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2009 MLB Season Predictions

CiA is X — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:13:59 GMT

Before the season starts, well at least before most of the games are finished, I took the time to predict what the final standings will be at the end of the season.

NL Central
1. Cubs- What can I say? They have a good rotation, good lineup and good bullpen. However, they are overrated a little bit, before I start predicting them to win world series I would like to see them win ONE playoff game.
2. Brewers- Strong lineup but a questionable rotation will lead these guys through a roller coaster season. Their success depends on Manny Parra and Yovani Gallardo
3. Cardinals- Weak pitching but like the Brewers, a strong lineup. I am not very high on their young pitching talent out of the bullpen either. I think this team is good but great.
4. Reds- People need to stop overrating this team. They lack a good SS, CF, and C...three prime positions that you need in order to be successful. Jay Bruce will be good but he wont hit his potential. And as for the pitching, their bullpen is OK, and their rotation depends on whether Harang and Cueto will be good for a whole season.
5. Astros- Too little pitching, too much hitting. Oswalt is the only pitcher I would even let on my team at this moment. The Astros need to stop giving away their young talent because right now they are getting older and older.
6. Pirates- Hey! If Snell and Gorzelany pitch well, this team can put up some runs and make a run for not being in the cellar.

NL East
1. Mets- Strong hitting, a good rotation and now a strong bullpen. New Citi field caters to the hitters like Wright, Delgado and Reyes...it will be a good season.
2. Braves- Even without their game yesterday I still had them here. Jair will be a great pitcher and the likes of Vazquez and Lowe should be a stabilizing force for the staff. Hitting wont come hard either, Jones, Johnson, Escobar highlight a talented infield.
3. Phillies- I dont like this team top to bottom. I think their pitching is overrated, I think they have 4-5 good hitters and then the lineup falls apart. And I dont care what they did last year...as evidenced by the Rockies, all the playoffs are, is who is the hottest team at the moment.
4. Marlins- Like the Astros, they need to stop giving away talent. I liked this team until they departed with half of their players.
5. Nationals- Adam Dunn wasnt a terrible move, but they lack any sort of pitching they would need to come in anything better than last.

NL West
1. Dodgers- I am reluctant to give LA first place, because of the lack of pitching they have. But I do think Furcal, Hudson, and the rest can carry them offensivley.
2. Giants- Who doesnt like this pitching staff? But thats not the issue, the problem is the fact that they have absolutley no hitters. When your cleanup batter is a catcher who drove in 85 runs last year...you got problems.
3. Diamondbacks- They could make a run for second, maybe first. But I think that their high rate of strikeouts will hurt this team offensivley.
4. Rockies- Sorry Colorado...trading away Holiday did nothing but hurt your team. Have fun in last!

AL Central
1. Twins- This is an exciting team. Mauer, Young and Morneau highlight a productive offense. While their pitching is full of no names, they are quite solid.
2. Indians- DeRosa was the smartest pick up of the year. He will add nicely to their lineup and move the Indiands into contention this year.
3. Royals- I am pulling the trigger on this one. Greinke and Meche will provide a good front end rotation, but I am interested to see how their bullpen and back end hold up...we will see!
4. White Sox- I dont like this team. I think they have the ability to be extremley good but in my opinion they will be too streaky this year to be close to the top.
5. Tigers- Pitching is bad, and the hitting is just ok. The tigers equation just doesnt add up.

AL East
1. Red Sox- The Red Sox didnt add anyting major, but merely topped off a already great team. Penny, Saito and Smoltz could add up to three big contributors if healthy and will push the Sox over the top.
2. Rays- I like Burrell in this lineup, he adds some more homerun power and can drive in a lot of runs. Their pitching again should be excellent and they should make a run for the Wild Card.
3. Yankees- I am not impressed by their off season. Burnett is not very good at all, Sabathia has never pitched in a big market, and Tex isnt the clubhouse leader they need. Their pitching might be good, but I want to see them put up runs with guys like Melky Cabrera in the lineup.
4. Orioles- They need pitching. They have a bright young star in Adam Jones, but he and his other hitters cannot carry a team by themselves.
5. Blue Jays- They used to be known for their pitching...now they are going to be known for just Roy Halladay.

