Let’s be honest…in the NHL 8 out of 15 teams in each conference make the play offs.  So, most of the regular season doesn’t really make a difference.

But the playoffs are wonderful.

This is the first season where I’ve had an HD TV and a HD Cable, and trust me, hockey in HD makes all this crap worthwhile.  The detail is amazing…and yes, it makes it easier to see the puck as well.  Weird thing tho, not all teams have HD cameras installed.  Like the Flames…no HD.  But for the most part the added detail of HD is incredible.

Picks for this year?  I have to go with Pittsburgh and Detroit in the Stanley Cup…mostly because this matchup would be unbelievably awesome.  You have the veteran Wings against kids like Crosby and Malkin.

I have to say the Rangers are looking good too, and the Habs are doing well against an easy matchup.  Surprisingly Dallas is up 2-0 against the defending champs the Ducks…but really Dallas won’t go past the second round.

And Calgary is giving the Sharks a tough time.  Yesterday they came back from a 0-3 deficit to win.

The point is, playoffs are pure goodness.  And even better in HD.

Go Wings!

The Detroit Red Wings were in town this weekend, and I was lucky enough to find some incredible seats on craigslist.  Like, right near the glass, it was insane.

Of course, the Wings won, taking the sharks down 6 to 3.  And my god are they a good team.  Their passing was impeccable and they skated around the sharks like they were a junior hockey team.

Here are a couple pics from the game.

TKFKAK and I will be in vegas for the Super Bowl, and this year’s odds are oh so tempting.  The Pats are a -12 favorite over the Giants - a pretty big spread for the team to cover.  The over/under is as 53 1/2, so vegas is expecting a pretty high scoring game.

I think that the Pats will win, for sure, but I don’t think they’ll cover.  The Giants lost by only 3 points in the final game of the season, and New York has looked stellar in the playoffs.  It is difficult to root for the Giants, though.  They are just a pretty unlikable team, while it’s hard not to cheer for golden boy Brady.

And although Eli Manning has avoided throwing an interception in the playoffs, this kid is still young.  Sure, he comes from the Manning family, but I’m guessing that he’ll have a tough time dealing with the pressure.  On the other hand, the Giants are such a huge underdog that perhaps Eli will take a nothing-to-lose attitude and not revert to the interception-throwing Eli that we all know.

But 12 points is a big spread, especially considering that the Pats have won their last three Super Bowls by only 3 points each.

I think the best bet there is the over.  The two teams scored 73 points in their week 17 game, and I think we can expect a similar performance.  Then again, there hasn’t been an over 53 1/2 Super Bowl since the Pats beat the Panthers in 2004.

Still, I always LOVE the over, because you can just cheer for whoever, as long as they score.  To reach 54 points, all you need is a couple TDs a quarter - something that’s doable for both teams.

One note though, Tom Brady was seen walking around with a foot cast on after the Pats beat SD on Sunday.  Who knows how bad this injury actually is, but any ongoing pain may limit Brady who hasn’t missed a game since 2001.

NFL Divisionals continued today, with San Diego at Indy and the Giants at Dallas.  And surprisingly, both underdogs won.

In Indy, Peyton Manning got beat for the second time this year by the San Diego Chargers.  You may remember their previous 21-23 loss, where Manning threw 6 picks and lost me a close game with TJFKAK.

Manning had a decent outing, throwing for 3 TDs and 402 yards, with 2 Ints.  But at the end of the day, he didn’t come through on Indy’s final two drives, either of which would have given the Colts the lead.

You have to give credit to the Chargers, who have had Indy’s number and also won with LT and QB Rivers on the bench with injuries.  Billy Volek, a career backup, engineered the game winning drive, going 3 for 4 for 48 yards and a 1 yard TD run.

One thing though, Philip Rivers proved today that he is an enormous douche.  He is cocky, and really not that great of a QB, so I don’t know what he’s cocky about.  I’ve noticed this ever since Rivers got the starting gig, and today Rivers acted out again, getting into yelling matches with Indy fans at the end of game.  It’s just a classless, unprofessional act that has no place in the NFL…especially from Rivers, who really hasn’t proven a whole lot.

In the NFC, New York took down the Cowboys at Dallas.  This was surprising, because the Cowboys were solid all year and finished with a 13 and 3 record.  They also beat the Giants twice in the regular season.

