Sportz' Halloween Ideas

Bengals owner Mike Brown [left] can go as comedian Don Rickles.

Lakers owner Dr Jerry Buss [left] can go as Rip Taylor.

Knicks center Zach Randolph [left] could go as Eddie Winslow from Urkel.

In Wake Of San Diego Fires ... Why Isn't the NFL Prepared?

While the fires in Southern California were raging ... in a non-important issue that arose was where the San Diego Chargers were to play their home game.  Arizona?  Texas?  Los Angeles?  Where?

What entered into my mind was the fact that the question was asked at all.  Why aren't there plans in place in every NFL city to be able to move a game for whatever reason.  Any reason at all.  Why doesn't a nearby city or stadium have an "emergency NFL kit" to host these games in an emergency.

Two years ago, the horrifying events of Hurricane Katrina forced the New Orleans Saints to move their home games to East Rutherford, NJ ... Baton Rouge, LA ... and San Antonio, TX.  Again, I know that football isn't the most important subject, but the discussion of what is to happen to them would be limited if there was already a city that was ready to roll if something happened to their own venue.

Dolphins, Jaguars, Buccaneers:  The three Florida teams should all have some sort of deal with either Orlando's Citrus Bowl or share each other's stadiums.  There is also the home stadiums of Florida, Florida State or U of Miami.  Have something ready.

Bears:  Da Bears went down to Champaign when Soldier Field was being renovated.  I'm sure they'd be willing to host again in a pinch.

Giants, Jets:  Maybe down to Philadelphia? 

Patriots:  Head up to BC's stadium up on Chestnut Hill.

Vikings:  This is a tough one since there really isn't anywhere to go.  Maybe down south to Kinnick Stadium in Iowa?

Packers:  Miller Park in Milwaukee could house a football field, right?  If not there, then Madison, WI.

Saints:  We've already seen that Baton Rouge did a good job hosting N'Awlins.  If not there, than San Antonio is still there. 

Cowboys, Texans:  Sure, once the new Texas Stadium is built ... these two stadiums will look indestructable.  However, the Alamodome in San Antonio would be available or any of the big colleges [Texas, Texas A&M, Rice Stadium] would be fitting.  Heck, there may be some high schools with big enough stadiums.

Redskins, Ravens:  These two, I'm sure, could share their stadium if something horrible happened.  However, if both are being used that Sunday ... RFK is still standing there ready to roll. 

Steelers:  How about traveling up to Penn State?

Eagles:  They could go down to Baltimore or up to East Rutherford.

Bills:  Maybe travel over to Syracuse?

Bengals, Browns:  How about Ohio Stadium in Columbus? 

Panthers:  Carolina could move their games back to Clemson [where they played their inagural games], Raleigh's Carter-Finley Stadium or down to Columbia, SC. 

Titans:  If they gotta get out of Nashville, I'm sure that they could go to Knoxville and "borrow" their crib for a moment.  If not there ... then maybe Memphis' Liberty Bowl.

Lions:  Head over to The Big House in Ann Arbor.  Oh, here is a question out of ignorance:  is the Silverdome still there?

Broncos:  Well, Colorado State could host them. 

Seahawks:  If Qwest Field is down ... then Husky Stadium for UW would be a match made in heaven ... just like it was before Qwest was born.

Rams, Chiefs:  These guys could share stadiums with each other in a pinch.  If they are already booked ... them maybe Lincoln, NE? 

Colts:  They could head up to Notre Dame Stadium ... Purdue ... Bloomington.

Niners, Raiders:  Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto ... just as they had to after the 1989 earthquake.

Cardinals:  Sun Devil Stadium is still there.  So is Chase Field.  Or they could travel down to Tuscon.

Chargers:  Wouldn't the Rose Bowl or LA Coliseum be open?

Falcons:  If the Georgia Dome is down, maybe they could play between the hedges at UGa?  Or maybe Ga Tech's stadium?

Greatest Dunk Ever!!!

Doc Rivers Excited About Celtics Season

Isn't It Time For a College Football Playoff?

Usually I wait a bit longer to go into my "college football playoff" rant ... but it is a perfectly legit question right now. 

First off, I was praying to God that either Cincinnati or UConn were going to go undefeated.  I wanted to see if the voters and BCS computers would reject a team from a BCS conference that won every game from the National Championship Game.  Virginia and Louisville prevented that from happening.  Oh, well.  South Florida still holds my dream!

Still ... how great would a playoff be?

Of all the BCS conferences, you can really only say that Ohio State is the easy squeezy champion.  The SEC, ACC and Big XII have championship games they must navigate though [more on that later] while USC and Cal must face off in the Pac-10.  The Big East?  Who the heck knows. 

As for the three conferences with title games ... they have an extra beast of a matchup to go through to get to the bowls.  Will Oklahoma have to face Colorado again?  Boston College could get tripped up.  We'd all love a LSU-Kentucky rematch ... but is it fair that the Wildcats would have to beat LSU TWICE to get to a BCS title game???  Especially when USC and Cal face each other just once.

Every year I have my trusty dusty BCS playoff system ... and I'm debuting it again tonight.  It includes 12 teams ... with the six BCS champs invited ... the highest ranked non-BCS team ... and the five highest BCS ranked schools regardless of conference. 

ACC:  Boston College
Big Ten:  Ohio State
Big XII:  Kansas
SEC:  South Carolina
Pac 10:  Arizona State
Big East: South Florida
Non BCS: Hawaii
Wildcards:  LSU, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, Oregon, Virginia Tech

My playoff would look like this:

1-Ohio State vs 8-Arizona State/9-West Virginia
4-LSU vs 5-Oklahoma/12-Virginia Tech
2-South Florida vs 7-Kentucky/10-Oregon
3-Boston College vs 6-South Carolina/11-Hawaii

Okay ... Can The ACC Give Up This Charade

As I look at the ACC football standings, Florida State and Miami are sitting in 5th place in their respective divisions. 

So, why are still seperating them into new divisions?

The reason the divisions are in ATLANTIC and COASTAL format were to ensure that we will see tons of Miami-Florida State matchups, in Jacksonville no less!  In two ACC Championship games, this matchup has never happened and Miami hasn't made an appearance. 

Let's ditch the current format and set 'em up right:

ATLANTIC:  Clemson, Duke, Ga Tech, NC State, UNC, Wake Forest
COAST:  Boston College, Florida State, Maryland, Miami, Virginia, Va Tech