Super Bowl "Odds" and Ends

So before I get started with this week's issue, I want to discuss the upgrade I'm making to my blog. At the encouragement of Gabe, who comments on this blog religiously, we have decided to do a joint podcast. Background on Gabe, he is a DJ for an upstate New York radio station so he has that voice that just sounds like butter in your ears. I met him here during my undergrad days at Sac State while I worked for Century Theaters. He has a significant background in sports through his own competition as a high school athlete, specifically football and wrestling, and carried that through to a brief coaching career at the high school football level. He is originally from SoCal making him an unbearable Angels fan which I am sure will lead to more healthy discussion in future podcasts.

I did the podcast specifically for you guys to give you something to listen to on your way to and from work, while you are at gym, while you are doing chores around the house, or bored at work. This inaugural edition is 24 minutes, it is obviously a little rough as its my first time doing anything of the sort (although Gabe is clearly much more natural at it), it is publicly downloadable from the link below in an mp3 format so it is playable on any device that can play digital music and it is also playable directly from the website itself on your computer! The podcast itself touches on the AFC/NFC Champ games, my Super Bowl prediction, and a my incredulous reaction to the fact that Eli vs. Peyton is actually being viewed as a legitimate debate on ESPN should Eli win a second super bowl.

I just ask you guys to give it a shot at some point and leave me feedback regarding it. Anything, positive, negative, neutral, whatever. I do these things to entertain you guys out there in the blogosphere and Id like to make sure the product I put out is worthwhile. I will not be doing a podcast once a week, they require much more work than this blog does, plus it takes away from the blog itself. I dont have a schedule as to when i will do the next one, but feedback left will encourage me to do another one sooner rather than later. Make any comments on it to the blog, the comments section on the podcast website require a sign up and I dont want to require you guys to deal with that.

Lastly, I intend to have guests appear in the podcast from time to time, so if you are interested in getting on the podcast and openly debating or agreeing with me just let me know!

The podcast: http://soundcloud.com/gabey2783/podcast-1-final

The download link is in the row just above the audio feed, let me know if you have problems with it.

So, national signing day for high school football players to sign their binding contracts with their universities is tomorrow. It's a fun day for me as a fan of Florida as I get to drool over yet another top 5 or top 10 recruiting class according to the popular recruit services, Rivals.com and the ESPNU rankings. My man Mr. Armchair did a fine piece of being a fan during the process and for more recruiting blogs check him out here: http://mrarmchair.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-sit-and-wonder-is-it-too-much.html?showComment=1328042974321#c6196058195156470753

I didn't do a comprehensive review of the NFC/AFC Championship games last week and actually the podcast covers quite a bit of it. I did want to touch on a few things that didnt get covered though. Starting in the AFC, I think we finally saw the true colors of the Patriots. I do not believe they are best team in the AFC. I think Baltimore is a better team and really with the exception of Lee Evans and Billy Cundiff screwing the pooch they may have proved that on the field. I think a healthy Houston or Pittsburgh team was better too.

New England this year got away with being in a very mediocre division, the Jets were not the same team they were in 2009 and 2010, the Bills were obviously smoke and mirrors in the 4-1 start by finishing 2-9 the rest of the way and the Dolphins didn't know the season started until Week 9. The Patriots managed to go 13-3 with a schedule that saw them fail to beat a single team with a 9-7 or better record. In fact, they barely beat several non-playoff teams like the Cowboys in Week 6, the Colts in Week 13, and the Dolphins in Week 16. They were a bottom tier rushing team and a league worst defense. They got beat at home by an injury riddled Giants team in Week 9.

They beat a just happy to be there Broncos team in the divisional round, and skirted by in the championship round thanks to a no name DB making the play of his life on a sure TD pass to Lee Evans, and then Billy Cundiff shanking a 32 year field goal like it was a 52 yarder. That field goal was shanked bad.

Yet despite all this evidence that the Patriots aren't that good, they were favored in the opening line for the Super Bowl by 3 and on the site I use most (as well as many others), bovada.lv the line has remained the same, albeit you pay a little more juice on the Giants (-115) than on the Patriots (-105). The Patriots are riding two things that cause that line to be what it is: TomBill Bradychick and a "improved" defense. Just the mystique of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and their inability to lose three times in a row to an opponent (Giants have wont he last two meetings, Super Bowl 42 and Week 9 this year) is causing fans to froth at the mouth for the chance to get on the Patriots side. I understand that, they have been a dynamic duo for quite some time.



But i take exception to this "improved" Patriots defense. They have played two teams that are predicated on running the football and have below average passing numbers. The Patriots have two players who resemble NFL talent on defense: Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo. The Patriots are quite capable at scheming against the run and forcing mediocre quarterbacks to beat them. Congratulations. The Patroits defense is not well equipped to stop the Giants (or Saints or Packers) offense because they lack any semblance of a pass rush and their secondary is terrible. Too much credit is being given on this side of the ball. After all, when the Patriots did take away the run against the Ravens, Flacco managed 306 yards passing which represented his third highest total of the year. If I am a Patriots fan I am scared to think of what Eli can do to that defense, and how the Patriots can even stop the running game if the Giants get the passing game rolling. Good luck.

Many of my readers are 49ers fans which means they are well aware of what I think of their team and how they lost the NFC title game. Rather than twist the knife that's already deep in their heart, I think I'll just discuss two things that are related to the same thing: playcalling.

Jim Harbaugh is unquestionably the coach of the year. He took some great talent, good talent, and no talent and turned it into a defensive juggernaut with an efficient offense. But he made easily one of the most questionable calls of the game early in the 4th with the 49ers in Giants territory facing a 4th and 1 and he punted, despite holding a 4 point advantage. I'm not statistician but i think the reward grossly outweighed the risk there. For one thing the 49ers probably have a better than 50/50 shot at converting 4th and 1. After all they were 9/14 in 4th down conversions on the year. Even if you dont convert, your defense has been supercharged since halftime and theres no guarantee the decent field position would lead anywhere for the Giants. But if you do convert you keep driving for what may have proved to be at least a huge field goal, or possibly game sealing touchdown based on how the defense was playing. I was shocked to see the punt unit come on the field. P.S. The 49ers held the Giants to a 3 and out on that next possession.

The second playcall was the defensive shell the 49ers put themselves in on 3rd and 15 following the Kyle Williams leg muff. Maybe this isnt totally on Harbaugh, but he is the head coach and he can say what he wants to see here on defense. I watched that replay a number of times. Problem 1: 3 man rush. Eli Manning at this point in his career is too good to allow him to have several seconds. Problem 2: shallow zone. If level 1 of the defense consisted of the 3 man rush, then level 2 of the defense consisted of a combination of 5 DB/LBs in a flat zone across the field, none of them deeper than like the 5 yard line when the ball is thrown (the first down line was the 3). That left Problem 3: only 3 guys guarding the end zone and any other section of field beyond the first down marker. No matter if Eli gets 0 or 14 yards, I think the Giants based on their defense, and trust in their offense to move the ball within FG range would have kicked a FG there if they didnt make a 1st down and played for a game winning FG on their next drive at the end of the game. Harbaugh's defense played like they could only allow 7 yards, It was a bizarre defensive set in the situation and screamed (just like the 4th and 1 earlier in the quarter) "WE ARE PLAYING TO NOT LOSE!"

