Some sporting thoughts for the second Sunday in November

1) What's wrong with Kansas? Well, nothing, at least not when it comes to the football team. The Jayhawks are a shocking 10-0, and yes, I know, they haven't "beaten anyone". Well, who had Ohio State beaten in getting off to a 10-0 start (before losing yesterday at home to Illinois)? Uhh.............no one, that's who. But, OSU is a "name" program, Kansas is not, so no one said boo about the Buckeyes string of victories over nonentities and the teams in what is a mediocre Big Ten this season. All the Jayhawks have done is beat every team they have played this season, and they have a couple of chances at signature victories in the next few weeks, with games against the #6 Missouri Tigers and (assuming they win that one) the #3 Oklahoma Sooners. My thought is that if Kansas wins both of those games, they'll be playing for the National Title in January, and deservedly so.

2) I know that it's gotten lost in the hoopla over the New England Patriots and (to a lesser degree) the Indianapolis Colts, but the NFC now has two 8-1 teams in the Dallas Cowboys and (!!) the Green Bay Packers. A lot of people thought that Dallas would be the class of the NFC, and the Cowboys have lived up to those expectations. Still, they were shellacked in their meeting at home with the Patriots (48-27), and I believe that if they were to meet a healthy Colts team, the result would be similar (a Dallas loss). The fact of the matter is that the NFC just isn't as good as the AFC right now.

3) Who's going to sign A-Rod? Until someone else does it, I still see him ending up back on the Yankees, no matter what the two sides are saying right now. A-Rod is going to make a run at Barry Bonds' steroid-fueled home run record, and I still think that the Steinbrenner clan would like that to happen when he is wearing Yankees' pinstripes. However, there are some teams with a lot of money who will be more than happy to throw some of it Rodriguez' way, among them the Chicago Cubs (though what would they do with Aramis Ramirez?), the San Francisco Giants (he's the perfect fit for a franchise that needs a superstar to follow Barroid Bonds), the Anaheim Angels (Vlad Guerrero can't do it all by himself) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (A-Rod loved playing for Joe Torre, who coincidentally happens to be managing in La-La land now). Ultimately, someone is going to make him even richer than he already is............

4) So far, those trades by the Boston Celtics for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen haven't worked out too badly for the Celtics, have they? Boston is off to a 5-0 start for the first time in a generation, and while I can't see Boston competing with any of the big teams out west (San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix, and even Houston) in a playoff series, it is establishing itself as the "team to beat" in the East. Honestly, how much fun is it live in Boston right now? The Red Sox have won two of the last four World Series'. The Patriots have won three Super Bowl titles in the past six seasons and are prohibitive favourites to win #4 this season. Now the Celtics are adding to the neverending parade in Beantown. Only the Bruins aren't meeting their end of the bargain, though even they are much better this season.

5) Speaking of hockey, we are seeing some amazing starts to the season by a few teams. The Ottawa Senators are off to a 14-2 start. The Detroit Red Wings are right behind them at 13-2-1. The Philadelphia Flyers have already won 10 games, a mark they didn't reach until January last season. Conversely, no team has gotten off to a horrible start, at least not yet. This could be a very fun season.......................