TOP TEN- 9-25-06

Everybody has a Top 10. NS is no different. But rather than focus just on college football or Major League Baseball, we’ve decided to throw every sport –fly-fishing, deep-sea fishing and bass fishing- into the same pool and simply fish out the best athletes/teams each Monday. Let the debating commence…

1. City of New Orleans- The Saints/Falcons Monday Nighter may be the biggest deal, but seeing Tulane’s home opener (Sept 30) and hearing about the Mets’ new minor-league deal with the Zephyrs (starting in ’07) also makes sports lovers smile.
2. The AFC North- When the Pittsburgh Steelers are a distant third, that says an awful lot about the competition. Division leaders Baltimore and Cincinnati are a combined 6-0 and have pummeled opponents 155 to 67 on the scoreboard.
3. Ohio State- The defense is rocking. The Troy Smith-led offense is rolling. The No. 1 Buckeyes will come into their big Saturday evening match-up with No. 13 Iowa with just enough swagger to keep on truckin’.
4. New York baseball- The Yanks lost their weekend series to Tampa Bay. The Mets did the same thing with the Nats. While no one’s panicking on the playoff-bound teams, there is a measure of concern the two appear to be stumbling into the postseason.
5. Seattle Seahawks- The head-scratching time the New York Giants secondary had stopping the Hawks’ Darrell Jackson, Bobby Engram, Nate Burleson and just-signed Deion Branch could eventually prove a league-wide problem.
6. European Ryder Cup Team- “This is the pinnacle of my life,” announced European co-captain Ian Woosnam after his country’s smashing of the U.S. Hmm, maybe we just don’t take the event as serious as these guys do...
7. Detroit Tigers- You do realize these Tigers that just clinched their first playoff appearance since 1987 are the same ones that lost a combined 209 games in ’04 and ’05? Amazing story!
8. West Virginia- The sign of a great team is when you can win a game even with your stars –QB Pat White tossed three picks, RB Steve Slaton only rushed for 80 yards vs. East Carolina- having a rough day.
9. Chicago Bears- Rex Grossman and Co. made an early statement against the rival Vikes on Sunday. They’ll attempt to echo their stance against No. 5 on this list this coming weekend.
10. Trevor Hoffman- ESPN’s Steve Phillips was right. Closers Lee Smith and Goose Gossage deserve to be in the Cooperstown. So, too, does this face of the franchise who just became baseball’s all-time leader in saves.

Almost Made The Cut: Rutgers (ranked for the first time since ‘76), New Hampshire (explosive team is No. 1 in I-AA), Jeff Burton (won Dover 400 and took over the Nextel Cup lead)

Three WORST: Michigan State (lost to Notre Dame after leading 31-14 at half), Rice (have been outscored 107-14 the last two weeks), Atlanta Braves (after being swept by the lowly Rockies, no chance of playoffs or winning record)