scored 52 points last night against the Phoenix Suns in victory.  go Trailblazers!  they sit at 17-10 in 2nd place behind Denver in the Northwest division.  now, that's not as good as Boston's 24-2 record (seriously?  24-2?  wow) or the Lakers at 21-3 but i'll take it.  by the way, rough year for California hoops outside of the Lakers:  the Clippers, Warriors, and Kings have just 7 wins each.  ouch.

 

these days of X-Mas shopping

i am going to enter the fray of Manhattan X-Mas shopping in about an hour and i'm a bit scared.  hell, i'm scared of X-Mas shopping anywhere.  this is the day to do it though as a winter storm is to approach the NYC area tonite.  the sky may be snowing tomorrow and leaving, as reported by the radio, 2 to 7 inches on the ground.  in all likelihood that means about 2 wet inches that will quickly melt (as the "football snowfall" from the below post melted very quickly).  i'm gearing up for the crowds and i have my fingers tightly gripped around my shrinking wallet (shrinking as far as paper money goes but growing as far as useless cards and scraps of paper in it).

in other news, i saw "The Dark Knight" yesterday.  kinda lame.  maybe seeing it on DVD as opposed to the big screen hurt it in my eyes but the main culprit had to be Christian Bale's Batman voice.  what the hell was that?  he sounded like a 10 year old trying to be Batman for Halloween.  of course the Joker (Heath Ledger) was good but i really missed Batman.  the story seemed to be about the Joker and Two-Face (Harvey Dent) exclusively.  at the risk of going too in depth about a movie that was released in the summer let me just say that i can add this one to the pile of "wealthy guys that spend their money being SUPER" (SEE: Iron Man).  Chicago did look cool as "Gotham City".

   

UPDATE: much like the city of Gotham in "The Dark Knight", i survived.  we can call the crowds of shoppers and stores and price tags "The Joker".

football snowfall

the first snow fell in NYC today (around 2PM) but it has since stopped.  the flakes were big and fat and wet.  and seem to have already melted.  but they were beautiful.

and when one thinks "beauty" one thinks NFL football.  maybe "snowfall" is more aligned with football, especially late season playoff football, which is coming up.  

"beauty" is best left to quieter and less war-like pursuits.  at least that's what i think.

Winning Ugly: what was up is now down a bit.  and the other way around too (down being up).  the down being up belongs to the Dallas Cowboys, NJ Jets, Falcons, Patriots, Chargers, Bears, Eagles, Dolphins, and Texans.  most of these teams have a shot at the playoffs despite earlier lapses in the season.  and all these teams are coming off (big) wins.  any win this late in the season becomes big either because it helps cement a playoff spot or its a "building block" for next year.  which ever way you slice it, this is the time of the year when teams that have given up lose and those that are still fighting can get some W's.  those last 3 sentences really don't contain any meaning.

Beautiful Losers: the Titans, Giants, Broncos, Cardinals, Bucs, Ravens.  all these teams lost and all these teams are either in the playoffs, sit atop their division, or are in the wild card hunt.

Hot Smoke: Vikings, Panthers, Steelers, Colts.  these guys just keep winning.  the big one that i don't trust is Minnesota.

Done and Done: the rest of the league from the Redskins to the Lions.  

do i still think the Titans and Giants will face each other in the Super Bowl?  probably.  this is the exact time in a season when the top dogs falter a bit.  of course the Giants have lost 2 in a row (they only scored 8 points on Sunday) and the Titans lost by only managing 4 FGs.

possible replacements?  for the Giants i guess Carolina.  they seem like a really weird team to me.  like they could pack it in at any time.  yeah, they have a great run game but didn't they give up 5 rushing TDs to Atlanta back in Week 12?  on the plus side, they are undefeated at home this year.  for the Titans in the AFC the Steelers immediately come to mind.  they have a rock solid D but nothing about their O really excites me so ... i'm going with the Colts.  of course if the Colts and Steelers faced each other in the playoffs i'd pick Pitt so go figure.

