Blinded by Purple and Gold

        As a lifelong Los Angeles Lakers fan this is the first season in which I haven't watched any games. Okay, I may have caught a few minutes of playing time almost equivalent to someone like Luke Walton. Its not because I’m boycotting the Lakers because they fired my favorite Lakers coach of my lifetime, Mike Brown (just kidding no one will ever replace Del Harris). It's mostly in part to the fact that I have DishNetwork and they refuse to come to agreement with Time Warner Cable. I haven’t gone out of my way to catch a game. II periodically glance at a box score, catch a few minutes of highlights and either nod my head in celebration or toss the phone down in disgust. I even destroyed a phone when I read all the Phil Jackson to the Lakers' hype only to find out they dissed him for Mike D’Antoni. That poor iPhone never saw that coming (once again kidding).

Since I brought up the Jackson to the Lakers hype here's my rant. 

What the hell is a matter with Jim Buss? You don’t let your general manager utter the name Phil Jackson, get your entire fan base hyped up and then sneak in the consolation prize. It's equivalent to me texting all my buddies early on Friday morning, “Tonight's gonna be serious, I’m flying all of us to Vegas, I got us a suite you won’t believe. I promise one of us will get lost. We are gonna get plastered and there might even be drugs and a hospital trip involved”. Then Friday night comes and we are headed to a Chuck E. Cheese drinking wine coolers (something tells me Jose would be down for that). They should have let Phil turn down the job or not offer him the job at all. Then if the Lakers get bounced out of the playoffs early I won’t have the what if Phil came back question hanging over my head during the summer. 
*Editor's note: I for one would be down with drinking wine coolers on my way to Chuck E. Cheese. That is probably my favorite pizza of all time and since I am lactose intolerant, I haven't ate that in ages. Let's round up the guys and plan this soon. I'm dead serious.*

The following are headlines that stood out the most during that weekend of PJ coming back and my responses. 

“Lakers fire Mike Brown after 1-4 start” (They should have done this 4 months ago)

“Lakers top coaching candidates Phil Jackson, Mike D’Antoni, and Jerry Sloan” (Phil needs to come back. Mike D’Antoni? He plays no Defense and ruins careers. Jerry Sloan had his time.)

“Lakers announce head coaching job is Phil’s to turn down” (No way Phil turns this down and no way he doesn’t squeeze a back to back out of this starting 5.)

“Lakers Hire Mike D’Antoni” (F*&* F*&* F$^$!!! Never mind I shouldn’t share what happened next I can’t wait for the 30 for 30 on ESPN to explain what happened here.)

As far as Mike D’Antoni goes, I believe he is gonna change the way the Lakers play. He’s possibly going to lead Kobe to another scoring title with his inability to pull the reigns back on him. We all saw the "death stare", D’Antoni wants no part of that. I'm not rooting for his failure, I support him 100 percent, it's just gonna take time for me to accept the consolation prize. He has so much talent in his starting five that it should be title or bust and hopefully he understands that and can figure out a way of delivering another title to a hungry Lakers fan base. 

One of the things that concern me about D’Antoni is he runs players for excessive minutes. Ask A'mare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony about their 3 game streaks of playing all but just a few minutes. He doesn’t play defense. Okay maybe that really doesn’t concern me since Mike Brown was a defense first guy but yet the Lakers would still have trouble defending the high pick and roll. And that even goes back to the days of Phil Jackson when Dallas exploited that weakness. So I could really careless if he doesn’t play defense. If he preaches it or not, the Lakers has always struggled defending the high screen and roll so I’ll give him that pass. I’m curious to see how he utilizes the talent he has on his hands and what Mitch and Jim do to help build that bench.
*Editor's note: It's about time a Lakers' fan realizes that the Lakers have never been a defensive minded team. Even with a defensive minded coach in Mike Brown. That was one thing that drove me nuts, hearing "D'Antoni doesn't even care about defense". The Lakers have never worried about playing D until crunch time when Kobe and Metta World Peace make their defensive presence felt. Thank you for realizing that unlike good ol' Bruce.*

