The End of Tebowmania…

…starts tonight! Go Patriots Go!!!

Michael Vick Leads NFL Pro Bowl Voting

I guess NFL fans can easily forgive and forget.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, just a year and a half out of prison for his conviction surrounding dog fighting, is currently the leading vote-getter in fan balloting for the Pro Bowl.

From CNN:

Vick started the season as a backup to Kevin Kolb but has set the league on fire since becoming the starter. He’s averaging 249 yards passing and 52 rushing per game, and he has scored 21 touchdowns.

Vick, who served 18 months in federal prison and was vilified after being convicted on charges related to dogfighting, had 729,838 Pro Bowl votes as of Thursday morning. He leads the Indianapolis Colts’ Peyton Manning, who’s having a rough season, by more than 38,000 votes and the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady by more than 100,000.

“I’ve made three Pro Bowls before, but this one would definitely mean more than the others,” Vick told The Press of Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Wednesday. “I’m just working as hard as I can to change things around.

Randy Moss Returns to Minnesota

Brett Favre finally has someone to throw the ball to and it couldn’t come sooner as he has been KILLING my Fantasy Football teams this season.

The New England Patriots have sent Moss back to the team that made him famous, the Minnesota Vikings, in exchange for a 3rd round draft pick. This comes just two days after a 41-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Monday night where Moss and zero catches and only one pass thrown his direction by quarterback Tom Brady.

Moss was a first-round draft pick of the Vikings back in 1998 after his college days at Marshall. He spent his first seven seasons with Minnesota, where he became one of the biggest playmakers in the NFL. He was later traded to Oakland in 2005, where he had two sub par years before being reborn New England.

I’m not sure if the Patriots got full value for Moss with this trade, but I guess you take what you can get, right? It’ll be interesting to see how Favre and Moss play together and if it will bring either back to their stats of days gone by!

Thoughts on the trade?

From the Associated Press:

The New England Patriots traded the seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver to the Vikings on Wednesday, giving Moss the exit he expected all along and sending him back to the place where he became a superstar, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the transaction had not been officially announced.

“When you have done so much and put so much work in, it kind of feels like I am not wanted,” Moss said in September. “I am taking that in stride and playing my final year out and whatever the future holds is what it holds, but it is kind of a bad feeling—feeling not wanted. It is not like my production has gone down.”

Moss later backtracked from those statements, telling The Associated Press that he hoped to finish his career with the Patriots.

“I don’t even know what my fate is, and for me to be 33 years old, it’s like I’m held at bay, and that’s definitely an uncomfortable thing,” he said. “If this is my last year here, I want to leave as good as I came in here in ’07. I know that’s really hard to duplicate, but I don’t want the fans, the organization, coaches or my teammates to have a sour taste in their mouths about Randy Moss.”

Easy Like Sunday Morning…

Got to love Sunday mornings when the kids come in at 6:45 a.m. ready to start the day!

I guess that’s why they say it’s “Easy Like Sunday Morning”.  Or is it because it’s NFL Sunday!!! After church

Raiders…Patriots…and then the 49ers vs. Saints on Monday night!

Tom Brady Involved in Car Accident

Tom Brady, quarterback of the NFL’s New England Patriots, was involved a two-car crash this morning in Boston’s Back Bay section. But don’t worry Patriots fans…he’s fine and won’t miss any playing time!

Credit: Boston Globe

From the Boston Globe:

“Patriots QB Tom Brady was in a car accident this morning. He was not hospitalized and is expected at Gillette Stadium today,” the team said in a posting on its Facebook site.

An official tweet from the team this morning said Brady “reports that he’s OK.”

A sedan and a passenger van collided at 6:34 a.m. at Commonwealth Avenue and Gloucester Street, said Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald.

The driver of the sedan was able to get out and was walking around after the crash. A man was stuck in the back of the passenger van and had to be removed with the Jaws of Life, then transported to an area hospital, MacDonald said. He said the traffic light was hit during the accident and Boston police are investigating.

What Was Bill Belichick Thinking?

Of course, I had to walk away for 5 minutes to care to my kids and missed one of the “craziest” calls I have ever heard of. Thank you for Sportscenter!

