Jersey Jeff Fisher

Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher is a favorite around the Grill Room, but what in the hell was he thinking (or drinking) the other night when he showed up at a fundraiser wearing a Peyton Manning jersey?!

And don't bring that sports-fans-are-maniacal-and-need-to-lighten-up-a-little crap around here, to excuse the coach's bizarre behavior.
Yeah, sports fans are often completely and ridiculously over the top, but whether that's right or wrong has nothing to do with it. They just are and always have been. It's best we accept this as fact and move on.

Without these maniacal fans, sports as we know them, would dry up and go away. It's that simple.

So if I am a Titans fan, and I have lost hard-earned cash, and hair supporting this football team, I deserve better return on my money and loyalty than to see the guy who is coaching my team wearing a rival's jersey.

Tennessee is frickin' 0-6 this year, just lost, 59-0, and the guy who's job it is too pull them out of this mess, is yucking it up and making jokes at his team's expense?!

As the longest-tenured coach with one team in the NFL, and generally a stand-up guy, Fisher has earned a pass for this indiscretion, but he better know he's treading on very thin ice here, or the joke just might ultimately be on him.

And while you're chewing on that one, there are few other questions that are gnawing at us, starting with the never-ending nonsense in our nation's capital...

Even in a corrupt, sleazy city like Washington, don't you marvel at just how bad things are going for its football team?
Here's why we're asking:
Because the classy Steve Largent is the latest to weigh in on the dysfunction that passes for a football team in D.C.
The Hall-of-Fame receiver, was throwing lightning bolts at Redskins owner Dan Snyder during a radio interview earlier this week in Seattle.

Largent who used to catch passes thrown by Jim Zorn, the poor guy who is coaching the 'Skins, said, among many other things, "...in my opinion, and this is just totally my opinion -- Jim has never said this, never implied this -- I think what Daniel Snyder was trying to do (when he relieved Zorn of his play-calling duties) was to force Jim to resign so he was not liable for his contract any longer. And Jim is just not going to do that."

And Largent went on...

"[Zorn] inherited everything that he has to work with today and yet all the blame is being laid on his feet because he can't make them a Super Bowl champion, which I could have told you two years ago, they don't have a Super Bowl-quality team," Largent told KJR radio. "And so it doesn't matter how good a coach you have, you are not going to get there with the players the owner gives you.

"I know it's frustrating for Jim. He is making the best of it."

And on...

"I don't know what a Dan Snyder coach looks like and I don't think Dan Snyder knows what a Dan Snyder coach looks like, and that is fairly obvious now as he has been through about six head coaches in 10 years."

Largent's harsh assessment of the Redskins follows last week's roasting of the team by former players. Except the outspoken Redskins' retirees seemed more interested in putting most of the blame at Zorn's feet rather than at the owner's, who in some cases signs their paychecks.
They're all class in D.C., I tell ya.

Will ESPN see the forest through the trees when it televises Monday night's tilt between those hapless Redskins and the Eagles?
Here's why we're asking:
Because, bluntly, too often the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is all about the entertainment, at the expense of the programming, and viewers' intelligence.

Let's hope they don't play patty-cake with Snyder and his gang, or worse, ignore the whole sad affair altogether, and instead use their bright light to expose this sad circus, rather than play a part in it.

Is the Southeastern Conference looking down the barrel of a major scandal?
Here's why we're asking:
Because the news that the Southeastern Conference has suspended the officials who worked (over) last weekend's Arkansas-Florida game has the potential to become a full-blown tsunami.

Nothing, not even the average fan's waistline, is bigger in the South than college football. If there is even a hint that refs could be affecting the outcome of games with their whistles in order to fatten their wallets, it could get very ugly.

This is the second time this officiating crew made an awful call that directly impacted the outcome of a game. They also threw a flag in the Georgia-LSU game that set LSU up with great field position following a late TD by the Bulldogs.

