Bracket of Awesome Announcement + All-Star Weekend

In 2011, the world was a much different place. For one, I was extremely bored in school and needed something other than homework to pass the time so, I created the Brackets of Awesome and Awful as a way to pass time, provide heated yet respectful debates and ultimately, keep followers of said brackets entertained once I realized how seriously some people's rooting interests were.

Six years and 402 nominations later, it is 2017. I am no longer in school and I am not all that bored either. The Bracket of Awful ceased to exist after it's inaugural run, when I did not want to be the spreader of negativity anymore despite the obvious comedic value provided by ludicrous matchups like Hitler versus Nickelback. It was a tough decision that was made easier both by college and the willingness of a friend to take responsibility of any future Brackets of Awful.

The "home base" for both of these brackets has been, since 2012, Facebook and once the website decided to take away polling options for user-run fan pages, The annual set-up for voting became a bit more challenging and just a smidgen too time-consuming for my taste. In 2012, Facebook was a place where people shared too much info about themselves and I could crack jokes every once in a while and the whole place was just harmless fun when the wild variable that is the Bracket of Awesome was introduced into everybody's timeline because of the semi-annoying yet totally advantageous (for the bracket and I anyways) voting process and the spam it spawned.

In 2017, the Bracket of Awesome is too pure for this world. Facebook still has that aura of self-importance and over-sharing (we're all guilty of it at some point) but, the respectful debates no longer exist when every other post is an unwanted and unnecessary political opinion from either side, where nobody plays the middle or uses critical thinking anymore especially when it comes to that fun topic that people over 50 just became aware of in the problematic spreading of fake news, whether it be a bullshit story about Dr. Pepper no longer being manufactured or a more serious bullshit accusation like -insert political headline that terrifies you here-. Facebook is too serious and overly-dramatic (says the man writing a long rant leading to an announcement that very few actually care about) to host something as potentially divisive as the Bracket of Awesome. Nobody needs a bunch of white men telling the world how overrated Beyonce' is and your whiny post is not getting anybody impeached today so, get off my lawn.

Are there really 64 awesome things worthy of nomination that I have yet to cover in these brackets? Probably but, I'm too tired to figure that out anymore. That is why it is with great sadness that I announce the end of The Bracket of Awesome. There will be no bracket in 2017 but, much like any show or movie from your childhood, this in no way rules out a potential rebooting of the bracket some years down the road. All I'm saying is that six years, 402 nominations, six winners (Betty White, Cole Walters, Vacations, Swamprat Outdoors, Freedom, Allen Iverson) and a whole bunch of votes cast seems like the perfect time for something as purely beautiful and unifying as The Bracket of Awesome to ride a unicorn into the sunset alongside Chuck Norris and Prince.

Thank you for your votes and thank you for making something completely ridiculous blow up for the years that it has.

- A. Todd

Now onto something that is still taking place and is much closer in time than March Madness, it's time to preview this year's NBA All-Star Weekend and the upcoming basketball trade deadline!

"Celebrity" All-Star Game
I thought this would have been cancelled a few years ago when Jesse Williams suffered a major knee injury in-game but, the game has been revitalized in recent years by the presence of NBA owners and dominant bigs like Arne Duncan and Arcade Fire's Win Butler. Much like the entirety of NBA All-Star Weekend, this event does not require a whole lot of analysis but, it's basketball so it's fun even if poorly played.

WEST ROSTER
Miles Brown (actor)
Tom Cavanagh (actor)
Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks owner)
Baron Davis (NBA legend)
Andy Grammer (recording artist)
Jiang Jinfu (actor, model)
Anthony Mackie (actor)
Romeo Miller (actor, recording artist)
Hasan Minhaj (actor, comedian)
Master P (actor, recording artist)
Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks, WNBA)
Aarón Sánchez (celebrity chef)

Coaches:
Michael Smith (ESPN host)
Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors)
Rocsi Diaz (television personality)

EAST ROSTER
Brandon Armstrong (former NBA D-League player and social media star)
Win Butler (musician)
Nick Cannon (actor, recording artist)
Rachel DeMita (NBA2K TV personality)
Ansel Elgort (actor, recording artist)
Marc Lasry (Milwaukee Bucks owner)
Caleb McLaughlin (actor)
Peter Rosenberg (media personality)
Oscar Schmidt (Basketball legend)
Lindsay Whalen (WNBA player)
Jason Williams (NBA legend)
Kris Wu (recording artist)

Coaches:
Jemele Hill (ESPN host)
Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors)
Fat Joe (recording artist)

Predicted Winner: Give me the East's roster with a never-out-of-his-prime Jason Williams every time.