In the end we end up with an east coast Super Bowl that no one here cares about, except my friend Rick who got a unique side wedding present form me in the form a futures bet back in August. He chose the Patriots winning the Super Bowl at 3 to 1, meaning if they win he does net himself a cool 100 bucks simply for tying the knot. Kudos Ricky!

I gave my Super Bowl prediction last week and in the podcast and it still remains the same: Giants 31, Patriots 27. Rather than rehash my Super Bowl discussions, I thought I'd move on to the degenerate gambler in all of us and talk about some of my favorite proposition bets on the Super Bowl. If you aren't a gambling fan, the Super Bowl is the one event that sports books put out ridiculous bets that are simply impossible to handicap. It makes certain aspects of the Super Bowl more fun and of course will lead to an intervention from your family down the road. Here are a few of my favorites currently up:

1. Over/Under 1:34 for Kelly Clarkson to complete the National Anthem from the first note to finishing the word Brave. 

Gabe handicapped this and said he never sees singers hit this mark, they usually go longer. Christina Aguilera last year did 1:52. I like this bet because it gives you something to do during the national anthem. I am patriot as much as anyone else, but the idea of being totally involved in timing the national anthem at a Super Bowl party gets me excited.

2. Over/Under 3.5 for the amount of times Peyton Manning will be shown during the game. It only counts from kick off to the final whistle, with halftime excluded and it can only be live shots of him, not taped shots of him from the past. 

Peyton Manning is this year's offseason story. No more Brett Favre, no more lockout looming over everything, no debate over the #1 overall pick in April. Its all about where Peyton Manning ends up this offseason. Personally i still call the over on this because of the dual aspect of the where will Peyton go story, plus he is Eli's brother and that asinine debate ESPN is having over whether Eli is better (podcast spoiler: he's not ever going to be). Then again i could see him getting only 2 views, once showing him there and another time when the Giants are about to win or lose. I think its pretty even. Shockingly you pay more juice if you pick the over (-130) than the under (-110).

3. Over/Under 1 for the amount of times the David Tyree catch from Super Bowl 42 is shown from kickoff to final whistle excluding half time. 

This is a bizarre line. It sets up for a push. But i honestly think its the safest  of all the prop bets. That catch has to be guaranteed to be shown at least once during the telecast of the actual game. At worst you get your money back. At best you win the easiest prop bet of all time. The over does come with significant juice (-160), while the under actually gives you odds at (+120).

4. Will Madonna wear fishnet stockings during the halftime show at any point? You can bet on either yes or no, some of these question ones only allow a bet of yes. 

The half time show is one of the worst inventions in Super Bowl history. It's too long, it's too boring, and the performers just phone it in. In recent years since the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake wardrobe malfunction the Super Bowl has tried to get less racy acts. Madonna in the 80s would have been the ultimate blacklisted celebrity for this very reason. Now shes back but shes also like 55 years old. It's just not the same Madonna. So of course you need to make things interesting by gambling. This was the most interesting bet, because it could occur at any point during the show, thus keeping you possibly interested until the end. Also it's intriguing to see if Madonna falls back into her prime and dresses in cone bras and fishnet stockings. The odds are equal for both answers and you pay a hefty juice to bet it (-120) both sides. I'm going with no.

5. What color will the Gatorade be for the Gatorade shower at the end?

Clear or Water 7/4
Yellow 5/2
Orange 9/4
Red 6/1
Green 7/1
Blue 10/1

What better way to get excited a Super Bowl you other wise don't care about has come to an end then by sitting on the edge of your seat those last few minutes waiting to see what color gets dumped on tom coughlins head. For my money I think the favorite - clear/water is out. This is a premier marketing tool for Gatorade and the largest platform to do it on. Water stays in the bottles, Gatorade is in the coolers. If you do a google image search most of the baths are clear, with some yellow and orange thrown in. I saw one red one, which was the bath Saban got after the 2009 National Championship. I have never seen green in my life and I swear that I have seen several blue showers, which shocks me on the 10/1 thing. If you are trying to win this, I think you go with yellow, if you are trying to actually hit a significant payout on your bet i think you go red or blue.

Thats it for me this week. Please check out the podcast. Tell me your favorite prop bets! Comment! Enjoy! Happy Super Bowl!

Rapid Reaction: Prince Fielder Signing

Ed. Note: I wrote the title when i started the blog. 2 days isnt a very rapid reaction but hey it's still faster than some bloggers. 

So the Prince Fielder saga has come to an end. The most eligible bachelor on the free agent market left, and some would argue the most eligible bachelor in the whole free agent market to start with has finally signed.  It took a freak injury for a team to become desperate enough to pony up the dough for Prince. Last week Victor Martinez, lineup protection for Miguel Cabrera and clutch hitter extraordinaire went down with a torn ACL in an offseason workout. Needless to say this left a gaping hole in the Tigers lineup and championship aspirations. So how do you patch that hole? By shoving 214 million dollars in it, that's how.

My initial reaction when i heard the news while commuting to Merced for a pointless court appearance was how can anyone pony up 9 years, 214 million for Prince Fielder? Nearly 24 mil a year? For Prince Fielder? Sure he is probably the premier pure power hitter in the league, sorry Ryan Howard and Jose Bautista, but I mean we are bordering on in-his-prime A-Rod money. So what are the Tigers really getting for their money here, both this next season and the following 8?

Last year Victor provided a lot of things for the Tigers, a catcher to platoon with Alex Avila, a 1B to give Miguel Cabrera some rest, and most importantly a run producing bat. The traditional numbers show 100 RBI, .330 avg and .850 ops. Good, not great. Victor lacked that 20+ HR power he had shown throughout his career.

Of course if you use sabermetrics a la Moneyball, you find that Victor is basically a decent starting player. His wins above replacement (WAR) - which basically means how many more wins he is worth to a team over a replacement level player, which is usually considered a minor league call up player, someone who excels in AAA but struggles in the majors (another term is AAAA player) - was 2.9 wins he added to the team. A rough standard for a starter in the majors is 2+, an all star is 5+ and an MVP is 8+. WAR measures offensive and defensive contributions. If you are curious his oWAR (offensive WAR with his defensive rating excluded) was 3.1 meaning hes a little bit of a defensive liability. But since he only spot starts on defense it wasn't a huge concern.

Last year, and throughout the course of his career, Prince Fielder has been a pure masher, but he has been at least an average to above average contact hitter as well, posting averages ranging from a career low .261 in 2010 to a tie for career high at .299 in 2009 and 2011. Last year he posted 38 home runs, 120 RBIs, .299 avg and .981 ops. Prince's WAR was also 5.2 (oWAR was 5.9 meaning he is even more of a D liability than Martinez) putting his at that All-Star threshold. I think most importantly, Prince played the same lineup protection role in Milwaukee that Victor did so you doubt there will be any problems with production because of a lack of protection.

