3 Biggest Surprises and 3 Biggest Disappointments

Surprises

#3 - Atlanta Falcons & Baltimore Ravens

Rookie quarterbacks, rookie head coaches, low expectations, and fan bases that were getting irritated at their teams and moving on from a bad era. Both teams have put themselves in a position to make the playoffs and convincing the experts week-by-week that they are the real deal.

#2 - Old Quarterbacks

Kurt Warner, Brett Favre, and Kerry Collins have positioned their teams to make a deep playoff run and possibly win it all. And all three have been mentioned when it comes to the MVP talk.

#1 - Matt Cassel

I am one of the people that immediately jumped on the bandwagon that Belichick should have gotten a veteran quarterback in his roster just in case anything happened to Brady. I said the same thing about McCarthy in Green Bay when they still had Favre. The argument backing Belichick up was that he trusted Cassel because he knew the offense very well from being in practice for so long behind Tom Brady. Well, come to find out, he knows that offense pretty well, throwing for over 400 yards in the past two games, something the Patriots have never done in franchise history. Last week, he became the first player in NFL history to throw for over 400 yards and rush for over 60 yards. I have to say I am completely sold on this guy. His future with the Pats? That's a whole nother story.



Disappointments

#3 - Saints, Seahawks, Bills, Jaguars, and the Chargers

They all had high playoff expectations and none of them are producing to their full potential. It amazes me how these athletes are being paid the salary that they are paid and they don't produce up to their full potential.

#2 - Donovan McNabb

5-5-1 and he doesn't fully know the OT rules? This is a pro-bowl type QB I'm talking about and he is not looking anything like what he can do. And in this instance, you cannot say he doesn't have enough weapons on offense because that is simply a lie. I think it is time for Philadelphia to move on from Reid and McNabb. They have had their chances and they have blown it several times and they are now completely giving up.

#1 - Officiating and Post-game fines

Quite frankly, it's getting ridiculous. There are some players that have over $100 thousand in fines for late hits, unnecessary hits, too hard of a hit. Pretty soon we will be watching two touch football or flag football. This is football. It is a rough sport. You play with no apologies. Or at least that is what I thought. The thing that really gets me about these fines is that they assessed to plays that had no flag thrown and no penalty. They have sissified the game so much today that the quarterbacks can't even get hit.

And as for the officiating in the game, I have seen a bunch of blown calls this year. It gets me infuriated when I know that these officials are being paid good money and they aren't making the right calls. A lot of people say that some people are too hard on the refs and that they are humans and can make mistakes like everyone else. I agree with this, to a point. When it is your job to get these calls right and you simply aren't time and time again, there has to be a point in which people say enough is enough. These guys are getting paid a lot of money to possibly change the outcome of the game, just ask San Diego when they took their trip to Denver.

But Herm Edwards told me...

October 30, 2002 - The Cleveland Browns beat the New York Jets and it sparked one of the most infamous lines in all of sports. A reporter had asked Herm Edwards, coach of the New York Jets, if his team had the ability to win, in which he followed, "You play to win the game."

An NFL game that ends in a tie is not that easy to come across. Yet, this past week, the Philadelphia Eagles went to overtime with the Cincinnati Bengals and neither team could manage to get anything done in overtime, resulting in a tie. And yes, Donovan McNabb might not have been fully aware of the overtime rule that states, if nobody scores at the end of the first overtime, the game is over ending in a tie. Yes, he being a veteran to the game should have known this and he is probably getting an earful for it. But I'm not going to be one of those people that harp on him about this. Why? Because this should've never happened in the first place. Herm Edwards was right back in `02. You play to win the game. No matter how long it takes or how many overtimes you go to, or no matter how badly you are playing at the moment, you should be playing to win the game. Not to just scave by with a tie. Donovan made a good point when he asked what would happen if this were to happen in the post-season. Of course we all know that they would fight it out until someone finally won. But, what makes that any different than the regular season. The Eagles are still very much in the playoff race and this outdated system now might have cost them a spot in the postseason. And as for the Bengals, well, at least it's not another loss.

Applying this rule to this situation presents too much cloudiness for the playoff race. We are now going to have to pay attention to exactly what the Eagles will have to do to overcome this tie and all of the different situations they could possibly be put in. Although, it is their fault for not being able to overcome overtime against one of the worst teams in the NFL, it is not their fault that they are victim to an outdated system that should've been done away with a long time ago. If only the NFL and NCAA Football could find a happy medium in their rules and playoff systems, the sports world would be a much better place. Until then, I'm still waiting for a second OT in Cincy!

10 Things I Should Never See on ESPN

ESPN: Worldwide Leader in Sports....Sports.

When I turn the channel to ESPN, I expect to be watching things that pertain sports. Sometimes when I watch it, I feel like I am watching ESPN ocho, filled with random activities. Here is my list of things (not in any particular order) I never want to see on ESPN, ever!

1. Scrabble
You may laugh, but I have actually viewed the Scrabble National Championship match on ESPN. Since when do we as a country follow board games as a headlined sport?

And staying with this theme,
2. Chess
There has been several times I have seen chess as the headlined event of the day for ESPN. What's next? Chutes and Ladders? Come on.

3. Fishing
This is a sport. Really? Since when did this happen? If fishing is a sport, than at least half of Michigan's population is flocking with athletes.

4. Darts
I love the game but it really takes no athleticism. Anybody with a tad bit of hand-eye coordination can get good at it.

5. Rodeo or Bull Riding
...I've said enough for this one.

6. Horse Racing
I absolutely love everything about horse racing. But let's be honest, the horses are the real athletes. Yes, jockeys do have make sure that they do everything right in the race but who watches horse racing to watch the jockeys performing? If you disagree with me right now on this one, I want you to, without Googling it, tell me who was the jockey of Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby. That's right you don't know it. Neither do I. We watch it for the horses.

7. Bowling
Almost the same as darts. Only takes good hand-eye coordination. Bowlers aren't really athletes, sorry.

8. Hockey
I have a HUGE bias on this one. Many people consider this a sport, and I say I agree...to an extent. To me it's 20% sport, and 80% a spin-off to WWE. I don't think I've ever watched a full game of hockey where there wasn't a major brawl in the middle.

9. Anything to do with the Lions.
See description on #5.

10. World Series of Poker.
If you know me, you know that I adore poker and everything about it. But to put these poker players on ESPN? Really? They are a bunch of people sitting on comfortable chairs for weeks at a time in a tournament with the only exercising they get is picking up a couple grams of poker chips or flipping their cards in to fold.

So there it is. Things that should never be seen on ESPN again.

Feel free to comment!