AL West
1. Angels- So what they dont have Tex or K-Rod. They still have a solid staff and hitters. Abreau should be excellent out in right and I expect Lackey to help the pitching staff along this year.
2. Athletics- Young and talented. They could make a bid for the title this year, but ultimatley their lack of experience will get in the way.
3. Rangers- They have the hitting, but will the pitching add up? It's a question I would like answered.
4. Mariners- When healthy they can compete, but the likeliness of everyone being is slim.

Goodell Is Ruining Football

CiA is X — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:37:55 GMT

What have you done for your league lately? Huh? You probably bought a shirt, or some sort of jersey, right? Maybe a new Terrible Towel to celebrate the big win by the Steeler! Well, I can tell you right now that you have done more for the NFL than Roger Goodell has done for it his entire career.

I am a fan. Lets put that out there, and seeing as you are reading this column I am assuming you are too. So, through a fans perspective, would you rather see a ref throw a penalty for a touchdown celebration involving the football, or would you rather see Brandon Jacobs stick the ball in shirt and pretend its a baby?

Thats a tough one for me...oh wait. GIVE ME A BABY!!!

Goodell has increased the fines from last year 12%. In the first 12 games in 2007 players were fined 494 times where as in 2008 he fined 531 times, for a total of 2.894 million and 3.527 million respectivley.

Each of these fines were for either equipment issues or celebrations. Now be honest...do players really deserve to be fined a total of 3.527 million because they want to express themselves? Yes, I do realize to many players the fines they receive are literally pocket change. But that is beside the point, I would rather let a player express himself to the fullest than have the whole league afraid to do anything fun because they dont want to be fined.

Fact...Roger Goodell does not want players to convey excitement, he wants them all to be little drones in his money making army.

Which leads me to my next thought. Most people are under the impression that the NFL is continually generating more viewers and better ratings. WRONG! WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!! (sung to the tune of "take me out to the ball game").

As a matter of fact, the NFL lost a considerable amount of TV viewers in some of their largest markets. For example, New York lost about 16% of their ratings from last year. Here is a completle list of the biggest markets and their losses. (Pay attention to the percents...that is the precent loss in TV ratings from 2007 to 2008).

   New York37.9/58              -15.60%2 (52)
   Los Angeles35.3/63          -2.20%3 (41)
   Chicago41.1/64                 -1.00%4 (16)
   Philadelphia46.2/65           -4.50%5 (26)
   Dallas-Fort Worth44.2/69   -4.30%6 (51)
   San Fran.-.5/68                  -11.90%7 (45)
   Boston38.6/57                   -30.60%8 (33t)
   Atlanta42.6/67                   -4.90%9 (12)
   Washington, D.C.46.7/70    -7.20%10 (54)
   Houston34.3/57                   -7.50%

Roger Goodell has even let the Super Bowl ratings fall from last year. The rating of 43 last year looked a bit better than the 42 put up this year. In fact the number of viewers only went up by 1 million this year, its lowest rise in a loooong time.
Some would argue that it is because the NFL has finally reached its pinnacle. Well I beg to differ. Consider this, there are 300 million Americans and counting, only 98 of those 300 watched the super bowl...seems like the other 200 million Americans could still be enticed to watch it!

So why is the NFL losing ratings and not gaining as many viewers? Simple. People are being driven from the sport because Goodell is letting thugs like Pacman Jones and Vick get away with anything they want. Matt Jones of the Jaguars was arrested for selling cocaine. People, we are talking about a level 4 drug right there!! Thats no simple ****, yet Goodell barely punished him.

People dont want to watch a bunch of thugs...I mean they could just watch the NBA if they wanted that!

Goodell has also let the reffing in todays NFL get out of control. He has let the NFL Refs get away with blowing games, calling one sided games, and throwing unecessary and sometimes completley unabated flags.
Yet, when a player tries to say something about FINE FINE FINE FINE!! They can be slapped with one of those bad boys anywhere from 3,000 to 25,000 buckaroos.

Whew! Seems like a lot of trouble to write all of those tickets when you could actually just fix the problem by training your refs a little better, and telling them whats an acceptable penalty.
I mean most viewers get a pretty good laugh out of Ocho putting the football, or TO getting into a sprinters stance.

