Special Delivery! With so much going on right now; the NFL Playoffs, the end to the NHL Lockout, Manti Te'o's imaginary friends, and doped-up narcissists... my inbox has become flooded with questions and comments from Psycho Sports fans about these latest topics in sporting news. Ranging from serious and thoughtful to the hilarious and bizarre, I couldn't continue to keep these gems to myself... so from my inbox to your screen, I present you with the first ever Psycho Sports Mailbag... Chip Kelly just signed on to coach the Philadelphia Eagles. His offensive ingenuity has earned him the reputation as an excellent college coach, will he have the same success in the NFL? -Tommy F. (Boston) KA: Nope. Firstly, Chip Kelly's offense is successful because he recruits only fast and athletic offensive players. He runs a high-octane, hurry-up offense centered around a mobile quarterback. The problem with this is... Every player in the NFL, offesne or defense, is fast and athletic. Plus with a lead-fotted Nick Foles, and with Mike Vick likely to be cut, they will lack the quarterback who can keep the opposing defense honest. Secondly, the road to NFL coaching success is paved with the crushed dreams of college coaches. Sure Jim Harbaugh and (to a lesser extent) Pete Carroll have had some success with this transition, but they both ran NFL-Style offenses while at the college level... Just take a look at some of the all-time great college coaches, and how they fared in the pros:
Thirdly... The Eagles don't have the personell right now to make them a contender in any system, nevermind a system that has been untested in the NFL. They lack an effective offensive line, which is the key to Kelly's offensive success. However, the fact that Chip's birth name is Charlie Kelly, and is now in Philadelphia does make him a bit of a 'Wildcard." This Manti Te'o News is crazy! Probably the most bizzare sports story in the past 5 years right? Was he in on it? Is he secretly gay? What's your take? - Joseph D. (Connecticut) KA: I believe the saying goes: Fool me once, shame on you... Fool me twice, you must have boobs. I don't know what to think, but I also can't rule anything out. However, if I go with my gut... It seems like he is a good kid who got duped. Wouldn't be the first time, nor will it be the last time that someone let a woman (real or fake) get the better of them. That being said, this whole ordeal is a sports journalist's wet dream. I think it is too early to tell where this story will rank in the "all-time most bizzare" category, but it is definitely among the nominees, along with: * Rex Ryan's Foot Fetish * Sammy Sosa's Skin-Bleaching * Nancy Kerrigan's Harding Treatment * Tiger Woods' Domestic Beatdown * Pretty Much Everything Mike Tyson Has Ever Said/Done Regardless of the truth, it is tough not to feel bad for the kid... not because of the scandal, but because he is likely going to end up stuck on an awful team like the Jets, Jags or Browns next year. Today was one of the darker days for the MLB as the fiery spirit of two legends went out. Earlier this morning at approximately 2:00 a.m., longtime legendary Baltimore Orioles Skipper Earl Weaver passed away from a heart attack while on a Baltimore Oriole sponsored cruise. Then later on in the evening of the same day, the former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Stanley "Stan" Frank Musial passed away from natural causes at his home in Laude, Missouri.
Earl Weaver was a well-renowned skipper of the Baltimore Orioles from 1968-1982 and then from 1985-1986. In between managing stints, Weaver was a baseball color commentator for ABC. During his tenure, Weaver composed a 1,480-1,060 record that included 4 AL Pennants (1969-1972, 1979), a World Series victory in 1970, had 6 seasons where the Orioles had 100+ wins (109 in '69, 108 in '70, 101 in '71, 102 in '79, and 100 in '80), and only had one losing season in 1986. Weaver's philosophy as a manager was to focus on pitching, defense, patience at the plate for the big hit, using a platoon system and that statistics would help determine how successful a pitcher-hitter match up would be. He was most famous for his quarrels with umpires, holding the record for the most ejections from a game with 94. Weaver's #4 jersey was retired by the Baltimore Orioles in 1982 and he was inducted into Cooperstown in 1996. Stan Musial was the St. Louis Cardinals first baseman and the outfielder for 22 seasons from 1941-1944 and then from 1946-1963. He