What today means for Eli.......and my Super Bowl pick

Hey there, yes I know it's been a while since either of us has posted anything on here. Lives do get in the way sometimes. But enough about that. I am back just in time for the Mother of all sporting events to write probably one of millions of articles about it .... The Super Bowl.

My take on the game comes from this perspective. What does this game mean for Eli Manning and his career. It means a whole lot more than just winning the Super Bowl. He has already done that in a very memorable fashion. When it comes to memorable Super Bowls the last one that pit these two teams against each other takes the cake. The undefeated Patriots going up against the massive underdog NY Giants. The play that will forever be known as the helmet catch. When Eli Manning made Houdini look like an amateur escape artist and then heaved what was virtually a hail mary to David Tyree. Who proceeded to trap the ball against his helmet as he was being mugged by Rodney Harrison. No it wasn't a touchdown catch, but when that play took place there was little doubt what was coming next. Eli throws the TD pass and Brady was unable to answer. Eli got his ring.

But this one takes on a whole different meaning. This game very well may be more of a career defining game than that first Super Bowl for Manning. Why is this? Well there is a laundry list of reasons. Lets look at some of the bigger ones.

Eli Manning has spent pretty much his entire NFL career under the shadow of his big brother. The one exception being the Super Bowl win. Now Eli has a chance to really emerge from under that shadow and do it for good. As of right now Eli and Peyton each sit with 1 ring a piece. Peyton lost to New Orleans a couple years ago in his second Super Bowl. Now Eli has a chance to take the lead in that category, which some consider to be the biggest category of them all. Right now Peyton's future has a big question mark on it. Will he still be able to play at an elite level? Where will he be playing the rest of his career and how long will it last? Those are questions that don't have an answer. Along with those questions is the doubt that Peyton will ever get back to the big game. Eli could cement his place as the one with the most rings with a win tonight.

Eli also gets the chance to win it on his brothers home turf, against his brothers biggest QB rival. Which wraps up to more of the reasons why this is a big Super Bowl. The fact that he gets the chance to win the Super Bowl in his brothers stadium is the stuff made of movie scripts. And he also gets another crack at Brady. Brady is a guaranteed hall of fame QB. But can he get past Eli? He didn't do it the first time, he may not tonight either. If Eli wins this he will cement himself as Brady's nemesis.

Also a win tonight has to start the discussion for the Hall for Eli. Two Super Bowl trophies under the belt of a QB is always a nice thing going into hall voting. I don't think Eli could do it on numbers alone. Once again, he doesn't have the gaudy numbers that his brother has. Peyton could make it into the hall on numbers alone, the Super Bowl ring just adds to it. Eli can't make in on numbers alone. And one ring helps his case a little, but the addition of a second ring would put him on the path to Canton. You can say all you want about a QB but you can't argue rings.

My last reason is simple and goes back to this years preseason. Eli raised a stir with a statement he made, saying that he felt like he should be considered in the same class of QBs such as Brady, Brees, Rodgers and his brother. But that he got disrespected in that discussion. Most of the sports world laughed at this. Eli had a terrible year the year before, and once again had not been able to step out of that shadow of the lesser of the Mannings. Eli an elite QB? No way was this even conceivable. Well now 5 months later the mantra is you can't spell Elite without Eli. He has already backed his words up. Now he gets a chance to shove them down everyones throat. With one game he can beat the QB that he was considered less than. He can surpass his brother in the rings category and in doing so vault himself out of the shadow that is Peyton Manning. This is definitely the biggest game of Eli Manning's career.

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Now to my pick. Some people tend to forget that the Giants already beat New England in Foxboro this year. The final score of that game was 24 - 20. The odds have New England by 2.5 last I checked. I find that amazing. The Patriots have one win against a team with a WINNING record this year. That team? The Baltimore Ravens, a game that was handed to them by the Ravens at the end of the game. A dropped TD and a missed chip shot FG (laces out!!!!) sent New England to Indy. The Patriots have had one of the worse Pass defenses in the league this year. Something I expect Elite...I mean Eli to pick apart. Now don't think that is going to stop Brady. Brady is a man on a mission. Something that leaves me shaking in my boots and I have no emotional interest in the game whatsoever. Bottom line is you don't want a determined Brady going against you in this game. That being said, the Giants have faced the two tougher teams so far. I believe they have been the best NFL team the past several weeks, and I think they are a more complete team than the Patriots are this year.

