Whatever "It" is, the Giants have it. Whether it's a three-HR barrage from Panda or a bunt dribbling just to the interesting side of the foul line or Prince Fielder carrying just a bit too much baggage in the trunk or yet another amazing performance from a starting pitcher, the Tigers now can't afford to drop even a single game back in Detroit.
CFB: I'm sure Notre Dame is reviewing the way Kansas State ground down Oklahoma in pulling its upset in Norman a few weeks ago. Notre Dame is built much the same way... on defense. But on offense, there is no comparison between tepid ND and bullying K-State. And so it is Oklahoma's defense -- not its more acclaimed offense -- that will be the defining unit of OU tagging ND with its first loss of the season.
Upset Special: Washington over Oregon State. (I want to pick Texas Tech over Kansas State, but I feel like Tech's win over West Virginia -- as devalued as it became after WVU's second loss last week -- was Tommy Tuberville's "big upset" for the year.)
Fandom: This is the most meaningful Florida-Georgia game of my 12 years of being a Florida fan -- no less than the championship game for the SEC East, which is no small feat, particularly for a Florida team that -- this time last year -- was stumbling through October. The improvement since then is monumental.
NFL Week 8 Highlights: Neither the Eagles nor the Steelers can really afford a loss this week to drop themselves to 3-4. The Eagles have to thwart the unbeaten Falcons; the Steelers have to try to contain RG3. Sunday's best game: When the Giants embarrass the Cowboys in Dallas.
Bucs beat Vikings: That was the Doug Martin everyone was raving about on the day of the 2012 NFL Draft.
NBA: David Stern is retiring. Adam Silver is getting a promotion. The NBA enjoys continuity within its leadership. Stern's legacy is the stratospheric growth of the sport -- Stern was as responsible for that as Bird and Magic or Jordan. If he was heavy-handed, it is hard to dispute the results and prove a negative that some form of weaker-willed leadership would have made the NBA bigger than it became or that it is right now. (FWIW, I'm looking ahead to who Silver will appoint as his deputy -- thus take over the role as Commish-in-waiting. Longtime readers know my personal affinity for and friendship with D-League commissioner Dan Reed, who I have for years said will ultimately become NBA commissioner, if a decade and a half from now.)
Tebow: I'm baffled by the SI poll of NFL players that Tim Tebow is the most overrated player in the NFL. I'm even more baffled in that it is far less of an indictment of Tebow than it is an indictment of the Tebow-obsessed sports media universe.
CBB: Andrew Wiggins -- the best player of the HS Class of 2014 -- has "reclassified" into the Class of 2013, making him the most sought-after recruit of the current crop and the clear favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft. (For what it's worth, he is so good that he would have been the No. 1 player of the class of 2012, even a year behind them. He is the best high school NBA wing prospect since LeBron -- right now, he is better than Kevin Durant was at that age.)
Last Word: Say it ain't so, Mo.
-- D.S.
Friday, October 26, 2012
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