A Star is Born

The 2013 NBA Playoffs has been a huge coming out party for Indiana Pacers' forward, Paul George. The third year stand out has turned heads with his play, while being matched up with this year's MVP, LeBron James. In the Eastern Conference Finals, George has avaraged 21 points per game and played solid defence on James going into game 7. George's performance has been very reminiscent of Hall-of-Famer, Scottie Pippen. The six time NBA champion made a living by guarding the best player on the opposing team and getting to the basket at will. George, who has an almost identical body as Pippen, has been able to use his 6'8", 220lb frame to score and defend like Pippen. George's success did not start in the playoffs. He was the biggest reason for the Pacers' regular season success. This year's Most Improved Player in the NBA averaged a career high 17 points and 7 rebounds during the regular season, better than Pippen's 16 points and 6 rebounds in his third season. George became the go-to-guy after the Pacers lost Danny Granger for the season.  The 23 year-old George has definitely made the most of his opportunities and will only get better. His confidence is through the roof after an all-star season and a break out playoff season. Look for George to be star in the NBA for years to come.

LeBron Wins Third MVP, Still Not Enough

After the best season of his career, LeBron James was awarded his third Most Valuable Player trophy. James has joined Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell as the only players in NBA history with three MVP awards. Despite being totally deserving of this award and being one the top players in the NBA since joining the league, James has constantly been the subject of criticism. Besides the fact that James is the only member of the "Three MVP Club" without a championship ring, his lack of production down the stretch of big games has raised quite a few eye brows in the basketball world. James' criticism is not limited to what he does on the court. In the summer of 2010, ESPN aired "The Decision", a live show dedicated to the then free-agent, LeBron James announcing what team he would sign with. James chose to leave Cleveland to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Other than scorning his home team and causing a media circus, James was criticized for helping create a "super team". By James joining Wade, a superstar who already has a championship, he basically admitted that he could not lead a team to a title. This MVP award will be a nice addition to James' trophy case, but it won't be enough to silence his critics. To cement his legacy, LeBron must lead the Heat to a championship and be the main reason they win it.

A Closer Look at Drew Brees

Since signing with the Saints in 2006, Drew Brees has turned around a losing franchise and proven himself to be one of the best players in the NFL. In his last six seasons, Drew Brees has thrown for over twenty-six thousand yards and one hundred eighty-two touchdowns, an NFL record in a six year span. In that time frame, he's also added a Super Bowl win and MVP, an NFL record for completion percentage in a season and a five thousand yard season to his resume'.
Despite constantly breaking NFL records, Brees' main focus is on the Saints goals, not personal ones. Brees has lead New Orleans to a 57-34 record, three post-season appearances and the first Super Bowl win in franchise history for a team who only won forty percent of their games before he got there.
Brees' biggest strength is his vision. He is listed as six feet tall, so having good vision is important to make up for his lack of height. Brees is constantly looking down the field at all times, even under pressure. His vision is like a domino effect that helps him to go through his progression and find the fourth and fifth options when a play breaks down. Because he can keep plays alive, he is more accurate. Very rarely will Brees throw a ball away to avoid a sack. He is mobile enough to buy himself more time and can make a quality throw because he has been looking down field the whole play. By going deeper in his progressions, Brees can spread the ball around to more receivers than an average quarterback. That is the reason why he has able to throw for five thousand yards in a season without a thousand yard receiver.
What Drew Brees has been able to do in New Orleans has been remarkable. If he were to stop playing right now, his resume' would already be strong enough to be a first ballot Hall-of-Fame inductee. One thing is for sure, the Saints can only go as far as Brees can take them.

Brett Favre and his Wranglers to Houston?

