2017 Conference Championship Previews

There's quite a bit of smaller sports stories going on during the headliner that is the NFL Playoffs and it's easy for things like Chris Paul's broken thumb to go under the radar when all sports media wanted to discuss this week was Antonio Brown's Facebook account (who under the age of 30 regularly posts on there anymore?). Here's a quick rundown of some things going on in baseball, basketball and football that people may have missed...

• Clemson upset Alabama in the National Championship for college football on a last-second touchdown pass from DeShaun Watson to Hunter Renfrow. Watson should cement his status as a top five pick in this year's draft (Chicago, San Francisco or a trade-up) with back-to-back awesome championship performances against the nation's best defense.
• Chris Paul, Pau Gasol, Rudy Gay and David West all suffered multi-week injuries. The West injury just paves a path for more James Michael McAdoo early in games for Golden State. The Gasol injury creates an interesting reality where the Houston Rockets could be the second-best team in the West. This theory was helped immensely by Blake Griffin's six-week absence (of which, he is about to return from) and Chris Paul's freshly broken thumb, which could leave him off the court for six weeks as well. Rudy Gay has made it loud and clear that he hates Sacramento with a fiery passion (and who could really blame him?) and the forward was looking to begin a new chapter in his career with his impending free agency or a midseason trade. Unfortunately, Gay tore his Achilles and will not only crush any intrigue in this season's trade deadline but, likely cost himself a ton of money and explosiveness.
• Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell and Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez are 2017's Baseball Hall of Fame inductees. Many deserving players saw their voting percentages increase (Bonds, Clemens, Edgar Martinez) and one former Pitcher with an incessant desire to be portrayed as a martyr saw his odds fall in a year where he kind of.... sort of.... maybe... not quite endorsed the lynching of journalists (the same people that control the votes for the Hall of Fame. Curt Schilling loves being a story so, why not indulge him some more?  
• The starting lineups for the NBA All Star Game were unveiled. The West is represented by Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis. The East will consist of Kyrie Irving, DeMar DeRozan, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jimmy Butler. The reserves will be announced on the 26th and TNT will again host the announcement show. In the meantime, here's who I would take...

Eastern conference

Kyle Lowry

Kevin Love

John Wall

Joel Embiid

Paul George

Isaiah Thomas

Andre Drummond (I guess)

Western conference

Russell Westbrook

Draymond Green

Marc Gasol

Karl-Anthony Towns

Klay Thompson

DeAndre Jordan

C.J. McCollum

With baseball, the NBA All Star Weekend and the Super Bowl coming up, sports are alive and well. Also alive and well? The Packers, Falcons, Steelers and Patriots for a few more hours. Time to figure out the last two standing!

Packers 48 - Falcons 45

USA TODAY Sports
If the Falcons want to stop Aaron Rodgers, they'll need help from 36-year old Dwight Freeney.

I could just pull the ultimate cowardly move and pick against my preseason Super Bowl prediction with no way for me to possibly be incorrect but screw it, I'M DOUBLING DOWN. Neither of these defenses are any good but, they both have an occasionally present pass-rush that could end a rare drive before the end zone. Names like Julius Peppers, Mike Daniels, Clay Matthews, Nick Perry, Vic Beasley, Brooks Reed and Dwight Freeney will decide this game since both secondaries are awful and nothing else will stop the top two MVP candidates. 93 total points might be a bit much but, it will probably take 48 points from Aaron Rodgers and his receiving group that likely includes a dude with an eyepatch, a broom, Stephen Hawking and a decapitated corpse at this point. Oh yeah... and Jeff Janis is still there, sitting at #5 on the depth chart. Atlanta's offense is too consistently impressive to not end this game with 40+. I just trust Green Bay's healthy veteran defenders a little bit more than the Falcons' crew that is now missing Adrian Clayborn.

Patriots 26 - Steelers 13

AP Photo/Steven Senne
Malcolm Butler has already single-handedly won a Super Bowl and now faces the far more difficult task of stopping Antonio Brown.

