Real people; real scary

It's Halloween. Don't have a costume yet? Have no fear; I'm here to help. Here are a few sports-related personalites you can dress up as, and I even give suggestions on how to go about it.

Tom Brady
A Pats jersey and a child-support checkbook (Supermodel not included in costume kit.)

Jim Leavitt
A visor and, since it's a week following a loss, just be rude to everyone.

Joe Maddon
A pair of black-rim glasses with rose-colored lenses.

Michael Vick
A couple of dogs (dead or alive).

Scott Kazmir
But you are only allowed to go to 80 houses then another takes your place and will lose all your candy.

Elijah Dukes
I was going to make a joke, but this guy scares Freddy Krueger.

Chris Simms
Dye your hair blonde and carry a clipboard. And, oh yeah, have your spleen removed.

Jon Gruden
Begin trick-or-treating at 3 in the morning.

Jeff Garcia
Run frantically from one house to another.

Joe Paterno
Black glasses, rolled up pants, and do not talk about Austin Scott.

Rocco Baldelli
Crutches, ice packs, bottle of Tylenol and a portable whirlpool.

Steve Bartman
Dorky glasses, Cubs jacket, Cubs hat. Be sure to slap away all the candy intended for your buddy's pillowcase.

Peyton Manning
One drawback: you have to pay him royalties.

Isiah Thomas
Wear a suit and make inappropriate comments to all the females you pass.

Roger Clemens
Go back and forth on whether you're actually going to go trick-or-treating and then go about halfway through the night.

Bill Belichick
A video camera and the rattiest sweatshirt you can find. Also, lose your personality for a night.

Barry Bonds
Start off in a Pirates hat, but as the night progresses switch to a Giants hat and keep putting on masks that make your head bigger.

David Stern
Wear a suit and glasses, and yell at all the other trick-or-treaters who aren't dressed properly.

Dan Boyle
Full hockey gear but, of course, wear your skates on your arms.

Shooting from the lip

Worst starting time
There is no good reason why the World Series started games at 8:30. Fox, of course, wants the game on during prime time and the games started at 5:30 on the West Coast. Still, would it really make that much of a difference to start the weekend games at 7 or even 6 in the East? Don't the networks realize that most kids — baseball's future fan base — can't or aren't allowed to stay up until midnight (or later) to watch the entire game? How many kids under 12 saw the last out of the 2007 World Series, do you think?

Worst pregame
Of all the networks, Fox does the best overall job covering sports. That’s why it’s so disappointing to see how weak its World Series pregame show is. It’s nothing more than a bunch of former players and managers talking technical stuff. This is the World Series, the premier event of that sport. People who never watch baseball watch the World Series. Why not mix in a few features? Tell us about Dice-K and Manny and Todd Helton. How about an interview or two? Instead we hear guys drone on and on about how altitude affects breaking pitches and who should bat leadoff. It looked no different than the network’s regular-season pregame, which Fox seriously needs to think about revamping anyway.

Best feature
Lightning tough guy Andre Roy should get his own sitcom. His occasional feature — Rappin' With Roy — on Lightning broadcasts is priceless. He simply walks around with a microphone asking players questions such as, "If you could have a super power, what power would you have?'' Yet the answers, and his responses to the answers make for great TV. The guy is a natural

Best list
Fox analyst Jimmy Johnson offered up a pretty insightful list of the top five things teams need to win in the NFL:
5. Non-meddling owner.
4. Strong coordinators.
3. A gym rat QB.
2. A demanding leader.
1. A great talent evaluator.

Best feature
It was a tad corny, but ultimately pretty cool as ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, as we approach Halloween, recruited horror writer Stephen King, as well as dozens of NFL players, to talk about fear in the NFL. "Fear is the enemy of execution,'' King said.

Best point
ESPN college football analyst Lou Holtz brought up an interesting point, suggesting that maybe the SEC isn't all that it's cracked up to be. And there is some validity to that. Think about it. The SEC gets credit for beating up on one another, but maybe that's more of a sign of parity than true dominance. Just check the big out-of-conference games. Alabama lost to a so-so Florida State team. USF beat Auburn. Missouri beat Ole Miss. Mississippi State was hammered by West Virginia. And Cal, maybe the fourth- or even fifth-best team in the Pac-10, bombed Tennessee. which might win the SEC East.
The big wins? Not very big. Kentucky beat an overrated Louisville. Georgia beat an average Oklahoma State team. The best victory was LSU crushing Virginia Tech, which might not be all that great.