Also Prince is coming from Miller to Comerica Park, similar climates and similar dimensions, except Comerica plays 20 feet longer to center and about 10 feet to right-center and right and equidistant in left. Prince sprays his home runs across the whole park and most of his home runs are no doubters anyway, meaning they cleared the fence by at least 20 feet. Lastly, Comerica in general ranks right behind Miller Park in offensive ratings.


So with all that mumbo jumbo the conclusion is the Tigers are getting a better player to replace Martinez (duh) and a player who they can expect to continue his trend without worrying about his home park and lineup protection. Great. For this year at least though the Tigers are hardly better. Sabermetrically they are 2 wins better,which isnt much of a concern since they won 95 games last year and have to be the overwhelming favorites again in the AL Central. Might have replacing Martinez with Fielder (assuming Martinez stayed healthy the whole series) helped them beat Texas in the ALCS? Maybe, but probably not. First Prince couldnt help his own team beat the Cardinals who were ostensibly beaten twice by the Rangers (i dont think ill ever forget Game 6), Second Texas won that ALCS in 6 with only one close win in Game 1 when rain ruined any semblance of rhythm in that game. Again, I think for this year the Tigers are hardly better.

Going forward though it is the right move to replace Martinez with Fielder. There is a 5 year age difference and with Martinez going to be 34 by the time he sees the field again and coming off of an ACL and a year of declining power numbers, i dont think he has much of a future left in the league. But at 24 million a year? I feel the Tigers grossly overpaid by probably 30-35 million on that contract. The reason Prince was out there was because he was holding out for this contract and teams knew he wasn't worth that much. The Tigers could have gotten a better deal but this is nitpicking, Prince was a the right move at this time.

Other people have wondered what they will do defensively with Cabrera and Fielder in tow through 2016 (when cabreras contract expires), which is pretty simple. Platoon DH, 1B, sprinkled in with a move to 3B by Cabrera in the early going.

Finally this move was important because there is a rare window here where the Yankees may be tailing off (although adding Pineda makes me uncomfortable), and the Red Sox are a mess. The Tigers have 3 of the best players in the league in their primes this year in Verlander, Cabrera and Fielder and that aligning of the stars rarely happens. The Tigers had to make the move to overpay and it may payoff.

The only problem is the AL is loaded this year. The Angels added Pujols and CJ Wilson without losing anyone. The Rangers may have gained in their rotation without losing in their bullpen after adding Joe Nathan, moving Feliz to the rotation and adding possibly the best free agent pitcher this year in Darvish. The Rays essentially add Matt Moore to their team now that he is going to get a full year look (plus they added some pop back resigning Carlos Pena for the year). The Yankees sent a bat that dont need in Jesus Montero for an arm they desperately needed in Pineda and despite the dysfunction, the Red Sox still have a very potent lineup with Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gonzalez, Ortiz, Youkilis, and if Crawford returns to form they basically add a new offensive weapon to a rotation that still sports Beckett and Lester at the top. Plus the Red Sox have got to have a chip on their shoulder to remove the embarrassment of last years collapse.

If the Phillies don't win the NL next year I will be shocked. The Cardinals lost their best player and manager. The Brewers lost at the minimum their 2nd best player and lost their other best player for probably 50 games. The Giants still have no offense, unless you consider the return of Buster Posey their saving grace, which when you're avg leader last year was Aubrey Huff at .246 its going to take more than 1 guy to save your offense. The D-Backs still lack any real killers in the rotation (despite Ian Kennedy's good year), the Braves have a weird combination of relying too much on old players (Chipper and Hudson) with waiting on youth to really emerge in Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman while crossing their fingers their best pitcher Tommy Hanson can stay healthy. There are too many X-Factors for this team.

If you are in AL fan it should be an exciting season, for now the rich either get richer or stay rich and its annoying to have to deal with Adrian Gonzalez, Albert Pujols, and Prince Fielder, three of the five best NL hitters over the last several years, for the next decade in the AL.

Whirling Darvish

Editor's Note: I wrote all of this piece about Yu Darvish last week, these football topics are added last minute

Rest in Peace Joe Paterno. It's still sad that his career ended the way it did, but now his life itself followed that same ignominious end. I truly believe that if he was still the coach at Penn State, he would still be alive. Nothing excuses any wrong conduct or omissions he may have had in his role in the Sandusky scandal, but let's all at least take the time to remember what he was to all of college football 3 short months ago.

Quick notes on Sunday's title games:

1. Lee Evans is bad.

2. Billy Cundiff (former crappy Cowboys kicker) is bad.

3. Tom Brady is mortal.
4. Holding New England to 23 points should have been enough to win.
5. Anquan Boldin should have had 18 receptions for 263 yards with Julian Edelman on him all game. The fact Flacco couldnt hit him every time shows why Flacco isn't good.
6. I didnt watch anything but the 4th quarter and OT of the NFC game, and Eli Manning took a beating in what i saw. Each pass rush was excellent. 
7. Going 0 for 12 in the game on 3rd down conversions should be an automatic loss. (No i don't count the last one which was a gift and completely irrelevant to the game)
8. When you are punt returner in a game that is a  defensive struggle you never field a punt rolling on the wet ground, or even think about it. Youd never get in trouble if you let it go, you will get in trouble if you let it bounce off of you for a fumble.
9. Even when your punt returner fumbles the ball off his leg, don't let a team score on 3rd and 13, especially one you have been dominating all day.

 10. Honestly though that was a very good throw and catch from Manning to Manningham.

For all my taunting and razzing of Niners fans, I still think you should hold your heads up high. It was a season never anticipated and gave you guys meaningful football for the first time in a decade. Now we can commiserate together on our hatred of Bitchface Eli.

I will refrain from doing a full analysis of these games and save them for next week. I also hope to have a special treat in the next couple of weeks as I attempt to take this blog to the next level. I will get this on paper though: The current Super Bowl spread of Patriots -3 is laughable. Its 6 points too high. It should be Giants -3. Unwavering prediction: NY Giants 31 New England 27.


The real big news just came out of Dallas last Wednesday that Yu Darvish, the most highly sought after Japanese import since Daisuke Matsusaka, has signed with the Rangers. Unlike many of my fellow bloggers, I had absolutely no trepidation with this entire process. If we didn't secure Darvish we get our 51 million dollar posting fee back and hand it immediately over to Prince Fielder. I understand we lost CJ Wilson but I think lost is a relative term. CJ Wilson was one of the worst "aces" I have ever seen start for a World Series team. He has good stuff and he can help a team especially like Anaheim who already has two much better tier 1 starters in Weaver and Haren, but it is clear he can't be number 1 material for a World Series contending team.

