1. I think the Eagles are as likely to beat the Packers as they are to lose the game. And, yes, I know that Dorsey Levens is now "questionable" for the game which translates to "will play unless he gets run over by a bus on the way to the stadium". So with 4 points, I'll take the Eagles for a mythical $22.

2. I think the Giants can stop the Bears even though this is a far more important game for the Bears than for the Giants. I think the Giants should win the game so I'll take the Giants plus 2.5 for a mythical $33.

3. I don't think the Pats are very good and I think the Vikings are better than average. Pats defense is better than Vikes defense, but Pats just cannot run the ball. So I'll take the Vikes plus 2 for a mythical $44.

4. St Louis is a very good team; SF is a dismal team. The line opened at 17 and has dropped to 15.5. I'll take the Rams minus 15.5 for a mythical $55. The over/under for this game is 56 and that is the highest number that I can ever recall for an NFL game and to take "over" I'd have to believe that St. Louis will score 45 or more. I believe it. So I'll also take over 56 for $33.

5. Jax is a very good team; Cincy is a dismal team. The line opened at 14 and has now dropped to 12.5. I'll take Jax minus 12.5 for a mythical $55.

6. Washington is a very good team; Dallas is dismal. The line was at 10.5 and is now 10. I'll take the Skins minus 10 for a mythical $33.

   So, there are seven bets this week with an imaginary $275 at risk. (that assumes that my calculator is working and the battery is not dead.)

Moss (Vikings)
Johnson (Bucs)
Bruce (Rams)
Westbrook (Skins)

Harrison (Colts)
J. Smith (Jags)
Pickens (Titans)
Brown (Raiders)
R. Smith (Broncos)

The Chargers will start Moses Moreno this weekend at KC. Ryan Leaf's QB Rating is 33 which is about the rating that Norm Van Brocklin would have if he played two games this year - and Norm Van Brocklin is DEAD !! If this is the end of Ryan's "comeback", then we can call him Ryan Thief for cashing that monstrous signing bonus check. Now tell me, it you were the Chiefs and you had Moses coming in to lead the team against you after he had been "absent" for the last couple of weeks, wouldn't you have a golden calf waiting for him at the 50 yard line?

As if the Falcons did not have enough problems, WR and KR Tim Dwight had to have an emergency appendectomy and will be out for about 4 weeks.

Proving the old adage that even a blind squirrel will occasionally find a nut, the NCAA gurus have decided not to increase the number of Bowl Games beyond the current approved number of 26. That means that the proposed Hoosier Bowl and the proposed Freedom Bowl (to have been played in SF) will not be sanctioned while these geniuses ponder this question: (I am not making this up.)

Can the quality of bowl games be maintained as their number increases to the point where virtually every team qualified for a bowl game actually plays in a bowl game? (Qualification = win 6 games out of 11 where wins against teams lower then Division 1-A do not count.)

As I write this, the weather is warm and humid and the forecast for this afternoon is hot and humid. Indoor plants are still outdoors; my longsuffering wife is off taking sailing lessons on the Chesapeake Bay. And the opening of the NHL Exhibition Season is tonight; the regular season begins in two weeks. Meanwhile, you can look forward to at least one World Series or LCS game being played at night in a venue where 90% of the fans will be wearing gloves and where you could start a black market in hot chocolate. What's wrong with that picture?

Howard University's athletic programs are a joke. Most of the teams are miserable most of the time but the university has had to fire people and accept sanctions for various infractions in various sports. These guys cheat and still lose. Now they have another problem. They just fired the women's basketball coach, Sanya Tyler who has been there since the invention of rain and actually has a winning percentage. Tyler took Howard to court about 10 years ago and won a suit against them for violating Title IX and once she got a few more resources as a result of that suit, she actually started having really good records. Hew lawyer claims that Howard University left a letter on her doorstep saying she was fired and would be arrested if she were seen on the campus. An assistant coach was also fired and a player was declared ineligible but no specifics were given. Stand by for more here; and given Howard's track record of bumbling, stand by for a big settlement to head toward the coach's bank account.

Finally, we have a gust of hot air emanating from the CEO of the US Olympic Committee that is even dumber than most things coming from the USOC or the IOC. Norm Blake is disappointed that some US athletes have chosen not to compete in the Olympics and he says that athletes should look upon Olympic participation as a form of "service to their country". He is dismayed that many professional athletes chose not to participate including lots of NBA stars and MLB players (forget pennant races that are still ongoing; book that flight to Sydney now!) and tennis pros like Agassi and Sampras. The US just won't have it's best athletes out there and that is what the Olympics is supposed to be about.

Well, no it is not! When the Olympics were really amateur events, that may have been the case - although I doubt it. When the Olympics lived with "sham-amateurism" and everyone winked at under the table payments, the "Olympic Movement" repeatedly spurned those crass professionals. But now the Olympic Games are simply a quadrennial convocation of pro athletes and therefore they will get those pro athletes who need or want to compete. They are like a rival league; they will get some players and not others. The Olympics is no longer a big deal because they have made themselves the same as other sports. The difference is that the Olympics competes all the sports at one time instead of by traditional "season" and organizes teams by country instead of by city or region. When the Olympics declared itself as a professional competition/league, it entered into a direct competition for athletes and in competition, sometimes you lose.

Memo to CEO Blake: Get over yourself. Then, get over it..