Macca

Best team - there's not a standout for mine . Early on I thought the 49ers , then the Giants or Houston (until that poor effort vs the Packers) . Any number of teams can win the whole thing . Maybe Houston if I had to pick one . Denver are the one to watch and Atlanta could end up with the best record . It's very open . Worst team - Jacksonville then Cleveland Biggest surprise - probably Indi, especially if they make the playoffs . Denver and Seattle have done better than I thought as well . There's been a few surprise disappointments including the Eagles , Carolina and KC . N.B - For those of you with ESPN , an excellent '30 for 30' doco called 'Broke' is on Sunday evening at 9pm . Well worth a look even if you have to source it . 'Youtube' have still got it up .

Certainly a few upsets - what's happened to Eli and the Giants ? Is it a delayed hangover ? 9 wins could end up winning that division - maybe 8 ! Dallas will probably shoot themselves in the foot though - I can see a couple of 'Weird' losses happening to them . The Saints are back with a bit of a show and Seattle are looming large . Tampa and Indi keep winning and Denver could end up with a high seed the way they're travelling . As for the NFC North - it'll probably go down to the wire as many are predicting . Those two Packers / Vikings games will probably hold the key . Bit worried about 'AP' . Who's gonna stop him ? The man is on fire ! Bit odd seeing a tie . Suppose for the 49ers , the tie creates a degree of separation with other playoff contenders - unless there's another tie or 2 ! And how do you figure out the Titans ? A punters nightmare that team ...

Latin jazz with Sergio Mendes and Brazil 66 ... Macca's jazz 5.0 ...

Needless to say , 'cfh' and myself will be hoping for a Texans win ! However , with the improved form of the Colts , Houston won't want to drop too many games . Here's Bill Simmons weekly column and I've bumped tomorrow's 'TV' games and schedule ... http://www.grantland...king-mike-brown MON, NOV 12 5.00 AM Atlanta (8-0) at New Orleans (3-5) Fox3 5.00 AM Oakland (3-5) at Baltimore (6-2) OneHD 8.25 AM St. Louis (3-5) at San Francisco (6-2) Fox3 8.25 AM Dallas(3-5) at Philadelphia (3-5) OneHD 12.20 PM Houston(7-1) at Chicago(7-1) OneHD & ESPN TUE, NOV 13 12.30 PM Kansas City (1-7) at Pittsburgh (5-3) ESPN For all other games ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule#10

New from 'Muse' Macca 11.0

Now it starts to make more sense . Didn't Phil Jackson have some health issues ? ... http://espn.go.com/l...urn-sources-say

Big news out of LA ... Nash being out injured didn't seem to make any difference to this decision ... http://espn.go.com/l...oach-mike-brown http://espn.go.com/n...ke-brown-firing

Colts get 4 more wins and they make the playoffs you'd reckon . Here's their schedule ... Indianapolis . Interesting that they play the Texans in 2 of their last 3 games . Houston may well have gotten themselves into a position where they can rest players in Week 17 (when they're at Indi !) . Watched a bit of the Saints/Eagles game . Yeah Vick was under enormous pressure . Brees was fairly well protected and ended the night with a QB rating of 128.2 with 2 TD's . SNF should be a beauty this week with Houston at Chicago .

Games on the box this week ... FRI, NOV 9 12.20 PM Indianapolis 27, Jacksonville 10 OneHD & ESPN MON, NOV 12 5.00 AM Atlanta (8-0) at New Orleans (3-5) Fox3 5.00 AM Oakland (3-5) at Baltimore (6-2) OneHD 8.25 AM St. Louis (3-5) at San Francisco (6-2) Fox3 8.25 AM Dallas(3-5) at Philadelphia (3-5) OneHD 12.20 PM Houston(7-1) at Chicago(7-1) OneHD & ESPN TUE, NOV 13 12.30 PM Kansas City (1-7) at Pittsburgh (5-3) ESPN For all other games ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule#10

Well here's a new show for all true 'Demons' ! A supernatural drama set in a grand building in NYC . Terry O'Quinn from the show 'Lost' stars ... here's the IMDb link ... 666 Park Avenue

'Badfinger' with 'No Matter What' ... Macca's 70's 11.0

Bill Simmon's column this week focuses on Michael Vick ...scroll down (just over half way) on this link for his tips ... http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8583255/the-polarizing-michael-vick Tomorrow's TV games ... 5.00 AM Arizona (4-4) at Green Bay (5-3) Fox2 5.00 AM Chicago (6-1) at Tennessee (3-5) OneHD 8.15 AM Minnesota (5-3) at Seattle (4-4) Fox2 8.25 AM Pittsburgh (4-3) at NY Giants (6-2) OneHD 12.15 PM Dallas (3-4) at Atlanta (7-0) OneHD & ESPN TUE, NOV 6 12.30 PM Philadelphia (3-4) at New Orleans (2-5) ESPN For all other matches ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule#9

Here's an interesting ESPN 'blog' about tanking in the NBA ... it focuses on 6 teams in 6 different seasons ... http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/40780/when-tankers-tell-the-truth

NBA is back ! Managed to listen to a fair bit of today's game between last years Western conference Semi-finalists - OKC and the Spurs... Here's a few highlights ... which may only be up for a few hours ... http://www.nba.com/

Good story and one that highlights how quickly a team can rise . Good drafting and getting very good free agents is the key hey ! Who's to say the Colts don't rise again quickly with Andrew Luck . They're a sneaky chance to get a wild-card in the AFC . The thing that impresses me with Luck is how he plays well in the 'Big' moments . I've probably mozzed him now ps - hopefully your Lakers can get a win for you tomorrow (it's on ESPN) Those Chiefs can't get it done - what the hell's happened ?

