Why I Hate The NBA (Vol. 2)

If you've read this blog, you know all about my hatred towards the National Basketball Association.

Yes, I still watch, but only because it's forced down my throat by the sports powers that be at ESPN.

I still cheer for my Minnesota Timberwolves, despite the fact that they are currently at "Rock Bottom" status and will continue to be until someone other than David $tern is the commissioner.

However, there are still times when I look at the overall product and wonder: "How the hell are we supporting this?"

I've already stated how I think the NBA is second on the fakeness scale behind professional wrestling (and with another positive doping test, Cycling may be making a run towards the top), and how the Me-Me-Me culture has crippled the development of teams, but surprisingly, it's actually gotten worse.

Let's start with the #1 most notable thing in the NBA universe over the summer. I heard that LeBron James was a free agent. I don't know about you guys, but I had no clue.

As we all know, James signed with the Miami Heat after having teams travel to his turf and watch him eat turkey legs on a giant throne and be entertained by such crap as Family Guy cartoons. Eesh.

Well, after all of that James went on national television to announce "The Decision" and everyone went nuts over it. Charles Barkley called it a "punk move" in what was the most publicized comment, but James thought the comment was unfair to him. Why?

Well, this morning, James had an interview with CNN. In the interview, James said (after being asked) whether race played a factor for the criticism of "The Decision." Both James and Maverick Carter, his manager, said that they thought it had something to do with it...

Sigh...LeBron, LeBron, LeBron. If you were white, asian, black, purple, brown, alien, tiger, green, etc. it doesn't change the fact that you STABBED AN ENTIRE CITY IN THE BACK ON NATIONAL TELEVISION!!!!

Jalen Rose was trying to tell me this morning that he was a free agent and could go wherever he wanted. Well no @#$%, Sherlock! That's not the problem at all. When you are an icon of a city and then you go on national TV and give them the middle finger after all the support they've given you, it's a slap in the face.

If LeBron would have taken the route that Kevin Durant took with his contract extension (posting a message on Twitter) nobody would have cared. Would they have been as dissapointed? You bet. But it wasn't him on TV smiling and saying how happy he was going to be leaving Cleveland. Case closed.

Elsewhere in the NBA, teams are now trying to mimic the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, and the Los Angeles Lakers by creating super teams. I've chosen to define a super team as a team with 3 or more notable superstars coming together to win a championship "before it's too late."

The Celtics were the first team to do this, and they won a NBA Championship with Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. The Lakers, on a smaller scale, formed Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Ron Artest to lead them to a NBA Championship. And now there's the Heat with James, Dewayne Wade, and Chris Bosh.

But this isn't over. The New York Knicks are looking to do the same thing. After clearing a boatload of salary cap space and failing to get LeBron, the Knicks are looking to add to Amare Stoudamire, who they signed in hopes to land James.

But instead, they're looking for players already under contract with their current teams and this is what bothers me.

Chris Paul wants to play on a bigger stage, and that's cool. But he has two years remaining on his contract. I understand that Paul is not Drew Brees in New Orleans, but honor your contract. Paul has gone to management and has demanded a trade and his #1 option: New York.

In Denver, Carmelo Anthony is pitching a temper tantrum. Melo doesn't feel like a superstar because Chauncey Billups is getting all the credit for the Nuggets success the past couple of seasons. So, Melo has demanded a trade....to New York.

What is this? The girls from "My Super Sweet 16" would blush at how childish the NBA Superstars are acting right now. It's ridiculous.

And for the Knicks, how is this NOT tampering? I don't find the Heat's master plan to be tampering, cause this was three guys getting together and wanting to play. But the Knicks seem to have a gravitational pull on both Paul and Anthony. Wonder why?

If this was going on with, say the Timberwolves? Would $tern step in and stop it? Magic 8 Ball Says! All signs point to yes.

So there you have it, while everyone is getting excited about the "most anticipated NBA regular season in history", I think I'll stick with my "see you when you care in April" approach and enjoy watching my Timberwolves. Well, at least try to...

Sunday Bloody Sunday

The planets in the sports universe always seem to align this time of year. Especially on Sundays.

I enjoyed my first Sunday off during NFL season today, and it wasn't all peaches and cream for Minnesota sports fans.

When talking about today, you have to start with the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings were expected to have a pretty good season, but fell to 0-2 after a 14-10 defeat to the Miami Dolphins at Mall of America Field...sigh.

Well, if we want to talk about problems, I think you have to point to the offense. In two games, the Vikings offense, the kick ass offense, has scored 19 points. Not acceptable.

A lot of people have pointed to injuries as the cause for the offensive collapse in the first two games, and that's partially right. Losing a receiver like Sidney Rice for an extended period of time will hurt any offense, but it's also the nagging injuries such as Percy Harvin's constant trips to the training table. (Harvin exited Sunday's game with a hip injury and is scheduled to have a MRI Monday morning.)

However, Brett Favre has also cost this team two games. Through theses games, Favre has hucked 4 interceptions. Remember, Favre threw 7 all of last season. At times, Favre looked confused and unsure of what to do. Also looked like a 7 year old playing "500". You know, the game where you hucked it up into a crowd and screamed "200!!!!" and watched people destroy each other to get the ball?

