Cheap Seats

Well, it's that time of year again. NFL Wild Card weekend has to be one of my favorite sporting times of the year. Just as I predicted, the Patriots finished off the year with their 16th win, albeit in a bit of a more nail-biting fashion than I expected.

Tom Brady and Randy Moss are now etched in NFL record book stone as the all-time touchdown kings for a single season at their respective positions.

Anyway, on with the picks.

National Conference
New York at Tampa Bay
As much as my cohort Jeff Andrews loves the Giants and the unstoppable Eli Manning, and how much I like to razz him about his love for both, I'm going to have to on his side in this one. The unstoppable one actually showed a bit of moxy in Saturday night's loss to New England. In summation, I just think the G-men have too much offensive firepower -- even without Jeremy Shockey -- for the Bucs to hang with. It's been a nice ride for Tampa, but it comes to an end this weekend.
Giants 24, Bucs 13

Washington at Seattle
OK, call me callous, but the Sean Taylor's memory motivation will only take Washington so far, or Warshington, as some people like to call it. The Redskins seem to be the country's darling right now, having won every game since Taylor's funeral last month, mostly behind backup quarterback/NFL journeyman Todd Collins. No doubt, it's a good story, but people seem to be forgetting what the Seahawks are all about. Seattle just doesn't lose at home very often, and especially not in the postseason, and I see no reason why this game will be different. Also, the Seahawks quietly have one of the league's best defenses and a newfound passing attack since the demise of Shaun Alexander. One more thing, people seem to think yesterday's win over Dallas helped the Skins build even more momentum. I don't think it does at all. They beat a team that had no motivation and didn't play its starters the entire game. With that said, they did take the Cowboys out behind the shed.
Seattle 31, Washington 17

American Conference
Tennessee at San Diego
I pretty much echo Jeff's sentiments here, believe it or not. Vince Young has a bright future. Unless there's an old 80s sports car, turned time machine lying around somewhere, the future ain't now. Plus, Young was hurt in last night's win over Indianapolis. Titans coach Jeff Fisher said if the game was in question, Young probably would've returned, but that's easy for him to say after the game. Whatever Young's status is, San Diego is finding its rhythm, and when you have L.T., you're always in a game. I don't see the Chargers doing much damage after this round, but this should be a relatively easy win.
Chargers 24, Titans 10

Jacksonville at Pittsburgh
Willie Parker is out for the Steelers. Jacksonville has two No. 1 running backs in Fred Taylor, who'd get my vote for Comeback Player of the Year if not for Jamal Lewis, and possibly my favorite NFL player, Maurice Jones-Drew. The Jags went to Heinz Field a couple of weeks ago, in the snow, and put it to the Steelers playing traditional Steeler football. I see no reason why this week will be any different. Plus, aside from Brady and Peyton Manning, Jacksonville has the best quarterback in the AFC with David Garrard. Underrated, but really stinkin' good.
Jaguars 23, Pittsburgh 14

Posted by Adam Boedeker at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comments

All I wanted for Christmas was a New England Patriots loss. Thanks, Santa.
Now that Pretty Boy Brady and Satan’s Army have gone undefeated in the regular season, I can only hope for an even more humiliating blow to the Dark Empire – a perfect regular season coupled with a playoff loss.
Unfortunately, the only team with a legit chance to knock of NE may be the Colts, and even I can’t pick anyone over the Patriots with a straight face.
Nonetheless, I will be cheering for the side of Good when the playoffs begin on Saturday, which means my favorite team this postseason will be the one playing New England.
Here are my picks:

National Conference
New York at Tampa Bay
The Bucs are the latest NFC South team to come out of nowhere and make the playoffs. While their predecessors have found success in the postseason, don’t expect to see the Bucs go beyond this round. The Giants gained a lot of momentum after a solid performance against New England, and despite obvious consistency issues, Eli Manning can perform well when he’s not moping. The Fighting Chuckies are a nice story, but not an NFC champion.
Giants 27, Bucs 17

Washington at Seattle
Jason Campbell’s injury was the best thing to happen to the Redskins. Instead of having the worst first-round quarterback pick since Patrick Ramsey at the helm, Washington is now a solid team led by a veteran and consistent quarterback in Todd Collins. The Seahawks are strong again, but Washington has all the momentum and all the motivation.
Washington 24, Seattle 21

