A - About time. The Colts' offense has had more than its share of struggles this year, but on Sunday, for perhaps the first time all year, they were as ferocious as they used to be. Peyton Manning had 320 yards passing, and he helped his team score seven times in eight drives, including five in a row. It was a bad sight for every other team fighting for a wild card spot in the AFC. The only thing that will make them feel better is that the Colts' defense was sub-standard - the offense was as good as it was, and Houston only lost by six.

B - Brawl. Well, calling it a brawl might be a bit much, but the Suns and the Rockets did get into a bit of a scrap on Wednesday night. Matt Barnes crashed through a screen set by Rafer Alston, and it was on. There was pushing, shoving, and even a couple of punches thrown. In the end Alston, Barnes, and Steve Nash were suspended, and Shaq and Tracy McGrady were fined. The Suns suffered the bigger loss, but they still managed to win their game without Nash.

C - Cardinals, Ball State. The surprise of the MAC just keeps chugging along. They rolled over an outclassed Miami of Ohio team this week to move to 10-0. That sets up a showdown with Central Michigan, also undefeated in the conference. Ball State stands a decent chance of going 12-0 given their play, but they won't have much to show for it. With Utah and Boise State ahead of them, it would take an absolute miracle for them to bust the BCS. Instead of one of the big five games, they'll likely end up in the International Bowl or the GMAC Bowl. Not quite the same thing, is it?

D - Dwight Howard. Here's a strange fact - Howard might be an absolute double-double machine, but until Wednesday night he had never had a triple-double in his career. He may be Superman, but he'd never managed this. Against Oklahoma City he had 30 points, 19 boards, and 10 blocks. It was the first time that a player had had 30 points and 10 blocks since 1996. Howard and his teammates are red hot, having won seven of eight.

E - Eastgate, Peter. Eastgate may be only 22 years old, but he never needs to work another day in his life if he doesn't want to. Eastgate was the last man standing in the World Series of Poker main event, outlasting 6,843 other players to take home more than $9.15 million. Eastgate, who is from Denmark, is now the youngest WSOP main event champ. By the end of the tournament this was not a game for cowards - the big blind was $1 million.

F - Finally. I was unfortunately optimistic about the 49ers coming into the season. That hasn't gone well, obviously, but there are signs of progress of late. After almost beating Arizona last week, the Niners laid a licking on the Rams on Sunday. We can't get too excited - the Rams are only technically an NFL team, after all - but the Niners may actually finally be showing some of the value that they have had the potential for all year. The replacement of J.T. O'Sullivan with Shaun Hill is going so well that you have to wonder why it didn't happen sooner - like soon enough for Mike Nolan to save his job.

G - Giants. The story was much like we have become used to in New York this year - Eli Manning was just okay, but the running game was dominant, the defense made the opposing quarterback very uncomfortable, and the Giants further asserted that they are the class of the NFC. The team has now run for more than 200 yards three games in a row, and both Jacobs and Bradshaw are maintaining impressive yards per carry averages.

H - Hurricanes. This isn't yet the kind of Miami powerhouse that we were used to, but it's clear that Randy Shannon has things moving in the right direction. With a win over Virginia Tech, Miami moved to 7-3 and the top of the ACC Coastal. That means that their game against Georgia Tech next week is essentially a division championship game - Miami wins and they make the ACC Championship Game. Given where Shannon's team was last year, and even earlier this year, it is pretty impressive that the BCS is still a distinct possibility.

I - Iverson, Allen. There was obviously going to be an adjustment period when a player like Iverson joined the Pistons. It just wasn't very long. In just his fifth game with the team, Iverson and the Pistons rolled past the previously undefeated Lakers. Things still clearly aren't perfect yet, though - Phoenix beat the Pistons by 18 on Sunday. That loss was the last of seven of eight games on the road, so the true test of the team's progress will be once they get to settle in at home for five of six.

J - Julien Leparoux. It didn't take a genius to make money at Churchill Downs on Tuesday. All you had to do was bet on whatever horse Leparoux was riding. The 25-year-old French jockey won on his first seven mounts. That tied a record for Churchill Downs set by the great Pat Day. Leparoux had two chances to surpass the mark, but he wasn't able to get it done, though he did finish second once. Leparoux was the leading jockey at three of the last five meets at Churchill. He was already leading at this meet, so the seven wins make him a heavy favorite.

K - Keep on rolling. The unlikely Titans just keep winning, and the ways they do it are always interesting and surprising. The running game wasn't working in the first half, and Tennessee was down by 11 to Jacksonville at the half. For salvation, they turned to a guy who should be way too old to save game - Kerry Collins. Collins looked like he was back at Penn State as he marched the Titans down the field for three second half touchdowns. The defense did the rest, and suddenly a first half scare turned into an easy win.

L - Lincecum, Tim. He might be scrawny, but the San Francisco Giants' ace sure can pitch. Baseball writers clearly took notice, as Lincecum cruised to an easy win in the NL Cy Young race. Lincecum didn't have the wins of Brandon Webb, but since he plays for the Giants each of his wins should count double - he doesn't get a lot of help. The voters proved they were paying attention when they gave Cliff Lee the AL version of the award by a similarly wide margin.

M - Matt Cassel. The only thing that went wrong with the Patriots' QB on Thursday was that he couldn't control a coin flip. The Jets won in overtime, but Cassel was the clear star of the night. Cassel threw for 400 yards and three touchdowns as he led his team back from an early 24-6 deficit. The last TD was particularly impressive - as time expired, Cassel fired a fourth down pass into impossible coverage to find Randy Moss for the tying score.