With the rules in place because of Roger Goodell, a player is not allowed to give the ball to a kid in the fans who may be autistic or may be there because of the make-a-wish foundation (by the way, if you have any extra cash, please donate to the foundation. What they do can literally change a persons life!)

Fact...Roger Goodell likes Autism and hates dying children!

I can't go on. My hand is shaking just thinking about the man-devil sitting behind his desk.

So I ask one you to listen to one last thing...

Ask not what you can do for the NFL...But what you can do to get Roger Goodell out of the **** commisioners office!

Top 5 NFL Free Agents

CiA is X — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:16:05 GMT

The season came to a close and the players and fans turned their attention to the Pro Bowl game. However, instead of watching the worlds best players compete, everyone was watching the interviews to get any hint they could as to where the big Free Agents would be going this year.
Interviews with Ray Lewis, Kurt Wanrer, and Anquan Boldin, all were useless as no player disclosed much information on what their plans were for this off season.
So to ease your troubled minds on his fine February morn, I have created my list of the top 5 FA's going into this off season, and their potential suitors.

1.) Ray Lewis - Baltimore Ravens - ILB
Ray is one those players every coach dreams about. A motor that runs 24/7, 365, a great locker room presence and a dynamic force on the field. Ray had a great 2008 campaign, 117 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 3 picks. Now, I know some will call him a product of a extremley good defensive system, and to a point that is very true. However, Ray has been around for long enough he knows how to adjust, especially to a new defensive system. Ray is nearing the end of career, but still has enough left in his tank to be very effective on any team. I dont expect him to give Baltimore a hometown discount...fact of the matter is, Ray is going to cash in his final contract.
Signs with - Baltimore Ravens
Other Suitors - Dallas, Green Bay, New York Jets

2.) Albert Hayensworth - Tennessee Titans - DT
Many will put Hayensworth number one ahead of Ray, but I still question his work ethic and his locker room presence. The simple fact that Ray is a leader makes him more appealing to me. Yet, that shouldn't take anything away from Hayensworth, he is one big, mean, and bad DT. Hayensworth destroyed offensive lines in his 2008 season racking up 51 tackles and 8.5 sacks. What is really impressive about Hayensworth is he is so quick even with his 300+ frame, which makes him near impossible to block. Hayensworth's ability to stuff the run and the rush the QB makes him the premier D-lineman on the market...Hayensworth makes a case to be the highest paid defensive player ever.
Signs with - Tennesse Titans
Other Suitors - Green Bay, Indianapolis, Tampa Bay

3.) Julius Peppers - Carolina Panthers - DE, OLB
Peppers has states he is going to sign with a 3-4 defense, so immediatley that takes many of the teams pursuing him out of the picture. Still, Peppers is a great DE/OLB, he can fit into either position because of his quickness and ability to speed rush. 14.5 sacks and 51 tackles was a huge rebound after a horrible 2007 season. That rebound really showed me he still has the potential to be one of the top 5 pass rushers as well as the will to make adjustments to a new system and new team. He will be a great fit into any system and team.
Signs with - Green Bay Packers
Other Suitors - Kansas City, San Francisco, New England, New Orleans, Arizona, Buffalo

4.) Mike Goff - San Diego Chargers - OT
Goff has been known to be one of the most straight forward player in the league. He just handles business day in and day out. He has made LT and Sprioles look better than they actually are because he is one of the best run blockers in the league. I believe Goff could play either Left or Right making him even more appealing to teams looking for a tackle.
Signs with - Jacksonville Jaguars
Other Suitors - Green Bay, Pittsburgh, New York, Miami, Oakland, San Diego

5.) T.J. Houshmandzadeh - Cincinnati Bengals
Housh may actually be the best reciever in Cincy right now. He can go inside with the backers but also spread it across the whole field with pretty good speed. I think re-signing with the Bengals is nearly out of the equation at this point, as he doesnt want to be part of one of the most disfunctional teams in the history of the NFL. Housh is the premier player on the offensive side of the ball this off season, and should cash in accordingly.
Signs with - Philidelphia Eagles
Other Suitors - Miami, Oakland, San Diego, Tennessee, Minnesota, Chicago, Baltimore, New York (both), Seattle, San Francisco

This is very good class of FA's many are left off the list like Nmadi, Matt Birk, Kurt Warner, because this is such a good off season. But it should be an interesting time for every team.

