10/19 (Game 1) Quickie

*Cardinals in 7: All signs point to the Rangers winning the World Series -- that lineup! that bullpen! And yet, all signs have pointed to the Cardinals facing oblivion for months, and that hasn't stopped them from advancing. The irony is that "This Time It Counts" will actually... count.

*Raiders trade for Carson Palmer: If Palmer is healthy? OK, maybe this works out for Oakland. I give them credit for trying to win now, with the playoffs in sight, rather than simply folding up. That said: The Bengals pulled in a haul -- one 1st-round pick, possibly two? Bravo, Mike Brown.

*Suck for Luck update: Or should that be "Luck's Run Out?" I read this item yesterday that Team Luck is more sophisticated and aggressive than even Team Eli, and you remember how that went on draft day. (Actually, a whole lot of griping by the media about the Mannings, quickly forgotten, particularly when Eli led the Giants to a Super Bowl title.)

Here's the upshot: If you think that just because your team tanks 0-16, you're definitely going to secure Andrew Luck, you're making a tenuous assumption. There's no reason that the Lucks won't pick their franchise and demand a draft-day trade to that franchise.

*Vikings bench McNabb, start Ponder: By all accounts, Ponder isn't ready. But McNabb has been terrible, and the Vikings might as well figure out whether the high draft pick they spent on Ponder last year is worth it. I'm all for giving the rookie some experience.

*NBA Lockout: I follow a lot of people on Twitter for Quickish, and nothing has been more wince-inducing than the coverage from the cadre of NBA reporters staking out the mediation between the owners and players. That is one bored, pathetic bunch.

*LeBron is No. 1 on ESPN's Top 400 ranking of NBA players: As he should be. (That doesn't mean that we all can't feverishly root against him.)

Lots of great stuff at Quickish. If you missed yesterday, roll on by this morning to catch up fast. Otherwise, pop by throughout the day to keep up with the best takes on the biggest topics.

-- D.S.