Are the Colts looking at Andrew Luck?

Okay, so the Colts are 0-4 following Curtis Painter's 1st start. I'm not really sure anything better could or should be expected. Manning's done for the year, you go out and get Kerry Collins (who I believe was the best option), he gets hurt. Enter Painter. He's not played any meaningful minutes, and there was a reason why Jim Caldwell didn't think Painter was the answer because he brought in a retired QB to start ahead of him. This is the price you pay for not getting any insurance years ago. Manning isn't indestructable and the Indy front office is dumb if they didn't think something like this would happen. If the Colts continue to melt down and end up with 0-2 wins, they will get the number 1 pick. With that pick, the Colts (had better) select Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford. If they do take him, they need a plan, and it should work itself out pretty quick. The 1st option, which they may decide that they want to set the franchise back 15 years, is to trade the pick. They won't do that if they're smart. The obvious choice is to have him sit behind Manning a few years and he can learn from the best. If Manning retires, Luck is good enough to start from Week 1. Luck is the best QB prospect to come out since Manning himself. There's other holes to fill, but they have some good young players that they can expect to be good starters for them in a couple years. I think it's simply too big of a risk to not snag the future of your franchise.

So...Who Does Carolina Pick at Number 1?

My guess is as good as anyone's. I'm thinking there's really only a pool of 4-5 guys that they would seriously consider taking: Blaine Gabbert, Cam Newton, A.J. Green, Patrick Peterson, and Nick Fairley (Da'Quan Bowers could be in place of Fairley). They need to decide if Jimmy Clausen is their franchise QB first. If he's not, they need to get Gabbert or Newton. Then again, if Ron Rivera is dead set on a QB, he would have some debating to do on which he thinks is the better fit for them. As we all know, Cam has some questions as far as his character goes, but he's a once in a lifetime athlete and talent. Gabbert is safer in those regards, but people worry about the scheme he had at Missouri and how it translates, etc. If they're keeping their options open and they've decided that Clausen is the guy, A.J. Green is a possibility. Big, speedy receiver to help the offensively (and defensively) challenged Panthers and their now second year project of a QB. Patrick Peterson is probably the least likely chosen, but he's there. He would easily become the centerpiece of the defense. Most likely an opening weekend starter no matter where he goes. If they go with Bowers or Fairley, it'll be a big d-line improvement after they lost Julius Peppers. The line wasn't terrible, but it could use an upgrade. Personally, as a Carolina fan, I want them to take Newton. He would share duty with Clausen as a starter and situational QB. He'd be a monster running a red zone and goal line offense that allowed him to run from the shotgun and on play action rollouts. While the draft still goes on, this largely depends on the well-known lockout situation. The court date for the player lawsuit is April 6, but we might not hear anything for a couple weeks after that.

Is Peyton Manning Responsible for Another Loss (Again)?

Having just watched the now 4-8 Cowboys beat the Colts on an overtime field goal, I'm really starting to think Peyton's ability to win close games is slipping away much too quickly. He led a great game-tying drive with just seconds to go in the fourth, but after the Indy defense held Dallas to give Peyton the chance to win it, he made a poor decision (one of many of late) and the ball was picked off for the fourth time in the game. Many of these errant throws and bad decisions have become a significant reason as to why the Colts are 6-6 and are looking at missing the playoffs for the first time in a long time. (Since 2002). They are now at least a game behind AFC South division leader Jacksonville, but if they defeat the Titans this Thursday, and can take down the Jags at home the following week, they could still have a shot, although they'd have to hope for some help elsewhere. Granted, it hasn't always been his fault since the skid began. I lost track of how many key players are hurt and out for the rest of the year, but he is arguably the best quarterback of all time and has proven just how good he is leading come from behind drives. They do have many young and new players that have stepped up to help make this challenging time much more easy for Peyton, but he needs to continue playing at the high level that has earned him 4 MVP awards. With the possibility of having this season over and done with, and the scary fiasco that is the potential lockout resulting in no 2011 NFL season, maybe the Colts just need to forget this year, be happy with the progress despite the injuries, and hope that in 2012 they can be the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium, just like the Cowboys' high hopes had them poised to do this year. I do say this: anything is still possible. The AFC South is very weak and if the Colts win out and win the division with a 10-6 record, something could still happen...

