Fantasy Draft Recap/NFL 2011 Season Preview!

Last week I ranked my top fantasy football players by position. I had two drafts over the weekend...I'm currently preparing for John Canton's ( www.thejohnreport.net ) TJR Draft tonight.

Over the weekend in my Live Yahoo Draft...I selected #2 and in my Live ESPN Draft...I selected #1. I did take Arian Foster and Aaron Rodgers, respectively. The Rodgers one I hated to do, but with 3 other Packer fans in my draft, I absolutely had to. I was invited into another league the other day, I won't be around to draft since I'll be out of town in Outing, Minnesota this weekend, but the predraft pick set me at #2. My current plan is to pre-rank my players...with my 1st pick go with Adrian Peterson or Ray Rice...and then go WR/RB/WR or WR/WR/RB. It's a PPR league with 2 starting RB's and 2 WR's...no FLEX position.

So in four drafts here's how I'm picking:
2nd: Arian Foster
1st: Aaron Rodgers
4th: ???
2nd: AP or Rice

I'm not sure what my strategy will be with this league tonight, it will be a free bragging rights league...no money on the line, so I'll probably jump after players I want and take a few risks. Chances are I'll walk out of the first round with Aaron Rodgers.

Anyway, there was no new Jakey and The Ace show this week. It's my lovely girlfriends birthday week and a bit more of serious news, 1st hour co-host C-Mac's mother had brain surgery on Tuesday...so it just wasn't a good week for the show. Next Week we'll have 4 hours of new Radio! Tuesday night will be the NFL Preview Show and Wednesday night will be the 3rd installment of The John Report Radio.

Let's get to the picks...I may or may not use these picks for my show picks next Tuesday night...only time will tell!

AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCE

AFC North
1. Baltimore Ravens 11-5
2. Pittsburgh Steelers 10-6
3. Cleveland Browns 7-9
4. Cincinnati Bengals 2-14

AFC South
1. Houston Texans 11-5
2. Indianapolis Colts 9-7
3. Tennessee Titans 8-8
4. Jacksonville Jaguars 6-10

AFC West
1. San Diego Chargers 10-6
2. Kansas City Chiefs 9-7
3. Oakland Raiders 8-8
4. Denver Broncos 6-10

AFC East
1. New England Patriots 13-3
2. New York Jets 11-5
3. Miami Dolphins 8-8
4. Buffalo Bills 3-13

Seeds
1. New England Patriots
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. Houston Texans
4. San Diego Chargers
5. New York Jets
6. Pittsburgh Steelers

NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE

NFC North
1. Green Bay Packers 13-3
2. Detroit Lions 9-7
3. Chicago Bears 8-8
4. Minnesota Vikings 6-10

NFC South
1. Atlanta Falcons 12-4
2. New Orleans Saints 11-5
3. Tampa Bay Bucs 9-7
4. Carolina Panthers 4-12

NFC West
1. St. Louis Rams 10-6
2. Arizona Cardinals 9-7
3. Seattle Seahawks 6-10
4. San Fransisco 49ers 5-11

NFC East
1. Philadelphia Eagles 11-5
2. New York Giants 10-6
3. Dallas Cowboys 7-9
4. Washington Redskins 3-13

Seeds
1. Green Bay Packers
2. Atlanta Falcons
3. Philadelphia Eagles
4. St. Louis Rams
5. New Orleans Saints
6. New York Giants

Yearly Awards
MVP: Aaron Rodgers
OPOTY: Jamaal Charles
DPOTY: Clay Matthews III
OROY: Julio Jones
DROY: Von Miller
Coach of the Year: Gary Kubiak or Jim Schwartz

Playoffs
Wild Card Round
#3 Houston over #6 Pittsburgh
#5 New York Jets over #4 San Diego

#3 Philadelphia over #6 New York Giants
#5 New Orleans over #4 St. Louis

Divisional Round
#1 New England over #5 New York Jets
#2 Baltimore over #3 Houston

#1 Green Bay over #5 New Orleans
#3 Philadelphia over #2 Atlanta

Conference Championships
#1 New England over #2 Baltimore
#1 Green Bay over #3 Philadelphia

SUPER BOWL XLVI
Green Bay Packers- 34
New England Patriots- 27

Final Thoughts-
Call me a biased Packers fan, or whatever you want...I don't care. I honestly don't think there's much in the NFC besides Green Bay. We'll see how New Orleans offense looks against Green Bay's defense in about 7 Days 2 hours from now, and vice versa. Atlanta looks great on paper but they were exposed in the playoffs. Philly is being called 'The Dream Team'...dream teams don't work out, see 2011 Miami Heat.

The AFC is really anyone's conference. New England, New York and Pittsburgh probably have the biggest shots of getting there....could San Diego? Yes! Could Baltimore? YES! Could Cincinnati? NO!!!!! (Paul Allen Voice)

Honestly...I'm happy football is back, I'm happy I can watch my Packers defend their title and I'm happy I can play fantasy football.

Good luck to all the teams...and GO PACK GO!

Fantasy Football: WR's and TE's

This one will be pretty abbreviated, I'll go over the top 12 WR's. For the Tight End position, I will do the same! Here Goes!

Elite WR's:
1. Andre Johnson, Houston Texans.
Where I'd pick him: Late 1st Round

2. Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons
Where I'd pick him: Early 2nd Round

3. Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions
Where I'd pick him: 2nd round

4. Greg Jennings, Green Bay Packers
Where I'd pick him: 2nd Round

5. Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals
Where I'd pick him: 2nd Round

6. Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants
Where I'd pick him: Late 2nd/Early 3rd

7. Vincent Jackson, San Diego Chargers
Where I'd pick him: Early 3rd Round

8. Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis Colts
Where I'd pick him: 3rd Round

9. DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles
Where I'd pick him: 3rd Round

10. Mike Wallace, Pittsburgh Steelers
Where I'd pick him: Late 3rd Round/Early 4th

11. Miles Austin, Dallas Cowboys
Where I'd pick him: 4th Round

12. Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs
Where I'd pick him: 4th Round

The Top 12 Tight Ends
1. Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers
2. Dallas Clark, Indianapolis Colts
3. Jermichael Finley, Green Bay Packers
4. Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys
5. Vernon Davis, San Fransisco 49ers
6. Marcedes Lewis, Jacksonville Jaguars
7. Owen Daniels, Houston Texans
8. Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers
9. Kellen Winslow, Tampa Bay Bucs
10. Zach Miller, Seattle Seahawks
11. Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
12. Jimmy Graham, New Orleans Saints

There we go! Tomorrow I'll do Kickers and Defenses.

-ACE

Fantasy Football: RB's

Good friend of the show and fantasy expert, Paul Charchian has a method when drafting called 'Do the Opposite'. What that means is do the opposite of what the normal method of drafting is in fantasy football. Instead of using your first two or 3 picks on Running Backs, do the opposite and NOT draft a RB until at least the 4th Round. Last year I went with Charch's method and it worked out well. I took Tom Brady and Randy Moss (BUST) with my first two picks, but I ended up drafting guys like Jamaal Charles, Rashard Mendenhall and Hakeem Nicks to help carry my team. Two years ago at the #12 pick in our draft I took Andre Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald. I'll have four sections to this blog:

Stud Running Back- If he's there when you're on the clock, take him.

Backup Backfield- If you take the #1 RB on the team, make sure to take his backup in later rounds. (Example: Ryan Grant in the 3rd round...take James Starks in the 10th Round)

Do the Opposite- If you took two WR's and a QB, and this guy is still there, take him.
Don't Take This Guy!- Simple, eh?

