Year In Sports 2021

The time has come. We sit here on the final day of the calendar year 2021 and we've had plenty to look back on over the past year. We've had some stuff go on in the sports world that we wish didn't happen. John Gruden and his emails, Henry Ruggs and his accident come to mind. We've also had some great things happen to. Return of fans to the arenas, the Summer Olympics (better late then never). So here's a look back at the year that was in sports in 2021.

Tennis:
Australian Open: Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka
French Open: Novak Djokovic, Barbora Krejčíková
Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic, Ashleigh Barty
US Open: Daniil Medvedev, Emma Raducanu

NASCAR:
Daytona 500: Michael McDowell
GEICO 500: Brad Keselowski 
Coca-Cola 600: Kyle Larson
Southern 500: Denny Hamlin
Brickyard 400: A. J. Allmendinger

Golf:
Masters: Hideki Matsuyama
PGA Championship: Phil Mickelson
US Open: Jon Rahm
Open Championship: Collin Morikawa

Football:
2021 College Football Playoff National Championship Game: Alabama def Ohio State 52-24
Super Bowl: Tampa Bay def Kansas City 31-9

Basketball:
Men's National Champions: Baylor def Gonzaga 86-70
Women's National Champions: Stamford def Arizona 54-53
NBA Finals: Milwaukee Bucks def Phoenix Suns in six games!

Baseball:
Little League World Series: Michigan def Hawaii 2-1
World Series: Atlanta def Houston in six games!

Hockey:
National Champions: Massachusetts def St. Cloud State 5-0
Stanley Cup: Tampa Bay def Montreal in five games!

In Memorium:
-John Madden (85)
-Demaryus Thomas (33)
-Vincent Jackson (38)
-Bobby Bowden (91)
-Hank Aaron (86)
-Elgin Baylor (86)
-Al Unser Sr (82)
-Sam Huff (87)
-Greg Clark (49)
-Marvin Hagler (66)
-Julio Lugo (46)
-Terry Donahue (66)
-Steve Smith (57)
-Pedro Gomes (58)
-Sam Cunningham (71)
-Curley Culp (79)
-Irv Cross (81)
-LaMarr Holy (79)
-Ray Snell (63)
-Leon Spinks (67)
-JR Richard (67)
-Jim Fassel (71)
-Don Sutton (75)
-Marty Schottenheimer (77)
-Tommy Lasorda (93)

Passing Of A Legend

The NFL, sports and broadcasting world, lost a true legend yesterday. Former Raiders head coach, NFL broadcaster and the man behind the most popular football video game franchise out there, John Madden, passed away at the age of 85. Cause of death, as of this writing, has not been announced. There's so much to the man and his legacy that we can try and do it just a little bit of justice here.

First off, there's the hall of fame coach. He spent a decade coaching the Oakland Raiders, leading them to seven AFC title games and a Super Bowl win following the 1976 season. He finished his coaching career with a record of 103-32-7, good for a .759 win percentage. That's the best in the history of the sport among coaches who have coached over 100 games in the league. When he hung it up from his fantastic coaching career at the age of 42, that's when his second career really took off. Thanks to his use of a telestrator, his work in the broadcast booth helped a new generation of football fans really understand the game they were watching on TV. For over three decades in the booth, Madden was winning an unprecedented 16 Emmy Awards for outstanding sports analyst/personality and covering 11 Super Bowls for four networks from 1979 to 2009.

Oh and there's even more than that. Anybody who's ever played video games at some point in there lives has played the game that bares his name. He had become attached to the franchise from the beginning when he was approached about the idea way back in 1984 when EA Sports founders wanted to come up with a new and different way to play football other than the old Strat O Matic games if your old enough to remember those.

Whether it was through his coaching of the raiders, his broadcasting of the games, or the videogame, everybody who has ever watched football in any way shape or form has been influenced by John Madden.

Best & Worst NFL Week Sixteen

Week sixteen is in the books in the NFL and we had some big things coming down around the league. We saw division titles get clinched in Green Bay, Dallas, Tampa Bay and Kansas City. We also saw Los Angeles (Rams) and Arizona lock up playoff spots as well. We had big performances coming out of Cincinnati, Houst5on and Philly. We also had bonehead stuff coming from New York too. All in all, a well balanced week in the NFL. So lets get going, here's the best and worst of week sixteen around the NFL.

Best: Joe Burrow, Quarterback Cincinnati Bengals
Burrow was good, we all knew that. This year he healthy again too. Sunday, he went off. Bengals put a 41-21 hurting on the Ravens and Burrow had the game of his career so far. He went 37 of 46 for an eye popping 525 yards and four touchdowns. It was a dominating performance against the Ravens who were down guys but it didn't matter to the Bengals, who kept the pressure on all day and moved into the 3rd seed in the AFC. Burrow had hit a mark that has now only been done four times in a game in league history. And this was a guy coming off major knee issues in the past. Didn't look that way Sunday.

Worst: Ben Roethlisberger, Quarterback Pittsburgh Steelers
Yes I know your going against the defending AFC champions this week, but come on, you have to give me a little more then that in a performance like this. This was a 36-10 drubbing by KC, which pretty much put the Steelers almost out of reach for a playoff spot. The Steelers offense was anemic at best, with Ben throwing for 159 yards and seeing Mason Rudolph, who wasn't much better, getting snaps in this game. Just a bad day all around and looks like it could be the signal of nearing the end of the road for Ben in Pittsburgh

Best: Big Men Touchdowns
Seeing those big lineman score in the NFL brings a joy to fans anywhere you see it. Well we had not one, not two, but three of them this weekend. Conor McDermitt of the Jets, Terrence Steele of the Cowboys and Lane Johnson of the Eagles, all scored touchdowns Sunday in their respective wins. It feels good to see the big linemen score in this league, and it gets made even better when they all have receiving touchdowns to boot.

Worst: Washington Defense
This was a bad night in Dallas for Washington. You were supposed to have one of the top five defenses in all of football, yet Dallas came in and beat the tar out of you. Dallas won 56-14 and at no point was this game ever even remotely close. Dallas had a defensive touchdown, a blocked punt for a touchdown, a rushing touchdown by Ezekiel Elliott. Oh and there were five passing touchdowns on the day, four for Dak Prescott and one for Cooper Rush. Whatever hopes or dreams Washington had at the playoffs are now slipping.

Beast: T.J. Edwards, Linebacker Philadelphia Eagles
This was a dominating win by the Eagles on Sunday. Yes it came at the expense of the lowly Giants, but still its a dominating win never the less. Philadelphia came away with a 34-10 win over a hapless Giants team. One of the big stories from this day was the play of linebacker TJ Edwards, who was a force on the defensive side of the football. He had 16 tackles on the day, six of which were solo hits. He was basically hitting anything and everything in a Giants Jersey that moved. Oh and with this loss, its making stock in draft picks for the Giants fall just a tad in the first round

Worst: Trevor Lawrence Quarterback Jacksonville Jaguars
It was a battle of #1 vs #2 on Sunday as Lawrence and the Jags took on Zach Wilson and the Jets in Jersey It turned out to a 26-21 win for the Jets, and Trevor Lawrence had a moment where he forgot where he was and what he was doing. Sure throwing for 280 yards was nice on paper. But not throwing a touchdown pass seems to like its turning into a bad habit for Lawrence. Oh and his brain fart at the end of the game didn't help matters. He tried spiking the ball  on the goal line to stop the clock. The issue is that the clock didn't need to be stopped, and his decision left the Jags with just one play to score at the end of the game. The Jags then failed from the one-yard line, giving the Jets the win. Can't blame the coaching staff on this one, this all falls right on Tevor

Merry Christmas

It's a tradition  for us here on the show we do this every year. So here we present our Christmas gift to you. Enjoy 

Playoff Clinching Scenarios Week 16

Week Sixteen has arrived in the NFL and we are getting closer to playoff time. Here's how teams can clinch playoff spots this week.

AFC
Kansas City Chiefs
-Kansas City can clinch the AFC West with a win AND a Chargers loss
-Kansas City can clinch a playoff spot with a win OR a tie and losses by the Colts and Bills

New England Patriots
-New England clinches AFC East with a win AND Miami loss
-New England clinches a playoff spot with a win AND losses by Vegas and Chargers

Tennessee Titans
-Tennessee clinches AFC South with a win AND Colts loss
-Tennessee clinches playoff spot with win AND losses by Miami, Buffalo, Denver, Cleveland and Pittsburgh

NFC
Clinched: Green Bay Packers (NFC North)
Arizona Cardinals
- Arizona clinches a playoff birth with a win OR losses by Philadelphia, San Francisco and Minnesota

Dallas Cowboys
-Dallas clinches NFC East with a win OR Philadelphia loss
-Dallas clinches a playoff spot a Saints Loss, San Francisco loss OR a Tampa Bay win

Los Angeles Rams
-Los Angeles clinches a playoff spot with either a win OR losses by the Eagles and Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
-Tampa Bay clinches NFC South with a win OR a Saints loss
-Tampa Bay clinches a playoff spot with losses by Minnesota, Philadelphia or Dallas

Pro Bowl Rosters Announced

Pro Bowl time is here. The week between Championship weekend and the Super Bowl is always the gathering of the best of the best in the NFL. The rosters have been announced for this year's game and here's what we're looking at.

