NFL Championship Games

New England @ Denver -  I expect New England to win this game.  New England and most folks breathing know Peyton Manning is not the Peyton Manning of old.  I think if they can control the Bronco's running game this is New England's game to win.  That said, I'm not sleeping on Denver's defense.  They can control Brady.  He doesn't like pressure and Denver can bring it. Then it is that cat and mouse game of whether Brady can hit Edelman, Gronk, or Amendola.  I'd love to see this be a slugfest with Manning showing flashes of old.  I'm not sure that will happen but it would be awesome to watch.  Still this should be a fun close game.

Arizona @ Carolina - This game has good offense  and defense on both teams which should make for a good game.  Carolina's weakness is their ability to cover receivers.  The Cardinals' offense has to get out of their funk and take advantage of the receivers they have, specifically Larry Fitzgerald.  If Arizona can do that I think they win this game.  While Carolina can score points I'm not sure they win a shootout.  I love Cam Newton and what he can do.  He should give the Cardinals' defense fits.  There aren't great receivers on the Panthers sans tight end Greg Olsen.  Still Carolina just gets it done on offense.  I think this is also a close game with Carolina winning.

No matter what match up we get in the Super Bowl it will have great stories.  Can Brady and Belichick win their 5th Super Bowl together?  Can Peyton get his 2nd Super Bowl win while hopefully going out on the ultimate high note?  Can the Arizona Cardinals and a very deserving Larry Fitzgerald win their first championship?  Can Cam cap a MVP type season and win a Super Bowl?  It should be a fun weekend of football and I can't wait to see who we'll have in the Super Bowl. 

Stryper Fallen Album Review

You won't see me do many album reviews because I don't know how to speak to music in the correct terms.  What I will do is be a fanboy who talks about a band's latest album.  I have been a huge Stryper fan from when I was in high school which would have been right around 1985.  I've seen them 5 times in concert and enjoyed them every time. Their latest album is Fallen (2015).  Like many hair bands they fell out of favor in the 90's, broke up and then reunited around 2000 and started putting out new albums.  There have been five albums since their last album of any note until this one. 

I wanted to put something down because I really believe this to be a good rock album.  I understand only true fans will be interested but I also think others would be pleasantly surprised.  I can hear sounds similar to past albums "To Hell With the Devil", "In God We Trust" and even "Against The Law" which I thought was a bit underrated.  It is still a newer sound the band has been tweaking the last 15 years or so.  Again I know only Stryper fans are going to give this album a shot.  I really enjoy this music and for the first time in probably 25 years I've played a Stryper album over and over  (excluding compilation albums).  It is a good feeling.  These guys can play and it nice to have an album come together with a good sound. 

Classic Stryper

The NFL and Owner Stan Kroenke Do St. Louis and Rams Fans Wrong

Stan Kroenke

St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke and the NFL decided to move the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles.  This wasn't done this week.  It is very obvious by the actions of owner Stan Kroenke and when Roger Goodell tipped his hand this week with the letter he sent to owners.  Is there anything wrong with that?  At it's core, no.  But the way this whole thing was handled is completely and utterly unfair to St. Louis, the state, and the fans.  Stan Kroenke hasn't spoken to fans or given interviews concerning the Rams in years.  All the while he purchased land in Los Angeles and made his plans.  At some point it would have been the right thing to do to speak out on the topic while the city and fans fretted over the possible loss of their NFL franchise.  But he never did.

The city of St. Louis was allowed to come up with a very good stadium proposal working through all the hoops concerning land, funding and bureaucracy.  It wasn't an easy journey for anyone involved.  And while St. Louis came up with a proposal neither San Diego nor Oakland have stadium plans in place.  This seemed to make it look good for the teams from those cities moving while keeping the Rams in St. Louis.  On the surface anyway. 

This week when the owners met to vote we heard the relocation committee recommended Oakland and San Diego move.  We also heard there were other owners who either didn't like Kroenke or the idea of the Rams being allowed to move while St. Louis had a viable stadium option on the table.  That all soon unraveled.  The first vote quickly showed owners were on board with the Rams moving.  Then they were approved by a 30-2 vote. 