Economics of The Game

CiA is X — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:41:44 GMT

I have been witness to the homer's calling for their team to sign every Type-A free agent or thinking they have the best shot at every free agent since their team has cap room...We have all been there, some of us have been the ones guilty of this crime.

But let's be real, most people on this site, or in the sporting world have no clue what goes on internally as far as decision making on the GM and Owners part.

What they are missing is called the "Economics of The Game". Or simply the cash flow, and money decisions that the GM and Owner take part in. But you may think, it's as simple as having cap room and spending that cap on the best player available...Well you're right in certain aspects. Obviously you want to have "the best player available" and you always want to stay under your cap, but what you are missing is the other half of the decision, the long run and economic payoff decision.

It will be my goal in what time I have here to simply guide you through what "Economics of The Game" are all about. What decisions and decision making processes and formula's the GM's and Owner's go through.

First of all, let's all assume every sport franchise and owner is a profit maximizer, or simply "in it for the money". In the business today, it is a pretty safe assumption that owners are this way, exceptions do apply like Jerry Jones, and the Green Bay Packers. But for the sake of my fingers and your brain, lets keep it simple.
In a perfect economic world, if every owner and franchise was profit maximizing, the distribution of players and thus talent would be even on every team. This is due to the owners self-interest that they do not become too strong compared to their rival or neighboring team. Players would be evenly distributed among the teams that best fit their needs and will yield the highest payoff.

However, the situation I just gave you is not what we have today. In the NFL we see two principles that negate the "utopian sport world" as mentioned above, the two principles are Revenue Sharing and Salary-Capping.

As I said earlier, most franchises are profit maximizer's, but the NFL policy of revenue sharing skews my hypothetical utopia above. Revenue sharing means all revenue made by a franchise will be pooled together and distributed evenly among the teams in the NFL. This causes the owners to have no incentive to get better or make the best decisions that would increase their economic profit. Although, exceptions do apply again, you may have a owner who values winning as much as money. The other violation of my utopian sport world is the salary cap. The Salary cap can exclude players from finding the team that best suits their interests because the team may have already hit the maximum spending ceiling (in economic terms this is called a "price ceiling"). This can cause a chain reaction...the player signs somewhere else that doesnt fit his needs, he creates a dissention on the team, causing that team to fall behind the rest of the league, and disrupting the balance of the utopian sporting world.

Lets move on to another hypothetical situation. Suppose the NFL had no salary cap, no revenue sharing...say it was a completely free market in which teams could spend whatever they wanted. In this example I will use Jerry Jones. Mr. Jones is known for "buying" the best player available, and in this scenario he "buys" every free agent. Thus making the Cowboys unstoppable. They win the Super Bowl every year until the cap is reinstated.

Now most of you cowboy fans think this would be the greatest situation on earth...and from a fans standpoint it really is. But from an Owners...wow, worst nightmare has come true. You must be thinking "is he crazy!?!?! Any owner wants to win that many championships". Well from an economic standpoint, no you don't want to win that many...especially in a row.
The situation I have just created is a prime example of a "Monopoly". Most teachers and students know that a Monopoly is a business owners dream, you control price and you control output. Basically letting your Marginal Revenue skyrocket. But what owners in most sporting leagues realize is they need competition to boost sales. In the sporting world, it is more profitable to have competition as good if not better than you. Because in the hypothetical situation above, after the third maybe fourth championship, Jerry Jones will start to see decreasing marginal utility, or less and less people care and receive positive externalities or benefits from the championships. This causes a loss in Jersey sales, a loss in ticket sales...an all around economic loss.

But where competition keeps the rivalry going, stadiums fill up to see the intense game, people buy new jerseys to flaunt their "fan ship". Perfectly competitive sports is the best economic situation for profit maximizing owners.

The next concept I would like to go over is the ratio of demand to supply. These are common terms when talking about supply and demand for a company that produces, lets say, TV's. Supply would be the TV's and demand would be how many people want to buy a TV from that company. Easy enough.

But when it comes to the sporting world the supply can be anything from a new player or new coach...even a new stadium. And the demand is the demand for jersey's, tickets, anything that the team produces and receives revenue from.

Again, I am going to use an example to show the relationship owners must think about when they factor in supply and demand.

