A Spoonful of Sugarloaf

Welcome back to Thoughts of a Sports Addict, this week will feature my trip up to Sugarloaf. I almost called this "A Face Full of the White Stuff" but quickly realized that maybe that would work better for a blog about something completely different.....anyways here we go.

"Fuck this, I'm done" These were my words during the final run I took on Sunday at Sugarloaf mountain in Carrabassett Valley, Maine. For those of you who know me, you know how frustrated I must have been to swear. I'm not one to casually cuss, even amongst friends, let alone drop the F-Bomb in a very public place, but after what had to be fall number 200 I was just about at the end of my patience.

In what has become a month of trying new things, snowboarding was only the most current new activity that I've tried my hand at. For those of you have read "Living the Dream" you know that I've also tried my luck with wrestling school this month. The decision to attempt 'boarding is one that I have been contemplating for a few years now and finally decided to do earlier this week. The decision was spurred on by the fact that I might be the only person in Maine that has no outside hobbies in the winter. I don't skate, ski, or snowshoe, and I'm a bit old to be building forts, having snowball fights, and sledding....yet another reason I need a kid. (Other reasons include being able to go to Funtown and Aquaboggan again without just being the creepy old guy and so that by the time I hit my late thirties I'll never have to mow the lawn or shovel the driveway again).

I was joined on my foray by four friends, two of them former housemates of mine. They showed far more patience with me then I did myself. They were incredibly helpful and sacrificed half of their day to help me figure out what I was doing. By the end of the day I had gotten a bit of a handle on standing up and working my way down the mountain, completely a credit to them.

There may be no more ego bruising activity than snowboarding. Usually when a 23 year old man is matched up against a 5 year old kid in a sport the result is a foregone conclusion, not so however with snowboarding. I was passed by more 5 year olds than I care to count and even smack talked by a couple as they watched me face plant into the snow. One kind soul however told me "Don't worry, you'll get it" and then he promptly dug it into the snow himself.

Overall my day at the mountain was a mixture of pain, cold, wet, and humiliation....and I promised myself that I would never go again. Two days later though, and I'm having second thoughts about my "never again" proclamation. There are only two other activities that I said I'd never do again, the Beach to Beacon and wrestling school.......I did them both again. When I fail, it usually bothers me enough to the point that I need to do it again, either to succeed or prove to myself that it wasn't a fluke that I failed. Losing to my brother in the Beach to Beacon was one where I proved that it wasn't a fluke but wrestling school was a success the second time. I think snowboarding is going to get at least one more chance.

So if you made it through the whole thing, I appreciate it. Here's a video that one of my friends took of my last run when I uttered the phrase mentioned above. I think it was appropriate, but it's your decision.

*May or may not actually be me.

Cheap Plug: Become a fan of Jake's on the Lake on Facebook. The best ice cream boat in Maine.

Thanks for reading, leave a comment, become a follower of this blog, go back and read all my other posts, and try new things.

-Josh

Previewing Superbowl XLVI

Welcome back to another edition of Thoughts of a Sports Addict. The Patriots are in the Superbowl once again and the Celtics are getting ready to go on a long win streak ( I hope). Let's jump right in and preview the biggest rematch in Superbowl history.

Go ahead, watch it, because to understand what's going to happen in a week and a half you need to accept what happened four years ago. The 18-0 Patriots LOST to the Giants in Superbowl 42... go ahead and say it to yourself, punch a wall, throw things around, do whatever you need to, but just know that this happened. Are you good? Ok great, let's never watch that video again and move on because this year is completely different.

In Superbowl 42 the Patriots were the overwhelming favorites, due in large part to the fact that they hadn't lost a game yet and had the greatest offense of all time. Randy Moss, Tom Brady, and Wes Welker re-wrote the record books in 2007 but came up just short in the Superbowl. The Giants were a surprise team to get to the Superbowl, led by a devastating front four on defense and an emerging quarterback on offense. This year, the Patriots are still led by Welker and Brady, but they've been joined by Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez as well as Ben-Jarvis Green-Ellis. The Giants conversely are led by a devastating front four and an emerged now-elite quarterback.

Hmm....so in 2007 the Patriots had a great offense and the Giants countered with an amazing defense......I guess things haven't changed much.

Now, on to the biggest story lines heading into the game:

1. The Patriots Revenge Tour

This is my favorite story line, primarily because I haven't heard anyone talk about it except me. Let's look at the Patriots playoff losses since their last Superbowl win: 2005 they lost to the Broncos in the playoffs, 2006 was a loss to the Colts in the AFC championship game, 2007 had a GIANT loss in the Superbowl, 2008 the team missed the playoffs, 2009 the Patriots lost to the Ravens in the first round, and 2010 they lost to the Jets in the first round. Take a look at that list again and tell me what they all have in common......stumped? In the 2011 season the Patriots beat the Colts and Jets (x2) in the regular season, then beat the Broncos and Ravens in the playoffs, bringing them to a Superbowl rematch. They have beaten EVERY team that eliminated them from the playoffs since 2004, and are looking to avenge the biggest loss a week from Sunday. I'm not sure why the "experts" aren't playing up this story line, since it all fell very nicely for them.

