Who will win the 2013 Super Bowl, teams in order of least to most likely

12) Minnesota Vikings (10-6) - Adrian Peterson otherwise known as 99% of the Vikings offense had a legendary year and the Vikings have much improved since last year but A.P. and a so-so defense will not be enough to bring the Lombardi Trophy to Viking land.


11) Indianapolis Colts (11-5) - The Colts have come a long way since last year and Andrew Luck certainly has brought a bright light to Indy since the Peyton Manning days. The Colts will continue to get better but there's too much inconsistency in their offense and their defense is questionable and with a road that involves the Ravens and perhaps Patriots in the 2nd round, it will be very tough for the Colts to come out on top.


10) Cincinnati Bengals (10-6) - The Bengals proved to be a force in the AFC and if they can get by the Houston Texans anything is possible but a meeting with the Broncos or Patriots in the next round will prove too much to handle for the Bengals.


9) Baltimore Ravens (10-6) - I ranked the Ravens a little higher than I would have if Ray Lewis did not announce his retirement after this season, I think the announcement of Ray hanging up the cleats will provide some momentum for the Ravens to potentially have a special year in the post season but their is still way too much inconsistency with the Ravens offense.


8) Seattle Seahawks (11-5) - The Seahawks showed they can win on the road, they're a legitimate contender and they can compete with the best, but I would give it 1 or 2 more years before you see Seattle in a Super Bowl.


7) Houston Texans (12-4) - The Texans were the best all around team in the AFC for the better part of the season but only beat 2 teams above .500 and showed they struggle against the elite as they played themselves out of a bye week in the last few games of the season.


6) Washington Redskins (10-6) - The Redskins ended the season on a 7 game winning streak. RG3 has taken control of the Skins offense and the Redskins are scary because they have a great defense and now with RG3 they have the offense they need to compete with the best.


5) Atlanta Falcons (13-3) - The Falcons struggled in their last 5 games going 3-2 and have been 1 and done the last few seasons in the playoffs but since they have a much improved defense if Matt Ryan can get the Falcons offense going the Falcons can compete with the best.


4) S.F. 49ers (12-4) - The 49ers are a solid all around team but showed they are beatable as they went 3 and 2 in their last 5 and did not have the hardest schedule this season, it is still a question as to if Colin Kaepernick can keep up with a high powered offense on a consistent basis.


3) Green Bay Packers (11-5) - After a rough start to the season, Aaron Rodgers did what he normally does and the Packers were firing on all cylinders for a better part of the season. They have arguably the best offense in the playoffs but their shaky defense could end up being a downfall.


2) Denver Broncos (13-3) - Peyton Manning returned and did what he does best all season long. Manning showed he is still the same elite Q.B. he has been his entire career and has helped the Broncos become the best team record wise in the AFC.


1) New England Patriots (12-4) - Even though I am a Patriots fan, I have not favored them usually to win the Super Bowl but with Gronk back healthy and the fact the Patriots defense has played better on a weekly basis, I give Brady a great shot to bring home his 4th ring.


Prediction Time
Wild Card Weekend
Houston Defeats Cincinnati 23-20
Green Bay Defeats Minnesota 33-27

Baltimore Defeats Indianapolis 24-21
Washington Defeats Seattle 27-24


Divisional Round
Denver Defeats Baltimore 31-24
Atlanta Defeats Washington 27-24
New England Defeats Houston 34-27
Green Bay Defeats S.F. 31-28


Conference Championships
New England Defeats Denver 34-31
Green Bay Defeats Atlanta 30-21

Super Bowl
New England Defeats Green Bay 37-34

Here is the Week 15 Power Rankings Based on the way Week 14 of the NFL Season Went

32) Kansas City Chiefs (2-12)
31) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-12)
30) Detroit Lions (4-10)
29) Oakland Raiders (4-10)
28) Tennessee Titans (4-9)
27) Buffalo Bills (5-9)
26) Cleveland Browns (5-9)
25) Arizona Cardinals (5-9)
24) San Diego Chargers (5-9)
23) Philadelphia Eagles (4-10)
22) Carolina Panthers (5-9)
21) Miami Dolphins (6-8)
20) St. Louis Rams (6-7)
19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-8)
18) New York Jets (6-7)
17) New Orleans Saints (6-8)
16) Chicago Bears (8-6)


15) Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7) - Big Ben is back and the defense slowly getting healthier, they still have a tall task on their hands trying to make the playoffs with the Ravens and Bengals playing solid football.


14) Dallas Cowboys (8-6) - Tony Romo and America's team are starting to get red hot and will more than likely end up in the playoffs.


13) Minnesota Vikings (8-6) - The Vikings are for real and Adrian Peterson has been off the charts.


12) New York Giants (8-6) - The Giants are having some end of the season struggles but if they're anything like last year they will turn it on come playoff time.


11) Washington Redskins (8-6) - RG3 is filthy and the Redskins will be a force to be reckoned with.


10) Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) - The Bengals have a shot to win the AFC North and have a pretty good all around team.


9) Indianapolis Colts (9-5) - Look out for the Colts, Andrew Luck became a seasoned veteran in his first year in the league


8) Baltimore Ravens (9-5) - The Ravens defense is slowly getting healthier and should be close to full force come playoff time.


7) Seattle Seahawks (9-5) - The Seahawks have put up 108 points in the past 2 weeks and their defense continues to get better and better.


6) Green Bay Packers (10-4) - Aaron Rodgers is once again lighting up the scoreboard and the Packers defense is getting healthier. Look out for the Packers, they can beat anyone!


5) Houston Texans (12-2) - Despite having the best record in the AFC and playing good all around football, the Texans have played a pretty weak schedule, we will see what they're made of come playoff time.

4) New England Patriots (10-4) - The Patriots offense is filthy and they seem like they can put up points on anyone, coming back down 31-3 against the 49ers was absolutely amazing despite the loss. Pats will be in the Super Bowl hunt.


3) Atlanta Falcons (12-2) - The Falcons went through a bit of a slump in the middle weeks of the season but Matt Ryan has been white hott the last few weeks and the Falcons have dominated teams in must win games.


2) S.F. 49ers (10-3) - The 49ers are a terrific all around team and they certainly could be a Super candidate and proved they could keep up with high powered offense, but I am still not 100% convinced they can constantly keep up with a high powered offense and that is what they will see quite a bit in the upcoming weeks.


1) Denver Broncos (11-3) - The Broncos are on a 9 game winning streak and are playing extraordinary on both sides of the ball. Right now the Broncos look like the best team in Football!

Here is the Week 11 Power Rankings Based on the way Week 10 of the NFL Season Went

32) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-8)
31) Kansas City Chiefs (1-8)
30) Cleveland Browns (2-7)
29) Carolina Panthers (2-7)
28) Oakland Raiders (3-6)
27) St. Louis Rams (3-5)
26) Buffalo Bills (3-6)
25) New York Jets (3-6)
24) Tennessee Titans (4-6)
23) Washington Redskins (3-6)
22) Philadelphia Eagles (3-6)
21) Arizona Cardinals (4-5)
20) Cincinnati Bengals (4-5)
19) Miami Dolphins (4-5)
18) Detroit Lions (4-5)
17) San Diego Chargers (4-5)
16) Dallas Cowboys (4-5)
15) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-4)
14) New Orleans Saints (4-5)
13) Minnesota Vikings (6-4)
12) Seattle Seahawks (6-4)
11) Indianapolis Colts (6-3)


10) Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3) - Not definite yet but Big Ben could be out for the season which could mark the end of Steelers playoff run chances.


9) New York Giants (6-4) - The Giants have been on and off all season but remember they were 9-7 last season and won the Super Bowl.


8) Denver Broncos (6-3) - The Broncos are on fire as they have won their last 4 and with Peyton Manning anything is possible for the Mile High.


7) Baltimore Ravens (7-2) - The Ravens defense is depleted but they are still finding ways to win and will be a threat in the AFC.


6) New England Patriots (6-3) - The Defense continues to struggle giving up over 400 yards to the Buffalo Bills but the offense continues to flourish and look strong


5) Green Bay Packers (6-3) - The Packers like the Patriots are very much an offensive team but they are on a 4 game winning streak even with missing 2 of their best receivers in Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson.


4) San Francisco 49ers (6-2) - The 49ers are one of the most well rounded teams in the NFL but the question is will they have enough offensive power to go to the next level.


3) Chicago Bears (7-2) - The Bears have shown their defense has drastically improved but Jay Cutler has not proved that the offense can fare well against a strong defense with last weeks loss to the Texans, another negative is Cutler suffered a concussion during the game.


2) Atlanta Falcons (8-1) - Despite losing to the Saints, the Falcons are still the best all around team in Football and should have no problem getting the number 1 seed in the NFC.


1) Houston Texans (8-1) - The Texans showed with the win against the Bears they can win the low scoring defensive games as well as the high scoring games and are the best all around team in the AFC. The Texans have the best point differential in the league as they have scored 250 and only given up 143 points.

Here is the Week 9 Power Rankings Based on the way Week 8 of the NFL Season Went

32) Kansas City Chiefs (1-6)
31) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-6)
30) Carolina Panthers (1-6)
29) Cleveland Browns (2-6)
28) St. Louis Rams (3-5)
27) Arizona Cardinals (4-4)
26) New York Jets (3-5)
25) Seattle Seahawks (4-4)
24) Washington Redskins (3-5)
23) Tennessee Titans (3-5)
22) Oakland Raiders (3-4)
21) Buffalo Bills (3-4)
20) Miami Dolphins (4-3)
19) New Orleans Saints (2-5)
18) Tampa Bay Bucs (3-4)
17) Cincinnati Bengals (3-4)
16) Philadelphia Eagles (3-4)
15) Dallas Cowboys (3-4)
14) Detroit Lions (3-4)
13) S.D. Chargers (3-4)
12) Indianapolis Colts (4-3)
11) Minnesota Vikings (5-3)
10) Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3)

9) Baltimore Ravens (5-2) - The Ravens have a very depleted defense with season ending injuries to Ray Lewis, Lardarius Webb and also a few other key pieces of their defense are banged up.


8) Denver Broncos (4-3) - The Broncos started off rough but with Peyton Manning back to vintage and the defense playing well, look out for the horses.


7) New England Patriots (5-3) - Great win against the Rams, but defense still needs to show they can stop a good Q.B.


6) Green Bay Packers (5-3) - After 3 straight wins, the Packers are right back in the mix with the best of the NFC.


5) Chicago Bears (6-1) - The Bears have played nicely on both sides of the ball in their 5 game winning streak and Brandon Marshall has been a terrific weapon for Jay Cutler, however they must prove they can beat the elite still.

4) S.F. 49ers (6-2) - The 49ers defense is terrific and they are far better than anyone in the NFC west and should be a threat to make the Super Bowl this year with a good all around team.

3) New York Giants (6-2) - You can never count out the Giants, they went 9 and 7 last year and won the Super Bowl, they continue to play terrific football and have a great all around team.

2) Houston Texans (6-1) - The Texans are by far the best all around team in the AFC they showed that crushing the Ravens 41-13. They are in a weak conference and should only be challenged by the Patriots, Ravens and Steelers for a Super Bowl Appearance.

1) Atlanta Falcons (7-0) - The Falcons are the best all around team in the league and Matt Ryan is on fire, but the big question with the Falcons is, can they win a playoff game or is Matt Ryan going to remain a choke.

Here is the Week 6 Power Rankings Based on the way Week 5 of the NFL Season Went and Thursday Night Football between the Rams and Cardinals (#) represents Last Week Ranking

32 (32) Cleveland Browns (0-5)
31 (30) Tennessee Titans (1-4)
30 (29) Kansas City Chiefs (1-4)
29 (28) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4)
28 (26) Oakland Raiders (1-3)
27 (24) Carolina Panthers (1-4)
26 (23) Tampa Bay Bucs (1-3)
25 (18) Detroit Lions (1-3)
24 (27) New Orleans Saints (1-4)
23 (16) Washington Redskins (2-3)
22 (22) Buffalo Bills (2-3)
21 (31) Miami Dolphins (2-3)
20 (15) Dallas Cowboys (2-2)


19 (25) Indianapolis Colts (2-2) - If they beat the Packers, they deserve to move up, what a job by Andrew Luck!


18 (14) New York Jets (2-3) - Sanchez makes bad decisions which costs the Jets games! Put in Tebow, the defense is still pretty good though!


17 (13) Cincinnati Bengals - They don't stand a chance in the AFC North Unless they pull off the Big Wins!


16 (21) Seattle Seahawks (3-2)
15 (19) Arizona Cardinals (4-1)
14 (20) St. Louis Rams (3-2)


13 (6) Green Bay Packers (2-3) - Packers are in big trouble, they better start winning as they have one of the toughest schedules in the league and have blown 2 of what should have been automatic wins.


12 (17) Minnesota Vikings (4-1) - Look out for the Vikings they may be for real.


11 (9) Denver Broncos (2-3) - One of the toughest schedules in the league but still have a great shot at the playoffs in a weak AFC West


10 (8) S.D. Chargers (3-2) - A great young team and has a great shot at the weak AFC West.


9 (12) Chicago Bears (4-1)
8 (10) Philadelphia Eagles (3-2)
7 (7) New York Giants (3-2)
6 (11) Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2)


5 (5) New England Patriots (3-2) - A nice win against the Broncos but bad coaching decisions such as going for it up 17 on 4th and 5 and giving Manning the ball at your own 45 could catch up with the Patriots. They did prove their defense got better and Brady is still good as ever and most importantly they can win tough games.


4 (4) S.F. 49ers (4-1)
3 (3) Baltimore Ravens (3-1)
2 (2) Atlanta Falcons (5-0)
1 (1) Houston Texans (5-0)

Tom Nappi here and I just want to say sorry that my playoff prediction at the beginning of the MLB season was so miserably wrong but hey it was before they even played but here was my beginning of the season predictions so you can laugh at me

AL East - N.Y. Yankees (Correct)
AL Central - Detroit Tigers (Correct)
AL West - Texas Rangers (Biggest collapse of season 9 games up with 5 games left and Blew it)
WC 1- L.A Angels (Biggest Disappointment in league)
WC 2- Boston Red Sox (WAYYYYY Wrong)

NL East - Philadelphia Phillies (Wrong)
NL Central - St. Louis Cardinals (Made Playoffs but did not win Central)
NL West - S.F. Giants (Right)
WC 1- Miami Marlins (Awful disappointment)
WC 2 - Atlanta Braves (Right)

AL Winner - N.Y. Yankees (Could Be Right)
NL Winner - Philadelphia Phillies (Wrong)

WS Winner - Philadelphia Phillies in 6 (Way Wrong)


Ok here is the Middle of the season:

NL East - Washington Nationals (Right) NL Central - St. Louis Cardinals (Right) NL West - L.A. Dodgers (Wrong way to go Magic Johnson, great trade with the Red Sox)

National League Wild Card
Atlanta (Right) @ Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Wins! (Wrong)

Division Series
Pittsburgh VS Washington - Washington in 6 (Maybe)
St. Louis VS L.A. Dodgers - St. Louis in 7 (Maybe

Washington over St. Louis in 7, Thats Right The Nationals make the World Series! (Maybe)

AL East - New York Yankees (Right) AL Central - Detroit Tigers (Right) AL West - Texas Rangers (Wrong)

American League Wild Card
Chicago White Sox @ L.A. Angels - Angels Win! (Wrong)

Division Series
Yankees VS Angels - Yankees in 7 (Maybe)
Detroit VS Texas - Texas in 7 (Maybe)

Yankees Over Texas in 7 (Maybe besides Texas)

World Series
Yankees over Nationals in 6 games! (Still Alive)

Ok so my predictions were not bad back then especially predicting so early so now that we know who is in and who is out here is my predictions

AL
Detroit takes care of Oakland 3-2 in Series
Yankees take care of Baltimore 3-2 in Series

I will stick with Yankees for World Series 4-3 over Detroit.

NL
Reds Takes Care of Giants 3-1
Nationals Beat St. Louis 3-2

Nationals Beat Reds 4-3 in NLCS

World Series Nationals over Yankees 4-3 (HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES!)

Here is the Week 4 Power Rankings Based on the way Week 3 of the NFL Season Went (#) represents Last Week Ranking

32) (32) Cleveland Browns (0-3)


31) (27) New Orleans Saints (0-3) - A tough loss to Panthers, next week they have the Packers...Ouch


30) (23) Miami Dolphins (1-2)
29) (30) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2)


28) (18) Washington Redskins (1-2) - After a loss to the Rams the Skins are in trouble.


27) (25) St. Louis Rams (1-2)
26) (28) Kansas City Chiefs (1-2)
25) (29) Oakland Raiders (1-2)
24) (31) Tennessee Titans (1-2)
23) (21) Indianapolis Colts (1-2)


22) (26) Minnesota Vikings (2-1) - A shocking win over 49ers but I smell fluke


21) (22) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-2)
20) (19) Carolina Panthers (1-2)


19) (24) Seattle Seahawks (2-1) - The refs gave the Seahawks the win against the Packers but their defense looks nasty.

18) (20) Buffalo Bills (2-1)
17) (15) Detroit Lions (1-2)
16) (14) Cincinnati Bengals (2-1)
15) (17) Dallas Cowboys (2-1)
14) (16) Chicago Bears (2-1)
13) (13) New York Jets (2-1)


12) (12) Arizona Cardinals (3-0) - I am starting to think the Cardinals are for real, their defense looks real good!


11) (6) Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) - You beat the Ravens then get destroyed by the Cardinals, that does not represent a playoff contender.


10) (8) Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2) - WIth the Ravens in your division, the Steelers can't afford to lose to teams such as the Raiders.


9) (11) S.D. Chargers (2-1) - The Chargers have a legit chance to win the AFC west because the Broncos defense is awful.


8) (10) Denver Broncos (1-2) - I moved the Broncos up this week because Peyton Manning showed for sure that he is back to himself nearly 100%.


7 (9) New England Patriots (1-2) - The Patriots defense was awful against the Ravens but the awful replacement refs pretty much handed Baltimore the game. Tom Brady showed he can still work his magic.


6) (7) Baltimore Ravens (2-1) - The Ravens got lucky the refs made the majority of awful calls against the Patriots.


5) (5) New York Giants (2-1) - 2 straight wins for the Giants and they seem to be back to their normal selves after a nice defensive effort and destroying the Panthers.


4) (3) Green Bay Packers (1-2) - The Packers got screwed by the refs against the Seahawks but they will rebound.


3) (1) S.F. 49ers (2-1) - I cannot explain what happened against the Vikings but hopefully it doesn't happen too much or the 49ers will be in trouble with the Cardinals being a factor this year.


2) (4) Atlanta Falcons (3-0) - The Falcons are dangerous this year and have given Matt Ryan the best all around team he has ever had.


1 (2) Houston Texans (3-0) - The Texans are the best all around team in the NFL and are the most hard hitting, athletic teams I have seen.

Here is the Week 2 Power Rankings Based on the way Week 1 of the NFL Season Went (#) represents Last Week Ranking


32 (31) Miami Dolphins (0-1) - Even worse than I thought, they might win 1 or 2 at most.


31 (32) Cleveland Browns (0-1) - Gave the Eagles a tough run, the defense looks pretty good for Cleveland but they have nothing offensively.


30 (30) Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1) - If you can't beat the Vikings good luck beating almost anyone.


29 (27) Seattle Seahawks (0-1) - Seattle could not keep up with an Arizona team with no offense...ick, perhaps they should have kept T.O.


28 (29) Arizona Cardinals (1-0) - They beat the Seahawks, still a lot to prove in Arizona.


27 (28) Minnesota Vikings (1-0) - They had a nice win against the Jags, but then again it was the Jags.


26 (26) Kansas City Chiefs (0-1) - The Chiefs defense looked awful against the Falcons but perhaps some promising signs on the offense.


25 (15) Buffalo Bills (0-1) The Bills drop 10 spots this week because their defense looked miserable against a scrappy Jets offense.


24 (22) Tennessee Titans (0-1) - The Titans looked miserable against the Patriots on both sides of the ball, it will be interesting to see what adjustments they make as next week comes.


23 (24) St. Louis Rams (0-1) - The Rams gave the Lions a run and played well on both sides of the ball perhaps a sign of good things to come for St. Louis.


22 (23) Oakland Raiders (0-1) The Raiders kept it close with the Chargers, but what continues to hurt the Chargers is the lack of discipline on their defense and it has cost the Raiders countless yards.


21 (20) Indianapolis Colts (0-1) - The Colts played the Bears in week 1 so I will give them a break and who expects the 1st game for a new quarterback to go well. Luck will get better, give it time.


20 (18) Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) The Bengals defense was completely garbage against the Ravens and got tired out and blown out.


19 (16) Carolina Panthers (0-1) - Panthers fans should be a bit concerned after a loss to the Bucs, especially with Cam Newton in his sophomore season, there is just something about sophomore starters.


18 (25) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) - After a nice win against Carolina perhaps Josh Freeman and the Bucs are back on track, there defense looked solid.


17 (11) Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) - The Eagles had a tough go at it with the Browns and even with so much talent on offense they struggled, if Vick goes down which always has a 50-50 shot the Eagles could be in big trouble.


16 (19) New York Jets (1-0) - The Jets crushed the Bills and dominated an awful defense and looked good but will have to get some W's against better defense to prove there not the same team that fell apart last season


15 (13) New Orleans Saints (0-1) - RG3 completely owned the Saints defense and Drew Brees will need a defense if New Orleans plans to win anything


14 (21) Washington Redskins (1-0) - RG3 could perhaps be better than anyone expected he was a powerhouse against the Saints throwing 19 for 26, 320 Yards and 2 touchdowns, the Redskins running game also looks like it could be a factor this year.


13 (8) Detroit Lions (1-0) - The Lions offense looked solid against the Rams, but the defense brings up big questions for Detroit, a little too close for comfort against the Rams this week.


12 (12) S.D. Chargers (1-0) - The Chargers had a nice game against the Raiders and the brand new running game looked good while Rivers looked solid, so the Chargers should be a threat all season long, but a lot of new faces for a deep playoff run.


11 (17) Dallas Cowboys (1-0) - The Cowboys got a great division win against the Giants Wednesday Night but early in the season the Cowboys have always been good, let's see if they can keep it up.


10 (10) Atlanta Falcons (1-0) - The Falcons crushed the Chiefs and the offense was terrific but let's face it, it was the Chiefs they beat. Show me more!


9 (9) Chicago Bears (1-0) - The Bears offense looked great against the Colts, and the O-Line appears to have gotten better but they must beat a better defense to move up.


8 (5) Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1) - The Broncos gave the Steelers a beat down and Peyton got the best of the Pittsburgh defense. The big questions for Pittsburgh is can their aging defense still keep up with the elite Qb's.


7 (7) Baltimore Ravens (1-0) - The Ravens looked good against the Bengals and Flacco was throwing bullets, we will see if they can keep it up but Flacco looks as if he may have improved with the passing game.


6 (14) Denver Broncos (1-0) - Peyton looked like vintage Peyton Manning on the field against the Steelers and if the Denver defense can play as strong as they did Sunday, Denver can beat anyone.


5 (4) Green Bay Packers (0-1) - The Packers defense still looked to have some kinks against Alex Smith and the 49ers but playing perhaps the toughest defense in the league in week 1 is always tough.


