NFC West 2015

And.....Here we go again folks!  The NFC West will once again be the premier conference to watch in the NFL, just as it was last year.  The aging Manning's and Brady era will continue to age and then fade away if those organizations don't start propagating new talent to take their place and lead these teams.  It's called Brand Management Destruction to build a brand around one player and not do the Due Diligence to find another source of branding to act as a supplement for their main effort, growing and collecting an audience so that when the day comes for Tom Brady to retire, the organization does not tank with his departure.

Free Fantasy Football 2015
Seattle Sea Chickens

The Seattle Sea Chickens had a great year last year, winning the Super Bowl, and driving home the idea that they had a program that was on the rise, except, so did the Houston Texans when they made their run for title in their rookie season, and then went flat for the next three years after.  In fact, it seems that most of the teams that win the Super Bowl either lose players, or the players themselves lose their hunger for the title the following year.  Hopefully for Seattle, their team does not go the same route as the Texans or the USC Trojans, as their coach Pete Carroll, who has shot the team into meteorite noteriety has been in this position before, and each of the teams he has coached to this level has fallen into the sphere of 5 year irrelevancy.


 
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San Francisco 49ers

Having had a better year last year than most teams, and beating the Seattle Seahawks at the end of the season, the 49ers, are on the rise.  Colin Kaepernick is back, Michael Crabtree is back, Aldon Smith and his brother from another mother Justin Smith are back, as well as Anquan Boldin, the trash talking receiver that mentally destroys his competition with thrashing output is back.    I have the 49ers winning the NFC West this year, but, having to fight Arizona and Seattle in nail biting, jaw clenching games of sheer brute force trauma.


Arizona Cardinals

Drew Stanton is preparing to lead a team that is an under ranked 11 seed in the race for the 2015 Super Bowl win.  The Arizona Cardinals have been making steady gains the past few years and are now in the position of being a variable opponent, with nobody having any idea if they are going to beat them or not.  With growth as a team comes a need for consistency, which is where you end up immediately after a decade of reorganization has taken place.  Now that the Arizona Cardinals are out of the NFL sandbox, there will be a much bigger focus on building a franchise of consistent high placement.  I look to the Arizona Cardinals to be the first team to draw first blood with the Seattle Seahawks, followed by the 49ers, and then Baltimore.

The Raiders Move

If you live in Oakland, CA, you are, undoubtedly a Raiders Fan.  The Oakland Raiders have built a fan base over the years that is by far unique in its intensity, stemming from the raving lunatics that show up at their games, extremist fans, that would walk through hell if the team was on a road trip there.  A fan base that took decades to build, and could now come crashing down, to be replaced with a location that has never had a Professional Football team, and is flanked by two powerhouse fan bases in Houston and Dallas with the Texans and the Cowboys.

To the north in Dallas, the Cowboys could lose every game for the next decade and still be one of the richest franchises on earth.  Why?  because of the marketing of the brand, Cowboy fans, apparel, bumper stickers, jeep wheel coverings, and gear is everywhere, and especially in Texas, which happens to be the second largest state in the U.S. behind Alaska, which has a tenth of the population in Texas.

In the South of Texas lays the fan base fertility zone with Houston and the new Oilers team, called the Texans.  This team would have made another loud splash in the Gulf of Mexico had it not been for the Cinderella first season where the Texans did such a great job in playing and raising the stakes in fan manipulation that its stock shot through the roof, and loyal fans became a fixture in the stadium for each and every game.  It probably helps that the Texans only real competitor in Houston is the Astros, which haven't done anything worth writing about in 20 years.  Google does not have a definition for Oilers or Astros, they have to be added to the dictionary for your computer before they turn black from the unknown red underline, to help with the notion that these two teams are irrelevant in the sports world.

So, what are the pros and cons with moving the much propaganda gangland team from Oakland to San Antonio?


