Sports Weekly:January 1st

Well its that time again the playoffs are upon us.Sadly my 8-8 Rams failed to qualify courtesy of waiting until December to win.(Here's to you defense).But that won't prevent me from sitting down and killing 3 and half hours watching football so now its time for me to make my picks for the 2006 Playoffs.

AFC:

Wildcard:
Chiefs over Colts-Yes I'm going for a first round upset.Why? Because of the way the Colts performed in the past 3 weeks.I see Larry Johnson having a big day and the Chiefs walking into the RCA Dome with a win.

Jets over Patriots-The Jets have been hot since the Chicago game and the last time they went to New England they walked in,held Tom Brady and the Patriots offense to 7 points and won decisively I see a repeat here.

Divisional Playoffs:
Chargers over Chiefs-Last time KC went to San Diego they were beaten soundly I see it again here
Ravens over Jets-I think the Baltimore D will be too much for Pennington and the Jets.

AFC Championship:
Chargers over Ravens-I know the Ravens D beat San Diego in Week 4 but this is different.For one,that was Week 4 a lot has changed since then and two,this is cold and sometimes rainy Baltimore this is sunny San Diego I see the Chargers beating Ravens and going to Superbowl XLI.

NFC Playoffs:

NFC Wild Card:
Seahawks over Dallas-Dallas has been horrible this month(They lost to Detroit!) and this game is in Seattle I see another L for Dallas.
Eagles over Giants-I counted Philly out a month ago but ever since the Carolina game they have been on it and the last time these two met Philly won 36-22 in the Meadowlands I see another win for Philly.

NFC Divisional:
Bears over Seahawks-The last time these two met in Chicago the Bears won 37-6.Whats that tell ya?
Eagles over Saints-New Orleans,in my opinion hasn't been the same since the lost to Washington 2 weeks ago.Philly has been hot and I see them pulling off the upset and knocking off Bush and Brees in New Orleans.

NFC Championship:
Eagles over Bears-Call me an idiot but looking at this Eagle team I see something thats going to get them past Chicago in a huge upset and to Miami for the Superbowl for the 2nd time in 3 years.

Superbowl XLI:
Chargers over Eagles-This is where the Eagles fuel finally runs out I see a nice little high scoring game with the Chargers pulling it off and LaDanian Tomlinson getting MVP Honors.

Now off to St.Louis

Coming into this year I actually thought we had a good team.The three problems we had for the previous 2 years were gone(Larry Marmie,Mike Martz,and injuries which made 2005 the Worst Rams team I've ever seen).The first month was amazing as we started out 2-1 and were 4-1 entering Week 6 against Seattle.I say what hurt us was that game.Had Josh Brown missed that kick I believe that our season would've turned out a whole lot different.I believe that kick killed our confidence for the rest of the season and I think we would be up there with the Saints and Bears had he missed.From that point on until the December 11th game against Chicago we went down hill and was 5-8 and had lost 7 out of our last 8 heading to Oakland.We blew them out 20-0,beat Washington in OT 37-31,and concluded our season with a 41-21 blowout of Minnesota.I now sit here wondering what would've happened if Josh Brown missed BOTH Field Goals?We would be 10-6 and most likely facing either Seattle or Dallas in Round 1 and I possibly would've given them a shot at winning the Superbowl but alas it didn't happen.I'm not dissapointed I should've expected less because of the new coaching staff but overall its still better than last years mediocre 6-10 season and better than the 8-8 squad we had in 2004.Will we be back next year? I don't know but we're 100x the team we were in 2005 and 50x the team in 04.Heres looking toward August when we kick off our (pre)season.

Now over to College Park.The Terps concluded the season with a 24-7 win over the Boilermakers of Purdue to finish 9-4.To say that I'm happy would be an understatement and very very happy with the way the 2006 Season turned out.Coming into this season I didn't expect much and predicted our record to be 6-6 and playing where Miami played at tonight(Bronco Stadium aka Smurf Turf) but the fact we were contenders for the ACC Title to the week BEFORE the championship made the season for me and restored confidence in my team which had been previously erased from two consecutive 5-6 seasons and marked the return of my trademark Maryland hat after a two year absense.Next season I don't expect much with Hollenback and Wilson leaving but I'll wait til I see our recruits and spring practice reports on TV in April to judge for myself for next year.Overall great season lets do it again next year!
And now onto my Bowl Picks.I entered this week with a 6-0 record and went 11-4 following the Miami/Nevada game to go 17-4 my best record after 21 games and theres around 11 more I believe with 6 tomorrow(Cotton,Capitol One,Gator,Outback,Rose,and Fiesta).Let me remind you picks for those games(Auburn,Arkansas,West Virginia,Tennessee,USC,and Oklahoma).So hopefully I'll be 23-4 by the time January 2nd begins and finish 28-4 overall.
Now its time for my recommended game of the week.This time instead of a whole lot of games I'll just give you one and that is the Rose Bowl which will be ABC tomorrow at 4:30/1:30 pacific on ABC as USC takes on Michigan in the consolation game of the BCS and what I predict will be THE game of 2007.

