KotH Week 8 Notes

-- Apparently it's not enough that Cubs fans haven't seen our team win a World Series in anybody's memory. Now, we have to watch our two biggest rivals win it in back-to-back years. Feb. 4 can't get here soon enough.

-- In a second half in which Illinois was outscored 20-0, gave up two fourth-down conversions on pass plays, and gained a paltry 73 yards on offense to piss away a two-touchdown lead against a ranked Wisconsin team, nothing screamed out "Fire Zook" quite so much as the trick play that went for a loss with 3:15 left and Illinois trailing by six.

-- You all know that I refuse to discuss a certain player by name in this space, but I love the fact that NFL players voted him The League's Most Overrated Player. I don't know that I agree, but I love it. And I definitely don't agree with Brian Urlacher at No. 2 or Ray Lewis at No. 3. This sounds more like a list of Players Who Other NFL Players Are Sickest Of Hearing About, which is not at all the same thing as overrated.

-- So let's think about who is overrated in the NFL. Why are Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich supposedly saviors of their teams? They have OK numbers, but they've never won anything. Between them they have one division title, on Pennington's 9-7 Jets in 2001. What about Edgerrin James, now that we see how much he can't do with no talent around him? Randy Moss was miles and miles of hype with several milimeters of production. Heck, we don't even have to go outside T.L.M.O.P.'s locker room -- the Cowboys are going to finish 5-11 if they stick with Tony Romo. That's what "overrated" is all about, people!

-- Last thought on this: Buy Giants safety Brandon Short a steak for the hit he put on T.L.M.O.P. late in the second quarter Monday night.

-- Awfully nice of Taco Bell to offer a free taco for everyone in America if anyone had hit a home run in Game 3 of the World Series. Or, it would have been awfully nice, if that hadn't been the game Chris Carpenter was starting. Why not at least give us a sporting chance, like a free taco every time Kenny Rogers punches out a cameraman?

-- Hey, Al Davis: When someone questions in print whether your health is failing, the proper way to convince him otherwise is not to wield your walker and tell him that if you were 20 years younger you would a-whoop him.

-- Anyone else have an uneasy feeling about the BEARS againt the 49ers? I mean, there's no reason the BEARS should lose to anyone at home. Still, they're playing a team that tore them up in the preseason in their first game after they needed a miracle to beat another very poor team that played them tough in the preseason. I know in my head that the BEARS will win by 30, but something in my gut won't believe it until I see it.