Is anyone interesting ever going to sign in Major League Baseball?

And what of this report that there are no takers for Francisco Rodriguez? That seems ridiculous, but if the Mets get him, they will be dangerous.

I would just like to see somebody sign a deal somewhere, besides Mike Koplove that is.

College football is just starting to get interesting.
As it stands right now, there are only four teams who can seriously entertain dreams of winning the BCS national title – Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida.
USC and Penn State needed upsets on Saturday to stay in the hunt, but there is almost no way for them to advance now.
The SEC winner will finish ahead of the Trojans no matter what, and even if Texas/Oklahoma is upset by Missouri somehow, the other one that stays home in the clubhouse will, too.
So, we’re down to football’s version of the Final Four, except only one half of it will play itself out, if that. Pundits keep saying Florida vs. Alabama is a quasi-national semifinal, but I still think it is possible that Texas and Oklahoma will have a rematch in the BCS title game.
If Alabama beats Florida, it’s simple – The Tide vs. the Big 12 champ.
If Florida wins, picking among the Gators, Longhorns and Sooners will be controversial.
Interestingly enough, though, Florida is No. 2 in the AP poll behind Alabama. If the Gators win next week, they will enter the bowl season at No. 1 in the AP rankings. If they are frozen out of the title game, they will likely face Boise State or Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. Florida could win that game and be crowned AP champions, while one of the Big 12 teams becomes BCS champion, and we are back to Split Champion Land.
The Sooners looked devastating on offense again last night, and Texas didn’t look bad either in routing Texas A&M. Florida crushed a good Florida State team by 30 in their house.
Picking between those three will not be easy if the two that get to play next week win their games. Texas would have the most to gripe about, as the Horns headed into this week No. 2 in the BCS and won their last game by 40. They could not only fall behind Oklahoma, but be jumped by Florida as well.
Other notes from this weekend:
* Forget Oregon State's missing running back - how do you let Oregon drop 65 on you in your house when you can make the Rose Bowl? It may be a while before the Beavers get anywhere near this opportunity again.
* Kansas beating Missouri will just drive up the point spread for the Big 12 title game. My guess is that Texas will be favored by 12 over Mizzou, with Oklahoma potentially being a two-touchdown favorite at least.
* Speaking of spreads Chris Fowler of ESPN said his sources in Vegas said Florida would be an 8-1/2 point favorite over unbeaten Alabama this week. My guess is that was an exaggeration, and Percy Harvin's injury will make sure Florida is at most a slight favorite.

For anyone who attempted to watch football Saturday afternoon, ESPN had a surprise for football fans.
Many areas that received the Maryland-Boston College game on ABC (including the Northeast) were supposed to get Florida-Florida State on ESPN2. Instead, many cable and satellite systems saw the game blacked out. On DirecTV, part of the game was aired before it was suddenly cut off.
This was an unusual move, since ESPN rarely blacks out games with no logical reason. Representatives at DirecTV said it was ESPN’s decision to not make the games available, and no one at ESPN could be reached for comment last night.
This was annoying, particularly for fans of the Gators and Seminoles. This was probably the second or third most important game of the entire day, and it was not seen in its entirety by most markets in the East. This may end up hurting Tim Tebow’s chances to repeat as the Heisman winner, as many voters did not see the game.
Let's hope this was an aberration.

It is interesting that parity is least evident in college football than any other major sport. Consider that, since 1992, only 13 different schools have played for the national title in major college football. (This is not counting Arizona State in 96, which should have been allowed to play for it but was not.)

That number in other sports is 18 for the World Series and NBA Finals (even with the Yankee-Bull effect), 19 for the NCAA basketball title game and 20 each for the Super Bowl and Stanley Cup Finals.

The BCS/Bowl Alliance title has been in the hands of the very few elite in the mega-conference era (i.e. when conference championships began), and that makes tomorrow's Texas Tech game that much more vital for the Red Raiders.

They are not likely to get many chances to break through in the Big 12 South, which has been won by Texas or Oklahoma every year but two (Texas A&M won it in 1997 and was Big 12 champ in 1998). This division, like the SEC East, is tough to break through from the bottom tier, and this is a potentially once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Red Raiders.

If Texas Tech gets beat tonight, it could very easily find itself at 11-1 and playing in the Cotton Bowl. There the Raiders could face an SEC team as bad as Vanderbilt, depending on how things break in that league.

It would be an unfortunate fate for a team that has had a terrific season so far, so here's hoping Texas Tech gets it done against a tough Oklahoma squad.