 

So then, what is Texas ever to do? Well the first thing they did was sign Joe Nathan right away in the offseason. That gives them a veteran presence in the bullpen to move Neftali Feliz to the rotation where he belongs. At age 23, Feliz can be next Felix Hernandez. Feliz came into camp last year as possible rotation man to replace Cliff Lee and in spring training he showed those electric secondary pitches that made him Baseball America's number 9 overall prospect heading into 2010 and the number 2 pitcher behind only Stephen Strasburg. In the end, the Rangers could not find enough reliable end game relievers and had to move him back to the bullpen. But with the acquisition of both Mike Adams and Joe Nathan in the last 6 months the Rangers are free to move young Feliz into the rotation, and that is precisely where he is going this year. Feliz by all accounts is a better pitcher than Wilson and if anyone knows their history, Wilson was a closer before becoming an All-Star pitcher under the tuteluge of Mike Maddux. I think Feliz can do the same.

Why then the pursuit of Darvish? We filled the hole and then some left by Wilson. Well, in baseball you need pitching and you can never get enough. Its why teams like Philadelphia, Anaheim, San Francisco, Atlanta, and even Tampa Bay have even been competitive the last couple of years. Outside of Philly who actually does have some offensive talent, those other teams have had average to below average lineups over the last couple of years. Hitters can be streaky or unlucky, pitchers on the other hand make their own streaks or luck. Being a pitcher is like being the server in a game of tennis or racquetball. You have the advantage knowing what type of serve you are making and where it is going and when executed correctly you can induce weak returns, or even no return at all. The more pitchers you have that can execute properly the more likely you are to win a series, to prevent lengthy losing streaks and to keep the pressure off the offense from having to produce every single night.

Phildelphia didn't win 102 games because Ryan Howard hit 33 home runs. The Phillies didnt go nearly the whole season from opening day to September 10th compiling a record of 94-48 and suffering only two losing streaks of 3 or more the whole time because Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino set the table for Chase Utley. They did it because they had 4 guys who could go out and execute and not rely on offense. Even bad teams get their wins from pitching. The Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners won 74 and 67 games respectively on the backs on Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, Miquel Pineda and Felix Hernandez. They certainly didnt win because of offense, since I doubt either team's offense rated comparably to a little league squad.

So why not Darvish? Why not have the possibility of securing a potential second ace to go with a very effective back end of the rotation with Lewis, Holland, and Harrison? Every concern was related to Japanese pitcher fatigue by GMs and baseball scouts after the recent "failures" of Daisuke Matsusaka and Kei Igawa. There were no concerns about size, age, makeup, just that hes a highly touted Japanese pitcher and they have all failed here. While it is a ton of money to spend just to purchase his contract from Japan ($51.7 mil), his contract itself was very cost friendly for the ceiling (6 years, $60 mil). By the time he finishes the contract he could be beyond his prime and a new evaluation made. He could be a dominant force here, and considering this Rangers front office scouted him for 3 full years before he could even sign with anyone, I'm going to trust their judgment. They havent made a wrong move yet. Besides, in 2015 Texas starts making 80 mil a year just from TV revenue, they can afford this gamble. Last side note, we paid 65 mil over 5 years fro Chan Ho Park, who never generated this much excitement. Cant do worse than that contract. I just cant wait for spring training to unwrap our new present.

Besides we had to do something to stop the talk of Wilson and pujols to the Angels. I think we did. We will officially eliminate them from baseball if we sign Prince too. One can dream...

Haters Gonna Hate

This blog is dedicated to my man Martin Luther King, Jr. As an avid historian and card carrying ACLU member, learning about MLK was one of the more interesting topics for me in school. He embodied everything I thought an American legend should be. His idea that people should only be classified by who they are, not what they looked like, is so rudimentary to me yet so groundbreaking a mere 50 years ago it's amazing it took so long for it to take hold. But his willingness to stand up in the face of vitriolic racism and ultimately his own death through terrorism symbolized what it means to fight using freedom of speech. Everyone with a blog, a podcast, an opinion column, a pen and paper should pay some homage to a man who truly used his voice and wouldn't be silenced by anything, not even his own death. His speeches still raise goosebumps and his message will never be forgotten.


And in his honor I'm going to use my voice this week to express my displeasure at what happened this weekend in football. Probably my two favorite non Cowboys/Chargers players, Drew Brees and Tim Tebow lost. Fucking bitchface Eli won. Alex Smith is somehow a quarterback now and beautiful Tom and his band of very merry men continue to scare everyone. I am done with football for the year. I could cheer for the Ravens, but I feel like that is cheering for serial rapists with the attitudes on that team. Let's reminisce.

So we were treated to the best game of the weekend first: NO v SF. The first half was one of the ugliest two quarters of football I have ever seen, especially from the Saints side. 4 turnovers by the Saints yielded a mere 17 for the 49ers, but the biggest one was probably the first one on the first drive by the Saints. Looking to score and set the tone for the game Brees hits Pierre Thomas for a short pass and Donte Whitner comes smashing his head into Pierre Thomas' head knocking out Thomas and causing a fumble. The Saints were ready to score there and instead of starting out down 17-0, they would have been up 3-0 or 7-0 and the complexion of the game would have certainly been different.


What I can't believe about that play is that it's totally legal. The NFL has spent the past half decade protecting players heads, but if you are a running back (or a receiver who has caught a ball and is heading up field) a defender can still aim for your head as long as it's not spearing with the helmet.

In the second half of the game we got treated to some sloppy play, and then the most exciting two and a half minutes of football ever. Despite 5 turnovers by the Saints, they were losing as Alex Smith faced a 3rd and 7 with about 2:15 to play. Then came the most inexplicable play call ever (especially considering what was called later in the game, just bear with me) - a naked bootleg. It was a beautiful call because it resulted in the most improbably touchdown ever, but it was so conservative it led me to believe that Jim Harbaugh was trying to play to not lose. A field goal in that situation with 2 minutes left gives you a 2 point lead and about 1:45 too much on the clock for Drew Brees to drive down to field goal range for the win.

So the 49ers score with 2:11 left. Brees takes all of 34 seconds to take the lead back on a nice play to Jimmy Graham that involved some uncharacteristically shoddy tackling by the 49ers. Up by 3 with a a minute and a half to go and Alex Smith rendered one dimensional i thought the game was over. Then Alex Smith completed a Drew Brees like 47 yard pass to Vernon Davis to set up at least a tying field goal attempt. They gain 6 more yards, spike the ball with like 14 seconds left and one chance to win from 14 yards if they want to take it. If you are a 49ers fan at this point raise your hand if you thought at the time that Alex Smith dropping back to pass for the win was a terrible idea. So unlike the previous drive, Harbaugh played to win, put the ball in Alex Smith's hands and told him not to get picked off and to go win the game. Lo and behold, thats what happened. Alex Smith and Vernon Davis connected on a nice slant route that won the game. I couldn't believe what I saw and I can't believe I have to endure a full week of gloating from all the annoying 49er fans out there.


