Winners & Losers NHL Trade Deadline

Sometimes the trade deadline in the National Hockey League lives up to the hype. Sometimes it doesn't. There had been some big moves that were made going into the trade deadline, when you see guys like Rick Nash, Tomas Plekanec and Derick Brassard all get moved well before the deadline. It gave fans some hope that maybe, just maybe, there was some big names to be moved. A little surprising that there wasn't much starpower moved, Paul Stastny got delt, then so did McDonaugh and Miller on the Rangers for Namestnikov. In total, there were 16 trades made, involving 31 players delt, with 18 draft picks being swapped and $30.8 million in salaries exchanged. It was the lowest total of players delt over the last six years. With all that being said, here's some of the winners and loseres from the trade deadline.

Winners: New York Rangers
I know it may not seem like it right now, but this could be a major win in the long run for the Broadway Blueshirts. This team wasn't kidding when they said they were going to blow this up and start a rebuild. They got rid of three guys who are going to serve as rental players the rest of the way in Grabner, Holden and Nash, all of whom will be free agents at the end of the year. Then they trade away Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller. What they got back in return for all those deals were pretty good though. Coming to Broadway are two useful NHL forwards in Vladislav Namestnikov (123 points in 263 games) and Ryan Spooner (144 points in 254 games), three promising prospects in 19-year-old forward Brett Howden and 20-year-old defensemen Libor Hajek and Ryan Lindgren, a handful of additional picks and a couple of other players. There's no way to be able to tell now if this is going to work out in the long haul, but at least on paper it looks good for the Rangers. Plus there's always the possibility that some of those traded away players could come back in the offseason. All in all, this was a good deadline for the Rangers, it was a good start to the rebuild.

Loser: Buffalo Sabres
Rumor had been flying around like crazy that the Sabres could be looking to deal Evander Kane. That did happen as Kane was shipped off to the Sharks, for a conditional 2nd round pick that could change if the Sharks either win the Cup or re-sign Kane. It looks like it was the best that Sabers GM Jason Botterill could do. Benoit Pouliot and Josh Gorges couldn't be moved, which is something I heard BUffalo management was trying to do. It doesn't look, based on what happened at the deadline, that there isn't much relief heading the way of Buffalo. Sorry Sabres fans but things don't really look good at the moment for the club.

Winners: Tampa Bay Lightning
General Manager Steve Yzerman has pulled off some wonders in Tampa in his time running the Bolts. Sure it may have cost him a little to pull this move off but he got himself a shutdown defender out of it in Ryan McDonaugh, who is probably going to be paired up with another former Ranger in Dan Girardi. It now gives the Bolts a fantastic one-two punch on the blueline with Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman on the top pair. And McDounagh has a lot of playoff experience to add to this team, which is going to be more valuable to this team. He added another depth forward with JT Miller as well. Steve Yzerman added more depth into an already solid lineup, and he did it without getting rid of young pieces like Mikhail Sergachev or Brayden Point. This is a way to go all out and the Bolts have done it.

Loser: St Louis Blues
It's weird to think about this but for the 2nd year in a row the Blues were sellers at the deadline. And they've been in the hunt for a playoff spot in both instances. St Louis is only a point out of the final playoff spot right now. That's only because the club has slipped to a six game winless streak, which would possibly explain why General Manager Doug Armstrong pulled the trigger on another big deal. This time, he sent impending unrestricted free agent center Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a package that includes a 2018 first-round pick. Losing a guy like this is a big blow to the Blues because it shortens up any chances of the club trying to regain some of that magic that they had earlier in the season. The Blues are clinging to a glimmer of hope at a playoff spot but losing a talent like Stastny to a contender in Winnipeg might be a bad move.

Winner: Winnipeg Jets
Hey they turned nothing much into a whole lot of something at the deadline. General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff looked like he was going to miss out on a lot by letting Derick Brassard, Mark Letestu, Tomas Plekanec (who were all on the market) go right by the wayside and get nothing. Then the Blues handed them a gift, by giving them Paul Stastny for a draft pick. A player with Stastny's experience and talent in the faceoff circle plugged in on the third line? Yeah, we like the Jets a lot more now as a team to emerge from the West. Good on ya Winnipeg for picking him up. This will be huge in getting you momentum going into the playoff push.

