Thoughts on Jones, Clemens and the NFL Divisional Round

I know I had lambasted Savannah State in my Phat Dap Head Slap the other day, but this one takes the cake. Saint Louis was held to 20 points last night by George Washington.
20 Points total, as in the whole game!
That futility set a modern day D-1 record, 20 points in an era with the 3 point line and with a shot clock to speed up the game. I remember when Dean Smith used to whistle and put up four fingers and everyone knew that the scoring would stop instantly. With the advent of the shot clock the only thing that could hold down scoring was the team itself. And the Billikens did it missing at one point 23 consecutive shots. They had more fouls than field goals, going 7-48 from the field. You know Rick Majerus is thinking, I came back for this? With that kind of shooting I think Savannah State would be teaching the Billikens how to shoot. Good night!

How many times must I stress, that the feds don't play?
Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones was sentenced today to six months behind bars for lying to federal prosecutors about her steroid uses and her part in a check writing scam. Her lawyers were hoping for leniecy, like probation or house arrest. But as I've said time and time again, when the Feds get involved they dont play. Jones' fall from Olympic superstar to broke and disgraced figure is complete. I was one of the few that held a wait and see attitude about the then allegations of her drug use. She was busted and compounded the fact by trying to cover it up and lie about it. This is a sad ending to story that could and should have went so much different. Jail might seem a little harsh but its sending a clear message out, the Feds don't play. Deal 'em up straight or you get dealt with.

I mentioned before that I had some thoughts on one Roger Clemens and as the scenario and story keeps changing I remain conflicted. Clemens is more or less being convicted in the court of public opinion. Whether he did or didn't use PEDS remains to be seen, but it is dismaying to me that Clemens is in a damned if he does or doesn't situation. If he defends himself he gets blasted.
"He waited too long to defend himself."
If Clemens had've come out the same day as the Mitchell report with a press conference, I could have seen the media blasting Clemens saying things of why did him come out so fast? He must be trying to hide something.
"The recorded phone call sounds shady"
In this instance, it does but I can't fault Clemens for trying to put as much as he can up to try to defend himself. Clemens said it best in the 60 Minutes interview. "How do you prove your innocence?" Clemens now bears a real burden of proving himself. This whole PEDS mess stirred up by the Mitchell report will only dissolve into a mess of allegations, accusations and he said she said they said. Do I think that PEDS use happened? Yes, can it be proven? Other than by word of mouth? No. The bigger picture is how these players will be viewed in the future. It seems that Mark McGwire will continue to stand at the doors of Cooperstown, locked out. Will the same happen to Bonds? As things continue to thresh out things will get clearer but the rampant speculation and pot stirring is just plain annoying. I will wait till this hearing in Congress to make any judgement. I'm not the only one that has an opinion of course, but might I suggest reading my homegirl terrigirl's latest post, it is an eloquent piece on her thoughts on steroids and their use, You might accuse me of being a shill or pimp for her writing, but I think it my duty to alert folks on good stuff to read, after you read my stuff of course . Please don't get it twisted, I never have advocated the use of PEDS, I just want there to be tangible proof.

Now lets delve into action on the field. Now we have 8 teams left on the road to Glendale, Arizona and all the teams that are left are high quality. Of the remaining teams only the Jaguars have not been in at least one Super Bowl and only them and the Seahawks do not have mutliple Lombardi Trophies so the remaining field is rich in history and talent.

NFL SCHEDULE – Divisional Playoffs Weekend

Saturday, January 12

NFC Divisional Playoff
Seahawks(11-6 #3 Seed NFC West Champs) @ Packers(13-3 #2 Seed NFC North Champs)
Lambeau Field, Green Bay 4:30 (FOX)
Favorite: Packers by 7½
Fast Facts Sea- 1-6 in road playoff games, with the 6 losses all in row and current. GB-Brett Favre has thrown a TD in 16 straight postseason games, an NFL record
Previous Postseason Meeting: Packers defeated Seahawks 33-27 in OT in the 2003 Divisional Round
How they got here: Packers earned a bye as NFC #2 seed, Seahawks defeated Redskins 35-14 in wild card round
The Seahawks rallied to roll late on the out of gas Redskins last week, but now have to face some old demons in Green Bay. The Seahwks still wince at Matt Hasselbeck's "We want the ball we're gonna score" blast at the start of overtime in their previous playoff meeting. Hasselbeck threw the winning score, but it was the Packers Al Harris who ran into the end zone with the touchdown on the interception. The Seahawks are older and wiser now and have plenty of playoff experience. Something that the Pack, save ageless Brett Favre, do not have. The erratic play of Shawn Alexander has turned the once reliable Seahawk running game into a liabilty. Hasselbeck will have to win the game with his arm. The Pack are a feel good story of the year, and its tempting to say that Favre wills his team to a win, but there is always an upset in the Divisional round and this, not the sexy pick of the G-Men is it.
Pick-Seattle