Strangest comment
On ABC's coverage of the Pep Boys 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr., talking about his final days with DEI Racing and how he looks forward to the future, said: "Winning and going to Victory Lane is so addictive and you crave it so much.'' Winning is addictive? How would he know?

Worst analysis
As the rain came down in buckets, David Norrie, who handled the color of the USF-UConn game for ABC, was asked by partner Terry Gannon how the rain affects a quarterback. Norrie should know, seeing as how he played quarterback at UCLA. Instead, he talked about how it never rained at UCLA ... and left it at that.

So you're telling us that you never once held a wet football? If not, you couldn't make up something? Maybe something like, "Uh, it's slippery and hard to throw?'' I never played quarterback at any level and I bet I could make up something. Norrie was getting paid to say something, anything. Instead, he gave us 20-year-old weather reports.

Worst event
Another Breeders' Cup. Another horse put down after breaking a leg. Someone again tell me why we race animals?

Least-classy coach
Georgia coach Mark Richt should be embarrassed and ashamed for encouraging his Bulldogs to storm the field and dance in the Gators' faces after their opening touchdown in Saturday's game. The celebration showed no class. Can you imagine Joe Paterno telling his team he would "run off'' every player if they didn't get a celebration penalty? Or Jim Tressel? Or Richt's mentor, Bobby Bowden?
Richt supposedly is a good guy, but that stunt was cheap. And if I were Urban Meyer I would never, ever forget the disrespect Richt showed Florida and its program. Maybe Richt didn't mean it that way, but that's the way it came out.

Best point
So the Giants and Dolphins played a game in London on Sunday and it wasn't the best example of the product. Then again, doesn't the NFL have bigger worries than whether England enjoys American football?

Check out what Terry Bradshaw said on the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show: "Why do we have to have a game over there? … I just don't see the point of taking one of our NFL games away from the cities in the United States that count on them week in and week out. Why don't we try to grow the sport here in Los Angeles where we don't have a team. Get a team out here in Los Angeles before you start taking this stuff over the pond, as they say.''

Preview of the week
New England won. Indianapolis won. So we have an undefeated showdown next week between the two NFL heavyweights. "Two heavyweights knocking heads, just like we wanted,'' CBS's Shannon Sharpe said. "They both held serve. We have the matchup of the century.'' Normally, a statement like that is hyperbole. This time, Sharpe might just be right.

Best manager/coach
Hard to argue with New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica, who said this on ESPN's Sports Reporters about Red Sox manager Terry Francona:
"He has now taken his place with the best manager and coaches in sports right now. And probably is the most underrated even now, even with this World Series taking a closer look at his work. … He handles it all with a rare grace and perspective. Put it another way: There isn't an adjective applied to (former Yankees manager Joe) Torre on his way out the door in New York that doesn't apply to Terry Francona.''

Best line
Tom Jackson of ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown talking about Vinny Testaverde starting over David Carr in Carolina:
"When you start talking about measuring a quarterback, it's how he throws the football — the height, the size, the leadership, all of those things. Vinny Testaverde gets the edge. The only thing that David Carr has done better than Vinny Testaverde, and it's kind of ironic, is lay on his back and get off the ground.''

Favorite coach
I can't name three players who play for Kansas, but I'm hoping they go undefeated just so we can see more of coach Mark Mangino. Have you seen this guy? He's the Rick Majerus of football. He looks like your next-door neighbor and it would be awesome to see a guy who looks like he eats ribs for breakfast knock off some of these guys who think they're so cool-looking such as Les Miles or Jim Tressel.

