Title To Kanas City

This is starting to become a habit. For the 2nd year in a row and third time in the last five years, the Kansas City Chiefs are champions of the football world. Kansas City pulled out a thrilling 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers. It's the fourth super bowl win and sixth overall championship for the Chiefs.

And it seems like that's becoming a trend for Mahomes and the Chiefs. Fall behind ten points in the Super Bowl and then wake up and find your game. They were down 10-0 early in the 2nd and 10-3 at the half. They found a way to come back late in the 4th quarter and force overtime. It always seems like Mahomes plays better when he's in a ticked off mood.

Both teams played slightly sloppy football as the game went on. Mahomes threw a couple of bad passes, one of which was picked off. Christian McCaffery, who had 160 total yards for the 49ers, had a big fumble for San Francisco, which is rare for him to cough up a ball like he did. There was also the story of penalties on the day as well. It was a sloppy, penalty filled first half.

This marks just the second OT game in Super Bowl history, with the last one coming at Super Bowl 51 with New England beating Atlanta. This Super Bowl lasted 74 minutes 57 seconds of game time. Its the longest Super Bowl in history and 7th longest playoff game in NFL history.

Now then, this game leads to a couple of big questions. Does this make the Chiefs and Dynasty? Can we put Mahomes in the GOAT conversation?

When you think of great dynasties, there's a few that come to mind right away. New England Patriots from 2001-2018 are the first one people think of. Then there's the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1972-79. You have the Vince Lombardi led Green Bay Packers during the early 60s. You also have the San Francisco 49ers teams that ran from 1981 to 1994. This Kansas City team we've seen over the last five years can challenge these teams for that spot. They may come close to challenging the Cowboys teams from 1991 to 1995 for being a top five team on this dynasty list.

The Chiefs have now gone to and won two straight Super Bowls. They've won three in the last five years, only losing to the Buccaneers in 2020. Oh yeah, and they've also been to now six straight AFC title games as well.

As far as Mahomes goes, you can safely now put him in the argument for being a top ten QB all time. And he's only o28 years old, there's now doubt that when his careers over he's gonna be a top five all time QB. The performances he's put on in these kind of big games make it hard to bet against him come this time of year, Its also funny that people are getting tired of seeing him here in this kind of game. There's any easy solution to this issue for other teams around the league. Beat him in the playoffs. Easier said than done. But if you tired of seeing Mahomes here? Find a way to get the job done and beat the Chiefs.

Super Bowl 58 Preview

The time has finally arrived. Super Bow 58 is here! We started this back in September with 32 teams all fighting it out for the right to be here in Las Vegas this weekend. Now, we're down to the final two. One team looking to add its name to a new list of Dynasties. The other, trying to get back to a former level of glory, something it hasn't done in thirty years.

The San Francisco 49ers do battle with the Kansas City Chiefs for the biggest prize in all of football. San Francisco won the NFC west with a 12-5 record, which was best in the NFC. It got them a first round bye. They kicked off their playoffs with a divisional round win over the Green Bay Packers. They then followed it up by beating the Detroit Lions in the NFC title game to reach the Super Bowl. San Francisco is 5-2 lifetime in the Super Bow. As for Kansas City, they won the AFC West at 11-6, finishing 3rd in the conference. They opened up the playoffs with a wild card round win over the Miami Dolphins. They then went on to beat the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round. They finally closed out the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game to reach the Super Bowl> Kansas City is 3-2 lifetime in the Super Bowl

This is a rematch of the game from 2020, which was won by Kansas City.

This year going to be much of the same as the last time these two teams met in the Super Bowl. its going to be a hard hitting, close affair. There's no doubt that the Niners have the edge in the run game. McCaffery has been better than Isiah Pacheco. So figure the Niners get the edge there. What's going to make the difference here is the play of the Quarterbacks.

Hey, give credit where its due for Brock Purdy. Nobody had him pegged as the one Mr. Irrelevant to be the one to get to the Super Bowl. But here we are. He's going up against a very experienced leader and starter in Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is the man in this matchup, at least among the QB's. No disrespect to Brock Purdy.

What's going to separate the teams on this Super Sunday is going to be the play of the defense. Edge here goes to the Chiefs who are going to be able to get more pressure on Purdy then the Niners will be able to on Mahomes. Even when the Niners can get pressure, Mahomes has the better ability to make plays out of nothing or scrambling around. That's going to be the difference maker in this game.

Pick: Chiefs 35, 49ers 27

Baseball Hall Makes Call

We have reached that time of the year. The Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2024 has been announced. Three guys have gotten the call they've been waiting for and are getting into the hall this year. Catcher Joe Maur, 1st Baseman Todd Helton and third baseman Adrian Beltre are getting induction into Cooperstown later this summer.

