2013 NFL: hypocrisy and softness

It has been a LONG while since I wrote something; nothing really caught my eye deeply enough to ramble about, until yesterday. As almost every Sunday from the beginning of September until the 1st weekend of February I spend a good amount of the day watching football but about 24 hours ago I saw a play that just got me pissed off.

Now let me go a few months back. The NFL has been involved in a HUGE class action lawsuit due to a ton of former players demanding a pile of cash as compensation for the injuries sustained while playing the league. The whole judicial system in the US is a joke (look no further than someone suing for coffee being too hot)  and you could sue anyone at any time for something that never happened, heck you could probably get some cheese off someone you have never met, the players have a point in the fact that the NFL clearly hid a ton of information of the risks of playing football. While I believe you have to be a retard to not know that playing football is inherently dangerous I also believe you are entitled to know the COMPLETE risks of a job beforehand. With that, I believe the players have a point and so does the league. Heck, they paid 765 million dollars to shut down the investigation. For more on this check out the PBS Frontline episode of League of Denial.

This lawsuit without a doubt changed the game, and not in a way I care for. The NFL had make a shitpile of rule changes to make the game "safer" but I say it is nothing more than bullshit and hypocrisy; look no further than the possibility of the season going to 18 games.

There are a lot of injuries in every game, part of it, but they are really scared of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). While I'm nowhere near qualified to dabble on this, it basically is a messed up brain. It usually happens to people who's daily activities generate an impact on the brain, people such as football players, wrestlers (a notable CTE victim was Chris Benoit, read on him), boxers.

My issue is not against player safety. Heck, I hope they never get injured, but the NFL is taking this shit too damn far. The game is violent by nature and no matter how many rule changes you make, this stuff will keep happening. Why not just be honest with the players and whoever signs up know ALL the risks. Take for instance this hit

It was from yesterdays 49ers-Saints game. Violent? Yes. Hard? Yes. Clean according to the rules? YES. But still it was flagged and nullified a 49ers fumble recover that ultimately cost them the game. This shit really gets me pissed and turned off the product. I want a game where the players decide who wins and loses, not some incompetent refs that decide what is legal and what's a flag. That should be the NFLs job, but they are too damn busy looking at new markets and making money to even give a shit about the integrity of the game.

Personal fouls and pass interference calls are game changers and the Roger Goodell led NFL has done such a poor job to define what is PI or a unnecessary roughness call that you may see the exact same play called both ways by 2 different crews. It's a damn shame to see games go so long because refs are stupid, incompetent, and cant get their shit together

Lets be clear on something, the body was not made to play football. The hit on Brees was totally legal and no matter what the heck you do with helmets they protect the outside of the head but you can't tell me that on this shot his brain didn't have a massive impact against his skull. I hear an expert talk about the brain and to think about it as a egg; you may take care and not hit an egg so the shell wont break, but you can still shake it and mess it up on the inside.

Relating to safety I don't know what you can do, it's not my job to know. But the thing I do know the NFL can be honest with the players when it comes to risks, not make stupid rules that don't do shit to protect players, and actually be clear on what said rules are. I understand that right now their main focus is to make all this bad press go away but there is a limit to what you can do protecting your ass until you look like a puss. 

I get pissed every single game I watch but I keep coming for more, so does most of the audience so I'm not sure if we aren't entirely to blame for the NFL not caring because they know the sport keeps growing and so does the money coming in.

Khakbaz out

NFL Week 9 preview

Well, week 9 of the NFL season is upon us and there are not that many exciting games this weekend, basically 3 that catch my attention besides the Thursday night game that features my horrible Chargers.

Norv logic - #FireNorv

The Monday night game featuring the Eagles going into the Big Easy to take on the Saints is really intriguing for many reasons. Mainly, both teams have been pretty big busts this season, the Saints at 2-5 and the Eagles at 3-4; while the record would make you think the Saints are a worse team I think it actually is Philly who is in more trouble.