Here we go!

Stud Running Backs
1. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
2. Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens
3. Arian Foster, Houston Texans
4. LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles
5. Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons
6. Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans (If he comes to camp, he'll go down if he doesn't)
7. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville Jaguars
8. Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh Steelers
9. Peyton Hillis, Cleveland Browns
10. LaGarrette Blount, Tampa Bay Bucs
11. Frank Gore, San Fransisco 49ers
12. Stephen Jackson, St. Louis Rams
13. Ahmad Bradshaw, New York Giants

Backup Backfield
Don't start these guys at the same time, just make sure one is on the bench incase of an injury or a performance replacement.
1. Joseph Addai and Donald Brown, Indianapolis Colts
2. Ryan Grant and James Starks, Green Bay Packers
3. Ryan Matthews and Mike Tolbert, San Diego Chargers
4. Shonne Greene and LaDanian Tomlinson, New York Jets

Do The Opposite
1. Fred Jackson, Buffalo Bills
2. Felix Jones, Dallas Cowboys
3. Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants
4. Marshawn Lynch, Seattle Seahawks
5. Matt Forte, Chicago Bears

Don't Take This Guy!
Whatever the case is, I don't like these guys...I won't use a draft pick on them.
1. Darren McFadden, Oakland Raiders. I don't like Raiders.
2. Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions. I think he gets hurt.
3. DeAngelo Williams, Carolina Panthers. I don't think he will have much productivity this year.
4. Cedric Benson, Cincinatti Bengals. I don't think he'll touch the ball much on such a bad team.
5. Thomas, Ingram or Sproles of New Orleans. They could all get equal touches and they have Drew Brees throwing to his 4 usual targets.
6. Brian Westbrook, Not sure if he's on a team, I still hate him, years after ruining my fantasy teams.

That concludes my running back page. Tomorrow I will do a piece on the WR's of the 2011 Season similar to this one today. Friday I will finish it off with Tight Ends, D/ST's and Kickers. I'll probably just do the top 12 at each position and a few that I don't like at each one.

Also, don't forget that Paul Charchian should be our guest on a special Thursday night episode of 'The Jakey and The Ace Show'. 8-10pm/CT. I spoke with him yesterday and he's got a few other obligations, but he should be on sometime after 8pm to talk a little fantasy football!

Check the show out here Jakey and The Ace 8/25/2011 8pm/CT

Thanks for reading!

-ACE

Fantasy Football: QB's

I'll list some QB's I love and I would love to draft, and the earliest I would select them. Here's who I like this season in the Quarterback position this season:

1. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers, Week 8 Bye- Put up great numbers last season, has 4-5 great options at reciever, will probably throw for more TD's and yardage this season.
Where I'd draft him: Mid 1st round or beyond.

2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints, Week 11 Bye- Sean Payton loves to throw, even with losing Reggie Bush and the addition of Mark Ingram, they still have Brees, and much like Rodgers, he can turn a random 4th positon reciever and make him look like a star.
Where I'd draft him: Late 1st round, early 2nd round

3. Tom Brady, New England Patriots, Week 7 Bye- Brady got his old weapon back last year in Deion Branch. They added Chad Ochocinco who I can see have a season like Randy Moss did in his 1st year with New England, much like these two QB's before Brady, he can turn coal into gold (see: Green-Ellis, Benjarvis), not to mention Brady won me my league last year.
Where I'd draft him: Mid to late 2nd Round

4. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers, Week 6- His team missed the playoffs last year, and he was still remarkable. He's a great fantasy QB, but I'd hate to have him on my real life favorite team...the Chargers need to do more later in the season. Can't go wrong with targets like V-Jack and Gates.
Where I'd draft him: 3rd round

5. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans, Week 11 Bye- If he stays healthy, and Andre Johnson does too, he'll have another great season.
Where I'd draft him: 3rd Round

6. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons, Week 8 Bye- Roddy White and Michael Turner were both great weapons for Ryan, but now add Rookie Julio Jones to the mix and Ryan might be a top 5 QB sooner than later.
Where I'd draft him: 3rd to 4th Round

Question Marks
These guys give me some concern drafting them, I would probably be like the Minnesota Vikings and have the draft timer run up on me if one of these guys were on the board when I'm debating between them.

1. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles, Week 7 Bye- There is a lot of hype going into this season surrounding Michael Vick and the Eagles. I love LeSean McCoy, but you have DeSean Jackson who wants a new contract, Steve Smith who might not be ready to go to start the season and Jeremy MacLin who's had some sort of ailment we no nothing about. Vick could put up some great numbers, but I'm not too sold on him.
Where I'd take him: I would want a solid RB and/or WR before I picked him

2. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts, Week 11 Bye- Peyton has been one of the most consistant and top picked QB's in fantasy for the last decade, but he's never came into a season like this. He has some dangerous weapons, but offseason neck surgery and him not even throwing a football worries me a little bit. If I had some fantasy drafts September 3rd-7th, I'd know more about him, but I think Peyton wants to be remembered like Cal Ripkin and not sit out a game. I think if Manning misses the opener, Colts fans should worry.
Where I'd take him: If he falls to the late 2nd round, or early 3rd round, regardless of who I have.

Solid Choices
They won't win your game, but since you didn't draft these guys until later, you're probably stacked anyway.

1. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers, Week 11 Bye
2. Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Bucs, Week 8 Bye
3. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys, Week 5 Bye
4. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens, Week 5 Bye
5. Matt Cassell, Kansas City Chiefs, Week 6 Bye
6. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams, Week 5 Bye
7. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns, Week 5 Bye
8. Matt Stafford, Detroit Lions, Week 6 Bye
9. Kevin Kolb, Arizona Cardinals, Week 9 Bye

I Wouldn't Touch 'Em
If everyone in my league drafts all the QB's I've already listed, I'd probably draft one of these guys and trade a top pick of mine.

1. Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears (He's terrible)
2. David Garrard, Jacksonville Jaguars (Rookie QB in waiting)
3. Donovon McNabb, Minnesota Vikings (Rookie QB in waiting)
4. Kyle Orton, Denver Broncos (The public probably wants Tebow)
5. Alex Smith, San Fran 49ers (Rookie QB in waiting)
6. Tavaris Jackson, Seattle Seahawks (It's just not happening)
7. Any Oakland Raiders QB, just pick one. I'm sure 4 will play this season.

I know I started a day later, but I'll do the Running Backs tomorrow. I think with the RB's and WR's I'll probably go over the top 15 I'd love to have and the top 10 I'd like to have...and the ones I probably don't want to have.

-ACE

The Sports Abyss

Greetings!

Not sure if you remember me, my name is The Ace. Let me refresh your memory...I do the weekly two hour show on blogtalkradio.com with guys by the name's of C-Mac and Jakey, a monthly show with John Canton of thejohnreport.net and some guy who dresses up like a clown, I'm a diehard Green Bay Packers fan (World Champs represent, yo)....ring a bell?

Okay, glad to be back on here. Now that I have two hours of radio a week...sometimes four hours, I figured the blog would be the best spot for Jakey and I to update our listeners, followers, friends and whomever else follows us on the many different avenues of social networking. Aside from updating our followers, I'm sure we'll use this as a forum for talking about sports, movies, music, WWE and so much more!

