Quick Hits!

- I love watching and following sports.  I love ESPN and local networks.  And even though I disagree with so many things that have recently gone on.  My anger is all in jest, and my opinion is fun for everyone. (except people who take sports too seriously)

- The afc east is vastly overrated.  The nfc east is superbly underrated.

- Along with ESPN's ridiculous power rankings, ESPN's Jon Ritchie implied that every nfc east team has gotten worse this morning on ESPN's First Take.   So the redskins got Donovan and Shannahan, Haynesworth is mad as hell and clintin portis is fighting for the starting job, and the redskins aren't as good as they were with Jason Campbell?  Are you KIDDING me?

- Roger Clemons and Barry Bonds belong in the hall of fame.  Put an asterik or explain how they cheated if you want.  With spitballs, spiked slides, corked bats, and various cheating scandals, Major League Baseball has never been 100% clean, and like the rest of society, never will be.  The media shouldn't be covering these boring, irrelevant (to those of us who don't care if a moron wants to go to prison to defend his lies) sports stars off-field battles with arrogance and ignorance.  If the majority of MLB players decide former players who have cheated should not go to the HOF, that's a different story...but baseball writers across the country shouldn't even have a vote.

-  The Minnesota Vikings are a questionable contender.   And I dont mean a Super Bowl contender.  Even the lowliest of fools can agree the packers look to be awesome this year.  Farve is old, Farve is hurt, Farve will never be able to repeat the insanely incredible career year stats he put up last year.  Hopefully for them, the Giants, Redskins, or Falcons don't steal those two wildcard playoff spots.

-  The Jets have no offense.  Mark Sanchez wasn't good last year, how do people not get this?  The Patriots have no defense.  There pass rush looks to be even worse without Ty Warren (starting DE) and the corners are all young'ns who have yet to prove anything.  The Dolphins are too young and inexperienced, and their overall talent is undetermined.  So does that mean I'm picking the Bills to win the division? pfft....   I've flopped back and forth on this for weeks in my own head and with my friends...so I pick the Pats....no wait, the Dolphins....hmm...

-  The dolphins will win the AFC east... The Pats will win the wildcard because the jets lose to both teams twice.  That is four wins right there.   I figure if I say both teams make the playoffs, I have a cop out

-  The AFC south is the greatest division I've seen in years, every team is competitive.  Even the Jacksonville Jaguars (who have no fans) are always a 500. team who competes hard against teams with superior talent.  I like the Titans and Texans for the other wild card spot, but they're all so good that I dont think there's any way the colts will win 12 games again.  give um 10 or 11 and a playoff spot.

-  The colts have proven time and time again through performance and record that they don't need Bob Sanders.  I have no idea if that makes him overrated, but I do know that Troy Polamalu is 10x more important to the Steelers.

-  C.J. Spiller, Thomas Jones, Ahmad Bradshaw, Johnny Knox, and Hakeem Nicks, these are my sleeper picks for fantasy football. 

- Speaking of which, this year your strategy should be this:  Unless you have the first two picks and can select Adrian Peterson or Chris Johnson, do not take a running back until the 5th or 6th round.  While everyone is else is scrambling to try and put together a great running back core, you can get a great qb in the first or second round and a great te in the 4th or 5th round.   Even two of the better running backs in fantasy, Jonathon Stewart and Deangelo Williams, play on the same team.  Split carries mean less yards and you'll never know which guy will score the tds on any given sunday.   So pick a good solid running back when you can, but be cautious, pick a guy who will get carries, and if there's any doubt, pick a WR.

- Jacoby Ellsbury really was hurt, you insensitive Red Sox fans!!!

- Now Pedroia needs surgery because of the doctors... the Red Sox should've realized they were out of it the moment Youklis was out for the year.  Sometimes you try to do whatever you can to get into the playoffs because you know your pitching staff can win you a world series, and sometimes you know when to fold them.   If Boston doesn't make some signifigant off-season moves and/or at least hold onto the free agent players they're about to lose, then I dont care how good their pitching might be, they will finish third again.

