sunday night sports digest

what a weekend in sports.

nick saban apparently is the man. when Forbes asked whether saban was worth his salary, i scoffed and thought to myself, he's good, but he's not that good. clearly, i had no idea what i was talking about. although some of the credit for alabama's dominating win over georgia has to go to mark richt's inept squad, saban has turned the crimson tide around in his very short tenure. it's hard to call anything in the talent-rich SEC, but alabama's got as good a chance as any to launch itself into a BCS bowl.

lance in france - again. he's baaaaaaaack. is there anything this man can't do? and this time, he's riding for more than just victory and pride, as he's hoping to use the tour de france as a spotlight to further his fight against cancer. who says you need two testicles to be great?

NL ballers. were you the smartest kid in your high school class before that transfer student came and displaced you as valedictorian? well, now you know how national league hitters and pitchers probably will feel in a few weeks. if justice is done, cc "half-man, half-'mazing" sabathia and manny "masher" ramirez will pick up cy young and MVP honors, respectively. sabathia pitched a complete game on three days' rest to propel the brewers into the playoffs, while ramirez has the dodgers' offense looking like his former team. forget tradition - these guys are the best in the league.

when it comes to the east, NFC stands for "national football champions." with the 'skins dropping the 'boys in a rivalry showdown, the NFC east officially declared itself up for grabs, with only the idle giants remaining undefeated. pending the outcome of sunday night football, the division could stand at 12-3 after the first four weeks of the season. can you pick the winner in this race?

monday night TV. in my house, monday nights are Heroes nights. but with the ravens and the steelers facing off on MNF and the white sox trying to keep their season alive against the disappointing tigers, is there any reason sports shouldn't take precedence?

thank god for TiVo.