NBA All Star Rosters Announced

Its the best gathering of talent in one place during the season. February 17th is the date, and the Spectrum Center in Charlotte is the site. The best of the best in the National Basketball Association get together for the mid season all star game. the twenty five best players in the league so far this season, as selected by fans, coaches and general managers, will gather in Charlotte to see which conference is the best. So here's the full list. The twenty five guys who will play in the showcase at the all star game.

Western Conference
Starters:
Guard: Stephen Curry, Warriors (6th ASG)
Guard: James Harden, Rockets (7th ASG)
Forward: Kevin Durant, Warriors (10th ASG)
Forward: Paul George, Thunder (6th ASG)
Forward: LeBron James, Lakers (15th ASG)

Reserves:
Guard: Russell Westbrook, Thunder (8th ASG)
Guard: Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers (4th ASG)
Guard: Klay Thompson, Warriors (5th ASG)
Forward: Anthony Davis, Pelicans (6th ASG)
Forward: LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs (7th ASG)
Center: Nikola Jokić, Nuggets (1st ASG)
Center: Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves (2nd ASG)

Eastern Conference
Starters:
Guard: Kemba Walker, Hornets (3rd ASG)
Guard: Kyrie Irving, Celtics (6th ASG)
Forward: Kawhi Leonard, Raptors (3rd ASG)
Forward: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks (3rd ASG)
Center: Joel Embiid, 76ers (2nd ASG)

Reserves:
Guard: Kyle Lowry, Raptors (5th ASG)
Guard: Victor Oladipo, Pacers (2nd ASG)
Forward: Khris Middleton, Bucks (1st ASG)
Guard: Bradley Beal, Wizards (2nd ASG)
Guard: Ben Simmons, 76ers (1st ASG)
Forward: Blake Griffin, Pistons (6th ASG)
Center: Nikola Vucevic, Magic (1st ASG)

So now that we know who's in, lets look at who's out. Who were the biggest snubs from the game this season. One of the biggest snubs has to be Rudy Gobert. The Utah Center has been averaging 15.1 points a game, to go along with 116 assists and 195 rebounds on the season. Yes I know Jokic on Denver is playing at an MVP level and he deserves to be there, but I Gobert has been putting up a better overall game then Towns has. No disrespect intended for Towns but Gobert has been better.

Same argument can be made for Tobias Harris. Harris is actually having a year that I would almost put on par with Klay Thompson of the Warriors. Harris is putting up career bests in points (21.2), rebounds (7.9) and assists (2.6) while connecting on 43.3 percent of his three-pointers. I think a big reason Thompson got the nod over Harris was because of records. Golden State has the best record in the West, while the Clippers are just two games up on the Lakers for that final playoff spot in the West.

Other than that, looks like a good group selected for the game.

Tale Of Two Arenas

Ah the hockey arena. A place where people come together of the great sport of ice hockey. Doesn't matter whether its pee wee or the NHL, hockey is hockey. At the pro level, an arena is everything. It can mean a lot come playoff time, as home ice advantage can be huge. In the case of the New York Islanders, they got two buildings they call home: Barclays Center in Brooklyn and NYCB Live, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Even though Barclays is the nicer of the two rinks, the Coliseum is where it should be at for the Islanders home games.

Up until early December all home games had been played at Barclays, now they're splitting games between there and the Coliseum. After the Isles host the Oilers on February 16th at Barclays, the remainder of the home games are being played at the Coliseum, where it quite honestly belongs. The records should be an indication of that. As of this writing, the Isles are 5-1-1 on Long Island, and 9-6-2 in Brooklyn. Yes I know the attendance is low. As a matter of fact, its the lowest in the entire league. According to the Associated press, in seven games at the Coliseum, the Isles draw an average 13,568 fans. Four of the games have been sellouts of 13,917. They have drawn an average of 10,788 with no sellouts at Barclays Center, which has a capacity of 15,795. Overall, the Islanders are last among the 31 NHL teams with an average attendance of 11,599. The arena I think plays a big factor in that.

Lets face facts, Barclays is a concert hall and basketball arena, not a hockey rink. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful that the Isles were able to get to play games in Brooklyn, because it kept them where they belong here in New York. The sightlines suck, its a pain in the rear end to try and get to the building and the ice is horrible, from what I've heard, for a game to be played on. The plus side is the food is plentyful and the arena is beautiful. Other then that, it doesn't offer a whole hell of a lot for hockey.

The Coliseum has its upsides. Sure it is a small rink. But its got good sightlines for a hockey game and an expanded concourse inside the building. It maybe small by NHL standards but it has done wonders for us Islanders fans. Its an intimate place to play that's really rough on opposing teams. Most of the players, from what I've read and heard, are happier at the Coliseum. Its closer to home and easier to get to games and its a better place to play. Just by watching games on TV, you can hear the difference coming through the screen. The sound level is off the charts, that's how loud the place can get.

The debate is going on as to where home games will be played, should the Isles make the playoffs. As of this writing, the Islanders sit atop the Metro division, holding a three point lead over the Washington Capitals. Should the team hang on to this top spot, a wild card spot, or something in between, no area has been named to where they can start playing. Common sense dictates that it should be played where it always belonged, the Coliseum.

Again there's no real knock on Barclays, it really is a nice building. The Coliseum is where it should be played at. Keep this rolling till the new building is built and keep them at their real home here on Long Island!

Meet The Hall Of Fame Class Of 2019

Hall of Famer. By definition, one is noted as a person recognized as one of the top performers in a particular activity, especially a sport. In common terms, it means your better than everybody else, you played a game at a level that was above everybody else to play the sport. Baseball has made that distinction this year. Four men have gotten a call to be placed in the hall of immortals for the game. Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina, Edgar Martinez, and Mariano Rivera will take their rightful place in Cooperstown on July 21st.

