Sports March 27, 2011

Baseball season is right around the corner. Like in every sport, there usually is a or two team that falls from playoff contention. I think that team this year will be the Rays. There are in a very tough division with the Yankees and Red Sox. The Red Sox added some key players this offseason, and the Yankees are always good. Baltimore also got better, and the Blue Jays can definitely hit. The Rays also lost a lot of key players. They lost Carl Crawford, their speedster and a good part of their defense, Carlos Pena, a very good defender and power hitter, Rafael Soriano, their closer, Jason Bartlet, their shortstop, and Matt Garza, a frontline starter. They did add Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez, but two veteran outfielders way past their primes cannot help you very much. They do have some good young prospects and Joe Maddon will still have them in contention, but I think they lost too many pieces and only two AL East teams can make the playoffs anyway.

A team that didn't make the playoffs the last year usually makes the playoffs the next year. I think that team is the Cardinals. Despite losing their ace Adam Wainright, the Cardinals still have a very deep rotation. They also have one of the better offences in the NL because, other than the Phillies, there are very few elite offensive teams in the National League. I think they will finish fourth in that category, behind the Phillies, the Brewers, and the Rockies. Albert Pujols and Matt Holiday solidify that lineup. Colby Rasmus should also hit well for them. Ryan Theriot at the top of their lineup should provide a boost. They also have a solid bullpen, and in a weaker division, the best team only won 85 games last year, they should have little trouble making the playoffs. Then again, that's what they said last year...

I believe Evan Longoria will win the AL MVP. He has had some solid seasons and has proven he is an elite player. Even if the Rays don't make the playoffs, he will keep them in contention and will have a strong season. Jon Lester of the Red Sox will win the Cy Young as the Red Sox will rebound and he will be at the forefront. Buster Posey will win the NL MVP because of his success last year and he will be one of the few hitters in a pitching heavy Giants team. Zack Greinke will win the NL Cy Young. Because he will miss the early parts of the season, his superior numbers later on will stand out more.

Sports March 13, 2011

Is there really going to be a lockout in the NFL? I still can't imagine not watching football on a Sunday in the fall. Can't they just come to an agreement? I know the business end of the game and the money there is to be made, but don't you sometimes feel they get a little too greedy? Don't they realize that if they don't come to an agreement, they not only will lose revenues for one year, they will also lose much of their credibility and brand image. That will multiply their problems, and it might take a miracle to bring most fans back.

Even if there is no football season, the free agent market this year should be interesting. Several big players are hitting the market. I think one guy that will definitely get the short end of the stick is Antonio Cromartie. Even if Cromartie is a legitimate corner, he might have difficulty finding a job. The Jets don't really need him after they drafted Kyle Wilson, and he isn't the best corner available. Frankly, he is not quite the player that picked Manning off three times. Defensive backs are pretty hard to come by, but most of the elite teams seem to have one or two corners they really like. For a guy that doesn't tackle well, Cromartie might not end up on a playoff caliber team.

Sports January 23, 2011

You have one of the best running backs of all time, you're on the opposing one yard line, and you throw the football? That's what the Jets did, and it might have cost them the game. You have to like LT's chances to get 1 yard on atleast 2 carriers, even if it is against a very strong Steelers defense. Instead of passing on 2nd and 3rd down, like the Jets did, running on those 2 downs would have helped them more than being stuck with running on 4th down. Say they scored the touchdown there, and got no safety. The score is now 24-17 Steelers. The Jets have all the momentum, stop the Steelers, and get the ball back. They continue to drive down the field as they had been, and get a touchdown, like they did. The score is now tied at 24. The Steelers have to throw, don't score, give the ball back to the Jets. The Jets have multiple timeouts, and win the game. Now, the Jets are going to the Superbowl, and not the Steelers.

What about Caleb Hane? No one thought the Bears would do anything, they were down 2 scores and were yet to score. Yet, Hane, the 3rd Bears' quarterback, came in and did what Jay Cutler, the quarterback they paid so dearly for, and Todd Collins, the wily veteran, could not. That is score. Hane led two touchdown drives, and brought the Bears back in contention. He also out threw Cutler and Collins combined in 1 quarter of play. Even if his effort wasn't enough for a win, he still managed to bring some life into the game. He might not be the Bears' future, but his services might be required by several teams that could be a quarterback away from a playoff run, say the 9ers or the Vikings. Don't be surprised if a move is made to acquire him, and Hane leads the charge into the playoffs.

