NFL Season Review: I feel like I'm taking Crazy pills!!!

     Alright!  What a year! Now it comes down to this, the San Francisco 49ers, vs. the Baltimore Ravens.  Let us jump back into the Horst Report time machine.  Everybody put on their thinking cap, ok, here we go!

The "Replacements"

    No, that the movie with Keanu Reeves.  That would have been way more fun.  No these poor guys, who had very little expierence to begin with, got thrown onto center stage with millions of people watching every call they made.  Wouldn't you be a little nervous? Yes, they're was a lot of bad calls, but everybody is going to complain about the officiating.  At least, that's what I told myself.  Then came the "Fail Mary", Monday night, the Packers intercepted the pass in Seattle's end zone, but the refs called the ball to Seattle, and with no time on the clock, Seattle was rewarded the touchdown and won. Whew!  Could you imagine how mad the Packers' fans would be if Seattle would have made it to the Super Bowl?!?!  Just days later, the regular refs returned and all was ok.  At least that's what I told myself.

Alarming Deaths Throughout the NFL

     Dallas Cowboys players Josh Brent, and Jerry Brown were involved in a car accident that took Brown's life, and now Josh Brent is in jail, facing manslaughter charges.  Junior Seau fatally shot himself in the chest, many believe so that his brain could be examined, to help the study of concussions.  In November, Jovan Belcher mudered his girlfriend, also the mother of his child, then drove to Arrowhead Stadum, and commited suicide in front of the Head coach, and the General Manager.  Steve Sabol, the president and co-founder of NFL Films passed away.  He was a pioneer in the film industry and helped build the NFL into the foundation that it is today.  He will be very dearly missed.  Just the facts folks, I'm keeping my opinion out of this one.

Lots of big game blowouts

     The Giants blew out the Packers, the Packers blew out the Texans, the Bengals blew out the Giants, the Patriots blew out the Texans, the 49ers blew out Patriots, the Seahawks blew out the 49ers, the Broncos blew out the Ravens.  Whew!  Did you get all that?

A Great Rookie QB Class

     It's no secret, I was on the Russell Wilson bandwagon before the draft!  What I was?!  Anyway, what a difference and impact a frachise QB can have on your team!  Ryan Tannehill didn't do a terrible job in Miami, given the team he had around him, the Dolphins did improve.  But the real stories here, are the first 2 picks of the NFL draft; Andrew Luck, and Robert Griffin III.  Both lead their teams, from the bottom, back near to the top and into the playoffs.  Then Russell Wilson literally fell into the hands of Pete Carroll out in Seattle.  Seattle wasn't even looking for a QB, but Wilson was right there, and he lead them into the playoffs, and even beat one of the other rookie QB's(Griffin) in a playoff game.  Got a lot to look forward to in the future of the NFL.

Peyton Manning takes over Mile High

     The biggest free agent in NFL history signed a 5 year contract with the Broncos, and John Elway said himself, "We're going with Plan A!".  Plan A of course, was to take the Broncos to the Super Bowl.  After a 2-3 start, the losses coming to playoff teams, the Broncos then went on a monsterous roll, winning eleven straight games and clinching homfield advantage throughout the playoffs.  Then the Broncos blew it against the Ravens, and now Peyton Manning is hosting a super bowl party at his house and I'm pretty sure he's gonna have pizza there.

2,000 Yards for "All Day"

  Adrian Peterson joined the 2,000 rushing yards exclusive club this year and even had a chance to break Eric Dickerson's single season record.  The Vikings chose to kick the field goal and win the game instead of trying let Peterson try to gain the necessary 8 yards to break the record.  I bet A.P. will remember that when contract negotiations come around.  Here's a fun fact, the only player to rush for 2,000 yards and win a super bowl in the same season is Terrell Davis when he ruhsed for 2,008 yards in 1998 with the Denver Broncos.

Tebow takes New York

    Even when they had nothing, nothing to lose, the Jets refused to put Tebow in, and watch Mark Sanchez run into his own lineman all year long.  Tebow may not be a great passer, but he is a great leader, and he does anything he can to win a game.  The Jets were just a bunch of bullies to him and he didn't deserve it.  He needs to go to Jacksonville and just do what he can with that team.  That will be his last chance to start in the NFL.

R. Lewis, Kaepernick headline Ravens-Niners Super Bowl

    All this young man needed was a chance, and he grabbed it, ran with it, and now he's gonna try and win the Super Bowl with it.  Alex Smith is a capable QB and he will get paid in the offseason, but he took to long to emerge.  Kaepernick just needed a chance and on sunday, we will watch one of the most exciting QB's of the year.  Ray Lewis is trying to walk into the sunset this sunday, though his image will always carry the heavy load of the burden that were his murder charges (he was acquitted).  As a linebacker and NFL player, he will go down as one of, if not the best Middle linebacker to ever play the game.  But now, with his steroid allegations, I am going to pass on him being a role model.

     So there you go,  just a brief review, enjoy the game on Sunday.  Shua out!!!! 

