SPORTS w/The Jock 10/27/10

by Tom Weppel
JAGUARS
The Jaguars have gone through an ass-whoopin’ the last two weeks! Two losses within six days by a total of 49 points is not good…AT ALL!
And now, they head back out on the road to face a 1-5 Dallas Cowboy squad that is actually in worse shape than the Jaguars…if you can believe it!
On top of it all, you’ve got a Head Coach who is making statements that would (and maybe should) directly point to his demise and eventual firing.
Welcome to the NFL, baby!
Without question, the Jaguars are dealing with some nasty issues. After beginning the season with great anticipation and feeling they were ready to be good, the exact opposite has happened. The Jags have stumbled and bumbled in four losses by a total of 99 points! Jack Del Rio is talking about his players not executing and being consistent, and the stats show it! The Jags are minus TEN in turnover ratio! They rank 30th overall in Defense in the League! They rank 28th overall in passing offense! Obviously, that kind of stuff is not gonna get you many victories!
Yet Jacksonville’s record of 3-4 is actually BETTER than ten other teams in the NFL, if you can believe that!
Despite that, the discussion has begun from locals, talkin’ about the possibility of Del Rio getting fired. Maybe its preliminary…who knows. A lot can still happen. If there would be a change, though, the two names that would crop up immediately would be Bill Cowher and Jon Gruden.
And so on Sunday, the Jaguars go to Dallas to play the Cowboys. Dallas has struggled mightily this season, and now they have 38-year-old Jon Kitna at QB, after Tony Romo suffered a broken collarbone in the loss to Tom Coughlin and the Giants last week. Still, the ‘Boys have a team that has been competitive and productive, with lots of talent on their roster. All of their losses have been by seven points or less.
Dallas is favored to win this game, and their fans will almost expect a win. On the other side, a win would give Jacksonville a 4-4 record going into their bye week, and 4-4 looks a lot better than 3-5!
We’ll see how it all shakes out…

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
In the last three weeks, its been three up, and three down! Alabama, Ohio State, and Oklahoma were all ranked #1 heading into their respective games the following week. All three played teams on the road.
And all three ended up losing their games! Imagine that…
And now, we have the Oregon Ducks, who are ranked #1 in the USA Today Coaches poll. Oregon buried UCLA last week, 60-13. On Saturday, the Ducks go to L.A. to play Southern Cal at the Coliseum. The possibility of USC putting in a great performance and beating Oregon is certainly possible, and wouldn’t THAT be wild!
On the other side, Oregon has simply been so dominant in their play this season, scoring 42 or more points in all seven of their wins. It should be very interesting to see what USC HC Lane Kiffin and his Dad, Monte, will have in store for the Ducks…
On a local basis, we’ve got Florida and Georgia in town to take each other on for their annual, traditional battle. In past years, this game has carried strong significance and meaning, either with the SEC, or on a National level. One or both teams have been highly ranked and in contention.
But this year is different. The Bulldogs are 4-4. At one point, they were actually 1-4,but have won their last three games. Consider, though, they were against Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky! C’mon!
Then you have the Gators, who are 4-3, having lost their last three, including two straight at HOME! Florida fans are in total withdrawl, without question, wondering what happened in the past few weeks, for their boys to go south so quickly!
The interest and excitement for this annual scrap is still prevalent, without question. Both teams would covet a victory for obvious reasons! Just realize…this is NOT the same game we’re all used to seeing in past years…

OTHER STUFF!
The NBA cranked up their regular season this week. Without question, the Miami Heat will be one of the most scrutinized teams, all because of Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade…and Lebron James! Without question, James image and viability has taken a hit, since he decided to leave Cleveland to go down to South Beach and hang! And now, every where he and his mates will go, you will hear the boos and the cat-calls! It will certainly be interesting to see how the Miami Heat play, and how they will handle the attention and media coverage, like they are surely going to receive…
The World Series has started, with the San Francisco Giants taking on the Texas Rangers. While the stories behind both these clubs getting to this final series is intriguing, the bottom line here is that there are plenty of sports fans overall, and baseball fans in particular, who could care less about either squad!
A Yankees/Phillies Series would’ve carried so much more weight, but it didn’t happen. Nonetheless, we’ll see how Texas and Frisco play, going at it strongly, with the winner certainly carrying a lot of weight. This is the first Series ever for the Rangers, while the Giants haven’t won since 1954, when the franchise was still in New York…