Since J.J. Jack is busy pissing off Pacquiao’s fans for this Saturday’s fight, I’ll be doing our weekly NFL thing today.

Week 14 of the 2008-09 NFL football season begins slowly on a Thursday night when the league features two teams struggling at this point of the year. The Chargers, losers of their last three games, will play hosts to the Raiders, losers of the last three years, when the NFL kicks-off the brand new week exclusively for people who subscribed to the NFL Network.

The San Diego Chargers haven’t had a losing season in five years. It’s been just as long since their last loss to the Oakland Raiders. The Chargers, possibly the most disappointing team of the season, want to make sure neither of those streaks end Thursday night, as they host the Raiders, looking to avoid putting their slim playoff hopes at risk this weekend.

That’s why the San Diego Chargers can’t afford to lose to the Raiders on Thursday. We’re picking them by seven.

With a one-game lead in the NFC North, the Minnesota Vikings need every victory they can get to remain atop the division. Having a pair of Pro Bowl defensive linemen on the field certainly can’t hurt their cause. After a Minnesota judge issued a temporary restraining order this week blocking their league suspensions, Kevin and Pat Williams will likely be available for the Vikings this Sunday against the winless Detroit Lions. The Vikings have won 12 of their past 13 meetings with the…

It was a sad day in Texas.

While the Alabama Crimson Tide still remains on top of the BCS rankings after 14 weeks into the 2008 NCAA college football season, a new team took over the No.2 spot, the spot formerly owned by the Longhorns from Texas.

After Week 14, the Oklahoma Sooners, took the No.2 spot, earning a slot for the Big 12 championship game with an inside track to the BCS national championship by moving ahead of the Longhorns in the BCS rankings over the weekend.

Texas’ victory over these Sooners last October wasn’t enough to give the Texas Longhorns the advantage in a three-way tie between the Red River rivals and Texas Tech atop the Big 12 South. And that’s sure to leave many in Austin dismayed, to say the least.

The Big 12 had to use its fifth tiebreaker, best BCS rating, to determine which team will play North winner Missouri Tigers on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. The Sooners (11-1), who lost to Texas 45-35 in October, barely edged the Longhorns. Oklahoma has a .9351 BCS average while Texas has a BCS average of .9223.

Oklahoma was a point ahead of Texas in the USA Today coaches’ poll and six points behind the Longhorns in the Harris Interactive. The computer ratings preferred the Sooners and that made the difference. As a result, Oklahoma climbs to second in…

It’s amazing what Shaq is doing this season at 36 years of age eh?

Shaq has become quite a force in the NBA. Three world titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and another one with the Miami Heat proved that Shaq can bring any team the world championship. (Yes even a fucked up town like Miami…) And now that he’s in his fourth team of what is now a 16-year NBA career, it looks like Shaq’s at it again this 2008-09 NBA basketball season with the strong start he’s having this year.

The 16-year veteran has been playing great under new Phoenix Suns head coach Terry Porter. Last week, Shaq pounded Greg Oden and the Portland Trailblazers for 19 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Suns to an impressive 102-92 win. The 19-point, 17-rebound game Shaq pulled is his best game yet as a Sun and since we’re only in the very first month of the NBA season, it looks like Shaq still has more left in the tank for this campaign.

Of course, Shaquille O’Neal is more than happy of the start he’s been having this year. After coming up with his best game for the Suns against up and coming star Greg Oden, the 36-year-old veteran said he is the shogun of the NBA, adding that, ‘’Before you get to the shogun, you’ve got to go through a lot of ninjas. He has to go through Dwight Howard and Yao Ming.'’

Shaq’s 17 rebounds were one shy of his best as a Sun. He had 18 last season against the Denver Nuggets in March 5.

O’Neal has collected 35 20-plus rebound nights in his career, the last one coming Nov. 12, 2004, against San Antonio. His biggest rebound night came on Nov. 20, 1993, when…

We probably saw this one coming.

