SnoTap Bowl Predictions: Quick Picks

With it being the holiday season and me being a degenerate, I am making quick picks for the next couple of days versus giving you full analysis. My apologies, but it's just the way it is like that Tupac song.  

AdvoCare V100 Bowl 
Arizona vs. Boston College 11:30 am ESPN - Nothing says the bowl season like Shreveport, Louisiana. I have Arizona in this one which should be fun as hell if you like great running backs. ARIZ 38-31

Hyundai Sun Bowl 
Virginia Tech vs. 17. UCLA 1:00 pm CBS - I have no idea if this will be Brett Hundley's last game as a Bruin, but I do know one thing I like him against a tough Hokie defense instead of Logan Thomas facing the Bruins. UCLA 30-17

AutoZone Liberty Bowl 
Rice at Mississippi State 3:00 pm ESPN - I have no idea why but I think Rice is winning this football. Crazy like a fox now, genius later. RICE 28-23

Chick-fil-A Bowl 
Duke at Texas A&M 7:00 pm ESPN - LAST GAME OF JOHNNY FOOTBALL. I HOPE HE GOES FOR 450 WITH SIX TDS. TAMU 45-31

Bowl Record: 13-6

Charlie.

The Lone NFC North Survivor.

It is hard to remember a Packer game that felt tremendously nerve-wracking. It probably would have been the Wild Card round game against Philadelphia in 2010.  Super Bowl definitely had some nerves, but it did not come to the end of the game. Same goes for against Chicago in the Championship round. This game felt like my heart was coming out of my chest, and I knew by the end of it, I would either be as happy as I have been in 2013 with a suffering year as a Wisconsin sports fan or it would be just another notch on a horrible year to live in the state of Wisconsin.

While the first half featured a lack of scoring, a touchdown-fumble and an uncharacteristically bad Aaron Rodgers, the second half felt like how the game should have been going for the whole thing. A complete shootout where defense was not allowed. Green Bay's rushing defense could not stop a nosebleed letting Matt Forte run wild. Jay Culter could not have been more efficient, and did not make that one mistake everyone in the state of Wisconsin expected to happen. It is not like Packers were struggling on offense either, they were moving the ball but still found themselves down one with six minutes left after Mike McCarthy failed to go from two after an Eddie Lacy touchdown.

Usually, I am completely behind the advanced metrics crew, but here's where I disagree when it comes for going for two. If Packers defense could have made a stop, I feel like it is easier for Mike McCarthy to go for two. The reason he decided to go for one was to preserve a chance to tie up the game again if Chicago were to score another touchdown. That would not have been the case had Green Bay failed to go for two. I recognized the idea the final drive would not have been like pulling teeth with a rusty wrench yet still to call it ridiculous to go for the extra point is being a little of a extremist.

At six minutes and change left, I did not know if it would be the last drive of the game for Green Bay. When McCarthy went for it on a short fourth down from their own 22, I realized this would be it. Do or die for Green Bay for the entire season. I also began thinking about how McCarthy would be killed by the advanced metric community and the local pinheads calling into radio stations. John Kuhn found a way to the first down. Green Bay faced another short fourth down, and passed the ball to Jordy Nelson where he caught it for six yards. Packers moved slightly into Bears territory but once again, found themselves with a third straight fourth down....

People were ready to come down on Rodgers talking about how bad he looked out there, the refusal to run the football and once again, the age-old narrative that he cannot close out big games. He steps out of the pocket escaping Julius Peppers (Great, great block from John Kuhn) and he found Randall Cobb wide open down field. I could not believe it. I wanted to run around the house like I just won the lottery, but I had such a head rush from standing, it physically caused me to sit down but I had a massive smile on my face before grabbing another beer knowing Chicago had 38 seconds left with a quarterback with a huge arm and two massive wide receivers.

Thankfully, Brandon Marshall had a key drop at Green Bay's 30 and Cutler throws an interception to Sam Shields as he shorts a pass intended for Alshon Jeffery. Packers somehow is in the playoffs and are in the mix with their full arsenal back in action on offense. Game is on and who knows how this story ends.

It feels like 2003 more than anything else where Green Bay kept having inexplicable moments to keep them alive meaning Tramon Williams will have a walk-off interception and then I will cry in the divisional round. Let's hope half of that is true. San Francisco poises a huge challenge for Green Bay, but right now, it is still time to enjoy one of the most improbable NFC North division crown.

Charlie.  

SnoTap NFL Playoff Challenge

First, let me congratulate Adam Hatlak on taking home the regular season crown. He won himself a 25 dollar StubHub Gift Card. It was really fun doing it and I already look forward to next year when likely there will be some tweaks made to it. We are going to do one for the playoffs and it is going to be slightly different. When I say slight, it is very basic.


You get one point for picking the game straight up without any spread.
You get one point for picking the spread correctly.

CONTEST ENTRY

When we get to the Championship round, it will be two points for each and for the Super Bowl, it will be four points meaning there will always be eight points meaning 32 points will be the highest score to achieve throughout the NFL season. I will probably add an extra point at the Super Bowl round for a tiebreaker if need be.

You have until Saturday at 3:29 pm to sign up and play. If you miss a round, you are locked out and eliminated from the tournament.  I will send out the standings via email or Twitter. If I don't have your email already, snotap12@gmail.com.  As for the prize, 25 dollars to the NFL Store to get whatever your little heart pleases whether it be Packer gear, something obscure like a Jim Schwartz fathead.

I would appreciate it if you like SnoTap on Facebook, follow me on Twitter before you sign up for our contest, but if not, no big deal

Charlie.

Wisconsin Basketball, a Legit Final Four Contender?

It is not often I write about anything that is not NBA related. The reasoning is I do not feel like I have a grasp on college basketball especially compared to the NBA. But one thing that I have come to figure out about the college game is Wisconsin Badgers are fucking predictable. Year in, year out, Badgers head coach Bo Ryan will know as the shirts say in Madison. And Bo will know that his fundamental, slow style of basketball will throw a wrench in current basketball systems and win games for his program. It is a respectful way to play basketball, and all in all, a successful one. Few coaches have had greater success than Ryan, at any level.

This year, the Badgers have raced out to stunning 13-0 and are currently ranked 4th nationally. They are rolling. An expected 8-0 at home, and this year things just seem a little different in Madison. Let me show you the differences I see in this team in list format:

1.) Trustworthiness. The first thing about this team that jumps out to me as superior to previous Ryan led teams, is that I pretty much trust four of the five starters on the court to make the right play all the time. I have seen things from both Josh Gasser and Ben Brust in years past to show they know what is going on. Frank Kaminsky is legit. That dude scored 43 points in a game. Which is incredible in and of itself and also, he can be called Frank the Tank which has to render useful all the time. And of course Sam Dekker. In March, the wealth of playmakers should pay dividends.

2.) More Things Sam Dekker. He is super legit. He will be the first Badger to get significant NBA minutes since Devin Harris. Which is a breath of fresh air in Badgerland. For the season he is averaging 14.5 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. He can finish around the rim because of his lengthy 6’ 8” frame, and can shoot from distance. He can shoot and soar. Everything I cannot do myself. To make a generic NBA comparison like short Caucasian wide receivers to Wes Welker, I think there is no doubt he will be on par with both Chandler Parson and Gordan Hayward. Or basically the only two white 6’ 8” wings that can shoot, finish, and pass[1]. To make a cross-racial comparison, I think he can be a lot like Loul Deng. However, he will never become the defender that Deng is. Comparisons aside, Dekker is a legit college basketball star.

3.) Ability to play two styles of ball. Already the Badgers have scored 80+ points five different times. The total already matches the 80-point games produced last year, and there is more than half the season to play. They can win in a shootout. We have shooters everywhere, and of course, Dekker. But that is not to say this will not be a team that cannot buckle down and win the game with defense either. We are still the Wisconsin Badgers after all.

The facts above show this team is indeed seemingly more dangerous than Badger teams of years past, I still see some similarities that could be a concern moving forward (again I will put them in list format:

1.) The Bench. Depth in college basketball in critical, because you never know when the perils of playing on the road or young players making stupid decisions will strike and leave your team banking on a redshirt sophomore that has played an average of six minutes a game to play pivotal crunch-time minutes. And right now, the Badgers bench to me is a little suspect. While the freshmen (Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes) are intriguing, they are still freshman and I am not going to say they have looked like anything until they have played in some Big Ten slugfests.

