Sports Musings

-While I don't know if Roger Clemens has used muscle-enhancing drugs, HGH, or steroids in the past, I can't say that it'd surprise me. Like with Bonds' improving numbers once he reached his upper 30s, the same has held true for Clemens. My only question is, why the altered perception of the situation by the media? Hmmm...I wonder.

-Why in the world did Jeff Fisher start Vince Young last Saturday? The Titans aren't good. It's as simple as that. For the time being, only the Raiders are worse than the Titans. Why not give Vince a redshirt year to learn the offense and to lose your way to a top 3 draft pick, as opposed to surrounding Vince with a bunch of untalented players, where he will likely struggle, become frustrated, and who knows how it'll affect him in the future?

-Going along the same lines, why did Denny Green yank Warner in the middle of the game against Atlanta, only to let the Falcon D feast upon Leinart as they did on Warner? With the pathetic O-Line of the Cardinals, I'd let Leinart learn the playbook and sit this year out so the Cards can go out and draft/sign some decent guys up front to protect him in the coming years.

-Is it just me or does Vince Young not look nearly as fast as he did in college? He did run a sub-4.6 at the combine and will be one of the more mobile quarterbacks in the league, but is nowhere near as quick as the 4.2 Vick.

-Why in the world are analysts already comparing the top two picks in the draft, in Mario Williams and Reggie Bush? Mario has 1.5 sacks. Reggie doesn't have any touchdowns thus far. Big deal. Guess what? They're rookies. Let's wait a while before evaluating them.

-I've witnessed three rookie tailbacks that impress me as much or more than Reggie Bush. Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew is a do-everything back like Bush. He's been more effective in the run and return games thus far than Reggie and has been just as effective in the pass game. Atlanta's Jerious Norwood has not received as much playing time as Bush or Jones-Drew, but has made the most of his opportunities. He's run for 217 yards on an average of 8.3 yards a carry, which is second only to teammate Michael Vick's 8.8 yards per carry. He broke the Atlanta Falcons' record for longest run last week with his 78-yard touchdown gallop against the Cardinals. He's caught a couple balls out of the backfield and had a couple nice returns against New Orleans. New England's Lawrence Maroney is not the do-everything back that these other three are, but he may be the best hybrid of speed and power of all four of them. Norwood is quicker than Bush. Maroney is more powerful. Jones-Drew is more valuable at this point in time. The next Gale Sayers? People shouldn't be so quick to judge. There are other rookie tailbacks who are making a bigger splash thus far.

-What was with that 2-point conversion call by the Dolphins against the Texans last week?

-It's funny how Terrell Owens is now the #2 guy in Dallas. Terry Glenn has been an underrated receiver and may be finally receiving (in more ways than one) the kudos he deserves.

-After four starts, why are some labeling Bears' quarterback Rex Grossman as the next Brett Favre? Yeah, he's off to a great start, but let's not get carried away just yet.

-How fickle are analysts and sportswriters? Many went from claiming the Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady weren't playing with any heart last week following their 17-7 loss to Denver and are now claiming that the Pats are one of the best teams in all of football and could represent the AFC in the Super Bowl after their 38-13 win over Cincinnati. They went from stating the Cardinals were a sure-fire sleeper team to make the playoffs and are now claiming that Arizona is one of the very worst teams in all of football. Carolina was a Super Bowl favorite by many analysts and they're rarely in the discussion anymore. Mark Brunell was on the edge of losing his starting job a couple weeks back and now some are claiming that he's one of the best quarterbacks in the NFC. Last week, Seattle was claimed by many to be the best team in the NFC by a long shot and now that title is given to the Chicago Bears after they're dominating performance over the Seahawks on Sunday night. Yeah, these sportswriters and analysts sure are consistent, aren't they? Yeah, and the Cubs will win the World Series this year.

-The owner's ego is more important than the team's success in Florida, as rookie head coach Joe Girardi was fired following a 78-83 record with a team who started the season 20 games under five hundred 35 games into the season and a team who played over 20 rookies during the year. Dusty Baker is no longer the Cubs' manager, so welcome to Chicago, Mr. Girardi.

-The Detroit Tigers got swept by the worst team in baseball to fall to second place in the A.L. Central. They lost five straight entering the playoffs. Make that six straight with their loss last night to the Yankees.