Christmas Day Predictions and Thoughts

-Prediction: The Falcons will finish 9-7 and for the first time in franchise history have a winning record in consecutive years. Regardless, the team needs to get more talented and in a hurry.

-Thought: I hope I'm not the only one who finds it just a little sad that Tony Gonzalez, perhaps the greatest Tight End in NFL history, so far in his career has played in a grand total of......THREE playoff games with zero playoff wins. With the elimination of the Falcons from playoff contention last week, he'll be shut out once again this year.

-Prediction: Regardless of how much Panthers QB Matt Moore can take advantage of the Giants injury depleted secondary, the 'finally playing up to their potential now that it doesn't matter' Carolina Panthers will defeat the New York Giants and strike a major blow to their playoff chances this Sunday.

-Thought: It's looking more and more likely that the New York Giants will face a Minnesota Vikings team next week that actually will have something to play for in week seventeen. The Vikings stumbles these last few weeks have allowed the Philadelphia Eagles and the Arizona Cardinal's to get in the race for the NFC's second bye likely forcing the Vikings to play their starters the entire game when the Giants come to Minny. Perhaps even with the second by sowed up by game time and nothing to play for, Coach Brad Childress may still elect to play his starters, not wanting to see his guys not playing until the divisional round. The Giants are the NFC wild card contending team that most need to win their final two games to get in, and right now they're the NFC wild card contending team with the toughest final two games.

-Prediction: A 9-7 team will make the playoffs in the AFC. Not bold enough? I'll even go one further: one of the two AFC Wild Card representatives will not be one of the two teams currently slotted in the AFC's two wild card slots. Yes, that means the either the Broncos or Ravens will not be extending their season into the playoffs.

-Thought: Just because these guys play on some seriously bad teams doesn't mean they shouldn't be recognized. Yes, I'm looking at you Eric Wright, Brandon Flowers, Tamba Hali, Aqib Talib, Jamaal Charles, Joe Thomas, Jerome Harrison and Jamar Williams.

-Prediction: Interim Bills Coach Perry Fewell, who's black, won't just be a rquisite Rooney Rule interview on the coaching circuit this January. He deserves to get some legitimate looks at being a head coach in this league. In a season were the Buffalo Bills have been crippled by injuries, the team, or whats left of it, have played with nothing but passion under Fewell.

-Thought: Nick Barnett is one of the biggest reasons for the Packers turnaround on defense this year. He'll make a couple eye popping plays per game while also playing about as good a pass defense as any inside linebacker in this league. If he wasn't just a role player the first few games of the season as the team was trying to slowly adjust him back to meaningful football, he'd be a legitimate all-pro candidate.

-Prediction: Wade Phillips will indeed be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys by the time training camp opens next July. It'll just remain to be seen if Wade Phillips can shake his reputation of being a poor coach in the playoffs. Currently, Wade has the same number of playoff wins as the number of playoff wins the Cowboys have since 1997: Zero.

-Thought: If the NFL is serious about broadcasting NFL games on the NFL Network, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to give the broadcast a slightly larger budget. This is the fourth year for these games and we've seen virtually no improvement in the game production value.

-Thought: Yeah, I know it's two straight, but...... Well, there are lot of things currently wrong with the Notre Dame football team. One thing thats not wrong is their television coverage. While it's debatable whether you think it's right that one team gets national coverage on a major network, I think the broadcast team of Tom Hammond and Pat Haden is actually pretty good. You'll hear no complaining from me if NBC decides to use that team for the early game of their Wild Card Weekend coverage.

Chargers vs. Titans from the Titans side

Yes, we're on the eve of the Chargers and Titans tomorrow in Nashville, (yes, I know what day they're playing on, doesn't mean I have to acknowledge it) and because it's the only meaningful football that day, your average december game with postseason implications gets thrusted into the spotlight.

The Titans, if anything, bring some badly needed drama to an AFC Wild Card chase thats high on quantity but relatively low on quality. Indeed it would be a dramatic for a team at one point 0-6, and staring down perhaps another painful rebuild this offseason, to turn it all around and make the playoffs. Sure the 7-7 record looks awfully pedestrian for a team coming off a thirteen win season, but it's the Titan's record in their last eight games thats gives Titan's fans hope: 7-1 with the one loss coming against the undefeated Colts. Consider that if the Titans had just played average red zone offense in that Colt's game, the Titans may well be 8-6 right now and we could very well be talking about the possibility of this team running the table to win their last ten games, an unprecedented NFL feat.

A victory tomorrow for the Titans seems like a daunting task against San Diego and their painfully simple yet freaking hard to stop-Offense. If NFL offenses were old world European cuisines, the Chargers would be sicilian: simple recipes, world class ingredients. Even more daunting for the Titans is the surprisingly average defense they'll trot out against the Chargers tomorrow night. The Titans, while disappointed they lost a player of Albert Haynesworth's calibur, looked like they would do just fine in withstanding it. Whether it's Big Albert's absence to blame for it or not, the defense has taken one big step backwards from last year. At one time a dominant passrusher, DE Kyle Vanden Bosch hasn't been the same player since his groin injury in the second half of the 2008 season. SS Michael Griffin looked like he was ready to join the Polamalu-Reed class of Safety in this league before the season began. Now, he'll fall far short of his big play totals he achieved in 2008.

Perhaps the most consitent Titan of this decade, is the one that won't be available to the team friday night. Just a few days ago it was announced that LB Keith Bulluck will miss the rest of the season due to a torn interior cruciate ligament.

It's looking likely, the Titans best chance to win this ballgame may be by way of shootout. Not to say Vince Young, Chris Johnson, and a superior Offensive line can't pull it out though. The Titans can also take solace in the fact that if they do dispose of San Diego, the only obstacle remaining on their schedule to a winning record is the very injury depleted Seattle Seahawks in week seventeen. Again, not to say a playoff berth won't happen, but a 9-7 record after starting 0-6 is a nice victory for the franchise in itself.

The blogs back up!

Just some impressions from Week Ten.

-Matt Ryan is regressing. Thomas Dimitroff and the Falcon's front office have surrounded Ryan with wonderful skill players and he's not taking enough advantage of it. A 78.8 QB rating is near  criminal when you have a guy like Tony Gonzalez running routes for you.

-Just how many of Carolina's good players can they lose and still expect to contend for the Wild Card? Not many linebackers were playing better than Thomas Davis and losing him for the year was a huge blow to the defense. Losing Jordan Gross for the year is an even bigger blow to the offense.

-Charles Woodson: Hall of famer, Period.

-Speaking of the Packer's defense, LOLB Brad Jones filled in more than admirably for the concussed Aaron Kampman. Some of those same pass drops in the flats that Aaron Kampman has struggled with all year, Brad Jones excelled in. It already looked like a strong possibility that Kampman wouldn't be a Packer next year. Now, with Jones' play it may be all that more likely.

-The NFC East is for anybody who wants to take it. Major injuries to Ken Hamlin and Marc Columbo makes the Cowboy's one game lead over the Giants and Eagles look awfully slim. I still like the Giants but they need to play better defense in the red zone.

