This will be my usual topic on Monday's from here until no more football......I'll review some of Sunday's game, giving who won and lost and the reason(s) behind it.
Colts 10 at Titans 31
This game was pretty much over with in the 2nd Quarter, when the Titans scored 17 points and the Colts offense never recovered as the Titans scored 20 points in the 1st half.
Saints 21 at Rams 31
Rams get their 1st win of the season, behind an aspired defense and Stephen Jackson power running. Maybe it was because of presence of the newly crowned Champs, the St. Louis Cardinals. Great Week for the city of St. Louis.
Dolphins 17 at Giants 20
Whatever people may say or write, the Miami Dolphins DID NOT quit, but again they came up short at the end. The Giants just showed why they are the better team in this tilt.
Vikings 24 at Panthers 21
This could mark the beginning of many match-ups between Newton and Ponder. Both rookie QB's played GREAT and both teams could have won, but the Vikings defense was the difference in this game. Timely turnovers and Adrian Peterson won the game for the Vikings.
Cardinals 27 at Ravens 30
Well this game was the tale of the halves: 1st half went to the Cards and 2nd half went to the Ravens. Flacco, who came off of his sub-par performance last Monday Night against the Jags, had a slow start but finished the game well. Anquan Boldin torched his former team with 7 catches for 145. Good comeback by the Ravens as they prepare for there showdown next week with the Steelers.
Jaguars 14 at Texans 24
Well this was an important win for the Texans. Keep in mind that Peyton Manning is on the shelf, so it would be WISE for the Texans to win the division this year or else suffer the wrath of "Blowing Up" this team.
Redskins 0 at Bills 23
Not really much to say about this game, just that Redskins QB John Beck was sacked a lot of times........
Lions 45 at Broncos 10
The Lions responded after their two game losing streak by going out and annihilate the Broncos. As for that Tebow guy, it seems as if he could be in way over his head with this starting QB in the NFL. The Broncos have a lot to look at before they can get back to those glory days of the 80's and 90's. This may take awhile after watching yesterday's game.
Patriots 17 at Steelers 25
This was the game of the week and it did not disappoint anyone either. The Pats came into this game winning 6 of the last 7 meetings against the Steel Curtain, but yesterday the Steelers had enough and really dominated this game with their defense. Brady was dazed and confused all day long and Big Ben played maybe he's best game as an NFL quarterback.
Brows 10 at 49ers 20
The 49ers are showing to the rest of the league, especially the NFC, that this team could be a huge contender for the NFC title come playoff time.
Bengals 34 at Seahawks 12
This win for the Bengals shows two things: 1.) that they are rebuilding, but at a VERY VERY fast pace and 2.) they are not contenders for the AFC wild card, if not, the AFC North division. They haven't played the top two dogs (Steelers and Ravens) in that division yet, but they are winning the games they are suppose to win.
Cowboys 7 at Eagles 34
Eagles needed this game to show everyone that (in the words of Lee Corso) "NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND" in counting this team out of the NFC East race. As for the Cowboys, if they can be consistent, then they just may be a big player in the NFC playoff picture.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Vikings "Failed" Season
For those who truly know me, knows that I don't hide my allegiance to my favorite sports teams (mostly all Minnesota teams). I created this blog to cover everything that I like or find interesting, not necessarily my teams exclusively. But I was requested to do a report on a team (okay my team) the Minnesota Vikings. For starters, before the season started, I believed could win 10-11 games with this team as currently constituted. Okay, I was wrong, but that's not a discredit for this team. I still believe that this team is an 10-win team, just not in 2011.
I'll come up with 3 things that doomed this season as to date:
1.) Lockout: Lets face it folks, it is what it is, the NFL lockout really did a number on the Minnesota Vikings this off-season (or lack thereof). When a team is in transition from one coaching system to another coaching system, they need a full off-season to implement their system into the players and organization. Now for those that will say that Coach Leslie Frazier had 6 games of 2010 to help put his stamp on the team, he also had former coach Brad Childress system from which he had to run for the last 6 games of 2010.
