Weekend Watchers

As you see, time flies when you’re watching football. Already we are in week 7 in the NFL and week 8 in the college game. We know for certain that with the Lions at 1-5, they’re pretty much out of the playoff picture. And we know that with the initial BCS Standings out, the National Championship game is up for grabs. That picture may get a little clearer after this weekend. We are in for a good, no correct that, a great football weekend.

Here are some of the key match-ups of the weekend from both the college and the pro game:

College
#8 TCU @ #16 BYU: This is a battle for first place in the Mountain West. BYU was in the top ten after their major upset against Oklahoma but lost just 1 week later to a lowly Florida State team. TCU is trying to stay in the hunt for a BCS Bowl game. Last year they dashed BYU’s hopes of entering a BCS bowl game. They need to hope that the favor is not returned. 7:30pm

#13 Penn State @ Michigan: It’s been a while since Penn State won in the Big House. To be exact it was 1996. Penn State has entered this game 6 times with zero to one loss, and they have lost every time. Could this time be different? Michigan is trying to win there sixth straight home game this season. Going deep into the fourth quarter to beat both Notre Dame and Indiana, they’re hoping for a quicker outcome in their favor. According to reports, Tate Forcier is healthy and ready to go. This game could go a long way to deciding who will win the Big Ten title. This should be a good game. 3:30pm on ABC

#6 Iowa @ MSU: Iowa definitely is not playing like a 7-0 team, but that is exactly what they are, 7-0. With the second longest win streak in the nation, they are on track to win the conference and head to the Rose Bowl, if not the National Championship. Then there was Michigan State. This team has gotten much better since their loss to Wisconsin. The running game is better with the combination of Edwin Baker and Larry Caper at running back. If State wins they could put themselves in the driver seat to win the Big Ten and head to their first Rose Bowl since 1988. *NOTE: This game is under the lights, and State plays different under the lights in Spartan Stadium. I don’t usually do this, but for my friend Mark R., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IReMfvamQ28, Michigan State wins going away. 7pm on Big10 Network

NFL
Chicago @ Cincinnati: The Bears just gave $30 million more dollars to QB Jay Cutler, which I believe is a mistake. Now is the time for Cutler to show that he is worth the money. For a Bears team that wants to make the playoffs, this is a match-up that a playoff team should win. On the other side, the Bengals started off 4-1 and were in pretty good position in the AFC North. Now the defending Super Bowl champs are getting their footing back and are challenging the Bengals for the top spot in the AFC North. Same as the Bears, if they want to see the playoffs, they need to win this match-up. Don’t forget this is also the battle of the RB, Benson (former Bear) vs. Matt Forte (the drafted rookie replacement). 4:15pm FOX

Minnesota @ Pittsburgh, Favre vs. Roethlisberger, Peterson vs. Dick LeBeau: Minnesota is coming off a great (lucky) win against, the former dominant team from Baltimore, to remain undefeated. The Favre honeymoon will more than likely come to an end this Sunday (at least I hope so). The Steelers are getting back on track. Their defense has struggled a bit, but with Troy Polamalu back, the D will get better. Dick LeBeau will come up with a defensive scheme to limit both Favre and Adrian Peterson. 1pm FOX

Arizona @ NY Giants: Arizona, coming off their surprise Super Bowl birth, hadn’t played that great up to this point. Last week may have changed things for them, defeating the Seahawks 27-3. Their offense was back on track, and not a moment too soon. Here comes the New York ‘football’ Giants and their blitzing D. The Giants are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Saints, 48-27. Their franchise QB, Eli Manning, railed on RB Ahmad Bradshaw for missing a blocking assignment, which is uncharacteristic of Manning. Which team is for real? This should be a great Sunday Night Match-up. 8:20pm on NBC

The Pro Bowl

Two weeks ago, as I sat there watching the Jets and Dolphins on Monday Night Football, Mike Tirico began to state that the 2010 Pro Bowl was going to be held right there at Land Shark Stadium(or whatever they call that stadium now) in Miami. It didn't click as to what he said until coming back from break Tirico read a promo for the Pro Bowl. The promo repeated the fact that the Pro Bowl will be played a week before the Super Bowl on January 31st at Land Shark Stadium in Miami. I was stunned and at a loss for words. What happened to Hawaii? Where was I when this happened? Am I the only one or does that sound a little dumb? Play the Pro Bowl at the same stadium as the Super Bowl, just a week before. What?! The people in Hawaii have done nothing wrong and yet they lose the chance to see the NFL’s All-Stars. Yes I understand that this is not a regular season game, but they look forward every year to seeing those NFL stars every year. This is their Super Bowl.

