I hope everyone had a great Christmas and was able to be with your family and friends for the holidays. Personally, it's my favorite time of the year as I am able to spend precious time with my family and friends, both far and near, that I love so much. It really doesn't get any better than that. Every single minute is valued and I couldn't ask for a better family, and friends. Thank you all for being a part of my life, you all know who you are. I hope everyone has a fantastic New Years weekend as well. Be safe! On a side note, what is wrong with the state of Vermont and it's roads?? My god. I don't want to hear about the "Safe Driving" garbage that I hear everyone saying Vermont promotes rather than actually clearing the roads and providing those safe driving conditions for us! It's absolutely unbelievably unreal how much of a difference the roads are just by crossing a state line. Spend some money for crying out loud! We have to sacrifice our hard earned dollars every week to the state and I'm assuming you can find a way to make it work. Either way, everyone be safe and enjoy your New Years!
The College Football Bowl Season is in full swing now and this weekend we will begin to see more of the big time bowls. I know my eyes will be glued to the television when these games are going on. It's a good thing there are no games on Sunday as I will be with a group of friends in Foxboro watching the Pats clinch a first round bye. Yes, I said it (See Friday's Forecasts Forecasts For The Weekend In Sports Below). Houston has fallen off the face of the planet and will lose to Indianapolis in Coach Chuck Pagano's first game back. Congratulations to Coach Pagano by the way with his fight against leukemia. He has literally lifted an entire organization with his heart and courage during his fight against this awful disease. I wish him the best of luck down the road. A true warrior. I don't see Denver losing to Kansas City at home especially since they will know that Houston has already lost because Houston is playing at 1:00 and Denver is at 4:25. This will clinch the #1 seed for Denver and the #2 seed for New England. I have a hard time saying this but I actually hope Minnesota makes the playoffs. First off, AP deserves it. That dude deserves every award in the book this year. The only one that could be up for grabs is the comeback player of the year award which I'll talk about in a bit. Second off, i absolutely HATE the Dallas Cowboys and everything about them. If they get in, I'm am going to be absolutely ticked right off. It's so sad that a Super Bowl Defending Champion in the New York Giants can't take care of business all year long and let a team this pathetic slip right in and control their own destiny to the playoffs. Now, it's against a Washington team, who I believe is better, but knowing my luck, Dallas will win. THAT will be embarrassing to the rest of the NFC. Dallas is awful. The only thing we have going for us Dallas-haters is the fact that they ARE designed to mess things up, and this could be another epic stage for them to do so. Man, I would love that. We shall see, knowing the NFL, and how strange things happen all the time, the Giants will slip in after the Vikings, Cowboys, and Bears all lose! I would also hate that, not as much as Dallas getting in, but close, because they have no business being in the playoffs either. They don't deserve it. I don't care that you smoked San Francisco and Green Bay, who are both in. It's the teams you failed to show up against all year because you had the attitude that "we're the New York Giants, defending Super Bowl Champs, there's no way we ain't getting back to the playoffs, don't worry about it we'll turn it on when we need to." Garbage. I hate when teams take the attitude that they're just going to be good because the teams before them we're fifty times better than the team they are presently. I love it when the reality sets in and shows those teams that isn't the case. This is the Giants this year. Now that I've spouted my mouth off, watch one of these teams get in. It will be disgusting.
Now that I've gotten my Cowboys and Giants bashing on the way it's on to another heated debate that's been brewing up over the last few weeks between a lot of my friends and nationally. Who should win the NFL's Comeback Player Of The Year Award? This year has been very special for Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson. Both have had major injuries, and both have had unbelievable seasons for both of their teams. If there was ever a year to have a Co-Winner it would be this year. Both sides have so many legitimate points, stats, and arguments to make about each player being more deserving. It, to me, is a tie. I truly can't pick one without wanting the other one. It's too even for me. Both injuries were career threatening. Both players have unbelievable stats. Both players have clearly led their teams all year long. Both players have the total respect throughout the entire league. Every time that I have thought that I have chosen one or the other I have came up with a reason why the other one should win it. It's a never ending argument. Being a fan of a debate, I can't believe that I am giving up on trying to come up with an answer for this question! I would have no problem seeing one winning the MVP and the other winning the Comeback Player Of The Year as long as everyone understands that essentially that still means they are Co-Winners of both. Even that makes me change my mind again haha. Plain and simple, they both deserve it, and congratulations to both on a spectacular season so far, and more importantly, being healthy again.
