The Official End of the NFL Season

Well, this year's NFL season has mercifully come to an end with the NFC beating the AFC in yesterday's Pro Bowl. I didn't watch one second of the game but if you want to read about it, you can do so here.

As for me, I'm more the looking forward type. So, in the immortal words of Mark McGuire, I'm not here to talk about the past, I'm here to talk about the future. And the future looks bright with Tom Brady (or Matt Cassel) leading the way.

Best Super Bowl Ever?

Since Sunday a lot of national writers have come out and said that the Steelers victory over the Cardinals was the best Super Bowl ever, including one Peter King. I'm not buying it and think that this is just an over reaction to an entertaining game. In fact, I think that writers who are calling this the greatest game ever should probably turn their press passes in and try a different career path.

Here's are a few of my reasons:

Too much controversy: Just like the Steelers' Super Bowl win a few years ago, too much controvery surrounds this game. From the two challenges thrown by Cardinals head coach Ken Wisenhunt (both of which were overturned), to the James Harrison interception return for a touchdown, to the "fumble" by Kurt Warner and even the game winning catch, which I clearly think was, in fact, a touchdown. Each of those plays could have gone the other way and some of them probably should have.

The officiating: How can you overturn one fumble by Kurt Warner earlier in the game by going to instant replay and then not even review an almost identical play a few minutes later with the game on the line? The NFL has yet to give a good explanation for this other than to say that someone up in the replay booth said the play was a fumble. Okay, then, why was the Santonio Holmes touchdown catch reviewed on the field by the referees? It makes no sense to me.

The coaching: Wisenhunt's decision not to recieve the ball to start the game was really odd. Would you rather have your questionable defense on the field to start the Super Bowl or your explosive offense? Hmmm, let me think about this one. Also, why was Larry Fitzgerald nearly invisible until the last 12 minutes of the game? Here's an idea for you: try to get your best reciever involved early in the game.

The officiating, part deux: Were there enough penalties and play stopages for you? But I'm not even going to get into specific calls that they did make. Instead, what about the two that they didn't make. First, on the Harrison interception for a touchdown, you have an Arizona player clearly getting blocked in the back right near an official. That non call changed the game, in case you didn't realize. Second, after Holmes' catch to put the Steelers up with 35 seconds left, he does some cockamammy touchdown dance and then uses the ball as a prop, which should be an automatic 15 yard penalty. I think the official was too busy celebrating with the Steelers to throw the flag, though.

So please spare me the talk about the greatest Super Bowl ever. This was an entertaining game with an amazing finish but it doesn't stand up to the Patriots first Super Bowl in 2001. This was right after 9/11 and we had the Patriots being introduced as a team, U2 as the halftime show, Ty Law picking of Warner for a clean TD, the Patriots defense completely shutting down Marshall Faulk and the so called greatest show on turf, Tom Brady securing his place in history as one of the youngest Super Bowl MVP's, the original "we shocked the world" game, and a last minute drive by the Patriots where John Madden repeatedly said that the Patriots should just run out the clock and go into overtime as Adma Vinatieri is making a last second field goal to win the sport's biggest game.

You know what? As much as it pains me, I'd even go as far as to say that last year's Super Bowl was even better for the sheer magnitude of what it meant. You had an 18-0 behemoth coming in against a hot New York Giants team that somehow found a way to shut down the Patriots' record setting offense, while making big play after big play to score the winning touchdown in the last minute of the game.

Anyway, here are some of the highlights from the game. Pay attention at the 3:16 mark for the illegal block in the back. This is also where you can see Fitzgerlad coming down the sidelines and getting blocked by his teammates on his own sideline. Way to cost your team the Super Bowl, guys.

Manny Being Manny (Again)

Wow, a lot has changed in the last 24 hours. Last we knew, Manny Ramirez was contemplating a two year $45 million offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers, the only team bidding for his services. Not only that but this offer has been on the table since mid November. As the market has dried up and teams are searching for bargain basement prices for proven stars, Manny's stance hasn't changed. He's still looking for a four or five year deal at $25 million at year. Yeah, I knew he was crazy when he played in Boston but apparently he's moved on to completely insane, too.

Overnight, the Dodgers began wising up, offered Manny a one year deal for $25 million and gave him a 48 hour deadline to accept or reject the offer. He took about 8.6 seconds to reject the offer. Gotta love Manny. While the rest of America is in the worst economic slump since the Great Depression and players like Jason Varitek, Jon Garland, Andy Pettite and others are taking huge paycuts, Manny is sticking by his original contract demand of at least four years. Meanwhile, guys like Adam Dunn, Kenn Griffey Jr. and Bobby Abreu can't even get minor league deals and an invitation to spring training.

But the beauty of it all is that this sets Manny up to be totally screwed in the next few weeks. The only team that appears to be remotely interested is only making a one year offer. The other team that has shown marginal interest are the San Francisco Giants. The Giants have no one else to hit on their team and Manny would surely loaf after about three games in the Bay Area.

A few weeks ago I sort of lazily predicted that Manny would end up with the Kansas City Royals for around nine million next year. Right now, that doesn't seem so crazy.

And the Winner Is. . .

Well, Super Bowl XLIII is finally over and the Steelers have their record breaking sixth Lombardi Trophy. Oh, wait, the Cardinals won? Oh, hey congratulations to them on their first Super Bowl win. Hmm, so the Steelers did win? Are you sure? In addition to the wild shoot out that we witnessed in the fourth quarter, there is also a bit of controvery and it appears that for the second time in four years, Pittsburgh has come out on top of a game that had some questionable calls.