4 (1) New York Giants (0-1) - The Giants move down this week as they lost week 1 against the Cowboys, The Giants should be okay but Dallas seemed to have a solid formula to shut down Eli Manning.


3 (3) Houston Texans (1-0) - The Texans crushed Miami, but it was Miami. I am looking forward to seeing the Texans against a better offense. They did look terrific on both sides of the ball however.


2 (6) S.F. 49ers (1-0) - If you can put up 40 against the Packers and beat them in week 1 that makes you the current best in the NFC in my book. Alex Smith seems to have improved and Randy Moss appears that he will be a threat for the 49ers this year.


1 (2) New England Patriots (1-0) - I know they played a Titans team with a new Quarterback but the Patriots looked solid on both sides of the ball and if Brady has a good defense this year look out!

The NFL is back and based on last season, training camp and all the roster moves here is this seasons power rankings!


32) Cleveland Browns - The Browns have an extremely loyal fan base but they will continue to be terrible for years to come sorry Cleveland.


31) Miami Dolphins - They have no Quarterback, Wide Receivers or Running backs and on top of that they have no defense and pretty much no team. The Dolphins will sink fast.


30) Jacksonville Jaguars - Maurice Jones Drew is all they have and he does not even want to be there.


29) Arizona Cardinals - The Cardinals will likely start John Skelton and will not have to many wins with a slim offense and a very shaky defense.


28) Minnesota Vikings - The Vikings will need Adrian Peterson to be a monster this season as Joe Webb and Toby Gerhart are their Qb's. They do have hope but it is very little hope in a tough NFC North.


27) Seattle Seahawks - The Seahawks are in the weakest division in the NFL so who knows maybe they will get a playoff run if the 49ers somehow fall apart. Matt Flynn should give the Seahawks a decent QB.


26) Kansas City Chiefs - Matt Cassel has shown the past couple years to not quite be what the Chiefs hoped, expect Brady Quinn or Alex Tanney to give Cassel a run for his job if the Chiefs season starts out rough.


25) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Josh Freeman had a rough year last year but a very good first year, so the Bucs season will really rely on how Freeman plays in his 3rd year.


24) St. Louis Rams - The Rams could be a surprise this year if Sam Bradford and Steven Jackson can step it up, last year Bradford threw a ridiculous amount of interceptions and like Freeman had a bad Sophomore year after a terrific first season.


23) Oakland Raiders - You never know what you are going to get out of the Raiders, they usually start off strong but fall apart because of disciplinary problems on their defense. Last year McFadden faced numerous injuries and the Raiders never were able to overcome it. If Carson Palmer is able to go back to his prime they could have a solid season and be competitive but don't expect a playoff birth anytime soon in Oakland.


22) Tennessee Titans - The Titans will likely end up starting Jake Locker over Hasselbeck to bring in the youth as they know Hasselbeck's time is limited as a legit starter. The Titans season will depend on if Chris Johnson can be more consistent with the running game and if Kenny Britt can stay out of jail or off the IR.


21) Washington Redskins - The Skins actually have hope this year and finally may have a QB as Robert Griffen III is set to start and with Pierre Garcon on the receiving core and a strong defense, the Skins may be a competitive team this year but don't expect a playoff birth as they are in the same division as Philly, Dallas and the Giants but within the next couple years look out for the Redskins they have a big pay role and are starting to put together a pretty solid team.


20) Indianapolis Colts - The Colts will be a wait and see team this year but should give the Texans a run for the division as Andrew Luck looks to be a solid QB that makes smart decisions. I don't think it will take Luck long to run the Colts offense and within the next couple years the Colts should be back to a competitive team within the AFC.


19) New York Jets - I may be ranking them too high here considering they went 8 and 8 last year and looked terrible in preseason but Rex Ryan knows how to run a defense so perhaps the Jets will be competitive and maybe Tim Tebow will play a role in their running game cough cough I mean as a QB and help the Jets but don't count on a playoff birth for the Jets.


18) Cincinnati Bengals - The Bengals did a terrific job last year getting a playoff birth under QB Andy Dalton and should be competitive this year as they have a solid running game and a pretty good defense but the fact they are in the same division as Baltimore and Pittsburgh does not help their cause.


17) Dallas Cowboys - I have lost faith that Romo can be clutch, I just don't see it happening lookout for another collapse by America's Team.


16) Carolina Panthers - Thats right Panthers at the half way mark of my rankings and it's for one reason CAM NEWTON! Look out NFC!


15) Buffalo Bills - I have high hopes for the Bills this year and they should be in the run for a wild card. If Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Bills offense can do what they did last year in the first half all season long they will be good. This year the Bills also added some defensive pieces such as Mario Williams that should help their defense quickly go from terrible to pretty good.


14) Denver Broncos - Peyton Manning will be the key this season for the Broncos. The big question is will Peyton be what he used to be or a shadow of his old self. The defense is not to strong in Denver and the receiving core is decent at best so it will certainly be interesting to see what Peyton can do.


13) New Orleans Saints - Despite being without head coach Sean Payton and a number of players such as Jonathan Vilma due to Bounty Gate, they will be a good team and a threat to win the NFC South because they have Drew Brees and he can run any offense.


12) San Diego Chargers - The Chargers performed well below expectations last year, I can't imagine they will be an 8 and 8 team this year but this year they have Peyton Manning in their division.


11) Philadelphia Eagles - The Eagles have a terrific all around team but the so called "Dream Team" was plagued by injuries last year and with Vick already getting shook up once in the preseason don't count on the Eagles being a Super Bowl contender.


10) Atlanta Falcons - The Falcons have a great shot at making the playoffs and even winning the NFC South but the question is can Matt Ryan get past the first round and unfortunately I have to say the B.C. Alum will not because he is a choke in the playoffs. Prove me wrong Matt I am rooting for you!


9) Chicago Bears - I have a feeling the Bears are going to be awesome this year because Jay Cutler finally has a solid offensive line and the Bears defense should be great this year if they can stay healthy.


8) Detroit Lions - The big question with Lions this year as it has been for the past couple seasons is can Matt Stafford stay healthy. The Lions have an improved defense and could be a very competitive team if Stafford can stay healthy. Another big concern for the Lions is Jahvid Best, he will most likely be out the first 6 games of the season so it will depend if the running game will be okay without him and it is certainly a big question mark.


7) Baltimore Ravens - The Ravens will be a playoff contender and have a solid season but their defense is another year older and they are still starting Joe Flacco. Ray Rice and the defense will be key for the Ravens.


6) San Francisco 49ers - The 49ers were the 2nd best team in the NFC last year and with their hard hitting incredible defense that could be the case this year. The edition of Randy Moss could also help out Alex Smith, it should be a very interesting season in 49er land.


5) Pittsburgh Steelers - The Steelers after this season will have serious contract issues as they did in this preseason but since they got their biggest receiving threat in Mike Wallace back, Big Ben and the Steelers should once again be a tough team to beat.


4) Green Bay Packers - The Packers had a terrific draft upgrading their defense and should be a very solid team all around, with Aaron Rodgers having the majority of his receiving core back look out for the Packers.


3) Houston Texans - Last year the Texans fell in the playoffs because of a season ending injury to Matt Schaub but with everyone back healthy the Texans should once again be one of the best all around teams in the NFL.


2) New England Patriots - The Patriots had a terrific draft and upgraded their defense significantly. They also added Brandon Lloyd to Brady's arsenal of receiving weapons so the Patriots should once again take the AFC East and make a deep post season run despite being the youngest Patriots team ever under Belichick.


1) New York Giants - Despite going 9 and 7 last season, the Giants won the Super Bowl, you must dethrone the champs to take the number one spot on my NFL Power Rankings.



Read More for Craig's Power Rankings

By: Tom Nappi

From Worst to first and my playoff prediction as we have reached Mid-Season

30) Houston Astros (33-53) - Will there ever again be hope for the Astros

29) Chicago Cubs (33-52) - Will they ever be good enough for even the playoffs

28) Colorado Rockies (33-52) - Back to their normal selves after 2 years of glory

27) San Diego Padres (34-53) - Another Rough Year for the Padres

26) Seattle Mariners (36-51) - Felix Hernandez and that's about it

25) Minnesota Twins (36-49) - Injuries and rough season so far for the Twins

24) Philadelphia Phillies (37-50) - The most shocking team by far, no one could have predicted this but poor offense and injuries have hurt the Phillies chances at coming around from this one.

23) Kansas City (37-47) - Only 10 games below .500 this is actually pretty good for the Royals.

22) Milwaukee Brewers (40-45) - The loss of Prince Fielder seems to have to stuck a dagger in Brewers playoff hopes.

21) Miami Marlins (41-44) - The addition of Heath Bell, Jose Reyes and Mark Buhrle and 3 games below .500 at all star break = very disappointing. P.S. go back to your old uniforms and get rid of those awful Green walls in the new stadium but keep the bakini dancers.

20) Arizona Diamondbacks (42-43) - Still in the playoff hunt only 4.0 games back but don't expect much

19) Toronto Blue Jays (43-43) - About what I expected, good pitching....no hitting.

18) Oakland Athletics (43-43) - Pretty good pitching and defense as usual but no hitting, but don't count on much

17) Boston Red Sox (43-43) - .500 at All Star Break. Time to worry if the Sox starting pitching doesn't start pitching well, they are done!

16) Detroit Tigers (44-42) - After a rough start, the Tigers have turned things around and only 3.5 games behind in the Central.

15) Tampa Bay Rays (45-41) - There line up is a disgrace but the Rays pitching is terrific, which is why the Rays will be in the hunt for the 2nd wild card spot.

14) Baltimore Orioles (45-40) - I will be shocked if the Orioles keep this up but they will continue to get better every year and will be a competitor in the A.L. East within the next 2 years if they aren't already.

13) Cleveland Indians (44-41) - The Indians are right in the hunt for the A.L. Central and have improved drastically from last years horror show.

12) San Francisco Giants (46-40) - Tim Lincecum has been a disappointment but they continue to remain competitive in the N.L. West

11) St. Louis Cardinals (46-40) - The Bearded nobodies in the Cardinals bullpen will emerge towards the end of the season...BEWARE!

10) New York Mets (46-40) - The Mets have had quite the turn around this year and R.A. Dickey has led the way as he had an terrific first half of the season.

9) Cincinnati Reds (47-38) - The Reds are shockingly terrific this year and are not going away. The Reds will be a wild card threat and perhaps an N.L. Central threat.

8) Atlanta Braves (46-39) - The Braves are playing terrific through the first half and with their solid rotation will be around come playoff time.

7) L.A. Angels (48-38) - The Angels should at the very least clinch a wild card spot in the A.L. they have had a tremendous turnaround since their awful start and with the emergence of Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo and the turnaround of Albert Pujols, they are an easy World Series contender.

6) Chicago White Sox (47-38) - Ever since the addition of Kevin Youkalis the White Sox are playing .700 baseball. Youk seems to be just the piece they needed to turn their season around. The White Sox are on top of the Central and will be around come playoff time. Youkalis was the A.L. Player of the week this week!

5) L.A. Dodgers (47-40) - The Dodgers are surprisingly on top of the N.L. West but it has shown to be a pretty weak division this year however the Dodgers have been playing well and should be competitive come playoff time.

4) Pittsburgh Pirates (48-37) - Hell has frozen over. The Pirates are a good team, 11 games above .500 and in 1st in the NL Central at Mid Season...This could be the year the Pirates go from Worst to First! P.S. Andrew McCutchen is a beast!

3) Washington Nationals (49-34) - The Nationals are an unbelievable story and have climaxed quicker than most thought as they lead the N.L. East and should be taken very seriously.

2) Texas Rangers (52-34) - The Rangers are playing elite as expected and will certainly more than likely have a deep playoff run. The fear is will the Texas Rangers be the Buffalo Bills of Baseball and lose 3 World Series Straight.

1) New York Yankees (52-33) - Despite losing Mariano Rivera to a more than likely season ending injury and having Brett Gardner, C.C. Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Michael Pineda go to the D.L. The Yankees are back to being the best team in baseball and should be feared by everyone come playoff time.

Tom's Midseason predictions

Here is how I believe the playoffs should break down after a 2012 first half of irony and surprises in MLB.

NL East - Washington Nationals NL Central - St. Louis Cardinals NL West - L.A. Dodgers

National League Wild Card
Atlanta @ Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Wins!

Division Series
Pittsburgh VS Washington - Washington in 6
St. Louis VS L.A. Dodgers - St. Louis in 7

Washington over St. Louis in 7, Thats Right The Nationals make the World Series!

AL East - New York Yankees AL Central - Detroit Tigers AL West - Texas Rangers

American League Wild Card
Chicago White Sox @ L.A. Angels - Angels Win!

Division Series
Yankees VS Angels - Yankees in 7
Detroit VS Texas - Texas in 7

Yankees Over Texas in 7

World Series
Yankees over Nationals in 6 games!

Let's Flash Back.
Tom's Prediction Prior to Season Start - Most of my picks are still very alive, except the Phillies they will not win the World Series and probably won't make the playoffs!

AL East - N.Y. Yankees
AL Central - Detroit Tigers
AL West - Texas Rangers
WC 1- L.A Angels
WC 2- Boston Red Sox

NL East - Philadelphia Phillies
NL Central - St. Louis Cardinals
NL West - S.F. Giants
WC 1- Miami Marlins
WC 2 - Atlanta Braves

AL Winner - N.Y. Yankees
NL Winner - Philadelphia Phillies

WS Winner - Philadelphia Phillies in 6

By: Tom Nappi

Ray Allen is a player that can now be added to the long list of overpaid babies that have played for a professional sports team. Why you may ask? We'll it's not because he went to the Miami Heat, it's the fact that he made comments on how the Celtics owner Danny Ainge and Head Coach Doc Rivers did not appreciate him.

Hey Ray if the Celtics did not appreciate you then why would the Celtics bother even making you a 2 year, $12 million dollar offer with a no trade clause. Ray Allen is a 37 year old washed up Shooting Guard who the Celtics offered 6 million dollars to for the next 2 seasons while the Heat can only afford to give him 2 years, 6 Million.

I understand if Ray Allen wants to join the Heat to win a championship before he retires but this is not the case based on the comments he has made the only reasons he chose to leave the Celtics is because he was replaced by a younger, more athletic Avery Bradley in the starting 5 and he was hurt by some trade rumors that floated around his name during the last NBA season. Even at this point in his career Ray Allen fails to understand that nearly every player will be involved in a trade rumor at one point during their career (just ask Paul Pierce) and as their age increases, they lose a step and risk being replaced by a younger, more athletic player.

The funny thing about this story is Ray Allen will likely get the same amount of playing time if not less with the Miami Heat and certainly will not be a starter in the majority of Miami's games. Ray Allen left purely because of emotion, this was not a business decision. We know for a fact that he did not go to Miami because of money and we can also assume that he did not join Miami purely to win a championship, he joined to spit in the face of the organization that brought him the only championship of his career because he was almost traded and he was replaced in the starting lineup some games by a more athletic player. If you think this is a reason to leave just look at all the trade rumors that the face of the Celtics, Paul Pierce has been involved in. I don't see him complaining.

Hey Ray Allen your 37 years old, most 37 year olds don't start, get over it! Have fun in Miami, you certainly won't be missed in Boston, the last thing any clubhouse needs is a baby like you, and if you think you were disrespected by Celtics management or fans for a second just remember you were named as being part of the modern Big 3, named after 3 of the best players to ever wear an NBA uniform in Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale and Robert Parish.

Lastly a little business advice for Ray Allen, next time you want to be respected by a fan base, don't bash the franchise that brought you your first and hopefully only championship you will ever win in your career. Trade rumors and losing the starting job are part of a long-term athletes career get over it, this is business. Enjoy south beach you big baby can't wait until you get a sea of boo's from the Boston crowd and there will be plenty of boo's. (If Boston will boo Adam Vinatieri on a 2 and 14 Colts team they will certainly boo Ray Allen)

By: Tom Nappi

The Boston Celtics in game 3 was one of the most amazing TEAM performances I have seen from them since they clobbered the Heat in the regular season. Notice how I emphasized TEAM Performance there.

Game 3 in Miami was truly won by the team as a whole besides everyone on their bench besides Mickael Pietrus. Celtics won game 3 94-90 on a night when they were in Miami, the refs were against them and Lebron and D-Wade combined for 57 points.

K.G. was an absolute beast dropping 26 points with 11 rebounds and overpowered anything that got in his way. Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Brandon Bass all scored in the double digits combing for 42 points, with Pierce hitting 19 of them. Rondo only finished the game with 7 points but was truly a team player on Tuesday night leading the team with 13 assists. The most underrated star, yet extremely important in this game was Mickael Pietrus who hit for 13 points off the bench.

This may have been the best team performance I have ever seen from this Celtics team all year and if they play like this throughout the rest of the playoffs, with the way Oklahoma City and San Antonio are beating up on each other, the Celtics have a legit shot to take home another championship in the final run of the Big 3 of 2k for the Green Teamers!

The Celtics are healthy and playing better than they should beware they are coming for you and not going away!

P.S. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (That's the K.G. Scream Go Celtics!)

Also is it too late to take back when I said they would not even make the playoffs at the beginning of the season and if they do it would be a 7 or 8 seed and they would not go anywhere? Keep proving me wrong Celtics, I am loving this, you are one of the very few NBA teams I could actually root for in that awful, terrible league filled with corruption and cry baby, over-pampered athletes. Proud to say my Celtics are different than most NBA teams, they play hard and don't complain!

By: Tom Nappi

Sunday, June 3rd, 2012 marked perhaps the end of Daniel Bard's Major League pitching career as he went 1.2 innings giving up 5 earned runs and walked 6. This guy straight out fell apart and was then sent down to Pawtucket 2 days later by the Red Sox. First of all, moving him down to Pawtucket was an awful move, at least give him another shot in the bullpen, Bard was solid as a late inning reliever for about 3 years now and as I have continuously said THIS GUY IS NOT A STARTER, HE IS A CLOSER or LATE INNING RELIEVER.

I am now afraid that the Rick Ankiel affect may happen to Bard in which he loses all confidence and can never find the plate again, and he will be another 98 mph fastball hurler to work his way out of the big show because I am not sure if he qualifies as an outfielder. This demotion was way to harsh and I did not expect this to happen so fast, I expected at least a move down to the bullpen considering he has been decent on the mound before this past Sunday.

We discovered in Bard's starts that he is not a strike thrower and the problem is hitters have figured that out. Only 43% of Bard's pitches are making it over the strike zone and only 39% of his pitches have been swung for, these stats put him in the bottom 3 starters in the majors. This was never discovered when he was in relief because hitters did not see him enough and you can utilize your fastball more when your in the game for 1 or 2 innings compared to trying to go 5 or 6.

In the past 10 games for Bard
Innings Pitched - 6.2, 0.2 (in relief), 7.0, 5.1, 7.0, 6.0, 5.0, 5.1, 5.1, 1.2,
Earned Runs - 1,0,2,4,5,1,5,2,2,5
Walks - 7,1,1,2,4,4,5,4,2,6

If you look at the overall stats they are inconsistent but decent especially in the American League, but you can see the longest he can last is 5 innings and he typically in 5 innings will give up 4-5 runs, which means he is a 1-2 inning relief pitcher not a starter, and I hope they don't have him start in Pawtucket because a few shaky starts will lead to a complete loss of confidence and perhaps mark the end of Bard's pitching career.

Fail by whoever made this guy a starter and Bobby Valentine is exempt from this fail because I know it wasn't him!

By: Tom Nappi

Terrell Owens has switched agents as he fired the well known Drew Rosenhaus who is arguably the number 1 agent in the NFL and brought in Dallas based Jordan Way.

Sorry T.O. I don't think the problem was your agent, the problem is you. You know how I know?.....It's because you are arguably one of the greatest physically shaped players I have ever seen and the Chicago Rush of the indoor football league does not even want you anymore because you are an absolute mess.

One thing I will say however is why doesn't an awful team like the Cleveland Browns or St. Louis Rams make an offer to T.O., how could T.O, possibly make a team like the Browns any worse, he may be a head case but it will arguably be the only player you have that will single handedly put butts in the seats and produce some kind of ticket sales for an awful team in the NFL. Also I could not imagine T.O. would not take any deal he can get no matter who it's from, if he is willing to sign with the Chicago Rush, he is willing to sign with the Cleveland Browns. This guy is desperate and he will take any gig he can get, but the Browns are stupid so don't count on this happening.

By: Tom Nappi

NFL Refs may go on strike, so the NFL has started employing replacement refs. NFL's latest proposal gives refs a minimum of $78,000 for rookies and a maximum of $139,000 for 10 year veteran refs for the year. This proposal was recently turned down by whatever greedy union represents refs. Now this may not be a lot of money compared to players but isn't this pretty fair since the refs only officiate 16-22 games max including preseason, season and post. Obviously this position is not going to pay like a player because you're not one but I will gladly take $75,000 at a bare minimum to officiate in the NFL. Considering the fact that the season is 6 months long and NFL refs work 4-5 days a week max, INCLUDING TRAVEL (and this is probably over estimating), the proposed deal sounds like a sweet deal to me. In fact I would argue that this is more than fair, considering that refs have the freedom to work additional jobs in the off season or even during the season. Even if they did not want to work for the off season, the refs are earning enough to continuously support their families and enjoy their lives.

One of the problems people have in general is they don't appreciate what they have and there's always a need for more! I can tell you from my own personal work experience that I work more hours and more days than NFL refs and my salary certainly does not show it. So NFL Refs union, shut up, take the deal and get to stand on the field with NFL players and call a football game and collect a salary in 6 months that most people don't even make in a year.

Also NFL if you need someone to ref your games, I will gladly do it for $50,000 a season and you know what, I will even call the games fairly even if I am calling a Patriots game.

#shutupandworkyouluckyspoiledbastards

P.S. If I was Roger Goodell I would fire all the refs I have now and higher new ones that appreciate this amazing opportunity!

By: Tom Nappi


Tim Thomas is seriously considering not playing next season which could leave the Bruins with 5.1 million dollars of cap space they can't use. Perhaps a trade is in the near future for the Bruins regarding Tim Thomas.

Tim Thomas is being very selfish as the Bruins were the only team to give him a legit shot and at the time overpaid him on his last contract extension and YES IT WORKED OUT as Tim played a key role in bringing home a Stanley Cup but the Bruins have treated Tim Thomas like gold and he has the nerve to cost them 5.1 mil in cap space because he is too much of a baby, to fight for his job. Tim Thomas has always been a "ME" kind of guy and this is just another example of Tim Thomas doing what Tim Thomas wants with no if's, and's or butts.

I have come up with a list of reasons why Tim Thomas may sit out next season:

1) Maybe he actually wants to be with his family like he claims, which if anyone is sick in his family, I take everything negative back I just said about him and commend him for being there for his loved ones and I will delete this article and post another one about how awesome and caring he is, but if it's just to be at home all the time that is pretty selfish unless there's circumstances which absolutely requires him to be home most of the time, then again I take back the negative stuff I said, but I doubt that is the case it's most likely just Tim doing what Tim wants with no regards for his team.

Play out the last year or so left on your contract, you owe it to your team after they gave you a chance and a nice pay day and who the hell would leave 5.1 million on the table, not even Josh Beckett would do that, he would at least fake an injury and play golf for a few games then come back and collect his paycheck!

