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"I'll watch the highlights every now and then but, as far as watching the game, I feel like I am the game" - Terrell Owens

Kickoff is T minus 6 hours and thanks to an exploding appendix we are about to be subjected to watching the 2007 NFL season kick off with Charlie Batch (who??!!!) as the starting QB for the reigning Suberbowl champs.

I decided to make a list of top ten random things I am looking forward to for this upcomign season...

1. I can't wait for Donovan McNabb to burn the Cowboys but this time with Terrell Owens wearing the blue and white.
2. Reggie Bush confirming that the Texans are morons for passing up on him as the #1 pick
3. Matt Lienart staying out of Paris Hilton and going back to playing football ... he did give up some crazy guaranteed money by staying in school for that extra year
4. Can McNair revive his career or is he going the route of Steve Francis of the Knicks
5. Ben Rothelisburger staying out of the hospital long enough to play a few games this season
6. Chad Pennington is a bust... now lets see if he can prove me wrong!
7. Can't wait to see the ruckus after the inevitable sideline confrontation between Parcels and Terrell Owens
8. Miami is actually a good team... Culpepper needed this lets see if he can turn it around...
9. I will miss MNF on ABC... Look forward to seeing the chemistry with the new guys in the booth
10. Is Washington ever going to be as good as they look on paper??

.... All this said... I must just sleep so tomorrow can come sooner and i can burn my Owens jersey as a tribute to the start of the new season!

With their First pick in the 2006 NFL draft....

As promised here is my take on the 2006 NFL Draft. I am writing this post as I watch the draft in PIP at the same time as watching my Jays get smacked by the Yankees.

Thanks to my insomnia I watched several hours of the combine leading up to this years draft as the NFL network had the darn thing on loop for about a month. It was the first time I got to see what kind of drills the players were put through and to be honest the quarterback and wide receiver drills are the only ones that held my attention. Wide receivers in this draft may not be the most outstanding but we do have some real star potential at multiple positions in this years draft and 3 teams are going to be very happy with their new quarterback selections from everything I have heard and seen.
Let's backtrack a bit though and I think it would suffice to say these past few months leading up to today have been drama filled and bordering soap opera status. Going back to the rose bowl it was Matt Leinart who decided to return for his final year (we will later see that this has probably cost him about $12 million in guaranteed contracts) up against Vince Young who emerged victorious and instantly talks began of who would go first in the draft. In the weeks ahead, there was the release of the results from the Wonderlic test taken by prospective players that started raising questions of Vince Young's ability to succeed at the Pro level. The blogosphere was eating this up and there were several sites that jumped on this story which was later refuted and the proper scores were given to the teams eventually. This story dragged on long enough to set up as a lead in for the Reggie Bush saga. Matt Leinart must have been feeling left out with all the attention on Vince Young and Reggie Bush he decided to make some news of his own. Leinart stepped out with hotel heiress and socialite Paris Hilton and became gossip column fodder for a few weeks.

All this and none of the above mentioned players made it as the #1 overall pick in this year's draft. If you want a detailed rundown pick by pick you can check out Deadspin as The Mighty MJD breaks it down with some humor. As for me... Well I actually wanted to do this post pre-draft but the Houston Texans threw out a curve ball at me and most of us who have been following the days up to the draft. The Texans officially ended the speculation of who would be drafted first a day before the actual draft by signing Mario Williams, a defensive end out of North Carolina State. This move subsequently messed up all the mock drafts done up by the analysts and experts and little 'ole me. I shouldn't have been so surprised I guess... During the summer, I was sure the Texans were going to go out and draft Vince young but they effectively put an end to that idea by extending David Carr and effectively taking them out of the picture as one of the teams who be in the quarterback race. So they passed on Young, who would have definitely been a fan favourite as he played his college career in Texas, then they can't reach an agreement with the top running Back in ths draft and basically leave the New Orleans Saints a ton of options as they were next in line to draft.

