Best & Worst Of NFL Week Twelve

Week Twelve of the NFL season has hit the books, as we take another step closer to playoff time. The playoff picture has gotten a little bit clearer, at least most teams know where they stand in regards to making the post season. There is still a lot of fog though as to who gets what seed in each conference. New England and Green Bay are both red hot, and keep getting hotter. The NFC South is still pathetic, while the AFC North may be the toughest division in all of football. Atlanta and the Giants both keep slipping, but how about the Oakland Raiders finally getting their first win of the season in beating Kansas City. Then we had some individual guys who had ups and downs this week. Adrian Peterson had a bad week, while Justin Forset, Drew Brees and Delanie Walker each had good weeks from a personal standpoint.

With all that being thrown around, here's the best and worst from week twelve in the NFL.

Best:
T.Y. Hilton, Wide Receiver Indianapolis Colts
This was a feel good day for Hilton on Sunday. The day started with Hilton being there for the birth of his daughter Sunday morning. Then the swift Colts wideout sped to Lucas Oil Stadium in time for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff and helped rock the Jaguars to sleep with a 73-yard TD reception, the biggest play of his four-catch, 122-yard effort. It was safe to say that this will be one Sunday that the Hilton family will not soon forget.

Worst:
Lovie Smith, Head Coach Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This would have been a prime opportunity for Lovie. He had a prime chance to stick it to his old team, the Bears, in Chicago. Lovie saw his Buccaneers squandered a 10-0 halftime lead. Tampa Bay's penultimate drive was the cruelest, with the Bucs, then trailing by eight points, failing three times to gain 1 yard for a new set of downs from the Bears' 36-yard line. Tampa had chance after chance to help Lovie stick it to the Bears but they just couldn't do it, as Tampa fell to Chicago 21-13.

Best:
Odell Beckham Jr, Wide Receiver New York Giants
Was the Giants rookie wideout's three-fingered, 43-yard TD snatch the best you've ever seen? NBC's Cris Collinsworth is still amazed. In more pedestrian moments Sunday night, Beckham added another nine catches, 103 yards and an additional TD in New York's last-minute loss. Despite the best efforts of Beckham and his insane grab, it wasn't enough for the Giants to overcome Dallas as Big Blue continue to struggle. While the Giants continue to slide, Beckham continues to make a strong case for Rookie of The Year.

Worst:
Drew Stanton, Quarterback Arizona Cardinals
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians says his backup quarterback is good enough to lead Arizona to the Super Bowl. Stanton came into a spot where he can prove he belongs as a starter in this league. However, in a high-stakes came Sunday at Seattle, Stanton's accuracy was again an issue. Stanton finished 14 of 26 for 149 yards and one INT. It certainly didn't help to not have injured wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, but Stanton will have to find another gear if he's truly going to drive this team to a place it's never gone. It's not a time to hit full blown panic mode in Arizona, but it has to make you wonder a little bit about the QB position without Palmer.

Best:
Eddie Lacy, Running Back Green Bay Packers
Aaron Rogers isn't the only Packer who has started to heat up. Lacy had a solid week on the ground, with 25 carries for 125 yards and a touchdown. To go along with those solid numbers, last season's offensive rookie of the year, has nine touchdowns in his last eight games (seven of them Green Bay wins) and has thrived while becoming a bigger part of the passing game. Yeah its safe to say that there's no sophomore jinx with this guy.

Worst:
Robert Griffin III, Quarterback Washington Redskins
After telling the world how squarely he was "focused on San Francisco" last Wednesday, the embattled Redskins quarterback's apparent tunnel vision on the gameplan produced all of 77 net passing yards while he was sacked five times and lost a fumble, though the Washington offensive line can take plenty of credit there for its lack of focus on 49ers pass rushers like Aldon Smith (2 sacks). Yeah RGIII still doesn't look comfortable in the pocket, which really has to make you wonder just how healthy he is. IT makes you wonder more if this guy can get his career back on track.

Best:
Dallas Cowboys Offensive Line
It only allowed two sacks and three hits on gimpy QB Tony Romo and gave him more time than any passer should expect on Dallas' game-winning drive. The Cowboys' front five also launched RB DeMarco Murray to 121 more rushing yards. Dallas gave their QB time to make his throws and opened up the running lanes for Murray to work his magic. The Boys line looks good and seems to have found their groove again that made them an early season success.

Worst:
New York Jets Offensive Line
This has been one of the Jets strengths over the last few seasons, but Monday night, it look horrible. The line allowed Michael Vick to get sacked 5 times and then allowed two more sacks to Geno Smith, when he went into the game to replace Vick. The run game was nonexistent against the Bills, because the line couldn't create any openings for the backs and looked average. Buffalo's front seven dominated the Jets line, causing Gang Green to fall to 2-9 on the season.

Best:
Seattle Seahawks Defense (Legion of Boom)
The Seahawks secondary (and rest of Seattle's defense) locked down the Cardinals, sending the NFC West leaders to their second defeat by sacking QB Drew Stanton three times, taking the ball away once and limiting Arizona to a season-low 204 yards.

Worst:
Detroit Lions Offense
In seasons past it has been the Detroit offense that carries the load, while the defense does just enough to get by in helping the team out. This season, the roles have been reversed, as the defense has been outstanding, while the offense has looked average. They've reaped the benefits of a top-ranked defense for much of 2014. But Detroit hasn't scored a touchdown in eight quarters, a major reason they dropped out of first place in the NFC North on Sunday ... and maybe why Raiola lost his mind.

So there you have it, some of the best and worst from week twelve in the NFL!

Boston Red Sox Making Big Moves In Free Agency

We've seen this happen before. The Red Sox go on a major spending spree on free agents in the offseason in hopes of making a run at another world championship. Boston is stock loading their lineup again this season, as they have signed deals for Shortstop/Left Fielder Hanley Ramirez and 3rd baseman Pablo Sandoval. Pablo Sandoval is not even signed yet, just got a deal in place. Ramirez has finalized a four-year, $88 million deal with a vesting fifth year for an additional $22 million, To go along with that contract, it's been reported that Sandoval’s five-year deal was worth nearly $100 million.

