Happy 2016: From Around the World of Sports, 1/15/2016

First of all, Happy 2016 to you and yours, wherever you may be reading this blog post. New year, same blog. That said, there's a lot of ground to cover so let's get this thing rolling.

Obviously, this is a football blog and a lot has happened in the last number of weeks, and especially this past weekend. Probably best to start with the NFL playoffs, huh?

Pittsburgh/Cincinnati game: First thing's first, that kind of loss by the Bengals is the kind of loss that sticks with a franchise forever and never goes away. They had the game WON. Up 16-15 with 1:36 to go and all they need is one first down to run out the clock.

And then, Jeremy Hill fumbled and all hell broke loose in the Steelers last drive down the field.

Before I go to the next part of this take, let me just point out that the Steelers are not innocent in this whole ordeal. Outside linebacker coach Joey Porter was on the field during Antonio Brown's injury when he should not have been and was fined $10,000 for it...as he should have been. Rules explicitly state that only attendants, trainers and substitute players can go on the field during injuries. There was also the leading of the helmet by Ryan Shazier on Giovanni Bernard that should have been flagged...but wasn't.

That said, The Vontaze Burfict hit...that was one of the most brutal hits I have seen in football in quite some time. That hit was a lot worse than anything Nate Gerry of the Huskers did in the Foster Farms Bowl (and he still shouldn't have been thrown out...Free Nate Gerry)...I'm surprised Antonio Brown knows where he is, today. Worse yet is the claim by Pacman Jones that Antonio Brown was faking or flopping on the play. Get a clue, Pacman. There is no possible way you can embellish on that sort of hit.

Former Bengals star Boomer Esiason went off on the current group in postgame and had every right to do so. That was a meltdown of massive proportions. Even though only one of the other three games was competitive and the Steelers and Bengals hate each other, that was an embarrassing display by BOTH teams.

Seattle/Vikings...To any Seahawks fans that come across this, you guys live a charmed life. How in the world can one team be on the correct side of so many pivotal outcomes? Fail Mary with the replacement refs in 2012, NFC Championship the very next season where they're up by six and they probably lose if Richard Sherman doesn't bat the ball away in the closing moments, and the NFC Championship the year after that where the Packers completely melted after being up 19-7 and in control. You cannot play a game any better than the Vikings played in those conditions without winning the game.

I guess if you ask Vikings fans though, this is just another day at the office for them. Cowboys beat the Vikings in a playoff game on a Drew Pearson pushoff, Gary Anderson misses his only field goal of an entire SEASON and the 1998 Vikings lose to Atlanta in OT a step from the Super Bowl, the 2010 NFC title game against the Saints, and then this.

As for the Texans...Wow, what an ugly scene. To say I'm embarrassed today as a fan would be an understatement. There is NOTHING good that came out of that game, NOTHING. JJ Watt got hurt in that game and had to have surgery Tuesday, Brian Hoyer morphs into the second coming of Turnover Tommy Armstrong and has the worst game of his life in the biggest game of his life, O'Brien doesn't even make a MOVE to put Weeden in and worst of all, was the red clad Chiefs fans chanting "just like baseball" at the end of the game after all the Texans fans had cleared out.

That of course, refers to last baseball season's Division Series where the now current world champion Royals shattered the hometown Astros' dreams into a million pieces. There were a lot of things that sucked about that game Saturday, but that one might have cut the deepest. You know what, Houston folk, it can actually get worse and here's why. 

The Kansas Jayhawks have one of their better basketball teams this year (even by their standards) and will be favored to reach this year's Final Four...in Houston. What's significant about that is a large majority of Jayhawks fans are KC sports fans as well.

If they make it here, get ready to hear about how they own us for three days straight, potentially. Gulp. At least they can't beat us in pro basketball I guess.

Oh and if the Texans don't get a LEGIT QB in the draft or otherwise and come out with the same crap, I'm going to be driving the Fire O'Brien bandwagon from game 1 to game 16 next season. There is NO reason to come out with that garbage again.

As far as Packers/Redskins, the Packers are the hardest team to figure out in the league...even more so than the injury riddled Patriots, where we can't figure out who's in and who's out. Packers are so hot and cold it's absurd. Over the last two months of the season, they looked like anything but world beaters, then they show up in Washington and Rodgers and the Packers look like their old selves again.

Will that hold up in Arizona? The Cardinals better hope not.

Another bit of NFL news, Niners hired Chip Kelly yesterday. I'm honestly surprised Kelly didn't wait for a college job to open up because I feel he is better suited there. Him and Kaepernick should be most interesting...we know Chip Kelly can coach QBs. The talk is he is leaving the personnel decisions in the front office unlike what he did in Philly where he wanted total control.

My predictions for this weekend coming up shortly.

As far as the national championship game, let's get one thing out of the way first: You can hate Nick Saban all you want, heck I personally can't stand him. But he is, 100%, the best coach in the game right now and maybe only Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh are anywhere close.

This was his best coaching job since taking the Bama gig, point blank. They returned TWO offensive starters, TWO. They were a team in flux all season and lost to Ole Miss at home in a turnover filled game. Worse yet, they had to play all the top teams in the SEC: Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State, Auburn, Florida for the SEC title. And then had to play the nation's lone undefeated team in the playoff championship game.

Yet here they are, national champs once again, for the 16th time.

As far as the onside kick call, that was genius. It was absolute genius because it was the right call, at the right time. That was a matter of Alabama coaches knowing the significance of what was going on and paying attention to film study before the game. There's a great article on Deadspin talking about what Alabama coaches saw in Clemson's kick formations and how they could use that to their advantage. 

It was a great timely call as well because Alabama knew they couldn't stop Clemson and their offense probably couldn't match Clemson score for score. The play stunned Clemson just enough to where Alabama seized control and never let go.

