Thoughts, picks, and genearlly just a good time

It's Friday, I ain't got no job, I ain't got $h!t to do. It's funny cause I can legitimately say that. My to-do lists on a daily basis are full of exciting and important stuff. Like today, I'm on a mission to find the most hideous Christmas sweater known to man for the standard yearly themed get-together. I swear everyone from the age of 23 to roughly 40 goes to an "Ugly Christmas Sweater Party" on an annual basis. I love the holidays.

For the most part, the holiday season can basically be highlighted by things such as driving (snow and traffic jams included), family fun, seeing out-of-town friends, indulging in a few adult beverages ... and repeat. Even for someone like me, who has "laundry" as the day's top priority once a week, there's a lot going on this time of year.

So, in honor of this somewhat spazzy (I know other people that say that word, but I don't think it's really a word) time of year, I unveil to you this week's random notebook. And we'll close with the second installment of "Fun Picks from The Fun Car", featuring the opening of the college bowl season along with Sunday's NFL goodies.

• Last week, before the Colts played the Lions, I made a somewhat half-hearted comment to my buddy that without Peyton Manning, the Colts would be closer to looking like the Lions than most people would think. And after watching that game against Detroit - you know, the game where you weren't sure if the crowd was either napping or reading a good book - and then Thursday's uninspired comeback against the Jags, I think that sentiment about Manning and the team may be closer to true than false. I flicked past ESPN 1070 here in Indy last week and heard Indy Star columnist and afternoon show co-host Bob Kravitz say that the Colts are the hottest team in the NFL right now. And better yet, he said that they are the ONE team that anyone in the AFC wouldn't want to see in the playoffs. I find that opinion to be remarkably stupid. The only thing that would be remotely close to accurate would be saying that Manning is the one QB that you wouldn't want to see in the playoffs right now. Everyone knows I can't stand him, but I say he's the MVP of the league.

• Ahh, and now I can move on to the beloved Bears. I just can't wait until Monday night's game means absolutely nothing after the Vikings win on Sunday. It's going to be great to turn on The Score in the car and hear the lowest common denominator say how beating the Packers is do or die, and it would save the season. Essentially, the Bears are an overachieving bad team. The amount of money they spent on the defense, in direct correlation with the product you see on the field on both sides of the ball, is absolutely incredible to me. Year after year, blah blah blah ...

• Not sure if anyone outside of Indy actually heard about this or even cares, but former North Central H.S. and IU hooper Eric Gordon (now playing for the L.A. Clippers) made some headlines by saying that while at IU, some teammates were maybe twisting a joint in between classes and the like. He didn't exactly put it in those words, but his quote was a little too boring for me. I believe he said "did some drugs." Anyway, putting the actual drug issue aside, I was just kinda scratching my head at why he would say something like that at this point. I've interviewed the kid, saw him play a bunch in high school and was friends with many people that knew him well ... and what I'm trying to say is that he's the type of kid that would only share that for a reason. From all accounts that I know, he's a good guy with a good head, so tell me, why would he tell a reporter that a year later? That's a legitimate question, I think.

• It's a (h)uge weekend in the NFL, which means it's time to turn off ESPN so that your brain doesn't become mush. In case you haven't heard, the No. 1 seed in the playoffs is up for grabs in each conference with the Steelers at the Titans (CBS, 1 p.m. est) and the Giants hosting the Panthers (NBC, 8:15 p.m. est). Picks on these games will be found below, but I'd just like to say that I'm glad neither one of these games is on FOX, therefore there is absolutely no possibility of seeing Frank Caliendo at any point during the day. Seriously, has any comedian become more annoying in a quicker time span? Okay Frank, we get it ... John Madden is a nut job and Charles Barkley says stupid things with strange emphases on certain syllables. Enough already.

• The annual installment of baseball's "Hot Stove League" is about to start wrapping up, and unless you're in New York, Boston, L.A. and maybe one or two other cities, you'd probably rather read about why the stove in your kitchen is still hot even though dinner was made three hours ago. But let's go ahead and throw the Cubs under the bus - only because it's the right thing to do. It's just so fun to see the fans get all up in arms over possible trades and free agent signings that haven't happened. After the way the Cubbies went to sleep in the playoffs, the offseason circus is even more exciting in many ways. Get a hold of yourselves, please.

FUN PICKS FROM THE FUN CAR
(Sheridan's Odds; USAToday.com 12/19; Home team in caps)

Wake Forest (-3) over Navy (Saturday @ Washington, D.C)
You can't say this about many bowl games during any given year, but I actually think that this game has two teams that are willing to actually show up for the game ... in other words, they are two pretty disciplined programs. That's what makes bowl games tough to pick against the spread, simply because at least one team almost always fails to remember that people are betting on these games. In this one, I like Wake Forest stud LB and Butkus Award winner Aaron Curry to give some headaches to Navy's predictable (but effective) option running attack. I guess we'll find out.

Arizona (-3) over BYU (Saturday @ Las Vegas)
Here's my thinking on this game: The "Mormon Affect" will actually hurt BYU because they have way more players on their roster who are of legal age to go enjoy the, um, good times in Vegas. Come on, they can't always be angels, right? And, perhaps a more logical argument, all I know is that BYU very nearly and should have lost to the incomparable Washington Huskies and Ty Willingham earlier this season. 'Nough said.