AFC
Offense: 
Quarterback: Justin Herbert, LA Chargers Patrick Mahomes Kansas City, Lamar Jackson, Baltimore
Running back: Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Nick Chubb Cleveland, Joe Mixon, Cincinnati
Fullback: Patrick Ricard, Baltimore
Wide Receiver: Tyreek Hill, Kansas City, Ja'Marr Chase, Cincinnati, Stefon Diggs, Buffalo, Keenan Allen, LA Chargers
Tight End: Mark Andrews, Baltimore, Travis Kelce, Kansas City
Offensive Tackle: Rashawn Slater, LA Chargers, Orlando Brown Jr., Kansas City Dion Dawkins, Buffalo
Offensive Guard: Quenton Nelson, Indianapolis, Joel Bitonio, Cleveland Wyatt Teller, Cleveland
Center: Corey Linsley, LA Chargers, Ryan Kelly, Indianapolis

Defense:
Defensive End: Myles Garrett, Cleveland, Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas,Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati
Defensive Tackle: DeForest Buckner, Indianapolis, Chris Jones, Kansas City, Cameron Heyward, Pittsburgh
Outside Linebacker: T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh, Joey Bosa, LA Chargers, Matt Judon, New England
Inside Linebacker: Darius Leonard, Indianapolis, Denzel Perryman, Las Vegas
Cornerback: J.C. Jackson, New England, Xavien Howard, Miami, Denzel Ward, Cleveland, Kenny Moore II, Indianapolis
Free Safety: Kevin Byard, Tennessee, 
Strong Safety: Derwin James, LA Chargers, Tyrann Mathieu, Kansas City

Special Teams:
Punter: A.J. Cole, Las Vegas
Placekicker: Justin Tucker, Baltimore
Return Specialist: Devin Duvernay, Baltimore
Special Teams: Matthew Slater, New England
Long Snapper: Luke Rhodes, Indianapolis

NFC
Offense:
Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, Tom Brady, Tampa Bay, Kyler Murray, Arizona
Running Back: Dalvin Cook, Minnesota, James Conner, Arizona, Alvin Kamara, New Orleans
Fullback: Kyle Juszczyk, San Francisco
Wide Receiver: Cooper Kupp, LA Rams, Davante Adams, Green Bay, Justin Jefferson, Minnesota, Deebo Samuel, San Francisco
Tight End: George Kittle, San Francisco, Kyle Pitts, Atlanta
Offensive Tackle: Trent Williams, San Francisco,Tristan Wirfs, Tampa Bay, Tyron Smith, Dallas
Offensive Guard: Zack Martin, Dallas, Brandon Scherff, Washington, Ali Marpet, Tampa Bay
Center: Jason Kelce, Philadelphia, Ryan Jensen, Tampa Bay

Defense:
Defensive End: Nick Bosa, San Francisco, Brian Burns, Carolina. Cameron Jordan, New Orleans
Defensive Tackle: Aaron Donald, LA Rams, Jonathan Allen, Washington, Kenny Clark, Green Bay
Outside Linebacker: Chandler Jones, Arizona, Robert Quinn, Chicago, Shaquil Barrett, Tampa Bay
Inside Linebacker: Micah Parsons, Dallas, Bobby Wagner, Seattle
Cornerback: Trevon Diggs, Dallas, Jalen Ramsey, LA Rams, Darius Slay, Philadelphia, Marshon Lattimore, New Orleans
Free Safety: Quandre Diggs, Seattle
Strong Safety: Budda Baker, Arizona, Harrison Smith, Minnesota

Special Teams:
Punter: Bryan Anger, Dallas
Placekicker: Matt Gay, LA Rams
Return Specialist: Jakeem Grant, Chicago
Special Teams: J. T. Gray, New Orleans
Long Snapper: Josh Harris, Atlanta

NHL Out Of Beijing

It came sooner than expected, but it was bound to happen at some point. The National hockey League announced on Tuesday that the NHL players will not be participating in the upcoming Winter Olympic games in Beijing in February. The League hasn't sent players to the game since 2014 and fans will have have to wait again until the 2026 Olympics before we see NHL level talent go to the games.

The announcement came down amid the recent postponement of games due to the virus outbreak around the league. The NHL had originally factored in a two week pause from February 6th to the 22nd for the games to send the players. now, with the rise in concerns around the world about the new variant hitting, players were worried about going. Throw that in with the recent decisions around the league about postponing games, this decision makes sense. It stings a little but it does make sense.

Would seeing the best players in the best league in the world playing on the biggest international stage have been an amazing sight to see? Yes it would. Would have loved to see the NHL players playing on the world stage with a gold medal on the line. But given the current climate around the league and around the world with health concerns, it does make a lot of sense.

Following is the statement made by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman:

"We have waited as long as possible to make this decision while exploring every available option to enable our Players to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Unfortunately, given the profound disruption to the NHL's regular-season schedule caused by recent COVID-related events -- 50 games already have been postponed through Dec. 23 -- Olympic participation is no longer feasible."

I'm sure I can speak for a fair number of my fellow hockey fans when I say that it really would have been amazing to see NHL players playing in the Olympics this February. It really is a showcase of the best players on the planet playing on a global stage. That can't happen now but it makes total sense given everything going on right now. Fear not, the players will be back at the Olympics. They can play again the next time the Winter games roll around in 2026!

Stammer Joins Elite Company

Playing in the National Hockey League means your one of the best players in the world. Collecting a point in said league is a big deal. Doing it 900 times is huge. Steven Stamkos has joined that company. Last week, in a win over Ottawa, Stamkos picked up point #900 in his career, becoming only the 2nd player in Tampa Bay Lightning history (Martin St. Louis 953) to have 900 or more poi9nts in a Bolts sweater.

Stamkos, who was taken 1st overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, has had himself quite a career. Sitting at 900 points even at the time of this writing, he's had himself a fantastic career. He was a major goal scoring threat at the start of his career before injuries started taking hold of his career. If the injury bug hadn't hit Stamkos, who know where he would be at in his career point total. He probably would be close to or have already passed the 1,000 career point total by now.

The guy can do it all when he's on his game. Outstanding passer with a fantastic shot, especially from his "office" at the left wing faceoff dot on the powerplay. He has become the face of the franchise for the back to back Stanley Cup Champions. There's no doubt that he's going to pass St Louis on the all time scoring list and hit the 1,000 point mark before all is said and done with his career. Even after 14 years in the league, and counting, the guy can still produce points in the worlds bevst league. And there's no signs of slowing down or stopping anytime soon.

Congrats to Stamkos for hitting 900 career points

Buck Back In New York

After an extensive search, the New York Mets have finally found there man. Managers haven't come easy for the Mets the last two tries, so maybe as the old saying goes third time will be the charm. Buck Showalter has been named the 24th (23rd really since Beltran never coached a game) Manager of the New York Mets. Reports are the deal is for three years.

For me this brings about two questions. One how long is he going to last? Two can he bring the results?

Both can easily be answered over time. Given his past track record as a Major League manager, part of me says both will be a while and breed success. He's won at least 250 games at his previous stops with the Yankees (313 wins), Arizona (250 wins), Texas (319 wins) and Baltimore (669 wins). It hasn't really lead to a lot of post season success, but the numbers are there to be a success never the less. Buck is a players manager and knows how to be able to get the best out of the talent that he has around him. He's got to be better then the last two options in Mickey Calloway and Louis Rojas.

Its been a big last moth or so for the Mets as well. New manager in Showalter, new GM in Billy Eppler, new players in Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar. All of these moves are expected to better this baseball team that has had losing records in four of the last five seasons and ten of the last thirteen. They've made the playoffs once in the last decade, that coming with there division title win in 2015.

Things have got to start changing for the Mets in a positive. They had a first place lead in the East for most of last year and missed the playoffs. Something had to change in New York and that started going in motion. On, paper it looks like things are going that way. New moves, new team. Now lets just see if the results pan out on the field.

Playoff Clinching Week 15

Week Fifteen is here in the NFL and lets get right into it. Here's how teams can clinch playoff spots this weekend.

