NFL Draft 2012

The NFL Draft was this weekend, and it was interesting to say the least. Andrew Luck, the most praised player coming out of college since John Elway in 1983, was picked #1 overall by the Indianapolis Colts. Robert Griffin III, the Heisman Trophy winner, was picked at number 2 by the Washington Redskins. Trent Richardson was picked at number three by the Cleveland Browns. The draft was quite uneventful, most of the picks seemed previously choreographed, and, although there were some interesting picks, the draft was uneventful. Until the actual football games start, and I am anxiously awaiting them, I will try to be in baseball mode.

An Update on the World of Sports

I am sorry I haven't posted anything in over two months, I have been very busy. Baseball season has begun. The Red Sox celebrated their 100th Anniversary last Friday against the Yankees, but unfortunately for Red Sox fans, the Yankees won 6-2. Philip Humber of the White Sox threw a perfect game on Saturday against the Mariners, which was just the 21st perfect game in MLB history. The Giants won the Super Bowl, 21-17 over the Patriots. Kentucky won the NCAA Basketball Championship earlier this month, they beat Kansas in the final, 67-59. Bubba Watson won the Masters at Augusta earlier this month as well. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are going on currently, and the NBA Playoffs will be beginning soon as well.

Super Bowl

In less than an hour, the New England Patriots and New York Giants will meet in the Super Bowl. The Giants have won five straight games and beat the Patriots 24-20 earlier in the year. That was the Patriots' last loss, they have won 10 games in a row. Tom Brady leads the potent offense of the Patriots, and the Pat's defense is beginning to improve. However, Brady will have to go against the great defensive line of the Giants, and Eli Manning will look to have a big game. I think the Giants will start out well, and lead 21-14 at halftime. The Patriots will mount a comeback in the second half, however, and win the game 35-28.

The Latest News

I couldn't really devote a whole page to all of these topics, so I'm putting them together. Notre Dame beat #1 Syracuse 67-58 on Saturday, ending the 'Cuse's run at number one and their 20-game winning streak. In sadder news, Joe Paterno, a great football coach, maybe the best ever, died on Sunday at the age of 85. Also on Sunday, the New York Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in overtime, and the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-20, when Billy Cundiff missed a field goal with 15 seconds left (He blamed the miss on the scoreboard). If Jay Cutler had never gotten hurt, the Giants probably wouldn't be going to the Super Bowl. I think Cutler's team, the Chicago Bears would probably have faced off with the Green Bay Packers at some point in the playoffs, and the 49ers would have been in the mix as well. This would have all but eliminated the 9-7 Giants. It just goes to show you the importance of a starting quarterback (for other examples google the 2011 Indianapolis Colts). Prince Fielder signed a 9 year/$214 million contract with the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. This contract is the 4th-largest contract in MLB history. Fielder, whose father Cecil played for the Tigers, is from Detroit and will bolster a lineup that made it to the ALCS last year. Also today, the Oakland Raiders found their new head coach, Dennis Allen, someone that at least has the possibility to survive the harsh pressure put on the last few Raiders coaches.

Roll Tide!

#2 Alabama was crowned national champion tonight by beating #1 LSU 21-0 in the BCS National Championship. Alabama had one of the great defensive performances in BCS history in the win, allowing only 92 total yards. To put this into perspective, Trent Richardson, Alabama's great running back, rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown that sealed LSU's fate. AJ McCarron, the offensive MVP of the game, threw for 234 yards while leading them on several important drives. Jordan Jefferson threw for 53 of LSU's 92 total yards, and while Alabama's defense was amazing, Alabama's coach Nick Saban found every hole in LSU's secondary, praised as the number 1 secondary in the country, and made McCarron a hero in the state of Alabama. Alabama won its ninth National Championship in school history, and will return a team next year that is hugry for another championship run. Jeremy Shelley converted five of seven field goal attempts, his five field goals setting a new BCS record. Alabama came out with way more fire than LSU, and some big plays sparked the Tide even more. This is the sixth straight national championship won by an SEC team, and the third straight by a team from Alabama. Meanwhile, for LSU, they will enter a bit of a rebuilding year, but expect them to try to build this team around Tyrann Mathieu, and the addition of Gunner Kiel at quarterback will help them a lot. With the end of another college footbal season, all I can say is "Roll Tide!"

