Vick doesn't have to pay bonus money

A day after saying he wasn't happy with how he was being used in Philadelphia, Michael Vick has a reason to smile.A federal appeals court judge upheld the ruling that he doesn't have to pay back $16 million in roster bonuses from the Atlanta Falcons.
  Judge David Doty's ruling was affirmed by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saying Vick earned the bonuses before the dogfighting conviction.Considering everything that has went wrong in his life lately, this should put a big smile on his face and make him very happy.

BCS winners & losers

After another wild week in college football there's been another shakeup with the number 2 and 3 spot in the BCS rankings. Among the winners in this were Alabama,TCU,Ohio State, and Cincinnati. The losers:Notre Dame, Iowa and Oregon and possibly Texas.

Winners: Alabama-After a hard fought win over LSU which clinched the SEC West, the Tide is now looking forward to a showdown with SEC East leader Florida. Only a rivalry game with Auburn remains Alabama's only road block to an undefeated season.

TCU-With Iowa going down to the hands of Northwestern,the Horned Frogs moved up to number four in the newest BCS rankings.If they can get past Utah they're the party crashers this year.

Ohio State-The Buckeyes control their own destiny in the Big Ten after the win over Penn State and the Iowa loss.The Hawkeyes lost their starting quarterback which makes next week's game a little easier for the Bucks.

Cincinnati-The Bearcats put up some style points but let Connecticut make a run at them late in the game.Not a good thing with Big East heavies Pittsburgh and West Virginia left on the schedule.

Losers:Notre Dame-A loss to Navy shut the door on their slight chance at a BCS bowl.The Irish will be on the outside looking in and relegated to a second tier bowl.

Iowa-If losing to Northwestern wasn't enough,they also lost their starting quarterback,Ricky Stanzi.The loss knocked them out of the national championship conversation.It's not looking good for the Hawkeyes going into their showdown with Ohio State.

Oregon-Even though they still control their own destiny in the Pac-10,the Ducks, with a lot of help had an outside shot at the title game.  That chance is gone thanks to the whipping by Stanford. Still can go to the Rose Bowl,but its not a given in the Pac-10.

Texas-They have to play the games on the schedule,but its like they have nothing to gain and everything to lose.The Longhorns need to put up the style points(run up the score) to sway the computers.With no real tough games on the schedule,including the Big 12 championship, they will need Alabama or Florida to slip.Of course the thing that helps them is that they play each other.Texas should hope for a blowout in that game if both remain undefeated. 

Ringside Thoughts II

I didn't get a chance to view the fight between heavyweights David Haye and Nikolai Valuev. Haye won a majority decision and from what I read pretty much dominated the fight,nearly flooring the Russian giant in the final round. Haye,now the WBA titleholder will probably have a mandatory defense against John Ruiz,who stopped Adnan Serin in the seventh round.A lot of fans want to see him fight Evander Holyfield,who others feel should've been fighting Haye in the first place after losing a controversial decision to Valuev.
  Such is the sad state of the heavyweight division.Once the glamour division in boxing has continually gotten worse.It has been filled with retreads,journeymen,and a lot of Russian or European fighters lots of American fight fans have never heard of.It reminds me of the 80s when the alphabet divisions came along and gave us multiple champions.Outside of Larry Holmes,who knew them.I do like the Klitscho brothers,but we already know they want to monopolize the division and never will fight each other. We now have Haye,who talks a big game,but has backed out of fights with both Klitscho's. There's Holyfield,but he's old,thought of as washed up.and has trouble being licensed in the United States. There are really no interesting fights out there in the division, but the show must go on.Hopefully,somewhere out there,there is some heavyweight out there that can change the way the division is looked at and is a bonafide challenger that can give us a good fight.

Ducks Clipped

The Oregon Ducks came into Stanford Stadium flying high and were cut down by the Stanford Cardinal 51-42.Oregon, fresh off a four touchdown shellacking of USC,and looking like a team no one wanted a piece of, were outplayed and dominated from the start. Once looking like a team that with a little luck,had an outside shot to play for a national championship now has to settle for a possible Rose Bowl berth. Thing is, they have to win out.Considering the wacky nature of the Pac-10 conference it's not a given.  

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recap?gid=200911070063&prov=ap

Middle schooler towers over the competition

Brenden Adams of Morgan Middle School in Ellensburg,Washington is a giant of a man. Not quite a man,but at 7-4 at age 14 you might think otherwise at first glance. And get this,he plays football. His mom wasn't quite sure, because football is not a game for tall men. He says he's always loved the game and wanted to play. Makes for a big target in the red zone.

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1011697

Damn Yankees

As much as i can't stand the New York Yankees, i must give them credit. They spent their money wisely, had the right spare parts and now have captured their 27th world championship. The talent on the team isn't all homegrown, but the management cares a lot about winning. Although i do believe age will catch up to this current edition of Yankees, their bottomless pit of money will ensure they won't have a dip in the standings like they had most of the 80s. I hate to say it, the Yankees are here to stay. They'll continue to outspend everyone, pick off the best talent from the bottom feeders that aren't able to keep up, and fleece others in trades by overvaluing the talent in the farm system. I would hope that baseball would institute some kind of salary cap to make baseball more competitive. I guess that's just wishful thinking.

Rappin Redick:Baller or Balla

I'm a little late on this one. Word has it that JJ redick of the Orlando Magic is part of a rap group. Once again another athlete that wants to rap. Stick to the skill your best at JJ.