'Cuse basketball, MVP discussion, and some props to Albany lax

I'll start off today by touching on something that has made me extremely giddy over the past week or so, and that is the start of the college basketball season. This has coincided with the early season domination of the Syracuse men's basketball team.

Coming into this season, I was expecting somewhat of a rebuilding campaign for the Orange. Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris, and Eric Devendorf saw big minutes last season and were key components of a very good Sweet Sixteen team (although Devendorf was highly overrated in the opinions of many). So the big question was how Syracuse would fill in the holes left by these key departures. A big answer so far this season has been Wesley Johnson.

Johnson is averaging 16 points and 8 rebounds so far this season, and has provided a much needed scoring punch given the departure of Flynn. Standing at 6'7'', his length has also been a welcome addition on the defensive side of the ball, making the trademark 2-3 zone defense virtually impenetrable.

A big reason for Johnson's early season success is because of his role last season. Due to transfer rules, Johnson was not allowed to participate in any games for the Orange. However, he could participate in practice. This practice experience and familiarity with Jim Boeheim's offensive and defensive schemes is certainly paying dividends so far this season.

Before I get off the topic of 'Cuse basketball, I gotta give some love to Andy Rautins. Sure, Syracuse's success has been due to a great team effort, but Rautins and Johnson have been the key cogs in the Orange attack. Against North Carolina last week, Rautins tallied 11 points, seven rebounds, seven steals, and seven assists, which is an absolutely SICK stat line - especially for a kid once regarded as nothing more than a pure catch-and-shoot threat.

- With his ridiculous performances over the past couple of weeks, the name Brett Favre and MVP are now being thrown around in the same sentence. And I can't really argue against those

in favor of a 40-year old MVP.

Favre has been GREAT so far this season, and his numbers last week were absolutely staggering - 22 of 25 passes completed with four touchdowns. He's only thrown three interceptions all season, which is staggering by Brett Favre standards

(hey Jay Cutler, remember way back...less than one whole game into the season..when you had less than three INT's?)

For everyone out there saying that Favre should be crowned, let me just remind you of three things:

1. Favre sputtered down the stretch with the Jets last season, and although that may have been because of injury, he is still 40-years old, and not many 40-year old bodies can last a 17 week season.

2. Peyton Manning.

3. Drew Brees.

- Continuing with some MVP talk, I wanna touch on the greatness that is Albert Pujols. He very well may end up being the best baseball player of all-time, and I don't think that I'm going out on a limb by saying that.

Pujols just won his second straight National League MVP award, and now has three total. In eight of his nine years in the league, he has finished in the top five in MVP voting. His stats over the past eight seasons are staggering, and I'm not gonna try to list them all - check out this site if you really want to be blown away by all of Pujols's accomplishments to date.

Bottom line: When his career is over (barring injury), Albert Pujols will be looked at as one of the top three baseball players of all-time.

- Finally, I wanna give some props to the Albany lacrosse program. Last week, the Great Danes tallied two GIANT recruiting victories by getting a National Letter of Intent (NLI) from Lafayette attackman Miles Thompson, and a verbal commitment from his younger brother,

Lyle. Lyle is regarded by InsideLacrosse as the best 11th grade lacrosse player in the country, while Miles is labeled as the #5 senior. Here's why this is a huge deal for the collegiate lacrosse landscape:

1. Powerhouse programs such as Syracuse, Johns Hopkins, Virgina, Maryland, and Princeton have dominated college lacrosse over the past decade. With Albany making a major recruiting splash, this threatens the typical balance of power, and offers hope that a non-tradition power may be closer to taking home a title on Memorial Day weekend.

2. Miles and Lyle Thompson are both members of the Onondaga Nation just outside of Syracuse. Historically, the best Native American lacrosse players have attended college at Syracuse University (see Marshall Abrams, Brett Bucktooth, Sid Smith, and Cody Jameison). Thus, what the Thompson brothers are doing is somewhat unheard of. They want to make a name for themselves, and are looking to help put Albany lacrosse on the map. With Mike Banks anchoring the defense and sophomore Joe Resetarits looking to add to his success as a freshman, the Albany lacrosse program is certainly headed in the right direction.

Five Absurd Statements

Bud Adams salutes the Bills sideline

The Tennessee Titans defeated the Buffalo Bills by a score of 41-17 yesterday. The Titans owner, 86 year old Bud Adams, was happy about the outcome. Apparently his fit of joy was not complete without a nice gesture to the Bills' sideline. So here's to you, Bud Adams, for placing yourself alongside the many other senile, old fart NFL franchise owners.

I guess I should probably be politically correct and say something like "If you don't like looking at the middle finger, you shouldn't watch the video below."

