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A lot of Americans right now are going through a tough time financially speaking. They've either lost their house, or their retirement money, or God only knows what. Plus the dollar isn't nearly as strong as it used to be. After all, we're currently in America's worst financial disaster since the Great Depression.

But don't worry, I have some good news for you all. Pro athletes aren't affected by this at all. Or at least I don't think they are judging by this picture of A-Rod wiping his mouth with a C-note after finishing up lunch in New York.

There are many must-see video highlights from Sunday's NFL Week 5, notably Sage Rosenfels donning spandex and a cape, then meeting an Indianapolis Colts defense full of kryptonite. But I prefer this clip here of Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder after his team's big win in Philadelphia.

At the start of the video you'll hear what sounds like a crazy fan in the tunnel yelling, "Wooo! Yeah! 4-1!" Then you realize, it's not a fan, or player, but Snyder who is all sorts of pumped up.

Hard to blame him, but he does possess some eerie similarities to Michael Scott in his exuberance.

Dan Snyder Is Michael Scott, Part 2 [Mr. Irrelevant]

Don't look now, but the Miami Dolphins are a pretty good football team. Definitely not as good as the Titans and Redskins, but certainly off to a more shocking start.

Behind an error-free Chad Pennington (!) and a rejuvenated Ronnie Brown, the Dolphins beat the Chargers for the seventh straight time. Pennington was 22 of 29 for 228 yards and a touchdown, his best performance of the season. Brown rushed for 125 yards and scored the other Fins TD.

The most surprising development of the Dolphins is not Pennington's success, but Brown's success in the Wildcat package. They ran out of the direct-snap to Brown offense 11 times Sunday. While the Chargers weren't fooled by the package, they didn't exactly stop it. Brown scored his touchdown off a nifty run from the five-yard line. On several key moments throughout the second half, Brown powered his way to short yardage first downs and kept the clock moving.

Miami had a time of possession advantage of 36 minutes to 23. Not always the most indicative stat of success, but whenever you give LaDainian Tomlinson less chances to get hot, you're going to win. Tomlinson had just 35 yards on 12 carries.

Bill Parcells, the Godfather, knows what he's doing down in Miami and I wouldn't be too quick to write them off for the postseason, seeing as how we all did before this season even began.

October 5, 2008 is a date which will live in infamy for EliteXC. Originally scheduled to be a marquis matchup between MMA legend Ken Shamrock and YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice, the day ended up being a disaster of epic proportions for EliteXC.

The ideal situation for EliteXC would have been for Kimbo Slice to destroy Shamrock, who is well beyond his prime. To the uneducated fan, this would validate Kimbo's career, which had so far only been a series of beatdowns against lousy fighters. While a win against Shamrock would have just been more of the same, Shamrock's reputation was good enough that it would have fooled many casual MMA fans. However, those "casual fans" were EliteXC's bread and butter, composing the bulk of their audience for their CBS shows.

Less than 24 hours before the fights, EliteXC's plans crumbled. Shamrock was forced to back out of the fight at the last minute with a cut above his eye, and was replaced by Seth Petruzelli, who promptly disposed of Kimbo in 14 seconds by TKO. Prior to the fight, Kimbo was EliteXC's biggest draw by far. Now that he has lost to a relative unknown, Kimbo's marketability has plummeted.

EliteXC has already displayed an inability to consistently give audiences fights that are worth seeing, and although CBS executives express happiness with the ratings, they are still considerably lower than they were in May, the first time EliteXC had a card on CBS with Kimbo and Gina Carano, the woman considered to be the face of female MMA.


Despite Gus Johnson's best attempts (as displayed in the above video) to make people believe that Petruzelli's knockout of Kimbo was a huge event, most knowledgeable MMA fans aren't buying it at all. Instead, the general consensus is that Kimbo is a fraud, and was overhyped from the start.

EliteXC's next problem is one that many people haven't acknowledged. Their poster girl, Gina Carano, is enjoying great success so far. She's currently undefeated (7-0), and her looks are even better than her skills. However, now that she has beaten up on everyone she has faced, she is slowly running out of opponents. The latest rumors are that she is on a collision course with Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos.

