I was a guest on NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt on News Channel 8 this week to discuss the Redskins. Have a look...

Huge news for Maryland basketball as the NCAA has ruled that transfer guard Dez Wells can play immediately.

Wells first request for eligibility had been denied by the NCAA.

"We're excited for Dez, because at the end of the day, the NCAA made the right decision," said basketball coach Mark Turgeon, according to the university's website. "Our staff did an incredible job in putting this NCAA waiver appeal together on Dez's behalf. Dez has been a welcomed addition, a great teammate, and has made a seamless transition in getting acclimated to our campus.This has been a long process for him and his family, and we're grateful he can put it behind him and focus on being a student-athlete at the University of Maryland."

Wells was selected Freshman of the year in the A-10 at Xavier last season, averaging nearly ten points and five rebounds per game. The addition of Wells greatly strengthens Maryland on the perimeter and gives them ten scholarship players eligible for the 2012-'13 season.

The Washington Wizards fought back from double digit deficits in the first and second halves of the game tonight, but a flurry of turnovers by Kevin Seraphin and Martell Webster during the final momnets of regulation allowed the Celtics to force overtime and it was no contest in the extra period. Boston's increasingly physical defensive play, which was not punished by the referees and for which Washington had no answer, spelled doom for the Wizards tonight. Boston shot 27 more free throws than the Wizards tonight, the largest disparity in an NBA game this year.

The Celtics dominated ovrtime and won the game 100-94. Washington fell to 0-3 with the loss. 

After the Celtics took an 86-84 lead on the basis of several Wizards turnovers and converted Boston foul shots, the Wizards put the ball in from out of bounds, looking to tie the game. Chris Singleton was fouled away from the ball and since the Celtics were in the penalty, Singleton went to the line for two free throws. Despite his spotty record as a free throw shooter, Singelton calmly sank both shots to tie the game at 86 with 33.1 seconds left.

Boston called time out and put the ball in from Washington's side of the court. Rajon Rondo faked a drive into the lane, backed off and easily sank an 17-foot jump shot over the hapless A.J Price. The shot gave Boston an 88-86 lead with 26.4 seconds left. Washington called a timeout and took the ball in from their own side of the court. Singleton took a pass from Price at the three point line and faked a pass to the baseline. When his defender left, Singleton charged the basket and threw down a vicious one-handed dunk over Kevin Garnett, who did not want to commit a foul. The dunk tied the game at 88, with Singleton scoring 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. 

Boston took the ball back with 9.4 seconds left and Jeff Green passed the ball into Rondo in the front court. Rondo never passed, holding the ball until just before the buzzer before launching a 3-pointer. The shot bounced off the side of the rim to send the game to overtime. Rondo made a mistake on that play. With the Wizards already in the penalty, he should have driven to the bucket and dared the Wiz to play him tough and possibly send him or another Celtic player to the line. 

The teams traded missed shots before AJ Price hit a runner in the lane and Garnett dropped a midrange jumper to tie the game at 90. Price then missed a hideous 3-pont shot and then fouled Rondo as he drove to the hoop. Price then left Rondo wide open for a jumper at the top of the key and Rondo made him pay, putting the Celtics up 92-90. Martell Webster countered with a falling away baseline jumper to tie the game at 92. Brandon Bass responded by driving to the lane and drawing a foul to get to the line. Bass made only one free throw, giving Boston a one point lead. 

Bradley Beal drove to the baseline and threw the ball away, giving Boston the ball with a one point lead. Brandon Bass took a pass in the paint, scored quickly for the three point lead and Washington called time out. Boston led 95-92 with 1:51 left in overtime, having made their last three shots from the field. 

After the timeout, Beal chucked an airball 3-pointer and then Price kicked the ball to give a shaky Boston possession new life. Garnett missed a midrange jumper and the Wiz got the rebound with just over one minute to play. Price was tripped by Garnett as he received a pass, Garnett's fifth foul. Beal dished to Singleton in the paint, who threw up another airball from point blank range. The Celtics got the ball, pushed it up the court quickly and Brandon Bass put in the layup to give Boston the commanding 97-92 lead. It was all but over. 

