When six does not equal six

As a fan of the Olympics it pains me to have any criticism of the world's greatest sporting event but I just can't help it. The way we keep count of medals is wrong. Dead wrong.

On February 13 Apolo Anton Ohno earned his sixth Olympic medal. He skated to Silver in the Men's 1500m Final. Immediately broadcasts were saying he has tied Bonnie Blair as the the greatest Winter Olympian in American history.

Yes, he does have six medals and the chance to win more at these games.

Yes, Bonnie Blair earned six as well.

Yes, they are "technically" tied in medal count. That's the end of it though.

Bonnie Blair won five gold medals at three separate Olympics and one bronze in Lillehammer in 1994. Ohno could earn a gold medal in his third Olympics this year but he would not have the sheer amount of gold medals to be considered better than Blair.

I'm all for congratulating people on the overall number of medals but there is this strange disparity between number of medals earned and the color. I recall a moment when I checked the medal tracker on Vancouver 2010 website and found it rather odd that the United States and Germany were ahead of Switzerland even though the Swiss had three golds at the time and neither the U.S. nor Germany had more than one.

I would like to see, perhaps, a point system in place to gauge how well a country is doing in the games. Something simple where the different medals are weighted differently in points. Gold would be worth three points; silver, two and bronze, one point.

To see how the system would play out we can look at a few countries as guinea pigs.

The United States is currently in the numerical lead with 14 medals. Under the point system they would have 27 points (15 from five golds, six from three silvers and six from six bronzes) and a rather large command of first place still.

Next, we can look at Korea, Austria and Norway who are currently tied for fifth place with five medals each. In a points-based system Korea would rank higher than Austria and Norway because they have five better medals. Korea's three golds and two silvers would net them 13 points compared to Austria and Norway's nine.

I'm not suggesting this system is perfect but I think it is at least a better evaluation of quality versus quantity.

Ohno will almost assuredly win another medal in this games and NBC will loudly proclaim him as the greatest American Winter Olympian of all time.

That's all well and good for NBC.

I know who the real greatest Winter Olympian is, so does Bonnie.

Super Bowl XLIV Prediction

When it comes to the Super Bowl there are two types of games: the win that everyone sees coming because the two teams are nowhere close to one another in skill level and the tight game that could go either way. This year is definitely the latter.

Usually before the Super Bowl I’ll have a team locked in that I think will win – not necessarily the one I want to win though. In 2008 I was thought the Giants would win, though not in such dramatic fashion. The same was true in 2009 with the Steelers. This year though has been very perplexing.

In my heart I really want to see the Saints win. While I’m not a big fan of New Orleans in any way I just think winning a Super Bowl would mean so much to that city and the Saints fanbase. A Super Bowl ring would also greatly help Drew Brees career. With a ring he would be placed where he rightly belongs – the ranks of the elite players in this league.

The Colts are definitely the more dominant team on paper and on the field most days. While I do not think the loss of DE Dwight Freeney will be as devastating to the Colts as some people say my dad disagrees. He thinks it would be one of the biggest pre-Super Bowl injuries in recent history. We both agreed that he will see some time, albeit limited snaps, during must-pass third down situations.

Offensively these two teams are very similar. Elite QB: check. 2-3 good receivers: check. The biggest offensive difference I see with these teams is with the backs and tight ends. Joseph Addai is a good runner but Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush and Mike Bell are a better overall rushing unit. On the flip side, Indianapolis wins out in the tight end category. Dallas Clark is possibly the best tight end in football right now. While Jeremy Shockey can catch the ball and get some yards I still can’t see him being able to make a bigger impact than Clark.

When it really comes down to it I really like the Saints in this game. If you’re going to cheer for an underdog you might as well cheer for the underdog that’s never been to a Super Bowl and was nearly washed away by Hurricane Katrina.

I’m picking the Who-Dats to win 32-27.

--Photo from nfl.com

Divisional Matchups and Predictions

Last weekend I finished a paltry 1-3 in my predictions, I'm hoping to greatly improve that score this weekend. I correctly predicted Dallas' win but failed to realize that the Jets really are a much better team than the Bengals, the Ravens really wanted to stomp the Pats and that my Packers could just not overcome a 21 point deficit to win the game.