2. Eli becomes the most successful Manning?

25 years from now when Peyton and Eli are both retired, how will we remember them? If Eli wins this Superbowl he'll be remembered as one of the best playoff quarterbacks of his time and the ultimate Patriot killer. He will have affectively murdered the Patriots dynasty and been the only person that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick couldn't figure out. Peyton, assuming he doesn't win anymore Superbowls, will be remembered as the best stats quarterback of his generation. With the way people value championships and knowing that Superbowl 42 will be one of the most popular ESPN Classics games, isn't it possible that Eli will be remembered as the greater Manning? Will this be like thirty year old basketball fans today who have to argue the merits of Michael Jordan, while kids fawn over Lebron James? If Eli wins a week from Sunday, don't be surprised if Peyton fades from the common fan's mind and Eli is remembered as the best Manning.

3. Indianapolis

As if the Eli vs Peyton debate hasn't been beaten into the ground enough already, the Superbowl is taking place in the RCA Dome, otherwise known as "The House that Peyton Built." There's no question which team has the home field advantage in this game, it's clearly the Giants. Indy is full of not only Colts fans, not only Manning fans, but also Patriot haters. This could not be a worse location for New England to have to go play. There would be a certain sweetness for Tom Brady to go into Indy and beat Eli Manning in Peyton's stadium for his fourth Superbowl championship.

4. Tom Brady......not clutch?

Slow down Patriots fans, don't all start yelling at me, I know that Tom Brady has three championships, two MVP awards, and multiple fourth quarter comebacks, but he's been, shall we say spotty, lately. Tom has really struggled in big games since the last championship. He hasn't played particularly well in any playoff game since then and was actually outplayed by Joe Flacco last week against the Ravens. He struggled against the Jets last year, the Ravens the year before that, and even the Giants in the first Superbowl encounter. I'm not sure if it's age, desire, or nerves, but Tom Brady isn't the same Tom Brady that led the Patriots in the most clutch performance in Superbowl history when they beat the Greatest Show on Turf.

1 Bold N.E. Prediction: Chad Ochocinco is going to come up big for the Patriots in this game, catching at least one game breaking pass. Whether it's a touchdown, a crucial third down conversion or a late game catch down field, it will be important and he will do it.

1 Bold N.Y. Prediction: Jason Pierre-Paul will record a 4 sack game, cementing himself as the next leader of the Giants defensive line.

Final Score Prediction: Patriots 35 Giants 28

I have the Patriots winning this game by a touchdown. Last time the two teams met in the Superbowl the Patriots starting running back was Laurence Maroney. Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of running by the Patriots. This time they have BJGE and Danny Woodhead who are both significantly better than Maroney and will provide the Patriots with some balance this time around. The two tight ends, Gronk and Hernandez, are going to give the Patriots more options for the short passing game, whereas in 2007 it was Randy Moss deep or bust. The Giants do put the fear of God into me though with Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, Ahmed Bradshaw, and Brandon Jacobs all playing on turf. The horrendous Patriots secondary could get burned multiple times by Cruz, but I'm banking on them playing at least decently. The game will be a shootout and I'm banking on the Patriots offense to lead them to victory this time.

Let's be honest, I don't think I can take watching Eli Manning raise that trophy again.

Thanks for reading, be sure to leave a comment, become a follower, go back and read all my other columns, and enjoy the big game.

-Josh

Perk Comes Home

Welcome back to another edition of Thoughts of a Sports Addict. This will be a shorter than usual entry, as there's really only one thing I want to talk about: The return of Perk. For those of you that don't know, Perk is former Celtics and current Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins.

Where do I begin when talking about Perk? Should I talk about watching the 2003 draft from my trusty Lay-z-boy recliner and seeing the Celtics draft an 18 year old center from Clifton J Ozen High School in Beaumont, Texas? What about watching him evolve into a starting center in the NBA as he transformed his body? Perhaps I should talk about how he was the most underrated starter on the 2008 championship team? I could even start with how he was traded and the Celtics players shed tears that he was leaving?

I think I'll start at the beginning. Kendrick Perkins was drafted with the 27th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. This was the same draft that produced Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and even the immortal Darko Milicic. The Celtics possessed two picks in the first round of this draft, and traded them to Memphis, who also had two picks in the first round. Boston drafted Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones with their picks and then immediately traded them to Memphis for their two picks, Marcus Banks and Kendrick Perkins.

