Quick Hits from Week 16

Time for some quick hits from this weekends games as playoff scenarios start to become clearer...

- Peyton Manning may have cemented his place as the winner of the 2008-09 MVP of this league...basically because no one else will step up and claim the MVP themselves (see: Kurt Warner, Drew Brees, Adrian Peterson)

- My Dallas Cowboys really laid an egg Saturday night in the last game at Texas Stadium. Everyone will be on Romo all week, but the truth is he brought us back in the 4th quarter of that game, much like he does most of the time...but the media will always remember the bad, never the good. (By the way, Dallas D', way to show up in the last 3 minutes of that game. Just utterly pathetic.)

- Are the Arizona Cardinals serious? I mean, I understand the weather and they have no run game and all they have is that passing attack, and it was tough to pass in that weather. But..umm...Matt Cassel threw for 356 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Cardinals do not deserve to be in the playoffs, but thanks to the worst division maybe ever, they'll be playing in the tournament.

- Detroit. 0-15. Statistically they are the worst defense in 50 years. Not much more needed to be said.

- Pittsburgh finally stumbles to a good team, I personally think Pittsburgh has been getting a little bit lucky the past 3 weeks, but if they cant move the ball in the playoffs they will get beat, early...

- AFC East is basically the stock market. Miami Up, New England Up, Jets Down...Jets really hurting themselves this weekend losing to an 11 loss team in Seattle, Brett Favre still the savior in New York? Miami has 10 wins and you can't name one receiver on they're team other then Tedd Ginn Jr. Meanwhile the Jets are sending Broadway Brett and 6 others to the pro bowl and could possibly not make the playoffs. Really an incredible job by Tony Sporano and Bill Parcells, Chad Pennington MVP anyone?

- AFC West is going to have a playoff representative, unfortunately. They will be 8-8. They will be inconsistent. They will be heavy underdogs whoever they face in the playoffs. Ladies n Gentlemen, Sunday Night...Denver Broncos vs San Diego Chargers for the AFC West Division!!!

- Philly losing realllllllllllllllllllllly helps the Cowboys and Tampa Bay in their quest for the wild card slot. Playoff teams can not score 3 points against the Redskins. Consider this an early prediction for next weeks Dallas vs Philly game, Eagles miss the playoffs.

- 15 carries 216 yards, 24 carries 87 yards, 3 TDs.....300++ rushing yards for the Giants on Sunday night. Dominating performance by a good team, Giants are back...Watch out

Now I need Donald Driver to outscore the Chicago defense in my fantasy championship tonight...Comon Babyyy....

Written By TDERIGG2

What Recession???

About a month ago our President, in his final months as our President, officially announced that we (meaning the United States) are in a state of Recession. Stating that the economy is struggling and it is a down time in this country as far as the economy goes. And we have clearly seen this in every area. Companies are cutting employees everywhere, Christmas' are going to be short this year, and people are struggling everyday to keep their families afloat.

The one place where the Recession clearly has not hit, is the pockets of the Steinbrenner's and the New York Yankees organization. They just went on a shopping spree as if someone just gave them a giant refund check in January. In a matter of a week they spent a combined.....

....hold onto your seats....

....$230 Million dollars...

In case you didn't read that correctly that is, $230,000,000 !! The Yanks went and signed C.C. Sabathia to the most unnecessary, biggest contract ever for a pitcher, for a measly $141 million. And then a week later completely overbid for A.J. Burnett at 83 million dollars, when his expected range was 60 million. Someone needs to go to Hal and Hank Steinbrenner with a dictionary, and show them what the word "Recession" actually means. The funniest part is that you would expect, spending that kind of money, that you were getting unbelievable lights out stuff out of two pitchers at 230 million. But your not. C.C. went to the national league for a reason folks, the AL is just tough to pitch in. You can be the best pitcher of the past 5 years (Johan Santana) and you will still get roughed up a few times in the American League, the hitters are just too good. Hopefully C.C. is worth his 140 million...but that's doubtful. As for A.J.'s signing I can justify this one a little more, being as he has been in the AL East for the past 3 or 4 years and has pitched well against the Red Sox and TB Rays.