2) The number 2 reason he may sit out is to make sure he does not get traded to some awful team like Columbus with the rise of Tukkarask, still this is selfish, if you weren't all about you the Bruins would probably let you retire in Bean-Town.

3) He want's a long term contract and this is his way of holding out until that happens, still this equals selfish without the Bruins you may not have ever been anything in the NHL, they made you!

4) He actually wants to be traded and the Bruins won't do it unless he does something drastic, in this case he should stay with the Bruins, shut up, take his 5.1 million and do what he can to make Tukka better and win the games he can because all he will do by not playing for a year is decrease his trade value!

5) A reason I did not really consider initially but do now is POLITICS. Let's not forget he moved his family to Colorado mid season in 2012 and Tim Thomas's allegedly real face book account which is supposedly controlled by him just made a post that pretty much says he is sitting out because of his fear of the future economy. If you click the link and read the article, it talks about an economy collapse, so if Tim sits out a year because of fear of the economy that is some radical stuff. Although I am not a fan of most of the current politicians in the White House, it does not mean I am going to sit out from my job and cost myself money! wait..... Tim, you fear the future of the economy but you are leaving 5.1 million dollars on the table.....ummmm yeah STUPID! Let's shut down MA Sports Web and lose all of our sponsor revenue because the economy might suck even more a few years down the road so I should stop working and earning money.....IDIOTIC if this is the case.

Tim Thomas on Facebook:

See why hockey's just not that important right now?

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/former-hedge-funders-fearful-forecast-were-looking-at-the-biggest-economic-shock-the-world-has-ever-seen-theres-nothing-we-can-do-to-stop-it/

I have no idea which scenario I posted is correct but one of them probably is, so as much as I respect Tim Thomas for exercising his 1st amendment rights, he needs to stop being idiotic and selfish, shut up and play with his teammates who have his back and most importantly use the last few years you have left to bring the cup back to Boston and repay one of the very few organizations that gave you a shot at success!

P.S. Bruins signings
Daniel Paille 3 year 3.9 million dollar deal.
Chris Bourque - 2 way 2 year contract, son of Ray Bourque. Pay variates depending on if he makes providence club or Boston

Love these signings!

In The Division 2 South First Round of the Post Season Dedham took down Holliston 2-1.

In Division 3 girls Central Play Blackstone Valley Tech took down Hopedale 6-2 and Uxbridge pounded Monty Tech 16-0.

Local Softball action today at 3pm Wachusett is at Milford in the Division 1 Central Quarterfinals.

Boys Tennis Division 1 Central action Tantasqua took down Milford 3-2, In Division 2 boys South Scituate took down Holliston 5-0 and Whitinsville Christian shut out Hopedale 5-0.

Girls Tennis Central first round action Milford shut out Tantasqua 5-0.

In The Boys Volleyball Central Semifinal Milford shut out Xaverian winning all 3 matches.

Local Lacrosse action today as in Boys action Medfield takes on Franklin at 2pm, BVT takes on Tyngsboro at 3pm, In Girls Lacrosse Franklin battles Natick at 4pm and Ashland takes on Hopkinton at 4pm as the Spring season post season continues.

The Mayans were right 2013 it's the end of the world, Why you ask.... because the Patriots actually traded up in the draft, pretty sure the mayans said that would be the determining factor a kabillion years ago. The Patriots traded up from the 27th to the 21st spot with the Bengals and gave up a 3rd round pick. DE Chandler Jones is out of Syracuse to make this deal even more sweeter for the orange heads. Chandler Jones also has the reputation of being a tremendous trash talker and physical player, if he is anything like his brother (UFC Champion Jon Bones Jones) he will destroy people on the field.

Then to confirm the end of the world is close, the Patriots traded up again to move up to the 25th pick in the 1st round from the 31st and gave up a 4th round pick to the Broncos and they took Inside Line Backer Donta Hightower out of Alabama. Hightower is extremely athletic, can run a 40 in 4.62 seconds and was filthy with the Crimson.

On Day 2 of the draft the Patriots had 2 2nd round picks and used 1 of them to pick up Free Safety Tavon Wilson out of Illinois. He is 6 feet tall 205 pounds and has a ton of versatility.

Since the Patriots traded up for their 2 first round picks, they traded down on their second, 2nd round pick and picked up a 3rd and 5th round draft pick.... This is fine at least they finally traded up for once, I could never criticize this draft.

Oh wait Pats night did not stop there with the 90th overall pick in the draft the Patriots took Arkansas defensive End Jake Bequette who is a 6'5 271 pounder and has major versatility and can play end in the 4-3.

Belichick likes his versatility, he got his versatility! Utilizing his top picks this year I will be shocked if this draft does not pay off big time.

Patriots are 6 for 8 with successful 1st and 2nd round draft picks and only 4 for 23 with successful later round picks in the past 4 years.

Tom's MLB Power Rankings
30) Baltimore Orioles
29) Kansas City Royals
28) Houston Astros
27) Pittsburgh Pirates
26) Seattle Mariners
25) Washington Nationals
24) Oakland Athletics
23) Toronto Blue Jays
22) San Diego Padres
21) Cincinnati Reds
20) Colorado Rockies
19) LA Dodgers
18) Milwaukee Brewers
17) Cleveland Indians
16) Chicago Cubs
15) New York Mets
14) Minnesota Twins
13) Tampa Bay Rays
12) Arizona Diamondbacks
11) Chicago White Sox
10) St. Louis Cardinals
9) Atlanta Braves
8) Miami Marlins
7) LA Angels
6) Boston Red Sox
5) Detroit Tigers
4) San Francisco Giants
3) New York Yankees
2) Texas Rangers
1) Philadelphia Phillies

AL East - N.Y. Yankees
AL Central - Detroit Tigers
AL West - Texas Rangers
WC 1- L.A Angels
WC 2- Boston Red Sox

NL East - Philadelphia Phillies
NL Central - St. Louis Cardinals
NL West - S.F. Giants
WC 1- Miami Marlins
WC 2 - Atlanta Braves

AL Winner - N.Y. Yankees
NL Winner - Philadelphia Phillies

WS Winner - Philadelphia Phillies in 6

Tags: MLB 2012 Power Rankings

Celtics beat Heat 91-72, Rondo Triple double 11 rebounds, 14 assists, 16 points.
Doc Rivers said in a quote we are going to start telling Rondo we are on national t.v. every night.
Why is he so good in the spot light, much more so than other games, 16 points last night 6 points, 17 assists @ minnesota Friday, 6 points, 14 assists vs UTAH wednesday.
I will give him credit for the assists but 12.4 points per game in the last non big profile games in the month of March these are Rondo's point totals, 9 Vs Houston, 5 VS Philly, 8 VS Portland, 12 vs clippers, 8 vs golden state, 4 vs sacramento, 12 vs denver, 10 vs atlanta, 10 vs milwaukee, 6 vs philly, 4 vs washington, 7 vs bobcats, 6 vs utah, 6 vs minnesota In february however he did drop 35 vs detroit and 15 vs milwaukee ill give Rondo credit for those 2 games
Rondo in big profile games and I will include February in this statistic, 14 vs lakers, 32 vs bulls, 17 vs chicago, 14 vs nets, 18 vs knicks, 24 vs lakers, 16 vs miami.
Is Rondo only a prime time point scorer or what?

So to sum up Sox spring training Andrew Bailey and Josh Becket have injured thumbs possibly because of video games, maybe thumb wrestling, i would be surprised if both pitchers had thumb injuries a day within each other for pitching purposes especially after last season and the guy who broke the news about Beckett The New Red Sox PR guy Pitcher Alfredo Aceves.
How disapointed would you be if after all the Sox went through with Becket he doesnt start the opening game because of a thumb injury, is it just me or is that a highly questionable injury?



MIAA IS PATHETIC BECAUSE THESE ARE THEIR NEW RULES
In addition to banning banners and balloons, the MIAA also forbids:

• Cheering when an opposing player makes a mistake.

• Cheering when the other team’s band is playing.

• Cheering when your opponents get a penalty.

Cincinnati advances to sweet 16 for first time since 2001 with a 62-56 victory over Florida State
Kansas comes from 11 down in the 2nd half too eliminate Purdue 63-60 in the exceptional 32 round.


NFL FREE AGENT TRACKER
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According to the Denver Post, the Dolphins are currently negotiating a contract with free agent Alex Smith that would pay him $8 million annually. The Dolphins are so desperate, after losing out on Peyton Manning and Matt Flynn, that they're now willing to significantly overpay a borderline NFL starter at near the level of franchise quarterback money.

The New England Patriots reach agreements with WR Brandon Lloyd and WR Anthony Gonzalez

Matt Flynn has agreed to terms with Seattle on a 3-yr contract worth up to $26M w/$10M guaranteed.



Wilmington defeats franklin 3-2 in division 2 hockey state championship
Hudson defeats Medway in high school hockey division 3 championship
Burlington defeated Milton 6-2 in Division 1 Championship
Division 3A Groton-Dunstable defeats South Hadley 4-3
In the Division 1A Championship Malden Mauls B.C. High 3-1
Boys Division 1 Basketball State Final Springfield Central over Brockton 67-46, First state title since 91 back in day of Travis Best
Girls Division 1 State Final Andover over Holyoke 61-45



Carl Crawford (wrist) took swings Friday for the first time since his setback earlier this month. Crawford took 15 swings with both hands and told Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe that he felt fine. The setback was caused by pushing himself too soon, so the Red Sox will be extra careful this time around. He's expected to begin the season on the disabled list.

Tags: High School Hockey State Finals, NFL Free Agency, March Madness, Peyton Manning, New England Patriots

Happy St. Paddys day Ladies and Gentlemen,

Well the luck of the Irish did not help the Celtics last night as right here on First Class Radio they got wooped by the Sacramento Kings 120-95, Marcus Thorton dropped 36 points on The C’s as with a chance to pull closer to the top of the division, The C’s were denied. With 22 games left to go in the season the Celtics currently hold the 7 seed in the eastern conference, only a game and a half back of the 4th seeded Philadelphia 76ers.


Yesterday was bracket buster Friday as St. Bonaventure, a small school out of New York and a 14th seed in the tournament took down 3 seeded Florida State 66-63.
11 seeded North Carolina State took down 6 seeded San Diego State 79-65
while, the most shocking game I believe took place in North Carolina as the 15 seeded Lehigh Mountain Hawks eliminated coach K. and the Duke Blue Devils 75-70. Oh and how about one more shocker from yesterdays March madness as Number 15 seeded Norfolk State out of Virginia knocked out 2 Seeded Missouri with an 86-84 win.

Also the last standing New England team was eliminated from the tournament as 16 seeded Vermont got man handled by the 1 seeded Tarheels of North Carolina 77-58. Your brackets are busted, New England is out time to route for the underdogs as Lehigh and Norfolk State advance.

NCAA Womens tournament kicks off today Prairie View A&M takes on Uconn at 1:30.


Big Time Hockey Action coming your way all weekend from NHL, NCAA and MIAA

Today at 1pm the Bruins battle with the Flyers at the Garden and look to get back to winning as they have dropped 4 straight and are now the number 7 seed in the eastern conference.


and The Hockey East Finals have been determined Boston College will take on Maine. B.C. beat Providence yesterday in the semi-finals 4-2, while the Night game featured Maine taking down Boston University 5-3.

Maine takes on Boston College in the Finals tonight at 8pm.



Sunday afternoon WMRC First Class Radio heads rink side at TD Garden as the Medway Mustangs battle Hudson at 1:30pm in the Boys Division 3 finals, followed by Wilmington VS Franklin at 3:30pm in the Boys Division 2 Finals right here on First Class Radio, coverage starts at 1:15pm on Sunday.


In Spring Training action the Minnesota Twins had a split squad and took down the Sox 2-1, John Lester went 4 not so good innings for the Sox and gave up 2 earned runs and 5 hits.


In the Peyton Manning sweepstakes The Broncos and the 49ers appear to be the 2 finalists as Manning is scheduled to work out for both teams this weekend. The Broncos offered Manning a contract close to what he would have gotten with the Colts totaling about 90 million dollars and over 5 years.

Tags: Peyton Manning, March Madness, Missouri, Hockey East, Duke

By: Tom Nappi

Jason Varitek will announce his retirement Thursday, Varitek came up with the Red Sox in 1997 and never left as he spent all 15 years of his career with the Sox. He Played 1,546 games in a Red Sox uniform, had a career batting average of .256 with 193 Home Runs, 757 Runs Batted In, 306 Doubles, 14 Triples and 1307 hits in 5,099 At Bats, Varitek also had a .341 on base percentage and a .435 slugging percentage.

Fielding wise as a Red Sox catcher, Varitek was one of the best fielding catchers in Red Sox history with a .994 fielding percentage and only 69 errors in his 15 year career. Varitek also only had 105 passed balls with 25 of them coming in his first year as a full time catcher for the Red Sox with 25 passed balls.

Varitek was one of the greatest catchers in Red Sox history and should always be remembered as one of the heroes that brought home the World Series trophy in 2004 and 2007.

You Will Be Missed, Mr. Varitek and we hope to see you take on a coaching role very soon with the Boston Red Sox!


Tune into the Sports Blast Special Tuesday Edition Feb 28th as we pay tribute to one of the Red Sox Greats!

Tags: Jason Varitek, Boston Red Sox

Results From High School Playoff Basketball Last Night
Boys:
Millis eliminates Community Academy of Science and Health 67-46. Millis advances to Play at Holbrook Wednesday in South Division 4 bracket.

Fitchburg eliminates Tantasqua with a 75-64 victory and advances to play at Holy Name Thursday in Central Division 1 bracket.

Also in Central Division 1 Bracket Marlboro takes down North Middlesex 57-56 in overtime. Marlboro advances to play St. Peter Marian on Thursday at Assumption College.

In Central Division 3 Bracket Southbridge takes down West Boylston 55-54 and Southbridge advances to play at Worcester Tech.

In Boys Central Division 2 bracket 7 games Monday Night Nipmuc defeated Uxbridge 68-60 in over time. Nipmuc advances to play Lunenburg on Thursday, Lunenburg took down Narragansett 68-47.

10 Seed St. Bernards upset 7 seed Bartlett 84-75 and advances to play 15 seed Gardner who upset 2 seed Northbridge 61-52, 12 seed Grafton upset 5 seed Clinton 47-46 and Grafton will play 4 seed Groton-Dunstable who defeated 13 Seed Hudson 64-53, 9 Seed Oxford upset 8 Seed Auburn in Overtime 52-52 and Oxford advances to play 1 seed Quabbin on Thursday. 7 Games in Central Division 2 Boys 5 upsets.

GIRLS

In Girls south division 1, it will be Taunton @ Franklin Tomorrow Night as on Monday Taunton 17 seed upset Weymouth 60-56. On the other side of south division 1 bracket 15 seed West Roxbury gets shut down by 18 seed Whitman-Hanson 51-29 and 14 Seed Dartmourth takes down Plymouth South 49-37.

Tomorrow night we have Girls South Division 2 action as Walpole takes on Hopkinton Girls on WMRC, last night in South Division 2 18 Seed Hingham took down 15 seed Sandwich 69-56 and 17 seed Sharon took out 16 seed Silverlake 50-28.

Girls Central Division 3 action 16 seed Southbridge took down 17 seed Whitinsville Christian 58-51.



Tonight on wmrc first class radio and streaming online at wmrc daily news.com its girls basketball central division 1 action as 10 and 10 9 seeded Tantasqua are at 10 and 10 8 seed Milford. The winner of tonights game will be at 1 seeded Holy Name Friday Night at 7pm. The Lady Hawks are riding a 2 game winning streak, taking down Algonquin and St. Peter Marian in back to back games to clinch a playoff spot. Tantasqua last played on Feb 16th and got a 58-34 win to clinch a playoff spot. It’s High School Girls Playoff Basketball on WMRC First Class Radio and Streaming online at wmrcdailynews.com

Rivalry Rant By: Tom Nappi

On Saturday Feb 25th 2012
#2 Syracuse - 71 UCONN - 69

Going into the 2nd half Syracuse had a 43-29, U Conn outscored Cuse 40-28 in 2nd half.

:51 seconds left in the half Andre Drummond made a tip shot to tie up the game. Fab Melo put Syracuse ahead with :25 seconds left with a dunk and Cuse never looked back as they won the Big east title. Cuse 29-1 on the season, now last time these 2 teams met on Feb 11th it was Cuse running away with the game but usually when it's Syracuse playing Uconn you have an absolutely amazing basketball game.

Uconn and Syracuse Basketball is one of the most underrated great rivalries in Sports.

2010-11 season when these 2 teams met, they split Syracuse won 66-58 and then Uconn upset Cuse at Big East tournament 76-71 in overtime.
2009-10 season Syracuse beat Uconn 72-67
2008-09 season early February Uconn killed Cuse 63-49, and then 31 days later on March 11th 2009 the most epic game ever, I will never forget it Cuse gets the upset 127-117 victory in 6 over times.... i repeat 6 overtimes.

After the 6 overtime game this rivalry really started gaining its recognition as always a great basketball game but even in 2007 the closeness of the Syracuse-Uconn Rivalry was still in existence.

2007-2008 season Uconn beat Syracuse 63-61,
2006-2007 Uconn wins game 1 67-60 Cuse wins game 2 73-63, and Cuse gets game 3 78-65,
2005-2006 they met 3 times Cuse took game 1 88-80, and Cuse won game 2 73-50 but game 3 goes into overtime and Cuse takes it 86-84.
2004-2005 they met 3 times again with in a 35 day span. Uconn wins first 2, 74-66, 88-70 but Cuse wins the big east tournament game 67-63.
2003-2004 game 1 monday feb 2nd 2004 Uconn pounds Cuse 84-56, 35 days later March 7 2004 Cuse beats Uconn 67-56.
2002-2003 Uconn gets both games, that was the big Uconn championship year but still cuse keeps it close 75-61, 80-67.
2001-2002 they did not play each other, but you look at the 10 year span of games between Uconn and Syracuse and how they went back and forth and 1 day Cuse or Uconn could crush the other and then just 30 days later they could play a 6 overtime game or it could be a buzzer beater to win it.

And it came to me Saturday Night, it's rivalries like Syracuse and Uconn people love sports, Sports is one of the most unpredictable things in life and it's rivalries like Uconn and Syracuse that just make it amazing entertainment.

Screw the Oscar winning movies or the Grammy winning musicians, why would you want to watch them over Syracuse and Uconn and if your a fan of one of those teams your heart is in your throat every time one meets the other.

Top Rivalries in sports Sox-Yankees, Lakers-Celtics, Giants-Dodgers, Patriots-Jets, Bruins-Canadians, Packers-Bears and add Syracuse and Uconn to the list as one of the most unbelievable rivalries in sports, this is why people love sports and more-so college sports for games or match ups like Syracuse and Uconn. You think about it from a college perspective as well their is usually major turnover every year at big universities in basketball because Cuse and Uconn are 2 of the top teams for NBA players. That makes the fact they have been going back and forth the past 10 years even more amazing.

THIS WEEK ON SPORTS BLAST WE DISCUSS IS SYRACUSE AND UCONN GREATEST RIVALRY IN SPORTS EVER!!!
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Comment on our blog page : masportsweb.wordpress.com
or call us Tuesday Night starting at 10pm 508-422-7550

Tags: UConn VS Syracuse

By: Tom Nappi

Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield retired Friday February 17th 2012 and should be remembered forever as one of the greatest and most loyal Red Sox of all time. Wakefield was an outstanding pitcher throughout his Red Sox career and for the most part always came through with an impressive performance when called upon as a starter, reliever, set up guy or closer. He Started off his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1992, but was acquired by the Boston Red Sox in 1995, which he debuted with a 16-8 record and a 2.95 E.R.A.

Tim Wakefield was one of the rarest pitchers in the league surviving primarily with his knuckleball, his most noted failure was the Yankess Aaron Boone home run given up by Wakefield in 2003 to give the Yankees the ALCS victory, but Wakefield would avenge that fault by being huge in the 2004 and 2007 playoffs, which gave him the chance to end his career with 2 Red Sox World Series rings. What Tim Wakefield did in the Majors was truly unique and he showed a style of pitching that is unlike mostly any other in which you don't need speed but you need accuracy and movement, and gave hope to up and coming knuckleballers around the world. Watching Wakefield pitch throughout my life was truly a great experience and I will always remember him as one of the greatest Boston Red Sox of all time.

Tim Wakefield finishes his career with a record of 200 Wins and 180 Losses with a 4.41 E.R.A., 2156 Strike Outs and only a .254 batting average for opposing batters. Tim enjoy retired life with your family and friends and I hope you are back very soon for an honorary pre-game ceremony, preferably for another World Series or maybe we will see you sometime soon take a coaching role!

Tags: Tim Wakefield, Boston Redsox

By: Tom Nappi


Below is 10 simple reasons the Patriots lost, listed in order of importance, with 1 being the most important.


10) Lack of Experience in the Big Game - With nearly half the team being un-drafted or walk ons I am sure that the inexperience in any kind of playoff situation for most of the Patriots had an affect on this game.


9) Rob Gronkowski's ankle was clearly a factor - he had 1 reception for 20 yards all game and was unable to break away from defenders or get the usual height on his jumps. Although if you watch the video on Boston's Barstool Sports of Gronk raging or partying after the game to rap group LMFAO, you may question his ankle injury.


8) The Non-Ability to Create Turn Overs - 3 fumbles by the Giants and the defense was unable to come up with the key turnover they usually do. With a lack of a secondary and a questionable linebacking crew, the Patriots usually need turnovers to win and were unable to take advantage of any in this game.


7) Lack of a Deep Threat - The Patriots usually throw short passes and utilize a lot of short slants and in routes, the lack of a deep threat was a factor in this game as the front 7 for the Giants got to Brady, while the Giants questionable secondary was never really put to the test.


6) No Pressure from the Defensive Line - Vince Wilfork was double teamed for much of the game, apparently the Giants watched the video of the Patriots-Ravens game and no one else from the defensive line stepped up to get any kind of pressure on Eli. The Giants murdered the Patriots in the battle of the trenches, on both sides of the ball.


5) Tom Brady Struggles - I don't put a lot of blame on Brady for this one, but he did make a few questionable passes including the interception to Blackburn in the 4th quarter. A lot of Brady's struggles however resulted because the offensive line got crushed by the Giants D-Line.


4) Offensive Line Struggles - The Offensive line failed to protect Brady and he was constantly pressured. 2 sacks for the Giants and Brady was constantly throwing under pressure.


3) Coaching over thought themselves - Why didn't Patriots stay in the hurry up offense? Both hurry up offensive drives resulted in touchdowns, at the end of the first half and the beginning of the 3rd quarter. The coaches over thought themselves by switching out of the hurry up which worked!


2) Wide Receiver Drops - The last drive drops by especially Welker, but also Hernandez and Branch crushed the Patriots and gave them another 3 and out. Tom Brady cannot throw and catch as Gisele told a bunch of Giants d-bag fans bothering her after the game, she was 100% right. Step up your game boys!


1) Defense Could Not Get Off The Field - When it comes to defense, too many people are giving the defense credit for only giving up 19 points or 13 points if you disregard the last touchdown, but that is misleading, as just about every Super Bowl Champion has the ability to keep the opposing offense off the field for at least half of the game and make key stops, the Patriots pretty much had no key stops and the Giants offense was on the field 37 of the 60 minutes, giving Brady very limited time to pick up any kind of momentum and if you give up 396 yards to a high powered offense like the Giants. YOU ARE DEAD!

