No Rolen To Brewers

That's according to this Journal-Sentinel story.

Melvin says he just felt "uneasy" about the whole deal. I have to admit, the more I think about it, you would be just getting the name. You wouldn't be getting the player Scott Rolen, due to his recent past. I didn't have a chance to look up his stats, but I imagine last year was a rough one for him.

I still think they're going to make a deal somewhere. There's too much out there not to, and it's a weak free-agent market. We'll see what else happens. Fingers crossed, folks.

Monday Night Insanity! Plus, Scott Rolen to the Crew?

What a game last night! I didn't tune until late because I assumed it was going to be a blowout. Fortunately, I caught ESPN.com before it ended, and it said the Patriots were behind.

I caught the last 3 1/2 minutes, and let me tell you, what a wild finish. It was clear that the Patriots were blocking their hearts out, but the Ravens were just putting on too much pressure. Still, Tom Brady stood in there and took the hits, made his reads, and won it. Incredible work, after which Bart Scott flipped out and added 30 yards of penalties. He looked like he was going to cry on the sidelines.

But that's not all. On the ensuing drive, Boller was pushing his team down the field as best he could, and finally, on the last play, threw a 52-yard Hail Mary. He was practically running as he threw it. Mark Clayton caught it on the 2-yard line. I mean, that's a finish like the Titans/Rams Super Bowl. Just a great game.

On to Scott Rolen. The Cardinals want to move Rolen, and they're very interested in Chris Capuano. It wouldn't be a bad trade, as they can put Rolen at third and move Braun to left field, where his defensive shortcomings won't be quite as apparent.

If they move Cappy, here's what I think their rotation will look like next year:

1. Sheets
2. Gallardo
3. Suppan
4. Villanueva
5. Vargas

Not a bad rotation. Not amazing, but you still have Manny Parra sitting there if you need him. Plus, Gallardo is a huge upgrade over Capuano. It wouldn't be a bad trade, and it would shore up a position of need. I hope it works out.

Mark Murphy Named Packers President

I'm cautiously optimistic about this move. Murphy's had some success at Northwestern, and it could go really well.

I've often said, and history bears this out, that the guy who's at the top of the team is the most important. You can pick different coaches, GMs, or players, but it won't matter if the guy at the top is incompetent.

I hate to pick on the Bengals, but look at their record of futility for the past 15 years. Then they went out and got Marvin Lewis and starting turning around the program. They could only get so far, though, until they started crashing and burning like they are this year. The guy at the top never changed.

Look at the Brewers. They brought every manager and GM they could think of on board, and were consistently losers. Then, Mark Attanasio buys the team. Now, they're winners, even with a manager who makes some dumb decisions from time to time.

(Note to Ned Yost: Situational relievers are just that, situational. Don't use them all the time. Also, don't pitch Derrick Turnbow in pressure situations. Thanks.)

Look at teams all around sports. The Arizona Cardinals lose all the time. The Bidwills have owned the team the whole time.

The 49ers were consistent winners under Eddie DeBartolo. Then the Yorks take the team. Now they lose, no matter who the coach is, or which players they have.

That's why this story is so important. If Murphy stumbles, everything that's being built could fall apart so quickly. If Murphy decides he wants "his guy" in there and gets rid of Ted Thompson (I hope not), it could be an absolute disaster.

We at the Leaderboard (meaning me) will be keeping a really close eye on Murphy to see how he handles himself. Here's hoping things work out.

Article: Sony Aims For Comeback Win

Towards the top, Jack Tretton makes an interesting comment.

“The first year is important, but it’s the first inning of a nine-inning baseball game,” he says. “You’re not going to win many baseball games if you panic when you’re down 1-0 in the first inning.”

Jack, baby. You're not down 1-0 in the first inning. You're down 10-0 with the home crowd jeering and your fans wearing paper bags on their heads. You're getting trounced.

Sure, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII are going to do good things. But MGS got old with installment 2. Remember, when you played as Raiden for half the game? Yeah. And Final Fantasy games, while they're still events, aren't nearly as earth-shattering as they were a couple of years ago.

Even when Sony's gotten a proven property, like Ratchet & Clank, on the PS3, it can't do anything with it. No one has a PS3. No one is going to plunk down $400 or more for one game, even if it's a good one.

