After months of hard fought play and exciting NFL conference championship games that feel like they happened ages ago, the day for the big game is finally here – Super Bowl Sunday is upon us.

As everyone puts the finishing touches on their hot wings and pizza and fills their coolers with beer in anticipation of the action between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers, it’s down to the wire for some good old fashioned Super Bowl betting.

The Super Bowl is a classic example of two sides being pitted against each other, with the fans of both the Packers and Steelers carrying the on-the-field battle between the players into living rooms across the country sure to be full of trash talking. When it comes to bragging rights, what better way to celebrate your team’s win is there than making the right Super Bowl picks.

You already know that Troy Polamalu and James Harrison are beasts on the defensive side or that Aaron Rodgers anchors a high-powered offense. Everyone’s seen Clay Matthews relentlessly attack quarterbacks and Charles Woodson has been annoying receivers with his pesky defense for years.

Combine that knowledge with the Super Bowl odds and you just might be able to take your own trip to Disney World.

The NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell are taking a more aggressive approach to the prevention and treatment of concussions. Gone are the days of a guy getting dinged, missing the mandatory play and returning to the field. Now he’s given a series of concussion tests on the sideline and usually determined to be out for the game.

If you long for the good ol’ days of guys risking permanent brain damage the Unicycle Football League is the Nino Brown to your Pookie. Not only is it exactly what it sounds like -guys playing football on unicycles- but they play on concrete.. In front of what appear to be a lost clan of hobos.

Unicycle Football [balyssanoel-Youtube]

Unicycle Football Kicks Off [1headlight1986-Youtube]

New year, new coach, same results for Notre Dame football. The Golden Domer’s record drops to 1-2 after a stomp on the balls 34-31 overtime loss to Michigan State. David Ruffer’s 33-yard field goal gave the Irish a 31-28 OT lead, and things were looking up for ND after the defense held the Spartans to a 46-yard field goal attempt. That’s when Michigan St. introduced Notre Dame to the “Little Giant” aka their fake field goal. Holder and punter Aaron Bates took the snap and then hit Charlie Gantt for the 29-yard game-winning TD. Exactly like they drew it up.. Minus the part about the first option being covered.

Somebody forgot to send me the memo or maybe I’m not on the list at all, but it looks like Oakland Raiders overalls are what’s up for Fall 2010. Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings tweeted a pic of his via @BLKICE3 and University of Miami quarterback Jacory Harris showed his back to school Raiders ‘ralls at @JacoryHarris12. Shaq should be showing up in a pair in three, two, one.

In June, the NCAA dealt the USC football program an Ali-level punch to the face: four years of probation, the loss of 30 scholarships over three years and a two-year bowl ban.

The sanctions left the Trojans depleted in terms of numbers (they’re down to 70 scholarships) and talent (top recruit Seantrel Henderson jumped ship in favor of Miami), but their spirit was hardly broken. Emboldened by the naysayers and energized by the dawn of the Lane Kiffin era, they began training camp stronger than ever. Matt Barkley looked polished and confident, Ronald Johnson ran roughshod over the secondary, and the defensive line appeared as formidable as any in the country.

A month later it’s a different story altogether.

Injuries, suspensions and disappointing performances have deflated the Trojans to the point that their first team offense could barely beat the scout team on Thursday.

Gone is the offensive swagger of early camp, when Johnson and freshman tailback Dillon Baxter looked as unstoppable as the Trojans of old. Gone is the endearing confidence of projected starter Allen Bradford, who, thanks to a knee injury, will likely be replaced by Marc Tyler when the Trojans open the season on Sept. 2 against Hawaii. And gone to injury are offensive guards Khaled Holmes and Butch Lewis (tackle Matt Kalil only recently returned from a hamstring injury), leaving an already threadbare offensive line even thinner.

Holmes and Lewis figure to return soon but it’s clear the injury bug has struck the Trojans, and it doesn’t appear to be leaving any time soon. No matter how many non-contact practices Kiffin runs, there always seems to be someone new going down – case in point: Hayes Pullard.

