Superman finds his Kryptonite

So the All-Star festivities have come and gone and all that's left is the actual game. But who really cares about that? I personally have some beef with the dunk contest. The same beef I had back in 2006 actually. I am tired of seeing Nate Robinson get bonus points for being small. Dwight Howard said it himself, he makes it look easy while it looks hard for Robinson. Robinson stole the title from Iggy in '06 and he did it again this year. Dwight Howard is the ultimate entertainer. Dunking on a 12 foot rim is incredible in itself. But before the dunk he changed into his superman outfit in a phonebooth, and even adjusted to a bad pass from teammate, Jameer Nelson (cut him some slack, he has a bad shoulder) and made it look easy. Then he throws the ball off the side of the backboard and throws it down with some serious authority. Robinson on the other hand jumped off someone's back in one of his dunks! How is that even allowed?! Then jumps over Dwight Howard (although he appeared to push off and jump slightly to the side). Lost in all of this is the fact that Dwight Howard agreed to participate. He showed that it wasn't about winning, but giving the fans a great show. I will congratulate Nate Robinson (grudgingly) and thank them both for a great show.

And on a side note, LeBron James announced that he put is name in the preliminary running for next year's Dunk Contest in Dallas. Now we just need Vince Carter and Jason Richardson to come back...and maybe somehow convince Nate Robinson not to come back to defend his title.

A-Fraud?

So we all know now that A-Rod used PED's in 2001-2003. What we don't know is who the other 103 players were. I want to know why whoever ratted A-Rod out only leaked his name. If you're gonna do a job at least to it to your fullest potential. Who out there has changed their opinion about Alex now that it's official? Personally, I am disappointed because he has always been one of my favorite players and I was hoping that he would return some validity in the home run record. But that's all gone now. The funny thing is, I still like Rodriguez although I can't stand Bonds. Maybe that doesn't have anything to do with the steriods issue. I don't like the way Bonds carries himself and the way he treats teammates and the media. Now don't get me wrong, there are times when the media hoopla gets on my nerves but we don't have to curse them out (Barry) or throw their camera equiptment (yes, that means you Kenny Rogers). As of now, Bonds would not get my HOF vote, Rodriguez would...not that my opinion counts for anything. But what about you? Would A-Rod get your HOF vote?

Phils, NFL Coaches...

-Once again we see a "what have you done for me lately" decision by an NFL organization. Jon Gruden was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers along with their General Manager, Bruce Allen. Gruden who went 45-53 while in Tampa including a victory in Super Bowl XXXVII. Raheem Morris was named as Gruden's replacement, and Allen is to be replaced by Mark Dominik. Morris has no head coaching experience and also interviewed for the Broncos head coaching job.

-Steve Spagnola has agreed in principle to be the next head coach of the St. Louis Rams, not the New York Jets. I think he made the right choice by going to the Rams. Not only is there more teams to get through had he joined the Jets but they don't even have a quarterback right now. The Rams played well to close the season, although their record doesn't reflect that. And they also have a more stable roster. But then again this contract is just "in principle" and unfortunately, recently we have seen time and time again that there are less and less principals in coaching.

-The best news I have heard all day is that Cole Hamels is going to be wearing a Phils uniform for the next 3 years. The Phillies avoided arbitration with their ace by giving him a 3 year, $20.5 million deal. Although this deal looks like a steal for the organization (it is), it's also a smart deal for Cole. By signing this deal and avoiding arbitration for the next 3 years, he guarantees himself this money, so if he has a bad year or gets injured, he won't have to go to arbitration and risk losing money.

News and Notes

-After a breakout season (.312 BA, 29 HR, 115 RBI), Kevin Youkilis has been rewarded by the Red Sox with a 4 year, $40 million deal including an option for a fifth year.

-Also in baseball, according to sources, Padres decided to add veteran David Eckstein to play second base. Although the signing isn't official yet, a deal is expected to be official by weeks end. The salary is not expected to exceed $1 million thanks to owner John Moore's divorce.

-USC quarterback Mark Sanchez has decided he will not return to school, but instead enter the NFL draft against the wishes of head coach Pete Carroll. This decision makes sense to me. If I'm Mark Sanchez, as soon as McCoy, Tebow, and Bradford declared for the draft I no longer have to think about this decision. Sanchez is now by default, the second best quarterback in the draft, and many have him as a projected top 5 pick. And as Jim Rome put it on his show Rome Is Burning, Stafford is like Sanchez's lead blocker, protected him from being drafted by the Lions. So on behalf of Mark Sanchez and his NFL career, thankyou Matt Stafford.

