I'm Back (Favre's Famous Last Words After Monday Night's Game)

I'm back for good now. With no job, no homework, and no reason to not post correct, concise conclusions about the sporting world (yep alliteration and double negative in the same sentence).

I can't think of a better way to resume sports blogging than predicting the Brett Favre vs. Green Bay Packers game. Now I know that on the schedule it says, Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings; however, substitute famous Favre in for the home team on this Monday Night Showdown. The soon to be 40 year old diva will make sure the game is determined on the play of his "cannon" as Brad Childress calls it.

The Vikings only need to utilize Adrian Peterson on the so-far lackluster running defense of the Packers (i.e. Cedric Benson & Steven Jackson) to win the game. If this were any other game, the Vikings would have this one in the bag. Childress would hand the ball to AD 30 times, he'd rack up at least 150 yards and Minnesota walks away with an easy win at home. However, this game plan is a pipe dream for the Minnesota ball coach.

Let's look at it logically. Brett Favre came back for revenge against the Packers organization. No if's and's or but's about it. The aged, often too-amped up quarterback needs the game in his hands. He won't be able to sit back and watch the #28 slowly disappear into the Packers secondary.

The late game heroics of Favre against the Vikings last week, albeit incredible, will ultimately condemn the Vikings later in the year. Favre has the fresh taste of his own brilliance in his mouth. In his mind, the Packers, NFC North, whole NFL can't possibly contain his Mississippi rocket arm. If the running game fails early on in the game, watch out for a couple of "classic Brett Favre esque INT's" for the Pack secondary.

My prediction for the game ultimately swings two ways and result in two guaranteed victories. If the Vikings use Adrian Peterson and keep Favre in the west coast system, Minnesota wins by at least two scores. If Childress can't keep the leash on Favre, he ultimately throws 3 "Cutler gift-wrapped" INT's and the Packers walk away with 2 TD's. The game ultimately resides on the arm of Brett Favre, and his ability to keep it in his sling.

Championship Games this Saturday

There are only two championship games that I care about in college football this Saturday. The winners of the Big 12 and SEC championship games are going to the title game in January. Now you ask....wait a minute....what if Oklahoma loses?

Oklahoma losing is not even a possibility. The only chance Oklahoma has is if Missouri decides the throw the ball over 10 yards which they aren't going to do, and Missouri discovers a defense in which they don't have. Sam Bradford will have 3 to 4 TDs, the Sooner Scooner will roll over Missouri like the great river. Oklahoma will be in the title game, but who will be the other player for the glass ball.

Alabama vs. Florida
The clash in the SEC. We may have the only noncontroversial championship game in the history of college football. Both Florida and Alabama are unquestionably the best teams in their conference and they deserve the chance to brag in their own unique southern drawl.

Florida has been playing great lately. They are using Tim Tebow like they should. When you see a team with a weak D-line, rush your 260 linebacker playing quarterback at them and by the end of the day he'll have 5 TDs. Only problem for Florida is Tebow won't be playing inside the opponents redzone so often against a great Alabama defense. The key to the Florida Gator's season is not whether or not Tebow can score 5 TDs. It's whether or not Florida's defense shows up as the country's best the way they have the last 4 weeks. People say that USC's defense is the best, NO WAY. The speed and ferocity of Florida's defense line and the athleticism of their D-backs is unparalleled. If the Florida Gator's defense shows up to play like they have lately, Tebow will have the ball in the redzone and get those cheap TDs.

I think the defense will show up on both ends of the ball but Florida wins a close one.

Uh Oh Cleveland

Now, I'll be the first person to say that I think Lebron James is going to stay in Cleveland in 2010. I think that he loves the city, state, and fans too much to bail out, and it won't even be a bailout because Cleveland is going to SHOW HIM THE MONEY.

However....

If you watched the NBA TV segment with Lebron's post game interview, Cleveland fans have to be worried about this. Here is the link. I'll let you guys decide what to make out of it.

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2008/11/25/nba_gametime_20081125_lebron_post.nba/index.html?player=whatsnew

Cavs Fans: Time to Start Believing

Well the NBA season's beginning has come and gone and the front runners for the NBA Finals trophy have jumped out to an early lead. The Los Angeles Lakers look nearly unbeatable in a somewhat depleted Western Conference. The Eastern Conference seems to be a little more confusing.

The Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, and Toronto Raptors all feel like they have a legitimate shot at the championship. However, the road to facing L.A. in the Finals leads through either Ohio or New England; Cavaliers or Celtics.

The Celtics are the defending World Champions that still possess the "Big Three" in Garnett, Pierce, and Allen. They lost a couple of role players; however, the emergence of Leon Powe seems to have counter-balanced the departures. The Celtics look very capable of defending their crown. There just seems to be one small problem. Or should I say, one very large, "King-sized" problem.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are poised and ready to take back their Eastern Conference title from the Celtics, and "the King" Lebron James is ready to bring a title, FINALLY, to his beloved Ohio.

