the 4th star

We’re already halfway through the National Football League season. There have been some surprises — like, oh I don’t know, the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans playing themselves out of the VIP lounge. There have also been the usual disappointing consistencies. Don’t know about you, but the Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs seem to be making the longest, most gradual turn around the corner I can ever remember. There have been great performances (that Jared Allen display against the Packers in the dome was mammoth, and Drew Brees is really pissing me off with his smart, pin-point accuracy). On the flipside of those, I present to you the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns — who together might be setting new standards of ineptitude. And good for them.

As we head into Sunday, notice that two teams remain with perfect 8-0 records. The New Orleans Saints, led by an impressive offence and a ball-hawk defence, are the class of the NFC and will probably retain home field throughout the post season. On the AFC tip, witness the Indianapolis Colts, consisting of Peyton Manning and…well, I’m not quite sure how they’re doing it on defence. Now that we’ve crossed the mid-season threshold, it’s probably time to consider each of the team’s chances for pulling off an undefeated regular season. The last time that happened, of course, was when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots tore the league a new one right up until hitting the Giant wall in the Super Bowl. Will either the Saints of the Colts find themselves in that position following Week 17? Let’s end this long introduction and see what’s what.

New Orleans Saints

The remaining schedule: at St. Louis; at Tampa Bay; home to New England; at Washington; at Atlanta; home to Dallas; home to Tampa Bay; at Carolina
Combined record of the opponents: 25-39 (.391 winning percentage)
Number of opponents at .500 or better: Three
Shakedown breakdown: This cakewalk looks delicious. With Brees at the controls, better make that deep and delicious. Two games against the Bucs, plus one at St. Louis and Washington? Four more wins right there. As easy as the overall schedule is, though, the Saints have tough a Monday night match-up against the Patriots in Week 11 and a visit to Atlanta in Week 13. The Patriots game might be their toughest game left. Dallas at home the following week will be no picnic, either. Whoops. Check that: We’ll be into December at that point, meaning the Cowboys should be packing it up for the winter. Merry Christmas.

Indianapolis Colts

The remaining schedule: home to New England; at Baltimore; at Houston; home to Tennessee; home to Denver; at Jacksonville; home to NY Jets; at Buffalo
Combined record of the opponents: 34-31 (.523 winning percentage)
Number of opponents at .500 or better: Six
Shakedown breakdown: A tougher road to hoe than the Saints, starting with the Sunday night special versus the Patriots. Should the Colts get through that annoying jungle of television close-ups and announcer wonderment, the Colts have two tough ones on the road the next two weeks, as both Baltimore and Houston will be fighting for post season consideration. Remember, the Texans almost beat the Colts last week. Effing kickers. Following that potentially bumpy three-game stretch, Indy has it easy, with only a home date against Denver looking formidable. Probably won’t even come to that, though. Truth be told, can’t see them getting through the next three unscathed. Sorry Colts fan.

Interesting radio on Hustler and Lawless last night. The topic: Lyle Bauer and his little power play involving the Winnipeg Blue Bombers board of directors.

Joined in studio by beat man Ed Tait and play-by-play legend Bob Irving, the hosts and guests wondered aloud what the future held for not only head coach Mike Kelly, but for Bauer himself. The 11-member BoD is currently reviewing the events of the 2009 season and will be meeting with Bauer in few couple weeks (December) to discuss things moving forward. Earlier in the day, the president and CEO basically, as Irving told the panel “gave his recommendation” to the BoD regarding the future of Kelly.

I can’t see any reason why he won’t be back, unless there’s others above me that want to make that decision.

Well then.

As the esteemed gentlemen mentioned, things could fall a couple of ways regarding Kelly and Bauer.

1. The BoD could take Bauer’s stamp of approval for his friend, ignore the public power play move, take a quick vote, and then head off to Rae and Jerry’s for a nice steak sandwich in the lounge before having the rest of the afternoon at their disposal. You guys want to head over to The Elms? Yeah!

2. The BoD could take Bauer’s recommendation and say thank you very much. We’ll give you a call tomorrow. Once Bauer roars off on his bike, the BoD will make two phone calls: One will go to the Blue Bombers box office, just to get a sense of how many season tickets they have gained/lost. The other call will be to corporate sales, to gauge if there are any lost revenue bleeds from the Kelly-inspired breach. The radio panel mentioned the team has lost (or is in the process of losing) sponsors. Some members will want a change. Others will want fast-track things to ensure the good table at Rae and Jerry’s. Someone will bring up the record. They’ll argue the gains of a 7-11 team. The topic of missing the playoffs will come up. But ultimately, the Kelly effect will find its way into their final decision — Bauer will either have no choice but to gas the coach or take the bullet with his buddy.

The most interesting point raised last night was the idea that the people on the BoD were on the front lines in the community this summer. They were the ones who had to answer to people at events or parties, hearing about how Kelly offended them this way or how season ticket/corporate cash will be pulled off the table if a change isn’t made at the coaching or CEO level. Think those guys liked hearing how much their operation sucked or how the coach was an arrogant jerk? Probably not.

So it’s come to this, has it?

It’s usually around this time of the week that I’m looking forward to the next game on the New York Giants schedule. I’ll look at the match-ups, dissect each player at each position, and try to figure out what the best plan of attack is for the Blue. Stupid and a waste of time, yes, but this is what I do. As you know, things haven’t been going that great for the Jints of late. Four straight losses after a five pack of wins to start the season has left fans of the club reeling — wondering when this snide will stop while looking at the schedule and wondering where six more wins will come from to at least stake some wild-card interest. I think you’re going to need at least 11 wins to get a spot in the NFC this year. Ten might do it, but why cut it close?

But all that looking ahead isn’t a part of my daily routine today. Thankfully, the G-men have a bye this week, (though after that loss to San Diego I’m ready to call it a ‘bye-bye’ week) giving us Manning Men a chance to re-evaluate our lives and figure out why we made the choices we made. For the first time in a long time, I’m actually happy New York won’t be a part of my Sunday. While others celebrate their teams and watch the big screens with purpose, I will be an innocent bystander, resigned to the anger of not taking a shot into the end zone with just over two minutes to play.

Sadly, it has come to this.