only missed the 1945 season due to serving in the U.S. Navy. People used to call him "Stan the Man" as with just cause. During his whole major league career, Stan was voted as an All-Star 24 times, tying him with the 'Say Hey Kid' Willy Mays. He won 3 World Series in '42, '44, and in '46 to go along with his 3 NL MVP awards (1943, 1946, 1948), 7 NL Batting titles ( 1943, 1946, 1948, 1950-52, 1957) and his 1957 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. Stan had a career average of .331, had 3,630 hits, 475 HR, and 1,951 RBIs. But what really stood out was the kind of player he was. Stan exhibited such character and integrity both on and off the diamond that many of his teammates as well as opponents took notice and admired. People always saw him play with the same effort and passion every game and was never ejected once during his 3,026 plate appearances. The following quote by Bob Costas can summarize who Stan Musial was: "He didn't hit a homer in his last at-bat; he hit a single. He didn't hit in 56 straight games. He married his high school sweetheart and stayed married to her.... All Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being." And so our thoughts and prayers go out to the Weaver and Musial families. Both men represented what the game of baseball is truly all about and both of them will be deeply missed. Good night and god bless. -Ryan L. Fox You might not want to poke the bear, but you definitely want to get ready for the black and gold to drop the pucks for the first time since May of 2012. The Bruins did not make a lot of radical changes prior to the lockout. They resigned key young players including; Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin. Seguin looks to take his game to the next level in this shortened season by having his name mentioned with the elite of the sport. The biggest change for the Bruins is at goalie. Tim Thomas, who had been a hero to the 2011 championship team, has pretty much chucked the deuces to Boston by sitting out a year and making himself an untradeable asset. Certainly the pressure is on young Goalie Tuukka Rask, who must prove himself to be an every day top tier goalie for a championship contending team. One addition the Bruins will receive is young defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who hopes to add some youth and play-making ability to to Bruins defensive unit. The Bruins start off their shorten 48 game schedule with two out of their first three match-ups coming against the rival New York Rangers. New York fell short of the 2012 championship dreams to the New Jersey evils, and would love to start out 2013 with a statement victory or two against the rival Boston Bruins. This will definitely provide the Bruins with an intense start to this lockout shortened year. It will possibly provide fans with a potential playoff match-up preview early on in the season. So hockey fans get ready, the wait is finally over, lets get ready to pucks! - Joe Passarelli And so there were four teams left and two games left before we see who will be playing in Super Bowl XLVII. Again the Groundhog Day theme continues as we see in the AFC Championship game the Ravens and Patriots. Not to mention that we will be seeing the rival of an old NFC West rivalry between the 49ers and Falcons. Let's begin. Last Week Record: 2-2 Playoff Record: 4-4 Sunday 3:00 p.m. #2 San Francisco 49ers @ #1 Atlanta Falcons Even though the two teams play in different divisions, there is some history between the two franchises. From 1966-2001, both of these teams were NFC West divisional rivals as the 49ers lead the series 44-25-1. Then in 2002, the Falcons moved to the newly formed NFC South and have recently dominated in the series meetings, going 4-0. Not too mention that this will be the second playoff meeting between the two teams as they meet in 1998 in Atlanta in the Divisional Round. There the 'Dirty Bird' Falcons beat the 49ers 20-18. Now going into this game, we see two different styles of play. For the Falcons, they are more of a pass-oriented offense and rightfully so, lead by the receiving corp of Julio Jones (79 catches for 1,198 yards and 10 TDs), Rodney White (92 catches for 1,351 yards and 7 TDs) and Tony Gonzalez (93 catches for 930 yards and 8 TDs). On the other side, the 49ers are more of a run-first style of offense (4th in the league with 155.7 YPG) led by Frank Gore (258 carries for 1,214 yards and 8 TDs). But what separates these even more is style of