Loser: Ottawa Senators
This whole thing was just a mess. It was bad enough that the organization threatened to trade the clubs best player and team captain in Erik Karlsson, and then not going through with it. Mike Hoffman was said to have been on the trade block, as was Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Zack Smith. Bobby Ryan has been publically labelled an unmovable albatross, and it has been with good reason because of his poor play. All of them are still in town and appear to be dead weight at the moment for this team, which is in the middle of a divebomb from where they finished last season. Its been rough for the fans this year, as they can’t stand the owner, and they were told to prepare for the franchise player’s departure, which was a tough pill to swallow. This has got to be a gigantic slap in the face to the franchise and the fanbase with the way things thigns have gone for the team in the Canadian Capital. I would have held out higher hopes for Ottawa,as I said before, after the way thigns went down last year and that magical playoff run. Now its turned intoa dumpster fire and it seems as if there's no real end in sight at the moment.

Good As Gold

Amazing how things can change over time. Four years ago. the United States Women's Hockey Team had blown a two goal lead in the gold medal game against Canada in Souchi Russia. This time around, in Pyeongchang, the shoe was on the other foot. Canada failed to hold a lead. It had to go to a shootout but Team USA walked away with the gold medal on the strength of the 3-2 shootout win. It was the 2nd gold for America, coming twenty years after winning their first one.

Heading into the contest, there had been quite a bit of buildup around it, which isn't surprising considering that these two countries are considered the two world powers when it comes to women's hockey. This contest more then lived up to the hype. American Maddie Rooney and Canadian Shannon Szabados both played outstanding in net and it took some fantastic shots to be able to beat them. Hilary Knight got the scoring started for the United States, after being held quite for most of the tournament. Canada would draw even on a Haley Irwin goal, two minutes into the 2nd period. Canada would take a lead four minutes later on a goal by Marie-Philip Poulin, who had scored five times in the last three gold medal games against the United States.

Poulin was involved in a play later in the game that was on the controversial side. There's no body checking allowed in women's hockey, like you see in the men's game. There is body contact sure, but to go out of your way to throw a hit on somebody isn't allowed in women's hockey. Late in the game, Poulin collided with American forward Brianna Decker. It looked like what would be a clean body check in men's hockey but under normal circumstances would have been called in the women's game. In this instance it wasn't called, despite the fact that Decker got a cut on her nose on the play. Something should have been called but wasn't and play was allowed to go on. The United States showed great resolve and eventually tied the game on a huge goal by Monique Lamoureux-Morando with seven minutes left in regulation.

The game would head to overtime, a period in which both Maddie Rooney and Shannon Szbados stood on their heads. We went to a shootout. In the 6th round of the contest, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson pulled off one of the prettiest moves your ever going to see on a hockey rink:

Meghan Agosta had a chance to keep Canada alive in this game on the next shot, but she was denied by Maddie Rooney, which gave the United States their 2nd ever gold medal at the Olympics. Team USA won the first ever women's gold medal in 1998 in Nagano, followed by four straight Olympic gold medals for Canada. Canada had a chance to win five golds, something that no other country has ever done at the winter games in the sport of hockey. This win for the United States was huge on a couple of levels.

Firs of all, this was the United States shot at redemption after loosing the gold medal in back to back years to Canada. So it got the US a measure of revenge after what has happened to them in the last two Olympic games. It was also a measure of revenge for the US on home soil as well. Las March, the Women's Hockey Team threatened to boycott the Women's World Championships over a fight for fair wages and equitable support from USA Hockey. The program is working a lot more together to keep its group in tact year round and yet they managed to make less money then what the Men do for this sport. Yet at the same time the Women's Hockey program, at least on an Olympic level, is much better then the Men's program at the moment. This was the teams way of showing that they can hang with the big boys.

Congrats to the United States for winning gold in Women's Ice Hockey!

Can Jets Land Cousins?

It's going to be a pretty simple formula for the New York Jets this offseason. Land a solid starting quarterback. The team could have the cap space for it going into this summer. According to Spotrac.com, the Jets are nearly $80 million under the salary cap, and they could free up another $11 million if they part ways with defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, according to some reports. One of the big names that could see hitting the market is former Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins.

Now Cousins has had a solid starting job over the last three years as the number one man in Washington. During that time, Cousins threw for at least 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in each of those years, and he was a Pro Bowl selection in 2016. His time looks all but done in DC as the Redskins managed to pick up Alex Smith from Kansas City, which already pretty much means that Cousins days in DC were already numbered. There has been some speculation that the Redskins might still apply the $34 million franchise tag to Cousins so they can receive compensation for him in a trade. However, Cousins is reportedly prepared to file a grievance if that happens.

It makes sense that Cousins doesn't want the franchise tag, because I'm sure that Cousins is getting sick and tired of being tagged. He wants a decent contract that will keep him. Cousins also said, in a radio interview earlier this month, that if he does hit the free agent market Cousins wants to go to a team that's built to win rather than fetching top dollar. The million dollar question here is, do the Jets have enough to be able to land a guy like Kirk Cousins?