In his first year, Perk was a fat high school kid who looked overwhelmed. He played sparingly but behind the scenes his work ethic was second to none. During the playoffs of his rookie year he was forced to take series deciding free throws against the Pacers due to Paul Pierce being ejected. He missed them both and returned to the bench for the rest of the game, eventually a Celtics' win. I remember being worried that the confidence of our 18 year old "center of the future" had just been killed. Displaying incredible mental toughness, Perk shook it off and got himself into the best shape of his life, insuring that he would be a player the following year.

The next few years were difficult for the young center in green. He was eventually given the starting spot when Raef Lafrentz and Mark Blount were traded, pairing up with my favorite Celtic at the time, Al Jefferson. Perk and Al had both come out of high school in consecutive years and were going to be the Celtics big men of the future. They had a rule that they played by called "No Layups" meaning that they would give a hard foul instead of allowing a layup. They meshed extremely well, with Perk being the defensive-minded, hard nosed, rebounder and Al being the finesse, offensive scoring machine in the post. The two both suffered through injuries, Perk's shoulder and Al's ankles, but when they played together it was obvious that they were both special players.

In 2007, Al Jefferson was traded in a mega-deal for Kevin Garnett. This was the best thing to ever happen to Kendrick Perkins. Unfortunately, Al was Perk's best friend on the team and he hated to see him go, but Garnett was about to transform the Celtics into a championship level team. Before the 2006 season, Kendrick had resigned at a home town discount price with the Celtics, a contract that would run through the end of the 2010-2011 season. Everyone knows how the 2007-2008 season played out with the Celtics winning a championship and Perk being the big defensive center that held everything together.

February 24, 2011. The day the Celtics broke apart a team that was a favorite to win the championship. I was leaving UNE after a trip to the gym and I heard it on sports talk radio. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I'm not sure I can do it justice though, check out this video to see what the players thought.

This video doesn't even show Rondo, who was Perk's best friend on the team or the reaction from Perkins himself. From all accounts there wasn't a dry eye in the building when they informed him he had been traded.

This past Monday Kendrick was back in the Garden for the first time since his trade to Oklahoma City last February. If there was any doubt about the legacy he left here, I think this video answers it.

We watched him grow up, from a fat 18 year old kid into a man. He was in Boston for eight years and as someone who has been a fan since before he joined the team, I can say that it was a true privilege to watch him play. He won a championship in Boston, started a family in Boston, and will always be a Celtic.

I'll give Perk the last words.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Be sure to leave a comment, become a fan of this page, go back and read all my other entries, and don't count out the Celtics yet.

-Josh

ps. I've been reading about Paul Pierce trade rumors. If that happens be prepared for a blog written by someone who just had a complete breakdown.

Living the Dream

Welcome back to another edition of Thoughts of a Sports Addict. This will be a very special entry, as I want to talk about my experience at wrestling school. Yeah, that's right, wrestling school. So let's dive off the top rope and into a retro-diary of my Saturday.

*Before we start, a lot of people asked why I decided to do this. The answer is pretty simple actually. Can I really be a teacher and tell my students to follow their dreams, no matter how far fetched, if I never tried to follow mine? My answer was no.

6:55am- The alarm goes off and I'm up...not happy though to be up before 7am on a Saturday. This might be the first time I've seen any part of a Saturday before 10am in a couple years.

7:45am- Hitting the road for the trip down to North Andover, MA. Anyone who has EVER taken a car ride with me, whether it was 2 minutes or 2 hours, knows that there is always high probability of it being epic. This trip was pretty ho-hum though, as the trip is a pretty straight shot all the way down, although I did see a girl completely take out a post by the on-ramp of the highway on my way back, it was fantastic. The wooden stake/post completely lost the battle and got sent flying into the oncoming traffic.

9:30am- I pulled up to the Killer Kowalski school of wrestling, also doubling as the North Andover School of Dance, and walked in expecting a whole new experience. And then they handed me a clipboard with a test on it...maybe not so much of a new experience. With 150 college credits so far, I think it's safe to say that taking tests is something I'm pretty much a pro at, but none have ever been like this. This was a test on wrestling history and also was the easiest test I've ever taken. You see, in addition to physics, chemistry, the NBA and one-hit wonders (don't ask), my other trivia topic speciality is pro wrestling history.

10:00am- At this point all the "students" had arrived and were milling about in the one room building, awkwardly trying to make conversation. I made the mistake of trying to have an intelligent conversation with someone. He was talking about the schools founder, Walter "Killer" Kowalski, and I remarked that it must have been pretty interesting to have been born in 1926 and in his late teens during World War 2. His response, was that he agreed and added that Killer was so old that he had been born before World War 1 even.........At that point I just stared at him and nodded while thinking, "These are the people I always defend as not being as dumb as people say." For those of you who aren't big history buffs, or even semi-intelligent people, World War 1 ended in 1918.

