The month of January might have gotten off to a slow start when it comes to complete douchebags but it certainly took an upswing during the closing weeks. Week 1: Chris Burke - Wanna know how to force your step mother into a divorce. First you need your step father to be the coach of a big time college football team. Second you need to sucker him into having you on the sidelines working some job he made up for you. And finally you need to run out onto the field and get a crucial penalty in a Bowl Game. What a moron. Week 2: The Ohio State University - Two straight years you tease us with your explosive starts only to be completely out of the game by the 4th quarter. Why must you be completely outclassed by the SEC, why must you win all of your cupcake games and not lose to the likes of Stanford like USC. Must you punish college football fans by winning all of the winnable games but getting pummeled by the superior squads in the Title game? Week 3: Greg Paulus - The Brazilian Soccer player of College Basketball. King of the flop with horrible acting included. Pretending to get punched in the face when a guy taps your shoulder is incredibly lame. Needless to say I don't think anyone would be incredibly disappointed if Florida St. did in fact punch Greg Paulus in the face. It's one thing to be a scrappy annoying player like Wojo was in his day, it's another thing when you are a scrappy annoying player who attempts to cheat. Week 4: The Ultimate Warrior - I'm really not surprised that the Ultimate Warrior is a scumbag, but to these depths? Seriously? Dude he wasn't even gay he just played a gay man, what the hell does that have to do with parenting? Plus you can be opposed to the idea of homosexuality that's fine it's your opinion, but does it seriously make that big of a difference in raising a child. And he wasn't even gay anyway. Ugh so stupid. Get Your Vote On December's Winner: Stephen A Smith

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Breakin it Down is usually 5 key stories plus a pick for each postseason game. But for the Super Bowl we'll do 5 keys for the Giants and Pats and a post for what I think will occur.

Twice Rotten?

Can the Golden Boy have two bad playoff games in a row? Obviously him having a poor game like AFC Title game will give the Giants a much better opportunity to win the football game. But with two weeks of rest and on the biggest stage, hoping that Tom Brady has a poor game probably isn't the best game plan.

Pound the Rock

Given that the Patriots have arguably the best quarterback in the history of Pro Football it wouldn't be dumb if they decided to just throw the ball on every down. However, if Laurence Maroney can rush for over 100 yards like he has done in each of the playoff games than the Patriots will be absolutely unstoppable. Any 3rd and shorts Tom Brady is going to pick up.

Bring Out the Manning Face Early

Is Eli a changed quarterback with tremendous confidence? I feel as if everybody is over hyping Eli now after being too critical much of the season. If the Patriots can hit Eli a few times early or better yet force a turnover or two in the first quarter it's very foreseeable that Manning shits the bed for the rest of the game.

Frustrate Plaxico

If there is one Me player left on the current Giants roster it's Plaxico Burress. He's the only remaining player who if he doesn't get the ball will come back into the huddle and start bitching while Eli is talking. If the Pats can rough up Plaxico and double him early in the game and limit his touches early there is a good chance that Plaxico will get frustrated and begin yapping. However, if Plaxico makes a few early catches his confidence will start to build both through his play and all the yapping he will do towards the Pats DBs. Limiting Plaxico early will pay big time dividends for the Patriots.

Just Play Your Game

You can talk all the keys for Pats victory you want. But the #1 thing the Pats need to do is just play their game. They are about to become the best team in the history of the planet because they are superbly coached and have superb talent and a superior cohesiveness. In order for the Patriots to lose this weekend they are going to have to do something wrong something out of the normal. Whether that be Brady playing poorly, a few costly turnovers, the offensive line playing poorly for the first time, or the defense completely collapsing. The Patriots need to do something out of character to lose the game.

Personally I'm not much of a vanity license plate or bumper sticker guy. I feel as if in most scenarios it opens you up to ridicule. You pay money for people to make fun of you, genius.

For instance today was so classic I needed to pull out my phone and take a picture. I am driving into work and pull behind a white station wagon. I had seen this station wagon before, really how can you miss a license plate that says "SAVES" with a a big Jesus bumper sticker on the bumper. But today I noticed something extra. A beautiful #24 Jeff Gordon Sticker in the window. Thus the three words "JESUS SAVES JEFF GORDON" or "JEFF GORDON SAVES JESUS" if you prefer immortalizing a NASCAR driver as the hero of Christianity.


This car should be shown to anyone that ever buys and applies a bumper sticker on their car.

Breakin it Down is usually 5 key stories plus a pick for each postseason game. But for the Super Bowl we'll do 5 keys for the Giants and Pats and a post for what I think will occur.

Be Special

Domenik Hixon was special during their first matchup. He obviously had the touchdown return which pulled the momentum back to New York but the rest of his returns were dynamic as well. Additionally any time the Giants are forced to punt it is key that the king of the Coffin Corner nails it down in the red zone. The Giants absolutely need their special teams to outperform the Patriots to win this game.

Thunder & Lightning

Ron Dayne and loudmouth Tiki Barber never fulfilled the Thunder and Lightning trademark. Mostly because Ron Dayne hit up the donut shop daily and had love handles like a defensive tackle. Regardless, the Giants now have put together two second day draft picks to assemble what they couldn't in the past. They have the bruising Juggernaut built like a defensive end in Jacobs. And then they have the smallish might mouse running back in Bradshaw. In the first matchup Jacobs played well but Bradshaw sat the game out. This weekend the combo could potentially put them over the top.

Stop Stupid Kevin Faulk and Wes Welker

Everyone seems to focus on Moss when playing the Patriots. This is understandable as he can score a touchdown on every single play. But the two players that somehow always get lost in the shuffle are the two players that Brady consistently looks for when he needs a clutch 3rd down conversion. If you set up a zone D than Welker is going to find that hole. If you man up on and pay close attention on Welker than Faulk will deceptively make it look as if he is staying in protection only to slip out of the backfield for a 1st down reception. The Giants need to get the Patriots off the field on third down like they did to the Packers in order to win the game.

Pressure Mr. God with 4

The Giants defensive line has been given a lot of praise for only coming up with 4 sacks in the last 4 games. But sacks are not everything as was seen during the 4th quarter of the Cowboys game. Despite not sacking Romo often the Giants hit him on every play and forced him to throw before he wanted to or without the necessary space to step into the throw. This is what the Giants front 4 needs to do. The Giants can't blitz consistently or Wes Welker will wind up with 13 catches and 13 first downs. The Giants front 4 are by far the most important piece of the team come Sunday evening.

Hit a Big Play

Plaxico Burress has a big time advantage over anyone who lines up against him this weekend. He's fast, he's athletic and he's much much bigger than the Patriots cornerbacks. In the first game Burress had two tds plus a huge 52 yard catch at the start of the game as well as the phantom no interference call. I'd imagine the Patriots focus much of their attention on Burress but on those plays when he is singled up the Giants need to take advantage.

So my buddy at work is a Ranger/Knick fan and occasionally gets deals for both sent to his inbox. Today he got one such deal from the Knickerbockers. 2 Tickets & Free food for $22 bucks. That's 11 bucks a piece to go to an NBA game and get their crappy food for in essence going to Panera Bread for dinner and getting a cookie afterwards. The Knicks are desperate.

In edition the Knicks apparently aren't to adept at looking at the NBA standings. Is 4 tickets and food plus 'yearbooks' and 'cheer styx' for 4 different games at 99 bucks. The kicker is that one of these games is against the New Orleans Hornets. The same Hornets who are currently leading the Western Conference. Yep, that's a shitty team that no one will want to see.

Update: For those that like killing me for my typical typos, atleast I don't get paid for the stuff I do, unlike the person that falsely identified Fred Jones as Nate Robertson when captioning the picture.

The Heat losing by 30 to the Celtics on the surface makes sense. The Celtics have the best record the Heat have the 2nd worst. But when you find out Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett didn't play and Paul Pierce only had 7 points, seriously?

~Leon Powe has scored 94 total points this season. 94 and that is after the 25 he dropped last night.

~Scalabrine started again and had a +/- which isn't good for the Scalabrine watch.

~Chris Quinn was the only Heat player to have a positive +/- and he didn't score at all.

~Tony Allen had a ridiculous +32 almost matching him on the poor side was D Wade with -25.

~When Mark Blount is your player of the game you know your team blows.

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I wonder if this kid ever realized that he could have in fact kicked the pole with his foot and avoid the nut crunch. Oh well, God probably thought he didn't deserve children anyway.

New rule here, if it can expand the children in pain category than it can have its own post and does not need to wait for the Blowout on Friday.

Courtesy of the Duece

As a follow up to Conference Championship Game Post, I'm going to do a bit of analysis on the construction of the Super Bowl Rosters.

Top Conferences Represented in the Super Bowl

1. SEC (23) - New York Giants (8) New England Patriots (13)

2. ACC (17) - New York Giants (13) New England Patriots (4)

Tie-3. Big Ten (14) - New York Giants (6) New England Patriots (8)

Tie-3. Division 1-AA (14) - New York Giants (10) New England Patriots (4)

5. Pac 10 (13) - New York Giants (8) New England Patriots (5)

6. Conference USA (12) - New York Giants (5) New England Patriots (7)

7. Big 12 (11) - New York Giants (2) New England Patriots (9)

Tie-8. Big East (5) - New York Giants (4) New England Patriots (1)

Tie-8. Independents (5) - New York Giants (2) New England Patriots (3)

10. Sun Belt (4) - New York Giants (3) New England Patriots (1)

Tie-11. WAC (3) - New York Giants (0) New England Patriots (3)

Tie-11. MAC (3) - New York Giants (2) New England Patriots (1)

Tie-11. D2 or Lower (3) - New York Giants (2) New England Patriots (1)

Dead Last: Mountain West with Zero Players Represented.

Masters of the Rankings

I could have done everyone, but than this would have been the only post for the day so we are limiting it to the top 25 players in the list at ESPN.

Big Ten - Tom Brady (1), Plaxico Burress (6), Mike Vrabel (9), Matt Light (14), Laurence Maroney (18), David Diehl (23)

SEC - Richard Seymour (4), Eli Manning (15), Gbril Wilson (21)

ACC - Chris Snee (10), Vince Wilfork (11), Dan Koppen (17)

D1-AA - Michael Strahan (5), Brandon Jacobs (19), Rodney Harrison (24)

Conference USA - Randy Moss (2), Asante Samuel (8)

Big 12 - Ty Warren (12), Wes Welker (13)

Pac 10 - Antonio Pierce (20), Tedy Bruschi (22)

Sun Belt - Osi Umenyiora (3)

WAC - Logan Mankins (7)

Independent - Justin Tuck (16)

Big East - Shaun O'Hara (25)

Top Teams Represented in the Super Bowl

1. Miami (6) - Vince Wilfork, Brandon Meriweather, Sinorice Moss, Jeremy Shockey, William Joseph, Jeff Feagles

Tie-2. USC (5) - Matt Cassel, Oscar Lua, Junior Seau, Steve Smith, Manuel Wright

Tie-2. LSU (5) - Kevin Faulk, Jarvis Green, Eric Alexander, Randall Gay, Corey Webster

Tie-4. Tennessee (4) - Donte' Stallworth, Kelley Washington, Rashad Moore, Gibril Wilson

Tie-4. Marshall (4) - Troy Brown, Randy Moss, Chris Hanson, Ahmad Bradshaw

9 Way Tie for 6th at 3 - Arizona, BC, Fresno St., Georgia, Georgia Tech, Memphis, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn St.

Conclusion

The SEC dominated in total number of players in the Super Bowl, but the Big Ten clearly has the best players in the Super Bowl vastly outdistancing themselves from the competition based off that ESPN list. Additionally when you Miami on the top of the individual team list it just makes you wonder that much more how that program ever went in the tubes the past few seasons.

Howie Mandel: Hello Bill, welcome to Deal or No Deal.

Bill Smith (Twins GM): Hello Howie, I'm here to win myself some big time prospects.

Howie Mandel: Well Bill I just want to inform you that because of the 8 billion dollar contract we are going to have to elminate the million dollar case.

Bill Smith: Well that's some big time bullshit.

Howie Mandel: I'm sorry but those are the cases you were dealt. Ha cases get it? I guess not. Additionally we are not letting you choose you're initial case, you will get the case which has a year of Santana and two first round Sandwich picks.

Bill Smith: Such nonsense.

Howie Mandel: Eh shutup, you work for the Twins. Now, onto the Start please pick 5 cases.

Bill Smith: I choose 24, 23, 22 and 21 and 20.

Howie Mandel: How original of you. Oooh you knocked off a bunch of cases in the middle. Your current offer is Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson from the Red Sox.

Bill Smith: That's it? Come on where is Jon Lester or Clay Bucholz?

Howie Mandel: Not there. Do you want to pull down more cases or are you going to accept the deal?

Bill Smith: No chance, let's go again. NO DEAL. I choose cases 19, 18, and 17..

Howie Mandel: You are friggin boring. Well the banker says you are about the same level. This time your deal is with the Yankees and includes Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera and one of their minor league prospects. What will you decide?

Bill Smith: Do I look like a moron? NO DEAL. Give me cases 16, 15, and 14.

Howie Mandel: The deal has gone slightly up. The Mets are offering you every single farmhand they have.

Bill Smith: I want Reyes, screw them. NO DEAL. Give me cases 13, 12 and 11.

Howie Mandel: The Yankees deal is back on the table but you have to decide by tomorrow.

Bill Smith: F that I want Kennedy and Hughes. They will come back to me. NO DEAL. I'll take cases 9, 8 and 7.

Howie Mandel: Ouch it looks like the Red Sox have removed Ellsbury from the trade and only will give you Coco Crisp along some other prospects.

Bill Smith: Haha, you're funny Howie. I don't want no Coco, I'm a coffee guy. NO DEAL. Give me cases 6, 5, and 4.

Howie Mandel: Sorry Bill but the banker doesn't even want to give you a deal right now cause you're being such a douche. So pick another case.

Bill Smith: Uh Ok. No Deal I guess. I'll take case #3.

Howie Mandel: Ok Bill you have two cases remaining along with the one in your possession. The Yankees are offering you a deal with Ian Kennedy as its centerpiece. What will you do?

Bill Smith: No I said I want Reyes or Hughes. NO DEAL. Give me case 2 that'll bring the deal back up to where it should be.

Howie Mandel: Alright Bill you're down to the case you have in your hands. 2 sandwich picks and a year of Santana or your final offer from the banker.... A deal with the Mets including Phil Humber and Carlos Gomez?

Bill Smith: Umm, Umm, Umm....

Howie Mandel: Make a god damn decision so I can bag one of these models already.

Bill Smith: I'll take the Mets deal.

Howie Mandel: Fuckin Dumb Ass. Well that's it for Deal or No Deal. Next Week we'll have the Baltimore Orioles in and their dealings of Eric Bedard.

One year ago today Barbaro died and apparently it took one full year for them to decide to bury him. Apparently my birthday just sparks Barbaro news.

It didn't take me very long to lose hope during the 2007 season but for 2008 I'm going to be doing a lot dedicated prep work. Holding the 6th pick in the draft and 26 million dollars in cap room the New York Jets must be aggressive in the free agent market to address some of the current holes on their roster.

When evaluating who the Jets will be able to draft with their #6 pick there is one overwhelmingly important event that could dictate whom the Jets can draft. That event is the potential drafting of Matt Ryan.

In almost every nfl scouting or draft preview page you go to there is a consensus top 5. DT Glenn Dorsey, DE Chris Long, OT Jake Long, RB Darren McFadden and DT Sedrick Ellis. After this there is no consensus. So with the Jets picking 6th their hope is reliant on a franchise over valuing a QB. The Atlanta Falcons as well as the Miami Dolphins are both n desperate need for such a franchise quarterback, and Matt Ryan is currently the #1 option to fulfill this requirement. But is he really worth a top five pick? Will either of these teams take him instead of players that are unilaterally ranked ahead of him? I know I wouldn't but will they? Who knows?

So what happens to the Jets if the Falcons either decide to go elsewhere with their pick or trade down to someone looking for one of the consensus top 5? The Jets will have to do a bit of dipping on that 'experts' do not have a consensus opinion on. There's DE Vernon Gholston who many love who could potentially turn into a solid outside 3-4 linebacker. Calais Campbell a big defensive end from Miami. Chris Williams an offensive tackle for Vandy. Or any of the other players ranked all over the top to middle of the 1st round by the 'experts'.

Simply put, one of the biggest keys to how the Jets utilize their first round pick is completely reliant on someone above them falling for the bait and convincing themselves that Matt Ryan is their QB of the future.

January 29th in History According to Wikipedia

As a Celtic fan you come to understand the inherent necessity of a token redhead playing in the green and white uniform. Really did anyone ever look better than Bill Walton in a Celtic Jersey? But there has to be a better option than Brian Scalabrine, and thus the new feature. Todays edition focuses on Animated Redheads.


Daphne Blake: You need someone on the bench to solve a mystery, someone on the bench with a talking dog? Daphne Blake is your gal than. Have you solved any mysteries this year Scals?

