At the beginning of the year, many people were picking the jaguars to go to the super bowl.  Now their out of the playoff picture and have lost both of their runniing backs.  It could have been all of the injuries or the disastrous coaching of coach Jack Del Rio. 

The jaguars were the worst in the NFL on fourth downs, the reason why is because Del Rio inexplicably gambles with his teams fortunes.

What do you think?

By DKO

Beckham will be playing soccer in England again, but now he will be playing for the Italian AC Milan. Beckham is onon loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy now that the MLS league is off season. Mr. Beckham will play his first game in Glasgow with his new Italian team for a friendly game against the Glasgow Rangers on February 4. The Rangers are happy to play against Beckham, as his presence will sell tickets, they stated that he was “the most famous footballer in the world in recent years, and supporters of all ages will be eager to see him in the flesh.” Beckham is playing for Milan on a three month loan deal to maintain his fitness and prolong his career with England’s national team during the Major League Soccer off-season.

The Minnesota Vikings are freezing ticket prices for the near future. This is the first time since 1998 that Minnesota will keep ticket prices frozen. The NFL is hoping to reduce ticket prices, stating that ticket prices for playoffs will be 10 percent lower this year. This in response to the massive recession starting in the U.S. and the “economic challenges facing fans.” The U.S. economy has been in a recession for the past year. “Our family and ownership group have been energized by the passion of Vikings fans since we took ownership of the team,” Mark Wilf, co-owner and president of the team, said this Tuesday. The Minnesota Vikings have a 9-5 record and are set to clinch the North Division title if they beat the Falcons this Sunday.

Vikings ticket prices will be frozen for the 2009 season

On Thursday the news broke out that Mats Sundin has been signed by the Vancouver Canucks for a one year contract. Canuck general manager Mike Gillis originally offered 10 million for a one year contract with the star scorer. But just today, Sundin’s agent, J.P. Barry stated that Sundin has accepted a 9 million dollar contract “to leave the Canucks some room to aquire another top-end player”. So is this a show of class from the Big Swede, or is he getting his money another way, “under the table”? And how the hell is Matts worth 9 million dollars for just one year anyways! What do you think?

Matts Sundin is now a Canuck

Nathan Jawai has been sitting on the bench for two months, watching and waiting. The Raptors have kept him off the game due to a heart abnormality found during routing screening. The club has refused to elaborate on this issue, citing Jawai’s privacy. Head coach Jay Triano thinks it going to be at least a month before Jawai shows us what he can do, “it’s going to be a little bit of time before he’s in any kind of shape to play, I think it’s a month-plus.” The 22 year old Jawai was traded with Jermaine O’Neal from Indiana this summer. Jawai is the first indigenous player from Australia to ever play for an NBA team.

Jawai will be ready to play for the raptors soon

Sean Avery is not known for being a class act. But he succeed in lowering the bar on Monday after playing a great game in Calgary. He had a bone to pick with Calgary Flames defenceman Dion Phaneuf and his relationship with his Ex-girlfriend, the smoking hot Elisha Cuthbert. Avery apparently lied to his coach, saying he wasn’t going to talk to the media, but then he called reporters and made a statement, “I just want to comment on how it’s becoming like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds,” then he walks away after saying this rehearsed line and not answering any questions about it. Below is a clip of Avery bringing NHL hockey to a new low with his “sloppy seconds”.

I don’t think many NHL fans are shocked by this language, we hear worse from the players on the ice when the microphone picks up a too much, we hear worse from Don Cherry, and we love it! But nevertheless the NHL suspended Avery for “inappropriate public comments, not pertaining to the game.”

What do you think, was this justified or was it a sloppy suspension?

Now that TSN has purchased the rights to the former Hockey Night in Canada theme, they are making some changes.   Recently TSN has asked the  Toronto Symphony Orchestra and “Simple Plan” to make their own versions of the song, the TSO’s version is a classic, and personally the “Simple Plan” version makes my skin crawl.

Canada’s favourite rock band, The Barenaked Ladies have thrown their hat at the song as well.  Their blue grassy/fun remake will be playing during intermissions on the channel this month.

