Rockies to Red Sox

It's hard being a Rockies fan, I mean really hard. I love Tulo, Cargo and every year I get excited about the young team they have. Then it happens the pitching struggles, Tulo gets hurt and Cargo is Cargo and racks most of the season. I don't mind the losing aspect of it because I am not a diehard baseball fan like football. The issue I have with the Rockies is the way the team is being run. Dan O'Dowd is a terrible GM and no respected manager wants to join the Rockies. They chased Jim Tracy away and hired Walt Weiss to basically be a puppet. I do like Weiss as a coach because of the way he played the game, 100% all the time and I think he could be a good coach if his hands aren't tied. I know the team has taking some of O’Dowd’s responsibilities away, but I can't help to think he will influence a lot of Weiss decisions. It's hard to be a fan of the Rockies when you feel like the owners and G.M could care less. We always hear about the great farm system they have, but I am just not seeing it right now...

So is it time to jump ship to the local Red Sox? I am dipping my toes in that pool, but not jumping right in. This would be the perfect season to become a fan. The team was terrible last year, they have a new coach, and they dumped players and have low expectations this year. So if anything I can't be considered a bandwagon fan, but that is where my issue is. I never disliked the Red Sox, they are somewhat local and I love the city of Boston...But the fans are terrible, I can never tell who is a fan because it seems like you only hear from them when they are winning or they are such homers that they use every excuse in the book. Blaming the coaching, injuries, the Yankees or the weather, ok maybe not the weather. I am sure most fans are like this and it's not only a Boston thing. I am just exposed to it because of where I live; I also notice it with the area Yankee fans.

But maybe it's that passion that draws me to Boston. The atmosphere at Fenway is like that of no other, I am not sure if it's the overpriced food or crappy seats, but there is something about going to a game in Boston that gets me every time. I have been to Yankee stadium and it just doesn't feel the same. Even though both teams are rich in baseball history there is just something about Fenway and Boston. So this year I am going to pay more attention to the Sox and see where it takes me. Hopefully my boy Willibrooks can stay off the DL and boost my fantasy team. I think it's time to cheer for the home team.

Oh Stop It Ray, Ray

I know I am weeks behind on this one, but is anyone else tired of Ray Lewis? Every time the camera is on this guy he cries. My issue isn't so much the crying, but the way he dodges question's about his past by crying and thanking god.

I swear that is the go to move for athlete's trying to shake their past or their get out of jail free card. When Lewis was pressed about his past he said it's the devils work. Then when asked again he said nobody was qualified to ask him about his murder case. I wish one of the victims family members were there to ask him since they are more than qualified. While I know this wouldn't be possible, it would force him to answer questions.

I was a Ray Lewis fan before the playoffs and now I can't stand the guy. Everything he does and says seems to be fake and a show. From the begining I believed this would be a distraction from the team because everything was about Lewis. Now looking back on it, he protected them with everything being about him it almost appeared the team was extremely loose.

It will be interesting to see how he makes the transition from field to booth. He will offer some great insight to the game, but I don't believe he will be able to keep his emotions in check and will make for some great banter among other analyst.  I am excited the playoffs are over so I don't have to see the water works anymore, but it was short lived once I realized he will be on my TV every Sunday when the season rolls around.

Quick Pick

Just a quick pick of the NFL playoffs this week..

Denver over Baltimore - In my opinion Baltimores defense is not what it once was and  Flacco can't hang with Peyton in a shootout.

Niners over Greenbay - Greenbay is red hot, no doubting that and they were my SuperBowl pick at the begining of the season. The Niners match up well against Greenbay, they run well control the tempo and have a solid defense with Justin Smith returning

Seahawks over Atlanta - Sorry Atlanta I am not sold on you.. You can't run and have a iffy defense, while Seahawks can cover all aspects of the game.. Solid QB, strong ground game and strong defense.

New England over Houston - This game will be a blowout just like a couple weeks ago. Houston has nothing new to offer the Patriots.

