As we get deeper and deeper into the 2008 NFL season, it’s interesting to see just how long some people will hold on to their pre-season predictions. “The Chargers and Jaguars will turn it around,” “The Packers really will be okay without and Favre,” and “Kyle Orton will be the the MVP.” Okay, so that last one was a little far fetched, but I’m sure some delusional bum on the streets of Chicago or Kyle Orton’s mom could have made that prediction. Here’s just a few more things we know going forward this season: 

Saints kicker Martin Gramatica was a "goat" on Monday Night Football.

Hurricane Gramática Wreaks Havoc on New Orleans

We laugh at how they wear wear single bar helmets that are too big for their small heads, strap on shoulder pads even though they don’t have to, and always have mismatching shoes. We applaud their abilities to flop like soccer players when anyone touches them and praise them when they are the last person to beat and just get in the way. How quickly the tide changes when our lovable kickers miss a field goal and are demoted to a “goat” as quickly as he was acclamated. Aside from the quarterback, the kicker has to be the most vital part to a team’s ability to score. It can dare be said that New Orleans Saints kicker Martin Gramatica can now be pinned with two of the Saints’ three losses this year. A couple weeks ago the Saints lost to the Denver Broncos by two after Gramatica missed a field goal and last night he didn’t fair much better. On Monday Night Football, Gramatica had a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown by the Minnesota Vikings and then missed the go ahead 43-yard field goal with under two minutes left in regulation. The Saints better get their kicking in order or they stand to be another forgotten team in a forgettable season. Case and point, the 1999 NFC Championship Game, Atlanta Falcons at the Minnesota Vikings. Led by Randall Cunningham, the Vikings were the shoe-in for the Super Bowl and also the favorites to win. Vikings kicker Gary Anderson, who had not missed a field goal all year, missed a 38 yarder with under two minutes left. Atlanta drove the ball, made a field goal, and won. Consequently, the Vikings lost and their incredible season is now forgotten by most. Come on Gramatica, we want to see more of your days of old when you were “automatica.”

Miami Dolphins Out of #1 Draft Pick Contention

The Miami Wildphins are turning things around this year.

Nobody would have believed the Miami Dolphins could win during the off-season, but then the Dolphins landed Chad Pennington and there was a glimmer of hope they might win at least a couple games. The Dolphins got pummeled at home in week one and embarrassed the next week by the Arizona Cardinals. Fans in south Florida thought they were staring at another #1 offensive lineman draft pick next year right in the face. The Dolphins were a gloomy bunch heading into Foxborough to face the New England Patriots. They looked like little kids who just couldn’t pull off a win in “Chutes and Ladders,” devastation was seeping in. “I always land on the chutes, it’s no fair,” Ricky Williams whined on the team bus before he slipped into daydreams about “Puff the Magic Dragon.” Then something miraculous happened, the Dolphins pulled off a win against the Patriots! The Dolphins introduced their “Wildcat” offense, a scheme of trick plays and direct snaps to the running back, which seemed unstoppable. The Dolphins flew back to Miami elated, thinking that maybe this season did hold some success for them in the future. Then last week, the Dolphins beat the Chargers using that same “Wildcat” offense and now the Dolphins have equalled their win total for last year and we’re only in week 5! I wonder if the excitement will fade now that fans are kind of expecting to win and will be disappointed after they lose. The high ground is always better, but the Dolphins are more on the middle ground, they aren’t seen as big of underdogs as they were a couple weeks ago, but they aren’t king of the hill either. Needless to say, they are on a roll and should keep rolling next week at Houston. It’s intriguing to think how the Dolphins will do against the tough Baltimore Ravens defense in two weeks. From this day forward, JIB Sports will refer to the Dolphins offense as the “Wildphin” offense, wildcats and dolphins don’t mesh, but if they did they would be “wildphins.”

Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell is quietly leading with no turnovers so far this year.

Redskins Won’t Fade This Year

The Washington Redskins started the year by getting run down by Brandon Jacobs and the New York Giants. Nobody expected those teams to be heading into week 6 as the two of the top teams in the league. The Giants are still undefeated and the Redskins are coming off of convincing road wins at Dallas and Philadelphia. What’s even more head-turning about the Redskins’ start to the season is that their quarterback Jason Campbell has not committed a single turnover all season. Also just as interesting is that running back Clinton Portis has run over 120 yards the past two weeks, averaging over 5 yards per carry. The Redskins defense has not been phenomenal but it has been good enough to win, they run a true “bend but don’t break” defense. Besides the casual Redskins fan, everyone doubts this team because they have to. Really, the Redskins have proven for many years that they are nothing more than a mediocre team, we are forced to doubt  based on previous years’ results. One thing that may be hard to doubt is that the Redskins will be 7-1 at the halfway mark. The Redskins play the St. Louis Rams, the Cleveland Browns, and the Detroit Lions the next three weeks. If there was a separation between teams like in college football, those next three opponents for the Redskins would be 1-AA teams. Throw the Kansas City Chiefs in there and they would have their own division!

