Doctor #11 Coming Soon

There's been a ton of speculation as to who would replace David Tennant as the Doctor on Doctor Who, almost as soon as Tennant took the role a few years ago. Now all the speculation as to when Tennant will actually leave the series can come to an end, as he himself has confirmed that the 2009 specials will be his last as the Doctor.

Rumors have been going strong over the past few weeks as to who will be Doctor #11, including Paterson Joseph, who would become the first black doctor. Fans are mixed as to who should be the replacement, but the same thing happened when each actor left the series.

I for one will be sad to see Tennant's tenure end. I didn't grow up watching Doctor Who but came to love the new series (and have since gone back and checked out the classics). As a lot of fans have said about the first doctor they watched, Tennant is my doctor. He has become a fan favorite, dispite a small bit of concern from the fan base when he took over for Christopher Eccleston.

It all depends on who you got into the series watching, and for me, it was Tennant. I can't wait for the 2009 specials to see how he finishes his time as the Doctor. He is a life-long fan of the show, so he will definitely go out in style.

So who do you think will be the next Doctor?

Hornets win season opener 108-103

The Hornets didn't play their "A" game, but they still did enough to get the opening night win over Golden State. Chris Paul continued to show why he's one, if not the, top point guards in the league with 21 points and 11 assists. David West added 24 points and Tyson Chandler was a force under the basket grabbing 16 rebounds and scoring 13.

The Hornets biggest offseason acquisition James Posey fit in nicely, playing 28 minutes (eight more than starter Mo Peterson, so this is something to watch) and finishing with 11 points leading the team with three made 3-pointers.

Coach Byron Scott should be pleased with his team pulling out the victory in a tough arena on the road. The Hornets will now travel to Phoenix to play the Suns in their home opener. The Hornets will finally get to play their opener at home on Saturday against Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Hack a Shaq

Some call the San Antonio Spurs one of the more bland teams in the league. Sure they win every year, but there's not much flair surrounding them. But their coach Greg Popovich showed that he does have a sense of humor:

Saints try to improve kicking game ... again

Olindo Mare, Martin Gramatica and now Taylor Mehlhaff. This is the list of players who have kicked, and kicked poorly, for the New Orleans Saints since the "hindsight is 20/20" silly move to cut John Carney two seasons ago.

After the rookie Mehlhaff missed an extra point in London, the Saints let him go and held open tryouts this week. Their conclusion is to go with another rookie kicker, Garrett Hartley of Oklahoma. Hartley will get an extended tryout this week, since the Saints are on a bye. The rookie was signed by Denver after the draft but was released before training camp. In his senior season at OU, he made 13 of 15 FG and 71 of 74 extra points.

The Saints have also gone through punters this year. After the Carolina game, the team waived Steve Weatherford and signed Ben Graham. This week, Graham was cut and Glenn Pakulak was brought in. Pakulak has never played in a regular season game, but had been with six teams throughout his NFL career. He also played in NFL Europe for the Amsterdam Admirals.

LSU's Bowl Projections

LSU's defense. It's the quarterback. It's the scheme. The wrong players are starting. Two defensive coordinators. Every Tiger fan has an opinion as to why LSU is sitting at 5-2 right now. After another blow out loss, this time at home, Tiger fans need to take a deep breath and realize where we are.

LSU is still the two-time BCS champion. No other school can say that right now. We are starging a red-shirt freshman quarterback who, while improving, still stares down receivers and throws interceptions. We've played two of our three biggest opponents already and Alabama is looming. There are some issues on defense, but its not the end of the world. There's still an opportunity to have a great season, and a win over Alabama would make it a great season. The SEC Championship might be hard to come by this year, but there will still be a good bowl game awaiting the Tigers at the end of the year.

Here's where LSU is projected to play in January:

ESPN's Mark Schlabach:
AT&T Cotton Bowl: LSU vs. Oklahoma State

ESPN's Bruce Feldman:
Capital One Bowl: LSU vs. Minnesota

CBS Sportsline:
Outback Bowl: LSU vs. Minnesota

NBC Sports:
AT&T Cotton Bowl: LSU vs. Oklahoma State

Scout.com:
AT&T Cotton Bowl: LSU vs. Missouri

Sporting News:
AT&T Cotton Bowl: LSU vs. Oklahoma

Saints vs. Chargers in London

The Saints take on the San Diego Chargers this weekend in London. It will be a home game for New Orleans and the stadium will be decked out with Black and Gold to make the Saints feel at "home."

