NFL week 1

Football is back, fall should be exciting as we start the Journey toward super bowl XLVIII in New Jersey.

week 1:
1.  The Chicago Bears are going to take a step back at least early on, I don't know if I like the marriage with the coach.  The Cincinnati Bengals are hot and a lot of people like them this year.  I'll pick the Bengals (+3) on the road in Chicago.  Cinncinatti Bengals +3
2.  Green Bay is in San Francisco this week, the Packers are the class of their division but the 49ers a loaded they've made a bunch of good singings this offseason.  I'll take the San Francisco 49ers (-4.5) over the Green Bay Packers.  San Francisco 49ers -4.5  
3.  The New York Giants have had some preseason stumbles as the season nears and they get healthy.  The Dallas Cowboys have some injury questions to answer as far as I am concerned.  I'll go with the NY Giants (+3.5) in the place where they are undefeated since it's opening over the Dallas Cowboys.  NY Giants +3.5 

NFL season preview

Tomorrow night we start the road to Super Bowl XLVIII, to be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey home of the New York Jets and Giants.  The start of another NFL season is just hours away with the Baltimore Ravens visiting the Denver Broncos.  Many teams made off season moves to try and get to the promised land.
In the NFC we have many good teams.  Starting in the East the New York Giants are back with what should be a good defense, that offensive line has been shuffled yet again but they always find a way. The Giants have a new backup to Eli Manning, in Curtis Painter but Eli's favorite targets are back in Victor Cruz (multi Year deal) and Hakeem Nicks.  The Dallas Cowboys seem to be battling a lot of injuries early on.  In Washington Robert Griffin III is back from his knee injury, we'll see if the Redskins use him any differently or if they keep him in the spread option where he has to scramble and usually looks fragile doing it.  The Philadelphia Eagles have brought in Chip Kelly from Oregon to run his hurry up offense, we'll see how Michael Vick handles the change and how that offensive will work in the NFL.  In the North the Packers are back with all of their weapons for Aaron Rodgers, the Chicago Bears defense may be back and the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings might surprise people.  In the South the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are gonna surprise and the Atlanta Falcons could be headed back to the NFC Championship.  Out West is defiantly a two team race with the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, both teams are loaded with talent.
In the AFC we also have some very good teams.  In the East the New York Jets are a mess with a coach that should have been fired with the GM, the New GM doesn't talk to any body.  They also have four quarterbacks which is never good, and no receiving weapons for those guys to throw to.  The Miami Dolphins are going to surprise people, the New England Patriots released Tim Tebow but thats besides the point they always find a way.  The Baltimore Ravens should be good again although they have changed a lot of pieces on that team.  A lot of people are vey high on the Cincinnati Bengals who will surprise people.                          

NFC East:                                                    AFC East:
NY Giants (10-6)                                       New England Patriots
Dallas Cowboys                                         Miami Dolphins-WC  
Washington Redskins                                 Buffalo Bills
Philadelphia Eagles                                     NY Jets (5-11)

North:                                                           North
Packers                                                       Cincinnati Bengals
Detroit Lions- WC

South:                                                         South:
Falcons                                                       Houston Texans
                                                                   Indianapolis Colts- WC
West:
San Francisco 49ers                                  West:
Seattle Seahawks- WC                             Denver Broncos

MLB stretch run

Labor Day is on of the last mileposts of the Major League season and we have some good division races going on around the league.  Lets start in the American League (AL) where there are some races but no dominant teams in my opinion.  In the East it is a battle between the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox, unless there is a systemic shift with Boston loosing and coming back to the pack they'll win the division.  The Detroit Tigers have a healthy lead over the Cleveland Indians in the Central, but if the Tigers don't get Miguel Cabrera right before the playoffs start they may not be around long.  There is a good race between the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics in the AL West the Rangers seem to be putting together the parts at the right time but the A's seem to be that young and hungry team, I'll go with the A's.  In the AL Wild Card it seems as though the team that fails to win the West will get one spot and Tampa Bay, Baltimore and the New York Yankees will battle for the second Wild Card.  Those three teams play each other a lot down the stretch, I believe the second Wild Card will come down to the wire, i'll go with Texas and the Yankees.  Over in the National League (NL) where I believe a dominant team does reside.  In the East the Atlanta Braves have run and hid in that division, but I think they may be able to come unwound in a playoff series.  Three teams will get in from the Central, between the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates one team will win that division and the other two will take the two Wild Cards.  I actually like Pittsburgh (who hasn't had a winning season since 1992) to win the division.  The Los Angles Dodgers have jumped out to a big lead in the West and have continued to add some pieces to get better. Reds and Cardinals in the NL Wild Card.          

