With the NFL season now past the half way mark it's time to look at what will happen in the second half and in the playoffs. The first half of the season was marked by parody and the second half should be no different. With the exception of a few teams its not an easy call to say who will finish where, but I'm gonna do it anyways.
Here's who will make the playoffs:
AFC
1.Patriots
2.Colts
3.Steelers
4.Titans
5.Chiefs
6.Chargers
The first three teams here are pretty much a given. It's obvious that the Patriots and Colts will continue to roll through their competition, and the Steelers will get the third slot due to their solid play, and because the the poor and inconsistent play from the rest of their division. The bottom three playoff positions are much more difficult to call. The Titans and Chiefs are similar in the way that on paper they don't seem all that special, but they always seem to find a way to win. The Chargers are a tough call. They were a sexy pre-season pick to make the Super Bowl but so far this season they've underachieved big time. They'll manage to play a little bit better in the second half and they'll barely sneak in.
Teams on the brink: Bills and Jaguars
NFC
1.Cowboys
2.Lions
3.Packers
4.Saints
5.Giants
6.Seahawks
The NFC is a little easier to predict. It's just harder to determine where the teams will finish. The Cowboys have been dominant all season long and will easily haul in the number one seed. Although Detroit has been a little inconsistent at times, when they're at their best they look unstoppable. No one could have predicted a start this great by the Pack. They'll continue playing well in the second half, but there's no way they finish 14-2. The Saints are the hottest team in the NFC and it looks like their hot streak will continue especially because of their weak division. After their 0-2 start, the Giants have looked impressive, but it's hard to forget about their collapse down the stretch last season. And the only reason the Seahawks get in is because they're the best team in footballs weakest division.
Teams on the brink:Redskins and Panthers
Who's gonna win it all?
There won't be any major upsets in the playoffs until the NFC Championship game when the Lions upset the Cowboys. And no, it won't be because Tony Romo fumbles the snap on an extra point or because he causes a safety in overtime. It will come down to John Kitna playing a better game.
In the AFC we'll get another treat as the Colts will visit the Patriots. Just like in week nine, it will be a tight one, but the Patriots will once again come out on top.
So the Super Bowl will come down to the team everyone knew would make it and a former laughing stock. This one won't be much of a game though. Final Score: Patriots 42-Lions 17.
That's it. Don't agree with my predictions? Tell me yours then. Enjoy tonight's game!
-Joe Osborne
Monday, November 5, 2007
Forcasting the Future: NFL Style
Video of the Day:Best Goals of All-Time
Wow! It's hard to argue about any of these goals being on the list.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Friday's Fives
This is a new feature I'll be doing every Friday. The top and bottom five sports related things of the week. Let's get it going!
Top Five
1.The hype for Sunday's game between the Patriots and Colts: Most things in sports get over hyped. This is not one of those things. In 88 NFL seasons two teams with records of 7-0 or better have never played. This should be a fun one to watch.
2.The Red Sox win the World Series: Wait a minute. There was a World Series this year? Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Even though this years World Series had about as much excitement as a fat guy has going on a diet, the Sox deserve to be acknowledged for their dominating performance.
3.The start of the NBA season: New faces in new places, rookies to get excited about, players demanding trades. You got to love the drama that is the NBA. It should be a fun season.
4.New MLB managers: Joe Torre has moved on to LA, while Joe Girardi will fill his shoes in New York. Both seem like great moves. Wouldn't it be great if these two teams met in the World Series next year?
5.Henrik Lundqvist: In four games the Rangers goalie has allowed only four goals and has two shut outs. He'll have to keep it up if the Rangers offense continues playing poorly.
Bottom Five
5. Montreal's Media: Shame on them for heavily criticizing Canadians captain Saku Koivu for not being able to speak French. Just because he's the teams captain doesn't mean he has to speak the city's official language. That's like saying the captain of the Florida Panthers has to be a mildly racist senior citizen.
4. Opening night of the NBA season: Is it just me or did opening night in the NBA barely even make a glitch on the radar. Opening night of the NFL season is built up for weeks, and it's marketed to be a major event. The NBA should do something similar.
