• Tiki is extremely media savvy, is an occasional weekend talk show host on Fox News Channel, and is currently the centerpiece of a TV commercial for Cadillac.
• Tiki is already talking about being in the broadcast booth or studio next fall.
• Tiki and Ronde have appeared in popular national commercials together and have written a successful series of children’s books together.
• Tiki saw the boost to Jerome Bettis’ profile that the former Steeler got with his “victory lap” last season.
• Tiki witnessed firsthand the media frenzy surrounding a brotherly duo in the “Manning Bowl” between the Colts and Giants this season and wouldn’t you know….
• Tiki Giants just happen to play Ronde and the Bucs this week. What a coincidence!

Tiki’s a great player who deserves a Bettiseque sendoff. But don’t insult our intelligence by pretending that this “leak” was something other than a carefully crafted campaign planned weeks ago by a team of Barber’s agents and PR flacks.

While fasting from sunup to sundown during Ramadan, Syracuse running back Curtis Brinkley dropped from 197 pounds to 181. His production similarly dropped. In the first 4 games of the season Brinkley had 56 carries for 294 yards, and average of 5.25 yards. In the 4 games during Ramadan Brinkley had 38 carries, 124 yards, 3.26 yards. The games played during Ramadan were against a tougher brand of opponent, but in those 38 carries a weakened Brinkley ran for more than 7 yards only once, with that being an 11-yard gain.

While fasting Brinkley doesn’t even drink water during the day, including at practice and games. While permitted to rinse his mouth he doesn’t do so, saying "My throat was still dry and so tight so I just stayed away from the water."

One can admire Brinkley’s commitment to his fast, especially since he’s a Methodist. Just kidding. But he must know that it hurts his chances at the NFL, scouts will take note of the talented sophomore’s fast and his drop in production.

Interestingly, Syracuse University doesn’t have classes on Eid al-Fitr, the final day of Ramadan. Less than 1% of Americans are Muslim.

An Indianapolis reader reports on his clever Halloween costumer: “I will be wearing a Peyton Manning jersey. I am buying some sort of dummy or blow-up doll and on it will be a Colts jersey that I am having printed with the name Heimlich on it. I will put the dummy on my back with the arms around my stomach. It will be a great crowd pleaser here. As overkill I may also add a sign that says "will endorse for food" and write on my forehead ad space for rent.”

Remember the crowd in Foxboro mocking Peyton Manning’s multiple interception effort in the AFC playoffs two years back by chanting, “Cut that meat! Cut that meat!”, using his clever TV advertising career as fodder. It was the best chant we’ve heard since Georgia visited Clemson in the NIT and Clemson fans chanted “CBA! CBA!” at Jumaine Jones, who was declaring early for the NBA draft. The chant was incorrect, as Jones has enjoyed a decent NBA career, but it doesn’t detract from the creativity and quality of it. Incidentally, the Indianapolis Star reports that Manning earns in excess of $10 million per year in endorsement income.

Keep an eye on this as the Ohio State/Michigan game approaches. Ohio State ripped up their stadium turf in late September and replaced it at a cost of over $100,000. The problem is that but the replacement field is even worse. "As you move on it, people will realize that they've got to take their time and do things slowly in certain situations," Ted Ginn, Jr. said. "You always want to play on a surface where you can go all out, but whatever we play on we have to be prepared."

The Miami Hurricanes have been a nasty underdog over the years, but this is not your father’s Miami Hurricanes. Sure, they had a bunch of guys suspended last week, but for the most part they weren’t key contributors, and they still had Duke inside the 10 throwing into the end zone to beat them in the closing seconds. Remarkably, in a week where they should have been at their most disciplined, Miami was flagged 15 times for 120 yards in penalty yardage. This team is simply a mess. Ryan Moore is not traveling to Atlanta and we don’t think it matters that much anyhow. Miami lacks talent and cohesiveness. Georgia Tech has them beaten on both those counts. Don’t be surprised if the Yellow Jackets roll here.

Our colleague Dave Fobare is doing a fine job with his handicapping and you can sample it at no charge. Check out the hotline for Dave’s free analysis at 1-770-618-8700. The hotline is a no-cost 24-hour service that will provide you with valuable information from a hard working handicapper, so call regularly.

Let’s take a look at an NFL play for you. That was a nice win for the Chiefs on Sunday. The shape of that game is what caused it to end up being so high scoring. Kansas City shot out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to a pair of turnovers. The TD “drives” were only 11 and 32 yards. That set the Charges up to chase, and you know that 44 rushes to 23 passes is not the kind of ratio Marty was looking for. The offenses played pretty well, too. So it wasn’t a phony 30-27, but just know that circumstances helped drive it.

Now that game isn’t the kind of game that Herm Edwards is looking to play. And with Seneca Wallace at the controls of the Seattle offense for a couple of weeks, you know that Seattle’s offense will be significantly more conservative. As seen by Wallace’s 2 INT’s on Sunday, he is not ready for prime time. And you can’t blame him, as the 25 passes that Wallace threw while playing from behind were actually more than he had thrown in his previous three years in the league combined. Due to a combination of coaches’ intentions and offensive inefficiency we’ll look for this game to under the total.

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Thanks again for reading. Good luck and be careful.