November 18, 2007

Adam Jones. Do you know who that is? ‘Pacman’ Jones. I bet you know who that is. Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones is seen in newspapers but rarely heard when his name is spoken. Why is that important? Because calling him ‘Pacman’ only feeds his ‘street-cred’. How can you grow up when people refer to you as the name of a video game character? That’s something the media can do. Call him Adam Jones. That’s his name. As I type this, I see on ESPN’s NFL Countdown several instances where Adam Jones is referred to as ‘Pacman’. His name is Adam Jones. ‘Pacman’ is a nickname. Nicknames are cool, but when you start making more noise for off the field transgression, a little humility can be helpful. Let’s help him with that.

Week 11 NFL Picks:

Cincinnati, Green Bay, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, New England, New Orleans, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, San Francisco, Chicago and Tennessee.

College football is reaching the end of the season, yet the upsets continue. This week both Oregon and Oklahoma lost to unranked opponents, Arizona and Texas Tech, respectively. Both lost their quarterbacks to injury in the first quarter. And now both have had their national title hopes dashed.

The deeper story is the tragic end of Dennis Dixon’s collegiate career. The Heisman hopeful began the game on a high note, running for a touchdown and leading his team in position for another one. After a receiver dropped a potential touchdown, which deflected into the hands of an Arizona defender for an interception. Arizona scored but Dixon moved the Ducks quickly back into position for another score. Dixon tried to make a cut with his left leg and it buckled. That buckle tore his ACL and finished his season. His team wasn’t able to recover from the loss of their leader. Now the Ducks need some help to make it to the Rose Bowl. Though Oklahoma also lost their quarterback, they lost to Texas Tech for another reason. Their defense couldn’t contain Tech’s offense in the first half of the game. So the roller coaster college football continues. Stay tuned.