American Conference
Tennessee at San Diego
The Titans are the worst team in the playoffs, and they won’t stay in it very long, especially with a road-opener against a rejuvenated Chargers team. San Diego is on a six-game winning streak, including an overtime win over Tennessee. I have all the confidence that Vince Young will be a good NFL quarterback, but right now, he’s not. And saying he just “wins games” isn’t exactly overshadowing his poor performances.
Chargers 31, Titans 10

Jacksonville at Pittsburgh
I’m not sure which of these teams bores me more, but with the Jaguars winning six in the second half of the season, including a win at Pittsburgh, Jacksonville is an easy pick. The Steelers limped into the playoffs and have only one win over a playoff team on the year. This pick is contingent on none of the Jacksonville starters chipping a piece of their leg off with an axe in the locker room before the game.
Jaguars 19, Pittsburgh 14

Posted by Jeff Andrews at 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments

I was staring as close to the setting sun as I could without burning my eyes, lying on a chaise on the beach next to ESPN radio’s Kelly Webster.
The sun chiseled a golden brown into our already flawlessly cut bodies, but something was obviously bothering her, and it wasn’t the apparent inability of the cello player in the nearby string quartet to play in tune.
“Have you noticed the NHL standings recently? It’s still Detroit, Colorado, Dallas and New Jersey. I thought this was the age of parity?” she said softly but with an urgency that required my immediate attention.

I turned over and laid my left hand on the sand to get a look at the failing cello player as the turn of my arm flexed my left peck into a bulging hill, rippling through my skin with the explosive power of Mount St. Helens.
“Hey are you listening to me?” Kelly asked. “Dallas leads the Pacific, Detroit leads the Central, Colorado leads the Northwest and New Jersey leads the Atlantic. You said the salary cap would kill all four teams and their reign of nine Cups and nine years would be over.”
I temporarily dismissed Kelly’s comments, focusing my attention on the poor technique of the cello player.
“Hey!” I yelled at him. “Up! Up! Choke up on every note! You’re flat!”
“Andrews!” Kelly yelled, slapping my shoulder and almost making me spill the glass of brandy in my right hand.
I laid back down. She was right. An aging Detroit team with a previously bloated salary was defying the odds. So were the other three giants.
“But none of those teams have won the Cup since 2003 when New Jersey did it, and none have really come close since then,” I said. “It’s still December, Kelly. We have a lot of season still to play, and who knows what will happen in the playoffs.”
“Well what does that mean for Dallas?” she asked. “The Stars are a good team with an apathetic fan base. That’s a terrible combination. Nothing they can do in the regular season will matter until they win a playoff series, which they’ve done only twice since 2001.”
Kelly and I both saw how well the Stars played in the playoffs last spring. Marty Turco pitched three shutouts against the Canucks, but Dallas still lost in seven games. The Stars were better than a first-round exit, but tell that to increasingly disengaged fans who have seen that scenario play out one too many times.
“The Stars have as good a chance as anyone,” I responded. “Getting young skill players such as Loui Eriksson and Antti Miettinen more ice time is good. Maybe one of them can step up and provide the offensive spark they lacked last year. And if not, the Stars still have enough cap room to add a scoring winger at the trade deadline. Dallas is 14-5 since mid-November.”
“But this league is so unpredictable right now,” she said. “Coaches haven’t really been able to experiment with the new rules yet. We’re just waiting for another Jacques Lemaire to come up with some boring scheme to slow the game down. When that scheme is devised, the league will have another New Jersey on its hands. And who’s to say Lemaire can’t get the trap to be as effective in today’s game? Minnesota is having a good year.”
She had a point there. The next great team in the NHL will come on the heals of the next great scheme. Thinking that team is going to be the Stars is naïve. But it’s the same way with any team. No potential dynasty has emerged in the new NHL.
“A lot of things are going to have to play out before we know anything about the league or the Stars,” I said raising my glass. “But if they play their cards right, the Stars have a two or three year window to grab another Cup. Chin up, Webster.”
Kelly raised her brandy to mine, and the glasses kissed each other in front of the sun, which shot through both glasses, opening a prism of light that almost seemed to come alive as it danced in an endless spectrum of colors.
“Fair enough,” she said.