In mid-June, the Milwaukee Brewers acquired lefty ace, C.C. Sabathia. A great economic move by owner Mark Attanasio. The demand for anything Brewers was going down because the Brewers were in a bit of a slide and were losing some games and losing their bid at the playoffs.
The owner used the idea of supply and demand when acquiring Sabathia. He knew if he could increase "supply", he would have more of a demand for the Brewers. He thus acquired Sabathia and instantly sales boosted. Brewer's fans sold out every game for the rest of the season as well as making the Brewers the top jersey sellers according to MLB.com. It also paid off in the sense that the Brewers made their first playoff appearance in 26 years and boosted fan morale. But you may think since the Brewers lost Sabathia, demand goes back down. Wrong, by increasing the supply and raising demand high for a long period of time, Attanasio created investors in his team...aka season ticket packages for the next year hit an all time high when the season ended. Even though he lost Sabathia and his "supply" he gained a long run investment.

The principle rule of supply and demand is you want supply to equal demand to maximize profits. That is what Attanasio did, he created more demand so that it would equal his supply and payoff in the long run economic world.

That will end my first lesson on "The Economics of The Game"...hopefully next week I can churn out another article with some more great hypothetical situations!!

Hope you enjoyed the first of my 3 article installment of "The Economics of The Game".

In Need of a Bat?

CiA is X — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:04:16 GMT

Well, the Brewers can help you there.

The Brewers are one of the few teams who can say they have too much offense and they need to get rid of some of it. It puts them in a precarious and potentially fatal situation though. They have spent the better part of 8 years drafting only to improve their offense and it has left their pitching prospects few and far between. The only legitimate pitcher to come out of the Brewers farm system in the past 5 years is Yovani Gallardo, who however, may be the next Johan Santana.

The pitchers the Brewers expect to invite to camp this year include...Chris Capuano, Yovani Gallardo, Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush, Seth McClung, Jorge Julio, Todd Coffey, Mark DeFilice, Tim Dillard, Luis Pena, David Riske, Mitch Stetter, Carlos Villanueva, Eduardo Morlan, Manny Parra, RJ Swindle. The pitchers with the potential to start are bolded.

And most likely a familiar face will be back with Brewers next year...Ben Sheets. So where does this leave the Brewers? Well, if you count Sheets, their rotation could look something like this...

Ben Sheets
Yovani Gallardo
Manny Parra
Jeff Suppan
Dave Bush

Now that is not horrible. It has the potential, with a good offense to make the playoffs. Villanueva would also look good on the rotation but he is so valuable out of the pen as he can be a set up man, a closer and a long reliever...the Brewers cant waste their best pen pitcher. McClung was also good out of the pen and rotation last year but he too, is way to valuable as a reliever to ever risk starting him again. I would rather him be throwing his insane 100 MPH fast ball, than pitching 5-6 innings. With a couple signings of relievers and starters...especially Fuentes, Lyons, and Looper. The Brewers will start the year better off than they were at the beginning of last year. Parra is maturing, Bush FINALLY developed into the pitcher everyone thought he could be, and Gallardo is the blooming Ace.

But as I mentioned earlier the Brewers have overloaded themselves with offense. Last year they got rid of one of those players...Matt LaPorta. In order to get the best pitcher in the game. Could the Brewers potentially do something like that this off-season...Oh yes.

Their bulky offense includes a few players that have teams drooling all over...J.J. Hardy, Alcides Escobar, Mat Gamel, Mike Cameron, Prince Fielder, Angel Salome, and Corey Hart. Plus a few others they wouldnt mind having...Rickie Weeks, Mike Rivera, Bill Hall, and Tony Gwynn.

Of these players, I see the Brewers parting with one of their Shortstops...Hardy or Escobar. Mike Cameron, Angel Salome, Bill Hall and Rickie Weeks. Thats good trade fodder for any team looking for either veteran experience or young talent.

Escobar is the best minor league defensive infielder in the league but his bat came into question early in his career. However, he settled those worriers down when he hit .330 this year and stole 30 bases. Angel Salome is one of the best hitting catchers in the entire minor league system. He is going to hit .300 in the pros but his defense is very suspect and he doesnt seem like a good fit for Milwaukee. The rest of the players you probably know or can look up...they are all good and worthy of a trade.

So that leads me to my final few points. Who would the Brewers trade...and who would they get?