Tags: New England Patriots

By: Tom Nappi

In my prediction Super Bowl 46 between the New England Patriots and New York Giants will come down to one defensive play, which team makes the extra stop or gets the key turn over. All we can do, to analyze any game is guess, because the future is unpredictable and if you look at this Super Bowl, this could arguably be the closest matchup for a Super Bowl ever, both of these teams are extremely even, both have highly affective offenses while on defense, both have a severe weakness in the secondary and a pretty strong front 7. Both of these teams are riding hot streaks, the Giants, I would argue are hotter right now due to the fact the teams they have beat as of late overall are much better quality opponents than the teams the Patriots beat, which is the key reason even though the Patriots are favored by 2.5 in Vegas, 65% of people are betting on the Giants.

I am going to break down this game with 5 things the Patriots must do offensively and 5 things defensively if they want to beat a tough Giants team, that has beat the Patriots the past 2 times they have played them. First off I never account for a past game that is more than 3 weeks old when it comes predicting time, because the setting, scenario and game plan is always evolving especially if you are coached by Bill Belichick or Tom Coughlin. Before I break it down big props to Belichick for moving Devin McCourty to safety, that move was genius, is it right to continue this in the Giants game, not sure as the Giants have extremely fast receivers on the outside in Nicks, Cruz and Manningham, you may need McCourty to cover one of them.

5 Offensive Keys To Beat The Giants
(1 is the most important)

5) Block with Gronk: Rob Gronkowski will likely not be 100% with a high ankle sprain, I am predicting about 60-70% with a week to heal and from my prior severe ankle sprains. Gronk will definitely play, I think you could cut off all of his limbs and he would still play and contribute. Gronk will either be heavily covered in this game or not 100% so use Gronk primarily as a blocker, it is almost just as big of a contribution than Gronk being used in the passing game, no matter what the case throw in Gronks direction at least a few times to draw defenders his way but i expect Gronk to be used primarily as a blocker.

4) Utilize the Law Firm: Benjarvus Green-Ellis is a running back that pretty much never runs for negative yardage, the Giants are hard hitting and the "Law Firm" can dish it right back so let the "Law Firm" do some bumps with the Giants D-Line and utilize your entire backfield in the passing game, throw some confusing plays in there, maybe have the Law Firm or Woodhead run a couple routes, this will really throw off the bag of crap, trash talking Giants secondary.

3) Pick on the G-Men Secondary: The Giants backfield is just as bad, if not worse than the Patriots, pass all over the secondary, put a number of guys out there for deep balls, yes even throw Ochocinqo in the game for a few snaps, he has been a non-factor all year but has the potential to be forgotten by the Giants secondary. Deion Branch, Matt Slater and Tiquan Underwood should also be utilized with Branch playing 75% of the snaps, you must throw deep to exploit the Giants questionable secondary.

2) Step it up O-Line: The Patriots O-Line must protect Brady, The Giants pass rush is going to be foaming at the mouth for the chance to take down or hit Brady, you cannot let Brady get hit too much because this will lead to Brady interceptions, Brady must be protected by this O-Line all game long, they cannot let the Giants relentless pass rush tire them out.

1) Do What You Do Best: Welker, Hernandez and Gronk as usual! Throw a couple tricks in the game plan but stick to your core, the real big 3 in Mass has led the Patriots to victory all year long, do not get too far away from using the 3 best athletes on your offense besides Brady in Gronk, Hernandez and Welker. Hernandez should also be used in the backfield, I loved that, he has speed, force, runs hard and it will take multiple defenders to bring him down, pound, pound, pound all game long. Tire the defense out!

5 Defensive Keys To Beat The Giants
(1 is the most important)

5) Keep Going Secondary - Coach Belichick work your magic, move guys around and do whatever you need to do too keep the backfield on the upward trend. The secondary has progressed every single game just about, so keep making the adjustments or moves you make to keep the secondary on the upward trend, do not fear pulling the trigger on any move that may work because it could always be adjusted if it doesn't work.

4) Double 2, Single 1 - You are most likely going to have to double on Nicks and Cruz just because their athletic ability and speed is ridiculous, keep an eye on those 2 but you will need to go 1 on 1 with someone and the best receiver to go 1 on 1 is Manningham, but keep in mind you will need a speedster like McCourty or Arrington to do this, because Mario can run!

3) Do what you do against the run - The run defense has been the high point of many lows for the Patriots, so do not let Ahmad Bradshaw or Brandon Jacobs run all over you, do what you normally do too stop the run and do not over concentrate on the pass because Coughlin loves to run.

2) Let Eli Throw - Eli can throw the deep ball but he is still not the most accurate Quarterback, I am expecting the Patriots to give up scores and yards but if you force Eli to throw, he will give you the opportunity to come up with an interception or 2 and ultimately I feel this is the kind of game that is going to come down to a turnover. But make sure you have his targets covered or they will burn you, make Eli throw a few stupid passes because he will if you have his targets covered.

1) Vince Wilfork must be like Bruce Willis in "Die Hard" - Be relentless, get bloody, hit hard and take your enemy down and play out of your mind like you did against the Ravens. Vince single handedly could have won the AFC Championship for the Pats, let Vince run over the GIants O-Line and be like a monster truck crushing cars. Let him be like Denzel Washington in "Man on Fire" and all his other movies and whoop everyones butt! Vince and the others on the D-Line must control the G-Men offensive front and of course it never hurts to give Eli a few wacks!

FROM ALL OF US HERE AT MA SPORTS WEB.COM GO PATRIOTS KICK THE GIANTS BUTT AND BRING HOME THE TROPHY!!!!

Defensive Line

Backfield (Defensive)

Q.B.

WR/TE

Running Backs

Special Teams

2/3 Overall1/2

Throw out the regular season records, I hate saying this but the Giants remain the hottest team in the NFL!
By: Tom Nappi

Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and Victor Cruz are the counter for Gronk, Hernandez and Welker. The Giants are one of the only offenses that can match the talent of the Patriots offense. The Patriots defense has gotten substantially better as the season goes on and it was great to finally see a Pats defensive victory over the Ravens on a day when Brady even said "I Sucked Today, but the defense won the game for us".

The Giants defense is playing remarkable and the G-Men pass rush has more than enough talent to put pressure on Brady. I am a Massachusetts native and Patriots fan but I pick games from an unbiased perspective and overall the Giants are the hottest team there is right now so I do give the Giants the edge in this Super Bowl but obviously you can never count out the Patriots, there is always a chance Brady plays flawless and Pats come out on top in the end, but at the same time as much as I hate to admit it, Eli Manning walked the Walk and truly is an elite Q.B.

Also let's face it Pats won 10 in a row against numerous scrubs big wins as of late - Jets, Broncos, Broncos, Ravens

Giants have won 5 in a row - Jets, Cowboys, Falcons, Packers, 49ers, to beat those 5 teams in 5 weeks straight is ridiculously impressive!

Packers (2010) - 6 in a row - Giants, Bears, Eagles, Falcons, Bears, Steelers

Saints (2009) - 3 in a row, all playoffs Cardinals, Vikings, Colts

Steelers (2008) - 4 in a row, Browns, Chargers, Ravens, Cardinals

I will stick with my prediction from last week in my final 4 Power Rankings
Giants - 37 Patriots - 30 (P.S. I hope I am wrong!)

Hear More this Thursday 8pm-10pm!

Tags: Super Bowl 46, New England Patriots, New York Giants

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas declined the White House invitation to be honored by the President for Winning the Stanley cup and issued the following statement:

"Thomas has issued the following statement: "I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People. This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government. Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL."

Tom Nappi's opinion: I will keep this short and sweet, regardless of my political views it is up to Tim Thomas if he want's to go or not, I think he should've sucked it up and went because it would avoid controversy plus seeing inside the oval office would probably be cool stuff but I respect his decision to decide not to show up, it was not a mandatory team meeting and people are taking this way to far, if he does not want to go, big deal, he is a NHL player, it matters what he does on the Ice and how he acts as a person, just because he declines the White House invitation because he does not agree with the government should not affect his character, he was sticking up for his personal views and every man has that right.

Tags: Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins

By: Tom Nappi


According to CBS Joe Paterno died hours ago but according to Fox and ESPN, Joe-Pa is in critical condition due to lung cancer, which was confirmed by his son Scott Paterno. Some will remember Joe Paterno as one of the greatest coaches in NCAA Football history and perhaps he was, but too think that his career and life should be honored because of that is ludicrous! Joe Paterno or otherwise known as Joe-Pa by the Penn Staties, is a man who was one of the many in that twisted place called Happy Valley, Pennsylvania too cover up countless rapes and abuse to little children by former Penn-State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. If you read the grand jury report which you can find online: http://www.freep.com/assets/freep/pdf/C4181508116.PDF you will see that the allegations against Sandusky date back more than 20 years, and you will also find that there were countless cover-ups or people keeping their mouth shut for years, while little children in Jerry Sandusky's "Second Mile Charity" were getting abused and raped.

If you do not know the story by now, you probably live under a rock but the basis of the story is Mike McQueary who was with the team in 2002 witnessed Jerry Sandusky having anal sex with a little boy in the locker room showers, he told Joe Paterno who told the athletic director Tim Curley who pretty much did nothing with the information. Sandusky was no longer with the team around the time of McQueary's witness to the incident but still reserved an office on campus for years after and was still bringing children from the "Second Mile Charity" around campus and more than likely doing unspeakable things. Allegations would come out throughout the years, dating all the way back to the late 70's and be ignored by all figures of authority including local police who stuck 1 investigator on a child abuse case involving multiple children!

The reason McQueary's allegations went no further than they did sooner was because everyone from Penn State staff and higher-ups, town officials, local police, school teachers at the elementary school across the street covered the entire thing up and one of those people who took the situation no further to seek justice for the children who were victimized was perhaps the highest figure of all in Happy Valley, 61 year veteran football coach Joe Paterno! The only reason Jerry Sandusky was not revealed or held accountable for his actions sooner is because the entire community of Happy Valley, Pennsylvania is corrupted by their football program. Besides a good portion of Penn State Students who are logical it seems a large number of the authority figures, locals or employees in the Happy Valley-Penn State community are corrupt and need a serious mental check, the fact they even continued their Football season and were entered into a bowl game, MAKES ME SICK! You may argue well that program brings a lot of money into Pennsylvania, well first off that's why town officials are more than likely corrupted by the football team but most importantly is it worth letting an alleged child rapist run wild and free and not be held accountable for his actions? I repeat, the whole Happy Valley community is corrupt and needs a reality check! (Side Note: Factor out Penn State Students with any comment I make, referring more to authority figures and town locals when questioning the mentality of Happy Valley and Good Luck with your new job Bill O' Brien, your going to need it!)

I will always view Joe Paterno as a coward, he was the most important and more than likely highest authority figure because of his contributions at Penn State and did the bare minimum too help the children that were being victimized by that monster Jerry Sandusky. As much as I love Football, a human life is far more important than anything so as Joe Paterno nears the final days of his life, dig deep into your soul and morality and then tell me how he should really be remembered and if you think there is a chance Sandusky may be innocent, go to you tube and watch the damn interview he did with Bob Costas, and if you still think so after watching the interview he may be innocent, check yourself into a mental institution!

*KEEP IN MIND THIS ARTICLE IS A PERSONAL OPINION AND DOES NOT REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK*

Read More for Craig D'Alessandro's take on Joe Paterno

Tags: Penn State Sex Scandal, Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, Tim Curley, Mike McQueary

By: Tom Nappi

Here is the grades I give the teams eliminated from Super Bowl contention and why!

We are down to the final 8 in the playoffs, 22 teams are on vacation and this article is to show how they did this season overall. I will rank the other 8 teams as the playoffs proceed, obviously you can't rank the others until they win or go home.

Grade Scale:
A+ = Awesome,
A = Pretty Awesome,
A- = Sweet Season,
B+ = Not too shabby,
B = Not half bad,
B- = Pretty Good,
C+ = Future looks bright,
C = ehhh ok,
C- = Needs improvement,
D+ = Need a lot of improvement,
D = Disappointment,
D- = Just about a failure,
F= Failure and completely awful

NFC EAST
New York Giants - They made it to the Super Bowl Win or Lose = A+

Philadelphia Eagles (8-8) - They spend massive amounts of money on defense such as the most notable signing CB Namdi Asomugha. They have Vick at QB, who was beat up and terrible most of the year, McCoy at Rb and Maclin and DeSean Jackson at WR. The Eagles were my Super Bowl favorite heading into the year and failed miserably finishing the season .500. No excuse for missing the playoffs.
GRADE - F

Dallas Cowboys (8-8) - Any year the Cowboys finish .500 with the talent they have on both sides of the ball is a failure, especially since they lost the last game of the season to the Giants to miss the playoffs.
GRADE - F

Washington Redskins (5-11) - They started off the year nice but finished as just about everyone expected, no surprises here. However they have spent way too much money for constant failure.
GRADE - D-

NFC North
Green Bay Packers (16-2) - Packers were the overall favorite this year after winning 15 straight, but were shocked by the Chiefs in week 16, then they were beat by the Giants who have a habit of upsetting the elite. The Packers should have beat the Giants with home field advantage and should be a Super Bowl contender but there is always next year. BTW I told you Giants would win this game, DON'T FORGET WHERE YOU HEARD IT FIRST, however any time you have the roster Packers have, a shortened post season is a big negative! Packers must improve their defense.
Grade - B+

Detroit Lions (10-7) - The Lions made the playoffs but clearly did not have the defense to contain unbelievably good offenses such as the Saints and at times struggled offensively. They certainly fu-filled expectations this year and should be a good team for years to come with the amount of young talent on the roster, next year they will have to play more disciplined.
Grade = B

Chicago Bears (8-8) - Cutler went down, a once good season went to hell as Caleb Hanie sucked. Next year I am sure the Bears will look into a back up. The defense was solid and the play of the O-Line was much improved but they finished 8 and 8.
Grade = C-

Minnesota Vikings (3-13) - Donovan McNabb = Fail. The Vikings were o.k. when McNabb was not playing but had a very rough season finishing 3 and 13.
Grade = F

NFC South
New Orleans Saints (14-4) - Another tough playoff loss for the Saints as Alex Smith shocked the world beating Drew Brees in an offensive bout 36-32. The Saints had the talent to go a lot further than they did this year but simply could not take the next step for the 2nd year in a row. Good season by the Saints, but the big easy only has a limited number of years left with Brees being an elite QB, so they must win soon. Saints must step up the defense next year!
Grade - B

Atlanta Falcons (10-7) - 3rd year in a row the Falcons were one and done in the playoffs, they were a Super Bowl favorite to start the season in the NFC with the addition of Julio Jones but ended up in the end as the Falcons typically do, losers!
Grade = D-

Carolina Panthers (6-10) - The expectations were not so high in Carolina and there was no reason for them to be but Cam Newton took the Panthers on his back to 6 wins, and the Panthers were competitive in nearly every game. The Panthers will get better and better as they surround Newton with weapons.
Grade = B+

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-12) - Bucs were expected to be a competitor for a wild card spot after they had a nice season last year but instead they were a competitor for the number 1 draft pick, Freeman fell into his sophomore slump and 2011 was a disaster for the Bucs.
Grade = F

NFC West
S.F. 49ers - Excellent season by a team that unexpectadly made the playoffs, I still am shocked Jim Harbaugh was able to get a 49ers team that went 4-12 last year into the NFC Championship, turn around of the year!
Grade - A+

Arizona Cardinals (8-8) - Kevin Kolb surprisingly failed, while John Skelton looked good, Cardinals were not expected to do much this year but in a what used to be weak before Jim Hardbaugh came to the 49ers. Cards have a lot of talent and should be a little better next year
Grade = C-

Seattle Seahawks (7-9) - I did not expect much more than what the Seahawks brought to the table, a couple impressive upset and competitive in most games, this is a team that should get better however as they looked good at the end of the season.
Grade = C-

St. Louis Rams (2-14) - What the hell happened to Sam Bradford and the Rams as a whole? After being competitive last year and showing signs of Rams on the rise, you would expect much better than 2 wins!
Grade = F

AFC East
New England Patriots - They made it to the Super Bowl with a questionable defense, Win or Lose = A+

New York Jets (8-8) - This is the grade I could not wait to give, Rex Ryan talks, talks, talks but he could not even get the Jets into the post season this year. Oh yeah and Sanchez has not improved what so ever and could be the main hold back for the Jets, besides their cocky attitudes and bad team chemistry.
Grade = F

Miami Dolphins (6-10) - Did not really expect much, overall the Dolphins downgraded their roster this year. They did get better as the season went on however and should continue to get more competitive as long as they make some upgrades.
Grade = C-

Buffalo Bills (6-10) - Bills start off really good and even beat the Patriots once, Fitzpatrick signs a long term contract and they fall apart with injuries, Stevie Johnson antics on the field and their lack of talent showed in the end.
Grade = D

AFC North
Baltimore Ravens - They made it to the AFC championship to lose by a field goal, great season by a 1960's looking team that plays ugly football but hey they win big games! However they had some losses to bad teams and it was coaching that cost them the game tying field goal, regardless of what the down clock said, they left a time out on the table so they get a slightly less than perfect grade.
Grade - A-

Pittsburgh Steelers (12-5) - Great season for the Steelers, but they lose to Tebow in the first round because of failure to change defensive scheme at anytime. Regardless of the injuries the Steelers had, you have to win against the Broncos as long as Big Ben can play.
Grade = D-

Cincinnati Bengals (9-7) - They beat 8 teams with below .500 records this year but their schedule is not their fault, they shockingly made the playoffs and although they lost to the Texans in the first round for the Bengals to make the playoffs with their roster and the loss of Carson Palmer is quite impressive.
Grade = A

Cleveland Browns (4-12) - Peyton Hillis showed to be a whiny baby uncompetitive loser this year and the whole Browns season pretty much evolved around the failure of Hillis. The Browns have a lack of talent, especially offensively and you should not expect much for years to come.
Grade = D-

AFC South
Houston Texans (11-7) - Matt Schaub goes down midseason, 2nd string Matt Linehart goes down but yet T.J. Yates the 3rd string QB steps in and they are able to win the division, the first round of the playoffs and give the Ravens a challenge, that is an overall successful year under the circumstances. When Schaub returns next year look out! Great job with the defense Wade Phillips (wish the Pats had him as their defensive coordinator!)
Grade - A

Tennessee Titans (9-7) - Exceeded my hopes this year, being a competitive team and just barely missing the playoffs. Hasselbeck played pretty well and the Titans have some good momentum heading into next year.
Grade - A-

Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11) - I at least expected the Jags to be competitive and they simply were not at all, another terrible season for the Jags and I don't see the rain stopping anytime soon in Jag Town. This was the year with Peyton Manning out for the Jags to step up.
Grade - D-

Indianapolis Colts (2-14) - O.K. even with Peyton Manning out look at the Colts roster and tell me if they should have enough loses to get the 1st draft pick in 2012. Ridiculous season and the Colts need to wipe out the entire ownership group and whoever has anything to do with scouting and finding back up QB's. We watched an entire team fail this year because 1 guy was out, regardless of Manning being out the collapse of the Colts this year means the Colts were poorly assembled and are not well coached.
Grade - F

AFC West
Denver Broncos (9-9) - Grade Pending, but the fact that Tebow beat the Steelers in the first round of the playoffs is unreal, so they will get an A. Year one goes to Felger, if you listen to the Sports Hub you will know what I am talking about. Tebow sucked against the Patriots but he single handedly turned the Broncos season around and got them past the Steelers, quite impressive but have no clue what to expect from Tebow next year, he must get better at passing, but year one goes to Tebow.
Grade - A

S.D. Chargers (8-8) - NORV TURNER SUCKS AND SO DOES PETER KING. Way to pick this A-hole team to win the Super Bowl, all the talent in the world and they cannot get over 8 wins, pitiful!
Grade - F

Oakland Raiders (8-8) - Raiders were competitive but uphold their reputation as the most undisciplined team in football. Also with Al Davis passing away who knows what the future of the Raiders is.
Grade - C-

Kansas City Cheifs (7-9) - Cassel went down, collapse insued, Romeo Crennel took over as head coach and restored life in Chief town, look out next year as Crennel is the permanent head coach. NICE MOVE BY THE CHIEFS!
Grade - C+

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Tags: NFL, NFL Power Rankings

By: Tom Nappi

Well if you read my article, I was wrong about just about everything once again proving why the NFL is the best league on earth and the playoffs are the most fascinating.

Here is what I said in my last article that was completely False because I am willing to admit my faults:

I ranked Denver 12th in the playoff rankings last week and said this: "Tim Tebow has been revealed for what he truly is, an average Running Back at the Q.B. position, there is no way I can see the Broncos beating the Steelers in the 1st Round therefore they are ranked last."

Clearly that statement was False as Tim Tebow threw for 316 yards and had 2 touchdowns including a 80 yard game winning TD pass in the opening seconds of over time too Demaryius Thomas.

I ranked Houston 11th in the playoff rankings and said this: "The Texans have a good shot to upset the Bengals in the first round but after that, not to much of a chance at anything with T.J. Yates as their starting QB because Schaub is down, but look out next year."

I gave the Texans the benefit of the doubt against the Bengals but T.J. Yates is better than I thought and the Texans defense gives them a legitimate shot to beat the Ravens next Sunday if Flacco plays bad.

To Sum up from last week, if you want to see what else I said read the damn article it's 4 down from this one but I was half right about the Giants but I did say "They are too much of a shaky team to beat good opponents" This is kind of false, the Giants have a shot to beat the Packers next week, especially if Eli plays like he did against the Falcons and Jason Pierre-Paul is his usual self, I am picking Packers but upset alert is officially in affect on this one. The Bengals I was less than half right on but shame on me for crediting a team that is now 0 and 8 against opponents above .500, Bengals cannot beat good teams and will not be even close to a contender next year, this year was a fluke, they beat a bunch of tomato cans and made the playoffs. I think Andy Dalton will eventually be a good QB but the Bengals have a lot of show and tell to do next year in order to make me think differently.

Games This Week (My Picks are in Bold):
Sat 4:30pm New Orleans Saints @ S.F. 49ers
Sat 8:00pm Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots
Sun 1:00pm Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens
Sun 4:30pm New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers

Without further or do here is playoff week 2 Power Rankings of the Final 8, by the way do not take my advice into consideration while betting, there is a reason I do not bet anymore except on Super Bowl squares, I am damn good at those!!!

(#) - Last Week's ranking

8-(5) S.F. 49ers (13-3) - The 49ers have a shot to beat the Saints next week with there amazing defense, but with the way Drew Brees is playing and the Saints are playing overall, don't count on it, then again remember I am wrong a lot, but so is Peter King!!

7-(12) Denver Broncos (9-8) - The Broncos proved how wrong I could be, I know Mendenhall was out and Ben was not 100% but hey that's football and the Broncos won fair and square. Tim Tebow showed balls this game, pure brass balls as he threw 3-4 passes over 50 yards, 2 of them for touchdowns and showed he can do more than run and throw short slant routes. The dude can throw the long ball and with the Patriots past 2 years of one and done, Tim Tebow has a shot to beat them! I am picking Pats, but Tebow has a shot!