It's apparent that Favre did indeed need the preseason to get ready for 2010. He probably needed training camp last year, but the Vikings opened with Cleveland and Detroit, rather than New Orleans and Miami. It's too late to fix it now, but the Vikings still could have won this game.

This is Childress' fault. Not because he should have thrown near the goal line towards the end of the game, but because he went for it on fourth down in field goal range four times. If he had went for 3 on fourth and goal with about 2:00 left, the Vikings would have only needed a field goal to get the win, and they wound up in Ryan Longwell's range.

So now the Vikings are looking at Vincent Jackson. My question is...would this really help? I'm assuming that the Chargers are going to try and gouge the Vikings by asking for a first round pick, and the Vikings would have to give Jackson 30 million in guaranteed money.

In the big picture, if the Vikings do wind up trading for Jackson, the Vikings are paying the price of their future because Favre wasn't ready for training camp.

On the other side of town, the Minnesota Twins had a chance to take another home series against the Oakland Athletics.

Ron Gardenhire decided to march out the B lineup, and it cost the Twins again in a 6-2 loss at Target Field.

Francisco Liriano lost his first start since the All-Star break, and what's more concerning is that Joe Mauer left the game with a jammed knee. He's day-to-day, but I assume the Twins will have Mauer take an MRI tomorrow, meaning he'll be out for the opener against the Cleveland Indians.

I understand the need to rest players, however, why does Gardy insist on doing it all at once? Orlando Hudson was given the day off, but instead of putting Alexi Casilla in, he put his favorite Twin, Nick Punto in at second. Also, Jason Kubel and Denard Span got the day off due to injury, so more automatic outs were inserted with Jason Repko and Ben Revere.

The Twins are going to win the AL Central, probably sometime next week. However, Gardy doesn't see the importance of gaining home field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. Even if the Twins win the division, home field in the ALCS (they'll already have it for the ALDS so saying they win...) would be very beneficial. And now that the Twins will be without Mauer and Morneau for a couple days, the Twins can't afford to take any more offense out of their lineup.

In other quick news, the Gophers still suck. Please fire Brewster soon...

Randy Orton won the WWE Championship at Night of Champions tonight, but I want to know where is Triple H. Triple H has been out since April as he went to film a movie. HHH hurt his shoulder while filming, so his return has been delayed, but he was supposed to be back in September. The next pay-per-view is Hell In A Cell, and a HHH vs. Sheamus (the man who "injured" HHH) Hell in A Cell match would be delightful. We'll have to see what happens on Raw on Monday.

Stale Brew

Five years ago, the Minnesota Golden Gopher football team was searching for a head coach to replace Glen Mason, who was solid, but could only lead the team to mediocrity.

It was believed that the Gophers needed a coach that could take them past the Insight Bowl, the Music City Bowl, and other mid-tier bowls. If the Gophers got a big name, the fan base would be revitalized and that would be important as they were opening the brand new TCF Bank Stadium a couple years after this hiring.

Then, "WHO THE @#$% IS TIM BREWSTER" flew out of my mouth.

Brewster was hired to replace Mason, and he said all the right things at the introductory news conference. Gopher Nation was coined. He bragged about his ability to recruit by getting Julius Peppers to go to North Carolina and Vince Young to Texas.

Then came his first season. The Gophers went from a grind it out attack to the spread offense, and the Gophers went 1-11. However, Brewster landed a solid recruiting class and lead the Gophers to a 7-1 record in his second season.

Since then Brewster has compiled a 7-14 record and has failed to beat Wisconsin, Iowa, or Michigan. Overall, Brewster's record stands at 15-25 in his fourth season and a majority of those losses have come against the Big Ten.

Apparently, Brewster didn't remember that to get to the Rose Bowl, you must first win the Big Ten. Go figure.

By the fourth year of a college coach's tenure, it's assumed that the coach has their guys in place and whatever system they choose to employ will work.

Enter Saturday's game. The Gophers lost 41-38 against a Football Championship Subdivision team who is currently in the third year of shedding it's division two status. That team is South Dakota.

So you have to ask yourself why has Brewster failed miserably with his guys?

- Brewster started out by employing a spread offense after the Gophers had spent years as a punch you in the mouth offense. Despite that, the Gophers finished with an elite passing attack after year 1 despite going 1-11. After the second season lagged a little bit, the Gophers fired offensive coordinator Karl Dunbar and decided to go into a pound you in the mouth offense. Huh? The Gophers hired Jedd Fisch, who filled Weber's head with all sorts of terminology and Weber's head just about exploded as did the Gophers offense. The change is viewed as a turning point in Brewster's tenure.

- Brewster isn't getting the most out of his first great recruiting class. Perhaps the only player living up to some potential is MarQueis Gray...who currently is playing wide receiver despite being an elite quarterback prospect and being second on the depth chart behind a struggling quarterback. Brewster has also made other head scratchers, such is Ra'Shied Hageman being recruited as a top tight end...and being moved to defensive end.

- Brewster has been outmatched in recruiting outside of his first class. I'm sure Brewster is a decent recruiter, but it's a lot easier when you're recruiting for a super power instead of Minnesota. We'd all love to say Minnesota is a legit school, but it's not the case for football. Brewster has also failed to grab top state prospects such as Michael Floyd and Seantrel Henderson. Even the one top prospect who Brewster did grab (Sam Maresh) is not with the team at the moment. Three strikes and you're out!

