6 per game and No 4 in scoring allowed just 8

News today out of the NFL is that if Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable is implicated by police in the assault of an assistant coach, then commissioner Roger Goodell will act, and Goodell expects to receive a report from the police “in the next couple weeks.”For someone who has attempted to paint a picture of himself as this get-tough commissioner who will not tolerate anyone tarnishing the NFL brand through his off-the-field actions, Goodell's handling of this matter strikes me as rather cowardly.In case anyone does not remember, this situation stems from an incident that happened in August, over two months ago. If the police implicate Cable, then Goodell will take action, and if anyone is upset, he will just point to the police report.If the police don’t act, same excuse for his inaction.This is his league; he runs it. Why does he have to wait for anyone or rely on what anyone else concludesI respect not having a knee-jerk reaction to situations But that is not what is going on in this case. If Goodell wanted, he could have stepped in and determined on his own what happened that day and if any punishment was warranted.

He obviously has no inclination to do so.Whether or not the police act should have no bearing on this situation. The police, and prosecutors, have other factors to consider before moving ahead with criminal charges against a person.Goodell has one thing to consider the good of his league. He doesn’t have to prove anything in court beyond a reasonable doubt. If a person tries to hide behind a lawyer or says he can’t speak because of an ongoing investigation, Goodell is free to let that person know that they can remain silent all they want, but he will factor that into any decision.Instead, Goodell waits and waits and waits, and is content to sit back and allow the burden to be placed squarely on the shoulders of the police. Allowing this story to drag on does the league no good. If true, Goodell could have stepped in a long time ago and taken decisive action against Cable. If false, Goodell's unwillingness to get involved forced a head coach and its fans to operate under this negative cloud all season.Let’s contrast Goodell’s inability to act with similar actions from another commissioner, David Stern.What Goodell is doing would be the equivalent of Stern having waited for the police report until he decided how to discipline Ron Artest and the other players involved in the fight in Detroit.Or maybe a better comparison is when Latrell Sprewell choked P.J Carlesimo at practice. Stern acted immediately, suspending Sprewell for the entire season.

This is not one of them,especially when it appears all those involved, participants and witnesses, fall under Goodell's NFL authority Goodell should have spoken to those involved, made a determination, and not allowed this to linger for months on end.If he had wanted to act, he would have done so. Instead, he continues to hide behind whatever it is the police ultimately do or don’t do in this case. That isn’t leadership; it is an act of cowardice not befitting the image of a so-called get-tough commissioner. . ) 1. The weather forecast (as of this writing) for Saturday's game between Notre Dame and USC has the high temperature in the mid 40's with some chance of rain (or snow). What weather would give Notre Dame the best chance to beat USC, and whyLet it snow.It's always bugged me that we don't take advantage of our biggest home field advantage against our biggest rival.On paper, one would think that the strong running game of SC would do better in the snow than our pass-heavy offense.But I don't care.Half of the Trojans haven't ever played in snow.And for those of you (like myself) that have, you remember how miserable it was the first time.You can't feel your fingers, you're miserable, and you wonder about the sanity of the people who told you to suck it up and go play.We've been there, done that.2.Irresistible Force or Immovable ObjectNotre Dame's offense is ranked No 10 in yards (470 per game) and No 27 in points (32.6 per game) USC's defense is ranked No 6 in yards allowed (238.6 per game) and No 4 in scoring allowed (just 8.6 points per game).