This is an important game for both teams. The loser will go into their bye week at 3-5 and will basically be out of playoff contention. Both of these teams had playoff and Superbowl dreams before the season, so sitting at 3-4 right now was not the plan.

Earlier this week, the Saints trip to London was tainted with reports that Deuce McAllister, Will Smith and Charles Grant had violated the league's steroid policy. I'm not sure what to think of these reports and the fact that the players were taking water pills and not steroids.

These three players are leaders on the team and fan favorites, so its unfortunate for them to be involved in something like this. But ultimately, they are responsible for themselves and it looks like they made a major mistake that will cost them 4 games. All three will play this week, as will rookie Sedrick Ellis who is returning from a knee injury. Reggie Bush is out after having knee surgery, but the Saints offense did well without Bush last year and shouldn't miss a beat with him out now. As long as Drew Brees is able to spread the ball around, the Saints offense will be fine.

Prediction:
Chargers 23
Saints 28

LSU vs. Georgia

VS.

Both LSU and Georgia are facing basically a must-win situation to keep pace in their respective division in the SEC. LSU cannot afford a loss at this point with Alabama playing so well and Georgia needs the win, especially with their match-up with the Florida Gators coming up.

LSU has been struggling somewhat on both sides of the ball the past few weeks, but finally put together a strong half of football against South Carolina. The LSU defense held their own and played like fans had been expecting them to play all season.

LSU used a few more wrinkles on offense and worked in both quarterbacks nicely. They even let running QB Andrew Hatch throw the ball a few times, including a touchdown to TE Richard Dickson. If the two-QB system is to be effective, they need to mix it up and have Jarrett Lee run some and Hatch throw more. The other big wrinkle was having both Keiland Williams and Charles Scott on the field at the same time. Scott is one of the top runners in the conference, so having him line-up at fullback draws the defense's attention.

Georgia has fallen a bit since being preseason #1, but they are still one of the top teams in the conference. Knowshawn Moreno is probably the best running back in the league and Matthew Stafford is being discussed as the top QB prospect in the upcoming draft. LSU will have its hands full, and the Tiger Stadium crowd needs to live up to the tradition and hype to make Death Valley one of college footballs toughest venues, even with the 2:30 p.m. kickoff.

It's going to be a tough game for the Tigers, and they can't afford to make the same mistakes that have plagued this team this year. They'll need to play an almost perfect game to beat the talented Bulldogs. No special teams breakdowns, no Pick-6 interceptions, no lackadaisical first halves of football ... basically, they need to play like the team fans believe they are.

Prediction:
Georgia 24
LSU 25

Get ready for Lost Season 5

The Lost Season 5 promo hit the interwebs this week and it looks awesome.



A few Lost fan sites have been analyzing and talking about everything that happens in it, but the new footage goes by so quickly, its hard to tell what's happening. DarkUFO has posted all the screen shots, giving a frame-by-frame look at the promo.

I know a few people out there are aggravated with the show for the long hiatus, but I know this show will deliver. With only two seasons left, there's so many loose ends to tie up. We're going to start getting more answers and that's what we've been waiting 5 years to see.

Mark Wahlberg Rocks

Mark Wahlberg was gaining the reputation of being a jerk after he went on a few talk show's last week and bashed SNL and their skit "Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals":



Andy Samberg, who is responsible for the some great digital shorts, struck gold again with his Wahlberg impersonation and fans were wondering why Wahlberg didn't have a sense of humor and wasn't playing along.

Well, fast forward to this Saturday and the pay off for the feud:



Wahlberg and SNL played this one brilliantly and there was a tenseness when Marky Mark confronted Andy. SNL still isn't great, but they are capitalizing on the buzz surrounding the show leading into the upcoming election. Having Sarah Palin on the show created one of the highest rated episodes in a long time, but the highlight for me was the Wahlberg/Samberg confruntation ... oh and the fart face business meeting. Fart Face

Saints vs. Panthers

The Saints look to chip away at the NFC South Division this weekend as they travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers and former Saints Jake Delhomme. The Saints, who travel to London next week, would like to do so above .500 with a win over the Panthers.

