The Patriots won’t fumble in the red zone and will pummel Atlanta, sticking to the theme of the 2017 playoffs. Only two of the first 10 postseason have been close. Two! Roger Goodell will plaster on a fake smile and present the trophy to Bob Kraft and shake Brady’s hand. Then he’ll go punch a wall. Patriots 35, Falcons 20.
Lady Gaga is performing at halftime. That'll be interesting. I predict a major wardrobe malfunction that will make Americans totally forget about the game. Afterward, the media will speculate that Goodell staged the whole thing to take the spotlight off those cheating Patriots. BTW, a recent poll found that only 27 percent of Americans will be cheering for New England.
Sounds like Josh Cunningham will return to the UD lineup sometime this month. It would be great to see him on the court when the Flyers host VCU on March 1. They'll need some help boxing out Mo Alie-Cox and his pals.
Too bad Cunningham can’t handle the ball. It’s become painfully obvious that the Flyers have just one reliable option at point guard in close games. The five or six minutes Scoochie Smith rests have become cover-your-eyes time.
Reds fans gotta love the fallout from the hacking drama involving the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards must forfeit their top two picks in this year's draft and pay the Astros $2 million because a former employee hacked Houston's computers. The guilty party, Chris Correa, was sentenced to nearly four years in jail. That judge must be a Cubs fan.
The Reds are giving Bronson Arroyo another chance and the Tribe has signed Wily Mo Pena. What is this, 2007? Arroyo might work his way up to the mound at Great American Ball Park this season, which would be cool. I always liked Arroyo. His fastball probably tops out at 74 mph, which could befuddle batters. Wily Mo in Cleveland's lineup? Not a chance.
Trending up: Gonzaga, Roger Federer, Chelsea Welch. The Zags are ranked No. 1, much to the chagrin of the snooty major conferences. Basketball is not football, though. You can build a great hoops team around three or four great players. The Zags aren't really a mid-major, either. Some of the teams they've already defeated: San Diego State, Florida, Iowa State, Arizona, Washington, Tennessee, Saint Mary's, BYU.
Trending down: Xavier, Kevin Love, New York Islanders. Xavier is reeling after losing point guard Edmond Sumner to a torn ACL. I'm sure all of you UD fans are really bummed. The Musketeers dropped out of the Top 25 and lost four of seven prior to Saturday's game at Creighton, another team trying to recover from the loss of its point guard to a knee injury.
Knucklehead of the Week
Court filings made public last week revealed sickening details of how far former Baylor football coach Art Briles and his staff allegedly went to cover up disciplinary issues involving his players over the years. Police? Don’t talk to the police. Text messages and emails were released by three university regents after they were sued for libel by a former football staffer. They cited details of cases involving sexual assault, intimidation, academic fraud, drug use, indecent exposure, brandishing of guns and more. The regents apparently were tired of being ripped by Baylor boosters. Briles dropped his defamation suit against regents last week, opting not to try a Hail Mary on fourth-and-50.
About the Author