Now to Coach Frazier's defense, this season isn't really how any first year head coach wants to make his "mark" onto the organization. With only having about 8 weeks of training camp/preseason, the offense is the only thing that had a huge makeover (the defense is still under the cover 2 format).
2.) Frazier Offensive Coordinator Choice: The only issue I had with Frazier when it came to the offense is that he should of kept, then offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell (at least for this season). Considering that IF Frazier knew that he would try to get Donovan McNabb from the Washington Redskins, it would made things a little easier for McNabb to run this offense with Bevell calling the plays (i.e. Brett Favre 2 years ago under this same system).
Nothing against current Offensive Coordinator Bill Musgrave, but I believe that if you we're going to bring in a new system that I would of brought it in with a new QB (insert Christian Ponder or Joe Webb). I'll admit, I was strong against bringing in Ponder before Webb and in place of McNabb, but after watching the horrible performance against the Chicago Bears (on Sunday Night at that), I felt that it was time to see what we had in both QB's. Ponder has played VERY GOOD football, considering the few times I've watched him at Florida State.
3.) Re-tread Veteran Quarterbacks: Well as we saw a few years ago, 2008 to be exact, we saw the Vikings give up on what had been planned on the "Quarterback of the future" in Tarvaris Jackson after 2 games of the season. Gus Frerotte, a Veteran QB, was inserted and the Vikings season was saved. Now after that season, one could of said that Childress should of drafted another QB and tried that experiment again. He actually drafted John David Booty from USC, then to cut him when he decided to bring in a "Re-tread Veteran" in Brett Favre.
The Vikings QB situation has been screwed up since that bad day in Carolina in 2005. Yea the day, then Vikings Franchise QB, Daunte Culpepper had his knee destroyed and ultimately ended his career. Since that time the Vikings had these QB's as starters: Brad Johnson, Tarvis Jackson, Kelly Holcomb, Brooks Bollinger, Gus Frerotte, Brett Favre, Joe Webb, Donovan McNabb and now Christian Ponder. Of those QB's I've mentioned, only two of them are under the age of 30. Safe to say that Ponder could be that replacement that the Vikings been looking for over the last 6 years.
Ponder and Frazier are now married at the hip. After 2 games they have a 1-1 record, so far so good. Only time will tell.........
I'll come up with 3 things that doomed this season as to date:
Now to Coach Frazier's defense, this season isn't really how any first year head coach wants to make his "mark" onto the organization. With only having about 8 weeks of training camp/preseason, the offense is the only thing that had a huge makeover (the defense is still under the cover 2 format).
2.) Frazier Offensive Coordinator Choice: The only issue I had with Frazier when it came to the offense is that he should of kept, then offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell (at least for this season). Considering that IF Frazier knew that he would try to get Donovan McNabb from the Washington Redskins, it would made things a little easier for McNabb to run this offense with Bevell calling the plays (i.e. Brett Favre 2 years ago under this same system).
Nothing against current Offensive Coordinator Bill Musgrave, but I believe that if you we're going to bring in a new system that I would of brought it in with a new QB (insert Christian Ponder or Joe Webb). I'll admit, I was strong against bringing in Ponder before Webb and in place of McNabb, but after watching the horrible performance against the Chicago Bears (on Sunday Night at that), I felt that it was time to see what we had in both QB's. Ponder has played VERY GOOD football, considering the few times I've watched him at Florida State.
The Vikings QB situation has been screwed up since that bad day in Carolina in 2005. Yea the day, then Vikings Franchise QB, Daunte Culpepper had his knee destroyed and ultimately ended his career. Since that time the Vikings had these QB's as starters: Brad Johnson, Tarvis Jackson, Kelly Holcomb, Brooks Bollinger, Gus Frerotte, Brett Favre, Joe Webb, Donovan McNabb and now Christian Ponder. Of those QB's I've mentioned, only two of them are under the age of 30. Safe to say that Ponder could be that replacement that the Vikings been looking for over the last 6 years.
