Sports

I make no qualms about my love for sports. It's an escape, not real life. When my teams lose, I take it hard for a short time, rationalize it, and move on. It's a game, entertainment and like I said earlier, an escape. It's a big money business and its function is to make money. Some leagues do it right and some don't. But in no way is sport = life.

As I get older, it's less and less important. Sure I live lounging on the couch all Sunday watching football, it's a way to relax and recharge. I don't it personal, especially when my team screws up.

I was watching Thursday night football and something the announcer said kind of bothered me. During the Eagles/Bengals game, Brad Nessler made a comment about running up the art museum stairs, ala Rocky. And the other talking head, Mike Mayouk responded about the (and I paraphrase) its stupid because its a movie and not real.

Mr. Mayouk, you make your money analyzing a game! A game a form of entertainment, just like a movie. You make a living based on people like me tuning into a game and buying the products advertised on the show. Mr. Mayouk get your head out of your ass and realize you are a talking head that analyzes a game. You are an entertainer, contributing your "knowledge" for gambling purposes.

Mr. Mayouk, it's great you take yourself very serious, but remember if you lost your voice, there would be someone right behind you to take your place. Some advise, lighten up, remember, football is a game and football is entertainment, like movies, books, pro wrestling, bob ley, angry birds and running up the Philadelphia Art Museum stairs.

Your Top QBs

In the past several weeks, I've ranked the top QBs in the NFL this season. And with a few weeks to go in the season, I think its safe to say, the rankings are what they are. Several teams have switched QBs in the middle of the season, so I decided to rank the QBs by teams as opposed to individuals. Also, I have them ranked, but I also have them tiered so here are the 2012 NFL Best (and worse QBs) Bottom of the rung 32.) Arizona 31.)Kansas City 30.) NY Jets Signs of Life 29.) Jacksonville 28.) Cleveland 27.)Tennessee 26.) Minnesota 25.) Philadelphia Room For Improvement 24.) Carolina 23.) San Diego 22.) Miami 21.) St. Louis 20.) Buffalo 19.) Baltimore 18.) Oakland Jury is still out 17.) Dallas 16.) Detroit 15.) Tampa 14.) San Francisco Almost in the top 10 13.) Cincinnati 12.) Seattle 11.) Pittsburgh Top 10 10.) Chicago 9.) New Orleans 8.) Houston 7.) Washington 6.) Atlanta 5.) Indianapolis 4.) NY Giants 3.) New England 2.)Denver 1.) Green Bay

The Problem With The Marlins

It's been about a week since the 2012-2013 Miami Marlins Not-So-Great Sell Off and I keep hearing all the debate back and forth, locally, nationally and anyone else who wants to give their opinion. I thought I would share mine. The essence of the trade is to dump salary, plain and simple. Don't let ANYONE tell you anything different. Jose Reyes was a horrible signing for this team last year, it was not the right fit for the Marlins or Reyes and I am a little shocked he wasn't moved during the trade deadline last season. John Buck is a solid catcher, despite not putting up great offensive numbers. He seemed to handle the pitching staff well and I honestly had no problem with him as a player, but he was making too much money. Now this is where things get a little shady for me. Josh Johnson had one year left on his deal. He would be worth SOOO much more if he remained a Marlin, at least until the 2013 trade deadline. He has an up side of being a franchise Pitcher, one a team with a lot of top tiered prospects would drool over and over pay for him for a pennant race. Mark Buerhle eats up innings and is good for 10 wins a season. He also is a good veteran presence to have with a very young team. I would have held on to him ala Josh Johnson til mid-season. Emilio Bonafacio is a jack of all trades, worked his way up through the system and proved to be a very valuable asset to this team. You traded these 5 guys for a package of young guys and malcontents and on paper it doesn't seem like it will benefit the Marlins at all. The Marlins used public money for a new ball park, they had ownership "pretend" they cared about putting up a winner, by spending money and worse of all, they came out publicly telling their fan base they will compete (spend money.) They lied. They went all in for 1 year and when they realized they had the wrong guy managing the team and the they didn't have the right pieces, they did what they do best, Sell off. Instead of trading for value, they just dumped salaries so they can start all over again. Over the last 10 years, their track record of developing players leaves a lot to be desired. I am sure not only do they dump salary, they also pinch pennies when it comes to scouting and development. And this is the problem with this ownership and front office. They have lost all credibility in baseball circles because they cannot draft or develop players. They are the laughing stock of baseball because they have a gorgeous new ball park far away from their core fan base (this is why the stadium is always empty) and they are evilest of heels when it comes to their public image. They will never attract quality free agents, because no one will come here, knowing they will be traded away in a year and the Marlins will not give out a no-trade clause. They will have to rely on quality drafting and development, which they don't have.