Ariel: Playing in or near the ocean and need to talk to the fishes? Need a girl who can morph into human form if needed? Than Ariel is your gal. Can Scals turn into a Merman if he wants? I don't think so.

Jessica Rabbit: Jessica Rabbit could be a key strategic asset for the Celtics. Throw her into the game and have her set screens all game long and eventually someone is either going to truck her over or start doing a little grabbing and squeezing in inappropriate places. I'm assuming that copping a feel would be a technical foul. How many technical fouls have you drawn this year Scals?


Phoenix: Need a player who can both start a fire and move things with her mind. As well as being an attractive tease to bring opponents in only to set them on flames? Well the Phoenix can knock out the best player on the other team with severe burns in every game. When was the last time you did the burning instead of the opposite Scals?

Beaker: Need a moron who can't do anything and will probably make everything he does into a disaster? Well than you can choose from Scals or Beaker.

Groundskeeper Willie: Need a Semi nuts Scottish immigrant willing to wear a Kilt, clean your toilets, run around with a shovel, and be generally pissed off 24/7? Than Groundskeeper Willie is your man. Maybe the Celtics should just have Scalabrine clean their toilets. Hmm...

Please read up on your etiquette and stop crowding my god damn space. And feel free to accomplish this.

Last night the Knicks, what a surprise, and in doing so they allowed a season high 26 rebounds to Andris Biedrins. Andris is listed with the same height as Eddy Curry but only 40 lbs lighter. Meaning that it really shouldn't be difficult for Curry to get in front of Biedrins and push him around a bit. Yet Curry finished with a 4 rebounds. FOUR. You know what other Knick had 4 rebounds? 5 foot 8 Nate Robinson. Eddy Curry is the worst rebounder in the history of the NBA.

But I guess dunking on people is cool.


1 Poster + 4 Rebounds - 26 Rebounds = 1 Loss

There are many things about European Soccer Leagues that I wish were brought to the United State. One being the idea of relegation and the other being the sweetness of the FA cup. For those that are completely in the dark, the FA Cup is a massive tournament in England which consists of all organized soccer teams in the country. From those that just play on the weekends for fun in an FA league to the greatest teams in the country.

Well this weekend after winning some improbable games, one of those 'just for fun' teams went into Anfield, home of powerhouse premiership club Liverpool, and not only competed but actually held the lead for much of the game. In the end they lost 5-2 but for over 30 minutes the small town boys were beating one of the best teams in the country.



Hell even the professionals couldn't control their emotion when the massive underdogs scored their first goal.



Just imagine how sweet it would be to be beating the Boston Red Sox in Fenway after 5 innings or leading the LA Lakers after 3 quarters. The idea of the FA Cup is something that I absolutely wish was brought to the US so that at some point in time we could get stories like this.

Apparently Wolverine and Ohio St. fans are very eager to have another person do their research for them as I've received another request, this time to see how many Wolverines are from Ohio. I'm obviously not going to do a complete history of the Wolverines and how many of them are from Ohio. This list consists of the 1st rounders from last week, the current NFL players, the 2007 Wolverine Roster, and the current recruiting class.

2007 Wolverine Roster (7 of 113)

First things first, college rosters are way larger than you think. ESPN.com lists 113 players on Michigan's roster page of which only 7 are from the state of Ohio. This to me is a bit surprising, but they still did bring in two major contributors from Ohio in Shawn Crable and Mario Manningham. Both of whom are will be headed to the pros in a few months to give the NFL a Michigan Ohioan boost.

Shawn Crable LB Sr. Massillon, OH
Brandon Harrison CB Jr. Dayton, OH
Mike Milano RB Jr. Rocky RIver, OH
Bryan Wright K So. Youngstown, OH
Justin Boren OL So. Pickerington, OH
Mike Massey TE Jr. Brecksville, OH
Mario Manningham WR Jr. Warren, OH

2008 Wolverine Recruits (4 of 18)

Rivals.com lists the Wolverines as having 18 current commits. Out of these 18, four are from the state of Ohio with all four being four star recruits.

Taylor Hill LB Youngstown, OH
Kevin Koger TE Toledo , OH
Elliott Mealer OL Wauseon, OH
Brandon Moore TE Trotwood, OH

Historical 1st Rounders (8 of 29)

By far the best ratio is the historic 1st rounders from Michigan. This includes the only two Heisman trophy winners for Michigan during the NFL draft era.

1972: Thom Darden, Michigan, DB
1974: Dave Gallagher, Michigan, DT
1975: Dave Brown, Michigan, DB
1979: Jon Giesler, Michigan, T
1987: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan, QB
1991: Jarrod Bunch, Michigan, RB
1992: Desmond Howard, Michigan, WR
1998: Charles Woodson, Michigan, CB

Current NFLers (4 out of 44)

4 out of 44 is a pretty small number. I think the most surprising part is that not a single one of the many offensive lineman the Wolverines have in the pros came from the state of Ohio.

Prescott Burgess Linebacker Baltimore Ravens
Charles Woodson Cornerback Green Bay Packers
Pierre Woods Linebacker New England Patriots
B.J. Askew Fullback Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Conclusion

I don't know if there's really much you can take out of these numbers to be honest. Perhaps that Ohio has a lot of talent to go around, perhaps that some kids from Ohio don't grow up Buckeye fans. Really the numbers don't point to Michigan ever raiding Ohio for talent. 8 of 29 1st rounders is a big number, but in the overall current picture Ohio just seems like another Midwestern state for the Wolverines to target recruits.

This season the NBA has listened to one of my many thoguht and has started to track a players +/- during the course of individual games. Due to my dislike of Brian Scalabrine, I am going to track he's performance in a weekly post called The Scalabrine Watch. 3 Million a year for what?

Celtics 112 Raptors 114: 8
+8? Where the hell did that come from? In 12 minutes Scalabrine contributed 5 rebounds including 3 on the offensive end and he hit a three? Seriously? That's actually being productive while on the court.

Game Stats: 12 Minutes, 1-2, 3 Points, 5 Rebounds, 0 Assists

Celtics 87 Timberwolves 86: DNP

Celtics 93 Magic 96: -4
Obviously with the productive performance at the start of the week there needed to be something to counter balance that at some point. And yesterday it was counterbalanced alright. Due to the absence of Kevin Garnett, Doc started Scals and played him 22 minutes. Both were pretty dumb decisions obviously. In 22 minutes, only 2 minutes away from being on the court half the game, Scals only stat was a single rebound. Yes he played nearly half the game attempted and missed one shot and pulled down one singular offensive rebound. Meanwhile fellow bench warmer, Leon Powe, was in the game for 27 minutes and pulled down 9 boards and scored 9 points. Talk about a waste of minutes, 22 completely useless minutes.

Game Stats: 22 Minutes, 0-1, 0 Points, 1 Rebound, 0 Assists

Overall Week Performance: +4
Scals somehow moves further away from the break even point with a week in the positive. This despite playing 22 minutes and doing absolutely positively nothing with his time on the court. Seriously it had to be one of the least statistical performances by a player who spent nearly half the game on the court in the history of the NBA.

Weeks Stats: 34 Minutes, 1-3, 4 Points, 6 Rebounds, 0 Assists

Overall Season Performance: +17
Scals boosted his numbers slightly this week which is to be expected given the season high 5 rebounds he had against the Raptors and the 22 brilliant minutes he played against the Magic.

Season Stats:9:41 MPG, .317 FG%, 1.9 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 0.7 APG

Feel like investing in something completely chance? Well now you can apparently invest in the future earnings of a minor league baseball player. Purchase a share and you are entitled to a certain percentage of his salary. To be exact Randy Newsom is selling 4% of his potential major league earnings at a 50,000 clip. You can purchase an individual share for $20 dollars which will entitle you to .0016% of his future salary. So cause I'm a dork let's play with the numbers a little bit to find out what these investors are getting themselves into.

Use simple math to deduct the break even point for both the investors and Randy.

X * .04 = 50,000
X = 50,000/.04 = 1,250,000

Thus if Randy makes exactly a million and a quarter over his MLB than this whole investment is mute. No one wins no one lose everyone walks away with the same amount. Well except Randy walks away with the whole Time Value of money benefit but that's an economic's class for another time. Now the current Major League minimum salary is 390,000$, which is certainly a nice chunk of change, but in order to make it up to that break even point he's going to have to have atleast a little staying power.

If we simplify the minimum salary and assume it goes up a tad and make the average minimum salary 400K we can figure out exactly how long he would need to be under a major league contract.

1,250,000 / 400,000 = 3.125 years

Again he's going to need at least some staying to make MLB. Now let's play with some potential numbers to see what life would be like for the investor if he played for a varient amount of years at a varient salary.

1 Year, Minimum Salary: 390,000 * .000016 = 6.24 for a loss of 13.76 cents
2 Years, 400K Average Salary: 800,000 * .000016 = 12.80 for a loss of 7.20
4 Years, 500K Average Salary: 2,000,000 * .000016 = 32 for a gain of 12 dollars
10 Years, 1 Million Average: 10,000,000 * .000016 = 160 for a gain of 140 dollars
Arod's Big Contracts, 252 - 81 + 300: 471,000,000 * .000016 = 7,536 for a gain of 7,516 dollars

Personally I think this is a solid decision by Newsom. The novelty of the idea will probably get him close to if not all of the desire 50,000K. And given the uncertainty of minor league prospects, his current ranking of 50th on the Indians prospect list and his position of Relief Submarine pitcher who throws in the low 80s, the odds of him playing in the majors for 3+ seasons is not very high.

But just in case you feel the need to make a very risky and probably highly unprofitable investment, here's some video of him pitching against nobody.

Not faith, but rather an avenue to end the stability of Tom Brady's right knee. Curious? Of Course you are.

"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:19-20

You see that right there? I don't even need an army or a Facebook group to get it done. I apparently only need one other person who really wants Tom Brady's right knee blown out. And as a bonus God will then make an appearance at my Super Bowl party. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Jumping, even for something as simple as a Jump Shot, is not advisable.

Courtesy of The Postmen

Ok seriously my buddies and I nicknamed Delonte West "Mystery Race" a long time ago but what the hell is this profile picture? Is getting lighter but the day? He looks like a teenage cancer patient in that picture. Once my buddies and I saw his mom on a telecast, and that didn't help at all. So someone answer the damn question? Is he more Sinbad, Carlos Mencia, Jose Canseco, or Martin Starr? I got to know.

I've done a miserable job of pointing out when I post on Epic Carnival the past few months. Anyway, I post on Fridays typically in the afternoons, and it typically is a satirical post in letter format. This week I wrote a letter from Chuck Knoblauch to Roger Clemens.

You can see all my posts at EC here.

Sex with your sons teammates? The Ultimate Warrior is ok with it, as long as it isn't gay sex or even gay fake sex. 1. The Ultimate Warrior - I'm really not surprised that the Ultimate Warrior is a scumbag, but to these depths? Seriously? Dude he wasn't even gay he just played a gay man, what the hell does that have to do with parenting? Plus you can be opposed to the idea of homosexuality that's fine it's your opinion, but does it seriously make that big of a difference in raising a child. And he wasn't even gay anyway. Ugh so stupid. 2. Beth Modica - The idea of a hot mom having sex with her teenagers hockey teammates might sound appealing to some. But the idea of a not so hot Police Chiefs wife having sex and giving head to multiple players on her sons team in reality is pretty disgusting and gross. Really if you were a 16 year old I'm pretty sure the High School ass you could pull would be a lot more preferential than that. 3. Urban Meyer - Mr. Meyer is certainly an interesting recruiter. First he calls a report to question whether a players ACT scores are legit given the players big jump from one score to the next. Why did he do it? Because he didn't commit to Florida of course. Also Meyer helps recruit players by getting their girlfriends scholarships as well as having Tim Tebow make phone calls. Both illegal. 4. Dana Jacobson - She doesn't like Jesus apparently. I mean she's not exactly the only person on the planet who doesn't. Jesus Quintana was in fact a pedophile and mighty fine bowler, but he most definitely a dirt back. So I can see not liking him. And really who doesn't want to say Fuck Notre Dame ever now and then. Get Your Vote On Last Weeks Winner: Greg Paulus

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Everyone needs something to keep them occupied on Friday afternoons so the Friday Video Blowout was born. Spend your next few minutes, laughing, crying of laughter, pissing your self, whatever, but mostly wasting your companies time.

Videos In Order Courtesy of AA, adult swim * 2, Deadpsin, EC, Fanhouse, Wizard of Odds, CO-ED Magazine


This is why Gus Johnson is the man.

One of the comments from the UM vs. OSU in the NFL post was curious as to which squad had more 1st round picks. Well fear not, I'm on it. The tracking i used only goes back to the 1970 merger which was plenty good for me.

1970s 1st Rounders (23)

1971: Jack Tatum, Ohio State, S
1971: John Brockington, Ohio State, RB
1971: Leo Hayden, Ohio State, RB
1971: Tim Anderson, Ohio State, DB
1972: Mike Taylor, Michigan, LB
1972: Thom Darden, Michigan, DB
1973: Paul Seymour, Michigan, TE
1974: Dave Gallagher, Michigan, DT
1974: John Hicks, Ohio State, G
1974: Randy Gradishar, Ohio State, LB
1974: Rick Middleton, Ohio State, LB
1975: Dave Brown, Michigan, DB
1975: Doug France, Ohio State, T
1975: Kurt Shumacher, Ohio State, T
1975: Neal Colzie, Ohio State, DB
1976: Archie Griffin, Ohio State, RB
1976: Tim Fox, Ohio State, DB
1977: Bob Brudzinski, Ohio State, LB
1978: Chris Ward, Ohio State, T
1978: John Anderson, Michigan, LB
1978: Mike Kenn, Michigan, T
1979: Jon Giesler, Michigan, T
1979: Tom Cousineau, Ohio State, LB

1980s 1st Rounders (9)

1980: Curtis Greer, Michigan, DE
1981: Mel Owens, Michigan, LB
1982: Butch Woolfork, Michigan, RB
1984: William Roberts, Ohio State, T
1985: Jim Lachey, Ohio State, T
1985: Kevin Brooks, Michigan, DE
1986: Keith Byars, Ohio State, RB
1987: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan, QB
1988: Eric Krumerow, Ohio State, DE

1990s 1st Rounders (24)

1991: Jarrod Bunch, Michigan, RB
1991: Vinnie Clark, Ohio State, DB
1992: Alonzo Spellman, Ohio State, DE
1992: Desmond Howard, Michigan, WR
1993: Robert Smith, Ohio State, RB
1993: Steve Everitt, Michigan, C
1994: Dan Wilkinson, Ohio State, DT
1994: Derrick Alexander, Michigan, WR
1995: Craig Powell, Ohio State, LB
1995: Joey Galloway, Ohio State, WR
1995: Korey Stringer, Ohio State, T
1995: Trezelle Jenkins, Michigan, OL
1995: Ty Law, Michigan, CB
1995: Tyrone Wheatley, Michigan, RB
1996: Eddie George, Ohio State, RB
1996: Rickey Dudley, Ohio State, TE
1996: Terry Glenn, Ohio State, NE
1996: Tim Biakabutuka, Michigan, RB
1997: Orlando Pace, Ohio State, T
1997: Shawn Springs, Ohio State, CB
1998: Charles Woodson, Michigan, CB
1999: Andy Katzenmoyer, Ohio State, LB
1999: Antoine Winfield, Ohio State, DB
1999: David Boston, Ohio State, WR

2000s 1st Rounders (20)

2000: Ahmed Plummer, Ohio State, CB
2001: David Terrell, Michigan, WR
2001: Jeff Backus, Michigan, T
2001: Nate Clements, Ohio State, CB
2001: Ryan Pickett, Ohio State, DT
2001: Steve Hutchinson, Michigan, G
2004: Chris Gamble, Ohio State, CB
2004: Chris Perry, Michigan, RB
2004: Michael Jenkins, Ohio State, WR
2004: Will Smith, Ohio State, DE
2005: Braylon Edwards, Michigan, WR
2005: Marlin Jackson, Michigan, CB
2006: A. J. Hawk, Ohio State, LB
2006: Bobby Carpenter, Ohio State, LB
2006: Donte Whitner, Ohio State, S
2006: Nick Mangold, Ohio State, C
2006: Santonio Holmes, Ohio State, WR
2007: Anthony Gonzalez, Ohio State, WR
2007: Leon Hall, Michigan, CB
2007: Ted Ginn, Ohio State, WR

Total 1st Rounders (76)

Michigan (29): 1970s (8), 1980s (5), 1990s (9), 2000s (7), Current Pros (8)

Ohio St. (47): 1970s (15), 1980s (4), 1990s (15), 2000s (13), Current Pros (17)

Conclusion

Complete Domination for Ohio St. With the exception of a very weak 1980s for both schools the Buckeyes have pummeled the Wolverines when it comes to first round draft picks. This leads to a few possible conclusions. Given Michigan's better current pros, it would seem like the Wolverines do a worse job at both developing and promoting talent than the Buckeyes. That when the Wolverines players reach the NFL that's when they truly blossom into great talents, see Tom Brady. Doesn't make you feel good about the talent utilization by the old coaching staff.