Wildest play ever

Here's that play between Trinity University of San Antonio, Tex. and Millsaps College on Saturday. Two seconds left and Trinity at its own 40 needing a touchdown to win. This makes Standford-Cal look like nothing!(Video courtesy of ESPN)

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Power rankings

Who's hot this week in the world of sports:
1. Tampa Bay Lightning (at home). A dominating 5-0-1 at St. Pete Times Forum.
2. Josh Beckett/Curt Schilling. Red Sox 1-2 starters among greatest postseason pitchers ever.
3. Boston College. Lucky as all get-out, but still undefeated.
4. Carlos Pena. Devil Rays slugger deservedly named A.L. comeback player of the year.
5. Tony La Russa. Tampa native decides to return as Cardinals skipper.
6. Indianapolis Colts. Show  they  still are  defending champs with easy victory over Jacksonville.
7. David Nalbandian. Who? Ask Roger Federer, who lost to this guy on hardcourt last week.
8. SEC. Any doubt this is best conference in college football?
9. Tom Brady. Pats QB throws personal-best six TDs. But it was against Dolphins so does it count?
10. Brian Griese. Former Bucs QB  saving Bears season.

Who's not hot this week in the world of sports:
1. Tampa Bay Lightning (on the road). A dismal 0-3 away from St. Pete Times Forum.
2. Tampa Bay Bucs. Lions loss could come back to haunt.
3. Dave Hart. FSU athletic director, soon to be  former FSU athletic director.
4. Chuck LaMar. Former Devil Rays GM becomes Phillies' director of pro scouting.
5. Hooters Hoops. Long-time prep high school holiday tournament could end without sponsor.
6. Adam Morrison. Bobcats forward with Larry Bird-mustache out for season with injury.
7. Robert Weiner. Plant football coach blows out both shoulders in weight­lifting bet.
8. Miami Dolphins. Going to Europe to look for first win. Won't happen.
9. Michael Clayton. Bucs receiver's season goes from bad to worse with ankle injury.
10. Billy Donovan. Gators basketball coach facing surgery for bad back.

Shooting from the lip

Luckiest coach
LSU coach Les Miles is flat-out lucky his Tigers beat Auburn on Saturday. He called for a long pass when he needed only what would've been about a 39-yard field goal to win. His team came through by scoring a TD, but there was only one second left when the play ended. Had the pass been deflected, that final second could've ticked off. (But, replays showed the TD actually came with four seconds left and the clock ran a bit — something that would've been fixed on replay if necessary.) That led to a bizarre conversation between Miles and ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe.

First, Rowe messed up badly by asking Miles, "You called timeout — what happened next? Take us through the process.''

Miles looked completely puzzled and for good reason — he didn't call timeout. But Miles explained himself and Rowe followed with the question about time nearly running out. Miles then said, "We still had a timeout. I knew with 16 or 18 seconds left, we had time.''

The thing was, he didn't have 16 or 18 seconds left. The ball on the touchdown play was snapped with eight seconds left. It wasn't Rowe's finest moment. And it wasn't Miles' best coaching, either. He was lucky.

Worst officiating
After watching the USF-Rutgers game then the fiasco of the fair-catch-that-wasn't in UConn's victory against Louisville, it's safe to say the Big East's officiating is atrocious, the worst of any major conference in college football.

Best hustle
CBS NFL insider Charley Casserly had an interesting stat. He learned that two NFL officiating crews had called offensive holding three times all season, while another crew had called it 12 times. "This has been a constant problem the whole time that I've been in the league: the inconsistency of one crew to another,'' Casserly said. "What's the league doing about it? This year, something different. Starting this week, they're going to start evaluating these crews on these statistics, trying to identify why there's differences and work to get them corrected during the season.''

Team of the weekend
The New England Patriots might not lose a game. They might not even come within the same zip code of losing a game. Fox NFL analyst Howie Long said, "If this team goes on and wins another championship this year, I think you have to mention (coach Bill) Belichick and (quarterback) Tom Brady in the conversation for best ever at what they do.''

Yet the NFL Network's Deion Sanders remains a skeptic: "They got to come up with a running game because winter is approaching. Brady is not going to be able to sit back and throw for 300, 400 yards due to inclement weather.''

Most interesting reporting
During the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, reporter Scotty Morrison said the NHL is looking to fix the schedule. (Excuse me while I yell out a "Yippeeeeeeeee!'') In fact, the league might go back to an 84-game regular season so that teams in the East play teams in the West twice — once at home, once on the road. To make room, teams would cut back two or three exhibition games. Right now, it's just all talk, but it sounds good, doesn't it?

