Divisional Round

3-1 so far after wildcard weekend.
Saints 34 - 49ers 24
Patriots 37 - Broncos 16
Ravens 24 - Texans 17
Packers 38 - Giants 35

Wild, Wild Card Weekend

What a weird season. First of all, the season flew by. Second, lots of surprises, San Diego and Philly laid eggs, NY Jets and Dallas (those Ryan Brothers) all sizzle, no substance. Cincinnati and Carolina took huge steps forward. Finally, Tebow!

The Axe-man Cometh, especially in Florida, Miami, Jax and Tampa have openings. St. Louis, San Diego, KC, Indy also are either open or will be open. What is the best job? I kinda like the St. Louis job, especially if they move to Los Angeles. Also Indy fires Bill Polian and Chicago fires Jerry Angelo. Angelo was easy, he should have signed Donovan McNabb when he had the chance.

My MVP, Aaron Rodgers. No offense Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but Rodgers might be the most complete QB since Steve Young and if he leads Green Bay to another Super Bowl, he can start writing his speech for Canton.

Comeback player of the year Alex Smith. I always thought he was a decent QB stuck on a bad team, but this year he out did what I thought he could do.

Coach of The Year is Marvin Lewis. I expected the Bengals to win 1 game this season. I felt AJ Green would be stuck on a lousy offense, but they played very well and from the first week where they caught Cleveland by surprise, they played extremely well. Next season they have to work on beating Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Rookie of the year is Andy Dalton. Nothing against Cam Newton and his amazing numbers, but Andy Dalton led a team to the playoffs who was suppose to be DOA.

Year end Power 10
1. Green Bay Packers
2. New England Patriots
3. New Orleans Saints
4. San Francisco 49ers
5. Baltimore Ravens
6. Atlanta Falcons
7. Pittsburgh Steelers
8. Detroit Lions
9. Houston Texans
10. Denver Broncos
10. Cincinnati Bengals

I finished the regular season 35-33, just where I thought I would. A shade above .500. Here are my playoff selections.

Houston (-3) against Cincinnati
The Texans have a ton of injuries. I'm not sure if TJ Yates can win a huge game. It's safe to assume they are going to run early and often. The Bengals haven't won a big game and there's nothing to show they will on the road.
Texans 24 - Bengals 20

New Orleans (-11) against Detroit
This will be an offensive game. Drew Brees will pick apart the Lions defense
Saints 44 - Lions 29

New York Giants (-3) against Atlanta
I don't trust the Giants. I don't know Eli Manning can do it all on his own. I would be absolutely picking Atlanta if the game was indoors, but not sure what the elements will bring.
Falcons 20 - Giants 21

Pittsburgh (-11) @ Denver
The Broncos defense needs to come up big. Willis McGahee needs to take the team on his back and the Broncos special teams have to be the difference if the Broncos have a shot. Things aren't all peachy for the Steelers. Big Ben is still hobbled and doesn't look quite himself. Isaac Redmon needs to step up real fast and the Steel Curtain needs to be a few years younger.
Broncos 19 - Steelers 17

The Winter Classic 2012

The NHL doesn't get it right a lot. They are on "second tier" network (see below), they sport doesn't market itself to the masses, it's hard to understand the entire rule book, etc. But on the first of the year, the NHL puts their best effort by having the neatest spectacle of any sport, The Winter Classic.

They make a hockey rink in an outdoor stadium and put 2 rivals against themselves and the elements. This year, the game is in Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Ball Park and it's the Flyers and Rangers for first place in the Atlantic Division.

This past Saturday, the Flyers and Rangers Alumni put on an amazing display. 66 year old Bernie Parent stole the show, looking 20 years younger. And Eric Lindros got an unbelievable ovation from the Philly crowd.

Now onto the main event: look for the Flyers to put lots of pressure on the Rangers forwards. The game will be won by the team with better special teams. Both teams are legit contenders for the eastern conference and Stanley Cup.

All in all, the NHL needs to continue any and all momentum this game brings. The hockey players are likable and a better effort has to be made to show they are not just goons, they ate good kids.

As mentioned above, today the Vs network will become NBC Sports Network and here are a few suggestions. Build the network thru the NHL, college hoops, mls soccer and the Olympics. Also, the only way to compete with ESPN is find your own strength and use that. You don't want to be an ESPN-lite.

And So Goes Another Season! Week 17

Not sure what happened with last week's post, it disappeared on me. But I didn't do so well on my picks, I was 1-3, bringing my total to 34-30.

