Was it really better? (Casey)

So after we all watched the Jazz totally put there tails between there legs and just stare at the Spurs as they beat them down it makes you wonder these two questions. Was it really worth it for the Jazz to get into the playoffs? And if so, what did the Jazz really gain in playoff experience from the total beatdowns that they took at the hands on the Spurs? My quick thought is they gained very little from being in the playoffs and they learned very little. Its always good to see your team win but at what cost? You were in the playoffs for 4 games and you not only got swept but you lost your 2 possible lottery picks and your young guys gained nothing in fact they struggled mightly the entire series. Now granted Favors played well but we all knew how good he could be and will be down the road. So just think about it and tell me what you think.

PLAYOFF BOUND!!!! (TYLER)

Well folks it is now final... The Utah Jazz are in the Playoffs! 

The Jazz currently sit 8th in the Western Conference and will face the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs, but the Jazz do have a chance to move up to 7th if Denver loses their next two games and the Jazz beat Portland on Thursday night. However it all shakes out the Jazz will be in an uphill battle in the first round, playing San Antonio if they stay at 8th Seed, or playing Oklahoma City if they make it to the 7th seed. Both prospects don't look to promising but the Jazz will get some valuable playoff experience for their young team, and Al Jefferson will finally make it back to the playoffs since he has only been there once, his rookie year in Boston before he was traded to Minnesota.

The only downside i can see to this chain of events is that the Jazz will now lose their own first round pick in the upcoming draft to Minnesota via the Al Jefferson trade, and will have to rely on the Golden State Warriors to land 8-14 in the lottery or the Jazz will be without a first round pick in what some say is one of the deepest drafts they have seen in a while.

But for now lets all celebrate making it into the playoffs and hope that the Jazz give the Spurs of the Thunder all they can handle in the first round. Here's to the PLAYOFFS!!!!

PLAYOFFS OR NOT PLAYOFFS!! (TYLER)

THIS IS MY DILEMMA!!!


So to put a little background behind my dilemma let me fill you in on a couple of details with the Jazz. The Jazz are set this year to receive Golden States first round pick in this years draft if the Warriors end up eighth or below in the lottery... also the Minnesota Timberwolves will receive the Jazz's first round pick if the Jazz make the playoffs (from the Al Jefferson trade). So now that you all know this, know that this years draft is supposed to be one of the deeper drafts the NBA has seen in a while. There is a lot of good players.

Currently the Jazz are just outside of the Playoffs sitting at 10th in the Western Conference. One and a half games behind Denver who is 8th. The Jazz have five games left in the season with four of them at home against Dallas (tonight), Orlando, Phoenix (who is currently 9th), and Portland. Their only road game is at Portland.

So me being a Jazz fan, i want my team to make the playoffs first off, but also want them to show well in the playoffs, you know, at least make a series of it and not get swept. And after talking with a friend of mine James Rust at ESPN700 he brought up a good point about all the young players on the Jazz getting some playoff experience even if a little. I really want to see the Jazz do well and keep progressing.
However, seeing as the Jazz would lose their first round pick to Minnesota if they do make the playoffs they would have to rely on Golden State to win enough games and luck out in the lottery so that the Jazz would get their pick in the first round. My worry is that the Jazz if they win enough and Golden State loses enough or gets lucky enough, then the Jazz wouldn't even have a first round pick this coming year and would lose out on some real talent coming out of college and would stay about par in the league.

So my question to all of you is what would you prefer... make the playoffs and chance not having any first round picks, or not make the playoffs and secure your own pick and possibly have two picks in the first round?

I don't know myself and i'm just about to the point of just being content with whatever happens which is lame. Let me know your thought in the comments below. And GO JAZZ!!!!..... i think.

Its Playoff Time! (Casey)

Its coming down to the end of the winter sports in america and the Playoffs are right around the corner. With the NBA season winding down and the NHL playoffs starting tonight its the beginning of some of the most exciting competition you will ever see. Now as most of you know I'm a big football fan and I love the NFL post season as well as the College football Bowl season but there is one set of playoffs in my mind that tops it and its the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The NHL playoffs if you have never seen them before will draw you in and get you hooked faster than any other playoff series. Unlike the NBA and the MLB playoffs the NHL plays almost every night, the intensity is ramped up and its unlike anything you have ever seen. This sports brings in the best of all the things I like to see, hitting, speed, ablility to do things that I could never do, and in some instances fighting. I think one of the more exciting first round games this year is going to be the Pittsburgh Penguins VS the Philadelphia Flyers. These two teams hate each other, in one of the last games of the season there was a big brawl that broke out where even the coaches where yelling at each other. The tension is high and it should be alot of fun to watch. So enjoy the playoffs whether they are the NBA or the NHL they are always a good watch!

