Friday Gumbo

Falling Apart
ARod has vowed to try to play injured as its been found that he not only has a cyst on his hip, but a torn labrum as well.

Here's the problem with HGH...it's not when you're on it, but when you cycle off. Your soft tissue becomes more brittle, your recovery time to all injuries becomes longer and you become human. As every 30+ year old among us knows, every year your body pushes back...little gym injuries can nag and nag you until you're constantly hurting somewhere. While ARod's level of coordination, athleticism, size and ego might all be super-human, without magical drugs, he gets injured, heels and re-injures himself like the rest of us.

We've heard this type of story before...

Neckbeard + Super Ego=???
And speaking of HGH users, T. Owens is a free man right now.

Rick Morrissey of the Chi Tribune is either drunk or has never watched the NFL before, as he suggests TO's new home should be on the banks of Lake Michigan. TO burns down every franchise he leaves. His ego became too much for the Niners to handle as he tried to ruin Jeff Garcia's career, he had two seasons in Philly that were tumultuous as his one-time pal, Don became his sworn enemy, and in Dallas, after one good season and a cry baby plea to the media about "his quarterback" getting the popcorn was the last thing on JJones' mind.

Morrissey calls the potential move of picking up this cancer "bold and daring", I'd call it stupid and shortsighted...but then again, I can't stand Chicago- so while it will hurt Kyle Orton, I'm going to go ahead and endors Morrissey's suggestion. Bears fans and Owens were made for eachother.

NCAA Field Forecasting
CBS Sportsline has Purdue as a 6, as of now.
ESPN has Purdue as a 5.

I tend to lean toward the former...but I think Lunardi is a tool. In spite of the entertainment network's constant undressing of the BT, they've got 8 teams in the dance; that seems very high to me, but I don't know how you differentiate the middle of the conference at this point.

Shut It
A lot of talk is going around about Xavier winning it's third-straight A-10 championship and about how Memphis has breezed through the ConUSA season. Let's be honest, before we crown either of those teams kings of anything- the A10 and CUSA are about a half-step stronger than the Horizon League at this point. Those teams are OK, but how would they faire in the Big East, BT or ACC? I'd estimate third to fifth place. They have a nearly unabaited jaunt to the end of the season, while those monster conferences are night-in, night-out slug fests.

Pace Yourself
The Indy 500 will be paced this year by the new Chevy Camaro...a very good-looking car, in my opinion. This move breaks up the 5-year streak of Corvettes leading the field in Indy. Hopefully, GM will still be in business come May.