10:05am- I'm looking around at this point at all the other students and amazingly I think I'm in the best shape of anyone else there. It wasn't exactly an all star cast, but everyone else was either really overweight, or 130 pounds soaking wet. The instructors and full time students were a different story as they were all in shape and looked like wrestlers normally look. Also a bit perplexed that more than one person thought that skateboarding shoes would be the best idea for footwear...going to guess that they've never played any type of sport before. Ankle support is pretty crucial.

10:15am- The class starts with a calisthenic warm up, consisting of 25 pushups, 25 jumping jacks, 25 squats, and 25 sit ups, of which we did 4 sets. After three months of p90x this wasn't much of an issue for me, but it was clear that some of the other people hadn't seen the inside of a gym in a while. Also at this point, I was asked if I was related to Frank Viola, former Red Sox pitcher. I said no, but they decided to call me his Frank's grandson all day anyways.

10:30am- "Handsome" Johnny gets into the ring along with Johnny Vegas, and tells us to get up on the apron, as we're going to have the first lesson. He gets two of his regular students into the ring and tells them to demonstrate a collar and elbow tie up, generally the first step of any wrestling match. It looks pretty simple, but just about everybody got critiqued when they tried. Some were pretty good, only having issues with their foot placement or bending too much at the waist but others were about as coordinated as your average guy with two left feet and no control of their extremities. Surprisingly I managed to sum up enough coordination to nail the tie up on my first try.

10:45am- Step two was locking up with someone and then "working" the hold around the ring. Pretty much locking up and then walking around as a pair into the corners, against the ropes, and then back to the center of the ring. They said it was like a dance, which is when I started sweating because I'm possibly the worst dancer in the world. Rhythm has never been my calling card. This however was much easier than any dance I'd ever done. You just listen to the person that you're locked up with and they tell you exactly what to do. If the girl did that while dancing, I think it might be easier too. I was locked up with Andrew Rock, who hissed out directions and we successfully "danced" our way around the ring, earning praise from the instructors. Funny moment happened when one of the regulars was leading someone around the ring and Handsome ran up behind him and gave him the greatest wedgie I've ever seen. Unintentionally but awesomely ripped the kids boxers completely in half, causing him to collapse in great pain.

11:00am- Our next lesson was to learn how to exit the ring. The trainers explained that there are four different ways to exit the ring, you can go forward through the middle ropes, backwards through the middle ropes, forwards over the top rope, and backwards of the top rope. These sound easy, but in reality were pretty difficult. The first attempt was to go forward through the middle ropes, which most people had little trouble with. This entailed grabbing the second rope with your left hand, then propelling your body through the top and middle rope while placing your right hand on the mat to help you stabilize yourself as your feet hit the floor. The only part that really hung anyone up was throwing their feet too high and hitting the top rope. The second way we tried was to go out of the ring backwards through the middle rope. This was quite a bit trickier because you had to hook the middle rope with your right arm and then let your body fall out of the ring being sure to use your forearm to push off the mat so that you don't crash into it. This one didn't go smoothly for anyone, and I was no exception. I came away from it with bruising on my arm from the ropes and bruises on my legs from crashing into the side of the ring a few times. You had to keep going until you got it right, so I eventually did but this wasn't anyones favorite. The third one, and by far the easiest one, was to go over the top rope forward. This was done by pushing the top rope down with your left hand and jumping up so that your body is split by the rope, then leaning towards the ground so that your bodies momentum takes you over the ropes, placing your hand on the apron of the mat and landing with your feet on the ground. I don't think this took anyone more than two tries, as it was very straight forward. The final, and most difficult, way to exit the ring was over the top rope backwards. Amazingly this was accomplished by hooking the top rope with your right arm, pushing it down with your left arm, jumping up and letting your bodies momentum take you straight back, then when you were completely upside down it was necessary to place your left arm on the apron of the mat to stabilize your trip down to the floor. This all ended with you landing on your feet...ideally. This was not made any easier by hearing the story of one student that had been there before and suffered a compound fracture in his ankle. Incredibly this went well on my first attempt, but others weren't so lucky. Many were scared to death to try it, but all eventually did and made it.

11:45am- At this point the instructors decided that we were ready to learn how to run the ropes. This was the part that I was looking forward to the most, because it looked like it would be the most fun. How wrong I was. I had noticed when I felt them earlier in the day that the ropes were pretty stiff. Unlike the rubber bands they appear to be like on television, the ropes are actually made out of stiff cables that have been wrapped in what I can only compare to electrical tape. Needless to say, these were not comfortable to run against, as you need to throw all of your weight against them to get any bounce. They warned us that we would definitely end up bruised afterwards and they weren't lying...a day later and my sides are all black and blue. It was fun though, as we got to run the ropes with another person running the other way, so we made a criss-cross pattern in the ring. This was a timing exercise so that we could understand how it would be to adapt to an opponent.

