Macca

It's looks like it's going to even out at the top a bit in the NBA this year with Houston, the Clippers, Indiana, the Warriors and the Nets all improving their rosters. The Heat, Bulls, Spurs and OKC will all be up there again you'd reckon. Dallas, the Lakers (if Kobe returns fit and back to his near best) and the Knicks are playoff chances. If I had to pick a team to trouble the Heat the most in the East, it might be the Pacers. In the West it might come down to Houston and OKC but it's wide open in the Western conference. There's a number of good teams and I'd like to see the Clippers do well ... the Warriors as well. It would be some achievement if Miami get their 3rd Title in a row.

Tips... Seattle Denver Miami

No change to the tipping comp points tally ... 4 - cowboy from hell 2 - Strafford, Macca 1 - pantaloons 0 - Gorgoroth, DemonDave, 45HG, Norm Smith's Curse, bananas, Demon Land 7 Week 10 games and the BS Report

Luck does it again - those 4th comebacks are becoming his trade mark. The Texans looked home but those Colts sure know how to win. Gary Kubiak collapsing was a scary moment - looks like it's not overly serious but the details are still a little sketchy. Not sure about how the play calling works at the Texans but Wade Phillips is certainly a highly experienced coach who would have known what plays to call. Still, it might have thrown things a bit for Houston. KC had a great come from behind win on the road and once again, they've kept their opponent to a low points tally (13) It's going to be fascinating to see how their defense holds up against Denver in 2 weeks time. Not one team from the NFC East lost this week (the Giants didn't play!) Maybe that division can get a bit stronger after all. There's certainly some talent spread in amongst those 4 teams. Nothing would surprise me in the NFC East as all 4 teams are capable. (although the Giants do have a number of injuries) The Panthers won easily again but how bad are Atlanta? Tampa nearly pulled off one of the upsets of the season and the Jets beating the Saints was somewhat of a surprise (the Jets are the most predictably unpredictable team going around!) Vikes and Rams went close and both teams were a little unlucky not to win. Baltimore and Pittsburgh have fallen right away. With the Steelers, it's mainly their defense (which used to be immense) and with the Ravens, they're just a shadow of last years side. Cinci are at Baltimore next week in a game that Baltimore have to win. There are a number of well credentialed sides that have performed well below their best this season. From one year to the next in this League, a lot can change. It's almost impossible to predict.

Here are the TV games again along with Bill Simmons' column ... The Sports Guy's Week 9 Picks Monday 5.00am New Orleans at NY Jets (Fox2) 5.00am Kansas City at Buffalo (OneHD) 8.25am Baltimore at Cleveland (Fox2) 8.25am Pittsburgh at New England (OneHD) 12.30pm Indianapolis at Houston (OneHD & ESPN) Tuesday 12.30pm Chicago at Green Bay (ESPN) All the week 9 games Obviously be tuning in to MNF but SNF should be a good game and the Saints at the Jets could be close - The Jets have bounced back all season and they are at home. Can KC keep the streak going in Buffalo? Wouldn't be surprised if the Steelers do ok as well - the match-up against the Pats has traditionally been a good one. New England should win though.

And if you reckon any of us are going to capitalise on that, think again 'cfh'! I'm fully expecting another 2/3 week or perhaps even another one of those "zip" returns. There's an idea - a point if you get none right Seriously, with your renowned marking ability (as reported from the footy forum games) you're an absolute shoo-in for a WR's role at the Packers. McCarthy is expecting your call !

It's almost getting to a point where the teams with the least amount of injuries will prevail. The Packers and Bengals are still doing well in their respective divisions despite all our injuries. Sorry to hear about Atkins - an incident like that often produces an all clear. Just really unlucky. When I watch the Packers I just hope like hell Rodgers doesn't get hurt. It's not a great way to view a sporting contest but even though our offensive line has improved, they still can't be relied upon! (thank goodness we don't have to visit Seattle in the regular season - he got sacked 8 times there last season in that "Infamous" game )

The Canucks are hangin' in there but pantaloons and Cards' teams are flying (Sharks and Avs) Pittsburgh are dominating in the "Metro" league. (Queen C's team) The Sens need to get a move on for Mickey 'O' ... but overall, not a bad result (so far) for the regular posters on this thread 'GTG'! Your blokes are in Vancouver tomorrow (our time) As always, may the better team win! (as long as it's the Canucks )

Agree with your side To have a chance of winning the first Test, we're probably going to need England to be off their game a bit unless ... the batting clicks and the bowling the same. If Harris and Clarke have big games, we've got a much better chance. I wonder if Clarke might drop down to no.5 as you've suggested? Big ask for Smith but maybe Bailey could bat at no.4. Lyon deserves a decent go at it after his last performance (I hope they don't discard him again after only one Test) I can see a vastly different line-up by the time we revisit England in 2015 (that'll come up quick!) It's obviously a team for "Right now" but because it's the biggest series, that stands to reason.

