Battle Of Brothers

Hey All,

Today, Sunday January 20th, was an exciting day for football fans everywhere, as the AFC and NFC Championship games were played. 

These games not only made history, but are starting to write it as well. Both John and Jim Harbaugh are both playing in Super Bowl XLVII. 

This is the first time in Super Bowl history that two brothers will face each other, as coaches, in a Super Bowl. No one ever thought that this could happen, until now. I had a feeling that the 49ers would be one of the teams that would make it this far. The 9ers have one of the most talented teams in the NFL, and at this point in the season, I don't think that anyone can beat them. 

In the NFC Championship game, the 49ers were down early in this game 17-0, and a lot of people thought it was over. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't one of those people, but I was wrong. San Francisco fought back and never gave up. This team has fought all season long, and never quit on their coaches and staff. They battled through injuries, and a QB switch late in the season. That's one thing that I want to talk most about, Colin Kaepernick, a second year QB, who saw no playing time but in the per-season last year, comes in late in the season because of an injury to Alex Smith. Kaepernick has carried this team on his back, and legs, for the past 9 starts. Yes, that's right, this kid has only 9 starts under his belt, and he has shown up big in all of them. 

When Harbaugh decided to keep Colin Kaepernick as the starter instead of Alex Smith, I thought that it was going to be the end of their season. Smith is a proven veteran QB, who knows the offense, has ran the offense since he was drafted, and has been the best QB in San Francisco for a long time. Kaepernick has proven himself to the team as well, and showed that he was the right draft pick a year ago and looks like he's going to be around for a long time. 

On the AFC side of things, you had a rematch of last year's AFC Championship game as the Ravens took on the Patriots for the AFC title. The Ravens proved that it is was very hard to beat a team twice in big games. This is another one of those teams who had a very tough season, with injuries like the 9ers. Now when the season started and the Ravens were without Suggs, I thought that their season was going to be over. But it wasn't, they found a way to win games, and win big. Not only did they have to play without Suggs, but mid season Ray Lewis went down with a triceps injury. When this happened I said stick a fork in them, they are done. They have proven themselves time and time again. This is a team that can play through anything and find a way to win. 

I can't wait till it's Super Bowl time to see how the brothers act towards one another in the biggest game of the year. Like I said earlier, no brothers have ever played against one another, as coaches, in Super Bowl history. This makes this game, very, very interesting. I know the media is going to eat this up and that's all we are going to hear about for the next 2 weeks. To be honest, I don't care! These coaches deserve it, and it's a big deal. IT IS THE SUPER BOWL! That's all everyone would have been talking about anyways. This just gives it that extra twist that the world and the fans can get into. It's brother versus brother and John being the older brother, everyone would expect him to win, but not me. My prediction, 9ers win in a very close game. Younger brother Jim has too good of a team, and it's been since 1994 that San Fran has been to the dance, and that's enough motivation to win. 

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.

Kelly to The Eagles

Hey All,

As I'm sure you all know, Chip Kelly has made his announcement to join the NFL, with the Eagles. This is stunning news that has been trending, but I know we all have seen his offense.

Non of this should come as a shock to anyone. Take a look at the six coaches that were hired in the NFL. What we have seen for the up and coming year is that one thing has become clear: Teams are looking for coaches who are the guy who can boost their offensive production. This can't come as a shock to anyone as the league has turned into a offense-is-most-important league for the past several years.

If you take a look at the group of coaches that were hired they all have a clear-cut offensive background, and that's part of the direction that the NFL is heading. The main coach in this group of coaches, in my opinion, is Chip Kelly.

Kelly was one of, if not the, most coveted coaches in college football. All the credit for this has to be given to his dynamic offensive principles, which dominated the college football world for the past couple of years now. Kelly took his Oregon Ducks to four consecutive BCS bowls during his tenure there.

I think that if Kelly gets the right team around him, he can turn things around in Philly. The problem is, trying to keep Mike Vick around to have a mobile quarterback that can run Kelly's style of offense. There was too much talk of Vick leaving Philly to move on to a new team, that it may be hard to convince him to stick around to see if Kelly can build the proper team around him.

