1)  The best NFL game I've ever seen.  What didn't Denver v. Baltimore have?  What was missing?  Even if you had no dog in the fight, even if you had Saturday night plans tugging you out the door, you couldn't help but be sucked in by the Ravens' stirring double-OT win over the Broncos.  It was a game that had huge plays by both teams, extraordinarily shaky coaching, questionable officiating, and a long list of both heroes and goats. 

Hosting a talk show in Denver has to be fun today, sorting through the wreckage that included John Fox's scared tactics, Peyton Manning's brutal decision-making, unforgivably bad defense, and a window for winning that isn't exactly wide open for the Broncos.

And give it up, even if begrudgingly, to the Ravens.  Left for dead five weeks ago, they throttled the Giants, hammered the Colts, and came from behind four times to beat the NFL's hottest team in their own building, overcoming two special teams turnovers, Peyton's presence, the home crowd, and the cold to advance to the AFC Championship Game, where they have more than a puncher's chance against the Patriots.

2)  Is coaching in the NFL really that difficult?  This year's playoffs have not been a clinic in effective coaching decisions.  There was Marvin Lewis and Gary Kubiak matching "wits" last week.  Saturday, we had the ultra-conservative philosophies of John Fox in Denver, electing to not try to score at the end of each half, and very uninspired playcalling in OT.  Yesterday, we had the Pete Carroll/Mike Smith mental chess match, with the Seahawks outsmarting themselves on consecutive short-yardage situations, handing the ball to their fullback instead of Marshawn Lynch and then managing the clock near the end of the first half about poorly as a team can.

Not to be outdone, we had Atlanta's lax defense in the second half, and Smith's decision to have his kicker dribble the ball to barely outside of Seattle's field goal range, giving the Seahawks at least a desperation attempt to win at the gun (which they don't use anymore to signal the expiration of the game clock). 

I always thought coaching in the NFL was difficult.  The more I watch the NFL, however, I've become less convinced that it's as difficult as these guys make it out to be.

3)  Rajon Rondo, the Wildcat, and a This is SportsCenter ad.

...which takes us to the UK Wildcats.  We're in the dog days, way too far removed from the beginning of the season, but with the end of the season still too deep into the future.  It's neither early or late, and I watched a Kentucky team that failed often during the dog days two years ago end up in the Final Four.

Still though, if the program's strategy is going to be to haul in these massive recruiting classes, have player and program use each other for a year, then move on, are seasons like this where the chemistry is so disjointed for so long going to be regular occurrences?  And as much credit as John Calipari deserves for how effectively last year's team was molded into a champion, doesn't he deserve at least a little criticism for how slowly this team is coming around?  And is it fair to wonder if it ever will?

4)  UC beat Rutgers.  Like most of the women I dated in college, not pretty, but effective.  The Bearcats got back to their blueprint: winning with defense and taking care of the ball.  The offensive contributions from Jermaine Sanders on Saturday night were welcome, but the best player on the floor was Cashmere Wright, a guy who's going to have to shoulder a huge load these next eight weeks if the Cats are going to make any kind of run. 

Also, Rutgers coach Mike Rice showed up dressed like my high school shop teacher.

5) Tommy Tuberville not making friends with the guy who coaches Masillon.  Players and recruits are the collateral damage in college football's broken system of constant coaching changes.  Is a coach supposed to honor a commitment to a player he doesn't want or who doesn't fit a program?  No.  Is a high school coach who claims that a college is banned from his campus doing his players a large disservice?  Yes.

But Wait, There's More....

-Like Brian Billick.

I can point out Billick's mistake because I, of course, never make any.

-Peyton Manning's legacy.  In Indy, it's etched in stone.  He won a Super Bowl, put up huge numbers, revived the franchise and made them nationally relevant, turning them into one of the marquee organizations in sports.  He's as responsible for their new stadium and the Super Bowl it hosted as anyone.  What Peyton did in Indianapolis was about more than winning championships.

In Denver, he's being asked to do none of that.  His job as a Bronco is to win Super Bowls, and nothing else.  The franchise is stable, the stadium still relatively new, and the fan base is intact.  The Peyton Manning era in Denver is only a success if he delivers a Super Bowl, and a year in, he's delivered little more than a few Papa John's franchises and some regular season wins.  His job in Indy became about more than winning a title, even though he did.  He won't be a Bronco long enough to have the long-lasting community impact he did in Indy, making anything short of a championship as much a failure as most of what comes out of your average Papa John's oven.

-Brian Kelly says no to the Eagles.  No chance we'll ever revisit the topic of BK going to the NFL.*  I'm sure this book is completely closed*

-Morgan Freeman. Morgan Freeman. Morgan Freeman.

Morgan Freeman.

-Your $1000 halfcourt miss of the year.....

-Catch the radio show this afternoon on ESPN1530.  The NFL Playoffs will likely come up.  Nike has a new golf commercial. It's clever, but let's be real, Bird v. Jordan > Tiger v. Rory.  Though Michael Jordan's choice of attire will forever be questionable.