SydSports 

Starting off with the Tampa Bay Vipers finally playing at home and hosting the Houston Roughnecks. In, what I thought would be a blow out by the Roughnecks, was actually one of the best offensive games so far. Tampa Bay held serve at home and was ahead at the beginning but could not hold off Houston’s powerful offense led by starting quarterback PJ Walker. He threw for 306 yards(The first 300 yard passing mark of the league), and completed 67% of his passes. Walker threw 3 TD passes all to Cam Phillips who now leads the league in touchdown receptions so far. Houston also attacked well on the ground using James Butler and Phillip Walker as their main weapons. Butler led the rushing game with 76 yards on seven attempts while Walker scored Houston’s only rushing touchdown. The Roughnecks played extremely

Tampa actually played very well, using their running game as their main arsenal with Deveon Smith leading Tampa Bay’s running attack. Quarterbacks Cornelius and Flowers scored the two rushing TDs, while Cornelius thew a touchdown and an interception. While their passing has been an eye sore so far, the two quarterback combo coached by Marc Trestman did throw better this game versus the previous two in my mind. But home-field advantage was not enough to defeat the Roughnecks.

This game had 5 lead changes and could have gone either way.I hopetheir are like these to come.

This Weekend is Nascar’s Daytona 500 International Speedway. I am picking a Busch for the win( Kyle). I also like Jimmy Johnson just because he was legendary in his time. I would keep an eye out for Brad Keselowski simply because he seems to be the feistiest driver out there. At least from a fan standpoint. Not the kind of guy I would want behind me in traffic that’s for sure.

On Saturday, February 15th, Washington D.C. had something to finally brag about when it came to football.— The Defenders. True to their name, the Defenders shut out the Guardians of New York in the XFL’s second week of games. In what I thought and hoped would be a great shootout, Cardale Jones proved to be too much for the Guardians’ defense to handle. Jones threw for 276 yards, completed over 62% of his passes and ran for 14 yards as well. He trew for 2 TDs and an interception.

The DC defenders were all over quarterback Matthew McGloin and Marquise Williams as well. They didn’t even throw over 100 yards combined against DC, which gives much credit to what looks like the team to beat in the Defenders.

Cardale Jones looks like the MVP of the league so far if they actually give a trophy like that in the XFL.

If you saw last weeks Tampa Bay Vipers opening XFL game versus the Guardians, you’d know why picking them to lose this game against the Dragons of Seattle was easy. Watching the Vipers offensive play led by quarterback Taylor Cornelius was sad to say the least. He threw for 2 interceptions, including the last play of the game when the Vipers showed some hope of scoring a touchdown on offense.

Tampa Bay led first with a field goal and a pick six off Seattle QB Brandon Silvers’ throw that landed on Dragons’ cornerback Tarvarus McFadden’s hands and he took care of the rest. But just when the Tampa Bay Vipers had a ray of light in the first half, Seattle finally settled down and scored 17 unanswered points. It started with Brandon Silvers’ 68 yard TD throw to Keenan Reynolds and just kept on going.

Based on what I’ve seen so far from Tampa Bay, they do seem to the weakest link. I definitely the Los Angeles wildcats do not follow them tomorrow against the Dallas renegades.

Over 29,000 fans attended the game which was a lot of fun to watch. here’s hoping the league and the Vipers survive.

Now that I have some information to work with, let’s start with the New York Guardians playing in Washington D.C. against the Defenders. Cardale Jones showed his potential in leading his team to a victory against the the Seattle Dragons. He had a 116 passer rating with 235 passing yards and added 28 rushing yards. They showed their strength at home. However, the New York Guardians defended the ball very well against the Vipers, allowing only 3 points. The Quarterback duo of Murray and Flowers looked lost. They could have at least made it 9 points scored by the Vipers had they gone for the field goals at least twice.

As far as this weekend is concerned I am picking the Defenders to win because they have home field advantage. That’s it. 27-23 DC.

Next is Tampa Bay at Seattle. As I said before the Vipers looked lost with some hope on special teams and defense. Seattle is at home and they looked better against the DC Defenders than the Tampa Bay did versus New York. 30-6. And I am being generous to the Vipers.

The First game on Sunday is the Dallas Renegades visiting the Wildcats in L.A. The Renegades Defense looks formidable contrary to Los Angeles who gave up 5 TDs in their first week. I look for them to bounce back at home. 18-14 Wildcats for the win at home.

Finally we have the St. Louis playing at Houston against the Roughnecks. Houston looked great against the Wildcats and they’ re at home also. They scored the most points of any team in the league. I look for them win easily. Houston defeats St. Louis 35-10.