This is a Jets team that is coming off back to back 5-11 seasons and hasn't made the playoffs since 2010. So far, Jets General Manager Mike Maccagnan hasn't really been able to hit the mark on trying to find a quarterback to lead his team. The two guys that Maccagnan has drafted haven't really panned out to this point in the NFL. The formula for the Jets seems to be pretty simple at this point, get a starter. Right now, according to sources, the Jets want Cousins in a bad way to be their starting QB. Its going to be a tough task for the Jets to do. They have to throw some decent money at him if they hope to land him, and they also have to make Cousins feel very comfortable in the system and with his teammates. There's always a possibility that he could land here in New York, which would make a lot of Jets fans, myself included, very happy.

But lets say the Jets don't land Cousins in free agency, what's next? Christian Hackenberg, Bryce Petty, and Joel Stave are all under contract to play under center this year. Josh McCown is going to be a free agent, as are Drew Brees, Case Keenum, Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater, A.J. McCarron, Jay Cutler, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith. So there are plenty fo fish out in the sea for starting quarterbacks in the NFL, once March 1st rolls around.

All Jets fans are hoping for is that management can find the right guy to bring the team back to the promise land!

Islanders Fans Voice Opinons

When fans of a New York sports franchise are unhappy about something, they let their voices be heard. That's exactly whats starting to happen in Brooklyn. The Islanders started this week off with three games against divisional opponents. First up was the Blue Jackets, then games against the Rangers and Hurricanes. When Columbus came to town, it was a dud of a game. Columbus won 4-1, which was bad enough. To make it worse, Islanders fans were screaming Snow Must Go during the game. Oh but wait it gets better.

Some Islanders fans have actually started a Go Fund Me account to get a billboard created near Barclays Center for Snow to be removed as General Manager. According to NBC Sports, here's part of the message from the Go Fund Me page:

"It’s time to send a clear message to Islanders owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin. Fans will no longer tolerate the culture of losing surrounding this franchise. Help us send a message and tell ownership that “SNOW MUST GO” on a poster board within a half mile of the Barclays Center."

Garth has been General Manager of this hockey team since 2006, so his finger prints are all over this franchise. He has made some good moves with this team, there's no doubt about that. Getting the pick that turned into Matthew Barzal. Trading and signing both Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuck. Getting both Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss have all been good moves. But then there have been some of the dumb moves. Signing Rick DiPietro to the long term deal that didn't pan out (not Garth's fault Rick couldn't stay healthy). He's also traded away Matt Moulson for nothing. He couldn't sign either Frans Nielsen or Kyle Okposo to contracts. he lowballed Nielsen, which is why he's in Detroit, and he didn't even offer Okposo an contract, which is why he's now in Buffalo.

As far as this season goes, the Islanders haven't made a move to really try and show improvement. There's 24 games left now in the season, and at the moment the Islanders sit three points out of the final playoff spot. When the year started, there was so much promise for this hockey club. Now it seems like the wheels are falling off. That aspect of the season falls squarely on the Isles players. Isles management has not really done much to try and help out the team or their best player, John Tavares. JT will be a free agent at the end of the season. If management can't get something done to get more talent around their star player, he might not be hanging around after the season. If Tavares can't be resigned, that falls on management.

New York fans have no problem voicing their opinion when something isn't going right with one of their teams. Islanders fans have already done it, just look at what happened when Mike Milbury was fired. That was Isles fans causing that. Maybe its time it happens again with Garth. Look he has done a decent job with this hockey team, but decent is about it and its only gotten them so far. If the Islanders want to take the next step in becoming a major player in the Eastern Conference and challenging for a championship, this might have to be the first step in that direction. Will it actually make change, Isles fans voicing their opinion? It has worked before, so lets see if it can happen once again.

Alain Vigneault Needs His Head Examined

Coaching in the NHL, or any sport for that matter, is a tough thing to do in general. Trying to be a success in coaching in New York is even tougher, considering how tough the media and the fans can be. When one of the franchises isn't doing very well, the fans can be unforgiving. When you make stupid statements, that can also draw the ire of fans. This is the case for New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault.

Before pulling off a comeback win against the Calgary Flames on Friday night, the Rangers play had been a little on the inconsistent side. Some of the blame Vigneault has decide to put on franchise netminder Henrik Lundqvist, which to a degree is fair but to a degree it isn't. Look I get it, Henrik Lundqvist has a high standard to live up to, the guy is the face of the franchise and one of the greatest netminders to ever play the game of hockey. But to kind of almost seemingly throw him under the bus like this isn't exactly right. AV kind of does have a point in that Hank is a little bit underperforming, but at the same time, his coaching style and defensive play haven't really been doing much to help out either Hank or the other goalie on the Rangers roster, Ondrej Pavelec.

