Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Manning, Brady, Who's Better?

This last game against the greats of this era who define a generation of the importance of quarterback play was an instant classic. Manning was up 24-0 going into the 3rd quarter and Brady decided to show his capability of becoming the comeback kid once again. Extending Brady's record to 10-4 against the great Peyton Manning, the real question now becomes who has the better legacy? In a league where they have both left an indelible, emphatic mark on a game we now present as America's sweetheart, which player really does have the better legacy to walk into Canton with? The story is clearly not over but for now the argument can still take place at every water cooler in America.

I will make my case in this blog and you can run with it or you can leave with it with what ever opinion you want but let me be clear on something, if their careers ended today, it would be perfectly clear who the better player is.

The Case for Peyton Manning:

This guy, when it is all said and done, could be the greatest QB of all time. Statistically, Award wise, and could make some serious doe in the booth and become a great coach if he really set his mind to it. The guy has 4 MVP's, 12 Pro Bowl appearances, 6 All-Pro selections, 7 AFC Offensive player of the year awards, and the all important Super Bowl Trophy from Super Bowl XLI. He has lost 10 times to Tom Brady and has won the most recent Super Bowl, but he also lost a Super Bowl against the Saints when they were the favorites. People also forget that Peyton Manning in the Playoffs is absolutely dreadful; 9-11. Manning has had several seasons of playing behind some of the mid to low level defenses over the years, but has also had some of the best wide receivers in NFL History in Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. He has made some players better in his career (Dallas Clark and Austin Collie are perfect examples) but he has had more weapons available to him throughout his entire career compared to Brady and what he has had around him.

The Case for Tom Brady:

This is the playmate player of the decade and definitely does not have the individual awards that Peyton has, but he has a much better resume when it comes to his championship pedigree. 2 MVP's, 8 Pro Bowl appearances, 2 All-Pro Selections, 3 AFC Offensive player of the year awards, and 3 Super Bowl championships (2 Super Bowl MVP's). He has lost 2 Super Bowl's to Eli Manning, but does have the record for the most playoff wins and has a 17-7 record in the Postseason. Tom Brady also holds the record for most Touchdowns in the regular season (50) and has another thing on Manning, having the lone undefeated regular season between the two (16-0; 2007). The year Brady had those 50 TD passes was the best year of Randy Moss's career where he broke the record for TD catches by a receiver, other than that, you can't really name more than 3 receivers off the top of your head that Brady has had as marquee targets (Wes Welker, Randy Moss, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez? Troy Brown?). You can make the case that Brady has made many of his receivers and won his three Super Bowls with the receivers he created (except for the one Super Bowl where Branch won the Super Bowl MVP).

The case needs to be made for Brady, but believe me I have some stipulations. Right now, if the world burned to the core and we all melted, Brady is the better QB. Why? 3 Super Bowls, 16-0, 50 TD's, 10-4 against Peyton, and the fact he has the most Playoff Wins by any QB ever with 17. I will say one thing though, If Manning does break the TD record this season (which he is on pace of doing), and he wins the Super Bowl this season with 2 separate teams after the fact that he almost had to retire due to neck problems? That is when I will leap to the Manning band wagon. But for now (especially after this past game), Brady is in the lead... But down the stretch they come...

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Robbery in the Making

No I'm not talking about robbery in the sense of how the Monday Night Football game ended last night where the Panthers got the win in a pretty well called final play. I'm also not talking about how the Christian Ponder robbed me of my joy at the Seahawks game this weekend (the game in which I attended). I'm talking about Yasiel Puig. Who? If you don't know, you should know right now. The man came in to this season and lit a fire under the hapless Dodger franchise that hadn't had a kick start like they did by any other player in franchise history and he got robbed not once, but twice. The first time he got robbed it was in July when he didn't receive the last vote to get into the All Star game. Not the end of the world, but seriously? The guy batted .400 his first month in the big leagues and brought his team from the dead at the beginning of the summer. It's all good, he didn't get into the mid-summer classic, I won't fault him for something that wasn't his fault. But losing rookie of the year is something a blog needs to be written about and I'm about to give you writers who think you know who your voting for a piece of my 2 pennies.

