JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
Have an hour or so to kill, so I thought I’d sit here at the keyboard and see what comes out:
MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE: Just do it Ephrata – hire Jim Cantafio as your next head football coach. He’s one of the finalists you’re mulling over as I sit here and type this. I know he has some baggage, but he’s a heckuva coach, a heckuva teacher, and he would give your football program a major kick in the pants. He’d even take the job knowing that there isn’t a teaching job to go along with it. So just do it.
MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE, PART TWO: Just do it Millersville – hire a Millersville guy to become your next head football coach. I said it before and I’ll say it again: Bob Forgrave, Jim Shiffer and Ron Rankin should be at the top of your list. Call those guys first. You need to bring back Marauder Pride, and I think the best way to do that is to hire a guy who was in the trenches with the guy who started that slogan – Gene Carpenter.
NICE PICK, REINHART: So much for my Super Bowl prediction of New England vs. Tampa Bay, eh?
Hey, the Buccaneers sure looked great on their first drive. Then Eli Manning started playing like his big brother and the Giants rolled.
If you’ll allow me a do-over, my updated Super Bowl pick will be New England vs. Seattle.
What? You thought I was going to change the New England pick?
Dallas is the popular pick, but Romo (thumb) and T.O. (ankle) are banged up. I’m sniffing upset here somewhere in the next two weeks. But I do like that Pepsi commercial with Jerry Jones and the offensive coordinator falling asleep in the booth. Funny stuff.
PHILLIES: For the love of God, ransack your farm system, come up with a couple of guys, and trade them (immediately) to Texas for 3B Hank Blalock. Yeah, I know Blalock gets hurt a lot. But the Phillies MUST get a new 3B. I can’t stand another summer of Wes Helms popping out to short and the streaky Greg Dobbs. Just. Do. It. Now.
SIXERS: I actually watched about 2 minutes of the Sixers-Nuggets game on Sunday night (that’s a new record, considering I hadn’t watched a single NBA game from start to finish since the Chicago-Utah game when Jordan hit the shot at the buzzer in like, what, 1997?). I didn’t recognize a single player on the Sixers. Not one. I couldn’t even pick out Iguadala (I’m sure I spelled that wrong). I used to eat, sleep and drink the NBA when I was a kid. I could name every player on every team, and tell you which college he went to and what uniform number he wears. Honest. I think I heard that the Celtics are off to a hot start, and that they acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the off-season. None of this really matters anyway, because the Spurs are going to win it all.
MORE NBA THOUGHTS: I think I figured out why I dislike the NBA so much. Back in the day, the league marketed teams. Hey, watch the Pistons and the Bulls on Sunday. Or watch the Lakers and Celtics on Saturday. Today, it’s all about the players. Hey, watch LeBron and the Cavaliers take on Wade and the Heat on Sunday. Can’t believe that was ABC’s big Christmas game: Cavs vs. Heat. Brutal, brutal game. Heat were in dead last place and Cleveland was like a game over .500. But it wasn’t about Cleveland vs. Miami. It was about LeBron vs. Wade. And that’s sad. Watch the commercials on ESPN or TNT: It’s always Nash and the Suns take on Dirk and Mavericks, or Kobe and the Lakers take on KG and the Celtics. Um, no thanks. I’ll pass.
EAGLES: If you’re a regular on this page, you know how much I dislike the Eagles. It totally makes my weekend when they lose, and they did plenty of that this season, which made me happy as a clam. The whole regime needs to go, starting with Reid and that homer radio announcer, although I do like Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook. Can’t believe Iggles fans don’t like McNabb. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the best three or four QBs in the league. So chill, people.
FLYERS: Is there still an NHL team in Philly? Quick: Name 3 players on the Flyers. And here’s your bonus question: Who is the Flyers coach?
NICE START: Glad to see E-town College men get off to a 10-0 start before falling over the weekend. Always enjoy trips to Thompson Gym, and Blue Jays’ coach Bob Schlosser is terrific. Some local flavor on that team, too. Check out the Jays when you can.
NFL PICKS: AFC – Colts OVER Chargers, Patriots OVER Jaguars. NFC – Seattle OVER Green Bay (sorry, Favre fans), Cowboys OVER Giants. Then Patriots OVER Colts and Seattle OVER Dallas. Then Patriots OVER Seattle. Book it. Or not.
BOWL FEVER: Are those college bowl games over yet? Sheesh. What a complete and total waste of time those are (should a 6-6 team be rewarded with a bowl trip?). How can you have teams sit around and not play for a month? I never understood that. My bowl predictions were posted somewhere on this page. Perhaps I’ll update them and pass them along after LSU beats Ohio State in the BCS title game.
POLLS: I don’t have an Associated Press vote, but if I did, regardless of who wins the LSU-Ohio State game, I’d vote for USC. Trojans are the best team in the country – regardless of win-loss records. Throw that junk out the window. USC would beat anybody on any field.
Gotta go. Keep checking back for plenty of L-L League girls’ basketball coverage.
