11/21 (Monday) Quickie

Random thoughts on a Monday morning...

*Jay Cutler out: But...but...he finished the game! Take that haters. Has any team ever been better positioned only to end up falling short?

*The story of the week: Kevin Smith, the injury-prone but talented Lions wash-out who made a Detroit homecoming -- and had the biggest day of any player in the league (and certainly the most unexpected).

*Eagles beat Giants: Definition of "Too little, too late."

*49ers are 9-1: And can clinch the NFC West if they beat the Ravens on Thursday and the Seahawks lose to Washington.

*Dolphins win 3rd straight: As long as they're out of the Luck campaign, they might as well make it fun for their fans with a few Ws.

*Hot Seat: Time for Norv to go.

*Navel-gazing: My fantasy team is in first place, which is rare enough -- let alone this late in the season, with only three weeks left until our playoffs. Here's a bad sign: I'm last among playoff contenders in points scored and points allowed; that suggests an absurd amount of luck that is going to run out soon. On the plus side, I'm starting Tim Tebow at QB. What could go wrong?

*MNF Tonight: Even the Patriots' leaky D can handle Tyler Palko. (Right?)

*Looking ahead to Thursday, one of the best Thanksgivings in years: Unbeaten Packers at playoff-contending Lions in Detroit? Yes, please. And the Harbaugh Brothers sibling battle in Baltimore? Makes me want to abandon my family's dinner to zip in to B-more.

More...

BCS: SEC, SEC, SEC 1-2-3. I hate the rematch, but if LSU and Alabama are definitively the top 2 teams in the country, they deserve the two spots in the title game. To deny Alabama just because of the rematch would be more cynical than the system that put them together.

Heisman Watch: I'm standing by yesterday's decision to throw my support from Andrew Luck to Robert Griffin III.

NASCAR: I'm not a particularly big racing fan, but I've always liked Tony Stewart -- and I liked him a lot more when he became his own owner. He is, basically, a start-up founder, not unlike an early employee at Google or Facebook or PayPal. Oh, I've figured it out: He's the LinkedIn founder, who made his bones as an exec at PayPal before going out on his own to crush it.

CBB: The season is already off to an awesome start, and I'm ready for things to ramp up for the traditional Thanksgiving games, like the Maui Invitational, which features Duke, Kansas and Memphis (plus Michigan and Georgetown). Oh, and Northwestern won the Charleston Classic. This is the year.

MLB Hot Stove: Are the Red Sox going to hire Bobby Valentine? (Really? Look, at the very least, he'd be a lot of fun to have around.)

-- D.S.