Griffin, Freeman, Pacquiao, and random observations on the wonderful world sports

In the words of the great San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Scott Ostler, here are my deep thoughts, cheap shots, and bon mots:



---There he was, posterizing young Knicks center Timofey Mozgov en route to a spectacular 44-points, 15-rebounds, 7-assists performance on Friday night. Blake Griffin continues to have an amazing rookie season. However, lost amidst the Griffin domination is this sobering fact from Clipperville: The Clippers, despite Griffin's near-triple-double, lost again, falling to an atrocious record of one win and thirteen losses.



---As the great Bill Simmons noted recently, even the great Blake Griffin is starting to wear the frightened look of dismay that comes with being a member of the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clips have some terrific talent. With Griffin, Eric Gordon, Eric Bledsoe, and Al-Farouq Aminu, there is absolutely no rational explanation for the Clippers' 1-13 start. A paralyzing culture of losing permeates the Clippers franchise. Once again, the Clippers have a talented team that also happens to be far and away the worst team in basketball.



---Every year, the Spurs are overlooked and dismissed as a symbol of old age. Every year, the San Antonio Spurs defy their critics. Prior to the season, I wrote that the Spurs were essentially done with contending for titles. Wrong again. Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, and company are off to an 11-1 start, and they have every intention of making another deep run into the playoffs. The Spurs are the best-run organization in all of professional sports. In the aftermath of Tony Parker's less-than-shocking pending divorce from Eva Longoria, many made the laughable assertion that the Parker-Longoria split would be a worrisome distraction for Gregg Popovich's team. The Spurs are too focused, too motivated an organization to be affected by such an occurrence.



---Thank you Rudy Gay! Gay's exemplary play continued on Friday night as he hit a game-winning, fade-away buzzer-beater over the outstretched arm of LeBron James to give the Miami Heat yet another loss. The supposedly mighty Heat are now 8-5, and underwhelming performances are now a frequent sighting for Miami. Gotta love it!

---Meanwhile, in Portland, Greg Oden is out for the season. Sigh.

---On to the NFL now, which featured incredible drama in Week 11. In the Meadowlands, Mark Sanchez and the Jets garnered yet another thrilling win in the final seconds. In Foxboro, Tom Brady and the Pats edged Peyton Manning and the Colts in another compelling edition of football's best rivalry. And in Philadelphia, Michael Vick continued his brilliance, leading the Eagles to a tight win over the New York Giants. Sanchez, Brady, and Vick will dominate the quarterback conversation today, and rightfully so. However, there is one quarterback of a playoff-caliber team that is getting completely overshadowed. Ladies and gentlemen, Josh Freeman deserves more respect.

---The Tampa Bay quarterback is the leader of the surprising Bucs, who thumped the 49ers on Sunday (Ouch) to improve to 7-3. Freeman lacks the stardom and name recognition of Brady, Manning, Vick, Roethlisberger, McNabb, Romo, and pretty much every other QB in the league. However, Freeman is quietly having a tremendous season. It's about time the nation starts singing his praises.

---Having the Lions and Cowboys always play on Thanksgiving Day is a tired tradition. I will gladly watch the games on Turkey Day---after all, football is football---but it is time for the NFL to showcase some fresh blood on Thanksgiving Day.

---On to college football now, where the BCS is an absolute disgrace. I know it seems like I am beating a dead horse on this issue, but it cannot be said enough: Oregon, Auburn, Boise State, and TCU all have a legitimate argument that they belong in the title game, yet two of those teams are bound to get screwed by computers. Meanwhile, in the Pac-10, Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinal are in danger of getting bypassed for the Rose Bowl, and that is a shame.

---The awesomeness that is college basketball is now underway, and here is my Final Four prediction: Kansas State, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse.

---I will end with an appreciation of Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao is absolutely amazing, bringing a level of excitement to the world of boxing not seen since the days of Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. Now if Floyd Mayweather would just accept the challenge, that would bring the sport to an even higher level of excitement. C'mon Floyd, take the risk: A Pacquaio-Mayweather fight is what the nation is waiting for.