This past week, the Pedowitz Report was released, which was an intensive look at refereeing in the NBA. Commissioner David Stern was desperate to renew the faith of his fans in the NBA after the Tim Donaghy betting scandal, so he hired a bunch of overpaid lawyers and paid them millions to do a report on the refereeing in the NBA. There are just a couple problems with Stern’s thinking on this one: the majority of basketball fans are already convinced that there are biases with refereeing in the NBA, and the minority are not going to waste time reading a 133 page report from some people paid by Stern to say what he wanted them to. What the Tim Donaghy scandal did was only validate what thousands of fans had already been thinking. The simple matter of fact is that whenever there is a questionable call that impacts a game, Tim Donaghy will pop into our heads kind of like E.T. does when we see Reese’s Pieces. (What? That doesn’t happen to you? Me neither…) 

Referees, often compared with zebras, are people too.

The problems in officiating are universal and run through all sports. We see shoddy officiating in the NFL, college sports, and even the Olympics. What always gets us is when after a game where a questionable call has been made we’re told that “the rules are open for interpretation.” I hate that! I want to throw my shoe at the T.V. when I here that! Rules are rules, aren’t they? So the rules are open for interpretation, which I’ve grown to be fine with, as long as their interpretation is consistent throughout the game. Right now, game 3 of the ALDS between the Los Angeles-Anaheim Angels and Boston Red Sox is on in the background and I heard the announcers say, “the strike zone seems bigger in this game then in the first two.” Okay, I’m fine with that, as long as that strike zone stays consistent. When watching basketball games and football games you can pretty much decide in the first few minutes whether the referees will let the players be more physical and let more things go. I’m fine with that too, a little street ball never hurt anyone. But, the problem we run into is that every referee is human, and humans have emotion. You think that when you yell profanities at referees that they aren’t affected emotionally by that. Referees have feelings too. We almost see referees as a by-standard to the game, just a zebra standing there, but they are every much a part of the game as the players and coaches.

Next time you watch a a college basketball game take notice to the team fouls. In college basketball there are two halves, after 7 team fouls in a half the other team gets to shoot “one-and-one,” meaning if they make the first free throw they get to attempt a second. After 10 team fouls in a half the other team gets two free throws. Since the fairness in college basketball is largely based on foul count and foul shots, you’ll see an interesting paradox once one team inches closer to 7 team fouls. The interesting paradox is that the other team all of a sudden will start fouling more to even it up so both teams get one-and-one at about the same time. Wait a second, or do the referees jut start calling more fouls on the other team? Think about it, it’s deep. I was attending a college basketball game when the team fouls were 7 on one team and 2 on the other. In the matter of minutes they were even at 7 and 7. In football you can see much of the same with holding calls. Honestly, holding can be called on about every play, so if the penalty yard disparity becomes too much, expect a few of those to be thrown in. After the NBA’s 133 page report on refereeing I can give you a two-word report on refereeing that will solve our problems, ‘USE ROBOTS!’ Think about it, robots have no emotion and if they can make video game so true to form than surely robots can do the job. There would be no biases or prejudices, unless the robots revolted and combined against us. Let’s just stick with what we have now, take the bad with the good, and accept the fact that referees are people like me and you…almost.

I would say that nobody could have seen what happened last week coming, but then again it’s college football. The upset bug started on Thursday when the mighty Trojans fell to Oregon State and continued throughout the weekend. By Saturday night six top 25 teams had lost to non-ranked teams, shaking up the top 25 and leaving a lot of fans wondering what happened. The good news for teams like Georgia, Florida, and USC is that it’s still early in the season and can still fight their way into the National Championship Game. That is one of the lovely paradoxes in college football: if you are going to lose, lose early and at the end of the season nobody will care and teams that lose later in the season (although equally as good) are hosed. Here are a few headlines you might see in your Sunday sports section (or Friday or Saturday seeing that we now have college football games on 3-4 days a week):

Madison, Wisconsin will never feel as close to Southern California as it will for Ohio State on Saturday.