The New England Patriots fell short on Bill Belichick’s decision to gamble on fourth-and-2 from the Patriots own 28, turning the ball over to Peyton Manning and the Colts with two minutes to go. As you should have expected, Manning drove the entire length of the field left (28 yards) and scored the winning touchdown with just 12 seconds to play.

Colts win 35-34.

So, was Belichick correct in trying to end the game with the fourth-and-2 play? Should he have punted?

Thoughts?

From the Associated Press:

“We were preparing to go 60, 70 yards,” Manning said. “It was a great play by the defense, shortened our field.”

Indianapolis (9-0), which trailed by 17 in the second quarter and 34-21 with 4 minutes left, got its most improbable win during the streak, which tied the Patriots for the second-longest in league history.

When Belichick decided to go for it instead of punting with 2:08 to go, Tom Brady threw to Kevin Faulk, who made a juggling catch but was pushed backward and came up just short.

“We tried to win the game on that play,” Belichick explained. “I thought we could make the yard. We had a good play, we completed it. I don’t know how we couldn’t get a yard.”

Manning needed just four plays before hooking up with Wayne for the winning score. Manning finished with four touchdown passes and Brady had three in the matchup of AFC division leaders.

While it was another magical comeback for Manning, this one was set up by Belichick’s bungled play-calling. Belichick called two timeouts on that key series, the second to set up the fourth-down play.

The Patriots (6-3) have now lost five of the last six in this series.

Barack Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

From what I’m hearing, this is a major upset. In sports terms, lets look at the New York Giants beating the undefeated New England Patriots a few years back. Most did not see this coming and the selection has not come without controversy.

From CNN:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it honored Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

The decision appeared to catch most observers by surprise.

The president had not been mentioned as among front-runners for the prize, and the roomful of reporters gasped when Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel committee, uttered Obama’s name.

Nominations for the prize had to be postmarked by February 1 — only 12 days after Obama took office. The committee sent out its solicitation for nominations last September — two months before Obama was elected president.

The president, who was awakened to be told he had won, said he was humbled to be selected, according to an administration official.

From the Wall Street Journal:

The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama, so early in his presidency, is bound to reignite criticism of the workings of the Nobel committee.

The deadline for nominations for the prize was Feb. 1 — two weeks after Mr. Obama was inaugurated.

“So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far,” former Polish President Lech Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, said Friday. “He is still at an early stage.”

The award reflects the enormous hopes invested in Mr. Obama, both in the U.S. and abroad, since he entered the White House, and the occasionally unrealistic expectations that his presidency could change the face of international diplomacy.

The Peace Prize Committee, made up of Norwegians, appeared to have anticipated criticism of its choice. (The other Nobel prizes are awarded by a Swedish committee.) Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said the prize often has been used to encourage laureates rather than reward them for their achievements.

“The committee wants to not only endorse but contribute to enhancing that kind of international policy and attitude which [Obama] stands for,” said Mr. Jagland, a former Norwegian prime minister, said at a news conference.

From CNN:

Minutes after the news broke, social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook were flooded with comments.

Half of the trending topics on microblogging site Twitter were about the prize and the U.S. President.

Opinion was largely divided on Twitter between those who think Obama is a worthy recipient — and those who question how he won the prize after just eight months in office.

Numerous tweeters said President Obama should refuse the prize.

One, jester from London, UK, wrote: “I think he should give it back until he has achieved real world peace.”

A sentiment shared by mzaher from Utrecht, who said: “Dear Obama. You have my support, love and respect, I just don’t think you deserve a Nobel Prize yet. If I were you, I would give it back.”

Jets Knock Off Patriots

Well, the Jets backed up the talk and Tom Brady looked more like Brady Quinn in the Patriots 16-9 loss this afternoon.

From the Associated Press:

Mark Sanchez came out throwing in the second half after a quiet first two quarters and connected with Dustin Keller on a go-ahead touchdown as the Jets held on and beat Brady for the first time at a loud Meadowlands with a 16-9 victory Sunday.