This is how you make sports fun when you dont have a horse in the race: hate. I hate the 49ers. When you run into each other 3 straight years in the NFC Championship game during your youth you learn to hate the other team. 49ers fans probably hate the Cowboys more than any team in their division. It makes sports enjoyable to cheer against teams, and that is perfectly fine. So i have something to cheer for next week right? A 49ers loss? What could possibly ruin that?

Eli Manning going into Lambeau and manhandling the 15-1 Packers is what could ruin it. I can say for sure I hate the Giants more than the 49ers. For those who didnt see, you got pretty sloppy play from the Packers and more consistent play like weve seen the last 3 weeks from the Giants. So what do we get out of it? An 8th playoff matchup all time between the 49ers and Giants. I think im definitely going to hit the golf course Sunday afternoon. What do you do when two of your most hated franchises make the title game in your conference? Don't watch that's what.


I don't even want to make a prediction on this game because it means one of them wins, but since I must for journalistic integrity: Giants 27 49ers 17.

Three reasons why: The Giants are simply playing the best football of anyone in the conference; the 49ers barely won at home against a team who can't play on the road in grass despite 5 turnovers; the 49ers just aren't that good. So at the very least out of this weekend I wont have to endure another two weeks of 49ers super bowl hype. That will be nice.

Not much to talk about in the AFC. I think everyone has just been waiting to get to the Baltimore New England game since those were hands down the two best teams clearly all year in the AFC. Getting there was easy for New England: Denver's defense just didnt show up. Seriously can you please just cover Gronkowski? You have two full seasons of film on the guy. Figure it out already.


For Baltimore, I think two things happened that is going to cause Baltimore to unreasonably be significant underdogs in this game. First, they played down to their competition, specifically at QB. The Ravens didn't fear TJ Yates and they played just enough defense to let their 20 points dictate the game. Everyone is going to lament the fact that Baltimore only scored 3 points in the final 3 quarters but take a step back here. Baltimore is up 17-3 at home against a rookie QB. They have probably scored all the points they need (and did). Baltimore shut it down fast and were never threatened the rest of the game. Second, Houston's defense is really good. Like irrationally underrated good. They were 2nd in total yardage, 3rd in passing yardage, 4th in rushing yardage, and 4th in points allowed. Despite this they turned in 17 points in the first quarter and cruised the rest of the way.


This is why betting on Baltimore is the best bet of the weekend. Too much is made of the previous week and things routinely aren't looked at rationally. Baltimore will score against New England and they will score enough to beat them. Their defense is plenty good to hold New England down and they are precisely the team you never want to play when they are given no chance to win. No betting site has less than a 7.5 point spread. That ludicrous. Baltimore wins this game: Baltimore 23 New England 20.

A Baltimore New York Super Bowl? Sigh. What do you guys think out there in the blogosphere? Do enjoy seeing teams you hate lose as much as seeing teams you like win? For you 49ers fans what will do when you suffer the same fate and have your season terminated by Bitchface Manning?

Wait...Basketball Started?

Welcome to a bonus issue of my blog! Basketball season is back, I suppose, but the way teams are playing it doesn't seem like many players are all the way there.As I'm fishing through my three fantasy teams (at least 1 too many) I'm noticing that box scores are missing something: triple digit scoring. At the end of last year 11 teams averaged more than 100 points a game. This year: 5, with only 1 team at 99 and 2 teams at 98. Contrast last year, where no one averaged fewer than 90, to this year where 5 are in the 80's, including Detroit at a super low 82.8 a game.

I wouldn't be so concerned with it if we werent already 15-18% done with the season. But watching Dallas slug it out to a 90-85 victory the other night, and looking at the Lakers winning 90-87 in OVERTIME (yes it took an extra 5 minutes to get just one team to 90), and the Clippers beating Miami 95-89, also in overtime, I figured something was up. And I don't like it. The lockout really killed this first part of the basketball season, and who knows maybe with the schedule and lack of practice it killed the entire season. All I know is watching retro 80s basketball is no fun, and after last year's awesome season the NBA really took a step backwards this year.


This is quite different from the NFL lockout and how the schedule was handled there. Many free agents had a shortened camp but the season was still 16 games long and was regularly paced with 1 game a week and the players can actually practice and learn schemes and get into shape. The NBA's biggest mistake was trying to cram 66 games in the schedule that ends roughly the same time as if there was never a lockout. This is dumb. Why can't the NBA schedule into late July? It's not like the arenas are needed for anything during those months (outside of concerts which are easily worked around). Plus July is that dry month where all that happens is baseball fatigue (90-100 games already played, but 60 more to go). There is no football, there is no hockey, there is no major golf tournament, and even the Summer Olympics do not start until July 27.

So why did the NBA feel it needed to cram the season in and end the Finals in late June? With the structure of this season, injuries become much more devastating (and much more likely as players have to get into shape via playing games instead of practice), new players are being poorly integrated into lineups (see Lamar Odom), and the intensity comes down as players have to grind 4 games in 5 nights or the dreaded 3 in a row, including travel. I feel like the NBA took all of it's momentum and threw it away with this horseshit schedule. There is absolutely no buzz around the NBA right now and for good reason. The product sucks. I will happily stand on a mountain and for all of my fans of The League shout the words "This Season is Null and Void!!!"


Hopefully, it's just an extended preseason and not a trend for the NBA because this is garbage basketball. And because this is a bonus issue you get a bonus topic too! Some other big news this week is the Big 6 college football commissioners coming together and indicating a willingness to do a plus 1 or in other words, 4 team playoff. I have never been a fan of the plus 1, only because you don't get a good cross section of talent in the playoffs. The playoffs have to be as much about making money as the BCS bowls were for the commissioners to sign off on it. In a 4 team playoff you would have probably missed out on seeing Oregon, Wisconsin, and West Virginia (I add them because they finally got a full year under Holgorsen by the bowl game), all very good teams who on any given day in the playoffs could play with anyone. We would have gotten LSU playing Stanford and OK St. playing Alabama. Pretty good but i don't think its a great field compared to what you could have.

The playoffs have to be at least 6, and probably 8 for it to be worthwhile. The system is so simple I can not stand the fact it hasn't been implemented yet. This will address every problem possible:

1. Leave all the lesser bowls intact. There were some awesome games this bowl season and there usually are every year. Kids who play for Toledo, or Utah State, or Univ. of Louisiana, Lafayette finally get a chance to play on national television. The bowls raise enough money to give the conference some added revenue. There is no reason these can't exist.

2. An 8 team playoff requires 7 games, 4 one round, 2 the following, and then the championship game. That means the Fiesta, Rose, Sugar, and Orange Bowls all get the first round and then you alternate each year who gets the semi finals and the championship and which bowl gets left out. This actually doubles the bowl money for nearly every bowl every year, plus doubles the money How can you turn this down? Yes it means you lose two at larges, but really I think we all could have done without the Michigan-Virginia Tech game and every year the last two teams in usually aren't that good.