(And by the way, whats with the Yankees infatuation with signing guys with two initials as their first names, C.C. and A.J. Hopefully they'll get smart and go sign M.C. Teixeira to fill their insane first base void. I Digress)

We, as a country may be in a recession, but there is no shortage of money in the New York Yankee trust fund, that's for certain....

Written by TDERIGG2

CCS First Annual "If We Had A Playoff System" for 2009

Wait, is that a Playoff Bracket?? Hold on, with NCAA Football teams in it?? Thats Right, welcome to the Chit Chat Sports first annual, "If We Had A Playoff System in College Football" for the 2008-2009 season. Brace yourselves, get ready for the best, most sophisticated way to solve who the true College football champion should be. Now everyone keep this quiet because we don't want the BCS committee to see this...they might get mad..SHHHH....so lets go....

Now not to get the BCS all rattle up, we still used their system and their rankings to put in the top 12 teams in the country. (Cmon' BCS we're compromising here) So the seeds look like this: 1) Oklahoma, 2) Florida, 3) Texas, 4) Alabama, 5) USC, 6)Utah, 7)Texas Tech, 8) Penn State, 9) Boise State, 10) Ohio State, 11) TCU, and 12) Cincinnati. What I did was give the top 4 seeds in the BCS a bye, which they rightfully deserve making it through the completely flawed BCS rankings (oops). Then the 5-12 rankings I have arranged in a bracket much like the NCAA Basketball Bracket is arranged. The 5 will play the 12, 6 plays the 11, 7 plays 10, and 8 and 9 square off. The 1 and 3 seeds are on the West side (little different then most commonly seen) and the 2 and 4 are on the East side.

Now as far as scheduling goes, these playoffs would be started one week after all the conference championship games have finished. So this year the CCS (Chit Chat Sports) playoffs would begin on December 13th, 2nd round is played on the 20th, final four is played on the 27th and then the Championship game is played two weeks from the final four, in that inbetween week the Rose, Sugar, and Orange Bowl are all played. (I'll explain later)

To keep the integrity of the Bowls alive, I have designed a way for them to keep their BCS bowls. Obviously the final two play in the National Championship. Then the two losing teams from the Final Four square off in the Rose Bowl. The 4 teams that are left not playing from the elite 8 get matched up in the Sugar and Orange Bowl, for now lets say the West bracket gets the Sugar Bowl, and the East bracket gets the Orange Bowl. That leaves 4 teams that are left from the playoffs. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl then selects out of those 4 losing teams, which two they would like to see in their bowl. And the remaining two teams play in the Capital One bowl, or the next highest bowl game. Every year the BCS bowls will rotate their 4 other bowl games so they can have an equal shot at different teams.

Enough with the business aspects lets get into the games. Im going to use the bracket i have predicted above because thats how I feel it would play out.

First Round Matchups:
5 Usc vs 12 Cincinnati - USC is a juggernaut and they always slip up in the middle of the year, but year in and year out they are the most talented team in College Football. Cincy is no slouch, me being a big East fan have seen them all year, however they do not have enough weapons to beat USC. USC 31-10

8 Penn State vs 9 Boise State - Penn State missed their chance at the National Title this year but thanks to A PLAYOFF they're back in it. Boise State remains undefeated at this point but I don't think they have enough to outscore that Penn State Offense. Penn State 34-21

7 Texas Tech vs 10 Ohio State - I don't think OSU could have drawn a worse matchup for themselves, T Techs spread offense is going to bother that overrated OSU defense all night. The one positive is that Tyrelle Pryor should have a field day against the T Tech defense, but I dont think they have enough to out score Texas Tech, matchup to watch Wr Michael Crabtree vs CB Michael Jenkins. Texas Tech 43 - 28

6 Utah vs 11 TCU - Opposite from the OSU drawing the worst matchup, Utah draws the best possible matchup for them. Playing, in my opinion, the least talented team in the Tournament, I think Utah shows they are not a fluke. Utah 24-13

Elite Eight Matchups:
1 Oklahoma vs 8 Penn State - My knock on the Big Ten is that they dont get challenged enough by a variety of offenses....Well PSU here is your challenge. Penn State has NEVER faced an offense like this one, and quite frankly I dont think anyone has. Oklahoma has scored 60 points in 6 straight games. They wont get to 60 but I dont see Penn State making this close at all. Oklahoma 45-21