I wanna hear from you, what sport has the best playoffs and why;

NBA?

NFL?

NHL?

MLB?

MLS?



Time for the Youth! (Casey)

Last Night the Utah Jazz played the #1 team in the West, 3 nights ago they played the #3 team in the west on there home court, 4 nights ago they played a very young, very hungery team in Golden State, and 6 nights ago they played a team that they are in a fight with to get a playoff spot and guess what, THEY WON THEM ALL. The Jazz over the last 4 games have come out and played like we havent seen them play before (even in February) they played defense, held Kobe to his lowest FG % of the year, and have been playing as a TEAM and there is 1 big reason in my mind why they are doing this good recently and its the YOUNG GUYS ARE GETTING GREAT MINUTES AND CONTRIBUTING. I wanna point out 2 of the many young guys that are playing very well as of late and it should show that playing the young guys and the Jazz getting into the playoffs go hand and hand.

1. The First guy is big man 6'-10" 240 LB Derrick Favors. With the absence of Big Al, Favors has had the opportunity to play more minutes lately and boy has it shown. Over the last 4 games he has averaged 11.5 PPG, 13 Rebounds and played about 27 minutes. The guy is an athletic freak and he is only in his second year. I'm normally not on the same page with Kevin O'Conner in alot of his decisions but getting Favors from the Nets in that trade for D Will was probably, no WAS one of his best moves ever (Sure beats picking Raul Lopez over Tony Parker in the 2001 draft).
2. They other young guy that has really been impressive is Alec Burks. Burks has been getting more playing time with the absense of Raja Bell and has made the most of it. Over the last 4 games Burks has averaged 10.8 PPG and is shooting 9-12 (75%) from the free throw line and is 18-36 (50%) from the court in 26.25 minutes per game. He is not afraid to drive into the paint and take contact. He is very athletic and looks like he is going to make a big impact for the Jazz in years to come.

Now that is only 2 young guys that I'm impressed with but there have been some great preformaces by Gordon Hayward, Enes Kanter and of course your starters in Paul Millsap, Big Al, Devin Harris and yes even CJ Miles has played well. Another person I have been impressed with has been Jamaal Tinsley, when Earl Watson went down the Jazz needed a back up PG and Tinsley has been great. I love watching Earl Watson and want to see him come back and play but the one thing that Tinsley has that Earl does not is the fact that Jamaal is a shooting treat and that make defenses have to guard him. So whether or not the Jazz are going to make a big splash or fall flat on there bellys is still in the air in my mind but one thing is for certin they need to play the young guys more and prepare for the future cause this Jazz team right now has the pieces to be real good!

New places New faces! (Casey)

In the last week we have seen many different professional atheletes changing teams and moving to different locations. The NBA had its trade deadline and Free agency in the NFL is going on strong and with all the moves going on it made me wonder, After the Steelers let Hines Ward go and the Colts cut Peyton Manning who is going to be the next big name superstar to leave his team and play for someone else and I thought of a few more players that in my mind are going to leave;

• The first player i thought of was New York Yankees Shortstop Derek Jeter. Jeter has been with the Yankees since 1995 and his $51 million dollar contract ends after the 2013 year. Over the last few years the 37 year olds batting average has slumped from .334 in 2009 to .297 last year, his slugging precentage over that same time went from .465 to .388 and he is not the same player as he used to be. He has been Mr Yankee forever but if you don't produce you don't stay.
• Another player I see switching teams would be Kobe Bryant! Now hear me out on this Kobe has been a Laker since 1996, he is 33 years old and is still averaging about 29 points per game, but all that said you must remember he has been in the leauge for 15 years and his body has been through a ton. He has also shown lately that he is frusterated with some of the things that Laker management is doing and that the Laker players are not happy with there coach. So if the Lakers again make an early exit out of the playoffs again and continue to struggle and not fix the holes left on the team when the starters sit look for him to start looking around for a new landing spot where he can win another championship.
• The last person I thought of was Drew Brees. He has been in the NFL since 2001 when the Chargers drafted him and has been with the Saints since 2006 and has won a Super Bowl there. He has taken the city by storm and is a great QB but has had a pretty severe labrum injury while playing for the chargers. He has been in contract negotiations with the Saints for a while now and with the big contract that the Broncos just gave Peyton Manning after his injury I can see Drew using that to get all he can but they may not do that. It could be interesting.

So It will be interesting to see who may get cut or let go from there stable team. Life in professional sports is not easy or stable. If you guys can think of anyone that you might think is going to be let go, leave me a comment and let me know who and why!

Great Chant! (Casey)

http://youtu.be/Pa1DJ008t9Y

Now I know that people out there are not soccer fans but there are alot of sports that are missing cool things like this. When I heard this it got me excited to support some RSL Soccer. Check It out and get excited.