3. The Philadelphia Flyers: Apparently when the Flyers said they were gonna try to 'kill' their competition this season they weren't lying. Add two more incidents this week to the Flyers dirty hit list. And no, it's not a coincidence that the Flyers have been the only team to receive suspensions for illegal hits this year.
2. The NFL game in London: What a poor display of what's suppose to be America's most popular sport to our friends in the UK. A very sloppy game that will go down as one of the worst of the season.
1. A-Rod's announcement: What a bone head. Why couldn't he and his agent wait to announce he'll become a free agent. Doing it during the final game of the World Series showed no respect for the game. A-Rod has about as much class as a high school drop out.
Somewhere in the middle: Apparently Lance Armstrong is dating Ashley Olsen of the Olsen twins. Don't believe me? Check this out- http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20156021,00.html. On one hand you want to give the guy a high five, but when you really think about it, it seems creepy. Either way, Lance is a PLAYA!
Enjoy your weekend, and have fun watching the Colts and Pats!
-Joe Osborne
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Is the UFC a Fad?
Since it began airing on Spike TV over two years ago the UFC has been like a non stop locomotive headed straight to the top of mainstream sports. In the past few months however, it seems like that locomotive has been slowing down, and it now appears to be at a standstill. With so much negativity surrounding it as of late, is the UFC a fad? Let's take a look at three reasons why the UFC could be in decline.
1. Way to many upsets: Upsets make sports fun. They make betting fun and they give us a reason to watch. But the UFC has seen a wild amount of upsets in the past year. GSP's loss to Serra, Liddell's losses to Rampage and Keith Jardine, Cro Cop and Shogun getting beat, the list goes on. It's hard for the UFC to promote its best fighters when their losing. Too many upsets also keep us fans from seeing the fights we want to see. Unpredictability is good, but when there's too much of it how do you determine who fights who, and more importantly how do you determine who gets a title shot? Just look at the light heavyweight division. How are you supposed to figure out whose next in line for a shot at Rampage after all the recent upsets?
2. Championships are in Limbo: Three out of the five weight classes have major problems. Heavyweight champ Randy Couture retired, and it doesn't look like he'll come back. This looks really bad on the UFC for many reasons, but more importantly how will they determine who fights for the belt, and will the eventual winner even be worthy? The Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva is arguably the best fighter in the UFC and in a league of his own. No one else in that weight class is even worthy of fighting him, and no fight with any current fighter in that division makes sense. And finally onto the Lightweight Championship. Since winning the belt well over a year ago Champion Sean Sherk has only defended his title once. Because of two reasons- an injury, and a failed steroid test that's being disputed. The Lightweight division is the opposite of the Middleweight division. There's probably 4 or 5 guys out there that would be worthy of a title shot, but things are really getting held up. The bottom line is that there needs to be some stability in the championship ranks.
3. Is too much of a good thing bad?: it seems to me that there's way too many live fight cards now. There's a Pay-Per View pretty much every month and a few live events on Spike every few months as well. And rumor has it that the UFC is trying to negotiate a deal with ESPN after their deal with HBO fell through. There just isn't enough talent to go around. What's the point of broadcasting fights between below average fighters? I know every fight can't be a championship bout, but there are way too many lackluster fights as it is. Too many fights will make the UFC watered down. Rashad Evans vs. Michael Bisping in the main event of this months PPV? I think that proves my point. There's no way they should be headlining a PPV event. Seven or eight PPV’s a year would be great! The fight cards would be more stacked, which in the long run would draw in more viewers.
Every sport has its ups and downs and the UFC will be no different. They’ve learned to deal with ignorant people in the media who look at their sport as human cockfighting and they’ll learn to deal with this. Randy Couture’s resignation seems to be their biggest issue at this time, but the recent signing of Brock Lesnar will help fill his void. I’m a fan of the UFC; I just don’t want to see them make mistakes that will costs them current and potential fans. Is the UFC a fad? I hope not, but it still has a long way to go.
-Joe Osborne
As always, tell me what you think. Am I out of line to even bring up such a subject, or do you think the UFC will be gone in a few years?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Video of the Day: Crazy Play
What do you think? Horrible defense or great athleticism by the offense?
