Back to school, and this time, I'm jumping right in.

Well, I'm a second-semester freshman now. I had my first day of classes (and it was a full day) today, so the semester's already off to a rolling start. In 26 hours back, I've already

• Watched football with some great friends.
• Eaten three cafeteria meals.
• Reconnected with many, many people.
• Unpacked, completely.
• Made a CD exchange.
• Participated in a Rave.
• Lent a book.
• Attended three classes.
• Consumed copious amounts of caffeinated beverages.
• Requested three transcripts
• Purchased two books
• Prioritized.

I'm really excited about that last one. I've got a list going of things I need to do today (Should be headed to dinner in about ten minutes, so I've gotta hurry up writing this blog entry), and a list of "To Do" things in my free time. I'm hoping I can keep this up past day one, but a start is better than I've done in past semesters, both of college and high school (Middle and elementary schools too, for that matter).

Today started with a 7:50-ish wake up call. After showering, I found myself eating breakfast in the caf for the first time since September, and made it with ample time to spare to my CA class. I think I'm going to find it much less challenging than my last attempt at CA 102. My teacher is one of those that will sap up every last second of class time, though. Being a 9:15er, that will be a little tough for me. But I'll deal with it. After about a 75-minute break, I found myself right back in the same classroom for CP. It'll take another class to get a good feel for the class, but I like the literature we're going to be reading. After lunch, I got a really great price on one of my CP books, and comparison shopped for several others. Then for the 3:00 class. Ugh. But it's JMC, and it's my best bet for something so late. I shudder to think about CA at 3. Or CA at anytime for that matter, but I digress.

Anyway, the primary reason I'm writing this blog this afternoon is that one of my primary assignments in my JMC class is: writing a blog! Right up my alley, right? Chances are it won't be located here, but I might just use this one as much or more frequently from now on. I'll keep all six of you that might ever read this (if you are one of the lucky few, do leave a comment and let me know what's up with you! Or, have an idea of what I should blog about? Tell me!) posted as to where you might find this new, professional-like blog once it is created.

Of course, I would be remiss not to mention the big sports news of the day (Other than Jay "Ouch, that really hurt" Cutler), and that is Carson Palmer wanting out of Cincinnati. Hey, the Titans are looking for a new QB. One stipulation, Carson, you gotta switch your number back to the 3 you wore at USC (Incidentally, that's where Coach Fisher played his college ball, if you'll remember). Ain't nobody gonna take Air McNair's number. That's sacred. Well, football sacred at least.

Lastly, on the terrorist attacks in Moscow today, be in prayer for the family of those affected, and the Russian government as they try to deal with an unspeakable tragedy.

Well, that's it. I'll keep you posted on the new blog, and, in case you were the wondering, I'm pulling for the Packers to win the Super Bowl, although I have a feeling I'll be disappointed. Sorely disappointed.

-c

Instant Reaction: VY OUT at Tennessee

Well, this evening, Titans owner Bud Adams announced that Vince Young would not be returning to play quarterback for the Tennessee Titans in 2011, should there be NFL football next year. So, this poses several questions. First, what happens to Vince? Second, what happens to Jeff Fisher? Third, what happens to the Titans QB position? These answers and more, right now.

Now that everyone knows the Titans are getting rid of VY, it really does give Vince a leg up on the so-called "process", in that he more or less will be able to determine his value, and go to the highest bidder, so to speak. This means, if he or his agent think that there's a team willing to spend money, instead of a player or a draft pick or two, for him, it's going to be tough to trade Young away. Something tells me he's going to try to keep the Titans organization from getting anything for him if he sees free agency as a feasible possibility. As a Titans fan, I would enjoy if we could trade him to a team like Denver or Philadelphia for either of their respective backups. I'd even be satisfied if we could get some middle-round draft picks, or even a pick or two for the 2012 draft, from any team interested. As a realist, I don't know if it will work out best for the Titans. I do hold onto the thought, though, that Vince proved himself this year to not be the best leader, and still had to mature a lot. Other teams will look at that one of two ways: either he's not equipped to be on their team, or it was just an environment, and it's worth a player or a couple of draft picks to give Vince a second chance. Here are the top three places I see VY:

1. San Francisco--It seems to me that they have the most to gain from picking up a guy like Vince Young. The Niners will be starting over with coaching, and I daresay they'll be getting rid of both Alex and Troy Smith. At the very least, San Fran will give Vince a shot at earning the starting job. Plus, it wouldn't be a horrible situation if they trade the Titans one of the Smiths (preferably for me, Troy) for Vince.