We start this list with Moose, Mike Mussina. In his career, Moose got in on his 6th year on the ballot, playing from 1991 to 2008. He pitched for a decade in Baltimore, and the last eight years of his career in the Bronx. Once all was said and done, Mussina finished with a 279-153 record, a 3.68 ERA and 2,813 strikeouts. He lead the AL in wins with 19 in 1995 and was a 20 game winner once, his final year in the Majors with the Yankees in 2008. During that 18 year career, Mussina did this pitching over 3,500 innings in his career. He never won a Cy Young Award, but he did claim seven Gold Gloves and make five All-Star Games during his stellar career.

He spent his entire career in the AL East and did something no other pitcher has done. Mussina won at least 11 games in 17 consecutive seasons, which by the way is an American League record. Moose was a competitive player like few others. He had a tough as nails mentality and should have had a higher win total if he had gotten a little more run support.

A posthumous induction for Roy Halladay, who passed away in November of 2017. During a 16-year career, he won two Cy Young Awards and received the nod in eight All-Star Games. During that time, he spent twelve years, winning 148 games during that span, with the Blue Jays. The final four years, and 55 wins of his career, came as a member of the Phillies.He finished with a 3.38 ERA and 2,464 strikeouts. A lot of what people will remember Doc for was he was one of the last true workhorses. A perfect example of that is his 250-inning season in 2010. That year was a great year for Doc, who went 21-10 on the year and threw a perfect game in the regular season. To follow that up, once the playoffs got started, he threw only the 2nd no hitter in playoff history, doing it against the Reds in game one of the divisional round.

Doc twice won more than 20 games in a season, and in both of those years won the Cy Young award, becoming one of only six guys to win the award in each league. What helped make Doc so special was his command of his pitches. Halladay's efficiency and durability were reflected in his total innings pitched every year, also due to his ability to strike out hitters and induce ground ball outs to escape jams. He often led the league in innings pitched and complete games, while ranking among the leaders in WHIP and ERA. He could move the ball so well with that two seam fastball, it was just plain nasty to try and hit.

Now on to the greatest closer the game of baseball has ever seen in Mariano Rivera. Mo becomes the first person ever to get a unanimous vote. In 19 years in the Majors, Mo saved a league record 652 games. That's just during the regular season. During his 19 years in the Majors, he had 40 or more saves in a season nine times and had more than 50 saves twice in his career. He had a career 2.21 ERA and 1,173 strikeouts. To go along with that, Mo was a 13 time all star, won five Rolaids Relief Awards, five World Series titles, and MVP Awards from an All-Star Game, ALCS, and World Series. Rivera was as dominant, reliable, and likable as any pitcher we've seen.

More men walked on the moon (12) then scored on Mo (11) in the playoffs. That's a level of dominance that has never and will never be seen again. He dominated games with his big pitch, the cutter. Nobody threw one better and it helped Rivera set the record for most saves ever by a closer. There was nobody any better at shutting the door on a game than Riavera. He was good, really good and deserved this honor more than any other pitcher.

Finally, the only hitter to get into the hall this year, Designated Hitter Edgar Martinez. Martinez was a seven-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger who also won a pair of batting titles. Edgar spent his entire 18 year career in Seattle, playing 2,055 games, hitting .312 for his career, clubbing 309 home runs and driving in 1,261 runs. He was a solid all around hitter, his highest average being .356 in 1995. He was one of the toughest guys to play against, he was such a tough out at the plate a lot of pitchers said he was the toughest out to get.

Just looking at the rest of the list, you see a few surprises. Curt Schilling (60.9 percent), Roger Clemens (59.5), and Barry Bonds (59.1) received the highest percentages of anyone not elected. The only other guy on the ballot who got more than half the votes was Larry Walker (54.6 percent), and he's coming up on his last year on the ballot next year.

Now the big question. Looking ahead, who gets in next year? Jeff Kent got more home runs and runs driven in than any other 2nd baseman in history, its still a surprise he's not in yet. Bonds and Clemens the debate will still rage on but will get in some day. The one guy who is viewed by many, myself included, as a lock to get in next year is Derek Jeter. That debate will take place next year.

This year's Ceremony takes place in Cooperstown on July 21st.

NFL Rule Change Needed?

Evolution. Its part of life, and sports. In the sporting world, it can come in many forms. Training, conditioning, strategy, ect. One aspect that gets tweeks and evolves all the time are the rules. Sometimes those rules do need to be changed, as does how those rules should be called. The National Football League needs to do that now. Perfect example of that came on Sunday in the NFC Championship game between the Saints and Rams.

In the fourth quarter, with the Saints driving, Nickell Robey-Coleman wiped out Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis. If you haven't seen the play yet, here's what happened:


Looks like a pass interference call right? WRONG. Refs never threw a flag and said this was a clean play. New Orleans would score on the drive and force overtime, which the Rams won the game there anyway, but that's not the point of the argument here. The debate here is what should be done about this situation?

Robey-Coleman said in a postgame interview that he went into the play to wipe out Lewis, never making an attempt to make a play on the ball. How that wasn't called was mind numbing. The refs did, in fact, admit after the game that they blew that call. Now I pose the question. Should the NFL have a new rule in place to be able to challenge situations such as this?

It's not for every single call, that would slow the pace down of the NFL to a snail's pace. We don't want that happening. But what should be allowed to happen is for coaches to be allowed to challenge certain calls. One is a perfect example from Saints and Rams with this call.

Then there was what happened in the 4th quarter between the Chiefs and Patriots. With a little over 7 minutes left in regulation and Kansas City up four, Chris Jones gets called for this:


HOW THE HELL IS THIS ROUGHING THE PASSER!?!?!?!?!?