Do they repeat next year? I'm not sure, but I do know this: Nick Saban could probably take guys off the street and make them a top 10 team. As far as threats to the crown, a number of teams could threaten them but Tennessee comes to mind immediately. Tennessee was arguably the second best SEC team after the halfway point and destroyed Northwestern in the Outback Bowl. I'm not hugely crazy about Butch Jones as a coach but he's improved them year by year.

As far as the Huskers, great end to the season in the Foster Farms Bowl. That was a vintage Cornhusker win...75% running the ball. It was really fun to see them make UCLA's defense suck wind in the second half. I felt even better that the Huskers beat Jim Mora Jr. in the process...I'm still not a fan of the confrontation he had with Snyder after the Alamo Bowl. Coaches like Snyder deserve a lot more respect than that. I will say that Josh Rosen is a complete stud and he will be UCLA's best bet for success over the next two seasons (after which I presume he will enter the draft). He has all the trappings of a future #1 overall draft pick.

As far as 2016 goes, 9-3 or better should be the goal. They should win six of those games without even blinking: Wyoming, Fresno State, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana and Maryland should all be wins no question (especially with five of those six at home). If they lose to Oregon, Ohio State and any other game but Iowa but make the championship by beating Iowa, that would be a good season. That said, the defensive line defections are quite troubling.

Everyone else but Michigan is playing for second in the Big 10 in 2016 because Harbaugh and Michigan are going to wreck this conference. Michigan State will drop back to the pack without Cook and Ohio State loses a ton of talent.

Oh and if I haven't said it already, Free Nate Gerry.

Quick NBA take: Psst, don't tell anybody but there are actually TWO teams on pace for 70 wins in the NBA this year, not just the Warriors, but the Spurs as well who remained perfect at home by beating Lebron and Cleveland last night. Not only that, but the two teams have combined to go 42-0 at HOME. The Spurs and Warriors play in Oakland on the 25th of this month and I'm convinced that game might break social media.

From the world of college basketball, it seems that football isn't the only sport the University of Iowa is excelling at these days: their top 15 basketball team just beat Michigan State for the second time in as many weeks. Izzo will probably have MSU ready to play by the time March rolls around, it's who they are, but what an impressive showing by Iowa over the last couple of weeks. They really had ISU beat at Ames too but let that one slip.

As far as predictions for this weekend's NFL action

Chiefs-Pats: Hard to say what will happen with the reports of Patriots injuries, but I'm taking Kansas City in the upset. I'm betting on their defense over Brady, even in the playoffs. I think they get some turnovers off Brady and short fields, so I'll say the Chiefs take this one.

Pack-Cards: Hard game to pick here also since Green Bay is so hot and cold. I will say, the 30 point loss by the Pack to Arizona two weeks ago is probably a rallying cry for that team. I'm going to say the Cards, but with a bit of hesitation depending on what Green Bay team shows up.

Seahawks/Panthers: I admit I had the Panthers winning this round (before losing to Arizona), but then I had them playing the Redskins. Beating Seattle in January is a whole different challenge altogether, and it's a rematch scenario and Wilson has weapons...and it won't be bitter cold outside. I have the Seahawks winning and I won't be surprised if they win big.

Steelers/Broncos: With Brown out and Roethlisberger hurt, you can't set it up any better for Denver. You're asking Landry Jones to go into Denver without Antonio Brown and beat the Broncos and I just don't see that happening. I think Denver wins this fairly comfortably.

Until next time....

Thanksgiving 2015: From around the world of sports

From me to you: I hope that you and yours have had a very blessed Thanksgiving.

With that said, feast on this blog post; it's time to go around the world of sports, starting of course with football.

The Panthers beat the Cowboys to remain undefeated and did so convincingly, but to me what caught my eye just as much was the first game between the Eagles and the Lions. It caught my eye because of just how badly the Eagles performed and let a terrible Lions team (although they've been playing better) walk all over them.

You know, we're in the waning hours of Thanksgiving, but maybe the Eagles should be thankful that they get to play this game and make the millions of dollars that they earn. And maybe with that thought in mind, they should go out and give more than a token effort like they gave today. You can't call that effort acceptable in any way, and I'm surprised Chip Kelly still has his job tonight.

Then again, considering that he's found out that his system and the NFL go together like oil and water, perhaps he's jonesing for a return to the college game. I hear that LSU may have an opening soon....

Not saying it will happen, but can you imagine: Chip Kelly vs Nick Saban, every single year.

On the second game: Cam Newton didn't do much numbers wise but didn't have to do much today, especially since the Panthers defense picked off Romo three times (two of them for scores) and knocked Romo out of the game. Heck of a job by the Panthers to come to Dallas on a short preparation week and take care of business, remaining undefeated.

Time to double back to the previous weekend now briefly:

- I don't know if they'll make the playoffs, but certainly the Texans have played better since they cut the Oversleeper, Ryan Mallett. It's only three games since that point, but I wonder just how much damage he caused in that locker room because before he was cut, they weren't giving an ounce of effort at all as that performance in Miami last month could attest to. Of course it doesn't hurt that Watt has taken over this month and helped put the team on his back.

- Even when the Ravens win, they lose. They beat the Rams on Sunday but lost Joe Flacco (QB) and Justin Forsett (RB), both starters, for the season. Ravens vs Browns is the Monday night game this week; can you even imagine how awful a game that's going to be?

- Peyton Manning is allegedly three weeks at least from being able to play again. If Osweiler comes in and does his job like he did in Chicago though Peyton may have to fight to get his position back when he does come back though. He certainly wasn't worth a darn against Kansas City. It will be interesting to see how Osweiler does against the Pats.

On college football:

- I do not envy Urban Meyer this week prior to going up to Michigan; Buckeye soap opera is in full effect. You've got players pointing fingers and already declaring they're going pro, you've got your arch rival who is hungering to snap a three game losing streak against you and it's on the road. Meyer is a great coach but definitely has his hands full this week.