3. But, what about the kids academics? For one thing no one involved in the decision making really cares. A few examples: Oregon on the quarter system has their finals December 5-9. The Pac-12 championship game was held on the 2nd. UCLA, who by the way also played in the game, had their finals start the 3rd. Where is the outcry about those kids academics regarding the Pac-12 championship game? Nowhere, because no one really cares. It's a disingenuous argument against a playoff system.

For the sake of argument let's say they do care. All quarter schools have their exams well before right after conference championship games. Then they are off until January. Alabama, which is a semester system has their exams from the 12-16th then they are off into January as well. Let's use this year for example: Give all the playoff teams a bye week after conference championship games and you start the playoffs on friday the 16th and saturday the 17th (or all 4 games on the 17th). Everyone is done with their finals. They had the off week to actually study if they cared. Finals week they take their tests and have ample practice time. Then you run the semi finals the 24th and the kids get home for Christmas. You give them a bye week and bring back the championship game around the same time as the BCS title game was this year. The players are off school for most of this. Academics has nothing to do with it and in fact you actually get postseason games where the teams aren't on mega 43 day layoffs between games and get one team that looks super rusty every year in the BCS title game.

4. But that's too many games for college kids. In reality you are only extending the season for 4 teams, 2 play 1 extra game, 2 play 2 extra. Furthermore those teams most likely to play in a playoff system schedule some low low level DIA or some D1AA team at least once a year. Just give the option of getting rid of one crappy non-conference game for schools that don't want to schedule it. Otherwise shut up, 116 out of 120 schools will not have their schedules extended by this system.


5. But we have such an outcry when basketball snubs number 69 from the field of 68, can you imagine what happens in football when we snub number 9? First off, who cares? There will always be unhappy teams in tournament selection processes. That shouldn't even be a concern. Plus the teams that get snubbed in basketball have no chance to play for a title. In football youd be hard pressed to find 9 or 10 teams that have a legitimate shot to win it all. This year it was LSU, Oklahoma St, Alabama, Oregon, Stanford, Wisconsin, Boise State (I still think they were a top 8 team) and what...arkansas, clemson, west virginia?I mean I just got to 8 and im already naming teams that have no shot really. If you aren't a top 8 team you have no shot. Snubs happen, it gives us something to talk about, whether it be for a spot in march madness or a spot on NBA All Star team, it's definitely not a reason to hold back a solid system.

So BCS commissioners, you get more money, you don't impact academics, you hardly extend the schedule, you end the season the same time, and you only get in teams that have a real shot at winning. What am I missing here? A plus 1 is nice and good step, but I want 8! I want to watch more games like OK St and Stanford and Oregon and Wisconsin. What do you all think out there?

I Think He Earned More Than $250,000

Well at least I didn't break my New Year's Resolution yet...I managed to get out this week's column in nearly record breaking fashion.

Of course everyone wants to know, what the hell does my title mean? Well, apparently Tim Tebow has an escalator clause in his contract that gives him an extra $250,000 bonus if he won a playoff game while playing in at least 70% of the snaps this regular season for the Broncos. He played in 73% and thus won himself a cool quarter of a million when he zipped that slant pass into Demaryius Thomas for the game winning touchdown on Sunday.

But what Tebow really earned was what he needed all along. He earned the confidence and respect of his coaching staff and front office and earned the right to be the unquestioned starter entering the 2012 NFL season. Tim has never had an offseason where he was the unquestioned starter at QB and he can only improve with a full offseason of starter reps in OTAs and training camp.

The talking heads in the sports community need to get it through their thick heads that Tebow will be a QB in the NFL and odds are he will be a QB for a long time in the NFL. Playing QB is not about arm strength or mechanics or size (even though Tim has two of those things), its purely about intelligence, repetitions with your own players, repetitions in seeing opposing defenses, hard work, and handling the pressure of being the face of your franchise.

Drew Brees was a 2nd round pick because he was small, even though anyone who followed college football knew Drew Brees had the makeup of being an NFL starter. Philip Rivers, predicted by many to be an MVP candidate this year and who has had several successful seasons as an NFL player has some of the worst mechanics you'll ever see. Ditto to Vince Young, but what did Vince get from the media? The dude just knows how to win.

Tebow knows how to win in this league. Trust your strength in your defense, take care of the ball, and make the plays in the clutch. Eli Manning is not a good quarterback, (see 25 interceptions last year and numerous huge plays this year and previous years where his talented receivers bailed him out time and again) but he is a media darling for his ability to run the 4th quarter.

Meanwhile Tebow is routinely criticized in the media for his unorthodox mechanics and generally excuses are made as to why he wins. Oh their schedule was easy, oh the defense is the only reason they win, oh the Steelers were hurt. The Steelers won 12 games for crying out loud. Trust me they didnt win them because they had Mendenhall, or because Pouncey was their center, they won because the Steelers, like the Broncos know how to win games as a team. Yet almost no credit is given to Tebow and the Broncos for winning this one. All credit is do to the injury bug for allowing the Broncos the good fortune of playing the hurt Steelers.

Besides being football's version of Mariano Rivera or Dirk Nowitzki as their sports' premier closers, Tebow knows how not to lose the game in the first 3 quarters. Besides the Bills and Chiefs games at the end of the season Tebow is very careful with the ball. Perhaps too careful to the point it looks like he throws the ball in the dirt or 12 feet over a receiver's head when really he is just protecting the ball. I can name 10 teams in the NFL right now that would kill for a quarterback that knew what it meant to take care of the ball and i can name 32 NFL head coaches that will tell you the most important thing in the NFL is to not give easy scoring chances through the turnover.

Tebow's career is in its infancy, he has only started 15 games including Sunday's postseason game. He has done it in the crucible of the most intense media scrutiny and he has done it with class. There is nothing to hate about Tebow the person, and if you hate Tebow the person because he wears his spirtuality on his sleeve and seems too good to be true, then take a look in the mirror. Sports are rife with players that provide poor examples of how to lead a decent life, but good examples are few and far between. Tebow takes the criticisms even from his own team and uses them to be a better player and person. Theres not a lot to hate about Tebow the player either, if you hate Tebow the player take a look at your team and see if it could use a player like him. Because I'm sure it does. But continue hating him, he's going to be around a good long time to torture teams and its fans.

Of course, there was more action than the Tebow bowl this past weekend. The Saints are running a souped up version of the 1999 St. Louis Rams offense that just proved too much for a very game Detroit Lions team. Keep your head up Detroit, as long as Stafford stays healthy I think you guys have a brighter future than my beloved Cowboys do. But man, how about that Saints offense. I think Sean Payton could take any 1 QB, 4 receivers, 1 scatback, and 1 tight end and turn them into pro bowl players. He is unstoppable....unless you get on grass. 2 of the 3 Saints losses were on grass, and their two lowest point totals in wins (22 - Tenn, 23 - Jacksonville) were on the road in grass.