Power rankings:
1) Los Angles Dodgers
2) Detroit Tigers
3) Atlanta Braves
4) Pittsburgh Pirates
5) Boston Red Sox
6) St. Louis Cardinals
7) Oakland A's

Yankee Playoff Chances

After today it got a bit murkier but the New York Yankees have been playing well, outside of that last road trip 3-3 in Tampa Bay and Toronto.  I give the Yankees a real shot at October baseball as they put together a little comeback in recent weeks.  The Yankees are professionals, they know whats in front of them an opportunity and thats what they have a real opportunity.   The Yankees are finally healthy after having a bunch of big injuries up until the last few weeks.  The kids that came up never quit and along with Joe Girardi and the coaching staff this team never fell below .500 all season.  Joe Girardi should be the manager of the year after managing all the different faces that have been on this roster this year due to all the injuries, some to key players and keeping the team above .500 the whole time.  Now that the reinforcements are back, (Jeter, A-Rod, Grandson) this team has shown its capable of going on some extended runs.  They are going to have to go on probably a 18-9 (9 over. 500) run the rest of the season, to get to 90 wins which probably gets you a wild card spot.  They have a lot of games left against divisional foes, some of which are in the wild card race as well.  I say 90 wins probably gets you a wild card because I think thats their most realistic opportunity for the postseason, Boston still has a 8 game lead in the loss column for the division and are 26 games over .500.  I would love for the Yankees to have a 1978 comeback and win the division but I think thats a long shot, they have a better shot at a wild card where their only 5 out in the loss column, from the second spot.                

Steroids

I have come to the realization that there are two kinds of steroid users, those that come right out and admit using them, and those that beat around the bush and might eventually admit to using.  The faster you admit to using the faster things will be patched up.  Andy Pettitte admitted to using steroids once but he clean right away and everyones pretty much forgotten that he was a steroid user.  Mark McGwire finally admitted to using steroids, after years of denial and now he's back in baseball as a hitting coach.  Ryan Braun it doesn't sound like will admit his mistake any time soon.  Ryan failed a test before and got off without a suspension because of a technically and ruined the poor test taking guys life because of it.  Ryan did get suspended this time but didn't admit to with was taking he called it cream and lozenges or something.  He has to say specifically what he did, for how long and apologize to some people.  He should do it on camera, talk to people, answer questions and look sincere.  Ryan may just come back from this suspension like nothing every happened and if he does nothing it will be brutal in all the ball parks around the league.  As you can see their are different levels of admission, those who admit taking drugs right away so that we can begin to forget and those who may never admit anything.          

A-Rod saga

I didn't care if I ever saw Alex Rodriguez in a Major League uniform again but rules are rules and he is allowed to play while he appeals.  A-Rod came back and it sparked the Yankee offense which is good for multiple reasons, some of which are the team is winning and his 25 teammates are probably the only friends he has right now.  Not even all of his teammates might agree with him but he's their teammate and there going to support him in the clubhouse.  Its pretty bad when your own teams general manager wont talk to you anymore.  None of the players he's playing against should have a real problem with him playing while he appeals, since all of the players are part of the union and the rules say first time offenders can play while they appeal.   We won't know anything concrete about him or his suspension until after the season, so right now we have to sit back relax and try to not believe all of the stories coming out all the time.  I am not sure how much evidence about PEDs and his involvement in the biogenesis clinic baseball has but I hear its a lot and we'll have to wait and see about the suspension, if I was to guess the suspension might get reduced from 211 to 150-180 games.  Whenever his appeal is heard, and it probably won't be until after the season his career will probably be over, he's 38 now and after being suspended for most of if not all of next season, i don't think he's going to be able to try a get it going aging at 39 1/2.  If I continue hear A-rod say that he is not going to talk about biogenesis anymore and that when the time is appropriate we'll have a forum to sit down and talk about it I am going to stop watching his interviews, I want to know when this time is that he's going to talk about all this.      

Ichiro's 4,000 Hit

Not to downgrade Ichiro Suzuki's 4,000th hit, it is a great accomplishment to have 4,000 hits in professional baseball, but its just that 4,000 hits as a professional baseball player.  He now has 4,000 + (after today) hits as a baseball player, not 1,278 (Japan) + 2,723 (United States) = 4,000 + hits.  Japan and the U.S are two totally different places that just happen to both play baseball.  Baseball in Japan is not the same as baseball in the U.S, i've never seen a game in Japan but I sure it's not as competitive it's certainly not the same length of season.  Ichiro did not join Ty Cobb and Pete Rose as the only guys with 4,000 + hits, he had 1,278 in another league now he's in a new league (started out being considered a rookie) and has 2,723 (after today) as a major leaguer.  You can't combine numbers from two different leagues, that would be like taking the numbers the negro leaguers and adding them to their major league numbers, Jackie Robinson did not have negro league hits + 1,518 in the majors he just had his mlb numbers.  Ichio Suzuki has 4,000 + hits as a professional but it's just something he accomplished it's not a mile stone or a record for major league baseball, he's 277 (after today) away from being the 29th member of the 3,000 hit club, thats the milestone.        

Tiger Woods pursuit

Last week at the PGA Championship, Tiger Woods failed to win a major yet again.  He has won a bunch of smaller tournaments, but quite frankly who cares only a small portion of the golf world cares about (small tournaments) the shell open and the Birion Nelson.  Majors are where its at in golf, people are measured on the amount of majors they have won and Tiger has not won one in four years.  Every time Tiger does not win a major, his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus eighteen majors takes a hit.  I think Tiger can still be the same player but he has more competition that doesn't fear him anymore.  Tiger is not intimidating any more and the other players are coming right at him.  There are a lot of up and coming players on tour and not of them are thinking well there is this intimidating player up there, not to mention Phil Mickelson might be on track to win more majors.  The once dominant Tiger Woods who everyone thought would just smash this record is now tied with Jack, both players have fourteen major wins at age 36.  Tiger only needs one more major run to catch jack but with every passing major tournament that is becoming more difficult.  I believe that when Tiger does win a major, he'll go on a little run, he may get to eighteen but beyond that I don't know.  Mr. Woods has to start with the Masters and/or the U.S Open next year or jacks record may be safe.        

MLB replay

It was finally decided that Major League Baseball (MLB) would agree to expanded replay for the 2014 season.  I always felt that since we have the technology, it should be used to get plays right.  I watch baseball games every day and there is almost always a disputed call on the base paths.  For years they've only been reviewing home run calls, and that took a couple minutes because three umpires would run off the field to look at a replay monitor.  Now baseball officials have devised a plan to review any call on the field other than balls and strikes. (they will still be a judgement call by an umpire, and an automatic ejection for arguing)  Their will now be a replay room in New York, where all the replays will be looked at, (not by an umpire on the field of play) the reports are that this (calling for replay in New York) will take less time than sending umpire's off the field to look at a replay.  Managers will now have more to do during games, they will have two challenges for the first six innings of a game and then one more from the sixth on, managers will now have to think about which calls the umpire got wrong and they might want to challenge, a little gamesmanship might be involved now.  Umpires for the most part do a good job calling a game but they do miss fair/foul calls, trapped balls and plays on the base paths, not only will this allow the two teams to get the call right but it will give the umpires something to check themselves against. (sometimes it is just an educated guess because they are blocked out of the play)              

MLB uniforms

Allright the Memorial Day uniforms are ugly, Memorial Day is about remembering those who sacrificed their lives, not those that fight so patriotic colors would be better then camo.