Where did we leave off? Well, here's a little more background, the radio show is based in lovely Saint Anthony, Minnesota (a suburb of Minneapolis). Which means, any non-Packerfans living in the area consider Minnesota the Sports Abyss. Let's take a look at what happened to these Minnesota Teams during their most recent season:

Minnesota Twins- Currently 54-68, 4th Place in the AL Central. After winning the Central last season and being swept by the Yankees in the playoffs, the Twins were a favorite to win the Central and move on in the playoffs. Now, they sit just 4 games ahead of last place Kansas City. Injuries and lackadaisical play have put them in this current position. With Carl Pavano, Fransisco Liriano, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel and Jim Thome free agents after this season, the Twins may have peaked last season.

Minnesota Vikings- Finished 6-10, 4th Place NFC North. Where to start? Their star Wide Reciever, Sidney Rice, decided to wait until training camp to have surgery on his hip. A procedure, that if was done early in the offseason, he would have missed no playing time, instead he misses 8+ weeks. Brett Favre a late addition to the team and brought with him a sexting scandal. They aquired WR Randy Moss from the Patriots for a 3rd round pick. An experiement that lasted a month. After being blown out at home by their division rival Packers, coach Brad Childress was fired and a few weeks later, the Metrodome's roof collapses due to the amount of snow that blanketed the Twin Cities. Whew!

Minnesota Wild- Finished 39-35-8, 11th in the Western Conference. Now, I don't follow the NHL scene too much, but from what I remember there were several bad stretches of hockey, lots of blown games and 1 goal games. It makes a huge difference when you have lost games like that and finish 10 points out of a playoff spot. Head coach Todd Richards was fired after the season.

Minnesota Timberwolves- Finished 17-65, Worst Record in the NBA. I think that's all that can be said. 2nd year Head Coach, Kurt Rambis was fired after the season. The only bright spot is that PG Ricky Rubio agreed to terms with the team. The NBA is currently Locked Out.

Minnesota Golden Gophers Football and Basketball- The football team finished 3-9, Firing Coach Tim Brewster after a 1-6 start. Interm Coach Jeff Horton went 2-3, including upsetting Iowa at home to claim the Floyd of Rosedale Trophy. Winning a trophy was something Coach Brewster never did. The Basketball team started off strong with wins against West Virginia, North Carolina and #8 Purdue. They were 16-4 at one point in the season and ranked as high as #14 in the nation. The team lost 10 of 11, finishing 17-14 and missing all postseason tournements.

Has there ever been a state or town where 3 professional sports coaches were fired along with the premier college football coach? It's unreal to think of how bad this market is for sports.

I have two fantasy football drafts next weekend, Monday thru Friday of next week I will go through QB's, RB's, WR's, TE's, and D/ST & K's each day and list who I love and who I do not love.

For now, thanks for reading...follow me on Twitter @TheAce18 or email me with thoughts.

Go Pack Go!

-Ace

A Real Time Glance in the Mind of The Ace during Game 2 of the ALDS

5:07pm- Love the fact that the Twins are wearing the throwback uni's. Now lets see if they can play good, as well as look good.

5:14pm- Pavstache gets Texiera looking. Good start. Lets get the bats rocking. 0-0 Mid 1st.

5:16pm- After watching the 30 for 30, 'Four Days in October' about the Red Sox/Yankees 2004 ALCS, I have hope that the Twins can win this game, and take one in New York. Make Pettitte work for this one.

5:19pm- That's crazy that Pettitte has 4 T's in his last name, its half T's. Denard is really battling.

5:20pm- BEAUTIFUL 10 Pitch at bat by Span. Great plan for the Twins: Make Pettitte pitch 10 times to each batter...we'll have him out after the 2nd out! IALTO!

5:22pm- Nice work, O-Hud...takes you two pitches to ruin what Denard set up. Sidebar: Derek Jeter is phenomenal, as much as I hate the Yankees and everyone that wears that uniform, he's big time. C'mon Joe, get on and let Thome go nuts!

5:24pm- $184 Million gets you a 1-6 start to the playoffs. 0-0, End 1st.

5:25pm- Why is it whenever I see a John Hancock commercial, I can hear Beavis and Butthead laughing in my head?

5:27pm- Mustache back on the hill, and as I'm typing, 1 pitch, 1 out. Nice work.

5:30pm- Great running catch by Span, by far the Player of the Game so far.

5:31pm- Scratch that Span comment, bring back Torii Hunter, he'd of had that Swisher hit. I hated Swisher when he was with the A's, hated him when he was with the ChiSox, hate him as a Yankee.....LOVED him on How I Met Your Mother!

5:32pm- How sweet is the TBS Pitch TRAX? Good inning, Carl. 0-0, Mid 2nd. Onto my 3rd beer. (Since 4:30, easy people)

5:35pm- Since Dish Network doesn't have FSNorth anymore, I might jump to Comcast...they have it, they have the RedZone and MLB Network....why don't I have Comcast? Nice job Delmon, back to back lead off batters start innings 1 and 2, can we capitalize? Go Thome!

5:37pm- I'll take a Thome blooper, 1st and 2nd, no out. Lets go Cuddy!!

5:38pm- Ron Darling said that the 'October air is making the ball carry better at Target Field.' Yep, we found out it did for Toronto and Mark Teixera last nite. The concrete must of settled.

5:39pm- Cuddy advanced the runners....now we need more KUBEL!

5:41pm- 4 pitch walk to load the bases for Danny Valencia. This kid can make a name for himself right here. Already 30 pitches for Pettite and he's got 4 outs....Delmon Young tags. Sac RBI for Valencia.

1-0, Twins.

5:44pm- Lineout by Hardy ends the inning. 1-0 Twins, end 2nd.

5:46pm- I just saw a T-Mobile commerical. Apparantly I have the Samsung Vibrant...I've been telling people its called the Galaxy. Life is confusing.

5:47pm- Oh hey, Lance Berkman is still doing things.

5:49pm- Pettitte is having trouble releasing, I know the feeling. IALTO! Random thought: They should replace Ron Darling with Charles Barkley. How much fun would that be?

5:53pm- Pavano strikes out his 3rd victim, 1-0, Twins, Mid 3rd.

5:56pm- Denard is his middle name? Keiunta Denard Span. Hmm...thank you wikipedia. Two quick outs for Span and Hudson. Here comes the second coming of Jesus. Let's watch him earn his paycheck.

5:58pm- Butera....I mean Mauer, drops to 1-7 in the ALDS. 1-0, Twins, end of 3rd.

6:02pm- There are a few guys that I hate watching, because they always seem to have the Twins number. Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixera and Curtis Granderson...the last two, are now 1st and 3rd with no outs.

6:04pm- I hate A-Rod...it could of been worse. Seeing all this CONAN stuff is really softening the blow.

Twins, Yankees Tied at 1, Top 4th, 1 out.

6:05pm- We need like, a guy who's about 13 feet tall to play Right Field. How tall was Paul Bunyan or the Jolly Green Giant?

6:07pm- 1-6-3. Could of been A LOT worse. The mustache gets out of the inning. Nice work.

6:11pm- Carl Pavano is trending on Twitter. In a span of 5 days, Pavano and Mike Tice were trending.

6:12pm- Man, Jim Thome breaks a lot of bats. Quickly, two outs here in the 4th.

6:17pm- I would love to see Ron Gardenhire and Brad Childress have a discussion. Probably the most boring conversation ever.

6:18pm- Lance Berkman just hit as many home runs in the playoffs as he did in the regular season, 1. Fantastic.

Yankees lead 2-1, Top 5th. 1 Out.

