The Blog of Liars and the new G.O.A.T.

This week is creepy weird, between Mantei Te'o and Lance Armstrong, it transcends sports. These 2 things speak more of an issue with society more than anything. For instance, Mantei Te'o will still go on to the NFL and if he's not mentally strong, maybe he'll get harassed out of the league. Sure I'll buy that he was madly in love with someone for 3 years , he's never met before, how can I not. I've loved Halle Berry for a lot longer than that and yes I've seen her but I haven't had 1 single conversation with her and yet if she walked into the Starbucks I'm in right now and wanted to be with me forever, I'd say yes... probably (I still have issues with marriage)!!! That's just it, it's a fantasy scenario, Halle's not in Indianapolis, she's not coming to Star Bucks even though its next to a Crate and Barrell, (they have really nice stuff there). Is te'o doing the same thing? Fantasize this relationship because he really wanted it to work? Is he that gullible? Is he a real believer in true love? Who knows, it all sounds sketchy so I shall reserve the right to pass judgement after it plays out and so should you. But this next mutha fucka, I'm judging his arrogant ass all the way...

Sure I'll buy that Lance Armstrong cheating, put him on a level playing field with his top competitors. I'll even accept to a point that its a different situation than Bonds and Clemons, cause he had to do it to win, where as the misremembered and Giant head didn't need to do so, they were HOF's already. That's all he gets though, it's one thing to cheat and deny but he was a dick about it. It's like if you cheat on your girlfriend and she accuses you of cheating and then you turn around and beat the shit out of her because of it. I can give a fuck about his Livestrong Foundation (not in that sense, its really a great foundation) Gerry Sandusky helped underprivileged kids, he doesn't get a pass. He hosted the Espy because he was a hero, he choked out anyone that accused him of cheating, and went about things in a way in which someone who didn't cheat would. The difference is that he actually did cheat. Maybe Lance Armstrong the person that beat cancer could have come back and just competing in the Tour De France would have had just as a successful cancer foundation if he was on the up and up, did you ever consider that Lance supporters?... Well did you punk?!!!

Nope, nope, I'm not gonna talk about the Lakers, they are under .500 and not even a playoff team, so nope, not gonna do it

At some point we are going to have to seriously consider that Tom Brady is the best player to ever play the game of football. It was brought to my attention that in March of 2012 I sat in a diner in LA and told a friend that the Patriots were toast this year, that losing a Super Bowl takes too much of an emotional toll on a team. Look at the Steelers they lost to the Packers and then turned around and loss in the 1st round to Tim Tebow and the Broncos, sure they'll make the playoffs cause they're in an awful division, but no way they win it. Yes I think they'll lose to the 49ers if they play them in this years Super Bowl, cause the Niners are too physically tough for the Pats and maybe they'll lose to the Ravens in the AFC championship, but no way they lose to the Falcons, but that's not the point. Tom Brady is about to play in his 7th final four. For those who wants some perspective that averages out to more than every other year since he's been in the league,... that he's played in the final four. Joe Montana is 4-0 in SB's but Brady has 3 and has a great chance of playing in his 6th one and doesn't seem to be even close to being done, so if he's not the best, it's just a matter of time... That being said I still need his team to not win it all this year, for monetary purposes.

Ravens -8 over New England

No I don't believe that the Ravens will win, but I don't think this team is about to get blown out either. The Ravens defense is not what they once were and if they're gonna win, they are gonna have to put some pressure on Brady, not so sure that will happen, but no one plays the Pats tougher than the Ravens do. I give the Ravens a punchers chance but in the end Brady will be too much.

Patriots 31-24

San Francisco -3.5 over Atlanta

If the 49ers didn't play so shitty in domes this year, it would be a no brainer. However this game is in a dome, so I have slight pause, just slight. I picked the Niners at the beginning of the year to play in the big game so I may as well not change it now. They are the Seattle Seahawks with just a little better defense and watching film of the 2nd half of that game with Atlanta will propel the Niners to a shoot out win against a mediocre defensive team in the Falcons

San Fran 31- Atlanta 24

Yeah that's the same score, watch and see boo!!

