Peyton Manning really likes throwing to Antonio Cromartie

Only problem with that is Cromartie isn’t really on his team. The ever-mopey MVP threw three, count ‘em, three picks to the second-year corner out of Florida State in Sunday’s loss on the road to the Chargers. I would think after a while you would stop throwing in someone’s direction after they’ve picked you off twice but Peyton was courteous enough to give Cromartie the trifecta on way to throwing six interceptions. I know that it never entered Colts head coach Tony Dungy’s mind to pull the struggling quarterback but he should have. Am I surprised that he didn’t? No. But it would have been Dungy’s chance to show that no matter who you are or how many companies and products you shill for, if you don’t perform, you don’t play. Make this two weeks in a row that Manning and the Colts offense has blown big conference games.

You may want to wait before buying those Saints playoff tickets

The Saints dropped a bad home game yesterday against the formerly win-less Rams after putting together a nice little streak and putting themselves back in playoff contention. Given that the Saints play in what is arguably the weakest division in football, I think , barring any further collapses, they are still going to the playoffs but it’s important to remember that prior to their four-game winning streak, they started the season 0-4. You have to wonder if a loss to a bad team like the Rams will send the formerly terrible Saints into a shame spiral and out of the playoff race. Time will tell. Their schedule the rest of the way is pretty mild and none of the games they still have on tap jump out at you as being potential landmines.

Donovan McNabb may be headed to Minnesota

The latest trade rumor has Donovan McNabb headed to Minnesota after this year to re-unite with former Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress. I’ve gotta say this rumor smacks of irony to me. He would be leaving a team with a great running back, a decent offensive line and no receivers to go to a team with a great running back, a decent (if not overpaid) offensive line and no receivers. Are are Troy Williamson and Sidney Rice that much of an upgrade over Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown? I think that no matter where McNabb goes (unless it’s New England), his best years are behind him.

Ron Zook is the national coach of the year

As it turns out, Gator fans, Ron Zook can actually coach. Forget about Jim Leavitt or Mark Mangino, no one has done a better job this year than Ron Zook. Zook took a team that was 2-10 last year and made them nationally relevant this weekend, knocking off top-ranked Ohio State on the road to get their 8th win of the year. If Zook can continue to pull big time recruits like Arrelious Benn and recruit well in the Chicago area, Illinois could become a real force to be reckoned with.

It’s 1994 all over again in Bloomington

The last time Indiana was bowl eligible it was 1994, they went 6-5 and didn’t get invited to a bowl. Well boys and girls, welcome to 1994. I’ll be rocking my Zubaz pants and my #2 Charlotte Hornets Larry Johnson jersey and listening to Meatloaf and Ace of Base. Indiana, barring a miraculous win at home next week against Purdue, isn’t going to a bowl this year. Saturday just wasn’t a banner day for the Hoosier football team. Not only did they give away a game that would have given them seven wins and a virtual bowl guarantee, they gave Northwestern their sixth win of the season, and Iowa and Michigan State all became bowl eligible as well. I’m going to go sulk and listen to Gin Blossoms.

Sylvester Croom will have a job next year

The Fighting Crooms of Mississippi State have put together a nice little resume this year, on their way to become bowl eligible for the first time since people were spazzing out about Y2K. After upending #22-ranked Alabama this weekend, Croom has seemingly changed the football culture in Starkville. The Bulldogs, who play excellent defense and the worst offense imaginable, have knocked off Auburn, Kentucky and now the Saban-led Crimson Tide and have a chance at seven wins when they play Ole Miss next week in the Egg Bowl. Well done, coach.

There were moments when last night’s Colts/Saints NFL season opener seemed vaguely reminiscent of a college homecoming game. The visitors waiting in the tunnel as the homecoming court is paraded onto the field, or in this case as a world championship banner is hoisted to the rafters of the RCA Dome. The Saints played the part of hapless visitors, brought to town to get beat up before a crowd of approving alumni or in this case rabid Colt fans that bleed blue and white. And at the end of the game, the Saints lost like they were supposed to and the Colts looked impressive like we all knew they would. What was billed as a match-up between two of the league’s best teams instead was an affirmation that the road to Glendale in the AFC doesn’t run through Foxboro after all. Make no mistake about it, this was the Colts homecoming and apparently New Orleans didn’t get the memo.

But it didn’t take long before the Saints knew why the Colts were considered the greatest offense of the last decade. One quick strike to Marvin Harrison, who has the uncanny ability to make the extraordinary look routine like no other receiver in the history of the NFL and the Saints new they were in for it. Reggie Wayne gave them hope by fumbling and giving former Colt Jason David the only thing he could be proud of at night’s end, a fumble recovery for a touchdown. For David, this would be the longest night of his professional life so Wayne’s temporary butter fingers that he capitalized on for a touchdown was his short respite from the relentless blitzkreig that was Thursday night for the Saints defense.