3 Texas vs 5 USC - Game of the second round, by far. Texas, who got nudged out of the Big 12 Championship could quite possibly be the best team in the country, and have a potential Heisman Trophy winner QB in Colt McCoy. However Texas is going to run into the wrong team at the wrong time because in a tournament you need to have an experienced leader, and Pete Carroll coming from the NFL knows what it takes to play in a playoff type system. I think the game goes to Overtime but USC finds a way to win in dramatic fashion, in potential Game of the Year. USC 37-31

2 Florida vs 7 Texas tech - Well you wanted offense?? Spread vs Spread, Fireworks vs Fireworks, Tebow vs Harrell, Harvin vs Crabtree. All the stars align in this game, and in the highest scoring game of the year. I think Texas Tech takes an early lead and Gator nation is in doubt. But Florida has a guy named Tim Tebow...and he tends not to lose big games. Gators storm back late and take the Victory. Florida 42-37

4 Alabama vs 6 Utah - Utah your unbelievable undefeated run, and terrific play....ends here. I'm sorry, there is no way that Utah beats an already tested one loss Alabama team. Alabama pounds the rock all game and just wears down Utah with their offensive line. Alabama 21-3

Final Four Matchups:
1 Oklahoma vs 5 USC - Like I said before, in a tournament of this magnitude, you need someone who has experienced it before, and that is Pete Carrol. Granted the Oklahoma offense is unreal, they haven't faced this USC defense, which might be the best in college football in a very long time. They are quick, they are deceptive and they are vicious. Oklahoma puts up there points but no where near what they've put up all season. USC 28-24

2 Florida vs 4 Alabama - A rematch of the SEC Championship game, which was a great game in it's own right. Some may think that Alabama sees them a second time and they make adjustments, but I actually think the adjustments are made in Florida's corner, they double Julio Jones the whole game, and then play the run with the rest of their defense because thats Alabama's strength is that run game. Tebow does not lose, as he said earlier this year, and I don't know how you doubt the kid, he makes play after play after play. Florida 27-16

National Championship Game:

5 USC vs 2 Florida - USC already upsets the number 1 and 3 seed, and most people think you might see a let down here. Florida has just been solid in all of their playoff wins, riding Tim Tebow to the big game. (P.S. Tebow wins the Heisman the week earlier, providing a little motivation for USC) USC defense hassels Tim Tebow all game, but Tebow being the fighter he is finds a way to move the ball and get his team in the endzone, but the silver lining in this game is Mark Sanchez. This game is his coming out party, Pete Carrol designs ways to beat the speedy Florida defense and USC is your ultimate champion. USC 31-28

Phewww, I'm glad thats over with, now if we could just get the BCS commisioner to check out this system, College Football might become more popular than the NFL.

Written by TDERIGG2

College Football Anyone?

First I'd like to start off by stating that the article "time for a change" was written by yours truly showtimezacc. I don't want anyone to get confused and think that I am a fan of my boy TDeriggi America's most hated team, the Dallas Cowboys.

To stick with the topic at hand..........College Football might be just as crazy as Pro football in a sense that..................IT'S CRAZY! I mean come on, a three way tie for first in the Big 12, Cincinnati has a BCS bowl game on the horizon (yes, that says Cincinnati), two undefeated non BCS teams, and let's not forget my beloved SEC with my beloved Gators which if they win, there is talk that they still might not play in the big game...........WHAT! Let's talk about this for a second. Granted i respect the Big 12, I like how the Big 12 South is playing and i feel that one of those teams need to be placed in the North because Texas and Oklahoma should be the Big 12 championship game every year........but I digress. Every team in the Big 12 lights it up verse each other and Oklahoma who has averaged 60+ points in the past 4 games is no exception. The Sooners D however, has let up about 30 points a game and that may not seem like much when your throwin up 60, it's gonna matter when they play against the SEC winner who's D is only giving up 11 (Bama) and 12 points (Gators) respectively. The Big 12 needs to start playing some D if they want to be seriously considered as "contenders" in the Big game.