N - NASCAR. Jimmie Johnson fully entered the realm of legends this week. Johnson was fast enough in Miami to become the second driver in NASCAR history after Cale Yarborough to win three consecutive season championships. Johnson's accomplishment is particularly impressive given that he has done it under the Chase system. The playoff system should make it harder for one driver to dominate, but Johnson has won eight of the last 30 Chase races.

O - Oden, Greg. The 20 year old who looks like he is about 60 finally returned to action, but his first game wasn't exactly worth the wait. Against the Heat, Portland's Oden had just three points and two rebounds in 16 minutes - not exactly what the Blazers were looking for when they took him first overall. Thankfully, he has been much better since - he has averaged 12 points and 9.5 rebounds in his next two games, and had a double-double in his second full game.

P - Pittsburgh Penguins. Sidney Crosby and company didn't put up much of a fight against Detroit in the Stanley Cup final, but they made the most of their chance at revenge. The Pens were down 5-2 in the third period in Detroit, but they showed impressive heart by tying it up at six in regulation, and then won it in overtime. The win is part of an ongoing six-game winning streak. Those watching the team have to be concerned by the play of Crosby, but he has six points in his last three games and appears to have found his stride.

Q - Quite scary. LSU got the result that they expected - a win at home over lowly Troy. They just didn't get it in the way they were supposed to. Sixteen point favorites shouldn't generally find themselves trailing by four touchdowns at home, but it was 31-3 for Troy early in the third quarter. Luckily for the Tigers, the Trojans remembered they were the Trojans, and LSU scored 37 unanswered points to win. LSU came through, but this performance and that of Georgia certainly weakened the argument that the SEC is the class of the country.

R - Ridiculous. There are two things I believe with absolute certainty - there should be no crying in baseball, and no ties in any sport. The Bengals and the Eagles broke my second rule when their game ended in a 13-13 deadlock on Sunday. Anyone who thinks that the NFL's playoff format is the best possible solution just isn't paying attention. There's another issue here, too - doing anything other than beating the Bengals soundly isn't acceptable for a team that wants to be a legitimate contender.

S - Shutouts. When the Colorado Avalanche scored on Roberto Luongo in the third period on Wednesday to tie Vancouver at one they were doing more than just breaking Luongo's shot at a shutout. They were breaking a far more impressive scoreless streak. Luongo hadn't been scored on for more than 242 minutes. That streak included three straight shutouts. Vancouver didn't come into the year with high hopes, but Luongo's brilliance has vaulted his team into first place in the Northwest division. Not that that is much to be proud of - the Northwest is the weakest of the six divisions.

T - Tar Heels. North Carolina started their march to a national championship on Saturday, but they had to do it without Tyler Hansbrough. They were only playing Penn, though, so missing their best player wasn't a huge problem. Two freshmen stepped up in Hansbrough's absence. Tyler Zeller scored 18 points, and Ed Davis added a double-double that featured 14 rebounds. Not bad for a couple of youngsters, but then if UNC can't get good young players then no one can.

U - UFC. There is a new Heavyweight Champion in the UFC, and he looks suspiciously similar to a former WWE champ. Brock Lesnar's size and strength was enough to overcome the superior experience of the legendary Randy Couture. It was a convincing second round win, and that had to be a major relief for Dana White and the UFC - they were promoting Lesnar very hard, but he had only beaten Heath Herring, so they had no way of knowing if he was any good.

V - VMI. Last year we made fun of Kentucky for throwing away their credibility by losing to Gardner-Webb. If you remember the jokes you told, you can pull them out again and just replace Gardner-Webb with VMI. For the second straight year, Billy Gillispie has led his team to a crushing early season loss to a totally outclassed team with no previous record of success against major programs. VMI not only won by eight, but they managed to score 111 points against an SEC defense. Gillispie is taking an odd approach to rebuilding a proud program.

W - Weather. Now is the time when weather starts to really wreak havoc on football. As proof, you could have watched the nightmare of a game between Pittsburgh and San Diego. The Steelers won 11-10, and the weather is the best of many excuses for the offensive ineptitude of both teams. Many bettors are crying conspiracy about how the game ended, and that had nothing to do with the weather. Troy Polamalu scored a TD as time expired to cover the spread, but the officiating crew took the score away in an obvious and ridiculous mistake. Lots of people seem to be pointing to that - and the fact that Pittsburgh had 115 penalty yards to San Diego's five - as evidence that the fix was in. Is Tim Donaghy an NFL official now?

X - aXed. Syracuse fixed a mistake they made three years ago when they fired coach Greg Robinson on Sunday. Robinson was just 9-35 at the school, including a laughably bad 3-23 mark in the Big East. That's hardly enough to warrant a $1.1 million per year contract. Robinson joins a rapidly growing list of deposed coaches this year. Hopefully schools with football programs that have potential learn from this mess - Robinson had never before been a head coach, and a guy like that isn't a good risk even if he seemed like a genius coordinator. Notre Dame would probably echo that sentiment.

Y - You're fired! The Tampa Bay Lightning resemble a circus under their new ownership, but they took the madness to a new level this week. Barry Melrose was fired after just 16 games behind the bench. Hiring Melrose seemed like a terrible idea - he'd been in a TV studio for more than a decade - but this is ridiculous. There is no way he could have proven his incompetence in a month - it should have taken him at least two. To add an element to the soap opera, Melrose has been replaced by Rick Tocchet, the coach who was at the center of the gambling scandal that ensnared Janet Gretzky.

Z - Zzzz. College football is the greatest sport there is, but this was not a good weekend upon which to build that argument. The sport was strangely yet completely devoid of real drama and excitement this week. The BCS standings were unchanged, and no teams at or near the top of the polls had anything even remotely approaching a scare. Luckily, the schedule is far more exciting next weekend, because this weekend was lacking. Those teams that were playing played well and won like they were supposed to. Where's the fun in that?