But what happened to the electric Saints offense last night? The same offense that was the league’s best a year ago came out and mustered just three points on offense. Yes, the Colts defense came out and played a game that none of us thought they were capable of. Yes, their young guys stepped up and made plays, the safeties were playing downhill and hitting people in the mouth. But where was the creativity? Sean Payton called the worst offensive game of his life Thursday night. Drew Brees’ longest completion of the night? Just 13 yards. It’s like like the Colts have two monsters lined up at corner, they have Kelvin Hayden and Marlin Jackson back there. Challenge them, go at ‘em, line up Reggie Bush in the slot and hope you get a linebacker on him. Whatever you do, don’t dip and dunk all-night. But that’s what they did. Payton only managed to get the balls in the hands of Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush a measly 22 times combined against the previously-porous Colts run defense. If you’re going to win football games, you have to be committed to the run, not give up on it because it doesn’t do anything for you the first couple series. If you’re Marques Colston, last year’s real offensive rookie of the year, you have to wonder if Sean Payton is ever going to give you a chance to do your job? You have a pro bowl receiver, a pro bowl quarterback and one of the most explosive, if not overrated, players in the league, going against two corners starting for the first time and a linebacking corps who’s best player is the Stay-Puff Marshmellow man himself, Gary Brackett, for God’s sake, throw the football down the field.

The Colts are the best team since the 49ers of the last 80’s and early 90’s. Forget the Patriots, Forget the Cowboys. The Patriots are a ragtag assemblage of role players and one superstar. The Cowboys, a team of superstars with a few key role players that held everything together. And then there’s the Colts. You get the sense when you watch these guys play that you’re watching a group of guys who care about each other. When you see Dallas Clark and Marvin Harrison greet each other in the endzone, you get the sense that those are two guys who are happy for one another when they catch touchdown passes, not envious because the ball didn’t come their way. Colts management knows that they can take away Nick Harper or Mike Peterson or Corey Simon or Cato June or Mike Doss but you don’t mess with Peyton, Marvin, Reggie and Dallas. Oh and you certainly don’t mess with Bob Sanders, not for team chemistry reasons but because I remember hearing that guns don’t kill people, Bob Sanders kills people.

I wondered in my notes while watching last night’s game when the Colts offensive line was going to begin getting the credit for producing 1,000-yard rushers that the Broncos line currently gets. Look at the two now-departed backs who have ran behind the line: Edgerrin James and Dominic Rhodes. Rhodes is now suffering in Oakland and will likely split time with Lamar Jordan, after serving a four-game suspension for violating the league’s controlled substance policy and James is in Arizona and is wondering when he will get a line in front of him that can block half as well as the one he used to run behind. The line took a rookie, Joseph Addai, and turned him into one of the top running backs in the league. It’s time this unit got its due as one of football’s best.

What can you say about Peyton Manning? The guy is incredible and when it’s all said and done will be the best quarterback in the history of this game. If you look at the three touchdown passes Manning threw last night, not a single one of those throws was flawed in any way, shape or form. No one in the league has ever thrown a prettier ball than Peyton Manning. Yes, I have been critical of Manning in the past. Yes, I believe that sometimes he reverts to moping (though no one mopes better than little bro Eli) and petulant, Marino-like sniping at his teammates when things don’t go well. Yes, I think he has been prone to throw his teammates under the bus (the post-game interview after the loss to the Steelers in ‘05 comes to mind). But I think winning the Super Bowl last year may have bled him dry of those antics. He seems to have matured from that win and emerged a better quarterback, a better teammate and maybe a better person. I harbor no illusions though that a man of Manning’s drive is satisfied with just one Super Bowl. He wants to look like a gypsy at the end of his career with a ring on every finger.

Watching the Colts/Saints game, flipping occasionally to Oregon State/Cincinnati, which is being recorded on my TiVo. Some thoughts on the Colts game.

• Will the Colts line be held in the same regard as the Denver line as far as run blocking is concerned? Will they ascend to that level? They have made Joseph Addai, Edgerrin James, and Dominic Rhodes into 1,000 yard rushers.
• The Saints offense is non-impressive at this point and vanilla. Given who the Colts have at the corners, I thought we would see more of a vertical passing game then we have from the Saints so far.
• Why, oh, why is Sean Payton wearing a visor indoors? I mean, I understand the cap. The cap has become an indoor head accessory. The visor has not. It would be like me walking into the newsroom tomorrow with a beanie on.
• If I have to listen to this John Mellancamp This is Our Country Chevy commercial all-season, there is a fair chance I will end up sticking bamboo skewers in my ears by week three.