Rising Stars Challenge
The second and final event of Friday night is quietly the most must-watch event of the weekend for true basketball-heads. The poorest of NBA teams aren't typically scheduled for primetime national television and therefore, a majority of NBA fans don't get to see the raw young prospects until they turn into the superstars that players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Anthony Davis became after two turns in this game. It's still absent of defense like the All Star Game itself but, there aren't many chances for these super young players to show off their raw athleticism in-game without embarrassing their franchises.

TEAM WORLD
Alex Abrines
Dante Exum
Willy Hernangomez
Buddy Hield
Nikola Jokic
Trey Lyles
Jamal Murray
Kristaps Porzingis
Domantas Sabonis
Dario Saric

TEAM USA
Devin Booker
Malcolm Brogdon
Marquese Chriss
Brandon Ingram
Frank Kaminsky
Jahlil Okafor
D'Angelo Russell
Jonathon Simmons
Karl-Anthony Towns
Myles Turner

Predicted Winner: The USA team has a mighty large advantage at the guard positions while Team World is just mighty large. The game might be close but, having KAT and underrated Myles Turner (his full name) goes a long way. USA by 15-20 points.

Talent Contest
Words cannot express how thrilling last year's talent competition was. The greatest event to ever grace TNT's airwaves saw Miles Plumlee juggling on a unicycle and Harrison Barnes on the saxophone lose a highly contested battle to baller/painter Jeremy Evans. This year will showcase the talents of 7 established veterans and Devin Booker playing ping pong. I have received no words on the Vegas odds for this event.

PARTICIPANTS
Devin Booker
Chris Bosh
Luc Mbah a Moute
C.J. Miles
Victor Oladipo
Iman Shumpert
Lou Williams
Metta World Peace

Predicted Winner: I have heard Metta World Peace rap back when he was still Ron Artest but, I have not listened to the forward rap since he was on the NBA 2K12 soundtrack so, it is possible that he's slipped over time and will be outdone by fellow rapper/Laker Lou Williams. I've also heard Victor Oladipo sing and been impressed so, without knowing half of the field's talents, I'm taking Oladipo.

Mountain Dew 3-on-3 Game
Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook are in charge of two teams of three amateur players drafted by Shaquille O'Neal and Dennis Scott. After the success of last year's Dunk King competition, the NBA decided to team up with Mountain Dew and showcase the talents of some random street players whose names we will immediately forget at the end of the program.

Predicted Winner: Shaq drafted all of the taller dudes so, give me Team Kyrie.

Skills Challenge
The format of bigs versus guards reinvigorated the competition last season when Karl-Anthony Towns sneaked in a win for the tall guys over Isaiah Thomas. KAT stepped down this year and let everyone else take a shot at out-running, out-shooting and out-passing each other.

SMALLS
Devin Booker
Gordon Hayward
Isaiah Thomas
John Wall

BIGS
DeMarcus Cousins
Anthony Davis
Nikola Jokic
Kristaps Porzingis

Predicted Winner: With KAT sitting this one out, I'll take last season's runner-up Isaiah Thomas. He is on a lengthy hot streak in all fairness.

Three-Point Contest
The most enjoyable weekend of the NBA regular season was made slightly less enjoyable when Stephen Curry decided to pass on settling the 1-1 tie with teammate Klay Thompson in three-point shootout wins. Instead, we get a fun cast of deep threats that includes two past winners (Thompson and Kyrie Irving) and the fascinating divergent personalities of a rising star with a future in TV (C.J. McCollum) and whatever "Swaggy P" is now.

SHOOTERS
Eric Gordon
Kyrie Irving
Kyle Lowry
Wesley Matthews
C.J. McCollum
Klay Thompson
Kemba Walker
Nick Young

Predicted Winner: The nation deserves a Nick Young win... meaning that he will score a 0 because his foot is on the line every time and he never thinks to look down. Give me Klay with the back-to-back victories.