AFC
New England Patriots
-New England can clinch a playoff spot with a win AND losses by Miami, Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Kansas City and other complex results

Tennessee Titans
-Tennessee can clinch the AFC South title with a win AND a Colts loss

NFC
Arizona Cardinals
- Arizona can clinch a playoff spot with a win OR losses by New Orleans, Minnesota and Atlanta

Dallas Cowboys
-Dallas can clinch the NFC East title with a win AND either an Eagles tie or a win and Washington loss
-Dallas can clinch a playoff birth with a win AND loss by San Francisco or a win AND New Orleans loss

Green Bay Packers
-Green Bay can clinch the NFC North with a win OR a Minnesota loss
-Green Bay can clinch a playoff spot with losses by New Orleans and San Francisco

Los Angeles Rams
-Los Angeles can clinch a playoff spot with a win AND losses by New Orleans and Minnesota

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
-Tampa Bay can clinch the NFC South with a win
-Tampa Bay can clinch a playoff spot with losses by Minnesota and San Francisco

Best & Worst NFL Week Fourteen

Week fourteen has come and gone in the NFL and boy is there plenty to dive into. Arizona mailed it in against the Rams, falling to the three seed in the NFC. Brady adds another record to his list in thrilling Bucs OT win, while Jacksonville seems to be getting more and more dysfunctional by the week. We got all that and more in a fun filled weekend. With that being said, here's some of the best and worst from the week that was in the NFL.

Best: Micah Parsons, Linebacker Dallas Cowboys
This was a game that the Cowboys needed to have. They got it in the form of a 27-20 win over the Washington Football team and a big reason for that was rookie linebacker Micah Parsons. Three tackles, two of which were sacks and a forced fumble in a big win over Washington. He was such a dominating force on that side of the ball it made Washington nervous. Mike McCarthy had guaranteed a win, and Parsons had done everything he could to back up his coaches words. At the same time, he had pretty much locked up the defensive rookie of the year at the same time, with a month to go in the regular season. That's not just good, that's dominating.

Worst: Urban Meyer, Head Coach Jacksonville Jaguars
Going from college to the pros didn't work out so well for Urban Meyer. Following a 20-0 loss to Tennessee on Sunday, Jacksonville now sits at 2-11 and it has now cost Meyer his job. Jacksonville cut ties this morning with there coach, reliving him of his duties this morning. He seemed to have lost control of his locker room and wasn't able to get the best out of Trevor Lawrence. It didn't help that Lawrence threw four picks, which may have made things even worse for his coach. The antics and stories that were going on off the field too weren't helping his case either and this last loss to the Titans was like the nail in the coffin for Meyer

Best: Dalvin Cook, Running Back Minnesota Vikings
Been a while since we've seen this name on this list, but Cook is back here. Minnesota pulled out a 36-28 win over the Steelers on Thursday night and a big reason for that was the outstanding play of Cook. He finished with 27 carries for a league best 205 yards and a couple of touchdowns. Cook had been putting up good numbers over the past couple of seasons, but this was really his first statement game of 2021. He still has moments where he shows that he can be the most dangerous threat out of the backfield in the game. Keep an eye out for Cook to play a big factor if Minnesota is to get on a roll heading for a playoff spot.

Best: Tom Brady, Quarterback Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This one is easy to pick. Thrilling overtime game against Buffalo, big win in prime time in Overtime, Tampa came away with a 33-27 win. Brady once again was a big factor in that. 31 of 46 for 363 yards and two touchdowns. The second one was the big one. It was a 58 yard strike to  Brashad Perriman in Overtime to snatch the win. Not only was it the winning touchdown, it was the 700th of Brady's hall of fame career. Not only did the pass cement a Bucs win, and move them one step closer to the top seed in the NFC, but it further locked Brady into his hall status. The guy has driven me nuts over the years, but you have to give credit where it is due and tip your hat to one of the very best to ever play the game

Worst: Buffalo Bills Running Backs
We talked about it above what happened on Sunday, but we need to talk about it from the other side. Give credit where it is due to the Bills for being able to hang around with the champs, but the running game wasn't where it needed to be. What I mean by that is the actual running backs in Buffalo were MIA. Its a sad day for the Bills run game if Josh Allen lead the way with 115 yards on the ground. That's not by any means taking away from what Allen did, it was an amazing performance and one made even better by the fact that he did it on an injured foot no less. But the other backs on the team, Devin Singletary and Matt Braida combined for seven carries for 64 yards. Not good if Buffalo wants to get back to another AFC title game this year.

Best & Worst NFL Week Thirteen

Week thirteen has come and gone in the NFL and boy is there a lot to dive into. There will be no winless teams in the NFL this season. We had a quarterback get a win that nobody saw coming, a running back have himself a day yet again and a tight end show he's still one of the best in the business. We also saw a coaching blunder that made you scratch your head and the announcement that Big Ben's career was coming to an end. So lets dive right into it. Here's the best, and worst, from week thirteen.

Best: Detroit Lions
THIS IS NOT A DRILL, REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL THE DETROIT LIONS HAVE WON A FOOTBALL GAME. The Lions had gone 0-10-1 to start the season heading into this matchup against Minnesota. Detroit walked away with a 29-27 win on an eleven yard TD catch by Amon-Ra St Brown as time expired. And this was against a decent Minnesota team who had a big day from Justin Jefferson. He couldn't play defense too and stop that final drive by the Lions. Detroit getting the win was huge for the moral of the Lions, who had been on a fifteen game winless streak up to that point.

Worst: John Harbaugh, Head Coach Baltimore Ravens
Coach Harbaugh has been known for taking chances in his game plan. He did that in the division matchup between the Ravens and Steelers on Sunday. Pittsburgh walked away with a 20-19 win after one of Harbaugh's ideas kind of backfired on him. He made a good play call, as Mark Andrews the tight end was open and could have walked into the endzone to give the Ravens a one point lead. But the line let TJ Watt run right through and put pressure on Lamar Jackson who rushed his throw and it went off the fingertips of Andrews. Look I give all the credit in the world to Harbaugh for giving this a shot, he's been known to do that in the past. This time it just didn't quite pay off.

Best: Gardner Minshew, Quarterback Philadelphia Eagles
Minshew Mania is running wild once again! Gardner took over under center in Philly this week for an injured Jalen Hurts and lead the Eagles to a 33-18 win. It was over the Jets, who we all know are a bad team, but still. It was a balanced attack from the Eagles against the Jets, but the story will be Minshew,  who was pretty effective on Sunday. He went 20 of 25 for 242 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. He was sacked twice, but that was the only downside to his game. He showed that he still has some magic left in that arm of his and he can be a very effective passer in this league. With the Eagles now headed for their bye week it gives more time for Hurts to rest and come back healthy, but at least this lets the Eagles know that they can trust Gardner under center in a game that Hurts can't go.

Worst: Teddy Bridgewater, Quarterback Denver Broncos
So we talked about this a couple weeks ago with Bridgewater making a horrible attempt at a tackle after getting picked off. This week wasn't much better. Not only did Denver get smacked around by Kansas City, falling to the defending AFC Champions 22-9, but Bridgewater had a bad day. 22 of 40 for 242 a touchdown and a couple of picks. The reason he's back on this list again was for another horrible tackle attempt. Daniel Sorenson had picked him off, which lead to a 75 yard pick six. It was worse that Bridgewater tried to make a tackle but kid of just fell and to make it worse, he tripped up Tim Patrick, who was the only other Broncos player who could have made a play on him. Ouch.

Best: Jonathan Taylor, Running Back Indianapolis Colts
Another week, another huge day from Taylor. The Colts running back now leads the league in rushing yards with 1,348 on the year. He added 143 to that total in the Colts 31-0 win over Houston Sunday afternoon. Indy now sits at 7-6 and are a game back of the division leading Titans in the AFC South. Taylor has been dominating games this season, having now rushed for over 100 yards in six of his last eight games. If the Colts make a deep run in this years playoffs, the play of Taylor is going to be a big reason for that.

Worst: New England Patriots Passing Game
Yes the Patriots got a win on Sunday, beating the Buffalo Bills 14-10 in a huge swing for the lead in the AFC East on Monday Night. A big game that gave the Patriots sole possession of first place in the East. But what really stood out in this game was the Patriots passing attack. or should we say lack there of. Mac Jones stat line for the night: 2 of 3 for 19 yards, not touchdowns picks or sacks. Do not adjust your settings you are in fact seeing that correctly, Jones threw just three passes the entire night. It was the run game that was the big difference for the Patriots with 222 yards on 46 carries. We know Mac can throw the ball, its just the run game was more effective on this night.

Best: George Kittle Tight End San Francisco 49ers
Yes I know this didn't end well for the 49ers as a unit, falling 30-23 to Seattle. But with no Deboo Samuel in the lineup for the 49ers they needed to come up with something in the passing game. Enter George Kittle, who has proven over the last couple of seasons he can be one of the very best pass catching tight ends in all of football. He finished the day with nine catches for 181 yards and a couple of touchdowns. There's still some explosive playmaking ability in there for Kittle and he's healthy. This game was a bit of a revival of sorts for Kittle as a pass catcher in this league.

