What exactly happened to the Philadelphia Eagles? A few weeks ago they were considered unstoppable, one of the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl. Then they get absolutely destroyed by the Cowboys in the final week of the regular season and everyone jumps off their bandwagon as fast as possible, and it seems for good reason. On Saturday they were once again destroyed, by the the same Cowboys that destroyed them a week earlier. And the Cowboys are now another symbol of the craziness that is the NFC.

The Cowboys were up and down all season. They lead the division, then looked like they would miss the playoffs, only to surge late and win the division from the Eagles. Their normally poor performance in the month of December proved to be just a myth this year, as it turned out to be perhaps their best month. And then, that little issue they had in the playoffs, mainly the fact they hadn’t won a game since 1996, seemed to disappear in a matter of 15 minutes.

It should be interesting to see what happens in the game today between Arizona and Green Bay. The matchup is very similar to yesterday’s. Arizona was at one time the ‘it’ team. Now they are stumbling after getting destroyed by the Packers last weekend. The Packers on the other hand seem to be surging, a real threat to the NFC crown. But, the way things have been going it would not shock me to see Arizona pull off the upset.

His career numbers are already impressive, and though he only has one Super Bowl win; he already ranks among the top QB’s to ever play the game. So how long until he is the undisputed greatest QB of all-time? Since his greatest competition is no longer active (though a case could be made for Brett Favre and Tom Brady is still in the prime of his already illustrious career), it seems as though Peyton Manning will soon pass the former greats as if they were standing still.

This may seem counterproductive to the NFL’s success, but hear me out.

This season seems like an excellent example that would support my argument. Just a mere twenty-four hours ago teams all around the league decided to mail in their performances in meaningless Week 17 games. Some because they already knew their seasons were over. Some because they knew that no matter the outcome, their playoff seedings were sealed. This obviously dilutes the importance of the NFL season. If the schedule were reduced to say 14 games, as it was in the olden days, this would greatly reduce the mailed in effort displayed by teams with nothing to play for in Weeks 16 and 17. It would leave two fewer weeks for players to suffer devastating injuries late in the season, i.e. Wes Welker this past week.

Now obviously there could be downsides to a reduce schedule, namely in the form of monetary concerns. For one, less games means less paychecks for players. But this shouldn’t be an issue, the two weeks lost in the regular season could be made up by paying players during the preseason. I mean the players already deserve to get paid during the preseason for having to play through that snooze-fest of a month.

There also could be an issue with television money. With fewer games, the television contracts are sure to be reduced by the amount of two games, which certainly could hurt the NFL’s overall bottom line. But, with fewer games it is possible that that revenue could be made up by increased attendance in markets that are struggling to sell out. With fewer games to sell, teams like Detroit, Jacksonville, etc. may find it easier to sell out 14 games as opposed to 16. And the other markets not struggling can increase the price of tickets, since there are scarcer numbers of them available. Because television contracts are split among all teams, an increase in ticket revenue would make up for the loss.

Now of course all this revenue talk is just a guess. There is the chance that overall revenue would drop with a drop in the number of games. But what is the goal of the NFL? I would say that it is to provide fans with the best overall football in the world, and the only way to do this is to have healthy players and a constant level of overall competition. Something that could be obtained from a 14 game season. So NFL, before you go changing the schedule please consider reducing the number of games instead of increasing them.

But are these recent developments outliers, a few bad apples? Or, and perhaps more likely, just the proverbial tip of the iceberg in coach/player abuse around college football?

If you think about it, there are over a hundred colleges in Division I alone. And the kids on these football teams have their entire collegiate and non-collegiate careers riding on the scholarship that the football coach has provided them. Now if you were a player and your coach was physically and/or psychologically abusing you, and you feared that by outing the coach you would be putting your scholarship in jeopardy, wouldn’t you be a little hesitant to blow the whistle?

So given the enormous amount of collegiate teams in the NCAA (Division I, II, etc.) Doesn’t it seem like the odds would favor more than two coaches exhibiting an abusive personality towards their players? So what do the recent events mean for the future of college football, moving forward?

