• Down at South Florida, Jim Leavitt has done an amazing job with the football program. They did not have a football team 11 years ago and now the school is a prominent program with all kinds of excitement. The win over West Virginia created even more thrills as the 67,000-plus fans at Raymond James Stadium made a difference. The USF defense was so quick to the ball. Yes, Pat White was hurt but the defense was so tough even before the injury. As for South Florida athletics, I think it is important for new basketball coach Stan Heath to utilize the enthusiasm and energy from the football program to sell recruits interested in hoops! Heath had a few prospects in attendance for the West Virginia game and that had to be a plus. Why can't you recruit basketball down there? There is the great sunshine, the exposure of playing in the Big East Conference, and Heath has to capitalize and use football in a positive way. Billy Donovan did that in Florida, utlizing the football weekends as big pluses in the world of recruiting.
• Saturday was pretty shocking in the world of college football. Oklahoma had a big lead at Colorado, but the Buffaloes rallied and got a huge win for coach Dan Hawkins. Remember, Colorado won just two games last season. Kansas State won at Texas by 20 points. Rutgers was stunned at home by Maryland. Then Auburn won at Florida, repeating the success of a year ago when Tommy Tuberville's team handed the Gators their lone loss of the campaign. The polls should reflect some major shakeups. College football is so competitive these days and that is so, so exciting.
• Do you think Bud Selig was happy to see the NL races go down to the final day of the regular season? Talk about excitement galore. The Rockies host the Padres in a one-game playoff for the NL wild card. About a month ago, who would have thought Colorado could come back?
• Then there is the saga of the Mets. It will be a long off-season for Omar Minaya, Willie Randolph and the whole organization. New York had a seven-game lead in the NL East with 17 games to play. Now the Mets are going home, missing out on the postseason in stunning fashion. With everything on the line Sunday, who would believe the New Yorkers would fall behind 7-0 at home in the first inning. Congrats to Jamie Moyer who won the clinching game for the Phillies.
• Think about how great Alex Rodriguez was this season. Try out these stats: 54 home runs, 156 RBI. Look at his runs, his overall fielding. He was the MVP in the AL this season, and that's not to take away from league batting champion Magglio Ordonez, who also but up tremendous numbers.
• Brett Favre broke Dan Marino's career touchdown pass record. More impressive is the way Favre has led the Packers to an amazing 4-0 start. He seems so rejuvenated with the team's success.
• Who would have believed Notre Dame would open 0-5? The Irish had a highly-regarded recruiting class the last two years, so people expected to have a good season, maybe not a dominating one. Yes, the program lost Brady Quinn, but to lose five straight at the start of this season, that has to be hard on coach Charlie Weis and the players and everyone within the Notre Dame family.
• It is hard to believe that the Rams are 0-4 with the kind of talent on offense. Yes, Steven Jackson is hurt, but Marc Bulger, Torry Holt and company did not score an offensive touchdown in a blowout loss at Dallas.
• I am not a big soccer guy, but I was surprised when the U. S. was blown away 4-0 by Brazil in the semifinals of the women's World Cup. How in the world could coach Greg Ryan not play goalkeeper Hope Solo in that crucial game? She was dominant in the first three games of the tournament, posting a scoreless streak in excess of 200 minutes after giving up two goals to North Korea. I feel Ryan is catching heat as the team was well on its way when he made the move to play Brianna Scurry in nets against the Brazilians. Solo was out of line ripping Scurry, and it was inexcusable despite the emotion of the moment.
• What an incredible story … the comeback of Carlos Pena. He was in Triple A last year, got cut by the Devil Rays just at the end of spring training before he caught a major break. Tampa Bay's Greg Norton was hurt so Pena was brought back to the squad. Pena set a team record for home runs and RBI, and now he is eligible for arbitration over the next two years. It is an amazing story to see him hit 46 home runs. Let me tell you, there is no way he plays for $800,000 next season, not with Scott Boras representing him!
• Things keep getting tougher and tougher for Michael Vick. He faces state charges now to go along with what happened in the Federal case. He also tested positive for marijuana in mid-September as the report came out last week. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will probably take that into account in the future.
• How about a salute for Arrelious Benn of Illinois, who had a great game in a win over Joe Paterno and Penn State. I am happy for Ron Zook because he took so much heat down in Florida. Zook had a great recruiting class which included Benn.
