1. New England Patriots
2. Jacksonville Jaguars
3. Indianapolis Colts
4. Dallas Cowboys
5. San Diego Chargers
6. Pittsburgh Steelers
7. New Orleans Saints
8. Philadelphia Eagles
9. New York Giants
10. Cleveland Browns
11. Minnesota Vikings
12. Green Bay Packers
13. Seattle Seahawks
14. Denver Broncos
15. Carolina Panthers
16. Houston Texans
17. Arizona Cardinals
18. New York Jets
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
20. Washington Redskins
21. Cincinnati Bengals
22. Baltimore Ravens
23. Detroit Lions
24. San Francisco 49ers
25. Buffalo Bills
26. Oakland Raiders
27. Chicago Bears
28. Tennessee Titans
29. St. Louis Rams
30. Miami Dolphins
31. Kansas City Chiefs
32. Atlanta Falcons

Popularity: 67% [?]

First of all, I must start by saying I am huge NBA fan.  The purpose of this article is not to bash the NBA.  However, I just feel like the NBA needs to make some improvements.  It is to the point where a game can’t go two minutes without someone flopping or trying some bush league move to draw a foul. 

This behavior has translated onto the playgrounds to the point where anytime a player drives to the hoop, they automatically say “and one.”  Also, if it is game point, they will keep calling fouls until they finally make the game winner.

If we can clean up the NBA, then basketball can played all over the world like it was meant to be played.   I am tired of seeing the following things:

• Players arguing after almost every foul called.  In fact, I don’t think Tim Duncan has ever thought he has committed a foul his entire NBA career
• Coaches arguing after almost every foul called.  The goal of the coaches clearly is to try to talk the officials into giving them the next call.   The officials do not owe the teams anything, they just need to call the game like they see it
• Lebron James acting like he was hit by a baseball bat when he was barely even touched.
• Kobe Bryant swinging his arms after a missed shot like he was violently mugged on the subway
• Manu Ginobli flopping every other play, and whenever he drives to the hoop, he slams his elbow into the defender to get a call even though he clearly initiates the contact
• Dirk Nowitzi throwing a tantrum demanding a foul to be called if he even gets breathed on
• Any player that kicks out their leg after a three point field goal attempt and then falls down backwards on the ground like they had been shot in a desperate attempt to get three free throws
• Steve Nash when his team is in the bonus suddenly can’t dribble the ball without finding someone to run into so he can fall down in attempts to force the officials to make a call so he can get to the line

I could go on and on, but I will spare you an even longer list.  It should be noted that I think the players that I named are terrific players, which is all the more reason their actions should start reflecting that. They are too skilled of athletes to have to resort to those foolish tactics.  It just plain looks childish, and it is watering down the purity of the game.  

Perhaps, some day the commissioner will decide to start suspending players for these ridiculous and blatant attempts to influence the way referees call the game. Bottom line, I am ready to watch real basketball again!

Popularity: 83% [?]

