Manziel has Barkley ready to ‘Roll Tide’

I heard something really unbelievable the other day. It was former Auburn basketball star Charles Barkley on ESPN radio criticizing Texas A&M’s quarterback Johnny Manziel.

Now Barkley’s a little late to the dance, but he said Manziel was annoying him so much and had “done a lot of stupid stuff over the last three or four months.”

Barkley said he was almost ready to root for Alabama and say “Roll Tide.”

Wow! Barkley criticizing a 20-year-old is ironic since he had plenty of issues as an older, supposedly wiser, professional athlete. At one time, the word thug could have been used to describe some of his behavior.

Here’s a guy who spit in a little girl’s face as she sat in the stands to watch a game. Here’s a guy who said athletes shouldn’t be role models. Here’s a guy who intentionally elbowed a player from the basketball mecca of Angola, so add bully to the list.

Oh, and I almost forgot — didn’t he admit to taking money from agents when he played at Auburn?

Yeah — and Manziel is a bum?

What about the time Barkley allegedly threw someone through a window?

Listen, Charles Barkley is opinionated and has found a wonderful career and does a great job as an NBA commentator. But people like him should not throw rocks at glass houses, or in his case glass skyscrapers.

Bears set to win 26-17As the Chicago Bears get ready for the Minnesota Vikings, am I wrong to strut a little? It seemed in the later years with Lovie Smith we were always waiting for the other shoe to fall, but for some reason I feel a beat down coming for the Vikes this week. I picked the Bears last week to win 23-20, so I wasn#146;t too far off with the final 24-21. Now I#146;m looking for the Bears to win 26-17 as Jay Cutler and the offense will set the tone, but the defense will come up with at least two turnovers. Even with the win last week there is still some angst to unleash Matt Forte after an average first game by the talented running back. I wouldn#146;t worry about Forte. He is solid, and I think he will put up a ton of all-purpose yards this season. The only thing that can derail the plan right now is injury, but that#146;s the way it is for most NFL teams. Don#146;t worry about Brandon Marshall, Cutler, Forte or anyone else#146;s play #151; just worry about injury because no team bent on making the playoffs can afford to lose any of their key players.Acknowledgments:Special thanks to the Chicago Irish Brotherhood. I had some fun with the group when I attended their golf outing last week at Carriage Greens Country Club in Darien.Program note:Listen to The Mike North Pregame Show from 10 a.m. to noon Sundays on WIND 560-AM The Answer.Ÿ Mike North#146;s column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.