                    

a Swift Kick to the Head

getting into some MMA news and notes ... i watched the DVD of UFC 87 (it took place in Minnesota back in August).  this event featured Georges St.Pierre's title defense against Jon Fitch and Brock Lesnar's win over Heath Herring.  Kenny Florian also kept up his winning ways against Roger Huerta.  all 3 of these main card fights went the distance.

what i noticed?  Brock Lesnar, while an amazing wrestler with unmatched strength and speed for a heavyweight, is a dick.  he finished his fight by pointing and laughing at the battered Herring.  credit goes to Herring for hanging in there all fight (despite getting the shit beaten out of him).  Lesnar's hype-type antics are something that may turn me off from watching any of his fights until he loses.  i have yet to see how he handled himself in beating Randy Couture.

St.Pierre really smashed up Jon Fitch but, again, credit goes to Fitch for hanging in there.  he took countless shots to the face and head through 5 rounds and almost looked like he was done on several occasions.  one wonders if this inability to put Fitch away may hamper St.Pierre in his fight with BJ Penn on JAN 31.  i tend to think not.  i think St.Pierre will win another decision.  he's just too big for Penn.

Jon "Bones" Jones looked good in his first UFC fight at UFC 87.  he has to face Stephan Bonnar (who goes by the nickname "American Psycho") on JAN 31 so the results may be different but he still shows a lot of promise for a 21 year-old from upstate NY.  another fighter i like is Anthony Johnson (pictured, at left) who KO'ed Ken Burns on Saturday Night.  Johnson, like Jones, is lightning quick.  Anthony "Rumble" Johnson is a bit more polished in the cage than Jones as he has more fight experience.  Jones fights at 205 and Johnson looks HUGE fighting at 170.

from the same Saturday event (The Ultimate Fighter Finale from Las Vegas) Ryan Bader also looked great.  he should be making noise in the UFC at 205 very soon.

other thoughts?  i've wondered about drug use in MMA fighting.  i know they get tested and i believe in the UFC's drug screening (for if they didn't have it, their paper thin credibility as a major sport would fold) but i wonder.  no other sport has athletes with so much more to gain from taking steroids, pain killers, and HGH.  football is close.  one's body is in peril of physical violence unless one inflicts that physical violence instead.  but its not the same as a fight.  in a fight you can kick a guy in the head and are encouraged to make him bleed.  i'm thinking about this because, as they get older, Mark Coleman and Ken Shamrock look freakishly muscular and defined.  and they are both known for anger management problems.  i saw a Coleman interview recently and he looks like Lyle Alzado.  yikes.

Choppy Waters

i don't know why i keep talking about the weather but here i sit (as a city ambulance blasts its siren outside on the street) and i'm a bit chilly.  the cause for this could be the t-shirt with no sleeves that i am wearing.  the radiator is starting to kick back on (i can hear the loud steam noises being produced in the pipes) so it should soon get warm again in this apartment.  its really not so cold outside.  not as cold as yesterday.

"King of the Hill" plays on the TV and i am barely paying attention to it.  in fact, its an episode i've already seen and i don't really make a point out of trying to watch this show.  i believe there is football on somewhere (another channel) but i'm not terribly interested in that either.  i'm just a bit tired and slightly cold (again with the t-shirt with no sleeves).  i am wearing wool socks and i could put on more clothing (perhaps a shirt with sleeves) but i am really just looking forward to sleep.  the alarm clock will not need to be set tonite.  i can sleep as long as my body wants.  but i'm betting i wake up before the sun.  maybe it will be like the last time i had the opportunity to sleep in and i'll watch the sky slowly gain color and brightness.  the clouds will move and the tops of the nearby buildings will eventually give way to the day.  at this time of the early day one can actually see the rising sun beams as they gain strength.  its pretty cool.

Lightin' Up the Sun

the sun is a bit of a ways away now.  its only a few short (short) days until the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year (when is sunset nowadays?  the US Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department informs me it is 4:29PM).  one (me, for instance) can see the sun setting around 3PM.  its kind of weird but it happens every year so one (you maybe?) might think i'd be used to it.  i guess i'm not, at least not totally.  the dark skies get to me especially with an early wake-up call for work.  couple that with a 30 minute walk to work (again, in the dark) and it can depress the spirit both literally and figuratively.  but it ain't all bad and i do enjoy my morning walk.  its perhaps the only time in the city where one can get some quiet, peaceful space, out on the streets. 

make sure to wear a scarf over the nose and mouth though.  the early morning winter wind is cold.  invigorating.  but cold.

thank god for coffee. 

