Tuesday Afternoon Linebacker

The Pewter Pirates clawed their way back into playoff contention with a gutsy win over the hated Falcons. With a great defense and working offense, things are looking really good for our lads. In the Big East, the Bulls stay alive for a BCS bid. And what is the deal with all of the Terrell Owens craziness?

The Clutch
Was it a pretty win? No it was not. However, a win is a win in this division and conference. 7-3 is good for a first place tie with Carolina and a game back of 8-2 Seattle for the conference lead. The game was hard to watch at times. Other times were pretty exciting. The final two minutes might just have been the most exciting two minutes of football I’ve seen, since last week.

Simms The Younger wasn’t special this week. He made the plays he had to make. And he didn’t make any big mistakes. If he can manage to play that way for the rest of the season then we have a real good shot at the playoffs.

The return of Cadillac was a welcome sight. What’s good about him is that he’s good for a couple of big runs and then a ton of nice little 2-4 yarders that we need to keep the clock running. Again, let’s hope he can keep going.

On paper, the defense was bad. Though in reality, they obviously had a big impact. Scoring a touchdown themselves, forcing the deciding fumble, and keeping Atlanta at bay during the waning seconds of the game. Yet another case of the stats not telling the whole story of the game.

Looking ahead, there doesn’t appear to be, aside from the Panthers, any team left on the schedule that the Bucs can’t beat. The Patriots are vulnerable, even at home in December. The first test is the next contest against the Bears. Cautious optimism.

Skunk In The Garden
The Bulls continue to rumble toward destiny and making a mockery of the BCS. Well, I think they’re good, but the rest of the football world doesn’t see it that way. The Bulls topped Cincy 31-16 to move one step closer. Next week they travel to frigid Hartford to face the UConn Huskies. Though the Huskies are not very good this year. The Bulls would be wise to no look past this game.

The irony of the rescheduling of the USF-WVa game is that it will very likely be the Big East Championship game and be played on the same day as the SEC, Big XII, and ACC title games.

Simply Absurd
Last week it was learned that both Jesse Jackson and Ralph Nader had weighed in on the so-called “TO Situation”. The good Reverend thinks that this suspension/deactivation will do harm to TO’s career. Uh, Reverend, this will do nothing to TO’s career. TO’s attitude problems have been well publicized for many years. There isn’t a coach or GM in football that is not aware of what they get when they sign TO. After he is released at the end of the season he’ll get picked up and play again. It will be okay.

On to Nader’s comments.

It should be the policy of the Eagles and the National Football League, as well as other sports teams and leagues, that players not be punished merely for what they say.

Ralphie boy, guess what. Comments by employees are always subject to review. No matter what their job is or where they work. If I go around and speak ill of a fellow employee, my boss, or upper management where I work how long do you think I’ll last? Now imagine if I had sixty-two microphones and eighteen cameras in my face everyday after work. Nader does address this later in his letter, but he mistakes a whistle-blower for a malcontent. Owens’ comments were not about poor working conditions within the Eagles’ organization. They were complaints about management and staff by a guy who felt slighted at making only $3.25 Million this year. Hardly the “base” of the Nader constituency.

Then Nader tries to get back to his roots:

There is, as well, a consumer issue at stake here. Fans have purchased tickets for Eagles’ games, in Philadelphia and elsewhere, on the assumption that they will see one of the game’s most exciting receivers, so long as he is healthy enough to play. The Eagles’ action denies them this opportunity.

No they didn’t moron. The people filling up The Linc are there because they are fans of the Eagles, not Terrell Owens. They’ve been filling up the home stadium because the Eagles have been a good team for a long time, not because they signed some receiver. And that statement, Ralph, gives credence to TO’s “boorish and unwarranted” comments. You’ve now elevated TO above the team. You’re saying that he’s the reason asses are in the seats. Which isn’t true at all. Buccaneers fans love them some John Lynch and Warren Sapp. But did people stop coming to or watching games because they don’t play here anymore? No, at least not so much that you’d notice.

This is all just further proof that Ralph Nader and reality rarely intersect.

So, what does TALB think of Mr Owens? I think he’s poison to any club that signs him. If I had my way, he’d be out on his ass. Pay him the balance of his contract and show him the door. Lifetime ban from the NFL. For all of his skills on the field, he just can’t sit down and shut-up. It is as if he has no internal censor. Nothing that tells him that he shouldn’t open his mouth any time a random thought forms in his brain. He’s bad news for whatever team he plays for and for the league in general.

