FOOTBALL

The main attraction last night:  The BCS Championship in college football between the #1 LSU Tigers and the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide.  This year was different than other BCS years because these teams already played each other earlier in the year.  And nobody likes to see a rematch in the National Title Game.  Except, in this case.  LSU and Alabama certainly were the appropriate 2 teams to play in this bowl.  LSU won in Alabama earlier in the season, but it took them into overtime to do it and they only won by a field goal.  Given that Alabama won out the rest of the way, a rematch was fairly in order.  Plus, the team that people think got shafted, Oklahoma State, barely beat Stanford in their respective bowl game.  The BCS computer got it right this time, but as always there is controversy and the BCS is meeting to think about revising the way the Championship game is played.

So, how would it all go down? Both teams have brick wall defenses, and there were AT LEAST 10 NFL players on that field last night.  These two schools have the best recruiting probably in the whole nation right now.  The first half was as expected (i.e. anything but a scoring fest).  However, Alabama was able to get the ball moving a little bit, while LSU was completely stuffed.  Alabama would head into the half with a trio of field goals, which is actually a pretty big lead considering how hard it is to score on LSU.

People thought that LSU would turn it around in the second half, but again, Alabama came to prove to the world, on National television, that their loss to LSU back in November was an accident.  They continued to completely stifle the LSU offensive attack, only allowing LSU to cross the 50 yard line once in the entire game.  They simply couldn’t do anything.  Then, on an Alabama punt, LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu (the Honey Badger), the guy who had all the headlines for the SEC, got completely smashed to the ground.  They absolutely ripped him apart, tired of all the press he’s been getting all season.  A late touchdown by Alabama Heisman candidate running-back Trent Richardson would seal the game, and give Alabama their 2nd National Championship in 3 years.  Amazing!  Alabama only gave up a grand total of 92 offensive yards to the Tigers.  A remarkable achievement.  Congratulations to head coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.  Alabama 21, LSU 0.

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In the NFL, it was Wild Card Weekend — and what a weekend they gave us.

First on Saturday, it was the Cincinnati Bengals visiting the Houston Texans.  Most thought that since the Texans were banged up that they Bengals would come in and take care of business.  But, the Texans didn’t have to turn to 4th string quarterback Jake Delhomme — they got a great game out of their 3rd string quarterback T.J. Yates.  But the real hero of the game for Houston was their running-back Arian Foster.  He finished the game with 153 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Texans rolled to victory and will head to Baltimore next weekend to take on the Ravens.  Houston 31, Cincinnati 10.

Next up, it was a prime time battle between two explosive offenses as the Detroit Lions headed to the New Orleans Saints.  First off, it’s simply refreshing to have the Lions back in the playoffs again.  They haven’t made it since the early 90s, and are finally giving their fans something to cheer about.  So how would they fare?  They got out to a good start, when Matt Stafford tossed two touchdown passes to put the Lions up 14-7.  But, unless you get a whopping lead on the Saints, Drew Brees will make you pay because he can put up points quick.  Thanks to a remarkable 466 yards, 3 touchdown game from Brees, along with a very competent running attack led by Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, and Chris Ivory, the Saints came storming back to take a huge lead on the Lions.  And after that, the Lions defense just gave out, and the Saints got the win.  Next up, the Saints head to San Francisco to take on the 49ers.

Then, on Sunday, it was the red-hot New York Giants hosting the Atlanta Falcons.  Many thought the Falcons wouldn’t play so well on the road and out of a dome, especially versus the vicious NY Giants pass rush.  Well… they were dead right.  The Falcons just couldn’t get their offense going, and failed to pick up a number of 4th and inches, which only gives the defense even more momentum.  The Falcons forced a safety early in the game, but those would be the only 2 points they scored all day.  In the second half, Eli Manning caught fire, tossing 2 more touchdowns, and finishing the day with 277 yards and 3 touchdowns.  The Falcons have a lot to work on this off-season (namely a more creative offense), and the Giants are headed to Green Bay for a rematch with the Packers.  NY Giants 24, Atlanta 2.

