AFC Preview

AFC Preview
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Disclaimer – I promise to be unbiased when making these selections, especially in the AFC West….yeah, right.
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AFC East
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1-New England Patriots – Yeah, this pains me but the Pats are the class of the division, even if Tom Brady is, and always will be, a fumbler.
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2-New York Jets – Mark Sanchez will certainly struggle, but the Jets are the best of the rest in the division after the Pats. Besides, my collegiate humor level allows me to laugh every time I write the Jets will be quarterbacked by The Dirty Sanchez.
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3-Miami Dolphins – Heard this tidbit…when Chad Pennington makes 10 or more starts in a season, his team goes to the playoffs. . That tells me that Chadwick has a tough time staying healthy on a consistent basis. Also, the Fish way, way over-achieved last year.
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4- Buffalo Bills – T.O.’s first year in western NY. By the end of it, he’ll be wishing he was back in Philly with his buddy Donovan and the dog killer.
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AFC North
1-Baltimore Ravens – Great defense and a decent young QB good enough not to screw things up.
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2-Pittsburgh Steelers – The defending champs are the most talented team in the division but my 6th sense tells me Big Ben and the Steelers are going to struggle this year. Call it a hunch.
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3-Cincinnati Bengals – Carson Palmer is healthy and Chad Johnson seems to be playing with a purpose. His new moniker is stupid so it won’t be acknowledged in this spot. The best news for the Bengals is that Cleveland is still in the division.
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4-Cleveland Browns – Ugly, ugly, ugly. At least we get to find out if Brady Quinn can play, if Eric Mangini gives him the reigns to the team.

AFC South
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1-Indianapolis Colts – The chic pick in the division is Houston. Not here. Even without Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison, the Colts are the team to beat until someone beats them.
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2-Houston Texans – While I won’t chug the kool-aid as it pertains to Houston, I’ll take a sip. If QB Matt Schaub stays healthy, DE Mario Williams and the defense will lead the Texans to the playoffs.
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3-Tennessee Titans- How this team won 13 games last year with Kerry Collins at QB is beyond me. Albert Haynesworth has moved on to Washington so the defense is significantly weakened. Collins can’t possibly have another year like 2008 and Vince Young still sucks.
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4-Jacksonville Jaguars- The Jags have fallen like a rock since an impressive playoff run in 2007 and the rip cord on the parachute isn’t working. This is a team headed toward a top-five pick in the 2010 draft.
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AFC West
1-San Di..... – Oakland Raiders – Ha! Didn’t think I was really going to do that, did you? JaMarcus Russell will come of age and Darren McFadden will have a monster year. If Richard Seymour reports, the Raider defense will be significantly improved. Nnamdi Asomugha is a stud in the secondary and Tom Cable will kick any naysayer’s ass. The Raiders head back to the playoffs.
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2-San Diego Chargers – Kudos to Shawne Merriman for keeping his focus on the field and keeping his name out of the news off the field. Ooooops. Sounds like a bit too much Tequila over the weekend, if you know what I mean...allegedly, of course. I know, the Bolts went to the AFC title game, big deal. They didn’t win and that is as far as a Norv Turner coached club can go. LT’s gas tank is running low and the Charger window of opportunity will close this year.
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4a-Denver Broncos – No third place team in this division, both the Broncos and Chiefs are a total disaster and neither is worth the third spot in the division. The Broncos are on the path to their worst season in a long time and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.
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4b- Kansas City Chiefs – See Denver.
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Coming later this week: Playoff and Super Bowl Predictions

Scrooge Comes Early

The holiday season is on the horizon, time for good tidings and warm thoughts to all.

Umm.....not here. Not yet.

The Raiders beat the Denver Broncos 31-10 today, in Denver. We may be 3-8, but this win is a beautiful thing and caps a very nice weekend for myself.

When it comes over Denver, their idiot fans who pelted me with snowballs in 2000, and the overrated, punk, coach Shanny, it is even sweeter.

I'm running through my head which teams - or in one case, player - do I actually hate the most. I know, the word hate is ugly, but in the world of sports, it fits. I couldn't stop at just 10, we'll make it a baker's dozen.

****Sorry for the lack of pictures in this blog. The thought of downloading any of these team's logos makes me want to hurl.*****

13 - New York Giants - The champs. Rooting for them in last year's Super Bowl (see below) but the thought of Randy Moss winning a Super Bowl was too much to take. Living in New York State, I am exposed to this team every week and it sucks. Being force-fed Giants football is typically like watching paint dry. They've gotten a little more exciting this year, but 30 years of boredom is enough to keep them on the list.

12- New England Patriots - Moss is a punk, Belichick is a cheater, and I work with Pats fans who are extremely obnoxious. And............it was a fumble!

