The Magnificent Seven: Seven Thoughts From the Conference Championships

Another Monday means another Magnificent Seven post, it's going to be interesting going after the Super Bowl because I need to find seven things in general in the sporting/entertainment world.

Ahhh, well... we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. To the M7.

7. In both games on Sunday, only ONE holding penalty was called. The officials really decided to let the players play in this game.

6. Bernard Pollard is truly Tom Brady's worse nightmare. Seems like whenever he's in Foxborough, Brady doesn't look like the Brady we know. Heck, he said so himself:

5. Eli Manning shows why he's clutch. I know many people don't want to hear the Peyton comparisons, but it may be time.

4. Great run by the 49ers. With Alex Smith's contract up, does Harbaugh want to keep him for another year, or will it be time for the Colin Kaepernick era?

3. Why wasn't the Lee Evans touchdown reviewed? He should've had the ball, yes, but there should've been a review though.

2. Kyle Williams had a rough game at the worst time. But to leave death threats to the kid on Twitter? Ridiculous. It's one thing to hurt and be upset, but do not wish death on anybody. Completely unnecessary.

1. Peyton's brother. Peyton's biggest AFC Rival going at in the Super Bowl again. In Peyton's Place. I don't say this often, but go Giants!

Until next time!

(image courtesy of WKYC)

The Magnificent Seven: Seven Thoughts From the NFL Divisional Playoff

So I'm finally 100% and back to normal. Some great games in the divisional playoff, so I'm going to touch base on the past weekend as we get closer and closer to Super Bowl Sunday. Four teams left.

7. The Giants really had to play the refs and the Packers in this game. Two calls against New York REALLY led to 14 Green Bay points. The score should've really been 37-6 or 37-10 or 37-12... just a really bad officiated game, but the Giants found a way.

6. Eli Manning is 6-3 in the postseason. He's backed up his Elite talk. I'd take him in the postseason. When you need a performance, he seems to deliver. 

5. Tom Brady... five touchdowns in the first half vs. the Broncos. He's the only 5,000 yard passer that is left.

4. Fourth quarter, four minutes, four lead changes in the Saints/49ers game. Drew Brees and Alex Smith were trading points... Never would have guessed Alex Smith would win, but he did. Silencing critics, including myself.

3. T.J. Yates and his YOLO throws. Only needed two yards, but he throws down the field and throws an interception. Take away those three picks, he played a decent game. Probably even better than Joe Flacco.

2. Tebow-mania is over. Thank. You. Lord.

1. 15-1, one and done. Good bye Packers. The team we saw in the past 18 months was not the same team we have been accustomed to seeing. The machine was broken. One too many State Farm commercials during the week.

(photo courtesy of Getty Images)

The Magnificent Seven: Seven Thoughts after Wild Card Weekend

It's Monday, which means it's time for another edition of the M-7. I have been sick for the past few days, but I'm slowly getting better, which in turn has made me out of commission writing wise, I hope to be 100% by Tuesday.

But here were seven things from this past Wild Card Weekend

7. The Bengals have promise. A lot of promise. It's a very different feeling when you have guys that actually WANT to play in Cincinnati. The only thing I'm worried about is that will their owner finally see this, and treat these guys to the amenities they deserve (ie, a new practice facility). If Mike Brown does not change, it'll be a toxic situation in a few years.

6. Took 18 years for the city of Houston to host a playoff game (and a new team), but the result was different than before. Congratulations to the Texans for their first playoff win.

5. 28/43-380 yds, 3 TDs by your QB and 12 catches for 211 yards and 2 TDs should translate into a W, right? In many cases, yes, but despite the numbers from Stafford and Johnson for the Lions, they ran into an offensive juggernaut in Drew Brees. Brees went 33/43 for 466 yards and 3 TDs in his own right, and the Saints are just that good.

4. All four teams won at home this Wild Card Weekend. Since 2007, the record of home teams on Wild Card Weekend: 21-19.

3. 316 yards. That was the amount that Tim Tebow threw for in this game. Tebow's favorite verse from the Bible? John 3:16.

2. 32 teams have all made the playoffs in this modern era. In all of the years of the modern playoff era, no team ever scored two points in a single playoff game. Until yesterday. The Atlanta Falcons made history, and not in a good way. This was a team that mortgaged their future and took a gamble to win now. The gamble did not pay off like they had hoped.

1. First NFL Playoff overtime. Rules are simple. A touchdown ends the game. So Pittsburgh/Denver made history yesterday. And this happened (via YouTube):

Until next week, and I'll have more once I'm feeling at 100%. Later folks. 

The Magnificent Seven: Seven Things after Week 17

Happy New Year from TLI! A fresh start to the new year, means a fresh start to this blog. I wanted to start out by going over my seven biggest thoughts/gripes/views from Week 17. Follow me @thelibraicon, or Like the FB page!

7. The offensive side of the New York Jets needs overhauling. Major overhauling. Schottenheimer has to go, Sanchez needs competition (as it's the only way he can seem to be effective), Holmes is apparently eroding team chemistry, and Rex Ryan has to be silent. Just handle business.

6. Cam Newton with an offseason? That will be a problem for the rest of the NFL.

5. Three QBs go for over 5000 yards. Brees, Brady, and Stafford. Expect a shootout in NOLA with Stafford and Brees going at it on Wild Card Weekend.

