NFC

NFC

This division is much improved from a couple years ago. They could have a couple teams that could turn into potential powerhouses.

NFC West

This division is the worst in the NFC, possibly the worst overall.

Seahawks – Disappointing season, mostly due to the Hasselbeck going down after a completely unnecessary hit in week 2. Also, their offense line is hurt so they can’t really protect of run the ball. Bad mix.

Here is a sidenote real quick. Most people don’t understand the importance of an offensive line. Any quarterback looks bad when he is constantly being hit. They say the way to beat Peyton Manning is to knock him down. That’s because Quarterbacks are scared to get hit, so they will run, be inaccurate, and do anything to avoid the sack. This factors into my quarterback ratings, example: Hasselbeck is a good quarterback, but he is constantly being rushed so he looks worse than he is.

Ok, back to the NFC west

49ers – I like what they’re doing. They need to settle on the quarterback position, is it Smith? Is it Hill? I dunno, but you need consistency, which they currently are lacking. I think their Defense is good, they got a great running game, so they just need to avoid ints and make some pass plays, not a lot, just some.

Rams – They are rebuilding, but look at what’s happened to the Giants defense this year without Spags there! He is good at getting the best out of nothing, and with that said he’s still got one win… I have high hopes for the greatest show on turf to return sooner than later.

Cardinals – Really not a great team, record is inflated. Yes, they went to the superbowl. Yes, they have two All-Pro wide receivers. And yes, their running backs are putting up good numbers. BUT, unlike Miami, they have a really good schedule. They are forced to play St Louis and Seattle twice each, automatic 4 wins for decent teams.

NFC East

Most overrated division. Yes, the teams are all near the same level, but that doesn’t mean it is a great division.

Giants – They can’t get their running game going to the level it was last year. It seems that since they gave Eli that big contract, they want him to go out and be Peyton. But he isn’t Peyton. I’ll give him that he is a good quarterback, but he is closer to 10 than 1 on my top quarterbacks list.

Eagles – I like the Eagles to win the division. I think that since Westbrook (the key receiving target) is hurt, they are going to get away from throwing the ball as much as they do. That means, the offense will be balanced, and the running will warrant attention from defenses so McNabb can then throw to the stunning two young receivers, Maclin and Jackson.

Redskins – Really Redskins, I don’t know what to say. Done.

Cowboys – You’re not that good. Romo will throw interceptions, and can be a rally killer. Roy Williams needs to be the Roy Williams from Detroit that was the only bright spot of the poor team. Also, they need to stop better offenses than the Redskins.

NFC South

Good division. I can see this one as one of the best in football.

Saints – My superbowl pick! Brees, one of the best quarterbacks out there. Best offense in the NFL, and defense playing very very well. Don’t need to say much more than that.

Buccaneers – They are better than their record shows now that they have decided on their QB. They beat the Packers that I consider a very good and underrated team.

Panthers – Now that Delhomme has stopped throwing interceptions, they are finally starting to put together some quality games. Let the running backs run and control the game. This team is similar to the Giants last year.

Flacons – Once Ryan gets out of his sophomore slump, they’ll be good again. With Turner returning, I think they have the potential to be a powerhouse for years to come.

NFC North

I don’t know what to think here. It’s got its ups and downs, except the Lions which are always down.

Lions – Hey, you beat Cleveland!

Bears – Can I just say how much I hate Jay Cutler. I didn’t like him in Denver, and I don’t like him in Chicago. In the Sunday night game, he missed the wide open receivers, and on that last play, threw it to the hands of the defender. Now, why I don’t like him, HE THROWS THE GAME AWAY! LITERALLY! Some will say, he doesn’t have a good line protecting him, and yes I agree. I know above I said that a bad offensive line makes all quarterbacks look bad, but I’m not judging Cutler specifically on this year. Cutler last year had too many ints, and he had a good offensive line. Look at Orton with the same line that Cutler had, can you say Pro-Bowl?

Vikings – Brett Favre retire…. This team is rivaling the Saints for best team in the NFL in my mind

Packers – Possibly the most underrated team out there. Rodgers is a great quarterback, but the line for the Packers is worse than that of the Bears. Yet he puts up better numbers than people like oh, Cutler.

NFC, much improved from a couple years ago, and really got some real good looking spots.