12:05pm- Lunch Break. I pulled out my PB and Fluff while some others messed around in the ring. As one of the older "one day" students, I feel like being a bit more mature led me to not try and bounce around the ring with some of the others. I generally don't like to try and do something potentially dangerous until I've actually learned what I'm doing. And I was proven to have made the right choice when one of the other guys chipped a tooth trying to learn how to get hit by a clothesline.

12:35pm- We're back in the ring learning how to fall or take a "bump". For those of you that know me, you might remember this being the thing that gave me a concussion last time I went to wrestling school. I was a bit nervous this time, although I have been thinking about taking a bump again ever since the last time. Where I failed last time was that instead of tucking my chin I whipped my head back and cracked it off the mat. Easy mistake...unfortunate result. This time I got in the ring and executed a perfect back bump, didn't knock my head off the ground, and they didn't critique it at all. I did a couple more and it was over, I avoided a concussion and actually got a little praise from the instructors, not something that they handed out freely.

1:15pm- The part that I was looking forward to, not for myself, but to watch everyone else look stupid. It was time to cut a promo. To accomplish this you had to come up with a character, and talk into a microphone explaining who you were and possibly answering questions. Embarrassing fact notice: I often think about what I would say during a promo while I'm driving. It's not rare to see me talking to myself while I'm in my car, sometimes singing along with the radio and other times thinking about what I would say in an interview. The one part of the interview that I've never been able to figure out though is what my name would be. I had settled on being a teacher type of character who thought he was better than everyone else because he was smarter than everyone else. On the spot I decided to call myself Professor Trent Richardson. Yeah yeah I know, he's the Alabama running back, but it sounded like a smart name so I just went with it. Talking in front of people was clearly uncomfortable for a lot of people, but teaching every day has really taken the fear out of it for me. I gave a pretty decent 30 second promo saying who I was and that I was at Chaotic Wrestling to beat everybody who stands in my way. On the way home, I came to the conclusion that I should have called myself Professor Trent Richardson the "Sexual Intellectual". If only I had realized it in time...

2:00pm- This was the end of my day at wrestling school and the instructors let us have a q & a with them for a while. Handsome Johnny, Brian Fury, and Johnny Vegas all took turns answering questions about their careers and what it took for them to make it. I got a New England Pro Wrestling Academy t-shirt, which I plan on wearing everywhere, and headed home free of head injury.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Remember to become a member of this page, go back and read all my other blogs, follow me on twitter @joshviola19 and follow your dreams, I just followed mine.

-Josh

Random Thoughts

Nothing has tickled my fancy lately in the sports world enough to write an entire column, but there are still some things that I want to give my thoughts on.

-Do you realize that the two most polarizing athletes in the United States right now are white? Tim Tebow and Ricky Rubio are both taking their sports by storm.....are they popular because they're white, I don't think so. Both are great players and have the "it" factor that makes someone go from star to superstar.

-Watch out for Kobe Bryant, he was ranked the seventh best player in the league by ESPN.com and he's not taking it well. After dropping 48 points on the Phoenix Suns he was quoted as saying "Not bad for the 7th best player in the league". Something tells me that much like Jordan, Kobe isn't someone that you want to piss off. This is bad news for the rest of the western conference and the NBA.

-Do you realize that New England could play Tim Tebow, TJ Yates, and Alex Smith in their next three games? That's the only way that they are going to win the Superbowl because let's be honest, Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers would throw for 650 yards and 8 touchdowns against the Patriots defense.

-I saw an interview with Manny Ramirez on ESPN recently. He seems legitimately apologetic for everything he did and contrite with his responses. I know, I know, I'm a sucker but I'd love to see him back in a Red Sox uniform......can he really be worse than Carl Crawford? Stick Manny back out in left field, Crawford in right and Ellsbury in center....now that's an outfield that has high potential. At the very least David Ortiz would love it.

-Lebron recently announced that he's getting married to his long time girlfriend. Did Dwyane Wade teach you NOTHING?!? I'll say it again, if you are a famous athlete then DON'T GET MARRIED! Unless that is of course you want to lose half of your money and most likely be involved in a messy divorce at some point.......hey Hulk Hogan.

-This happened on Monday......I'm still trying to process it...

Is there anything MORE entertainingly hilarious than a fat man dancing? I say no.