I’m guessing the first wave will involve more stories, like the most recent stories, coming out implicating other head/assistant/coordinators coaches. Then, in response the NCAA will begin to issue stricter rules on coaches limits. Like the NFL and concussions, the NCAA will start to mandate what student athletes can and cannot do while injured. Then the NCAA will limit how long teams can practice a week, even more so than now, including what conditions they are allowed to practice in. Ultimately, the NCAA will begin to require strict monitoring of coaches actions while coaching their players, in order to make sure they are not abusing their powers.

It seems harsh now. But, harsh rules now, will be more than made up for by the physical and mental well being of the players in the NCAA.

A month ago it seemed that the conference championship match-ups were already set. In the AFC the Colts and Broncos were flying high; and in the NFC the Saints and Vikings seemed destined to meet in the most anticipated NFC championship game in history. A month later and the picture has never been murkier.

In the AFC, the Colts are still flying high, but their recent wins have been anything other than dominant. The Broncos meanwhile are struggling just to make the playoffs, and it seems the Chargers are now the team to beat; even more so than the undefeated Colts. Even more baffling is the play of the defending Super Bowl champs, the Steelers. They managed to already eliminate themselves from the playoffs, then proceeded to beat the Packers and Ravens (two playoff caliber teams) in back to back weeks. One of the big surprises this season was the Bengals. They are poised to win the AFC North, and yet seem to be just as much of a roller coaster as any other AFC playoff team. After dominating the likes of the Steelers and Ravens, they were embarrassed by the Vikings and just barely beat the Chiefs. And finally, the usually dominant Patriots have been hit or miss all season. One week they can destroy a playoff contender in the Jaguars, then lose to a .500 team in the Dolphins. The Colts and Chargers seem to be on a crash course in the AFC title game, but the season suggests that one or both will be upset in the playoffs.

Things are no clearer in the NFC. In fact they may even be murkier. The Saints, who looked unstoppable on offense, have really started to stumble down the stretch. They were a chip shot field goal away from a loss to the Redskins. Then, they lost two straight games against the Cowboys and Buccaneers. If they lose next week to a surging Panthers team, they potentially lose home field advantage to another stumbling team, the Vikings. The Vikings looked unstoppable as well early on. Then they lost two games in three weeks, by blow-out fashion, to the Cardinals and Panthers. Now they face a possible ‘schism’ between the head coach and the veteran QB Brett Favre. If they can’t turn things around quick they could go from possible number one seed to the fourth seed. The Vikings’ division rival, the Packers, have been hot and cold all year as well. They were beaten badly twice by the Vikings. Lost to a then winless Buccaneers team. And had no running game to speak of. Now they are surging and save for a last second loss to the Steelers seem poised to give the Vikings a run for their money in a second round rematch come January. The dark horse now is the Eagles. They seem to be getting hot at the right time, and look to carry momentum into the playoffs, but their offensive success seems to center on the breakout season by Desean Jackson. If a team manages to shut him down for one game in the playoffs, the Eagles’ offense could sputter right out of contention. And don’t forget about the Cardinals. Just last year they backed into the playoffs, then unleashed a fury of offense that carried them to the Super Bowl. This year history seems to be repeating itself as the Cardinals are stumbling into the playoffs, but if Warner and Fitzgerald get hot again they could pull the upset on any of the top contenders.

If I were you, I’d avoid betting any money on the playoffs this year because this year there will be no sure favorites; and we may be just as likely to see a Packers v. Bengals Super Bowl matchup, as we are to see a Saints v. Colts one.

Holliday has a career average of over .300. He also averages over 100 runs batted in, and nearly 30 home runs a season. Jason Bay puts up comparable statistics (.280 batting average, over 30 home runs, over 100 runs batted in) a season. Neither is a great outfielder, nor are they awful with the leather. Neither is much of a threat on the base paths, but what they lack in the field and on the base paths, they more than make up for with the lumber. And if teams are really more interested in Granderson and Bradley (neither of who are as good of players) it would seem to be a buyer’s market on Holliday and Bay. Yet the closest either has come to serious negotiations is Bay meeting with the Seattle Mariners in the previous few weeks. So what gives?

Some would argue that Holliday has eliminated himself from receiving the most lucrative offer from any team in the American League. This is because in his first half of the season in the American League, Holliday struggled to produce offensively with the Oakland A’s, leaving many to believe that his career is a product of lesser pitchers in the National League. But it could also be argued that the reason for his struggles was that he played his home games in a historically pitcher’s ballpark in Oakland.