I'm even a Sony fan. I love my PS2. However, I will not buy a PS3, especially not when there's much better alternatives available, like the Wii.

BCS Big Surprise: Ohio St. Vs. LSU

What a shock. Ohio State against LSU.

You know, why do they even play the games? Why not just cut out all the other stuff and just schedule the national championship game at the beginning of the season? I mean, if you just pick from a pool of about five or six teams, you should be okay, right?

This is why college football is idiotic. In the NFL, you can have a Cinderella team. In baseball, a team can come out of nowhere and surprise you. College basketball routinely has teams that you would never expect out of so-called "weak" conferences stun more supposedly sound teams. Why can't this happen in college football?

I'll tell you why: The ridiculous poll system. Ask me which teams are the best in the NFL, and right now, it's pretty obvious. The Patriots and the Cowboys. However, that's no guarantee that they'll play in the Super Bowl. In college, it would be a foregone conclusion. Any other team would have no chance.

How difficult is it to have an eight-team playoff, with the bowls still in place at the beginning of the next year? Think of all the revenue. No one is losing bowl games. I mean, it's not like the Century One Bowl is going anywhere anyways.

Sorry for this rambling post, but this just really frosts my biscuits. I can't stand college football for this reason.

Exciting Closer News

So, the Brewers might be getting a closer after all.

Joe Nathan would be a great choice. Nathan has demonstrated that he's awesome at the job. If he was in New York or Boston, you would know the name. He had 37 saves, a full one point lower ERA, a higher save conversion rate (37 of 41, compared to Cordero's 44 of 51) and a 1.03 WHIP, compared to Cordero's 1.14.

I really hope this gets done.

In other news, I've finally softened about the Packer game. They just weren't as talented. All the calls that went against them stunk, to be sure, and would have definitely changed the makeup of the game had they gone the other way. But the Cowboys are a power in the NFC yet, and the Packers are really young.

However, if I were the Oakland Raiders, I would be scared. The Packers felt they had this one stolen from them, and they have a week and a half to ruminate on it and get angrier and angrier. They're going to be healthy and furious, which is a great combination.

Packers/Cowboys Recap

So, I knew right away it was going to go wrong when Charles Woodson was ruled out. That meant that they would try and move Terrell Owens around because they were afraid of Al Harris mauling him.

Plus, after the stupid play where TO didn't have possession and Al Harris ripped the ball out, but the referee who couldn't actually see the ball ruled the play dead, I didn't care anymore.

Any time the Packers go down to Dallas, bad things happen with the refereeing. I can't explain it, but it's just bad. For instance, how about the second pass interference? I mean, when Cris Collinsworth, a former wide reciever, is questioning the call, it at least has to give you pause.

So I watched MythBusters instead. They shot at fish and also found out that elephants really are scared of mice. They also made Tory and Grant try hot sauce and see what worked to cool it down, including using Vaseline. It was really awesome.

I Reevaluate The Wii

So, last time I tried the Wii controller, I said I didn't care for it. It was too clunky, too touchy.

Well.

I have now played Wii Sports and a little Super Mario Galaxy and can say with total confidence that the Wii controller is one of the best I have ever seen.

However, this begs the question: What's next for Nintendo? I mean, when you have the DS, and you have the Wii, what's the step AFTER this generation? It's a question that they're certainly asking at Nintendo HQ, and it's valid.

The logical answer is to just do what you did THIS generation, and improve the graphics. However, Nintendo hasn't really done that since the NES to Super NES days. They also did the same with iterations of the Game Boy, but I don't think those count as much. Plus, the important thing to remember is that the Wii is revolutionary. There's been nothing else like it on the market, ever.

So, if you take something revolutionary, and just make the graphics better, won't it start to get old hat? Won't we start whining about yet ANOTHER motion-sensitive controller? Or is this more than a gimmick?

We haven't been whining about using the same basic template set down by the Atari 2600 and it's ilk for about 30 years (geez, I'm old). Is the Wii where EVERYTHING is going, or is it only a step for Nintendo? These are important questions that I'm sure they're hard at work on at Nintendo.

Sean Taylor Dead at 24

This was way out of left field.

Does anyone else feel guilty for hearing that it was Sean Taylor and going, "Well, no surprise there." By all accounts, he was turning his life around and trying to make things right. He leaves behind a fiancee and a little girl.

