Back in Business

Friends, its time to run for cover. After you deliver your Valentine's Day package, and hopefully get your "package" serviced after this "holiday", run, hide, hibernate, and dont wake up until Mid-March. This is the absolute worst time of the year for sports. Nothing is more brutal than flipping through the channels, only to find ridiculous reality show after ridiculous reality show. There is very little on TV to watch from now until Mid-March when the conference tourney begins.

Me personally, if I cant listen to Joe Tait on my sirius satellite radio, then I am lost, because here in WV, I'm forced to watch Fox Sports Pittsburgh (instead of Fox Sports Ohio whichs shows the Cavs) which is about as entertaining as watching my college roomate light his socks on fire. They show the Penguins who are even more dissapointing than the shameful Rick Tocchet scandal which isnt going away for a while.

Sticking with hockey, haha get it??? Anyways, I dont really care about this scandal, I mean honestly, if these guys are using their money to bet on sporting events outside of hockey (which eliminates the possibility of the fix) then why does it really matter? Its their money, let them do what they want with it. Now of course if this kind of garbage leads to true organized crime, then I guess we have a problem, but if all they are doing is wagering on events, then leave them alone, go after people who are selling drugs and plotting murders....or hiring Mike McCarthy as their head coach and running Brett Favre out of town.

Big time broadcasting news came earlier this week when it was announced that Al Michaels wouldnt honor his contra.......I mean was traded from ESPN to NBC to do the Sunday night games with John Madden, and Monday Night Football would have Mike Tirico take his place and Tony Kornheiser was thrown in as the Wild Card. My thoughts....SHAME ON YOU Al Michaels.....granted, he's done more in the broadcasting business than I will ever do in my entire life......but honor your freaking contract. It amazes me that nobody is talking about this in greater detail. Its not like ESPN was given Jimmy Roberts, Dick Ebersol and the Arena League in exchange for Michaels........at any rate, this is still a good situation for ESPN.

Here is what they gain....PTI (the greatest show on television next to the Daly Planet) will do their Monday shows live on scene at the Monday night games which is going to be awesome. That show needs more exposure, I'd say move them to a different time slot....but thats just me.

Mike Tirico, next to Ron Franklin is the most underrated play by play announcer in the business today. Tirico has been on the big stage before, and save all of your sexual harassment comments, despite what he's done in the past, he's been able to put that behind him and move on. Tirico will do A GREAT job.

Theismann takes a lot of crap from a lot of people, but I think he will be much better without Paul Aguire, Aguire was absolutely awful, and Theismann does a great job of pointing out the positive things in the game, when its too easy to keep pointing to the negatives.

As for Kornheiser, I think his comedy and natural ability to incorporate different sports into the discussion and make them relevant to the situation will keep the current viewers entertained and it may even draw more viewers. Kornheiser will be a terrific addition to the booth.

I'm out. Good luck getting serviced.

Super Blog

Forgive me if this isnt in depth. Its 1 am and I have to drive for 4 hours tomorrow, so I'm fighting sleep in order to get this on the blog, that and I felt like I was due because I havent posted anything since last Tuesday. So here is my prediction for Super Bowl XL.

Too many people are talking about the Steelers, and that is not good kharma. Honestly, I'd rather not be talked about, and then be able to surprise people and say F U on the day of the big game. Unlike a lot of other Clevelanders, I'd love to see Pittsburgh win because I think Bill Cowher is an excellent coach, and all of those naysayers will have to eat their words if he wins this thing. Jerome Bettis has also been a class act and I wouldnt mind seeing him go out on top, its a feel good story that you cant help but love...unless you hate the Steelers, or you are Seahawks fan, and the two go hand in hand this week.

All of the attention has been on the Steelers this week, and very little is mentioned about the Seahawks, which is why I think they will win. This game is so hard to predict because I could easily see this thing being a blowout, and I could also see it being a nailbiter.

Seattle is the first team in the postseason that the Steelers face, that does not use the Shotgun. This in turn helps the offense because it is harder to determine the angle you want to use to get to the quarterback on a blitz when he is not in the Shotgun formation, this will buy more time for Hasslebeck to find his receivers, who have been very reliable this season after dropping tons of passes in the past. I think the pass will open things up for Shawn Alexander later in the game, and he will be the MVP because of what he will be able to do in the 2nd half, pounding away at a then tired Steelers defense.

We've seen what happens to the Steelers when they have to play catchup. Seattle's offense has what it takes to get ahead early, and a steady running game to take time off the clock, wear down the defense and keep the other offense of the field. Big Ben has been a big factor in the playoffs when he's had the lead, or the game has been tied. He hasnt had to come from behind very often this year. They've done a great job of catching teams by surprise with their aerial attack early in games, but when they fall behind, they won't be surprising anyone.

The two weeks helps Mike Holmgren because he is very similar to Bill Belicheck in that he is a mastermind in gameplanning and he will make great use of these two weeks. Plus, the Steelers were hot for 6 weeks straight, and if the off week hurts either one of these teams, it hurts the Steelers because they were so hot for so long.

My prediction, Seattle 31 Pittsburgh 17. Again I think the Seahawks will get ahead early, and maintain the lead, forcing the Steelers to throw a lot and play catchup. I honestly dont care who wins, I'd be happy for Holmgren because he's a former Packer, and I'd be happy for Cowher because I think he's one hell of a coach. Best of luck to both teams, see you guys next week.