NFL Lockout

The NFL owners and players agreed to extend the deadline for negotiations one more week and therefore averted a lockout. President Obama chimed in by saying that he would not get involved in a dispute between millionaires and billionaires when he needs to worry about Americans that are out of work and instability in the Middle East and North Africa. However, he does need to consider the economic engine that the NFL brings to cities across the United States and how it is woven into the fabric of American culture. I do remember President Clinton getting involved the baseball strike negotiations.

Green Bay wins Super Bowl

As I predicted, Green Bay one the Super Bowl over Pittsburgh 31-25. It did not seem like there was a memorable play like the past few years that defined this one but the game was close and entertaining so I cannot complain about that. Green Bay was the better team throughout forcing three turnovers and capitalizing on a lot of opportunities.

Unfortunately, this Super Bowl will probably be remembered much more for the snafus than anything that happened in the game. Christina Aguliera botched the national anthem, 400 people were denied admission, weather, a not so great halftime show, and controversial commercials. Hopefully there will be one next year with the lockout looming.

Super Bowl weekend

Even though it isn't official this an an American holiday. Getting ready for parties and all of the pregame, game and post game rituals are as much of a tradition as putting up a Christmas tree or serving turkey on Thanksgiving.

This year's game features the Green Bay Packers vs. The Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. While there is bitterness that it isn't the Patriots, I have taken a step back and realized that this year's version is America at its finest. Tradition is meeting progress. The Packers and the Steelers are two of the NFL's most storied franchises and have combined for nine Lombardi trophies. Most importantly, this game is about the fans. On one side it is the steel workers from western Pennsylvania vs. the farmers and meatpackers in Wisconsin. These are the people that define America and they do deserve to watch their team play in this game. Cowboys Stadium is also the most state-of-the-art stadium built in the world and represents American progress.

As for the game, I like the Packers 33-30. Aaron Rodgers is determined to get out of the shadow of Brett Farve in this game and their defense will step up.

Patriots once again, FAIL

The New England Patriots lost to their hated division rival New York Jets in the playoffs 28-21 on Sunday. During the regular season they achieved a 14-2 record and home field advantage throughout the playoffs but that wasn't enough to stop the Jets yesterday. New York trashed talked a lot the entire week but backed it up with simply put, clutch play, in all aspects of the game yesterday that the Patriots could not match. Someone forgot to tell the Patriots that regular season accomplishments go out the window once the playoffs start and that going to the Super Bowl wasn't their birthright.

I have felt that the fourth title was the most difficult to win of all and had reservations about this game. Everyone said this would be the year that the Jets would get by the Patriots and they had their one chance on Sunday-they took advantage of it.

At least this is a young team and they have a lot of draft picks this year so I think there is still one more Super Bowl left in them.

Ohio State wins Sugar Bowl

Ohio State won the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night 31-26 over Arkansas in a thrilling Sugar Bowl Classic matchup. They jumped out to an early lead and let Arkansas back in the game. They almost blew the game when they had a punt blocked with less than a minute on the clock. Oddly enough, all five players that received suspensions next season for ethics violations played huge roles in the game including the player that made the game winning interception. This marks their first ever win over an SEC team and second consecutive BCS bowl victory.

back from holiday break

Happy 2011 to all my readers. I am back from holiday break ready to hit the ground running in 2011 with work and other personal activities. It always seems like the holidays go by too fast but life is not a holiday unfortunately. I went back to New England and got to see family and even enjoyed a snowstorm. It had been a while since I actually shoveled snow so I could not complain about doing it when assigned. Other than the New England snowstorm (it did not come to DC) not too much happened in terms of news. In sports, the Patriots clinched the top seed in the AFC playoffs so the Super Bowl is essentially theirs to lose. However, it will be a tough road to get to Dallas.

The Big Ten took a beating in New Years Day bowls and hopefully Ohio State can salvage the conference in the Sugar Bowl versus Arkansas. Speaking of the Buckeyes, several starters (including Terrell Pryor) got into hot water with the NCAA for selling souvenirs to pay for, of all things, tattoos. They will be suspended the first five games of the 2011 season but can play in the Sugar Bowl.

I hope for the best for all of you this year.

Brett Farve Streak ends

Brett Farve's streak of consecutive games started ended today at 297. We knew it was going to end sometime and his injury was too much to overcome. It was definitely a strange sequence of events with the dome collapse and all as to how it came to an end. Not surprisingly, ESPN spent the first 20 minutes of the Monday Night Countdown show talking about it. They weren't even covering the rescheduled game.

Roof Collapse

This weekend's Giants-Vikings game had a crazy set of events unlike most games have ever seen. The Giants had their flight diverted to Kansas City due to a major snowstorm in Minneapolis and the plan was to delay the game one day. Then on Sunday morning the roof of the MetroDome collapsed forcing them to move the game to Detroit on Monday night. Talk about a logistical nightmare to try and plan for. There was always talk about a new football stadium in Minnesota. Maybe now is the time for action in the Twin Cities.

Patriots on a roll

The New England Patriots are looking like the best team in the AFC and the NFL after beating the Jets last week and then doing the same to Chicago this weekend. They are playing well in December, the time of the year you are supposed to be hot and as of now they are officially in the playoffs. The playoffs could be a huge wake up call as it looks like any potential game will be a rematch. However it seems like this team is very hungry to get back to the Super Bowl especially after their difficult loss in the opening round of the playoffs last year.