Seraphin missed a jump hook from 10 feet and Singleton fouled Paul Pierce on the rebound. The Celtics committed a five second violation trying to get the ball in bounds, giving the ball back to Washington with no damage done. However,with only 24.1 second left, Washington had little hope.

Beal missed a long three pointer, Seraphin grabbed the rebound and missed a 12-footer and then the Beal pushed Garnett from behind on the rebound, sending Garnett to the line with 13.9 second left. Garnett calmly sank both free throws to give Washington a 99-92 lead. Boston outscored Washington 11-4 in the overtime by that point. 

Washington then turned the ball over on the in bounds pass and the Wizards, for some reason, fouled Paul Pierce with five seconds to play, enabling Pierce to pad his stats a bit. Pierce made one of two to stretch the lead to 100-92. Beal came down and made an uncontesed layup, ending the game at 100-94. Boston improves to 2-2 on the season, with both wins coming against the Wizards. 

Chris Singleton played very well, particularly in the fourth quarter, finishing with 14 points [6-10 FG], 5 rebounds and three steals. Martell Webster added 16 points and 6 rebounds to go with some tough defense in 35 minutes. 

Kevin Seraphin got the better of Kevin Garnett when the two tangled in the last game, but Garnett got his revenge tonight. Seraphin got 16 points and 9 rebounds, but he required 19 shots to do it and he committed 6 turnovers; a very inefficient night. Garnett was prepared for him this time and it wasn't much of a contest between them. Seraphin had a few moment, but I thought Garnett clearly outplayed him, finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds. 

Starting center Emeka Okafor scored only two points and grabbed one rebound in a measly 11 minutes. It is fair to wonder why Okafor was acquired and why he is being paid so lavishly if he is clearly not regarded as an important part of the team. The other player who came over in the offseason trade, Trevor Ariza, continued to build houses with bricks, missing 5 of 6 shots and contributing almost nothing to the team...again. 

AJ Price and Bradley Beal scored 31 points between them and got almost all the minutes in the backcourt tonight. It was Beal's best game and he looked like a real NBA player tonight, albeit one prone to lots of rookie mistakes and not to be trusted in crunch time. Jamal Crawford was clearly injured tonight and played only 15 minutes. 

Wizards Player of the Game: Chris Singleton: 14 points, 5  Reb, 3 steals

Wizards Goat of the Game: Kevin Seraphin: 16 points, 8-19 FG, 9 Reb, 6 TO

PHOTO: Glenn Burke/US Presswire

The 8 Washington Nationals prospects continue chugging along in the Arizona Fall League.  The Nats players are assigned to the Salt River Rafters.  The Rafters are in first place with a 12-10 record.  How are the Nats prospects faring? 

3B Anthony Rendon:  Rendon was the Nationals top pick of the 2011 MLB Draft, the sixth overall draft choice.  Rendon was slated to be a top 3 draft pick, but slid to sixth on injury concerns.  He did miss all of last season injured.  Slated as the future third baseman in DC, Rendon has been on a tear at the plate, raising his overall batting average to .317.  In 17 games, Rendon has 19 hits in 60 plate appearances, including 7 doubles and a home run.  Rendon has scored 12 runs and driven in 10.  He has a .467 slugging percentage and a .411 on base percentage.  On Tuesday night, Rendon went 3 for 3 with 2 doubles, a stole base and 4 RBI.   After battling through a 2012 injury-laced season, Rendon is enjoying himself again. 

"It's pretty crazy," Rendon said. "It was just one year ago that I got drafted and that was a dream come true. Now I'm living out the dream and playing baseball for a living.

"Where I came from a couple months ago, I was in a cast in rehab. I just needed more time and more at-bats to get comfortable on the baseball field again. To be where I am right now is amazing."

Over his last ten games, Rendon is batting .382 with 5 doubles and 7 RBI.   During that stretch, he has hits in 8 of 10 games and has a multi hit game in 4 of his last 6 games. 