Best interview
By far, the most entertaining five minutes of television all weekend was ESPN's Keyshawn Johnson interviewing Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson on Sunday NFL Countdown. It was hard to tell who was interviewing whom as the two went back and forth about Chad's antics. Keyshawn questioned whether Chad goes overboard with his cele­brations and whether he still cares because Chad hasn’t celebrated as much lately. "What is there to celebrate when we’re losing?'' Chad said. At one point, Keyshawn asked Chad if he were a "distraction'' to his team and said he disapproved of Chad's celebrations, demeanor and so forth. (Funny that the questions came from a guy who wore out his welcome pretty much everywhere he played.) Oddly enough, the viewer came out of this five minutes of television gold liking both Johnsons.

Best-worst game
If FSU-Miami had played the game they played Saturday 15 years ago, it might have been one of the greatest college games ever. But did anyone other than FSU and Miami fans even watch?

Weekend MVP
ESPN college football analyst Mark May was on top of his game and just might be the authoritative voice of college football for the network. You don't always have to agree with his comments, but his opinions are strong and he can back up what he says with a good argument as opposed to, say, the network's Robert Smith, who might as well wear his old Ohio State jersey on camera. But, anyway, back to May. He seems to have an allegiance to no one and no team. That's how it should be. His best comment of the weekend was about which two-loss team had the best chance to win the SEC:

"It's Florida and it's because of their quarterback, Tim Tebow. He does everything. He runs the ball. He throws the ball. He manages the game. … He doesn't make mistakes. And he's exciting. Every time he steps on the field, he's a human highlight film.''

Best setup
You gotta love Dr. Jerry Punch, who said this about the small NASCAR track at Martinsville Speedway on ABC's Subway 500 coverage: "Folks, this racetrack is about the size of your average shopping mall parking lot. Now imagine putting 43 cars in a mall parking lot and telling these guys you can go just over 100 mph but at the end of the day there's only going to be one parking spot available that you really want. How quickly would that get ugly? Our shopping mall lot that we call Martinsville Speedway is about to be open for business.''

Most common prediction
With Tom Osborne taking over as athletic director at Nebraska, it seems only a matter of time before Bill Callahan is axed as head football coach. Who might replace him? Two — ESPN's Lee Corso and Fox's Barry Switzer — already are tabbing former Nebraska QB and current University of Buffalo coach Turner Gill as the Huskers' next coach.

Biggest jerk
Here's why Alabama coach Nick Saban is a dirtbag. ESPN's Outside the Lines did a positive piece on Jim Leavitt and the rise of USF football. The piece pointed out Saban's comments about how USF accepts non-qualifiers. USF freely admitted that over the past three years, it has accepted 40 football players who met NCAA academic standards, but not USF standards. OTL also asked Florida, which said it currently has 14 non-qualifiers, and Florida State, which averages about 15 a season — the same as USF. When Alabama was asked? It refused to answer.

Stat of the week
Irish fans (and coach Charlie Weis, for that matter) keep telling everyone, "Go ahead and pile on over how bad we are now because we’ll be back.'' Well, okay, here's piling on: With 10 minutes left in Saturday's 38-0 loss to USC, the Trojans had as many touchdowns (five) as Notre Dame had first downs.

Best lines
The two best one-liners over the weekend came from Fox.
Baseball analyst Tim McCarver: "You fall behind major-league hitters and you turn mules into race horses.'' I don't know, exactly, what that means, but I liked it.
NFL analyst Jimmy Johnson, talking how everyone has jumped on the Adrian Peterson bandwagon: "Victory has 1,000 fathers, defeat is an orphan.''

Best analysis
CBS analyst Gary Danielson shouted  "Jump pass formation'' just moments before Florida's Tim Tebow threw a TD pass against Kentucky on a … jump pass. "This isn't an offense of the 21st century,'' play-by-play man Verne Lundquist said. "It's an offense of the 1950s.''

Best shoutout
ESPN scouting analyst Todd McShay said USF has three legitimate NFL prospects. McShay's list:
1. Mike Jenkins, CB. "Reminds me of (New England’s) Eugene Wilson. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go in the first round.''
2. Trae Williams, CB. "A ballhawk, a playmaker. Another possible first-rounder.''
3. George Selvie, DE. "Reminds me of (Dallas') DeMarcus Ware. He's only a sophomore, but he would be a first-round pick if he entered the next NFL draft.''