-Yeah, the Rams put up a more than valiant effort against the undefeated Saints. Don't get too excited St. Louis. Your Rams are still very, very far away from contending. Priority number one for the Rams front office at this point is assessing just how serious Sam Bradford's shoulder injury is. Quarterback may be the only way to go for a team whose almost guaranteed a top five pick in next year's draft.

-Jacksonville fans get on David Garrard too much. This Jaguars team should not be contending for a wild card berth right now but they are, thanks to Garrard, and a 5'7 missile out of the backfield.

-Oh, and to go on record about the Jaguars possibly picking Tim Tebow in the first round to appease their Gator obsessed fan base: If a fan base demands their favorite team select their favorite local college hero in the first round when he's clearly not a first rounder to re-invigorate said fanbase, then I really don't think that fanbase deserves a team. 

The Jaguars could be playing very meaningful football down the stretch this year and seeing empty seats in the stands for those games makes for a very awkward situation. C'mon, Commissioner Goodell, it's time to right one of Paul Tagliabue's wrongs. I don't care where the Jaguars end up, I just hope they don't stay in Jacksonville.

-The Bengals will continue to field a no-name defense but it shouldn't stay that way. Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall may be the best corner duo in football, and tackle Domata Peko is simpy immovable.

-Bud, your team was up 41-17 in the fourth quarter. I know Dick Jauron can be a pretty surly guy, but what could possibly be the reason for flipping two middle fingers at the Buffalo Bills sideline?

NFL Free Agency Thoughts

-The Cowboys cutting T.O. is a start but there are still a ton of problems to be fixed on this team. They have one of the worst Safety duos in terms of coverage in the league with Ken Hamlin and Roy Williams. Maybe LT Flozell Adams deficiencies in technique are finally catching up to him because it looks like he aged about ten years this past season. 

-What's the Marv Levy rule: the team the free agent leaves is hurt more than the team free agent goes to is helped. I really can't think of a better example if this than Albert Haynesworth going to the Redskins. The Titans have great depth at defensive tackle, but it's certainly unproven how well Jason Jones will play with more snaps and the Titan's free agent signing, Jovan Haye regressed last season in Tampa. 

The Haynesworth deal is certainly forcing the Redskins to rework their roster a bit. The Redskins live and die by their annual contract restructuring binge and it looks like this time it may have cost them Jason Taylor. Yes, Jason Taylor's main gripe was the amount of time he was required to stay in Ashburn for offseason workouts. But the fact that the Redskins were asking him to restructure his deal was directly effected from the Haynesworth signing.

The Redskins have to play this game every offseason. Ask veterans to restructure their deals so they can fit their new signings under the cap. They've done a great job of skirting the cap and certainly have one of the League's best capologists in Eric Schaffer, but they still haven't learned their lesson. Just because you can creatively fit yourself under the cap whilst signing veteran free agents doesn't always mean you should.

-I'll give the Jets this: Their at least trying, the only way they know, to be strong up the middle. With the signings of SS Jim Leonhard and ILB Bart Scott, that gives them Kris Jenkins at nose tackle, Scott and David Harris at the inside 'backer spots, and Leonhard and Kerry Rhoades at the Safeties. The Jets have plenty of holes, just none there.

-Hey Redskins, there was a reason the Bills released G Derrick Dockerry. After having a superb 2007, he really regressed last year.

NHL Trade Deadline Thoughts

Believe it or not, we are now less than a month away from the NHL trading deadline. Just some of my thoughts.

-The Senators have made up some ground in what looked like a lost playoff chase since firing Coach Craig Hartsburg, but all signs point to this surge as being too little too late. I'm sure owner Eugene Melnyk wants to assess the team's playoff chances all the way up until the trade deadline, but I believe the Senators would be better served just calling this a lost season. Antoine Vermette has been on the trading block for a while now, but the Senators would be doing a half-assed rebuilding job if only Vermette was traded at the deadline. As tough as it might be to find takers for Jason Spezza and his sizable contract especially in this market, the Senators would be gipping their fan base if they don't seriously shop him around the league. For a player who was once rumored to be a piece in bringing Roberto Luongo from Vancouver to Ottawa, the Senators know they could get a sizable haul in return for Spezza. 

-Not surprised at all by Michel Therien's firing in Pittsburgh. It was well understood very early on when the Penguins showed they weren't of the same calibur of last year's team, that if they missed the playoffs, Therien would be gone.

 The Penguins seem to be catching some breaks. It appears the Rangers and Canadiens are intent on  giving the Penguins as many chances to get back in the playoff race as possible. But for the Penguins to ask Malkin and Crosby to be even better than they have been this year is unlikely, because at this point thats the Penguin's only hope for Hockey in late April.

The last thing GM Ray Shero should be doing for the Penguins at the deadline is looking to pick up a rental Sniper like a Marian Gaborik to play on a line with either Malkin or Crosby. The Penguins should at least dangle Jordan Staal at the deadline. He's still in his rookie contract so he's a real bargain that will be easy to move with a very large return. Staal and the Penguins still have not seriously talked extension yet, because it's still very much a numbers game with Staal. Staal is best as a Centerman, but because of the two wunderkinds ahead of him, cannot crack the top six forward realm. If the Penguins were to sign Staal to an extension it would be a very expensive luxury for the team to have a player the calibur of Staal to get Checking Line Center ice time. Shero needs to put Staal on the trading block for the deadline when Stanley Cup dreams can make clubs shortsighted. Either that or place him back on the block before the draft so a bargaining war can be drawn out by other clubs.

-GM Brian Burke really wishes his Maple Leafs would stop dragging out their playoff fate. Burke sure wouldn't want Leaf's nation getting any delusions of the playoffs that could set up a P.R. annoyance when Burke tries to trade some high cost Leafs at the deadline. This overachieving Leaf's team has already made their chances at getting the number one draft pick remote, where they almost certainly would've drafted the London Knight's C John Tavares. Now if this Leaf's team plays the same way they played on saturday scoring a 6-2 win over Pittsburgh, Burke will be torn. 'Course, if the Leaf's had been as bad as expected, a guy like Dominic Moore wouldn't be playing as well thus keeping his trade value low.

I may be over-exaggerating the problem here for Toronto. It's not like if they trade a Moore or Nikolai Antropov at the deadline while still possessing a shot at the playoffs, means they'll sell less season tickets next year. Those are gonna' be sold either way. But this I do know: Burke would have just as soon liked to have seen this team be the worst in hockey rather than make a meaningless early playoff exit.

-D Jay Bouwmeester is not coming back to Florida. CBC'S Pierre Lebrun just reported Bouwmeester's camp turned down a $6.5 million a year deal from the team. He also reported that Florida would only trade Bouwmeester if they could get back parts that would help them currently in the playoff race. An Alexander Semin for Jay Bouwmeester deal was rumored a couple of weeks ago that would bring Bouwmeester to the Capital's, but that deal seemed unlikely even at the time. The Flyers and Devils are also in the mix. However the Flyers are right up against the Salary cap, so my preliminary guess for Bouwmeester's destination is New Jersey, who are one of the few contenders in good salary cap shape.

Just Some Random Sports Thoughts

Like the title says.

-Absolutely awful stuff to hear about Robbie Alomar. I'll try to remember him as the best Second Baseman of the 90's and the best since Ryne Sandberg, though this is hard to forget.

