OKC Thunder/ ******* Chiefs

Thunder

If you don't like the Oklahoma City Thunder, you don't like basketball.  They are a small market team who have built almost strictly through the draft.  Kevin Durant is the most unselfish superstar i've seen, not so much from a basketball standpoint, but from a person standpoint.  Last year he was chosen to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but he declined unless he was featured with two of his teammates that he felt didn't get enough credit.  They also have the most athletic point guard in the game with Russell Westbrook, he takes too many shots but is still young, and learning.  I love their role players too, Eric Maynor from VCU, and James Harden from Arizona State were some of my favorite players in college.  Serge Ibaka plays so hard, he acts as their trash player.  They are easily my favorite NBA team, and are getting close to Chiefs and Royals territory.  They have a good shot at making it to the finals this year, they are such a well rounded team with great chemistry.  Let me know if you guys want me to cover them throughout the year, I don't want to cover a team that nobody cares about, text me or leave a comment about what you think.

Chiefs

That was the most frustrating game I've watched in a while, thank god I didn't have to watch it with my dad.  This is why I didn't rave about the Chiefs last week, last week we had good Kyle Orton, this week we got what the eff Kyle Orton.  Orton is really good at getting the ball to the red-zone but once he gets their it's like his work is done.  They missed a great opportunity too, with the Broncos and Chargers losing, all they had to do was beat the Broncos with the absence of Jesus' attention next week, and they were in the playoffs.  For the coach I'm split, I don't wanna lose what Romeo has done with the defense, but if you have the opportunity to get Jeff Fisher it'd be hard to pass it up.  I think for next year they need to stick with Cassel rather than reach for a quarterback like Landry Jones.  For the offseason they have three major needs but thats about it, offensive tackle, nose tackle and inside linebacker.  I'll preview next season more after their last game.

I won my first fantasy title, can't wait for our Christmas on New Years, gonna be trash talking all day, I ordered a t-shirt too.

Yuni/Chiefs/Matt Barkley/KU Football/Fantasy Football

Royals

In the past week the Royals signed former shortstop Yuniesky Betencourt to a one year, 2 million dollar deal.  He is expected to be the Royals utility infielder, he hit .252 last season, with a little power as the Brewers everyday shortstop.  If you look at it from a baseball perspective it's a good move, but as a PR move it's awful.  He was a very hated player with the Royals because his lackluster defense and terrible work ethic.  I personally like the move though, because Dayton Moore is making the move that he feels is best for the team, not the move that will win him a popularity contest.  As an everyday player he is below average but the Royals needed a utility infielder this offseason, and they got one.  Expect Chris Getz to be released by opening day, you cannot afford to carry a backup second baseman on the roster.

For this to be the Royals season they still need at least one more starting pitcher.  Now if only there was an All-Star pitcher in free agency asking for a one year deal.  Would you look at that, there is, and he goes by the name of Roy Oswalt.  The thing is that this is not a video game, where you can just offer the most money and sign any player you want.  The Royals will probably have to pay about 2-3 million more than any other team just to have a chance, and that still might not be enough.  Some players look at Kansas City and don't even consider playing for them.  If they don't get him I'd like them target Edwin Jackson in free agency, or look to trade for a pitcher.  Before the offseason I thought they were still a year away, but with the move to acquire a one year players in Sanchez and Broxton it changed.  Right now I would project them around 78 wins, 78 wins gets you nothing, except a worse draft pick.  I would of rather seen them make a splash next offseason, but if Moore thinks this is the year, go hard or go home.

Chiefs!!!

I hate writing about the Chiefs, each week is so different, it seems they either play like a top 5 team or bottom 5 team.  Against the Packers you saw the good Chiefs, who shut down Aaron Rodgers and beat the best team in football.  But we have also seen awful Chiefs against the Bills, Lions, Dolphins, and Jets.  Kyle Orton was great last week, along with Romeo Crennel, but I want to wait before I make a decision on them.  Sorry this is such a lame post, I just don't want to get disappointed once again.

Matt Barkley

It really makes me mad when I hear analysts say what is best for the player, when they don't know their life.  Matt Barkley chose to stay for his senior season at USC, and people are saying it was a terrible choice.  Cut him some slack, he wants to win a National Championship, and he hasn't been able to do so the last two years with USC being on probation.  Oh, but what if he gets injured?  Well Sam Bradford had an injury to his throwing shoulder his senior year and still went number one overall.  He may also feel he isn't ready yet, it sure looks like Blaine Gabbert could of used another year at Missouri.  I just feel people need to respect his decision.

