Kurt Warner

Kurt Warner is holding a press conference tomorrow and I assume it is to retire. And I actually hope it is for him to retire.

I have absolutely loved watching this guy perform for the last decade but with all the concussions he has had it is the right time to walk away. There is no sense coming back again next year and risking some permanent damage to himself. And I think he is one of the few guys out there smart enough to realize it.

I don't think there is any questions that Warner is a Hall of Famer, not with the numbers he put up in St. Louis, including a Super Bowl win and another appearance, and with the Cards ,which included taking the worst franchise in the league to the Super Bowl (that in itself is H of F worthy). Above all else this guy has been an incredible story. He came out of the Arena League and worked his ass off every day. He is a great family man who has never had any kind of trouble off the field. He was always a fantastic teammate in a league full of bad ones and nobody in the NFL has ever had anything bad to say about him. And above all else he never developed the ego or God complex that other high-profile QBs developed. He was a class act and the NFL will miss him a lot.

Seriously? Again?

Dear Brett,

Can you please just tell everyone you are coming back to play next year and not put everyone through this shit again?

I realize you are a diva with a Grand Canyon size ego who consistently needs the spotlight on you, but many thousands of people who used to really like you are tired of you and now can't stand you (I myself am in this category). The last thing I need to see on Super Bowl Sunday is your media lackey Peter King leading his segment with a story on you. It is really not fair to the Saints or Colts, or the fans of those two teams for that matter.

As much as I would love to see the final throw of your career be yet another team killing interception you tried to force because you always have to be the hero, I have full confidence you will come back next year and kill your team in the exact same fashion. I'm even looking forward to you showing once again why you are not in the same Best Ever class as Elway, Manning, Brady and Montana. So just admit you are coming back and make everyone happy.

Thank You for your time.

NFL Conference Title Games

Another 2-2 last week and I should have known better. The Cowboys and Chargers each returned to their badly coached choking ways and I should have seen that coming. Oh well.

I have to say that I am absolutely pulling for a Colts-Saints Super Bowl. That is the most interesting match up to me and since I am going to be in Vegas with Diamond Joe and TBone to watch it it would be even more awesome. How could anyone not be rooting for the Saints to get there? Will all they have been through since Katrina no team in pro sports is more important to the identity of the city. And with the Colts you have Peyton Manning looking for title number 2, which to me puts him ahead of Tom Brady in the Which One Is Better Argument.

AFC

New York Jets vs. Indianapolis Colts

Two things to keep in mind. First the Jets backed into the playoffs when the Colts and Bengals rolled over in weeks 16 and 17. They then beat a deer in the playoff headlights Bengals and a perennial choker in the Chargers. Second the Jets are built on running the ball and defense, just like the Ravens who the Colts beat with ease last week. I'm sorry to all you Jets fans but this one won't be close. Each time the Colts had the ball in the first match up they did whatever they wanted and I don't see that changing. Manning is the best in the league in picking up blitzes and throws the ball so quickly that he rarely gets sacked. He also has too many receivers for the Jets to stop. Revis may shut down Reggie Wayne but that means Clark and Garcon have huge days. And on the other side of the ball the Colts defense is lightning fast and will get to Mark Sanchez. The Jets will have to force at least 4 turnovers to win and I don't see any way that happens. And you know the Colts want to bury them after the Week 16 mess.

Colts 31 Jets 10

NFC

Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints

Brett Favre has had a fantastic year. As much as I hate him I can't argue otherwise. But Drew Brees has been better and will be today. The Vikes have been a bad road team this year and playing in the SuperDome is going to be really hard on their defense. I thing they are going to get a couple offside penalties early and then have a hard time getting off the ball due to the crowd noise. I don't see them getting a lot of pressure on Brees and him having a huge day. I also think Reggie Bush, the Saints X Factor, is going to be huge again. Bush is a big game player since his days at USC and is one of those guys who needs the spotlight. Well he has got it here. As for Favre I think he has a really bad game, the type I have predicted would kill the Vikes all year. The Saints have a fast, opportunistic, ball hawking D that is going to force Favre into those panicked INTs he always throws into double and triple coverage. And with the saints scoring early and often the Vikes will have to rely on him because they won't be able to run all day with Adrian Peterson. If this game were in Minny I might like the Vikes, but I have been saying all year the home field advantage is just to too much to overcome in the Big Easy.

Saints 35 Vikes 17

Tiger

I wanted to talk about Tiger this week but I have been in Toronto for a funeral and haven't had time. I will touch on this this week. But I will say this, he will be back in time for Bay Hill if not earlier. The only thing Tiger has ever wanted to really do is win golf tournaments. Fixing his marriage would be stupid for him because he clearly never wanted to be married. The best thing for him to do is get back on the course and start winning again, which he will do about eight times this year including at least two majors.

More NFL Playoffs

I was 2-2 last week and greatly enjoyed watching the Pats get their asses handed to them by the Ravens. I like Brady but hate the rest of the team, especially their head coach.

NFC

Arizona Cardinals +7 at New Orleans Saints.