- UFC and MMA is exciting, it gets more and more popular each year, but noone wants to see two dudes on the ground wrestling each other...remove that from the equation and then we're talking violent mayhem.

-  Skip Bayless of ESPN has always said Lebron James should never shoot the ball and that Tiger Woods has no competition.  So let's clear up the facts.  Lebron James has a decent mid-range to close-range game and shot.  Lebron is capable of making 3-pointers and seems to get more consistent each season.  If Lebron took it to the basket on every play, defenders wouldn't need to respect his shot, and he would wear himself out in the first half.   Phil Mickelson has finished second too many times to say that Tiger has no competition.  Way more importantly than that, you can't compare two different eras, noone has any idea how Jack Nicklaus would've matched up with today's golfers.  Jack Nicklaus may have been as good as Phil or Vijay Singh...its impossible to know, so based on statistics and facts (winning percentage, top ten finishes, age, grand slam events) , Tiger woods is the best golfer of all time, the end.

- I've thought about how good Michael Jordan would be in today's NBA world because of nba2k11's upcoming NBA game that focuses on the superstar.  Michael Jordan is considered better at his sport than Babe Ruth was at his. (which I find ridiculous, the Babe was even a spectacular pitcher)  Even so, and even though Michael Jordan only played 10-20 years ago... you STILL can't compare eras.  Players today are bigger, faster and stronger.  I would never say that Lebron James is better than Michael Jordan (especially at this point in his career) but Michael Jordan never faced a player like Lebron.  Jordan didnt have to face the faster 6'8 defensive specialists that exist today.  Michael Jordan could still be the best today, but I'm sure his numbers would diminish, his championship runs would be as challenging if not more so and everything would be different.  Team basketball is obviously a world-wide phenomenon and every player today in the U.S.A. plays in a one on one NBA universe.  Michael Jordan is still probably the best NBA player in history ( not in general sports, think Gretzsky, Ruth, Federer, Woods) but possibly not (think Kobe, Shaq (no?) hmm... Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain)  You can't argue the past when you never saw what happened, so we'll never know the true scale of sports legends, but it's fun to speculate.

- Now that Lebron has joined the dark side... (I still think the Dallas Mavericks should've beat D-wade, Shaq and the Heat in the '06 NBA finals, stupid refs)  and now that Lebron has become almost as universally despised as Kobe Bryant once was.  I think most of America is rooting for the Celtics, but those of us realists who foresee a Heat vs. Lakers 2011 NBA finals...  it's time to root for Kobe's team.

-  The Bulls needed shooters and an inside scorer/rebounder to become a championship contender again.  With the acquistions of Boozer, Korver, Watson, Brewer and others, the Bulls have reached the level of the Atlanta Hawks.  I only say this, thinking the Hawks will finally get better this year in the playoffs, because their inside guys, Horford and Smith, will keep getting better.   The Celtics are still a fifth playoff seed at best  even with the signings of  Jermaine Oneal, Shaq and Delonte West (shout out to Lebron's mother), they are not built for the regular season.  But I haven't seen a team with so much heart, pride and determination in such a long time.  They had no business even taking the Lakers to a game seven... so you can never count them out.

-   NBA playoff seeds for the 10-11 season, predictions of Troy G. Lightner...
   