Meanwhile, the Buckeyes have 9 more 1st round draft picks in the NFL currently than the Wolverines yet only 4 more total players and less success in the pros. This makes you think the exact opposite about the Buckeyes. They seemingly get their players ready for prime time prior to departure. The past two drafts in which the Buckeyes had 7 1st round picks to the Wolverines one makes it pretty easy to explain the current losing streak.

In every sporting event there is a typical process to determine who to root for. Are you a fan of one of the teams or players? Do you despise one of the players? Is one a significantly better story or a significant underdog? etc. Well my rule for Womens Tennis is pretty simple and straight forward. I root for who I find more attractive. Sure it's complete Chauvinism but whatever I'm admitting to it. I want to watch the attractive ones play much more than I want to see butch male types play. And thus I now plan on having posts for the semifinals and finals of all the grand slams tournaments to vote on which the public would rather see win.

Maria Sharapova vs. Ana Ivanovic

A Rematch of a Poll from Last Year when Ivanovic pulled a surprising upset. Can Sharapova return the favor?

Opinion Polls & Market Research

More Sharapova Pics, More Ivanovic Pics

Over the past few years I've rooted for the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs. I've hoped that their offense would carry them over their opponents despite their woes on defense. I've hoped that they could simply outscore their opponents, but it just hasn't happened and it just isn't going to happen. The Phoenix Suns are going to meet a similar demise as they have in past seasons for the simple reason that they are so easily dominated by an opposing big man.

Case in Point my former Celtic Man Crush, Al Jefferson. Jefferson this season has developed into the go to guy for one of the worst teams in the league. His numbers are solid (20 & 12) but they are obviously at least slightly bloated given the fact the rest of his roster is piss poor. However against the Suns this season Al Jefferson morphs into a Hall of Fame Center.

Last night the Timberwolves defeated the Suns for the second time this season 117-107, despite Amare's 33 point effort. Why? Mostly because the Suns were completely ineffective in stopping the young big man. Big Al scored a career high 39 points while pulling down 15 rebounds including 8 offensive boards. Not only were the Suns unable to stop Big Al in the post but apparently they can't box out. 8 offensive rebounds? Put a body on the big man.

In the other two games against the Suns Jefferson has been similarly dominant. In the Timberwolves first win over the Suns Jefferson was an absolute beast on the boards pulling down 20 including 6 offensive boards. Jefferson also piled in 32 points on the Suns in the T-Wolves 100-93 win. In Phoenix's lone win against the Timberwolves they did a better job of slowing down Jefferson but still only to an all star level performance as Jefferson had 27 points and 14 rebounds.

Simply put the Timberwolves are a horrendous team with one potentially All Star level talent in Big Al. The Timberwolves are 7-34 for that exact reason yet the Suns, who came into the game with the best record in the Western Conference, struggle mightily to defeat them. Their roster is not constructed to even slow down a talented big man and once again come playoff time they will fail for this exact reason.

Hmm I'm about 40 yards away from goal so... what the hell why not try a bicycle kick.

Courtesy of Who Ate All the Pies

For those questioning the legitimacy of Stephen A's blog I transcribed his radio conversation from today where he divulged his new website to his 3 non deaf listeners. Also you can listen to it here while it's still up on his 1050 page. The divulgance is at the 9:50 mark. Anyway here's the transcript.

Stephen A: Mike did I tell you I got my own website?

Mikey Miss: Ya I heard about that.

Stephen A: StephenA.commmmm

Mikey Miss: How about that?

Stephen A: You know read my blog, I'm gonna write a weekly blog. I got my own email address. My own guest list. All that stuff. My events. You know what I'm saying. My bio. All of that stuff. I decided, my family convinced me to do it. So I decided to do it. StephenA.com. You know I had to fight for months to get ownership of my own daggone name. Somebody else got StephenASmith.com. I had to get StephenA.com It that ridiculous.

Mikey Miss: Common Name

Stephen A: That's Ridiculous. No people were doing it and holding onto it so they could make money off of me.

Mikey Miss: You didn't buy it back?

Stephen A: I had to buy it back for 5 but I only paid 500 dollar, they tried to charge me like 20 thousand. I was like you must be on drugs I was gonna sue em. But than I said to expedite the process [mumbles] you take it for 500 dollars, I'll give you the 500 dollars that's all your getting. That's what I ended up doing. To get my name. MY NAME. MINE. ITS RIDICULOUS. I was ready to sue em. You know there's laws against that. Don't Get me started with the court system. [Typical Radio Sign Off]

So that last paragraph was quality. Stephen A's name is his and only his and all your URLS are belong to him. And apparently he's already late in making his second post for his 'weekly blog'. Good Luck Mr. Smith.

Maybe it was a discussion with Big Mouth Salisbury that got him to reconsider, but former journalist/big mouth/talking head Stephen A. Smith has now ventured into the blogging world. The very same media stream you said 'should not be allowed to disseminate information' is now you're lone outlet for penning your babble.

Oh what irony Stephen A. You criticize those like me and then within a month come and join the pack with your very own website. Thus far there is only a singular post penned on Stephen's blog, which simply put is horribly formatted and all over the place. Here's hoping that in the very near future Stephen includes personal photos of himself eating cheese doodles in sock puppet form. That should help him earn some blogger credibility.

'EVERYTHING I SAY IS IMPORTANT'

Note 2: Here is a transcription of his divulgence if you are a skeptic.

Note 1: For those that for some reason think its fake, I found out about the website from listening to his radio show. (Yes I desire to go deaf). Stephen A and his partner are on for 2 hours in NYC not just the single national hour. During the NYC only hour Missanelli said that Stephen A had a website and Stephen A mentioned it and started complaining about people owning the naming rights. Additional he made statements similar to his blog post about not ever wanting a website but his family telling him he should have one. So unless he lies on his own show, not that doubtful, its a real blog and real site.

Why did you have to be a tough guy Drew? Why couldn't you have done what most normal pussy quarterbacks do and slide or step out of bounds? Was that first down really that important to you? If so shouldn't you have tried to dive for the first down? Mo Lewis is a big boy, you're a quarterback, you had no shot of running him over. You certainly should have known that.

What the hell were you thinking?

If you quickly glance and the above bracket it looks perfectly normal. The 1 seed faces off a against a 5 seed and a 3 seed faces a 7 seed. If you saw that in the NCAA tournament your thought process would read, hmm I guess the #2 seed got upset early. But take a closer look. If you look at the labels above the designated matchups you will see a miss match. The 1 seed faces the 5 seed in the quarterfinals, shouldn't that be the semis? And then it hits you, that's not the entire draw, that's simply the top portion of the Women's draw. The top portion which is quite obviously more difficult than anything that could be constructed in the lower portion of the bracket. Why? Because the only thing that isn't random in a Tennis Draw is the separation of the #1 and #2 seeds.

Perhaps I'm a stickler for organization and common sense, but what the hell is wrong with the typical NCAA tournament-esque bracket. What's wrong with the 4 and 5 seed facing each other in the quarterfinals, the 1 seed facing the winner of that match in the semifinals and then facing the winner of the 2 vs. 3 match in the finals. Shouldn't their be some sort of benefit towards being the best player on the planet? Shouldn't those that are not the best player have to go over additional hurdles to win a Major Tournament.

In the Men's Draw there is again another poor consequence to randomness. Obviously the favorite for the Australian Open was/is Roger Federer. He's the favorite for everything not in the country of France. But for those not overly familiar with tennis the #2 choice for odds makers was not Rafael Nadal but rather 20 year old Serbian Novak Djokovic. Djokovic is making his 4th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearance including a finals loss to Federer at the US Open and is currently #3 in the world. So logic would say he would face Nadal in the semifinals for the opportunity to face Federer in the finals. But of course logic is wrong. Nadal if he can get by a Frenchman will await the winner of the 2 tournament favorites.

Perhaps my thought process of saving the best for last is wrong but to me structure is certianly better than unfair chaos.

In every sporting event there is a typical process to determine who to root for. Are you a fan of one of the teams or players? Do you despise one of the players? Is one a significantly better story or a significant underdog? etc. Well my rule for Womens Tennis is pretty simple and straight forward. I root for who I find more attractive. Sure it's complete Chauvinism but whatever I'm admitting to it. I want to watch the attractive ones play much more than I want to see butch male types play. And thus I now plan on having posts for the semifinals and finals of all the grand slams tournaments to vote on which the public would rather see win.

Daniela Hantuchova vs. Ana Ivanovic

Opinion Polls & Market Research

A reader Michael (I have readers?) sent in a request for me to analyze the Michigan and Ohio St. NFLers. And since I don't ever get requests I figured what the hell why not. So without further ado onto the breakdown. Here's the list I'm working off if you have disputes.

Definite Hall of Famers

Michigan (1) - Tom Brady, Three going on Four Time Superbowl Champion amidst the greatest season for a Quarterback in the history of the league.

Ohio St. (1) - Orlando Pace, As a 7 time Pro Bowler and amongst the best left tackles of all time I imagine that Orlando Pace will be a a no doubt Hall of Famer.

Edge: MICHIGAN, Orland Pace is a great NFL player but Tom Brady isn't very far from becoming the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

Potential Hall of Famers

Michigan (2) - Steve Hutchinson, Ty Law - Steve Hutchinson has been the single most dominant guard in football for the past five years helping pave the way for Shaun Alexander and Purple Jesus. While it is very difficult to get into the Hall of Fame as a guard Hutchinson case could be made. For Ty Law he has 5 Pro Bowls to his credit, a lot of ints and some shiny jewelry on his fingers.

Ohio St. (1) - Mike Vrabel - Vrabel is a definitive stretch for the Hall of Fame as he's only made the Pro Bowl once (this season) however he does have an abundant amount of Super Bowl rings.

Edge: MICHIGAN, all three probably won't get in, but two stretches is better than one.

Pro Bowlers

Michigan (9 players making 23 appearances) - Tom Brady (4), Steve Hutchinson (5), Ty Law (5), Charles Woodson (4), Jon Runyan (1), Brian Griese (1), Cato June (1), Ian Gold (1), Braylon Edwards (1) - A few of the players here are surprising. Brian Griese and Ian Gold made Pro Bowls you're probably asking yourself. Yep, both went to the game once a piece.

Ohio St. (7 players making 16 appearances) - Orlando Pace (7), Nate Clements (2), LeCharles Bentley (2), Terry Glenn (1), Shawn Springs (2), Mike Vrabel (1), Will Smith (1) - With all the players for Ohio St. in the NFL now it's surprising that only 7 have ever played in the Pro Bowl game.

Edge: MICHIGAN, both in total players and total appearances the Wolverines have it. Additionally it's surprising that neither Amani Toomer nor Joey Galloway have ever been selected to a Pro Bowl.

Total Rosters Infiltrated

Michigan (25) - Michigan is represented on 25 of the NFL teams in the league including all 12 of the playoff teams. The largest collector of Wolverines is the Steelers with 5.

Ohio St. (26) - The Buckeyes meanwhile are represented on 26 of the 32 NFL teams. This includes 10 of the playoff squads with Jacksonville as well as the NFC Champion New York Giants not being represented. The largest collector of Buckeyes are the Panthers with 4.

Edge: PUSH, Ohio St. as more reps total while Michigan has more playoff as well as both Super Bowl teams represented.

Overall Players

Michigan (44) - Michigan has 44 players in the NFL which isn't too shabby, but not enough to beat the Buckeyes.

Ohio St. (48) - The Buckeyes take the final category with a 4 player edge over the Wolverines.

Edge: OHIO STATE, the numbers don't lie.

Conclusion: Quality Over Quantity

Ohio St. currently has more players on NFL rosters however that's where their advantage over Michigan ends. Michigan has more potential Hall of Famers and more Pro Bowlers than does Ohio St. Additionally a Michigan representative will be rewarded a ring no matter what the outcome is on Super Bowl sunday.

Winner: MICHIGAN

Feel free to disagree in the comments.

UPDATE: One of the Commenter's was interested in seeing which school put together more 1st round draft picks. I obliged and posted it here. as the commenter suggested, it puts a completely different spin on things.

UPDATE 2: Mr. Biased Ohio St. fan that yelled at me about the Pro Bowls, I added up total appearances for you and Michigan has 7 more total appearances so your math which you didn't do was wrong.

UPDATE 3: I got a request to put together a list of the Wolverines from Ohio which you can read here.

Super Bowl: AFC Champion USC vs. NFC Champion WVU at Phoenix Stadium After cruising through their first two victories the Trojans knocked off the Bulldogs at home with a split vote with the tie breaker given due to homefield advantage. Meanwhile West Virginia for some reason wiped the floor with Ohio St. to make it three consecutive easy victories. In real life both teams won their bowl games with ease and blew big regular season games against a shitty opponent, so who will take down this fake tournament? Tale of Two Journeys USC Wildcard Victory over Arizona St. 93.5% to 6.5% USC Divisional Victory over BYU 100% to 0% USC Conference Championship Victory 50% to 50% via executive decision. USC Key Wins: Arizona St., Oregon St. USC Bad Losses: Stanford WVU Wildcard Victory over Kansas 63.3% to 36.7% WVU Divisional Victory over Hawaii 75.0% to 25.0% WVU Conference Championship Victory of OSU 77.8% to 22.2% West Virginia Key Wins: Uconn, Miss St., Cincy, Rutgers West Virginia Bad Losses: Pitt

Opinion Polls & Market Research

This season the NBA has listened to one of my many thoguht and has started to track a players +/- during the course of individual games. Due to my dislike of Brian Scalabrine, I am going to track he's performance in a weekly post called The Scalabrine Watch. 3 Million a year for what?

Celtics 100 Trailblazers 90: DNP

Celtics 116 76ers 89: 2
Scals +2 performance in this blowout of the 76ers directly reflects the two free throws he made. Good for Scals, without those 2 points the Celtics would have been hard pressed to win.

Game Stats: 5 Minutes, 0-0, 2 Points, 0 Rebounds, 0 Assists

Celtics 109 Knicks 93: -8
MLK day was not too kind to Scals +/-. Scals once again sank his two free throws and even added a rebound and an assist however while on the court the Cs were outscored by 8 points.

Game Stats: 5 Minutes, 0-0, 2 Points, 1 Rebound, 1 Assist

Overall Week Performance: -6
A 100% completely shotless week for Scals. Nice to see that in three games Doc put the hammer down and said no shooting for you unless you get fouled in the process. So Scals went 4-4 from the free throw line in 10 minutes of PT and once again decreased his seasonal +/-.

Weeks Stats: 10 Minutes, 0-0, 4 Points, 1 Rebound, 1 Assist

Overall Season Performance: +13
Scals is for the most receiving only scrub time in the past month and this is directly affecting his overall +/-. At the pace he's been going on he could be in the negative zone in a matter of weeks.

Season Stats:9 MPG, .316 FG%, 1.9 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 0.8 APG

In every sporting event there is a typical process to determine who to root for. Are you a fan of one of the teams or players? Do you despise one of the players? Is one a significantly better story or a significant underdog? etc. Well my rule for Womens Tennis is pretty simple and straight forward. I root for who I find more attractive. Sure it's complete Chauvinism but whatever I'm admitting to it. I want to watch the attractive ones play much more than I want to see butch male types play. And thus I now plan on having posts for the semifinals and finals of all the grand slams tournaments to vote on which the public would rather see win.

Maria Sharapova vs. Jelena Jankovic

Opinion Polls & Market Research

You Know You're a Idiot If... You Purchase Conference Championship T-Shirts. The T-shirt is relevant for 2 weeks than after the game no longer relevant. You either need to go out and buy a Superbowl Champion T-shirt, or you can be ridiculed for wearing a meaningless T-Shirt celebrating 2nd place. Really it's just a complete waste of money. Spend you're money on a new jersey if you are too impatient to wait until after the game and feel the need to purchase clothing to support your team.

~That's a map of the northeast. As you can see I've divvied up the land to consist of an estimation of the teams territory. The green dot you see in lower Connecticut is me. The moronic Jet fan in Connecticut surrounded by all Giant and Patriot fans. Worse yet my father was born and raised in Massachusetts prior to the existence of the New England Patriots. Thus as a little kid in Mass the closest team was the New York Giants, thus for his early childhood he was a Giant fan. Then when the Patriots were formed when he was still in his youth he adopted them as well. Thus my father likes both teams in the Superbowl while his moronic son likes the Jets because he was a stupid 5 year old that made his decision based on uniform color. I'm a jackass...

~Touchdowns > Field Goals.

~LT is a pussy I don't give a crap what is said, 50% LT is worse than 100% Michael Turner. Blah blah blah. Give it a fucking shot. Get in the damn game in the 4th quarter. You don't need surgery now, well then play until you can't play anymore. This is why you will never go down as the best back in history. These playoff games that you pussied out of.

~Mr. Cromartie, nice interception but perhaps next time instead of gaining minimal yardage on the return you could just down the ball in the end zone. Thanks.

~The Power of Chastity helped Rivers get through the game.

~Chambers made some nice plays, but not knocking down that one int was piss poor.

