"For every death, there is a rebirth....the Circle of Life" -Will Ferrell, Wedding Crashers

Hello readers. I am writing to you from Upper Chesapeake Hospital north of Baltimore and I am staring at my new nephew!!! Liam Nicholas Shaffer! He is white (in color, not race...but race too) and he's still got a piece of his embilical cord still connected and he doesnt do much other than sleep and cry. He is a healthy young man and I predict he will be the tallest of the children (thus far).

ON TO THE SPORTS!!! (this will be quick cuz it's time to leave the hospital)

Colts vs. Jets

Prediction: 23-13 Colts

Reason: Peyton Manning is good. Jets COULD win this game and i wouldnt be surprised. But I would also be surprised.

Saints vs. Vikings

Prediction: 24-23 Saints

Reason: The dome wins this game for the Vikings

Win Some, You Lose Some

Alright so I was 2-2 last weekend. Not as great as i thought i would do but alas there is another weekend! Things we learned from last weekend: Kurt Warner is a hall of famer, Eagles are a disappointment, the Patriots dynasty may not be TOTALLY over, but it's not lookin good, and the Bengals look like the bungals from last year.

Here are my picks for this weekend:

Cardinals vs. Saints (Saturday @ 4:30)
Prediction: 34-30 Cardinals

Kurt Warner is a hall of famer if you ask me and he is going to prove it in this game. The crowd in the dome will not intimidate Warner at all. Small stat from last week: Warner had more touchdowns than incompletions. Heard that on the radio.....RIDICULOUS!! The Saints defense is slightly better than the packers but not by enough to have a different outcome against the high powered Cardinals offense. The Saints have sort of teetered off towards the end of the season and I don't think they will get it done. They lost to the Bucs and had help from Shaun Suisham to beat the Redskins. And if i remember correctly they struggled against the Rams. 3 of the top 4 picks in next year's draft.

Ravens vs. Colts (Saturday @ 8:15)
Prediction: 23-21 Ravens

This might be the only true upset I could see happening. The Ravens defense looked REAL good last week. Sure Tom Brady had his worst playoff performance of his career but who do you think caused that?! The Colts are good. Peyton Manning has something like 8 4th quarter tying or game-winning drives or something around that many. However, I think their defense is overrated. The Colts have had a recent history of flaking out after sitting their starters for the last couple weeks then getting the first week off. I could be TOTALLY wrong about this. The Colts could win 31-10. But something is telling me to go the other way.

Cowboys vs. Vikings (Sunday @ 1:00)
Prediction: 27-14 Cowboys

I don't think this will be the best game of the weekend like everybody is saying. The Vikings are hurt on defense with their MLB out. They have a rookie in his place. I don't trust a rookie to cover Jason Witten or Felix Jones out of the backfield. Unless his name is Patrick Willis. The Cowboys will run to the outside when they run. And they will move Romo around inside the pocket to keep the big Williams boys at bay. Dallas' defense looks like something to write home about. Peterson is having a down year compared to previous seasons. Unfortunately, I am picking the Cowboys to win big in this game.

Jets vs. Chargers (Sunday @ 4:40)
Prediction: 27-10

Chargers are the hottest team in the league at the moment. Jets had a nice run, but they can't beat the Chargers. Jets might get more than 10 points because of their run game. But Revis can't cover ALL of the weapons the Chargers possess.

And the Winner of Super Bowl XLIV is.....

Here are my picks for this coming weekend and my super bowl picks

4 Seed Cincinnati Bengals vs. 5 Seed New York Jets (Sat. 4:30)

Prediction: 13-9 Jets

I see this as being a very low scoring game. The Jets come in as the top defense in the league in most of the major statistical categories. The Bengals also have a very decent and capable defense. Both offenses rank near the bottom of the league in total yardage. How do the Jets pull it off? Run, run, run. They are the #1 team in the league rushing the ball and it's no secret they will go in looking to establish what they do best. If the bengals can stop the run and put the game on Sanchez's shoulders, Bengals win. However, I do not see that happening. Carson Palmer has not been the same since he got hurt in the playoffs a few years back and without his favorite deep threat Ochocinco (because Revis will shut him down) he will make mistakes. Jets defense overwhelms the Bengals offense and wins.

