No Owens Takes a Beating

It was a tough weekend for No Owens. Not only did the Vols get destroyed (we will get there) but Boston hit it's way into the World Series. So I was wrong...Francona was right. In my opinion he took a huge risk and won...Les Miles style. If the Red Sox can hit the way they did against Colorado then the evil empire's second coming might just take it again.

How do you feel if you are Travis Hafner or Grady Sizemore right now? Two of the best hitters in the AL went A-Rod style on the Red Sox. They didn't get any wins out of CC after Game 1 of the ALDS...and I don't even know if he got the decision. Fausto gets beat up and then you're looking at Jake Westbrook with your season on the line. Bad news. On paper there is no reason that the Red Sox shouldn't win the World Series. They play so well in their park, it's ridiculous. That throw that Manny had to get Kenny Lofton on the ball off the wall? Fantastic. 81 games out of the year, Manny is a Gold Glove caliber player in left field. He plays in his ball park better than anyone else plays on their home field. Those other 81 are adventurous. Oh, and he hits a little.

You probably missed it with great games going on, but where was the best one? Yeah, in Tallahassee. Miami scored 14 in the last 1:15 to beat the Noles on the road in Butch Davis fashion. You want to talk about a big win for a program? Who in the ACC wants to play Miami after a big win like that? Miami closes the season against Virginia and then at Va Tech and BC. That could turn things in some new directions.

You can talk about Tom Brady all you want. You throw six touchdown passes in a game that you almost double up the other team, you're in a system that is superior and classless. It's amazing how just a few years ago, the Boston area was winning with two teams that America fell in love with. Now, the Red Sox are the new Yankees and the Patriots went from being announced as a team in the Super Bowl to the closest thing to the Yankees of football.

Finally, I was there in Tuscaloosa. We were on the road by 4:15 to get there in ample time for whiskey drinking. Unfortunately our team was embarrassing. Nick Saban comes out and on-side's the opening kickoff. Ok, great. Then we were penalized...and for some reason JPW can throw the ball out of bounds standing in the pocket and not get called for intentional grounding. Either way, we got knocked in the mouth, hard.

How come Joe Torre can win four titles in however many years and get kicked out of town and Phillip Fulmer can win one by quarterback injury only and stay around? Torre won his division what, every year he coached until this year? How many has Phil got? You're not going to hear me defend a/the Yankees very often, but let's face it; Torre's job was to manage the team off the field while his players manage themselves on it. The Yankees don't do anything special...they play baseball like a power running team. They lineup, don't fool you and try to knock you in the mouth. Fulmer's team tries to do the same thing without strong results. You can't lose to your two biggest rivals, excuse me, get embarrassed by your two biggest rivals by a score of 100-39 and expect to be on the field in Pasadena week 2 in '08.

Oh, Kansas is in the top 10. The only ranked team they play from here on out is Mizzou but you have the always dangerous Ok. State and their terrifying coach and a Nebraska team that might just sign their AD to be the head coach. Is Kansas the biggest surprise of the year thus far? Maybe, but they certainly are the biggest surprise that no one's talking about. Apparently, they've brought back Paul Pierce to play receiver, Jacques Vaughn to run the ball and Raef LaFrentz to play the hybrid TE spot.