QB Rankings Week 9

So after Week 8, let's look at how the mighty QB Rankings Change. Next to the name will be where they were 6 weeks ago. 32. Blaine Galbert (31) 31. Kevin Kolb/John Skelton (30) 30. Matt Cassell (29) 29. Mark Sanchez (26) 28. Brandon Weeden (32) 27. Jake Locker/Matt Hasselbeck (28) 26. Cam Newton (13) 25. Michael Vick (25) 24. Sam Bradford (8) 23. Ryan Fitzpatrick (17) 22. Joe Flacco (20) 21. Tony Romo (18) 20. Phillip Rivers (5) 19. Josh Freeman (21) 18. Christian Ponder (27) 17. Carson Palmer (22) 16. Ryan Tannehill (23) 15. Drew Stratford (10) 14. Alex Smith (3) 13. Jay Cutler (24) 12. Andy Dalton (12) 11. Russell Wilson (15) 10. Drew Brees (16) 9. Matt Schaub (9) 8. Robert Griffin III (4) 7. Andrew Luck (19) 6. Ben Rothlieberger (11) 5. Eli Manning (1) 4. Peyton Manning (14) 3. Tom Brady (6) 2. Aaron Rodgers (7) 1. Matt Ryan (2) Matt Ryan has played spectacular and gets the number 1 spot over Rodgers and Brady because his team is undefeated. Peyton Manning looks as good now as he did 5 years ago. Andrew Luck has surpassed RG3, which I thought he would have, little surprised he did it this year. Russell Wilson and Ryan Tannenhill look like they will have long productive careers with their respective teams. Cam Newton has lacked leadership and the ability to stay away from adversity. Mike Vick has been hit too many times and now with this make-shift Offensive Line, I don't see things getting any better. The Blaine Gabbert experiment didn't work in JAX, he will be a backup elsewhere next season.

Your Top QB's

Now that we have played 2 weeks, I am even more confused with who is good and who sucks. But, none the less, here is my rankings of the top Quarterbacks so far in this very young season: 32. Brandon Weeden 31. Blaine Galbert 30. Kevin Kolb 29. Matt Cassell 28. Jake Locker 27. Christian Ponder 26. Mark Sanchez 25. Michael Vick 24. Jay Cutler 23. Ryan Tannehill 22. Carson Palmer 21. Josh Freeman 20. Joe Flacco 19. Andrew Luck 18. Tony Romo 17. Ryan Fitzpatrick 16. Drew Brees 15. Russell Wilson 14. Peyton Manning 13. Cam Newton 12. Andy Dalton 11. Ben Rothlieberger 10. Drew Stratford 9. Matt Schaub 8. Sam Bradford 7. Aaron Rodgers 6. Tom Brady 5. Phillip Rivers 4. Robert Griffin III 3. Alex Smith 2. Matt Ryan 1. Eli Manning

The Homerun Derby - YAWN

I think it's time for some change and Major League Baseball is always behind the curve when it comes to bring proactive in change. Inter league play, Instant Replay, Playoff expansion and of course the Home Run Derby. I find it pain stacking to sit for 3 hours to watch batting practice and listening to ESPN's Chris Berman "back, back, back, back - gone." Nothing against Berman, but its very old and tired. Here is my suggestion if you want to keep the Home Run Derby. 5 competitors: 1. AL HR Leader 2. NL HR Leader 3. Previous Year's HR Leader 4. Previous Year's HR Derby Winner 5. Rookie HR Leader And I am sure there will be an overlap of double winners in the previous 5, so the players will vote in the 5th competitor. Each contender will get 15 swings, the top 2 after 15 swings will be in the finals, 10 outs. We could really have fun, putting bullseyes' through out and if a home run hits the target, bonus points or charity money. The Homerun Derby should not take longer than an hour, it's really bad tv and instead of throwing it down our throats as is, change it up.

They still didn't get it right

A 4 team playoff in college football and I'm not satisfied. I'm figuring this will be a complete clustermess by year two. Will the best 4 teams play? Absolutely not. I guarantee an undefeated team not Notre Dame or from the SEC, Big 10, PAC 12 or Big 12 will not got a shot at the National Championship.

Out of 110 Division 1 teams 20-25 are legitimate contenders and until an expanded playoff is formed, the dirty politics of College Football will continue.

And for anyone who argues about Bowls games, may I remind them of conference jumping epidemic. Hey, stop with your stop tradition argument. Tradition takes a back seat to the All Mighty Dollar.

BTW, here are the contenders:
Notre Dame
Alabama
LSU
Florida
Auburn
Arkansas
Tennessee
Georgia
South Carolina
Oklahoma
Texas
Oklahoma St
Michigan
Michigan St
Ohio St
Nebraska
USC
UCLA
Oregon
Miami
Florida St
Virginia Tech

I might be missing one or two, but you get the point