I'm sorry but this was another horrible call by the refs. Its situations like this, horrible calls like this should be allowed to be challenged. And it's not those ticky tack calls that are borderline. That would really slow things down. The only thing that can be challenged are the calls that are THIS obvious.

It might take a little whilke to figure things out and get the exact wording down, and I'm sure there's more details to this. maybe my reaction is too simple thinking. Who knows. I do know one thing, Calls like this can't allowed to be upheld in the league anymore. Its bull and it needs to stop.

NFL upper management, get on this now!

Championship Game Preview

Championship weekend has arrived. We started this crazy journey with 32 teams in the hunt, and now we are down to the final four. It's a battle of the top two teams in each conference. The best of the best remain standing. In the NFC its a battle of two outstanding running games. While the AFC has a battle of two top flight passers. Should make for a highly entertaining day of football. Enough waiting lets get right into it. Here's a breakdown of the two games this weekend.

First up at 3:05 its the NFC West Champion Los Angeles Rams taking on the NFC South Champion New Orleans Saints. New Orleans got here after a first round bye and then beat the Cowboys 30-22 in the divisional round. This now marks the 11th NFC title game for the Rams, who are playing in their first one since 2001. Los Angeles is now 20-24 lifetime in the playoffs. New Orleans is coming in after an opening round bye and a 20-14 win over the Eagles in the divisional round. This marks the 3rd time ever that the Saints are making the NFC title game, and their first such appearance since 2009. New Orleans is now 9-10 lifetime in the playoffs. This marks the 2nd ever meeting between the two clubs in the playoffs, the Saints beat the Rams in the divisional round in 2000. They met once during the regular season, a 45-35 Saints win back in week nine.

This is going to be a battle of the run games. CJ Anderson and Todd Gurley both rushed for over 100 yards in last week's win over Dallas. Because of this powerful duo of running backs, it has allowed head coach Sean McVay to use a lot more play action passes and open up the pass attack more often. It gives another element of depth to that game from Los Angeles. Oh and lets not take anything away from the Rams defense, who did a fantastic job shutting down the best running back in the league last week in Zek Elliott. They can also hold a pass game in check, they did that against Dak (to a degree) last week as well. Los Angeles has been pretty balanced on defense, with Aaron Darnold getting plenty of pressure on the opposition. Los Angeles can't really seemed to be stopped, they are in fact 13-3 on the road over the last two seasons combined. Oh and unlike in week nine, they got Aqib Talib back and healthy this week.

Lets not forget that the Saints have a pretty good one two punch at running back as well. Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram are both kinda good. Those two guys together have a combined 24 touchdowns this year. Impressive to say the least. And they are just as comfortable in the receiving game as they are at running the ball. If the running game isn't tough enough to deal with, the passing game is just as hard. Drew Brees can still sling it and Michael Thomas is pretty good. Thomas had 125 receptions on 147 targets in the regular season, for an absurd 85 percent catch rate. And to add to those eye popping numbers, He had 12 catches for 171 yards in the win last week. He's somebody that the Rams are going to try to have to key in on. New Orleans hasn't lost at home yet in the playoffs with Sean Payton and Drew Brees teaming together, they're 6-0.

So how to pick this game? There's no doubt that the Rams are going to come out hungry and want a little revenge for what happened to them back in week nine. Just have this feeling that the result maybe the same. CJ Anderson took the bulk of the carries last week. Sure Gurley had over 100 yards last week, but come on lets face it, he hasn't really looked the same the last couple of weeks. New Orleans keeps the Rams in check and keeps right on rolling along.

Prediction: Saints 37, Rams 30

Finally in the 6:40 kickoff its the AFC East Champion New England Patriots taking on the AFC West Champion Kansas City Chiefs. New England came away with a 41-28 divisional round win over the Chargers. This now marks the 8th straight AFC title game for the Pats and the 15th overall for the Pats. New England now sits at 36-20 lifetime in the playoffs. Kansas City got here by beating the Colts 31-13 in the Divisional Round. Kansas City is playing in their 4th AFC title game and first one since 1993. Kansas City is now 11-18 in the playoffs. This marks the 2nd ever playoff meeting between the teams, with the Patriots getting the win in the divisional round in 2015. New England beat the Chiefs 43-40 in week six.

Sony Michel has been a straight up beast for the Patriots this season, and in the playoffs as well. With him and James White doing damage out of the Patriots backfield, it makes things tougher for Patriots opponents to try and deal with. They still have Rob Gronkowski in the pass game, while he hasn't been as effective as in years past, Gronk is still a force. Then There's Julian Edleman, who now has the 2nd most playoff receptions in NFL history, only Jerry Rice has more. Lets face facts New England is one of the most balanced teams in the game and they know how to prepare better than almost every other team in the League. One of the down sides for the Patriots is that they are 3-5 on the road this year, so this could be a bit tougher on the Pats. Also worth noting that New England hasn't won a road AFC title game since 2004 and have lost their last three AFC title games on the road.

Kansas City is now slouch though. Patrick Mahomes is playing at an MVP level. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelcie have been playing at a really high level with Mahomes this year, both guys playing at career year levels. Some thought that Kansas City was going to falter after Kareem Hunt got in trouble for his off the field issues. Not the case as Damien Williams had a big week last week. So things look like they might be in OK shape for this game for the KC running game.

New England hasn't been as good on the road this year and their past track record in the playoffs hasn't been that great away from Foxbrough. New England will come prepared. Kansas City will topple them this year. The last time these two teams met was in New England. Now its out at Arrowhead and the Chiefs are pretty good at home. New England struggles on the road and won't have an easy time in this game. New Egland's run ends here

Predictions: Chiefs 34, Patriots 31.

