Welk-come to The Mile High City

Wes Welker is going to the Mile High City. Welker and the Broncos agreed to a $12 million/2 year deal on Wednesday. Welker and the Patriots cut ties after the Patriots  offered him a $10 million/2 year contract. Aside from that I'm sure Welker wasn't happy with his midseason benching either. There's also the "product of the system" brouhaha which undermines his quickness, ability to read coverages, and great decision making. Welker's exit is similar to Vinateri's to Indianapolis in 2006. Welker joins DeMaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, and Brandon Stoakly as a new edition to their already strong recieving core, piloted by Peyton Manning  The Broncos have improved an already formidable team; With the Ravens D pretty much obliterated and the Patriots losing Welker I foreshadow the Broncos representing the AFC in the Superbowl. NUFF SAID

RAVENS ARE SUPERBOWL CHAMPS!!!!

The Baltimore Ravens have finally reached the promise land! The Ravens defeated the 49ers 34-31. The Harbowl was a tale of 2 halves. In the first half the Ravens dominated the 49ers, outscoring them 21-6. Flacco was spectacular in the first half throwing 3 TD'S, and leading his team to a big lead. In the second half the 49ers shifted the momentum drastically. After a 30 minute power outage, and a record setting 108 yard kick return by Jacoby Jones; the 49ers scored 17 points in 4 minutes and some odd seconds. Kaepernick threw a TD pass to Michael Crabtree, and Frank Gore punched it in the endzone for a score. In the 4th Kaepernick ran for a clutch TD, but didn't convert the 2pt conversion. The Niners had one oppurtunity to win the game, but couldn't score in the redzone. This was one of the best Superbowls I've seen in my 18 years of existence. Ray Lewis, a living legend, gets to retire a champion and cement his name even further in NFL history. I can honestly say he is the greatest middle linebacker of all time. Joe Flacco finally cures his LeBron Syndrome, and wins a championship. Flacco, in my mind and David Letterman's, has moved into elite status. Flacco joins Brady, Brees, The Mannings, Rodgers, and Big Ben in the elite quarterbacks club. Kaepernick proved that he's still a young QB, however he also proved that he will be a great QB very soon. NUFF SAID

Rudy Gay to Toronto

Rudy Gay has the luxury of eating Canadian bacon for breakfast every morning, now that he's a Toronto Raptor. On Wednesday Jan 30, 2013 the Grizzlies, Pistons, and Raptors participated in a three team trade. The Grizzles recieved Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye, Ed Davis, a $7.5M trade exception, and few draft picks. The Pistons recieved veteran guard Jose Calderon. The Raptors recieved Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi. In the first game without Rudy Gay the Grizzlies were dominated by the Oklahoma City Thunder 106-89. In their first game with Tayshaun Prince and Co. the Grizz picked up a 85-76 win over the Wizards. Prince had 14 points off the bench. In Toronto's first game with Rudy Gay, the Raptors demolished a very deep Clippers team 98-73. Gay finished with 20 pts off the bench, however I'm sure that won't be his permanent role. As a Memphian I'm not a big fan of this trade, however I understand why it happened. Rudy Gay did not live up to his maximum $82 million dollar contract. He never averaged 20 points or more while playing for the Grizzles, after signing his max contract. Even though he never lived up to his contract he was and still is a good scorer. He knocked down numerous clutch buckets for the Grizz during his stint there, and he was their leading scorer this season (17.3 ppg). The Raptors were the winners in this trade, they recieved a good scorer in Gay who will help them offensively. The Raptors future is looking bright,  with Gay, DeRozan, Amir Johnson, Terrence Ross, Kyle Lowry, Bargnani, and Landry Fields as the core group. The Pistons acquiring Calderon was a head scratcher to me. The Pistons already have 2 good guards in Brandon Knight and Rodney Stuckey, so that acquisition was puzzling. All in all the Grizzlies are still going to be a tough team in the West, due to the fact that they made a big playoff run without Gay in 2011. The Pistons will be the same team, and the Raptors will improve but they probably won't make the playoffs.....until next year. NUFF SAID

