FUNKY COLE'S SISTER?
That might be the lamest thing I've ever typed. Anyway, my man Nat at Uncoached found Erika Medina. What Erika does, I'm not exactly sure. He also wonders what you would do to get it done with Erika. Me? I might go as far as to enter the seventh circle of hell otherwise known as a Tori Amos concert for that opportunity.

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IT'S OK TO LIKE FANTASY FOOTBALL
But I'm not sure it's ok to like it this much.

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THIS, MY FRIENDS, IS HILLARY FISHER

Hillary won the 2007 Miss Hawaiian contest (pageant?). Outstanding. A great blog I was just pointed to (Thanks listener Mike) has her up (There's like 800 million blogs. You expect me to know them all?). You also have to check out an outstanding take on the election, which is not for the 7 people who read this blog and actually take politics seriously.

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WAY TO GO, BIG MAN

We have fewer attachments better than those to the athletes we idolized when we were kids. I may worship Carson Palmer, might get giddy watching Jose Reyes run out a triple, ask my wife to stop talking so I can watch Chris Dickerson hit, and think of Eric Hicks against Marquetee his senior year when in need of a smile, but nothing tops the lifelong love affair we have with the guys we worshipped when we were kids. No baseball player will ever be as cool as Mookie Wilson. No item will ever be as cherished as my Bernard King signed ball, and I'll never own a shirt with Carson's face on it like I did with my Boomer shirt I had when I was 12.

On the rare occasion one of your guys enters the rarified air of the Hall of Fame, you feel mixed emotions. You're proud. You argued on school buses that your guy was hall material, and your conviction is validated. You also can't help but think "man, I felt old when he hung it up, now he's in the Hall. Crap."

Patrick Ewing goes into the Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend (maybe while he's there he can make the case for Bernard) and I'm feeling both of those things. To say I love Patrick Ewing would be like saying Jeremi Johnson loves bacon. I freaking love Patrick Ewing. He was unlucky enough to be in his prime while the Bad Boys were bulliyng their way to east supremacy, then while Jordan was dominating the league, a highly popular internet douchebag named an entire theory after him, he stayed around two years too long (Pat in a Sonics jersey remains as painful a sight as Alan Cutler with his shirt off) but in my mind, Patrick Ewing can do no wrong. He was a class guy, played his rear off despite two bad knees for more or less his entire career, and more clutch than people realize (next time ESPN Classic shows Game 7 of the 1994 East Finals watch it), and I couldn't be prouder of him and old feeling at the same time. I hope Ian Cartwright, who used to argue that Mike Gminski was a better center (he was a Sixer fan) is watching somewhere.

Nice going, big fella.

Thanks for indulging me.

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BEVERLY MAKES ONE HELL OF A PANCAKE!
Greetings from Oklahoma, where our hotel has yet to hear of this internet fad. So I'm at a place called "Beverly's Pancake House," where not only have they heard of the internet, they make the finest pancake west of Cincinnati. In fact they crack the top five.

Top Five Pancakes
5. Sugar and Spice in Norwood...whispy thin. Though the omelettes are the reason to go.
4. PJ's Pancakes in Princeton, NJ. You have to put up with a throng of Ivy Leaguers, but it's a great place to crush some cakes after a night of drinking with snobs.
3. Beverly's. Oklahoma City. Thickest pancakes ever. And served with a baseball sized heap of butter. And the waitress is rooting for the Bearcats.
2. Fort Wright Family Restaurant...in you guessed it, Fort Wright! Family owned joint with the best pancakes in Kentucky.
1. The Golden Nugget in Kettering. Any UD grad knows what I'm talking about. The original burned down, but the new one, just opened, holds up just as well. I'm not a peanut butter guy, but the chocolate chip and peanut butter cakes are the ultimate hangover cure.

Anyway, how fun is this weekend? The first real weekend of college football, my Bearcats with a chance for a signature win, and the NFL returns. This is one of the top three or four weekends of the year. For my purposes, toss is a huge Mets/Phils series (found a place with MLB Extra Innings for tonight) and my man Patrick Ewing in the hall, outside of Aurdina Patridge showing up at my hotel and doing a pole dance to Springsteen, I don;t know how this weekend gets any better. Now, because I feel some obligation, some picks...

UC/Oklahoma
I really don't believe in moral victories at this point in the program. I'm here to see a win. Granted, not likely, but the program has arrived to the point where losing by ten to a great team isn't enough.

That said, I'm not seeing it. They will cover (21.5 last I checked), I think, and I've talked to some people who cover the Big 12 closely who agree) there are chances within the Oklahomas secondary to make some plays. And UC's wideouts can get open. The big question is obviously Grutza and whether he can take advantage. I think he can to the tune of 17-20 points.

If that's the case, the UC defense just isn't giving up enough for Oklahoma to cover. The Sooners have a big, experienced offensive line, and Bradford will have time to make throws, but this Beacat defense is too fast to give up the kind of points many think the Sooners will put up.

Still, this is a national championship caliber team, Stoops is nearly unbeatable at home (54-2), and Bradford has some great weapons,

Oklahoma 31 UC 20

Bengals/Ravens
If the 'Cats pull off the upset, I can't even tell you how awesome Sunday will be. Even a Bengals loss couldn't ruin it. I don't think we have to worry about that.

This game is not the foregone conclusion many think it is. Is anything a foregone conclusion with this team? Actually yes, but let's focus on this game. It's Carson Palmer v. Joe Flacco. I have no opinion of Joe Flacco. The next Delaware Blue Hens game I see will be my firstt, but there is little chance I'm taking any rookie in their first game, no matter the opponent.

The line worries me, with a healthy Baltimore defense, Rex Ryan could throw everything he has at the Bengals and Daniel Coats. With a beat up secondary though, he doesn't have the luxury of being able to do so. It's gonna take a while for Carson/Chad/TJ/Ben, etc to click but they'll be able to do enough.

I like (like, not love) the Bengals D. I don't like the lack of depth, and the safeties are suspect, but I like them. And as much as we killed the tackling in preseason game one, it got better throughout the preseason. They'll make tackles Sunday, and they'll get some coverage sacks. Bengals win, but not by as much as some think.

Bengals 20 Ravens 13