AFC Football Halfway(little more than)

So, I guess it's about time for another once a month entry, since I'm stuck in the Forney Building waiting to be able to sign out of Senior Lab for the day.

So far the NFL as a whole has not disappointed me. Week 11 just finished and I got ratings for each team.

AFC West:
This division has two good teams, two horrible teams, and 2 bags of douche.

Oakland - One bag of Douche in Russell, who is somehow considered a quarterback? The highlight of his career so far was when LSU was playing against Notre Dame in a bowl game. During which, he drew comparisons to Daunte Culpepper, and then fumbled on the next play completing the comparison. I thought this team had a defense? Their offense has been horrible since the super bowl year, but at least their defense was competitive. One of the worst teams to watch...

San Diego - Other Bag of Douche in Phillip Rivers. They still have one of my favorite players in LT, and are starting to play up to potential earlier than normal. As much as I hate Rivers, the amount of talent on this team is astounding, the most talented team in the NFL, which is probably the only reason Norv Turner is able to coach a winning team. However, if i have to hear about how "accurate" Rivers is again, I may puke. He isn't accurate, his smallest receiver was Chris Chambers until he was let go. And Chambers is nearly 6 foot. All his receivers are huge targets that catch anything in the giant wingspans. He's not accurate, the receivers are just that good. It was like how Randy Moss made Culpepper look as good as he did in Minnesota. I know two Culpepper references in two teams, I apologize.

Kansas City - If anything, I think this is the city were good quarterback come to end seasons. Last year Brady went down, and this year Big Ben took a knee to the head. I'm not saying they are dirty, they just have bad luck. Stop making Quarterback rules, and just get rid of Kansas City. Other than that, they had a horrible off season thinking that Cassel was going to be the next Joe Montana. Cassel is decent, but not a top starter that he is getting paid as. Their defense needs some improvement, and the offensive line needs to be redone, but they have potential to be a decent team in the next year or two. I think Herm Edwards actually left a decent team to build around.

Denver - Long live the Neckbeard. I really should leave it at that, but let's look deeper. The defense hasn't been as dominant that past three games as they were the first 6, but they are still a good D. As far as the offense, I am agreeing with Trent Dilfer on ESPN. They need the "Big Play". They are trying to be like the Patriots before Randy Moss. A lot of little passes, very few deep balls. Orton throws a nice deep ball, let him do it! You got two great wide receivers in Marshall and Royal. Denver, in my opinion, got the best part of the Cutler trade. Orton doesn't throw ints, he didn't in Chicago, and he doesn't in Denver. It's a winning receipe. Let them have a couple weeks where they suck, it'll happen. They weren't supposed to get 6 wins all year this year, and look at the now. I like them to have a strong finish and make the playoffs.

AFC South
This division is probably one of the worst in the NFL, minus the Colts.

Colts - Still Perfect 10-0, Manning is having an amazing season playing with a lot of talented rookies. I like the aggressive defense they now have, and really, they can win on almost any level. You may say one win was giftwrapped by the Pats, but Belicheck made the right call with going for it. Bill Simmons has a column about why it was a bad decision, and showed a stat that said teams less than once a season score three TDs in the fourth quarter with the last TD coming from a 60 plus yard drive. Simmons mentions that it happens I belive 5 times in the past 6 years. He doesn't mention that 2 of the 5 was Manning.... Yeah, I'd go for it on 4th and 2 too.

Jags - Overrated, Defense isnt' where it once was, and they rely completely one Maurice Jones-Drew for offense. While he is a great player, no one person can carry a whole offense. Well, no one person not named Peyton Manning or Drew Brees.

Texans - They will be good, but they need some sort of defense. The offense has some guys that I love, Andre Johnson being one of them. However, they can't stop anyone, and the kicker is not consistent, bad trait for a kicker.

Titans - Johnson stands a chance to break Dickerson's season Rushing Record, and I'm really surprised to say that. I'm glad they finally decided to bench Collins, who I've always thought was a poor quarterback, and have gone back to Vince Young. Young isn't pretty when he plays, but he wins. The numbers may not be there, but since when did Collins have good numbers? Key fact, Vince Young wins, can I stress that enough?

Like I said, not the best divison, starting to look up, be unless you're the Colts, you're not going to the playoffs.