Enough looking back it's time to check out this weekend's match-ups.

Saturday

NFC Divisional Round: Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints - 4:30 EST

This game looks to be a repeat of the Cardinals previous playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. Both teams have high scoring offenses and capable defenses. As with the previous match-up the quarterbacks will play the biggest roll in determining who wins. Kurt Warner is coming off an amazing 29 of 33, 379 yard and five touchdowns performance. Drew Brees hasn't had to play a meaningful game for quite a while now and will have to become the quarterback he was at the beginning of the season. The real key to this game is going to be which defense can stifle the other team's quarterback the best. Both teams feature good running backs in Wells (Cardinals), Thomas and Bush (Saints) but the real key will be the passing game. If Warner stays out of interception and sack trouble he could having a field day picking apart the Saints secondary. His biggest obstacle will be Darren Sharper who was tied for the league high in interceptions with nine. Brees will just need to be his usual self. If he can put the ball where he wants it with each throw the Cards could get into a large hole - much like the one they put Green Bay in. This game will probably come down to a 4th quarter duel. I do like the Cardinals chances more just because they have been playing better down the stretch and New Orleans looked like they were just sitting back waiting for the playoffs all the way back in their first loss to the Cowboys.

Prediction: Cardinals win 41-38

AFC Divisional Round: Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts - 8:15 EST

The Ravens come to Lucas Oil Field with a lot of momentum coming off their upset win against New England. While the Pats packed it in during the first half look for Peyton Manning and the Colts to keep the defense on their toes all game. While Manning has historically not played well coming off a first-round bye in the playoffs he is one of the best quarterbacks in the league. I can't see Manning having four turnovers like Brady did. The Ravens need QB Joe Flacco to step his game up this time around. He threw for only four completions against New England and had a quarterback rating of 10.0. The Ravens will not be able to win this game on the shoulders of Ray Rice and the defense again. The Colts were able to beat the Ravens in week 11 by forcing them to kick field-goals instead of scoring touchdowns. They still won by only two points, 17-15. If the Ravens can keep the colts scoring corralled like that but still manage to get some touchdowns of their own they can win this. Realistically, this is the playoffs and this is Peyton Manning - he's going to make some plays. I like the Ravens' chances here but I'm going to have to go with the Colts in this one. Most of their key players are healthy and their defense has shown that they are good enough to at least stop a Ravens-type offense.

Prediction: Colts win 28-21

Wild-Card Matchups and Predictions

With the first round of the playoffs beginning shortly I wanted to get my two cents in on who I like for each match-up and my predictions for the games.

Saturday

AFC Wild-Card: New York Jets vs. Cincinnati Bengals - 4:30 ET

The Jets may have defeated the Bengals 37-0 last Sunday and have all the momentum going into this game but I just don't think they'll come out the winner in this game. You can say all you want about Cincy rolling over last weekend and you can say everything you want about the Jets running attack and defense but I can't see Bengals losing this one. The Bengals swept a tough AFC North with teams that play the same style of defense as the Jets, they're built to defeat a team like this and I think they will.

Prediction: Bengals win 27-17

NFC Wild-Card: Philidelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys - 8:00 ET

It's hard to beat a team three times in one season and this will be the case again Saturday night in Dallas. The Cowboys returned the favor to the Eagles for last year's 44-6 beating with a 24-0 thrashing of their own. While the Cowboys are playing their best football right now the Eagles are playing out of sync. If Philly gets its act together on offense with big plays to Maclin and Jackson they could quickly start to built a sizable lead. For the Cowboys they need to have another 200+ yard rushing performance. They have three good backs yet still throw the ball a lot each game. They had good results last week on the ground so I think they should stick with it. Two years ago the Cowboys beat the Giants twice in the season before losing the third game in the Wild-Card round, the same could happen tonight if the Cowboys aren't careful. I think this is actually the year the Cowboys win a playoff game and Tony Romo starts to gain a little more credibility.

