Football, you wound me

I was so jaded from this weekend's results -- those results being Liverpool's listless, uninspired draw versus Portsmouth, U of A drawing a blue print on how to pathetically lose to inferior opposition at home, and the Raiders getting snaked by Rat Shanahan's timeout -- that I just couldn't bare to deal with the marquee Sunday nighter between the Chargers and Donaghys. I'll admit, it gave me a lot of satisfaction to see that New England routed the Chargers in the end (because it proves me right and continues to make San Diego look absolutely stupid for hiring an entirely new coaching staff headed by Norv Turner), but that bitter OT loss the Raiders suffered really was the last straw for me. Fortunately, football is a weekly sport, so I have until next weekend to recover from the vile taste in my mouth and sheer bitterness of it all. And then, like an addict, I'll drag myself back into the fray for even more irritation.

Words cannot describe my hatred of the Denver Broncos. I hate them so much. Rob Ryan's D and LaMont Jordan deserved a better result, today.

Some thoughts on the college and pro game...

- No one really thought Nebraska had a chance, did they? Really?

- Even though the Pac 10 went 7-3 as a conference on Saturday, the losses by Arizona, Washington, and especially UCLA are an unfortunate black eye for a conference that had such a strong showing just a week earlier. Once again, UCLA dons the title of "The Great Pretender." Seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. Washington at least put up a fight during the first half before being overrun by Ohio State's superior talent. Arizona's loss, as noted already, is just plain unforgivable.

- Speaking of pretenders (such as UCLA), I think it's pretty safe to put a fork in Louisville (who's defense literally is a wet paper bad) after a decent Kentucky finished what Middle Tennessee State started, Tennessee (who, although being on the road for both of their big games, has shown it isn't a first tier program this season), and TEXAS. While still unbeaten, there can hardly be a single, honest pollster out there who truly believes that the Longhorns, based on what we've seen on the field, are a top ten team this year. Save for one half of good football against TCU, they hardly look like a contender.

- Top five after week 3: 1) USC 2) LSU 3) Florida 4) Oklahoma 5) Cal. Sorry, West Virginia. I've got you rated seventh behind Penn State.

- The New Orleans Saints are clear frontrunners to be "that team," this season. You know what I'm talking about. That team. The one that has an amazing season the year before, gets all the pundits and analysts praising every step they take during the offseason -- all but handing them the Superbowl trophy by the time preseason rolls around -- then falls flat on it's face. There's one of these every year. Again, it wouldn't be the NFL if the same eight division winners made the playoffs year-in, year-out.

- Cleveland torching the Bengals' poor excuse for a defense sends two messages. 1) Naturally, never take any team for granted. 2) Brian Billick and the Ravens are really, really stupid. You wouldn't plow McGahee over the goal line with four tries to do it against that defense?!? Shmuck.

- Sure, the results are impressive, but how good are the Steelers really? They ripped the Browns and Bills, not exactly death row (unless you're the Bengals or lucky bastard Broncos -- just a whisker away from being 0-2 . ARGH! I HATE THEM!). I don't think I'm a fan of Pittsburgh's yellow helmets, either. Blah.

- The 49ers may be winning ugly, but the point is that they're winning. Impossible to be better than 2-0 at this juncture. Next week's game with Pittsburgh should be very interesting. And while the 49ers are sitting pretty, their victim today looks to be in a real nasty mess. Not only are the Rams 0-2, but they're 0-2 at home and 0-2 against NFC West opponents. Good night.

- Still decidely unimpressive: The Chicago Bears offense. Stinks. It's almost as if they plugged Marcus Colston in as their #1 receiver and thought things would be okay. Oh wait... wrong team. Still, Grossman & Co. look pretty miserable.