AFC North

Pittsburgh - I Don't like that they are relying on Big Ben, and not the Run and Defense formula they've used for ummm 40 years. With that said, if Ben comes back from that concussion, I see wild card, and a possible playoff run.

Cincinatti - I've always liked Palmer, and Ochocinco. The year they had that "Who-Dey" song that was annoying as no other their defense was what won them games. They are back to that, so I like them. Most likely the devision winners.

Baltimore - What happened??? You have a good rushing attack, and a guy that can throw the football further than anyone in the league! Also, you defense is still one of the best in the league. Run it, Gun it, win. I expect them to have a strong second half, but no playoffs....

Browns - Well, they won the battle of "Who is the worst team in the NFL" by loosing to the Lions... Congratulations... I thought Mangini was a good coach, and got the raw deal in NY because of his ego... Anyway, this team is a trainwreck, except I can look away.

AFC East
They division started out looking like it could be great, then fell so far....

Miami - No Ronnie Brown for the rest of the season, and they are relying on Chad Henne. I actually like them to make a wild card run, but it's not going to be easy, they have had a horrible schedule.

Patriots - They're back... Get ready for a Playoff run. The weakest thing about them is their running game, which has always been week. As long as they attempt to run, I think they'll work just fine.

Bills - I think the best way to describe this team is wtf? They seem to just be going in circles... look good, look bad, look decent, look bad, look good, and a loss to the Cleveland Browns? I would have fired Jauron as soon as the Cleveland game ended, no clue how he kept it as long as he did.

Jets - No playoffs this year... I liked the start, but I thought that Sanchez would start playing like a rookie around the 5th game. I was right, and the Jets are showing good potential for the future, but not this year. Rebuilding, but competitive, I like it. Btw, THROW IT TO KELLER!!!




Anyway, NFC to follow later.

Second Round Playoffs

Ok, I'm 1-3 in my playoff predictions, my only winner was the Yankees....

With that said, I did pick some teams that were down in a 2-0 hole. Since no games have started yet, I'm throwing in my Picks.

Yankees vs Angels

You hear about the Angels being on a mission, playing with emotion, etc. Yes, they are, and it is a good motivator. Also, you hear about the Angels having the Yankees number. Again, yes, but these are not the reasons that the Angels stand a chance. They have great starting pitching, much better than I gave them credit for before. I think the entire series will depend on Lackey vs Sabathia. If Lackey gets the win, then Weaver will pitch like he did against Boston with no pressure on him, and then Kazmir will pitch well because he is familiar with the Yankees. With this said, I am still picking the Yankees to win this. They are too good. Phil Hughes wasn't stellar in his set up role, but I'm sure his butterflies have settled for now, and if A-Rod can continue to produce in the post season, there really is no breathing room in that line-up.

Prediction: Yankees in 5 games

Dodgers and Phillies

Small analysis here, basing it off the Managers, gotta go with Torre over Manuel. Dodgers have the better pitching, and a potent offense. The Phillies needed collapses from the Rockies Bullpen to win, and their starters while good, weren't stellar.

Prediction Dodgers Sweep

Playoffs Round One

Baseball Playoffs: GET EXCITED!

My Mets, were not statistically eliminated till September, but we all knew that since August they didn't have a snowball's chance in hell. I say, "we all" because everyone in the world but me believed this by July, and when I started not believing in August we had a quorum.

Anyway, onto the teams that earned a spot.
First Match-up in the NL
Dodgers vs Cardinals
Two games have been played already, Dodgers are up 2-0. Now, this gives them an advantage, and Manny isn't hitting well, yet, which also gives them a chance, because we know in the past he has turned in on. Ask any Cubs fan about last year where he hit a homerun off a ball that nearly hit his shoestrings.
I still want to give the Cardinals a chance in this one though. Mostly because they have two of my favorite players, Holliday and DeRosa. Also, these guys were the biggest portion of last year's "What the hell are you doing?!?!" moves last offseason. As in, "Colorado, you let one of your franchise players get away!" and with the Cubs "Oh, we moved DeRosa, let's add to the Laundry list of bad moves Hendry has made this year." There is still the Pujols factor, ask Brad Lidge about that one.