Pros:
1.  No more gangland propaganda reputation as a bunch of thugs that used to play on the Alcatraz all stars before joining the NFL.
2.  Putting a team in San Antonio swallows up ten economies to include Austin, the capital of Texas, who's only claim to Sports fame is a reorganized and newly coached Texas Longhorns.
3.  Yep, that's it.

Cons:
1.  The San Antonio who?  No fan base, tons of Spurs fans, no history, no apparel, no marketing, and most importantly, NO STADIUM!  So, this would be a start up franchise with no foundation, in an area that doesn't have a football reputation, coming out of bad economy, which means prices will be high, the hotdog will be attempted to be sold at $6 with ketchup and mustard an extra .$75 per packet.
2.  Team is dead in the water in 5 years, and after each of the banks in the area have loaned out every dead cent available.

My advice.  Leave the team in Oakland, invest in the infrastructure of the Raiders name, and build a fan base that has more legs than the striped members of Folsom Prison.

Why Professional Sports Suck

If I were on Wall Street, I would have bet on the Miami Heat to win the championship at the beginning of the season, why?  Because when the NBA and David Stern allow three overly paid players like Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and Lebron James to play on one team, with their salaries, they HAVE to win, not because they should earn the win.

I didn't watch the finals this year, because I already knew that Miami was going to win it all, and not because I am a Miami Heat fan, but because the Spurs have old players that know the fundamentals, and play to win, which is in direct contrast to the way David Stern runs the league.

You could call the Miami Heat the Yankees of the NBA.  Pay as much money as you can to players that have the name, not the game, and then call Stern with the news that the finals HAVE to go to game 7, or you won't be able to pay the players.

The NBA, MLB, NFL, and NHL are all a bunch of crooks.  Too much money in a recovering economy to a bunch of players, GAME players, not really considered a job,  with kickbacks going to referees who are never investigated for fraud, or gambling.  When was the last time a referee was kicked out a professional league for taking bribes and kickbacks?

I like the Facebook post that asks the question, "Why does a person who carries or pushes a ball around a field, make more money than a person defending the country"? and the answer is that none of our professional players have the balls to do what our military does.

Is a player's worth on the field or on the court worth more to our citizens than the said player beating the life out of a woman?  This argument goes back to the old, antiquated reason why American Military's didn't allow women in combat, because of the theory that a woman's life was more valuable than a man's, and that a woman was not able to handle the rigors of combat, which we have found out to be a falsehood for 15 years of war.   We as a society have placed these game playing people on such a high pedestal that they actually believe that they are above the laws of the land.  Bobby Brown and Chris Brown have found out differently with convictions and time served.

These players need to get smacked down, a real humility check that will leave a lasting impression, and then sent a place where they learn how to be a man, since its obvious their father's failed them in that aspect.

One day your in, and the next day your out!

Watching the NCAA is surely better than watching the MLB, or the beleagured NHL, where the money rolls in, but only during half of the season.  Luckily for the NHL, the second half of the season is all that people want to watch anyway.

The NBA is great during the playoffs, mostly because the same teams that were in the last couple of championships, will be in the Championship this year, almost like a broken record, or the Yankees vs. Redsox in the MLB.

Nothing changes, and my interest in all three is as empty as a fuel tank before payday.

It would be a great day in the history of sports, if College sports could run concurrently twelve months of the year, with all of the great plays and superstar players, because once they leave the college arena, the only time they will be seen as great again, is in the NFL.

The only downside to watching the NCAA is the commentators, which are in serious trouble stemming from a lack of relevance.  Kenny "the sloth" Smith, that guy from the UNLV 90's super team, and Sir Jenny Craig,  aren't cutting it when it comes to today's College Hoops superstars.  The relevance of their point of view is almost as bad as seeing Kurt Rambus talk about what players are feeling.

The only commentator that is still relevant, and mostly because he doesn't put on the shoes of today's College players, is Tricky Dick Vitale.  Dick Vitale is still kicking ass, and his valued input on today's gamemanship is as relevant as ever.