2.) Cupcakes. Bo Ryan needs to step out his comfort zone and schedule some real games the first month of the season. One thing that can be counted on more than Aaron Rodgers beating Jay Cutler, is that Bo Ryan will not schedule anyone worth a damn before the Big Ten season. It is my opinion that this is costing Wisconsin wins in March. Other programs, most specifically Michigan State, schedule games against other top programs on neutral sites, to introduce the kids to the limelight. Bo, not only will not leave home, but also consistently schedules no one of significance. I cannot figure out what good playing against Prairie View A&M does for this team. That is essentially a waste of an opportunity to get better. I would much rather get spanked by Arizona on the road and learn something about my team, than play against PVA&M at home. Bo grow some Kahuna’s please.

There is no doubt that this is a good Badger team. They will be a 4-seed or better. But I’m excited to see this team take on the Big Ten. We will learn a ton about who Wisconsin really are then. First big test for the Badgers is against Iowa on January 5th. Hopefully Bo has ‘em buckled up.

As always Go Packers,

~Andrew

                                                                                                                                           
[1] If he grows out his hair and gets a terrible back tattoo of a dragon or bird, then he does have the potential to be Andrei Kirilenko.

SnoTap Bowl Predictions: Bowl Day Monday

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl 

Middle Tennessee State vs. Navy 10:45 am ESPN - When it comes to a mid-major team playing a bowl game. It is not really a good barometer to chrTennessee can run the football though. They are a top 25 rushing team in the country led by a balanced attack with multiple rushers. Navy knows a thing or two about running the football as they are second overall. Navy will wear you down. Midshipmen are hot heading into the bowl game as they have won five of their last six games. Blue Raiders are not great against the rush and that could spell big time trouble. If you are into betting on a Monday morning, I would say take Navy and never look back. NAVY 45-20  

Franklin Mortgage Music City Bowl

Ole Miss vs. Georgia Tech 2:15 pm ESPN - Honestly, this is the best game of the day. I realize there are a lot of big name teams on this day, but they both have chances to be blowouts. This one I think you can get a close game out of them. We know Georgia Tech's story. They are going to try and run the ball working down a team. Yellow Jackets also have a pretty stout defense meaning even if the offense stalls a bit, the d can keep them in the game. Ole Miss' offense has been a problem as of late. Against Mississippi State and Missouri, they have a combined 20 points. Bo Wallace needs to be better if this team expects to win today. In the last two games, Wallace does not have a touchdown and four interceptions with under 230 yards of passing. I am better on Bo and the SEC here with Ole Miss taking advantage of a late turnover and winning this football game. OLE MISS 21-17 

Valero Alamo Bowl 

Texas vs. 10.) Oregon 5:45 pm ESPN - This is Mack Brown's swan song. People think maybe Longhorns will be inspired and they will fight for Mack leading to a stunning Texas victory. That's not happening. Oregon might not be the most focused team in all of the land, but I doubt they will come out sluggish especially on the defense end. Mack is not the only one coaching his last name as Nick Ailoto, Oregon's defensive coordinator, is coaching his last game as well. Further, I do not think a fresh Marcus Mariota will be a pleasant experience for the Longhorns. It will be close for three quarters, but Ducks wear them down in the fourth leading to a blowout on paper. OREG 42-27

National University Holiday Bowl 
14.) Arizona State vs. Texas Tech 9:15 pm ESPN - I really want this game to be a high-scoring shootout where we have a ton of fun, and it will be great for those who are going out the night before New Years Eve (Amateur hour if you do not). But sadly, it will not be given Arizona State is one of the better teams in football right now. No one really talks about the Sun Devils and their success this year which is a shame. Arizona State has won seven of their last eight and even without star running back Marion Grice, I think this team will be dominant in their performance against Texas Tech. Nothing against the Red Raiders but they have fallen off a cliff lately. They look in worst shape than Justin Bieber right now. They have not won a game since October 19th. I cannot ride with my main man Kliff Kingsbury in this one. Texas Tech heading to San Diego for only the nice weather unfortunately. ASU 52-14

Bowl Record: 10-5

Charlie.  

Badgers Football Celebrates a Packers Win

When you have a college football team in the same state as an National Football League team usually not everyone is a fan of the NFL team. With Wisconsin Badgers football team, it seems like most of them are Packers fans except for the player wearing the Forte jersey in the middle. Smartly, one of their staff members taped the players watching the final play of the game. The reaction is priceless and it has went viral overnight. These guys acted like they won the National Championship. It is just so cool to see the support coming from the college game to the pro game, or Eddie Lacy and James Starks doing Melvin Gordon and James White dance.

Charlie.

Holiday Mini-Keg Special: Kazz & Murph

Current NBA writer Andrew Kasmarek teams up with Snotap legend Nolan Murphy to smack their gums with each other about sports and bring some holiday joy! It's two parts so don't forget to stick around after halftime.



1. NFC North Championship Game
2. NBA Injuries
3. The State of Eastern Conference in the NBA
4. Favorite Holiday sporting event




 Enjoy and hope to see you during the playoffs!

- Kazz & Murph

SnoTap Bowl Predictions: Hats, Getting Belk'd, Workout Shirts, Wings

New Era Pinstripe Bowl 

Rutgers vs. Notre Dame 11:00 am ESPN - I could not believe Rutgers actually sold out their bowl allotment of tickets. Maybe Rutgers is New York City's football team. But when it all comes down to it, I have no idea how Rutgers is a bowl team. Scarlet Knights have lost five of their last seven games, and they are playing in a bowl game. They have a relativity new quarterback and their defense is horrendous. As for Notre Dame, this is quite the contrast from a BCS Championship game last season, but I feel like there is definitely encouragement they got to eight wins after losing Everett Golson for the year due to academics. They will be without George Atkinson and Jalen Brown whom both were suspended for violating team rules. Nonetheless, Tommy Rees excels when he plays bad teams and bad defenses. He is not a bad quarterback when he faces marginal teams meaning he will have a big day and someone will draft him in the fifth round. ND 41-21   

Belk Bowl 

Cincinnati vs. North Carolina 2:20 pm ESPN - If you are unfamiliar with College Football Twitter, they love to make Belk jokes. It started last year, but it is fantastic. If you follow the right people, you will see all sorts of different Belk jokes throughout the day. It shocked me it started at 8:30 am this morning. Cincinnati gets Belk'd for the second straight year. Bearcats had a weird year. They started off the year 3-2 and finished winning nine games led by backup quarterback Brendon Kay whose thrown for at least 250 yards in every game since October 5th. North Carolina had a weird year themselves starting the year off 1-5 and losing their senior quarterback. Marquise Williams has stepped in nicely and is a solid duel threat option for them. Both teams can score a ton so it comes down which team can make the more stops. I am betting on Cincinnati to continue being the Belk kings even if Carolina has a homefield advantage. CINN 31-28  

Russell Athletic Bowl 

Miami vs. Louisville 5:45 pm ESPN - On paper, this is looks like a good game. We will be excited to watch Stephen Morris faced off against Teddy Bridgewater as both quarterbacks will get drafted in May. But here's the big problem... Miami cannot play a lick a defense. It has not improved from last year, and Bridgewater and company should have their way with this Miami defense. Morris struggles against good defenses as well meaning we could see some turnovers from the senior quarterback making this look like a nightmare scenario for the Hurricanes. Also worth noting, it seems like Louisville is treating this one like it is their first ACC game as they will move there next year and that's important. I think the Cards send a big message tonight. UL 38-14

Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl 
Michigan vs. Kansas State 9:15 pm ESPN - I had no real interest in this game until true freshman Shane Morris was announced the starter for Michigan. Not surprising, Morris is a highly rated recruit and he will take the reigns for Devin Gardner. Morris could come out and surprises us being better than expected and pave the way for Michigan's future. But what we forget is Michigan still has to play defense and that's a problem. Wolverines are struggling once again on that side of the ball, and it is much of the reason why Michigan has lost five of their last seven games. Kansas State is the opposite. They started the year off 2-4 and since have won five of their last six. They led by their rushing attack of John Hubert and occasionally Daniel Sams who is a quarterback. Hubert is a beast, and I expect him to have a big day against a weak Michigan defense. I could see Morris handling himself alright, but he will make some mistakes costing the Wolverines in this one. KSU 30-21

Bowl Record: 7-4

Charlie.  