On offense, Drew Brees has been playing the quarterback position better than anyone in the NFL the past few weeks and it looks like he'll be getting some of his weapons back on Sunday. Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey are both expected to be back in the lineup, which didn't miss a beat with them injured. Shockey should open up the middle of the field, and Colston is always a red zone threat. Reggie Bush will be looking to continue to silence his critics (don't even think about punting the ball to him), and RB Deuce McAllister is playing more and more like the Deuce of old.

The Saints defense has been steadily improving each week, and the past two weeks, they have been excellent against the run. The secondary is showing great strides, even with the batch of injuries they've face. Even Jason David has made some plays. They will all need to be at the top of their game against the Panthers' weapons like Steve Smith, Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams.

These teams always play each other tight. These games are rarely decided until the 4th quarter and turnovers and special teams will be a key. With the Panthers losing 27-3 last week to Tampa Bay, they'll have extra motivation to stay atop the division by beating the Saints.

Prediction:
Saints 21
Panthers 20

LSU vs. South Carolina

VS.

LSU is on the road for the second week in a row as they travel to take on South Carolina. After being dismantled by Florida 51-21, LSU is hoping to get back on the right track against the SEC's top defense.

LSU Coach Les Miles has never lost back-to-back games since coming to Baton Rouge and a loss to South Carolina could doom the Tigers' season. The LSU defense has been under a lot of scrutiny this week, especially the duel defensive coordinators. South Carolina isn't a great offensive team, so LSU should be able to put some pressure on the QB and force some turnovers.

LSU's offense relies heavily on the running game, which they couldn't get going against Florida especially since they were in a 20 point hole almost the entire game. Charles Scott will look to get back on the national stage with a good rushing performance against one of the country's top defenses. If the running game gets going, that should open up passing lanes for Jarrett Lee. Andrew Hatch made his return last week and should get more chances to run the option on offense.

Prediction:
LSU 24
South Carolina 14

A Look at LSU's Bowl Projections

After LSU's crushing loss at Florida, many LSU fans are wondering what this season will bring for their Tigers. LSU still controls its own destiny in the Western Division. If they win out, they will be in Atlanta for a likely rematch with Florida. If they lose a game or two along the way, they'll need lots of help to get back to the SEC Championship.

Some fans are still talking BCS Championship, but I think this is an unreachable goal this year. Sure, LSU lost two games last year and still won the title, but look at those two losses ... both were in triple OT. This year, LSU got blasted by Florida by 30 points. If teams like LSU, USC, Ohio State and Oklahoma all finish with one loss, I don't think LSU gets the nod this year, not with a 30 point loss on their schedule.

So where will LSU end up playing in the postseason? Here is a look at where a few sports sites project the Tigers to go Bowling:

ESPN's Mark Schlabach:
AT&T Cotton Bowl: LSU vs. Texas Tech

ESPN's Bruce Feldman:
Capital One Bowl: LSU vs. Penn State

CBS Sportsline:
Capital One Bowl: LSU vs. Michigan State

NBC Sports:
Capital One Bowl: LSU vs. Ohio State

Scout.com:
AT&T Cotton Bowl: LSU vs. Missouri

Sporting News:
AT&T Cotton Bowl: LSU vs. Oklahoma State

Voodoo No More

According to the Times Picayune, the New Orleans Voodoo have folded, and New Orleans will no longer have an Arena football team.

This is unfortunate news, but Tom Benson and the Saints brass are saying that the move has nothing to do with the New Orleans marketplace. Apparently there are some league issues, and fans may see more teams follow the Voodoo's lead and folding.

With the current U.S. economy and the success of the New Orleans Hornets (who play at the same time as the Voodoo), Benson probably saw the writing on the wall for his AFL team. The AFL may just be the beginning of big changes. There's talk that some major league (NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL) team could be on the move in the near future.

I've never attended a Voodoo game, but hear that they were really fun. I saw a few games on TV and followed the team, mostly during their first year. I know Tom Benson will take some heat for this move, but as long as he keeps the Saints in New Orleans, I don't care what he does with his other business ventures.

LSU vs. Florida

VS.

