Super Bowl 54 Preview

It has finally arrived. This Sunday, Super Bowl 54 takes center stage. We started this football journey back in September. Thirty two teams started the year, all with the same goal in mind. Play for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The entire football world will descend on Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, to watch the two best teams in the NFL this season go head to head to determine a World Champion.

Kickoff is set for 6:30 PM between the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers and the AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs. San Francisco won the NFC West with a 13-3 record, the best in the NFC. It was good enough to get them a bye in the first round of the playoffs. San Francisco opened up the divisional round with a 27-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings. They followed it up with a 37-20 win in the NFC Championship game over the Green Bay Packers. This marks the 49ers' seventh Super Bowl appearance, and their first since Super Bowl XLVII. That year, they lost to the Baltimore Ravens 34–31. The 49ers are 5–1 record in their previous six appearances. A sixth Super Bowl title in team history will tie the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers with the most Super Bowl championships in the league.

Kansas City Won the AFC West for the 4th straight year, this time with a 12-4 record. It marked the sixth playoff appearance in seven seasons under Andy Reid. Kansas City also received a first round bye. Their playoffs started in the divisional round with a 51-31 win over the Houston Texans. Kansas City moved on to the AFC Championship game, dispatching the Tennessee Titans with a 35-24 victory. In both games, the Chiefs came back from big deficits. This marks the Chiefs' third Super Bowl appearance and their first since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. Kansas City is 1–1 in their two prior Super Bowls. They lost Super Bowl I to the Green Bay Packers, 35–10, and won Super Bowl IV, defeating the Minnesota Vikings, 23–7. The Super Bowl is also Andy Reid's second Super Bowl appearance as a head coach, his last coming in Super Bowl XXXIX in 2004 when he was the Philadelphia Eagles head coach.

The betting line for this game is Kansas City at -1.

If your the Chiefs, this is one game where getting behind early could be very detrimental to your chances of winning. It happened in their first two playoff games, against Houston and Tennessee, but its going to be different against the Niners. To be fair, this is a high powered Kansas City offense, that put up 51 points against the Texans and another 35 against the Titans. They know how to score. Patrick Mahomes and his weapons have been able to do more than enough to score in this year's playoffs. Mahomes has been en fuego the second half of the year. After returning from his injury, Mahomes has thrown 19 touchdowns and just four interceptions. And that's including the playoffs, in which he's thrown eight TDs and zero picks. Kansas City has been good in close games. The Chiefs have never lost a game by more than seven points with Mahomes as their starter, which is something that you need to keep an eye on in this ball game.

Meanwhile the 49ers can and have excelled in both close and blowout conditions throughout 2019. The 49ers are just as adapt as passing the ball as they are at running it. Look at the run game in the playoffs. San Francisco led all playoff teams in rushing yards after ranking among the NFL's top running teams in the regular season. One player to focus on for the Niners is Raheem Mostert, who exploded for 220 yards and four touchdowns against the Packers. Mostert's yardage and TD totals nearly broke all-time postseason records. It may have been a flash in the pan, but he's also been a model of consistency in running the football this year with this 49ewrs team. But what Kansas City has shown that they can do is shut the run game down. Look at what they did to the Titans last weekend. Can you trust Jimmy Garoppolo throwing the ball? He threw it for under 100 yards two weeks ago.

This is where things get interesting, it looks like it could be a pretty even attack between the two teams. The Chiefs can't get too far behind this 49ers team, because if they do, its going to be a tough hill to try and overcome. Sure, the 49ers defense is good, and they have an even balance between that and their offense. But the Chiefs have the more high powered offense, and once they get going, they're going to be hard to stop.

PREDICTION: Chiefs 31, 49ers 27

Kobe Bryant Legacy

Every so often, a person comes along that transcends their field and touches lives across the board. Elvis is a good example of this. Michael Jackson was a good example of this. From the sports world, there's a few names that comes to mind. Babe Ruth, Roberto Clemente and Thurman Munson come to mind right away. In modern times, Kobe Bryant fits that bill. He was one of the greatest players to ever step foot on a basketball court. His humanitarian effort off the court was the same way. The world lost Kobe on Sunday, who passed away, along with eight other people, in a helicopter accident. He was 41 years old.

Kobe's career on the court speaks for itself. Drafted in 1996 right out of high school, he spent his entire 20 year career with the Lakers. He won five NBA titles, and was MVP of two of those finals and was a 14 time all star. Don't need to get into any more of it because, well, its been well documented. Kobe is considered, and rightfully so, to be one of the top five, if not top three, players that have ever played in the NBA.