-It's no coincidence Favre announced his retirement five days after the A-Rod story broke. Brett could only take so much coverage not devoted to him. 

-Don't be so fast about all this talk of this retirement sticking; My sources tell me Favres been looking at houses in the Twin Cities.

-Move over Peter King. Favre's got a new best buddy and his name is Ed Werder.

-Last night's Duke-UNC game was the first full College Basketball game I've seen all year so I'm nowhere close to being an expert. However, I can offer this up: does anyone honestly think Wake Forest, or Duke, or Pitt are honestly better than the Tar Heels. UNC is in "La Joga Bonita" mode to me and my untrained basketball viewing eyes.

-Does Dick Vitale just seem to randomly choose who his play by play man is each game? No Dan Shulman, the man for Dickie V tonight was Mike "Holy Cow!" Patrick.

-File this into the category of things I wish ESPN would do, while knowing it will never, ever happen: How about putting the dreadfully underrated Brad Nessler on some of these mega college basketball contests. This may be asking too much, but how about putting him and Jay Bilas together for the next Duke-UNC matchup? Jay Bilas seems to actually follow the sport closely and seems to have a great depth of knowledge about it. 'Course, when did not having these skills stop ESPN from putting you on TV?

-The Orioles would've taken peanuts in return for Miguel Tejada if they knew they weren't going to have to deal with this mess again. The cunning of Ed Wade, everybody!

Sharks vs. Bruins reaction

Okay so what makes both the Sharks and Bruins such good hockey clubs? I watched last night's game to see for myself, and here's what I observed.

-Everything the Sharks do, it's coming out of their defenseman. Dan Boyle, Rob Blake, Marc- Edouard Vlasic, and Christian Ehrhoff are all really, really good. I don't think I've ever seen a team break out of it's own zone as quickly as the Sharks do, and that's all coming off excellent passes off the defenseman's stick.

And they're active too. I saw Dan Boyle act as the first forechecker into the offensive zone, which is just so rare among defenseman. Coach Todd McLellan really trusts his defenseman because their pinching and all around aggresive play in the offensive zone rarely causes the Sharks to give up any odd man rushes.

-It's been well publicized how Coach McLellan came over from Detroit to San Jose. With him, he brought so the same puck possesion system the Red Wings have been using for going on about twenty years now. Well, the Sharks aren't there yet. Not that twenty years in one system versus half a season should garner equal results, though. The Sharks have alot of skill and are very well equipped to play that style, but I'm sure Todd McLellan also knows this team's bread and butter. The Sharks are big and rough and let you know it. A line with Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Ryan Clowe winning puck battles in the corner could absolutely punish opposing defensman come playoff time.

-With Boston first in the east and Montreal fifth, a Boston-Montreal playoff rematch in the second round could very well happen. These teams are so darn similar. Both teams love to trap in the neutral zone and gain speed the other way off of it. Forward and Defenseman depth are also as good as it gets in the league for both teams.

-Okay, Bruins fans. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Either David Krecji's the next Cam Neely or Milan Lucic is. They can't both be. Personally, I say Lucic is. Krecji's game is too European, too much puck possesion. Neely was about winning puck battles in the corner and being impossible to move in front of the net, along with possessing that great shot. The Neely comparisons are more appropriate for Lucic.

-You don't think Bruins Coach Claude Julien hasn't learned some tricks after stops in Montreal and New Jersey. This team is really well coached with about a million set plays that are more affective than you think. He gauges what his players can do as well as any coach in the league. He's done a particulurly good job in grooming Phil Kessel.

Baseball Notes 2/5

Here's what I think we know about the St. Louis Cardinals: They have a reasonably powerful offensive ballclub. (Only three teams in the NL scored more runs in 2008) They currently possess the best hitter in the world, Albert Pujols, who's also supposedly entering a hitter's peak years between the ages of twenty-eight and thirty-two. (He turned Twenty-Eight in January) They have a surplus of potential plus-hitting outfielders in Rick Ankiel, Skip Schumaker, Chris Duncan and Ryan Ludwick. We also know GM John Mozeliak might feel the urge to trade one of those four any time this season and could expect a reasonable haul in return, instantly bolstering his ballclub from a spare part. We also know they're getting a great bargain in starting RHP Kyle Lohse, who gave the team fifteen wins and a 3.78 ERA in 2008. But what will shape the outcome of the 2009 Cardinal's is something the team and the rest of baseball know absolutely nothing about: Just how effective will RHP Chris Carpenter be this season?

Bernie Milkasz of the St. Louis Post Dispatch recently talked to Cardinal's pitching coach Dave Duncan. One of the topics: coincidentally enough, Chris Carpenter's prospects for Spring Training.

Duncan said that team trainer Barry Weinberg told him that Carpenter can have a normal routine in spring training. Carpenter doesn’t have to be held back, or handled with extra care. He can throw and get his work in like all of the other pitchers.  That’s why Duncan is optimistic. Because Carpenter will be ready to go from Day 1 of spring training. No baby steps are needed.

So maybe that sheds a little light on the dark, dark tunnel that has been Chris Carpenter over the last three years. Before then, Chris Carpenter was as good as any pitcher in Baseball. He put together one of the more brilliant pitching seasons of the decade in 2005 when he was 21-5 with a 2.83 ERA. Hitters have always hated facing him, and many around baseball have lauded his 'stuff' as being the best in the game. However, instant domination shouldn't be expected from Carpenter this season. Being a solid anchor of a starting staff with occasional flashes of brilliance should. 

Would Cardinal's Manager Tony La Russa be disappointed that a pitcher once annually expected to win twenty games may only be pegged to win a fraction of that? Not at all, because if Carpenter wins fifteen games, thats fifteen more wins than last year. Any Carpenter is better than no Carpenter. And that's why the cardinal's don't mind being patient with their ace. This may seem like tedium for Cardinal's fans, but they know in their hearts just how much of a difference maker Carpenter can be. The Cardinal's don't mind talking Spring Training prospects for Carpenter as long as the conversation eventually shifts to postseason prospects for the team, as the two invariably go hand in hand.

Quick Super Bowl Thoughts

Your going to be reading about the Superbowl everywhere for the next week, so I just have a couple of quick thoughts.

-This topic was discussed heartily with those who watched the Super Bowl with me: Starting with Titans-Rams, we have lived in the greatest decade of Super Bowls ever. I still might go with Giants-Bills as the best ever, but the rest of the top five are all populated by Super Bowls in this decade for me.

-Four hundred plus yards of offense against statistically one of the best defenses in NFL history? Cards, its official: you guys aren't a fluke.

-Troy Polamalu didn't look fully healed to me last night. He didn't have the same burst, and he missed alot of plays he'd normally make.

-Santonio Holmes, meet John Taylor and David Tyree.

-Big Ben, meet Tom Brady and Joe Montana.

-Darnell Dockett played with a chip on his shoulder last night. He was unblockable for most of the game.

-Ditto for Lamar Woodley. Answer me truthfully: Has there ever been a better 3-4 outdside linebacking duo than James Harrison and Lamar Woodley? Really think about it, and leave your answer in the comments section. 

