New Meadowlands Stadium Wins 2014 Super Bowl Honors

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-Digger's Daily-
NFL Commissioner Goodell officially announced the New Meadowlands Stadium has been selected as host venue for Super Bowl XLVIII. The 2014 will be the league's first Super Bowl in an outdoor stadium in a cold weather city. There were four rounds of secret balloting before the hosting city was selected. New Jersey beat out Tampa Bay and Miami.
Let the debate rage. Critics and supporters have begun feasting on today's news. There's good and shady swirling around the 2014 game. Time to take a look at all sides. First up, there's a standing NFL 50 degree rule stating no Super Bowl will be awarded to a city averaging colder than 50 degree winter temperatures (unless indoors). So why the exception? It's been reported often, except in the official SB award press releases, Commissioner Goodell has lobbied for the NY/NJ venue. No direct finger pointing has come from Tampa owners but it's very clear Goodell's influence played a role in the final decision. Perhaps even a little arm twisting. Why? For generations both Giants and Jets season tickets had been sold out. There were thousands of names on season ticket waiting lists. Often times, season ticket holders assigned (gifted) their seats in last will and testaments. A not so funny thing happened when Giants and Jets team owners announced building the New Meadowlands Stadium. PSL's were put into place. PSL stands for "personal seat license" which is a one time purchase which gives the fan a right to buy season tickets (plus, season ticket costs). For Giants fans PSL's range from $1,000 to $20,000. Jets fans have to fork over $4,000 to $30,000. Both teams are experiencing extreme difficulty selling season tickets (especially in today's economy). Rumor has it Goodell's intervention is an attempt to help the Giants and Jets sell remaining PSL's & season tickets. How much of a consideration this had on awarding SB XLVII the public will probably never know.

"Under normal circumstances, we probably would have walked away with the trophy," said Sandy MacKinnon of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl bid committee. "But the NFL was interested in making history with New York City and a new stadium. I think the odds were stacked against the traditional sunshine climate."

On the upside. Is it really a big deal if two teams compete for the NFL Championship in less than optimal weather conditions? No. Afterall, this is the NFL. The battle of the gridiron. Sports biggest stage. It's disconcerting hearing NFL guru's complaining of potentially cold or wet game conditions. This is the NFL. Previous Super Bowls have been predicated around warm or perfect weather conditions. Many seem to forget, before Super Bowls, Championship games were played in many less than perfect settings. That's football. Brutal cold Championships hosted in Green Bay, Chicago, Baltimore & New York. It's only fitting football's grand game is played on the world's biggest stage. Projected revenues for the New York, New Jersey area expected to exceed $550 million for the local economy represent a shot in the arm for a city in steep economic turmoil. It's high time the Super Bowl could be played in less than perfect weather conditions. Bringing the game to a new venue is a great move. SB XLVIII in 2014 will be played in the backyard of the world's media capital.

Baseball Power Rankings Packed with Surprises

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-Digger's Daily-

Tampa Bay owns baseball's best record (14-5). Secret to success early on in 2010 has been pitching. Staffs fairing well have led their teams to baseball's best won/loss records. The following power rankings are based on 20 games played, not projections.

1- Tampa Bay (14-5) - Doing nearly everything right.
2- NY Yankees (13-6) - AL's best lineup and stellar pitching.
3- Minnesota (13-6) - Finding ways to win.
4- Philadelphia (11-7) - NL's top lineup saving inconsistant pitching.
5- Oakland (12-8) - AL's biggest surprises led by 2.93 staff ERA.
6- San Francisco (10-8) - Lincecum working on 3rd consecutive Cy Young.
7- San Diego (11-7) - NL's biggest surprise led by 2.87 staff ERA.
8- St Louis (11-7) - MLB best 2.72 staff ERA making up for punchless attack.
9- Colorado (10-9) - Solid overall team stats not translating into victories.
10- Cubs (9-10) - Zambrano out of rotation. Lineup scoring. Cubs starting to win.

Big NFL Names Finding New Teams

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by Digger

NFL teams made headlines this weekend. Big trades and big stars are heading to new teams. Not much of an economic slowdown just yet for owners as clubs have been busy addressing needs.

