The stage was officially set after Sunday's two Conference games for the 43rd Super Bowl. The Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers both jumped over their last hurdles to go to the big dance. But don't ask either coach if they'll be satisfied with just making it. They want to win it! I'll bring you a in-depth 7 part preview of the big game as I'll give my prediction on the game on the 7th and final post. So let's get to it! This is the 'intro' post to the 7 part series.

SUPER BOWL XLIII
Arizona Cardinals v. Pittsburgh Steelers

If you would have asked any NFL fan before the season started what they thought the Super Bowl match up would be, most likely they wouldn't have guessed the Arizona Cardinals would be in it. They would have probably predicted a Division winner (since the NFC West is not the toughest division of football) but the Super Bowl? Not so fast right? However the NFL is a wacky sport. It doesn't matter how well you start out or how many big names you have on a team, but instead of chemistry and getting hot at just the right time.

Continue reading "Setting the Stage: Arizona Cardinals"

The Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets have certainly had their differences in the past on the court. Memorable physical drag-em-out games, down to the wire playoff games with the Jazz being the ones having the upper hand more times than not. However, both teams have had similar problems this season with...

you guessed it from the title...injuries.

The Jazz basically started a bench squad for the majority of the beginning of the season without Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams in the starting mix. Williams came back eventually from an ankle injury while Boozer just had arthroscopic knee surgery 12 days ago.

The Rockets on the other side of the coin have also had their fair share of nagging injuries. Tracy McGrady continues to be out. He's in the middle of his '2 week physical conditioning'. Ron Artest has a ankle injury and has made it clear he's uncertain when he'll be able to return to the court. So the pieces of the puzzle are still up in the air for the 26-16 Houston Rockets.

Continue reading "The Bruised and the Restless"

After two weeks of so-called experts and reporters breaking down each team's strengths and weaknesses and what Kurt Warner's favorite food is and what Big Ben likes in music and dislikes ...it's nice to have the game just a mere 24+ hours away. I do like the hype to an extent, but once you hit Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Super Bowl weekend...you're ready for the game!

So the stage is set: The flashy Arizona Cardinals (yes the Arizona Cardinals!) take on the tough and rigid Pittsburgh Steelers defense (ranked first in the National Football League). They say 'Defense Wins Championships' which has proven correct a lot in the past, but I have a little hunch. The best defense or the best team doesn't always win the big game. Just check last year's Super Bowl. The undefeated New England Patriots were upset by the New York Giants. How? By one VERY lucky catch by Giants' receiver David Tyree. The whole Patriots season without a single loss faded without any gold due to a single catch. You can't script that. You also can't script a 8-7 Arizona Cardinals team looking putrid losing 47-7 in the ice and snow in Foxboro and then winning every week after that (including the post season) to get to the grandest stage in the NFL (maybe in all of sports). I've said it before on this blog and I'll probably say it again next season, you just can't predict what will happen in the NFL nowadays from week to week.

Continue reading "Super Bowl XLIII Prediction"