Finally, in the afternoon game, it was Tim Tebow and the miracle Broncos hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Could Tebow actually win a playoff game?  In the first half, Tebow shocked everyone hitting Eddie Royal on a beautiful touchdown pass and even rushing for a touchdown himself.  But, in the second half, you simply can’t count out the AFC Defending Champion Steelers.  Roethlisberger connected for some deep bombs and a beautiful game tying touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery.  And we were headed to overtime. But, in the playoffs, overtime works differently.  Both teams get a chance, UNLESS the first team that gets the ball scores a touchdown.  Denver got the ball, and on the very first play of overtime, Tim Tebow connected with Demaryius Thomas for a remarkable 80-yard touchdown pass.  It was purely a miracle.  And with that, the Broncos won their home playoff game and will hope for ANOTHER miracle as they head to New England next week to take on the Patriots.  Denver 29, Pittsburgh 23.

BASEBALL

Everybody knows that Albert Pujols agreed to sign with the Los Angeles Angels for, essentially, the rest of his career, but the deal hadn’t finalized.  One of the key reasons was because all of the perks of the deal needed to be ironed out.  The contract is worth $240 Million over the next 10  years, with the dollar amount increasing with the years to provide incentives to stay healthy and keep trying.  But there are some serious perks that go along with this deal.  First off, Pujols must have a deluxe hotel suite for all road games.  Second, he will receive 4 season ticket packages over the next 10 years for friends and family.  He will also have a box for 10 games to host members of his foundation, and he will also have the right to actually purchase his own box between 1st and 3rd base.  It’s all part of a package from a team that knows Pujols’ skills and marketable value.  The Angels will be a very lucrative team going forward.

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In the NFL, since there have been some coaching firings in the past 2 weeks, the number 1 contender for open spots is former long-time Titans coach Jeff Fisher.  Fisher kept the Titans competitive throughout the past decade, including bringing them to the Super Bowl in 1999. Last season, he stepped down from the organization saying it was time move on.  Now, he has been visiting a few teams, including the Miami Dolphins and now the St. Louis Rams.  Many think that he will decide between these two teams and possibly the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who are in dire need of a serious turn around).  The major benefit of the Rams, however, is they have a stable franchise quarterback in Sam Bradford, and will also have the #2 overall pick in the draft, which the Rams could use to improve their defense.  Plus, the Rams were really banged up all season, and are most likely set for a comeback year next year (similar to the 49ers this season).  Plus, the Rams would allow Fisher to hire his own General Manager so he can work efficiently.  No decision yet, but he will most likely decide soon.

Finally, in college football, this is the time when players must declare for the NFL Draft.  However, two standouts this year have decieded it would be more beneficial to stay in school.  First, Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Landry Jones.  Remember, the NFL is a business, and as of now, Jones would most likely not be selected in the first round with top quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III on the board.  Plus, Jones had an above average, but not amazing season at Oklahoma, and he would benefit from a BCS Bowl Appearance next year.  Second, Wisconsin running-back Montee Ball.  Ball was a Heisman Candidate this year, but thinks staying at Wisconsin would help him get better and most likely make him a featured, talked-about running-back next season.  This year, people knew about him, but next year they will talk about him a lot, thus increasing his draft status.  We’ll see who else decides to stay or go in the coming 2 weeks.

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In the NFL, the New York Jets, after two years of making it to the conference championship game, failed to make the playoffs this year.  Every season, Jets head coach Rex Ryan walks up to the media microphones and utters that the Jets will win the Super Bowl this year.  Well, this time he was dead wrong.  So now everyone is asking, “What happened?”.  There was some public stirrings between Jets receiver Santonio Holmes and quarterback Mark Sanchez.  Holmes doesn’t think highly of Sanchez, and has also been criticized lately for not trying hard enough.  Terry Bradshaw has said that the Jets should just cut Holmes so they can get back on track as a team.  Probably a good idea.  But another problem was made public by Jets back-up QB Greg McElroy (the former standout quarterback at Alabama).  McElroy ripped the Jets locker room, saying that many players didn’t care whether they won or lost the game, but rather just about their personal performance.  And that kind of attitude won’t transfer to Super Bowl wins.

