What a rough time to be a Houston sports fan and other thoughts from the Island

1.  The Texans are not going to the playoffs.  Again.  One day they'll make it.  But who knows when that will be.  And to be a sports fan in H-Town right now has to be a labor of love, because there is very little payoff.  we've already talked about the Texans.  The Rockets are nothing to celebrate right now and the Astros are bad and for sale.  Keep your chin up Houstonians.  It will all turn around.  I don't know when though.

2.  The Patriots have that championship feel.  In a game that they didn't particularly play well, they still made the plays to win.  Dan Connolly should get the ESPY for his 71 yard kickoff return.  It was a banner day for lineman everywhere.

3. The Cowboys won.  It wasn't dominant.  They let a bad QB, Rex Grossman, carve them up in the 2nd half.  But it's nice to see that the drama train left Dallas, at least temporarily, and has made stops in Minnesota and Washington.  What the coaching staff is doing to Donovan McNabb is beyond me.  I can't say they have handled anything right.  One year in and McNabb will be looking for a new team.

4.  Colossal choke by the Giants.  Painful for their fans I'm sure.  Matt Dodge is not punting in the right city to make a mistake like that.  Wow.  He is going to get booed when he fills up with gas.  Tip for Matt Dodge, don't order food from a restaurant unless you don't care what's in your food this week.

5.  Congrats to the Mart Panthers on winning the state title on Saturday.  Hung in after making some costly early mistakes to win 28-7 over Goldwaithe.  Smoaky, Lark Smith and I did the game.  What a blast and a fun one to watch. 

6.  Zach Grienke to the Brewers?  Have fun eating all that cheese and drinking all that beer.  I actually think this is good news for the Rangers.  Go get Matt Garza.  He's a bulldog. He'll help.

7.  Looking forward to watching Monday Night Football in a blizzard tonight.  6 inches of snow could fall before kickoff.  Good luck Bears and Vikes.  I'll be here in Central Texas for once thanking God that I don't play professional football for either of your teams tonight.  

8.  Ralph Friedgen is out at Maryland.  Mike Leach is probably in.  An upgrade yes, but Maryland handled it poorly.  "The Fridge" was a good coach for the Terps, but the 2 seasons before this one have left sour tastes in the mouths of the Maryland faithful.  Only a BCS berth could have saved them this year. 

9.  Almost got all the shopping done.  One more foray into the breach tonight and I'll have it locked up. Thank you Amazon.com!!!

10.  Going to see True Grit on Wednesday.  Can't wait.  I'll review it here on Thursday.