sportsfanatic

For all of you that are pro football fans, this weekend starts the NFL playoffs. This year there are some new teams in the field. One of the biggest surprises might be that of the Miami Dolphins. I wrote an article today on my other sports site that you might find very interesting on them. Click here to read that.

As I have already stated, I would love to see a Manning versus Manning Super Bowl. But, there are several good teams in the way of that happening. Miami is one of those teams. The Tennessee Titans also have a very good team, but I am not sure that Kerry Collins can take them to the promise land. The AFC that scares me the most has to be the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On the NFC side, I am most concerned with the Carolina Panthers, but you can not count out the Atlanta Falcons. I truly and excited about this post season and hope that it turns out some great games and limits the blow outs.

I love this time of the year. The NFL playoffs get underway this weekend with a full swing of games on Saturday and Sunday. I cannot wait to sit down with a beer in front of my 42″ Plasma and watch them abuse each other. My hopes is that when all the smoke clears, that it is the Mannings facing each  other for the coin toss. I truly think that it would be one of the best games.

With that said, the Colts have a long way to go this year. They get San Diego at home but then hit the road to Nashville if they win. Personally I think that they can and will beat both teams. What concerns me is the Pittsburgh Steelers. As for the Giants, they are in the drivers seat and can play every game at home in the frigid cold.

The table is set and the time is drawing close. Who will you be picking to go to the dance?

OK, now I have heard it all. Terrell Owens is not wanting to give advise to Jerry Jones about how to run the Dallas Cowboys. This might be the best thing since TO cried for his quarterback. I think I heard Tony Romo practicing “Don’t cry for me Argentina” yesterday.

I think that the first piece of advice that TO should give Jerry is to get rid of everyone that is not a team player. Then, secondly, they should get rid of all the “thug” players. And then, lastly, they should get rid of the players that do not want to get hit.

Once all that is done, then the Dallas Cowgirls can go back to being the Cowboys and maybe win a game. That is just my 2 cents worth.

Even though the New York Giants lost today, there was a sweet victory of sorts. Today, Derrick Ward surpassed the 1000 rushing yard mark to end the regular season with 1,025 rushing yards. His running mate, Brandon Jacobs, has also surpassed the 1000 yard mark this season as well. Jacobs has 1,089 of his own hard earned yards on the ground this season. As a team, the Giants have 2,383 rushing yards. They also hold a team average of 5 yards a carry.

Derrick’s yards today came against one of the best run defenses in the league, the Minnesota Vikings. As impressive as he was today, I think last week pretty much sealed the deal when he eclipsed over 200 rushing yards in that game. As Derrick is the number 2 back and most of his yards are earned in the third down situation, he has stepped up big when given the opportunity. I think that a lot of people thought that the team would be hurt when Jacobs went down, but Ward has quieted most of them.

When you couple in the 406 yards that these two earned in pass receptions along with the 2,114 on the ground, and they have accounted for 2,520 yards of the Giants offense. Considering that the Giants have a total of 5,507 total yards, that is pretty impressive. If you throw in the third running back, Ahmad Bradshaw, they account for more than half of the offensive production in yards.

The history was made when Ward surpassed the 1,000 mark. He, along with Brandon, became just the 4th tandem to achieve 1,000 yards each in a single season. They join the likes of  Miami’s Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris who were the first tandem to ever accomplish the feat. They managed it in 1972. Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier of the Pittsburgh Steelers did it in 1976. The final running back tandem to do it was Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack of the 1985 Cleveland Browns.

Bobby Bowden and his Florida State Seminoles did not have to travel far to engage in battle with the Wisconsin Badgers. Florida State went down to central Florida to beautiful Orlando to participate in the Champs Sports Bowl . I think that the Badgers would have liked it better if the Seminoles actually had to walk to Orlando though. The game was a “no contest” in the eyes of the Seminole Nation. I also think that Bobby got a glimpse of what 2009 hold for the Seminoles.

While watching the Seminoles systematically tear this Badgers team from limb to limb, I actually got chills of how similar they played to the teams of old. The Seminoles were able to flex their muscles on offense and defense. When you see the Noles score the first of their points off a75 fumble recovery, then you know that it is going to problems for the opposition. That was again the fact in this game. What makes it sweeter is they repeated it again in the beginning of the 4th quarter as Dustin Sherer was sacked by Dekoda Watson. Watson then proceeded to pick up the fumbled football and galloped 51 yards into the end zone for the second score for the defense.

The offense did their share in this game as well providing the Noles with 4 touchdowns of their own. FSU’s quarterback, Christian Ponder, threw for 199 yards and 2 touchdowns. He even gave way to Drew Weatherford in the fourth quarter. Drew did no more than connect for 77 of his own throwing yards. The running game of the Seminoles amassed a total of 134 yards on the ground. Antone Smith and Carlton Jones both visited the end zone for rushing touchdowns. Both of these touchdowns were both scored in the 3rd quarter.

As for the Badgers, the only touchdown that they would see would come in the 4th quarter. There was 4:06 left on the clock when all the scoring was over.