4. Speaking of the Saints, Tom Benson might want to pay Drew Brees. I'll expand on that tomorrow.

3. Marvin Lewis should get strong consideration for coach of the year. When you have players that WANT to play in Cincinnati, and not let egos get the best of them, look what happens. They can ask Carson how that couch is.

2. The Buccaneers flat out quit on their coach, which led to his dismissal on Black Monday. I expected a regression, but nothing to the point of what the team did this year. Quite sad.
 1. Matt Flynn breaking records in Green Bay. Makes you wonder is it the system or has he really studied Aaron Rodgers that well? If anything, he made a heck of an audition. Miami, Cleveland, Washington could use a QB.

Wild Card Weekend: I tweeted about this last night, but the schedule is as follows:

Bengals at Texans (Sat, 4:30PM- NBC)
Lions at Saints (Sat, 8PM- NBC)
Falcons at Giants (Sun, 1PM- Fox)
Steelers at Broncos (Sun, 4:30PM- CBS)

Until tomorrow.

Can the Clippers be the Saints of the NBA?

With the announcement of Chris Paul going to the Los Angeles Clippers. In a matter of time, media outlets were already focused on one of the most futile franchises in all of sports, reached a height of optimism that has not been seen in a very long time. In fact, the optimism for the Clippers reminded me of the rise of another pretty bad franchise in sports: The New Orleans Saints.

The Saints have always had a bad history before 2006, when the arrival of Drew Brees and head coach Sean Payton under the watchful eye of GM Mickey Loomis. Prior to this trio, the Saints were always known as the 'Aints, and consistently had bad play and bad luck. They also had then the worse owner in sports in Tom Benson. Benson was not about the life of spending money for a winner. In fact he was rated one of the worst owners in sports. (search it, it will show). However, eventually he began to realize that Loomis was in the process of building something special, and he was able to be more open to building a contender. With the right picks by Loomis in the draft and free agency, along with the offensive genius of Payton, and an offense that can thrive with the accuracy of Brees, the Saints began to win, and win consistently. In fact, since 2006 (the arrival of Peyton and Brees), the Saints have been 59-34, with their 2009 Super Bowl championship. Prior to that, they were 237-352-5. New Orleans has had a winner that nobody ever thought would happen.

Okay, now to the Clippers. They have an even worse-owner than Benson, Donald Sterling. Sterling needs to learn the blueprint of Benson: Open up your wallet, let your GM do the work, and stay out of the way. When you let people do their jobs, good things are bound to happen. The Clippers got Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan is back, the acquisition of Paul from the New Orleans Hornets was huge, and then they added Chauncey Billups to the fold after claiming him off waivers from the New York Knicks. This has the potential to be something pretty special, finally giving Los Angeles a chance to be as much of a buzz as their co-tenants, the Los Angeles Lakers. They have a up-and-coming GM in Neil Olshey, however, my concern is the coach. Vinny Del Negro had two 41-41 seasons with Derrick Rose as his point guard. Can he really be the one to get this team to go over the hump and take them to new heights? I honestly do not think so, but I've been proven wrong plenty of times. But this mainly hinges on Donald Sterling staying out of the way.

The foundation is laid out. The Clippers can finally come out of the black abyss that they've been stuck in for years, much like the Saints. Many thought the Saints were a fluke. Will the Clippers become elite, or will the still just be the Clippers. We will find out starting Christmas day.

Grier Retires & Why It's Close To Me

I read yesterday that Mike Grier was retiring from the NHL after 14 seasons. This really hit home for me, not just because he was one of the few and one of the first black NHL Players that was born, trained, and played in the US, it was definitely a lot more than to me.

He's family. My cousin.

It was about 1999, when I first found this out. The relation. His grandmother (RIP Aunt Lovetta) and my grandfather were brother and sister. Aunt Lovetta told my mother about him, and she told me. While I was already a San Jose Sharks fan, I began to follow every team that he went, and he was evidently pretty good to have had a career to last 14 seasons. Watching the Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, the perfect situation watching him in San Jose, and even his stops in Buffalo, it was just awesome to know that someone with the same bloodline as myself was in sports. I know his dad works with the Texans, and his brother works with the Dolphins, but he was always able to just follow his own path, and he was damn good at it too.

I never really got to speak with him, knowing he had a busy schedule, and I would love to have spoken with him, but to have an autographed picture, and to have rooted for him for all these years, it just really meant a lot to know that he did at least know that I was rooting for him. No matter the stop, no matter the team. I'm blessed that he was able to have a long and successful career.

Enjoy the retirement Mike, you earned it!

Away From The Arena: Returning to Writing/Thankful for Life.

For the first time since the end of September, I've returned. I've experienced burnout, haven't been myself, and I just have not been doing what I need to do in terms of getting the thoughts that I had to the readers. For that. I apologize.

While I am thankful to be back in the mind state to write with a clear head and heart, I also put this in perspective and be thankful for life and be thankful for the talent that has been given to me. I have been putting a lot of things in perspective, and it's really time to get back to doing what I love.

For those that read this, thank you. For those that have supported me, thank you. I appreciate it. Be thankful for what is given to you by God. We will return to the blogs tomorrow or Monday. All the best in the world.

With that said, have an awesome day.