Anyway, here are just a few thoughts on the Super Bowl as I wonder if Kurt Warner might have been able to pull off a last second touchdown with five seconds remaining and the ball on the Steelers 29 yard line:

As it relates to the last play by the Cardinals where the official on the field ruled it a fumble by Warner, I'm not sure what happened. When the play first happened, I called it a fumble. When they showed it on the replay, I was even more convinced that it was a fumble. The rule is that a coach can not challenge any play in the last two minutes of the game because any close or potentially controversial call is automatically reviewed. So on a play that Warner appears to be clearly moving his arm forward, fumbles the ball and it's recovered by the opposing team in the last ten seconds of the NFL's biggest game, there is no review. Can you please explain to me how that makes sense?

And if you're Arizona head coach Ken Wisenhunt, how do you not charge onto the field and demand a stop in the play so that the referees can get the call correct? Instead, you choose to just stand there and get screwed over.

I also don't understand how 11 Arizona Cardinals can't chase down James Harrison on his 100 yard interception return. That was a poor display of effort by those guys. I just don't understand how someone with mediocre speed can break away from the pack. Where are the Cardinals' wide receivers, tight ends and their running back on the return? Seriously, check out the photo to the left. Why isn't 81 involved in the play at all on the run back? He's only five yards away from him. Are you telling me that he couldn't catch him from behind? And as far as Harrison goes, how do the referees allow him to stay in the game in the fourth quarter after throwing several punches at one of the Cardinals during a punt?

If you watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, you've got to be disappointed. Being in marketing and advertising, I don't understand how an agency could come in, pitch some ridiculous concept and have people agree that these commercials are good. Perhaps that's why some of these companies are also making layoffs, going into bankrupty and begging for a government handout.

Before the Steelers go and enshrine Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, let's not forget that he was caught with marijuana earlier this year and has admitted smoking it. I'm not sure how he's avoided a suspension by the NFL but he now has something in common with Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps.

I don't see the Cardinals making a return trip to the Super Bowl any time soon. I have to imagine that their division will be tougher next year, with Seattle, San Francisco and St. Louis all making offseason changes and brining in new draft picks. And while their run to the Super Bowl was fun to watch, I don't see that they can catch lightning in a bottle two years in a row.

Watching Ben Rothlesberger play quarterback has me wondering how long he'll be in this league. I have no clue how he escaped the grasp of the Arizona defense on numerous plays but that same kind of sand lot scrambling will eventually lead to a serious injury and that's a fact. Rothlesberger is now the second youngest quarterback to ever win two Super Bowl's, which is bested only by Tom Bray's three in his first five years.

As I'm typing this post, Curt Schilling is on WEEI radio talking about the Steelers victory. Apparently he's a big Steelers fan from his days in Philadelphia. Listening to him talk has made me decide that I don't want him back if he decides to pitch next year. Seriously, just keep you mouth shut for once, Curt.

Anyway, congratulations to the Steelers. You persevered all year and were able to beat two of the worst playoff teams to ever appear in the post season in San Diego (division winner at 8-8) and Arizona (division winner at 9-7) while miraculously avoiding having to play the likes of New England, Indianapolis, and New York- it pains me to say the Giants but do you really think the Jets are any threat to the Steelers?

My Super Bowl Prediction

I've finally broken down the offenses and defenses of both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. I've studied film of the special teams players for each Super Bowl representative, as well as their running games, wide reciever play and how they each use their tight ends to camoflage screen passes. I've analyzed the coaching careers for both Mike Tomlin and Ken Wisenhunt, how they came into the league, whom they were mentored by, where they got their breaks and how they like their coffee. I've even taken it a step further and looked at the ownership and fan base of each team, how they play on the road, in good weather, in bad weather and what time of day each team plays their best. But you know what? None of it means squat.

All you need to know is that while the Arizona Cardinals are gearing up for the biggest game of their lives, the Pittsburgh Steelers are still looking in their rear view mirror at the New England Patriots. How else do you explain the t-shirt to the left? Because everyone knows that you still have to go through the Patriots to be considered the best. This is similar to the feeling of winning the World Series and not beating the Yankees in the process. It's just not the same.

So while the Steelers are laughing at Tom Brady and the Patriots and planning their Super Bowl parade, I believe that Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Kurt Warner and the Edge will be the ones laughing at the end. Screw the stats, screw the defense, screw the fact that Kurt Warner is one of the most over rated players ever, screw the fact that the Cardinals haven't been here before, screw the fact that they'll be considered the worst Super Bowl winner ever, I'm picking them.

Final Score:
Arizona Cardinals 38
Pittsburgh Steerls 21

Jason Varitek Gets Screwed, Stays With Sox

According to the Boston Globe, Jason Varitek finally agreed to sign with the Red Sox today for one year and an option for the second year. Like there was ever any doubt. Where else would a 37 year old catcher coming off of a year in which he hit .220 go? I wrote last week how dumb Varitek and snake agent Scott Boras were for turning down arbitration where he would have likely made around $11 million next year alone. If Varitek plays out both years for the Sox and makes the full value of the contract, he'll basically be making the same amount in two years that he would have made in just one year had he accepted arbitration.

Do I love this move? Not really. I would have liked to have seen the Sox cut ties with him and go out and sign a younger guy for less money. I have no doubt that Varitek contributed to the Red Sox winning two World Series title this decade but let's face it: aging catchers don't get better and last year was probably the beginning of the end for Varitek. So what are we in for this year? Is he going to be worse than last year, especially now that he's basically playing for less money? I'm not a betting man but even I'd put a little money on him being worse next year.

