Thursday Thoughts

I talked all about baseball in last night's post, a little more baseball now among other things....

- It appears Albert Pujols will take more time to think about where he will play in 2012. Numerous reports came out last night saying that no decision will be made before the end of the Winter Meetings. I have zero clue where he's landing now. Could it be St. Louis again? Los Angeles with the Angels? However, I'm going to venture this guess. The Mets looked to look Ike Davis yesterday, there's your mystery team. Let that simmer. (UPDATE: About 10 minutes after posting this, Yahoo reported Pujols has agreed to 10 year/$260 million deal with the Angels)
- In international news, Yu Darvish will be posted by his Japanese club to go to the States to play. Darvish has been a dominating pitcher in Japan, going 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA this past season. One major issue is this, Darvish was getting 6 days off between starts as opposed to the 4 he would get in MLB. This has all the potential of a Yankees or Red Sox signing with the amount of money needed in posting fees to get Darvish plus the contract. Probably going to take over $100 million. Just don't see anyone else going after him for that kind of money.
- There seems to be a growing tidal wave wanting a college football playoff with Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby saying that a 4-team playoff is "inevitable".Would that idea be so bad? Really?
- The opening of NBA training camps and free agency begin tomorrow. It seems more and more likely that not a lot of trades are going to happen and there aren't any big-name free agents. A tweak here and there for some teams but you have to think the two teams to beat are still Miami and Dallas.
- Last but not least today, I go to high school football. A team in Massachusetts lost the state title game this past weekend because their quarterback while running in for the winning touchdown raises his arm for five yards. That brought out a penalty for taunting. Give me a break! These kids are in high school, they get excited. Why don't we just put all the players on pills to make them even the whole game, no excitement about anything and see how fun the game looks then. Shame shame on the high school association.

That's it for now, maybe more tonight if things develop....

Tuesday morning thought pattern

First day of the week is through, let's look at what's going on....

- I have to open this with the happy announcement of Ron Santo making the Hall of Fame. It took long enough and it's quite sad that he isn't alive to see it. A great day yesterday was for Santo's family and Cubs fans everywhere
- The NHL must want attention as it was approved a new four-conference realignment. I'm quite pleased by the fact that leagues are grouping teams by geography area and that the schedule will be more balanced but must said, some radical move to group 7 or 8 teams into a conference like the old MLB setup.
- Finally a coach is speaking up on the injustice of the BCS. Give Boise State coach Chris Petersen a lot of credit for coming out and blasting this current system. No one likes it, it must be changed. How hard would it be to have a 8-team playoff? Not at all.
- I would love to find out where the Miami Marlins found a money machine at. After signing Jose Reyes and Heath Bell, the Marlins offered a 10-year contract to Albert Pujols on Monday. They seem to be in on every free agent, where is it coming from?
- The Chargers finally found their way last night with a win over the Jaguars. Finally, a good game from Philip Rivers. Those have been few and far between this year but makes the AFC West all competitive still with four weeks to go.
- It was reported late last night that the Lakers are exploring trading for both Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. The way the NBA is headed, we may as well just have 8 super teams and forget everyone else. This is no way competitive balance can succeed with superstars on just a few teams.

There's your morning report, more late tonight....

Monday Morning Thoughts

The weekend is over....let's look at what has happened.

- Quite a scare the Giants put into the Packers Sunday afternoon. Tie game late in the fourth quarter before Aaron Rodgers dug his team out to send Green Bay to 12-0. The Pack have 3 home games left in their last four remaining games. The road to 16-0 seems paved now.
- If this season couldn't get any worse for the Bears, it appeared to after Matt Forte went down in a terrible 10-3 loss to the Chiefs. Chicago has zero chance w/o Forte and Cutler in the lineup. Now a trip to Denver and Tebow is coming. The season is slipping away in the Windy City.
- Speaking of seasons slipping away, how about the Lions? A 5-0 start has slid all the way to 7-5. While Detroit put up a nice effort Sunday night in New Orleans, this team is going to need a major miracle now to make the playoffs especially with their final game on New Year's Day in Green Bay with the Packers likely looking to finish 16-0.
- As I bring up New Orleans, the college football rematch everyone really didn't want to see will happen when LSU takes on Alabama in the BCS Championshp Game. If anyone outside of the southeast going to care about this game unless you are an alum of either school? The SEC will win the national title for the sixth straight year and more power to them for it but it's time to move the trophy out of the south for at least a year.
- The rest of the college bowl schedule was released Sunday as well and one matchup I'm really looking forward to is the Fiesta Bowl between Stanford and Oklahoma St. Those two high-powered offenses should make for a great game in Glendale on Jan. 2.  Couple other games I'm looking forward to would be Houston/Penn St. in the TicketCity Bowl and Wisconsin/Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
- To finish the college thought train, it's a real shame Michigan St. gets stuck with the Outback Bowl against Georgia while their in-state counterparts get a BCS game against Virginia Tech. The Spartans were in the Big Ten Title Game, played Wisconsin tough while Michigan sat all day Saturday but what can you do?
- Baseball's Winter Meetings got off to a roaring start with the Marlins signing Jose Reyes. Great move to get fans into the new ballpark and now where will Hanley Ramirez play? You would have to figure he is moving to 3B but reports say he is not open to moving positions so stay tuned.
- Prediction-wise this weekend I went 8-6 with the NFL picks (Chargers d. Jaguars tonight for the last game) and Saturday's picks went 7-3 so an overall 15-9 weekend.....not terrible I guess.

