Did you miss this week's Fantasy Playbook as I go on with Lance McAlister on 1530 Homer the Sports Animal? Either way here's my notes from the show...

TREND OR MIRAGE
QB Eli Manning (0 200+-yard games, 3 TDs, 3 INTs over last 3) – MIRAGE – He’s struggled a bit of late, but he has tossed a TD in each of those games and will prove worthy down the stretch.

RB Edgerrin James (16 carries, 46 RuYd, 0 TD in past 2 games) – TREND – Rookie Tim Hightower is taking his job over, particularly at the goalline as he has 6 TDs on the year, including 4 over the last month.

RB Willis McGahee (Scored in back-to-back weeks) – MIRAGE – He is starting to get healthy which is a plus, but LeRon McClain is still stealing looks and the schedule is not favorable in the second half.

WR Bernard Berrian (Avg 5.6 rec for 107.6 ReYd and a TD over last 3 games) – TREND – Berrian has found a home in Minnesota and few wideouts have better match-up from here on out. Not only does he get three cupcakes in Detroit, Arizona, and Atlanta, he will benefit from playing December fantasy playoff games in either a dome or in the desert.


INJURY REPORT
Joseph Addai (hamstring) – The good news is that Addai is not on the Colts’ injury report, the bad news is it remains unclear exactly what his workload may be this week vs. NE. I have a tough time keeping out of my line-up though.

Steven Jackson (quadriceps) – It was no-action Jackson last week and that could be the case again on Sunday as the Rams played the Cards. If he sits look for Antonio Pittman to carry the bulk of the load out of the Rams’ backfield.

Willie Parker (knee) – The worse dilemma an owner can face – a marquee player that will likely be a game-time decision on Monday Night Football.  Parker has practiced this week, but currently its unclear on whether he will face the Skins or not. Even if he comes back the match-up is not great and expect him to give some work up to Mewelde Moore. Look elsewhere if at all possible.


BYE WEEKS
New Orleans, San Diego, San Francisco, Carolina


VALUE PACK
QB – Chad Pennington @Den: The Broncos give up 240 PaYd per game and will be without Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey. Pennington has thrown for at least 280 yards in each of his last three games. He’ll have a great shot to make in four in a row in this match-up.

RB – Earnest Graham @KC: With Warrick Dunn’s status for Week 9 in question, Graham is set to shoulder a full load against a Chiefs’ D that is yielding 227 yards per game on the ground over the past month. Graham is going to be golden!

WR – Devin Hester vs. Det: From Week 4 through Week 6, he had caught 14 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns - the best three-game receiving stretch of his career. He was limited but by a quad injury in Week 7, but appears a full go following the bye and should get back on track against the Lions.

TE – John Carlson vs. Phi: He could be a nice bye-week filler here as the Eagles have allowed over 5 receptions and 68 yards per game to tight ends in October.

DEF – Browns vs. Bal: The Ravens are only scoring 15 points and turning the ball over 2.5 times per contest and the Browns’ D has played better lately. If you need a D in the pinch you could do much worse than Cleveland.

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As posted on YourTeamStinks.com 

The ESPN/USA Today preseason rankings came out today for college basketball. The team at the top, the North Carolina Tar Heels.

The Tar Heels made a deep run in the dance last year all the way to the final four, only to be knocked off by Kansas who would go on to win the national title. Kansas lost a lot of their key players from last season. Because of that they debuted at No. 23.

UNC received all 31 first place votes. That's a big vote of confidence from the voters to be ranked the unanimous No. 1 team in the country before even taking to the court. A big reason for the unanimous vote is due to their star player, Tyler Hansborough, who decided to return for his senior season. He'll get help from a couple other key players in Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington.

The other half of the Final Four debut high in the polls as well as UCLA is ranked No. 4 and Memphis comes in at No. 12.

The top ten looks like this, highlighted by a handful of BIG EAST teams.

1. North Carolina
2. Connecticut
3. Louisville
4. UCLA
5. Duke
6. Pittsburgh
7. Michigan State
8. Texas
9. Notre Dame
10. Purdue 

The four letter network rolls into the 'Nati tonight to see the Cincinnati Bearcats (5-2, 1-1 BIG EAST) take on the No. 23 ranked team in the country, the South Florida Bulls (6-2, 1-2 BIG EAST). Both teams are coming off disappointing losses. UC lost to UCONN this past Saturday, 40-16, while USF suffered a heartbreaking loss to Louisville, 24-20. This is a huge game for both teams with BIG EAST Conference title implications at stake. The team that loses is likely to be out of the hunt for the conference crown, thus taking them out of any shot at a BCS bowl game.

UC has won three of the five meetings between the two teams. They've won three of the last four including coming away with a "W" in each of the last two games they've played USF in Nippert Stadium. UC came away with a victory in Raymond James Stadium last season by a score of 38-33.

The Bearcats come into this game with some questions on the offensive side of the ball. It was thought that season starting quarterback, Dustin Grutza (broken leg), would be back in time for the game against USF. To this point, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Tony Pike (broken arm) came back last week in their game against UCONN but looked rusty and out of sorts. He was replaced by redshirt freshman Chazz Anderson when the second half started. Anderson didn't fare much better against the Huskies. As of right now Pike is a gametime decision. If he is able to go, he will get the starting nod. If he's unable to go, head coach Brian Kelly will turn again to Anderson to see if he can get the job done.

