Monthly Archives: January 2017

Football

2017 Conference Title Game Predictions

3-1 last week puts me at 5-3 for this playoffs. (20-10 all-time). Look at that, I didn’t believe in Aaron Rodgers again.

Green Bay Packers (12-6) @ Atlanta Falcons (12-5)

And I’m not quite sure I’m picking him here either. I was happy to see the Falcons live up to what I said last week about their game against the Seahawks. Matt Ryan and Co. have been disappointing for years now, but their amazing offense has felt like the real deal.

There are a lot of factors in play here. This is the last game in the Georgia Dome and you know the crowd will be insane. Matt Ryan has faced many playoff disappointments, so he’s hungry for a Super Bowl run. Atlanta’s offense was historically good, and it’s not like Green Bay is known for their defense. The Falcons beat the Pack by 1 back in the middle of the season, 33-32, winning the game in the last minute. Both Ryan and Rodgers were amazing in that game. We know Jordy Nelson is injured too, which hurts the Green Bay offense. Everything points to a shootout here, where the superior Atlanta firepower wins out.

But I really don’t want to pick against Aaron Rodgers again. I really don’t. He’s playing at an insane level right now. That whole narrative about him being a bad leader? Well, that’s went to hell. I can’t help but feels he’s going to pull this one out. It’ll be close, but whoever gets the ball last in this close one with at least 30 seconds left is probably going to win it, and if I had to pick a QB in this matchup it’s Rodgers

Packers 38, Falcons 35

Pittsburgh Steelers (13-5) @ New England Patriots (15-2)

Fun fact: when picking the Steelers last week, a big reason I came to that decision, other than the history of the Kansas City Chiefs choking away pretty much every important game with a coach who historically does poorly in the playoffs, is that I actually felt that the they are the best team in the AFC.

Let’s look at the Patriots. They had five games against playoff teams in the regular season: the Dolphins twice (won both), the Steelers (with Landry Jones at QB, a W) , the Texans (beat them 27-0, but lol Texans) and the Seahawks (loss). They also had wins over decent teams like the Ravens and Broncos. But I wouldn’t call their schedule remotely tough. So that 14-2 is a bit inflated. Despite the big record, I don’t feel super confident about the Patriots week in and week out. I guess I can’t completely explain this, but even the Texans hung around a little last week. Something feels off here.

Pittsburgh is hot. They’ve won nine straight. Their last loss was a close one against a really good Dallas Cowboy team. Le’Veon Bell is a monster. Roethlisberger is mostly playing well. They just beat the Chiefs again in Kansas City. Their defense has improved as the season progressed. This is a team that’s been there before.

Something just smells like upset.

Steelers 24, Patriots 21

Football

2017 NFL Divisional Round Predictions

2-2 last week (17-9 all-time). That’s what I get for believing in some Giants miracle and not believing in Aaron Rodgers.

Seattle Seahawks (11-5-1) @ Atlanta Falcons (11-5)

At first I was all ready to take the Seahawks under my “Matt Ryan has always been subpar in the playoffs” + “Seattle has the experience factor in their favor”. But I had to change my mind here for a few reasons.

One, I have to give Matt Ryan his due. He finally played like the quarterback everyone has said he’s been over the past few years. He, Julio Jones, Devonta Freeman, and Tevin Coleman have run an incredible offense here. If this were the Seahawks of a few years ago I’d say their defense could take Atlanta down…but this isn’t the same defense. I also don’t completely buy the Seahawks at this point. Yeah, them beating a banged up Lions team is no surprise, but the Falcons are a different story. Then again Seattle did down New England on the road back in November, so I might be underselling them.

You know what kind of teams Seattle reminds me of though? Those dynasty teams that are in their last few years where they are considered a threat by name, but they are probably losing to the hot new team. My favorite examples are the 97 Cowboys who dropped a Divisional Round game to the 2nd year Carolina Panthers and the 98 49ers, who lost to the Chris Chandler-Jamal Anderson Falcons. Their runs were just over. Just like Seattle’s probably is.

Plus maybe it was all Mike Smith’s fault.

Falcons 28, Seahawks 24

Houston Texans (10-7) @ New England Patriots (14-2)

What is there to say really? You know that the Patriots beat the Texans 27-0 with Jacoby Brissett at Quarterback, right?

Patriots 40, Texans 7

Green Bay Packers (11-6) @ Dallas Cowboys (13-3)

I’m ready to pick against Rodgers again! There’s a little too much of “omg we underrated Aaron Rodgers he’s gonna tear through the players” and we forget the Giants were a bit shaky all year. Plus, Dallas has the best weapon possible against Rodgers: Ezekiel Elliott moving the chains and creating long, time killing drives. Aaron Rodgers can’t beat you when he’s on the bench. Do we really think this Packer defense is slowing down Elliott?