College football notes

• If Oregon State has any chance of winning this game against Cincinnati, they had better figure out how to block for Yvenson Bernard and protect the quarterback. So far, they have done neither.
• I can no longer take Louisville seriously or the Big East for that matter. How can I take a conference or a supposed top ten team seriously that gives up 35 points (with 13 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter) to Middle Tennessee? The same Middle Tennessee that lost to Florida Atlantic last week.

 This is the time of year where I lose months of my life with no idea what happened. Weekends spent on couches and in armchairs staring and sometimes yelling at the television. The NFL is back, college football is in full-swing. God bless Mike and Mike for continuing to talk about baseball despite the fact that no one cares.

Tonight the NFL opens with what promises to be a heck of a game between the Saints and the Colts in Indy. While I am excited for the game, I am not at all looking forward to the concert and all of the other non-football related crap that the NFL will put on tonight. I’m picking the Colts to win at home. There are few stadiums in the league that are as loud and mind-jarring at the RCA Dome with fans in full pitch. I’d expect to see a high-scoring affair but the New Orleans secondary is no match for Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark and Joseph Addai catching passes out of the backfield. Last season, I thought Reggie Bush was far and away the most overrated player in the NFL. The amount of production the Saints got out of him last season was wildly out of proportion to the attention paid to him in any given game. I would hope to see Bush in more of a feature back role but he is undeniably dangerous when lined up in the slot.

Finally saw The Bourne Ultimatum over the weekend and loved it. It was everything that The Bourne Supremacy should have been but wasn’t. Matt Damon proves, once again, that he’s one of the greatest actors of our generation and turns in another powerhouse performance. The supporting performances are great, Joan Allen manages not to ruin this film like she did in Supremacy, Julia Stiles is actually really terrific and you really can’t say enough about David Strathairn, the guy is liquid on screen. The action sequences were top-knotch and even had me smirking like a geek with their awesome-ness (a smirk which drew several wayward glances and eye-rolls from my girlfriend who enjoyed it but clearly not as much as I did). Behind Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ultimatum was my favorite movie of the summer.

I also saw Ron Howard’s The Paper with Michael Keaton, Glenn Close and Robert Duvall and really enjoyed it. I think it was very true to life at a newspaper and the actors were really convincing newspeople. I don’t think this film is as true to form as a picture like Shattered Glass but was every bit as enjoyable. The flick is perfect for a rainy day. Definitely worth a spot on your Netflix queue.

Currently blasting the speakers on my MacBook and in my car is Kanye West’s new single Stronger which features an amazing slowed-down sample of Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” The song is fantastic and really embodies everything that I unashamedly love about Kanye West. The guy is inventive and not at all afraid to take risks. Can’t wait to pick up Graduation when it comes out on Sept. 11.

Worth mentioning was the trailer for Peter Berg’s The Kingdom that I saw before The Bourne Ultimatum, which I am more excited about then I can even describe. Jamie Foxx, Hillary Swank, Jason Bateman and the imcomparable Chris Cooper in what looks like it could be one of the best films of the year.

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No, seriously…

British teen OD’s on espresso.

Some moron paid more than $1,500 for an oil smudge on a garage floor in Virginia. It doesn’t even look like Jesus. Frankly, it looks like a goat.

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ESPN’s Mark Schlabach lists college football’s biggest secrets in ‘07.

Lawrence Taylor tells Michael Strahan to hang it up.

Saints linebacker Scott Fujita sets the record straight on his water park foot injury.

Pair of pieces from ESPN’s Pat Forde on Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson and on Darren McFadden going pro after this season.

DC United player pissed about ESPN’s Beckham-centric MLS coverage.

Jon Gruden is still sifting through his pack of quarterbacks.

Not really news but I find it interesting that every week there is a letter from a reader in the Buffalo News about how awful Sabres management is. Every week, never fails.

Hoosiers hope to improve their pass rush. It really can’t get any worse.

The AJC’s Terence Moore wants Michael Vick’s staunchest supporters to wake up and smell the roses.

A nice piece in the Houston Chronicle on Texas A&M quarterback Stephen McGee.

Packers first-round pick Justin Harrell sees limited time in preseason opener. This might have been the worst first-round pick in last year’s draft.

In case you live in a cave: MADDEN COMES OUT TOMORROW!

Drew Henson fighting for his football life in Vikings camp.

Titans players defend their ownership of pit bulls.

The AJC’s Tony Barnhart on why the SEC is smiling and the things college football fans have learned a week into practice.

Oklahoma quarterback race still not decided.

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Three consumer groups have spoken out against the Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger.

Google to launch iTunes competitor, gBox.

Who owns what in today’s online media landscape.

