Time to answer some questions from fans and readers. Feel free to send me some of your own.

Don_Mossi asks: How would you grade Isiah Thomas' job as Knicks GM?

Isiah is a good friend of mine and I love him very much. He had some challenges to deal with in New York and he did the best he could under the circumstances. I support his efforts and wish him the best.

Don_Mossi asks: What do you think really happened with Isiah overdosing on sleeping pills?

You know, I really don't know what happened. I have not spoken to him since this story broke, so I really don't know. I will say that I love and support my old friend and wish him the very best.

Dancin_Tony_Danza73 asks: What were your thoughts on Isiah's comment about Larry Bird in 1987 when he said, "I think Larry is a very, very good basketball player. He has exceptional talent, but I have to agree with Rodman. If he were black, he'd be just another good guy."

Well, we have 8 weeks in the books, and in a fantasy season that is your mid-way point. Every league has those couple of good teams that just can't seem to buy a win and a few teams that look downright awful on paper but just can't seem to lose. By now you should know if your team has a chance to take the crown, or whether you need to start coming up with all your excuses as to what happened to your team.

Well if you need excuses, this article is for you, because if you drafted more than a couple of these guys on your team, you more than likely have a stiff neck by now from looking up in the standings. These slackers listed below were all drafted in 12 team leagues according to Average Draft Position Tool provided by OPENSports.

Criteria to make the team are as follows. First and foremost his play has to stink worse then the men's room at Giants Stadium. You also have to be someone drafted in the upper echelon at your position. I am for the most part going to stay away from guys who are lost from the year on injuries. With that on the table, let's get to this.

Quarterback

Derek Anderson CLE

This guy came out of nowhere last year to lead many a fantasy squad to the promise land by coming off the bench in week 1 and finishing the season with 29 touchdown passes. Not a soul saw it coming, so he truly turned into waiver wire gold. He faded to finish out the season, but still left many feeling he can repeat his performance. Those who drafted him this season (his ADP was 52) found out that he belongs where he came from to start last season, ON THE BENCH. He has only thrown for over 200 yards twice in his first 7 games and is currently ranked 21st in scoring at his position. Had the Browns not won 3 of their last 4 games we would be getting a look a Brady Quinn.

Dishonorable Mention: Peyton Manning IND, Matt Hasselbeck SEA, Vince Young TEN

Tom Brady does not get a nod because his season was ruined by injury

Running Back

Joseph Addai IND

He was taken in the first round of every draft this season, at average the 5th position, and has given less productivity then undrafted players like Mewelde Moore, Michael Pittman and Le'Ron McClain. Yes he has had to deal with a hamstring injury that had him miss almost 3 full games, but it wasn't as if he was lighting up the league before he got hurt. He currently is averaging 3.5 yards per carry and his long run of the year is just 15 yards. Not numbers you would expect from an "elite"option at the position. Out of every player on this list, he has the best chance to turn it around. But it comes down to if you think he can, buyer beware my friends..

Larry Johnson KC

In most drafts he was an early second rounder, and he did have two monster games this year. But they were against two very bad rush defenses. Besides his two week outburst, he has been non-existent. He ran for 2 yards on 7 carries against Carolina, and because this guy can't keep himself out of trouble, may up ending his season with that performance. There are rumblings that he may not see the field again this season, and for a player to lose his season to anything other than an injury gets an automatic spot on this roster.

Laurence Maroney NE

Can you remember any back over the last two seasons that got so many second chances from owners because of the team he played on? I won't deny the guy had a very solid rookie campaign, and gave reason for hope, but man how the times have changed. He was drafted on average in the late 3rd to early 4th round this year, and before going on season ending injured reserve had just 28 carries for 93 yards and ZERO touchdowns. Normally I would give an injured guy a pass, but with how New England handles their injured players, who knows if they just shut him down due to ineffectiveness? It wouldn't surprise me one bit, as he was outplayed by every New England running back who touched the ball this season.