I expected New Orleans to be a couple of steps lower than last season due to all the offseason mess and the loss of Sean Payton, so a losing season is not that much of a surprise. The Eagles I expected to be much better as they would finally put the pieces together and make the so-called All Star team work, that has not been the case. Vick has been his usual horrible self, with a ton of turnovers, the defense has been horrible, they have no running game even with McCoy -who should be the most important part of the offense- being a non factor, add to this mix a coach that has lost control of the team and is in his 14th year with the team, and you have a recipe for disaster. It is a interesting game since both teams have a lot of talent and are in desperate need for a win, sports books are a 3.5 point favorites and I expect them to cover it. My pick: New Orleans, 31-17.

The second game that catches my eye is the Steelers at the Giants. At 6-2 the Giants are one of the strongest teams in the league while the Steelers started out slow but have been picking up steam the last couple of games. Pittsburgh has been getting healthy and I'm looking for them to go on one of those 7-1 runs in their remaining 8 games since they have a not to hard schedule. The Giants are one of those teams that always flies under the radar even with a couple of titles in the recent past.

The home team is a 3 point favorite and this is a hard one to call. NY showed lots of weaknesses last sunday vs Dallas by letting the Cowboys come back from down 0-23 to almost win the game; sure it was just one week but you can see they have some holes. The Steelers are rolling and will continue to play great football. My wildcard for this game is how G-Men react to the Hurricane thing in the East Coast, I believe lots of them were affected, maybe practices were disrupted, I also believe that the emotion at Met Life Stadium will be a big factor come Sunday afternoon since it will be one of the 1st events since the hurricane hit; that being said, I'm taking Pitt.. My pick: Steelers 24-21

The game of the week is without a doubt the Cowboys traveling to Atlanta to take on the undefeated Falcons. The Cowboys usually put on pretty entertaining games, in some cases entertaining due to the fact that Tony Romo finds new and cool ways to mess up, in others -like last weekends second half- because they have an explosive and dynamic offense. On the other hand the Falcons are back home after spanking the Eagles in Philly in what probably was their best game of the year; Matt Ryan -or the Mattural as @RichEisen now calls him- is your 1st half offensive MVP, he is just playing head and shoulders above everyone else. Yes he may be 3rd in TDs and Passer Rating, 8th in Yards thrown but his game management and leadership have been superb.

So we have the Falcons a 4 point favorite with a 47 point over/under line. The over I'm not totally sold on it since I'm not sure which Romo will show up on Sunday, but I expect the Falcons to take it by at least a touchdown. My pick: Atlanta 30-21

The rest of the games are (bold for the winner taking in account the spread):

• Chiefs at Chargers -8
• Broncos -3 at Bengals
• Ravens -3.5 at Browns
• Cardinals at Packers -11
• Bears -3.5 at Titans
• Dolphins at Colts +2.5
• Panthers +3 at Redskins
• Lions -3.5 at Jaguars
• Bills at Texans -10
• Bucs +1.5 at Raiders
• Vikings +5 at Seahawks -5
• Steelers +3 at Giants

*Highlighted are my Fav 5 picks of the week

This is my week 9 preview, who's your team? How is it doing? Who're you betting on?

Mr Khakbaz out!

Making sense of the Chargers mess

So it’s been a while since I blogged at all, I guess it has to do with being so active on twitter (@MrKhakbaz). After all it is considered a micro-blogging site and in a way it’s a means to talk, share thoughts or just vent on any random topic. So what brought me back? A horrible performance by the San Diego Chargers.

If you follow me on twitter, or on really old posts, you know I’m a huge sports fan, specially the Chargers; historically they have been a pretty crappy all time record (395-388-11, prior to this season), recently they have been “better” yet are one of those franchises that every year it seems they are on the brink of greatness and something gets in the way; whether it be injuries, draft mistakes, a fumble here or a pick there they always come close yet always seem to fail.