defense. Although the Falcons are 5th in overall scoring (allowing 18.1 PPG), they really don't have an answer for QB Colin Kaepernick, who obliterated the Packers last week with 263 yards and 2 TDs passing and a playoff record for QB rushing yards with 181 yards on 16 carries for 2 TDs. On the other hand, the 49ers are 4th against the rush (allowing 94.2 YPG so don't expect Michael Turner to burn anybody in this one), 4th against the pass (allowing 200.2 YPG), and they boost a hard-smash defense led by DE's Aldon Smith and Justin Smith as well as LB's Patrick Willis and Navorro Bowman. And let's be frank, they beat the Patriots at Gillette, Packers at Lambeau, and Saints at the Superdome and all those teams were high-powered, gun-slingin' offenses who all ranked in the top 10 for passing offenses this year. As the old saying goes, 'Defense wins championships' so.... Pick: 49ers #4 Baltimore Ravens @ #2 New England Patriots This will be the 3rd time in 4 years that the Patriots and Ravens faced off against one another in the playoffs and the 2nd consecutive AFC Championship match up between the two teams. Last year, the Ravens almost pull the upset. But they were denied as DB Sterling Moore knocked the ball our of Ravens WR Lee Evans and then K Billy Cundiff hooked the ensuing field goal wide left. Now going into this game, after a dominating 43-28 performance against the Houston Texans in the divisional round, many Pats fans are already buying tickets for the Super Bowl. However they seem to have forgotten that A. Joe Flacco has thrown for 1,271 yards, 9 TDs and 4 INTs in 5 games against the Pats (including going 22 for 36 with 306 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT in last year's AFC Championship game), B. Brady had his worse playoff game against the Ravens in last year's AFC Championship game (going 22 for 36 with 239 yards, 0 TDs, and 2 INTs with a QB rating of 57.5), C. TE Gronkowski is on IR with a broken arm while everybody on the Ravens are healthy and ready to go, and D. Ravens put up 38 points and 479 total yards on the 2nd best overall defense in the NFL in the Denver Broncos last week. And trust me, though the Patriots acquired Aquib Talib, they're pretty much the same group that lost in Baltimore earlier in the year 31-30. This will be a high-staked game as the Ravens will put everything on the line for Ray Lewis and he will be ballin' like there's no tomorrow. Pick: Ravens - Ryan L. Fox At 6'1" 240 lbs., he is a tackling machine, team leader, mentor, and in four years a first ballot Hall of Famer. Ray Lewis was a Middle Linebacker out of the U (University of Miami) that was classified as undersized and overvalued. Players like Jermane Mayberry, Walt Harris, Tim Biakabituka, and Lawrence Phillips were all taken over him in the 1996 NFL Draft. He then went on to win Defensive Player of the year (twice), and played in 13 Pro Bowls. I remember watching Superbowl XXXV, and being witness to a star being born. Ray Lewis possibly has two games left in his remarkable career. I know if New England has anything to say about it, Sunday will be his last game, but that is why we play the games. While Ray Lewis has had his ups and downs, and off-field issues, it is hard not to respect him as a player. Say what you will about Ray Lewis, but take away his leadership, raw talent, the Superbowl ring, and all the numbers... and you still have a loyal, dedicated, and determined competitor. - Stephen Moul This Wednesday, Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics host Doc's son, Austin Rivers and the Hornets. So far Austin's rookie season has been forgettable at best, averaging an underwhelming 6.2 points per game in 37 games played and 22 games started. In addition to Austin Rivers slow start for the Hornets; he is also being overshadowed by rookie guards Bradley Biel and Damien Lillard, who are rookie of the year candidates thus far. When the Celtics Coach was asked if he was looking forward to Wednesday’s matchup, he told the Celtics website "I don't even know what I'm looking forward to. It's not like he's playing a ton anyway, but you never know. As far as him and being on the floor, that's just a different feeling. I still don't know how to feel about it." The Celtics have been red hot as of late, riding a season high 6 game winning streak into the TD Garden as Austin Rivers and company prepare for their first matchup with Boston this season. The matchup will feature only the fourth father vs. son