6-(11) Houston Texans (11-6) - The Texans proved that their defense is good enough to do it without Schaub. I also have a huge respect for T.J. Yates, the 3rd stringer looked pretty damn good against an average Bengals defense. If Flacco has a bad day Sunday and the Texans are able to produce a couple turnovers, do not count them out.

5-(8) New York Giants (10-7) - The Giants have the offense and the defense to upset the Packers and shock the world, they did it to the Patriots in 2007 and they have the skill set to upset the overall Super Bowl favorite this year as well. The Packers have been playing below average lately and with the way this season has gone, who knows what to expect in this matchup of 2 high powered offenses and 2 of the top 5 QB's this season. Yes I said it Eli is a top 5 QB, I know it sucks!

4-(4) Baltimore Ravens (12-4) - The Ravens have a shot to be upset by the Texans this week, I still pick Ravens to win, but Yates is looking good stepping in for Schaub and the Texans defense is outstanding. Big credit goes to Wade Phillips, expect him to be a head coach somewhere once again next season.

3-(2) New Orleans Saints (14-3) - The Saints are playing outstanding and completely trashed the Lions last week, the reason I move them below the Patriots is because I feel the 49ers have a better shot to beat the Saints than the Broncos do to beat the Patriots, it's that simple but I am picking Saints over 49ers this week.

2-(3) New England Patriots (13-3) - Patriots if you let me down against the Broncos and go one and done against this team, you are a disgrace. Losing to Giants, Ravens and Jets back to back to back in the playoffs is forgivable if you end Tebowmania, if you don't I am just about done with you.

1-(1) Green Bay Packers (15-1) - I had a hard time ranking the Packers number 1 this week with the upset bound Giants coming to town, but until someone beats Aaron Rodgers besides a fluky Kyle Orton and the Chiefs in a pointless game, they stay here and are still my Super Bowl favorites this year!
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It is time for Final 4 action. I was pretty pumped I went 3 and 1 in picks last week, I don't think anyone saw the 49ers beating the Saints however and if you say otherwise you are lying. Now that Brady and Eli are the best Qb's left in the playoffs, the Pats have a great shot at the Super Bowl title, but do they have the best shot? Read below to find out.

4) S.F. 49ers - I am not counting out the 49ers against the Giants this week especially considering the way they played against the Saints last week. Alex Smith looked really good, the best he has ever looked (fact not opinion), but I am convinced the Saints are the NFC version of the Patriots, great offense, shaky at best defense. The 49ers have a chance to beat the G-Men but Eli is arguably playing better than anybody right now and the Giants offense looks unstoppable.

3) Baltimore Ravens - The Ravens defense is good in fact one of the best but they are substantially older and the way the Patriots offense is playing is ridiculous and they look unstoppable. I do not think the Ravens matchup well against the 3 headed monster in Gronk, Hernandez and Welker. Ravens have a legit shot to win the game if they get a couple of turn overs and if we find out the miraculous way the Pats defense played last week against the Broncos is a fluke, but I expect Pats to head to Indy.

2) New England Patriots - I hate to do it but I cannot say the Patriots or anyone else for that matter is playing hotter than the Giants right now. I do expect a Pats-Giants rematch in the Super Bowl although I may not pick that way on the Sports Blast because I need to come back in picks but if the Patriots even do half of what they did defensively against Flacco next week, hello Indianapolis!

1) New York Giants - They crush the Falcons and then the G-Men roll over everyones Super Bowl favorite Green Bay in extraordinary fashion shutting down Rodgers and all his weapons. Eli looks to be playing better than he ever has in his career and has a legit shot to surpass his brother Peyton in Super Bowl titles this year.

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP
Patriots - 27 Baltimore - 17

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP
Giants - 24 49ers - 17

Un-biased Super Bowl prediction

New York Giants - 37 New England Patriots - 30

ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR! Down to 12 teams and we are ready for Wild Card Weekend Next week with a great slate of NFL games. BTW what a last week of the season, every game but 3 games meant something! With that being said the games this week our listed below along with the 12 teams ranked 12 to 1, 1 being the team with the best chance to bring home the Vince Lombardi Trophy!

Sat Jan 7th 4:30pm/et
Cincinnati Bengals @ Houston Texans

Sat Jan 7th 8:00pm/et
Detroit Lions @ New Orleans Saints

Sun Jan 8th 1:00pm/et
Atlanta Falcons @ New York Giants

Sun Jan 8th 4:00pm/et
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos

Byes: New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, S.F. 49ers, Green Bay Packers

POST SEASON POWER RANKINGS

12) Denver Broncos (8-8) - Tim Tebow has been revealed for what he truly is, an average Running Back at the Q.B. position, their is no way I can see the Broncos beating the Steelers in the 1st Round therefore they are ranked last.

11) Houston Texans (10-6) - The Texans have a good shot to upset the Bengals in the first round but after that, not to much of a chance at anything with T.J. Yates as their starting QB because Schaub is down, but look out next year.

10) Detroit Lions (10-6) - If the Saints do not make the Lions one and done this week and they pull what they did last year against the Seahawks, I am going to start calling Drew Brees the Lebron of the NFL, this should be an easy Saints win, Stafford and the gang will keep it close, but don't expect much.

9) Cincinnati Bengals (9-7) - The Bengals have an interesting scenario, they have a Matt Schaubless Texans squad in the first round then could end up with a defenseless Patriots, the Bengals could upset their way to the AFC Championship, but if they make it to New England, I am picking Pats! A great season by the most surprising team of the year in the rookie QB led Bengals.

8) New York Giants (9-7) - I may even pick the Giants to beat the Falcons in the first round, but the Giants are way too much of a shaky team against good opponents to rank them any higher than this.

7) Atlanta Falcons (10-6) - The Falcons have had a questionable year, they started terrible and really turned things arounds especially once Julio Jones got back, beating the Giants will be no easy task however as I think this is an even matchup and both these teams match up well against each other on both sides of the ball.

6) Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) - No one knows how healthy Big Ben actually is and Rashard Mendenhall may have a torn ACL, this could cost the Steelers dearly, I expect them to get past Denver, but to beat New England again this year with those offensive injuries would really take a lot of luck or New England sleeping defensively.

5) S.F. 49ers (13-3) - The 49ers have arguably the best defense in the league at this current time, but with an unreliable Alex Smith and a very good but stoppable Frank Gore, if they meet a team like the Saints or Giants next round, it could be upset city in San Francisco. Also one other relevant point to make look at the teams that have won Super Bowls the past few years, Packers, Saints, Steelers, Colts, all have great QB's, Alex Smith is not in that category.

4) Baltimore Ravens (12-4) - The success of the Ravens will completely bank on what kind of Joe Flacco plays, will it be the kind that throws countless interceptions and miss fires 50% of his passes or will he be sharp and hit his targets, defensively they are fine, but offensively they have many questions with Flacco as their Q.B.

3) New England Patriots (13-3) - The Patriots have the best offense in the A.F.C. and could have an easy road to the Super Bowl with the 1 seed and home field locked up and the fact they may play the Bengals in the first round, but if the Patriots struggle defensively like they have all season and they end up with the Steelers next week, an upset is very possible.



2) New Orleans Saints (13-3) - In my opinion, the Saints are the only team besides the Patriots that could keep up scoring wise with the Packers, Drew Brees has played outstanding this year and I will not rule the Saints out of a matchup with Green Bay in the NFC championship pending they don't lose to someone ridiculous as they did in the playoffs last year to the 8 and 8 Seahawks.

1) Green Bay Packers (15-1) - Matt Flynn threw 6 touchdowns last week and the Green Bay Packer B Squad beat the Detroit Lions who were playing for a higher seed, I can't wait to see what the A Squad does in the playoffs, repeat more than likely in Cheesehead City!

There you have it folks, these will change next week, enjoy the NFL and read Craig's article below this one on what the Red Sox need to do as we are only 2 months or so away from Spring Training!


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Here are the Tom Nappi Week 17 NFL Power Rankings, (#) - Last Week

Ok so last week of the NFL season this Sunday and some teams are not playing for real, these power rankings are to inform you of what to expect in week 17 for wagering or fantasy purposes for the stupid leagues that have week 17 championships and let you know who the best and worst teams are in the league!

Teams still alive for Playoffs (NFC) - Dallas, New York Giants,

Teams In Playoffs (NFC) - Green Bay, New Orleans, San Francisco, Detroit, Atlanta

Teams still alive for Playoffs (AFC) - Jets, Bengals, Titans, Oakland, Chargers, Denver

Teams In Playoffs (AFC) - New England, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Houston

32-(31) St. Louis Rams (2-13) - May be in the hunt for Andrew Luck next year since the Colts decided to win the past 2 weeks.

31-(32) Indianapolis Colts (2-13) - Well Colts won 2 weeks in a row that is quite impressive and about time, they battle the Jaguars next week, question is will they tank the game to retain the first pick in the 2012 NFL draft.

30-(30) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-11) - The Bucs went from an almost playoff contender last year to losing 9 in a row last year, expect the Bucs to play in week 17 and try to ruin the Falcons shot at a home playoff game.

29-(26) Minnesota Vikings (3-12) - Adrian Peterson is done for the season with a torn ACL and MCL in his knee, trust me that injury kills. With Christian Ponder also out with a concussion prepare for the Vikings to play a bunch of backups and take an easy in their last game of the year against the Bears.

28-(28) Cleveland Browns (4-11) - Peyton Hillis is back, but that does not change a thing, expect the Browns to play their starters against division rival Steelers next week just to try to upset them and keep them from a bye week in the playoffs to piss them off.

27-(27) Jacksonville Jaguars (4-11) - Jags will only beat the Colts in week 17 if the Colts throw the game to keep the number 1 pick in the draft and knowing Bill Polian, that is pretty likely.

26-(22) Chicago Bears (7-8) - No longer a threat to anyone after being eliminated from the playoffs and playing the lowly Vikings next week, expect starters to play at least a half however, but don't bank on it, the Bears could be going for draft position.

25-(24) Washington Redskins (5-10) - Redskins will most likely give their all just to beat division rival Philadelphia Eagles next week, Eagles were eliminated from playoff contention since the Giants and Cowboys won their games.

24-(20) Philadelphia Eagles (7-8) - The Dream team is officially done and are no threat to anyone as they play the Redskins next week. Expect starters to play so Andy Reid can at least finish 8 and 8 in a thin attempt for him to keep his job.

23-(17) Arizona Cardinals (7-8) - Nice run at the end of the season, but too little to late, they have a pointless game with the Seahawks next week, expect starters to play most of the game for pride and because it is a hated division rival. Look out for the Cardinals next year!

22-(16) Seattle Seahawks (7-8) - Same scenario as the Cardinals, they will play for pride and to try to beat a division rivals in the Arizona Cardinals but to little to late for the Hawks. Look out for Pete Carroll and the gang next year however, Marshawn Lynch is stupid good.

21-(23) Carolina Panthers (6-9) - Expect the Panthers to throw Cam Newton and everything else they have out next week against the Saints, as they will play their hearts out to finish 7-9 and try to upset Saints playoff bye week hopes. Panthers will be a contender next year!

20-(29) Buffalo Bills (6-9) - Bills will play hard next week to finish 7-9 and see what improvements they need to make next year, they will also try to stop the Patriots from having home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Bills will throw their whole arsenal on the field.

19-(18) Kansas City Chiefs (6-9) - Chiefs are the only team in the AFC west eliminated from playoff contention but they will not hold back one bit as they can officially end Tebow mania by beating the Broncos to keep them from the playoffs. Cheifs will be much better next year and should keep Romeo Crennel as the head coach.

18-(25) Miami Dolphins (5-10) - If you think for one second the Dolphins will sit anyone with a chance to keep the Jets from the playoffs.....Think Again!

17-(21) Oakland Raiders (8-7) - A do or die matchup with the Chargers next week, the Raiders will also need the Broncos to lose to the Chiefs, in either case they do still have a small shot at the playoffs as long as they get a win.

16-(14) S.D. Chargers (7-8) - The Chargers need to beat the Raiders this week to have any hope at making the playoffs, they also need the Broncos to lose, if those 2 things happen the Chargers who lost 6 in a row at one point this season will win the AFC West.

15-(19) Tennessee Titans (8-7) - The Titans need to beat the Texans this week who are pretty much playing for nothing as they have already clinched a playoff spot but have a small shot at clinching a bye or home field in the 1st round if the Ravens or Steelers lose. For the Titans to make the playoffs, they also need the Jets to lose to the Dolphins and they will need Oakland to lose to the Chargers.

14-(11) New York Jets (8-7) - After a stinker last week against the Giants, the Jets need to beat the Dolphins which will not be easy and will need the Titans to lose to the Texans.

13-(15) Cincinnati Bengals (9-6) The Bengals control their own destiny after hanging on to beat the Cardinals last week. Bengals still must beat the Ravens who are playing to clinch the North and a 1st round bye, if the Bengals lose however they will still get in if either the Jets or Titans lose.

12-(8) Dallas Cowboys (8-7) - Last weeks loss did not matter either way the Cowboys must beat the Giants next week to make the playoffs win or go home.

11-(13) New York Giants (8-7) - Eli Manning looked extremely good against the Jets last week but win or go home against the Cowboys in Week 17.

10-(9) Denver Broncos (8-7) - Pretty simple concept beat the Chiefs or go home, they own no tiebreakers in the West and if they lose the winner of the Chargers-Raiders game wins the AFC West. Although Eliminated Chiefs will bring it! Tim Tebow can't absolutely suck as he did against the Buffalo Bills last week.

9-(12) Detroit Lions (10-5) - The Lions clinched their first playoff birth since 1999 after crushing the Chargers last week and will not be fighting for much this week against the Packers 2nd team because they will not know who they are playing in the first round until the results of the Saints and 49ers game is in, but they will most likely play to win because the Lions hate the Packers and a win gives them a better chance to meet up with Giants or Cowboys in the 1st round.

8-(10) Houston Texans (10-5) - Texans did win the AFC South and still have a shot at a first round bye if both the Ravens and Steelers somehow lose, but the Texans must beat the Titans who are fighting for a playoff spot and looked disgraceful offensively losing to the Colts last week. One and Done!

7-(6) Atlanta Falcons (9-6) - Falcons are in the playoffs and will most likely try to beat the Bucs to secure a 1st round game against an easy team, but may not try too much as a Lions win is expected against the Packers who are playing for absolutely nothing in week 17.

6-(7) S.F. 49ers (12-3) - The 49ers will bring it against the Rams next week but don't overestimate this game, division games are always upset bound. 49ers must win for a first round bye in the playoffs.

5-(4) New England Patriots (12-3) - The Patriots will be playing to win against the Bills next week because if they lose and the Steelers clinch the AFC north, the Pats will not have the #1 seed and with their awful defense home field is vital throughout the playoffs.

4-(5) Baltimore Ravens (11-4) - Flacco continues to look bad and the Ravens must beat a playoff hungry Bengals to clinch the AFC North and a bye week in the playoffs unless the Steelers somehow lose to the Browns next week. With the AFC as weak as it is, the Ravens do have a chance to head to the Super Bowl however.

3-(3) Pittsburgh Steelers (11-4) - If Steelers beat the Browns and the Ravens lose to the Bengals, The Steelers clinch home field advantage and a bye week in the playoffs, this scenario is very possible as Bengals are playing for playoff birth and the Browns suck. Big Ben should be back next week so expect the overall best team in the AFC in my unbiased opinion to play to win!

2-(2) New Orleans Saints (12-3) - Really starting to make the case to be ranked number 1 after they man-handeled the Falcons on Monday Night Football. Congratulations to Drew Brees for breaking the all time regular season passing yards record. The Saints will be playing for a win next week against a tough Panthers offense as they need the win to contend with the 49ers for a 1st round bye week in the playoffs and home field advantage in the NFC against everyone but the Packers.

1-(1) Green Bay Packers (14-1) - They put a beating to the Bears on Sunday Night Football this week so they are playing for nothing and could bench all their starters if they choose, starting any Packer on your fantasy team this week for the ridiculously stupid fantasy leagues that have week 17 championships is risky. They may have the starters out for the first half because they would love to upset the Lions but will most likely bench most starters to play it safe. Packers are still my favorite for the Super Bowl. Mike McCarthy could be the next Vince Lombardi....If you say the last sentence of this paragraph, it rhymes!

Also tune into a vitally important edition of the Sports Blast this Thursday as we break down all playoff scenarios and pick what we think is going to happen!

Lastly Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from everyone at the Massachusetts Sports and Entertainment Network. Playoff Power Rankings will be posted after Week 17....Enjoy the Final Weeks of NFL This Season :/

Here are the Tom Nappi Week 16 NFL Power Rankings, (#) - Last Week

Teams still alive for Playoffs (NFC) - Dallas, New York Giants, Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Arizona....(We could actually have multiple teams in NFC west finish above .500

Teams In Playoffs (NFC) - Green Bay, New Orleans, San Francisco

Teams still alive for Playoffs (AFC) - Jets, Bengals, Titans, Oakland, Chargers, Kansas City, Denver

Teams In Playoffs (AFC) - New England, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Houston

32-(32) Indianapolis Colts (1-13) - Got a win against the Titans this week, but still awful. Seems like they wanted to win 1 to avoid embarrassment, I would be shocked if they do not lose out on purpose. #Pathetic

31-(31) St. Louis Rams (2-12) - What happened to Sam Bradford...falls from first to worst!

30-(30) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-10) - Another great rookie QB last year...terrible this year.

29-(26) Buffalo Bills (5-9) - Bills have fallen to the pathetic stage losing their 7th game in a row.

28-(29) Cleveland Browns (4-10) - Peyton Hillis is back and was heavily affective....but too little too late. #SeeyounextyearHillis

27-(23) Jacksonville Jaguars (4-10) - The Jags fall back to pathetic, getting slapped by the Falcons last Thursday.

26-(28) Minnesota Vikings (2-12) - Awful beating by the Saints but I do like Christian Ponder for the future.

25-(25) Miami Dolphins (5-9) - Look out for the Dolphins next year, they have won 5 of their last 7 and should be good next year.

24-(24) Washington Redskins (5-9) - Soon as the Skins get a good QB they will be elite, excellent defense, coaching and running game #DitchGrossman

23-(22) Carolina Panthers (5-9) - I had to move them down because they are officially out of the hunt for the playoffs but look out for Cam Newton and the Panthers next year

22-(17) Chicago Bears (7-7) - Jay Cutler breaks the heart of Bears fans everywhere as Hanie has another awful game against the Seahawks, the Bears now have some serious competition for a wild card spot and have no offensive production whatsoever. Tough break with Cutler and Forte going down and losing WR Sam Herd for buying way too many drugs.

21-(16) Oakland Raiders (7-7) - The Raiders lost to their identical twin Detroit Lions today 28-27, both hard hitting, cocky, undisciplined, under achieving teams. Raiders still in the hunt but I will be shocked if they are smart enough to keep themselves from causing stupid penalties to blow games.

20-(21) Philadelphia Eagles (6-8) - The Eagles are thanking the Lord Vick is back, because they now have a very small chance at either a NFC East title shot or even a smaller shot at the wild card. Eagles are finally starting to look like the so-called dream team again and are back in the playoff picture.

19-(14) Tennessee Titans (7-7) - Did the Titans seriously lose to the formally known as winless Colts to just about blow their playoff hopes? #AnyGivenSunday

18-(27) Kansas City Chiefs (6-8) - The Chiefs beat the Packers, they deserve to be moved here, because if they can be the Packers they can beat anyone in the league. I think the Chiefs have found themselves their next coach in Romeo Crennel, they need some help to win the AFC West. Kyle Orton was a huge boost to the Chiefs offense, what the hell took so long to pull Palko out? #ToddHaleyFiring=Good Idea

17-(19) Arizona Cardinals (7-7) - One of the biggest games in Week 16 will be Cardinals-Bengals, both teams in the heat of their playoff races, Arizona is red hot winning their 4th straight and are now in the heat of a NFC Wild Card Spot.

16-(20) Seattle Seahawks (7-7) - Seahawks clobbered the Bears this week and are another team white hot that have worked their way back into the NFC Wild Card Race. Can Pete Carroll actually do it again? Marshawn Lynch is in beast mode at 1000+ rushing on the season #MarshawnLynchisabeast

15-(15) Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) - Bengals control their own destiny, if they win out, they are in the playoffs, if they lose one still may be in, but don't count on it with the Chargers and Broncos in the hunt. Arizona and Baltimore coming up so it will most likely not be easy.

14-(18) San Diego Chargers (7-7) - I hate the Chargers, they suck the entire 1st half of the year, now decide to win some games to get back in the wild card and AFC West Race, Chargers will need to win out and need either the Broncos, Bengals or Jets to lose games to have a shot at playoff contention. Chargers have Lions and Raiders left.

13-(11) New York Giants (7-7) - The Giants fall back to 2nd in the AFC East after somehow managing to lose to the Redskins. Giants continue to be one of the most inconsistent teams in football.

12-(13) Detroit Lions (9-5) - Lions would have to lose both remaining games to miss the playoffs, but with the Chargers and Packers left it may not be the easiest task. Lions beat their AFC twins this week the Oakland Raiders 28-27. Lions must play disciplined football to pull this off.

11-(10) New York Jets (8-6) - Jets got crushed by the Eagles sunday and are now in danger of missing the playoffs, the Jets will probably have to win out to make the playoffs and with the playoff hungry Giants and upset hungry Dolphins left, it is going to be a very hard task especially if Mark Sanchez keeps playing terrible.

10-(5) Houston Texans (10-4) - Texans have clinched the AFC South but I do not think they can handle elite teams in the playoffs without Schaub.

9-(7) Denver Broncos (8-6) - The Patriots revealed all the holes the Broncos defense has and gave a good example of how to shut down Tebow in the 2nd half, if the Broncos are to meet an elite offense the result of today's game will likely be similar. Remember the Broncos were 2-5? Broncos need to beat the Bills and likely Chiefs to make the playoffs....#Tebowmaniaisover

8-(12) Dallas Cowboys (8-6) Sometimes Romo Good, Sometimes Romo Awesome, Sometimes Romo Awful, this week he was great and the Cowboys control the NFC East destiny. Cowboys have must win division games with the Eagles and Giants left.

7-(8) San Francisco 49ers (11-3) - Great win against Steelers on Monday Night Football but I am still not convinced if they meet a high powered offense they will be able to stop them or keep pace, but the 49ers are a huge threat because of their defense in the playoffs.

6-(9) Atlanta Falcons (9-5) - Falcons are more than likely in the playoffs because they play the Bucs on the last week of the season and only need 1 more win and in. Falcons can also compete with the elite of the NFL, big game this week against the Saints.

5-(3) Baltimore Ravens (10-4) - A tough loss to the Chargers on Sunday Night Football as Flacco looked AWFUL in the 34-14 loss. Ravens have clinched a playoff spot but need the Steelers to lose to have a shot at the AFC North. The Ravens offense can be very questionable if Flacco turns the ball over to often.

4-(6) New England Patriots (11-3) - Patriots have clinched the AFC east, defense looks very questionable still, but the Patriots showed they have an affective Pass Rush and can shut down the playoff contenders with their high powered offense. A huge loss to the Patriots in the win against the Broncos this week as DE Andre Carter will be out for the season with a Quad Injury.

