Kevin Durant to the Wizards?

Kevin Durant is Oklahoma City. He started the franchise, you can credit him for bringing them to where they are today and the city loves him for than Blake Griffin and Brad Pitt combined (both are from the city). The city would go to the end of the world for him and for some reason, you get the idea he would go to the end of the world for the city. Why is he going to the Wizards in free agency then?

Wait what? You just talked about how much OKC loved him and he loved OKC and then you just jump into him leaving in free agency. You realize that makes no sense right? Have you ever written anything before?

Listen. KD is probably the most loyal player in the NBA and what he has done for the city of Oklahoma cannot be measured, but his true loyalty remains in the city of Seat Pleasant, Maryland. The city where he grew up. The city that he has devoted a whole back tattoo to. The city that erected a billboard congratulating him on his MVP before OKC did anything for him. Did you know the KD and John Wall are incredible friends and talk on the reg? Since getting to the league Wall has done nothing but talk about how much he can't wait until they play together in DC. It is obviously some good ribbing between a couple of chums, but you know there is a little truth behind it. Did you know that when RGIII was drafted KD was still voted the 2nd most popular person in DC behind somebody named Barack Obama?

I think I am in the minority in this belief, but I just think there are too many variables at play to not at least explore the option. The west is such a good conference and the east is so atrocious. Think about what a player like Kevin Love might be thinking, "Damn, if I was just on one of the playoff teams in the East I could be the player that would carry that team to the eastern conference finals. That's how much every other team sucks." The only star that can't think like that is Carmelo Anthony, he just thinks "Damn, why am I never going to be as good a teammate as every other superstar in the NBA." Sorry, I have to get at least on dig in on him every now and then.

If you add KD to the Washington Wizards you might as well pencil them into the Eastern Conference Finals talk for every year with the Pacers and Heat. Sure you can say that now with OKC in the west, but you could make a case for every western playoff team to make it to the conference finals. I'll go on a hunt for a leprechauns pot of gold if somebody can convince me the Atlanta Hawks are serious contenders for next year. Heck, you could make a better case for the Suns to make it to the western conference finals next year than the Hawks to make the eastern conference finals. There is just too much of a discrepancy between the elite teams in the east and the shit ones.

Obviously only time will tell as KD still has 2 years left on his contract and a lot can change in that time. The only thing I can think of that would actually guarantee KD's stay in OKC is if they don't win a championship before that time is up. He cares too much about the city of Oklahoma to not leave them with at least one championship. So if I were Thunder fan I would root for them to make the finals and lose for the next couple of years and then resign KD forever once that contract is up. If I'm a Washington fan I would keep donating money for billboards and maybe slide some under the table to the OKC papers to keep posting stupid headlines like "Mr. Unreliable."

The one thing we do know for sure is that KD is such a nice and humble guy that his free agency period will be the POLAR OPPOSITE of LeBron's. My guess it will be a two team list and the decision will be made in private and you know the first person to know of that decision will be his Mom. Until then all we can do is speculate and enjoy this years incredible NBA Playoffs.

Reunited and it feels so good

Chris Johnson is somewhat of an enigma. Drafted in 2008 with the 24th overall pick by the Tennessee Titans, Johnson literally burst onto the scene. I had a friend approach me before the draft asking me whether I had heard about this kid out of East Carolina. I had to be honest with him, "Has anyone ever heard of a kid coming out of East Carolina?" I had a very delicious piece of humble pie for that one. In Johnson's rookie season he rushed for 1,228 yards, good enough for 8th in the league. The next year was incredible. Johnson became one of six (now seven including AP) players to eclipse the 2,000 yard mark. Only two of those six managed to do it in fewer carries than him. Johnson also amassed 503 receiving yards, which was enough to beat Marshall Faulk's single-season yard from scrimmage record.

After that season Johnson people feel that he fell off, "He's just gone the way of Shaun Alexander and Larry Johnson." Yes his numbers dropped every year, but he still did okay. Having earned the nickname CJ2K and proclaiming he would break Dickerson's (we should all know his first name, let's be honest) rushing record, people had high hopes for CJ2K in the 2010 season. He didn't quite live up to expectations having only totaled 1,364 rushing yards by seasons end. Thirteen hundred yards is nothing to shake a stick at, but after coming within 99 yards of the great Dickerson, people started asking questions. Which, to be honest, were not really merited at all and for the cherry on top, head coach Jeff Fisher was canned.

