The People's Champ

Clemens Indicted for Lying to Congress

2010-08-19T14:41:00.000-04:00

Former Major league Star Roger Clemens is being indicted for being an ass. Actually he's just an ass for being an ass but is being indicted for lying to Congress about his use of Performance Enhancing Drugs.
I'm glad the federal judicial system has nothing else to do these days. It's not like the taxpayers could use that cash elsewhere.

The Boss No More

2010-07-13T10:00:00.000-04:00

Major Sports Media outlets are reporting Yankee Owner, George Steinbrenner has passed away at the age of 80.

The Worst "Decision" in Sports History

2010-07-11T00:29:00.001-04:00

I have taken the last 48 hours or so to reflect, understand and contemplate a chain reaction of events that started around 9:30 EST as Lebron made his infamous "Decision" in the most fabricated, narcissistic display we have ever witnessed on the ever deteriorating stage of sports heroes.
To place things in context I am a lifelong Boston Celtics fans, first drawn to the team by the hustle of Havlicek and Cowens, the coolness of Jo Jo White and was lifted to Basketball Euphoria when Larry Legend donned the Shamrock. The "Decision" affected me as a sports fan, not as a Cleveland Cavalier or New York Knick or any other type of fan. It's why the "Decision" was so awful. It pissed of people who weren't fans of any of the teams involved.
I was driving to Upstate NY with my wife, 2 year old daughter and my yet to be disillusioned 8 year old boy- a die hard sports nut, all 54 pounds of him . We were listening to all the hoopla, the commentary, the experts assessments on the Pre Decision shows and everyone was saying he was going to Miami. We knew it, however we were hoping he would go to the Knicks. I was hoping for my kids sake, that he would get to watch this conquering hero, the Knicks version of Mark Messier, the man that would reclaim the greatness of the City's Game to the most famous sports arena. I was also still thinking how in the world is this guy going to devastate his hometown like this on national TV.
You see, as a sports fan I want to see greatness. real Greatness. Not Kobe's 6-24 MVP trophy contrived greatness. Not Peyton Manning's Super Bowl MVP greatness. Not Bonds steroid induced greatness. Real Greatness. I'm talking Tiger at Pebble. Montana and his Super Bowl Perfection. Jeter. Larry Legend and Magic. Messier coming to NY and at his press conference saying he is coming here for one reason. To win a Cup. Anything short and it's a failure. Gretzky. And the greatest Basketball Player ever, Jordan.
Ever since watching Lebron in his first high school game live from Akron on ESPN, we were all convinced we were seeing Jordan 2.0 just like Jordan was Dr. J 2.0. We thought we were watching the NBA's next version of greatness. We watched his in his rookie year and he didn't disappoint. He continued to display his immeasurable and incomparable talents winning his MVP's taking an over matched Cavs team to the NBA Finals and 60 wins in consecutive seasons (you want to see how great Lebron is, watch the Cavs next year win 25 games with that roster). We were convinced he was the Next One. Except he wasn't. He didn't have Jordan's fire. He was more concerned about his "Brand" than his "Legacy". He liked to be the King except he didnt do anything yet to be the King. Imagine where the Yankees would be right now if Jeter thought that way?
As a sports decision, I don't like the move to Miami because it shows us that Lebron isn't cut out to be Jordan or Kobe. As a basketball fan, nothing would have been better than Lebron coming to NY. The leagues best player coming to the leagues best biggest stage to recapture the buzz. The Garden is the most electrifying arena in the world and having James play there with a championship contender would bring back the buzz we heard when Ewing and Oakley were leading the charges and when there was a real King winning scoring titles in NY. No, we would have none of that.
What we also saw was the most classless move ever done by an athlete, especially someone on the level as Lebron. What was the purpose of the show? To show the world what a class A jerk he was? And how can a born and bred Cleveland guy, with all their history, do that to the Cleveland faithful? How could he stab the back of his hometown franchise, embarrassing them on national TV like that.
I don't blame Lebron for leaving Cleveland. Truth is, we saw what Gilbert the Cleveland owner is truly like. (before that letter, Cleveland couldn't get anyone to go there, now it will be impossible). Who would want to play for a guy like that? yes, i loved his letter but not because it was the right thing to do, but because of its pure entertainment value. The fact is, Lebron made this guy 10's of millions of dollars and he should have acted a little more classy than that. although you cant really blame the guy, especially after seeing how much he bent over backwards for Lebron while he was in Cleveland. Still, he just made Cleveland an even worse play to consider after his rant.
Lebron wants to win and deserves that right. He gave Cleveland 7 great years. Turned their franchise around from nothing to NBA elite. They weren't going to win with that squad and had no salary maneuverability to get Lebron someone legit to play with. However, he could have done it so differently. He could have held a normal press conference and thank the Cleveland fans for 7 great years and how he will never forget them, ala Gretzky when he was traded to LA. He could have even used the Decision as a saying goodbye party for Cleveand. He didn't need to have this phony build up with his paid for announcer on the fake stage of a Boys and Girls Club to make him look good. It was all so contrived. He went from the worlds most famous and liked athlete to the worlds most hated athlete. He turned me from a life long card carrying member of the I hate Kobe Fan Club to a someone who cant wait to see Kobe tear him apart on the court.
I am not upset that he went with Wade and Bosh to Miami because I think it's bad for the game, it makes Miami like the Yankees, etc. (it says here that this experiment will not go that well, especially if they don't win right away and the 3 Kings start getting pissy that they sacrificed all this money to play together- somewhere on the $15M range). I'm upset because once again as a sports fan, we were let down. Once again as a father of a sports fan, I have to once again explain to my son why these guys are not special people, just very not special people with very special talent- and it's getting very tiring. The kid is only 8 and I've had to explain why Barry Bonds might go to jail, why Arod is apologizing for doing steroids, Tiger being Tiger and how Lebron decided to rip the hearts out his hometown on national TV for no apparent reason but to feed his giant ego. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of sports doing this to you when it's supposed to be captivating and inspiring. Supposed to give you chills and dream of the possibilities. Instead I have some more explaining to do.

TPC's Post Super Bowl Thoughts

2010-02-08T12:25:00.001-05:00

An amazing game all around. Exciting from start to finish, an all time great performance (Brees), gutsy coaching as well as some very questionable coaching. In the end, this game created or sealed a lot of history for many involved.

1. Drew Brees enters the discussion of All Time Great QB's. His regular season statistics have always been superb (including his 65% all time completion percentage) and he now has a Super Bowl MVP and a career 103.7 QB rating with 13 TD's and 2 INT's in 6 career playoff games. He has now solidified his spot in the current Top 3, along with Manning and Brady and being the youngest of the 3, he has the most upside. He's obviously still behind the Montana, Brady and Unitas class, but he should now feel very comfortable in any argument to be in the top 20.

2. Peyton Manning, for all his regular season greatness- and he is the greatest NFL QB of All Time IN THE REGULAR SEASON, has once again showed his chink of armor in the Postseason. Consider Brees' numbers above, here is Manning's all time Postseason marks: 9-9 87.6 QB rating (as opposed to 96 for the regular season) 28TD's and 19 INT's. His QB ratings in AFC Championships and Super Bowls are in order:
35.5, 79.1, 81.8, 123.6, and last nights 88.5. Hardly the stuff of legends. With all that said, with a Colt loss last night, provided Manning was able to get them in the end zone and tie the game at 24, the arguments could still be made. However, notwithstanding Wayne's huge drop, Manning threw the game breaking INT, that Montana or Brady would have never thrown. You know how we know that? Because given the same situation with both QB's in numerous occasions, they always came through. Always. Manning doesn't. And for that reason alone, he stays in the class (albeit a great class) with Favre, Marino, etc.

3. I dont remember two huge consecutive coaching blunders than what we saw at the end of the first half last night. First, the Saints trying to claw back into a game in which they were totally outplayed early on, on 3rd and 4th down, try to run the ball when you have Drew Brees and all those weapons along side him. You see it so many times where coaches get too cute and try to do something different than what got them to that point. this was a classic case in point. The Saints are a pass first offense with an incredible Field General in Brees. let him win the game for you (which they finally did). So, of course the Colts stop them, and now with Manning who to that point was flawless, had the ball with 2 minutes left in the half, a 10-3 lead, and a chance to bury the Saints- especially considering they were getting the ball back to start the second half. So what does Caldwell do? He freakin runs it 3 times and gives the Saints back the ball. Brees drives them down the field, they get the field goal, erase the memory of the failed goal line attempts and gives Payton a reason to go for the onside kick. You have to let Manning bury the Saints there. You have to. Forgetting what happened at the end of the game, you have to assume Manning will at worst case, move the ball a little and get you better field position. Instead, they went 3 and out and gave the Saints back the ball at midfield.

4. Great job by the Saints kicker, Hartley. We all saw in the playoffs how costly missing field goals are, both in terms of not getting the 3 points and giving the other team great field position. All Hartley did was knock down 3 over 40+ yard jobs which has never been done before in the Super Bowl. On the contrary, up 17-16 the Colts try a 51 yarder, which missed and gave the Saints the ball back at the 41. Brees led them down the field for the score and the rest is history.

5. Back to Brees. Here is a guy who was one of the top QB's in the AFC for a few years, was getting run out of San Diego by their QB of the future in Rivers, on the last day before he becomes a Free Agent tears apart his throwing shoulder, possibly ending his career. Two teams show interest. The Dolphins and Saints. Miami passes, the Saints take him. Katrina happens. Brees gets down and dirty helping both physically and emotionally in the rebuilding of the city, the city embraces him, and now he delivers what may have been the best game ever played by an NFL QB (only Simms SB win could compare, but Simms had a much better running game to lean on). Great stuff for a truly good guy.

McGwire comes clean, admits steroids use

2010-01-11T16:03:00.002-05:00

Too little too late? If Big Mac went this route a few years ago he might be in the Hall of Fame today. Instead he just looks like some guy who had to fess up to the Principal because he doesn't want to miss recess.

McGwire comes clean, admits steroids use

Posted using ShareThis

Yankees Acquire Javier Vazquez

2009-12-22T10:18:00.002-05:00

The New York Yankees have acquired Javier Vazquez from the Atlanta Braves for Melky Cabrera and Mike Dunn, sources told ESPN The Magazine senior writer Buster Olney.

In addition, the Braves are sending right-hander Boone Logan to the Yankees, sources said.
Vazquez, with a 15-10 record, ranked second in the major leagues last season with 238 strikeouts and sixth in ERA at 2.87. This is his second time around with the Yankees, having pitched in New York in 2004, when he went 14-10 with a 4.91 ERA.

You gotta wonder what the heck is Omar Minaya doing on the other side of town..........

27 Thoughts on #27

2009-11-05T10:30:00.004-05:00

1. TPC said it was inevitable and it was. When you have better starting pitching and a better bullpen, you usually win. The Yanks did just that.

2. Arod is officially forgiven and all those naysayers have nothing left to say as he performed unbelievably in the postseason (setting many Yankee records) and is now a "True Yankee" by all accounts.

3. The Captain earns his 5th ring by hitting .407 . He All Time leading postseason hit total is now at 175 and before it's all said and done, that record might be as untouchable as Cy Young's 511 Wins.

4. Pettitte pitched a great game despite being squeezed by the blind umps. He won his 18th (ML career leader) postseason game and record 6th Series clinching game. He might have just punched his ticket to Cooperstown with this latest run.

5. I love the rivalry and I love the theatrics with Pedro, but in some ways it was sad to watch one of the greatest of all time, have nothing in that type of spot. It reminded me of Ali vs. Holmes or Holmes vs. Tyson. The once great Heavyweight getting knocked around as a shell of his former self.

6. Matsui had the single greatest World Series clinching game since R-E-G-G-I-E. Great stuff.

7. With that being said, you can't give the MVP to someone who only started 3 of the 6 games. Seems a little ridiculous to me, no matter how great Matsui did play.

8. For my money, I would have split the MVP. Pettitte and Matsui. Or Pettitte and Arod. Pettitte won 2 games, maybe the two most crucial games and should have garnered consideration.

9. Damon had a great Series and continues to show what a great big game player he is. Remember, he was one of the main reasons the Red Sox came back on the Yankees in 2004.

10. What more can be said about Rivera? The guys greatness knows no bounds. He puts such pressure on the other team to be ahead after 7 it's amazing. Even Jeter said "Everybody" knew it was over when Mo came in the 8th with a 4 run lead. What he has done on the biggest stage might be the most remarkable thing about this whole run. He has defied everything and we take his greatness for such granted.

11. C.C. was the horse we expected which means a lot considering everything that comes along with all that cash. Just a big guy for the big game.

12. Why didn't Ryan Howard play in the Series?

13. A year ago this time Brad Lidge was being compared to Mo and Cole Hamels was the next Josh Beckett. What a difference a year makes.

14. Jeter has more rings (5) than The Babe (5).

15. The Yankees opened the old Stadium with a Series victory in 1923 and did likewise in 2009. Should be the start of a great run.

16. For all the hits Girardi took (some rightfully so) he did a few things that should be absolutely commended for. He had the guts to move Jeter up to leadoff and Damon down to #2. They both had superb seasons and thrived in their new roles. He did a great job of managing the bullpen during the regular season, not overworking anyone. He stuck to his guns with the 3 man rotation and it paid off.

17. How does Manuel leave Pedro in to face Matsui the second time around? Pedro had nothing. He had no fastball and Matsui was all over him the last at bat. Season on the line, Manuel had to go to Happ a lot quicker there. Just a bad job.

18. For as horrible as Cano was this postseason his bat was coming around the last two games. Should be in midseason form for the Winter Games.

19. For as good and clutch as Posada seemed at the plate, he was just as awful behind the plate. He called a shaky game every time out- was constantly being shaken off by the pitchers, any pitch that wasn't close seemed to turn into a passed ball and Jason Giambi probably could have stolen at will on him.

20. Home A.J. is a lot different than Road A.J. Pettitte really bailed out Girardi last night. Burnett on normal rest at home would have been a lot more effective than Road A.J. on 3 days rest.

21. Texiera had a rough time at the plate all postseason but his few hits were big and his defense was stellar, proving 1B is a very important position, and not one where "just anyone" can play it.

22. I would have loved to have seen Arod at the plate in Game 5 with a chance to win. Amazing what a difference a year makes. This time last year Yankee fans were praying Arod got no where near the plate with the game on the line.

23. I thought Joba had some electric stuff and he probably worked his way back to being the 8th inning guy next year with Hughes going into the rotation.

24. What a remarkable turnaround for Marte. He went from being a punching bag to a huge weapon against those Philly lefties. Great move by Joe for sticking with him.

25. Robertson showed a lot of guts and I would have no issue with him and Aceves working the 7th and 8th next year if both Joba and Hughes go to the rotation.

26. This would have been a lot easier with a healthy Chin-Min Wang.

27. Parade down the Canyon of Heroes this Friday. Party NY style!

TPC Explains Why #27 is Inevitable

2009-11-03T09:53:00.003-05:00

Despite AJ Burnett getting beaten while showing Steve Phillips type control in a room full of Lewinsky look a likes, despite Texiera evoking memories of Vintage Postseason Arod 2005-2007 and despite a lineup in Game 5 that featured 3 hitters (Jeter, Damon and Arod), the Yankees are still in complete and utter control of this seasons fall classic.
Here's TPC's take and why Yankee fans should get the Budweiser ready (I hate Champagne. For starters it's French. Secondly, it tastes like cheap Beer and Third, it's French.).

1- Going into the Series, we knew the Yankees had two clear cut and distinct advantages. a) They would have a huge edge in starting pitch in at least 5 of the 7 games. That has not changed. Pettitte and Sabathia are distinctively better than Pedro and whoever has the guts to take the ball from Manuel in Game 7 (gotta love Lee copping out and not going Game 4 and & and Hamels hoping the season ends already. It's Ph-aaan-tastik!!! Philly style). b) They have a big edge in the bullpen (which is magnified by their starting pitching edge) especially with Rivera at the end. Games 4 and 5 showed us exactly how big that edge is. Lidge blew Game 4 despite having 2 outs and no one out in the 9th, and Madsen all but gave away last nights game except Jeter and Tex decided to be nice and cho--and make big outs late.
The Phillies will not be able to breath easy, no matter the score until the final out has been made, while the Yankees know if they have a lead going into the 8th, it's game, set and match. That edge has mentally worn down the Twins and Angels and will continue with the Phillies, especially after last nights near implosion by the Philly pen.

2- The lineup changes the Yankees make in their home park is a decided advantage for them. Just look at last nights lineup with Swisher, Cano, Gardner, Molina and the Pitcher now being replaced by Matsui, Posada, Cano, Swisher and Gardner. Your going from a borderline Triple A end of the lineup to one that has some real pop. The length of the lineup will cause Pedro- even if he has his good stuff- to max out at 6 innings and that will lead to the parade of clowns we saw yesterday. Pettitte is used to throwing against the extra hitter and despite his big hit in Game 3, he will gladly take a seat for Godzilla's stick in this one.

3- Manuel made a very curious decision last night leaving in Lee to start the 8th. Lee was not his usual sharp self all game, walking 3 to that point and going deep in counts all night. He was already at 100 pitches and Manuel knows he's going to need him in relief if there is a Game 7. Knowing he has no confidence in his bullpen, Manuel left Lee in too long. It did a few things that I think sealed the Phillies faith. a) It showed the utter lack of trust Manuel has in his pen which is going to kill him the next two games when he will need to go to that same pen early and often. b) It gave the Yankees confidence that no matter what the score they can and will come back on the Phillies. c) if they do face Lee in Game 7, the armour has been pierced. The Yanks know they can get to him. Plus, Lee will be thinking a little differently now that he gave up those 3 late runs. He might also be a tad more tired which is the most curious of all reasons why Manuel left him in.

4- This Yankee team is much different than the 2004-2008 versions. It used to be the Yanks would go down a few runs and it was over. This year it's different. Anyone who has watched these Yankees knows they feel they should win every game, and no lead is safe. It's why the Yankees leading the league with 51 come from behind wins was no accident. It's the result of a good bullpen keeping them in games, a deep lineup which allows them to get to the other teams middle relief and the confidence that they can and will win when down late no matter who they are facing.

5 -Redemption for Pettitte. The last time Pettitte had a chance to close out a World Series for the Yankees he got shelled in Game 6 of the 2001 Series against Arizona and Randy Johnson. Pettitte has been a fighter all his career and will gut his way out to this win. He will beat Pedro and will pitch well in doing so.

27 for 27

2009-11-02T09:55:00.004-05:00

One more win is all the Yankees need to make #27 a reality. 27 more outs for Jeter, Posada, Pettitte and Mo to win one for the thumb and for Arod, C.C. and co. to win their first.
Tonight, Burnett goes for the clincher against this seasons best postseason pitcher in Cliff Lee. Burnett will be going on 3 days rest while Lee is going on his usual 4, but facing a 3-1 deficit and the burden of lengthening the season squarely on his shoulders.
It seems interesting that just a few short days ago, Girardi was getting run out of town for his "over managing" and for his curious decisions (including here). Now? Well, Girardi has done a masterful job this World Series. His bullpen managing, his lineup maneuvers (although letting CC to hit in the top of the 7th was a very curious decision), even his critically acclaimed pinch running moves have worked out. He has out managed Manuel and now has a chance to change his number to 28 next season.
Can a player who has only 2 hits through 4 games be considered an MVP candidate? Yes, when your first hit is a 2 run HR in Game 3 with the series tied at 1, down 3-0 when your team is looking listless at the plate and when your second hit is a 2 out top of the 9th run scoring double that breaks a 4-4 tie and gives your team a commanding 3 games to 1 lead. Arod has done the unthinkable. It used to be he was a collector of stats and only failed when it counted. This Series he has only done something when it counts MOST. Amazing turnaround from Arod.

Damon would also be in consideration with his clutch hitting and great baserunning, except if he played even average in Left Field, C.C. would have given up only 1 run through 7 and not have to labor nearly as much. He misjudged and misplayed Victorino's bloop which led to the first Philly run and should have caught Feliz RBI single in the 4th or at least thrown out Howard at the plate. I love Damon's stick especially in bug games, but they can only re-sign him as a DH next season. With that being said his taking 3rd on that steal made Lidge throw the fastball that hot Tex inside instead of going to his slider, which was nasty last night. Ledge didn't want to bounce one and it allowed Tex to reach base and allowed Arod to drill one down the line.
Posada's catching abilities, both calling the game and throwing out runners has severely declined over the last two years (yesterday's game really proving this out) but he is as clutch as they come. Not sure where he will play next season, but looks like he might be a part time catcher- more time DH.
2nd game in a row CC didn't have his good stuff and 2nd game in a row he went 6+ and gave the Yankees a chance to win. It's why he's the Horse and the Ace and why the Yankees are in this position.
All MVP talk will be put to bed tonight if AJ throws anything similar to the way he pitched in Game 2 and the Yankees wrap it up in 5.
It's really nice having Mariano to close things out. Showed again yesterday. Lidge dominated Matsui and Jeter, 2 outs two strikes to Damon and he couldn't close the door. It's why the Sandman is arguably the most important player on the Yankees for the last 15 years.
Maybe you didn't notice but Jeter is hitting .412 for the Series. True greatness.
Pettitte pitched a really gutsy game in Game 3. Early on, we were seeing shades of Game 6 vs, Arizona in 2001 (Yanks led 3 games to 2 when Pettitte gave up 6 runs in two innings losing Game 6 and eventually the Series). Somehow Andy got it together and pitched 4 solid innings after that and delivered a huge hit to tie the game. Amazingly, the Yankees almost didn't sign this guy this past offseason. Needless to say, he earned everything they gave him.
I thought the home plate umpire was horrible last night, incredibly inconsistent with his strike zone and is also why CC struggled early and Blanton didn't. Seemed to me Blanton was getting the calls that CC wasn't.
That Ryan Howard is really scary huh? Scary as Arod circa 2006 postseason that is.

Marte has been huge for the Yanks this postseason and has finally made that trade from last seasons trade deadline pay off. Remember, Marte was supposed to be the bridge to Mariano but injuries and then ineffectiveness stopped that. He is now showing why he was once considered the toughest pitcher in the league against lefthanded batters.

TPC's Game One Thoughts

2009-10-29T10:40:00.003-04:00

Two words describe what happened to the Yankees in Game 1. Cliff Lee. Lee threw a brilliant and as dominant a performance as we have ever seen pitched in a World Series game. It was the first time EVER that a pitcher had a complete game with 10 Strikeouts, O walks and 0 Earned Runs in a World Series. Just dominant stuff that Lee threw at the Yankees last night. However, going into the Series we knew the only reliable starter the Phillies had was Lee, so nothing really has changed except the affirmation of what we all knew. The Phillies had to have that Game and Lee delivered.

CC pitched a very good game, albeit without his best stuff. he gave up 2 ER in 7 innings a usual formula for Victory behind the great Yankee offense. He made two mistakes to Utley which was all Lee needed. Sabathia should be good to go for Game 4, as it looks like he will be needed.
Lee will obviously not pitch game 4 as Manuel left him in the game in the 9th with a 6 run lead and Lee finished with 120+ pitches thrown. Manuel isn't a big favorite of pitchers on short rest, so he let Lee finish what he started.

Utley had a monster game, his real coming out party for his postseason career, which date hasn't been anything to write home about. Last night will end that. He blasted two shots off Sabathia, making both mistake pitches dearly paid for. Keep in mind those were the first two HR's given up by Sabathia to a lefty at the Stadium this year. Good stuff by Utley.

Girardi has a huge issue now in the 8th inning as Hughes has now proven he cant be trusted. We were told his "mechanical" problems were fixed after the Minnesota Series and we were told the same after the ALCS. We were lied to. He has huge issues as his control and stuff are not nearly what they were in the regular season. We have to hope he's not hiding some type of injury. Hughes is having a postseason meltdown along the lines of Byung-Hyun Kim and Armando Benitez. Girardi has to go elsewhere- either Joba or Robertson at this point as Hughes can not be trusted.

Derek Jeter continues to Amaze. On a night when Lee was as dominant as anyone we have seen, Jeter rolled out a 3-4 and continues to show why October Baseball was made for him. It's uncanny his ability to step up in the game games.

Arod and Tex went a combined 0-8 with 5 strikeouts. If the Yankees have any thoughts on #27, this obviously needs to change tonight.

Marte has been a pleasant surprise in the postseason. He will be needed with all those lefties in the Philly lineup. Girardi's confidence in him has to be growing with each performance.