-Any inkling that Dan Rooney's been through this before? Right next to the Packers, the Steelers still have the best ownership in sports.

-Finally somebody rips off the NHL. I know they've been doing this for a couple of years now, but don't you think Joe Namath bringing out the Lombardi Trophy was reminiscent of another championship trophy ceremony? Perhaps next, all fifty three players could get one day to do whatever they want with the Lombardi Trophy.

-What will Ken Whisenhunt be preaching to his team once Mini Camp starts? Let's make it easier on ourselves to get back to this point next year and try to get a bye instead of having to win three playoff games.

-Two Super Bowls in four years? Are the Steelers the team of the second half of the 2000's?

-Enjoy this one, Pittsburgh. 

Super Bowl Blowout

Just some thoughts I had about Sunday's Game.

-Steelers CB Ike Taylor is going to have to be the Steelers best defensive player sunday. He's going to be matched up against Larry Fitzgerald alot. Taylor's come a long way from being benched during the 2006 season. Along with other Steeler corners Bryant McFadden and Deshea Townsend, he's had a fantastic year. 

Taylor's best attribute as a corner and specifically for covering Larry Fitzgerald is his height.  Taller than most Cornerbacks at 6'2, Taylor has demonstrated the ability, when asked to, play physical man to man coverage and jam receivers at the line. Often though, Taylor is not often asked to play man to man, but rather zone coverage in defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau's zone blitz scheme. However, I believe Ike Taylor could flourish in a role like the one Packers cornerback Al Harris has been asked to play in the last couple of seasons. Harris makes a living off jamming and rerouting receivers at the line of scrimmage. (oddly enough, Harris's team, The Packers, are switching to a defensive scheme very similar to the one Taylor currently plays in with the Steelers)

I believe the Steelers will obviously mix up coverage looks throughout the game, but the one I think they'll continually go back to is one were Taylor's on the line with Fitzgerald, but has a Safety clouding over the top of those two. That way, Taylor can pretty much do what he wants with Fitzgerald within the five yard bump zone, i.e. jump routes inside or outside, play trail coverage etc., with the knowledge that there's a Safety behind him if Fitzgerald beats him at the line. Watch for Lebeau to mix up this "cloud" look with zone coverages on the other side to force Kurt Warner to read the enitre field, not just one side of it.

The most important aspect to the Super Bowl will be how well Ike Taylor can reroute Larry Fitzgerald. The Steeler's shouldn't care much about what Fitzgerald does after he's been rerouted by Taylor. The important thing should be that Fitzgerald was rerouted at all. On almost every play, Fitzgerald is Warner's first passing option, and when Warner can't consistently throw to his first option, that could give the Steelers the extra split second they need for Woodley and Harrison to hurry and sack Warner.

-Cardinals G Deuce Lutui, C Lyle Sendlein and G Reggie Wells all have to be able to get some movement on Steelers Nose Tackle Casey Hampton. Any combination of Lutui with Sendlien or Wells with Sendlein needs to end with Hampton being moved and one of those players scraping either James Farrior or Larry Foote on the second level. The Cardinal's won't run it much, but believe me, if you just tee up the pass against the Steelers, then your Quarterback will end up hurt.

-Cris Collinsworth pointed out in the Cardinal's Wild Card Game against the Falcons that Cardinal's defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast had given inside/middle linebacker Gerald Hayes responsibility for just one gap in that game. Hayes has played exceptionally since Pendergast made the change, because it simplified things for Hayes and he was able to quickly diagnose plays and run to them without thought of much else. The Cardinal's have lots of talented players on defense, but many times I think they're effectiveness has been hampered by Pendergast's over-aggresive play calling. I have doubts about Pendergast's ability as a coordinator but he's done a smart job with Gerald Hayes.

-That said, I still think Pendergast does more bad than good for this Cardinal's defense. If he blitzes on Sunday as much as he has this season, I believe his corners will struggle matched up with no help against the Steeler's receivers.

-Steelers Safety Ryan Clark is one of the best Safeties in football. There was an article in Friday's Washington Post that talked about Clark's connection with his former team the Redskins. Clark had previously played with Sean Taylor in Washington, and Taylor was known to make big plays, but not without being caught out of position in other plays because of his freelancing ways. Ryan Clark helped fill the gaps in coverage that Sean Taylor left when he went to freelance, and he's continued to play that same way with the freelancing Troy Polamalu. Clark has great instincts with unbelievable range, and these skills help nurture Safeties the like of Polamalu and Taylor because he allows them to be great. 

The best comparison to another sport I can come up with to talk about the effectiveness of Clark's play is to compare him to Bobby Orr's defense partner. Orr's coaches knew they couldn't put another player like Bobby (not that there was one) out on the ice the same time as Bobby, because they'd have two defenseman out of position all the time because they tried to make plays. Orr needed a player who was his exact opposite: not very flashy but steady and did his assignments right. Thats what Clark is to Polamalu.

Baseball Notes-1/28

-Just when I talk about Don Sutton rotting away with the insufferable Bob Carpenter in Washington, news today broke that Don Sutton will be rejoining the Braves to call their games on the radio. So whose going to take Sutton's place as the color man in Washington: former Baseball Tonight analyst and Best Damn Sports Show host Rob Dibble. No more awkward celebrity interviews for you Mr. Dibble.

-I know there's been a ton of Braves talk around here lately, but then this was broken by dugoutcentral.com: The Yankees, with their surplus of outfielders could be talking to the Braves about dealing OF Xavier Nady. 

It sure seems John Scheurholz just refuses to rebuild with this club. I see them as the fourth best team in the NL East, Xavier Nady or no Xavier Nady. Last year they caught some bad breaks, but this team isn't much better than eighty-five wins to me.

-MLB.com reports a story that with ace setup man Pat Neshek out for 2009 with Tommy John surgery, the Twins setup job is between Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain.

I slightly favor the Twins to win the AL Central with whomever they choose to setup Joe Nathan. But, it would've been nice for Ron Gardenhire to know his offense would only have to scratch out a few runs until the seventh inning behind a remarkably solid starting staff and then #*BAM*-$Neshek and Nathan. 

-While I'm on the Twins, it's still hard for me not to imagine Twins RF Delmon Young not  becoming an elite hitter someday. It'll be a miracle if he DOESN'T break out, and stroke it all over the place this year.

Baseball Beat

-I promised you stuff on Tom Glavine and here it is. For those of you Nationals fans that were hoping Tommy Glavine would forgo returning with the Braves in order to try and reunite with long time Braves president Stan Kasten in Washington, think again. After reading about all that went down between Kasten and Glavine in John Feinstein's excellent "Living On The Black", their relationship is not as close as one might surmise. As Braves team president in 2002, Stan Kasten was heavily involved in the talks with Tom Glavine on a new contract. Feinstein described the negotiations between the two sides, particulurly between Glavine and Kasten, as being of "genuine anger". Glavine felt he deserved a four year deal, and the Braves were only willing to go up to three, along with ignoring deferred payment due to Glavine.