Bounty Hunters! (Casey)

So Last week the story broke that the New Orleans Saints defensive Coordinator was paying his players a bounty to knock out or possible injure key players on the opposing team. The amount of money ranged dependent on the severity of the hit or whether or not the person being hit was taken out of the game. Now at first I had no problem with it, I mean football is a violent sport and in my mind a defenses job is to keep the opositions star player from making plays any way possible and if you happened to injure someone in the proccess to get them out of the game it was all part of playing. But then I started thinking about it a little more and it made sense to enforce this NO BOUNTIES RULE and here is why. This Bounty thing is not only something offensive players have to worry about, defensive players are in the same boat. Take for example Eric Berry of the Kansas City Chiefs, in one of the first games of the year he was hit low by Steve Johnson and missed the entire season which in turn affected the Chiefs, at the time Eric Berry thought it was a clean block and thought nothing more of it until now. In a recent tweet Berry is begining to wonder if there was a bounty out on him? Its an interesting thought, you look at the NFL and look at the guys who are injured and it makes you wonder, was Peyton Mannings neck injury a result of players hitting him high, giving his neck an extra tug, trying to knock him out of the game to collect on some money? Was Steve Johnson trying to get an extra pay day by taking out Berry, And to that point what is to stop someone on all our favorite teams from getting taken out by a player trying to earn himself an extra couple thousand dollars? This is not just a Saints issue i can almost guarantee that more teams are doing this than we all think. So in a league that has been so concerned with saftey lately there better be some swift action to stop this before it gets worse! STEP UP ROGER! 

NEW YEAR AND NEW HOPE! (TYLER)

With today being the beginning of spring camp for BYU i got to thinking.... Why am i so excited for Spring Camps, the NFL Combine, and the NFL Draft? Why am i always checking around the web for any news on my teams? How do i so easily forget the last year of football to focus on the present status of my teams?.... Am i football deprived in March? Am i just crazy? The answer is YES to both. Also, i get this renewed hope for the coming year of football.... This is going to be the year that BYU breaks into the BCS.... This is the year that the Raiders are going to get back into the playoffs and contend for/win the Superbowl....... i'm now going to give you all time to laugh at me.......... done?.......... good. Now think about your own respected teams you cheer for..... Are all of your hopes just as high if not higher for your teams than mine are? 

Every year we go through this emotion high/low with our teams... we quit on them in frustration only to come back to their support after a few moments. We bash with other fans on whose team is better. We miserably drop to a low when our teams hit the bottom, or the end of their season. But even with all of the highs/lows of the last season we are firing once again on all cylinders for the coming year just a month after the season is over! This is one of the reasons football is so great! There is always hope that keeps us coming back for more. So here's to the coming up Championship Season for all of us! 

The JAZZ after 30 games. (Tyler)

My assessment of the Jazz after 30 games.

The Jazz have finished 30 games putting their record at 15-15 on the season so far. Let's take a look back at these last 10 games and see how they fared.

1. @Golden State         L 119-101
2. L.A. Lakers             W 96-87
3. @New York            L 99-88
4. @Indiana                 L 104-99
5. Oklahoma City         L 101-87
6. @Memphis              W 98-88
7. @New Orleans        L 86-80
8. @Oklahoma City      L 111-85
9. Washington              W 114-100
10. @Houston               L 101-85

It was a rough 10 games with a couple of good wins (Lakers, @Memphis) but some horrible losses too (@New Orleans, @Golden State) The Jazz lost to the Knicks at the beginning of Linsanity without Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. Two losses to Oklahoma City were kinda expected. 

To put it bluntly the Jazz finally hit a lot of road games and couldn't handle it. Whether it's the youth on the team, the scheme from Coach Corbin, or some kind of issue with the player's attitude... this problem needs to get fixed and fast if the Jazz stand any chance to make the playoffs at all. I myself still have hope for the playoffs, however my lofty expectations have dropped for where in the playoffs the Jazz could end up. I have them now only being able to reach the 7th spot in the Western Conference. Looking at the standings, i still think the Jazz can  beat out the likes of Denver, Houston, Memphis, and maybe even Portland to sneak into the playoffs but the team is going to need to perform better on the road to accomplish this, and the Jazz have 7 of their next 10 games on the road.. so we will get to see in short order how they play. Good Luck... and Go Jazz!