Since that "down" season, Johnson has still managed to get 1,000 yards every season since, but for some reason people think he is no longer "good." The Titans don't think he is bad, but they certainly aren't willing to pay him $8 million.

His releasing could be a blessing in disguise. There is a team out there who has a big bruiser back and could really benefit from home run hitter in the back field. Johnson's best years came with LenDale White splitting carries with him, smash and dash they called it. Johnson also had his best three years under Fisher who is now the head coach of that team.

The St. Louis Rams are a young team with a young offense. Bringing in a six-year veteran back could help that offense a whole lot. People are saying Johnson needs to go somewhere with a veteran core that could motivate him to work hard. I think he needs to go to the coach who HAD him motivated to work hard. Give him a one-year show me what ya got contract and see what Fisher can do with him. A healthy Sam Bradford and a consistent running game is what is keeping the Rams from taking it to the next level in a competitive NFC West.

The Road Worth Traveling

The Panthers Are Ready to Pounce
By Chris Crawford


Wintrop University broke the hearts of High Point University when they ended the teams promising basketball season. Twice. Both teams. 

While it may not have been the ending both the men's and women's teams were looking for, both teams are poised to do big things for years to come.

The Fall From Grace

The initial shot to the heart came in the men's conference tournament opening round, when Andre Smith of Winthrop hit a miracle three pointer in the final seconds. The women's team managed to get all the way to the championship before Withrop delivered the second devastating blow when they trounced and bounced the Panthers out in a 33 point win.

"That one really left a bad taste. To work so hard and get so far only to basically not show up when it really mattered," says women's head coach DeUnna Hendrix.

These were tough losses for both teams as each entered its respected tournament as the one seed having finished first in the conference at the end of the regular season. Having that best record in conference play earned each team a trip to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), which meant that no matter what happened in the conference tournament, the Panthers were heading to the post season. 

"We may have come in a little too calm cause we knew we were going to the NIT. I think it gives us motivation for next year though. I know I will remember that game come next season," explains Latrice Phelps, starting forward for the Lady Panthers. 

Granted a trip to the NIT is nice, a trip to the NCAA March Madness tournament would have been a little better. Especially because the teams were the favorites to win the conference tournament. None the less though, this is a step in the right direction for a basketball program on the rise.

"Last year was the CIT, this year we were in the NIT. There is only one more to go (March Madness) and I think we have the pieces to do it," men's Coach Scott Cherry explains. 

The Hoover-Hendrix Connection

The women's team success could be seen developing back in the 2010-2011 when the school brought in Jennifer Hoover as the new head coach. In her first year as head coach she guided the Panthers to their second 20 win season in school history and also their second NIT. 

That first year was enough for Wake Forest to steal Hoover away and leave High Point with a decision of either hiring from within, or looking elsewhere for a new coach. After some reassurance from Hoover, the school decided to promote from within tagging her assistant DeUnna Hendrix as the next head coach. 

In her inaugural season they did not perform as well as the prior year with Hoover, but that is expected with a rookie head coach. It wasn't even a bad season by any means either. The team finished with a 17-13 record overall and an 11-7 record in the conference. 

Like most teams on the rise the Lady Panthers improved this year with a very impressive 22-11 overall record and a 16-4 record in the conference. These second year efforts did not go unnoticed as Hendrix was awarded with the Coach of the Year award in the Big South. 

"That was unexpected. All it says though is that I am surrounded by an incredible supporting staff. I have a great group of girls that are coachable." Hendrix states, "I think it says more about where our program is going and its character."

It is incredibly impressive for a coach to go out and win coach of the year in just their second year, but add the fact that Hendrix also had the Big South Freshman of the year Kaylah Keys on her roster and you have yourself a very dynamic duo for three more years. Coach Hendrix thinks Keys is the key.

"You are going to see a lot from that kid. You could see her name leading the nation in scoring in three years time. It's gonna depend on what she wants to do and how much work she wants to put in, but she could definitely get there."

The Cherry on Top

The men's program has been in the works for a little longer. In 2009 High Point decided to part ways with Bary Lundy, who in the 2006-2007 season coached the team to a 22-10 record, but fell off quickly as the team only managed to win nine games overall and four in the conference in his final year.

Scott Cherry, a man who played under the great Dean Smith, was brought in as the next head coach and after a rough first three years, the culture of High Point Men's basketball started to change. Before the 2012-2013 season Scott Cherry made a splash landing four-star recruit Allan Chaney. 

