Year End Awards for Sports Dummies

So after a long day of a funeral and hunting I had intended on starting a TSF 2008 countdown but I found this extensive "Year End Awards for Sports Dummies", it starts at 44 and goes all the way to 1. I've read them all and it's a pretty good countdown. You should check it out!

Now here's an idea....

With the celebrity world abuzz over the engagement of Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen I got a great idea. Maybe Bill Belichick would like to be the videographer for the wedding!? Seems fitting doesn't it?

Big Unit Signs with Giants

The Big Unit will give it another go in the NL West next season in his question for 300. The 45-year-old, five time Cy Young Award winner signed a one year, $8 million contract with the San Fransisco Giants Friday night. The contract joins Johnson with an already formidable Giants staff that features former Cy Young winners Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito as well as the highly touted Matt Cain.

FANTASY IMPACT
Johnson has gone to a very good place and this really helps his fantasy value for next season. While the Giants' offense is nothing to write home about (in fact it's nothing to write anywhere about) the Big Unit should see similar success to what he saw in the second half of last season with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Don't be totally fooled by Johnson's overall numbers, his second half numbers showed flashes of the Unit of old we are used to seeing.

IMPACT ON THE GIANTS

Johnson's numbers picked up in the second half as he got healthier and came to terms with what he now is as a pitcher. Less power, more finesse, pitching more to contact and allowing the defense to do their jobs really allowed Johnson to thrive. Not to mention the fact that he'll be going from a good hitter's park to a good pitcher's park..He isn't the dominant ace he once was in years past, but you can still expect near 15 wins, 175Ks and an ERA in the low 3.00s. I feel like this was a really good move for the Giants and helps their pitching stall out a lot really. The Giants need a lot more help than just the Big Unit if they want to contend though. But Ming should be excited because this was a step in the right direction.

A Bold Prediction: UNC's only loss will be...

I've been hearing talks of the North Carolina Tar Heels finishing undefeated this season. This is certainly not out of the question.

They are definitely the number one team in the country and there is only one other team that comes close to them (UConn) in my mind.

UNC is a dominant team and is one of the best in years. They have the best guards in the nation, the best depth, a high-powered offense, one of the best players in Tyler Hansbrough and also one of the best coaches in Roy Williams.

When you watch this Tar Heel team, they look like an NBA team out there on the court.

They could easily finish the regular season unblemished, but they won't. I predict they will finish the season with one loss. Like Memphis did last year.

UNC's only regular season loss will come to...... wait for it......

WAKE FOREST.

Yes, you heard that right. On January 11th, the Heels' go to the Demon-Deacons (man that's weird to say) house and stumble.

Wake Forest is a very underrated team. They are very versatile and talented, young, but extremely athletic and talented. They play great defense and have a sound offense. Jeff Teague and James Johnson are tremendous players for the Deacons.

But, North Carolina will recuperate after this loss. Wake will give UNC a taste of it's own medicine in January, but UNC will heal its wounds and make them even hungrier, where they will then tear off 14 staight wins going into March.

You heard it here first.

After you make your prediction make sure you go to the game to see what happens! If you don't have the funds for a ticket get a cash advance and never miss a game!

Seasons Postings

Sorry Santa, The Sports Flow hasn't been a good blog lately. We've been bombarded with college stuff and Christmas. Sorry to our fellow posters/readers with the lack of posting. But we wanted to wish everybody a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We will now start out with our 2008 Year in Review. We promise to get out posting back on track.

How would Ed Hochuli Rule this One?

So I don't know if anyone else has seen this but Kyle Orton's neckbeard is not very good at spiking a football. But I must draw the comparison....was his arm moving forward or not? What's the ruling Ed? Compare and contrast...

Watch out Ohio State!

Hot Damn! Ohio State better hope that the Fiesta Bowl doesn't turn into a shootout!

Can anybody stop UNC?

After some impressive wins, including Notre Dame and the pummeling of Michigan St., UNC is easily the favorite to cut down the nets in April.

It's not supposed to be like this; a team this well-coached, talented, and this high-caliber, is not supposed to return 10 of 11 players, 4 of whom could've been drafted in the NBA. Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green all decided to return.

North Carolina looked so good and so much better than everybody else in the country after the 98-63 drubbing of 12th ranked Michigan St.

UNC looked so dominant and just too deep and talented against a Michigan St. team, who is expected to be a Final Four contender this year.

UNC manhandled the Spartans, they had too much speed. Hansbrough and Deon Thompson were too much down low and Lawson and Ellington made Kalin Lucas and Travis Walton look like high-schoolers.

Which comes to the question, can anybody beat this Tar Heel squad? It's almost like they're destined for a Final Four and National Championship run, it's only a matter of time.