Yesterday I heard a ton of stuff on the Chargers demise. Some I thought was right, some I thought was pure bullshit trying to have some cheesy material for people to listen to or to write about. A couple of my favorite sports writers are Colin Cowherd (@ESPN_Colin) and Mike Wilbon (@RealMikeWilbon) have some very interesting points.

Cowherd, while may be a little extremist and someone I don’t always concur with, had the point of “why should I care to talk about the Chargers?”. At first I simply thought “you’re a sports writer, you should talk about them” but then he explained that if the organization didn’t care about the results why should he. He went into more detail talking about how AJ Smith was so full of himself and would never acknowledge that hiring Norv Turner was a mistake from the get go. That is as big a certainty as there is. Smith fired Marty Schottenheimer after a 14-2 record in 2006, you must expect the replacement to perform the same –maybe not a 14-2 record but at least to be better in the playoffs, right?- move on from 2007 till the present day, Turner has a 11-5, 8-8, 13-3, 9-7 & 8-8. While that is a better overall record than Marty (52-34 vs. 47-33) the context is totally different. Marty took over a team that was laughable while turner took over a 14-2 team!

I understand many of you will not understand what these last numbers mean, let’s do a quick exercise: who is a better coach, Bill Parcells or Wade Phillips? Pretty sure any football fan with half a functioning brain will say Parcells, right? It’s a simple answer, but if you go to the numbers Tuna has a .570 winning percent vs. a .573 by Phillips (which will go higher now that he is with Houston) yet the context is totally different. Parcells took over horrible teams and built them from scratch and won 2 Lombardi Trophy’s while Phillips is considered a defensive genius who has been hired  / upgraded from a specialty coach to a head coach of pretty good teams and done nothing! Sound familiar?

Wilbon talked about how that Chargers are “nappers”. Could not put a better adjective; this goes from owners all the way to the 3^rd string defensive backs, the team has seemed disinterested, not really caring and assuming that eventually the talent they have would be enough to win a couple of games and slide into the playoffs. How has that gone the last couple of years?

This may seem as a Norv Turner bashing post, while to a certain degree it is it also is a Chargers organization bashing. From top to bottom this organization is a joke. From the owners who aren’t willing to spend bucks in complimentary players and expect a economically depleted city to spend cash on a new stadium that will only benefit them! What kind of stupid logic is that? The General Manager is a clown who is not willing to admit his most profound mistake, hiring Turner, who in turn has taken a pretty talented team and turned them into the worst coached, most unprepared team I have seen in years –only comparable to what Jason Garret has done with the Cowboys-. I’m a huge Phillip Rivers fan and believe he has a ton of talent but numbers, in this case, don’t lie; he has gone down in every single category –well, up if you count interceptions- from 2008 where 7.1% of his passes where TDs and in 2009 where 1.9% of his passes where picked off to a 4.6% and 3.4% respectively in 2011.

What happens now? Well, they are 3-3 going into the bye week but regardless of what happens the rest of 2012-13 the Chargers problems run much deeper than a 10-6 or 8-8 record it goes way beyond this. I try to look at the big picture and what happens in the long run, I seriously hope they do bad and eventually fire coaches and the GM –but am not sure it will, should have happened this past offseason-; I know it’s not the way a fan should think that way but I truly think it’s the only way they will finally change things for the better.

I’m not even sure the past 867 words made any sense; I think it was a way for me to make some sense on what happened this past Monday, which is hard to understand. I didn't even mention Peyton Manning in this post, while Denver's return was possible in a big way because of #18, it would have never been possible if it no were for the brutal performance the Chargers put on.

What are your thoughts on the Chargers debacle or your teams current performance?

Khakbaz out!

Liga de Campeones UEFA 2011

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Llegamos a los 4 últimos equipos en la Liga de Campeones de la UEFA, probablemente el mejor torneo de futbol del mundo , y tenemos a 4 grandes involucrados, cada uno sus argumentos para llevarse a casa la orejona.