I also hate the argument that says that the pitching staff would suffer if we didn't have Varitek. Did anyone ever think that maybe they'd be better with someone else calling games? Maybe Daisuke Matsuzaka wouldn't walk so many people with someone else calling the shots or maybe Josh Beckett would be more consistent. But those arguments are never mentioned, only that the pitching staff would fall apart without Varitek. So the Captain is back for at least another year and while I'm glad that he's back, I'll be the first one to boo him if he can't get his average above the Mendoza line next year.

Oh, and do you think that Boras should be making any commission off of this deal, knowing that Varitek should have accepted arbitration and be making $11 million?

It's Time to Trade Tom Brady

Last week I wrote an article about how it may be time to trade Tom Brady. My, how things have changed. Today, I'm writing about it being time to trade Tom Brady. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it- he's got to go. I've analyzed this situation from a lot of different angles and I was finally pushed over the edge by one Thomas Edward Brady, Jr. Since going down with a season ending injury in the first quarter of the first game, Brady has pretty much disappeared. Well, except for the fact that we learned that he likes rare art and he also got engaged. And neither of those topics has me very excited to see number 12 back in a Patriots uniform come next year.

All of this leads up to the event that has pushed me from being a Tom Brady sycophant to a staunch Matt Cassel supporter: Brady did a radio interview. Seems pretty simple, right? The guy is entitled to do radio interviews. But do you think this interview took place on local sports station WEEI where he does a quarterback hour with Boomer Esiason during the season? Nope. Okay then, it must have been some radio station near his home in California, right? Nope. In fact, the radio interview took place on a radio station in Canada. So we hear virtually nothing from Brady the entire season and then he surfaces in Canada! He's kidding, right? He's pretty much fallen off the face of the earth since his injury and then he spurns the entire Boston media market for a radio interview in Canada?

Anyway, the most egregious part of the whole story is that he was also pushing some special sports medicine cream called Myo-med, which is ironically a banned substance by the NFL. In addition to the odd fact that Brady was on the radio station in Canada, I'm also confused as to why people in Canada would care about Tom Brady?

So there you have it. In the year since losing the Super Bowl in a crushing defeat to the Giants, Brady basically has closed the door on his football career. First it was the art exhibits with Gisele, the public events with Eli Manning, wearing a Yankees cap and his numeruos photo shoots for Calvin Klein and Stetson. In addition, during the NFL's biggest week, where do you think Brady is? If you guessed working on his rehab back at Foxboro in an attempt to come back at 128.7 percent next year while working on his deep ball then you would be completely wrong. If you guessed in Mexico with Gisele, then you're getting warmer. Apparently Brady likes all of the countries just to the North and South of America.

Anyway, doing this interview was too much. It's time for this to end. I'll take Matt Cassel any day of the week over Brady and twice on Sunday because, in the immortal words of Bill Parcells, "Football players play football." And I think it's becoming increasingly apparent that Tom Brady is no longer a football player.

This is the NFC's Super Bowl Representative?

Over the last month, I've really been ragging on the Arizona Cardinals. For one, they won the weakest division in the NFL at 9-7 so right away you know that they're not very good. More importantly, this was a team that came to Foxboro the second to last week of the year and got completely embarassed 47-7. As I've written before, the score wasn't even that close.

They had a decent win at home the first week of the playoffs against an up-and-coming Atlanta Falcons team and then watched Jake Delhomme of the Carolina Panthers put on a turnover clinic for their benefit. Back at home last week, they gritted out a tough win against the Philadelphia Eagles and Donovan McNabb's mother to earn their first trip to the Super Bowl.

I was embarassed for the Cardinals when they lost to New England, I was embarassed when they made the playoffs and now I'm embarassed that they're in the Super Bowl. Which is why I think I'm going to pick them to win. Then the Patriots can say that they beat the Super Bowl champions. Although, they can say the same thing about the previous year, too. I feel sick.

Patriots Favored to Win the Super Bowl

In a shocking development, the New England Patriots, who didn't even make the playoffs, are now 6-1 favorites to win the Super Bowl. I'm not even sure how that's possible but apparently the Pittsburgh Steelers forfeited their spot and the NFL automatically replaced them with the Patriots. Oh, now I see, the Patriots are 6-1 favorites to win the Super Bowl next year. Got it. That makes more sense.

Anyway, this just goes to show everyone around the country that the path to the Lombardi Trophy still goes through Foxboro. I think that everyone is starting to see just how much of a dynasty the Patriots have become by being able to insert bench guys into starting roles and still having success. This is a team that didn't even make the playoffs this year, has a quarteback controversy beginning to brew and has tons of holes on the defensive side of the ball. And they're still favored to win the Super Bowl. It's great to live in the City of Champions!

The timing of this report is also interesting because it just goes to show that people have basically already forgotten about this year's Super Bowl and it hasn't even been played.

Anyway, looks like it might be time to fire up the duck boats again.

Baseball Ponderings

There's been a lot going on in the baseball world the last few weeks that has me jacked and pumped for the start of spring training. Yeah, there have been a ton of free agent signings recently but I'm more interested in what hasn't happened than in what has happened. Here's a snapshot of what's gone down lately:

The Red Sox held a private meeting with free agent catcher Jason Varitek in Atlanta a few days ago, without his agent, Scott Boras. The Red Sox have soured on Boras this offseason because of the Mark Teixeira dealing and now are trying to work on a deal with Varitek that doesn't involve Boras. Here's the thing- Boras told Varitek to decline arbitration, where the captain would have made $10-11 million next year and also stayed with the Sox. By declining arbitration, Varitek screwed himself. There is no other market for an aging catcher who can't do anything but call a decent game. I wouldn't mind seeing Varitek come back but the deal has to be $3-4 million for a year with incentives. Remember, this is a guy who hit .222 last year and can't even catch the knuckball.

