Sunday, March 25, 2012

Manning's a Bronco, Tebow's a Jet, NCAA Brackets Bust

I know I'm a little behind on all the juicy sports news from this week, but better late than ever!

Peyton Manning is officially the new quarterback for the Denver Broncos. Wasn't surprised by this choice, I had a feeling it would be the Broncos or Tennessee. While there was a bit of speculation that he could end up on the Niners I had a feeling Peyton would stick to an AFC team. Peyton doesn't want to have to go up against his brother Eli any more than he has to, and plus Peyton knows the AFC a lot better than the NFC.

Plus it seems that Elway and Peyton are a good match. Elway is a former quarterback, and he must have reassured Peyton that he would accommodate the team to play Peyton's way of football. That meant of course, that Tebow would not be sticking around Denver.

Pretty much knew that Tebow would be traded if Peyton went to the Bronocs. Tebow can't really be a back-up to the type of football Peyton plays. The offense would have to completely switch gears if Tebow were to take over should Peyton be out, and that's not good.

So, immediately after Manning mania ended, Tebow mania started. Fortunately for us watching at home, it didn't last long. And now we can look forward to Tebow's future as...a New York Jet?

This move had many scratching their heads. The Jets had just signed QB Mark Sanchez to a 3 year extension. Does this mean Sanchez is in the hot seat? Will Tebow just be used for certain plays, or is the quarterback job up for grabs? The drama that is the New York Jets continues, and it will certainly be interesting to see how it all plays out.

As for this Peyton fan, well...it was so awkward to see them roll out that bright orange #18 jersey, I admit. I will always prefer Peyton in Colts blue, but what's done is done and Peyton has a chance to start over and maybe win another championship. Good for him. I will continue to root for Peyton and I suppose be a temporary Bronco fan (as long as they aren't playing the Rams). As for the Colts...I was always a Peyton fan first. The Rams are my home team and I was a Rams fan LONG before I ever became a Colts fan. If Peyton hadn't been a Colt I might not have become a fan of the team, and it's the honest truth. The Colts have to win me over again with their rebuilding to remain my AFC team of choice.

The NCAA tourney did what it always does...feature surprising upsets and bracket busters. I had picked Missouri, Florida State, Georgetown and Kentucky in the final 4. Well, got 1 right. Even the president had Missouri in his final four. No one expected them to lose in the first round to Norfolk State. But that's the NCAA tourney. I will say I was impressed with the St. Louis Billikens. They played a very close and tough game against Michigan State but it ran away from them in the end. Hope this means good things in the future for them going forward and we'll see them in the tourney again next year.

This year's final four will be: Louisville, Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio State. It's a Midwest thang, y'all. This final four really shouldn't surprise anyone. These are schools that have consistently had excellent basketball programs and are no strangers to the NCAA tourney. As to who wins? I honestly have no idea. These are going to be 2 excellent games and an excellent championship game. I cannot find it in me to root for Kansas as a Mizzou fan, so maybe I'll root for Louisville. They're the underdog of the 4 so I guess I can go for that.

Congratulations to the St. Louis Blues to being the first team in the NHL to secure a playoff spot! Due to Manning-Tebow-NCAA madness I don't think this got much coverage outside of St. Louis sports. Other teams have since secured spots as well but it's quite an impressive year the Blues have had. I will look forward to following them in the playoffs, as long as baseball doesn't occupy most of my time.

Baseball. We are getting closer to opening day and I can't wait. I'm really looking forward to this season and getting the chance to go to some games. The Cardinals received a bit of bad news with pitching ace Chris Carpenter. He seems to be suffering from not only a bulging disk, but nerve issues. Not good. He is out indefinitely, no one can say for sure. Only good news is, he doesn't seem to need surgery. But he could be out for weeks or months, we just don't know.

Is it too much to ask to have Wainwright and Carpenter healthy together for a season? Please? Despite this set-up the Cardinals rotation seems to be doing pretty well in spring training. Wainwright has been stellar, and Lohse, Garcia, Lynn and Westbrook seem to be doing well also. I feel confident that it will be a good season for the Cardinals. They still have every bit of a chance to win the NL Central. Of course if Carp were in the mix that would make that chance just a little stronger but it's a long season. It's so hard to predict what teams will make it to the playoffs at the beginning of the season. Last August, no one thought the Cardinals would make it and they shocked everyone by gaining momentum at the end of the season to comeback and make the playoffs and eventually win the World Series. So, anything can happen.

I'm also kind of interested to see how Albert Pujols does with the Angels. I don't have any ill will towards him, I'm disappointed he couldn't stay a Cardinal but that doesn't mean that I wish bad things. It will be interesting to see how Angel fans embrace him and how he does this year. There are very high expectations for the Angels this season with all of the changes the organization made in the off season.

Well, that's it for this week's wrap up. More on my thoughts in the world of sports coming soon!

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