Coach Parcells/Bowl Picks/NBA

Bill Parcells is back in football as the V.P. of Football Operations for the Miami Dolphins. Just yesterday it was being reported that Parcells would be taking the same job with the Falcons but apparently that fell through and Parcells took the Dolphins job. I feel bad for Arthur Blank and the Falcon fans. Blank loses his coach, his team gets crushed on Sunday by the Bucs, and now he can't get the right guy to come run his football team. The man wants to win so badly but can't even find someone to run his team. Gotta applaud the effort. As for Cam Cameron, he's as good as gone.

Of all the games I talked about before I forgot to mention that there were two great NBA games last night. Boston matched up with Detroit and Dallas played Phoenix. Boston and Detroit battled down to the wire as both teams made spurts throughout the second half. You've probobly heard that Chauncey Billups hit two free throws to win the game and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see this game as a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals. No one else on that side of the conference has a chance to get even close to either one of these teams. The series will go seven games but I'm not sure who will win, that pick will come later.

The Phoenix/Dallas game looked as if it was going to be a blowout until Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire took over in the second half and brought the Suns back before they lost a close game. Last night's game is the type Phoenix needs to win if they want to get to the NBA Finals. They won a game in San Antonio on Monday night but the Spurs played without Tony Parker. They have to prove they can win on the road. With Shawn Marion on the way out this may be the last chance the Suns have at winning a championship with this team. Basically, the road to the Finals travels through Texas.

Bowl Picks that are a long time coming:

Poinsietta Bowl
Navy has a contract to get the automatic bid to this bowl as long as they win eight games. Navy won another Commander-In-Chief Trophy and finally ended their 43-game losing streak to Notre Dame. I don't see them beating Utah who is on a roll and has won 7-of-8.

New Orleans Bowl
Howard Schnellenberger is working his magic again in South Florida this time with Florida Atlantic. The Owls play Memphis who fired defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn and got worse on defense. Memphis can score points like their hoops team but they can't stop anyone. FAU wins.

Papa Johns Bowl
Southern Miss for some reason decided to fire their long time coach Jeff Bowers earlier this year even though he posted another winning season. Cincinatti some how figured out a way to keep coach Brian Kelly from leaving for another job. The Bearcats have feasted on teams by creating turnovers and setting Ben Mauk and the boys for easy scores. Expect more of that as they win big.

New Mexico Bowl
New Mexico gets a de facto home game against Nevada but it won't matter. Nevada almost beat BCS Cinderella Hawaii and played Boise State well. New Mexico keeps getting to bowl games but doesn't win them. That won't change this year.

Las Vegas Bowl
BYU had a 10 win season but earlier this year lost a 27-17 game to the UCLA. UCLA is coming off another up and down season and is playing witihout a coach after Karl Dorrell was fired. The Cougars pull out a close one the second time around.

Hawaii Bowl
So Boise State loses the WAC and as a consolation gets to go back to Hawaii and get paid for it. Skip Holtz (yes Lou's son) led East Carolina to a 7-5 record. Boise State will want to put on another good showing on national television and a pep talk from Skip's dad won't help as Boise cruises.

After Christmas Bowls come in the next psot.