Around the NFL – My Thoughts

Detroit – Are they now scaring kids to stay in school? Bradford passes on being the first pick to stay in school. He will never say it but would you want to play for arguably the worst team in NFL history? Maybe David Stern can get the Lions to help the NBA with its ongoing quest to keep kids in school longer.

Tampa Bay – John Gruden gets fired and next day Raheem Morris is hired. I am not going to say that he is not the right for the job or qualified but who did he have dirt on. You go from defensive backs coach to defensive coordinator to head coach of the same team in less than two months.

Dallas – Word out of Cowboys camp is they may let T.O. go. Seems to me they wouldn’t have let Jason Garrett interview else where if he were the man and T.O. was gone. Besides do they really think Roy Williams is that good of a player? He doesn’t run good routes and drops a lot of balls.

Carolina – Peppers wants out. Doesn’t want to be tagged or given a long term deal from the Panthers. What does he know that we don’t?

Now for the two conference championship games. I think the Steelers / Ravens game will be the hardest hitting game of the year. I have Pittsburgh winning a low scoring affair 14-9. The other game seems to have everyone jumping on the Arizona bandwagon and trying to call it some great upset pick. I like the Eagles 31-21. McNabb will get his Super Bowl win.

Finally I want to say good bye and good luck to Tony Dungy. It is always a shame when a true professional and a very classy guy leaves becaus

e sports needs as many Tony Dungys it can get.

JD is a contributor to The Sports Information Hub and can be contacted at jdthesportsguy@gmail.com

Barry Bonds in the Clear?

Yesterday's Y! Sports report that the Clear actually was legal and was not considered a steroid when Barry Bonds was "allegedly" taking it (or was it "knowingly") had me thinking. Are you telling me that the face of the "Steroids Era" in baseball, really didn't take steroids? Technically, he didn't, since the government didn't consider it a steroid until January 2005, well after the BALCO operation was shut down. The article actually goes on to say that experts haven't even confirmed if the Clear actually enhances muscle growth (which is what anabolic steroid does), and is only "technically" classified as a steroid.

So Bonds reputation takes a major hit, along with many other MLB players, and the substance they are accused of taking hasn't been "proven" if it really helps. How ironic! Bonds will never get his good name back... uh.. strike that. Bonds will never have the "steroid stain" removed from his name. (Get that man some Shout!) The "good news" for Bonds is that it will make it easier to beat the perjury case against him that starts on March 2. Kinda hard to prove someone is lying about taking an illegal steroid when the drug in question wasn't illegal or a steroid in the first place.

The next question is will any team take a shot at signing him this coming year.



DC is a contributor to The Sports Information Hub and can be contacted at dcthesportsguy@gmail.com

Heisman Race 2009

The race for the Heisman Trophy in 2009 just got alittle more interesting. With the underclassman deadline for declaring for the 2009 NFL Draft passing yesterday, all three finalists decided to stay return for another season. Will all three have good enough seasons to return as finalists? Will Tim Tebow or Sam Bradford win their 2nd Heisman Trophy, or will Colt McCoy will his 1st?

My initial reaction is that it would be Colt McCoy, since the Heisman only has one person in history who has won it twice (Archie Griffin). But since all three will have overwhelming expectations that will be hard to live up to, the best answer may be, if I can borrow a line from Brewster's Millions, "None of the Above".

My darkhorse candidate would be Jahvid Best from Cal. He ended last season with 194 carries, 1580 yards (8.1 ypc), and 15 TDs. Cal just needs to finish in the Top 10-15 to legitimize his candidacy. Who's your favorite?

DC is a contributor to The Sports Information Hub and can be contacted at dcthesportsguy@gmail.com

Donovan McNabb a measuring rod!

You better watch out!
Better not cry!
Better not pout!
I'm telling you why,
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.

Who would boo these lyrics, who would boo Santa Clause himself? Only the Philadelphia Eagles fans, these are the same smart fans that booed Donovan McNabb for half of this season and cheered when he was benched for Kevin Kolb in the 12th game of the season. These are the same fans that asked the question on sports talk radio if Kolb would be the full time starter in week 13 or 14 after he had played horribly in relief of Donovan during that week 12 game against the Ravens. These are the same fans that now call into sports talk radio shows and proclaim that Donovan is their starter for good now, because he is the quarterback that gives the Eagles the best chance to win.

McNabb gives the Eagles the best chance to win on a regular basis because he is simply one of the best five quarterbacks in pro football today. You can argue that Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Drew Brees are better than Donovan, but you would be hard pressed to find another QB who is head and shoulders better than McNabb in today’s game. There are many who would argue that Brees is nothing more than a stats hog and that many of the yards and touchdowns that he puts up come during meaningless garbage time. Under the premise that victories equal greatness, Brees is not in McNabb’s area code. Many people do not realize that McNabb’s guidance has helped the Eagles reach the NFC Conference Championship game for five of the last eight years. Many people argue that he has not won the Super Bowl and that is a direct reflection on his ability as a QB, but how many QBs have won the Super Bowl? One of the greatest QB of all time Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl during his playing career, does that diminish any of his career accomplishments?