Dueces

RGIII, Junior Seau, the Baseball Fall of Fame and Vegas picks

A whole lotta people owe Jay Cutler an apology

In no way, shape or form, do I think Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan would jeopardize his franchise rookie QB RGIII's health to win a game. That being said he did. RGIII should have been cleared to play the game. In the beginning he looked to be somewhat close to his old self, but once he got rocked and was hobbling... You gotta pull the hook and get him out of there. What makes RGIII so special is his elite running ability, once that's taken from him, it made no sense to keep him in the game. Now his career could possibly never be the same, which takes me back to 2 years ago, when the Bears prevented Jay Cutler from returning to the NfC Championship game against the Packers. That was absolutely the right call. You never risk your franchise players health over a game, that's the rule, end of story.

Lets not let another Seau moment happen again

So Junior Seau killed himself after being depressed from too many shots to the head. This for some reason makes me think of the movie Looper, in which once they kill their future self, they get a nice severance package and live it up for 30 years. There need to be guidelines set, where after a certain amount of time, be it games played, age, injury history or whatever. The NFL needs to start doing mandatory brain scans, if any damage has been done to your brain, you get a nice severance package and retire immediately. I also think that while they're in the waiting room, songs like 'Protect yo self before you wreck yo self' and 'Killing me Softly' should be playing in the background, for a subliminal affect.

5 thoughts on the Baseball Hall of Fame

Fuck those crusty old hall of famers who say that they're glad that players like Clemons and Bonds aren't in the HOF because they cheated. This is a classic case of not knowing who you are as a person. I'm not saying all, but if steroids were readily available back in the day, players would have used them, no ifs, ands or buts about it. 

There was a writer who gave up his right to vote for the HOF because he said he wasn't qualified to vote during the steroid era and to that I say  COWARD!!! Writers need to take their fair share of the blame for the steroids era, weren't you guys covering the game? Didn't you see the massive transformation of Bonds, Sosa and McGwire? Didn't you write how 1998 saved the game of baseball? Now you want to wash your hands of it. COWARDS!!!

You say Bonds and Clemons shouldn't be HOF's because they used steroids, and I say weren't they HOF's before they used? You say that's why they shouldn't have used it because they were already in and ego was the driving force behind their decisions. I say ego is the driving force behind everything that has a driving force and I also say the game of Baseball knowingly celebrated cheaters, gave them bigger contracts and iconic status, now these same players are treated like outcasts... HYPOCRITES!!!!

The Hall of Fame vote should be an honor and if you're bestowed with an honor you should consider everything, not just that they cheated and it becomes the entire base for your argument. For the ones that support cheaters, saying that players like Ty Cobb and Gaylord Perry were known cheaters and of bad character, they're in, so let's put the rest in. To that I say, just because mistakes were made in the past doesn't mean that they have to continue to be made. Every year is a chance to start having players in the HOF for the right reasons.

For my vote (which is imaginary), yes I vote Bonds and Clemons in, but no they shouldn't be 1st ballot. No I don't vote Sosa and McGwire in, they weren't gonna make it to the Hall without the help of steroids. Players like Jeff Bagwell and Mike Piazza, I wait for awhile. I cannot say definitively if they used steroids. They have 15 years on the ballot so I use some of that time to see if more information comes out shedding light on them, if it doesn't, I vote them in. Sure voting is not just looking at numbers anymore, you gotta do a little homework, but you get to vote for the Hall of Fame, so get it in yo!!!

Vegas Picks

Baltimore +10 over Denver

Before we all hop on the Broncos bandwagon, consider that most of their wins came against the the Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders, easily the worse division in football and yeah they'll beat Baltimore but no way Ray Lewis loses his last game by more than 10 points

Broncos 23 - Ravens 20

San Franciso -2.5 over Green Bay

I made this prediction last week and I'm sticking to it. San Fran is too physical for the Pack, but if the Pack win and the 49ers offense sputters. Head coach Jim Harbaugh will have to answer to why he went with a rookie QB mid-season on a championship caliber team.