Rise of the Bearcats, and a solid Week 9 lineup

By now, everyone knows that the University of Cincinnati Bearcats football team is legit. Brian Kelly's bunch is ranked #5 in the current BCS standings, and have put together three straight wins since losing starting quarterback and Heisman hopeful Tony Pike to injury.

Historically, losing your starting quarterback results in a loss (see RICKY STANZI) or a significant dip in the performance of your offense. But apparently someone forgot to tell that to Cincinnati. The Bearcats have yet to lose, and if anything, their offense is performing BETTER now than it was three weeks ago.

Why? Zach Collaros.

Collaros came into the season as the Bearcats backup QB, but has emerged as a legitimate threat both running and passing in the absence of Tony Pike. The redshirt sophomore took over for Pike on October 15th at South Florida, and immediately turned heads with his 75-yard touchdown run in third quarter. People began to think "OK, this kid can really run the ball, Cincinnati might be alright without Pike."

A week later against Louisville, Collaros not only ran for 58 yards, but he also threw for 253 and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Oh yeah, and he completed 15 out of 17 passes. People began to say "ehhhh Louisville is having an off year, everyone is shredding their secondary."

The next week, against lowly Syracuse, Collaros completed 22 of 28 passes for 295 yards and four touchdowns. People said "ehhhh Syracuse stinks, he's supposed to do that against them."

Last week, facing a good Connecticut team on national television, Collaros ran for 79 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed 27 of 39 passes for 480 yards, and had over 300 yards passing in the first half. People are now saying "WOW, this kid can play...will Tony Pike get his job back?"

That is the big question facing Bearcats head coach Brian Kelly. Tony Pike is a senior and hot NFL prospect. But Collaros is just flat out HOT right now, with an passing efficiency rating of 210 in his three starts. Pike is expected to be healthy enough to play this week, and Coach Kelly has a decision to make.

Kelly has already said that Collaros will start this week against West Virginia, but also that he hopes to get Tony Pike some snaps during the game. Kelly has also said that when Pike is fully recovered, the starting job will once again be his.

All I know is that I would hate to have to make this decision. If the Bearcats lose one of their final three games, Brian Kelly is gonna be under an intense amount of heat. If he leaves Collaros in and they lose, everyone will say "why didn't you put Pike back in?" But if he puts Tony Pike in and the Bearcats lose, everyone will say "why did you take Collaros out?"

Ultimately, I think I would leave Collaros in until he screws up. Watching the game against UCONN on Saturday night, I had this sense of confidence anytime Collaros dropped back to pass. It was as if I KNEW he was going to complete the pass, or at least make something positive happen. Its that sense of confidence that comes around when Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, or Tom Brady drop back to pass - you know something good is going to happen (I had this same confidence watching Oregon's Jeremiah Masoli last weekend, even though his defense let him down).

Bottom line: If Cincinnati keeps winning, regardless of his decision, Brian Kelly has nothing to worry about.

- Week 9 of the NFL season has some juicy matchups that I gotta talk about. First, the Cincinnati Bengals travel to Pittsburgh for a battle for first place in the AFC North. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I'm a huge Steelers fan, so it's really no secret who I'll be rooting for. But this game will be entertaining for everyone to watch, mainly because it has all the makings of a bloodbath.

The Steelers hate the Bengals, and the Bengals hate the Steelers. Cedric Benson has been running wild so far this season, but the Steelers have one of (if not THE) best run defenses in the league. Everyone on the Bengals defense will be looking to decapitate Hines Ward for what he did to Keith Rivers last season. The Bengals beat the Steelers in Cincinnati earlier this year. Oh yeah, and both teams are 6 - 2 sitting tied for first place in the AFC North.

How about that for headlines leading up to a game?

The other big matchup this week is between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Once again, this will be another installment of "who would you rather have as your QB - Peyton or Tom?" There really is no right answer to the question. However, this game WILL answer another prominent question - just how good are the Colts?

Indianapolis is sitting atop the AFC with a perfect 8 - 0 record. Peyton Manning is the frontrunner for MVP of the league, going toe-to-toe with Drew Brees. The Colts are also coming off a dramatic last second win over their division rival Houston Texans.

But questions still remain. Can Indy's defense survive without Bob Sanders? Can the Colts effectively run the ball? Peyton had nearly 40 passing attempts in the first half of last week's game, which is a recipe for disaster against any legit defense.

Bottom line: I'm watching to see if Peyton Manning can effectively lead his team to victory over a proven team with a winning pedigree, and if the Colts defense can slow down Tom Brady. My personal belief is that whichever team can run the ball more effectively will win the game (running the ball = less pressure on the quarterback = more play-action pass opportunities = more big plays in the passing game = more points on the board)

World Series Recap

Five Absurd Statements

*Quick note, the #4 statement involves a Niklas Lidstrom for Alexander Edler swap - the volume kinda tails off at the end of the clip, so I figured I'd clarify.