The snow is flying. The temperatures across the region are just freaking cold. The groceries are purchased for the big feast! It’s football time.
It’s also time for me to concentrate a little more on my picks in the NFL before the leaders get out of sight in both pick contests in which I am entered. I am 10-5 so far this week. I have the Chargers tonight, but want the Broncos to win (to help the Chiefs).
Interesting Fact:
The Packers beat the Cowboys and the Cowboys fired their coach. The Packers beat the Vikings and the Vikings fired their coach today (the Packers had a bye in between these games). The Packers play the Falcons this week, so don’t look for the coach to be fired…but the Packers do play the 49ers after that and then Detroit…so watch out.
Favre:
As much as last year was fun to watch the old gunslinger play, this year it’s painful. Favre will go down as one of the top 10 NFL quarterbacks ever, but with the firing of Brad Childress it will be interesting to see how the interim coach handles Favre.
Montana Grizzlies:
Just about every sports fan knew that the Montana Grizzlies were on the bubble in making the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs on Saturday afternoon when the gun sounded and the Griz had lost to the Montana State Bobcats, 21-16.
Realistically, the final game for the Griz mirrored their whole season – lots of promise, but the results were wasted away with a couple of fumbles and an interception.
Although they lost, I thought with their history (17 straight trips to the playoffs) and with there being 20 teams getting selected, they would get the nod. I thought wrong. The Griz have lost their swagger with the FCS folks.
I also thought there would be more of an uproar from Griz nation over the snub. I have not found much. The Grizzlies were ranked #15 in the November 21 FCS poll. Twenty teams made the playoffs. Some reports said they lacked quality wins. Look to hear the same thing in major college football in a couple of weeks…
But the hardest part was seeing Chase Reynolds fall four yards short of becoming the all-time rushing leader for the Grizzlies. He’s a local kid from Montana. It would have been nice for him to own that record.
Montana State Bobcats:
The Cats are for real as they marched into Missoula and beat the Grizzlies. The Bobcats did make the FCS playoffs and are seeded fourth. They get a first round bye and that may be a good deal so they can settle down some after a big win over the Griz. They will play either Robert Morris or North Dakota State in Bozeman on December 4.
Carroll College Fighting Saints:
The Saints made their annual trek into the NAIA playoffs and won their first round game. They play 11th- ranked Marian (Ind.) in the quarterfinals next weekend.
Since the Saints host another playoff game on Saturday and since this will be the only game in the state on Saturday (that I know about) it would be great for folks to make the drive to Helena to cheer on the Saints (it would also be good to attend to burn off some of that turkey and pumpkin pie).
Mariani:
In case you missed it, Tennessee Titan (and former Griz) Marc Mariani returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown on Sunday. So far, he’s also the only player in the NFL this year to return a punt and a kick-off for a touchdown. Impressive.
