We’re a day away from week number six of the NFL season. So let’s take a look at how the Power Rankings stand as of this moment.

1. New York Giants (1) (4-0): The offense seems to be a well-oiled machine. The defense is very good. And since they’re playing the Cleveland Browns this week, they should easily be 5-0 come this time next week.

2. Tennessee Titans (2) (5-0): The Titans can’t get the offense to fire on all cylinders. The defensive guys are fighting with each other. But they just keep winning.

The Houston Aeros begin their 15th season this Saturday against the Chicago Wolves. On Wednesday, they had a media day session for all of us hockey folk – and it was nice to see the guys from Channels 13 and 39 and 790 The Sports Animal; where were you last year?

The good news for you Aeros fans is that, except for a couple of players, this year’s roster looks a lot like the one that won 45 games last season. Kevin Constantine is back as coach, and the heart of the defense is back, as well.

“We’re excited about starting another year,” Constantine said. “We want to try and build on what we did last year.”

More details are emerging about Brandon Backe's recent dust-up with Galveston's Finest and the news isn't good for the GPD.

Witnesses said Monday that police needlessly beat, Tasered and pepper-sprayed wedding guests who were trying to comply with police commands during an incident in which officers arrested 10 people, including Backe, at an outdoor bar at the San Luis Hotel on Seawall Boulevard.

Daniel Cole O'Balle, 19, was injured during the incident and flown by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. Backe was charged with three counts of assault on a public servant and two counts of retaliation. He was released on $115,000 bond.

Whether you believe the po-po, who apparently felt the act of bringing open containers into the pool area warranted riot control tactics, or witnesses who claim Backe and others were assaulted despite complying with police instructions, I think we can all agree on one thing: it's time for a list of the top Houston-related sports beatdowns.

5. Oregon Duck vs. Shasta (unknown)

I don't know the circumstances of this altercation, though our beloved UH mascot doesn't come off well. Funny, because if you actually tried to lay Vegas odds on a fight between a duck and a cougar (they do that sort of thing in Laos), I'd have to think the bird would be about a 10,000 to 1 underdog. Bonus points for the petite - yet valiant - Houston cheerleader who tries to stop the carnage.

Another week of college football by the wayside, so it’s time for another version of my Top 25 College Football rankings. You can find the rankings from the Associated Press and USA Today here.

1. Oklahoma Sooners (1) (5-0): Baylor didn’t stand a chance last week as Sam Bradford tuned up his passing arm for this week’s Red River Rivalry. The Sooners are the class of the country so far this season, and it’s hard to see Texas beating them.

2. Missouri Tigers (3) (5-0): They defeated Nebraska, in Nebraska, for the first time in 30 years last week. Chase Daniel and Sam Bradford are probably the class of the Big 12 QBs. They’ve got a big challenge this week as they take on the undefeated Oklahoma State Cowboys.

It’s no secret that ABC’s primetime ratings suck. It’s also no secret that one of their biggest hits is the reality show Dancing With The Stars, which features C-list celebrities, actors, singers and jocks doing ballroom dancing. And ABC airs this thing several nights a week.

But that’s just not enough to save the network. They needed something else to save them from the poor ratings. Then last week, that something happened. Indy race car driver Helio Castroneves was arrested and indicted for tax fraud. Castroneves, for the uninitiated, is also a former winner of Dancing With The Stars.

Thus was born ABC’s new program, to premier in November, Dancing With The Guards, a dancing reality show which will follow various C-list celebrities, actors, singers and jocks in a jailhouse dancing competition. And thanks to our contacts with ABC, here’s a list of the competitors.

The next round of the baseball playoffs gets underway today, and as much as this is probably going to shock some of you, the Houston Astros are still not playing. The teams still left are the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League, and the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox in the American League.

So let’s take a brief look at the Championship Series.

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES:

Derek Lowe gets the start for the Dodgers today as they meet the Phillies in Philadelphia, and he matches up against Phillie ace Cole Hamels. Derek Lowe is a different pitcher on the road than he is in Los Angeles, which is reflected by a 2.30 home ERA and a 4.42 road ERA, but he hasn’t lost a game since August 26. And both teams have been hot, with both going 17-8 in September.

The Rice University Marching Owl Band has quite the reputation around these parts for its outrageous behavior and halftime shows. Just ask the Aggies and Tulsa University. But when compared to the U.C. Davis band, the MOB is nothing more than a shameful wannabe.

The U.C. Davis band is a student-run organization with virtually no university oversight. And until last year, it had had no faculty director for four years. Enter one Tom Slabaugh, who was brought on board in 2007 to bring the band under control.

Hah.

As you are undoubtedly aware of by now, Houston Astros pitcher Brandon Backe had a bit of an encounter with the Galveston Police Department on Saturday night. The details are a little sketchy about what exactly happened, but it is a fact that Backe got the crap beat out of him.