I don't think there's really a precedent for this: A young All-Pro with his career ahead of him on a prominent team dies in the middle of the season suddenly and tragically. The closest thing I can think of is Len Bias, but that was before the season, so it doesn't really compare.

Anyway, the 24-hour news cycle will move on, and people will get tired of this story by next week Sunday, complaining, "Enough already! So he died! Big deal!" But the family and friends of Sean Taylor will never be able to move on that way. My condolences go out to the family and friends of Sean Taylor.

Awesome Story From ESPN.com

Now, I know that getting rid of Ahman Green was the right thing to do for the organization, but after reading this story from ESPN.com you can't help but like the guy.

Click Here.

Have a great weekend. See you all on Monday.

Reds + Francisco Cordero = 4-year, $46M Contract

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

For that sort of money, there's no way the Brewers could have kept Cordero. Sure, closers aren't necessarily a dime-a-dozen, but they're not worth $10 mil either. Heck, there's not a lot of guys I'd pay $10 mil for.

Who on the Brewers would you pay that kind of money to? Fielder, yes. If Braun keeps up his pace, yes. If Gallardo keeps it up, yes. Other than that, who else? You can't argue for Jenkins, so don't even try. Sheets is injured too often. Corey Hart? Not really.

Plus, the Reds are now weighing down the rest of their roster all to have a really good closer. It's like skimping on product at your local Walmart in order to pay the best-of-the-best cashiers. What does it matter how good the end of the sale is when there's nothing to buy? Likewise, when there's no lead to protect, how can you close?

Now we need to talk options for closers. Go back to Turnbow? Only if we don't mind pee stains on the mound every couple games. Maybe they could make like Papelbon and convert a starter. My best option for this would be Capuano.

"But Capuano is great for the first half of the season!"

Yes, for the first half. Then he tails off or has injuries. He's not a reliable starter. Out of the bullpen, though, he might be great, although he lacks the blazing fastball that would really make a closer.

Some people will argue for Sheets, but you're paying him $8 million. You're not going to take him out of the rotation, no matter how often he gets injured, because you can't justify an 8 million dollar closer any more than you can justify a $10 million closer.

Frankly, though, I'm not too concerned about the closer situation. Every year, closers come and go. Once again, look at the Rockies. Manny Corpas was lights-out for the last 1/3 of the season. He wasn't the day one closer. Just the same, even if a day one closer is selected, there's no guarantee that he'll be the closer on the last day of the season.

So, I'm not too worried about this decision. It'll work out much the same as the Carlos Lee decision: Don't overspend when you can get something just as good for cheaper. Let other teams waste money and destroy their lineup.

Sports and Things

Checking in after a long absence...

So, Johnny Estrada traded for Guillermo Mota and a bag of magic beans. It's a shame really, because Estrada looked like a keeper at the beginning of the season. As it wore on, though, he just plain broke down. There's talk of Jason Kendall, which might work out, but why bother? A catcher that can hit isn't that big of a deal.

Just look at the Rockies. They had Yorvit Torrealba. He batted .255 with 8 HRs. He batted .234 in September. They somehow made it to the World Series, even without a hard-hitting catcher.

Look at the Red Sox. Jason Varitek batted .255 as well. In September, he batted .222, although he had 5 HRs. He's a career .255 hitter, though.

I guess the lesson is, don't overspend on someone who might give you production at the catcher spot. Just focus on their defense and how they call the game and you should be okay. Hard hitting catchers are a rarity nowadays, and unless you go out and get Jorge Posada, you're just not going to get much.

Bucks Lose Lottery...But Did They Win Something Else?

The Bucks, obviously, lost the lottery, ending up with the sixth pick. You know what, though? I'm happy.

I mean, think about it. They might have gotten Greg Oden. Why would they get Oden when they have Bogut? It would be redundant, and what do you do with Bogut? He doesn't like playing out of position, and he was coming on before the team started falling apart (thanks, Terry Stotts).

Would they have gotten Kevin Durant? Yeah, it's possible. But it's far more likely that they would pick Oden over Durant just because they like Oden better.

However, I just saw a mock draft that had them picking Joakim Noah. That would be an absolutely perfect pick. Think about it: A defensive presence on a team sorely lacking one? It's perfect.

Gotta go. Just think about it.