- Brewster's lack of coaching experience has caught up with him. Brewster has been a head coach on one occasion outside of Minnesota. That was in the early 90's at an Indiana high school. The jump from high school to division 1 is a big one. It's something Joel Maturi did not take into consideration in this matter.

- In addition to shuffling his offense around, the defense has seen turnover as well. In four years, Brewster has used four different defensive coordinators, the worst being Kevin Cosgrove, who drove a Nebraska defense into the ground in his tenure. Giving up 41 points to a FCS team should be terms for termination as well.

So, after all of this, Minnesota has a decision to make. Do you stay the course with Brewster or go in a different direction?

If they fire Brewster, the advantage is that the Gophers can go and get someone else to come in. The negatives are that it would be another rebuilding project for the Gophers, who have seen too much turnover in the past five years.

Also, who would want to take this job. The Gophers were believed to want Louisville head coach Charlie Strong as their first choice, but Strong wanted the Gophers to fork out money for a new football practice facility. As Tubby Smith has found out, the Gophers aren't willing to do that. Other coaches would probably want the same thing.

Candidates could be solid, however. Would Tony Dungy, a Super Bowl winning coach and a former Minnesota alum, be willing to save the Gophers from mediocrity? I doubt it, but if they could make it happen, it would be huge.

Think about recruiting. How many kids would crap themselves thinking that Tony Dungy is in their house. All that talk about Minnesota being a mediocre team could be muted by Dungy's Super Bowl ring in his ear.

More realistically, Paul Crist might be a candidate. But would he want to leave his cushy job at Wisconsin?

I believe something needs to be done. The Gophers have shown patience with Brewster, and Saturday's loss should be the last straw. I don't expect anything to be done until the end of the season, but I do expect something to be done.

By the way, if you want to read more into this, I was able to find a post about the ten worst losses under Brewster. Enjoy if you can.

NFL Division Preview - NFC South

The NFC South has had some competitive years, and then some not-so-competitive years.

In the early part of the 2000's, the NFC South boasted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers, with a spunky Atlanta Falcons team. Then there were the Saints.

Now, the Saints are the defending Super Bowl Champions (You're welcome...) and look to not only defend that title, but repeat as division champions, something that they have never done in their franchise history.

1. New Orleans Saints (2009 Record: 14-2 Won Super Bowl; 2010 Prediction: 12-4)
We know what we're going to get from the New Orleans Saints...offense!!!

They have an impact player at every position on the offensive side of the ball, and it's all lead by Drew Brees. I'm not going to go Jon Gruden on this and tell you how Sean Payton is a great preparer or anything like that. I'm just going to say that this team is loaded offensively. Whether it be WR Marques Colston, RB Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush, or just Drew Brees going beast mode on the bit, the offense will be one of the best in the NFL again and will win games for this team.

But it's their defense that concerns me. Last season, the offense scored so much, it masked plenty of flaws in their defense. S Darren Sharper was great as he was finally allowed to freelance around the field after being chained up in Minnesota under Brad Childress. Alas, Sharper will only be freelancing to the water cooler the first six weeks of the season, as he was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list.

There are some good players on that side of the ball, like LB Jonathan Vilma and CB Tracy Porter, but the Saints will need to rely on their offense once again if they want to repeat as Super Bowl Champions.

2. Atlanta Falcons (2009 Season: 9-7 2nd NFC North; 2010 Prediction: 11-5)
SLEEPER ALERT!!!! The Falcons were able to put together back to back winning seasons for the first time in franchise history last year, but it was a lot tougher than it should have been.

Injuries crippled this team as QB Matt Ryan suffered from turf toe and RB Michael Turner battled a high ankle sprain last season. Well, now they're healthy. Ryan will be in his third year and Turner will be in his third year as a feature back with plenty of tread left on the tires. Mix in the other weapons in TE Tony Gonzalez and WR Roddy White, and the Falcons will be a team to mess with in the South.

There are holes on the defense, but if the Falcons can make up for that, watch out.

3. Carolina Panthers (2009 Season: 6-10 3rd NFC South, 2010 Prediction: 6-10)
If the Panthers are going to win, they're going to run the ball a lot. Outside of WR Steve Smith, there are no receiving options on this team and QB Matt Moore doesn't have my vote of confidence as a starter.

The Panthers are in rebuilding as they need to get some more playmakers in the receiving game and the defensive side of the ball. The Panthers also lost DE Julius Peppers to the Bears, so that will leave a huge hole.

The one thing to watch for is that John Fox is in a contract year. I wonder if that means the same for coaches that it does for players.

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2009 Season: 3-13 4th NFC South; 2010 Prediction: 4-12)
The Bucs hired a young coach to replace Jon Gruden, so I think that Raheem Morris did a lot of learning on the job. The one thing he learned the most from was probably that to rebuild, you need to build through the draft. And the Bucs did that this offseason.

The Bucs filled two of their most glaring holes this offseason with their first four picks. First, they picked up DT Gerald McCoy with the 3rd pick in the draft, and then took DT Brian Price in the second round. The two should be a Williams Wall-like duo for years to come.