World Series 2009- TPC's Take

2009-10-27T16:33:00.004-04:00

Elvis impersonators, Casinos and bachelor parties belong in Vegas. Surfers, freaks and Movie Stars belong in Hollywood, the World Series has come back to where it belongs, the friendly confines of Yankee Stadium in 'da Bronx, NY.
Yankee Stadium will host Game 1 tomorrow night featuring the AL's best, Bronx Bombers and the NL's best (for two years running) the Philadelphia Phillies in a very intriguing matchup with numerous subplots, which The People's Champ will breakdown right here-right now!

Who will be A Team for the Ages

The 2009 version of the Yankees have drawn comparisons to the Great 1998 Yankee squad, which many consider the greatest Yankee Team of all Time. This years version features what may be the greatest offensive infield ever to play the game at one time, with the AL's HR and RBI leader, Mark Texiera playing 1B, Robinson Cano and his .320+ average, 25HR's and 204 hits at 2B, Derek Jeter in one of his finest seasons hitting .334 and 214 Hits (Jeter and Cano became the first middle infield combo in MLB history to both amass 200+ hits in a season) and the Great Offensive force in Baseball, Alex Rodriguez at 3b (30HR and 100RBI in only 124 games after his preseason hip surgery). They have a borderline Hall of Fame Catcher in Posada, a productive OF in Swisher, Damon and Melky. Their starting pitching, although lacking in depth, features CC Sabathia, who will finish at worst, top 3 in this years CY Young Voting and was the ALCS MVP, AJ Burnett and the winning pitcher in postseason history, Andy Pettite. Despite his struggles to date in the postseason, Phil Hughes was as dominant a force as any out the bullpen this year and the Greatest of them All, Mariano Rivera is as dominant as ever (statistically speaking, Mo's best two seasons were his last which is incredible considering most closers lack of longevity).
The Yankees led the league with 103 wins. They led the league in HR's, Runs, On Base Percentage and were second on Batting Average. They were tied for third in the AL in ERA despite playing in the friendliest hitters park in the league and led the league in Strikeouts. They dispatched a good Twins team in 3, and beat an Angel team that has been a nemesis for them for years in 6. A win in this World Series would justify their offseason $400M shopping spree on Tex, Sabathia and Burnett (not to mention the already inflated payroll). It would also cement their place as one of the great Yankee squads of all time.

The Phillies? Well, all it will do for them is become the first NL team to win back to back World Series since the Big Red Machine in the mid 70's. While the Yankees were slugging their way through the AL, the Phillies were doing likewise to the NL, leading the circuit in HR's and Runs. A lineup featuring the games biggest slugger in Ryan Howard, all World 2B Chase Utley, former NL MVP and the only legitimate comparable to Jeter, in Jimmy Rollins at SS. They are clearly the most stacked team in the league and their postseason bludgeons of the Dodgers have not veered anyone off that opinion. While their pitching has been an issue (we'll get into that soon) and their bullpen is their biggest weak spot (despite the apparent re-emergence of Lidge being a dependable closer), the Phillies are as tough as Rocky Balboa (Philedelphia's best known athlete). They get hit, they get bruised but they keep coming back. A win here will cement their place in history and with a core in their primes, they could be the next great Baseball Dynasty.

Arod and Howard
Coming into this postseason, Arod was the most maligned star this side of Lindsey Lohan. We all knew about his failures to perform in the clutch. He was Mr. April thru September to Reggie and Derek's Mr. October (s). He was the guy managers would intentionally load the bases to face in big spots. He was the guy with all glitter and with no glory. But a funny thing happened on the way to 2009. He got divorced in a public mess. He was named as the only one of 104 MLB players that were supposedly anonymously tested for steroids (after of course proclaiming many times he never touched the stuff- most famously on 60 Minutes). He then went public in an interview supposedly in a tell all interview that many felt was staged and didnt tell all. He then missed the first month of the season and Spring Training with hip surgery. He then realized that maybe all this stuff has gotten the "I always need to be perfect" monkey off his back. It got him to relax. To enjoy the moment and to trust his teammates. He no longer cared that this was Jeter's town and he should be happy to be along for the ride. He started getting big hits. Big Home Runs. He played a flawless 3b all season. But all tjis would mean nothing if he couldn't carry it into October. Well, all Arod did in October was produce the most clutch and dominant offensive performance we have ever seen. He has 5 HR's so far, 3 of which tied games in the 7th, 8th and 11th innings of games. He has been walked 6 times in the last 3 games, including twice late in the game with 2 out and no one on, a situation so against the book but with Arod, it's the right move now- rewriting a new book. He looks possessed. You see his eyes and you know he's going to do damage. He has become Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Mark Messier and Tiger Woods all rolled up into one. It says here he will have a World Series for the ages- if Manuel decides to even pitch to him.

Howard had fared a little better than Arod through his run last year and has been as dominant as Arod this season, albeit without the huge clutch hit. Howard had a dominant NLCS with 2 HR and 8 RBI's in 5 games. He is already the games most feared HR hitter and a great World Series will fuse his place forever in baseball lore.
This years winner between the two titans will play along way as to who wears the ring.

When the Yankees let Buck Showalter go and brought in Joe Torre, the famous headline of "Clueless Joe" was printed on the front cover of the New York Daily News. Well, seems like the Daily News was about 14 years early. In what has been the running of theme of these playoffs, Girardi's managing- or rather mismanaging has finally cost them a game and has also gotten the Angels right back into this thing.

There was the micro managing of the bullpen in round one. The pulling of Pettite early in Game 3 and some other not-so-worthy moments that we glanced over because of Arod and Jeter's heroics, we didn't seem to care.
Game 2 in the ALCS saw Girardi pinch run for Nick Swisher in the 7TH Inning of a tie game, using Coke and Chamberlain for too short a period in a tie game that eventually could have burnt Girardi and then using another pinch runner in the 9th, to now having Guzman and Gardner protect Arod in the late stage of a tie game of an ALCS (which makes Arod's HR off Fuentes the other night that much more amazing. Plus, how does Fuentes throw a down the middle fastball there with those guys in the wait?).

Well, last night the Yankees Magic couldn't bail out Girardi's Knumbskullness (new word?).
I don't really have a problem with leaving Pettite in there for the 7th. He was pitching well and had not thrown too many pitches. You can't kill Girardi there. He brought in Joba and Marte when we was supposed to. Marte did the job, getting Figgins out with one pitch and a runner in scoring position to end the inning.
Here's where Girardi's micro managing, mismanaging, drunken stupor, whatever you want to call it started. It's a tie game. Late innings. Just coming off a 13 inning game two nights before. So of course, Joe removes Marte after ONE PITCH, to bring in ANOTHER LEFTY ( Coke) to pitch to ONE BATTER, and now, he is left without a single lefty in the pen in a tie game- late. Ummmm, why? What possible reason could there be to make that change?
Ok, so in the top of that inning Matsui leads off with a walk. He brings in Gardner to pinch run. No problem there. Stay out of the Double Play, score on a ball into the gap, first to third on a single, it's the right move. Posada is up, first pitch strike. 0-1. Pitcher throws over to first base a few times. And then Gardner tries to steal second on the IDEAL PITCHOUT count. So of course, Scocia, a real Manager, pitches out, nails Gardner easily and there goes the threat. Now keep in mind, John Sterling- probably the most clueless baseball announcer in history was saying this prior to the pitchout so how doesn't a Major League Manager know this? Inexcusable. Of course, Posada then goes deep and ties the game which potentially could have been a go ahead HR.
Now the inexplicable of inexplicabilities happens (another TPC addition to the Miriam Webster Dictionary). Bottom of the 11th, postseason star Dave Robertson (who also mind you led the majors in Strikouts per Nine Innings this season) was in the game cruising along, easily getting out the first two batters. Now remember, tie game, again, 11th inning. Yankees have only Gaudin and Aceves left in the pen. So, for no reason whatsoever, Girardi pulls Robertson (after a whopping 11 pitches) for Aceves, who has been very shaky in the postseason (he gave up the run in the 11th the other night when Arod bailed him out). First batter singles, next batter doubles, game over. Angels go crazy on the field, get a major pump of life back into their chests in their homefield and now it's a series again.
I have seen many bad managerial moves and second guesses. Torre had tons of questionable moves. But they were "questionable". These moves had no rhyme, reason or defense. Coaches can win Football games and basketball games. They can only lose Baseball games and Girardi just cost the Yankees big yesterday.

NFL 1st Quarter Report

2009-10-15T10:53:00.004-04:00

Here we are prior to Week 6, and The People's Champ- FINALLY- has something to say on the NFL. With respect to the millions of TPC's fans, without further pomp and circumstance, here we go......
Is there anything more surprising this year than Steve Smith- no, that Steve Smith- leading the NFL in receiving yards through Week5? Look at the other names on the list, in order- Wayne, Clark, Ward, Andre Johnson, Vince Jackson, and Randy Moss. How the heck is The Other Steve Smith doing it............
Eli Manning. He has slowly (and as TPC has been saying this for years) developed into a Top 5 NFL Quarterback- at worst, to this point. Going into this season, every single major NFL expert and Fantasy Football Guru, were saying how Manning would suffer greatly without Plaxico, and the Giants would only be able to win if Jacobs and Bradshaw went nuts. You know what, Eli is doing exactly what the Great Ones do. He is making players around him better. Smith, Manningham, Dixon, et al. The Giants have had a dominating passing attack and that falls squarely on the shoulders of Eli. His 2nd ranking NFL QB rating (Peyton is first) 0f 111.7 with 10 TD's and only 2 INT's is not a fluke. And he isn't doing it with Reggie Wayne or Randy Moss.
The second biggest surprise so far has been the job Josh McDaniels has done in Denver. It was only a short while ago that Denver fans (and all NFL fans for that matter) were calling for McDaniels head for dealing Cutler- a 25 year old franchise type QB- for a sub worthy Kyle Orton and a first round pick. For crying out loud, the Giants gave up a ton more than that for Eli- prior to him ever throwing an NFL pass. Well, Orton has proven to be a very good NFL QB in the right situation, McDaniels has built a surprisingly very solid defense in Denver (fewest points allowed and second to the Giants in yards allowed) and even Brandon Marshall is happy in the Mile High City. Looks like Denver made a great deal. Chicago is happy too. Cutler has performed admirably and the Bears are off to a very good 3-1 start. Looks like a deal which benefits both squads.
I love what Rex Ryan has done in NY. For anyone living in NY, living and breathing the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS, Ryan has given the J-E-T-S a personality and an edge that they haven't seen since Parcells was the coach. I love his brashness. I love his attacking defensive style and I love that he isn't afraid to let his Franchise Rookie QB make plays. On that note, Sanchez has proven to be the QB the J-E-T-S and their fans hoped he would be and the NY football scene has a very good QB situation, seemingly for a long time to come (although it wasn't that long ago that a young Chad Pennington was talk of the town and being compared to Montana and Brady, so let's just relax a little on Sanchez for now. These are the J-E-T-S, remember).
For all the annoyance that has become of Brett Farve, he has given the Vikings a legitimate shot at a Super Bowl title. His miracle play against the 'Niners was one for the ages, a play only Farve can make (interesting side note. While watching the game with my 7 year old son, prior to the last drive I told my son the game was over. he said "Daddy, but the Vikings have Brett Farve" and I explained he is no longer THAT Brett Farve. Well, a few plays later, I told my son "you know what, your right. he is Brett Farve"). While Farve might cost them at times, he can single handedly win games like that and gives the team a huge confidence factor in that huddle. Don't forget, the Jets were 8-3 last year and had people talking Super Bowl after the win against Tennessee, prior to his injury. He has the leagues best running back, a good defense and a game changer in Percy Harvin. I think they are the second best team in the NFC behind the Giants.
As long as Peyton Manning is playing at these levels, the Colts are always a force. Yes, their defense has holes. Yes, the running game is so-so. But Peyton is the great equalizer. Watching him play is truly a privilege. The guy gets better every year and to this point, the only better QB's I have ever seen play are Montana and Brady and even that is very arguable at this point.<
I don't remember a season where such a vast amount of horrible teams existed at one point. The Oakland Raiders might be the worst sports team I have ever seen and JaMarcus Russel is clearly the worst NFL QB I have ever seen. Their coach is facing possible criminal charges- for attacking his assistant coach!- and their prized Franchise RB (McFadden) cant stay on the field.
The Rams (although now with Bulger back they should go from Putrid to just very bad), the Chiefs, the Lions (both these teams at least seem to be heading in the right direction with young talent), the Bucs, Redskins, Browns (only win against the Bills), and the Bills (lost to a team that's starting QB went 2 for 17). It's really the first time I remember such horrid teams in the National Football League, where any given Sunday and Team can win. Well, not anymore. These teams cant beat good teams. They cant even beat average teams.
I like what the Saints and Bengals have done with their defense this year, but markedly improved from prior seasons, but I'm not 100% sold on either. I like Brees a lot, but I'm not putting him anywhere near Brady-Manning status because he has gaudy numbers in a great system. Let's see some long term success before you compare him to two of the Greatest Ever.

Goodbye Captain Lou

2009-10-14T15:05:00.004-04:00

Captain Lou Albano, one of The People's Champs all time favorite wrestling personalities died today at the age of 76. Albano managed some of the most famous Tag Teams of All Time including, Teh Wild Samoans, The Moon Dogs and Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito. He also managed such revered personalities as Don Muraco, George "The Animal" Steele and "The Superfly" Jimmy Snuka.
Captain Lou will be missed.

The People's Champ would like to also say, he is back and will posting NFL and MLB news very soon. Stay tuned.......

The King is Dead- A Sad Day in America

2009-06-26T10:50:00.004-04:00

America, a country built on fundamentals such as "all men are created equal" (albeit not woman or the black man who were only given 3/5 status of an "equal man" when these words were created; nonetheless...), a country and home where one could practice their choice of faith and religion in freedom and peace (ask the Iranians how they feel about not having this policy) a place where people from all different cultures and ideals can come together and still stay apart, an example of Advanced Society for all others to follow, took a major turn for the worse yesterday.
Michael Jackson, the self proclaimed (and probably accurate claim) "King of Pop" died yesterday at the age of 51. Jackson first appeared to us as the Uber Talented 5 year old and leader of the Jackson 5, a family that produced a bevy of talented artists- albeit an extremely dysfunctional one at that. He then went on to his solo career, a career rivaled in fame and popularity only by the King himself, Elvis Presley. Jackson revolutionized the music industry with his music video- 'Thriller". Thriller was probably the single biggest reason MTV became what it did and Jackson and his super talent, from songwriting, singing and dancing (not to mention his theatrics- although that would soon be his downfall) was the man most responsible for that.
Unfortunately, like many children whose parents made the choice of sacrificing those precious early years of development for fame and fortune, Jackson was never able to become a card carrying member of society. Even worse, his fame and popularity only increased as opposed to most child stars that usually just fade into the sunset (or darkness of drug and alcohol abuse). His development curtailed to such a point that he was forever stuck in that children's mind with sexual tendencies (allegedly......) toward the same.
Jackson built his estate, Neverland, as an amusement park geared towards 10 year old boys. You don't think this is a little weird? A far cry from Graceland. There were allegations against the King of Pop of sexual misconduct and payoffs to multiple families of multi millions of dollars to quiet those rumors. Still all were put on the back burner to the mans immense talents.
So what does this all have to do with the despicable state of the current American lifestyle? Instead of being relatively relieved that a true evil doer has now left our World making it a far better and safer place (as it would be whenever any rapist, murderer or pedophile leaves this world), American media took the time and opportunity to create a celebration of Jackson's life. Check all the major media outlets today and see what it says about Jackson. Look at the majority of Facebook and Twitters status and tweets today and you'll find lines like "RIP-The King is Dead" and "I'm in tears, Michael is dead" etc, etc. The basic message being said is a man of enormous talent is dead- oh, and he had an eccentric lifestyle that might have had some allegations against him. You don't pay millions and millions of dollars to multiple familoies unless there is some serious fire behind all teh smoke. This is a man who no sane person would leave alone with their children for more than 6 seconds and the Media brushes it off because he was a Pop Culture Icon and incredible performer?
People, we need to wake up and stop idolizing shallowness and perversion and start admiring people for acts of human greatness. I was at CitiField yesterday and took my son (7 years old) to his first game. When we walked in to the Stadium we saw the huge #42 in the lobby and was proud to answer when my son asked "who was #42". When we talk about the greatness of Jackie Robinson we talk about the sacrifice he made for all mankind, someone who experienced tremendous persecution, torment and torture all because he was a Black Man playing a White Mans sport. We talk about the fact that through all this he never lost his temper, never lost his cool and never acted out because he knew if he did, his mission for all Black and White America alike would be dashed. He was a true American Hero. And ONLY THEN do we talk about the overwhelming athletic talent of Robinson, how despite all this he was a the first NL Rookie of the year, a consecutive 6 time all star, World Series and NL MVP, not to mention the first player in NCAA history to letter in 4 sports in college (Football, Basketball, Track and Baseball-his worst sport while at UCLA).
You see this difference folks. It's first about who you are, then it's about your talent and if your exceptional enough like a Jackie Robinson, your talent can make the world a better place. But when you have to brush away faults that those less rich and talented would be spending lifetimes in prison, because someone was an exceptional talent- why there America, is the problem.

Tiger Schulmann MMA Rules at Bellator

2009-06-18T12:11:00.004-04:00

Friday Night's Bellator Fight Card, that concluded by the crowning of their first Welterweight Champion, will go down as the night Tiger Schulmann MMA officially became a big name in the MMA community, and no longer just another Karate School.

TSMMA, was founded by Shihan ("Master") Danny "Tiger" Schulmann in the mid 80's with a small school in Quakerstown Pennsylvania, called United American Karate. Tiger Schulmann being an innovator was not comfortable with the traditional Karate fighting defenses for the American streets and took his Karate Style (Kyokoshin Karate) and combined it with Boxing type skills to combat the typical American fighter. Over the years he incorporated more Kickboxing and Grappling and eventually became the single largest Martial Arts System in the US; known as Tiger Schulmann Mixed Martial Arts.

The TSMMA system has always produced quality fighters, most notably (until at least now) in Muay Thai and Kickboxing, featuring Champions such as Uriah Hall, Shannon Maceo, Munah Holland, Will Hamilton and Jimmy Rivera, amongst many others. They have dominated the East Coast circuit in organizations such as Lou Neglia's Ring of Combat, Combat at the Capital and the recent Asylum Fight League. Friday night at the Mohegan Sun changed all that.

June 12, 2009 4 TSMMA fighters took to the cage for the Bellator Fighting Championships. All 4 fighters would win in convincing style in front of a packed house and a nationally televised audience for ESPN Deportes.
Jimmy "El Terror" Rivera would lead things off for Team TS. Rivera came in with a 3-1 Pro MMA record, a 7-0 amateur MMA record and a 4-0 Amateur Kickboxing record. He has held the New Breed and WKA East Coast Muay Thai Belts. "El Terror" in his second Bellator fight would dominate from end to end winning a unanimous decision over Nick Garcia.

Uriah "Prime Time" Hall, known in the Martial Arts community for his devastating striking game as witnessed during last seasons WCL ( a Pro Kickboxing association created by Chuck Norris- yes, THAT Chuck Norris), and his flashy kicks, not to mention the official MMA instructor of The People's Champ. Hall making his first appearance in a cage put in another dominating performance for Team TS, as he put on a striking clinic vs. the veteran Edwin Aguilar. Very rarely do you see someone in his first major event dominate a veteran like Hall did during his 3 round match, which ended with the referee stopping the fight in the last 30 seconds of round 3 as Aguilar could not defend the barrage of uppercuts and round kicks that Hall was putting on him. Hall displayed tremendous agility and speed as he hit Aguilar with an unorthodox variety of attacks which included Superman punches, knees, flying spinning hook kicks and spinning back kicks. Hall proved you can bring these skills inside the cage as Aguilar's defense was of no avail. Hall also displayed tremendous strength (as did all the TSMMA fighters) throwing Aguilar around physically; including tossing Aguilar off, while being mounted!

Nick Pace would then become a YouTube legend with one of the most devastating and ferocious KO's you will ever see. About a minute into round 1, Pace would hit Collin Tebo with a flying knee kick while following up with a devastating right while Tebo was bouncing off the ground. The ref stepped in and that was it. Pace is now the unofficial King of YouTube and MMA message boards everywhere. While his nickname is "Pretty Boy" his fight game is vicious.

The Main Event of the evening was the event the would change all for Team TS, an event that pitted TSMMA best fighter, Lyman Good- a perfect 9-0 MMA Pro record against, Omar De La Cruz, a fighter who knocked out former UFC Welterweight Champ (yes, the same division that now has George St. Pierre as it's Title holder) Dave Menne to get into the Bellator Welterweight Championship Finale.
Good, who might be the most physically imposing Welterweight fighter in the world, came to the ring with one focus. Dominate his opponent and win the belt. The winner would receive a $100,000 check, an immense purse for a non UFC bout (by comparison, Uriah Faber and Mike Brown each made less than that in their WEC Title bout last week). Good, who takes care of his two sisters and his mother, a fighter out of Spanish Harlem, would use the money to change their lives; a better life than what they had till then.
He would not disappoint; not his family, not his fans and not Team TS, who would now be known as a top fight training system, not only to their students, but to the entire MMA community.
Good powered Cruz right down, was held in the guard, just picked up Cruz and pegged him against the cage. This put Cruz in a very uncomfortable position and before long Good, was hailing lefts and rights that Cruz could no longer defend. The ref stopped the bout and Good was crowned the first Bellator Welterweight World Champion.
Team TS all showed a tremendous advantage in their conditioning, power and speed. While this wasn't the first Professional success for Team TS, it was surely it's greatest and will now be put on the map along with the Lions Den, Team Couture, etc. in the MMA fight training scene.

Manny Being Manny

2009-05-07T14:42:00.003-04:00

Major League Baseball today, suspended it's biggest star to date under it's new drug policy, as Manny Ramirez- possibly the most dangerous right handed hitter in the history of baseball was suspended for 50 games due to testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.
A few interesting points in this matter:

Manny allegedly tested positive for a Sexual Enhancing PED, which only goes to grow the 'Manny being Manny" legend. Seriously, if there was a draft to pick one star who would test positive for PED's but it not being steroids but a Super Edition Version of Viagra, wouldn't Manny be the consensus #1 overall pick?(keep in mind, some authorities say the Sexual enhancer actual aids in keeping testosterone at high levels after a steroid cycle. Personally, the Manny being Manny story is much funnier).
You think maybe Joe Torre is such a players coach because he turns a blind eye to certain player "activities" and just manages egos? Now, I love Torre as a Manager, but look at his track record. Yes, Giambi, Sheffield, Arod, etc were all users prior to joining the Yanks, but maybe, just maybe Torre looked the other way when the acquisitions were being contemplated?
We will now see why Manny is the Most Valuable asset in any lineup. When he left Boston, Big Papi was transformed from the Most Feared left handed hitter in baseball to the hitter Steinbrenner passed on after he left the Twins, and he turned a Dodger lineup that was average at best to the #1 hitting lineup in the NL this year. Say what you want about Manny, but the guy hits like no one else

Tiger Schulmann's Lyman Good wins First Round matchup at Bellator Week 2

2009-04-13T18:22:00.004-04:00

Wilson Reis and Lyman Good enter tourneys at Bellator Week 2

Posted using ShareThis

TSMMA, Sensei Lyman Good, won his Bellator debut with a convincing 2nd round submission of Hector Urbina.
With the win, Good now enters the semi finals in the 170 pound welterweight tourney.

Ball Hype's NBA MVP- Bloggers Choice

2009-04-06T10:25:00.003-04:00

Ball Hype has recently put together a collaborative piece by some known (and not so known) Bloggers, including The People's Champ. Click here to read the whole article, an interesting read by all accounts.
Here is TPC's part in the article:

MVP is always a subjective award although it shouldn't be. It's about the player who is most valuable to his squad. A team with 31 wins doesn't have an MVP because chances are they would suck almost as much without him. Here is my criteria:
1- He must play for a winning team.
2- He must make his teammates better—that can be by a number of factors, whether he gets them better looks due to his passing, gets them more fast break and transition hoops because of his defense and/or rebounding, or teams need to gear up to stop him that they need to double and triple him which causes more foul trouble, easier looks, etc etc.
3- He can not have a severe deficiency in his game. It's why Dwight Howard and his putrid FT% keeps him off this list.

MVP: Lebron James-Cleveland Cavaliers
The stats tell one story. Leads his team in points, assists, rebounds, blocks and steals. His squad tells an even more telling story. They have the best record in the East and besides Mo Williams who was a nice player in Milwaukee before turning All Star this year with Lebron, the Cavs would be fighting for lottery position without The King.