Worst: New York Jets Kickers
We already dove into this game a little earlier with Minshew. But now here's how it looks from the other side. Sure the Jets sucked in the second half as a whole, but the entire game, the kickers were beyond horrible. A few days before the game the Jets had cut Matt Ammendola, who  struggled badly with kicks over 40 yards. He was replaced by Alex Kessman. What does he do? Goes out and misses two point afters early on, which put the Jets in a spot where they gave up kicking the rest of the day. Yikes.

2021 Bowl Season

It's going down. We are two weeks away from the start of Bowl season. College football bowl games have arrived, and there's something for everybody. Games start on December 17th and go right through till we crown a National Champion on January 10th. So with that being said, here's the full list of every bowl game this season.

December 17th 
Bahamas Bowl Middle Tennessee vs. Toledo 12 p.m. ESPN Thomas Robinson Stadium
Cure Bowl Northern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina 6 p.m. ESPN2 Camping World Stadium

December 18th
Boca Raton Bowl Appalachian State vs. Western Kentucky 11 a.m. ESPN FAU Stadium
Celebration Bowl Jackson State vs. Prairie View A&M 12 p.m. ABC Mercedes-Benz
New Mexico Bowl Fresno State vs. UTEP 2:15 p.m. ESPN Dreamstyle Stadium
Independence Bowl No. 13 BYU vs. UAB 3:30 p.m. ABC Independence Stadium
LendingTree Bowl Eastern Michigan vs. Liberty 5:45 p.m. ESPN Ladd-Peebles Stadium
LA Bowl Oregon State vs. Utah State 7:30 p.m. ABC SoFi Stadium
New Orleans Bowl No. 23 Louisiana vs. Marshall 9:15 p.m. ESPN Caesars Superdome

December 20th
Myrtle Beach Bowl Tulsa vs. Old Dominion 2:30 p.m. ESPN Brooks Stadium

December 21st
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Kent State vs. Wyoming 3:30 p.m. ESPN Albertsons Stadium
Frisco Bowl No. 24 San Diego State vs. UTSA 7:30 p.m. ESPN Toyota Stadium

December 22nd
Armed Forces Bowl Missouri vs. Army 8 p.m. | ESPN Amon G. Carter Stadium

December 23rd
Gasparilla Bowl Florida vs. UCF 7 p.m. | ESPN Raymond James Stadium
Frisco Football Classic Miami (Ohio) vs. North Texas TBD TBD Toyota Stadium

December 24th
Hawai'i Bowl Memphis vs. Hawai'i 8 p.m. ESPN Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex

December 25th
Camellia Bowl Ball State vs. Georgia State 2:30 p.m. | ESPN Cramton Bowl

December 27th
Quick Lane Bowl Western Michigan vs. Nevada 11 a.m. ESPN Ford Field
Military Bowl East Carolina vs. Boston College 2:30 p.m. ESPN Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium

December 28
Birmingham Bowl No. 20 Houston vs. Auburn 12 p.m. ESPN Protective Stadium
First Responder Bowl Air Force vs. Louisville 3:15 p.m. ESPN Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Liberty Bowl Texas Tech vs. Mississippi State 6:45 p.m. ESPN Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Holiday Bowl No. 18 North Carolina State vs. UCLA 8 p.m. FOX Petco Park 
Guaranteed Rate Bowl Minnesota vs. West Virginia 10:15 p.m. ESPN Chase Field

December 29th
Fenway Bowl Virginia vs. SMU 11 a.m. | ESPN Fenway Park
Pinstripe Bowl Virginia Tech vs. Maryland 2:15 p.m. ESPN Yankee Stadium
Cheez-It Bowl No. 19 Clemson vs. Iowa State 5:45 p.m. ESPN Camping World Stadium
Alamo Bowl No. 14 Oregon vs. No. 16 Oklahoma 9:15 p.m. ESPN Alamodome

December 30th
Duke's Mayo Bowl North Carolina vs. South Carolina 11:30 a.m. ESPN Bank of America Stadium
Music City Bowl Tennessee vs. Purdue 3 p.m. ESPN Nissan Stadium
Peach Bowl No. 10 Michigan State vs. No. 12 Pittsburgh 7 p.m. ESPN Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Las Vegas Bowl Wisconsin vs. Arizona State 10:30 p.m. ESPN Allegiant Stadium

December 31st
Cotton Bowl Classic (College Football Playoff semifinal) No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Cincinnati 3:30 p.m. ESPN AT&T Stadium
Orange Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal) No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Georgia 7:30 p.m. ESPN Hard Rock Stadium
Gator Bowl No. 17 Wake Forest vs. No. 25 Texas A&M 11 a.m. ESPN TIAA Bank Stadium
Sun Bowl Washington State vs. Miami (FL) 12 p.m. CBS Sun Bowl
Arizona Bowl Central Michigan vs. Boise State 2 p.m. Barstool Sports Arizona Stadium

January 1st
Outback Bowl No. 21 Arkansas vs. Penn State 12 p.m. ESPN2 Raymond James Stadium
Citrus Bowl No. 15 Iowa vs. No. 22 Kentucky 1 p.m. ABC Camping World Stadium in Orlando
Fiesta Bowl No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State 1 p.m. ESPN State Farm Stadium
Rose Bowl No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 11 Utah 5 p.m. ESPN Rose Bowl
Sugar Bowl No. 7 Baylor vs. No. 8 Ole Miss 8:45 p.m. ESPN Caesars Superdome

January 4th
Texas Bowl Kansas State vs. LSU 9 p.m. ESPN NRG Stadium

January 10th
College Football Playoff National Championship Game 8 p.m. ESPN Lucas Oil Stadium

It Has Begun

The writing has been on the wall for some time now, but it has finally happened. For the first time since 1990 we have a lockout between the Major League Baseball Owners and Players Association. Its the 4th time in the history of the game we have had something like this happen, and the first work stoppage since the 1994 season. Still a lot of time to make sure we don't lose games, but between now and then, there's still a lot to be worked out.

This is the 9th work stoppage, 4th lockout (first since 1990) that baseball has had. And guess what? A lot of it was over money. The players wanted a higher salary tax threshold, among other things. Owners want expanded playoffs, which I don't think the players are in favor of. Oh there's more. The Owners want a universal DH (which I'm actually in favor of). Owners have also been noted of looking for a hard salary cap floor of $100 million

Players wanted to rid of the concept of "Tanking", which is what they view as owners choosing not to sign good talented players in hopes of having a bad year and getting higher draft picks in the future. Players union has also gone on record of disapproving of a salary cap.

So to nobody's surprise, we have ourselves a lockout. And this is only the scratching of the surface of the issues between the players union and the owners. I'm sure there's a lot deeper issues here between the two sides then we are seeing.

Now the big question is what does this all mean for next season?

Well it means that we have about 70 or so days to figure this out. Spring training games were set to start at the end of February when camp us supposed to open. Opening day is still slated on March 31st. That all means nothing if a new deal can't be reached by early February. Why then? Because there's still a  lot of players sitting on the free agent market. No player movement can be made during lockout. Players can still be in discussions, but nobody can be signed or moved via trade till this lockout ends.

As far as games go, Baseball doesn't want to have another short year. Yes I know it was out of their hands in 2020, but this one is in their control and they need to get it figured out. After the 1994 strike, it took till the 1998 home run race to get fans back to the ballparks because it left a sour taste in fans mouths. Baseball seems to be trending that same way now with this lockout unless they get it figured out soon.

Mad Max Meets New York

As a Mets fan I never thought I would ever see the day. They had one of the best pitchers in the game in their rotation already in Jacob deGrom. They had a chance to bring Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz both back to Queens, but ended up losing out on both. That must have fired owner Steve Cohen up. He went out and got on the phone to Max Scherzer and his people. As of this writing, there's still some details to be worked out but, according top reports the Mets have locked up Scherzer to a three year deal with $130 million.

Of course, the details are still being worked on but it looks like a done deal. This is huge for the Mets.

Last year, at age 36, Scherzer went 15-4 with a 2.36 ERA between the Nationals and Dodgers. The guy has three Cy Young awards. Mad max has had a pretty good career too. He has a record of 190-97 with a 3.16 ERA over 14 seasons. He has 3,020 strikeouts, which ranks 18th on the all-time list. He's good, scary good. New York has deGrom and Scherzer at the top of the rotation and they could be scary good.

This is a big move for a Mets team to try and get back into contention. They are a team that had a division lead and it all fell apart, allowing the Braves to take the division and the rest is history. There's still a lot of work to be done for the Mets, like needing help in the bullpen and at the plate. But this is a massive signing for New York and will be a huge improvement and moving up into contention.

I only have one real reservation about this. I just worry that with all the money Scherzer got paid, and the fact that he's 37 years old, we won't see the best out of him. Meaning that we overpaid for an underperforming talent. Again my fears may be a little exaggerated, but you just never know. Still I have a strong feeling that the fears aren't going to come to lite and we, as Mets fans, are going to get exactly what ownership paid for with Max and be just fine.