But today, Romo was hurried throughout the game, going 18 for 35, with 1 TD and only 201 yards.  Manning didn’t do much better with only 163 yards, but did throw two key TDs to Toomer.  But, Eli didn’t turn into bad Eli.  He avoided interceptions and relied on the running game when necessary, even when playing from behind.

You kind of have to wonder if this is a switch of the Mannings - Peyton going down, and Eli rising up - but I don’t think so.  Indy was missing some key players like Harrison, and Giants had pretty easy matchups with Tampa Bay and Dallas.  I’m sure we’ll see Peyton in the Championships next year.

You also have to give it to NY’s defense, who really clamped down in the final minutes of the game.  Romo had a bunch of chances to toss the game winning TD…but he just didn’t deliver.

San Diego heads to New England next week, perhaps without Rivers and Tomlinson.  In either case, they’re gonna lose.  And the Giants are headed to Green Bay, where they will have a tough time beating the Packers at home…especially since they will be playing against veteran Farve, not Romo, who has never won a playoff game.

And I hate to get ahead of myself, but I think we’re looking at an AWESOME Super Bowl matchup with the Pats and Packers.  You have Farve, in what will be perhaps his last year, and the Pats, the first undefeated team in 35 years.  Man will that be good.

Yeah, Tom Brady is pretty good.  He tossed 26 completions on 28 attempts, for an NFL Playoff record completion percentage of 92.6%.  And those two incompletions were not on Brady at all - they were drops by receivers.

Oh yeah, he had 262 yards and 3 TDs as well.

So, the Pats are still perfect and just two games away from a 19-0 season and a Super Bowl win.  And by the way the played tonight, I don’t think anyone..not Indy or San Diego, Green Bay or Dallas, has a chance to take them down.

With that said, the Jags played a great game…especially for the first half when they were tied 14-14.  It was a bit of a rout after that, but Garrard did have a pretty good game, throwing for 278 yards, 2 TDs and 1 int.  He makes the move to ditch Leftwich look pretty smart, and he’s taken the Jags just a couple of steps away from the Super Bowl.  They’ll be better next year, I’m sure.

Another thing about Brady is that he seems like such a good guy.  I mean, he’s humble, well-spoken and supportive of his teammates.  This in a league where a player without an arrest history is surprising.  Actually, the only dirt I can think of on Brady is that he had a child out of wedlock.  But in my opinion, that’s a big plus…it shows he’s smart and he knows he can fuck any girl on the planet - so why get married?  Plus, why ruin your career dealing with a kid and a mother…he’s smart enough to know how to use his best years.

I know that TJFKAK is going to say I’m gay for Brady, but that’s not the case at all.  He is just that good, I mean, you gotta respect it.

One thing though - I was thinking that Brady doesn’t really have a cool nickname, and I propose “The Surgeon” based on his accuracy and how he tears defenses apart with his precision.  Also, I think Garrard should be “The Proctologist” because his fingers are brown.

Anyway, the Pats are golden…and I don’t see any team stopping them after the way they played tonight.  If you can fault them for anything, it’s that they didn’t cover the -13.5 spread.

See you in Arizona, Tom.

The 2008 NFL playoffs are about to kick off in minutes…you excited?

There were some close finishes last week, with Washington and Tennessee securing playoff spots with big week 17 wins.  You also have some surprising contenders, like the Tampa Bay Bucs and Green Bay Packers, who weren’t even in the playoffs last year.  Tampa Bay was actually in last place in their division with a 4 and 12 record.  See what Jeff Garcia gets you?

I think Washington is a huge sleeper this year.  The team has gone 4-0 it’s last four games with Todd Collins at QB.  This guy has been in the league since 1995, but had been a second stringer most of his career.  This year in Washington he took the QB job after Jason Campbell got injured, and ran with it.  In his only four starts this year he threw 5 TDs, no interceptions with a QB rating of 106.4.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Washington makes it through the first two rounds of the playoffs - there’s not too many teams in the NFC that they don’t match up decently against.

But at the end of the day, I think Dallas has the best shot in the NFC…although I do hate Tony Romo and his man superstar girlfriends.  In fact, it’s very satisfying to seem him f up and lose the game for the Cowboys.

