(The following is the beginning of a new series I intend to post at times about some of my random ramblings on current sports issues.)

Appeasing Randy Moss
The Oakland Tribune reported yesterday that the Oakland Raiders may consider keeping wide receiver Randy Moss instead of trading the nine-year veteran, opting to search for a capable replacement at quarterback for Aaron Brooks and Andrew Walter, both of who have struggled mightily behind center this season. Personally, I think it is sad to see a player with as much talent as Moss, who began his career with so much promise, begin to crumble during the point in his career when he should be fully in his prime. Do not forget that this was once a player who hauled in at least 1000 receiving yards in his first six seasons in the National Football League and had 10 or more touchdowns in five of those six. Moss has made headlines this season by claiming that his lack of production in 2006-07--481 yards and three TD's through 11 games--is because he is bored and frustrated with his team's success and why shouldn't he be? The Raiders (2-9), only four seasons removed from an appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII (in which they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 48-21), have been arguably the worst team in the NFL this season and have gone from the NFL's top offense in '02-'03 to the league's worst this season. The Tribune noted that Oakland may opt to pick up Jacksonville's Byron Leftwich if the four-year QB is made available by the Jaguars at the end of the season. A good thought, but fixing Oakland's offensive woes and reinvigorating Moss is going to take a lot more than adding a highly immobile quarterback like Leftwich, who hasn't been all impressive since being the 7th overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft, especially when there are more pressing problems the Raiders could look at to correct (such as their shaky offensive line).


Notre Dame's Long Held Secret
The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame came into the '06-'07 college football season with plenty of expectations riding on their bandwagon, which nearly buckled throughout '05-'06 when a large percent of the nation hopped on and never got off. The Irish had faced numerous struggles before 2005 with Head Coach Ty Willingham and replaced him with former New England Patriots Offensive Coordinator Charlie Weis, who helped the Irish go 9-3 the following season and earn a bid to a BCS bowl (in which they fell to Ohio State, 34-20). The loss to OSU did not sway those who argued that Notre Dame was on its way back to being a powerhouse, allowing the bandwagon to continue to roll on and once again, the Irish (10-2) are expected to earn a BCS bowl appearance. However, there is reason to reconsider how good the Irish actually are after this season and why they should once again earn a spot in the BCS bowl picture. Consider who Weis' team has played this season. Sure, Notre Dame has played top ranked teams such as Michigan and Southern California, but the Irish lost both of those teams by sizable margins--47-21 to Michigan and 44-24 to USC. Now, take a look at the rest of Weis' schedule. The combined record of the 10 teams that Notre Dame defeated is sub-.500 (54-59). Now, throw out the teams that the Irish were victorious over that had losing records this season and Notre Dame's margin of victory is only 11.8 points (and 8.75 if you toss out a 24-point win over Penn State that seems to be somewhat of an anomaly in the list). That's not an impressive number. Perhaps the blowout losses the Irish faced against Ohio State, Michigan and USC are better reflective of how good Notre Dame really is, not its record. I personally wouldn't invite them to a BCS bowl if I were on the selection committees but they will most likely earn a bid to one of the bowls just because of the program's history and false hype.


Heads up, Ben Wallace!
Chicago Bulls center Ben Wallace is already drawing ire from Bulls Head Coach Scott Skiles after violating a team rule that prohibited players from wearing headbands in Chicago's 106-95 win over the New York Knicks this past Saturday. Wallace has also bumped heads with Skiles over other rules the team has, most prominently one that prohibits music from being played in the locker room. The most recent clash is not something that Wallace intends to apologize for, telling the Chicago Tribune that "I'm not sorry" and that he "just felt like wearing it [the headband]." The defending NBA Defensive Player of the Year did yield that he expects to be punished and "[am] man enough to take [it]." Personally, I feel that the no headband rule is complete foolishness. I would be interested in having someone make a clear argument for why a headband is so detrimental to a team's success, because I do not think that one can be made. There is nothing wrong with headbands. Sure, some players use them for style but others use them to keep sweat from dripping down into their eyes. The thing does have a purpose, you know. It's not something where you would lean over and point out to a fellow fan, "Hey, look, Ben Wallace is wearing a headband! Ooh, scary! How thuggish!" At the very least, here's something Chicago should have thought about before they gave Wallace a four-year, $60 million deal this past off-season--Ben Wallace likes headbands. If you sign him, he's likely going to want to wear one. Either inform him from the start that it won't be acceptable to wear one by putting something in his contract about it or get rid of the ridiculous rule.


Flat-out dominant
Wow. Wow. Wow. I was unable to attend the Radford University women's basketball game last night at the Dedmon Center and like many RU students--I'm guessing because student attendance at RU sporting events is almost always low so why would everyone suddenly go against the norm--I missed out on an incredible outing by the Lady Highlanders, who flattened Virginia Intermont, 101-36. No, you did not read that final score incorrectly nor did I make a typo, RU won by 65 points. It was the third largest margin of victory by the RU women's basketball in the program's history. Every player on the RU roster grabbed at least one rebound, scored at least one point and nine of the team's 13 players had five or more points. Kelli Darden and Corrie Fertitta posted double-doubles with 10-point outings and had 10 and 11 rebounds, respectively. Vandy Pullen had the second-highest point total in the game for RU with 11. Sarah Stephens led all scorers with 18 on an 8-for-11 shooting performance. RU shot nearly 50 percent from the field on the evening (49.3). But the win over VIC was not the Lady Highs' impressive win this season—they also record a 67-60 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg Nov. 10. One thing's for sure: if the Lady Highs play at the level they did against VT and VIC, they will be a force to contend with in the Big South Conference this season.

Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated (Moss), Athlon Sports (Weis), Associated Press (Wallace), RUHighlanders (Walker)