49ers 26 - Packers 17

Atlanta-1 over Seattle

Whoever wins this game will play in the Super Bowl, I picked Atlanta in the beginning and I still reluctantly pick them against Russell 'I may never lose a big game ever' Wilson

Atlanta 30 - Seattle 27

Patriots-9.5 over Houston

I don't believe in Houston at all, if the Bengals had made just a play or 2, Houston would be done. Matt Shaub needs to have a monster game and so does J.J Watts. New England's running game will be the difference. So take the Pats and the points and take Brady throwing under 3.5 touchdowns

Pats 31 - Texans 17

Alabama versus Notre Dame; you'd better be a fan of tackling

Do you know how much shit had to happen for Alabama to be playing in the National championship game. They had just loss with 2 games left in the season, which is almost the kiss of death for any team with National Championship aspirations. They had 3 teams in front of them that were undefeated. All of which were solid favorites over their last opponents. Kansas State was on the road against a good but far from great Baylor football team. all Baylor did was kick the crap out of K-State from the opening kickoff to the end. Notre Dame, who after escaping Pittsburgh in 3 overtimes pretty much assured college football fans that they were destined not to lose any regular season games. So that left  arguably the most impressive team in college football. Oregon who had kicked the shit out of everyone was playing a very good but unspectacular team in Stanford, but they were at home, no way they lose, right?... Wrong, Stanford did the unthinkable, made Oregon's offense look very pedestrian. Oh great piece of cake, now all 'Bama gotta do is when their next game, except it's against a very impressive Georgia football team, so good that it could have been arguably been favored over Notre Dame, Kansas State and Oregon in the National Championship game. After a slugfest, which Alabama barely escaped, due in no small part to Georgia's end of the game time management skills, they end up in a championship game which only happened because an undefeated Ohio State team was banned from post season play. People say, Notre Dame is lucky...

Do you know how good Notre Dame really is? Just because you win ugly doesn't mean that you're not a great team. It seemed like every time I turned to a Notre Dame game, they were on defense at their 3 yard line. It was like being with a girl who would allow you to constantly get to 3rd base but never give it up. That's how Notre Dame was, sure I'll hangout with you and spend time with you, but I'm not putting out. Every week it was like Notre Dame is going down, but nope they won and won and won. Did they play a legit championship team? No, but they did beat 8 bowl teams and that's impressive. Plus they have Manti Te'o the guy who should have been the heisman trophy winner. Every week he was the best player on the field of the Number 1 football team in the country, no other Heisman candidate can say that.

How do you decide between 2 teams of obvious destiny? This game reminds me of Miami versus Ohio State in 2002 National championship game, Miami was a 13 point favorite over an undefeated Ohio State team, when you look back at that it was utterly ridiculous. that spread was based purely on the National Champions, Miami reputation. Ohio State's record was never taken into consideration. Oregon and K-State proved how difficult it is to go undefeated. It's a refuse to lose mentality. Ohio State pulled the upset on Miami that game, in my opinion because they were the team that had less to lose. This game will be close. Alabama will NOT cover the 9.5 point spread. Notre dame will not be intimidated. That defense is too good, both teams teams give up less than 11 points a game. expect a lot of drives stalling at midfield. Notre Dame will be trailing late and either tie it up or take a late lead, but I can't help but think of 'Bama going to LSU and doing the unthinkable, winning on the road at Death Valley when they trailed late in the game. The Crimson Tide will win in Miami, something Nick Saban was unable to do as the Dolphins head coach. Which will make it bitter sweet for him, he will then leave Alabama to coach the Philadelphia Eagles, stay for 2 years, in which he says this is eaxctly where he wants to be before he leaves to coach Florida, Miami or Florida State, leading them to a National Championship and retiring to finish as the greatest college coach of his generation. Now that's a fucking prediction

Crimson Tide 17 Notre Dame 13

It's the NFL playoffs and there is nothing else to talk about

Playoff football is better than all other professional playoffs for this simple reason. You lose once and you're out. No best of 5, no best of 7, bad days are not allowed in the NFL playoffs. This year's playoffs are really tough to predict, because the teams that are playing the best are all led by either rookie or second year QB's and recent history says that Great QB's win the big games and although they are playing above their years of experience, I don't consider them great. Predicting the playoffs isn't an exact science, it's more like a recipe, a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of history, with a touch of gut instincts. The thing about it is, that every year the recipe changes. Last year I had almost an exact recipe, picking every game right except for the Super Bowl. Do I think I can do it again, of course:

WEEK 1
Green Bay versus Minnesota
The Vikings were at home and gave the Packers their best shot and still barely won, now a week later it's a rematch and they have to go to Lambeau Field. Packers win easily

Washington versus Seattle
This is a tough one, Seattle has been on a roll of late, but Washington has been too. I really like Seattle but Washington at home will be able to overcome Seattle in the battle of rookie QB's. This will be the best game of the week.