- And even if they win, they still have to somehow hope Penn State beats Michigan State...on the road. With Michigan State's standing in the Big 10 East and in the college football playoff, they very likely don't need any help; very likely scenario is beat Penn State and Iowa and you're in the four team playoff for the title. In fact, I'm sure Michigan State would rather see Iowa beat Nebraska than lose even though Iowa is ahead of them, if both teams take care of business, then Iowa vs MSU basically decides a berth in the playoff.

- Florida is ranked No. 12 in the playoff poll this week but I have no idea how, they've been playing like total horse hockey this month. 9-7 win over Vanderbilt, 24-14 over South Carolina, and 20-14 in OVERTIME over a 2-9 Florida Atlantic team. Now here comes Florida State; I don't think the Gators have been sandbagging for the Noles, but we'll see.

- Big game in college ball this week is the Bedlam battle in Stillwater Saturday night. It honestly all depends on who is QBing for Oklahoma IMHO; if Mayfield plays and all indications are he will start, then I don't see Okla State bouncing back from that flat effort against Baylor. A rivalry game may spark them up again, but I think Oklahoma is on a mission and can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

On to a few baseball notes now:

- The Blue Jays apparently are not a major factor in the David Price sweepstakes; not surprising, since Price is a high-caliber pitcher who will demand a massive contract from someone. Apparently there are rumblings that teams such as the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cardinals, Cubs and Giants are poised to make a run at him. One team I am surprised to see not on this list is the one team that needs a top-caliber starting pitcher more than any other...the Yankees. I'm not surprised the Cubs are on this list; the Cubs fans I know have indicated to me they're going to make a major move for Price. The Cards...we'll see but they're not usually inclined to break out the big bucks for players like that. Dallas Keuchel of the Astros has apparently been trying to recruit Price but Luhnow is not going to be overpaying for him.

- The Astros traded infielder Jed Lowrie to the A's; the Astros got Brendan McCurry back in the deal. This one is hardly surprising considering Carlos Correa is the future; he came up when Lowrie was out with his thumb injury and Lowrie never really regained his footing. I like Lowrie, but no doubt it was time to part ways.

- One notable aspect of this deal is the Astros trimmed 7.5 mil off their payroll; they are possessed it seems with finding an elite closer; the lack of a great closer was a major reason the Astros lost to Kansas City in the playoffs this year. Jeff Luhnow, the general manager, also seems to want a veteran presence on his starting rotation.

Couple of college basketball quick hitters:

- The holy trinity of great University of Northern Iowa sports moments now has its third wheel: Kurt Warner winning the Super Bowl with the Rams, UNI beating Kansas in the NCAA tournament in 2010, and that same UNI basketball program beating No. 1 North Carolina last Saturday in Cedar Falls. That is a legitimately tough basketball program they've built in Cedar Falls, and they're competitive every single year. From all indications, they're going to be tough once again.

I know the Hawkeyes and Cyclones fans who follow that sport who are meeting at the lake in Panora today are drinking a toast to Roy Williams getting smacked across the face by any Iowa school; to say that Roy Williams is disliked in Iowa would be a gross understatement.

- It's early and they usually gag in March but so far, Kansas is off to a very good start; they won the highly prestigious Maui Invitational yesterday, beating a top 20 team to do so. Another in their long line of consecutive Big 12 titles is very likely in the cards for KU this year.

Finally from the pros:

- While things are better in Houston with the Texans, the same cannot be said for the team from Toyota Center. The team is third to last in the Western Conference, fired its coach, and lots of theories have been proposed as to why the team is so bad, but one seems to stick out in my mind; the alleged "Kardashian curse" which has hit star James Harden. That's right, the bearded Rockets star has been seeing Khloe Kardashian plenty. I'm not going to speculate on what goes on with them as I'm not really into that sort of thing, but my question is why? If you're going to be contending for a championship, you CANNOT have that sort of distraction.

- The Golden State Warriors are 16-0, the best start in NBA history. They are a powerhouse, no doubt about it. But let's not forget about the little old 12-3 San Antonio Spurs. The Warriors are going to get all the attention until these two teams play, but the problem is they won't play until after the new year. I'd like to know who the schedule maker was that decided that....

Until next time....

11/13: Rex Bowl and much more

So, Thursday night football comes and goes again and Buffalo gets a second big win in a row. Plus a lot more in this edition.

A couple of quick things on Thursday's game:

1. This game to me was defined by New York Jets miscues and missed opportunities. They had four turnovers, and in the waning moments of the game, they actually had an opportunity to take the lead after being down 22-3. They had the ball at the Bills' five yard line, in fact, but as happened so many times, execution doomed them in this game.

2. LeSean McCoy, after a very slow first half of the season, is finally developing into the running back the Bills need him to be. He hadn't gone over 100 yards in any game this year until the last two weeks but has gone over 100 each of the last two and Thursday he was great in the late stages, helping the Bills get key yards and big plays when they needed them especially in the fourth quarter.

3. The Bills have a very favorable schedule over the next few weeks which made this game so important. They get the Patriots next week and likely will not win that one, but look at their games after that; five beatable teams in a row before a season ending showdown with the Jets (@ Kansas City, Texans at home, @ Philadelphia, @ Washington and Dallas at home). Not saying they will win all those games, but the opportunity is there for a good streak.

Other NFL bits:

Last summer on this very blog I questioned the validity of giving Cam Newton an enormous contract for a guy who had a mediocre few years after a spectacular rookie campaign.

With the Panthers 8-0 and Cam being a major part of that success, no one is laughing now. There is even serious talk about him being the league MVP at this point. That, I don't know about, but I do know there are very few players who are more valuable to their team than Cam Newton is to the Carolina Panthers.

Green Bay plays Detroit this week and Minnesota is out in Oakland (a very intriguing matchup actually) but please get me to week 11 because Week 11 (next week) is Green Bay at Minnesota, the marquee late game, in Minneapolis. A great rivalry game, in a marquee spot with a top tier team and a Minnesota team that has surpassed a lot of expectations. Packers are in a tough part of their schedule, huh? They're playing the Broncos, Panthers and Vikings in the span of four weeks and all those games are on the road. Yikes.