Kobe was known as the Black Mamba. Thanks to CBS Sports, it became clear as to why Kobe chose that nickname:

In a 2018 interview with Kent Babb of The Washington Post, Bryant revealed that the movie "Kill Bill" was the primary motivation for the "Black Mamba" nickname. In the film, an assassin uses a black mamba snake to kill another character. "The length, the snake, the bite, the strike, the temperament," Bryant said during the interview. "'Let me look this s--- up.' I looked it up — yeah, that's me. That's me!'" The purpose of becoming the "Black Mamba" was for Bryant to have an alter ego. It was a chance for Bryant to become an assassin on the court. (CBS Sports)

Kober did whatever he had to do to try and win at basketball games and help his teammates get better. There was more to Kobe Bryant than that. There was the man away from the floor. Bryant was the official ambassador for After-School All-Stars (ASAS), an American non-profit organization that provides comprehensive after-school programs to children in thirteen US cities. Bryant also started the Kobe Bryant China Fund which partnered with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation, a charity backed by the Chinese government.

After the story broke yesterday, you could see the outporing of love from players and fans of not only the NBA, but sports fans and people in general, spoke volumes for who Kobe was and the impact he had on this planet. Some questioned the decision to have the games played yesterday. You could see it on the players faces that a lot were uncomfortable trying to play. Canceling games would have been a bad idea, but postponing them might not have been such a bad idea. It would have given people more time to collect themselves and to grieve.

I've seen friends of mine take to social media yesterday and expressed their emotions over this. They said that Kobe was the reason they not only started watching basketball, but the reason they started playing as well. It wasn't just his style of his play, it was his bulldog attitude. That's what drew people to him, he had this confidence about him that was almost magnetic. His playing ability, his personality, the total package. Kobe was it. It's almost hard to put into words what Kobe had, as far as drawing power goes. You couldn't see it, but you knew it was there, you could feel it.

It sucks that Kobe Bryant went the way that he did. But his legacy will live on stronger than ever. Kobe, you had such a great impact on all the lives that you touched and you will be missed

Thanks Eli

Sixteen years is a long time to be doing something. In the sports world, that;'s a very distinguished career. Such is the case for former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning. I say former because as of Friday afternoon, Eli Manning has called it a career. Sixteen years and two super bowls later, Eli has retired from the NFL. What made this sweeter was that Eli wet out his way, as a member of the New York Giants.

Eli's had himself a pretty good career. Two Super Bowl titles, beating Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in both of them. Eli finished his career with a 117-117 regular season record, with his best year being in 2008 going 12-4. During his career, Manning threw for 57,023 yards, 366 touchdowns and 244 picks. Those touchdowns and passing yard numbers are both franchise records for the Giants. He was just as good in the playoffs. In 12 career post season games, Eli started 12 games, going 8-4. He threw for 2,815 yards, with 18 touchdowns and nine picks. In both of the Giants Super Bowl wins, Eli was named MVP in both games. In doing so, Eli became one of five players to have multiple Super Bowl MVP awards, joining Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw, who also have two, Joe Montana, who's got three, and Tom Brady who has four.

Part of what made Eli so awesome and somebody to admire as a quarterback was his durability. From November 21st of 2004 through November 23rd of 2017, Manning started 210 straight games. At the time, it was the second-longest streak by a quarterback in NFL history (to Brett Favre's 297). After sitting out one game, he started the next 22 in a row, giving him 232 starts in 233 games – plus 12 postseason games. It's truly amazing that Manning never missed a game because of injury. It was announced at the press conference today that not only will Eli get inducted into the Giants ring of honor, but his number 10 will never be worn by another Giants player again.

Now there's two questions that stand out here for Eli announcing his retirement. Where does he rank among the greatest Giants Quarterbacks? And is he a lock to get into Canton?

When you think about some of the guys that have played Quarterback for the Giants, Eli has to be up in that argument. You have guys like Y.A. Tittle, Phil Simms, Fran Tarkenton, Kerry Collins, Jeff Hostetler. As good as those guys were, they couldn't do what Eli managed to do in a Giants uniform. He's going to go down in the books as the greatest quarterback to ever play for the New York Giants. The numbers speak for themselves, but they only tell part of the story. He lead on the field by letting his play do the talking. He had a quiet confidence about him that rubbed off on his teammates. he was also very giving, having his hand in many charitable causes. he could do a lot and wasn't bragging about it, coming across as a very humble guy from start to finish during his career.

