NFL Championship Weekend Picks

Okay so this is the best weekend in football and I am more pumped to watch football this late into the season than usual because the Jets are in the AFC Championship game. The NFC Championship game between the Vikings and Saints should be a very good game also. Without further ado, here are my picks. Home team in caps, winner in bold

Sunday, 3 p.m. COLTS-27 Jets-20

Sunday, 6:40 p.m. SAINTS-31 Vikings-21

NFC Divisional Round Recap

The NFL Divisional Playoff round has ended with the Saints, Colts, Vikings and Jets, yes the Jets, advancing to the NFC and AFC Championship games. As has been the trend of this year's playoffs, all but one of the games during the weekend was a blow out. The Saints outclassed the Cardinals and just looked like the team with more talent and more energy. They looked like the best team in the NFL. They can stretch the field with Brees and their receiving core of Marques Colston, Jeremy Shockey, Devery Henderson and if Reggie Bush runs for the rest of the playoffs like he did against the Cardinals, it is hard to see how the Saints will lose. It is like Bush was in another zone and decided he was going to run over people instead of trying to run around people. And as always, Colston, Shockey, and Henderson will be weapons deep down the field. The Cardinals defense just had no answer for the talented offensive weapons the Saints have. They got cut up two weeks in a row and are lucky they beat the Packers.

But they have to play against the Vikings, who look equally unstoppable. Their defense is something that the Saints have not had to match up against. The Vikings defense just took it to the Cowboys, who were coming into that game hot, beating the Eagles two straight weeks before. The Vikings have a defense that is big in the middle with Pat Williams, defend the run well, and had Romo running for his life, sacking him six times. Adrian Peterson had another sub par game but was bailed out by a 4 touchdown pass game by Brett Favre, 3 of which got caught by Sidney Rice. He was an absolute nightmare for the secondary of the Cowboys.

This is the match up on the NFC side that everyone wants to see, and it should be a great game.

AFC Divisional Round recap will come later tonight, with predictions coming later this week.

NFL Picks - Divisional Round

The playoff format for the NFL is one of the best around. The single elimination rounds makes the games exciting. The players and fans know that if the team loses, that's it, everyone goes home, see you next year. This is why the NFL Playoffs are so great. With that said here are my picks, with score predictions. Home team in caps and my picks in bold.

Saturday 4:30 PM - Cardinals at SAINTS - Have to take the Saints in a shoot out. Prediction: SAINTS-38 Cardinals-31

Saturday 8:15 PM - Ravens at COLTS - I know the Ravens dismantled the Patriots and the Colts rested their starters, but I'm not going out on a limb. Prediction: COLTS-27 Ravens- 17

Sunday 1:00 PM - Cowboys at VIKINGS - Call me crazy with picking the Cowboys on the road against Favre and Peterson, but Cowboys have been hot for a month while the Vikings have been slumping. Prediction: Cowboys-20 VIKINGS-14

Sunday 4:4o PM - Jets at CHARGERS - It pains me since I am a Jets fan but I just do not see the Jets winning this game. Chargers have too many offensive weapons. Prediction: CHARGERS-28 Jets-16

More Problems For Gilbert Arenas

Gilbert Arenas felt the need to bring guns in a NBA locker room over a gambling disagreement with teammate Javaris Crittenton, and just keeps on paying the price for it. He has been suspended indefinitely by NBA commissioner David Stern, and today has been charged with a felony in connection with the locker room confrontation. Now that the facts have been laid out, here is my take. First, it is inexcusable and unexplainable why Arenas would bring a gun into the locker room. He is making over $16 million a year, so I think he could have been a little more patient with this alleged gambling debt that Crittenton owes. He isn't hurting for money. But seriously, Arenas just was not smart for bringing guns into the locker room. Not only was he potentially harming his teammates, he wound up harming himself. In this era of professional sports, with all the tragedies and trouble that has befallen athletes, its time to crack down on athletes using guns. I know they feel at risk because they are recognizable to millions of people, but all four major sports in this country have to crack down on gun usage and follow David Stern's actions in this case. There should be a zero tolerance policy for athletes using guns and bringing them into their work place. I don't normally agree with indefinite suspensions for athletes who make mistakes. I believe in giving people second chances, but not when it comes to the issue of athletes and guns.

NFL Blog Post

I haven't posted in a while but I will be blogging more in the future. Just some NFL notes I want to talk about. First, it is not surprising to me that Vince Young is now 4-0 this year as the starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. I do not understand why everyone thinks he will not be a good starting quarterback. He has a strong, accurate arm and can also scramble away from pressure and make accurate throws on the run. I really like this kid because he is a winner. His record as a starter is 22-11 with the 20-17 win on Monday Night Football against the Houston Texans. He might not ever throw for the most touchdown passes or have the best quarterback rating, but the fact is that he is a winner. When the New York Jets had the 4th overall pick in the NFL Draft in 2006, I wanted them to try and draft Vince Young instead of D'Brickashaw Ferguson. With Vince Young as the starting quarterback, the Titans' backfield of Young and Chris Johnson is the most dynamic in the league. At 4-6, I think the Titans now have an outside shot at making the playoffs. They would have to go 10-0 or 9-1 to get into the playoffs. With mediocre teams such as the Ravens, Dolphins, Jaguars, and Broncos in front of them, Vince Young and the Titans have a good shot.

In other news, Kerry Rhodes might be getting benched in favor of Eric Smith, according to reports. I know Rhodes isn't having the best of years, but behind Darrelle Revis he is arguably their best defensive player. Also, he got signed to a contract extension a couple years ago. The Jets are not going to make the playoffs so I think they have to be patient and try and help him fix what is wrong.

My Power Rankings:

1) New Orleans Saints

2) Indianapolis Colts

3) Minnesota Vikings

4) New England Patriots

5) San Diego Chargers.

Tom Butto

Yankees are World Series Champions!

That is right the Yankees won in 6 games, just like I predicted. They did it with their big three in the pitching rotation, better known as CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Andy Pettitte. They did it with contributions from everyone in their lineup, including the MVP of the World Series, Hideki Matsui. Without Matsui, the Yankees might not have won game 6. He drove in six runs in the clinching game, and was 8 for 13 with 3 homers and 8 RBI for the series. And last but not least, they did it with Mariano Rivera. If Rivera was not the closer of the New York Yankees, they might not have won the series because of how shaky the bullpen had been. Other than Damaso Marte, everyone who was big for them in the regular season (Joba and Hughes) were not sharp in the World Series. Rivera had to pitch two innings for a save in two of the saves he racked up, and got five outs in game 6, even though it wasn't a save situation. This series showed that the Yankees were clearly the best team in baseball, and that the Phillies were the second best. The Yankees had a better lineup (if it were not for Utley, the Phillies would have got almost no run production), better pitchers, and simply were deeper. Congratulations to the 2009 New York Yankees, World Seres Champions!

World Series Game 3 Quick Prediction

With the Yankees losing game 1 to the brilliance of Cliff Lee, and the Phillies losing game 2 to the brilliance of A.J. Burnett, we head to game 3 tonight at 7:30. Andy Pettitte will take on Cole Hamels at Citizen's Bank Park. I see the Yankees winning this game 6-3 with Cole Hamels giving up 5 runs over 6 innings and Andy Pettitte giving up 3 runs over 7 innings. By the end of this game the Yankees will have a series lead of 2-1.