State Wrestles! (Casey)

Ok Im going to leave the world of national sports and jump into the world of local High School Sports. When I was in high school and possibly earlier than that the State Wrestles were my favorite weekend of the year. To this day I still feel the same way, the state wrestling tournament has become a family time, a time when myself and my parents as well as my brothers and sisters get together and spend Friday and Saturday watching our beloved Delta Rabbits wrestle for the State Title. Delta wrestling is one of the most storied programs in the state, it has a total of 29 state championships from 1955 through 2011 which is more than any other program in the state and is tied for the second most in the nation and according to the Deseret news they are the favorite to win there 30th title this weekend. This year Delta qualified 20 wrestlers for the tournament and had 2 kids win there individual region championships, Dane Nielson (160) and Ryan Peterson (182). There main competition this year are about the same as normal, Wasatch will be gunning for the Rabbits with 15 wrestlers. But this year the Rabbits will have to fend off former 4A power Payson as well as Uintah who is back in the 3A fold. Those teams qualified 17 wrestlers repectivly. Its should be a great time and some great wrestling. I for one love this weekend and will be spending most of it at the UCCU Center on the campus of UVU. My family is coming up and we get to enjoy each other. So if your bored or you are a sports fan looking for something to watch and want to watch some great individual competition head out to the State wrestling tournament and enjoy.

PS the Wrestling schedule is as follows: 4A and 5A are wrestling on Feb 15-16 and 1A, 2A, and 3A are wrestling 16-17. Get out and support these kids and programs and GO DELTA!

So What Now? (Casey)

So now that the Super Bowl has come and gone and of course College Football ended the first of January we as football fans are left with this question, WHAT NOW? Well lets not worry our heads, these days football is never really over. In fact it seems like with the NFL Network and all that you can get, your football fix can always be met. There is also a few events that keep Football alive, they are the chips and salsa before the meal, or the rolls that satisfy the small hunger before you dive into the steak, or the previews before the movie starts.

1. First to keep your Football Hunger alive for college football you get the NLI or National Signing day the first Wednesday of Febrary. This is were high school atheletes sign there commitment to the University that they want to go to school and play football for for the next 4 or 5 years. Now days with websites like Rivals.com and Scout.com and ESPN.com it is pretty easy for fans to check out who is comming to play for your school.
2. Next for the NFL after the Super Bowl you get the NFL Combine which will be taking place on February 22-28 in Indianapolis. This is where some of the top College atheletes who are trying to go pro are invited to show there strength, speed, and knowledge of the game.
3. Following the Combine is the begining of Spring Ball for College Football. Spring Ball usually starts sometime the first of March and is the first time the players and coaches can get on the Football field together and begin to form there teams.
4. Next up for the NFL is the NFL Draft which takes place on April 26-28. There is not much to say about this but I do admit I watch the draft and I write down all the picks and where they are from, for at least the 1st two rounds.
5. Following the draft is where things get a little slow for a while but fear not because Its summer and there is plenty of things you can do during the summer to fill this void.
6. Then when you think all is lost College and Pro football fall camps begin in July/August as well as the NFL Hall of Fame Game and Pre-Season on August 4th. Now I know its the Pre-season and all but in my book its football and one thing that I enjoy doing in the Pre-season is I look up team rosters and write down the players names, numbers, and positions they play of all the local talent from the state and follow them and see how they preform.

Now College Football usually begins its season right after that and here in state is no different. Here are the local teams first games and dates:

• BYU begins its 2012 season against Washington St at Lavell Edwards Stadium on Sept 1st
• Utah begins its 2012 season against Northern Colorado at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Aug 30th
• Utah State begins its 2012 season against Southern Utah at Romney Stadium on Sept 1st
• Weber State begins its 2012 season against Fresno State at Bulldog Stadium on Sept 1st

So fear not football fans before you know it we will have our beloved sport back and we can plant ourselves on our couches again and bask in the glory that is football. But until then let us all wet our palets with all the little things that go on till then. Enjoy the offseason!

The JAZZ after 20 games. (Tyler)

Here is my state of the franchise after 20 games played.

The Utah Jazz are currently 12-8 which puts them 3rd in the Northwest Division behind Denver (game and a half) and Oklahoma City (four and half games) the Jazz are tied record-wise with Portland but hold the tie-breaker over them currently.

Here is the breakdown of the last TEN games... 

The Jazz's record over the last TEN games was 6-4

1. New Jersey- W 107-94
2. @Denver- W 106-96
3. L.A. Clippers W 108-79
4. Dallas  L 91-94
5. Minnesota W 108-98
6. Toronto L 106-111
7. @Dallas L 101-116
8. Sacramento W 96-93
9. Portland W 93-89
10. L.A. Clippers L 107-105

The Jazz definitely had some good quality wins in the last ten games including beating Denver on the road, and beating Portland and Los Angeles at home (the first meeting anyway). The Jazz also gave away some close games to Dallas and Los Angeles (the second meeting) at home. Then there is the frustrating stinker of a game against Toronto that the Raptors had no place even being in the game. I however am still set in my optimism of the Jazz this year. And here is a few stat categories that may sway your thought process my way too...