Yankees Bullpen Bolstered

Pitching wins championships. That's one of the oldest sayings in all off baseball. A huge key to that is the bullpen. You need solid relief pitching, especially come playoff time. Some considered that a minor weakness of the New York Yankees near the end of last season, an issue that the team had hoped to correct in the offseason. It looks like they may have done that, and in spades, this winter. New York went from a good pen to one that could be great.

New York got its newest weapon in the Pen on Thursday, adding Adam Ottavino on a 3 year deal worth $27 Million. Ottavino was 6-4 with a 2.43 ERA and 0.991 WHIP in 77 2/3 innings last season with the Colorado Rockies. The 33-year-old native New Yorker has a career 3.68 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in eight seasons in the majors. Pretty solid numbers for a guy that's been around as long as he has. Add a guy of his caliber to a pen that already has Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Zach Britton and Chad Green. That right there has to send shivers down the spines of opposing hitters. With Ottavino now in the mix in the Pen, the Yankees have spent $44.25 million on their top four relievers. Oh yeah, this is coming with David Robertson leaving for the Phillies.

There has been a big need for bullpen help and rightfully so. When you sit back and look at the starting rotation as a whole, here's what you get. CC Sabathia is coming off a heart scare and knee issues, which leaves one to worry. Then there's newly acquired James Paxton, who is a good pitcher yes, but he's never pitched more than the 160 ¹/₃ innings he tossed a year ago. Then there's Luis Severino, who while the ace of the staff last season, seemed to drop off after the all star break. Finally, you'd have to worry about Masahiro Tanaka and his partially torn UCL.

Oh and just a reminder, the Yankees are still trying to move Sonny Gray.

Adding a guy like Ottavino to this pen, makes it even more dangerous and shortens a game by that much. Sure, the pen may not be spot on every single night, but they are good enough when they're on their game to make up for starters who have an off night. New York got a new weapon out of the pen and got that much stronger. This could be a very good year in the Bronx, and knowing the Yankees, they might not be done just yet.

NFL Divisional Round Preview

Divisional Round weekend is here. We got eight teams now left standing and three weeks to go till the ultimate prize in football is presented. There's a lot of unique elements going into this weekend's slate of playoff games. Luck and Mahomes makes for one interesting QB battle, while we have the battle of the two best running backs in football this year. That's just Saturday. Sunday sees the two teams in last years big game trying to get back there. Its a chance to see if New England can get stopped before Championship weekend and the other game has a battle of two great Quarterbacks. Enough fluff, lets get right into it. Here's what the matchups are for the divisional round.

First up, we got the Wild Card Winning Indianapolis Colts taking the AFC West Winning Kansas City Chiefs. Indy is coming in off their dominating 21-7 win over Houston in the Wild Card round. This marks the 3rd straight divisional round appearance for the Colts, who are looking to get back to the AFC Title game for the first time since 2014. Indy is now 23-23 lifetime in the playoffs. After finishing the regular season with a 12-4 record, the Chiefs won the AFC West for the 3rd straight year. This also marks the 4th straight playoff appearance for the Chiefs, who are looking for their first playoff win since 2015. Kansas City is looking to reach the AFC title game for the first time since 1993. Kansas City is 9-18 lifetime in the playoffs. This marks the 5th all time playoff meeting between the teams, with the Colts having won the previous four meetings. These two didn't meet during the regular season.

Indy coming off their dominating win over Houston last week have a much tougher test this week against the best team in the AFC. Andrew Luck has been good this year, really good in fact. A lot of credit for the resurgence should go to his offensive line for keeping him upright this year. He's been able to get into a groove with TY Hilton all year, who had another strong showing against Houston last week. Same thing with Marlon Mack, who had a monster game against the Texans. That line of Indy's is going to have a good test going against the front seven of the Chiefs this weekend. Indy has come in red hot, including last week having won eight of their last nine games and five in a row. A big help to Indy has been their defense, which hasn't allowed a team to score more than 30 points in a game against them since the middle of October

But they are going up against a different Chiefs team then what we saw five years ago when KC blew a 28 point halftime lead to the Colts. Kansas City has been a very battle tested team, with Patrick Mahomes playing at an MVP level all season long. He threw 50 touchdown passes and for over 5,000 yards this season, so we know he can bring it this year. Plus, the four losses that KC has suffered this year have all been to playoff teams (Patriots, Rams, Chargers and Seahawks) and all by seven points or less. KC has a defense that will be able to get pressure on Andrew Luck, which could cause a little trouble for the Colts QB.

This is going to be a fun game to watch, a battle of two great QB's this season. KC has been near perfect at home this year, falling only to the Chargers late in the season at home. Yes the Colts are hot right now, but the Chiefs have the better overall team and, in a tough game, should be able to hang on and take the victory.

Prediction: Chiefs 30, Colts 20

Next up we have the NFC East winning Dallas Cowboys taking on the NFC West winning Los Angeles Rams. Dallas got here by beating the Seahawks 24-22 in the Wild Card Round. It was the first playoff win for the Boys since 2014. Dallas is looking to get to the the NFC title game for the first time since 1995. Dallas now stands at 35-27. As for the Rams, they won the NFC West with a 13-3 record, their 2nd straight Western Division title. Los Angeles is looking for its first playoff win since 2004 and is trying to get back to the NFC title game for the first time since 2001. Los Angeles is 19-24 lifetime in the playoffs. This marks the 9th playoff meeting between the teams, with each winning four times. They did not meet during the regular season.