Time to Ponder, Ponder

I'm a huge Viking's fan as I am sure you have noticed from some of my post. This year I had very low expectations. The team was going with a 2nd year quarterback and rebuilding a their defense, so when the team started out 4 and 1 I was like ok, maybe they can make the playoffs.

The key to the run was the mistake free play of Christian Ponder. He was not taking any real chances down field and not afraid to throw it away if needed. He was not lighting up the stat sheet but he was forcing teams to go the length of the field when they punted away. That was alway's been head coach Fraizer's plan. Strong running game, strong defense and protect the ball. Well around week 5 teams figured out Ponder, they took the simple slants away forcing him to make bad decisions.

Now young qb's are going to struggle, it happens and is part of the game. Drew Brees was the reason the Chargers drafted Rivers, then it started clicking for Brees, but not till his 3rd year in the league. My concern with Ponder is the repeat mistakes he continues to make. The most alarming is turning it over in the redzone. Ponder has at least 3 interceptions in the endzone or inside the 5 yardline. That can't happen, not with a team like the Vikings who can not play from behind.

We have heard all season these mistakes are easily correctable and all mental, well in my opinion those are some of the toughest to correct. Ponder still tries to throw across his body, has issues in the pocket and very rarely sets his feet to throw. We know he has the talent cause we have seen him make the the throws, but something is not clicking and the team is wasting what could be Adrian Peterson's best season.

The back-up qb is a position of mystery for me, because I am not sure of the Vikings angle here. They let Sage Rosenfels walk away to keep Bethel Thompson and Joe Webb. Neither who is starter material, Thompson is raw as they come, but with a big arm. Webb while exciting because he can make plays with his leg's struggles with reads and is even quicker than Ponder to his check downs. Having not kept a veteran qb on the roster leads me to think the Vikes planned to ride out the Ponder roller coaster no matter what. Which is why Webb never got a chance yesterday, the Vikes either don't have any faith in him or are afraid to hurt Ponder's confidence.

Depending how the final couple weeks playoff assuming the Vikes don't make the playoffs, Rick Spielman will have some interesting choices to make. Does he keep Frazier, does he still believe in Ponder? I like Frazier and I think he has done a good job this year, I think the last couple years he was in offer his head. This season with an actual g.m running the team Frazier has been able to focus on the football. He says the right things and players respect him which is what you want. Ponder is not so simple, he was the 12th overall pick and at times has played well, but even when he plays well is it enough to out weigh the mistakes or even get this team to the Super Bowl?  Probably not, he was not grown and again simple repeat mistakes are very alarming. That said he was Spielman's draft and I am sure will get the full 3 years that Spielman believes are needed to develop a qb... Tighten your belts Vikings fans time to get back on the roller coaster...

Bobba Fett and rest of the Bounty Hunter Saints....

Yes, I know this goes on with every team in some shape or form..What team would not want the opposing teams best players to be out of the game? Nobody wants to endanger someone's career, but hey if he gets a stinger and needs to miss a couple plays no harm done...

But the reports out there are painting a much darker picture of the New Orleans Saints. It stems from the GM all the way down to the players. What's even more interesting is that after the owner told the GM to cut the bounty program it continued. The Saints had developed a reputation in 2009 as dirty players and then I read  reports out of Minnesota about the Saints targerting Farve and Peterson complaining they were trying to twist his ankle the following year...Even though I am a Vikes fan I wrote it off to sour grapes, cause they lost a game they should have won.

Now the reports are flying that Jonathan Vilma threw 10K on the table and said "This goes to whoever knocks Favre out of the game", that the Saints targeted Kurt Warner the week before playing the Vikings and Greg Williams preached players giving "remember me shots to qbs" and told his players to deliver them to Peyton in the Super Bowl.

