Random thoughts from a random weekend....Why can't the Bengals play this way every Sunday? This is a team that seems to play its best against the better teams, then lets down against inferior teams. In a word, the Bengals seem immature. It should be infuriating to fans who invest either their time or money on this group. Don't even think about the playoffs. It's going to take ten wins for any AFC team, except the West Division champ, to make the playoffs. at 4-7, even if they run the table, the Bengals are done....Getting Francisco Cordero is huge. It's a lot of money for a relief pitcher, even a closer. It's going to make Cordero the highest paid closer in baseball history, if the deal goes to its full five years, $57 million. It's a big gamble by Bob Castellini, who ultimately had to sign off on the deal. But he HAD to do something to show his fans he really wants to win. Listen to this stat: last year, the Reds bullpen either lost a game or blew a save 59 times. 59 times! The pen lost 31 games and blew 28 saves. Now remember, 85 wins is all it took for the Cubs to take the NL Central. The Reds won 72 games despite its horrid bullpen. If you halve either the number of losses or the blown saves, then the Reds would've won the NL Central with either 87 wins...or 86. Now, let's see if Cordero makes that kind of difference in the real world, not just paper....Why do I believe the BCS Championship game will be between West Virginia and Ohio State? Because WVU will throttle Pitt in Morgantown this Saturday, then climb to number one when Oklahoma beats Missouri in the Big 12 title game. Missouri will fall to fourth in the final poll. Ohio State will move from 5th, to 3rd to #2 by doing nothing sitting and watching other teams win......
I'm impressed with the way Xavier's basketball team handled Indiana Saturday. But these kinds of games happen a lot in the early part of a season. Let's see where both teams are in March. Not to denegrate Xavier's accomplishment at all, it was a convincing win, but basketball teams go through a lot of peaks and valleys during a season. Still, I'd be shocked if Xavier doesn't put together at least a 25 win season now.....
The Giants got smoked Sunday. But I still think they'll be an NFC Wild Card team. My other pick? Detroit, the Lions will rebound from their Thanksgiving Day loss.....In the AFC, I'm going with Jacksonville and Cleveland. I was tempted by Denver, until I saw how they botched their game with the Bears. If Mike Shanahan is really this football genius, how do you kick to Devon Hester and let him return two on you? Statistically, Cleveland has the easiest schedule remaining among the contenders. If Vince Young gets healthy, the Titans may still make a run.
But the
Nashville Tennessean isn't giving them much of a shot after that loss to the Bengals.
For the record, cbssports.com has info as to who's in, as of today.
I'll see you tonight on Cincinnati's channel 5. And check out my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/. I'll have the latest "Broo View Podcast" ready for you first thing Tuesday morning.