My biggest concern is the "Just wait until Nash returns, things will work themselves out" and the laundry list of excuses that come after every loss and poor performance. Somebody needs to take accountability or at least start pointing the finger. 
*Editor's note: It's true, just wait until Nash returns. It's going to get NASH-ty for the rest of the NBA*

Now back to my original idea and purpose of writing this. I wanted to shine some light on NBA statistics and put them to the test this season. Since I’m not watching games until Dish finally comes to terms to televise them. I have followed this Lakers' season purely on box scores and short highlight videos. I want to see if the stats really can determine the way a season is going or if they don’t even tell half the story and just are merely added numbers of individual performance. I’m going with the latter.

Unlike Baseball a sport in which there is a statistic for everything and allows us to truly gauge a players ability with just numbers. Not necessarily entirely accurate but if Billy Beane can build winners with a computer stats must be very strong in MLB. The NBA on the other hand is a sport in which artistry plays a part and team play is essential. There is no statistic for how hard you play defense and how fast you hustle. It's not that you got 20 points, it's how you did it that separates the stars from the scrubs. 

Example: Player A may have a stat line 20 points, six rebounds, seven assists. Player B's stat-line, 18 points, seven rebounds, two assists. Obviously Player A statistically contributed more to his team's performance. But what you don’t get out of box scores is that Player B may have scored nine straight points in the final two minutes of a seven point game to seal a win for his team. So, who really contributed more? How we measure players in the NBA has always bothered me. I never have truly agreed with an MVP award in about 15 seasons since Michael Jordan received an award in that case he was truly the Most Valuable Player. Yes I just snuck in a Jordan praise. 

Here is the Lakers stats I pulled up the following morning after the Indiana loss and my reactions to each one.

 Indiana 79 Los Angeles 77. Really? A game in the 70's with D’Antoni’s offense. WTF? Was my first question. The Pacers only put up 79? A Kardashian must have been distracting them. 
*Editor's note: This made me LOL.*

Kobe Bryant 40 points. My eyes got big until I found out he played 44 minutes and went 12-28 shooting, 11 of those 3’s. 10 turnovers. Interesting fact, Kobe has scored 40+ points 127 times now and has lost only 38 of those games. That's 71 percent of the games that Kobe drops 40+ points the Lakers have won. 

Dwight Howard 17 points. Cool. That's the range he should be getting. Eight rebounds. What? Only Kobe registered double digit rebounds, something is wrong with that. 3-12 free throws made. Figures! 

Gasol 10 points. That's it?!?! 2-9 shooting. Kobe should have fed him more. 

Just looking at the box score, it looks like Kobe was doing everything he could to get a win. Since he had 10 turnovers, I’m assuming he was trying to drive the ball and one too many times got his pocket picked or he was making too many bad attempts at trying to feed Pau and Dwight. And he had flu like symptoms that may have played a part. 

Lakers point gaurds got a whopping three total assists, which will be corrected once Steve Nash returns (says D’Antoni). Here’s what you can’t get out of looking at the box score, it doesn’t say Kobe drained a 3 to tie the game at 77. Or that the Lakers had a shot to win until George Hill drained a layup off the glass. He looked like J.J. Barea putting a dagger in the Lakers a few years ago in the playoffs. Still not over the fact the Lakers can’t defend the simplest of plays, Dwight should have put him on his back. In other words this may have been one of the worst performances between two NBA franchises in quite sometime.
*Editor's note: I thought the same exact thing when I saw Hill kiss it off the glass just over the finger tips of Dwight to win the game. It reminded me of Barea doing that just out of the  reach of our old buddy Andrew Bynum.*

After following the Lakers in this manner it takes away from the romance of following your team. Had I actually watched, I would be more bitter looking at trades and moves that could benefit this roster. In this manner its just me peeking in the room to see what's going on and walking away. For now I will continue checking box scores, ignoring texts from friends that say “are you watching Lake show?” and continue watching highlights the following morning. Its not the same as watching live and watching it all play it out. Hopefully I can return in time to witness something special. 