pairing in NBA history. The most recent taking place in 2009 when Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Sr. last squared off. The Celtics players don't seem to be fazed by tonight’s family feud; "I don't care if he's Doc's kid," forward Jeff Green said. "He gonna get mad at me? He wants us to stop him, right? If he comes through the lane, I'm gonna hit him. Welcome to the NBA, kid." The Celtics will certainly have the welcome wagon ready for the Hornets, as they go for the seventh straight win tonight in Boston. - Joe Passarelli The NFL showcased four very impactful games in this past weekend’s divisional playoffs. We saw two dominant showings from New England and San Francisco, and two epic showdowns which came down to game ending or overtime game winning drives and incredible comebacks in the Falcons vs. Seahawks matchup as well as the Ravens vs. Broncos epic overtime thriller. After somewhat of a flop wild card round, the NFL playoffs are really heating up and figure to get hotter this Sunday. The Atlanta Falcon's may have been one of the most disrespected number one seeds in divisional round history going into Sunday afternoon's action. Matt Ryan, who was dubbed Matty Ice in college, had been ice cold in his other playoff outings going 0-3 and developing a Tony Romo type of reputation. Ryan looked to be on the fast track of his first playoff win when the Falcons were up by three scores in the first half. Russell Wilson however once again proved to have ice water in his blood, leading the Seahawks back to take the lead 28-27 with less than a minute left in the game. It looked like Ryan and the dirty birds were once again about to go belly up in a big playoff game, when Ryan had his first big playoff moment of the year and lead the Falcons in position for Matt Bryant to hit a game winning field goal, sending Atlanta to its first NFC championship game since the 98-99 season when the Falcons defeated the 15-1 Vikings to go to their first Super Bowl. The 49ers exercised some playoff demons with an impactful thrashing of the Packers in their 45-31 win this past Saturday evening. Colin Kaepernick rebounded from a pick six on his first drive, to have a record setting playoff showing. The second year QB from Nevada rushed for a QB playoff record 181 yards and 2 scores; he also threw two touchdown passes to Michael Crabtree. Kaepernick continues to play at a high level since stealing Alex Smith's job like thief in the night in November. Kapernick looks to continue his amazing play against former division rival Atlanta this Sunday as the Falcons will host the NFC title game in the early afternoon matchup. The Patriots smoked the Texans for the second time this season with their 41-28 victory Sunday evening. The weather was unseasonably warm in Foxboro and the Patriots were red hot led by Tom Brady's 344 yards passing and three touchdowns. Houston also had a problem with New England’s running backs who over shadowed Arian Foster and accounted for four touchdowns between Steven Ridley and Shane Vereen. It wasn't all sunny for New England however, as stud TE Rob Gronkowski re-broke his arm and is now out for the remainder of the playoffs. The Patriots will lean to Aaron Hernandez and Brandon Lloyd to pick up the slack as New England prepares to host its 4th AFC championship game since moving to Gillete Stadium. The Broncos versus Ravens certainly took the game of the week award in their double overtime thriller in Denver Saturday afternoon. Despite two special teams’ touchdowns and putting up a playoff record 35 points against The Raven's defense, the Broncos didn't do enough to keep Baltimore out of the game. Joe Flacco had his playoff defining moment, as he found Jacoby Jones on a 70 yard pass to tie the game up at 35 in the final minute of regulation. The Raven's Corey Graham picked off Peyton Manning in the final seconds of the first overtime, setting Baltimore up to win the game with field goal in the second overtime. The Ray Lewis retirement tour continues as the Ravens will travel to New England for a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game on Sunday evening. - Joe Passarelli