Are the Mets a World Series contender? Too early to tell still. Are they closer now then they were a few months ago? Yes, yes they are.

Best & Worst NFL Week Eleven

Week eleven has come and gone in the NFL, which saw a mixed bag of performances. We had big upsets and performances, looking at you Colts and Justin Jefferson. Then we also have some bad performances as well, Tim Boyle raise your hand. All three teams in the state of New York laid an egg this weekend, while Green Bay and Kansas City found more of their footing again. All in all, a solid weekend of NFL action. That being said, here's a look at some of the best, and worst, from week eleven.

Best: Jonathan Taylor, Running Back Indianapolis Colts
Another week, another dominating performance by Jonathan Taylor. He's starting to really put his name into the MVP conversation with his performance during the Colts 41-15 over the Bills. Taylor had 32 carries for 185 yards and four touchdowns. He added a 5th touchdown, with three catches for 19 yards. He had over 200 yards with five touchdowns on the day, and doing it against a pretty good Bills team. Oh and those five total touchdowns were the first time ever that a Colts player has done that. He's been doing this since Wentz has struggled. They are going to need him to come up big over the next few games, playing the Bucs, Texans, Patriots and Cards.

Worst: Buffalo Bills
Talk about a Jeckyll and Hyde team. Buffalo got spanked by the Colts 41-15. This was a test for the Bills, having faced bad football teams the last three weeks. They went up against a red holt Colts team, and it didn't end well, as listed above. Facts are Buffalo was supposed to be, along with Kansas City, near the top of the heap in the AFC. At times they have shown it. And at times like last week, they look like they totally out of sync.

Best: Kirk Cousins, Quarterback Minnesota Vikings
Talk about having yourself a day. In a big division matchup against the Packers, Minnesota pulled off a major upset, with a 34-31 win over Green Bay. Cousins was a big factor in that, as he outplayed Aaron Rogers. Sure, Rogers put up outstanding numbers, so did Cousins. Kirk went 24 of 25 for 345 yards and three touchdowns. His 128 passer rating stands out as well. He's keeping the Vikings alive in the races and gave the Pack a serious run for their money on Sunday.

Worst: Tim Boyle, Quarterback Detroit Lions
When your being consider a worse quarterback in the NFL then Nathan Peterman, something isn't quite right. Enter Tim Boyle, who took over for an injured Jared Geoff as the Lions starter on Sunday. Detroit lost 13-10 to Cleveland and Boyle was beyond horrible. 77 total passing yards on the day. SEVENTY SEVEN. And he was picked off twice, which is all that he seems he can do. And this was a winable game for the Lions too, who had 136 rush yards from D'Andre Swift. But because the quarterback play was so horrible, this game ended the way it did. I mean there's bad, but this is just horrible levels of bad. There's a reason why he never got playing time in Green Bay.

Best: Colt McCoy, Quarterback Arizona Cardinals
For a guy who is 35 years old, Colt is still a pretty good ball player. He powered the Cardinals to a 23-13 win over Seattle. McCoy showed that he could still make plays at his age, and he made some plays in the vein of Cards regular starter Kyler Murray. Colt finished going 32 of 44 for 328 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He's now 3-0 as a starter in his career against Seattle, whereas he's won a total of 7 games against the rest of the league. No idea what it is that allows McCoy to perform this well against the Seahawks, but he always finds a way to.

Worst: Russel Wilson Quarterback Seattle Seahawks
While McCoy was having himself a pretty good day, the other starter, Russel Wilson, was not. McCoy outplayed Wilson in the Arizona win (see above). Wilson wasn't totally horrible, he threw for 207 yards and no picks. But he couldn't find the endzone, was sacked four times and has now lost three straight games for the first time in his careers. He's been really off his game since coming back from injury and it a glaring statement about Wilson. We knew he wanted out of Seattle after going 12-4 there last season. So what is this season telling you now about how he feels?

Best: Austin Ekler, Running Back Los Angeles Chargers
OK so Ekler didn't have quite the same day that Jonathan Taylor did, but boy did he come close. In a Chargers 41-37 win over the Steelers, Ekler had himself a solid day, 11 carries for 50 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and added six more catches for 65 yards and two more scores. Four touchdowns and 115 yards of total offense is a pretty good day for anybody in this league. It also goes to prove that Ekler is still a pretty good dual threat.

Worst: New Orleans Saints Defense
One of the big things that this Saints team was supposed to be know for was being able to stop the run. Yeah about that. New Orleans got blasted 40-29 by the Eagles, in Philly on Sunday. Four different eagles runners had a total of 50 carries for 242 rushing yards against what we thought was a tougher Saints D. Its pretty bad getting whipped that badly by six guys in the run game, but that's what happened to New Orleans. Its not looking to good right now for the Saints.

MLB Hands Out Hardware

Ah, its that time of year once again. Time to honor the best of the best in the game of baseball. Major League Baseball has just finished handing out the hardware for the 2021 season. Its the time to honor some of the best individual moments in a great team game. This year, with a full season back on, there's a much larger sample size for award winners then what we saw last year. With that being said, here's the award winners for the 2021 season.

Manager Of The Year: AL Kevin Cash (Rays), NL Gabe Kapler (Giants)
In the AL, it comes as no real surprise that it goes to Kevin Cash, who joins Bobby Cox as back to back winners. Cash is the first American League manager to win the award in back to back years. Look what he did in Tampa. The Rays had a $70 Million payroll, which was $30 million less than any other team that made the playoffs this year. Yet they managed to win the AL East for the 2nd year in a row and lead the AL with 100 wins. Cash did a masterful job of keeping the lineup moving along, and despite losing his best pitcher midway through the year, they pulled off an AL East title. Gape Kapler did just as masterful of a job in the NL, leading the Giants to an NL West title and the best record in all of baseball. 107 wins with a lineup mixed with veterans from the World Series runs and a bunch of up and coming kids in the lineup.

Rookie Of The Year: AL Randy Arozerana (Rays), NL Jonathan India (Reds)
Arozerana becomes the 4th Rays player to win the AL's top rookie award. He has played parts of the last two seasons, sure, but it wasn't enough games to qualify for above rookie status before this season. he played a full year finally and took full advantage of it. He even managed to out play fellow Rays rookie Wander Franco. India becomes the 8th Reds player to win the rookie of the year award, the first Red to win it since Scott Willamson in 1998. India collected all but one of the first place votes. He had turned into a huge bright spot for the Reds this season, powering the Reds with 21 home runs and 98 runs scored, as well as an all star selection.

Cy Young Award: AL Robbie Ray (Blue Jays), NL Corbin Burnes (Brewers)
In a close race in the NL, Burnes just edged out Zach Wheeler of the Phillies. It came as a bit of a surprise considering Wheeler had lead the league in innings pitched and strikeouts. But Burnes had the better ERA. Burnes is the first ever Brewer to win the award to win while in the NL. The franchise had won back to back in the AL in the early 80s with Yukovich and Fingers. He might not have had the most starts, as he only started 28 games and pitched 167 innings, both somewhat low for a winner, he still dominated games for the Brew Crew. Ray is the 5th Jay to win the Cy Young and the first since Doc Halladay in 2003. Ray went 13-7 with a 2.84 ERA and 248 strikeouts, just beating out Gerrit Cole for the award. His ERA and 181 innings of work were both tops in the AL and he had an eleven start stretch in the middle of the season where he was almost unhittable. Toronto struck gold signing him to the one year deal this year.

Most Valuable Player: AL Shohei Ohtani (Angels), NL Bryce Harper (Phillies)
Ohatni was the runaway winner in the American League, taking it by unanimous vote. And why not, it was the season that turned the baseball world on its ear. He had a 3.18 ERA and 130 innings in 23 starts. At the plate, he hit 46 home runs and stole 26 bases. He did it all for the Angels this season. because Ohtani did what he did this year, it was an easy choice. If he hadn't put up the unreal numbers, the award probably would have gone to Vlad Jr in Toronto. Over in the NL, Bryce Harper was playing, well, like Bryce Harper. he clubbed 35 homers and kid of did it all both at the plate and in the field for the Phillies.

Best & Worst NFL Week Ten

Week ten is now in the books in the National Football League, which means we are well into the second half of the season. And things were, and are, just as topsy turby now as they were a week ago. We saw a couple of guys have big comeback performances, while others totally laid an egg. If you we're a favorite going into this week, then you were going to have a bad time. Let's not waste any more time and dive right into it. Here's some of the best, and worst, from week ten.

Best: Patrick Mahomes, Quarterback Kansas City Chiefs
The best quarterback in the game started to look like it again on Sunday. There have been times this year when Kansas City looks like they might not be able to make a deep run. But what we saw last week against Vegas shows that Kansas City still has a high powered offense that's going to be really tough to beat if they keep it rolling. Mahomes was just doing Mahomes things on Sunday. He threw 35 for 50 for 406 yards and five touchdowns. This is a complete difference from what has been seen the last few weeks where he has had trouble hanging onto the football. Mahomes showed signs of his old MVP self and should he be able to keep it going, Kansas City is going to be really tough to beat.