Houston versus Cincinnati
Houston has been free falling, a loss at home to the Vikings which helped keep my Bears out of the Playoffs, followed by a loss at the Colts has dropped the Texans from home field advantage thru out the playoffs and a 1st round bye, to now playing arguably the NFL's hottest team, in the Bengals. If the Bengals can survive the early emotional onslaught by the Texans they will be in the game. I'll take the Bengals to win

Baltimore versus Indianapolis
This is a match-up of 2 resilient teams and I was already leaning toward the Ravens, but now that Ray Lewis has announced that he's retiring, no way he loses at home to a rookie QB. Ravens roll

WEEK 2
Atlanta versus Washington
Matt Ryan has got to win a playoff game at some point right? Is he destined to be the Tracy McGrady of the NFL. I don't think so. The way the Falcons dismantled the Giants in week 16, gave me a new outlook on the Falcons. They get it done against the Skins (and when I say 'skins, I mean Washington head coach Mike Shanahan, have you seen his face?)

San Francisco versus Green Bay
Has anyone been sacked more than Aaron Rodgers? I get that Green Bay is as healthy as it's been since week 1. Guess who they played week 1... yep San Fran, and San Fran rolled them then and 18 weeks later I see nothing that changes that. San Fran is just too physical for the Pack.

Denver versus Cincy

The Bengals had a great year. They just don't create the match-up problems that's needed to win a game on the road in a championship game. Sure they got a great pass rush but Manning has always beaten great pass rushes. The Broncos defense is gonna force Cincy's QB Andy Dalton to make plays and he won't be able to do it. Plain and simple.The Broncos will win by 10

New England versus Baltimore
Revenge will be on the mind of the Ravens, after last years playoff ouster, but they have been far too inconsistent to be able to keep the Pats from moving on. Flacco will have to at the very least be nearly as good as Brady and Ray Rice will have to be spectacular as well, I don't see both happening. I'll take the Pats please!!!

Week 3
Atlanta versus San Francisco
At the beginning of the year I picked San Franciso to go to the Super Bowl. I really like them and with that defense, they can win anywhere... almost. They got crushed in a dome against the Vikings earlier this year, loss to the Rams in a dome and got crushed in Seattle, which is dome like. Guess where Atlanta plays? Plus I got a weird feeling about Matt Ryan, this is the Falcons year and they will get it done with an underrated defense and all sorts of offensive weapons. If that's not enough, it's Tony Gonzalez's last year and the greatest tight end ever should play in at least one Super Bowl.

Denver versus New England
Manning and Brady will do it again and they will do it well. The fact that the Broncos saw the Patriots earlier this year will serve them well. Also Brady in the last few years has been inconsistent in the playoffs. i still maintain that last year Flacco out played him in the AFC championship game and he missed a couple of throws that should have won him the Super Bowl. These guys are really about as even as they come so I gotta take Manning over Brady in a very close game

Super Bowl XLVII
Denver versus Atlanta
This is Peyton Manning's year. You can't just cut arguably the best QB ever and think that he's not gonna come out with something to prove. Especially since the Colts won 11 games without him this year. Yep, old Peyton has taken a back seat to Andrew Luck, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and even little brother Eli and that can't sit well with him. Atlanta is solid but unspectacular. The Broncos are just as unspectacular but a little more solid. This is why the stars are aligned for Manning. Peyton and the Broncos lost to Atlanta earlier this year when he threw 4 1st half interceptions. He will redeem himself and it just feels right that Peyton wins more than 1 Super Bowl
Broncos 26 - Falcons 20

you want spreads you got 'em
Packers- 8 over Minnesota
Washington +3 over Seattle
Baltimore - 6.5 over the Colts
Bengals +4.5 over Houston

The Top 10 plays that cost Lovie Smith his job

It had to happen, you can't start out 7-1 and not make the playoffs. Throw in the fact that in the last 6 years the Bears made the playoffs only once. So I get it. You also have to consider that anytime a new GM comes in like Phl Emery, he wants his own guys, so conceivably if the Bears had made the playoffs and lost their 1st game, Lovie Smith still would have gotten the axe. In life, not just sports, it's all about accountability and everyone knew that this season, Lovie was coaching for his job.