The Jazz are currently... 

• 10th in the NBA in points per game at 97.2
• 3rd in blocks per game with 6.3
• 11th with steals per game with 8.3
• T-4th in fewest turnovers per game with 13.3
• 11th in rebounds per game
• 11th in offensive rebounds per game
• 12th in FG% at 45%
• 4th in free throw attempts per game
• 6th in free throws made

These stats here show me that the Jazz are playing tough together as a team and are also playing smart, they are very good in blocks, not committing turnovers, and getting to the free throw line a lot each game. The are better than most in scoring, getting steals, rebounding especially on the offensive side of the ball and overall shooting percentage. There are some things that are really hurting the Jazz though...

• 16th in defensive rebounds per game
• 74% free throw shooting.. 19th in NBA
• 29th in 3-point shooting with 29.3%
• 28th in attempts
• 28th in 3 pointers made

The Jazz rebound well on the offensive side, it's a mystery to me why they aren't as good on the defensive side, that can be fixed with a little more effort. Free throws are a tough one to swallow especially after last night's game against Los Angeles, but still a little more focus can improve that. 3-point shooting is horrible, the Jazz don't really have a consistent 3-point shooter, CJ Miles, Gordon Hayword, and Alec Burks were supposed to be the Jazz's deep threats but have not been good at all from behind the arc. Still i believe the Jazz have enough talent, toughness, and good bench play to push them into a good spot in the playoffs this year. Have far they go in the playoffs may be a different story but only time will tell. I for one still have high hopes. We will check in again after ten more games. Go Jazz!

Super Bowl Time! (Casey)

Well on Sunday Febuary 5th 2012 the annual unofficial holiday known as the Super Bowl will take place in Indianapois Indiana and it will feature the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Now in a previous post I couldn't have been further off for my predicted Super Bowl teams (Saints vs Ravens) but I began thinking about it and this game should be pretty exciting. I know we have already seen this game once before (17-14 Giants in Super Bowl XLII) but these two teams are different and they should put up alot of points.

• First off in there last meeting in 2008 Eli Manning had some late game heroics that ended up helping them win the game. I think this year it may come down to that again but this time Eli is more seasoned and has an amazing group of recivers around him (Victor Cruz, Mario Manningham, Hakeem Nicks, Jake Ballard) and 2 bruising running backs (Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw) to help move the ball up and down on this Patriots D that has played well in the playoffs but statistically during the year has been horrible. The Giants Defense is awesome. The Front 4 with Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora, and Chris Canty are in my opinion better than the D-line from there last Super Bowl team. There Linebackers are good but are going to be tested this game as well as there secondary. If the Giants can get pressure on Tom Brady they will be able to control this game but if they don't look out.
• Now for the Patriots. Bill Belichick is an evil genious and when you give him and Tom Brady time they can pick apart the other team and impose there will. Brady threw for over 5000 yard this year and this offense is really good IF Brady is on. During the AFC championship he admited to being off so dont expect that to happen again. The big thing in my mind that the Patriots have over the Giants is the matchup between the TE's and the Linebackers. Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez are beasts and will line up anywhere on the field.They are so big, strong and fast that Linebackers have a real hard time staying with them so look for Brady to continue to target them. But also because all the focus will be on those two look for "The Sneeky One" Wes Welker to have a big game. The Patriots Offensive line will be tested all day and I would imagine we can look forward to seeing little dink and dunk passes as well as some screens thrown to neutralize the Giants agressive defense.  The Patriots D is somewhat of a mystery. During the regular season they ranked at the botttom of the league in total defense but during the playoffs they have held there opponents to a total of 30 points. Vince Wilfork has been a stud in the middle of the D line and Brandon Spikes and Jerod Mayo have been playing well. But that secondary will have its hands full with the Giants WR's.

So with all that said I will take you back to week 9 where the New York Giants went into Foxboro and beat the Patriots 24-20. This is going to be about the same outcome. Look for the Giants to get pressure in Tom Bradys face and look for the Giants to finally establish a run game and control the clock and keep the ball out of Bradys hands. The 2008 Super Bowl between these 2 was a classic and this one should not disappoint. I have the Giants winning again late 23-20 with a Tynes FG.