Microsoft is hoping the release of the Halo 3 this winter can help the system rebound from hardware failures and slumping sales.

Christopher Nolan debuts some ‘Dark Knight’ footage at Chicago comic con. I can’t wait for this but it seems that the producers have gone 0-for-2 in my mind in the casting of Rachel Dawes’ character. First they casted Katie Holmes, who was the worst thing about Batman Begins and now they’ve gone out and gotten Maggie Gyllenhaal who is my least favorite actress on the planet. I have never seen a single film that she’s been in that I enjoyed. I hope she can change my mind.

Cinematical lists seven movie stars who are about to fall off the A-list.

Stereogum has the real cover of Kanye’s new record, Graduation.

Facebook makes the cover of Newsweek.

Newsweek’s 25 hottest universities.

As if you needed another reason to buy Kanye’s new record, 50 cent says that if West’s Graduation outsells his record, which comes out the same day, he’s going to stop making music. (Your lips to God’s ears, sir.)

Top Chef’s Sam Talbot on the now-infamous Rocco episode.

With traffic in Destin the past week at almost unbearable levels, I’ve had a lot of time to listen to XM Radio and if there’s one job that I don’t envy right now, it’s that of sports talk radio hosts. There is NOTHING going on right now in sports that anyone cares about. The All-Star game? Not really. NASCAR? Nope. It’ll likely be another sports-free weekend for yours truly unless Federer and Nadal meet in the Wimbledon final.. or Roddick and Nadal … ok, I guess I’ll be watching tennis Sunday morning.

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No, seriously…

Your mom told you not to play with fireworks.

Droughts are hurting winos as well.

A drunk 11-year-old girl led police on an 8-mile high-speed chase in Alabama last night.

To catch a toddler… Illinois police used the lure of a happy meal to catch a 4-year-old who had called 911 over 300 times.

A 5-year-old boy took a rabid fox at a cookout in North Carolina. Between the rabid foxes and the piranha, I’m officially scratching North Carolina off my list of places to visit before I die.

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The Indianapolis Star’s Bob Kravitz looks at how Pacers management has completely bungled this offseason.

Put all of Buffalo on suicide watch: The Edmonton Oilers have put in an seven-year, $50 million offer sheet in for restricted free agent forward Thomas Vanek, who had 43 goals last season. The Sabres have seven days to match the offer. Update: The Buffalo News is reporting that the Sabres will match Edmonton’s offer sheet.

Pittsburgh Pirates CEO Kevin McClatchy will step down at the end of the year. But not before the Bucs complete their 15th consecutive losing season.

Dhani Jones has signed with the Saints. Congratulations, New Orleans! You get a linebacker who dresses better than he plays. This guy was an absolute bum for the Eagles and I was ecstatic when the Birds gave him his walking papers. But look at this way, now the Saints linebacking corps features Mark Simoneau and Dhani Jones. Congrats, really.

The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro wonders whether Randy Johnson was worth a $24 million commitment from the D-Backs as he goes back on the DL.

The Oklahoma football team will use helmets this season designed to detect the early signs of a head injury.

One San Fransisco Chronicle columnist thinks next week’s All-Star game is the most “overhyped” sporting event in the history of the Bay Area sports.

The Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Bianchi said he was disappointed to learn that Grant Hill had taken a deal with the Suns.

The Los Angeles Times Bill Plaschke thinks the Lakers need guard Derek Fisher to help steady the recently tumultuous franchise and help team chemistry. You know what else would help team chemistry? Kobe Bryant not ripping his teammates for two morons with a camera phone.

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Well-rounded news…

You have 12 hours to vote on Time’s New Seven Wonders of the World.

Fergie denies being paid by a clothing line to drop the name of the company in her lyrics. If you’re seriously looking to Fergie for musical integrity, you have problems that go well beyond listening to Fergie.

‘Who will buy Facebook?’ becoming hot question.

Microsoft will take a $1 billion hit this quarter because of the number of general hardware failtures on the XBOX 360.

The number of Facebook users is up 89% from last year and the demographics appear to be shifting from undergrads to postgrads and teens.

Interesting piece in BusinessWeek about the socioeconomic differences between MySpace and Facebook users. The author suggests that the two social networking sites may not be in direct competition after all.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are writing another script.

Keith Olbermann urges Bush and Cheney to resign. I don’t necessarily agree with what he’s saying but I still think Olbermannis self-important and smarmy. And isn’t this just grandstanding? I mean do you really think the Prez and the Veep are at home watching MSNBC and listening to Olbermann’s indictment of their character and saying, “Oh, alright, Keith. You win!”

Avril Lavigne is being accused of plagiarizing her hit, “Girlfriend.” Wait, you mean to tell me that Avril Lavigne didn’t come up with that gem on her own?

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