On every other day, the MLB (Major League Baseball) are nice, home whites and road grays.  I am going to rank all 30 MLB teams uniforms.      
1. St. Louis Cardinals- classic look with the cardinals perched on a gold bat
2. New York Yankees- classic pinstripes with an interlocking NY
3. Detroit Tigers- classic old english D on the home whites
4. Boston Red Sox- good looking uniform, I can do with out the solid red top for this team
5. New York Mets- good looking off white with pinstripes, even their blue third jerseys look good
6. Baltimore Orioles
7. Philadelphia Phillies
8. Cincinnati Reds
9. Pittsburgh Pirates
10. Chicago Cubs- like the old time jersey with the pinstripes
11. Minnesota Twins
12. Oakland Athletics
13. Chicago White Sox
14. Milwaukee Brewers
15. Atalanta Braves
16. Washington Nationals
17. Kansas City Royals
18. Texas Rangers
19. Anaheim Angels
20. Seattle Mariners
21. Houston Astros
22. San Francisco Giants
23. Toronto Blue Jays
24. Tampa Bay Rays
25. Colorado Rockies
26. Arizona Diamondbacks
27. Los Angles Dodgers- a fine looking uniform, but the red numbers on the front don't fit
28. Cleveland Indians- a good look but they have kind of an identity crisis, they switch between uniforms all the time.
29. Miami Marlins- fine uniform but not a big fan of the solid colored tops and the large M logo          
30. San Diego Padres- a team with a classic look but wear bland colors with no real designs, a team with such a classic uniform history could look so much better.

I wish teams would wear stirrups, like they used to do.  Now teams just wear long pants that go all the way to their shoes and look like pajama pants.  Stirrups have such great colors on top of a white sanitary sock, now if they wear socks their all solid colors.    
 

Yankees at the quarter pole, around the league

I did not do my baseball preview post, but we'll do one now that things have gotten going a bit.

The New York Yankees are off to a good and somewhat surprising star due to all the injuries (close to $100 Million on the DL (Disabled List)).  The Yankees are on their 4th string 3rd baseman, their 3rd string shortstop, their 3rd string first baseman and their 3rd string catcher, yet they have weathered the storm and are currently 11 games over .500.  I had a positive out look on the season and despite a lot of people predicting the Yankees to have a down year, I felt that some of the new guys who came in to plug holes would step up.  Although the American League (AL) east is not exactly what I expected, I would have signed up for the Yankees to be 5-10 games over .500 on Memorial Day, 11 games over a week out is great.  The Yankee front office has done a great job whether it's making trades here and there or signing other teams castoffs to plug the holes on this team until the guys on the  DL return.  While the front office is doing their job, manger Joe Girardi is doing a great job with the team on the field.  Joe Girardi with the help of his coaching staff is doing a great job managing this team with what seems like a new player from somewhere everyday, he gets everyone the necessary rest, he uses the running game when necessary and gives out encouragement.  If their was a manager of the year award thru 40 games, it would be Joe.  This team is a great mix of people like Robinson Cano, Brett Gardner and now Curtis Granderson with veterans of the league Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay, where would this team be without utility man Jason Nix.  The Yankees have already used almost 40 players and they all played a part in the team being 11 games over .500.
I expected the AL east to beat up on each other and they still might by the end of the year.  The Yankees are better then most expected and are overachieving a bit at 11 games over .500.  With the Yankees of to a good start and with guys starting to get better and come off the DL, I expect them to keep it up. The Boston Red Sox got off to a good start and have now fallen off a bit, I expected them to be better then last year but so far they have been better then I expected.  The Baltimore Orioles under Buck Showalter have picked up where they left off last year, they have added the necessary veterans to the mix and should be up their contending for the division soon.  The Tampa Bay Rays are just 2 games above .500, they keep plugging in new chips to that team and will run out of gas, I expect them to play about .500 baseball this season.  You would think the Toronto Blue Jays would have to start winning at some point, they made moves and had high exceptions as well as a bunch of questions coming into the season.  They have been bitten by injuries and mediocre play, I for one wasn't sold on this team coming in, could Jose Reyes stay healthy on turf, could R.A Dickey duplicate last year, could pitchers Josh Jonson and Mark Buehrle come through.        
The Detroit Tigers with triple crown winner Miguel Cabera continue to impress.  The Cleveland have some nice new players but can they keep it up.  Chris Sale on the Chicago White Sox is having nice year.  Josh Hamiliton on the Los Angles Angels of Anaheim has struggled early on.  The Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals are probably the two best teams in the National League, (NL) but the ST. Louis Cardinals might be the most complete.    
              