Clearly the history of baseball will mute the excellence of what Yasiel Puig brought to summer of 2013 as he literally carried his team to the greatest 50 game stretch baseball has ever seen. 41-9. You're telling me a guy who went 12-6 with a 2.16 E.R.A. beat out a guy who sprung his team from death to dusters of their division? I don't care that he only played 4 months during the regular season, He played in more meaningful games, the guy showed up and balled out harder than anybody I've seen play the game in a long time, and he made major league pitching look silly for almost 3 months, and might I add it was quite a historic 3 months. the Dodgers went 41-9 in their historic 50 game stretch this season, and the Marlins won 62 altogether throughout the entire season. From June 3rd to July 10th, Yasiel Puig batted over .400, he hit 19 HR's in 383 at bats, and he had 204 Total Bases with a .925 OPS. To give you an idea of how stupid his Total Bases stat is with 204 in 383 at bats, Paul Goldschmidt only had 332 and he had 602 at bats. To give you more perspective, Mike Trout last season had an OPS of .963, Total Bases of 315 (in 559 at bats), and only batted 7 points higher than Puig in more games. Let me remind you, Trout is heralded as the next Joe DiMaggio, and he had an ungodly 2012 where Puig had less time and was way more impressive LEADING HIS TEAM TO THE PLAYOFFS, something Trout has yet to do even though he has been "robbed" by many people of two consecutive MVP awards. How does a guy who wins 12 games on a terrible team where nobody has their mind set on winning any ways win the Rookie of the Year award when over half the time when teams go near the Marlins ballpark they are thinking of hitting the closest night club before and after the days game. Also, I never heard of this guy until the last game of the year when Jose Fernandez had a no-hitter where everybody was asking, who? Then he wins Rookie of the Year and wins it easily? No no no, there must be some confusion. Does Jose play on a winning organization? No, does he play in the spotlight? No, did he lead his team to the postseason? No... Why doesn't this add up in people's minds? Am I just that far off base where I should just get canned and people have already turned off my blog, or am I finally grasping some form of common knowledge in your brain to think that this Puig guy got scammed out of the award for not playing enough this year to earn the award that he did everything the encapsulate the definition of an electrifying rookie? Stats need to seriously stop ruining what the game provides in the front of us and we need to give the recognition to one of the greatest spark plugs the game ever saw in the year 2013, and for Puig not to receive the NL ROY it screams apathy for the sport of baseball and I weep for the future of this beautiful game.

I was at the football game this weekend and I was on tv. It was cool, but we still got our butt kicked. I promise to have more juicy topics next week, the NBA is really heating up and College Basketball is under way. The Holiday season is literally around the corner and festive cheer is in the air. Enjoy!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Sorry for the Bye Week

So I’ll admit it’s been a while. Since my NBA Predictions the NBA has begun and the Indiana Pacers have out hoosierd the entire league by starting 8-0. I was in the hospital for a small bowel obstruction on my small intestine more than likely caused by an adhesion that produced due to prior surgery on my stomach back when I was 13. Yeah, I thought the same thing, it’s been 10 years and finally this happens? After all the nights I drank to oblivion, ate 7-Eleven food like it was my job (funny, I actually worked their), and was under constant stress through high school and college? It decides to happen now? I’d say put that in the win column. But I’m out of the hospital now and let me jump on my soap box for a second. NG Tubes. If you like them, seriously get yourself checked into a mental institution. Getting them put in only makes taking them out feel like popping a molly at your first party (let me be clear, I’ve never taken molly, but I know it creates the ultimate feelings of euphoria). What got me through this tragic time of my stomach hurting and my nose inflamed from the NG Tube? I thought of the dedication of Derrick Rose, an athlete who has gone through so much trauma compared to my own life and thought about his perspective and the way he approaches everything in life; Professional, Humble, Determined. Derrick Rose is PHD all day, and that was what got me through this tough blip in my life. So now that I’m back on a liquid diet till thanksgiving and ready to breakdown the last two weeks in sports with a wink and a nod to the troops, let’s get this blog on the road.