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. However, it's obvious that Cyborg is considerably more skilled than Carano's previous opponents. She has dominated her last 6 opponents, and is itching for a chance to make Gina Carano her next victim. The only difference between her and the rest of Carano's opponents is that Cyborg has a very real chance to win.

How is this a problem for EliteXC? To be frank, Cyborg simply isn't as marketable as Carano. If she wins, Carano loses her position as the elite female MMA fighter, and risks becoming just another pretty face.

To add insult to injury, the UFC is growing as strong as ever. With upcoming fights between 4 of the best heavyweight fighters in the world (aside from Fedor Emelianenko), as well as the increasingly popular MMA reality show The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC is throwing their weight around and putting together the best fights money can buy.


Brock Lesnar is UFC's version of Kimbo Slice, if such a thing exists. However, the popular former WWE star actually has some skills. He's as big as any other heavyweight in the UFC, he's as fast as any lightweight, and his wrestling skills are as good as anyone. That's the difference between the UFC and EliteXC, and the reason that the UFC is going to push EliteXC into obscurity. EliteXC simply doesn't offer enough quality fighters, and eventually, the public will see through the gimmicks and publicity stunts. It has already started, and it won't get any better for EliteXC.

Remember Olympic pole vaulter Leryn Franco? While she wasn't the best pole vaulter in the world, at least she won in one category.

Now, it seems that Ms. Franco is working on her second career. Not surprisingly, she's spending her off time on the runway, modeling lingerie, and clothes that no woman would possibly wear in public. Mostly because if one did, she would probably get arrested for walking around with one of her breasts hanging out.


On 205th has more, but it's very NSFW. Of course, we wish Leryn the best of her luck in all endeavors that she pursues. That being said, she's obviously a little better at the modeling thing than she is at pole vaulting.


Hot Olympian Leryn Franco shows boob on the runway (NSFW) [On 205th]

How many times have you seen a rookie quarterback come into the NFL, start the opening game in his rookie season, and actually have success?  For Matt Ryan, he didn't really have much of a choice.  With the quarterback woes the Atlanta Falcons have had ever since the Michael Vick fiasco, the one thing on their mind in the 2008 NFL draft was to get a quarterback who can start NOW.  Ryan, selected third overall, has been the answer to the Falcon faithfuls prayers.

It was an interesting scenario as Ryan and the Falcons both knew he had fairly big shoes to fill due to all the Vick supporters in and around the Atlanta area, but could he really flop as bad as the Falcon's other quarterback choices?  Joey Harrington...led the Lions for a few years, need I say more?  Byron Leftwich...mediocre at best in Jacksonville.  Chris Redman...who?  It turns out the guy most haven't heard of was the better of the three.  Now think about the aforementioned quarterbacks for a second and honestly tell me if the rookie had anywhere to go but up.

Matt Ryan hasn't just stepped into the starter role to hold the job until someone else comes along either.  This guy has led the Falcons (with the help of a hellacious running game) to three wins in his first five games and, with the way the NFC South Division is shaping up, has a chance to take Atlanta to the post season for the first time in four years.  Let me break it down.  Atlanta is 3-2 as of Sunday.  They face a Chicago Bears team with the same record at home who also has a beaten down secondary, leaving the ball in Ryan's hands.  They are 0-2 in the division, but they have three home games out of four division games left and they're only one game back in the standings.  Besides those four games, they also have four games against the Raiders, the Vikings, the Rams, and the surprisingly stumbling Chargers.  If Atlanta can take care of their own, this week and in the key games to come, the most unlikely team to be in the playoffs will be suiting up in January.

As for Matt Ryan, his numbers are not shocking by a long shot.  With only four touchdowns thrown, 60 percent of his passes completed, and three interceptions, it's not his statistics that stand out.  It's the moxy and poise he shows after just five games.  So far he has made sound choices, good reads, and, most importantly, has not lost the game for Atlanta.  In all truthfulness, it's highly likely the Falcon franchise has found their answer to a gloomy question, and it's one that is going to be there for many years to come.

In case you forgot, Ryan has a history of taking over games and leading his team to victory. Don't be surprised to see it happen like this more often: