>I think every professional sport should have a rule that teams with a losing record are not allowed in the playoffs, even if it means giving out extra byes.
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>You won't get much argument from me - though it would be interesting to apply that to the NBA Atlantic Division. It is quite possible this year for a +.500 team from other Eastern conference divisions to miss the playoffs while a -.500 team wins the Atlantic. That's a joke.
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>BTW....I've been listening to a fair amount of Philly sports radio shows this week, and the broadcasters and callers are ecstatic about the Eagles right now. I think part of it is because the Flyers and Sixers are doing so poorly. The Eagles are executing very well right now, and if they manage to win the NFC East, I think they have as good a shot at going to the Super Bowl as anyone in the NFC.
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>There's only one thing that could hurt them - sometimes teams coming off a huge road success can wind up falling flat on their face when they come home. As great a coaching job as Andy Reid did in getting his players ready over the last month...he faces an even bigger challenge right now in keeping up their intensity level.
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Mike Ditka is on the local ESPN radio station once a week and I heard him on the way to work one day this week. Usually he is a little Neanderthal for my tastes but I thought he was pretty good this time. One of the things he was asked was who he considered the biggest threat to the Bears in the NFC. To my suprrise (expecting the answer to be the Saints) he said the Eagles.

I don't know if he stated this flatly as a prediction but it sure sounded like Da Coach considers the Ravens the leading Super Bowl contender. He said they're exactly the kind of team that wins Super Bowls.

You would have loved what he had to say about T.O. He said, "Bill Parcells is a better man than me because I never would have put up with it. If you want to fire me for insisting he not be on my team, fine."