By Sonny Palermo

"Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance."

 - Plato

"We must have strong minds, ready to accept facts as they are."

 - Harry Truman

"I'll bet Truman could've kicked Plato's ass. Easy."

 - Sonny P.

Ahh, Monday mornings.  Time to play Monday Morning Quarterback, in which I get to use the wisdom of hindsight to look back and blame players and coaches for the games I wagered on. And lost.

Let's start with . . .

Chris Ault, from Nevada. OK, I didn't lose this one as the Wolf Pack covered the spread, but it should have been a straight up win as well.

Late in the game, Ault and Nevada are up by one point. Hawaii is on the Nevada 32 yard line, chip shot range for kicker Dan Kelly, with 1:10 left on the game clock. Ault decides not to use his T/O to save time for when the Pack get the ball back and will need a FG to win, instead he lets precious minutes run off so that he can use it for . . . say it with me now . . . to call timeout right before the kicker kicks it! The last second ‘ice" - all the rage with the coaching fraternity these days. The call was moronic for two reasons - one, it left Nevada with no time to answer with a FG of their own to get the win, and the FG was well within Kelly's range. Bad enough when the kids screw up, but the coaches have to also? And no, I didn't have Nevada on the money line, just the point line; I just feel like pointing out that Ault's a bonehead. Not on Norv's level (then again, who is?) but a bonehead none the less - FACT!

Now we move on to . . . Mike Nolan.

Down by seven points, 1:50 left on the clock and Nolan kicks a field goal. A FIELD GOAL! Yes, he had three timeouts left. Yes, San Fran did get the ball back. But by the time they did they had no time left on the clock to get the seven points that they needed but didn't go for on their previous possession! Mike Nolan. Suuuupergenius, of the Wile E Coyote variety. FACT!

And yes, I know he won the game, and yes I took Ohio State and they covered the spread for me, but once Ohio State's Jim Tressel went up by more than one score he ran the ball up the middle on 30 of his next 32 plays. I don't care what the score is, I don't care what the rivalry means, I don't care what your record is or what the bowl picture is - running the same play on 30 of 32 is some pee-wee ass sh*t. Would have served him right if Michigan had managed a late come-back and won the game. Tressel is a Pop Warner coach who has benefited from a plethora of talented players and Lloyd Carr on the opposite sideline - FACT!

And don't even get me started on 5-5 Norv . . .

I had a sucky week. A couple of one point losses and two pushes in the NBA kept me out of the winners circle, and one of my favorite profiles went down as a loser Saturday in Dallas. In the magazine last week I used God-boy Kitna and the Lions, previously unbeaten at home and getting a FG, and watched as they only scored 10 points against a very mediocre Giants defense. 7-6 now in this column. This week . . .

I'm playing Under the team total for the Falcons on Thursday night. Last week, Petrino named Leftwich his starter for the remainder of the season. Why? Got me, I guess because they had just won two straight with Harrington at QB while fatboy Leftwich was nursing a sore knee (and a couple ham sandwiches as well.) After watching Lefty toss two INT's and fumble twice in route to 31-7 loss, Petrino waffled in the post game press conference, hinting at giving the nod to Joey on Thursday. No matter - they can't score with either. And a short week of prep plus having to travel ain't gonna help. Neither is a head coach who can't make up his mind. The number isn't out yet, but based on a line of 11' and a total of 42 it should come out 14' to 15 (11 and 41' means approximately Colts 26' and Falcons 15.) As long as the opening number at Olympic Sports is at least 14 I'll take the Under.

I'm taking Over 34 (buy the hook if you have to) in the Raiders against the Chiefs. This once great rivalry has little intensity left, and without much to play for in the way of post season spots I expect both teams to play loose. KC's offense sucks (scoring only 14.5 per game), but that's offset by the Raiders lousy defense. Raider's offense averages 18 points per game, which is the same amount KC gives up on average per. So, we should be able to get at least 17 out of each of these teams in a meaningless game where conservatism goes by the wayside in favor of an open affair. Open, that is, as long as Herm isn't kidding himself that he can still win the division with this squad .

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