UK Wildcats victims of a government plot? Plus Marcus Vick, the Bengals, and the Colts, that's right, it's hodge podge.

Back from a few weeks of not having to think and I am now ready to play catch up with a little column I like to call hodge podge. Let’s hunt.

UK Wildcats go from bad to worse.

Just when you thought it was safe to enjoy the UK Wildcats, Saturday’s game happens. The Cats appeared to have not shown up for the game and I am not sure that the players are not in the process of undergoing a secret government plot to replace them with alien replicates. At least that is what the Wildcats’ fans are hoping. There has to be an explanation for the horrendously horrible, putrid display that was put on in Lawrence, Kansas. It got so bad that it appeared that Rajon Rondo and Joe Crawford were going to engage in fisticuffs after a turnover.

I said after the blowout suffered at the hands of Indiana that UK could not play that bad again all year. I was right, technically. They waited until 2006 to play a worse game. I would just say go ahead and write that game off except that UK has already had about 4 games to write off. This not being able to score has become a bit of a problem.

There is hope that the upcoming return of Randolph Morris will help the team recover some dignity, but I am not so sure about that. Last we saw Morris he was averaging about 8 points and 4 rebounds a game. By the end of the season UK could get their seven foot triple headed monster, and I do mean monster, to put those averages up. Morris, by all accounts, is becoming very dominant in practice, but that would be natural since most teams look dominant against the Cats at times.

Will Morris be the answer? I think he can help. I believe that if he is even close to what they say he is like during practice that he will help open up an inside outside game because UK right now has no game. That being said, the Wildcats are going to need more than that to be a contender for the NCAA title. You can cancel your hotel reservations for April 1-3 in Indianapolis.

Brother needs a keeper.

Marcus Vick has declared that he will enter the NFL Draft. That is not surprising, what is surprising is that he did so because Virginia Tech got tired of his antics and dismissed him from the football team. Vick, if you have not seen the replays, stomped on the leg of Elvis Dumervil a defensive end for the University of Louisville. Vick had claimed that it was an accident, but you can clearly see in the replay that it was not. Vick had already been in plenty of trouble before, including being suspended for the entire 2004 season. Now he has been arrested for brandishing a weapon in a McDonald’s.

I am not sure what is going on with this young man, but it appears that he does not realize that because he is Mike Vick’s brother he has a bull’s eye and a magnifying glass on him at all times. Maybe being Mike Vick’s brother is the problem. Maybe he has issues with being “little brother.” Perhaps he is lashing out, I don’t know. What I do know is that he better shape up or he will end up like Lawrence Phillips or Maurice Clarrett.

I just wonder how his actions in college and the way he was let go will impact his draft position. At times this year there was Heisman talk surrounding Vick and discussions of him being a better quarterback than Mike Vick was at this point in his career. Now Marcus is just another story about what is wrong with sports and the embarrassing younger brother of Mike Vick.

That’s not to say that Mike Vick has been a saint (calling Dr. Mexico, Dr. Ron Mexico) but he has kept himself from being known for his indiscretions off the field and more for his on field performance. Perhaps the elder Vick should sit Marcus down and explain to him that if he expects to be a professional, he should act like one.

All in all, I think Virginia Tech did the right thing and should be applauded for their action when some schools might have just given a slap on the wrist. I am pretty sure that a player as exciting as Marcus Vick brings in some pretty good coin at the box office and I am not sure they have an experienced quarterback to replace him. So, kudos to Virginia Tech for taking a stand.

Bengals go down, hard.

The poor, poor Cincinnati Bengals made their first playoff appearance in 15 years and what happens on the first pass play of their first possession of the game? They lose quarterback and MVP candidate Carson Palmer for the game and perhaps into next season with a torn ACL and MCL. That was a big loss to the team and you could tell this by the dazed look in the eyes of the offensive players on the sideline. Jon Kitna did come in and play a superb game for a guy who has not had any meaningful snaps in two seasons, but it was not enough. The game was over when Palmer went down.

The big debate that comes from this game is whether the hit on Palmer was dirty. It seemed to me that it was unintentional. That being said, I do believe that Pittsburgh nose tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen was going for the legs of Palmer. Like Skip Bayless said on ESPN2’s Cold Pizza, it was an unintentional dirty play. It happens; unfortunately for the Bengals this play may have cost them a win. While Kitna played admirably, he just doesn’t have the arm of Palmer and the deep ball was taken away from the Bengals. Hopefully Palmer will recover fully and the Bengals can build on the season they had this year and make a nice playoff run next year.

Patriots are not dead, yet.

The New England Patriots do not seem to notice that they are, supposedly, not as good as they have been in the past. The Pats destroyed a solid Jacksonville team 28-3. I stupidly predicted that this would be the end of Tom Brady’s perfect playoff record and the Jaguars would slip into Foxboro and get the win.

Because of this, I believe now that the Patriots will indeed win the Super Bowl this year. Why not? The Colts have come back to earth, the Broncos still have to pray Jake” The Snake” Plummer doesn’t complete more passes to the other team than his own and the Patriots have gotten some key players back and their run defense was the best in the second half of the season. This means that Jake Plummer will have to beat the Pats with his arm and that is not what the Broncos want to happen.

I think New England will beat the Broncos then move on to the rematch of the most over hyped game of the regular season in Indianapolis. If the Pats can get past the Colts, and I think they will, they will have no problem defeating whatever poor team comes out of the NFC. It looks like the new boss is the same as the old boss.