2. Miami--Maybe Vince can follow the footsteps of LeBron James and take his talents to South Beach. Perhaps he'll be appreciated by a team that has a little bit of a question where the quarterback position is concerned. Hey, I wouldn't complain if I was throwing the ball to Brandon Marshall fifteen times a game...

3. Arizona--Like San Francisco, the 5-11 Cardinals were merely a couple of wins away from earning the NFC West's playoff bid. They drafted Matt Leinart the same year the Titans drafted Young, maybe the Cards were hoping VY would fall in their laps that year...now's a great time to take a chance on him. If Vince was traded, I definitely would rather get draft picks...much better than a guy that takes this s--t too serious.

Next, whatever will happen to Jeff Fisher? I think it is in everyone's best interest that now that Vince is out of the way, Bud Adams lets Coach Fisher run out his contract. He's got one more year; if the Titans have a great season, re-sign the man. If the season's not-so-great, the contract's up, Jeff and the Titans go their separate ways, and there aren't very hard feelings. My only concern is that Fisher will let it get to his head that he's coaching for a new contract, and that has the possibility of more conservative play-calling in certain situations where more aggressive tactics might be needed. But I sincerely think that the Titans should give Fisher at least one more year now that the VY situation is behind us. Quite honestly, I don't know who would be a good replacement should the team get rid of Jeff now, so that's an added incentive to keep him on for another year.

Now the Titans will more than likely be looking for a quarterback going forward. I say, definitely keep Rusty Smith on, and have him work for a possible starting job, but bring in a 5- or 6-year veteran QB that hasn't necessarily started a lot, but is a good talent, to compete with Rusty for the job. I'd like to see either Troy Smith (2006 Heisman Trophy winner from Ohio State, formerly of Baltimore and currently with San Francisco), Kevin Kolb (benched for Mike Vick in Philadelphia), or Kyle Orton (the seasoned Purdue alum tossed around from Chicago to Denver, most recently benched for Timmy T) brought in for that purpose. I would keep Kerry Collins on in an advisory sort of role, maybe do some player-coaching if he's ok with it. The other option is to use that eighth pick in the draft and try to get another Quarterback of the Future. I've rethought my previous blog, and I'm not so sure the Panthers will want to draft a quarterback with the first pick, as they recently (see, last year) invested a rather high pick on Jimmy Clausen. So, that may open up the Titans (the second through seventh positions, respectively, belong to Denver, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Arizona, Cleveland, and San Francisco) to a good QB pickup (or a trade for the fifth or seventh spot, leading to said QB pickup) such as Ryan Mallett (should Carolina pass him up), Andrew Luck (same), Jake Locker (although, with two PAC-10 QBs in the same draft, one of them's gotta be a bust) or Cam Newton. I'm not a big fan of Newton's NFL prospects, but I've rethought my opinion on Luck after that Orange Bowl.

Of course, I'd rather we spend our high draft pick on a linebacker, but there really aren't that many LBs talented enough to be a top-10 pick. I say that with hesitation, there is almost always a defensive player taken high that no one could see coming (see recently: Jerod Mayo, Tyson Alualu). All I know is it will be an incredibly interesting offseason in Nashville. We'll see what happens.

With the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers will pick...Ryan Mallett?!?

With their loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, coupled with wins by Cincinnati and Denver, the Carolina Panthers have clinched the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. That means it's only a matter of a few months before Andrew Luck is on stage, holding a #1 Carolina Panthers jersey. But wait! We take a page out of the history book, and go thirteen years back in time to the once-lowly Indianapolis Colts.

Indy and San Diego were both teams in need of quarterbacks in this fateful year of 1998. Two finalists in the Heisman Trophy vote won by Michigan's Charles Woodson (the first and only defensive player to win the award) were incredibly talented quarterbacks. Peyton Manning, the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy that year, was the son of a former NFL quarterback, Archie (and the brother of future QB Eli), and a stud from the orange and white of the University of Tennessee. Ryan Leaf, who finished third in the voting, was a incredibly talented prospect out of Washington State University. Peyton, after famously telling the Colts, "if you don't pick me, I'm gonna whoop your butt for the next fifteen years," was selected first overall and to date has won a record four NFL MVP awards and been to two Super Bowls, winning MVP honors in Super Bowl XLI. Ryan Leaf, on the other hand, was drafted second by the Bolts and was tossed around the league for four years before calling it quits (and kindly asking that you don't talk to him, alright?).