Brett Farve has “retired” 2 years in a row. The first time that he did it, it was quite and painless as he held the Green Bay Packers hostage. The second year that he did it, it was painful and took away one of the best all time quarterbacks in the history of the Green Bay Packers. Now, he is crying the same song before the season is even over. It makes me think that he wants someone to jump up and down telling him that they can not survive without him.

Personally, I think that the New York Jets could survive. The Packers did what they needed to do and cut ties with Favre this year. An, though they did not get into the playoffs, they will be a better team next year for it. Aaron Rodgers has taken his bumps and bruises this season and he will be better for it.

What remains to be seen is if the Jets can manage to beat the Dolphins this weekend and try to get back into the playoff picture. I am not even sure if it is mathematically possible for them to climb back in. For all it is worth to me, I hope that they lose this weekend to the Miami Dolphins and lay this season to rest.

The Denver Broncos have no one to thank but themselves. They have played themselves right into the thick of it and now it is time to pay the piper. The last time these two teams met, it was an ugly game. Both offenses ran like the defense forgot to show up. Denver escaped with a one point victory and are very happy for that. However, Sunday nights game is not in Denver and it is for all the marbles.

Talk about being able to control your own destiny. If Denver wins, then it is all over and the Chargers can go home for the off season. The fat lineman can go home and eat double cheese burgers, LT can run up and down stadium stairs and make commericals, and Phillip Rivers can go chase teeny boppers with his buddy Matt.

However, if the Chargers wins, then that happens to throw a monkey wrench into the whole playoff pitcher. This leaves both teams with a tie win/loss record. So, then you look at win/loss between the two teams and that would also be tied. And, if by some miracle, the Chargers were to win by 1 point, then the real fun hits. Ouch!!! That makes my head hurt.

In the end, does it really matter? Not in my book. Neither of these teams will have a chance in the playoffs. I would think that either loses in the first round and goes home.

Before the season even begins, the question is going to be “Who can beat the Yankees?”. With the lineup that they are securing, these guys look good. On paper, they look invincible. With that said, this is also why the season consists of 162 games. If there is question of being invincible, just ask the New York Mets. After signing Johan Santana, the organization and their fans thought that they would be. The Atlanta Braves went in thinking that they also would make a run at the playoffs in 2008. None of that came to pass as the world “invincible” does not apply in baseball.

With that being said, what the Yankees want, the Yankees get. This is evident by the recent agreement reach with Mark Teixeira. Multiple reports have indicated that Teixeira and the Yankees have agreed to terms on an approximate 180 million dollar contract. This completes Mark’s Christmas wish of knowing where he will call home in the 2009 season prior to Christmas. From the looks of it, this is also where he will call home for the next 8 years, or at least till the Yankees have no more use for him.

Mark joins the likes of new Yankee pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. With these three additions, the Yankees have lighted thier pocket by more than 420 million dollars. They also now hold onto the 4 largest Major League Baseball contracts as Mark and CC join the likes of Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.

Earlier today, I wrote a post on Athletic Alley entitled A reflection on sports in 2008. In that article, I review several different sports events that stuck out to me in 2008.  For my readers here, I wanted to take a look at just one of those events.

For those that do not know, I am a huge New York Giants fan. Last season I had to endure all of the critics that would state that Eli was not made for this league. Some comments would be that Brandon Jacobs is no more than a tight end that is trying to be a running back. Well, to have them beat the only undefeated team for the coveted championship was the icing on the cake.

What I took pleasure in though is the fact that when each and every critic counted this team out, they did not count themselves out. Instead, they march into each teams backyard and took the football away from them. They even stood up to the New England Patriots and played them tough.

With all of that, the greatest accomplishment was when they went to Dallas during the playoffs. To see a dejected Tony Romo and Terrell Owens walk off the field was enough to have satisfied me had the Giants lost in the Super Bowl.

All in all, this had to be my most cherished sports reflection of all in 2008. I am just hoping that we can repeat in 2009.

When I sit down and look at the bowl games, I have to think to myself that College Football is jeopardizing their fan base future if they continue to head in the path that they are heading down. Whether you are for the BCS or against it, it is hard to deny the fact that there are undefeated teams that will not even get a chance to play for a piece of the national championship let alone the championship itself. All in all, that is wrong and something has to be done about it. How would you like for your favorite college team to go all season long only to win the “Potty Bowl” because some computer said you are not good enough to play for anything more.

Regardless of schedule issues, if a team can get out and play each and every Saturday and never lose a game, there is something to be said about them. Are they ready to take on the New York Giants? No. Are they ready to make a run at the National Title in college football? Yes. They have earned that right and yet the BCS stands with its head held high and says “Screw you!”. Well, personally this is the whole reason and nothing but the reason why I can not stand to watch college football bowl games. They really have no meaning.

And, once again, this year is going to either be another duplication of 2004 where we had USC, Auburn, and Utah ending the season undefeated. Or, we can accomplish what we did in 2003 and end up with a share national championship. Or, repeat the debacle of 2006 where Boise State ended the season by beating Oklahoma in a bowl game and ending the season as the ONLY undefeated team in the nation, yet not the National Champions.

So, whether you are for it or against it, if your team gets the shaft in one of these scenarios, I am sure you would not be happy either.