Runner Up: Dwyane Wade-Miami Heat
Leads the league in scoring. Leads his team in assists and steals. Who does he play with? Jermaine "washed up" O'Neal? Udonis Haslem? Meanwhile Wade has these guys fighting for the 5th position in the East. With Wade missing 31 games last season and injured for muchof the 51 he player, they finished with 16 wins.

Second Runner Up: Chris Paul-New Orleans Hornets
He scores (22+PPG), he leads the league in assists at close to 11 a game and is also the games best defender at the point guard position, averaging almost 3 swipes a game. He shoots over 50% from the field and is leading his team to another 50+ winning season despite his second best player (David West) missing a lot of time due to injury and his Center being non existent this year (Tyson Chandler). CP3 is the man.

*Unsung MVP-Brandon Roy-Portland Trail Blazers
When talking about the best guards in the game, invariably the first names that get brought up are Wade, Paul, Kobe and Nash. Rarely do you hear Roy’s name being brought up with them although you can make a very good case he's right up there with them all. He is the leader of a 44-27 team. He leads them in scoring, assists and steals and is as cool as cat as there is. He shoots 83% from the line and is a great clutch performer. He shoots 90% from the line in clutch situations and turns it over only 2.6 times per 48 clutch minutes (Kobe is at 3.0, LeBron is at 5.1 and Wade is at 4.2). He is the guy you want with the ball in his hands with the game on the line.

Bench Clearing Brawl at HS Hockey Game- TPC Advises on the Issue

2009-03-25T10:39:00.005-04:00

MoChassid recently wrote an article on a local High School Semi Final Hockey game between HAFTR and Maagen David, where with 90 seconds left, trailing 2-0, one of the players on Maagen David made an aggressive hit on one of the HAFTR players and a bench clearing brawl, including SOME PARENTS, took place.
Keep in mind, this is a no hitting league and a player that is involved in a fight in any shape or form is automatically suspended for at least the next game.

Here's the problem. The next game in this case is the Championship Game. It is also the last game of many of the players, the High School Seniors. The question is what does the league do and more importantly what do the respective schools do.

In my response to MoC, I wrote:

The problem here is HAFTR was not the instigator, so no matter how wrong it was to retaliate, they are basically being penalized for being the victim of a team taking a cheap shot when the game was decided.
The bigger issue here is the fact that parents were involved. I don't know about the situation, but if your facts are correct, the bigger chinuch issue is what do we do with the parents. It's one thing for kids to get out of control in an emotional, physical game such as hockey (being a former HS player nothing is more important in a kids life than winning that Championship and emotions do take over-rightfully or wrongfully).
What is the parents excuse and what price do they pay? What lessons are they teaching their kids?

There is more to the question and comment.

First off, assuming the league takes a hard line and suspends the players involved and basically giving the Championship to DRS (they won their other Semi Final Game). DRS gets screwed by not being given the chance to win it on the "ice". HAFTR gets screwed because they were just retaliating (albeit wrongfully) to a cheap shot to one of their players (no matter how wrong it is, there is still some good here in the standing up for your teammate). Maagen David gets off scott free because being on the losing end they have no game to be suspended for. This leads to my main point and because I was personally involved in a similar situation 20 somewhat years ago, I know exactly the psyche of Maagen David (no lose situation, frustration, etc). In my opinion, First thinsg first. I would let HAFTR play DRS at full strength. I would then have the school meet out a punishment for each of the players involved. The punishment would coincide with the more important problem here, the parents who actually got involved. We'll get back to the punishment in a minute.

Watching my son and nephew in various Little League and other competitive sporting events, I noticed a major trend that needs to be dealt with in a major way. This is nothing new to most who watch the news, but I can tell you the source. I see parents getting way to involved in the kids events, to the point where parents on opposing squads are viciously arguing with each other (sometimes these guys are good friends, neighbors and sit next to each other in shul on Shabbos). You get a lot of language from the parents that would in no way, shape or form be tolerated from their kids. These parents, most of whom I know from High School and College were generally NOT the guys that were "players" but rather mediocre athletes at best and are now living their "fantasies" through their kids. The guys I competed against (and sometimes still do) generally want their kids to learn the game, play to the best of their abilities and just enjoy the sport. They don't need to have their kids being pressured to win at all costs for them. I see this as a huge problem amongst the kids being put in pressure situations where they might be just 6-8 years old and the main objective is for them to learn a sport and it's virtues rather than complete some dream a father wasn't able to achieve on his own. This usually leads to the kid hating the sport, the father, etc. This also leads to what happened between HAFTR and Maagen David.

The parents involved in this brawl must pay a lot more than the kids, who are basically, as I wrote earlier, acting out on emotion in possibly their last ever High School game in a very emotional and physical game. While I agree it is wrong, it is to an extent understandable. The parents have no excuses.

Back to the punishment. I would suspend the players involved for the first 3 games of next season for HAFTR and 5 for Maagen David for being the instigator.
For the remainder of the school year, ALL the Seniors, their parents and the parents and kids of all the remainder involved (i.e. if a sophomore was involved in the brawl, he and his parents or if some parent was involved and his kid wasn't or wasn't even on the team, he and his kid) would enter into an after school counseling/ learning program twice a week for the remainder of the school year. There would be no excuse of "I have to work and I can't make it" or "I have no one to watch the kids" etc. If this is the case the school would provide the babysitter. The program could start at an hour late enough to give the parents ample time to get home, or even do it on a Sunday night. This way all three will make a major sacrifice and need to be held accountable for their actions.

The Greatest Defensive Players- By Position in Baseball History

2009-03-18T16:38:00.003-04:00

TPC is currently competing in Sports2Debate's first ever Blog Madness Tournament, and has been matched up against My Sports Rumors in the opening round of the North Region.

Here is the first question. TPC urges his fans to vote early and often!

-Name your All-Defense Team, using every player in the history of MLB.

-One player at every position listed below.

-Back up your statements with facts. Refute your opponents points.

-C: 1B: 2B: SS: 3B: OF(3): P(3):

The Peoples Champ has been known to be offensive at time (or if I was Canadian Oh-fensive), so we now we go the way of defense, and as TPC will tell you- Defense Wins Championships- and therefore, the Greatest Defensive Team in History will have it's share of rings.

First and foremost, if you want a great defensive team, you need to limit the amount of hard hit balls at you, so on the mound we will have the Greatest Pitcher of the Modern Era- the one with the lowest career WHIP (1.0512), which is Pedro Martinez. When he was in his prime his WHIP was always an unearthly Sub 1.00, which means he doesn't get hit. It's a lot easier to play D when the ball isn't getting hit hard at you. I'm a Yankee fan, and nothing makes me hurt more than putting a Red Sox on this list, but Pedro was the best I ever saw.

In dealing with the rest of the squad, we will take into account a few things:
The players range (as defined by his range versus his peers, gold gloves (although subjective), using The People's Eye- you don't need to have statistical proof that Ozzie Smith was a genius, and general stuff I like to throw in). We also take into account the player must have played 1000 games minimum to define a decent work.

Anyone who has watched baseball knows Keith Hernandez with his two World Series rings and record 12 Gold Glove Awards at 1b is the best player at that position. When you take into account putouts per game (a very telling stat for 1b) Hernandez is one of the tops in the modern era and factoring in range and fielding percentage he has no peers.

At 2b we have Bill Mazeroski and Ryne Sandberg. Statistically, no one else is in the game. Mazeroski had a range factor of 123 to Sandberg's 122. Joe Morgan, Frank White and Roberto Alomar, all of whom are generally considered as some of the best defensive 2b in history have range factor between 105-110. (Range Factor - the number of (Putouts + Assists) per game (or 9 innings played). Sandberg gets the nod because he has the highest fielding percentage in history at the position at .989 (Mazeroski is at .983). He gets to the most balls and he catches the most by percentage? Uh-huh, that's the guy I want. Sandberg also has 9 Gold Gloves to Mazeroski's 8.

At SS I will not insult any one's intelligence with statistical proof that Ozzie Smith is the greatest of all time at his position. Anyone who has ever seen him play knows this 100%. Bill James once told Peter Gammons Ozzie saved his team over 100 runs per season. That's the difference between a 3.50 and a 4.30 ERA for a pitcher. WOW.

I love Greg Nettles. I loved how he single handedly saved the 1978 World Series with his glove. I also loved the way Buddy Bell and Mike Schmidt played the position. All great 3b. However, Brooks Robinson, who not coincidentally has the All time Fielding percentage mark at 3b (.971 compared to Bells .964, Nettles .961 and Schmidt's .965) with good range, great arm, etc etc. Brooks is your man. Brooks also owns 13 Gold Gloves, the most by any 3b.

To round up the infield, our Catcher is the hardest position to "prove" who was the best defensively. Some think it was Pudge- no one threw out runners at a higher clip, some say it was Bench who had good throwing percentages and better passed ball and wild pitch numbers than Pudge, and some say it was a guy like Brad Ausmus, who statistically is as good all around as anyone who ever played the game. However, Catcher is also a position of Generalship (did i just make that word up) and I'll go with Yogi Berra who was one of the all time greats in preventing wild pitches and passed balls, and he also has 14 pennant winning flags to prove it.

In Center Field, as much as I would like to put Joe D or The Mick or even Willie Mays on this list, Richie Ashburn was the statistically best CF'er of them. First off, the most important stat for a CF'er is the range factor, in other words, how many extra balls do they get to than the average guy at that position. Ashburn has the top Range Factor in Major League history of any outfielder at 147. To put that in perspective, Gary Maddox was 2nd on the list at 140 and Mays was at 136, while Ashburn had a better Fielding Percentage than Mays and was even with Maddox at .983. No one else is even in the statistical discussion. Ashburn also had the best "arm" amongst the group throwing out an average of 16% more players than the average OF'er while Mays was at 5%. Kirby Puckett had an astonishing 48% better mark, but he got to 20% less balls with a worse fielding percentage, so he isn't in the discussion.

The corner OF'ers we have to adjust the stats for, being range is important but an arm is more important because of the amount of run prevention a good arm accounts for. It's why I would take Jesse Barfield and Roberto Clemente (moving Robbie over to left) as my two corner Of'ers. First Barfield. He had the best arm in Major League Baseball history, throwing out more than twice the amount of runners than the average ML Of'er (his number is actually 202). He had a good fielding percentage and decent range to boot. Clemente had slightly better range and the second best arm of all time, throwing out 78% more runners than average. To put these numbers in perspective, Bonds, some considered an all time great fielding Left Fielder prior to his "alleged" steroid issue, had slightly better range and Fielding Percentage numbers, but through 2005 (his numbers since have decreased dramatically) he threw out 35% more runners on average. Basically, Barfield and Clemente prevented a ton of singles turning into doubles, guys going first to third or scoring from 2B on a single, and they have done it while playing RF, the most taxing in terms of throwing runners out..

Well, there you have the greatest fielding team in history according to The People's Champ.

(statistics were mostly taken from http://baseball-stats-online.com- a truly great site).

Tapout founder "Mask" killed in early morning auto accident (Updated)

2009-03-12T10:31:00.003-04:00

Tapout founder "Mask" killed in early morning auto accident (Updated)

In shocking news, Tapout's leader and Co-Founder, "Mask"- Charles Lewis Jr. was killed this morning in a vehicular manslaughter in Newport Beach California.
Tapout is the #1 clothing line amongst MMA hardcore fighters and fans alike and the creator of the popular reality show on Versus.

Click on the above link for the whole story.

Posted using ShareThis

TPC Sport Thoughts- Cassel, Cutler, Wade and more

2009-03-03T14:57:00.004-05:00

Over the weekend we saw the Chiefs trade a 2nd round draft pick and a guaranteed $14M for Matt Cassel. As my millions and millions of loyal readers know, TPC is not a big fan of Cassel and thinks it was very apropo for the poor K.C. Chiefs to trade for the overpriced system QB. When you let Herm Edwards ruin your franchise and all time great Fantasy Football systems, why stop there?
Cassel is a very good QB in terms of mobility, but as I pointed out many times Cassel came into the perfect situation. He had a very good offensive line. Two Pro Bowl Wide Receivers (Moss and Welker) and basically the same team that broke almost every passing record in NFL history the year before. With all that he had modest success, 21 TD's and 11 INT's with a QB rating of 89.4 and a 7.2 Yards Per Attempt. Keep in mind this was also against one of the worst NFL schedules in recent years. Compare that to Tom Brady's 2007 stats and you wonder what all the fuss is about with Cassel (50TD's 8Int's a 117 passing rating a YPA of 8.3).

Now, while all this was going on, seemingly the Denver Broncos were willing to throw Jay Cutler into the mix in order to have a shot at Cassel. Why would a team with a 26 year old up and coming Pro Bowl QB stud in Cutler go after a guy like Cassel is really mind boggling. Now granted, I have said many times prior that Cutler hasn't been as good as his statistics would lead you to believe and the fact is, he makes big mistakes at bad times. However, he is also only 26 and is the most physically gifted QB in the NFL bar none. When he's on his game, no one can do what he can do, with his arm strength and mobility. Yes, he has a big mouth and yes he's prone to the big mistake, but he's freakin only 26- a puppy in NFL QB years. You can make a very good case that if the NFL put all their players in a big pool and started a draft tomorrow, Cutler would be a top 10 pick at worst and possibly top 3, while Cassel wouldn't go in the top 50. So why does Josh McDaniels and new Denver Management do this? Who knows. Maybe they are just showing their inexperience. Maybe there's more to Cutler being a pain in the toochas than we all know.

The Bucs signed former Giant Derrick Ward for a 4 year $17M deal which will not make the Buc fans happy. Yes, he's a decent back but Ward made a living facing a defensive front that just got it's teeth smashed in by Brandon "The Real Deal" Jacobs. You can put any decent back in behind Jacobs and that offensive line and he will be successful. Ward was a product of that system.

Between the Cassel-Cutler fiasco and the Ward deal, you wonder what you need to do to become a GM in the National Football League.

At least the Jets got it right by signing the right LB from Baltimore and not paying for the overpriced and overaged Ray Lewis. Bart Scott was the right man for the Jets and will help shore up that defense.

Dwayne Wade had an incredible week, scoring 24 points in the 4th Quarter to lead a 16 point comeback againts the Knicks and then fell just short in his Mano a Mano game vs. Lebron last night scoring 41 points, 7 rebounds 9 assists and 7 steals. WOW. You can take Kobe all day, for my money D-Wade is the second dog to King James.

We're about a month away from opening day and the most dangerous hitter we have ever seen (Manny Ramirez) is still waiting for a call. This after he posted a monster second half- averaging about an RBI a game and hitting .400 leading the Dodgers to the postseason. Amazing times we live in.

Some Commercial- NON PAID- Plugs from TPC

2009-03-03T10:49:00.002-05:00

Every once in a while The People's Champ likes to share things he likes and enjoys in this world of ours, with his millions and millions of fans, both in the good ole US of A and abroad.

Here's today's sampling:

A new line (I think it's new even though it says established in 1918) of Middle Eastern Salads and Pickles by Sonny and Joe's that are amazing. TPC especially recommends the Grilled Eggplant, Matbucha and Sour Pickles.

If you loved RISK, the Game of International Conquest, you will love The Conquer Club an online multiplayer world domination game (much like RISK, but obvious Trademark issues does not allow them to advertise as such).

A new entrant into the Chip Market, the world's first Gluten Free Falafel Chip. Not just a Doritos type (or the Herr's kosher version) stoner chip replacement, the Falafel Chip taste great, is wildly addictive and goes great with Sonny and Joe's salads!

No food list would be complete without TPC's favorite local restaurant, Carlo's and Gabby's. TPC recommends the The Pollo Del Sol Wrap, anyof the Taco's and Enchilada's and the burgers. And for less than $10 (hey, we're in a recession!), you get a great lunch.

Tiger Ready To Roar

2009-02-25T12:31:00.003-05:00

In just a few short hours, the World's Most Dominant Athlete, will make his return at the Accenture Match Play Championship against unheralded Brendan Jones.
What should we expect? Well, Tiger has already said he feels healthier than ever, his legs don't have pain for the first time in years, and his short game is "better" than ever before because all he could do for a while was pitch and chip. This from a guy who already had the best short game in golf, and probably in the history of the game.

We should expect Tiger to do exactly what he did the last two times he came off surgery, and that is win. He will win the Accenture because he's Tiger Woods. And that is what Tiger Woods does. And the fact is the rest of the tour knows that, too. Therefore, the intimidation factor of "I am Tiger Woods" will only get stronger with his victory this week.

Superman Does it Again- Check out this Video

2009-02-23T15:41:00.002-05:00

Dwight "Superman" Howard does it again with this amazing shot in pregame warmups.

N.Y. Rangers Fire Tom Renney

2009-02-23T13:01:00.008-05:00

N.Y. Rangers fire coach Renney amid losing skid

The Rangers slowly slipping out of playoff contention have finally let go Coach Tom Renney.
The Rangers had dropped to 31-23-7 after a stretch in which they lost 10 of their past 12 games, slipping to sixth place in the East after starting the season winning 10 of 13. Renney was 164-121-42 with the Rangers in his 5 seasons with the squad.

When Renney took over this team, the franchise was old, reeling and totally non competitive. He changed the atmosphere around the rangers and changed their culture which gave them a lot of success the last few years (having Lunqvist in goal didn't hurt either). he also single handedly saved Glen Sathers job, who for the love of G-D cant understand how he is still employed by an NHL franchise.

Renney was a classy coach. a good coach, however as the old saying goes "you cant replace 25 players but you can replace the coach" so Renney needed to go. The Rangers were reeling and the coach needs to take that blame.

A few thoughts.

1- The Rangers in the past three years have not been able to build an effective power play and this year they have dramatized that by also giving up a league leading 14 short handed goals. It is the coach's responsibility to right that wrong. Renney couldn't do that despite having talent (although in his defense his blue line talent is horrid).

2- The Rangers were playing listless and were not focused. They would play 20 minutes, then take 10 off, then play 10, etc. They took two Too Many Men ON the Ice Penalties yesterday, which was a direct result of their focus (or lack thereof). The coach's fault.

3- He was not able to get the most out of any of his players. Pretty much to a man this season, across the board, the Rangers were all having their worst seasons ever as pros- except King Henry. The Coach needs to get the best out of his guys and Renney couldn't do that this season.

Renney was a good coach in a tough situation. Sather gave him a roster without any ability to make moves because of the salary cap mess Sather got into. He has 3 good defenseman. That's tough to maneuver.
The Rangers need Sean Avery back in the lineup and they need a coach that will keep them in the rears and get them back on track. It's a sad day for the Rangers because they fired a good man and a good coach, but there was little choice left.

Posted using ShareThis

Drug A-Rod used illegal in Dominican Republic

2009-02-20T11:34:00.003-05:00

Drug A-Rod used illegal in Dominican Republic

Well, if you thought things couldn't get worse for A-Roid- think again.
A few points to consider here:

1- A-Roid was with this "alleged" steroid trainer everyday (even rooming with his now infamous cousin) during his historic 2007 season.

2-Primobolan was not available for legal purchase, over-the-counter or with a prescription in his country between 2001 and 2003 according to the official in charge of the Dominican equivalent of the FDA. Therefore, A-Roids cousin wasn't buying this stuff legally in the Dominican.

3- All this proves what many thought after his press conference. He lied again.

UAE will allow Israel's Ram to play in Dubai

2009-02-19T11:57:00.002-05:00

UAE will allow Israel's Ram to play in Dubai

Posted using ShareThis

What a joke. The UAB has shown their true colors and are not as they want to portray themselves "as a moderate Arab nation". They are your typical, racist, Jew hating nation as the other Arab nations. As always, actiosn speak louder than words.

The real loser here is the ATP. If they had any cajones, they would have pulled all tournaments and events after Shahar Peer was not allowed a Visa to enter the UAB to play in her scheduled Womans ATP event.
What would the PGA tour have done if the UAB didn't allow Happy Gilmore into the country to play in an event?

Kings- Bulls in 5 Player Trade

2009-02-18T17:10:00.002-05:00

ESPN.COM is reporting the Bulls have sent Andres Nocioni , Drew Gooden and Cedric Simmons to Sacramento for Brad Miller and John Salmons.
This is really bad news for Salmons owners as he will most likely come off the bench for Chicago behind Luo Deng.
Stay tuned as this might be the prelude to another Chicago deal.............

The Greatest Sitcom Character of All Time

2009-02-15T23:10:00.003-05:00

Inspired by my hero, ESPN's The Sports Guy, I decided to take his Cheer's vs. Seinfeld argument to the next level (a work of journalistic genius). I am going to try and leap tall buildings in a single bound. Climb Mt. Everest with a bottle of Poland Spring and some trail mix. Take on Tom Brady and the Greatest Offense in National Football League History with a washed up Michael Strahan and some spare parts. Ummm, scratch that. Tom Coughlin did that first.
Where we are going is where no man has gone before. To a galaxy FAR FAR AWAY. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's..................The Top 11 Greatest Sitcom Characters of All Time .

With respect to the G.O.A.T. of sports talk radio, we're gonna kick this off, Mike and the Mad Dog Dog style.........
"ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND, Good afternoon everybotttttttttttty. Mike and the Mad Dog live from TPC Memoral Stadium, we're going to give you................The TEN BEST SITCOM CHARACTERS OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Dog (in a much too subdued Francessa voice) that's exactly what we're gonna do today. We're gonna bring in the Seinfelds, the Cheers, the Taxi's, some surprises that Gelb's gonna get us. It's gonna be a great show"
"Mikey, I can't even control myself. This is even bigger than Giants Baseball and Arod blowing it again against the 'Sox. Mikey, you don't get bigger than this".
"Dog, you got the Seinfeld crew. Quite possibly the greatest squad, top to bottom of all time. You got "Cheers", you know, Norm, Sammy, hmmm, who can leave out Clavin", you got stuff like "Good Times", "The Honeymooners", Ya Got.
"Mikey, funny you go there with the "Honeymooners", you got some hummmina hummina working over there for you! HAHHAHAHHHAAA Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh BABY!"

With that intro, and respects to J.J. Evans, Mr. Woodman, George Jefferson, Al Bundy, Screech and of course the Big Ragu , in no particular order.............

(ED NOTE: Click on the names of the Characters for some great clips)

Alex P. Keaton- The quintessential Young Republican, born to two former hippies, now Super liberals, Alex defined a generation that moved from the liberal 70's to the Reaganomics of the 80's.

Archie Bunker- Archie was the guy everyone knew growing up in their neighborhood. Bigoted, hard working, hilarious, and deep down a really good guy. His conservative values battling against his son in laws (Rob Reiner's "Meathead") were classic television battles.

Vinny Barbarino- "What?" "Where?" "Why?" Who knew the Head of the Sweathogs would become such a freaked out Scientologist?

Jim Ignatowski- Before there was a Michael Jordan, there was Dr. J. Before there was Guns and Roses there was Led Zep. And before there was a Kramer, there was the Reverend Jim. Maybe the greatest comedic scene of all time took place when the Reverend was taking his drivers test "What does a yellow light mean" "Slow down" "Ah, oka. Whaaaaaaaaat doooooooes a yellooow light meaaaaaan".

Norm Peterson- Quite simply, the creator of the greatest entry in TV history. One such example. "Norm, how's the world treating you". "It's a dog-eat-dog world, Sammy, and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear". Also the title of the Greatest Beer Drinker in TV History.

Sam Malone- Sammy, despite being a former Red Sox pitcher, was the most complex character on the second best show of all time, Cheers, despite his seemingly shallow exterior. Second only to the Fonz as TV's greatest ladies man, Sammy conquered all.

Arthur Fonzerelli- Anyone who grew up in the 70's, and I mean anyone, wanted to be like The Fonz. Everyone wanted to wear a a black leather jacket over his T Shirt and jeans, put their thumbs up and say "Aaaaay". The Fonz just snapped his fingers and the chicks came a running, knocked on the jukebox and the music started playing (ever wonder why Arnold never got upset that The Fonz played the jukebox all those years for free?). Interesting that he started off as a bit character on Happy Days and became it's leading character just a short time in.

Cosmo Kramer- " all right the cat is meeoooow out of the bag. I'm Cosmo Kramer and that's who I'm going to be". Much like Jordan to his Dr. J, Kramer took the zany character that the Reverend Jim created and took it to the next level. Kramer's entrances were classic in that Kramer used pure body movements and wacky sounds to create great comedy.

