#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSUF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!!</editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Welcome back sports fans! Sorry I missed my post last week, my professors always pile up the work load right before break. I hope you guys enjoyed the video that I showed in absence of my post. Over the last two weeks there have been 2 huge stories that have really caught my interest. The first one, as most of you could probably guess is the trade of Tim Tebow to the New York Jets. It certainly seems to be an odd fit at first, and later I will give you my opinion on the subject. The second story that really perked my interest was Tiger Wood's victory at the Anrold Palmer Invitational. After a tsunami of press reports and infidelity destroyed Tiger's career, he has been on a recovery ever since. He also made a change to his swing, and all of this compounded to create a very lack luster return for Tiger after all of his “drama.” Some questioned whether or not he would ever be able to return to the from of “Old Tiger,” but few ask that question now that he walked all over a very competitive field at the Bay Hill golf course. As always, if you have any comments or questions regarding my post you are welcome to tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay and I'll get back to you!

As I am sure you've heard, the Denver Broncos recently traded their starting QB, and worst statistical QB in the league, Tim Tebow to the New York Jet...who have the second worst statistical QB in the league. Both of these quarterbacks have been lack luster in their careers so far, but they also offer completely different aspects to a football team. The New York Jets are hoping that Mark Sanchez, who is their starting QB, will be able to handle most of the starting duties and one would assume he has the hold on most 1^st and 2^nd down situations, and Tebow is looking at some 3^rd down snaps and also short yardage for a first down scenarios. 

Even though Sanchez has never been an overwhelming passer or pure quarterback, he has been able to do just enough to “get the job done.” This is all relative, since he has not won a Super Bowl. Tebow will never be a good passer, but he will always be a fantastic scrambler, rusher and play creator. He is that spark of magic that a team needs every once in a while in a game, and now the Jets have him. Tebow is a QB that shouldn't be playing the whole game, that will destroy a franchise in the long run...but if you use him as a tool to keep your opponents off balance, and to create a spark of leadership, inspiration and positivity in the locker room than I say more power to them! Even though I have been an open “hater” of Tim Tebow, I actually believe that this is a good move for the Jets. The more I think about it the more I am impressed with this move, and I won't be surprised if the Jets have one of their best years in recent memory.

Tiger Tiger Woods Y'all!!!! Yes, he is back. After returning from his, errr...uh “mistress incident,” he has been performing like a run of the mill golfer and has not shown the talent or promise that he used to have, until now. He destroyed a very talented field of Graeme Mcdowell, Ian Poulter and Bubba Watson. The closest of which was Mcdowell, who shot 8 under and lost by 5 shots. This is all preceding the upcoming major, and one of the biggest tournaments of the season, The Masters. 

Prior to Tiger's incident, he was deemed the best golfer of all time, and was projected to easily pass Jack Nicklaus as the leader for most major championships of all time. Currently, Wood's has 14 championships while Nicklaus holds the record with 18. Only the future will be able to show us if the real Tiger Woods is back or not, but all the signs are certainly looking promising and I think that there is going to be a whirlwind of entertainment surrounding this golfer just as there always has been throughout his career.

Tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay if you have any comments about Tebow, Woods or anything else involving sports or something interesting and I will be happy to get back to you! Fantasy advice is a specialty of mine, and the best part is it's free! Have a good spring break everyone!

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Hello again everyone and Happy Super Bowl week! Hope you're all getting your BBQ's and burgers ready for this Sunday and I am actually really curious to hear all of your picks to win. I hope all of you tweet me your pics and some trash talk on mine to @DerekJ_AllDay; all correct picks will get a shout-out in next weeks post. No lame shit talking allowed. This week is my Super Bowl post and I can't wait to break down both of the teams playing for the NFL Championship. Once again, same as 2008 the New York Giants and the New England Patriots will play each other in the Super Bowl. Both teams had extremely dissimilar paths through the playoffs, yet both are equally interesting. If you are all dreading those lame Super Bowl parties with your family, then at least you can drop some of the knowledge you learn from me on them.

Lets begin with my pick to win the 2012 NFL Super Bowl, the New York Giants! Established in 1925 and in their 87^th season (42 seasons in the Super Bowl era, began in 1970) as a franchise the Giants will be contending for their 4^th Super Bowl victory. That statistic truly shows how rare and important playing in one of these games is. When the Giants began their season they naturally had Super Bowl intentions on their minds. The Giants knew they were an extremely strong and balanced team with effective supporting casts on both sides of the football. The anchors of the offense were QB Eli Manning and a very good and young WR core including Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham. Combining that offense with a very stout run defense with Defensive Ends Justin Tuck, Usi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul made for what we see today, a Super Bowl team.