USF doesn't have any worries when it comes to their quarterback situation. Junior Matt Grothe is one of the most underrated players in the country at his position. He's 104 yards away from 2000 yards passing this season. He's thrown 14 TDs and only five interceptions and he's ran in three scores as well. He plays a tough, gritty style of game. One minute he'll throw the ball deep down field, the next he'll take off running and isn't afraid to take a hit from defenders. If the Bearcats want to come out of this game with a win, they're going to have to stop Grothe from beating them. If they can keep him in check and get him rattled and keep him from hitting his two primary targets in senior wideout Taurus Johnson and junior Jessie Hester.

Odds are UC cornerback Mike Mickens will be responsible for keeping Johnson from making any big plays. Mickens needs just one interception to break the all-time career mark at UC with 13. In addition to Mickens, another player on the defensive side of the ball that USF will have to keep tabs on is Conner Barwin. He leads the BIG EAST with seven sacks and is ranked 10th nationally. He's also blocked a few punts this season which makes him dangerous on special teams as well.

The Bearcats face a tough task tonight. Not only will they have to find a way to stop Grothe, but they will also have to find a way to move the ball on the ground against the eighth ranked rushing defense in the country. The USF defense is only allowing 81.5 yards rushing per game this season. Last week the Bearcats only ran the ball SEVEN times, something they cannot afford to do again this week. They need to attempt to establish the ground game with Jacob Ramsey and John Goebel in order to buy time for either Pike or Anderson or whomever may be taking the snaps.

The game starts down at Nippert Stadium at 7:30 tonight. Coach Kelly is asking for a BLACKOUT on the eve of Halloween. He wants every fan coming down to the game to wear black. UC even had a special shirt made up just for this game that could be purchased on campus. The question is, how many people will really be wearing black tonight? "There's nothing like a night game in Nippert Stadium," Kelly says. "Having 35,000 Bearcats fans in our house and dressed in black will make a statement to the nation that UC football is a force."

For a nationally televised game, hopefully everyone heading down will adhere to Kelly's wishes and COME EARLY! BE LOUD! WEAR BLACK!

The World Series didn't lack its fair share of storylines, but now it's over. The Phillies made sure they didn't have to travel back to Florida as they took care of business as Game 5 was continued on Wednesday night, beating the upstart Rays 4-3 and laying claim to their second title in franchise history.

It was something never before experienced in World Series' history, a game suspended after 5.5 innings and tied at 2-2.

It was odd last night watching the Rays warm-up both Grant Balfour, who pitched a scoreless inning of relief in Monday's monsoon and was in the game when it was suspended, and lefty J.P. Howell. The Phillies had Cole Hamels due up when the game resumed, forcing Charlie Manuel to start the game with a pinch hitter.

Veteran Geoff Jenkins was summoned from the bench and he delivered with a double to open up the evening. Jayson Werth drove him in with a double, giving the Phills a 3-2 edge. The Rays would fight back though. Rocco Baldelli, who was hitless in the series, quickly tied the game at 3-3 when he took Ryan Madsen deep.

The Phillies would get the decisive run of the game and the series when Pat Burrell, who was 0-for-13 in the series, doubled to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning. Manuel opted to pinch run  Eric Bruntlett. He moved up to third when Shane Victorino grounded to second after failing to get down a bunt. The Rays had to bring their infield in once again, and Pedro Feliz was able to guide a Chad Bradford pitch back through the middle, making it 4-3.

Brad Lidge, who didn't blow a save the entire year, locked down the win in the ninth, but not before the Rays had the tying run in scoring position. Evan Longoria popped out before Dioner Navarro broke his bat on a base hit to right field. Pinch-runner Fernando Perez stole second base, but pinch-hitter Ben Zobrist lined out to right field. Pinch-hitter Eric Hinske swung through a low pitch to strike out, and the Phillies piled on top of each other near the mound in celebration. 

Hamels pulled off a rare feat Wednesday, becoming just the fifth player in history to win the Most Valuable Player award in both the World Series and in a League Championship Series.

Bud Selig is the worst commissioner in all of professional sports. I wonder, if the game hadn't been tied, if he would have suspended that Game 5 and just declared it an official game. I was waiting for him to move the game to Milwaukee too. Either way, that's not the point.

What we learned from the Game 5 fiasco is that the baseball is too long. It's a warm weather sport. Shorten the season. Go back to 130 games or so. Start the season early April (but paying mind to cold-weather outdoor-stadium teams and start them on the road in warm weather venues except for the Reds, who should always have the honor of being the first team to open the season at home, to pay tribute the heritage and history of baseball's oldest team).

Get rid of the All-Star game in July and move it to the end of the year, or get rid of it altogether. Nobody cares about the All-Star game. Moving it to the end of the season frees up four more days when games can be played. It also would get rid of Selig's worst conceived idea ever - having the All Star game determine home field advantage.

Go back to having best record get home field advantage. A novel concept.

Finish the season in mid-September. Start the playoffs shortly thereafter. Conclude the World Series before October, or worse, with weather, travel issues, etc. it would wrap up early October. The problem is now solved and the long, long drawn out season is more relevant and improved.