Here are my predictions of where this season might go based on this roster. I don’t see them going much deeper than the second round of the the playoffs. The bench is weak. Seven players are under the age of 25 and trading Gasol for three players with experience would greatly benefit the team. Yeah, I said it. If D’Antoni can get everyone on the same page with Nash running the offense they can be dangerous, given they have weapons in this starting rotation that makes us drool. The lack of talent on the bench is holding them back and makes me want to vomit. And yes when you see "zeros" on the bench stat lines its easy to tell how their season is going. I give D’Antoni a first season pass and expect a title next year. Typical that a Lakers fan expects a title. 

Back in Action

"Camacho could fight. As a lightweight, he was blazing fast and he had great, great skills. People don't realize he was one of the signature guys that helped build the boxing brand back in the '80s. CBS loved him. Anybody he fought they put him on CBS, and he invariably got them good ratings." - Bob Arum (Source USA Today)

It's been a while since we here at TheSoCalSportsGuys have been active blogging. Truth be told I'm going through quick pace changes in my life. Started a new job, which is a challenge to say the least. I'm a new guy at a place with guys that have been there for years, and I have a bit of power over them. It's hard for them to take me serious only being there a couple weeks. Enough of that, I'm trying to escape all that by doing what I love. Write about sports. I'm still contributing my weekly fantasy column to the Daily Press, but this blog has taken a bit of a backseat to it all.

 

Since I last blogged, so much has happened in the world of Boxing. I might have last blogged when Emmanuel Steward passed. Since then, we have seen the tragic loss of one of the brightest and game changing individuals we have seen in the squared circle, Hector "Macho" Camacho. The former champion was wounded by a gunshot in his native Puerto Rico and had initially been expected to recover. Then we heard of spine damage and the chances of him being paralyzed. Then in a tragic turn of events we found out his own mother had to take him life support. 

A big loss to to the Boxing community, as he inspired so many of today's fighters. He was a cocky, arrogant, self centered, egoistical, flamboyant, the consummate guy you love to hate. Macho Camacho oozed of charisma, and it was evident when HBO aired clips of him as young champion on the broadcast of the Robert Guerrero/Andre Berto slug fest (which I will get to in a minute). Camacho's influence has been imprinted in guys like Roy Jones Jr, Naseem Hamed, Paulie Malignaggi, and hell even the ever so original Floyd "Money" Mayweather. It was one thing to be cocky and flashy with your craft in the ring, but Camacho had a swagger about him that you loved to hate. I for one didn't ever have the chance to see him fight, but I have seen enough videos of him on YouTube over the years to know he was one bad motherfucker. He was a tactician in the ring that wasn't afraid to brawl. He had heart, he had guts, he had the will to stare down somebody down and take whatever punishment they dished out. He was quick and effective with his craft, and had a chin that could withstand the blow of a sledgehammer. 

Steward said it best when he told Oscar De La Hoya he wouldn't knock him out when they fought in 1997 - "You are not going to knock him out, his chin is made of granite and his heart is twice the size."

That was Macho Camacho, the guy that people tuned into to see get his ass beat, but they wound up falling in love with after the show. Camacho was among the names in the 80's that boosted Boxing's popularity much like the UFC and MMA has experienced in the last decade. Boxing in the 80's was probably the best time to be a Boxing fan, Heavyweights weren't main attractions, guys like Camacho, Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez, Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler were gluing eyes to television sets across the world. What I would give to find Doc. Brown's Delorean and watch those prizefights in person. 

But Boxing is still alive and kicking. We have hit the final stretch of the year where great cards are on a week by week basis. Nov. 10 we were dazzled by Abner Mares' and Anselmo Moreno's display of courage in the ring. We saw the long anticipated showdown between them and it delivered and catered fans whom have been waiting for that fight to finally happen. It wasn't even the most anticipated Mares fight, we're still waiting for the day Mares and Nonito Donaire finally cross paths. And if De La Hoya (Mares' promoter) is sincere, we may just see this fight happen soon. He went to twitter saying that he is willing to work with long-time rival Bob Arum to make the fight happen. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one. 