-While I was killing time watching youtube videos, I remembered how great Vince Carter used to be at dunking the basketball. I don't think he gets enough credit for being the greatest dunker of all time......probably because he's also missing a heart and has no passion, the most frustrating player of all time. In the words of Kenny Smith "It's OVER, Let's go home"

-BCS Game: I know it stands for Bowl Championship Series, but when it's Alabama vs LSU it should have stood for Boring Championship Series ( I know that's not very witty). That game was a snooze fest. Let's make a rule, a championship game always has to have at least one offense that's capable of scoring 60 points. If you're a football purist and love defensive battles that's great, but I'll take a 50-48 shootout over that any day.

-The Bruins are on fire right now. What else can you say except that they have two of the best goaltenders in the league and probably the best offense. I don't watch as much hockey as I'd like, but I don't see how this team can possibly lose a seven game series.

-I'll throw in a little free pub here....check out the latest song from up and coming 17 year old rapper, CJ The Kid.

-To wrap up these random thoughts, I'll throw in the announcement that this Saturday, January 14th, I'll be heading down to Massachusetts to live the dream one more time. For those of you that don't know me, that means I'm going down to a one day wrestling camp for the second time in my life. I know, I'm a loser, but who doesn't have their quirks?

Thanks for reading, leave a comment, go back and read all my other blogs, become a follower, and be sure to follow me on twitter @Joshviola19.

-Josh

1st Round NFL Playoff Predictions

Here we go, some playoff predictions bound to be wrong. When you read these and see that I'm wrong on every single one, just remember that I predicted the winner of the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals last year in the exact amount of games.

AFC

Steelers vs Broncos

Injuries: Rashard Mendenhall and Maurkice Pouncey are both out, while Big Ben, Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley, and Brett Kiesel are all hurt. For the Broncos only Brian Dawkins is out. The injury battle clearly favors Denver. With no Mendenhall the Steelers won't be able to effectively run the ball which puts, an already injured, Ben Roethlisberger into multiple obvious passing situations. The Denver defensive line is going to be able to tee off on Roethlisberger because his ankle injuries aren't going to allow him to evade the pass rush. With Pouncey being out, the offensive line is going to be weaker than usual, making Ben even more vulnerable.

For the Broncos it's going to be all about their defense. Missing Dawkins is going to be a much bigger problem than anyone thinks, but having Vonn Miller and Champ Bailey is definitely a plus. The other positive thing the Broncos bring to the table in this matchup is TIM TEBOW. After reading though Bill Simmons picks for this weekend, it almost seems like the stage is set for Tebow to win. His whole season has played out like a Disney movie and this is where he takes his biggest step.

With the game being in Denver that means thin air and the Steelers aren't used to playing in it....so for that reason, I'm picking the Tebow Time over Rapelisberger. Plus, does the bad guy ever win at the end of a disney movie?

Broncos 17 over Steelers 13

Texans vs Bengals

Why the Texans will lose: Yates or Delhomme? I know that TJ Yates is getting the start, but how long of a rope does he get until the coaches get antsy and put Jake Delhomme in? Delhomme is a former Superbowl quarterback and played fairly well in last weeks game against the Titans. Yates has been decent since coming in for Matt Schaub earlier this year and deserves the start, but with a season on the line he may not be enough to get it done. Even getting past the quarterback issues, they have injury problems. Andre Johnson is still a bit gimpy after his hamstring injury and they haven't had Mario Williams since October.

Why the Bengals will lose: Andy Dalton is a rookie starting quarterback in a playoff game against a good defense. He's been great this season, but the Bengals haven't beaten a good team all year and Dalton hasn't played well against a good defense yet. Arian Foster is the best running back in football...period. Finally, the game is in Houston. This is the first playoff game that the Texans have ever been in and their crowd is going to be amped up.

My pick? Yates and Dalton will both struggle, but the Texans have a better defense and a better running game so....

Texans 21 over Bengals 17

NFC

Saints vs Lions

The matchup of two 5,000 yard passers. This is going to be a video game type of contest where both offenses are going to put up a ton of points and both defenses are going to be frustrated. Matthew Stafford is turning into a great quarterback who, along with Calvin Johnson, is leading one of the best offenses in football. The only problem with that is that the team they're playing is THE best offense in football, led by a quarterback who broke the all time passing yards record and has more offensive weapons than anyone else in the league. With the game being in New Orleans and the Saints having Darren Sproles, aka Super Reggie Bush, I can't see any way that the Lions walk out of the Superdome with a victory.

I do have one prediction for this game though. Remember when the Ravens played against the Raiders back when they won the Superbowl? Tony Siragusa landed on Rich Gannon and broke his leg, effectively ending the Raiders season even before the final whistle. Well if you were to predict that to happen again wouldn't you bet on it being Ndamukong Suh accidently on purpose breaking Drew Brees' leg?