The same kind of questionable call helped Florida to its win over the underdog Hogs last Saturday. In fact, the argument could be made the officials were inordinately leaning the Gators' way the entire day.

To be clear, we have no knowledge there has been any provable evidence, other than the shoddy officiating, that the fix was in on these games. However...If the SEC says they aren't looking into that possibility, they are completely full of it. They better be, because something smells around here.

Take your pick

For informational purposes only...some picks for Week 7 action around the NFL brought to you by folks who most likely know as much about the game as you do:
ESPN
YAHOO!
CBS Sports
CNN/SI
NBC
SportingNews
AP

College:

SportingNews
CBS Sports
NBC

This Week's Grill Room NFL 100-PROOF lock: Philadelphia over Washington, minus-6.5:
Well, we're not sure what to say. We've made a mess of things the last two weeks, and now you are wondering why you even frequent this joint.
We figure the only folks more embarrassed than the staff at the Grill Room, are the Philadelphia Eagles, who somehow found a way to lose at Oakland last Sunday.
Well, we figure the best way to start feeling good about ourselves again, is to bet on Philly feeling good about itself again after a rock 'em, sock 'em trip to the nation's capital.
The Eagles soar, 34-10.

(Season record: 3-3)

Tape it up

To get the latest on all the aches and breaks around the NFL go here.

TV Time
If you can't stop by the Grill Room, here's the college and pro football fare that's cooking on the tube this weekend:
(For our U.S. military viewers and their families overseas the games American Forces Network will be showing are in bold.)

COLLEGE:

Friday, Oct. 23
Rutgers at Army, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday, Oct. 24
Minnesota at Ohio State, Noon, ESPN
Illinois at Purdue, Noon, ESPN2
Georgia Tech at Virginia, ACC
Indiana at Northwestern, Noon, Big Ten Network
Connecticut at West Virginia, Noon, ESPNU
S. Florida at Pittsburgh, ESPN-GP
Oklahoma State at Baylor, 12:30 p.m., Versus
Iowa State at Nebraska, 12:30 p.m., FSN
Tennessee at Alabama, 3:30 p.m., CBS
Boston College at Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m., NBC
Michigan at Penn State, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Clemson at Miami, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Oregon at Washington, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Oklahoma at Kansas, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Louisville at Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU
Wake Forest at Navy, 3:30 p.m., CBS CSN
Air Force at Utah, 4 p.m., Versus
San Diego State at Colorado State, 4 p.m., Mtn.
Vanderbilt at South Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Iowa at Michigan State, 7 p.m., Big Ten Network
Florida at Mississippi State, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
Auburn at LSU, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
TCU at BYU, 7:30 p.m., Versus
SMU at Houston, 7:30 p.m., CBS CSN
Texas at Missouri, 8 p.m., ABC
Oregon State at USC, 8 p.m., ABC
UNLV at New Mexico, 8 p.m., Mtn.
Arizona State at Stanford, 10:15 p.m., FSN
Fresno State at New Mexico State, 10:15 p.m., ESPNU

NFL:
Sunday, Oct. 25
(Byes: Baltimore Denver Detroit Jacksonville Seattle Tennessee)
Chicago at Cincinnati 1 p.m., FOX
Green Bay at Cleveland 1 p.m., FOX
San Francisco at Houston 1 p.m., FOX
San Diego at Kansas City 1 p.m., CBS
Minnesota at Pittsburgh 1 p.m., FOX
Indianapolis at St. Louis 1 p.m., CBS
New England vs. Tampa Bay at London 1 p.m., CBS
Buffalo at Carolina 4:05 p.m., CBS
N.Y. Jets at Oakland 4:05 p.m., CBS
Atlanta at Dallas 4:15 p.m., FOX
New Orleans at Miami 4:15 p.m., FOX
Arizona at N.Y. Giants 8:20 p.m., NBC

Monday, Oct. 26
Philadelphia at Washington 8:30 p.m., ESPN
(All times EST)