That's all for now, look for more tonight....

Saturday Evening Thoughts....

Thoughts on this Saturday night....

- So Houston didn't want that BCS bowl game after all I see. How can you lose at home in the biggest game of your school's history and the money you could have had if you win. Choke job supreme.
- The Houston loss gives TCU the opening they need to go back to a BCS game. Only team to beat Boise State this year and probably off to the Fiesta Bowl now. Well done Horned Frogs.
- It now looks 100% for that LSU-Alabama rematch for the national title after the Tigers win in the SEC Championship Game. LSU started slow but rolled Georgia in the second half. These are the top two teams by leaps and bounds, set the game up.
- Normally, early season college basketball isn't anything special but put Kentucky and North Carolina together and you got something. An amazing game that came down to the last second with these two long-time programs. I think we may be seeing them again together at the Final Four.
- Week 13 of the NFL season continues Sunday and after that awful performance from the Eagles Thursday, we should see some compelling things I figure. Saints may put up 50 on the Lions, same with the Patriots against the Colts.
- Baseball's winter meetings start Monday. Watch the fireworks with this, big trades will happen, big signings will occur but who to where? Only time will tell.

Enjoy the rest of your sports weekend.

Welcome in to the Manager's Hut

So today, a new feature will debut but more later....now a look at what is happening.

- So the BCS title game will be LSU-Alabama unless something beyond unreal happens. While I don't like rematches from the regular season, it's very obvious these are the two best teams. Let them go at it.
- So the Packers improved to 11-0 Thursday with their win over the Lions...no one beats this team in the regular season, could a 19-0 season be upcoming? Wouldn't be a long trip to the Super Bowl either for their fans.
- NBA finally has got their act together and came to an agreement. The fans were getting restless and they couldn't risk losing anymore games after Christmas. Going to be a very busy sports day for Chicago fans now with the Bulls followed by the Bears. Sounds like a perfect day for the Windy City.
- Some hockey news as the Washington Capitals fired Coach Bruce Boudreau...I discussed this a while back after his benching of Alex Ovechkin. Sounds like Ovechkin won that one.
- Sources say this morning Urban Meyer will take over at Ohio State. The Buckeye fans can't be happy with this past season so this move will please Columbus. Now if he can get the Big 10 (isn't it 12) back to national championship contention.
- It appears Tebow Tim (e) is here to stay in Denver after another Broncos win, this time in San Diego. Can this team actually make the playoffs? It's starting to look more and more like a real possibility.
- Monday Night Football tonight with the Giants in New Orleans to face the Saints. This won't be a low-scoring game to say the least as both teams have offenses that can go up and down the field. Thinking New Orleans gets this win 38-31.

Coming soon will be my daily commentary, working out some bugs with that but that is next. Until then, enjoy the day.

Deep Thoughts with....

As we prepare for Thanksgiving during this my last post until Monday, I give you some things to think about...

- Lions will beat the Packers Thursday. It has happened before to a 10-0 Packer team in Detroit for the holiday. History repeats itself.
- LSU wins in OT over Arkansas. The Tigers finish the regular season strong on their march to New Orleans...not a long march but a march.
- Auburn beats Alabama. Begin the BCS mess, who will play LSU in this scenario? Who knows...
- I encourage you to use the ESPN Playoff Machine, pick every game the rest of the season to figure out what the playoff matchups will be. Fun times.
- We got a new labor agreement in MLB. Hope you took notes, NBA.

Now I go to eat and watch football.....great thoughts coming Monday.

Injure, Injure

Sounds like another week of NFL injuries...if you were unlucky enough to have Fred Jackson, Adrian Peterson and Matt Hasselbeck all in your fantasy lineup, it was not your day. Peterson appears to be the most serious and as of this writing, the MRI was negative on his ankle. Jackson left with a leg injury while Hasselbeck departing with an elbow injury.

Jay Cutler broke his thumb on his throwing hand and reports say he will miss 6-8 weeks. This dooms the Bears and their chances to do much the rest of the season. While Chicago is 7-3 now, 9-7 seems very likely now with Caleb Hanie at the controls.

New BCS Standings are out and the SEC has the top 3 teams with LSU, Alabama and Arkansas in that order. You got LSU-Arkansas Friday afternoon to decide a WHOLE lot with this along with the Iron Bowl Saturday.

It's Thanksgiving week which means live sports on each day this week, starting Monday with the Maui Invitational. Enjoy this week, the more sports the better....don't forget family though.

Upset Weekend

It was a wild weekend to say the least in college football as the No. 2, 4 and 5-ranked teams in the BCS Standings all lost. Now the whole BCS is thrown for a loop and it is looking more and more likely than we are going to see a LSU-Alabama rematch. The first game was epic for defense but do we really need another matchup of that?

The real fun comes in if Arkansas beats LSU Friday afternoon. Then more chaos because the only undefeated team could potentially be Houston and we all know there is no way the BCS will put Houston in the title game......right? Don't the Cougars deserve a shot at this if there are the only undefeated team left? Otherwise, you are left with a champion with at least one loss on the year.

Go get me a 8-team playoff. The bowl season lasts long enough and has too many mediocre 6-6 teams in there. Let's play this out to next season with some dates....play the quarterfinals on Sat., Dec. 22 with the semifinals on New Year's Day and the title game on Monday, Jan. 7. Why can't this work? Saturday's top 5 losses show the need there is for one.