2008 WEEK #2 BCS RANKINGS

#1. Texas (.998)
#2. Alabama (.950)
#3. Penn State (.926)
#4. Oklahoma (.827)
#5. USC (.782)
#6. Georgia (.770)
#7. Texas Tech (.743)
#8. Florida (.730)
#9. Oklahoma State (.675)
#10. Utah (.670)
#11. Boise State (.636)
#12. Ohio State (.537)
#13. TCU (.506)
#14. Missouri (.475)
#15. Florida State (.338)
#16. Ball State (.338)
#17. Minnesota (.306)
#18. Tulsa (.297)
#19. LSU (.292)
#20. BYU (.290)
#21. Michigan State (.212)
#22. North Carolina (.210)
#23. South Florida (.067)
#24. Oregon (.065)
#25. Connecticut (.063)

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COMPLICATIONS WITH PRETTY BOY'S SURGERY

Doctors are aggressively fighting an infection in Tom Brady's surgically repaired left knee.

Brady recently acknowledged on his Web site that doctors went in "to clean and to test the wound" on Oct. 15 because of the infection. The New England Patriots quarterback has had two more similar procedures since then.

The story was first reported by the Boston Herald and confirmed by ESPN's Wendi Nix.

The Patriots, sources told ESPN early Thursday, are upset because they wanted Brady's surgery done under the direction of doctors of their choosing in Boston.

The Patriots later denied that report in a statement: "Today, ESPN cited an unnamed source who supposedly expressed the feelings of the Patriots 'organization.' This unsubstantiated report does not represent the team's views whatsoever. We have supported Tom Brady one hundred percent from day one of this process and will continue to do so."

Brady's surgery was done in California by a doctor his family preferred, and now there are major problems. Brady was supposed to be back in New England by now, but a timeline for his return remains unclear.

A person close to Brady told ESPN: "Tom is looking at months, not weeks, to fix this."

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Brady's surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, consulted with renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews after the initial infection appeared.

Andrews, based in Birmingham, Ala., gave his support and affirmation to ElAttrache's procedures and follow-up, as well as ElAttrache's credentials.

"[Neal is] very knowledgeable and as good a decision-maker in taking care of athletic injuries -- including complications -- as anyone in the world," Andrews told the Times.

Andrews said that according to ElAttrache, Brady appeared to be recovering well, and was responding to the aggressive, infection-clearing treatments, according to the Times report.
" ... Once the healing process catches back up, it really doesn't set him behind to any degree relative to the overall healing process. The main thing is to save the graft," Andrews said in the Times.

According to the Herald, Brady is on a six-week course of intravenously administered antibiotics, and is still having follow-up exams at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, where the surgery took place. The Herald reported the infection originated from an incision to repair the medial collateral ligament.

If the infection is not brought under control, the patellar tendon graft used to replace Brady's anterior cruciate ligament could become compromised, according to the Herald's report. If that happens, he will have to undergo another surgery on the ACL. That would reset the clock on his rehabilitation.

Brady had surgery on Oct. 6 -- 29 days after he was injured in the Patriots' season opener -- on a hit by Kansas City Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard. Brady reportedly tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in the knee.

New England Patriots spokesman Stacey James said Wednesday the team would let Brady comment on the status of his injury.

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VICK TRYING TO GET HIS LEASH REMOVED

SURRY, Va. -- Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick plans to plead guilty to state dogfighting charges, a step that could allow him to qualify for an early release from federal prison and into a halfway house, court papers show.

In a motion filed Oct. 15 in Surry County Circuit Court, Vick's attorneys asked to have him enter his plea by video teleconference. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Oct. 30, Surry County Circuit Court administrator Sally Neblett said Tuesday.

The court papers note that allowing Vick to appear on two-way video would save the government the considerable expense of transporting him from prison in Leavenworth, Kan., to Surry County. His guilty plea would also allow him to pursue a halfway house program.

Under federal rules, Vick is ineligible to be released to a Residential Re-entry Center in the federal system until any pending charges against him are resolved.

In a statement, Vick attorneys Billy Martin and Lawrence Woodward said their client "is committed to taking responsibility for his actions. He is hopeful that, through this motion, the trial court will allow him to finally resolve these matters and put the charges behind him so that he can begin to focus on his future and to prepare to be reunited with his family."

The plea deal, if approved, also would satisfy the county's need to hold him accountable for the grisly crimes he bankrolled and participated in at a rural house he owned there.

"I'm not trying to make him suffer," Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald Poindexter said in a telephone interview. "I'm just trying to make him account for what he's done."

Vick pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges tied to the dogfighting operation last summer and is serving a 23-month term. Three convicted co-defendants also face local charges. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons lists Vick's projected release date as July 20, 2009.