Nothing like a good ol' coaching rumor to make things lively. We had Chip Kelly flirting with the possibility of going pro with either the Philadelphia Eagles or the Cleveland Browns. Instead he decided to stay at Oregon. Then we had Bill O'Brian flirting with the idea of going to the Cleveland Browns. Instead he decided to stay at Penn State. Now word on the street is that Norte Dame head coach Brian Kelly might be looking to go pro. Many sources from Fox Sports, NFL.com, and Sports Illustrated have all confirmed that Brian Kelly did in fact interview with the Eagles and that it is a possibility for that move. Some might say that this scenario would happen eventually. From 1991 when he first broke in as head coach of Grand Valley State in D-II NCAA Football to present day, Brian Kelly has been at the head coaching in college football. His teams were as listed below: * From 1991-2003: Head Coach at Grand Valley State where he had a 118-35-2 record and won 2 D-II Championships back to back in 2002 & 2003. * From 2004-2006: Head Coach at Central Michigan University where he had a 19-16 record, including winning the 2006 Motor City Bowl against the Middle Tennessee University Blue Raider. * From 2006-2009: Head Coach at Cincinnati University where he had a 34-6 record including 3 Bowl Appearances, winning 2 Bowl games (International Bowl in '06 and Papajohns.com Bowl in '07). * From 2010-Present: At Notre Dame University where he currently has a 28-11 record, including winning the Hyundai Sun Bowl in '10 and recently losing in the BCS Championship game to Alabama. Overall, he has a 199-67-2 record with 7 Bowl Game appearances and 3 Bowl Game victories. But in the same token, not that many college coaches have had that much success at the Pro level. Steve Spurrier helped build the Florida Gators in a powerhouse during the 90s but then faltered when he coached at the Redskins for two seasons from '02-'03. Nick Saban was treated like a deity at LSU from 2000-2004 but he was treated like a schmuck from '05-'06 down in Miami with the Dolphins. And who could forget when Bobby Petrino went pro during the '07 with the Atlanta Falcons after making the Louisville Cardinals into a powerhouse in the Big East, up and quit on his team after 13 weeks in the pro. And if you want something close to home for the Fighting Irish faithful, remember Lou Holtz? He may have been a god at Notre Dame from '86-'96 but many New York Jets fans remember him as a flop during the '76 season when he went 3-10 and quit before the final game of that season. So folks, what do you thing is a good idea. Should Brian Kelly go pro after having so much success at the collegiate level? Or do you believe he'll be like another big time college coach who will flounder from the pressure of being an NFL head coach? -Ryan L. Fox If the 2012 NFL Playoffs were a movie, that movie would be Groundhog Day. In Wildcard Weekend, we had 3 out of the 4 match-ups with teams that already faced each other in past postseason match-ups. This time around, we got not only two games from earlier match-ups during the regular season but the rekindling of a famous one-sided rivalry from the last 90s. Let's get things started. Last Week: 2-2 Playoff Record: 2-2 Saturday 4:30 p.m. Baltimore Ravens @ Denver Broncos This will be a rematch of Week 15 where the Broncos came in and smacked around the Ravens 34-17. In that game however, LB Ray Lewis, SS Bernard Pollard, OG Masrhal Yanda, and TE Dennis Dickerson were out due to injury. Now all are back and ready to go at full game speed. However they'll be facing an offense that's well rested as well as more-seasoned compared to the Colts offense. Not too mention that this will be the 9th game that pitches the Ravens up against Peyton Manning. Unfortunately for them, he's 7-2 against them, including 2-0 in the postseason. As much as of a hall-of-fame career Ray Lewis has had, it'll come to an end in Mile High Stadium. Pick: Broncos Saturday 8:00 p.m. Green Bay Packers @ San Francisco 49ers This will be the 6th playoff meeting between the Packers and the 49ers. Overall, Green Bay leads the series 4-1 and outscoring San Fran 137-86. The last time these two teams met was back in the 2001 Wildcard where the Packers won 25-15 at Lambeau. However the last playoff match-up in San Francisco was a 30-27 in the '98 Wildcard. Even though the 49ers beat the Packers in a 30-22 Week 1 match-up at Lambeau, that was with Alex Smith under center. Now with Colin Katpernick, he presents more of a dual threat that can throw or scramble. The good news for Green Bay is that they will be with LB Clay Matthews and DB Charles Woodson. But at the same time, the 49ers have the running game on offense that can take time off the clock and keep Aaron Rodgers off the field. Not too mention that the Green