Sloppy Potatoes

What just happened? Sports this week

Wow, what a week, Petrino takes a red eye out of Atlanta, the Mitchell Report, Anthony Smith eats his words, an appearance by Troy Smith and half-toothless Steve Nash yucks it up before halftime.

Finally, a silver lining

It’s been an awful NFL season in Atlanta with the Michael Vick scandal and the team’s woeful performances giving fans plenty to keep their heads buried in the sand. However, news earlier this week about coach Bobby Petrino leaving for Arkansas was probably met with cheers.

Reports are saying that he was not the kind of coach or person a lot of people thought he was going to be in the NFL. Players are ripping on him in the media, calling him a COWARD. Everyone sounds glad he’s leaving for Arkansas, that could only be good for the Falcons and their fans.

Our heroes are flawed

Roger Clemens was a Baseball God to a lot of people, myself included, and over the years his legend grew in Boston, Toronto, New York and Houston. Now, he’s headliner on the Mitchell Report, a study into baseball’s performance-enhancing drug problem.

Clemens, Pettitte and, of course, Bonds are the headliners on this list and while I’m bitter about seeing tarnish on these legends — who have no shot of making the Hall of Fame anymore, whether that’s right or not — I see a deeper issue here. The list of players on the report goes 76 deep, but there are three headliners and, quite frankly a bunch of turds. It didn’t dawn on me until watching an ESPN report by Steve Phillips what this means. While I was wondering who cares about Glenallen Hill, Mike Lansing and Larry Bigbie, he was realizing the likely truth. If there are future Hall of Famers on this list, and a bunch of journeymen, that leaves a lot of room in the middle.

Like Phillips, I find it hard to believe that none of those players in the middle have used steroids or HGH, I just think Mitchell couldn’t get substantial information on any of them. While the release of the report is a huge event, I expect plenty more to be revealed over the next weeks, months and years.

Ooh, the burn

Pittsburgh Steelers spokesman Anthony Smith was continuously attacked by New England quarterback Tom Brady on Sunday. A couple times, Brady even talked smack to the backup-turned-starter safety. If you’re gonna guarantee victory, especially against a 6,000-pound gorilla of a team, you better at least back up your end or you just look stupid.

A couple TV personalities were talking down Brady after his on-field smack talk. I thought it was perfect on a couple levels. Most importantly, I think it further solidifies him as a fiery leader of the Patriots — a team that could get complacent right about now. If they go undefeated, credit Anthony Smith.

Is that…? Yes. Yes it is.

Troy Smith is one of those running quarterbacks who never gets a shot in the NFL right. He was supposed to go the way of Eric Crouch. Instead, there he was scoring a touchdown from under center for the Baltimore Ravens against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

The 2006 Heisman Trophy winner looked good enough to earn nods from the TV announcers and there are rumors floating around that he could start this week in place of Kyle Boller.

A funny Canadian

Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash took an inadvertent forearm from Utah’s Carlos Boozer during first-half play on Wednesday and a crown on one of his teeth was chipped off.

Nash didn’t skip a beat as he walked to the sideline, handed the piece of tooth to a team official and responded to a half-time interview request. On live TV, Nash hammed it up, answering questions seriously before answering the last one with an obviously exaggerated lisp. He finished the interview by turning and running away while saying thanks and goodbye in his normal voice. He probably couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore.

What do you think of this week in sports? Leave a comment below.