A Sports Update

Hello all!

So, I feel awful that I haven't posted a blog about the Super Bowl yet. My parents were in town visiting and I just didn't get a chance to post an update and now here we are almost 2 weeks past the Super Bowl.

I won't dwell on the big game much since well, it's way over. I did predict the winner though, the Giants, and I predicted them to win before the playoffs started. Do I expect a reward? Ahhh no. It was complete luck.

And the game wasn't a landslide by any means, it was a close game. That safety in the first quarter of the game really made a big difference. Some speculated that it was a bad call, I don't think so. Brady was in the endzone, he waited, he avoided getting potentially sacked by Justin Tuck and threw the ball down the middle to no one. Yes, you could argue that someone didn't run the right route but how much time did Brady have before throwing the ball? It was the right call, just a weird one. Congrats to the dude who made the bet on the Giants to score first via safety in Vegas. He made some mega money.

The NFL season is over, which makes me sad. Football is probably my favorite sport though baseball is a close second. Fortunately baseball will be back soon. Spring training will start shortly and then the "how will the Cardinals do without Albert?" chat will begin.

The Cardinals will be fine. I said it before, he alone did not carry that team, especially last season. When you look at who the main play makers were in that playoff run, they were Carpenter, Garcia, Freese, Berkman, Craig...Albert had one big game in the NLCS, and that game was pretty much won regardless.

I'm not saying he won't be missed He will. He had a leadership role that will be hard to replace. But if there's one thing the 2011 Cardinals team showed me, it was a desire to never give up. And most of that same team remains. And they get ace Wainwright back. So do I think the Cardinals are a shoe in for the World Series? No. Do they still have a shot at getting there? Absolutely.

Jeremy Lin. Harvard grad. No name. Steps in for the Knicks after a player goes down with injuryand all of a sudden Linsanity begins.

I'm the first to admit I don't follow the NBA as closely as the MLB and NFL. But you gotta love this story. Some have called him the Tebow of the NBA but I disagree. Tebow was expected to be great. He was a great college QB. He won the Heisman Trophy.

A month ago, who knew about Jeremy Lin? This kid reminds me more of Kurt Warner. Before the 1999 season, who knew who Kurt Warner was? He was an arena football guy from Iowa who was working at a grocery store. Signed by the Rams as a backup. Trent Green goes down with an injury, Kurt Warner starts and leads the greatest show on turf to a Super Bowl win.

Does that mean I think the Knicks are going to win the NBA championship? No. But Lin is one of those great stories, like Warner that you just can't help but root the guy on. I hope Lin continues to succeed because it's nice to hear these stories.

Because let's face it. If you want to be a star in the NBA, you don't go to Harvard. Just like if you want to be an NFL football player you don't go to say, my alma mater, DePauw University (though DPU alum Butler basketball coach Brad Stevens is doing pretty well for himself). They go to a division 1 school where they have a chance at winning.

So seeing someone make it big who chose to go to a school like Harvard? It's just great to see them make it in the big leagues.

We'll see where it goes. So far, the Knicks keep winning with Lin. But there are a lot of games left to play.

There is news, rumors, etc. about Peyton Manning. I could address them here, but frankly, until a decision is made I just don't know what to say. I want Peyton to be a Colt for life. I don't think that happens if he doesn't retire. And if he isn't a Colt, I really don't want him in the NFC West, because I'm a Rams fan.

And the other options? The Jets, Dolphins, Redskins? Ugh. I just don't like it.

I hope Manning heals and is able to play but I have my doubts. If he has to retire, it's not like he hasn't had an amazing career. He will make the HOF for sure.

No one really knows what's going on, but in a couple of weeks we will know since Peyton is due his $28 million dollar bonus. So we wait, and see.

A final quick note, go Mizzou! Currently ranked #3. Can't wait for the NCAA tournament. It's going to be fun.

More in the world of sports soon, I promise.

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!

NBA All Star Game and More

I'm a bit late on posting about the NBA All Star Game. I did watch the game, at least, most of it. I have to say that it was a fun game to watch. It's nice to see the players out there having fun and showing off their talent.