Cowboys 20, Packers 13

Pittsburgh Steelers (12-5) @ Kansas City Chiefs (12-4)

Andy Reid sure knows how to put together great regular seasons. I just can’t bring myself to believe in the Chiefs. Weather it’s the coach (Reid), the playoff history (so many disappointing Chiefs losses, many of them when they had a first round bye), the QB (Alex Smith is good and all, but never going to scare you) I just can’t do it. I correctly predicted three years ago that Andrew Luck would beat them and he did. I like this Steelers team a lot. They’re on fire. They took care of business last week. They have good DVOA ratings. They seem superior in every way. I just think they’re better. Only thing that can stop Big Ben and co. is the weather. Even then, is that going to do Kansas City any favors?

Steelers 24, Chiefs 17

 

 

Football

2017 NFL Wildcard Predictions

Ok, Wildcard predictions! We went 9-2 two years ago and 6-5 last year for a total of 15-7. Let’s have a good year!

Oakland Raiders (12-4) @ Houston Texans (9-7)

What a depressing game. The Raiders looked primed for at minimum a showdown with the Patriots in these playoffs and maybe a Super Bowl run. Derek Carr then breaks his leg and now we’re here. Connor Cook inherits a solid running game, a great offensive line and good weapons at WR. On the flip side, this is his first NFL start ever. It’ll probably be bad…but who knows who what we’ll get!

But we know what we’re getting with Brock Osweiler. He stinks. And there isn’t much else in Houston to make me think they are going to really do anything against Oakland. Houston is ranked 29th in total DVOA, 30th in offense. Their defense is still considered Top 10, but when they are probably scoring three points it won’t matter.

Raiders 13, Texans 3

Detroit Lions (9-7) @ Seattle Seahawks (10-5-1)

Sure, Seattle isn’t the same team they’ve been over the past few years and Detroit looked good this year, but this has a big Russell Wilson game all over it. Speaking of DVOA, Detroit’s defense ranked dead last. Matthew Stafford hasn’t been the same since his finger injury either. There’s just nothing here to make me think Detroit is going to win a shootout against the Seahawks in Seattle. And the Seahawks will be scoring big points.

Seahawks 37, Lions 17

Miami Dolphins (10-6) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5)

Miami’s an old school team that can run the ball and pound away at a defense. And they beat Pittsburgh in October doing just that as Jay Ajayi rushed for 204 yards. I don’t think the Matt Moore starting deal is going to hurt Miami that much…I mean it’s not ideal but it isn’t like Ryan Tannehill is some great QB. Miami finally seems to have a good direction under new Head Coach Adam Gase. There’s a lot to like there.

But I am taking the Steelers. They looked great down the stretch (against subpar competition but still) and do have a couple of impressive wins this season. The Steelers feel like a good team hitting their stride. Sure, momentum isn’t everything, especially when you’re beating up on the Browns, but on paper they are the better team and have experience. It’ll be close though.

Steelers 22, Dolphins 21

New York Giants (11-5) @ Green Bay Packers (10-6)

Everyone is counting out the Giants this post-season. A lot of people off the Eli Manning train. Aaron Rodgers is hot and just led the Packers to what looked to be an unlikely division title. Where have I seen this script before?

The Giants should not be slept on. Their defense is great and probably a lot better off to play in a cold weather game than the Packers offense is. What am I missing? We’ve seen this twice before.

And there’s this. Mid-season, there was all this talk about how dysfunctional the Packers were and how Aaron Rodgers wasn’t a great leader. The Packers then reel off six straight wins, one of them quite impressive against the Seahawks…but otherwise against teams with real weaknesses the Packers could exploit (Jaguars, Texans and Bears are all bad, we went over Detroit’s terrible D and home against a disappointing Vikings team). Not really buying it. Not sure I should be buying the Giants either, but again, I feel like I’ve seen this script before.

Giants 27, Packers 17

 

 

Pro Wrestling

2016 RDTWorldofSport Wrestling Awards

RDTWorldofSport 2016 Wrestling Awards

I don’t have a real basis for this to be perfectly honest. It’s mostly my opinion with some searching around to see what some respected wrestling forums and writers think. Some categories get a Top 5 and some get a Top 3. Why? Because I said so. Also this will mostly be WWE, basically because that’s what I watched 99% of the time. But if something else catches my eye, it could make the awards. With that being said, here goes.