Dishonorable Mention: Fred Taylor JAC, Selvin Young DEN, Willis McGahee BAL

Wide Receiver

Chad Ocho Cinco, CIN

He could have changed his name to whatever he wanted; it wasn't going to help him this year. He was on average the 9th receiver taken off the board and is currently ranked 43rd in the league in scoring at his position. What makes him even more difficult to stomach is his mouth, which consistently writes checks he hasn't been able to cash this season. The one stat on him that sticks out the most is he has yet to break 60 receiving yards in any game this season.

Click below to read

NYJ @ Buf

Tough matchup for the Jets with the Bills losing last week. This young bills team will get their focus back and continue to prove that they are one of the better teams in the AFC. If they can force Brett Favre into some tough throws, he will turn the ball over. Jets win.

Det @ Chi

The Lions are getting closer and closer to a win, but this week may not be good for them. Chicago is trying to make a run and stake claim of the NFC North and the not so good Lions are in the way. Chicago wins.

Jax @ Cin

The Bengals look bad and the Jags lost to Cleveland last week. With his job on the line, I look for Jack Del Rio to have his team ready to pounce over the helpless Bengals. They should run the football at will, even without their best offensive lineman, Chris Naeole. Jags win.

Bal @ Cle

This should be a good matchup of AFC North foes. With both teams coming off big wins last week, they share the same confidence, but look for Cleveland, whom I think is dangerous because things are clicking. Joe Flacco always backs up a good game with a bad one, which will help the Browns in this one. Cleveland wins.

TB @ KC

With L.J.'s pending suspension, the Chiefs are in trouble. Tampa Bay's troubles in the red zone should be solved this week. Also look for the Tampa defense to get after Chiefs' QB Tyler Thigpen and force him into more turnovers than what the Jets did. Tamp wins.

Hou @ Min

This could be a coming out party for A.D. against a Texans team that doesn't play well on the road, but I don't think it will be enough to combat Schaub, Johnson, and Daniels. Houston is on a roll and they should exploit the secondary of the Vikings. Houston wins.

Click on the link below to read more.

Let's talk football. Shoot me some questions.

JohnD asks: John, the Broncos are leading the AFC West despite losing two games in a row. Do you think the Chargers have enough firepower to catch them?

I think the Chargers do, but they are playing so poorly on defense, it's going to hurt them. I think the Broncos will have a strong second half this season and once they get Ryan Torain back a€" even though he is unproven a€" as their running back they, will run the ball more. Overall, I think the Broncos will win the AFC West.

Click the link below to read the rest of this Q&A

With one league already underway and the other just about to begin, here are five reasons why the WNBA is better than both the NBA and the NHL.

5. Classier merchandise a€" Everyone knows that ladies can add a touch of class to anything. Wearing a sweater (i.e. hockey jersey) is overtly fat and Canadian, no denying that. And wearing mesh shorts and a tank top is extremely dorky. But when it's a women's basketball jersey, it's definitely not. Something about the wider fabric on the shoulders, the snug fit around the waistline and the way it rests on my child-bearing hips is definitely classy. Not to mention sexy!

4. Better movies a€" "Hoosiers", "White Men Can't Jump", "Celtic Pride", "Slap Shot, Miracle", "The Mighty Ducks 2", "Eddie" and "Space Jam" are all iconic movies (and the latter two had killer sound tracks). But women's basketball has the backing of one of the best sports movies of my generation. It's the story of a cocky, spoiled and selfish basketball player who loses touch with the world only to find comfort with a struggling women's team a€" with the help of makeup, a wig and lots of padding a€" that comes together in the end to win and make the selfish player a better person. I'm talking, of course, about the 2002 cinematic tour de force that was "Juwanna Mann." What? You've never heard of Juwanna Mann? Juwanna fight? Go and buy it at Wal-Mart. It'll be the best $3.75 you'll ever spend on a DVD.

