So, in my fantasy football league, I lost Ronnie Brown for the season and have nothing good at running back. What do I do? I offered up my best player, Peyton Manning, for the best deal I could get. The result? I got Tony Romo, LaDainian Tomlinson and Roy Williams for Manning (plus two throw ins.) What do you think?

In other fantasy news, Maurice Jones-Drew's non-TD had a big effect in FFL World:

I was one of at least two dozen non-Jaguars fans who screamed at the screens when Maurice Jones-Drew took a knee at the Jets’ one-yard-line instead of easily scoring. I can assure you we weren’t lamenting that play’s impact on the betting line. But you have to give MJD credit. In his post-game interview, he actually apologized to his fantasy owners for the play, saying he was instructed not to score so the team could run down the clock, and he had to do what was right for the Jaguars. How cool is that?

Actually it is kind of sick. Grown men and women - all of us - doing this? It's nuts.

This is an Open Thread.

America's Next Top Model has its tv finale tonight. The winner: Colorado's Nicole Fox, an 18 year old C.U. sophomore from Louisville, Colorado.

Congrats, Nicole. (She became my favorite weeks ago.) More on her here.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The story of the Palin family wardrobe.

This is an Open Thread.

Details here. People is recidivist in its objectification of Depp. He previously was named most sexy in 2003.

Good thing he lives in France, cuz this type of thing has been keeping men down for years and years in the United States.

This is an Open Thread.

Two potential topics of conversation - First, Alabama and Florida meet for the SEC Championship on December 5. Who do you like?

Second, Levi Johnston will be posing for Playgirl. Sarah Palin calls this participating in pornography. Do you agree?

This is an Open Thread.

Kudos to Media Matters, Atrios and Digby for recognizing the putrid sexism displayed by the Media in its coverage of Sarah Palin.

Too often, "progressives" have excused the blatant sexism directed at Sarah Palin (as they did when it was directed at Hillary Clinton, their enemy during the 2008 primaries), I guess because she is a political opponent.

That is a bad approach. Sexism is wrong whomever it is directed at.

See also the stalwarts Shakes and echidne. Also see Brad Delong.

Speaking for me only of course.

This is an Open Thread.

We've been busy today and I'm not quite up to speed on the news.

It's also time for V and DWTS, and my Saigon soft-shell crab dinner just arrived.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome, whether about news, tv, food or anything else that's on your mind.

Another busy day ahead.

This is an Open Thread.

Did Bill Belicheck make the right call last night? For those who missed it, New England led the Colts 34-28 with 2:11 to go. On 4th and 2 at the NE 28, Belicheck decided to go for it instead of punting.

The argument for Belicheck takes the view that the Pats had about a 60% chance of making the first down (and sealing the game) and failing on the attempt provided the Colts a 53% chance of scoring a touchdown - giving the Pats a 79% chance of winning using Belicheck's alternative as opposed to punting, where the Colts would have had a 30% chance of scoring and winning (or a 70% chance of the Pats winning.) By this measure, Belicheck improved the Pats' chance of winning by 9%.

Here's my problem with these numbers - this was not an average "4th and 2" (For good and bad - Brady is obviously better than the average QB, the Colts would sell out to stop the conversion as opposed to a 4 and 2 at midfield in the 1st quarter, etc.) The numbers of much more interest, if they are available, are the specific results of the Pats and the Colts in the relevant scenarios - conversions on 4th down in similar situations, Colts' success in the last 2 minutes needing a TD, Pats defensive success in stopping 2 minutes drives, etc. "Historic numbers" involving all teams are not particularly relevant imo to the decision Belicheck had to make. Without knowing those numbers, it seems impossible to evaluate the Belicheck decision (of course, having failed on the 4th down and having the Colts score the winning TD, we can all say he should have punted, but that is not evaluating his decision.)

This is an Open Thread.

Busy day ahead.

This is an Open Thread.

There's The Next Iron Chef, Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters tonight. Am I missing anything? Whoops, Sunday Night Football.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome, TV related or not.

I do not know if it says more about me or the current political environment, but I used to feature a Sunday Talk open thread, and now I feature a Sunday football open thread. In any event, I don't watch Sunday Talk anymore, but I do watch Sunday football. I think most football fans will be watching the Sunday night game - the Colts vs. the Pats. Brady v. Manning. Etc.

I like the Colts (-2.5). In the other big game, the Steelers (-7) host the surprising Bengals. 7 seems too much. I'll take Cincy (+7).

The Cowboys (-3) travel to Lambeau to face the Packers. I feel some bounce back in Green Bay. Give me the Pack (+3). Finally, I like Washington (+3.5) and Tampa Bay (+10).

This is an Open Thread.