In the AFC, does it even matter?  New England will run the table with ease I think.  The best matchup will be New England and Indy, of course…but I don’t think Indy has it this year at all.  I think they’re a lock for the super bowl.

I will say that I like Tennessee - the Titans have played well this year in a tough conference.  Their D has been solid against both the pass and rush.  Although their passing game isn’t great, they do have a great running game that helps the team maintain possession.  But in the AFC, you really do need to score more points, and that’s not really the Titan’s style of play.

IN any case, it’s gonna be a great playoff this year, although we could really just hand the pats the championship and save a lot of time.

Okay, so Hawaii didn’t beat #5 Georgia.  In fact, they got beaten pretty bad, with Brennan held to only 169 yards, no TDs and 3 interceptions.

But hey, big props to the Warriors for even being there.  Hawaii hasn’t been on that big of a stage since…well…ever, and the cash from the Sugar Bowl will fund the warrior’s football program for years.  Maybe now they can even afford soap in the locker room.  I mean, when you consider the budget Hawaii has to work on compared to other teams in the BCS, it’s absolutely insane how good this team actually is.

You also have to give it to these hawaii people who flew all the way over to New Orleans to support the team.  Sure, it’s too bad that UH lost…but you definitely have to respect the effort made to get there to see the game.  And it was kind of amusing to see Hawaii people in New Orleans - a town that hasn’t seen a jap since TJFKAK visited in the early 2000s - drinking and partying in the big easy.

It was also kind of remarkable to come home and see soooo many UH t-shirts and brennan jerseys.  It’s always cool to see a whole state come together to support something.  Very…ahem…small towny.

I mean, it’s kind of a give a take.  Sometimes Hawaii comes together to free convicted child molesters, sometimes they come together to support the local team.  You still gotta love it.

Thanks for the great season, Warriors.  Brennan, I’ll be drafting you in the 8th round next year.

The New England Patriots capped off the first 16-0 season in NFL history today, with a come-from-behind 38-35 victory over the New York Giants.  They are the first team to finish the regular season undefeated since the 1972 Dolphins.

At first, it seemed like the Patriots didn’t really bring their game, falling behind by 12 points in the third quarter.  But the Patroits scored 22 unanswered points to take a 38-28 lead.  A late comeback attempt by the Giants fell short after a failed onside kick, and the Patriots ran out the clock for the victory.

It was a pretty exciting game.  I actually really like the Patriots.  I mean, remember earlier this season when they were suspected of cheating?  No one’s talking about that any more.  They have dominated so many teams this year, it’s insane.  After the first few games you could tell that they had the talent to go 16-0.

Plus, the Giants came of like pissant little naggers this whole week with their assinine sound bites about how they’re not really impressed with the Pats.  Guess what?  They should be.

I really like Tom Brady - he seems like a great guy that’s humble, even though he’s probably one of the best quarterbacks in the past several decades.  I’m happy for him, and this record breaking season.  He’s such a refreshing athlete to listen to after hearing arrogant popolo after arrogant popolo.

Speaking of which, Randy Moss also broke the single season TD record previously held by Jerry Rice.  That’s an amazing season for a guy who caught just 11 TDs in his previous 2 seasons in Oakland.

Anyway, great game by the Pats.  Good luck in the playoffs.  I, frankly, think the superbowl is a sure thing for New England this year.

Yesterday the McKinley Tigers pulled out a one point victory in the Lawyer Bowl Championships, winning the team a cool $150.

Although the team entered the playoffs as the fifth seed with a record of only 7-6, the Tigers won three straight games - knocking off the Insomniacs, Militia Ethridge, and finally the Kim Possibles.

Most remarkably, the Tigers made the push to the championships with backups Kurt Warner, Sage Rosenfels, Aaron Stecker and Fred Jackson.  Not to mention that the Tigers didn’t actually draft their team - Xtine didn’t even attend the draft, her team was autodrafted by ESPN.

In any case, it was a great season capped off by a super close championship game.

On Wednesday this year’s Heisman Trophy finalists were announced, and Hawaii’s Colt Brennan made the list.  Although he’s somewhat of a dark horse candidate, Colt did put up impressive numbers this year - 4174 yards, 38 TDs, and of course a perfect season.  He also broke the NCAA career TD record with 131 TD passes.

