Boston College Socks North Carolina

The #1 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels have looked unbeatable on the hardwood this season. That was until this evening while in the midst of NFL playoff action the Powder Blues got beat down on their home court by Boston College. UNC had no answer for the Eagles backcourt of Tyrese Rice and Rakim Sanders who scored 25 and 22 points respectively. The Eagles led throughout and held on for an 85-78 victory. The BC shocker is easily the biggest upset of the college basketball season and comes in the same week as second ranked UConn's home loss to Georgetown. This means that when the new polls are released tomorrow Pittsburgh, who dominated Georgetown on Saturday, will likely become the top ranked team in the land.

Hats off to Boston College for pulling the upset on the road and showing the nation that the talent laden Tar Heels are indeed beatable...in the Dean Dome no less.

Story of the Year

The Major League Baseball postseason is now under way and there have already been some surprising. The Cub fans can tell people all about that. Barring a miracle by that North Side team, the best story in all of sports for this year has already been written. In 2007, The Tampa Bay Devil Rays finished with a 66-96 record making them the worst team in baseball. In 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays went 97-65 and won the toughest division in all of sports. In this day and age, the idea of a team other than the Yankees or Red Sox prevailing in the AL East seems almost unfathomable. Either New York or Boston had won every division title since 1997. It’s amazing what a little name change can do for a franchise. The Rays dropped the Devil and became baseball’s darlings. The prognosticators continued to doubt them waiting for manager Joe Madden’s young upstarts to fold. Only the Rays never did.

It had become almost a foregone conclusion that nobody in the AL East could compete the big market Yankees and Red Sox and their huge payrolls. The longest of long shots, the Rays had been a perennial piñata for the rest of league. What nobody noticed the last few years was that Tampa Bay was quietly rebuilding the franchise. It started three years ago with new ownership and management determined to change a losing climate. It continued with hiring Joe Madden as manager and spreading his play the game the right way approach throughout the organization. Most importantly, the Rays started to stock piling young talent. Baseball fans will be hearing the names Kazmir, Shields, Upton, Crawford, Garza, and Longoria for years to come.

If teams like the Marlins and Rockies haven’t already proved it, the days of spending big bucks on super star players in order to win are over. It just doesn’t work that way anymore. Teams must be able to build from within. Franchises from Pittsburgh to Kansas City to San Francisco have hope and more franchise will begin to follow the Tampa Bay blueprint. That blueprint involves speed, strong pitching, good defense, playing hard, and the concept of team. The Rays performance this season was no fluke and could very well end with a World Series championship this year. Baseball fans should be paying attention. The Rays’ division title was no small feat and it is only the start of things to come. Baseball’s next dynasty resides in Tampa Bay.

Beasts of the East

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

The NFL season kicks off Thursday night when the Washington Redskins head to New York to take on the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. It's an early NFC East showdown and with that being the case, the Bleeding Sports NFL preview will being with a breakdown of the best division in all of football.

Washington Redskins

A late surge last year catapulted the Joe Gibbs and the 'Skins into the playoffs, but a lot has changed in Washington since then. Joe Gibbs retired...again the Daniel Synder nearly hired Jim Fassel...again before settling with Jim Zorn as the new head coach. Under the Zorn the Redskins with feature a new west coast offense and rely on the still unproven Jason Campbell to grow in the new system. Clinton Portis remains one of the most overrated running backs in league while the receiving corp is real thin.

While a Campbell led offense is a big question mark the defense is an even bigger one. Despite the addition of Jason Taylor expect the 'Skins to struggle trying to stop the opposition. Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams did a great job with modest talent and his departure will prove to be the Washington's biggest loss. The unit's performance in the preseason against Carolina should raise a red flag. By the end of the year, Coach Zorn may be waving a white flag.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles have become a trendy pick this year to go as far as the Super Bowl. to Most prognosticators point to the fact that the Eagles managed to win their last three games last season to finish 8-8. That does not sound like much of an argument. Despite free agent acquisition Asante Samuel, Philly is a team on the decline not on the rise. The offense still lacks play makers at receiver and Donovan McNabb isn't getting any younger. The argument could be made that the Eagles have actually fared better without McNabb in the lineup over the last two years. The bottom line, Philadelphia is a Brian Westbrook injury away from a four win season and even with him the Eagles look like a team on the outside looking in at the playoffs.