~Laurence Maroney is certainly earning his cash this postseason. Where would the Patriots have been without his 122 yards.

~The Pats played like crap and still won comfortably. That's not a good sign for the Superbowl.

~Note to San Diego, when Kevin Faulk is in the game he's Tom's check down receiver, so you should probably cover him.

~Rodney Harrison is on the major decline in skill level. I would not be shocked if the Pats jettisoned him at the end of the year.

~Tom Brady was in a boot yesterday, one could pray he'll be mildly affected in two weeks, but I highly doubt that.

~R.W. should put some glue on his gloves. In addition he should thank Michael Johnson for knocking the ball out of the Packer's hands and Dominick Hixon for falling on the ball. Both were R.W. ass savers.

~Al Harris should probably not trash talk when he's getting abused on every possession.

~Plaxico deserves a raise.

~Brett Favre play like doo-doo.

~Eli Manning with zero interceptions is very very very stunning.

~Charles Woodson should watch out next time he tries to tackle the juggernaut.

~I know Corey Webster was at fault for the first 90 yard td, but the rest of the game he played tremendously well.

~Wow that 2nd kick was a friggin shank. How Coughlin had confidence in Tynes to hit that last one is beyond me. But I guess he really had no other choice but to go for the win.

~Tiki must feel like a complete loser.

~I despise the extra week between the championship games and the Superbowl.

I have a dream, that many people get a 3 day weekend in the middle of January so they can recoup from all of the drinking they partook in during the NFC and AFC Championship games.

In an ideal world Rivers does not play, so I can atleast have a semblance of dignity cheering for Billy Volek. Legitimately Rivers is approaching the stratosphere of my Tom Brady hatred. Atleast Brady isn't a complete toolbag and doesn't believe in the 'Power of Chastity' as evident with his knock up and run. Not having sex is apparently a 'Lost Art'. Um ok jackass. I'm going to hate you even more when you completely shit the bed this weekend.

See Giant fans, would you rather have that douche or confused golly gosh gee willickers Eli Manning? That's what I thought.

Courtesy of FanIQ

It didn't take me very long to lose hope during the 2007 season but for 2008 I'm going to be doing a lot dedicated prep work. Holding the 6th pick in the draft and 26 million dollars in cap room the New York Jets must be aggressive in the free agent market to address some of the current holes on their roster.

The Jets roster has several weaknesses which as fans we are aware of, one of these is a lack of a true dynamic offensive playmaker. At running back Thomas Jones is a grinder but nothing extraordinary while Leon Washington is a speedster in the open field but is not overly adept at breaking tackles due to his small stature. At wideout Jerricho Cotchery and Laveranues Coles are solid starters and very tough however both for the most part lack the need to consistently double team. While I would assess the need for an additional offensive weapon as a lower priority than stabilizing the offensive and defensive lines, I believe the Jets would be well suited to draft a wideout in the 2nd round. Why? Value.

In addition to the running back position with every single Junior exiting early, the wideout position is amongst the deepest in this years NFL draft. Scout.com has a total of 38 '5-star' players in this years NFL draft. Seven of whom are at the wideout position. 7 wideouts are not going to go in before the Jets draft with the 37th pick. Thus the Jets will have the opportunity to go after a play maker with this pick and one that is highly thought of.

There are a few molds of wideouts the Jets could be looking to consider. Cotchery and Coles are tough go over the middle and take a hit wideout. Neither has blazing speed and neither is anything other than average size. Thus there's two ways to look at whom the Jets should target for a wideout. They could either target a burner or a big wideout who will create advantageous matchups in one on one coverage. So let's give some options for both.

The Bigs

James Hardy - To me James Hardy would be the best fit for the Jets. He's a big target with decent speed that put up huge numbers at Indiana. Yes Indiana. Getting him on the field alongside Cotchery in the slot and Coles on the opposite side of the field would give the Jets one of the most feared receiver cores in the league. However, he'll almost certainly be gone by 37.

Malcolm Kelly - Coming out a year early having lead the Sooners in back to back seasons in basically all receiving stats. Most likely will not be around at 37.

Limas Sweed - Missed most of this season with an wrist injury. Solid speed for a 6-5 frame, there's a chance he'll be around at 37 thanks to the injury.

Adarius Bowman - I'd be lying if I told you I watched much Okie State this year, but Adarius is amongst the 5-star wideouts ranked by scout.

The Burners

DeSean Jackson - I dynamic option in both the wide receiver role as well as a returner. Most likely the fastest wideout in the entire draft. Probably gone by 37.

Donnie Avery - You probably haven't seen to many Houston Cougar games in the past two years but just know the man runs in the low 4.3s. There's a decent chance he'll still be around at 37.

Harry Douglas - Another burner in the mid to low 4.3 range. Should definitely be around at #37 but would probably be more of a 3rd round fit if selected.

Eddie Royal - Another small burner in the 4.3s. Royal should definitely not be drafted with the 37th pick however.

Overall Talents

Mario Manningham - Not the burner like the previous two but his time at Michigan showed his ability to be a dynamic deep threat. Many are proclaiming him the #1 wideout in the draft meaning the chances are slim he will be around at 37.

Early Doucet - A solid wideout with a solid frame but neither a burner or very tall. I don't think he fits the Jets needs and hope that he is taken off the board prior to some of the previous wideouts mentioned.

My Ideal

Personally I think the Jets could use a big wideout slightly more than they could use a burner. I obviously would be pleased if they got Manningham cause of the Michigan connection, but in Nirvana I would want James Hardy. To me he has Plaxico Burress written all over him. He doesn't have the wheels of a Randy Moss but in the end zone he could be utilized instead of Coles for the dumb fade route they always like to run. To me there's no chance he's around at that point so getting Kelly, Sweed or Bowman might be a solid consolation prize.

Really the biggest waste of oxygen this week a Hawaiin man who decided to throw a 2 year old 30 feet onto a highway. But we'll stick to sports related wastes. 1. WLUK - Umm Eli Manning has millions of dollars, I think he could buy the Seinfeld DVD if he really wanted to watch Seinfeld. In fact I think the studio is just giving Eli the Seinfeld DVD collection as well as a DVD player for his hotel room if Eli feels the need to relax on saturday night. Eli I would recommend the beach house episode where George complains about the problems of shrinkage, that one is quite humorous. 2. Matthew Kowald - A few weeks ago we had the parents who allowed their son to wear a Brett Favre jersey for multiple straight years. Now we have a parent who duct tapes his son to a chair and then duct tapes the jersey on him. Perhaps these parents should switch children so we can combine the nut job child who never wants to take off the jersey with the nut job father who thinks duct taping his child is just all in the name of fun and games. You play hostage I'll play psycho dad. 3. West Virginia Reporters - Whoever was the moronic reporter that started the Rich Rodriguez eliminated all of his players academic records rumor is a moron. First off if the Head Football Coach holds all the official documentation regarding the academics for an institution than you have a very poorly run institution. Additionally I would imagine that a 28,000 student university probably has a significant file structure on their computers with academic records. The person that did this report is an ass. 4. Greg Paulus - The Brazilian Soccer player of College Basketball. King of the flop with horrible acting included. Pretending to get punched in the face when a guy taps your shoulder is incredibly lame. Needless to say I don't think anyone would be incredibly disappointed if Florida St. did in fact punch Greg Paulus in the face. It's one thing to be a scrappy annoying player like Wojo was in his day, it's another thing when you are a scrappy annoying player who attempts to cheat. Get Your Vote On Last Weeks Winner: The Ohio State University

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Everyone needs something to keep them occupied on Friday afternoons so the Friday Video Blowout was born. Spend your next few minutes, laughing, crying of laughter, pissing your self, whatever, but mostly wasting your companies time.

Videos In Order Courtesy of MDCMblog, Fanhouse, With Leather, Co-Ed Magazine, The Offside, No Mas, The Postmen, me, Fanhouse again, TBL, On 205th


Of course Hitler dominates fantasy football, you thought otherwise?


Engage Landing gear... God Damn it I said engage not discard...


Kick the Puppy...


http://view.break.com/300267 - Watch more free videos
The bird in the urinal one was the best.s


Bend it like a single named Brazilian.


The Brain says Game Over.


He missed the cautionary memo for white people attempting dunks.


By far the greatest overweight Korean fake-Seahawk of all time.


Pauly is definitely Bowlinnnn


What if he has sex with the horse? Does that stay in cali?


Screw the bottle opener.

For those that have been asking for the list of all players but were too lazy to ask me for the spreadsheet which I offered if they wanted.

Big 10

Eugene Wilson S Illinois NE
David Diehl OG Illinois NY
Kris Dielman G Indiana SD
Aaron Kampman DE Iowa GB
Colin Cole DT Iowa GB
Abdul Hodge LB Iowa GB
Scott Chandler TE Iowa SD
Mike Goff G Iowa SD
Nate Kaeding PK Iowa SD
Charles Woodson CB Michigan GB
Tom Brady QB Michigan NE
Pierre Woods LB Michigan NE
Amani Toomer WR Michigan NY
Plaxico Burress WR Michigan State NY
Brandon McKinney DT Michigan State SD
Dave Rayner PK Michigan State SD
Laurence Maroney RB Minnesota NE
Noah Herron RB Northwestern GB
Barry Cofield DT Northwestern NY
Luis Castillo DT Northwestern SD
Tyson Walter G Ohio State GB
Ryan Pickett DT Ohio State GB
AJ Hawk LB Ohio State GB
Mike Vrabel LB Ohio State NE
Shane Olivea OT Ohio State SD
Matt Wilhelm LB Ohio State SD
Kyle Brady TE Penn State NE
Kareem McKenzie OT Penn State NY
Jay Alford DT Penn State NY
Matt Light OT Purdue NE
Rosevelt Colvin LB Purdue NE
Nick Hardwick C Purdue SD
Shaun Phillips LB Purdue SD
Mark Tauscher OT Wisconsin GB
Chris Chambers WR Wisconsin SD

SEC

Charlie Peprah S Alabama GB
Wesley Britt OT Alabama NE
Heath Evans RB Auburn NE
Reggie Torbor LB Auburn NY
Marcus McNeill OT Auburn SD
DeShawn Wynn RB Florida GB
Jabar Gaffney WR Florida NE
Chad Jackson WR Florida NE
Brandon Siler LB Florida SD
Benjamin Watson TE Georgia NE
Richard Seymour DT Georgia NE
Danny Ware RB Georgia NY
Paul Oliver CB Georgia SD
Jared Lorenzen QB Kentucky NY
Marlon McCree FS Kentucky SD
Kevin Faulk RB LSU NE
Jarvis Green DE LSU NE
Eric Alexander LB LSU NE
Randall Gay CB LSU NE
Corey Webster CB LSU NY
Craig Davis WR LSU SD
Eli Manning QB Mississippi NY
Donald Lee TE Mississippi State GB
Kevin Dockery CB Mississippi State NY
Anthony Wright QB South Carolina NY
Andrew Pinnock FB South Carolina SD
Scott Wells C Tennessee GB
Chad Clifton OT Tennessee GB
Justin Harrell DT Tennessee GB
Donte' Stallworth WR Tennessee NE
Kelley Washington WR Tennessee NE
Rashad Moore DT Tennessee NE
Gibril Wilson S Tennessee NY
Eric Parker WR Tennessee SD

ACC

Will Blackmon CB Boston College GB
Dan Koppen C Boston College NE
Chris Snee OG Boston College NY
Mathias Kiwanuka LB Boston College NY
Charlie Whitehurst QB Clemson SD
Anthony Waters LB Clemson SD
Orrin Thompson OT Duke GB
Antonio Cromartie CB Florida State SD
Michael Matthews TE Georgia Tech NY
Gerris Wilkinson LB Georgia Tech NY
James Butler S Georgia Tech NY
Conrad Bolston DT Maryland GB
Chad Scott CB Maryland NE
Shawne Merriman LB Maryland SD
Bubba Franks TE Miami (FL) GB
Vince Wilfork DT Miami (FL) NE
Brandon Meriweather S Miami (FL) NE
Sinorice Moss WR Miami (FL) NY
Jeremy Shockey TE Miami (FL) NY
William Joseph DT Miami (FL) NY
Jeff Feagles P Miami (FL) NY
Madison Hedgecock RB North Carolina NY
Russell Davis DT North Carolina NY
Koren Robinson WR North Carolina State GB
Philip Rivers QB North Carolina State SD
Ryan Kuehl DT Virginia NY
Aaron Rouse S Virginia Tech GB
Fred Robbins DT Wake Forest NY
Jyles Tucker LB Wake Forest SD

D 1-AA

Donald Driver WR Alcorn State GB
Jason Hunter DE Appalachian State GB
Nick Collins S Bethune-Cookman GB
Zak DeOssie LB Brown NY
Kevin Boothe OG Cornell NY
Torrance Daniels LB Harding NY
Tracy White LB Howard GB
Geoffrey Pope CB Howard NY
Matt Gutierrez QB Idaho State NE
Cletis Gordon CB Jackson State SD
Stephen Cooper LB Maine SD
Junius Coston OT North Carolina A&T GB
Craig Dahl S North Dakota State NY
Vincent Jackson WR Northern Colorado SD
Dave Tollefson DE Northwest Missouri State NY
Craig Nall QB Northwestern State GB
Jim Finn RB Pennsylvania NY
Shaun Bodiford WR Portland State GB
Lonie Paxton C Sacramento State NE
Brandon Jacobs RB Southern Illinois NY
Marques Harris LB Southern Utah SD
Michael Strahan DE Texas Southern NY
Raymond Ventrone S Villanova NE
Rodney Harrison S Western Illinois NE
Rich Seubert OG Western Illinois NY
Mike Scifres P Western Illinois SD

Big 12

Willie Andrews CB Baylor NE
Mason Crosby PK Colorado GB
Ellis Hobbs CB Iowa State NE
Tim Dobbins LB Iowa State SD
Darren Sproles RB Kansas State SD
Jeromey Clary OT Kansas State SD
Tony Palmer G Missouri GB
Brandon Jackson RB Nebraska GB
Russ Hochstein OG Nebraska NE
Le Kevin Smith DT Nebraska NE
Ryon Bingham DT Nebraska SD
Carlos Polk LB Nebraska SD
Vernand Morency RB Oklahoma State GB
R.W. McQuarters CB Oklahoma State NY
Jamal Williams DL Oklahoma State SD
David Thomas TE Texas NE
Aaron Ross CB Texas NY
Quentin Jammer CB Texas SD
Michael Montgomery DE Texas A&M GB
Johnny Jolly DT Texas A&M GB
Billy Yates OG Texas A&M NE
Ty Warren DT Texas A&M NE
Sammy Morris RB Texas Tech NE
Wes Welker WR Texas Tech NE

Pac 10

Tedy Bruschi LB Arizona NE
Antonio Pierce LB Arizona NY
Michael Johnson S Arizona NY
Brandon Manumaleuna TE Arizona SD
Grey Ruegamer OG Arizona State NY
Aaron Rodgers QB California GB
Desmond Bishop LB California GB
Ryan O'Callaghan OT California NE
David Binn C California SD
Reuben Droughns RB Oregon NY
Igor Olshansky DE Oregon SD
Nick Barnett LB Oregon State GB
Adam Koets OT Oregon State NY
Jason Bell CB UCLA NY
Ryan Powdrell FB USC GB
Matt Cassel QB USC NE
Oscar Lua LB USC NE
Junior Seau LB USC NE
Steve Smith WR USC NY
Manuel Wright DT USC NY
Cory Withrow C Washington State SD

D2 or Lower

Allen Barbre G Missouri Southern State GB
Ryan Krause TE Nebraska-Omaha GB
Jon Ryan P Regina GB
Ruvell Martin WR Saginaw Valley GB
John Kuhn RB Shippensburg GB
Rob Davis C Shippensburg GB
Al Harris CB Texas A&M-Kingsville GB
Frank Walker CB Tuskegee GB
Stephen Neal OG Cal State Bakersfield NE
Derrick Ward RB Ottawa NY
Kevin Boss TE Western Oregon NY
Clinton Hart S Central Florida CC SD
Tyronne Gross RB Eastern Oregon SD
Jacques Cesaire DE Southern Connecticut State SD
Drayton Florence CB Tuskegee SD

Conference USA

Brett Favre QB Southern Miss GB
Adalius Thomas LB Southern Miss NE
Atari Bigby S UCF GB
Darcy Johnson TE UCF NY
Asante Samuel CB UCF NE
Robert Douglas RB Memphis NY
Marcus Bell DT Memphis NY
Stephen Gostkowski PK Memphis NE
Larry Izzo LB Rice NE
Guy Whimper OT East Carolina NY
Troy Brown WR Marshall NE
Randy Moss WR Marshall NE
Chris Hanson P Marshall NE
Ahmad Bradshaw RB Marshall NY

WAC

Korey Hall FB Boise State GB
Daryn Colledge G Boise State GB
Legedu Naanee WR Boise State SD
Tyrone Culver S Fresno State GB
Stephen Spach TE Fresno State NE
Logan Mankins OG Fresno State NE
James Sanders S Fresno State NE
Billy Volek QB Fresno State SD
Lorenzo Neal FB Fresno State SD
Tramon Williams CB Louisiana Tech GB
James Jones WR San Jose State GB
Jarrett Bush CB Utah State GB
Tony Moll OT Nevada GB

MAC

Domenik Hixon WR Akron NY
Chase Blackburn LB Akron NY
Scott Mruczkowski OL Bowling Green SD
Tory Humphrey TE Central Michigan GB
Cullen Jenkins DE Central Michigan GB
Daniel Muir DT Kent State GB
Antonio Gates TE Kent State SD
Michael Turner RB Northern Illinois SD
Nick Kaczur OT Toledo NE
Greg Jennings WR Western Michigan GB

Big East

Mike Wright DT Cincinnati NE
Jason Spitz G Louisville GB
Sam Madison CB Louisville NY
Roman Oben OT Louisville SD
Shaun O'Hara C Rutgers NY
Kawika Mitchell LB South Florida NY
David Tyree WR Syracuse NY
Steve Gregory CB Syracuse SD

Mountain West

Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila DE San Diego State GB
Kassim Osgood WR San Diego State SD
Brady Poppinga LB Brigham Young GB
LaDainian Tomlinson RB TCU SD
Eric Weddle DB Utah SD
Malcom Floyd WR Wyoming SD

Independent

Ryan Grant RB Notre Dame GB
Carlyle Holiday WR Notre Dame GB
Jerome Collins TE Notre Dame NY
Justin Tuck DE Notre Dame NY
Mike Richardson CB Notre Dame NE
Kyle Eckel RB Navy NE
Mel Mitchell S Western Kentucky NE

Sun Belt

Osi Umenyiora DE Troy NY
Lawrence Tynes PK Troy NY
Adrian Awasom DE North Texas NY
Antwain Spann CB Louisiana-Lafayette NE
Corey Williams DT Arkansas State GB

Scene: Eli taps Tony's ass after the game this weekend to begin discussions while Lorenzen sits in the background screaming for his lover's attention.

