For those of you who looked at the 13 and 0 Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints and 11 and 1 Minnesota Vikings and claimed NFL parody was dead, not so fast my friends!  The NFL playoff picture is a wild ride as we go into Week 17 with only one seed set in the NFC race and with multiple 8 win teams battling for the two AFC wild card slots.  In addition, three games this week, the Eagles-Cowboys, Cardinals-Packers and Jets-Bengals could be preludes to first round playoff match-ups.

     Adding to the mess, the only team that had their division sewn up weeks ago, the mighty Indianapolis Colts (who pundits are ranking as only the second best team in the AFC despite their 14-1 record), did the unspeakable and took out their players in the 3rd quarter of an eventual 29-15 loss to the New York Jets.  Fans in Denver, Pittsburgh and Houston are screaming foul as the Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell pulled his starters while sporting a 15-10 lead and let the Jets waltz to a win, an 8 and 7 record and the inside track to one of the AFC Wild Card slots.  Are they right? 

     In other sports, it's a time honored tradition to try to play spoiler and send teams spinning out of the playoffs.  Only in football, where injuries are so prevalent, is it acceptable (to some...) to lay down and protect your starters for your own playoff run.  My thought is hey, protect your own, even if it means someone else will suffer for it.  Football teams only get 16 games and if you want a playoff spot, earn it.  I was a little unhappy with Caldwell's call as the Colts were going for History as well, but I agree, the most important thing is to win the Superbowl.  Or do you think the Patriots were really satisfied with their 18 and 1 record two years ago???

In between taking swipes at Tiger Woods and his nine, I mean eleven, man is it up to an even dozen women?!?, pundits are expounding on the annual December swoon that descends upon the Dallas Cowboys.  Swoon, shwoon; I’m not buying it at all!  Last season the Cowboys went 1-3 in December, horrible right?  Of [...]

With the October Classic upon us, its time for SCL’s Fresh Take, ala Baseball!  It’s fitting that the New York Yankees with their 26 Championships and the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies square off in the World Series; on the flip side, how bad is it to be a Cleveland Indians fan?  Past Indian pitchers [...]

Welcome back Sports Fans, it’s another addition of the SCL Fresh Take!  Has the NFL season been a surprise, or what?!?  Jockeying back and forth for biggest surprise of the year are the Denver Broncos on the good side and the Tennessee Titans on the bad!  The Broncos are 6 and oh and running away [...]

Hey, is that Rocky Balboa I see running through the market of south Philly on his way to the steps of the Philadelphia art museum?  No, its Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable honing the street fighting skills he’ll need when he goes to the slammer for assaulting one of his own coaches.  I thought [...]