Then, the Bucs turned their attention to the receiving corps. WR Arrelious Benn would have been a first round pick if he had chosen a college program that could get a solid passing quarterback. He was a steal with the Bucs 3rd choice. WR Mike Williams is the same thing, except he had character issues. From what I see, there are very few receivers in the NFL who aren't headcases. Another steal.

The Bucs won't see much success this season with Josh Freeman injuring his thumb and RB Cadillac Williams' knee being a ticking time bomb, but they have laid down a solid foundation and if the rookies meet their potential sooner than later, the Bucs could get up to 6 wins by the end of the year.

NFL Division Preview - AFC East

The only division in the NFL that goes international is the AFC East. You may be trying to think about what I'm talking about, but the Buffalo Bills will play the Chicago Bears on November 7th.

As for the rest of the division, it should be a dog fight. You have the loudmouth in Rex Ryan, who promised that the Jets would become Super Bowl champions. Then, you have the more quiet and disciplined approach in the Miami Dolphins. And then the sometimes, what the hell approach of the New England Patriots.

The division has plenty of newcomers, most of them belonging to the Jets, but new faces make this a very intriguing division.

1. New England Patriots (2009 Record: 10-6 1st AFC East; 2010 Projection: 13-3)
The Patriots will sorely miss Ty Warren, and their secondary still leaves something to be desired even with the addition of CB Devin McCourty. However, I don't think the Patriots will be tied to the defensive side of the ball this year.

The offense will be much improved than it was last year. QB Tom Brady will be two years removed from his opening day ACL, and with most surgeries like that, it's the second year in which you start to feel like yourself again. And speaking of torn ACL's, WR Wes Welker will come back sooner than everybody thought, but nobody knows if his knee continues to bother him. Common sense say it will take a little bit away, but it's not like he'll turn into Troy Williamson when he gets back to 100%.

Mix in a mediocre running game, and you might think I've lost my mind giving the Patriots such a high record. So why will the Patriots win 13 games.

Randy Moss is in a contract year. I'll repeat. Randy Moss, Mr. I'll Play When I Want To Play, is in a contract year. There is no doubt that Moss is playing for a new contract with another team. He's already said that this is his last year in New England, and if 2007 was any indication, and that was the one where the Patriots went undefeated...until the Super Bowl that is, and Moss racked up 98 catches, 1,493 yards, and 23 touchdowns. That's a game changer folks, and if that's any indication, Mr. Moss will be a rich man come next March...that is if there's football, MR. GOODELL!!!

2. Miami Dolphins (2009 Record: 8-8 3rd AFC East; 2010 Prediction: 9-7)
If you couldn't tell, I love receivers. What Randy Moss will be to the Patriots this year, I think that Brandon Marshall will have a monster year for the Miami Dolphins.

Marshall is now in a situation better than he was in Denver. I would be bold enough to say that QB Chad Henne is better than Kyle Orton. I would also say that the Miami running game would open up the field better than the one that's in Denver right now. And it's not like he's the only receiver there. WR Devone Bess and WR Brian Hartline should worry defenses enough that Marshall will get the ball enough to keep him happy and keep the Dolphins winning.

The Dolphins defense is a bit odd and may struggle at times this season with the loss of LB Joey Porter, but I also think that LB Karlos Dansby was an excellent replacement for him and makes the defense younger. There are some problems in the secondary however, and while that will hurt the Dolphins a bit, they will be competing for a playoff spot throughout the season.

3. New York Jets (2009 Record: 9-7, 2nd AFC East; 2010 Prediction: 9-7)
The loudest team in the NFL will put some wins on the board, but Super Bowl talk is overblown. I talked about it a lot when I said I hate the Jets, but I don't think they have enough to go on this magical run that everyone thinks they'll go on.

They have a quarterback who's only in his second year. If we were talking about Joe Flacco or Matt Ryan, guys who have actual throwing ability, this would be different. But why are we getting jacked about a guy who threw 12 TDs and 18 INT last season.

Oh his playoff run...so he beat a team with no offense (Bengals), a choke artist (Chargers/Norv Turner), and then lost to a better team. I gotcha.

The addition of Santonio Holmes was their best move of the year, but after that, it's like they hired the 2002 Pro Bowl team. RB LaDanian Tomlinson should play well in a reserve role, but not well enough to light the world on fire. DE/LB Jason Taylor is more concerned about Dancing With The Stars and the Rick Fox-like acting roles he'll get when he retires to make a legitimate impact, and again, Mark Sanchez reminds me of Rick Mirer.

Oh yeah, about that. Mirer had a pretty successful season his first year in the league too. As a matter of fact, the 2nd overall pick in the 1992 draft had 11 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in his second year in the league...then teams made him throw to his left. That's what I've seen from Sanchez. He can't throw to the left side. If Sanchez can play well enough for teams to back off, then I'll be wrong about this team, but as of now, Sanchez is not an impact player and not one to place a bunch of veterans around just yet.

4. Buffalo Bills (2009 Record: 6-10 4th AFC East; 2010 Prediction: 3-13)
The Bills wanted to make a huge splash last season after they fired Dick Jauron halfway through the season. They interviewed Mike Shanahan, but he went to Washington. They went after Bill Cowher, but he wanted to remain retired for one more season. The result? Chan Gailey. Really? Chain Gailey who has failed twice as a head coach, and once got fired before he coordinated his first game in Kansas City? Yup, so with that...