In the NFL more than any other professional sport, teams take on the approach of drafting for need rather than the conventional Best Player Available (BPA) scenario. You could be drafting #2 and you have all the choices in the world but you are going to go with the guy who fills your team needs even though there may be players on the board who are better but play positions you already have. With this in mind the New Orleans saints were in a great position as they had a lot of holes to fill and by Houston picking Mario Williams I think the Saints won the draft as they got Reggie Bush. Tennessee was next up and unless there was some major trade going down they were in the perfect position to pick their replacement to Steve McNair. The Titans picked Vince Young and failed wonderlic or not he is going to be their quarterback of the future. (Incedentally, word is that Vince modeled a lot of his game around McNair and even trained with him on several occasions.) The Jets were up next and they took a safe route even though I personally feel they could have done some moving around as they were in a good position with two picks in the 1st round and considering their last season was a disaster, this was a good chance as any. The went with an Offensive tackle in Ferguson and with that I am going to assume they are comfortable with their quarterback situation and are expecting Chad Pennington to be back on course this season.

The Packers got the news earlier in the week that Bret Favre was going to return to the team for the following season and with the news that Lavar Arrington was going to the giants they went out and got a guy who was widely known to be one of the safer picks in the draft in A.J Hawk. Hawk will be used immediately in the starting lineup and should be a solid pick for the cheeseheads. The 49ers pick was known to most a long time ago and he was a very emotional one too ... Tight End Vernon Davis. His potential has been compared to Jeremy Shockey and Antonio gates and I expect him to fit in with a young quarterback who they selected 1st overall in last years draft.

The next few picks shocked me ... I was so sure Oakland was going to go for a Quarterback and with Leinart and Cutler still on the board they went with a safety Michael Huff. Even more shocking was the Buffalo Bills picking Dante Whittner who is also a safety and in this case it was obvious the Bills were drafting for a specific position and just drafted the #2 safety on the board since Huff was taken. Detroit went with a Linebacker and then the Cardinals were on the clock ready to get the steal of the draft. Picking 10th they still had Leinart on the board and went with him and I think this might be a good fit overall and he will be a very successful quarterback with the right coaching he might not make much of an impact in his rookie season though. Following this beauty was a trade by the Denver Broncos they traded up with the Rams which set them up to go for Jay Cutler. A bit of a shocker as Jake Plummer was their guy and even though he didn't have a great championship game last year he was in the upper echelon in QB's last season but this sends a message for sure. Plummer better get his A game ready because before you know it Jay Cutler may be the starting Quarterback of the Denver Bronco's.

The Ravens went with a Defensive tackle to help make some room for Ray Lewis to do his thing and for that Haloti Ngata was the perfect pick. Following him were a few more defensive linesmen and my team, The Philadelphia Eagles who had thought they might have to trade up to get their guy found him still on the board when they were on the clock and went with DT Broderick Bunkley. The Rams got a cornerback with their pick and the Vikings settled for a Solid Linebacker. Known as "America's Team", the Cowboys got themselves a linebacker of their own and to boot Parcels coached this kids dad so he should have an idea of what he is headed for. The Patriots went with a running back even though Dillon still has the legs but they clearly went for a guy who was a solid first rounder and didn't worry so much about position. To Replace LaVar the Redskins got themselves a solid Linebacker and I was surprised he was still on the board and should be able to fit in right away. A few picks later the Steelers who earlier this off-season traded away one of their best wide receiver selected the best WR in a weak receiver draft in Santonio Holmes. POINT?? The rest of the 1st round played out pretty much how I had expected.

For a full list of the draft picks you can always go here and follow around the links there to get more in depth analysis as well as reactions for the picks in the first round and more. I leave you with a Vince Lombardi quote and I will be back tomorrow with my analysis of the first round of the NBA playoffs.

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work" - Vince Lombardi

Speechless?? Not for long...

Its been a while but there is just so much going on with me in the last couple months that I haven't had time to really sit down and write complete posts... I began some and never completed them and now they don't seem as relevant . Thanks to all of you who wrote me asking if all was well... Life is good, I just haven't had the motivation to write as of late or it was more that I didn't want to put whatever was in my head out there but that all has passed so let today be the end of my bloging hiatus. To kick of the new year and a new start I decided to change up the lookaround here, but I am still toggling with the colours and whatnot so bare with me on that one.