Baseball Irony
With baseball season now officially over for 2011, I find something to be a little ironic about the ending of the past two baseball seasons. The last two champions: San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals have more in common then people may think.
Before I continue on with this point, I want to expand a little more on MLB over the last 18 years. With 2011 being the year of labor stoppage (NFL and currently NBA), I've decided to look at the American top 4 sports leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB) over this 18 year span. All of these leagues have gone on strike or lockout within the last 18 years (NBA in 1998-99 and 2011-?, NFL in 2011, NHL the whole 2004-05 and the MLB strike in1994).
My point in this blog is to show that MLB has somewhat made a comeback into American lives again as it did pre-1994. This year's World Series may go down as one of the greatest of all-time and 2011 could be the rebirth of MLB as we once knew it. With the NFL and NBA lockouts of 2011, MLB had the opportunity to re-assert itself as the "American Pastime". Some could argue in the future this year's postseason may have saved the sport, considering that the last 5 postseasons weren't as great. Which leads me to my main point, a few years ago baseball was the laughing stock of all sports in America. From Commissioner Selig being pretty much bullied in his own sport, to the Rodger Clemmons HGH case, and Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's alleged doping issues.
Now I've gotten back to my earlier point I was making by naming Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa. We'll take Sosa out of this for the time being. What are the connections between Bonds and McGwire, outside of their HR chase and doping allegations? You guessed it, how ironic that both of their former teams are the last two World Series Champions.
For St. Louis and San Francisco, their fans we're most effected by the aforementioned events and to see that both organizations have succeeded after this is a sign to MLB that baseball may not be as dead as people made it out to be a few years ago. Even though, Bonds and McGwire may or may not get into Baseball's Hall of Fame, but for the two organizations that they've played for its safe to say that they have "moved on" and Baseball as a sport as moved up into the top 3 of American sports after this postseason.
So as for the Chicago Cubs, the Sosa mentioning earlier, if this all holds up the way that's has, 2012 could FINALLY be your year.........Huh Huh??
Only Time Will Tell...........if the Giants, Cardinals and MLB recovered, then why not the Cubs!!!
Before I continue on with this point, I want to expand a little more on MLB over the last 18 years. With 2011 being the year of labor stoppage (NFL and currently NBA), I've decided to look at the American top 4 sports leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB) over this 18 year span. All of these leagues have gone on strike or lockout within the last 18 years (NBA in 1998-99 and 2011-?, NFL in 2011, NHL the whole 2004-05 and the MLB strike in1994).
My point in this blog is to show that MLB has somewhat made a comeback into American lives again as it did pre-1994. This year's World Series may go down as one of the greatest of all-time and 2011 could be the rebirth of MLB as we once knew it. With the NFL and NBA lockouts of 2011, MLB had the opportunity to re-assert itself as the "American Pastime". Some could argue in the future this year's postseason may have saved the sport, considering that the last 5 postseasons weren't as great. Which leads me to my main point, a few years ago baseball was the laughing stock of all sports in America. From Commissioner Selig being pretty much bullied in his own sport, to the Rodger Clemmons HGH case, and Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's alleged doping issues.
Now I've gotten back to my earlier point I was making by naming Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa. We'll take Sosa out of this for the time being. What are the connections between Bonds and McGwire, outside of their HR chase and doping allegations? You guessed it, how ironic that both of their former teams are the last two World Series Champions.
For St. Louis and San Francisco, their fans we're most effected by the aforementioned events and to see that both organizations have succeeded after this is a sign to MLB that baseball may not be as dead as people made it out to be a few years ago. Even though, Bonds and McGwire may or may not get into Baseball's Hall of Fame, but for the two organizations that they've played for its safe to say that they have "moved on" and Baseball as a sport as moved up into the top 3 of American sports after this postseason.
So as for the Chicago Cubs, the Sosa mentioning earlier, if this all holds up the way that's has, 2012 could FINALLY be your year.........Huh Huh??