The Raiders lost in Pittsburgh last week but Derek Carr is on a roll. The last three weeks, this guy is averaging over 300 yards passing with an insane 11 touchdowns and just one interception. And he's got Detroit and Tennessee before the month is over; two more opportunities to net some huge numbers.

The Colts might be 4-5 with Andrew Luck hurt, but considering they just beat Denver, that Matt Hasselbeck is quarterbacking their team (not a bad option) and that the rest of the division is the Texans, the Jaguars and the Titans, they may not be hurt all that much.

Couple of college football things:

From LSU/Alabama last Saturday: Year after year, the problem with LSU continues to be the quarterback. And heaven knows, they've had some mediocre to bad ones, from Anthony Jennings to Jordan Jefferson and everyone in between. It's amazing to me that LSU could have such talented players and still have such a simple offense that is so easy to defend. With the latest piece of LSU QB mediocrity, Brandon Harris, stinking it up Saturday at QB it was easy for Alabama to put as many hats as they could on Fournette. Miles still doesn't get it; football is a QB driven sport and until he gets an elite one in recruiting, they won't win another national championship.

Elsewhere, the Nebraska season of tales from the bizarre continues. If I had to describe the Nebraska football season in a song, it would be "Crazy Train" by famous heavy metalist Ozzy Osbourne. And Saturday night, we Husker fans really went for a ride on the crazy train. Ironically, the man involved in the controversial play which won the game for the Huskers (and in all likelihood destroyed Michigan State's national title hopes), Brandon Reilly, is a guy from Lincoln Southwest who wasn't highly regarded out of high school and chose to walk on at Nebraska during the previous regime.

I see where Michigan State players and announcers have not been able to put the game behind them. Shilique Calhoun of MSU was talking about dirty play by Nebraska, and Michigan State announcers left a little note about the officials in their announcers booth. At least their coach D'Antonio took the high road. My advice to Michigan State players and announcers, sincerely?

Kiss my butt.

NU fans have had more than enough things go against them this year to last three seasons but we choose to focus on our own issues instead of blaming others. Maybe Sparty players should remember they had a 12 point lead with four minutes to go and didn't finish.

Speaking of bizarre, that Arkansas/Ole Miss overtime game was the definition of crazy. This play that I've linked up is a 4th and 25 play which ends up being a lateral between two Arkansas players and went for a first down: Arkansas lateral

A few plays later Arkansas scored and then following an Ole Miss penalty, the Hogs won the game on a two point conversion

Couple of basketball notes:

Good heavens, the Golden State Warriors are a freight train. 10-0 to start the season, and they look to be even better than the team that won it all last year. The other thing is it's not like they're trucking scrubs; they've beat the Grizzlies twice already, the Pelicans once, the Rockets once and the Clippers once. The only team that can stop them from winning it all might be themselves...and that team in San Antonio. It really is too bad that the Spurs and Warriors won't play until after the new year because I'd like to see those two go at it right now.

Really disappointed with the Rockets start to the season; 4-4 wouldn't be that bad except that two of the losses came to the Nuggets and the Nets, both at home. It's obvious that the focus isn't there right now and when you play in the always-tough Western Conference, you have to win those types of games. The Nets hadn't won a game all year and then they beat the Rockets.

A few Astros related notes now:

The big baseball item out of Houston is that Colby Rasmus decided to accept the Astros qualifying offer of $15.8 mil for one year and remain with the team. That is huge for the Astros because with him back, the outfield is really in good hands and for another year at least, the Astros get that clubhouse presence that Rasmus brings; he's a popular player with the team with his long, greasy haircut and so having him is a huge bonus for the team.

It's a good thing the Astros are in the process of keeping the core of their team together and/or improving the ballclub because the Angels made a huge move on Thursday, getting two time Gold Glove winner Andrelton Simmons from Atlanta for a veteran shortstop, two prospects, and cash. The addition of Simmons just adds to what was already an extremely talented roster. On paper, they'll probably be the favorite to win the West as one of the game's big spenders, but in baseball games aren't played on paper.

What the Astros really need is a closer, and one of the closers on the market that is expected to be picked up by somebody (if you listen to widely known baseball guy Peter Gammons) by the end of the weekend is Reds fastballing closer Aroldis Chapman. That guy is one of the best closers in the game and if the Astros could get him (not saying they will) that would be an enormous get.

One final thing: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the World Series at least briefly and its aftermath. The Kansas City Royals are the World Champs for the first time in 30 years, and while I'd like that to have been the Astros, the Royals beat them fair and square and proved to be a formidable team throughout this whole season.

And their parade...oh my God their parade. Two days after the Royals won the title, 800,000 people showed up to their parade...to put that in perspective, the metro Kansas City area consists of 2.3 million people. And the amazing thing? No riots. Not one. That's how you class it up after a win.

Until next time....

10/29: The World Series, Football and NBA Tipoff

The World Series is two games in, football is obviously in full swing and...the Association is back in action as they had their opening night last night. That said, time for another blog entry.

On the World Series: We're two games in, and there is a long way to go and certainly the Mets have the players to get back in this series when it shifts to Citi Field, but there are a lot of things working against them right now.

A big factor against them right now is that, for all of the Mets young pitching talent (and they have it in bunches), the Royals approach is working against them. Mainly what's happening is that those swings and misses that Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom are used to aren't happening so far.

To wit: in the National League playoffs Jacob deGrom's swing and miss ratio was 36.5%. Last night, just 6 percent of his pitches were swung and missed at and the Royals didn't strike out swinging once. Matt Harvey, the game 1 starter, had a swing and miss ratio of 37.5% in the NL playoffs, but Tuesday night it was just 17%.