2005 has come and gone and I have decided to kick of the new year by looking back at the top 20 sports stories from my point of view. So much happened in sports in 2005 that i could write a different entry for each pro sport but that might get boring so i decided to mix it up and give u the top 20 that came to my mind. Following this, I will be back later this week with the top 10 things to look forward to for the upcoming year. (No pictures this time around going to keep it short, just easing my way back) In no particular order here goes...

Reflections: 2005

• The NHL made its way back onto the ice after missing a complete season due to a lockout. With this new NHL came a new face and a poster boy for the future of the league by the name of Sidney Crosby. He is no Wayne Gretzky just yet but hopes are high...


• Kobe Bryant single handedly outscores the entire Dallas Mavericks team by the end of the third quarter in a game late in the year reaching the 62 point mark.


• Danica Patrick goes against all odds and ranks 4th in the Indy 500 breaking down barriers for women in the world of auto racing.


• The new CBA for the NBA is completed which included a new minor league system and a new age restriction. To boot the NBA has now introduced a dress code for the players which requires sport coats if you at the end of the bench and no exposed chains, no hats, throwback's n sorts pre and post game at the arena.


• Larry Brown leaves a championship team to return home and coach his hometown team the New York Knicks. One of the greatest coach in the game has a huge task ahead of him as the underachieving and overpaid Knicks might make him question his decision to leave Detroit...


• Baseball took a big hit as the abuse of performance enhancing drugs came to the forefront and made its way to the supreme courts. Big names like Rafael Palmeiro and Jason Giambi were put in the spotlight which has now led to more severe penalties set for offenders of the drug policy.


• The Chicago White Sox were able to join the ranks of the Boston Red Sox as they brought to and end their drought of 80 + years with no championship as they came away victorious in this years World series


• Hurricane Katrina swept though the Gulf coast and devastated thousands. The New Orleans Saints and New Orleans hornets were moved to play in Oklahoma City and the question still remains when will they be able to return? The sports in this story are secondary to what happened to the people of New Orleans and even today people are trying to pick up the pieces. In efforts for relief a large number of professional athletes stepped forward to help out in any way they can which was a great thing to see.


• Pat Riley wiggled his way back to the court as he now strides along the sidelines as the head coach of the Miami Heat after the "voluntary departure" of Stan Van Gundy


• Phil Jackson aka the Zen Master returns to the coaching ranks with the Lakers and the countdown begins towards when we will see a blowup between him and his star Kobe Bryant who he called out in his book.


• Wayne Gretzky is back on the ice but this time barking out defensive assignments to his players as he gets behind the bench as the new head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.


• The likes of Mark Messeir and Jerry Rice walk away from the game ending memorable and definite hall of fame careers.


• "Monday Night Football" shuts its lights off after almost 4 decades. ABC says farewell to one of its highest ranking TV shows of all time.


• Steven A Smith almost pops a blood vessel on draft day when the Toronto Raptors selected Charlie Villanueva from UCONN for their 7th pick. Sure a lot of people were surprised but that reaction to ruin a young mans dream day was totally uncalled for!!


• The New England Patriots successfully created a dynasty by winning their 3rd NFL championship in 4 years and in this era of salary caps and non guaranteed contracts that is a commendable feat.


• The Spurs can be help up there with the great dynasties ... It would help if their franchise player showed a little more emotion and the team didn't come across as utterly robotic. Congratulations either way for winning and becoming one of the most underappreciated dynasties in professional sports.


• Ron Artest returns to the court in a pacers uniform... only to a month later ask to be traded! this man needs to understand he plays a team sport and get with the program. In the world of the "tru warrier" the drama never ends.


• "Black Monday" it was a crazy Monday right after the last few regular season NFL games were played as we witnessed a flurry of firings around the league as 6 head coaches were fired and one retired.


• Steve Nash was awarded the NBA's highest honor as a player receiving the MVP award at the end of last season as he put up Stockton like numbers and led the suns to the biggest turnaround season in the history of the league. Barring anything out of the ordinary he should once again be in the running for this year as he leads the league in assists playing without their franchise player and losing 2 key role players.