AFC Divisional Playoff
Jaguars (12-5, #5 Seed AFC Wild Card) @ Patriots (16-0 #1 AFC East Champs)
Gillette Stadium; Foxboro, MA 8:00 (CBS)
Favorite: Patriots by 13½
Fast Facts NE 9 straight home playoff wins, last home playoff lost was in 1978 Jax- 0-4 all time in Foxboro
Previous Postseason Meetings Patriots 28 Jags 3 in 1996 AFC Championship, Jags 25 Patriots 10 in 1998 Wild Card Round, Pats 28 Jags 3 in 2005 Wild Card Round
How They Got Here: The Pats earned a first round bye as the AFC #1 seed, The Jags defeated the Steelers 31-29 in the Wild Card Round
Unless the Pats win out the 16 wins previous will be a millstone. Simply put the high-powered Pats offense has been nearly impossible to slow down much less stop. Tom Brady is racking up every offensive award that can be given out, Randy Moss has returned to the superfreak mantra he had in Minnesota. But Moss and Brady aren't the total story. The ballhawking big play ability of the Pats defense can and will cash in on most mistakes an offense make. The Jags play a grinding offense that keeps the mistakes down. David Garrard is growing up fast and proved he had big game mettle with a daring do or die run late in the wild card game at Pittsburgh, he has the confidence of his team and he has them unafraid of any venue. Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew are a devestating one-two running punch and if the Jags can force feed them to the Pats defense, keeping their electric offense off the field this game will stay low scoring and close. Can the Jags spring the upset?
No. They'll make a mistake and the Pats are money making an opponents mistake pay dividends in spades. The game will be close but the Pats are getting the hang winning tight ones.
Pick-New England

Sunday, January 13

AFC Divisional Playoff
Chargers (12-5, #3 Seed, AFC West Champs) @ Colts (13-3, #2 Seed AFC South Champs)
RCA Dome, Indianapolis 1:00 (CBS)
Favorite Colts by 9
Fast Facts SD-The Chargers 17-6 win over the Titans was the franchises first playoff win since 1994, Ind- The Colts have the longest active postseason streak, making the playoffs every year since 2002
Previous Postseason Meeting Chargers beat Colts 35-20 in the 1995 Wild Card Round
The Colts may have been the team most happy to see the Pats go 16-0, it let them go 13-3 with little fanfare and let them keep the underdog mantra despite the fact that they are the defending Super Bowl Champs. The Colts have overcome a multitude of injuries the key injury being the extended absence of Marvin Harrison. The Colts have adjusted their offense in his stead and have continued to play strong. The Chargers shed their recent playoff woes with an ugly but effective win over the Titans last week. Many pundits would have predicted a loss if they had have known that all-world RB Ladainian Tomlinson would only be held to 42 yards, but the Chargers got a suprisingly solid start from Philip Rivers and used a steady second half surge to overcome and early deficit. The Colts are a tough team to figure, Peyton Manning is his usual big number self and the defense has benefitted from the full time play of All-Pro DB Bob Sanders but this team looks like its ripe for an upset. The Chargers made Manning look bad in their regular season meeting picking him off six times. I cant see that happening again. The Colts have a pretty good RB themselves in Joseph Addai and Manning has dependable weapons in Reggie Wayne and Anthony Gonzalez. I think the Chargers will miss Antonio Gates more than they let on and the Colts may not shut LT down but they can slow him down enough to make Philip Rivers beat them and for him to do so on the road is a much tougher task, especially if Gates is unavailable or plays not at 100%
Pick-Indianapolis

NFC Divisional Playoff
Giants (11-6, #5 Seed NFC Wild Card) @ Cowboys (13-3 #1 Seed, NFC East Champs)
Texas Stadium; Irving, TX 4:30 (FOX)
Favorite Cowboys by 7½
Fast Facts NYG- Have won eight straight road road games, no team in NFL history has ever won nine straight Dall-Have not won a playoff game since 1996
First Postseason Meeting
Tony Romo is now figuring out how big a deal being the Cowboys starting QB is, his much publicized weekend holiday in Cabo with ingenue Jessica Simpson has been the talk of way too many outlets. Romo has presented a calm front in the face of this, but his real concern should be the playing status of Terrell Owens who has been fighting a high ankle sprain. The Pokes need both Romo to be focused and Owens to be at least a fairly healthy target to get this win. Eli Manning in comparison looks happy to have a mountain of pressure off of his shoulders as he is in essence playing with house money after his solid play in leading the G-Men in a wild card round win over the Bucs. While Eli will never be mistaken for his older brother, he is playing with a confidence and presence that makes the G-Men a dangerous opponent. I've been known to knock Eli and on the other hand when every one is calling him a bum, I cut him some slack. The G-Men are the sexy pick to knock off the Pokes. The rumor monger and haters want Romo to play bad again so they can spend the winter knocking his relationship with Simpson. Who Romo is kicking it with is of little concern to me. The G-Men are good and play well on the road, I just don't see Eli Manning putting up good numbers on the Pokes underrated defense. It'll be tight but the G-Men's road winning days end here.
Pick-Dallas

Last Week 4-0

Have a great weekend and I will be sure to review the fallout from this round of football action on Monday. Until Next Post Fellow Sports Fans!