There is no "Bookie's Poll" in college football, but if they did, things in the BCS would be different.

According to a recent article by Chris Fowler of ESPN, the Bookie's top six would look something like this:
1. USC
2. Florida
3. Oklahoma
4. Texas Tech
5. Texas
6. Alabama

This is almost directly upside down from the reality. According to the article, which cites Vegas sources, USC would be more than a touchdown favorite against the Crimson Tide. In fact, if Florida and Alabama win out, the Gators could be as uch as an 8 1/2-point favorite in the SEC title game, which makes no sense.

College football wants nothing to do with Vegas or gambling, and rightfully so. But those guys put their money where their mouth is, and they say USC is the top team. I'm not sure if anyone will listen, but it is an interesting viewpoint.

Time to center my chi for Gators v. Spurrier today.....

Shaquille O'Neal has some good games left in him, but not many. His best bet is to be a rich man's Luc Longley alongside the talented Amare Stoudemire.

That's right - a rich man's Luc Longley. Does that make him a billionaire's Bill Wennington?

CC Sabathia was offered more than $150 million by the Yankees, and the fact that he has to even think about it should tell you that he is not sold on playing in the Bronx.

He may still take it just because it is foolish to turn down that much money. But he wants to see what else is out there first. If he can get, say, $130 million from the Dodgers or Angels, he may go back home.

A couple of other hot stove thoughts:
* How good would The Big Unit look in red pinstripes as the Phils' No. 4 starter? Not bad, I say, not bad at all. Something to think about.
* Speaking of the Phils, Pat Burrell is on the market, but Jayson Stark of ESPN does not seem to think anyone wants him. He wrote an article about the shopping lists for all 30 teams that did not mention the name of The Bat anywhere. Hmm ... if no one wants him, the Phils should have no trouble resigning him, right?
* Rocco Baldelli would be a good right-hander to platoon with Geoff Jenkins next year if Burrell leaves the Phils.
* If the Yankees do land Sabathia, Derek Lowe AND AJ Burnett, as they are trying to, they would be fools not to groom Joba Chamberlain as a replacement for Mariano Rivera in the near future.
* Also, memo to Yankees - don't trade Austin Jackson. He is the real deal.

Beating Marist by two points does not a new era make. Sure, this was one game, and North Carolina lost to Santa Clara a couple of years ago and won the national title.

But the Knights really had their hands full with Marist, a B-list MAAC team. (Read all about the MAAC on Ben Doody's college basketball blog, also offered by The Trentonian.) They seriously lacked in assists and free-throw shooting, and they will have to get better to face real teams.

It is not too early to start thinking about starting www.firefredhill.com.

First of all, my 0-5 week in picks this week was a total disgrace. When you're hot, you're hot, and when you're not....

The last time I went 5-0, I wrote down 15 games I liked and my record in those games was 13-2. This week, I wrote down eight games and was 2-6, picking all the wrong ones for my column.

It is tough to pick college football these days. There are so many athletes on different teams that upsets can, will and have happened.

As for the BCS title chase, only two things are currently certain.
1. Penn State is completely done. The Lions were only sustained by the fact that they were undefeated.
2. Wait, actually that is the only thing that is certain.

With the Big 12, there are a lot of issues, because no one ever thought three teams from one division of one conference could be in the Top 5. The question will be whether Oklahoma cn beat Texas Tech. If that happens, there are two unpleasant scenarios that could cause uproar.
First, Oklahoma could jump No. 3 Texas in the rankings, which would be illogical since Texas beat the Sooners this year. Such a jump would put the Sooners in position to play for the Big 12 title and lock up a spot in the national title game.

If Oklahoma wins and jumps Texas and Florida, you have a possible rankings that follows two weeks from now:
1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. Florida
5. Texas Tech or USC
6. The other one of those two

Now, that next week, Oklahoma plays at Oklahoma State. What if the Sooners lose that game?

You could have rankings like this heading to championship weekend:
1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. Texas Tech
5. USC
6. Oklahoma State
7. Oklahoma

In this scenario, Texas Tech would play for the Big 12 title based on their win over Texas, but the Longhorns would sit at home at No. 2. How could Texas drop out of the title picture without playing, but then again, what if Florida beats Alabama and Texas Tech wins the Big 12?

Who goes then? All three would be deserving, but Texas Tech could be Big 12 champ and left out of the title game while the team they beat plays for it.

This is just one of a handful of ridiculous things that could happen. Stay tuned.