Ralph Kramden- TV's first great sitcom character, the great Kramden has stood the test of some fifty years and is just as funny today as he was when it all began in 1955. The classic blue collar worker trying to get ahead in post war America, Kramden pulled out all the stops and became one of American Pop culture's most recognized characters. "Baby, your the greatest".

Dr. Frasier Crane- Frasier was the longest running successful character in sitcom history. Starting off as a bit character on Cheers, when Diane left him at the alter, Dr. Crane developed into one of TV's greatest characters. Frasier's constant attempts at breaking in to Upper Class Society was the definition of his character.

George Costanza- The G.O.A.T. of sitcom characters, bar none. George took an unemployed (until he did the opposite) bald man who lived with is parents to unprecedented heights. The key to the G.O.A.T. of TV Sitcoms, George 's demented character was the definition of great comedy. Being I'm not in the mood to get into George in greater detail......."Now you listen to me: I want details and I want them right now. I don’t have job , I have no place to go… you’re not in the mood: well you get in the mood"

"No one’s bigger idiot than me". "Every decision I have ever made in my entire life, has been wrong. My life is the complete opposite of everything I wanted to be. Every instinct I have, in every aspect of life, is it something to wear, something to eat, it’s all been wrong".

"Yeah, I’m a great quitter: it’s one of the few things I do well… I come from a long line of quitters. My father was a quitter, my grandfather was a quitter… I was raised to give up"

"Do you realize in the entire history of western civilization no one has successfully accomplished the roommate switch. In the middle ages you could get locked up for even suggesting it"

"Do you ever just get down on your knees and thank god that you know me and have access to my dementia?"

"I don't want hope. Hope is killing me. My dream is to become hopeless. When you're hopeless you don't care. And when you don't care, that indifference makes you attractive."

Yes George, you might be all those things. You're also the greatest sitcom character of all time.

Marion- O'Neal and Moon Deal Fantasy Impact

2009-02-13T14:29:00.005-05:00

In case you haven't heard, Shawn Marion (a card carrying member of The People's Champ in his Fantasy League) has been dealt along with Marcus "No Factor" Banks to Toronto for Jermaine O'Neal and Jamario Moon.
Here's the breakdown from a fantasy perspective:

Marion- Marion should have an immediate boost in value for a number of reasons. First, he was playing in a system in Miami that was centered around Dwayne Wade and his shot first approach (not that there's anything wrong with that.....). Marion is an extremely talented and gifted athlete who has very little one on one skills. He is not a player that can create his own shots. He needs to be fed in transition to be most effective (as he was in Phoenix). Toronto's offense is run through a classic pass first point guard in Calderon and this will only help Marion. Second, Miami had no identity besides Wade. Beasley is an offensive weapon they haven't been able to utilize. They have no effective big men. Marion just got lost in the shuffle. Funny as it might sound, Toronto has a much more defined role system. I think Marion gets his averages closer to 18 points 10 rebounds without the other numbers falling (if anything just increasing).

Bargnani- Bargnani should have an immediate upside impact as he should replace O'Neal as the Raptors starting center.

O'Neal- O'Neal should have the same numbers generally, maybe a little upside in boards as he will have no one to compete against for them as he did with Bosh in Toronto.

Beasley- Beasley should step into the starting small forward role in Miami and will become the second option to Wade as Miami's main scorer. Since he wasn't starting the first half of the season his minutes increase shouldn't have the negative "rookie wall effect" that most have.

Moon- Moon should become either the 6th man in Miami or the starting small forward, either way he will be replacing the Marion role, which should have an increase in all his stats across the board.

All in all this trade will help all fantasy players involved.

Why Arod-Gate will Help the Yanks

2009-02-13T10:35:00.004-05:00

It happens almost every year. The Yankees sign the best and brightest (and of course- most expensive) of the Free Agent Class, have a blow out press conference, all smiles and back slapping, and then the business of actually playing baseball starts.
Usually around the middle of May the fans get impatient because the $10-$20M a year guy is hitting .230 or the pitcher is sporting a 5.76 ERA and we all remember the focus and attention in NY is unlike any other place, especially after someone signs a huge contract. The pressure is enormous even for the best of them.
It happened to Giambi, Arod, Pavano, Abreu, Clemens, etc, it always takes time for the player to adjust. The main reasons are simple 1) getting used to living in a place like NY, and 2) getting used to the constant media and fan pressure which a big contract brings upon oneself in a place like NY.

What the whole Arod saga did was make people forget (and the scrutiny on Arod will only get bigger once he reports to camp and when the book comes out in May) the big contracts signed by Sabathia, Burnett and Texiera. Amazingly, living in NY I haven't even heard a peep about the Big Three in weeks. Normally, the pressure and scrutiny -especially- on Sabathia and Texiera would be so great, they would be hard pressed to succeed right off the bat. It's rarely done here in NY. Mussina had some early success, but other than him I don't recall a big Free Agent that got off to a fast NY start. Arod has helped these guys immensely and in turn the Yankees, amazingly as that might sound.

Farve from Retired

2009-02-11T14:50:00.002-05:00

Brett Favre told Jet officials today he is retiring. Uh huh.......When have we heard this routine before? You think maybe you can understand a little bit better what Packer brass were going through the last three years, especially with a stud like Rodgers on the bench?

In my opinion this retirement will last until about May, when somehow another job will open up (you think Minnesota would like to have Favre?) or possibly even in training camp when some incumbent starter gets injured and the team is scrambling for a veteran QB. Either way this is good for the Jets. It allows them to move on and still save face without having to cut Favre.
It also gives them compensation when he will pull the inevitable "Unretire" and goes to another squad.
As wrong as I was about Favre coming to NY, he still gave the team instant credibility, was a key factor in turning around a 4-12 team to a 9-7 season (as well as an 8-3 team to 9-7), and still caused multiple orgasmic reactions from the talking heads at ESPN and the like, not to mention John Madden got one more year out of his Greatness.

The Reaction to Arod

2009-02-09T18:45:00.004-05:00

Here are some of my initial thoughts to date on the Arod situation .

1- It's a disgrace and somehow very convenient that out of a list of 104 players (of a supposed anonymous test) Arod's is the one name we know. It's BS. And although Arod is 100% wrong, this witch hunt directed at him and him only is unfair. I think these sources need to be held accountable.

2- Arod did the right thing to an extent by admitting he was wrong and stupid. He took the path that has shown the most forgiveness (ala Pettite and Giambi) and went away from the denial path of Bonds and McGwire. However, he didn't come off that well in the interview. How can he not know what went into his body? Just say what you took and move on. Let's get over this already. there's no more downside for him. Every admission would only help his cause now.o

3- While this taints things, the bottom line is this is the first guy that has come out that was a steroid user and his performance stayed the same post steroids (he has been continually tested since 2004- although there still isn't an HGH test out there). I think Arod's records are legit as opposed to Bonds, McGwire and Sosa who all had a huge increase in production with the 'roids and all basically fell off the map after they were exposed. Arod was exposed in 2004 and still has performed at an amazingly high level since.

4- Stop talking about past guys and they didn't use PED's First off, there has been steroids around since 1960's and we don't know who was or wasn't on it. Every Hall of Famer and ex-player you hear from the 50's-70's you hear talks about the obscene amount of amphetamines they took in order to be able to play and stay focused. Why are they given a free pass? Why just the steroid guys? Plus, steroids was technically legal in baseball up to 2003 assuming they were under a physicians care. Why only the steroid guys? Why is he different than the guy who was popping amphetamines to play at his level? The answer is there is no difference, so everyone in the media should get off their hypocritical high horses and get back in touch with realty.
Guys in the NFL get a 4 game suspension and move on with nothing to worry about after sterpoids and guys in baseball fail one test and they are done for life. Why the hypocrisy?

Uriah Hall Wins the Title

2009-02-09T11:42:00.004-05:00

As a follow up to Friday's article, Sensei Uriah Hall knocked out James "B-52" Smith, Friday Night at Combat at the Capitale to win the WKA East Coast Muay Thai Championship Belt.
Hall dominated the fight using his full arsenal of weapons, starting the fight connecting on a Superman punch, followed that up knocking down Smith with a left leg round kick that landed squarely across the jaw of Smith and finishing off the first round Knockout with a barrage of powerful right hands that sent Smith barreling through the ropes.
Congrats to Sensei Hall, TSMMA and specifically the Cedarhurst School where he is the Head Instructor.

Uriah Hall goes for Muay Thai Title

2009-02-06T09:41:00.006-05:00

The People's Champ would like to wish his MMA instructor, Sensei Uriah Hall, good luck tonight in his Pro Muay Thai Regional Championship at The Combat at The Capitale.
Sensei Hall is currently undefeated as a Professional Fighter (10-0). He is the #1 ranked Light Heavy Weight in the WCL, a Professional Kickboxing league run by Chuck Norris (I know, Chuck Norris doesn't really run.....The world orbits around him...). His opponent tonight is the current US Kickboxing Champion James "B-52" Smith. Hall defeated Smith in their last fight after avenging his only loss to date EVER in the ring, a decision he lost to Smith in his first Amatuer fight.

Bring the belt back home! OSU SENSEI!

Here's one of Sensei Hall's Fights. Enjoy.

Super Bowl Thoughts

2009-02-02T11:15:00.004-05:00

For the first time since I was legally able to drive (30+ years), due to a stomach virus, The People's Champ watched the Super Bowl alone in the friendly confines of The People's Palace. Ironically, The People's Son attended his first Super Bowl party this year at the age of 6. And he didn't even bring me home a beer!

We've read and heard all the cliches and all the accolades. A game for the ages. The Greatest Super Bowl of all Time, etc. etc. We've had four days to digest the results, so without further ado, here are TPC's post Super Bowl Thoughts.

Big Ben finally lived up to his potential, not withstanding a pretty pedestrian game besides the opening drive and the final game winning drive. He was brilliant on the final drive of the game with the title and his legacy on the line. Remember, his first Super Bowl was the worst performance EVER by a Super Bowl Winning QB (he ended with a 22 QB rating which would make guys like Dave Brown even laugh). His final stat line was 21-30 256 yards, a TD and INT. Nothing extraordinary, except he lit it up when he needed to. I still think he is a bit overrated but he showed me something there and now will probably be replacing Brett Favre as the "most gushed over QB who isn't nearly as good as people think he is".

You think Phillip Rivers is feeling the heat about now?

Kurt Warner played a great game, and possibly the greatest stretch of 15 minutes a QB has ever played in the NFL. His 4th Quarter numbers were 15-21 257 yards and 2 TD's against what people were calling one of the great defensive teams of all time. Warner proved once again what a great QB he is, how tough he is and what a big game player he is. Again, he is the best QB not named Tom Brady we have seen in the last 10 years and a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Larry Fitzgerald is at a level now that hasn't been seen since Jerry Rice. With the game in doubt all he did was score two 4th Quarter TD's, one on one of the most exciting plays in history.

The play they called a fumble on Warner at the end of the game, when they didn't even take time to review (and if they would have it would have been ruled an incomplete pass, setting up a dramatic Hail Mary situation with Larry Fitz going up for the ball!) is one of the most curious things we have seen ending a game in a long time. HOW DO THEY NOT REVIEW THAT PLAY??????????? HOW MUCH DID THE REPLAY OFFICIAL HAVE ON THE STEELERS MONEY LINE TO NOT REVIEW IT?????????????? Just a friggin joke.

For all the heart and courage the Cardinals showed, their coaches did an awful job all game. Four things off the top of my head.

The Steelers Secondary was playing way back. The Cardinals played into their hands all game until the 4th Quarter when they went hurry up and forced the Steelers to adjust. Why did they wait?
On the same note, why did it take them until the 4th Quarter to get the Best WR in Football involved in the offense. This is a classic mistake by over matched coaches. Instead of making them adjust to you and having them stop your best guy, you use your best guy as a "decoy". It NEVER works. NEVER. The numbers by Fitz were great, imagine if they would have used him the first 3 Quarters? There's a reason Phil Jackson won so much. It's because his best players were always better than the other guys and he made the other guy stop his. That simple. Jordan and Shaq were never decoys. You wanted to beat them you had to stop their Big Guys. Only Duncan was able to do it.
On the same token, the Pittsburgh offense did ZERO from the second drive of the game to the final drive. How did the Cards accomplish this? By pressuring Ben into making bad throws. This also eliminated a horrible running game (I told you all before the Super Bowl the Steelers Offensive Line is awful and the Cards will be able to get to Ben and stop their run). So what did the Cardinals do on the final drive? They took their foot off the pedal and let Ben drive down the field unharmed. Just utter stupidity and another reason why you never play the prevent D. I don't get how experienced and seasoned NFL coaches always do this.
How do the Cardinals allow the only good and healthy receiver on the Steelers constantly beat them (Holmes, who played a brilliant game)? How do you not adjust and double this guy? How do you let an inexperienced corner get burned by Holmes all day long, without making a slight adjustment? Just horrible coaching there.

With that being said, it was an incredibly exciting 4th Quarter and a relatively boring game up to that point. Yes, Harrison gave us some fun on his play (I would have sworn the Cardinals were done after that play. Amazing how they were able to comeback from that) but other than that and some decent play by Warner and the Cards D, not much happened after the first few drives.

The Boss brought it. "Born to Run" was the single non nipple revealing moment in Super Bowl Halftime History. There's a reason he's called The Boss.

I can't wait until I get the Fantasy Football 2009 Draft emails...... Only a few months away.

Super Bets- TPC Gives out the Props

2009-02-01T15:49:00.002-05:00

I like the Cards getting the 7.
I like the over 46 but don't love it.
I like the Cards +115 to record the games first sack.
I like the Steelers -115 to make the games shortest FG.
I also like the Steelers -110 to make the longest FG.
Take the 3rd Quarter, +285 for most points scored in the game.
Take the over 2 1/2 for how many times NBC shows Brenda Warner during the live telecast. You also get +135 for that.
Take the Cards +550 to win the game by 7-12 points.
I like the Steelers -105 for their first Offensive TD to be passing.
Also take that bet +250 that the their first score period will be a passing TD.
I like the Cards +120 to have the games first intereception (caught not thrown).
Born to Run +125 will be the Boss's closing Song at halftime.
Take Larry Fitz +460 to win Super Bowl MVP.

Feeling Super

2009-02-01T15:13:00.003-05:00

All season long, The People's Champ has been riding the theme of what a great and underrated QB, Kurt Warner really is. TPC has also said on numerous occasions that the Steelers really aren't as good as everyone thinks. What force will win in the end? The 2nd great Cinderella story of Warner's career or the Mighty Steelers Defense getting ring #6 for their storied franchise and famous Steel Curtain D?
The Cardinals are easily the most overlooked team to ever make it to the Super Bowl. Forgetting the fact that they have won more playoff games this year (3) than their last 61 years combined. Forget that they finished 9-7 and won what was arguably the worst division in NFL history. Besides beating the 2-14 Rams and 4-12 Seahawks (with 2 of their 4 wins coming at the expense of the Rams), the Cards finished the season losing 37-29 to the Giants, 48-20 against the Eagles, 35-14 against the Vikings and 47-7 against the Pats. amazingly just two weeks later they beat a heavily favored Falcons team, then they knocked off the #2 seed in the NFC (the Panthers) and then beat the same Eagles where the got crushed just a few weeks prior. All this while finding a rejuvenated Edgerrin James (amazingly Peyton Manning in his prime couldn't get him to a Super Bowl but Warner did it in Arizona!) a physical and opportunistic defense (12 Turnovers in their 3 playoff games) and a Wide Receiver playing at a level only reached before by the great Jerry Rice (Larry Fitzgerald).
Still, they face a daunting defense in the 2009 version of the Steel Curtain, the #1 overall ranked Defense in the National Football League. They face a QB who is gunning for his 2nd Lombardi trophy in his short but very successful career in Big Ben. They face a coach (Mike Tomlin) who amazingly made the city of Pittsburgh forget about their former Coach-legend, Bill Cower.
Historically speaking, when great defenses face great offenses, the great D usually win out. Look no further than last season when the Giants beat the Patriots, arguably the greatest offense in history. Same situation in 2002 when the Pats knocked of Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf in what was one of the great upsets in Super Bowl History. The one glaring detractor from this theory in the last 10 years was when the Colts beat the Bears in Super Bowl XLI. There are a lot of similarities between that game and this one, the QB trying to make his claim amongst the greatest of all time, the All-Offense- no defense team all of a sudden discovering a very effective and opportunistic defense during a great playoff run. Granted Ben Roethelsberger is no Rex Grossman, but lets not forget that Big Ben posted the worst QB rating and performance for any Super Bowl winner, ever.
The matchups are intriguing. Warner and the great passing game against the great and physical Steelers D. Fitzgerald over the middle with Polomalu all over him. The rejuvenated Cards D vs. an average at best Steeler Offense.
In the end, I think Warner will have a little too much magic left in his wand. I think Warner is the best QB in the last 10 years not named Brady and this game will just put a stamp on that. I think Edge wants that ring. I think Fitzgerald is playing at a level so high, he can dominate the game no matter how many guys try to cover him. Oh, and if he cant, another top 5 NFL wideout (Boldin) is on the other side and will make the Steelers pay. I don't like Ben in the big game and I have had doubts about their offensive line all season. I don't think they will hold up against this Cardinal Defense, which will capitalize on those Steeler mistakes.

Final Score. Arizona 28 Pittsburgh 20.

Andy Pettitte- The Last of the Good Guy Pro Athlete?

2009-01-27T10:38:00.008-05:00

For one of the first times I can remember, a player has actually been proven honest and for the first time in MLB history "it really wasn't about the money". Yes, folks, Andy Pettitte finally came to his sense and took a lot less money than was originally offered and a whole lot less than he could have gotten elsewhere simply because "he only wanted to play for the Yankees".
Yesterday afternoon, it was announced the Yankees resigned Pettite to a 1 year $5.5M deal (with incentives to earn up to another $6.5M more). He was originally offered a "take it or leave it" 1 year $10M offer, but I guess they only meant "take it or leave it or take less money". Either way, it was a great job by Cashman for getting his guy at a bargain rate and a face saving move by Pettitte.
Pettitte was the guy every Yankee fan considered to be a "true Yankee". The group of Pettitte, Jeter, Posada, Rivera, O'Neil and Tino were not just the cornerstones of 4 Yankee franchises, they were "good guys", ""clean guys" in an ERA bereft of them. Andy was a reminder of the glory days of '96-'00. He's the guy who apologized to the public in light of his HGH and steroid allegations. He was the anti-Clemens. And all that was about to be washed down the drain when he spurned the initial Yankee offer and was reportedly talking to the Dodgers and other teams with reports of 3 years $40M on the table. All the "he's such a good guy, a real Yankee" talk was turning into "he's a greedy bastard and a lyer just like the rest of them". His moving last spring press conference was another lying athlete trying to reclaim his good graces just to get another fat contract. Well, for one day all that was saved and we finally have something and someone positive to root for again in the greedy game of professional sports. Good job Andy. Yankee fans will have more thing to cheer about when you take the mound in the New Yankee Stadium.

Kurt Warner- Better than Peyton Manning

2009-01-25T11:48:00.001-05:00

Yes, TPC has been singing the praises of Mr. Warner for all eternity, but it seems Sports Illustrated and The Cold Hard Football Facts have finally caught on.
Click here for the full article

Fedor- Unstoppable Once Again

2009-01-24T23:56:00.002-05:00

For the first 2 plus minutes of the fight, former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Andre Arlovski was having his way with Fedor Emelianenko, the man considered to be the best fighter in the world. Arlovski is a great striker and his game plan coming in was to out strike the former PRIDE Champion. Arlovski would want no part in any type of ground war with Fedor and even went to the extent of hiring famed boxing trainer, Freddie Roach to improve on those skills. He wanted to stay away from the clinch and any type of take down Fedor would attempt. For 2 plus minutes, he succeeded, hitting Fedor with a variety of leg kicks and a few straight right and left punches. and then he felt the power of Fedor, The strongest and most feared puncher in all MMA.
He backed up Fedor with a nice push front kick (a slight variation from the classic front kick in traditional karate) and then attempted a flying knee kick. Unfortunately for Arlovski, the next thing he saw was the referee asking for a doctor as Fedor timed a vicious right hand that caught Arlovski flat across the jaw while in midair, turned him parallel to the ground, his head hitting the canvas first and the lights were out. Just like that, a fight Arlovski was winning ended in dramatic fashion as he felt the amazing power of Fedor with a classic highlight reel knockout punch.
In his last two fights, in a total of just under 4 minutes he has knocked out two former UFC Champions. He has a record of 32-1 and even his one lost should have been ruled a no contest rather than a defeat. He has beaten everyone that has come his way. I was one of his doubters early on, but there's not much left to doubt. He will probably fight Josh Barnett next, a good heavyweight but not someone that will have much of a shot against Fedor. The only 2 fighters out there that could Fedor a fight are signed to UFC and that makes a fight with either Frank Mir or Brock Lesnar unlikely. Dana White, UFC Boss has publicly questioned Fedor's dominance but the questions now have been answered as he easily disposed of two of White's former Champions (Arlovski and Tim Sylvia). Although it's wishful thinking, it would be great to see Fedor somehow fight the winner of the Mir-Lesnar bout that will decide once and for all the best Heavyweight fighter in the world. Right now, it's hard to argue with Fedor.

The Great Presidential Quality

2009-01-22T11:55:00.008-05:00

What separates a good President from a bad President, a great President from an adequate President? Is it policy? Foreign relations? Economic success of the nation under the Presidents watch?
TPC vaguely remembers the dark day when the Evil One beat out Gerald Ford to start the worst era in American History, TPC's first election followed was The Great Ronald Reagan vs. The Evil One. It was way back in Yeshiva Dov Revel's 5th grade Social Studies/Current Events Class that TPC correctly picked the 40th United States President. Even though anyone outside The Evil One's identical twin would have beaten The Evil One, Reagan was elected as much for his charisma as his policy making. You see folks, the secret to being a great President is to be a great salesman. My loyal reader, the Ya Whoa's so poignantly pointed out,

" In every election over the past 30 years the cooler candidate has won. I hate to sound like an 8th grader but it is true"

And you know what? After further review, he is correct.You see a Great President needs to be a Great Orator. He needs to be able to "sell his game" to the Senate, the House, the International Community and most importantly, the U.S. public. One of my favorite movies of all time was the "American President". In that movie, Michael Douglas's (if your a movie producer and you need to have a speech delivered, Douglas is your go to guy. Whether it was the "Greed is Good" Classic, or this speech, Douglas is the Lebron of Movie speeches) Presidential approval rating was falling because he was involved in an election and dating a lobbyist at the same time. The problem was, he didn't address the issue of why it is okay for a widower to date a single woman (seems pretty harmless, right?). Anyway, Senator Bob Rumsfeld, played brilliantly by Richard Dreyfuss used that opening to gain an incredible edge in the coming election. Rumsfeld had no policy issues, just kept ranting about a President who had the audacity to date a liberal lobbyist and the low morals of inviting her to the White House. Now, why we might be a little cynical since at the time we had a President get re-elected who was doing a lot more than just dating a single woman, the point was, Douglas didn't address the issue. Once he did- in one of the great movie speeches of the last 25 years (rivaled only by the "I'll take a flamethrower to this place" Scent of a Woman Speech by Pacino, "Greed is Good" by Douglas, "I am G-d" in Malice, by Alec Baldwin, "We are the great American Sooooooooldier" by Bill Murray in Stripes and Belushi's "When the Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor" in Animal House) President Andrew Sheppard's approval rating soared. While this is just a movie, we have real life examples.
Ask the typical American who the 2 best Presidents of the last 30 years were, and unequivocally you get back Clinton and Reagan. Ask who the two worst Presidents were and with a quicker response you get Carter (The Evil One) and George W. Bush #2. Ask any of the people you just polled to name 1 or 2 reasons why they chose that answer, and besides Bush (and only because he's current) they will probably have a hard time answering.
The reason they chose Reagan and Clinton is because they were persuasive. They were incredible orators and therefore were able to sway the public towards there way of thinking. We didn't like Bush because he couldn't "sell" us on why it was necessary to take out Sadaam, Afghanistan, etc, even though the U.S. is a safer place today because Bush did what he did. You take Bush and replace him with Reagan, I bet we would have a lot different perception of our War on Terror.
Obama has a chance to go down as one of the great ones. There is no one who can bring it like Obama in oratory skills. His charisma is unquestioned. He has the public eating off his fingertips. One factor we don't know is how well he can sell his goods to the International community. Reagan sold his so well, the Iranians let the hostages go right after he was inaugurated because unlike his Liberal Wimp Predecessor, the Iranians KNEW that Reagan would have layed the Smackdown on them if they held the hostages under his watch. Same reason with the USSR. Reagan called their bluff, outspent them in the Weapons development game and eventually caused that system to bankrupt itself.
President Barry has a good chance to follow in the ways of JFK, Reagan and Clinton, simply because he can communicate as well as they. Here's hoping he uses those great skills in a positive way and gets the U.S.A. back on top in all the rankings

They're playing Obama's Music!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-20T11:00:00.001-05:00

Here's how Obama should enter his inaguaration tonight- Hulkamania style..........