On that note I'd like to hand my awards for the 2006 NFL Season.Here are the awards.

MVP:Devin Hester-At the beginning of the season no one expected Hester to do as well he has done this season.He has returned 6 for touchdowns this year:A game winning punt return against Arizona for 83 yards,the memorable 108 yard Field Goal return against New York,and two kick returns for a touchdown against St.Louis.In my opinion they should try him as a Wide Reciever even though they did it for one play against Tampa I feel that they should try it in preseason next year and give it a shot full time if he does well overall THE player of the year in the National Football League.

Team of the Year:San Diego Chargers-Last year they didn't even the playoffs but this year they're on fire with a 14-2 record.Not only this but they have managed to have an explosive offense.The first two games they outscored both Oakland and Tennessee 67-7.After slipping against Baltimore they won two straight including a 48-19 rout of San Francisco.They lost to KC by 3 the next week but haven't loss since.Not only that but they've managed to score more than 20 in 13 of their games this year and have dropped 40 plus 4 times this season.Overall Phillip Rivers and LaDamien Tomlinson have made San Diego the team to beat and the team of the year.

Comeback Team of the Year:New Orleans Saints-In 2005 the Saints suffered from losing their home in New Orleans and a 3-13 season.Over the off season the Saints signed Drew Brees and drafted Reggie Bush and now stand at 10-6 with the No.2 seed in the NFC Playoffs.

Worst Team of the Year:Oakland Raiders-Wow what a difference 3 years makes.It was just 2003 that this team was playing for the Superbowl and now here they stand in the basement of the NFL in the Brady Quinn lottery.They started out 0-5 but won two straight over Arizona and Pittsburgh but haven't won since.Not only that but they've lost every road game this year.The last time they won on the road was November 20th of last year against the Skins.To make matters worse they've only scored 3 touchdowns this month and lost to Houston Texans in a game where the Texans had -5 passing yards.They've been shut out 3 times this season,failed to score a touchdown in 6 games and didn't even score one until Week 4.Aaron Brooks has turned out to be a major flop for this team and Art Shell won't even have a job by the time Superbowl XLI hits.It'll be amazing if he makes it after this sham of a year.

Game of the Year:Chicago vs Arizona-(Now I know your wondering what makes this the game of the year well a few things do.Number 1 the game itself has a good story to it that being the Bears are 5-0 coming off a 37-6 rout of Seattle and a 40-7 blowout against Buffalo while there opponets the Arizona Cardinals are 1-4 and are considered to be the worst franchise in NFL history by many.Not only that but its Matt Leinart's Monday Night Football debut and here he has a chance to defeat the unbeaten Bears.To the shock of many the Cards jump out to a 20-0 lead at halftime.Chicago manages to score midway through the 3rd quarter to make it 20-3 but Arizona makes it 23-3 with 1:47 left in the 3rd Quarter that is where Chicago began to comeback.With 2 seconds left in the 3rd a fumble return pulled the Bears within 13.With 5:00 left Chicago pulled within 7 to make it 23-17 and after Arizona failed to convert on 3rd down they punted the ball away only to have Devin Hester return it for 83 yards for the gamewinning score and come from behind victory.

Coach of the Year:Eric Mangini-NO ONE expected the Jets to make the playoffs because of the inexpirience of there Head Coach(who is the first to be born AFTER Monday Night Football was launched)and he managed to bring them to the playoffs.With Mangini I see a bright future for the Jets.