Greg Williams comes from the Buddy Ryan tree of coaching and yesterday Damian Woody who played for the Jets under Rex Ryan claims this is nothing new in football... Now you have to wonder how deep the shit gets..Possible Rob Ryan in Dallas could use the same "motivational" tool? The league has done nothing but push player safety for the last couple seasons so they need to bring the hammer down on the Saints and make an example out of them, regardless if everyone is doing it or not...

Atleast now we know why Greg William's defenses are usually near the bottom of the league in tackling..Too busy going for the kill shot...

Lin Vs Tebow

From one mania to the next, Timmy vs Linsanity...Maybe because I don't follow much basketball that the coverage Jeremy Lin is getting on every channel doesn't bother me as much as Tebow does. Or maybe the fact that Lin is a feel good story and he continues to impress when people think he will fail. Yes the Heat shut him down and yes he struggles with turnovers, but what he has done thus far from no where is remarkable.

I'm tough on Tebow, because he has  so much hype surrounding him for accomplishing zero in the NFL. Tools like Skip Bayless like to give him way more credit than he deserves and not enough to the Denver defense who got the turnovers and made up for Tebows typical 5 for 15 weekly completion ratio. I get that he's a polarizing figure and with the attention from every angle. I just don't see what the hype is for a qb who's team covered up his lack of NFL skill.

Now on the flip side Jeremy Lin deserves it because the kid came out of no where turned the Knicks around and is hitting game winning shots. He has proven he can play but does not seek out the attention Tebow has. Tebow appears humble, but he seeks out the media any chance he gets and uses that to preach. Lin has taking the NBA by storm and now has his share of "haters" from Mayweather playing the race card..Shocking really.. Or Steven A Smith writing Lin off because he had one bad game against one of the best if not the best defense in the league. I love people saying he is getting the attention because he is asian, maybe he is getting the attention because he was a bench warmer and breaking records that the best players in NBA history set.... Grab a seat and enjoy the rest of the show

Year of the QB and other football thoughts

So this was the year of the qb, to be an elite team you needed a high power offense and a qb to throw all over the place...No so fast, 4 of the top passers in the league started the playoffs and only one remains.. Brees,Stafford and Rodgers all made early exits from the playoffs and it came down to 2 reasons.. Lousy defense and lousy ball protection, the Saints and Packers both had suspect defenses but were bailed out by their quarterbacks.

Rodgers looked flat and while his receivers did drop quite a few balls he missed wide open passes and looked slow going through his reads. Rodgers extended plays with his feet, but to many times missed the open man. His defense did him no favors getting zero pressure on Manning and horrible tacking. Green Bay had one of the worst defenses in the league but close to the top in takeaways.. The Giants protected the ball and Eli avoided turnovers...

Brees was his typical Brees self, the guy puts up amazing numbers but every game will throw at least 3 no look deep passes. If you look back to the game against Detroit, he had 3 int's dropped and came back to win the game. This week that did not happen, the Niners took advantage of every chance they got. On defense Greg Williams chose to blitz Alex Smith and I'm not sure why... Smith is one of the best quarterbacks in the league against the blitz. Smith is not flashy and will not put up huge numbers but he plays it safe and the Niner play to his strengths.

What separates Brady from the others (besides still being in the playoffs) he doesn't force the ball down field. That's why he is able to control the game better and limit his turnovers. Using his two tight ends he is allowed to work the middle of the field and his receivers pick up huge chunks of yards after the catch. Yes the Patriots defense is suspect and they did play Tim Tebow, but if they can get the same type of pressure on Flacco this week, I think the results will be the same. The Broncos had one of the best defenses in the league and Brady picked them apart...Which leads me to McDaniels..

People are upset over the Patriots bringing McDaniels back a week before the game. Yes I understand your point, but if he was a ball boy it wouldn't be an issue. McDaniels was let go in St.Louis thus voiding his contract making him available to hire. It's within the rules so move on..

Giants fans it's the morning after and you are still crying over the terrible calls.. Let it go, you won the game..This stuff has been going on all season long with blown calls, it's part of the game and will continue to be part of the game. The NFL needs to hire a full time review crew instead of having the field crew review it.  Put it directly on the NFL and not the judges on the field who are basically part time employees..