Ugh

I've been horribly sick for the last few days. Sorry about the lack of updates.

How about Larry Kryklasdfiak's first four games? Especially when you consider that his team lost to the Clips by only one point AFTER losing Bogut and Villanueva. Do you still think Terry Stotts could have pulled that off?

I'm going to go lay down for a while. Ugh.

Thursday Thoughts

No more Terry Stotts! Wooo!

Why am I so excited about this? Stotts has never been a good coach anywhere he goes. If you'll remember, this was not a Larry Harris hire. This was a Herb Kohl thing. Kohl was nuts about Stotts, but I think Harris pulled the trigger on the firing.

I mean, look at the team that Stotts had this year. It was deep. It was talented. Villanueva is good. Andrew Bogut is good, borderline great. We all know how good Michael Redd is. Sure there were injuries. Harris was still trying to get it done, picking up Earl Boykins to give the team a spark, and Stotts was giving them nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I'm interested to see what direction this team goes in. If Larry Krystkowiak doesn't work out, I think you have to dump Larry Harris, sorry to say. His personnel moves have been great (yes, I agree with the Magloire trade and the Simmons signing).

I need to come up with a name for Krystkowiak. Any takers?

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So, Pete Rose admits he bet every day, every game, 24/7. Congratulations for him. This is a big moment, I'm sure.

I know what he's trying to do. He's trying to say that he didn't affect the outcome of games because he was always betting that his boys would win. He thinks this makes him look better. It doesn't.

Especially after all the lies he's told, how can we believe this one? He's not making it into the Hall Of Fame, not now, not ever. Stay away from baseball, Pete.

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This is from cnn.com:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0703/gallery.mlb.postcards.camp.brewers/content.1.html

Take a look at the picture of Kevin Mench. Really encouraging there. Nothing like looking like a total ape for a photo shoot.

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That's it for today! Stay tuned tomorrow for my Friday Free Agency Frap-Up.

Metroid Prime Is Really Good

So I've finally found a game for the Gamecube that enjoy immensely. Metroid Prime is incredible.

I have always loved Metroid games. Something about them gets me every time. However, I hate first-person games on consoles, so I just picked this up for $5.99. I wasn't expecting much.

Boy, was I wrong. Intuitive controls, and a feeling like you're actually inside the suit makes this incredible. Like when you walk up to a flaming spout and condensation appears on your mask, making it difficult to see? Awesome.

When you stand really close to a wall and fire a shot and you see your eyes reflected in your visor? Incredible.

Who knows if my love affair will continue. It might, it might not. But boy, am I enjoying the ride.

Randy Moss: The Case For And Against

How do I feel about the Packers being interested in Randy Moss?

I'm torn. I really don't know what I feel. So in order to help organize my thoughts and come up with a decent opinion, I've broken it down into Pros and Cons. I'll start with the Cons first:

CON: The mooning incident.

This was inexcusable. It's what most people think of immediately when they think of Randy Moss. He says it was because the fans do it to opposing teams. Whatever. It was a boneheaded thing to do.

It's okay for a fan to moon an opposing player. They're not getting paid millions of dollars to be the representatives of a team. When Randy Moss "mooned" the Lambeau faithful, he did it not just as Randy Moss, but a representative of the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL.

CON: "I play when I want to play."

Now, my theory about this statement is that he was trying to appear tough and rebellious, so he shot his mouth off. Fair enough. Still a bad move, all the more so because it's true. Almost every player takes a down off here and there. When Moss does it, though, or more importantly, publicizes it, it just looks even worse.

CON: He's just not the Randy Moss of old.

Remember the guy who would stretch defenses and scare the crap out of people? The guy who was a home-run threat every time he touched the ball? Yeah, Randy Moss is 30 now. He just can't do that anymore. He's not a Jerry Rice workout freak, just a really talented reciever who lost a step or two.

--

Those are some pretty daunting Cons. Is it worth bringing in a guy who's not the guy he once was, who could possibly destroy your team chemistry? Well, let's take a look at some pros.

PRO: Randy Moss has grown up.

He's 30 now. When was the last incident you heard of? During his last few years with the Raiders, even through coaches like Norv Turner and Art Shell, you heard nary a peep from him. He would complain about the bad coaching, and he was correct. He kept his nose relatively clean, though, which for Randy is pretty good.