11- Kobe Bryant - I'm praying this definition of selfish never wins a title without Shaq. I think I became a Celtics fan last year when they turned away the spotlight seeking-ball hog in the finals last year. I'll never stop believing, that until he won the award last year, it was more important to Bryant to win the MVP than to win the NBA title.

10- Big 10 football - This garbage usually makes its way to the TV airwaves in the northeast all day on Saturday afternoons. A collection of average teams, playing boring, average football and a collection of fans who won't hesitate to tell you how good their teams are. That is, until the college bowl season commences and their teams get drilled in spotlight games (see-Ohio State).

9- Colorado Buffalo football - They aren't the rivals of Nebraska that they've been, mostly because they suck now. I'm looking forward to the day after Thanksgiving later this week when I'm digesting my leftovers while watching the Huskers kick CU's tail back to Boulder and deny them the chance to become bowl eligible.

8- Kansas City Chiefs/San Diego Chargers - Show me a fan of an AFC West team who doesn't abhor the other teams in the division. These rivalries go back to the 1960's. These teams can't lose enough to make me happy.

7- Boston Red Sox - I actually thought they'd be higher on this list but they aren't. The only team in MLB on here, the Sox ended the A's run of three straight World Series titles in the 1970's and I haven't forgotten it. There isn't a non-Met fan or non-Yankee fan that enjoyed Billy Bucker, Bucky F'n Dent and Aaron F'n Boone more than I.

6- Buffalo Sabres - Never has one organization done so little. This team has a loyal set of fans that deserve better. The fact that Lindy Ruff is still the coach after all these years of mediocrity makes me laugh. The Sabres are a natural rival to the Bruins and always seem to have a chip on their shoulder - even though they have no reason to. I think it is a Western New York insecurity thing. Oh yeah........Brett Hull's skate was not in the crease....hahahahhahahahaha

5-Miami Hurricanes - They used to be higher on this list, but I'm not sure they are still in 1-A football any more. Ever since the NCAA Probation Police caught up with this disgrace of a program, they haven't been relevant. I guess when someone starts monitoring the academic side of things, criminal programs fade to oblivion.

4- Dallas Cowboys - Have you ever gone out to watch football and run across Cowboys fans? It looks like they've spent three hours in front of the mirror - I'm talking about guys here - putting on the white turtlenecks under that annoying white jersey. If that isn't enough to make you sick, think of the self-anointed title of "America's team" in the 70's, Jimmy Johnson, Michael Irvin, Prime Time, Jerry Jones, Pacman Jones, and even T.O. I love it when they lose.

3- Duke Basketball - The good thing about Duke players is that they are so overrated that you don't have to watch them in the NBA 'cuz they never make it. Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, and the rest of stuffy snobs are easy to loathe. The scripted chants of the morons in Cameron Fieldhouse have gotten old. J.J. Redick losing his last home game against the Tar Heels was a highlight for me and Coach K's crying at the end of another second-round NCAA tournament loss is usually a highlight for me in the month of March.

2- Montreal Canadiens - I hate the team, the organization, and its fans. One of my personal lifetime highlights was during my one and only visit to the Montreal Forum, where I took the term, "Ugly American" to a new level. The Canadiens seem to have knocked the Bruins out of the playoffs every year of my life. The ripoff in '79 when Boston got called for too many men on the ice with two minutes to go in Game Seven while nursing a 4-3 lead was criminal. Boston lost 5-4 in overtime and I've never gotten over it.

1- Denver Broncos - John Elway is the most overrated player in NFL history. Period. He didn't win a thing until Terrell Davis arrived. The 1978 Denver team played (and got buried) in Super Bowl XII only because of a horrible call in the third quarter of the AFC title game when Willie Hall recovered Rob Lytle's fumble at the Raider 1-yard line. The idiot referee crew blew the play dead and gave the ball back to Denver, who scored on the next play on John Keyworth's touchdown run.

How do I remember that? Because it was another ripoff in Oakland Raider history, along with Franco Harris' illegal catch in the '72 playoffs and Tom Brady's fumble (see above).

Mike Shanahan hasn't won a thing in almost ten years. Thankfully, his arrogance in thinking that he is smarter than the rest of the NFL has kept his team back (did someone say Maurice Clarett - 3rd round draft choice) over the last decade.

The fans are jerks and the beer they serve at their games is flat.

Other than the Raider's three Super Bowl wins, my favorite Super Bowl moments are re-living Denver's four Super Bowl losses in the 70's and 80's.

The nice thing is that Denver is not anywhere near being good enough to have any success in the near future.

With that out of the way, we are just a few days from Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season.

I'll start by saying I'm thankful that the Raiders got a win in Denver today. Life is good.

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!