Aaron Rodgers Rises

Definitely I hoped someone would create this YouTube video honestly. A couple days ago in the gym I thought about it, and said 'Well this is the perfect opportunity.' Someone did make the video and it is fantastic. If you do not get chills at the end of the video, you are probably dead or have something wrong with you. I want it to be Sunday at 3:25 pm right now. I realize I will be way more nervous than I am at this very moment, but regardless, I need Sunday to get here quicker than it is right now. We will forget about how I am a little concerned about the assumption Rodgers will just waltz in and lead them to victory.

Charlie.

SnoTap NFL Picks Week 17: To the End of the Road

My picks page comes to an end and it has been a hard one. I have to figure out a way to get these out

quicker and also do them ahead of time. One of my NYE resolutions is to get SnoTap up quicker and a more furious pace. Hope you enjoyed these this season, always fun writing them even though it takes forever.  

Carolina (11-4) (-7) at Atlanta (4-11) 12:00 pm FOX - What a difference a year makes for both teams. I doubt the Panthers will choke in this one against a Falcons team who put up more fight than I expected on Monday night. Cam Newton has another good performance, and Carolina's defense holds strong against Matt Ryan. CAR 30-13

Baltimore (8-7) at Cincinnati (10-5) (-6.5) 12:00 pm CBS - For whatever reason, Cincinnati likes to puke on their shoes around this time. We are heading toward the time-honored tradition of seeing the Bengals play at 3:30 on Wild Card Saturday. Baltimore made the playoffs in the last five years, and need to win on the road for only the third time of the year with a banged up Joe Flacco. I cannot see that happening. Baltimore looked horrible last week, and I think Flacco might be more hurt than the Ravens are leading on and Cincinnati gets a clutch win... Finally. CIN 28-24

Houston (2-13) at Tennessee (6-9) (-7) 12:00 pm CBS - There are a couple 'Last Resort' games this week and this is one of them. I think it would take me about 250 dollars to watch this game. People expected Mike Munchak to get the pink slip. Houston's coach is already gone and the Texans will likely tank this one to preserve that number one spot. TENN 28-9

Jacksonville (4-11) at Indianapolis (10-5) (-11) 12:00 pm CBS - Colts can still become a three seed if they win and Cincinnati loses on Sunday meaning they would avoid Kansas City, a team I do not think they want to see even though they beat them two weeks ago (I will explain this if the two meet next Friday). Jacksonville had a 'Good job, good effort' season, and while I think the future is bright, they will struggle against a better looking Indianapolis team. IND 27-14

New York Jets (7-8) at Miami (8-7) (-6) 12:00 pm CBS - In the last 11 years, Miami only has one playoff appearance. For a storied franchise, this is a fairly significant game as they have struggled throughout this decade. I do not think it is a big day for Ryan Tannehill because he has years to write his story, but I do think some media types might give him some shit if Miami were lose against New York. I do not see it happening. Jets might want to fight for Rex, but Geno Smith is not a good road quarterback whatsoever. He only has five touchdowns on the road and has been sacked 27 times with 13 interceptions. Miami will win their way to a playoff spot. MIA 23-14.

Detroit (7-8) at Minnesota (4-10-1) (-3) 12:00 pm FOX - Both coaches might be out of a job and I will probably watch a little bit of this game to just get to see Jim Schwartz's sourpuss face one more time this season. I find it hard to believe Detroit will lose out to end the year. I realize Minnesota is playing better, but I have to think the Lions will try to fight for Schwartz even if he is cleaning out his office come Monday. Nonetheless I expect a ton of high scoring in this one. DET 34-30

Washington (3-12) at New York Giants (6-9) (-3.5) 12:00 pm FOX - This is a 'Last Resort' game for me. I want none of this one. The only reason to watch is to see if Eli Manning can get to 30 interceptions which would take four picks from Washington's defense. I wonder whether Washington wants to win so St. Louis does not get the second pick overall, but I have no idea if they really give a shit. Giants win this football game because Washington is so goddamn bad. NYG 35-17

Cleveland (4-11) at Pittsburgh (7-8) (-7) 12:00 pm CBS - I am happy for my friend and sometimes SnoTap writer Nolan winning 40 bucks as he bet the Browns would lose out the season a couple weeks ago. Ben Roethlisberger has personal ownership over Cleveland plus they need this win badly. Bet the house on Pittsburgh. PITT 30-6

Green Bay (7-7-1) (-2.5) at Chicago (8-7) 3:25 pm FOX - See my preview for this game and my nervous level is already at a three. It's only Friday.  

Denver (12-3) (-12) at Oakland (4-11) 3:25 pm CBS - Sleep your hangover off if this is your game from CBS. This will be a boat race. DEN 38-20

Buffalo (6-9) at New England (11-4) (-9) 3:25 pm CBS - Even with all their injuries, I think New England is the favorite in the AFC to begin the playoffs. I will probably not be convinced otherwise unless they find a way to lose to Buffalo. I do not think it happens though. They should be able to handle Buffalo. NE 28-21

Tampa Bay (4-11) at New Orleans (10-5) (-13) 3:25 pm FOX - I find it hard to believe New Orleans has a chance to either miss the playoffs or get a bye is incredible. They do not lose at home except against Tampa Bay. The Bucs have a couple wins in the Superdome in the last week of the season which is weird but also meaningless for Sunday's game. Drew Brees does not seem like a quarterback whom would let his team lose, but for some reason, I think it will be closer than expected. NO 24-21

San Francisco (11-4) (-1) at Arizona (10-5) 3:25 pm FOX - As I said on Tuesday, I feel terrible for Arizona that they might miss the playoffs with an 11-5 record while Green Bay or Chicago sneaks in with either nine or eight wins. I do honestly think these are two of the best teams right now especially Arizona's defense. I will be interested to see how the emerging Colin Kaepernick handles them on Sunday. Am I making too much of Matt Ryan throwing 350 yards against San Francisco's pass defense?  Do I think Carson Palmer could do the same thing?  Yes I do. But like what happened on Monday, San Francisco's defense makes a big play when needed. SF 28-24

Kansas City (11-4) at San Diego (8-7) (-9.5) 3:25 pm CBS - Kansas City has nothing to play for whatsoever while San Diego has everything to play for. Easy betting here. SD 31-14

St. Louis (7-8) at Seattle (12-3) (-11) - Alright I will get this out of the way, I think Seattle wins this football game rather easily, but I want to point out last three games for Russell Wilson which have not been good at all. In those three games, his passing yards are as followed 199, 208 and 108. The quarterback rating in those games... 81.9, 86.3 and 40.7. Further going from about completing 10 yards per pass to four against Arizona is not great either. Once again, Seattle wins going away but I'm a bit worried about Russell Wilson. SEA 30-10

Philadelphia (9-6) (-7) at Dallas (8-7) 7:30 pm NBC - Would it be the most Tony Romo thing for Dallas to win this football game and be in the playoffs preserving Jason Garrett's job with Kyle Orton at quarterback?  The answer is yes, and the ridiculousness that would come with it, I could not handle it. But Philadelphia is a great team and one of the hottest in football. Their defense does enough to keep this from being a shootout and their offense has a major day against a weak Dallas defense. PHI 41-28

Straight Up: 144-79-1

ATS: 100-115-4

Charlie.

SnoTap Packer Preview: Packers vs. Bears

I have to be honest with everyone, I did not want to have a chance at winning the division at the beginning of the week. People will call that stupid. People will call that dumb. But honestly, I was emotionally spent. I could not take it anymore. Someone asked me for my thoughts on the game and I could not tell them because the whole thought exhausted me at the beginning of the week.  When a team puts you through the meat grinder for two months, you get broken down. Does this make me a bad fan?  To some, probably but I had enough of watching Matt Flynn bungle opportunities and MD Jennings miss tackles, I just wanted closure. But things can change in an instant and it did with the return of Aaron Rodgers. 