LSU travels to The Swamp this weekend to take on Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators. While not technically one of Florida's rivals, LSU fans see the Gators as a huge SEC rival and love beating them anytime they can.

This year, the Florida offense isn't moving the ball and scoring as highly as in the past. LSU's dominant defense will look for that trend to continue. While the Auburn game was the first true test for LSU, this game will be a tougher challenge. Auburn has wilted since the LSU game, struggling with Tennesse and losing to Vandy. While the Gators were upset by Ole Miss, that game was at 11:30 in the morning and all LSU fans know how much different playing at night can be compared to the JP/Raycom game.

A big question will be how QB Jarod Lee reacts in his first road start. He played well (in the second half) against Auburn, but it's still not like starting in The Swamp. Look for LSU to pound the ball with Charles Scott and the rest of the LSU running backs to take the pressure off of Lee's shoulders.

Prediction:
LSU 27
Florida 24

Saints move on, face Oakland this weekend

I don't want to talk about this past week's Monday night game against the Vikings. That game was ridiculous on so many levels and the Saints gift wrapped, unwrapped and gift wrapped the victory again for Minnesota. Its time to move on.

And apparently the Saints are moving on. Today they placed kicker Martin Gramatica on IR and resigned rookie kicker Taylor Mehlhaff. I say good move. While we aren't sure what Mehlhaff will do in the regular season, the Saints can no longer have any confidence in Gramatica. Sure he can nail a 50+ yarder here and there, but in the clutch he hooks his kicks. Let's see how Mehlhaff handles the job. I here John Carney may be available soon if Taylor can't get it done.

The Saints welcome the Oakland Raiders this weekend. The Raiders are coming off a bye week and the firing of Lane Kiffen. This could be a good spot for the Saints to get back on track. Oakland's defense has been pretty bad and Jamarcus Russell still has his struggles on the pro level. With the way the defense stepped up against Adrian Peterson, Darren McFadden may not have much room to run either.

Prediction:
Raiders 17
Saints 38

Monday Night Football: Saints vs. Vikings

The Saints are on the national stage tonight as they host the Minnesota Vikings. This should be a high scoring game and one that fans will enjoy.

The Vikings bring in one of the league's top rushing attacks, led by Adrian Peterson. The Saints are hurting up the middle with rookie DT Sedrick Ellis out for the next few weeks. This doesn't paint a good picture for the Saints. But the defense looked better last week and the Vikings will need to show some balance to win the game. The Saints secondary finally played a good game against the 49ers and if the front four can put pressure on Gus Ferotte, he should turn the ball over.

On offense, Drew Brees is carving up opposing defenses. The Vikings are solid against the run, so don't look for Deuce McAllister or Reggie Bush to have much room to run, but Minnesota's weakness is pass coverage. Look for Brees to spread the ball around (like he usually does) and move the Saints up and down the field on the Vikings. Hopefully, a fired up Superdome crown shows up and cheers the Saints to a victory.

Prediction:
Vikings 26
Saints 30

Indiana Jones V, really?

I was as excited as the next guy to watch Indiana Jones IV, but came away from the theatre a little disappointed with the effort. Now there's talks that George Lucas wants to do Indiana Jones V. Lucas has a reputation for wanting to milk money out of his most successful franchises (Indiana Jones and Star Wars) but this is getting ridiculous.

I am a huge fan of "The Last Crusade" and felt it was a good ending spot for the movies, but then Lucas wanted to do another one. He convinced Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford to do it and now he's working them over for a 5th installment.

Does everyone really want to see a Shia LeBoeuf led Indiana Jones? That's the rumor for the next movie. Ford would take a backseat and play a role similar to Sean Connery in the 3rd film and LaBoeuf would go on the adventure.

I am a huge George Lucas fan, but I hate to see him run his successful movies into the ground. It became a running joke with Star Wars with the Special Editions and Prequel Trilogy and now its happening with Indiana Jones.

I have to admit though, I will keep paying money to see my favorite characters on the big screen, so as Obi Wan Konobi once said, "Who's the more foolish: The fool, or the fool who follows him?"

Jim's Best Pranks

Since there's no new Office tonight with the VP debate on TV, here's a list of Jim's best pranks thanks to EW.com.