Prediction: Cowboys win 34-24

Sunday

AFC Wild-Card: Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots - 1:00 ET

This is a hard game to pick: on one hand New England has not lost a home playoff game in Foxboro, on the other Baltimore has shown that they can be very streaky. New England looks worse for the wear at first glance with a season ending injury to Wes Welker and their earlier trades of Richard Seymour have softened up their defense. Belichick is one of the smartest coaches in the league and could make the Pats better just by shear will. The Ravens have shown great defense and offense several times this year but never consistently. Joe Flacco is returning to the post-season for his second time and has shown no fear of airing it out in big games. Ray Rice is running better than ever right now and could be a catalyst in this game if the Pats cannot contain him. I want to say the Ravens will win this but I'm just not sure. The loss of Welker will definitely hurt New England but they have a lot of weapons to use. In the end I think New England will keep their perfect home playoff record for at least one more game.

Prediction: Patriots win 34-27

Sunday

NFC Wild-Card: Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals 4:40 ET

Despite all the talk that the two lopsided victories Green Bay has over Arizona were, a) a pre-season match-up and b) a pointless game for the Cards; I think Green Bay will take this one. Rodgers is showing great poise heading into his first post-season foray and the Packers defense has shown they can stop the passing game with big plays from Charles Woodson. The Packers lead the league in takeaways (40) and with a streaky quarterback like Kurt Warner you could see the Packers run away with it if he starts throwing picks. Arizona does pose several threats of their own. They have shown that they have a capable running game with Wells and possess one of the greatest receiving tandems in the league. Despite how good the Packers secondary has been this season it has its holes. Roethlisberger picked it apart when it mattered most and Warner does possess that same ability and more than capable targets.

Prediction: Packers win 30-20

Ringing in the new year

With 2009 in the rear view mirror it's time to look back at the past year and take stock of what has happened. It is also time to look forward and see what may be, both in the world of sports and right here at SASportsGuy.

I promise I can explain my absence over the past month.

I got married.

I spent the first couple of weeks in December getting ready for the big day, Dec. 18. I then spent the next couple of weeks relaxing and enjoying my honeymoon in Disney World. It was a blast to be there for our honeymoon and my new wife's birthday, Dec. 26, but Disney is not the place to be at Christmas. Long lines for everything, even bathrooms.

Highlights of the trip were all the people who work at that parks telling us "Congratulations" all the time and my induction into the Green Army - you know those army men from Toy Story - we also broke the family record for the Mount Everest roller coaster. Ten times in two hours, that was a great night.

Looking back at the 2009 year in sports I've had a lot of mixed feelings. Some of my favorite teams did great, others did okay and some just plain sucked.

I watched the Rampage come storming back in the second half of last season. I watched the Missions play a couple of home games in the first round of the Texas League playoffs. I watched the Mets go from a guaranteed playoff team to the AAA Mets Replacement Squad. It's safe to say that your season is going bad when you have an entire starting pitching rotation on injury reserve in August. I also watched the Huskers fulfill my pre-season prophecy. I told everyone I could that the Huskers would take the Big 12 North this year and they did. Were it not for a questionable play review and some bad Nebraska offense we would be playing in a BCS Bowl game too. Much to my delight, I have also watched my beloved Packers and Aaron Rodgers romp around the NFL as one of the best teams in the league. We're playoff bound and honestly I like our chances of reaching the Super Bowl.

The biggest 2009 sports moment for me had to be learning that two days after our wedding my wife and I would be playing one another for the championship game in our fantasy league. I know I'll be sleeping on the couch for a while but I refused to tank the game and can now proclaim that I am the 2009 San Antonio Sports Guy Football League Champion.

There's so much more that happened but that would take way too much time for me to type and way too much time for anyone to read.

Looking forward to 2010 there's a lot to be excited about.

I'm really looking forward to my New Year's resolution: spend more time writing. I'm going to do everything I can to publish at least one post a week this year. I've been doing this one post a month thing for a year and it is time for me to step-up and really deliver. This blog is in its second year of existence and it deserves to be kept up with more. I plan on doing just that.

As for sports, I'm anxiously awaiting the result of Sunday's Packers playoff game. I know the Cardinals threw in the towel early last week but I just don't see them knocking of Green Bay. Our team is running on all cylinders right now: Rodgers is playing near flawless football, the defense is leading the league in takeaways and ranked No. 2 overall in the league and our offense is rolling along right now. My biggest concern is our secondary. The loss of Al Harris is going to be tough but I still like our chances.