NFL Championship Weekend Preview- TPC Style

2009-01-16T09:41:00.004-05:00

Every year we have different "themes" heading into Championship Weekend. Last year we had the "Perfect Season Quest" and the "Does Favre have one more bit of magic left" Championship Games. 2007 brought us the classic Manning vs. Brady, "mano a mano" game and the magical Saints, trying to rejuvenate a city in the face of disaster game vs. Da Bears. This season we have two very interesting themes. In the NFC we have the quest for Greatness. McNabb trying to get into the class picture of all time great QB's with a Super Bowl win (not to mention shake the tag of "Best Player to Never win a Major" and "choker" all at the same time) and another improbable ride to Glory for Kurt Warner, who is trying to enter THE elite circle of Quarterback Greatness.
The AFC features the other side of the ball as the two best and most physical defenses try to punish other to submission while being led by two of the younger up and coming Superstar QB's. Let's go to the war room.........

NFC Championship

TPC has talked ad nausea about the greatness and under appreciation of Kurt Warner. Let's now focus about his counterpart, Donovan McNabb. For all of McNabb's regular season success, he has not fared as well in the playoffs and has traditionally had awful games in big spots. However, statistically, his regular season success compares favorably with many recent Hall of Famers and better than a few others (notably Aikman). However, the fact of the matter is, great QB's are judged by their rings as much as their stats and that's why Aikman is considered an all time great and guys like Fouts are rarely mentioned in that conversation. McNabb is the proverbial "best player to have never won a major" since Peyton got his two years ago. Much like his golfing counterpart, Sergio Garcia, a lot of the blame goes to him. Sure, he has carried the Eagles on his back to their now 5th Conference Championship game, but in his 3 losses in those games he has 1-5 TD-INT ratio, going a combined 54-101 for 514 yards, a 54% completion % and a an awful 51. YPA. In other words, he wasn't invoking many memories of Joe Montana and Bart Starr. The one Super Bowl he did play in, he threw 3 INT's had a 74 QB rating and a 1 Major Field Throw Up on National TV. Not your exact image of the "Ice Water in your Veins" type QB. He will be facing history, his own legacy and a newly inspired defense that has forced opposing QB's into a combined 7 INT's in two games. Not a good sign for the Eagles. Westbrook, their real X-Factor has not looked the same in recent weeks. Add to that, the Eagles use the blitz more than any NFL squad (actually second most) and they are facing a QB who LOVES going against the blitz (6th best in the NFL). You have a banged up secondary against the best WR in football (Fitzgerald), and possibly the 2nd best if healthy (Boldin) with a re found running game in a pretty well rested Edgerrin James. This a good matchup for the Cards. They have a hot QB, a rejuvenared defense and a running game, all three of which they didnt have in their earlier brow beating given to them by the Eagles.
I liked them last week, I like them this week.

Final Score: Cards 31 Eagles 21

AFC Championship

The Steelers are an interesting squad. They play a power football game, but without the power football tools- at least on the offensive side of the ball. The Steelers defensively are as good and punishing as any in the NFL including their counterpart this week. However, offensively, despite their recent success, are prone to an attacking aggressive type defense. Basically, the Steelers offense gets handled pretty easily by the better defenses. They were beaten pretty soundly against Tennessee, Philly and the Giants, and they had a very tough time offensively in their 2 wins vs. Baltimore. Big Ben has been physically beaten this year, being sacked 46 times plus getting hit hard countless others. The Steelers running game has been non existent this season averaging 3.7 yards per carry.
For all that, Baltimore does even less offensively. They always beat who they should and never beat who they shouldn't (except last week, when Tennessee handed them the game even though they clearly outplayed them). Pittsburgh beat them twice, Tennessee beat them twice and they lost to the Giants and Colts. They feast on mediocre offenses (as evidenced two weeks ago in the Dolphin destruction) and do everything offensively BUT let Flacco beat them. Yes, he has played well in spots, but he's not winning the games for them. It's their defense, which is playing extremely well and Flacco doing enough, not to lose the games for them.
So, as always when you have two similar teams, both with great defenses, you take the "who do you want to have the ball with two minutes left in a 10-10 game" factor, which at least this season favors Big Ben.
As much as I hate to go with the same picks as The Sports Guy and his horrific track record, The People's Champ says:

Pittsburgh 17 Baltimore 7

Kurt Warner- Revisiting the Argument

2009-01-15T15:58:00.003-05:00

In September of this year, TPC wrote an argument giving (here)FACTUAL evidence of why Kurt Warner is not only an excellent Quarterback, but why he should also be in the conversation for Hall of Fame, All Time Great Status.

This season only added further to TPC's argument and we will detail the evidence.

Interestingly enough, the Arizona Cardinals is the oldest continuously run football franchise in the United States. They have won two NFL Championships in their 111 year old existence, the last being 1947 (a very similar run that haunted New York Ranger fans and their 1940 chants). From 1947-2007 they won a total of TWO playoff games. They have only qualified for the playoffs 5 times total prior to this year. They are one of six NFL teams to never play in a Super Bowl (in other words, these guys make the Jets look like Giants). What does this have to do with Warner? Everything I say. You see, Warner came into this situation with a rookie franchise QB in the wings (in Leinart), won the job through terrific on the field performance and may have totally transformed the face of the franchise.
In two seasons as the Cardinals starting QB, he has thrown for 8000 yards, a 57-31 TD-INT ratio, roughly 65% completion % and an 95 QB rating.
Again, Warner has won as many playoff games for Arizona this season as they have won in the last 61 years. You want to kill the Manning Boys, Rivers and Delhomme for being eliminated early (and rightfully so in each instance), then you must give Warner the same (if not more) credit for doing the opposite. All he did was win two road games against heavily favored teams, going 40 for 64 for 491 yards, 4 TD's and 2 INT, for a 94 QB rating, including an opening 13-16 for 180 and 2 TD's on the road, against a Carolina Panther team that was 8-0 at home for the season. Compared that to McNabb's 70 QB rating and 2 TD-3INT ratio, and you wonder why everyone is singing the accolades of McNabb but ignoring the ever growing greatness of Warner. Again, he has taken a team to the NFC Championship, a game away from the Super Bowl, who has won a total of TWO playoff games in it's past 61 years.
He's as good a big game QB as there is in the last 25 years that isn't named Brady or Montana. Let's look at the numbers:

Brady- In 17 playoff games (including 3 Super Bowl Wins and Two MVP trophies) he has a 26-12 TD-INT ratio, 6.6 Yard per Attempt, a 62.5 Completion % and an 88 QB rating. He has a 14-3 record in those games (wow!).
Montana- In 23 playoff games (including 4 Super Bowl Wins and 3 Super Bowl MVP trophies) he had a 45-21 TD-INT ratio (including an astonishing 11-0 ratio in the Super Bowl), 7.9 YPA, 63.3 Completion % and a 96 QB rating, with a 16-7 record in those games. He also threw the most famous pass of All Time (The Catch) until last seasons miracle Manning to Tyree play.
Elway- In 22 career playoff games (including 2 Super Bowl wins and one MVP) he had a 27-21 TD-INT ratio, 7.6 YPA, 54.6 Completion % and a 79.8 QB rating. He also ran for another 460 yards and 6 TD's a very important stat when discussing Elways value. He is 14-8 in those 22 games.
Bradshaw- 19 games played (4 Super Bowl Wins and 2 MVP's), a 30-26 TD-INT ratio, 8.4 YPA (an astounding number), 57% Completion % and an 83 QB rating. Bradshaw was 14-5 in his playoff games.
Favre- 22 games played (including 1 Super Bowl win and 1 MVP), he has a 39-28 TD-INT ratio. 7.4 YPA, 60.7% Completion% and an 85 QB rating. Interestingly, until Warner destroyed him in a 2002 divisional playoff game 45-17, you can make a case Favre was as good as anyone in the playoffs to that point with a 25-12 TD-INT ratio. He has a 12-10 record in his 22 playoff games.
Warner- 9 games played (including one Super Bowl win and 1 MVP), Warner has a 19-12 TD-INT ratio, 8.2 YPA, 63% Completion % and an 92.6 QB rating. He's 7-2 in those 9 games.
Aikman- In 16 games played (3 Super Bowl wins and 1 MVP), he has a 24-17 TD-INT ratio, 7.7 YPA, 63.7% Completion% and an 89 QB rating. He is 11-5 in those games.

McNabb, Young and Marino's numbers all fall short of the above list. Every guy above listed is a clear, first ballot hall of famer. Warner's regular season success as well as playoff success is on par with this group- statistically and proven in big games (only Montana has taken a second team into the playoffs of the above group, and one which was much better with a greater history that the Cardinals and didn't get as far as Warner did this season. In defense to the other great ones, only he and Favre have even had the shot with other squads).

Giant Defeat- TPC Reveals the Real Reasons the Champs are Out

2009-01-12T10:22:00.004-05:00

We watched the game. We heard all the pundits and talking heads. It was Eli's fault. It was Coughlin's fault. Spagnola's fault. Well, The People's Champ is going to break it down reason by reason.

1- Eli played awful. From the opening play, a great play design to free Steve Smith on a route that left him wide open, nothing between him and the End Zone. Eli threw just an ugly looking ball that under threw Smith that portended things to come. Whatever you want to say about the play calling, whatever you want to say about the defense taking the "gas of the pedal", if Eli makes that throw, the Giants go up 7-0 against a very shaky Philly offense, as indicated in the first half.
Eli's numbers were: 15-29 169 yards 2 INT's and a 40.7 QB rating. Although he had a statistically worse game in 2005 against the Panthers in the NFC Wild Card game (10-18 113 yards 3 INT's 35 QB rating), I contend when you take everything into consideration- his stature, the team, situation, experience- this was his worst game in his NFL career. This was a game the Eagles game plan was simple- "Eli, go ahead and beat us". Besides a brilliant 3rd down throw late in the game to Dominic Hixon and some nice crossing patterns with Boss, Eli was off all day and it validated the Eagles game plan.
Some have indicated (especially the Ducks- my long time nemesis) that Eli's lack of arm strength kills him late in the season in the cold and blustery winds of Giants Stadium. To date, statistically these critics are 100% on the ball, as Eli has been brilliant in his road playoff games (evidenced by last years Super Bowl MVP run) and his total incompetence in his two career home playoff games. His home December numbers are much worse than his road numbers during the same time period (although this year he showed much improvement at home in December, except this week-when it really mattered). Ignoring the fact that TPC has no evidence or case to base this on, I believe Eli will rebound and show he can win and lead this team to home playoff wins.

2- "Prevent Defense" to end the first half that gave the Eagles a Field Goal, the lead and their first sustainable offense. The Giants dominated the first half on both sides of the ball, despite Eli's putrid performance. The Eagles only score was the result of Eli's interception, that set up a Donovan McNabb QB sneak. To this point, the Eagles had 10 yards in total offense, plus a Giant safety. So what did the great wizardry of Spagnola and Coughlin's genius do? They took the pressure and heat off McNabb (which to that point produced a safety an INT and 10 total offensive yards), allowed him to breath and work underneath and gave the Eagles some life. Again, to that point the Giants were moving the ball on offense (except the INT, they controlled the line of scrimmage) totally dominated with their defense and even their special teams played great. That offensive possession gave the Eagles a lot more than 3 points and a halftime lead. it gave them life and it got McNabb back in some sort of rhythm. He did nothing to that point. This was the classic case of "don't let these guys stay in the game because they will think they can win it" game. To that point, if you looked at the Eagles bench, they were done. Why the great Spagnola (and I mean that in all seriousness) decided to call off the horses on that last drive is beyond understanding. It is also probably why (good news for Giant fans) Spags will be back in NY next year while Ryan will become the next Jets coach.

3- The offensive game plan- Anyone who has watched the Giants the last two years KNOWS the offense starts with Brandon Jacobs and the beating he gives the opposing defenses. I'm as big a supporter as one can be for Eli Manning, even I admit the offense starts with Jacobs. The success of Bradshaw and Ward is directly attributed to the pounding that Jacobs delivers to the defense. Yes, the fact that you landed on Boardwalk with 4 houses knocked you out of the game, but landing on New York Avenue and Marvin Gardens 3 or 4 times prior, is what led to your bank account getting to the point where Boardwalk can bankrupt you. So what do the Giants do? They split carries with Ward and Jacobs when Jacobs was abusing the Philadelphia defense when Ward was struggling to gain 2 or 3 yards. Jacobs has abused Philly every time they play. They are a defensive line that is susceptible to a power running attack and the Giants decided to bounce Jacobs to the outside and have Ward pound it to the inside. Just doesn't make sense. With all the criticism on Coughlin for his 3rd and 4th down play calling (I believe at the time he had no confidence in Eli at that point and was gripping at straws) this was his biggest mistake on the offensive side of the ball. If your the Giants, you have to pound Jacobs inside all day, until Philly can prove they can stop him. This would have worn down the Philly defense and allowed a shaky Eli (who actually looked decent in the 2nd Quarter) to settle in and not have to do too much in very tough conditions (for all the McNabb raving I have heard today, the guy played awful except for two drives and his safety and two picks could have cost him as much as Eli cost the Giants. Only difference was Samuel's got closer to the goal line than Robbins on the INT).

With two minutes left in the first half, I texted my friend and told him the Giants will dominate in the second half and Jacobs and Co. will wear the defense down. After the Eagles drove the field to the end the half, I said "I think the Giants might have just given these guys a new lease on life". Unfortunately, for the Giants- I was right.
With that being said, I think the best team on the field yesterday was the Giants. I felt they dominated the first half, but some key coaching decisions and the total ineffectiveness of Eli, allowed the Eagles to hang around long enough for McNabb to make a few plays and sometimes that's all you need.

A look back at TPC's NFL and Fantasy Predictions

2008-12-30T15:32:00.007-05:00

One of the main reasons I started this blog was so I would have some accountability of my usually outlandish predictions.
For a full list of my preseason picks you can go to The People's Draft Review, The Fearless Forecast, and Week 1's review.

Without further ado, a look back with a special tribute- Mike and the Mad Dog Style:

"The J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS will make the playoffs and Brett Favre will finish in the top 5 of the league MVP voting"
That's an awful job Mikey. Awful, awful job. No excuse for that.........
Hey Dog, when they beat Tennessee and NE a few backs back, you weren't sayin' the same thing. You were cringin everytime Baningo walked through that door.

"Michael Westbrook will finally break down this season. So will Jamal Lewis."
You gotta give credit where it's do Mikey. TPC was right on the ball.......
Your right Dog. Westbrook had a nice season but still was banged up all year and had 700 fewer yards than last season with a much worse yards per carry and Lewis was a non factor on a just Putrid Cleveland football team.
"Eli, excuse me, ELI MANNING-SUPERBOWL XLII MVP will continue to grow and flourish in an offense that returns all 11 of it's starters from it's SUPER BOWL XLII victory."
You know Mikey, I'm sick of Eli this and Eli that. Enough of the Eli stuff already.
Hey Dog, the guy won the Super Bowl MVP against an unbeat-a-ble Patriots team. He led the Giants to the NFC's top seed despite losing his #1 Wide Receiver and his #1 Running back for large parts of the season. He had his best statistical year throwing a career low 10INT's his best QB rating ever, 21 TD's and his best yards per attempt ever. And Dog get this, in late and close games he had an astonishing 132.6 QB rating in 7 games with 4 TD's and 0 int's. You can make a veerrrrrrry good case, he's the best clutch QB in the game right now.

"Derek Anderson will be a huge disappointment this season and make the Browns regret paying him and last years #1 pick, Brady Quinn."
Not much to be said about that one Dog, except the kid was right on the money again.

"Chris Johnson will be a stud. This season. Bye Bye Lendale".
Well, Dog, he was right on about CJ. He's probably the most dynamic back inthe game right now behind Peterson and White pretty much just cleaned up his garbage.
Mikey--Are you crAYzy! Johnson had a great year. A GREAT year, but White had 15 TD's. FIFTEEN MIKEY.
Dog, he had a paltry 3.9 YPC compared to Johnsons 4.9. He was just fortunate to pick up Johnsons trash.
Hey Scuzari, get Sirius back on the phone here. This is why I left the FAN in the first place!
"Reggie Bush will have a big year. So will his QB Drew Brees."
Um, hmmmm....

"Michael Turner will flourish as a starting RB, something along the lines of 1300 yards rushing and 12 TD's+."

Mikey, here's what a reader- YaHooa's wrote to TPC after week 3:
"I still think Michael Turner is a joke, the season is still young and I will be proven right."
TPC was right on the money. People were killing him on the boards Mikey.
Yeah, Dog if anything he undersold Turner who had a HUUUUUUUUUUga year.
"Kurt Warner will continue his recent success and lead Arizona to a playoff spot."
And some MVP consideration along the way, Dog.

The Steelers will not be as good as most think. Nor will the Vikings. The Steelers will still win their crappy division.
Mikey, he missed on this one. Both teams won their divisions and for crying out loud Mikey, The Steelers finished 12-4. TWELVE and Four.
Yeah Dog, but lets look at it a little closer. Against playoff teams. Playoff teams Dog, the Steelers lost to the Giants. They got manhandled by the Eagles. The Titans just ate them up with home field throughout on the line. Manning and Dungy beat them in Pittsburgh. Take away Baltimore and the 8-8 Chawgews and the Steelers didnt beat anyone. They look very beatable to me going into January.

The Raiders wont be as bad. JaMarcus will show flashes of greatness. As will RunDMC. Did I say Brandon Marshall will be huge this year? So will Calvin Johnson. Pennington will show he has something left in the tank. So will Ricky. Galloway wont. Neither will Marvelous Marvin Harrison

The Raiders were better than last year and Russel did show signs but TPC was off here. If they can keep McFadden on the field, he's a star.
I cant wait to see what Johnson will be like with a coach next year Mikey. That guy is unbelievable. If he was playing in Green Bay, they would call him Brett Favre HAHAHHHAHAHAH, oooooooooooooooh baby.
"Marion Barber will not be worthy of the #6-#9 draft position he most frequently went."
Dog, here what separates TPC from all the other guys out there. Here's how he explained his reasoning for that prediction.
"Barber is a very good back. He was utilized perfectly in the Dallas system, but now that he is the featured back I think he takes to many upright hits and wont be able to take the constant punishment." and here "Marion Barber will now need to shoulder the whole load and if he was so great, why did Dallas take Felix Jones with their #1 pick?".
And Dog, just for good measure here's how the Ducks, TPC's long standing rival answered.
Marion Barber didn't have great #s the past 2 years? I can't answer why the cowboys took jones, teams do dumb things sometimes. and the cowboys have been dumb often lately (i.e., wade phillips, pacman jones) but that has nothing to do with barber who will be the FT rb. he avged 4.8 ypc the past 2 season, tends to have one huge run every game and if you watch him (i am a giants nfc-east guy, so i do) you see more than even just those stats. i'm telling you, he looks like barry sanders to me. he won't be good, he will be GREAT.
See Dog, TPC sees beyond the numbers. He gets the game.

"Carson Palmer will once again disappoint."
No one saw that coming Mikey.

"Devin Hester will be electric as a WR for da Bears."
Ya know Dog, TPC took a lot of heat for this prediction, but at the end of the day, he wasnt far off. he led the Bears in receiving yards by a lot (665 yards0 and he missed the better part of 5 games. Not the greatest TPC prediction, but far from awful.

"Division Winners
Pats, Steelers, Jags and Chargers in the AFC
Cowboys, Pack, Saints and Cardinal in the NFC
Wild Cards
Jets and Colts in the AFC
Giants and 'Skins in the NFC"

Mikey, we'll give a pass on the Pats. The Jags were just awful Mikey. AW-FUL. TPC didnt even show up in the NFC except the Cards.
Your Dog, just a crazy, crazy NFL season and even the great TPC had a tough time figuring it all out.

NFL Regular Season Closing Thoughts

2008-12-29T09:52:00.004-05:00

It was only fitting that the final regular season game of the 2008 season carried with it a "win or go home" finish. It was also fitting that a team which won it's last 4 games (the 8-8 San Diego Chargers won the division from a team who had the reverse finish, 3 straight losses, when just one win would have clinched the division for them. This season was one which featured three major late season collapses (Jets, Bucs and Broncos) and some great late season surges (Eagles, Chargers, Colts and Falcons). We had the first 0-16 team in NFL History (the Lions) and team that went 11-5 (Pats) that missed the postseason so the 8-8 Chargers could get in- and win a division nonetheless.

The Jets will fire Mangini early today as ESPN has been reporting and rightfully so. Normally a team that goes from 4-12 to 9-7 would be considered a success, but not this season. Just 4 weeks ago the Jets were thinking Super Bowl after defeating the Titans and Patriots, but now are left sitting at home wondering who is to blame for their great demise. First and foremost the coaching staff has to take the brunt of the fall. A team that went out and beat the Titans and Pats all of a sudden played a "not to lose" type strategy that lost them 3 of the seasons final four games, and only a miracle play kept them from being 8-8. They refused to run the ball down the Broncos throat, a team that can't even think about stopping the run. They came out flat against San Fran and Seattle, two teams that finished a combined 11-21 (although to be fair the '9ers showed a lot of heart and promise down the stretch under Mike Singletary). The next one to blame has to be Brett Favre, someone who was probably the leading candidate for MVP consideration just 5 weeks ago. Someone who made some of the worst decisions you will ever see on a football field by a pro football Quarterback (let alone someone who will be enshrined in Canton), as evidenced by his 2 TD 9 INT final 4 game finish. I don't care what the MRI shows to his arm, unless they do one on his brain and pinpoint exactly what he was thinking with some of those throws.
The Bucs had a similar collapse, although they did have a much tougher schedule losing to NFC top seed Carolina, 11-5 Atlanta, San Diego and a Raider team that showed signs of life late. Not in the same category as what the Broncos or Jets did, but still a collapse nonetheless. 9-3 teams should not finish 9-7, I don't care who you are playing.
The Broncos are led by two of the most overrated people at their respected positions. Mike Shanahan who has done nothing, NOTHING as a head coach without John Elway and Terrel Davis and Jay Cutler, who has an arm like a young Favre and brain like the older version. Seriously, take away the Elway years and what has Shanahan done? He hasn't built a running game since Portis left (he actually believed all the nonsense that people wrote about him and how it's the system and not the players. Well, it's about the players. System helps only if you have the horses). He hasn't ever built a decent defense, especially against the run.
Cutler is all flash and no substance. He has probably the best "toolset" of any NFL QB, and watching him play shows you why NFL scouts were so high on this guy. He has a great arm. great mobility. Sees the whole field, but when push comes to shove and things tighten up, he always makes the wrong decision (the red zone Interception at the beginning of the second quarter was the turning point of the game yesterday). I wouldn't give up on him (his skillset is way too high) but he needs to show better judgement or every bronco season will end in similar fashion.
Perhaps nothing gave The People's Champ more pleasure than watching the Dallas Cowboys get utterly destroyed by the Eagles yesterday, closing out any chance they had of making the playoffs. Tony Romo, for all his Sept-Nov brilliance has proven to be a complete and utter failure in December and January (5-10 in December and Jan for his career). With all the talent they have, Wade Phillips must go (unless you like relish in the Cowboys failures and therefore hope Jerry Jones grants him that 8 year extension). It's time to get rid of the ultimate locker room cancer in Terrel Owens. Team needs to be remade.
On the positive side, the Eagles stepped up big time yesterday (and down the stretch) and brought it to another reeling franchise (the Cowboys), claiming their playoff birth. The Eagles finished the season winning 4 of their last 5 games to get into the playoffs with McNabb playing some of the best ball of his career. The Eagles also have an aggressive attacking defense that can give fits to any team, and if Andy Reid weren't still the head coach, I would say they could upset the Giants in the NFC. Won't happen. Still a great job all around.
Not enough can be said about the job Tony Sparano, Bill Parcells and Chad Pennington did with the Dolphins, transforming the 1-15 doormats to 11-5 AFC East Champs. What a great job all around. Chad has to be given serious MVP consideration in the job he did. Sparano is on the short list of Coach of the Year candidates. Just a tremendous job.
Matt Cassel and Bill Belichek deserve kudos as well, let's just not go overboard. All they did was take a team that went 16-0 and go 11-5 with a much easier schedule. Yes, a good job without the Great Brady, but lets not go overboard here. They still had the same squad that went 16-0 last year and were unbeatable until the Giants upset them in the SB. When you read some of the nonsense being spewed about them, you think they were the ones that took over a 1-15 squad. Bottom line, if Brady were healthy, with that schedule, the Pats would have been a lot closer to 16-0 than to 11-5.
And what about the Falcons? All they did was beat Carolina, Tampa, San Diego and Minnesota down the stretch to get into the playoffs after a 4-12 2007 season. Less than a year removed from the Michael Vick fiasco, Matty "Ice" Ryan had as good a rookie QB season as there has been since the great Marino debut, 25 years ago. He will garner MVP consideration and Mike Smith deserves serious consideration for Coach of the Year honors.
We will get into the playoff thoughts later in the week, but here are my season ending awards:

AFC MVP- Chad Pennington. The QB is always the one who takes most of the blame (see Favre, Romo, etc) he must also get the credit where the credit is due and no one meant more to his team than Chad to the Dolphins. Honorable mentions: James Harrison, Peyton Manning and Albert Haynesworth.
Coach of the Year- Tony Sparano. Honorable Mention: John Harbaugh and Tony Dungy. Let's not discount the job Dungy did, holding the Colts together through all the injuries and getting them back on track to where some say they are the team to beat in the AFC.
Rookie of the Year- Chris Johnson. He's the most dynamic back in the game not named Adrian Peterson. Honorable mention: Joe Flacco (if there was no Matt Ryan we would have heard a lot more about this guy) Eddie Royal and Steve Slaton.
Most disappointing player: Crazy as this may have seemed in Week 11, Brett Favre. Derek Anderson also gets consideration.