6:21pm- Inning over. The Twins need to break out their bats. Seriously.

6:26pm- Kubel and Valencia down...here comes Hardy...should I just move on to the 6th inning? I'll move to a 4th beer.

6:31pm- If Pavano can get past Granderson, Teixera and A-Rod, we should be in good shape with the top of our lineup in the bottom half of the 6th inning...but Granderson gets on. Time to turn 2.

6:33pm- By the way, if you're over the age of 10, or can grow actual facial hair, there is no need to wear fake Joe Mauer Sideburns or a fake Pavano Mustache.

6:39pm- Nice pop up to Cano, 2 outs now...lets make it 3 and get out of this and score some effing runs.

6:42pm- Pavano gets out of the jam. Now we go through our lineup starting from the top...lets pull ahead now and never look back!

6:49pm- GET OUT, ORLANDO HUDSON!! TIE GAME! Pettitte really left that one hanging!!

Twins, Yankees tied at 2, 1 out, bottom 6

6:50pm- ....and Joe Mauer is the buzzkill grounding out.

6:51pm- DELMON YOUNG'S GOT WHEELS!!! Granderson can't make the play, CLOSE play at 3rd! Here comes Thome!

7:01pm- Two straight nights where the pitcher stayed in 1 batter too long. At least Gardy gets tossed. That was horrible call, it was totally a strike.

Yankees lead 3-2, Top 7, no outs

7:05pm- Man, Brett Gardner is fast. They need some strikeouts right now!

7:09pm- Another run scores courtesy of Derek Jeter, and I'm going to smoke now. The only way the Twins ever advance in the playoffs, ever, is if they don't draw the Yankees in the ALDS, and they get knocked off by someone else, or the Yankees and Mets switch Leagues.

Yankees lead 4-2, Top 7, 2 out

7:16pm- I come in, bases are loaded for Rauch.

7:22pm- Those tattoos really are intimidating. Rauch gets two HUGE (pun intended) outs! Lets use this momentum for the bottom half.

7:28pm- Two quick outs, here's Valencia.

7:30pm- Valencia strikes out looking. It was off the plate. Yankees lead by 2 after 7 innings. Twins are 6 outs from this series heading back to New York and being all but over.

7:35pm- If the Twins don't pull this off, I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for canceling my DVR recordings of Community and 30 Rock.

7:42pm- Hardy caught looking at a sick Kerry Wood breaking ball. Here comes the top of the order.

7:43pm- 2 up, 2 down. Here comes O-Hud...hopefully the same result as his last plate appearance.

7:45pm- We go to the 9th...can't allow any runs, then the Sandman comes in with our 3 best. This series is ALL but over.

7:52pm- I'm going to predict the Twins 3, 4, 5 batters right now....Mauer, ground out to short, Young fly out to right, Thome strikeout.

7:53pm- It should be 5-2 going into the bottom of the 9th with Gardner stealing 3rd.

Yankees lead 5-2 in the 8th

7:58pm- Delmon Young saves his best defense for 3 outs away from being down 0-2 in a 5 game series. Glad to see we're putting it all together.

8:01pm- Make sure the last person out turns the lights off at Target Field...we won't need them to be on until April.

8:05pm- Let's see how my picks do.

8:06pm- Lead off single by Joe Mauer.

8:08pm- 6-4-3, 1 out remains.

8:09pm- Shallow fly by Kubel ends it.

Final thoughts-

I'm not sure what to put here in the final thoughts part. The Twins started off like they have the last 7 games in the postseason against the Yankees; with a lead. They couldn't hold it, again. I don't know what it is with this ball club and facing the Yankees. The Mariners went to New York and won 2 of 3...then split a 4 game series at home, the Royals went 1-3 at Yankee Stadium then 2-1 at home vs. them. Well, the White Sox went 2-4 vs. New York...which means even though we dismantled the White Sox all season long, we're still no match for the Yankees.

I said Twins in 5, I was being a homer. The Yankees will shoot the dying horse in the head on Saturday night. Thanks for having the best record since the all star break, Twins. This whole bullshit idea of resting players is bogus. Maybe you needed to clinch on the final day of the season, just so we know everyone is out there putting up 110%.

Future Thoughts-

There are a couple future thoughts that I have going into next season

1) Resign Michael Cuddyer and Jim Thome, at whatever costs. Morneau will get hurt around the all star break next season and if you don't have Cuddy, you don't have a reason to play.

2) Most importantly, if you pick up the option on Nick Punto (which is expected to be upwards of $6 Million) and you don't do either or of the previous request, you won't get a single DIME from me next season. If Nick Punto is on this team next year, there are probably two other guys that are off the team. Is his .230 batting average and 'should be a gold glover and all star hustle' really worth that? Fuck no.

Well, at least we can look forward to the Timberwolves season, they are 2-0 in the preseason and can take care of business against a New York team.

-Ace

Silver Fox to The Freak...and Baseball.

Obviously its been a few weeks since I've been on a blogging mission, but I figure that today is a good day to go about that.

So much to talk about in so little time...or maybe its so little to talk about in so much time, who knows? Let's do this.

The big news about 30 minutes before we started The Ace @ 8 last night was rumblings about Randy Moss being traded back to the Vikings from the Patriots. As we winded down the 2nd hour of the show, there was still no news on any confirmation of a trade. It seemed as if the trade was put to bed for the night, but it was still not dead in the water. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported this morning that it was a done deal, but give credit to Jay Glazer for being a machine and finding out all the cold hard facts. Even Bill Simmons deserves some credit for accidentially tweeting information regarding this potential trade. So, Randy Moss, the man who only pays 'Straight Cash, Homey' is (or well, should be) Number 84 again.

So what does this mean for the Vikings as well as the NFC North? Well, other than meter maids taking out new life insurance policies, it means a great deal to a very mediocre division in the NFL. Grant it, this isn't the NFC West (a combined 6-10) or the AFC West (1st place, 3-0 Kansas City Chiefs), but this is a division that in all reality is now down to the Packers and the Vikings. I think on Sunday Night vs. the Giants, the Bears showed us 'who we thought they were'. No one 'crowned' them anything. I think the Bears reached the peak of their season at 3-0...and are destined for 8 wins (+/- 1 or 2 games).

This will all come full circle for two straight weeks for the Vikings, October 24th at Lambeau Field where Favre, Moss and the Vikings will meet up with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Ironically enough, the one aspect to the Packers game that has been struggling (380+ yards to Shaun Hill, I think thats more than a struggle) has been their defense, more importantly, their defensive back position. Atari Bigby and Al Harris are both on the PUP List right now and should be active to face 'The Freak' on Sunday Night Football. Then on Halloween...Moss and the Vikings go back into Foxboro to play the Patriots. Where clearly Moss will be looking for his revenge.

This improves the Vikings considerably, no question. Its a matter of putting all the pieces together and meshing as well as they did last season. Will it happen? I'm not sure. Could it happen? Most definetly, yes.

Onto something a little more relavant, the 2010 MLB Playoffs...I'll make my series predictions for the Division Series' and see how they pan out.

National League

Phillies vs. Reds
Prediciton: Phillies in 4

I love the fact that the Reds are back in the playoffs. This will be a team that will contend with the Cardinals and Brewers for the years to come. A sure fire MVP in Joey Gotto and a heck of a starting rotation, but they drew the Phillies. If the Reds would of drawn the other two teams in the playoffs, I'd say they would have a pretty good shot to advance to the NLCS. Reality is though, you're facing a team that is the favorite to get back to their 3rd straight World Series and when you're tossing Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels, they're going to be tough to stop.