Dallas got a big win last week against Seattle, with Zek Elliott rushing for 134 yards. Dak Prescott has a little more pressure on him. Why? because it gets magnified because of how well Zek has played. He got his first playoff win under his belt already, but this is an even bigger test going against one of the best teams in the game. He's been good since the Boys added Amari Cooper to the mix, who did have 105 receiving yards last week. Its starting to show a little more balance for this Dallas attack, where at one point it had been a focus on just the run game. And lets not take anything away from the Cowboys defense, who last week kept Seattle in check. DeMarcus Lawrence leads a fearsome front seven that can cause a lot of damage, so its something for the Rams to keep an eye on.

Los Angeles shouldn't have a problem keeping up in the run game with Zek. They have a guy named Todd Gurely and he's kinda good. Jared Goff will get what he's got coming to him, his first ever playoff win. Dallas is good, but the Rams are just better

Prediction: Rams 34, Cowboys 30

Now onto Sunday's action. First we get the Wild Card Winning Los Angeles Chargers taking on the AFC East Winning New England Patriots. For the Chargers, they're coming off the 23-17 win over the Ravens last week. This is the first trip to the divisional round for LA since 2013, and they're looking to advance to the AFC title game for the first time since 2007. Los Angeles is now 12-17 lifetime in the playoffs. As for the Patriots, they finished with an 11-5 record, winning the AFC East for the 10th consecutive year. New England hasn't gone one and done in the playoffs since 2010. They're looking to get to the AFC title game for the 8th year in a row. New England is 34-20 lifetime in the playoffs. These two clubs are meeting for the 4th time in the playoffs, with New England having won the last two meetings. The two teams did not meet during the regular season.

Los Angeles is coming off the win last week which saw Mike Badgley set a franchise record by hitting five field goals in the win over the Ravens. The only problem that could be facing the Chargers this week is Melvin Gordon's health. If he can't operate at full strength, then the Chargers balanced attack could be severely thrown out of balance. Also Philip Rivers, while a very good quarterbakc, seems to be average at best come this time of the year. One of the big things that the Chargers have going for them is their defensive diversity. They use a secondary heavy defense. A scheme that could cause problems for New England. That and with pass rushers like Mark Ingram and Joey Bosa, putting pressure on the Patriots shouldn't be much trouble.

Of course, given the Patriots history in the playoffs, they have no problem adjusting their packages and schemes to fit the narrative. New England's offense has looked its best this season when employing a power-running attack with rookie Sony Michel, who averages 71.6 rush this season. The air attack can still use guys like James White and Rob Gronkowski, and Brady can still get done what he needs to get done on the offensive side of the football.

This is going to be a pretty easy pick. Last week Baltimore did all their scoring late, and by that point the game was out of reach. New England won't have to worry about it. As a matter of fact, they can score in different ways that can confuse the Chargers defense. New England has only lost three times at home under the current system. The Chargers won't be the one to change that this time around.

Prediction: Patriots 37, Chargers 34

Finally its the Wild Card winning Philadelphia Eagles taking on the NFC South winning New Orleans Saints. Philadelphia is coming off their 16-15 win over the Bears last week. It marks the 2nd straight year in the divisional round for the Eagles, who are also looking to get back to the NFC title game for a second straight year. Philadelphia now stands at 24-21 lifetime in the playoffs. New Orleans finished the season 13-3, winning the NFC South for the 2nd year in a row. It marks the 2nd straight playoff appearance for the team, which is looking to get out of the divisional round for the first time since 2009. New Orleans is 8-10 lifetime in the playoffs. This marks the 4th meeting between the two clubs in the playoffs, with the Saints winning two of the first three. New Orleans won the regular season meeting between the teams back in week eleven.

Philly had a little bit of luck on their side with the deflection at the line on the final kick against Chicago last week. They might have a tougher test this week. Sure, Nick Foles still has magic come playoff time, he's shown that over the last two years. Golden Tate was solid in last week's in over the Bears and could be Foles big target again this week. Tate and Zach Ertz are going to be the go to's again for Foles this week, who's hoping to get a little more support out of his running game.

New Orleans has an elite offense, which is powered by the running attack of Mark Ingram and Alvan Kamara. Its been taking some of the pressure of the high powered pass attack which is lead by Drew Brees. Ted Gin Jr and Michael Thomas are going to be more than ready to take passes from Brees, New Orleans has the defense to put pressure on Foles, something that the Eagles had trouble with against the Bears last week.

New Orleans is in a groove right now, having already beaten up the Eagles once. There's nothing that says it can't happen again now. Look, Philly is going to put up a solid fight, there's no denying that. But the Saints have been fighting with the Rams for the top team in the conference all year, which means they're good. Eagles put up a good game, but the Saints are moving on.

Prediction: Saints 40, Eagles 30

Gase Gets Gig

This is going to be talked about for quite some time over the next few weeks here in the New York/Metro Area. Some people like it, while others are really upset over it. Doesn't matter how you feel about it, what we've got is what we've got. Adam Gase is now the head coach of the New York Jets. No details have come out yet about how long the contract is worth for Adam Gase as of the time of this writing.

There a lot of people who are upset by this. Some people took to sports talk radio to bash the organization for this hiring. A lot of people wanted Mike McCarthy hired as the Jets head coach, which wouldn't have been a bad signing because he has lead a team to a Super Bowl. At the same time, McCarthy also had some guy named Aaron Rogers under center, and last time I checked he's kinda good. Gase takes over a team with a Quarterback who's got the potential to be good, even great, in Sam Darnold. Still, people wanted McCarthy as the man in Green and White. Instead they got a division rival in Gase.

He finished his two year stint in Miami with a 23-25 record. That can be a little misleading. Different people have been reporting that the players do really like him and he has no time for bull crap. He feels that a guy is doing something wrong, whether it be on or off the field, Gase will get them out of the organization. He puts team and winning above all else, which is what I think really drew him to Jets ownership. That and he has a track record with Quarterbacks and getting the most out of them.