3 Seed Dallas Cowboys vs. 6 Seed Philadelphia Eagles (Sat. 8:00)

Prediction: 27-24 Eagles

This game will be the rivalry's third matchup of the season, with the Cowboys winning both contests. However, the Eagles are coached by Andy Reid and beating him three times in a season is tough. Andy Reid is one of the best at making adjustments offensively and the old pressure, in your face Eagles defense will show itself again. Romo and the Cowboys will once again hear about how they haven't won a playoff game since '96. Could the Eagles be the second ever #6 seed to make it to the Super Bowl? Maybe. (Note: I would not be surprised if the winner of this game went to the super bowl.)

3 Seed New England Patriots vs. 6 Seed Baltimore Ravens (Sun. 1:00)

Prediction: 23-20 Ravens

The Ravens defense is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Some days they look like the Steelers defense that just lost Polamalu. Other days they look like the Ravens defense that carried them to a Super Bowl victory against the Giants in the 2000 season. I believe for at least one week Ray Lewis will get his troops fired up for this game and I believe Ed Reed is coming back and you never want to face him. The Patriots are without Wes Welker but I don't think he will be missed TOO much because Edelman is more than capable of filling in enough to keep the offense rolling. The Ravens will run all over the Pats, keeping the clock rolling and the Brady off the field. The dynasty is coming to an end.

4 Seed Arizona Cardinals vs. 5 Seed Green Bay Packers (Sun. 4:40)

Prediction: 34-20 Packers

Packers are just hot. They are playing their best football right now. Their offensive line troubles have been figured out. Their running game is starting to pick up. The way I see it, the Cardinals will pick their poison, but in the end that poison will kill them. The Cardinals offense has not played to the level of last year's playoff run for most of the season. Packers are looking VERY good right now, winning 7 of their last 8.

To sum up this weekend, I have all four road teams winning. Whatever the outcomes, I think all of these games are gonna be really good matchups.

Super Bowl 44

Chargers vs. Eagles

Champions: Chargers

FAT is the new skinny

on the morning of january 3rd, i woke up to a blistering cold morning with winds that HAD to be upwards of 30 or 40 mph. A perfect morning for soccer! As my team and i took the field, fogs of breath clouded the field much like the legendary ice bowl featuring the packers of green bay and the cowgirls of dallas. Win this game and we go to the championship.

As we stepped onto the field i couldnt help but realize the similarities of this game to the famous story of david v. goliath. My team, FAT #1 (Free Agent Team #1) was a bunch of misfit toys with no home so we were thrown together to create a team like we were the Redskins' offensive line. We were playing the undefeated Lifetime FC. The goliath team comprised of employees from the Lifetime Gym. Extremely fit specimens filled with roid rage. This game is like David vs Goliath, College of Charleston vs UNC from last night, Tune Squad vs the Monstars.

After a ridiculously amazing shot by my teammate in the first half and an easy ball that got by yours truly, the game came down to a shootout. Our first shooter, Cesar, had his shot blocked. My turn. I like to think i can read most of the people who take penalty kicks against me. This guy i had a feeling was going to my left. For any of you who have never had to defend against penalty kicks, you pretty much have to guess which side they're goign to go to because there is no real chance of you saving the shot if you wait for them to make contact with the ball. Anywhoooo, i guessed right and saved the shot.

After allowing zero goals and saving three of the four shots put on against me, we won the shootout 2-0.

We were forced to play the championship game immediately following our win and won via penalty kick with less than 5 minutes left in the game. Disappointing and anti-climactic way to win but a championship is a championship!!



ps- penalty kicks are fun.

pps- i am sad the cowboys won the division, i am happy about the steelers missing the playoffs, and i am fine with the skins going 4-12 and firing Jim Zorn because I was expecting it after we beat the rams 9-7 and followed that game up with a loss to the Lions.

Teams the skins beat this year: Rams, Bucs, Broncos, Raiders (all non-playoff teams and two of the first 3 picks hahaha)