At the beginning of this basketball season, everyone predicted that the NBA Finals was going to be a rematch of last year’s epic Warriors vs. Cavaliers series. And with the addition of Kevin Durant, everyone, myself included said that the Warriors were going to be the stronger team and come away victorious this time. However, since the Warriors have already exceeded the amount of losses they had last year, and that the Cavs seem to be on somewhat of a skid over the past month, this goes to prove that the NBA is anyone’s league right now (accept for the bottom dwellers). Also, with how good of a year my Celtics are having, I would not recommend sleeping on them in the Eastern Conference down the stretch. The Celtics have the star power with Isaiah Thomas along with quality role players with a very good coach in Brad Stevens. To be honest, I don’t watch a lot of NBA Basketball but I think the end of the regular season and into the playoffs is going to be some fun basketball to watch.
Ok, I know that a some coaches can only last so long with one team, but I have to say I was a little disappointed when I heard that the Bruins fired Coach Claude Julien. First of all, I thought the timing was very un-ethical to say the least. If they were planning on firing him, they could have at least done it before or after the Patriots’ Super Bowl victory parade. The fact that they thought no one would hear about it until later in the day is just down-right stupid to me. The parade started around 11 a.m. on Tuesday, so the Bruins decide to make the announcement at 9:30 a.m., just two hours before the parade. Then on top of that, they held the presser at 11:30, when just about every sports reporter in Boston was focussed on the parade. Even though it wasn’t the main event of the day, that kind of stuff still gets out very quickly, especially in this day and age.
Secondly, I don’t think that Julien was the center of the problem. Although the Bruins have been playing very well since he left, I think the problem was a more than just coaching. I could be wrong, and frankly I hope I am because I would love nothing more then to see this team have a great second half of their season. But I ever since the Bruins fell out of playoff contention two years ago, I never thought the Bruins had the depth and skill that they had in those Stanley Cup runs. But hopefully this coaching change puts a spark under this team because they could really use it right now. And even though I was a fan of Claude Julien, I am excited to see what Coach Bruce Cassidy has to offer.
Well…I think we can all agree that that was one of the craziest games of all time. I’m still trying to process everything that went down but I don’t think this one is going to sink in for a while. I also think that after a second half comeback as big as that, Tom Brady is the undisputed greatest quarterback to ever play the game. His biggest comeback previous to the Super Bowl was 24 points, and last night he passed it. Of course that is not the only thing he passed last night, he is now the winningest QB in NFL history (in regard to Super Bowls), he has won 4 Super Bowl MVP’s and is now tied for the most rings of any player ever.
Although the Patriots came out on top, I do have to give credit to the Atlanta Falcons. This is a team that is going to be right in the mix at the end of every season for the foreseeable future. Matt Ryan is a beyond special player who, if he keeps the numbers he has, is looking at a hall of fame career. Dan Quinn has a young team that definitely has a bright future.
Being a young team is quite possibly what did the Falcons in towards the end of this game. Being up by 25 points, many teams would probably sit back on a lead like that. But I think that is what separates good from great. The Patriots knew this game wasn’t over at 28-3 in the third quarter, they knew that they had a while to go before time expired. If we have learned one thing about the Pats over the past fifteen years it is that you never count them out. Now I understand that, because last night in the third quarter, I thought to myself “Oh well…they’ll lose this game, they’ll be back next year”. Well not only did they prove me wrong and win the game, they will certainly be back next year!!! #PatsNation
This is a must watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mhT2fRRe_M
Since we all knew the patriots were going to make it to the Super Bowl, let’s take a look at what the Flacons will have to do in order to pull off a win on Sunday. Here is an article by Bleacher Report Columnist Brad Gagnon that should tell you everything that you need to know about how the Atlanta Flacons can beat the Patriots. The only question is: will ATL be able to execute all of these things on both sides of the ball? http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2688925-how-the-atlanta-falcons-can-slay-goliath-in-super-bowl-li