         EAST

1.  Miami Heat
2.  Orlando Magic
3.  Chicago Bulls
4.  Atlanta Hawks
5.  Boston Celtics
6.  Milwaukee Bucks
7.  New York Knicks (hehe)
8.  Charlotte Bobcats

     WEST

1.  Los Angeles Lakers
2.  Denver Nuggets
3.  Oklahoma City Thunder
4.  Portland Blazers
5.  San Antonio Spurs
6.  Houston Rockets
7.  Phoenix Suns
8.  Dallas Mavericks / New Orleans Hornets (cop out)

-  Ben Rothleisberger did not deserve to be suspended at all.  There were two incidents, The first one was extremely questionable, while the second one proved that the girl was intoxicated and there was at least initial consent.  Along with the fact that there was no DNA evidence in either case, and the charges against Big Ben were dropped.  I understand the commisioner's policy, and Adam "Pacman" Jones got suspended because he was questioned by police over 10 times in 3 years and had a prior record.  Pacman Jones almost undoubtedly was involved in some shady ongoings and illegal activities while noone is even 50% positive that Ben Rothliesberger did anything illegal or "wrong".  I don't like Ben's attitude when it comes to women or the way he was choosing to live his life but the commisioner had no right to punish Ben further for crimes he may not have committed.  It shouldn't be about race under any circumstances, but I think Ben was punished because he was white, and the commisioner did not want to offend the black community by going too "easy" on him after the severe punishments he has handed down to black NFL players for off-field issues.  Now the Pittsburgh Steelers don't seem to be nearly as much of a playoff contender, the commisioner has made a very popular NFL franchise and community pay the price.  More importantly, unless a player is proven guilty in a court of law, the NFL should have no right to suspend or ban anyone from their league.  Perhaps, it's simply my wishful thinking.

-  The Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears are going to be better than you think, I think.

-  The New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays or Philadelphia Phillies will win the world series this year.  Look at how talented those teams are with their pitching and offense.  Noone else will have a chance.

-  With Andy Pettite and A-rod's health in question, A.J. burnett's awful and inconsistent year, Javier Vasquez in the bullpen for some reason even though he's at least been better than A.J. and Phil Hughes lack of experience and possible tired arm.... I'm crossing the Yankees off my list.

-  The Rays are as fast as lightning on those base paths, and although they aren't the most powerful line up, they are clutch and consistent, whilst their starting pitching is superior.  The Phillies may have Halladay, Hammels and Oswalt now, but Halladay won't be as good as Cliff Lee was last year, Cole Hammels has a great playoff record but he's been inconsistent for the last couple of years and he didnt help them win the world series last year.  And finally, Roy Oswalt loved pitching in a small town with low to no expectations, his playoff inexperience and his questionable ability to be clutch could be big factors in the post-season.  The phillies bats weren't very good against a solid yankees starting rotation in last year's world series, so we can only imagine how bad they'll do against Tampa Bay's starters.

-  The Tampa Bay Rays will win the 2010 world series.  5 years ago, the Devil Rays were still a joke in MLB, its amazing how things change so quickly. (especially in the sports world, in particularly in a sport like baseball where a small market team isn't supposed to be capable of contending.)

-   Lastly, I leave you with my 2010 NFL playoff predictions...

    AFC

1. Cincinnati Bengals ( In spite of Terrell Owens locker room antics)
2. Houston Texans   (we've been waiting...)
3. New England Patriots (I changed my mind again)
4. San Diego Chargers  (by default, and no the raiders are not going to be great this year. nor the chiefs)
5. Indianapolis Colts  (10 wins this year, I'm tellin ya.)
6. Miami Dolphins   (  who doesn't love Chad Henne?)

   NFC

1. Green Bay Packers (ask anyone.)
2. Dallas Cowboys  (lets be real, Dez was a steal.  They're going to lose in the division round anyway)
3. New Orleans Saints ( I dont know if I like this choice)
4. San Francisco 49ers  (They almost have to win the division title.)
5. New York Giants  (I'm a fan, I may be biased.)
6. Minnesota Vikings / Washington Redskins (Let's say they're tied...you be the tie-breaker!)


And now that my opinions and predictions are online, we can all look back and see how wrong I've been about everything.  Sounds like fun, can't wait, agree to disagree?  FIGHT BACK for YOUR team.  E-mail me at tgl4093@yahoo.com or send TrizzSports a message here on http://www.blogspot.com/  or even just post a comment below.  Good night everyone!!!