Today we will learn the results of the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame voting. This ballot, likely the most controversial of all time, includes the poster children for the steroid era.
After weeks of hype and build up we have finally arrived at championship Monday. The undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in one of the most anticipated match-ups in years. Notre Dame, despite being one of the most followed schools in NCAA Football history, finds themselves attempting to win their first title since 1989. Alabama, on the other hand, has been a constant in the big game and looks to win its 2nd consecutive BCS title and the third one in four years. As Nick Saban and company attempt to win their third championship since 2009, Alabama has every reason to feel good about this game tonight. They certainly have the experience edge in big games, including recent BCS Championships last year and in 2010. The Crimson Tide has two running backs who have rushed for 1,000+ yards this season in Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon, a championship tested QB in AJ McCarron, and defense that features five returning starters from last year's BCS championship team. Despite having a dominant defense, which has been an NFL family as of late, Heisman winner Johnny "Football" Manziel proved that this defense of Alabama can be exposed. If the Irish are going to win this game, they'll need two things. First, freshman QB Everett Golson needs to bring his A-game. It's obvious that Golson is not like John 'Johnny Football' Manziel. However, like Manziel, he does have the ability to be a dual threat being able to run the ball effectively and provide the crucial pass when the time arises. If Golson makes any inadequate throws or fumble the football at inopportune times then the undefeated Irish will not stand a chance. But if he can have a similar performance like Manizel did against Alabama earlier this year than, On the defensive side, the Fighting Irish need an inspirational showing from their defense leader, Heisman finalist LB Manti Te'o. He needs to show why he was the best defensive player in college football and a Heisman finalist. Not to mention the Irish front seven need to be able to shut down the Yeldon-Lacy duo and put significant pressure on McCarron throughout the entire game. The Irish have showed incredible heart all season long, never giving up or allowing the hype of being ranked get to them. Some would argue there is an element of destiny that has been present for the Irish all season long. Even if Notre Dame finds themselves trailing in the 4th quarter, they should not fret. We saw a finish comparable to USC and Texas back in 2005, when Vince Young brought the Long Horns back with a 4th quarter for the ages. Not to mention that the Irish had many comeback victories against Stanford, BYU, and Pittsburgh this season. So keep your hands off of the remote tonight folks, you don't want to be the guy who gave up on a classic game. -Joe Passarelli After 114 days and 510 missed games, NHL owners and players have tentatively reached an agreement that will allow for hockey to resume. The 2012-13 season, which was nearing its drop-dead date, will begin an abridged schedule sometime next week. Once the 48 (or possibly 50) game schedule commences, there will be a sprint to the playoffs, featuring lots of back-to-back games, with no All-Star Game, or Winter Classic. Players, many of whom have been playing overseas, are currently flocking to their team's training facilities in hopes that the deal will be signed and ratified quickly, allowing them to resume team activities. While many are excited to see the salvaged season, there is still a large public relations elephant in the room. The fans, who have been fairly patient and loyal, may not be willing to buy back in to a league which has now skipped more than one and a half seasons out of the last nine. Fan bases in Canada, Boston, Philly, New York, and Chicago run deep enough to absorb the backlash... but the smaller hockey markets; Phoenix, Nashville, Florida, etc., may not have the resources to resurrect and support their teams. While it is definitely good that hockey is coming back, we may see a domino effect leading to the folding/retraction of some of these teams... which would be a good thing for the league as a whole. Regardless of how this all shakes down, I am glad to see hockey back, even if there was no good reason for it to leave in the first place. - Kevin Aherne Just when you thought it was all said and done. That's right folks, yours truly is back for Fox's Pick'ems Postseason Edition. We start things off with the WildCard round. The following below are the seedings in each conference for the 2012 NFL Playoffs.