Fast forwarding to the present. Two quarterbacks with huge NFL potential are in the market (and I'm not talking about Cameron "Scam" Newton, he's an entirely different story). One of them didn't make Heisman waves after his team finished with an under-the-radar two-loss season, the other finished second in Heisman voting. The first, Ryan Mallett, led the Arkansas Razorbacks to a 10-2 record, finishing second in the SEC West and earning a Sugar Bowl berth. Andrew Luck, the guy most predict to go first, led his Stanford Cardinal to an 11-1 mark, a second-place finish in the Pac-10, and a spot in the Orange Bowl.

So why do I think the Panthers should take Mallett?

For starters, look at the last names. Luck and Leaf. Mallett and Manning. Similar, no? Plus, like Mr. Leaf, Andrew went to a west-coast school, while Mallett and Mr. Manning both went to schools in the Southeast Conference. I've always liked Ryan Mallett as a pro prospect. More than anything, I've just got a gut feeling Ryan Mallett will make a better NFL quarterback than Andrew Luck.

Which brings us to the question, if Mallett is drafted first, how far will Andrew Luck fall?

Looking at the likely draft order as of now, neither of the next three teams (Denver, Cincinnati, and Buffalo, all 4-11) look like they would bite at a QB. The Broncos traded up to get Timmy T. in the first round last year, and unless the new coaching staff wants to make a big splash and rearrange the whole Denver team (again), there is no way they'd go for Luck. The Bengals' Carson Palmer, with a good coach, should have several more good years ahead of him, so unless they want QB insurance, Cincy will likely pass on a high-ranked QB like Luck. Buffalo seems to think it's found its quarterback of the future in Ryan Fitzpatrick, but a potential 4-12 season might rearrange the Bills' draft thoughts.

But that's a big MIGHT.

Anyhue, should Denver, Cincy, and Buffalo all shockingly upset their opponents (San Diego, Baltimore, and the Jets, respectively), that opens up a realm of 5-win teams that might get the second pick in the 2011 draft....namely Dallas, Minnesota, Detroit (only one of the previous two would potentially finish the season with 5 wins, they face each other next week), San Francisco, Arizona (same scenario with these two), Cleveland, and Houston. Of these teams, only Arizona do I see in dire need of a new quarterback. However, Minnesota and San Fran might get giddy with the prospect of Luck and take him with their selections (the Vikings faced with the return of unproven starter Tavaris Jackson, and the newly coachless 49ers switching between Smiths). Houston might be looking for a big change after a disappointing season, but they have a Pro-Bowl caliber QB in Matt Schaub that they would be foolish to get rid of. The Cowboys are safe for another five to seven years with Tony Romo as long as he doesn't get injured again. The Lions and Browns have their quarterbacks of the future in Matt Stafford and Colt McCoy, respectively.

Let's take another trip back in time, this time to the 2005 draft. The two highly-touted prospects were Cal's Aaron Rodgers and Utah's Alex Smith. Smith ended up drafted first overall by the 49ers, and no other team snapped at a QB until the Packers with the 24th pick took Rodgers. A-Rod, as I fondly refer to him, is a Pro Bowl quarterback who took over in 2008 after Brett Favre's second(?) retirement, while Alex Smith, as I not so fondly refer to him, has fought for the starting job in San Fran ever since being drafted, and should be let go by the team if their new coaching is right in the head.

Back to the present, if Arizona doesn't take a stab at Luck in the first ten picks of the draft, and no one trades up to get him, the next logical team I see that would like to sign him to a deal is Seattle, a west-coast team in need of a quarterback as it is likely Matt Hasselbeck's last year at the helm there. The only question is if the Seahawks will have the 12th pick, or the 21st, as they'll either finish 6-10 without a playoff berth, or 7-9 and losing in the wild card round.