Lets start with the guys who got in. Joe Mauer got in on his first year on the ballot, having played his entire 15 year career in Minnesota. .306 lifetime hitter, three batting titles, AL MVP in 2009. Finished his career with 2,123 hits. Was never much in the way of the power department as the other two guys his going in with, but man could this guy hit. Never really drove in a high number of runs, as his career best was 96 the year he won MVP. He finished with 923 RBI in his career and managed to score 1,018 runs. He could do it all pretty much at the plate, and behind it too, for the Twins.

Next we have Todd Helton. Played his entire 17 year career i He also played in four all star games, was a five time gold glove winner and won four silver slugger awards.n Colorado, playing over one hundred games in all but three seasons. He finished his career playing in 2,247 games, collecting 2,519 hits, 369 home runs and 1,406 RBI and a .316 lifetime batting average. He had five straight seasons in the heart of his career with 100 or more RBI, seven straight 20 or more home runs, including six straight of 30 or more. Helton played in five all star games, won three gold gloves and four silver sluggers, as well as the NL batting title in 2000, the year he hit .372. With the exception of triples and steals, Helton holds every major offensive career record for the Rockies. The guy has been the face of the Rockies franchise since coming into the league and carried that team at times. He's going to go down in the books as the best player Colorado ever had. It was Helton's sixth try getting into the Hall.

Finally, getting in on his first year on the ballot, was third baseman Adrian Beltre. Beltre played 21 years in the Majors, split between Texas (8 years), Los Angeles (7 years), Seattle (5 years) and Boston (1 year). He played in 2,933 games, collecting 3,166 hits, 477 home runs and 1,707 RBIs. He finished his career as a .286 lifetime hitter. Beltre is considered one of the great power hitters to ever swing from 3rd base. Man could he hit. In the field, he may not have had the most orthodox playing style, but he was good enough to win five gold gloves in his career.

Of note of guys that are now off the ballot next year is Garry Sheffield, who failed to reach the 75% needed for induction on his final year on there. The only other first year guys to stay on the ballot for next year were Chase Utley and David Wright. The biggest name to headline the first year eligible next year is Ichiro.

NFL Championship Weekend Preview

And then there were four. Championship Sunday has arrived and we got two fantastic matchups ahead this afternoon. For the first time since 2017 that the AFC title game isn't in Kansas City. Its also the sixth straight AFC title game for the Chiefs. As for the other side, its the third straight year and fourth time in the last five years we see San Francisco in the NFC title game. The biggest story of the weekend is the fact that this is the first time since 1991 that Detroit is playing in an NFC title game. So here's how we see this going down today.

Kansas City Chiefs @ Baltimore Ravens 3PM CBS
Fully expect a fairly high scoring game in this one. Yes Mahomes has the better record against Lamar, he's 3-1 in four meetings. That's all in the regular season, they've never met in the playoffs before today. The difference between the QB's lately has been out of pocket ability. Mahomes hasn't been as good hitting receivers moving out of the pocket as he has in years past. Lamar has had better luck of doing that. Going to be a tightly contested ball game. End of the day it feels like it could be a Ravens year.

Pick: Ravens 27, Chiefs 21

Detroit Lions @ San Francisco 49ers 6:30PM Fox
Waiting for 30 years for a title game appearance is a long time to wait. Well Lions fans, tonight your long wait is over. The only thing standing in their way from a first ever Super Bowl Appearance is the best team in the NFC this season. It gonna be a battle of running games in this one. San Francisco has McCaffery and Detroit has a two headed attack of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. This is where the pass game is going to become a factor. For as good a team as the Lions have been this year, they have one of the weaker pass rushes and pass defenses left standing in the playoffs. This is gonna be a slugfest but at the end of the day the Niners experience wins out.

Pick: 49ers 35, Lions 30

NFL Divisional Round Preview

And then there were eight. We've hit the divisional round in the NFL with four huge games this weekend. All with the end goal of getting one step closer to the Super Bowl. We had two big teams in the NFC fold up like cheap lawn chairs last weekend. AFC went according to plan, if you will. Lets not waste any more time. Here's how we see it going down this weekend for the Divisional Round.

Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens Saturday 4:30PM ESPN/ABC
Houston came out like a house of fire last week, beating up pretty good on the Cleveland Browns. But this week is a different animal facing the best team in the AFC in the Ravens. Look CJ Stroud was great against Cleveland last week, but he wasn't pressured. Baltimore has the type of defense that's going to make CJ really uncomfortable in the pocket and get him on the move. There's no doubt that Houston can find a way to try and get pressure on Lamar Jackson, but he's so good on the run its going to make it a lot tougher on that Houston defense. Baltimore was the best team in the AFC for a reason and they show it in this one.

