Sports fodder for a Friday morning . . .
The Wolf Pack football team is treading water, floating aimlessly at sea, eating all the small fish and getting devoured by the big fish. OK, now it's not just the big fish that are biting off the Pack's legs and arms. All it takes is a feisty fish that can smell blood in the water. Yes, folks, the Pack is swimming in circles waiting for the next tidal wave (Fresno State, Boise State) to pick it up and smash it against the rocks. Sick of all the ocean and fish references? Well, you should be sick of losing to teams like Hawaii and New Mexico State even more.
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Was the coaching switch from Chris Tormey to Chris Ault worth all of the trouble after the 2003 season? As we stand now, it appears it was just change for the sake of change. Here's a few numbers. The Pack is 10-13 in its last 23 football games. Tormey was 12-13 in his last 25 games. The Pack is 4-8 in its last 12 road games. The Pack was 4-8 in its last 12 road games under Tormey. The Pack is 6-6 in its last 12 WAC games. The Pack was 8-8 in the WAC in Tormey's last two years. When does basketball season start?
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Where does all of this leave the Wolf Pack with four games left? Well, it's still a team that can win any of its four games (thanks to the offense) or lose any of them (thanks to the defense). In other words, it's the same team it has been the last two years. Cute little offenses where the quarterback runs around like a crazy man and flips nice, safe passes is all well and good. It looks good on the stat sheet and is enough to get you a .500 record, a meaningless bowl game out of a mediocre conference and a raise for the head coach. Pack fans, though, deserve more. It's time this coaching staff comes up with a cute little defense that actually makes plays in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.
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This space is still a big fan of this Pack offense. Colin Kaepernick, who turns 21 next week by the way, is one of the most exciting players in college football today. The offensive line has been solid and running back Vai Taua " a guy not many Pack fans had even heard of before the season " is the team's Most Valuable Player. The offense is the reason why we still fully expect the Pack to win two or three of its last four games and go to another bowl game. Then again, we thought the Pack would be 6-2 right now.
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This was, without a doubt, the most boring and uneventful World Series ever. If it didn't rain Monday night, most of the country would have missed this World Series entirely. The Most Valuable Player was a pitcher who won one game. The most interesting thing to come out of this World Series were those baseball caps with ear flaps worn by the players and coaches.
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Prediction: The weather will be nicer on January 1 when the Chicago Blackhawks host the Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field in the NHL's annual outdoor game than it was this past week in Philadelphia.
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A couple of random NFL thoughts . . . The best thing to happen to the Tennessee Titans this year was Vince Young's injury . . . Can we give the Raiders " or at least Al Davis " back to Los Angeles now?
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The San Francisco 49ers need to give Mike Singletary a 10-year contract extension. We don't care if Singletary never wins a game as the 49ers head coach. Singletary's rant after last week's game, where he told the world how he will never put up with selfish players who don't care about the team, was priceless. As a 49ers fan you finally have reason for optimism. Singletary is a true leader of men who will turn this organization around.
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Singletary, in case you haven't heard, also has some amazing powers. Fox TV sideline reporter Danyelle Sargent, after all, thought Singletary spoke to deceased former 49ers coach Bill Walsh on the phone recently after Singletary got the 49ers head coaching job. Wait until Singletary gets his cell phone bill at the end of the month. Talk about roaming charges. It is time we take all of the sideline reporters " radio and television and, yes, male and female " herd them into a barn somewhere in the middle of western Kansas, nail the door shut and let them all bore each other to death. Outside of Joe Namath kissing Suzie Kolber, nothing meaningful has ever come out of a sideline reporter's questions or comments. Ever.
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What's so strange about the current 49ers head coach talking to Bill Walsh? The Oakland Raiders head coaches still have to talk to Al Davis, right?