NFL: Conference Championships

After four exciting Divisional football games last weekend, we enter the Conference Championships on Sunday, to find out who matches up in Super Bowl XLVII down in New Orleans.  
Picks:
1) The New England Patriots had the easiest road to victory last week although the Texans kept coming back until the Patriots finally put them away in the fourth.  The Baltimore Ravens beat Peyton Manning and the Broncos in Denver in a classic. The game which went to double overtime and the Ravens came out on top due to a couple mistakes by Peyton Manning and a Denver defense that had a dreadful day right down to the end, the d couldn't hold up as the Ravens drove for the tying score after a Broncos knee.  This will be a rematch of last years AFC Championship game in which the Ravens should have won.  Tom Brady and New England are good but better on offense than defense, Baltimore can hang with you and wear you down.  I'll pick the Baltimore Ravens (+8) who I believe are on a mission with the retiring Ray Lewis they also have a fearless quarterback who will have to throw the ball, to Beat the New England Patriots and advance to the Super Bowl.  Baltimore Ravens +8 

2) The San Francisco 49ers over a good Packer team behind young quarterback Colin Kaepernick.  The Atlanta Falcons got a demon off their chest with a win versus the Seahawks, that win almost didn't happen as the Seahawks kept battling back (trailing 20-0, then 27-7 in the fourth) as Atlanta couldn't seal the win until the final buzzer.  This will be a grind it out kind of game.  The 49ers are playing a very complete game right now, while the Falcons will have to adjust to the aspects of the read option in the 49ers offense and they're not a great tacking team.  if the Falcons want to win this game they will have to throw the ball and tackle, the 49ers are a near complete team with a good defense.  I'll pick the San Francisco 49ers (-4) over the Atlanta Falcons on the road and in the dome, and go to New Orleans.  San Fransisco 49ers -4                  

NHL is back

After a lockout that forced just under 50% of the season to be cancelled an agreement has been reached and we will have a shortened NHL season, starting Saturday.  The shortened hockey season will start after a shortened training camp, teams really only started practicing together last weekend.  Since everything is shortened, play might be sloppy early on.  I for one am interested in hockey but probably not what you would call a die-hard, I got into the New York Rangers run last year, I like it when it means something.  The question is will the real hockey fans come back again after missing just under half a season this time and missing one and a half seasons previously under commissioner Gary Bettman.  During each lockout Bettman did get what was wanted, for example this time he got a 50-50 revenue split, hopefully the fans will come back to what is an exciting game but some might be frustrated with the league after the third lockout in the last 20 years.  This should be fun, a sprint to the playoffs this year and then we will have 10 years of labor peace.        

Lance Armstrong

When Lance Armstrong was winning his seen Tour de France's we thought it was the greatest thing in the world.  Lance Armstrong was never a great athlete he was a fraud who was hooked on steroids, probably on both ends of his cancer treatment (could be how he got cancer) but defiantly afterwards.  It has been pretty safe to say for awhile that the sport of bicycling is littered with drugs.  Well, Lance Armstrong won his seven Tour titles and more on steroids and it sound like he did them often with many of his teammates coming out against him and saying he was a (pretty heavy) user.  Lance is coming clean to us all in an Opera interview that will air Thursday on all his drug use.  I believe Lance is coming clean now, after being stripped of all his titles last year because he has no where else to turn.  Lance has now tarnished his name forever and he is coming clean because he wants to clear his name as much as possible, so that he can run triathlons and have a life.  We now know that Lance was just putting on a show because what he really was and is, is a fraud on steroids.  Why would anyone give money to Lance's LIVESTRONG charity now that he has been proven to be a fraud, there are plenty of other ways to give money to cancer research other then through his charity.  This I think makes him a bigger fraud than say Roger Clemens (don't tell me that Roger never did steroids because he was never guilty in a court of law, the judge threw out the important testimony like Andy Pettitte who was going to say Roger did it), because Lance did them for longer and continued to lie about it.          