Apart from 'Zona and Seattle, there's not a team with a real quarterback need in this year's draft. Sure, there's a half dozen or so that would probably take a chance at drafting Andrew Luck. I see Minnesota, San Francisco, Miami, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Oakland as teams with QB struggles, but realistically, only SanFran of the six do I think would waste a first-rounder on a guy like Luck. If Al Davis wasn't dead (which he is, how else do you explain that Oakland was in some playoff talks as late as two weeks ago?), I would say the Raiders would go at a big name like Andrew Luck, but now are different times.

So, while it won't be exactly like 1998 (or really at all like it), I still think the Panthers should go with the choice from the SEC, and leave the West-Coast favorite to bust elsewhere.

Just a small tidbit about myself....

I'm an includer. I try my hardest all the time to make sure others feel involved. There's a guy sitting over there by himself, I wanna be the first to go over and make sure he's doing alright. I enjoy having conversations with just about anybody. I guess that might a part of why it always seems like I've "liked" or commented on facebook posts immediately after they are posted, because I like to let folks know they're being recognized and read and such. And it's not just because I'm being nice. If I include you in stuff, chances are I regard you and/or your opinions very highly.

I don't know, but it seems like no one tries very hard to extend the same favor to me. Too often I feel left out of events, conversations, etc. These same people that I have high regards for seem sometimes to not even notice me, as if I don't count, my opinion doesn't matter, or I'm just generally disliked. I don't like that. Maybe I'm just overreacting, but it would be nice, you know, just every once in a while, if people don't hold conversations right in front of me without my involvement, and little things like that.

Let me get this straight, this definitely does not apply to all my friends. There are some of you that always know that I'm around, and let me know that you know. To those friends, that just increases my respect towards you. Know that.

But just as a general thought, I'm feeling left out if you see me doing one or more of the following, especially in a group setting.

• Staring off into random space or searching the area for something aimlessly
• Pull out my headphones and start listening to music
• Get out my phone (I'm normally looking at the text messages I received days ago, because very rarely does anyone except for maybe two or three people ever text me)
• I start blurting out random things that typically pertain in some way to a conversation that is happening around me.
• I just have this miserable, downtrodden look about me.

Again, it might just be me overreacting, but it would be nice if you notice I might be feeling un-included, as it were, to say "hey" or ask how my day's been or something of the sort. Who knows, that might just make my day.

And I really do enjoy it when days are made, whether they're mine or someone else's.

I feel like I should blog again some more.

I think I need to catch you up on my life, and all its many twists and turns.

Number one: College. Many of my younger viewers may ask, "Why, Clayton, how's college?" Of course, now I think about it, many of my older viewers and viewers within my peer group may be wondering the same thing. And my answer to you is: College is great! Here's a flash of my typical Samford week:

Sunday: Wake up, 8:30ish. Why I am up this early after likely staying up until one or two reading Harry Potter or watching college football highlights is beyond me. There is a knock on the door and there is a friend who I arranged to take me to church. The church in question is massive, as are many of the Baptist churches around Birmingham. The service was nothing remarkable, and then was Sunday School. I have not attended a Sunday School session outside of HFUMC since, oh I don't know, eight or ten years ago, probably. It was a very enjoyable experience, I think I might go back just for the Sunday School hour sometime. Arrive back on campus around 12:30, grab some lunch in the caf, then back to the room for an afternoon of NFL football. That's basically what Sunday consists of every week. Lots of football. Then to sleep for class.

Monday: My first class, JMC 200, begins at 10:30. I wake up at about 9 or 9:15, hop in the shower, head to the food court for a chick-fil-a biscuit breakfast, and head on over to class. Take some notes, fight some sleep, and then to Latin. Much of the same, although instead of the "take some notes" part, it's more "try to figure out what in the heck this thing means". Latin ends at 12:50, and that's class on Monday. After Latin, I hit up the caf for lunch, and head back to the room. Once back in the room, I open facebook (which will remain open long into the night), check emails, and get whatever work I have to get done. Today I'll get all my laundry done. I'm thirsty, so I walk to the mini-fridge and pull out a can of Canada Dry Ginger Ale. On this particular Monday afternoon, I pull up the 104.5 The Zone radio broadcast online, because Randy Moss is holding his first media meeting as a Tennessee Titan. I listen to 3hourlunch until 3, and then turn on the TV to NFLNetwork. I throw on my freshly-laundered band t-shirt, a pair of socks, and some tennis shoes, and head over to the band room. I then catch a ride to the gym because I'm playing for the basketball game. I play some music, shout a lot, and eat some pizza. Four hours later, I go back to the room, where I'll play on the computer, watch TV, and do some reading until I fall asleep at about midnight.

