Jerry Jones is an ass

Yesterday the old Texas Stadium was imploded, like so many great stadiums in years past, but this post is not about the memory of Texas Stadium its Mr. Jerry Jones preying on peoples emotions to make a buck. Some people think its stupid the connection that certain people have with certain venues. How can people cry when a stadium is demolished or blown up. Its simple some of the best moments of their lives are spent in those stadiums. Whether its hanging out with your friends, or going to that very first game with your dad any way you look at it these places mean a lot to a lot of people. So it wasn't surprising that over 20,000 people showed up to see Texas Stadium come crashing down. Now here comes the part about Mr. Jones preying on peoples emotions. Mr. Jones charged $25 a car to watch this implosion. Thats right $25, one of the wealthiest men in America the owner of maybe the most famous team in the NFL charged people to watch a stadium get blown up. You would think Jerry Jones would be happy with the amount of money that palace brings in but apparently hes not. I'm sure most of those people who attended spent some of their best times in that stadium and paid the 25 bucks so they could see its last moments standing, was it to much to ask to let them watch it for free, i guess so I hope Jerry Jones is happy but something tells me he doesnt give a damn.

2010 MLB Predictions

With the baseball season right around the corner and its time for the yearly season predictions, but before i do its time to look back at last years predictions.

For the AL East i was 3 for 5, the only mess up was I had Boston winning the division and the Yankees second. Tampa 3rd, Toronto 4th and Baltimore 5th.

AL Central 2 for 5, had the Minnesota winning and KC last but the 2, 3 & 4 spots all wrong.

AL West 1 for 4, the Angels i had winning the Division and thats it.

NL East 3 for 5, Phillies winning the division, Braves third and the Nats last

NL Central 2 for 6, Brewers third and Pirates last

NL West 1 for 5, Only had San Diego in 4th.

So really not that good not even 50 percent, and i also had the Cubs winning the World Series so lets forget last year and start for this season.

AL EAST
1. New York Yankees
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Baltimore Orioles
4. Tampa Bay Rays
5. Toronto Blue Jays

The Yankees still have all the fire power in the AL East, like the Red Sox pitching but not the hitting and this might finally be the year the Orioles start making a move in the division.

AL CENTRAL
1. Chicago White Sox
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Cleveland Indians
5. Kansas City Royals

You almost forget that the White Sox have Jake Peavy with him in that rotation and the Twins losing Joe Nathan for the season should be enough to give the White Sox the edge.

AL WEST
1. Seattle Mariners
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Texas Rangers
4. Oakland Athletics

Seattle has made a lot of moves with Cliff Lee and Chone Figgins being the big splashes, the Angles on the other hand have lost to much I wouldn't be surprised if the Angels drop to Third.

NL EAST
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Florida Marlins
3. New York Mets
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Washington Nationals

The Phillies should continue with their strangle hold on this division every other team has to many issues to seriously contend with the Phillies.

NL CENTRAL
1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Chicago Cubs
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

This seems like a 2 team race between St. Louis and Milwaukee, the Cubs don't have enough to contend.

NL WEST
1. Colorado Rockies
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. San Francisco Giants
4. San Diego Padres
5. Arizona Diamondbacks

I love the way the Rockies play hopefully they wont need another late season run to get into the playoffs.

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMP: Seattle Mariners
NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMP: Philadelphia Phillies

I love the 1-2 punch of Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez and if Bedard is healthy its hard to argue that this pitching staff wont be the best in all of Major League Baseball.