Giants vs. Braves
Prediction: Giants in 5

The Giants are a team I had in the playoffs from the very beginning. They had a strong April and May...slumped June and July...then turned it back on for the remainder of the season. Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum are two pitchers I love to watch, the latter is one of my favorites in baseball. Jason Heyward and the Braves had a fantastic season, but I think the Bobby Cox Swan Song won't move on to bigger and better things, but they'll stretch the series to its limits, but McCovey Cove and the Giants will march onto the NLCS to face the Phillies.

American League

Rays vs. Rangers
Prediction: Rays in 4

The Rangers have never won a playoff series and are one of three teams to never reach the World Series (Nationals, Mariners). I think the trend will continue when they face the AL East Champions. Top to bottom Tampa Bay is one of the best teams in baseball and I really think their pitching will get them over the hump. David Price is a beast and should win the AL Cy Young. The homer in me wants the Rangers to win to benefit the Twins, but realistically, I can't pick that.

Twins vs. Yankees
Prediction: Twins in 5

Ron Gardenhire is 2-9 vs. New York in the playoffs in his career. The Twins didn't win a game vs. New York in 10 tries last season including the playoffs. This season they managed one in Yankee Stadium and one at Target Field. The Twins had 53 wins at home this season, the best in baseball. The Twins are throwing their 3 best starters on the hill in Liriano, Pavano and Duensing. The Yankees might have a stellar lineup, but their pitching has been suspect. We can get to Sabathia, Hughes hasn't been the same pitcher since the break, and Pettite has 1 start since the all star break due to injury. Jim Thome needs to motivate these guys and tell them all to hop on his big, broad Hall of Fame shoulders a-la Puckett and move on. I'm sure the NY Post article saying this should be an EZ Win for the Yanks will help too. The pinstrips have a giant Bullseye (no pun intended) on themselves, and this year, they haven't pissed off the little ole Twinkies, they've pissed off the fucking Twins!

-Ace

An 18 Game Season?

Right now, I'm currently pregnant with a food baby. I've never been to The Melting Pot before, but let me tell you....wow! I honestly don't think I've ever been this full in my life. Despite being this full, I knew I had to lay down some bloggin' tonight.

I think Packers expert from KFAN, Dave Sinykan said it best, 'Whoever had 2nd quarter of Week 1 of the Justin Harrell gets knocked out for the season pool, wins'. Obviously, I'm just delaying the inevitable by mentioning Justin Harrell but the big Packer news is that starting running back Ryan Grant will be out for the rest of the season after suffering a severe ankle injury. He will require surgery to repair damaged ligaments in his ankle/lower leg and will be on crutches for 10-12 weeks. Grant has been a starter since Week 9 of the 2007 season where the Packers lost to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game. He has not missed a game in his Packer career.

This is a significant blow to a team that many projected to go to the Super Bowl, and to be honest, its an injury to my favorite Green Bay Packer. You just hate to see anyone of that caliber to go down. As much as I hate the Minnesota Vikings, I don't wish season ending injuries upon anyone.

So, in a span of one day Kris Jenkins, Ryan Grant and (more than likely) Bob Sanders have been lost for the season, which brings me to the title of this blog: The NFL CANNOT BE SERIOUS into thinking that this game should have two additional games added to the regular season schedule. Look at the two other guys I mentioned. Kris Jenkins, tore his ACL in the same knee and was out for the year last season, and tore the ACL in his other knee in 2005. Bob Sanders has played in 47 games, but has missed 48 games due to injury. Players are constantly being rested in Weeks 15, 16 and 17. A huge example of that last year is Wes Welker with the New England Patriots, tore his ACL on the final game of last season.

Injuries are expected with this sport, I think we all understand that. No other sport has a regular 'Weekly Injury Report' like the NFL does, that should be enough to say that these guys are at constant risk of being hurt, and they want to increase that risk by adding more games? I think its ridiculous.

Obviously this is the upset Packer fan in me venting over the fact that we just lost our Pro Bowl running back. I do think Brandon Jackson will do a great job replacing him. He was drafted to be the future, he was there before Grant was signed and he has shown his skills on several runs over the last couple of years. We'll be finding out if B-Jack has what it takes!

Other NFL news...what a pathetic effort by the Dallas Cowboys against the Redskins. Baltimore and the New York Jets have fantastic defenses, but both offenses are a question mark and how about those Kansas City Chiefs? They have a fantastic array of coaches a good young QB and RB, and that defense was fantastic vs. San Diego.

The Minnesota Twins beat up on the Chicago White Sox tonight...increasing their division lead to 7 games and lowering the magic number to 12. I'm going to say the Twins will win this division, if they took one from the Sox its all but over. Good luck to them the rest of the way!

Check out an all new Jakey and The Ace Show tomorrow night at 9pm/CT. C-Mac Co-Hosts with me and we'll talk more about the Ryan Grant injury. Dave Sinykan might join us...check us out at www.blogtalkradio.com/jakeyandtheace or our dial in number is 917-388-4635.

Have a great night!

-Ace

NFL Week 1 Thoughts

Well, what an interesting first week of NFL action full of close games, controversy and long ass field goal attempts! I'm a huge fan of the NFL RedZone! I've had the great pleasure of interviewing the studio host Scott Hanson on The Jakey and The Ace Show. He truly does a phenomenal job of working 6+ hours with only a two minute bathroom break. Scott told me that there is truly no better job in the world than deciding what we get to watch on the RedZone, and he and the producers do a magnificent job from hopping from one close game to another. Again, huge props to Scott Hanson, NFL Network and NFL RedZone for making me enjoy my Sunday so much more!

I'll dabble on a few games, and then end with my thoughts on the Packers vs. Eagles.

Arizona beat St. Louis in what last year, would of been a dominant performance by Kurt Warner and company turned into a sloppy game on both sides by the Derek Anderson led offense. Anderson was not at fault, in fact, I think he played well despite fumbling twice and losing one. I started Tim Hightower in fantasy this week and he did a great Adrian Peterson impression by putting the ball on the carpet twice and losing them both. Arizona is a very lucky 1-0.

Houston beat Indianapolis for only the 2nd time in franchise history in what should be one of the better divisions in football this year. I love Houston. I have them in the AFC Title game. How about Arian Foster?? The undrafted 2nd year back beat out Steve Slaton to become the starter and what does he do on his first career start? 33 carries, 231 yards and 3 touchdowns. That boy came out ballin' today! I know he wasn't drafted until later in most fantasy drafts, but whoever took him will not leave him out of the starting lineup at all this year.

Chicago beats Detroit in a controversial finish. I personally think that neither of these teams will contend for a division title, but what a garbage call at the end of the game. Calvin Johnson catches a 'Touchdown' in the back of the endzone and pulls it in with one hand, rolls over and loses it. I don't like this call at all. They say that an inch of the ball can cross the goal line and its a TD, you can touch the orange pylon and its a TD, but you cant fall backwards with possession and when you roll over and lose the ball its not a TD? Unbelievable. The Lions were robbed.