On Tuesday, I have one class. However, I am determined to make Convo this morning, even if I sleep through it. I get a can of lemonade from the room, and a chicken biscuit from the food court (I'm trying hard to cut down on my Bulldog Buck spending, I'm fast running out from my Chick-fil-A consumption), and head over to Reid Chapel for the Convocation. Today's convo speaker was surprisingly interesting, a United Methodist clergywoman and yet another great storyteller. Having not gotten my nap or the last four pages of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in, I go to my Tuesday/Thursday class, CP. I get that essay back that I slaved over on the previous Wednesday night. "This is surprisingly well-written," I find Dr. Putt has written on it. "First semester freshmen usually do not write this well. I even suspected plagiarism at first because it is so clearly written! Excellent work!" This brightens up my day immensely, even more than my first convo credit in two or more weeks did. I take about a page-full of notes about Gothic architecture and culture, and then we get out of class at around noon or 12:15. I head straight to the caf for lunch this day, and then after chilling back in the room for a couple of hours, go to band practice. It's our first Christmas band practice, and as I note to the facebook world, "I am fully aware of the irony of the fact that we're practicing Christmas music, and I'm wearing a tshirt and flip flops." The music is different, and moderately challenging. After dinner, I come back to the room, and Patrick is watching the new 30 for 30 film on ESPN about former superstar running back Marcus Dupree. It's a nice little piece, and I enjoyed it. After that, I make sure everything's ready for my Wednesday classes, read some Harry Potter, and go to sleep.

Wednesday is the day I buy my Harry Potter tickets. There's some finagling with Fandango, but eventually everything works out and I'm ready to go. Both of my Wendesday classes included getting tests back. My JMC grade, though not stellar, is still a solid B, which I will take. In Latin, I was expecting bad things from the test, but I end up earning a similar B. While in Latin, unbeknownst to me, there is a bit of a flash-mob rave dance in the caf in order to advertise tomorrow night's freshman class rave. Sadly, I miss it. After lunch, I head to the library to put in a couple hours of work-study time. In the end, I am not able to continue, and I end up staying for only an hour and a quarter. Dinner is yet another caf affair, and I return to the room with just enough time to watch yesterday's episodes of both Glee and NCIS. After my hour and a half of online TV dosage, I head to my small group meeting. It's a particularly good group meeting for me, and I do a little more reading before I go to sleep.

Thursday is a triumphant morning. For the first time in over a month, I am able to wake up in time to get to the caf for breakfast! I also make it to Convo, which is a very nap-worthy lecture about the church in China. Perhaps it goes too long, for I am still in a lethargic state when CP rolls around. The Renaissance is the topic of this class, and it goes until about 12:10, I think. I go back to the room for a 30-minute power nap (haven't had a good one of those in a while, either...) and then lunch in the caf. An hour and a half after I get done with lunch, and it's band practice time again. I'm not really feeling too well during practice, but I manage, and suffer through a small dinner just to keep my appetite regular. By the time I get ready to go to the aforementioned rave, I'm feeling much better and ready for a fun night of dancing. Well, except for the fact that after about forty-five minutes of constant jumping and moving, etc, I felt like my lungs were about to explode, so I headed back to the dorm for a couple puffs of the asthma inhaler and I was generally back to normal. Great dance, then I feel like staying up even later to get in some Harry Potter reading. I decide that I'm not even going to eat breakfast Friday morning, as I only have one one-hour class that day. I go to sleep, exhausted from an exciting day.

On Friday, I stumble out of bed a little before ten, take a shower, and find my way to my JMC class. It's a nice lesson about cable, I jot down a few key points, and class ends. I head to the caf, and have about an hour-and-a-half long lunch (not so much eating as the social aspect of lunch in the caf). After lunch, I spend a while in the room, before choosing to throw in a little bit of work-study in the library before it closes at 5. After I finish in the library, I run into Corey and Clayton playing frisbee. I play with them for a while, and then we all three head up to the caf for dinner. There we meet the likes of Patrick and Josiah, and after a nice evening meal, we decide to head up to the volleyball game, Senior night, at the gym. We are joined by Jamieson and Red Sea points leader Throck (it's a nickname, his last name's Throckmorton). We watch the volleyball girls fall to Georgia Southern 3 sets to 1, but in a valiant effort nonetheless. Some fingerfoods follow, and then Patrick and I so choose to head back to the room and chill for the rest of the night. I find myself, once again, in the midst of a very good Harry Potter Book (Goblet of Fire, which I've been working on the majority of the week) before going to bed once again.

