It's once again time for the best picks on the planet, or at least the cheapest. Home teams are in caps, Duke's Picks are in bold. New Orleans Saints -4.5 KANSAS CITY CHEIFS- Kansas City has spent the last couple week's getting out to big leads in the first half and then blowing them in the second. In addition, Larry Johnson returns to the lineup this game. So why lay 4.5 in a notoriously tough stadium? The real key to this pick is injuries on the defensive side of the ball for Kansas City. An already depleted linebacking unit will be without starters Derrick Johnson and Pat Thomas. In addition, starting DE Tamba Hali is unlikely to play with an ankle injury. Furthermore, the secondary is banged up. Brandon Flowers, Patrick Surtain, and Jarrad Page all were limited participants in practice on Thursday. Drew Brees should light up the sky in this affair and the Saints should

Duke's overall record against the spread, heading into week 10, stands at 32-27. Lot's of big dogs this week, let's get to it. Once again, here come the best picks on the planeta€¦or at least the cheapest. Home teams are in caps, Duke's Picks are in bold.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS -3 Indianapolis Colts - Indy hasn't looked so hot on the road in their last few outings, a 31-21 Monday Night loss to Tennessee and a 34-14 scorching at Green Bay. If the Pittsburgh fans were too much for Washington, in Washington, they should really be able to provide a boost against Indy in the Steel City.

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS -15.5 Kansas City Chiefs - If you're 3-5, you don't get to give fifteen and a half points. I don't care where the game is played (Whale's Vagina) or who it's being

The Titans remain undefeated, The Brady Quinn era begins in Cleveland, and Jason Campell finally throws an interceptiona€¦and then another one. Many questions to be answered: Can the Titans duplicate last year's miraculous Patriots feat? Are the Dolphins the class of the AFC East? What the heck is Al Davis doing now? Here are your NFL Power Rankings heading into week 10 of the NFL season.

1. Tennessee Titans (8-0) - Great defense plus dominant running game equals #1 status in the power rankings.

2. New York Giants (7-1) - The defense continues to carry the defending Super Bowl Champions.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) - They've played phenomenal football thus far and somehow have masked some glaring deficiencies on the offensive line. Nice victory in the home-AWAY-from-home game against the Washington Redskins.

That's right, another winning week for the Duke in week 8! That brings the season record to 30-22 against the spread with seven winning weeks out of eight. Last week, I told you the Browns would beat the Jags straight up, let you know that the Giants would beat the Santonio "Panama Red Zone" Holmesless Steelers, and that Tennessee would solidify their #1 Power Ranking with a big Monday Night victory against the Colts. So, once again, forget calling that 1-900 number and pulling out your credit card. Brandon Lang's got The Duke's Picks bookmarked at this point. Here come the best picks on the planet...or at least the cheapest. Home teams are in caps, Duke's Picks are in bold.

He entered the league as "The Round Mound of Rebound" and left as "Sir Charles." In 1993 he was the NBA's Most Valuable Player and in 2006, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Yet, despite all of his on court exploits, it's his off-court antics that have entertained us the most. With the NBA season tipping off last night and Barkley resuming his role as TNT's "Most Colorful" Commentator, what better time than to make a top 20 list of my favorite Charles Barkley quotes.

20. Ernie: "Auburn is a pretty good school. To graduate from there I suppose you really need to work hard and put forth maximum effort."

Charles: "20 points and 10 rebounds will get you through also!"

19. "I think that the team that wins game five will win the series. Unless we lose game five."

18. The goal of the '92 Olympic Dream Team when playing Panama: "To get the Canal back."

17. After throwing a guy through a 1st floor window in a bar fight, Charles in courta€¦

Judge: "Your sanctions are community service and a fine, do you have any regrets?"

Charles: "Yeah I regret we weren't on a higher floor"

16. "My family got all over me because they said Bush is only for the rich people. Then I reminded them, 'Hey, I'm rich'."

15. "These are my new shoes. They're good shoes. They won't make you rich like me, they won't make you rebound like me, they definitely won't make you handsome like me. They'll only make you have shoes like me. That's it."

Preseason commences, cuts are made, stars get injured, and I post ridiculously early rankings. With the NBA season tipping off tonight, I have ranked each team and provided my projected 2008-2009 record, along with their 2007-2008 record.

1) Los Angeles Lakers - Projection (60 -22) - Last Season (57-25) - A healthy Andrew Bynum along with a younger corps than the Celtics make them the team to beat in the coming season.

2) Boston Celtics - Projection (58-24) - Last Season (66-16) - Defending champs have an aging but spectacular corps. Expect another step back from Ray Allen. The losses of Posey and PJ Brown won't be as significant as many media heads are making them out to be.

3) New Orleans Hornets - Projection (58-24) - Last Season (56-26) - Chris Paul, David West, and Tyson Chandler are three young studs that will keep the Hornets relevant for years to come.