Everyone is expecting Burke to turn things around, unfortunately the Leafs will need more then a new GM to become cup-worthy. The Cliff Fletched Train Wreck will haunt Leaf Fans for years to come. Nevertheless, Brian Burke is a step in the right directions. Here’s some of his highlights

Toughness: Burke believes in muscle, not fancy pants European style hockey.  “I make no apologies for that. Our teams play a North American game. We’re throwbacks. It’s black-and-blue hockey. It’s going to be more physical hockey here than people are used to.”

The draft: While his time with the Canucks resulted in no NHL picks, Burke has a history of working hard to form relationships and most importantly, Burke realizes the importance of the draft. This is the guy who picked up Chris Pronger from nowhere, Marek Malik, Nolan Pratt and Manny Legace. He approaches the draft like a game of chess, and this is something the Leafs need right now, new talent.

The end of the untouchables: Burke has said that he will not allow “no free trade clauses”, you know, the ones Ferguson loved so much, he gave them to Mats Sundin, Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina, Darcy Tucker and Bryan McCabe. Finaly we can get back to a team where players have to prove themselves during each and every game, not just before they sign their contract.

Burke has full control: In an odd move, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has handed over full control to Burke. Perhaps MLSE has realized that their meddling has damaged the team, Burke now has an arrangement similar to the Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo.

Burke is not afraid to start over: The Leafs need a tear down, before they can start again. And Burke is the guy for the Job. In Vancouver he traded Pavel Bure in a seven-player deal with Florida that brought defenceman Ed Jovanovski to the team. In the 1999 draft Burke traded Bryan Mccabe and two third rounders for a first overall draft pick, this helped him get the Sedin twins.

What do you think should be his first moves? He needs to totally rebuild the Leafs scouting organization. He also needs some good trades, I say get rid of Kaberle and Ponikarovsky, and bring in some good prospects, like Bobby Ryan from Anaheim. He should try and get Marian Hossa, and stay away from Sundin!

There is plenty of Buzz around the net about the Raptors and the problems there team is currently facing.

O’Neal might be out for a while. He was hurt in the fourth courting charging for the net, this is after a 6 point game. He is reported to have gone to the hospital for scans on his knee that was already blown, but there is no additional damage. Looks like he’ll be back in a few games.

The shooting guards, lets look at Anthony Parker, he is constantly being beaten. His average PER is 11, the league average is 19. I think they need to get Jerry Stackhouse, he is free, cheap, strong as nails. They could probably get him for 2-4 million.

Coaching, what is Sam Mitchell doing? How long till this guy gets fire? His lineup is asking for trouble and injuries will destroy it. He basically gave up in his last game against the celtics. When is the last time he out coached his opponents?

Defenders - The team has slow defenders up top, and they seem to be always playing against fast players. Sam needs a zone defense to counter the penetration and force so that they can’t even shoot. The coaches The coached man on a man gets the raptors burned on penetration.

Expectations - This might be the heaviest drag of all. This is supposed to be the Raptors time. Bryan Colangelo said himself that this was the best Raptors team ever as his position as president. Well maybe this is a sloooow start, but it looks like he was wrong.

AC Milan is finding it hard to catch up to Inter in Serie A

Napoli and Lazio were held at home, and Reggina had a big win.

Torino forces a 2-2 tie with Milan, this is a hard loss for Milan who hoped to gain the point to catch up to Inter.  Torino fought for the tie with Stellone giving the team a lean and Pato from Milan gaining the tie.

Ronaldinho put Milan ahead with 35 minute and Pato brought the game back to a tie.

Roma secured a needed three nothing victory against Lecce.

Napoli failed at securing a lead by tying Cagliari with a 2-2 draw.  Hamsik gave Napoli a 9th minute leady with Cagliari to type it up again at the 10th.

Lazio is now one point behing napoli with another 1-1 draw to genoa.

Reggina has done well to climp up ther ladder, earning 3 points at home vs Atalanta.

Bologna couldnt make it happen against Palermo, assuring the place at the bottom of the ladder with a 1-1 tie.
The scores from the week.

Bologna 1 Palermo 1
Chievo Verona 0 Siena 2
Lazio 1 Genoa 1
Lecce 0 Roma 3
Napoli 2 Cagliari 2
Reggina 3 Atalanta 1
Sampdoria 3 Catania 0
Torino 2 AC Milan 2