It is also known that Backe and the Astros have been in contact since this incident, and that the Astros are refusing to discuss the matter. What was not known, until now, was what Backe told the Astros. So, here, for all to see, are the reasons that Brandon Backe gave to the Astros for his involvement in the melee.

10. He thought the cop said ball four, and he thought he’d caught the edge of the plate.

9. That’s the way things go in baseball. When there’s a brawl, the pitchers come charging in from the bullpen and hit people in the back.

Gary Kubiak had his normal postmortem press conference yesterday wherein he rehashed the disastrous Sunday afternoon loss to the Indianapolis Colts. And it was more of the same. The team tried hard. The Colts are a great team. But what you don’t know is that Kubiak actually had a list of ten excuses for explaining the loss.

Don’t worry, though, I found the list, and I’m going to share it with you.

10. Hey, after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike, you people are lucky we could even make it out to the field for the first play.

9. That was a real game? I thought we were filming another one of those Peyton Manning commercials.

8. Now, don’t get mad at Sage. I told him that if wasn’t sure what to do, to ask WWJED? What would John Elway do? However, John Elway wouldn’t fumble.

The first round of the playoffs is now over in the American League, and it’s going to be the Tampa Bay Rays versus the Boston Red Sox, with the Rays having home field advantage. And home field is going to be important because the two teams played each other 18 times this season with the Rays winning eight of those games in Tampa and Boston winning seven in Boston.

This series comes about because the Rays defeated the Chicago White Sox yesterday 6-2 to win the series three games to one. The Rays took the lead in the first inning when B.J. Upton, the game’s second batter, hit a homer to deep left field to make the score 1-0. Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine kept the Chicago bats quiet, and Upton further helped things when, in the third inning, he homered again to put the Rays up 2-0. Then the Rays scored two runs in the fourth inning to go up 4-0. And after Paul Konerko had the nerve to homer for the White Sox in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 4-1, the Rays just came back and scored again in the fifth and seventh innings.

People aren’t very happy with the Houston Texans this week, but the Chron tells us that the players remain positive that the team is moving in the right direction. Sure, they say that they were outplayed, but they’re positive, and all of the players rallied behind Sage Rosenfels.

Richard Justice isn’t too pleased. He says that “losing is what this franchise does best.” And he wants someone to be held responsible. He wants owner Bob McNair holding people responsible. And he starts by pointing fingers at McNair, saying that he is responsible “for the NFL’s worst franchise” – which is arguable because the last time I checked, the Detroit Lions were still in the NFL.

Media reports are conflicting over what exactly happened with Brandon Backe this weekend in Galveston, but a few things are certain: There was a wedding. People got Tasered. Backe took some hits. (But that's to be expected.)

Was Backe an innocent bystander or a drunk brawler? We're guessing the answer lies somewhere in between, but that's just pure speculation. The only way to figure out what really happened is to put faith in semi-anonymous Internet comments from people who said they were there, or at least that seems to be what KHOU is doing.

On that note, the link for comments is below. Feel free to let us know your version of events. -- Keith Plocek

After last weekend, this weekend’s slate of college football games couldn’t help but be disappointing.

The only real upset came on Thursday night as Pittsburgh beat Southern Florida 26-21. Oregon State, who upset USC last week, nearly pulled off the upset this week, but lost to Utah 31-28. And unfortunately, in terms of a potential BCS title game , Wisconsin choked in its game against Ohio State, letting the Buckeyes score the go-ahead TD with under two minutes in the game and then throwing an interception to end the game.

Oklahoma, this week’s number one team, didn’t fall into the same trap as USC, the previous number one team. The Sooners scored 28 first quarter points and easily put the game against Baylor out of reach. Sooner QB Sam Bradford threw for 372 yards and two TDs while rushing for another TD. Bradford’s now thrown 15 TD this season. The final score was 49-17, and the last five games between these two teams in Waco have been decided by an average of 36 points.

Preseason games aren’t about winning, really. For the players, they’re about performance. For the coaches, the games are about evaluations. The officials use them as means of getting in shape and implementing new rules.

NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS:

The Chicago Cubs are now working on century number two of futility. They haven’t won the World Series since 1908, and after being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers this past weekend, they won’t be winning the World Series in 2008 either.

The Cubs never competed in this series. They were outscored by the Dodgers 20-6 over the three games. And while losing three in this series to make it a total of nine straight postseason losses, the Cubs made sure that Joe Torre was able to extend his record of postseason victories with 79.

Manny Ramirez continued to earn his next big money contract as he was five for ten in the series with two homers, five runs, and three RBI. And the Dodgers, who won their first postseason series since 1988, find themselves advancing to the National League Championship Series where they will be taking on the Philadelphia Phillies.