Power rankings

Who's hot this week in the world of sports:
1. Ron Zook. Hey, Gators fans, look who Illinois extended through 2012.
2. Armwood football. Extends home winning streak to 30 games with dominant victory against Hillsborough.
3. Priest Holmes. Chiefs back practices with team for first time since Oct. 2005.
4. Bill Stoneman. A man with priorities — quits as Angels GM to spend more time with family.
5. Colorado Rockies. Will they ever lose again?
6. New England Patriots. Will they ever lose again?
7. Monica Abbott/Lorena Ochoa. The Tennessee pitcher and pro golfer, respectively, named Sportswomen of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation.
8. Tampa Bay Bucs. It's beginning to look a lot like playoffs.
9. Minnesota Wild. This is cool — team takes players' moms on a road trip.
10. Dusty Baker. Old managers don't die. They get hired by the Reds.

Who's not hot this week in the world of sports:
1. USF. Party was nice while it lasted.
2. Joe Torre. No one with this much class should be treated like the Yankees treated him.
3. Tampa Bay Lightning. Suddenly, a losing streak.
4. Bob Hartley. Not to toot my own horn, but I predicted on Oct. 3 that he would be first NHL coach fired.
5. USF-Rutgers referees. Not to sound like a homer, but the refs had a questionable night.
6. Miami Dolphins. Might have a perfect record … in the other direction.
7. Dice-K Matsuzaka. Red Sox pitcher is 2-5 with a 6.43 ERA since Aug. 5.
8. Santana Moss. Redskins receiver pulls self from game because he didn't "feel right.''
9. Evander Holyfield. Time to ride into the sunset, big guy.
10. Nebraska football. Can't see coach Bill Callahan surviving this mess.

Who will be the next Yankees manager?

   So Joe Torre turned the Yankees insulting one-year offer to return as manager of the Yankees. Spin it any way you want, but the Yankees (read: George Steinbrenner) fixed it so Torre would not return as manager. The Boss knew Torre would not accept a one-year deal. So, what happens now? Who will be the Yankees next manager?

Don Mattingly
Considered the favorite even though he has never managed before — not even a Little League game. But if he approaches managing like he did playing, he should be a good bench boss. Already on the staff, he is familiar and respected.

Joe Girardi
Was manager of the year at Florida in his only season as an MLB manager, but then got fired. That only lends credence to his reputation of someone who is hard to get along with. But maybe the Yankees need a bad cop for a while.

Tony LaRussa
A big enough name to satisfy the media and the fans and has a proven track. He seems a restless kind and it appears he's pretty much over his time in St. Louis. He's ready for a change.

Bobby Valentine
Has worked in New York with the Mets, so he knows how to deal with the media. (Don't underestimate how critical that is to this job.) He’s had some success in Japan and might bring a fresh perspective to the Yankees.

Lou Piniella
You know deep down this was Steinbrenner's first choice all along. Lou appears tied up the Cubs, but where there's money and a will, there's a way.

Paul O'Neill
Do you realize the Yankees haven't won a World Series since he left the team? He's a broadcaster with the Yankees now, so he knows the organization. Simply put: this guy's a winner.

Larry Bowa
The Yankees third-base coach is one of those guys you love to hate. He'd probably rub some Yankees the wrong way, but maybe some Yankees need to be rubbed the wrong way.

Dave Miley
He has experience at the Major League level with the Reds. He manages the Yanks' Triple-A team. And he's a Tampa guy. (He went to Chamberlain.) That's good enough for me.

John Turturro
He did a heck of a job playing Billy Martin in The Bronx Is Burning. And, after all, Martin still might be the all-time favorite Yankees manager.

Roger Clemens
Maybe if we would become manager we wouldn't have to listen to months of annoying talk about whether he's retiring or not. Quite frankly, I'd love for him to get a new cellphone so he can hear his wife telling to quit already.

Willie Randolph
Randolph is really a Yankees guy, having spent most of his career in blue pinstripes. His stock was probably higher a few weeks ago before his Mets gagged away a playoff spot.

Derek Jeter
We haven't had a player-manager since Pete Rose, so why not Jeter? He's already captain, the fans love him and he's a smart guy.