This does put some interesting pieces into the puzzle for the Red Sox, if both guys do come to terms and pass their physicals. Both Hanley and Pablo pose interesting lineup options for Boston, with them now in the mix. Lets look at Hanley for a second. He was originally a Boston prospect, when the Red Sox signed him in 2000 as a teenager. He was then shipped out to the Marlins, in the huge deal that brought Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston. Then in 2012, Hanley moved on to the Dodgers and has been there ever since. Ramirez rejected an orignal offer from the Dodgers earlier this month, which was worth $15.3 million, thus opting to become a free agent. Once he hit the market, Hanley was viewed as a backup plan for Boston in case they couldn't land Pablo Sanodval. Besides Boston, Hanley also heard offers from the Giants and Padres.

Ramirez won the 2009 batting title and led the NL with a 1.040 OPS in 2013 (among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances). He's also a lifetime .300 hitter, who batted .283 with 13 homers and 71 RBIs in 128 games last season. Hanley still has pop in his bat, which is going to make him an asset in the Red Sox lineup. Ramirez's defense at shortstop has suffered in recent years, which makes it highly implausible the Red Sox would give up on 22-year-old shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who is regarded as highly as Ramirez was after he signed. In all liekleyhood, the best option for Hanely would be left field.

If that's the case, it gives Boston plenty of options in the outfield. They already have Mookie Betts. Yoenis Cespedes. Rusney Castillo. Shane Vicotorino. Allen Craig and Daniel Nava floating around along with Hanley. Chances are a few of those guys could become expendable to go out and acquire depth for the starting rotation.

As far as Sandoval is concerned, this is a change of pace for the 28 year old slugger. The switch hitting 3rd baseman has played his entire seven year career in San Francisco, quickly becoming a favorite amongst the Giants fans out West. The Kung Fu Panda has pop in his bat, as he is a career .294 hitter with an .811 OPS and 106 home runs. He has been even better in the postseason, hitting .344 in 39 games and driving in 20 runs.

Some may consider the $100 million contract a bit high for a two-time All-Star who has yet to drive in 100 runs. But Sandoval has consistently been an above-average hitter with a knack for putting balls in play. That's a big plus in a park like Fenway. Sandoval also brings some much-needed lefthanded power to the Sox. He is a career .304 hitter from the left side, including .317 last season. His righthanded hitting has declined in the last few seasons, but the Red Sox lineup will help offset that.

With signing a guy like Pablo, there are going to be some risks. Sandoval weighs in the vicinity of 250 pounds and the Giants were often frustrated with his failed attempts to get in better shape. But Sandoval plays an adept third base even at his size and is not a detriment on the bases. As he ages, Sandoval could shift to DH for the post-Ortiz Red Sox. While his production is unlikely to match that of Ortiz, Sandoval would represent at least an acceptable option.

This now means that last years opening day 3rd baseman, Will Middlebrooks, is in a tough spot. He will either be back in the minors, waiting for his time to start again, or he could get a fresh start with a new team.

Both signings are solid for the Red Sox. With panda it means that they have a good 3rd baseman and a backup plan for David Ortiz at DH when Big Papi calls it a career, because who knows how much Papi has left in the tank. And Boston has been known to do things like this in the past. The Sox built their last World Series champion by signing a large group of free agents to short-term, manageable contracts. Now, after finishing in last place, these additions represent an adjustment in philosophy.

Odell Beckham Jr Makes Catch Of The Year

Its been talked about for some time during this season. New York Giants rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr was projected to be good, otherwise he wouldn't have been taken 12th overall by Big Blue last June in the Draft. Over the past few weeks, Beckham has really started coming into his own and has began establishing himself as a major weapon and threat for the Giants in the pass game.

In the seven games he has played to this point, Beckham Jr has 41 catches for 609 yards and 5 TD's. None, and I repeat none, of this five TD catches this season were as pretty as the one he grabbed Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. It was one of the most insane things I have ever seen. Don't believe me? Watch and judge for yourself:



This has got to be catch of the year in the NFL this season. Think about this. Beside the fact that it was an INSANE one handed grab, consider the situation in which he did it. The catch came early in the 2nd quarter, on a 43 yard heave from Eli Manning. The catch game the Giants a 14-3 lead. It was made on Sunday night in a huge divisional game against a bigtime division rival in the Dallas Cowboys. All in all this will go down as the catch of the year, without a doubt.

Hell not only was this the grab of the year, it was a major statement of arrival for Odell Beckham Jr. even though the Giants, who now sit at 3-8 on the season, are out of the race for the NFC East title, they are still somewhat worth watching. Why? Easy this guy. Odell Beckham is a good enough reason to keep tuning into Giants games the rest of the season just to see what kind of catches he is going to make next.

I promise they won't be nearly as nice as the one he had against Dallas which is hands down the grab of the year in the NFL this season!

Marlins Lock Up Stanton BIGTIME

Every so often, a player like this guy comes along. Ever since he entered the league as a member of the Marlins in 2010 (they were still the Florida Marlins at the time) Giancarlo Stanton has been one of those special players. His numbers didn't really start jumping off the page until about 2012. Then last season, Stanton had a career year, finishing 2nd in National League MVP voting (behind Clayton Kershaw). Because of his performances over the past few seasons, the Marlins have locked up their franchise player to a 13 year contract extension worth a grand total of $325 million over the life of the contract.

There were a few interesting points brought about with this long term extension, at least from a financial perspective. Stanton has the option to opt out of the deal after six seasons, as the first six years of the deal are a lock. After that, if he so chooses, Stanton can walk away and opt out of his contract. In doing so, he could be walking away from a staggering $218 million over the final seven seasons. Per ESPN, the figures look like this for Stanton at the start of the deal. Stanton's salaries over those first three seasons will be only $6.5 million in 2015, $9 million in 2016 and $14.5 million in 2017, far less than he could have earned through arbitration in 2015 and 2016 and then via free agency. He would earn $77 million over the next three seasons and could opt out of the contract after 2020, following his age 30 season.