Next week...I like the Pat's over Ravens 28-14 and Niners over Giants 21-7

Tebow Does It Again...

All right I am convinced there is a higher power at work, I am not much of a religous person but some how Tebow continues to do it. How else can you explain Marion Barber not only running out of bounds when he could have ended the game, but coughing up the ball in overtime when the Bears are in field goal range.

Something is going on here, I am still not convinced Tebow can be a pocket passer because boy did he throw some ducks..but in crunch time he gets the job done. Dare I say what would happen if Tebow made it to the Super Bowl, it could happen... Dilfer,Grossman, both qbs who made it to the Super Bowl on the strength of their defense and special teams. As quarterbacks all they had to do was manage the game...As we are learning Tebow can do that  pretty good.

Tebow and the Broncos beat a good defense in the Chicago Bears and this week I expect the Patriots to throw some new looks at Tebow.. Yes the Patriots secondary is terrible, but that said the Patriots will bring the pressure to Tebow. If this game becomes a shoot out, we will see what Tebow can really do with the ball..

Time to fire Frazier

The season is not over yet and the Vikings are faced with the question "Is Frazier the right man to lead this team?" If you judge a team by their record and performance than no he should have been fired weeks ago, but let's look at the bigger picture.

The Vikings secondary has been terrible all season and but at least when Winfield and Cook were in there they were somewhat respectable outside of the safety position. The lose of Winfield and Cook has caused a total collapse of the secondary, proof this weekend when Tebow looked like Rodgers in the pocket passing. The Vikes are starting a DB who was on his couch watching 3 weeks ago and one with two bad knees from ACL surgery. These DB's shouldn't start in the UFL never mind starting for the Vikings.

People are complaining about Frazier bringing in McNabb and starting him over Ponder. There was zero chance Ponder could have played on day one, the lockout took any chance of that happening and threw it out the window. Frazier went after McNabb as a bridge to Ponder and was someone he was comfortable with from their time in Philly. Yes the move backfired with McNabb being benched and now waived, but the thought behind it was a good one. You do not throw your rookie quarterback into the fire and risk not only injury but his confidence.

Frazier is a great person as anyone who has met him will tell you, but I am not sold he is coaching material. I would like to see how he does with a normal off season and not inheriting over rated defense. Frazier has proven he can keep a steady ship, but I would like to see him grow as a coach. This year he has failed to make adjustments throughout the year not only with personnel but his coaching. Too many times we see Harvin or even Peterson on the bench in critical situations. You want to see the coach learn from mistakes like a player, but Frazier has often repeated the same mistakes. Truth is Frazier is safe this year, but if this team doesn't take big leaps next year Frazier might not make it to week 13.

The Tebow Trap Has Been Set...

Let me make this clear I like Tim Tebow as a person, from what I heard about him from his time down in Florida he does and say's everything right. While teamates were out partying he was inside studying and basically staying out of harms way. I'm sure a lot of student athlete's are like this, but usually we only hear the negative.

The trap was set in Denver the day Tebow was drafted, the trap has been sprung now that he is winning. The truth is Tebow is not a throwing quaterback. He is a fullback playing the quaterback position and we are now seeing that. His so called mechanic change has gone out the window and he misses more passes than he completes. I know big guys can play quaterback one just needs to look at Culpepper, but Tebow does not have the mechanics Culpepper did.

Everytime he completes a good pass or one that 95% of the quaterbacks complete with their eyes closed, we hear how great of a arm he has and he just needs time.  He does complete passes in clutch situations and get's the job done, but is that enough to complete with the big time teams? The only competitive teams he beat are the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers and most people will agree those teams are worse than their records indicate. Denvers defense is more vital than Tim Tebow and probably has kept them in more games than Tebow has won them. I believe that is getting lost in Tebowmania.