-Not that the Nationals would even want to fork over the money to get Glavine, and potentially sell some season ticket packages. Washington, so far this offseason has refused to sign free agent LF/1B Adam Dunn, in a move that makes gobs of sense for the Nationals. The only way the Nationals won't lose one hundred games this year is if they increase their offense, and the easiest most sensible way to do that would be to sign Dunn. Alot of people used to talk about the Nationals parkway rivals, the Orioles, of having confederate money. Well the National's may very well have confederate money, but we'll never know if they refuse top flash it. 

-The Arbitration hearing I'd most like to sit in on: Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks. Just how much do non-partial arbiters award a player in arbitration for "tools" and "untapped ability"? I would guess not much, and thats why Weeks and his agent better scramble to get their preferred $2.8 million number closer to the Brewer's preferred $2 million number. The good news for the Weeks camp: Since Doug Melvin became GM of the Brewers in 2002, the Brewers have not had one arbitration hearing.

-Say what you will about GM Dayton Moore's tenure in Kansas City. He did right by avoiding arbitration with right handed starter Zack Greinke and signing him to a four year $38 million deal. The Royals have been very patient with the twenty-five year old Greinke, as he's battled through mental disorders and an experiment as a closer. Not that they had a choice: Right now, Greinke is looking like the gem of former GM Allard Baird's haul, and that is pretty rare in itself.

Van Wieren was a Class Act

-I decided to look at the online Atlanta Journal Constitution today to see what the status of Tom Glavine's talk of returning to the Braves was. Before I could get to Glavine, something caught my eye that immediately took my mind off the forty two year old lefthander, and onto the man that helped broadcast almost his entire career.

If you hadn't heard by now, former TBS Superstation Braves Announcer Pete Van Wieren has decided to retire from broadcasting. Yes, this news came back in October, but it slipped so far underneath mine and everybody else's radar that I only learned about it just now. Van Wieren had good reason to retire. He saw TBS switch their format from covering the Atlanta Braves exclusively, to showing games baseball wide in accordance with TBS getting the rights to broadcast Baseball playoff games. Earlier in 2008, Van Wieren's long time radio and television partner Skip Caray died. (Yes, he's Harry's son) Even while Skip Caray was alive, he hadn't been given the opportunity to call games for TBS and their new format. Van Wieren saw the writing on the wall and retired and you can't blame him for it.

But with the retirement of Pete Van Wieren, we've seen some of the last remnants of a great sports broadcasting tradition: Atlanta Braves Baseball on TBS. In 1976, TBS Superstation owner Ted Turner bought the Atlanta Braves in order to keep the team in Atlanta. He immediately put them on his TBS Superstation which soon started to be picked up by cable companies throughout the United States, many of them notably outside of the southeast of the United States. With Braves games being shown regularly on TBS, the Braves gained a sizable fan base outside of their traditional media markets, and the voices they heard were Van Wieren's and Caray's. 

One of the things I enjoyed about the broadcasts Van Wieren and Caray did, was that they treated it like a radio broadcast. What I mean, is if you have ever listened to a baseball game on the radio (and chances are, if your reading this then you have) you'll notice that the two announcers aren't so fixed into the constraints of one broadcaster giving the play by-play, and the other giving color commentary. One will usually act as the play by play man with the other giving color for one inning and then they'd switch the next. Well since, Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren also announced Braves games on the radio together, they just treated their television broadcasts together like they would a radio broadcast. What you got from that were announcers who, because they didn't feel confined to traditional sports broadcasting roles, became very colorful with their announcing of the games. You didn't mind watching a blowout when these guys were announcing because you knew they'd come up with some conversation that would draw your interest and often times make you laugh.

But they also took their job very seriously, and while neither ever played the game seriously, both would offer great insight into the game. More often than not, I came away from watching a Braves broadcast on TBS learning something about Baseball that I hadn't known before.

With another former TBS Braves announcer, Don Sutton rotting away in Washington with an absolute yawn of a play by play man, Bob Carpenter, I realized that you Braves TBS guys are quickly dying out. Those guys could relate to any generation, because they spoke Baseball, and they spoke about it well. Pete Van Wieren, you'll be missed. 

Looking towards the Offseason

-I believe the Packers factored the playing ability of DE/DT Cullen Jenkins into their decision to switch to a hybrid 3-4/4-3 defense. Mike McCarthy displays a high regard to Jenkins' ability as an overpowering end on running downs as well as his ability to outquick opposing guards on passing downs. Jenkins was arguably the Packer's best defensive player through the first four weeks of the season until he tore his pectoral muscle and was placed on injured reserve. At 6'2, 305 lbs. the Packers coaches (what little of it there is) envision Cullen Jenkins as close to a prototypical 3-4 defensive end. They also  must believe that Jenkins will be ready for training camp so he can absorb the new defensive scheme.

-It should be a  matter of when, not if Giants CB Aaron Ross will be moved to safety. Ross has below average speed for a corner but his lack of speed might be well hidden by a move to Safety. Aaron Ross was abused by Braylon Edwards this past season, often on deep routes were Edwards simply ran by Ross. The Giants must recognize that Ross will have trouble being a corner in this league, much less a number one corner, what the Giants were asking him to be.

-I really doubt that Roger Goodell would approve the sale of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to former 49er's owner and actual Riverboat gambler, Eddie DeBartolo.

The big story here is that the Glazer family is finding financing a European soccer club is not as easy as it looked from across the pond. The Glazer's investment in Manchester United is starting to eat into the money they annually budget for the Buccaneers.

NFC Championship Post Game notes

-Congratulations to the Arizona Cardinals! This is one heck of a talented team, with one heck of a coaching staff. Ken Whisenhunt, Russ Grimm, Todd Haley and Clancy Pendergast all have done a wonderful job!

-The game was won with the offensive line of the Arizona Cardinal's. They were bad in the third quarter but completely redeemed themselves in the fourth. That, and I don't think anybody can cover Larry Fitzgerald. 

-This was like a basketball game. Just coming back was exhausting enough for the Eagles. They didn't seem to have enough left in their tank to close it out. 

-I know I just congratulated Clancy Pendergast, but I feel that he hampers this defense. There's a ton of talent there, but he gets too aggresive with his calls. His aggresiveness in the third quarter backfired big time on him. He should not be having Corners jumping routes on third and long. His guys also take bad angles to the ball, and that really helped the Eagles score some big plays. 

-I shouldn't have been the only one a little disturbed by the big smile on Asante Samuel's face in the post game handshakes. I thought you went to Philly to win a Super Bowl?

-I also shouldn't have been the only one who felt it could still all go wrong for the Cardinal's when Bill Bidwell was on the sideline in the final minute of the game. Lest we not forget they've never won anything under him, and his presence in the Cardinal's organization is a huge reason for that.

-Good effort from the Eagles this season. They have a really good core of young players like SS Quentin Mikell, MLB Stewart Bradley and WR Desean Jackson. This team is set up to win for a while. I don't expect it to happen, but Brian Dawkins should not retire.

NFC Championship Third Quarter Notes

I know I'm only supposed to be coming in on the halves, but we got a game now. I can't deprive of my opinions.

-Clancy Pendergast screwed up big in that quarter. Calling the man under coverage on Kevin Curtis on his huge third and nineteen catch was completely innapropriate. The Safety Francisco misplayed it, but Pendergast was being way too aggresive for a play that had little chance of being converted.