The key to the Giants success is the fact that Eli has not turned the ball over. And in order to win he has to keep it that way. Eli has to take care of the ball tonight. The Giants cannot afford to give the Patriots offense easy scoring opportunities. If Eli takes care of the football and plays like he has this whole postseason, then New York will win.

I say that Eli WILL do just that. My pick is Giants 28 - New England 24

Winter Meetings Madness: Where did This Money Come From???

Jeffrey Loria what is your secret? How did you manage to save that much money? Like most people I'm shocked at the results of this year's MLB Winter Meetings, not really at what transpired (overpaying great players) but the who. The Florida, I mean Miami Marlins, terrible uniforms and all committed $191 million to 3 players...read that last sentence again. The MIAMI MARLINS, spent more than every other team not the Anaheim Angels (props to Jerry Dipoto on grabbing the two biggest free agents this year).

Getting back on track, I live in South Florida so I know first hand just how terrible the Marlins have been financially. They always have had one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, which is kind of weird because they are in Miami. Only once in the twenty years of existence have they had a payroll over $60 million. With the money they committed to their three signings, Heath Bell, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle respectively, the money owed to those three yearly is $40.7 million...that would be the ninth highest payroll in the teams history. I'm not exagerating, look it up.

So where did this plethora of cash come from? I sure know they didn't get this money from attendence. They've been equally low in attendence as they have been in payroll, always being in the lower third of the MLB...even in the years they won the World Series. Did Loria save all this money, which he split with the Dolphins anyway for sharing that god awful stadium. Is he banking on the new stadium, which is practically in Cuba, to sellout on a daily basis to pay these salaries? Or did he have outside help, like from a Nevin Shapiro type? I'm not buying that they actually have this cash for the next six years, but I'll leave that up to the opinion of my readers.

Last point, you know why Pujols signed with the Angels? He got a "No Trade Clause". If you don't know what that means...look it up with the payroll nuget I fed you earlier. The Marlins offered him ten years, and $275 million...yea he would've gotten A-Rod status, but he chose the DH role in a winnable division (they are getting the Astros in 2013). But no one received a No Trade Clause. This means that at any time anyone of these players can be shipped off, no questions asked excpet will it be raining when I land. This shows me that, not only are the Marlins limited in the cash, but this is just a two or three year thing. This is just a big show to open this stadium, and then it will be back to the crappy payroll and low attendence...or so I think.

Well that's all I got for today, after the shock of the winter meetings is over I will be back to usual posting, but I enjoy this so much it might take a while!

Until next time...Jonny V

Winter Meetings Madness: Shiny New Halos

As if these meetings can't get any more exciting! They Angels flew in from nowhere and snatched up two of the most prized free agents in Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson. Pujols at an insane amount of money (254 Million over 10 years, and a no-trade clause) and a hefty amount for Wilson (77.5 Million over 5 years)

Like the Marlins just hours before, the Angels blindsided the meetings with their unexpected spending spree. How strange of a winter meetings can you get? The Yankees and Red Sox are virtually silent and the Marlins and Angels are the two teams making all the headlines. The Angels have quickly thrust themselves into serious post season contenders. Pujols is going to be solid in the middle of that lineup and CJ Wilson will not have to make much of an adjustment playing for them. Same Division, different Uni.

The Angels were smart, as the only known American League team to go after Pujols they dangled the DH in front of him, they gave him his no trade clause that Miami was unwilling to give him and they gave him the extra year and 54 Million that St Louis wouldn't offer. Great Job by the front office.

They then dangled the home town factor to CJ Wilson, gave him a reasonable offer to his standards and also dangled the fact that he would have Pujols for run support. Once again they got their man. Kudos to the Halo's front office. They got the job done when nobody saw them coming.

Winter Meetings Madness: Fish Frenzy

Where did the Miami Marlins come from? A team that was the brunt of many jokes during the season last year has suddenly thrust themselves in the national spotlight.