De-Vol-Ved
The Tennessee Volunteers, much maligned in this space, fell to the resurgent Vanderbilt Commodores. The Vols are now 4-6 overall. The worst record since the Fatman took over.

You Are My Density
The Indianapolis Colts have cleared one of the only remaining hurdles on the way to an undefeated season. They defeated the Bengals in a 45-37 shoot-out. Their next opponent, the once mighty Steelers are not likely to present much of an obstacle, nor should the Titans the following week. Though they will face a three week stretch in which they could lose. They’ll travel to Jacksonville, then home against the Chargers, and then a trip to Seattle. They end the season with a home date against the Cardinals.

TALB thinks that it will be very difficult to run the table for any NFL team. And this year, the Colts should stumble sometime during that three-game run mentioned above. I think it will be the Chargers.

King Of The World
So far, no contributions via Team TALB. That’s okay. No biggie. But get ready, during the off-week between the NFL conference championships and the Super Bowl TALB will present the 2006 edition of “If TALB Was King Of Football”.

This time around the KoF special edition will be expanded to cover all levels of football. Which means it’ll be huge. So I’m hoping a few of you have some deeply felt grievances about the game and would like to talk about them. Last year’s installment has received 146 hits so far.

Pride On The Line
Last week I promised you that I’d pick a winner in this game. Well, here goes.
Any given week, the Gators and Noles look like either world beaters or also-rans. So which team for each side will show up Saturday? That’s the determining factor, naturally.

As I said last week, the Gators have more on the line than the Seminoles. The Noles are already in the ACC Championship. Their only motivation is to go in strong off a big win. The game is in Gainesville, which bodes well for the Gators (6-0 at home) and ill for the Noles and their 2-2 record away from Joke-Shambles Stadium. If the game was played in Tallahassee, I’d have to go with the Noles. But the home field advantage is with the Gators and I’ll pick them in a very tight contest.

Big Three… Flops
With “The U” falling to Georgia Tech over the weekend the Canes have likely also fallen out of the BCS race. They have to beat Virginia and hope VT loses to North Carolina in order to reach the ACC Championship game. There now exists the very real possibility that the Gators, Noles, and Canes will be excluded from a BCS bowl while the Bulls have a good shot to reach the Sugar Bowl. Ain’t that something?

Show Me The Money
Something came up this weekend as I watched football with some folks. They were under the impression that if USF makes it to the Sugar Bowl that they’ll take home the $14 Million pay-out. So I thought I’d explain how it works for those that might not be familiar with the process. For conference affiliated teams, the bowl payout is shared among the other schools in the league. Though the team going to the bowl gets to deduct their expenses.

So, let’s say USF does make it to the Sugar and it costs them $250,000 to go to the game. They’d then forward the remaining $13.75 Million to the Big East. From there they’d then receive back about $1.72 Million (one eighth). Of course, USF will get this money no matter if they go to Atlanta or not. So between the Big East’s 4 (or three) bowl bids, each team is likely to take home anywhere upwards of $2 Million this bowl season.

A side note: For bowl purposes, Notre Dame is in the Big East. But only when they do not qualify for the BCS. And they can’t take the Big East’s BCS spot. But Notre Dame doesn’t have to share their bowl money. And this year ND looks like a BCS contender.

Running Items
WTF?
The NFL has awarded a Super Bowl to Kansas City. Okay. Though it is contingent on Arrowhead stadium receiving nearly half a billion dollars in renovations. Including a retractable roof. The game was not awarded for a specific year, but instead over a range of years pending completion of the upgrades. Side Note: Doesn’t Tags look terrible in that picture?

Seriously, WTF?
The football gods chortled. The Lions and Cowboys squared off this past weekend, in advance of their traditional Thanksgiving day games.

Breath Of A Salesman
I just despise those Charles Schwab commercials. You know the ones. They’re videos of people talking about investing, but have been cell shaded to appear to be animated. The look is annoying as is the message.

Rose Bowl
Trojans and Longhorns
USC is looking as vulnerable as they have at any time during their run. UCLA might be good enough to knock them off when they meet on December 3rd. Texas, on the other hand, faces just A&M and Colorado or Iowa State in the Big XII championship game.

Super Bowl XL
Colts vs. Seahawks
The two top teams in each conference. It’ll take another couple of weeks for the NFC picture to clear up I think.

Next Week: The Big Game, Da Bears, more bowl news, and so much less.