THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

OK, OK...I know it's been a long time (OK a loooooooong time) since I've been here. Apologies up front and now excuses. My resolution (this week at least) is to be better at being more consistent.

I like the Bears and I like the Patriots this week. Which means, the Colts and Saints can start making Super Bowl plans. But here's why I think this will be a repeat of the '86 game. The weather in Chicago will be the mitigating factor. And the indoor friendly Saints will have trouble dealing with it. I don't think the Bears are the better team. The elements will be the deciding factor.

I think the best, big game coach in the NFL, maybe in all of sports, is Bill Belichick. I have no doubt Indy is the better team and the Colts are playing at home. But when you have to win a game, what coach do you want doing your scheming? Exactly. I think Lawrence Maroney will have a large game and the Pats will do just enough to slow down Peyton Manning. Though the Bengals aren't yet in the same league as the Colts, I watched the Patriots grind the Bengals to a nub in Cincinnati this fall. I think they'll do it again and punch their ticket to Miami.

Have you been to my web site this week? It's www.kenbroo.com. Check out the lastest edition of Broo v. Broo, the hottest sportstalk show in cyber space. There's other cool audio there for you to download too.

What will make the University of Cincinnati basketball team shoot better (and let's face it, they're not real good at it)? Better passing. That's the diagnosis from head coach Mike Cronin. Mick told me this week the better you pass, the deeper you go into the shot clock. And while admitting his poor shooting team has to shoot more to increase its percentage of actually making a basket, Cronin also tells me deeper you go into the shot clock increases the chances of your opponent suffering a defensive lapse. If your best shooter takes a shot early in the clock, chances are the opposition has him defended. If he shoots later in the clock, chances are better for a better shot. Honestly, most UC fans would say...whatever, just make more shots.

It gets no easier for UC. Here comes West Virginia Saturday.

You think the San Francisco Giants will back away from their deal with Barry Bonds? If Bonds faces any suspension time, they'll be tempted. And given steroid investigator George Mitchell's latest comments, that if owners don't cooperate with his investigation into 'roid abuse they'll run the risk of government involvement, the Giants may ultimately believe Bonds isn't worth the trouble. If they back away, will any other team try to sign him? If no team does, then Bonds, who's been convicted of nothing, could play the collusion card. The owners could have the federal government attack from the right flank, and the players union from the left. It's a mess.

Do you have "Beckham Fever"? Me neither. I've been down this road before, aging international soccer star leaves Europe or South America and heads to the USA where he will single-handidly raise the sport to the same level as baseball and football. Pele, Chinalgia, Beckenbauer, Best and on and on. It never happened in the now defunct NASL and it won't happen now in the MLS.

Americans haven't taken to soccer for two very basic reasons: we have too many other professional sports and soccer simply doesn't offer enough pertinent statistics.

We are a stats driven society. We want to know how man RBI a baseball player in a given game, how many home runs, stolen bases, strike outs. In football, we want to know how many tackles, completed passes, receiving yards and sacks a player had. In basketball, how many points, assists, rebounds and steals a player had. In soccer, the stats are limited, because most of the games don't offer more than two or three goals.

It's big in Europe, because there is no MLB or NFL or NHL or NBA. Soccer is all they've got.

Sorry, it hasn't happened here in 50 years of trying and as good as Beckham is, or has been, it's not going to happen now.