Eli: Hey Hey Tony over here I want to talk to you about your championship?

Tony: About what championship?

Eli: You know the one bestowed upon you by Peter King.

Jared: Eli... Eli, why did you just touch Tony's ass. Eli!!!

Tony: What the hell are you talking about?

Eli: You know how you lead the league in smiling. That's pretty impressive.

Tony: Um ok that's super Eli.

Eli: Well I was just saying you aren't smiling right now and I think you look a lot cuter when you're smiling and well I think you should start smiling again.

Jared: I have a great smile, a really great smile. I'm the #1 smiler in America for backup quarterbacks over 300 pounds.

Tony: Well I did just get hammered by your defensive line and I am now 0-2 as a playoff starter.

Eli: Oh don't worry about the 0-2 thing, look at me I was 0-2 last year and now I'm .500 just like my brother. All you need is to play the Cowboys, they never win playoff games anymore.

Tony: Umm, you're an idiot.

Eli: Can I go with you to Cabo? I'll skip practice this week just like you did. Please Tony please? I love your smiles.... I guess it's back to the Pillsbury Throwboy.

Jared: Yay Eli is coming back to me.

Breakin it Down is 5 key stories plus a pick for each postseason game.

Screw the Cold It's the Wind that Matters

Sure Eli is coming off two fine games in leading his squad to the NFC Championship game. One commonality in the games was the warm weather friendly settings the games were played in. While the cold is certain to have some effect on both squads, the wind or potential wind is what the Giants have to be most worried about. There's probably several reasons why Eli's stats are worse at home than on the road, one of these is most certainly his struggles handling the wind at Giants Stadium.

The .500 Manning Legacy

Obviously Eli has been around for a lot less time than Peyton, but he is in his third straight playoffs and sits with a record of 2-2. And Big Brother Peyton? 7-7 helped a lot of course by the 4 wins last year and hurt of course by his 0-3 career start. If Eli gets the G-Men into the Superbowl, for atleast 2 weeks he will be the only Manning with an above .500 playoff record.

Fumbilitis

Obviously turnovers are a key to the game, they're a key to every game, however the two star running backs have shown a little fumbilitis this season. If Ryan Grant repeats his opening minutes this week than the Pack are not getting back to the big one. Meanwhile the Juggernaut has shown that sometimes he breaks one too many tackles and drops the ball like a stick of butter.

On Lock Down

Who knows when this came about, but all of a sudden Corey Webster has morphed into a shutdown man to man cornerback. In the past two weeks the Giants have often left Webster alone on both Terrell Owens and Joey Galloway and Webster has more than held his own. Now this week will the Giants trust Webster yet again with no safety help on either Driver or Jennings? And if so will Webster come through for a third consecutive week?

The Send Off

Maybe it's the constant force feeding of New York media but surprisingly I don't think I've heard so much about Favre this week that I'm sick of it. In fact I think I'm more sick of all the Giants fans bursting with confidence in the same quarterback they destroyed all season long. Regardless from a story line perspective a Favre vs. Brady Super Bowl is basically the NFL's Wet Dream.

The Pick

This game is a lot tougher to call, obviously, however I think I'm going to stick with the boredom that has been my playoff picks. I'm taking the home team to win and the road team to cover. So basically I think it's going to be a close low scoring game that the Pack sneak out with. Yes I am that dull...

Breakin it down is 5 key stories plus a pick for each postseason game this season.

Loudmouth Sally

For all the yelling and trash talking done by Philip Rivers it sure seemed like last week a was a huge bitch when he wouldn't come back in the game. First off he hurt himself without getting hit, secondly he walked off the field seemingly uninjured. I'm sure trash talking with Junior Seau or Richard Seymour won't be the brightest thing to do on sunday. And if he trash talks with Vince Wilfork he just might be subject to an eye gauge.

The 'Best Running Back'

I've always been a pretty big LT supporter but he's starting to turn me off a bit. He seems to do a lot of whining and last weeks showing was completely piss poor. The fact that he came out the next day and said that he was definitely a go this week and that the injury was not serious and was a simple hyper extension makes me think what was he doing on the sideline. Was there that much of a risk to further injury? If/when the Chargers lose this weekend he should just take the loss with some pride and dignity for a change.

Establishing the Run

Throughout the majority of the season the Patriots have seemingly never needed the run. Maroney sat out a ton of games, Brady threw 35+ passes a game, the Pats dominated every game through the air. But then come playoff time not so surprisingly Maroney showed up and dominated on the ground to the tune of 122 yards on 22 carries. If Maroney equals that performance this week the Pats will be unstoppable just as they were last week and the week before and the week before, etc.

The Hottest Team in the NFL

Or the best team in the second half of the year as the Pats are referring to them as. What a complete load of crap that is. The Patriots are the hottest team in the NFL, the Pats are the best team in the NFL. The second half, week 13-16, week 1, the preseason, the Pats have been the best team in the NFL the entire year. Enough with this ludicrous discussion.

Secondary Restraining Order

It's been an interesting week for Randy Moss. The Pats win over the weekend and he only has a single reception for 14 yards and then he gets a restraining order thrown in his direction mid week. I'd imagine that this weekend there will be atleast a play or two where Moss finds himself 10 yards away from the closest Charger.

The Pick

Stupid Colts had to go and blow the game last weekend and now the Pats should have a smoother trip this weekend. If the Rivers and LT are going to sit on the sidelines in Indy what's to think that they won't get hit a few times and need to sit out again this weekend. And really what makes you think that the Chargers defense can even slow down the Pats offense. I'm obviously picking the Pats and think they'll win by two tds. Right now the spread is at 14.5 so with the spread I take the Chargers.

When I go to the gym I pretty much use the same locker every single time (#56 if you want to steal my stuff), I really don't know why but I guess it's a practice of habit. It's also in a relatively poor spot if the locker room is crowded as it's near a corner thus doubling the possibility of someone around you, so it's probably a poor choice but whatever it's what I do.

So yesterday I'm getting into the locker room and there's a large bag in front of the set of lockers. Seriously who leaves their stuff just lying on the floor of a gym locker room eh who cares, I thought and so I just opened up the typical locker and started getting changed. Now when I get to the gym after work it's a relatively quick turnaround, I usually work out in the undershirt I wore at work and just need to put on shorts and sneakers and throw on the Ipod. So I take off the jacket and hang it up and begin to unbutton the shirt when the owner of the bag decides to come collect his belongings.

The owner of the bag didn't leave his bag in the open when he was working out, rather he left his bag on the floor when he headed into the locker room showers and now he was set to change and be out of his way. Of course his locker was on the opposite side of the corner right by mine making it a highly cramped area, but there was one significant piece that made this worse. The old man refused to hide his junk. Nope just merrily walking around the locker room butt ass naked. So I'm attempting to speed up the changing process while I have a 50 year naked man 6-inches away from ass on ass grinding and of course I forget the Ipod and have to go back.

Anyway the moral of the story is that it's not that fucking hard to wrap a god damn towel around your waste so your old man junk and wrinkly ass isn't flopping around the locker room. No one wants to be disturbed at the gym prior to being disturbed when they see all the fat gynemy ladies on their treadmills with their fupas.

I've always been interested in where people go to college and what sort of trends pro teams may have when they recruit players. Thus going into this weekend I put that interest into action and created a spreadsheet which separates the 4 remaining NFL teams rosters by conference. I tallied up the total players, marked down which NFL team scooped up the most player, and noted some notable players from each conference. And of course pulled together a little conclusion and analysis at the end.

If you care to quiz your knowledge on the subject first I set up a 12 question quiz earlier. Additionally if for some reason you desire the spreadsheet simply send me an email and I will have no problem sending it to you. Since no one apparently wants the spreadsheet even though it's much more informative, I put together a post consisting of all of the players remaining broken down by their college squad lumped within their conference. Hopefully this will appease those who wanted more info / give some clarity to all those who are confused and telling me I forgot the Fred Taylor's of the world.

Now onto the Conference by Conference breakdown sorted by which Conference has the most representatives during this weekends title game matchups.

Big Ten (35)

The Big 10 lead the way with the amount of players with 35 which of course includes the Golden Boy. They just passed over the SEC in total players thanks to the Chargers having two place kickers on the roster from the Big 10 but in reality Big 10 aficionados should be proud as there are a ton of impact players from the 'slow' conference playing this weekend.

Most Notable Players: Tom Brady, Plaxico Burress, Mike Vrabel, Charles Woodson , Shaun Philips, Aaron Kampman
Biggest School Contributor: Ohio State with 6.
NFL Team With Most Players: San Diego with 12.

SEC (34)

While SEC proponents may not be able to brag about having the most players represented this weekend, they'll certainly be able to brag about the Patriots and there vast amount of SEC players. However, the other downward thought is that the Big 10 has vastly more impact players headed into the weekend.

Most Notable Players: Eli Manning, Richard Seymour, Donald Lee, Benjamin Watson
Biggest School Contributor: Tennessee with 8.
NFL Team With Most Players: New England with 13.

ACC (29)

It's amazing to see just how crappy the ACC is now, especially the U, when you look at just how many NFL players they produced only a few years ago.

Most Notable Players: Philip Rivers, Antonio Cromratie, Vince Wilfork, Shawne Merriman
Biggest School Contributor: The U with 7 players.
NFL Team With Most Players: New York with 13.

Big 12 (24)

The Big 12 doubled up with 24 players. The most notable abscence being that no team in the conference championship game has a single player from the Oklahoma Sooners.

Most Notable Players: Wes Welker, Quentin Jammer, Ty Warren, Aaron Ross
Biggest School Contributor: Nebraska with 5.
NFL Team With Most Players: New England with 9.

Pac 10 (21)

When you think Pac 10 you often think high flying offenses and zero defense. But the teams in the Conference Championship games are using big name defenders from the West Coast.

Most Notable Players: Junior Seau, Tedy Bruschi, Antonio Pearce, Igor Olshansky, Nick Barnett
Biggest School Contributor: USC with 6.
NFL Team With Most Players: New York with 8.

Conference USA (14)

The Conference USA is a pretty shat conference right now but don't tell that to that to the Pack and Pats who both plucked out two gems from the fold.

Most Notable Players: Randy Moss, Brett Favre, Adalius Thomas, Asante Samual, Atari Bigby,
Biggest School Contributor: Marshall with 4. Stupid Marshall switching conferences.
NFL Team With Most Players: New England with 5.

WAC (13)

The WAC dominated its divorced, the Mountain West, in total players but lacked any true name value.

Most Notable Players: Logan Mankins, Billy Volek, James Jones
Biggest School Contributor: Fresno St. with 6.
NFL Team With Most Players: Green Bay with 7.

MAC (10)

Apparently if you're looking for a dynamic playmaker you should start watching some MAC games.

Most Notable Players: Antonio Gates, Greg Jennings, Michael Turner
Biggest School Contributor: Akron, Kent St. and Central Michigan with 2.
NFL Team With Most Players: Green Bay with 4.

Big East (8)

The Big East wouldn't have been so low if the U and BC hadn't exited the conference a few years back. With those two schools the Big East would have sat at 19, however without them they are lower than most 'Mid Major' conferences.

Most Notable Players: Shaun O'Hara, Sam Madison, Kawika Mitchell
Biggest School Contributor: Louisville with 3.
NFL Team With Most Players: New York with 4.

Independents (7)

The Independent schools in 1-A are limited to 4 with Navy and Western Kentucky both contributing one player while Army contributed none.

Most Notable Players: Ryan Grant, Justin Tuck
Biggest School Contributor: Notre Dame with 5.
NFL Team With Most Players: New England with 3.

Mountain West (6)

The Mountain West comes in with a very unimpressive 6 total but does have argaubly the best representative in LaDainian.

Most Notable Players: LT, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila
Biggest School Contributor: San Diego St. with 2.
NFL Team With Most Players: San Diego with 4.

Sun Belt (5)

The Sun Belt once again shows why no one cares about it after providing the least amount of players in the Conference Championship games.

Most Notable Players: Osi Umenyiora
Biggest School Contributor: Troy with 2.
NFL Team With Most Players: New York with 3.

Division 1-AA (26)

Some big names coming Division 1-AA including two probably Hall of Famers in Strahan and Harrison.

Most Notable Players: Rodney Harrison, Donald Driver, Michael Strahan, Brandon Jacobs
Biggest School Contributor: Western Illinois with 3.
NFL Team With Most Players: New York with 10.

Division 2 or Lower (15)

Surprisingly there are 15 players on these rosters from a Division 2 level or lower football team.

Most Notable Players: Al Harris (Texas A&M Kingsville), Ruvell Martin (Saginaw Valley)
Biggest School Contributor: Shippensburg with 2.
NFL Team With Most Players: Green Bay with 8.

Conclusion and Analysis

~When Eli Manning is definitively your number 1 notable player, it's not a good thing.

~There are some notable colleges without players represented including several high powered 2007 squads. Oklahoma, Kansas, Hawaii, West Virginia are all BCS squads in 2007 whom have no representation this weekend.

~I find it interesting how there are some commonalities and contrasts regarding regions and players on their roster. For instance New York Big East and ACC players but also has the most Sun Belt and Pac 10 players. Green Bay has the most MAC players but also the most WAC players. San Diego has the most Mountain West players but also the most Big Ten Players.

~The Patriots dominate the SEC with 13 total players on their roster. However with the exception of Benjamin Watson and Richard Seymour most of the other players are are backups or role players such as Kevin Faulk, Randall Gay, Jabar Gaffney, etc.

~Not only does the MAC provide Randy Moss, Greg Jennings and Antonio Gates but also Ahmad Bradshaw, long time Pat wideout Troy Brown and dynamic kick returner Domenick Hixon. No wonder most MAC games are complete shoot outs.

~The homestate UConn Huskies unsurprisingly have no reps.

~The Giants only have two players from the Big 12 and both are cornerbacks. Aaron Ross and R.W. McQuarters.

~The Ivy League has three reps one from Brown, Cornell and UPenn each.

~Steve Smith and Rueben Droughns are the only WR and RB representatives from the Pac 10 respectively.

~And lastly after all the ridicule the Big Ten took this season, plenty of it from me, those looking on this weekend will have plenty to boast about. The Big 10 has the most players in the game and definitively has the most big name players in the game.

I am currently working on a post which analyzes which college conference has the most players in the conference championship games. While I am putting the finishing touches on this post I figured I would give you folks the opportunity to test your knowledge.

Click Here for the Answers

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Read the Analysis and Breakdown Post

In a mildly surprising turn of events each top seed lost in the Divisional Round including LSU against Georgia. In a not so surprising turn of events, I am late on posting this.