Another factor working against the Mets is that Yoenis Cespedes is struggling...badly. He hit .286 the first two rounds of the playoffs and was a huge reason the Mets won the NL East this year, but he is just 1 for 10 in this series. If he isn't doing what they need him to do, they're in trouble because then they're basically what they were before they traded for him in July...an average team with an impotent offense.

Maybe the biggest thing though is experience; KC learned a lot from their first run in the postseason last year and the Mets act like a team that hasn't been here. They could get it going at Citi Field, but they almost certainly have to win all three games to have a chance to come back.

On the National Football League, this particular thing I'm about to speak of just burns me up. DeAngelo Williams of the Steelers lost his mother to breast cancer a year ago. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the NFL. So, for putting "we will find a cure" and the breast cancer ribbon put on his eye black...get this...Williams was fined over $5,000 Wednesday. I still can't believe it just thinking about it. That to me is totally absurd.

Meanwhile, the NBA and the sport of basketball lost a great coach last weekend, Flip Saunders, who passed away at 60 due to lymphoma. The NBA agreed to let the Minnesota Timberwolves, who Saunders spent two tenures with, to wear a commemorative patch to honor the late coach. On this one, the NBA beat the pants off the NFL...and I'm a football guy.

Speaking of Minnesota and coaches with health issues, from college football, Jerry Kill has stepped away as the head coach of the Golden Gophers football team due to health issues. Health issues aren't a novelty for Kill, who has dealt with kidney cancer, seizures, and dehydration spells. I'm glad he is deciding to step away because his health has been a hindrance for him at doing his job at times in the past, and I would hate to see something like that again in the future. He was and is a very respectable coach.

The NBA had its real opening night last night (yeah there were three games Tuesday but IMHO Wednesday with just about everyone playing is the real opening night); long season but a few takeaways...

1. Southwest Division had themselves a bad night except for the Mavericks who won at Phoenix, but New Orleans dropped its second in a row to begin the year at Portland, the Spurs were beaten by OKC, the Memphis Grizzlies lost by 30 at home to Cleveland and maybe the most embarrassing one of all, the Rockets lost by 20 at home to Denver on their opening night.

2. That Rockets game was so bad that Rockets GM Daryl Morey was on the Jim Rome show today and he was not happy. Very easy for someone to say, it's just one game, but that's not what he said. He was legitimately concerned and after that effort, I share his opinion. They need to play MUCH better than that.

3. The Milwaukee Bucks, coming off a playoff season, got embarrassed at home by 25 points by the Knicks on opening night, WOW.

4. Very early, but the Chicago Bulls look stout to open the season. Beat the Cavs at home, then went on the road to the Barclays Center and won by 15 over the Nets. I still wonder if Hoiberg should have stayed at Iowa State, but if the Bulls win I'm sure any regrets will disappear.

5. Lakers got beat on opening night by the Timberwolves, but the big talk after that game is that Kobe Bryant didn't get the last shot. It makes me laugh. He can still produce but people have to remember he's well above 35 years old and can't do what he used to do anymore.

Until next time....

10/21/15: Football and the MLB Playoffs

Busy sports time of the year, with football in full swing, Major League Baseball down to its final four and the NBA season preparing to start. As I've said before, this is a football blog so that's where I'll keep the focus, with a few thoughts on the League Championship baseball series as well.

We have to start with the question on everybody's mind who watched that trick play that was attempted by the Colts Sunday night: What in the world were they thinking running that play?

In case you missed it, here is the play; the Colts were down 27-21 at the time, with fourth and three on their own 37 Colts fake punt fail

I'm like I think a lot of people out there; that was absolutely the worst fake punt call I think I've ever seen. I didn't think anything could replace Bill Callahan trying a fake punt on fourth and short inside his own 30 yardline in the Cotton Bowl several years ago, but this one did it I think. There was absolutely no reason for the Colts to go for that play, mainly for two reasons: 1. the ball was on their 37 yard line and 2. there was a little less than a half of football to be played.

In any event, the Patriots left Indianapolis undefeated. But beware the Jets...that's a very physical team on both sides of the ball and that's how they'll attempt to beat New England, by manhandling them physically. I don't trust Fitzpatrick and that is well known, but their team is good and I am surprised New England is favored by nine points or whatever they are favored by.

Other NFL notes:

- Is it possible for the Chiefs to try someone OTHER than Alex Smith? Jamaal Charles is out, so that puts the onus on the quarterback even more and Alex Smith just is never going to do it, even with weapons like Maclin. Maybe it's time for KC to put Chase Daniel in and see what he can do, or maybe even go with Aaron Murray. In any event, KC's Alex Smith experiment isn't working.

- Detroit gets its first win of the year, with a tough OT win against the Bears. I'm happy for the Lions; I saw 0-16 once in 2008, and I don't need to see the sequel.

- Texans messed around for three quarters before deciding to finally wake up and win against Jacksonville. Amazing to think that Houston is 2-4 and is still just one full game out of first place. That's how awful the AFC South is.

- Seattle is now 2-4 after losing a double digit lead for the second week in a row against an undefeated team, this time against Cam Newton and Carolina. Jon Gruden was on the Mike and Mike show Wednesday morning and I agree with two things he pointed out; first, Seattle's back four isn't quite the same, they lost a couple of players and their secondary leader Kam Chancellor held out in training camp which disrupted things from the start. Also, if their pass rush was what we've seen the last few years they wouldn't be blowing double digits leads in the fourth quarter two straight weeks.

- The Eagles ended up beating the Giants Monday night but that game was awful (so many turnovers and bad plays) and that division is atrocious; I don't know what to expect there anymore. Philly obviously is tied for first but can't be trusted, the Giants have the talent to get on a winning streak but haven't found near the consistency necessary yet, the Cowboys are very much short-handed and the Redskins are the Redskins.