My mood changed on an instant. I started thinking about ways Rodgers can help Green Bay move past the Bears and get into the playoffs where they might have a chance even if with all that has went wrong with the season. The classic and maybe the only classic scene of Al Pacino in The Godfather Part III sums it best for me.  The season had pulled me back in with Rodgers, and I became elated as he would be going up against a struggling Chicago Bears defense. Green Bay still needs to commit to a balanced attack on Sunday with easing Rodgers back into place and a heavy dose of Bash/Slash as my good friend Seth likes to call our running back tandem. 

Mike McCarthy needs to look at some of his previous game plans to start out with Rodgers on Sunday. The short passes he used with Flynn should be utilized greatly in the first quarter of the game. There is no real reason for Rodgers to be in seven-step drops to start the football game off.  In the second through fourth quarter, this all goes out the window. Maybe even wait until halftime, but McCarthy needs to stick to a Santorum-style playbook for the first quarter. Although what the hell do I know, Mac might show off his elephant nuts and call a four vertical route first play of the game with Rodgers hits Jordy Nelson in stride with McCarthy doing the DX chop down the field. While I feel like this is a complete joke, I could totally see it happen minus the DX chop. 

No matter what the play calling is like in the first quarter, there needs to be a consistent commitment to run the football. Chicago cannot stop the run. Eddie Lacy decimated this defense the first time around. James Starks got into a mix slightly as well. These two guys needs to be prominently featured throughout the game. Not only will this keep the defense rested, but it makes for the playaction beauties we have seen from Rodgers in the past. I do hope Starks sees some time on Sunday with Lacy's ankle being a little iffy, I do not want to see a workhouse load from Lacy. This offense figures to have a big game on Sunday in all facets of the game.   

Even with Rodgers returning, this is not a cakewalk for Green Bay. Chicago is still a potent team despite their defensive struggles this season. People can point to the Philadelphia game or giving up 24 points to Cleveland.  There is also a ground swell about Jay Cutler's record against Green Bay which is 1-8 if you have not heard enough talking heads discuss it.  The fact of the matter is for Chicago to win this football and steal all the Rodgers excitement, they need two things to happen - Matt Fore to be a factor and Cutler to limit his mistakes as much as possible.  

The one thing it seems like no one is talking about from last week's Philadelphia game is how poorly Forte played in both running the football and pass-blocking. Now, we can all have bad games, but could he be a little burned out from the season?  Forte has 267 carries already for the season which is the most since his rookie year in 2008 when he carried the ball 316 times. He did not look sharp against an average Philadelphia team, and he will need to be the x-factor on Sunday for Chicago to win this football game. One place where Forte can really take advantage is the flats. Green Bay's lack of tackling makes Forte lethal out there, and he could have a big game just being the safety valve for this Bears team. 

The other way Chicago wins this football game is for Cutler to play within himself against Green Bay. In his last two years, Cutler has four touchdowns to seven interceptions versus Packers' defenses with a marginal quarterback rating.  He tends to make inexplicable errors at the wrong time when playing Green Bay. It seems like once one thing goes wrong for Cutler, everything else just crumbles like a house of cards. That cannot happen on Sunday. With Rodgers in there, the assumption would be Green Bay's recent rash of turnovers will disappear meaning Chicago will have limited opportunities to score thus Cutler cannot be Mr. Hyde if they want to win this football game.

While I do think people are treating this like Green Bay is winning it no matter what and that makes me nervous, I still think the Packers come out victorious in this one. Rodgers will not have an iconic performance out there, but I do think he plays a large part in Green Bay winning. It will come more from a spirited game from the two running backs as well as the secondary playing well enough to help Green Bay out in a cold weather shootout. Green Bay 35 Chicago 31  

Charlie.  

SnoTap Bowl Predictions: Troops, Texas & Baseball Stadiums

Military Bowl 

Marshall vs. Maryland 1:30 pm ESPN - It is always cool to see teams who have not played in a bowl game for a couple years get the opportunity to play in one again. This is Maryland's first bowl since 2010 and Marshall's first one since 2011.  Both teams had respectable years with Marshall nearly winning Conference USA. Maryland had a bounce back year with Randy Edsall, and beat the teams they were supposed for the greater part minus a bad Wake Forest defeat. My only real concern is Maryland's injuries might limit their potential missing C.J. Brown at quarterback and Stefon Diggs at wide receiver. Terrapins will need to find some offense in this one. All of Marshall's four losses came against bowl teams, and the only game they were blown out was the final one against Rice. Quarterback Rakeem Cato is a beast for the Herd, and he can definitely have a big game against an average Maryland defense. I am very tempted to pick Marshall here but I am going to go with Maryland. Tough, gritty win. MARY 23-21   

Texas Bowl 

Syracuse vs. Minnesota 5:00 pm ESPN - This is Minnesota's second straight trip to the Texas Bowl, but this year, the Golden Gophers are much improved. Sometimes bowl games will display a team on the rise, and they will completely blow out the team they are playing catching the eye of all national media. After years of futility, Syracuse is playing in their third bowl game in four years, and a change of pace this year playing in Houston. The Orange definitely rely on their defense to make plays for the most part. If you look at their wins and it is usually pretty ugly. Same goes for Minnesota meaning we might not see a ton of points in this one. I think it comes down to who can pass the ball better. Both teams are in the 100's when it comes to throwing the football, but if one team can do it better, I think they win the game. Minnesota avoids another Texas Bowl collapse, and wins this one going away. MINN 20-10  

Fight Hunger Bowl 

BYU vs. Washington 8:30 pm ESPN - To me, this has potential to be game of the day. Basically what I
want to watch in this game is Kyle Von Noy versus Bishop Sankey. That's a matchup of a generation there. I expect worlds colliding. Alright, I am making a bigger deal out of it than it already is but still it should be fun to watch these two go at it. BYU needs to find a way to control the clock, and do something on offense. They are a solid defensive team, but their offense is very inconsistent. If the offense comes to play, they can keep Sankey and Washington off the field. As for the Huskies, they are without a coach which always makes me leery. Currently, teams without their head coaches are 1-3 thus far. I feel like Keith Price is due for a big game as he did not really impress his senior year. Washington is a good football team. They lost to Oregon, Arizona State, Stanford and UCLA. No real bad losses there. Huskies take control and win this one going away. WASH 33-21  

Bowl Record: 6-2

Charlie.  

SnoTap Netflix Reviews: The Breakfast Club

This is another movie where I have definitely seen at some point in my life, but I did not really remember much of it just sort of the basic plot line. It launched the teenage movie genre that began in the 80's and hung around until the early 2000's. It seemed like it has been forever since we had a movie like The Breakfast Club featuring the ins and outs of high school (Please this is not a plea to remake this movie, just so we are clear).  This movie is 100 percent 80's, but it is something that even today, everyone can understand the concepts. I have not been in high school since 2006-2007, but I feel like the clique nature displayed in The Breakfast Club still exists today.

Cast: Molly Ringwald, Emilo Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy 

Genre: Teenage Comedy  

Charlie's Ratings: 4 out 5 - I am a sucker for teenage comedies. I think Can't Hardly Wait is a top ten movie for me honestly therefore this rating might be slightly high. Here's the thing, this movie ushered in a generation of movies and started 'The Brat Pack', a group of actors and actresses that ruled 80's pop culture. People still look to the 80's and point out this movie along with others. Trying to decide which character that's your favorite is like a mom choosing her favorite sibling. 

All four of them play cliche high school roles yet at the same time, they have at least one or two big scenes where range is shown with a dramatic scene about their life. I do think the best part of the movie is when Hall's character asks 'We will be all friends come Monday?' This is something that is not only a high school thing either. You can go out with people you do not know, possibly friends of friends, on a Saturday and just forget about them in the following days and weeks. That line to me stuck more than any of the other ones, and maybe I am alone here but I liked the movie's more serious moments versus the funny ones.

There are obvious plot holes in this movie. Some things get left unsolved throughout the movie as well as how can they pull all this shit in the second half of the movie without their principal Richard Vernon coming in and bust them? I mean he could not be that oblivious or was that what director John Hughes wanted you to believe by the end of the movie?  I could go both ways with that one.  But I just do not see Vernon staying in the janitor's office drinking beers with Carl for the whole second half of the movie. Also this is one of the best songs to open and close a movie.  

IMDB: 7.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%

Charlie.  