Chaney, a graduate student, had heart issues that made him unable to play at University of Florida, but after surgery and a few years off Chaney came back to the game giving High Point University their first ever top 100 recruit. 

If that didn't generate enough buzz before the 2012 season the athleticism of red shirt freshman John Brown would. Standing at lanky 6-feet 6-inches, Brown could jump out of the building and would throw down dunks that would not only bring the Millis Center to their feet, but would also get a feature on the Sportscenter top ten the next day. 

The team started to really get people talking around campus when it finished the year with a 17-14 overall record and a 12-4 conference record, which earned the Panthers a trip to the College Insiders Tournament. The new found success, paired with the excitement of Brown and Chaney, was enough to put High Point on the map.

Prior to this coming season there was more excitement than ever surrounding the team once the schedules came out. As Cherry points out it featured games against some of the most daunting opponents the young program has ever faced.

"Stepahn F. Austin, Wofford and Syracuse all played in the tournament. Georgetown and Arkansas played in the NIT. It was a schedule full of teams that were really good and really talented."

As a program on the rise, getting to face these first class opponents is the epitome of a win-win-win situation. 

First, it gives the school exposure and, in most cases, the school will get some sort of compensation from the big school for making the trip. 

Second, the team gets valuable experience against top-tier opponents, which will only help when they play the smaller schools in conference play.

Lastly, when a school like HPU travels and plays the likes of Syracuse, nobody expects the Panthers to come out on top. So if by some chance the team manages to pull off the upset, it is monumental for the program. 

"It is great for our exposure," Cherry explains, "We got the Georgetown game on Fox Sports 1, we got on ESPN U a couple times, it's is great for our program and it is great for our kids."

After a season like this the Panthers are poised to make some noise and Phelps is trying to petition the crowd, "People should be talking about us. We have the potential to be great."

With both teams expecting the majority of their starting line-ups back she isn't wrong either. Look for the Panthers to be dancing in 2014.


Coverage on the rise:

• From 2009-2013 the women's team had zero games nationally televised
• In the 2013-2014 season the team had four
• From 2009-2013 the men's team had three games nationally televised
• In the 2013-2014 season the team had nine
• For the program as a whole, three total from 2009-2013 and 13 in the 2013-2014 season alone

Those leaving and staying:

• The women's team will have two people not returning next year
• Only one of them is a starter
• They combine to average 16.2 points per game
• The leading scorer, Kaylah Keys, averages 17.4 points per game and she is returning
• Latrice Phelps averages just under 10 points per game and is also returning
• The team as a whole will retain 78% of its scoring average from the previous year
• Taylor Tremblay will return after sitting out the majority of the 2013-2014 season
• She was averaging 13.4 points per game before getting injured
• Only Kaylah Keys averaged more points per game

• The men's team will have three players not returning
• One is Allan Chaney, who missed the second half of the year with heart issues
• Derrell Edwards and Dejuan McGaughy are the other two
• Edwards started and averaged 3.4 points per game
• McGaughy came off the bench averaging 4.8 points per game
• The two of them make up only 11% of the Panthers scoring
• The leading scorer, John Brown, averages 19.5 points per game and he is returning
• The top 4 scorers from the past year will all be returning next season 

NFC 2 Week Recap

Well as promised for all you weird people who like the NFC more than the AFC here is my recap and preview for that division. If you skipped the AFC preview and are only reading this one, shame on you! GO back and read the AFC preview. If you read the AFC preview and are not reading this one then...well I can't really do anything about that. Okay, here we go.

NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys (1-1): The Boys are doing what the Boys do best. They ruin the hopes of their divisional foes by beating them, but then lose in ugly fashion to follow it up. After beating the the Giants in prime time in week one the Cowboys followed it up with an ugly defeat in Kansas City. DeMarco Murray had a decent 20 carries for 86 yards in week one, but answered with a blunder against KC rushing for 25 yards on 12 carries. This weeks match-up versus St. Louis should be a good measure as to what the season may entail.

Philadelphia Eagles (1-1): This team came out of the gates on fire in week one. They ran 52 first half offensive plays and at one point in the game lead the rival Washington Redskins 33-7. Then we got a good look at just how bad their defense really is when Washington came back and made things interesting. The poor defense carried over into week two against the San Diego Chargers as well. Phillips Rivers and Eddie Royal looked like they were running practice routes with nobody covering Royal or rushing Rivers. There was one touchdown where Royal could have caught the ball, taken the time to make sure all pieces of his uniform were in check, and then skipped to the end zone. Instead he just jogged in. This team can score, but they are going to need some stops if they want to win.