And speaking of Boras, in addition to screwing Varitek, he has also screwed Manny Ramirez, not that there's anything wrong with that. Since Ramirez already had a contract with the Red Sox when Ramirez hired Boras, the slimy agent wasn't earning any commission on his contract. So Boras did the only thing he knows how to do- he got Ramirez to shoot his way out of town and then lit up the weak National League West the last half of the year in an attempt to get a five year, $125 deal. Since Boras helped Teixeira land in New York, they dropped out of the running for Ramirez, essentially leaving the so called greatest right handed hitter of our time without a team less than a month from spring training. Had Teixeira signed with the Red Sox, the Yankees almost certainly would have gone hard after Ramirez. Now the only team that has shown any interest in him are the Dodgers, where the two year, $45 million offer may or may not be on the table. And let's not forget that Ramirez was already slated to make $40 million over the next two years had he not shot his way out of Boston. It would give me imense pleasure to see Ramirez sign on with some team that has no shot of making the post season for less than what he would have made in Boston. You think he was a headache before this debacle? Wait until he's playing in Kansas City for $9 million a year.

And speaking of things that couldn't happen to a nicer guy, there are now reports that the once glorified Pedro Martinez is in contract talks with none other than the Pittsburgh Pirates. So Petey has gone from winning the World Series in 2004 with the Red Sox and pretty much having the keys to the city to signing a lucrative $53 million deal with the New York Mets where he posted a record of 32-23 over four years to now having to negotiate with the Pirates who want to pay him $5 million to pitch for their crappy team. This is almost too good to be true. Stay tuned for more Pedro the Pirate talk!





One last baseball note that I wanted to hit on, as well. After two years of pretty much dismal play, one in Atlanta and one in Los Angeles, the Dodgers recently released their so called slugger Andruw Jones, even though they still owe him more than $22 million. While the Dodgers are at fault for singing him to this ridiculous contract, I wish that Major League Baseball were more like the NFL in this regard. There are few guaranteed contracts in football and it works to the league's advantage not to have overpriced players playing at a low level, allowing teams to bring in other players to stay under the salary cap. Their system isn't perfect either but it sure beats having to pay players like Mike Hampton, Carl Pavano and Darren Dreifort untold millions when they can't even get on the field.

Red Sox Lock Up Youk

After a busy week signing roll players, the Red Sox also reached a deal with first baseman Kevin Youkilis on a 4 year, $41 million contract. Wait, is that right? It's only $41 million? Really? That seems like a bargain for a guy who batted .312, had 29 home runs, 115 RBIs, a slugging percentage of .569 and an OPS of .958.

Let's compare that to the 8 year, $180 deal that Mark Teixeira signed with the Yankees a few weeks agao. Last year, Teixeira batted .308, had 33 home runs, 121 RBIs, a slugging percentage of .552 and an OPS of .962. So essentially, Teixeira and Youkilis are the same player if you base it on numbers. Yet Youkilis just signed a deal for half the years and half the money. And the deal got done in one day, as opposed to the soap opera that Teixeira created.

Let's not forget that Youkilis also set the record for most consecutive errorless games (238) and chances (2,002) for a first basemen last year and had a .996 fielding percentage.

But you know what I like the most about this contract- Youk wants to play here. There was never any other thought. This was one of those bizarre circumstances where it's really not about the money. Youk even says it in the clip below- what good is an extra million a year going to do for him? It's about playing in front of die hard Red Sox fans screaming your name and going nuts when you come up to bat or make a nice play in the field. It's not about what uniform your wife thinks you'd look good in. It's about winning championships and Youk's already got two.

The Road to the Super Bowl

This week's AFC and NFC Championship games feature one that looks like it will be an old fashioned grudge match between Pittsburgh and Baltimore and one that features two teams that didn't even win ten games in the regular season. The only real appealing Super Bowl match up that there is would be Philadelphia against Pittsburgh and that's one of the reasons that I'm picking against both of those teams this weekend. The love fest between Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb is making me feel uncomfortable and I don't think I could take two teams from the same state playing in the sports biggest game of the year. Plus, I pretty much hate both of these teams (I know, that's real objective, huh?)

Even though it's championship weekend, winning team is still in CAPS.

Philadelphia at ARIZONA
I can't believe that I'm doing this but I'm picking the Cardinals. Less than a month ago the Cardinals came to Foxboro and got embarassed 47-7 and the score wasn't even that close. The fact that they've rebounded from that loss and won a home playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons and then went on the road and embarassed the Carolina Panthers, with some help from Jake Delhomme, says a lot about this team. I know that Philly beat the defending Super Bowl champs last weekend but that was a beat up and worn down Giants team that they were playing.

BALTIMORE at Pittsburgh
If my prediction is correct, we'll have a Super Bowl that virtually no one will care who wins outside of each home town, along with a team that was only in the playoffs because of a better conference record than the Patriots. While Pittsburgh seemingly destroyed the Chargers last weekend, there were just too many fluky plays in that game to say that the score reflected the actual play on the field. I think that Ben Rothlesberger is more banged up than we're being led to believe and I think that Willie Parker is one big hit away from going out for the game. The Ravens defense is relentless and if they can control the field position game it will give rookie quarterback Joe Flacco the confidence he needs to earn his first trip to the Super Bowl.

