After the Cowboys beat up on the Washington Redskins a couple of weeks ago I had a chance to catch up with one of my old teammates, John Phillips, who currently plays tight end for the Cowboys.  We only spoke briefly but we did manage to discuss UVA’s recent hiring of Mike London as the new head coach.  I instantly realized that I had yet to publish my opinion on this hire and it is certainly a topic that deserves some discussion.

I’d like to say that I predicted that 2009 would be Al Groh’s last season as Virginia’s head football coach, but I think the writing was on the wall after the loss to William & Mary.  Groh is a good coach, so I think he’ll land on his feet real soon (hopefully in the NFL).  Now, UVA has to find a way back to its former glory.  The first step in the process was hiring a new head coach and I think the AD

Continue reading "The Cav Report: A New Era"

One of the things I’ve always wanted to do in my dreams of being an ESPN analyst or sports writer is giving out the end of the season awards.  Now, with my world famous blog, I have the medium to express who I think should receive the sought after hardware.  Unfortunately the rookies of the year have already been awarded and so has the comeback player of the year.  Percy Harvin (my high school teammate), Brian Cushing, and Tom Brady all would have been my choices for their respective awards so it’s good to know that I am already an expert!  But in all seriousness, the following analysis will be a mixture of predictions and who I think should get the award.  Enjoy!

Most Valuable Player:

Brett Favre. 68% comp, 33 TDs, 7 Ints

Why:  I think the MVP should go to a player who not only possess the gaudy stats but also captivates the league, and makes a true difference on their respective team.  Brett Favre is that guy.  He has already has 3 MVP awards, yet this is statistically the best season he has ever had.  On top of that, he has had us all on the edge of our seats since the summer.  One minute he is definitely not coming back, the next, he’s getting picked up from the airport by Minnesota coach Brad Childress.  Then everyone was convinced there was no way he could make it through a 16 game season.  For God sakes, he didn’t even participate in training camp!  He looks bad in pre-season, mediocre in the beginning of the season, and dominant the rest of the season. He’s had drama from beginning to end and he has the

Continue reading "The Amari Awards"

The Cowboys have a huge match-up this week against the #2 seed Minnesota Vikings.  But, I don’t think that will keep any Cowboys fan from relishing in what has transpired over the last month.  Over these last 4 weeks the Cowboys have exercised all of their “demons” and now simply have to go into the Metrodome and take on the 12-4 Minnesota Vikings led by Brett Favre to advance to the NFC championsip.  Piece of cake, right?  Well before we stuff ourselves, let’s digest the last month of the season and see what the Cowboys were able to stomach (pun intended). 

Demon #1:  DECEMBER

It all started in New Orleans when the Cowboys took on the undefeated New Orleans Saints.  They were coming off back to back losses to the Chargers and Giants and the December monster continued to loom.  Most experts predicted that the Cowboys would not only lose

Continue reading "Exercising the Demons"

Continue reading "Are the Browns Playoof Bound?"

Well, the playoffs are in full swing and many of the end of season awards are settled.  My prior predictions were a bit off as Peyton Manning received the MVP and Charles Woodson received the DPOY award.  It's hard to argue with those choices, but I like arguing so I'm going to do it anyway.

 The same flaws that I pointed out in my previous post surfaced with Woodson in their wildcard game against the Cardinals.  Woodson got burned a lot in that Wildcard game, but he made some plays too (just not enough).    His aggressiveness killed him a couple times in the game…but at least he’s got a trophy.  Revis got flagged a couple times, but shut down Chad Ochocinco and grabbed a pick in the process.  The Jets pulled the upset with a dominating performance and if they continue to advance everyone will question whether Woodson was the right choice.  

Continue reading "The Amari Awards Revisited"

Whenever I think back to this past Sunday’s game against the Vikings, everything just seems blurred.  Although the final score read 34-3, I just can’t imagine how things got out of control so quickly.  The Cowboys were moving the ball well and playing pretty well on defense initially.  Then suddenly, they were getting stampeded.  Not by Adrian Peterson.  Not even by Chester Taylor.  They weren’t even being mauled by Minnesota’s Pro Bowl laden offensive line.  So what the hell happened?!  Well in review, it was a lot of things but at the same time it was one thing:  respect.  The Cowboys underestimated and undervalued players on the Vikings and players on their own team.  They underestimated the effect of a home field advantage in Minnesota.  They also under estimated the amount of desperation that needs to be displayed in every playoff game.  Somewhere between beating the Eagles twice and getting demolished by the Vikings, the Cowboys forgot that they were playing the one of the top 2 teams in the conference.

Continue reading "The Underestimated"

This year’s Pro Bowl has sparked more controversy and debate than any Pro Bowl in history.  For one, the game is not being played in Hawaii. This year it has been moved to the Super Bowl site in Miami.  The game is also being played the week before the Super Bowl which eliminates any of the Super Bowl participants from the game.  This year has also seen an astounding number of opt-outs for the Pro Bowl which has resulted in an astounding number of Pro Bowl alternates.  Some of the positions are going as far as seven deep.  To give you an idea of how ridiculous this situation has gotten, Vince Young  and David Garrard are going to the Pro Bowl this year.  They both had okay seasons but not Pro Bowl seasons.  Vince Young didn’t even start until week 6.  Garrard had one of his worst seasons statistically, but when 5 people in front of you pull out of the game then it shows you how watered down the quarterback position is.  On the other side of the coin, well deserving players like

Continue reading "From Pro Bowl to Blow Bowl? (It's a tounge twister)"