Washington Redskins (0-2): It hasn't even really gotten going in full force yet, but I am already sick of all the talk about RG 3 and out's knee. His brace is too tight, he's not as explosive, Dr. James Andrews (who for some reason is as common a household name as George Clooney) says he shouldn't play this style, yada yada yada. My expectation is that he is going to come out this week against the Detroit and ball out. They may not win, but it will be a different RG III and a different RG III is exactly what the Skins need.

New York Giants (0-2): Hahahahahaha Peyton Manning is so much better than Eli Manning. This just reiterates the fact that younger brothers will never be able to be better at anything than their older brothers. Well that and the fact that the Giants suck. Can't wait to hear every talk about firing Tom Coughlin again after two crappy years in a row for this team.

NFC North:
Daaaaa Bears (2-0): This is a team that gets over looked year after year and with a new head coach and the heart of the D, Brian Urlacher, retiring everybody over looked them again. Well now they have two impressive wins against the Bengals and divisional rival Vikings. Both games were at home, but still no less impressive. Jay Cutler has a big somber-face man crush on newly acquired tight-end Martellus Bennett. The man has three touchdown catches the year which already surpasses the total by all the Bears tight ends combined over the whole season last year. Expect those numbers to continue to rise as the year progresses. Oh and their new head coach, Mark Trestman, was taken straight out of the CFL. OHHHH CANADAAAAA.

Detroit Lions (1-1): This is a brand Suh team this year. Ha, see what I did there? My man Jim Schwartz is on the chopping block and this team needs to perform in order for him to keep his job. Reggie Bush put in a great performance in week one helping them to a big win over Minnesota, but then the team stumbled a bit against an underrated Arizona Cardinals team. For some reason I think this team is going to stick around for a little while. Ironically enough the only part of this team that isn't really "Suh" is Suh. Guy just gets dumber every year.

Sure did look like that lineman had a really good shot at catching him...

Green Bay Packers (1-1): San Francisco got the best of them in week one, but then they got more than the best of Washington in week two. Aaron Rodgers decided he was going to have an Aaron Rodgers type of day and only throw for a mere 480 yards. Bottom line is as long as Rodgers is healthy this team will be in the hunt.

Minnesota Vikings (0-2): Being in one of, if not the toughest, division in football is never a cakewalk. Starting the year out 0-2 overall and 0-2 in the division only makes this year more like a walk across hot coals for the Vikes. Good thing all anyone cares about with this team is whether or not APAD will break the rushing record.

NFC South:
New Orleans Saints (2-0): Welcome back Sean Payton. While the Vikes have an uphill battle to face the Saints have a downhill one. Not really. But what's better than being 2-0 after two weeks with both of those wins coming against divisional opponents? The Saints handled everything Matty Ice and the Falcons threw at them in week one and then they instigated frustration towards Greg Schiano in week two when they beat the the Buccaneers. This team has it's swag back, bring on the Cardinals.

Atlanta Falcons (1-1): Had a tough week one loss at the hands of the Saints, but bounced back nicely with a 31-24 win over the Rams. A bittersweet victory though as their prize off-season possession, Steven Jackson, went down and will miss 2-4 weeks. As if that wasn't enough, star linebacker Sean Weatherspoon found himself on the IR with the eligibility to return in week 11. This is still a good Falcons team though and you can bet that they aren't going anywhere soon, nor will forget that week one loss.

Tampa Bay (0-2): I think there are only two questions that need to be asked with this team. Will Josh Freeman still be the quarterback at the end of the season? Will this team implode in a Red Sox fashion due to dissent towards Greg Schiano? I don't mean Red Sox fashion as in they were good and collapsed, I kind of just mean collapse.

Carolina Panthers (0-2): This team just oozes with so much potential. Arguably the best line backing core in the NFL led by Luke Kuechly, an animal all by himself. A good defensive line led by a monster in Charles Johnson. They have a great young quarterback with Cam Newton and have surrounded him with young wide-receiver talent. A then they have their star in Steve Smith. They played well against Seattle, but then came up with a dud against Buffalo letting rookie E.J. Manuel pick their secondary apart leading up to a last second touchdown. How will they fair against the 0-2 Giants? My guess Eli torches them.

