Another mad weekend

How great are the dangers I face to get across St Augustine's Parade

I don't know. The weather here is abysmal: it's dark all the time, it never seems to stop raining and despite the best efforts of the worst drivers in the world to stop Buchephalus (my bike) and I getting home in one piece on Friday, I am here and I'm writing this again.

OK, to business.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that Tony Romo was no Tom Brady. I'm going to have to retract that after he lead the Cowboys offense to a win over the previously unbeaten Colts and then spanked The Chucky All Stars with five passing TDs on Thanksgiving Day.

Tom Brady is the one at the bottom right. Hold on, isn't that Chucky on the bottom left?

'What are we doing? What's the coverage? Ah, shit!
We can't run! We can't throw! We can't tackle!'

Romo's been getting a lot of rave reviews and he's apparently going out with Jessica Simpson, who is blonde and sings.

I'm assuming that's Jessica Simpson on the right?
It's definitely Al Davis in the middle.

Having said that, the problem with all the good publicity about Tony Romo is that he only took over from Drew Bledsoe a few weeks back and is already being compared to Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach who - in case anyone forgets - won a few Superbowls in the last century; there are some comparisons between the Jimmy Jones era and the current squad, notably that they have an obnoxious dickhead with a big mouth at wide receiver.

Terrell Irvin? Michael Owens? Oh who cares.

Enough about the bloody Cowboys already. There's something about them I've never liked.

In a move that shocked no-one, 'Offensive Co-ordinator' of the Oakland Raiders Tom Walsh got the old heave ho tin tack treatment earlier this week and will not be replaced by former England Rugby Union head coach Andy Robinson* but by John Shoop. It was 'Bye, Bye Baby' rather than just win baby for Walsh as it became obvious that 'The Shoe Don't Fit' and the number of critics of the Oakland offense meant newspaper columns in Northern California were 'Getting Mighty Crowded'; Andrew Walter apparently said 'I Can't Hear You No More' from the huddle, but if you wanna know if Shoop likes to throw, I'll post some stats on Monday from the Raiders/Houston game...by the way, that may be the best thing I've ever written.

Betty Everett songs and the Raiders in one paragraph. Perfect.

There have been various rumours this week that West Viriginia's Rich Rodriguez is being lined up for the Alabama job, which are apparently enough to make his wife cry. You can tell that the football season is over down there: the lead story on rolltide.com at the moment is swimming.

Even if Rita Rodriquez doesn't like the idea of Tuscaloosa, her husband's offensive philosophy actually fits the material available that Bama has at the moment. It's not too difficult to imagine John Parker Wilson spraying the field with passes to DJ Hall, Keith Brown, Will Oakley and Nikita Stover, but there are big shoes to fill at running back as the seniors have gone and Jimmy Johns is probably the number one back next season. I can't remember where I saw/heard it this week, but Alabama now seems to have recruiting issues: it's been a generation since The Bear died and Bama hasn't really had the same type of profile that it once did.

Underlining that, the SEC Championship game this weekend features Florida and Arkansas. Bama lost by one point to the Razorbacks at the end of September for their first defeat of the season, lost to the Gators the following week and were 3-4 the rest of the way. Exit Mike Shula stage left; this programme needs success and a higher national profile in a hurry. It's a huge job and good luck to the coach who eventually gets it.

News just in: Bristol Rovers dodge a bullet, Brighton don't.

Having beaten Forest on penalties on Wednesday night, City avoided 'local rivals' Bristol Rovers in the regional semi finals of the Whatever It's Called Cup this season but were drawn against the other team that begins with B and plays in blue and white that every self respecting City should have a very special place in their hearts for.

I don't mean that in a nice way either.

Tomorrow City face Gillingham for the second time in three weeks only this time it's in the Second Round of the FA Cup. Lose and we're left to concentrate on the league (and the Whatever It's Called Cup), win and the possibility of a draw against one of the bigger teams gets closer.

'Dear Santa...'

Magic number: 48, apparently.