Some of it not so good (in example: that awful thing they call a Logo, and the debacle that is their centerfield HR celebration machine that looks like something out of vegas (if you haven't seen this yet take a look http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fish_bytes/2011/10/new-home-run-celebration-sculpture-at-marlins-stadium-a-work-of-art.html))

Some of it good (signing Guillen as Manager as well as several new signings, willing to spend cash etc)

For whatever reason it seems like Pat Riley and Jeff Loria switched bodies, because the Marlins have become a signing machine. They saw the writing on the wall, The Miami Heat went out and signed the 3 Kings, The Florida Panthers (Still in First!!!!) completely overhauled the team, making it clear to the fans they were serious about turning around the team. The Dolphins.....no update there. (Maybe some stiff competition from the surrounding pro teams will wake that front office up as well). The Marlins realized they were going into a brand-spanking new stadium with a team that ended the 2011 season in last place and 18 games under .500. With the Heat now literally in the same neighborhood, they had to find something to bring the fans in.

Enter the 2011 Winter Meetings. The Marlins made a big splash by signing Heath Bell as their closer and Jose Reyes to a very lucrative contract (6 years $106 Million). A move that has created a stir in its own right. Personally I'm not completely sold on the Reyes move for Miami. My partner in crime Jonny V can tell you first hand that while Reyes can be (emphasis on the word can) one of the most electric players in the game he also is very inconsistent. Especially for that amount of cash. Reyes has been one of the faces of the Mets franchise since he burst onto the scene in 2003. Yet the Mets seemed done with him, they certainly haven't put up near the fight that St Louis has for Pujols. Has to be some reasoning behind that.

The move has definitely caused a stir in the Marlins organization. Especially with the self-proclaimed new Mr Marlin. Hanley Ramirez, who is expected to vacate his position of SS for the new acquisition. So far the rumors and press releases relating to Hanley have resembled that of a Machine Gun firing. Before the signing of Reyes it was stated that Hanley was ok with the move to 3rd. Now there are several conflicting reports. The reports have all followed the same pattern. A source close to Hanley states something that gives Hanley a negative outlook (refusal to change positions. asking for a trade. asking for a raise) followed by some scurrying in the Marlin press and then a hush hush release by the team that none of the above is true. Hanley hasn't said much of anything. And with the Marlins history of how it handles its players in almost a mafia like setting. And the credible sources that WERE stating the rumors about Hanley. I have to believe this is far from over with him.

The Marlins have the potential to have a stellar left side of the infield. But they also have two head cases to deal with in those spots. And one is feeling like his status of Alpha Male is being challenged. Can Hanley Mature? or will the Marlins have to ship him somewhere to prevent an implosion. Only time will tell.

Meanwhile the Marlins continue to make headlines. They signed Buehrle to a 4 year deal, and are sure to make a play for a couple more Free Agents before this is all done. Miami figured out that in order to stay relevant in South Florida as well as fill the seats of their new stadium they would have to make some big moves. So far so good for them. Have they been the right moves? Once again only time will tell. But they should be fun to watch both on and off the field for the next year.

Winter Meetings Madness: Pujols

So is it just me, or is everyone now waiting for Pujols to pull a Lebron? And what I mean by that is pulling together the Boys & Girls Club of St Louis, calling ESPN and saying "Hey I know Lebron got ripped up and down for The Decision, but I'm untouchable because I'm Albert Pujols. Lets get this production going!"

Seriously how can he lose by doing this. Look at the craziness that has followed THE marquis free agent of this years MLB offseason. The Cardinals are desperate to retain him, last night the Marlins. Again the FLO...MIAMI FREAKING MARLINS are offering him a 10 year $220 Million dollar deal. (more on them in a later post) We live in South Florida, Twitter and Facebook were buzzing with one name. Pujols. And for a small short lived moment, it looked like Miami just might pull it off. In fact Cardinals officials had resigned to the fact that Albert was taking his talents to South Beach. Right now it looks like he just used Miami to extract every red cent out of St Louis. But the possibility looked very real 24 hours ago.

Instead now the Marlins are out, the Cardinals are the front runners. But there are still teams trying to make a play. The numbers being thrown around are outrageous. 10 years? Are you kidding me? A contract of that length will take him into his 40s, well into his 40s if he's actually later on in his 30s like some people think. What are teams thinking signing a power hitting 1b into his 40s? He has hit his peak, he isn't going to get better. And yet these contracts will have him earning 20 million+ in 2019. This is crazy talk!