So the Marlins would be on the hook for only $107 million of the deal over the first six seasons, which computes to an average annual value of just $17.83 million per season before Stanton would have the right to exercise the opt-out clause. If Stanton remains a Marlin, the $218 million he would collect over those final seven seasons would average out to $31.14 million a year. He will have a complete no-trade clause through the life of the contract, a first for the Marlins under the ownership of Jeffrey Loria (ESPN). I know that's a lot of numbers for you to digest, but don't worry we will help break it down and make sense of it all.

This contract is by far the richest every given out in professional North American sports. By Comparison, the biggest NBA contract is Kobe Bryant's 7 year, $136.4 million deal, while Calvin Johnson's 8 year deal worth $132 million tops the NFL and Alexander Ovechkin has the largest NHL contract at 13 years worth $124 million. Kobe's contract is the 34 biggest in sports, while Johnson comes in at 37 and Ovechkin comes in at 51, for the richest in history. In fact, the top 30 contracts in pro sports, of the big four anyway, are signed by Baseball players. That goes to show how outrageous some contracts have become over the years.

Now that Stanton is locked up, this brings up some more interesting points. First things first that makes you wonder, is this deal going to work? From a team perspective, the front half of the contract could work. It gives the Marlins a six year window to really be able to build around their star slugger, thus becoming contenders not only in the Eastern Division, but in the National League as well. So Miami has plenty of room to work with.

At the same time it leaves one to wonder about Stanton and his value. They gave him a big deal hoping he can come back healthy from how last season ended and hoping that he can not only repeat his production from a season ago, but improve upon it over the rest of his career. There a very good chance that could happen, which is why he got the deal to begin with. At the same time though, what happens if he starts getting hurt? Or getting hurt regularly? What happens if his production instead goes into a steady decline? Will he be worth the money at the end of the deal when Stanton will be 38 years old? There are a few intangibles that need to be taken into account, which is part of the reason some people aren't in favor of contracts like this in any sport.

Stanton does have a ton of talent, we have seen that on display over the last few seasons. Given that, if he can stay healthy and stay productive, the sky is the limit for both him and the team!

Best And Worst Of NFL Week Eleven

Week Eleven has come and gone in the National Football League, and there are some teams in this league who are all over the place with their games. It looked like one week the San Diego Chargers and Seattle Seahawks were going to be a big hit and the toast of the town. Then the next week they lay an egg and we don't even want to associate with them. Kansas City is getting hotter than a wild fire, while the Raiders still can't buy a win to save their lives, having now lost 16 straight games over the last two seasons. Chicago managed to finally win a game and the NFC South still sucks. St. Louis pulled a bit of a shocker in beating the Broncos, which goes to prove that anything can happen on any given Sunday.

While that was going on, there were some players and teams who had good games, while others just didn't show up at all. Here's the best and worst of week eleven.

Best:
Jonas Gray, Running Back New England Patriots
It always seems that the Patriots manage to find a way to have a player come out of nowhere and have a big impact on their football team. In this case, it was Jonas Gray. Standing at 5-10, the 225-pound back returned to Indiana to trample the Colts. He shouldered much of the offensive load, carring the ball 38 times for 199 yards and the first four TDs of his NFL career. He entered the game with 32 career rushes for 131 yards. Add one more ferocious facet to a New England team that seems more Super Bowl-ready with each passing week. The only guy who had more rushing yards this week in the league was Le'Veon Bell of the Steelers. Yeah the Patriots are that good at being able to find players

Worst:
Ben Tate, Running Back Cleveland Browns
During the offseason, Tate was one of the big names landed in free agency by the Browns to help with their running game and make it better. That plan has gone right out the window. Sunday, Tate rushed twice for minus-9 yards. That was his swan song in Cleveland. Rookies Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell have taken away his workload in the run game, so there's no point in him still being around. Thanks to his performance, Tate was just let go by the Browns. So much for this experiment in Cleveland.

Best:
Mike Evans, Wide Receiver Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The rookie wide receiver class that's hit the NFL this season has been a pretty damn good one. Of course everybody has been talking about the guys like Odell Beckham Jr and Sammy Watkins and Kelvin Benjamin that have largely been grabbing the headlines. But Evans came out on Sunday and showed that he can hang in this league as well as the other guys. He had seven catches for 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Washington. This was the most prolific performance by a rookie receiver in more than a decade, and the best numbers by a receiver league wide in week eleven. He was out to prove that he can hang with the big boys in this league and then some.

Worst:
Detroit Lions Wide Receivers
When you think of the Lions, you think of Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate, and them having monster games. Together, Tate and Johnson (when he's healthy) had combined for seven 100-plus yard receiving games. But Sunday against Arizona, they were limited to 100 yards total, and 0 TDs, Thanks to the skilled play of Cardinals CBs Patrick Peterson and Antonio Cromartie, among others, Detroit dynamic duo was shut down and the Lions fell into a first-place tie in the NFC North with Green Bay after its 14-6 defeat.

Best:
Chicago Bears
Da Bears actually stepped up big at home for the first time all season, when the Vikings came into town. A strong showing by QB Jay Cutler, WR Brandon Marshall and the defense allowed the Bears to win for the first time this year at Soldier Field, matching the total of the NHL's Blackhawks and the New Zealand rugby team. The win got the Bears back to two games under .500 and helped keep them within relative shouting distance for a wild card spot.

Worst:
New Orleans Saints
Its a tough thing to fathom that the Saints have trouble playing at home. Its rare to see them lose at the Superdome. Its even harder to fathom that they lose two straight at home. Well the unthinkable has happened. The Bengals came in and spanked the Saints 27-10 Sunday, handing them a two game losing steak at home. They hadn't lost two in a row at the Superdome with Sean Payton on the sideline since 2009. Now they find themselves out of the division lead and a virtual afterthought in the NFC wild-card chase.

Best:
Andy Dalton, Quarterback Cincinnati Bengals
I know Dalton didn't put up huge numbers against the Saints on Sunday, as he went 16 of 22 for 220 yards and 3 touchdown tosses. Those numbers won't really scare anybody. At the same time, he was nearly worthless two weeks ago (2.0 QB rating in the loss to Cleveland), he was nearly perfect (143.9 rating) in Sunday's upset of the Saints in New Orleans as the Bengals reclaimed first place in the AFC North.