The Tap Ten: 2013 College Basketball Stories

This is the beginning of our 2013 end of the year lists for sports.  I know we will do one for MLB, CFB, CBB, NBA, PGA and NFL. I probably will do a top 20 list of overall moments and if we get real frisky, maybe top 20 figures in sports giving away our first annual Tapper of the Year or something dumb like that. Also as always, these are my lists and I can imagine you have a different one, cool story. 

10.) Wisconsin becomes a top five team -  I still cannot believe this is a real thing. Wisconsin is playing well as they head into the Big Ten season. People are excited, but we have not hit extreme levels where the causal Badgers fans come out to play. If I ever bring back my true Badger basketball dislike, this has to happen because I will get annoyed checking Facebook. There is not a better year for Wisconsin to get to the Final Four, a place they have not been since 2000.

9.) P.J. Hairston's dismissal from North Carolina - This year for Tar Heels will be a bevy of 'what if's' as they lost their top scorer and rebounder as he took gifts that the NCAA deemed impermissible. North Carolina has not missed a beat against ranked teams, and they are a nightmare when playing unranked teams. There are definitely situations when watching North Carolina where you can definitely say this team needs Hairston in the worst way.

8.)  Rules change in college basketball - I could not have been more against this at the end of the 2012-2013. I had enough with Jay Bilas playing the preacher of college basketball. Seriously, I wondered whether Bilas should get a Pope hat given how many times he complained about this shit.  But Bilas turned out to be right for the most part. There is much more scoring in college basketball, and only a couple games are going in two hours and 30 minute range. Everyone is quiet about it now but just wait until a critical conference game is decided by something like this and people will freak out again.

7.) Best One-And-Done Class ever? - Right now, 2007-2008's class of one-and-done has the title of the best class since the rule change (Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook), but this group is figuring to make a run at this with Jabari Parker, the emerging Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins, Aaron Gordon and others. The best part about this class is all of these games become must-see television. If Kansas is on, I am watching. Same goes for Duke and probably Arizona but not really for Gordon yet although the Cats are fantastic.

6.) Kevin Ware's gruesome injury - Never before have I seen a moment in a game where no one on Twitter or Facebook wants to show the injury. Whenever someone blows out a knee or ankle, there are like 10 or 15 tweets about it happening along with some pictures, maybe video. Ware's injury did not have the same sort of thing as everybody talked about how brutal it looked on first glance. The Louisville guard recovered from the injury and he is playing this season which is what everyone wanted when the injury first happened in March.

5.) DUNK CITY 4 EVER - I had these guys as low as eight, but that seems inaccurate. This was a prop-up, fake life college that everyone got behind after they beat Georgetown and San Diego State. They were the story of the first weekend of March Madness, and everyone loved the way they played basketball. It got Andy Einfeld a new job at USC, and they will probably always be remembered in montages. Who can forget somebody created a half-decent parody about 'Dunk City' by using Tyga's 'Rack City' beat. Never forget these boys.



4.) Louisville wins their first National Championship in the Pitino Era - With Louisville being one of Marquette's biggest rival, it is never good to see them take home the title, but they played well throughout the year including their run during March Madness. Honestly, the biggest takeaway from their National Championship for me is I never have to watch Peyton Siva again in a Louisville uniform and that's a joy. Siva always bothered me with the way he played and I cannot explain why. While I miss Marquette-Louisville will not play each other, the way it is going this year I am #blessed for it.

3.) Mike Rice's bullying brought to light - I watched a couple Rutgers games throughout the year with them playing Marquette at least once in conference play, and I noticed Rice would be angry yet I never thought the levels it reached with Rice before his ousting. The audio that came out about Rice was beyond just being a hardass coach rather Rice could not have been more of a dick. People were scared of Rice, and he had the power when he did not deserve it. The fact he wants to coach in college basketball again is a straight up joke.

2.) Clutch Vander Blue leads Marquette to the Elite Eight - I really wish I could be talking about how Vander Blue is carrying this year's version of Marquette team and might be looking at being a top 20 pick. But instead, Blue tried to ride the wave of big tournament performances to enter the NBA Draft which did not work out for him and now Vander is in Israel.  Blue made a game-winning layup against St. John's to finish the season and win the Big East championship. Marquette has an incredible comeback against Davidson and then Blue comes up big again in the following game playing Butler with 19 second-half points. It was a joy to watch all the game-winners and why not watch them all again?!?!





1.) The final old Big East season - Yes there is still a Big East, but it will never be the Big East we have seen in the last seven years and beyond. As a Marquette fan, I liked that I actually cared about Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry as well as others in the conference. I find it fitting that Louisville, a Big East team, took home the National Championship in the final year of the Big East. I still think there will be nothing like Big East basketball ever again, but I am excited to see how the new age Big East will continue some of the traditions without some of the teams.

Charlie.

Tap's Trailers: Life Of A King

If you have been reading my SnoTap Netflix reviews, I mention Cuba Gooding Jr. being only good in supporting roles in a review for a movie he did with Robin Williams. This is not really shade to Cuba rather it fits him better. Hell, the man won an award for being a supporting actor. Although I forgot he definitely is good when being an emotional leader and a character who inspires people to be better. Gooding Jr stars as an ex-felon whom picks up a job out of prison as a janitor at an inner-city high school.  To keep kids out of trouble, he creates a chess club. It looks pretty good on the surface with what seems to be an emotional movie. It is due out in limited release on January 17th.

Charlie.

First Taste: Pew Pew Pew - Run The Jewels

New Run The Jewels today?!! YAAAAIS.  Nothing disappointed me more at Christmas Eve was talking with my cousin's boyfriend about music, and he told me how good Run The Jewels concert was in Madison. I am hoping with their new album coming out next year that they finally visit us here in Milwaukee and if they do not, I will probably go to the concert myself.  Fair to say, this is the best rap duo out there right now?  All of the great rap duos of the past are either retired or they no longer exist. If for whatever this is your first time listening to Run The Jewels, you can download their album for free and it is one of the best of 2013.

Charlie.

Closing Time: What's your plan, Coach Kelly?

This might be one of my favorite coaches quotes in awhile. Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper goes up to his head coach, Chip Kelly, and asked him what's the plan.  Kelly responds with f------ score points. It is absolutely perfect. I love it. I am a major planner when I am with friends and I hope when I ask them 'What's the plan', they use Kelly's response to me. I would not even be mad about it. Kelly is probably in my top five NFL coaches I would like to have a couple beers with. He seems like an interesting and funny dude. I also never thought I would be pulling for a Philadelphia Eagles team but I really like this squad from Kelly to Foles to DeSean Jackson. (h/t @smartfootball) 

Charlie.

Managing Aaron Rodgers Return Expectations

With the return of Aaron Rodgers on Sunday, I am reposting something I wrote on December 3rd. My naive self thought he would play against Atlanta. That did not happen, but a lot of the thoughts here hold the same. 

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy might announce later today that Aaron Rodgers will be playing on Sunday against Atlanta. He could announce Rodgers is missing yet another start, and what they might be doing at quarterback this week. With Green Bay in complete flux on defense, people are viewing Rodgers as a savior who will completely bring this team back to relevancy and maybe a division title. The Packers quarterback needs to be judge with a fair microscope if he returns from injury this week or the following against Dallas.

If Rodgers returns to Lambeau Field, it might be the loudest we have ever heard the stadium. This last month has been torture for Packers fans while Cleveland Browns' faithful call it normal. Every fan right now is yearning for some positive news about their team. This is the first rock bottom moment this organization has had since 2008. At least in 2010 when Green Bay lost two games in December and looked out of the playoff hunt, Packers were at least playing well. That has not happened here. Rodgers seems to be the solution and the solver of all the problems that face this team. We all know this is not true as he is only one man taking control of one position on the field yet people will expect it to be like nothing changed for Rodgers. 

That line of thinking is flawed to the highest degree. For the time being, Rodgers will play a different style of quarterback. He might not go out to run the football nor will he hold on to the ball as long as he might if Rodgers still thinks a big play is possible. In my opinion, Rodgers should apply Peyton Manning's method of of taking sacks where Manning just lays down before getting hit by the opposing lineman or linebacker. Further, Eddie Lacy could be used like he was when Rodgers sat on the sidelines with a hooded sweatshirt and a mustache. This might frustrate fans, and lead them to ask ridiculous questions although it is not fair to expect Rodgers to be at MVP levels when he returns from injury.

