Tale of Two Mannings

This time last year Peyton Manning had just completed a 4700 yard, 33 touchdown season. He was also division champ, his seventh of the past eight. Peyton Manning was the unquestioned 1A to Tom Brady as the league's best qb. Eli Manning was well...Eli. We all knew that Eli had talent, but we never seriously considered him among the elite. The Giants Super Bowl victory a few years back was credited more to the defense than anyone else. Eli just happened to have a once in a million dumb luck play go his way when that ball stuck to David Tyree's helmet. Peyton was still big brother and Eli was the other Manning. What a difference a year makes.

Today Eli Manning is heading to his second Super Bowl and is playing quarterback better than anyone right now. He knocked off the number one and number two seed, both on the road. Eli has been smart, tough, and clutch. He has been playing at an mvp level. Peyton faces an uncertain future for the first time in his entire football career, not just nfl career. The Colts are going to draft Andrew Luck with the number one pick. It's unlikely they will keep both, so Manning may be cut. I never though I would type those words. And to make matters worse, Peyton has not been physically cleared to play. His future is a complete mystery.

If Eli wins his second championship this Sunday, do we put him in Peyton's class? Should we? With the uncertainty of Peyton's health and his lack of playoff success, Eli could easily surpass him as the number one Manning brother. How fitting the game will be played in Peyton's place.
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Embarassing month for Ryan continues

Wow Rex Ryan, you wanna talk about a bad month? Geez....I wonder if he wished he never put his foot in his mouth (um...no pun intended). Let's back up for a minute. New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan had been talking, and talking, and...well...talking. Talking to anyone who would listen (or attempt to ignore) about the Jets being the number one team in New York. That his team has been to back to back afc championship games. That he has the best players in the league...yada yada yada. He continually took shots at their nfc neighbor New York Giants, who had fallen on hard times after their 2007 Super Bowl victory. Funny what could happen is less than 30 days.

The Jets closed out 2011 by losing to those said Giants, and brought in 2012 in absolute turmoil. Rex Ryan's team laid a nest worth of eggs to finish the season, missing the playoffs in the process. Starting quarterback Mark Sanchez's mental toughness and ability to lead was publicly questioned from inside the Jets locker room. Wide receiver Santonio Holmes was benched in the season finale for being a cancer in the locker room and the offensive huddle, and he is no fan of Sanchez to put it mildly. It got so bad the third string quarterback (who hadn't played a meaningful down all season) went on public radio and called his teammates selfish. No wonder why Ryan was reportedly in tears while addressing his team at season's end. A far cry from the pre season super bowl prediction (sorry... I did it again).

To throw salt in the wound the New York Giants will be playing in the Super Bowl. How hilarious is that! For that reason alone I cannot wait for next season to get started. The Giants took a shot at Rex via twitter last night "Some teams are really happy getting to Conference Championship games, but #ImReallyGoodAt winning them! 5-0 all time! #ALLIN" Triple lol at that one. He who laughs last laughs loudest. How is that humble pie tasting Rex Ryan?

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So now who's the mvp?

One of the best nfl mvp races in recent memory just got cloudy. Again. This year's race has taken on a Heisman like feel, with great quarterbacks playing at an elite level. Reigning super bowl mvp Aaron Rogers was the odds on favorite heading down the stretch, but he became a victim of his team's success. At 14-1 the Packers had nothing to play for. A perfect season was out the window, so Rogers hadn't played since Christmas night. Not only did other qb's step their games up while Rogers sat, but he looked extremely rusty in a blowout loss at home last Sunday against the Giants. Drew Brees had the best statistical season, breaking Dan Marino's single season passing record. The Saints were dominant coming down the stretch, but laid another road playoff egg in San Francisco last week. In fairness to Brees, he had a great game...but winners win mvp's. The safe choice seems to be Tom Brady. I mean, all he did was throw for over 5200 yards and threw six td's last week against Denver. Brady is the only one left with a chance at the super bowl. Does that matter? Should that matter? Should the passing record trump a playoff win? Should the qb with the best record win out? Rogers, Brees, and Brady all had phenomenal years. Who should be mvp? Better yet...if there a co mvp's....who's the odd man out?

Adios for Ochocinco?