Yet somehow, despite all the inconsistent play from the goalies and the defense, the Rangers still manage to sit just three points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. I really still have the feeling that AV needs his head checked. He has the guts to call out his goalies play, yet he is unable to try and fix the problems that he's been doing with keeping his players ready to play every night and to be able to make sure he is adjusting in game to try and give the Rangers the best chance to win every single time out there. Look I get it, AV may have been trying to use this as a motivational tool to get the team to play better. But before you decide to go out and call out your best defensive player and face of the team, you had better make damn sure that you have enough credit to cover your own rear end. AV doesn't have that right now.

The way I look at it, with some of the decisions that Vigneault has made, he may just be coaching his way right out of a job here in New York!

Winners And Losers NBA Trade Deadline

After a few wheeling and dealing moves earlier this week, the NBA Trade deadline has come and gone. Its not just the moves that were made on the day of the deadline, which this year was February 8th. It was the moves that were made leading up to the deadline that will also be looked at here. We touch on everything, from Blake Griffin being delt to the Pistons all the way up to the final deal on deadline day which was the Suns getting Elfrid Payton from the Magic for a draft pick. With all the stuff that went on in between, there were bound to be a few winners and losers from deadline day.

Winner: Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles is clearly gearing up for a bigtime free agency run this summer with what they managed to do at the deadline. First it starts off with making a deal with the Cavs, sending Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. for Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and a 2018 first-round pick. They not only got picks but they got two guys who might help them take a shot at a playoff run and are only here as rentals, so their salaries come off the books at the end of the season. Making moves like this gives the Lakers at least the ability to create $69 million in cap space, which gives them the freedom to go after a few big names this summer and can possibly allow them to offer those players max money on deals. And they also get a guy in Isiah Thomas who has the ability to be able to score 30 or more points a game. So if he can still do that then the Lakers made out great and can possibly re sign him. If he can't get back to that level, then they don't really lose much when he walks this summer.

Winners: Detroit Pistons
They were the big winners of the deadline period, hauling in Blake Griffin, Brice Johnson and Willie Reed for Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, a 2018 top-four protected first-round pick and a 2019 second-round pick. Since picking up Griffin and company, Detroit hasn't lost a game yet, managed to pull themselves back to .500 and are a game and half out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference (at the time of this writing). By adding a guy like Griffin, Detroit has an All-Star frontcourt tandem that can work together for years to come. The overall play of the Pistons since making the deal has already made them huge winners in my book.

Winner: Cleveland Cavaliers
Talk about trimming the fat on your organization. In a little over an hour, the Cavs managed to move out Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, Jae Crowder, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade and Iman Shumpert (and a first-round pick). In return, Cleveland managed to pick up George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance and Rodney Hood. Bringing in a guy like Hill can seriously help out with the defense on the perimeter for Cleveland, and he can also be a pretty good complement to LeBron as far as a catch and shoot option is concerned. General Manager Koby Altman did a fantastic job of putting the Cavs in a position to be able to win and stay very competitive in a tough and top heavy Eastern Conference. There still some questions that remain in Cleveland, like how well the new guys can mesh with the Old Guard that's still in place in the city? And where the moves enough to be able to fix their issues on defense as well?

Loser: Boston Celtics
Yes the Celtics are in a playoff spot at the time of this writing, but how long can that last? Boston didn't really do anything at the deadline to help try and improve the club and get over the  hump of the Cavaliers and reach the finals. I mean sure, they did add Greg Monroe, and he should help, but they'd be better off acquiring a primary ball-handler. But Danny Ainge wasn't able to really pull something out of his hat to try and boost this ballclub. Sure they still have Kyrie Irving, but they didn't put much more in the way of support around him. It looks like the Celtics are confident in Irving's talents and are trusting him to try and continue leading the way for the Green and White. I'm just nor really sure how smart it is to leave it all on Kyrie's shoulders. There's no denying that he can play, it just leaves me to wonder if he can really carry the load and take the team to the promise land without much more in the elite talent department.