So heads up you punkass 49er fans, by getting homefield for this game, you gave yourself the only chance of beating the Saints...by playing on grass. Of course the 49ers may struggle even to get to that 22, 23 point mark. They have had a wonderful season by all accounts, and again kudos to Harbaugh, but he, like Tebow, needs a full season of OTAs and training camps to really get this offense going. Prediction: New Orleans 27 San Francisco 17.

In the other NFC game, bitchface Eli won again. Im so sick of the Giants. I'm so sick of any team with the nickname Giants. New York Giants, San Francisco Giants, god I hate them all. Congratulations for beating a mediocre Falcons team that never really seemed like a contender all year. Dallas could've done that. Now New York gets to take their two trick pony (Eli chucks it up, gets saved by Victor Cruz on offense; rush 4 super fast D-linemen at the QB on defense) to Green Bay and face a team that has looked like a contender all year. The game in week 13 between these two was unreasonable close, and likely a product of Green Bay sagging a little as the weight of a perfect season grew bigger. New York has no chance despite what all those east coast media tards think. Prediction: Green Bay 38 New York 24.

There were two AFC playoff games? I only thought Tebow mattered. Oh...right, Houston and Cincinnati. Not much to say about that one other than TJ Yates had nearly the same completion line (11/20), has Andre Johnson, and no one is talking shit about him not having a chance in the NFL. For the record, I think TJ has a bright future in Houston, he is another QB that had some good college success but played on a garbage team and got absolutely no recognition. Cincinnati overachieved this year, but they have a bright future too, provided they can get all the druggies off their team. Houston has no chance on the road in Baltimore. That team has never experienced what they are about to run into in Baltimore. Experience and talent wins out. Prediction: Baltimore 23 Houston 7.

Lastly, the Tebow bowl, part 2. The Broncos played well in the first matchup this season, albeit it was in Denver. No moment is too big for the "no one believed in us" Broncos, but again they run into too much offensive talent in new England. If they gave up 23 to Pittsburgh, they are definitely giving up 30+ to New England. Tebow can't overcome that and when he tries, he will be blasted again. So sad. Prediction: New England 34, Denver 20.

Oh yeah, we have a national championship game tonight in the college ranks. These may be the two best teams, but its just not an exciting matchup. The first game was fun with some highlight plays, but the game is just a grind. Like watching the San Francisco Baltimore game this year. Someone is getting in the end zone this time, maybe even twice! I'm going to go with the team that has had the tougher schedule and has shown the most talent this year, and also has the most talented player. That means Geaux Tigers!

They are a game against Oklahoma State short of beating the best that college football has to offer this year. Let's run this down: they beat Oregon without their best QB on a neutral field. Oregon only won the Pac-12 and beat a Wisconsin team that is likely one of the 5 or 6 best teams this year. Oh yeah Oregon took care of Stanford in convincing fashion too. The score of the LSU Oregon game? 40-27. The took down West Virginia in West Virginia 47-21. Yeah the same West Virginia that just hung 70 in the Orange Bowl and beat the best the ACC has to offer. LSU took down Alabama once this year IN Alabama. I count three games not at home against 10 team opponents. Add in a spanking at home given to Arkansas 41-17, which was only the 7th team in the nation and got jobbed out of a BCS bowl (Va Tech, Michigan, really?) and a spanking given to the Georgia Bulldogs 42-10 who were 14th at the time in the SEC Championship game that was played in, you guessed it, Georgia. Alabama can't possibly present any challenge that LSU hasn't already seen and overcome. Bama had nice wins, but nothing like what LSU did this year. I go with Tyrann Mathieu aka The Honey Badger (who should've won the Heisman if that award actually went to the best player in football) and the LSU Tigers. Prediction: LSU 16 Alabama 10.

Enjoy the end of the college football season and good luck to those fans whose teams are still in the hunt for the Lombardi!

P.S. I wrote this blog piece the day of the BCS title game. Clearly I overestimated Jordan Jefferson's ability to run an offense. Still I pin this one on the coaching staff. I counted a half dozen option plays that were all run with similar ineptitude. When the first couple don't work, running the option another 3 or 4 times is not smart. They took what amounted to about 2 shots down field. One was almost caught, the next one was. The game plan was too conservative and that really put too much pressure on the LSU defense. I expect LSU to be back next year, they have so much young talent, and an actual QB starting for them next year in Zach Mettenberger.

Ringing in the New Year

Ok folks, I have been MIA from this place for a long time but it was my New Year's Resolution (honestly) to get a post out every week at minimum. I know my loyal readers enjoy the blog pieces so I owe it to you all to give a consistent quality product. If I don't you can get a refund.

This blog is dedicated to the wonderful year of sports in 2011. Let's start with my favorite: Baseball.

Baseball fans, both casual and dedicated, were treated to one of the best World Series in recent memory (certainly since the 2001 and 2002 World Series where the Angels beat the Giants in 2002 in eerily similar fashion to this years world series, and the upstart Diamondbacks winning in seven by doing the unthinkable: scoring a winning run off Mariano Riviera). Unfortunately for me, my team was on the losing end again.


This picture makes me sick. After several back and forth games, we were treated to the best of the best in a Game 6 performance that saw Texas come within one strike to win it all....twice. The second time after apparently God told Josh Hamiltion (playing through the entire World Series with a sports hernia and having no power whatsoever) that he would hit a home run and did in the top of the 10th to put Texas up by 2, only to see St. Louis come back again and ultimately win the game and the series. Congratulations St. Louis, may you roast in hell.

Beyond that we were treated to an amazing playoff race that saw the Cardinals (and Rays) get into the playoffs when it was seemingly inconceivable. Baseball is supposed to be that purely statistical sport where all the odds balance out in its 162 games and you have clear playoff teams. Not this year. It was one of the most exciting nights of baseball watching the Braves and Red Sox lose, while simultaneously watching the Rays and Cardinals win to get into the playoffs. It was an exceptionally good year for baseball and next year only proves to be better as we expand to 5 playoff teams, and several huge name players are on the move including Albert Pujols to the hated Angels.

In football this year we were treated to a shocking playoff run by the Packers, that after this full season has played out was only the start for this storied franchise. Led by that Berkeley hippie Aaron Rodger and his touchdown championship belt we have watched the makings of the first juggernaut and dynasty since the Patriots of a decade ago.


While it is true in the middle of this we had a labor dispute, no one in their right mind (including this blogger) felt as though the NFL would break its golden egg. We missed precisely one game (a meaningless pre-season game) and all in all we got an NFL season we largely predicted and actually had some unique level of excitement to it.

Tebowmania sprung forth with a vengeance this year and I ate up every bit of it. This kid has moxie and I think with a full offseason of OTAs, trainign camp and the ability to really get to know his offense and receivers he can be better than he was this year. It's amazing the Broncos even made the playoffs and to honor that achievement we take a moment of silence for a little Tebowing.