It is the best of times, and the worst of times for Chad Ochocinco. All those years (as Chad Johnson) dominating opponents on a bad Bengals team, and he stands a game away from his first ever super bowl. The sad thing is, no one cares....and attention is what he seems to crave the most. For all of Ochocinco's antics (and most have been very entertaining) over the years, he is no longer being promoted by the league. How ironic that the player who introduced self promotion to the nfl will have little to no mention as the Patriots march toward another possible super bowl.

The juggernaut knows as Tebowmania dominated this season's headlines, with the remaining scraps going to the record setting aerial assault from the nfl's best qb's. Tom Brady threw for over 5200 yards, and not a peep out of Ochocinco in 2011. In a season where everyone was able to eat in the passing game, 85 was a no show. If you wanna keep it real, there was nothing to promote. We only cared about the off the field Ochocinco when the on the field one was beasting. To sum up 85's season, the Patriots had over five hundred yards in a blowout playoff win over Denver last week and Ochocinco saw one snap on the field. To make matters worse, he flew a twitter fan to the game (in another attempt to grab headlines). That's got to be embarrassing! The new headline grabbers are the two headed tight end monster known as Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. Both are playing at an extremely high level and worthy of the praise. Then there is #85. A super bowl win would almost certainly cement his hall of fame resume, but it's easily story line number 10 this championship weekend. Yes...I grew tired of Chad's desperate attempts to remain socially relevant...but now I feel bad for him. I'm actually rooting for Ochocinco to win the super bowl now. At least that way he can have one last curtain call. He certainly seems to need it.

LSU should share AP title

The BCS drives me crazy!!! There's no way in the world that we can definitively say that Alabama is a better all around team than LSU. Yes, I am well aware that Alabama won the BCS National Championship game. The Crimson Tide should be called the 2011 BCS National Champions. They played a tremendous game and deserved to win. With that being said...

The AP should award a split national championship to Alabama and LSU. The Tigers finished the season 13-1, the Crimson Tide finished 12-1. Oh by the way...their only loses were to each other. Alabama scored victories over five top 25 teams, LSU scored eight. Both teams have great coaches and an outstanding defense. Let's be honest, the AP poll is nothing more than a glorified eye ball test. If you look at the season as a whole, the teams come out about as equal as you can get. If the roles were reversed and LSU won the rematch then my thoughts would be the same. Do the right thing AP, reward them both.

A Happy New Year for Wolverines

The past several years for loyal Michigan fans have been down right brutal. Our proud football program became the laughing stock of the big ten, and the basketball program had become a mere afterthought. Gone were the good ole days when we could root for a big ten contender each fall and tournament contender each spring....until now. If the start of 2012 is any indication, then happy days could finally be in Ann Arbor again.

The football program capped their first eleven win season in five years with a Sugar Bowl victory on January 3rd. The Wolverines will be ranked in the top ten of the final poll and the top ten of next year's poll. All world qb Denard Robinson will be back, and coach Brady Hoke will continue to recruit "Michigan men". The Sugar Bowl victory will do wonders for recruiting. The program is definitely headed in the right direction.

With all of the success of the football program, the basketball team has been able to quietly amass a 12-3 record and national ranking of 13. The Wolverines made their 2012 nationally televised debut against the 19th ranked Wisconsin Badgers, a team they have not beat in the past eleven tries. Michigan quickly showed everyone that last year's tournament team was no fluke, hammering Wisconsin on their way to a 3-1 conference record. It's a fun and exciting time to be a Michigan fan again. 2012 should be an exciting year. Go Blue!

De ja vu for Memphis Grizzlies

Here we go again Grizzlies fans. For the first time in forever, we come into a season with real optimism. And why shouldn't we? Coming up a game short of the Western Conference finals, re-signing center Marc Gasol, and leading scorer Rudy Gay returns from a season ending injury. Z-Bo (Zack Randolph) blossomed into an elite power forward in last year's playoffs. Getting Gay back in the mix would give us two legitimate scoring threats, things were looking up. Then it happened.

Randolph sustained a knee injury just five games into the season, and will be out six to eight weeks. That's six to eight weeks in a shortened season, where "every game counts" is not just a cliche. We know that Z-Bo can carry the load if need be, but what about Gay? So far the Grizzlies are 2-1 since Randolph's injury and Gay has played well. That was also against two teams that are dead last in their division. We are about to really see as the Grizzlies face tougher teams, starting with the Lakers on Sunday night.