Slam Dunk Contest
With Zach LaVine nursing a torn ACL, Aaron Gordon should have had an easy path to victory and did until he needed a medical boot for his foot last week. The mad man still seems dead set on giving everyone a show Saturday night and with Embiid out of the Skills contest due to injury and LaVine now down for a year or more, I think the NBA really lucked out as people will still tune in to see how the hoverboarding-mascot dunker could possibly outperform the standard both he and LaVine have set.

DUNKERS
Aaron Gordon
Derrick Jones Jr.
DeAndre Jordan
Glenn Robinson III

Predicted Winner: Derrick Jones Jr. has gotten way too much criticism for being invited and should have a few "F you" dunks prepared up his sleeve plus he's healthy.

The Actual NBA All Star Game Itself
As always, there will be minimal defense played and that makes the winner completely unpredictable. This has not stopped me before and certainly will not stop me now, when there is very little taking place across the sports landscape.

WEST ROSTER
DeMarcus Cousins
Stephen Curry
Anthony Davis
Kevin Durant
Marc Gasol
Draymond Green
James Harden
Gordon Hayward
DeAndre Jordan
Kawhi Leonard
Klay Thompson
Russell Westbrook

EAST ROSTER
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Carmelo Anthony
Jimmy Butler
DeMar DeRozan
Paul George
Kyrie Irving
LeBron James
Kyle Lowry
Paul Millsap
Isaiah Thomas
Kemba Walker
John Wall

Predicted Winner: The main event of the weekend is still the lone event of Sunday and there does not seem to be any push in trying to change this despite the day being one of the dullest Sundays of the year. With Carmelo Anthony replacing Kevin Love on the East's squad, every sports personality gets an excuse to bring up the excruciatingly overblown mess that is the New York Knick organization. It's gotten so bad at Madison Square Garden that I expect Anthony's selfish style of play to be the Achilles' heel of the East in this game, as dumb as that obviously sounds. Westbrook won't play with all four Warriors despite that being everybody's wet dream for a lone takeaway from this game.

That is every televised (on TNT or ESPN) event happening in the basketball world this weekend. Was it worth all of this time and discussion? I suppose we'll know for sure after Sunday night. ENJOY!

59th Annual Grammy Awards, It's Either Adele or Beyonce'

February is a busy month where television tries to get all of their major events out of the way before it's warm enough to step foot outside again in much of the United States. For instance, last weekend we all gathered around the television and watched the greatest game in NFL history and now, many shows are making their season premieres on big networks (HBO, FX, FOX, etc.), the NBA All-Star Weekend and the Oscars both take place on separate upcoming weeks and this Sunday is the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.

Even though the winners have yet to be announced, there is already a sense of disappointment in the air. The consensus #1 album of the year (according to albumoftheyear.org, a website that has a cumulative list of top albums and songs of the year according to every major publication's end of year lists), David Bowie's Blackstar was snubbed from the Album of the Year nominations despite the committee's propensity to throw awards at the oldest or most-recently deceased artists, whether deserving or not. As a result, there are many mainstream choices that never would have sniffed this ceremony a decade ago (Twentyone Pilots, Lukas Graham, etc.) in major categories while Adele versus Beyonce' becomes the main storyline of the evening as we all should have seen coming had we known of the Bowie snub.

The list of performers at the Staples Center this year is largely a gathering of artists the award show has become familiar with over the past five years (Daft Punk, Adele, Bruno Mars) and a couple of nice throw-ins like Chance The Rapper, A Tribe Called Quest and preggers Beyonce'. It should be an interesting show at the very least with James Corden being an immense improvement in hosting personality over SOMEHOW-5-TIME HOST LL Cool J.

It's time to dig a tad deeper into this award ceremony and figure out who should and who probably will win the major categories as I do every year.

Record of the Year

- "Formation" by Beyonce'
- "Hello" by Adele
- "7 Years" by Lukas Graham
- "Stressed Out" by Twentyone Pilots
- "Work" by Rihanna featuring Drake

Who should win? "Formation"
Who will win? Adele

The widely appreciated #1 song of the year according to a majority of news publications should absolutely win this award and like most years, that means some bullshit is about to go down. "Hello" is a cookie-cutter Adele song that nobody dislikes but, it did not move the cultural needle anywhere near as much as the video, lyrics and subsequent reaction to "Formation" did. In any other year, Adele's victory would be obvious but, this one is going to be a toss-up because it is the Grammy's after all and Adele over Beyonce' is nowhere near as egregious as Meghan Fucking Trainor over Courtney Barnett.

