EL BARIO, BRONX – Happy New Year to one and all. On this the fourth day of the first month in the year of our Lord and Savior (Yim), Two Thousand and Fourteen, Deacon Blaber (yours truly) stands at his bully pulpit to cover the latest sports news… There is a huge tilt toward the NFL because it is really the dominant winter sport and number 1 sport in the country. But we’ll also cast a judgmental eye at the silly hijinks of the Brooklyn Nets before looking into a UFC story.
NFL:
Jay Cutler: The Chicago Bears signed Jay Cutler to a 7 year contract. Unconfirmed reports have claimed it to be $126 million with $54 million guaranteed. I am speechless as to this deal. He went 5-5 this season and he gets that deal. Some say he showed toughness by coming back to finish the season and give the Bears a chance at the playoffs… but Da Bears didn’t make playoffs because when they needed to win, Cutler & Co. came up short against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Cutler was in the final year of his contract, so he gets no extra points like he was RG3. J-Cut lost to Rodgers, who is also soft but came back from 7 weeks out to lead his team to the playoffs. Mr. Discount Double-Check must be doing cartwheels over this deal because if Cutler got that much… he must be looking at least at $200 million. Meanwhile, Cutler’s back-up, Josh McCown, went 3-3 and led the team well while Cutler was being a puss. Hopefully, McCown ends up at a team like the Jets where he can push Geno Smith and allow the Jets to draft a more polished QB. Credit McCown, for it must be tough backing-up a notorious crybaby and sulker; Cutler has a record of blaming teammates and is only in Chicago because of a temper tantrum in Denver when then coach Josh McDaniels tried to trade for Matt Cassel. This will not end well, mark my words.
NFL Coaches: In case you didn’t read West Coast Craig’s article, Monday was Black Monday in the NFL. 5 head coaches were fired and if you combine the Houston Texans firing Gary Kubiack in early December, that would make 6 openings. It appears two positions were filled this week. Bill O’Brien will be offered the Texans job and Lovie Smith will take over at Tampa. O’Brien will seem unfamiliar to some NFL fans but he is an apple off the Belichek coaching tree, (which is an apple off the Parcells tree). Though no Belichek disciple has made a big splash, O’Brien has somewhat. He was so desperate to be head coach he took the Kid Fiddler U (Penn State) job and surpassed expectations. Now he has signed on to resurrect a Texans’ program that never really took off… Meanwhile, Lovie Smith’s signing with Tampa Bay is the NFL equivalent of answering the door and finding a flaming bag of poop. The Bucs have a mediocre defense and a non-existent offense. However Lovie managed to make a super bowl with the Bears and Rex Grossman as his QB. He has a bit of experience turning a bottle of piss into wine so he just might do it here.
Brooklyn Nets: So the horror show known as the Brooklyn Nets continues. Among their many horrors is their record and Jason Kidd being a joke of a coach. You also have players of the caliber of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett lost as to their role on the team. The latest sad chapter has them leaving a game too early. In a game against the San Antonio Spurs with 24.2 seconds left on the clock, everyone knew the game was over. With San Antonio trying to run out the clock, the Nets players started the process of shaking hands and heading for the locker room. However there is only 24 seconds on the shot clock so Head Coach Kidd had to call a timeout and get players back out of the locker room to finish the final 0.2 seconds on clock. I guess finish strong is not echoed in that locker room.
Anderson Silva: Never a huge UFC fan, though I do enjoy it. MtM and myself wanted to wish Anderson Silva and speeding recovery. Silva broke his leg will attempting to kick an opponent in his match. It is believed to be career-ending but Silva hasn’t said he is done. It was not exactly Theissman-esqe but it is ugly. Hopefully he recovers fully and fights one more time, so he can retire on his terms. For those curious about the injury and want to witness it, just CLICK HERE.
That is it for now, feel free to comment below and come back tomorrow for the one and only Cheesy Bruin and his NFL Picks ( told you last week he would pick Dallas). Hopefully, he has some picks that will make us all rich. You can see other picks today from DJ Eberle by clicking this.
P.s… If you want to read more of my ramblings you can find them on RugbyWrapUp.com and our Facebook Rugby Wrap Up Page and follow us on Twitter @RugbyWrapUp and @JunoirBlaber, respectively