Our surprise candidate
Who has the respect of the players? Who knows how to handle the media scrutiny? Who can deal with the egos of the Yankee players and the arrogance of the Yankees owner? Who has a proven track record? There's a perfect guy for this job. His name is Joe Torre.

Why Matt Grothe (as of now) should win the Heisman

USF quarterback Matt Grothe's chances of winning the Heisman Trophy are improbable. I know that. Then again, how improbable is it that his Bulls are the No. 2 ranked team in the nation? The list of Heisman hopefuls doesn’t even include Grothe. And I want to know: why not?

He is the starting quarterback of an undefeated team, and he is the chief reason why that team is undefeated. So I'm here to make his case. Matt Grothe for the Heisman!

Is he the best college football player in the country? Probably not. Does he have the best numbers out there? No. But when we compare him to the other Heisman hopefuls, I think I can make a pretty good argument against each and every one. So, to members of the jury (or, in this case, the Heisman voters), I humbly submit my case:

Grothe vs. Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College
Ryan has thrown for more than 1,000 yards more than Grothe and has 17 TDs compared to Grothe's seven, but he also has thrown twice as many interceptions. Two other things. Grothe is more versatile, rushing for 346 yards compared to Ryan's 38. Plus, BC hasn't played anybody. The Eagles' best victory might have been against a really bad Notre Dame team, and Ryan had his second-worst game of the season statistically. The Eagles certainly haven't faced any team as good as Auburn or West Virginia. Not yet, anyway.

Grothe vs. Andre Woodson, QB, Kentucky
Again, Grothe gets a huge advantage with his legs. Woodson, in fact, has minus-85 yards rushing. Woodson has put up huge numbers , but most came against teams such as Eastern Kentucky, FAU, Kent State and a Louisville team whose defense would have trouble stopping Armwood High. If you delve into the numbers, Woodson's worst games statistically were against then-No. 1 LSU and South Carolina. Yes, Kentucky beat LSU. Then again, it did lose to South Carolina.

Grothe vs. Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
Bradford might have the best stats of anyone in the Heisman race even though he's a freshman. He has thrown for 20 touchdowns, has completed over 70 percent of his passes and has a 181.1 passer rating, which is better than all the Heisman candidates. But who has Oklahoma played? Texas? Okay, that's not a bad team. But who else? Miami? Please. And don't give us Missouri. Sure, the Tigers were undefeated, but they do this every year — they start hot then get clobbered when they start playing real teams. I think Grothe has faced better competition.

Grothe vs. Colt Brennan, QB, Hawaii
You have to feel bad for Brennan. No one ever sees him because his team plays at 2 in the morning. On the surface, his numbers look impressive — 20 TDs, 2,395 yards, a 69.9 completion percentage. But here’s all you need to know to dismiss Brennan as a serious candidate: Northern Colorado, Louisiana Tech, UNLV, Charleston Southern, Idaho, Utah State, San Jose State. Can we move on now?

Grothe vs. Dennis Dixon, QB, Oregon
Dixon is a double threat like Grothe, but Grothe has rushed for more yards. Dixon's most impressive performance was when he threw for 292 yards and three scores, and rushed for 76 yards and another score against Michigan. But Michigan was reeling from losing to Appalachian State the week before and was not the team it is now. In his biggest game against Cal, Dixon threw for 306 yards, but was picked off twice. And Oregon lost.

Grothe vs. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
Tebow has rushed for more yards. A lot more yards. He has thrown for more yards. A lot more yards. But Grothe's case here? Common opponent. Grothe threw for a score and ran for another against Auburn. Tebow did the same against Auburn: one TD in the air and another on the ground. But there were two differences. Tebow threw an interception against Auburn. And the other difference? Grothe won his game against Auburn.

Grothe vs. Mike Hart, RB, Michigan
Hart is leading the nation in rushing and has rushed for 100 yards in every game, including games of 215, 188 and 187. But, come on, his team lost to Appalachian State. It wasn't his fault. In fact, only because of him, Michigan wasn't blown out by Appalachian State. But still, we're honestly going to vote for a guy whose team has lost twice, including a game to Appalachian State?

Grothe vs. Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
The preseason favorite has had a good year, but not a spectacular year with 822 yards and seven TDs on 147 carries. Teammate Felix Jones has numbers almost as good: 673 yards and five TDs on 66 carries. Anyway, Arkansas is 3-3, including a loss to Auburn when McFadden rushed for only 43 yards on 17 carries.