The preceding blog is fiction. The views in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of Kelly Webster.

Posted by Jeff Andrews at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments

Brett Favre and his Green Bay Packers did the Cowboys a big favor today as the NFL's all-time leader in just about every passing category laid a stinker at Soldier Field as the Bears routed Green Bay and secured homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs for Dallas.

This is great on many levels for the Cowboys. First, they can rest all their players in next week's season finale against Washington and avoid any more injuries. Off the top of my head, Andre Gurode, Terrence Newman, Bradie James and Terrell Owens are all banged up, with Owens' high-ankle sprain being the most serious. Dallas hopes he'll be able to play in three weeks when the Cowboys open the postseason.

Second, Favre is 4-0 in his career against the Cowboys at Lambeau Field, which is affectionately known as "The Frozen Tundra" at this time of year. However, when he's traveled to Dallas to play the Cowboys, he's 0-9, including the loss a few weeks ago in which he was knocked out of the game. Also, I know the Cowboys don't want to be traveling to Lambeau in January where temperatures can dip below zero very easily.

The NFC race to Glendale, Ariz., seems to be pretty clear cut between Dallas and Green Bay.

However, on the AFC side, I think it's wide open despite the Patriots' near-perfect record. The obvious two at the top are the 15-0 Patriots and the defending Super Bowl champion Colts, who people seem to have forgotten about this year amidst all the hoopla surrounding the Pats.

But let me tell you something, look out for that team making waves down in Jacksonville. The Jaguars are taylor made for a deep playoff run. They have probably the most physical defensive line in the NFL and one of the best rushing attacks led by the two-headed monster of pint-sized Maurice Jones-Drew and the rejuvenated Fred Taylor, who both ran for touchdowns today in the Jags' rout of Oakland.

Not to mention quarterback David Garrard, who's thrown only one interception this season to go with nearly 20 touchdown passes -- the model of efficiency.

I suppose the Pats have to be the odds on favorite and have shown they aren't a one-dimensional team over the past two weeks with Laurence Maroney gaining over 250 yards on the ground after being non-existent through the first 13 games of the season. But I'm telling you, look out for those Jags.

On a happy note, I'm 54 points up on the Dallas Morning News' Cameron Maun in the "Mean Green Nation" Super Bowl this weekend. He has Phillip Rivers and Antonio Gates to go tomorrow and I have no one. I like my chances to win the $882 prize, and I probably just jinxed myself. Oops.

Posted by Adam Boedeker at 10:56 PM | Permalink | Comments

Look, I get the way Major League Baseball works. You develop young talent on the farm and you invest your future in high school kids. Eventually, you like to see some returns on that.

I think Texas might've let Thomas Danks split a little too soon, and they might've done the same thing with Edinson Volquez yesterday, but in return, they got a young, bit bat that's also going to fill a big void in centerfield that Jon Daniels has been trying to address for going on three seasons now. Kenny Lofton doesn't count, in case you were wondering.

Hamilton has had his demons, yes, but he put together a very solid season last year, albeit 90 games. The dude has 5-tool pedigree that made him the No. 1 pick in the draft by Tampa Bay. It sounds crazy to say, and feel free to laugh, but the D-Rays actually have a very good farm and always have, so he has that going for him.

Also, don't forget about all the arms the Rangers acquired at the deadline last year from the Braves and Kason Gabbard from the Red Sox. I like JD's move here. If Hamilton can stay healthy -- and off crack -- the Rangers should have a high-quality centerfielder for years to come that can probably hit in the No. 3 hole.

Volquez may end up being the next Pedro Martinez, but the chances of that are actually very slim. It's more likely he'll never solidify a spot in a Major League rotation or be a No. 5 starter. That's how the majority of prospects work out. Hamilton's proven he's Major-League ready and can hack it with the big boys.

P.S. I think my fantasy football Super Bowl is a lost cause. Go Touchdown Tom!!

