MONDAY THOUGHTS by ST

If I hear another commentator say Mark McGwire "came clean", I'm not responsible for my actions. The guy has been in denial, hiding out like Dillinger since his humiliating testimony on Capitol Hill back in March of 2005. Now that he needs a gig and will be the Cardinal's hitting coach he knows it's impossible to side step the questions about steroid use. It's like that final court scene in "My Cousin Vinny", where Marisa Tomei gives that killer explanation about why the boys car could not have been the vehicle used in the murder. Joe Pesci says to the so called auto expert on the stand, "Come on...they know...you can say it". What this all exactly means remains to be seen as far as Big Mac someday landing in the Hall of Fame. Not one player has come clean. They've admitted once they either got caught or were about to be revealed as a juicer.
The Oregon men looked just awful last night in losing to OSU in the final Civil War at Mac Court(for the guys). I know some focus will land on the coaches and they're not without fault in a flat, uninspired performance like this, but if you were at the game and watched the Duck bench you'll understand what I mean. Ernie Kent and his assistants at times were actually flabbergasted or flummoxed. I saw Ernie mouth "why" on at least 5-6 occasions to players who committed bad fouls, took horrible shots, failed to box out on the glass and more. A golden opportunity passed to really stake a claim as a legit threat in this conference. By the way, what is with the Pac 10? This is as weak as I've seen it, ever! Right now I'll guarantee you the team who wins the Pac 10 tournament will make the Big Dance. That's as far as I'm willing to go right now. Arizona State has a nice 12 & 5 record, but they've beaten no one as that LSU victory in the preseason has lost it's luster because the Tigers are no good. Wazzou has a sweet 12 & 4 overall mark but they also don't have a quality win to hang their hat on in an at large bid situation. Not one Pac 10 teams is ranked. I'll go you one better. Not one Pac 10 team garnered a single vote from anyone in the AP poll. Yikes!
Obviously pleased with my Jets victory over Cincy. Dallas was impressive in busting up Philly for the 2nd straight week. Arizona/Green Bay was off the charts nuts. I'm not a huge fan, but not many have slung it much better than Kurt Warner when he's on. The performance of Aaron Rogers bringing the Pack back was impressive and he deserved better than that nightmarish ending. Lot of NFL coming your way. Big focus on the insane decision by Pete Carrol to leave Troy for a bush league NFL town like Seattle. I could not be happier.