Worst: Mike White, Quarterback New York Jets
This is coming from a Jets fan, I feel so bad for Mike White man. He had flashes against the Bengals like he could be a big deal in this league. He missed the game against the Colts. Comes back to face the Bills, and it didn't end well for White, or the Jets. Buffalo ran by, over and through the Jets, dominating to the tune of a 45-17 win. White was bad on Sunday, throwing four picks and completing only half of his passes. He was also upstaged by Joe Flacco. His fame fleeted quick.

Best: Cam Newton, Quarterback Carolina Panthers
Carolina walked away with a big 34-10 win over Arizona on Sunday and a small part of it came on the success of Cam Newton. Lets be fair, PJ Walker was the starter for the Panthers and did the bulk of the work and had a solid day. He did go 22 of 29 for 167 yards. But it was Newton who threw for the Panthers lone passing touchdown, going 3 for 4 for 8 yards. he also rushed for a touchdown, on three carries for 14 yards. It was Cam's first game action since getting cut by New England. He was able to help the Panthers in many ways and could be a bigger factor for Carolina with Sam Darnold now missing time.

Worst: Teddy Bridgewater, Quarterback Denver Broncos
It was one of those moments where you look at him and think "COME ON MAN" The Eagles pulled away in a 30-13 win over Denver and it was one play that Bridgewater made, or should I say didn't make, that sticks out. Yes he threw for 226 yards and that's nice but you can't go missing, or not even attempting to make a tackle. It was at the end of the fourth 1uarter Denver tried a run on 4th and 1 down by seven. Melvin Gordon fumbled the ball, allowing Darius Slay to recover the ball and run it all the way back for a score as the quarter ended. The last Broncos player who was there and could have made a play on him was Teddy. He did NOTHING he just kid of jogged and let Slay blow right past him to score. That's truly a COME ON MAN moment.

Best:  D'Andre Swift, Running Back Detroit Lions
If there was anything positive to take out of this football game for Detroit it was the performance from D'Andre Swift. Detroit walked away with a 16-16 tie against the Steelers. They haven't gotten a win yet this year, but they haven't lost either. Swift was a big factor in this ball game for the Lions pulling off the tie. 33 carries for a league best 130 rush yards. He was kept out of the endzone, but was still a force on the field Sunday, helping keep the Lions in this game

Worst: Detroit Lions
Only the Lions could do something like this, and in almost as Lions a way as possible. No they didn't lose, but they didn't win either, ending in the tie as mentioned above. The Lions defense forced a couple of Steelers turnovers in Overtime sure. And they held the Steelers to 16 points. But they allowed the Steelers to come back in the game. And to top it off, Jared Goff and the offense had just 77 net pass yards, because Goff was sacked four times on the day. It seems like no matter what they do, and no matter how hard they try, the Lions can't seem to get out of their own way.

Best: Deebo Samuel Wide Receiver San Francisco 49ers
The Monday night game lived up to the hype, for one side at least. San Francisco came away with a huge 31-10 win over the Rams and it turned out to be a very solid night for Deebo Samuel. He was was on his game for the 49ers and did everything he could to help keep San Francisco in that NFC West race. He scored two touchdowns on the night, one on the ground and one receiving. He finished with 5 carries for 36 yards and a score and had another 5 catches for 97 yards and a score. It's safe to say that Samuel was FEEEEELLLLLING it on Monday.

Worst: Seattle Seahawks
It was an all around bad day for Seattle on Sunday. They had to face Aaron Rogers, who was coming off missing last week cause of COVID. It was also the first game back for Russell Wilson, coming off his finger injury. Didn't end well for Wilson and company, as the Packers shut the Seahawks out to the tune of a 17-0 win. Wilson completed 50% of his passes and was picked off twice. You know its sad if Seattle actually played a little bit better with Geno Smith of all people under center. Just an all around bad performance against Green Bay

Thor Hits Hollywood

Thor is heading for Hollywood. After only two starts for the New York Mets in 2021, Noah Syndergaard is trying his luck on the free agent market. He turned down his qualifying offer from the team to test the waters. He got what he wanted in a big payday. The former Mets fan favorite is heading out west, signing a one year deal worth $21 million to pitch for the Los Angeles Angels next season.

Thor was the big surprise pickup by the Mets when they traded R.A. Dickey. He joined the big club in 2015. In the five years Noah has been in the Majors, he's won double digits in games in three of the five years. He missed all of 2020 and almost all (save for just two innings) last year after having Tommy John Surgery.

There's no denying that Noah has the stuff to be one of the best pitchers in the game and he's joining one of the weaker staffs in the sport in the Angels. Noah's got decent career numbers. He's 47-31 lifetime with a 3.32 ERA. And over 718 career innings, Noah has managed to fan 777 hitters, while walking 166 and allowed just 64 home runs. Again those are good numbers.

But here's the thing that's making me question the deal. He's pitched just two innings in the last two seasons after coming off the arm injury. Some pitchers, when coming back from Tommy John, don't pitch the same way they did prior to the operation. I mean, this is a small sample size, but look at a guy like Matt Harvey. He was one of the bright pitching stars the Mets had, he had the procedure, and some other problems as well, and his career hasn't been the same. I'm not saying that's going to happen with Noah by any stretch. It's just something to look at and be mindful of that's all. Plus, with what the Angels paid him on a one year deal, it seems to be a bit steep.

Looking at this from the Mets point of view, it hurts them too by taking away more of their pitching depth. They had a great young staff in 2016 with Harvey, Thor, Jake, Matz and Wheeler (Bart was there too). Now Jake is the only one left of that core young bunch. This is speaking volumes about what this team is doing. If it wants to get back into contention again it needs to keep some of its young talented arms, not get rid of them. And who knows, maybe after this one year (if there even is baseball this upcoming season but more on that at another time) Thor could find his way back to New York and wear the Blue and Orange once again. Just need to see what happens as the season rolls along.

If this was the last go around for Thor in the Big Apple, thanks for the memories and five good seasons Noah!

Best & Worst NFL Week Nine

Week nine in the NFL has come and gone and we got plenty to talk about. The NFC was looking like the better of the two conferences, but lost seven of the eight interconference matchups this week. Buffalo got taken down a peg by Jacksonville. We had quite a few running backs go off this week as well. There were upsets all over the place, as well as great performances. So lets not waste anymore time. Here's the best, and worst, of week nine in the NFL.

Best: Josh Allen, Defensive End, Jacksonville Jaguars
In the battle of Josh Allen's, its the defensive one who won the day. Jacksonville pulled off an upset, in a 9-6 drubbing of the Bills. For the first time in history, a player was able to sack, intercept and recover a fumble against the quarterback of the same name. Josh Allen of the Jaguars also lead his team with eight tackles. This is huge on so many levels. It rare to see players of the same name play each other and one dominate the other. IT also huge in the fact that it was the Jaguars of all teams to take down the Bills. Buffalo was favored by 14.5 points going into the game. The Jags Josh Allen was better than the Bills one on this day.

Worst: Robbie Anderson, Wide Receiver Carolina Panthers
Talk about a team starting to slip. The Panthers are now standing at 4-5, following a 24-6 drubbing by the Patriots. This was a Panthers team that had started the year at 3-0. IN this case, Robbie Anderson wasn't having a good day. He had started to show signs of life with Sam Darnold again, but Sunday against New England he's magic wasn't there. Anderson had one catch for two years. Quite day for sure. But to make matters worse, after Darnold threw his third pick of the day, Anderson was seen ripping into his quarterback on the sideline. He had showed signs last year that he was becoming a number one wide out again in Carolina. Now he started slipping back and this isn't good for a struggling Panthers team.

Best: Jonathan Taylor, Running Back Indianapolis Colts
Indy rolled over the Jets on Thursday night, to the tune of a 45-30 win. The score was made closer thanks to Josh Jonson performance for the Jets later in the game. That's not the real story here. The real story is the Colts offense. They had a balanced attack, gaining 272 yards on the ground and 250 more in the air. The biggest beneficiary of the day was Jonathan Taylor. He ran wild against the Jets defense, with 19 carries for a league leading 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Jets defense had no way of stopping Taylor, who had himself a career day. This guy was good, scary good on prime time.

Worst: Jordan Love, Quarterback Green Bay Packers
Sitting behind a future hall of famer is a very tough thing to do. But that's what Jordan Love has had to endure, sitting behind Aaron Rogers. Love's first career start came against the defending AFC champions in Kansas City. KC walked away with a 13-7 win and Love wasn't great. He was 19 of 34 for 190 yards, a touchdown a pick and was sacked once. Those pass yard totals are the lowest against Kansas City the entire season. Kansas City has been struggling pretty badly this year, but they managed to keep it together enough to shut down the Rogers-less Packers. Love had a chance to make a name for himself and show the Packers organization that he could be ready to step up and take over when Aaron leaves. Now it seems Green Bay could have a big problem down the road.