Wisconsin Avoids Second Straight Let Down

The Badgers came right out of the gates fighting last week against Michigan and took a 19-0 lead into the half. Head coach Bret Bielema must have given a demotivational speech in the locker room because the Badgers looked horrible in the second half. “Gentleman! For every winner there are a dozen losers; odds are we’ll be one of them! ” The Badgers allowed Michigan to get back in the game and knock them off. Ohio State comes into Madison with a chip on their shoulder. They’ve played four cupcake teams and the only real one they’ve played, USC, trounced them 35-3. How does Ohio State get away with 7 home games and 5 road games anyway? I guess because head coach Jim Tressel said so, and they can’t win outside of The Horseshoe (even though they expanded their stadium so it’s a horseshoe with a lid now). Tressel benched Todd Boeckman, their QB to start the season, in favor of freshman Terrelle Pryor. Pryor will struggle on the road and look very iffy in the pass game. Ohio State will find it a little harder to back their way into the National Championship Game this year. For entertainment purposes I hope they do back their way in so they can lose again and we can label them the Buffalo Bills of college football. 

Buffs Unable to Pull Off Second Straight Upset at Home

Every year the week before the “Red River Shootout” (Texas vs. Oklahoma) you’ll hear the question, “Will Oklahoma/Texas be caught looking forward to next week and lose a winnable game?” In Texas’ case, NO! (No to Oklahoma as well who is playing lowly Baylor this week.) A couple weeks ago Colorado hosted West Virginia in a “Blackout” game and had a little better fortune than Georgia. I think it was due in large part to the Buffs starting QB Cody Hawkins going all the way and dyeing his hair black. Texas will find this game a good warm up before next week’s game, not quite a scrimmage, but a good test. Longhorns QB Colt McCoy has thrown for 14 touchdowns and 1 interception this year, and leads an offense that averages almost 500 yards per game. If the game gets too out of hand, head coach Mack Brown might call off the dogs and rest his team for next week. 

Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson has had a lot to yell about lately, but not on Saturday.

Vandy One Game Away From Bowl Elidgibility

For years Vanderbilt was one of those teams that got it’s way into a BCS Conference solely based on proximity, not credentials (just like Baylor), this year they are looking like a real team. The Commodores haven’t started 5-0 since World War II. For those of you not good with dates, lets just say that was a long time ago. Another streak equally as horrendous is that the Commodores haven’t been to a Bowl since 1982. Seeing that you only have to win half of your games to be Bowl eligible anymore, that streak is atrocious. Auburn and their gimp offense comes to town this year and as amazing as it will be when the Commodores pull off the upset, they need to focus on winning just one more game the rest of the year and they will be Bowl eligible. When you have a football program with such a rich history of losing like Vanderbilt, you need to take baby steps, really small baby steps. Don’t even mention “Conference Title,” just think “We’re going to a Bowl, we’re going to a Bowl!” 

Huskies Enjoy Short Stay in Top 25

With the polls, #23 -25 changes almost weekly, with teams sometimes jumping in only to lose and fall back out. UCONN will be one of those teams that will enjoy a brief stay in the polls after going into Chapel Hill and dropping a game to the up and coming North Carolina Tar Heels football team. For years North Carolina and Duke campuses usually remained silent until November when basketball begins, but this year both schools are off to 3-1 starts. Sometimes you have to corner a Tar Heel or Blue Devil fan to get them admit they even have a football program. North Carolina head coach Butch Davis went into his previous employer Miami last week and pulled off an emotional win, don’t expect a let down this week, expect them to be more motivated to knock off a ranked team at home. You watch, UCONN will drop from the polls next week and North Carolina will sneak in at #24 or 25. 

Alabama thrusted itself into Title talk after knocking out Georgia last week.

JIB Picks

Week 5: 10-5 (OUCH!) / Overall: 84-12

Week 6: #1 Oklahoma – Baylor / #2 LSU (Bye) / #3 Missouri – Nebraska / #4 Alabama – Kentucky / #5 Texas – Colorado / #6 Penn State – Purdue / #7 BYU – Utah State / #8 Texas Tech – Kansas State / #9 USC – Oregon / #10 Georgia (Bye) / #10 South Florida – PITT / #12 Ohio State – #17 Wisconsin / #13 Florida – Arkansas / #14 Auburn – #19 Vanderbilt / #15 Utah – Oregon State / #16 Kansas – Iowa State / #18 Boise State – Louisiana Tech / #21 Fresno State – Hawaii / #22 Oklahoma State – Texas A&M / #23 Connecticut – North Carolina / #24 Virginia Tech – Western Kentucky / #25 Wake Forest (Bye)

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Last week we were talking about quarterbacks in trouble of riding the pine, this week there are now two coaches riding no pine. On Monday the St. Louis Rams fired head coach Scott Linehan and on Tuesday the Oakland Raiders fired head coach Lane Kiffin. The Linehan firing made a bit more sense than the Kiffin firing, the Rams actually had some talent on the offensive side of the ball. The Raiders defense was sometimes mentioned as being good, but that was in major part because there was really nothing good to say about their offense. You all remember what your mothers said to your growing up right? “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” The first quarter of the season is done for many teams, add these few key points to your football psyche heading into week 5:

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger needs to get his offense rolling sooner.