AFC Title Game: #6 Georgia at #4 USC in LA

USC Wildcard Victory over Arizona St. 93.5% to 6.5%
USC Divisional Victory over BYU 100% to 0%
USC Key Wins: Arizona St., Oregon St.
USC Bad Losses: Stanford

UGA Wildcard Victory over VaTech 85.6% to 14.4%
UGA Divisional Victory over LSU 58.3% to 41.7%
UGA Key Wins: Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky
UGA Bad Losses: South Carolina

NFC Title Game: #West Virgina at #3 Ohio St. in Columbus

Ohio St. Wildcard Victory over Boise St. 88.9% to 11.1%
Ohio St. Divisional Victory over Mizzou 69.2% to 30.8%
Ohio St. Key Wins: Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn St.
Ohio St. Bad Losses: None

WVU Wildcard Victory over Kansas 63.3% to 36.7%
WVU Divisional Victory over Hawaii 25.0% to 75.0%
West Virginia Key Wins: Uconn, Miss St., Cincy, Rutgers
West Virginia Bad Losses: Pitt

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It didn't take me very long to lose hope during the 2007 season but for 2008 I'm going to be doing a lot dedicated prep work. Holding the 6th pick in the draft and 26 million dollars in cap room the New York Jets must be aggressive in the free agent market to address some of the current holes on their roster.

Headed into the season one of the major question marks on the New York Jet roster will be quarterback. What will the New York Jets do? Shall they start Pennington and effectively throw away the experience they forced themselves to give Clemens this season? Will Pennington's meager arm strength and untimely final possession interceptions disappear? Most likely not. If they go with Clemens can they somehow teach him the ability to read defenses? Or will he continue to sit in the pocket unable to adjust to any blitz coming. Really the Jets at the most important position on the football field are in flux.

My suggestion regarding Chad Henne is that the Jets draft him as a back up plan. Coming into this season Henne was a 3 year starter with superior arm strength and could have projected into a possible first round draft pick. By the end of the regular season Henne was all but thrown off most draft boards but reemerged after a strong performance on January 1. Still thanks to some inexplicable losses and an injury riddled senior season Henne should be had at a significant discount price. Additionally the false premise that he was a loser in college will again discount his price. In reality the top 3 quarterbacks in the draft (Brohm, Ryan, Woodson) have all suffered significantly more losses than Henne did in his career.

If the New York Jets decide to go into the season with Kellen Clemens as their starter they should do so soon. They should attempt to parse away Pennington for a draft pick that they could turn into a backup quarterback. In my opinion (poosibly biased) Chad Henne is a highly discounted option with as much potential to be a solid quarterback as those whom will be drafted in the first round.

At the midway point of the fantasy regular season the mighty White Warriors sit a singular spot away from the Ultimate goal. The Warriors have a record of 60-37-2 and sit 5 games behind the #1 squad in the standings. Overall in weekly matchups the White Warriors are 8-3 having lost to both the top squad and the 3rd squad. Thus the Warriors are pounding the schmucks and struggling against elite competition. With ten more regular season weeks to go hopefully there are good things in the Warriors future.

Note: Wally World replaced Vlad Radmanovic on the roster.

Still No? There really is nothing that will get you to like soccer is there?

Well, just in case you'd rather just check out more Babes With Balls you can go there.

The Henne, Hart, Lloyd combo of the past four years has been the subject of much ridicule. 4 losses to Ohio St. and up until the thrilling Capital One Bowl victory an 0 for in the Bowls. Hart for the most part has gotten off the easiest in the line of criticism while Henne and Lloyd have shared the brunt of the criticism and blame. As disappointing as it is to have a 4 year starter go winless against your archrival Henne should go down favorably in Michigan Lore but unfortunately he will not.

Chad Henne will forever go down as a loser of a quarterback but after a significant look at all of his losses its easy to conclude that this label is quite unfair.

2004 20-28 At Notre Dame

The biggest knock on Henne in this game was his inablity to lead the Wolverines in the end zone, but in reality he was a true freshman quarterback playing in the second game of the season and after three quarters the Wolverines held a 12-7 lead. The defense, combined with a punt block, gave up 21 unanswered points at the start of the 4th quarter to lose to ND.

2004 21-37 At Ohio State

Henne helped the Wolverines to a 14-7 lead in the Shoe only to be stifled for the next two quarters and watch his defense get torched by Troy Smith's emergence into the world of fame. After three quarters the Wolverines were down by 20 and the game was effectively over.

2004 37-38 vs. Texas in The Rose Bowl

Chad Henne and the Wolverines offense played phenomanally. Henne finished the game with 4 touchdowns to no interceptions, but in a game where the team with the ball last was bound to win, the legend of Vince Young was started. After the Wolverines managed to kick a field goal with 3 minutes left to take the lead, Young helped lead the Longhorns down the field to seal the deal with a last second field goal.

2005 10-17 vs. Notre Dame

To start the season that most Michigan fans would like to eviscerate from their memories, the Wolverines helped give Charlie Weis a solid startup at Notre Dame. Henne played like garbage completing less than 50% of his passes and having an incomprehensible fumble at the goal line while attempting a QB sneak.

2005 20-23 at Wisconsin

Chad played pretty well in this game helping lead the Wolverines to a 13-7 halftime lead. The Wolverines stifled in the 3rd and early fourth quarter but with 7 minutes to go Henne lead the Wolverines on a td drive to retake the lead at 20-16. The Wolverines defense proceeded to give up an 11 play 52 minute drive allowing the Badgers to score a td with 26 seconds left. Game over.

2005 20-23 vs. Minnesota

Chad Henne didn't turn the ball over in the game but that's the only thing positive he did. Henne's numbers were highly unspectacular in a game that was meant for overtime. With the Gophers rushing the ball in attempt to kill the clock in the final minutes of the game the Wolverines allowed a 61 yard rush allowing the Gophers to kick a game ending field goal. In Henne's defense he did lead a drive in the mid fourth resulting in a field goal attempt shanked by Garret Rivas.

2005 21-25 vs. Ohio St.

Another case of the 2005 Michigan Wolverines defense once again let the team down in the 4th quarter. Up 21-12 after a field goal with 7:41 to play the defense gave up a lightning fast touchdown drive to cut the lead to two. Then with a 4th and 4 on the following drive at the Ohio St. 35 the ultra conservative Carr punted the ball. The Buckeyes proceeded to drive the length of the field and score the game clinching touchdown with seconds remaining.

2005 28-32 vs. Nebraska in The Alamo Bowl

Another game another defensive collapse. Up 28-17 after a fourth quarter touchdown the defense once again gave up 2 touchdowns in the final period to close out the worst of the Henne Hart years.

2006 39-42 at Ohio St.

Henne and Hart both had terrific games helping the Wolverines put 39 points on the board against OSU. The problem? The defense couldn't stop shit. Troy Smith solidified his Heisman bid and the Buckeyes finished off their undefeated regular season with an explanation point.

2006 18-32 vs. USC in The Rose Bowl

Henne had solid statistics, 309 yards 2 tds, however most of these numbers came after the Wolverines had forgotten how to cover fly routes and the Trojans were up 19-3. What Henne did in this game really didn't matter cause the Trojans offense was not going to be stopped by the Wolverines.

2007 32-34 vs. Appalachian St.

Henne didn't play a terrific game but he did make the terrific pass completion to Manningham at the end of the game to set up the final field goal attempt. Again the moral of the story is that 32 points is a lot of points and your defense should not need more than that against a D1-AA school.

2007 7-39 vs. Oregon

Henne received his first injury of the season and was unable to finish the game but it didn't matter after the spread offense shredded the Wolverines for 32 first half points.

2007 7-39 at Wisconsin

Henne played only in the first quarter and was taken out for the remainder of the game. The Wolverines defense got pummeled and the offense behind Mallett was able to spark an unsuccesful early 4th quarter comeback.

2007 3-14 vs. Ohio St.

This will easily go down as Henne's worst performance of his career, however in retrospect perhaps it wasn't his fault. Quickly any observer could tell that Henne was in fact still injured and completely trying to gut it out in an effort to pick up his first win over the Buckeyes. Henne should not have played a down in this game, he wasn't physically able to play and Lloyd stupidly gave him the opportunity. This game fell on the shoulders of the head coach.

Conclusion

In most of these games Henne certainly could have played better however the overriding them to the majority of Michigan's losses in the past 4 years was their inability to play defense. Whether it be for the entirety of a game or the closing minutes, the defense was the largest culprit for the losses of the past 4 years. In reality Henne was a very good quarterback for Michigan and won three times the games that he lost.

This season the NBA has listened to one of my many thoguht and has started to track a players +/- during the course of individual games. Due to my dislike of Brian Scalabrine, I am going to track he's performance in a weekly post called The Scalabrine Watch. 3 Million a year for what?

Celtics 83 Bobcats 95: -6

14 minutes sounds like an absolutely ridiculous amount of minutes for Scals, especially given the fact that the Celtics lost and the amount of DNPs he's been getting lately. But I guess that without Allen and Big Baby that Doc had way too minutes to go around. Thankfully this won't happen again any time soon.

Game Stats: 14 Minutes, 2-4, 4 Points, 1 Rebound, 1 Assist

Celtics 86 Nets 77: DNP

Celtics 78 Wizards 85: -1
Scals got a few minutes in the first of back to back losses to the Wizards an unsurprisingly contributed just about nothing.

Game Stats: 7 Minutes, 0-1, 0 Points, 0 Rebound, 1 Assists

Celtics 83 Wizards 88: DNP

Overall Week Performance: -7
Scals brought himself down a few notches in limited playing time this past week, mostly due to getting 14 minutes in the loss against the Bobcats. Also, getting a DNP in the only win of the past week didn't help at all.

Weeks Stats: 21 Minutes, 2-5, 4 Points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists

Overall Season Performance: +19
After three weeks in the positive Scals gets some PT in losing efforts and now he's slowly approaching par again. One thing to look towards is if the Celtics do bring in a Gary Payton or a Chris Webber or make any trade to bring in additional talent, whom will be the player thrown off the active roster. Scals, Pollard and Powe would most likely be the top three options.

Season Stats:9 MPG, .316 FG%, 1.9 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 0.8 APG

During the course of half my life I've cheered for two NBA teams. The Celtics and whomever Chris Webber was suiting up for. As a 9 year old I fell in love with the Fab Five and quickly adopted both the Michigan Wolverines as the college of choice as well as C-Webb as my favorite player.

Ever since than I've followed C-Webb wherever he has gone. I was confused and sad after the phantom timeout. I didn't quite understand the Magic's desire to not unite C-Webb with Shaq. I enjoyed his short playoff trip with the Warriors. I enjoyed the trade to the Bullets and the reuniting with Juwan Howard. My most cherished uniform that I own is my C-Webb #4 Bullets jersey. I didn't understand why the Bullets dealt Webber months after purchase while in his prime for Mitch Richmond and crap. Throughout his Kings career I was thrilled to cheer for the most exciting team in basketball and immensely disappointed every time they fell to the Lakers in the playoffs. And then it started to disintegrate. The Kings sent him to the 76ers which didn't work at all and then he signed on with the Pistons a team I truly can't stand and found it hard to cheer for ever.

Now midway through the season C-Webb has announced he plans on Webber has announced he plans to be back and suited up within 2 weeks. I have no idea with which team and there have only been a few teams rumored, but here's to hoping that Webber winds up with the Celtics. Honestly I have no idea if it would help the team in the slightest. His defense is suspect, his athleticism is all but dry due to the knee injuries, and the Celtics aren't in desperate need for a Veteran leader. Sure he'd be an upgrade over this schmuck, but really who wouldn't. I just for one time would like my favorite to play for the team I want to win it all and more or less I want Chris to get that massive monkey off his back. Call it greedy, but I really hope that sometime in the next few days I open up ESPN.com to see Webber standing next to Pierce, Allen and KG holding up a green #4 jersey.

~I would not recommend to anyone else out there pursuing an MBA to take an 'intensive' class which calls for being at school from 9-4 on both saturday and sunday in January. First off I'm exhausted, secondly the only part of the Charger game I saw yesterday was the Colts failing on 4th and goal from the 5 because one of the guys in my class has slingbox.

~Tony Romo didn't exactly play a good game but the defense did allow the Giants to score in 40 something seconds in the 2nd quarter. If the defense shows up there the Cowboys win the game. Plus, Romo was getting pounded on every single play in the 4th quarter. Having said that, the two sacks he took were moronic, and so was the intentional grounding. The Cowboys pretty much threw that game away.

~I want the Giants to win, but there are way too many Giant fans that have been so negative this entire year who are now coming in as the callers who say the Giants are going to win it all.

Fact: Eli Manning is a better than average quarterback and has never been nearly as bad as most Giant fans make him out to be.

Fact: The Giants win on the road a lot because the wind at the Meadowlands seriously screws up Manning's already loose spiral.

Fact: Tom Coughlin isn't the greatest coach in the world, but he certainly doesn't suck.

Fact: The Giants season right now is an immense success, even if they fall flat on their face next week.

~Jerry Jones on the sidelines in disappointment is always a fun watch.

~At the start of the Packer Seahawk game I was still driving home from class, thus I heard the two fumbles on the Radio. Basically I thought that the Seahawks were going to somehow steal the game. Then when I get in front of a television the Packers drill the Seahawks. Really the Seahawks are just lucky Grant made those initial mistakes so at the very minimum they were in the game for a few minutes.

~Shaun Alexander has gone through a Terrell Davis like production decrease. Minus the debilitating injuries which force retirement.

~Hand off to Ryan Grant for another 15 yards...

~All I got from the Chargers Colts game is from watching it on the Yahoo game tracker, which is surprisingly exciting. Basically myself and my buddy just sat during class reading what happened on each play I checked out a few live blogs and we were eventually confused as to why Michael Turner was getting more carries. Then he got a text from his buddy saying it was going to be difficult to win without Philip Rivers. How the hell as a defending Superbowl champ at home lose to a team minus their QB and biggest play maker? That's absolutely pathetic.

~Great Norv made it farther than Marty ever did... He's still not a good coach.

~Watching the Jaguar Patriot game was just another example of having no hope despite the game being close. When the Jaguars scored to tie it up at 14 my buddy goes I actually feel good about their chances right now. I immediately followed up with why, the Patriots haven't been stopped on offense yet. I truly think if the Jaguars had mustered a few more solid offensive drives it wouldn't have mattered cause the Pats probably would have scored on the limited drives they stalled out on.

~As much as I thought the Patriots were going to win the Superbowl last week, well really since day one, their road appears to be that much easier. I thought that amongst the teams in the playoffs who could beat the Pats, the one with the best chance was the Cowboys on a neutral field. Mostly I thought this in part cause of the neutral field aspect and in part cause the Cowboys offense has enough firepower to put up 30+ on the Pats. The next best option was the Colts. Now? I'd say it's going to take a lot of injures and the Pats to play absolutely horrible for them to not go down as the best team in history.

~All this being said, I think if the Pats offense lined up against the Pats defense they would absolutely pummel them. Unlike the previous superbowl squads, especially the first one, the offense is the much more dominating side of the ball. I could easily see the Pats giving up 25+ in both the AFC Title game and Superbowl cause their D just isn't that great. Good but not great.

~It's not fair that Tony went to Cabo without me...

Sunday 9:30 AM
Tom: Hey Peyton, did you see me last night? Wasn't I god damn awesome?

Peyton: Yes Tom you were pretty good, but my DirectTV was coming in fuzzy and I was trying to gameplan for the Chargers so I didn't see much.

Tom: The Chargers? Seriously, they blow, we killed them. You guys should run the train on them. If you don't have at least 3 touchdowns against them you suck.

Peyton: We already lost to them and we need to play great to beat them.

Tom: Ha oh yeah I completely forgot about that. 6 Interceptions, man I almost coughed up a lung I was laughing so hard. The best was when short leg Vinny T missed a chip shot field goal. Man that was hilarious, probably funnier than Superbad.

Peyton: Ya that's great, Tom. I'm gonna leave now.

Tom: Alright, just make sure you win cause I want to kick your ass tomorrow.

Sunday 4:20 PM after the Clark Incompletion

Peyton: [sad face] Tom's gonna call me and be a complete douchebag...

Sunday 4:23 PM

Tom: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, You guys seriously lost to Billy Volek? Damn you guys suck.

Peyton: That's great Tom.

Tom: Billy god damn Volek. Ha. Good thing you got your pussy #1 wideout back so he could fumble. That was classic. So what do you think we're going to beat San Diego by? You think I can throw 7 touchdowns and our defense can shut them out?

Peyton: Can I go, dick?

Tom: Ha, what Peyton, I can't make fun of you cause you are pathetic? What kind of friendship is this.

Peyton: I'm hanging up.

Tom: Ok Peyton, just want to say thanks for smoothing our undefeated ride.

Peyton: [Click]


Sunday 7:43 PM

Tom: HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Peyton: What now?

Tom: Your loser brother is even better than you.

Peyton: Ugh, sure Eli is great.

Tom: Hahahaha, you're not even the best Manning anymore. Elisha doesn't lose to Billy Volek.

Peyton: Good for Eli.

Tom: Ha, ya right you're pissed off, you know your brother is a loser, and now you're a bigger one.

Peyton: [click]

Tom: God what's up his ass...

Monday 6:43 AM

Tom: [Peyton's Phone Goes to Voicemail] Ha you won't even answer the phone anymore. Anyway, I called Billy Volek's trailer park and he's gonna send you and autographed poster for you to hang on the wall signed, "I kicked your ass loser. Billy Volek". Just thought that you would cherish that forever. Well I'm gonna go to practice, have fun playing golf this week.