UPDATE: i know all about figurative spiritual depression but i'm not sure how its any different than literal spiritual depression.  not that it matters.  my sentence (up there in the body of the post) just bothered me.  literal spiritual depression?  sounds painful.

new Pro Football alignment Plan

using my free time to my upmost benefit (and helping to make the world a better place in the process) i re-aligned the NFL into new divisions.  thank you to Jermaine for the idea.

the AFC (Aluminum Football Conference)

Division 1 (the Thieves division) 

1) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

2) Minnesota Vikings

3) Oakland Raiders

4) Pittsburgh Steelers (bit of a stretch, maybe "Stealers")

Division 2 (Horses, etc.)

1) Indy Colts

2) Denver Broncos

3) Houston Texans

4) Buffalo Bills

Division 3 (Wild Cats, note: must run Wild Cat formation on offense at all times)

1) Carolina Panthers

2) Jacksonville Jaguars

3) Cincy Bengals

4) Detroit Lions

Division 4 (Birds)

1) Atlanta Falcons

2) Philly Eagles

3) Baltimore Ravens

4) Arizona Cardinals

    

and now, the NFC (Nocturnal Football Conference) (must play all inter-conference games at night, exemptions to be made for games versus AFC teams)

Division 1 (Big Things)

1) NY Giants

2) Tennessee Titans

3) Chicago Bears

4) NY Jets

Division 2 (odd occupations)

1) New Orleans Saints

2) Cleveland Browns

3) Green Bay Packers

4) San Diego Chargers

Division 3 (Cowboys and Indians)

1) Dallas Cowboys

2) Washington Redskins

3) KC Chiefs

4) SF 49ers

Division 4 (Nautical Things and the Rams)

1) Seattle Seahawks

2) Miami Dolphins

3) NE Patriots (i'm thinking "Boston Tea Party Patriots" that boarded a ship and threw the tea into the water)

4) St.Louis Rams

NFL check-down

is that a caterpillar or a mustache on the face of Robert Downey Jr.?  i can't tell.  

cold day in NYC and the Jets and Giants lost yesterday.  some bad football played.  i didn't see much of the games but just enough (Westbrook breaking through the NYG D-Line for a score, Westbrook catching a screen pass and sprinting into the endzone untouched).  the Tennessee Titans won again.  they are the closest thing to rock solid that the NFL has.  that and the Detroit Lions (who lost again).

well, "rock solid" is a term that would apply to many teams around the league if they were facing the Cleveland Browns (whom the Titans beat yesterday).  of course the NY Giants lost to Cleveland earlier in the year and the Indy Colts just barely beat the Browns last week (while scoring NO offensive touchdowns).  so in a match-up perspective the Titans come out looking pretty good compared to the Giants and Colts.  i'm taking the Titans in the Super Bowl versus the Giants.  not exactly bold.  the Giants did look pretty much out-of-sorts yesterday versus Philly.  but they should get homefield for the NFC playoffs and the only other teams in that conference that may challenge them are Tampa and Carolina.  Carolina doesn't do it for me.  and i think Dallas, after the crushing loss to Pitt yesterday, is done.  they suck in cold weather anyways (same for Tampa?).  gotta go Giants.  and play it safe and go Titans.

i know, pretty tame (lame) prediction.  i could see Indy catching Tennessee with some quick-strike offense that the Titans couldn't match.  but its more likely that the Tenn D messes up Peyton Manning.  and Joe Addai has been a non-factor virtually all year.

got to go with the defenses.

UPDATE: forgot to mention that the Saints won a big game against Atlanta.  next week they face Chicago (who has an identical record at 7-6).  both are fighting for the playoffs. the 8-5 Falcons face Tampa next week.  things could work out with the Saints winning and the Falcons losing but i feel New Orleans will lose on the road in cold Chicago.  its a Thursday game on the NFL Network which has to be happy they get a good and meaningful game for once (week 11 did have a Thursday game in which the Jets beat New England in OT but other than that its been Cleveland, Cincinnati,and Oakland among others on the NFL Network).