Album of the Year

- 25 by Adele
- A Sailor's Guide To Earth by Sturgill Simpson
- Lemonade by Beyonce'
- Purpose by Justin Bieber
- Views by Drake

Who should win? Yonce'
Who will win? Sturgill Simpson

Good lord. 2016 was an absolutely stacked year for albums and THIS is the list of five nominees they came up with? Beyonce' belongs here and I understand their infatuation with Adele but fucking Views? Seriously? Sturgill Simpson gets the "see, we still have credibility among critics!" nod and will probably win like Arcade Fire's The Suburbs at the beginning of the decade. The Bieber album seems like it happened years ago but, it is a very good album from a guy who nobody wanted to like due to past transgressions and the 180 that society has done on this guy's music should not go unnoticed. There is no way Drake (seriously? VIEWS?!) or Bieber get rewarded as both have publicly announced their intentions to skip the show as they do not feel the awards accurately represent the year in music.

Song of the Year

- "Formation" by Beyonce'
- "Hello" by Adele
- "I Took A Pill In Ibiza" by Mike Posner
- "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber
- "7 Years" by Lukas Graham

Who should win? "Formation" and it's not close
Who will win? Lukas Graham.

The Song of the Year award typically goes to a foreign act with a "deep" song that tugs at the heartstrings of corny people. "7 Years" was created specifically to cater to that crowd. Adele is a strong candidate here as well because she's Adele but with how eager and try-hard the nominations were this year, I would not put it past the voters to reward Danish pop band Lukas Graham despite their odds at having any staying power being quite low in comparison to established acts in their primes like Adele and the deserving victor, Beyonce'. They can get away with it this year though because Kanye won't be there.

Best New Artist

And the nominees are...

- Anderson .Paak
- Chance The Rapper
- Kelsea Ballerini
- Maren Morris
- The Chainsmokers

Who should win? Chance The Rapper
Who will win? The Chainsmokers

Oh yeah, this one will start some riots. Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini will split the country vote and unfortunately, there is a chance that Paak and Chance split the critically-acclaimed upbeat rapper vote. Those two factions create an open path to the worst dimension where bro-est of the bros DJ duo The Chainsmokers are determined as the world's Best New Artist. They will get votes because I'm certain that some people just look at the Billboard charts, see "Closer", "Don't Let Me Down" and "#Selfie" and decide that "hey, this is what America wants" when instead, it will unleash a rolling ball of criticism that the Grammy Awards might not be able to recover from in the social/streaming media era.

Drew Taggart and Alex Pall (AKA: The Chainsmokers), would be the first DJ duo to ever win Best New Artist.

Best Pop Solo Performance

And the nominees are...

- "Dangerous Woman" by Ariana Grande
- "Hello" by Adele
- "Hold Up" by Beyonce'
- "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber
- "Piece By Piece (Idol Version)" by Kelly Clarkson

Who should win? Beyonce'
Who will win? Adele

The Grammy's fascination with Kelly Clarkson needs to be explained to me because she has not made a nominateable song in ten years and it's been fifteen years since everyone felt like they knew her personally because of her run on the extinct American Idol series. This category is typically much more separate from the rest of the show but, this year Best Pop Solo Performance shares three nominations with the Song/Record of the Year categories. It's obviously another case of Adele vs. Beyonce' and with Adele's vocal range, any award is within grasp.

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

And the nominees are...

- "Cheap Thrills" by Sia ft. Sean Paul
- "Closer" by The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey
- "7 Years" by Lukas Graham
- "Stressed Out" by Twentyone Pilots
- "Work" by Rihanna ft. Drake

Who should win? "Cheap Thrills"
Who will win? "7 Years"

An unusually weak category, I have zero interest in which duo wins this award. "Work" is the most overrated and overplayed Rihanna song in a year where Drake regressed and none of that is deserving of as many nominations as this song received. "Stressed Out" is fine but doesn't seem like an award-winning song, even in a category filled with those types of songs. Lukas Graham will win by default.

 Best Pop Vocal Album

And the nominees are...

- 25 by Adele
- Confident by Demi Lovato
- Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande
- Purpose by Justin Bieber
- This Is Acting by Sia

Who should win? Adele
Who will win? Adele

Best Rock Performance

And the nominees are...