3-(4) Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4) - Worse record than the Patriots after losing to the 49ers on Monday Night Football, but their defense is a lot better and their schedule was a lot harder.

2-(2) New Orleans Saints (11-3) - Brees continues to look stupidly good as the Saints crush the Vikings 42-20, look out Packers.

1-(1) Green Bay Packers (13-1) - O.K. O.K. Rodgers finally had a bad day, give the guy a break. This is the Packers first loss in 19 games. The last loss for the Packers before today was in 2010 on Sunday December 19th to the Patriots... I think there is just something about this week with the Packers. The Chiefs defense played well, but don't expect stopping Rodgers to be a habbit.

Upset To Remember (December 18th 2011)
Green Bay Packers - 14 Kansas City Chiefs - 19

Other Games:
TNF Falcons - 41 Jaguars - 14
SNF Cowboys - 31 Bucs - 15
Miami - 30 Bills - 23
Seahawks - 38 Bears - 14
Titans - 13 Colts - 27
Packers - 14 Chiefs - 19
Bengals - 20 Rams - 13
Saints - 42 Vikings - 20
Redskins - 23 Giants - 10
Panthers - 28 Texans - 13
Lions - 28 Raiders - 27
Patriots - 41 Broncos - 23
Jets - 19 Eagles - 45
Browns - 17 Cardinals - 20 O.T.
SNF: Ravens - 14 Chargers - 34
MNF: Steelers @ 49ers

Tags: NFL Power Rankings, NFL

Tom Nappi's
Top 10 most valuable players so far this year, if these players were not around their teams would be lost!

10) Calvin Johnson - WR - Detroit Lions - Calvin is 4th in the NFL in receiving yards and without him the Lions would not be anywhere near a playoff contender, I know the Lions have a good defense but they have no running game with RB Jahvid Best on the I.R. and without Calvin making amazing touchdown catches or taking the top off the defense, they would be lucky to finish 6 and 10 this season.

9) Houston Texans Defense - Matt Schaub went down on November 13th against the Buccaneers and then backup Matt Leinart would go down a couple weeks later with an injury and T.J. Yates who is an average passer at best would take over, but the Texans defense has stepped up even more so and currently are the number one overall defense in the NFL. The Texans are 5-0 since Schaub went down and you can thank the defense for allowing the Texans to clinch the AFC South and keep the Texans as a Super Bowl contender this year. The Texans have only given up an average of 12.8 points to opponents in the last 5 games.

8) London Fletcher - LB - Washington Redskins - Fletcher leads the league with 134 tackles on the season and is one of the main threats in the struggling Redskins potent defense. The Redskins are ranked 10th defensively in the NFL. I also put him in here because defenses do not get enough credit and with awful Rex Grossman as QB its defensive players like London Fletcher that make the differences.

7) Maurice Jones Drew - RB - Jacksonville Jaguars - MJD is pretty much the only offensive threat the Jaguars have had in the last half of the season as Blaine Gabbert has struggled as of late. MJD leads the league in Rushing Yards with 1222 and is tied for 7th in touchdowns with Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice.

6) Wes Welker - WR - New England Patriots - Welker leads the league in receiving yards with 1339 yards and is 11th in touchdowns with 9 in the Patriots potent Brady-Welker-Gronkowski combo offense.

5) Cam Newton - QB - Carolina Panthers - The Panthers are 4 and 9 this year and there is 1 simple reason....Cam Newton who is an effective passer as well as a great rushing QB. Newton is 3rd in the league in touchdowns with 13 and is the only reason besides Steve Smith the depleted Panthers have 4 wins this year. An unbelievable rookie season by Newton.

4) Tom Brady - QB - New England Patriots - Brady is great as usual with a 106.0 passer rating. Brady is 2nd in passing touchdowns with 33 and 2nd in passing yards with 4,273 and although he has thrown 11 interceptions this year, with a defense as bad as the Patriots and only 1 effective receiver and the tight end combo, the Patriots would probably be 8 and 8 if Brady went down this year instead of a Super Bowl contender.

3) Drew Brees - QB - New Orleans Saints - Brees is 3rd in passer rating and besides Rodgers is one of the best at spreading the ball around. The Saints have faced numerous offensive injuries this year but Brees has overcome injuries with no problem. Brees is 1st in passing yards with 4,368 and 3rd in passing touchdowns. Brees also has a 105.9 passer rating this year. Brees is also an expert at helping the Saints keep the ball to keep their questionable defense off the field.

2) Rob Gronkowski - TE - New England Patriots - I am convinced that if it was not for Gronk the Patriots would have 5-8 losses right now, because the opposing defense would have no problem covering Welker or Hernandez, Gronk is a super natural human being that is so big it is nearly impossible to cover him. He is 2nd in the league in Touchdowns behind LeSean McCoy with 16 and has 71 receptions this year, he is a beast and is just about as valuable to the Patriots as Brady.

1) Aaron Rodgers - QB - Green Bay Packers - Is there really any debate about this? He spreads the ball around to his mostly no-name receivers but leads the league with a 123.3 passing rating, compared to the 106.0 passer rating by Brady, Rodgers is on a level of his own! Rodgers is 3rd in yards, 1st in passing touchdowns with 39 and is the primary reason the Packers are undefeated and will probably win the Super Bowl again this year!

Other Considerations:
Peyton Manning - Indianapolis Colts QB - I am sure you understand why looking at the Colts without him. (Sort of a joke....Sort of)

LeSean McCoy - Philadelphia Eagles, RB - 1,172 Rushing yards, 2nd in the league and 1st in touchdowns with 17.

Jarred Allen - Minnesota Vikings - DE - Leads the league in sacks with 17.5.

D'Qwell Jackson - Cleveland Browns - LB - 2nd in tackles with 125.

Kyle Arrington - New England Patriots - CB - tied with Eric Weddle of the Chargers and Charles Woodson of the Packers with 7 interceptions and is the only threat in the Patriots awful secondary.

Michael Turner - Atlanta Falcons - RB - 2nd in rushing yard with 1,068 and has kept the Falcons alive through Matt Ryan's struggles this season.

Ray Rice - Baltimore Ravens - RB - Flacco has been up and down this season but Ray Rice has been on fire and is probably the main reason in the Ravens questionable offense, the Ravens are on top in the AFC North.

Victor Cruz - New York Giants - WR - Injuries have riddled Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham this year and Cruz is one of the main reasons the Giants are on top in the AFC East, coming through as one of Eli's new favorite targets, Victor is 3rd in receiving yards.

Greg Jennings - Green Bay Packers - WR - Rodgers favorite target, tied for 4th in touchdowns with Welker.

Vincent Jackson - S.D. Chargers - WR - Before Jackson came back the Chargers were a mess offensively between Rivers having a questionable season and the Chargers having a struggling running game, since Jackson has come back he has helped the Chargers to playoff contention.

Laurent Robinson - Dallas Cowboys - WR - With injuries riddling Miles Austin and Dez Bryant being ineffective and Tony Romo being Tony Romo, Robinson is the last breath of hope for the Cowboys.

Steelers Defense, 49ers Defense and Ravens Defense - Obviously consider separately but these 3 defenses are the top 3 of the most important defensive statistic, points given up a game and with offensive struggles at points during the season for either of these teams, you need to credit their defenses.

OK FINE Tim Tebow - QB - Denver Broncos too, Broncos are 7 and 1 with the guy and lead the AFC West since the supernatural force known as Tim Tebow took over at QB.

Points A Game Surrendered
1) S.F. 49ers - 14.0
2) Pittsburgh Steelers - 15.2
3) Baltimore Ravens - 15.5
4) Houston Texans - 16.0

Fun Fact: Did you know as bad as the Patriots secondary is, they are ranked 14th behind the Bengals and Jets with an average of only 21.4 ppg given up.

Listen to the Sports Blast at 8pm tonight right here on MSEN Radio as we all break down our NFL MVP's so far this season!

Tags: NFL, Tom Nappi

By: Tom Nappi

Poles taken by ESPN and other major Sports Networks determined that 74% of Americans could not care less if the NBA Lockout ever ended. Since NBA is back, that number has probably increased after the nixing of a by the book trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers, Gasol to Houston, Luis Scola to the Hornets along with Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and a 2012 First Round Draft Pick. This trade was completely fair, agreed by all three GM's and Dave Stern had no reason to nix it. But any how here is the top 10 reasons why the NBA is not well liked.

10) The Players Are Showboats - No one cares more about there music, acting or reality T.V. show careers than NBA players which is why all the big super starts would rather go to L.A., Miami, New York than New Jersey, Boston and New Orleans. Perfect example is Chris Paul wanting to go to the Clippers if he cannot go to the Lakers over a team with a championship shot such as the Celtics or Mavericks.

9) 5 Teams Own The League - Going into an NBA season it is well known that either the Lakers, Heat, Celtics, Mavericks or Spurs.

8) David Stern Nixing Trades for No Reason - This all started with the Paul to Lakers Trade and most recently David West to the Celtics for Jermaine O' Neil was allegedly nixed partly because of Stern. YOU CAN'T MAKE UP RULES AS YOU GO ALONG STERN, MAYBE NEXT TIME YOU CAN ADDRESS AN UNFAIR BALANCE DURING THE LOCKOUT!

7) Players Are Pampered Babies - NBA features the most pampered players ever and the majority of them are spoiled, rotten D bags who could not care less about team loyalty, winning a championship and care 100% money and their Hollywood status. Also why the NBA lockout lasted forever because unlike the NFL and MLB not all owners even make profit and could not give the players below 50-50.

6) Playoff System - A 82 game season and half of the teams make the playoffs and the playoffs last like 2 months, that is a 1/6th of a year...way too long!

5) Tall Guys Dominate - Basketball in general, but especially in the NBA is a league that caters to the tall guys 6'5 plus that can dunk in a cool way. Not a whole lot of hope for the short guys with players like Muggsy Bogues, Allen Iverson and Nate Robinson being an exception.

4) Super Teams - Way too many Super Teams as the Heat, Lakers and pretty soon Knicks, there needs to be a salary cap and Super Teams need to be taken out fairly not just by Stern saying NO to deals that do not go against the rule book. (Not that the NBA uses the Rule Book Anyway)

3) Showoffs - Way too many showoffs in the league who do not distribute the ball and shoot whenever they get it and most of the time miss. Cough Cough "Big Baby" thank god he's gone, will miss his hilarious facial expressions though!

2) NBA May Cheat - Refs betting on games to questionable calls in nearly every game, NBA is one of those leagues you could truly make up the rules.

1) Too many rules with "open interpretation" - Kind of goes a long with the potential cheating thing, but it seems like every little bit of contact is a foul, they need to let them play, College and High School Basketball has far less fouls and is twice as entertaining.

Lastly for all you NBA fans 12 things I Like About the NBA:

1) The Lottery is the best draft system in Sports not allowing teams to tank the season as the Colts have in the NFL.

2) The hot stove and drama makes for awesome talk radio, as a lot of big names get traded just about every season.

3) The late rounds of the playoffs usually features great Basketball.

4) Lebron still has not won a championship.

5) Dirk Nowitzki a great player who is not a showboat and plays to win!

6) The Celtics Leprechaun because I am part Irish

7) Glen Davis's Faces he makes directly into the camera

8) Watching Doc Rivers work his magic, great coach!

9) Something crazy usually happens like a player fighting fans or great player to player trash talk.

10) Shaq's press conferences, yes I know he is retired, I will miss those!

11) Tommy Heinsohn's homer commentary is great, can't wait to hear him yell at refs every Celtics Game.

12) The NBA dancers are usually pretty hot!

Tags: Why people hate the NBA

Here are the Tom Nappi Week 14 NFL Power Rankings, (#) - Last Week
If the Team is not bold there is no shot in hell they will make the playoffs.
Power rankings are in order by teams that have best shot at the Super Bowl!
I will adjust this after Monday Night Football but notice the MNF matchup is pointless as it is between 2 awful teams!

First here is my elimination table! The teams crossed out are done, the teams with the line next to them are on life support!


32-(32) Indianapolis Colts (0-12) - I am now convinced that they are trying to blow the season and get the number 1 draft pick, they did not even look like they tried defensively in this weeks loss to the Patriots...that is despicable and there should be a law against throwing the season!

31-(30) St. Louis Rams (2-10) - This is an example of a team that just simply sucks, at least they suck and can have some dignity COLTS!

30-(31) Minnesota Vikings (2-10) - They got Tim Tebowed in the 4th quarter this week in their last minute 35-32 loss to the Broncos.

29-(28) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-9) - They played the Chargers on Monday Night Football this week, very winnable game but man do they suck, so they lost....btw sorry to hear about the firing of Jack Del Rio last week.

28-(23) Washington Redskins (4-8) - A team that has no shot at the playoffs but can upset teams on life support!

27-(22) Philadelphia Eagles (4-8) - HAHAHAHA The So-called "DREAM TEAM" is pathetic....I do feel bad Andy Reid will probably lose his job.

26-(27) Cleveland Browns (4-8) - As you have heard before Cleveland fans....there is always next year!

25-(21) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-8) - Tough loss to Carolina....Josh Freeman may be out for the season.

24-(29) Carolina Panthers (4-8) - No Playoffs this year but Carolina has a very bright future with Cam Newton as QB....Panthers fans get excited!

23-(18) Buffalo Bills (5-7) - 5 Losses in a row, perhaps Buffalo should have waited after the season to give Fitzpatrick a new deal. 68.8 Qb Rating in the Past 5 games, but hey the Bills defense has been horrible too giving up an average of 31.4 points in the past 5 games.

22-(24) Miami Dolphins (4-8) - Yes I ranked the Dolphins higher than the Bills because they are playing some awesome football as they have won 4 of their last 5! The Dolphins have also only allowed an average of 10.8 points defensively in their past 5 games.

21-(26) Arizona Cardinals (5-7) - A very impressive win over the Cowboys to keep there extremely small wild card hopes alive.....It won't happen.

20-(25) Seattle Seahawks (5-7) - A great win on Thursday Night Football to officially just about eliminate Philly from playoff hopes. Marshawn Lynch looks great! The Seahawks have quietly won 3 of their last 4!

19-(20) S.D. Chargers (5-7) -Even with a 6 game losing streak they are still in the race to win the very weak AFC West.

18-(19) Kansas City Chiefs (5-7) - Releasing Kyle Orton could come back to bite the Broncos, they have the Packers, Jets, Raiders and Broncos to finish out the season...Not a chance.

17-(16) Chicago Bears (7-5) - The Bears are so screwed without Cutler and now may be without Matt Forte who suffered a partially torn MCL in the Bears loss to the Chiefs.

16-(9) Oakland Raiders (7-5) - Probably the most undisciplined team in the NFL. They lost a must win game Sunday to the Dolphins, closing out the season they have Green Bay, Detroit, Kansas City and San Diego...OUCH!

15-(13) Cincinnati Bengals (7-5) - They have gone 7 and 5 in a schedule of fluff, I do not trust this young group of players to beat elite teams, but in the future they will! The Bengals have the Texans, Rams, Cardinals and Ravens to finish out the season, should be able to win three of those to skid in, but will be eliminated 1st round.

14-(11) New York Giants (6-6) - The Giants had a close game with the Packers this Sunday and looked great offensively but they have the Cowboys twice, Redskins and Jets to finish out the season. Dear Giants please knock out the damn Jets for good!

13-(12) New York Jets (7-5) - Jets control there own destiny but they have K.C., Philly, Giants and Dolphins in the foot race to a wild card spot.

12-(17) Tennessee Titans (7-5) - Arguably have the easiest road to a wild card spot besides playing the Saints next week they have Colts, Jaguars and Houston left, the Titans should win the last 3. Chris Johnson is finally starting to come through!

11-(7) Dallas Cowboys (7-5) - Dallas really does determine if they clinch the NFC east or not as they have the Giants twice, Eagles once and the Bucs coming up....win or go home! (BTW how the hell do you lose to the Cardinals? Tony "Choke" Romo")

10-(14) Detroit Lions (7-5) - I rank them here because they have the Vikings, Raiders and Chargers in the next 3 games, those should be 3 games the Lions are able to win and grab a wild card spot.

9-(8) Atlanta Falcons (7-5) Easiest road to a wild card in the NFC: Carolina, Jacksonville, New Orleans and Tampa Bay coming up, New Orleans also may already clinch by week 16 so playoff hopes are in their own hands.

8-(15) Houston Texans (9-3) Andre Johnson went down again but the Texans still managed to beat the Falcons without Schaub....I have to give them credit, they are 2 games up in the South and should be able to win the division with Bengals, Carolina, Indy and Titans coming up, they may even be able to win out and grab a bye week and I love their defense!

7-(10) Denver Broncos (7-5) - Screw the analysts that say Tebow can't be a QB in this league he is 6-1 this year and he keeps winning and he scares the hell out of me! The Broncos are on top of the West with 4 winnable games left against the Bears, Patriots, Bills and Chiefs. The Broncos defense has been playing fantastic giving up an average of 20.2 ppg in their last 5 games which were all wins!

6-(5) New England Patriots (9-3) - They won this week 31-24 against the Colts, but they almost let them back in the freaking game, they were up 31-3 in the 4th quarter and gave up 21 points to DAN ORLOVSKY...the defense is just way too shaky for my liking.

5-(6) S.F. 49ers (10-2) - Already in the playoffs winning the NFC west, now fighting for a bye week, will be pretty tough considering they have the hungry Cardinals, the dominating Steelers, the upset bound Seahawks and the upset bound Rams coming up.

4- (4) Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) - Must win out to try to get the bye week and win the North with the Ravens on top, fairly easy schedule with the Browns coming up twice, 49ers and Rams coming up.

3-(3) Baltimore Ravens (9-3) - If they are truly elite they will win out and clinch the AFC North and the bye, they have Indy, Chargers, Browns and Bengals left.

2-(2) New Orleans Saints (9-3) - Drew Brees is unstoppable. Titans, Vikings, Falcons, Carolina coming up, so the Saints are in great shape for the NFC South and a Bye Week. Prediction: Packers and Saints in NFC championship, Packers win 55-48.

1-(1) Green Bay Packers (12-0) - The Packers are going to run the table, they have Raiders, Chiefs, Bears and Lions left to beat and will...This could be one of the best NFL teams ever!

ALL SUPER BOWL GAMES WILL BE PLAYED SATURDAY DECEMBER 3rd!!!

East Division 1 Super Bowl:
FInal: B.C. High - 21 VS Needham - 7
6PM Gillette Stadium
(Prediction B.C. High Wins 30-12)
(Tom Nappi Prediction Record: 1-0)

Deontae Ramey-Doe has 3 touchdown runs including a 91 yard t.d. run in the 2nd quarter to help B.C. High to the East Division 1 Super Bowl title over Needham.

East Division 1A Super Bowl:
Final: Everett - 36 VS Lincoln-Sudbury - 12
(Prediction Everett Wins 28-16)
(Tom Nappi Prediction Record: 2-0)

The all time Touch Down passing leader in Massachusetts High School Football Jonathan Dibiaso finishes his high school career with 103 touchdown passes and a Division 1A Super Bowl title as Everett runs over Lincoln-Sudbury 36-12.

East Division 2 Super Bowl:
Final: Duxbury - 35 VS Tewksbury - 0
(Prediction Tewksbury Wins 20-16)
(Tom Nappi Prediction Record: 2-1)

Duxbury grabs 3 interceptions and finishes the season perfect 13-0, to claim the East Division 2 title.

East Division 2A Super Bowl:
Final: Dennis-Yarmouth - 35 VS Wakefield - 0
(Prediction Dennis-Yarmouth Wins 32-13)
(Tom Nappi Prediction Record: 3-1)

Dennis-Yarmouth completely shuts down Wakefield to capture the division 2A title in the East. Dennis-Yarmouth finishes the season at a perfect 13-0.

East Division 3 Super Bowl:
Final: Concord-Carlisle - 42 VS Oliver Ames - 9
9am Gillette Stadium
(Prediction Concord-Carlisle wins 30-25)
(Tom Nappi Prediction Record: 4-1)

George Crann had 3 Touchdowns, 18 carries for 122 yards for the Patriots of Concord-Carlisle as they capture the East Division 3 Super Bowl title!!!

East Division 3A Super Bowl:
Final: Bourne - 16 VS Hamilton-Wenham - 14
(Prediction Bourne Wins 20-12)
(Tom Nappi Prediction Record: 5-1)

Jason Moriarty passes a 10 yard touchdown to Nick Pereira in the 3rd quarter to give Bourne the 3-A Super Bowl Victory!

East Division 4 Super Bowl:
Final: Cardinal-Spellman - 8 VS Mashpee - 34
(Prediction Cardinal-Spellman Wins 32-28)
(Prediction Record 5-2)

Mashpee finishes the season perfect as they keep Cardinal-Spellman from Super Bowl title repeat hopes shutting them down 34-8.

East Division 4A Super Bowl:
Final: Blue Hills - 16 VS Cathedral - 14
(Prediction Blue Hills Wins 23-18)
(Prediction Record 6-2)

Matt Owens had a 44 yard touchdown pass to Carlos Bermudez in the Blue Hills 16-14 victory over Cathedral to capture the East Division 4A title.

MIAA Central Division 1 action

Central Mass Division 1 Super Bowl:
Final Leominster - 21 VS St.Johns-Shrewsbury - 6
Gillette Stadium 11:00am
(Prediction St.Johns-Shrewsbury Wins 37-30)
(Prediction Record 6-3)

Leominster had 204 yards passing and 100+ on the ground, The Blue Devils defense produced 3 turnovers to take down the St. Johns Pioneers and capture the Central Mass Division 1 Super Bowl title.

Central Mass Division 2 Super Bowl:
Final: Holy Name - 0 VS Nashoba - 27
2pm Fitchburg State
(Prediction Nashoba Wins 31-30)
(Prediction Record 7-3)

The Nashoba Chieftans defense shuts out Holy Name to capture the Central Mass Division 2 Super Bowl Title.

Central Mass Division 3 Super Bowl:
Final: Auburn - 7 VS Hudson - 0
3pm Worcester State
(Prediction Auburn Wins 23-21)
(Prediction Record 8-3)

Auburn had the lone touchdown in the 4th quarter Fred Taylor hauled in a 31 yard touchdown reception from Drew Goodrich to capture the Central Mass Division 3 Super Bowl for the Rockets.

Central Mass Division 4 Super Bowl:
Final: Northbridge - 20 VS Southbridge - 7
12:30pm Worcester State
(Prediction Northbridge Wins 19-16)
(Prediction Record 9-3)

Matt Phelan had a 21 yard touchdown runs as Northbridge takes down rivals Southbridge to capture the Central Division 4 Super Bowl title.

Central Mass Division 5 Super Bowl:
Final: Clinton - 14 VS Leicester - 20
10am Worcester State
(Prediction Leicester Wins 35-26)
(Prediction Record 10-3)

Tyler Goodney ran for a 46-yard touchdown with 3:07 left to lift Leicester to a 20-14 win over Clinton in the Central Mass Division 5 Super Bowl!

Central Mass Division 6 Super Bowl:
Final: Assabet - 34 VS Bay Path - 38
11am Fitchburg State
(Prediction Bay Path Wins 20-19)
(Prediction Record: 11-3)

SR. QB Kyle Pearson threw 4 Touch Down Passes, WR Anthony Baez had two touchdown receptions in the Bay Path Central Mass Division 6 Super Bowl Victory!

