NFL 2011: My Predictions!

"Back to Football" is the slogan of the NFL 2011 season after their almost four month lockout. Compared to 1982 and 1987, at least there's still a 16 game, 17 round slate of regular season footy in 2011.

Here is how I predict the divisions in 2011...

AMERICAN

East
1. Jets
2. Patriots
3. Bills
4. Dolphins

South
1. Jaguars
2. Colts
3. Titans
4. Texans

North
1. Ravens
2. Steelers
3. Browns
4. Bengals

West
1. Chiefs
2. Raiders
3. Chargers
4. Broncos

Divisional winners: Jets (1), Ravens (2), Chiefs (3), Jaguars (4)
Wild card: Raiders (5), Steelers (6)
Playoffs: Chiefs over Steelers, Jaguars over Raiders
Divisionals: Ravens over Chiefs, Jets over Jaguars
Championship: Jets over Ravens

NATIONAL

East
1. Eagles
2. Giants
3. Cowboys
4. Redskins

South
1. Falcons
2. Buccaneers
3. Saints
4. Panthers

North
1. Packers
2. Lions
3. Bears
4. Vikings

West
1. Rams
2. Seahawks
3. 49ers
4. Cardinals

Divisional winners: Packers (1) Falcons (2), Rams (3), Eagles (4)
Wild card: Buccaneers (5), Lions (6)
Wild card predictions: Lions over Rams, Buccaneers over Eagles
Divisional: Lions over Packers, Falcons over Buccaneers
Championship: Falcons over Lions

Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium: Jets v Falcons
Jets over Falcons

But then again, it's the NFL, who knows what will happen! Not just NFL, but gridiron football in general has seen stranger stuff happen!

So there you have it folks. Packers/Saints on Thursday night on NBC! Let's all be there!*

Feel free to agree or disagree with my predictions for the 2011 NFL season!

*-"Let's all be there" was the slogan for NBC's 1983-84 season campaign. Not everyone will watch the game, because OSU/Arizona on ESPN and the US Open on ESPN2. Some heavy duty channel changing will go on.

WWE Network: Destined for Failure?

Don't watch WW(F)E anymore now that their brands are dumbed down.

Now that's all said and done, read that on Monday night, WWE Network promos were shown on RAW. Could this mean a new network that will never last long?

Look at the basics. Titan/WWFE's past ventures, such as the World Bodybuilding Federation and the XFL-a league with potential to be the best competitive league outside the NFL-went dark. Now a channel devoted to all things WWE-including its libraries like Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, AWA, World Class, etc.-will be launched next year.

My take on this-it will join itself among the defunct channels such as CNNfn, CNNSI, Sega Channel-among others. I feel that half of the broadcasting day will be WWE programming and half will be infomercials, including their ShopZone merchandise program.

A WWE Network will only hurt the professional wrestling industry more than they're doing right now. Pro wrestling is still in a weak market, because of the economy, while it's nearest two competitors-Impact Wrestling (Total Nonstop Action) and Ring of Honor are slowly picking up more fans from WWE, despite both IMPACT and ROH with mediocre storylines that are better than WWE does with RAW and SMACKDOWN. That is why mixed martial-arts is growing at a rapid rate.

What WWE is doing (they're still publicly traded on the "Big Board" under ticker symbol 'WWE') is what ZUFFA is trying to do in MMA. ZUFFA President Dana White is also proposing a channel devoted to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and all things ZUFFA. The proposed UFC Channel-if it's launched-could end up going dark in a few years once it's launched.

So the whole meaning of all of this: WWE Network will have lower ratings than Fox Business, which is(?) still the lowest rated cable channel on TV. We'll wait and see what happens next.

Regis to Leave "Live." The Date is Set.

Mark your calendars down...Friday, November 18. As usual, please consult local listings.

This will bring an end of about over three decades of Philbin along with the list of co-hosts on his show, from Kathie Lee (Johnson) Gifford to Kelly Ripa and Joy Philbin among others. His morning show has been taped (or aired live in US Eastern time in most markets) from the studios at ABC7 New York, and aired in syndication since September 1988 (show is distributed by ABC Studios).

I liked the time where the wrestlers appeared on Live, whether it was Bill Goldberg or Hulk Hogan to the Undertaker and the late Yokozuna. This was one of a few number of talk shows that promoted professional wrestling pay-per-views and you the fans must owe it to guys like Executive Producer Michael Gelman for doing that.

Philbin is a great host, liked him on Millionaire, when it was on ABC primetime in late '90s-early '00s. Who knows where he will go from here. God speed.

Nadal Cramping & Collapses.

The man had cramps, but judge for yourself what happened in the video.

Then check out his reaction afterwards...



IAAF World Championships 2011: What We Learned From It.

These 9 days of the 13th installment of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea proved to be what you should expect in 11 months in London.

World records. Not many shattered during these nine days...until the final day and the final race. Men's 4x100m relay. Usain Bolt anchored Jamaica with a world record run as that baton was passed to him at turn 4, and the rest was history.

US and Jamaica are still the biggest rivalry on the track side, but also Russia, Great Britain and France have solid runners to watch out for. Same could be said for the marathon where the typical rivalry between runners from Ethiopia and Kenya continue to pour on from the marathons like Boston, NYC, London into the worlds.

Some other things to note, some records like those set by Javier Sotomayor in the men's high jump and Sergei Bubka in the pole vault, after these nine days-have still been untouched for years. Who knows what's gonna happen within the year.

US had the most medals at 25, including key wins with Trey Hardee taking the decathlon to surprise runs by Jenny Barringer Simpson in the women's 1500m and in the last leg of the men's 4x400 with LaShawn Merritt from nowhere in the last turn bringing it home for the USA.

The road to London has just begun.

Friday Jukebox 9.2.11

Is it Tuesday, September 6, 9pm CDT yet?

To get you ready for SAMCRO season 4, this is Curtis Stigers & the Forest Rangers' "This Life." The theme of the show!

I want y'all to have a safe weekend on this, North American Labo(u)r Day weekend, truly the last holiday of the summer.

Okay GLAAD. Harden the Fuck Up.

Here we go again, another reason why comedy should NEVER be taken seriously. Chelsea Handler in hot water with GLAAD over jokes made on Chaz Bono joining the cast of the new installment of US version of Strictly Come Dancing. Jo Koy, Bill Bellamy and Fortune Feimster were the roundtable guests.

When will special interests groups like GLAAD realize that it's a fucking joke and it's comedy? Do groups like GLAAD ever watch other shows on late night regarding gay jokes? Leno, Letterman, Handler, Conan, et al., have done it over the years.

GLAAD must be on that Stalinist Kool-Aid that most other groups like the NAACP are drinking. They don't represent the LGBT community at all. Just money grubbing scum.

Reminds me of the Chaser and their attacks (and the Chaser is right as always) on the newsmagazines on Seven and Nine networks in Australia, on the lack of consistency thereof on their respective shows. Also everyone knows that those who watch Today Tonight and A Current Affair (the original ACA, in Australia, not the defunct US newsmagazine that went off the air in 1996) and hate the Chaser must be on that Stalinist Kool-Aid that GLAAD is drinking. Plain and simple.

I love Handler, but people like GLAAD are trying to hurt their credibility as well as the people who support GLAAD.

So to the folks at GLAAD, be GLAAD that Handler is still a big supporter of LGBT and not an opposer. Harden the fuck up already.