Michigan NFLers
Alan Branch Defensive Tackle Arizona Cardinals
Steve Breaston Wide Receiver Arizona Cardinals
Gabe Watson Defensive Tackle Arizona Cardinals
Prescott Burgess Linebacker Baltimore Ravens
Tim Massaquoi Tight End Buffalo Bills
Anthony Thomas Running Back Buffalo Bills
Brian Griese Quarterback Chicago Bears
Leon Hall Cornerback Cincinnati Bengals
Dhani Jones Linebacker Cincinnati Bengals
Roy Manning Linebacker Cincinnati Bengals
Chris Perry Running Back Cincinnati Bengals
Braylon Edwards Wide Receiver Cleveland Browns
Ian Gold Linebacker Denver Broncos
Jeff Backus Offensive Tackle Detroit Lions
Charles Woodson Cornerback Green Bay Packers
Marlin Jackson Cornerback Indianapolis Colts
Shantee Orr Linebacker Jacksonville Jaguars
Maurice Williams Offensive Tackle Jacksonville Jaguars
Ty Law Cornerback Kansas City Chiefs
Jay Feely Place kicker Miami Dolphins
Steve Hutchinson Guard Minnesota Vikings
Tom Brady Quarterback New England Patriots
Pierre Woods Linebacker New England Patriots
Mark Campbell Tight End New Orleans Saints
Jonathan Goodwin Offensive Lineman New Orleans Saints
Amani Toomer Wide Receiver New York Giants
David Harris Linebacker New York Jets
Victor Hobson Linebacker New York Jets
Jason Avant Wide Receiver Philadelphia Eagles
Jon Runyan Offensive Tackle Philadelphia Eagles
Larry Foote Linebacker Pittsburgh Steelers
Matt Lentz Guard Pittsburgh Steelers
Grant Mason Cornerback Pittsburgh Steelers
Jerame Tuman Tight End Pittsburgh Steelers
LaMarr Woodley Linebacker Pittsburgh Steelers
David Baas Guard San Francisco 49ers
Markus Curry Cornerback San Francisco 49ers
Bennie Joppru Tight End Seattle Seahawks
James Hall Defensive End St. Louis Rams
B.J. Askew Fullback Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Cato June Linebacker Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Todd Collins Quarterback Washington Redskins
Tyler Ecker Tight End Washington Redskins
Jon Jansen Offensive Tackle Washington Redskins

Ohio State NFLers

Rodney Bailey Defensive End Arizona Cardinals
Tim Anderson Defensive Tackle Atlanta Falcons
Doug Datish Offensive Lineman Atlanta Falcons
Michael Jenkins Wide Receiver Atlanta Falcons
Troy Smith Quarterback Baltimore Ravens
Dustin Fox Cornerback Buffalo Bills
Donte Whitner Safety Buffalo Bills
Ashton Youboty Cornerback Buffalo Bills
Drew Carter Wide Receiver Carolina Panthers
Na'il Diggs Linebacker Carolina Panthers
Chris Gamble Cornerback Carolina Panthers
Nate Salley Safety Carolina Panthers
Anthony Schlegel Linebacker Cincinnati Bengals
Alex Stepanovich Center Cincinnati Bengals
Simon Fraser Defensive End Cleveland Browns
Bobby Carpenter Linebacker Dallas Cowboys
Terry Glenn Wide Receiver Dallas Cowboys
Kenny Peterson Defensive End Denver Broncos
AJ Hawk Linebacker Green Bay Packers
Ryan Pickett Defensive Tackle Green Bay Packers
Tyson Walter Guard Green Bay Packers
Brandon Mitchell Safety Houston Texans
Anthony Gonzalez Wide Receiver Indianapolis Colts
Roy Hall Wide Receiver Indianapolis Colts
Quinn Pitcock Defensive Tackle Indianapolis Colts
Ted Ginn Jr. Wide Receiver Miami Dolphins
Michael Doss Safety Minnesota Vikings
Darrion Scott Defensive End Minnesota Vikings
Antoine Winfield Cornerback Minnesota Vikings
Mike Vrabel Linebacker New England Patriots
Kevin Houser Center New Orleans Saints
Will Smith Defensive End New Orleans Saints
Adrien Clarke Guard New York Jets
Nick Mangold Center New York Jets
Mike Nugent Place kicker New York Jets
Jay Richardson Defensive End Oakland Raiders
Santonio Holmes Wide Receiver Pittsburgh Steelers
Shane Olivea Offensive Tackle San Diego Chargers
Matt Wilhelm Linebacker San Diego Chargers
Nate Clements Cornerback San Francisco 49ers
Rob Sims Guard Seattle Seahawks
Orlando Pace Offensive Tackle St. Louis Rams
Antonio Pittman Running Back St. Louis Rams
Will Allen Safety Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Joey Galloway Wide Receiver Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Ben Hartsock Tight End Tennessee Titans
Donnie Nickey Safety Tennessee Titans
Shawn Springs Cornerback Washington Redskins

Once again a Quick Hitters Version. Each # is associated to a person, place or thing. The entire Rebus is set under a given theme. Post the answers in the comments for both each entry and the theme. This one has another person, place or thing associated with each answer under the them. Got a question email me, else have at it.

1. Which of the Remaining Playoff Teams has the Most Players from the Big 10?
The Chargers lead the way with 12 Big 10 representatives on their roster including Chris Chambers, Luis Castillo and Shaun Philips.

2. Which Conference Has the Most Players in the Conference Championship Games?
The Big Ten narrowly beat out the SEC 35 to 34 in part due to the Chargers having to Big Ten place kickers on their roster.

3. Which NCAA Team has the Most Representatives in the Conference Championship Games?
The Tennessee Volunteers lead the way with 8 representatives.

4. Which of these Conferences Has the Least Players Represented?
Surprisingly the Big East ranks below these other conferences with only 8 players.

5. Which of these Players Played in Division 1?
Rodney Harrison played for Western Illinois (1-AA), Donald Driver played for Alcorn St. (1-AA), Michael Strahan played for Texas Southern (1-AA). Making Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila at San Diego St. the only 1-A player.

6. Which of these Schools has No Representatives in the Games?
Surprisingly the Oklahoma Sooners Have no Reps in the Game.

7. Which Non BCS School has the Most Representatives?
Fresno St. tops most BCS schools with 6 players.

8. Which team has the most Players from D2 or Lower?
The Green Bay Packers 8 players from D2 or lower including two from Shippensburg University in PA.

9. Which 1-AA School Has the Most Players Represented?
Western Illinois has three players on the remaining rosters including Rodney Harrison.

10. Which Team Does Not Have a WAC Player on Their Roster?
Not Surprising the New York Giants have no WAC players on their roster.

11. Which Team Has a Member of a Service Academy?
Answer: Kyle Eckel a fullback for New England attended the Naval Academy.

12. Which Team Does Not Have a UCF Black Knight?
Answer: New England has standout cornerback Asanti Samual, Green Bay has standout Safety Atari Bigby and the Giants have backup Tight End Darcy Johnson thus making San Diego the only team without a UCF alum.

Apparently the biggest theme of this week is miserable parenting. 1. Christopher Biechele - Whine, Whine, Whine, and maybe some cheese. The NFL cost me some money because they decided to televise the game to the masses. So because I'm a whining baby and I spent my $200 bucks to get the NFL network I want the NFL to pay me all the imaginary dollars I would have made if patrons came to my bar to watch the big game. 2. Mr. & Mrs. Thorn - Sometimes you just really really shouldn't give your child what they want, especially when giving them what they want requires you to fight the local government simply because your little boy wants to be a... cheerleader. Seriously, as parents not only are you condoning your son to get his ass whooped, you are promoting it. Genius. 3. James Gahan - Jose Canseco probably would vote for this guy as father of the year rather than a waste of oxygen. But any man who decides that his sons fame is more important than his future health, and decides that feeding his 14 year old performance enhancers is a pretty big waste of oxygen to me. Thankfully he'll be heading to the slammer for a long time. 4. The Ohio State University - Two straight years you tease us with your explosive starts only to be completely out of the game by the 4th quarter. Why must you be completely outclassed by the SEC, why must you win all of your cupcake games and not lose to the likes of Stanford like USC. Must you punish college football fans by winning all of the winnable games but getting pummeled by the superior squads in the Title game? Get Your Vote On Last Weeks Winner: Chris Burke

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Breakin it down is 5 key stories plus a pick for each postseason game this season.

Tony Romeo

Overplayed story of the week #1. Tony had a day off so he went to Mexico. Um who cares? I'm sure Tom Brady went somewhere and banged Gisele as well and if Peyton had some hot hollywood arm candy he would have done the same. It matters not. If the Cowboys lose and Romo doesn't play well it will not have been the cause of the energy spent in the sack with Jessica Simpson.

T.O. Go Or Not T.O. Go

As of right now it appears that T.O. is practicing and that he will be a go on sunday afternoon. If Owens is back to full speed than the Giants defense, which has been torched twice by the boys already, is again in serious trouble. If T.O. is at all limited or misses time than the Giants should be able to fire extra blitzers Romo's way.

Front 4 Delivering Pressure

If T.O. does in fact play and the Giants need to float safety help his way for the majority of the game, than the G-Men must get pressure from their front 4. Osi, Strahan, Tuck and company will become the most important unit of the game. If Romo gets a lot of time or is able to escape the pocket he will pick a part the Giants secondary.

The Fickle Giant Fans

As a neutral observer I have spent much of the season defending Eli Manning against most of my Giant friend buddies. My simple point was that Eli at worst is in the upper half of the quarterbacks in the NFL, meanwhile despite the fact that the Giants were on their way to their 3rd straight playoff appearance Eli Manning sucked and was the worst player on the team. Even when watching the Patriot game when he played terrifically they jump off the bandwagon with one poorly thrown interception. Now? Well Eli is a wonderful quarterback, he destroyed the Bucs, he's going to play great against the Cowboys, he's the best pump faker in the NFL all of a sudden. So god damn fickle.


Third Times a Charm

Sorry but I just don't believe in that garbage. It's really hard to beat the same team three times in a season. Well ya, in most seasons you never play a team 3 times, so it's nearly impossible. There's a reason why the Cowboys beat the Giants twice before, they have more talent, their quarterback is better, and they played better. The fact that the beat the Giants twice already is a testament to the fact they are a better team. The results of the last games do not in any karmic way mean that the Giants have built up luck which will help them beat the Cowboys. If they win it means they played the better game, the previous results have nothing to do with anything.

The Pick

The last and final boring pick of the Divisional Playoff round. I think the Giants have the best chance of any road team to win on the road this week, but I still don't think it happens. If T.O. doesn't play I may change my mind, but as of right now I still think the Cowboys put up 30 points on the Giants and that the Cowboys line puts enough pressure on Eli Manning to force a few costly mistakes.

Note* to continue the lameness of my picks, I am picking all of the home teams to win but all of the road teams to cover. For some reason I really think all of these games are going to be close and with each spread being greater than a touchdown I'm taking the road teams against the spread.

Everyone needs something to keep them occupied on Friday afternoons so the Friday Video Blowout was born. Spend your next few minutes, laughing, crying of laughter, pissing your self, whatever, but mostly wasting your companies time.

Videos In Order Courtesy of Fanhouse, With Leather, me, The Beautiful Game, Fanhouse again, Mr. Mirtle, EC, mgoblog, Barry Melrose Rocks, The Offside


Larry Don't need no edumucations.


Now that he lost 40% of his brain cells, he alson no longer needs edumucations.


Give me three red shells and I am unstoppable.


Apparently the big net wasn't big enough.


That was just creepy Ike. Creepy.


These Russians should really just sit down and enjoy a good bottle of Vodka.


Nice to see Turbo keeps the extra batteries on his gut.


My Future hero???


Would have been much better with a street luge-esque crash.

You Might not want to watch this one at work.

Somebody really really wants Tyrone Willingham's head on a platter.

Imagine you're favorite squad is in the midst of a big time push for a Championship. You're slightly past the midway point of your season and every game is becoming increasingly important. However over the next month you will be without some of the key players of your squad not because of injuries but because of other commitments.

Welcome to the world of soccer where there are different competitions going on throughout the world all of the time and if you have any African players on your team you will be without them for approximately a full month. Why? Because FIFA apparently thinks it's a bright idea to hold the African Cup of Nations Tournament during the Winter directly conflicting with all the major Soccer leagues in the world.

No other players will be forced out of action in the Premiership, Serie A, La Liga, etc. other than African players thus the more African players your teams rely on the more drastically your team is being hindered. For instance Chelsea, my team of choice, currently sits 3rd in the Premiership with important matches in their Cup tournaments to come this month as well, will be without 4 major contributors including top goal scorer Didier Drogba. For those of you whom do not know soccer well, you need to score to win games.

So be thankful that in the US that we invented all the sports we really like and don't have to deal with this nonsense. Cause it wouldn't be fun if Latin America decided they wanted to have a National Tournament in August and your team was without Manny & Big Papi for an entire month.

Breakin it down is 5 key stories plus a pick for each postseason game this season.

Bring Back the Manning Face

I don't know about anybody else out there but there was just an empty feeling for me during the entire post season last year. It could have been the depressing pit in my stomach after the Jet loss, or the overall boredom of the Chicago Bears winning games but I really think it was the lack of a good Manning face. The depressing throw the hands up in the air after a game losing int always does it for me. Although the bug eye Caldwell face was quite nice.

Angry Philip and the Motormouth

Angry Philip is definitively one of the easiest players in the NFL to root against. Sometimes you root against people out of pure jealousy (Tom Brady) and sometimes you root against a player because they come across as a douche. Rivers is the latter, he just comes across as a cocky, overconfident, loud mouth that any opposing player would absolutely love to drill and then stomp on his chest when getting up. And I bet there are a ton of fans out there like me that would watch that and say, he probably deserves it.

Come on a Toe, That's It?

Seriously a dislocated toe? That probably hurts like a mother and could be seriously injured and blah blah blah, but Antonio you didn't even look in pain when they carted you off the field. How about you just get some Litacaine from Roger Clemens or McNamee and sack up and play this weekend.

Captain Avoid the Hit is Back

Mr. I'm a Hall of Fame wideout and yet I have never been tackled because I fall to the ground like a little girl or run out of bounds before anyone can hit me is back. So hopefully on his first catch, which won't be across the middle cause he doesn't do that, he gets lit up by one of the Chargers safeties. Highly doubtful, but one can hope.

Most Overlooked 13-3 Team Ever

The Colts are easily the most overlooked 13-3 team ever, especially considering they are the defending superbowl champs. They choked away a W against the Pats and than played like garbage during that hangover the next week against the Chargers. Other than that they were mostly flawless despite significant injuries. For some reason I don't think Peyton Manning is going to throw 6 ints and Vinatieri is going to miss chip shot field goals this weekend.

The Pick

Make it 3 for 3 on the snoozer lame picks as I think the Colts take care of the Chargers with little drama. The Chargers won the last game but the Colts played so remarkably bad and still were a chip shot field goal away from winning the football game. Without Gates and with the return of Harrison the Chargers are in deep trouble and I just don't see them pulling out the W.

Breakin it down is 5 key stories plus a pick for each postseason game this season.

Pro Bowl Fred & Pinball

The Pats will almost certainly key their entire defensive scheme on Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones Drew. Last year in their matchup in week 16 Maurice Jones Drew went off for 131 yards on 19 carries, most of which came on the ridiculous 74 yard touchdown where he fell down on his own got up and took it to the house. The Jaguars will need to hit atleast one big play from the running game to get points on the board.

Effectiveness of Voodoo Dolls

Thus far the voodoo dolls and the clubs hoping for a Tom Brady fractured femur have been completely ineffective. It makes me wonder if this whole African Voodoo lady I paid some serious cash to has any skill at all.

Pats > Pitt

Last week the Jaguars were very very close to throwing away a massive lead against the Steelers. The major reason behind the Steelers comeback was Three Day Old Cheeseburgers ability to shred the Jaguar secondary. Cheeseburger threw for 337 yard and two touchdowns, most coming in the second half. Well Tom Brady is better than Cheeseburger and Tom's wide receivers are much more talented than Pitt's. If the Jaguars play defense anything like they did last week, than Mr. Brady is going to end up with a lot of fantasy points.

David vs. Goliath

During the regular season David Garrard was heralded for his mistake free play. In twelve starts he threw only 3 interceptions and had a terrific passer rating of 102. His first playoff start last week was quite a different scenario despite coming up with the game winning scramble in the closing minutes. Garrard only completed 43% of his passes and threw 2 interceptions. If Garrard plays anything like he did last week the Jaguars are going to get pummeled.

The Razor

Pretty simply put the Patriots have never lost a playoff game at the Razor. Granted they've only lost two playoff games since the Razor's been open, but both were on the road and neither came off a 16-0 regular season. No team has ever faced the challenge the Jaguars have in front of them this weekend.