(Saints photo ripped from nola.com).

Cheers to ...

things i'm digging:

- the Portland Trailblazers, what's not to like? (despite that recent loss to Boston).

- hating on the Boston Celtics.  i really don't like Boston.  call it a consequence of my childhood (Lakers!  Showtime!).

- but i hate on the Lakers now (Kobe-Shaq, all that crap.  even Phil) (and that completely fixed "trade" that sent Pau Gasol from Memphis to LA.  bullshit).

- the Memphis Grizzlies.  for a city the size of Memphis, its amazing that they finally just recently got a pro sports franchise.  must be the poverty (sad but true).  i like the Grizzlies in Memphis.  much better than Vancouver.  

- the Tennessee Titans.  Coach Jeff Fisher has got them winning with defense.  love this team.

- same could be said for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  i like Mike Tomlin but i worry about Ben Roethlisberger.  he's got a bit too much gunslinger/sloppiness in him.  i do love those sweet throwback uniforms:

- while we are at it, sweet Portland Trailblazer red jerseys:

- and, to finish this typically uneven post, a shout-out to the New York Knicks.  they have sucked for quite some time but are a bit better now (at least a bit more entertaining).  here's to the throwback! ::

Alabama! Florida! Holy Crap!

wow.  i just typed quite a comprehensive college football post (which i never do) and this damn blogspot-blogger site ERASED it on me.  oh well.  the highlights:

1) Nick Saban, the coach of Alabama, sucks.  so i rooted for Florida.  but i hate Florida too which led to some feeling of guilt as the Gators won 31-20.

2) i don't think i really like major college football programs.  they kind of freak me out.

3) this feeling of ennui is created by the BCS.  its bullshit.  you want a real college sport championship?  try hoops with March Madness.  that shit is gold.  bowl games?  nah.  we'll still never know the true champ.  its all about the dollar.  and the bowl sponsors.

4) let's go back to my past to really discover the source of my college football anger (and we are talking teams vying for the #1 spot as tonite's game had #1 Alabama versus #2 Florida).  that would be 1984.  the undefeated BYU Cougars won the title despite playing NO ONE GOOD that year.  they beat a 6-5 Michigan squad in the Holiday Bowl for crying out loud.  the Washington Huskies beat the Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl and because they had one loss on the season, didn't get #1.  bullshit.

5) i guess i'm just not that into college ball now because i live in NYC.  things might be different if i lived in Norman, Oklahoma or Lincoln, Nebraska. or Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

6) plus, the Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars absolutely suck this year.  just putrid.  awful.  wow.

yes, New York is crowded

this is from Jason Quick of the Oregonian newspaper (via ESPN's Truehoop blog).  the Portland Trailblazers beat the NY Knicks at Madison Square Garden last night (104-97):

"While many Blazers couldn't wait to take in the sights and sounds of New York, Joel Przybilla couldn't wait to leave.  'I hate New York,' he said.  'Can't do anything without bumping into someone.  Like today, we leave shootaround and it takes us 45 minutes to get back to the hotel.'  But what really gets Przybilla's goat is how much everything costs.  For example, on Tuesday morning, Przybilla ordered room service for breakfast. 'Ordered pancakes, a plate of fruit, an orange juice and a pot of coffee,' Przybilla said.  'My bill was $126.  I'm not kidding you.'  It may have cost him $126, but whatever was in the pancakes worked.  Przybilla was one of the most valuable Blazers in Tuesday's 104-97 win."

i agree with Joel (who had 8 points, 14 boards, and 2 blocked shots in the victory).

by the way, Portland's 7'1" center, has the nickname "Vanilla Gorilla".  he's from Minnesota (it may explain his dislike of crowded Manhattan), and he shares the same birthday as my girlfriend (October 10th).

and, for the hell of it, according to wikipedia the most populous city is New York with over 8 million people.  #2 is L.A. with less than 4 million.  #3 Chicago with less than 3 million.  #4 Houston (just over 2 million) #5 Phoenix (a million and a half).

other notables: #6 Philly, #7 San Antonio, #20 Baltimore (637K), #21 El Paso (607K), #23 Boston, #24 Seattle, #42 Omaha (424K), #43 Miami (409K), #51 Wichita, #52 St.Louis, #67 St.Paul, #78 New Orleans, #92 Reno, #104 Spokane, #118 Little Rock, #125 Salt Lake City, #174 Syracuse, #260 Green Bay.