Saints 48 over Lions 35

Giants vs Falcons

Probably the hardest game of the weekend to predict. On paper I want to pick the Falcons but with the recent resurgence of the Giants I'm not sure that I can. The Falcons offense looks unstoppable on paper, however it hasn't worked out that way in reality this year. When you see a team that has Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Michael "Burner" Turner, putting up points shouldn't be an issue. The Falcons have sputtered in big games this year though. Eli Manning and the Giants have been the opposite of the Falcons this year, seemingly winning every big game and then dropping games that they should win.

Every expert is picking the Giants based on the reasons that I've outlined in the above paragraph. The mix of the Falcons losing big games and the Giants stepping up in big games has put the Falcons into a great situation. There is no pressure on them right now. The Giants have to sit here all week and listen to people talk about how this is just like the 2008 team that upset the undefeated Patriots, pumping up their confidence and possibly allowing them to overlook Atlanta.

This is my only upset pick of the first round, Atlanta is going to beat the New York football Giants. Eventually a good team puts it all together and plays a complete game. The Falcons haven't done it yet and the Giants are a team that just barely snuck into the playoffs by beating an overrated Dallas team. It's going to be close but final score....

Atlanta 24 over New York 21

I hope you enjoyed reading through my first round playoff predictions, be sure to check out next weeks predictions when I have to explain why all of these were wrong.

-Josh

TMac Turns Back the Clock

Welcome back to another edition of Thoughts of a Sports Addict. One of my favorite moments in sports is when a veteran player, who everyone thinks is done, comes out and dominates one more time. It happened again this week, and it inspired me to do some writing.

When you become a sports fan, no matter what sport you choose, you always pick a favorite player. Usually the player is on the team that you support, but occasionally there are players on other teams that you end up liking for whatever reason. As you continue watching, you see these players get older and start to break down. It's one of the sadder events to watch in sports, a guy has been an all star or all pro for the last ten years, and now they are breaking down. This season in the NBA there are a lot of players like this, who used to be all stars and even MVP's , that are now either solid starters or even bench players. I have to look no further than my favorite team, the Boston Celtics, to see Jermaine O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, all at different stages of decline.

In addition to the Celtics foursome, you can also include Grant Hill, Tracy Mcgrady, Tim Duncan, Shawn Marion, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Chauncey Billups, Elton Brand, Vince Carter, Ben Wallace, and Michael Redd. I left out Kobe and Dirk because they really haven't shown signs of slowing down yet, although Kobe looks like he might hit the wall first. The players that I did list though all have one thing in common. They were all stars in the league when I started to watch religiously. Back in 2001, these were the guys that ran the league, with the possible exception of Chauncey and Ben Wallace who hadn't hit their groove yet. What about today though? Wouldn't you be shocked to turn on sportscenter and see that Elton Brand had a 25 point 15 rebound game or Jason Kidd blew up for a 20 assist game? Back in the early 2000's these things happened regularly, which makes it all the more sad that these players are breaking down. The kids who are just getting into the sport now are going to see these guys as role players and guys that aren't that good. I think one of the reasons I like to write this blog is to educate younger fans on the history of the game.

Which brings me to the main topic today, Tracy Mcgrady. He's one of the players that seemed to be completely done and for the last few years has been a shell of a shadow of his former self. For those of you that don't remember Tracy's prime, check it out here....

How many of you knew that he was actually that good? Did you know that he averaged 32 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists a game during the '02-'03 season? He was THE MAN during those years. Unfortunately, because of an injury to Grant Hill (called by many "The New MJ"), those Magic teams never made it out of the first round of the playoffs. Instead of having a reputation as one of the best players of his generation, Mcgrady is remembered for playoff failures and injuries. So when he claimed that his knee was "100% healthy", people scoffed and said that he was just trying to get a new contract. Well maybe it was only for one night, but the Tracy Mcgrady that I remember was back. He poured in 13 4th quarter points against the Heat to beat Lebron, DWade, and Chris Bosh. It was almost as if Mcgrady just wanted to remind everyone, and let Lebron and Wade know that once upon a time this was his league. It was reminiscent of another Mcgrady performance.....

The ironic part? I was never a big fan of Mcgrady when he was dominating the league. There was never a big rivalry with the Celtics, but I never appreciated what I was watching until it was over. Now when I look back over his career I feel honored to have had the privilege of watching him get drafted out of high school, learn to play in the league, dominate the league, and eventually break down and become a bench player.

There are other examples of older, former great players, having big games. One of my favorites was when Gary Payton hit some big shots in the 2006 finals and everyone reacted with surprise. Should we really have been surprised though? Gary Payton is one of the 10 best point guards of all time. My absolute favorite "former star shines again" moment hasn't happened yet though. It will be this year, when Kevin Garnett shocks everyone by throwing up a 28 point 16 rebound game at some point in the playoffs.

Thanks for reading, remember to leave a comment, go back and read all my other entries, become a fan, and keep watching for the next old timer that turns back the clock.