(NFL.com Free Agent Tracker)

One of the most sought after Free Agents, DT Albert Haynesworth, was signed by Washington for nearly $100M! NY Giants fans must be a bit disappointed as many hoped the games premier DT would land in the Meadowlands. After missing on the Haynesworth sweepstakes, NY got busy signing former Dallas DE Chris Canty, former Seattle DT Rocky Bernard & ex-Atlanta LB Mike Boley. Hopefully, NY will now focus on WR's to make the Giants one of the NFL's most potent teams.

Kansas City made the trade of the year. New Coach & new GM are quickly rebuilding this once proud franchise. KC managed to finagle two New England Patriot stars. QB Matt Cassel & LB Mike Vrabel for a 2nd round draft pick. Cassel's arrival is an instant upgrade for the Chiefs offense. It'll be interesting to see which way the front office goes next. KC needs depth at most positions and is in line to sign a few more key players before draft day.

Another busy team has been the Denver Broncos. BIG moves via free agency addressing team needs. RB's Correll Buckhalter (Philly) & JJ Arrington (Arizona) immediately solidifies Denver's backfield. Safety Brian Dawkins (Philly) & Indy DT Darrell Reid add some punch to their D.
The Houston Texans are really coming around. Their young team is quickly making great strides. They somewhat quietly signed defensive bookends Antonio Smith and Stanley McClover. Houston has emerged as a team on the rise.

Many big names are negotiating with current and potential new teams. Kurt Warner sits atop of the QB Free Agent class. Arizona should act quickly if they want to win another division title. There's plenty of depth left at most other positions. It'll be up to teams to decifer which players best fit plans and cap space.

My personal want list of where players should go is simple:
Jets - LB Ray Lewis, QB Kurt Warner.
Giants - WR's Laveranues Coles (NYJ), T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Cin), Lance Moore (NO). Perhaps an OL via draft or FA.

Players will be changing teams rather quickly in coming days. Salary cap restictions loom large in decision making processes for GM's league wide. A handful of teams sporting new coaches are certain to change drafting philosophies. This will be a great NFL off season as teams prepare for 2009.

NFL's Top 3 Sacked in Playoffs!

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by Digger

NFL's top 3 Playoff seeds were elimated this weekend!

The biggest upset was Arizona's (9-7) victory over NFC #2 seed Carolina Panthers (12-4) on Saturday. Arizona's 33-13 blowout stunned a Carolina team which had not lost a single home game all season. Many thought the Panthers were the NFC's toughest team heading into post-season play. They crumbled early and often. Cards took advantage of turnovers and blew the game wide open.

Baltimore won a defensive battle in Tennessee and knocked off AFC's #1 seeded Titans 13-10 on a late Matt Stover game winning field goal. I can't consider this game much of an upset beyond a lower seed knocking out a higher seed. Baltimore's defense is one of NFL's top ranked units. Tennessee was also injury riddled before and during the game. Ravens are one of AFC's best and they took advantage opportunities in key situations.

Today, it was the World Champions time to fall. Arch rival Philadelphia bested the Giants 23-11 in blustery conditions at the Meadowlands. The Giants blew this game. Terrible play calling which relied on an ineffective passing game over a strong running attack which could have devoured Philly's small defensive line if they only ran up the middle more often. The Giants were physically and emotionally beaten long before two late game 4th and short failures ended their chances of repeating. New York could have buried Philadelphia in the first half. Time and time again the Giants were in Eagles territory is walked away without points. Eventually, chances evaporated and turnovers killed drives while defensive failures on Philly 3rd downs lost the field position wars. Mix in two missed field goals and it was an ugly ending to a great season by New York.

Three road teams won this weekend with San Diego playing in Pittsburgh as I type.
That's why games are played on the field and not on stat sheets or tv studios. No commentators gave Arizona any chance to win even though the Cards offense is one of the best when clicking. In New York, theory was if Giants contain Westbrook then victory was in hand. Giants limited Westbrook to 46 total yards and lost by 12. Tennessee fans figured the key to winning was a solid ground game. Titans were effective but gave up on the running attack. Red zone passing plays (interception, fumble) doomed their once great season... as did no flags thrown on a key 3rd down late in the game when Baltimore clearly let the play clock expire. Pittsburgh has their hands full today too. SD has never won in Pittsburgh during the regular season (0-13). However, when it comes to Playoff football, SD has never lost in Pittsburgh (2-0).

Next weekend AFC/NFC Championship Games will determine who plays in the big game. As of now, AFC rep holds a big advantage. The same was said last year when everyone outside of New York favored the Patriots.