So it'll be Arizona and Baltimore in this year's Snoozer Bowl.

Failed Post Season Coach Calls it a Career

By now we've all heard that Tony Dungy has retired from coaching. I should say that he's retired from coaching the Indianapolis Colts because I have no doubt that he'll be back in the NFL in another two or three years. You see, NFL coaches are just like NFL players- they'll coach until no one will hire them anymore.

By all accounts, and mine included, Tony Dungy is a likeable guy. But I'm not buying it when people say that he's one of the greatest modern day coaches of all time. If you told me that he's one of the greatest regular season coaches of all time, then so be it. I'd completely agree with you. In thirteen years as an NFL coach, Dungy has a 139-69 record with the Tampa Bay Bucaneers and the Colts for a .668 winning percentage.

But here's the thing, for all of the talent that he's had over the years, he's 9-10 in the playoffs, including numerous first round exits as the favored team. He won just one Super Bowl with the Colts even though his teams were stacked with Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Edgarin James and many other superstars over the years. This Colts team of the last decade is the Atlanta Braves of the 1990s- best regular season team and classic playoff choker.

So let's all tip our cap to a great regular season coach in Tony Dungy. I'll predict right now that he'll come back in 2011 with a team like the 49ers or maybe even Dallas. Although, Dallas seems to be doing just fine choking away their seasons lately.

Red Sox Update

Last week, I wrote a little about what it means for the Yankees to have seemingly won the winter. Well, I'm here today to tell you that I'm not so sure that the Yankees have even won the winter. I mean, did the Red Sox sneak up and win this offseason while the Yankees were too busy writing checks? Only time will tell but the combined price tag for all of the players the Red Sox have signed in the last week is about what the Yankees are going to pay Mark Teixeira next year.

The biggest news is that the Red Sox have signed consumate professional and post season star John Smoltz. For all of the failures of the Braves teams of the 1990s, Smoltz was among the lone bright stars compiling one of the best won loss records of all time. I know he'll be 42 next year and is coming off of shoulder surgery but I like this signing.







Another signing that I like is Brad Penny. When healthy he's been among the best in all of baseball. He came to Boston for relatively cheap money and if he can give us 12-15 wins I'd be happy.









Next up for the Red Sox is New England native Rocco Baldelli. I like this signing for no other reason than they gave him number 5, Nomar's old number. Baldelli will fit perfectly as an extra outfielder and his speed will be a huge bonus to the team next year.






Another signing that I'm jacked and pumped about is the addition of Takashi Saito. Here's another guy who has flourished in Los Angeles the last few years relatively unnoticed around MLB. He'll replace Mike Timlin and will be the key link between the starters and Hideki Okajima. One other reason I like this signing is that I think he'll add another level of comfort for fellow countrymen Daisuke Matsuzaka and Okajima.






The last guy I'm going to take a look at is Mark Kotsay. He was a key contributor down the stretch last year, as well as in the playoffs. He can play the corner infield positions as well as all three outfield spots. Between Mike Lowell's unkown status and JD Drew being a complete wuss, I wouldn't mind see Kotsay get 400 at bats next year. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if he were starting by the end of the year.

The thing that I like about all of these signings is that they all wanted to come to Boston and I believe that they all had offers for more money elsewhere but they chose to play here. Contrast that with CC Sabathia's hesitation to sign in New York and Teixeira waiting it out until the last minute before having his wife decide where he should play. The guys that the Yankees have signed this offseason are going to New York for the money. The guys that Red Sox signed this offseason are coming to Boston to win championships.

It May Be Time To Trade Tom Brady

Ever since Tom Brady went down in the first game of the year people have been saying that Matt Cassel looks more and more like the next Tom Brady. Well, if that's the case than maybe I don't want anything to do with either quarterback. This is according to The Boston Globe:

Pats poster boy Tom Brady is apparently looking to add art collector to his already impressive resume. There are whispers in the art world that Brady and his girlfriend Gisele Bundchen recently sat down with a few dealers and are preparing to drop serious dough on select paintings. In particular, the pair is interested in buying a piece by the 19th-century Spanish artist Eugenio Lucas y Padilla, a gifted follower of Goya who's relatively unknown outside expert circles. The provenance of the painting, thought to be called "A Scene From Carnival," is unclear, but it's believed to be in private hands in South America. Although Brady and Bundchen have a mountain of money between them, word is they're not alone in looking for the painting. Billionaire Eli Broad, casino owner Steve Wynn, French businessman Bernard Arnault, actor Steve Martin, and financier Theodore Forstmann are just some of the ultra-rich A-list collectors who are believed to also be in pursuit of the painting.

Did I miss the news that Brady has completely given up on his football career? I always thought of him as the collector of paintings such as dogs playing poker, not some 19th-century Spanish artist. Actually, I always thought of him as thinking of nothing but football but apparently times have changed. Seriously, does he have any interest in playing football again?

I've thought all along that giving the franchise tag to Cassel was a smart idea. He's progressed a lot as the season has gone on and now he's got the Patriots in the AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh this weekend. Huh, the Patriots didn't even make the playoffs at 11-5? And a 9-7 Arizona Cardinals team that we embarrassed is hosting the NFC Championship this weekend? Crazy world. Anyway, the idea of bringing Cassel back into camp next year is exciting for one reason and one reason only: to show Brady what real football players do- play football.

Oh, and for those who are interested in this kind of stuff, the reports of Tom and Gisele's engagement only serve to further question Brady's commitment to the Patriots. I have a sneaky feeling that this is the beginning of the end of the Tom Brady era in New England.