Let me see...hmmm...first trade.

Mike Cameron, Bill Hall -------- Yankees: Phil Hughes, Cody Ransom, Melky Cabrera

Second Trade

J.J. Hardy, Angel Salome, Rickie Weeks, Mark Rodgers -------- Padres: Jake Peavy, Brian Giles

The second one is less likely to occur but I feel it is a very fair trade. The Padres get an All-Star Shortstop, a futures all-star game catcher, a second baseman who was once considered the next best and a pitcher who was considered for awhile to be the best in the Brewers system. And the Brewers take the Pitcher they need plus free up a lot of money for the Padres to start re-building. In my trade the Brewers provided 3 immediate starters...all of whom are 27 and under.

So, if Doug Melvin, Kevin Tower, and Brian Cashman read my blog. I just gave all three of them great ideas.

Shut Up Charles

CiA is X — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:14:51 GMT

An ode to Charles Barkley:

You're skinny, you're fat
You stink like Sam Cassels passing attack
You've been cheered, you've been booed, especially when you said,
"We don't need refs, but I guess white guys need something to do."
You are an analyst on TNT
But whats that coming out of your mouth...I think its pee
You have never said anything good
But what should I expect from somebody who claims to be so "hood"

Your shiny head is an icon
Yet, I think it's brain is about as smart as my camera made by Nikon
I have no respect for you
Why is that?
Because you're nothing more than a little old brat
This poem is done
But before I go I would like to say you...are...dumb!

Thats a little something I came up with while watching Charles Barkley on TNT pre game show. But for more of your enjoyment, here are some of the dumbest things Charles Barkley has ever said.

"I can be bought. If they paid me enough, I'd work for the Klan."

"You can talk without saying a thing. I don't ever want to be that type of person."

Ernie: "Did they recognize you in South Dakota?"
Charles: "Yes, they did. It was easy because I was the only black person there. When they see me walking down the street they say 'There he goes again'. And when I come back the next year they say 'He's back yawl!'"

"I heard Tonya Harding is calling herself the Charles Barkley of figure skating. I was going to sue her for defamation of character, but then I realized I have no character."

On the All-Star Game: "Hell, there ain't but 15 black millionaires in the whole country & half of 'em are right here in this room."

"I don't care what people think. people are stupid."

"I love New York City; I've got a gun."

"I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids."

"If somebody hits you with an object you should beat the hell out of them."

"I'd never buy my girl a watch...she's already got a clock over the stove."

"They say it about brothers, but I can guarantee everybody in Finland look alike."

"I ain't never seen cranberry juice without vodka in it."

"That's wronger than ketchup on pancakes."

2009 Pro Bowl: Are We Really That Dumb?

CiA is X — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:58:20 GMT

As the 2009 Pro Bowl selections came out, I was thinking to myself, Are fans really that big of homers that they will just vote for their teams players? Turns out you are. This year was full of huge snubs who didnt get in, probably one of the worst years in recent memory.

But seeing as it is my 50th blog I wont continue to bash fans, mereley point out who you left out!

NFC
1.) Greg Jennings- 5th in receiving yards, 4th in touchdowns. This guy was a beast all year, and yes, the Packers bad season didnt help him, but this guy needed to be in the Pro Bowl.

2.) Aaron Rodgers- Completed 63% of his passes, compared to Mannings 60%. As well as throwing 23 touchdowns and only 12 picks. 3 and 2 more than Manning respectivley. He had a 91 passer rating 6 point better than Manning, yet he managed to be left of the roster.

3.) DeAngelo Williams- Although the running backs for the NFC all deserve to be in it, I am not sure that Portis beat out Williams. Its true that Williams had about a 100 less yards, but Williams had double the amount of touchdowns Portis had. Plus going all season without fumbling is a big feat. Williams deserves a roster spot.

4.) John Abraham- The best pass rusher in the NFC needed a roster spot. He was full sack ahead of the next best, Jared Allen, and 3 ahead of Julius Peppers. He was a force to be reckoned with from the end, and was a massive snub this year.

5.) Darnell Dockett- One of the best pass rushers from the inside DT position was left out this year. He was a force on the weak Arizona defense. He racked up 40 tackles, 31 of them solo, as well as 4 sacks.

