Unsportsmanlike Conduct - The Right Place, The Right Time

Unsportsmanlike Conduct is an ongoing series in which Ed The Sports Fan brings you the important events, haps, people, and other shenanigans over the past weekend so that you can be thoroughly entertained like if you saw Paranormal Activity and started cracking up (figuratively and literally) when you saw that demon toss the girl out the bed and drag her downstairs. Haven't seen Paranormal Activity yet? Go see it.

#1. Texas & Florida Mollywhop Their "Supposed" Competition - I made it clear a couple of weeks ago that I'm picking Alabama to win the national championship...and every week that pick continues to make me nervous. Florida stomped a mudhole into Georgia and their new uniforms with the black helmets (I kinda like 'em, but a lot of you all didn't) as the Gators defense supremely stepped up and defeated the 'Dawgs 41-17. The Longhorns defense played in a similar fashion against Oklahoma State's vaunted offense, except State didn't have their 2 best playmakers (Dez Bryant, Kendall Hunter) and Texas took advantage beating the 'Pokes 41-14. Florida and Texas both hung 41's on teams that are consistently good. Its not looking good for anyone trying to take down these two. Can Alabama do it? Iowa? Cincinnati? Boise? Hell naw to Boise...but these one loss teams might have a chance, speaking of which...

#2. Beware Of The One-Loss Juggernauts - Did you hear that? That oomph noise? That was the suckerpunch Oregon gave to USC on Saturday night, deflating the Pac-10 juggernaut and passing the 2010 throne to the Ducks. Oregon looked phenomenal this Saturday, totally exposing USC's lack of experience on the defensive side of the field. I'll say this, USC should be commended for what they've done this season. Beat Notre Dame and Ohio State on the road with a green QB, a green defense, and a lack of chemistry overall. USC has a projected #1 pick at QB already and that defense will get better in the coming years, but the opportunity now falls to a few teams. Oregon, LSU, and Georgia Tech are all one-loss teams that still have a shot to really climb the polls. If LSU can beat Alabama this Saturday, then they control their own destiny in a potential rematch with Flawda. On Any Given Saturday/Sunday...

#3. One Fastball Too Many, Yankees Up 3-1 on Phillies vs. Yankees World Series, but if you watched the 9 - I'm not sure how many of you watched Game 4 of the Philliesth inning you may not know how agonizing it was to watch Brad Lidge go down in flames AGAIN for the 206th time in his career. After looking phenomenal in getting out Melky Cabrera and Derek Jeter with beautiful sliders in the top of the 9th in a 4-4 game, he gets two strikes on Johnny Damon and says to himself, "Nope, I will not throw my best pitch ever again (the slider) and beat you all with my fastball and changeup." Why he did this, I'll never know. Damon goes full count and laces one to left-center. Damon then steals second, and with the egregious shift on for Teixeria, there's no one covering 3rd and Damon steals it. Then boom, boom, boom, the Yankees are up 7-4. WTF. My dude Paul Revere couldn't have summed it up any better.

#4. You Should Name All Newborn Boys "Lorenzo" - As in Brett "Lorenzo" Favre, I don't even have much to say, but after seeing these type of performances in the first 8 weeks of the season I have no hard feelings on all of the "Favre" hype. I don't care anymore, all my hatred as been washed away. We are looking at the NFC representative in Super Bowl in the Purple & Gold. I don't see any way, shape, or form of an NFC contender that can stop the Vikings. In my opinion, Philly and New Orleans have a shot, but neither are smashmouth enough to pull it off.

On another note, I don't know how to feel for Packers' fans. On one hand, it's got to be extremely tough to see the face of your franchise play for your rival, but who do you really get mad at, Brett or the management of the Packers? Look at your team now, they have a good QB in Rodgers, but they have no run game, no O-Line and an aging secondary. Is Mike McCarthy really a good coach? Do you think Brett really wants to play on that team as currently constructed? The Vikings were literally one player away, and I haven't seen one player make this much impact since...wow, can't believe I'm saying this...but Terrell Owens when he joined the Eagles. The Vikings have the best running back in football, the best offensive line in football (Brett hardly ever gets sacked, you could argue that the Vikings have a top 5 WR core as Berrian, Harvin, and Sidney Rice are extremely hard to stop. Shaincoe's really good too. The defense? Definitely a top 3 unit in football, and Jared Allen is worth every dollar they spent on him. (Can you believe the Chiefs decided to stick with Larry Johnson versus Jared Allen? Who would you rather have?) Brett Favre stepped into maybe the most cake role in football, and I can't blame the man for making that decision.


#5. Unsportsmanlike Conduct: To The Luckiest City in the World, Philadelphia - I honestly think that it isn't fair all of the great things Philadelphia has received in the last 5 years. They have a phenomenal QB (McNabb) that they don't appreciate, they have a team who looks like they will be perennial World Series contenders year in and year out (Phillies), they have a consistently good hockey team (Flyers), and an up and coming basketball team with cool ass new jerseys (76ers). Plus, they are home to one of the greatest college football games of all-time. (Army-Navy) So to see the city get to host a great NFC East Rivalry game (Eagles-Giants) and host Game 4 of the World Series (Phillies-Yankees) is truly a dream come true for residents of the City of Brotherly Love. I think I would've blown my savings to attend both games in some shape or form, as that is what being a "Sports Fan" is truly all about. Even though it might not have worked out the way Philly fans wanted it to, they got to understand that they just witnessed greatness at work.

I say that to say this, appreciate your sports where you live. Be it pro sports, collegiate sports, or local high schoolers or leagues you can play in. Watching sports on my 50" flat-screen is awesome, but sometimes you need TO GO to the actual game. The atmosphere at both venues seemed electric, and I was truly jealous. My salute to Philly, you lucky bastards.

THOUGHTS ON THE WEEKEND? IS THE WORLD SERIES OVER? WHO'S WINNING THE BCS TITLE? IS MINNESOTA THE BEST TEAM IN FOOTBALL? LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS!

-Ed.
www.edthesportsfan.com