The Denver fans love Tebow, they were chanting his name from day one and this put's John Fox and John Elway in a bear trap set by Tebow and the public. Elway has been careful with his comments to the media and through Twitter with regards to Tebow. Though he won't commit to Tebow 100% he has not gone away from suppoting him, but Fox in his first year as Denvers coach did not draft Tebow and Elway wants a passing qb. Behind closed doors one has to think they were hoping Tebow would make it easy to draft a qb in April.

He hasn't done so and tightened his trap by winning games in the final quarter, better yet final minutes and overtime. Tebow plays terrible for 3 quarters, but comes up in the 4th and the public only sees it as "He's so clutch" and "Tebows a winner" So the trap has been sprung, do Elway and Fox hitch their wagon to Tebow for the next couple seasons or do they risk public push back and draft a qb?

Chris Kluwe A Breath Of Fresh Air

It’s a breath of fresh air to read this article on Yahoo from Les Carpenter about Vikings punter Chris Kluwe. Most athletes especially football players get lumped in the jock role of not being very bright, a meathead and in this modern NFL all about the money. Chris comes across of the complete opposite of all those and if I wasn’t a Vikings fan I’d would probably have had no idea who he was from his Twitter accounthttp://twitter.com/#!/ChrisWarcraft). Most people I following on Twitter talk about upcoming teams, other players, working out or pitching some product. This is not the case with Chris, usually he is complaining about a video game or mocking the NFL. To all 3 of my readers if you get the time give the article above a read and you’ll appreciate the breath of fresh air Chris has given the NFL

About that Chris Johnson Hold Out...

As Chris Johnson continues to hold out in hopes of a new contract we can again ponder "Is it a good idea?" I am very much on the fence on this one, being a Vikings fan I think Adrian Peterson is more deserving then Johnson of a new contract and handling it the proper way, by showing up and not becoming a distraction to his team. Peterson has been more consistent and a more complete back than Johnson, but this post isn't about that it's about should a player hold out for a new contract?

A NFL running back has one of the shortest playing careers of any position and while great running backs are rare, serviceable good running backs are a dime a dozen.Plus what about the fact that teams can basically cut a player at any time, should we expect a player to honor his contract when the team doesn't have to? I don't think Johnson deserves what he is requesting to be paid as one of the highest impact players not just at his position but the overall. The days of a running back dictating that type of money are gone and qbs are higher impact players than running backs. I think Johnson should be paid as a top tier running back and while I don't think holding out is a great idea for other positions, I feel it is almost justified as a running back. They are one injury away from calling it a career, might as well get as much as possible when you have the leverage.

Owens ACL Injury Has Me Thinking.. What Would You Do?

With the news of T.O possibly having ACL surgery for a still unknown disclosed injury, it got me thinking “What is worth it?” First let’s set the stage, T.O is already a multi millionaire so missing a season or two worth of paychecks is not a big deal, but what about the young guys?

As you are coming out of college not only are you surrounded with fellow teammates and athletes, you also have your friends back home. All these people around you are into sports and I am sure play on the weekends and your teammates train. This past spring you were drafted in the early rounds of the NFL during a lock-out.  You have no contract and have made no money, so what do you do?

Do you train, play horse, play softball or even mini golf? One injury and you lose millions of dollars. I have not had the privilege of ever playing sports on a major level, but last year I tore my ACL playing flag football. I am still recovering from surgery and have to watch my friends play football and it eats at me. I am not a huge softball player, but watching my buddies play that and I want to get out there and run around.

I know my chain of thought would be different with millions of dollars on the line, but how much different? I bet people who played competitive sports growing up can relate. It’s the competitiveness in us that takes over and get’s us back on the field. For better or worse we convince ourselves nothing will happen or I am healthy enough to return no problem. So what would you do or not do?

And just like he's gone...