Wide Open Big East

The college football season is almost over. Most of the conferences know who will be the unquestioned champion. Not so fast. The Big East still has to answer that question. At the beginning of the season, it was basically a three-way tie for preseason BE championship honors between Pitt, UConn, and West Virginia. Throw in Cincinnati or Rutgers as a sort of wild card pick. That tie still is pretty much the theoretical way the BE standings are, but Syracuse is having a breakout year, and Louisville looks to have a little spunk as well. Pitt and UConn stumbled early, while WVU and 'Cuse were the top dogs back then. UConn had a make-or-break game a few weeks ago against WVU at home and pulled out the 16-13 overtime win. That gave them some hope for the Pitt game this past week. They again pulled out a tight win, 30-28. Towards the middle part of the season, Pitt started to look like the team they were hyped to be in the preseason, while UConn and WVU kept tripping up. After UConn beat both teams, they are quite possibly the hottest team in the BE and except to travel to the Carrier Dome for a showdown with Syracuse this Saturday. If they win, and Pitt would trip up again this week or next, UConn is in a great position to still push for the title. Being that the BE has an automatic BCS bowl bid, amidst controversy, a UConn team that wins out at 8-4 could get that berth. With Pitt, WVU, and possibly Syracuse succumbing to the Huskies, followed by a late season home game with Cincy, there probably isn't a whole lot that will stop them. They're young and talented, like Pitt, and Randy Edsall's teams play smart, fundamental football. They have Jordan Todman on their side, and the pressure has lessened with being 5-4. This season in the BE is not over yet, and you gotta check out some of these games coming up. These will be a great last few weeks of football season! (There's always the Big East basketball season :) )

Go Huskies!

District 5-A Championship

After a perfect 9-0 regular season and a strong showing in the district playoffs have led the Northern Bedford Black Panthers to prominence, it's time to take home the District 5 crown. We are the No. 2 seed this year. The North Star Cougars will be our opponent. The Cougars are a great team, being the No. 4 seed. More importantly, North Star upended No. 1 seed and previously unbeaten Berlin 21-14 last Friday. Our offense was held in check by the Conemaugh Twp. defense for the first half on Saturday, but we exploded later to win 28-7. Our QB went down vs. Meyersdale a couple weeks ago, so we implemented a wildcat-type offense to specifically accommodate our needs. This appears to be the same plan for this week. Both Conemaugh and North Star boast great quarterbacks. We've taken care of Township, as our stifling defense held strong. We look to do the same again and although our last game really wasn't as close as many thought, I believe this will be the closest we've had. Let's get the job done this week as we have all season...Let's Go Panthers!

Perfect!

After another season of football, history has been made for the Northern Bedford Black Panthers. They have achieved a perfect regular season record of 9-0. This was our first perfect season since 1975. They've got a lot of momentum heading into the District 5 Class A playoffs. Meyersdale will come to town this Friday to face off in a first round playoff game. Berlin is the top seed in D5 A and appears as if they will be the Panthers' challengers for the championship. Look for it to be a great game when (or if) these two area powerhouses meet. I'm sure we'll be looking into the weaknesses that Berlin has and use them to our advantage in the event of a potential game matchup. We defeated West Branch 42-0 last Friday on Senior Night to clinch our perfect regular season. I think we'll be pumped and ready for the start of the 2010 high school postseason.

Week 7 College Football

The week is over, and its time to review the games. This week featured a few major upsets that will surely mess up the polls and BCS standings. Conference frontrunners have been jumbled from week to week. There still looks to be little to no definition of a conference champion in many leagues. What does the future hold? I'm not sure, and sometimes I love to see shake-ups. Although not good for the teams ending up the losers, it adds more depth to the sport; makes it fun to watch no matter who you're cheering for. Here's some pivotal games and upsets from Week 7.

Auburn 65, Arkansas 43: Auburn should really start to get into some of the national title talk with this win over the Razorbacks.

Texas 20, Nebraska 13: Texas looked like the team we thought they were earlier in the year as they smacked Nebraska around to get the win on the road.

Ohio State 18, Wisconsin 31: OSU knew this game was a potential trap game, going up to Camp Randall Stadium, one of the toughest places to play in the country.

Mississippi State 10, Florida 7: Florida continues to slide down with an ugly loss to the Bulldogs, led by coach Dan Mullen, who was once a member of the Gator staff.

Iowa 38, Michigan 28: Just having Denard Robinson on their side was not enough to upset the powerful Iowa Hawkeyes, who are now in the the front of the pack for the Big 10 race.

I'm ready and excited for Week 8 to come. You can never have too much football.