The Rampage are looking good right now. We're still stuck at the bottom of our division at 16-16-3-2 but the season is far from over and we're only five points or so from being in the playoff hunt. If we play the same way we did in the second half of last season we could be looking at a nice playoff run. There's not a lot I enjoy more than watching hockey stretch into May and even June.

Even though the Mets 2009 season was a flop I'm excited for 2010. We just signed Jason Bay and if we get most of our injured guys back we can be a contender for the division again. Am I optimistic? Mildly. Am I hopeful? Of course.

February will be a great month with the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. I love the team sports we have here in the states but there is nothing more exciting to me than the Olympics. Watching the best athletes for all over the globe is amazing. I've seen some amazing Stanley Cup games but the Gold medal games in the Olympics can be completely awe-inspiring. I will still never forget watching Sweden win it all in Lillehammer during the 1994 games.

I'm feeling very positive about the coming year and what it holds in store. Anything could happen: the Mets could make a run, the Spurs could win a fifth title, my Rangers could win the cup for the first time in 15 years. The possibilities are endless.

When fantasy gets real

As the saying goes, you haven't really made it big until you're on prime time.

Fantasy football is big.

It's not big because millions of Americans are playing, it's not big because it dwarfs all the other fantasy leagues, it's big because it has invaded our psyche and embedded itself into our everyday lives.

We see pop-culture references to fantasy football in commercials, movies and in T.V. shows. fantasy football has always been a fringe joke - small filler material to make those in know laugh.

Until now.

There is not one, but two popular shows with fantasy football as the main focus. FX broadcasts the television series The League and there is the web series Fantasy Over Reality. The premise of both shows is the same - show the humor and obsession that we have with playing fantasy football in a way that is entertaining.

The similarities between the shows end there. Whereas one show, The League, is based more on humor and borderline obscene jokes; the other, Fantasy Over Reality, takes a milder, more league-based approach.

The League concerns the lives of five adults and the way that fantasy football can consume someone's life so completely. During the premier episode one of the characters, Kevin, makes a fantasy trade involving a real life criminals jail time. In the world that The League exists in the number six pick and a possible ten-year jail term can be dropped down to five-years by swapping the number one pick.

Scenarios like this populate the show. The characters' lives are always on display: Pete is splitting up with his wife, Ruxin can't get any "action" from his, Kevin is the commissioner and his wife may or may not run his team. Andre is the annoying friend who has money and is really just there because they don't have anyone better to replace him with. Taco, Kevin's brother, is everything you don't want your children to grow up to be. He's a crude, pot-smoking bum who doesn't seem to even know that he's playing in the league, despite the fact he won it one year.

Fantasy Over Reality takes a somewhat "softer" approach and forgoes the graphic language and situations of The League with an emphasis on what is actually happening between the teams. The main character is the commish, Cam Tilton, and his best friend Rhett Hayes. The league's defending champion is Rhett's wife, Andie. She has never lost to Rhett and their constant bickering about their teams playing one another is a constant source of amusement. Other characters include Cam's family - little brother, Neil, and his English cousin, Ike.

The best thing about the show is that real NFL players make cameo appearances. Maurice Jones-Drew, Mike Sims-Walker, Rashad Jennings and Andre Johnson. Matt Forte will be making an appearance in a future episode as well.

Including the players is great already but making them active characters in the show's plot is just classic. It's so good it's doubleplusgood. Rhett believes you have to find your fantasy players and give them a pep talk if you want them to perform, just like a coach does. Jones-Drew even admits to drafting himself with his first pick in his own league.

Extra kudos should be given to the guys behind Fantasy Over Reality for their viral marketing. I only found out about the show because of this.

I watched the pilot for The League and went to "Become a fan" of it on Facebook. A scant few minutes after I pressed the little button I got a message suggesting that if I liked that show I would like this other show, Fantasy Over Reality. I can only surmise that they have something set up that will automatically alert anyone who likes The League that there is another show. Is this a little sneaky? Yes. Is it absolutely brilliant? Yes.