Matthew Skole:  Skole is slumping a bit, having just 1 hit in his last 16 at bats.  Overall, Skole is batting .283 with 3 doubles and 2 home runs.  He has also scored 6 runs and driven in 8 runs and has a .478 slugging percentage.  

Brian Goodwin:    Goodwill is also in a bit of slump, having gone 0 for 16 over his last 4 games.  In 15 games, Goodwin has 15 hits in 55 at bats for a .254 batting average.  He has 4 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 home runs.  He has scored 11 runs, driven in 4 runs, and has a solid slugging percentage of .542. 

Jason Martinson:  Martinson has appeared in 7 games and has 3 hits in 26 at bats for a .115 batting average.  He has two doubles and has scored 2 runs and driven in 4. 

Ryan Perry:  Perry has started 5 games and is 1-0 with a 5.60 ERA.  In 17.2 innings, Perry has allowed 11 runs on 14 hits and 5 walks, while fanning 14 batters.  He has a WHIP of 1.08. 

Paul Demny:  Demny has appeared in 8 games out of the bullpen.  He has allowed 3 runs in 11.2 innings for an ERA of 2.31.  He has allowed 10 hits, 8 walsk, and struck out 7 batters. 

Cole Kimball:  Kimball has appeared in 8 games out of the bullpen and has posted a 3.86 ERA, allowing 4 runs over 9.1 innings.  He has allowed 11 hits and 5 walks with 4 strikeouts. 

Aaron Barrett:  Barrett has appeared in 7 games and has an ERA of 3.38.  In 8 innings, he has allowed 3 runs and 13 hits, but only allowed 1 walk. 

Yesterday I was a guest on NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt on News Channel 8 to discuss the Washington Redskins. Have a look...

I have been tracking the state polls in our Forum since August.  On Election Eve, we give our final Electoral College Projections.  Let's wait and see tomorrow how close we are.  I base our projections on polling averages, trends in polling, and early voting numbers. 

Based on our data, we projection that President Barack Obama will be reelected with 303 electoral votes and challenger Mitt Romney will capture 235.  Here is our Forum Thread depicting which states go to Obama and which states will go to Romney. 

For the past two three week, unlike several other projections, we really only had FOUR toss up states.  Eventually other projections out there narrowed there toss ups to those four states as well.  They were:  Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia. 

Among some other "notable' swing states, we will tell you here how we awarded them and why.  We will do in alphabetical order: 

Arizona:  To Romney.  Obama was ever up in one poll, at +2, but we looked at the poll as an outlier, considering no other poll ever had an Obama lead. 

Iowa:  To Obama.  The last 7 battleground polls on Iowa all had Obama leading.  When averaging out those seven polls, Obama is up in Iowa +3.4%.  Furthermore, Obama has a pretty solid lead in early voting totals.

Michigan:  To Obama.  A late bloomer in the battlegrounds, it was more of a media pipe dream.  Michigan was never in play.  Out of the last 7 polls, Obama led in all seven.  One of those polls showed a Tie.  All others showed an Obama lead ranging from +5 to +8.  Averaged together, Obama leads by +5.4%. 

Nevada:  To Obama.  Was a swing state for sometime.  However, the state trended to Obama.  He led in all five of the latest polls with a lead ranging from 4 to 6 points.  Averaged together, Obama leads by 5.0%.  Furthermore, Obama has a substantial lead in early voting and 2/3 of all Nevada folks have already voted.   HIT CONTINUE TO READ MORE

The NFL has admitted that officials incorrectly awarded Carolina's DeAngelo Williams with a 30-yard touchdown yesterday. The league says the ball should have been ruled dead at the 17 yard line due to an indavertent whistle.

This is how referee Carl Cheffers explained it postgame.

"The line judge blew his whistle. We had a lot of discussion about it. We just felt when the whistle blew, that the player would have already scored a touchdown. So, we tried to piece together if we had to spot -- by rule, we would have to put him down when the whistle blew, and we tried to decide where that spot would be, and we felt that spot would be in the end zone."

The Redskins lost 21-13, so its anybody's guess how a correct call would have impacted the game.