In other news, the Cowboys of the 10's continued to act like the Cowboys of the 00's and frankly in the 17 years ive gone without any real playoff success im starting to get highly agitated. There is a malaise that sits in over the team in December and January and no one can explain it. It's not Tony Romo's fault or Jason Garrett's fault, or even Jerry Jones refusing to give up his GM title. It's simply the Dallas Cowboys' fault. They just can not seem to become the team they have the ability to become. Sounds a lot like my surrogate hometown Chargers too.

We got some surprises this year: 13-3 49ers (Harbaugh is easily coach of the year), Andy Dalton and AJ Green and a stout defense leading the Bengals into the playoffs, and Matthew Stafford staying upright for all 16 games and giving the Motor City the shot in the arm it needed from its football team.

Finally we got affirmative proof of what we suspected all along: Peyton Manning is worth 8-10 wins a year, probably on any team. Hopefully for their sake Andrew Luck (and yes they definitely should draft him) is worth the same.


While this year's playoff drama may simply come down to the question of Packers or Saints, I know the only thing we know about the NFL and any given Sunday is that we don't really know anything at all. I know I'm buckling in for a ride that no one can really predict.

College football, despite the inability have labor disputes, was in much more chaos and turmoil this year. We saw the Ohio State scandal lead to Ohio State finishing with 7 losses for the first time since the 1800's. Yeah you read that right. 1800's. We saw the once king of everthing right about football, Joe Paterno, fall from grace in his actions or inactions during the sex abuse scandals that are ongoing at Penn State.

We saw conference realignment after realignment after realignment take place this year. Lets try to do what the blog suggests and follow the bouncing ball:

The Pac-10 added two new members, Utah and Colorado, to expand its mountain time zone tv coverage. Then flirted with the idea of pretty much owning college football west of the Mississippi by looking to add Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. The Pac-16 would have been an awesome conference but the idea was ultimately scrapped.

The Big 12 meanwhile lost Colorado and Nebraska prior to this season, and then lost Texas A&M and Missouri to SEC and almost lost its 4 biggest schools left to completely annihilate the conference. Down to the Big 8 from the old days, the Big 12 responded by ganking Big East teams TCU and West Virginia. That is clearly enough to survive at this stage and then look to add maybe Boise State or Conference USA teams like Louisville or Big East's Cincinnati to get back to 12 and get a conference championship again.

The Big 10 (which had 11 teams entering the year) added Nebraska, which was an awesome move giving them 12 and a conference championship game for the first time ever. Unfortunately, with a down year from Ohio State and the Penn State scandal, the new fun of Big 10 football was quickly tarnished.

The SEC, not needing to do anything since its the most powerful conference in football raking in 2x the BCS and other bowl money as other conferences added a midwest presence of Missouri and Texas A&M. Yay new teams to hate. 14 is an odd number but the SEC is going to make it work.

The ACC followed suit to 14 adding basketball powerhouses Syracuse and Pitt. They wont add to the misery that is ACC football (can these guys ever win a BCS game?) and they will remain red headed stepchildren to the big daddy in their region, the SEC.

Meanwhile the Big East, the last of the BCS conferences had probably the most eventful time in realignment and ultimately made a farce out of the regional aspect of these conferences. First TCU reneged on its agreement with the Big East and instead went to the Big 12. The West Virginia, the powerhouse in the conference, left to also join the Big 12. Then Pitt and Syracuse abandoned them for the ACC. The Big East was already limited to 8 teams to start the season anyway. Now they are down to 5. How do they respond? By inviting the following teams clearly not from the East Coast: Boise State (Idaho), San Diego State (California), Houston (Texas), SMU (Texas), and only one team from the actual east coast: Central Florida.

In case you couldn't follow that geography, heres a map, not really Big East anymore:



It will be interesting to see how this plays out this upcoming year and in years down the road, but I doubt we've seen the end of realignment. As we start the New Year with a BCS championship that I doubt half the nation wanted, we can only assume the biggest change on the horizon is a plus one playoff system that would've given Oklahoma State it's much deserved shot.

I chronicled the basketball playoffs in the infancy of this blog, but it bears repeating: DALLAS MAVERICKS 2010-2011 NBA CHAMPIONS. Hate him or love him, you know if Mark Cuban was the owner of your favorite team you felt good about the future. Al Davis was all aboutabout excellence, Jerry Jones even roams the sidelines, but no owner in professional sports wears his desire on his sleeve the way Mark did. He wants to win. As long as Mark has the passion, I see a bright future in Dallas for years to come. You earned the right to carry that trophy wherever you want.


Tragically several All-Stars and even future Hall of Famers getting their first ring (Dirk, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Peja Stojakovic, Shawn Marion, Caron Butler) was not the lead story of this basketball year. In fact it didn't even finish second. The lead story of the year was whether the hellspawn Miami Heat could coexist with LeBron James as the Robin to Dwyane Wade's Batman, whether Erik Spoelstra could properly manage this hyper talented group, whether Chris Bosh looked like an ostrich, and whether LeBron really made the right "decision" (even though technically it was made in 2010). For my money they are scary, and I didn't like playing them one bit in the Finals so I think in the end he found his best chance to get a ring right now.


The desire for all things Heat was so rampant that ESPN had an entire blog on its website devoted it.: The Heat Index. ESPN has blogs and pages devoted to entire cities, but nowhere else did it have a page devoted specifically to one individual team. The Heat this year were more polarizing in its sport than Tebow is in his and ESPN ate it up. As we start the new basketball year it's clear the Heat are no longer as intriguing as they were last year. The reason for that is the second biggest story of the year: The NBA lockout.

This was an actual lockout that did threaten a season, and ultimately led to 16 fewer regular season games per season. What the lockout was supposed to accomplish was allow the small market teams to compete easier in the league by making it easier to retain your own talent and by punishing big market teams with huge payrolls with a strict luxury tax for going over the salary cap.

The problem: IMMEDIATELY after the lockout ended business resumed as usual. Chris Paul and Dwight Howard, two top 10 players in the NBA who were the centerpieces of their small market franchises demanded trades to *gasp* big market teams. It is true the luxury tax ramifications of the new CBA don't kick in for another couple of years, but nothing changed in the NBA to this point. Chris Paul is in LA (almost to the Lakers) and if the Lakers really wanted to, they could get Dwight as well.

It remains to be seen how this crazy season plays out but it doesnt seem like the NBA has even really started yet. Just feels like we are still in training camp. Going to be a weird NBA season when all is said and done.

In golf we all though Tiger might make his comeback this year, but it wasnt until a December surge (when he traditionally never plays) winning the Chevron World Championship and providing the winning match in the President's Cup that we started to see a Tiger who was putting it together. I expect huge things from him this year and yet another year removed from the scandal. It's about this time Kobe put his Colorado problems behind him, gained more sponsorships and revolutionized his game even further leading to back to back titles.

It was a memorable year in sports as always, and it kicks off again this year with the BCS National Championship on Jan. 9th, with the NFL playoffs in high gear immediately after it. Welcome to 2012 sports fans. I sure hope the Mayans were wrong.