We all know that Kelly is a winner, hell that's all the man did while at Oregon, but he's in good company. The team that hired these offensive "gurus" are: the Bears, Browns, Chargers, Chiefs, Bills and of course the Eagles. But these teams all have one major thing in common, they sucked last year. The numbers don't lie people: Chicago was 16th in points scored per game in 2012 and 24th in Football Outsiders weighted offensive rank, despite the talented core of Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, and Matt Forte. Cleveland (24th, 27th) had a lot of young talent on offense in 2012 and it showed. San Diego (20th, 23rd) was once a superpower on the offensive side of the ball, and looked like a broken engine for most of the 2012 season. Kansas City (32nd, 31st) were practically dead last, and looked like a total train wreck in 2012. The Bills (21st, 18th) couldn't capitalize on the skills of guys like C.J. Spiller and Stevie Johnson despite Chan Gailey's genius. and last but not least the Eagles (29th, 22nd) were arguably the biggest disappointment in the NFL.

There are still two teams that haven't hired a coach yet, and they were on the lower part of the rankings in the NFL. The two teams still looking to hire a coach are the Jaguars (30th in points per game, and 28th at FO) were a disaster, and the Cardinals (31st, 31st) were even worse.

Now that you have the facts of the teams that were looking for new coaches, and the teams who found a new coach, I challenge you to tell me otherwise that these offensive minded coaches wont turn them around. Facts are facts, these teams have no where to go but up from here. If they can keep their QB off their backs, and put together a solid offense, which we know they can do because of their track records. Then these teams should improve and bring new life to some great programs.

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports

Lewis To Retire

Hey All,

Today, Middle Linbacker for the Baltimore Ravens, Ray Lewis said this would be his last season in the NFL. Lewis told his teammates on Wednesday that "this would be my last ride."

This means that this Sunday's wild-card game could very well be his last home game in Baltimore. The Ravens would need some help in order to have another playoff game at home this season. They are the 4th seed in the AFC, and Lewis doesn't expect this game to be his last one. "Whenever it ends it ends," Lewis said. "But I didn't come back to be eliminated in the first round."

The Ravens drew the Colts in the wild-card game this Sunday. The Colts, who are riding an inspirational come back in their coach Chuck Pagano, are a team who is playing very inspired football since Pagano returned to the team. Pagano just so happens to be the former Defensive Coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, and I know he knows how Uncle Ray Ray likes to play D. "He'll probably introduce the defense and probably be the last one out and he'll ignite and incite a riot so to speak," Pagano said. "And there will be a ton of energy on that football team and on that sideline and in that stadium. He's their leader and any time you get your leader back it's an added spark."

It's no surprise that Ray Lewis is hanging up the cleats. He's had a great career, and the only thing left for him to do, is make another run at a Super Bowl. Until next time, You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.

Wisconsin 3Peat

Hey All,

Wisconsin University has now appeared in it's 3rd straight Rose Bowl. But, 3rd time wasn't the charm for Wisconsin. It's not like they have been getting blown out in this game, they have lost by a touchdown or less in the games against Organ, USC, and Stanford. 

Stanford got on the board first with a 16 yard run by Young on an end around. There was still 11:24 left to go in the first quarter. They didn't lay off the gas as the Defense got them the ball back on a 3 and out. Stanford quickly scored again on a 3 yard rush up the gut by Taylor, with 6:35 left to go in the first quarter.

In the second quarter Wisconsin's talented running back Ball ran up the middle for an 11 yard touchdown, with 9:05 left to go in the half. The Cardinal's would answer back though with an 47 yard field goal by Williamson, leaving 6:24 to go in the half. Wisconsin would have the last say in the first half, as they drove down to score on a 4 yard pass from Phillips to Fredrick with 19 seconds left in the half, to make the score 14-17 in favor of Stanford. 

Now, from what I saw, both teams made the necessary adjustments at half because the 3rd quarter was completely scoreless. Neither offense could get the ball into scoring rang. The next score, would in fact be the last one of the game and the game winner off of the foot of Williamson again, this time from 22 yards away. The final score was 20-14 Stanford, and you can't credit it all to the Stanford offense. The Defense of Stanford stepped up big in this game, forcing a late interception to seal the deal on this game, and give Wisconsin it's third straight loss in the Rose Bowl for Wisconsin University. Usua Amanam was the player to basically give the win the Stanford. 

Stanford didn't score many, if any at all, style points, but the Big Ten Champion Badgers (8-6) couldn't score many points at all while losing the Granddaddy of Them All in heartbreaking fashion for the third consecutive season. I can't imagine how these young men of Wisconsin feel, especially the sophomores and freshman who've been there for all 3 losses in this game, after losing by less than a touchdown for the 3rd straight year.

For Stanford, this may just be the game that the school needs, in order to get the National recognition that they deserve. The only recognition that they've got in the past 2 years, is that they wouldn't be that good since they lost star quarterback Andrew Luck to the NFL. I think they have shut up everyone who said they couldn't do it without him. Now I'm sure the media will talk about them for a couple of weeks, but once that dies down and everyone gets away from College Football, and starts focusing on the NFL Playoffs, no one will be talking about them. 

