FanNation - The Republic of Sport

There is no mercy rule in Florida high school football. This much was apparent after Estero High lost to Naples High by a score of 91-0 on Friday night.

Florida isn't alone of course. There's no mercy rule in football anywhere. Whether it is in Florida or Ohio, where Beechcroft beat Centennial 96-0 on Friday. Outside of baseball and softball in some states, the mercy rule is about as nonexistent as the compassion of high school athletic associations which have watched these blowouts go on for years in football and basketball without adjusting the rules to prevent them from happening.

There's nothing wrong with blowouts in professional sports (although I'd guess you can count on one hand the number of games that have been won by 90 points). If players are being paid to play and fans are paying to watch, anything goes. The million dollar contracts most players enjoy should be able to ease the pain of anyone on the losing team. Same goes for college sports, where most athletes are given full-ride scholarships and fans are paying to watch pro prospects play. 

Manny and the Dodgers are fired up for Game 4 of the NLCS.

Kevork Djansezian/AP

All times Eastern.

• 7:00 p.m., Versus: The Captials and Canucks clash in the nation's capital. Washington's Alex Ovechkin, the reigning MVP who scored 65 times last year, already has a pair of goals in '08-09. 

• 8:00 p.m., FOX: Tempers on both sides have simmered during the first three games of the NLCS, as Sunday's benches-clearing staredown indicated. Will they boil over tonight, as the Dodgers look to even up the series at two games apiece? It's Joe Blanton for Philadelphia against Game 1 starter Derek Lowe for Los Angeles.

• 8:30 p.m., ESPN: Under the Monday Night Football spotlight, the New York Giants look avoid the trap and improve to 5-0 against the Cleveland Browns.

An irregular feature showcasing the most interesting and eye-catching sports adverts from television and the Web.

Last year, Nike enlisted Academy Award-nominated director Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider) to helm this visually stunning commercial featuring Shawne Merriman and Steven Jackson for its "Leave Nothing" campaign.

On Friday, the shoe giant released a follow-up advert directed by another A-List auteur: David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club), the 46-year-old veteran whose upcoming film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is already generating serious Oscar buzz. This commercial -- entitled "Fate" -- tracks the collision course of LaDainian Tomlinson and Troy Polamalu from their infancies to the present.

Tick, tick, tick goes the Terrell Owens time bomb in Dallas.

Ross D. Franklin/AP

When I followed the herd and picked the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl before the season, there were a few major things I conveniently overlooked ... even before Tony Romo broke his pinkie. Here are five key reasons my preseason prediction will be tragically incorrect once again:

1. Tony Romo's inability to win the big game is not a fluke.

Whatever that indescribable ability to will a team to victory  -- think Johnny Unitas or John Elway --  Romo doesn't have it. He doesn't protect the ball well enough and, while he might be a leader in the locker room, the results of his leadership aren't showing up on the field.

2. T.O. is due for some problems.

Owens is good for about one season before his mental issues get in the way. It's a miracle he's been productive this long for the Cowboys. But Owens is showing telltale signs of a major blowup on the horizon. He's complained about not getting the ball enough and had an unusually emotional postgame press conference. Defenses are paying a lot of attention to Owens and playing very aggressively against the big receiver, which is fueling a lot of his frustration.

Met fan Adam Ferrara on the '08 World Series: "I don't care."

Author, humorist and former Extra Mustard contributor Steve Hofstetter asked 30 comedians to share their pick to win the World Series.

Dennis Blair | Boston Red Sox

I say Red Sox all the way. But then again, I also said Dow 15,000.

Keith Alberstadt | Red Sox

Because with the state of the economy, Bill Belichick's video crew now does freelance work.

Adam Ferrara (pictured) | No one

I don't care, I'm a Met fan.

Phil Mazo | Tampa Bay Rays

Florida is about as far from Cuba as Alaska is from Russia so, naturally, Tampa knows a ton about baseball.

Mike Trainor | Los Angeles Dodgers

Manny Ramirez and Joe Torre will lead the Dodgers to a world championship. Seeking to further humiliate their former teams, they will win it all again in 2009 with the Royals, 2010 with the Reds and 2011 with the Seattle SuperSonics.