69th Edition - 12/18/06

• NFL - the fog is just a haze

The playoff picture was murky before this weekend. Now we can see, kind of.
In the NFC ...
The Bears have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Saints have won their division.
The Cowboys are in.
These teams have a chance -
Seahawks, Eagles (8-6)
Giants, Falcons (7-7)
I'm not going to mention the 6-8 teams that have a mathmatical chance.
In the AFC ...
Chargers clinched division.
Colts clinched division.
Ravens in the playoffs.
These teams have a chance -
Patriots (10-4)
Bengals (8-5) -- playing the Colts tonight.
Broncos, Jaguars, Jets (8-6)
Then there are four teams at (7-7)

Sunday's Best ...
QB
Rex Grossman: 339 yards, 2TD (W)
Chad Pennington: 339 yards, 1TD, 1INT (W)
Eli Manning: 282 yards, 2INT (L)
I assume the above list will change after Palmer vs. Manning tonight.
RB
LaDainian Tomlinson: 199 yards, 2TD (W)
Frank Gore: 144 yards (W)
Willie Parker: 132 yards, 1TD (W)
WR
Laveranues Coles: 144 yards, 1TD (W)
Desmond Clark: 125 yards, 2TD (W)
Plaxico Burress: 120 yards (L)

• NBA: FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

Look for David Stern to slap some heavy fines and suspensions on the Nuggest and Knicks for the brawl on Saturday night. Go to ESPN.com to watch the brawl. It should still be the headline on their NBA page.
The latest talk is that Isiah Thomas may have ordered the fight to start since he was annoyed Marcus Camby and Carmelo Anthony were still in the game for the Nuggets when the game was out of hand. Thomas actually tells Anthony not to drive to the basket again right before the fight takes place.
Anthony can be seen giving a cheap shot to a Knick and then immediately retreating.
I would hate to see any of my Bulls get into a fight over a game. Then again, that game is their life. So if it had to happen, I would at least hope they would stand and fight. Seeing what Anthony is made of has to be disappointing to Nugget fans.

• Bears: Tank Johnson ... I hate talking about this.

And since I hate talking about Tank Johnson's legal troubles, and his bodyguard who was just shot and killed, I'm letting ESPN do it - click here to read

• Hawkeyes: I wish I could say the mighty have fallen

The Iowa Hawkeyes lost to the Drake Bulldogs by 16 points. This hasn't happened for 28 years. A record 7,268 people saw it happen. If you are looking for further coverage on the Iowa Hawkeyes for the remainder of the year, it will be sparse. I assume I only have one friend left (Brian Hunt) who will be following the Hawkeyes. Perhaps I can have him give everyone monthly updates. Ohbytheway, Drake's head coach, former Iowa coach Dr. Tom Davis. Iowa is 5-6 and hasn't been this bad for 32 years. The pretty good have fallen (not the mighty).

• The Picks (revisited)

j NCAA: (23-16-1)
billy z NCAA: (27-12-2)
j NFL: 3-0 (24-23-3)
mike d NFL: 3-0 (25-23-2)

Well, if you stuck we mike d and me, you are back to earning very little money. Congratulations. You deserve it.

• Stuff

We have a winner!
Justin Timberlake was fan-freaking-tastic on SNL. The highlights ... Homelessvile, The Barry Gibb Talk Show (w/Jimmy Fallon), Hip Hop Kidz, the opening monologue (Chimpmunks Song) and of course, the soon to be classic, Dick in a Box (click to watch).
So far, Justin Timberlake and Alec Baldwin have been the only "must see" Saturday Night Live's.
Here's the season to date: 5-4
Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake
Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening

I don't know how, but "Lost" and Weird Al just seem to fit - Click here to watch

Time magazine - I don't like your "Person of the Year" - in fact, I hate him. Click here to read