Moving on to the college game now; the only thing to say about that finish in the Michigan State-Michigan game is...wow. For those who haven't seen the play, you can see the situation and the unbelievable finish that ensues, complete with the MSU radio call of the play: MSU-UM wild finish

- The thing is, all the punter needed to do was fall on the football. He didn't even have to get the punt off; just fall on the ball and Michigan probably still wins the football game. That said, whether MSU won that game or not, they proved just in that game that they are not going anywhere any time soon and Mark D'Antonio will continue to be able to hold his own against the likes of Michigan and Ohio State. You could see the improvement in Michigan under Harbaugh though; it will be interesting to see what happens when he gets his players.

- If we were having a poll on who is the best team in the country right now, I'm saying it's LSU. For a lot of years with the exception of the year and a half they had Mettenberger, LSU's weakness has been QB. This year, they have the QB in Brandon Harris that can complement Les Miles' defense and running game. Still a lot of season left, but LSU looks very, very good. Ohio State may well be the best team in the country eventually but they have basically been playing and will be playing preseason games until the Michigan State and Michigan showdowns in November.

- Very nice bounce back win for the Huskers against Minnesota. I think for many Husker fans, it's obvious that Pierson-El is an enormous difference maker offensively. Tommy Armstrong will never be the world's greatest quarterback, but he looks a lot better when he's actually got guys who can make plays on the outside.

I don't like to give Bitter Beer Face Bo Pelini much credit but he pulled a gem in Pierson-El. With that win, the Huskers should be able to reach a bowl game if they take care of business against Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers. Iowa and Michigan State will be much tougher games although I think they'll have a better shot against Iowa.

Finally, on the baseball playoffs, the Mets are on their way to the World Series as they sweep away the Cubs. Joe Maddon did one heck of a job with the Cubs' youth movement this year, but the Mets have played about .650 baseball since the end of July, arguably the best team in baseball since that point. We'll have to see what they do against KC (or Toronto for that matter) but they are deep in pitching and since the pickup of Yoenis Cespedes at the trade deadline, they have acquired the offense to complement that pitching. They would have to like their chances against whomever they play.

In the AL, the Royals might have the series lead 3-2, but I think I'd be really nervous if I'm a Royals fan right now. It goes back to KC for Game 6 and KC's got two shots to win a game, but the Blue Jays have David Price on full rest (granted, he has been less than stellar in playoff competition but Toronto got him for just that sort of game).

And if it goes to 7, the Royals will send the ever-unpredictable Johnny Cueto to the hill while the Blue Jays will have Marcus Stroman, who is a solid option for a decisive game. Cueto got the job done in game 5 against Houston, but it remains to be seen if he will do the same in game 7 if that series gets that far. And the Royals best hope it not get that far. They had better jump all over David Price Friday night and end it there.

Until next time....

9/29/15: NFL, College Football, Pennant Races and the Pope

We're almost to the end of September and though it's impossible to know what will happen over the next three or four months of the football season, it's clear that identities are starting to be forged.

From the National Football League...

- The Arizona Cardinals MAY be the NFC's best team. 3-0 and the three wins are by an average of 25 points in a league where close games are the norm, not the exception. I say they MAY be the NFL's best team because there's no way you're going to get rid of the Seahawks and Packers that easily. As expected, the Hawks smacked around the hapless Bears Sunday and will likely smack around Detroit next Monday night at the Clink (that's Century Link Field). But for now, the Cardinals look lethal.

- As for the Packers/Chiefs game last night, the Packers do still look tough without Jordy Nelson (still personally my Super Bowl pick even without Jordy), but is it possible for the Chiefs to find a quarterback that's better than Alex Smith? Granted, he's better than some of the other black holes for quarterbacks in the league (Ryan Fitzpatrick and Johnny Manziel for example) but the Chiefs are never going to win anything with him. Suddenly with a trip to the Cincinnati Jungle upcoming, the Chiefs are staring a 1-3 start right in the face.

- Texans got their first win of the year and are still alive in the AFC South but there are still a lot of ugly units on this team, first and foremost the offensive line. Was it really not that long ago that the Texans had the best offensive line in football? Was it really not that long ago that Arian Foster had an enormous season and the Texans made the playoffs for the first time? My, how things change. Now, Foster's struggling with injury and the offensive line is a complete mess. Good thing the AFC South is a complete mess as well. Too bad the Texans might get blown out in Atlanta next week...the Falcons are flying high. Pun intended.

- Not sure which division is worse, the AFC South or NFC East. The AFC South as stated earlier has all teams below .500 and the only team in the NFC East above .500 is the Cowboys without Romo and Dez Bryant. Very real possibility that both of those division winners could be 8-8 or 9-7.

- They may not hold up all season and both their wins came against winless teams, but there is something to be said for the Raiders being 2-1. I think Jack Del Rio is a good fit for them as a coach; he emphasizes tough, physical football which is Raider football at its best. He's also a Bay Area native so he knows the culture there.

A few college notes now:

- How about Auburn, being #6 in the country preseason, being already out of the SEC West race before September even ends? I'm really not sure how people bought that hype train but those who did it are eating a whole lot of crow. I like Malzahn as their coach and always have, but who they have at QB right now isn't taking them anywhere.

- Many of my readers are Husker fans, so let me just say this: 126th nationally in pass defense. I suppose I can deal with being terrible against the pass better than being terrible against the run especially in the Big 10, but this is not a good sign moving forward. What really bothers me right now is that not only did NU nearly lose to Southern Miss Saturday they gave up 300 yards passing in one half (when you should be getting better from the first to the second half, not worse), and they had 12 penalties. That is not the sign of a good football team.

They also appear to be regressing as the season goes which isn't a good sign. I'd like to say there's at least four more guaranteed wins on this schedule but that team Saturday might not win more than one or two more games. I would say Purdue is probably a gimme win, and MAYBE Illinois Saturday but other than that...I don't know. That said, unlike Callahan Riley beat Southern Miss in his first year so there's that.

- The more things change, the more they stay exactly the same. Texas A&M beats Arkansas in OT, again, after Arkansas allows an A&M receiver to get behind them and help tie the game, again. Arkansas fans must be seeing deja vu flashbacks this week. Third straight loss for Arkansas also and with Bama, Ole Miss and LSU still on the schedule (and all on the road) they are staring at a long football season.