As far as his place in Canton is concerned, I think that's pretty much a lock at this point. He may not have put up as flashy numbers as big brother Peyton, but he was still a steady QB and I think he was good enough to be able to get into the hall. It won't be a first year on the ballot lock, but Eli will get in when his time does come.

Thanks for everything Eli. You did a hell of a lot for New York Football and we all had the pleasure of watching you play.

Baseball Hall Makes Call

Every summer, fans from all over gather on a small town in upstate New York to honor the very best in the game of baseball. July 26th is the date and, at the home of baseball, Cooperstown New York is the site. In total, there have been 328 people who have been inducted into the Hall, as being considered the very best that have ever played this game of baseball. This year, the number will grow by four. Marvin Miller, former executive and former catcher Ted Simmons are going in as selected by the veterans committee. Going in this year, as selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America are right fielder Larry Walker and shortstop Derek Jeter.

Larry Walker got into the Hall on his tenth year on the ballot, earning 76.6% of the votes, good enough for induction. Walker spent 17 years playing in the Majors, having played for the Montreal Expos from 1989 to 1994, the the Colorado Rockies from 1994 to 2004 and finally with the St Louis Cardinals from 2004 to 2005. During that 17 year career, Walker was a .313 lifetime hitter, having collected 2,160 hits. He smashed 383 home runs and drove in 1,311 runs. Walker was the 1997 National League MVP and lead the NL in home runs that year with 49 of them. Walker was a five time All-Star (1992, 1997–1999, 2001), a seven time winner of the Gold Glove Award (1992, 1993, 1997–1999, 2001, 2002), was a three time Silver Slugger (1992, 1997, 1999) and a three time MLB batting champion (1998, 1999, 2001).

In short, he could do a little bit of everything. He was known for excelling at all aspects of the game. He had a unique ability to hit for both average and power, and having good plate discipline, speed, defense, as well as throwing strength and accuracy. What makes Walker's induction into the Hall more amazing is he only began playing organized baseball after graduating high school and never went to college. He was also a pretty decent hockey player but managed to give the game up to chase a baseball career.

Then there's Derek Jeter. He received 99.7% of the votes for induction into the Hall. Jeter spent his entire 20 year career with the Yankees, playing in 2,747 games. He collected 3,456 hits, which was good for a .310 lifetime average. He clubbed 260 home runs and drove in 1,311 runs, while scoring 1,923 runs.  Jeter won AL Rookie oof the year in 1996 and a was five time World Series champion, winning in 1996, 1998-2000 and 2009, winning MVP of the 2000 Series. Jeter played in the all star game 14 times in his career (1998–2002, 2004, 2006–2012, 2014), was a five time Gold Glove Award (2004–2006, 2009–2010), a five time Sliver Slugger Award winner (2006–2009, 2012) a two time AL Hank Aaron Award (2006, 2009) and a Roberto Clemente Award winner (2009).

One of the big things that stuck out about Jeter was how consistent he was. He played fewer than 145 games a season only three times in his career: when he dislocated his left shoulder on Opening Day 2003 (119 games), when he injured his calf in 2011 (131 games), and in 2013 when he struggled with a myriad of injuries (17 games). For his career, he averaged 204 hits, 113 runs scored and 21 stolen bases over the course of an average of 162 games. If you think that was good, his playoff numbers are just as impressive. He holds MLB postseason records for games played (158), plate appearances (734), at-bats (650), hits (200), singles (143), doubles (32), triples (5), runs scored (111), total bases (302) and strikeouts (135). Jeter is also third in home runs (20), fourth in runs batted in (61), fifth in base on balls (66) and sixth in stolen bases (18).

He was one of the best defensive shortsopts in the game and made famous "jump-throw", by which he leapt and threw to first base while moving towards third base. He could do a little bit of everything and do it well. It wasn't one aspect of his game that jumped out at you, meaning his power wasn't exceptional, he was just consistent and that's what really stuck out to baseball fans.

Both guys are very deserving of going into the hall. It's interesting to note that four other players cleared 50% of the votes. Former Phillies, Diamondbacks and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling earned 70% of the votes, Roger Clemens earned 61% of votes, earning one more vote than Barry Bonds. Omar Vizquel finished with 52.6%.

So lets hear from you, did baseball get it right as to who's going in and who's on the outside looking in?