Best: Xavier McKinney, Safety New York Giants
We look at a team like the Giants, they are a good example of an enigma. With all the talent that this team has, you'd like to think that they'd be better than they are. But the Giants are now sitting at 3-6 following a 23-16 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Xavier McKinney is a big reason for that. He was the 36th overall pick in the draft and he was out there like he had something to prove. He picked Derek Carr off twice. The 2nd pick would be a pick six that put the Giants into the lead for good late in the game, giving the Giants a four point lead. He now has four picks on the year, good enough for fourth in the NFL on the year and 2nd amongst safety's. Yeah, this guy's kind of good.

Worst: Philadelphia Eagles Defense
Its turned into a rough going for the Eagles, who now fall to 0-4 on home field after falling 27-24 to the Chargers. Justin Herbert was able to complete 80% of his passes against this defense. That's the 5th time this season alone that an opposing QB has done that against them. Oh, and that vaunted defensive line the Eagles have barely got any pressure on Herbert, allowing him to make his throws, allowing him to throw for 356 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Philly is a second place team in the division and fading fast. Maybe this defense is an area that the Eagles really need to start looking into come this offseason.

Best: Mike Vrabel, Head Coach Tennessee Titans
The last month, on paper was going to be tough for the Titans. Over that time, they've had to face the Bills, Chiefs, Colts and Rams. All really good teams. Some would think that the Titans, who are without there best offensive player, would either go 1-3 or at best case 2-2. But the Titans have won all four of those games, following the 28-16 win over the Rams. They now sit at 7-2 and have the best record in the AFC South. It shows how well Mike Vrabel is able to gameplan. He knows how to get his guys ready. Oh they can be good, like scary good.

Worst: Dallas Cowboys
Dallas had a six game winning streak coming into this week. Then it came to an abrupt end, thanks to the Denver Broncos. Denver walked away with a 30-16 win in Dallas, and this coming with the Broncos having a 30-0 lead by the time the fourth quarter got underway. Dallas got two scores late, but it was all in garbage time. Dallas gave up over 400 yards of offense to the Broncos, something which looked an awful lot like they would have done last year. And the Dallas offense couldn't muster much of anything. 60 yards receiving between Cooper and Lamb combined, while Elliott had just 51 yards on the ground. All in all a day in which Dallas wants to forget

Gold Gloves Go To.......

It's that time of the year. Major League Baseball is honoring the best of the best. They are handing out the awards for the best defensive players in the game for the 2021 season. It is one of the highest honors in all of the baseball world to be able to get a gold glove. We will not only tell you who won the awards but break it down if they got it right or not. So lets not waste any more time. Here's the gold glove winners for this year.

American League: 
1st Base: Yuli Gurriel (Astross)
2md Base: Marcus Semien (Blue Jays)
3rd Base: Matt Chapman (Athletics)
Shortstop: Carlos Correa (Astros)
Left Field: Andrew Benintendi (Royals)
Center Field: Michael A. Tayloy (Royals)
Right Field: Joey Gallo (Rangers/Yankees)
Catcher: Sean Murphy (Athletics)
Pitcher: Dallas Keuchel (White Sox)

National League: 
1st Base: Paul Goldschmidt (Cardinals)
2nd Base: Tommy Edman (Cardinals)
3rd Base: Nolan Arenado (Cardinals)
Shortstop: Brandon Crawford (Giants)
Left Field: Tyler O'Neill (Cardinals)
Center Field: Harrison Bader (Cardinals)
Right Field: Adam Duval (Braves)
Catcher: Jacob Stallings (Pirates)
Pitcher: Max Fried (Braves)

We saw a record set with five guys from the same team winning gold gloves this year. 3./4 of the infield and 2/3 of the outfield come from St Louis. A BIG reason why the Cardinals made it to the playoffs as a wild card team in the National League. Nolan is keeping a hold on the award at 3rd for the NL, a title he has won every year since 2013, his first title. Chase Headly was the last 3rd baseman not named Arenado to win it at 3rd for the NL. It also worth noting that the gold glove at first base has been traded back and forth in some way, shape or form in the NL between Anthony Rizzo and Freddy Freeman the last seven years. Last time neither of those guys won the award was 2014 (Adrian Gonzalez).

In the AL, its three times in the last four years at third base for Matt Chapman winning. This marks the first time in the last four years that Alex Gordon didn't win it for left field, as Benintendi took the honors for the first time in his career.

It was a season filled with great defensive plays, and players.

Best & Worst NFL Week Eight

Week eight has come and gone in the NFL and there plenty to go off of. There are no more unbeaten teams left in the league, with Arizona having fallen to the Packers. We had a guy making his first ever start under center have a monster day, while a team in the same state came close to doing the impossible in Aarowhead. Injuries also really taking hold this week as well, with Derrick Henry looking like he could be done for the year. There's so much more to get into, so lets not waste any more time. Here's the best, and worst, from the week that was in the NFL.

Best: Mike White, Quarterback New York Jets
When the game started, most of the fans reactions were along the lines of WHO? By the time the day was over Sunday, the reaction went to WOW. The Jets walked away with a 34-31 win over the Bengals and it was on a BIG day from rookie Mike White. White went 37 of 45 for 405 yards, three touchdowns, and two picks. The picks looked bad but White was the first Jets QB since Vinny Testaverde in 2000 to throw for over 400 yards in a game. White's day was the best day, at least yards wise, of any QB in the league this week. And it was done against a Bengals team that looked like they might be in a place to possibly make a playoff run. But that was snuffed out but a rookie who looked really good and was playing for his job and more playing time.

Worst: Kirk Cousins, Quarterback Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota needed that game on Sunday against Dallas. Didn't happen, as the Cowboys walked away with a 20-16 win over Minnesota. And Cousins was supposed to be the one to really carry the Vikings, which at times he has shown he could do that. Didn't happen Sunday, as Kirk laid a total egg against the Boys. No touchdown passes and only 184 yards through the air on just 21 completions. Cousins just couldn't get the job done when he needed to the most for the Vikings, who still had a chance to win the game, had it not been for a blunder from Mike Zimmer with his time outs, which is a story all in itself.

Best: Stephon Gilmore, Cornerback Carolina Panthers
From the point of view of Stephon Gilmore, this was a statement game. When the New England Patriots traded him to Carolina, it looked like he might have been washed up. In the Carolina 19-13 win over Atlanta, Gilmore had a pretty good impact on the game. He had two tackles on the day, which isn't exactly show stealing I know, but it was his big play at the end of the game that was. He made the game sealing interception with 1:58 left in the ballgame to lock the win for the Panthers. He still got something left in the tank.

Worst: Tua Tagovalia, Quarterback Miami Dolphins
A part of me really feels bad for Tua. It was supposed to be Tua Time in Miami, but now, a year and a half later, it doesn't look that way. Miami lost 24-11 to Buffalo, which is nothing to be ashamed of, because the Bills are a good team. Tua threw for 205 yards, but was only 21 of 39, no touchdowns, picked once and sacked twice. His passer rating was only 58.1. His backup is Jacoby Brissett. Miami only win of the year was against New England the first game of the year. Tua hasn't lived up to the hype as much and it could be a very short run in this league if his play doesn't start to show signs of improvement before the end of this season.

Best: Philadelphia Eagles Run Game
Yes, the NFL has become a pass happy league, there's no denying that. But the Philadelphia Eagles showed that there is still very much a positive and promising use of a solid run game in this league. First off the Eagles picked up a big 44-y6 win over Detroit. Yes I know its against the winless Lions, but still that's an impressive performance never the less. It was the Eagles run game that did the trick against Detroit, and it was a balance attack from the Eagles to boot. Jalen Hurts: 7 carries for 71 yards. Boston Scott: 12 carries, 60 yards and a pair touchdowns. Jordan Howard: 12 carries, 57 yards and also a pair of touchdowns. That's giving everybody a slice of the pie to run with.

Worst: Jacksonville Jaguars
I know this kicking a good team when its down but come on man. First off, they got beat 31-7 by Seattle, dropping their record on the year to 1-6. That's pretty bad. It was made worse when you see that they got called for 12 men on the field, not once but twice. Oh, and it was on back to back plays. And its in the middle of the season coming off a bye week. Whatever good vibes this team had coming off their win two weeks ago. Urban Meyer might not be around the league much longer with the way his team is playing and its some of these bad decisions that fall right on the head coach.