MLB Hall of Fame

Last week the baseball writers voted for the annual Hall of Fame class, although no one got elected this year.  Except for the three people who got in on the veterans committee ballot their will be no living members inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame at the ceremony in July.
This was the first real year that players who were accused and in some ways proven to do steroids were eligible.  Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were punished by not getting close to enshriement.  Some voters felt they could not vote for a steroid user, some felt they could not vote for certain people (steroids or not) on their first year of legibility.  Voters might change their mind on certain guys as the years go on, retired players are on the ballot for 15 years as long as they receive five percent of the vote.  Voters vote for 10 guys on their ballot and 75% of the vote is need for entrainment.  These writers that vote have a hard job in going through every eligible player and deciding if their worthy of the Hall of Fame, based on their numbers.  I don't think it's a black eye for baseball that no one got elected this year, it should be hard to get into the Hall.  The Hall of Fame should be rarefied territory, if you don't get in maybe your numbers don't reflect it, it should be a special honor and not everyone should be there.  I don't look at this as a bad thing for baseball, I look at it as the system worked, the writers who have the honor of voting did not feel that any players numbers made them stand out this year.  This shows that the Hall of Fame is hard to get into and thats the way it should be, we shouldn't have 4 or 5 inductees every year, not everyone is a Hall of Famer.  The guys whos first year it was on the ballot, will get in eventually Craig Biggio 3,000+ hits is a hall of framer (got 68%) and Mike Piazza (got 58%) the best offensive catcher of his time should be in.  Next year these guys will be on the ballot once again along with first timers Greg Maddux (3.16 ERA, 355 wins, only had a loosing pitching record 7 times in his 23 year career), Tom Glavine (3.54 ERA, 305 Wins, 164 victories in the 1990's second to teammate Greg Maddux) and Mike Mussina (3.68 ERA, 270 wins all in the competitive American League East), Mussina should get in but Maddux and Glavine are first ballot guys.  Jack Morris will also be on the Ballot for the final time and can make a case for entrainment with 254 wins and a 3.90 ERA he has already gotten close to the 75% needed.
This July the baseball Hall of Fame will not have any inductees from the writers ballot, only three from the veterans committee.  It will be a lack luster weekend in Cooperstown with out a lot of pageantry but thing will be fine as far as the game is concerned.                    

NFL Divisional Weekend

As we enter Divisional Weekend of the Wild Card games we have some intriguing matchups on tap.   Teams in the AFC are heavy favorites but the NFC teams aren’t so lucky.

Picks:
1)   The Houston Texans come off a game in which they let a lot of opportunities slip away and were lucky to win the game, but it shouldn’t have been as close as it was.  The Texans travel to New England to face the Patriots this weekend who come off a bye week and have an explosive offensive, Rob Gronkowski did not play the last time these two teams met.  I’ll pick the New England Patriots (-9.5) who may score enough points to run circles around their opponent to beat the Houston Texans who could barely score enough points to beat the Bengals at home last week.  New England Patriots -9.5  
2)   The Baltimore Ravens who won an emotional game with Ray Lewis playing his last home game, last week.  Now the Ravens travel to Denver to Face Peyton Manning and the Broncos.  I don’t see the Broncos loosing in the playoffs, they’re a near complete team led by Manning and the altitude in Denver is no easy place to win a playoff game.  I’ll take the Denver Broncos (-9.5) over the Baltimore Ravens in Denver.  Denver Broncos -9.5           
3)   The Green Bay Packers travel west to take on a San Francisco 49er team that comes off a bye.  Aaron Rodgers and the packers have all their weapons back while the 49ers might be coming in to this game a little banged up, with place kickers and star players.   I’ll take the Green Bay Packers (+3) on the road in San Francisco.  Green Bay Packers +3 4)   The Seattle Seahawks won the best of the four games last week in Washington.  Seattle now has to come east two weeks in a row this time to face the Atlanta Falcons.  Atlanta doesn’t have a good track record in the playoffs, I do like them with Tony Gonzalez and Julio Jones but Matt Ryan has to show me he can lead a team to a playoff win.  I’ll pick the Seattle Seahawks (+3) with their speed, especially on the outside and dynamic ability over the Atlanta Falcons, who have run into a bad matchup.  Seattle Seahawks +3      

