Sunday Smorgasbord 9-9

• Think NFL Pre-Game shows are becoming overproduced? NBC now has Bob Costas, Chris Colinsworth, Jerome Bettis, Peter King, Tiki Barber, and Keith Olberman to handle a one hour and fifteen minute broadcast. In case you can't keep up, that's six people. I remember when the NFL Today on See-BS was just Brent Musberger, Irv Cross, and Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder for 30 minutes. I'm especially puzzled at the addition of Keith Olberman. While he's back doing what made him famous in the first place, he's clearly lost something (for me at least) since he started braying for the moonbats. Dan Patrick will soon be available, maybe NBC could add him too, I mean, why not?
• And before I get to talking about today's Skins-Dolphins game, I'd like to extend a hearty thanks to the United States Air Force for scaring the begeezbus out of me and everybody else around me after they flew over not one, but two C-17's over the game during the second half after the 9-11 Remembrance Halftime show. Nothing like seeing the very large shadow of a very large plane with four jet engines come out of nowhere from behind you, twice.
• What had to be the funniest moment for me during today's 16-13 overtime win for the Redskins was the holding penalty on #44 of Washington in the first quarter during a punt. I'm a little ashamed to admit it wasn't until the referees corrected the call and said it was Miami and not Washington that I realized that the Redskins don't have a #44 anymore. (John Riggins retired in 1985) But beyond that it was as ugly of a win as you'll ever see. Jason Campbell was awful despite the 12-22 and 222 yards passing. His throws were not very good today and both interceptions were entirely avoidable on his part. Santana Moss was mostly MIA but dropped too many balls. Stephon Heyer did a decent job filling in for Jon Jansen who is likely done for the season with a dislocated ankle and maybe for good. Chris Cooley had a pretty good game despite being used mostly as a blocker. But there's a lot of room for improvement and they'll need to improve before they face an angry Iggles team (who somehow lost to the Packers) up next.
• For all intents and purposes, the Atlanta Braves are out of playoff contention. But you could be forgiven for not knowing that with the way they smacked the Nats around this weekend in Atlanta. While the Nats did avoid the sweep today, they made things way too easy on the Braves by committing error after error after error. The Nats are 64-79, 17.5 games back of the New York Mets in the NL East but 3 games up on Florida in fourth place. The Nats will be eliminated from division contention this week and being 13 games behind San Diego for the NL Wild Card, they could be eliminated from playoff contention this week as well. The one saving grace for the Nats is that the remaining schedule for the Florida Marlins is just a tough, maybe tougher, as the Nats is. The Nats have already ensured that they will not lose 100 games and should they finish in fourth place, Manny Acta should get serious consideration for Manager of the Year.
• A fun ride home on the Metrorail blue line got even more raucous when we stopped at RFK and picked up D.C. United fans coming out of the 4-2 victory over the New England Revolution. I saw some of the tape delay broadcast on Comcast SportsNet and it was good to see Jaime Moreno score a goal in the run of play. United bounced back well from the disappointing 2-2 tie with Chivas on Thursday night as Luciano Emilio continues to hold the hot foot scoring 4 goals in the two games. United is now 14-6-4 with 46 points and a four point lead over New England for the lead in the Eastern Conference and Supporter's Shield for best record overall. United is just one point away from clinching a playoff spot and is 18 points away from clinching the Supporter's Shield.
• The Terps kept things going with a 26-10 win over Florida International last night in the Orange Bowl. All accounts I've read of this game say that once the Terps got up 16-0 quickly in the first quarter, the players and coaching staff started to pack things in and let the Golden Panthers (as opposed to the Pink Panthers) hang around. While last year's game was even closer (Maryland needed an interception on the goal line to preserve the win) come December, nobody is really going to remember how well the Terps did or did not play, they'll just count the win.
• And if you're looking for the team to beat in the ACC, forget the Hokey-Pokey's, they're the sentimental favorite because of the campus shootings. Look at Georgia Tech. Chan Gailey has put together a very good program and Joe Tenuta has a tough defense to beat. They should have gotten more notice after they pasted Notre Dame last week but (predictably) everybody was focused on how bad the Fighting Irish looked. And speaking of Notre Dame, they now play fellow 0-2 Michigan who proved that last week's upset by Appalachian State was no fluke. After VA Tech's pasting last night in Baton Rouge, can we please hold off on ranking teams until at least four weeks into the season?
• If you happen to be bringing Care Packages to Kettler this week, I wouldn't bother with razors and shaving cream. The Caps Rookie Camp (re)started this week and 27 players are looking for an invite to attend the real training camp with the big boys. While some of the kids are a mortal lock to be in the big camp, there could be a few surprises. However if Sami Lepisto, the godson of Jari Kurri, or Francois Bouchard, four years and one day younger than his brother Pierre-Marc, a fifth-year NHLer with the Minnesota Wild, happen to make a large splash, I'll report on it.
• This week, the Nats continue their road trip by heading down to Florida for the final time this year with a chance to lock the Marlins in the cellar and throw away the key. The three game series starts tomorrow night. After a day to fly back to Washington, the Nats begin their final homestand in RFK Stadium on Friday night when they host the Atlanta Braves for another three game beatdown. D.C. United has another busy week again as they host Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night at RFK Stadium. Real Salt Lake ended D.C. United's 7 game unbeaten streak back in June and D.C. is now riding a 6 game unbeaten streak. D.C. then heads up to Chicago to play with the Fire on Sunday afternoon. The Terps have a very quick turnaround as they host the West Virginia Mountaineers at Byrd Stadium on Thursday night on ESPN. And for all of you puckheads (and stalkers) who aren't like Allen Iverson and enjoy watching practice, the veterans Capitals report to training camp on Friday Thursday and hit the ice for the first time on Saturday Friday. The Redskins are off this week only because they play next Monday night.
• As always, please send all comments, questions, criticisms, suggestions, corrections, and job leads to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.