Posted by Adam Boedeker at 8:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well, Cowboys fans can kiss those Super Bowl hopes goodbye. Looks like T.O. hurt his Achilles, and as we all know, that's never good. It's especially bad for me considering he had a good game going for my fantasy team, which is playing in the Super Bowl this weekend.

I think people have kind of forgotten about Owens over the past couple of weeks because he had just five catches in the previous two weeks heading into tonight's game, but his impact on the game is huge with the way he draws coverages.

Another guy named Adam, who works for NFL Network, just reported T.O. was yelling expletives and grimmacing in pain after taking an X-ray. Doesn't sound good to me.

Posted by Adam Boedeker at 8:44 PM | Permalink | Comments

Every time the Rangers make a trade, I scratch my head.
It’s not that every move they make is necessarily bad in itself, but they never have a real direction toward what Tom Hicks and John Daniels have said is a primary goal for the franchise – developing young pitchers within the organization.
One of those young pitchers got a pink slip from the Rangers on Friday in Edison Volquez – the second (first being John Danks) of the three pitchers (Volquez, Danks and Thomas Diamond) that were touted to be the future of the Rangers on the mound.

In return, Texas received Reds outfielder Josh Hamilton, who went from being the No. 1 overall pick in 1999 to rehab, and finally onto the field in the Major Leagues in 2007.
Hamilton has the pedigree and in 2007, showed signs of overcoming the drug problems and injuries that dog his career by batting .298 in 90 games for the Reds. The 26-year-old may well work out for the Rangers.
But Volquez was the young pitcher you brought through your system that was playing in the majors. Wasn’t that what the Rangers have needed, and what Daniel was brought in to get? Danks had a solid season for the White Sox, and Chris Young has shown more than flashes with San Diego. Put those guys back in the Rangers lineup, and you have a nice rotation with some solid young talent.
The organization must have a lot of faith in their younger pitching prospects, most notably, Blake Beaven. But with the way his high school career went, Beaven might make more headlines with his antics than his arm.
A friend of mine that’s a diehard Rangers fan – we’ll call him Jaymond – thought this trade was brilliant. For the record, Jaymond has thought everything Texas has done up to this point was brilliant.

Posted by Jeff Andrews at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments

I wonder what would have happened if this would've happened last year and Mike Gundy was only 39 years old? Would he have still covered for his player? Who knows.

Posted by Adam Boedeker at 6:24 PM | Permalink | Comments

This won't be too long, as I'm doing this thing called "working" which my colleague Jeff Andrews is too "sick" to do today. Anyhow, I'll preface this by saying that Jeff Andrews is a big fan of this quarterback...

Now, to the point...

Tom Brady was more than a 160-yard, 1 TD, 1 INT guy as Jeff put it, before Moss' arrival. Trust me, I've had Touchdown Tom on my fantasy team for the past four years, and yes, while he's about to win me upwards of $800 this weekend in my Super Bowl and hasn't always been THAT good. He's always been really good.

For instance, last season, when his leading receivers were Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell, Brady threw for 3,529 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 picks. That was good for seventh in the league when it came to passing yards.

I'll give you a rundown of the six quarterbacks that were in front of him and list his top receiver to give you an idea of Brady's gunslingin' prowess.

1. Drew Brees - dude ran the most prolific offense in the league last year with a handful of weapons, led by Marques Colston.

2. Peyton Manning - A healthy Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. 'Nuff said.

3. Marc Bulger - Torry Holt

4. Jon Kitna - Roy Williams, Mike Furrey, Dan Campbell (Sorry, I just love Dan Campbell).

5. Carson Palmer - Ocho Cinco and T.J. Houshmazode

6. Brett Favre - Donald Driver, Greg Jenning, NFL's all-time leading passer

Again, Brady had Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney. Yeah, there's no doubt Moss has helped Brady this season, but he also got Wes Welker, former Texas Tech great, and Donte Stallworth who have given him legitimate receiving threats instead of spares.

Oh yeah, did I mention he has three Super Bowl rings and is the youngest quarterback to ever win one right there with Big Ben Roethlisberger.

Game. Set. Match.