Before the season began, few people thought the acquisition of point guard, Mo Williams, would have a significant impact on Cleveland's title hopes. Well, as they say, "only time will tell." Not only has the acquisition bolstered an already talented line-up, it has people thinking Mo could be the Scottie Pippen figure to Lebron.

The Cavaliers have jumped off to the best start since 1994 and despite losing to the Pistons early in the year, the play of Lebron James, and emergence of the role players seems to sparking excitement all over Cleveland.

Let's remember that the Chicago Bulls accomplished their title dominance, not by Jordan scoring 45 every night, but by Grant scoring 13 and Rodman bringing down 13 rebounds. The Cavaliers finally, it seems, given Lebron the role players he needs.

So far this year, no team has come up with a defense for a driving Lebron dunking, or kicking it out to a capable three point shooting trio of Williams, Gibson, and West. Even Big Z, and Ben Wallace get in the action. In the past, when Lebron had a bad shooting night, it was a chalk up in the loss column for the Cavaliers. With the emergence of the role players, Lebron can finally BE carried and not CARRY his team.

The season is still early, a lot can happen. But in Cleveland, the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, is not the only thing rocking this year.

Manning for MVP

So week 12 is almost over in the NFL, and time soon approaches where awards will be handed out amongst the league's finest.

Matt Ryan is running away, or should I say throwing away, with the Rookie of the Year. He leads an Atlanta team that looks to be headed for the playoffs, and for the first time in awhile has the city completely behind a white QB (didn't want to play the race card but had to in this situation).

Most of the other awards are up for grabs; however, the MVP race could be narrowing down between two candidates: Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings and Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts (that's right I said it.)

Adrian Peterson is the sole reason why the Vikings even have a shot of making the playoffs in a hard-fought NFC North Division. So far this year he has over 1,100 yards, averaging almost 5 yards a carry, and scored 8 TDs. Without Adrian Peterson, the Vikings would be in Detroit Lions or Cincinnati Bengals territory.

However, in my opinion, the MVP has to go back to the two-time winner of the award, Peyton Manning.

The Indianapolis Colts are probably going to lose the AFC South for the first time since 2003. The team is 3 games over .500 and have barely escaped with wins over lackluster teams such as the Chargers, Titans, and Steelers. They have been injury plagued from the beginning of the season, and the only shining hope in Lucas Oil Stadium stands in the pocket wearing a number 18.

Peyton Manning, despite the knee injury at the beginning of the year that kept him out of action until the beginning of the season, has produced and led his team back from oblivion. Through week 12, he has 19 TDs and almost 3,000 yards passing. He accomplishes these stats without the help of a mere hint of a running game until the last two weeks, a Bob Sanders-less defense that can't leave the field, and an offensive line that is so riddled with injuries President Bush should report it as a disaster zone.

Now, I agree that Manning is not putting up the 50 TDs and 4,000 yard statistics of a year ago; however, not every year will have the MVP already decided upon by week 11. If Peyton was producing this numbers last year and I recommended him for MVP, I would be laughed at. But the fact that there is still no clear front runner for the award, and the Colts and Manning are hitting their stride at the critically important end of the season, his name appears at the top of some lists.

The Colts without Peyton Manning, this year, would be in utter disarray. The inauguration of Lucas Oil Stadium would be the only bright spot to a lousy year. Peyton Manning has saved the team from mediocrity, and, in doing so, out shown any other candidate thus far for the MVP.

Week 12 NFL Picks

CIN at PIT
Pittsburgh will take advantage of the Cincinnati's' Chad Johnson once again putting himself before the team. How much will it take for the owner and general manager to finally get rid of this cancer and function as a team once again. Big Ben needs to learn to the throw the ball earlier but he will riddle the defense on Thursday night. PIT 31-CIN 10

HOU at CLE
Cleveland wants a win worse than a legless Ethiopian wants the doughnut rolling down the street. Brady Quinn offered a breath of fresh air, but with Mario Williams rushing every play, he could be in for a second game beating. Houston is the underdog, but I think they can pull off the slight upset this week. HOU 17-CLE 10

SF at DAL
Uh Oh. Tony's back. At least we'll get a Jessica sighting on Fox. Hopefully these two teams can bring back the great 80s and 90s rivalry and produce a great game, but let's be honest Dallas runs away with this one. DAL 35-SF 13

TB at DET
Calvin Johnson is turning into the wide receiver that everyone thought he would believe. Wow, Matt Millen actually drafted a good WR in the first round. Too bad the Tampa Bay has them beat at all other positions. Bucs keep the Lions in their den. TB 20-DET 6

