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Like an idiot, I accidentally had the comments settings set to "moderate comments" and then didn't provide an email address to be contacted at. I've fixed that problem, now. So to all of you who have been generous enough to comment on this page, sorry if I didn't get back to you. Technology eludes me.

Additionally, in the interest of having something sports-related included in this post, let me just say that everyone chirping about how the Nuggets are a contender, now, (ahem... John Hollinger, Screamin' A. Smith), is dead wrong about everything in life.

NFL Week 16 picks

Just want to address a couple things before taking on the second-to-last week of the most frustrating, irritating football season ever.

Firstly, regarding the futbol played across the pond, Liverpool have landed Lucas Neill for quite an agreeable price. At the very worst, the Aussie international whose dubious record for wreckless play has earned him many vocal critics, will provide cover at left back -- something this team sorely needs. Riise's defensive play has been wobbly all season long and I rate Neill ahead of Stephon Warnock and the anything-but-a-defender Fabio "the first crappy Brazilian player" Aurelio. Nice one, Reds.

Secondly, regarding Shawn Merriman's selection to the Pro Bowl: Shame on all of you. Especially those of you howling for Mark McGwire's blood after the baseball HOF nominees were announced. Merriman made a conscious decision to not only take BANNED performance enhancers, but aggressively sought them out. He gets slapped with a minor 4-game suspension and still gets to go to the Pro Bowl. Someone please explain to me how Merriman's offense is not patently WORSE than McGwire slamming andro before MLB listed it as a banned substance. Please, anyone. Speak up. But you're all so quick to vilify McGwire because he "dupped" you, even though he'd been mashing HRs by the truckload before any of this nonsense broke. So the justification for Merriman is... what? That he's a football player, so it's okay? We expect this kind of thing from him? Baseball has some sort of sanctity that doesn't relate to football? Absolute crap! You're all hypocrits of the worst kind. Hypocrits with a capital "H." And for the record, yes, I would absolutely vote Mark McGwire into the HOF because A) regardless of implication you are innocent until proven guilty, B) when he took andro suppliments, MLB didn't consider it as an offense, C) your only source of condemnation is freaking Jose Canseco. Get bent. Vote Big Mac in. Strip Merriman of the privelege of going to the most irrelevant of all the irrelevant all star games.

Now, let's get this season of mediocrity over with, shall we?

Da Raiders...

Kansas City at Oakland (+6.5) - Look, the Raiders suck. I know it, you certainly it, there's no disputing it. Getting waxed 20-0 at home against the freaking Rams just further solidifies it. If there's any last gasp of pride left in them (I'm taking the longshot and saying there still is), though, they'll show up to play against the rival Chiefs . Chiefs 24 Raiders 18

Minnesota at Green Bay (-3) - Tavaris Jackson makes his debut at QB vs the Pack. So while the defense he's facing isn't too rough, he still plays for Minnesota. Packers 27 Vikings 17

Washington at St. Louis (-2) - Playing out the schedule, nobody cares... Rams 31 Redskins 24

New Orleans (+3) at New York Giants - The G-men are proving too disfunctional to rest on their talent alone. Saints will get up for this after falling prey to the dreaded "letdown" against Washington last week. Saints 30 Giants 21

Tennessee (+4.5) at Buffalo - Come on ride the train... and ride it. Titans 23 Bills 20

Indianapolis at Houston (+9.5) - Well, I was wrong about the Monday night game. I admit that. But the Colts still play to the level of their competition. Colts 27 Texans 24

Baltimore (+3.5) at Pittsburgh - Might we see more Kyle Boller this week? Perhaps. But unless the field freezes over and Sidney Crosby takes the ice, Pittsburgh is going back below .500. Ravens 26 Steelers 14

Tampa Bay at Cleveland (-3) - Wow... Browns 12 Buccaneers 7

New England at Jacksonville (-3) Maybe? You just never know. Two prime examples of "good teams" slogging through mediocrity. The Pats lead their division by default and the Jags, as good as they are and with some of the wins they've notched this season, have some truly criminal losses. However, the home team gets up for big name opponents. Jaguars 21 Patriots 17

Carolina (+6) at Atlanta - The Falcons aren't good enough to win big, Chris Weinke or not. Falcons 18 Panthers 15

Arizona at San Francisco (-4) - Yep. Probably better off staying away from this one, too. But it'll be a shootout. 49ers 35 Cardinals 28

Chicago (-4.5) at Detroit - Stop me if you've heard this one before: easiest schedule in NFL history! The worst part is, given how pathetic the NFC is, it may not come back to bite them in the playoffs. Bears 31 Lions 10

Cincinnati (+3) at Denver - Broncos at home coming off a win. Cincy just got worked over by Indy. I should pick Denver, which is precisely why I'm taking Cincy. Bengals 25 Broncos 21