My question is, do we adjust fantasy football scoring?

If it wasn't enough, Mike Shanahan last week labeled the Washington Redskins v. Carolina Panthers game a 'Must Win".  In that self win moment, at home in front of some of the greatest Redskins ever, the Redskins laid a flat egg, losing to the 1-6 Carolina Panthers 21-13.  It was a humiliating, humble loss and reminds Redskins fans everywhere that the Washington Redskins franchise possess zero sense of home field advantage.  The fact that the Redskins are playing at FEDEX Field in Landover, Maryland, is more of a reason to pick or bet against Washington that week.  That is pathetic.  But, the truth as well. 

Is Mike Shanahan losing owner Daniel Snyder?  We don't know.  Fortunately for Redskins fans, Snyder learned from the lessons of the first ten years of his ownership, that an Owner is a better Owner that stays in the background and allows professionals to run the front office.  Snyder has done that.  However, even Snyder has to be losing patience.  Mike Shanahan was brought in and given full control of the franchise, much like Marty Schottenheimer over a decade ago.  The difference between the two is that Shanahan meets with and keeps Snyder in the loop, Schottenheimer did not.  For Snyder, he has to be wondering if the consolidation of all power under the same person that is coaching the players was a smart move.  It has not been a proven smart NFL model.  Snyder has given Shanahan three seasons.  His first season was 6-10, his second season regressed by one game to 5-11.  This season, Shanahan is sitting at 3-6 with a tougher part of their schedule yet to come.  Snyder has to be thinking, what happened to progress?

It's only fitting to determine the feeling of the Redskins fan base now.  So vote and discuss.  no comments

Time to drop the Thumbs Up part.  It would be easier to just say, I have no words.  Perhaps that would be the simple, more accurate article.  How do you lose to a 1-6 team, on your Alumni homecoming, at home, the week before a Bye Week?  Simple, you call yourself the Washington Redskins. 

Once again, thumbs down to the secondary.  Again, receivers were uncovered and they were bitten by another play by the best receiver on the opposing team, Steve Smith.  Oh, and that was Smith's first TD all season.  Fitting.  Very fitting.  

Thumbs down to undisciplined football.  The Redskins committed 13 penalties for 94 yards.  Two penalties came at the end of the game on two separate TD passes.  They both allowed more time to be eaten from the clock.  Really pathetic display of football.  

Have to give a Thumbs Down to Tyler Polumbus and Kory Litchensteiger.  They were both awful today.  With Litch, he gets a bad rap for a bad game.  For Polumbus, it is becoming nothing short of a disturbing trend.  You can thank Mike Shanahan led front office for that for relying on Jammal Brown to start at right tackle with a plethora of hip issues and Polumbus being the backup in waiting. 

Ummm, a 1 yard screen pass to Brandon Banks with under 20 seconds left in the game?  Really?  One thing we got out of that is that we now know it is a great idea to put the ball in Banks hand to run the clock down.  Pathetic.  Absolutely pathetic.

In what Mike Shanahan himself titled a 'must win' game, the Redskins looked horribly flat.  The has to fall on the shoulders of Shanahan.    Although we all love the fact that Daniel Snyder has stepped out of the active role as an Owner/Manager, you have to wonder what that man must be thinking.  You also have to wonder what if the shortened leash on Shanahan is becoming a choke collar.  This game  was ever so evident of a poorly coached game, from start to finish.   

Now, post game, Shanahan says 'now we have a chance to evaluate players".  Translation:  Season over.  But, what Mike Shanahan should be concerned about is whether evaluation will benefit him or if his tenure in Washington went down with the Redskins on the field today.  No, I don't believe Snyder will replace Shanahan mid-season.  However, after four seasons of Mike Shanahan, the team is faring no better than they were under Jim Zorn.  That folks is the honest truth. 

Mike Shanahan also said post game that HE has got to do a better job and takes full responsibility.  The problem with that statement is the fact Shanahan is now in his third full season, not his first.  Somehow, that excuse and acceptance of responsibility is simply not acceptable.