Loser: Los Angeles Clippers
There had been rumors flying around about trading away two of their biggest weapons in Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Griffin got traded, but Jordan didn't. Whether that was because they were asking for more than they could get, or other teams just weren't able to make the contracts work, the reality is that Jordan is finishing out the season in L.A. with no guarantee he sticks around past the summer. It almost kind of seems like the Clippers are in the process are trying to rebuild but they aren't quite sure how to do it . I think getting rid of Griffin and keeping Jordan was a bit of a loss, which could be made even worse when you consider that they might not really get much back in return of benifit. We shall see how things play out

NFL Honors

This past weekend, the NFL celebrated the best of the best from the year that was around the league. Its the time of the year where the NFL writers get together to pick the best of the best from the previous season in the league. So lets not waste any more time and get right into it. Here's the full list of winners from NFL Honors this past weekend.

Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award: Luke Kuechly, LB, Carolina Panthers
Salute To Service Award: Andre Roberts, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Built Ford Tough Offensive Line of the Year: Philadelphia Eagles
Courtyard's Greatness on the Road Award: Deshaun Watson, QB, Houston Texans
Deacon Jones Award: Chandler Jones, LB, Arizona Cardinals
FedEx Air and Ground Players of the Year: Carson Wentz, QB, Philadelphia Eagles and Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams
Bridgestone Elite Performance Play of the Year: Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs "Minneapolis Miracle," divisional round, Minnesota Vikings
Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year: J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans
AP Assistant Coach of the Year: Pat Shurmur, OC, Minnesota Vikings

AP Comeback Player of the Year: Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

Last season was a rough one for the Chargers Keenan Allen. After missing all but one game in 2016 due to blowing out his ACL in his knee. This year, Allen came back and did so in a massive way. With 102 receptions for 1,393 yards and six touchdowns, Allen was among the NFL's top wideouts, and he earned the Comeback Player of the Year award. Not only did Allen bounce back from a devastating injury, but he also became a first-time Pro Bowler. After playing 16 games in a season for the first time in his career, Allen has a chance to establish himself as an elite wideout in 2018. With the type of year Allen had and what he went through a season ago, there was almost no way anybody else in the league but him was going to walk away with the award.

AP Defensive Rookie of the Year: Marshon Lattimore, CB, New Orleans Saints

When you are considered to be the top cornerback coming out of the draft, you had better live up to the hype. Boy did the Saints Marshon Lattimore do that this year, and in spades. It wasn't even close, there was really no competition fort Lattimore to win the top defensive rookie award. In 13 games this season, Lattimore finished with 52 tackles, 18 passes defended and five interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, and was also named to the Pro Bowl. For as dynamic as New Orleans' offense was in 2017, its defensive improvement was the biggest reason the team won the NFC South and returned to the playoffs. One of the biggest reasons was Marshon lattimore.

AP Offensive Rookie of the Year: Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints

This award had been a three horse race most of the year. DeShaun Watson of the Texans got one vote but could have been more if he hadn't hurt his knee and missed the 2nd half of the Texans season. It pretty much came down to Kamara of the Saints (28 votes) and Kareem Hunt of the Chiefs (21 votes) as to who was going to win top offensive rookie honors. Kamara had himself a fine season, finishing the year with 728 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground along with 81 receptions for 826 yards and five scores through the air. You could have made a strong case for Kareem Hunt with how well he ran, but there was a stretch during the season where Hunt had struggled to keep up the consistent play. Had Hunt been able to sustain that play from wire to wire, then I think he would have won the award

AP Defensive Player of the Year: Aaron Donald, DT, Los Angeles Rams

This one was a close race to pick, as Donald (23 votes) beat out Calais Campblle of Jacksonville (17 votes). It helped the Rams clean up at some of the awards this year, as Donald had missed two games all year, one because of a contract dispute and one to rest for the playoffs. Other then that, he played out of his mind this year for the NFC West Champions. He had 41 tackles, racked up 11.0 sacks and forced five fumbles. There's no further proof of how dominating he was then against Russel Wilson and the Seahawks in Seattle late in the season, a game in which he sacked Wilson three times.

AP Offensive Player of the Year: Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams

This was one of those years for Todd Gurley of the Rams. He received 37 votes to walk away with the award, beating out Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown (8 votes), Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (4 votes) and Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (1 vote). As the season went along, Gurley found one of his grooves, finishing the year with a league-best 2,093 scrimmage yards, which happened to be good for 35 percent of team's offensive output. Gurley finished second in league rushing with 1,305 yards, becoming only the third player in NFL history to tally 2,000 scrimmage yards, 10 rushing TDs and six receiving TDs, something that had only been done before by Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and O.J. Simpson. Over his final four games of the regular season, Gurley had 440 rushing yards and five touchdowns along with 22 catches for 302 receiving yards and three touchdowns en route to NFC Offensive Player of the Month honors. There was nobody on the offensive side of the ball this year that had the ability to change a game this year the way Gurley did.