ESPN would be in a great spot for commentators if they would replace the Three Stooges with Heidi Klum, Kate Upton, and the Dragon Queen from Game of Thrones.

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March Madness

It is painfully obvious with this year's March Madness, that the abilities of College Basketball players have hit a pinnacle.  University of Kentucky isn't even in the tournament, as if anyone believed that to be possible.  @University of Duke, @University of North Carolina, and the @University of Kansas, all are not showing up as dominant forces in this years tournament.

At the half, Western Kentucky University is ahead of University of Kansas.  Let me say that one more time for all the people in the cheap seats, #WKU is ahead of #Kansas at the half.

If all the craziness wasn't enough, we, the fans of College hoops, get Charles Barkley, who seems to be either drunk, or exhausted, commenting on the play of the College teams.

The best games to watch this year, seem to be the teams ranked above 9, with hard nosed defense and fluid offensive play, the fundamentals are shining through and past the teams that have historically sent more players to the NBA than any of the smaller schools combined.

This year should be called March Mayhem.

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NFL Postseason: Superbowl

It's coming down to the moment we have all been waiting for, the NFL Superbowl.  The match up between the Ravens and the 49ers could be titled as "The Most Relevant Competition" for the beginning of this millennium.  Let's take a glance at the stats for each team.

Defense

49ers - The best run defense in the NFL, lead by Sopoaga, the Hammer Smith Brothers, and the Line backer QB killer Willis in the second row pose a tough small yardage gain for the Ravens.  I honestly don't believe that the Ravens will attempt many running plays, as they are not going to see a whole lot of positive gains through that method.

The second and third tier defense played by the 49ers is the achilles heel for the team, which is where Flacco will have to exploit, if he intends to make large gains in yardage.  The ten to fifteen yard gains is where I see him going the most, with short post passing his most used play during the game.  The disadvantage for this offense for the Ravens will come down to the play of the left guard position, as Aldon and Brian Smith work that side to gain access to the QB.  Once access is granted, the flood gates of pain will force Flacco to shift his passing to the right side and middle areas of the field, limiting his attack plan, and opening up the possibilities for interception.

Ravens - The defense of the Ravens closely matches the 49ers for the run game, led by Ray Lewis in the line backer position, cutting short long run gains down to 5-7 yards a play.  The problem that the Ravens will have to deal with is the multi-prong attack formation that the 49ers use with Gore and James rotating the RB position, each with a unique ability to puncture the front line of the Ravens.

The second and third tier of defense for the Ravens poses a problem for the 49ers, as the Ravens will undoubtedly go with a zone defense, due to the competencies of the 49ers wide outs posing a short and long yardage ability.

This game will be won by the offense, but the victory will be defined by the defense of both teams. 

Offense

49ers - The 49ers offense consists of a "hit you everywhere" type of play.  Leading the wide outs is Moss, who has the most experience with Superbowl appearances, as well as the mentor ability and influence on Crabtree.  If the 49ers are to beat the Ravens through shear brute force offensive play, it will take a sidelines to sidelines methodology with equal amount of ground and pound from the RB's couples with short yardage to Crabtree, and Long yardage from Moss.

Ravens - Good luck

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NFL Postseason Matchups: Ravens vs. Patriots

New England has everything, they have a great defense, and the best offensive game in the AFC.  That being said, how do the Ravens have a chance at beating them?  One method may be to make them play sideline to sideline.  While this method wears out the linemen faster than any other play book in football, it also makes teams play their bench, to give the line a rest more often.  Baltimore has a better bench than New England, that is for sure, with much more depth than the other.  Sideline to sideline wearing out the endurance and stamina of the line.

So what does Baltimore have to do to help themselves to a Superbowl?  Ray Lewis and his band of merry men have to make Tom Brady less accurate, and the way to do that is to rapidly close the pocket around him.  It was seen and proven in the Texas game, that when Tom Brady is hurried and/or has to scramble out of the pocket, his accuracy goes dramatically down, spirally into the depths of garbage.

New England 28
Baltimore 17

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