- "Blackstar" by David Bowie
- "Don't Hurt Yourself" by Beyonce' ft. Jack White
- "Heathens" by Twentyone Pilots
- "Joe (live from Austin City Limits)" by Alabama Shakes
- "The Sound Of Silence  (live on Conan)" by Disturbed

Who should win? "Blackstar"
Who will win? "Blackstar"

If you thought that the entire evening could go on without the late David Bowie winning a single award, think again. This should be an extremely easy win for Bowie because what the fuck even is this list of nominees? Two live performances? The Song from the wildly disappointing Suicide Squad movie? Beyonce'? This has to be the most bizarre list of rock performances ever and that's not to say anything bad about the nominees. Lorde's nomination three years ago was an oddity but really, TWO live performances? Why?

Best Alternative Music Album

And the nominees are...

- 22, A Million by Bon Iver
- A Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead
- Blackstar by David Bowie
- Post Pop Depression by Iggy Pop
- The Hope Six Demolition Project by PJ Harvey

Who should win? Bon Iver or Radiohead
Who will win? Bowie

There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving Blackstar as many Grammys as possible because of the immaculate timing in which it was released and the subject matter/influences of the album. I just happen to believe that Radiohead and Bon Iver's slightly longer (in terms of track totals, not actual length) albums were better and that's a totally fine stance to have when every album here is legitimate and has a strong artistic value with how bold and unique each one of them are. Grammy Awards that come down to personal preference are way more fun than the awards that are given to the abomination that is Meghan Trainor's first album instead of literally any other Best Artist nominee last year when those two should never have been involved in the same discussion. I'm not bitter at all, can't you tell?


Best Urban Contemporary Album

And the nominees are...

- Anti by Rihanna
- Lemonade by Beyonce'
- Malibu by Anderson .Paak
- Ology by Gallant
- We Are King by KING

Who should win? Beyonce'
Who will win? Beyonce'

Nobody knows what this category is but quick hint, it's not about the music. Hot takes aside, this is quite an interesting grouping of pop/hip hop/R&B influenced acts including one of the most exciting new performers in music in Gallant. It's a shame that this man is not scheduled to perform this Sunday because as much as ABC advertises "Grammy moments", his voice and energetic stage presence would steal the entire night and be the definition of a Grammy moment. Anderson .Paak is actually scheduled to perform and has an outside chance at Best New Artist. With all of that said, the voters are not dumb enough to give this award to anything other than Lemonade.

Best Rap Performance

And the nominees are...

- "All The Way Up" by Fat Joe & Remy Ma ft. French Montana and Infrared
- "No Problem" by Chance The Rapper ft. Lil' Wayne and 2 Chainz
- "Panda" by Desiigner
- "Pop Style" by Drake ft. The Throne
- "That Part" by Schoolboy Q ft. Kanye West

Who should win? Chance
Who will win? Desiigner

This is the weakest grouping of rap performances to have been nominated for this award. I'm not in love with any of the songs nominated here but, Chance deserves at least one trophy before the end of the night and if it has to be "No Problem" that wins him the accolade then, so be it. Realistically, "Panda" will win due to it's excessive chart domination when no other nominee made Billboard's top ten.

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

And the nominees are...

- "Broccoli" by D.R.A.M. ft. Lil' Yachty
- "Famous" by Kanye West ft. Rihanna
- "Freedom" by Beyonce' ft. Kendrick Lamar
- "Hotline Bling" by Drake
- "Ultralight Beam" by Kanye West ft. Chance The Rapper, The-Dream, Kelly Price and Kirk Franklin.

Who should win? "Ultralight Beam"
Who will win? "Freedom"

A wildly unpredictable category, the rap/sung collaboration award is never handed out on national television but, always has an exciting list of selections that would incite some quality debates if anyone besides me gave a shit about it. "Ultralight Beam" may have been the #1 non-single released in 2016. "Freedom" stars 9-time 2017 nominee Beyonce' and 11-time 2016 nominee/5-time winner Kendrick Lamar so, the scent of a winner is strong with this one. The dark horse (not really) winner here is "Hotline Bling", a song heavily influenced by (to the point of ripping off) fellow nominee D.R.A.M.. Drake's defining song came out JUST after last year's cut-off date and with it's extreme takeover of both the charts and the internet, "Bling" has just as much of a valid case for the trophy as Yeezy and B. Shout out to D.R.A.M., who is such an easy dude to root for but, will only win this award if the most popular artists cancel out each other's votes. "Famous" is a little bit overrated due to the controversial music video but, it does manage to give The Life Of Pablo two nominations in the same category which is great because that is still a great album.

