NFL Legend Passes

Jim Brown. One of the greatest running backs to have ever stepped foot on a football field. He stared as a multi sport athlete at Syracuse and took off once he got to the NFL. The Hall of Famer passed away on Thursday at the age of 87.

There isn't much more that can be said that hasn't already been said about the star athlete. While growing up on Long Island, Brown earned 13 letters while playing football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and running track. When he got to Syracuse University, he stuck with lacrosse and the sport that made his career, football.

He was drafted by the Browns, 6th overall in the 1957 NFL draft. He played nine years in the N FL, playing in 118 games. He won an NFL title in 1964. Brown carried the ball 2,359 times for 12,312 rushing yards and 106 touchdowns, which were all records when he retired. Brown won rookie of the year in 1957, was a three time league MVP, the only non quarterback to win three MVP's. Brown was a nine time all pro and an eight time pro bowler. He's had his number 32 retired by the Browns and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. He finished with 100 or more yards in a game 58 times out of the 118 games he played which was an eye popping number.

This man has gone down, and will go down in the books as one of the very best to ever touch a football. He set a standard for what other great backs strive to be. Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Curtis Martin, Jerome Bettis all have Jim Brown's talent and skills to live up to. We could talk about his athletic skills till the cows come home. He was more than just a great athlete. He was a leader.

What we mean is, Jim Brown was a strong voice, and a highly respected one at that, in the community in regards to equal rights. Brown was one of the few athletes, and among the most prominent African Americans, to speak out on racial issues as the civil rights movement was growing in the 1950s. He participated in the Cleveland Summit after Muhammad Ali faced imprisonment for refusing to enter the draft for the Vietnam War. The summit is considered an important turning point for activism by athletes.

The sports world morns the loss of one of the greatest athletes, and people, to ever step foot on a field.

New Low's In Oakland

This is something that's really worth noting. It's been well documented how bad things have gotten for the Athletics out in Oakland. Stadium is falling apart and they've been putting bad teams out on the field for quite some time now. It has hit a new low last night. Oakland drew 2,064 fans to their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, a 9-8 win for the A's.

The 2,064 fans was the lowest crowd for a game in Oakland since 1979.

Yikes!

There's good reason why the numbers are diving in Oakland, and its in the owners box. John Fisher, a man who's estimated net work is around $2.4 Billion, has owned the team since 2005. They made it to the ALCS in his first year as owner in 2006, but the team hasn't come anywhere close to that since. Prior to last season, the A's had four straight winning seasons.

Last year they won only 60 games, and as of this writing, they are 10-34 on this season. Ownership seems like they don't give a crap about investing into their club and putting a winning product on the field. Part of that may have to do with the fact that the stadium is falling apart and Fisher has shown signs of trying to possibly move the club to Las Vegas.

That's the biggest factor keeping fans away from the Coliseum. Bad play is a factor too, sure. But nobody wants to come out and watch a team that has a threat of moving soon. That's a great way to alienate your fanbase is to basically tell them that you don't care and you want out. And to make matters worse, the team has just a few weeks left to try and get something put together to show the league and Vegas that they have a plan for the ballpark. If that doesn't get done, its going to look really bad for the franchise and its already plummeting numbers.

Bad product on the field, bad attendance at home games and ownership that doesn't seem to give a crap about what's going on in the park is a receipt for disaster for the 2023 Oakland Athletics

Stanley Cup Conference Finals Preview

And then there were four. We started this playoff rush with sixteen teams, we've now hit the final four. over the next two weeks we will see who earns the right to play for hockey's ultimate prize. And its from unexpected hockey places. One team out West and three from Southern States, who would have figured that back in October. Here we are with Vegas, Dallas, Carolina and Florida as the last four teams left standing. So lets not waste anymore time and lets get into it. Here's how we see the conference finals going down.

M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC2) Florida Panthers
This is the first ever meeting between these two clubs in the playoffs. Carolina comes in after beating the Islanders in six games and then the Devils in five. Carolina is now here for the 5th time in team history, since moving to Carolina. Last trip here was a 2019 loss to Boston. Florida reached here upsetting the Bruins in seven games, then beating the Maple Leafs in five games. This marks the second ever conference finals appearance for the Panthers, last time getting here in 1996 when they beat Pittsburgh.

Both teams have had to go at least five games in every series, Florida had to go the distance with Boston, but then had an easier series against Toronto. Florida seemed to really find their footing halfway through that Boston series. When they went to Sergei Bobrovsky. Now nothing against either Boston or Toronto, both very good teams, but both teams had one thing in common going against Florida. They were both top six heavy and didn't have much overall depth to them. Florida was able to use four lines and use speed to wear teams down.

They basically going to be looking in a mirror of sorts playing the Hurricanes. Carolina is built on speed and rolling four lines. They used that to great success against both the Islanders and Devils. Carolina maybe the fastest team left standing in this playoffs. Nothing against the other teams, but that's the way it looks to the naked eye. And Freddy Andersen, who's had injury issues this year, has come back into the nets and looked like he's a man possessed in the playoffs.