They have no offensive line, their quarterback is captain checkdown, their two best players on the defensive side of the ball last year will not be there next year (DE Aaron Schobel retired and S Jarius Byrd had his third surgery on his groin in the past 9 months in August), and their best option at running back is buried behind two mediocre players on the depth chart. Oh and they play a game in Canada. Is that good enough reason to predict they finish at the bottom of this divi...the entire league next year?

Why I Love The Vikings

One day at the Weinmann residence (which is my mother's side of the family), my Uncle Timm and Uncle Carl were having a "friendly" discussion about football. Now, I don't know, the exact conversation. I mean, this was a conversation in the late 70's or early 80's, but it was something like...

Timm: Earl Campbell is going to kick some Viking ass today!
Carl: The Oilers suck...shut up.
Timm: I'm thinking 100 yards and three touchdowns!!!
Carl: Again, the Oilers suck...shut up.

Yes, this continued for the entire game and when Earl Campbell did blow up, Timm ran around Carl bragging about how his favorite player destroyed the Vikings. Carl got mad and punched Timm in the face, right in front of my Grandpa Jerry. Jerry got annoyed and screamed "YOU'RE GROUNDED!!!"...to Timm.

As you can see, the Vikings are very important to my family, but many Minnesota households as well...some more than others. But why do I like the Vikings? I could easily take the "I'm from Minnesota" route, but I think it's more complex than that.

First, you may hate the Metrodome, I know I want the Vikings to get a new stadium, but in reality it's perfect for football. Better than Lambeau Field in my opinion.

I know what you're thinking...you think I'm still drunk from the tequila binge I went on last night. Not really. You see the Dome is great because it's like an asylum for opposing team. The Dome is so crappy that if someone broke a seat, or started pounding on the air vents in the back of the stadium to make noise, well it just means the more the better.

Take the Cowboys game for example. A week's rage was stuffed into that Dome when every expert said the Cowboys were going to destroy the Vikings. We all know how that turned out. Under a loud, and raging crowd, the Cowboys got their ass kicked 34-3.

Now there's more than that. Maybe I just like rooting for my team. The Vikings have a history similar to the Cubs. With half the time frame between championships, but hear me out. They've choked so much, they're deemed losers. When you cheer for a loser, it feels better when you win.

That's why when a Packer fan cries out three Super Bowls, I just know that the Vikings one Super Bowl will mean more than any of their three...that is if they could pull through and actually win it.

So that's why I almost was on the verge of tears when the Vikings were driving down the field in the NFC Championship Game and the thought of "They're going to go to the Super Bowl!" popped into my head. Wrong timing...too many men on the field....interception...blah blah blah.

I'm proud to be a Vikings fan. I almost think that some people hate the Vikings because it's trendy. Hell, who wants to wear anything purple if you don't have to, right? Think of this. How many Twins/Packers fans do you know? There's quite a few. But have you ever seen a Brewers/Vikings fan?

My entire family are huge Vikings fans. Autographs, jerseys, memorbilia, Vikings flasks, you name it and somebody in my family has it. And as you can see, if you cheer against the Vikings, you better cancel your plans for the next two weeks.

So as we come up to another season of football, I'm excited. This will probably be the last chance the Vikings have at winning the Super Bowl for a really long time. Several key players are free agents, and it appears the Purple will be putting their faith in Tarvaris "The Precious" Jackson after this year. Not good.

But that's the thing about Vikings fans...we know what heartbreak is like. It's been likened to stabbing yourself in the face repeatedly and a trailer park trash relationship. If the Vikings fail again, we'll get knocked down, but we'll be back again to cheer them on because what if they actually win it all?

That would be a great feeling.

NFL Division Preview - NFC East

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman love this division. Really, they LOVE it. They love the way the Cowboys come out like a house on fire and collapse in December. They love the way that Andy Reid jiggles when he gets mad on the sideline. They also love the way that Tom Coughlin looks like a demon in cold temperatures. And they love to watch Albert Haynesworth huff and puff his way...through lunch.

Yes, I would fully expect Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to come down from the broadcast booth, have Jerry Jones drop his pants and...well this is a family blog so I'll keep that one to myself.

Over the past couple of seasons, this has been one of the best divisions in football. The NFC East has gotten multiple wild card berths several times over the past decade and has a Super Bowl Champion in the 2006 Giants.

However, the division is in decline and several faces are in new places, mostly in Washington. The East needs to get some new playmakers, but there is only one team that could make a long run in the playoffs as of right now...

1. Dallas Cowboys (2009 Record: 11-5 1st NFC East; 2010 Prediction: 11-5)
The Cowboys are always the media darlings of the NFL. They're America's Team right? Well, this year America's Team is tooled for a long playoff run, but can they mask their chaos long enough to do just that?

Tony Romo returns as the Cowboys starter and that usually means turmoil. Like the rest of the team, Romo usually gets off to scalding hot starts at the beginning of the season, but towards the end of the season, he tends to freeze up.

