WEEKEND BLITZ

Barry Bonds. A-Rod. Colts. Knicks. Weekend Football Picks.

1. I'm so Indicted!

This is it, folks. For the last decade, we watched the homers pile up and the accusations fly and we waited for the other shoe to drop. Yesterday, it did. Barry Bonds was indicted on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice for his role in the BALCO investigation. The indictment says, "During the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing substances for Bonds and other professional athletes." Like I said, this is it. Bonds now faces up to thirty years in prison, his career is over, and his chances for Cooperstown are quickly fading. On August 7th, Bonds broke Hank Aaron's career home run record. On November 15th, he was indicted by a federal grand jury. Never has an athlete so quickly fallen from greatness. I'm going to pitch a reality show to FOX: Barry Bonds and OJ Simpson as cellmates. Call it Juice.

2. A-gain?

Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees agreed to a $275 million deal that would keep A-Rod in pinstripes for the next decade. The contract, while considerably less than he had initially sought, would also allow him to share revenue generated from his pursuit of Bonds' record. For anyone who has ever questioned the greatness of the Yankees, try to imagine the best player of all time swallowing his pride and crawling back to any other team. Try. I dare you. Let's just hope he didn't sign so quickly because he knew his name would be on the Mitchell Report.
On another note, how is nobody really talking about the fact that the Yankees now have a catcher signed until he's 40, a third baseman signed until he's 42, and closer almost signed until he's 42? Pretty soon their pre-signing physicals are going to include colonoscopies. I'm waiting for George Steinbrenner to suit up.

3. The Colts are Free(ney) Falling

A few weeks ago, the Indianapolis Colts were undefeated and poised to challenge the Patriots down the stretch. This weekend, they will try to avoid their third straight loss in a week when more key players were taken out the mix than in the episode one, season five of 24. First, Marvin Harrison went down with a bruised knee. Then Dallas Clark was sidelined by a concussion. Now Dwight Freeney, the highest paid defensive player in the NFL and the only guy to rattle Tom Brady this year, is out for the season with a fractured left foot. Bob Sanders, Robert Mathis, and Anthony Gonzales were all held from practice this week. Tony Dungy has a harder job this week than Barry Bonds' lawyer. And let's not forget that Peyton Manning threw six picks his last time out and Adam Vinateiri missed two kicks. This team is falling apart fast.

4. No witty joke here. The Knicks are just a mess.

To quote Chris Russo in his rant against Pacman Jones, "KICK HIM THE HELL OUT!" The same can and must be said about James Dolan, Isaiah Thomas and the New York Knicks. Kick them all the hell out. This is a f-cking joke. What an embarassment to the city of New York and to the entire NBA. David Stern should condemn this team, get the owners to vote James Dolan out of the league, and put the Knicks up for sale. Michael Bloomberg will be out of a job in a few years. He should buy the team and set it on the right path. If Bloomberg can run the city of New York, he could certainly run its basketball team. Jimmy Dolan can't even run a faucet. I've never been so embarassed to root for a team in my life.

5. NFL Picks

Here are my picks for this weekend's NFL games. No point spread here. Just wins and losses.

1. Tampa Bay at Atlanta - BUCANEERS
2. Arizona at Cincinatti - BENGALS
3. Giants at Detroit - LIONS
4. Carolina at Greenbay - PACKERS
5. Kansas City at Indianapolis - COLTS
6. Oakland at Minnesota - VIKINGS
7. Miami at Philadelphia - EAGLES
8. San Diego at Jacksonville - CHARGERS
9. Cleveland at Baltimore - BROWNS
10. New Orleans at Houston - SAINTS
11. Pittsburgh at Jets - STEELERS
12. Washington at Dallas - COWBOYS
13. St. Louis at San Francisco - RAMS
14. Chicago at Seattle - SEAHAWKS
15. New England at Buffalo - PATRIOTS
16. Tennessee at Denver - BRONCOS

Enjoy the weekend.