Just to refresh some memories, Adam Gase was the guy who helped transform the Broncos offense mid season in 2011. His attitude and guidance allowed the Tim Tebow Experiment to help push Denver into the playoffs. Gase, the Broncos quarterbacks coach at the time, had a significant role with offensive coordinator Mike McCoy to tailor a scheme to Tebow’s strengths. He's also the guy who managed to bring out the best in Jay Cutler in Chicago in 2015 when the historically erratic signal caller threw for a career-low 11 interceptions with a career-high 92.3 passer rating. He got a way to get the best out of players. He got a chance to do that with Sam Darnold.

This marks the first time that the Jets have had a head coach with actual head coaching experience since Bill Parcells came into town. Gase is also the first offensive minded head coach since Rich Kotite from 1995-97.

Look, people can jump on this signing all they want, but at the end of the day you have to give it time to come into its own. That and its not all on Adam Gase. A coach can only do so much. He does have to work with what talent management gives him. So now that GM Mike Maccagnan has the guy he wants running the team on the field, it falls on him to get the right talent on the field for Gase to get the Jets back on the winning track.

Clemson Claims Title

Its one thing to win a national championship in college athletics. It's yet another to do so in a dominating fashion. That's the feeling that Clemson has, totally dominating Alabama in the title game Monday night. By the time all was said and done, and the dust had settled, Clemson had walked away with its third title in school history on the strength of a 44-16 win. It wasn't even really a close game, as for one of the few times in recent history, Alabama looked badly outplayed and outsmarted.

Heisman Trophy winner Tua Tagovailoa was the hero for Alabama last year, helping the Tide to last years title. He threw for 295 yards in this years title tilt, along with two touchdowns. But he was picked off twice and held in check for most of the rest of the ballgame. In fact, Alabama was shut out for the final 44 minutes of the contest. Jerry Judy had himself a day with five catches for 139 yards and the 62 yard touchdown catch, which was the biggest play for the Tide on this day. That was really all Bama could do on this day. With the way things settled down for Bama after the first interception, it looked like they had things in hand as the game was going to roll along. After they took a two point lead early in the second quarter it looked like things would settle for the Tide. Then something happened. A true freshman took the game over and never looked back

Trevor Lawrence was a stud under center for Clemson. To no surprise here, Lawrence was named most outstanding offensive player, as the true freshman quarterback finished with 347 yards, three touchdowns and zero turnovers. The fact that he had zero turnovers in this contest tells me a lot. It shows that he has no trouble handling the pressure of playing in a big game. And to make things better, he's a true freshman. He got three more years of this to go to become an even better quarterback. What had to make this victory feel even better for the Tigers is that, just a year ago, Alabama beat them 24-6 in the national semifinal, making it the 2nd loss to Alabama in three seasons. It looked like there was still a gap between the two programs. Clemson debunked the notion with this dominating victory.

Clemson is starting to show the rest of the football world that they can indeed hang. They've won two titles now, one in a route and one in a close game. Both came against the same team in Alabama. And from the early projections, both of these teams could be right back near the top of the list in the championship race this time next year. Clemson showed that Bama could be outplayed, out coached and out classed. Nick Saban is good, no argument there, but on this day Dabo Swinney was the better man.

By the time the game was over, Clemson became the first college football team to go 15-0 since Penn in 1897. To make this win even more impressive victory for Clemson is that Alabama is now 1-2 against Clemson the last three years. The Crimson Tide are 40-1 against everyone else. Congratulations to Clemson on winning the 2019 National Title!

NFL Wild Card Weekend Preview

The time has arrived. We started this journey back in September with 32 teams. All with one goal in mind, hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy over their heads as the best team in the National Football League. After what was a pretty entertaining regular season, we got 12 teams left standing all fighting for the right to be called champion. Looking at last year and comparing it now, only three of the twelve teams that made the dance last season are back. The Eagles look to try and repeat as Champions, while Chicago looking for its first title since 85, Seattle looking for its first ring in four years, and Houston is looking to do something it's never done in reaching the big dance. The march to the big game starts right now. Here's a look at Wild Card Weekend.

First up, the Wild Card Winning Indianapolis Colts battle the AFC South Champion Houston Texans. After a 10-6 regular season, the Colts made the playoffs for the 28th time in franchise history. This marks the first playoff appearance for the Colts since 2014 and they haven't lost in the Wild Card round since 2012. Indy is 22-23 lifetime in the playoffs. Meanwhile the Texans went 11-5, winning the South for the 3rd time in the last four years. This will mark the 5th playoff appearance for the Texans, who haven't lost in the Wild Card round since 2015. Houston is 3-4 lifetime in the playoffs. This marks the first ever meeting between the two teams in the playoffs. The two teams split the two meetings during the season, Houston took the first meeting in September while the Colts won the 2nd meeting in December.

You can say the Colts season turned around in the overtime game early in the year, the one that the Texans won. After that tough OT loss. The Colts went on to win eight of the next nine games. Indy is coming into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the league. Following a rough loss to the Jets, the Colts got on the right track by winning nine of its final ten games. Indy has had a pretty balanced attack, as Andrew Luck finished 5th in the NFL in passing yards this year and was showing flashes of his old self again. Marlon Mack had a good year, with 908 yards on the ground,. helping balance out the passing game. TY Hilton and Eric Ebron both cracked the top 40 in receiving yards this year, which shows a bit of a balance in the pass game for the Colts. Then there's the other side of the ball. The Indy D hasn't given up 30 or more points in a game since that loss to the Jets. They can hold the opposition in check and allow the offense to do its thing.

