Packers Find Out 2011 Opponents, Still Tough

While all focus should be on the wildcard game Sunday in Philadelphia, for those wanting to look ahead to 2011, the Green Bay Packers opponents have been announced.

The Packers' opponents for next season, which were determined by formula, had a composite record of 130-126, or a winning percentage of .508.

In 2011, Green Bay will play five games against opponents that made the playoffs. This season, the Packers wound up playing six games against playoff teams.

Next year at home, the Packers will play New Orleans (11-5), Tampa Bay (10-6), Denver (4-12), Oakland (8-8) and St. Louis (7-9).

On the road, the Packers will play Atlanta (13-3), Carolina (2-14), Kansas City (10-6), San Diego (9-7) and the New York Giants (10-6).

In addition, the Packers will play home-and-away series against NFC North foes Chicago (11-5), Detroit (6-10) and Minnesota (6-10).

Denver will be making its first appearance at Lambeau Field since 2003. Conversely, the Packers will be making their first trip to San Diego since 2003.  If it's late in the year, that San Diego trip might be a nice on to make.

What's Next...Multiplying Loaves and Fishes?

The two best tennis players in the world can really do it all.  Is it not enough that Rafael Nadal can wear opponent after opponent down from the baseline on just about any surface?  Or how about Roger Federer hitting "tweeners" for winners all over the court.

Now we see they can walk on water.  Actually they are playing on some plexiglass island in Doha, Qatar to promote the start of the 2011 ATP season.

College Bowl Play of the Day: Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl: Stanford vs. Virginia Tech

Am Orange Bowl featuring two of the hottest teams in college football.  Virginia Tech went 11-0 straight up and 9-2 against the spread after losing to Boise State and James Madison to open the year.

Stanford, meanwhile, blew out the majority of its opponents and led Oregon 21-3 after the first quarter before losing 52-31 in the end.

Stanford is giving VA Tech 3.5 pts, but I still like the Cardinal.

Stanford features the best quarterback in college football and a sure fire NFL starter in Andrew Luck.  The Hokies are stout on defense, one of the best teams at stopping opponents on 3rd down.  3rd downs will be crucial in this game. 

The Cardinal are 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.  Look for them to be 5-0-1 after tonight's game.  Go with Stanford.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire

A great free pick this week.

Fans of Alexander McCall Smith will delight in this series debut set in Roman-occupied Britain and featuring wry army doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso. Newly divorced and burdened with the debts of his late father, Ruso finds himself in a ramshackle military outpost with miserable weather and minimal supplies. Ruso's new job gets off to a rocky start when he's called upon to examine the corpse of a young woman who drowned. Then, after a long shift of tending to the sick, the cranky but charitable doctor rescues an injured slave girl from her sadistic owner. His good deed earns Ruso unwanted attention from a hospital administrator whose attempts to cover his bald spot are both desperate and hilarious. It also lands the medicus in the middle of an investigation into the deaths of two local barmaids. Through it all, Ruso wonders what has become of his life. Celebrated as a hero a few years before for rescuing Emperor Trajan from an earthquake, he's now sharing a residence with a doctor of questionable morals and a flurry of seemingly indestructible mice. A strong start for Downie, whose series joins those by Lindsay Davis and Stephen Saylor on the ancient Rome beat but adds a bit more humor to the mix of period detail and suspense. Allison Block

 A free pick you need to get this week to start off 2011.

Supplies Flown in to Flooded Areas in Australia

Military planes were flying food and other supplies toward a major city being slowly swamped in Australia's flood emergency today, and police were increasing patrols in evacuated regions amid reports of looting.

Flood waters that cover an area the size of France and Germany combined are draining slowly toward Australia's north-eastern coast, filling rivers to overflowing and inundating at least 22 towns and cities in the cattle and fruit and vegetable farming region.  Residents have never seen flodding like this.

A 41-year-old woman was swept to her death in front of her family Saturday in Burketown, in hardest-hit Queensland state.  Searches were under way for two other people, men in separate locations in Queensland, who were missing after being last seen in the flood waters.

In the coastal city of Rockhampton, inhabited by 75,000 people, waters from the still-swelling Fitzroy River cut the main road leading to the state capital of Brisbane. Scores of families abandoned their homes for relief centres set up on high ground.

Forecasts say more rain may be on the way to the region.