Brady had a chance to tie it for the Patriots, getting the ball at the Patriots 10 with 1:48 left, but the Jets’ defense stopped him as Dwight Lowery knocked away a pass to Joey Galloway on fourth down.

Brady was unable to engineer his 30th comeback victory as Sanchez took a knee twice to seal the first win for the Jets (2-0) over the Patriots (1-1) at home in nine games. Brady had beaten the Jets in 12 of the previous 14 games he had faced them overall.

Who Are the World’s Most Valuable Sports Teams?

As a sports fan, I’ve often asked myself this question. Today, Forbes had a great article which gives more insight into the answer to this questions.

It turns out that in 2003, no pro sports team in the world was worth a billion dollars. By the end of 2008, there were 24, led by European soccer powerhouse Manchester United.

From Forbes:

It begs the question: Is pro sports a bubble? That’s hard to say. But with the economy in peril, the days of skyrocketing growth appear to be over, at least for now.

“We’re in for some trying times for the next year or so,” says Larry Grimes, a Washington, D.C.-based mergers and acquisitions consultant who specializes in the sports industry. What he sees ahead is not so much the bursting of a bubble, which by definition would include a wave of selling at distressed prices, but a leveling off of franchise valuations to reflect the current reality. With prospective buyers having trouble lining up financing, many current owners will have little choice but to sit tight and ride out the storm.

The $1 billion-and-up club isn’t particularly broad-based. By Forbes’ count, it consists of the New York Yankees, a handful of European soccer clubs and, well, most of the NFL. Spearheaded by the Washington Redskins, which became the first NFL team to break the billion dollar barrier in 2004, the league now boasts 19 of 30 clubs valued above the magic number. The Redskins have since been surpassed by the Dallas Cowboys, whose lucrative merchandising business and (starting next season) new stadium have pushed their value to $1.6 billion, second overall to Manchester United.

Other NFL teams in the top 10 include the New England Patriots (three recent Super Bowl titles), the New York Jets and Giants (a shared new stadium on the way) and the Houston Texans (the league’s biggest stadium naming rights deal). Even the NFL’s least valuable franchise, the Minnesota Vikings, is knocking on the door of billionaire row at $839 million.

Other than the Yankees, no baseball team has managed to crash the sports’ billionaire club. The most valuable NBA franchise, the New York Knicks, checks in at $613 million. In the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs lead the valuation standings at just over $400 million. But while businesses of the NHL, NBA and MLB don’t stack up to the NFL, the average team value has grown at a pace that doesn’t figure to be sustained much longer.

Major League Baseball’s 30 clubs are worth a collective $14.1 billion, up from $6.6 billion in 1999. Growth rates are similar in the NBA, to $11.4 billion from $5.3 billion, and in the television-challenged NHL, to $6.6 billion from $3.6 billion.

Jets Fire Eric Mangini

The New York Jets fired coach Eric Mangini this  morning, just one day after the team failed to make the playoffs.

From the New York Times:

The Jets have fired Coach Eric Mangini, hours after the team completed a late-season swoon and was eliminated from playoff contention with a loss at home to the Miami Dolphins. The team announced the firing at a morning news conference.

“For the current New York Jets organization, we’ve made the decision to move on,” the team owner Woody Johnson said.

“We can’t pick a specific area. It’s a judgment call. I’m not saying Eric won’t be a successful coach. I think he will be.”

When the Jets were 8-3, coming off victories at New England and at Tennessee, the front office discussed giving Mangini a contract extension. But losses in four of the team’s final five games prompted conversations among team officials about whether Mangini had lost control of his players. By Sunday night, the decision had been made to fire him, and Mangini learned Monday morning that he was out of a job.

“I don’t think Eric lost our team,” General Manager Mike Tannenbaum said. “The team played hard.”

After three of the four seasons of his contract, Mangini, who at age 37 was the youngest head coach in the N.F.L.Brett Favre in the off-season. when he was hired, had a record of 23-26. And during the team’s 1-4 slide into ignominy at the end of this season, he made his share of decisions that were questioned. Now the precocious coach, who was sometimes called Mangenius, has been held accountable for failing to reach the postseason after the team acquired quarterback