Pick: Hurricanes in 6!

P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. C2) Dallas Stars
This marks the 2nd meeting between the two teams, the last one being won by Dallas in the 2020 bubble. Dallas got here by beating the Wild in six games and then the upstart Kraken in seven games. This is the tenth conference finals appearance for Dallas, the last one being against this same Vegas team just three years ago. Vegas got here by beating the Jets in five games and the Oilers in Six games. This is the fourth appearance in the conference finals for Vegas, the last one coming in the 2021 loss to Montreal.

This is the more even matchup of the two series, because both teams play a loser style to the other. Roope Hintz has gone off in the playoffs with 19 points and has really been a driving force for the Stars. Benn and Seguin have been there too, as has surprising numbers from Max Domi. Ottonger has been outstanding in the Stars nets in the playoffs, allowing under three goals a game.

They going up against a Vegas team who's been here four times in their six seasons in the league. Jack Eichel has seemed to really find his game and has been playing fantastic hockey here in the playoffs. Aiden Hill has been good in net for the Golden Knights.

Only thing that worries me here is the top six scoring in Vegas. They aren't as deep and well rounded as Dallas.

Pick: Stars in 6!

2023 NFL Schedule Announced

The day has finally arrived. We can all start marking down our calendars. The National Football League has announced the schedule of games for the 2023 regular season. We will get into the full list for the teams we cover here on the show, as well as the marquee games on the full slate for this year.

First some marquee games this year:
Dolphins at Chargers, Sept. 10: Herbert vs Tua
Bills vs. Bengals, Nov. 5: First meeting since Damar Hamlin injury
Eagles vs. 49ers, Dec. 3: NFC title game rematch
Bengals at Chiefs, Dec. 31: AFC Title game rematch
Eagles at Chiefs, Nov. 20: SuperBowl rematch

September 11 8:15 p.m. Buffalo
September 17 4:25 p.m. at Dallas
September 24 1:00 p.m. New England
October 1 8:20 p.m. Kansas City
October 8 4:25 p.m. at Denver
October 15 4:25 p.m. Philadelphia
BYE WEEK
October 29 1:00 p.m. at New York Giants
November 6 8:15 p.m. Los Angeles
November 12 8:20 p.m. at Las Vegas
November 19 4:25 p.m. at Buffalo
November 24 3:00 p.m. Miami
December 3 1:00 p.m. Atlanta
December 10 1:00 p.m. Houston
December 17 1:00 p.m. at Miami
December 24 1:00 p.m. Washington
December 28 8:15 p.m. at Cleveland
January 6/7 TBD at New England

Sep 10 vs Dallas 8:20 PM
Sep 17 @ Arizona 4:05 PM
Sep 21 @ San Francisco 8:15 PM
Oct 2 vs Seattle 8:15 PM
Oct 8 @ Miami 1:00 PM
Oct 15 @ Buffalo 8:20 PM
Oct 22 vs Washington 1:00 PM
Oct 29 vs New York Jets 1:00 PM
Nov 5 @ Las Vegas 4:25 PM
Nov 12 @ Dallas 4:25 PM
Nov 19 @ Washington 1:00 PM
Nov 26 vs New England 1:00 PM
BYE WEEK
Dec 11 vs Green Bay 8:15 PM
Dec 17 @ New Orleans1:00 PM
Dec 25 @ Philadelphia 4:30 PM
Dec 31 vs Los Angeles1:00 PM
Jan 7 vs Philadelphia

Sep 10 @ Minnesota 1:00 PM
Sep 17 vs Chicago 1:00 PM
Sep 25 vs Philadelphia 7:15 PM
Oct 1 @ New Orleans 1:00 PM
BYE WEEK
Oct 15 vs Detroit 1:00 PM
Oct 22 vs Atlanta 1:00 PM
Oct 26 @ Buffalo 8:15 PM
Nov 5 @ Houston 1:00 PM
Nov 12 vs Tennessee 1:00 PM
Nov 19 @ San Francisco 4:05 PM
Nov 26 @ Indianapolis 1:00 PM
Dec 3 vs Carolina 1:00 PM
Dec 10 @ Atlanta 1:00 PM
Dec 17 @ Green Bay 1:00 PM
Dec 24 vs Jacksonville  4:05 PM
Dec 31 vs New Orleans 1:00 PM
Jan 7 @ Carolina

JV Smooth

It's no secret that Justin Verlander is one of the best pitchers in the history of baseball. Ever since joining the Tigers in 2005, Verlander has been a dominating force. Thirteen years in Detroit, five more in Houston and now in his first year in New York, Verlander has won 245 games in his career. With his win over the Reds on Wednesday night, Verlander set another mark. He became the 21st pitcher in the history of the league to beat all 30 Major League teams.