PRO: Moss works better when he has strong teammates.

Randy's best and most stable years were with Cris Carter by his side. His last few years in Minnesota, though, he had Mike Tice as his coach, who is certainly not the strongest leader of men. He had Daunte "Boat Party" Culpepper a rogues' gallery of wide receivers alongside him, and no running backs to speak of to keep the defenses honest.

If Moss goes to Green Bay, he's going to have Donald Driver on the other side. He's going to have Brett Favre as his quarterback, at least for another year or so. Mike McCarthy is feeling his oats as a head coach. Ted Thompson won't put up with crap. He'll have a support system around him.

PRO: While Moss isn't as explosive anymore, he didn't really have much around him.

For Moss' last few years in Minnesota, there wasn't a real running back. He had Culpepper throwing to him, and he's been exposed as a fraud. He had random wideouts along from him, but no one who could take the defense away from him.

In Oakland, he had Kerry Collins and Aaron Brooks dishing him the ball, as well as enough other quarterbacks to start their own Arena League. I mean, Andrew Walter? Marques Tuiasosopo? Plus, he once again didn't have anyone across from him. Jerry Porter never played, and Ronald Curry just can't get it done.

In Green Bay, he'll have competent quarterbacks getting him the ball. He has not just one starting-quality receiver across from him in Donald Driver, but don't forget about Greg Jennings either. Whomever the Packers get as their running back will do okay because the line is starting to gell. He also has a red-zone threat in Bubba Franks alongside him.

--

I can make more of a case FOR Randy Moss than AGAINST Randy Moss. I mean, this could go spectacularly bad or incredibly good. There really isn't an in-between. However, it seems more likely to end up good than bad in my book.

Pwned By Jerry Kramer, Plus Brewers Talk!

So, getting dissed by Jerry Kramer.

For a while, I worked in a nice-ish hotel, and we played host to a golf outing for several Packer Hall of Famers, including Don Majkowski, Bill Currie, and Jerry Kramer. First off, Majik was drunk practically the entire time. Him and Bret Bielema wouldn't stop smoking cigars in the lobby, and you try and remove two men who outweigh you by at least 100 pounds.

That wasn't the worst of it, though. I have read the book "Instant Replay," by Jerry Kramer and Dick Schaap, just about every year now. It's Jerry Kramer's diary of the 1967 season, starting when Paul Hornung goes to the Saints ending with Lombardi's retirement and Phil Bengston's hiring. It's an illuminating book, one that should be required reading for anyone doing sportswriting.

Suffice to say, this book is one of my all-time favorites. I was really excited to meet the man who wrote one of my favorite books and tell him what his book meant to me. It was horribly unprofessional, but you only have one chance to tell someone like that what you think about him.

Finally, Jerry came up to the desk. He had some questions, and myself and my other front desk mates were answering them. Before he was about to leave I said, "Oh, and Mr. Kramer..." He turned away and asked the other people a question. Then I piped up again, thinking, hey, maybe he didn't hear me. I tried again and he did it AGAIN. After the third time I tried, he thanked us and walked away from the desk.

So there it is. I was pwned by Jerry Kramer.

What does this have to do with the Brewers? Well, every year, you try and talk to national sportswriters about the Brewers, and they react in much the same way. They would rather talk about the Yankees or the Red Sox, or laugh at the Royals for a while, than talk about an up-and-coming team in the NL Central.

I mean, think about it. Last year, they were plagued with injuries. There was Ben Sheets at the beginning, then Tomo Ohka. Then J. J. Hardy got hurt, then Rickie Weeks went down, then the weird Derrick Turnbow meltdown happened. The Turnbow thing cost them two or three crucial games right at the All-Star break where they were finally starting to poke their heads above .500, which was devastating. They traded away Carlos Lee because of it. After the Lee trade, Prince Fielder was no longer protected in the lineup, so he looked mortal.

Out of the negatives, though, it's important to remember some positives. Bill Hall looked really good, and he'll be perfect in center field. Corey "Sunglasses At Night" Hart will play in right, and Ryan Braun' s bat looks amazing so far. They picked up Francisco Cordero in the Lee trade, and he was pretty decent. They'll be stable at closer until Turnbow returns to form, and their starting pitching should be decent.