NYJ at TEN
The match up of the week. Old QB vs Older QB. The greatest thing about this match up is the O-lines. Both the Titans and the Jets have lineman that could clear a Old Country Buffet in 7 minutes. Unfortunately for the Jets, the Titans have the 1-2 punch at running back and a D-line that sacked Peyton Manning 5 times (SAY WHAT?). TEN 23-NYJ 16

BUF at KC
Buffalo regroups after their Monday night loss. Trent Edwards defends his job to the tune of at least 3 touchdowns against a KC team that is losing a base in the middle of the linebacking core.
BUF 21-13

CHI at STL
Chicago rolls over the hapless Rams. The Rams had their training camp in my hometown, Mequon, WI. I hope they start winning otherwise they don't think they are coming back. The Bears regroup after their drubbing at the hands of the Pack and pitch a shutout. CHI 20-STL 0

NE at MIA
New England wants to show the AFC East that they are not dead. Miami had other thoughts. Coach Belichick needs to learn that if he pisses off teams in their division, sooner or later they are going to run it down his throat. Belichick chews through his hoodie after watching his team getting blown out in Miami. MIA 28-NE 13

MIN at JAC
Both teams want to win this NFC north AFC south match up; however, Adrian Peterson will be the reason why the Vikings are victorious. I thought AP would have another injury plagued season and so far he has come through with flying colors. Another 150+ yard running game and we have ourselves an MVP. MIN 14-JAC 10

PHI at BAL
Donovan Mcnabb needs to show up sometime this season or his job is gone next year. I don't know why Philly continues to hate on D-nabb, but unless Philly makes the playoffs its over for his reign in the city of brotherly love. Joe Flacco gets to know Philly's blitz scheme pretty well from the ground in this game. PHI 17- BAL 3

OAK at DEN
I picked Denver to get to the Super Bowl. They will destroy the hapless Raiders. DEN 24-OAK 7

CAR at ATL
Carolina is 8-2 this season; successfully pulling off one of the quietest seasons in NFL history. Unfortunately, they will meet up the tandem of Roddy White and Matt Ryan. Ryan bolsters his Rookie of the Year resume in this game. ATL 17-CAR 16

NYG at ARI
Eli is playing too well, and the Giants' running attack is way too tough to stop. NYG 20-ARI 14

WAS at SEA
A stupid person would look at who is playing and think, "Wait a tick. Isn't Seattle in Washington?" This is about the most entertaining thing that can come out of this game as the Redskins use Portis all-day and roll in Washington (state). WAS 27-SEA 10

IND at SD
Last year Peyton threw his career high 6 INTs and the Colts still had a game-winning kick to win the game. Adam Vinateri won't have to miss a game-winner in this game as the Colts' newly found running attack will destroy a Merriman-less defense. IND 41-SD 17

GB at NO
Aaron Rodger is going to have a GREAT game. I'm predicting at least 3 TD's from the Ellen Degeneres look alike. The Saints' Brees will keep up his MVP resume with a good game but the difference will be the resurgence of the Packers O-line and running attack. Maybe Terry Bradshaw should have hinted at the fact that the Packers defense is terrible compared to last year and the O-line doesn't block anymore instead of the fact that they don't have Brett Favre. Dumb Mississippi and Louisiana boys think alike I guess. GB 38-NO 27

The NFL has to Stop Putting Quarters in Pacman

On Wednesday, November 19th, the NFL made another stupid blunder. They decided to reinstate the one man that has caused the league enough trouble that the Cincinnati Bengals wouldn't even allow him to come in the locker room and the Minnesota Vikings wouldn't allow him on their boat. The NFL needs to say adios to Pacman Jones.

I am not going to call him Adam Jones. No, absolutely not. In order for me to call him Adam Jones he needs to show the world and I that he isn't going to beat up his bodyguard, go to strip clubs, and carry and use guns while in public. An Adam Jones would not do those things. Pacman Jones most certainly would.

The NFL thought that it would be alright with Pacman going to a franchise that had their share of personality troubles (i.e. Michael Irvin and Barry Switzer), but how could they believe that after a third time of getting suspended this man would be able to turn his life around.

The NFL would be better off saying,"Cya later Pacman, we'll see you on the next season of MSNBC's "Lock-up".

Rodger Goodell blueprinted his tenure as commissioner of the NFL quite clearly in the past. Any illegal activities or questionable character escapades had been dealt with swiftly and with a firm hand. But my question is why not use that stern hand and give Pacman a swift smack the head and a kick in the pants.

Pacman Jones is a disgrace to the NFL, football, and the sporting world at large. The time for reinstatement and countless second chances are over. Pacman Jones, in the words of Will Smith, "you brought this on yourself."