Allow us, just this once, to divert from the glorious world of football and into that of baseball. Or more specifically, those who write about baseball. Remember, these are the same folks who hand out the awards that often leave knowledgeable fans shaking their head.

And so it is that we run into someone named Barry Federovitch, who writes for The Times of Trenton. He thinks Ryan Howard should be NL MVP over Albert Pujols, which is fine, as he's more than allowed his opinion. But shouldn't there be, you know, legitimate reasons?

First, he readily admits this: "Ryan Howard isn't the best first baseman in the National League; Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman own large margins in both slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Pujols and Berkman are far superior fielders ..." Wow, okay, sounds like a ringing endorsement so far. But then he does go on to mention Howard's very impressive home run (48) and RBI (146) totals, and his spectacular September, given that Howard hit .352 with 11 homers and 32 RBI.

And then he writes something that is both fascinating and absurd in making an argument for Howard's MVP candidacy: "The strikeouts? In case you haven't noticed, Howard may not reach the 200 mark as anticipated, an incredible feat since he had 78 by the end of May. He's not even leading the league anymore in that category."

Huh? Howard strikes out 199 times - tying himself for the second-highest single season total in the more than 100-year history of baseball - and that's an incredible feat? Arizona's Mark Reynolds set the record this year with 204 Ks, so Howard gets credit for not leading the league? What freaking planet am I on? What the hell is this guy talking about?

Oh, and about the month of September, it wasn't like Pujols' was too shabby: .321, 8 home runs, 27 RBI. So basically, .031 points of batting average, 3 home runs and 5 RBI means Howard deserves the MVP over Pujols?

How about we check their averages in the other months of the season? Even if they don't count in Mr. Federovitch's fantasyland world, they do in everyone else's.

April
Pujols: .365
Howard: .168

May
Pujols: .373
Howard: .238

June
Pujols: .302
Howard: .234

July
Pujols: .347
Howard: .311

August
Pujols: .398
Howard: .213

Look at those numbers. They're ridiculously one-sided. We know that Howard has Pujols beat in home runs and RBI, but let's check some of the other stats, shall we?

OBP
Pujols: .462
Howard: .339

SLG
Pujols: .653
Howard: .543

OPS+
Pujols: 190
Howard: 123

Runs Created
Pujols: 160
Howard: 113

Batting Wins (Number of wins a player added to his team relative to a league-average hitter)
Pujols: 7.1
Howard: 1.7

Offensive Winning Percentage (Estimate of winning percentage if a team was made up of just this player)
Pujols: .833
Howard: .618

Folks, it goes on and on like this with pretty much every available number slanting in Pujols' favor. Ryan Howard had a nice season and amassed wonderful power totals, but those of us who aren't cavemen recognize there is so much more to the game than home runs and RBI.

Which is why the old guard of sports writers should not be voting on these awards. Some of them are diligent in their research and look at more than the old standards of greatness, but then there are guys like this Federovitch fellow - and I have no idea if he is an awards voter or not - who in his heart of hearts probably truly believes that .031 points of batting average, 3 home runs and 5 RBI means Ryan Howard deserves the MVP and Albert Pujols does not. Yet another reason not to believe what you see in the sport of baseball.

Week 4 of the NFL has come and gone. Let's plow through some of the wreckage.

Free at last! The St. Louis Rams canned one of the most inept coaches in pro sports history. Scott Linehan is gone.

Referees continue to blow important calls. This one hurt the Vikings.

Devin Hester overcame his rib injury to play effectively for the Bears and score on a TD reception.

Kurt Warner's 472 passing yards may have looked good on paper, but it wasn't a great performance. He had six turnovers on the day, but despite of that, he will not lose his starting job.

Thankfully, not only is Scott Linehan gone in St. Louis, but "General Manager" Jay Zygmunt is next, but likely not until after the season.

Looks like Lane Kiffin will be ousted from the Raiders soon, in the worst-kept secret in the NFL. But after their loss yesterday, it will probably happen sooner than later.

While we understand the NFL is all about machismo and pride, there comes a time to put that away in order to consider the bigger consequences of a violent sport. And the first moron who needs to have this reminded to him is Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt.

Because of his idiocy, Cards receiver Anquan Boldin is in the hospital. Arizona was losing to the Jets 56-35, and had the ball on NY's side of the field with under 35 seconds left. But take a knee and let the game end mercifully? Nope. Whisenhunt has to prove he's a man. So even though there is NO CHANCE IN HELL for a comeback, this incompetent fool calls a deep throw to the end zone, Boldin gets crushed, and lies on the field, completely still. With their wideout eventually carted off and on his way to the hospital, even the announcing crew was saying he should just take a knee.

BUT NO! Lil' Whizzy is tough, and he HAS to prove it. Because he's a football coach, and football coaches don't quit! This piece of trash actually calls two more passing plays, and the New York fans did their part by hissing and booing at the lunacy. Mercifully, Kurt Warner's throw to Larry Fitzgerald was intercepted, and that was it. But the damage was done to Boldin, all because of the pride of one head coach.

One of the most entertaining aspects of ESPN's college football pregame show, "College Gameday" are the signs that fans hold up in the background as Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit do their thing. And today, there were some that were more eye-catching than others.

In Athens, Georgia for the showdown between the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide, the UGA fans showed up in force with their sign with many different proclamations, most hyping Knowshon Moreno for the Heisman or disparaging Nick Saban and Alabama. Then - as usual - there were two that pretty much came completely out of nowhere, and were a bit malapropos, to say the least. Well, only if you call mild racism and questioning someone's sexuality inappropriate, that is.

Sign #1: "Sanchez can Pac-10 workers into his truck"

Sign #2: "Tebow vacations at Neverland Ranch"

Nice. Well, it is the South, so we're not sure this should be totally unexpected.

Steve Young's number will be retired by the San Francisco 49ers.

Colts safety Bob Sanders had surgery on his knee, even though he was supposed to be out with an ankle sprain.

Darren McFadden is having serious problems with his turf toe.

The NFL teams from the states of Missouri (sigh) and Ohio are a combined 0-12. Oh well, at least they have good college teams. Well, Missouri does anyway.

One NFL player got ripped off by the wife of another?

For the Broncos to excel, they need to get their defense figured out somehow.

All that talk about Troy Aikman owning a p ice of the Raiders? Yeah, not true.

Scott Linehan wants a scapegoat, and seems to have found one by foolishly benching Marc Bulger.

Rashard Mendenhall has a chance to show why he was a first-round pick when he starts for the injured Willie Parker.

Give Jamal Lewis the ball, Crennel.

Lions receiver Roy Williams is sick of losing. Meaning he should probably get out of Detroit as soon as possible.