Now, I'm not crazy about the Suppan signing. I mean, he's just Jeff Suppan. Don't expect too much. I also don't understand the Johnny Estrada trade. You had CHEAP starting pitching, which is at such a premium in baseball these days, and you traded it to get a catcher. You already had two average to above-average catchers. Maybe they're planning on trading Mike Rivera or Damian Miller, considering how few good starting catchers there are.

However, this team is surprisingly free of holes. Sure, you have Geoffin Menchins starting in left field, but one of them has to hit the ball every once in a while. The infield is strong. The pitching, starting and relief, is actually solid. Considering the shoestring budget, this team is shockingly good.

So, there's no need to pull a Jerry Kramer on this team. If things go their way even slightly, we could be looking at a rising young team in the NL Central.

Nintendo: All The Right Moves

Let's just come out and say it: The Gamecube was a mistake.

The mistake wasn't so much in the system. It's as solid a piece of hardware as you can get. The controller is good. You wouldn't think it is, but it's intuitive, more than you would expect.

No, the mistake is in the games. Nintendo has made fantastic games, just not enough of them. They constantly changed formats when Sony was championing backwards compatibility. Microsoft went the way of multiplayer gaming, completely taking over in that sector.

So, Sony had variety, Microsoft had multiplayer, and Nintendo had...what again? Oh yeah, some good games every once in a while, and you could plug your Game Boy Advance into it, if you wanted.

However, to quote the movie Elizabethtown (just watched it, loved it): No true fiasco ever began as a quest for mere adequacy. Nintendo shot high, and missed.

Fortunately, with the Wii, they seem to be atoning for past wrongs. Consider: Nintendo realized that they need backwards compatibility. That's a huge jump for them. Nintendo has the most history of any company, save Sega. Sega didn't know how to leverage that history and they died. Nintendo was fast on its way. Now, with the Virtual Console and downwards compatibility with the Gamecube, they've started to repent of their sins in a big way.

Second, the wacky controller. I tried this controller a bit, and I can't really say I'm impressed. However, just because I'm not crazy about it doesn't mean it's a bad idea. Considering how many people love it, it's a fair statement to say they made the right decision by going in a completely unexpected direction.

The biggest reason, though, is Sony's total lack of competence regarding their own launch. How you screw up a launch that badly is beyond me. Chimpanzees might have made better work out of that launch, frankly. It was theirs to lose. When you consider what Sony had - momentum, brand recognition, and downward compatibility - there really should have been no ceiling. But the creepy launch commercials, the typical design problems, the lack of TRUE backwards compatibility, and the parroting of all the successful ideas from other systems was their downfall.

The thing that really made me laugh was Sony's attempt at downloadable games. They copied that idea from Microsoft. A good idea, worthy of copying. However, then they decided they would get Neo-Geo games, parroting Nintendo's Virtual Console. Then they added the motion sensing to their controller, once again parroting Nintendo, which also destroyed the vibration function that Dual Shock users are so used to.

Combined with the increasingly positive press from Nintendo, it signalled an end to Sony's domination, at least for one quarter. Does this signal the end for Sony? Ha. Ha ha.

Remember which company had arguably the worst launch last time around? That's right, Sony. Hardware failures, lack of must-have games...sound familiar? Sony has proven they can bounce back.

So, in other words, Nintendo had a great launch. A really, really great launch. Nintendo made all the right calls, and the right decisions, and figured out what their audience wants, and had just the right amount of luck.

Don't count Sony out, but Nintendo, to this point, has made all the right moves. The Wii deserves the accolades it's getting. Let's hope it continues.

I Pick Poorly, Plus Boo Gamecube

It was obvious, wasn't it?

Obvious that you should NEVER, EVER listen to my picks.

The Saints should have won that game. They gave it away over and over again.

The Patriots had nothing left in the tank at the end, but they were up at the half. I mean, come on!

So, now it's Colts versus the Bears in Super Bowl XLI (I know I said XL in my last column, but that was a lie), and I look like an idiot. That's okay, though.

More on this topic later this week.

In the meantime, I just borrowed my friend's Gamecube. It's passable. I mean, I'm not enthralled and wetting myself. I'll probably play some Metroid Prime, and Zelda: Wind Wanker looks okay, and I love Smash Brothers Melee, but I've got just as many games for my PS2 that are just as good. Plus, I have a ton more games that I want for it.