Yeah it most probably happens but it's difficult to pin down . The Colts could have possibly won an extra game or 2 last season but because they'd lost Peyton through injury they had an easy out . Andrew Luck was the prize on offer of course . And yeah , those 49ers are doing well . You've got a few testing games to come (vs Chicago , @ New England and @ Seattle) but you should win your division . I reckon the NFL would prefer to do Friday or Saturday games but fairly sure that College has both those days 'Protected' (though Saturday night NFL games have in the past been on in late December) I've heard a bit of talk about Tuesday night games but the Thursday night games probably gets a big TV audience so they'll stay . Money talks . I see the Vikes are on the tele again 'cfh' . Miracles do happen ! Tough one at Seattle though - should be close . Ha ha ! It seems that 'Tanking' is sort of accepted in the States . Obviously they've had a draft a lot longer than us but it seems they're years ahead of us with regards the public acceptance of tanking . Teams are probably way more adept at 'Disguising' the practice as well . I've also heard that despite having a lottery system in the NBA, it doesn't stop teams from tanking . In the States it seems tanking is not viewed as 'Throwing games' . It should be viewed the same way in Oz . Experimentation with player positions and roles , 'Resting' players , giving rookies game time experience , early surgeries etc etc has been going on in all sorts of sports way before we had such things as drafts . That practice was never called anything before the advent of 'Drafts' though do I seem to remember phrases such as "They're just playing out the season" . Now it's called tanking . Same difference in a lot of ways . The 'Caro's of this world wouldn't agree but they're often just muckrakers anyway

Games on the box this week ... FRI, NOV 2 11.20 AM Kansas City (1-6) at San Diego (3-4) OneHD & ESPN MON, NOV 5 5.00 AM Arizona (4-4) at Green Bay (5-3) Fox2 5.00 AM Chicago (6-1) at Tennessee (3-5) OneHD 8.15 AM Minnesota (5-3) at Seattle (4-4) Fox2 8.25 AM Pittsburgh (4-3) at NY Giants (6-2) OneHD 12.15 PM Dallas (3-4) at Atlanta (7-0) OneHD & ESPN TUE, NOV 6 12.30 PM Philadelphia (3-4) at New Orleans (2-5) ESPN For all other matches ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule#9

Tampa Bay played very well - surprised me . Thought you had 'em covered . Tomorrows games on TV ... MON, OCT 29 4.00 AM Atlanta (6-0) at Philadelphia (3-3) Fox2 4.00 AM Seattle (4-3) at Detroit (2-4) OneHD 7.25 AM NY Giants (5-2) at Dallas (3-3) OneHD 11.20 AM New Orleans (2-4) at Denver (3-3) OneHD & ESPN TUES, OCT 30 11.30 AM San Francisco (5-2) at Arizona (4-3) ESPN And for the other games ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule#8

Along the same lines, here's Ella (with a bit of help from Louis) . A classic from George and Ira Gershwin ... Macca's Jazz 4.9

Apparently each game held in the UK has sold out in rapid time . In 2008 there were 500,000 applications for tickets and they had to ballot them out in the end . Prices range from 45 - 100 pounds . Yeah , that Giants at Dallas game holds a lot of interest . Always a big clash between those 2 rivals . Atlanta at the Eagles will be interesting as well . Quite a few good games this week . Washington at Pittsburgh is another good match-up as well as MNF and SNF . And 'cfh' , your blokes are finally on the tele tomorrow ! On ESPN and not OneHD this week

Here's the TV games and Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal's podcast ... http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=8539013 Tomorrow ... 11.20 AM Tampa Bay (2-4) at Minnesota (5-2) ESPN MON, OCT 29 4.00 AM Atlanta (6-0) at Philadelphia (3-3) Fox2 4.00 AM Seattle (4-3) at Detroit (2-4) OneHD 7.25 AM NY Giants (5-2) at Dallas (3-3) OneHD 11.20 AM New Orleans (2-4) at Denver (3-3) OneHD & ESPN TUES, OCT 30 11.30 AM San Francisco (5-2) at Arizona (4-3) ESPN And for the other games ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule#8

Verlander may well pitch in games 1, 4 and 7 (or at least that is Justin's wish) . More likely he pitches in game's 1 and 5 . If his form holds up its Detroit in 7 for mine . ESPN radio are covering all the games for those without Foxtel . Depending on your type of mobile phone , ESPN radio is quite accessible ... http://espn.go.com/espnradio/

Ha ha ! Well done to you blokes all the same . Those Lions were somehow still in the game right to the end despite being woeful in the red zone . In all honesty the Bears should have put Detroit away by the end of the 3rd quarter . Cutler took a huge hit from Ndamukong Suh . He seemed to recover ok but he'll no doubt have a bit of 'General soreness' himself tomorrow . In the States, some are describing this 'Tackle' as some sort of 'WWE' move . Suh is just a beast of a man !

Confident, sort of . Bit concerned about the Bears - if they keep winning it might be out of your blokes and mine for a wild-card spot . Dare I say it , at Green Bay we're taking it "One week at a time" . Although It may well come down to the 2 games that we play each other (week's 13 and 17) . Btw , how'd ya pull up after yesterday's 'Footy Forum' games ? Good to see we got another overall victory !

I've still only seen edited highlights but from what I can gather, Rodgers had a huge game again . He's an immense player when on song and unfortunately for your blokes, he stepped it up again today . As you're no doubt aware , the Rams play New England next week at Wembley - another big game ! No real surprises today although the Jets and Redskins were both unlucky to lose . Houston made a statement and the Saints won again . With Brees at the helm they're capable of winning quite a few more games and will at least provide nuisance value . Their defence is woeful though and remains their achilles' heal . Need the Lions to win tomorrow :-) Edit : Just noticed that the Rams / Patriots game is on at Wembley Stadium (corrected post)