Ok so I haven’t posted in a while and here is something that I definitely want to give my take on. My whole family has always said that I’m the most spoiled sports fan they’ve ever met, which I won’t deny. However, as far as the patriots are concerned, I’m usually somewhat satisfied with a long playoff run that doesn’t ultimately end in a championship. You can’t win it all every year but as long as they are in the mix at the end of the year I won’t be totally disappointed. This year though, is much different. I’ve been a pats fan for a while now and I can’t say I’ve ever seen them have an easier road to the Super Bowl then this one. So let’s break it down, the once intimidating Oakland Raiders have been eliminated. The Huston Texans should pose absolutely no threat to New England considering the thumping the pats put on them back in September without Tom Brady and before JJ Watt’s injury. The Steelers are very hot right now but so are the Patriots and if the pats are in Foxborough then they already have a leg up. The Dolphins always play the Patriots tough but they would have to play out of their climate in the cold and are also a very inexperienced playoff team. The Chiefs are also a very respectable team but with the recent playoff performance they gave in Gillette Stadium, again, I think the Patriots have the advantage. But here is the x-factor for the patriots in the playoffs this year; they don’t have to play any away games. And if you’ve watched the pats at all in recent years, you know that them losing a playoff game in Foxborough is an anomaly, it rarely ever happens. Although there are many tough teams coming out of the NFC, I still think the Patriots should feel good about any team they might face come Super Bowl Sunday. Now, this isn’t me promising you the pats win it all, but they have a better chance this year then just about any other Patriots team that I’ve seen.
So today I saw that if Patriots Coach Bill Belichick did not win a single game for the next six seasons that he would still have a better win percentage than ex-Rams coach Jeff Fisher. Fisher, who was just fired yesterday, has never been known for winning because it doesn’t happen often. It certainly didn’t ever happen with the Titans and it’s been more of the same for the Rams. Here’s what I don’t get about the NFL though, or pro sports in general; someone will still be crazy enough to hire him again. Why is it that coaches who have never had any success still seem to get hired after they get dropped for being a bad coach? This really is something that I need explained to me. We all know that if he gets hired again, it will either not be a head coaching job or it will be one but just for a bad team because there is no way an elite team would want him. Here is my question to that team; what makes you think your team is going to get any better with a coach who has barely even seen the playoffs never mind won a ring? My advice to Jeff Fisher, take all your money and call it a career, before you suffer through another firing.
Ok I get that the Browns are terrible and have been for a very long time, but I don’t understand that some people think that any college team would have a chance at beating the Browns. Do they not realize that 1.6% of all college football players make it to the NFL? A poll was ran in Ohio that 62% of Ohio natives believe that the Browns would lose to Ohio State and and 23% said that Ohio State would win (not sure what happened to the other 15%). It’s simple math people, only a small percentage of Ohio State players will get drafted this year while all of the Cleveland Browns have already been signed/drafted into the NFL. No college team would have any chance at beating the Cleveland Browns. One of my favorites, Scott Van Pelt breaks it down a little more: http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=17742998 .
The other day I was in a class and we started watching the Will Smith movie “Concussion”. Everyone in the class was kind of half paying attention but I saw enough to realize why some NFL Football players are retiring early. Some of these players had very similar side-effects to the PTSD that soldiers get. Some players were seen getting violent and abusive with their families and one player even got into his car and drove into on-coming traffic and killed himself and the person (or people) in the car he hit. Also, many of them were former linemen; coincidence? I think not, due to how much contact is involved with being a lineman. It is much more understandable that these players have shortened their careers because in the end it may end up killing them.
It’s always one of the best parts of Thanksgiving, stuffing yourself while you watch football with your family. But I have to say that I was pretty disappointed at Sam Bradford even though this game had no impact on my Patriots. The fact that the Vikings were fairly deep in their own territory on what had the potential to be a game-winning drive is what made this really upsetting. But the actual upsetting part was that in his own territory, Sam Bradford made the conscious decision to throw the ball into double-coverage. Which meant that as soon as the Lions defender caught the ball, the Lions were in field goal range. My uncle who was sitting next to me called that Sam would throw a pick-six (and he was pretty darn close) said that that game needs to be the end of Sam Bradford, and I have to say I agree. Think about it, Bradford has had little to no success with any of the three teams he’s played for over six years. And on top of that, he has never even played in a playoff game, I’m sorry but I think Sam Bradford’s career is pretty darn close to meeting it’s demise.