Jason Wilde of ESPN Wisconsin deals with a ton of BS on Twitter. We see it more because Wilde shows the idiocy of Packers' fans at times. One of them yesterday caught my eyes when a reader emailed him saying Brett Favre would have played through a collarbone injury. Simply put, there is no possible way Favre could have handled a collarbone injury. Maybe he plays through a game, but that would be about it. Green Bay fans are spoiled when it comes to quarterback injuries because they can say 'Well Favre played through it.'  This is accurate, but I am willing to bet Favre cost his team a couple victories with him playing at only 60 or 70 percent. If Rodgers cannot play this week, he should not be seen as inferior rather a pretty normal player with a collarbone injury.

Every Packer fan will be sitting on hands and knees awaiting what McCarthy will say about Rodgers' injury. It could be the news people have been waiting for since Rodgers went down that fateful Monday night against Chicago, or Green Bay's depressing second half rolls on.

Charlie.  

To The NBA Schedule... Straight Flexin' Needed

Everyone who looks forward to Christmas Day basketball found a lump of coal in their stocking. The games were not very good despite on paper in October looking like five fantastic matchups. Brooklyn-Chicago was derailed by no Derrick Rose and a piss poor Brooklyn team. Oklahoma City-New York did not live up to its billing due to no Carmelo Anthony on an already pathetic New York Knicks team. Los Angeles Lakers are without Kobe Bryant, but thankfully, they had Swaggy P and LeBron James' dunks to keep people entertained in the third game. But people were still mad about the games.



ESPN's own staff, Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose, talked about how flexing games in lieu to the pathetic teams playing on Christmas. Reggie Miller had a tweet saying Portland, Phoenix and Indiana are teams that should have been playing on Christmas Day. I hate to break it to the pundits, but not playing on Christmas Day is a relief for some players as they get to spend a couple days away from basketball and with their family. They cannot just say in early December... PORTLAND!  INDIANA!  ABC CHRISTMAS DAY!!!!!!!  That just cannot happened, but we can change the NBA schedule for the month of January.

This needs to happen with where we are with the Eastern Conference as well as how bad Brooklyn and
New York are right now. As you will see with the schedule, there are two primetime games with Cleveland and Utah plus a bunch of horrific Nets and Knicks games. NBA commissioner David Stern can close out his career by creating a new-age flex system.  Couple things to think about here...

-If the game is at a different time, ESPN, TNT or ABC can probably move it with notice or play the game at that time. This is a real simple fix honestly.

- The NBA can make the call on flexing games on Sunday of the week before meaning they could chose a hot team or keep a game if there is a streak involved. Further if a team on their flex radar starts fading off, they can make a keep or chose another game.

- Unless the game is going to ABC, local broadcasts can still have the game as well. They can blackout ESPN or TNT in the local markets therefore ratings are not taken away.

- If a team is seven or more games under .500, they should not be featured... Period. New York and Brooklyn do not drive the meter for any NBA fan right now. Anthony is a great player, fine, but I will not rush to my television to see them. If I get more Portland or Indiana in primetime, I will be watching without question.

To indicate how bad it has been this season, here are days and games where they need a flex.

Friday January 10th 
Miami at Brooklyn 7:00 pm.
Potential Flex Games - Indiana at Washington, Dallas at New Orleans, Phoenix at Memphis

Wednesday January 14th
Utah at San Antonio 7:00 pm
Potential Flex Games - Toronto at Boston, Miami at Washington

Friday January 17th
LA Clippers at New York 6:00 pm
Potential Flex Games - Portland at San Antonio (No real reason why this happens honestly)

Monday January 19th
Brooklyn at New York 1:30 pm...
Potential Flex Games - LA Clippers at Detroit, Miami at Atlanta

LA Lakers at Chicago 7:00 pm...
Potential Flex Games - Portland at Houston

Wednesday January 21st
Chicago at Cleveland 6:00 pm
Potential Flex Games - Indiana at Phoenix -

Friday January 24th
LA Clippers at Chicago 7:00 pm.
Potential Flex Games - San Antonio at Atlanta, Oklahoma City at Boston

Sunday January 26th
LA Lakers at New York 2:30 pm....
Potential Flex Games - Portland at Golden State (C'mon ABC, pleeeeeeeassee)

Brooklyn at Boston 5:30 pm...
Potential Flex Games - Detroit at Dallas

Thursday January 30th
Cleveland at New York 7:00 pm.
Potential Flex Games - Phoenix at Indiana

Friday January 31st
Oklahoma City at Brooklyn 7:00 pm.
Potential Flex Games - Toronto at Denver

Golden State at Utah 9:30 pm
Potential Flex Games - Charlotte at LA Lakers (This is where it has gotten with the NBA. I would rather watch Bobcats instead of Utah).

NBA is a cruel world, and they still want New York on television. But this needs to end. I understand the league wants to diverse group of teams instead of a small few. But still this could open it up for more teams to get more primetime attention.

Charlie.

SnoTap Bowl Projections: Cheap Pizza and Christmas Flowers

Little Caesars Bowl
Pittsburgh vs. Bowling Green 5:00 pm ESPN - Besides their loss to top-ranked Florida State, Pittsburgh did not really get blown out this season. Panthers have some pieces that make them a good team. Tom Savage has been serviceable at quarterback coming over from Rutgers this season with a pair of good wide receivers with freshman Tyler Boyd and Devin Street. They also have the best defensive lineman if not the best defensive player in the county with Aaron Donald. He is a complete space eater inside, and Donald would be the player to watch if you are thinking from an NFL Draft perspective. Bowling Green lost their coach, but this is a good football team despite losing their head coach. Bowling Green could definitely stop their passing attack as they are a top five pass defense. I would keep an eye for running back Travis Greene of the Falcons. The last time Greene did not have at least 95 yards was September 14th. I think this is a close game, but I like Pittsburgh here. Giving Paul Chryst three to prepare is something that would scare me. PITT 21-17

San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Utah State vs. Northern Illinois 8:30 pm ESPN - This might be the best matchup until Saturday so I would watch this game if you enjoy good football. On one side, we feature a top five rushing attack from Northern Illinois led by Jordan Lynch. I will be interested to see if Northern Illinois tries to show off his arm more because Lynch says he wants to be an NFL quarterback and right now, only people who believe that will happen is his immediate family.  Remember Florida did this when Tim Tebow took on Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl, and everyone believed him to be a quarterback. Utah State has not missed a beat since Gary Andersen left the program for Wisconsin. They also lost Chuckie Keeton for the season, but Darell Garretson has done an adequate job filling in at quarterback since October. Their offense does not really have one game-breaker, but they are good enough to beat Northern Illinois. This will be a very close game, and I think I will take a good defense over a good offense. USU 28-24

Bowl Record: 5-2

Charlie.

The Tap Ten: 2013 NFL Stories

This is the beginning of our 2013 end of the year lists for sports.  I know we will do one for MLB, CFB, CBB, NBA, PGA and NFL. I probably will do a top 20 list of overall moments and if we get real frisky, maybe top 20 figures in sports giving away our first annual Tapper of the Year or something dumb like that. Also as always, these are my lists and I can imagine you have a different one, cool story. 

10. Josh Freeman drama - Remember this happened earlier this football season? People were thinking Greg Schiano was going to get fired because of it, and everyone went to Freeman's aid thinking he had every right to be mad. Both sides overdid it to the extreme with leaks coming from all corners of the Tampa Bay organization. Once Tampa Bay released Freeman, they became a better football team, and people seemed to rally around Schiano again. Buccaneers are currently 4-3 since their 0-8 start with Freeman being around for much of it. Was he the problem?  We will likely never know the answer.

9. Atlanta and Houston goes from first to worst - Both the Falcons and Texans are model franchises for why NFL is filled with parity. Kansas City too for that matter. But I think Atlanta and Houston's struggles are much more drastic. Both teams made the playoffs in consecutive years, Falcons in the last four out of the five. Honestly, I could see Houston bouncing back with a couple additions on their defense, and a new quarterback (Hello Jay Cutler or Teddy Bridgewater) plus their division is not good besides Indianapolis for the short-term. Atlanta is in big trouble with a horrible defense, a retiring tight end and a ton of money tied up at one position plus NFC South is loaded including Tampa Bay who have many more pieces than Atlanta.