What a way to lose a game Strafford, you must be annoyed at losing that game with a walk off safety. It was a reasonably entertaining game all the same with a couple of exciting TD's. Wasn't sure on the rules - is there a 2nd overtime these days? The game had close finish written all over it but maybe the Bengals should have attempted that 57 yard field goal. Nugent had nailed a 54 yard field goal a little earlier. Hope the news on Atkins isn't too bad.

I haven't seen Bailey's efforts in the ODI's but I've heard about them. Sounds like he's a shoo-in to bat at no.6 in Brisbane. ... re Clarke - that troublesome back injury is not going away in a hurry. It must be debilitating for the bloke and a constant frustration. I'm surprised it doesn't flare up during the Test matches - maybe it does and we just don't hear about it. We desperately need him to be healthy for this Ashes series so fingers crossed. I'm assuming Pattinson, Starc and Cummins won't be available for the summer and is it true that Mitch Johnson could play in the opening Test? Nice to see Ahmed get some wickets but it could be assumed that Lyon will start off (at least for the first couple of Tests) Is Warner in the mix for the 1st Test? You'd reckon that Rogers, Watson, Clarke (if fit) and Smith will start.

TV games ... 7 games this week! Friday 11.25am Cincinnati at Miami (OneHD & ESPN) Monday 5.00am New Orleans at NY Jets (Fox2) 5.00am Kansas City at Buffalo (OneHD) 8.25am Baltimore at Cleveland (Fox2) 8.25am Pittsburgh at New England (OneHD) 12.30pm Indianapolis at Houston (OneHD & ESPN) Tuesday 12.30pm Chicago at Green Bay (ESPN) All the week 9 games Tips ... New Orleans Baltimore Indianapolis

Opening games today and the Lakers beat the Clippers without Kobe. For a lot of years that wouldn't have been a story but big things have been predicted for the Clippers this year whilst the Lakers have been marked down in the preseason predictions. Miami did it reasonably easy over the Bulls at home (Chicago did get within 8 points late in the 4th quarter) Derrick Rose returned with 12 points in 34 minutes. ... Lakers/Clippers highlights

Yep, you're right. From Favre to Rodgers is an almost perfect changeover. Favre the gunslinger whilst Aaron is a bit like Brady (Tom is the best I've seen in recent years - obviously a number of past greats are in that League as well) Peyton is just a marvel. What if the Saints go all the way? They're really capable and they've only lost one game. Brees would have to be a big player if that happened and he then might have to be viewed as a great (?) It's fascinating seeing Eli and Big Ben in struggling sides. A pair of Superbowls each and when either of them are on their games, they are very very good. There's a stack of good QB's in the League right now. Anyway ... here's the 'New York Daily News' power rankings for this week ... ... NFL Power Rankings: Detroit Lions claw their way into the Top 10; NY Jets tumble ... again

Gutsy effort by the Rams - thought they were going to get that TD but not to be. A Rams win would have helped a few other teams in the conference (especially San Francisco) Good tight game though and if that Rams 50 yard field goal attempt was successful, we might be re-evaluating the Seahawks going forward. (they've got Tampa at home next week so we can mark them down as 8-1 already!) Points table in the comp ... 4 - cowboy from hell 2 - Strafford, Macca 1 - pantaloons 0 - Gorgoroth, DemonDave, 45HG, Norm Smith's Curse, bananas, Demon Land 7 2 points on offer for week 9 (the 2nd bonus round) ... it's a tough week to find 3 definite road winners though ... week 9 games The BS Report (Cousin Sal not happy with his Cowboys - again)

Atlanta should be much better than what they're showing. Biggest disappointment of the season - they've gone backwards at a rate of knots. All teams have injuries and lose players in the off season but the good teams can still win despite all that. Ryan is a notch below the very best but I see your point. It's amazing to think that they were so close to making the Superbowl last season. The teams in the NFC East might still remain dangerous even though they're not performing well (right now) The Giants have been known to get on a roll and Dallas are capable of winning any game on their day. Whoever wins that division might still be hard to beat in the playoffs (and they'll get a home final first up) It's quite conceivably that either San Francisco or Seattle will be at Dallas in week 1 of the playoffs. (the 4 seed plays the 5 seed) The NFL playoff system has it's quirks. Winning your division has some huge advantages ... it was a 7/9 Seattle who hosted the 11/5 Saints in the 2010 post season wild-card game. Fairly sure the Seahawks won that game as well. The 12th man might have helped! For mine, Seattle are the team to beat in our conference - if they win your division they could get home field advantage all the way to the Superbowl. Your game against them in 5 weeks or so could have a lot riding on it. Agree with you re Carolina. I think they can get to 9/7 and that might be enough. Detroit are dangerous whilst the Packers have some tough games coming up. Chicago losing Cutler for a few weeks could hurt them. Even so, there's still a lot to play out.

