I got a note from a reader asking me if I was going to wait until after the World Series was over to make my prediction. As he pointed out, that would tend to increase my accuracy just a bit. That's when I realized I had forgotten to include that info in Friday's rant and so I'll give it to you here:

I like the Tigers in six games.

As you watch the Series, please feel just a bit sorry for Ken Rosenthal. He is one of the best baseball writers of the past 25 years and he'll spend the Series as a "sideline reporter" garnering information of no import. For all the things that ESPN does to make you scratch your head and wonder why, at least they haven't put Peter Gammons in the stands roving around looking for fans or players wives/relatives to interview. Rosenthal doesn't deserve that either.

Last week, Bernie Lincicome of the Rocky Mountain News wrote a column on the importance of Lou Piniella going to manage the Cubs. Basically, he doesn't think it matters at all. The column is excellently written and I commend it to your reading. Here's sample to whet your appetite:

"Baseball strains for relevance but the naming of a new redeemer for the Cubs is always an amusing distraction, entirely pointless, wholly harmless and eventually fruitless."

The Oakland Raiders won their first game of the year yesterday beating the Arizona Cardinals 22-9. Obviously, firing the offensive coordinator in Arizona after the debacle against the Bears on MNF was not the cure for what ails the Cards. Against the Raiders' defense - not the stingiest unit in the NFL by any means - the Cardinals gained 50 yards rushing for the day. Counting the Bears game on MNF, Edgerrin James has gained 89 yards in his last 49 carries. There is no offensive coordinator alive - or dead - who can make an offense work when the line can't allow a very good running back to gain 2 yards per carry over that many carries. A week ago, Dennis Green screamed that the Bears were exactly "who we thought they were". The real question for Green is this one:

Who did you think the Cardinals were when you assembled this roster?

FOX had an inkling of how bad that Cards/Raiders game might be. The Raiders used to be in LA and they still have a following in LA. Nevertheless, FOX did not telecast the game into the LA market; they only put it on in the Phoenix area. The Raider fans in LA and other parts of southern California could listen to the game on radio, but that was it.

The Denver Broncos held another opponent to single-digit scoring yesterday beating the Browns 17-7. Through six games, the Broncos have only given up 2 TDs. Only the Detroit Lions in 1934 can top that achievement; back then, the Lions gave up zero TDs in their first six games. In the intervening 72 years, seven different squads have yielded 3 TDs in their first six games but now the Broncos stand alone behind the 1934 Lions in this category.

The Broncos' win yesterday was no accident. They held the Browns to 183 yards of total offense; the Browns' leading rusher gained 33 yards; the Browns' leading receiver caught 4 passes for 40 yards.

What got into the Texans yesterday? They didn't just beat the Jags; they dominated them. The Texans had more rushing yards and more passing yards than the Jags; the Texans had the worst defense in the NFL by a large margin going into that game and still held the Jags to a total of 227 yards of offense.

Meanwhile in Miami, the woeful Packers pass defense - worst in the league going into yesterday's game - intercepted Joey Harrington three times and the Packers won by 10 points. Obviously, the Dolphins' game plan was to throw the ball because they had Joey Harrington launch it 62 times and they did gain 414 yards through the air, but it wasn't enough and the Dolphins go into their bye week with a 1-6 record. After the game, Nick Saban said that he'd be glad to get angry with the team if anyone thought that would help, but he wasn't sure it would do any good.

Despite Saban's equanimity yesterday, he is a man who appears to be wound very tight. So when might Mount Saban erupt? Picture this scenario. The Dolphins are stinking out the joint at home one more time, about 500 fans put paper bags over their heads, and a chant goes up along the lines of "Dolphins Suck". I think that might be the press conference where Saban puts Dennis Green's rant last Monday night to shame. When Saban melts down, I suspect we will see a human version of Chernobyl.

The Buffalo Bills' defense couldn't hold up against the Pats. Tom Brady completed 66% of his throws and the Pats converted more than 50%^ of their third down situations. That's starting to become a pattern with the Bills. Last week against the Detroit Lions, Roy Williams set his career high catching 10 passes against the Bills defense. Additionally, Kevin Jones gained 127 yards on the Bills defense and that was the first Lions' RB to gain more than 100 yards in the Lions last 22 games.

Another defense that is coming apart at the seams is the one belonging to the Washington Redskins. The Skins led the Colts at halftime yesterday. In the second half, the Colts had the ball four times - not counting a final play kneel-down - and they scored three TDs and a field goal in those four possessions. Overall, Peyton Manning was 25-35 - that's over 70% for those of you keeping score at home - for 342 yards. And let's just say that there weren't a lot of "thread the needle throws" included in those stats. One of the TDs to Marvin Harrison had him so open in the end zone that I could have gotten the ball to him without any real difficulty.

Finally, a comment from Peter Vecsey in the NY Post:

"Don't know about you, but I won't be convinced Fidel Castro's condition is terminal until the Knicks sign him."

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...

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