3. Catharsis a€" I don't know about you, but I really don't want to see a bunch of sweaty, athletic men beating each other up or charging the stands and beating on defenseless accountants. But I'm all for some girl-on-girl action. (And so is that highly-coveted 18-34 lesbian demographic the WNBA caters to.)

Click the link below to read the rest of the article.

The Why Guys -- three fun-loving, sports-loving guys -- discuss which playoff baseball team would be the best to party with, then give their Top 5 in a not-so-aesthetic category.

Bill Parcells has sponsored more rehab projects than your local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous.

And the early stages of Miami's 2008 season might be his most impressive resurrection project yet a€" at least after four games.

Clearly, four games are not a lot of evidence. We know that. The season could still end disastrously for Miami, which tabbed Tuna king of the sea back at the end of the 2007 season (he's officially the vice president of football operations).

But he's quickly left his 'Finprint on Miami.

Keep in mind that the 2007 Dolphins a€" the 1-15 Dolphins a€" were one of the worst teams in the modern football era and the worst team, by any measure, in franchise history.

But here they are today, a respectable 2-2 and fresh off back-to-back victories over both AFC title game contenders of 2007 (New England and San Diego). The Dolphins clobbered the Patriots 38-13 in Week 3. Here on Sunday, in their first game since then, they hung on to beat the Chargers, 17-10.

This is no fish tale, folks: the Dolphins are suddenly a team that could make waves in the AFC.

Click the link below to read the rest of the article.

I'm currently in Athens, talking with tailgating fans that are priming themselves for a huge game tonight for their third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs against the eighth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.

We're handing out OPEN Sports stuff and trying to talk to everyone around the entire campus. It's a little different than other stadiums because there's not a huge parking lot for everyone to tailgate. It's like pockets of people everywhere.

It's about an 80-20 split of Georgia to Alabama fans right now. And we didn't really see that many Bama fans on the road when we were coming here, but that number will fluctuate throughout the day.

There's definitely a big buzz locally for the Dawgs because of the Trojans' loss Thursday and the Gators struggling early against Ole Miss. Both of those factors help Georgia's cause for a higher ranking.

It was tough to get gas anywhere on my way up here because of Hurricane Ike going through Texas, which affected gas being transported to local gas stations. After passing about eight gas stations without gas, we realized that's a priority for our road trip! We even saw a few signs kidding that they'd trade tickets for tonight's game for gas!

Looking at our new Daily Odds section, tonight's game started off with an 8-point spread for the favorite Georgia a€" but it's already down to 6.5 points. The more popular pick is Alabama with the points so far.

Here's my take on the game: Alabama is going to pull off the upset straight-up. Georgia will rely on their running game on the strength of RB Knowshon Moreno's legs. Alabama will dominate on both sides of the ball. Their defensive line is solid and Georgia has question marks on the O-line. Georgia's top defensive lineman got hurt earlier in the year, so that hurts the Bulldogs' pass rush too.

I'm predicting a 17-14 upset win by the visiting Crimson Tide.

Click the link below to read the rest.

So let me get this straight -- the St. Louis Rams are benching their QB ( Marc Bulger) in favor of Trent Green, who's basically one hit away from the end of his career, behind an offensive line that can't protect and has given up 11 sacks in three games?

Talk about a coach passing the buck!



Their offensive line can't protect or run block.



They are dead last in the NFL in rushing at 56.3 yards a game with Steven Jackson in the backfield



The Rams are dead last in scoring with only 9.7 points a game.

Maybe head coach Scott Linehan might want to adjust his game plan a bit. Maybe the Rams want to readdress their receiving options. And maybe Isaac Bruce isn't such a bad option to have on your team. He sure looks good in San Fran a€" and a whole lot better than Dane Looker and Eddie Kennison.