NFC West:
Seattle Seahawks (2-0): Seattle has a question for everybody in the NFL and it's; "What about us?" San Fran this, San Fran that, the Seahawks quieted everyone down when they literally brought the thunder down on the 49ers last weekend. That game alone says enough for this team.

St. Louis Rams (1-1): Had a good week one win against a divisional opponent in the Arizona Cardinals, but then fell behind too much too early against the Atlanta Falcons. It is Sam Bradford time St. Louis and Jeff Fisher has the ability to coach this team to a winning season.

San Francisco 49ers (1-1): These guys got flat-out out-played this past week against Seattle. They still have the most complete team in the NFL though and don't expect them to forget that Seattle loss anytime soon. The Niners will bounce back, but have a very intriguing match-up against Indianapolis. A classic quarterback vs former college coach match up.

Arizona Cardinals (1-1) The wild-card team of the NFC. Not in the sense that they are a wild card team, but more in the sense of who knows how good this team will be. I personally think that they are much better than people are giving them credit for and that it is only a matter of time before we start to see the pass happy quarterback and pass happy coach get things rolling. It also helps that the pass happy offense has Larry Fitzgeralds hands to throw all of those passes at. Last time I checked he had a pretty good set of them. A few years ago in a weaker NFC I could see this team doing big things, but it's too strong a conference now.

Division Winners:
East: Eagles. Everything in my guys says to go with Cowboys, but then everything else says that they will choke at some point. They do have Tony Romo after all.

North: Chicago Bears. Trestman has this team figured out already and understands how they are going to play week in and week out. When your coach can game plan like that, things tend to work out.

South: Saints. I think the Falcons are going to have a set back year and with Payton back at the helm I think the Saints will march again. Ha. Gotta love cliché lines.

West: Seahawks. Had you asked me this before the season I would have said the 49ers, but after seeing the way the Seahawks D has just dominated the first two weeks I am convinced they are the real deal.

Wildcards:
49ers: Can't see very many arguments here. Probably the second best team in the conference.
Lions: Reggie Bush is going to make them click this year and as long as he stays healthy I think they will go places.


In an exciting bonus there is in fact an NFL game being played tonight by the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. Andy Reid's homecoming, if you will. As far as my prediction for tonight, I predict there to be cheers for Reid with a smattering amount of boos. As for the game I saw somebody in High Point, NC driving around with Eagles flags on their car today and that's a good enough reason for me to pick them.

Eagles 26
Chiefs 18

AFC 2 Week review period

It seemed a little aggressive to go through team by team after week one and either praise or chastise them based off that first weeks performance. So let's do it after week two! Everybody knows that the whole NFL season is decided in the first two weeks so I'm going to go ahead and decide how the rest of the season is going to play out based on how teams played in the first two weeks. Feel free to judge a lot. The NFC review will come on Thursday.

AFC East:
New England Patriots (2-0): The Pats season started off pretty rough when rookie QB E.J. Manuel and the Bills gave them a solid run for their money with the Pats winning it with a field goal as time expired. The Pats backed up that awful performance with an even worse performance against the dismal New York Jets and another rookie QB in Geno Smith. In both games the offense looked stagnant and Tom Brady looked more frustrated than a toddler who can put the shapes in the right holes.

 On a positive note though the Pats only lost Shane Vareen for the whole year and the oft injured Danny Amendola is well, injured.

Miami Dolphins (2-0): The Dolphins are tied for first in the division! When was the last time those words were ever written? And it is week 2 which means you can expect them to stick around for a while. Believe it or not the Dolphins have actually looked moderately impressive this year, but mainly on the defensive side of the ball. There is still a serious lack of run game, but hopes are that Lamar Miller will be able to pick it up. Dolphins fans have to be feeling good about that front 7 though as they are racking up the sacks and they have to be happy with the play of 2nd year QB Ryan Tannehill.

Buffalo Bills (1-1): Manuel looks like he can ball. The rookie QB played pretty well in week one against division rival Patriots posting a 105.5 QBR. He followed up that performance with his first win of his NFL career against the Carolina Panthers and boy was it impressive. The rookie got the ball down 6 at his own 20 with only 1:38 left on the clock a no time-outs left. He marched his Bills down field and scored on a 2-yard pass to Stevie Johnson with just two seconds left. It helps the Bills defensive end Super Mario Williams racked up a team record 4.5 sacks.