Much like the injury bug, team distractions have been frequent during training camp for the Trojans.

First, senior fullback Stanley Havili got into a fight with teammate T.J. Bryant that resulted in Bryant’s left cheekbone being broken – Havili was briefly suspended but returned to the team. Then Baxter, the heralded youngster who went off like a firecracker in spring practice, was caught violating dorm rules and suspended for the first game of the season. As if Kiffin needed any more headaches after the sanctions, the transfers and the Kennedy Pola fallout.

All of which adds up to a bedraggled stumble onto the island of Hawaii, rather than the beach storming Kiffin would most certainly have preferred.

Make no mistake, the Trojans’ defensive line – led by Jurrell Casey, Nick Perry, Armond Armstead and Hebron Fanguapo – is still a monster, and the secondary is much improved with the return of shutdown corner Shareece Wright and the emergence of freshman Nickell Robey. But the offense just is not where it should be.

Barkley, as much as he has improved, seems out of sync. Freshman receiver Robert Woods is talented but young and therefore making rookie mistakes. Bradford is a shell of his early camp self thanks to the knee injury. Even RoJo, who evoked Heisman whispers with his early camp dominance, has been out of sorts lately, catching just three passes for 38 yards on Thursday.

The USC offense isn’t just rich with game-changing athletes, they’re Mikhail Prokhorov rich. But that talent margin just isn’t transferring to the field right now. The Trojans have been flat at best, mediocre at worst.

The energy simply isn’t there, and Lane Kiffin will be the first one to tell you that.

That doesn’t necessarily mean USC is going to have a bad season – their 13-game schedule is not a difficult one; outside of Oregon, Oregon St., Washington and Notre Dame they play relatively easy opponents – but it does mean fans should temper their expectations. Dreams of an undefeated season are pipe-like at best. Anyone who has seen this offense lately will tell you it certainly doesn’t look like it belongs to the 14th-best team in the nation.

After the trophies were stripped and the wins vacated, USC looked primed for a triumphant comeback season. Now that reality has set in, however, the light at the end of the tunnel hardly looks as bright for the beleaguered Trojans.

Patrick Crawley is the sports editor for Neon Tommy and the managing editor of Basketball Fiend. Follow him on Twitter at @BasketballFiend.

Ed and Charles O’Bannon helped UCLA win the National Championship in 1995, but neither had NBA success. Ed was selected ninth overall by the New Jersey Nets in the ’95 draft and lasted three years in the league. Charles was taken with the third pick in the second round of the ’97 draft by the Detroit Pistons but washed out after two years.

The brothers slipped off the radar after the NBA, prompting Lil Wayne to mention them on “Cannon”. Jersey Chaser dug up Edward Charles and Charles Edward O’Bannon to show that they’re not missing and to get their thoughts on Wayne’s lyric.

So that settles it. Lil Wayne can rap about the O’Bannons but Charles O’Bannon can dunk on little Wayne. Ed took the right route by not saying anything because they’re not gonna win a war of words with Weezy.

*Exclusive* Interview with the Legendary O’Bannon Brothers From UCLA [Jersey Chaser]

• The former Florida State and NFL wide receiver has signed
to play indoor football

For all of you that were sitting around saying “I wonder what happened to Peter Warrick”, wonder no more. The former Florida State wide receiver, and fourth overall pick in the 2000 NFL draft has signed with the Bloomington Extreme of the Indoor Football League.

This isn’t Warrick’s first dance with indoor football; he signed with the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena Football League in 2007, but he never played because he thought he was going back to the NFL.

Extreme coach Kenton Carr is excited about adding Warrick to his roster.

From the PJStar.com:

“Obviously we are extremely lucky to get a guy of this caliber and talent,” Bloomington coach Kenton Carr said in a release from the team. “He was an outstanding player, who put up large numbers at Florida State, and played six seasons in the highest level of football in the world, the NFL. He wants to get back on the field for a competitive team and and show what he still has.”