Schalke 04 vs Manchester United
Después de una notable actuación contra el FC Internazionale Milano, el alemán Schalke 04 sigue siendo considerado el más debil de los 4 restantes. De hecho era considerado de los débiles de los últimos 8 pero se quito ese mote de débil después de arrazar con los Nerazurri por un marcador de 5 a 2 en el juego de ida; y más aún, a domicilio en San Ciro. El partido comenzó bien para el Inter con un golazo de medio campo de Stankovic pero todo fue en picada apartir de ahí y el Schalke tomó el control para llevarse el triunfo por 3 goles.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nE2Zftr0ec]

El juego de vuelta este pasado miércoles en Alemania fue una mera formalidad ya que el Inter ocupaba lo más cercano a un milagro para avanzar a semifinales. Cuando el árbitro dio el silbatazo final y el Schalke obtuvo una victoria de 2 por 1 para un marcador global de 7-3. Para un equipo que, de acuerdo a los expertos, no tenía oportunidad de avanzar más allá de los cuartos de final el Schalke llega sin presión alguna ya que han logrado sobrepasar las expectativas.

Del otro lado del campo tenemos al Manchester United que no ha sido menos que una máquina en el primer trimestre del año. Viene de dos convincentes victorias sobre el Chelasea, la primera a domicilio en Stamford Bridge por un marcador de 1-0 en sólido encuentro, sin llegar a ser espectacular; este marcador puso al ManU en control, además de tener ventaja adicional por el gol de visitante.
El juego de vuelta fue, sin duda, más entretenido; el Manchester tomó ventaja por un gol anotado por el Chicharito Hernández -no que sea sesgado mi comentario por ser mexicano, pero que jugadorazo es, y lo que le fata mejorar. y tomó el control del juego hasta el minuto 77 cuando Drogba venció a Van der Sar con un riflazo de derecha; la cosa se ponía interesante para el Chelsea pero menos de un minuto después Park anotó el gol que puso en la congeladora el partido.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJs3kPHRNK4]

Los sitios de apuestas favorecen por mucho al Manchester United para avanzar a la Final, yo me inclino hacia el mismo lado sin embargo estoy seguro que el Schalke no será presa fácil y peleará hasta el último minuto. Será interesante ver como se desarrolla el juego de ida, a jugarse en Alemania, donde el club dirigido por Raúl buscará a toda costa salir con la victoria, y de pasó dejar en ceros a una de las ofensivas más potentes de Europa.
Yo veo al Schalke saliendo a atacar y buscar establecerle su ritmo al juego, no si sea posible ante un equipo tan fuerte como los Red Devils. Al jugar agresivo y atacar mucho tendrán que confiar en su defensa para detener a gente como Rooney, Berbatov y Chicharito. Dicho lo anterior, creo que en el mejor de los casos para el Schalke sacarán un empate en este partido.
Para el juego de vuelta en Old Trafford creo que el Man U saldrá con la victoria sin mucho problema y avanzará a la Final que se jugará en su país (Wembley Stadium en Londres el 28 de mayo).
Resultado: Manchester United advanza.

Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona
El Real Madrid llega a la instancia de semifinales después pasarle por encima al Tottenham por un global de 5-0. Esta serie se definió en los primeros 15 minutos del juego de ida que vieron al Madrid tomar una ventaja de 1-0 después de un cabezazo de Adebayor y la subsecuente expulsión del delantero Peter Crouch al 15 por doble amarilla. El resto del partido los merengues hicieron los que quisieron y anotaron 3 goles más.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3BQj2ZJfk]

Como fue el caso del Schalke-Inter, el juego de vuelta fue mera formalidad y el Real tomó ventaja de 1-0 después de un gol de Cristiano Ronaldo que llegó en un tiro no complicado que el portero Gomes erró por completo y selló en definitiva este par de juegos. Al final el Madrid blanqueó en ambas instancias al Hotspur y ganó por marcador global de 5-0.