Shooting from the lip

  Best point
Michael Kay works for New York's YES Network and has covered the Yankees for years, so he has credence when it comes to Joe Torre, whose job is on the line as manager. And while everyone is pretty much in agreement that Torre has done a great job, Kay did bring up a solid point on ESPN's Sports Reporters. "It's incredible Torre is given all the credit for the winning, but absolutely none of the blame for losing,'' Kay said. "Even a hint that he had something to do with the losing and you have a chance to be shouted down. It's almost impossible to have it both ways, but Torre has deftly pulled it off.''

Biggest villains
Fox NFL analysts Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer aren't making many friends in the Tampa Bay area. A week after running down USF, the two took a couple of more shots Sunday. Neither had USF in his college top five. Switzer's top five were Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, Cal and Boston College. Johnson had Oregon, Oklahoma, LSU, Ohio State and Arizona State.
Johnson said, "If they beat Rutgers this week, I'll put South Florida up there.''
Switzer added, "I got South Florida sixth. Let me tell you, if they beat Rutgers and beat those basketball schools — Louisville and Cincinnati — I might get them up there.''

Strongest comment
Sean Burke, the former Lightning goalie, was on Hockey Night in Canada and had another parting shot for coach John Tortorella regarding goal­tenders. "He's a great coach in a lot of ways,'' Burke said, "but the way he handles goal­tending is very inconsistent. It's hard to have a lot of confidence when you play goal for him.

Worst comment
Chip Caray is making way too many mistakes calling the baseball playoffs on TBS. But his comment during Game 2 of the NLCS were somewhere between head-scratching and flat-out clueless. Caray said, "Talking about the continuing theme of misperceptions about Colorado: If someone said their defense would be the star of a postseason game, it might surprise a lot of people.'' What? Who exactly would be surprised? The Rockies committed a league-low 68 errors and had the best fielding percentage in major-league history. Caray's partner Tony Gwynn did his best to not make Caray look bad, but pointed out that anyone who really followed the National League knew how good the Rockies defense has been.

Most discouraging comment
Mark May does a fine job as a college football analyst for ESPN, but his line of thinking Saturday was disturbing. May criticized Boston College for not being impressive enough in its victory over Notre Dame. That kind of talk ultimately encourages teams to run up the score against opponents and the last thing we need is teams trying to embarrass opponents by scoring 70 or 80 points just to impress the pollsters and analysts.

Most revealing quote
Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon might be teammates, but don't think for a second they care about that while both are in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship. "They're absolutely individuals at this point in time,''’ ABC's Brad Daugherty said. "With my friends, I want to kick their butts worse than anyone when we're being competitive, so I think Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are the same. They go after each other harder than they go after the other competitors.''

Saddest story
ESPN's Amy Nelson did a heart-breaking piece for Outside the Lines on the late Rod Beck, the long-time baseball reliever who died in June at age 38 of unknown causes after years of battling an addiction to alcohol and drugs, including cocaine. What made it so sad is how Beck's life unraveled even though he had a wife, two daughters, lots of friends and a great career. Nelson's excellent piece revealed that not all addicts are bad or pathetic people, but just the opposite. Speaking of Nelson, she primarily works for ESPN the Magazine, but, based on Sunday's story, the network should lean on her more for television pieces.

Most ominous comment
Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN's College GameDay is on the USF bandwagon, saying the Bulls deserved to be ranked as high as they are in most polls. He is not convinced, however, they will play for national championship, no matter how the season plays out. "Looking at the remaining schedule,'' Herbstreit said, "this has the making — if they run the table — of one of those teams that could be leapfrogged by a one-loss team from one of those powerhouse conference. I could just see them sitting there at 12-0 and seeing one of those one-loss teams like Oklahoma going right past them.''

Coolest quote
Talking about how the Lightning's Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis have the incredible knack of always knowing whether the other one is on the ice, Lightning TV color man Bobby "The Chief'' Taylor said, "I think they have GPS's imbedded in their helmets.''

