DeeTroit Here We Come

AFC and NFC Championship games today, Canucks crush Habs and go back on the road, Kobe makes NBA History. Let's roll...

Steelers and Seahawks Superbowl Bound

In the first game of the day, the Steelers slammed the Broncos 34-17 in Denver for the AFC Championship. Similar to how Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts could not pick up on the Steelers blitz, Jake Plummer of the Denver Bronocos had a terrible game today. Plummer threw 2 picks and fumbled twice, and it was the difference. The Steelers did not do anything different than they've been doing in the last 6 weeks other than blitz, blitz, blitz. And nobody has been able to pick that up. Bottom line, the Broncos did not prepare for the blitz and they had no answer for it.

In the second game of the double-header, the Seahawks dismantled the Panthers 34-14 for the NFC Championship. The Seahawks offense was simply unstoppable. The pass, the run, the Offensive line. I cannot see anybody that can stop them, you can only slow them down. On defense, the Seahawks took care of Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith limiting them to a handful of catches. The turning point in the game was when Panthers RB Nick Goings was knocked out of the game. The Panthers were already decimated at the Running Back spot with DeShawn Foster not playing in the game, they simply had no run game to go to. The Seahawks dropped all the Safeties and Linebackers back into coverage, and with the great speed of the Defensive Line created enough pressure on Delhomme to cough up the ball 3 times. Again, the Seahawk offense cannot be stopped, Shaun Alexander had a huge game, Matt Hasselbeck had a huge game, Darrell Jackson had a huge game, way too many weapons there.

As for my NFL Playoff record, I went 2-0 today ATS, and 7-3 overall ATS, 8-2 straight up. The early line is Pittsburgh -4, it will probably move to 2.5 by next Sat.

Canucks Steamroll Habs

Yesterday, the Canucks blasted the Canadiens 6-2 and spoiled the party with the many Habs fans in attendance at GM Place. They did it by blasting out of the gates scoring all 6 goals in the first 15 min of the first period, then put it into cruise control the rest of the way. Habs Goalie Jose Theodore was pulled after the 5th goal. Canucks still not quite Stanley Cup contenders yet, but they're getting there. Bottom line is that they've beaten some pretty bad teams in the last couple of weeks and we'll reserve our place in the Stanley Cup parade on Robson until we see the Canucks beat some of the upper echelon teams in the league.

The Canucks hit the road again with their first game tomorrow vs the basement dwelling St. Louis Blues. The Blues have lost 9 straight and haven't won since they beat the Canucks several weeks ago. We've seen this bad team before. The Canucks have been energized lately and should be able to pick up a few early goals to coast to victory. Big question will be whether Maxime Ouellet will start in goal. Dave Nonis hinted as much during his post-game comments on HNIC. I say the Canucks take it 5-2.

Where Were You When...

Kobe dropped 81 points in a 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors. Un-freaking-believable. Post NFC game, I landed on the Lakers/Raptors game with the Raptors up by 15 in the first half. Fast forward to the 3rd quarter and Kobe popped off for 27 in the 3rd quater. Then he put the Raptors away for good in the 4th scoring 28 in the process. Kobe's 81 points ranks as the 2nd highest single point total in a game in NBA History, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's unreachable 100. If the Lakers make the playoffs, I can't see why Kobe won't get the MVP award. Steve Nash has had another fantastic year in Phoenix, but Kobe has been unreal this year.

Unbeaten No More

In a funky NCAA College Gameday yesterday, all 3 remaining undefeated teams went down in flames to unranked opponents. #1 Duke fell to unranked Georgetown, #2 Florida to unranked Tennessee, and #9 Pittsburgh to unranked St. John's. It's just as well, unbeaten teams almost never go all the way, Illinois lost last year in the NCAA Tournament Championship. The 1972 undefeated Miami Dolphins lost to the Washington Redskins in the Superbowl. I still think Duke will stay #1 througout, Florida may drop. #3 UConn could move up after beating #17 Louisville. The most shocking upset of the day was #15 Wisconsin losing to the basketball wilderness of N Dakota St. My beloved West Virginia Mountaineers outlasted the UCLA Bruins yesterday. I love that 1-3-1 trap they run, Coach Jim Beilein is a basketball genius. Can't wait for the NCAA Tournament, better get your brackets ready.

What's on TV
NHL, Vancouver vs St. Louis, 5:00pm PST on Sportsnet Pacific
NHL, Calgary vs Edmonton, 6:00pm PST on Sportsnet West
NBA, Toronto vs Denver, 6:00pm PST on the Score

Picks of the Day
Indiana Pacers -5.5 over Atlanta Hawks
Vancouver Canucks -1.5 (+110) over St. Louis Blues
Record YTD (26-27, -598)