Again, a team moving to another city because they can make more money is at it's core not wrong.  How the league let the city of St. Louis drift in the wind for the last two years when they had no chance of keeping their team is downright wrong.  It was a sham.  How can you say otherwise?  Looking at the NFL bylaws on relocation and the stadium proposal it is hard to believe Kroenke met all the requirements.  I am disgusted by how this was handled.  Kroenke shut out the city and the fans.  Completely silent for years not giving any hint while going behind their back.  Not engaging them in an true discussions on how to keep the Rams in St. Louis.  And Roger Goodell let it happen.  How do you run a league seeing an owner doing this, and say yeah that is ok.  I have lost so much respect for the NFL and Goodell.  I have had none for Stan Kroenke for quite a while.  He has to rank up there as one of the worst owners ever in this league. 

Enough with that.  So the Rams are leaving.  Ironically they are going back to Los Angeles whom St. Louis "stole" the team from 20+ years ago.  Interesting side note.  The Rams actually started in Cleveland playing eight years and won the NFL Championship in 1945 before they moved to Los Angeles after that season.  I get all the reasons why this can be good.  Those Rams fans who are still in Los Angeles will be ecstatic.  Former Los Angeles Rams who are still in California will be able to reconnect with the team and hopefully we'll get to see more of those great older jerseys. 

2016 MLB Hall of Fame Inductees: Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza

The Major League Baseball Hall of Fame voters voted Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza into the Hall of Fame yesterday.  Griffey broke the record for the greatest percentage of votes with 99.3% of the vote while Piazza goes in with 83% of the vote.  Great job by the voters (except for those 3 leaving Griffey off their submission).  Both are great players and both deserve enshrinement.  The breakdown of the vote can be seen here. 

Griffey was thought to have the ability to be one of the all-time greats prior to ever playing a game.  And he didn't disappoint...  While the numbers will say it all he was one of those guys you watched and just knew.  And if injuries hadn't robbed him of so many games who knows what we'd be saying about this guy.  He only played 140+ games twice in his last 10 seasons.  Still you always knew.  The great swing, the great defense, his ability to run the bases, he did it all and he did it all great.  I'm very happy the voters recognized his greatness and made this a slam dunk.

Mike Piazza is the best offensive catcher I've ever seen.  There are others that deserve to be in the conversation but he is it for me (no offense to Pudge).  Not only did he hit for average (career .308 and 6 straight seasons of .300+ at one point) and power (427 homers) but he also got on base at a career .377 clip.  Detractors will point to his defense but you have to look at the total package and he was so dominant on the offensive side, that the fact that he was an average defender (maybe below average) can be overlooked.  (Note:  I really didn't get to see Johnny Bench until he was past his MVP years but he is definitely better than Piazza). 

I also believe Jeff Bagwell, Trevor Hoffman, Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds should be in the hall of fame.  I waffle on Tim Raines year to year and this year I'm not positive he should be in.  With the Hall of Fame trimming the fat as it be by getting rid of those voters who haven't been active in reporting on the sport for 10 years I think there is more hope than ever in getting more fair votes.  Clemens and Bonds didn't improve as much as I'd hoped but it doesn't mean they are doomed.  If nothing else, the fact it is so hard to get in definitely means that only the elite will make it.  Doesn't mean I always agree but there are only a handful of players that have been inducted of late that I would have issues with.  Good job by the voters this year with getting Jr. and Piazza in where they rightfully belong. 

2015 Topps Valor Football Cards

Grabbed some of the 2015 Topps Valor Football cards earlier this month.  I always enjoy the Valor brand of football cards and this year is no different.  Each card has a prominent photo of the player against a smoky colored background in team colors.  The photos have an "art style" look to them.  I can't explain any better but hopefully by looking at them you'll get it.  There is also a nice prominent team logo at the bottom of the fronts.  There are plenty of subsets and I grabbed a Gridiron Warriors and Honor card.  These are very similar to the base cards.  The backs have a nice write-up as well the team logo, player information and some basic stats.  The photos and layout do it for me.   They are just good looking combined with the team colors.  Price point on these are a bit high which has always bummed me out but I guess that is what you get with a "higher end" set.  Again great looking cards which I highly recommend.   

Star Wars: The Force Awakens **Spoilers Included**

**MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**I've seen it.  Twice.  Like many Star Wars fan boys and girls I've been waiting for this movie for a very long time and I loved it.  This movie had the look and feel of the original trilogy and I thought the storyline was very good even if it did parallel the Star Wars: A New Hope a bit too closely.  Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a great movie.  Many if not all of the major plot points were talked about or written about prior to the movie but nothing was ever known for certain which was great in itself. 

