Top NFL Teams

I will start with the NFC as well as the easiest pick at this point in the season the defending superbowl champion Greenbay Packers. Aaron Rodgers is the best player in the NFL this season by a long shot. With 2800 passing yards as well as 28 touchdowns. He may not have the most yards but he leads in almost every other category including the unmeasurable, intelligence. He reads the field like no other player is doing right now. What makes him even better is that no one else on offense leads, or is in the top 5, of any category. Then when we flip to the other side of the ball we have one of the best defensive backs in the game in Charles Woodson. With 5 interceptions on the year he is tied for the most. Outside of him they dn't have much in the ways of defensive backs. Now when it come to the running game they are the 9th best defense in the league with no clear front runners there just good old fashion team work they have risen to the top and became the best team in the NFC as well as the NFL. Going to 9-0 this past week and the Lions all but collapsing, not that i get to generous too early, the Packers have a chance to do what no other team has done since 1973, go undefeated through the superbowl.

Coach K

It has come to fruition. Coach K is now the winning est coach in NCAA basketball history. Bob Knight has been know as the best the best coach in college basketball history for a long time. He was a respectable to media and you couldnt argue with his results. Some people may still consider him the be the best but he no longer has the most career wins. Coach K has been with Duke University for 30 years going on 31. He has 4 NCAA championships with them. It appears that he now has this game down to a science with recruiting and then putting those high school skills on the center stage of the NCAA tournament. He most likely has many more years of success at Duke and hopefully a few more championships in him. It has been an honor and a privilege to watch you coach throughout the years.

The Wait is Over

The St. Louis Cardinals have given all of there fans multiple heart attacks over the past few months. What they have accomplished is nothing short of amazing. Then as soon as all the celebrating was over they threw their fans one last curveball before letting them go and saying,"see ya in the spring" Future Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa retires turning a page in Cardinals baseball history. Immediately afterward the scramble to find another manager to lead the defending world champs next season.Many were considered for the job. As high profile as Terry Francona to the unknown to the rest of baseball in third base coach Jose Oquendo. They interviewed 10 candidates in 10 days. Once all were interviewed they didn't waste much time in making a decision. As of Monday, November 13th 2011 the cardinals will name former cardinals cather Mike Matheny the new manager of the cardinals. Matheny played as a cather for the cardinals starting in 2000 and was know for his defense as Yadier Molina is known now. Many didn't believe that the cardinals would hire someone with zero major league managing experience. They did and we will see how it unravels in the upcoming season.

Johnathan Paplebon

I wouldn't think any player is happier right now than Jonathan Paplebon. You contribute to one of the most epic collapses in baseball history. So one of the best franchises in recent history decides that they don't want you anymore. He takes to the free agent market to try to salvage a career and who makes a run at him? The best pitching staff in MLB, the Philidelphia Phillies. They get him 5 years 50 Million and he couldn't have found a better deal anywhere. After the Phillies potentially lose starting pitcher Roy Oswalt the turned to the other side of the pitching staff to solidify things for next season. The other end Paplebon will have to think about in this deal is the city of Philidelphia, and more specifically its fans. No one showers you with love more when you are winning than the city of Philly, but no one lets you know that you are underachieving than them either. He is either going to make or break his careers here in Philly. In the minds of the fans it's either World Series title or bust this year. If Paplebon blows saves like he did at the end of his tenure in Boston he won't last long here nor will Phillies coaches.

Carlos Beltran

Everyone knows who he is and lets just set this straight right now. Carlos Beltran can't play center field anymore he is aged and cant move across the field with likes of Eithier, Kemp, Parra or Braun. If Beltran goes anywhere that can legitimately use him it will be in the American league. I think someone like Boston could make the most presentable bid on him. Although I would not go for him in their current situation because of his clubhouse affect he seems to have. Outside of that he isn't going to get the money he is looking for.

Ron Washington

He has been brought to center stage with the post season this past year. His energetic upbeat personality is more fun to watch than any manager in the game today. A lot of people don't know another side of Washington. A few years ago he had a night that was one for the ages. He was basically partying with Charlie Sheen and Vincent Vega. He came clean and told the owners of the Texas Rangers that he had used cocaine. They tested him and he tested positive. He took the necessary steps to clean himself up. According to him he only used one time. Think what you will about that statement. Personally i believe it but i'm not Texas management and im not a Texas native so its not up to me. They let him keep his job after begging and pleading. He has now lead his team to two consecutive world series appearances. One thing that some people don't realize about coaches from middle school all the way up to the pros is that they are athletes that get hired to motivate their players no matter what it takes. Today there was a leak of Washington's speech before game seven of the 2011 Worlds Series. Which I think was and exclamation point on the end of one the best post seasons in recent history. Most people don't like hearing this side of the public friendly coaches. You need to be honest with yourself these are 20-40 year old men he is talking to and it gets the motivated to play. The person who leaked this speech is being "dealt with" inside the Rangers organization. What specifically is being done is unknown at this point but this speech should not change you view of Washington or any other coach for that matter. At the end of the day...its baseball.

The Rhyme to the Reason

      When we think of sports in America we think of Tom Brady throwing the game winning touchdown or Albert Pujols hitting 3 homeruns in a world series game. That's what most people see when they watch sports. I would like to ask those people to take it a step further. With the NFL season almost not happening and NBA season not looking so hot for the upcoming season, and with the current state of American politics these days people need sports more than ever. I ask you ... yeah you to pay more attention to our sports teams and not let them fail us like everything else has. With the latest MLB season in the books and it being one for the books I am realizing more now than ever that we need these things on tv to help us escape. Now that my main ideas are out of the way time to get to what I came here to talk about. The MLB off season free agent market is thin and thick at the same time. With little to no solid starting pitching available, and a very similar situation in the outfield now more than ever the county is concentrated on the movement of a few infielders. Jose Reyes doing some talking with the marlins and little to no talk about Phat Albert or The Prince this one looks like its going to be dragged out with a few interesting things happening every week almost extending the regular season all the way to next season. If Texas doesn't make a solid bid at Prince they wont be to the world series again. If the cardinals dont sign Pujols they wont put them selves in much different of a situation for next season just probably wont sell as many tickets next year and wont have a guy they can lean on the the majority of the season. My bet is that Reyes goes to the Nationals, Prince goes to the Rangers and King Albert says in his homeland of St. Louis.