Most incredibly insensitive comment
Fox Sports Net's Dave Lapham had a complete brain shutdown Satur­day while doing color on the Iowa State-Texas game. Texas' Michael Flath was not penalized when he ripped the helmet off Iowa State's Todd Blythe, who was poked in the eye as well. It should've been a penalty, but Lapham actually said, "They face-raped him!''

Are you kidding me? Was that supposed to be funny? Clever? Using the word "rape'' to describe anything in a lousy football game is one thing and one thing only: totally inappropriate.

Weirdest sponsor
On NBC's Notre Dame games, that little yellow line that shows the first downs are sponsored by Xerox. With the way the Notre Dame offense is playing, maybe it should be sponsored by MapQuest.

Best hustle
Fox NFL insider Jay Glazer should get a job with the CIA or something. A few weeks ago, he obtained a copy of the Patriots' Spygate tape from someone in the NFL. Sunday, he had another piece of tape.
"We heard this offseason that Joey Porter of the Dolphins and Levi Jones of the Bengals got into a fistfight at the Palms Hotel, but nobody really knew what happened,'' Glazer said. "Apparently, this time, what happens in Vegas isn't staying in Vegas because I've got the surveillance tape.''

The tape showed Jones being jumped at a blackjack table by Porter and three others. "This is clearly not a one-on-one fight,'' Glazer said. "You hear about violence on the field, but taking it off the field is unbelievable.''

Most insulting comment
You have to love ESPN football analyst Mike Ditka. That guy will say anything. During Sunday NFL Countdown, Ditka was asked to pick who he would rather have: head case Randy Moss of the Patriots or head case Terrell Owens of the Cowboys. Ditka: "This is the case of the lesser of two evils and that will be Moss. I tell you why — T.O. has proven it. He's an expert in killing coaches and quarterbacks, and he's got the corpses to prove it. He'll go off soon. I don't know when, but he'll go off.''

Most touching piece
ESPN's College GameDay did a tear-jerker piece on Mark Bradford, the Stanford wide receiver who caught the winning touchdown in the upset of USC. Bradford's mother died when he was young and his father passed away just days before the USC game. Bradford's father was in jail for a few years, forcing Bradford to help raise his younger brother when the two were still in high school. Yet, despite being reunited upon his release, the elder Bradford convinced his son to turn down a scholarship offer from USC, leave his native Los Angeles and attend Stanford for the education. "That was divine intervention,'' Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said. "His father was watching over him when he made that catch.''

Power rankings

Who's hot this week in the world of sports ...
1. Vinny. You got Lecavalier, Prospal and Testaverde. Take your pick.
2. Frank Wren. St. Pete native gets Braves GM job. Geez, talk about having to live up to a high standard.
3. USF football. Say what you want about FAU game. Bulls are still undefeated.
4. Jeff Gordon. Look who's atop the Chase, Little E fans.
5. Stan Heath. The USF coach kicks off his tenure with practice. Uh, that might be the highlight of his first couple of seasons.
6. Colorado Rockies. Gotta love a team with the 26th-highest payroll making a run at the World Series.
7. Dave Martinez. All-around good guy gets job as Rays bench coach.
8. Don Zimmer. Rays senior adviser Don Zimmer will be back for 60th season in an MLB uniform.
9. Red Sox Nation. Even if Sox lose to Indians, they still got farther than the Yankees.
10. Dave Reutimann. Zephyrhills' Nextel Cup rookie gets ride for next season by re-signing with Michael Waltrip Racing.

Who's not hot this week in the world of sports ...
1. Joe Torre. About to lose his job as Yankees manager and that would be New York's loss.
2. George Gipp. Geez, let the guy rest in peace.
3. Matt Leinart. Cards QB is out for season and, somewhere, Kurt Warner's wife is smiling.
4. Mack Strong. Our favorite NFL name has to retire because of injury.
5. Jake Delhomme. Panthers QB out for season. Bad for Carolina. Good for Tampa Bay.
6. Tim Tebow. Still waiting for a signature fourth-quarter comeback drive from Gators QB.
7. Michael Pittman. Just what the Bucs needed — another injured running back.
8. Erasmus James. Vikings player is hurt in a fight ... with a teammate!
9. Joey Porter. Guys on 0-5 football teams should not be talking smack.
10. Diamondbacks fans. First, they barely fill the stadium and some of those who do act like jerks by throwing stuff on the field.