NFC MVP- This was a much tougher choice than the AFC. You have Brandon Jacobs and Eli Manning from the Giants, both indispensable pieces to one of the leagues best all around offenses, you have Kurt Warner. You can make a great case for Matt Ryan and Brian Westbrook, but for my money, the 2008 NFC MVP is All Day Adrian Peterson. You take that guy away from the Viking offense, and HE IS the Vikings offense, they go 6-10 at best instead of the 10-6 division Champs they are.
Coach of the Year- Mike Smith. Honorable mention: John Fox.
Rookie of the Year- Matt Ryan. Honorable mention: Matt Forte and Dejean Jackson.
Most Disappointing player: Marc Bulger.

Yankees Signings- It's Good for Baseball- TPC's Take

2008-12-24T10:57:00.004-05:00

Once again the Yankees turned the baseball world upside down, with their covert maneuvers in signing Mark Teixeira, the premier offensive free agent player of the 2008-09 offseason.
Until the deal was inked, most had been led to believe Teixeira was contemplating the Nationals offer of between $174M-$185M (and whether they would be able to sign other big names to form a competitive team in the Nations Capital) or the Boston offer, presumed to be anywhere from $20-$24M a year for 6 years.
Well, when we all heard the news the Yankees came in- basically out of nowhere- to ink the star first baseman, shock waves were sent throughout the baseball and sports world.
The Yankees now have the 4 largest contracts in Baseball (Jeter, Arod, Sabathia and now Teixiera). There is growing sentiment and concern that they are ruining the game and now small market teams "really" can't compete. My question is, why all of a sudden now? What is different today then yesterday? Let's analyze.
The Yankees always went after the big names and the big contracts. In years past, they made big mistakes. They signed pitchers to big contracts that were past their prime (Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson) or unproven-especially from a health perspective (Jarret Wright and the Infamous Carl Pavano). The offensive players they signed had similar issues (Giambi and Damon). You can make a very good case that Cashman has done a horrible job in his assessment of free agent pitchers. The only big name free agent who was in his prime that was signed over this time period was Mussina (a deal that worked out just fine for the Yanks). Every other signing was either for a pitcher in his mid 30's or who had major health risks.
This years signings- at least the Sabathai and Teixiera signings- were different in that both are young, in their primes, and have never had health issues. These were great signings. You lock up a top 3 ML picther at age 28, who has pitched in big games- and pitched well, and the games best all around First Baseman, also at age 28. The Burnett signing actually is similar to the ones mentioned above, a 32 year old pitcher who has had basically 3 healthy years in his career- all walk years. The only reason that the Burnett signing can be seen as a positive to TPC is he is essentially the #4 starter in terms of talent and major league success (I would take CC, Wang and Joba over him easily). With the pressure being off, maybe he avoids the issues that Pavano, Brown, Johnson, etc have endured by being a savior to the staff. That falls to Sabathia and it says here, C.C. will be just fine in that role. With the being said, TPC would have spent that money elsewhere (and not Derrek Lowe either).
Next major falsehood being spewed in various circles is the Yankees are blowing up the salary structure of baseball and makes the divide between small and large market much larger. This is completely false. The Yankees payroll as currently constituted for 2009 is actually 10% LOWER than in 2008. Basically, the Yankees traded Giambi's $23M 2008 salary for Teixiera's $23M 2009 salary. A great trade by anyone's estimation. They traded Mussina ($12m) Pavano (13M) Pettite ($16M) for Burnett and Sabathia. They still have about $25M left to spend on one more pitcher and for reserve. TPC suggests if Pettite doesn't want the $10M, go with a rotation of CC, Wang, Burnett, Joba and either Hughes or Kennedy. I think Hughes will turn out to be a very viable top of the rotation guy and his salary structure keeps the Yankees somehwhat cost effective for 3 of their current spots (Wang makes $6m this year and Joba and Hughes are under a million each). What the Yankees did was sign all their big deals in one season, rather than stagger them as they had in years past. It was also the smarter move, as the Yankees now have a core IF of Arod-Tex-Jeter and Cano, with Jeter being the oldest at 34 and a pitching staff of 5 under 32 (Burnett being the oldest at 32). They just got much better and much younger with the 3 signings with a smaller payroll than that in 2008.
The Yankees also just paid $26M to a luxury tax that goes partly to the smaller market teams. I don't see the Royals or Pirates giving that back. Nor do I see anyone complain when the Yankees are in town and their attendance rockets-thereby selling more tickets, merchandise, food, etc. The Yanks led MLB last year with an average attendance of 44,131 fans per game- a far cry from the Marlins and their 25,000. If the Yankees weren't the "Damn Yankees" those road attendance numbers would not be where the are. The Yankees (and the Red Sox, Cubs, Mets, Dodgers) being good is good for Baseball. It drives attendance, interest, TV rights, merchandising, etc. It makes money for baseball. It's like the economy. It's good when people get rich. It gives opportunity to the people the rich support. If the rich are doing poorly, their businesses have cuts, people lose jobs, they spend less, the circle goes round, etc. (as we see in todays economy). The Yankees outspending and making a big media splash is good for the small market teams. As Buster Olney reported earlier- "And they do have defenders even among the small-market teams. "They just got a luxury tax bill of $26.9 million, didn't they?" another AL official asked rhetorically. "They always pay, don't they? The other teams cash their checks, don't they?" "The Yankees are great for baseball, just like the Red Sox and the Cubs are great for baseball, because they generate interest and they generate money for all of us. Today, somebody is going to pick up a paper overseas and there will be something in there on the Yankees' signing of Teixeira. Do you think that would happen if there was some trade between small-market teams? People pay attention to the Yankees, and that's good for our sport." Exactly.
The last major point, is the Texiera signing actually improves their current investements in other players. Arod's worth just gets increased by having a great hitter (a switch hitter nonetheless) hitting in front of him. It makes his current contract more valuable. Teixeira is the best hitter since Sheffield to hit in front of him and that was an MVP season for Arod (which it says here, he will win it again this season). He also takes some of the media spotlight away from Arod, which can only help. He makes the rest of the lineup more powerful. He also makes the defense stronger and increases the value of Arod, Jeter and Cano's defense. It's a no brainer move- a far cry from the defensive liability that is Giambi.
The Yankees spending hasn't change one bit. The only difference is, they are spending it smarter, which makes them better, which is better for baseball.

Yanks Sign Teixeira

2008-12-23T15:48:00.002-05:00

John Heyman is reporting the Yankees and Mark Teixiera agree to an 8 year $180M deal.
The Yankees keep flexing their financial muscle and sign their 3rd monster Free Agent of the 2008 offseason.
The People's Champ will comment on this great signing a bit later.

Sabathia and Burnetts Impact- No Texiera? TPC Thoughts

2008-12-17T11:54:00.005-05:00

There has been a recent school of thought on the Yankees spending spree ($240M combined on Sabathia and Burnett) and how it will affect them in a negative way in the future. Our friend, The Ducks made this comment recently.

Duck Views: There's always an opportunity cost, TPC. Always. And it says right here that Teixeira is a HUGE, HUGE opportunity cost. Had the yankees paid a SOMEWHAT reasonable premium for Sabathia, and not signed burnett, they could have had Teixeira. And what a dual signing that would be-- Sabathia and Texeira??? I'd take that over Sabathia/Burnett any day.

As usual, The Ducks are wrong and totally are missing the point. Besides the fact that Texiera will cost $200M and Burnett $85M, there are more important issues.
Let's take the Sabathia deal where the Ducks said:

Ducks:I see your house is on the market and you're asking $750K, TPC.
TPC: Yep.
Ducks: Any offers so far?
TPC: Not really, I mean, one guy did offer $450K, not sure if he's serious, though.
Ducks: We'll give you $950K, TPC
TPC: Really?
Ducks: Ha. Nah. Make it $1.25 Mil
TPC: Deal, But if the house goes up in value over the next 3 years, I'd like to be able to opt-out.
Ducks: You got it.

The fact is, the Yankees offer of $23M a year is not much more than the original Brewers offer of $20M per year. Biggest difference is length of the contract and being C.C. is only 28, he will only be 35 his final year of the contract-essentially still in his formative years. Being Sabathia is a top 5 pitcher at worst right now, let's see other starters in that salary stratosphere.

Johan Santana, age 30 (2 years older than C.C.) $22.75M a year average over 6 years.
Carlos Zambrano age 27, $18.3M 5 years
Barry Zito age 30, $18M 6 years.
Jason Schmidt age 36, 1 more year at $15.6M

Obviously, Sabathia is on par in excellence only with Santana in that group. He's also a good peer, not just in terms of talent but in terms of economics and location (both play in NY). You can make a very good economic case that $20M per year for Milwaukee is a lot more than $23M per for the Yanks. In fact, the Brewers entire payroll was $81M last year, so C.C. would in essence be 25% of that. The Yankees had a $209M payroll, so C.C. comes in around 11%, less than half of the Brewers offer.
The Burnett deal I didn't like, not because the salary was more than others were offering (from all reports the Yankees offer was best because the guaranteed the 5th year), but because of the health risk and the fact that his prior 200IP seasons were all "walk years". That scares me. That has a lot of Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano rings to it.
The Ducks main contention was opportunity cost and the fact that this will prevent the Yankees from signing Texiera. That notion is 100% false, and here's why.
The Yankees payroll as of today is still $45M less than last year due to Giambi, Abreu, Pavano, Mussina, etc contracts coming off. They have made offers for Texiera, but the reports that I have read are the Yankees don't really love him that much. There is thought that he is a numbers compiler and when it comes to clutch situations, they don't want another A-Rod on their hands. Basically, they made the offer more as window dressing than anything else. A written by MLB.com's Tom Singer "There is a belief within the game that New York is feigning interest in Teixeira simply to drive up the price for Boston -- which, aside from its prior interest, now also needs the slugger to counter its rivals' hoarding of pitchers".
With that being said, the Yankees will probably sign another pitcher and a bat (possibly in the Mike Cameron deal). Buster Olney has reported the Yankees payroll will actually be 10-15% less than last year (plus the luxury tax savings) so in essence the Cashman plan of building through youth (Joba, Hughes, Cano, etc) and still being competitive is working. The staff is anchored by 4 guys who are under 30 (Sabathia, Burnett, Wang-28, and Joba-24). That is much different than the days of overspending for an aged rotation of Johnson, Brown, Mussina(who was worth the money but still in his mid 30's), Leiber, etc.

Week 15 NFL Fantasy Preview

2008-12-12T10:28:00.006-05:00

Tampa at Atlanta 1PM EST

Tampa's defensive got blasted last week by an extremely impressive Carolina running game. I don't expect the same results this week, but Turner is a must start. Ryan is not a must start and if you have better options, I would use them. Roddy White as always is a must.
Garcia has been playing pretty well and he should be considered, whereas Antonio Bryant is a must start and Dunn could be used as a back end RB #2 or a flex starter. I would also start Tampa's D as they have owned Atlanta in their last 3 meetings.
Washington at Cincinnati 1PM EST
The Redskins, despite their recent struggles, have a few high end ranking plays this week.
Their D, Portis and Cooley are all top 5 at their respective positions this week. Santana Moss is a good WR #2 play and you can even consider Campbell if you don't have a better alternative.
Cincy has been so awful lately, I would only consider TJ and possibly Ocho Cinco. Benson is a desperate flex player this week. Redskins should get back on track in a big way.
Tennesse at Houston 1PM EST

A very intriguing matchup, the AFC's best D against the AFC's 2nd best offense.
Houston plays well with Schaub at the helm and although Tenn. has one of the top pass defenses (currently #3) Schaub is still a play and Andre Johnson is a must play. You also have to start Slaton, but I wouldn't expect a huge game. Walters should only be considered as a WR #3 and Daniels only if you don't have a better option at TE (which you probably don't).
You have to start both White and Johnson, both should have big days against a very poor Houston run D (9th worst in the league). Only other offensive player worth starting is Scaife and if you have really no choice (which I don't see how) you can play Collins.
Detroit at Indy 1PM EST

Peyton Manning owners, start your engines! Manning is the #1 QB play this season and despite the inconsistent seasons of Addai, Wayne and Clark, all are a must go against one of the worst teams in recent NFL history (KEEP IN MIND-AS OF THIS WRITING ADDAI IS VERY QUESTIONABLE. IF HE'S OUT, RHODES BECOMES A MUST START). Gonzalez is also a start as a WR#2/3 and the Colts D, which has been playing very well since Sanders came back are a top 3 option.
The only Lion that should see a fantasy roster is Calvin Johnson.

Green Bay at Jacksonville 1PM EST

A game between two predicted Super Bowl contenders has lost any luster except to fantasy players. Both defenses have played poorly and have underachieved which presents this as a great fantasy matchup.
Rodgers is a great start as always. Grant is a must start, as is Jennings and even Driver.
With the season ending injury to Fred Taylor, MJ Drew becomes a top 5 fantasy back. With Matt Jones out the rest of the way, Reggie Williams becomes a decent WR #2/3 option. Jerry Porter looks like he's very questionable at this point to play.

San Diego at KC 1PM EST

The NFL's most disappointing team gets a chance at some redemption this week- at least for fantasy owners. Phillip Rivers is the #2 play behind Manning and should see a better day than the one a few weeks ago, where the Chargers barely survived a 20-19 win at home vs. the lowly Chiefs. LT is a must start despite his seasons struggles. Jackson and Gates are also must starts.
For K.C., Thigpen is a top 12 QB option this week (as he has been). Gonzalez and Bowe are must starts and LJ is a good #2 RB against a very suspect Chargers D.

San Francisco at Miami 1PM EST

Amazingly, the Dolphins control their own destiny for the AFC East Crown. If they win out, they win the East. This after a 1-15 season! Incredible job by Tony Sparano who should be coach of the decade for this performance.
With that being said, Mike Singeltary has turned around the 49ers since taking over, with 3 wins in their last 4 games, including wins against the Dolphins AFC rivals, the Jets and Bills.
SF's D has been playing well as of late, therefore don't go crazy with the Dolphins. Brown is a decent RB #2 option and I would consider Chad as a starter, only if your left with no better options. However, I would consider Davone Bess as a WR #2/#3 option especially in PPR leagues. He has 20 receptions in his last 3 contests.
On the 49ers side of the ball, Hill is a decent option at QB. Gore is very questionable as of Friday AM, so you need to consider other options. If Foster starts I wouldn't give him more than Flex credit. Bruce is a good #2/3 WR this week as well.
Bills at Jets 1PM EST

Just 2 weeks ago the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS were making Super Bowl plans and now they are tied with NE and Miami with the worst schedule of the 3 down the stretch. What should we expect?
I think the Jets turn it around right here against a reeling Bills team. Thomas Jones who is quietly having a monster season (1300+ yards and 14 TD's) is a must start. This is the game the Jets got Favre for, and it says here, he delivers and delivers big. Start him. Also start Cocthery and Coles as WR 2/3's and Keller. I think the Jet offense is in for a big day. I would also start the Jets D. Their achilles has been their pass d, but I don't see this Bills team hurting them. If you have Lynch, you have to start him but I don't expect much more than a decent Flex position type return.

Seattle at St. Louis 1PM EST

What a matchup! Two 2-11 teams going head to head in week 15, what else could you ask for? Seattle sports fans, we feel for you. Seriously, how bad can one city have it? As ESPN's Sports Guy has written over and over, they have the worst situation of any city in professional sports right now. Well, at least for one week they get the lowly Rams.
The truth is, I don't know who to start in this one. Both defenses are awful, but the offenses aren't much better. I guess you have to go with Bulger, Holt, Avery and Jackson. On the Seattle side, Branch and Morris are decent plays and Carlsson is a top 5 TE start. Good luck if you have to watch this one. You might want to start drinking NOW.

Arizona at Minnesota 4PM EST

Another very good matchup with serious playoff implications. With Chicago's win last night and their easier schedule, Minny needs to keep pace to win the division. The Cards already clinched their division but they are playing for positioning.
As always, All Day AP is a top 3 RB play. The QB position is still up in the air, but I would consider Berrian as WR #3.
As always, the Cards are matchup proof and you start Warner, Boldin and Fitzgerald. Breaston can be used as WR#2 as well. They will all produce.

Pittsburgh at Baltimore 4PM EST

The defensive matchup of the week, possibly even the season. Start both defenses as always.
Only offensive player I would even consider is FWP, although Santonio Holmes has 4 TD's in his last 3 games vs. the Ravens. He's worth a shot as a WR#3.

Denver at Carolina 4PM EST

Another good fantasy matchup. Both teams assure themselves of a playoff birth with a win, so much to play for.
Carolina's defense has been underwhelming the last few weeks and they get a real tough test with this Denver passing offense. However, the Denver offense has been less than stellar when they don't have a running game, and with Hillis out for the season, this puts it all on Cutlers shoulders. What does this mean? Good fantasy numbers for Cutler, Marshall, Schefler and Royal, but I think Carolina comes away with a win, with Denver playing catchup most of the day.
Add to that the fact that the Carolina running game has been on fire, led by the hottest fantasy back in the game Deangelo Williams, Denvers defense is in for a long game. Obviously, Williams is a top 5 start, Stewart is a must as a RB #2. Steve Smith is a must start as always and you could do worse than Delhomme this week, although Williams and Stewart will eat up the scoring.

New England at Oakland 4PM EST

I can't get the Raiders right this season. One week they play hard, next week they dont show up. Every week, they are still a very subpar football team.
Cassel is a top 10 play this week. Moss and Welker are usual starts. You could do worse than Sammy Morris as a RB #2 and Faulk as a Flex player. I also love the NE Defense this Sunday.
Oakland? If you own any of them besides Miller- a good start as a TE (and if you do, you're season is over and you probably aren't reading this anyway) leave them on the bench, unless you're desperate for a RB/ Flex, then go with Fargas. If your league counts poor QB play as a plus, JaMarcus is your man!

New York Giants at Dallas 8:15PM EST

In the featured matchup of the week, the Giants look to take a step closer to clinching home field throughout while the Cowboys hold on for dear playoff life. With all this going on, Terrel Owens decides to go into self destructive mode and criticize Romo for favoring Witten. Not a good thing to do especially with the Giants coming off that loss last week. It says here, hide the Dallas women and children, the Giants will be taking no prisoners this week. Only thing that can help Dallas is if Brandon Jacobs does not play Sunday.
For fantasy purposes, you can start Eli as a low 1st/ high 2nd option. I would start Ward if Jacobs cant go and Boss. I would play the Giants D.
You always have to start TO, Romo, and Witten. I would even consider Choice if Barber can't go.

Cleveland at Philadelphia Monday 8:30 PM EST

Cleveland has looked horrendous in recent weeks, while Philly is surging, trying to claim the last NFC wild card spot. Cleveland has scored a combined 21 points their last 3 weeks and it wont get easier here. Bench all Browns. Right now. Don't even make a mistake of over sleeping between now and Sunday. Just get them the heck out of your lineup. I almost feel bad for Dorsey this week- although not to bad as I start the Eagles D! Obviously, the Eagles D is a great play.
McNabb, Westbrook and Desean Jackson are great plays. This will be a romp and this could be one of those 3-4 TD type games for Westbrook.

Good luck to all those still in their playoffs!

Yanks Get Their Man C.C.- The People's Take

2008-12-10T09:57:00.005-05:00

Typical of the way things work in the New York Baseball scene, less than 12 hours after the Mets sign the best Free Agent Closer available in K-Rod (around 3PM yesterday afternoon, The Mets and Francisco Rodriguez today agreed on a three-year, $37 million contract- which by the way is an amazing deal for the Amazin's, considering K-Rod entered the market, wanting 5 years and $75M), The Yankees signed the #1 Free Agent Pitcher on the market, agreeing to terms with C.C. Sabathia at around 2AM EST last night on a 7 year $160M deal, the richest deal for a pitcher in ML history. Despite various reports and rumors, Sabathia didn't wait for that West Coast offer that was supposedly coming (either from the Giants, Dodgers or Angels) and went to New York for the big bucks and the bigger responsibility.
The Yankees spend $25M more on Sabathia and kept prospects Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Melky Cabrera (some even think Robinson Cano) rather than going for Johan Santana last season.
The big question is, did they make the right decision?
First and foremost, lets take money out of the equation. Yes. I know we are talking about a combined $285Millllllllllllion dollars here (read in Dr. Evil voice with pinky dangling from the corner of your mouth), but this is the Yankees and the Yankees have more money than pretty much everyone these days-including the Federal Government (and you can make a good case they spend theirs a lot wiser). When it comes to money, the Yankees $160M is a lot less to them than say $160M to any other major league franchise. They just have so much more of it with playing in the NY market, their own TV network, the new Stadium, etc.
The real question here is: Is C.C., Hughes, Kennedy and Melky worth more than Santana?
Statistically speaking, Santana has been the best pitcher in baseball the last 6 years, bar none. CC has been the best the last 2, winning the CY Young Award in the AL for 2007 and having one of the great runs in recent ML history last season when he was traded to the Brewers (11-2 1.65 ERA 7CG 3 SHO in 17 games started, including pitching his last 3 times on 3 days rest). Santana is a year younger than CC. Career wise, they are close in IP, however CC has averaged roughly 20 more IP a season the last 3 than Santana. They are both extremely durable. They both pitched incredibly down the stretch this season allowing for each of their respective teams to stay in the race to the last day. For their careers, C.C.'s best month has been September, closely followed by August, whereas Johan finishes similarly strong, just being a tad better in August than September. In other words, when the going gets tough down the stretch, these two legitimate aces can carry their teams on their backs- a must for a #1 starter.
Last season was a perfect example of this: Santana was 7-0 in 87 IP with 81 k's and an ERA of 1.87 from August 1 till seasons end last year (as I wrote here, he should have been the NL CY Young). Not to be outdone, Sabathia was 7-2 in 92 IP with a 1.55 ERA and 94 k's, which included pitching on 3 days rest his final 3 starts, which is unheard of these days, to get the Brewers in the playoffs.
One disconcerting issue with both (Sabathia more than Santana) is their failure to "keep it up" into the postseason. Both have losing records and both have been far from duplicating their regular seasons success in the postseason, with C.C. being far worse, getting shelled twice by Boston last year and once by the Phillies this season. You can't ignore this aspect, but you can also attribute the fact that they were both depended on possibly too much down the stretch (especially in C.C.'s case) that possibly we can attribute that to their (and especially Sabathia's) lack of postseason success.
Clearly we can see, in both cases, this is far from signing a severely declining Barry Zito, or a one year health wonder in Pavano. Both guys are at the top of the Pitching food chain for years, always healthy and in their respective primes. This more closely resembles the Braves signing of Maddux (just after winning his first CY Young) and the Yankees initial 7 year signing of Mike Mussina, both very successful signings.
The fact is, the Yankees spent an extra $25m for a pitcher very similar in stature and caliber to Santana, and I say that with the highest respect for both. They kept 3 prospects (leave Cano out of this for now) who have lost tremendous value over the last year. However, keep in mind, Hughes wont turn 23 until mid season. Kennedy will be only 24 in two weeks and Melky (also 24)- who has already proven himself both offensively (despite last years regression) and defensively (no one argues about Melky's defensive prowess)- to be at worst, a good #4 major league OF'er. You don't give up on guys who have had this much success while they are so young.
While Hughes' durability is a huge question that needs to be answered, he has shown ability-extreme ability- at the major league level, to hold out a lot of hope (including postseason success). He also pitched well in Winter Ball this season, to continue that hope.
Kennedy has shown much less at the major league level, however there is still hope here as well. He has also pitched well in winter ball and is working with his former coach on some mechanic changes that some scouts liken to Tom Glavine's early career troubles (not to compare for a second the two vastly different pitchers).
The People's take is the Yankees did the right thing. All they sacrificed was money and they have plenty of that to go around, especially with their recent expiring contracts (Pettite, Mussina, Abreu, Giambi, etc). They still have their youth movement. They have a core rotation of 3 studs 30 or under (C.C., Wang and Joba). They still need help both in pitching depth (reports have it, that the Yanks are close to signing Derrek Lowe for 4 years $68M and possibly even A.J. Burnett- it says here signing AJ will be a huge mistake). This signing goes a long way towards the Yankees regaining their supremacy in the A.L. East. Great move by Cashman and the Yanks.

