Death to Saddam, and death to the Bears' undefeated season in Week 9

Sunday was a day of darkness as death sentences were imposed on both ends of the Earth in surprising fashion.  In Iraq, a yearlong trial ended with a sentence of death by hanging for former dictator Saddam Hussein, while in America it was death to the Chicago Bears' perfect season as their record fell to 7-1 at the hands of the 13½-point underdog Miami Dolphins.

Saddam was convicted for the 1982 executions of 148 men and boys in a Shiite town north of Baghdad.  The mass killings, just the tip of the iceberg for this murderous madman, came after what was said to be an assassination attempt against the Iraqi leader.  During his sentencing, Saddam was defiant, raging and arrogant to the end, shouting "God is great!" and "Long live the glorious nation and death to its enemies!"

Iraq's appeals court is expected to rule on Saddam's guilty verdict and death sentence by the middle of January, setting in motion his possible execution by mid-February.  If the ruling is upheld, Iraq's three-man presidential council will ensure that Saddam's hanging is carried out within 30 days of the appeal court's decision as the law requires.  The world will have to see it to believe it.

Unfortunately there is no appeals process for the Bears, who were smoked 31-13 at home by a struggling Dolphins team that had lost six of seven games this year.  The Bears' unbeaten season was laid to rest at 3:25 p.m. Chicago time at Soldier Field by the same squad that ended the Bears' last perfect-season attempt in 1985 when the Monsters of the Midway started 12-0.  Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts now have the NFL's only unblemished record at 8-0.

Week 9 of the Sunday Football Picks spelled death to most of the favored teams, which went just 6-7.  But Da Mad Skillz of Nicko were evident as the 13-year-old wife of Jim Halpert won the week with a stellar 9-4 record.  She's a big fan of "The Office," what can we say?

Nicole was successful with four of five upset predictions the day after an entertaining concert at Larkin High School in Elgin, where she performed with the finest middle school musicians in this region of the state.  Nickster was the first student in the history of Glenn Westlake Middle School to advance to that prestigious Illinois Music Educators Association event without taking private lessons.  She loves the viola, just like her sisters D.J. and Ali.

For the first time in the 2006 Picks season, Ali was bumped from the top spot in the overall standings when Mark took a two-game lead after Sunday's early games.  But Ali won both disagreements with her uncle in the later games, so they currently share first place at 74-43, with QT Pie only a game behind.