I will have a full season recap, plus playoff preview next week, but here are my picks:
Denver (-3.5) against Kansas City
Orton's revenge - Chiefs 29 - Tebow's 23

Oakland (-2.5) against San Diego
Just Win Baby! - Raiders 31 - Chargers 21

NY Giants (-3.5) against Dallas
How Bout Them Cowboys - Giants 10 - Cowboys 9

Upset Special
Baltimore (-2.5) @ Cincinnati
Bengals 27 - Ravens 17

See you in the Playoffs!!

Week 16 - Coming into the Home Stretch

Something happened with week 16 post.
Power 10:
1. Green Bay
2. San Francisco
3. New England
4. New Orleans
5. Pittsburgh
6. Baltimore
7. Atlanta
8. Detroit
9. Houston
10. Denver

Last Week, I went 3-1, bringing my total to 33-27

Week 15

If i had an MVP vote, i would have to think long and hard about voting for Peyton Manning. With him, the Colts win 10 games a year, without him 0fer.
Here's how my top 5 voting would be:
1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Tom Brady
3. Eli Manning
4. Peyton Manning
5. LeSean McCoy
6. Tim Tebow

Buffalo spiraling out of control. Ryan Fitzpatrick and company can't stop the bleeding. Their 6 game losing streak has sent them reeling. Nothing is going right, MVP Candidate, Fred Jackson was IRed a few weeks ago.

Todd Haley & Tony Sporano make a total of 3 casualties. And I'm predicting 2 more before week 17, I'm talking about you Steve Spagnuolo, Rahem Morris and/or Norv Turner. How about Rob Ryan taking over in Miami and its a nice rivalry with brother Rex. Or Jeff Fisher in KC. Maybe Jon Gruden in Jacksonville?

A shout out to Houston Texans for reaching the playoff for the first time in franchise history.

Here's the Power 10
1. Green Bay Packers
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. New Orleans Saints
4. San Francisco 49ers
5. New England Patriots
6. Houston Texans
7. Pittsburgh Steelers
8. Denver Broncos
9. New York Jets
10. Atlanta Falcons

Last week I was 2-2, bringing my total to 30-26. I am going to do things a little different this week, instead of 1 upset special, I am going to pick 3. First, the non upset special:
Cincinnati (-4.5) @ St.Louis
The Bengals are playing for the playoff lives and it can't get any better than the Rams. The Rams are reeling, they are a mess. This is the kind of team the Bengals need to get out of their slump. Injured, uninspired and watching the scoreboard for season to end. I think Andy Dalton and AJ Green come up huge this week and lead the Bengals to a Huge win.
Bengals 38 - Rams 16

Upset Special 1
Dallas (-6.5) @ Tampa
Both teams are a mess, both coaches are on the hot seat, both QBs are all of the sudden under achieving and both defenses are playing somewhat lethargic. The difference right now is I think Josh Freeman has an upside and I think we've seen Tony Romo's best. The Cowboys have been in close games 6 of the last 7 weeks and none of these games should have been close. I think The Bucs pull one out and leaves the 'Boys reeling again.
Bucs 27 - Cowboys 26

Upset Special 2
Tennessee (-6.5) @ Indianapolis
As the starting lineups are announced, out comes Peyton Manning, in pads and helmet. Well, not quite yet, but this game says stinker all over it. Tennessee started out playing so well, but I think they are going to over look Indy, especially with Houston clinching the division. The Colts shock the world with this one.
Colts 31 - Titans 19

Upset Special 3
NY Giants (-7.5) against Washington
Another game that says stinker all over it. The Giants pull out a great win over Dallas last week and they are flying high and there is no doubt they will over look the Redskins. Normally, I would say I don't blame them. The Redskins have been lousy, poorly coached and poorly performed. But I think they will catch the Giants Defense off guard.
Redskins 22 - Giants 17

The NBA does it again

Just when I thought I couldn't dislike the NBA anymore, the Commish concedes to pressure from small market owners and revokes a trade between the LA, Houston & New Orleans involving Chris Paul. Wow, talk about being a patsy, David Stern. This is why 2/3s of your teams are losing money.

I think it's time for the commish to hang up his career and retire to Del Boca Vista. When was the last time in a major professional sport a trade was revoked just because?

I hope Chris Paul sues the NBA and bankrupts those small market owners. As much as I dislike the Lakers, they deserve better than this.

David Stern and company are an embarrassment and it's sad after a 130+ day lockout, he does not have 100% support of the owners.