November 17, we saw Adrien Broner take a leap in class and handles Antonio DeMarco with ease. Broner proved to the Boxing world he is for real, and much like people prayed to see Camacho get his arse kicked...... I'm waiting for the day somebody floors Broner. He has phenomenal talent, but has been sniffing too much of Mayweather's jock strap. His style in the ring is a come forward version of Mayweahter. Both use the same shoulder roll technique, both have quick hands, both have significant power, but Broner seems to love to brawl. His fights intrigue me, but his person is force fed as he tries way too hard to be a carbon copy of Mayweather, but this guy has what kids call "swag". 

This past weekend we witness the return of Ricky Hatton. Hatton made his return to the ring after a 3 and half year layoff riddled by drug and alcohol abuse and alleged suicide attempts. It was very heart warming seeing The Hitman get the kind of ovation he did in his hometown of Manchester. Listening to 20,000 Brits chanting in unison "There's only one Ricky Hatton" gave me goosebumps as Michael Buffer was doing the fighter introductions before his fight with Vyacheslav Senchenko. 

Hatton looked good for a pugilist that has been out of action for so long. He was quick and crisp with his combos, landing effective shots on Senchenko early. Hatton dictated the fight the first half of the 10 round bout. Then he seemed to hit a wall, the fatigue caught up to him, the long span of inactivity took a toll and Senchenko pulled up even in the second half of the fight. Then in the ninth round, Senchenko tagged Hatton with a liver piercing body shot that sent the former champion to his knees wincing in pain and could make the 10-count. After being counted out, he laid on the canvas still trying to recover from the picture perfect body blow by Senchenko. Hatton announced he was heading back to retirement after the fight, he said he felt he didn't have it anymore. I think that's crazy. He sure had it for five rounds. A tune up fight before a rematch against Malignaggi would certainly help him on his way back into the ring. I'm hoping Hatton fights again because he didn't look like just a fighter coming back for a paycheck. 

Later that night we saw Guerrero vs. Berto in what looked like a sure mismatch early in the fight. Berto was hurt, rocked, and hit the canvas twice in the first two rounds. It was a fight, the commentators said it reminded them of a street fight with the constant holding and semi-dirty antics each fighter used to gain the upper hand. Berto fought back valiantly also stunning Guerrero with heavy shots that didn't seem to phase his opponent. Berto's both eyes were swollen shut after being cut open in the second round but he willed his way through the fight. Guerrero himself had his lead right eye swollen shut also. This reminded me of a pit bull fight, as both mercilessly kept clawing until the end. If not for the Brandon Rios/Mike Alvarado fight from October, we might have called this the fight of the year. Guerrero proved he is a damn good Welterweight, he proved he has every right calling out Mayweather out by beating Berto. (I actually won a bet on this fight when I bet a certain someone that Guerrero would "whoop Berto's ass". I never win bets when it comes to Boxing. And to top it off, I still haven't collected my winnings.) Guerrero has been lobbying for a fight with the Pound for Pound Champ since early this year and was rumored to have his wish granted before Mayweather took the May showdown against Miguel Cotto. Guerrero cemented his status as a legit contender at 147 and has a bright road ahead of him. 

Speaking of Cotto, he is back in action this weekend against the up and coming Austin Trout. Trout is a young raw talent that pose a significant threat to Cotto. This is Trout's moment on the big stage as he has never been on HBO or Showtime, let alone a main event. Cotto had a small list of possible opponents after a very competitive fight against Mayweather in May. It seemed to be he would have his rematch with Manny Pacquiao, but negotiations fell through when an agreement couldn't be reached on the terms of weight. Cotto should win this fight at Madison Square Garden setting up a possible Cinco de Mayo weekend showdown against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. Tune in this Saturday on Showtime and enjoy the fireworks. 