- Texas is 1-3 as well after another special teams miscue (second consecutive week) and they are staring at a rocky road also with TCU and Oklahoma on deck. Of those two they'll probably stand a better shot against Oklahoma because of the rivalry factor. The State Fair game in Dallas has been a crazy, unpredictable rivalry for years; a winless John Blake-led OU team beat a very talented Texas team in 1996 so anything is possible.

- Texas Tech gave it all they had against TCU, but still that's a heck of a way to lose a football game, on a tipped pass in the end zone. Nebraska caught a similar break many years ago on the way to a national title. Speaking of the Huskers, the TCU player who caught the game winner; former Husker Aaron Green, who played high school ball at San Antonio Madison.

Now for some baseball:

- As if the Washington Nationals season wasn't tough enough, Sunday you had reliever Jonathan Papelbon and star Bryce Harper fighting in the Nationals dugout. You can read more about it here if you don't know already: Harper and Papelbon fight

According to various outlets that I've seen this whole thing started when Harper didn't run hard out of the box on a pop fly. I don't care what, or who started it, but I can say this: It's the kind of thing that happens when a team who was supposed to win 95 to 100 games has one of the most disappointing years in recent memory. The Nationals have a lot of talented players and when things don't go your way, egos make their way to the surface. It's not a good mix.

- The Astros kept their season alive for now by winning two of three from the other team up I-45 (Rangers) and won last night in Seattle too. They cannot afford to rest easy though; the Angels trail for the last wild card spot by just a half game and they've seemingly rediscovered the winning touch they had during the first half of the summer. Minnesota's hot on Houston's tail too and has a beatable Cleveland team and a Royals team that's leaking oil down the stretch.

- Even should the Astros get in though, Toronto will likely be the heavy favorite to win the American League especially if they end up with home field throughout. David Price changed the entire complexion of their team and they know this is their one shot because Price is a free agent this offseason. Those guys can swing some big sticks as well...their runs scored/runs allowed differential is well over a whopping +200.

- I'm not sure who's going to win the NL at this point, that is much more of a mystery. I know one team that won't though; the Dodgers even with Greinke and Kershaw. Got swept in Colorado this past weekend and lost in 12 to the Giants last night. Believe it or not, they have not won the NL West yet. They most likely will, but they are playing poorly at the wrong time of year while their potential Division Series opponent the New York Mets are steamrolling towards the playoffs.

Finally, though I'm not a guy to beat my religious views over everyone's head, this is a sports blog after all (I personally have been Catholic for a VERY long time), I have to address Pope Francis' visit here to the USA this past weekend. No matter your religious views or whether you believe in God or not, I am glad to see the coverage this got all weekend long. My view on Pope Francis is this: I support anyone who sits on that chair in the Vatican personally and Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI did wonderful things, but this Pope is a totally different breed and has done many amazing things since being named Pope two years ago.

I could beat you over the head with article after article about his visit, but I won't do that. Instead, I'm going to leave you with a stirring rendition of what we like to call The Lord's Prayer, done Saturday in Philadelphia. No matter your religious views, I think this is the best version of The Lord's Prayer that has ever been done Lord's Prayer in Philadelphia. Additionally, if you would like to read any of Pope Francis' remarks while he was here in the USA this week, this is a good link to go to Pope's remarks

Until next time...

College Football, Patriots and MLB 9/9/2015

It's been quite a bit of time since the last blog post, hasn't it? The last time I did a blog we were in the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. But now, the summer is starting to fade away, college football is now in full swing, pennant races are starting to heat up and the National Football League is breathing down our necks. That said, good opportunity for the first blog post of the football season and some other items.

On the first week of the college football season, the biggest thing that struck me were the number of injuries that were suffered to key players. Among the players who sustained serious injuries over the weekend included were Pittsburgh running back James Conner, Notre Dame running back Tarean Folston, TCU linebacker Sammy Douglas, Stanford defensive lineman and BYU quarterback Taysom Hill.

The thing that comes to mind immediately for me is that this will continue to be the biggest argument for NFL owners to keep preseason games (besides the fact that they make money in those glorified exhibitions from fans who eat it up). If you don't have preseason games at all like they do in college football, then when you get into games that count with a lot of intensity, there is greater chance in those games for serious injury like we saw this weekend.

I'm particularly heartbroken for BYU quarterback Taysom Hill and not just because the Huskers played him Saturday. I'm particularly heartbroken for him because he is a great player who just can't catch a break. This will be the third major injury in the last four seasons for Hill; he had season-ending knee surgery in 2012 and missed the back half of last season as well with a left leg fracture.

Aside from the injuries, these things stand out to me:

1. Alabama is still Alabama. Had to silently laugh at people who thought this past offseason that Bama's demise was coming. Make no mistake, there's no one who wants to see Alabama fall off the face of the Earth more than I do, but that is not happening. If we're telling the truth, then they were a close loss to Ohio State last year away from another national title because that was the only team that could have beat them. They are still loaded for bear and still have Saban at the helm. They aren't going anywhere.

Saturday, they made a loud statement against a Wisconsin team that is fully capable of bouncing back and getting back to Indianapolis for the Big 10 title game. The only teams that are capable of beating them are in the SEC West because no one in the East is doing it. I gave Tennessee a look in the offseason after the way their 2014 season ended, but they gave up 30 points to Bowling Green to open the season and may very well lose to Oklahoma this week.

I think Ole Miss and Texas A&M in particular have better than average chances to upset Bama; both run the spread offense that Saban hates, both have defenses that can get it done on any given day (A&M now has John "The Chief" Chavis running its defense and Ole Miss is consistently solid defensively with its Landsharks) and if Allen and/or Kelly can get it done, either team has a chance to upset Alabama.