For Whom The Hall Calls

Well, the Baseball Hall of Fame finally wised up and elected Jim Ed Rice to the Hall of Fame on his 15th and final try. I think that Rice is one of those players who actually benefit from the steroids era because it appears that none of those players will make it, even those with better lifetime numbers than Rice. Hello, Mark McGuire. For a solid decade, Rice was the most feared hitter in all of baseball and played a nearly flawless left field. He ended his 16 year career with 2,452 hits, 382 home runs and a .298 lifetime average.

While he was never a media darling (and I have my own story), it's important to remember that he should be judged for his performance on the field and not off the field, where he is to this day one of the most unapproached people in all of baseball. At least he's as consistent off the field as he was on it.

NFL Playoff Preview with Eric Mangini Bringing the Coffee

Last weekend's road team success didn't quite turn out the way I had envisioned, with Arizona advancing over Atlanta and San Diego advancing over the Colts. For some reason, I thought that the Colts were over their fear of advancing in the playoffs but it turns out that they've now lost in the first round of the playoffs in three of the last four years. Yeah, that's one great (regular season) team.

Anyway, here are my predictions for this weekend's game, which match up some of the best defenses in the league against each other. Winning team is in CAPS.

Saturday, January 10
BALTIMORE at Tennessee
I feel like Tennessee has been a fluky team all year long and has really struggled down the stretch. I know that they have the best record in the NFL this year and I know that they have home field advantage. I also know that their quarterback is still Kerry Collins.

Arizona at CAROLINA
I was shocked to see Arizona win last weekend. I'll be even more shocked if Arizona is even in this game at halftime this week.

Sunday, January 11
PHILADELPHIA at NY Giants
I'm going to keep sticking with my philosphy of picking against the Giants for the entire season and take Philadelphia in this game. And I actually like this pick. The Giants have also struggled down the stretch, have some key injuries and still have no answer for a healthy Brian Westbrook.

San Diego at PITTSBURGH
I hate Pittsburgh as much as the next person but I just don't see a banged up San Diego team waltzing into the Ketchup Bottle and knocking off the Steelers, with or without a healthy Ben Roethlesberger. The one thing I would like to see is LaDainian Tomlinson sitting on the sidelie for the entire game in street clothes and not necessarily because he's hurt. I just don't think he's very good in big games.

As a follow up to my article yesterday about Eric Mangini being hired as the next Cleveland Browns head coach, here's some video of the news conference. I'm even more confused now. Is Mangini going to be the head coach or is he going to be getting coffee? I predict the Browns will be 3-13 next year.

Cleveland Gets Rat Infested

I'd like to congratulate the Cleveland Browns for hiring the new face of their franchise in Eric Mangini. From here on out, they'll now be known as the Cleveland Rats. I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about this hiring. I've been a quasi-Browns fan through blood lines for a while and know the pain and suffering they've been through. Nothing compared to an 86 year drought of not winning the World Series but pretty close. But this moves makes no sense on so many levels that my head literally hurts from thinking about it.

For his three years in New York, Mangini managed a 23-25 record with one playoff appearance, which was a loss. He was overshadowed by SpyGate, which he brought upon himself and could never escape. When Mangini was first hired by the Jets, the thought was that they were getting the next Bill Belichick but that does not appear to be the case three years later. Even though Belichick was the one caught cheating, Mangini has had the most fallout from the events, being dubbed the Rat in the press. I've even heard people suggest that Mangini blowing the whistle on the cheating was worse than the cheating itself. All of his actions in New York led to his players not trusting him, his coaching and his play calling. He was destined to fail because his players couldn't trust him.

Compare that to Belicheat. By all accounts, players throughout the NFL would do nearly anything to come play in New England, a cold weather region with an outdoor stadium. Players know that when they come here, they're being coached and taught by the best there is in the NFL.

This leads me to an intersting point about assistant coaches and coordinators leaving to fill head coaching positions. In the last few years, the Patriots have lost Charlie Weis to Notre Dame, Romeo Crennel to Cleveland and Eric Mangini to New York. Combined, those three coaches have a record of 76-86, with only Charlie Weis having a winning record at 29-21 for an underachieving Notre Dame team. Let me make this analogy: hiring an assitant away from the Patriots is similar to finally getting the recipe to your grandma's favorite cookie recipe, except when you make the cookies, they taste gross. Weis, Crennel and Mangini have all been taught by the best coach in the NFL today and one of the best ever, yet it doesn't translate over to their new teams, just like your cookies don't taste the same as your grandma's even though you're using the same ingredients.

One of the things I'm having trouble comprehending is how quickly the Browns hired Mangini. Considering that no other team in the NFL was even remotely interested in talking to him, the Browns moved quickly to make this move, even though they have no GM. It's not like Bill Cowher suddenly made it clear he was interested in coaching again and they had to move fast. We're talking about a guy that no one else was pursuing. So with the hiring of the so called Mangenius, the Browns are hoping that he turns in to the next Belichick. But I have a bad feeling about this one. The Browns already have a head case in Braylon Edwards, as well as a quarterback controversy between Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn. If you're a Cleveland fan, do you really want an untrustworthy Rat coming in and trying to sort that out?

Winning in the Winter Means Squat

Among some of the bigger news around here the last few weeks is that the Yankees swept in and stole Mark Teixeira before he could sign with the Red Sox, giving the Yankees a decisive victory in offseason signings. The deal with the Yankees is for $160 million over 8 years, which averages out to a measly $22.5 million a year. At my current salary, I would have to work 255.6 years just to make what Teixeira will make in one year with the Yankees.