I emailed Diamond Joe earlier this week to say that the over/under on this game should be about 90 and I meant it. There will be absolutely no defense in this game. Or running game for that matter the way Warner and Brees are playing. It's really tempting to take the Cards but I have said all year I thought the Saints were going to the Super Bowl because the Superdome is going to be so tough to play in on the rad in the playoffs. I think the Saints get a couple more turnovers than the Cards and that's the difference.

Saints 49 Cards 41

Dallas Cowboys +2.5 at Minnesota Vikings

As much as I enjoyed watching the Pats get waxed last week I am going to enjoy watching Brett Favre have a terrible game and get waxed against Dallas. Which is saying something given how much I hate the Cowboys. The Vikes haven't beaten a good team in about 2 months (the Packers were playing piss poor the last time they played) and the Dallas D is relentless right now. The Vikes D can slow down Romo but not that much. I expect this to be a blowout and Favre to thrown at least three picks.

Dallas 31 Minnesota 13

AFC

Baltimore Ravens +6.5 at Indianapolis Colts

The Ravens are scary because of their running game and their defense but the problem is they are going to have to put the ball in Joe Flacco's hands and have him make plays in this game. The Colts are going to put up points because as good as the Ravens D is, the Colts offense is better and the Ravens are going to have to play from behind. And I don't think the Colts taking weeks 16 and 17 off will affect them to much. They may be sluggish for the first 7 or 8 minutes but it really won't matter in the end.

Indy 31 Baltimore 17

New York Jets +7 at San Diego Chargers

The only team that can beat the Colts is the Chargers. Will they get the chance? Given their propensity to blow big playoff games the past few years it is easy to think they may lose to the Jets. But I just don't see it. The Chargers are just flying right now and I don't see how Mark Sanchez can have do enough to win this game. The Jets are going to have to put some points on the board and that means Sanchez has to throw more than the 15 times he did against Cincy and that will be trouble, even against the Chargers terrible secondary. As much as I would like to see the Jets win and see them get destroyed in areal rematch against Indy it won't happen.

Chargers 24 Jets 10

Pete Carroll and the USC Shuffle

It's hard not to be jaded when you see the Seattle Seahawks fire a perfectly good coach in Jim Mora to bring in Pete Carroll for two reasons.

The first reason is about Carroll's decision. He is clearly fleeing USC because they are about to get slammed for NCAA violations related to recruiting and improper benefits under his watch. Why else would he leave? He basically runs a pro team at USC already and can recruit Top 10 talent wihtout having to travel more than 10 miles in any direction of campus. It has to be pending punishment so in that sense I perfectly understand him leaving.

The second reason is about Seattle's decision. Do they not realize this guy is a lousy coach? He underperformed with good talent in New England and with the Jets and was an awful game coach at USC. He was a great college coach because he could recruit and put absolutely loaded teams on the field. But he was an awful play caller who should have been in the BCS title game every other year. Instead USC always lost games they shouldn't have and then won big games when the BSC title game was out of reach. He won't last three years on a Seattle team that is clearly rebuilding.

And as for USC brining in Lane Kiffin? I'll leave it to Pat Forde who expresses my thoughts perfectly. Has a guy ever been given more hype and money for doing so little as a head football coach? Not to mention what a complete dick he seems to be?

McGwire Comes Clean.

No pun intended on that headline either. So Mark McGwire has finally admitted to using steroids for years. After the humiliation he suffered after wussing out in front of congress this hardly even qualifies as a story, which is why my commentary here is brief.

Now that he is the hitting coach for the Cardinals he had to do this now or else it would have been hanging over the team from the 1st day of spring training. So in that sense he is only admitting it because the cards probably told him too. Either way this should be out of the news in about three days.

NFL Wild Card Weekend

Well after a less than stellar 6-9-1 last week left me at a less than stellar 122-129-5 for the year we march onwards towards the playoffs. And if I nail all 11 I end up over .500 for the year. So that's just what I'll do.

AFC

(5) New York Jets +2.5 at (4) Cincinnati Bengals

I don't like either of these teams. The Bengals can't score enough to play from behind but luckily for them the Jets can't score at all. You can right off the Jets hot finish because they played bad Bills and Bucs teams then had wins over the Colts and Bengals when both teams quit. So how does this one go? I see the Bengals defense making Mark Sanchez beat them and wrecking his confidence early. The Jets will run effectively but once they fall behind, which they will, Sanchez will throw some soul crushing INTs. Either way I see the winner of this game losing by 20 next week.

Bengals 17 Jets 9

(6) Baltimore Ravens +3 at (3) New England Patriots

The one thing Ton Brady can do is lead his team. With Wes Welker out I have no doubt he can convince Randy Moss to bust his ass in this one and be the difference maker. But making that happen is something else. The Ravens are the big enigma in this playoffs. To start the year they looked like the best team in the AFC and then they lost at NE due to a dropped pass late. You know their defense is tough and can dominate this game. They will frustrate Brady because they are the one team that can get to him and knock him around consistently. And the Pats, who have been smoke and mirrors all season due to their bad D, are in deep shit without Welker. It comes down to the Ravens offense. Can they catch the ball and put up points? I say they can and will hand the Pats their first home loss this season.

