Imagine your team having the best record for the month of August in the big leagues. Better yet, having a 22 year old pitcher named Aroldis Chapman from Cuba throwing pitches in the triple digits and only slightly slower with his change ups. Is this guy a phenom or what?

Well, there is a team out there just like that, the Cincinnati Reds. Boy do they have the best of two worlds.

They are headed to St Louis for a weekend series to face the fading Cardinals who swept them the last time they met. Unfortunately for the Cards, circumstances just happen to be a little different this time. The Reds are 8 games up in the Central Division and they discovered a pitching freak. How much more can a team like the Reds ask for. This will be the Labor Day of Labor Day series. Go Reds. I MAKE THE CALL.

Matt Leinart played behind one of the NFL prolific quarterbacks, Kurt Warner. Sad thing about that, Leinart did not learn a thing! Nor did he develop into the quarterback the Cardinals thought he would when they drafted him.

You have been in the system for 4 years, and you allow a journeyman quarterback to beat you out just after 3 preseason games?  Give me a break Matt. Where is your athletic ability and your Godd given talent that you displayed at USC? I can’t believe that you have fallen so quickly.

Clearly, you have not shown any leadership ability and that is one of the many reasons that Ken Whisenhut passed the job onto Anderson who has a life time ratio of touchdowns to interception of 46 to 45.

You, Matt Leinart, allowed a new comer who was not in the system to beat you out. I suggest a trade while you may still have some value. I don’t think that you will ever be a starting quarterback in the NFL. I MAKE THE CALL.

The Tiger did not get it done, even though he made a herculean effort on Sunday, by shooting a 67 in the final round and posting a minus 7 for a total of 277.  Not bad for a recovering golfer.

If you can remember, on Friday I wrote that Tiger had to show me that he was in contention in the final round before I broke out the holy oils. He made a valiant effort by shooting the 67, but he was 5 strokes off the winning score.

Had he continued his Thursday efforts on Friday and/or Saturday, he would have deserved being anointed. I am trying to recall the last time that Tiger Woods had to qualify for a tournament. Well, he really does not have to qualify, but he has to be in the top 10 to continue playing in these Fedex Playoffs.

That my golfing friends is like qualifying every week to get into the tournament. I MAKE THE CALL.

After watching the preseason game between Dallas and Houston on Saturday night, I came to the conclusion that Dallas is currently an up and down team who exhibited no offense all night long. I realize that the O-Line is banged up, but give me a break. The first team did not even score a point all night, and when they had an opportunity to score they blew it by fumbling the ball away. Don’t give me that it was only a preseason game. I am not buying into that logic.

An elite team like the Cowboys should be looking better than they did three games into preseason. They looked terrible and come opening day, there had better be a whole lot of improvement when they go up against their arch enemy, the Washington Redskins. If they are not up to par, Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNab will begin their era with a vicious beat down of the Cowboys, and the demise of the Boys will be underway in 2010. I MAKE THE CALL.

Don’t get carried away after one round of 65 by the number one golfer in the world.

We have all been spoiled by his heroics from the day Tiger came on to the tour.

Okay, so this is what we expected and hope to see every time he picks up a golf club.

Like Coach Parcells once said about Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys, don’t breakout the anointing oils just yet. I would like to see where he is on Sunday during the last 9 holes of the final round. Will he be in contention? Or, will he be leading or following.

We all know that the number 2, 3, and 4 players in the world have not done anything to dethrone Tiger even when he was at his worst.

Lets see what happens come Sunday at the Barclays. My money is on the Tiger retaining his number one ranking. I MAKE THE CALL.

Golf is perhaps the only professional sport where players call penalties on themselves.

I remember when Hale Irwin called a penalty on himself that no one saw but him. He was asked why he called it since no one else saw it. His response was, “I SAW IT”.

Dustin Johnson made a boo boo when he mistakenly grounded his club in a waste bunker causing him to miss a three way playoff for the Wannamaker Trophy. His excuse was, I did not know that it was a bunker. He failed to read the handout given to all of the players on the local rules. He was assessed 2 strokes and yet again came close to winning a major, but not that day. Whose fault was it? It was his and his alone. Read the rules and abide by them.

A week later, Julie Inkster suffered the same fate by not observing the rules. Only this time, Julie was disqualified. Did the punishment fit the crime? In this instance, I totally disagree with the punishment, but not with the rule. Julie was waiting to tee off on the 10th hole and there was a backup, so she took a few practice swings. Unfortunately, an avid or rabid golf fan saw her removing a donut weight from the club and called it in. She should not have used any enhancements while engaged in a tournament for any reason even though it had no bearing on the outcome of the tournament.

