I hate Philip Rivers, I absolutely hate him.  Look at this guy, he just looks like a conceited d*ck jerk.   He yells at people in the front row after Billy Volek has taken his team down the field in a crucial situation to get to the AFC Championship.  The poetic justice is that this game had a chance to be a signature win, and he had to assume the position.  The fact that Billy Volek could come off the bench and step in to lead the team down the field shows that it is the supporting cast that makes Philip Rivers.  The offensive line gives him enough time to throuw the five yard pass to Darren Sproles, who turns a dink into a game-changing lengthy touchdown.  Dan Dierdorf was so overcome by Rivers's greatness that he declared that we were seeing the "coming of age" of this jerk in front of our eyes.  Well, I prefer to consider his coming of age moment when he was watching his back up march his team down the field to win the game in a hostile environment.  In fact, I like to think that the defining moment of his career will be the captured images of him receiving the double bird from a fan in the front row while taunting said fan . . . I can just hear Rivers saying, "Yeah boy, did you see how my back up guided us right down the field?  See how I watched him on the sidelines?  Yeah, you wish you were me . . . you couldn't hold my jock.  Bask in my greatness, I am Philip Rivers."  

No Philip, you are Ryan Leaf, Ryan Leaf with a good supporting cast.  Leaf had running backs Natrone Means and Kenny Bynum; don't forget Terrell Fletcher.  None of them could hold a candle to LT2008.  Now, Rivers's wider receivers are nothing to write home about, but LT can make up for any roster inefficiencies on the offensive side.  On the defense, Rivers has Sean Phillips and Shawn Merriman; Leaf had Kurt Gouveia (with all five vowels) and Raylee Johnson.  The comparison shouldn't be made, but the personalities of this guy and this guy are just too similar.  Rivers psyche is so fragile (according to many in the media, including Mark Schlereth) that he is probably just a bad game away from a "leave me alone!" type meltdown.  

Maybe it is just because I think he is a smug prick, but I don't like Philip Rivers at all and feel that he is mere seconds away from being Ryan Leaf.  He is lucky enough to have a good supporting cast, and he should thank his lucky stars for them.  If Billy Volek can win the game, who needs Philip Rivers . . . if I was him, I would watch out for Volek going all Nancy Kerrigan on him.  Of course, who could blame Volek for taking a baton to Leaf's Rivers's knee, he would probably deserve it.

With all of the issues that West Virginia University has had over the past couple months (blowing the Pitt game and costing themselves a shot at the national championship, losing their head coach, promoting an assistant with a shaky past, etc.), you'd think it couldn't get any worse.  Well even their bright spot - a Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma - ended badly.  When they got home, they found out that all of their player and program files went missing.

Yep, everything from strength and conditioning, recruiting, attendance records, and personal information files all seem to have just magically disappeared.  Sometime between former head coach Rich Rodriguez's resignation and their return from Arizona, they all just up and walked out the door.

Quite the coincidence, eh?  Well, it gets even murkier when you read that "...several people in the Puskar Center reported seeing Rodriguez...in [his] private office shredding paperwork on Dec. 18."  That would be two days after he resigned to take the head coaching job at Michigan.

So let's recap some of Rodriguez's (or as the WVU fans cleverly nicknamed him, Rich-Rod) hijinx over the past 12+ months:

• Told the media in December 2006 that he planned to be at WVU for the rest of his career
• Met with the University of Alabama three days later to discuss their coaching vacancy
• Signed a new deal with WVU in return for getting commitments from the university for multiple upgrades to the facilities, as well as hefty pay raises for him and his staff
• Leaving WVU 11 months later for the Michigan job
• Filed suit against WVU in an effort to get out of paying the $4 million buyout in his contract
• Allegedly called recruits before he told him team he was leaving the school
• All but shoved expected starting QB Ryan Mallett out the door
• And now the paper shredding

Michigan sure did get themselves a gem.  I wonder if WVU feels it was worth it to keep Rodriguez around for an additional year for all of this crap.  A bit of advice to the U-M athletic department: keep a succession list handy, you never know how soon you're going to need it.

Chris Carter is one of 17 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Eagles Head Coach Buddy Ryan, once infamously said of Carter, "All he does is score touchdowns." Well, that's not all he did throughout his stellar career. Carter ranks second on the NFL's all-time list in total receptions (1,101) and receiving touchdowns (130). Those are Hall of Fame credentials and he should be inducted into Canton this summer. Carter played at Middletown High School and at The Ohio State University. He was named to the all decade team in the 1990s and was selected to 8 Pro Bowls. In short, Carter is, without a doubt, a Hall of Famer. His early career in Philadelphia was tainted with substance issues. Ryan essentially made those comments about Carter after he was cut, due mostly to his personal demons. Carter overcame those issues and now lectures to youth and speaks to incoming NFL rookies about steering clear of those things. He's a role model for young people and epitomizes what the NFL is all about (now).

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Has anyone noticed the turn around with UK guards Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford the past two to three games?

Both Bradley and Crawford started the season on the bench because they weren't putting forth the effort that Billy G wanted.  Bradley wasn't running the offense the way a senior guard should with bad decision making and poor passing.  Crawford wasn't willing to attack the rim on offense and was too sluggish on defense.  But what a difference a month or so can make in college sports.

Even though UK lost last night to Miss. State you can see that Bradley and especially Crawford are starting to heed the words and hard practices of coach Billy Gillispie.  Crawford looks like a new player, like the kind of player he was forecast to be when he originally came to UK.  He is much more aggressive on offense and his natural talent is starting to show.

Gillispie was able to turn AC Law into a first round NBA draft pick and Big 12 player of the year.  A far cry from what he was when Gillispie showed up at Texas A&M.  

Just imagine what Crawford and Bradley may have been had they spent 2 to 4 years under Gillispie.  They may have had a future in the NBA.  I would dare to say that if Crawford continues to grow like he has under coach G that he just might play in the NBA.  I don't see him necessarily as a draft pick but he could find his way onto a practice squad and then as a real NBA player.

For now though, it looks like it is too little too late for Crawford and Bradley since it is their last year but if you know basketball and you know Billy G then you know UK's future is bright.  If you are one of those bozo's that are calling for Gillispie's job, do us all a favor and choose another sport to follow.