NFC Championship Game Halftime Notes

-Andy Reid is reverting back to his old poor game-managing ways. Can someone explain the rationale in calling a timeout before the third and fourteen play when the Eagles had the ball? The chances of the Eagles converting that play is minimal, and you only give an offense that has burned your defense over and over, another chance to do just that. He should've tried to force the Cardinals to take a timeout. Give Andy Reid an assist for those last three Cardinal points.

-The Cardinals interior offensive line has been great. C Lyle Sendlein, RG Deuce Lutui, and LG Reggie Wells haven't allowed much by Paterson and Bunkley. When those two undersized defensive tackles can't get under the pads of the offensive lineman, their effectiveness is minimized. Consequently, MLB Stewart Bradley isn't getting protection from being blocked by scraping offensive lineman.

-Besides taking a bad angle on a long Kevin Curtis catch and run, Antrel Rolle has been really good. He's a microcosm of the entire Cardinal's defense: Very athletic, that will tend to overpursue and gamble, but will make more good plays than bad.

-McNabb isn't showing me much. He'll never be an accurate passer, but c'mon. This is the worst possible time to be missing your receivers. How does four NFC title game losses sound?

Conference Championship Sunday Notes

Hey Guys! I'm gonna be blogging all day about the Conference Championship games. Stay close, lets watch these games together.

-FOX didn't feel like they had to put their studio show on the site of the NFC Championship game. It was deemed to difficult to fly the pregame show out from Los Angeles to Arizona? If the BCS Title Game and the NFC Title game aren't deemed worthy of flying a crew out to, then what is? I mean, it's not like I'm complaining, it's going to be unwatchable either way, but I just wanna know how devoted they are to this whole 'covering sports' thing.

-Cardinal's OLB Karlos Dansby is completely underrated. S Adrian Wilson had a down year this year, and Dansby really was the teams' best playmaker on defense. Cardinal's defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast relies on Dansby to do alot of different things for this defense.

-Brian Westbrook is dressed today. I could see alot of big plays from the Eagles today because Clancy Pendergast is going to blitz alot today, and Brian Westbrook will pick up alot of it. These Cardinal's corners are good, but nobody's unsusceptible to allowing big plays over the top when they have no Safety help.

-This game is going to be a shootout anyway. Eagles DT's Patterson and Bunkley are pretty good, but I'm still not convinced they can stop the Cardinal's improved running game without blitzing. Expect alot of big plays today from both offenses.

NFL Friday Notes

-Dom Capers is interviewing today for the vacant defensive coordinator position for the Green Bay Packers. It really looks like the Packers want to run at least a 4-3/3-4 hybrid, if not just a base 3-4. Dom Capers was one of the architechts of the 3-4 zone blitzing scheme that has been so successful in Pittsburgh for the last two decades. He famously head coached the Carolina Panthers in their second year of existence using that scheme all the way to the NFC title game. His last job was defensive backs coach for the Patriots this past season. He has experience running a 4-3/3-4 hybrid when he was defensive coordinator in Miami, and he would presumably running that if hired in Green Bay. The Packers also interviewed Jim Haslett, who has experience running a 3-4 scheme when he was linebackers coach in Pittsburgh. Now that one of the hotter 4-3 candidates, Gregg Williams, have been hired off the market to be defensive coordinator in New Orleans, the chances are even higher that the Packers will be running alot of 3-4 next season. 

The Packers could still stay with a 4-3 base if they promote Linebackers coach and Assistant Head Coach Winston Moss to defensive coordinator. They could also hire Eagles Defensive backs coach Sean McDermott as their defensive coordinator. That would be an obvious nod to the success a former Eagles defensive assistant, Steve Spagnuolo, has had a defensive coordinator with the Giants.

The Packers would require a relatively drastic defensive personnel overhaul in going either direction excluding Winston Moss's who would presumably run the same cover one scheme as fired defensive coordinator Bob Sanders. The Packers rarely bitzed in Bob Sanders' scheme, and if they hire McDermott, he would bring over a scheme that blitzes quite liberally to say the least. The Packers tried implementing a little more blitzing into their scheme this past year, but we all know how that worked out. If they hire a 3-4 coordinator, while Ryan Pickett could fit in as a nose tackle and LB's Nick Barnett and Brandon Chillar would fit in well as inside 'backers, AJ Hawk would have trouble fitting in as a pass-rushing outside linebacker. Aaron Kampman would have to bulk up to play as a two gap end and that would certainly take him out of his comfort zone as a high motor 4-3 end.

The Packers defensive problems this past year could be blamed on the numerous injuries suffered by the unit; Atari Bigby, Cullen Jenkins, Al Harris and Nick Barnett all missed significant time this year. But the Packers seem devoted to making drastic changes on defense, and right now those changes appear imminent.

-Understatement of the year coming up: Jim Schwartz has alot growing pains coming up for him as head coach of the Lions. Especially on his own side of the ball, on defense. The Lions under Rod Marinelli fell too often into the trap of acquiring players that knew the Tampa Two scheme Marinelli was a part of in Tampa. Instead of trying to groom young players at a variety of positions on defense, they signed players who fit the scheme, but weren't giving the Lions long term options at those positions that they needed. CB Brian Kelly, 32, who was with Marinelli in Tampa, was benched midway through the year. They also acquired LB Ryan Nece DT Chuck Darby, and DE Dewayne White who all played in Tampa, as well as Travis Fisher who was familiar with the Tampa Two with his time in St. Louis playing under Lovie Smith.

Acquiring cheap veterans who know the playbook fills holes in the lineup but too many of them, especially when a team's not ready to contend, can stunt a team's growth. The Lion's fell into the trap of obeying Rod Marinelli's every wish. He felt like he had to win now with guys he was familiar with, instead of going through the growing pains of familiarizing himself with younger players, and his successor will have to pay for it. 

FOX and CBS make NFL season finales this weekend

And believe me, thats a good thing. This year, the Super Bowl will covered by NBC for the first time in thirteen years when they covered Super Bowl XXX between the Steelers and Cowboys. Now, NBC has obvious flaws to it's NFL coverage,  mainly too many damn commentators on their Sunday wrap-up show, Football Night in America. But this could certainly be worse. They don't crowd their commentators in one little table like FOX and CBS does, so I guess they excel their too. 

NBC does feature Cris Collinsworth, which is a major plus. Collinsworth has this strange idea that football commentators are actually supposed to watch game tape and say things that many fans may not already know. Even for a former Receiver, Collinsworth actually tries to study line play, a concept fallen on deaf ears upon many an ex-quarterback commentator. (yes, I'm looking at you Troy) Collinsworth does much more work from the studio than he does from the booth and he still chooses to watch more game tape than most color commentators.

NBC also features the easily star-struck Peter King. As much as I give it to Peter King for giving obvious preferential treatment to superstars, (and by god he deserves it, Brett Favre confidant my ass) he usually does have something insightful to say and I'd be lying if I said I didn't look forward to his segments. ("Bob, I just got of the phone with Tony Dungy. He says they're going to look at the Bob Sanders MRI tomorrow and take it from there.")