Only Time Will Tell...........if the Giants, Cardinals and MLB recovered, then why not the Cubs!!!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
RED BIRDS.......CHAMPS AGAIN!!!
What's the one thing you'll remember the most about the 2011 World Series? Will it be the:
Game 1: The chess-match between Tony LaRussa and Ron Washington
Game 2: Cardinals bullpen collapse in the 9th Inning
Game 3: Pujols 3-HR game in Texas
Game 4: Derek Holland's masterpiece pitching performance
Game 5: The Cardinals "Bullpen Communication Mishap"
Game 6: The "Nelson Cruz" game (History will apply this name soon)
Game 7: Cardinals take it home, wins 11th World Series title!!!
Either way, the Cardinals will have to send a Thank-you basket to one team. Just remember, one month ago today that the Cardinals wasn't even in the Playoffs, but with the collapse of one team is another team's championship run. This one team, which I'll name shortly, had a death-grip on the NL Wild Card for it seems to be all season long. I wonder how the Atlanta Braves are feeling this morning, knowing that this could have been their championship. Either way, it doesn't matter but it's compelling to see what WOULD of happened if the Braves did make the Playoffs. This kind of reminds you of another championship game played earlier this year (Super Bowl) that had a team who was loaded in the Pittsburgh Steelers and a team that wasn't suppose to be there, but somehow made the final cut in the Green Bay Packers.
Anyhow, my last blog was about should MLB change the Home-field Advantage rule in the All-Star game for future purposes. Now I am sure that most of the "Expert Analysis" will say that this doesn't matter and stuff like that, but ask the Texas Rangers fans this. The Rangers had a better record then the Cardinals but had to play Game 7 on the road because of a player, Prince Fielder, who hit a 3-run moonshot in Arizona back in July that gave the NL All-Stars the win and home-field advantage. Now I am not the one to say that if the Rangers had home-field that they would won, but you gotta look at it from that prospective. Rangers we're the best home team in the playoffs, record-wise, and they have the "loudest" stadium of all the playoff teams (Okay I am poking fun at the Game 5 fiasco with the Cardinals Bullpen phone). I guess we'll never know how this series would of turned out had the Rangers played Game's 6 & 7 at home instead of on the road.
For the Cardinals, we should expect some "gifts" of some sort being sent to the Braves and to Prince Fielder. Or a simple THANK YOU PRINCE FIELDER for aiding the Cardinals to an 11th World Series championship. As for the Rangers, we all hope they can recover from this and win their 1st World Series championship soon. Just hope that Nolan Ryan doesn't do too many changes to a team that I feel is a championship-caliber team.
Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Should Baseball Change the Home-field Advantage Rule??
Well interesting thing I've learned about today, this is the first time since 2002 that a World Series game has gone to a Game 7. Lets think back to 2002, no not my high school graduation, but to the All-Star Game in Milwaukee. Remember the game ending in a tie, thus making MLB change the stakes that comes with playing in the All-Star Game.
The reason why I am asking this is because I happened to look at the regular season records: Rangers finished 1st in AL West with a 96-66 record, while the Cardinals finished 2nd in the NL Central with a 90-72 record. See anything strange about this?? Yea the Cardinals have a worst record than the Rangers, but Game 7 will be played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis instead of The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX. Now the NL did win the All-Star Game this year, but shall the Rangers lose tonight's game, a mist what happened in the 9th inning of game 6, would some people blame this on the Rangers NOT having home-field advantage?
Could Prince Fielder, who hit the game winning homer in Arizona during the All-Star Game in JULY, help the Cardinals (the team whom eliminated HIS Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS) win the World Series in OCTOBER? I guess I could ask the question again: Should MLB change the Home-Field Advantage Rule in such All-Star Game in the future? I mean the Rangers are a very VERY good home team and a game like this should be played in their home park right?
Only time will tell..........
The reason why I am asking this is because I happened to look at the regular season records: Rangers finished 1st in AL West with a 96-66 record, while the Cardinals finished 2nd in the NL Central with a 90-72 record. See anything strange about this?? Yea the Cardinals have a worst record than the Rangers, but Game 7 will be played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis instead of The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX. Now the NL did win the All-Star Game this year, but shall the Rangers lose tonight's game, a mist what happened in the 9th inning of game 6, would some people blame this on the Rangers NOT having home-field advantage?