Patrick Kane Joins Elite Company

Collecting points in the game of hockey. Its a tough thing to do. You get them by either scoring a goal or picking up an assist. Doing it just once is tough. Doing it a thousand times is even tougher. Being able to do it a thousand times and do it in the best league in the world is saying a lot. Patrick Kane just hit that mark, picking up his 1,000th point on Sunday. In doing so, he became the 10th American born player to hit the magic milestone.

He's been one of the top players in the game since he stepped into the league. Kane was the first overall pick in 2007 and has spent his entire career in Chicago. He, along with team captain Jonathan Towes, have not only been the faces of the franchise but helped lead the club to its three most recent Stanley Cups.

Reaching 1,000 career points is pretty elite company. Hitting the mark makes Kane the 90th player in NHL history to record 1,00 points. He's the 4th player to ever do it while playing for the Blackhawks, joining Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull and Denis Savard. He's also the seventh active player, and the lone American, to hit the mark, joining San Jose's Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Washington's Alex Ovechkin and Carolina's Eric Staal. As far as American skaters go, Kane is the 10th to join the 1,000 point club joining the likes of Brett Hull (Canadian born but played for the US on international ice), Mike Modano, Phil Housley, Jeremy Roenick, Keith Tkachuk, Joe Mullen, Doug Weight, Brian leetch and Pat Lafontaine.

Now for the million dollar question. Where does this milestone put him among the games greats?

There's no argument that Kane is the best right wing of this generation and will go down as one of the top ten to ever play the position. Great plaaymaker with an equally as killer shot, Kane can do it all on an offensive rush up the ice. He's got good speed and incredible hands. There's no doubt in anybody's mind, when his playing career does come to an end, that he will be enshrined in the Hockey Hall Of Fame in Toronto

Championship Weekend Preview

And then there were four teams left. Championship Sunday is here. We have four teams that have all played in at least one Superbowl, with three of the four left standing having won at least one title. Its one team that nobody really saw being here, two that were expected and one that played above expectations. Lets not wait anymore. Here's how Championship Sunday goes down.

First up, with a 3:05 kickoff ts the AFC Championship game between the Tennessee Titans taking on the Kansas City Chiefs. Tennessee is in the AFC title game after beating the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens to reach the title game. It marks the fifth time ever for Tennessee in the AFC title game, last winning it in 1999. The Titans are now 17-20 lifetime in the playoffs. As for Kansas City, they got by the Texans to reach the AFC title game, the fifth time in team history they have done that. Kansas City is trying to erase last years memory of falling to New England in overtime. KC is now 11-19 in the playoffs. The Titans and Chiefs franchises last faced each other for a title in the 1962 American Football Legue Championship Game, played in Houston, Texas. The Chiefs, then known as the Dallas Texans, defeated the Titans, then known as the Houston Oilers, 20–17 in double overtime. Tennessee won the regular-season meeting in Week 10, 35–32.

This is going to be an interesting game. First off, you have the Titans who have been hotter than a wild fire the last few weeks. A lot of that had to do with the strength of Derek Henry, who's rushed for 182 and 195 yards respectively in each of the Titans wins in this year's playoff games. What's even more amazing is the fact that Ryan Tannehill has had low numbers. By that I mean, he has failed to throw for 100 or more yards in either playoff game. It's because Henry has been as good as he has, Tannehill hasn't had to throw all that much. When you got a run game that's working as well as the Titans use, then the pass game is not really needed. On the other side of the ball, the Titans defense has been good, but will need to improve this week. They have had trouble playing tight coverage against opposing receivers.

That's going to be a problem against this well balanced receiving core that Kansas City has.Patrick Mahomes has no problem getting the ball to the likes oif Tyreek Hill and Travice Kelce. Both guys have been so effective in this playoffs. Combine Mahomes running ability, which was on display against Houston last week, along with Damien Williams, and Kansas City has a balanced attack. The defense was able to step their game up after getting trounced early against Houston. The defense is going to have to be on its game if they want to stand even a remote chance of stopping Derek Henry.

There's no denying that Derek Henry is going to be good again this week. But he can't do it all and Tannehill won't be able to keep up with Mahomes and company. Give the Titans all the credit for getting this far and giving KC a fight, but at the end of the day, the better team will come out on top and reach the big game for the first time since the days of Hank Stram.

Prediction: Chiefs 30, Titans 21

Finally, with a 6:40 kickoff, its the NFC Championship game between the Green Bay Packers taking on the San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco got here by beating the Vikings in the divisional round, making this their 16th appearance in the NFC title game. The 49ers are looking for their first trip to the Super Bowl since 2012. San Francisco is now 31-21 lifetime in the playoffs. As for the Packers, they got here by beating the Seattle Seahawks. This marks Green Bay's 12th NFC title game appearance. Green Bay is looking for it's first Super Bowl appearance since 2010. Green Bay is 35-22 lifetime in the playoffs. The 49ers blew out the Packers the regular season week 12 meeting 37–8.