When comparing McNabb’s stats (see below) to what many consider the “gold standard” of Hall of Fame (HOF) quarterbacks, he compares very favorably.


TD Int YDS RTG
Montana
Total 273 139 40551 92.3
Yearly AVG. 18.2 9.27 2703.4

Elway
Total 300 226 51475 79.9
Yearly AVG. 18.75 14.13 3217.1875

Unitas
Total 290 253 40239 78.2
Yearly AVG. 17.06 14.88 2367

Bradshaw
Total 212 210 27989 70.9
Yearly AVG. 15.14 15.00 1999.21

Marino
Total 420 252 61361 86.42
Yearly AVG. 24.71 14.82 3609.47

McNabb
Total 194 90 29320 85.9
Yearly AVG. 19.4 9 2932
Projected total for 16 yrs 310.4 144 46912



Donovan’s yearly numbers are better than Montana, Unitas, and Bradshaw’s in every category listed. His yearly numbers are on par with Elway, and only slightly worse than Marino’s. To be able to compete with these quarterbacks’ statistics, and have arguably worse talent around him than they all did shows just how underappreciated McNabb is and has been by the Philly fans. Looking at these numbers it is laughable that the Philly fans once had a debate whether to keep Donovan or Terrell Owens (T.O.), because Donovan got tired in the Super Bowl, just ask the Cleveland fans if they would take the Eagle’s number 5 instead of their current two headed quarterback monster.

Former Atlanta Quarterback Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb were once thought to be the new standard for “Black Quarterbacks” in the NFL, but a funny thing happened over time. McNabb hurt his knee, and transformed himself from the new standard for “Black Quarterbacks” to possibly being part of the measuring rod for all quarterbacks. If McNabb can some how will his team to win this years Super Bowl, his borderline HOF career should no longer be considered borderline. It should be full fledged Canton worthy. Make no mistake about it he will have earned it. If Donovan leaves the Eagles, the Philly fans have gotten everything they deserve. They will have gotten a chance to witness a great quarterback play the game the right way, a classy gentleman who handled adversity remarkably well under the scrutiny of one of the toughest media markets in the nation, and a man that has lead his team to the top of the mountain. And if he does not win the Super Bowl he is still the same man. Maybe the Philly fans really got what they did not deserve. With all this being said Philly, who would you rather have now, T.O. or Number 5?

****Weekend Picks****

Eagles 31 Cards 27
Ravens 10 Steelers 14



Johnson is a contributor to The Sports Information Hub and can be contacted at johnsonthesportsguy@gmail.com

Around the NBA

Gilbert Arenas too honest???
Agent zero has had three knee operations in 17 months and still has no timetable for coming back. The Wizards are awful and everyone was thinking just get your knee right and come back at full strength. Gilbert came out and said it. "I don't know," Arenas told the Post. "I mean, seven wins? Would you [return]? And truthfully, right now, I'm not even close." Wow. I love the honesty but when you can run you run. That is a lot of money he is getting paid and what message does that send to the rest of the team.

Iverson to the bench???
How long can the Pistons play guys out of their natural position? Rip at three and Prince at the four. Iverson needs to be the sixth man. He doesn’t want to talk about practice but what about not starting. Good luck Coach Curry.

What happened to the bulls???
A few years ago they were this young up and coming team. Now they feel like a jigsaw puzzle where none of the parts stand out or fit together. Rose is going to be a great player. The rest you could pull from a hat and have the same quality line up regardless of who you started. Pick a style then pick players that fit that system.

MVP so far….
Lebron , Kobe, Wade, CP3, my pick is the Bron. Two biggest weaknesses were FT% and defense and he has made big leaps in both. Wade is also playing with a vengeance and is healthy. Great race so far.

Clippers still the Clippers…
Why go get Baron Davis and then run a slow down offense. Way to neutralize your own best player. Run Run Run.

More to touch on later this week. Gotta get back to watching games.

JD is a contributor to The Sports Information Hub and can be contacted at jdthesportsguy@gmail.com

BCS Championship Game vs. Playoffs? (Part 2)

As I stated in Part 1 of this series, I would have preferred if the Florida win against Oklahoma for the National Championship would have been a result of a playoff system. If I were to put a playoff system together, it would go like this.

32 teams would make the playoffs, in two 16 team tournaments. We'll call the tournaments the NCAA and NIT (original, right?). The top 16 teams would play in the NCAA tournament, and the 2nd tier (next 16 teams) would play in the NIT. All 11 conference champions would automatically qualify for post season play, but not necessarily in the NCAA bracket (that means you Conference USA and Sun Belt). This would reduce the number of teams in post season play from a ridiculous 68 teams (57%) to 32 teams (27%). Allowing only 32 teams would make sure that only the top teams get rewarded for their seasons. No more 6-6 or 7-5 teams playing into December.

A selection committee would select and seed each team into the brackets. Games for the NCAA tournament would be played at rotating neutral regional sites, while the NIT tournament would be played at home sites until the championship game. This would allow for games to be played in the Northeast and Midwest, so Southern and West Coast teams won't automatically have a travel advantage.