Best: Deebo Samuel Wide Receiver, San Francisco 49ers
There is still some fight left in the 49ers. After the Niners 33-22 win over the Bears, they are back to a game under .500. Deebo Samuel had himself a day on Sunday in that win. He wasn't able to find the endzone, but he had six catches for an eye popping 171 yards. The yards were the most by any receiver in the game this week and is a huge reason the 49ers got themselves a win this week.

Worst: Steelers Trickery
The what the hell moment of the week has to go to the Steelers. Yes, the Steelers did manage to pull out a 15-10 win over the Browns in a tough game, but it cost them there kicker. Chris Boswell, the kicker, was asked to run a fake kick. As he did he was totally destroyed on the sideline, causing a concussion. Jordan Elliott made the hit that caused the 185 pound kicker to get hurt. To make it worse, the refs didn't make a ruling on roughing the passer, which they should have. Yes the Steelers got the win, but it was a bad idea that cost them a decent kicker

Title To Atlanta

Twenty Six years is a long time to wait. The last time the Atlanta Braves won the World Series was 1995, the year they beat the Indians in six. This year, despite all the injuries and having a losing record near the all star break, the Braves find themselves once again on top of the mountain. For the 4th time in their history, Atlanta is the world champions, beating the Houston Astros in six games.

Lets go back a little bit. Atlanta was under .500 most of the year. They didn't get back to even until they hit 44-44 on July 10th, then on July 31st, they were still under .500 at 52-53. In August they took off, going 18-8, then 16-11 in September to pull on to the lead in the NL East. Atlanta finally passed .500 mark on August 6th, which is the latest in a season that a team has gotten over .500 to win the series.

They lost there best player in Ronald Acuna JR to an ACL injury in July, which just added to the problems in Atlanta. They add Joc Pederson to the lineup to replace Acuna. Once the playoffs started, the bats got hot. They beat the Brewers in four games in the Division series, then beat the Dodgers in a hard fought series in six games.

A lot of the hitting, aside from Freddy Freeman, was led by the young guys as the playoffs went along. Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley took off. The big story was Jorge Solar, who went on to win World Series MVP. Solar hit .300 for the series with 3 homers and 6 RBI. joining Tom Glavine as the only Braves to win Series MVP, which wasn't awarded until 1955.

The true mark of a great team is being able to overcome whatever thrown there way, and the Braves did that this year. They battled injuries and had an under .500 record most of the summer. Yet here we sit in early November and the Braves are celebrating their 4th world title in franchise history. Everybody had a hand in the Braves win over the Astros in this series and it showed the heart and determination of a champion. Atlanta was so good they only lost once on home field all playoffs long, that was the loss in game five to send the series back to Houston. The Braves got hot and started clicking at the right time, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Congratulations to the Atlanta Braves, your 2021 World Series Champions!

Big Things On Broadway

There is a lot to be building off of at Madison Square Garden these days. The New York Knicks have seemed to be turning the corner. After a 41 win last season and a surprise playoff appearance, there is plenty to be excited about in New York City. And they off to a hot start again on Broadway. The reaction of the fan base after the3 home opener win should have been explanation of that enough.

The win over the Celtics in the opener brought something out of Knicks fans. It sparked a new rallying cry for the club. BING BONG. It has been floating around like hot cakes. New York only has two losses on the year (at the time of this writing), losing on October 24th at home to Orlando and November 1st at home to Toronto. Julius Randel is still playing at the level he was a season ago. RJ Barrett's level of play has started to increase in the offensive side of things. And that's not all.

They getting balance production from Evan Fournier, Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose (who's production is coming off the bench). They all average double digits in points on the year early on. They getting good. Like scary good. They are stepping their play with some big tests the rest of this week. They have to take on the Pacers and the Bucks, both on the road. Its still early in the season, sure, but the signs are there that the Knicks could be good, and be really taking that next step as a team

BING BONG

Best & Worst NFL Week Seven

Week seven has come and gone in the National Football League, with Arizona still being the only perfect team left. Meanwhile the Lions are the only team in the league without a win. Tom Brady had a record setting weekend and it cost the Bucs at the end of the day. This whole weekend was kind of nuts. We had a running back throw for a touchdown, a quarterback make an amazing catch and wide receivers dropping 150 or more yards in a game in three different cities. And that's just scratching the surface. Here's some of the best and worst from week seven in the NFL.

Best: Alvin Kamara, Running Back New Orleans Saints
This was a big win and a big weekend for the Saints. New Orleans came away with a 13-10 win over Seattle, which is big enough. But the story of the day coming out of this game was Alvin Kamara. This man can pretty much do it all for the Saints. He had 20 carries for 51 yards, which is a decent day on the ground. But what also needs to be talked about is the 10 catches for 128 yards. Kamara had 30 touches for 179 total yards. With that performance, he became the fastest player in NFL history to have 3,00 receiving yards and 3,000 rushing yards in his career. Kamara has been one of the best all around offensive players in the league the last number of years, and his statistics really reflect that. The guy is good, scary good.

Worst: Sam Darnold, Quarterback Carolina Panthers
Things had looked so promising for the Panthers early this year. They started off 3-0 and looked like they could be really good. But the Panthers have lost four straight, including getting trounced 25-3 by the Giants in New York on Sunday. Sam Darnold, who had showed some promise at the beginning of the year, was downright bad against the Giants. 16 of 27 for 112 yards and a pick. He was also sacked three times and had a passer rating of 57.4, the worst of any starter in the NFL this week. That kind of performance is making it hard for the Panthers to want to keep him around for longer then this year.

Best: Kyle Pitts, Tight End Atlanta Falcons
Talked about it a couple of weeks ago when he had the big weekend over in London against the Jets. Well the Falcons tight end was back at it again on Sunday in Miami. Atlanta walked away with a 30-28 win over the Dolphins, and Pitts was a big reason for that. He wasn't able to find the endzone, but he did help the Falcons offense push forward. Pitts finished with seven catches for 163 yards. That's now back to back weeks of over 100 receiving yards for Pitts, who's now up to 470 yards on the year. He's proving that he can be worth his weight in gold for Matt Ryan in the pass catching department, as well as his blocking ability.

Worst: Dan Campbell, Head Coach Detroit Lions
A small part of me almost feels bad for the Lions. They fell to the Rams 28-19. You can't even put the blame on Campbell. He tried EVERYTHING to lead his Lions to their first win of the year. Trick plays, two fake punts. Scoring on their first drive and racing out to a 10-0 lead. It didn't matter as former starter Matthew Stafford still came in and pulled off the comeback. Campbell's gambles worked, but it didn't in a sense as the Lions still lost. I feel bad for the coach, he is trying to come up with ways to get a win. He doesn't have the talent around him. I had to put something here in the loss department so here we sit.

Best: Ja'Marr Chase, Wide Receiver Cincinnati Bengals
If your a Bengals fan, you have to be over the moon at this moment. Following a 41-17 crushing of the Ravens over the weekend, the Bengals now have the best record in the AFC. A big reason for that was the play of receiver Ja'Marr Chase. He went off like a man possessed against the Ravens. Eight catches, one for a touchdown, for an eye popping 201 yards. He had almost as many receiving yards by himself as the ravens did as a team (Baltimore finished with 296 yards passing). That's saying a lot. Shows not only how much the Bengals and Chase were feeling it on Sunday, it shows how bad the Ravens have been. Bengals fans rejoice your on top of the mountain in the AFC.

Worst: New York Jets
It was tough enough going into New England to play the Patriots, as the Jets had lost 12 straight games to their division rivals. Now that is up to lucky number thirteen, as the Patriots blasted (and that's being nice) the Jets to the tune of a 54-13 win. New England had 551 yards of total offense and scored seven touchdowns. This game wasn't even close and that is so sad. New York thought things were going to be better with a new coach, but it hasn't gotten any better. They are still the butt of a lot of jokes and the performance in New England on Sunday just added more fuel to that fire.

Best: Derrick Henry, Running Back Tennessee Titans
This guy can do a little bit of everything for the Titans. Tennessee pulled off a huge weekend, to the tune of a 27-3 win over Kansas City. Derrick Henry had himself a pretty good day. He caught two passes for 16 yards, carried the ball 20 times for 86 yards. The big moment of the day was Henry threw a five yard touchdown pass to MyCole Pruitt. It was pretty cool to see a direct snap to the running back to throw for the touchdown. It made it even cooler to see it happen against a team like Kansas City. Henry, like we mentioned with Kamara before, is the Mr. Do It All on offense for the Titans.

Worst: Chicago Bears
It not looking good in the Windy City right now. The bears are back under .500 at 3-4 following a 38-3 thrashing by the Bucs. Here's where it really gets bad. We're seven weeks into the regular season, and the Bears are the ONLY team in the NFL that doesn't have a passer throw for more than 200 yards in a game. Case in point, Fields only had 184 passing yards against the Bucs. Yes the Bucs are a good defensive team, but still that's a surprisingly low number. Chicago needs to start figuring this thing out if they want to have any shot of making noise in the NFC playoff picture.