So, NBC is far away and the best. I still think its a bit of a waste to feature three host types, and have two of them do highlights. Needless to say, I don't think it would have been much of a stretch for just one of them to do the highlights. But I'm nitpicking, especially when it comes to comparing NBC to the bozos at CBS and FOX. Both of them have been doing a glorified ESPN ripoff for the last four years. The NFL studio producers at both those networks feel like they have to appeal to the ultra-short attention spans of today's viewing audience, so they come up with segments with names like 'rapid fire' and 'true or false'. These games consist of the pregame show host shouting NFL-related questions that can be answered by the hosts in one word, or maybe even less. 

Let's come up with a new rule for sports studio shows. Lets put a moratorium on questions like 'Can the Eagles win in Dallas?' or 'How good are the Cardinal's?', because the answers given will offer about as much insight into the NFL as you'd expect to get from an Amish Farmer, meaning not much. And lets not forget the team segments, where they send one of their analysts to give softball questions to a team with rap music in the background playing the entire time. CBS and FOX are beyond insulting to my intelligence. 

I don't expect them to, but they should put an end to this dreck. Just because 'the four letters' started all this garbage, doesn't mean you should keep it up. 

Charley Casserly

On my last post, a reader commented on Charlie Casserly about him getting a GM job. Charlie Casserly is in a tought spot to get a job right now. Yes,  he was the man to draft Mario Williams, Andre Johnson, Demeco Ryans and Dunta Robinson, but before those players came into their own and after he left, he was considered to have done a poor job in Houston. Now that those four have really come into their own, his tenure now is receiving merely mixed reviews. The Texans have a nice core, but also have alot of forgettable pieces around them. At this point, I don't think he should merit a GM job. 

But what about simply a front office job, where he can raise his profile again? That's tough too. most GM's would be hesitant to bring him in for fear that they're bringing in their replacement in house, and they might lose their job for it.

Now, Casserly's got a sweet gig at CBS and I hear he still does a couple of jobs a year for the league office. He could get a job in the league office in an instant if he wants it, and that may have to be his best route to another high profile NFL job.

Kansas City hires Scott Pioli and How we got to this point

Scott Pioli will take over as general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs. He will succeed his predecessor, Carl Peterson in only the general manager capacity and not team president. Owner Clark Hunt, may or may not hire a team president. The team president role could be integral in overseeing the building of a new stadium with a retractable roof that would hope to be completed in time to host the Super Bowl in Kansas City in 2016. 

I don't blame Clark Hunt for not giving Pioli the President title as well. Pioli was VP of Player Personnel with the New England Patriots, and from the looks of it, looks to be involved solely on the football side of things. 

To be quite frank, the cupboard is quite bare for the incoming Pioli. Spending money on building a Super Bowl contender earlier in the decade left the Chiefs right up to the salary cap wall by Carl Peterson. In the last three years, perhaps instead of trying to merely make the playoffs with no realistic shot at the Super Bowl, maybe the Chiefs should been rebuilding. They're certainly paying the price for it right now.

All signs point to him letting go current head coach Herman Edwards and his staff. Herm's poor game management skills and and absolute obliteration of a once prolific offense doomed him in Kansas City.

Looking back on it, so much of Kansas City's trouble can be traced back to the 2006 season. After 2005, with the team finishing 10-6 but out of the playoffs and Coach Dick Vermeil retiring, the Chiefs were at a major crossroads. The team was aging, as well as being up against the salary cap, but instead of packing it in, the Chiefs choose not to go into a rebuilding process and instead try to put together a playoff team. Picks are swapped to the New York Jets to get head coach Herman Edwards. Before training camp starts, cornerstone left tackle Willie Roaf decides to retire unexpectedly, and the Chiefs once vaunted offensive line immediately looks a lot weaker. QB Trent Green suffers a concussion and is pretty much lost for the year in week one. Herman Edwards also gives an unprecedented workload to running back Larry Johnson, setting a single season record for carries in a season, many of them into eight-man fronts that wore down Herm's franchise back. However, the Chiefs succeeded in making the playoffs with a 9-7 record and alot of outside help. But as I mentioned before, the season was a make or break one, and instead of conceding that they had no real shot at Super Bowl, they mortgaged their future for a quiet first round exit against the Colts.

So with a broken down running back, and an eclectic mix of broken down and/or disenchanted veterans, with an astoudingly large number of rookies off the street, the Chiefs trodge their way through a 4-12 2007 season. The lone bright spot, Defensive End Jared Allen, who leads the league in sacks, request for a trade is granted when he is traded to the Vikings for a host of picks, including a first rounder.

I told you before that Scott Pioli was inheriting a bare cupboard and I wasn't lying. The team is still populated by disenchanted and/or broken down vets with lots of rookie, many being signed off the street. Some of the cornerstones the team previously thought they could build around, now have shown they are not as bright as they once were. Defensive End Tamba Hali was supposed to fill the pass rushing void from the departure of Jared Allen, but he only registered three sacks in 2008 and was often overpowered by opposing tackles in the run game. The fifth overall pick in the 2008 draft for the Chiefs, defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey had a very poor rookie season. He stands way too tall when playing and was often easily moveable in the run game. Defensive End Turk Mcbride shouldn't have to be considered the best d-lineman Kansas City has after all the money invested in those two first rounders. Weakside Linebacker Derrick Johnson is the most competent starter the Chiefs have on defense. I focus on the front seven because because before the season started, that was supposed to be an area of strength for the Chiefs, and now its as much up in the air as any other are for the team. 

I rest my case. Carl Peterson did a horrible job of running football operations the last half decade. He deserved to be fired, and many people in Kansas City are very happy to see "King Carl" as dubbed local sports columnist Jason Whitlock, finally leave the Chiefs organization.

So thats whats wrong with the Chiefs. 

And its Scott Pioli's job to fix it.

Chargers at Steelers Postgame notes

-Steelers WR Nate Washington is a weapon. He's a third receiver that could start for alot of teams. The Ravens have a weak group of corners, and if the Steelers feel comfortable enough with their pass protection, they should run a lot of three wide and even four wide sets.

-If I'm the Chargers, I don't just evaluate Norv Turner through the last six weeks of the season. This still is a supposedly supremely talented that was once 4-8 this year. Even without some of the bad breaks, they still underachieved this year. Think about this: How many elite players did you think the Chargers had at the beginning of this year, and how many elite players would you consider the Chargers have now? These players have been coached poorly, and the most glaring case of this has been the absolute regression of CB's Antonio Cromartie and Quentin Jammer. 

Really the only two bullish players on the Chargers have been Philip Rivers and Darren Sproles. Too many young players, too much raw talent, and to see all of them either be stagnant or regress in their level of play is unacceptable. Should one playoff victory really seal Norv Turner's fate with this team?

-This game could have been much more lopsided. I thought the level of talent on these teams were comparable?

Cardinals at Panthers Halftime Notes

-Where can I start with the Carolina Panthers? They're a big play team so they're not out of it but....

-Panthers S Charles Godfrey was awful in the first half. He didn't read the receiver splits correctly on the first Cardinal's touchdown drive and was caught off guard when Larry Fitzgerald went deep which should never happen.

-The Gerald Hayes pick from Jake Delhomme was embarrasing. He couldn't read the deep middle linebacker drop in the cover two?