Throughout the regular season the Giants showed flashes of brilliance, but at times looked like one of the teams floating on the outside of the “elite” circle. After finishing the season with a less than spectacular 9-7 record, the Giants won the NFC East by beating the Dallas Cowboys in the last game of the season. Considering they crawled into the playoffs, nobody really expected the Giants to excel. They were underdogs in their first playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons, and won big 24-2. Then, when they were even bigger underdogs facing the defending Super Bowl Champions the Green Bay Packers, they prevailed 37-20. The team that proved to be their biggest test was the San Francisco 49ers. In a slug-fest of a defensive battle the Giants barely won by a late field goal 20-17. After taking an unlikely path, the Giants now find themselves in the Super Bowl once again with a great shot at repeating 2008 and defeating the Patriots.

The New England Patriots are once again in the Super Bowl and the evil mastermind Bill Belichick will accept nothing short of victory. With his pretty boy side kick Tom Brady at his side they once again set their sites on taking over the football world. The “Pats” have been in existence since 1959, obviously making them much younger than their Super Bowl counterparts. With an equal amount of years in the Super Bowl era, the Patriots have 1 less Championship than the Giants. All 3 of New England's Super Bowl victories have come under the Belichick/Tom Brady era. In 2008, the Patriots went undefeated (16-0) during the regular season and remained perfect all the way up to the Super Bowl. This is where they met the New York Giants, and were painfully defeated 17-14. There is no doubt that the Pats would love nothing more than to avenge their 2008 loss and match the Giants with their fourth Super Bowl Championship.

The Patriots found themselves with a championship contending team once again going into the 2011 season, and with the emergence of superstar TE (Tight End) Rob Gronkowski they easily marched into the playoffs once again with a 13-3 record and a first place AFC East finish. They had a much easier path than the Giants with a bye week round one, and then a second bye week round 2 by facing the Denver Tebows. After Brady stomped Tebow 45-10, they found their first real opponent in the Baltimore Ravens (my Super Bowl pick). The game was as close as it gets and with great performances from both teams the game came down to a FG attempt to tie the score at 23-20. Unfortunately, Belichick's best friend, Billy Cundiff, missed a relatively easy FG and the Ravens were sent home. We now find ourselves with a rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl, and what is guaranteed to be a game for ages.

Whose side will you be on when it comes down to Super Bowl Sunday? Will you support little brother Eli? Or will you choose the dark side and cheer for the Pats? Tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay and give me your opinions! See ya next week.

#nerdsunite

#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Happy Tuesday everyone! Hope you are all having a great day, and that you didn't have the same NFL Conference Championship picks that I did. At the start of the playoffs I picked Baltimore to make it to the Super Bowl, along with my other pick the Packers. After the Packers got eliminated last weekend, the Ravens were making their last stand for me on Sunday. Sadly, they lost to the Patriots after their kicker missed a relatively easy field goal that would of tied the game 23-23; instead of the final result that was 23-20. My impromptu bandwagon pick once the Packers lost was the 49ers. They battled in a great game against the Giants that was also decided by a field goal and ended 20-17. I have to admit I am disappointed, but both games were extremely close and could of gone either way. The NFL has once again provided a great show for it's fans, and the Super Bowl is once again going to be the biggest sporting event in the United States. My next post will be all about the upcoming Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, and the path both teams have taken to get to the holy land. I'm looking forward to it!

Besides the awesome action that the NFL playoffs provided over the weekend, the sports world has been a very somber one. Early Sunday morning, the college football world lost a true legend and icon. Joe Paterno, head football coach at Penn State University, passed away at the age of 85 due to complications from lung cancer. “Joe Pa,” as his loyal fans knew him, coached the PSU Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 to 2011. In a harsh college football environment where coaches of all kinds struggle to hold a job for more than a year, Coach Paterno was able to break multiple NCAA FB records due to his longevity and huge success. 