Patriots on a roll

The Patriots had a huge win at Pittsburgh last night after losing to Cleveland last week. That win could decide some significant home field advantage at some point. There are many saying that this is his best coaching job given all of the new players that came to the team this year. However, we still have December and January to judge the season and these players. Keep in mind the Patriots were in a similar position last season going into the game against Indianapolis and all it took was one call that changed the season.

Giants Win World Series

The San Francisco Giants won the 2010 World Series Monday night beating the Texas Rangers 3-1 to win in 5 games. It was the first World Championship for the Giants since moving to San Francisco and the franchise's first in 56 years. It was sure worth the wait and good to see a bunch of "no-names" do this in the era of high payrolls and free agency.

6 years ago this week

Boston Red Sox win the 2004 World Series...enough said. As for this year, Fox must be cringing about two teams from the West in the World Series between the Rangers and Giants. I myself am not really watching but I wouldn't mind seeing the Giants win. I would rather not see George W Bush celebrate any more than he will be on Election night.

No hitter!

Roy Halladay threw a no hitter last night in his first postseason start with the Phillies. It is only the second post season no hitter in baseball history. However, I hope Philly fans don't get too carried away with this-they still have to win 10 more games to have full bragging rights. All Halladay has to do is give up a grand slam to (A-Rod, Jeter, or Cano) and opinions will change very quickly.

Pats lose to Jets

The Patriots lost to the Jets today 28-14 after leading at the end of the first half. I didn't get a chance to watch the game myself but it looks like it is back to the drawing board for the Pats while New York backed up their talk with a win. Maybe New York will get cocky and think they can wrap it up in September and won't realize that all the chips will be on the table come December-when they come back to Foxboro.

Big Ten stays Big

College football season kicked off this past Thursday with a full slate of games this weekend. Ohio State began their quest for a national title with a convincing 45-7 win over Marshall. It is always nice to get the first game under your belt in college as you never know how things are going to unfold. Among the highlights this weekend include UConn's first trip to Michigan Stadium and of course Notre Dame opening up their season-I have been to their campus and had lots of friends who went there. It should be a great ride.

There was news this week from the Big Ten. Nebraska joined for the 2011 season bringing the total number of teams to 12-which meant the would separate into two divisions. There was talk that Ohio State and Michigan would move into different divisions and changing the rivalry dramatically-possibly moving it to the middle of October which would be like Santa Claus coming on Labor Day. They did wind up putting the teams in two divisions but said that they would continue to play on the last Saturday of the regular season. There might be a possibility that they would rematch in the Big Ten title game.

My thoughts on this is that this rivalry being played on the last Saturday of the season is a time honored tradition and kudos to the Big Ten for putting the interests of the fans over money in this one. The nature of the conference is that nine times out of ten a team will have to win on the final Saturday to earn a spot in the title game so a rematch of OSU-Michigan will happen once a decade at most. If it does, whats wrong with an extra OSU-Michigan game, especially if your team wins!

College football season starts Saturday

With this not being the Red Sox year, it gives me all the better reason to look forward to football season. College football season starts Saturday and in my family that is especially exciting as we have Big Ten ties. My cousins went to Penn State and my uncle went to Ohio State. Given how high expectations are for Ohio State (#2 in the nation) I cannot help to start dreaming of the national championship game in January. However there is still a long trip to get there. These days in college football there really aren't any cupcake teams anymore-not to mention the BCS computers. It will be a fun ride and with the way college football is-being the last team standing is especially rewarding. College football 2010-dreaming of the desert!!

Roger Clemens indicted

How baseball's great stars have fallen due to steroids. Roger Clemens, the legendary pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, has been indicted for lying to Congress under oath about using steroids. While Clemens might have been a polarizing player, this is very little debate over his behavior under oath. This was unbecoming of an athlete and charges should be pursued to the fullest extend of the law. It is important to send a message to younger people that doing drugs and lying to authorities is not acceptable and no one can get away with it.

Martin Kaymer wins PGA Championship

Chalk up another prediction that I did not pick. Martin Kaymer of Germany won the PGA in three hole playoff over Bubba Watson today. The championship was mired in some controversy as Dustin Johnson was disqualified from the playoff after he grounded his club in what was a bunker on the 72nd hole-another heartbreaking finish at a major after he collapsed at the U.S. Open in June.

This championship showed there is a new crop of talent taking over the game and they will be fighting for my attention (and major championships) over the next decade. Tiger Woods is now at the point where he is the victim of his own success. The players in their late 20s who took up the game around when Tiger burst onto the scene are coming of age. I sometimes wonder where I missed the boat.

It was another PGA with drama and I can hardly wait until next season where we see this new generation duel it out for the next set of major championships.

Louis Oosthuizen wins British Open

This is not an Onion headline. Louis Oosthuizen from South Africa won the British Open by 8 shots last Sunday at St. Andrews, Scotland. Again, he was not on my list nor was he on anyone elses except the one that counts the most-his. He played that course better than most established veterans have ever played it. As for Tiger and Phil-disapointing performances at majors again. One can wonder if Tiger will ever reach that mark of 19 majors that many thought was his birthright. I am still holding out hope but with the parity in golf only getting greater it may just be a dream for him. Now I wonder if predictions are even worth the time and the energy? Another point-with all of the first time major winners, we are asking if they are just one hit wonders or could it be the birth of a star.

RIP George Steinbrenner

Even as a Red Sox fan I do have to pay my respects to him. He found a way to rebuild a dynasty in New York and took the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry to its highest level ever. Of course, the Sox finally got the upper hand but that would not have happened without the actions of The Boss. The best part of Steinbrenner were the Seinfield spoofs.