Boston Strong won the Fall classic, Ortiz made it illegal to pitch to him in the lower 48 states with his .688 batting average in the World Series, may I remind you of how utterly stupid that number is? Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, you name it, couldn’t shake their magic stick at the stat. Oh and he also had a 1.900+ OPS to go along with it which makes his .688 even more stupid. Let’s just say this guy wasn’t just hot, he went dumb in the batter’s box. The only real question you should ask yourself is how the hell did this guy keep getting pitched too whenever he stood in the batter’s box? St. Louis needs to seriously fire some people and make their pitchers run laps till they report back to camp because after the guy hits everything dished out to him, you need to walk him in nearly every situation, even if Babe Ruth is standing in the on deck circle. David Ortiz, all I can say is wow, but I’m more or less looking at the Cardinals and thinking, “Really?” either put up four fingers or bean Big Papi because putting anything near the strike zone was ridiculous after Game 3.

The NBA began on the 30th of October and the first 2 weeks have been scintillating. Derrick Rose hit a game winner on Halloween, the Lakers are playing better than last season, the Thunder are still overrated, and the Spurs still look like they are going to win 50+ games once again. But, the Pacers are truthfully the story so far. 8-0 heading into Tuesday with no sign of slowing up and with their new superstar in Paul George taking the NBA by storm… let’s just say it’s been a damn good first couple weeks. It’s still early, but the excitement is in the air and the NBA at this point as become ten-fold more entertaining than a majority of the NFL matchups the past couple weeks.

Speaking of football, how about the NCAA landscape? You have 4 legitimate undefeated teams in Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State and Baylor and they are still don’t have a playoff. What a perfect year to do so but unfortunately the rich wigs want to figure out one more BCS buster where somehow they will get the SEC another national championship. I’m all about the matchups in the college game, NCAA football will unfortunately have another failed season on their hands if they have 4 undefeated (bowl eligible) teams heading into the bowl season.

The NFL is now just past their midway point in the regular season which couldn’t have come slow enough. This season for some reason has been relatively crappy with how some of the primetime games have had dud matchups and expectations smashed seemingly every week. This has been a really weird year in the NFL, maybe it’s because I’ve been so right in my predictions. The Seahawks, Broncos, and Chiefs have done so well this season and it’s looking like the two best teams are clearly the two teams I picked to go to the Super Bowl (Seahawks, Broncos) and then there is everybody else along with the Chiefs. We’ll see who’s more for real next week with the Broncos and Chiefs facing off which could be game of the year, but for now just past the halfway point, it’s looking pretty predictable. Or maybe it’s just because my Vikings suck absolute donkey doo and I’m waiting for Johnny Football at my doorstep to report for duty… hahaha duty and donkey doo… sounds about right.

The Incognito story isn’t sports news, it’s the equivalent of a fat ass baby and a Stanford graduate getting involved in a playground bantering debate that unfortunately the likes of the sports world can’t get enough. Let me jump on this quickly before I sign off, any of you who find this news worthy need to get your testies tried and your boobies felt up for tumors because this story is absolutely pointless. I find bullying a childhood problem not a grown man dispute. Yes, it should be brought up and told to the kids as an example of what not to do, but these are grown men where the media is making the situation seem ten times worse than it really is, shocking right? It’s not a sports story even though it revolves around the sporting culture. If anyone is shocked at how the locker room culture is today in the NFL after hearing through this story, then you really need to just go back to your personal manicure lady and stay out of this industry.


On one last note before I play some NBA 2K14, the NCAA Basketball season has begun and won’t be relevant till January, Byeeeeee.