We All Have Strange Sports Superstitions! Don't We?(Casey)

There was a video posted on youtube of a woman who was crying hysterically after the Packers lost on Sunday and was yelling at her friend. Why was she yelling you might ask, was her friend a Giants fan? Was her friend a  Bears fan? NO its because (with a little help from a few drinks) her friend told her to put sparkles on her fingernails and to wear her Clay Matthews jersey instead of  Aaron Rodgers Jersey. (http://youtu.be/ZjvXxwvg8mc) Then today at lunch I was watching a recorded Late Night With Jimmy Fallon from last night and he does this think called Late Night Hashtags where he has people tweet in different things from a topic he chooses and last night was called #GAMEDAYSUPERSTITIONS.(http://youtu.be/cRSyZZr44Wo) All I can say is I thought I was superstitious I have nothing on some of these people. Now I do admit I am superstitious, I do my little quarky things before and during alot of games and I'm not afraid to share them. For example one thing I like to do is buy a new hat and or t-shirt before every new BYU football season and wear it or them during the first game, if they win I keep wearing it until they lose then I have to change back into one of my old ones and start over. Another thing that I do is change seats alot and normally end up standing in one place for most of the game, if the place Im sitting does not work I move around. Yeah Im strange I know but in my head it works for the team, i mean forget all the hard work they put into preparing and practicing as long as I have my new hat on and Im standing in the corner of my living room I know they will win. I have been known also to leave a room and if they begin to win I will stay out of the room for a while just to make sure. But enough about me I want to know If Im in the norm here or if Im just crazy (crazier than I already know I am)? Sports fans are you superstitious and If so what are some of the funny/strange to outsiders things you do to help your team win if not only in our minds? Leave a comment below and let me know. Watch that Jimmy Fallon Video and you will realize that nothing you do is TO strange or embarrassing! So If you happen to come over to my house while Im watching a BYU, or Steelers, or even a Jazz game, don't be suprised if I move around alot Im just trying to help the team win!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UTAH JAZZ AFTER THE 1ST 10 GAMES. (TYLER)

So the first TEN games are finished for the Utah Jazz. Lets see they fared....

1. @LA LAKERS             L 71-96
2. @DENVER                   L 100-117
3. PHILADELPHIA          W 102-99
4. @SAN ANTONIO       L 89-104
5. NEW ORLEANS          W 94-90
6. MILWAUKEE              W 85-73
7. MEMPHIS                    W 94-85
8. @GOLDEN STATE     W 88-87
9. CLEVELAND               W 113-102
10. LA. LAKERS                L 87-90 (OT)

After looking at the Wins/Losses my assessment of the Jazz is that they are still a young team, trying to learn each other and how to play with each other. You can see early in the year the Jazz were taking licks from the likes of the Lakers, the Nuggets, and the Spurs. However, once the Jazz make it back home they are all but unstoppable. With the only loss at home coming to the Lakers in Overtime. Unfortunately you have to be able to beat the better teams to make it anywhere, the Jazz are playing well against lower tier teams like Cleveland and Milwaukee and have shown they can battle it out with the likes of Golden State and New Orleans. So how are the Jazz going to fare this season... pretty well... i will show you how.

• Youth- The Jazz are one of the youngest teams in the league, and C.J. Miles at 26 years is the longest tenured Jazz-man with 7 years. How will being young help? This season isn't your regular NBA season with only 66 games in a shorter amount of time, making way for back-to-back-to-back series with different teams in different cities. Older teams like the Spurs, Mavericks, and Lakers will wear out later in the season, making way for the younger bodies like the Thunder, Blazers, and Jazz to slide up spots in the playoff race.
• Defense- The main reason i bring this up is because after watching the Jazz vs. Lakers the other night, the Jazz were able to hold the Lakers to 78 points at the end of regulation, which is their lowest scoring total by far this season, the next closest being 90 against Memphis & Denver. Of course that game went into Overtime where the Lakers finished with 90 points. Also the Jazz are second in the NBA in Blocks per game giving them the title of Swat Lake City. An impressive stat considering that the Jazz are playing Jerry Sloan defense without Sloan as Coach.
• Bench Production- The Jazz have a talented and deep bench. The 2nd stringers include Earl Watson, C.J. Miles, Josh Howard, Derrick Favors, and Enes Kanter. Each of these players have shown that they can come into a game and continue to perform on the court.

The downfall i see to the Jazz hopes this year is the fact that they are 22nd in the NBA (out of 30) in Scoring. (points per game) and it is going to be tough to win big games if you cannot score enough, regardless of how good the defense of the team is. The addition of Josh Howard i think help the Jazz tremendously especially coming off the bench and he will become a difference maker for the Jazz sooner rather than later.

What also hurts the Jazz is the division they are playing in. Second only to the Southeast Division that has Miami, Orlando, and Atlanta,the Northwest Division is one of the toughest divisions in the NBA right now with Oklahoma City, Portland, Denver, and Utah. However the Western Conference is showing weakness with some of it's higher tier teams which could prove very helpful to the Jazz, climbing possibly as high as a 5 seed in the conference. I do think the Jazz will end up topping Denver in the division and finish 3rd behind OKC and Portland. But only time will tell, and i am excited to see what the Jazz can prove in the next 10 games.