However, this year might mean a reverse trend. The offense has struggled in the preseason, so maybe they'll get hot at the end of the year instead. That will depend on RB Felix Jones who, despite his injury history, will be the featured back ahead of Marion Barber (who played last year on a torn quadraceps muscle).

Another key to the offense will be WR Dez Bryant, who missed the preseason with a high ankle sprain. Roy Williams has been a dissapointment, and it will be interesting to see if Bryant can take the #2 receiver spot away behind Miles Austin.

Defensively, the Cowboys are solid with DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer manning a great pass rush. If the secondary can hold their own, the Cowboys should be a tough team to beat in 2010.

2. New York Giants (2009 Record: 8-8 3rd NFC North; 2010 Prediction: 10-6)
The Giants return with a lot of guys from last season, and they'll get a couple back. Nobody is bigger than DE Osi Umienorya who missed all of last season with a torn ACL. It usually takes a couple of seasons to return to form after such an injury, but he does, the Giants pass rush will be great. Especially with the insurance policy in the first round known as DE Jason Pierre-Paul.

The offense is a bit of a question mark. QB Eli Manning threw for over 4,000 yards last year, but it's because the running game was non-existent. The Giants will have to hope that either RB Brandon Jacobs or Ahmad Bradshaw step up to take the load off Manning.

I also think that Hakeem Nicks will have a big year after playing on a broken foot for the second half of last season. If the running game gets going, the Giants will be the toast of New York instead of the Jets.

Oh and did I mention they have a new stadium?

3. Philadelphia Eagles (2009 Record: 11-5 2nd NFC North; 2010 Prediction: 8-8)
It's always sunny in Philadelphia, unless you're a Philly sports fan. The Phillies have been a disappointment and the Eagles are headed that way.

A lot of people are expecting QB Kevin Kolb to be Aaron Rodgers 2.0. While he has the weapons, it remains seen which Kolb we will see this year. Will it be the Kolb who struggled filling in for McNabb on occasion or will we see the Kolb that lit up the Saints and the Chiefs last year? That remains to be seen.

The skill positions are legit though. RB LeSean McCoy is similar to Brian Westbrook and will fill in for Westbrook nicely after his departure to San Francisco. WR DeSean Jackson is one of the best deep threats in the league, and Jeremy Maclin should improve in year two.

The defense scares me. They're getting old and trying to rebuild that side of the ball, so they might lose several games through the air. Especially when they have to face Eli Manning, Tony Romo, and GASP! Donovan McNabb twice on top of Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, and Matt Schaub.

4. Washington Redskins (2009 Record: 4-12 4th NFC East; 2010 Prediction: 3-13)
Yeah, I know they have McNabb and new coach Mike Shanahan, but there are way too many holes on this team for it to mean anything.

The running backs on this team are dinosaurs. RB Clinton Portis is one concussion away from hanging it up, while Larry Johnson and Willie Parker don't seem like they can contribute at a high level. However, don't count them out completely because of Shanahan's zone blocking scheme which cranked out 1,000 yard rushers in Denver year after year.

At wideout, the Redskins have the aging Santana Moss and two prospects who haven't lived up to their potential in Malcom Kelly and Devin Thomas. TE Chris Cooley helps a little bit, but other than that it's garbage.

Their offensive line continues to be in shambles. Kudos on the pickup of Trent Williams in the draft last year, but the rest of the line is aging quickly and will have trouble picking up McNabb.

As for their defense, it's OK. They have young guns to build around in LB Brian Orakpo, CB Carlos Rogers, and S LaRon Landry, but they have no pass rush. Owbert Haynesworth, aka Puddinhead, is supposed to be that answer, but Shanahan is already treating him in an unfavorable manner. The two should have a steel cage fight to the death by Week 4, mark that on your calendar.

NFL Division Preview - AFC North

The AFC North is synonomus with smash mouth, punch you in the face football. The games are fierce. The rivalries are even fiercer. The worst team in the division probably has the best fans in the division. It's intense to watch.

Over the past couple of seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers have dominated this division. With their running approach, the Steelers have hit the hardest and as a result have two Super Bowl rings to show for it.

However, with Ben Roethlisberger being suspended for at least the first four games of the season, there might be a new king of the North in the AFC.

We do know this, there will be a lot of hitting and bloodshed in the division this year...

1. Baltimore Ravens (2009 Record: 9-7 2nd AFC North: 2010 Prediction: 13-3)
The biggest thing with the Ravens is Anquan Boldin. The Ravens acquired the Cardinals #2 receiver hoping to make him a number one receiver. A lot of people have been concerned that Boldin won't be able to put up the same numbers without Larry Fitzgerald. Remember how good Boldin was in his rookie season? 101 catches, 1,377 yards, 8 TD...without Fitz. The only concern will be if he stays healthy and if he does, Joe Flacco will be a very happy man.

Pair this with Ray Rice rushing for the Ravens and the always dangerous Ravens defense, the Ravens could be one of the best teams in the AFC. The only concern at this point is the Ravens secondary which is filled with retreads and players coming off of injury.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers (2009 Record: 9-7 3rd AFC North; 2010 Prediction: 10-6)
Ben Roethlisberger will miss the first four games of the season, at least. Sounds like bad news right? Wrong. I have the Steelers going 3-1 in their first four games this year, with the lone loss coming to the Ravens. They start out with Atlanta at home, then travel to Tennessee and Tampa Bay. If the suspension lasts two more games, tack on a home game against Cleveland and a trip to Miami.

