In this week’s edition, we’ll discuss why the BCS system sucks, why Urban Meyer is really Scrooge, Mark McGwire, the Islanders, why SI messed up in their sportsman of the year selection, Eddy Curry, Greg Schiano and other assorted things which pop into our head:

-Everyone knows that the BCS (Bull Crap Series) is the biggest crock of a college football system which will never satisfy everyone. And that’s the shame in a process which has turned into a popularity contest to decide who plays for the national title every January. What is this? High school? Hey. I liked high school. But this is no way to do it. Of course, enough coaches didn’t want to see a Michigan-Ohio State rematch between the Big 10 rivals after OSU edged the Wolverines by three less than a month ago. So, instead, the SEC champion Florida Gators will oppose the undefeated Buckeyes for the national championship. Fine. To be honest, it could’ve gone either way. We’re just glad the overrated Trojans lost at UCLA to make the process a little easier. Imagine if there had been three worthy schools to play OSU. It would’ve been a nightmare. The truth is this. That until they come up with a playoff system to settle the heated debates of the winter, there will always be a huge question mark hanging over the BCS. The biggest garbage system which allows a jackass like Urban Meyer to influence voters and resort to tasteless cheapshots at Lloyd Carr’s Wolverines. What is this? A political race. Personally, I don’t have anything against the Gators. So I’ll still root for them against OSU. But Meyer proved that he is truly the Scrooge of the holiday season. Is there a bigger jackass? He deserves coal in his Christmas stocking!

-Mark McGwire is eligible to make Cooperstown if voted in by baseball writers. The former Bash Brother of course has been a hot topic due to what transpired a couple of years ago during the BALCO investigation when he said he wouldn’t talk about the past during the hearings in the nation’s capital. It was flat out embarrassing and basically an admission that he used performance enhancers to help shatter Roger Maris’ single season home run mark of 61. For his career, Big Mac totaled 583 dingers and over 1400 RBI’s which would make him a virtual lock for the Hall of Fame. But should he make it in his first year? Probably not. Some writers will penalize him. Plus he’s up against two locks in Cal Ripken, Jr and Tony Gwynn. Both were much better players and had no chinks in their armor. With that in mind, figure they’ll get most of the votes and McGwire will have to wait another year. So should he get in eventually? I don’t see why not. Yes, there are doubts about his production now due to Jose Canseco’s book as well as a Daily News investigation which linked Big Mac to steroids. But as one of the NY baseball writers pointed out last week, there was no policy during the “Juiced Era.” MLB was more concerned with recovering fans they lost from the 1994 strike and promoted the Chicks Dig The Longball campaign. Translation: If you hit home runs, you’ll get more notoriety. Naturally, players will do whatever it takes to gain a competitive age. In the old days, many stars used greenies to get by and recover quicker from late nights out. So, is there anything wrong with what McGwire and other players did? Maybe. But there were no rules against it. The blame lies with baseball. It took a lot of negative press and a serious investigation which implicated established stars for Bud Selig to make drastic changes and clean up his sport. At least they finally did.

-They might lose to Ottawa tonight at home. But these Ted Nolan Islanders are the story of the NHL so far. Picked by many to finish near the bottom of the NHL, they have silenced many critics by playing a gritty style and exceeding expectations by leading the Atlantic. Even with reenergized captain Alexei Yashin out, they continue to play hard for the former Sabres coach who once took home the Jack Adams a decade prior by getting similar results in Buffalo. The difference is he doesn’t have Dominik Hasek which makes it all the more impressive. He’s gotten plenty also out of Yashin’s Russian comrade Viktor Kozlov. The same Kozlov who couldn’t break the Devils lineup by last Spring had a spectacular four goal performance in a 7-4 statement win at MSG over the rival Rangers. His 11 goals are one fewer than he had all last season in 69 games with New Jersey. Kozlov also is third in the Isles with 20 points and a +10 rating. He’s been a big part of the Isles’ resurgence as have former GM Neil Smith additions Chris Simon and Mike Sillinger. Both have provided grit up front along with the usual reliability of scrappy leading goalscorer Jason Blake. Blake paces the club with 14 goals and his 27 points are second to only Yashin- making the Minnesota native a major priority for new Isles GM Garth Snow to re-sign. The blueline has included some solid play from vets Alexei Zhitnik (+15) and Sean Hill (9 points, +13). So far so good for new company man Rick DiPietro (11 wins, .916 save percentage) who’s backed up his big contract with inspired play as has backup Mike Dunham. With Miroslav Satan finally coming around up front, if they can get more out of Trent Hunter and Shawn Bates, they’ll be tough to deal with. We made fun of owner Charles Wang. But he made the right choice bringing in Nolan. The Islanders are no longer a laughingstock.

-The SI Sportsman of the Year was Dwyane Wade. Look. The star point guard who is everything right with the NBA and led the Miami Heat to their first NBA title had a great NBA playoffs and was terrific in dominating the Mavs en route to Finals MVP. There’s not much not to like with the former Marquette star. He let’s his basketball do all the talking and never gets in trouble off the court. He’s a superb talent who is a throwback. That’s all great in today’s selfish NBA and sports in general where athletes are more concerned with doing some stupid gesture or pose or worried about their image. But no way did Wade have a better year than Roger Federer. As pointed out in this space last week and by WFAN’s Chris Russo yesterday, nobody dominated their sport like Federer. The 25 year-old Swiss genius with a racket won three out of four majors including a 4-peat at Wimbledon and a repeat here at the U.S. Open. Along with that, he lost only five matches in the 97 he took the court. Utterly amazing. Federer finished the year in style by winning the ATP Masters Series a couple of weeks ago, beating the likes of Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and James Blake to capture his ATP tour best 12th title of the season. Nobody was better than Federer in 2006. Not even Tiger Woods and definitely not Wade. It’s sad that the Roger Express was denied his place. Why? Cause he’s a tennis star who isn’t from this country? I get SI and most of the stories are excellent. But Federer deserved the honor. Someone at SI owes him an apology.

-Somewhere during the last couple of weeks, Eddy Curry has discovered how to play basketball. He’s scored over 20 in seven straight for the Knicks, becoming the first Knick to do so since Allan Houston. What’s Fat Albert trying to do? Change his rep?

-Congratulations to Greg Schiano on not being another selfish, greedy ego driven coach who was all about money and taking a new coaching job. By making that statement to the public Monday that he wasn’t considering the Miami Hurricanes position and wanted to stay at Rutgers to finish what he started, it showed a lot of class. It also showed tremendous loyalty (imagine that) to the New Jersey school in Piscataway which he’s helped turn around into a top 20 program. This came on the heels of a tough loss to West Virginia which cost the Scarlet Knights their first ever Big East title and a chance to play in a BCS game. It had to be tough but also probably motivated Schiano to stay because his school was so close to such a great accomplishment. Just think. Had they not lost to Cincinnati, they’d have been playing Saturday for a shot at the Buckeyes. Imagine that. Instead, Schiano will try to lead his team past Kansas State in the unglamorous Texas Bowl December 28. The game can only be seen if you have the stinking NFL Network. Speaking of selfish. I hope RU wins and takes that next step to being a great program. A Bowl win is still important, even if it’s not on as big a stage.

-Congratulations to Dave Andreychuk and Brett Hull on having their numbers retired tonight. Both very deserving. Of course, if you’re asking which one our eyes were glued to, it was the incomparable Golden Brett, who had the kind of ceremony back in St. Louis where he became a bonafide star that was befitting of the kind of player he was on and off the ice. The Blues did a great job honoring their best ever player and one of the game’s greatest finishers to ever lace’em up. From all the video montage to the unreal speeches from former teammates Basil McRae, Adam Oates along with former coach Brian Sutter, everything was done first rate by the Blues organization. What was even better was Hull’s speech. He made sure to thank everyone and must’ve been up there for 20-25 minutes being his usual flambuoyant self. It really was terrific. Our favorite part though had to be when he singled out former teammate Adam Oates by calling him the most underrated player and passer in NHL history. And that he was! What I will remember most about the affable Hull was his penchant for scoring goals. And none better than that 86 goal season in ‘90-91 which got him a Hart Trophy. In three straight years from ‘89-90 to ‘91-92, the Golden Brett scored 70 or better. Today it’s impossible for any big finisher to get that many even with the new rules. No.16 finished with 741 career goals which ranks third behind only Gretzky and Howe. While he didn’t finish his brilliant career with the Blues or win a Cup, it was there where he’ll be remembered most. The franchise leader in goals (527), hat tricks (27), power play goals (195) and game-winning goals (70) will always be forever a Blue. Much the same way his Dad Bobby will always be a Blackhawk. It was all said in his speech and it was certainly there on the ice with former teammates and in the stands. Thank you Brett Hull and thank you St. Louis Blues.