Defense Wins Championships, but Definitely Not TV Ratings

Last year when the Pittsburgh Steelers hosted a Monday Night Football game  against the Miami Dolphins, it was fun to watch. There was hardly any scoring, the final score was 3-0, but fun because they were playing in the rain and the field was a soaked sponge full of mud. While watching the game I thought the old NFL Films voice would chime in, “It was a rainy Monday night, and their was one thing that was for certain, this contest between the Steelers and Dolphins would be a muddy affair.” There was one time when the Dolphins punted and the ball stuck right in the ground when it landed! Now look me straight faced in the eye and tell me that’s not entertainment. This year was a little different story for the Steelers hosting the Baltimore Ravens, no mud and no rain, just a lot of ‘ugh’ from the Steelers offense. Midway through the third quarter the Steelers had amassed 69 total yards on offense, they had more punts than first downs. While most fans were about to poke their own eyes out, fans in SEC country were yelling “Now that’s real SEC football!” to their television sets. It was ugly, the fans were booing, and some were waving their ‘terrible towels‘ with the Steelers offense on the field in hopes that they would help their team. I think it did, the Steelers pushed on the gas and sent the game into overtime where place kicker Jeff Reed made the game winning field goal. After the game Reed said he gets too much credit and that his foot is the one that did it. Hmm, why do we give any quarterback credit? It’s just their arm. By that same principle, Michael Jordan deserves absolutely  ZERO credit, it was all his tongue.

Bengals WR Chad Ocho Cinco might look into changing his name to "Ohno Cinco"

Cleveland is Bad, but Cincinnati is Worse

This year’s battle of Ohio wasn’t for supremacy, but rather respectability. Both teams were 0-3, struggling, and needing to reroute themselves. The fact that Carson Palmer was out did not help the Bengals, who’s now horrible season is about imminent with an 0-4 start. Chad Whoever has been a silent guy so far this season, he really has nothing to pop his mouth off about. I doubt you’ll hear  ”Yeah, we may have lost, but nobody loses like we do, we lose in style!” coming from the Bengals locker room anytime soon. You know he wants to say something, but nobody would take him serious. Instead of clipping his comments up to their lockers for motivation, I’m sure opponents would read what he has to say and laugh it off like one of those silly Beetle Bailey comics. Maybe to add a little more spice we can throw Ohio State into the mix, no, that wouldn’t be fair. The Bengals and Browns would walk all over those little nuts. Here is another headline we could have used, “Kansas City is Bad, but Oakland is Worse.” The Chiefs broke an 11-game losing streak against the Denver Broncos and are eyeing November 20, their next game against the Raiders. That game may be the Chiefs only other in in 2008, these two teams will once compete for the battle of the #1 pick in next year’s draft. After the Dolphins coming out party last week, they are looking more at a pick #3-5.   

Titans/Jets QB Favre showed on Sunday he is still old but not broken.

Titan Favre Not Dead Yet

Why exactly do teams wear old uniforms from when their team had a different name? Beats me, can’t wait for the Oklahoma City Thunder (who might now have the most boring uniforms and logo in NBA history) to have retro-night and don those old Seattle Supersonics jerseys. Brett Favre had a career day against the Arizona Cardinals as a Titan. Not a Packer, not a Jet, a New York Titan (slightly different from a Tennessee Titan). Favre capitalized on 6 turnovers by Cardinals QB Kurt Warner and threw for 6 touchdown passes. On the same day the Green Bay Packers has a horrendous day against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Next Brett Favre to be Aaron Rodgers had his worst game yet, some were now calling out Green Bay management for not retaining Favre. Rodgers went down with a strained shoulder, with only rookies Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn to back him up, that’s not good for Packers fans. Favre would have been a lot nicer, but if they would have kept Favre then the Packers would have delayed their rebuilding process towards making a legitimate shot at a Super Bowl by one more year. There are two things that need be pointed out from this predicament. First, Rodgers played in “The Bay of Pigs” against a tough Tampa Bay defense, which Favre always struggled against. Second, Favre threw his 6 touchdown passes against the Cardinals…the Cardinals! Even largely criticized and banished Chicago Bears QB Rex Grossman could have had a hayday on them.