Fantasy Over Reality also has a twitter feed that users can subscribe to @OverReality.

Shows like these could only exist and be popular in a world where fantasy football has become more than just a game that adult males play because they couldn't hack it at real football. We have embraced the "sport" and turned it into something more than a hobby. We have made it just another part of the American way of life.

UFL Says "Hello World!"

Thursday and Saturday of last week will be remembered for good football games.

No, I'm not talking about the Florida vs. LSU game. I'm not talking about the Nebraska vs. Mizzou game either.

I'm talking about the United Football League. The newest startup football league unveiled its product to the world on Thursday in the form of a nationally broadcast game. The Las Vegas Locomotives and the California Redwoods battled it out at Sam Boyd Stadium, the home of the UNLV football team. On Saturday the other two teams, the Florida Tuskers and the New York Sentinels hit the field at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Both Florida and Las Vegas had to come from behind to win their games with Las Vegas winning 30-17 and Florida storming back to a 35-13 victory.

With any fledgling sports league there is always a certain amount of initial buzz. People are interested in the "new and shiny" things in sports and the UFL is no exception.

I am a football fan first and foremost so I decided to jump headlong into the UFL and see what it was all about.

The games are broadcast on either VS or HDNet and each game is available from the UFL's website to be watched live or streaming after the games completion. This is important to note because:

A) The UFL has picked up a national broadcast sponsor. Versus may not carry the same importance to as say ESPN or CBSSports but that doesn't matter. What matters is that the UFL is being placed in front of American football fans to be seen.

B) Having the games available live online and then streamed afterwards means I can be a fan on my own time. I have the luxury of working at a place where I can watch a lot of games on the T.V. If I have to leave before the game's over I'm stuck trying to keep up with it through my phone or a web site once I get home. With the accessibility I'm given with the games I haven't missed a down. I can watch part of the game at one time, pause it, come back later and finish it up.

Having a nice website and a broadcast is all well and good but the biggest question facing the UFL is if the product will be good. There seems to be this weird stigma that if the teams playing aren't the first-team of an NFL team or one of the BCS conference college teams that the football product is lacking. When there are NFL teams who can't score a single point that's lacking. When a quarterback is getting paid millions of dollars but can't complete anywhere close to 50 percent of his passes that's lacking.

Here's an idea, watch the game! Don't complain about the football. You're watching football, that is reason enough to enjoy it.

For people who think all the UFL is castoffs from the NFL and players that didn't get drafted just watch a game and look at the stats. The quality of players is not so much a big deal as the quality of competition. If the teams are more closely matched the game is going to be better.

Here's a quick stat comparison of the leading quarterbacks last week in the UFL and NFL.

QB A: 20-26, 225 yards, 4 tds & 1 int

QB B: 20-34, 351 yards, 2 tds

QB C: 2-17, 23 yards, 0 tds

QB D: 21-31, 226 yards, 2 tds

Each of these quarterbacks won their games. Can you guess which ones are the UFL players just by looking at the stats? Of course not. If you must know A and D are the two UFL winners over last weekend. A is Brooks Bollinger, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys, and D is J.P. Losman, formerly of the Buffalo Bills. Even though they hadn't blow us all away with their performances in the NFL they each made some great passes over the weekend that helped their teams win. B and C are the two NFL players. B is Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys and D is Derek Anderson of the Cleveland Browns. Their stats were the best (Romo) and worst (Anderson) of a game winning quarterback for the NFL this past week. Anderson won his game 6-3 over the Bills. That was not a good football product to watch.

This isn't meant to be a competition. Nowhere has a member of the UFL stated that they are going to take on the NFL in any capacity. The best possible scenario that I can foresee would be the UFL acting as the minor league to the NFL. For whatever reason the NFL is the only major professional team sport league in the country to not have a minor league. The NHL as the AHL. The MLB has the MiLB and the NBA has the NBA-DLeague.

Will this ever actually happen? Who knows. What I do know is that the UFL is real football and if they play their cards right they can build a long lasting, successful league.

Give the new kids a chance and you might actually be a little bit impressed.

--UFL Logo from www.ufl-football.com