This has been one of the most pathetic NFL playoff weekends that I can remember.

The Bengals offense managed only 198 net yards, as their defense scored more points than the offense. And still the Texans barely came away with the win.

The Vikings looked god awful for most of the game. I'll give credit to the Packers for actually finding a way to contain Peterson, but the Vikings couldn't even begin to get a pass game going.

The Colts looked the best out of the losing teams, but they fell short whenever they needed to come up with something, therefore being unable to come up with the win.

The Redskins looked like complete shit after the first quarter and the decision to not put Cousins in earlier still baffles me, because RG3 could barely even jog onto the field. Their defense did alright but failed to cover any players coming out of the backfield, resulting in huge gains in yards.

To be honest, the only teams that impressed me were the Packers and the Ravens. And still, neither did anything spectacular that you usually see from at least one team at this point in the season. The only player to really impress me was Anquan Boldin who made several difficult catches to set the Ravens up to score.

I'm hoping that next weekend will be better with the arrival of the higher seeds.

Can't disagree with any of that. In the fourth quarter my dad and I looked at each other and collectively asked "Why haven't they just put Cousins in yet? RGIII is obviously hurt and they desperately need a momentum shift." Two plays later his knee explodes. PUT ME IN COACH, I'M READY.

Ow, I see. Which team do you support?

No one in particular, I just find the sport engaging to watch.

I'm a Suns fan and as such have no interest in this season, and probably the next two at the very least. If they ever get serious about rebuilding I might start paying attention again.

NHL IS BACK. A half season is better than no season.

Dammit, I was enjoying SportsCenter a lot more without lame hockey on there. And NASCAR will be back too, all well less ESPN means more productivity I suppose.

ESPN goes out of their way to not show hockey anyway. Last year during the first round of the playoffs, their coverage was like 80% regular season baseball or something preposterous. I'll have to find the stats, but that first week they had like a combined fifteen minutes talking about hockey. Here's something, and there's a link to the series that catalogs SC's coverage within. Basically, can it.

Even though I am not a fan of hockey, I can definitely agree that sportscenter seems to put the NHL on the back burner. And when they do cover games they always have that same guy (I can't remember his name) talk about it as if he is the only one who knows what is going on.

My sport channel RDS (French version of TSN) is very happy that the NHL is back, they were showing old Nordiques playoffs game, damnit!

My family switched from Comcast to DirecTV as a money saving measure (it only saved money for three months, but whatevs), so I just now thought of two things.

1) Most Blackhawks games are on Comcast Sportsnet. If that turns out to be a Comcast exclusive channel I'll be pretty pissed, I can't have my Hawks games without Pat Foley and Eddie Olczyk (Gaunt and Eddie-O as I so affectionately call them)

2) I don't have NHL Network anymore, which is a bummer.

Superbowl Predictions anyone?
I am thinking Ravens vs. 49ers which I think would be interesting because the head coaches are brothers.

I think the packers will play the broncos/patriots.

Well, given that the Lakers are currently imploding and you're getting their pick if they remain in the lottery, there is something that could keep your interest

SB prediction would be Packers vs Patriots, with Brady getting his fourth ring. I don't think the 49ers have the defense to go all the way; maybe earlier in the year it was excellent, but their defense has been horrid the last few weeks. They look like boys playing a man's game. Ravens don't really have enough offense, and while Denver will make it interesting, I still think Brady &co will take care of them. And God help us anyone but the Seahawks please.

Speaking of defense, Notre Dame's really packed it in before kickoff tonight. Did they even practice AT ALL during the last month for this game tonight? Doesnt look like it. Never, ever have I seen a college team so utterly unprepared for a bowl game. "Mushmouth" is probably babbling incoherently on ESPN right now, wait; he always does that anyway.

NHL

So, a 48 games season based on what Daly says, it will start in around 2 weeks, can't wait! the eastern conference teams won't play with the western teams during this shorter season though, it doesn't bother me greatly but I just hope not we won't play the teams in our divisions like 4 or 6 times 'cause playing against Buffalo or Toronto this frequently sucks!

Also, I think the 82 games seasons should be shortened to 60 games or so, it's simply too much. The game is faster than it used to be and I believe almost everyone would win something with this format (better show, the players are gonna be healthier but yeah, the teams are gonna make less money...) I'd like some thoughts on this (orion, Zodi, Bastard, Dragunov...)

Shortening the season will upset the fans and owners a ton, whereas lenghtening it will piss off the players a ton. I wrote a whole thing about this and the realignment over a year ago, you can read it here if you'd like, it's based on a Mortal Kombat metaphor.

Notre Dame has such an easy schedule every year. I don't think they ever had a chance. The SEC is such a tough conference, that whichever team wins the SEC Championship game is generally the best in college football.

Yay other people like hockey <3

BH, I just read that blog post of yours, and I do like the idea of more inter-conference play and playing within the division a little less. I also like the idea of moving around Winnipeg, Nashville, and possibly Detroit. To add, I also think the NHL postseason could stand to be a little shorter. Maybe make the quarterfinals and semifinals a best-of-5, and the conference and Stanley Cup finals a best-of-7. Could that work?