Moment of the Year

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura Wins the NXT Championship

 

Nakamura was on fire in WWE this year and didn’t even need to be on the main roster to do so. Nakamura was pretty much a phenom the moment he set foot in NXT. Winning the NXT Championship showed that NXT could get past the Sami Zayn, Finn Balor era, which honestly wasn’t a guarantee. The entire spectacle of the match is fantastic. Nakamura’s entrance with Lee England Jr. was incredible. The crowd was incredible. And when Nakamura hit Samoa Joe with the Kinshasa and won the title, the crowd erupted.

Second Place: Goldberg beats Brock Lesnar in 84 seconds

Third Place: Shane McMahon returns to RAW

Fourth Place: A.J. Styles debuts in the Royal Rumble

Fifth Place: Finn Balor wins the new WWE Universal Championship

Debut of the Year

Winner: A.J. Styles in WWE

There aren’t many ways the Royal Rumble can surprise us anymore, and even those on the inside knew that A.J. showing up in the Rumble was a possibility (since he has just signed with WWE), but WWE surprised us for sure here. A.J. Styles is pretty much the last major star that WWE had never truly had and for him to show up in the Rumble while the current “face” of WWE, Roman Reigns, awaited him in the ring, was truly epic and it’ll be hard for WWE to top that moment in a Royal Rumble ever again.

Second Place: Shinsuke Nakamura in NXT

Third Place: Bobby Roode in NXT

Fourth Place: Bayley on RAW

Fifth Place: Baron Corbin at Wrestlemania

Return of the Year

Winner: Shane McMahon on RAW

With WWE in need of a marquee match at Wrestlemania, the return of Shane McMahon and a match between him and The Undertaker in Hell in a Cell delivered. The crowd erupted for Shane, who hadn’t been seen in WWE for seven years. To my surprise, Shane stuck around after Wrestlemania and is still working for WWE today (as I thought he was just going for the Mania program and leaving). Watch the crowd reaction, it’s insane.

Second Place: Goldberg returns to RAW

Third Place: Seth Rollins returns at Extreme Rules

Fourth Place: Bayley returns to NXT to challenge Asuka

Fifth Place: Randy Orton returns on the Highlight Reel at Battleground

Match of the Year

Winner: A.J. Styles vs. John Cena – WWE Summerslam 2016

It’s amazing to me that Styles vs. Cena somehow served as a midcard feud. This was theoretically a dream match, the face of TNA for the last decade against the face of WWE. Of course, Styles vs. Cena pretty much put the rest of the main roster to shame with several five star performances. Notably, the one at Summerslam, which was at the end of the first hour, absolutely stole the show and made Styles into a superstar. John Cena put Styles over clean in 23 minutes of amazing back and forth action with great false finishes.

Second Place: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn – NXT Takeover: Dallas

Third Place: NXT World Tag Team Championship – Two out of Three Falls: The Revival © vs. DIY – NXT Takeover: Toronto

Fourth Place: NXT World Tag Team Championship: The Revival © vs. DIY – NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

Fifth Place: WWE Intercontinental Championship – Last Man Standing: Dean Ambrose © vs. Kevin Owens

Feud of the Year

Winner: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks

 

This feud was red hot to me all year. Understandable some became sick of the feud as they wrestled about six or seven different times on different events and some had also turned on Charlotte as a performer. The only issue I had with the feud was that WWE seemed to be going out of their way to create an undefeated on PPV streak for Charlotte. But otherwise I liked all of their matches and thought Hell in a Cell and the Iron Woman Match were strong. Starting with their triple threat at Wrestlemania with Becky Lynch, it really did feel like Women’s wrestling was becoming an important part of the show. The matches delivered, Women’s wrestling was elevated, and best yet we have a big heel for Bayley to dethrone…then a story if Sasha Banks turns heel on her. And that all spawns from this feud.

Second Place: A.J. Styles vs. John Cena

Third Place: Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

Fourth Place: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe

Fifth Place: Shane McMahon vs. Stephanie McMahon

Biggest Disappointment of the Year

Winner: Brock Lesnar’s 2016

 

Lesnar had dominated and was without a doubt the biggest name in WWE pretty much since he returned, and especially since he beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXX. He had a huge 2014 after that, beating John Cena for the title in dominating fashion and despite barely being there still being the biggest star. In 2015 he was a part of two match of the year candidates (triple threat at the Rumble and vs. Reigns at Mania), a feud of the year candidate (vs. Undertaker) and again seemed like his dominate self. What the heck happened in 2016? He kicked off the year with a disappointing Royal Rumble appearance where a feud with the Wyatts seemed imminent. A feud with Ambrose spawned from a triple threat match at Fastlane and the Wyatt’s deal was quickly dropped after Lesnar beat Luke Harper at Roadblock. Match with Ambrose was one of those that hurt both guys instead of elevating or establishing anyone. Came back to fight and bloody Randy Orton in a match that really didn’t seem like a big deal and there wasn’t any follow up. Survivor Series was the last match for Lesnar where he lost to Goldberg in 84 seconds, although that was probably the most interesting thing he did all year. Nonetheless, the aura took a huge hit this year and I’m not sure the product would be any different if he wasn’t here, which is a vastly different statement than you could make in 2014 or 2015.