This brings me back to the thought of playoffs. If there was a playoff, USC, as much as it pains me to say it would win it all. They get a bad rap because they play in the second worst conference (the Big 10 being the worst) in College Football. They have the best D in the country and lets not forget........it's USC. A playoff is the only true way to determine who would be College Football's true champ

(By the way, Mike Leetch why are you going to coach Washington which is one of the worst teams in College football? That is just ridiculous. Stay at Tech where you already built a good program and have good recruits coming in just because Mike Leetch is the coach. Tommy Tuberville.....why are you fired. Oh it's probably because your team has been horrible playing the past couple of years. And lets not forget the biggest story.....Lane Kiffin to coach the Vols. As a Gator fan I am extremly terrified of this and his dad Monte (the D coordinator for the Tampa Bay Bucs) is coming with him. In a couple years The Vols will be a team to reckon with, as much as I hate to say it.)

College Football is nuts. I'm sure after this weekend's games I'll have another post on here that says Missouri won the Big 12 and Ball State is going to the Big Game.......................PSYCH!

Written by ShowtimeZacc

This Crazy Thing Called....the NFL

As I got up this morning and thought about actually getting to this keyboard to write the second article for ChitChatSports, I began to ponder about the National Football League. And I thought to myself....The NFL is really the craziest collection of Teams, Athletes, Coaches, Fans, and anyone else who is associated with it, more so than any other sport in our nation. Every week there are story lines upon story lines of games, events, and crazy things that happen. Lets start here at week 14. Wait, we really already played 14 weeks of games??, wow we need a longer season (cough) Roger Gidell (cough). 14 weeks in and we have two 11-1 teams, an 0-12 team and about 657 playoff contenders that make up the rest of the league. The Lions will not win a game this year, the Titans might only lose 1, and then there are the Giants. I am a DIEHARD Dallas Cowboy's fan and it pains me to praise the G-men, but they are beyond legit. They demiolish any challenge that faces them, and now there best skill player just shot himself in a bar....and they STILL go out and put a whoopin on teams.

(By the way, Plax....i mean really, you get paid millions and millions of dollars to go catch passes, while some of us are here writing blogs trying to get noticed...oops...and you still mess up your career. I'll never understand athletes who just screw up everything they've been graced with, and now Chedda-Plax, as I like to call him now, your career is basically over because your looking at a minimum 3 1/2 years. This is the NFL though. And I Digress...)

The Giants have the most focused locker room by far in the NFL, and you can see it when they play on Sundays, just a great football team.

This season might also go down as the most non-stereotypical season in NFL history. Let's start with 4 rookie coaches...ROOKIE coaches...have records of 8-4 (Mike Smith ATL), 8-4 (Jim Harbaugh BAL), 7-5( Tony Sparano MIA), and 7-5(Jim Zorn, WASH.) On top of those four teams, 2 ROOKIE QUARTERBACKS in Matt Ryan, and Joe Flacco (Jersey Stand UP!!) are 8-4 and look like they both could have been playing in this league for 5-6 years.

Too add more fuel to the crazy fire that is the NFL, road teams are winning more n more games this year, home field advantage is becoming irrelevant in most games. The past three weeks there have been 16 games each week, and in each week 11+ road teams wound up beating the home teams. This phenomenon hasn't just been the past three weeks, every week there are handfuls of road teams winning more and more, allowing to have us make an argument wether or not home field is that relevant anymore.

Continuing the craziness, Pac-Man Jones is still playing in the NFL....wait what?...Yes. Pacman is suiting up next week for my Dallas Cowboys, when in reality he should be suiting up for UPS somewhere. I mean really how is he still playing?! Speaking of my Cowboys, is there a weirder team in the NFL ever? I mean really. How do you go from Superbowl darling picks, HBO Hardknocks, loaded with talent...to non-playoff team, possible head coach firing and all hell breaking loose...and now are back in the playoff hunt. On top of that in one week they: Lose Tony Romo for three weeks, Lose Pacman Jones for 6 games, trade their first round pick for Roy E. Williams, and lose 4 Pro-Bowlers in all...in one week....its no wonder im going crazy.

All in All, as long as I've been watching the NFL, there has defintely never been a more crazy, weird season. And we might not have one like this for a long time....

Written by TDERIGG2