Houston has weapons to work with, well one big one anyway. Deandre Hopkins finished with the 2nd most receiving yards in the league during the year, only behind Julio Jones of Atlanta. Lamar Miller had himself a fine year, finishing 27 yards short of 1,000 on the season. At the same time, Deshaun Watson really started to come into his own under center. Watson had to deal with recovering from his knee injury last year. Houston also managed to turn their season around, running off a nine game win streak after losing its first three games. But they then split the final four games of the year, including a home loss to this very same Colts team.

Look I'm not taking anything away from what the Texans have. Yes getting home field advantage is great, but they fact that they split the final two games of the year hurts, and they're facing a red hot Colts team. Indy has been playing like a house of fire as of late and the only thing that stopped them from the division title was the fact that the Texans had their big win streak while the Colts got slogged down. Houston is also too top heavy, relying on Hopkins to carry the bulk of the offense. Indy's balance will be able to get them a win.

Prediction: Colts 27, Texans 21

Next up, the Wild Card winning Seattle Seahwaks will take on the NFC East Champion Dallas Cowboys. Dallas finished the year with a 10-6 record, claiming the NFC East title for the 3rd time in the last five years. This marks the 28th playoff appearance for the Boys, who last played in the Wild Card game in 2015. Dallas has a post season record of 34-27 all time. By going 10-6 on the season, it marks the 7th time in the last eight years that the Seahawks are in the playoffs. Seattle has been able to get past the first round in every playoff trip since 2004. Seattle sits at a 16-15 lifetime playoff mark. This marks the 2nd time ever these two teams will meet in the playoffs, with Seattle getting a Wild Card win in 2006. They had one meeting during the regular season, a Seahawks win in week three.

Its going to be a battle of the run games here. Both running backs, Ezekiel Elliott (1st) and Chris Carson (5th) are top five running backs. Sure, Zek makes the Dallas offense roll, but he's not the only offensive weapon that the Boys have. Amari Cooper lead the Boys in receiving with 725 yards, all this coming over in his trade from the Raiders. Dak finished with over 3,000 passing yards. He's going to be under the big microscope here. Everybody knows that Zek runs this offense but Dak needs to step his game up there. He got off to a slow start in his last playoff game, the loss to the Packers his rookie year. He needs to really find a way to lead the offense against a tough Seattle defense.

On the flip side, Russel Wilson has not had such a problem, he's got a ring. He also had more passing yards and a better overall game then Dak does. As mentioned before, Seattle does have a top five back in Chris Carson, and Seattle's leading receiver Tyler Locket finished just short of a thousand yard season. Seattle has balance on both sides of the ball that's going to make them very tough to beat.

Yes the Boys are 7-1 in their last eight and are 7-1 at home this year, but everybody knows that the playoffs are a totally different animal. Last time these two teams met in the playoffs, Tony Romo became famous for the botched hold on the field goal. This is a different Cowboys team, and they won't embarrass themselves that badly. But they will come up short in this game. Should Seattle be able to contain Zek, its going to make things tough for the Dallas offense.

Prediction: Seahawks 23, Cowboys 20

Now for the Sunday action. First its the Wild Card Winning Los Angeles Chargers taking on the AFC North Champion Baltimore Ravens. After finishing 12-4 and earning a wild card spot, this marks the 19th playoff appearance for the Chargers. Its the first time 2013 that the Chargers are making the post season. That was also the last time that the Chargers won a playoff game. All time, the Chargers are 11-17 in the playoffs. As for the Ravens, this marks the 11th playoff appearance in team history, winning the AFC North with a 10-6 record. This marks the first division title for Baltimore since 2012 and first playoff appearance for the team since 2014. That was the same year they won their last playoff game. Baltimore is 15-8 lifetime in the playoffs. This marks the first ever meeting between the teams in the playoffs. The two teams met once during the regular season, with the Ravens getting the win in week sixteen.

These two clubs just met two weeks ago, a game in which the Chargers gave up 16 unanswered points, falling 22-10  It sucks for the Chargers having to make the cross country flight to play the game, since they do have the better record at 12-4. That's what happens when you fall short of trying to catch Kansas City for winning the West title. Still, this is a very good football team. Los Angeles is 7-1 on the road this season, with a pretty solid offense to back that record up. Keenan Allen had 1,196 receiving yards on the year and became Philip Rivers favorite target as the year went on. The only thing that can leave one concerned is how well Rivers can handle the Ravens defense this time around. He should be able to go back, watch the tape and learn from his mistakes two weeks ago against this same team. Los Angles shouldn't have trouble getting pressure on Lamar Jackson with their edge rushers Joey Bosa and Mark Ingram.

Baltimore is now slouch, looking like a different team since Lamar Jackson has taken over at QB. They won their final three games, including the week sixteen win over these same Chargers, which shows the rest of the league that a team coming in hot could be tough to deal with. Their two best weapons around Jackson are Gus Edwards (718 Rush Yards) and John brown (715 Receiving Yards), and they may not matchup to the better numbers put up by the Chargers best weapons, but they do hold up nicely. baltimore's defense is now slouch as it was the best in football. This is a Ravens defense that racked up four sacks and eight quarterback hits on Rivers the last time they met. And we know Baltimore is going to dress up the defensive front to manipulate protection schemes. It's on Rivers to identify blitz situations and find open windows.

All that taken into account I think Los Angeles has the edge. Rivers won't be making the same mistakes now that he made two weeks ago when these two last met. He knows how to handle the pressure at this time of the year, whereas Lamar Jackson hasn't really been tested as much at this time of year. Not to take anything away from the Ravens, who are going to put up a damn good fight in this game, but at the end of the day, it's not going to be enough.

