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.

Sports October 31, 2010

This World Series has just become more exciting. After the two Giants routes, the Rangers came back and took game 3 at home. If they win tonight, they will have tied the series, and have Cliff Lee back for game 5. I think the Giants should have won game 3, or atleast played it like a game 7. If they won, then they will have the Rangers backed up, and not have to face Cliff Lee again with a win today. However, they let the Rangers back in and gave them a chance knowing their ace will pitch another game. True Lee might have come out of the bullpen anyway, but by that point they could have a lead to work with. I still think the Giants have the edge, as they really only made one bad pitch to Mitch Moreland.

Who thought the Chiefs would be an elite team in the AFC? With a win today they are 5-2, and in contention for a first round bye. Who saw this coming? Their running game is solid, and Cassel has made the throws he has had to make to win these games. They have shown a steady consistency for the most part of the season, and can get a playoff spot pretty easily. Look for them to stake their claim this season, and maybe take it all the way.

Sports October 25, 2010

How about the underdogs in baseball this year. Most people expected it to be another Yankees Phillies World Series, but the Rangers and Giants both came up big when they needed to to win their series. I think the Rangers are the better team right now and are going to win the World Series. Their entire lineup hit well against the Yankees. I know the Giants have a better pitching staff, but the Rangers bats are on fire. Their front line starters also matchup with the Giants starters. The Giants will also have to score some runs, as they have only scored more than four runs once this post season. However, the Rangers will win it this year.

The Cowboys have had a very disappointing year. They were expected to compete for the Super Bowl at the start of the season. That's all gone now with a 1-4 start. I think its over for them. Wade Phillips is the only coach in that division who has not been to a Super Bowl as the head coach. Tony Romo is the fifth best QB in that division (with the two Eagles quarterbacks). They also have no running game. If the lose to the Giants on Monday, some serious changes will have to be made, or Wade Phillips might be out of a job.

Sports October 17, 2010

The Yankees are the better team in the ALCS. They have better starting pitching than the Rangers, a deeper lineup, and so far a better bullpen. Yet, if they keep giving up runs like they have been in the beginning of games, its going to be a long series. The magic that happened in game 1 can't happen everyday. They need to get better starting pitching. I think the only issue was the long layover. They will correct it later in the series. Watch for the Yankees to be in the World Series, again.

What's up with the NFL this year. Can no team stay consistent? The Chiefs won three in a row, then lost 2. The bears also won 3 in row, and have since gone 1-2. The Giants went 1-2, then have won 3. This is what comes of free agency. Players move so often, its hard to build consistency. The Patriots dynasty will be the last for a long time if this keeps up. Every team might just go 8-8 this year. Then what? They play another 16 games to see what will happen? If one team can step up and sustain a long winning streak, in either conference, they will almost certainly get a first round by. Look for teams, like the Jets and Giants, who have long winning streaks to gain momentum for the playoffs.