Vinatieri signs, Smith is on the shelf. (NFL)

There are a number of interesting story lines in the NFL as far as the off-season and next season are concerned, and I'm going to take you through several of them.

Adam Vinatieri signs. The long-time kicker, and current old fart of the league, has signed a one-year extension to stay in Indianapolis and keep whacking field goals for the Colts. Personally, after watching him kick in the divisional game against the Chiefs, I believe he should probably retire. He's been a hell of a player, one of the best kickers ever, but he's no spring chicken anymore.

Antonio Brown to the 49ers? Brown wants out of Pittsburgh (hard to blame him), and has said several times in the past couple of weeks that he really wants to join San Francisco. As a 49er fan, I love this idea. Even the greatest receiver of all time, Jerry Rice, has supported Brown in this. I'm not sure what the Niner brass is waiting for. GO GET HIM!

Alex Smith will probably miss all of next season. The Redskins QB looks to be heading for the shelf due to complications with the nasty leg injury he suffered this past season. As much as I like Smith, and even though he said he's going to come back at some point, I think he should contemplate the future a little more. That leg will never be normal again. He made a lot of money over the years, and should leave playing game, perhaps becoming a coach or coordinator.

Flacco to the Jags? This might seem like complete hogwash to some, but there is reason to believe this could become a reality. Flacco is done with the Ravens, and Jacksonville needs a franchise QB for the upcoming season (because Blake Bortles SUCKS) and are said to be interested in Flacco. Even the boys on PTI have said this is probably the most likely scenario for the Jags. Flacco is getting old, but he's certainly better than anything the Jags have had in recent years.

The garbage they call the NFL. (NFL)

Yeah, I'm angry about the Super Bowl match up, and I'm not anywhere near alone on this one. Ever since last weekend's AFC and NFC championship games left a bad taste in my mouth, I'm still against watching the Super Bowl next week (I didn't watch it last year because of the same type of crap that went on), and I'm getting tired of what the NFL is trying to pass off to it's fans.

C'mon man. That blatant non-call in the Saints/Rams games has got to be one of the biggest blunders the NFL has made in recent years, with a clear pass interference call not getting called, and no real explanation given. Even that oaf of a commissioner Roger Goodell has remained silent on said transgression, and this speaks volumes about how big of a joke the NFL has really become. The Saints totally got screwed, and hard.

BradyGate, Episode XXVIII. People don't believe me when I say the NFL is heavily scripted, and rigged to make the most money possible. The brutal calls by officials that helped the Patriots get into yet another Super Bowl is proof enough. It is absolutely sickening to see the same script year after year after year. We all know that the Pats are a bunch of scum-sucking cheats, and the NFL has enabled it year after year by looking the other way, or changing rules to help Brady win more titles. Why? The owner of the Pats, Robert Kraft, has a franchise worth almost $4 billion dollars, and makes sure to give some hard cash to the NFL to maintain the status quo.

Disgusting, to say the least. Thank God for the AAF which will start the week after the Super Bowl. I'm tired of the NFL's crap, and I'm not alone.

CFL News! (CFL)

Before anyone crabs about the fact that I haven't made a post in a while, let me say this: I get busy sometimes, and I don't answer to anyone. Now that I've settled everything, let's get to the plethora of CFL news as of late, and my take on it!

1) Chris Jones bolts to the NFL. I honestly didn't see this one coming. This is the same man who said all season he wants to stay in Saskatchewan, and even signs a one-year extension to do so. Flash forward one week, and he bolts for the Cleveland Browns and leaves the Roughriders in the lurch. Being a Winnipeg fan, I normally laugh at the Roughriders for crap like this, but this time, they got completely burned by someone who went back on his word. I have no time for things like that.

2) Craig Dickenson takes over. Just the other day, the same Roughriders hired Craig Dickeson as their new head coach, who comes over from the Edmonton Eskimos. Is he a good fit? Will he raise the bar in Saskatchewan? Why the hell do I care? Regardless of my personal feelings for the Roughriders may be (sorry guys, one paragraph of pity is all you get from me), this could be an interesting time in Saskatchewan, providing they find a better starting QB than often-injured Zack Collaros.

3) Free agents. The top two free agents still available are Calgary's Bo Levi Mitchell (who I still think is completely overrated), and Edmonton's Mike Reilly. I'm surprised no team (not even their own) has given them a deal. There are several teams that could use a starting QB, with the Alouettes, Argonauts, and Tiger-Cats on said list. It will be interesting to see if their current teams re-sign them, or they leave to go elsewhere.

I'll have more for you when there is more.

Saturday's Divisional action. (NFL)

I'm going to spare everyone my normal two cents worth of an intro, and get right to the meaty part. To quote a famous line from the 1980's, "Where's the beef?"

The answer is: RIGHT HERE!

Colts/Chiefs. As I mentioned in my last post, the Indianapolis Colts weren't going to be a factor in this game, and they weren't. They were lucky to get past the Texans last week in Houston, and ran right into the brick wall known as the Chiefs. The Kansas City defence shut them down, and Patrick Mahomes did the rest on offence to help eliminate the hapless Colts.

Look for Indianapolis to be a much better playoff team next season. As for right now, the Chiefs will host an AFC Championship game for the first time ever next week. Should be a good one!

Cowboys/Rams. The Dallas Cowboys looked great last week, as they had in the latter half of the regular season. Yesterday against the Rams, it all came to a crashing halt. As good as Dak Prescott and the rest of the offence had been as of late, they just couldn't get it done in Los Angeles. They need to build on this, and add more pieces for next year's campaign, rather than look at the negatives.

The Rams will now have to see who they get after today's action. Will it be New Orleans, or Philly? Either way, I think the Rams, and Jared Goff are up to the challenge. I will stop short however, from a complete endorsement until after I watch today's action.  To do this, I'm going to need more snacks and more beer.

Sunday football.....here we come!

NFL playoff picture, and what may or may not happen. (NFL)

The Wild Card weekend was interesting to say the least, with a couple surprises along the way. I had figured that Dallas would get past Seattle (I don't drink the Russell Wilson Kool-Aid), and it was almost a sure thing beforehand that the Chargers would beat the Ravens.

What I found REALLY confounding was the way in which the Eagles got past the Bears (Calling Cory Parkey!). I honestly did NOT see Parkey missing the second attempt after making the first (which was iced), even with his history with crossbars. And the Texans losing IN HOUSTON to the lowly Colts? Just wow. 

That being said, here's my take on this weekend's Divisional round:

Kansas City/Indianapolis. Not much to say here. I don't have anything against Andrew Luck, but him and the Colts are no match for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs machine. I don't even think this one will be that close, either.

Dallas/LA Rams. This game is in Los Angeles, and the Rams have been both an offensive juggernaut, as well as an ever-adapting defensive unit. The Cowboys might hang in there for a bit, but in the end the Rams should pull this out by a couple of scores.

Chargers/Patriots. I dunno. This one is up in the air. The Patriots are usually the class of the AFC, but are not this year. The Chargers usually choke in the first round of the playoffs, but didn't this year. I honestly don't have a clue who wins this game, as it could go either way.

And finally.....Saints/Eagles. The Eagles got past the Bears last week not because they were better, but because the Bears committed a strong of late mistakes to seal their own fate. Not going to happen here. Expect Sean Payton and Drew Brees to pull out all the stops. Philadelphia's Super Bowl defence ends with this game. I mean, come on. S-u-p-e-r-d-o-m-e!

So there.

Bowl games, bowl games, and more bowl games! (NCAA)

I have been able to watch most of the Bowl Game action from the NCAA (mainly because I've been sick for almost a week and a half), and here is what I've gathered from them, in no particular order:

Rose Bowl. At the start of this game, I was sure (for some odd reason) that Washington was going to come out on top and spoil Urban Meyer's final game with the Buckeyes. When the break for half-time hit, it was all but a sure thing. Washington couldn't find much of anything on offence to build on, as the Ohio machine kept up the pressure and stomped them down, hard. The Buckeyes put up a lot of points in the first half alone, and never looked back.

Sugar Bowl. Texas played with a lot of heart in said game, and it was refreshing to see them pull out the win. Georgia had a chip on their shoulders after having been shoved out of the playoff picture (two losses on your record will do that), and looked like they might win the game. Unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards, and the Longhorns finished with a 10-win season. Still, Jake Fromm finished the game with 21 of 35 passes completed, with 224 yards and 3 touchdowns, giving up only 1 interception. Not a bad day, really.

Fiesta Bowl. I had thought that UCF would easily win this game and extend their unbeaten streak. They were up 14-3 early, and it looked like they would carry the momentum. However, they started to become slightly undisciplined, and ended up getting pounded in the second half by an angry LSU team in a game that saw several players on both sides ejected for questionable conduct. Yes, UCF has garnered some respect finally, but all good things must come to an end, and the streak did. Much respect goes out to LSU quarterback Joe Burrow for coming back into the game after being pasted by an UCF lineman and getting his cage rattled. The man is tough for sure.

Citrus Bowl. It didn't look good for Penn State, and they managed to fall behind 27-7 to a tough Kentucky team, only to mount a come back that ended up falling short in the final minutes. I can't honestly say if Kentucky was that good, or Penn State just didn't have what it takes in the last game of the season for both teams. One can only think of what could have been.

I'm all bowled out for now.