 Joseph Vincent Paterno holds the record for the most wins by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football coach after winning 409 games during his incredible career. He is also the only coach that has ever reached the 400 victories mark. While he coached for the Nittany Lions he was responsible for 5 undefeated teams that went on to win major championship bowl games. This may already seem like enough to make Mr. Paterno the best coach in NCAA FB history, but it doesn't end here.

 Joe Pa also owns the record for most bowl victories as a college football head coach with 24, and the record for most bowl appearances with 37. When referring to a “bowl game” in college football, it is a postseason game that vary in quality. There is 1 championship game, and 3 other championship games that hold slightly less value than the title game. These championship games are known as BCS games, and these are the goal lines for all teams. On top of the BCS games are many other “bowl” games, but I will go into more detail about that when the college football season begins...stay tuned! He is the only coach that has won all 4 BCS bowl games – the Sugar, Fiesta, Orange and Rose bowls. Of course, the final and most true sign of a coaches greatness is how many National Championships he has lead his team to. At the end of the Paterno's career he had 2 National Championships for the PSU Nittany Lions. While the number 2 may seem underwhelming, the level of competition and difficulty in college football higher than any major league. 

 Not surprisingly, Joe Pa was elected into the college football Hall of Fame in 2007, and in my opinion and in the opinions of many he is known as the greatest NCAA head football coach in history. 

 As many of you may have heard, there has been a whirlwind of conflict surrounding Penn State recently. An old assistant coach for PSU by the name of Jerry Sandusky was charged with child molestation charges on many different accounts. Unfortunately, these acts all allegedly took place in 2002 and due to actions by Paterno and other members of the PSU staff none of this information was revealed until November 5, 2011. After all of these allegations hit the media, and the hurricane of epic drama began, Joe Paterno was quickly relieved from his position as head football coach and his reputation was forever tarnished. I am not going to go into much detail about all of these alleged actions, and I have not written anything about PSU for two reasons...#1 I generally do not like to speak about such horrific and despicable acts. #2 Joe Paterno is the greatest football coach ever, and I do not want to tarnish his entire history because of some mistakes that he made. 

These mistakes were of epic proportions, but everyone makes them. The old cliche that nobody is perfect is a cliche for one reason, it will always be true. Paterno wasn't just a part of the culture at PSU, he was the culture at PSU. He donated over $4 million dollars to his school, and committed more time to his community than any coach could. Joe Pa is the epitomy of a hard and loyal worker, and prior to November of 2011 had no blemishes on his record of any significance. This man fought his whole life to be the best at what he did, and be the best person he could be while he did it. In the end, Mr. Paterno was fired by the school that he loved, and for the last two months of his life his name was surrounded by the words “Sandusky Child Molestation Scandal.” He passed away while surrounded by his friends and family. Judging by the man he seemed to be, that was probably all he needed. 

This post isn't meant to be depressing, but rather a way to spread the  respect a great coach and person deserves. LMK what you think of Joe Pa by tweeting me @DerekJ_AllDay, and keep an eye out next Tuesday for my all Super Bowl post! See you guys next week!

#nerdsunite

#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSUF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Hello nerd nation! Hope everyone had a great Martin Luther King day! The sports world continues to stir as the NFL playoffs march on with a huge upset and some extremely entertaining match-ups coming up this weekend!  Not only will I be updating all of you on the NFL, but with about 17 games left in the English Premier League soccer season I will be breaking down how the league and it's playoffs work. Buckle up sports nerds!

On paper, Saturday's NFL playoff match-ups appeared to have one great game and one complete stinker. The Saints and 49ers game was a complex battle between a phenomenal Saint's offense and the 49ers with the best defense in the NFL, but in the end neither of these were the deciding factor. The winning piece was the 49ers apparently underrated quarterback Alex Smith. Even though he plays the most important position on the team, Smith was not presumed to be the reason the 49ers won. Instead, he was probably predicted to be the reason they lost. With the odds stacked against him, and his previously dominant defense leaking points like a faulty faucet, Alex Smith led his team to 36 points in their 36-32 NFC Divisional victory! Then....there was New England against Denver. The Denver Tebows gave it their best effort, but this stinker stunk up to high altitude heaven. The Patriots completely dismantled the Tebow train 45-10 in the AFC Divisional game, and Tom Brady once again looks ready to lead his team to another chance at a Super Bowl.

