Catching Up With My People

Sorry I haven't been around in a while...things get pretty busy at work around the start of basketball season.  Anyway, I've got a few minutes before our exhibition game starts, so I figured I'd throw a quick post up just to let you all know what I'm up to.

The big news out of the NFL is that the Cowboys finally fired Wade Phillips.  Jerry Jones has never fired a coach midseason before, and I figure he really didn't want to, but after Dallas got its ass kicked on national TV for the second time in three weeks, there was no other option.  It's already too late, and by giving Jason Garrett a chance now, Jones can see whether or not he's actually cut out for the job before giving it to him full-time and having him potentially fall flat on his face.  The best part of the whole Cowboys situation was the poll question on ESPN.com today asking who the next coach should be, and Jerry Jones won with 27% of the vote.  (In case you were wondering, Bill Cowher and John Gruden finished in a dead heat at 26%.)

The Patriots looked like the best team in the league, then went to Cleveland and got spanked by the Browns.  Cleveland has now beaten New Orleans and New England in consecutive weeks.  And next week they've got another good "New" team...the Jets.  And it's Eric Mangini's first game against the Jets since he got fired by them.  Can you say trap game?

I'm surprised about how entertaining the end of the Oakland-Kansas City game on Sunday was.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Raiders and Chiefs once again resemble professional football teams.  The Raiders already have five wins and haven't played Denver yet, so it looks virtually impossible for them to finish their annual 5-11.  Plus, they're my boy Darcy's team, so I won't go off on a tangent about how senile Al Davis is (which I think everybody knows anyway).

One last little nugget about the NFL before I get going...the Giants certainly looked impressive on Sunday, but I'm not sure if it was the Giants or that Seattle's just that bad.  The scary thing is, the Seahawks and Rams are still tied for first in the NFC West...at 4-4!  I think it's safe to say that the NFC West is the worst division in football.  Now, I love my New York Football Giants with a passion, but I still don't think they're the best team in the NFC.  I really think that's Atlanta.  The Falcons have a good test against Baltimore on Thursday night (have the Thursday games really already started?), but it's a shame they don't play the Giants in the regular season.  And I still think that the four best teams in the NFL all reside in the same two divisions (Patriots, Jets, Steelers and Ravens).  Green Bay is starting to look like the team expected to be a Super Bowl contender, too.  Seeing as we already know all six AFC playoff teams, the NFC races will be the ones to watch as the NFL season passes the halfway point.

I've got so much more to talk about (AL Gold Gloves, Jon Miller and Joe Morgan getting fired, etc.), but I've gotta go.  Hopefully I'll find some time to blog again soon.  It's theraputic.

P.S.-Just in case you missed it, "Conan" debuted on TBS last night.  I'm not sure if they did enough promotion for that show, so I thought it my civic duty to tell you all.