A lot of folks around here were ticked when Penn State stayed at No. 3 in the BCS this week, but that is to be expected when you play Temple, Syracuse and Coastal Carolina in your non-conference sked.

Texas Tech won an amazing game over Texas, but the Longhorns still only dropped to No. 4 in the standings, leaving them very much alive for a BCS title run.

There are so many scenarios out there right now, but one team that has to be concerned is USC. The Trojans' league stinks and there is no one to challenge them or give them any additional points to their cause. They will cruise to 11-1 but be relegated to a Rose Bowl berth. Unlike Penn State, USC took on some decent games (They can't help it that Notre Dame is not what it used to be, plus they played at Virginia and whipped Ohio State 35-3.) But the Pac-10 is horrid right now and Washington State may be the worst team in BCS conference history. Washington is winless and is almost as bad.

The Nittany Lions will be OK as long as Alabama and Texas Tech lose, which I think they will. Still, both are good teams and are capable of running the table. If they do, Penn State will be frozen out this Christmas and have to settle for the Rose Bowl.

If I had my best guess at the BCS bowls, it would be as follows (it almos certainly will change):
Rose - USC vs. Texas
Fiesta - Boise State vs. Oklahoma, Part II
Sugar - West Virginia vs. Alabama
Orange - Georgia Tech vs. Utah
BCS title - Florida vs. Penn State

By the way, I am on the waiting list for a Heisman vote, but if I had one, here are my top five right now:
1. Graham Harrell, QB, Texas Tech
2. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
3. Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
4. Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech
5. Percy Harvin, WR, Florida (Tim Tebow will likely get to the dinner instead, but Percy is a great player for anyone who has not seen him.)

I have had a few days to take in the Phils' win and it still seems surreal. Every store is packed with Phils World Champs gear, and it almost seems like a dream everyone is trying to wake up from.

Still, it was a heck of a 7-month ride. The World Series meant a lot to people, especially as it relates to fathers and sons, grandfathers and grandsons, etc. For me, my father, my cousins, my young sons and our many friends in this area, this is something we can all share.

As it happens, the Phillies are 43 games over .500 with a World title in the year and a half I have lived here. I dream of a world for my kids where the Phils are not a constant disappointment to everyone around them......

The Phillies had more people at their parade than the Rays had watch their team all year, so you know it was their time.

I was very emotional when Harry Kalas walked across that stage at the ballpark after the parade. You can't help but wonder if he was ever going to get to broadcast a World Series winner. (For those who remember, local radio was barred from doing World Series games in 1980. The uproar by Philly people re: Kalas was the driving force in changing that rule.)

Cole Hamels said he wants to have parades again and again and again. That would be terrific, but there is a lot of work to be done first.

Hamels, Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard stand to get rich in arbitration, but all of these guys should get real deals. Hamels played for fractions of what Adam Eaton was paid this year, and Eaton was not even allowed to help warm guys up in the playoffs. Eaton is one of the worst signings in baseball history and a total waste of money.

All three of those guys will likely set records for their positions in arbitration hearings, and Ryan Madson won't come cheap either.

Then there is the Pat Burrell situation. I want Pat to stay. I remember when I interviewed him the day he got off the bus in Clearwater, Fla, after signing his first deal out of The U. Who knew that a decade later, his double would lead to the winning run in a World Series.

Today, it did not sound like Ruben Amaro Jr was focused on resigning Burrell. I hope that was a ruse or a misinterpretation on the part of myself and the radio hosts.

Pat is a good clubhouse guy and a solid hitter. He batted .249, sure, but he drives in runs and is always a threat to go deep. Conventional wisdom says the Phils will scale back by putting Jayson Werth in LF and Victorino in RF, with Greg Golson in CF.

And what about Jamie Moyer? If he wants to come back, I would sign him to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2010. That way it is a low risk situation for a guy who is 46.

I think this World Series title will mean more in a couple of years when I can reflect back to it. So soon after, it is hard to contemplate what these men did for this city and its many fans. The thing I do know, though, is that Philadelphians will be able to name the 25 guys on this roster forever, because this was a special team.

I was privileged to be a part of this season. Now, let's get to the hot stove and see if the Phillies can cook something up for a repeat in 2009.

Here is the link to my column on the search for regalia.

http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2008/10/31/sports/doc490a97df45f24738328690.txt

Meanwhile, if you missed it, here is the You Tube link to the Chase Utley footage from the parade. Why can't I get this as my ringtone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uIbsVx7lAk

Tomorrow, I will have my definitive essay on the Phils' title and what it means to myself and others.