Random thoughts from a cluttered mind...
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE After four games last weekend that were very entertaining and closely contested, we now come down to the nitty-gritty, with four teams playing to compete in Super Bowl 41.
The NFC Championship gives us the top two seeds, with the New Orleans Saints traveling to the Windy City to face those nasty Chicago Bears.
Last week the Saints gave us a nice showing, complete with some strong running by Deuce McAllister. While the play of Pro Bowl QB Drew Brees is certainly a key this weekend, it seems McAllister is the heart and soul of the offense. His ramrod style gave New Orleans great yardage against the Eagles, and he will absolutely be a key factor to victory. Brees needs Marques Colston and hopefully Joe Horn to come through. But watch for McAllister, who will be looking for Bears LB Brian Urlacher.
Meanwhile, last week Rex Grossman made some nice throws to his receivers in having a decent game, and Head Coach Lovie Smith will want the same out of him. He will have to count on WR’s Muhsin Muhammad and Bernard Berrian to get open. If the weather is nasty, which it probably will be, look for more running from Cedric Benson and Thomas Jones. In the AFC Championship, we see a rematch from recent years past, as the New England Patriots go to Indianapolis to take on the surprising Colts. The storylines in this one are huge. You wonder if Peyton Manning has had dreams this week about past experiences/failures. The Patriots know this, and don’t think for a second Bill Belichick doesn’t want to get into Manning’s head with some nice Defensive scheming.
Not many people, media critics included, expected the Colts to be in this game, much less HOSTING it! It seems the Indy Defense has woken up. They have done a fabulous job the last two games in shutting down opponents’ Offensive play, which has been a total shocker. If the Colts can shut down RB’s Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney, it can be a huge factor to them finally beating New England, for sure.
But the Patriots are a veteran group that knows EXACTLY what they need to do to go to Miami in two weeks. Tom Brady has been doing a good job throwing to his corps of receivers. I think it’s gonna be damn tough for the Colts to win this one. Especially since Manning hasn’t been playing well lately, throwing picks left and right. He can’t do that against New England, which has a good set of DB’s.
So, in the end, I like the Patriots, and I’ll play it safe and stick with the hometown Bears to win this weekend. It’ll be a Chicago/New England Super Bowl!
COLLEGE BASKETBALL I just wanted to let Florida Gator sports fans know your basketball team is currently ranked #1. I know most of you aren’t aware of that because you are still in a state of total euphoria over your FOOTBALL TEAM winning the BCS Championship.
And while a lot of you are out there right now thinking I’m trying to be funny or being sarcastic, the reality is that this is the damn TRUTH! Gator fans only have a passing interest in their basketball squad, even though Billy Donovan (the HEAD COACH) has done a masterful job in assembling a great team that is playing very well as a collective group. They possess strong talent and good depth on the roster, and so the Gators have a damn good shot at going to the Final Four AGAIN this year (they went last season, and WON!).
So, if you get a chance, stop parading around, and pause from following recruiting prospects for the ’07 football season to maybe catch ONE basketball game. You might actually be entertained.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL This past week, we saw a pretty strong exodus of quality players who decided to leave college and enter the NFL Draft. We see running backs such as Michael Bush from Louisville, Antonio Pittman out of Ohio St., Andrian Peterson from Oklahoma, Georgia’s Danny Ware, or Notre Dame’ Darius Walker. Then we see a group of wide outs like Calvin Johnson from Georgia Tech, Ted Ginn from Ohio St., Dwayne Jarrett out of USC, or Sidney Rice from South Carolina, it’s like college play has only become a three-year gig. I’ll be damn curious to see in the end where these boys land in the Draft, and how they perform in their first year or two in the NFL.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS It seems a lot of talk this week has centered on the extreme Australian heat and how it has had an effect on players during matches. A few participants had to retire due to exhaustion. There are two sides to this debate. One angle goes with the belief that play should be halted at a certain temperature, especially since the court temps can be far greater than the air itself. The other side says these are athletes that should be prepared for the intensity of the conditions and deal with it. While I believe most athletes should be able to tough-it-out, I also think this Aussie Open should give consideration to easing up, especially since a few of their courts have retractable roofs that can be closed.
Tom Weppel talks trash on Thursdays from 7-8 p.m. on WIOJ-AM 1010, and on SportsAvengers.com 24/7.
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