In other games I really don't want to talk about:

Miami over Buffalo

Tennessee over Oakland

New England over Cincinnati

New York Giants over Carolina

Pittsburgh over Atlanta in OT

Cleveland over Tampa Bay

Jacksonville over Denver

Seattle over San Fransisco

So, Green Bay beat Philadelphia in a game that the hyped Packer offense didn't really live up to it. Aaron Rodgers said after the game he didn't like his performance at all and will improve it next week vs. Buffalo at Lambeau. Aaron threw 2 picks which is uncharacteristic from him after only throwing 7 in 2009. Clay Matthews is a freakin' stud. He can flat out play ball. I've been high on him ever since he really broke out vs. Minnesota on Monday Night Football last season. I won't forget him just ripping the ball from Adrian Peterson midrun. Aside from Michael Vick running circles around the defense, I wasn't too disappointed in their play. Thankfully, they don't play any more Michael Vick's the rest of the season. Ryan Grant sprained his ankle in what coach Mike McCarthy called 'a pretty good sprain that might keep him out Week 2'. I think Ryan will be fine, just shut him down for a week or two. Here's a guy who hasn't been hurt virtually his entire career, I think Brandon Jackson filled in just fine, and should play well against Buffalo.

NFC North Standings (with next weeks opponent in parentheses)

Green Bay 1-0 (Buffalo)

Chicago 1-0 (@ Dallas)

Detroit 0-1 (Philadelphia)

Minnesota 0-1 (Miami)

How about those Minnesota Twins today? I completely forgot about the game today! Winners 6-2 over Cleveland with the franchises 4000th win in history! The Twins improve to 85-58 and have a 6 game lead over the White Sox heading into a HUGE series at US Cellular Field in the South Side of Chicago. The Twins Magic number is 14. After this series it could be reduced to 8. I'll be frank, actually I'm Cory (rimshot), the White Sox NEED TO SWEEP THE TWINS if they have ANY shot of winning this division. If the Twins take 2, I think the division will be wrapped up by the middle of the following week. You couldn't ask for better starters for this series either:

Tuesday: Fransisco Liriano vs. Jon Danks

Wednesday: Brian Duensing vs. Gavin Floyd

Thursday: Carl Pavano vs. Mark Buehrle

My prediction: The Twins wrap up the division on Tuesday, September 21st vs. Cleveland. I only say that because I'm going to the game with C-Mac.

I'll toss another blog down tomorrow night and recap the Dallas/Washington, Kansas City/San Diego and Baltimore/NY Jets game.

-Ace

The Blog is Back...NFL Thoughts and Random Nonsense

Well, I haven't done this in a long time...almost a year to be exact. So much has changed since my last blog. I'm employed now, again by another bank...I don't ride any Stagecoaches....but I do represent the USA quite well....if you catch my drift.

I figure I should knock out some of these blogs on a regular basis, which I intend on doing, what with the success of The Jakey and The Ace Show on blogtalkradio.com. The show will be expanding from its regular Wednesday Night timeslot at 9:00pm/CT to start at 8:00pm/CT and go until 10:00pm/CT. The first hour will be fantastic, we're calling it The Ace @ 8 and I couldn't ask for two better co-hosts in C-Mac and DaneZone. I know the sports conversations will be incredible and our guests in the sporting world will also be off the charts!

Where to start? I was less than thrilled by the performance of both teams on the Thursday night opener. If you'd have told me the Vikings would put up 9 points against the Saints and the Saints would only put up 14, I would of thought you were insane. The Minnesota passing game was very shaky, at best. I'm not sure if its a matter of Brett Favre getting settled, Brett really missing Sidney Rice or Brett simply doesn't have it anymore. Two of his passes to Schiancoe were pretty good, but the rest of the game is shaky at best. I'm sure we'll see tomorrow how the Dolphins do, but they should be considerably better from their 7-9 showing last year. If the Vikings play that way in their home opener at Mall of America Field on the 19th, then they might have a bit of a problem on their hands.

Onto, my personal favorite football team, the Green Bay Packers. They open against Kevin Kolb and the Philadelphia Eagles tomorrow at 3:15. If you read all the websites, all the publications and listen to all the experts, you might as well just give the Pack the Lombardi Trophy. Do I think the Packers will be a playoff team? Absolutely. Do I think they will go to the NFC Title Game? Yes. The Super Bowl? Maybe. (Keep in mind, I did pick Green Bay over Indianapolis) You can't argue with the fact that Green Bay has an amazing offense. Aaron Rodgers had a great 2009, fantastic pre-season and should have would could be an MVP season. Ryan Grant didn't put the ball on the ground once last year and should have a 1200 yard/10 TD season. If their offensive line can protect A-Rodge, then they should be in great shape. Their question mark is obviously their defense. It was ranked 2nd last seasons, but honestly, rankings don't mean anything when you allow 51 points to Arizona in the playoffs. If their defensive backs can step up and remain healthy, again, should be in great shape.

How about those Minnesota Twins? 83-58, 5 games up on the ChiSox. At worst, they start their three game set next Tuesday night up 3 games. If you'd have told me that in the beginning of July, I'd have thought you were nuts. There's been no hotter team than the Twins since the All Star Break. Frankie and Duensing are going to be two awesome starters in the playoffs. Which Pavano will show up? Or will the bats show up for him when he starts? How comfortable will you feel when our staff goes Frankie, Pavano, Duensing and then Baker/Slowey? Man, if we draw the Rays and get home field advantage, I'm very confident in saying I smell the first ALCS trip for the Twins since 2002.

Watched the 4th quarter of the Gophers/South Dakota game. I don't care what you say, if Tim Brewster comes out saying how good of a team South Dakota was, I'll be sick to my stomach. This is a team that put up 220 yards and 7 points against UCF last week, and then they put up 41 points against the Gophers? Ridiculous. I swear, if there were two more Dakotas, Coach Brew and his squad would find a way to lose to them too. Good luck against USC next week, If I were the fans that go to the game, I'd plan on selling my tickets on Stubhub and catching the Twins/Oakland game at 12:10. I bet the Twins put up more on the scoreboard than the Gophers do.

That's all I can ramble about right now. I'll be back pretty frequently until the very first Ace @ 8 on Wednesday, September 22nd at 8pm/CT!

-Ace

The Return...Packer/Viking Week

Less than 48 Hours to Kickoff.

I'm going to touch on a couple points and make my NFC North Picks and call it a weekend.

All week I've been hearing Viking fans and Viking experts talking about two things:

1) The Vikings loss to Pittsburgh was a GOOD LOSS?!

2) The Packers have had two EASY WINS the last two weeks.

Let's cover the 2nd topic first.

Let's get this straight...the Packers beat two easy opponents...the same easy opponents the Vikings beat Weeks 1 and 2?

I heard a few murmur's from Vikings experts talking about how their first two wins were easy wins, so yes, some of the smart football minds out there knew, they won, but they were easy wins. The Vikes had a last second game winning touchdown pass against the 49ers and a missed field goal by Baltimore...in two games that were very close. Otherwise, I know the Vikings have been pretty dominant in their wins.

Let's get to my point. I'm going to compare the two wins by both teams:

Minnesota

Win 34-20 at Cleveland

Win 27-13 at Detroit

The Vikes were trailing both of these games at halftime.

Green Bay

Win 26-0 vs. Detroit

Win 31-3 at Cleveland

The Packers never trailed, and their defense was stellar.

I'm just saying you can compare the wins, you can say they were both easy, but the Packers defense stepped up against these teams, it should be a different game on Sunday.

My second complaint. How the HELL can you say this was GOOD LOSS? That sounds a little bit like an oxymoron. No loss is a good loss. Are you saying it was a good loss because it came against the World Champion Steelers? What if Baltimore made that Field Goal or Brett Favre overshot Greg Lewis? Would those be "GOOD LOSSES" as well? If you lose, accept it. The Packers lost to a better Bengals team and lost to a better Vikings team.