There will be two games on Saturday and Sunday, a reprieve to those who are exhausted from watching all those college bowl games. That being said, let's begin
Saturday 4:30 p.m. (5) Cinncinati Bengals @ (3) Houston Texans Last year when these two teams met, T.J. Yates was taking snaps under center for the Texans in a 31-10 beat down last year. This time around could be different however. If you had been watching the Texans of late, it just seems like they play with no sense of urgency. After starting off at 11-1 and with the #1 Playoff spot seemingly anointed to them, they ended up going 1-3. On the other side, the Bengals went 3-1 during that same time frame and had 2 straight victories over divisional opponents (Steelers and Ravens respectively). Not too mention that the Bengals have a stronger running game in BenJarvis Green-Ellis (278 carries for 1,094 yards and 6 TDs) as well as wideout A.J. Green having a strong sophmore season (97 catces for 1,350 yards and 11TD). Though the Texans got Matt Schaub starting this time, don't expect the same results. Pick: Bengals Saturday 8:00 p.m. (6) Minnesota Vikings @ (3) Green Bay Packers This will mark the thrid time that these two teams have met. The first was a 23-14 victory for the Packers in Week 13 at Green Bay and then most recently a 37-34 victory for the Vikings in a barn burner in Week 17. In those two games, Adrian Peterson rushed for 208 and 199 respectively against the Packers defense. However in the second game, Vikings' Christian Ponder threw 234 yards and 3 TDs on a 16 for 28 day. The key for the Packers would be to try to let Ponder beat them, who at times this year looked lost and confused and had only 6 games where he had a QB rating of over 85.0. The Packers will be getting back Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson to bolster their defense. Though Adrian Peterson put up monster numbers during the regular season, the playoffs are a whole new kind of ball game. Pick: Packers Sunday 1:00 p.m. (6) Indianapolis Colts @ (4) Baltimore Ravens The old Baltimore team comes into town to face against the new Baltimore team. Bet you heard that cliche before. These two teams have met in the past, each time the Colts came away with a victory ('06 Divisonal Round @ Baltimore 15-6 and '09 Divisional Round @ Indianapolis 20-3). The good news for the Ravens is that Ray Lewis will be coming back. The bad news is that he will be retiring after the playoffs. That could give the Ravens some form of motivation. Not to mention All-Pro RB Ray Rice will be facing the 29th ranked run defense (137.5 ypg allowed). But then again, Chuck Pagano was the Ravens' defensive coordinator just last season and the Colts have been playing some tough football, including 2 victories in 3 weeks over the Houston Texans. Pick: Colts Sunday 4:40 p.m. (5) Seattle Seahawks @ (4) Washington Redskins This will be a tough yet fun game to watch. During this season the Seahawks posted a 3-5 record on the road but had a 2-1 record against East Coast teams (Dolphins, Bills, Panthers). They have been winners of 5 straight, including 3 games where they scored 40+ points. Then you have the Redskins, who boast a 5-3 home record and are currently on a 7-game winning streak. The key match up will be how will QB Robert Griffin III and RB Alfred Morris perform. They have combined for a total of 2,428 (Morris with 1,613 and Griffin III with 815), which accounts for approximately 89.6% of the Redskins 2,709 total rushing yards. This Sunday, they'll be facing the 10th ranked rushing defense (103.1 ypg allowed) as well as the 1st ranked scoring defense (allowing 15.3 ppg). Not too mention that RGIII is somewhat hampered by a sore knee he sustained in Week 14 and has been taking hard blows. This could turn into an old school football game of smash mouth defense and hard-nose running. High-passing offense fans turn away because this will not be your cup of tea. Pick: Seahawks -Ryan L. Fox The 2012 NFL Season has finally come to a close. As we look back we saw many players performs extraordinary feats, make plays where it counted, or just simply dropped the ball flat onto the grassy turf. Throughout the entire season, we kept hearing talks about who deserves the MVP award. However the names get thrown out there usually belong to quarterbacks. If you take a look in the recent history of the NFL MVPs, you'll see that 37 MVP winners were QBs or RBs. In fact the last time that a non-QB or non-RB won the NFL MVP award was back in 1986 when LB Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants won it. It has gone from going as an award to the best player in the game right now to just the best offensive player. After reviewing a lot of stats and watching some game footage, yours truly has come up with his list of the top 5 candidates for the 2012 NFL MVP Award. This will be based on what the award should be truly based on: who dominated during this season. You'll be surprised to see some names get left off and spoiler alert: Eli is not getting the award to all those who think I would be picking #10 of Big Blue. That being said, let's start off with #5.