Bay offense has allowed the 2nd most sacks this season (51.0) and will be going up against that 49ers pass rush, led by NFC sack leader Aldon Smith. Pick: 49ers Sunday 1:00 p.m. Seattle Seahawks @ Atlanta Falcons We've all seen this song and dance before in the past. Falcons get into the playoffs and then Falcons get knocked out in One-and-Done fashion. Last time the Falcons were the #1 seed was back in the 2010 playoffs where they lost to the eventual Super Champs, the Packers, 48-21. The good news for the Falcons is that they will not have to face Seahawks DE Chris Clemons, who torn his ACL in last weeks 24-14 W over the Redskins. Still with the receiving trio of Jones-White-Gonzalez, they'll be having to face that hard hitting and over-sized secondary of Seattle. Not to mention that on the defensive side of the ball the Falcons could be without their two top players in DB Dunta Robinson and DE John Abraham, both sustained injuries during the last regular season game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. All Seattle has to do is just hand the ball to Marshawn Lynch and let him get into Beast Mode. If he does, then it's all over. Pick: Seahawks Sunday 4:30 p.m. Houston Texans @ New England Patriots And so we have a rematch between the Houston Texans and the New England Patriots. Last time these two teams meet in Week 14 up in Foxborough, it was the Patriots who dominated 42-14 and sent the Texans into a tailspin. Now the Texans are looking for revenge and it would appear that history is on their side. During the Belicheck/Brady Era, the Patriots are 6-6 in the playoffs against teams that they met in the regular season. Not to mention that it was 2 years ago that the Patriots got upset at home by the New York Jets in the same scenario (Divisional Home playoff game) 28-21 after crushing them 45-3 at home in week 13 of that same season. The Texans had a banged up defense with DB Johnathan Joseph and starting LB Brooks Reed hampered by injuries. But in that same retrospect, the Patriots were without TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez as well as both are healthy and ready to play this Sunday. The Texans might put up a better fight than the last time these two teams met, but it'll come down to who has more experience in the playoofs and we all know the answer to that. Pick: Patriots -Ryan L. Fox The Celtics improved their record to 17-17 with a huge victory at MSG Monday by knocking off MVP candidate Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks. This win came with plenty of drama which has had the NBA community buzzing all week. Even without suspended point guard Rajon Rondo, the C's had one of their best showings of the season with Monday's chippy victory. However, the Rondo story got lost in the fallout of the incident involving Kevin Garnett and Carmelo Anthony, which has been a trending topic in the NBA this week, and has now given rise to an investigation by David Stern and the NBA. While clashing on the court under the bright lights of MSG, Kevin Garnett was dishing out trash talk to Carmelo Anthony in his traditional manner. KG made a statement, comparing Carmelo's wife, and former MTV host Lala, to a box of Honey Nut Cheerios. Melo responded by looking for Garnett in the locker room area after the game to confront the big ticket on his comments. Anthony then waited for KG at the Celtics team bus until Coach Mike Woodson and NBA officials removed Melo. Garnett and Anthony reportedly spoke on the phone on Tuesday and squashed the issue; however the NBA is still investigating, following the public fallout this week. Regardless of the tension between this two future Hall of Famers, the Celtics vs. Knicks matchup looks like it has been reignited, and should be a lot of fun to watch for the rest of the season. The Celtics have been playing their best basketball of the season with their first three game winning streak versus playoff contenders Indiana, Atlanta, and the second place Knicks. Boston has improved its play with the return of third year guard Avery Bradley. Since Bradley's return the Celtics have improved the defense dramatically. Bradley in many ways reminds me of the role Bruce Bowen played for the Spurs for years. His play seems to take the Celtics to a higher level, and if Boston has any hopes of making a playoff run this season, it may rest on the surgically repaired shoulders of Avery Bradley. - Joe Passarrelli |
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