The Heisman will be presented in New York this Saturday.

Today the University of Hawaii won a spot in the Bowl Championship Series, and will play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.  The Sugar Bowl will be played in the Super Dome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

It’s a great accomplishment for UH…and I have to say, as the only undefeated team left in the NCAA, they really deserve it.  Growing up in the Bob Wagner era I can’t explain how insane it is to think of UH as an undefeated team ranked in the top 10.

UH actually got 3 votes for #1, but ended up #10 in the final BCS poll.  I think the school deserved to be ranked higher, but it seems like a school in the WAC will never have a schedule strong enough to compete for the BCS championship.

I don’t know a lot about college football, but it seems like it’s really time for a playoff-style championship.  I kind of don’t get it, actually…more games means way more money for schools and the NCAA…what’s not to like?  Why leave things up to a computer algorithm?

UH fans actually gathered in the Stan Sheriff center to watch the BCS bowl selection.  About 7,500 fans showed up, along with the UH team.

Unfortunately, the Sugar Bowl takes place on New Year’s Day, so there’s no way that I can go…I’ll probably miss the game in transit back to cali actually.  But if you’re interested in getting Sugar Bowl tickets, there’s some info on the UH website.

The University of Hawaii Warriors completed its first undefeated season in school history tonight with a 35-28 victory over the University of Washington.  A week after winning the WAC title for the first time ever, UH overcame an early deficit in one of the best games I’ve seen this season.

It looked bad for the Warriors in the first quarter, as they turned the ball over three times and fell behind 21-0.  Hawaii wasn’t able to stop Washington’s running game, resulting in three rushing touchdowns for the Huskies.

But it was strange - and the ESPN2 announcers picked up on this as well - even though UH was down by 3 scores, a pretty large lead for any team in the NCAA, the Warriors didn’t seem to panic while Washington still seemed to be on their heels.

And rightfully so.  UH outscored Washington 35-7 in the next three quarters, at one point scoring four unanswered touchdowns.

As always, the UH offense centered on Colt Brennan, UH’s QB and the school’s first legitimate Heisman candidate…ever.  And Brennan had as close to a perfect game as I have seen.  He completed 42 out of 50 passes for 433 yards and 5 TD…that’s an amazing 84% completion rate.

More importantly, Brennan was poised like a veteran throughout the game, at one point throwing 20 straight completions.  It was a distinct improvement over the Brennan of last year, and an impressive Heisman pitch. 

On decisive game-tying and go-ahead drives, Brennan threw accurately, leveraging the pocket and buying time when necessary.  He went 10 for 11 on those drives…ten for eleven…bringing UH back from a 7 point deficit to a 7 point lead and a victory.

I don’t want to seem too positive on Brennan, because TJFKAK often remarks that I am gay for Jeff Garcia due to my many accolades for him…but really, Brennan was unstoppable.  He ripped the Washington D to shreds in those drives like he was playing against a pop warner team.

And you have to give props to the UH receivers as well.  Rivers caught 14 passes for 165 yards and 4 TDs, and Grice-Mullen added on another 118 yards on 10 catches.

But Hawaii didn’t make things easy, either.  After scoring the go-ahead TD with only 49 second left on the clock, UH allowed Washington to throw two quick completions to the UH 4 yard line.  On Washington’s final play of the game, Huskies QB threw a perfect toss that should have been caught for a TD…but the ball slipped through the receiver’s hands, through his legs, off his foot and into the air where it was intercepted.

That was lucky…and should have been a game tying TD for Washington.  But instead, Brennan took a knee with 3 seconds left on the clock, and UH’s come-from-behind victory was complete.

It was not a perfect game for Hawaii…but it was a perfect win, if that makes sense.  It was great that Hawaii was able to get this win at home…and it was great to see the Hawaii fans on ESPN.

At the end of the day, this season will go down as the best season ever in Hawaii sports history, and I’m really happy for UH fans and Brennan.  All that’s left is the BCS bowl game, that UH is all but guaranteed at this point.  I’m actually considering making a trek to the game…this year, it’s worth it.  Anyone else in?

Congrats, Warriors.

  It’s the last game of the regular season in the Lawyer Bowl, and it’s gonna come down to the wire.  So far, only two teams have already clinched - El Jeffe’s team and the Kim Possibles.