AP Coach of the Year: Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams

This is a solid win for Sean MvVay (35 votes), who beat out Mike Zimmer of the Vikings (11 votes), Doug Marrone of the Jaguars (2 votes), Bill Belichick of the Patriots (1 vote) and Doug Pederson of the Eagles (1 vote). McVay is the youngest coach to win the award at 32 years old. This should have come as no surprise to people, just look at the job that McVay did with the Rams. A year ago, the Rams finished 4-12 (3rd in the NFC West two games better then the 49ers). Now this year, the Rams rebound to win the West at 11-5. It was one of the greatest turnarounds in league history, and McVay was the one at the helm of it. Some people were making the argument for Doug Pederson of the Eagles, because Philly won the Super Bowl with a lot of players out of their lineup. This award is for the regular season. The Eagles were a good team, but McVay turned the rams around in a big way, not only leading the team to a division title, but the Rams offense led league in scoring and they had their 1st winning season for team since 2003. Sean McVay was a very hands on coach with this team, in that he was not only calling the plays but was a big reason why both Jared Goff and Todd Gurley were playing at the level they were playing at during the year.

AP Most Valuable Player: Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots

Brady (40 votes) beat out both Todd Gurley of the Rams (8 votes) and Carson Wentz of the Eagles (2 votes) to become the oldest MVP in all of professiona sports. Brady is 40 years and 6 months old, surpassing Barry Bonds (who was 40 years and 4 months) when Bonds won MVP in 2004. Brady had a solid year, completing 66.3 percent of his passes for 4,577 yards, 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions while leading the Pats to a 13-3 mark. This now marks the 3rd MVP award for Brady, tying him with Jim Brown and Brett Farve for the 2nd most in history. The only guy to win more MVP's then those three would be Peyton Manning, who won the award five times. This doesn't take away from what both Gurley and Wentz did with their respective teams. If Wentz had managed to be able to stay healthy the entire year, I think he might have had a better chance of possibly winning the award away from Brady. Still that's ont taking anything away from what Brady managed to do this year in New England. Not bad for a guy in his 40's.

Championship To Philadelphia

It has been a long time coming for the City Of Brotherly Love! Fans of the Philadelphia Eagles football team have waited a long time for this kind of a celebration. See the Eagles franchise hasn't won a title since winning the NFL Championship all the way back in 1960. In the Super Bowl era, the Eagles have come up short twice, falling to the Raiders in Super Bowl 15 and the Patriots in Super Bowl 39. Once this year's playoffs got started, they were viewed as underdogs without the services of Carson Wentz. Well they defied all the odds and pulled out one of the biggest wins in the history of the franchise, beating the Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl 52, giving the city its first football championship in 58 years!

Things got off to a fairly even start, with each team hitting field goals to open the scoring. Philadelphia landed the first big shot when Nick Foles hooked up with Alshon Jeffery on a fantastic 34 yard touchdown pass. New England had a chance to answer with points, but surprisingly Stephen Gostkowski missed a chip shot field goal, after a muffed snap. One of the big plays from a Patriots perspective came with 13:11 left in the opening quarter, when Brandon Cooks got popped with a hit, which appeared to be a helmet to helmet contact hit, and was lost for the rest of the game. Once Cooks went down, some weren't sure how New England could possibly overcome from it. Four minutes later, Philadelphia increased their lead on a LeGarrette Blount 21 Yard scamper for a score. New England fought back and managed to cut the Philadelphia lead to three. As we came down to the end of the first half, Philadelphia managed to pull this beauty play out of the bag to increase their lead again:


This was a play that was made in response to New England trying the exact same thing earlier in the 2nd quarter, but the Patriots came up short on the play. So Philadelphia goes into the half up 22-12. Once the second half got rolling, it looked like the Patriots did what they do best, make the proper in game adjustment.

New England marched down the field to start the 2nd half with a touchdown drive that saw Tom Brady hook up with Rob Gronkowski four different times on the drive, including the touchdown from five yards out.  The teams traded off scoring drives the rest of the half, Philadelphia scored a touchdown (tight end Corey Clement from 22 yards out and it had to be reviewed to make sure he held the ball). Then Brady hit Chris Hogan from 26 yards out to cut the Eagles lead to three. Jake Elliott hit a 46 yard field goal to up the lead to six. New England wouldn't go away and Brady found Gronkowski again with a little over nine minutes left in the game to give the Patriots a one point lead. Philadelphia wasn't phased. Philadelphia chewed seven minutes off the clock and Foles found Zach Ertz from 11 yards out to give the Eagles a 38-33 lead.

