Things I Noticed: Conference Championship

We're down to the final four teams, battling it out for the right to earn a trip to the Super Bowl.  The top teams in each conference face off to crown a champion.

Here are some things I noticed this week:

San Francisco at Atlanta

• Despite being the home team, Atlanta entered the game as 4 point underdogs.  Is that a lack of respect for the NFC's top seed or an overreaction to recent performance?  The 49ers have looked strong all year, particularly since Colin Kaepernick took over, most recently by demolishing the Packers.  Atlanta may have the best record, but they've had some shaky victories, including last week when they nearly blew a late lead to Seattle.
• Atlanta is terrible at blowing teams out.  Their offense looked dominant early on as they posted a 17-0 lead in the first half, but just like last week, they struggled to put their opponent away.  The Niners fought back, outscoring the Falcons 28-7 the rest of the way.
• The 49ers set a record for the biggest comeback ever in an NFC title game by rallying from down 17.
• Unlike the Packers last week, Atlanta was prepared to contain Kaepernick in the pocket.  They did let him get outside for a 23 yard gain, but that was his only positive rushing attempt of the game.  The rest he would have to do with his arm.
• Although Kaepernick may not have produced much with his legs, the threat of having him run opened up opportunities for his team.  The Falcons were so worried about stuffing Kaepernick near the goal line that Frank Gore was able to stroll into the end zone untouched on both of his TDs.
• Vernon Davis has seemed like a forgotten man ever since Kaepernick took over the offense, as he failed to record more than 2 catches or 27 yards in any of the Niners last 6 regular season games.  It seems his QB has finally noticed him.  Davis picked up where he left off last postseason with another big playoff performance (5 catches, 106 yards, 1 TD) to lead the Niners in receiving.

Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend

Every so often the sports world gets rocked by a scandal that captivates us all by being so outrageously beyond belief that we can't help but be pulled into the story as it unfolds.  In today's world of 24/7 news coverage and social media, you'll find endless amounts of content written and said about these stories.  Typically the stories involve an athlete being disgraced for cheating or getting into trouble with the law.

This story is even more bizarre.

Notre Dame's run to the BCS title game came with a captivating sub-plot involving Manti Te'o, the Heisman Trophy runner-up who claimed the tragic death of his girlfriend inspired him to another level of greatness on the field.  The only problem with that story is that it wasn't true... because Te'o's girlfriend never existed.

Several reports have come out, and continue to come out, updating this story.  There have been so many twists and turns over the past few days that it's still unclear exactly what happened or what version of the story is true.  Apparently Te'o had become involved in an online relationship with a woman he never met.  This is far different from the socially acceptable method of using online dating sites to meet someone.  In this case, the relationship somehow evolved into this woman becoming his girlfriend, despite the fact that they had never met in person! 

NBA All-Star starters

The NBA will announce it's starters for this year's All-Star game later this week.  Since voting for the starters is done by the fans, it typically becomes more of a popularity contest rather than a showcase of the most deserving players. 

Voting should be done primarily based on how players have performed this season, with previous history also playing a small factor.  That previous history often plays too large of a factor, with casual fans voting based on name recognition, even if a player has long passed their prime.  Remember when Allen Iverson kept getting voted in after he was washed up and the entire nation of China voted for Yao every year, regardless of if he was injured and not playing?  Pretty sure he still gets some write in votes, even though he's been retired for a couple years.

With that in mind, here is who I would vote in for the All-Star game starters.  Also note that these are only the starters, so many of those I list in the honorable mention category will deservedly make the team when the reserves are selected.

East

Backcourt:
Rajon Rondo
(13.2 PTS, 5.2 REB, 11.2 AST, 1.8 STL, 18.69 PER)

Photo by CJ Legner

Rondo is the engine that makes the Celtic's offense run.  He's taken on more of a leadership role this season as the team begins to transition away from the aging veterans.  He's raised his scoring and rebounding to career highs while shooting nearly 50% from the floor, better than any other point guard in the East.  He leads the league in assists by a wide margin and had an impressive stretch earlier this season that saw him take a run at Magic Johnson's record for consecutive games with double digit assists.  He also showed his all around talent by recently recording his third triple-double of the season (26th of his career - including postseason).  When it comes to finding a pure, unselfish point guard to lead a team of All-Stars, you won't find a better option than Rondo.

Things I Noticed: Divisional Round

The winners from last week move on to face the top seeded teams coming off bye weeks in the Divisional Round, to determine who will make it to the Conference Championship games.

This round certainly didn't lack for dramatic finishes or intriguing storylines.

Here are some things I noticed this week:

Ravens at Broncos

• Following the game's opening drive, Trindon Holliday returned a punt 90 yards for a TD, then later opened the second half with a kick-off return for another score. 
• Baltimore took a first quarter lead after returning a Peyton Manning interception the other way for a score.  The Ravens got away with blatant pass interference that went uncalled after Eric Decker's arm got held down, leading to the deflected ball finding it's way into the arms of Corey Graham for the defensive score.  Hard to pin that one on Manning.
• The Ravens were clinging to just a shred of hope when they got the ball back with about a minute left and no time outs.  Jacoby Jones picked a good time to make his first catch of the game - a 70 yard game tying TD catch with just over 30 seconds remaining in regulation.
• It took a 2nd overtime period to find a winner, but Baltimore kicked the game winning field goal to upset the heavily favored Broncos.  The winning drive was set up after another Manning INT.  After getting chased out of the pocket, Manning tried throwing on the run to the middle of the field (not exactly his specialty).  That one you can blame Manning for.  The turnover gave Baltimore the ball in Denver territory and a handful of Ray Rice runs put them in range for the winning kick.

• We are now living in a world where Joe Flacco (331 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTS) out dueled Peyton Manning (290 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) in a playoff game.  Not only that, but he came through in the clutch in a road game, where he has often struggled.  This could be just what Flacco's career needs to get over the hump of mediocrity.
• Flacco has had his ups and downs in his career, but hasn't quite broken through to that elite level.  The one thing he does do very well though is throw the ball high and deep.  That allows him to make big plays to his speedy receivers, like the game tying throw to Jones, or the 49 yard TD pass to Torrey Smith.  He has his flaws, but as long as he can keep throwing it deep and let his receivers go chase after it, he can keep his team in games.

No call for the Hall

The old saying goes - cheaters never win.  While many players during baseball's tainted Steroid Era may have used performance enhancing drugs to cheat their way to victories, the voters have made a statement by denying them of a chance at their legacy's greatest victory. 

For the first time since 1996, voters failed to elect a single candidate into the baseball Hall of Fame.  Voters are able to pick up to 10 candidates and a player needs to appear on at least 75 percent of those ballots to gain election.  Craig Biggio came the closest (68.2), with Jack Morris trailing just behind (67.7).  No other player earned even 60 percent of the votes.

This marked the first year of eligibility for some of the biggest stars associated with the Steroid Era, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa.  Other notable suspected cheaters like Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro have already been on the ballot and been denied entry before.

We can probably all agree that steroids and other performance enhancing drugs should have no place in MLB.  Players that tested positive for PEDs clearly broke the rules and gave themselves an unfair advantage over their competition.  They have tainted the game, the record books and their legacies, but does that mean they should be denied access to the Hall of Fame?