6.) John Carlson- He was solid all year as a rookie on a pathetic Seattle team. He had about 100 less yards than Cooley but with 3 more touchdowns he was a bit more deserving than Cooley.

AFC
1.) Phillip Rivers- How did he not make it? A 101 passer rating that led the NFL, 3500 yards, 28 touchdowns, and only 11 picks? He led Favre in every category except for throwing picks...Favre threw 6 more!

2.) Chad Pennington- He deserves it. He led a 1-15 team to being in contention this year. He has decent numbers as well, 3200 yards, 14 TD's and only 6 picks. Not to mention a 66% completion rate.

3.) Steve Slaton- 1100 yards, 8 TD's and being a rookie for the Texans should be an automatic big. He was third in rushing and did this all behind a horrid offensive line.

4.) Marshawyn Lynch- 4th in rushing, and was decent with 7 TD's. He was a far better choice than Ronnie Brown who lacked in the rushing yards. Yes I know Brown also threw the ball, but this is RUNNINGBACK...how well did he run the ball...decentley.

5.) Dallas Clark- Had a down year in terms of Indy passing, but still put up enough numbers to be on the roster. He had near 700 yards and 5 TD's, good for 3rd and 2nd best respectivley for TE's.

6.) LaMar Woodley- He had a good year with 11.5 sacks and 55 tackles, but his partner in crime, James Harrison outshone him all year. Woodley was good enough to be on that roster.

7.) Mario Williams- He was second in DE's with 11 sacks, and had a decent 46 tackles to go with that. But what I especially like from him was his leadership on a fairly young Texan team.

Food For Thought

CiA is X — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:03:20 GMT

Just my usual rants in this blog.

I was recently talking to a local Yankee fan here in Milwaukee and I found the arguments of why Sabathia should go to New York very weak. And these are the same arguments everyone is bringing up...

New York offered 40 million more
New York wins every season
New York is a bigger market
New York has a new park
New York has a history

Are those really the best arguments they can come up? Because almost everyone of those points can be refuted fairly easily.

First I am going to talk money. C.C. Sabathia was offered a 5 year 100 million dollar contract by the Milwaukee Brewers. On the other side he was offered a 6 year 140 million dollar contract by the Yankees.
Breaking it down a little more C.C. will make 23.3 million a year with the Yankees. And 20 million a year with the Brewers. Not a whole lot of dicrepency between the two right there.

Now I will really break down the money situation for C.C.

According to Sperlings, the 100 million dollar contract offered to Sabathia by Milwaukee is in the long run going to make more money for him. Again according to Sperlings the for New York to match the 100 million dollar contract from Milwaukee they should have offered, $197,039,599.

Now you may ask why would that number be so high...isnt 100 million dollars worth the same everywhere? Not really. Lets put this into perspective, New York's cost of living is nearly double that of Milwaukee. Their housing costs are an astonishing 307% higher than Milwaukee's.
Sperling put every major cost category on a scale. They read...

Cost of Living Indexes Milwaukee and New York
Overall: 83 - 165
Food: 100 - 142
Housing: 50 - 203
Utilities: 125 - 165
Transportation: 104 - 120
Health: 97 - 182
Miscellaneous: - 97 136
100=national average

Basically, Sabathia is losing money by accepting the 140 million contract from the Yankees. Because as we found out, the cost of living in New York far exceeds Milwaukee.

And for those of you who dont get what I am saying, let me put this in basic terms.

Factoring in cost of food in New York compared to Milwaukee...as well as housing utilities...

100 Million in Milwaukee = 200 million in New York.

So why would Sabathia accept the New York offer?

Next on the list...winning. I previously broke down why I dont think New York will be a contendor for years to come, but if you would like to look again...http://www.fannation.com/blogs/post/285776-why-sabathia-wont-sign-with-the-yankees

New York the bigger market...well there really isnt any argument there when you compare it to Milwaukee. But San Fran, and LA have almost equal markets plus their population growth is a little higher than NY's.

And for the last two points...a new park and more history.

Well, their new ballpark does look sweet, but I have to say, if you are going to sign with a team just for that I lose all respect for that player. Plus Milwaukee's stadium is maybe 6 years old now, and still has some of the best facilities in the Major Leagues.