4. Drew Brees, QB New Orleans Saints: Now I bet you are 'surprised' to see a QB this low on the list and why I picked Brees over the likes of a Peyton Manning or a Tom Brady or even Aaron Rodgers. Well its simple. You take away any of those QBs from their teams, they're average at best. You take away Drew Brees away from the Saints, they are always going after the next top 5 pick. Drew Brees did everything he could. He passed for a league leading 5,177 yards (2nd year in a row with +5,000 yards passing) and 43 touchdowns and was the only reason why the Saints remained competitive throughout what was an embarsssing season.
2. J.J. Watt, DE Houston Texans: This was a tough decision to make. J.J. Watt was the most dominating defensive player not on his team but in the entire NFL. He was the reason why Texans decided to let DE Mario Williams walk in free agency during the off-season. He lead the league in sacks with 20.5, accounting for just under half his team's sack total (44.0). But what really sticks out was the fact that he had 16 passes deflected, tied for 10th in the league. The 'closest' defensive linemen in that category is DE Ryan Kerrigan of the Washington Redskins (tied for 80th overall with 8). Even with the likes of LB Brain Cushing and DBs Johnathan Joseph and Brice McCain missing time with injuries or having offensive coordinators create blocking schemes desginated just for him, J.J. Watt dominated at his position and because of his defensive play that kept the Houston Texans competitive for the entire year. 1. Adrian Peterson, RB Minnesota Vikings: On December 24, 2011 he tore his ACL and MCL in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Going into this season, many thought that AP would have lost a step. Instead, they saw perhaps one of the best rushing performances since the likes of Jim Brown, Eric Dickerson, and even the Juice O.J. Simpson. Here are some stats for you. For the season, Adrian Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards, the second most in NFL history and was only 9 yards from breaking the 2,105 mark. The nearest competitor was Alfred Morris of Washington at 1,613. AP had 12 rushing TDs, 2nd in the NFC and 3rd overall. He lead all running backs with 131.1 yards per game as well as 6.0 yards per carry as well as being 1st in yards from scrimmage with 2,314. His 2,097 rushing yards make up for 79.6% of his teams total 2,634 rushing yards as well as the fact AP alone had more total rushing yards than 24 NFL teams. He did all that in league where we see teams pass more than run the ball. So Mr. Adrian Peterson, you are deserving of the MVP candidate. -Ryan L. Fox The Celtics have been in a tail spin as of late, which has dropped them to a lowly 14-16 going into Wednesday's matchup with Western conference power Memphis. The C's come off of a terrible stretch of basketball on their recent west coast loss, featuring awful losses to the Kings, Warriors, and an embarrassing loss on TNT to the Clippers last Thursday night. Boston hopes to ignite its perimeter defense, which has been torched by every guard in the league with a pulse as of late, with the season debut of Avery Bradley Wednesday night. However Bradley alone cannot solve the Celtics inability to rebound against a JV team, never mind a new generation of athletic big men which has made KG and company look like they have been in a retirement home this season. The one saving grace for the Celtic's big man problems could be in the form of rookie Fab Melo, who has been in beast mode in the NBA's D League. The Celtics would be better served giving this kid a chance than making a panic trade. If you can get a big man for Bass, Lee, and draft picks than make a move, but I wouldn't trade young players like Bradley, Sullinger, or Melo to make that happen. Regardless the Celtic's need to start the New Year right, despite tough competition from Memphis, the Pacers and the 1st place Knicks coming up. - Joe Passarelli |
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