'22 going on 25'
Smith gets Heisman, but Quinn might be the top pick
I wanted to point out this article I came across on SI.com this morning because after Troy Smith took home the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, a lot of people automatically penciled him in as the No. 1 draft choice. But then again, as the Texans proved, draft day is anything but logical.
The two worst teams in the NFL right now, Oakland and Detroit, both sit at 2-11. Tampa Bay is a close 3-10 behind, while Cleveland, Houston, Washington, and Arizona are all at 4-9. With Oakland having taken Andrew Walter last year and having Aaron Brook now, you could see them going a different direction come draft day. Detroit would benefit the most from a quarterback, and Quinn seems like he would be a good fit for a Mike Martz type offense. I don't know what Tampa Bay will do because they have a lot of confidence in Chris Simms...but I hope most teams learned this year that it doesn't matter if you have a David Carr or Domanick Davis already...you could always use a Reggie Bush or Vince Young. But who, Smith or Quinn, will go first? Here's what the article said:
NEW YORK (AP) -- Heisman Trophy night belonged to Troy Smith. Brady Quinn's big day will come in April at the NFL draft.
Seniors Smith and Quinn have one more game left in their stellar college careers.
Smith leads No. 1 Ohio State into the national championship game on Jan. 8 against Florida, where he'll try to wrap up his career with the ultimate prize. Quinn and Notre Dame are off to the Sugar Bowl to face LSU on Jan. 3.
Then it's time to start thinking about getting paid. At the next level, that Heisman Trophy on Smith's resume doesn't mean much -- Eric Crouch, Danny Wuerffel and Gino Torretta can attest to that.
Smith was the overwhelming choice of Heisman voters -- a record 86.7 percent of them put him first on their ballots. Arkansas running back Darren McFadden was the distant runner-up and Quinn came in third, one spot up from his 2005 Heisman showing.
Quinn, however, appears to be most wanted by the NFL. He's among the early favorites to be the first player drafted.
Size and system are Quinn's advantages. He's 6-foot-4 and under coach Charlie Weis, Quinn has been running essentially the same offense Tom Brady and the New England Patriots used to win three Super Bowls...[READ MORE].
NFL
Big game looms for Grossman, Bears on Monday Night
The Bears and their reeling offense will take on the St. Louis Rams tonight in a primtime Monday night showdown. Will Grossman find the form he had at the beginning of season, or will the Rams' offensive weapons be too much for Chicago to handle? Here's the talk around the newsdesk in Chicago this morning:
Time to really show their stuff
Struggling Grossman is on spot against Rams—so is run defense
By John Mullin
Tribune staff reporter
Maybe it's appropriate that the Bears' game Monday night against the St. Louis Rams is in the Show-Me State.
That's because, despite the Bears' 10-2 record and a healthy edge in the quest for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, the typical fan is still saying "Show me" to quarterback Rex Grossman and even to the NFL's No. 1 scoring defense.
Grossman is facing the first serious challenge to his No. 1 status since 2004, having lost it otherwise only to injuries. He is in danger of having Brian Griese supplant him if he cannot show coaches his difficulties of the last several weeks are behind him...[READ MORE]
You have to hand it to Jones, Benson
BY BRAD BIGGS Staff Reporter, Chicago Sun Times
It took the better part of two seasons, but the Bears' running game finally is starting to look like what the organization envisioned when it drafted Cedric Benson with the fourth pick in 2005.
In a line coach Lovie Smith has repeated several times this season, he said Benson had his best game last weekend when he worked hard for 60 yards and a touchdown on nine carries against the stingy Minnesota run defense.
With starter Thomas Jones leading the way, the 1-2 punch is coming together at a time when the Bears need it most with quarterback Rex Grossman on the brink of losing his job. What better way to limit turnovers than to hand the ball off? Running backs are responsible for only one of the Bears' NFC-high 29 turnovers...[READ MORE]
Humor
A Charlie Brown Christmas...as performed by the cast of Scrubs [Video].
Music
Little Miss Sunshine Soundtrack
The quirky Hoover family's travels from New Mexico to California in order to support 7yearold Olive's dream of being in a beauty pageant and the events that occur during the trip provide the backline to the soundtrack to the film Little Miss Sunshine. With the exceptions of the popdance "Catwalkin'" and remix of "Superfreak," which presumably are played during the actual competition, the music that accompanies the film is pretty, introspective, and vaguely sad the perfect choice for a 2006 Sundancecelebrated film (it was the reception it received at that festival that prompted Fox Searchlight to buy the distribution rights to it). Indie rock ala Sufjan Stevens (who in fact contributes two songs, "Chicago" from Illinois and "No Man's Land" from its outtakes album), courtesy of composer Mychael Danna and Colorado band DeVotchka, rolls and sweeps across the Southwestern landscape with strings and horns and melancholic chords as family drama plays out, both the film and the soundtrack resolving in the final notes of the album. But that song, "How It Ends," which returns to a theme found in the opener "The Winner Is," with arpeggios and eighthnotes that move sadly along as violins fade out and end, leaves questions unanswered. Because Little Miss Sunshine isn't trying to give definite reasons for anything, instead it's exploring relationships and life, and so as the songs go from RufusWainwrightesque ballads to spaghettiWesterninspired instrumentals these same feelings of searching and discovery come through in the notes. Everything has that kind of sad and funny and yet achingly beautiful feel that you get when tragedy or hardship strikes in an absurd manner, and you're not sure whether to laugh or cry. It's a touching album for a touching movie, good enough to be enjoyed on its own but better still as a reminder of the film - Marisa Brown, All Music Guide
1. The Winner Is - Little Miss Sunshine
2. Til The End Of Time - DeVotchKa
3. You Love Me - DeVotchKa
4. First Push - Little Miss Sunshine
5. No Man's Land - Sufjan Stevens
6. Let's Go - Little Miss Sunshine
7. No One Get's Left Behind - Little Miss Sunshine
8. Chicago - Suf Jan Stevens
9. We're Gonna Make It - Little Miss Sunshine
10. Do You Think There's A Heaven - Little Miss Sunshine
11. Catwalkin' - Tony Tisdale
12. Superfreak (Rocasound Revamp) - Rick James
13. La Llorona - DeVotchKa
14. How It Ends - DeVotchKa