Ravens 24 Patriots 17

NFC

(5) Green Bay Packers +1 at (4) Arizona cardinals

I said last week that I could see either of these teams making the Super Bowl or losing by 3o this week and I still stand by it. The interesting thing here is that the Packs away record is better than the card home record so home field doesn't mean much. If the Cards hadn't made the Super Bowl last year I would give them no chance but they did so they no how to win in the playoffs. I also think Kurt Warner is scary as hell in a tight game. As much as I would love to see Green Bay go into Minnesota and knock off the Vikings I don't think they will get the chance.

Cards 31 Pack 28

(6) Philadelphia Eagles +4 at (3) Dallas Cowboys

As putrid as the Eagles looked last week I don't think that matters that much. They fell behind early and decided to stop throwing down field and I don't see that happening again. The Eagles are also 7-0 in their first playoff games with Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid. The Cowboys on the other hand are hopeless in the playoffs and I am still not sold on the Tony Romo/Wade Phillips combo. As good as the Cowboys defense is playing I just think a couple of turnovers will give the Eagles great field position and that will be the difference.

Eagles 27 Cowboys 17

Andrew Dawson - Hall of Famer

My long nightmare is finally over as Andre Dawson was finally elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday. I have said it before and I will say it again, this guy was the ultimate five tool player. If he hadn't played his early career on the concrete mess that was Olympic Stadium his knees would not have been destroyed by the time he made it out of Montreal and he would have put up first ballot numbers. I'm glad that his career is being looked at differently now in light of all the artificial numbers that have been put up over the past 20 years due to steroids because there was absolutely nothing he couldn't do on a baseball field. It's a shame the rest of North America never got to see him in his prime.

And it looks as though Robbie Alomar got close enough that he will get in next year. I say he should have been a first ballot guy and is without question the best and most complete player to ever wear a Blue Jay uniform. He could beat you in about 100 different ways.

New Year's Resolution

My New Year's Resolution was to get back to updating this blog regularly. For the past 12-18 months I have been spotty at best but that will change. I have pledged to start getting more out of my personal life this year and this site is a big part of that. I plan to get back to regular sports posts but also getting back into movie reviews, TV conversations, Pursuit of Leisure Hotties and other things as I think of them.

Stay tuned and keep checking back. I promise an increased presence this year.

MLB Hall of Fame

Here's hoping Andre Dawson finally gets voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame today. He sure as hell deserves to be and I really don't want to have to go on my annual rant about why he should of been voted in but wasn't.

NFL Week 17

Last week wasn't a total write off so I still have an outside shot at finishing over .500 which was the goal at the start of the year. And I promise next year to start paying attention to weather reports, injury list updates and other crap like that.

Either way it is only five weeks until the Super Bowl and Diamond Joe are headed down to Vegas for our second annual trip. And this time with an expanded crew including the likes of TBone.

Last Week: 7-8-1
Season: 116-120-4

Colts -5 over BILLS I am livid the way the Colts gave that game away last week. All they had to do was give Peyton one more possession and they would have put it away. The Jets hadn't touched him all game and there was no way he was going to get hurt. Seriously stupid of them. Especially in front of the home crowd. I have no idea who is playing for them today but is againt Buffalo so who cares.

Saints -5 over PANTHERS Saints need to get their act together this week heading into the playoffs

Jags +3 over BROWNS Unless theere is a -50 wind chill and blizzard I am not aware of how the hell are the Browns the favorite in this one?

Eagles +3 over COWBOYS Last year the Eagles blew out Dallas in a similar last season pressure game. ANd they will again this year.

Bears -3 over LIONS 12-3 so far this year picking against the Lions. And I predicted 12-4 pre-season.

Patriots +7 over TEXANS I assume Tom Brady will play until this one is over.

Steelers -3 over DOLPHINS Pittsburgh is the one team nobody wants to face in the playoffs. Provided they get in of course. Which they won't when the Bengals don't play anyone against the Jets tonight.

Giants +9 over VIKINGS Hey Minnesota fans, are you ready for your first round loss with 3 Favre INTs yet?

JETS -8.5 over Bengals Jets make the playoffs because the game doesn't matter to Cincy.

49ers -7 over RAMS Rams will clinch first overall pick so that's something for them to strive for.

Falcons -1 over BUCS One of those meaningless games that is tought to pick on week 17.

CARDS -3 over Packers I could see either one of these streaky teams getting hot and making the Super Bowl and either one of these teams losing by 30 in the Wild Card round. Seriously.

BRONCOS -12 over Chiefs The Broncos can end the season with a moral victory. Not that means anything in the National Football League (channeling my inner Ron Jaworski).

Raiders +10 over RAVENS I think this one will be pretty close. Oakland has actually been somewhat respectable at times this year.

CHARGERS -4 over Redskins This SD team is so hot right now I am not even sure Norv Turner can screw up a Super Bowl apperance.

Titans -5 over SEAHAWKS Chris Johnson should have no problem getting to 2,000 yards for the year against Seattle.