Now for my Year End Awards for 2006

Athletes of the Year:Vince Young-When 2006 began Young was playing for the National Championship of College Football for the University of Texas against the unbeaten USC Trojans.In that game Young managed to pass for 267 yards,rush for 200 yards and 3 touchdowns of 14,17,and 8 which clinched the game.In April Young was drafted by the Tennessee Titans.Young made his first start for the Titans on October 1st against the Dallas Cowboys.Young managed to pass for 155 yards and one passing touchdown but in the end it wasn't enough as Dallas prevailed 45-14.The next week Young and the Titans shocked everyone by nearly beating the Indianapolis Colts but fell short 14-13 in the RCA Dome.At this point the Titans were 0-5 and Young was 0-2 as a starter but things started picking up for Young following two consecutive wins over Washington and Houston.Only for the Titans to be blown out 37-7 in Jacksoville in a game where Young managed to get 163 passing yards.Young and the Titans stunned people again jumping out to a 26-7 lead on the Baltimore Ravens in Week 10 but at the end fell short losing 27-26.The Titans were now 2-7 with no sign of anything but they haven't loss since.Young the next week helped the Titans pull of a 31-13 upset of the Eagles.Yung rallied the Titans from being down 21-0 with under 10 minutes remaining to win 24-21 against the Giants leading to a showdown the following week against the Indianapolis Colts.The heavily favored Colts jumped out to a 14-0 lead when the Titans closed the cap at 14-10 at halftime.The Titans took the lead with 12:24 remaining in the 4th quarter.A Vinatieri field goal tied it at 17 with 2:38 left in the game.Young drove the Titans toward the Indianapolis 42 yard line and with 7 seconds left Titan kicker Rob Bironas nailed a 60 yard kick to give the Titans a 20-17 edge.Young threw for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns The following week Young returned home to Houston where he threw for 218 yards and won the game in overtime with a 39 yard run giving the Titans a 26-20 victory.Against Jacksonville Young had an off day as it was the Titans D that led them to a 24-17 victory over the Jags.And just last week Young threw for 183 yards and 2 touchdown with 61 yards rushing to give the Titans a 30-29 edge over the Bills.So in a matter of 1 year Vince Young has managed to lead Texas to a National Championship defeating a team comprised of 2 Heisman trophy winners,turn a 2-7 team around to an 8-7 record in his ROOKIE year,and lead that team over BOTH Manning brothers.Definatly the athlete of the year and despite losing today he had the most passing yards in the game and managed to win 6 out of the last 7 games for Tennessee.

Game of the Year:USC vs Texas-What makes this the game of 2006 is that you had everything to this game.It had hype,star power,and phenominal athletes.The story coming into this game was that USC hadn't loss a game since the 2003 season and was looking towards their 3rd straight National Championship something that had been never done with 2 Heisman trophy winners on their squad,that being Leinart and Bush of course.For Texas it was the opportunity to recapture something that had been missing since 1969...a National Championship.In the past few seasons prior to this the only thing that kept Texas from a BCS Bowl bid and the Big 12 Title was the Oklahoma Sooners.The Longhorns had managed to defeat the Sooners and advance toward the Big 12 Championship and for Vince Young to make the gurantee happen as in 2005 he and the Longhorns beat Michigan and afterwards Young stated that he'll be back in the Rose Bowl next year.The game itself turned out to be what people expected as USC dominated early leaning toward a 7-0 lead to start.Bush then caught a pass from Leinart on the next possesion but a lateral by Bush proved costly as they turned the ball over.Texas then scored 16 unanswered to make it a 9 point lead but a field goal before halftime pulled the Trojans within 6 at 16-10.USC regained the lead in the 3rd at 17-16 but the Longhorns bounced back to take a 23-17 lead.USC would then score again at 24-23.A missed kick by the Longhorns gave the ball back to the Trojans and suddenly it was 31-23 in favor of USC.Another Longhorn field goal made it 31-26.With 6 minutes left the Trojans scored again to make it 38-26.Texas managed to score quick to pull within 5 and on USC's next possesion on 4th and 2 with a little over 2 minutes left the Trojans handed the ball to LenDale White who was stopped short turning the ball over to the Longhorns.Vince Young then worked his magic and with 19 seconds to go on 4th and Goal he ran in the gamewinning Touchdown to give Texas the 41-38 victory in what I call the greatest college football game of all time for reasons stated earlier.

Now onto the most important topic of the day NFL Player wise.In case you weren't watching the Green Bay Packers played the Chicago Bears on NBC earlier this evening and won 26-7 with Brett Favre possibly playing his final NFL game ever.Watching his reaction in the post game report I believe he may be gone just going by him tearing up and the picture he took with the teammates.In my opinion I believe he should retire he's given 15 good years and he had great performance tonight and it would be a great way of going out.So Brett,I know you don't know me nor are you reading this but retire now you've accomplished everything and you have nothing to prove I just don't want to see someone who is as great as you are take the Chris Chandler path and wind up playing 2nd string QB for the St.Louis Rams and throwing several INTS and being the shadow of your former self.Its been a great run Brett but I believe its time for you to hang it up and hand over the team to Aaron Rogers.I've seen him play for California and I think he can be a potential great leader for this team in the future.