Before I give my high opinion (which lets be honest it should be fact) on the 10 plays that doomed Lovie. Allow me to give the brief argument in Lovie's defense. In his 9 years he has 81 wins, so for the people that's exceptionally bad at math, that's 9 wins a year, with only 3 playoff appearances, he is in my opinion a little unlucky, with a break or 2 he could have had 5 playoff appearances. Last year I thought that Bears team was the best of any of his teams including the superbowl team of 2006 but alas injuries to Cutler and Forte ended that season in which they started 7-3.

Here's also something to look at Bears fans, in loving Lovie being canned. here are the superbowl winning quarterbacks in Lovie's 1st 8 years
Ben Rothlisberger (2)
Eli Manning (2)
Tom Brady
Peyton Manning
Drew Brees
Aaron Rodgers

I do not think that Jay Cutler, Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton are near those QB's. Most teams that's been competitive but not super bowl quality has either a good offense or a good defense but not both, therefore you need a great quaterback to cover your deficencies. Enter Jay Cutler!!! The Bears gave up 2 1st rounders and a second rounder for Jay because they believed he was an elite QB. He has the physical tools of an elite QB but to date he is not elite.

I'd rather blame Cutler.
The Bears has lost ONLY 2 games since Jay Cutler has been in uniform for them (4 years), in which they scored at least 21 points and has NEVER lost when scoring more than 21 points in that time. Consider this as well, the Bears have only lost 2 games when Jay Cutler has played at least a DECENT game, not good, not great, but decent!!! Arizona in 2009 in which they were down 31-7 at half, but I'm giving him a pass because he threw for almost 400 yards and this past year against Seattle which we will talk about later. In 2009 the Bears lost 21-15 and 10-6, 2 very hard fought games on paper but when you see that Cutler threw 9 combined interceptions in those games and another game in which he constantly over threw receivers in a 24-20 loss, that's the difference between 10-6 and 7-9. You could also make a case for how well coached Lovie's team was for keeping the games that close. Now this doesn't fall all on Cutler, his offensive line and receivers has felled him numerous times and obviously the Bears has proven to be very mediocre without him in the line-up.

Make no mistake about it, the Bears losses were more about Cutler being ineffective/injured more than Lovie Smith's coaching performance. So yeah sure, replace Lovie, but now you gotta get a guy who can elevate Cutler's game but also keep the defense playing at a high level. Otherwise if you get a great offensive guy and a mediocre defense you just flipped the script. The Bears already had Lovie for one more year why not just play it out. Oh well, it is what it is and these 10 plays doomed you Lovie

10.The hiring of Mike Martz. I'm clearly cheating here, but here me out. Bringing in offensive coordinator Martz meant getting rid of a well above average tight end in Greg Olson, because Martz doesn't use a tight end in his system. This year they got rid of Martz and so now they went back to a tight end, which turned out to be Kellen Davis. Now think back to how many dropped passes Kellen Davis had this year that would have kept drives alive. The drop he had against the Texans that looked like it would have provided points in a low scoring game, comes to mind, if you must need a play.

9.Green Bay's fake field goal Game 2. Now the Bears were gonna be hard pressed to win this game anyway because the Pack were pretty much in must win mode. They had lost their 1st game at home to the 49ers and another home loss especially to the Bears could have been detrimental. That being said c'mon Chicago, you have Julius Peppers, he's awesome at blocking kicks up the middle, no need to put an all out kick block in on that play. Kudos to Green Bay for an excellent play called

8. Catch the ball Bears/Vikings game 13. This game has the most plays on the list. Alshon Jeffrey's touchdown drop in the 3rd quarter of the Vikings game put a huge dent in the Bears comeback plans. Level of difficulty for this catch... minimal, but it was still enough time for them to come back, but this one wasn't ...