To quote Herm Edwards, "YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMk5sMHj58I

That's it. That's all I'm saying. It will be a fun fun game on Sunday.

Here is my NFC North Picks. I'm 7-0 after starting two weeks ago. If Chicago doesn't beat Cleveland on Sunday they just need to shut it down for the season. Detroit plays the winless Rams...this in a sense, is a coin toss...Heads Detroit...Tails Saint Louis....Detroit wins. Finally, the big game. Aaron and Brett will both have good games...Aaron will top 300 yards...2 or 3 TD's...and I'm calling Brett being picked off by one of 3 guys...Barnett, Woodson or Collins. Packers win 31-27.

There you have it. If the Vikings win Sunday, they're 7-1 and they control their own destiny. If the Packers win they improve to 5-2 and should be 6-2 after next Sunday when they play Tampa Bay and a dead heat atop the NFC North.

May all your teams win and your fantasy teams dominate.

Go Pack Go!

Beer, Big Ten Football and Will Tebow Lose?

Well, I was looking forward to having a fun fun night of beer and athletics. I set up a special channel list on my Dish Guide....with these games in the rotation

Wild/Hurricanes

Iowa/MSU

Texas/Mizzou

Florida/Mississippi State

Yankees/Angels

But the Yanks/Angels were rained out, I was really looking forward to that....I really hope they push it to a game 7.

ESPN has already been making match ups for a Yankees/Phillies series. I would love to see that come back to bite them on the ass because they're all over the Yankees on EVERY Sportscenter episode.

Iowa/MSU are tied at 6...its been a heck of a game....4th quarter, about 5 and a half left and Iowa just got down to the MSU 10....I'm pulling for the Hawkeyes.

Texas is blowing out Mizzou....so we'll ignore that.

Miss. State is within a field goal of Florida in the 4th...and they're driving.

Wild/Canes....tied to start the 3rd period...the Wild win at home and lose on the road...its a home game...should win this one!

I'll be honest, it's been a pretty slow sports week, nothing too exciting going on.

I bought the Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 video game this week, it's honestly one of the best 'Rasslin video games I've played in a long time.

Oh, my...mmhmm....situation that required Preparation H is gone, so....we're all good on that front.

Alright...I've got nothing else so lets get to my NFC North Picks this week. I was 4-0 last week, the Vikings should have lost the game, their defense was non existent in the 2nd half. Fortunately, for the Packerfan this week....the Vikings will Lose to Pittsburgh...the Packers will beat the Browns...the Lions won't lose this week...they're on a Bye....and it's going to be tough to pick the Bengals/Bears game...what Bengals team will show up? The team that beat the world champion Steelers? Or the team that lost to Houston? The Bengals are at home, and the Bengals will win by a field goal.

Last Week: 4-0

Happy Sunday Eve, may all your fantasy and real teams win.

GO PACK GO!

Preperations A through G were failures....

What a weekend it has been since I last blogged.

I'll make a +/- list of things that have happened over the past couple of days.

+ I turned 24

- I'm halfway to almost 50

+ I spent Sunday with some of by best buddies.

- We didn't win a bucket of beer.

+ We did win a bottle of Vodka and 4 Guinness Glasses.

- I hate Guinness.

+ Something other than Guinness can go in the glasses.

- The Vikings won, even though they should have lost.

+ The Packers won.

- Chad Clifton got hurt in the 4th Quarter.

+ He should be just fine.

- We spent a lot of money at the Village Pub.

+ Charlie McCloskey picked up the tab for my birthday gift.

- We went to Jake's.

+ Jake's lowered their prices.

- Not on beer.

+ We went to Joe Sensers in Vikings gear.

- No one got upset.

+ We went back to the Village Pub.

- This time I had to pick up my tab.

+ We hung out with Joe McGovern and Dan O'Malley.

- I don't remember the rest of the night.

+ I went home with Dan's really cool hat.

- Again, I forgot most of the night.

+ I'm told it was a fun night.

- I puked up McDonalds around 5am.

+ I fell back asleep and woke up with a potential job interview next week.

---- I awoke with a hemorrhoid. It sucks.

In a nutshell, that was my weekend. I've been laying on my side and applying Preperation H when needed, it's almost gone. I separated my shoulder in January and it was an inconvenience then I get this little fu*king hemorrhoid, and it is the worst thing since Miller Chill. Anyway, onto bigger and better things.

Today was really the first day I've done anything productive since, well, my situation developed, so I did my grocery shopping and was playing Madden. I love Madden, but I've gotten a little bored by it. I traded in a few old games I don't play and bought the brand new WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010, from what I've played, it's definitely the best game in the franchise. The gameplay is pretty smooth and the storyline modes are insane! Enough nerd talk.

Just saw a horrible commercial....Who would really buy a Chia-Obama? "Chia Obama makes the statement, I'm proud to be an American." What does it mean if I buy a Chia Garfield? I'm proud to hate Mondays and eat lasagna?

Also, just saw another cool thing. After the Jason Werth 2-run shot in the 1st inning by Philly, James Loney lead off the top of the 2nd and hit a solo shot. The fan who caught the ball, caught it one handed and as quickly as he caught it he threw it back, very cool. I've always loved that tradition of throwing opposing teams home run balls back.

Which brings me on to the playoffs. I'd love to see the Angels come back, but lets face it; It's probably going to be a Yankees/Phillies World Series. I will be pulling for Philly, and I really thing they can take down the bombers. They match up very evenly with the Yanks. What scares me is that you spend $200 Million on a franchise, and you can only pull out 3 starters? I would much rather have the Phils starters, but the Yankees bullpen.

My unofficial pick because it's not confirmed yet: Phillies over Yankees in 6.

How about the umpiring last night in the ALCS/ALDS? If baseball was thinking about expanding the instant replay before last night, they NEED to expand it now. It's understandable if an umpire makes a mistake, but we've seen enough mistakes this postseason. Could the Twins have won the series if the umpiring was spot on? I don't think so, but they could have won at least a game. What really gets me is that once the postseason starts the MLB ADDS 2 MORE UMPIRES SO CALLS LIKE THAT DON'T HAPPEN!! COME ON!

Here is how I would expand MLB Replay:

-Balls and Strikes are NOT Reviewable.

-Home Run calls are automatically reviewed.

-Plays at the plate are automatically reviewed.

-Plays at 1st, 2nd and 3rd can be Challenged by Managers.

-Questionable Foul/Fair Balls can be Challenged by Managers.

-Managers can challenge if a batter was hit by a pitch.

-Managers are allowed 2 Challenges per 9 innings.

-Anything that occurs in extra innings that meet the criteria above will be reviewed by an Umpire in the booth.

People think this will slow it down, I don't think so at all. Do what the NHL does on goals: let the umpire run to a station, put on a headset and watch a monitor and let an umpire in the booth review it with him. 30 Second delay, max!

I'll be back later in the week with my NFC North Picks and anything else that's happened in the world of sports. Go Phillies....11 Minutes until Glee!

This Weekend in Football featuring a Rant!

I wonder how much Sam Bradford regrets not going pro after last season? This kid got rocked in the 1st quarter vs. Texas. If it is the same injury, I would keep him out until its fully healed, their backup did just fine only losing by 3 to the #3 team in the nation.