Prediction: Chargers 17, Ravens 14

Finally, its the Wild Card Winning Philadelphia Eagles taking on the NFC North Champion Chicago Bears. Philadelphia is the defending Super Bowl Champions, finishing this year at 9-7 earning a wild card spot. it marks the 27th time that the Eagles have made the playoffs. Prior to this year, the eagles had failed to get out of their first round the playoffs three of their last four matchups. The Eagles now sit at a record of 22-21 lifetime in the post season. As for the Bears, they won the NFC North with a 12-4 record, their first division title and playoff appearance since 2010. That was also the last time the Bears won a playoff round. Chicago has now appeared in the playoffs 27 times in their history and hold a record of 17-18 lifetime. this marks the fourth playoff meeting between the two teams, with the Eagles winning two of the first three matchups. These two teams did not meet during the regular season.

Philly is the defending World Champions and had to get a little help to make it this year. It took a win on their part over Washington and a Vikings loss to, ironically enough, the Bears on the final day. Philly saw Carson Wentz go down near the end of the season with a back injury, again relying on Nick Foles to lead them in the playoffs. He did a pretty good job of that last year, guiding them to the title. Philly comes in having won five of their final six games to close out the season and get back to the playoffs. One knock you could make against the Champs is their lack of a run game. Josh Adams lead the way with 511 yards on the ground. Its mostly an air attack in Philly, with Zach Ertz finishing with 1,163 yards receiving. Sure Nick Foles is 9-2 as a starter the last two years, including post season play, but this is going to be a different animal to face.

The Bears have one of the premier defenses in the game today. Linebackers Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd are going to be used a lot to disrupt the release of Ertz and put pressure on Foles. Chicago has the horses on this side of the ball to create a lot of mismatches and do a lot of damage. On the other side of the ball, Mitchell Trubisky is starting to come into his own in this league. he may not have as much experience as his counterpart in Nick Foles, but he can hold his own. It also helps to get the support of Jordan Howard and his 935 rush yards behind you, that helps take the pressure off him. Chicago has a balanced offense that doesn't rely on just one weapon to make plays.

No disrespect to the champs, but they just don't have that feeling around them that they can take the whole thing this year. Chicago has something brewing in the Windy City, with a defense that reminds fans a little of what they had in the late 80's. Philly is good and they know how to get things done at this time of year, they just did it last year. But its a differnet story this year. Chicgao's defense is that good and then some. They take this game

Prediction: Bears 30, Eagles 21

NHL All Star Rosters Announced

January 26th is the date. San Jose, California is the site. The 64th annual National Hockey League All Star game will be taking place. Its the best of the best so far in the NHL regular season. This year's format, just like the last three previous seasons, will be the battle of the divisions. It will see first the Metro take on the Atlantic, then the Pacific battling the Central. The two winners will face off in the final team, with the winning team donating its winnings to charity. That being said, here's a look at the rosters for this years All Star Game!

Metropolitan Division:
F Alex Ovechkin (Capitals 9th Elected Captain but will not play)
F Sebastian Aho (Hurricanes 1st)
F Cam Atkinson (Blue Jackets 2nd)
F Mathew Barzal (Islanders 1st)
F Sidney Crosby (Penguins 4th)
F Claude Giroux (Flyers 6th)
F Taylor Hall (Devils 3rd)
D John Carlson (Capitals 1st)
D Seth Jones (Blue Jackets 2nd)
G Braden Holtby (Capitals 4th)
G Henrik Lundqvist (Rangers 5th)

Atlantic Division:
F Jack Eichel (Sabres 2nd)
F Nikita Kucherov (Lightning 3rd)
F Auston Matthews (Maple Leafs 3rd, Captain)
F David Pastrnak (Bruins 1st)
F Steven Stamkos (Lightning 6th)
F John Tavares (Maple Leafs 6th)
D Thomas Chabot (Senators 1st)
D Keith Yandle (Panthers 3rd)
G Jimmy Howard (Red Wings 2nd)
G Carey Price (Canadiens 7th)

Central Division:
F Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche 3rd)
F Ryan O'Reilly (Blues 2nd)
F Mikko Rantanen (Avalanche 1st)
F Mark Scheifele (Jets 1st)
F Blake Wheeler (Jets 2nd)
D Miro Heiskanen (Stars 1st)
D Roman Josi (Predators 2nd)
G Devan Dubnyk (Wild 3rd)
G Pekka Rinne (Predators 3rd)

Pacific Division:
F Johnny Gaudreau (Flames 5th)
F Clayton Keller (Coyotes 1st)
F Connor McDavid (Oilers 3rd Captain)
F Joe Pavelski (Sharks 3rd)
F Elias Pettersson (Canucks 1st)
D Brent Burns (Sharks 6th)
D Drew Doughty (Kings 5th)
D Erik Karlsson (Sharks 6th)
G Marc-Andre Fleury (Golden Knights 4th)
G John Gibson (Ducks 2nd)

There are a few big names that are a bit of a surprise for getting left off rosters. First off is Winnipeg's Patrik Laine, as well as Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin in Dallas. Those guys have put up good numbers, and could serve as injury replacements, but they were just outpaced but the other guys selected in the Central division. As far as the East goes, there's one guy I just feel got snubbed. That's Andrei Vasilevskiy of Tampa. How is it Jimmy Howard is going instead of him. Look I know every team needs to have one guy selected to go and Howard has the best numbers of anybody on the Red Wings, but come on Vasilevskiy has more wins, a better Save Percentage and a lower Goals Against. Dylan Larkin is the scoring leader for the Wings but I think because the Atlantic is so loaded in scoring that's why they had to go with Howard. Othewise I think they got it right for the game.

What do you think? Missing anybody from the Rosters?