Los galácticos se medirán a su eterno rival, con quien han caído en sus últimos 5 encuentros (habrá dos más antes del juego de ida), el FC Barcelona quien viene de un par de juegos contra el Shakhtar de Uncrania a quienes venció sin mayor complicación. El juego de ida se realizó en el hermoso Camp Nou, casa de los Blaugranas, que se llevaron la victoria con un convincente 5-1; el primero fue de Iniesta al minuto 2 y se llevaron una ventaja de 2-0 al descanso. Después de un gol de Piqué los Ucranianos mostraron señales de vida con un gol al 60, sin embargo fue lo más cerca que estuvieron y el Barcelona se llevó una ventaja que no dejaría ir en la vuelta.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6uZlA6_Z4Y]

Me pareció extraño que solo en 1 de los 4 juegos de vuelta se jugaba algo (Manchester-Chelsea). Como en los otros 3, el Barcelona solo esperaba el pitazo final para asegurar su lugar en las semifinales. El Shakhtar no puso mayor resistencia y perdió 0-1 después de un gooooooool de -el mejor jugardor del mundo- Messi al 43.

Con esta semifinal de Champions tendremos el placer de ver 4 Madrid-Barcelona en un plazo de dos semanas (el sábado 16 en el Bernabeu en La Liga, el miércoles 20 en Mestalla, Valencia para la Final de la Copa del Rey, además de la ida y vuelta de Champions). La ida será en el Bernabeu y veo un partido extremadamente parejo, las casas de apuestas pagan lo mismo por ambos equipos, y dificil de predecir; me cuesta trabajo decidir quien ganará (se que quiero que el Barcelona gane) y creo que el resultado de este juego se verá influenciado por el resultado de los dos encuentros que sostendrán antes. Para la ida me inclino por una victoria del Madrid de 2 a 1.

La vuelta, a jugarse el 3 de mayo en el Camp Nou, será un juego sólido sin ser el más espectacular ya que -si mi predicción de 2-1se hace realidad- el Madrid saldrá a defenderse y el Barcelona a atacar buscando los goles del empate y victoria. Al cumplirse los 90 minutos el Barcelona se alzará con una triunfo claro de 3-0, llevando el global a 4-2.
Resultado: Barcelona avanza.

Una predicción para la Final de la Champions League? Tendremos que esperar a ver que sucede en las semifinales (coff coff Barcelona campeón coff coff) y comprobar si mis predicciones fueron las correctas.

Quien crees que ganará? Quien quieres que gane?

Por ahora

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

UEFA Champions League 2011

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We are finally down to out last 4 teams in the UEFA Champions League, arguably the best football tournament in the World, and we have 4 great teams involved all of them making strong cases to take home the big trophy.

Schalke 04 vs Manchester United
After a dominant performance against Italian Stallion FC Internazionale Milano German Schalke 04 is considered the weakest of the 4 teams left. Heck, they were underdogs entering the Quarter-finals but put that status to rest as they took Inter to the woodshed behind a 5-2 victory at San Ciro. This game started off in favor of the Nerazurri after a near midfield goal by Stankovic but it was downhill from there as Schalke took complete control of the match that they ended up winning by 3.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nE2Zftr0ec]

The return match this past Wednesday in Germany was a mere formality as Inter needed nothing less than a miracle to advance. When it was all said and done, Schalke pulled off a 2-1 victory for a 7-3 aggregate.
For a team that, according to the experts, had no chance of making it passed the Quarterfinals Schalke comes in with no pressure as they have exceed expectations.