Worst:
Mark Sanchez, Quarterback Philadelphia Eagles
Here's the Mark Sanchez people like to write about. Sanchez reverted into the mistake-prone quarterback Jets fans remember, as he lost two fumbles and was picked off twice. Two of those miscues were returned for touchdowns by the Packers. as the Eagles were blown out 53-20. In fairness to Sanchez, who was making his second start for Philly, the Green Bay defense was able to key on the pass after taking a 30-3 first-half lead.

Best:
JJ Watt, Defensive End Houston Texans
Watt is quickly becoming one of, if not the best defensive linemen in the league. Watt continued to strengthen his case for defensive player of the year honors with a sack and three tackles for loss in Sunday's win over the Browns. However his biggest highlight was a pretty 2-yard TD reception on offense when he hauled in a pass near the corner of the end zone. This guy proves he can be a double threat. He makes life miserable for Quarterbacks and he can be an offensive threat in the red zone. The guy truly is multi-talented.

Worst:
Antonio Smith, Defensive End Oakland Raiders
The slide is even more pronounced for Oakland's Antonio Smith. A member of the 2013 Houston Texans, who lost their final 14 games, Smith has now been on the losing side the last 24 times he's taken the field. He really can't catch a break in being able to get on a winning team.

There you have it the best and worst of week eleven in the NFL!

MLB Awards.....Did The Voters Get It Right?

The votes are in and have been calculated. It's time to hand out some hardware. This is the time of year where the best of the best from the past season in Major League Baseball get their proper recognition. What happened during the playoffs are not a factor here, as all voting was done at the end of the regular season. Playoff performance has no bearing on these awards, because if they did, then I doubt Clayton Kershaw would have won by the margin he did.

So lets see if the voters got it right in picking the award winners this year.

Manager Of The Year
National League: Matt Williams Washington Nationals
Williams got the nod over Clint Hurdle of the Pirates and Bruce Bochy of San Francisco. Williams earned 18 of a possible 30 first-place votes to win NL honors. With his win, Williams became the fourth first-year manager to snag the award, joining the likes of Joe Girardi in 2006, Dusty Baker in 1993 and Hal Lanier in 1986. Williams was the only finalist in the NL with a division title to his credit, Williams led the Nationals to 96 wins and a runaway NL East title, winning it by 17 games. Washington had a steady rise to the top in the Division and were able to overcome some of the injuries to their star players like Bryce Harper, Wilson Ramos and Ryan Zimmerman for extended periods of time. Even with those guys missing time, Williams was still able led his team to the highest win total in the league. Very deserving indeed.

American League Buck Showalter, Baltimore Orioles
Buck got the nod over Mike Scioscia of the Angels and Ned Yost of the Royals.  Showalter picked up the most first-place votes for an AL winner since Joe Maddon had 26 in 2011. Buck managed to led the Orioles to their first AL East title since 1997, separating from the pack by 12 games. In his fourth full season after arriving late in 2010, Showalter joined Frank Robinson (1989) and Davey Johnson (1997) as Orioles skippers to win the Manager of the Year Award. In 2014, Showalter kept the O's on track despite losing All-Star talents in Matt Wieters, Manny Machado and Chris Davis to join La Russa (White Sox, A's, Cardinals) as the only skippers to win Manager of the Year honors for three different teams, the first to win all three in the same league. Showalter won his first Manager of the Year in 1994 with the Yankees, three years into his career and one year before he led them to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. Showalter won it again in 2004 with the Rangers, also a team that didn't make it to the postseason.

This is a perfect example of how the playoffs have no bearing on these awards, as both Ned Yost and Bruce Bochy finished far back of the winners for the Award.

Rookie Of The Year
National League: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
DeGrom picked up 26 of the 30 votes to walk away with the ROY award, beating out Billy Hamilton of the Reds and Kolton Wong of the Cards. Here's a guy who managed to move up the ladder of success very very quickly this season, starting the year in Class A ball and was listed as the 19th-best prospect in the club's farm system prior to the 2014 campaign. That's really hitting the fast track. Once he got to the Majors he never looked back. After moving to the rotation in May , he started put up numbers and feats of awesomeness like a 2.69 ERA in 22 starts, 144 strikeouts in 140 1/3 innings (9.2 strikeouts per nine innings) and only 43 walks. deGrom also went 3-0 with a 1.32 ERA in his last five starts, striking out 11 per nine innings in that stretch. During one September outing, he struck out the first eight batters he faced. Sure Billy Hamilton had a good year in his own right, but deGrom was just flat out better this year. With the type of season that deGrom had, it makes most Mets fans excited for the next few years to come, because of how good the pitching staff is right now in Queens. It gives most Mets fans a lot to be hopeful for in regards to their star arms.

American League: Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox
This was a runaway for the award, as Abreu won by picking up all 30 first place votes. Abreu easily beat out Matt Shoemaker of the Angels and Dellin Betances of the Yankees. This was a runaway in every sense of the word. The other two guys who were even remotely close in the voting were both pitchers, who did have a good year I'm not taking anything away from them. Still though it wasn't even really close. Abreu finished the year hitting .317 with 36 homers and 107 RBI and 80 runs scored. He put these numbers up on a somewhat bad White Sox team. Only two other guys in Chicago, Dayan Viciedo (21 HR) and Adam Dunn (20 HR before he was traded) where the only other two Sox to hit over 20 homers. Abreu was the only Sox to drive in more than 100 runs, hell he was the only White Sox to drive in more than 80 runs on the season. He was carrying the team, doing it all as a rookie no less. There was no other rookie in the American League who even came close to putting up the numbers Abreu did this season.

The Rookie Of The Year awards were given out to the right guys in both leagues.