Second Place: Roman Reigns’ rise to the top

Third Place: Roman Reigns vs. Triple H – Wrestlemania 32

Fourth Place: Wrestlemania 32

Fifth Place: Bayley’s RAW booking

Best Show of the Year

Winner: NXT Takeover: Dallas

Nakamura’s debut vs. Zayn. Balor vs. Joe. Bayley dropping the title to Asuka. Revival vs. American Alpha. Really kinda hard to beat any way you look at it. This totally beat out the following night’s Wrestlemania, that’s for sure.

Second Place: NXT Takeover: Toronto

Third Place: WWE Royal Rumble

Fourth Place: WWE Money in the Bank

Fifth Place: NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

Non-Wrestler of the Year

Winner: Daniel Bryan, Smackdown GM

Bryan as Smackdown’s General Manager has been a fun role for him. He’s helped elevate the Miz back to a level we haven’t seen Miz since 2011. He’s charismatic and a genuine fun part of the show (unlike Mick Foley on RAW somehow, which is baffling considering how great Mick was in this role 16 years ago). Yes, it’s sad that we’ll never see Daniel Bryan wrestle again. But it’s great to see him as authoritative good guy on Smackdown and a big reason that it’s beating RAW out in the ratings.

Second Place: William Regal, NXT GM

Third Place: Paul Heyman, Manager

Fourth Place: Shane McMahon, Smackdown Commissioner

Fifth Place: Stephanie McMahon, RAW Comissioner

Best Surprisingly Good Angle

Winner: Heath Slater gets a Smackdown Contract

Somehow Smackdown put together Heath Slater and Rhyno…RHYNO?!…and that’s become one of the hottest acts in the company. Heath Slater has probably the most underrated guy in the company to be fair as he’s been entertaining in pretty much everything he’s done since getting beat up by the legends in 2013. The entire angle with Slater not getting drafted, to begging for a job on RAW and Smackdown (the Slater-Lesnar segment may have been Lesnar’s best all year, interestingly enough) to finding Rhyno as a partner and winning the Tag titles with him was nothing short of brilliant.

Second Place: Braun Strowman runs through RAW and Sami Zayn

Third Place: Jericho’s List

Fourth Place: Randy Orton joins the Wyatts

Fifth Place: James Ellsworth beats A.J. Styles three times

Woman of the Year

Winner: Sasha Banks (WWE)

Charlotte may be the woman WWE is looking to push as the face to establish the division, and that’s not a bad choice, but the fans have been 100% behind “the Boss” all year and each of her title wins have been met with HUGE reactions. If Sasha Banks can stay healthy, there’s no reason that her and Bayley can’t have a great feud in 2017 (like they did for NXT in 2015) and push the division to even greater heights. With all due respect to Charlotte, that’s where the money is.

Second Place: Charlotte (WWE)

Third Place: Bayley (NXT/WWE)

Fourth Place: Asuka (NXT)

Fifth Place: Alexa Bliss (NXT/WWE)

Tag Team of the Year

Winner: The New Day (WWE)

How could it not be them? While yes, it seems that their star is finally fading, the truth is the New Day is still one of the most over and entertaining acts in WWE. It’s amazing considering just how awful they seemed when they started out in early 2015. They beat Demolition’s title reign record and I hope they can somehow regain some freshness for 2017.

Second Place: The Revival (NXT)

Third Place: DIY (NXT)

Fourth Place: American Alpha (NXT/WWE)

Fifth Place: Health Slater and Rhyno (WWE)

Wrestler of the Year

Winner: A.J. Styles (WWE)

 

How can it not be Styles? The Face that Runs the Place stepped into WWE and immediately became a top star…then eventually THE top star. He was so good WWE basically had no choice but to put the WWE World Championship on him nine months into his run. He had great matches with Roman Reigns, John Cena and Dean Ambrose on Pay-Per-View. No one is better than A.J. Styles right now.

Second Place: Shinsuke Nakamura (NXT)

Third Place: Samoa Joe (NXT)

Fourth Place: Kevin Owens (WWE)

Fifth Place: Broken Matt Hardy (TNA)