THE DISSAPOINTMENT OF THE COWBOYS

It never fails does it? Everytime Dallas fans believe Tony Romo is going to come up big...... he manages to prove us wrong and shatter every aspiration we have. This has been his modus operandi (MO) ever since he became a Dallas Cowboy. I would go into all his mistakes and mishaps, but I don't believe there are enough characters to type with. Yesterday Romo threw three interceptions, one late in the fourth quarter. If he hadn't thrown that pick, the Cowboys could have possibly went into OT or won the game. Instead the Cowboys are not going to playoffs for the third consectutive year. It's really pathetic especially with all that talent surrounding him. Romo just cant come up big in crunchtime, or in the big games. It's long overdue (about four years overdue) its time for Romo to be traded or released. Who's the future quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys? If I had my way I'd trade for Tim Tebow. Tebow in Dallas uniform, nothing would be better. He's marketable, extremely popular, clutch, and knows how to win. Why not pick him up? He led a struggling Broncos team to the playoffs, on top of that he made a clutch game winning TD in OT to defeat the Steelers. Tebow had numerous game winning drives with the Broncos, which started the "Tebowmania", "Tebow Time", and "Tebowing" phenomena. If Tebow isn't acquired Kyle Orton is a solid starting quarterback, who I believe can lead the Cowboys to the playoffs. Alex Smith is another option, Smith is easily a Top 10 quarterback who possibly would've have jumped into elite status had he not been benched by Harbaugh. No matter who the Cowboys quarterback is for the 2013 season, Tony Romo should not be in the backfield.

JACK TAYLOR

Who said D1 schools have the best scorers in the NCAA? Grinnel College keeps proving that statement untrue. Jack Taylor, a 5'10 sophmore guard, scored a whopping 138 points. He went 52-108 from the field; Taylor was 25-37 from 2 point range, 27-71 from beyond the arc, and he nailed 7-10 free throws. Taylor has set a scoring record for all NCAA divisions. He annihilated two previous scoring records set by Frank Selvy (100 pts vs. Newberry:PLAYED FOR Furman:D1) and Clarence "Bevo" Francis (113 pts vs. Hillsdale: PLAYED FOR Rio Grande:D2) in 1954. The Grinnell Pioneers dominated Faith Bapist Bible 179-104. Taylor attempted 108 out of 136 team field goals. Coach David Arseneault is known for his up tempo style of play called "The System". "The System" incorporates an all game full court press, focus on offensive rebounding, a plethora of three point shots, and regular subsitutions (he subs 5 new players every 2 minutes). Last season Griffin Lentsch, Taylor's senior teammate scored 89 points, and set a new D3 scoring record. Taylor was averaging 23.5 ppg in only 13.5 mpg, after yesterday's game he's avering 61.7 ppg through 3 games played.

Lakers hire Mike D'Antoni

On Sunday night, early Monday morning, The LA Lakers hired former Coach Of The Year Mike D'Antoni. D'Antoni signed a $12M/4yr deal with Tinseltown's team. Communication with Phil Jackson broke down due to his seemlingly outlandish demands ( $10-15M a year, major clout in personnel choices, choosing his successor, and skipping selected road games). Obviously that's a lot to ask for even for Phil Jackson. Now that the Lakers have their coaching situation in tact, how will the rest of the season play out for them? I believe that Lakers will flourish under Mike D'Antoni. D'Antoni has a great relationship with Steve Nash; Nash knows how to run a D'Antoni offense. Their offense will be fast paced, high octane, pick n roll oriented, and fun to watch. Dwight will thrive in the pick n roll with Nash, which will free up Kobe for open shots due to the threat of Nash's unparalleled pick n roll ability. A plethora of critics, including myself, know that D'Antoni isn't a defensive minded coach; However according to ESPN D'Antoni's teams have solid defensive stats. Although that is true none of D'Antoni's previous teams had the best low post defender in the NBA, in their starting lineup. Dwight will improve D'Antoni's solid defensive stats, and transform them into great defensive stats. The Lakers currently are on the right track again; They've won two straight games, and have hired a new coach. I'm dubbing these new look Lakers "Showtime Pt. 2". Things are looking up in Hollywood. NUFF SAID.

Mike Brown FIRED!

Yesterday, Lakers coach Mike Brown was terminated from his head coaching position. Mike Brown compiled a record 42-29 while with the Lakers. This season the Lakers were expected to win the Western Conference, but seemingly can't get it together. Brown seemingly never had an offensive system in place; Brown's predecessor Phil Jackson who implemented the Triangle Offense, enabled the Lakers to flourish without a true point guard. Mike D'Antoni and Phil Jackson are the top 2 candidates for the job. D'Antoni is known for his "7 second offense", and high scoring games. In his stint with the Suns the team stayed among the top 10 in PPG, and top 10 in other offensive categories. However, defense is not his fortay; Dwight would control the defense, allow the offense to score in transition, and thrive in the pick n roll with Steve Nash. Phil Jackson is Phil Jackson, need I say more? The only concern with Phil is his health. Can he deal with 82 game grind of the NBA season, plus a predicted deep playoff run? I believe Phil Jackson should be rehired, simply because he's Phil Jackson. NUFF SAID