I understand what Shaquille O'Neal is talking about.

When he says that the MVP is 'tainted' he isn't speaking about a racial bias. He's talking about height.

I demand to know how tall the average voter for the NBA MVP is. I wouldn't be surprised to see it comprised of largely point and two guards. These are those for whom sports runs in the blood, but their height prevents them from ever realizing their dreams.

So they turn into sportswriters.

You look at who is the most valuable player, and in real basketball terms, what do you want to start your team with? A rock solid center.

By the way, Shaq has been saying this for years, and in the past it rang true. It was his dominance that got them the three championships, and yet he was only MVP the first season. Allen Iverson, who he defeated, beat him out the following year, and then Tim Duncan the year after him. Shaq and Duncan have comparable stats, but Shaq always scored more points.

But these days, he's no MVP candidate. Hasn't averaged over 23 points a game for four years, and he rarely puts together a full season, averaging 22 games missed over that period.

And in case anybody was wondering, Kobe is the MVP.

Wanna hear some ridiculous nonsense out of one of the best slap bass artists of the last thirty years? Flea, for some reason only he and Jeannie Buss may know, is blogging on nba.com's lakers website. Excerpts:

lakers beat the jazz

yeeeeeah

kobe drops 52

yeeeeeaaah

dont forget about mo evans' 17

the jazz have to pay

yeeeeeeah

i'm goin to the basquiat exhibit in italy now

yeeeeeeeah

purple and gold runnin in my veins

yeeeeeah

You gotta check this out. yeeeeeah.

So now the picture is much clearer. Here's where we stand now:

Ohio State is in the championship game for sure. USC is in if they can beat UCLA.

Orange Bowl: Who really cares if Georgia Tech or Wake Forest wins? They're gonna get murdered.

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma should beat Nebraska. But I think the 'Huskers are a better team.

Sugar Bowl: Florida will be able to handle Arkansas, and land in this game.

Rose Bowl: With both the scheduled conferences' best teams in the championship game, Michigan is a shoo-in for one spot. But the Pac 10 doesn't have another team higher than 18th in the BCS, so someone else will get the second spot.

The top four choices for at-large bids are LSU, Louisville, Wisconsin and Boise State.

- LSU looks like a shoo-in. They won't get to play Florida again, so the choices are between Michigan, Oklahoma and the ACC winner.

- Louisville might get edged by Rutgers for the Big East bid if Rutgers beats West Virginia, because then they would have the same schedule, with Rutgers having the win in the head-to-head matchup.

- Boise State will get in because they're undefeated. The most logical matchup would be with either Michigan or Oklahoma.

-Wisconsin looks shaky as a third Big Ten team over a Notre Dame team with losses to the 2nd and 3rd ranked teams in the country. Arkansas will fall after their loss to Florida, so Notre Dame should move up at least one. I have Notre Dame edging out Wisconsin, or a second team from a Big East that has fallen off considerably.

So here's my picks:

Ohio State vs. USC in the Tostitos BCS Championship Bowl

Georgia Tech vs. Rutgers in the Orange Bowl

Florida vs. Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl

Nebraska vs. Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl

Michigan vs. LSU in the Rose Bowl

Eh?

I agree with Marinman in principle. Drafts overrate players based on abstract earning potential. But thumbsdown does present a good point. Here's the All Star team for Top 5 draft picks since 2000:

G: Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade

F: LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony

C: Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol

and here's the All Star team for picks 6-10 since 2000:

G: Kirk Hinrich, Joe Johnson, T.J. Ford

F: Shane Battier, Charlie Villanueva, Caron Butler

C: Amare Stoudamire, Andrew Bynum

Almost all of these players are either on a foreign Olympic Team or play for ours, or at least worked out with the group. But here's a team of Top 5 picks since 2000 as well (with their career points per game average in parentheses):

G: Jay Williams (9.5), Mike Dunleavy (10.5)

F: Marcus Fizer (9.6), Nikoloz Tskitishvili (2.9)

C: Darko Milicic (3.4)

And the same for the worst of picks 6-10:

G: DerMarr Johnson (6.5), Luke Jackson (2.7)

F: Rodney White (7.1 and out of the league), Mike Sweetney (7.3)

C: Rafael Arujo (2.8)

Both of these teams would get killed against a team of Raja Bell, Marquis Daniels, Bruce Bowen, Andres Nocioni and Ben Wallace. But the undrafted all-stars couldn't hold a candle to the Top 5 or 5-10 All Stars. 'Nuff Said.