Best Rap Album

And the nominees are...

- and the Anonymous Nobody... by De La Soul
- Blank Face LP by Schoolboy Q
- Coloring Book by Chance The Rapper
- Major Key by DJ Khaled
- The Life Of Pablo by Kanye West
- Views by Drake

Who should win? Chance or Kanye
Who will win? Drake

Views is the only album in this category nominated for Album of the Year and had it's entire track list chart on the Hot 100 the week it debuted. It is an amazingly boring album and it will win this award because life is not fair. Chance has an outside shot at winning due to his surging wave of hype forcing the Grammys to reconsider their stance on mixtapes as albums.

Thus concludes my annual Grammy Awards preview. Hopefully, I am wrong about some of the winners but in a year where the obvious Album of the Year contender (Bowie) can't get a nomination over fucking Drake's weakest album, the possibilities are endless.

The Grammy Awards take place at 8 PM ET on CBS on Sunday, February 12th.

Super Bowl LI: The Game That Will Somehow Be Overshadowed

The 2016 NFL season has been an interesting ride and will conclude this Sunday on FOX (beginning around 6:30 PM ET) as the New England Patriots look for their fifth championship in fifteen years against the Atlanta Falcons, a team that has yet to hold a Lombardi Trophy of their own. The game takes place after two weeks of the juiciest drama the NBA has ever seen, a month of lackluster playoff games (not including Dallas vs. Green Bay), 9 NFL weeks that were poorly played and overlooked because of the tumultuous election season. In short, this is one the quietest build-ups to Super Bowl weekend in recent memory. Even media day had zero interest in the sports news cycle. The best match-up would have been New England vs. Green Bay as it would have pitted the 2 (brace yourself for this hot take) GREATEST QUARTERBACKS IN NFL HISTORY in Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers against each other while a majority of the nation fumed with jealousy as two spoiled franchises added to their trophy cases/legacies.

Dale Zanine - USA TODAY Sports
Matt Ryan's MVP-like performances have gotten him this far.

It's not Atlanta's fault that the hype for this game has seemed small in comparison to past years. After all, the Falcons have the #1 offense in the NFL and the game should be an epic four hours of one-score football reminiscent of every Super Bowl that the Belichick/Brady combination have ever been a part of together. I want to be careful here since the 18-0 Pats lost to a seemingly mediocre (by Super Bowl standards) Giants team and could not avenge their loss four years later despite rostering Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez at the same damn time but, this does not seem like a game that a healthy Tom Brady ever loses. Atlanta's defense is either way too young or way too old to stop an offense so intelligently coached and versatile. Dwight Freeney needs deer antler spray to put in a performance that in any way resembles the players we've become accustomed to bothering offenses in this game.

Ultimately, it's Bill Belichick versus Dan Quinn and I'm taking Belichick 99 times out of 100, even against Julio Jones' mammoth frame. Don't be shocked if it comes down to the last minute again and don't be shocked if one of the following things is talked about more than whatever happens in the game during the next day's news cycle...

1. Donald Trump's pre-game interview. (Want to have fun at a Super Bowl party this year? Bring up this guy and don't be afraid to reference specific policies throughout the game because fuck having fun or any type of comfortability around others, right?)

2. Lady Gaga's halftime show (She's a known wildcard. There could be bizarre outfits, she could make things political since that's all anybody does in 2017 for better or worse or she might even bring out guests like 90-year old Tony Bennett and stun that half of the country that still thinks she's some over-manufactured pop artist with no real vocal ability. (These people still exist and they are idiots.)

3. The Super Bowl ads are actually decent this year.

4. Joe Buck continues to get bashed nationally for football biases he does not actually have and unleashes a fiery rant that has been building up inside of him for years.

5. Another Falcon gets arrested the night before the game after Michael Vick's retirement party.

6. Darrelle Revis pulls a Marshawn Lynch and posts a photo on Instagram of all three of his NFL jerseys, with a stack of money on top of each and a ring on his Pats' uniform as well. The caption will read "Heading to the island. #WorthIt"

My Pick: New England wins 34-31.

Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Belichick will recognize the weakness that is Atlanta's run defense, keep it safe by handing the ball to LeGarrette Blount and eventually, handing the MVP trophy to Blount as well.

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.