There are many problems to the Pro Bowl, but playing the game a week before the Super Bowl and putting it in the same stadium is not going to solve those problems. Think about this. The players that are on the teams playing in the Super Bowl will not be able to play in the Pro Bowl. Now I’m sure those players will say so what I get a chance to win a championship, which is true, but what if this is your one and only Pro Bowl. If that player loses the Super Bowl, they get no ring and no trip to Hawaii to help them forget about the loss. Last year Arizona WR Larry Fitzgerald won the Pro Bowl MVP award after losing the Super Bowl. I’m sure he didn’t forget the fact that he didn’t win a championship but that had to help ease the pain a little. And another thing! Those players who just lost in the conference championships the week before, have to now go play a meaningless game in the same stadium as the game they wish they were playing in. If I was that player I wouldn’t go play. Do you think if a Peyton Manning loses in the conference championship game he will want to go play in the Pro Bowl the next week? Oh and one more thing! Does the NFL really think that people will come out and pay for a ticket to the Pro Bowl instead of going to one of the many parties during Super Bowl week in Miami? I think not!

The NFL really needs to rethink this ‘genius’ idea. Commissioner Roger Goodell is trying to do too much. Put the Pro Bowl back in Hawaii where it belongs.

2009-2010 NBA Season Predictions

Preseason is here and the beginning of the NBA regular season is right around the block. The season officially begins on Tuesday October 27th with two great match-ups on TNT. The first game could possibly be this year’s Eastern Conference Finals, Boston @ Cleveland. In the second game you will see the defending champion Lakers versus Blake Griffin leading his Clippers for the first time. This could one day be the battle of LA, but maybe that’s just hopeful thinking for the NBA.

But before we get to those great match-ups, I first have to give you my 2009-2010 season predictions. Feel free to comment and begin water cooler discussions all over:

Eastern Conference
*Cleveland Cavaliers
*Boston Celtics
*Orlando Magic
*Washington Wizards
*Atlanta Hawks
*Toronto Raptors
*Chicago Bulls
*Detroit Pistons
Miami Heat
Philadelphia 76ers
Charlotte Bobcats
New York Knicks
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
New Jersey Nets

* denotes playoff teams

Western Conference
*Los Angeles Lakers
*San Antonio Spurs
*Portland Trailblazers
*Dallas Mavericks
*Denver Nuggets
*New Orleans Hornets
*Utah Jazz
*Phoenix Suns
Oklahoma City Thunder
Los Angeles Clippers
Minnesota Timberwolves
Memphis Grizzlies
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Sacramento Kings

*denotes playoff teams

Awards
MVP- Lebron James
Rookie of the Year- Blake Griffin
Defensive Player of the Year-Dwight Howard
Coach of the Year-Flip Saunders

What's Next for the Detroit Tigers?

On September 6th, the Detroit Tigers had a 7 game lead on the Minnesota Twins. Well, today those same Twins are preparing for game 2 of the ALDS against the Yankees. What happen to the lead? That question will never really be answered, but we can all speculate. Was it the lack of getting runs in with runners in scoring position? Was it the injuries to Washburn and having no one to replace him in the rotation? Or was it that the team just overachieved the entire season?

This team was predicted by almost every baseball expert, from ESPN to Yahoo! Sports, to finish fourth or even last in the Central Division this year. Despite this, they were in first place almost the entire year. With a payroll of $115 million it should have never come down to an extra game to decide the division champ. Many of the players on this high payroll however never contributed to anything significant. They had injuries to Jeremy Bonderman, Joel Zumaya, Armando Galarraga, Nate Robertson, and Dontrelle Willis. Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez didn’t contribute anything to the team until the second half of the season. We had to patch things together by playing players such as Clete Thomas, Wilkin Ramirez, Ryan Raburn, Fu-Te Ni, and Don Kelly. No matter whom we played, with the division lead all year we should be playing tonight not the Twins.

With that said, what changes can be made to get us to the playoffs next season? Well…not much. Many of the high priced salaried players that I mentioned earlier will still be on the books next year with an additional loss of key players. Fernando Rodney and Placido Palanco, two key cogs to this year’s success, will both be free agents in the off-season. Placido might cost you 3 years at $8 million per and Rodney will cost you at least $10 million a year after the great year he had. Let’s not forget Magglio Ordonez will get $18 million next season, and Granderson will get a $2 million raise. If you count all that, the payroll could go up to roughly $130-$140 million next year. If that’s the case, do not expect Ilitch to go out and spend lots of money to improve on this year. This could be our actual lineup next season: CF-Curtis Granderson, LF-Ryan Raburn, RF-Magglio Ordonez, 1B-Miguel Cabrera, DH-Carlos Guillen, 3B-Brandon Inge, C-Alex Avila, SS-Adam Everett (granted they resign him), and 2B-Scott Sizemore. If you think our team had no offense this year just wait till next.

I’m no baseball expert but all I have to say is, save your money for the 2011 season. Good Luck getting through next year.