Publish Post

Week 14 Fantasy Football Outlook- The Playoff Stretch

2008-12-04T11:04:00.007-05:00

As we head down the stretch, many leagues are now starting their fantasy football playoffs. In TPC's head to head league, TPC has been officially eliminated and will not defend his 2007 fantasy crown. However, all is not lost in TPCville as The People's League enters the final 4 weeks of the season with TPC second to Plain Dan in his quest for Fantasy Glory.
Here are my week 13 thoughts and predictions:
The Raiders will keep it close tonight, but in the end LT should be too much for the inept Raiders run defense. Also, I'm not so sure Rivers will have his typical monster game. The Raiders defend the pass reasonably well.
I love Forte against Jax. He's a stud pick this week.
I don't like any Jags at all.
AP is the start of the week against the inept Lions and wouldn't be surprised to see him go for 200+. There isn't a player in the NFL more fun to watch than Mr. All Day.
I would also start Taylor if you have a flex position available. I think 75 yards and TD is well within his reach.
The Vikings D is also a solid play.
I like all the Packers main skill guys against the shoddy Texan D and I love Slaton against the porous Packers run defense. GB usually plays well against the pass, so I would only consider Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels here. Other plays are weak. They do get slightly upgraded if Schaub is playing. He also makes Daniels a much better option.
All Colts, as usual, are a go, including their D against Cincy. Manning and Co. are starting to really click and this week will be no exception.
I love Brees, Colston, Shockey, and Moore for New Orleans and Ryan, Turner and White for Atlana. Should be a shootout of a game.
As always, you need to start Westbrook, but I wouldn't go with any other Eagles unless you have to (unless you start Jackson as a WR #3). Jacobs, Boss and Toomer are all good plays (Toomer only as WR 3). I don't think you're going to see the scoring like the last time these two squads went head to head (NY winning 36-31). I would play Eli over McNabb as the Eagles will focus on stopping the run after the Giants pounded 219 rushing yards against them last meeting.
Quick Eli numbers: In 3 games without Plax he has completed 71% of his passes for 812 yards, 6 Td's and 1 INT, going 3-0 in those games. In other words, Giants will be just fine without Plax.
You can feel comfortable starting Johnson and White and the Tennessee D is the #1 defensive play this week against the Dorsey led Browns. This game will be over quickly and I wouldn't go near any Cleveland players this week.
I'm not sure which Buffalo team will show up this week, but their only must play is Lynch. Miami lucks out playing indoors in Toronto, rather than outside in Buffalo, therefore Pennington becomes a legit starter. As always, Brown is a start. I would consider Miami's D against Losman as well.
Cutler is the #1 QB play this week vs. KC. Hillis is a strong start. Brandon Marshall, Scheffler and Royal are all must plays. The will avenge their week 5 loss in a big way at home and take full control of the AFC West.
Thigpen is a good start as always. Larry Johnson is a great start. He ran for 198 yards in their last meeting. Bowe and Gonzalez are also stud plays for KC.
Start the Jets D. They will respond big time against SF. Jones is a great play. I would consider Favre if you don't have a clear better play. Cotchery and Coles are decent WR 2 and 3 options. Keller has become a must start each week.
You have to start Gore, but I think he's in for a long day against an angry Jets D.
Cassel should have a better game this week than last against a poor Seahawks D. I like the Pats D. Obviously, Moss and Welker are must starts. You could also get away with Morris as a RB #2 this week. I wouldn't start any Seahawks. There in for a long day after the whooping the Steelers put on the Pats last week.
Play all your Cards, as in the Arizona Cardinals. Warner is the #2 QB play this week. Boldin, Fitzgerald and Breaston are all good plays. Even Hightower is a good play. I would even consider the usually inept Arizona D here.
Only play for the Rams is Stephen Jackson. You can play Holt and Avery as WR 3's, but i wouldn't expect much out of either. Gun to my head, Avery is the better of the two this week.
In the Marquee matchup of the week, you got to start Big Ben, FWP, Holmes and Ward. I'm not sold on the Dallas D at all. You also have to play Barber, Romo, Wittin and TO (as you do every week), but I see Pitt winning this one 21-10 or something along those lines. I have no faith in Dallas in a physical matchup and the Steelers are the epitome of a physical D.
Stay away from all Redskins except Portis. I like Baltimore's D and Campbell hasn't shown much against a good D to date. Flacos is a decent play. I wouldn't start any of the Ravens RB. Mason is a good play especially in PPR leagues.
In the Monday night showdown featuring the NFC South's top two squads, I would feel very comfortable starting the Bucs D, Garcia and Dunn. Only Panther I would start is Steve Smith. They will show they are the worst 9-3 team in the game this week.

Good luck to all you still in the playoffs.

RotoNation - Fantasy Sports News, Notes, Jobs, Games, Tools

2008-12-03T22:43:00.002-05:00

Looks like some industry experts picked up on our Garnett Gate and here is their view.

RotoNation - Fantasy Sports News, Notes, Jobs, Games, Tools

Posted using ShareThis

Moving on from Mumbai- Why we should really be thankful

2008-12-01T13:06:00.003-05:00

When we heard of the news in Mumbai over the weekend we all were disgusted, scared and at least until Friday afternoon, hopeful the Holtzberg's would somehow, someway, find their way to safety.
Unfortunately, we now know that wasn't the case. We have all read reports of the suffering the Holtzberg's endured prior to their executions at the hands of the Perah Adom- Bnei Yishmoel. We have read that they were amongst the first executed and the torture they endured prior to their deaths. We know they were first because they were Jews and the Jews are the ultimate enemy of the Perah Adom-Bnei Yishmoel.
So what do we do now? We moved on from 9-11 and from all the suicide bombings in the Holy Land of Israel. We move on because we have to, because as the Chovos Halevovos taught us, the gift of memory and lack thereof is one that G-d has given us so we can endure and move on from these and other likewise situations. But what do we move on to? Where are we moving on from?
You read about the Holtzberg's and their unbelievable Mesiras Nefesh to try and make this a better world for us all. We read about a family who picks up and moves to some G-d forsaken city on the other side of the world, with no one but themselves to just try and pick up and spark up the small bits of holiness that might exist in that place. They do it just because maybe some Yid needs a place to eat while on a business trip or maybe some lost Soul, in trying to discover the religions of the East has one last hope to come back to his Father in Heaven. The Holtzberg's aren't the only ones doing this. There are many, many, many different people in different places, some as far away as Mumbai and some just around the corner or perhaps even your next door neighbor doing similar great acts.
And that is the whole point of all this. The Jewish religion is one that preaches love, peace, harmony and Kavod Habriyos (respect and love for all of G-d's creations). This is the direct opposite of the Islamic Fundamentalists, who's lives center around destruction, murder, hatred and the mutilation of all that is beautiful in this world. They raise their children to await the day that they can cause such tremendous pain and suffering to the world, so that they can murder innocent women and children, destroying any fabric of a productive and healthy society (the images of the murderous Perah Adom dancing in the streets as the Towers burned still prevail in mine and many minds).
I'm sure most of you have heard your local Rabbi's this week preach of doing better, doing one extra mitzvah, helping one more person, saying one more tefillah, etc in the Zchus and Memory of the Holy Holtzberg's. That's typical of what we hear during these times. Do one more act of Chesed in memory of the Holtzberg's. Give a little more charity in their memory. While all that is good and should be done, we need to do something a lot more simple. We need to just recognize who we are and how different we are than the destructive vermin that cause this suffering. We need to just look at what our lives and communities are surrounded around (minus all the usual nonsense). How we sacrifice (not with our lives but with our LIVES) for our children, how we support so many institutions that center around people who can't afford either schooling, food, rent, etc. How we suffer when our friends and neighbors suffer. How we hurt when we her of some stranger going through a difficult time. We need to reflect that yes maybe everything isn't perfect in how we conduct our lives and maybe we should compromise more, but more importantly the fact that we can think that way and act that way is reason enough to be thankful. Thankful that we dream of watching our children learn and grow and hope that one day they will raise a beautiful family of their own, and not hoping our children grow up to be the cause and destruction and mutilation to someone elses family and dreams. We need to remember we live in a world filled with beauty and hope and all we need to do is focus on that and realize how far we are from the Perah Adom who has caused all this pain.
We can then wake up every morning screaming "Modeh Ani Lefanetha, MELECH CHAI V'KAYOM!" knowing that we may not know why, or we may not like what is happening, but still, we love who we are and we know from how we live, we were created in the Image of G-d.
It's not much, but it's everything. It's the easiest thing to do, yet the hardest thing to remember.
Then, and only then will we truly realize how great the Holtzberg's and many like them really are.

New York- Capital of the Football World - Week 12 NFL thoughts

2008-11-24T11:10:00.004-05:00

It's been a long time since football reigned supreme in the Capital of the World as it does this fine Monday, the 24th of November, 2008. Not since Week 11 of 1986 when the New York J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS started 10-1 and the New York Football Giants began the season at 9-2, has both team sat upon the Football World looking down at their competition. The Jets defeated the last standing undefeated team yesterday (Tennessee Titans) in convincing fashion 34-13, while the Football Giants cruised to another victory against a division leader; this time defeating the Arizona Cardinals, 37-29.
When the Jets signed Allen Fanacea and Kris Jenkins and made the biggest off season splash by trading for Brett Favre, they only hoped they would reach this type of success this quickly. TPC told everyone, even while the Jets were struggling early on this season that they would be serious AFC contenders, that Brett Favre brings them instant credibility and hope to a franchise that has always lacked both (in 1986 the Jets lost their last 5 games, won a wild card game and then missed 2 late FG's against Cleveland that would have gotten them into the AFC Championship game). TPC as always, was right. Favre is a serious MVP candidate. The Jets have an excellent offensive line, a dominating defensive line-primarily against the run, and an improving secondary. They have balance on both sides of the ball and a leader that they believe will get them over the top. And Mangini, a coach that has been much maligned by The People's Champ, just had his finest hour against the Titans.
The Giants just continue to roll. Without Brandon Jacobs and Plaxico Burress, the Giants offense still managed to put up 37 points against a division leader, with Eli Manning playing a flawless game, going 26-33 with 240 yards and 3 TD's, proving once again he is the single most indispensible player on the New York Football Giants. The Giants also proved that Jacobs must be signed next season as he sets the tone for the entire running game. Ward and Bradshaw don't have the same effect without Jacobs and his 260+lb body beating on the opposing defense 20+ times a game. The Giants have now won their last 5 games against opponents that were a combined 28-13 coming into the game. That is domination folks. The Giants will more than likely have home field throughout the playoffs, and no one, and THE PEOPLES CHAMP says NO ONE, will be coming into Giants Stadium and beating the Football Giants in January. The Giants can start booking their tickets to Tampa because that's where they will be the weekend of Feb. 1, 2009, defending their Super Bowl XLII title in style.

In other games:

Denver continues to show everyone how Jay Cutler is a statistically good Quarterback but in reality, average at best. They also continue to show that Mike Shanahan still cant build a defense and cant compete with a team that plays a more physical game than they do.
They also cant defend the pass at all. Even Jamarcus Russell was awesome against them, going 10-11 with 152 yards and a TD for an almost perfect 149.1 QB rating (almost triple his 52.2 abysmal rating for the season). Yep, throwing against the Broncos is as tough as hooking up with Tara Reed after her 9th cocktail.
The Falcons continue to roll led by Matt "Ice" Ryan and Michael Turner. Where are all the Turner prediction jokes now? Huh? Where? Turner now has 1100 yards and 13 TD's and we have 5 weeks to go. The Falcons destroyed their division rival Panthers and are now a game behind the Panthers and Bucs. Folks, welcome to the Mattie Ice Era. Get used to it because this kid is here to stay and he is already amongst the NFL elite.
I dont think I remember two worse 8-3 teams than the current Panthers and Bucs. Is anyone actually scared to face these guys?
The Steelers improve to 8-3 as Big Ben finally gets his act together, but as TPC has said all season, the Steelers are not a serious threat because they have a very weak offensive line and get bullied by tough physical defenses (as the Giants and Eagles proved).
Speaking of the Eagles, has there ever been a bigger enigma than Donovan McNabb? When he's on his game there is no one more fun to watch, no one who can bring all the elements of the game together quite like he. However, when he's off (or when the pressure increases) he turns into Dave Brown. He's just awful. Not to mention, how does anyone associated with an NFL team not know there are regular season ties? My six year old son knows this, how does a franchise QB who has played 129 NFL games, thrown for over 28,000 yards, run for another 3000+ not know this? Someone please get a hold of McNabb's Wonderlic test. Please.
Matt Cassell made himself $30M-$40M richer the last two weeks and will make some NFL franchise make a $30M-$40M mistake next season. I still dont understand why NFL coaches dont cheat the safeties in on this guy and make him beat you over 15 yards. He hasn't proven he can do it. Make him. He's got great mobility and great accuracy throwing underneath, why not make him get away from his strengths?
Well, I guess the Cowboys really did miss Mr. Romo. Once again proving that the NFL QB is the single most important player in professional sports. Dallas looks like a different team on both sides of the ball just with Romo playing. He gives the team hope which makes everyone step their game up a notch.
It's the same in Minny, where Ferrotte has the Vikings tied for the division lead with the Bears at 6-5. He's not in Romo's class, but he's also a far cry from Tavaris Jackson. No wonder the Vikings are now a credible threat in the NFC's Norris Division.
Looks like Manning and the Colts are somewhat healthy again these days, Vinatierri showed once again how clutch he is and all those people who TPC warned shouldnt bury the Colts just yet are having Jason Voorhees flashbacks.
The Chargers are now officially done and it's because of these reasons, in order:

Norv Turner should not be a head coach in the NFL. Period. (for more info go to FIRENORV.NET). He is a failure everywhere he goes taking a team that was a play away from the Super Bowl just two years ago (and a 14-2 record under Marty Schottenheimer) to a team that is now 4-7 in the worst divison in football. Just inexcusable. He should not be coaching next year.
Shawn Merriman being injured and/or not being juiced up was a tremendous hit to their defense. It also showed what lack of character and heart their defense has. The Giants lose Strahan and Osi and are still cruising along because of character and talent. The Chargers have talent, just no character.
LT, the greatest all around RB I have ever seen, has lost a few miles off his fast ball. He's no longer the same LT as we knew and awed. He's now just a good NFL back and that's not good enough for that offense. That offense is built around LT making things happen.
Phil Rivers is not as good as his statistics show him to be. He makes big mistakes in inopportune times- mostly of the careless variety. They made the right call by keeping Rivers over Brees, but only financially as Brees is the much better NFL QB.

While looking ahead to Thanksgiving (TPC gives thanks to the Creator many days EVERY day) TPC would like to be especially thankful for Thursday with 3 games of National Football League Action. TPC is not thankful tht he has to wait all day to watch the high flying Cardinals, led by MVP candidate Kurt Warner play The Donovan Wonderlics. Well, you cant have everything...........

Garnett-Gate- The most despicable event in Fantasy Sports History

2008-11-22T19:31:00.009-05:00

This week in The Shark Tank, The Wild Samoans (TPC's team along with DTA) experienced the single most despicable, vile, and lowly move in the history of fantasy sports.

(Here's the link from the Draft Review so you can refer to the players involved- click here).

Here is the sequence of events:

NOV 19th 5:13 PM, the Ducks write this post (keep in mind the Ducks are in the bottom 3 in the league currently, albeit early in the season).

The Ducks are Panicking Early Posted by: Jeff (Ducks)

Message ID: 137 Nov 19 5:13pm

We are making KG or Granger (NOT both) very available. We will trade one of them for TWO very good players. That does not mean 1 good player and a scrub. That means TWO very good players. If we get a fair offer we will accept first come first serve. To encourage trade submissions, we don't intend to wait to compare offers. We intend to accept the first offer that we feel helps us. So a deal could happen quickly.

Duck Views: Remember, 2 very good players.

By 6:30, TPC and The Ducks work out a deal where the Ducks send Kevin Garnett to The Wild Samoans (currently in the top 3 in the league) for Marvin Williams and Rudy Fernandez. The deal helps both teams, but especially The Wild Samoans.

(Now, keep in mind that this league has an insane rule that if 4 managers decide to Veto the deal FOR ANY APPARENT REASON (or as the Commish so eloquently explained, for "displeasure").

Dolph Schayes veto's right away, going nuts and even calling the Ducks out for trying to sabotage the league and colluding to help the Wild Samoans (Dolph Schayes is managed by the same person that ran Fat Mats last season, the team as stated in the draft review that tanked the first half of the season, purposely benching his best players, so he could win the Most Improved Award, a prize that goes to the team that gains the most teams post All Star Break).

The N Connection quickly jumped on the Schayes bandwagon, vetoing the deal, and calling for The Ducks to have their team locked from making any moves and be thrown out of the league. Perhaps because his team is also on the bottom and he's in danger of not winning his 3rd staright title, or perhaps because he didnt get KG-we'll get to this soon.

BONZNNUTS, managed by the incorigible Barzini, veto'd the deal as did one other squad- making the neccessary 4.

The Commish (who's in 4th place) quickly pulls the "cancel trade" button without finding out why the deal was made, why the veto'ers vetoed, going strictly by The Rule. He then questions the Ducks integrity, locking his team from making any moves, without a) finding out why the deal was made, and b) without even looking if the deal helped the Ducks (which TPC so brilliantly pointed out in a later post, how it helped the Ducks). Keep in mind, the Commish has been in over 10 leagues with the Ducks and has seen the Ducks

-TPC bitter history and the Ducks integrity (which has never been questioned).

TPC in all his eloquence and his Tag Team partner, DTA, in his typical wrath, layed the Smackdown on the League. It was like a Royal Rumble with the newest entrant cleaning house. People's Elbows, Sweet Chin Musics, Pedigrees, Tombstones, and of course some Stone Cold Stunners. As Jim Ross would say "They're cleaninghouse. It's Pandemonium here. The Wild Samoans are IRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATEEE!!!!!!!!!'.

The Ducks showed similar disatisfaction. They made a deal that clearly helped them (TPC in his analytical brilliance, posted the exact FACTUAL statistical help it brought the Ducks). They knew The Samoans got the better of the deal, but they didnt care. They made the deal in good faith and bettered their team. There was a litanny of posts regarding The Ducks character (all of which have since been apologized for) , regarding how The Samoans robbed them and they (specifically Dolph) would have made MUCH better offers, etc. There were also complaints of "not having enough time to make an offer", "I would have made a better offer" etc, without actually reading the Ducks post stating he wouldnt wait and he will accept the first offer he feels helps his team.

What was missing from all the posts was one legitimate reason why the trade was vetoed. Not a single one. You know why? There wasn't any. Yes, The Samoans got the better of the deal (as TPC told Ducks in a private email PRIOR to any one post), but they did it fairly. The reason why it was vetoed was simple. It helped The Samoans too much. An insane reason to veto a legitimate trade that helped both squads.

The Commissioner, if he cared about the leagues integrity and not about his personal pursuit of the leagues title, would have listened to all parties (trade participants, trade vetoers, other league members) and then held a league wide vote for a veto, and not listen to a couple of message board posts 10 minutes after the trade was done.

By the way, the Ducks havent posted them yet, but he will be posting all the other great offers (interestingly many teams, including the ones that vetoed the deal and claimed they would make better offers, didnt make one offer).

So what happened? The Ducks re-Shopped KG. The Samoans disgusted by the leagues actions, pulled out of the running and The Ducks traded Garnett to N Connection, of all the self serving hypocricy we have seen so far, N Conectiion getting or even bidding for KG is unfathomable, detestable and should have never been allowed by the Commish, for two slightly better players than the ones in the Samoans deal, albeit a few days later and after the fact. (in defense of The Ducks he doesnt really know all the players involved, and wasnt aware that the N Connection was the same team as the vetoing squad that called for his teams expulsion of the league. I assume he wouldnt have dealt with him if he did know).

What did we learn from all this?

1) The Commish known as Forties and Dimes in most leagues and the Yeshiva Bochers in this league) handled this matter in a disgraceful way, letting his personal motivations get in the way of the leagues integrity, standing on The Rule as his reason for the quick Trade Cancel, rather than waiting and hearing for reason from the league (interestingly if this would have happend the trade would have gone through as I will explain). In his posts he defended the leagues actions, he exaggerated and misquoted the Ducks original post to make the Ducks look worse (until TPC called him out and posted the EXACT post as seen above fromn the Ducks). All the leagues managers apologized to both the Samoans and Ducks for screwing us, EXCEPT the Commish (who generally is a great guy and good fantasy player) and his brother, Brazini the Knucklehead.

2) The Ducks gained respect from the league for being a team that although is currently in the bottom half of the league, a team that will try to improve and take a consistent stand on the issues.

3) Barzini was again showed what a fool he was as he then vetoed the second Ducks deal AFTER ALL THIS, for no reason but because he is a considerable morn and really should be committed to the closest mental institution. Seriously, the guy is off his rocker and he is a menace and threat to normal society. You dont believe me? Here's his exact post vetoing the second Ducks trade for the second time (yes, I assume the guy is sleazy enough to think his Commish brother is stupid enough to count them as two vetoes. Wait, let me inform theCommish, He actually might not realize this and Barzini can now veto deals all by himself.........).

vetoPosted by: barzini (Boneznnutz)
Message ID: 274 Nov 21 4:24pm
3 years of the nconnect raping little incompetent clowns ends here!!!! Veto , veto , veto nyet no hell no LO! nay nischt Barzin the Dream stop pannicking 9 games into the season !!!!

4) We found out-in practice-why this is the most ridiculous rule in the history of fantasy sports. How is it that less than 50% of the league can veto a deal by not allowing it- especially for no specific reason other than "displeasure"? This is ridiculous considering there is no reason or basis for a veto. "Displeasue" is enough. TPC's opinion is simple. If there is a trade negotiated in good faith and no collussion or chaeting is involved, there should never be a veto. Plain and simple being a good mananger and negotiator shoudl not be held against someone. Ridiculous.

5) the N Connection showed what a sleazy, hypocritical Fantasy Bastard he really is (he's a great guy in real life....) by posting initially That the Ducks should be thrown out of the league, their team locked, vetoing the deal without giving any reason and then going ahead and trading for the SAME PLAYER INVOLVED IN THE VETO. Am I crazy here, or is this the most insane thing of all time in fantasy sports??????

6) Dolph Schayes, after last years fiasco and now this, might have finally seen the light as he came forth apologizing to The Ducks and Samoans and rescinded his veto (albeit after the fact- as did two other teams, which if the Commish handled this right, the trade wouldnt have been vetoed).

If nothing else maybe Dolph Schayes becomes a better man for al this. If that's the case, maybe it was worth it.