Kurt Warner Calls it a Career

Today Kurt Warner held a press conference to announce that he is retiring from the game of football. When you think of Warner the first thing that comes to mind with me at least is the story of him bagging groceries to then a couple years later being the MVP of Super Bowl 34. Warner was only in the NFL for 12 seasons so in numbers don't quite compare to others who played the position who are in the Hall of Fame. The impact however that Warner had on 2 franchises cant really be told by his numbers. Before Kurt Warner became the starting QB in St. Louis the Rams were pretty much the laughing stock of the NFL. Warner was thrust into the starting role after a pre season injury to Trent Green, all Warner did was throw for over 4000 yards, 41 TDs and led the Rams to a 13-3 record. Then he led his team to a Super Bowl victory with a record 414 yards passing (which is still a record for a Super Bowl). He transformed the Rams into the "greatest show on turf", winning 2 MVPs and throwing for over 14,000 yards and compiling a 35-15 record. His 1 year in New York was forgettable to say the least and many were thinking Warner was done, but a rebirth was right around the corner in Arizona. The Cardinals were in the same situation as the Rams were before Warner got there. Eventually when he was given the chance he again turned a franchise around leading the Cardinals to Super Bowl 43. Warner to me is nothing more than a winner and some of his numbers were outstanding for the short time he played, he holds the 3 highest passing yards performances in Super Bowl history. Warner was plain and simple a winner his numbers could have been better but if you ask me there is no other person more deserving of a Hall of Fame induction than Kurt Warner is.

Caps playing Well but improvement still needed

Its hard to argue that the Washington Capitals are not the best team in hockey and if they are not the best they are the hottest. The Caps have won 8 straight most of them in a convincing manner. The Caps have scored 207 goals so far this season which is 28 more than the next best team the San Jose Sharks who have 179. If there has been one complaint about the Capitals is their lack of a solid defense. The 146 goals given up isn't bad by any means but in some games the Caps have shown a somewhat soft defense. Not that they don't hit hard but they don't seem to race to the puck as hard as they could. Sometimes this leads to a lot of shots on goal. In a recent game against the Detroit Red Wings the Caps let the Red Wings put 46 shots on goal and if it wasn't for a great performance Jose Theodore and the Caps quick strike offense they somehow won the game 3-2. The point is the Caps cant afford to have their goalie whether it be Theodore or Varlamov forced to make 40 saves a game and it only gets tougher in the postseason with better opponents. Last year in the playoff series against the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Penguins the Caps were out shot in every game totalling 266-180 in the Pens favor. In three games the Penguins put 40 shots on goal, to me this led to the game 7 blowout win by Pittsburgh. Having a high powered offense is all well in good but a solid defense is needed if the Capitals want to get deeper into the postseason this year.

Talking about last years playoff series had me thinking about this tremendous save by Varlamov. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01Ow7Kxaqb4

Orioles are Moving in the right direction

Being an avid Baltimore sports fan one thing that unfortunately has been the norm is the Orioles being bad, i mean really bad. The last winning season for the O's was in 1997 when they went wire to wire, i was 11. For me i have two really good memories of Oriole baseball, the Cal Ripken years and back to back playoff berths in 1996 and 1997, pretty sad right. So you can understand when the front office tells Oriole fans to be patient and they are moving in the right direction, the fans are hard to accept that while losing 90 games a season. But for Oriole fans take a step back for just a moment and realise that in fact they are moving in the right direction. Whether its through the draft or through trades there aren't many moves that Andy McPhail have made that you can question. First look at the outfield, maybe one of the best young outfields in all of baseball. Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold, all 3 are capable of hitting over .300, 15-25 HR and drive in 75-100 runs a season. Not to mention they are great fielders, Reimold is a little behind Jones and Markakis, Jones has a Gold Glove and Markakis is always amongst the top in outfield assists. Behind the plate you got potentially a really good catcher in Matt Wieters, who got off to a slow start but eventually showed why he was a top 5 pick. His arm got better as well in one game Wieters threw out Carl Crawford twice, pretty impressive. Now on to the pitchers we all saw Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, Brad Bergesen and we still hear about Jake Arietia, Troy Patton, Zac Briton this team has a surplus of young and potentially good pitching. O's fans need to be patient as hard as it may sound this team is absolutely moving in the right direction, hopefully in the next couple seasons the Orioles will be back to competing.

Pro Bowl needs to go

The Pro Bowl has quickly become to most irrelevant sporting event in all of professional sports, not that anybody watched the Pro Bowl before but now with it being before the Super Bowl makes less sense than before. The only time i remember actually sitting down and watching the entire Pro Bowl was for one reason, after Super Bowl 35 the broadcasters would say "from the Super Bowl Champion Ravens, Ray Lewis makes the tackle." I just wanted to hear them say Super Bowl Champion Ravens and now you cant even hear that anymore, with the Super Bowl now after the Pro Bowl. Not even the players care about being in the Pro Bowl, the only reason they used to play in it because they got a trip to Hawaii. This year all of the Saints and Colts wont be in the game for obvious reasons. Now your AFC Quarterbacks are David Garrad, Matt Schaub and Vince Young, no offense but id rather see Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Phillip Rivers. In all 17 changes were made to the AFC and NFC rosters either Colts and Saints players or players who just did not want to participate. If you still want to incorporate the Pro Bowl, maybe just have more of a fun experience. Maybe a touch football game on the beaches of Hawaii, a skills competition, and something i always enjoyed whatever happened to the Quarterback Challenge, anything is better than the current situation of the Pro Bowl.

