I have not posted recently and I apologize. I will admit that the time period after the Super Bowl until the beginning of March Madness is what I consider the worst period in sports for me. I enjoy a good NBA game but it's not a big passion for me, there's no football, no baseball and hockey...I probably follow it more than the NBA because of the St. Louis Blues but it's not a big passion for me.
Lots of things have happened since my last post and there's no way that I'm going to address them all here.
First off, the Colts opted to release Peyton Manning and not pay him the $28 million bonus he was due last week. This should not have been a surprise to anyone, but it still...well for lack of better words, sucks. I understand the position Jim Irsay is in. How can he pass up the chance to draft Andrew Luck? And could he really afford to draft Luck, pay Manning and build a team that had a chance at competing? Probably not.
Both Irsay and Manning were tearful during the joint press conference held last week officially announcing the news. As much as I hate the thought of Peyton in a non-Colts uniform, it's probably the best thing that could happen to him.
The Colts are rebuilding. They have a brand new coaching and management staff. They have cleaned house with releasing players such as Dallas Clark, Joseph Addai and Melvin Bullitt, to name a few. The Colts are starting over.
Peyton doesn't have time to lead a starting over team. If Peyton is healthy and able to play at the level we all know and love he's got about 3-4 years best. The Colts may not reach elite status again for 3-4 years, based on the restructuring process. By then Peyton would be looking at retirement.
So Peyton has the chance to shop around and attempt to find another team that he can lead to greatness. The lead contenders seem to be the Broncos, the Cardinals and the Dolphins. Seattle and KC wanted to talk to Manning and he said, "not interested." Ouch. But I don't blame him on that. Seattle has been a total train wreck in recent years and KC has some stars like Dwayne Bowe, but KC is in the same division as Denver and the Broncos are better built to be a winning team at this moment with Manning at QB than KC. So I get it.
So where will he end up? I have some thoughts but who really knows? We all thought Albert Pujols was going to re-sign with the Cardinals until at the final hour the Angels came in and blew us all away with their offer. There could be several dark horse teams that throw out an offer last minute and when Peyton finally makes that announcement we'll all go "huh? Didn't see that one coming!"
I originally thought Miami, because Peyton already has a home there, they have decent offensive weapons and a relatively good defense, and adding him to the mix could help them win. However, if you think about it if you're in Miami, you're in the same division as the Patriots. Which means you have to play better than them to win your division and if you don't, you better hope you're good enough for the wild card. If you're Peyton, that's risky.
That's why at this point, I think it's between Denver and Arizona. Denver has a strong defense, and they do have some decent offensive weapons that Peyton could throw to. They are in a weak division that Tebow lead to victory last season and would certainly have a shot at the playoffs.
Arizona is about on the same level, except I don't think their defense is as strong as Denver. But they have Larry Fitzgerald, and as a fan of both Peyton and Larry, it would be fun to watch them play together. And the NFC Worst, I mean West is a weak division. Except for that whole 49'er effect.
As a Rams fan though, I'm praying Peyton ends up in Denver or Miami, not Arizona. I don't want the Rams to face Peyton twice a season and ruin the Rams' chances at a playoff run (laugh all you want, but the Rams could find themselves there soon).
All shall be revealed soon.
In other madness, it's March Madness, and the NCAA tourney is set. Both the Missouri Tigers and the St. Louis Bilikens made the tourney, which is nice representation for my home state. However, although Mizzou was 30-4 on the season, they did not receive a #1 seed. This after winning their conference tournament and teams like North Carolina lost theirs.
Strength of schedule seems to be the big factor here. Okay sure, I get it. Michigan State lost 7 games but their schedule was tougher. The NCAA is hard to figure out some times, but I'm not incredibly unhappy with the results. Mizzou ended up as the #2 seed in the West, and they have a VERY good shot at making the Final Four. I believe they are a better team than Michigan State and can beat them.
But the NCAA tourney is always interesting. You never know what's going to happen. People seem to think that Kentucky, the #1 overall seed, is a lock. I don't think so. It's a tournament. Everyone is vulnerable. Is a 15-16 seed going to win overall? Probably not. But if Butler could make it to the Final Four 2 years in a row? Anything is possible.
Finally, Spring Training is upon us for MLB. Hard to believe, but we are less than a month from opening day. That's...kind of scary actually.
Albert Pujols did well in his Spring Training debut with the Angels, despite his disgust with the billboards the Angels put up around LA featuring his #5 Angel uniform and the words "El Hombre." Albert has vehemently stated that he is not "The Man," as that is Stan Musial and doesn't want to be associated as "El Hombre." Guess the Angels didn't do their research as anyone in Cardinal Nation would know that going that route for promos was not a good one.
But enough about Albert. He's not a Cardinal anymore so I don't care.
The Cardinals biggest concern right now is Chris Carpenter. He was having some discomfort so they had him checked out and he has a bulging disk in his neck. Sounds pleasant, doesn't it? Good news is that it isn't a nerve problem, which he has had in the past. But a bulging disk is not good by any means. There's no easy cure for a bulging disk. You learn how to live through the pain.
He won't be ready for opening day, so Adam Wainwright will likely take over the starting role. Not sure how long it will take Carpenter to get back to starting position but it could take awhile. This is not good news to Cardinals fans, who were hoping for the ace duo of Carpenter and Wainwright to lead the Cards to their 12th championship title.
It remains to be seen. The Cards could try to sign Oswalt. Things will start to unfold shortly as opening day creeps closer.
And...that's it for now. Guess I better go fill out my bracket!
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