The Whole Delivery

Alabama is not the 2nd best team in the nation, Georgia certainly is not the 3rd best team in the nation, and for sure Florida is not the 4th best team in the nation (and that's even if they get fortunate to win in Tallahassee on Saturday, even though they should lose soundly to a more talented and versatile Florida State team). This just speaks to the larger and overinflated power of the Southeastern Conference and its continued cartel and ownership over the overall cartel that is college football in America. It kind of was an unexpected (and pleasant) shock of reality that South Carolina, top 10 the last several weeks despite having two defeats, is now suddenly out of it. Is there some direct reason why the two loss Gamecocks were still good enough to be in the top 10 until it struggled against Wofford while Florida remains at #4 (ahead of now one loss sides Oregon and Kansas State) after just barely surviving Louisiana Lafayette and being awful against Jacksonville...

A famous double for the Czech Republic has been accomplished, as Radek Stepanek has won the 100th Davis Cup for his country in the dramatic decider against Nicolas Almagro of Spain. More on this remarkable achievement for this rising nation, as well as NFL Week 11, in a short while. First Update  This was a remarkable team accomplishment all season from both Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek. They were the two man team that carried this team all year long. Outside of Lukas Rosol two meaningless wins in dead rubber matches, Berdych and Stepanek accounted for all of the team's wins this year with all of them coming in live rubber matches in a live tie. The Czech Republic also became the first nation win all three ITF global competitions, having won the Hopman Cup way back in January as well. Second Update: Lewis Hamilton Takes US Grand Prix on Formula 1's return to the US.  Vettel remains the strong favorite for the title, but the ever determined Fernando ...

Photo from AP's Wade Payne LL Cool J can probably say again today, PHILIP RIVERS!!!! The 49ers get a much needed win , while the Jaguars come back to the pack again. The fun for Brett Favre, Brad Childress, and the Vikings continue. The not so fun for Jay Cutler, Lovie Smith, and the Bears continues. And Vince Young is back .........for those who needed a final reminder of that. And the Ravens get a much needed win, and avoid the embarrassment of losing to Dennis Dixon .

The number one reason why Florida will win the Nationals Title, if they do, will arguably not be Tim Tebow. Instead, it will be Alex Tejada, the Arkansas kicker who really blew it today like no other.

Luis Nani starts off Sports Sunday in big fashion. 1-0 to Manchester United so far. And now, Ricardo Carvalho has leveled the score at the beginning of the second half, 1-all to Chelsea. And as I go to church, they are on a flyer. And the even bigger news is the fact that they may get the brilliant Alex Pato from AC Milan.

From tennis.com Fitting. That's the one word that is needed to describe what transpired today in Roland Garros on Court Philippe Chartier, a court whose name today felt like it didn't have its usual name. Because it was an unusual day during an unusual fortnight on the Parisian red clay. Sometimes, the unusual presents despair, confusion, and even an encumbrance because it alters the normal rhythm of usual events. But there was nothing unwanted about Roger Federer's unusual moment today. Because it was fitting. Fitting that Andre Agassi was there to present him with the trophy. Fitting that a rainy day, not seen before in the previous three years he played on Finals Sunday on Chartier, was the forecast that the weather validated. Fitting that Bill Gates was in the crowd (and throw Tony Parker and Eva Longeria in there as well). Fitting that Bjorn Borg witnessed it, and fitting that, well, the unusual Robin Soderling was the unusual opponent for this at the time, 13 time gra...

Photo from FFP and RolandGarros.com Dinara Safina is still just 22 years old. She is number one in the world, and playing the best tennis clearly of anybody right now (and that extends pass the women's game and even into, well, Mr.Nadal territory). She is no longer one of those inconsistent players that just can't push into the Top 5 (let alone the Top 10) like she was 14 months ago. Instead, she may remain one of the game's elite players, especially on clay, for a long time. Despite all those auspicious factors, however, if Dinara Safina does not win the French Open in this current fortnight, her best chance at winning a Grand Slam will go away...forever. A lot of things point in the favor of Marat Safin's sister to win this tournament besides her form, and that was before her utter demolition of British number one Anna Keothavong today by the score of 6-0, 6-0. Her main competition at denying her the title she should win are currently hobbled, off form or both. Seren...