Jets Defense is good but not 2000 Ravens Good

With the 4 teams left most of the teams head into Championship week with high powered offenses with great QBs, but the Jets are not. For those who love old school football its hard not to enjoy the way the Jets play football. Hard nosed tough defense, and ram it down your throat running offense. But watching ESPN and seeing "experts" compare this team to the 2000 Ravens is down right stupid. First the obvious the Ravens went 12-4 and the Jets were 9-7 during the Regular Season. What I'm going to do is pick a couple key categories and see who really is the better defense.

1) Players Individual Success
2000 Baltimore Ravens--- 7 of the 11 starters have been to a Pro Bowl totalling 35, and 1 Hall of Famer played on that Defense (Rod Woodson).

2009 New York Jets--- 4 of the 11 Starters have been to a Pro Bowl totalling 6, obviously no Hall of Famers on this Jet Defense.

ADVANTAGE---RAVENS

2) Amount of Points Allowed During Regular Season
2000 Baltimore Ravens--- 165, Set Regular Season Record for a 16 game season

2009 New York Jets--- 236, Was # 1 during the Regular Season but still 71 points more than the Ravens.

ADVANTAGE---RAVENS

3) Total Yards Given up
2000 Baltimore Ravens---3967 Total Yards, 2997 Passing, 970 Rushing

2009 New York Jets---4037 Total Yards, 2459 Passing, 1578 Rushing

ADVANTAGE---PUSH, There is only a 70 yard difference in Total Yards, Jets have the better pass defense, Ravens have the better rush defense.

4) Turnovers
2000 Baltimore Ravens--- + 23 Turnover Ratio, easily # 1 in the League in 2000

2009 New York Jets--- + 1 Turnover Ratio, number should be higher having a rookie QB handcuffed this number.

ADVANTAGE---RAVENS

5) Shutouts
2000 Baltimore Ravens--- 4

2009 New York Jets--- 2

ADVANTAGE---RAVENS

I could go on and on comparing every little thing between the two teams but i think i have made my point. Another little tidbit was the Ravens went the entire month of October without scoring a TD and won 2 of the 5 games. I don't think New York's defense was that good this season. To me you cant even have the two in the same conversation unless the Jets win the Super Bowl. Even then i don't think you can say the Jets have one of the best defenses of all time, the Ravens on the other hand you can say that. So for the ESPN experts (so called) before you compare the Jets to the 2000 Ravens please look up the numbers first.

Baltimore Fans Frustrate Me

I am Baltimore to the core, love my Ravens, love my Orioles, but the fans sometimes make me scratch my head. One subject that has really baffled me is the conversation that Joe Flacco might not be the answer at quarterback. Really Baltimore Joe Flacco is best quarterback in the city of Baltimore since Bert Jones for the old Baltimore Colts, and its not even close. All you have to do is look at the stats, Flacco is already 3rd in franchise history in passing yards after only 2 seasons. You would think that after all the crap the Ravens have had under center Baltimore would be more than happy with what Flacco has done. Some even believe that Troy Smith is better than Flacco which is completely insane. Smith was a great quarterback and has limited play in the NFL and i wonder what people have seen from Troy Smith to come to the conclusion that somehow he is better. I'm more than sure a lot of teams would rather have Flacco than their current quarterback, how about Oakland if they could switch QB's don't you think they would in a heartbeat, or Buffalo, Carolina, St. Louis, Washington, Cleveland any one of those teams would love to have Flacco. Also Flacco's receiving core is nothing to write home about, no offense to the wide outs but other than Derrick Mason its not too impressive. If Flacco had Fitzgerald, Boldin and Breaston, he could put up a 4,000 yard season just as easily. Some fans even went as far as saying that Troy Smith should have started in the 2 playoff games, which again is insane. I'm sure Troy Smith is a good guy but he is NOT a better QB than Joe Flacco. Flacco is the the present, and the future of the Baltimore Ravens period.

