With no intention of excessive insensitivity (I’ve been known to in-sensitize), only Mike Leach can manage to steal the media thunder from Urban Meyer, lord of a much bigger, badder football program. With Leach, his monotonous tone, and deadpan delivery belies an interesting, captivating, yet polarizing sports figure that has carved out a niche in the sports world, that can only be described as an eccentric personality that eventually became larger than life. Eventually he became larger than Texas Tech University, the school that gave him his first big break. Rubbing elbows with the likes of Donald Trump, and touting a quirky, over-stated obsession with pirates have indeed led Mike Leach to the headlines of the New York Times, ESPN, and Wikipedia. Like Brett Favre to the Green Bay Packers, Mike Leach put Lubbock, Texas on the map of collegiate Division I (excuse me, FBS or Football Bowl Subdivision) football. Whereas Favre resuscitated a once proud program, Leach actually created a legacy at Texas Tech. While the paint had not dried yet from the transition of the Southwest Conference to the Big XII, hard-nosed defensive football coupled with a power running game still dominated the landscape of Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, and yes even Texas Tech football.
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A lot can happen when you take a week off. The Pittsburgh Steelers lose five in a row and are in real danger of missing the playoffs altogether, while the Baltimore Ravens look to slip into the wild card after an inconsistent season. Conceivably and unbelievably, if the Cincinnati Bengals were to lose all of the three remaining games, and the Ravens were to run the table, Baltimore could actually win the AFC North despite the Bengal’s 6-0 division record. In the East, the New England Patriot’s hold on the division is tenuous at best with both the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets only one game back. For my money, the lone playoff representative for the AFC East will be the division champ, whoever happens to stumble out of this pile. My sentiments are that the two hotly contested wild card spots up for grabs will go to one of the teams from the AFC North, South, or West. As of now, the Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Denver Broncos are the frontrunners for those coveted spots.
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Talk about fruitless labors, the New Orleans Saints sitting at 11-0 thus far late in the season haven’t even wrapped up their division yet, whereas the 11-0 Indianapolis Colts have clinched the AFC South yet again. On a lesser note, the 10-1 Minnesota Vikings have also yet to clinch the NFC North with the Green Bay Packers hot on their heels despite an 0-2 record against the Purple People Eaters that gives Fah-vera and company all tiebreakers. Understandable as if the Colts even lose all the last 5 games, the Jacksonville Jaguars would have to win all of the next 5 games and still be tied with the Colts, but lose out in tiebreakers as both would own a 4-2 division record. The Saints on the other hand still have 3 division games on deck, and if New Orleans loses all 5 games while the Atlanta Falcons run the table, it would go down to the tiebreaker with the Falcons winning by virtue of a 4-2 division record and the Saints owning a 3-3 division record. Highly unlikely, but fun to think about.
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