Pittsburgh (-1.5) over TENNESSEE (Sunday, 1 p.m. est)
I'm allowed to get off the Titan bandwagon just as fast as I got on it. Even on the road, I just see the Steelers being too tough in the fourth quarter in this one ... quite similar to a 13-9 game like last week, without the benefit of an iffy replay call. And seriously, how much do you love Mike Tomlin? I'd just be really surprised if I went out for a beer with him and ended up thinking he wasn't cool.

Arizona (+8) over NEW ENGLAND (Sunday, 1 p.m. est)
Yes, I do know how awful the Cardinals were last week at home against Minnesota. But I just think that's a lot of points to be getting for a team that can score a lot of points. Even though the Pats posted 49 last week against Oakland, they did give up 26 to close-to-calling-him-a-bust JaMarcus Russell. I could be terribly wrong about this one, but what else is new.

DETROIT (+7) over New Orleans (Sunday, 1 p.m. est)
Please, someone in control of something, give the people of Southeast Michigan a break. I beg you.

Carolina (+3) over NY GIANTS (Sunday, 8:15 p.m. est)
Whether Brandon Jacobs is on the field or not, I still like the points in this game. The Giants just don't look like the same team lately (big revelation, I know), so it will really be a matter of whether or not they can get out of this funk heading into the playoffs. On the other side, if I could pick one head coach in the league to start a team, John Fox would make the list of the final three ... and maybe get the nod. They keep winning despite Jake Delhomme and his rather odd and uncomfortable look on the football field. If there were an award for "NFL quarterback who would look most like a waterboy in street clothes," Delhomme would win hands down.

I have a man crush on Gordon Hayward

There was really only one reason that I ever felt cool on a basketball court, back when I actually used to set foot on such a surface. That reason was that I had on the authentic Michigan hoops shorts – made famous by the Fab 5. And “authentic” was important when you were in junior high.

The Fab 5 still hold a place in my heart, no matter how much loot they were making. C-Webb, Jalen, Juwan, Jimmy and Ray ... they were like my best friends. Gimme a break, I was nine years old. When I heard the word “booster,” I thought it meant the seat. Not some conniving alumni who pays college ballers hundreds of thousands of dollars. I digress.

These days, I would consider myself to be a casual fan of Michigan b-ball (though I do love John Beilein). And by that I mean that I may casually flick the channel to a game to check the score if I know they’re on TV. There are two reasons this happened. One, Michigan has sucked since the Fab 5. Two, I graduated from Butler.

Like most Butler grads, we tend to follow our alma mater’s squad rather close. Although some of my buddies, one in particular, would argue that I actually pull for the refs. I don’t even know what that means, but whatever.

Let me just say, how is it really conceivable that the Dogs were picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League. Really? Fifth? In the Horizon League?! Say all you want about preseason rankings and predictions, but that’s about as much nonsense as I’ve seen in a while. Maybe it’s because I saw Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack play in high school before their arrival. Maybe it’s because I have half a brain, I don’t know. Either way, Hayward has been my boy. He’s a lot of people’s boy now, but I’m calling shenanigans on that one.

I watched the game last Saturday at Ohio State (which was in HD as some of you know…a little better than online feed from the Sony camcorder). After letting it soak in for a few days, and after seeing most all of Butler’s nine games and 8-1 record, there are a few things that have become clear to me. The first of which being that the loss in Columbus is not the worst thing that could have happened.

I was able to get a pretty decent read on Brad Stevens when I wrote a feature piece on him last winter, and one of the things I was most intrigued about coming into this season was watching how he would handle this group of studs coming in. Between Hayward, Shelvin Mack, Garrett Butcher and Ron Nored, the simple fact is that Butler had never seen this kind of talent roll into campus. Now we’re starting to see how legit Stevens really is, too.

With Hayward and Mack alone, Butler has two players with as many raw gifts as Eminem back when “My Name Is” was released. At 6-foot-8, Hayward can legitimately play four different positions at the mid-major level. He could be described with more adjectives than Dick Vitale could come up with (Lord, please, don't ever let Dickie V. call a Butler game). Mack, on the other hand, has an aggression and powerful first step on the offensive end of the floor that sometimes just makes you giggle when you see it. Butler used to be about lay-ups and efficiency. But Hayward and Mack can play inside the lane and above the rim. Period.

Bringing Stevens back into the picture, what I have been just as pleased to see is how these to guys have been coached on the defensive end of the floor. Mack has quicker hands than Thomas Jackson ever had, and Hayward has a somewhat freakish combination of hops, long arms and quick reactions. Some of that is obviously natural talent, but some of it is Stevens clearly putting as much emphasis on defense as offense.

The game in Columbus showed me a few different things. One, this team is ready to win and it’s ready to win now. Two, they desperately need more discipline. Enter Stevens yet again.

I could sit here and rip quite a few things I don’t like about what has happened and what is going on with line-ups and a dozen other things, but the truth is still that the Dogs are nine games into a season where most people didn’t know what to expect. I do have a few suggestions just for the sake of conversation, though. More minutes for Butcher; less minutes for Jukes and Nored; everyone lay off Howard because without him on the floor you can forget about it; and consider Mack at the point.

That’s going to wrap it up for now. I’m headed to Chicago for a few days, but will be back with another utterly thought-provoking column on Thursday or Friday. Feel free to e-mail me at thefuncarblog@yahoo.com with comments and insults, and I’ll do some type of feedback column in the next couple weeks. Cheers.