Wrap up of Divisional Playoffs

While i was watching the Divisional Playoffs this weekend i had a couple thoughts. One was i am god awful, i mean really bad at picking games this postseason, i wasn't great during the regular season but i was a little better than 1-7 (1-3 Wild Card, 0-4 Divisional). Another thing i noticed was how lopsided every game but one was. It started Saturday with the Saints 45-14 thrashing of the Arizona Cardinals, the Cards gave up 90 points in two games this postseason they might need to address the defense in the off season. The night cap was the Ravens traveling to Indianapolis to face Manning and the Colts, a team they had lost to 7 straight times, well make it 8. The score was only 20-3 but it might as well been 40-8. Sunday started but it was more the same, it was touted the best game of the weekend but it was another blowout, Vikings 34, Cowboys 3. The thing about that game was with the game well in hand and the Vikings up 24, Minnesota went for it on 4th and 3 and Favre threw his 4th TD to make it 34-3. With good reason there were a couple Cowboys upset at the Vikings, there was no reason to throw that TD pass the Vikings had proven through the entire game that they were the better team, it more looks like Favre's ego had to be stroked. Favre had never had a 4 TD pass game in the postseason, and it seemed like he didn't care how he got it. So after 3 blowouts many were expecting the Charger-Jet game to be more of the same. People laughed when Rex Ryan said the Jets should be favored in every game, well he looked like he was right. The Jets suffocating defense was tremendous in stopping the Chargers and Nate Kaeding's 3 misses didn't help either. So in the NFC its the meeting everyone expected weeks ago, and the AFC Title will be contested between two old rivals in the Jets and Colts. Hopefully it will be more exciting than last weekend.

NFL Playoffs Predictions--Divisional Round

Well its a good thing i don't predict games for a living because i wouldn't make much money. In the 4 wild card games i only won 1, and it was the one i was least confident about it. So as the divisional gets underway lets see if i cant do a little better this week.

AFC Divisional Round Games
# 6 Baltimore Ravens vs. # 1 Indianapolis Colts
The Ravens maybe pulled off the shocker of the wild card weekend, not the fact that they won but how they did it, a 33-14 beat down of the Patriots. Manning and the Colts haven't had an important game in about a month, which usually spells disaster for the Colts, since 1999 when the Colts have had a first round bye they are 0-3, if the Colts start slow the Ravens could do it again.
PREDICTION: RAVENS 27, COLTS 23

# 5 New York Jets vs. # 2 San Diego Chargers
The Jets are the hardest team to figure out of the final 8 that are left. The last couple games for the Jets have not been difficult and you really don't know how good they are. The Chargers however could maybe be the hottest team in football right now, and the sexy pick to win the Super Bowl, there has been a lot of talk about how good Revis is but the Chargers have more weapons than a lot of teams, don't think this will be close at all.
PREDICTION: CHARGERS 34, JETS 17

NFC Divisional Round Games
# 4 Arizona Cardinals vs. # 1 New Orleans Saints
The Cardinals were a part of maybe the most entertaining game in postseason history, beating the Packers 51-45. Kurt Warner continued his tremendous play in the playoffs. The Saints have entered the playoffs playing their worst football of the season. After starting 13-0, the Saints lost 3 in a row to end the season, including a home loss to lowly Tampa. I don't care how good of a season you have had losing 3 in a row is not a good thing.
PREDICTION: CARDINALS 38, SAINTS 24

# 3 Dallas Cowboys vs. # 2 Minnesota Vikings
Dallas entered the playoffs with its last win in postseason play being 1996, Romo and the Cowboys finally got that monkey off their back and have quickly become the favorite in the NFC. Minnesota like the Saints have had recent troubles after a great start to the season, another problem has been Adrian Peterson's fumbling problems, if they continue the Vikings run wont be long. I wonder who will be in charge of the offense Favre of Childress?
PREDICTION: COWBOYS 28, VIKINGS 24

This to me will be one of the best divisional playoff rounds in recent memory hopefully my 1-3 record will get better, but i wouldnt bet on it.

