My pick to win this year's Super Bowl? The Baltimore Ravens, 20-17, over the 49ers.
Why, you ask?
Well, for one, I want them to win. They are a local team. They have Syracuse players (Go Arthur Jones!). I like Joe Flacco and Ray Rice. Next, they seem to be that "team of destiny" due to Ray Lewis' upcoming retirement. Finally, I'll feel very bad for John Harbaugh if Jim wins in his second year. He hasn't faced any real adversity in his coaching yet. John Harbaugh had to live an entire year knowing that he was a Lee Evans catch away from the Super Bowl last season.
Also, I don't want the 49ers to win because of what their idiot CB Chris Culliver said about homosexual players. That is just ignorance on a staggering level at this point in history.
The only way I would be truly happy with a 49ers win is if Colin Kaepernick gets hurt, and Alex Smith comes in and saves the day. He has been all class as a backup, much like Drew Bledsoe was when he got hurt and Tom Brady replaced him. I just hope he gets a chance to shine outside of his backup role. He had made such big strides last year and in the early part of this season.
So, there is it. I pick the Ravens... which means the 49ers will probably win. Sorry.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
My 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame Ballot
The Football HoF announcement is today. There are 17 finalists, 15 modern era and 2 Veteran committee. Here is my ballot for the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame:
1. Larry Allen, OT, Dallas Cowboys/ San Francisco 49ers
2. Curley Culp, DT, Kansas City Chiefs/ Houston Oilers/ Detroit Lions
3. Jonathan Ogden, OT, Baltimore Ravens
4. Dave Robinson, LB, Green Bay Packers/ Washington Redskins
5. Warren Sapp, DT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers/ Oakland Raiders
6. Will Shields, OG, Kansas City Chiefs
7. Michael Strahan, DE, New York Giants
Yes, an almost-entire lineman class. Why? Because they all deserve it. Culp and Robinson are the Vet committee nominees, so I assume they will get in. Allen, Ogden, Sapp and Strahan are all first ballot HoF worthy players in their first year of eligibility. Shields is the best guard of the past 2 decades. These are no-brainers.
The problem, of course, is that some of the big Hall of Fame logjams aren't fixed. I don't have Cris Carter in because there is a class size limit of 7 people. If that didn't happen, he might have gotten in by now. Bill Parcells still wouldn't be in, but he hasn't really been retired for enough years so I am fine keeping him out. Jerome Bettis will get in eventually, because there isn't another great running back coming up until Tomlinson in 4 years.
I will be surprised if the actual class is what I projected. If Ogden and Shields get in, I will be happy. Enjoy the announcement!
1. Larry Allen, OT, Dallas Cowboys/ San Francisco 49ers
2. Curley Culp, DT, Kansas City Chiefs/ Houston Oilers/ Detroit Lions
3. Jonathan Ogden, OT, Baltimore Ravens
4. Dave Robinson, LB, Green Bay Packers/ Washington Redskins
5. Warren Sapp, DT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers/ Oakland Raiders
6. Will Shields, OG, Kansas City Chiefs
7. Michael Strahan, DE, New York Giants
Yes, an almost-entire lineman class. Why? Because they all deserve it. Culp and Robinson are the Vet committee nominees, so I assume they will get in. Allen, Ogden, Sapp and Strahan are all first ballot HoF worthy players in their first year of eligibility. Shields is the best guard of the past 2 decades. These are no-brainers.
The problem, of course, is that some of the big Hall of Fame logjams aren't fixed. I don't have Cris Carter in because there is a class size limit of 7 people. If that didn't happen, he might have gotten in by now. Bill Parcells still wouldn't be in, but he hasn't really been retired for enough years so I am fine keeping him out. Jerome Bettis will get in eventually, because there isn't another great running back coming up until Tomlinson in 4 years.
I will be surprised if the actual class is what I projected. If Ogden and Shields get in, I will be happy. Enjoy the announcement!
A Missing Month of Sports
The problem with having a job is that I seem to have less time to blog. I apologize. I have missed a good amount of fairly important sports stories. Here's a quick look at some of them.
- The NFL playoffs happened. Part of my brief vacation from blogging was because of my depression over Robert Griffin III and the idiocy of the Redskins coaching staff, doctors, and practically everyone involved with the organization. I wrote on here before last year's draft that I liked RG3 so much that I hoped he wouldn't go to the Skins, because we would ruin him. Well, he is now recovering from torn knee ligaments because our coaches kept him in (or allowed him to keep himself in) for too long on one of the NFL's worst fields. You could see he was visibly in pain after that 2nd touchdown pass. With the Skins up on Seattle 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, the answer should have been to stick to the amazingly effective run game and put in the able-bodied Kirk Cousins to guide the team home. That way, you do not risk hurting RG3 even more. Shanahan and his son refused to do that, refused to give Alfred Morris the ball even though he was averaging 5 yards per carry. The 2nd-leading rusher in the NFL should never have less than 20 carries. He had 16. The Skins lost the game, the season, and (depending on how RG3 comes back from injury) possibly the future.