History I have no quarrel with. New York has every right to say the have history...but again, if you go to a team because of there history...wow...you're an idiot.

Congratulations To...

CiA is X — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:49:40 GMT

Shawn Johnson.

This may be a little late, but I seriously want to applaude her and her whole family and community.

As I followed the olympics like I normally do, I try to find the cool stories. Like a person coming back from cancer or a 44 year old swimmer...I try to find things that will touch the hearts of others. This year, I didnt find so much of that in this olympics but what I found was a story that impressed me as a high school athlete.

Shawn Johnson lives in West Des Moine Iowa and attends a fairly prestigious high school, at Valley High School. She attends school for the average 6 to 7 hours most schools do and participates in class like any other kid would. But what happens after school is a brutal workout for 4 to 5 hours, then its home to do homework.
Think of your average day as a high school teen, you sit through a boring day of school for 6 hours, you then get out of school...watch some ESPN, play some video games and do some homework. And I can guarantee that most of you (if you still go to school) complain about how tired you are, and how life sucks because you are so busy.

Now try to put yourself in Shawn's shoes...or lack thereof at the gym. Instead of going home she goes to a gym where she works out non stop to be in shape to compete with other women who devote every second of their day to gymnastics. She then goes home to do the average of 2 to 3 hours of homework a high school teen does.
Imagine doing that every day, every year since you were 5 or so...unbelievable.

She truly is a marvel, the 4 foot 9 high schooler can rise above any challenge presented to her, even ones grown women and men cannot accomplism.

Being a high school athlete myself, who prides himself on working out everyday, I can truly appreciate what she is showing the world about kids work ethic today...but not only that, but our countries work ethic. We are a country built on hard work, and back breaking labor (I dont want to get too political), and Shawn is the epitome of what we have stood for, for hundreds of years.

Shawn should be an idle for any high school athlete or scholar. Her ability to balance an overloaded schedule with her personal life and a modeling career is amazing. And anyone, from any country, should appreciate what she has sacraficed to get there.

The NFL Has Hit An All Time Low

CiA is X — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:34:51 GMT

I am not talking about an all time low of merchandise purchases or ticket sales, but something that means more...Morals and ethics.

I recentley read an article today that said Adam Jones was to be reinstated and would be able to play later this year. This is a guy with 13 police dealings in two years along with 2 suspensions and has embaressed his owner and commissioner by getting into a fight with a NFL employee after they trusted him enough to let him play. So why is he granted another chance? Because he completed a alchohol abuse program? Big deal, I know people who have been in drug rehab for acid and they have come out craving it even more than they did before rehab. The man is a walking time bomb, and is going to blow up at any time and completley embarass himself and league.

But what really gets me is how this guy isnt fined, isnt suspended, he is left alone and gets to play again. Yet, a guy like Ray Lewis is fined 50,000 dollars for insulting a ref. Give me a break, not only is that empedding on his right to free speech, but it is completley ridiculous because the referee did make a horrible call and no one else is calling him out!

In my opinion the NFL and Roger Goodell need to keep their promise of a stricter NFL punishment policy instead of worrying about the refs credibility.

Lets be serious, how does a guy who gets caught with six grams of cocaine not get booted from the league? Oh yeah, becuase Roger Goodell is more worried about how he looks than policing his league. Matt Jones, was caught with possesion and intent to sell cocaine and wasnt fined at all by the NFL, yet Jared Allen has racked up 75,000 dollars in fines for what was said "a dirty hit".

Please, Roger Goodell is just protecting his star players in the league...notice no one gets fined for hitting a linebacker too hard, it only happens when a defensive guy hits a WR, RB, or QB. He cares more about protecting the star players than keeping control of his league. If he was serious about trying to fine players to keep the playing clean, he would outlaw cut blocking. Seriously, if he wants to go by the idea that he is "cleaning up play" he would not allow cut blocking. Cutting is probably the dirtiest, cheapest thing in football. For those of you who do not know what it is I will try to depict it. Essentially a offensive lineman throws his body at a defensive players knees, trying to bend them backwards to either make him fall down, or break his knees. More injuries are because of cut blocking than anyother action in football.

So if Roger Goodell wants me to take him and his policies seriously, he needs to start worrying about controlling the thugs that are in his league. They are giving the NFL a bad reputation and will eventually cause the complete downfall of the league.