I’m in a decent position, although I do really need a win to secure a playoff spot and a high seed.  It’d also be nice if El Jeffe drops a game giving me a good shot at the #2 seed.  It’s actually pretty insane, because with a win I could be the #2 seed, but with a loss I may be out of the playoffs altogether.

Not to toot my own horn, but my team has done well despite being besieged by injury.  My #1 RB Peterson just missed a couple games, and I lost Benson for the rest of the year last week.  My WRs have been injured throughout the year as well…Johnson missed 7 games and Fitzgerald will probably be out next week.

TJFKAK will have to really fight for a playoff spot.  She’ll need a win plus losses by a couple others to keep playing next week.  Her team has been buoyed, however, by a mysterious pickup of #2 TE Witten. 

I have to give TJFKAK props though for not asking bf El Jeffe to drop  their week 11 game, thereby giving TJFKAK a pretty secure playoff spot.  El Jeffe didn’t need the win, but TJFKAK still didn’t ask.

Although Jak has made a nice comeback with a four game winning streak, he’s not going to make the playoffs this year.  Hopefully he’ll knock off Xtine though, giving me a bit more of a cushion in the playoff hunt.

Sadly, The Bear is in the Lawyer Bowl’s basement.  Her eight game losing streak…which started by the way after some shit talking with yours truly…has resulted in a 2-9-1 record and a .208 win percentage.

I have to say though, this season has been very exciting.  It’s always cool when you come to the last game in the regular season and the playoff chase is so tight.  There are still five teams fighting for 4 remaining playoff spots…and statistically any one of those five teams could be eliminated.

Plus, the top five teams will make at least their money back…and the champion will get a nice payoff of $150, while second place will get $75.  That ain’t bad at all.

If I had to put money on it, I’d say El Jeffe has the best shot at the championship…he has solid QBs, a great TE and a high scoring TE with Owens…his only weakness is at RB.  The Kim Possibles are also very strong, with Romo - TO’s QB, decent WRs and pretty good RBs.

Good luck this week everyone.

UH QB Colt Brennan threw for 5 TDs and ran for another  giving Hawaii it’s first outright WAC title…ever.  UH topped some small town school from the midwest by a score of 39 to 27.  Not only that, but Brennan broke the career TD record for the NCAA with this first TD pass.

I have to also give props to my Slingbox, which allowed me to actually watch the game live here in Tokyo.  Trust me, you need one for christmas this year.

The game was pretty close until late in the 3rd quarter, when UH scored a couple of quick TDs.

If Hawaii wins next week, it will be only one of two undefeated teams this season…giving the school a good chance of ranking the top 5 BCS teams.  But I think it’s still very unlikely that UH will compete for a BCS title, because their schedule has just been way too weak.  That’s mostly because they play in the WAC, which is by far one of the weaker conferences in the nation.

In any case, it was nice to see UH pull out the win - especially at home.  Hawaii people seem to really love Brennan and the other 5 popolos he plays fetch with.

After the win, what looked like hundreds of UH fans rushed the field and did typical Hawaii things like waving at the camera behind people that are giving interviews.  Did anyone else think it was a bad idea to allow a bunch of drunken soles on the field?

It was also nice of the ESPN announced to point out that UH’s facilities are in a state of disrepair…a great way to strengthen UH’s image on national TV.

But it was a great win.  Amazing effort by Hawaii, and just a great season overall.  Enjoy it, because this is pretty much as good as it will ever get for UH.

So Peyton Manning is normally a fantasy stud…that is indisputable.  But in the last several games he’s been very very average…like, costing me games average.

Since the bye week, Peyton has thrown only 6 TDs in 5 games, while throwing 9 interceptions and fumbling 5 times.  Not good at all.

And this week he had a 0 TD, 160 yard performance against Kansas City, one of the weaker teams in the league.

Golden boy Peyton is starting to annoy me a bit.  And sure, he’s had some injuries, but come on…one receiver can’t turn Peyton into Grossman overnight, can it?

Let’s hope Peyton is just going through a short slow streak.  He’s one of the best ever, and although I don’t like how the guy looks or talks, he is a good QB.

I think I’ve endured enough Peyton is god commercials and aw shucks press conferences for at least 2 TDs a game, no?