Lesnar, Cy Young, Jets- Pats, Yankees and more random thoughts from TPC

2008-11-14T10:03:00.007-05:00

Tomorrow Night marks the biggest night in the young MMA career of the Phenom that is Brock Lesnar. For those who don't know, Lesnar is a former National Wrestling Champion while at the University of Minnesota and then turned "Pro" as "The Next Big Thing" in the World Wrestling Entertainment company (WWE). Lesnar is a physical specimen of size, speed and brute strength, non of which has been seen before in the UFC. Lesnar carries a 2-1 MMA record against one of the All Time great UFC champions, Randy Couture into tomorrow's heavyweight Title Bout. Couture, a former NCAA wrestling champion himself comes into this fight with a storied career. "The Natural" has held the Heavyweight belt three times and the Light heavyweight title twice, with storied victories over Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Tim Silvia. he has however never faced someone of the likes of Lesnar.
Despite the obvious size, strength and speed advantages of Lesnar, he is an extremely inexperienced MMA fighter, and despite his recent destruction of Heath Herring (in most impressive fashion) he got caught into an early submission by former Champion, Frank Mir, in his previous bout, despite dominating Mir early.
What's TPC's take? It says here, despite Couture's savvy and experience he is very similar in ways to Lesnar, except he's giving up way too much size and strength to Lesnar. Lesnar will attack and pound Couture and will be rewarded with not only the Most Watched UFC bout in history, but with a world title to boot.

I have little problem with Tim Linsecum winning the NL Award. Statistically he was the best pitcher in the NL this season. He was second in the league in Wins despite playing for a very poor team, he was first in K's and second in ERA. However, my vote would have went to Johan Santana, who single handedly kept a reeling Mets squad in the playoff race until the final day of the season, didn't lose a game from June on, was FIRST in ERA, the most telling of pitchers stats, had only two less wins than Linsecum despite the horror that was the Mets bullpen, all this while pitching in incredible pressure situations, must win games, every time he took the mound from mid August on. Linsecum didn't pitch in a meaningful game all year. Somehow, Brandon Webb and his almost a run more per game ERA than Santana finished first. As always, the voters are idiots.
Which brings me to the AL voting. It was a foregone conclusion that Cliff Lee and his unbelievable season would finish first. Now, Roy Halladay had a great season and deserved his second place finish, but how does any voter justify his vote for Halladay over Lee? It makes no sense. I just need one reason. Please.

The Yankees made a great move yesterday that is quietly being swept under the rug with the CC Sabathia sweepstakes going on. Swisher is a Yankee type player in the late 90's mode. Hard working, hustling, versatile, and most important he has a great eye. That means extra pitchers for the opposing starter and it means more men on base for Arod and the boys. yes, Swisher had an awful year last year (he hit only .219) but lest keep in perspective:
He hit 24 Homers and walked 82 times. He's a switch hitter and he's only 29. He also only makes $3.6M a year, which is about $15M less a year they would have to pay Texiera to play 1B.
I think it's a great move and will be one of the more understated reasons for the Yanks return to prominence next season.

Finally, the Jets excorsized a lot of demons last night. Brett Favre played an amazing game, virtually unstoppable, especially with the game in the balance. The problem was, and this will haunt them at a later time, Mangini did not adjust one thing after the Patriots made their adjustments, which almost cost him the game. They did not pressure Cassell. They let a QB who has shown to be very skittish while being pressured, be as comfortable as possible in the pocket, and let him pick them apart underneath, which is all he can do as he cant throw an accurate pass over 15 yards. Mangini should have sent 6-8 men at him at all times and let him beat them deep (which he should he couldnt do). They played right into his hands and let him attack the Jets with his strengths (underneath stuff and his legs). Good coaches take away the other teams strengths. The Giants did that by attacking Brady in the Super Bowl and it paid off. The Jets almost paid for it.
I think the Jets are the most talented all around squad in the AFC. They have a good offensive line, a very good RB and QB, a great defensive line and maybe the best all around CB in the league (Reeves)and an immense weapon in Leon Washington. They also are handicapped by Mangini's coaching and I'm not sure he can get them past a playoff game. I hope I'm wrong as it would be great to see two New York squads battling for Football Supremacy, I just don't see it happening unless Mangini changes in a hurry.

Bo-MJ-Tiger-"Taste Great Less Filling"- Great Sports Commercials

2008-11-13T17:28:00.003-05:00

My good friend and fellow blogger (and constant commenter on The People's Blog) The Ducks, recently wrote an article detailing his list of the greatest sports commercials. As always, the Ducks spoke off the cuff, didn't do proper research and did a half toochas job on the specified task. TPC commented on his site but instead of doing his job on his site, TPC lists his favorite commericals, in no particular order, here, live on TPC:

1. The King Of Sports Commercialism, Michael Jordan has a littany of great spots, and some would (and probably correctly) argue that he could take up most of the top 10 (anything with MJ highlights brings goose bumps to TPC). Here are some of TPC's favorite MJ spots.

MJ vs. Larry Bird in a game of HORSE for a McDonald's lunch .
Air Jordan 20th Anniversary edition with Spike Lee. A great tribute and very creative.
You can't miss when you combine Bugs Bunny and MJ.
Young Mj vs. older and wiser MJ. Classic.
MJ Popcorn tape with Steve Martin- faking retirement.
NIKE's MJ tribute on Jordan's 1999 retirement.

2. Probably second only to MJ in commercialville is Tiger. here's a sampling of his greatest work.

Tiger's Caddyshack parody. He even gets the accent down.
The famous NIKE commercial where Tiger was just messin' around. They used it.
Don't steal Tiger's clubs!
The one that got it all started. I'm Tiger Woods.

3. Bo knows. Without BO, there wouldn't be an MJ or Tiger.

4. Another NIKE classic. Armstrong as a boxer, Aggasi as a Red Sox, Randy as a bowler, etc...

5. Maybe the Greatest Ad Campaign Ever.

Great Taste-Less Filling, and it's all up to Rodney.
Gotta love Ueck.
First Lite Beer Open

6. Chicks dig the long ball. Maddux and Glavine doing it Rocky style.

7. Without Sports, this wouldn't be disgusting.

8. The ESPN spots........

Rookie Camp
Who stole The Kings Chair?
Stoene Cold Steve Austin studying.
Danica Patrick parking in Dan Patrick's spot.
The New Kid- coming out too early. Great Bob Ley piece.

9. Mean Joe Greene and the kid. Maybe the most classic commercial of all time.

There are many more, but these are the top of my list. I think. Enjoy the links.

Flying the Friendly Skies-TPC style

2008-11-13T16:01:00.004-05:00

TPC was fortunate this week to fly out to California (Los Angeles) on business and went the only way TPC can go- First Class (at least when his client pays).
Here are some thoughts on the trip:

TPC flew Continental for the first time in years and for the first time ever in Continental's First Class. Usually TPC takes American (bearable) or USAir (barely bearable) when going cross country First Class, Jet Blue otherwise. Well, TPC is glad to say Continental rules! Seriously, a very pleasant trip, good food (Kosher of course, which we will get too- USAir doesn't even offer first class passengers a kosher meal), very nice flight attendants (in the customer service meaning, not in the Singapore Air meaning), great seats and plane and an overall good experience. The People's Champ fully endorses Continental Airlines.

Where's the Political Correctness when it comes to Kosher Food? Why am I the only guy that has to rip apart 14 packages before I get to my barely edible meal? Seriously, if this were in a different setting, like a kid with special needs had to do something in this strange manner, how do you think it would be handled? I would venture to say everyone would have to have double wrapped meals and deal with it, as to not offend the "special one". Well, this "special one" demands the same! Double wrap for everyone!

Whenever you fly NY to LA, there is a good chance you will have some sort of celebrity or celebrities on your flight. I had a few going. I don't know who they were but there was an attractive blond in her mid 20's I suppose who wore a baseball hat and sunglasses until she got in her seat (directly across from me) and then relaxed when she was amongst the other First Classers (she was definitely not an A lister as I would have then known her). Same type of story with the guy next to her (either her boyfriend, or friend, or .......who really cares. he seemed like a dweeb). TPC is thinking of going the all day all night sunglass route ala our celluloid heros and Corey Hart.

I then saw a guy I actually knew, Robert Lasardo, aka Manny and Father Mateo from General Hospital. See, TPC watches GH, at least when he goes to bed and his wife is watching SoapNet (and GH is on from 10-11). However, it's not all bad. There's some international espionage, mafia-gangsters, acceptably attractive females (although not too attractive as to threaten you're wife/girlfriend- the secret to Grey's anatomy success, IMO) and a computer genius who would have been the 3rd wheel if Bill and Ted had a third Wheel (Spinelli). Okay, it's very gay, but I really have no choice unless I want to sleep on the couch and that aint happening (at least by choice). Anyway, I see Lasardo (who I instantly recognize because of his famous tatoos) and notice the guy is TINY. He always portrays extremely scary, tough guys and on the screen, he always comes across that way. In person? (besides seeming like a really nice and pleasant guy) He's TINY. I think in a full contact to the death match, The People's Little Champ (now a Yellow Belt and in First Grade) would take him. Seriously, he's listed as 5'7" on www.Soap.com, but he isnt an inch over 5'3" and doesn't weigh more than 120. Tops.

TPC loves the First Class free drink policy. American usually serves Glenlivet. The best I could on Continental was Jack Daniels and a splash of diet coke, but 3 or 4 does the job extremely well (especially when they are doubles). The key? Make sure you have the aisle seat, unless you really want to piss off the guy next to you.

We are our worst enemy

2008-11-05T10:18:00.002-05:00

Saving me an incredible amount of time and thought, Debbie Schlussel wrote a very good article on the State of the Liberal Jew and how we our worst enemy.

Click her e

A Little Light For a Dark Day

2008-11-04T22:06:00.002-05:00

The People's Champ is usually right in his predictions (Cassel has been awful, Turner has been good, C Johnson is the Best Rookie RB in teh league, etc) , and knows All is Min Hashemeim, however TPC is scared that the Republic formerly known as the US of A, and soon to be known as the USSA (United Soicialist Republic of America) is in biiiiiiiiig trouble.

So what do Heiligah Yidin do in these times besides Daven and Learn a little more than usual? They bring the light of comedy into the world.
Here is a little treat I thought you would love. I know I did.

Week 9 and Midseason NFL Thoughts

2008-11-04T09:37:00.006-05:00

It's pretty clear that the NY Football Giants are defending the SB unlike any other team since the 2004 NE Patriots went back-to-back with a 14-2 record.
The Giants are blowing away teams even when they dont play their best game (like Sunday). They have a defense that is better today than it was when they conquered history, SB XLII and the 18-0 NE Patriots "greatest offense in NFL history". They have a franchise QB, 3 outstanding RB's, a good receiving core, and a great coaching staff. I'd be shocked, barring an injury to Manning or Tuck, if the Giants don't win at least 13 games and go to the SB.
I'm not as sold on the 8-0 Titans. Yes, the defense is solid, Chris Johnson is the most exciting player in the AFC right now, Kerry Collins has been very good so far, but I dont see them beating the Steelers, and possibly even the Colts and Chargers in a big game (even though the Colts have an uphill battle just to get there).
Speaking of the Titans, what an awful job by FOX on Sunday. How do you televise an amazing game (Titans -GB Sunday), have the game go into OT and then with the Titans lining up for the winning FG in OT, they cut out to 4 minutes of commercials. Now, as Mushnick wrote in the NY Post Monday, I understand the NFL TV rules (when the local team is playing the network must cut to their game, no questions asked), however, that isn't an excuse to just play 4 minutes of commercials prior to the kickoff. We just needed 15 more seconds to see if the FG was good (which it was). I mean, only a perfect 8-0 record for the Titans was riding on it. Damn FOX.
Well, TPC said Derek Anderson will be a bust and as usual he was right (insert you're Selvin Young jokes here). Brady Quinn takes over for the struggling Anderson vs. The Putrid Denver Broncos. Quinn will do just fine at the helm.
What happened to Cutler? After week 3 he was being hailed as the Next Great Thing, now he's just a regular young QB who gets very jittery, very quick. I think he'll right the ship, but there's a long way to go before he attains "superstud" status.
The J-E-T-S are 5-3, one more win than they had all of 2007 and are currently in First Place in the AFC East. With the Patriots being average at best, and Buffalo falling off a cliff, it seems the Jets and Dolphins could steal this division, amazing as that may sound.
Chad Pennington has been brilliant for Miami and deserves MVP consideration.
The Jags are done. Too many injuries to their offensive and defensive lines have left them crippled. They will be back in 2009.
I'm still not sure what to make of these Colts. Yes, they easily could be 1-7 (instead of the 4-4 record they currently own), the defense is awful (as usual) and the offense if not nearly what it once was. However, Sanders just returned and Manning has finally looked like Manning the last two weeks. I'm not ready to bury them just yet.
How awful are the Raiders? You can make a very good case that they are the worst franchise in sports over the last 6 years (21-57). Their franchise QB looks lost, they drafted a RB #1 this year when they had two decent backs and no offensive or defensive lines. Things look very bleak for the Silver and Black.
I still think the Chargers make a run and win the AFC West, but without Merriman they dont have enough defense to compete for the AFC title.
I dont think Baltimore is as good as their 5-3 record and I dont think Cincy is as bad as theirs 1-8.
Dallas will rebound big after their bye week, but I dont think they pass Washington, Philly or TB for the Two Wild Card spots. They need to dump Phillips and get a real head coach.
Philly is solid, but their whole season hinges on Westbrook playing at full strength. He's that good and important to that squad.
Washington plays good hard defense, but doesn't have the offense to win anything. Campbell might have been interception-less prior to last night, but he also doesnt take many chances.

The Vikings are looking very good with AP running and Ferrotte throwing. They are as formidable as any outside the NFC East. The Bears are in big trouble sans Orton. He's been a major reason the team is 5-3.

I love Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan. Both look like stars of the future. I would take either over Cutler today. However, I dont see either making it to the playoffs this year.

Detroit is a joke and teh Culpepper signing just adds to the punch line. What's the point of signing a washed up QB halfway through the season for an 0-8 squad? Shouldnt they be seeing what the current guys have and what the future holds? Dante is definitiley not the future.

Who would have thought the NFC South would have all 4 teams at .500 or better at the midway point?

I still don't believe in Carolina. They are 5-0 at home, which make sthem a very dangerous home team, I just dont see them beating the NFC East Boys in the playoffs.

I love Arizona and the are making the Peoples Preseason Sleeper Team prediction look great. They practically clinched their divison, Kurt Warner is having an MVP season, they have a great offense and an improving defense. Go Cards!

First Half AFC MVP- Albert Haynesworth, The best player on the best defense and the best team. Honorable mentions: Chad Pennington, Phillip Rivers and Carlton Finnegan.

First Half AFC Best Rookie- Chris Johnson.

First Half AFC Coach of the Year- Jeff Fischer with a close second to John Harbaugh.

Biggest AFC disappointment- I like to say the Chargers D or Jacksonville, but injuries have decimated their respective teams. I'm going to go with Peyton Manning. Basically at career lows in every meaningful QB category, he's a very big reason for the Colts dismal first half. Dishonorable mention: JaMarcus Russel and Derek Anderson.

First Half NFC MVP- Kurt Warner. He has his team with a 3 game lead in first place, has played magnificent at QB (leads the NFC in QB rating, TD's, Completion %, and has only thrown 6 picks). Statistically he's been better than the more acclaimed Brees and his team is also better. Honorable mentions: Brees, Jason Tuck and Michael Westbrook.

First Half NFC Best Rookie- Matt Ryan. He's played great, both iin reality and statistically and has his team at 5-3. His future looks very bright.

First Half NFC Coach of the Year- Mike Smith, Atlanta. He took over a reeling franchise that was hurting big time from the Michael Vick saga, has a Rookie QB starting and has his team in contention and totally transformed the climate in Atlanta. There is a future in Atlanta.

NFC First Half biggest disapointment- The Cowboys. Even with the Romo injury their defense has been putrid. Dishonorable Mentions: Marc Bulger.

Great Concert's- Carlebach Style- New School doing it Old School

2008-10-31T10:43:00.007-04:00

Inspired by a recent post by MoChassid from Blog in DM, The People's Champ would like to offer some great Jewish Jam's.

Shlomo and Eitan Katz with Chaim Dovid in Jerusalem closing a concert with Carlebach's Neshama Niggun.

Aaron Raizel, Shlomo Katz and Chaim Dovid singing K'Shoshana (I believe also in Jerusalem).

SoulFarm in Beit Shemesh Chol Hamoad Succos playing Harachaman Hu Yakim Lanu.

Nochi Krohn at the 13th Yehrtzeit Concert.

Props to a Great Artist

2008-10-30T13:31:00.003-04:00

JERUSALEM ALLEYWAY by Dan Weinstein

I have recently been "reunited" through Facebook with and old friend of mine, Dan Weinstein. Back in the day we would just listen to good music, muse over bad movie quotes, tip a bottle or two and marvel over Dan's creative artistry.
Well, Dan has matured as an artist (thank G-d only in technique) and has created, in my humble opinion, the most intense, diametric and "funky" Jewish art I have ever seen.

From his website:
"The universe depicted on canvas by the artist Daniel Weinstein is composed of a stunning cocktail of intense colors and dynamic images.
The artist's work has been inspired by such disparate elements as:
Tehillim (Psalms) & Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), Tsfat and South Beach, Chassidism & Dr. Suess, Baruch Nachshon, Picasso, Bob Marley,
The Big Lebowski, Shlomo Carlebach & Alice in Chains, his wife Leah, son Aron & daughter Esther.
Daniel Weinstein's art pulsates with the most pleasant contradictions. It is whimsical and fanciful yet poignant. It is traditional -conveying
unchanging centuries old judaic themes, yet entirely modern and reflective of a dizzyingly fast paced technological age.
These lyrical contradictions collide to create a vibrant, electrifying universe where intense beauty, harmony and spirituality reign."

You can check it out at DanWeinsteinart.com.

Fantasy Football Trade- The People's take

2008-10-29T13:22:00.005-04:00

A major trade this week took place in The People's League between Forties and The Ducks.
At the time of the trade Forties were in 3rd Place with 763.70 points, Ducks were 8th and 658.01 respectively. First Place currently has 802.7 points.

Here's the trade:

Forties Traded: Terrel Owens, Earnest Graham, Aaron Rodgers and Darren Sproles.
Ducks Traded: Big Ben, Antonio Bryant, Michael Westbrook and Correl Buchalter.

In any trade you need to look at the rosters because what might look like a "rape" on the surface can actually be a good deal for both squads Post trade.

Forties: QB- Warner and Big Ben, RB Chris Johnson, Brian Westbrook (and his handcuff Buchalter), Kevin Smith and Reggie Bush. WR R Moss, Cotchery, Antonio Bryant and Kevin Walter (keep in mind we start 1QB, 2RB's and 3 WR's).

Ducks: QB Rodgers,. RB's Jamal Lewis, Earnest Graham, Michael Pittman, Warrick Dunn, Ryan Torian and Selvin Young. WR's Braylon Edwards, Greg Jennings, Terrel Owens, Brandon Lloyd and Ted Ginn Jr.

Without making fun of the Ducks and their crappy squad and why any team would have 3 Denver Broncos RB's when only one is even worth a thought of owning is a cloumn for another day let's just analyze the merits of the deal.

From Forties side he traded a very good backup QB for another very good backup QB- both very solid starting options, so in essence he traded away a big chip but got the same chip back (it says here Rodgers playing style will force him to be injured the second half, although he is a Stud QB in the making. Big Ben will rebound and be his usual excellent self). He also got BY FAR the best player in the deal and his handcuff. Now Westbrook is an injury risk but he is a top 3 RB and he insured himself with Buchalter. So, he upgraded greatly at RB from Graham. He has 3 excellent RB's now when Bush comes back and that gives him great flexibility for another deal with his backup QB if he needs to. He dealt Owens, who will have a tough week this week against the Giants without Romo and has a bye next week. I don't like Bryant much but he in essence traded TO for 7 weeks (who will return to greatness once Romo returns) and got 9 weeks of Westbrook (the better player either way). He did great in this trade. He actually sold high on Owens, if even possible, at this point of the season. Graham is only a bye week option at this point anyway, so he didn't lose anything there.

The Ducks panicked. They have an excellent QB in Big Ben. Remember, this is a 16 week season and Ben will put up the numbers in the end. He also has no backup and in my opinion, he actually took the bigger health risk in Rodgers. However, you cant discount Rodgers numbers. He has been great so far. With Owens, he got a guy who will be fine once Romo comes back. The problem is he basically loses two weeks of Owens (as explained) when he is already risking falling totally out of any chance of winning. And, he gave up a guy who can put up consistent monster numbers (Westbrook). Yes, he got Graham (who by the way also has a bye week 10) but Pittman is just as good at this point and he does have Dunn as an option at RB. I admire his gumption and sticktoitiveness (thanks Mick Foley) but in the end I think he hurt his squad more than helped it.

To follow the league click Here

Week 8- NFL Thoughts

2008-10-28T16:32:00.003-04:00

This weeks premium matchup featuring two of the storied franchises in football, and more importantly, two of the 3 best team this season, between The New York Football Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, delivered as expected.
A hard fought game, extremely physical and also very telling.

The Giants have the best offensive and defensive lines in the game. That is why the won the SB last year and it is why they will contend again this year. They dominate both sides of line, attack the QB with a vicious fury all the while protecting their own. Tuck and Kiwanuka are two of the best in the game right now at their positions.

Eli proved again with the game on the line he is one of-if not THE- best QB in the league. Yes folks, with the game on the line there is no one better right now (being Brady is out). You want proof? Here is statistical proof to make that claim. 4th Quarter this season Eli has a 105.5 QB rating. 4th Quarter within 7 points he has a rating of 109.7. The last two minutes of a half his stats are as follows: 15-21 2 TD's, no interceptions and a rating of 119.5. We all remember what he did in the SB on the last drive. We saw it again last night. He is as cool as they get under pressure. The Anti-Arod perhaps. Right now, I dont see many clear cut QB's I'm taking over Eli. That includes Big Ben.
I didn't like the early goal line play calling by the Giants but they finally got their act together calling that great play action for the winning TD. It's nice to run the ball down someone's throat, but you need TD's.
Pittsburgh has been exposed twice to a good, hard and physical pass rush. Philly's D dominated them and the Giants the same. Except for two broken plays on the Giants part (the two long TD's) the Pitt offense was non existint. They will have trouble with Tennesee in the playoffs.

Other thoughts:

I love Mike Singeltary. Finally a coach with some balls. I love how he apologized to the fans on the way out, his benching of Davis and JT and most impressively- the best post game press conference I have seen in a long time.

"I told everyone at the beginning of the week, I will not tolerate players that think it's about them when it's about the team," Singletary said still in high-decibel mode. "We cannot make decisions that cost the team and then come off (to) the sideline and it's nonchalant. I would rather play with 10 people and just get penalized ... rather than play with 11 when I know that person is not sold out to be a part of the team. It's more about them than it is about the team. Can not play (with those players). Can not win with them; can not coach with them. Can't do it. I want winners."

Singletary then said that Davis tried to talk to him in the locker room, and Singletary told him, "You don't want to talk to me right now."

SF might not be good now, but they will with that type of coaching attitude.
I guess TPC was right about Cassel, unfortunately for his fantasy squad.
I love how Favre can totally blow a game and in one possession look the Favre of old. At least he keeps things interesting and the Jets have as many wins in 7 games as they had all year last season.
Carolina just keeps on pulling out these games they should lose. They are 5-2 and could have easily have been 2-5.
The Colts are a mess. They offense isnt what it was and unfortunately for them, the defense is what it was. Horrid. They will have a very difficult time getting in the playoffs this season.
Tennese is the class of the AFC right now but lets not get carried away with last nights win, as did Kornheiser and Jaworski. Seriously, you think they just beat the 18-0 Patriots. All they did was manhandle a team scoring on average 20 points a game with a horrid defense. Forget the last few years and their name. This isn't the same dominating Colts teams. I want to see them beat a tough NFC East team, or even a physical team like Pitt before we sign them up as the AFC representative in the SB.
I love the way Houston's offense has played in recent weeks, especially the incredible play of Andre Johnson. His catch in week 7 was one of the best catches you will ever see and he did it with the game on the line.
I love how Pennington is playing and how quickly Parcells has changed the climate and environment in Miami.
I think Buffalo is a very poor 5-2 squad. Same thing with the Pats.
Don't make too much of the Dallas victory against TB. TB has a bad offense and the Dallas offense didn't show much. The Giants will punish them this week.
Through 8 weeks Phillip Rivers leads the league with 19 TD passes and Brees with 2563 yards. Warner is in the top 4 of every major passing category along with Rivers, Brees and Romo.
Favre and O'Sullivan have thrown the most INT's with Peyton Manning next on the list.
Portis leads the league by a lot in Rushing Yards (944 to AP's 684) and LenDale leads the way with 10 TD's.
Andre johnson leads in receptions and receiving yards.
Joey Porter unbelievably leads the league with 10 1/2 sacks in his resurgent year just ahead of DeMarcus Ware and James Harrison.