Sporting Rants & Raves: November 21, 2009

Happy 89th birthday to Mr. Stan Musial.

Happy 43rd birthday to Mr. Troy Aikman.

Happy 40th birthday to Mr. Ken Griffey, Jr.

Happy 38th birthday to Mr. Michael Strahan.

A plethora of talent born on this day, it seems...

Trivia of the Week
Musial and Griffey are 2 of 10 outfielders named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. How many of the remaining 8 can you name?

Trivia of the Week 2
Strahan sacked Aikman for the first time on 12/24/1994. How many more times did Strahan sack Aikman in his career?

Answers to November 14's Trivia of the Week
Kyle Orton is one of only three Purdue quarterbacks to start at least three consecutive bowl games. Name the well known present NFL starter - and Purdue alum - who accomplished this feat. Drew Brees
Extra Credit: Name the other lesser known QB to do so. (Hint: He played in only 40 games in an NFL career that spanned 11 years between 1981-1992.) Mark Herrmann

Dixon’s 4-yard TD gives UConn 33-30 win over ND
Other than the NFL Picks, this is the only headline I will include. The UCONN Huskies finally won one of those close games. And some of you might say that it just signals how bad Weis and the Irish are. But I think some credit must be given to this Huskies team. Remarkable. And imagine where they could be...

TD's NFL Picks - Week 11
Quick hits in this rather important week...

Pittsburgh @ Kansas City
Unless the Steelers don't show up - even with Polamalu out - Kansas City will have a long day. TD chooses: Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle @ Minnesota
Looking at team stat leaders, I see Favre has 600+ more yards than Hasselbeck, Rice has 200+ more yards than Housh, and Peterson has 500+ more yards than Jones (who isn't playing). Umm yeah. TD chooses: Minnesota Vikings

Washington @ Dallas
Honestly, I can't help but choose Dallas with it being at home and with them being in first place. But apart from those rather useless indicators, I got nothing for you. It's a rivalry, and it often lives up to the billing. TD chooses: Dallas Cowboys

San Francisco @ Green Bay
I was watching the 1/3/1999 Wild Card game between the 49ers and Packers on the NFL Network earlier. Young v. Favre. Garrison Hearst and Dorsey Levens. Well, tomorrow, we'll see Smith v. Rodgers. Gore and Grant. Both teams are underachieving this year. Only one game separates them. TD chooses: Green Bay Packers

Buffalo @ Jacksonville
Jacksonville is showing life. And grit. But I wouldn't want to be the head coach this week trying to plan for Buffalo. Why? Because I always have concerns when there's as significant a change on an opposing team as there was in Buffalo this past week, i.e. a new head coach. Still, TD chooses: Jacksonville Jaguars

Cleveland @ Detroit
TD chooses to ignore this ridiculous semi-professional game. Okay, fine, TD chooses: Detroit Lions

Indianapolis @ Baltimore
Short weeks for Indy and Baltimore. Not as short for Indy as for Baltimore, but given the game they had to play, I'd say they needed that extra day. This game? Well, the Ravens D has to show up or else no dice. I'm thinking no dice. TD chooses: Indianapolis Colts

Atlanta @ New York Giants
At 5-4 each team needs a win. Atlanta can only hope to stay afloat for the Wild Card. But the Jints still have that chance to win the division. God, I hope they figured something out on their bye. Problem is, they don't generally play well coming out of their bye. Nevertheless, TD chooses: New York Football Giants

New Orleans @ Tampa Bay
Division rivals? Yep. The Saints are missing Bush? Yep. New QB in Tampa not looking bad? Yep. You still think the Saints will win? Yep. TD chooses: New Orleans Saints

Arizona @ St. Louis
The Rams have shown some life recently. They could pull off the upset. And any team can win on any day given the right conditions. TD chooses: Arizona Cardinals

New York Jets @ New England
After last week, the Pats want a win. And Belichick will be forcing the issue. The Jets, meanwhile, can't seem to right the ship. Rex Ryan's asking everyone from his mother to Bill Parcells for some help. TD chooses: New England Patriots

Cincinnati @ Oakland
Before the season, I chose Oakland to win this one. Nope, I didn't have any confidence in the Bagels either. And there's still something about them that just doesn't feel quite right. Still, I can't find anything about Oakland that doesn't feel quite wrong at the moment, so TD chooses: Cincinnati Bengals

Philadelphia @ Chicago
I had Philly at 13-3 for this season. And Chicago at 14-2. If that were true up to this point, this could be a blockbuster game. Instead, it's an important game to see who can be in the Wild Card hunt. TD chooses: Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee @ Houston
Tennessee now has 3 wins in their last 3 games. Houston is 3-1 in their last 4 games with their only loss coming to the Colts before the bye. Division rivals. Oilers and Texans duking it out. Vince Young against Matt Schaub. Now, I'm just stalling to try to make up my mind. I did pick Houston prior to the season. It must be a sign. TD chooses: Houston Texans

Game of the Week
San Diego @ Denver
I don't know if this will actually be a good game. In fact, it has all the makings of a bad one. But it has to be the game of the week given what's on the line for each team. Denver's on the way down at 6-3. San Diego's on the way up with the same record. And I just don't see that changing. TD chooses: San Diego Chargers

There you have it sports fans. An abbreviated version for you. Until next I write, happy sporting...