So congratulations to the Yankees for signing a career .290 hitter who has never even finished in the top 5 in the MVP voting in his career. In fact, he wasn't even in any of the top 5 offensive categories in all of baseball last year, including batting average (14), on base percentage (7), slugging (11), home runs (15), runs batted in (6) and OPS (9). Is Teixeira a good player? Yeah, he sure is and he may even be better in a Yankee uniform but I don't consider him to be elite.

I don't buy John Ghost-White Henry's claim that the Yankees' offer was too high for the Red Sox to match. One or two million a year over the course of the contract and Teixeira just as easily could have been introduced as a member of the Red Sox yesterday. I just don't think that the Red Sox wanted him that bad. Actually, let me rephrase that: I don't think the Red Sox need him that bad. We already have Kevin Youkilis at first base and an aging Mike Lowell at third base. Adding Teixeira would have meant that one of those players would be gone, most likely Lowell. While we still don't have anyone to replace Manny Ramirez's numbers, the Red Sox seemed to do just fine without him last year. I'm a bit concerned that we don't have a big name bat to help protect David Ortiz in the middle of the lineup but I think that Jason Bay will grow into that role next year.

One other note about Teixeira and my sudden loathing for him. It turns out that his wife, Leigh, is the one who made the decision to sign with the Yankees for him. Here are their direct quotes:

From Mark: "I'd been asking her for weeks and weeks, Where do you want to go? Where do you want me to play? And she said, `I want you to be happy. I just want you to be happy.' And finally, she said, `I want you to be a Yankee.' So that's when it was done. And once we got the contract figured out, it was a no-brainer."

And here's Leigh's take on it: "He was pushing me for an answer. I gave it. I always loved New York, and I thought it would be really special for him to be a Yankee."

Umm, just a thought, but shouldn't they have thought about where the best fit for Teixeira would be as a baseball player, not because his wife always loved New York? And that doesn't necessarily mean it would have been in Boston, either.

This signing does have the same feel as when the Yankees swooped in and traded for Rodriguez before the start of the 2004 season. Since that time the Yankees have won squat and the Red Sox have won two World Series Titles! So at least we can all look forward to Arod teaching Teixeira his disappearing act come next October.

It's Hard to Play 6 on 5

The video below was taken from the Celtics vs. Trailblazers game last week in Portland. I guess the Trailblazers took a page out of Bill Belicheat's game plan: if you can't beat 'em, then cheat.

For those of you who might be a little slow, Portland comes out of a timeout with six guys on the court. Naturally, they get an easy dunk, since it's pretty hard for the five Celtics defenders to cover six guys. When Kevin Garnett points this out to the ref, they give the Celtics a free throw. Huh? Am I missing something here? The Trailblazers score an illegal basket using six guys and when it's pointed out to the officials they let the basket stand but give the Celtics a free throw. If that's the case then why isn't this six guys on the court at a time used more often?

I Need a Name for this Column

I've been mulling over the name of this column for quite some time and haven't been able to come up with anything clever yet. Dan Shaughnessy from the Boston Globe does his Picked Up Pieces column and others have knee jerk reaction columns on a variety of different subjects. This is a cross between my regular links column and my Patriots wrap up columns, with a variety of thoughts on a variety of different things happening around the NFL. If you've got a clever name, leave me a comment.

Anyway, here are just a few observations from around the NFL after another wild weekend.

According to Peter King, Brett Favre is leaning towards retirement. Personally, I don't buy it but that's another story for another time. What I can't get over is how poorly Favre played this year. He threw 22 touchdowns, which were matched by his 22 interceptions. He racked up 3,472 passing yards for a quarterback rating of 81. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your 2008 starting Pro Bowl quarterback. By comparison, Matt Cassel threw 21 touchdowns with 11 interceptions for 3,693 yards with a quarterback rating of 89.4. Actually, by comparison, we should measure Chad Pennington's stats this year to Favre. Pennington threw for 19 touchdowns and 7 interceptions for 3,653 yards with a quarterback rating of 97.4. So the Jets look pretty dumb for releasing Pennington.

One other note on Favre: he pretty much screwed the Patriots the last two years. Actually, it turns out he screwed them twice in 2008. This was a guy who couldn't seal the deal in last year's NFC Championship game at home against the New York Giants and again screwed them by not being able to beat the Dolphins last week, which would have sent the Patriots to the playoffs. Instead, Favre once again showed that he's not a big game quarterback and hasn't been since winning the Super Bowl in 1996.

Speaking of players not showing up in big situations, what's the story with LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego? In his last three playoff games he's rushed 14 times for 58 yards and 1 touchdown. And no, those are not average numbers per game. Those are cumulative totals of all three games. Injuries or no injuries, I'm guessing that he'll be taking the Shaun Alexander route out of the NFL pretty soon.

While I'm on the San Diego tangent, I have no problem with an 8-8 division champion hosting a playoff game while an 11-5 Patriots team goes home. You win your division, you should make the playoffs, which is the way it should work. The bigger discussion needs to take place regarding the order of the draft. As it is now, San Diego, based on their 8-8 regular season record, will draft at 16, while the Patriots, with their 11-5 record, will draft at 24. Seems a bit odd that a playoff team receive a higher pick than a non playoff team.

