Town House or Ritz crackers

This weekend was filled with great action from beginning to end and I promise I will get to the sports in just a minute. First I would like to talk about Town House and Ritz crackers.

Over the weekend, I made some chili with my wife. While the finishing touches were being put on the chili, we noticed that we were out of crackers. My wife ran to the local store to pick-up some crackers for the meal. She grabbed a box of Ritz in a rush and I have to say that I was disappointed. They are by no means as good as Town House. Flaky and buttery are not two words I would use to describe a Ritz, however, cardboard and plain are two words I would use. Advice to the makers of the Ritz, put some butter in the crackers and make Town House work for their market share. Right now you aren't and I am sure Town House is happy about that fact.

Now on to the sports. This weekend we saw Ohio State and Michigan almost give up their title hopes a game early to the likes of Illinois and Ball State, the Bears perfect season ended by the Dolphins again, the Cowboys lose one of the weirdest games ever, Jimmy Johnson took over the points lead in NASCAR and the Colts made it two in a row vs. the Patriots in Foxboro.

Here are my two topics for the week (soon to be called Soap Box topics):

1. When to bench a starting or back-up QB in the NFL? Not only is this a hard for coaches to do but it is also hard to discuss but I am going to give it a shot. Right now there are 6 teams that have back-up QBs piloting their ships. I think 3 of these teams need to make the decision to keep their back-up as a starter for the rest of the season. Jacksonville, Dallas and Kansas City have back-ups that are playing very well and their teams are winning games. They need to follow the old saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Going back to the starter only brings back the possibility of losing and sub-par play from that position. Plus all three of these teams have hopes of the playoffs and that means job security for any coach. On the other hand, there is one team in my opinion that needs to put their starter on the bench. The Pittsburgh Steelers are now 2-6 and don't seem to be in the running for a playoff birth. They need to salvage what is left of the season, stop the bleeding and put Big Ben on the bench. He is a turnover machine and continues to put what is one of the best defenses in the league in terrible positions. Prime example was the Oakland game. The defense allowed less than 100 total yards for the game yet they lost. He had a bad off season and has transferred that to the regular season. Do your team, his confidence and the city a favor and put Batch in the game.

2. R E S P E C T, that is what the Colts need. I first want to say that I understand this team has not shown much fight in the playoffs but we don't live in the past and we are not in the playoffs right now so we must focus on what is in front of us. What is in front of us, is a team that is 8-0 and has beaten the likes of Jacksonville (5-3), Denver (6-2) and New England (6-2). Two of these wins coming on the road and back to back. The run defense is at best suspect and teams do try to run the ball a lot against them but they still win. Keeping Peyton on the bench with a good run game doesn't work this year. Every time the offense has the ball this year, they know they need to score and for the most part they have done it. No team has stopped the Colts when they needed to score and win a game and until they lose a game, they have to be the best team in football. However, if you are one who dwells in the past, do you think last years playoff loss had more to do with poor play or the fact that their head coach had just been through the death of his son? With a two game lead in the AFC, looks like we will get another chance to see if teams can travel to Indy in the playoffs and get a win. I say that without a tragic event, the Colts play in the Super Bowl.

Again, thanks for reading and I look forward to any comments or questions.