In college football, it was the Orange Bowl, probably the least anticipated of this year’s BCS Bowls, between the Clemson Tigers and the West Virginia Mountaineers.  Clemson was favored coming into the game, especially since they laid a beat down on Virginia Tech to win the ACC Championship.  But that was a month ago, and Clemson has been a team that plays well when nobody believes in them, and terribly when people do and expect them to win.  That’s why, it wasn’t really too much of a shocker when West Virginia came into the game and absolutely crushed them.  The Mountaineers were playing solid defense, stopping a typically explosive Clemson offensive attack, and they were able to score touchdown after touchdown.  They were just dancing all over Clemson out there, even returning a goal line fumble for a 99 yard touchdown.  Going into the half, the Mountaineers led 49-20.  They wouldn’t look back from there, as even their reserves played solidly in the second half, tacking on even more points.  Clearly, new head coach Dana Holgorsen knows what he’s doing. West Virginia 70, Clemson 33.

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And in college basketball, Duke has surged back to the top of the standings, now sitting pretty in the #3 spot.  But they weren’t prepared for a Temple team that is on fire themselves.  Temple jumped out to a big lead behind their star player Khalif Wyatt.  But, Duke, as is expected, would come surging back behind a solid 16-point night from forward Mason Plumlee.  He got them within 4 points with 5 minutes left, which should have been enough time for Duke to scare the Owls and win in the end.  However, Temple wouldn’t quit, and held onto their lead down the stretch to upset the #3 seed Duke.  Watch out for the Owls come March — they could really bust some brackets.  Temple 78, Duke 73.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, all the Wild Card Playoff match-ups are set.  On Saturday, we’ll see the Cincinnati Bengals, hot at the right time, head into Houston to take on a banged up Texans team.  Then, in Saturday prime-time, it’ll be an offensive explosion between the New Orleans Saints and a strange newcomer to the post-season — the Detroit Lions.  Sure, we knew they were getting better, but to see the Lions in the playoffs just FEELS good.  And, on Sunday, the day kicks off as the Atlanta Flacons, a team that is actually starting to look a lot better than they did in the beginning of the year, head in to take on the NY Giants, a team that is quite shaky, but coming off a solid win against the Cowboys IN Dallas.  Finally, to wrap up Wild Card weekend, it’s Tebow-mania, as the Broncos will host the Steelers.  The Broncos have been horrible in their last few games, and they’ll need a healthy dosage of that Tebow magic if they want to beat the Steelers.  Then again, the Steelers will be without running-back Rashard Mendenhall for the post-season, so maybe Denver can force them to pass and actually have a shot at winning.  It’s going to be a great post-season.

In other NFL news, even though the Eagles did everything in their power to prepare for a Super Bowl victory this off-season, it simply didn’t work out.   They even brought in Vince Young from the Titans as a serviceable back-up to Michael Vick, and Young declared the Eagles “A Dream Team”.  In a league as tough as the NFL, it’s not necessarily a good thing to put that big a target on your back from the very beginning.  The Eagles had a bad season, that had spurts of greatness down the home stretch, but just not enough drive to power into the playoffs.  Even though they were bad, the Eagles organization looks like they’re still keeping head coach Andy Reid in the driver’s seat for yet another year.  Reid may not get them to the Super Bowl often, but he is still a proven winner, as basically every year BUT this season, he has kept them competitive and in line for the playoffs.  This is probably a safe move, as the Eagles won’t have to learn an entirely new playbook in the off-season.  They’ll come back next season more cohesive and ready to win.

Finally, in other NFL coaching news, there was a lot of speculation that the Chargers were going to dismiss long-time head coach Norv Turner at the end of the season.  Turner had been successful with the Chargers through most of the latter part of this past decade, but in the last 2 seasons, they have been lackluster.  This year, especially, was unimpressive for San Diego.  However, yesterday, the organization announced that they were actually going to keep Turner at the helm.  This outraged fans wanted a serious change, but the owner said that when you have a marquee quarterback like Philip Rivers (who loves Norv Turner) you have to go with your gut and keep the nucleus in place.  That gives them the best chance to win.  Plus, changing coaches is a big deal in the NFL — it means not only a whole new playbook, but the entire chemistry of the organization changes. That’s hard for a team to adjust to.  And after all, there weren’t many coaches on the market better than Turner.  Why get rid of a proven, experienced winning coach like Turner in favor of some young defensive coordinator who may lead you astray for 2 years and cause you to regroup again.  The Chargers’ owner has faith in Turner, and hopefully that yields strong results for San Diego next season.