---- Jose

The Break Up Heard Around the World

If you have any kind of social media, I'm sure you're aware of the Twitter and Instagram ramblings between former power-couple Floyd "Money" Mayweather and 50 Cent. The relationship is over, the honeymoon was been over since 50 has been in business talks with Mayweather's rival, Manny Pacquiao.

"Hello! Do you not see me standing right here?"

For the past month or so, it's been reported 50 and Pacquiao were in talks of starting SMS Promotions. The short lived TMT Promotions disbanded and rumors were running rampant about the drama between the best friends. Rumors of 50 sleeping with Mayweather's girlfriend "Miss. Jackson" during Money's incarceration was the topic of discussion on the internet. Nothing has been confirmed, we're still not sure exactly what happened between the two.
But Friday night, we were given a nice little viral squabble with 50 actually hinting that Money has been dodging Pacquiao all along. 50 even pleaded that Mayweather fight Yuriorkis Gamboa, here are the exact tweets.

- "Gamboa wants to fight Floyd. I will put up a extra 20 million for the winner. He don't like it that Floyd pulled out."
- "Ellerbee you a broke bum. Gamboa want to fight Floyd tell him lace up. Lol"
- "Gamboa is the truth, Floyd no that, stop tricking and fight"
- "If you say Floyd a kill Gamboa tell him fight."
- "Gamboa moving up in weight Floyd. You should have know not to go against me punk"
- "I can't hang with Floyd no more, I'm tired of running from Manny Pacquiao"

Strong words to say towards a former domestic partner. Mayweather responded with posting pictures of 50 with a few comebacks. In on picture, he called 50 a "male boxing groupie" as he posted pictures of 50 carrying his title belts and money. More nonsense ensued, I'm sure you get the point, but it had me scratching my head and wondering something.

We've seen this same thing happen before. Remember in Twilight when Bella was Team Edward and then she was Team Jacob?

No, I'm just kidding.

But I have seen this episode before, and I'm pretty sure it will end up happening as so. This whole situation has a WWE feel to it. 

Ironically enough, Mayweather has worked with WWE in the past when he had a short lived feud with the Big Show after legitimately breaking his nose a month before Wrestlemania 24.

This has a different Wrestlamania vibe to it. Back in 1998 Mike Tyson was still the baddest man on the planet, he made an appearance on WWE Raw and formed an alliance with D Generation-X. Shawn Michaels had Tyson in his corner heading into the big main event against Stone Cold Steve Austin.
On the night of Wrestlemania 14, Tyson turned his back on Michaels. The referee was knocked out and Stone Cold hit Michaels with the Stone Cold Stunner. Tyson hopped into the ring and hit a fast three count giving Austin the win. Everybody was shocked. As soon as Michaels got up, he got in Tyson's face and gave him a bit of a shove. Tyson did what he knew best, knocked Michaels out cold. 

So do you have a mental picture of what happened?

I personally wouldn't be surprised if this is all a plot to get Pacquiao and Mayweather in the ring. 50 and Mayweather are luring Manny into the fight and possibly will work out something to rid him of Bob Arum. If the fight happened, here's what you could expect to happen.... Unofficially.

If I was your best friend, I'd want you around me all the time.

Pacquiao and 50 build a friendship that goes past just the business partnership. 50 will be the quintessential male Boxing groupie that Mayweather called him. Mayweather will be the bad guy as always, using the same tired and rehearsed phrases. We can even do a over/under as to how many times Money will use phrases like; "Like I said before", "At the end of the day", "Helluva", "43 have tried, 43 have failed", or "43 had a game plan, all of those didn't work". I can even piece together a quote that you can expect Mayweather to say.

"At the end of the day, it's gon' be a helluva fight. Manny Pacquiao know he can get it. There ain't no blueprint to beat Floyd Mayweather. 43 had a game plan, none of those didn't work. 50 want it he can get it too. Like I said before, 43 have tried, 43 have failed."

Come fight night, Manny will have 50 escort him out and Bob Arum (let's call him Vince McMahon) will appoint 50 as the special enforcer, just as Tyson was. Floyd will have his posse of Justin Bieber and  in a eerily funny coincidence, former D Generation-X member Triple H.