Dallas Cowboys

Ah, America's Team. Here are some thoughts after watching Hard Knocks. Rookie tight end Martellus Bennett will be a bust with a capital B. It's still hard to tell after watching whether Wade Phillips knows what's he doing or not. He's like a cartoon character. Jason Garrett will be a head coach somewhere next season...probably in Big D. Terrell Owens actually comes off looking like a good guy. He's counseling the young players, practicing hard, and other than peddling his t-shirts is a relatively unassuming figure. Once the season starts though that the act won't last. The Cowboys have too many combustible parts between T.O., Tank Johnson, and the Pacman. The Cowboys haven't faced much adversity the last couple of seasons so something has to give. If Dallas ends up going as far as most people feel they will this season they will definitely earn it. Most likely, however, the Cowboys lack the type of team chemistry to persevere.

New York Giants

All the Giants did last year was take down the mighty Cowboys and Brett Favre in their own backyards just to get to the Super Bowl. Then all Big Blue did was defeat a New England team being compared to the greatest in NFL history. One would think that winning a World Championship the way the Giants did would earn a franchise some respect. Yet it has been just the opposite. All the talk going into this season has been about every team in the division other than the Super Bowl champs.

The Giants have had some significant losses on defense, most notably Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora on the defensive line. The line, however, still features Justin Tuck while the linebackers will on the outside this season with Danny Clark and Gerris Wilkerson replacing Reggie Torbor and Kawika Mitchell. The secondary lost Gibril Wilson, but drafted a star in the making in Kenny Phillips.

Offensively, the Giants return all 11 starters from the Super Bowl last season. The offensive line remains one of the most underrated units in the league while the Giants have three running backs that could rush for over one hundred yards in any game. QB Eli Manning proved in the postseason that he is one of the elite players at his position. It is only logically to believe that Eli will take another step forward this season and be a more consistent force. The Giants' young players all played a huge role in the team's success last season and will only be better this season.

The Giants put it all together at the right time last season and their momentum brought the franchise its third Super Bowl title. The team is young, still on the rise and motivated to prove the critics wrong. A division title shouldn't be out of the question in 2008.

Packers Fans Will Always Have the Memories

Here is a truly classic video of Brett Favre's memorable debut in 1992 leading the Packers to a come from behind victory over Cincinnati. This footage is absolutely priceless. It's so intriguing and unbelievable that it should be on display in the Museum of Television and Radio. The video comes from the post game broadcast of NBC's old NFL Live telecast. In Studio we have Bob Costas flanked by guest host Buddy Ryan and the immortal O.J. Simpson! Does it get any better than that? Imagine if ole Buddy tried to sucker punch The Juice. Television viewers would have witnessed a live murder right on the set. If that isn't enough, the in-game announce team in Green Bay that day are none other than Jim Lampley and Ahmad Rashad. What a line-up. I'll take that starting five any day of the week.

Favre to the Jets

Surprise, Surprise. The Brett Favre - Green Bay Packers saga has finally come to a close. Favre is headed to New York after being trade to the Jets for a conditional fourth round draft pick. In the end, all parties involved get what they wanted. The Packers are allowed to move on with Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback and keep Favre out of the division and off their schedule. Favre has an opportunity to continue his career for a team that has playoff hopes this season. Even the Minnesota Vikings will end up winners because the next shoe to drop will be QB Chad Pennington being released by the Jets. Looks like Brad Childress and company have will get their quarterback after all.