Being disqualified for swinging a club with a weight apparatus on it, is simply too much of a penalty. The rules officials should revisit some of these ancient rules and update them. Bring the rules into the 21st century as you did with the clubs. I MAKE THE CALL.

It is a forgone conclusion that the SEC is the best conference in college football and has been so for sometime.

The SEC is led by Alabama, followed by Florida and LSU. Arkansas will surprise many of the other teams.
The ACC, loaded with quarterbacks just like the PAC 10 will be led by FSU, yes I said FSU. Only Virginia Tech and possibly Miami will be able to compete with the Noles.

Everyone thinks that Texas will be top dog in the big 12. Not so fast my friends. There will be a new sheriff in town called the Cornhuskers, backed up by deputy Sooners.

Going out west to the PAC 10 which is loaded with quarterbacks, Oregan and Oregan State will remain the alpha dogs out there on the left coast. Washington State will show glimpses, followed by ineligible USC.

Coming back to the middle of the country to the Big 10, Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan State will be fighting it out for who goes to the Rose Bowl, but watchout for Wisconsin.

Back on the right coast, the Big East will be led by the Pitt Panthers, followed by Cincinnati and West Virginia. When it is all said and done, and every top ten team will have atleast one loss, the championship game will be between Alabama and Boise State. I MAKE THE CALL.

When Lane Kiffin bolted for USC and an opportunity to return to his roots, he left Tennessee in the lurch and broken promises to his players. Was it a good move?. I don’t think so.

The NCAA came down hard on the Trojans and there will be no post season activities for them for the next few years.

Kippin leaving Tennessee left Derek Dooley to right the Vols ship. I think that Dooley will bring the Vols back to prominence quicker than most people think.

Jimbo Fisher should have the easiest fix. He has been with the Seminoles for a while and has retained most of his players when Bobby Bowden retired at the end of last season.

Joker Phillips at Kentucky will have a hard time bringing Kentucky to the forefront, simply because the SEC is so strong, and he definitely has to rebuild. On the other hand, Turner Gill leaving Buffalo for Kansas should be able to compete in the big 12 soon to be another big 10 come next year with a couple of schools leaving for other conferences.

This brings me to who will be the most scrutinized coach in all of NCAAF this season: the one and only Brian Kelly leaving Cincinnati for Notre Dame. To coach at the Golden Dome, or touch down Jesus University as it is sometimes referred to, one has to be a Lou or and Ara.

They are the only two coaches who stood the test of time in South Bend. I wonder if Brian would have been better off staying at Cincinnati.

Tommy Tubberville of all the new coaches will have a cake walk. Texas Tech is virtually the same time as last season and will be one of those teams that can really compete for a BCS Bowl Birth. I MAKE THE CALL.

Undrafted running back LeGarrette Blount did it again. This time it was against a member of his own team, defensive end Eric Bakhtian. He sucker punched another player last year , but that player was not a team mate but an opponent. No wonder he went undrafted in this years NFL Draft. Blount needs to check his attitude and every time he comes on the football field he needs to leave it in the locker room.

He must realize that he is playing with the big boys now and the pulling of his helmet will be a regular thing come Sunday afternoons. Luckily for Blount, it was his team mate and his apology to the Coach were accepted. Had it been an opposing player, Blount would have experienced his first NFL can of whoop ass. My advice to Blount is to check the attitude in the parking lot, and leave it there if necessary. If you don’t, some Sundays you might just get some behavior modifaction form one of your opponents. I MAKE THE CALL.

I am going out on the limb very early this season and picking the division winners.

Some will surprise you and some won’t , but these are my picks and they are all winners.

Starting with the NFC:

• In the South, Atlanta will rule, and will surprise the Saints each time play.
• In the North, everyone is talking the Vikings, but my bucks are on Green Bay followed by the Da Bears.
• Going out to the left coast and the winner of the west will be San Francisco, but watch out for Seattle.
• Last but not least: the East will be dominated by the Cowboys, but the Giants will be coming on strong.

After the playoffs, the Cowboys in the Superbowl in their own stadium

The AFC will be tough.

• Coming out of the East will be the Jets
• followed by the Patriots.
• In the South, Houston will finally come of age and
• the Titans will be waiting in the wings.
• In spite of Payton Manning, this is not the Colts year.
• Going north, Baltimore is the team to be, but
• the Bengals will prevail.
• Venture out to the left coast again and you will see that Oakland will make a run
• but will be shut down Denver.

In the end, the Titans will be in Dallas for the big game. I MAKE THE CALL.