The fight will start and for this comparison's sake, Pacquiao will have Mayweather in trouble through out the fight (I personally think Mayweather handles Pacquiao with ease). The drama will pick up in the 12th round, 50 Cent will hop into the ring with a steel chair in hand and act like he is going to hit Mayweather. As he goes to hit Floyd, he makes a full 180 and bashes Pacquiao over the head. Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman will go insane over the HBO broadcast, just like Jim Ross does for WWE. The world will be hit with that unexpected twist and Michael Buffer will announce Mayweather as the winner of the bout.
Obviously this is unlikely, but it would be entertaining to watch. All joking aside, I don't know how serious to take these latest turn of events. I don't know how credible SMS Promotions really is. At the end of the day, Mayweather Promotions was never really credible, it was a "company" that had a mere three fighters under it's belt. TMT Promotions didn't even put together a single card, most of it's action came on the internet with the rampant rumors of Curtis Jackson hooking up with Mayweather's girlfriend. I'm sorry Miss. Jackson *oooh* I am fo' real. 

- Jose

The SoCalSportsGuys NFL Bye Week

So this week I’m taking a bye week from the usual format of NFL Power Rankings. I’m stepping back and looking at what the season has had to offer. Its been a great eight weeks of NFL action. But what have we learned from this season so far ? 

We know the Falcons are benefiting a great deal from a weak schedule. The Eagles are an up and down team. They are floating around .500 and are no longer trying to salvage their season but their very jobs (Michael Vick and Andy Reid). The Jets quarterback situation would have been a great one had they been playing NCAA teams. Mark Sanchez is fighting to keep his job and Tim Tebow doesn’t even know what position he is playing. Rex Ryan’s weight loss is about the only positive negative of the 2012 Jets. 
We know RG3 is a F#$@ing beast maybe even “Black Jesus”.  Adrain Peterson is not human. Seriously who recovers from a torn ACL and MCL injury like this? Andrew luck is far from a bust but not exactly the Colts savior this season either." Hey Peyton, we're down 24 points at the half work your magic" is the Broncos game plan week after week. Manning has been determined to keep his team from losing.
 If you don’t believe in the sophomore jinx, just ask Cam Newton. He’ll tell you there is something beyond all reasonable logic effecting his 2013 campaign. Oh and if you don’t believe in the Madden curse go ask Calvin Johnson how his season is going - just one touchdown in seven games.

We know Roger Goodell should be fired for almost letting replacement refs taint an NFL season (more important to gamblers such as myself) with bad calls and this bounty scandal that has yet to been put to bed. How many appeals do the Saints players get? Am I the only who thinks he is professional sport’s answer to Vince McMahon? I think the games played every Thursday night (Goodell’s answer to McMahon’s WWE Smackdown!) was a good move gone bad. I like the concept of having football throughout the week but even as a fan (who gambles on just about anything), do we really need to watch Arizona vs St. Louis on prime time? Or Kansas City at San Diego this Thursday? Goodell's feud with Johnathan Vilma and various NFL players (list is to long to go into detail) mirrors that of McMahon's and any of his WWE employees except they have yet to kick his ass during a press conference. Which will be the single greatest thing to happen to the NFL during his term as Commissioner if it happens. I just can’t decide which wrestling group is best to compare the 2013 New Orleans Saints to. Yes I just compared the NFL to WWE and I'm not ashamed for doing so.