A Packers vs. Steelers super bowl could be intriguing. Both teams have solid defenses, but I think it will turn into a shootout, especially if the game is close in the 4th quarter. The Packers' defense showed holes in the running game against Matt Forte this week, as he was able to make some gains on the ground in the 4th quarter. This also made it possible for Hane to make gains through the air. Rashard Mendanhall, the Steelers' running back, had a big game against the Jets this week. Even if the Packers do have a strong secondary, they may become vulnerable to Big Ben leaving the pocket and throwing the ball downfield. On the other hand, Aaron Rodgers has proven to be a great quarterback this postseason, and has made several big plays. The Packers receivers, especially Greg Jennings, have been very strong as well. If there are any holes in that very strong Steelers defense, its definitely in their secondary. The Jets managed to find many holes in them in the second half, taking most of their possessions deep into Steeler territory. I think the Packers' passing game will prevail as it often has, and the Packers will take home the Lomardy trophy with a 27-24 victory, with most of the points coming in the fourth quarter.

Did the NFL really change the Pro Bowl to be before the Super Bowl, and not after it? Why would you do something like that? Don't you want the best players to play? The Steelers' Defense came through with another strong showing this year, don't you want them to play in the Pro Bowl? What about the lethal Packers' offense? I don't know if the profit returns are any higher, but now that some of the best players in this league are not going to play simply because the game is before the Super Bowl and have to prepare, why not make it the week after the Super Bowl.

Sports December 5, 2010

Football is a team sport. This is especially visible in the Colts this season. Despite having Petyon Manning, possibly the single best player in the NFL today, they still have struggled to win games and are second in their division to the Jaguars. Injuries have hit them hard, and several of Manning's receivers are out for a long time. I believe they are no longer the dominant team they were before without many of their players. As they have struggled to give Manning help, they are no longer the offense that dominates teams. Sure Manning will make them competitive, but they will still miss the playoffs to a Jaguars.

With the Vikings season pretty much over, I think they should bench Brett Farve and start Tarvaris Jackson. They have already fired their head coach, and Farve is too old to be a long term solution. The quaterback problem will definitely be addressed in the offseason, but they should give Jackson a shot before they make any move for a quarterback. When Farve went out in today's game, they had their highest offensive output this season under Jackson. Jackson was also their future before they acquired Farve. Even if Jackson doesn't do well, the season is lost, and then you would know Jackson is not future, and that another quarterback would be necessary.

The Nationals are one of those teams who are hardly ever in contention and attempt to make a big splash by signing a big name free agent but never do. Well, they finally did this season by signing outfielder Jayson Werth. The Nationals over the last couple season have had a solid batting order with the likes of Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn. Despite the loss of Dunn, the addition of Werth should offset that. Plus, Werth is a better defender. I believe the move to get Werth was huge for the Nationals, and if their starting pitching improves, they may be able to compete for a postseason berth.

Sports November 21, 2010

Titan's QB Vince Young has a cannon for an arm and can run with the best of them. However, the only thing he lacks is consistency. After winning rookie of the year a few years ago and being the madden cover boy, we was benched the next season. He managed to win his job back the season after that, but has lost it again this year. VY suffered a thumb injury, and was replaced today in the second half by Rusty Smith. Titan's coach Jeff Fisher said the benching was permanent. Looking ahead, I think the Titans are better off without Young, and should try to get value for him. He has proven that he is not a long term solution, and the Titans will need more consistent quarterback play. If Rusty Smith doesn't work out, the Titans will have to revaluate their quarterback position before they can compete again.

Sports November 14, 2010

I don't think anyone thought anything of the Browns coming into this season, or anything of Cleveland sports at all. Cleveland was more or less drained of star power after LeBron left, and the entire city was doomed right? Wrong. The Browns have since pulled off huge upsets against the Saints and Patriots, and took the Jets to overtime only to lose in the last minute. On top of that, Peyton Hillis has stepped up and been a huge player for the Browns this season. I think this had to have happened at some point. It's next to impossible for a city with three professional sports to all lose that badly. The Indians were downright miserable in baseball, and the Cavs just lost LeBron in basketball. It can't be all bad. All the years the other Bay Area sports teams were bad, the Sharks were solid. The same can be said for Houston. The Rockets have been more or less constant, making the playoffs and not making the playoffs almost consistently, but the Astros have turned bad to make way for the Texans.

Sports November 7, 2010

In every game, officiating is always in question. It naturally should be, as contraversial calls are part of the game. However, some calls are plain crazy. I know they always try their best, and officials want the game to go more smoothly than anybody, but interpreting rules sometimes does not happen. If officials were meant to just read off a rule, then we mush as well use robots instead of people. But officials are people, and they should be able to use their intellect and logic to determine if the rule applies to what happened on the field. Of course there will be a lot of opinion involved, and some calls might not be right, but after a while, similar plays will show up. At that point, an accepted logic for how to apply the rule comes in, and the call by the official should be relatively simple. Since most proffessional sports have been around for a while, these calls should be pretty easy to make. However, leagues only seem to put many new rules in the play book. Of course some rules need revision, and some need to be added, but it becomes pretty confusing if the accepted logic for what a call should be changes every few years. I think sports leagues should stop adding new rules and changing old ones unless it is absolutely necessary. They should instead focus on developing knowledge for how the rules are to be interpreted, so there is an accepted logic for how a rule works, simplifying the jobs of official. It will also make calls from game to game more consistent.