Championship Sunday

As the greatest day in sport inches closer (Championship Sunday), America looks forward to witnessing history.  The NFL plans to intoxicate the viewing public with sights they have not seen in years.  The “Old Man” (Favre) will try to crank up the heat on the “Boilermaker” (Brees) and “Rocky Top” (Manning) will look to roll over the “Men of Troy” (Sanchez).  Two teams will battle for a shot at winning their 1st Super Bowl, one tries to return after a long hiatus, and the last, wishes to cement their legacy.  When the dust settles, vision will be cast on the two at the top. 

Indianapolis Colts vs. New York Jets

Coach Ryan and “Gang Green” enter Sunday with confidence and momentum.  Not only do they have the #1 Rushing attack in the league, they have the #1 Defense.  This team has implemented old school football to nth degree.  It’s simple, run the ball to control the clock and stop your opponent from putting points on the board.  This game however, will not be that easy.  They will be facing one of the most explosive offenses in the game and quite possibly the best quarterback ever.  The Colts, coming off a week 16 loss to these very Jets, will be chomping at the bit to get another shot at them.  Their middle of the road defense will have to stop the run if they have any ambitions of being in Miami on February 7th.  The Cinderella Jets will put up a good fight but in the end Indianapolis will emerge victorious (27-17). 

Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints

As Brett Favre goes “Marching Home” (he grew up 45 minutes from New Orleans ), the fate of his Vikings go along with him.  To all the doubters, critics, and haters out there, “I told you so.”  Adrian Peterson looks to get on track and chew up some yardage against an average New Orleans front 7.  If he gets loose, it could be a long day for “Who Dat” and the rest of their faithful.  As for the Saints, their offense is ridiculous.  They can light up the scoreboard and have the ability to take it to the house from anywhere on the field.  Drew Brees has quietly become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and could climb to the top with a victory this weekend.  This is going to be a hell of a game and it’s a shame that both teams can’t go, but the “Purple People Eaters” will prevail in a close one (33-29).     

This day is about more than just football.  It’s about friendship, dedication, tenacity, and luck.  Dreams become reality, as the chosen few attain NFL immortality.  Every drill, every weight, every meeting, and every meal leads to this moment.  There are no more words that can be said to heighten this spectacle.  All you must do is prepare your feast, find your seat, and enjoy the treat that is Championship Sunday.

Todd P Coleman 01-22-10

The Sports Cognoscenti

#7 Ohio State vs. Purdue

October 17^th 12:00 ET

Line: Ohio State – 13 ½

On the scoreboard Ohio State appeared to have an easy time with Wisconsin winning 31-13 but in reality they were outplayed.  Wisconsin outgained the Buckeyes 368 to 184, won the TOP 42 to 17 (which is an unfathomable #) yet managed to lose the game with poor special teams play, turnovers and penalties.  OSU’s offense is still a work in progress with many Buckeye supporters still calling for Coach Tressel to hire a true offensive coordinator.  Who knows if that is the solution but something needs to happen on the offensive side of the ball.  The Buckeye defense is far too good not to win an outright Big Ten Title.

The Buckeyes and Terrelle Pryor will get a chance to improve when they travel to West Lafayette to face Purdue.  The Boilermakers have lost 5 straight with three of those coming at Ross-Ade Stadium. 

Prediction: Purdue will be full of energy looking for their 1^st win of the Big Ten Season.  Pryor and the running game will take the air out of the stadium and most likely the ball with conservative play calling.  OSU’s size and strength on defense will harass Purdue QB Joey Elliott forcing turnovers and numerous 3 and outs.  Ohio State 37 Purdue 13

Scott Dryden, Senior Staff Writer

The Sports Cognoscenti

Weekly Picks

The Cognoscenti continued his struggles with the NFL picks going 2-3 but continued to improve on the college side going 4-3.  For the season he is 5-10 on the NFL side and 13-8 on the college side for a combined record of 18-18.

This weeks picks:

NFL Week 6:

Houston        +5                                At Cincinnati

Minnesota    - 2 ½                           vs. Baltimore

Seattle           -2 ½                            vs. Arizona

Atlanta           -3                                 vs. Chicago

San Diego    - 3 ½                           vs. Denver

NCAA Week 7:

Wisconsin    - 2 ½                           vs. Iowa

Iowa State    -1                                 vs. Baylor

Nevada          -8                                 at Utah State

Notre Dame  +10                             vs. USC

Virginia Tech-3                               at Georgia Tech

Washington   +6 ½                          at Arizona State

Colorado State+ 22                        at TCU

Scott Dryden, Senior Writer

The deadline has come and gone and for all the early morning excitement the Cavs are sticking with what they have to make their playoff push.  For all the reports and talks the team had over the afternoon and the past few days they didn’t make a move.

ESPN is reporting that the Cavs are in talks with the Suns for the Shaqtus.

The Cavs would send Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to Phoenix for the big man.  The Suns are reportedly not savvy to give Wallace another shot, so they’re angling to get Wally Szczerbiak’s expiring contract (which the Cavs should dump anyway).   This deal would make a lot of sense for both teams, giving the Suns some financial relief and shoring up the Cavs D (Shaq has been solid this year).

