AROUND THE HORN

***SO HE'S HUMAN AFTER ALL***
All week, I read that while New Orleans had the better team, Indianapolis was favored because of Peyton Manning. Come crunch time, however, it was Eli's big brother who made THE critical mistake. A good game to watch, decent, but not outstanding, commercials ('specially liked the Letterman-Winfrey-Leno spot) and, of course, The Who, or as my 7-year old granddaughter said, "Are those old people?"

***OKAY, I'M OFFICIALLY TIRED OF THIS***
Rumor has it that the Braves and the Tigers are mildly interested in Johnny Damon, with Tampa Bay, a longshot. Pretty soon, I'll have to sign him myself, just to get him out of our hair.

***CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?***
Phil Mushnick, a columnist for the NY Post, is no big fan of Mike Francesa (remember Mike and the Mad Dog?).
"The best thing about the week before the Super Bowl is watching as Mike invites big shots into his booth -- to hear him speak. He invited NFLPA exec. director, DeMaurice Smith in to hear Mike's lecture in NFL labor issues. Smith is new at this, but he quickly learned that all he had to do was say, from time to time, 'You're absolutely right, Mike.' All this from Francesa, who, for the last two months, has been calling Colts coach Jim Caldwell 'Cardwell.' Caldwell has acknowledged that all these years he has been mispronouncing his own name: If Mike Francesa says it's Cardwell, well then... it must be Cardwell."

***IF I HAD TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN,...***
Why is that the coach of the losing team, when asked if he would change anything, he always says, "No, we would have done the same thing"? Oh, come on. At least say, "Well, we would have scored more points."

***SYRACUSE ROLLS, VILLANOVA STUMBLES***
The Orange continue to be led by one of the most stifling defenses since the Third Army. They let Cincinnati think they were in the game until they held them to ONE basket in the last 12 minutes. At least they let them bring the ball over half court. All this without their 'Premier Player,' Wes Johnson. As Vod pointed out, SU can win without him, but I believe he is a vital cog, especially against the more upper-echelon teams.
Speaking of which, Villanova faces another powerhouse tonight, West Virginia, at Morgantown. Should be a good game, since the Mountaineers play like you're holding their mother hostage.
SU reportedly has already sold 34,616 tickets for the SU-Villanova game and one writer thinks they'll go over 40,000. I hope those last 6000 bring those TV phones with them so they'll be able to tell what all the screaming is about.

CP-