After refusing to sign a lot of money from the 18 NBA teams that have shown some interest in having him, INCLUDING quite strong bids from teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs, Antonio McDyess turned all of them down to return to the very team that traded him after playing only two games for that team this 2008-09 NBA basketball season.

Yes, Antonio McDyess will return to Detroit on December 3, probably in an attempt to correct the huge mistake of trading away their only chance to win a title, Chauncey Billups.

Since the Detroit Pistons traded Billups away in exchange for Allen Iverson, the Pistons offense looked anemic without any fluidity whatsoever. Richard Hamilton struggled without his wingman while Iverson has yet to gel with his new team.

With McDyess coming back, the Detroit Pistons will at least have that midrange threat back and hopefully, that will translate to more wins for a change. Personally, I don’t understand why McDyess is even bothering to return to the very team that didn’t want him anymore but hey, you have to admire his loyalty to Detroit right?

‘’It was a very difficult decision for him. He was weighing good offers financially, along with…'’

Yes, both teams are still playing despite the fact that their respective bids for a BCS spot are now virtually over.

Two teams coming of a loss last week will try to bounce back as the LSU Tigers and the Arkansas Razorbacks collide this Friday on the 14th week of the 2008 NCAA college football season.

With the loss last weekend, the Arkansas Razorbacks are now out of the BCS title picture. The loss also spoiled a successful first start for Nathan Dick, who Bobby Petrino started in place of his older brother, Casey Dick.

The senior was knocked out of the game against the USC Trojans two weeks ago with a concussion, but was suited up and announced as the starter last weekend.

Nathan Dick, a redshirt freshman, passed for 333 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Razorbacks stay in the game after it appeared Mississippi State might pull away. Sure, they still lost the game but for one guy named Dick, it still is a moral victory after suffering a concussion the week before.

On the other hand, the LSU Tigers had their six-game winning streak end after they were beaten by Ole Miss 31-13.

While there will be no BCS national championship defense this season for…

Hopefully, one of the six teams playing on Thanksgiving night will have something to be thankful for after it’s all said and done.

The brand new week of the 2008-09 NFL football season starts on Thanksgiving day with a triple-header that will surely blow your mind. Of course, SportsBetting.com is also there, ready to give you all kinds of Thanksgiving bonus offers aside from that turkey you’ll be chomping on at the dinner table.

We love tradition as much as the next guy, but can anyone give us one good reason why the Detroit Lions still get to play every Thanksgiving? I mean, come on, the Dallas Cowboys, they hold up their end of the deal, but the Lions organization simply doesn’t deserve a spotlight game on Thanksgiving Thursday any more.

But there they are, kicking the day off. At least if you’re on the West Coast you can sleep in and miss the Lions game. That said, it’s still Thanksgiving Thursday football, one of the best days of the year and of course, this is also the perfect opportunity for you to cash in on the Thanksgiving bonus specials SportsBetting.com is offering.

Here’s what will be cooking on Thursday besides turkey and trimmings.

The Tennessee Titans will play the struggling Detroit Lions first. While the Titans blew a chance to keep the perfect season alive last week when they lost to the New York Jets, the 0-11 Lions are still on pace for another type of…

I guess it is now safe to assume that the Crimson Tide have been the model of consistency this year huh?

SO FAR ANYWAY. After 13 weeks into the 2008 NCAA college football season, the Alabama Crimson Tide remained on top of the standings and are only two wins away from playing in their very first national title game since 1992.

The Alabama Crimson Tide play Auburn on Saturday and Florida in the Southeastern Conference title game and if they win both games, they will earn one of two spots for the BCS national championship.

The Texas Longhorns, because of the confusing computer rankings, find themselves in the No.2 spot after Texas Tech lost to Oklahoma.

Speaking of, the Oklahoma Sooners jumped to No.3 after an impressive 65-21 victory over what was once the No.2 team in the nation, the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The loss to Oklahoma dropped Texas Tech to No.7.