I'm glad I got the Gamecube bug out of my system, though. I might have otherwise wasted money getting one otherwise. Not that it's a bad system by any means, but there is so little that I have any desire to play, and there's only a few games for it that I can't get for my PS2, like Metroid, Mario, and Zelda.

Now, of those games, I don't like Zelda games, the newer Mario games do nothing for me, Killer 7 and Eternal Darkness don't tickle my fancy, and as far as games like Chrystal Chronicles, I've played approximately 300 action RPGs, and Dawn of Mana is on it's way for the PS2, so why should I bother? It's light on RPGs, my personal favorite genre, all that it has for platformers is Mario and a few other scattered games, I mean, why should I bother?

To illustrate, let's say you're going to go out to eat. You can either get a really good steak, or the buffet that has steak as well. Maybe not as good, but it's still steak. Plus, if you pick the buffet, you get mashed potatoes, green beans, unlimited drinks, and dessert, not to mention the other buffet items, like pizza, chicken, macaroni and cheese, and whatever all else they put in buffets nowadays. What will you pick?

The Gamecube is really good steak. It's good when you're playing it, but you're not getting any more. No variety. The PS2 is the buffet. You're getting a whole lot more choice, and most of it is just as good, if not better.

I'll keep my PS2, and take the buffet, thank you very much.

Obviousness in the NFL Playoffs

Can you honestly say you were surprised?

I am, of course, referring to last weekend's playoff games. Can you say you were surprised that Indianapolis beat Baltimore? Or that New England beat San Diego? Or the Saints beating the Eagles? Everyone and their mother knew that Seattle would lose to Chicago.

For instance, we got really caught up in San Diego's all-around talent that we forgot several key factors:

1) Marty Schottenheimer's playoff performance
2) Marty Schottenheimer's playoff performance
3) Marty Schottenheimer's playoff performance

Once the game was over, it was obvious that this would be the outcome. The Patriots always step it up a notch in the playoffs, and Schottenheimer-coached teams regress. It's a pattern.

On Indianapolis' "stifling" defense, let's get a few things straight. The Chiefs have no quarterback. Larry Johnson is a man without an offensive line. Tony Gonzales is not what he once was, and Eddie Kennison and Sammie Parker do not a receiving corps make. It was obvious that they would look good in that round, and the Ravens kept up the charge.

A quick perusal notes that the Ravens offensive line is not as good as everyone says, what with Jonathan Ogden having more problems that he used to. Steve McNair needs an oxygen canister to stand up, and Jamal Lewis is still having chafing problems from his time in the clink. It's not an overpowering offensive team, and Brian Billick is not an overpowering offensive coach, as much as he likes to think he is. Thus, the game was practically gift-wrapped and handed to the Colts. Obvious.

This brings us to this weekend. What are the obvious points? New England and Tom Brady is great in the playoffs. Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning struggle, historically speaking. The Colts weakness has been rushing. The Patriots have two very talented backs in Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney. The Colts front four is good, but the Patriots' offensive line is better, and so on and so forth.

Everyone wants to believe that this is the year for the Colts, but it isn't. Defense wins championships, and the Colts haven't faced any offense that put it to the test. The Patriots win this game. Throw out the home-field advantage, because it doesn't matter.

In the NFC, no one was surprised by the outcome of the two divisional games. Chicago and New Orleans were expected to win, and win they did. However, everyone is now talking about Rex Grossman is Getting It Together and can Lead His Team To Victory.

I call shenanigans. Seattle played without three starting cornerbacks. Grossman had it easy. The Saints are old and a little slow in the secondary, but they're fundmentally sound, and healthy to boot. Obvious.

Next, people rattle on about the Bears' defense. A broken-fingered Matt Hasselbeck and a banged-up Shawn Alexander dented the vaunted Bears' behind a line that is no longer one of the best in the NFL. They have a few receivers, but nothing terrifying.

However, the Saints have a healthy, sound QB in Brees, a few rookies who are feeling their oats, and, oh yeah, Deuce McAllister. Forget about him? He's the glue for this team, and he's been their rock all season long.

The Bears may boast and brag about their amazing defense, but the Saints match up very well against them, and will keep them running all game long, en route to trip to Super Bowl XL.

It's obvious.