The Patriots defense gave up the least amount of points in the regular season but, have also gone two months without facing a great quarterback (Russell Wilson). Just because they performed nicely against weaker opponents, that does not automatically imply that New England is unprepared to face the most lethal offensive trio still alive in the postseason (Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh's offensive line). After all, this season has come down to quarterbacks and Big Ben Roethlisberger has not been reliable since October (16 TD, 12 INT since October 16th). The Patriots-Steelers game from the regular season saw New England defeat Landry Jones 27-16 as Rottenburger was out with an MCL injury. This game should come down to coaching and I will take the greatest week-to-week adjustment maker ever (Belichick) and his superstar staff of future head coaches plus Dante Scarnecchia over Mike Tomlin, Todd Haley and Mike Munchak. Pittsburgh's pass-rush might be getting hot and they may have the best remaining offensive line among everyone but, New England still has a solid offensive line themselves and don't let errors made by their opponents go unpunished. I trust the turnover battle to end in favor of the Patriots and the revenge factor to fuel up a huge game from LeGarrette Blount. If Blount keeps New England on the field, the three B's won't "B" on the field enough to matter.

Good luck to the highly successful quarterback of your choice and may the outlook for the Super Bowl be nothing but fun, fun, fun 'til the buckets take our attention away.

2017 Divisional Round Preview

Round 1 of the NFL Playoffs was about as predictable a round as they come. I still managed to botch a perfect weekend of picks by rooting for the Giants' defense to save the casual fan from a disastrously boring wildcard weekend and alas, they failed me and America. After a terrible fourth-and-1 call by Mike McCarthy, the Giants scored their lone touchdown and Eli reverted into a pumpkin, eventually losing 13-38. If only I had gone with the obvious pick instead of trying to predict the unpredictably predictable NFL.

The games weren't the only unforeseen stories to come out of this week's NFL news cycle. The Chargers are now in Los Angeles despite LA not really caring too heavily about the team they just acquired last season. They will play at Stubhub Stadium, which only holds 27,000 fans, until they can get their shared stadium with the Rams in 2019. Hopefully for the sake of innovation, they get rebranded with a new nickname and logo then as well because the current new logo is far too similar to that of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Seems kind of LAzy to me.

In unexpected coaching news, five of the six head coaching openings have now been filled by four new names and just one retread that barely feels like a retread since Doug Marrone abandoned Buffalo after two seasons, the last of which being a 9-7 year with Kyle Orton as his quarterback. Many found Jacksonville's hiring of Marrone dull and lifeless but, he's not that far removed from success, knows the roster well (has been on staff since 2015) and will have a highly successful football mind monitoring the ins and outs of the roster above him in 2-time Super Bowl champion Tom Coughlin. Only time will tell if any of the newbie head coaches work out (Vance Joseph in Denver, Sean McDermott in Buffalo, Sean McVay for the Rams and Anthony Lynn for the Chargers) but, it's nice to see some new, young minds getting a chance to replace the Rex Ryans and Jeff Fishers of the world.

On to the upcoming weekend of football action!...

Falcons 41 - Seahawks 20

Curtis Compton
Matt Ryan has surprised many by evolving into an MVP candidate in his ninth NFL season.

The Lions could not exploit Seattle's weaknesses in the wildcard round thanks to Matthew Stafford's busted middle finger. Matt Ryan has no such problems and led the most potent offense in the NFL this regular season. Safety Earl Thomas's absence will be felt and against players like Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu and Taylor Gabriel, the floodgates will be open for the first time in a long time versus a Pete Carrol defense. Speaking of holes in the Seahawk foundation, their offensive line can not pass block at all and Vic Beasley (the NFL's sack leader in 2016) plus Dwight Freeney (122.5 career sacks) equals plenty of desperate scrambling from Russell Wilson. 

Patriots 31 - Texans 10

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Bill Belichick shows no mercy to former assistants that served under him like Bill O'Brien.

Many were shocked by Brock Osweiler's solid performance last weekend but, considering how reliant Oakland was on their run defense, 15/26 should have been more like 20/26 for any reasonable NFL playoff quarterback. Enjoy every second of Texans football you see this weekend because it's the last we'll see until August. New England shut them out in week 3 with J.J. Watt on the field and Tom Brady out. The only reason I see Houston getting any points is the lack of now-Browns linebacker Jamie Collins. Yawn. 