Jason Bay seems a little more tricky to figure out. He doesn’t hit for average quite as well as Holliday, but he does seem to average more home runs and rbi’s per season than Holliday. Most of his career, like Holliday’s, took place in the National League, but after one full season in the American League he seems to be just as good hitting AL pitchers as NL pitchers.

It’s possible that these two players are holding strong to a high asking price, since they are the premiere every day players in free agency this off-season. It could also be that teams are trying to build from within and develop their own outfield trios. Perhaps the sneakiest explanation is that the Yankees acquired Curtis Granderson. The Yankees are after-all the team that spends the most each off-season it seems. They also were one of the few teams that appeared to be in the market for a big time outfielder after Johnny Damon became a free agent and Hideki Matsui left for Los Angeles. So perhaps both Bay and Holliday believed that the Yankees would be a serious bidder for their services. But once the Yankees traded for Granderson they took themselves out of the Bay/Holliday sweepstakes. Without the Yankees to up the ante, the market for Holliday/Bay seems a lot less competitive. Many of the big market teams are not looking for an outfielder, so until Bay/Holliday lower their asking prices, they will seem to remain unsigned.

As a sign of support Ochocinco was going to wear Chris Henry’s jersey this weekend as a farewell tribute. However, the NFL as it has shown in the past, reverted to their robotic, follow the rules to a T standard. They announced that if Ochocinco wore Henry’s jersey he would be fined, which was to be expected. Thankfully, the NFLPA also announced that they would reimburse Ochocinco for any fine he received, as to allow him to go through with his tribute.

But, once again the NFL decided to squash any attempt by their players to pay respect to a fellow player, and announced that the NFLPA would not be allowed to reimburse Ochocinco for any fine that was levied against him. Eventually Ochocinco decided to back off of his plans to pay respect to Henry, saying that he did not want the tribute to cause a “distraction.”

I think it’s about time the NFL received a heart transplant.

I know the NFL is very stringent when it comes to uniform uniformity. And to a certain extent it makes sense. You can’t allow your players to wear whatever they want because who knows what some players may come up with, as far as jersey modifications go. But it’s about time that the NFL develop some sort of tribute policy for their uniform policies. Sure, wearing another player’s jersey is a unorthodox, but the NFL has squashed even more subtle tributes before. When Jake Plummer wanted to wear a decal to pay tribute to Pat Tillman he wasn’t allowed. And when Peyton Manning wanted to wear black shoes to pay tribute to Johnny Unitas, he wasn’t allowed because the Colts’ shoe color at the time had to be white.

The NFL has already gained the nickname, No Fun League, with some fans. It would be in their best interest from a public relations standpoint to avoid having, No Feelings League, catch on as well. And that can be accomplished by allowing players to pay their respect to fellow fallen players, to a certain level. They don’t have to allow anything crazy. But is allowing a player to wear a decal, or a different color shoe, or another player’s jersey really too much to ask?

The plan seems ingenious. Sure there is no proposal for how it will be funded, yet. But, the new stadium would offer everything the Vikings could want. A glass, retractable, roof. A glass wall, larger than Cowboys Stadium, that will open out into a plaza area. Sixty-five thousand seats. A sixty-six percent increase in the number of suites. All the luxury amenities an NFL owner could want. So what’s the problem? The Vikings, who were absent from Thursday’s meeting, refuse to back the concept.

Why exactly are they not approving of the proposal? Simply put, they are holding a grudge against the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. Last month the commission decided to send the Vikings an ultimatum. Either sign a lease extension with the Metrodome, or by charged $4 million a year in rent for the remainder of the lease. Obviously at the time it seemed like an outlandish, and not well thought through move by the commission. And though it seems they still stand by the ultimatum, it should not effect the current proceedings.

Sure, the Vikings have every right to be angry with the commission for their attempt to force the Vikings to stay in Minnesota. But, if the Vikings are truly interested in staying in Minnesota long term, and getting a new stadium built, they should be interested in every stadium concept introduced. Especially one that is going to save nearly $100 million in construction costs, which is likely to be a little easier to finance than a $1 billion facility.

