2010 Preview of the AFC and NFC East
Well, the AFC East has some surprises in it. Maybe just one because I only think one team is going to the playoffs from this division. The Patriots are going to win it. Randy Moss is in his last year and will most likely kill it. Wes Welker was a good fantasy pick this year if you got him in late rounds. Don’t expect the same totals but he’s going to be effective.
I have the Pats going 10-6. The division has a tough road ahead. I think the NFC North might have their way with these guys. The Jets are not as good as people think they are. Mark Sanchise is going to throw picks and their prized corner might not be a happy camper.
The Dolphins are a notch below the Pats and sit right about where the Jets do. I like the addition of Brandon Marshall but it isn’t enough. Oh, and the Bills are awful. They could get # 7 from Arizona.
The Cowboys are the popular pick in the NFC East and I’ll jump aboard. They’re my NFC Super Bowl team as well. This will be the year Romo finally pushes them to the next level. Dallas is 12-4.
The Giants are my second wildcard team along with the Pack-attack as you might have recalled in my NFC North preview. It’s going to be a tough division as always but the wildcard is going to be cutthroat in both conferences. I like the Giants at 11-5 and the Skins behind them at 8-8. I think the Eagles might be a seven win team. Yuck. Shouldn’t have ditched McNabb.
On with the AFC and NFC South tomorrow!
2010 Preview of the AFC and NFC North
I decided to dish out my 2010 NFL season preview as late as I could. Mostly because there has been an awful lot of transactions around the league this preseason. Most recently, Arizona might be shopping their new “prized” QB.
The AFC North is where I’ll start. “Come on over to the Bungles” was a song in my ear all last season. A close friend of mine assured me they’d be good. This year, I’m skeptical again. They are one of my wildcard teams this year at 10-6, even with Team Obliterator. The team to beat in this division wears black, sometimes.
The Ravens are my pick to take the division. It isn’t an easy schedule but I like the addition of Anquan Boldin to the receiving core. I’m on the Joe Flacco train for his third season in the bigs. I’ll give them 11-5. The Steelers will start off 1-3. I guarantee it. After they get Big Ben back they’ll be that back and forth team they were last year and finish with seven, eight, or nine wins.
The Browns will be awful. Let’s say 4-12.
In the NFC North we have a few good teams. The Bears and Lions will both be better than last year. The popular pick is the Packers this year because people are banking on a few more turnovers from the ageless wonder.
I like the Vikings again. All of the NFC North teams have difficult schedules. Yeah, both Green Bay and Minnesota have good run games but you have to like AP more than Grant and Jackson. The NFC North has two of the best teams in the NFC but they’ll beat up on each other. The Vikings win the division going 11-5 and the Packers go 10-6 and receive a wildcard.
The Bears are better. Jay Cutler won’t play like that again Chicago fans so calm down. He had to put everything on himself with the core of guys they had on offense. With that being said, they’re still at best a 9-7 team. The O-line is still shaky. The receivers are still a tad smelly. The defense is still just ok. The Lions are better too and could win five or six games. I’ll give them 4-12 though. However, Stafford was impressive in his first year. They just need to keep him healthy!
I’ll be back soon with the AFC and NFC East next!
Top 5 MLB Players of All-Time
Albert Pujols has had quite a career. His latest homers have made me decide to rank my best five of all-time…and I’m starting at the top.
1. Babe Ruth. It’s easy. He will always be the best homerun hitter to anyone who knows the game of baseball. Hank Aaron passed him and so did Bonds, with steroids. Yet this guy was a pitcher until about the sixth year of his career. In his final year as a pitcher he hit 29 homers. If he’d of had more plate appearances in those years, Ruth would have 900 big ones.
Putting aside his 714 homeruns, 2,213 RBIs, 2,174 runs, and a career batting average of .342, the guy was a dominant pitcher too. Who else can you say that about!? Best ever.
2. Willie Mays. If you haven’t mimicked the over the shoulder Mays catch, you’re not a baseball fan. He had a glove. Actually, he had 12 gold ones, in a row. We often forget how good of a hitter he was because of all the dazzling catches he had.
