Peyton Manning Retiring?

     The end is near for the greatest quarterback or all-time, Peyton Manning, but how close is it? Peyton Manning was talking with Patriots head coach, Bill Belichek after their win in the AFC Championship, and Peyton said, "Hey this might be my last rodeo, so it sure was a pleasure". This brought up many questions as to if he'll retire after the season. In a press conference a couple days ago, Manning was joking and said that the media took it out of context and that he actually participates in rodeos and he's going to have to stop. I think he should retire after Sunday's game whether he wins it or loses it. If he wins it, he goes out a winner and if he loses it, he lost in the greatest stage in football. Also, you cant guarantee that he'll make it back to the Super Bowl so if he played next year and got bounced in the first round, it would be a disappointing end to his career. A statement from Colt's owner, Jim Irsay came out today, and he said that if Peyton decides to retire, he should come back and sign a one day contract with the Colts and retire for his former team. Personally, I would love to have him do this, because he's the reason the Colts were great for so many years and for him to come back and retire would be great for him and Indianapolis.

NBA Last Night

     Last night in the NBA, there was an extreme amount of greatness that was on display. In the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Orlando Magic game, Victor Oladipo and Kevin Durant both scored 37 points a piece and Kevin Durant hit a game winning three pointer with .05 seconds left int he game. Point Guard, Russell Westbrook also had one of the best triple-doubles ever recorded from a guard. He finished the game with 24 points, 19 rebounds and 14 assists. The Charlotte Hornets also snapped the Cleveland Cavaliers five game winning streak. The Golden State Warriors won their eighth straight game, as Stephen Curry dropped 51 points and Draymond Green recorded a triple-double. John Wall and the Wizards lost the game to the Warriors, but he put up 41 points to try and keep them in the game. The Sacramento Kings also took one the Minnesota Timberwolves last night. Wolves' sophomore forward, Andrew Wiggins had his second straight 30 point game while DeMarcus Cousins of the Kings had 30 points and 11 rebounds.

Slam Dunk Contest Overview

    This year's dunk contest participants have officially been released as of yesterday. The people participating this year are, last year's champion, Zach  LaVine, Andre Drummond, Will Barton, and Aaron Gordon. Zach LaVine is probably the favorite again this year due to the fact that he easily won the contest last year and did some extremely difficult dunks with such ease. One person I'm sure will do great, is Andre Drummond. He is a 6'11 center and I'm not sure if he can jump very high, so it'll be interesting to see what he can pull off. Will Barton is a 6'5 shooting guard for the Denver Nuggets, who has burst out of nowhere and been a giant help for them. I don't know a lot about him but I have seen him a little bit and he looks like a pretty good athlete who could pull off something special. Lastly, Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic. For being 6'9, he can jump out of the gym. He is one of the most athletic players in the league and could pull off the upset. I think that Zach LaVine will win it again, however Aaron Gordon and Will Barton could be a good battle for second place.

NBA Rising Stars Prediction

        The NBA All-Star Weekend is coming up in a few weeks, and the Rising Stars roster is the only full roster out, so I'm going to talk about it and give my prediction on who is going to win it. The Rising Stars game is exactly what it sounds like, it is a game that features the young players in this league who will hopefully blossom into NBA stardom. The NBA is doing this game a little differently this year. They split it up and made it into a Team USA and a Team World and they will split it up and play against each other. The roster for Team USA, is Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, Zach Lavine, Jabari Parker, Elfrid Payton, D'Angelo Russell, Marcus Smart, and Karl Anthony-Towns. The roster for the Team World consists of, Kristaps Porzingis, Andrew Wiggins, Dwight Powell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Clint Capela, Mario Hezonja, Nikola Jokic, Emaanuel Mudiay, Nikola Mirotic, and Raul Neto.

        My prediction for this game is relatively easy and I am going to pick Team USA. Team USA has some pretty athletic guards that Team World is not going to be able to keep up with, and also they have some superior big men that will dominate down low and do work. Team World isn't that great of a team at all and really only have like three good players. Wiggins and Porzingis will be forces ro reckon with, but besides them, nobody on that roster is really capable of making that team as good as Team USA.

Super Bowl Preview

       The Super Bowl is in about two weeks and the best football game of the year will feature the two number one seeds from each conference. The Denver Broncos will face off against the Carolina Panthers in the most anticipated game so far this season. Most people on social media and on the television are basically giving the game to the Panthers because of the fact that they completely dismantled the Cardinals in the NFC Championship. However, the Panthers haven't played the Broncos #1 defense in the NFL yet. This should be a great test for the Panthers and Cam Newton, to see if they can score as many points as they normally do against the best defense. On the other side, the Broncos need to step up their game offensively as they go up against the #2 scoring defense in the NFL. As far as predictions go, I think that the Broncos defense will prevail and they will win the game, 28-24.

AFC Championship Review

        The AFC Championship was this weekend and the game went exactly as i wanted it to. Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos beat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 20-18. The game was great for me to watch personally because for all four quarters, the Broncos defense was hitting Tom Brady brutally. Sadly. Mrs. Brady wasn't injured after the game, which makes me a little sad, but watching his face after they didn't complete the 2-point conversion, was priceless. Peyton Manning played well in this game, but the Bronco's offense needs to score more than 20 points to beat the Panthers in the Super Bowl. I did get a little scared at the end of the game when Rob Gronkowski completed a pass deep into the Bronco's territory, but I had confidence that their defense could stop the Patriots. This game was yet another solidifying moment that Peyton Manning is better than Tom Brady. Manning has beaten Brady four times in AFC Championship games, and only lost one time.

NFC Championship Preview

      The NFC Championship game is this weekend, and will feature the Carolina Panthers vs. the Arizona Cardinals. Unlike my last blog, i don't really have a favorite to win this game due to the fact that both teams are well deserving and fun to watch teams. The Panthers are 16-1 this season and coming off of a huge win against the Seattle Seahawks, who were known to have one of the best defenses in the league. Cam Newton has been playing the game with such great energy and enthusiasm, I expect that he will come out and do that again this weekend. The Carolina defense is also of of the best in the league with the best linebacker in the game, Luke Kuechly and in my opinion the best cornerback, Josh Norman. The Carolina Defense played absolutely incredible in the first half against the Seahawks, but slipped up in the second half and almost allowed a comeback, so they'll have to be better in both halves if they want to win. On the other hand, the Arizona Cardinals are a great team as well, with quarterback, Carson Palmer and receiver, Larry Fitzgerald leading the way. The Arizona defense is also a great part of their team and will look to shut down Cam Newton. They have one of the best corners in the league, Patrick Peterson and he will look to stop all of Carolina's deadly offensive weapons. Both teams will have to play some great punt and kick return coverage as well, because both teams have lethal return men that will look to take punts/kicks to the endzone. Overall I would like for the Cardinals to win so Larry Fitzgerald can get the Super Bowl ring he deserves, but I think that the Panthers will win 27-21.