1st Round 

1. Miami Dolphins-OT Jake Long, Michigan
2. St. Louis Rams-DE Chris Long, Virginia
3. Atlanta Falcons-DT Glenn Dorsey, LSU          
4. Oakland Raiders-RB Darren McFadden, Arkansas            
5. Kansas City Chiefs-QB Matt Ryan, Boston College                                                          
6. New York Jets-DE Vernon Gholston, Ohio State              
7. New England Patriots-DT Sederick Ellis, USC  
8. Baltimore Ravens-LB Keith Rivers, USC        
9. Cincinnati Bengals-DE Derrick Harvey, Florida
10. New Orleans Saints-CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Tennessee 
11. Buffalo Bills-WR Devin Thomas, Michigan State 
12. Denver Broncos-LB Jerod Mayo, Tennessee      
13. Carolina Panthers-RB Rashard Mendenhall, Illinois
14. Chicago Bears-OT Jeff Otah, Pittsburgh               
15. Detroit Lions-DE Phillip Merling, Clemson 
16. Arizona Cardinals- CB Leodis McKelvin, Troy
17. Kansas City Chiefs-OT Branden Albert, Virginia 
18. Houston Texans-OT Ryan Clady, Boise State              
19. Philadelphia Eagles-CB Mike Jenkins, South Florida
 20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers-DT Kentwan Balmer, North Carolina 
21. Washington Redskins-S Kenny Phillps, Miami
22. Dallas Cowboys-RB Felix Jones, Arkansas
23. Pittsburgh Steelers-WR James Hardy, Indiana
24. Tennessee Titans-WR Limas Sweed, Texas
25. Seattle Seahawks-TE Dustin Keller, Purdue          
26. Jacksonville Jaguars-DE Calais Campbell, Miami       
27. San Diego Chargers-OT Chris Williams, Vanderbilt       
28. Dallas Cowboys-WR Malcolm Kelly, Oklahoma 
29. San Francisco 49ers-WR DeSean Jackson, California      
30. Green Bay Packers-CB Aqib Talib, Kansas           
31. New York Giants-CB Antoine Cason, Arizona

Popularity: 58% [?]

Most Improved Player

My vote: LaMarcus Aldridge-I know that Hedo Turkoglu improved his scoring by more than six points per game from last season, but he doesn’t exactly play much defense.  Plus, Aldridge in that same stint had his points per game increase by nearly nine points and had a couple more boards on average. 

Rookie of the Year

My vote: Kevin Durant-Durant averages over 20 points per game, and in a sub-par rookie class, he wins the award by default.

Coach of the Year

My vote: Byron Scott-Scott did a masterful job keeping the Hornets in contention in a difficult Western conference.  Nobody would have picked the Hornets to do anything this season, let alone be in first place in the West for a long period of time.

Most Valuable Player

My vote: Chris Paul-Kobe Bryant should have won the MVP multiple times already, but he has yet to be given that award.  However, that is not Chris Paul’s fault, and the fact is, the Hornets would be basement dwellers without Paul.  It also doesn’t hurt that Paul is averaging over 20 points and more than ten assists per game.

Popularity: 87% [?]

The NFL owners met this past week to discuss possible rule changes.  One of the proposals was to re-seed the playoffs.  The idea was to seed the teams based on their record, and not whether or not they won their respective division.  This rule would reward the good teams that finished with an outstanding record, but didn’t win their highly competitive division.  It would also give teams a reason to play in the final week of the season.

I think that rule is worth discussing, but isn’t necessarily the answer.   If a division leader that already clinched their division was 9-6 going into the final week, and a wild card team was 11-4, neither team would have anything to play for in this scenario as the wild card team would have already earned the better seed.

The league really wants to implement a rule that will give the teams something to play for in the final week.  In my opinion, if they would reward the teams that win on the last week of the year with a compensatory draft pick the next season, I believe that would give them a reason to want to win that game.  Perhaps, that would be enough to entice coaches to play their key players, which in turn rewards the fans for paying the price of admission to see a quality game.

Does anyone else have any ideas that might work besides re-seeding the playoffs and offering money rewards for merely trying to win a scheduled game?

Popularity: 13% [?]

Wow, I don’t know what is more amazing.   That all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four, or the fact that it has never happened before in the history of the tournament.  What I do know is that it made for a pretty boring tournament in my opinion, at least compared to the previous few years.  Davidson did their best to keep it interesting, but they didn’t quite get the job done.

One nice thing about this years tournament is that it is clear that the four best teams are in the Final Four, which most years you can’t say.  It is kind of like a BCS National Championship with the two best teams.   Let them battle it on the court and have a champion that we can all agree on.  

I originally had North Carolina beating UCLA in the finals, but in looking at things as they stand today, I predict North Carolina will beat Memphis in the finals.   Should be some great sames this weekend!

Popularity: 13% [?]