Baseball Writers=Jackasses

Now let me start by saying that this does not include all sports writers but a large majority of them. When the baseball hall of fame class of 2010 was announced only 1 guy will be inducted, Andre Dawson. I don't want to take anything away from Andre Dawson but if he was not a Hall of famer 5 years ago what makes him a Hall of famer today? Is it the simple fact that the writers felt we waited long enough, or did some believe nobody else deserved to be voted in. One huge, glaring mistake the voters made this year was Roberto Alomar not getting in. Alomar received 73.7 percent of the vote, you need 75 percent to get in. For those who don't remember let me remind you how great Alomar was, his career batting average .300, over 2700 hits, 210 home runs, 12 time All Star, 10 time gold glove winner and 2 time world champion. Alomar is one of the top 5 second basemen of all time yet the writers didn't think so. Some of these writers have the dumbest reasons for keeping guys out of the hall, stuff like because the guy was a jerk. If Alomar was a jerk is that really a good reason not to vote for him, no. The infamous spitting incident though despicable in every way a career should not be defined by one mistake which he later apologized for. Also it was said that 5 ballots were turned in completely blank, whoever those writers were their voting privileges should be taken away, if they don't want to take this process seriously then they don't get to do it anymore. We leave the fate of some of baseballs greats by a bunch of nerds who have probably never played a sport in their life but they can determine who a hall of famer is, yea that works. Bottom line is until they find a new way to do this we will continue to have legends like Alomar left out because of some stuck up sports writer who has his own agenda, like i said in the title jackasses.

NFL Playoff Predictions--Wild Card Edition

So after all the scratching and clawing we have come to the NFL Playoffs, some of these teams are been playing their best football other have stumbled into the postseason. Lets not waste anymore time here are my picks for the Wild Card Round.

First up the NFC Wild Card Playoff Games.
# 5 Green Bay Packers vs. # 4 Arizona Cardinals
Now in Week 17 the Packers manhandled the Cardinals in Arizona, but i wouldn't read to much into it Kurt Warner only threw 6 passes and it looked more like Arizona just wanting to get into the postseason healthy. With that being said I still like Green Bay in this one. Arizona is just 4-4 at home this season and Green Bay may be one the hottest teams in the NFL. It should be closer but the result will be the same.
PREDICTION: PACKERS 27, CARDINALS 21

# 6 Philadelphia Eagles vs. # 3 Dallas Cowboys
In another Week 17 rematch the Eagles travel back to where the Cowboys just beat them 24-0, but this time the Eagles had something to play for in Week 17, with a win the Eagles would've been the # 2 seed in the NFC. Every time i want to jump on the Cowboys bandwagon i just say to myself no playoff wins since 1996. So part of me says until they do it i wont believe it. Then you look at the Eagles, very playoff experienced team i don't see this being another Dallas blowout.
PREDICTION: EAGLES 24, COWBOYS 21

Now for the AFC Wild Card Predictions
# 5 New York Jets vs. # 4 Cincinnati Bengals
The third rematch of Week 17 pits Cincy and New York and the Jets are coming off a 37-0 beat down of the Bengals, but again looks can be deceiving i don't think the Bengals were really into the game and instead of Cincy traveling to New York the Jets will travel to Cincinnati. Also add in the rookie Quarterback factor, we all saw Joe Flacco as a rookie win 2 playoff games a year ago, but the 09 Jets are not as good as the 08 Ravens were.
PREDICTION: BENGALS 20, JETS 13

# 6 Baltimore Ravens vs. # 3 New England Patriots
Both teams come into this game banged up but none more important than the one to Wes Welker who tore is ACL and MCL there are also reports that Tom Brady has a couple cracked ribs and broken finger. This is yet another rematch of a week 4 thriller that saw New England edge the Ravens 27-21. Ray Rice is the key to the Ravens success if he continues to run the ball well the Ravens will get deep into the Playoffs.
PREDICTION: RAVENS 24, PATRIOTS 20

So there they are going out on a limb a little with the Ravens game but a banged up Tom Brady and no Wes Welker will be huge in that game. Ill be back after the Wild Card Round to give you me Division Round Predictions.