Packers 34 - Cowboys 31

Al Bello/Getty Images
Offensive linemen like Bryan Bulaga will be counted on helping Aaron Rodgers look for targets.

Week 6 saw Dallas dominate a Green Bay team with Cole Beasley catching two touchdowns, Ezekiel Elliott rushing for 157 yards and Aaron Rodgers' scrambling being held to a minimum as Dallas won in convincing fashion. Dallas has not changed much in the three months since but, Green Bay is now without WR Jordy Nelson (ribs), RB Eddie Lacy and a whole lot of their starting defensive backfield. None of that has gotten in the way of Aaron Rodgers' success these last seven weeks yet, there is reason for some hesitation in a Green Bay pick this week since the Nelson injury is a new, unpredictable wrinkle in their attempt to "run the table". This should be the best game of the weekend and I am going to lean back on my preseason pick of the Packers winning the NFC.

Chiefs 29 - Steelers 24

Troy Toarmina - USA TODAY Sports
Eric Berry should be able to force at least one turnover in sloppy conditions.

This Sunday's game in Kansas City, Missouri has been pushed back to primetime as an ice storm is set to turn the Midwest into hell for much of Sunday. The actual game itself might not be quite as treacherous as the drive on the way to Arrowhead and as much as we would all love a defensive battle in classic football weather, the delay might save Ben Roethlisberger from breaking every bone in his body. Both defenses are wildly unpredictable with Kansas City giving up big plays yet forcing more turnovers than any team in the league and Pittsburgh's hot pass-rushers yet propensity to give up long drives to competent, non-Dolphin opponents. Pittsburgh killed the Chiefs 43-14 in week 4 without LB Justin Houston available for KC and Le'Veon Bell making his first start of the season on extremely fresh legs. This game should be totally different from that glorified preseason match and the weather might have enough of an impact that this is a completely unpredictable game. When in doubt, invoke the home-field advantage that Arrowhead provides.


Good luck to your playoff bandwagon of choice and may the new coaching tenures not end in embarrassment.

2017 NFL Wildcard Picks + College Football Championship Info

The college football championship is set and for the second year in a row, it'll be Clemson versus Alabama on every imaginable ESPN platform. Instead of going through all of the x's and o's on how Alabama will defeat the Tigers, I'd like to take some time to shout out ESPN on their innovative programming during the college playoff games. As somebody who greatly misses ESPN.com's smooth-running gamecasts, I was absolutely giddy watching ESPN2's multiple camera angles along with the little gamecast-like stat updates along the bottom line.

Here is ESPN's official announcement of the vast amount of options viewers have for watching the championship.

The highlight from that announcement is right at the top...

• Traditional Telecast on ESPN; Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Samantha Ponder, and Tom Rinaldi on the Call
• Homers Telecast on ESPN2; Coaches Film Room with Limited Interruptions on ESPNEWS; ESPN Voices with Keyshawn Johnson and Bill Walton on ESPNU; Finebaum Filmroom on SEC Network among 14 Productions of College Football’s Finale
• ESPN Classic, ESPN Goal Line, and ESPN3 with Alternative Productions
• ESPN Deportes Provided Spanish-Language Telecast, ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes have English and Spanish Audio
• ESPNU Airs Pregame Field Pass 90-Minutes Before Kickoff

Personally, I will try every option available to me ESPECIALLY if the game turns into a blowout. Hopefully it is as highly competitive as last year and Clemson doesn't go for any loose balls.

On to the NFL!

I like.... okay, "like" is a strong word... I prefer Brock Osweiler to Connor Cook. Give me Houston 24 - Oakland 6.

One of the main reasons I have faith in Houston is the assumed lack of laser pointers this time around.