New England's next drive lead to the biggest defensive play of the game. With 2:16 left in the game, Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham stripped the ball from Brady and Derek Barnett managed to come up with the football. One minute later, Jake Elliott hit a 46 yard field goal to put the game out of reach and clinch the title for the Eagles.

Nick Foles walked away with MVP honors, finishing the game going 28 of 43 for 373 yards three touchdowns and one pick. The rest of the Eagles had a pretty good game too. Blunt finished with 90 yards on 14 carries, Jefferry had three catches for 74 yards, Nelson Agholor had nine catches for 84 yards, Zach Ertz had seven catches for 67 yards and Corey Clement had four catches for 100 yards. New England had a pretty impressive day too. Brady finished the day going 28 for 48 for 505 yards and three touchdowns. James white had seven carries for 45 yards, Rob Gonkowski had nine catches for 116 yards, Chris Hogan had six catches for 128 yards and Danny Amendola had eight catches for 152 yards.

There were a few records set in this game. The 1,151 yards gained in this game were the most yards by both teams in a game, regular season or playoffs, in NFL history. The 42 passing first downs were the most in a Super Bowl as was the 847 total combined passing yards. New England's 33 points was the most points scored in a Super Bowl by a losing team.

In one of the wildest Super Bowls of all time, the Eagles of Philadelphia flew the highest. Congratulations to the Eagles on winning Super Bowl 52!

Football Hall Makes Call

Getting inducted into the Hall of Fame, any hall of fame for that matter, means that you were great at what you did. You were better then everybody else at your position. On August 4th in Canton, Ohio, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will add new members to its hallowed halls. Eight of them to be exact. Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Ray Lewis, Brian Dawkins, Brian Urlacher, Bobby Beathard, Robert Brazile and Jerry Kramer are all getting enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame this year. This will go in the books as one of the youngest hall classes ever.

Out of this group, Ray Lewis is the most decorated of the bunch. The middle linebacker spent his entire career with the Baltimore Ravens, was a 13-time Pro Bowl selection, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and a Super Bowl MVP. He started 227 games in his career and was credited with eight 100-tackle seasons. There were so few guys in the NFL who were as tough and intimidating as Ray Lewis. He was one of the most prepared guys on the field week in and week out. Lewis was one of those guys who most defensive players, especially linebackers, tried to model their play after. And there were so few on the defensive side of the football who hit people as hard as Ray Lewis could. The guy was flat out great, and will go down in the books as one of the best to every play linebacker in the AFC.

The other linebacker to make the hall this year was what the NFC had as equivalent, or close to it, for Ray Lewis. That person was Brian Urlacher. Urlacher was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection, won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2000 and Defensive Player of the Year in 2005. Brian had a rare combination of speed and deep coverage ability for a linebacker, something that no other team could find a player quite like Urlacher. His instincts and speed could erase big plays before they happened. While he wasn't as intense an individual as Lewis, Urlacher still had that killer instinct about him that helped make him great in Chicago. He was exceptionally quick for a guy of his size and when he hit you, you felt it. Urlacher drew a few comparisons in his career to another Bears linebacker legend, Mike Singletary.

The last of the defensive players to be selected to the Hall was Brian Dawkins. Dawkins played 13 of his 16 NFL season for the Eagles, was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection. Brian was a rare player to have finished a career with at least 35 interceptions and 20 sacks. He also had 36 career forced fumbles. Much like the other two defensive players to get into the hall this year, Dawkins could lay a hit on the opposition. He could hit people and they would be knocked dizzy. He also had a tendency for making a big play when it was needed, just as the forced fumbles and interception would be an indication of. Dawkins was a great player and great leader on the field, but also had a soft side off of it, doing a lot of charity work in the city of Philadelphia.

Now to the offensive side of the ball, we got two guys who knew how to snag in passes from the quarter back. First up is Randy Moss. Moss played for the 49ers, Titans and Raiders but most people will remember him for his time with the Vikings and Patriots. In 218 games, Moss caught 982 passes for 15,292 yards and scored 156 touchdowns. Moss was one of the most dominating receivers to ever play the game. He isn't quite at the level that Jerry Rice was, who's considered the greatest receiver to play football, but Moss was at a level that few others could touch. When he was on his game, Randy Moss was the very best in the sport during his prime. He had his antics sure, like fake pulling down his pants after scoring a touchdown against the Packers. More often then not, Moss let his play really do the talking. Randy's attitude changed more when he got paired up with Brady and company in New England. Randy was a vertical threat problem that virtually no defense could solve. He led the league in touchdowns with 17 as a rookie and wound up averaging 1,395 yards and 13 scores in his first six seasons.