Here are the conditions of the trade:

If Favre plays 50 percent of the snaps for the Jets this season Green Bay will receive a third round draft pick instead of a fourth. If Favre plays 70 percent of the snaps and the Jets make the playoffs, the Packers receive a second round pick. Finally, if Favre plays 80 percent of the snaps and the Jets make the Super Bowl then the fourth round pick turns into a first round pick going from New York to Green Bay.

The Fate of Favre

Brett Favre is continuing his quest on making the Packers' life a living hell by filing for reinstatement and is hell bent on showing up for training camp on Friday. The Packers are so afraid of Favre showing up that they reportedly offered him $20 million dollars to remain retired and it now looks like they are considering the possibility of trading Number 4 to the Vikings just to end this mess once and for all. It looks like this drama is about to set the stage for the final act.

In the meantime, fans wondering what it would look like to see Mr. Favre don the jersey of his rumored destinations can head on over to the EA Sports' Madden 09 website to get a glimpse of the retirement challenged quarterback in his possible new threads. The company behind the Madden curse has gone so far as to simulate the 2008 season with Favre behind center of the Jets, Vikings, Bears, and Buccaneers to compare how each team's success would differ versus their current QB situation. While putting any emphasis into the results is a complete waste of time, I will tell you that none of the squads end up even making it to Super Sunday. Of course, this simulation is a complete farce because it doesn't take into consideration the most likely fate for this year's Madden cover if he decides to return to the field...CAREER ENDING INJURY.

Favre Holding Packers Hostage

It seems as though Brett Favre's retirement will be short lived. That is unless he decides to change his mind…again. For a man who makes so many split second decisions on the field he sure has a hard time making a definitive one off of it. The problem is that Number 4 simply can't make up his mind on what he wants to do. Ultimately, Favre is holding the Packers back and sabotaging his own career.

Two years ago, teammate Donald Driver thought it was a forgone conclusion that Favre was going to hang it up. He didn't. The Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft in order to groom him as Favre's heir apparent. Well, let the grooming continue...or maybe not. If Favre actually takes the field this year he won't be wearing the green and yellow.

Favre suddenly feels unwanted in Green Bay. Maybe it has something to do with the Vikings trying to coax him into playing in Minnesota this season. The Packers won’t let that happen, but are tired of Favre jerking them around on whether or not he wants to come back and play. At some point the Packers have to move forward and waiting on Favre every year only holds the organization back. Green Bay has made their intentions clear and Favre has conveniently used the Packer’s stance as an excuse to escape Titletown.

Apparently Mr. Favre hasn’t read up on the Madden curse. EA made a bold decision this year in deciding to put the retired Favre on the cover. Obviously, the decision was made in part to celebrate the career of the Packer great, but mostly to avoid destroying yet another star player’s season. If Favre were to come back and play for another franchise imagine the implications. In all likelihood we will witness the first ever Madden cover athlete to play for a different team than the one he is pictured in on the cover in the same season. There is no telling how this may turn out. By changing teams, Favre may have avoided the Madden curse all together and in turn will lead his new franchise to the Super Bowl. More likely, however, Favre is tempting fate and will be decimated by a career ending, catastrophic apocalypse of epic proportions. I don't even know what that means, but to put it simply...this will not end well.

Picturing Favre in a uniform other than that of the Packers is almost impossible. Favre says to let him worry about his legacy, but where is his loyalty? The Packers organization and the fans of Green Bay have treated Favre like an iconic figure. He is literally a folk hero in Green Bay yet has decided to turn his back on the entire community. Favre is willing to taint his legendary status simply because another franchise showed interest in him. It’s just another reminder of the disconnect that exists between the professional athlete and the fan. A fan would never turn his back on his team, but even the most beloved player in the history of a franchise doesn’t think twice about it. Well, maybe in Brett Favre’s case he does, but the end result is all too familiar.