Chris Johnson is on my fantasy team and I can’t remember a player that has had me second guessing starting him week after week. His production has been near the bottom and just when I’m about to bench him, boom, he suckers me back in with a performance like the 195 yard and two TD game against Buffalo a few weeks ago. Games like that leave me with more questions than answers and hating Johnson more for having a good game followed by a bad one. I feel like anyone of the following people in this commercial.
The contenders aside from the Falcons (who may not be as good as their record advertises) are definitely the Texans, Giants, 49ers, Bears and Packers. These teams have been exceptional either offensively such as the Packers and Giants or defensively like the 49ers and Bears. The Texans are the one team that is playing well on both sides of the ball. Offensively they are a force with a strong running game by Arian Foster (who leads the league with nine rushing TDs). Defensively the Texans rank second overall in net yardage and eighth in total points allowed. 
So far this season these teams have been getting the job done and have the least amount of weaknesses on their rosters. Then there are the good teams, the teams that can pick up wins but have weaknesses that can easily be exploited. 
Take the New England Patriots - A daunting offense of explosive weapons from the running backs to the tight ends, the Patriots can out gun anyone. Problem is they give up big plays with their weak secondary late in games and find themselves with a not so impressive record. Patriots benefit from playing in a division that includes the Jets, Bills and what I believe to be a decent team the Dolphins. Teams that I consider in this circle are the Broncos, Steelers, Ravens, and Vikings.

The Steelers a team of which I am a fan of, have been inconsistent with all the injuries to running backs, offensive lineman and safety Troy Polamalu. The Steelers have managed to stay above .500. Big Ben is having a great campaign ranking in the top-5 in almost every passing category and has only been sacked 13 times, one of the lowest totals in the league. With the Ravens fighting through their own struggles the AFC North division is up for grabs but not so fast Bengals and Browns fans that doesn’t include your bottom of the barrel franchises. 

The Vikings and Broncos are doing much better than I expected they would. I figured Peyton would have needed time to get things together but he came out shooting. Aside from the usual loss he receives from Tom Brady and the Patriots (somethings just never change) Manning has been looking sharp and is turning Demaryius Thomas into a elite wideout. Peterson has been carrying the Vikings and is currently leading the league in rushing with 775 yards. Minnesota may find themselves in the playoffs if they continue to grind out victories.

Then there are the not so good teams, what I like to call the Pretenders. I really don’t want to dig to deep on all these teams but just to name a few Saints, Dolphins, Seahawks, Cardinals, Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins. Vick and Reid are under heavy fire after the not so impressive season the Eagles have had. The Saints are battling through games with Drew Brees having a phenomenal season but are still not gonna make the playoffs unless Tebow gets traded there to help balance out the bad karma. 
The Seahawks can play some D but that's about it. Offensively they've been pretty bad, rookie QB Russell Wilson has had some pretty bad games that resulted in wins and some fairly good games that have resulted in losses. The Dolphins are 4-3, surprisingly. But Ryan Tannehill will be sidelined and Matt Moore will be taking over for the time being. After the bold prediction of leading the league in rushing Reggie Bush has had six games of 69 yards or less and has only cracked the 100 yard mark once. 
RG3 is my rookie of the year through eight games. The QB has displayed a phenomenal level of explosiveness and raw talent. He’s done a lot to put his team in position to win, the Redskins defense has not done so. Tony Romo is still the gun slinger that I love to hate. I love it when he displays his level of incompetence with his five interception games and hate it when he’s putting the Cowboys in position to win with a final drive that suckers Dallas into saying Romo is elite and messes it all up with an interception on a throw away pass.

Figuring out the halfway mark MVPs this season has been a tough one. In the AFC Manning and Big Ben are having great seasons with near identical statistics and winning records. Both are playing behind sub par offensive lines and not so great defenses. In the NFC its another toss up between Ryan, Rodgers, and I’m making the case for Brees and Eli Manning to be included in the mix. Brees is doing it all, Manning is getting wins in the clutch. I can’t remember when was the last time there has been so many QBs having such great seasons. Thanks Roger Goodell for tying the secondary’s hands making the NFL a pass-first league and not letting me include a running back or wide receiver in the MVP race.

Its been a great season thus far a lot more football has to be played. Teams will begin to make stronger pushes for playoff spots in the coming weeks. The Falcons might not even lose a game this season. Has anybody looked at their schedule? Currently the Colts are in the last spot for an AFC Playoff berth and if Luck gets the Colts back into the playoffs I’m taking back my RG3 Rookie of the Year award. 
So here’s to another great NFL season.