As for NFL playoff predictions, I'm a bit late, but I'll offer the same prediction I make every year: GO PATS! No but seriously, if we make it to the big game, we may actually win it this year since the Giants are absent.

In all honesty, I think Denver is the team to beat in the AFC and would absolutely love to see another Brady/Manning championship game. In the NFC, I have a nagging suspicion that Seattle is going to tell everybody to fuck off and make it to the Super Bowl, and they're going to beat Green Bay to get there. So, as much as I hate to say it, I say Manning and the Broncos will beat my Pats. Seattle somehow finds a way to beat Green Bay late in the fourth quarter. Then for the big game, Peyton leads the Broncos to a convincing victory.

Right now I'm feeling Seattle and Green Bay winning in the NFC, and Denver and New England winning in the AFC. Basically the same shit everybody is saying. My Super Bowl matchup right now is Green Bay V New England. I agree that Denver is the team to beat but when it comes to the playoffs, Brady just turns into a fucking monster, and I find it really hard to ever bet against him.

Weird that Brian Burke got fired today, just before the start of the season. I mean, I don't disagree with the decision, but the timing is very weird...

I don't think that would be beneficial to anyone. The ticket prices will go up after two or three years when owners try to equalize their profits to previous years and there will be less money available for the players to claim, especially now that they've lost 7% of the HRR. It would piss off fans two-fold: Higher ticket prices and less games to watch. I would actually like to see if the gain in profits by the league reduces some of the ticket prices this year slightly.

Health isn't really an issue. The injuries that occur during the season would occur anyway and to spread the number of games out means players will spend a lot more time conditioning and training which may actually reduce the intensity of games later in the season and then the playoff intensity may actually create more injuries to players that have been playing on a slower pace the last two weeks of the season. I agree with those that have supported a shortened playoff season, especially now with more teams possibly being added to the playoffs. I think a first round best-of-5 would be a great modification. I would leave the semi-finals, conference championship and finals at a best of 7.



I disagree with the decision. He's only been there three years - definitely not enough time to properly change the teams makeup. They have some excellent players too -Kessel, Phaenuf(or however you spell it). Their problem has always been on the back-end. Inconsistent goaltending and mediocre defense. The team doesn't really excel in any one area.

[citation needed]

Seriously this would make precisely zero sense, more than half the teams in the league make the playoffs already, I would seriously love to hear the reasoning behind such a proposal by whoever proposed it if true.

Yeah, I think its dumb as hell also but here is the story which was met with a lot of animosity afterwards across the net: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nhl-expand-stanley-cup-playoffs-four-teams-060105436--nhl.html

This has been already shot down though apparently.

Burke gave like everything for Kessel and gave billions for fuckin' Komisarek, he's been a very bad GM.

Yeah. Kessel is great and all (and he's one of the reasons my fantasy team was so unstoppable two years ago) but giving up what turned out to be Seguin to a team that was already great? Yeah, I'm sure Boston fans are also huge Leafs fans at this point as well.

I can vouch for this being true.

Three consecutive big wins for my Indiana Pacers

I love Paul George. I've always liked the Pacers and with the Cavs still rebuilding, I will be pulling for Indiana in the playoffs.

This is interesting, sports are fixed, but they are entertaining
check this site out:http://thefixisin.net/

That website is the most retarded thing I have ever seen, with your statement coming in a close second.

Thanks, But mabey you should open your mind and consider the information

The Baltimore/Bronco's game is really good. At this point who knows what will happen!

I blame Denver's atrocious secondary for this loss. The first thing taught in Pop Warner is never turn your back on the receiver. Boom, touchdown, overtime. Pathetic. Oh yeah Champ Bailey-he sucks too. Torched by Torrey Smith all night.

Thank you

The Cavs are a nice team. Kyrie will become amazing (he already is great), Gee is serviceable and Varejao is a great big (just a tad injury prone). Tristan is a nice player although I prefer Val over him and Tyler Zeller will become serviceable (even though Cody will probably be better).

Hey, any chance that you manage to pair Cody and Tyler?

I like the Central Division teams, though. They more often than not have an identity. It helps that they're usually able to beat Miami once or twice during the regular season

So let me get this straight; the Clippers are the best team in the league right now while the crosstown Lakers with that All-Star line-up might not even make the playoffs? If that doesn't signal an imminent coming of endtimes, I don't know what does. Heat all the way!

Great, great weekend for football. This is why I love the NFL. Seattle had a wonderful season. A few yards short and some seconds too late unfortunately.

The Pats better play near-perfectly if they hope to beat the Ravens next week. I noticed a few times where we were uncharacteristically slow to change personnel between plays tonight, and that will be unacceptable. Though, if we lose, I still get Bruins hockey back.

They definitely gotta work on their special teams and not allow so many kick return yards. I see the Ravens as pretty much the same team as the Texans. Solid quarterback, explosive running back, big and strong receivers, and aggressive defenses. The one thing the Pats need to make sure to do better is stop Rice from making big plays on passes, because Rice is similar to Foster and can do a lot of damage as receivers out of the back field. I feel as if they let Foster gain too many receiving yards.

Yeah, Foster had a good game as a receiver. We gave him too much space, and we all know the guy can run. I think if our blitz packages can bring in some sacks, or at least disrupt getting the screen play going, we'll at least do okay on that front.