Games would begin mid-December (after finals) and continue on four consecutive weekends, with games played on Friday and Saturday. This will help with the consistency of game play. No more taking 7 weeks off before playing in the post season. No temptations of missing curfew and getting suspended while spending a whole week on South Beach. No academic casualties (at least not until the championship game).

I didn't want to address the money issue as much, but just think how much more money NCAA member schools would make if they cut out the middle man (Bowl games/Bowl committee). Most teams are lucky to break-even with bowl trips. To guarantee a bowl bid to the Motor City Bowl, Florida Atlantic opted NOT to take their bowl payout AND guaranteed a total amount of ticket sales. They lost money on travel and took a loss on the tickets. This money could definitely help non-revenue sports and Title IX compliance at member schools.

16 teams would include all teams worthy of Championship consideration. The regular season will still be important, because it takes alot to be in the top 16. It will give teams a mulligan for one bad showing, an injury, a suspension, death in family, or any other reason a star player may miss a game. Here's a hypothetical. What would have been the backlash if Florida State would have had one loss, and the game they lost was the game Myron Rolle missed because of his Rhodes scholarship interview?

This change would also likely increase the likelihood of intersectional rivalries in the regular season (e.g. Ohio State vs. USC, Ohio State vs. Texas), since one loss won't hurt your championship aspirations as much. You also won't have teams (or fans) feel they were disrespected in not making the BCS Championship game (I'm talking to you Texas fans), because it would be settled where it should be. ON THE FIELD!!

DC is a contributor to The Sports Information Hub and can be contacted at dcthesportsguy@gmail.com

Welcome Sports Fans

A Sports fan is defined as an enthusiastic devotee of sports by dictionary.com. The question that I have asked myself many times is, am I a sports fan? I mean do I really love sports, would I be upset if I could not watch my favorite team on a regular basis, do I plan much of my life around sports? These are all difficult questions to answer, because I feel that we are all fans of many things in our lives. With that being said, I would have to say that YES one major joys of my life is being a sports fan.

I determined that I was a sports fan by reflecting on my weekly activities conversations with friends, my computer and my DVR. During an average week, I found myself watching sporting events approximately six days a week, and on Saturdays and Sundays I estimated that I watched sports at least six to eight hours a day Man that seems like a full time job! I next looked at the to do list on my DVR and I had 74 SportsCenter episodes to be recorded, which could be considered a lot by some. My DVR to do list also had a few episodes of NFL total access, and some NBA League Pass games sprinkled in. I next thought about the last time that I opened my e-mail, and the first thing that was in my in-box was a message from the NBA explaining how I could utilize more features within my NBA League Pass on-line account. I next went to my internet URL drop down bar and the first website listed was associated with my favorite football team. Then I thought about my nightly internet surfing, and it was all sports related. After a brief analysis I determined that the majority of my conversations, internet surfing, and television viewing was consumed with sports, I thought to myself man do I have a problem. I quietly wondered was I the only one like this. I truly felt that I need an outlet for all of this sports viewing, reading, and discussion which was so paramount in my life.

While talking to a few friends and disclosing this small interest in my life, our conversation veered somewhat off of sports to you guessed it fantasy sports. When we got back on topic, I discovered that my friends had many of the same symptoms of the disease that we termed as fandom. We really needed an outlet. After a little thinking and talking, The Sports Information Hub was developed to give us our outlet. The Sports Information Hub is a blog dedicated to discussing current events in the world of sports as well as providing you information for the world of fantasy sports. We began posting blogs on January 5^th and invited some of you to give us feedback in the first week as a test, and now we are opening up our forum of treatment, venting up to everyone. I, as well as my fellow contributor want to be that friend who you call upon to discuss that controversial Darren Sproles third down spot. We want to be the ones who have the guts to say that Pac-Man is full of it when he says that Slugga is extorting him and is not his “boy”. The Hub is your voice. We want you to comment on our stories if you like them post a compliment, or if you hate them slam us on the post. Even if you think a poster’s post is full of it, comment on it telling them how crazy they are. This is your forum just as much as it is ours. We just hope to provide you with a little of our insight along the way. We also want you to feel comfortable enough in our community to invite others who have just as strong of an opinion as you do.

For providing you this forum, we ask a few things; first please do not use profanity in your post. Next we ask that you keep us honest by checking in on our daily post Monday through Saturday and tell us if we are full of it or on point. We would hope that you would become a follower of this blog today by clicking the Follow this blog link. While following this blog you will see many changes to the content and view of the blog as it evolves, please let us know how you feel about them. The most important thing that you can do is as I said before is to tell us what you think; because we do not claim to be the experts. We are just informed fans. Our goal is to provide a venue for the everyday fan to vent unlike the larger sites and web pages. I know, that today’s post is not a post that is providing you information, so please check out our previous post from the past week, if you have not read them to get a feel for us, and then come back and check out my Thursday post for my opinions on a topic. You can also check out the other contributors the next two day for their opinions before you come back to check out my post again on Thursday. So let me be the first to say welcome to our community, and lets go for a ride that will hopefully take us to many different places on a daily basis.