It used to be in a previous life that Monday mornings offered up a weekend hangover generally only relieved by several un-named pain pills from the top drawer, a scalding hot shower, a scan of the night’s texts and calls and several beverages whose names begin with “Bloody …” Thankfully, with a tip of the hat to my wonderful family, those days have changed. Why is it then, that on this crisp autumn morn I feel, as the horse would say – “ridden hard and put away wet”? It has been an exhausting week in the world of sports. It has left me drained and broken, looking for my wallet and wondering how on earth my car made it into the driveway. Oops, flashback! The only difference now is that instead of feeling as miserable as Neil McRae sitting on a cactus while talking about the Canucks, my TV hangover leaves me actually trying to remember all that happened and then sorting through what we should share. So where should we start…?

Photo: Contributed

62-7! Sunday night NFL action left us admiring what the Saints can actually do and before Sports Fans get all uppity about Sean Payton running up the score on the Manning-less Colts, he did in fact warn them at the half that essentially he was going to use Indy as a practice dummy. Not sure how that makes it better – knowing that you are about to be the red-headed step-child on national TV – but if it makes you feel warm and fuzzy Coach, so be it. Seems Fans will let this one slide for a few reasons:

• a) he busted his knee last week and had to coach/eat hot dogs from the skybox,
• b) everybody loves Drew Brees and the city of New Orleans and
• c) they are not the Patriots and Coach Payton is not Coach Bellicheck.

Whatever the reasons, this was a beat-down. Before this week, the Colts had played with heart in their losses unlike the Tin-man that is the Miami Dolphins… follow the Yellow Luck Road… follow the Yellow Luck Road. One thing is for certain, Stanford QB Andrew Luck is coming out this year, most likely with a Heisman and it seems as though the winless Fish have the “Suck for Luck” campaign on full throttle. Very odd though watching Dolphin Fans in full regalia cheering on the Tim Tebow comeback in Miami yesterday. At half-time they even honoured the 2009 National Champion Florida Gators. Do you think Denver Coach John Fox might have known that when he decided on beginning the Tebow experiment in South Beach? Oh yeah, because one really had to get in the heads of the Dolphin coaching staff – visions of Coach Sparano tap-dancing through a press conference to “If I Only had a Brain” dressed as the Scarecrow for Halloween. Reggie Bush as the Cowardly Lion? Just thoughts, just thoughts. Moving on to Cleveland and a game whose highlights(!) have officially been blacked out by the Commissioner’s Office for ‘conduct detrimental to the game of football’. If you had the misfortune to being subjected to this impersonation of 4-down football, as a Sports Fan you had to be left wondering how Pete Carroll has not been fined or jailed for impersonating an NFL coach. More than any other team in the League, the Seahawks play to the level of their competition and that is an issue of preparedness – known by a more common term – ‘coaching’. Seattle had 137 yards of total offense and QB Charlie Whitehurst went 12-30 for 97 yards. Sure, I know – he’s no Tarvaris Jackson but… Credit has to go out to the defense who kept the game to 6-3 but as in Miami, 40+ minutes on the field is going to make for some very angry linebackers in the locker-room. For the Browns, RB Montario Hardesty proved he could be an every down back rushing 33 times for 95 yards. Prima Donna RB Peyton Hillis might be regretting his strep throat/contract decisions but we shall see.

Shifting gears to the World Series and what was seen initially to be a battle between 2 teams that TV didn’t much care about is shaping up to be a 3 Game, winner-take-all, edge of your seat battle between 2 teams that TV doesn’t care about. Texas pitcher Derek Holland’s 8 1/3 innings of 2-hit ball in Game 4 to even the series was a gem after Pujols’ 3-HR effort the night before which put the Cardinals up 2-1. Trumping all this is the chance to enjoy the Ron Washington chicken dance for at least two more games! It’s official, I’m all in on the Rangers – Washington and Josh Hamilton make great compelling stories and Pujols after all is going to be a worth about a billion dollars as a free agent next year and might sign with the Yankees or Red Sox. Yuk!

Photo: Contributed

This my friends is the Haka, the traditional challenge thrown down by the New Zealand All-Blacks before every Test and also the only time it is acceptable to do the throat slash in sports… please note the not so subtle dig at average WRs in the NFL and NBA players celebrating their first and only dunk. Bright and early on Sunday morning, in a brutal battle with a game French XV, the All-Blacks won the 7th Rugby World Cup on home soil. It was not a game for the weak of heart or stomach, blood flowed freely and substitutions were necessary and plentiful. In the end, amidst torrid French pressure, NZ came out on top 8-7 and a country whose national identity is defined by its’ rugby team finally raised their arms in tired triumph – their first World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987. For bloggers everywhere who insist on trolling sites and comparing the toughness of NFL vs. Rugby, can you please do us all a favour and stop. Real Sports Fans know the Aussie Rules guys are the toughest anyway. Until next week… stay classy Kelowna.