My Fearless NFC Predictions

NFC Predictions

Seattle Seahawks: With Shaun Alexander back and healthy and with the continued improvement of QB Matt Haselback, the rainy city will reign supreme in the NFC West and could roll in the playoffs if the defense steps up. A reconfigured offense line, anchored by Walter Jones, should open holes; a crew of talented receivers, led by Nate Burleson and Ben Obomanu, and a coach who’s been on the font lines for a long time (Mike Holmgren), these gulls will be ball hawks in the clutch.

St. Louis Rams: With the best running back (Stephen Jackson) in the NFC; an all-pro quarterback (Mark Bulger) and a smart, aggressive head coach (Scott Linehan), the Rams will thrive if they can play any defense at all. The run defense was lamb stew last year, but first-round stud DE Adam Carriker and free agent DL James Hall should help enough that opposing teams won’t have the luxury of double-teaming Leonard Little on every play. The addition of free agent receivers Drew Bennett and TE Randy McMichael will give Bulger more weapons than he had last year.

Dallas Cowboys: New head coach Wade Phillips will be a breath of fresh air compared to the uptight, controlling Bill Parcells, who is gone but not missed. If QB Tony Romo can stay healthy and focused and the defense plays consistently, the Cowboys could once again be America’s Team. RB Marion Barber, WR Terrell Owens and OG Leonard Davis are standouts on offense; up-and-coming studs like OLB DeMarcus Ware, CB Ken Hamlin and DE Marcus Spears are the best defensive players you’ve never heard of.

Chicago Bears: Rex Grossman is the anti-QB, but the Bears’ defense is so awesome that they’ll win despite him. If Brian Griese was even halfway decent, he’d be the starter by now. Hopefully, Head Coach Lovie Smith will figure out the situation and dump Grossman before the season is over. He’s the only thing keeping this team from winning a Super Bowl. A stalwart defense led by veteran S Mike Brown, MLB Brian Urlacher and SS Adam Archuleta will keep the Bears in games. If RB Cedric Benson can ramble downhill and keep Grossman’s arm at his side, this team could make a second trip to the Big One.

Philadelphia Eagles: QB Donovan McNabb is healthy again (don’t hold your breath), RB Brian Westbrook is a diminutive game breaker and the defense revamped and one year smarter. Head Coach Andy Reid is a great strategist and motivator, too – even though he can’t control his own bratty kids. Off-season moves like getting free agent WR Kevin Curtis and trading for OLB Takeo Spikes will help Philly, while defensive studs like OLB Chris Gocong, DE Javon Kearse and FS Brian Dawkins will keep the offense off the field long enough for them to gel.

NFC Champion: Dallas Cowboys

Next week: My fearless AFC predictions.

The Sturgeon General

Some guys in Florida caught this 1,000-lb. sturgeon recently. Now, that's what I call a fish!

Meerkat Manor: Meerkats have a Tough Life

Meerkat Manor is a television series made by Oxford Scientific Films for Animal Planet. It presents the daily activities of a family, or mob, of wild meerkats as part of the Kalahari Meerkat Project. Although the show has elements of a documentary, and is based on actual events, the narrative is presented in a style similar to a soap opera.

The show is narrated by Bill Nighy in the UK and Canada, Mike Goldman in Australia, and Sean Astin in the USA. The series was originally shown in the UK, and is its primary home, but was picked up in Australia, Canada, and the United States, and is now a worldwide hit.

The show is currently in production for its third season of 13 episodes; as of April 2007 the second season is being shown in the UK on BBC 2 on Sunday early evenings and repeated on the next Saturday. Season 3 began airing in the United States on August 10, 2007. Other sources also report that it has been contracted for two more years.

It’s a tough life being a meerkat. First off, there’s a lot of infighting within the mob itself. Meerkats sleeping with other meerkats, messy breakups and sordid affairs. Then, they’re the other meerkat mobs that are always fighting and competing for territories. And to top it off, there are all the predators trying to eat the meerkats, like hawks, owls, other rodents and snakes. A meerkat’s life is no waltz in the woods, believe me!

John Mayer Continues Incredible Dating Spree

John Mayer is on a dating spree that any celebrity would be proud of. Within the last year, he's been seen with Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Natalie Portman, Phyllis Diller, Anne Heche and Jennifer Love Hewitt, not to mention a bunch of models, wannabe actresses and other assorted female hotties. The man's little black book is larger than the new version of Webster's Dictionary.

Mayer is on an incredible run, collecting babes like young boys collect baseball cards. Now to top it off, he’s dating Cameron Diaz. We haven't seen a streak like this since Joe DiMaggio hit safely in 56 straight games more than five decades ago.