For some reason, I had felt going into the playoffs, that the Packers had been an average 13-3 team this year. That was until last week, when Rogers threw for 243 yards and Devante Adams went off for 160 yards in the receiving game. Oh and to prove how big Adams was last week, consider this. Adams had 10 cathes for 160 yards, while all other pass-catchers caught eight passes for 83 yards combined. That's how big he was against the Seahawks. They built a 21-3 lead on Seattle, before having to hold on. That's what might worry me this week. The defense leaked a little in the 2nd half against a good Seahawks team.

We know Rogers has been able to handle pressure in this type of game. Jimmy Garoppolo hasn't just yet. But with the type of year he's had, teaming up with George Kittle, they've been really good this year. They have a balanced attack which could cause problems for that Packers defense. As for their own defense, Nick Bosa has been leading the charge and have been known to put a lot of pressure on the opposing QB's.

This game is going to be a nail bitter and coming down to whoever gets the ball last. Its going to be a slugferst of a game and never count Aaron Rogers out, he''s that good. At the end of the day I feel the Niners are the better all around team.

Prediction: 49ers 30, Packers 27

Houston We Have A Problem

There had been rumblings of this for most of last season. In their 2017 World Series year, the Houston Astros had been accused of stealing signs. Well, it's no longer an accusation, it was sign stealing. Houston got caught and are now going to pay for it. And pay in a big way they will. Before we look at the punishment, here's a quick reminder of the backstory of what exactly happened.

Go back to the 2017 season. The Houston Astros won 101 regular season games, and the American League West title. They finished with the 2nd best record in the AL, behind only the Cleveland Indians. Houston went on to beat Boston in the Divisional Round and then the New York Yankees in the League Championship series, before winning their first ever World Series title. They beat the Dodgers in the Series in seven games to capture the crown.

The Dodgers had said after that series that they had suspected the Astros of doing something, but it wasn't quite proven yet, just speculation. Then, in early 2019, Mike Fiers, a member of the Oakland A's pitching staff, who played for the Astros in 2017, told journalists Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drelich of The Athletic, the Astros used a video camera in center field to steal opposing teams' signs and that he had warned his then-teammates with the Detroit Tigers about it. Fiers said that the Astros would then relay the signs through whistling and banging on garbage cans. In a subsequent report from The Athletic, it was reported that an Astros executive asked scouts for help stealing signs and suggested using cameras.

After this news came out, Major League Baseball had issued a statement on its findings. Baseball had confirming that the Astros had illegally used a video camera system to steal signs in the 2017 regular season and postseason, and in parts of the 2018 regular season. Commissioner Rob Manfred disciplined the Astros with a $5 million fine—the maximum amount allowed by major league rules—and forfeiture of their first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021. The league also suspended General Manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A. J. Hinch for the entire 2020 season, including the playoffs and World Series. It was also announced that, if Luhnow and Hinch commit further "material violations" of baseball rules, they will be permanently banned from baseball.

To the credit of the Astros organization, they wasted no time in dealing with this situation. Astros owner Jim Crane fired Hinch and Luhnow, saying, "Neither one of them started this but neither one of them did anything about it." Crane said he was going beyond MLB's sanctions because he had "higher standards for the city and the franchise".

I give baseball full marks for taking the steps that it did, as well as handing out the punishment it did. Punishment fit the crime. Hats off to the sport who, unlike the NFL, actually knows how to properly hand out punishment for something that goes against the principals of its sport. Good on Major League Baseball for the suspensions and good on the Houston Astros for taking the action that they did.

Since the news has broken, some are contending, and have a legitimate argument, that the Astros should be stripped of their World Series Championship. It was cheating to gain an advantage, but baseball isn't stripping them of the title. At the other side of the coin, it falls on management and not the players. The guys out on the field still had to go out and play. Yes, they may have had an advantage to know what was coming, but at the same time the players still had to hit the ball and go out and make the plays. I'm glad baseball didn't take action against the players because they still went out and did their jobs.

At the end of the day, the Astros did cheat and the title should be taken away. Don't give it to the Dodgers or anybody else. The title was stripped and there was no World Champion in 2017.

They got caught with the hand in the cookie jar.