-Josh

Ricky Rubio has Arrived and Kevin Garnett is Changing (I Hope)

Welcome back to another edition of Thoughts of a Sports Addict. In this entry, I'm going to do an in depth look at Ricky Rubio, as well as explore how Kevin Garnett can salvage the rest of his career. Let's dive right in...from Barcelona Spain.....

RIIIIIIICCCCCCKKKKKKKKYYYYYYYY RUUUUUUUUUUUUBBBBIIIOOO!!!!

I've had a lot of favorite players in my time as a basketball fan, but Ricky Rubio is definitely the most recent.....or at least my favorite one from Spain. When I say he's my favorite player, what I mean is that he's my favorite player to have never been a Celtic because obviously current and former Celtics rank at the top. Ricky Rubio has taken the state of Minnesota by storm and shortly will be taking over the entire NBA. I have had the privilege of watching Rajon Rondo for the best five years and it's safe to say that he's one of the best passers in the NBA, but Rubio is simply on another level. People said that he wouldn't be able to play in the NBA because he can't shoot, was too slow, wasn't a good enough defender, and didn't have the athleticism.We had to wait two years for Ricky to come to America, but he's here and proving all the naysayers wrong. The Timberwolves are three games into their season, and Rubio has come off the bench to average 28 minutes per game, scoring 8 points per game, throwing 7 assists per game, and even coming down with almost 5 rebound per game. He even recorded his first ever double double against Miami with 12 points and 12 assists, while also hauling in 6 rebounds.

Very rarely do players live up to the hype, but Ricky looks like he is going to. His first game showed that he had passing skills, a basketball IQ, and awareness that was just as good if not better than anyone in the league, and he's only 21 years old. You might remember hearing Ricky Rubio's name before the 2009 draft, as he was the youngest player on the Spanish National Team during the 2008 Olympics. Being on live in the wee hours of the morning, only the most hardcore of basketball fans stayed up to watch it, but this was Ricky Rubio's coming out party. He dominated Jason Kidd. Step back and think about this for a minute, Rubio was 17 years old and Kidd was a 35 year old future Hall of Famer and great defensive player. Kidd clearly wasn't "done" because he played an integral role in the Mavericks championship last year. When most people are 17 they are going into their senior year of high school and getting ready for a varsity season. Ricky Rubio was playing at the highest level and beating the best NBA players to the basket. He put on a show that had experts gushing about his potential and fans drooling over the idea of seeing him in the NBA.

If you get the opportunity this year, sit down and watch a Timberwolves game. You can see Rubio throw the prettiest passes in the NBA, Kevin Love throw down a 20-20 game, and who knows what Michael Beasley might do.

The second part of this entry is about Kevin Garnett. In my last blog entry I said that this was the end for KG, and I stand by what I said, this is the end for the KG that we all know and love. After watching a couple more Celtics game though, I've come to the realization that Garnett has the ability to transform himself into a completely different, but still effective, player. All big men reach a point in their career where they either adapt to a new style that is lower impact or they retire. If you made a list of all the greatest big men in NBA history, you can pinpoint where their athleticism completely fell off and they had to change the way they played. Looking at the list of big men that aged gracefully they all had one thing in common, they passed well. Chris Webber, Hakeem Olajuwon, Vlade Divac, Arvydas Sabonis, Shaq, and even Wilt Chamberlain were all great passers and all changed their games to remain effective into their later years.

Which brings me to Kevin Garnett. He is one of the best passing big men of all time, averaging just over 4 assists per game for his career and peaking at 6 assists per game in the 2002-2003 season. KG can stay effective if he alters his game to becoming a high post distributer of the basketball, as well as shooting a high percentage on his jumpers. On defense, he should be paired with Greg Stiemsma because the "Stiem-roller" is young and athletic, complementing KG better than Jermaine O'Neal. Check out Aryvdas Sabonis, who was infinitely more immobile in his later years than KG is now, and you can see that he was still effective and still contributing to a Portland team that was 10 minutes from the finals. For me, Sabonis is the best comparison of what Garnett should be aiming for. Chris Webber is another example of an ultra athletic power forward who suffered knee injuries later in his career and had to change his game. KG should start watching tape of CWebb's later years to use as a blueprint.

My expectations going forward would be for KG to average somewhere in the 14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists area. KG can dribble, pass, and shoot better than most big men, which should give him an advantage on the slower, plodding, big men around the league. Having an athletic guy like Greg Stiemsma next to him should also make defense easier on Kevin. Let's hope that KG can make the switch to being more of a facilitator and realize that his days as an athletic, freak of nature, phenom are over. If he can successfully adapt to this new style, I could see The Big Ticket extending his career by at least a couple more years.

Thanks for reading, be sure to go back and read all my other columns, follow the blog, follow me on twitter @joshviola19, and stay tuned for another entry in the near future.

-Josh