NBA Season Begins, NFL Season Winding Down

Sports fans, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I personally enjoyed myself over the weekend. After all, what could be better than Christmas Eve NFL and Christmas Day NBA and SNF? It was a good sports weekend.

I'm the first to admit that I've never really followed the NBA much. There isn't a team in my hometown of St. Louis so I tended to follow college basketball more than the NBA.

The big talk around here is of course, the Lakers and the Clippers. The Clippers are now suddenly a real threat with the addition of Chris Paul. There's a lot of bandwagoning going on in LA. Suddenly all of these people are Clippers fans even though they probably couldn't tell you the last time they a) watched a Clippers game or b) went to a Clippers game.

The Lakers are having a shaky start to the season. Not sure if it's time to start panicking if you're a Lakers fan, but they are definitely not the same Lakers team that won the championship 2 years ago. They tried to trade for Paul first, but the NBA rejected the trade, which of course has a LOT of people upset because the NBA approved the deal for the Clippers. I guess I see where the NBA is coming from they are trying to prevent teams from being able to hoard all of the top players on one team. They need to do this, to keep the league competitive. If every NBA player wanted to play for the Lakers and all of the good ones went there and the Lakers won the championship by a landslide every year it would be boring, and fans would stop following the league. Except for Lakers fans of course.

So I get it. Paul definitely seems to be helping the Clippers quite a bit. They've started the season 2-0 and beat the Lakers in their preseason opener. Will be interesting to see how this shortened season unfolds.

As the NBA season starts to heat up, the NFL season is coming to an end, which makes me sad. I know I still have a month of playoffs still but I hate when the NFL season ends.

Tim Tebow's storybook season has had a major reality check the past 2 weeks. If anyone really thought the Broncos would beat the Pats, well, they were proven wrong. Because as bad as the Pats defense is, the Pats offense is just too explosive for Tebow and co to try and overcome all of those points. And then this past weekend Buffalo just crushed the Broncos 40-14. Guess the Disney story is over. However, the Broncos can still make the playoffs. They play Kansas City this weekend and they are beatable (though Green Bay may beg to differ). It looks like it'll either be the Broncos or Oakland.

In the "suck for Luck" race, the Colts won another game this past weekend under Dan Orlovsky. The Rams, Vikings and Colts are all tied for that worst in the league title with only 2 wins, however, the Colts are in the lead due to schedule (the Rams and Vikes had much harder schedules, whereas the Colts had many more winnable games).

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. The Rams play the 49'ers this weekend. Sam Bradford won't play. The Rams aren't going to win this game. The 49'ers are fighting for that playoff bye week and I don't think they will have too much trouble winning this game (but I could be wrong, the Rams did beat the Saints).

The Colts play the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are just awful. A very winnable game for the Colts. So if you're Bill Pollian and Jim Isray, do you tell the team to basically kind of throw the game to ensure you keep the #1 pick? If the Colts win, they will lose out on that opportunity and it will go to the Rams (unless the Rams win). The Rams won't draft Luck, they already have a franchise quarterback in Bradford. But they can get a lot for that pick, and the Rams need all of the help they can get.

If the Colts win this weekend they may well indeed pass up an opportunity of a lifetime. We all hope that Peyton is able to play again but there are no guarantees. And even if he does play he probably has 3-4 good years left? I think you have to take the opportunity to get Luck. If Peyton turns out to be healthy and good to go then you deal from there, but the Colts have to look to the future. And that's tough for me to say because I really love Peyton and hope he plays and retires with the Colts but we just don't know if that's going to happen or not.

Pro Bowl players were announced today. Tebow didn't make the list, so sad. Honestly? The Pro Bowl is the biggest joke of a game. MLB, NBA, NHL all seem to make their all star games have some sort of meaning or are at least entertaining. The Pro Bowl is a complete joke. Truly. It means nothing, the players just want the honor because it can be added to their resume, and the game just seems to lack any sort of heart. I've tried to watch it but I usually end up tuning it out and it just becomes background noise.

The playoff picture will be complete after this weekend. Looking forward to the final games of the season and the chance to put the Rams and the Colts horrendous seasons behind them and look forward to next year. How about a Colts-Rams Super Bowl in 2013? Hey, it could happen!

Tebow Time

It seems that everywhere you turn someone is talking about Tim Tebow. Every sports talk station I listened to this past week was talking about Tebow. Every interview with coaches, former NFL players, etc. all talked about Tebow.

The Tebow phenomena has seemed to take the country by storm. It is a nice story, very Disney-esqe. In fact, my opening to my fantasty football recap last week was "Coming soon to a theater near you, by Walt Disney Pictures 'Angels in the Endzone' starring Tim Tebow and the 2011 Denver Broncos."

It's so true, right? Hollywood has written this script over and over again. They guy no one thought could have the talent. The team everyone dismissed. Then all of the sudden they have a miracle year and prove everyone wrong.

And it's hard not to like Tebow. He's a very religious guy, but I don't feel like he shoves it in anyone's face. He just is very devout, and in a league that's full of players who accidentally shoot themselves in the foot with a gun in a club (see Buresss, Plaxico), or run a dog fighting ring (see Vick, Michael) or kill someone in a drunk driving incident (see Little, Leonard) it is refreshing to see someone who really seems to have good ideals and values. Someone that we would actually be okay with our kids looking up to and admiring.