It's tough to argue against them. They could easily finish the regular season undefeated. They have tough road games at Wake Forest, Miami and the annual showdown with Duke. But I don't see them losing any of those right now even.

The NCAA Tournament could be different. Really, if you ask me, there are only two teams right now that could give the Heels a run for their money.

That's the UConn Huskies and Gonzaga Bulldogs. Both teams have strong frontcourts and could hold down the Heels' inside.

We all saw what Josh Heytvelt did to Hansbrough two years ago. Then there's 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet. I feel he is the best big in the country and he could cause problems inside for the Tar Heels, were they to meet.

The Huskies could give match-up problems with UNC. Thabeet down low on Hansbrough, Jeff Adrien could be a tough match-up with Thompson and guards AJ Price, Jerome Dyson, and Craig Austrie can play with the Heels' guards. But UNC's depth could off-set that difference.

As for Gonzaga, this may be their best team yet, they finally have the depth and the toughness to go all the way.

But all in all, it will be hard to bet against this North Carolina team right now.

The Williams Wall Needs to be Very Careful

So most of my friends who like football are Vikings fans. Most were heartbroken when they found out about the suspensions to Pat and Kevin Williams. Then they were elated when they heard that their suspensions are being fought in court. Well don't jump to conclusions my silly purple-loving friends.

This appeal is not necessarily good. So if they fight this off long enough odds are is that they will be allowed to play this weekend against the Detroit Lions. The thing is that in the court of law these men are innocent until proven guilty. But what is innocent and what is guilty in this case? Players are claiming that the league knew that this masking agent was present in the starburst or whatever they are called. But the league is very serious about players knowing what they put in their bodies. These players have no defense against that. They can fight and say that they didn't know that that masking agent was present in the pill. But will that matter? They can say that others knew but they weren't told. Will that matter either? It is their responsibility to know what they put into their bodies, and the NFL is very clear about that. Not to mention that there are dozens of better ways to lose weight that a dietetic.

If they fight this they might be able to hold off long enough to play this weekend against the Lions. But is that a good idea? By fighting this off for a week and then if the NFL rules they still have to serve the suspension that will mean that they must sit out the last 3 regular season games AND THEN the wildcard weekend playoff game that we are assuming they'd be able to hold on to. Is it worth it? For all my silly purple friends out there I hope that they put a little bit of thought into this and assess the risks of fighting this in court.

Playoffs?

It seems like everywhere I turn, on the Internet, in the sports world, it's "we need a playoff system"! "The BCS needs a major overhaul!"

Well, I don't buy it.

The BCS has its flaws, yes some teams have gotten screwed over the years and a 16 or 8 team playoff seems to make more sense, but it really doesn't.

The BCS is an okay system for major College Football, it's way better than the Bowl-Alliance that we had all through out the 1990's, where we had 3 co-champs and the Big Ten and Pac 10 weren't even part of it.

But yes, the BCS needs some tweaks. A four team playoff format or plus-one, makes the most sense.

But first, an 8 or 16 team playoff would not work and would only create more problems.

Whether you take the top 8 teams or the 6 power conference champs and 2 at-large bids, it won't work. You will still have arguments for the 9th, 10th, and 11th teams who don't get in. The power conferences will want their champs to be rewarded somehow with the playoff and some years you will have 3 or 4 teams in one conference that would deserve it over another conference (like this year I feel OU, Texas, and even TT would deserve it over the Big East or ACC Champs).

If we had an 8 team playoff this year, Cincy would be in it and say Oklahoma loses to Mizzou. Wouldn't OU deserve to be in over Cincy because they beat them earlier in the season and are better than Cincy? It just makes another big mess...

As for the 16 team playoff, it may sound great, but it will never become reality. College Football has such a rich tradition in bowl games. It's what makes College Football so great.

Not many people would want to take away from that. A 16 team playoff would diminish the regular season and you would have to shorten it somehow.

A 16 team or more playoff is not gonna happen unless you decrease some regular season games and more importantly conference games. All in all, not gonna happen. Most coaches and university presidents already hate teams that play 12-13 games as it is. Plus, it's more than just football, it will interfere with finals.

Which comes down to a 4 team playoff. In my mind, this makes the most sense. Most years, it usually comes down to 3-4 teams anyways and there is a bigger difference between the 4-5th best teams than the 8-9th best teams.

You wouldn't have to cut any regular season games, you can keep the bowl tradition and it's just one extra game for two teams; and I don't think any college coach or president will argue over one extra game, especially when it's the national championship.

But we have to remember, no system is perfect. But I'd rather have the BCS than an 8 team and above playoff.

All in all, the Bowl tradition is what makes College Football so great. A huge playoff format simply would create more havoc and ruin what makes this sport so great.