4) Houston Rockets - Projection (57-25) - Last Season (55-27) - Louis Scola got into gear as the year went on and should make significant strides in his sophomore season. Artest will be a great fit. (continued at link below)

Last week I got ballsy and told you to forget Brandon Lang and Bob Valentino. I went so far as to tell you that the "experts" at Sportsline were laughable. You'd have to figure that bout of detestable bravado would result in a losing week for The Duke's Picks. Well it didn't and The Duke's picks is now a miraculous 27-19 against the spread thus far this NFL season with just one losing week on the entire season! Last week, I gave you the Bills over the Chargers, told you the Titans would roll over the Chiefs, and told you no matter how atrocious the Lions may be, that the Texans laying nine would be too much. So, once again, forgot calling that 1-900 number. Put your credit card away. The Duke's here and he's got the best picks on the planeta€¦or at least the cheapest. Home teams are in caps, Duke's Picks are in bold.

Based on the tremendous success of our Ultimate ADP for Fantasy Football, I've decided to post an Ultimate ADP for Fantasy Basketball. There are only two major sources on the net for ADP in fantasy basketball, Yahoo and ESPN. I've combined their overall ADP's to come up with the Ultimate Fantasy Basketball ADP. Players with astericks have somewhat significant injuries which are summarized at the bottom of the post.

The series was already in danger of having the lowest viewership in World Series history. The Red Sox, the Yankees, the Cubs, all long gone. A 2-0 Phillies lead with the series heading back to Philly would be disastrous for Major League Baseball. Who would be tuning in?

As much as we all in the Philadelphia area love our Phillies, the story of this World Series is the engrossing tale of the Tampa Bay Rays meteoric rise from worst to first. 2-0 would have ended that fairy tale. 2-0 would have diminished the already waning interest of the most dedicated baseball fans.

And so, Brett Myers, with a full count, records a strikeout against Rocco Baldellia€¦.which is then appealed to first base and becomes a walk. And Jimmy Rollins is hit by a pitcha€¦that doesn't get him on base. And thus, the series is now tied at 1-1. The fairy tale, as contrived and ho hum as it may be, is given (full article plus poll at pcpsports.com)

With all the hoopla surronding the Phillies in the World Series (deservingly so), the Sixers will open their season on Wednesday.

After closing out the preseason with a win over the Nets, the Sixers finalized thier roster by cutting back-up big man Jared Reiner bringiing their roster down to 14 active bodies and one inactive - Jason Smith.

A few things stand out during the preseason:

Head coach Andy Reid and head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder announced that Pro Bowl guard Shawn Andrews underwent successful surgery on Tuesday to repair the back injury that he suffered in the Week 2 loss to Dallas.

The surgery will not force Andrews to be placed on the injured reserve list. Burkholder said that the recovery time could range from six weeks to three months. In the meantime, Max Jean-Gilles will remain the starter at right guard in Andrews' absence.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Watkins in Marina Del Ray, Cal. Andrews is still in California at this time and will remain

The craziest season in recent memory continues as the Cowgirls get spanked sending Jim Haslett to a 2-0 record as head coach of the Rams. Trend seems to be "if you get blown out one week, you'll blow somebody else out the nexta€¦and vice versa" Just ask the Panthers, Jets, Giants, Buccaneers, and Colts. Here are your NFL Power Rankings heading into week 8 of the NFL season.

1. Tennessee Titans (6-0) - Did what they had to do in Kansas City and did it impressively. Albert Haynesworth is a beast and Cortland Finnegan is gaining prominence as one of the league's top cover corners. Chris Johnson is a lightning bolt. Kerry "Cocktail" Collins makes this offense more stable, allowing the defense to do what it do.

2. New York Giants (5-1) - Cleveland was coming off a bye, was at home, and was due to break out of their offensive slump last Monday Night. The G-Men were in the wrong place at the wrong time. As I mentioned last week, this game was an aberation, and the Giants got the job done in the Meadowlands against the 49ers.

3. Buffalo Bills (5-1) - Trent Edwards was knocked out on the third play of the game and replaced by JP Losman in week 5. Losman clearly cannot lead the team like Edwards. Luckily for the Bills, Edwards was back this week and the Bills were able to take it to the San Diego Chargers. They're a solid all around team and will have their ups and downs.

Video of Barack Obama throwing his support to the Philadelphia Phillies for the 08' World Series!

So the Phillies are going to the World Series for the first time since 1993, that we know. However, what I am wondering is what team do Phillies fans like more, the 1993 bunch or the current group of guys from 2008?

I think the answer is simple - its today's team.

Back in 1993, we fell in love with the cast-offs, this team is homegrown. In the photo to the right, you'll see Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard. All came through the Phillies minor league system, as did many others on the current Phillies roster.

Take a look: (rosters and poll at link below)

610 WIP Radio's Anthony Gargano reported that the Philadelphia Eagles contacted the Cleveland Browns regarding the availability of tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. prior to Tuesday's NFL trade deadline. The Eagles also made a formal offer for Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Obviously, the team has realized that tight end has become a need position and that LJ Smith simply doesn't cut it. Pursuing a trade last offseason, rather than signing LJ Smith to a franchise tender would have been the wisest move, but at least the Birds made an effort to rectify the situation prior to the deadline. Expect talks to heat up again this