There were no stinkers in the lineup for Sunday's NFL playoff games, that is a fact. Both of my Super Bowl picks played on Sunday, and only one came out alive. The Houston Texans faced off against my Super Bowl pick the Baltimore Ravens. With the Ravens coming off of a playoff bye week, and the Texans on a momentous roll, the Texans were able to put up a fight. In the end, the injury riddled Texans couldn't keep up with Baltimore and lost 20-13 in the other AFC Divisional Playoff. This means that Baltimore will be competing against the Patriots next weekend for the opportunity to represent the AFC (and my bowl pick) in the Super Bowl. My other Super Bowl pick and reigning Super Bowl Champions, the Green Bay Packers, also played on Sunday against the New York Giants. In an unbelievable upset the Giants prevailed by the not so close score of 37-20...how did this happen? Green Bay went 15-1 during the regular season, and they beat New York earlier this season even though the score was very close. Green Bay simply looked rusty, unprepared and quite frankly appeared to think they could take the Giants for granted. Sadly, my NFC Super Bowl pick died with the Pack, but congratulations to New York on a great game, and good luck to them against that vicious 49ers defense! With the table set...my picks for the upcoming weekend are...the Ravens (obviously), and with my previous Super Bowl pick out, I will choose the 49ers to win! Yes, I am bitter, but I also think that Harbaugh and his crazy defense can slow down Eli Manning.

Across the pond and in a galaxy far far away, lies the most elite soccer league in the World, the English Premier League (AKA the Barclays Premier League). There are too many leagues to count across the world, but between all of them the one that all soccer players dream to play in one day is the EPL. From a fans perspective the EPL's entertainment is unmatched, and the simplicity of it's structure makes it easily accessible even to the most casual of sports fans. The English Premier League consists of 20 teams full of the best of the best soccer players from around the world. 38 games are played in a season and each game is about 90 minutes long. All 20 teams are directly competing against each other in the standings to reach the playoffs. Unlike most major leagues, only 4 of the 20 teams make it into the postseason. How are the 4 teams decided? Well, it really couldn't be much simpler. At the end of the season, the top 4 teams with the most points move on to the playoffs. Teams collect points by the following...a win is worth 3 points, a draw (tie) is worth 1 point for both teams, and a loss is zero points.

The basic functions of the EPL are pretty straight forward, but the league gets more exciting. The playoffs are not simply decided between the 4 teams that advance at the end of the season. Instead those teams advance to a massive tournament of 32 teams called the UEFA Champions League. The competitors in this tournament are the postseason qualifiers from all of the other leagues across the world. This is where the EPL truly becomes one of a kind. They literally bring the best teams from across the world to compete for the Championship, and to truly be named the best soccer team on the planet.

This is not where the originality of the EPL ends. Of the 20 teams that are in the EPL, the top 17 in the standings are able to stay in the league and compete next season. The 3 teams that are at the bottom of the standings, are demoted to the league below the EPL, and must finish in the top 3 for that lesser league over the course of the next season in order to return to the promised land of the EPL. If you fail as a team, or have just one bad season and finish in the bottom 3, then you actually lose a full season and are at risk to lose many more. That is how much is on the line every day and every season in the EPL, and this is why it is debatable that the drama of this league is unmatched.

Hope you are all excited for the playoff games this weekend! Go Ravens! Go 49ers! Who do you guys think will end up in the Super Bowl? Tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay! Soccer fan? Go Arsenal! Let's hear what you have to say about us finishing top 4 this year! It's gonna happen! Peace out guys!

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSUF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Welcome back to my weekly session of sports talk everyone! Remember to tweet any opinions or comments to @DerekJ_AllDay. Hope you are all having a good Tuesday and enjoyed the BCS Championship game last night between #1 LSU and #2 Alabama. Other than that game there hasn't been a gripping story over the week, but there has been a multitude of stories in multiple sports that are very interesting. Barry Larkin was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame over the weekend, and Tim Tebow proved absolutely nothing once again by beating a completely hobbled Pittsburgh Steelers team. On that same “NFL” note the Saints continue to prove that they are one of the elite teams up there with Green Bay, and to be honest the Lions didn't look too bad. For a franchise that has greatly struggled in the recent past, getting into the playoffs and putting up a decent showing is good enough and their fans should be satisfied. Thierry Henry has returned to Arsenal on a 2 month loan from his American club, and in his first game back he dramatically scored the game’s only and winning goal for the Gunners. There are a lot of stories to break down this week so let’s get into it!