Saturday gets a late start from me. I wake up shortly before 11, shower, watch some college football, and then head to the caf for brunch. There are some conspiracies regarding a birthday party, and I head back to the room. Corey comes in, I end up taking a run to Taco Bell with him and Zach. After we get back and while we are consuming our Taco Bell, Jamieson enters, detailing us about a certain prank to go down. I spend a large part of my afternoon on that effort after my weekly phone call to the parentals. After dinner, I anxiously await the next step of the prank, but we are foiled by someone close to a victim. I have a nice facebook conversation with this un-named source, and find myself compromised somewhat in the war of pranks that is happening throughout Samford. I suppose it feels a little like when countries entered the World Wars a while after they started. I await my just rewards. Meanwhile, I watch the fourth Harry Potter movie, and end up having to stop after a while, because it is so horrendous. I then watch the South Carolina-Florida and Alabama-Mississippi State games before catching the ridiculously awful ending of the fourth Harry Potter movie. Around this point, Patrick returns from the dorm lobby, and we watch SNL and some football and basketball highlights before he calls it a night and I turn to this, my blog.

Well, that's a sample week. Now that you know that, I'll just go on about some trivial stuff...

1. CUPCAKES. And I'm not talking about that thing that looks like a muffin but is much better. I'm talking about teams, like Louisiana-Monroe, like Georgia State, like the University of freaking Notre Dame, that college football teams play two, three, seven games against each season. Those ones that scream "easy win, let's get in here, play a little ball, throw our bench in, and get the hell out of here" on the schedule. It disgusts me. Every team in the SEC has played at least three, and while I'm a big fan of the SEC, I think they need to play easy-win teams that are a little more competitive by name, like Big Ten and ACC schools. Those of you that have been following all my crazy facebook action know my obsession with cupcakes and their complete lack of benefit.

2. We've got Randy freaking Moss!!!! Thats right, boys and girls, Randy's a Titan. Get excited, it's going to be a great ride in Nashville for the second half of the season, and--dare I say it?--playoffs?!?

3. Oh, I gots me a youtube channel now! You can find me at http://www.youtube.com/user/churdle76. I may or may not eventually be posting videos, but it's really just a thing for me to use for comments or liking videos or stuff like that.

4. And I've also gots me a tweeter!! Although I myself am not a twit, and do not tweet, I felt like I should get a twitty-thing to follow some other twits that like tweeting. So if you want me to add you to my followees, tweet me up @churdle76. If you want to add yourself to my followers (or, as I prefer, twitstalkers), just do whatever you do to follow a twitty type by searching the same tweetie-name.

5. What else, what else? Oh, I'm annoyed by Christmas coming before and above Thanksgiving again, I'm in the middle of a little No-Shave November action, and I get some more money in the bank this week. Also, my midseason NFL Picks are as thus: Titans, Texans, Colts, Jaguars AFC South; Steelers, Ravens, Browns, Bengals AFC North; Chiefs, Chargers, Raiders, Broncos AFC West; Jets, Patriots, Dolphins, Bills AFC East; Falcons, Saints, Bucs, Panthers NFC South; Packers, Vikings, Bears, Lions NFC North; Rams, Seahawks, Cardinals, Niners NFC West; Giants, Eagles, Redskins, Cowboys, NFC East. Playoff seedings will be Jets, Steelers, Titans, Chiefs, Ravens, Texans in the AFC; Giants, Falcons, Packers, Rams, Eagles, Saints in the NFC. Wild Card games: Titans over Texans, Ravens over Chiefs, Packers over Saints, Eagles over Rams. Divisional games: Ravens over Jets, Titans over Steelers, Eagles over Giants, Packers over Falcons. Conference championships: Ravens over Titans (you don't know how much it hurts me to say that), Eagles over Packers. To keep to my original pick of Super Bowl Champion, Ravens over Eagles.

Oh, last but not least, congrats to the San Francisco Giants for bringing home the World Series championship for the first time since your west coast move over fifty years ago.

That's it for now, folks, I'll be back with more action sometime later.

-clayton