- My Super Bowl picks both lost on the same day. The Packers were run over by Colin Kaepernick and the Broncos fell victim to the Flacco Fling in the NFL's first Double OT game (IT WAS AWESOME). Still, those teams can hold their heads high knowing that they lost to the eventual Super Bowl representative from their conference.
- I will be writing my Super Bowl picks in another column later today.
- I will also be writing my Hall of Fame picks next, because the announcement is in an hour.
- The NHL is back. I am not that enthused because the Caps haven't looked great. I think that lockouts have a negative impact on the product, and so far the hockey I have watched has shown that.
- The NBA has become all about the Lakers, which makes it very boring considering they aren't that great of a team. The Wizards started winning again, which is nice. At least they are showing solid effort.
- The entire Manti Te'o situation is insane. But if he goes out next season and wins defensive rookie of the year, everyone will forget about it. That's all I have to say about that.
- Cuse basketball was great, but has now lost two straight. James Southerland is suspended and we don't know why. DaJuan Coleman missed today's game also, a loss at Pitt. Just get us to the tournament, and then we can see what happens.
- A snowmobiler died at the X-Games. It was a terrifying crash. I guess I understand the rush these people get from their extreme sport, but is it really worth the risk?
- Baseball is almost here. I am excited.
- A new steroid scandal has emerged, and Gio Gonzalez was named. he quickly and emphatically denied everything. The substances he was apparently linked to are not on the banned substance list, and there is still no corroborating evidence (like sales receipts or a failed test) so we will have to wait and see. The nice thing for Nats fans is that the story has now become entirely about Alex Rodriguez again, so Gio has all but been forgotten.
- The Nats bid farewell to Michael Morse, trading him back to Seattle for prospects. I was and still am very sad about this, as Morse was the heart and soul of this team. I hope that he can come back via free agency at some point, but who knows if that will happen. We love you, Beast.
That's all I got for right now.
- The NFL playoffs happened. Part of my brief vacation from blogging was because of my depression over Robert Griffin III and the idiocy of the Redskins coaching staff, doctors, and practically everyone involved with the organization. I wrote on here before last year's draft that I liked RG3 so much that I hoped he wouldn't go to the Skins, because we would ruin him. Well, he is now recovering from torn knee ligaments because our coaches kept him in (or allowed him to keep himself in) for too long on one of the NFL's worst fields. You could see he was visibly in pain after that 2nd touchdown pass. With the Skins up on Seattle 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, the answer should have been to stick to the amazingly effective run game and put in the able-bodied Kirk Cousins to guide the team home. That way, you do not risk hurting RG3 even more. Shanahan and his son refused to do that, refused to give Alfred Morris the ball even though he was averaging 5 yards per carry. The 2nd-leading rusher in the NFL should never have less than 20 carries. He had 16. The Skins lost the game, the season, and (depending on how RG3 comes back from injury) possibly the future.
- My Super Bowl picks both lost on the same day. The Packers were run over by Colin Kaepernick and the Broncos fell victim to the Flacco Fling in the NFL's first Double OT game (IT WAS AWESOME). Still, those teams can hold their heads high knowing that they lost to the eventual Super Bowl representative from their conference.
- I will be writing my Super Bowl picks in another column later today.
- I will also be writing my Hall of Fame picks next, because the announcement is in an hour.
- The NHL is back. I am not that enthused because the Caps haven't looked great. I think that lockouts have a negative impact on the product, and so far the hockey I have watched has shown that.
- The NBA has become all about the Lakers, which makes it very boring considering they aren't that great of a team. The Wizards started winning again, which is nice. At least they are showing solid effort.
- The entire Manti Te'o situation is insane. But if he goes out next season and wins defensive rookie of the year, everyone will forget about it. That's all I have to say about that.
- Cuse basketball was great, but has now lost two straight. James Southerland is suspended and we don't know why. DaJuan Coleman missed today's game also, a loss at Pitt. Just get us to the tournament, and then we can see what happens.
- A snowmobiler died at the X-Games. It was a terrifying crash. I guess I understand the rush these people get from their extreme sport, but is it really worth the risk?
- Baseball is almost here. I am excited.
- A new steroid scandal has emerged, and Gio Gonzalez was named. he quickly and emphatically denied everything. The substances he was apparently linked to are not on the banned substance list, and there is still no corroborating evidence (like sales receipts or a failed test) so we will have to wait and see. The nice thing for Nats fans is that the story has now become entirely about Alex Rodriguez again, so Gio has all but been forgotten.
- The Nats bid farewell to Michael Morse, trading him back to Seattle for prospects. I was and still am very sad about this, as Morse was the heart and soul of this team. I hope that he can come back via free agency at some point, but who knows if that will happen. We love you, Beast.
That's all I got for right now.
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