My Playoff Predictions and Super Bowl Champs! (Casey)



Its one week into the NFL Playoffs and since my team got beat (In a heartbreaker for me) I think I can be less bias toward the remaining teams and pick a winner. So above is my bracket that I made to show who I think will move on from this weeks games and eventually become this years Super Bowl Champions. I have good reason for each of these games and why I picked them and i will explain every game and some of the reasons I picked who I picked.

• Game 1 This was a tough game on here for me to pick from this coming weekend and it is the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints game on Saturday at 2:30. This is a tough one because you are looking at the #1 overall Defense in San Francisco going up against 5000+ yard QB and a very potent offense in the Saints. But In the end I think the Saints are just on such a roll that they will be able to pull this out and beat the 49ers in a close game. I think that the fact that the game will be outdoors will aid the 49ers defense a little but there offense just hasn't shown that it can consistently put up points so if they are going to win they will need to make this a dirty game and just run the ball with Frank Gore and keep the ball out of Drew Brees hands. This one should be interesting I have the Saints 21 the 49ers 17.
• Game 2 Is the other NFC game and it is between the defending champs the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants on Sunday at 2:30. I picked the Giants because of two things. 1st the Giants are a team that has the capability to run the ball behind Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw which in turn will keep the ball from Aaron Rodgers and that scary good Packers offense. The 2nd reason is the fact that the Packers O-Line is hurt and this Giants Defensive front is one of the best in the NFL. If you stop Justin Tuck you will lose to Jason Pierre-Paul or Osi Umenyiora and visa versa. If the Giants can put pressure on Rodgers much like the Kansas City Chiefs did and if the offense can move the ball and own the clock they will be able to win this game. I have this game in a close one Giants 24, Packers 21!
• Now to the AFC and Game 1 between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos on Saturday at 6. Now Im going to have to use the T word here but bare with me on this. Tebow is a winning QB! The decisions he made agains Pittsburgh were great and he was able to throw the ball all over the field on them. But that was against a broken down Steelers team and now they have to face a well rested and healty Patriots team in Foxborough Massachusets where Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have been waiting and Im sure have come up with a plan to stop Saint Tebow. This Patriots team is just to good and I know that there are some great atheletes on the Broncos Defense but who are they going to stop? You stop the run, Brady kills you with the passing game with Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez, Branch, even Ochocinco. Now New Englands Defense is horrible but I think the offense will score enough to win the game. Patriots 38, Denver 17!
• Last game of the day will be between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans on Sunday at 11. Houston is just so young and on there backups backups backup QB in JJ Yates but having said that the kid wins games. But he has never faced a Defense like the Ravens and even with Arian Foster and Andre Johnson healty I dont think they will be able to overcome the Ravens Defense. Plus Its time for Joe Flacco to step up and win a playoff game and he has the weapons around him with Ray Rice running the ball and WR like Anquan Boldin (who will play) and Torrey Smith. Ravens 31 Houston 14!
• So that leaves in the NFC Championship Game, The New Orleans Saints Vs The New York Giants. Because the Saints will be the higher seed they will get home field advantage and for that reason alone they will win the game.All the same arguments I just made above apply to both team but I am going to pick the Saints in a slugfest, Saint 27, Giants 21!
• Next is the AFC Championship Game where the Patriots will host the Ravens. This game will be very interesting but I just think that the Ravens Defense will do just enough to slow down the Patriots, kind of follow the Steelers model of getting to Tom Brady, and the Ravens Offense will score enough on this bad Patriots D that they will pull it out and win the game in Foxborough! Ravens 17, Partriots 14!
• So Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis will be between the New Orleans Saints and the Baltimore Ravens. Again this is going to be a dome game and for some reason Drew Brees can put up crazy numbers in domes. The Ravens will get after him and cause problems but I see Brees slowing the game down, throwing all over the field and outpaceing the Ravens offense. This will be a great game and as much as it hurts (Being a Steelers Fan) I think the Ravens will have a shot at the end but Drew Brees will bring the Saints to the promise land. Saints 21, Ravens 20!

So there you have it my Playoff and Super Bowl predictions. Im sure you all agree with everything I have said and think that I am spot on with all my reasoning, but if you slightly disagree with me and want to let me know what you think will happen and why leave a comment and let me know. Thanks for reading and have fun watching these games!