New York Jets (1-1): They are going to be bad. Should be 0-2. Who knows how good Geno will be, but I'm pretty sure it will be better than anything Mark Sanchez ever did.

AFC South:
Houston Texans (2-0): Should be 0-2. The pre-season favorite to take the division and go deep into the playoffs. They looked atrocious in the first half in week one against the Chargers, but it's a good thing it was against the Chargers. The Texans battled back from a 28-7 deficit to win the game with a field goal as time expired. That was week one though. No way they would come back in week two and under perform again against a team that is significantly worse than them. Oh wait, they did. In week two it took overtime for the Texans to get past the divisional foe Titans, in Houston. It will be interesting to see if the Texans remember any time soon that they have Arian Foster as their running back.

Indianapolis Colts  (1-1): Week one was classic Andrew Luck and the Colts. Losing in the fourth quarter and looking for their young star quarterback to march down field and lead them to victory in front of the home crowd, which of course he did. Week two was classic Andrew Luck and the Colts. Losing in the fourth quarter and looking for their young star quarterback to march down field and lead them to victory in front of the home crowd, which of course he.....didn't?

Tennessee Titans (1-1): I view this team as a wild card team. They could be good, they could be bad, they could be on a bye week, you are just never going to know. In week one they churned out a solid win against the Steelers in a dog fight. Then in week two they played extremely well against the Texans. Then today Kenny Britt tweets that he is done as a Titan after this year because of "irking the coaches with penalties." Quite frankly I dunno whats going to happen here. I just hope Chris Johnson can somehow find his old form and be awesome again.

Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2): TEBOW, TEBOW, TEBOW, TEBOW! That is all.

AFC West:
Denver Broncos (2-0): Peyton Manning+running game+lots of wide receivers+a former basketball playing tight end that nobody had ever heard of until after week one and was sitting on 99% of peoples fantasy team benches+a monstrous defense that will only get better when, if, Von Miller gets back+John Fox=Trip to the Superbowl.

Kansas City Chiefs (2-0): This team is going to win games and nobody is going to know exactly how it happened.

Oakland Raiders (1-1): This Raiders team has looked impressive. Terrell Pryor looks like he may work as a legitimate starting quarterback and if Run DMC can run the way he did against Jacksonville (which is no promise because it was against Jacksonville) this team could maybe win 6 games.

San Diego Chargers (1-1): I don't think Philip Rivers is necessarily good, but I do know the Eagles defense sure did make it that way in week two. Speaking of defense they don't have one. I don't think this is a team that can win a whole lot of games, but I do think this is the type of team that will surprise a few teams and hurt some teams playoff chances. i.e. the Eagles.

AFC North:
Cincinnati Bengals (1-1): Will this finally be the year Andy Dalton steps his game up to the next level? He has a solid 2 RB system behind him and with Jermaine Gresham and A.J. Green a year older all the pieces are in place. The division is even the worst it has ever been so if there has ever been a time to capitalize on things, now is that time. Expect to see Marvin Lewis in the can if things don't look like they progressed anywhere.

Pittsburgh Steelers (0-2) Baltimore Ravens (1-1) Cleveland Browns (0-2):  These 3 teams are all lumped together because they are all in the same division and all have looked awful after two weeks. But Chris the Ravens have a win and are the defending Super Bowl Champs they aren't that bad. Yes they are. They have looked awful in both games, their defense does not exist and Joe Flacco did not deserve all that money. He is a good leader, but a bad quarterback. As far as the Steelers and Browns are concerned I don't think anybody will have any gripes about lumping them together. That being said Troy Polamalu is pretty good.

Division Winners:
East: Patriots. As poor as they have played you just can't deny a team with both Tom Brady and Bill Belichick at the helm. They will find a way.

South: Texans. They always seems to find a way to win games and it's only a matter of time before Foster starts to light it up

West: Broncos. Do I even need an explanation?

North: Bengals. It's there time to shine and I expect them to do so.

Wild Cards:
Chiefs and Colts. Chiefs are going to surprise lots of teams this year and are going to churn out wins like butter. The Colts are going to take a step back this year, presumabley to 9-7 or 10-6, but in a weak AFC I think it will still be enough to make it as the 6 seed.

Want to watch the MLB All-Star Game? Yeah, me neither.