All the best to Peter Warrick but guys usually go from the smaller leagues up to the NFL, not from the NFL, down to indoor football and back. I’m not ashamed to say I missed on this one. I thought he would have a decent NFL career as a punt returner at the least.

• Eagles team president questions Roy Williams deal, team direction

The 2008 season is hanging in the balance for the Dallas Cowboys. If the ‘Boys can weather the storm while Tony Romo’s out, get some help in the secondary, pacify TO, find Wade Phillips a pair, refresh Jason Garrett’s playbook, and get Jerry Jones to stay out of the way, they might be able to go 8-8.

The Cowboys traded for wide receiver Roy Williams to help beef up their offense. I don’t know how his acquisition makes Dallas get back to the run game or get Terrell Owens more involved, and I don’t think the Cowboys know either. Philadelphia Eagles president Joe Banner was asked his thoughts on the Williams deal and after basically saying Dallas overpaid he explained the difference between the two organizations.

Philadelphia Eagles president Joe Banner
From PhiladelphiaEagles.com:

Banner also said: “Our goal is to win a Super Bowl. Forget winning a playoff game, which is something they [the Cowboys] are still working on; our goal is to win a Super Bowl. You have to take your resources – your players, your draft picks, your salary-cap space – and you have to use those very effectively if you’re going to win Super Bowls.”

That’s great. And he’s right. The Philadelphia Eagles goal should be to win the Super Bowl. Especially since they haven’t won one in franchise history. Yeah, they got a few of those crappy NFL titles that nobody counts as championships but they don’t have a Lombardi Trophy. That’s always the neutralizer when us Eagles fans are arguing with fans of teams that have won a Super Bowl.

• Former NFL player and coach Mike Ditka has a plan to clean up the game

Former NFL head coach and current ESPN analyst Mike Ditka is one of the league’s all-time baddest men. He’s 69 years old and he can still lay the wood and take a hit.

Yesterday Ditka stopped by his alma mater, Pitt, to talk to the players and offer advice like “Outhit your opponents”. The subject of the NFL taking hard hits out of the game came up, and Iron Mike says he knows how to solve the problem.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

“I said a long time ago if you want to change the game take the mask off the helmet,” he said. “It will change the game a lot. If you want to change the game and get it back to where people aren’t striking with the head and using the head as a weapon, take the mask off the helmet.

“A lot of pretty boys aren’t going to stick their face in there. If you’re going to take hitting out of football, you might as well just call it soccer. That’s what I believe. A lot of people will be disappointed I said that, but football is what it is. [Vince] Lombardi said it a long time ago. Football is not a contact game. Dancing is a contact game. Football is a collision sport.”

First Troy Palumalu called the NFL a pansy league and now Ditka’s calling them a bunch of pretty boys that only hit the way they do because of the protective gear. I think Hines Ward would lay guys out with or without a face mask.

Speaking of Troy Palumalu here’s a video of him getting interviewed by a guy that’s a mix of Elie Seckbach and Tucker from There’s Something About Mary.

• Larry Johnson is being investigated following nightclub incident

Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson was suspended for Sunday’s 34-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans for breaking unspecified team rules. He could be looking at more time away from the game due to a nightclub incident with a woman during the Chiefs’ bye week.

From the Associated Press:

Kansas City police are investigating a report of non-aggravated assault against Johnson for an incident at Club Blonde on Oct. 10. Ashley Stewart, 28, said Johnson told her he was going to kill her boyfriend, then took a drink and spit it in her face, according to the police report.

Spitting in a woman’s face. Death threats. That’s how you spend a week off the job. When Larry Johnson hears bye week he goes spring break.

Chiefs president Carl Peterson said Sunday that the organization knew about Johnson being investigated and they were very disappointed in his involvement. That sounds like Peterson thinks LJ f’d up. Roger Goodell will probably drop a suspension on Johnson considering this is the fourth time in five years, and the second time in 2008, that Larry Johnson has been accused of some sort of assault involving a woman.