Kobe Bryant had a big day. Just mere hours after Kobe became the first non-actor to land a spot in cement at Graumann's Chinese Theatre, Kobe became the MVP of the All Star Game. In the end, the game ended up being somewhat close by Kobe and the West ended up with the win. Congrats to Kobe on both his permanence at Mann's and for his MVP performance in the game. Was very fun to watch.

Have been a bit distracted today as a major issue arose in Cardinal Nation today. Adam Wainwright, one of the team's ace starting pitchers, left spring training with an elbow injury. The team is waiting on a second opinion before making any announcements but it looks like Wainwright may need Tommy John surgery, and if that's the case, bye Waino. Maybe we'll see you next year. Obviously I want what's best for Adam and wish him well but if he's out for the season, wow, what a blow to the Cardinals. First they don't sign Albert, then they lose Waino? Not a good start to the season. And it the regular season hasn't even started yet!

In NFL news, mediated talks continued today between the NFL and the NFLPA. The news? Well, nothing yet. They're still talking. At least there is movement forward to get a resolution. Plan is to reconvene on Friday, so we'll see how that goes.

The Colts organizations says they are making progress towards signing Peyton Manning to a long term deal. Signing Manning has been stated at the team's top offseason priority. Manning will likely end up as the top paid quarterback in the league, and I can't really argue with that. Though I am a bit biased, anyone who knows me knows that Peyton is my favorite NFL player, and has been for a long time.

That's all for today. More updates soon!

Weekend Update

It's NBA All Star Weekend in Los Angeles. When it comes to NBA basketball, I must admit that I am behind the curve when it comes to following the sport. St. Louis didn't have an NBA team, so growing up I watched a lot more college basketball (cannot WAIT for March Madness to begin!) than pro.

Los Angeles is beyond a doubt a pro basketball town. In St. Louis, almost everyone (guys and girls) are Cardinals fans and can at least talk at some length about the sport, the team and their favorite players.

For Los Angeles, that's the Lakers. Though there is this incredible basketball player that everyone is excited about and he's not a Laker. That would be Blake Griffin, of the LA Clippers.

The big talk of the week was the Slam Dunk Contest, which Blake Griffin would be competing in. I was unable to watch much of the contest but this year the contestants did not disappoint. It is amazing the talent that these players have.

Blake Griffin won, with his final dunk involving him leaping over a car and slamming the ball into the net. I'm still baffled and I've watched it over and over again (thanks sportscenter!). See the video here, courtesy of ESPN.com.

The NBA All Star game is tonight. The Lakers have Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol starting for the West, and the Clippers have Blake Griffin. Nice representation for the LA area. Should be an interesting game to watch (at least, WAY more interesting than that joke of a game called the NFL Pro Bowl). Will have some post-game comments after the game tonight.

In other sports news, the Rams released O.J. Atogwe in a somewhat odd move at a first glance. Otogwe was due a 8 million dollar roster bonus on Monday. Ah-ha! In an effort to not have to pay that bonus, the Rams opted to drop him, in the hopes that they will be able to re-sign him before the season (which is highly likely). I hope they do re-sign him. The Rams have enough issues that need to be addressed (mainly on offense - wide receiver needed for Bradford ASAP!), replacing Otogwe does not need to be one of them.

In hockey news, the St. Louis Blues made some bold moves on Friday in order to try and help salvage a lackluster season. They traded defensemen Erik Johnson, Eric Brewer and forward Jay McClement, and in return picked up forward Chris Stewart and defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk (is that his real name, or his Star Trek name?).

As Johnson was the Blues #1 pick in 2006, this move has some scratching their heads. However, Johnson has been a bit of a disappointment. He was not the consistent player the Blues had hoped for.

If there was any worry about how this trade may impact the team, the Blues came out last night and in stunning fashion killed the Ducks in a 9-3 win. New forward Chris Stewart scored 2 Power Play goals, and Shattenkirk looked sharp and earned his first assist on a Power Play.

Erik who? Though it's early, it appears that this move was an excellent choice by the Blues. They need to put themselves in the position to win more games and if Johnson wasn't fitting the bill, time to get some new blood on the team. Hope this means good things for the Blues in the future. They are dead last in their division right now, so it would take a lot of things to happen for them to hope to make the playoffs.

And now, to prepare for the NBA All Star Game. Go West!