Game of the Century: Take 2

Two months ago, on November 5th, the supposed "Game of the Century" took place in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, between Alabama and LSU. LSU pulled out a win in overtime, 9-6. Tomorrow, those two teams meet again, this time in New Orleans, for the National Championship. For the first game, I picked Alabama, 12-10. I wasn't that far off on the score, but I picked the wrong team. This time, I hope to do better. I think that the number one key to the game is offense. It's a battle of defenses, but the team that succeeds on offense is the one that is going to win the game. The number two key is special teams. Who can make that long return that sets up something? Who can make that clutch field goal? Which team is going to block a punt? I think that all of these are important to the way this game will come out. Although LSU won the first game, and may have the momentum, I think that Alabama is out for blood tomorrow. I think that Trent Richardson and AJ McCarron will be able to create the spark of offense that this team needs to beat LSU. I don't think that LSU will be able to contend with Alabama if the Tide can get a lead of at least two scores. Typically, these supposed "defensive games" turn into the games with more offense because the offenses know that they have to step up more. Although I don't see Alabama winning a full share of the National Title, they're the better team.

My Prediction: Alabama and LSU are deadlocked 10-10 at halftime, but Alabama pulls ahead in the second half and doesn't look back. Alabama, 27-17.

BCS Bowl Results

The first set of BCS Bowls, the ones before the National Championship Game, are over. The first one, played last Monday, featured the Oregon Ducks against the Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl. Oregon, in its Space Age headgear, won the game 45-38 after holding off one last Wisconsin drive at the end and getting two long-distance touchdowns from their speedy freshman De'Anthony Thomas. Oregon's LaMichael James led the Ducks with 159 yards rushing and one touchdown in what will be his last game at Oregon, and Montee Ball led the Badgers with 164 yards and added a touchdown, one that tied Barry Sanders' record for most touchdowns in a season.

The Fiesta Bowl, played immediately after the Rose Bowl, pitted the Stanford Cardinal against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. In what will (probably) be future number 1 pick Andrew Luck's last game, Luck had an 87.1% completion percentage, 347 yards, and two touchdowns, but it still wasn't enough to defeat Brandon Weeden, Justin Blackmon, and Oklahoma State. After Jordan Williamson missed a kick that would have won the game for Stanford at the end of regulation, the game went into overtime, where Williamson missed another big kick. Oklahoma State didn't have these kicking problems, and Quinn Cook nailed a 22 yarder to win the game for Oklahoma State, 41-38. Justin Blackmon hauled in 8 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns from Brandon Weeden, who finished the game with 399 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Then came Tuesday and the Sugar Bowl. Michigan and Virginia Tech dueled it out in New Orleans in a very interesting game. It was a game of field goals, Virginia Tech scored one touchdown the whole game, Michigan score two. Although Logan Thomas had 214 yards passing and one rushing touchdown, and David Wilson added 82 on the ground, Michigan, with only 184 TOTAL yards of offense, beat Virginia Tech 23-20 in overtime. Virginia Tech made three field goals in this game before tying the game on a Logan Thomas touchdown run and two-point conversion. Virginia Tech, down 20-17 got the ball back late in the game, and went on a great drive before Frank Beamer made a huge coaching mistake by taking away all of his team's momentum and making his team play for overtime. Virginia Tech's field goal kicker, Justin Meyer, made the kick and sent the game into overtime. After a touchdown was controversially called back after a review, Meyer missed a 37 yard field goal kick. Michigan, playing unusually conservative, played for the field goal, ironically another 37 yarder. Brendan Gibbons, the Michigan kicker, sank it through, and Michigan won, 23-20. Denard Robinson had 117 yards and two touchdowns passing in the game, and that was enough to pull out a win. This gives Michigan the big-time win that they were looking for, and they could be a dangerous team next year.

The Orange Bowl, played on Wednesday in Miami, didn't need any overtime or kicker heroics, it was just an absolute rout by West Virginia against Clemson, 70-33. Geno Smith threw for 401 yards and six touchdowns to lead West Virginia, and Tavon Austin caught 11 passes for 117 yards and four touchdowns. West Virginia scored the most points in one quarter in bowl history by scoring 35 points in the second quarter. On the other side, Tajh Boyd threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns for Clemson, and Andre Ellington rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Although not technically a BCS bowl, the Cotton Bowl featured the sixth ranked team in the country, Arkansas, against the eighth ranked team, Kansas State. Although Collin Klein, who has taken the country by storm, threw for 173 yards and a touchdown and added 42 yards and another touchdown on the ground, his efforts fell short, and Arkansas won 29-16. Tyler Wilson led Arkansas by throwing for 216 yards and two touchdowns. This game featured two special teams "touchdowns", Joe Adams of Arkansas returned a punt 51 yards at the beginning of the second quarter, and Nigel Malone returned a blocked extra point for a "touchdown". (It only counted for two points). It's been an interesting bowl season so far, which makes the National Championship Game even more hyped.