Texas is close behind the Oklahoma Sooners in the polls, but has the second-best computer rating. The Longhorns’ BCS average is .9209 out of a possible 1.000. Oklahoma is at .9125. The Sooners have a road game against Oklahoma State (9-2) on Saturday that, if they win, should boost their…

After a six-week absence, the Saints finally return to the Superdome.

Yep, it’s been six long weeks since the New Orleans Saints played a game at the Superdome this 2008-09 NFL football season. Against the Packers, people from New Orleans will finally see their team back. However, is this the same team making its return on Monday night?

For the last six weeks, the New Orleans Saints saw their trademark running game evaporate. The ground attack both Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister made famous is now 28th in the league. With Bush out and McAllister struggling without his wingman, the Saints were forced to go to the air more and so far, it’s good for a 5-5 stand, unfortunately, that’s good for only last place in the NFC South.

Of course, the Saints’ new approach enabled Drew Brees to become one of the best quarterbacks in the league today. He has been the model of consistency in New Orleans during a time of uncertainty with franchise running back Reggie Bush out and premiere tight end Jeremy Shockey still learning Sean Payton’s playbook.

But will that be enough to beat a Green Bay Packers team looking to keep up with the rest of the NFC North?

The Bears and the Vikings just won their respective games last Sunday to keep their spots atop the division. The Packers have to win this…

Every year, that’s what people from Texas have been asking ever since the ‘’Great Wall of China'’ got there.

But almost every single year, these Rockets have been bitten by the dreaded injury bug as injuries to either Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady always slowed the Rockets down when it looked like they have finally put it together. Guess what, the injury bug did it again THIS EARLY into the 2008-09 NBA basketball season. Cruel huh?

Against the Oklahoma City Thunder early this week, the Houston Rockets got ALL THREE STARS for crying out loud limping off the floor. And in case you have no idea who those three stars are, it’s Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming and new acquisition Ron Artest. All three are hurt people and although these guys claim they’re fine and dandy, I reckon one, if not all of these guys will miss some games this week or the next.

It all started with Tracy McGrady going down in the third quarter. He was declared by his team as ‘’fine'’ probably with false hope that their No.1 star doesn’t miss any more time for a change. Even without T-Mac, the Rockets soon opened up a commanding lead over the struggling Thunder team.

A few moments later, Yao Ming turned his left ankle. But again, since they were playing the lowly team from Oklahoma City, Yao was soon laughing and Houston pulled safely beyond Oklahoma’s reach.

Just when the game was about to be over, the injury bug struck again and…

You just know we’re in for one HUGE game on the college gridiron.

As the 2008 NCAA college football season goes forward for the final stretch, big games like this one will just keep on coming until the BCS bowl games arrive.

This weekend, the Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-0, 6-0) will look to go 11-0 for the first time, completing quite a brutal stretch with its trip to Norman to face the Oklahoma Sooners (9-1, 5-1).

The No.2 Texas Tech Red Raiders can clinch their first Big 12 South Division title and take another step towards a BCS berth Saturday when they visit the Oklahoma Sooners, a team ranked No.5 in the nation and is also battling for the division crown as well as a spot in the BCS.

Prior to last weekend’s bye, the Red Raiders won 63-21 at Kansas on Oct.25, defeated then No.1 Texas 39-33 on Michael Crabtree’s last-second touchdown catch on Nov.1 and pounded eighth-ranked Oklahoma State 63-20 the following week.

Graham Harrell has directed coach Mike Leach’s pass-happy offense to a Football Bowl Subdivision-best 433.7 passing yards per game, letting the Red Raiders to land third in scoring at 47.9 points a contest. They’ve gained at least 421 yards in every game and lead the FBS in average total yards at 566.3.

Texas Tech topped 600 yards for the fourth time this season against Oklahoma State, as Harrell threw for 456 yards and six touchdowns.

On the other hand, the Oklahoma Sooners lead the FBS with 51.4 points per…