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An exciting finish to the Fiesta Bowl Monday night. Number three ranked Oklahoma State pulled out a huge win in overtime over number four Stanford. It all came down to field goals. Stanford’s likely first round pick in the NFL, QB Andrew Luck had a solid game, but unfortunately their kicker Jordan Williamson missed two field goals (one in regulation and one in overtime) which would have given Stanford the win.  OSU’s Jordan Sharp’s ended up pulling out the victory with a 22 yarder to win this nail biter of a Fiesta Bowl. OSU 41, Stanford 38.

Jim Irsay, the Indianapolis Colts owner, surprised everyone (particularly Peyton Manning) when he fired general manager Chris Polian and vice chairman Bill Polian. Irsay did hint that big changes were on the way, but Colts fans are now wondering what that means for the future of Peyton Manning. Manning sat out the season with a neck injury but has said he’s planning on coming back. The Colts, due to their miserable season, now have the first pick in the NFL draft which will likely go to superstar Stanford QB Andrew Luck. Luck is going to want to play (and not sit on the bench) so what does that mean for Manning’s future? It will be interesting to see how this all plays out

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On Wednesday, University of Texas Quarterback, David Ash, had an historic day as he became one of only three other QB’s to catch a TD pass in the Holiday Bowl. Hall of Famer, Steve Young was one of the others when he was QB at BYU. UT beat Cal  21-10.

Mark Asper, Guard for Oregon, performed the Heimlich maneuver on a choking man at Lawry’s Steak House in Beverly Hills in the traditional Beef Bowl. The Beef Bowl is a where the two teams playing in the Rose Bowl on January 2nd get treated to a pre-game meal. Oregon will take on Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl January 2nd.

Mark Asper

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The San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots scored in Pro Bowl selections Wednesday night. They each have eight players selected for the 2012 roster.  The Pro Bowl will be played on January 29th at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. Yes, it’s the 29th, which means it’s the weekend before the Super Bowl. So, if, for instance, Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady (both selected for the Pro Bowl and both on Teams (Packers and Patriots respectively) that could compete in the Super Bowl, they will not be going.

Here are the other Quarterbacks invited to participate: For the rest of the lineup, click here:

AFC QB: Tom Brady (starter), Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh), Phillip Rivers (San Diego). And, if someone has to drop out, Tebow is in in.

NFC QB: Aaron Rodgers (starter), Green Bay, Drew Brees (New Orleans), Eli Manning (N.Y. Giants)

And speaking of Pro-Bowlers, Jason Taylor the 6th time Pro Bowler for the Miami Dolphins will be retiring after a 14 year career with the Dolphins. At 38 years old, Taylor’s body is probably just getting too old for the wear and tear of the game. With that said, even though he didn’t start ever game for the Dolphins this year, he still managed to put up big numbers with seven sacks this season. Taylor will certainly be missed by Dolphin fans for his impact on the game (only defensive lineman to score nine touchdowns in his career).

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In the Monday night matchup, not only did the New Orleans Saints clinch the NFC South with their blowout win over the Atlanta Falcons, but Saints QB, Drew Brees broke the NFL record for yards passing in a season. The record of 5, 084 yards was previously held by Hall of Famer Dan Marino.  Watch this final play with Brees’ 9 yard touchdown pass to Darren Sproles to put the new record at 5, 087. Congratulations to a great QB and a classy guy. His speech in the locker room after the game really says it all.  Saints 45, Falcons 16.

With a big win over the Chicago Bears Sunday night, the Green Bay Packers secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and Chicago is eliminated. Aaron Rodgers passed for a career high five touchdowns for a 35-21 win.

It was a New York showdown for the Jets vs Giants on Saturday. With only one touchdown, two interceptions and five sacks (one of which led to a safety which sealed the Jets loss), QB Mark Sanchez had a terrible day. Now the press is talking about whether or not Rex Ryan and the Jets will keep him as their franchise QB. To add insult to injury, the Giants have now won 5 straight games against the Jets. Giants 29, Jets 14.

Tune in next Sunday night for the winner take all game where the Cowboys face off against the  Giants for the NFC East title.

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The NBA season officially started Sunday with big wins from the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, and Oklahoma City Thunder. NBA Commissioner David Stern travelled to Dallas for the Heat vs Mavericks game and was booed as soon as he started speaking before the game. Once he congratulated the Mavs owner Mark Cuban on his team’s championship last year, the boos turned to cheers and basketball is now officially off and running with a shortened 66 game season.