7. Catch the Ball damnit Bears/Vikings game 13. Devin Hester's touchdown drop all but sealed the Bears fate. 4th quarter down 2 scores this was a walk in the end zone for Hester, which would have at the very least put Minnesota in a pressure situation, level of difficulty for this catch... none

6.Fumble!!! Bears/Texans game 9. Michael Bush was just finishing off a big run against the Texans that would have put the Bears deep in the Texans territory on their very 1st drive. It didn't quite work out that way, he fumbled and took away easy points, which you gotta think would have had an effect on a game that ended 13-6 in favor of the Texans.

5. It's all about the angles Bears/Packers game 14. The Bears had just scored a TD and was up 7-0, the momentum was on their side and they had the Pack 3rd and long. Then Rodgers scrambled and hit Randall Cobb for a long pass. Sure it was a great play, but the Bears blew coverage. Cornerback D. J. Moore could have let Randall catch the ball and tackled him short of the 1st down, but he tried to play the ball when he didn't have to and it ended up being a huge momentum swing, Most people would say that Rodgers made a great play and leave it at that, but that's not how the Bears play, which is why this play is so high on my list. The Bears make you become deliberate on offense, making you drive all the way down the field to score, D.J. took an unnecessary gamble. A 7-0 lead and getting the ball back would have done wonders for the Bears psyche against a team that has dominated them of late. So of course the Packers scored, Bears turnover, etc.

4.I root for the Packers one time and this is the thanks I get Packers/Vikings game 16. Yes the Bears needed help, cause they couldn't get it done themselves, but it's my list and this play should never have happened. The Packers had taken the Vikings best punch and battled all the way back to tie them up after being down practically the whole game. It was mid 4th quarter, the Vikings was deep in the Packers territory and the Packers had just seemingly stopped the Vikings on 3rd down forcing a field goal, but nooooo, cornerback Tramon Williams was whistled for going hands to the face of the Vikings receiver. So instead of kicking a field goal, they get an automatic 1st down and score the go ahead touchdown. In my opinion (fact) Aaron Rodgers surely would have led Green Bay down for the go ahead touchdown (BTW the next drive he did lead them to a TYING TD) which would have put huge pressure on Christian Ponder to do the same. Why this play bothers me so much, was that it was an intimidation, 'I don't back down from nothing' play by Williams when earlier in the game they showed Adrian Peterson rambling his way and guessed who backed down?!!!... arrggghhh, Fuck the Packers!!!

3. Not a pick 6 homie, Bears/Vikings week 13. Generally if a team is better than you, they can overcome one bad momentum changing play, but 2 is asking a bit much. But that's just exactly what Cutler did, he threw one interception at the beginning of the game that was returned to the Bears 5 yard line, then in the 2nd half he threw another one that was returned for a touchdown. I'm sure everyone is gonna point to Adrian Peterson rushing for 150+ yards, but after that 1st big run in the 1st quarter, they held him in check. I don't care which interception you want to put in the #3 spot but that's 2 touchdowns that Cutler gave up, the Bears loss 21-14 you do the math, I'm sure Lovie has.

2. Cutler gets Pacquiaoed' Bears/Texans game 9. Make no mistake about it , Jay Cutler is the most important player on the Bears team and late in the 1st half, in a tight fought ball game, Cutler got laid out on an illegal hit. That hit put Cutler out for the rest of that game, which was very winnable and out for the following game against San francisco which probably was not so winnable, but still, that's a game and a half without your most important player

1. Kick the field goal Lovie!!! Bears/Seahawks game 12. Bears force a fumble, their 1st drive they score a touchdown, get the ball back, have the ball for 8 minutes and 30 seconds drive to the 16 yard line and instead of kicking it, to go up 10-0, they go for it, get stopped and the next thing you know instead of being up 2 scores they're down 10-7 at the half. No doubt, Russell Wilson played an astounding game that day, but you wanna know how many games the Bears have lost when leading by 10 point,s at anytime in the game, in the Cutler/Smith era... 0!!! On that 1 play Lovie forgot who his team was and it cost him his job!