The Week That Was

Another pretty crappy sports weekend for me. The Nebraska Cornuskers found a new, embarrassing way to lose at home, this time to Iowa State. Nebraska had 8 (!?!?!?!) turnovers to the Cyclones 0 turnovers, and still somehow only lost 9-7. Incredibly, 4 of the turnovers occurred inside the Cyclone's 4-yard line. It was the ugliest offensive performance I have ever seen. What once seemed like such a promising season after a win at Missouri two weeks ago has turned into a nightmare. Nebraska plays at Baylor this weekend and while that may have seemed like a guaranteed win before, is completely up in the air now, due to the ineptness of the Nebraska offense.

For the first time since 2000 Notre Dame defeated Boston College, improving their record to 5-2. The defense played better than it has in recent weeks, and finally made a freshman QB make some mistakes. Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate came up big when they had to for the Irish. Next for Notre Dame is a "home" game in San Antonio, TX against hapless Washington State. The schedule picks up considerably after that as the combined record of their final four opponents is 22-9. I am still wondering where this easy schedule is that everyone talked about in the preseason?

In the NFL, the 49ers dropped their second straight and with the Arizona Cardinals upset of the New York Giants, have dropped out of first in the NFC West. It looks like after a 1 1/2 year layoff it might be the return of the Alex Smith era. Smith replaced Shaun Hill at halftime and sparked the 49ers to 3 second half touchdowns, all to TE Vernon Davis. Hill has really struggled in recent games and I wouldn't be against a full time switch to Smith. I am not expecting greatness over the Niners former #1 pick but maybe the passing game can open up a little. WR Michael Crabtree had an encouraging debut, 5 catches for 56 yards.

The Miami Dolphins looked like they were going to affirm my faith in them, as they raced out to a 24-3 lead over the undefeated New Orleans Saints. However, no lead is safe against a team that scores 40 points or more like its nothing. With some help from their defense, the Saints came roaring back to win 46-34. The Dolphins are now 2-4 for the second straight season and have a must-win game Sunday at home against the Jets. I am really growing tired of watching Ted Ginn Jr. drop balls.

The Minnesota Vikings suffered their first loss of the year, 27-17 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Vikings moved the ball well on offense but turnovers and penalties in the red zone did them in. Next week is the emotional return of Brett Favre to Lambeau, and behind that story is a crucial game in the NFC North against the hot, 4-2 Packers.

In baseball, it will be the New York Yankees against the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 World Series. As I predicted almost three weeks ago the Yankees won in 6 in the ALCS and the Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in 5. I am going to stick with what I predicted and say Yankees over the Phillies in 5. Ugh.

The NBA season tips off tomorrow night. I did a guest post on spartyandfriends.com with a mini preview for the upcoming season, including my predictions on the Eastern and Western Conference, and NBA champions. You can check it out here:

http://www.spartyandfriends.com/?p=21217