In NBA news, it's pretty safe to say that the Clippers are for real. 15 straight wins now after throttling the C's last night. Those guys are no longer just a dunking show in LA. They can play. I have no doubt that they will continue to be a top team in the league for the rest of the year. How about one of my favorite coaches in the league getting fired in Avery Johnson? WAY too early. I personally don't think Brooklyn is THAT good yet anyways. Yes they started off 11-4 and have gone 3-10 since. But they're not THAT good yet. Yes, they have tons of money and automatically think they should be THAT good. But they're not THAT good yet. Any team that has Joe Johnson on their team and is relying on him to be a superstar and go to guy the entire season (including the playoffs) is completely out of their minds. That guy is one of the most overrated players in the NBA, if not the most overrated. Then they have Kris Kardashian. Are you kidding me?? Brook Lopez is OK. Obviously Deron Williams is good. But word is, that Deron Williams has a rap for getting coaches fired that he doesn't like. Look at what happened in Utah, and now Brooklyn. Even Charles Barkley and Shaq called him out on it last night on TNT. Williams continues to say that he never wanted it to happen. Then he goes on to say that he knew it was coming for Johnson. WHAT?! Are you serious? Who are you to step up and say you knew the coach was getting fired when you are playing on one of the most overrated teams in the NBA who started off 11-4 under Coach Johnson?? If it wasn't for Avery Johnson you would probably be 10-18, if that. As Barkley said last night, "It's time for you to put up or shut up." As Shaq said, "My advice to him is to look in the mirror and see if he's doing enough." Think about that "D-Will" from a Hall of Famer and a future Hall of Famer. Interesting enough, the rumor is that the Nets are looking to sign Phil Jackson. First off, be ready to pay big dollars. 15 million a year minimum is what Coach Jackson will want. No worries there, that's chump change for new Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov. Second off, sources are saying Jackson is not interested at this time but we all know how that goes. Regardless, way too early to get rid of Avery Johnson. He will find a job for the remainder of this year as an analyst at either ESPN, TNT, or somewhere because he's good at that too. There is no doubt in my mind that he finds another coaching job in the NBA, and very soon too.
Friday's Forecasts For The Weekend In Sports:
1. New England wins and covers 10 points, Houston loses, and Denver wins giving New England the #2 Seed In the AFC Playoffs.
2. Atlanta, NYJ, Baltimore, Detroit, Tennessee, Indianapolis, New Orleans, NYG, Pittsburgh, Denver, Minnesota, New England, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington. 11-5 or better wins, 10-6 or worse loses. Since these are my picks, these will be the standings to end out the year:
AFC - 1. Denver, 2. New England, 3. Houston, 4. Baltimore, 5. Indianapolis, 6. Cincinnati
NFC - 1. Atlanta, 2. San Francisco, 3. Green Bay, 4. Washington, 5. Seattle, 6. Minnesota
3. Adrian Peterson will eclipse the 2,000 yard mark but will fall short of Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record. He will not care as Minnesota will upset Green Bay and make the playoffs.
4. In what seems to be the only meaningful game in NCAA Basketball this weekend, Louisville win beat arch rival Kentucky by double digits on Saturday.
5. We have to put how the Cowboys will lose against Washington because I really do think Washington is better and will win, but it will be because the Cowboys mess something up late. So here's why: Dallas will be winning 21-10 going into the 4th quarter (let's say winning by 11 going into the fourth to be fair to me). Washington will score early in the fourth to make it and go for two, convert, and make it a three point game. They will exchange possessions throughout the remainder of the game until there is 1:45 seconds to go. Tony Romo will act all confident even though he did nothing and played to not lose instead of win and settle for a 40 yard plus field goal. Dallas up six. Washington will then be held to a fourth and fourteen play with 30 seconds to go four yards short of the midfield line, and RGIII and company will convert with a 44 yard pass for a first down to the Dallas ten yard line. The Cowboys will then fall apart (well they already have at this point giving up the pass) and Washington will score on the next play with an RGIII pass or rush himself into the end zone with just under 10 seconds to go. The Cowboys will then have one last chance to run one back and fumble with Washington covering it up and winning the game, 25-24. THIS ending would make my day, weekend, night, season, and YEAR if this was to happen!
On that note, I hope everyone has a great weekend. There may be a blog posting this weekend since there is so much going on in the sports world this weekend. Let's hope those forecasts become true!
