Random thoughts from a cluttered mind...
JAGUARS After a week off, the Jaguars get back into the grind by heading to Houston to face the Houston Texans. While Houston is not very strong at 1-4, they still can be dangerous, and the Jags need to stay aware of that. SO far, the Jags are 0-2 on the road. In the past, they’ve had their problems against the Texans. And so this should be an interesting game, honestly. I’m sure the Texans are looking at this as a chance to pick up another win and try to get a little respect.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE The Washington Redskins are 2-4 going into their game this week on the road against the Colts. Obviously, the Colts are favored, coming off a bye week. The ‘Skins lose this one, and they’ll be 2-5 and a lot of talk will boil, on top of what already has been done. The Colts can be beat, though. They have weaknesses, especially again on defense. That is why they snagged Tampa DL Anthony McFarland. It should be an interesting game.
The Falcons got run over and thru by the Giants last weekend, and now they face a resurgent Steeler squad. If Atlanta is to keep their bus rolling, then they have to take care of business against Pittsburgh. The Steelers are getting into their groove now and are a tough team to play with.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL After last week, the Gators are a tad bruised but still certainly in good shape with their season. The Auburn game had a few quirky calls and some unlucky plays, in trying to be fair as possible, but overall, they are still one damn good team, and now they take a week off before coming here to face a reeling Bulldog squad.
Speaking of which, Georgia has fallen off the table in the last few weeks. Obviously injuries and QB play has hurt them badly. They should be OK this weekend against Mississippi State, but they will be total UNDERDAWGS against the Gators. It could be quite ugly. It feels like Florida State is just another team these days, after their ACC losses. Now they host Boston College, and it will be interesting to see how the ‘Noles play these guys from BC. The Eagles are a scrappy bunch, still in the hunt to come play here in the ACC Championship game.
In other games, Alabama goes to Knoxville, and they will have a very tough time beating Tennessee, UCLA heads to Indiana to get beat up by Notre Dame, undefeated Rutgers goes to play Pitt, and Steve Spurrier will take his ‘Cocks to go up against Vanderbilt.
Finally, how about those Miami Hurricanes? That was a wild scrum last week against FIU. It only added to the reputation the ‘Canes football team has as, essentially, a nasty, ‘thug’, posse of boys. You compare the attitude with the football team to the overall reputation of the school itself, and there can’t be a more diverse difference.
That’s why I couldn’t stop laughing this week watching Donna Sahala stand up and talk about a ‘zero tolerance policy’ for the team. Are you kidding me! C’mon, Donna! This isn’t like your old days in Washington D.C. If you want to enact a zero tolerance, you might as well just can the team and the players. For all intents, 90% of them wouldn’t be accepted to the school if they tried to get in as normal students.
Sadly, the Miami football team and the program has gone drastically down hill. If they are to get back to any degree of prominence, some major changes would have to be made, from top to bottom. We shall see.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL It will be interesting to see how the Tigers play in this World Series after being off for a whole week. One side says the rest was great, giving the team a chance to heal a few bumps and bruises. The other side says seven days is a long time and the boys might lose their momentum built off two series victories.
No matter, the Tigers have a great pitching staff, along with some strong talent in the field and at the plate, creating great synergy. They will be a tough group to go against. It makes for a fabulous rags-to-riches story, with Manager Jim Leyland as the star.
Tom Weppel talks trash on Thursdays from 7-8 p.m. on WIOJ-AM 1010, and on SportsAvengers.com 24/7.
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