And that’s all for now folks. Until I get more info about the players and teams.

Well, as predicted, the XFL started with a big bang. We got a big dose of new rules to expand our views on how can football can be improved and be more attractive. Then there was the matchups. We got a good look at the teams in action in a real game. Although I was 1 and 3 in my first weekend prediction, it was fun to watch. Except for the Vipers. They were a sight for sore eyes at quarterback. They were my onle prediction that was correct so far. Head coach Marc Trestman needs to find a better strategy or else they’ll finish last in the league if they rely on their quarterback in their upcoming games. Murray and Flowers resembled Kibbles and Bitts last Sunday. They were fit for dogs and nothing else.

The next weekend will be the more stronger determinant in seeing if this league as a future. I will do a better job since now I have more information on the teams.

LET’S FIRST LIST THE TEAMS:

1. DALLAS RENEGADES
2. DC DEFENDERS
3. HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS
4. LOS ANGELES WILDCATS
5. NEW YORK GUARDIANS
6. ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS
7. SEATTLE DRAGONS
8. TAMPA BAY VIPERS

First in order, the Dallas Renegades. Let’s start with the head coach and GM Bob Stoops. He’s got a strong college coaching record specifically since the 1996 season with Florida. His main focus was defense so look for lower scoring against the teams that the Renegades face. He has a 190-48 record with 18 college bowl appearances. However he is 9-9 in those college bowls. They face the St. Louis BattleHawks on Sunday, February 9th.

The BattleHawks are led by head coach and GM, Jonathan Hayes. He actually has NFL playing and coaching experience. He played 12 seasons between 1985 and 1996, with the Kansas City Chiefs(the new NFL champs) and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a tight ends coach under Marvin Lewis with Cincinnati Bengals.

Prediction: I am taking the Dallas Renegades over the St. Louis BattleHawks 17-6. I trust Stoops experience more for now. His resume says he can control his locker room better.

Next The DC Defenders. They are hosting the Seattle Dragons on Saturday. The Defenders are being coached by Pep Hamilton. Hamilton has a very assistant coaching experience both in college and the pros. With his experience on the offensive side of the field( He was an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach) I am looking for an explosive offense putting up 30-40 points a game. The Dragons are headed by Jim Zorn, who has the fullest career of any of the coaches mentioned, both as a player and a coach. Zorn is also an offensive minded call player. I was going to pick the Defenders to win because they are at home, but given Jim Zorn’s experience, it’s hard to go against . That and the fact that DC is facing a team known as the Dragons.

Prediction: A high scoring game with Seattle edging the Defenders 45-42 in overtime.

The third match-up is my team, the L.A. Wildcats visiting the Houston Roughnecks. The Wildcats are headed by Winston Moss, a former NFL player, linebackers’ coach and the first coach mentioned that has Super Bowl winning experience( as a linebackers coach for the Green Bay Packers). He is a defensive specialist so we’ll see how well his players will pressure the Roughnecks’ QB PJ Walker, who was anounced as Houston’s starting Quarterback on Wednesday. June Jones, the Houston Roughnecks head coach and GM has experience as an NFL quarterback and an NFL head coach but not much success at that level specifically with stubborn, prideful quarterbacks like Jeff George. He has had success at the college level winning 7 bowl appearances out of 9 and was named the WAC coach of the year twice in his tenure with Hawaii.

Prediction: This game should be a true grudge match of offense versus defense but I am giving the edge to the LA wildcats 21-14. This is not an objective prediction.

For the last match, we have the Tampa Bay Vipers visiting the New York Guardians. The Vipers’ Head coach and GM is Marc Trestman, who needs a haircut from what we see in previous pictures but also has college, NFL and CFL coaching experience. He has won 3 Grey cups under his leadership and concentrated on offense as his strength. The Guardians’ head coach is Kevin Gilbride, the former offensive coordinator for many tams including the former super bowl champion New York Giants who upset the New England Patriots in both super bowl appearances(XLII, XLVI). gilbride has shown that his offense can perform best under the greatest pressures.

Prediction: New York Guardians will defeat the Vipers 28-20 simply because they’re at home.

Are you tired of football after the Super Bowl? Well the XFL is coming next week. But don’t worry. It might not last that long. I hope I am wrong about this but no league has really succeeded in the spring and summer. The USFL was the closest but it could not hold up. The first XFL only lasted a season and don’t even get me started with last year’s AAFL.

We want more football or so we think we do. But then it happens and barely anyone supports the teams. Let’s change that. I am not holding my breath for a successful league but I do like the LA Renegades this year. Go team.