BCS National Championship

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take the field Monday night against SEC power the Alabama Crimson Tide for the National Title in College Football.  Neither team has played the other in a while, so the opponent will not be familiar, but the film and the play on the field will.  Alabama will want to run the ball to set up their play action pass and Notre Dame will want to throw the ball a little more (behind freshman quarterback Everettt Golson  before they run.  This game will be won upfront, will Notre Dame be able to stop the Alabama run game with their front seven, (Manti Te'o-linebacker) if they have to bring 8 and 9 in the box it won't be good.  For Alabama the question is weather their corners and secondary can stop the Irish.  Notre Dame has some good receivers and a defensive front that the Tide haven't seen while Alabama's Offensive line is good and strong.  This game does have a freshman quarterback in Everett Golson who has to step up for the Irish, but I think that he has been brought along at the right pace behind coach Brian Kelly and will step up for this big game.  Brian Kelly has learned the game along the way first at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati and now Notre Dame, he is someone guys look up to and if he wins he will be one of the best coaches in college football history and at Notre Dame (who will hail him as a saint) as well, their last National Title was in 1988.  On the other side of the ball is Nick Saban who last won a National Title with the Tide in 2011, the South Eastern Conference has been dominate as of late.  Yes, Alabama does have the experience of playing in National Title games (won 2 of last 4) but Notre Dame has fans all over the place and since they play in a lot of big games (USC is a big one) I don't think they'll be shocked. As long as the Irish are prepared for an opponent from the SEC, and I think Brian Kelley will have them prepared, they are going against maybe more experience but Notre Dame is on a mission their passionate and they want to finish the season with a bang.  Prediction: Notre Dame
Notre Dame 21, Alabama 16                  

Wild Card Weekend

The NFL regular season is over and now we start the playoffs, a one and done tournament.  The NFL playoffs should be interesting as some new and talented teams are in the postseason.

Picks:
1) The Houston Texans came into this season as one of the NFL's best teams but have faltered as of late, slipping from a #1 to a #3 seed last weekend, they have to get it back together.  The Cincinnati Bengals have come together and are some what surprising.  I'll pick the Houston Texans (-4.5) to get back on track and beat the Cincinnati Bengals.  Houston Texans -4.5 
2)  The Minnesota Vikings played a good game last week (Adrian Peterson was 9 yards short of the single-season rushing record), now they have a rematch with the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau.  I'll go with the Green Bay Packers (-7.5) in this rematch with the Minnesota Vikings at home in the cold, maybe snow.  Green Bay Packers -7.5
3) In a matchup of two teams which called Baltimore home, the Indianapolis Colts come in to play the Baltimore Ravens.  The Colts have had a good season behind rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, the Ravens are a good team despite a short home loosing streak.  I'm going to pick an upset in this one, I'll take the Indianapolis Colts (+7) and Andrew Luck over the Baltimore Ravens with Joe Flacco who will come up just short.  Indianapolis Colts +7 
4) Two rookie quarterbacks suare off in Washington, the Seattle Seahawks have been surprising rookie Russell Wilson although not the same team on the road.  Robert Griffin III has been hurt and might not be 100%.  The Seattle Seahawks are fast and I think despite being on the road they'll get to RGIII and the Washington Redskins option,  I'll pick the Seahawks (-3) on the road over the Redskins.  Seattle Seahawks -3