East Division 5 Super Bowl:
Final: Nantucket - 35 Latin Academy - 7

Western Massachusetts Super Bowls This Saturday Feature
Division 1 Final:
Longmeadow - 35 Springfield Central High School - 7

Long Meadow wins 11th Super Bowl in 15 straight appearances!

Division 2 Final: Commerce-6 Putnam High School- 48

Rishawn Harris had 3 touchdown receptions for Putnam to take down Commerce H.S. in the Western Mass Division 2 Super Bowl

Division 3 Final: Lee High School - 0 Mount Greylock - 16
Mount Greylock wins 2nd straight Super Bowl Title!

Division 4 Final: McCann Tech - 8 Pioneer Valley Regional - 14

Tags: Miaa Playoffs, High School Football Playoffs

ALL SUPER BOWL GAMES WILL BE PLAYED SATURDAY DECEMBER 3rd!!!

East Division 1 Super Bowl: B.C. High VS Needham
6PM Gillette Stadium
(Prediction B.C. High Wins 30-12)

MIAA East Division 1 Semifinals. B.C. High knocked out Chelmsford as the typically used B.C. High running game turns to there defense and passing game in the 34-13 victory over Chelmsford, 6 turnovers produced by the B.C. high Defense B.C. high will play in the 6pm game at Gillette Stadium this Saturday against Needham who knocked out New Bedford 42-14. The Needham Rockets Q.B. Ryan Charter threw 2 touchdown passes to help wipe the New Bedford Whalers off the field and punch a ticket to the Super Bowl.

East Division 1A Super Bowl: Everett VS Lincoln-Sudbury
(Prediction Everett Wins 28-16)

The East Division 1A Super Bowl will feature the number 1 ranked team in the State Everett Against Lincoln-Sudbury
Everett completely shut down Lynn English 46-0, The all time touchdown passing leader in the state Jonathan Dibiasso threw 2 touchdown passes to tromp all over Lynn English and they advance to play Lincoln-Sudbury in the Super Bowl as Lincoln-Sudbury held on to get the victory over Barnstable 14-13. Matt Cahill thew 2 touchdown passes to Jack Harris in the 4th quarter to secure a date in the Division 1A super bowl against Everett.

East Division 2 Super Bowl: Duxbury VS Tewksbury
(Prediction Tewksbury Wins 20-16)

MIAA East Divison 2 Super Bowl at Gillette will feature Duxbury as they knocked off King Phillip 7-0 and Tewksbury who took down Reading 21-6. 2 Touchdowns produced by QB Chris Bettano, 1 passing, 1 rushing in the Tewksbury victory over reading.

East Division 2A Super Bowl: Dennis-Yarmouth VS Wakefield
(Prediction Dennis-Yarmouth Wins 32-13)

MIAA East Division 2A Super Bowl will Feature Dennis-Yarmouth who took down Walpole 46-20 and Wakefield who beat Marblehead by a single extra point 7-6. The lone touchdown by Wakefield came with 1:52 left in the 4th quarter as a 1 yard run by Josh Puccio and probably the most important extra point of Brian Auld's life sends the Wakefield Warriors to the East Division 2A Superbowl to take on Dennis-Yarmouth.

East Division 3 Super Bowl: Concord-Carlisle VS Oliver Ames
9am Gillette Stadium
(Prediction Concord-Carlisle wins 30-25)

MIAA East Division 3 Super Bowl 9am Saturday December 3rd at Gillette is Concord-Carlisle and Oliver Ames. Concord Carlisle took down a powerful Holliston squad who was in their 4th straight playoff season but 4 touchdown runs by one of the most elite running backs in the state George Craan kept Holliston from heading back to Gillette for a 2nd straight year, 32-27 was the final score as the Patriots of Concord Carlisle advance to play Oliver Ames who shut down Pembroke 20-12.

East Division 3A Super Bowl: Bourne VS Hamilton-Wenham
(Prediction Bourne Wins 20-12)

Division 3-A Super Bowl in the East will feature Bourne who took down Bishop Feehan 20-14, Joe Epps with a pair of rushing touchdowns, Bourne has a date with Hamilton-Wenham Saturday who shut out Newburyport 7-0 to punch there ticket this years 3-A Superbowl. Trevor Lyons scored the only touchdown of the game for Hamilton-Wenham.

East Division 4 Super Bowl: Cardinal-Spellman VS Mashpee
(Prediction Cardinal-Spellman Wins 32-28)

Divison 4 East Super Bowl will feature Cardinal Spellman who is back for a 2nd straight year after they took down Shawsheen 31-7, Cardinal Spellman looks to win their 2nd straight championship. QB Pat Hinkley had 3 touchdowns but left later in the game with an injured shoulder, Cardinal Spellman hopes to have Hinkley back for Saturdays meeting with Mashpee who took down Millis-Hopedale 30-12. Jordan Keli'inui rushed for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Falcons of Mashpee to give them an opportunity to ruin Cardinal Spellman's hopes of a championship repeat in Division 4.

East Division 4A Super Bowl: Blue Hills VS Cathedral
(Prediction Blue Hills Wins 23-18)

In Division 4A The Hills are blue in Boston as Blue Hills takes down East Boston to advance 25-22, Blue Hills meet up with Cathedral who held on to beat Chelsea 12-10. Carlos Bermudez single handedly saved the Cathedral Panthers season running back a kickoff 70 yards with no time left on the clock to give Cathedral the win.

MIAA Central Division 1 action

Central Mass Division 1 Super Bowl: Leominster VS St.Johns-Shrewsbury
Gillette Stadium 11:00am
(Prediction St.Johns-Shrewsbury Wins 37-30)

Leominster has a date with St. Johns-Shrewsbury after taking down division rival Fitchburg in a teeth grinder 26-25, Leominster scored all 26 points in the 1st half, while Fitchburg added 12 in the 4th quarter. The thing that really hurts for Fitchburg is they lost because of a missed Extra Point. Leominster tests their luck next week once again as they head to Gillette at 11am to play a potent St. Johns offense who doused Shrewsbury in touchdowns in their 55-30 victory. QB Connor Kurtz threw for 231 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Pioneers of St-Johns-Shrewsbury.

Central Mass Division 2 Super Bowl: Holy Name VS Nashoba
2pm Fitchburg State
(Prediction Nashoba Wins 31-30)

MIAA Central Division 2 action Holy Name all over Gardner 34-7, Quinton Wright had 2 touchdown runs and a 82 yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter to help the Naps advance to play Nashoba Regional who took down Shepard Hill 35-14. Junior Running Back John Ojukwu rushed for 3 touchdowns for the Nashoba Chieftans to secure a 2pm date at Fitchburg State with Holy Name.

Central Mass Division 3 Super Bowl: Auburn VS Hudson
3pm Worcester State
(Prediction Auburn Wins 23-21)

MIAA Central Division 3 action Auburn held Groton-Dunstable to just 149 yards of offense in there 35-7 victory. The Auburn Rockets advance to play Hudson in the division 3 Super Bowl as they took down Oakmont 36-12, 5 different players scored touchdowns for Hudson. Auburn and Hudson meet Saturday 3pm, at Worcester State.

Central Mass Division 4 Super Bowl: Northbridge VS Southbridge
12:30pm Worcester State
(Prediction Northbridge Wins 19-16)

MIAA Central division 4 action Northbridge held on by a hair to take down Nipmuc 14-12, a missed extra point and a failed 2 point conversion was the difference in this game as Northbridge advances to play Southbridge after they hung on by a tic-tac to beat Grafton 21-20, but the amazing thing about the Southbridge-Grafton game, this matchup was so close that they played 4 overtimes, high school overtimes are college style in which each team starts at the 20 and gets a chance to score. Bart Chenevert had 2 touchdown runs for Southbridge in O.T. play to secure a date with Northbridge 12:30pm at worcester State.

Central Mass Division 5 Super Bowl: Clinton VS Leicester
10am Worcester State
(Prediction Leicester Wins 35-26)

MIAA Central Division 5 Clinton took out Narragansett High beating them down 30-8. Running Back Luis Feliz had 3 touchdown runs as he racked up 135 yards to lead Clinton in perhaps the biggest upset of the night as 5-6 Clinton took down 11-0 Narragansett High. Clinton plays 10am at Worcester State against Leicester who took down Bartlett 42-14, J.R. Keem Minton rushed 17 times, 239 yards and had a touchdown as Leicester decimated Bartlett who beat them during the season.

Central Mass Division 6 Super Bowl: Assabet VS Bay Path
11am Fitchburg State
(Prediction Bay Path Wins 20-19)

Last but not least MIAA Central Division 6 action featured Assabet taking down Littleton 22-18 and Bay Path shutting out Blackstone Valley 16-0. Assabet and Bay Path meet 11am Saturday on the fields of Fitchburg State.

Western Massachusetts Super Bowls This Saturday Feature
Division 1 Longmeadow takes on Springfield Central High School
Division 2 Commerce takes on Putnam High School
Division 3 Lee High School takes on Mt. Greylock
Division 4 McCann Tech takes on Pioneer Valley Regional

Tags: Massachusetts High School Football

Here are the Week 13 from Tom Nappi Power Rankings, (#) - Last Week
If the Team is in Bold they are serious contenders in the playoff hunt, by the way you will notice only 5 teams mathematically out of it....WOW!
Power rankings are in order by teams that have best shot at the Super Bowl!

32-(32) Indianapolis Colts (0-11) - 0-16 here we come. Quickest from first to worst ever!!!

31-(31) Minnesota Vikings (2-9) - Christian Ponder ehhhh.....Awful

30-(30) St. Louis Rams (2-9) - Lost all creditability this week with a loss to the Cardinals

29-(29) Carolina Panthers (3-8) - They Beat the Colts....If they did not they would be ranked 32 this week.

28-(28) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-8) - Jack Del Rio Fired....Well Deserved!

27-(22) Cleveland Browns (4-7) - Peyton Hillis came back and they still lost!

26-(27) Arizona Cardinals (4-7) - If only the 49ers sucked like last year, they would be in the race

25-(24) Seattle Seahawks (4-7) - Bag of Suck that may sometimes upset good teams

24-(25) Miami Dolphins (3-8) - Almost beat the Cowboys on thanksgiving...but lost so see ya next year!

23-(26) Washington Redskins (4-7) - Is John Beck the starter?

22-(16) Philadelphia Eagles (4-7) - They must run the table for a wild card spot but I just don't see it.

21- (23) Tampa Bay Bucs (4-7) - The Bucs can't buy a win right now!

20- (18) S.D. Chargers (4-7) - 6 Losses in a row...wow does Norv Turner suck, there is no way they weasel there way into the playoffs this year!

19-(21) K.C. Chiefs (4-7) - Tim Tebow and the Oakland Raiders are in your division....bye!!

18-(20) Buffalo Bills (5-6) - You can thank Stevie Johnson for most likely costing you the season with his choke!

17-(17) Tennessee Titans (6-5) - Very much in the race with the Texans for the SOuth since Schaub went down.

16-(11) Chicago Bears (7-4) - May skid into a wild card seed but no Jay Cutler kills you!

15-(15) Houston Texans (7-4) - A win over the Jags does not convince me Leinhart can play, but a decent shot at the South title...they control their own destiny.

14-(8) Detroit Lions (7-4) - Maybe its just Donkey Kong stomp on you Suh but they seem to be falling apart a little and have no shot at the division and have another date with the Packers.

13-(19) Cincinnati Bengals (7-4) - Most likely must beat Baltimore or Pittsburgh at least once to claim a wild card spot. Andy Dalton is great!!! Bengals will be good for years to come!

12-(14) N.Y. Jets (6-5) - Barely skidded by the Bills and have no shot at the division with the Patriots J.V. High school schedule, but still have a slim shot at a wild card spot.

11-(9) New York Giants (6-5) - They have looked awful since beating the Patriots....What a lopsided season by the G-Men so far.

10-(13) Denver Broncos (6-5) - Tim Tebow stares the crap out of me, How the hell does he keep winning? Tebow can't throw but I am now convinced Jesus is on his side. I will move these guys into the top 5 if they beat the Pats in a couple weeks.

9-(12) Oakland Raiders (7-4) - I am expecting the Raiders to close out the west, but if not Tebow will be scary in the playoffs.

8-(10) Atlanta Falcons (7-4) - Looking better and better each week...without a doubt in my mind they will be an NFC wild card spot.

7-(7) Dallas Cowboys (7-4) - Should win the NFC east, but no way they get through the NFC playoffs. Tony Romo = Choke against good teams

6-(2) S.F. 49ers (9-2) - Thursday nights loss to Baltimore proved they do not seem to be able to keep up with the elite, but still a great shot at the NFC championship with there championship defense.

5-(4) New England Patriots (8-3) - I need to see their defense slow down a powerful offense to be able to give better judgement, Brady is playing great obviously but is stopping Tyler Palko and Vince Young enough reason to believe they can win the big one. However the road to the AFC championship with their tomato soup can schedule could be very easy.

4-(3) Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3) - Ravens control the destiny of the AFC North and the Steelers offense is sometimes sketchy such as almost losing to the Chiefs but there defense is magnificent.

3-(6) Baltimore Ravens (8-3) - The lacking Ravens offense raises question to if they can keep up with a high powered offense but there defense is arguably the best in the league.

2-(5) New Orleans Saints (8-3) - After crushing the Giants and witnessing the Saints extremely high powered offense, I hope they play the Packers in the playoffs I will bet $3000000000000000 on the over, at times they are unstoppable and the defense seems to be playing much bettwe.

1-(1) Green Bay Packers (11-0) - I think they will run the table and win this years Super Bowl!

Tags: Week 13 NFL Power Rankings, NFL

Here are the Week 12 from Tom Nappi Power Rankings, (#) - Last Week
If the Team is in Bold they are still mathematically in the playoff hunt, by the way you will notice only 4 teams out of it....WOW!
Power rankings are in order by teams that have best shot at the Super Bowl!

32-(32) Indianapolis Colts (0-10) - Peyton Manning may play this season.....but no point

31-(31) Minnesota Vikings (2-8) - Christian Ponder will be better as time goes on.

30-(25) St. Louis Rams (2-8) - Lloyd is a huge improvement, but still can't win.

29-(30) Carolina Panthers (2-8) - The Carolina Cam Newton's have a chance to beat you but probably won't if your team has any kind of offense.

28-(27) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7) - Hanging on for dear life, most likely out. A pretty good season for Blaine Gabbert

27-(23) Arizona Cardinals (3-7) - Out of the division race, but an extremely slim wild card chance, a team with good pieces on offense but could never put it together.

26-(28) Washington Redskins (3-7) - Hanging on for dear life in the East, but playing awful. Rex Grossman got benched last week, Skins never seize to fall apart.

25-(26) Miami Dolphins (3-7) - No way in hell they win the division, but if they run the table they could open up a wild card spot. Dolphins have won 3 straight and Reggie Bush looks great.

24-(24) Seattle Seahawks (4-6) - Have won 2 straight, 49ers own the west, but if they somehow manage to run the table they could slide in to the playoffs, they should have a win this week against the Redskins.

23-(19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6) - 4 Losses in a row in the south with the Falcons and Saints, must run table for any hope what so ever...don't count on it.

22-(29) Cleveland Browns (4-6) - Potential for some upsets, no shot at playoffs but mathematically still in.

21-(21) Kansas City Chiefs (4-6) - In the AFC west but Matt Cassel is done for the season and so are the Chiefs.

20-(20) Buffalo Bills (5-5) - Very much alive but went from good to garbage in a span of 3 weeks.

19-(15) Cincinnati Bengals (6-4) - Andy Dalton is going to be fantastic in the future, but they still meet the Steelers and Ravens and there schedule is brutal....Get Em' Next Year!

18-(18) S.D. Chargers (4-6) - Very much alive in the new NFC West a.k.a. the AFC West, but 5 losses in a row, please don't tell me they could actually slip in after that!

17-(16) Tennessee Titans (5-5) - With Matt Schaub down, the Titans have a real chance to win the A.F.C. South with a reasonable schedule coming up and Matt Hasselbeck playing well.

16-(22) Philadelphia Eagles (4-6) - Vince Young and good defensive play may have resurrected the Eagles, the win over the Giants was HUGE, but the G-men played awful!

15-(14) Houston Texans (7-3) - Would be ranked a lot higher but Matt Schaub is gone and Matt Leinart is not really a great QB to rely on....Call Favre up!

14-(10) New York Jets (5-5) - Obviously a lot of talent, but they got T-Bowed last week and upcoming schedule is not too easy.

13-(17) Denver Broncos (5-5) - A real shot to win the West, only a game out and Tebow scares me, he can't throw too good but somehow wins games and proved he can beat good teams, plus the defense has played superb!

12-(13) Oakland Raiders (6-4) - Looking very good lately and may be a candidate for a playoff upset special if they manage to win the West over the Denver Tebows.

11-(6) Chicago Bears (7-3) - No Jay Cutler for the rest of the season really hurts, but the Bears no how to win using defense and a QB that can manage the game, QB Caleb Hanie does have big game experience and showed last year in the NFC championship he could put up some points, The Bears are also rumored to have brought back the recently waived QB Kyle Orton.

10-(11) Atlanta Falcons (6-4) - Have lost both games to the Saints this year, but always a threat with their strong running game and defense.

9-(8) New York Giants (6-4) - The Cowboys are getting red hot and the Giants are getting ice cold with 2 straight losses.

8-(12) Detroit Lions (7-3) - Tough Schedule coming up as they meet the Packers twice, thanksgiving will determine everything!!!

7-(9) Dallas Cowboys (6-4) - Tony Romo starting to look sharp, 3 straight wins heading into a thanksgiving battle with the Dolphins, Cowboys looking to be a huge threat after an awful start.

6-(7) Baltimore Ravens (7-3) - They are very unpredictable, one week they lost to the Seahawks, then the next week they beat the Steelers....I just don't know anymore.

5-(3) New Orleans Saints (7-3) - Looking very good but defense gives up a lot of points, but with Brees the Saints are always in Super Bowl contention.

4-(5) New England Patriots (7-3) - They have a pee-wee football schedule coming up that can lead them right to a bye week in the playoffs. Be careful or you might get GRONKED!

3-(2) Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3) - The only consistent team in the AFC, but certainly NOT a dominate force that can't be beaten, if they meet the Ravens in the playoffs look out!

2-(4) S.F. 49ers (9-1) - 8 Wins in a row, I have to rank them here, a monster of a game thanksgiving night against the Ravens that could chance everything but it is guaranteed the 49ers will win the NFC West unless they get hit by an asteroid.

1-(1) Green Bay Packers - Will they ever be beaten!!!! Close call with the Bucs last week but the key word is close, one of the most dominate teams I have ever seen! Between this season, last season and 2010 post season, the Packers have won 16 games in a row.

STAY TUNED TO THESE RANKINGS AFTER THANKSGIVING FOOTBALL AS THEY WILL CHANGE....PERHAPS DRASTICALLY

Tags: Week 12 NFL Power Rankings, NFL

It has been an amazing high school 2011 fall sports season in Massachusetts. Some of the biggest honors this year go out to the The Georgetown Girls soccer team who through 3 playoff games did not allow a goal responded to St. Mary's goal with 5 unanswered scores to capture the division 3 north girls title.



The Hopedale Blue Raiders girls soccer team earned there first state to the division 3 state final since 2005 after a 2-0 victory over undefeated Lenox, but Dover-Sherborn walked away with the division 3 state championship after routing Hopedale 2-1 on Friday November 18th 2011.


On Saturday November 19th 2011, Auburn took down Canton 1-0 to clinch the DIvision 2 Girls Soccer Title, The Rockets finished the season undefeated. The title was the first state title for the Auburn Girls.


on Friday November 18th The Ludlow Boys Soccer team clinched the division 1 state championship taking down Masconomet with a score of 2-1, and Sutton took down Georgetown 3-1 to clinch the Division 3 state title.

Also on Friday November 18th The Peabody girls soccer team took down East Longmeadow 1-0 Friday November 18th to win the division 1 girls state title.

The Groton-Dunstable boys soccer squad took down Concord-Carlisle 2-0 to capture the division 2 state title on Saturday November 19th.


Girls Volleyball rapped up on Saturday November 19th 2011 Barnstable took down Central Catholic for the Division 1 title, The Marlborough Panthers took down Melrose for the division 2 title and Frontier took down case for the Division 3 state title in girls volleyball.


Honorable Mentions go out to Andrea O' Brien of the Peabody girls soccer team as she closed out her season with 34 goals making her the highest scorer in Massachusetts for the 2011 season.

Masconomet J.R. Charlie May won his first individual division 2 state title in high school golf this sports season.

The Hudson Hawks won the Mid-wachusett B Golf Championship.

Randolph goaltender Emily Wilson had 10 straight shout outs as goalie to help the Randolph Field hockey team to their first state tournament. Oh and even more impressive Goalkeeper Emily Wilson was a backup goalie who filled in for starter Olivia Biles.

A big congrats this year to Everett Graduate Matt Costello won were one of the winners for the 2011 National Football Foundation High School-Scholar athlete awards.

The Auburn High School Foootball team won a 41 game winning streak into this season before losing to Shepard Hill Regional High School on Friday October 7th, but one of the biggest winning streaks ever in Massachusetts High School history by Auburn High School with 41 straight wins.


Quarter Back Jonathan Dibiaso of Everett High School broke the all time state passing record in his highschool career after throwing six touchdown passes against Medford on Friday October 28th. Dibiaso after that game had 85 straight touchdown passes breaking Tom Colombo's state record for the most touchdown passes in a high school career.


The Hopedale Boys Cross Country team won the Dual Valley Conference championship meet at Nipmuc as Matt Doran, Paul Maurais and Chris Kivor finished 3rd, 4th and 5th.


This has been Tom Nappi with High School Sports honorable mentions for the 2011 fall season in Massachusetts, tune into High School Sports talk on MA Sportsweb.com to get updates on all your favorite high school teams and check out the sports news page for all the latest updates.

Tags: High School Sports, Massachusetts

Here are the Week 11 from Tom Nappi Power Rankings, (#) - Last Week

32-(32) Indianapolis Colts (0-10) - Ranked Last for Obvious Reasons, ewww what a mess without Manning.

31-(27) Minnesota Vikings (2-7) - Not a threat to anyone really!!

30-(28) Carolina Panthers (2-7) - After getting crushed 30-3 against Titans, they really don't even seem like they have the potential for upset

29-(31) Cleveland Browns (3-6) - Hillis does not want to play without a new contract (injury my butt) = no offense

28-(23) Washington Redskins (3-6) - Looking worse and worse every week

27-(26) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6) - A win this week against the Colts (are the Colts still an NFL Team?)

26-(29) Miami Dolphins (2-7) - Looked impressive this week 2 game winning streak!

25-(30) - St. Louis Rams (2-7) - Brandon Lloyd looks stunning and he is the reason you beat the Browns this week

24-(24) - Seattle Seahawks (3-6) - There is something wacky about this team, sometimes they get killed against crap teams, but other weeks they beat good teams like the Ravens...WOW what an upset special this week!

23-(25) - Arizona Cardinals (3-6) - John Skelton is the next Kurt Warner... no not really but nice win crapping on the Eagles and most likely ending their season.

22-(14) - Philadelphia Eagles (3-6) - Wow how wrong was I...What a joke, sorry Andy Reid I think your team is out and your job is gone.