So Who is the Champion? (Casey)

So when I found out like most of you that the BCS National Championship game was going to be a rematch between LSU and Alabama my first impression was I have already seen this game before. But as time went on things in my head began to change and I began to have a different opinion. Maybe this game would be better, maybe the first game was SO hyped and called the Game Of The Century that both teams came out tennative and they would open things up and show how good they both really were, after all this is the last college football game of the year and we wont see another game till September so get it while you can. Well on all accounts I was wrong and should have waited till September. Now I love to watch Defensive football but this game was offensive. 9 to 0 Alabama at half and not a touchdown scored till 4 minutes into the 4th quarter final score 21-0 Alabama wins. After the game both Alabama and LSU said they deserve the National Title. Both said that through there body of work they have both shown that they are the champs. Well I want to ask the question, Who do you think deserves the title. I know that the people who read this blog are smarter than the idiots that deside this thing now. So Im going to put down the body of work for 4 teams that I have heard people say they deserve the title and I want you to tell me who is the Champion in your mind. (Ranking on this list where from the time the game was played.)

1. Alabama: Alabama finished the season at 12-1 and 7-1 in the SEC and #1 in the AP poll. There schedule consisted of wins over; Kent State, #23 Penn State, North Texas, #14 Arkansas, #12 Florida, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Mississippi St, Georgia Southern, and #24 Auburn. Of all those teams only Arkansas finished in the AP top 25 at #5. There one loss came to #1 LSU who they in turn beat in the National title game. (Note Alabama did not play in the SEC Title game)
2. LSU: LSU finished the season at 13-1 and 8-0 in the SEC and #2 in the AP poll. There schedule consisted of wins over; #3 Oregon, Northwestern State, #25 Mississippi State, #16 West Virginia, Kentucky, #17 Florida, Tennessee, #20 Auburn, #2 Alabama, Western Kentucky, Ole Miss, #3 Arkansas, and #14 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, of those teams Oregon(#4), Arkansas(#5), West Virginia(#17), and Georgia(#19) finished in the AP Top 25. There only loss game in the BCS title game to eventual #1 Alabama.
3. Oklahoma State: The Cowboys finished the season at 12-1 and 8-1 in the Big 12 and #3 in the AP poll. There season consisted of wins over; Louisiana-Lafayette, Arizona, Tulsa, #8 Texas A&M, Kansas, #22 Texas, Missouri, Baylor, #14 Kansas St, Texas Tech, #10 Oklahoma, and #4 Stanford. They also won the Big 12. Of the teams they beat Stanford(#7), Baylor(#13), Kansas St(#15) and Oklahoma(#16) finished in the AP Top 25. There only loss came to Iowa State.
4. Oregon: Oregon finished the season at 12-2 and 8-1 in the Pac 12 and #4 in the AP poll. There schedule consisted of wins over, Nevada, Missouri St, Arizona, California, #18 Arizona St, Colorado, Washington St, Washington, #4 Stanford, Oregon St, UCLA, and #10 Wisconsin. Of those teams Stanford(#7) and Wisconsin(#10) finished in the AP Top 25. They also won the Pac 12. There 2 losses came to #2 LSU and #6 USC.

So there are the 4 teams that I have heard should be considered National Title contenders even though Alabama has been given the title. Take a look and let me know what you all think. In my mind this is a good thing. It shows that this whole BCS thing is a scam and a should be thrown out. Let me know what you think but In my mind it should be Oklahoma St and LSU for the fact that Alabama didn't win its own conference.

Time for BYU football Return Missionaries/Recruits (Casey)

I was looking around online today and came across an article about BYU future football commits and thought i would share it. The great thing about BYU is that when it comes to recruiting it normally does not take unit the first week of February to figure out who is going to be the future talent of the team. I mean BYU has a way of getting kids to come and play for them due to the church affiliation as well as it past success and wide reach. It is still to early to tell how Independence and BYUTV will help in recruiting top level kids and I know the stereotype around is that BYU atheletes are 1 step slower and smaller than everyone else but when you finish with 10 wins or more as often as they do its hard to argue with the kids they do bring in and there willingness to play for a TEAM. Anyway here is the link to the article I hope you enjoy.  http://desne.ws/yj3uAB


Also here are some links to videos of some of the future Cougars I'm looking forward to seeing!
http://youtu.be/mlVDkL-B9og Marques Johnson 6' 3" 305LB DL
http://youtu.be/mlVDkL-B9og Jamaal Williams 6' 1" 195LB RB
http://youtu.be/p0tJ0JS4D2U Tanner Mangum 6'2" 185LB QB (Going on mission won't be back till 2014)
http://youtu.be/bULP2DjBq6k Taysom Hill 6' 5" 210LB QB (Just got home from Mission ready for spirng)
http://youtu.be/9b8OpydGfkA Butch Pau'u 5' 11" 220 LB (going on a mission) and Jherremya Leuta-Douyere 6' 0" 230LB DE/LB. Both from same High school in Cali.
http://youtu.be/yk_LA9qCGyI Phililp Amone 6' 220 LB LB (#1 in the Video)
http://youtu.be/NUdH5w3Ncm0 Dylan Collie 5' 10" 175LB WR