I am totally in favor of the Vikings getting a new stadium. They have possibly the worst stadium in all of football. It makes watching games awful. And it costs them millions in lost revenues each year. But, the Vikings need to big the bigger people here and not let other issues with the commission cloud their judgement. It not only harms the Vikings, by refusing to partner with the commission, it hurts Vikings’ fans. The last thing they want is for the team to not get a new stadium and move to another market.

To make matters worse for Mr. Woods, his sponsors have become wishy-washy on their relationship with the golfing star. Recently, Gatorade and Tag Heuer decided to reduce their connection to Tiger, while denying that it had anything to do with recent developments. However, one of Tiger’s other sponsors has made it blatantly clear that they no longer find Tiger to be an acceptable spokesperson. Accenture completely severed ties with him within the past few days.

It appears that Tiger’s image has been forever altered in a matter of a month. He’ll never be able to regain the family man image he once held and frankly there are more important things in his life right now than golfing. So I feel that it is time for Tiger to retire from the PGA.

It definitely is an unpopular option for Tiger’s career, at least from the standpoint of everyone who isn’t Tiger Woods. It would greatly reduce the interest level for the game of golf, primarily television viewership. His sponsors, particularly Nike should expect to see a dramatic decline in the sale of their golfing gear without his endorsement. And golf tournaments in general will suffer from the lack of Tiger Woods in their tournaments, primarily from lacking attendance. But from Tiger’s standpoint would retiring matter all that much?

It would seem unlikely. Save for his attempt at taking over Jack Nicklaus as the greatest golfer of all time, Woods loses nothing by leaving the game of golf now. He’s already the first ever billion dollar athlete, so losing winnings and endorsements means nothing to his well being. Heck, it would still seem likely he could gain endorsements even after he retires. If Tiger still feels the need to get his golf in, he could do what the rest of us amateurs do and book a tee-time at his local course, I doubt it would be hard for him to set that up being Tiger Woods and all.

Most would probably use keywords such as, idiot, lunatic, egomaniac, childish, joker, clown, etc. etc. Which on the surface would seem to indict Ochocinco as a negative figure. Someone who cared more about joking around, than winning a football game. Someone who cared more about his own persona than his team. But, it is the antics Ochocinco pulls that in fact make him the smartest man in the NFL.

This may at first be perceived as a ludicrous statement. But if one were to look closer at the results Chad Ochocinco’s antics have, one would see that this statement is at the very least, arguably correct.

What is the goal of any professional athlete, in any sport? One, to play at a high level and be successful at their sport. But secondly, especially in today’s game, to turn themselves into a successful marketing tool. Ochocinco has already completed the first goal. While he may talk a lot of trash, and act childish at times, it is hard to argue that Ochocinco isn’t one of the most talented wide receivers in the game. But this talent on the field is not what make Ochocinco so smart. It is his ability, off the field as well as on, to turn himself into one of the most marketable personalities in the league.

What other player in the NFL could trash talk to the extent Ochocinco does, without creating the least bit of hostility from opposing players and fans? Whether it is Ochocinco sending antacid to opposing defenders, or threatening to steal horns from opposing mascots, Ochocinco has developed an image that allows him to do these things and gain a chuckle from those targeted by his talk. It would not be a leap at all to say that opposing fans find themselves rooting for Ochocinco, just to see if he will in fact follow through with his promises.

Aside from being a media darling, Ochocinco has also positioned himself on the forefront of developing technology. A fact, that above all else, earns him the title of the NFL’s smartest man. Many athletes today now have social networking profiles, Twitter has become prevalent among many, but guess who started the trend? Ochocinco himself. If that wasn’t enough he is now developing his own channel in conjunction with Twitter, because who doesn’t get enough of him on Sunday afternoons? Aside from Twitter, Ochocinco has developed followings on other social sites like UStream. He may be the most fan connected star athlete in the country. If you were a potential sponsor, who would you want representing you? A fun-loving, fan connected all-star like Ochocinco, or a personality-less, talented, robotic athlete?

If the creation of the Ochocinco image alone isn’t enough to convince you that Ochocinco is in fact a genius, just consider that the fact you are reading this post is because you more than likely were searching for news on Mr. Ochocinco. Sure his antics may seem crazy, who else would legally change their name to correspond with their jersey number? But if they are tiresome, and no one in fact cares about what Ochocinco is doing, then why does every little thing he does and says make news headlines? I’ll tell you why, he is a bonafide marketing/publicity/personality creating genius!