As quickly as I posted defending Jim Tressel he goes and steps down...Ouch..I still stand by my post defending him, but understand a move had to be made.My guess is the university pushed this behind closed doors. No university especially one with prestige of Ohio State wants to be a negative light all season long. In the end this is probaby the best move and next year the team will hire a major name. Some names already being  mention Urban Meyer (shocking) and a actually shocking name John Gruden..Stay tuned more to follow..

Dot that i....

So as details emerge from Ohio State regarding Jim Tressel and the suspended Buckeye players I wondered what is the big deal…Rules are rules and both parties should be punished for lying to the NCAA, but as I think about it a little more I think some of the items are pretty small. I’ve heard stories from Charles Barkley about magically finding money in magazines while on a recruiting trip and we all know the Cam Newton story by now. First I will address Tressel’s part in this. What is wrong with a coach trying to protect his players? Think about it for a moment, what did Tressel stand to gain from lying to the NCAA? Nothing, this is Ohio State we are talking about it, if the players were suspended they would have just replaced them with equally talented if not more talented players. Yes they may have lost a game here and there, but in the end it would not have been much different. It was coach trying to protect his players from getting in trouble, I mean the guy reached out to Pryor and tried to steer him on the correct path. This is a man who was willing to put all the weight of this on his shoulders and carry on with it. Tressel knew at some point it would come out, how could it not. Tressel is known for his character and how he handles him stuff and the fact that he hired one of the best lawyers to represent him says even more. Usually when the going get’s tough the college coaches get going (see Pete Carrol), but Tressel is standing his ground and will rough it out no matter what the NCAA hands down.

As for the players this one will be much shorter, they all know the rules in regards to accepting gifts, discounts, etc, but where does it say you can not pawn school giving awards for money? I think it is a joke that a player would sell rings or gifts from the school that was awarded to them, but that is another topic.  I mean once you are handed an award isn’t it technically yours? What is the difference with someone selling back their text books?  Taking discounts for items for autographs is a big no-no, but I doubt any major student athlete from any major college sports program has paid for a meal at a local restaurants. The NCAA needs to stop picking and choosing what they go after, either go all in or continue to look the other way…

Just Make It Happen...

Every day I check out Twitter for the latest and greatest regarding the current NFL lockout and leave more confused. Anyone who personally knows me knows I follow football very close and for the current situation to confuse me is a issue. If I can't understand the problem then the average fan probably doesn't and will turn to other sports for enjoyment. Here is my question for the owners and players, If both parties are so concerned with getting a deal done how come you are not meeting everyday to make it happen? I don't want to listen to players like AP claim they are "modern day slaves" and I sure as hell don't want to listen billionaire owners complain about losing money. Nobody is losing money, it's about two greedy parties wanting more money. Nobody feels bad for the players or the owners, we just want our football...

Smell of Summer....

I've been away for awhile,but now I have returned. I was inspired on my way home  today by a fresh cut lawn that reminded me of baseball. Going to a live game is something everyone should experience atleast once. My first choice would be Fenway but even a minor league game would do. I'm a die hard football fan but there is something about walking up those stairs as you enter a baseball stadium and seeing that freshly cut grass, the aroma of the ballpark food and the official start of summer.

For someone who likes to be private, Favre sure likes to show his privates (Allegedly)

Back in August Deadspin.com ran an item regarding allegations of Jenn Sterger, co-host of The Daily Line on Versus. Allegedly Brett Favre was nice enough to send her some photos of his lower area and left her a few voice messages back in 2008 when he was QB for the Jets. At the time Sterger  was the in-house sideline reporter for the Jets. Yesterday Deadspin released the photos and two audio messages on their site. The voice does sound a bit like Favre, but it is still not clear. Favre declined comment  when he was asked about it yesterday after practice saying "I've got my hands full with the Jets".  Without Sterger placing any charges of sexual harassment or allegations against Favre what can the league do? PFT has a good read on the story here.In the meantime, tell us what you think with our poll question above..Or if you want to skip everything and get right to the audio here it is at Deadspin.