The Steelers will have to abandon the pass happy attack that was used last year and revert back to their ground-and-pound approach that got them two rings. That will put the pressure on Rashard Mendenhall who will be the guy after Willie Parker's departure. If he can put up numbers, the Steelers will be in good shape.

Defensively, the Steelers should get a huge boost from the return of S Troy Polamalu. A lot of people were wondering what was wrong with their defense last year and I think that it was just missing a lot of hair. Quarterbacks know where Polamalu is at all times and if he was back there, I'm sure a lot of games would have went the other way had Polamalu been on the field. He'll be there this year, but I don't think it will be enough to win the division.

3. Cincinnati Bengals (2009 Season: 10-6, 1st AFC North; 2010 Prediction: 6-10)
The most explosive team in the NFL takes the field...and we're not talking on the field. Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco may be friends right now, but if Carson Palmer throws to the same guy too much, watch out.

It's clear they both want to win, but there are a lot of question marks around the rest of the offense as well. Was last year an abberation of Cedric Benson? Will Andre Caldwell be the guy to replace Chris Henry, the explosive slot receiver who was killed in a freak accident last season? Is Carson Palmer fully recovered from an elbow injury after a disappointing 2009 season?

The defense should still be solid however, but they have no pass rush. They'll get Antwaan Odom back after he tore his Achilles' tendon early last season, and they have terriffic corners and linebackers. Even with the addition of Owens, I feel that the defense will be the key to winning games this season.

4. Cleveland Browns (2009 Record: 5-11, 4th AFC North; 2010 Projection: 2-14)
If you place bets on who will get the number one overall pick in next years draft...throw money down on the Browns or Rams. The Browns won their last three games last season, but I'm still not impressed.

Jerome Harrison blew up in the final three games last season, but he put up over 30 carries in all three games. If you get the ball enough, of course you're going to put up huge numbers! The Browns don't even have faith in him as they drafted Montario Hardesty this offseason, but he's had injury problems and is already hurt.

They upgraded at quarterback with Jake Delhomme, but that's not saying much based off of how he played for Carolina last year. Also, the wide receiver corps is very weak.

The Browns also have a very weak defense. They'll get D'Qwell Jackson and they added CB Joe Haden in the draft, but I can't see this being a very good team yet. Maybe a #1 pick would help them down the road...

Big Ten Drops The Ball On Division Alligment

At the beginning of this season, I took an early sneak peak at Target Field. On the way over there, I was informed about the idea of a baseball realignment plan that would make teams more competitve and group them by market sizes rather than geographical regions.

So why would baseball want to realign their divisions and destroy many of their rivalries that helped obtain its popularity? Because the Yankees and the Red Sox make the playoffs every year.

That's right, because nobody can beat those two teams, the rest of baseball has to adjust for two teams. Whatever happened to getting better so that those two teams can be beaten. The Rays have done it, why can't anyone else knock either team out of the playoffs?

Well, baseball hasn't done anything yet, but the Big Ten adopted that philosophy on Wednesday when they announced the division alignments in football for when Nebraska joins the conference prior to the 2011 season. The final divisions are...

- Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Michigan State
- Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana

Um...what? So what the Big Ten did was weigh the importance of rivalries over competitiveness. Or they say competitiveness, which translate into KA-CHING for the Big Ten.

The Big Ten is owned by two teams in football: Ohio State and Michigan. That seems to be the banner game every year for the conference because none of the other teams in the conference are good enough to overtake them. So it would make sense to have your two best teams in the conference championship game...because it would make the most money and give the conference the most attention.

By weighing the importance of that rivalry, the Big Ten has ignored almost every other rivalry in the conference. Yes, the teams will still get to play each other in "rivalry-protected matchups" but if they're truly a rivalry, why not put them in the same division where they can play each other and have the games mean more towards who goes to the conference championship?

Take the Gophers as an example. If you ask the person on the street which are the two most important matchups the Gophers have in football, they would probably answer Wisconsin (Paul Bunyan's Ax) and Iowa (The Floyd of Rosedale). So wouldn't it make sense to guarantee that Minnesota and Wisconsin would play each other? What if they're battling for the berth in the championship game, wouldn't that make it more exciting instead of...let's see if Wisconsin can catch Ohio State. Yay...

The Big Ten may have also neutralized the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry in the process as well. The Big Ten has said that they will make sure that the two teams will play their game on the final week of the regular season. Cool, that's tradition. But under this format, what if the two team steamroll their divisions and clinch their berth in the conference championship game? The result might be a NFL preseason game where neither coach wants to show anything because there is a more crucial game coming up with the same team in two weeks.

None of this is going to change sadly because we all know what college sports are all about. Look at BYU, who suddenly thinks they can become Notre Dame West by going independent. Look at Texas canceling a home-and-home series with Minnesota because the Gophers aren't a big draw for the TV network the Longhorns are looking to launch in the near future. And look at all the other conferences adding teams to get to the magic number of 12 to have a conference championship game. Nebraska should just change their name to the Dollars and Sense and replace the N on their helmet with a $ cause the Big Ten is laughing all the way to the bank on this one.