Thanks to Stephen Colbert, obviously. A lot of people are clamoring for a Big Ten title game championship. This possibility has merits, but Michigan is still fourth in the running, as I see it. Ohio State is in, USC running second and Florida third. Here's how it breaks down:

-USC controls its own destiny. If they beat Notre Dame and UCLA, they will have a 5-0 record against ranked teams.

-If USC loses either one of those games, it falls to Florida. Florida is the best remaining one loss team, and if they can beat Florida State this weekend and Arkansas in the SEC title game, they will be 3-1 against ranked teams, 12-1 overall, their only loss coming against 10-2 Auburn. This is where it gets sticky.

-Michigan has finished its season 11-1 with their only loss against Ohio State. They are 2-1 against ranked teams, and it is their win over Notre Dame that kills The Irish's chances for a title game bid.

So we have:

-11-1 Michigan with one loss to Ohio State and a 2-1 record against ranked teams

-12-1 Florida with one loss to Auburn and a 3-1record against ranked teams

I think the SEC, with 5 ranked teams, edges out Michigan and the Big 10 with their 3 ranked teams. Give USC or Florida a chance. However ... what if Florida loses to Arkansas in the SEC title game?

-First Arkansas has to beat LSU this weekend Then if they win that game and take out Florida, they will be 12-1, 4-1 against ranked teams, with their only loss coming against USC. That would be a tough choice, Arkansas coming out of the SEC and all. But as good as Arkansas is, I'm pretty sure that Michigan would prevail.

But it will be a one-loss team against undefeated Ohio State, that's for sure. Who would give them the best matchup? I love USC, but Florida has a better defense. That''s my matchup.

All avid sports fans know that there is a terrible problem in America with high school sports-related violence, especially in football. Who hasn't seen a fight break out between their team and another team following a close football game, or even basketball game (in hockey the fights are the games). Murders occur almost yearly between teams in impoverished areas that lead to stabbings, hospitalization and even death. So, my question is ...

Did the FIU football team have anything to do with this?

Plain and simple, you would have to be stupid to not see a possible correlation. Regardless of football, Law and Order leads us to ask, was there anybody who might've wanted you dead? Have you made any enemies lately?

We heard all this shit about how FIU and Miami are 9 miles apart, the players knew each other from high school, a lot of the FIU players were Miami rejects. The fight itself seemed to have context to the violence. So why not take it a step further?

Because this happens all the time in high school sports, and the maturity of college football players in Florida is, I wager, lower than that of the average ten year old, why is this not being discussed? Everyone on ESPN is trying to distance this tragedy from the Miami football team because they feel it trivializes the loss. But I have a feeling that this could come back to the brawl. It makes too much sense.

Tyler Brayton once again proved that how big you are physically does not, try as it might, make you a man. Lets call it a necessary but not sufficient condition. I'm going to say this clearly:

YOU DON'T KNEE, KICK OR PUNCH A MAN IN THE BALLS. EVER. UNLESS, LIKE, HE'S GOT A GUN OR SOMETHING.

It's like hitting a girl: not cool.

But I'm wondering ... who committed the most heinous groin shot?

-Dennis Rodman kicking the cameraman?

- Tyler Brayton with the full knee in this Monday Night game?

- Robert Horry going for the crotch with a punch?

For my money, the one that looked like it hurt the most was Brayton's.

Cris Collinsworth or Jim Gray? C'mon people, I want responses, I'm gonna tally your votes. I will post this under the NFL column too, so don't be surprised if you see two. Let the people speak! The winner faces Bill Walton for the Biggest Douchebag of The Universe!