If Mayer had a hit song for every babe he’s been out with, he’d have sold more records than Elvis Presley and the Beatles combined by now. He’s a serial dater and is completely out-of-control. He needs to start a 12-step program through a program like Dater’s Anonymous (DA).

John Mayer and Diaz kept up their New York flirtation over the weekend, according to www.people.com.

The pair, who were first spotted out together in the city last week, were "all over each other" and "super flirty" at the Bowery Hotel Friday night, an onlooker tells PEOPLE.

Mayer, 29, and Diaz, 34, who sat together on a couch in the back of the patio, "were laughing and talking a lot" as the waitress brought several rounds of drinks, says the source. It's been reported that when Diaz got up to go to the restroom, John got at least 4 phone numbers.

Last Tuesday, the pair were spotted having dessert at the French-Vietnamese restaurant Indochine. "It looked like a casual date," said a source. "She was giggly. She was laughing and seemed happy."

Asked if the newly-close pair are dating, a source close to Mayer tells PEOPLE, "Yes, it's definitely true."

Diaz, who is filming What Happens in Vegas... in New York, split from longtime boyfriend Justin Timberlake in January. Mayer ended his on-again, off-again relationship with Jessica Simpson in June.

A spokesperson for Mayer, Richard Gozinya, said that the Diaz fling is nothing more than an extended booty call. “John is on a tight dating schedule,” Gozinya said. “He has women lined up pretty much through mid-2008. After he’s done with Diaz, he’ll be dating a whole slew of other celebrity ladies, including major names I can’t divulge. He’s even planning on having a few affairs with married women. Once he’s run out of them, he’ll be dating older women, possibly people like Cher and Sharon Stone. The guy is really working it like an over-sexed school boy.”

Mayer has even considered dating dead women, Gozinya said. “The poor guy is very upset that he wasn’t around to date women like Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis and Martha Raye. He’s thinking of getting with a clairvoyant to find out if they might be interested in hooking up with him from beyond the grave.”

(Portions of this article are fictional and offered for entertainment purposes only.)

Pacific Coast League Reunion Report

Ernie Broglio Now
Ernie Broglio Then
Billy Raimondi Now
Billy Raimondi Then

The Pacific Coast League Reunion XIII was held on Saturday, August 18th at the Oakland Museum in downtown Oakland, and was attended by more than 300 former PCL players and fans. Over 30 former PCL players were on hand. There were displays of memorabilia, a great lunch and a 2-hour discussion and presentation. Bill Salveson, son of former PCL star Jack Salveson came all the way from Florida to honor his father’s induction into the PCL Hall of Fame. Former players who played in the PCL and also in the major leagues in attendance included: Charlie Silvera, Ernie Broglio, Bill Renna, Rugger Ardioza, Dario Lodigiani (all of whom I’ve interviewed), as well as the legendary Billy Raimondi, who played as a catcher in the PCL for 21 years.

Digital Cameras Rock!

The newest technology in digital cameras has changed and will continue to change the world of photography. Remember when you had to actually take pictures somewhere to get them developed? Man, it cots and arm and a leg. And then, if the pictures came out lousy, you had to pay for the prints anyway. What a waste of time, paper and cash that was. Now, with the new digital cameras, you can get super high-quality photos with super high definition and they’re only getting better. Look at these great pictures I took with my new digital camera!

Take ME to Orlando!

Oh, yes, there’s nothing like a sweet, sunny Orlando vacation to give you the super relaxing and fun time you’re looking for. I just have a major fascination with Orlando vacations. I’m just like everyone else, I guess – just searching for that sensation that comes with getting to the Sunshine State, kicking back in the sun and having an incredible time. The people are great, the food is fantastic, the days are hot and the nights are cool. There’s just so much to do in Orlando, especially during the summer months. Orlando has it all, baby – Disney World, Epcot Center, golf, concerts, sporting events, sightseeing, and so much more.

There's No Suing in Baseball!

Bonds is suing fellow players now? This could open up a whole can of worms. Sportswriters and announcers will be getting slapped with suits right and left for criticizing athletes. Bonds is going to ruffle a lot of feathers with this one, because everyone knows that there’s no suing in baseball.

One of the great things about sports is that attorneys aren’t good at them. Sure, they negotiate players’ contracts and are behind the scenes, but that’s their role and it’s very limited. Now, lawyers will be suing other athletes on behalf of their player clients and it is going to get ugly.

This article appeared yesterday in The Boston Globe:

Curt Schilling expressed no emotion yesterday after being informed that attorneys representing slugger Barry Bonds may be targeting the Red Sox pitcher for comments he made about the San Francisco Giants to HBO’s Bob Costas.

