Day 55: Jimmy Johnson, Brett Favre, Tim Lincecum and more

HEADLINES

1) Jimmy Johnson won his fourth straight Sprint Cup Championship by finishing fifth at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Neither of us claim to be NASCAR fans, but how impressed are you with Johnson's accomplishment?

Ben: I was just about ready to type "impressed" in here, but I'm going the other way and saying it barely moves me. I'm ready for some competition in NASCAR. I hate The Chase, and I dislike Jimmy Johnson because he is boring and I'd like to see some of the other drivers get wins.

It's nice to win these, but I feel like NASCAR has lost something with Johnson winning these.

Boz: It's an impressive feat to win four straight championships in any professional sport. It's really impressive for Jimmy Johnson to win four straight titles in a sport where a little nudge can knock you out of any competition. Professional racing is the most dangerous sport out there and Jimmy Johnson has been one of the best to get behind the wheel of a car. I know that racing isn't the same as it was back in the days of Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty and others, but you have to think about Jimmy Johnson as one of the best racers of all time.

2) Brett Favre was 22 of 25 for 213 yards and four touchdowns in the Viking's in the 35-9 win over the Seahawks. He already has 21 touchdown passes on the year and a 112.1 QB rating. Should Favre be considered in the MVP talks?

Ben: Nope. Strictly because of what he did this offseason. I cannot give him any awards because of the games he played earlier this season.

I always felt like the MVP should go to players on middle of the road teams. Teams that struggle but make the playoffs because of the stellar play of their superstar.

Boz: Looking at the numbers, I don't see why not. He has just as many touchdown passes at both Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, just as many yards as Brees, and a better QB rating than both of them. Sure Brees and Manning are undefeated at the time, but Favre only has one loss and that was to the defending champs in Pittsburgh. The only thing is that the 40-year old has to be able to keep this up for another seven weeks of the season. But as of right now, I think he deserves to be in the talks.

3) Since we didn't have a full blog on Friday, we missed talking about Tim Lincecum winning the NL Cy Young, edging out Cris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Did you agree with this decision?

Ben: I agree with Boz here and say that none of the three candidate were bad choices. I wills ay that Carpenter and Wainwright probably stole votes from one another and that's why they didn't win the Cy Young, but Lincecum was lights out as well, and just straight dominating throughout stretches of the season.

I agree with the decision, but I don't think it would've been bad with any of them.

Boz: I think that any one of them were very deserving to win the award, so I would have been alright with any one of them bringing home the trophy. I think it was probably hard for voters to vote for either Wainwright or Carpenter because you could say that Carpenter didn't even lead his time in wins and that Wainwright didn't even lead his team in ERA. They are both talented pitchers but they most likely took votes away from one another. Lincecum is a freak and I can't wait to see how many Cy Yong awards he has at the end of his career.

4) It's almost Thanksgiving and college football still has six undefeated teams. What teams are going to be screwed most by the BCS system?

Ben: Boise State. So far, they are the odd man out in the rankings and if given the chance, the Bowls will SCREW the smallest school. They don't want Boise State to match up against Alabama/Flordia. They don't want the terrible TV ratings that come with Broncos football to mess up the earnings they typically get from BCS games.

It's disappointing, and saddening.

Boz: TCU and Boise State. I don't think Cincinnati is going to remain undefeated as I see them losing at Pittsburgh in a couple of weeks. Obviously it's going to be the winner of the SEC Championship game in the BCS title game. I don't see Texas losing to either Texas A&M or Nebraska which means that they get into the title game as well. TCU has the biggest beef because I think that they are actually capable of knocking off Florida or Alabama in the championship game. I'm not saying that I would bet on them, but definitely have the ability to do so.

TOSS-UP

1) Which upset in the NFL was more surprising? The Chiefs beating the Steelers or the Raiders knocking off the Bengals?

Ben: Raiders beating the Bengals. Anytime the Raiders win is surprising, and especially against a good team like the Bengals.

Boz: The Chiefs beating the Steelers is more surprising to me. The Raiders have already shown that they can knock off a good team at home when they beat the Eagles.

2) Who has been the better addition this year to their team? Vince Carter or Ron Artest?

Ben: Ron Ron. I'm not 100% sure why I feel this way, but I like what Artest offers, and I think he's been a much better compliment to the Lakers, whereas Vince has forced himself into the scoring role for the Magic.

Boz: I have Vince just edging out Artest in this one. While Artest has brought a much needed defensive presence to the Lakers, Vince has given the Magic a prolfic scorer that can consistently put up 20+ points.

3) Which quarterback injury is more crucial to their team? Kyle Orton's ankle or Ben Roethlisberger's concussion?

Ben: Ben's concussion. The Steelers also lost backup Charlie Batch, and therefore will have to go with Dennis Dixon until Roethlisberger gets healthy, putting them in serious trouble until Big Ben gets back.

Boz: Ben's concussion. Anytime you are talking about a concussion with any player it has to be very concerning. Orton showed yesterday that he can at least get out there and drop back and pass. It's not like he was very fast in the first place anyways.

HAPPY HOUR

Ben: Happy 1 day Anniversary Matt Stafford. Yesterday you threw for 422 yards, 5 touchdowns, one of which was a game winner at the last second against the Cleveland Browns. I don't care if it was against the pitiful Browns, in my eyes, you have to learn to win before you can become consistently successful. Matt Stafford helped the Lions learn to win on Sunday. A small step/game for most franchises, but a giant leap for my team that has struggled to climb out of the cellar for over a decade.

Boz: Happy 38th Birthday Vin Baker. The pride of the University of Hartford was the 8th overall pick in the 1993 draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Baker had a good career with the Bucks and Sonics before falling apart with the Celtics. He also played with the Knicks, Rockets and Clippers. He played in an NBA Final with the Sonics but lost in six games to the Bulls.