BY NOW MOST OF THE WORLD IS AWARE OF THE UNFORTUNATE DEATH OF KOBE BRYANT AND HIS DAUGHTER ALONG WITH 7 OTHER PEOPLE ON SUNDAY JANUARY 26TH, 2020.

NOT ONLY IS IT TRAGIC BUT IT LEAVES US WITH NO PROPER CONSOLEMENT. MANY HAVE ATTEMPTED ON FACEBOOK OR TWITTER. BUT IT JUST COULDN’T FILL THE VOID. THEN I STARTED THINKING ABOUT HIS NAME—KOBE! BEING AN ORTHODOX JEWISH MAN, I HAD ALREADY KNOWN IT TO BE SHORT FOR JACOB ( YAAKOV OUR FOREFATHER), AND I ALSO REMEMBER KOBE BRYANT SAYING IT MEANT WARRIOR. THEN I CHECKED ONLINE AND SAW THAT THE MEANING FOR KOBE IN SWAHILI IS TORTOISE. I PONDERED A WHILE TO SEE WHAT THE CONNECTION WAS BETWEEN THOSE DEFINITIONS AND ONE OF THE GREATEST NBA BASKETBALL PLAYERS OF ALL TIME.

AND THEN IT HIT ME.

THOSE THREE INTERPRETATIONS DEFINED KOBE ON THE BASKETBALL COURT AND IN LIFE. YOU MIGHT WONDER HOW THE TORTOISE COMES INTO PLAY. IF YOU LOOK AT KOBE BRYANT’S CAREER AS AN NBA PRO, HE STARTED OUT AS A YOUNG WARRIOR THAT HAD TO CONNECT WITH OLDER PLAYERS IN THE NBA. HE WAS BARELY 18 YEARS OLD WHEN HE STARTED AND AS HIS FORMER TEAMMATE, BRIAN SHAW STATED, BECAUSE OF THE AGE GAP, MANY OF THE THINGS THAT THE OLDER PLAYERS WANTED TO DO, KOBE COULD NOT PARTICIPATE IN. BUT JUST LIKE JACOB/YAAKOV, HIM BEING AWAY FROM SOCIETY’S NORMS PROPELLED HIM TO BEING THE MOST DEVOTEDAND FOCUSSED NBA PLAYER THAT WE HAVE SEEN IN TODAY’S NBA. BUT BECAUSE HE WAS THAT YOUNG HE ALSO LIVED IN HIS OWN SHELL JUST LIKE THE TORTOISE.

THAT DISTANCE COULD HAVE NEGATIVELY AFFECTED OTHER PEOPLE WHO LOOK TO FIT IN AND CONNECT WITH OTHERS. BUT NOT KOBE. HE WAS A DIFFERENT THINKER. HE EMBRACE THAT SEPARATION BY HONING HIS SKILLS AND FOCUS FOR THE GAME OF BASKETBALL.

HE BROUGHT THAT FIRE AND CONCENTRATION TO EVERYTHING HE PURSUED INCLUDING BEING A WRITER AND WINNING AN OSCAR. HE USED THAT ABILITY TO FOCUS ON BEING A BETTER HUSBAND, A GREAT FATHER, AN OUTSIDE THINKER AND UNDERSTANDING THAT MAKING MISTAKES IS APART OF LIFE. BUT IT’S HOW WE HANDLE THOSE MISTAKES THAT DEFINE US.

SO I TAKE FROM THIS TRAGEDY, A HOPEFUL MESSAGE TO EVERYONE OUT THERE, THAT LIFE IS PRECIOUS AND FRAGILE AS YOU KNOW. AND IF KOBE BRYANT’S DEATH IS CONSISTENTLY GNAWING AT YOUR SOUL, THEN THINK ABOUT KOBE BRYANT’S LIFE AND MESSAGE ABOUT LIFE’S PURSUITS. REMEMBER HOW HE USED TO WAKE UP EVERY MORNING AT 5-5:30AM AND EMBRACE THE DAY WITH LOVE DEDICATION, COMMITMENT, PASSION AND THE PURSUIT OF BEING BETTER EVERYDAY. OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO VANESSA BRYANT, KOBE’S WIFE AND THEIR DAUGHTERS FOR THE LOSS OF A GREAT MAN AND HIS DAUGHTER GIANNA, ALONG WITH THE ALTOBELLI , THE CHESTER FAMILY, MAUSER FAMILY, AND THE ZOBAYAN FAMILY WHO LOST PARENTS, SPOUSES AND SIBLINGS.

MAY ALL OF THOSE VICTIMS REST IN PEACE AND MY CONDOLENCES TO THEIR SURVIVING FAMILIES.

This blogging thing is harder than I thought