Could Prince Fielder, who hit the game winning homer in Arizona during the All-Star Game in JULY, help the Cardinals (the team whom eliminated HIS Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS) win the World Series in OCTOBER? I guess I could ask the question again: Should MLB change the Home-Field Advantage Rule in such All-Star Game in the future? I mean the Rangers are a very VERY good home team and a game like this should be played in their home park right?
Only time will tell..........
This Week's Top 5
Top 5 sports stories of the week:
1.) Tebow: Yes Tim Tebow. Me personality I think this all too much of nothing, but for the people out there in Bronco Land this is the story of the year so far. Okay maybe not...... But for those who say that Tebow shouldn't be out may be right. If you watched the first 55 minutes of the Broncos/Dolphins game and the ones who's on Team Tebow look at the end result of that game, A WIN. Yes Tebow did in fact win the game, but if you're looking at it in between the lines then you would suggest that the Dolphins simply blew it.
2.) World Series: Baseball isn't the most popular sport among the "new-aged" sports fans, but even those new fans have to LOVE this year's World Series.....right?? As we approach GAME 7 *pause* we look at the ending of the 2011 season. Texas is trying to win its first ever championship and the Cardinals are just glad to in the post-season and looking to win for the first time since 2005. Keep in mind that the Cardinals only got into the post-season because the Atlanta Braves choked up on something......This series has been noted as being one of the best World Series played as to date. Now I wouldn't be a prisoner of the moment right now, I've seen great World Series in 1991 Braves vs Twins (YES THAT'S A HOMER PICK), 1993 Phillies vs Blue Jays, 1997 Indians vs Marlins, 2001 Yankees vs Diamondbacks. Does the 2011 World Series live up to those World Series as to date?? Only History will tell......and the ratings of course.
3.) Top 3 games of Week 8: Well I've already done my picks for Week 8 (see last blog). But I think that these 3 games are worth mentioning for game of the week:
New England vs. Pittsburgh
The last 7 games, the Patriots have DOMINATED the Steel Curtain beating them 6 of 7 times, including a few playoff wins (notably at Hines Field).
Dallas vs Philadelphia
This could very well be the setting for what could be the winner of the NFC East division. These two teams will end the season in Dallas, but this game could be the early barometer for who has control of the NFC East. With Washington (Injuries and Rex not being "Our" quarterback) and the New York Giants just not being able to stay consistent and seize the opportunity a few weeks ago to take control of this division, it leaves this game as the game that could very well decided the champion (Even though it is Week 8).
San Diego vs Kansas City
A month ago, this game would not have had the worthy of being mentioned as a game I would be looking forward too. Well since the Chiefs last lost (Against the Chargers in Week 3), they've won 3 straight games and have pretty much played themselves back into contention for the AFC West. Arrowhead stadium has historically been a very tough place to play and for the Chargers this could very well put their whole season to test. San Diego, who normally would begin it's late-season charge from having a "bad start" are 4-2. Their death-grip of sort they had on this division could be slipping away, especially if the Chiefs put out this Trick or Treat edition of this rivalry. Interesting game, can the Chiefs make that late season push to the playoffs or will the Chargers make this "business as usual" and take command of this series???
4.) BCS Rankings: Well with the top 2 ranked teams on idle this week (Armageddon in Tuscaloosa next Saturday), LSU and Alabama could play in the first BCS knockout game since 2006 with Michigan and Ohio State. What I mean by that is that whoever loses this game, will pretty much be knocked out of any contention for the BCS Title Game. Interesting to see what the "Mad-Hatter" (Coach Miles) and Satan (Coach Saban) will have for this game. I predict that this game will be GREAT. I'll give you my picks next week. But a few noteworthy games this week includes:Baylor vs Oklahoma State, Clemson vs Georgia Tech, and Georgia vs Florida. This weekend's game will be the positioning games for teams hoping for that #2 spot after the Armageddon game next Saturday.