Don't get me wrong, I'm going to love seeing a Big Ten Championship game. How many times have we seen two really good teams have undefeated conference records, but they never played each other during the regular season so insane tiebreakers have to be used to determine a champion? I just think it would be better served if two random teams were involved instead of seeing a team play each other twice on back-to back weeks to end the season. The Big Ten dropped the ball on this one, and hopefully they don't turn out like the last conference to decide that expanding to 12 teams was a good idea. Nebraska knows all about what happened to that conference.

NFL Division Preview - NFC North

Over the next couple of days, The Crishad Experience will go over all 8 divisions PLUS make predictions for the upcoming 2010 NFL Season which kicks off September 9th when the New Orleans Saints host the Minnesota Vikings. Today, I decided why should I make most of my readers wait? It's the NFC North.

The NFC North is one of the most underrated divisions in football in my opinion. There have been great teams to come out of the division in the past decade as the Vikings and Packers have always been competitive, and the Bears went to a Super Bowl in 2006.

However, most of the publicity goes to the NFC East and the AFC South as the toughest division in football. While the AFC South is deserving, the NFC East...well I'll get to that when we talk about the NFC East.

The North usually provides down-to-the-wire action as the season ends. Like when the Packers won the division on a last second touchdown by Arizona in 2003. While Detroit usually gets beat around like a rag doll, even they are improving as they have obtained, arguably, the best talents in the past two drafts.

This year should be another entertaining year...

(Teams in order of division finish)

1. Minnesota Vikings (2009 Record: 12-4 1st NFC North; 2010 Projection: 12-4)
No, I'm not just going off of last year's records. The season's opening stretch will be brutal for the Vikings as they'll go to New Orleans, face Miami and Dallas at home, and face the New York Jets at the new Meadowlands.

However, the Vikings have a weak schedule towards the end of the year, and that's when they start to get most of their pieces back. Sidney Rice is recovering from ill-timed surgery and should be expected back October 31st at New England at the earliest. Cedric Griffin is also recovering from knee surgery and might be back sooner than that, perhaps the Week 4 game at the Jets. Getting those two guys healthy will be key for the Vikings.

Speaking of healthy, is Brett Favre healthy? His ankle required a shot of WD-40 last weekend and it's logical to question whether or not he'll be able to play all 16 games. On one hand, it's Brett Favre, who has started 309 consecutive games in his career. But, he's also going to be 41 years old in October. Any Favre injury would be devastating to the Vikings Super Bowl aspirations.

2. Green Bay Packers (2009 Record: 11-5 2nd NFC North; 2010 Projection: 11-5)
The Packers are one the best teams in the division simply because of their offense. They are LOADED at receiver with Donald Driver and Greg Jennings, and they have one of the best quarterbacks in the league with Aaron Rodgers.

Their defense is a bit of a question mark. Yeah, they were one of the best defenses in the league, but remember, the entire division had the same weak schedule that the Vikings were blasted for having last season. This year, the Packers should face some improved offenses which means they'll give up more yards through the air with their leaky pass defense that cost them several games, most notably the playoff game against the Cardinals. The injuries to CB Al Harris and S Atari Bigby, who will both miss the first six games of the season, doesn't help matters.

Remember the Vikings teams of the early part of the decade. They had a very powerful offense, but couldn't stop anybody. Could the Packers be looking at the same fate?

3. Chicago Bears (2009 Record: 7-9 3rd NFC North; 2010 Projection: 5-11)
Wow, that's a steep fall. The Bears were the Super Bowl runners up in 2006, but have free falled to the bottom of the division. Why is this?

Well, first of all, their running game is now officially non-existent. They had Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson that year, and now both of them are gone. Matt Forte looked really good in his rookie year, but had a really bad sophomore slump. Mix in the fact the Bears got Chester Taylor to compete with Forte and it's a mess in the Bears backfield.

Oh yeah, their new offensive coordinator loves guys who can run...after they catch the ball. Mike Martz takes over and he loves to launch the ball down field. You can see this as a good thing for Jay Cutler because he loves to do that too. But it's a bad thing because usually those down field strikes are right into the numbers of the opposing defense. Cutler came very close to joining the 30 touchdown, 30 interception club last season. More attempts could mean more turnovers and without a true #1 receiver, I can't see this offense working in the Windy City.

The defense is a bit suspect as well. Their secondary has gotten old and although they added DE Julius Peppers, the defense still lacks playmakers. They'll get Brian Urlacher back, but will he be able to play a full season? And the secondary is very depleted to say the least.

4. Detroit Lions (2009 Record: 2-14, 4th NFC North; 2010 Projection: 5-11)
RESTORE THE ROAR IS ON!!! For a two win team, I'm very high on Detroit. Don't say that I've lost my mind but think of this. Detroit has gotten the two top talents in the past two drafts in QB Matthew Stafford and DT Ndumukong Suh. They've also upgraded in many areas. The Lions had to overpay for WR Nate Burleson, but he's a solid #2 to go with WR Calvin Johnson. There's still plenty of work to be done in the Motor City, such as the offensive line and secondary, but if they go 5-11, they'll get another top 10 pick which could provide huge divedends down the road. This team has the potential to surprise, and going from 2 to 5 wins would be just that.