San Diego (-4.5) at Seattle - Man, I don't care if this in front of "the 12th man" (gimme a break), this line is way too low. SD still has homefield advantage throughout the playoffs to aim for. Chargers 37 Seahawks 17

Philadelphia (+7) at Dallas - After all that Philly fans have suffered through this year -- T.O., another Phillies disappointment, the Flyers getting blown out of the playoffs and then turning into crap, the Iverson debacle and the disarray is left with the Sixers -- you think there might be a Christmas miracle in store? Nope. It's karma for being such jerks as fans. I don't even think are the better team. Cowboys 24 Eagles 22

New York Jets (+2) at Miami - Yes, I'm taking the sturdy, hard-nosed Jets defense against hit-and-miss Joey Harrington. His present, this year, was getting out of Detroit. I think there are few with any reason who'd question him starting over Culpepper next season. Winning this one might be a little too much for him to accomplish without committing a handful of turnovers. Jets 19 Dolphins 16

Pac Ten hoops and the greatest line ever

College basketball is officially on full tilt as we revel in the meat of the December holidays. Pitt v Oklahoma State and Duke v Gonzaga, tonight. Couple of major seeding battles. But it was last night's impressive showing by the Pac Ten that should have the country taking notice. Arizona dismissed an athletic, dangerous Memphis squad and the Washington Huskies finally arrived, dismantling overrated LSU and Fat Baby Davis. It's rare that FSN ever broadcasts a double-header of this quality, but last night was a treat. I'm well aware that no teams are good or bad because of the conference they play in (Arizona State is still a Pac Ten school, isn't it?), but at last check, the Pac Ten conference had the highest win percentage of any conference in America, with scalps like Memphis, LSU, Georgetown, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Gonzaga, Louisville, Illinois, and Georgia Tech on the resume so far. We know about UCLA and Arizona. We know that Oregon is still undefeated and bringing it hard. We know Washington can play. Lurking in the shadows this season, though, be wary of Washington State and USC (yes, even a year before the arrival of O.J. Mayo). Pac Ten play is going to be excellent this year and the conference is getting no less than four bids (none less than a 6-seed) to the dance.

With respect to my beloved Arizona Wildcats, J.P. Prince won't be missed. A fine player, to be sure, but he never had a chance to impact the squad in any true capacity. What's scary about the Cats, though, is that they're playing all of this excellent basketball without the lynchpin that I think is absolutely crucial to them making a Final Four, possibly a national title run: Kirk Walters. You may laugh, but Walters is one of the most hard-working, scrappy big men in the country. His presence on the defensive glass will be a monsterous boost to an already lethal team. When they want to buckle down, Arizona is unstoppable.

Switching gears to the NHL, opting not to discuss how horrid the Kings are, the news out of Pittsburgh is dour, to say the least. And all because of a lousy slots license. That's a new one, isn't it? "Hey, everybody. We're probably going to move the team because our financial backers didn't get permission to cater to 68-year-old slot jockey grandmas. Sorry!" In a perfect world, Super Mario will be able to keep what has now become the NHL's most marketable team (ahem -- Crosby & Malkin) in Pittsburgh, in a new arena at no cost to the team or the city (which is what the Isle of Capri Casinos had proposed), but we shall see. The irony with the Penguins is so incredibly thick. Everyone wants to see them, but they can barely afford to stay afloat.

Speaking of Mario, he appeared on ESPN's top NHL lines of all time, um, a few times. I guess I (and presumably the rest of the reasonable world) were mistaken in thinking that a player could only appear once in this list or that, you know, it actually mattered if they played their natural position. Naturally, Gretzky is centering all four lines. Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, why wasn't Pavel Bure on that list of 50? Where's the love for the Russian Rocket?! Perhaps the most lethal sniper of the 90s!

One last thing and then I'm done raiding ESPN.com for nuggets of banter. In their on-going top 100 stories of the year, Zidane v Materazzi clocked in at #2 for the year. If you want to talk about sheer coverage, then this is unquestionably the top sports story of perhaps the last three years, but this is an American audience, so not the case for these purposes. This story being #2, however, means that "Vince Young toppling USC in the Rose Bowl" will be #1 and, frankly, I take a lot of issue with that. There's no denying that Young's performance in that game was excellent, but to suggest that he singlehandedly defeated the Trojans is asinine. Let's be clear about this: Texas didn't win the national championship, USC lost it. Reggie Bush's lateral, quitting after going up two scores in the 4th, not having Bush in the game on the last play, shoddy tackling... Vince Young may get the glory, but the reasons why are masked.

At the very least, the following stories have more significance than Texas winning the college football national title: Zidane-gate, George Mason's ultimate Cinderella run, Roger Federer/Tiger Woods (they're inseparable in terms of domination, as far as I'm concerned)