Here's something that bothers me right now. I'm watching #14 Penn State vs. Minnesota on ABC (Cheap Plug) and Matt Millen is the color man in the booth. How the hell does this guy have ANY credibility? Yeah, he played for Penn State and he played pro ball, but his best days were as a broadcaster for FOX before he set a franchise back about 10 years. I have more credibility than him. I think back to an episode of The Simpsons where Homer pulls out a card in his pocket that says "Do Opposite of what the boy says," and Bart says "Don't give that card to me," Homer quickly realizes not to give the card to him. What I'm getting at is there should be a Matt Millen card that viewers can use during a Matt Millen game, kinda like the SAP feature. Turn the MM Card and it will give you all the right information during the game.

So what's going on this weekend? Well, I'm flipping back and forth between USC/ND and MINN/PSU. This Gopher defense is putrid, they can stop plays on 1st and 2nd down but come 3rd down its like they all lay flat on their faces. They just need to get their offense going, being down 6-0 with a buck left to play in the 1st half is a lot better than I expected.

Where were the Angels bats last night? Man, CC is looking great in the postseason. I think they'd match up better with the Phillies, but I'd love to see Manny take out the Bronx Bombers.

If I could suggest an improvement for the Madden Video Game franchise for next year...PLEASE let there be downloadable content where you can change the broadcasters. I cannot stand listening to Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth. Since its an NFL game, they obviously should keep the main team Hammond(or Al Michaels) and Collinsworth, but they should give you the option to download the MNF team, the CBS and FOX #1 Broadcast team. I would much rather listen to Nantz and Simms or Aikman and Buck call games instead of those two hacks. That is all.

Tomorrow is my birthday! I don't know if there's too much planned. I figure to meet up with some of my good pals at our favorite bar to watch the Packers and Vikings play (easy, easy, different opponents) I will probably sport my Aaron Rodgers jersey and I think I'll find my Ravens jersey, just to use if the Pack are really blowing out the Lions. I don't want a huge drunken barhopping evening, but I'm thinking once the sun starts going down, the more I'll probably want to do that.

Hopefully the fantasy teams hold up too. I'm 3-2 in my main league that I run and 2-3 in another league that I'm in. I'm pretty confident with both teams tomorrow.

Now, I think I've covered everything I wanted to talk about...onto my rant.

Yes, by the blog title, and by my story in my last post, yes I am a Packer fan and I live in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota. I've been a Packer fan since I was 8 years old, I've dealt with people saying 'Packers suck' and other stupid comments. I'm fine with it. The point of my rant are just idiots who try to start something just to get under my, or any other Packerfan's skin. I'm aware that I live in Minnesota, and I'm aware that the Packers are a Wisconsin team. First and foremost, the Packers main rival are THE BEARS, not your purple team. I've been to Packer/Viking games and this year, during week one, I experienced my first Packer/Bear game at Lambeau Field. Its amazing how different the atmosphere is between both the Bears and Vikings games. Bear fans have a respect for the Packers as do the Packers the Bears. I talked to SO MANY Bears fans who say they love coming to Lambeau because the games are so much fun, I was never once told "Packers suck" or some stupid uneducated comment. Fast forward 4 weeks to October 5th, at my favorite bar. Of course, its probably 70% Viking fans, 30% Packer fans, I know what to expect living in Minnesota. I have tons of friends who are Viking fans and we constantly bust each others balls about our respective teams, it's all in good fun, it's sports, there's more to life. Anyway, were at the bar, everyone knows us there, we go there a couple times a week. Bartenders and servers are cool. I'm sitting in a position where i'm facing a booth with a couple in it, above their booth is a flat screen TV and to my right is the bar with 4 TV's in a square above the bar (A lot like a scoreboard above a basketball court). So I'm sitting there with my pal Chaz, his folks, and a family friend with his wife. So, we're enjoying ourselves just watching the game having fun. I feel eyes just staring through me, I look and its the guy in the booth in front of me. I say, "Do ya need anything?" He says. "The Packers f*cking suck." I said, "Okay buddy," and continued to watch the game. He then starts talking to my buddies dad and tries to get us all riled up and ruin our night. Finally, he says something to me about this Viking team being a lot like the '98 Viking team. I said, "The same '98 team that lost in the NFC Title game? Okay, sit down and watch the game." It shut him up for a while. We met up in the bathroom and i'm washing my hands, and he's looking at me with a sh*t-eating grin and I said, "What do you want?" He says, "I'm just looking at your stupid Rodgers jersey, Favre is gonna kick your ass." I said, "Dude, what's your deal? Just enjoy the game, I'm not giving you any sh*t." I go back to my table, he goes back to his, the Vikings pick off Rodgers, I can't remember if he scored or what, but this guy gets up and starts pointing at us and screaming. Whatever, he was an idiot. So, when Clay Matthews stripped AP for a TD I did the same thing to him. It was fun to watch his body language when the Packers were doing well, or the Vikings not doing well, he would be quiet, look sad and pouty and not really look at us, but if it were the opposite situation, he would be staring at us, hoping to get under our skin. I was drunk, he probably was too. Once the Packers lost, we talked to him, shook his hand and said, "We're just having a fun time, we'll see you here November 1st." We thought, okay, he was just putting on a show for his girlfriend and we all just had a good time, as he's leaving and walking out the door he says to us, "We'll still kick your f*cking ass in a month, fudgePackers."

This is what I'm getting at. It's a FU*KING FOOTBALL GAME! We lost, we accepted it. You won, congratulations! The Vikings played an excellent game, the Packers made it interesting at the end, but in the end, Brett Favre was NOT losing that game.

I love when people give me sh*t, its all in good fun, but when you do give me sh*t, please back it up with something other than "Packers Suck" or "Rodgers is a Pu**y." Why do we suck? Is it because our offensive line plays like a Brooklyn Center HS O-Line? Is it because our running game is about as powerful as a pack of butterflies? Most of my Viking fan friends, know what their talking about, most of the Viking fans that give me sh*t on Twitter or Facebook, know what their talking about.

I brought this up because my friend Chaz was out to the bars last night and was wearing a Packers jacket. Some girl said to him..."blah blah blah...Packers Suck!" His response was, "Okay, well, once you win a Super Bowl to contend with our 3, then we'll talk." She said, "I don't live in the past." He, being his witty self said, "Oh, so I guess the Steelers aren't the defending Super Bowl champs, and I guess the Vikings are 0-0 and didn't beat the Packers." She said, "We kicked the Packers ass this year." Then he walked away, proving her ignorance. I live in Minnesota and I am a Packer fan, but living in Minnesota means I see all the Viking coverage and games, so I know a lot about 'Your favorite purple team,' too. :)

All I'm getting at is, in ANY SPORT with ANY RIVALRY or ANY MATCHUP. If you're going to dish it out, make sure you can back it up, or you'll make yourself look like an idiot., because if anyone knows me well, they know I cannot stand stupid people.

I'll give my NFC North Predicitons now, which I will do for the remainder of the season

The Vikings should improve to 6-0, unless a different Ravens team shows up this week. The Packers will handle the Lions while I wish I had Aaron Rodgers on my fantasy team, and not play against him, the game of the week in the NFC North should be the Sunday Night matchup of Chicago vs. Atlanta. I'd take Chicago if this game were in Soldier Field, but Atlanta is coming off a huge win against San Fran, I like Atlanta.

If my picks are right here are the NFC North Standings come Monday Morning:

Minnesota- 6-0

Green Bay- 3-2

Chicago- 3-2

Detroit- 1-5

Thanks for tuning in! Hopefully everyone has a safe and Happy Sunday!

You can follow me on Twitter @CMnagel or comment on this very blog!

-C