It seems almost impossible to believe that we have already reached the midway stage of the NFL regular season with Week 8 all but in the books. I have to take a brief moment to recognize the raked leaves in the yard, the daily low cloud cover around the Okanagan, sweaters that have reappeared in my closet mysteriously and my beautiful daughters’ teething, to realize that it is no longer summer here in God’s Country. Time has passed. The World Series has come and gone, giving Sports Fans and the Texas Rangers a Game 6 which will never be forgotten. Can Albert Pujols really leave St. Louis now? The NBA continues to cancel sections of the season, 2 weeks at a time and 1/3rd of the owners – those who feel there can still be a profit in the 2011/12 season – continue to occasionally negotiate with the Players Association. In truth, interest is waning amongst the general public. Don’t expect anyone to Occupy Madison Square Garden any time soon although their understanding of the issues may rival their Wall Street counterparts… or not. I guess that depends on which side of the street you pitch your proverbial tent. I’m not holding my breath for any hard-court Xmas day action – not that our house will miss it amongst the presents and plum pudding. As for the NHL, we’ll talk about Stanley Cup hangovers next week and the problems in Boston and Vancouver and juggle some solutions like chainsaws.

Photo: Contributed

AFC East – At 5-2 the Buffalo Bills, led by Socrates wannabe, champion of ‘Movember’ and Harvard graduate Ryan Fitzpatrick are the pleasant surprise of the AFC. RB Fred Jackson has been outstanding and the Bills only play better the colder it gets. Have you ever been to Buffalo in December? The Patriots will most likely still win the division although at times their running game is remarkably average and the defense is… somewhere. The less said about the Miami Dolphins and their continuing ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, the better. And then there are the Jets. Can anyone work them out? You have a better chance of seeing Rex Ryan eating broccoli on a treadmill in a Speedo.

AFC North – This division is still the Steelers and Ravens story with both teams finding the need to take the occasional Sunday off for non-religious reasons. Joe Flacco appears to have not informed Ray Ray and the Ravens that he moved back to Delaware and left his evil twin at the helm. Somehow though, the Bengals have joined the party at 5-2 on the strength of great D, rookie QB Andy Dalton, WR A.J. Green and RB Cedric Benson’s legal team. In Cincy, you just always have the sense they are one DUI away from disaster. Thankfully though, the Browns are keeping true to their roots mixing contract debacles Hillis-style, injuries and a deep lack of talent with a rabid fan base resulting in a product QVC wouldn’t sell. But they do have the dog pound… yippee!

AFC West – I am still on the Chargers bandwagon despite QB Philip Rivers’ shot-putt delivery, Norv Turner’s coaching and RB Darren Sproles hanging his hat in New Orleans. We know the Raiders are not ready because they simply cannot stop taking penalties and Carson Palmer is not the answer, to anything but trivia questions. Despite a shift in form, Kansas City has too many pieces of the puzzle on IR and Todd Haley shouldn’t be allowed to coach anything more complicated than Crazy Eights. This leaves Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. The experiment is underway and it really does not look pretty – in a last dance at last call at the Legion kind of way. Little Timmy is not going to enjoy the Mile High experience for a while in more ways than one… if you follow me!

AFC South – The Texans look as though this is finally ‘the year’. With the Colts spiraling towards a coin flip for 1st overall pick with the Dolphins and the Jaguars wondering when the move to Los Angeles will come, only the Titans can ruin the party this year for Houston. The Texans have depth at all the offensive positions and a tough D that finds ways to win despite Coach Kubiak and his Ouija board method of decision making. It’s the kind of thinking that Tennessee employed when negotiating CJ2K’s recent contract – dollar per yard it has not been management’s best work. QB Matt Hasselbeck does, however continue to play like the kid he never looked like. Overall, substitute Buffalo for the Jets and I still like my picks.

NFC East – OK, time to take my lumps. I took a reach on the ‘Skins and may have overlooked the lesser Manning and his Giants. They definitely don’t win pretty but in this division, you don’t have to. At 5-2 they have a 2-Game lead over everybody and only the recently resurgent Eagles look able to compete with them. Vick is healthy and has finally recognized the Tight End position occupied by Brent Celek is available for passing plays and this team traditionally gets better after their bye week. In Dallas, Jerry Jones continues to make personnel decisions with the skill of a contestant on “Let’s Make a Deal” which is a blessing considering it matches the coaching mantra of Jason Garrett. In Washington there is a Shanahan QB controversy between 2 guys that make the Fans yearn for the Donovan McNabb era.

Photo: Contributed

NFC North – On the right, Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers and on the left… who is that anyway? #12 is putting up #4-like numbers in Green Bay and doing it without the drama or self-indulgence. At 7-0, undefeated is a very real possibility so expect the idiotic Mercury Morris interviews to begin shortly. If Detroit could keep RBs on the field they will finally be considered legit because they can score at will. In Chicago, Matt Forte is tremendous but Mantracker couldn’t find a WR worthy of the ball and in Minnesota, Mr. McNabb’s work ethic has him riding the bench again and…are you ready… Pondering what could have been! Ouch!

NFC South – The Saints just had back-to-back games against the winless resulting in a 62-7 win over the Colts and a 31-21 loss to the Rams. So who are they? Good enough to win the division and thankfully they won’t find Seattle in the post-season. Although Atlanta is consistently average one gets the sense that they are getting better down the stretch while Tampa Bay continues to ferry RBs to the ER at an astounding rate. The excitement is really all in Carolina where Cam Newton has proven every single pundit wrong and although the Panthers have won only twice, they compete every week. And just in case you haven’t ever noticed – Steve Smith is the best and nastiest 5’9” WR ever… yes I said ever!

NFC West – I saved the best for last! I believe the ‘Niners just clinched! Harbaugh has this team winning despite QB Alex Smith and his own lack of social skills, but they play hard-nosed D and run the ball with Frank Gore and attitude. The rest of this division is flat out embarrassing although the Rams have shown that if RB Steven Jackson stays healthy they might not quit every week. In the desert, it is only a matter of time before Coach Wisenhunt gets asked about his team’s lack of heart while in Seattle, Pete Carroll has succeeded in turning a below average team that tries hard into a below average team that hardly tries. As in Cleveland, this is a team only a mother could love but that fan-base deserves better in my humble opinion. Overall, let’s substitute Giants for Redskins and stick with the rest. Tune in next week for Stanley Cup hangovers and the reasons we have them… for now I’m out.