-This game could be much worse. The Panthers could be down thirty easily.

-John Fox has twelve minutes to whip his team into shape. It looks really bad right now. Could we be seeing an NFC title game played at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Ravens-Titans Postgame Notes

-I don't have a problem with no delay of game call. If that same play occurred a split second before, the Titans couldn't complain about anything.

-The Titans are a different team without Chris Johnson. He was evading the Ravens best defenders in the first half and sipping hot chocalate in the second. The Ravens could blitz liberally knowing they didn't need to leave a linebacker man to man with Chris Johnson, and that forced Kerry Collins to get the ball out quick.

-We may have seen the last game in a Titans uniform for Albert Haynesworth. I'm not denying the Titans don't have alot of talented defensive lineman to take his place, but the Titans would be makingt a mistake if they think that there won't be a major drop  off in production with tackles who now have to play a ful, game.

Ravens at Titans Halftime Notes

-Don't be surprised by anything Ravens SS Jim Leonhard does. He was awesome last week in Miami and showed all kinds of range. This week he's been just as good. The fourth down stop he made just shows how much tape this guy watches of his opponents and how freely and speedy he can play when he knows what the opponents are going to run.

-Ravens CB Fabian Washington needs to get his hands on recerivers. The Titans are killing him with intermediate routes.

-Both Titan guards Eugene Amano and Jake Scott have been really good. For the most part they've helped subdue Haloti Ngata and picked up a ton of complex Ravens' blitzes.

-The Ravens won't lay back on defense. They don't believe they can throw a coverage at Kerry Collins that will confuse him, so they're forcing the issue and coming right at him. The Titans are moving the ball efficiently between the twenties because Collins has been kept clean and has been so poised in the pocket. He won't evade defenders, but if he's given time, he can beat you over the top.

-I have no clue who's winning this game. Its about who make better adjustments.

Giambi to the Athletics makes sense

Jason Giambi signing a one year deal with the Oakland Athletics makes alot of sense for them. He still has a very discerning batting eye that will draw alot of walks in front of Matt Holliday, or he'll be hitting fastballs behind Matt Holliday. With Jack Cust and his all or nothing bat behind those two, opposing relievers will get a workout against the Athletics. 

The Athletics offense will only increase, while the division rival Angels offense, seems like its sure to decrease. I have little doubt that Howie Kendrick will be an even better hitter this year than he was last, but he won't be able to make up for the loss in production felt from the departure of Mark Texeira. The rotation is still top-notch and I see the Angels having little trouble replacing the effectiveness of Francisco Rodriguez at closer, but you certainly can't deny that the Angels seem just a little bit more vulnerable this year. 

Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle brought up in a recent column that it wouldn't hurt a revenue sharing horder like the Athletics to bring in a recognizable face in Giambi. The A's lineup will be patient and have just a little more name-recognition this season.

Divisional Round Preview: How much "Magic" is there in the Divisional Round?

Since the NFL moved to twelve teams making the playoffs in the 1991 postseason, in the divisional round there has never been more than two upsets of teams with byes the previous week. It was rare enough two years ago to see the Colts and the Patriots both win on the road in the divisional round to set up an AFC Championship game between two teams that played in Wild Card Weekend, three road teams victorious in the Divisional Round is a cold day in hell. Say what you will about small sample size being that this format has been in place for less than two decades, but I stick to it.  

As I like to say, there's only enough "magic" in the divisional round for two upsets. 

Phil Loadholt Impressions from BCS Title Game

I watched the BCS title game with my friend George last night. George is a 6'2, 320 lb man, who played a little bit of offensive line in college. He is the man I'm going straight to If I want an actual true evaluation of an offensive lineman. Last night, we got to watch the outstanding Left Tackle from Oklahoma, Phil Loadholt. He's certainly in the second tier of this years class of left tackles including Michael Oher and Andre Smith. He's 6'8 and 338 lbs, so what could be the problem.

Well, for me he stands a bit tall out of his stance. George noticed that he had a very powerful upper body so that makes up for it, but he will undoubtedly have to adjust when he moves up a level. With a good kick step, that creates a good pocket for the quarterback, he won't be a complete project on the pro level, but still, he's going to need some work.

Previewing the Divisional Round: Panther's 'Backers

Consistent with every athlete that has ever excelled on a professional team located in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jon Beason and the rest of the Panthers linebacking unit are pretty underrated. Perhaps Jon Beason has become more of a household name among more fairweather NFL fans, but he's still in the realm of a player you have no the hell idea about if you only watch ESPN and read ESPN.com. For me, he's the best mike linebacker in the NFC. He makes a ton of plays despite playing behind an absolutely mediocre to poor run-stuffing Defensive Tackle in Damione Lewis. You wanna know why the Panthers run defense looked so weak in the final weeks of the regular season, you should look right in Damione Lewis's direction. He fills holes unbelievably quick and is just a monster out there.
Thomas Davis is pretty impressive to watch as well. He really follows through in his hits, as he should. As most of you know, he was a Safety at Georgia and absolutely bulked up . He has a great motor especially for a position that demands a great motor, as will linebacker does. He's a former safety, so he's quick enough to cover a wide variety of skill positions, and is quite adept at covering running backs out of the backfield. 

Nail Diggs is easily the most overlooked of the three linebackers and is not nearly as flashy as Beason or Davis. Diggs is your prototypical sam linebacker in that he's tall and lanky(6'4, 237 lbs.), with long enough arms to jam Tight Ends at the line of scrimmage and overpower them.

The Panthers linebackers are a very good group that will need to really read the receiver splits of the Cardinals receivers well to make the proper depth of drops in coverage. All three are comfortable in space so I think they'll do just fine.

Welcome!

Hello, everyone. Welcome to my blog, Let's get right to it.

I absolutely adore sports, but for the most part, I'll be pretty focused on Football, Baseball, and Hockey at all levels of the game, but with emphasis on the professional major leagues of those respective sports. 

I really love the x's and o's of those particular sports and the nuances that go into them. I really don't have a favorite between those three sports, but lets just say all three sports offer something completely different to the other and I embrace the diversity between all three and love what all three bring to the table. 

I intake a ridiculous amount of sports media each day, and to me the majority of it is garbage, alot of that we can thank the four letters for. However, there are some very special sports writers out there who inform and captivate me like none others and I gain alot of inspiration from them. Among others, I include Michael Lewis who wrote Moneyball and the Blind Side, both incredible books that brilliantly show the people involved in helping revolutionize their particular sports forever. 

I adore John Feinstein, who is famous for his "view from the inside"-themed books such as 'Next Man Up' and 'A Season on the Brink'. I really have little love for the sports John Feinstein mostly covers in College Basketball and PGA Golf, but if I want to learn about those particular sports, He's the man I'm going straight to. I'll read anything he writes.

And of course, Michael Lombardi, who has a fantastic blog at Nationalfootballpost.com. He was an NFL scout for a very long time working under Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, so he obviously knows what the hell he's talking about. Pretty much has the definitve "insiders view" of the NFL and I learn something new every day I read him, which is about the highest compliment I can give anyone.

Well, hope you all enjoy the blog postings and don't forget to clear your schedules so you can watch the NFL Playoffs this weekend uninterrupted.