• I saved the best for last ... The saga that became the Philadelphia Eagles. It began early last year with some screaming and pushing along the sidelines but Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens put it aside and along with the rest of the team strode into the Superbowl. It got ugly from there with off-season finger pointing, a one week suspension from training camp, locker room battles and it ended with the decision to sit the star wide receiver for the rest of the season. Following this drama the star quarterback and star running back go down to bring an end to one of the most drama filled seasons for a NFL in recent memory.

"Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision" - Muhammad Ali.

Countdown to Kickoff - Part II

Okay shoot me! I am really taking my time getting used to the 11 hour time difference from my recent travels. Either way, Sunday games kickoff in less than 24 hours so I am going to go ahead and give you my rundown for the NFC. There are definitely some surprises in this conference and my bias may be a little evident as I say that the Philadelphia Ealges should once again clinch the NFC for the regular season.

NFC EAST

Donovan McNabb has flourished under coach Andy Reid and up until last year he did not have a legitimate receiver to throwto. Enter the most dynamic wide receiver in the game today, Terrell Owens. These two had phenomenal seasons in their own right but with Owens' aggressive personality there were some very public riffs amongst the WR , QB and the coach. All this drama still exists in the forefront as we head into the season but it has not put a doubt in my mind... The Philadelphia Eagles should clinch the NFC east this year. On their tails the Dallas Cowboys under Bill Parcels should be vying for a wildcard spot in this years playoffs. With a healthy Julius Jones and an experienced but aging Drew Bledsoe they have a great chance at seeing some action in this years post season. The Washington Redskins looked great on paper last year and somewhat this year as well but will probably disappoint missing the playoffs all together this year. The Giants should finish last in this division barring some miracles from their young quarterback.

Standings

NFC NORTH

Daunte Culpepper is probably in the top 3 QB's currently playing in the NFL. The Minnesota Vikings may have lost a great Wide receiver in Randy Moss but they still have one of the most dominating quarterbacks in the game and a solid pair of corner backs on defence that will be their strength in clinching the #1 spot in this division over the Green Bay Packers. Bret Favre may be one of the best players to ever play the quarterback position but I think this year will be his last as the age factor will kick in. As the season unfolds my prediction is Green Bay and the Dallas Cowboys will be fighting for the wildcard spot along with Atlanta and possibly a team like the Seahawks in the West. In this division the Detroit Lions who will be hosting the superbowl will struggle and many have picked them as sleepers to squeak in to the playoffs but I look at them as having a losing record and looking forward to the future. Chicago was one team that messed with the Vegas odds last year. They almost always went in the game as underdogs and the other team rarely covered the spread but as last year they are just not playoff contenders this year and will probably end up with one of the worst records in the NFC.

Standings

NFC SOUTH

Defence over Offence? One may think Atlanta is the team to beat in this division but last year the Carolina Panthers played injured and they still had some great games and I believe they will be the victors in the NFC South. With Jake Delhomme running their offence this years Panthers should be able to grab the division barring any major injuries like last year. The Atlanta Falcons have definitely got something to be happy about. They have one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the game manning their offence but Vick needs to evolve his game. Sure he can run and displays spurts of brilliance but his passing game has yet to be really refined and this is something that comes with experience but I think the Falcons should nab one of the wildcard spots in the NFC. Tampa Bay a team who walked away champions not to long ago are still finding their place again after a miserable season last year they hope to bounce back but I don't see them holding a winning record this year. As for the New Orleans Saints... They are in a tough spot. They have some bright spots but just are not there yet. This year with the hurricane disaster it may be even harder to get an audience and a winning record. Their quarterback has shown to be promising but their core is still weak and needs some key pieces before they become legitimate contenders.

Standings

NFC WEST

The St.Louis Rams are definitely the team to beat in this division and their only real competition should be from the Seattle Seahawks who should have a decent season. Mark Bulger may not be the best quarterback in the league but with a running back like Marshall Faulk on your side you need not worry so much and in one of the least competitive divisions in my opinion, this should be more than enough to make sure the Rams clinch the division and their spot in the playoffs. The Seahawks have toyed with consistency but they are my "you never know" team. Sure they have some great players in Sean Alexander and last year the quarterback Matt Hasselback showed some great signs but I don't think this team is ready yet and might be a sleeper to squeak into the post season. As for the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49'ers .... check back next year! These two teams have a ways to go and lets hope their rookies start to develop.