Cy Young Award
National League: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
You want to talk about domination in winning an award, this guy has done it recently. This is not only the 3rd time Kershaw has won it in his career, its the 3rd time in the last 4 seasons he won it (2012 was the only one he didn't win and that one went to RA Dickey), and the 2nd year in a row its gone out to LA. The only question for Kershaw this year wasn't whether he was going to win it or not, it was whether he was going to be a unanimous vote or not. Kershaw, at 26 , became the youngest pitcher in history to claim a third Cy Young Award. Kershaw won 21 games this year, as him Johnny Cueto and Adam Wainwright were the only 20 game winners in the NL this year. The difference is that Kershaw only suffered 3 losses all year, while Cueto and Wainwright each suffered 9 losses during the season. Plus, Kershaw finished the year with a 1.71 ERA, the lowest of any starter in all of baseball. The only other NL pitcher who had an ERA under two, and got votes for the Cy Young, was Craig Kimbrel and he's the closer in Atlanta. This one was almost a lock down that Kershaw was going to take the award.

American League:Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians
This was a close race between him and Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners. Sure King Felix had slightly better numbers overall in Seattle. Kluber finished the year with a 18-9 record, a 2.44 ERA, and 269 strikeouts in 235 2/3 innings. What got Kluber the nod where his numbers in the second half of the season: a 1.73 ERA, 127 punchouts and 104 innings pitched. Those numbers, post all star break, lead all of Major League Baseball. I know both the Indians and Mariners ended up missing the playoffs this year, but if Kluber hadn't gone off in the 2nd half of the year, helping keep the Indians relevant in the Central race, then it might have gone to Felix. BUt as is such, Kluber had the better end to the year and won the award.

It was close for the AL Cy, with Kluber beating out Felix. At the end of the day, the Cy Young did in fact go to the best pitchers in baseball this year.

Most Valuable Player Award
National League: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Kershaw had a season for the ages in 2014. He beat out Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins and Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates as the best player in the National League. 2014 had plenty to admire for Kershaw, starting with an unprecedented fourth consecutive ERA title. His 1.77 mark that was the lowest in the NL since Greg Maddux posted a 1.63 ERA in 1995. Kershaw led the Majors in ERA and with 21 victories, a 0.86 WHIP and six complete games, and the Dodgers won 23 of his 27 starts in a season interrupted early by the left-hander's back injury. Naturally, he worked in a no-hitter, too. Yeah Kershaw was dominating. Kershaw becomes just the 11th pitcher to earn the MVP-Cy Young double and the third Dodgers pitcher to do it. The other pitchers to win MVP and Cy Young in the same year are: Don Newcombe (1956), Sandy Koufax (1963), Bob Gibson and  Denny McLain (1968), Vida Blue (1971),  Rollie Fingers (1981), Willie Hernandez (1984), Roger Clemens (1986), Dennis Eckersley (1992) and, most recently, Justin Verlander in 2011. Kershaw is the 11th Dodgers player to win it, the first since Kirk Gibson in 1988.

What lead Kershaw to beat out Stanton was what happened to Stanton at the end of the year. He got hurt near the end of the season and missed the rest of the way/ Sure Stanton put up outstanding numbers, hitting .288 on the year, with 37 homers and 105 RBI. Had Stanton been able to stay healthy and finish the year out, and had the Marlins been in more of playoff contention, then it would have gone to Stanton. That's partially why Kershaw beat Stanton out for the award.

American League: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
This guy has been one of the biggest, and brightest, young stars in the game. Over the last two years, prior to this one, he had played bridesmaid to Miguel Cabrera. Now Mike Trout has gotten the recognition he deserves, picking up the AL MVP by a unanimous vote. Victor Martinez of the Tigers and Michael Brantley of the Indians both had solid seasons in their own right, but nothing close to the year that Trout had. thanks to his prolific numbers in 2014, Trout became the first player in history to lead his league in runs scored in his first three years in the Majors. This year, he topped the AL with 115. He set or tied career highs in doubles with 39, triples with nine, home runs with 36 and RBIs with an AL-high 111, also leading the Majors in extra-base hits with 84 and total bases with 338. The numbers just go on and on, and the superb talent can be seen with every swing and every running dive in the outfield as Trout, who took his power game to a new level in 2014, evolves as a player. This one wasn't even really close, Trout was head and shoulders above the rest in the American League as the best player. Trout becomes the 5th youngest player to win the AL MVP (at 23 years 52 days), joining the likes of Vida Blue (22 Y, 64 D 1971), Stan Musial (22 Y, 316 D 1943), Johnny Bench (22 Y, 298 D 1970) and Cal Ripken Jr. (23 Y, 39 D 1983). At the pace Trout is setting, the sky is the sky's the limit for this guy.

It's safe to say that the sports writers got it right in picking the winners this year!

Michael Vick Sets New Mark For Quarterbacks

I understand its strange to hear those words in the same sentence, but it is very true. Michael Vick is the greatest running quarterback in the history of the National Football League. Going into Sunday, Vick already had the record for must rushing yards by a Quarterback in league history, with 5,967 yards rushing, in a little over 12 years in this league. Well now that total has gone up. Thanks to his 39 yards rushing in the Jets week ten victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, it gave Vick 6,006 rushing yards (and soon to be counting) for his career, becoming the first QB in league history to hit that mark.

His best year running the ball came in 2006, when he finished the year with 1,039 rush yards in Atlanta, second most yards on the team that season only to Warrick Dunn. Now from a career perspective, Vick as a runner from that position is just so much better than everybody else. On the career rushing list for QB's, Randall Cunningham is second with 4,928 career yards, followed by Steve Young, who had 4,239 rush yards. That's one of the big things about Michael Vick during his career that has made him so special, is his ability to be able to create something out of nothing with just his legs.

At 34, Vick is getting another shot to prove that he can still play in this league with the Jets. Vick was drafted by the Falcons and played there for six seasons. From there, he went on to Philly to play for the Eagles for five seasons, before he was ousted as starter by Nick Foles. Once that happened, Vick was brought in by the Jets on a one-year, $4 million deal. This was his test to show he really can still go in the NFL, having done a decent job in his current role with Gang Green.

Michael Vick set a new standard for the position of Quarterback. Some people have considered Vick to have revolutionized the quarterback position, and a new generation of running quarterbacks. Vick had a great arm, but was more known, in his early days mostly, as a rushing quarterback. That's something you didn't really see very much of in the game before Vick got to the league. Sure, there were running quarterbacks, guys like Cunningham and Young. For the most part though, those guys had to run when protection broke down and had to do it to avoid getting sacked. When Vick came in and started doing what he was doing, it gave teams more options because they could use their signal callers in run plays the same way they would their running backs. Vick almost took a look at the game from the point of view of a running back as well, which is what made him such a valuable weapon to a football team.