8. Colin Kaepernick hits the big stage - I do not know why Green Bay decides to pull this shit, but they do with young quarterbacks in the playoffs. Kaepernick had a great game against the Packers to lead San Francisco into the NFC Championship game and then the Super Bowl. Even though I am a Packer fan, I could not have been more impressed with how easy it looked for Kaepernick for the entire game. It looked like his moment to the big stage and truly, it probably ensure him endorsement deals that very night. People starting to make assumptions Kaep would be one of the best in the league, and he struggled mightily to begin the year as he was without Michael Crabtree and others throughout it. He seems much better in the last month, but we will see whether Green Bay-San Francisco is the start of it all, or just an aberration.

7. Johnathan Martin/Richie Incognito saga - Honestly, this would have been higher on my list if it imploded Miami's season, but they have a chance to make the playoffs in the final week of the season thus making it just a story between these two men versus their entire team. I have no idea if this story will ever be more than a player felt like he was picked on while the supposed bully felt like it was two friends just giving each other shit with Richie being the guy whom takes it too far more often than not. I am curious to see what Miami does with Martin as he is still under team control, and I can almost guarantee someone gives Incognito a job again.

6. Robert Griffin hurts knee again; hits the sophomore slump - I think we will always remember Robert Griffin III's knee injury because he led Washington back from 3-6 record on an incredible run only to rip up his knee. A lot like Kaepernick in the following week, everyone believed Griffin III would be a part of the next generation. Instead, Mike Shanahan and Washington rushed him back from injury leading to an awful Redskins season as well as criticism for Griffin III grew rapidly. I have no idea how Mike Shanahan kept his job for the entire season, but here we are. RGIII's microscope will continue to be big until he starts winning again. Media is a cruel world, and it will be curious if anything changes. They need to get deeper as a team and a defense.

5. Peyton Manning... Another divisional round home loss, breaks records - Whirlwind year for Peyton Manning. He came back in 2012 leading Denver to the number one seed in the AFC and then a home playoff overtime loss against Baltimore in what was the game of the year. Manning made his presence in his second year with Denver breaking the touchdown record and is 266 yards away from breaking the passing record. We did make mention earlier in the week on how Manning's numbers are a little easier to obtain given today's rules yet he still needs to get there with consistently big performances almost every time Manning went out there this season. He will be the Most Valuable Player for 2013. Denver is not a great team, but there are not many good teams this season either. It might be the year for Manning to get his second ring.

4.  Baltimore Ravens win the Super Bowl amid a blackout - I think I remember this football game more for the blackout, and how Baltimore thought the whole thing was a conspiracy to make the game closer when really Baltimore should have blown out San Francisco rather than nearly Exorcism puking all over their shoes in the third quarter. The game was over at halftime, but San Francisco came back to nearly tie in the fourth quarter at 31 but they missed a two-point conversion. My assumption is people will always remember it for the blackout rather than it being a pretty solid football game. This was also one of the most chippy Super Bowls I can remember in quite some time which is appreciated and need more of it.

3. Aaron Hernandez arrested for murder - With more information coming out about this case, it is still crazy one of the biggest players on one of the most public teams was arrested for murder. When the news first broke my assumption was one of Hernandez's good friends made the murder and somehow he became an accessory to it yet that did not end up being the case as Hernandez would be charged with murder. We would soon find out more and more information about Aaron Hernandez's life as well as watch people connected to the case die off with three people dying since Hernandez's arrest. This will be a great movie when we find out all the details about what happens with him. I do not think we will have all the answers until early 2015.

2. Player's safety concerns reaches an all-time high - This year featured a year where the NFL settled a concussion lawsuit and more times than not, people are cringing with big hits instead of reacting like it is the best thing since Napster. Every time a player goes down with what looks like a head injury more times than not, it is indeed a concussion. Wes Welker had two in three weeks. Jermichael Finley might never play football again.  Additionally, there are many people writing columns, blog posts and talking about how they will not let their son or future son play football. I do not really know where this is going yet. I feel like it can go many ways, and we have not seen all of them just yet. I do think the more we try to protect players from concussions, the better it will get in years to come.

1. Aaron Rodgers breaks his collarbone - Easily, the biggest story in the state of Wisconsin for the last
couple of months.  It is at a 'Derrick Rose' stage where people are waiting and wishing he will come back only to get disappointed. I have no idea where this is headed for the Packers quarterback. I feel like if Green Bay had Dan Marino, Jim Kelly instead of Brett Favre, Rodgers would not be insecure about having to explain this is not his fault he is sitting out with a broken bone injury. It is kind of a shame. Rodgers' collarbone and Braun's PED stuff being number one kind of sums things up for Wisconsin fans in 2013.

Charlie.

SnoTap Netflix Reviews: Face/Off

I have sort of decided this is the part of the SnoTap Netflix Review where I explain myself as to why I wanted to watch this movie. I am not a huge action guy thus this movie is a little puzzling and clouds my judgment honestly when I am talking about the ratings. But I thought maybe a classic 90's movie featuring two of the most notable actors at that time with John Woo, the king of action movies in that era, the movie would be something to talk about when I finished. Apparently, I am one of the few who did not like this movie.

Cast: John Travolta, Nicholas Cage, Joan Allen, Gina Gershon

Genre Action. 

Charlie's Rating: 2 out 5 - I have multiple problems with this movie but let's start with the length of this one. It is 138 minutes long meaning two hours and 18 minutes officially. That's too long for almost all action movies including this one. There are multiple major action scenes in the movie, but the one with 45 minutes left should have been the last one. They could have ended the exact same way, and added the final 10 minutes of the movie. My whole point is the final fight scene is way too long and it is highly uncalled for as we already had all the pieces in place. It would have been much better movie had it been 30 minutes shorter in time.

My other major issue and probably why my rating is so low is the whole premise is whacked out of this world. These men switch faces to basically become the other yet they have the same attitude. On all sorts of levels, this might be one of the dumbest plots of a movie I have watched in the last five years. I put up with a great deal of shit with "24" and "Homeland" where the plot could not be more unrealistic, but this feels like the pinnacle of CIA/terrorist ideas although I would not be surprised if this or a future administration tries it before the year 2025.  

Since we are complaining the supporting cast here really hurts Travolta and Cage. There is nothing to be desired from any of them. Gershon basically recycles every cliche thing you could say in an action movie, and Allen as Travolta's wife does absolutely nothing for me. I have no idea if this movie becomes better with improved supporting roles, but it is clear the movie's budget clearly blew their load on their first two actors and big explosions.

I do see some good things from this movie. Cage and Travolta have to play two characters in this movie, and they are polar opposites. I have to think that's hard to do, and both show off great acting skills by being able to handle both roles. Furthermore, this is their element as actors. Both men are made for action movies, and it clearly shows with this film.  

IMDB: 7.3/10    

Rotten Tomatoes: 91% 

Charlie. 

DOY: Reggie Jackson

We should all be very #blessed that amid the horrible basketball played for 80 percent on Christmas Day we still got a DOY.  This belonged to Reggie Jackson of the Oklahoma City Thunder. I could make some joke about his namesake and New York City, but I will chose to leave it alone.  I knew Jackson had some hops, but I did not he could do them like he did on Amar'e Stoudemire late in the Thunder's blowout win against the Knicks. I have to think the old STAT probably blocks Jackson's shot, but since right now, Amar'e plays and looks like the old man who should hang it up at the gym, it figured he would get dunked on by Jackson. The Boston College product had a nice game off the bench with 18 points.

Charlie.

First Taste: Young Auburn fan gets a War Eagle-sized Christmas Present

We see these videos all the time since the Alabama fan gave his father tickets to the National Championship last year leading to tears and many more feelings than I was ready for on Christmas morning in 2012. People started doing this all the time now on YouTube. This is the best one for the holiday season with a young buddy going completely nuts getting a once in a lifetime opportunity to see his favorite team play in the National Championship. I think I would act like the N64 kid if this were me and college football was my first love. Hope this family enjoys the game either way.  One of the best things after Christmas is how good college football gets with each passing day. (H/T @Barstool U)

NFL Liquor Cabinet Week 16: Everybody is drunk

For the entire NFL season, we will be breaking down the rest of the NFL not named Green Bay by looking at it like a liquor cabinet. Why did we choose this method? I like to booze and it makes things really easy to determine what's great, average and poor. 