Well folks it is that time of the year again. The time of the year where all of us truly devout sports fans are in a world without sports. Sportcenter will probably feature highlights of the most boring all-star games in all of sports and will fill the other 55 minutes with stuff about Aaron Hernandez, LeBron James and whether he will go to LA or Cleveland next year (spoiler, he isn't going anywhere) and of course Tim Tebow. Then on First Take Stephan A. Smith will just yell out a bunch of random breakfast cereals while Skip Bayless tries to argue that a bowl of animal feces is a very underrated way to start your morning.

Wimbledon has ended, golfs British Open is starting at the weeks end and even the State of Origin has come to a streaking halt. Chances are unless you are from Australia reading this or for some odd reason an fan of the NRL then that joke will just go over your head. If you are craving some sports though, do look up the NRL and the State of Origin, it's some pretty exciting stuff, but I digress. If you are like most Americans then you are at a loss for sports and so am I.

Year in and year out the one thing I will never be able to understand is how the MLB All-Star break still exists. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the futures game got more views than the pros all-star game. To be honest though, I use to enjoy catching bits and pieces of the all-star game during commercials of something else just because some fun things COULD happen. Now, it's not even worth the effort of picking up the remote. All that went out the window though when Bud Selig thought it would be a good idea to make the game actually mean something. How does that thought process even work? "Hey, let's take the one time of the year that means absolutely nothing in every other sport and instead make it mean something in our sport. We can take all the fun and love out of the game and instead make the players try." Yeah, I'm sure Joe Mauer, whose Twins can't even sniff the playoffs, is really going to pour his heart and soul into catching the all-star game.

People say that 2002 was the year that ruined the all-star game as it ended in the 11th inning in a 7-7 tie, but I disagree. This was the same all-star game that started off in awesome fashion with Torii Hunter robbing Barry Bonds of a sure-fire home run. It was the makings of a classic, if you can even say that about an all-star games, but Bud Selig dropped the ball instead.

The first mistake was when Selig decided to call the game as a tie in the 11th because neither team had any players left. Let me write that one more time, because neither team had any players left. There were approximately 36 players on each roster that year, pitchers and batters combined. This is the all-star game and nobody is going to care and probably won't even notice if one of those players re-enter the game. It would have meant more meaningless baseball and maybe a few more cool plays. Instead the game is called and Selig goes home and decides to make the game mean something. He makes it so the winner, whether it be AL or NL gets home field advantage in the World Series. Boooooooo.

If it were me at the commissioner controls I would have done things a little differently at that point. First off I would have let anybody and everybody re-enter the game so the game did not end in a tie. Then I would have gone home and mapped out a new plan for a whole new, revamped all-star game, and here's how it would look.

First, each team would be designated two team captains, one pitcher and one position player. These two players would work together to draft a team of their own from the list of players who made the all-star cut. Similar to what is done in the NHL right now. The players would be allowed to draft from whichever league they choose and the whole AL vs NL would no longer exist because it's no fun. Then to throw the best twist in, the position players would be the pitchers for the game while the pitchers would become the position players. I imagine that if Joe Buck and Tim McCarver were calling the game it would go a little something like this:

"And here is the 2-1 pitch from Carlos Beltran. Felix Hernandez hit a slow roller to the third base side where  a bare handed attempt is made by Justin Masterson, he bobbles it- But that's okay Joe because King Felix's all out sprint is slower than an infant learning to walk-you're right Tim and sure enough Masterson gets a handle on things and it looks like he is going to bowl the ball over to first base to avoid an over throw-That's a veteran move Joe, smart thinking there- Clayton Kershaw readies himself for the scoop and ohhhh it goes right through his legs as King Felix kind of half slides-half falls into first base. No need to rush after that ball though Joe. It seems as though Felix is just going to stop at first and call for a pinch runner, he looks exhausted."

Now you try and tell me that sequence of events would not be more enjoyable than 3-0 AL win in which they held the opponent to 3 hits. That's hardly even exciting in a regular game let alone a game nobody caress about. In fact I'll tell you three things to take away from this years all-star festivities; First is that the all-star game needs to change and it needs to change quick. Secondly, I don't care who you are a fan of, you were happy for Mariano Rivera last night. Lastly, the home run derby has got to go.

In fact, the home run derby needs the opposite thing the NBA Slam Dunk contest needs. The NBA needs the best of the best dunkers while the derby needs some worse hitters. If one were to make an analogy of the two, I would say the Home Run Derby would be like if the NBA Dunk Contest turned into who can make the most layups in 25 seconds. Before the beginning of the year we were all taunted with the idea of Justin Verlander in the derby and I loved the idea! Throw pitchers in there, throw former greats in there, just don't put somebody who could sneeze and hit a home run up there. Its just not exciting.

