NFL Divisional Round Playoffs

The Divisional round of the NFL playoffs will begin tomorrow. The Arizona Cardinals will be in New Orleans to take on the Saints and then in prime time tomorrow night the Baltimore Ravens will be in Indianapolis to take on the Colts. Sunday will have the New York Jets at San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings. I was 1-3 with my picks last week so I am hoping for better luck this week. Here are my picks: I am going to go with New Orleans over the Arizona Cardinals. I think this could be another high scoring game, I just don't think Arizona will be able to stop the Saints. If there are turnovers that will definitely be huge in this game. I will go with Saints 35 Cardinals 31 I am going to go with the Colts over the Ravens. I just don't think the Ravens are that good and the Colts will be looking to shutup their critics. The Colts are a great team and I don't think the layoff will hurt them at all. I think they will be able to put up enough points and the Ravens don't have a great offense. I will go with the Colts 24 Ravens 14 I think the New York Jets have a shot against the Chargers and it should be a good game. I think this will definitely come down to turnovers in this one. I think even the Jets will have a hard time stopping this offensive machine. I think they can slow them down but won't be able to shut them down. I think the Chargers will be able to move the ball and beat the Jets. San Diego 28 New York 21. The Dallas Cowboys are really rolling now and the Vikings come in to the playoffs limping. They only won their last game against the Giants who were just horrible in that last game. The Giants didn't even show up. I think the Vikings will be rusty and the Cowboys are playing as well as anyone right now. The Cowboys defense has been a force to be reckoned with. I am going with Dallas 24 Minnesota 17.

What is the deal with Johnny Damon

I have maintained pretty much all winter that there really is no market for Johnny Damon. The last few days have brought rumors of Detroit and Atlanta being interested and that was about it. Today it came out that Detroit and Atlanta basically said there is no way they would sign Johnny Damon. I know that people can say lots of things and not mean them but it really looks like right now Johnny Damon has no market. I am sure that could change and some mystery team can come out and sign him but it doesn't look like that would happen at this point. The Yankees may be his best option but he may have screwed himself by not working it out with them in the first place for the 2 years. I think both sides just need to get together and work something out. I think Damon needs the Yankees more then they need him but he was a pretty good #2 hitter and they wouldn't be worse off for resigning him.

New York Giants name new defensive coordinator

The New York Giants search for a new defensive coordinator has ended. They hired former interim coach of the Buffalo Bills Perry Fewell as their new defensive coordinator today. He was the defensive coordinator in Buffalo for the last few years before being named interim head coach for the final seven games of this season. The Bills went 3-4 in the 7 games he was head coach. He worked under Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville as the secondary coach and will bring some fire and passion to the job. His defenses have been know for takeaways which will be good for the Giants since they have been lacking that lately. He also plays a aggressive defense which should suit them well also. The Giants have a lot of work to do on the defensive side but hopefully this is one step in the right direction. If they can get their defense back to where it should be,they have a good offense. The Giants will need a running back but other then that they are set on the offensive side of the ball.

New York Mets suffer another blow

It was a very quiet day and I was planning on writing a little bit about basketball and hockey. Then tonight rumors started spreading around Twitter that Carlos Beltran was hurt and what do you know now it is being confirmed. I will thank twitter for this as many have confirmed now that Carlos Beltran did have some kind of procedure on his knee today. It looks like he did it on his own without the Mets permission and they are going to hold a conference call or press conference tomorrow. He was not happy with the Mets last season, thinking they handled his injury wrong and he kept playing when he shouldn't have. His knee was not getting any better this offseason and the pain came back so he went to get it taken care of on his own. It looks like it was just a clean out but some are saying it was micro fracture surgery. The Mets just can't get out of their own way, it is like there is a big black cloud over them. He is not going to be able to do any baseball activity for 12 weeks. This is 3 months which brings us to the start of the season meaning he will miss spring training. I wouldn't expect him back anytime before May at the earliest and if the Mets are saying 12 weeks that probably means about 5 or 6 months so this could be really bad. What should the Mets do?? I would love to hear from the Mets fans as to if this is a crippling blow?? Can the Mets handle this? Is this the worst of the core players or the best in terms of having to lose someone?? I want to hear your thoughts on this topic and whatever else Mets you want to discuss.

Spring Training Report Dates

Pitchers and Catchers is one of the best pair of words that could be uttered. It is a sign of spring and it means that the great game of baseball is back. I know it means a lot of different things to different people and you can find some of that here on the offical MLB website. I know I am certainly ready for spring training, the end of winter and the excitement of a new season. The New York Yankees are World Champions and that always brings out all the cries of the rich getting richer and the need for a salary cap. The great thing about baseball though is everyone starts fresh in spring training and has big dreams no matter what the situation is. Here are the report dates for pitchers and catchers. American League Baltimore- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Boston- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 24th Chicago White Sox- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th Cleveland Indians- Feb 23rd, full squad on Feb 26th Detroit Tigers- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 23rd K.C. Royals- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Los Angeles Angels- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Minnesota Twins- Feb 22nd, full squad on Feb 27th New York Yankees- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 24th Oakland Athletics- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th Seattle Mariners- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Tampa Bay Rays- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 24th Texas Rangers- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 24th Toronto Blue Jays- Feb 22nd, full squad on Feb 26th National League Arizona Diamondbacks- Feb 20th, full squad Feb 24th Atlanta Braves- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 23rd Chicago Cubs- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Cincinatti Reds- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Colorado Rockies- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 26th Florida Marlins- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 24th Houston Astros- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 24th Los Angeles Dodgers- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th Milwaukee Brewers- Feb 22nd, full squad on Feb 27th New York Mets- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 25th Philadelphia Phillies- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Pittsburgh Pirates- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd St. Louis Cardinals- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd San Diego Padres- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 25th San Francisco Giants- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Washington Nationals- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th