2. When Ohio State hits the jets and goes to that next level, ALMOST no one can beat them. Key word, almost. What basically happened in that Monday night game with Virginia Tech was that they got up 14-0, fell asleep at the wheel then awoke from their slumber and ran Virginia Tech off its own field.

So that begs the question: Who COULD beat them when they go to that next level? Bama obviously could, TCU might as well although them losing Sammy Douglas is a big blow, maybe not in the Big 12 but against the better teams outside the conference. Baylor has no shot against any of the big boys because they can't play defense as evidenced against SMU Friday night. Michigan State is probably the only team in the Big 10 who COULD go toe to toe with OSU for four quarters.

3. I wasn't shocked that Texas got beat handily by Notre Dame; Notre Dame is a solid football team and whoever Texas QB was going to be wasn't going to get it done in that environment. But I didn't expect them to be beat 38-3 and for their offense to look utterly lost like what happened many times through the course of their 2014 season. This is Strong's second year at Texas, not his first so he's had some time to get his house in order and at the very least not look as bad as he and the rest of the Horns did last Saturday night. I like Charlie Strong but this may be a round peg square hole type deal where the way he coaches football might not mesh with how UT does things.

4. I've been pretty silent on social media since the Hail Mary at the end of the Nebraska game, but yes I have some thoughts on that game as I always do each and every Nebraska game. To me, the game was a mixed bag. The most encouraging thing that I saw was that when it looked really bad at halftime and BYU looked like it might run and hide, Riley and Co. made the necessary adjustments to put the Huskers back in the game and give them a chance to win. This was something that didn't happen very often in the Pelini or Callahan eras.

Tommy Armstrong also looked very much improved...poised in the pocket and showed drastic improvement. He struggled through the middle part of the game when the offense became a bit too predictable but once NU turned the momentum he settled in once again.

Offensive line needs work though...major work. Part of it is experience, BYU's offensive line had more experience (as in combined career starts) over Nebraska's by a wide margin. Nebraska's offensive line is also very small comapred to most great offensive lines...average of 290 lbs isn't very big.

The way NU played that final Hail Mary needless to say was atrocious...should probably have rushed 4 or 5 instead of just three. Bottom line is, that Hail Mary completion cannot happen, but it did. DC Mark Banker said he goofed on that one in postgame though so hopefully he learned from it. The defense needs major improvement as well, though the returns of Jonathan Rose and Michael Rose-Ivey will hopefully help. I would be ready for a 7-5 season or something like that if I'm a Husker fan this year.

5. Much like Riley's debut, Jim Harbaugh's debut at Michigan was a mixed bag. I think Michigan's probably further along than Nebraska though just because they showed well defensively on the road against a pretty solid Utah squad. Rudock isn't a good quarterback though.

In the NFL meanwhile, it seems as though the NFL's lightning rod the New England Patriots can't stop being in the news. Even though the Deflate Gate saga appears to be behind us, the Spygate investigation from 2007 appears to have resurfaced. According to a report by ESPN's "Outside the Lines" which focuses mainly on the 2007 Spygate investigation (and Outside the Lines unlike most ESPN shows is not a show to sneeze at, that's a show which for the most part has actual good, hard journalism), some of the allegations include:

1. The Patriots videotaped opposing signals for seven years and at least 40 games

2. Patriots staffers would sneak into the opposing team's locker room and steal the opposing team's script for the first 20 some-odd plays

3. Said staffers would pillage opposing teams' hotel rooms looking for materials related to game plans

As you might guess, there is more. You can read the story here: Patriots Outside the Lines story. The only other thing I'll say about this is now you see why Goodell isn't going to lose his job even though Brady got his suspension revoked. The owners are definitely still pissed about Spygate and are most certainly pleased with how Goodell handled Deflategate.

Lastly, a few thoughts regarding the baseball pennant races which are heating up:

1. Re: the Astros, I don't think there is a team in the AL the Astros can't beat, but I think realistically this team is probably a year or so away. The lead is down to 1 game over a surging Rangers team and the teams are tied in the loss column plus the Astros are in the midst of a long road trip. There is a very good chance that the Astros will be playing in a wild card game in early October and a better than decent chance they might not be in the playoffs at all. If they were to play in a wild-card game against the Yanks I'd like their chances though.

2. A Blue Jays/Royals ALCS is very likely right now, although I'm not particularly crazy about the way the Royals are playing at this point. Alex Gordon is back for the Royals, but they have a key reliever out as a result of their chicken pox problems and the White Sox rolled through them three straight last weekend, granted the White Sox aren't playing terrible baseball right now. A Jays/Royals ALCS would be a solid ratings-getter though, there is some pretty bad blood between these teams.

3. The Cardinals are 1-4 in their last five games at home against the Pirates and Cubs. I've said it all along; they're in trouble come October because Wainwright is a guy they have to have to be able to win a championship. Their other pitchers are capable but Wainwright is the one true ace on that staff. That Matt Holliday is iffy at best to come back doesn't help their cause either. Whoever wins that wild card game between the Cubs and Pirates has a very good chance to eliminate the Cardinals.

4. Right when I thought the Dodgers might be in trouble after getting swept in Houston, just like that they've won 13 of their last 15 and have a playoff spot all but locked up. There could be a lot of quick games in a Mets/Dodgers Division Series, which looks very likely right now.

5. You can pretty much say good night to the Washington Nationals because the New York Mets are flat ripping the Nationals' hearts out.

Down 7-1 after six innings and appearing dead and buried Tuesday night, in a game the Nationals had to have, the Mets rose out of the grave and smacked the Nationals right in the face with that shovel and came back to win...and in the process, might have sped up the Nationals own demise in what has to be one of the most disappointing seasons by any team in recent memory. Going into the season, I couldn't see any way that the Nationals wouldn't win 100 games with the talent they have.

It's not technically over but Washington is down six games now, with just four games left against the Mets and three of them are in New York. If Dandy Don Meredith were still with us, I think you know what he'd say....

Until next time....