So that about sums up my rant. I'll leave you with this video of Tony Gwynn Jr. that I cam across looking up the Barry Bond and Torii Hunter play, enjoy!

Wild, Wild Wimbledon

Britain's savior!

Wimbledon was invaded. It was invaded by a bunch of newcomers and randos that left viewers asking one simple question, “Who?” The answer of course was Steve Darcis, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Lukasz Kubot, KirstenFlipkens, Michelle Larcher De Brito and Sabine Lisicki….again, who? These are the culprits who barged through the door and turned Wimbledon into a wild and crazy amusement park ride. Well, that and the serious lack of time between the French Open and Wimbledon. Oh and let us not forget proper grounds keeping as well.

It all started Rafael Nadal to Darcis in round one, then it was Roger Federer to Segiy and Maria Sharapova to Brito or De Brito or Larcher De Brito, whatever her last name is, in round two and then came what is being referred to as “Black Wednesday.” Black Wednesday will forever be remembered as the day in which there were upsets galore and withdrawals from matches due to injuries. The withdrawals all came so suddenly it caused Wimbledon to issue a statement claiming their wet grounds that a football player with metal spikes could slip on, was not in fact the cause for the withdrawals. Marin Cilic, JohnIsner, Steve Darcis (fresh off his Nadal win), Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and VictoriaAzarenka were among the list of players who withdrew with injuries.

Once the dust settled after Black Wednesday, which is ironic because the grounds were too wet for there to be any dust, there was only one thing that was important from there on out. Andy Murray was to win Wimbledon for Britain.

It had been 77 years since a British person (Scottsman in this case) had won Wimbledon for the host Country. In fact the British got so desperate before Murray came around that they tried using a player born in Canada because his parents were British. But times have changed now. They not only have a horse in this 4-player tennis race, but they also have a player that downright looks like a horse.

Murray was the 2 seed coming into the tournament and things could not have worked out more in his favor once the tournament started. However, before the tournament started, if you looked at Murray’s draw you would have seen that he had Rafa, Federer and Tsonga all in his portion of the bracket. It was enough to have anyone saying that is going to be quite troubling for the Scott. Then, as if by magic, everybody in his path disappeared. It was so crazy, absurd and wild that if this were the NBA, people would be calling for a conspiracy. All three of those players went down faster than the Bruins and Spurs combined…..too soon.

After his quarter final match against Fernando Verdasco I don’t think there was any doubt that this title was Murray’s for the taking. Murray dropped the first two sets to the Spainard and things looked pretty bleak. In the 3^rd set though, Murray came out roaring and took it 6-1 and used that fuel to close out the match 6-4 and 7-5.

In the semi-final Murray faced off against a new comer on the scene Jerzy Janowicz. The 21 year-old bust onto the courts this year with a ferocious serve. He led the field in aces after his first six matches with 103 and at one point hit 146 on the speedometer with one of his serves. The big serve caught Murray off guard as he fell behind again, this time he lost the first set in a 7-2 tiebreak, but then followed that up by winning the next three sets to cruise into the final.

Then came the final versus the No. 1 ranked player NovakDjokovic. If you had asked me what I thought the chances of Murray winning the final against Djokovic in straight sets were, I would have laughed in your face. Then after watching the final, I’d have a very nice piece of humble pie because that’s exactly what happened. Murray won the first set 6-4 and people got a little excited. Then Djokovic turned it up a notch and opened up a 4-1 lead on Murray in the second set. That didn’t slow the chosen one though. With the raucous crowd behind him on every point Murray fought back and won 4 straight games to retake the lead and he would go on to take the set 7-5. In the third set Murray found himself behind again, this time 4-2, and again he battled back and won 4 straight games and ultimately, Wimbledon.

Of the four major Grand Slams the next longest drought for a host country winner is in the Australian Open at 37 years. Oddly enough, the last French person to win the French Open is none other than Yannick Noah the father of everybody’s least favorite NBA player. With exception to Tyler Hansborough and Adam Morrison, is he still even in the league? Anyways at least if you didn’t enjoy the tennis post you left it with a piece of interesting trivia.

Another interesting piece of trivia is Yannick Noah also is a musician. What went wrong with Joakim?

Oh and Aaron Hernandez still killed a guy.