I am serious when I say that as well, he is well worth the money. But the 10 years is the real kicker in this whole thing. In the end the Marlins won by losing out on Pujols, Because if he flopped in Miami and his numbers started to decline, NO WAY are they going to be able to dump that contract in a trade. And whoever gets Albert will have the same situation. That contract is a rest of his career contract. Whoever gets him is stuck with him unless they are willing to eat Millions. And I know what you are saying, how can a team get "stuck" with Albert Pujols? With a contract that size there will most likely be one fan base going "we could get somebody really good if we could just unload Albert's contract" a sad but very realistic possibility.

Winter Meetings Madness

Sorry Jon and I haven't been posting. We have been to busy chatting amongst ourselves about the craziness that is the winter meetings. And less time on here posting our thoughts. So at least from me you will be getting my thoughts on several things related to the MLB winter meetings. Probably not all in one post either. In fact consider this a prologue to a whole group of Winter Meetings posts. Because who wants to read a bunch of random paragraphs lumped together into one post? Not me, and if I don't like it you don't deserve it as readers.

Urban Sellout

So yesterday morning the news we all knew was coming broke, Urban Meyer was heading to Ohio State. The rumors caught fire last week that the move was happening, and Meyer quickly denied them. But who did he think he was fooling. Nowadays ESPN doesn't just post baseless rumors on its home page, if they ever did. Urban could say what he wanted, but when the contract specifications started getting released everyone knew what was coming. Deny it as much as we wanted to, Florida fans had to come to grips with the fact that Meyer was going to become a Buckeye. And that his legacy at UF would never be the same.

Now granted, this isn't a move as tarnishing to a man's legacy like the whole Joe Paterno ordeal. But Meyer doesn't come out of this looking good at all. If Meyer had waited a few years, or gone to an NFL team to try his hand in the professional circuit it would have looked a whole lot better than it does now. Instead Meyer chose to head for OSU less than a year after calling it quits on UF, a decision that has left the fans at UF confused and disappointed. In a matter of one week the fans that would have defended Meyer's honor to their grave, were labeling him a sellout. Which honestly is a label that suits him well. Just ask the fans at the University of Utah, who will simply give the fans wearing Gator orange and blue a sympathetic "I told you so" smile and welcome them to their support group. Really we should have seen this coming, this is the same man who left Utah with a record of 22-2 to go coach the Florida Gators. Why did the fans at UF think he would treat the Gators differently?

Simply put, Urban Meyer's heart left UF when Tim Tebow graduated. He gave us a preview of things to come when he announced his leave of absence during Tebow's senior year. To recap, after getting out coached in the SEC Championship game by the king of sellouts, Nick Saban (I'm a bitter Dolphins fan), it was reported that Meyer was admitted to the hospital with chest pains. Which followed with him telling everyone he was ok, which was followed with him resigning as the UF coach, then coming back, then taking a leave of absence. A sequence of events that left everyone very confused about what was actually going on with Urban Meyer.

Fast Forward to the last year's offseason. Meyer announces that he is going to be on the sidelines for the season. Florida fans rejoice, but not with as much enthusiasm. They had already seen that Urban Meyer's coaching status was as concrete as a Kim Kardashian relationship status (yes, I did just go there). The post-Tebow Gators quickly showed that the proverbial ceiling had been reached for Meyer's Gators and the future was not so bright. His spread offense that Tebow ran to perfection looked boring and unimaginative under the direction of John Brantley, the sloppy rebound to the long relationship that was the Tebow era at UF. The team went on to a 7 - 5 regular season record, the mediocre record being punctuated by a blowout loss to FSU in the last game. Meyer stepped down shortly after, this time for good. The Gators started making the rounds for a replacement coach.

Once again it was clear, his heart had left UF. Anyone that doubted that then should realize it now. Because if it was really about spending time with his family, I wouldn't be writing this article now. But instead Meyer takes on the brand of a sellout. He took UF to the height of what they could accomplish with him and then he abandoned ship when the momentum started to shift. Leaving a floundering program in his wake. Ohio State fans should look at this and pay attention. They should prepare themselves for what they are getting. Urban Meyer has always brought Wins with him. But he has never been good at staying. Ask the people at both the University of Utah and the University of Florida. He is good at what he does, but he also joins an ever growing list of sellout coaches in the process. So enjoy him while you can OSU fans, and we will be here with a tissue and an "I told you so" when he leaves for greener pastures in 5 years.

Until Next Time Readers

Jordan