Now I think that is crap! This team deserves to be talk about on the National level with the Organs  and the USC's, LSU's, and Alabama of the world. Stanford proved they could win the big game, when it's close, and it wasn't looking good for the Defense. They pulled through, dug deep, and won the game. 

Until next time,

You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.

Hamrahan To The Red Sox

Hey all,

According to the associated press, the Pittsburgh Pirates are talking about a trade to send Joel Hamrahan to the Boston Red Sox. Now this story has got me a little torn. I am a Pirates fan as well as a Red Sox fan, so I'm not to sure how I feel about this trade.

On one hand, you got the Pirates, who looked good until late last season and sent two players to the All Star game. One of those players was Hamrahan, so I have no idea why they would be looking to trade him. To make matters worse they are only getting prospects for him. I'm sorry, but if you're the Pirates, a team who holds the record for longest streak with a losing season, you need to get more than just prospects for one of your all stars.

On the other hand, you have the Sox, who were just absolutely terrible last year. They need help with their pitching staff, and Hamrahan can help out in that aspect. They need a closer ever since they got rid of their all star closer last year. I think Hamrahan will be a great addition to the Sox line up, and the Sox should only get better from here.

Like I said earlier I'm torn with this decision. It benefits one of my teams, but hurts the other. So on my hand I'm for it but on the other I'm not. I'll be I interested to see what plays out with this deal.

Until next time, you keep doing what you do
And I'll keep you up to date with everything sports

Jim Boeheim Gets To 900

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim achieved a milestone with his 900th win on Monday against Detroit. Beohime is one of 3 coaches to reach this mark, but he is the only coach to do it at one school.

Boeheim has had other offers to go and coach at other schools, and has turned them all down. The Ohio State University basketball program was a school to offer Beohime a job to coach in a differebt conference.

Boeheim has been with the Syracuse Orange for 37 seasons, and has a winning percentage of 74.8. This winning percentage is higher than that of iconic coaches like Jim Calhoun (70.3) Lute Olson (73.6) Pitino (72.9) and Knight (70.9). In his 37 seasons with the Orange, Jim Boeheim has a record of 900-304 and he told ESPN this, "I'm happy I've stayed along long enough to get to this point. I've won 900 games because of the coaches I've had through the years, and the players that have come through this university."

Boeheim joins the likes of two iconic coaches Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight. "These are two of the great coaches of all time." Boeheim also told ESPN this.

All in all this is a great accomplishment for the coach and he will be remembered with two of the great names in college basketball.

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.

Pacquiao Gets Knocked Out

Hey All,

 It was the fight of the century, for the fourth time, and this time there was a definitive winner. Manny Pacquiao got knocked out in the 6th round of his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. This is the fourth time these two have squared off, and in the past three bouts, there has been no clear winner and it's gone down to the cards each time. Well, I guess the fourth time is the charm for Marquez.

In this brutal series Pacquiao was 2-0-1 against Marquez, but now stands at 2-1-1 against Marquez. Pacquiao went down face first after hanging a punch with 1 second to go in the 6th round. This made the sold-out crowd in MSG Los Vegas almost go silent. Pacquiao was out for a long time, it actually took smelling salts to wake him up.

"I knew Manny could knock me out at any time," Marquez said. "I threw the perfect punch." It was a stunning scene and certainly brought to a close Pacquiao's incredible run that saw him win world titles in a record eight weight classes, win a congressional seat in his native Philippines and become a global star. It was also probably the final nail in the coffin for the fight most have wanted to see for years but that has gone unmade: Pacquiao against pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. "I was careless. He's not an easy opponent," Pacquiao said. "I did my best, but that's boxing. That's sports. I thought I got him in the last couple of rounds, but I got hit by a strong punch. I never expected that punch."

Both Pacquiao and Marquez said in the build up to the fight, that they wanted to definitive win, a knockout to be sure they would win the fight. They certainly lived up to that expectation as they delivered one of the most action packed fights in this series. 

My take on this fight is that this is the worst lose that Pacquiao could have faced, for boxing fans that is. This loss made it very clear that there would never be a fight that everyone wants to see, and that's Pacquiao vs Mayweather Jr. Even though I think it would have been the worst decision that Pacquiao could have made, in wanted to fight Mayweather Jr. Mayweather Jr is pound for pound the best fighter in the weight class. It would be no contest and Pacquiao would more than likely be knocked out my Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. This is a fight he could not, and would not win. I just don't think it is in the cards for him to ever fight Mayweather.

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.