KU Football

KU landed two highly regarded transfer quarterbacks on Thursday in Dayne Crist and Jake Heaps.  I think this is a good sign for things to come, but quarterback is not this issue with this Kansas team.  Their defense is atrocious and until that changes they still aren't going to be very good.  At Notre Dame, Weis was always able to recruit, he just couldn't win, as far as I know he hasn't done any winning yet.

Oh Fantasy Football

I made it to the finals in both of my fantasy football leagues, one facing my co-worker, and then one facing a computer.  Yes a computer made it all the way to the finals in our annual family fantasy football league.  My cousin was unable to find a 10th member on draft day so he created a computer team that was auto-drafted and set for the entire season.  Through all the bye weeks and injuries they managed to go 8-6, and make the playoffs, and upset the regular season champ to make it to the finals.  I sent a question  to ESPN's Fantasy Football Podcast show asking them if I lose do I still get to claim the title, they actually read my question on air and the Matthew Berry answered it, pretty much making me famous.  They said I don't get to claim the title if I lose, how lame would it be to have a computer beat everyone?  And I'm already in a hole, he has Arian Foster and the Texans' kicker who scored a combined 34 points on Thursday night.

Sorry I haven't wrote about KU basketball much, I just haven't been following them that closely and I don't want to write about something that my readers know more than me.

MInd Your Own Business

NBA

The Lakers submitted a fair trade in getting Chris Paul, giving up their second and third leading scorers.  Then Dan Gilbert, Owner of the Cleveland Caveliers complained to Commissioner David Stern that it wasn't fair.  Not fair?  Says the man who's team has won the NBA lottery 2 out of the last 3 years they have been in it.  Get over LeBron!  He probably would of stayed if you gave him somebody to occasionally pass to.  Then David Stern was dumb enough to listen, maybe he got confused and meant to veto a trade in his fantasy football league.  Regardless, he hurt the team he was trying to help.  The Hornets were set to receive a Rockets first-round pick along with Kevin Martin and Lamar Odom, Martin averaged 23 PPG last year.  They will struggle to find another deal as good as that one, especially for a one year rental of a player.

I'm tired of NBA's small market owners complaining that they are losing money.  How many companies are there that guarantee profits, you have to run the company correctly to make money.  Plenty of small market teams like San Antonio and Oklahoma City are having success, and when was the last time the Clippers or Knicks won?  It's not like big market teams are given superstars.  Of course they have an advantage but there is no way to prevent that. 

Chiefs

Todd Haley is finally gone.  He deserved to be fired, I know he had a ton of injuries to work with, but when he decided to play Tyler Palko instead of Kyle Orton and Ricki Stanzi he wrote the final chapter.  Now the word is that Josh McDaniels is the leading candidate.  What has he done that even qualifies him to be a coordinator.  He got fired after two seasons as the Broncos coach, and is the offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams who have averaged 11 points per game this season.  The coach I like is Jeff Fisher, he's a proven coach, and has always been considered one of the best in the league.  A positive is that the Chiefs are reloading instead of rebuilding, they might be able to lure a good coach back from retirement.

The Chiefs are a quarterback away from competing, I think Cassel can lead the Chiefs to the playoffs but to become a Super-Bowl contender they need an elite quarterback.  I don't think they will draft one though, General Manager Scott Peoli loves Cassel.  I feel this is the defining year for Peoli, I have, and do support him, but he hasn't done anything spectacular in the draft (besides Eric Berry of course), or made any key free agent signings.

Jesus

I'm finally gonna to talk about Tim Tebow, though I still don't know how I feel about him.  He's done a lot better than I thought, but he's still not doing that good.  With Tebow as starting quarterback, Jesus' Crew is averaging 20 points a game, and they are 7-1, they can't keep that up.  He still hasn't fixed his throwing motion, and is inaccurate.  But you also can't deny what he has done for that team, he has completely changed the culture.  The Broncos first round draft pick Von Miller needs more of the credit though, he has 11.5 sacks in 12 games and has made that defense elite.  

The End

Ryan Braun of all people tested positive for HGH.  As long as they don't take away my fantasy baseball championship I'll be fine.

Bill Simmons' stuff is awesome, if you haven't read it... read it.

I wrote about Charlie Weis, twice in fact, but it brutally awful so I revised it.  I'm not thrilled about the hire but it could work, I'm not sure he's real motivated.  See now it's just a brutally awful sentence.

I'm starting to enjoy soccer, but the players are so whinny, worse than NBA players, and most are even worse than Dwight Howard. 

The ATM Machine

Albert Pujols

Do the Angels realize that Albert Pujols will be 32 next month?  32!!!  You start going downhill at 30, the Angels must have a magic potion in store for him.  They signed him to a ridiculous 10 year 250 million dollar contract, to a player clearly past his prime.  Take a look at his stats the last three years, clear evidence of decline.