Posted by Adam Boedeker at 6:07 PM | Permalink | Comments

Although there was very little competition, the analogies were my favorite part of the SATs. I was no SAT whiz. In my family, that distinction goes to my brother, who will be Dr. Andrews shortly. But at least I got the analogies part of it. And at least that got me into North Texas and into a sports writing job.
So to celebrate my only strength on the grand standardized test, and to get you guys accustomed to my view in the Cheap Seats, I thought I’d serve up a handful of my most passionate sports opinions analogy-style.
For those of you who don’t remember, an analogy looks like this:

Yellow : bus :: red : fire trucks

The two outside semicolons stand for “is/are to” and the middle two semicolons stand for “as.” So that analogy reads “Yellow is to a bus as red is to a fire truck.”
Remember now? Let’s get started.

Tom Brady : 2007 Patriots :: Randall Cunningham : 1998 Vikings
Brady is the most overrated athlete since Patrick Roy. Until this year, he was a 161 yards with a touchdown and a pick type of player who did well under pressure. Now that he has Randy Moss, his numbers are out of control. How exactly is Tom Brady brilliant when he under throws Moss in double coverage and Moss reaches in front of the two Miami DBs 50 yards down the field to steal the ball for a score? Does this season remind you of any other quarterback who had pedestrian numbers for years before his team added Randy Moss?

Bud Selig : baseball :: Satan : hell
I’m not really sure if there’s ever been a worse leader of men in the history of organized society than Selig. His knee-jerk reactions are to the cries of the generic baseball fan, or politically motivated to cover his own rear. A few thousand fans get mad about the All-Star game ending in a tie, so Selig ties home field advantage in the World Series to an exhibition game. Short-sighted fans who don’t understand that steroids is a sport-wide problem and call Barry Bonds a cheater, so Selig commissions a report to out everybody they could dig up dirt on. Is there any point to publicly naming steroid users? Is airing your dirty laundry to the nation really a productive way for baseball to move past this? It very conveniently distracts from Selig’s roll in all of this. I guess that’s all that matters.

BCS Champion : legitimate :: Andrews : credible
Not in the least bit. To finish this great season of college football by basically having voters pencil in LSU and Ohio State when eight teams had a legitimate right to be in the game is simply nauseating. I didn’t think it could get worse than Auburn being left out in 2004, or Nebraska getting in the game in 2001. But I’m getting what I wished for. I prayed for West Virginia and Missouri to lose in the last week to create more chaos in hopes of enough people getting sick to force a playoff. But all chaos brings us is more chaos.

NHL : after 2004-05 lockout :: NFL : after 1987 strike
Better. Although ESPN seems to have nothing to say about hockey other than “nobody’s watching,” the product on the ice is better. Scoring is up. The game is fast-paced. There are less whistles with the new offsides rule, and dynamic, young stars have the skills to put people in the seats. Losing an entire year of play is going to take time to bounce back from. The NHL was already struggling, but if people give it a chance in the playoffs, they’ll like it. Locally, I think the removal of Doug Armstrong as GM of the Stars was a good move not because I think he was doing a terrible job, but it kind of jump-started the franchise. The team isn’t toiling in a lumbering defensive philosophy that worked in the league before the lockout, and the team went on a tear after the move. Things are looking up, if people will actually look.

Special shout out to woman-beast copy editor Christine Stanley and marketing half-man, quarter-beast, quarter-man-beast Teddy Mahan for helping name the new blog.

Posted by Jeff Andrews at 8:30 PM | Permalink | Comments

I know it seems like the media likes to pick on Cowboys safety Roy Williams. I mean, nevermind the fact that the guy can't cover a pair of legs in a pants factory, the NFL created the horse collar rule on behalf of Williams, who's made a career of almost ending other peoples'.

Now, I don't see why he, his defensive teammates and Cowboys fans are so shocked he will officially miss Saturday night's game at Carolina after NFL commish Roger Goodell upheld his one-game suspension.

The league apparently sent Williams a letter after his first two infractions of the rule this season saying if he did it again, he'd likely get suspended. Well, guess what, Roy? You did it again, and you got suspended. What's the controversy here?

There'll be more to come later as we introduce this new blog for all sports that don't involve Denton-area teams. Feel free to call me out for being a Cowboy hater (I'm not) and anything else you'd like to say by commenting on this, and all future entries.

Let the games begin.

Posted by Adam Boedeker at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments