11/07 (Monday) Quickie

Still thinking a lot about the Penn State story, which is too horrible.

Today is the day that it moves from the sports pages to mainstream America -- and when the school simply has to do more. Accepting the resignations of the AD and VP of Finance -- at the center of the lies -- just isn't enough, nor is appointing some kind of commission. It is hard to imagine a greater institutional failure, from the lowliest assistant to the highest figure.

It feels inadequate to simply move on to the other big stories, but nevertheless...

A few thoughts about the NFL yesterday:
*Hell of a win by Eli Manning.

*Aaron Rodgers is playing better than any QB I have ever seen.

*Philip Rivers: Yikes.

*Patrick Peterson's walk-off game-winning punt return had me jumping up and down, and I couldn't care less about the Cardinals.

*I sincerely wonder whether John Fox is happy that Tim Tebow played well enough to win, because it means he can't throw him out yet. I was very happy to see the coordinators deploy Tebow as a running QB. Let's table whether that is sustainable; the point is that, game-by-game, it was effective. They better come up with a new wrinkle, because no self-respecting NFL defensive coordinator can't take the tape and a week of prep and not be ready to stop it.

*I did not expect Joe Flacco to lead the Ravens to a win in Pittsburgh. I also would like to hear more about this "Ball So Hard University" that Terrell Suggs appeared to have graduated from.

*Two words: Julio. Jones.

CFB: I'm still on the side of "LSU-Alabama was a phenomenal game." Either defense would obliterate any other contender's offense (and either's offense would steamroll any other contender's defense, which is the even bigger issue). Here's where it gets interesting:

What if Oklahoma State and Stanford both lose (OKS to OU and Stanford to Oregon, next Saturday)? It's hardly like Oklahoma is worthy of meeting LSU for the title. Neither is Alabama. Neither is Oregon, who already lost to LSU on a neutral field. I'd still like to see Boise, even with the ridiculous advantage Boise gets with its weak-in/weak-out schedule.

(That said: CFB's bigger problem is if Oklahoma State and Stanford both go unbeaten. I think Stanford would beat OKS head-to-head, but that's just conjecture. Someone will be left out, and that's going to be a problem. But, yes: These things tend to work themselves out. Let's see what happens with Stanford and Oregon before we go too far.)

NBA Lockout: If the full players membership were given the latest owners' proposal and asked to vote via secret ballot, I think more than 50% would approve it. I don't think we'll lose the season. I think that, as we've been saying for months, the season will start in January sometime after the labor deal gets hammered out in December.

-- D.S.