Photo from tennis.com In the major where Dinara Safina had better win and any American man reaching the fourth round of the tournament is an accomplishment, the French Open has started happily. No rain so far, but great thrilling tennis. In the match of the day, Lleyton Hewitt just beat the nemesis who ended his days at number one back six years ago in an all time Wimbledon shocker, Ivo Karlovic, in a five set thriller. Hewitt was down two sets to none, and someone, produced one of his classic warrior mentality moments to advance. The horribly out of form Ana Ivanovic, who some thought wouldn't even be able to defend her title here because of her right knee, had another shaky start to a tournament with an arduous 7-6, 6-3 win over the game Sara Errani of Italy. And hey, Marat Safin still exists, and on his best day the Russian still can play worth more than a damn. He showed that today in easily dispatching a name a lot of people (including myself) never saw before in Frenchmen A...

Photo from David Maxwell of the EPA Just like in game one, a strong start by Cleveland, up 30-16. So strong, that even the forgotten Sasha Pavlovic closed out the quarter with a three. And just like game two in their last series, the Magic seemed content to just go to Orlando with a 1-1 split. We'll see what outfolds. Comment if you feel like doing so.

Photo from the AP's Chris Carlson An intriguing debate has emerged over the course of the incipient days of the NBA Playoffs' Conference Finals stage. But the intrigue has mainly come from irrationality and quick thinking. The topic: Whether star players should always take the last shot in the game? This has generated from both Nike's obsessions, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, not taking the final attempts the previous two nights in their teams' defeats. There have been a number of individuals, including Rob Parker on ESPN's First Take this morning, that have questioned at least the decision of this year's MVP to pass to Delonte West in their Game 1 loss to the Magic (even though that didn't turn out to be the final shot, as Mo Williams got off an attempt before time expired). Though Parker didn't mind Derek Fisher hoisting a three from the corner as the Lakers only chance to send the game into overtime yesterday fell by the wayside, Parker condemned Jame...

President Obama shows his Carolina love in the tournament, picking the Tar Heels to cut the nets over Louisville in the Final Two title game (Photo from ESPN) From the man in the White House to facebook pool request after facebook pool request, the sports world in America is once again engulfed in the March Madness spirit. The tournament, although it has already started with Morehouse State dispatching Alabama State in the play-in, excuse me, opening round game , really starts today as always. As you can see at the site's apex at the moment, the site is highlighting the four number one seeds and their key perimeter players (and you can make an easy case for at least three of the four being the most valuable players for their teams, with Levance Fields of Pittsburgh playing a slight second fiddle to DeJuan Blair). But with this being arguably the most parody filled year in college basketball ever as top teams continues to lose every week, you could easily make the case for the lik...

Photos from google.com As Ricky Henderson gets in on his first try into the Hall of Fame ( not a surprise at all), Jim Rice finally was elected into Cooperstown today. It took almost forever for this to happen, when it should have occurred a hell of a long time ago. Maybe even more curious in the voting today (which is done by the premiere baseball writers in the country for those who don't know) is the fact that 28 voters did not vote for Henderson. Yes, that's right, 28 voters did not vote for the all time steals leader, runs leader, and lead off home run leader. ESPN's wonderful Jayson Stark put some of these fools in place : Sorry. Can't help myself. I need to trot out one more Rickey Henderson stat for you. What did this man do better than every other leadoff man of modern times -- outside of steal more bases and forget all the other guys' names? Score runs, of course. I already mentioned he scored more than any player who ever played. So maybe that sounds obvi...

Via TPM's Zachary Roth , more abuses of money spending under the Cheney Administration. When knew that Fox announcers Joe Buck and Tim McCarver would be apart of this, though they may not have known about it (and may still not know about it).