This game stinks but, in a fun and entertaining way. Oakland's Khalil Mack and Houston's Jadeveon Clowney should have enormous games against the two worst playoff quarterbacks, both of whom were backups coming into last week. The end result of this game will have no impact whatsoever on the landscape of the NFL playoffs since the winner of this garbage rendezvous is doomed to lose to either Kansas City or New England in the second round. That doesn't mean the game is totally unwatchable though, as Oakland snuck past Houston 27-20 in Mexico City earlier this season. The gap between Derek Carr and Connor Cook should be more than seven points but, in a game where the defenses might outscore the offenses, anything is possible.

Seattle's broken secondary is still better than Detroit's broken quarterback, Seattle wins 20-13.

Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Golden Tate's revenge game will come up just short once again.

The last time these two faced, the Lions were one controversial goal line fumble from Calvin Johnson away from an upset win. One year and a couple months later and Megatron no longer plays for the team and Matthew Stafford was living life just as well as he had previously. Unfortunately for Jim Caldwell's team, Stafford is playing without the middle finger on his throwing hand and a white running back named Zach Zenner (best white running back in the league according to Seattle DE Michael Bennett. Apparently, he hasn't seen Rex Burkhead's week 17 highlights yet). Seattle is still incompetent up front and now, the running game is seeing the impact more than ever before. Losing Earl Thomas would have gotten this team destroyed against any healthy quarterback and Stafford is not healthy right now.

Miami covers their 10-point spread and the rest is a total guessing game, Pittsburgh rides Antonio Brown to a 30-24 victory.

In a game between two underrated offensive lines, Maurkice Pouncey guides Pittsburgh into the second round.

Do not let the coaching genius of Adam Gase fool you, Ryan Tannehill is still the superior option at quarterback when the other option is Matt Moore, who got Carolina Cam Newton thanks to being bad enough for the #1 pick six years ago. The entire wildcard round is much more about the quarterbacks than the average weekend considering the variety of terrible broken-down backups and past Super Bowl winners. Ben Roethlisberger is certainly a two-time champion but, he also suffered a sprained MCL back in late September that he still does not seem fully recovered from as he has been extremely inconsistent ever since. On paper, Pittsburgh has one of the three deadliest trio's offensively in the league with Ben-Bell-Brown, a great offensive line and a so-so defense where James Harrison still matters. At least we've seen Harrison win a playoff game before... I still have yet to see Ndamukong Suh or Cameron Wake accomplish that feat.

Some cold weather stalls both offenses as the playoff Giants are reborn in a 19-17 win at Lambeau.

Joe Robbins/Getty Images
The Giants paid a hefty price on players like DT Damon Harrison this offseason and they did so for games like this.

I do not believe in playoff Eli but, I am a firm believer in this Giants defense. Now, they may be a piece or two away from winning a Super Bowl singlehandedly like Denver's did last season but, they will still cause havoc for Packer team that they held to 23 points before the unit fully gelled the way it has the past month. Aaron Rodgers is so unstoppable that the combination of Olivier Vernon, "Snacks" Harrison, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Landon Collins might just be rendered useless and I could be 100% wrong in my prediction but, it wouldn't be the least believable thing an Eli-led postseason team has ever done.

Good luck to your playoff bandwagon of choice and may the QB play exceed our expectations!

WRBL Award Voting Is Now Available

Did you enjoy reading about the escapades of the 3rd semi-official season of the Wisconsin Rapids Bro League (WRBL)? If so, then now is the time to vote for the league's award winners! I am opening up the voting to LITERALLY everyone this year (you don't even have to be in the league!). Just click this link to the ballot and cast your votes for Rookie of the Year, Biggest Draft Bust, Waiver Wonder, Comeback Player of the Year and Zero of the Year. The winners will be announced in this year's WRBL Year In Review and voting closes whenever the hell I feel like it, months from now.

Use the final "As The WRBL Turns" as a guide for scoring leaders.

Have a suggestion for a new award? Leave a comment with your suggestions and I might add a new category at some point between now and next season. Until then...

It took 50% luck, 50% skill and 50% math for Cole to win his first year with our traveling trophy.

2016 Bold Predictions In Review

• Justin Bieber is arrested in some country outside of the U.S.