5.) NBA Lockout: Well what a difference a healthy commissioner and week makes. Last week all hell broke lose, as NBA Commissioner David Stern put it. Keep in mind that Stern was sick last week and did not attend the meetings, thus negotiations breaking down and the whole league almost went down with it. This week, as late as Wednesday, the two sides got back together again and are supposedly on the brink of having a new CBA agreed on and saving what could of been a short 2011-12 season. What looked to be a looooonnnnggggg lockout, might end soon. I would say that's a HUGE win for the NBA's popularity in America, considering that the Lockout in 98-99 didn't do much justice. I believe that the league is somewhat STILL recovering from that lockout, so to have another one isn't much help for the NBA. They got a lot of "making-up" to do and the earlier they get to it, the better.
Friday's Confidence Picks for Week 8
Well every Friday, I'll make my confidence picks for each week in the NFL. How this goes is that I'll pick a game and decide who'll win by using this format: Picking a team to win, the spread, and using a confidence number (Ranging from 1-15).
My Pick Confidence
Indianapolis at Tennessee (9) TEN 9
New Orleans (14) at St. Louis N.O. 10
Miami at New York Giants (10) NYG 11
Minnesota at Carolina (4) MIN 5
Arizona at Baltimore (13) BAL 13
Jacksonville at Houston (10) HOU 8
Washington at Buffalo (6) BUF 7
Detroit (3) at Denver DEN 6
New England (3) at Pittsburgh PIT 3
Cleveland at San Francisco (9) SF 12
Cincinnati (2) at Seattle CIN 1
Dallas at Philadelphia (4) PHI 2
San Diego at (4) Kansas City SD 4
Week 8
My Pick Confidence
Indianapolis at Tennessee (9) TEN 9
New Orleans (14) at St. Louis N.O. 10
Miami at New York Giants (10) NYG 11
Minnesota at Carolina (4) MIN 5
Arizona at Baltimore (13) BAL 13
Jacksonville at Houston (10) HOU 8
Washington at Buffalo (6) BUF 7
Detroit (3) at Denver DEN 6
New England (3) at Pittsburgh PIT 3
Cleveland at San Francisco (9) SF 12
Cincinnati (2) at Seattle CIN 1
Dallas at Philadelphia (4) PHI 2
San Diego at (4) Kansas City SD 4
First Post
Well hello America, I've decided to create one of these after all. Upon reading others blog post made by my followers on Twitter, I've finally gotten around to making me one. For those who don't know, my name is Clarence Sellers.
Now who in the great word of sports is Clarence Sellers? For starters, I am a recent graduate of Clayton State University and outgoing/current sports director of Clayton State Television. I have a love for Sports that goes as far back as when I was maybe 5 and its become my #1 thing in my life, besides life itself. Born and raised in Minneapolis, MN and spent my adult life in the city of Atlanta, GA. So you'll know where my ties lie for which sporting teams I love the most, but I'll TRY to be bias.
I'll be sharing sporting news throughout all spectrum of sports: Basketball, Football, Baseball, Pro and College. So sit back and enjoy, you'll love or hate some of the stuff I post, but please fill free to debate me. Known, by some friends as, the Black Skip Bayless.
Now who in the great word of sports is Clarence Sellers? For starters, I am a recent graduate of Clayton State University and outgoing/current sports director of Clayton State Television. I have a love for Sports that goes as far back as when I was maybe 5 and its become my #1 thing in my life, besides life itself. Born and raised in Minneapolis, MN and spent my adult life in the city of Atlanta, GA. So you'll know where my ties lie for which sporting teams I love the most, but I'll TRY to be bias.
I'll be sharing sporting news throughout all spectrum of sports: Basketball, Football, Baseball, Pro and College. So sit back and enjoy, you'll love or hate some of the stuff I post, but please fill free to debate me. Known, by some friends as, the Black Skip Bayless.
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