Assessments of Football Talent

Overestimated (At this point)?

Click here to determine whether you agree that this guy still has anything left in the tank. He's had a great career, but he's far past his prime and looking for a team that can give him more playing time. His team has been playing terribly, he's not starting, and he publicly fretted about his personal stats while his team, two years removed from a Super Bowl performance, is foundering. Does he deserve another chance for the spotlight? Or has he had his (extremely great) run and should he hang 'em up, leaving the cleats at the 50-yard line after his final game? Will someone take a chance on him? How about the Ravens, which already have offered a final landing spot to Neon Deion? If Neon Deion got another chance after being out of football (other than talking about it) for three years, does this guy deserve one more hurrah on the playing field?

Mis-estimated (Also at this point)?

Click here for the report from the planet that is the BCS to see whether or not you agree with the first BCS Rankings, and click here for the numbers. You may recall after last season the BCS put out this great pronouncement that they were tweaking their system to ensure that what happened last season wouldn't happen again this season. My blogging yesterday was prescient, as I had foreseen that if there were more than two undefeated teams from major conferences, controversies would swirl. Little did I know that the controversy would start so soon, as, lo and behold, the top two teams in the BCS right now are not USC and Oklahoma. Go figure. Playoffs, please!

Underestimated?

But not by much. Most people thought this guy would be an elite player. They just didn't think that he'd be an elite player this soon. But he was heroic yesterday, and pretty soon the guy he replaced will become the answer to a trivia question. If he isn't already. Read here about yesterday's exploits.

Kissing Goodbye to the Ultimate Estimator?

You'd never believe it to be the case, but the talent scout, the prognosticator, the guy who you probably have a hard time believing makes a living at what he does, well, a serious part of his gig may disappear, at least on the day you're used to seeing him. No real word as to why, whether it's because he's not a trained journalist, he's not a former jock, he's been around too long (like your parents' ultrasuede living room set that you never were allowed to sit on as a kid), just that it might be a done deal. I still have a hard time believing it, but the guess is that he'll end up somewhere.

Needs to Report Precisely and Not Just Give Estimates. . .

They need a real one and not one of these to keep time at Texas Stadium. Not that there's anything wrong with the latter, but a real clock that times sporting events comes with a homer-proof switch that prevents a timekeeper from hitting the button too quickly to stop play while the home team is driving. Solution: Import the time keeper from another city, and have all stadiums use the same clock software or system so that you don't need a local guy to run the clock. But had the home team won the game yesterday on the last play, it would have been an absolute disgrace. I've tried hard to find a link, but ESPN TV showed clearly that the clock should have elapsed on what proved to be the second-to-last play of the Cowboys-Steelers game. Which meant that Vinnie Testaverde shouldn't have had the chance to throw his Hail Mary pass at the end of the game. The NFL should look into this; it was awful. Thankfully, the football gods smiled down on the visiting team in Dallas yesterday, showing everyone that while Texas hospitality may not be what it's cracked up to be, the Pittsburgh Steelers just might be.