It's Friday....

We have made it to Friday, a look at what's up....

- The Falcons got a solid hold on a playoff spot in the NFL with a dominating 41-14 win over the Jaguars Thursday night. One player that was invisible most of the season but has come alive in recent weeks is Roddy White. White had 10 catches and two touchdowns in the win as Atlanta improved to 9-5. I think that win clinched Atlanta's ticket to the playoffs. The Bears and Lions aren't going to catch them now.
- The Penn State story continues today as former athletic director Tim Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz are in court to fight perjury charges. A sad state of affairs in Happy Valley. Let's just hope it all gets figured out sooner than later.
- There are reports this morning that the Blue Jays made a bid of over $40 million on Yu Darvish and that was probably enough to win the bidding for the Japanese star pitcher. That would be a tall task for any AL East team to face Darvish and the 6'5" pitcher wouldn't even have to move to the United States.
- An interesting storyline is developing in Indianapolis with the Colts and Peyton Manning. Indy is assured of the No. 1 pick in the 2012 Draft and there is no doubt they will take Stanford QB Andrew Luck. Where does that leave Manning though? Does he stay and mentor the new kid? Does he ask for a trade to clear the path for Luck? I'm thinking Manning wants nothing to do with having a possible star on the roster with him and will ask out.
- It's a light morning so let's discuss four high school students being suspended for doing Tim Tebow's famous pose at school. If the kids are trying to be like Tebow, let them. It could be a lot worse.
- Last, I would like to talk about the new NFL TV deals a bit...I think we are heading towards Thursday Night games each week of the season for one and wouldn't be surprised if a weekly Saturday game is added. Saturday games showed up a lot on schedules in recent years in the final weeks of the season when college football was done. Why not do it again? Also, I like the switches possible to make the best games to another network if blocked by another great game. More viewers is more money for the NFL. Finally, all three Thanksgiving games on where people can watch them. The NFL can now control the whole holiday, a win-win for everyone.

That's the story for now, trivia later and more sports thoughts tonight....

Sports in my mind

- Is Arizona starting a new trend by posting who they hire on Twitter? The Wildcats announced the hiring of Rich Rodriguez on their Twitter account. I know the internet is big but come on now...
- Interesting move by the Rangers to sign Joe Nathan. This will move Neftali Feliz to the starting rotation. Feliz I don't believe will ever recover from his one strike away from the title blowup in the World Series. It is best to move him now, maybe he can get his head back on straight.
- So Justin Verlander is named the AL MVP along with the Cy Young, first time in a long time for that honor. Did he deserve it? Yes and no. There is an award for pitchers in the Cy Young, the MVP should be for position players. Was it a great year for him, no doubt so congrats on the award big guy. You made Detroit proud.
- Also, make sure those fantasy lineups are set before you sit down to eat Thursday....last weeks of the regular season for most and needing a win is always key.

Injure, Injure

Sounds like another week of NFL injuries...if you were unlucky enough to have Fred Jackson, Adrian Peterson and Matt Hasselbeck all in your fantasy lineup, it was not your day. Peterson appears to be the most serious and as of this writing, the MRI was negative on his ankle. Jackson left with a leg injury while Hasselbeck departing with an elbow injury.

Jay Cutler broke his thumb on his throwing hand and reports say he will miss 6-8 weeks. This dooms the Bears and their chances to do much the rest of the season. While Chicago is 7-3 now, 9-7 seems very likely now with Caleb Hanie at the controls.

New BCS Standings are out and the SEC has the top 3 teams with LSU, Alabama and Arkansas in that order. You got LSU-Arkansas Friday afternoon to decide a WHOLE lot with this along with the Iron Bowl Saturday.

It's Thanksgiving week which means live sports on each day this week, starting Monday with the Maui Invitational. Enjoy this week, the more sports the better....don't forget family though.