500 doubles, 660 homeruns, and the second best to ever grace the field. He was a great player but he’s an even better man. When he sits down to tell old stories interviewers become children again. Begging to hear more stories from the once-titled MVP. Baseball knowledge files out of his mouth like carbon dioxide does out of mine. Truly, a great.
3. Nolan Ryan. Cy Young was great but the award should be called Nolan Ryan. When a pitcher gets 250 strikeouts it’s fantastic. So, when a player eclipses that eight times what’s that?
Ryan was the intimidater. He put guys in headlocks when he was balding so age wasn’t a factor. When he was 42, he won 16 games and struck out batters. No one does those things anymore. That’s why he’s the best pitcher of all-time.
4. Honus Wagner. So far I listed a pitcher and two outfielders but this guy was a shortstop. It’s arguably the hardest position to play in the field because right handers hit to the left and right of position number six.
Honus didn’t hit homeruns but he had a few RBIs. He also stole 722 bases in his day. Fun facts: his baseball card is one of the most valued of all-time, he was only in the post season twice, and his real name isn’t Honus it’s John Peter. If you’re ever bored look up Wagner’s stats because their ridiculous.
5. Ted Williams. I would put Bonds here but he played during the most difficult era to describe in baseball history. Williams was the last to hit .400 in a season and no one will ever do it again. Period.
He served our country over playing ball and for that we thank him. On top of his good character, there was a mighty fine player. He was a true power-hitter and RBI machine. However, he had a clean average to go with it. He only eclipsed 50 strikeouts three times and it was in his first four seasons. Take that Adam Dunn! Finally, there’s something to say for playing your entire career with one team. Boston was lucky to have him.
These players will never be duplicated. They’ll probably never be topped either. Guys like Bonds and A-Rod can try but they did it the wrong way. Pujols could end up on this list if he keeps up what has become the best 10 year stretch ever. Who knows, maybe a Nationals player could make it on here. Probably not after a crucial arm injury though. Ouch Washington.
Watching a Team Implode…Chicago Cubs 101
Well, if you wear one of those royal blue caps with the big red ‘C’ on it, baseball hasn’t been fun this year.
The Chicago Cubs have connected their team to an explosive wire and pushed the big TNT lever down like Wiley Coyote. The Riot, Ted Lilly, Mike Fontenot, and now Derek Lee are all gone. The Big Z blowout didn’t help anything either. It’s been a cruel year. As some might remember from one of my very early articles this year, we haven’t heard the grumbles in Chi-town quite yet.
This marks the end of the Cubbies making runs in the NL Central. Last year they fell way short but they were the favorites. This year they were a limb pick. Next year, don’t even pick up the season preview sports fans, it won’t be kind. The Cubs will rebuild and my advice to them, again, is to look to Ryan Sandberg. It’s time. The fans are going to need to look forward to something, especially after deporting so many fan favorites.
Derek Lee was an oft-worn jersey in the stands. I definitely saw his end soon, just not this soon. He’s a good fit for the Braves because of the Chipper Jones injury and a recent Troy Glaus DL visit. Lilly has been doing well in LA and I always like Font-te-not-te-not, as only I called him.
I was curious why Theriot had to leave though. I thought he was a Cubbie for life. I guess they didn’t want anyone to replace Ryno. Don’t worry, no one ever will.
Does Chipper Jones have enough left?
Chipper Jones is going to give it another go. Many thought this could have been of his last season but after a terrible ACL injury, he wants more.
I like Chipper, always have. He is your prototypical baseball guy. He could have played in the 70′s, 20′s, or smack dab in the middle of the steroid era as he did. A couple batting titles, 436 homers, and nearly 500 doubles is impressive. They asked him to play shortstop a few times so he did. When Vinny Castilla landed in Atlanta Chip moved to outfield. Jones was a solid fielder.
He’s just one of those guys you root for and beg to not leave the game. I felt this why about Jamie Moyer of the Phillies. A guy you root for, Moyer is a well-aged wine. Baseball would not be the same without the ESPN anchors laughing every time Moyer’s 40-something year-old fastball getting out some young gun who’s time on earth is shorter than Moyer’s career.
Either way, these two men have played the game the right way. Jones will be recovering from his second knee surgery and Moyer will facing his first real threat to his everlasting career. Best of luck guys. Best of luck…