Last night was the college football championship game between #1 ranked LSU and #2 Alabama. The rankings are determined by a system called the BCS or Bowl Championship Series. The standings are primarily determined by a team's record of wins and losses, but many other variables are taken into consideration while determining who plays for the championship game. The BCS is not only responsible for setting up the title game, but many many other bowls of varying importance are also directly determined by BCS rankings. Some of you have probably heard of the Rose Bowl or the Sugar Bowl. Obviously, this system is very different than the NFL. The score of the game last night was 21-0, and Alabama took home the championship. The game was actually much closer than the score appears, but 'Bama was clearly the superior team on both defense and offense. Similar to last year, when these teams also matched up for the big game, the entertainment factor wasn't exactly there. Most people prefer high scoring action, but this truly was quality football that the avid football fan would enjoy.

Big baseball news came in over the weekend that Barry Larkin, long time short stop for the Cincinnati Reds, is going to officially be inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame (MLB HOF). A HOF for any sport is the most prestigious and elite club of players for the entire history of a particular league. In my opinion, and I believe more detailed statistics support this, the baseball HOF is the most legendary and honored HOF of any major league sport in America. MLB has been around a lot longer than the NFL, NBA or NHL and much more relevant in the sports and political worlds. In order for a player to be elected into the MLB HOF they must receive at least 75% (Larkin received 86.4%) of “yes” votes from a group of writers and members of the media. While I personally disagree with this method, that is how the system works. I don't believe that media members are always very reliable sources of knowledge, regardless of what their job title states. I know more than most members of the media and this is because their jobs are to get ratings and my hobby is to analyze the sports world. For those who would like a quick fact of knowledge to drop on their friends, Barry Larkin was the first shortstop to ever hit for 30 home runs and also steal 30 bases in one season.

If anyone was following my Twitter @DerekJ_AllDay on Saturday my NFL Playoff predictions to win for the weekend were Texans, Saints, Falcons and Steelers. The Texans beat the Bengals with a very nice 31-10 victory, but with all of their injuries they will really struggle to win more than 1 playoff game this year. Watch out for Houston in the Super Bowl next year! The Saints won their game against the Lions by a comfortable 45-28 margin. This is not much of a surprise, the Saints are elite and the Lions are knocking on the door of “Elite-ness.” What I believed was going to be the game of the weekend was the Giants and Falcons, but I was dead wrong. The Falcons were CRUSHED 24-2, and a superior Giants team will advance to the next round. The most dramatic game of the weekend turned out to be the Broncos Steelers game. The Steelers were supposedly clear favorites for this game, and nobody was giving the Broncos much of a chance. Counting the Broncos out was simply unrealistic and clearly biased. Here are the facts...the Steelers went into that game with three major issues. Their starting center Maurkice Pouncey was injured and out for the game. Sitting on the bench with Pouncey was the Steeler's starting Free Safety Ryan Clark who could not play in Denver's high altitude do to a medical condition. Finally, Pittsburgh's biggest team piece Big Ben Roethlisberger, was playing on a bum ankle that was sprained and re-injured in previous games. Taking all of these factors into consideration is it really that much of a surprise that the Denver Tebows pulled off the win? Even with all of these cons for PITT, Denver still had to scrape by with a win in overtime. That is why I am going to take the NE Patriots for this weekend’s predictions against the Denver Broncos. For the Saints and 49ers game I am going to pick the NO Saints to win! Although, I think that this game will be much more low scoring and SF's defense is fierce! For Sunday's games I am going to choose my AFC Super Bowl pick the Baltimore Ravens to beat the resilient Houston Texans. Finally, I am taking my NFC Super Bowl pick the Green Bay Packers to beat the NY Giants. So far I am 2/4 on my playoff picks, gonna be 6/8 after this weekend!

On a closing note, I would like to throw a shout out to my soccer fans out there! A very interesting development occurred in the soccer world recently, Thierry Henry is a Gunner once again. Thierry Henry was a legendary Arsenal player for the large majority of his career and has scored a record setting amount of goals. A few years ago he was let go by the Gunners and transferred to play in the USA. Now, he has returned to his former to and in an epic comeback he scored the game winning goal yesterday in his first game back as an Arsenal legend. This is just another reason why sports create the best, and most genuinely interesting entertainment, lore and drama.

Thanks for reading once again and have a safe week! I'll catch you cool cats next week! Tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay! Fight on Lakers!

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!