Tebow's luck ran out today against the Patriots, but honestly, did anyone really believe that the Broncos could outlast Brady and co? The Pats defense has been atrocious, but the reason the Pats are still able to win is because their offense is so explosive. And while the Broncos defense is pretty solid, after about 3 quarters they started to get tired, and Tebow and co. just couldn't keep up with the Pats explosive offense.

Of course, we knew they would lose. Jesus took the day off. At least, according to SNL he did:

The Broncos still look poised to make the playoffs. Their last 2 games are against Buffalo and Kansas City. Both winnable games (although KC just ended Green Bay's winning streak today so don't count the Chiefs out. Fortunately for Denver they will be playing at home).

Odds are, Denver will make the playoffs. Will they may it to the Super Bowl? Never say never, but it would be a tough road. They'd have to beat the Patriots, Ravens or Steelers. Not an easy feat. But Tebow has God on his side, right?

One thing is for sure, the Broncos are fun to watch and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season turns out.

Albert Pujols Signs With The Angels

Sports fans, I'm back. I'm making it a resolution for 2012 to actually keep this up to date and write at least one blog a week. I always have so much to say and think about what's going on in the sports world but work and life have been so crazy I barely have time to even relax sometimes!

Last week it was announced that Albert Pujols signed a $254 million 10 year contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This was a shock to many, as the Angels had not even been reported by anyone in the sports media as being interested in signing him. The Miami Marlins seemed to be the only ones pushing for him other than the Cardinals, and as of late Tuesday it appeared that the Cardinals would likely be able to sign him.

However, in those final hours the Angels came out of left field and offered Pujols the long term commitment and money he was looking for, and ultimately chose to sign with the Angels.

There's been a lot of anger from Cardinal Nation in light of the signing. I've heard of jersey burnings and talks of taking down the statue near his restaurant. This is ludacris.

I don't hate Albert Pujols. He made a business decision, even if he won't admit it. He claims that the Cardinals didn't show commitment and really upset him because their first offer (after the 9 year almost $200 million offer before the 2011 regular season) was 5 years for $27 million a year (which would make him the 2nd highest player in the league). Supposedly he cried. Only $27 million a year for 5 years? Sorry if I can't sympathize with your tears Albert.

Honestly, I do not blame DeWitt in his approach to this. Albert Pujols had to know that there was no way the Cardinals could afford to give him an A-Rod type of deal and still build a competitive team around him. The Cardinals organization saw that Albert wanted more money and they attempted to compromise with a shorter term more money per year deal.

Obviously, the Pujols camp didn't like this (hence the crying) so the Cardinals relented and ultimately offered 10 years for $210 million.

Albert claims it wasn't about the money, but it was. How much time has he spent with the Angels front office vs the Cardinals? It seems he felt that the Cardinals should have been willing to pay whatever for him because the Cardinals got him at a discount for so long. But Albert, didn't you also say you wanted to win? The Cardinals could not afford to pay you what you wanted and still be able to spend the money to keep the team competitive. They tried to offer you something that would earn you enough money to be set for life but it wasn't enough for you.

So, off to the Angels he goes. I get it. He gets the big money deal he wanted. He has the chance to live in LA, and buy an expensive home on the beach with an ocean view if he wants. He has the glitz of Hollywood and will be able to make tons of money with endorsement campaigns as he will be more accessible. But more importantly, the Angels are an American League team. What does that mean? Albert has the option of playing 1st base, or being the DH. If he starts to have problems physically handling 1st base? He can be the DH and retire that way. The NL can't offer that.

So you know what? Good for him. I hope the Angels and the LA fans treat him well. I hope Albert does well, but not so well that he beats the Cardinals. The good thing about this situation is, unless the Cardinals and the Angels meet up in a World Series, won't have to worry about that.

Cardinals fans shouldn't hate Albert. He gave us a lot of fun and great years and he is a good guy who does a lot with charity and I am sure the Pujols Foundation will continue to do a lot for St. Louis, just like former Ram Kurt Warner still continues to do with his charity. But that depends on how Cardinals fans treat Albert following this news. If Cardinals fans run him out of town, what does that say for the best baseball fans in the country? Could Cardinals fans be that horrible to force Pujols to no longer have a presence in St. Louis?

Bottom line, it sucks for Cardinals fans to lose Albert. But the Cardinals are not in bad shape and will continue to compete without him. Who was the MVP of the NLCS and the World Series? Oh yeah, David Freese. Not Albert.

5 years from now, we'll see where Albert is and where the Cardinals are. Albert may help the Angels get to the postseason the next few years. But the Cardinals will still have a good shot at doing that too. Remember they have Carpenter, Wainwright, Berkman, Freese, Holliday, Craig and others who can help the Cards win. The Cardinals will be fine and will continue to compete as always.

I'm sad to see Albert leave, but I get it. I just wish Albert would admit that it was about money and we'd all move on.

For those of you who are still angry, check out this parody:

In general, Albert, I wish you luck. I hate that you aren't a Cardinal but I'm glad that DeWitt wasn't willing to pay $254 million. Thank you for your years with St. Louis. We will remember everything you've done for us and perhaps, someday, we'll see you again in the World Series.

And you know what? We will kick your a#$.

Have fun in LA Albert.