As of now it appears that a deal is no where near being done.  We’ll see where it goes from here…

UPDATE:  Looks like the deal is now “highly unlikely” according to ESPN.com.  The issue all revolves around Szczerbiak or Wallace.  The Suns want Wally and his expiring contract.  The Cavs for some reason don’t want to give him away.  The deadline is at 3 p.m.  As of now the dream of Lebron and Shaq is not looking good.

The NBA Trade Deadline is today and the Cavs are expected to make a move to improve their already scary-good team.  Defense should be their biggest concern and the rumors seem to appear like the Cavs know it.  I’ll be posting updates today as they happen, so it’ll get a bit bloggy around here.

EARLY RUMORS

Early rumors have the Cavs being busy on the phones looking for a good 4.  Amare Stoudemire, Antwan Jamison and Marcus Camby have all been thrown around as possibles, but none have stuck.  ESPN has an blog saying the Cavs should make an offer to get Carlos Boozer back.  He’d be a great fit but I’m not sure if he’d fit in well with the team or how the fans would react to him.  He’s not exactly a popular guy in Cleveland.  Winning changes everything.

Like sand through an hourglass, thus goes the home winning streak for the Cavs.

Don’t expect anyone on the team to seem too upset about it, however.  Most are going to tow the party line like Lebron did after tonight’s 101-91 loss to the Lakers.  “I didn’t want it to happen, but I’m glad it’s over.” 

I realize that’s the PC thing to say after a streak, but 23 shouldn’t be happy when his team let Lamar Odom put 28 on them, with 17 rebounds.  He’s averaging 9.7 ppg and 6.3 rpg this year.  Even Lamar is surprised at Lamar’s line tonight.

 The bright side is that Big Z had a monster game (22 pts, 9 rebs, 2 blocks).  The big man was lighting it up from outside, which he needs to keep up to remain dangerous in the second half of the season.  Especially on nights like tonight when Lebron is pedestrian (for him) on the scoring side (16 pts, 8 rebs, but a game high 12 assists).  Mo Williams is still channeling his righteous fury about being snubbed for the All-Star game, scoring 19.

The Lakers, meanwhile, become the first team to win back-to-back road games against teams with .800 winning percentage this far into the season.  They’re playing hard and proving that even sans Bynum they’re a force to be reckoned with.  Kobe really gutted it out tonight, playing with the flu and getting an IV during halftime on his way to 19 points.

The Cavs had Wally Szczerbiak and J.J. Hickson on Odom, which goes a long way to explaining his big night.  The Cavs have a week and a half to improve defensively.  Let’s see if they get something done before the February 19 trade deadline.

Posted by AJ Paiotti

For the first time that I have ever noticed, SportsTime Ohio, the Cleveland Indians Network that I have often criticized, aired a MAC-focused program. Bobcat Blitz, a WOUB production, aired this evening at 7:30 pm.

Now many of you may say “big deal,” but I have been calling for SportTime Ohio, the channel providing the self-proclaimed most complete coverage of Ohio sports to bring us coverage of more than just Cleveland teams and Ohio State football since the channel kicked off in April of 2006. The big deal here is that the network is finally beginning to listen, and the potential this has for expanded coverage for 6 of the MAC’s 13 teams is enormous. So whether you are an Ohio Bobcats fan or a fan of any other MAC football program, I encourage you to go to SportsTimeOhio.com and send them a quick positive note for airing some MAC football programming.

It’s been over a month since I last mentioned the tasteless Labatt Blue talking deer commercial. You know the one; “we get the fawns up at 5″ says the talking deer in the store. He then goes on to have one of the most obvious f-bombs in the history of TV bleeped out poorly.

I have received a few comments for my speaking out against SportsTime Ohio and the Labatt deer commercial, and there’s one thing I don’t intend to do, and that is back down on my stance. For someone who has kids and loves sports, but wants to raise their kids in an environment where curse words are not used, how do you explain to them this commercial? The f-bomb is the one word that is not allowed on TV, minus certain channels and movies. I truly feel that the continued airing of this commercial by SportsTime Ohio is not only tasteless but also irresponsible. Anything other than correcting this matter immediately is unacceptable.

I was listening to Munch on Sports on ESPN 850 WKNR this evening and heard a ad for SportsTime Ohio claiming that STO provides “The Most Complete Coverage of Ohio Sports.” The Most Complete Coverage of Ohio Sports? Seriously? Does SportsTime Ohio seriously claim to have “the most complete coverage of Ohio sports?” Now I have not hesitated to be critical of SportsTime Ohio in the past, but I am extremely disappointed in the false claims by this station. STO has stated in their TV commercials that they cover Cleveland, Youngstown, Toledo and Columbus, but this claim of “the most complete coverage of Ohio sports” is just plain ridiculous. With no coverage of Cincinnati’s 2 pro teams (Bengals, Reds), the Columbus pro teams (Blue Jackets, Crew, Destroyers) the 6 MAC colleges (Ohio, Miami, BG, Kent, Akron & Toledo) and the UC Bearcats, this claim to have “the most complete coverage of Ohio sports” is a blatant lie.