Did not happen and the Biebz kind of disappeared over the second half of the year. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• The Golden State Warriors win 72 games but, lose prior to the NBA Finals

They actually won 73 games but, don't let that distract you from the fact that the Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals against Cleveland. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• Lauryn Hill FINALLY drops an album out of thin air (I'm allowed to repeat)

There was at least one concert that she showed up late to (a Lauryn Hill tradition unlike any other!) and sadly, not even one song. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• Donald Trump drops out of the presidential race, only to announce his support for Hillary Clinton

LOL. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• Kendrick Lamar wins at least 6 Grammy Awards

Lamar only won 5 Grammys but, does anybody even remember AOTY winner 1989 by Taylor Swift? No. This prediction was wrongfully INCORRECT.

• The Cleveland Browns hire Chip Kelly as their new Head Coach/General Manager

The Chipster took over San Francisco after one season of Jim Tomsula and lasted one season himself because Jed York is the new face of terrible team ownership in sports. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• Michael Vick retires

There was never an official announcement made but, he has not been on any rosters this year. There are certainly some teams that could use him for the playoff run. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• Tom Brady gets re-suspended for #Deflategate

For some reason I still do not legally understand, this prediction was CORRECT.

• The Chicago Cubs are your 2016 World Series Champions after somehow acquiring Yasiel Puig

Why did I have to get cocky and add on the Yasiel Puig part? I should have just left it at "Team wins championship after 108 years" instead of being a dumbass. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• Zoolander 2 gets <40% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes

23%? Poo. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• A non-musician in the Thronedashian family releases a song and it's not awful

In a year where three Thronedashians (Kanye, Beyonce, Solange) dropped new albums, the rest of them did whatever it is the rest of them do and stayed away from music. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• Lebron leaves the Cavs

Now that he brought them a ring, he certainly could pull this departure off but, he won't because he's less flippant and reactionary than Dan Gilbert. This prediction was INCORRECT.

Ezra Shaw
Believeland had a great year by winning the NBA Championship, making the World Series and dodging 0-16 but, still locking up the #1 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. What could go wrong?

• The Seahawks win the Super Bowl

Did not happen but, I'm not sure why I found this one bold in the first place. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• It snows in May in Wisconsin.

Did not happen but, I'm not sure why I found this one bold in the first place. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• Some other musicians with new albums? Rihanna, Kanye West, The Killers, Santigold, Guns N' Roses, Bruno Mars, Fiona Apple, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Jay Z, Janelle Monae, Vampire Weekend, St. Vincent, KT Tunstall, John Legend, P!nk, Feist, M.I.A., Memory Tapes, The Shins, Skrillex and Mystikal.

CORRECT, CORRECT, INCORRECT, CORRECT, INCORRECT, CORRECT, INCORRECT, INCORRECT, CORRECT, INCORRECT, INCORRECT, INCORRECT, INCORRECT, CORRECT, CORRECT, INCORRECT, INCORRECT, CORRECT, INCORRECT, INCORRECT, INCORRECT, INCORRECT.

• The College Football Playoff is expanded to 8 teams after they tear up the current contract

The NCAA is still a bit too uptight to tear up any contracts and considering this year's playoff results, maybe we don't need a playoff after all. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• A Controversial law is passed country-wide (There's always at least one)

I'm not looking it up, just give me this one free space. This prediction was CORRECT.

• Unfortunately, Kristaps Porzingis suffers a major injury (Sorry, I don't mean to get dark on this)

The unicorn is safe and happy! This prediction was INCORRECT.

• ESPN announces that it is going to launch ESPN4

Did not happen but, there is still no channel for me to watch any Division III regular season NCAA football games. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• The Lakers hire Tom Thibodeau

No but, Minnesota did and the results are surprisingly bad so far. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• I set a new personal record in wings eaten over a 365-day span

I forgot about this one after three months. I disappoint myself and have brought shame upon my family. This prediction was INCORRECT.

• None of these predictions come true.

Dammit. This prediction was INCORRECT.

10 out of 43 (23%) is a new personal worst (in the two years that I have performed this ridiculous exercise and I have flunked out of prediction school. "Oh but Andy, look at all of those memorable people who predicted things wrongfully and are now greatly respected!" "Like who?" "Like that one person from that one thing."