And speaking of not showing up in big games, part II, what's the story with the Colts? Are they the Atlanta Braves of this decade? They're starting to look like it and I'm enjoying it just as much as when the Braves were choking away all those great regular seasons. This article was written before their latest playoff loss so I can only imagine how demoralized they are now. And can we stop talking about how great Tony Dungy is? Any coach with the teams he's had over the years who is only 9-10 in playoff games shouldn't be considered a great coach. That's part truth and part my disgust for the Colts.

I found it interesting that ESPN had breaking news that the Patriots will franchise Matt Cassel. What did you expect the Patriots to do, let him become a free agent and then turn around and sign with a division rival or another team that they play on a regular basis? This is where the true genius of Belichick comes into play. If Tom Brady needs more time to heal, then they can go into next season with Cassel at the healm. However, it appears that Brady will be ready to go so the Patriots can now take their time and work out a deal to send Cassel to a team of their choosing, such as an NFC opponent that they don't play very often. They'll get more and higher draft picks by trading him and they'll also have the flexibility of sending him to a destination of their choice. Yeah, it kind of sucks for Cassel but he'll also be making $14 million next year whether he plays in New England or not.

Can someone please explain to me why the Buffalo Bills are keeping Dick Jauron as their coach? This team started 5-1 and finished the year at 7-9, for the third straight year. Owner Ralph Wilson said the team needed some continuity rather than an overhaul. By that logic, shouldn't Thurman Thomas still be the starting running back? This team looked lifeless the last two months of the year and Jauron's play calling was among the worst I saw this year. Look for Jauron to be out of a job by week eight next year as a young Bills team struggles to overcome this year's failures.

Lastly, I'd like to vent about tight end Benjamin Watson. Earlier this year, I commented on how some company should sponsor each of his dropped passes. Well, as you can see from the video below, not only is Watson adapt at dropping passes, he's also adapt at fumbling the ball when no one is even trying to strip it from him. Does he put vaseline on his gloves and arms to do this? It seems almost impossible to do, doesn't it? Anyway, enjoy one of the worst fumbles you'll ever see:

Patriots Break Another Record

I'm back from my two month bye-week and ready to tackle the sports world once again. Yeah, blogging would be a lot easier if work didn't always get in the way.

Anyway, I wanted to start the New Year off on a positive note so I thought I'd direct you to a well written piece that came out shortly after Tom Brady went down with his season ending injury. In this piece, the author boldly predicts the Patriots will still finish the season at 11-5 without Tom Brady. Hey, that was written by me!

What I didn't predict was that they'd go 11-5 with a ton of other key contributors being lost at various times during the season, such as Rodney Harrison, Laurence Maroney (I'm not sure if he counts or not, since he pretty much stinks), Tedy Bruschi, Ellis Hobbs, Richard Seymour, Shawn Crable, Adalius Thomas, Tank Williams, Pierre Woods, Ty Warren, Terrence Wheatley and the list seems to go on forever. It got so bad that during the last game of the year, cornerback Lewis Sander went down with an arm injury and I was actually thinking that he is a vital part to the Patriots defense.

People around here are a tad bit upset that the 11-5 Patriots are heading home while teams like San Diego (8-8) and Arizona (9-7) are hosting first round playoff games by virtue of winning their sucky divisions. Not me. I think what happened to the Patriots was the best case scenario. Look, this team was so depleted that we had to call Junior Seau off the beach to fill a hole at linebacker the last four weeks. And Rosevelt Colvin was out of football until he answered the Belicheatphone. So now the Patriots have the distinction of being the winningest team to not make the playoffs. I almost think Belichick went for this record on purpose.

Back to my point about this being the best case scenario for the Patriots: had the Patriots snuck into the playoffs, I would have given them next to no chance of winning a single game. Winning their last four games in a row (against Seattle, Oakland, Arizona and Buffalo) to get to 11-5 was a nice run but the fact is that the only teams they beat with winning records this year were the Jets, Dolphins and Cardinals. That's not exactly high competition when you consider that they lost to the Chargers, Colts and Steelers. This team just wasn't going to be a factor in January football.

Anyway, there's lots to talk about in the next few weeks as it relates to the Patriots. It looks like their personnel will be raided again this year with the possible defections of Scott Pioli and Josh McDaniels. We also have some interesting stories floating out there about the resurgence of Eric Mangini and Romeo Crennel with new teams (why anyone would want to hire either of these coaches is beyond me). But even with the past defections of Mangini, Crennel and even Charlie Weiss, the story is still the same- in Belichick we trust.

So when it's time to franchise Matt Cassel, make a hard decision on Tom Brady's recovery, decide whether to bring back Rodney Harrison, fix the defense and what sleeper to pick in next year's draft, it comes down to Belichick and Belichick alone.

As a special welcome back bonus, here are my picks for this week's NFL Playoffs. I haven't forgotten that the winning team is in CAPS, have you?

INDIANAPOLIS at San Diego
I just had a really bad thought. What if it comes down to a Colts-Giants Super Bowl. Which Manning do you root against? Think of the hype for that game, plus all of the Manning commercials. I feel sick.

ATLANTA at Arizona
The Patriots absolutely demolished Arizona two weeks ago where the Cardinals looked helpless to do anything but punt the ball away. Look for that trend to continue against a tough Atlanta offense.

BALTIMORE at Miami
Hey, Miami, congratulations on winning the AFC East. Now you get to play one of the toughest defenses in the entire NFL over the last decade.

Philadelphia at MINNESOTA
I guess the Vikings are the only home team I'm picking this weekend. And the only logical reason I can think of is that I really don't trust Donovan McNabb or his mother in big games. And I'm pretty sure that Adrian Peterson is going to rush for 285 yards in the first half.