And hopefully we're already planning our succession plan - Roos style I'm absolutely convinced that if you've got an A grade QB, you can't help but get into contention. Not many top QB's switch camps though so you nearly always need to draft one. Rodgers went at pick 36 from memory and Wilson 73 (?) And we all know the Brady story hey! The Packers are developing a good all round game (Lacy and Starks were good again today) Rodgers is throwing a lot less and thus his sacks are way down (50+ last season) Great win by your blokes though - a statement game? Not a lot of upsets but the Detroit/Dallas game had an amazing finish. Arizona might be a team to watch and the NFC East is up for grabs - the Giants are only 2 games back! The Saints would have their eye on the 1 or 2 seed. They're at Seattle in a little over a month (that's a MNF game) The juggernaut otherwise known as the Kansas City Chiefs just keep marching along. A road tip for next week? And are Seattle going to get up for a few of us tomorrow? A point is like a gold ingot! Wasn't televised. The games played in London haven't exactly been top billing but that hasn't stopped them being well attended. I read somewhere that the other game played there a few weeks ago was sold out (Pittsburgh/Minnesota) Your 49ers are 'travelling' quite nicely though. 6 and 2 but with a few tough games coming up in the next month or so (@ New Orleans, @ Washington and then 2 weeks after that you host Seattle) Most of your rivals have similar schedules though.

I'm with you on preferring the NFL but I know we could all enjoy AFL so much more if our own team was up there again. The footy club needs to learn how to win again. Winning cures just about everything. My main hope is that Roos, PJ and Bartlett set us up for the future (and no more bottoming out again please) Used to watch 5 or 6 whole games of NFL but I'm down to 3 or 4 now (all on delay so as to FF through the numerous adverts and breaks in play) Avoiding the results is an artform though - I go to extraordinary lengths!

Yeah, over the years and by wading through all the various forms of media on the NFL, you learn what to discard and what to look out for. I must say I still prefer to just gain an overview of what's going on so my standards aren't as high as others. The technicalities of the sport I find to be a bit too daunting. I enjoy reading those who contribute that sort of stuff on this thread though. Just discovered MMQB and TMQ (thanks to 'tm' and 't_u') so looking forward to doing a fair bit more reading on the sport. I think what the Americans have over our sports journalism is quantity (which makes it just a matter of finding the quality) For instance, there's very few writers on the AFL that I'll seek out. Connolly is good and obviously Flanagan can be exceptional. There's one or 2 others but 'land provides quite a bit of information really! Many of our journo's have a need to make the story about themselves. The cricket writers are often in the same boat. We just need to find out what is going on without any lies, embellishment or bias. That's a big ask these days! And yeah, as you can tell, I'm an unabashed Brett Favre fan!

Once again, the TV games ... Monday 4.00am Buffalo at New Orleans (OneHD) 7.05am NY Jets at Cincinnati (Fox1) 7.25am Washington at Denver (OneHD) 11.30am Green Bay at Minnesota (OneHD & ESPN) Tuesday 11.30am Seattle at St. Louis (ESPN) ... all the other week 8 games

I guess we're at least trying to learn from the best (we need to try a lot harder!) Anyway, for those who are interested, here's Bill Simmons' latest column from 'Grantland' ... 'Don't Call It a Comeback' Also, 'NFL Kickoff' is an excellent preview show ... Trey Wingo, Mark Schlereth and (often) Tedy Bruschi go through all the upcoming games (shown at around about 5pm, Saturdays on ESPN (our time) From Bill's column ...

Tony Kornheiser doesn't like it because it reminds him of Mel Gibson! (Tony is a Washington fan and has a radio show based from the City)

Favre specifically talks about his memory loss being caused by receiving big hits during his career. Not even a hint that he was an absent father. From what I know about Favre he could never be accused of being an absent father. Quite the contrary in fact. Brett makes mention of only one particular year when his daughter played soccer. His daughter also played multiple years at other sports. The headline is quite misleading (as is the story in all honesty) I get that people got a bit frustrated by Favre's retirement/comeback stuff but seriously, this story and the reaction to it is way over the top. He may indeed have some ongoing issues health wise but hopefully only in relation to his joints etc (which he could be able to recover from with rest, time and the right treatment) Favre absorbed an enormous amount of punishment in one of his last games - the 2010 NFC Championship game against the Saints (classed as the 2009 post season) He took a lot of late hits that day and he'd already played out nearly his entire career. Gutsy performance and I had nothing but admiration for the bloke for continuing to get up (even though he was at the Vikes!) The following is another classic example of our how a headline can be so misleading ... 'I can't remember my daughter's childhood' NFL legend Brett Favre reveals memory loss caused by football career.

This, from Sports Illustrated's 'MMQB'* ... ... Where the Game is Headed

That could work. However, the AFL aren't interested. They are more interested in being a large corporation that makes lots of money. As custodians of the sport, they fail in my book. It's all about the dollars and maximising crowd numbers and TV viewers - that's their main aim. Hogan will have to run up and down the ground all day - that's a given.