Vick will have three years of federal probation upon his release from prison, and the deal offered by Poindexter would tack on an unspecified jail sentence, which would be suspended, and an additional year of probation in the county, he said.

Poindexter said he's not sure how quickly the judge would rule on the motion.

If permitted by a judge, Vick's video participation in the plea hearing would not be the first time he has participated electronically. Prison officials in Kansas have allowed the former Atlanta Falcons star to listen via telephone line to each of his several bankruptcy hearings in recent months.

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TIGER BACK ON THE COURSE & IN RARE FORM

SAN DIEGO (AP)—Four months after his epic U.S. Open victory, Tiger Woods returned to Torrey Pines on Monday without a limp.

He didn’t have golf clubs, either...

Hopping from a cart, Woods walked up to 59-year-old John Abel, doffed his cap and extended his right hand. “Hey, I hear you’re looking for a caddie. I’m Tiger Woods—pleased to meet you.”

Out of action since beating Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff for his 14th career major, Woods came back to Torrey Pines to deliver on his end of the “Tee Off with Tiger” online sweepstakes sponsored by Buick.

Showing no signs of his season-ending knee surgery a week after the U.S. Open, Woods wore a green caddie’s bib inscribed with Abel’s name as he guided him around the back nine of the South Course, where he has won six times in the Buick Invitational and once in a U.S. Open he called his best ever.

Playing with torn ligaments in his left knee and a double stress fracture in his leg, Woods made a 12-foot birdie on the final hole to force an 18-hole playoff, made a 4-foot birdie on the 18th in the playoff to stay alive and finally won with a par.

Woods checked into the Lodge at Torrey Pines on Sunday night and noticed the pin in the same spot it was during the Monday playoff.

“I opened the curtains and saw the 18th green,” Woods said. “I was like, ‘You know what? That is pretty cool.’ A different atmosphere. You can actually see. They don’t have the grandstands in the way. I saw where the pin was and was thinking, ‘You know what? I remember that putt.”’

Woods was in character from the minute he drove up to the 10th tee, on cue from a video crew that recorded every one of Abel’s shots. Reporters and photographers from two media outlets—The Associated Press and the San Diego Union-Tribune—were allowed to watch on the 10th and 18th holes.

Woods drove the cart. He handed clubs to Abel, then wiped them off with a towel and put them back in the bag. He squatted to line up putts and tended the pin. He warned how fast the greens were, then chuckled as Abel five-putted the 10th for a quadruple-bogey 8.

“It was fun,” said Woods, who once caddied for former Stanford teammate Jerry Chang. “This was totally cool. I’ve caddied before many times. For me to be out here and to be able to do it again, it’s always fun. John’s a good guy. It was a fun day for me.”

Abel, from West Berlin, N.J., said his round went better than expected.

“I wasn’t as nervous after maybe the third or fourth hole,” he said. “Nerves come into it, I don’t care who you are, and these greens are unbelievable. Tiger was telling me that they’re actually 3 feet slower than what they played for the Open.

“It was just such a hoot to play with him,” said Abel, who regularly shoots in the 90s. “He showed me things I never even thought about. Like when he walks into a sand trap, he feels with his feet. It was just so neat. it really was.”

Seriously, imagine handing your fairway wood to Tiger Woods after a shot.

“That’s the funny thing,” Abel said. “I’m just so used to taking my club and putting it in the bag, and he keeps holding his hand out. It’s like, ‘OK.’ You don’t want to. What else can you say? You just don’t think about things like that.”

The pin on 18 was moved Monday to where it was during the final round of regulation at the U.S. Open—front right—when Woods rapped that 12-foot birdie putt that bumped along toward the hole and swirled into the back corner of the cup without an inch to spare.

After Abel finished his round, Woods gave him a final treat by dropping the ball at the same spot of his Sunday putt.

“When they asked me, do you know what you’re doing?’ I said, ‘No,”’ Abel said. “When I was stepping up to it, they mentioned it. They said, ‘This is his putt.”’

Abel missed.

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HIT OF THE WEEK IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL

REGGIE'S BREAK OUT SEASON PUT ON HOLD

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- On a day the New Orleans Saints would rather forget, the team learned that running back Reggie Bush needs arthroscopic knee surgery that could sideline him for several weeks.

Bush injured the meniscus in his left knee on a punt return late in the first half of Sunday's 30-7 loss to Carolina. He reversed field on his run, which ended when he stepped out of bounds on the Carolina sideline. He seemed to pull up a bit and favor his left leg after that.

"The plan is to scope it. We'll have this week and then the bye week and we'll see where he's at," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I'll probably know something [Monday]. Right now, we're going to have to evaluate it and go from there."