On the other side of the field will be Manchester United that been nothing short of a machine in the first quarter of 2011. They come of two convincing victories over Chelsea, the first one coming at Stamford Bridge by a 1-0 score in what was a solid, yet not very appealing match; the 1-0 win put ManU in the drivers seat and they had an extra advantage by virtue of the visiting goal.
The return match was much more entertaining and saw Manchester take advantage on a goal scored by Chicharito Hernandez -not that I'm totally biased because I'm Mexican, but this kid is the real deal and has a ton of upside and potential- and took control of the match until the 77th minute were Drogba scored on a laser that Van der Sar could not keep out; things were looking up for Chelsea but less than a minute later Park scored what proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Chelsea

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJs3kPHRNK4]

Most betting sites are heavily favoring Manchester United to move on to the final stage of the Cup, I'm also picking them to move on but the Schalke will not go down without a huge fight. It will be interesting to see how the 1st leg works out since they will play in Germany where the club led by Raúl will have to pull out a win and in the process try to shut-out one of the most potent offenses in Europe.
I'm looking for Schalke to come out attacking in the 1st match and try to establish their style on the match, not sure if that will be possible with a team as strong as the Red Devils. By playing aggressive and attacking a lot they will heavily rely on a solid defense that can cover Rooney and Chicharito or Berbatov mostly one on one to free up people in midfield and on the other side of the field. With all that being said I expect, in the best case scenario for Schalke, a tie in this game.
For the match at Old Trafford I expect Man U to come up with the big W and thus advancing to the Finals which will be played in their country (Wembley Stadium in London on May 28).
Result: Manchester United advances.

Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona
Real Madrid comes into this semi-final stage after emphatically beating Tottenham by a 5-0 aggregate. This was pretty much in the books after the first 15 minutes of the match that saw Madrid take a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute via a Adebayor header and Hotspur forward Peter Crouch shown a red card at the 15th. For the rest of the match Real did what they pleased and managed to score 3 more goals.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3BQj2ZJfk]

As was the case with Schalke - Inter, this game was a mere formality and Madrid took the match 1-0 after a gol by Cristiano Ronaldo following a shot that was brutally mishandled by Tottenham goalkeeper Gomes. In the end the better team won both matches by shutouts and we ended up with a 5-0 total

Madrid will be opposed by longtime rival, and a team they have lost to the last 5 meetings, FC Barcelona who is coming of a couple of matches with Ukrainian Shakhtar which they easily won. The first leg was at beautiful Camp Nou in Barcelona taken by a 5-1 result after a quick goal in the 2nd minute by Iniesta, and took a 2-0 lead to halftime. After a goal by Piqué, Shakhtar showed some life by scoring a goal at 60. In the end Barcelona took a commanding lead they would not relinquish in the return match.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6uZlA6_Z4Y]

Seemed weird that only 1 of the 4 return matches was interesting (Manchester-Chelsea). Like the other 3, Barcelona came in just waiting for the final whistle to assure their spot in the semi-finals. Shakhtar didn't put up a fight and lost 0-1 after a 43rd minute gooooooooooool by, the best player in the world, Messi.

So this semi-final match will give us a total of 4 Real Madrid - Barcelona matches in a two week span (1 for La Liga, 1 for la Copa del Rey, and these 2 games). In the Champions League matches the 1st leg will be at Santiago Bernabeu were most of the betting sides are calling it right down the middle and I can't really decide on who will win (I know I want Barcelona to win), the result for this game I think will be heavily influenced by the result of the previous 2 games (Saturday the 16th at Bernabeu, and Wednesday the 20th at Mestalla, Valencia). I'm going to go out on a limb and pick Madrid with a 2-1 victory.
The return match to be played May the 3rd at Camp Nou will be a solid game but not spectacular -if my 2-1 prediction comes true- where Madrid will come out defending and Barcelona looking for the tying goal. In the end I see Barcelona picking up a 3-0 victory for a 4-2 aggregate.
Result: Barcelona advances.

A prediction for the Final of the UEFA Champions League? Well, that will have to wait for after the semifinals (wink wink Barcelona wink wink) and after making sure my previous picks were correct?

Who do you expect to win? Who do you want to win?

For now...

Mr Khakbaz out!!!