In a joint statement, attorneys Todd Schneider and John Burris said they are representing Bonds “in connection with legal issues arising from the myriad of false statements attributed to him by players, the media and others.”

Attorney Michael Rains, who has represented Bonds in the slugger’s ongoing BALCO steroids case, told the San Jose Mercury News, “This is directed at Schilling more than anybody. Schilling said some things that were inappropriate and potentially defamatory. I know it was upsetting to Barry. We talked about the issue and I know he was talking to some civil lawyers to put people on notice that he has someone defending him.”

Schilling, when told of the statement issued by Schneider and Burris, said, “I didn’t read it and I don’t have any comment about it. That’s not something I’m going to talk about.”

In a recent appearance on the HBO program “Costas Now,” Schilling brought up Kimberly Bell, a former mistress of Bonds who in 2000 testified before a grand jury about the slugger’s steroid use. She also testified that Bonds gave her money to buy a new home - money, she said, that came from baseball card shows that was not reported to the IRS

“If I wrote a book about Bob Costas and in that book I wrote about Bob Costas’ girlfriend being on the road, and Bob Costas giving that girlfriend card show money and I outlined your daily steroid regimen, I’ve got to believe your first line of defense is to sue my (butt) off,” Schilling told Costas.

In their joint statement, Schneider and Burris said they “want the public to know that Barry’s silence in the face of the accusations should not be construed as an admission of any kind. In fact, Mr. Bonds retained Schneider and Burris because of the false nature of these statements. While pursuing Hank Aaron’s home run record, Barry felt that it was more prudent to remain silent. Now that the record has been broken, Burris and Schneider will evaluate any and all statements attributed to him that are false. His attorneys are particularly concerned about individuals profiting from his accomplishments by attributing statements and/or conversations to him that never occurred.”

In the aftermath of the Schilling interview on HBO, Bonds referred to Costas as “a midget who knows (nothing) about baseball,” and said, “Don’t worry, my day will come.”

If Schneider and Burris are to be believed, that day may have arrived.

In their statement, Schneider and Burris said, “Certain members of the public and of the media are attempting to personally profit by making false and misleading comments about Mr. Bonds. This conduct has to stop and should not be tolerated by a society which prides itself on free, open and fair public dialogue.”

Doing Laundry Can Be Exhausting

Now Vick's Getting Sued

One day after Michael Vick was offered a plea agreement that would send him to jail for approximately one year, now he has a civil suit on his hands. This sounds ridiculous and probably doesn’t have any merit. When I first read it, I thought it might be a prank.
Vick has been accused of a lot of different things, but up until now, no one has questioned his allegiance to the United States. This suit appears to be a case of someone piling on. I’d like to get a little more background on this inmate to determine if this suit has any validity at all. I doubt it does.
Here is the story as it appeared on ESPN.com:
Embattled NFL quarterback Michael Vick, facing federal charges related to his alleged participation in dog fighting, has been hit with a "$63,000,000,000 billion dollar" lawsuit filed by a South Carolina inmate who alleges the Atlanta Falcons star stole his pit bulls and sold them on eBay to buy "missiles from Iran," FOX News has learned.
Jonathan Lee Riches filed the handwritten complaint over "theft and abuse of my animals" on July 23.
Riches alleges that Vick stole two white mixed pit bull dogs from his home in Holiday, Fla., and used them for dog fighting operations in Richmond, Va. The complaint goes on to allege that Vick sold the dogs on eBay and “used the proceeds to purchase missiles from the Iran government.”
The complaint also alleges that Vick would need those missiles because he pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda in February of this year.
“Michael Vick has to stop physically hurting my feelings and dashing my hopes,” Riches writes in the complaint.
Riches wants $63 billion dollars “backed by gold and silver “delivered to the front gates to the Williamsburg Federal Correctional facility in South Carolina. Riches is an inmate at the facility serving out a wire fraud conviction.
Vick's attorneys, meanwhile, are negotiating a plea deal with federal prosecutors before new dog fighting charges are filed next week, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
No plea agreement involving Atlanta Falcons quarterback Vick has been filed, according to the court clerk, FOX News has learned.
Vick was accused of being involved in a dog fighting ring called "Bad Newz Kennels" run on property he owned in Surry County, Va. In late July, Vick pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture in a Richmond, Va., court.
Vick could reach an agreement ahead of new charges expected to come down next week after two more of Vick's three co-defendants prepare to enter guilty pleas later this week. By reaching a plea agreement, Vick could avoid any additional charges.