NFL Season Preview: NFC North

NFC North:

Packers (2010: 10-6) (Proj. 16-0)- Undefeated? Stacked on offense, stacked on defense and most importantly, they’re prepared. I said they would win the Super Bowl last year from the start and when they made the playoffs, I knew they would win. Aaron Rodgers is arguably the best QB in the league and he has a ton of options on offense. A lot of stuff went wrong for Green Bay last year and they still won the Super Bowl. I think if everything goes right, then they go 19-0

Bears (2010: 11-5) (Proj. 10-6)- Everyone hates Jay Cutler, but you have to give him some credit for getting the team to he NFC championship last year. He throws a TON of picks, but he’s like a modern day version of Brett Favre. I still think the Broncos ruined themselves by trading him, but now the Bears have him and it’s worked out pretty well so far.

Lions (2010: 6-10) (Proj. 7-9)- Getting so much closer to that .500 season. They have some talent, but their schedule is tough and they automatically lose two to the Packers, so they’ll look good at times, but struggle forthe most part. Whoever decided to give the Lions the #4 hardest schedule is a jerk

Vikings (2010: 6-10) (Proj. 7-9)- It should be hard to stink when you have the best running back in the league, but the Vikings will manage it this year. I don’t know much about Christian Ponder, but maybe he’ll learn something under Mcnabb and hopefully it won’t be; how to suck

Return of Fantasy Football!

When I found out the lockout was lifted I was ecstatic, just like the citizens of Quahog when they found out the police were gone, I felt like running into the streets and dancing in my boxers signing "can you feel a brand new day"... Ok well maybe not that last part, but I was pumped none the less. And being a big Jets fan I was really looking forward to signing our guys and adding some new faces.. yea we didn't get Nnamdi, who pulled a Cliff Lee and headed for that stink-hole in philly, but whatever we still have a nice squad.

This also signals the return of fantasy football. That's right, this is the year you're going to have all the bragging rights and a nice pile of cash at the end of the season. But in order to do so, you gotta do a few mock drafts, come up with some strategy and kill it on draft day. Tomorrow I'll be posting my fantasy guide, along with a tier sheet to help you keep track on draft day. Yes, I know there are a lot of guides out there, and they all have good advice and bad advice. My guide will shift through both so look for it tomorrow around mid-day.

NFL Season Preview: NFC East

NFC East:

Eagles (2010: 10-6) (Proj. 13-3)- The greatest team ever! Except if Michael Vick regresses at all he could singlehandedly lose games for them. Wishful thinking aside, I can definitely see this happening once or twice this season, but let’s face it; the Eagles are awesome. So many weapons on offense and defense. Not a dream team, but pretty close

Giants (2010: 10-6) (Proj. 10-6)- After a pretty awful off season, the Giants are on a mission to prove they don’t suck. The Giants were an awful 4th quarter away from keeping the eventual Super Bowl winning Packers out of the playoffs. They were a good team last year and even though they lost a couple of pieces, and lost their first round pick, but they will rely on young players to keep them alive. If Osi gets traded, then watch Jason Pierre-Paul become a top DE.

Cowboys (2010: 6-10) (Proj. 10-6)- Pretty bad last year, but caught some really bad breaks early on that culminated in Tony Romo’s season ending injury. Miles Austin and Dez Bryant are going to give even the Eagles problems, but it’s questionable as to whether or not Felix Jones can stay healthy for a full season. On a side not, I’m not sure why I gave such a serious analysis for the Cowboys, so Joe, they suck, and that’s why the Giants 10-6 will be better than the Cowboys 10-6

Redskins (2010: 6-10) (Proj. 6-10)- Even with one of the easiest schedules in the league, they won’t amount to much. They always look decent at some point during the year, but what did they do to get better? Stuff isn’t a good answer Redskins fan(s).

NFL Season Preview: AFC West

AFC West:

Chargers (2010: 9-7) (Proj. 10-6)- Always start off slow. This year with games against Vikings, Dolphins and Broncos in the first five games, they could maybe start off over 500 for the first time in franchise history (not really… I’m sure they’ve been 1-0 before). The schedule gets really tough in the middle, but Rivers is a top 5 QB and will always put points on the board

Chiefs (2010: 10-6) (Proj. 9-7)- Breakout teams fail so often the following year, but the Chiefs are actually pretty good. Matt Cassel has looked good and Jamaal Charles is a complete freak. Unfortunately they have a brutal schedule and will fall just short of the playoffs

Raiders (2010: 8-8) (Proj. 5-11)- The owner of the team should change his last name to Zheimers. Get it? Because he’s old and has no brains. Sure, Nnamdi Asomugha’s last name sounds like something a crazy godless tribe would chant before spearing you through the forehead, but cutting him was dumb. Just because you gave him a billion dollar contract that no one would have given him doesn’t mean you have to cut him because he’s awesome. Unless Darius Heyward-Bey catches 400 passes for 75 touchdowns this year, the Raider will stink AGAIN. The sad part is they swept their division last year and actually looked like they had a promising future for a second.