Standings

Countdown to Kickoff - Previewing the upcoming NFL season

I have been humming the tune for Monday Night Football all week. The 2004-2005 season ended in heartbreak for me as my team, the Philadelphia Eagles, lost in the superbowl to the New England Patriots. Sure I was glad to see them make it to the final dance but this year I want even more than ever for them to win it all. I will try my best to be unbiased this season when I write about football but there will be days when I feel extra passionate for my team so I hope people don't mind. At this time I would also like to congratulate again the New England Patriots for what they accomplished in the last 4 years. They have done something that seemed near impossible in an era of salary caps ... They became a dynasty. I have been suffering from some major jetlag so I decided to do this piece in two parts with the AFC going first. Part two will have a rundown of the NFC as well as a complete prediction of how many games I think each team will win. Hope you enjoy it.

AFC EAST

I shall never doubt the brilliance of coach Bill Belichick. Even with a new defensive coordinator ... An obvious exclusion of an offensive coordinator and a few missing pieces from last year I think the New England Patriots have this division locked. The Jets are a great team don't get me wrong they might even try to push for a wild card slot but that's the best I can see for them this year. As for the Bills they have added a few key pieces but I don't think their defence will stand as strong as it did last year and that will be a huge difference. The Dolphins may have Ricky Williams back but they have a long ways to go to be contenders. Their offense shows major weaknesses beginning with their quarterback.

Standings

AFC NORTH

To be honest this division had me the most uncertain of a clear cut winner. There is one this for sure the Steelers are definitely not going 15-1 this season. From my predictions they will be lucky to make it to double digits in the win column and possibly nab a wild card spot. Like a lot of people I do believe the Bengals have something to show us this year and are the sleeper pick to win this division or atleast a wild card slot. I changed my mind several times about this pick but I see The Baltimore Ravens pretty much on par with Cincinnati if not below them to give the Steelers a run for their money in the wild card race. The Browns very similar to the dolphins are just not in the picture at the moment to be considered a threat in this division that will be close till the very end.

Standings

AFC SOUTH

As much as I have read during the pre-season that Steve McNair is ready this season I am not convinced that he can lead the Titans to win the division over the powerful Colts offence. The Peyton Manning - Marvin Harrison connection has been almost perfected to a T and they are definitely the team to beat in this division and probably grab the number 1 spot in the conference. The Titans have made some steps forward but they have some real competition from a charged Houston Texans team. The Titans had their window and I think it has passed them and the Texans are just coming alive and should nab the 2nd spot in this division but will probably be looking at the playoffs from the outside as the AFC has a lot of powerhouses they would have to beat out to grab a wildcard spot. Not far behind are the Jaguars who have a defence made up of no names but it is a very good defence and as it goes if you got defence you never know. The Jags look to be a sleeper team to many but I think they will be looking from the outside this year along with the Titans and the Texans.

Standings

AFC WEST

Can Drew Brees show us some of what we saw last season? I hope so I like the Chargers this year for this division. They have a pretty darn good offensive set up and with no major threats in this division I think this division title is theirs to lose. The Denver Broncos are not to be forgotten here like the Bengals they are my sleeper pick to possibly win this division or somehow get a wild card slot and see themselves in the post season this year. As for the Raiders I am writing this after watching game one and it didn't really change my mind. Kerry Collins just can't bring it. Randy Moss showed some good signs and he might have some great games but consistency is the problem here in this case the offence just is not going to be enough. I know people might be thinking what about the Chiefs... But to be honest I am not a fan and I don't see them doing anything to write home about. Sure they have offence, but as we know: "Offence wins games but Defence wins championships!!!"

Standings


That's all for now... I shall be back later in the day with the part two for this piece and some bold predictions of the team by team wins and losses for the year. (P.S: Sorry for the crappy layout i will try to fix it when i work on part 2)