Sure, injuries and age have slowed Vick down over the years, but he still showed that he can be lethal with his legs on occasion. If it wasn't for somebody like Michael Vick, then I don't think there would be guys like Cam Newton in the NFL. Vick brought on a new wave of Quarterbacks!

Best And Worst of NFL Week Ten

We've now hit week ten in the NFL season, and things are starting to take shape, either good or bad, around the league. The AFC North is the only division with every team over .500 and they have flipped the script, with the Cleveland Browns leading the way. Let that sink in for a second, the Cleveland Browns lead the AFC North. Calvin Johnson's return to the Lions lineup was a huge boost to their football team, as they manage to stay ahead of the Packers in the North. While those things are nice, its not so great in Arizona. Sure the Cardinals still have the best record in football at 8-1, but they will now have to go about it without their starting QB. That and the Chicago Bears game, as a team has go nowhere fast, as they start falling off in the division. There are still a few long shots to make the playoffs like the Bills, Dolphins and now Cardinals (to hold the West anyway), so its setting up some good matchups heading down the stretch during the rest of the regular season.

But that's all coming down the road. Here's some of the best and worst from the week that was in the NFL.

Best:
Aaron Rogers, Quarterback Green Bay Packers
Rogers went off at home on Sunday against the Bears. He finished the day going 18 of 27 for 315 yards. Pretty good numbers for most quarterbacks, but a little low for this guy. What puts Rogers at this spot this week? Yeah he threw for SIX touchdown passes against the Bears in the 55-14 Packers win. He could have easily set the league's single-game record for TD passes (which would be eight) if the Packers had decided to truly embarrass the Bears. Instead, coach Mike McCarthy showed mercy to Chicago and pulled Rodgers and his six TD strikes, which all came before halftime, midway through the third quarter. That was a dominate performances.

Worst:
Chicago Bears
Its been a rough go of it for the boys from the Windy City this season. Good things were expected out of Chicago, and the Bears simply haven't been able to deliver. They fall to 3-6 on the season after getting blown out by the Pack in Green Bay. You know things are getting rough for the Bears when they manage to fall into a 42-0 halftime deficit against the Pack, the worst half in nearly a century of Bears football. Things haven't been working right for the Bears as of late, when you have a two-game stretch of giving up 50-plus points in two straight games, while failing to score many of their own. This leads to everything about a team getting called into question.

Best:
Marshawn Lynch, Running Back Seattle Seahawks
Best Mode has returned to Seattle. It's no secret that the Seahawks could be getting rid of their running back at the end of the season, even though he is under contract through 2015. Lynch has expressed displeasure with the contract and management in Seattle, which is why he could be on his way out the door. If that's the case, then Lynch is going to be hitting the market with one big bang. Lynch continues to show he remains an attractive commodity after churning out 140 rushing yards and a career-high four TDs in Sunday's win over the Giants. Those were the best numbers of any back in the league, rushing wise, last week. Sure he may not be happy, but that don't mean he isn't a threat still.

Worst:
New York Giants Run Defense
There is a big reason why the Giants have the worst run defense in the entire league. They can't stop an opposing run game to save their lives this season. Even though, on paper, the defense was improved, it hasn't been able to make their run defense any better. New York allowed the Seahawks to roll up 350 rushing yards, and 7.8 per attempt. Seattle's Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson both hit the 100-yard plateau. Yeah that's pretty bad. We know that Lynch is good, but the Giants defense made him look a lot better.

Best:
Jaiquawn Jarrett, Cornerback New York Jets
This has been something that has been long overdue and a sore spot for Jets fans. This week, the Jets actually had a great game on the defensive side of the football and he one of the big reasons for it. Jarrett had a sack, two more quarterback hits, and 10 total tackles, and he came away with one of Antonio Brown’s two fumbles. In the best game of the season for the Jets defense, Jarrett was the best player on the Jets defense, and even if he never has another day like yesterday, a bit of redemption had to feel good for him personally.

Worst:
Pittsburgh Steelers Passing Game
Big Ben had gone off the two weeks prior to this, hooking up with his receivers for 12 touchdown tosses over those two games. This week, however, the pass game wasn't there. Ben managed only one against the Jets as Pittsburgh's three-game winning streak came to an unexpected end. Big Ben's aerial show has been impressive, but the Steelers (36 rushing yards Sunday) might be wise to re-establish offensive balance now that they've averaged just 71 yards on the ground in their last four outings. Sure the Jets defense had a lot to do with that, and the fact that Antonio Brown fumbled the football twice during the game. Still Pittsburgh showed they were human on offense, and now know what they need to correct.

Best:
Matthew Stafford, Quarterback Detroit Lions
Having Calvin Johnson back in the lineup to throw to did help him out quite a bit on Sunday. Even with Megatron back, Stafford did a nice job spreading the ball around rather than maintaining radar lock on Megatron. Johnson and Golden Tate each exceeded 100 receiving yards and were both targeted at least 13 times by Stafford, whose best throw, was reserved for RB Theo Riddick in the corner of the end zone with 29 seconds to go. Stafford seemed to find his confidence again, which wasn't really lacking in the first place. Now he seems to be the Stafford of old, helping lead the Lions to the top spot in the NFC North.

Worst:
Jimmy Graham, Tight End New Orleans Saints
A little surprising hearing his name here again, but after what happened on Sunday, he deserves to be here. Near the end of the game Sunday, Graham made a little too much contact with 49ers CB Perrish Cox. Had he not done that boneheaded move, the 47-yard Hail Mary Graham snatched for the would-be game-winning TD against San Francisco would have been the play of the year. Instead, New Orleans now sits at 4-5 ... still good enough for first place in the woeful NFC South. Graham has a tone of talent but needs to control emotion a little better.