Nuggets win big, Rockies limit manager search

    As I was watching the Nuggets open at home against the Detroit Pistons last night, I overheard someone make a comment, "Really? There's sports going on during the election?".  I couldn't help but laugh, as a nation we decided who our next president will be, but that doesn't mean that the world stops to watch.  Especially America, where we are always busy, and have something to do.  Even the election coverage, I guess that watching that coverage is pretty similar to watching a sporting event.  In this case, this would be what we call a blowout.  The University of Colorado's football team should be familiar to what Mitt Romney is feeling and going through today.  But nonetheless, sports were still played, orders were still taken, gas was pumped and we as a nation made an important decision together.
  Now, on to the Nuggets!  After an 0-3 start, they needed to get on the right track, and they showed they can with the way they played last night.  Starting center Kosta Koufas, had a great game down below, and Andre Iguodala is looking like he is getting more and more comfortable in this fast paced offense.  But it was the bench, with Andre Miller, Javale McGee, Corey Brewer, and Wilson Chandler, that came in and wore down the Pistons.
  Yes, it is early in the season, and a lot of people find it difficult to get into basketball this early.  I say, let's get excited.  We have an excellent football team, and a really talented basketball team, all going on together, we should get this city rallied and ready.  I got pretty pumped up myself when McGee, drove it down the middle and slammed it down in the 3rd quarter.  Expect to see much, much more of this!  Tonight they take on the new look Houston Rockets, with Jeremy Lin, and newly acquired James Harden who is averaging over 30 points a game.  Next home game is Friday night, against the Utah Jazz.
  Just found out that Trindon Holliday of the Broncos got AFC special teams player of the week with his franchise long 105 yard TD return on Sunday!  It's good to see our special teams make a play once every 8 weeks in the season!  Keep it up boys, and you might make another great play yet!
  The Colorado Rockies have announced that Jason Giambi, and Tom Runnels are out in the managerial search, and that former Rockies shortstop Walt Weiss, and former Giants infielder Matt Williams are now the front runners.  If the Rockies want to get the fans excited, the better decision would be Walt Weiss.  But the smart money is on Matt Williams, not taking anything away from Weiss, but Williams has a little more experience working at the professional level.  Whoever they decide, they need to get on the ball quick here.  Rockies fans are patiently waiting to see which direction to get ready for.  It would be nice to have owners that actually knew what baseball was, so don't get too excited, the Monforts are good at making terrible decisions, just breath with me people!!!
  Shua out!!

Broncos on a roll, Nuggets open at home

  Do you remember when Broncos fans use to worry about who was at QB?  That seems like a long time ago, now that Peyton Manning has this team working on all cylinders.  Expect him to break most of the single season records for the Broncos.  He already has 20 TD's, over 2,000 yards, and an unbelievable QB rating(108.6).  With Willis McGahee running for some tough yards, Decker and Thomas are starting to pick it up a lot more, and the awesomeness that is Von Miller and the Denver defense, the division should be wrapped up and won by week 12.
  I know I'm not the only one excited for the Nuggets home opener tonight!  Sure they lost the first 3 games, but they, like the Broncos, have a tough schedule to begin the season playing only 10 games at home.  But they played well against the Heat, who are blowing out teams, almost winning on Andre Iguodala's crossover jumper on D'Wayne Wade.  Then, the Heat won on a four point play.  I am excited for this team.  Ty Lawson was smart for signing that extension, expect Iguodala to do the same. This young team looks great, Kenneth Faried, the "Manimal", Javale McGee, Danilo Gallinari, I believe this is the young, fresh, fast team that George Karl has been working towards in Denver.
  I hope that we can all get excited for this team.  Especially since the NHL is pulling another idiotic lockout.  I won't get started on them, it's just not even worth the trouble.  The players don't even care because they can go play hockey anywhere around the world, and it's probably better hockey anyway.  Back to the lecture at hand, the Nuggets are the team for "The Can"(Pepsi Center).  Since there are a lot of games this season, it will take a few weeks for everyone to start meshing well with each other.  If you don't have tickets, it's cool.  When you're done voting, drop by the Paramount Cafe on 16th St. Mall, and watch the game with $3 Miller Lites all game, every game!
  Talk to you soon!  Shua out!

Bears' Rookie JT Thomas: Knight in Shining Armour

  So here is a feel good story, which is rare for NFL football fans to hear about players.  In a time, and age of constantly reading in the headlines about pro players, getting arrested for assault, drugs, and DUI's, this is a story that we need to hear more of. 
  A young 8th grade girl, Joslyn Levell, who has spnia bifida, and is confined to  wheelchair, really wanted to go to her spring dance at her school.  She asked 7 boys to go with her, and they all turned her down.  Obviously she became sad, and wasn't going to attend the dance.  That's when linebacker JT Thomas of the Chicago Bears, who has a little brother with a similar condition, and rides the same bus as Joslyn, decided to step in. 
  JT got on the bus, one day and introduced himself to Joslyn.  Joslyn, being a Bears fan herself, hit it off with Thomas.  She didn't expect what happened next, could ever happen to her in her life.  JT asked Joslyn if she would like to go to the dance with him.  Of course she agreed, and they were beginning to get ready later that week.
  Now, JT called Joslyn's mother to ask what color dress she was going to wear, this way he could color coordinate with her.  JT bought her a corsage, and rented a limo for the dance.  Joslyn was cloud 9!  He danced with her, took pictures with her, and gave her a night that she will never forget.
  Way to go JT Thomas!!  We need more feel good stories, such as these, from the NFL players.  Joslyn will never forget that, and neither will anybody who reads this story.  Thank you for giving back to the community in such a special way.  And how about those boys who said no?  Man, did they miss out on a night with someone really special, Joslyn Levell!