21-(20) K.C. Chiefs (4-5) - You got beat by Tim Tebow but you beat Phillip Rivers??????? UH OH Cassel is lost for the season buh bye...well in the West you still never know.

20-(17) - Buffalo Bills (5-4) - A little bit better but still a fluke that will finish 8-8, 9-7, Cowboys crushed your dreams!

19-(19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5) - Another team that is good sometimes but sometimes just AWFUL. Albert Haynesworth will help you to the Super Bowl....NOT

18-(16) San Diego Chargers (4-5) - What a joke...best Roster on Paper, awful team on the field

17-(21) - Denver Broncos (4-5) - Tim Tebow is here...Praise the Lord!

16-(18) - Tennessee Titans - Still continues to look pretty good, but you need to look real good to beat the Texans for the South. Has a legit chance to win the South now that Schaub is gone for the season....LOOK OUT THE TITANS ARE COMING!

15-(13) - Cincinnati Bengals (6-3) - Still for real but has not beat anyone good, so I can't rank them too high.

14-(12) - Houston Texans (7-3) - Surprise team of the year, has a real chance at doing damage to any team, 4 game winning streak without Andre Johnson....unreal! OOPS Had to me these guys down because QB Matt Schaub is out for the Season....and Titans will win the division!

13-(21) - Oakland Raiders (5-4) - Has serious potential to win the West and upset someone in the playoffs!

12-(8) - Detroit Lions (6-3) - Your division rival Bears murdered you...what do you expect, semi-serious contender!

11-(6) Atlanta Falcons (5-4) - Tough Loss to the Saints, but is in real danger of missing the playoffs now.

10-(9) New York Jets (5-4) - Patriots won the season series and you are in danger of missing the playoffs...REX LOOK OUT

9-(15) Dallas Cowboys (5-4) - Tony you are so not going to win a Super Bowl anytime soon but your team is threatening for the NFC East.

8-(3) New York Giants (6-3) - So Shhhhhakkkky, Need to be able to beat good teams back to back and hasn't proven to be able to do so

7-(2) Baltimore Ravens (6-3) - What the hell is wrong with the Ravens, how do you lose to the Seahawks....Flacco is too inconsistent for me.

6-(11) - Chicago Bears (6-3) - Looking scary good, If you beat the Eagles and Giants back to back you deserve to be here...4 straight wins and the defense and O-Line looks fantastic

5-(10) - New England Patriots (6-3) - Outstanding offense and great defense against the Jets, but show me more defensively. The Pats have 7 easy games coming up to cap off the season and should clinch a bye week in the playoffs!!!

4-(7) San Francisco 49ers (8-1) - 2nd Best Record in the league...Looked real good against the Giants but I still need to see more wins against tough teams....Defense has given up least amount of points in the league (138), that is unreal!!!

3-(5) - New Orleans Saints (7-3) - Nice win against Atlanta...but can they play consistent against good teams? Saints have scored most points in the NFL (313) but given up most points in the NFC (228).

2-(4) - Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3) - Took down the Bengals this week and 4-1 in their last 5, right now looking like best all around team in AFC for now, but look out for the Texans.

1-(1) Green Bay Packers (9-0) - The Life of a Cheese Head is great right now. 2011 Super Bowl Champions and undefeated heading into an easy win Monday Night with the Vikings, won't move Packers until someone actually beats them.

Tags: Week 11 NFL Power Rankings

Here are the Week 10 NFL Power Rankings as we are at the midpoint of the NFL season game wise!
(Rankings based on teams least to most likely to win in the playoffs!)

32) Indianapolis Colts (0-9) - No Peyton Manning + Peyton Manning System = No Team

31) Cleveland Browns (3-5) - Their only offense is Peyton Hillis and he is a mess this season, Colt McCoy is not so good

30) St. Louis Rams (1-7) - Rams got 1 fluke win against the Saints all season long, although Brandon Lloyd provides hope, but you lost to the awful Cardinals this week.

29) Miami Dolphins (1-7) - They beat the overrated Kansas City Chiefs this week

28) Carolina Panthers (2-6) - If you can't handle the Vikings this season, you deserve to be ranked no higher than this.

27) Minnesota Vikings (2-6) - No Donovan McNabb makes the Vikings a tad better, although Christian Ponder is going to get crushed against the Packers next Monday

26) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6) - Blaine Gabbert looks to be getting better and better... but only 2 wins

25) Arizona Cardinals (2-6) - Kevin Kolb, Larry Fitzgerald, Early Doucet = Good, the other 50 players = Bad

24) Seattle Seahawks (2-6) - Potential to upset some good teams, but potential to lose the rest of the season

23) Washington Redskins (3-5) - Strong start, but now playing like we all expected....BAD 4 losses in a row

22) Denver Broncos (3-5) - TIM TEBOW BRINGS HOPE, I doubted he would but they beat Oakland this week, but Tebow still can't throw

21) Oakland Raiders (4-4) - This team is like a seesaw you never know what the hell you will get

20) Kansas City Chiefs (4-4) - They lost to the Dolphins after beating the Chargers...potential but fluke team

19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-4) - Josh Freeman is just soooo shaky this season, but still a chance at a playoff spot....no not really

18) Tennessee Titans (4-4) - I give the Titans credit there only offensive threat sucks but they still manage to play sub-par football

17) Buffalo Bills (5-3) - Much better this year, but still won't keep up with the elite

16) San Diego Chargers (4-4) - Decent QB, Awful Coaching and pretty good team in general = flukiest team in the NFL

15) Dallas Cowboys (4-4) - Tony Romo = Can't win the big game

14) Philadelphia Eagles (3-5) - After Awful start, they at least started to look a little and i mean very little like the dream team they call themselves, but as the Bears showed Monday Night, Pressure Vick and you will beat them.

13) Cincinnati Bengals (6-2) - These guys are for real and Andy Dalton will be better than Carson Palmer, I will move them way up in the Power Rankings if they beat the Steelers this week.

12) Houston Texans (6-3) - Good job winning 3 in a row without Andre Johnson, not a team to be taken lightly.

11) Chicago Bears (5-3) - Jay Cutler looks much better this year and so does the O-Line but as far as making the playoffs with the Packers and Lions in your division, it may be tight but after beating the so called "Dream Team" Eagles they are a huge threat! Jay Cutler and Brian Urlacher are out for heads!

10) New England Patriots (5-3) - Good offense...usually but the worst passing defense in the league, they still could pull a rabbit out of the hat of course with the Belichick/Brady Combo but god please get a G.M. that can actually evaluate talent.

9) New York Jets (5-3) - Defense finally stepping it up and Mark Sanchez sucks passing deep but can manage the game if the run game comes through and in the last 3 weeks Jets are back to winning at their style of football.

8) Detroit Lions (6-2) - Scary good defense and a very good offense, one of the deepest and underrated rosters in the NFL...They are for real

7) San Francisco 49ers (7-1) - 6 wins in a row and will easily run away with the NFC west...Alex Smith finally looking good as expected, however 1 loss all year does not mean anything, their schedule is very weak. Huge game with major implications this week with Detroit coming up at home!

6) Atlanta Falcons (5-3) - Starting to show signs of looking like the NFC Super Bowl team all the big time so called experts expected.

5) New Orleans Saints (6-3) - Great offense, no defense, but knows how to win, and should find a playoff spot in the NFC

4) Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3) - Good team all around as usual, but Baltimore has their number.

3) New York Giants (6-2) - I hate to say it but Eli Manning is looking like a top 5 quarterback and the receiving core and running game even without Bradshaw and Nicks still looks amazing. Defense is great as well despite a boatload of injuries...deep roster

2) Baltimore Ravens (6-2) - Looking like they have the potential to be the AFC Super Bowl contender as long as Flacco can manage the game and put some points on the board.

1) Green Bay Packers (8-0) - Undefeated, last years Super Bowl champions and Aaron Rodgers is by far the best QB in the league this year....enough said!


READ MORE TO SEE HOW CRAIG D'ALESSANDRO RANKS EM!

Tags: NFL Power Rankings

By: Tom Nappi

The New England Patriots have lost their first home regular season game with Tom Brady starting in four years. The Patriots lost to the New York Giants 24-20 Sunday Afternoon. The Patriots scraped together no-name, last ranked against the pass defense played well in the first half as at halftime it was 0-0. In the 4th quarter however the Patriots defense fell apart.....again giving up 2 touchdowns in 3 minutes to a Giants receiving core WITHOUT Hakeem Nicks.

The Patriots defense is filled with no-names, un-drafted free agents and even a few guys from community colleges. The Patriots signed Phillip Adams after resigning him and releasing him 3 times already this season (who the hell is Phillip Adams?) The Patriots did make some HUGE signings for the Giants game however, resigning Ross Ventrone for their 3rd time this year and CB Sterling Moore.... NO WAIT who the hell are those guys?

Well Ross Ventrone has been signed 3 different times by the Patriots. MAKE UP YOUR MIND BILL, IF YOU SIGN A SUCK BAG DEFENSIVE BACK COULD YOU AT LEAST KEEP THE GUY FOR A COUPLE WEEKS!

Check this out from the Patriots website if you don't believe me
Ross Ventrone was signed by the Patriots as a rookie free agent on April 29, 2010 ... Released by the Patriots (8/20/10)... Re-signed by the Patriots (8/23/10) ... Released by the Patriots (9/4/10) ... Resigned to the practice squad by the Patriots (10/19/10).
http://archive.patriots.com/team/index.cfm?ac=playerbio&bio=34199

Now don't get me wrong I am not saying the Offense is perfect, heck Brady threw 2 interceptions today, but the fact is the offense is not the problem! No matter who you have on offense, if you have no defense and the offense isn't clicking for a game you ain't winning that game (slang english used in the previous sentence for rhyming purposes)!

Bill Belichick is by far one of the best coaches in NFL history, but he may be on the verge of becoming one of the worst GM's in NFL history by failing in the draft and free agency. Belichick has had his good singings such as Corey Dillon, the Tight End combo, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, Albert Haynesworth seems to be doing okay, Vince Wilfork is amazing, Darius Butler is decent, Jerod Mayo is working out very well, but in five years with GM duties, that is pretty much it! People that don't like to criticize their team (known as homers) worship Belichick as a god and think his 3 Super Bowls still give him merit, well they do....but only a little because it has been 7 years since the Patriots have won one. Scott Pioli and Bill Parcells were also responsible for most of the core of the defense for the Super Bowl teams of 2001, 2003 and 2004.

Since Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, Ty Law, Richard Seymour, Lawyer Milloy, Willie McGinest left its pretty easy to see the defense has not been the same and that is because Bill Bellichick trades down high draft picks for low ones and signs players with troubled pasts such as off field issues or injuries for cheap money and in the 5 years he has been doing it, I truly wonder if he is starting to realize that IT DOES NOT WORK and YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! Bill Belichick at the draft is like a fat guy at a buffet trying to get as much food as possible, but not caring about the fact that the food sucks and you are going to be sick from it later.

The scary thing is I have been ranting that the defense sucks since 2008 and I almost set my house on fire when I heard about the Richard Seymour trade, now finally people are finally starting to see the scraped together, mess of a defense that Bill has built does not work! Belichick has had 40 draft picks from 2008 until now and only 10 of them (and that is being generous) have developed into something, batting a .250 in the draft does not help you in the playoffs. The Patriots have been 1 and done for the past 2 years now, most specifically because of the failure of the Patriots defense to make big plays and now 2 straight losses in situations that could have set you apart in the AFC east, instead you are tied with the Jets and the Bills at 5 and 3.

The only way I see anything getting better in New England is if Bill Bellichick is willing to accept voices on the coaching staff that actually have the reputation to question Bellichick's actions such as a Romeo Crennel or Charlie Weis, or even a Josh McDaniels or Eric Mangini, because Bill Belichick cannot do this on his own, and if he refuses that fact and does not want another voice helping him out or even taking over the GM duties than it may be time to go another way, and you have to do this for the 2012 season because time is limited....Tom Brady will not be around forever!

Early Prediction for Next Week from an unbiased perspective Jets - 27 Patriots - 20
(Unless Bill keeps Phillip Adams and Ross Ventrone because that will make this game a Patriots Lock!)

Email us your comments masportsweb@gmail.com we will post them!

Tags: New England Patriots, Patriots coaching changes

The situation down on Yawkey Way keeps getting worse and worse, after accusations that Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and John Lackey were eating fried Chicken and Drinking Beer in the club house, quotes from Jon Lester pretty much confirmed it, Curt Schilling slammed the Sox and Johnny Damon avoided every question he was asked. The quotes from this past week are below.


Jon Lesters Comments:
There’s a perception out there that we were up there getting hammered and that wasn’t the case. Was it a bad habit? Yes. I should have been on the bench more than I was. But we just played bad baseball as a team in September. We stunk. To be honest, we were doing the same things all season when we had the best record in baseball.”
Lester went on to say that the Fried Chicken was a once a month event and that the beers were specifically 9th inning rally beers.

Schilling responding to Lesters Comments
Ex-Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling called Jon Lester's comments to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe about the Sox needing "more structure" than Terry Francona providing "embarrassing and . . . sad", because it showed a lack of maturity on the parts of the players, and that the 2011 Sox had "no leadership whatsoever in that clubhouse".

"That kind of boggles my mind that [Lester] said that, because at the end of the day, these are grown men," Schilling said on WEEI Radio's 'Mut and Merloni' Show. "Do you need a manager to tell you? They all knew, and you always know, when you’re doing something questionable or wrong.

"They chose not to correct it, and because they chose not to correct it, I think some of them were absolutely not in good enough shape to pitch through September and help them win games.

Schilling went on to add: "That’s sad. That’s embarrassing, and that’s sad. That basically says, at the age of 28, 29, 30, I need an adult more mature than me to give me rules and guidelines. ... That’s sad, because that’s why we won World Series. We won those World Series because [Francona] was that way, because he allowed us to police ourselves. What it says to me even more clearly, they have no leadership whatsoever in that clubhouse."


By Peter Abraham, Boston Globe Staff

Johnny Damon, a player who knows a thing or two about winning and good team chemistry, was on WDAE in Tampa today and talked about the news coming out of Boston.

Question: "There was a report out of Boston that Josh Beckett was one of three Red Sox pitchers that drank beer in the dugout this season. Did that happen in 2004 when you were with the Red Sox as well? Your thoughts on Terry Francona not being the Red Sox manager any longer?"

Damon: “Terry Francona to me is a great manager, but sometimes the players in the clubhouse also help smooth things out. The players probably should have known a bit better to respect the game a bit. There are teams that I have been on before that have tried to get a rally going [by having a beer] or obviously the guys who aren’t playing in a game, but it’s unfortunate. I think Jon Lester called it a ‘witch hunt,’ and trying to play the blame game. They just had a bad September. Nobody wants to go through that.

"Unfortunately when you are in the Boston market and that happens and you don’t make the playoffs things change and there is a lot of changes going on there right now, especially with the team that was supposed to win the World Series. We were happy because of their demise. It got us into the playoffs and gave us a chance to possibly do something great, so unfortunately that is how that market is. David Ortiz said too that there is drama every single day.”

Question: "So did the beer drinking in the clubhouse and dugout happen in 2004? Or is the media just making too big of a deal about it?"

Damon: “The thing is in 2004 we had such a great chemistry in the locker room that people had each other’s back. If the media was blowing up a player we had guys like Kevin Millar or guys like myself and Bill Mueller, who would step up and take the bullet and protect players and that’s very important to a team. I felt like every time we lost a game this year it was on me because I didn’t get that hit in the first inning or didn’t have a good base running play in the third. I learned early to be accountable even when you don’t have to be accountable and because of that over time it has made me a better player and an even better teammate.”

The Stanley Cup hangover appears to be coming to an end as The Boston Bruins got there 2nd win of the Season last night as they took down the Chicago Blackhawks in an overtime shootout victory. The Bruins won the game 3-2. Nathan Horton and Chris Kelly both had goals in the Bruins victory. Tim Thomas had 27 saves and a .931 save percentage for the game. The Bruins are now 2-3-0 on the season and have 4 points. Bruins won the shootout 1-0. The Bruins Blackhawks was a matchup of the previous 2 Stanley Cup Champions.

The Boston Bruins next play Tuesday at the Garden against the Carolina Hurricanes who they have already lost to once this season.

Tags: Boston Bruins, NHL

The Texas Rangers have advanced to there 2nd straight World Series after they took down the Detroit Tigers Last Night in Game 6 of the ALCS 15-5. Michael Young and Nelson Cruz both hit Home Runs off of Brad Penny in the 7th.

The game took a turn for the worst for the Detroit Tigers as a 9 run 3rd inning for the Rangers capped things off. Michael Young started with a double which would drive in Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton. Adrian Beltre would then single to Center to drive in Michael Young. David Murphy then singled to center to drive in Beltre and Nopoli. Ian Kinsler would continue the 3rd inning rally with a single to left to drive in 2 more runs and then Michael Young in his second at bat of the inning would double to right field which drove in Kinsler and Andrus.

The Texas Rangers will advance to the World Series for there 2nd year in a row and will take on the winner of the NLCS either the Milwaukee Brewers or St. Louis Cardinals. The National League winner will have home field advantage as they won the All Star Game.

ESPN SCOREBOARD

Tags: Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, MLB

High School Football Action Tonight Thursday 10-6-2011!



Millis-Hopedale - 39 Ashland - 7
Framingham - 36 Braintree - 6
Norwood - 0 #13 Walpole - 13
#8 Lincoln-Sudbury - 49 Waltham - 6
Westboro - 47 North-Middlesex - 20
Westwood - 28 Medfield - 7
Franklin - 21 Foxboro - 29
Holliston - 51 Bellingham - 30
Dover-Sherborn - 7 Hopkinton - 28
#20 King Phillip - 28 Oliver-Ames - 13
Mansfield - 49 Sharon - 19
Norton - 6 Medway - 35
Natick - 49 Dedham - 19
Stoughton - 21 North Attleborough - 22

IS THERE A TEAM YOU WANT FOLLOWED OR BROADCASTED LET US KNOW! MASPORTSWEB@GMAIL.COM or Email the Owner Directly TNappi@masportsweb.com


The Boston Bruins drop their season opener against The Philadelphia Flyers 2-1, Brad Marchand the only goal for the Bruins.

The Detroit Tigers knock out the New York Yankees as they win game 5 of the ALDS 3-2.

Tags: Boston Bruins, Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers, Millis-Hopedale

Auburn rolled up nearly 500 yards on the ground and dismantled visiting St. Peter-Marian to win its 40th consecutive game. Dan Flink and Bob Sivret each scored twice for the Rockets.
Auburn (3-0) (0-0) - 35 St. Peter-Marian (2-1) (1-0) -6

The Milford Scarlet Hawks took down the Leominster Blue Devils for the 1st time since there 2006 Super Bowl season this past Friday. Milford QB Steve Morganelli only went 2 for 6 and threw for 12 yards but the highlights came from Kick Returner Jarrod Casey returning 2 kickoffs for touchdowns. (82 Yards and 75 yard kickoff returns for touchdowns). A touchdown pass from Garrett DelleChiaie to Josh Caouette and a 2 point conversion would give Leominster a late 20-19 lead but a botched snap on a punt from Leominster would allow Milford to score a safety to come out on top and improve to 2-1 (1-0).
Milford (2-1) (1-0) - 21 Leominster (0-3) (0-1) - 20


Brian D'Amore had three touchdowns and Sam Tawa had two as the Warriors crushed the Clockers.
Medfield (1-2) (0-0) - 45 Ashland (2-1) (0-0) - 6


The Mowhawks' offense put up a touchdown per quarter while the defensive line shut down the Lancers. Jim Perkins ran 25 times for 225 yards, including 36- and 71-yard touchdown dashes. Perkins also connected with Ian Strom for a 42-yard TD pass.
Millis-Hopedale (3-0) (1-0) - 28 Norton (2-1) (0-1) - 0

Hopkinton's Mike Decina rushed for five Hiller touchdowns as the Hillers rolled.
Hopkinton (3-0) (1-0) - 34 Medway (1-2) (0-1) - 28

The Boston Red Sox have been on a slide as of late losing 7 of their last 10 games. Tim Wakefield got the nod tonight against Brandon Morrow and the Toronto Blue Jays, in his 8th attempt at career win number 200. Going into the 4th inning the Sox were down 5-4 but the bats would heat up as the Sox put up 14 more runs in the 18-6 victory over the Blue Jays. Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury both went 4 for 5. Wakefield may have given up 5 earned runs tonight, but a little help from the line up helped Wakefield to his 200th career win! Tim Wakefield has been pitching in the majors for 19+ years (since 1992) and has a career record of 200-178.

Congratulations to Tim Wakefield for becoming the 61st pitcher in Baseball History with at least 200 Wins!

Another major accomplishment happened tonight besides Tim Wakefield getting his 200th win and that was Closer Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees getting his 600th career save in the Yankees 3-2 victory over the Mariners. Rivera is the 2nd Closer in Baseball History to get at least 600 saves, only the retired former Padres Closer Trevor Hoffman has more saves than Rivera at 601. Catcher Russell Martin threw out Ichiro Suzuki on an attempted steal in the bottom of the 9th to help one of the greatest closers of all time get his 600th career save.

Catch Tom Nappi and Matt Romling on WMRC (1490am) Milford and online at www.wmrcdailynews.com tomorrow Morning at 10am-11:30am immediately Followed by Boston College Football as they open up against Northwestern at Chestnut Hill.

Read More For Today's Sports Headlines!

The Massachusetts Sports Web Owner Tom Nappi gives his NFL Power Rankings. Who will finish number 1! This may be the answer you are looking for! As a Massachusetts native Tom is a Patriots fan but when it comes to his predictions he may have not seen them as numero uno, Read More to find out!

BEIJING -- If there is a lockout players such as Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul would not be able to participate in the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) as they are currently contracted with NBA teams, the CBA will only allow Free Agents to play for teams in the league.

Although a few NBA players including Kobe, Carmelo and Chris Paul have expressed interest in playing in China and could be a huge media gainer for the Chinese Basketball Association, they will not be welcome. Players who want to play in the CBA must commit for the entire season in China, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Xinhua said more restrictions would be announced before the start of the Chinese season on Thursday Nov. 20th. It reported contracts would be designed to discourage players from ducking out for dubious reasons, such as suspect injuries or unverified family problems at home. CBA officials could not be reached immediately for comment.

Read More on www.espn.com
Copyright 2011 Massachusetts Sports Web

It took 13 Innings but Eden Prairie, Minnesota took down Tupelo, Missouri to capture the 2011 American Legion Baseball Title. "This just feels great and unbelievable," center fielder Danny Blasy said. "I can't believe we pulled it off." Tupelo had a strong chance to make a comeback at the bottom of the inning with singles from Cody Shrewsbury and Tyler Moore, but Eden Prairie's defense held up. Tupelo also held a 4-3 lead up until the eighth inning, when Eden Prairie short stop Blake Schmit scored to tie the game. Congratulations to Eden Prairie, Minnesota for becoming the Champions of American Legion Baseball and our local East Side Raiders out of Worcester, MA for being the Massachusetts Legion Champions this year!
It was another great season of Legion Baseball this year, read more here: http://www.legion.org/baseball/158327/minnesota-wins-2011-legion-world-series or www.district4baseball.com

Copyright 2011 Massachusetts Sports Web