The movie really was Han Solo's movie.  We all knew he was in it but given Harrison Ford's lack of love for the franchise I really expected his part to be a somewhat smaller than what we actually see.  I was pleasantly surprised to see he was featured so prominently  Rey, the female lead and scavenger links up with Finn, an ex-stormtrooper, who while abandoning his life in the First Order saved the best pilot of the Rebellion.  Rey has also has the droid, BB-8, with the map to Luke Skywalker who has gone into seclusion after one of his padawans goes to the dark side.   They must deliver the droid to the Rebellion.  As they escape the First Order they link up with Han and Chewie. 

Han and Chewie decide to drop Rey and Fin somewhere they can make it back to the rebellion.  After being attacked by the First Order and Sith bad guy Kylo Ren, Han talks to Leia when the rebellion saves the day.  During the attack Rey is taken by Ren and the First Order.  Here it is also revealed that Kylo Ren is Han and Leia's son.  From there the rebellion makes plans to destroy the First Orders planet destroying weapon the Starkiller Base which is built into a planet.

Han, Chewy,  and Finn head off to the Starkiller Base to make sure the shields are down to allow the rebellion fighters to destroy the weapon.  Finn's main goal was actually to save Rey who has already escaped as she figures out she has force powers.  They are able to lower the shields and now altogether look at helping blow up the weapon.  As they are setting charges to do the job Han sees his son Kylo Ren.  Leia had asked Han to bring their son home and Han talks to Kylo Ren hoping to do just that.  Han uses Ren's real name, Ben, when he speaks to him.  It looks as though Kylo Ren might just turn away from the dark side when he ignites his light saber, which he had been handing to Han, and kills Han Solo.  Chewy then shoots Ren which injures him but does not kill him.

Chewy blows the charges and Ren and Finn escape.  A confrontation with Ren happens in the forrest.  Ren takes down Finn and Rey is able to get the lightsaber setting up the big fight.  Due to the planet falling apart neither Finn nor Kylo Ren die and Chewy saves the day rescuing Finn and Rey.  They return to the rebel base after Starkiller Base is destroyed.  BB-8 teams up with R2-D2 who has been in self imposed power down mode until now to combine maps to show the location of Luke Skywalker.  Rey, Chewy and R2 then go to find Luke which they do.  The final scene is Rey holding his lightsaber out to Luke atop a rocky island.  And there the movie ends.

I have definitely left out key plot points or scenes but that is the gist of the movie.  One big one is Supreme Leader Snoke.  He is the mysterious leader of the new order and apparent mentor to Kylo Ren.  He is only shown in holographic images as he speaks to Ren and First Order leadership.  There is still much to be explored.  Will Luke return and what will his role be?  Will he mentor Rey?  Will he actually be seen in fights?  Who is Rey's parents?  Many, many ways the next movie can go  I'm very curious where they take it.

Bottom line is I loved this movie.  Again it has the feel of what we grew up loving.  I'm not an Episodes I-III hater but this movie is what we all expected years ago but didn't get.  Lots of good things with movie with very few negatives.  You have to see this movie.  It is a great jumping on for Star Wars as we move forward and there are plenty of great characters (many of which I haven't mentioned).  The fact that J.J. Abrams won't be directing the next film worries me a little but this is a great foundation so hopefully whoever has the next movie will use this as their template.  Until then you have to go see this movie. 

Star Wars Black Series 6 Inch First Order Stormtrooper

I'm a Star Wars guy, a stormtrooper guy, and an action figure guy so the 6" Hasbro Black series of action figures are great.  That said I hadn't purchased one yet.  That was due to multiple factors but I finally had to do it no matter what havoc it reaped on my Christmas budget.  When I saw the 6" First Order Stormtrooper I couldn't say no.  I hadn't seen it anywhere before and had to have it.  I haven't been disappointed.  This is a great looking figure.  It has nice detail and articulation while the size allows it to really show well.  Again I really like stormtroopers and those from the new movie have a look I also really like.  So here are a few pictures of my figure in and out of the box.  Yes, I'm that guy who takes them out of the box but that is ok. Now I just need to pick up the original 6" stormtrooper and I'll be good.