Think about that. Getting a win over all 30 Major League teams is a big accomplishment. Twenty one men, including Verlander, have done it. First one to do it was former Met Al Leiter. The other names on the list are pretty impressive. Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, Gerritt Cole, Max Scherzer are just a few of the names on the list that Verlander just joined.

This feat of beating all 30 teams is impressive for a couple of reasons. It speaks to the longevity of Verlander's career, which has spanned almost twenty seasons and has him pitching at age 40. It also speaks to how hard it is to accomplish. A grand total of 21 pitchers have now hit that magic number. The first guy to do it was Al Leiter in 2002, which he also did while pitching for the Mets. It is worth noting that before interleague play began in 1997, it was impossible for this feat to happen because you only played within your league until the World Series rolled around in October.

As for the man who just joined the elite club, its been an interesting start to his tenure in New York. He missed the beginning of the season due to injury, and Verlander is just now getting back into the swing of things and finding his game. He can still bring it on the mound, just not where he did when he was in Detroit, or even in his early tenure in Houston. He's made 484 career starts as of this writing, including the big win over the Reds on Wednesday. He's hit at least 10 wins in every full season he's had in the Majors. His list of accomplishments is never ending.

Congratulations to Justin Verlander for hitting a pretty impressive mark

Stanley Cup Second Round Predictions

We went from sixteen and we now down to eight. The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs has arrived. We have one Florida team left, and its not the one we expected. The best regular season team is now out, as are both of last years Stanley Cup Finalists. The 2023 opening round of the playoffs has been wild. So here's what we got for the 2nd round of the playoffs.

A2) Toronto Maple Leafs vs WC) Florida Panthers
Florida is coming off knocking off the best team during the regular season, while the Leafs are coming off their first playoff series win since 2004. Neither team was really given much hope in the first round. Toronto has had an abysmal track record over the last almost twenty years in the playoffs, so you could understand there being a little hesitation in picking them to win. Florida had finished a whopping 43 points behind Boston, who they knocked out in seven games (and proved that having the best regular season record don't mean squat come this time of the year)

Now as far as this series goes, both teams com in riding emotional highs from the last round. Both teams got scoring from their top six forwards, but Toronto had a much greater impact from their top six than what we saw out of Florida. Nothing against Florida and their scoring punch, they had solid scoring. What worries me is if the Panthers are going to keep switching goalies and if they can even handle the offense that's going to be thrown at them by the Leafs. We said that in the last round against Boston too and look what happened. Going to be a fun series.

Pick: Toronto in 6!

M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs M2) New Jersey Devils
Carolina picked up into the second round again. They taking on a New Jersey is coming off its first playoff series win since 2012. So this series is going to have some fire to it. There's no doubt that Carolina is a fast and skilled team. They just got Fredrick Andersen back between their pipes at the end of the last series against the Islanders. Nothing against Antti Rantta, who was good against the Isles, but it looks like, if Andersen is fully himself and back, the net is his in this series. the Hurricanes have the scoring punch, but that's going to be put to the test in this series.

New Jersey found an answer in their nets. Vanecek was out of wack at the start of the series, losing the nets to Schmid. He took over, and so did the Devils. Their offense seemed to have more of a balanced groove to it then the Hurricanes did in their first round matchup.

Pick: Devils in 7!

C2) Dallas Stars vs WC) Seattle Kraken
Seattle not only won its first series in team history, but they did it beating the defending Champions. While Dallas is coming in off a solid win over Minnesota. You want to talk about a guy going off in a series. Have yourself an opening round Roope Hintz. Hintz finished the first round leading all scorers with 12 points. Him and Jason Robertson both had big series against the Wild.

Now your going up against something totally different in the 2nd year Seattle Kraken. Yes they had good production from their veterans like Gourde, Schwartz and Schultz. There's plenty of firepower evenly distributed amongst this Seattle team. And with a solid goalie like Grubaure in the nets, Seattle has something to hang its hat on from this first round win. But that's about as far as its going. Dallas is just too loaded and well balanced a team for Seattle to pull of yet another upset in the playoffs.

Pick: Stars in 6!

P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs P2) Edmonton Oilers
Vegas is back in the 2nd round for another year. As are the Oilers. its the 2nd year in a row of a 2nd round appearance. This year Edmonton has their dynamic duo going in the first round against the Kings. McDavid and Draisitl had big first round series, as did Evan Bouchard. All three guys finished with more than ten points in the series win over the Kings. What has me worried a little for Edmonton here is in net. Can Stuart Skinner find his dominating form again from the regular season, because what we saw here in the playoffs, it wasn't what we got from the last six months of the regular season.

Vegas has been here before. In their brief history they have failed to play in the 2nd round only twice, 2019, when they lost in the first round, and last year when the totally missed the playoffs. So this is a bounce back year of sorts. The first year set the bar extremely high with that trip to the finals. Brossoit has proven himself in the first round win this year over the Jets. And where the Knights may have an edge is they have not as top heavy a scoring threat, but its more balanced a scoring threat than what you get in Edmonton.

Pick: Vegas in 7!