Photo from Ny DailyNews The Eagles are flowing with confidence thanks to their backfield tandem of Donovin McNabb and Brian Westbrook, while the Giants look to sustain their hopes of defending their shock championship from last year without the services of Plaxico Burress. The absence of Burress was certainly felt in the second encounter between these squads in the Meadowlands, as Westbrook craved the Giants defense (unaided by Justin Tuck picking up the flu) for 131 yards rushing, 72 yards receiving, and two touchdowns as Andy Reid’s side scored a season saving win on December 7th. Eagles’ corners Shelton Brown, Asante Samuel, and Lito Sheppard are certainly not crying spilled tears over Burress no longer being able to terrorize them. Nevertheless, with Brandon Jacobs spearheading the Giants running attach, Tom Coughlin’s side has every right to still feel like they are the team to beat, especially with being at home. Two keys to the game: Will Tuck and Matthias Kiwanuka get pressure ...

Photo from Al Messerschmidt of Getty Images Tomorrow on The Whole Delivery in the sports threads, we shall preview the two Saturday games in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs. Let's just say that while one game is really hard to pick at the moment, the other, not so much. That's tomorrow at TWD.

Photo from Hassan Ammar Critics of Andy Murray are finding it very difficult to label concern and questions on him these days. The world number four continued his assault towards the elite of the tennis game, scoring another win over Roger Federer to advance to the Qatar Final final against the other "Andy" on tour, Andy Roddick. Murray's 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2 victory over the 13 time Grand Slam champion is his fourth straight win against Federer (or third if you don't want to include his exhibition win over Federer in Abu Dhabi last week). And the win moved him into the bookmakers favorite to win the Australian Open. For the casual fan who doesn't know that much about the sport, that would be Murray's first Grand Slam title if he were to win in Melbourne. (And hopefully in the next few days, The Deft Volleys , a webblog dedicated to just the sports of tennis and soccer, will be released, where you can find more stories like this on that website.)

Arash Markazi of Sports Illustrated asks, whose your National Champion ? For me? It's the college presidents and NCAA who for another year, and for the near future, will still get away with their BS.

Once again, the proclaimed National Championship of top flight college football finally arrives after another lengthy, ridiculous layoff. And sadly, even with the end result possibly being a comprehensive beatdown for one side over the other, there still will be more questions than answers at the end of another season. This misguided scenario, thanks in all part to college presidents and NCAA big wigs who care more about profits than the absolute good of sport. Or, as Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News labeled these avarice driven fools (and one of the few times where I agree 100% with him), "a cartel." Whether Tim Tebrow and Florida's overall speed overwhelms the Sooners, or if Sam Bradford's efficiency takes the full chop out of the larger Gator crowd tonight at Dolphins Stadium, there still will be those after the game left with those questions . You know what those questions are? Isn't Utah deserving of a real shot of the title if they went 13-0 and defea...

Photo from Getty Images (Though released by the Cowboys, it looks like Adam Jones may release his anger on ESPN instead) January 7th, 2009 on Chestnut Hill today will be one that won't be looked upon too fondly (and I don't bring this up because I am a Boston University student). After Gene DeFilippo fired football coach Jeff Jagodzinski , the Athletic Director at Boston College had to see his basketball program, fresh off of their big upset victory over North Carolina on Sunday, loss to Harvard of all opponents 82-70. Harvard, who couldn't even beat my school's struggling basketball team this year, beats easiest the best basketball school in the Boston/Cambridge area. Talk about an utter disaster. Anyway, the quick runthrough. In just a mere 10 days, the Celtics went form unbeatable and record setters to being in a semi-crisis mode, as they dropped another game tonight, this time to the Tracy McGrady-less Rockets tonight 89-85. Their offense has gone into a tailspin o...

Photo from AP Well, they certainly kept their promise. Boston College fired their football coach Jeff Jagodzinski after he went and interviewed with the Jets. Here's what the Athletic director, Gene DeFilippo, said about this: "We're really good friends and this is a very difficult thing to do," DeFilippo said at a news conference. "We will find somebody who really wants to be at Boston College and will be here for the length of their contract." And could you blame him? Not only did Jags (as he is know by in both the college and pro ranks) have three years left on his contract, but he didn't inform DeFilippo about even interviewing with the Jets. A rational person could understand this firing when you look deep at the details. It is a decision where loyalty plays a massive part in, and DeFilippo needed a coach who was commented to Boston College. Of course, that will be hard to find with the firing, especially with the threat of pink slipping Jagodzinsk...