Broncos (2010: 4-12) (Proj. 3-13)- Tim Tebow or Andrew Luck? Coaches say Tebow isn’t a number one, but analysts say that he’s a special player when he’s actually playing in a game. They won’t be good either way, so might as well be entertaining while stinking. This is partially the Dolphins fault as well or refusing to give up a 3rd round pick for Kyle Orton

The Top 5 Worst Moves Of Brian Cashman: Part 1

When you have an infinite amount of money to spend, and a team that expects to win a championship every single year, a lot is expected of you. Brian Cashman is hated by plenty of people and even though he takes a ton of unfair heat from fans, at times he deserves it. Here's a look at some of Brian Cashman's worst moves as the Yankees General Manager.

5. Ted Lilly to the Tigers for Jeff Weaver


No, that isn't the guy with the 2.13 ERA... If you don't know about Jeff Weaver, then think about how you feel after the 6th inning of a start by A.J. Burnett, then imagine it for every inning instead of just one, and proceed to throw something through your television. That's the feeling Yankee fans got just about every time Weaver pitched. In 32 starts for New York, he went 12-12 with a 5.35 ERA. His Yankee career came to an end after giving up a walk off hit to the Florida Marlins in extra innings of game four of the World Series. As if that wasn't bad enough, Weaver was the center piece of a trade that brought Kevin Brown to the Yankees the following season.

Ted Lilly hasn't exactly lit the world on fire, but a pitcher like Lilly could have went a long way in the mid 2000's due to the fact that the Yankees had to deal with the likes of Javier Vazquez, the aforementioned Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson and many more misfits.

4. Arodys Vizcaino and Melky Cabrera to the Braves for Javier Vazquez


Alright, I thought this was a great deal at the time too. Vazquez was coming off a season where he finished in the top five of the MVP voting and sported a 6.6 WAR, 2.87 ERA with 238 K's. He seemed primed to redeem himself with Yankee fans after the nightmare that was his first stint as a Yankee in 2004. Unfortunately for the Yankees, Vazquez's second go around in pinstripes did not go as planned.

Vazquez nearly had a 10 K/9 rate in 2009, but with the Yankees in 2010, it dropped to just under 7. His ERA jumped up three runs and he was removed from the rotation by the end of May. In 26 starts he posted a 5.32 ERA with a 10-10 record. According to Fangraphs.com, Vazquez' average velocity on his fastball has sat around 91 in every year of his career except for 2010 where it was nearly 2 mph slower (88.8). It's back up to 90 this year by the way. Even in his first year with the Yankees in '04, his fastball velocity was down a notch from other years. What does this mean? Javy either hates the Yankees or is the definition of a pitcher who can't handle New York.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, the worst part of this deal wasn't gaining an awful season from Vazquez, it was trading away a young pitching prospect named Arodys Vizcaino. Prospects as young as Vizcaino are very hit or miss, but in his case, he has dominated the minor leagues at the age of 20 and has even contributed to the Braves major league team as a reliever this season allowing 0 runs in just under six innings. Vizcaino's future is as a starter and he shows plenty of promise so far.

On a side note; even though he didn't do much with the Braves, Melky Cabrera is having an excellent season with the Royals this year as well putting up a more than respectable 308/344/483 line with 16 homers, 73 RBI's and 16 steals. He doesn't exactly fit on the Yankees anywhere, but who would have thought Melky Cabrera was capable of those numbers?

UFC Reaches TV Deal With Fox?

According to Sherdog.com, The UFC has come to terms with Fox to broadcast up to four UFC events per year starting in January 2012. To read the full article go HERE

The gist of it is that that Fox and Fox affiliates (FX, Fuse) will gain shows like Ultimate Fight Night and The Ultimate Fighter which have aired on Spike T.V. for the better part of the past decade. Of course, the UFC will also air up to four major events on the network which will give the UFC a much larger audience.

The long rumored talks of Zuffa purchasing the G4 channel and turning it into a UFC channel would seem to be over due to the deal and rumor is the Fuel TV will not be re-branded for the time being. The deal is said to be worth 90 million dollars.

The UFC has been working on a network television deal for as long as I can remember, so if this is true then it is huge for the sport and the company.

NFL Season Preview: AFC South

AFC South:

Texans (2010: 6-10) (Proj. 11-5)- BAM! Texans win the division. People predict the Texans will be good every year and they never are. Well this year I’m all in. The Colts aren’t amazing and the rest of the division stinks, so why not? If you watched any of their games the past two years, you know they could have easily won 10 games but unfortunately for them, they are the most unlucky team on the planet. This is their year (again). You heard here 83rd

Colts (2010: 10-6) (Proj. 10-6) The team isn’t great, but Peyton Manning is. Same thing every year except this year no playoffs

Titans (2010:6-10) (Proj. 6-10)- If Chris Johnson signs soon then there’s always potential for this team to be pretty decent, but the Titans may get confused towards the end of the season when they’re 4-10 and they realize they have no shot at Andrew Luck, so they play hard to go 6-10. That’s some solid logic right there

Jaguars (2010: 8-8) (Proj. 6-10)- 8-8 last year and half of the teams they play this year had a winning record last year. Not a good formula for a team that relies so heavily on the running game, but once they turn the ball over to Blaine Gabbert, maybe they’ll be better