Best:
Dez Bryant, Wide Receiver Dallas Cowboys
Dez had made headlines, somewhat, last week, when heditched his agent and signed with Roc Nation, Jay Z’s sports agency. Bryant had to wait a few days for his Give Me All the Money game after signing with his new agent. Yeah Dez showed up again last Sunday, racking up his 158 yards and six catches in the first half. In the FIRST HALF ALONE. Dez then spent the final 30 minutes of the Cowboys’ blowout win smirking, riding the stationary bike, or doing both. He seemed content to have the new agent and have Romo throwing to him again. Bryant seemed like his old self, but can he keep it going over the next few weeks.

Worst:
Carson Palmer, Quarterback Arizona Cardinals
This isn't a case of bad performance, its just a pure case of bad luck. He was having a good start to his weekend, considering he secured his future in the desert after signing a three-year, $50 million contract extension Friday. Then Sunday, things went south on Palmer, as he suffered a season-ending left knee injury. This could/would ruin his bid to enjoy his first NFL playoff win and curtail his role with the best team he's played for in 12 pro seasons. Arizona still has Drew Stanton under center, with Palmer out. Stanton still a good QB and might be able to help the Cardinals hold place, but Arizona might not be quite as lethal without Palmer.

2014 MLB Gold Glove Winners

For most, having an airtight defense can lead to a very successful season. Defense wins championships, its a known fact around sports. Some teams have great all around defenses. Others have only certain players who excel at the defensive aspect of the game. That's where this award comes into play. Each year, the Rawlings Gold Glove award is presented to the best defensive players in the game at each position. Who wins the award each year is decided on by managers and coaches in each league.

Some people have criticized the selection process for Gold Glove winners. A few critics have said that the selection process should be made based on statistical analysis along with the opinion of the voters rather than having the winners be selected by managers and coaches that may have seen a player as few as six times during the season. Some have thought that winning the award has become a popularity contest for the Gold Glove rather than being an award based on talent. What started that theory, which is a valid argument, was Rafael Palmeiro winning in 1999 with the Texas Rangers. That season, he only appeared in 28 games as a first baseman, playing the other 128 games as a designated hitter that season. To help eliminate some of that controversy, in 2013, Rawlings collaborated on the Gold Glove Award with SABR, who provided the SABR Defensive Index to add a sabermetric component to the selection process.

So with all that being said, the votes have been tallied and here are your 2014 Major League Baseball Gold Glove Awards Winners!

American League:
1st Base: Eric Hosmer, Kansas City Royals
2nd Base: Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
3rd Base: Kyle Seager, Seattle Mariners
Shortstop: J.J. Hardy Baltimore Orioles
Left Field: Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals
Center Field: Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles
Right Field: Nick Markakis, Baltimore Orioles
Catcher: Salvador Pérez, Kansas City Royals
Pitcher: Dallas Keuchel, Houston Astros

National League:
1st Base: Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles Dodgers
2nd Base: DJ LeMahieu, Colorado Rockies
3rd Base: Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies
Shortstop: Andrelton Simmons, Atlanta Braves
Left Field: Christian Yelich, Miami Marlins
Center Field: Juan Lagares, New York Mets
Right Field: Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves
Catcher: Yadier Molina, St Louis Cardinals
Pitcher: Zack Greinke, Los Angeles Dodgers

So there you have the winners. This now begs the question of did the voters get it right in selecting their Gold Glove winners this season? The answer, as a whole, has to be a yes. For a guy to win an award like this, to me at least, there play in the field should be good enough to be able to save runs. Six of this years winners led the majors in Defensive Runs Saved: Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel, Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons and outfielders Alex Gordon of the Royals, Juan Lagares of the Mets and Jason Heyward of the Braves. That speaks volumes as to how well these guys played in the field this season.

One of the biggest surprises to win a Gold Glove this year was Kyle Seager of the Seattle Mariners, as he beat out division rivals Josh Donaldson of the Athletics and Adrian Beltre of the Rangers to win his first Gold Glove Award. Sure, Donaldson led third basemen with 20 Defensive Runs Saved, twice as many as Seager. But Seager was cited for his overall defensive improvement. He went from minus-7 and minus-8 Defensive Runs Saved at the position the previous two seasons to 10 Defensive Runs Saved there in 2014. He’s the first Mariners third baseman to win one since Beltre did in 2008.

All in all, I would say the voters got it right in picking the Gold Glove winners for the 2014 Major League Baseball season!

Best And Worst Of NFL: Week Nine

We have hit week number nine in the NFL season and things are starting to take shape more and more around the league. The Eagles are going to have to run with Mark Sanchez for the next few weeks, due to the Nick Foles Injury. The NFC South and NFC West are looking to be weaker than anybody expected, outside of the Arizona Cardinals in the West. Meanwhile the AFC North is a tougher division than anybody expected, with every team in that division over .500, which is saying a lot considering what was projected for that division. Tom Brady was better than Peyton Manning in New England, Oakland still can't get a win and the Dallas Cowboys are starting to slip back to earth. And we are seeing more backup quarterbacks popping up around the league due to some starters getting hurt.

So there's a lot going on through the first nine weeks of the season. Since there was a lot of action to try and follow over the weekend, here's some of the best and worst from week nine.

Best: 
Ben Roethlisberger, Quarterback Pittsburgh Steelers
You wanna talk about a guy who's really starting to heat up, look no further than Big Ben over in the steel city. His 12 TD passes over a two-game span are a league record. He not only slung those six touchdown passes, for the second week in a row, he was able to do that and go 25 of 37 for 340 yards (4th most in league this week). He was able to do all of this against a very tough Baltimore Ravens defense.

Worst: 
New York Jets Offense 
You could also throw the Jets defense in this as well, as they were lit up by the Chiefs just as badly as the offense. But that's another argument for another time. The Jets offense basically went nowhere fast. The Jets outgained the Chiefs(364-309), held the ball longer (31:35-28:25) and ran more plays (69-56). But what did it get them? A whole lot of nothing, just 10 points. Vick got the start and lead the Jets nowhere except to an eight straight loss. Percy Harvin had a solid game with 11 catches for 129 yards but it was all for nothing.