The Pick

The Jaguars had a nice season and have a better shot against the Pats than the Steelers or Titans would have had, however in order to win they need absolutely everything to go there way. And well, that's just not going to happen. Brady isn't going to make a ton of mistakes and the Jaguars won't be able to keep up offensively with the Pats without forcing turnovers.

It has now become clear that not only will Michigan lose seniors Hart, Henne and Long but the Wolverines will also be without their top two wideouts and their quarterback of the future. Both Adrian Arrington and Mario Manningham will forego their final year of elligiblity to pursue the fruits of the NFL, while Freshman Quarterback of the Future will seek a transfer to a school looking to run an NFL type system as opposed to the Rod spread. With the mass exodus that has begun at the Big House Terrelle Pryor has quickly become less of a luxury and more of necessity for the Wolverines.

When it was initially noted that Pryor had put Michigan back on his list of options I thought that it was cool but not really necessary given the talent on the team. If Pryor did not go to Michigan the Wolverines would have to make due with Ryan Mallett slinging passes around the field to Manningham, Arrington and handing the ball off to Great White Hope. Now only a week after New Years Pryor no longer has become a 'cool' possibility and rather transitioned to a must. If Michigan does not land Pryor than the 2008 season will most likely be a rough one for Rodriguez.

With Pryor, Michigan could have a potential deadly youthful backfield. There will most likely be some growing pains early in the season but there would be vast potential. Without Pryor, Rodriguez will be left scrambling to find a talented quarterback to lead the Wolverines through the season. Right now, Coach Rodriguez pretty much has all his eggs in Terrelle Pryor's basket.

Ryan Mallett Should Be Able to Play Next Season

As a sidenote, I completely understand Mallett's desire to leave Michigan and I wish him the best. There were times where he got me very excited as a fan, and I expect to root for him wherever he may land. Additionally I think it's nonsense that the NCAA punishes players in Mallett's situation, where coaching change all but forces a transfer, by making them sit out a season. I think myself and most Michigan fans out there sympathize with Mallett and would be 100% fine with him being allowed to suit up in 2008.

Word is out from LA and Atlanta that Pete Carroll and the Falcons may be interested in each other. Simply put this would be a serious mistake for both parties for one single reason. In the NFL you can not recruit players to your squad and you have a salary structure meant to create talent parody.

I don't think Pete Carroll is a bad coach or a poor game planner, but the one thing that puts him above all other coaches in College Football is unavailable in the NFL. Every single year USC gets the best players in the country to play for them. Every year USC has much better athletes the rest of the Pac 10 and the reason behind this is USC and Pete Carroll's charm. Their wins are as much a result of the players Carroll puts on the field as they are Carroll's coaching ability.

Need Proof that USC has the best players in the country? Well I'll give it to you. Scout.com and Rivals.com, the two premier recruiting sites, have been around since 2002 in that period USC has been the dominant recruiting force in the country. According to Scout's assessment from 2003 through this current 2008 recruiting class USC has either been #1 or tied for #1 with the most five star recruits. From 2004 through 2008 USC has lead the nation in average recruit rating every year, meaning that while their recruiting classes may not have required depth due to an unavailability of scholarships, they lead the nation in quality of player recruited (Both Scout and Rivals). Scout.com had USC as the #1 recruiting class in the country in 03, 04 & 06 while Rivals.com had them #1 in 04, 05, & 06. Since 2003 USC has never been outside the top 6 recruiting classes in the country in either ranking system.

While Carroll wasn't the complete failure in the NFL as he is sometimes made out to be, there's a reason why he's been the most successful coach in college football during his tenure. It isn't his pure coaching ability which paved the way, but rather his personality, salesmanship, and ability to convince the best high school players in America that USC is the best school for them. If Carroll went to the Falcons he would eliminate all which separates him from the ranks of the average coach, and with the porous roster in Atlanta he would do what any other coach would, Lose.

So Pete let's stop thinking about the NFL and start concentrating on knocking off Ohio St. in your second game of the year. That would make everyone in the country happy.

I have no idea what language this broadcast is in, but where's the GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL celebration. It sounds like they don't care at all.

AFC

#4 USC at #1 BYU in Provo

USC Wildcard Victory over Arizona St. 93.5% to 6.5%
USC Key Wins: Arizona St., Oregon St.
USC Bad Losses: Stanford

BYU Key Wins: Air Force, New Mexico
BYU Bad Losses: Tulsa

#6 Georgia at #2 LSU in Baton Rouge

UGA Wildcard Victory over VaTech 85.6% to 14.4%
UGA Key Wins: Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky
UGA Bad Losses: South Carolina

LSU Key Wins: VaTech, Florida, Arkansas, Auburn, Miss St.
LSU Bad Losses: None

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NFC

#3 Ohio St. at #2 Missouri in Columbia

UGA Wildcard Victory over VaTech 88.9% to 11.1%
Ohio St. Key Wins: Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn St.
Ohio St. Bad Losses: None

Missouri Key Wins: Kansas, A&M
Missouri Bad Losses: None

#4 West Virginia at #1 Hawaii in Hawaii

WVU Wildcard Victory over Kansas 63.3% to 36.7%
West Virginia Key Wins: Uconn, Miss St., Cincy, Rutgers
West Virginia Bad Losses: Pitt

Kansas Key Wins: Boise St.
Kansas Bad Losses: None

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Breakin it down is 5 key stories plus a pick for each postseason game this season.

Welcome Holm

This of course will be the top storyline for the game this week, Mike Holmgren back in Green Bay. It's already happened once so it will be a completely played out story. It's not as if Holmgren has a lot of experience with players currently on the Packers roster and it's not as if the win one for me in my homecoming speech really goes that far with professional athletes.

Where Have You Gone Alexander?

Perhaps Steve Hutcheson was really the reason Alexander was such a dominant force two seasons ago cause in the past two years Alexander has been a below average running back. Anywho Alexander or Maurice Morris needs to step up this weekend and actually get substantial chunks of yardage cause the juggernaut rushing game of the past has looked easily stoppable this season.

We Want the Ball and We're Gonna Score

The last Packer playoff victory came on Matt Hasselbeck's overtime interception for a touchdown when he made that dumb statement. Given the weakness of his rushing attack currently the game will mostly sit on Hasselbeck's shoulders much like it did during that last cold winter day at Lambeau Field.

Pressuring Favre

This season many of the Packers young wideouts have matured into premier talents giving Favre a lot of weaponry to work with. Additional his line has done a good job in keeping him upright. Last week the Seahawks defensive line lead by Kearney was able to dominate the Redskins O-Line putting a lot of pressure on Collins and helped force the biggest play of the game, the clinching pick 6. The Seahawks must apply similar pressure for they will need the mistake prone Favre to come back if they are to win.

Frozen Tundra

As of now it's supposed to be cold in Green Bay with a chance of snow showers meaning it won't be the worst possible weather in Green Bay but it will certainly give some additional atmosphere for the game which probably has the least talent involved.

The Pick

This is the first amongst a long string of very boring picks. I'm taking the Packers at home. I don't trust the Seahawks rushing attack and I think Brett Favre gets atleast one playoff win this year. If I'm going on spread picks I expect the game to be close so I would take the Seahawks +8 as it currently stands.

It didn't take me very long to lose hope during the 2007 season but for 2008 I'm going to be doing a lot dedicated prep work. Holding the 6th pick in the draft and 26 million dollars in cap room the New York Jets must be aggressive in the free agent market to address some of the current holes on their roster.

The first player I think the Jets should take a significant look at is Tennesee Titans Defensive Tackle unrestricted free agent and bona-fide scumbag Albert Haynesworth. In most cases I would shy away from someone who stomped on another players helmetless head and was suspended for a lengthy period however Haynesworth is an incredible talent and could address arguably the Jets biggest need.

Over the two season tenure of Eric Mangini the Jets have been a well below average rush defense. There have been games where the squad has stepped up and stuffed the run and others where the rush defense was the biggest culprit in losing the game. Last year during the Jets 10-6 season the rush defense was easily the week link. The Jets finished 24th in the league giving up an average of 130 yards per game. The 2007 Jets Rush Defense, like everything else, did not improve. There ranking slipped to 29th in the league averaging 134 yard given up per game.

So what or who is the biggest culprit in the Jets inability to stop the run? In my estimation the biggest problem in both seasons has been the defensive line. When watching an effective run defense often you will find that their front 4 (3 in the Jets case) can get into the backfield or atleast push the offensive line into the backfield pressuring the running back into making a quick decision. The New York Jets do not do this. Whether its DeWayne Robertson, Sean Ellis, Kenyon Coleman, Sione Puoha, etc. the Jets rarely get push or penetration in the backfield resulting in limited negative plays.

Meanwhile if you watch a Tennessee Titans you can see why they rank in the top 5 in the league in rush defense. They get dominating play from their front 4 lead by Haynesworth. If the Jets can not address defensive tackle in the 2008 draft than Albert Haynesworth, despite his obvious character flaws, should be amongst their highest targets.

Heading into next season myself and many others will simply be hoping for one thing, the avoidance of yet another BCS Title Game featuring the Buckeyes. Throughout the season I expect to be joined by many additional folk cheering against the Buckeyes and for their 1st, 2nd and possibly 3rd loss. Whatever is needed to keep them out of the title game.

In 2008 the Quest to Keep Ohio St. out of the National Title Game rests mostly on the shoulders of the Trojans. On September 13th the Buckeyes will head into the LA Coliseum 2-0 coming off easy victories over Youngstown St. and Ohio and looking for a significant upswing in the polls. A victory for the Buckeyes in LA will give them the #1 out of conference victory of the season. USC will assuredly be amongst the preseason favorites and a road victory against a top five team goes a long way to push a team towards a repeat trip to the title.

A victory by the Trojans however would make the Buckeyes assent much more difficult. If the Trojans could avoid two Pac 10 slip ups they would certainly be assured a higher ranking than the Buckeyes. This means that a single undefeated squad and a 1 loss or better Trojans results in the relegation of the Buckeyes. In addition if the Buckeyes proceed to drop a single Big 10 game and the 2008 season unfolds with less drama than the 2007 version than a two loss Buckeyes squad should expect a trip to the Rose Bowl or worse.

It's 8+ months away but the college football season has one essential matchup in which Tommy the Trojan must decapitate the Title hopes of Brutus the Buckeye.

After last nights game and LSU's deserved title it's easy to overlook some of the details that led to this moment. Most notably was the Pittsburgh upset of West Virginia on the last week of the regular season. Had Wanny not pulled off the stunning upset, the history of the planet (NCAA Football) would have been completely different.

Rich Rodriguez Stays at WVU

After securing a spot in the National Title game Rodriguez approaches the WVU's administration over some of the demands he previously had which they had not completely given. WVU's administration agrees to all of Rodriguez's demands and gives him an additional bonus as well as bonuses to the entirety of his staff.

Les Miles Fulfills Herbstreit's Report

The National Title opportunity was the reason behind Les Miles staying at LSU. Every single interview Les Miles undertook on the radio he made sure that he stated his affinity for Michigan. However the opportunity at a National Title was far too much to give up simply for a homecoming. After Pitt's upset of WVU, LSU's comeback win over Tennessee and Oklahoma's dominating victory over Missouri Les had to leave his dream return behind and focus on the most important game of his life.

Bo Pelini Kicks Himself

Having come to an agreement with Tom Osbourne prior to the SEC Title game and having been introduced as the Nebraska Coach the sunday following, Pelini loses out on his opportunity to inherit LSU. Had he not acted so quickly in taking the Cornhusker position he would have been a favorite to inherit the LSU job especially after he would have been named interim Head Coach for LSU's trip to the Sugar Bowl.

Kirk Ferentz Signs on as LSU Coach

Many coaches interviewed for the best available job in the nation but finally the one man who seemingly is up for every single open job was hired. Ferentz states that he always contemplated a move to the NFL but over the past few seasons he realized that he wanted to stay in the college game but needed a new challenge. Thus when LSU came calling he had to take the job.

West Virginia Nips Ohio St. for the Championship

In a classic championship West Virginia defeats Ohio St. in the National Championship game on a last minute field goal 36-33. The game was dominated by the offenses with Beanie Wells having a massive running game and all three of West Virginia's biggest options (White, Slaton and Devine) rushing for over 100 yards.

Steve Slaton Declares for the NFL Draft

After proving himself in the National Title game and seeing the emergence of Noel Devine as a threat to his 2008 carries, Steve Slaton decides to declare himself for the 2008 NFL draft and expects to be drafted somewhere in the 2nd round.

Terrell Pryor Signs with West Virginia

After the terrific showing by Pat White in the National Title Game further establishing the prominence of the spread offense, the #1 Quarterback in the country Terrell Pryor decides to follow in White's footsteps. Pryor states that he both loves how the spread is run by Rodriguez and his staff and that he truly looks forward to being in the same backfield with Noel Devine.

Terrell Pryor and Noel Devine Win WVU's Second Title

Led by the two headed monster of Terrell Pryor and Noel Devine West Virginia is an unstoppable offensive juggernaut. After the controversial decision to stay for his senior season Devine wins the 2010 Heisman Trophy while Pryor finishes in third. West Virginia cruises through the regular season and defeats USC in the title game for their 2nd national title in 4 years.

Basically after that extremely awkward phone conversation and all the yelling from Clemens during his press conference, the only solid thing I got was that Greg Anderson is a lot better of a man and a friend than Brian McNamee. The phone conversation really said nothing. McNamee just wouldn't say anything and he felt bad about ratting out Clemens. Meanwhile Greg Anderson has taken years of jail time because he is that loyal to Bonds. Greg Anderson should go down in history as one of the most loyal and best friends of all time while McNamee just came across as weak.

With the Elections to the Hall of Fame coming this afternoon I decided to head over to the Hall of Fame website out of a simple curiosity. After a little browsing around the website I hit the page where the exposed all of the candidates for 2008 election. And apparently it doesn't take much to be on the ballot because it consisted of a whole lot of crap.

Brady Anderson: I had one good year that came out of nowhere most likely because of steroids.

Rod Beck: I died so I didn't have to wait 5 years to waste time on the ballot.

Chuck Knoblauch: I couldn't even through a baseball 40 feet in a straight line. Plus I apparently took HGH.

Todd Stottlemyre: Perhaps it was the above 5 postseason ERA that helped put him on the ballot.

Jose Rijo: Seriously? Jose Rijo? His career record is 116-91 and never won more than 15 games. He was an average pitcher.

Chuck Finley: When I think Chuck Finley I think pain in the Yankees ass. But I certainly don't think hall of fame.

David Justice: He was a good player, good shouldn't be on the hall of fame ballot.

Shawon Dunston: It must have been the 203 career walks in 17 seasons that stood out.

Rob Nen: He was a solid closer. That's it solid nothing very special.

And you wonder why these voters may decide to put Rice and Gossage in the hall after lengthy periods of not voting them in. When you put them on they same sheet of paper as average baseball players of course they are going to look a lot better.

Of course this is late. But whatever the holidays get in the way of a lot of things. Also there was no award for the last week of December so for the first time in a month there are only three horses to choose from. Week 1, Stephen A. Smith - Yes Stephen my blog and all other blogs should be shut down because we lack credibility and credentials and I haven't worked hard at journalism school. But at the very least I wasn't voted the least favorite sportscaster in America like you, and unlike some of your coworkers I don't break inaccurate stories to the country like Les Miles is going to accept the coaching job at Michigan or Eli Manning is out for atleast a month, when he plays the next week. Week 2, 2. Roger Clemens - He's the #1 target in this report and he has the most to lose after the report. He's often been described as the best pitcher of this generation if not the best pitcher of all time and now with this report and 1st hand experience of steroid injections he's no better than Barry Bonds. A cheat and a crook. Week 3, New York Knicks - Once again the Knicks are attempting to separate themselves from the sane. Freedom of speech does not exist in MSG. Make a fire Isiah sign or start chanting fire isiah and you will be shown the exit. Which would be perfectly ok if you were reimbursed for the ticket charge. In fact why don't they just have a website where you can get reimbursed for your ticket if you plan on heckling Isiah. Get Your Vote On Last Months Winner: Scott Boras via executive tie breaking decision

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Michael Holton is a man that knows how to vacation and a man that knows what he wants in life. He wants to go to the Packers game and he doesn't really care for living in Wisconsin. So the Atlanta business man from Milwaukee has bought and furnished a dream Packer themed vacation home just outside of Lambeau Field so that his family has a place to stay for every Packer home game that they fly from Atlanta to see. He even has put the manly finishing touches on the bathroom.

There's even a flat screen featuring a live camera shot of Lambeau above a urinal in a main floor bathroom.

Yes. You read that correctly.

Holton has a urinal.

"My favorite spot in the whole place," he said with a laugh.

"Look, any man's man is going to tell you that they want a urinal somewhere in their house. Did I plan it that way? Hey, it's my place. I wanted a urinal, so I put one in." Green Bay Press Gazette

Nothing says vacation home quite like a big screen TV over your urinal. Mr. Holton you certainly are a Grade A Sports Guy.

Hat Tip: With Leather

The 2nd inductee in the Hall of the Overhyped is one Greg Paulus