Divisional Playoff Round

So after another weekend of playoff football, we've learned once again that anything can happen in sports. The games started in Tennessee where the number one seed in the AFC lost to the Baltimore Ravens. The game was really more of a wrestling match that happened to have a football game going on during it, as predicted by one of the players early in the week. There was pushing and shoving after just about every play. So after the first game, we've already lost the number one seed in the AFC. Granted the Ravens have a very very good defense. Second overall in the league as a matter of fact. The difference maker may have been the loss of Chris Johnson who went down in the second half. The Ravens had no answer for Johnson but had no problem stopping his backup Lendale White. The short week for the Ravens seemed to affect them early on as they were getting pushed around by the Titans which didn't happen all year.

Now on to game two. In the game that was supposed to be the easiest to predict, the Cardinals headed to Carolina to take on the Panthers. The game started just like many predicted with the Panthers marching right down the field to take an early 7-0 lead. That's where all the predictions went out the window. The Cardinals answered right back and rolled for the rest of the game to a 33-13 win. Jake Delhomme played especially poor finishing the game with a very unimpressive line of 17-34 for 205 yards, 1 TD, 5 interceptions and a lost fumble.

Sunday held a highly anticipated matchup in the Meadowlands with the Eagles taking on the hometown Giants. It was the third time the teams met up this season with a 1-1 split where the road team pulled out the win both times. Foresight maybe? The Eagles looked to become the third team to pull the upset in as many games. Eli Manning looked to have problems throwing the ball through the swirling winds and coupled with two failed fourth and short conversions, the Eagles sent home the NFC's top seed. The loss made the Giants the first defending Super Bowl champs to lose their first game when being the number one seed. The final score of 23-11 was the first time in NFL history a game ended with that score.

The fourth and final game of the weekend was in Pittsburgh where the Steelers took on their improbable opponents, the San Deigo Chargers. The Chargers rode into Pittsburgh without LaDainian Tomlinson who was inactive for the first time in his career. They also had Pro Bowl snub, Phillip Rivers who was the league leader in touchdown passes and passer rating. But the Steelers had the league's top ranked defense. The Chargers looked to improve on their 2-0 record in postseason games in Pittsburgh, although they are 0-13 in the regular season. Strange yes, but what else do you expect from two teams who played in the NFL's first ever game to end with a final score of 11-10 just a few weeks earlier. The Chargers started with a 41 yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson in their opening drive. The lead was short lived when Santonio Holmes tied the game on a 67 yard punt return on San Diego's next drive. The turning point in the game was the third quarter when the Chargers held the ball for just one snap which resulted in an interception. They also had a ball bounce off a player's helmet which Pitt recovered following the interception. Big Ben and company held down the speedy Sproles and Rivers on their way to a 35-24 win. The win assured them that the Ravens have to beat them in their own house in order to play in this year's Super Bowl. The win also made sure that all four home teams didn't lose which would have been a first for the NFL Division Series. And on a fun note, the Steelers are the only team remaining whose mascot is not a bird. Chew on that.

SPORTS!!

So it's been awhile so there is obviously alot to catch up on but I don't have time to go through everything that has happened in the past couple of months. So we'll go with the cliffnotes version. Spygate, Belichek's a cheater, Favre retired, just kidding no he didn't, Pacman got reinstated, Pacman Jones is now Adam Jones, Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever, Mike Singletary pulled his pants down, and my personal favorite...PHILLIES ARE WORLD FU**IN CHAMPS!!!!

So more recently, the Browns have hired Eric Mangini to be thier new head coach. I think it was a good choice. He got the short end of the stick in NY. I understand the NFL is all about what have you done for me lately (just ask half the coaches in the league) but from what I understand, he never really wanted Brett Favre to be his quarterback. They went out and beefed up their offensive line to become a running team so why would he want a quarterback that would force him to throw the ball? Alot of people are wondering why Bill Cowher turned down the job that would allow him to coach for the team he used to play for. I'll tell you why. Loyalty. He said it way back when the rumors first started flying in the middle of the season. He has too much loyalty to the Steelers organization and the Rooney family to coach one of, if not their biggest rival. And frankly, I don't think we see enough of that these days.

Red Raiders are Down a Knight

After 42 years and 902 wins, Bob Knight is stepping away from college basketball. On his own terms. Monday night ESPN reported that Bobby Knight would resign as the Texas Tech basketball coach, leaving it for his son Pat. It's interesting that he resigns just 2 wins after his 900th to become the winningest coach in NCAA Division I basketball after he reapeatedly said the record meant nothing to him. I think we all know enough about sports to say there are few people who can honestly say that they don't care about records, and personally I don't think he's one of them. I think he felt like he had something to prove. Yes, his methods may not be the most conventional, but they work. Plus they make for great Sportscenter material. Who doesn't like to see a coach throw a chair on the court? I know I enjoy it. Knight won his first game back during the Nixon administration (and we thought things couldn't get worse. but this is about sports, not politics so we'll save that for another day). And now, 901 wins later, he retires as the winningest and most controversial coach in NCAA history. Congratulations Bobby.