Pick: Ravens 30, Texans 20

Green Bay Packers @ San Francisco 49ers Saturday 8:15PM Fox
This is the 10th all time meeting in the playoffs between Green Bay and San Francisco, which is an NFL record. Green Bay is coming off a rolling win in Dallas last week. Now it goes to a totally different animal, facing the best team in the NFC out West. Jordan Love wasn't really pressured last week against the Cowboys and will now get it turned up a little against the Niners. And San Francisco is riding a five game winning streak coming into this matchup. Oh and the 49ers have the best rusher in the game this season in Christian McCaffery. San Francisco has a more balanced attack between the run and pass than what Green Bay saw a week ago.

Pick: 49ers 31, Packers 21

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Detroit Lions Sunday 3PM NBC
This is a much different animal for the Bucs this week going to what has been a tough place to play this year in Ford Field in Detroit. Yes the Lions had a much closer game last week against the Rams, as compared to what the Bucs did against the Eagles. Tampa may have found their offensive stride last week at home, but this is different. Detroit will be turning up more of the pressure on Baker then what Philly did last week. Problem is, Bowles hasn't found a way to beat Geoff since 2019 when he was Bucs defensive coordinator. Yes the Bucs will get the big plays they need, but Detroit will make them too.

Pick: Lions 34, Buccaneers 21

Kansas City Chiefs @ Buffalo Bills Sunday 6:30PM CBS
Another cold weather battle between these two teams in what going to be the most intriguing matchup on the second day of the weekend. Part of what makes this so interesting is that this is the first time that the Chiefs have had to go on the road since Mahomes came into the league. Its going to make things tougher, but watching Mahomes has made it clear. Never count him out. This game is going to be a total shootout between Mahomes and Josh Allen. This game maybe the toughest one of the whole weekend to be able to pick because this maybe the closest matchup of the weekend.

Pick: Chiefs 33, Bills 30

Milestone Night In Tampa

Nikita Kucherov has been having a big year for the Lightning this season. As of this writing, he leads the NHL in scoring with 75 points and is second in the league with 47 assists. Why is that so important? Because his 47 assists put him up to 500 for his career. He had three assists last night in the Lighting 7-3 win on home ice over the Minnesota Wild. The 3rd helper, which was an assist on Steven Stamkos powerplay goal,  put him to 500 in his career.

Through 688 career games, all with the Lightning, Kucherov is sitting at 304 goals, 500 assists and 804 points. Those goals are 4th all time in Bolts history, points are 4th, and assists are 4th as well. With that 3rd assist last night put him to 500. He joins Victor Hedman (545), Steven Stamkos (564) and Martin St Louis (588) as the only Lightning players to reach 500 assists for the Lightning.

A milestone such as this is only adding to the aura of Kuckerov here in Tampa. His first couple of years he took to find his footing. Once he did, he's been one of the elite players in the game. There's no doubt in anybody's mind that when he's all said and done Kucherov is going to go down as a top five player in this teams history.

Congratulations to Nikita Kucherov on hitting 500 career assists.

Play Like An All Star

We are a little over two weeks away. It's the best of the best in the NHL gathering in Toronto for All Star weekend. This year, the three on three four team format is staying put. But it will be done a little differently. They are going back to a fantasy draft that was used from 2011 to 2015. We won't know team roster until they hold the draft on February 1st. But we do know the players playing in this years game and it is very Canada heavy. 

Here's the list of players heading to this years all star game.

Goalies: Jeremy Swayman (Boston Bruins), Alexandar Georgiev (Colorado Avalanche), Jake Oettinger (Dallas Stars), Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida Panthers), Cam Talbot (Los Angeles Kings), Igor Shesterkin (New York Rangers), Thatcher Demko (Vancouver Canucks), Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets)

Defenseman: Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche), Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres), Morgan Rielly (Toronto Maple Leafs), Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks)

Forwards: Frank Vatrano (Anaheim Ducks), Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes), David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins), Elias Lindholm (Calgary Flames), Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes), Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), Boone Jenner (Columbus Blue Jackets), Alex DeBrincat Detroit (Red Wings), Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers), Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers) Sam Reinhart (Florida Panthers), Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild), Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens), Filip Forsberg (Nashville Predators), Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils), Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders), Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators), Travis Konecny (Philadelphia Flyers), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks), Oliver Bjorkstrand (Seattle Kraken), Robert Thomas (St. Louis Blues), Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning), Auston Matthews Toronto Maple Leafs), Mitch Marner (Toronto Maple Leafs), William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs) Jack Eichel Vegas Golden Knights), Brock Boeser (Vancouver Canucks), J. T. Miller (Vancouver Canucks), Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks), Tom Wilson (Washington Capitals)

So what do you guys think? Did they get the selections right?