Football Night in Georgia

Florida won, big surprise. I saw the first half of the game last night and I have to say that I was bored stiff. I got SO tired of Sam Bradford looking to the sideline for a play change on EVERY down. It was so pervasive that Fox almost instantly had a graphic up listing how long it took between snaps. When you're constantly approaching 40 seconds on every single play you've got to get moving. I know Sam Bradford is the Heisman trophy winner, but is he simply a product of his system? He can't read defenses at all? That's how it looked. It seemed as if the coaching staff at OU doesn't trust him to read defenses. It was odd...and annoying. Oklahoma, obviously, ran out of gas at some point. The Florida defense looked fantastic during the game, but one player stood out over all the others.

#21 Major Wright, is a Sophomore Safety for Florida and he is a ball hog. Given the way Ed Reed is playing in the NFL, I'd say this kid is the Ed Reed of college football, and could be the new Ed Reed on Sundays. I felt like everytime I turned around the Florida defense was making a play and #21 was in the picture. He was cleaning peoples clocks, breaking up plays, and generally causing mayhem in the Secondary. I was beyond being impressed. It's not everyday that you see the SAME player in on EVERY single play, but that's how it looked. Everybody gives Tim Tebow props left and right for being a high energy guy and having a motor that never stops. That's great (he deserves it). But.... Can we get some love for #21. He's an animal, and I love it. So, count me in, my new favorite college football player is Major Wright. What a show he put on last night!

OK, official NFL playoff picks.

SATURDAY

Tennessee is a 3.5 point favorite over the Ravens. I see the game going this way...Kerry Collins vs. Ed Reed. Ed Reed is the Major Wright of the NFL... ;o)... and he will make life difficult all day for Kerry Collins. The longer Kerry Collins stands in the pocket, the longer the Baltimore DLine has time to get to him. Maybe the Ravens are a team of destiny.

PICK: Baltimore 21 Tennessee 7

The Carolina spread got a little bigger! The Panthers are 10.5 point favorites over Arizona. As much as I'd like to see Kurt Warner keep winning I just don't know if the Cards can keep up with Carolina, who is a very hot team right now. Hoooooooowever, Carolina's defense isn't this stellar-all-world unit. To the tangent. Vegas is hating on Kurt Warner like you wouldn't believe. Let's face it, he's the show in Arizona, and that's fine. We must be forgetting what he is CAPABLE of. I'm not saying he was his 1999-2001 self all these years since, but he WAS that and IS playing like that right now. When Joe Montana went to the Chiefs (which should've been a cold day in hell) everyone jumped all over him like he forgot to play football, he didn't win a Super Bowl in KC, but he didn't all of the sudden start sucking.

Steve Young became the heir apparent to Joe Montana in San Francisco and I bet all kinds of people were jumping up and down saying "Ewwwwww, he played in Tampa." Come on people. Give credit where it's due. Ok, let's say Kurt Warner throws for 350 yards. That's good for at least 4 touchdowns. Throw in one on the ground. Oh, and they have one of the best kickers in the league. Since we see where this is going let's just add to the manifesto. Reason #2 I don't gamble on sports. Taking the underdog and sweating it out on gameday is like getting that menacing Charlie Horse in the middle of the night. You can't scream or you'll wake up the whole house and you can't wake up your wife because she'll be too groggy to know that you're writhing in pain and trying to not scream. If you win the pick no one will believe you made it...if you lose it no one will understand how bad that Charlie Horse hurt.

PICK: Arizona 44 Carolina 31


SUNDAY

The Giants are 4.5 point faves over Philly. Simple math. New York + Eli Manning - Tiki Barber = Super Bowl. Philly + Andy Reid - TO = No Super Bowl. Super Bowl * No Super Bowl/Eagles away from home = Eagle frustration all day. Enough said.

PICK: Giants 24 Eagles 7

Sooooooooooooo, Pittsburgh is getting 6.5 points on the Bolts. I don't have a fancy equation for this one, but suffice it to say that Pittsburgh is like, really good. San Diego's on a roll, but apparently LDT has ripped a groin muscle from the bone. (This reminds me of that scene in "Clue" where Madeleine Kahn {Mrs. White} is explaining to everyone how one of her husbands died, "He was always a rather stupidly optimistic man. I mean, I'm afraid it came as a great shock to him when he died. But he was found dead at home. His head had been cut off and so had his . . . you know . . ." and then all the guys in the room cross their legs at the same time! Yeah, that was me when I found out about this injury. Now, if you're San Diego your best player is walking around with his legs crossed, your coach is a much better coordinator than he is a coach, and you have an angry Quarterback. At least they have Darren Sproles and Quentin Jammer...that ain't enough. To oppose you, the Steelers have the Defensive Player of the Year (James Harrison), one of the top two defensive backs in football (Troy Polamalu), the player with the best hair in football (Troy Polamalu) and a whole defense filled with angry monsters who want to run you over and stomp on your still beating heart. Yep, I'm going with the Steelers.

PICK: Pittsburgh 24 San Diego 3

Enjoy the show!

BTW - Check out this article about a High School football coach who doesn't punt on 4th down. You heard right...he don't punt! The kicker is....he won a state title doing it.