Gary Kubiak and the Houston Texans are off to an 8-3 start and a two game division lead in the AFC South, but making its first playoff appearance in team history can be in jeopardy due to injuries at quarterback. With Matt Schaub out for the season and backup Matt Lienart missing at least a few weeks, it will be up to rookie T.J. Yates to lead the Texans into the playoffs. Yates does have the second ranked running game, a solid defense and arguably the best receiver in the game, so he is in a good situation if the Texans choose to stick with him, but they should not. They have been unsuccessfully knocking on the door of the playoffs for a few years now. They seem to have finally put all the pieces together and have team that can go deep in the playoffs. Why trust a third-string, rookie quarterback with this opportunity? Houston general manager, Rick Smith, should go to Mississippi and come back with Brett Favre. Favre, who retired for the third time after last season, has been out of action for about a calendar year. He's had plenty of time to heal all of his ailments. Not to mention, Favre ran a similar offense to Houston's offense his whole career. Brett Favre is capable of giving ten quality weeks with all those pieces around him. He should be the quarterback in Houston for the rest of the season. What do you think? Please comment with Favre, Yates or anyone else and why.

The Dream May Not be Over in Philly

The off-season Superbowl favorite Philadelphia Eagles are off to an unattractive 3-6 start. Take some fourth quarter meltdowns, a couple injuries to Mike Vick and an off the field battle between DeSean Jackson and management, and it is easy to see why this team is off to a horrific start. Although the Eagles are three games behind on both the NFC East lead and the NFC Wild Card lead with seven games to go, they are not out of it for a few reasons. The first reason is the Eagles have shown flashes of being a good football team; despite losing six out of nine games, they still have outscored their opponents by seventeen points this season. Secondly, the teams ahead of them in the playoff race have not been consistent this season. Recent history has shown that an Eli Manning led Giants team and a Tony Romo led Cowboys team can have a meltdown at any given moment. The Eagles are also first in the league in rushing. Controlling the clock and keeping the opposing offense of the field is a good way to get back on track. Do not expect the Eagles to win all remaining seven games, but winning five is very possible. In the twelve years that Andy Reid has coached the Eagles, they have finished less than .500 only twice. This year may not be the third. In a year where 8-8 maybe good enough for playoff contention, the Eagles still have a chance. If Mike Vick can miss minimal time for the rest of the season and runningback LeSean McCoy can continue his success, Andy Reid can lead this team into the playoffs. In the playoffs anything can happen, just ask the last NFC team to make it last year, the Green Bay Packers.

Tebow is NOT an NFL Quarterback

There has never been a player dissected so much for so long than Broncos quarterback, Tim Tebow. The former Heisman Trophy winner is without a doubt one of the best players in college football history, but will not leave the same legacy in the NFL. Tebow, who has a dismal 48% completion rate on his passes, has been the subject of constant debate since taking over as the Broncos' starting quarterback. Although Tebow has outstanding intangibles, excellent character and superior athleticism, he has very poor mechanics. His slow release and poor accuracy has lead to an 81.7 passer rating, which puts him in the lower half of NFL quarterbacks.
Yesterday, Tebow only completed two passes of eight attempts with one touchdown. How does a quarterback who takes every offensive snap for his team only have eight attempts? Sounds like Broncos' head coach, John Fox does not trust Tebow in the passing game.
Tebow has an infectious personality and a historic college resume. He is a good guy, so the media and the fans want him to do well. It is hard to do well as a quarterback when your weakness is passing. All the speculation and debate should stop here, Tebow is not an NFL starter.

Should the BCS Allow an LSU-Bama Rematch?

Saturday night, the nation was treated to an "old school" classic football game between the best two college football teams in the nation. LSU pulled out a victory in Alabama with a Drew Alleman field goal in overtime. Although these teams are obviously the best two teams in the nation, they should not be allowed to a rematch in the national title game. The BCS has come a long way since inception, but still has one major flaw. YOU SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO PLAY FOR A NATIONAL TITLE IF YOU HAVE NOT WON YOUR CONFERENCE. With the lack of a playoff system and 120 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams, there has to be more ways to narrow down the two teams who should play for the title. Does it really make sense to have a team who was not the best in their conference play to be the best in the nation? This flaw in the BCS has caused problems in the past.
For example, anyone remember the 2003 season? Well, Oklahoma was ranked number one for the majority of the season that year, but lost the Big XII championship. They still went on to play LSU in the national title game instead of the PAC-10 champion, USC. LSU won the BCS championship and the Associated Press elected USC as their national champions. College football should have a definitive champion at the end of the season, not more debate.

If LSU and Alabama would play again, there would be too much debate. Everyone already knows the LSU can beat Alabama. Bring on a new opponent, one that has won their conference.