Rockies vs Phillies

God I hate the Phillies.... Cliff Lee was good in Game one, and pretty boy Cole Hamels couldn't be the pitcher he was last year. Hmm, I wonder why? Manuel really doesn't know how to space out his starters like he did last year. You're throwing Lee one day and Hamels the next? They are similar pitching styles, you basically gave them a 7 inning preview of what they were going to see the next day.
I know they want to have their lefties pitch more because of Colorado's history against lefties, but you need to have some sort of variation in starters regardless. Because of this and a huge hatred for the Phillies, and the city of Philadelphia itself, I pick the Rockies

On to the Alternate League, I mean American.... Stupid DH

Angels vs Red Sox
Lester got beat against Lackey last night for Game 1. Well, the Angels are too good a team to not win one. They however need to turn around and beat Beckett, and the Red Sox have to beat Weaver. Advantage Red Sox Big time. The Angels have deeper Starting Pitching, tilts the tables for them, a little. I still think the Red Sox have the better top 3 Starters that can go on short rest and they also have a known powerful offense. Let's face it, Torii Hunter is good, but Vald has fallen a bit, so I don't think the Angels can keep up.
Short but sweet, my pick is the Red Sox

Yankees vs Twins
Twins got in last minute, unfortunately, I had Detroit making the playoffs. The twins have mediocre starting pitching, but an offense that can rally. They have possibly the best closer on the planet in Joe Nathan, and one of the leagues best hitters in Joe Mauer. However, they are missing the Morneau.
The Yankees are the Yankees, they won 103 games. They're good. Top offense, which isn't good for the Twins where their best starting pitcher won 15 games. It pains me to say this, but especially without Morneau the Yankees are in position to sweep. I think the Yankees best Pitching is CC, the Pettite, then Burnett, and it really doesn't matter from there, because the 4th pitcher is going to face the other teams 4th, and in a battle of mediocre pitchers the team that can hit the long ball wins, advantage Yankees.
Also, ringing on a point from above with the Phillies and Rockies. Notice, Pettite's postseason experience and success would have him as one of the top two pitchers for the Yankees, but Girardi is pitching Burnett in game two. Even though CC and Pettite are two different types of Lefty pitchers, Girardi sees the need to mix up Left/Right/Left. Ah, someone who understands the game.

Mets

It iss very sad to see my team this week. If they had given up only one run in 4 games this week, they would have still lost! It is embarrassing, and now we traded a .280 left handed bat, that has a gold glove in the outfield for what? A gold glover that is hitting .230? Great, while the Mets need more defense, they desperately need offense.

It is pathetic, Santana is 9-7 with an ERA at 3. He had three bad starts, one where he gave up 9 runs in 4 innings, and two others where he gave up 4 runs. Those should be his 3 defeats, he has had a couple no decisions because of lack of an offense, and when he only gives up one or two runs he gets no offensive support.... It is horrible...

Basically, I realize that the mets are injured and are putting basically a minor league roster out to play everyday, but as a fan it's definitely frustrating. They should be up in the division instead of being blanked by the 5th starter(Blanton) on a team that doesn't have pitching(Phillies)...

LeBron

I hate how the top story for today is about LeBron allegedly telling Ariza that he is staying in Cleveland, and then coming back and saying that he didn't. You can't trust either reports. LeBron will never come out fully and say he is staying in Cleveland until he signs his name on that contract. He wants to put pressure on Cleveland to improve the team so he can win a championship, but also is making it so they give him top dollar while doing it. But, back to the reports, LeBron saying to Ariza, "I'm gonna stay in Cleveland" is like Tommy Lee going on a first date and saying, "I don't have Hepititis"

Wedding

I love weddings, there is always something going on.

I once wondered what they do behind the scenes, and I saw it. The Groomsmen all joke around and play Uno. Plain and simple.

Funny notes from Matt's wedding:

1) The ring bearer was a very shy 5 year old. He was scared by the 6'5" Jason, and almost popped himself.

2) During the ceremony he was too shy to walk down, so he sprinted. Then fell to the ground before he got to the end of the Aisle, and started posing for the camera. When he was rushed to keep going, he started to swim on land and yell, "I'm a turtle."

3) The Flower girl dropped too many flowers before she got to the rows with people there, and ran back to get more.

4) Night before the wedding, Jason orders a strawberry Daquirie.

5) Before we were introduced at the reception Jason was told he was a girl by the introducer, he didn't know about Jason's affinity for girly drinks.

6) Jason showed up to the brunch in just his tux vest and jacket because he puked on himself and ruined his shirt.