2009:  Runs: 124  Doubles: 45  Home Runs: 47  RBI's: 135  AVG: .327  OBP: .443  SLG: .658

2010:  Runs: 115  Doubles: 39  Home Runs: 42  RBI's: 118  AVG. .312    OBP: .414  SLG: .596

2011:  Runs: 105  Doubles: 29  Home Runs: 37  RBI's: 99    AVG. .299    OBP. .366   SLG: .541

They didn't have to do this, their future is plenty bright.  Mike Trout won Minor League Player of the Year this season and he is only 20.  They also had the runner-up for the A.L. Rookie of the Year award in Mark Trumbo, who plays first base.  The days of Pujols being a dominant player are over, I think they are getting a good player for 2 or 3 years, then an injury prone, replacement level player for the remainder of it.  I give credit to the Cardinals, they realized they were better off without him.

Tyler Palko For the Pro-Bowl

Chiefs-Bears

The Chiefs somehow won against the Bears, I'm still trying to figure out how.  Here's some random thoughts that I couldn't seem to fit into a paragraph.

Hey Mike Martz, if it's broke, fix it!  Your offensive line is bad, so leave a running and/or a tight end to block.  Your system worked when you had Orlando Pace protecting Kurt Warner.  You know something is wrong when Tyson Jackson is sacking the quarterback.

I can't believe Todd Haley honestly felt he had a better chance of winning with Tyler Palko, than with Kyle Orton.  Tyler Palko doesn't do anything well, he has a really bad arm, he is inaccurate, and doesn't make smart decisions.  Todd Haley has done some really stupid things this year, I'm almost sure he will be fired at the end of the season.

Tyler Palko's mind.  "Hike, crap, crap, crap, Uh lets see, Bowe's open, nope, can't throw it that far, ok just check it down, o shit, watch out McCluster, dang this is so much easier on Madden." I know I said not to make fun of Palko in last week's post, well I'm making an exception.

I lost a bet this weekend, I bet my co-worker dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings that I could start Tyler Palko on my fantasy team and still beat him.  I lost by one point, one freaking point 108-107. 

Roy Williams did it again.  Throughout his career he has never lived up to his potential as a wide receiver and has had an innate ability to blow it for his teams.  This week he dropped a pass that was picked off that would of resulted in a touchdown.

Third-round pick Justin Houston played really well against the Bears picking up 3 sacks.  If it was just the Bear's I wouldn't give it much thought, but he has played really well the last few weeks and may be the secondary pass rusher to Tamba in years to come.

The past two weeks the defense has played great, but with Tyler Palko at quarterback it's like being dealt deuce seven off-suit every week.  There's a lot to like about this team but their's also a lot not to like.  

What to Like: Jamaal Charles, Eric Berry, Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr CB,  Brandon Albert LT, Brandon Kraus Fan, Wide Receivers,  Justin Houston, Tamba Hali, and Derrick Johnson.

What not to Like:  Barry Richardson RT, Glenn Dorsey DE , Tyson Jackson DE, the quarterback situation, Todd Haley, Javon Belcher ILB, and the future nose tackle.

BCSucks

I think the higher suicide rate this time of year has more to do with the current BCS system than it does to Christmas.  It just drives you crazy, EVERYBODY realizes it is a flawed and unfair system, yet it doesn't change.  I think the only way it will change is to boycott watching the BCS bowl games.  If the bowls stop making money, the system will in theory, fall apart and hopefully result in a playoff system.  I think this has a chance of catching on though, it sounds logical and if a big time sports figure suggests this, it may catch on.  I obviously didn't think of this, I've heard it on the radio a couple times.

Baseball

This offseason MLB quietly reached a new collective bargaining agreement, and it kinda screwed the Royals.  The reason the Royals have so much hope for the future can be attributed to the way they have drafted in recent years.  They generally draft talented high school players with signability issues, then they overwhelm them with contracts they can't refuse, sending them to the Royals' farm system instead of a university.  The new CBA now gives a small range of what a team can spend on that draft pick, if the team goes over, they have to give up future draft picks.  This is not only bad news for the Royals, but for the game of baseball as well.   Now athletes contemplating playing professional baseball or collegiate sports will be more inclined to go to college, like Bubba.  One good thing it did was balance the American and National League's.  They moved the Houston Astros, from the 6 team National League Central, to the 4 team American League West, giving each league 15 teams, this goes into effect in 2013.  There are also rumors that they trying to eliminate the divisions altogether, and add another playoff team.  I believe this would be a good move as well, not so much for the Royals, but for the equality of the game.