(from the 2007 US Census.)

stay classy San Diego (#8 with a million and a quarter people).

NFL Week 13 burps

hello to Tuesday morning, just past 9 AM.  got my coffee and eggs with parsley and yellow peppers.  plus sweet potatoes cooked in butter.

just a tad of turbinado sugar in my coffee too.

i'm kicking myself a bit because i have yet to see any NBA action this year.  its completely preposterous to me (as a hoops fan) to have not seen anything.  the Portland Trailblazers are playing well, the New Orleans Hornets are trying to recapture last year's success, and there are a ton of young rookies doing damage (at least so far on the early year, before the famed rookie wall hits).  

SO, i got this working against me (no hoops on TV) and my girlfriend is in the midst of finishing grad school so the computer has been a bit tied up (sorry for the random odd-day postings, i'd like to find some more consistency to the postings - some more regularity - but it will come ... eventually).  with that, let's move to a bit of NFL talk since Week 13 just wrapped with the Houston Texans beating Jacksonville on Monday Night Football.  NOTE: not a good sign for a pre-season playoff favorite (the Jaguars) to get beat by Houston.  the Texans now have a better record than Jacksonville.  

   

football i watched on the TV: being in New York City, the games i get every week are the Jets and Giants, obviously.  that's not been a bad gig this year as both teams are good (especially the Giants).  i'm not a fan of either team, necessarily (although i did root for the Giants over the hated Broncos in Super Bowl 21) (and i did root for Eli's team last year over the hated Patriots).  i think we are all waiting for Armageddon when the New Orleans Saints make the Super Bowl.

i caught pieces of the Colts-Browns game.  pretty much a snooze-fest with bad weather.  not a lot of offense at all as neither O-unit scored a TD.  the Indy D returned a fumble for a score giving the Colts a 10-6 win. Peyton Manning finished with 125 yards passing.  Derek Anderson was injured for the Browns adding to their horrible year.  i think Cleveland has to finish the season with 3rd string QB Ken Dorsey.  

the Jets-Broncos game also had bad weather (it was pouring rain all day Sunday here in NYC and in other parts on the East Coast) but had a lot more O-pop.  the O-pop coming from Denver and the arm of Jay Cutler.  he threw for 357 yards (in the rain!  and against that Jets D!).  this was a classic "trap game" for NY and they failed to show much fire.  a bad loss.  oh, and Brett Favre had another bad INT.

the Sunday late game was Minnesota-Chicago.  i didn't really have the stamina for this one although i did see the Vikings shut the Bears out of the end zone on 4th and Goal from the 1.  with the Vikings beating the Bears and the Packers losing yet another game, Minny is in first place.  my new favorite player, Matt Forte, had another great game (he's a rookie!) for Chicago as he's about all they have on O.  Forte had 96 yards on the ground and caught 4 passes for 29 yards and a touchdown.

bear with me readers (if i still have any) as my observations shall grow more complex and brain blasting (brain blasting?) as i actually get back to writing and watching sports.  plus there's always food, photography, and time travel to talk about.

final bit: STOCK UP ->

1. the Vikings (they get to play Detroit next week too). 

2. Dallas and New York in the NFC East. 

3. Tampa Bay. 

4. the Steelers and Colts.

5. Baltimore is 8-4!

6. of course the Titans (11-1).

7. the Broncos (who won the road in the rain). 

8. Carolina. 

STOCK DROP! ->

1. the Saints (they just can't win a big game when they have to).

2. the Redskins (bye bye playoffs).

3. the Packers (bye bye playoffs).

4. the Bears and the Bills (bye bye playoffs).

5. the Pats (beat up by Pittsburgh).

6. San Diego (they join the crap pile at the bottom of the league).