The other standout wide receiver to get into the hall this year was Terrell Owens. Owens played one year each for the Bills and Bengals, but when people think of TO, they will remember his time with the Eagles, Cowboys and 49ers. He played in 219 games, hauling in 1,078 catches for 15,934 yards and he scored 153 touchdowns. He's had his great moments on the field, like the playoff catch with the 49ers to get a huge win over the Green Bay Packers. There was also the big plays he made on a bad ankle in the Super Bowl for the Eagles against the Patriots. He also had his antics that kind of took away from some of what he did on the field. Like pulling out the sharpie from his sock to sign a football, doing the workouts in his driveway among a group of media, and crying in the press conference over Tony Romo after a playoff loss. While he had his share of controversies over the years, no one ever questioned Owens' work ethic or excellence on the field. Owens had tremendous talent, some of which could have been better then that of Randy Moss, if he had just managed to stay out of trouble.

Congratulations to the Hall of Fame class of 2018!

Super Bowl LII Preview

The time has arrived. After seventeen weeks of the regular season and three more weeks of playoff football, we have reached this point. The Vince Lombardi Trophy is now on the line. We started this journey back in training camp in August with 32 teams all looking to get their hands on the biggest prize in football. Now here we sit on the first weekend in February and we have two teams left standing. Beginning at 6:30 tonight, the two remaining teams will duke it out for the big prize on one of the grandest stages of them all. The battle for the biggest prize in professional football is here, so lets not waste any more time and get right into it.

Its the NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles taking on the AFC Champion New England Patriots. Both teams won their respective Eastern Divisions with identical 13-3 records. New England and Philadelphia both got first round byes. The Eagles had to beat the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings to win the NFC, meanwhile the Patriots had to beat the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars to capture the AFC crown. New England is playing in their 10th ever Super Bowl, meanwhile the Eagles are 0-2, with one of those losses coming in Super Bowl 29 to the New England Patriots.

Philadelphia does have two former Patriots on their team, in the form of running back LeGarrette Blount and defensive end Chris Long. Both guys won the big game with the Patriots a season ago, so they know what this feeling is like. They have been an underdog team all postseason long, which is something the city feels it can handle, they are known for that. Once Carson Wentz went down with the injury and they had to go to Nick Foles, many wondered how well the Eagles were going to perform. Foles has played above and beyond what anybody has expected of him so far in the playoffs. Look at what he did in the NFC Championship game, throwing for three touchdowns. Foles seems like he's ready to go. Its not just the offense that is rolling, head coach Doug Petterson has his defense ready to go as well. Fletcher Cox has been playing lights out so far in the playoffs and has the rest of his mates playing at his level. They were able to shut down Atlanta and then do the same thing in the blowout win over Minnesota two weeks ago. Philadelphia's defense is playing on a level that you need to be playing at in a situation like this.

Then you have the Patriots, who are the defending Super Bowl Champions, who are looking to become the first team  to win consecutive Super Bowls since they did it in 2004 and 2005. Tom Brady is playing at a level you might come to expect of a guy of his caliber. He's playing great football at the right time of the year. Tight End Rob Gronkowski was just cleared to play Sunday, so he will be in the lineup, which will pose another interesting matchup for that Eagles secondary. We saw last week that even without Gronk in the lineup, the Patriots offensive coordinators were able to make adjustments and overcome that talent Jaguars defense. The defense in New England isn't quite at the exact same level as that of the Eagles defense, it did get trounced early on against Jacksonville two weeks ago. Again Matt Patricia and Josh McDaniels know how to make adjustments and they will be ready for whatever the Eagles are going to throw at them.

This game is going to be a tough one to pick. Philadelphia is riding a huge wave of momentum heading into the title game. Nick Foles and company are still out to prove that they are no joke. Had Carson Wentz been healthy, the Eagles would be given a lot more of a chance in this game. Nick Foles has done an above average job to replace him, but he is undermatched in this meeting. Brady has the ability to overcome anything at any time and can properly adjust in game. It sounds a little corney to say this but its true, the Patriots have the advantage because they've done this before and they know what their doing in this situation. Maybe the Eagles hunger and desire to prove everybody wrong and that they are no fluke could be a big key for them in this game. BUt I don't think that's going to happen here. New England's in-game awareness and ability to adapt on the fly, is unparalleled and lethal. Against this dynasty, all teams have been, are and will be underdogs. The Eagles, regardless of how they feel, are no different.

Prediction: New England Patriots 28, Philadelphia Eagles 21