Bush had 55 yards on nine carries, caught one pass for five yards, and had a 3.5 average on three punt returns against Carolina. Payton said the Saints became "one-dimensional" after Bush left the game.

But quarterback Drew Brees noted the Saints played the final four games of last season without Bush -- they went 2-2 while he was out with a knee injury -- and proved this year they could persevere when Shockey and receiver Marques Colston missed games.

"Of course it's tough. He's a big-time playmaker," Brees said. "We're going to miss him, and I hope he's not out very long."

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LIKE FINE WINE, BETTER WITH AGE...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- It was a performance for the ages and the aged. Bernard Hopkins unleashed "The Executioner" against Kelly Pavlik at Boardwalk Hall on Saturday, and for Pavlik, the result wasn't pretty.

It was vintage Hopkins -- the man who takes away his opponent's best weapon and uses it against him. He battered and befuddled Pavlik for 12 rounds. When the fight was over, he had taken an overwhelmingly convincing decision and recertified his Hall of Fame credentials.

"I think this is my best performance -- better than Trinidad, better than Tarver, better than Oscar, better than my 20 straight defenses," Hopkins said.

Of course, he owes all his success to the media.

"Ninety percent of the media picked Pavlik," Hopkins said. "I always appreciate naysayers. That's what motivates me when people go against me."

Pavlik, who suffered his first professional defeat, wasn't even competitive against Hopkins. One judge, Alan Rubenstein, scored it a complete shutout for Hopkins (119-106, with each fighter having a point deducted for fouls).

Watching Hopkins dismantle Pavlik was eerily similar to his deconstruction of Felix Trinidad seven years ago at Madison Square Garden.

Most doubted that Hopkins had enough fuel left in the tank to do what he did to Pavlik. He had showed troubling signs in his previous fight, against Joe Calzaghe in April, such as excessive holding and clinching to get a breather.

The previous time fight fans had doubted Hopkins was when he went against Trinidad. Most vowed they would never do that again. Still, Hopkins was a heavy underdog going into the fight against Pavlik.

Never again will the wily vet be underestimated. Even if Hopkins fights until he's 90 years old, and he might be able to do just that, no one will doubt his capabilities or his ability to show up a younger foe.

An emotional Hopkins leaned on the ropes facing press row at ringside, his bottom lip quivering, tears welling up in his eyes as he mouthed to the writers working on deadline, "I'm tired of proving myself."

His legacy was secure after he successfully defended the middleweight title 20 straight times. He fought like a living legend against Pavlik. Pavlik's toughest opponent before Hopkins was Jermain Taylor, who narrowly defeated Hopkins to stop his title defense streak and did it again to retain the title. But the old cliché of "styles make fights" was never more apt than when comparing Hopkins-Taylor, Pavlik-Taylor and Hopkins-Pavlik.

Hopkins stunk against Taylor. His performance against Pavlik, however, was sublime. It drew rave reviews. The most uttered single-word response was "Wow!" Even those who thought Hopkins would win couldn't predict he'd turn in such a stunning performance.

"I thought Hopkins fought a great fight," said Shane Mosley, who partners with Hopkins at Golden Boy Promotions. "To be 43 years old and move around the ring like that … He outboxed, outsped and outthought Pavlik the whole fight. He looked like he was having fun in there. At one point, I thought he was going to do the Ali Shuffle. He definitely should be fighter of the year for what he did out there."

What might get lost in the performance against Pavlik is the strategy that Hopkins' team devised and Hopkins flawlessly executed. He said he studied tapes of the Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto fight to see what the pressure might be like.

"If I was going to fight a 43-year-old guy, that's what I would do is pressure him," Hopkins said.

But Hopkins didn't allow Pavlik to get untracked. He took the fight to Pavlik because he didn't think Pavlik could fight going backward. Without his jab, Pavlik couldn't use his most effective weapon -- the one-two combination -- and was a toothless tiger. Hopkins moved with the grace of a dancer on those 43-year-old legs, getting in and out of striking range with ease.

Hopkins kept Pavlik turning to his left.

"He couldn't throw across his chest with the right hand," Hopkins said.

If Hopkins can fight the way he did against Pavlik, he probably can fight for another two or three years. He seemed ageless. Hopkins would like to fight Roy Jones, whom he lost to as a middleweight 15 years ago. First, though, Jones must get past Calzaghe on Nov. 8.

Hopkins was unusually humble after the big win. He had railed after losing to Jermain Taylor and Calzaghe. Maybe he is getting old and tired. Getting too tired of trying to prove to people just how good he can be when everything goes right.

"Like Martin Luther King said, I've been to the mountaintop," Hopkins said. "I've been there about three or four times, and I keep pulling a rabbit out of the hat."

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