Best: 
Marshawn Lynch, Running Back Seattle Seahawks 
Looks like we got a glimps of the Beast Mode of old from Lynch on Sunday in the Seahawks 30-24 win over the Oakland Raiders. Lynch was the Seahawks' leading rusher with 67 yards rushing and was the team's top receiver, with 76 yards catching passes. That can go along with his two scores. Whether he's gearing up for a playoff surge, ratcheting up his value if Seattle decides to cut him loose after the season or both, Lynch definitely looks like a player with plenty left to prove.

Worst:
Oakland Raiders
Coming off the loss to Seattle on Sunday, Oakland has hit the halfway mark to the NFL's second 0-16 season (Detroit Lions in 2008 being the other). The only team currently on the remainder of Oakland's schedule that sits below .500 is the Rams (3-5), who will host the Raiders in four weeks. The way things are going in Oakland, they will not only match the Lions for the worst team in league history, they are also making a stronger case for making it hard to keep the team in Oakland. If this keeps up with the Raiders, don't be surprised if they're the one pegged to move to Los Angeles, if that ever happens.

Best:
Arizona Cardinals Defense
This has been quite the surprise out of the NFC West. It's not a surprise that the Cardinals are good, they sit at 7-1 right now. Arizona finished 10-6 a season ago, just missing the playoffs. What is a surprise is they are the top spot in the NFC West, considering, on paper, how loaded that division is. One of the big reasons the Cards are 7-1 has been their run defense. Arizona hasn't allowed a 100-yard rusher all season, and now you can include Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray to that list. Murray managed just 79 yards on the ground after topping the century mark eight consecutive times, a record to start a season. Yes Arizona is for real.

Worst:
Dallas Cowboys Depth (and luck)
Jerry Jones and Co. look remiss for not finding a way to keep former backup QB Kyle Orton, who's 3-1 for the Bills this season, rather than relying on Weeden, whose record as a starter dipped to 5-16 after Sunday's loss. Not having Romo showed how vulnerable the Cowboys can be. Dallas seems to have fallen back to earth over the past two games, losing to both the Redskins and Cardinals. This two game losing skid puts them a game behind, in the loss colume at least, behind the Eagles for the East lead. Dallas needs to try and find a way to right the ship to stay in the race.

Best:
Jeremy Maclin, Wide Receiver, Philadelphia Eagles
There were a few question marks about him, coming off the knee injury and all last year. Well after the last two weeks, it looks like he's back. This week, he had 6 catches for 158 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Eagles win over Houston. Including his totals from week eight, Maclin has 18 catches for 343 yards and four scores. Maclin has answered all the questions about his knee and ability to be a No. 1 receiver in Chip Kelly's offense. Now the meter is running.

Worst:
Jay Gruden, Head Coach Washington Redskins
The coach provided ammo to critics who contended the Redskins should stick with hot QB Colt McCoy rather than start rusty Robert Griffin III before a bye week. RG3 was OK (251 pass yards) considering he hadn't played in nearly two months. But his recovering ankle didn't help him evade five sacks, and 10 of his 28 passes fell incomplete, including an ugly one-hopper to open Pierre Garcon on fourth-and-6 as Washington was driving for a potential game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter. In the previous two games, McCoy had connected on 36 of 42 throws (85.7%).

Best:
Jeremy Hill, Running Back Cincinnati Bengals
Without the rookie running back's 154 rushing yards and pair of TDs — he was the featured back in place of injured Giovani Bernard — the Bengals probably don't overcome a game Jacksonville team on a day when QB Andy Dalton struggled.

Worst:
Philip Rivers, Quarterback San Diego Chargers
Rivers had been playing lights out almost the entire season. He had been making a strong case for MVP. Three weeks ago, he was riding high, posting a passer rating above 120 in a record five consecutive starts (all San Diego wins). Since? Rivers and the Bolts have been in the gutter, going 0-3 after a 37-0 debacle in Miami where he committed four turnovers (3 INTs, fumble) and was sacked three times. Rivers has been picked off six times in the ongoing losing streak, and the Chargers (5-4) are now outside the AFC playoff field.

That's just some of the great action that took place in week nine of the NFL!

Melo Joins 20,000 Point Club

Pretty elite company when you think about it. Sunday night, Carmelo Anthony joined the elite in the NBA, hitting his 20,000 point. Anthony knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing with 7:41 to go in the first quarter to reach the 20,000-point threshold, becoming the 40th player in NBA history to crack that milestone. Carmelo becomes the 6th youngest player, at 30 years 157 days, to hit the milestone. He trails Oscar Robertson (30 years 97 days), Michael Jordan, (29 years 326 days), Wilt Chamberlain (29 years 134 days), Kobe Bryant (29 years 122 days) and LeBron James (28 years 17 days) as the fastest to hit 20,000 points. The only player in the 20,000-point club who is eligible for the Hall of Fame and not enshrined is Tom Chambers (ESPN).

Not only is Carmelo the 40th player to hit that milestone, he's also the 8th active player to hit the mark, joining Kobe, LeBron, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan and Vince Carter. Carmelo has spent 12 years in the league, playing between Denver and now here in New York. At 30, Carmelo still has a lot of gas left in the tank in his career, but has a long way to go to catch Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his 38,387 career points.

So now it begs the question, where is Carmelo going to end up on the all time scoring list when all is said and done? It depends on two things. One is his health. Outside of his rookie season in Denver, a year in which he played a full 82 game schedule, Melo hasn't been able to play a full season. The closest he has been able to come to that is 80 games in 2005-06 with Denver. Otherwise he has played as little as 60 games in a year and at most 77 games in a year. So if, and this is still an if, Carmelo can play 67-80 games a year, including the rest of this season, for another five maybe six years, then he has a shot at it.

The other thing that has to work in Melo's favor is his production. On average, Anthony has scored about 25.8 points per game in his career, and he averages 26.4 points per game in his time with the Knicks. If he can keep up his averages, based of some quick calculations, Melo could finish his career with 32,221 points, which would place him around 4th place all time in scoring in league history. That's if he can stay health, and keep up his averages that he's had throughout his entire career.

Carmelo has made an impact throughout his career, and still has a lot left in the tank to prove he can be a star player in this league. All he needs now is a ring to go along with his ever growing legacy!