Guess Scott doesn't understand that head coaches are supposed to fix problems like play calling and play selection. You don't just make a change for the sake of making a change.

What is so mind boggling is that they actually think all of these problems are going to be solved by switching QBs. To suggest that the QB is the problem on that football team is comical a€" sort of like that team right now. The Rams average 9.7 ppg and give up 38.7 ppg, dead last in both categories. They are actually worse than the Lions, if that was possible.

Under the conditions, Bulger is actually doing fairly well. He has only thrown two picks, completed 58.4-percent of his passes and has a QB rating of 73 with no run game and no pocket to throw from. He has thrown fewer interceptions and has a better QB rating than Peyton Manning, who's not going anywhere. Why? Because he's the franchise and the team would never insinuate that the reason they are losing is because of him. Because when your team has a franchise QB, he takes all the reps until the ship is corrected, unless he's the sole reason they are losing (see Tarvaris Jackson, Derek Anderson).

Sounds to me like Linehan read a few too many articles about how his job was in jeopardy and he thought it would look good if he made a move.

To read the rest, please click the link below.

Well week 1 is officially in the books, and it was indeed a memorable one. Tom Brady, and his 124 game long starting streak are no more, as he failed to make it out of the first quarter with a season ending ACL tear. I am sure every person who reads this column has already heard the sob story from the guy in their league who took Brady. That is the risk you run when you take a quarterback in the first few rounds. You more then likely are not going to have a guy on your roster that can pick up that slack you lost. How many owners do you think took a back-up quarterback before the 12th round if they drafted Brady? Next time they whine to you about their lost season be sure to point that out.

The fantasy teams that ended up on the winning side of their match-ups were the one's who were able to draft well after round 2, specifically at the running back position. Michael Turner, Willie Parker, Reggie Bush, Brandon Jacobs and Matt Forte all came up big for their owners. Are these performances sneak peaks of great seasons in the making, or just flashes in the pan? Only time will tell. Chances are if you own one of these guys you are extremely excited about your chances next week. I know I am already developing a man-crush on Turner.

For all you week one winners, get your gloating out of the way early. You have plenty of match-ups to analyze, injured players to keep track of and second guessing to do. Why must you do so? I have a simple answer for you, its time to pick-up those waiver wire gems that can make your season. Do you cut Deuce McAllister to pick up Jamaal Charles? Is this the year Matt Jones finally realizes his potential after getting busted with all that powder? Can Matt Cassel be the next Kurt Warner, or even Tom Brady? You better make up your mind fast, because most waiver claims need to be in by Wednesday night! Hopefully my week 2 rankings can help you out.

*******Disclaimer*********

These rankings are based on player talent, matchups and personal opinion. These are week by week rankings, not overall rankings. Players are ranked as if they are playing. These ranks will change next week.

Quarterback:

1. Tony Romo

2. Peyton Manning

3. Ben Roethlisberger

To see the rest of the ranking, click the link below.

Let's be honest here, what you're really looking forward to at the start of the school year is the start of your football season. And you should always prepare a proper tailgate for those home games as you would a midterm, perhaps even more. Unless, of course, your school has no football team a€" then you can should buy pens, notebooks, folders, a calculator and a book bag and concentrate on actual school.

Here is a list (with pictures) of your essential supplies for those Saturday home games:

1. Male-to-Female ratio: Before you even buy anything, you need to make sure there is a good ratio of both sexes. With females present, males are more likely to behave (not a guarantee) and will not allow their tailgate area to smell like a porta-potty (again, also not a guarantee). Also, if your tailgate is just a bunch of dudes, adding alcohol almost guarantees weird stuff to happen.

2. Attire: You want to make sure you're dressed to show support for your home team. T-shirts, hats, flags, buttons, pins and towels are all acceptable. Even questionable tastes in fashion judgment are acceptable as long as it's in the name of supporting your school. Just make sure you don't overdo it. You'll end up looking like a maniac.