I usually do not put a tag, but I really think I have no idea what's going to happen in the playoffs. Like we are heading for a 'Red Wedding' style playoffs where no one is safe. I cannot believe I said multiple times on Sunday, 'Philadelphia might be the best NFC team.'  Let's talk about it I guess and try to make sense of all that happened this week. 

TOP SHELF 
Talk me out of a New England-Philadelphia Super Bowl -  Here's where the NFL season has left me folks. These are the two best teams right now in both divisions. San Francisco is pretty good, but giving up 350 yards to Matt Ryan at home worries me a bit. Philadelphia seems to be cooking on all cylinders, and I feel like the Minnesota game is a blip on the radar. New England keeps winning games no matter who is lining up on both sides of the football. Tom Brady's statistics might not be great, but he's playing great this season for what's he's been given this year.

Cam Newton's big balls performance - While Robert Griffin III suffered all the criticism after he had a successful rookie season, Cam Newton received it during the draft process, his first season, second season and to think there are still losers whom still call him Scam. He led Carolina down the field late in the game trailing and notched a victory for the Panthers. I do not care if he only threw for 181 yards. That took massive testicular fortitude, and I am impressed with his season. Cam Newton is winning an MVP award before 2018.

Indianapolis leaves me uneasy like an STD - That might be a little too extreme, but I do not know what to make of the Colts. I am starting to think Indianapolis plays down to their opponents hence the reason why they have some brutal losses in juncture with impressive wins against Seattle, San Francisco, Denver and others. They will get a home game against this Kansas City team, but I also wonder if Andy Reid played a vanilla offense/defense showing nothing to Indianapolis which is very possible. We have seen this before with teams.

Cowboys come back and Romo gets hurt? - Dallas made a valiant comeback against Washington with Tony Romo leading a comeback to beat Washington and set up an NFC East showdown next Sunday. But they could be without Romo as he has a back injury. First, it was a herniated disk, then it was day-to-day injury and now it is back spasms. I have no idea what to think about this Dallas team although I will admit it would be the most Romo thing ever for Kyle Orton to lead Dallas to a playoff appearance.  

MIDDLE SHELF 
I feel legitimate bad for Arizona - As someone who cheers for an NFC North team, I feel bad Arizona might miss the playoffs with an 11-5 record. That would be insane. I mean the NFC West is an excellent division, but still it feels wrong in all sorts of ways for Arizona or New Orleans missing the playoffs although more so the Cardinals who have been playing great of late.

Peyton breaks the record, but how much meaning does it have? - I am really happy for Peyton Manning's season because it in large part won me 260 dollars so for that I thank him, but at the same time, passing records post the new NFL rules will be looked at like the steroid era numbers in baseball. All of these records being broken and re-broken by others in the last couples years is honestly pathetic, but it is not Peyton's fault for taking advantage.  

Somehow Andy Dalton is sixth in passing - See what I mean about what I just ranted about above?

Jeff Fisher is the king of .500 - I probably should not call him the king, but he is the prince of it. In eight of his 18 seasons of a full-time head coach, Fisher's teams have been either 7-9, 7-8-1 or 8-8. That's incredible. I do not know what that says about his teams or his coaching. Just find it interesting how it always seems to Ihappen with Fisher.

BOTTOM SHELF 
DETROIT..... Football :( - We were at Lambeau, and they showed the highlights of New York-Detroit... Right before they did it, my buddy Seth goes 'I bet Stafford threw a pick-six here.' and sure enough, he did throw that interception and sure enough, Detroit lost the football game.

Miami pulls a Dan Marino - For as long as I could remember, Dan Marino was famously known for choking in December football games on the road. He could not win in the cold to save his soul.  Apparently, this version of the Dolphins do the same thing as they were shutout by the Bills, the same team who gave up 33 points to Jacksonville. Thankfully, Miami has New York Jets at home.

I have no control in Week 17 - I absolutely hate how I have no idea how things will pan out next week. I am exhausted from this season.

Charlie.

SnoTap Bowl Predictions: Aloha

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl 
Boise State vs. Oregon State 7:00 pm ESPN - You would not think Oregon State and Boise State would have many storylines, but wrong, good sir and ma'am, as Boise State quarterback Joe Southwick made things interesting. He was sent home from Hawaii after he allegedly peed off a hotel balcony. Southwick is trying to clear his name like he murdered somebody saying he has lie detector tests clearing Southwick's name. Nobody is in the Twitter streets saying #FREESOUTHWICK. I also do not understand why Southwick is so adamant about this unless he did in fact pee off the balcony. Who cares? It happens, we sometimes piss in places we are not supposed to because well nature makes it happen. Let's just call a spade a spade and say you got faced in Hawaii. Not mad at you, Joe.

We all make mistakes.

Oregon State is not a great football team, but I think they are better than Boise State whose now without their starting quarterback and their head coach. I realize Oregon State has not won a game since October 19th, but the teams they have played are all bowl teams. Beavers get it done.
OSU 45-37

Bowl record: 3-2  

DOY: LeBron James

LeBron James is starting to become the king of another thing... DOY. As I mentioned on Saturday when I featured his dunk on Ben McLemore, James is really not known for dunking on people. I mean we obviously know he can dunk on people, but the fact of the matter is his dunks were more just very powerful and people stayed out of his way. Paul Millsap of the Atlanta Hawks decided he did not value life in late late in the game, and James' dunk brought Miami down one with under 20 seconds left then Heat forced overtime leading to a Miami win in the extra period. James had 38 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Charlie.

SnoTap Packers Classroom: Pittsburgh v. Green Bay

We give grades to the different aspects of the Packers game from Sunday or Monday.  Am I too critical sometimes? Yes.  Am I also too nice sometimes? Yes.  I do not have a teaching degree in case you were wondering. 

A-Game
Eddie Lacy- Despite his injury, a good day to be Eddie Lacy. I feel like he has made his case to be Offensive Rookie of the Year. I realize Keenan Allen had a great year, but Lacy deserves it for essentially being a big part of keeping Green Bay in the division title hunt. Lacy's jump into the end zone was one of the coolest things I saw live at Lambeau Field. It happened right by our seats and it sent the Packers fanbase into excitement. (h/t @gifdsports) 

Andy Mulumba - Am I alone here in thinking the rookie played really well when Matthews went out with injury? Le'Von Bell did have a big day, but it seemed like most of it came in the first three quarters of the game. Mulumba gave some great effort out there having six tackles with four of them being solo. We see it all the time with rookies where they round into form as the season finishes up. I think Mulumba will obviously not be Clay Matthews, but he can definitely contribute for them in the following year.

Micah Hyde - I thought this was Micah's best game of the season overall. He became a game-changer on special teams with a big kick return at least giving Green Bay a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, and then on defense, he played really well. There were not many major plays through the air, and Hyde played a large part of that. Hopefully, his shoulder injury he suffered at the end of the game is not serious, and he can play against Chicago next week.

B-Game
James Jones - One of Jones' best games of the year. He really seems to come and go with major games for Green Bay (That's not a bad thing for Jones, it is more so Green Bay's system rather than Jones being inconsistent.) Matt Flynn looked the most comfortable when throwing the ball to Jones, and I do not blame him for it with some of the incredible catches Jones made on Sunday. I would expect him to take over more of the number one role on Sunday if Flynn remains at quarterback.

A.J Hawk - As we sat at Lambeau with Green Bay trailing 10 points and the crowd deader than roadkill, my buddy Seth goes 'We need something to get the fans back in.' Sure enough, Hawk makes a big balls interception of Ben Roethlisberger leading to Green Bay getting a field goal. The middle linebacker for the Packers overall has had an above average season, but one of the bigger things with Hawk is the increase in impact plays for this Packers defense.

Jarrett Boykin - Another good game for Boykin including a fantastic catch for a touchdown where I yelled he 'facialed' Cortez Allen which was probably inappropriate for Lambeau's crowd. With Jones' contract up, I have no idea how he will remain on the team with wanting more money plus the emergence of Boykin. I doubt they will keep both players. Boykin has been one of the best surprises of this bizarre Green Bay season.

C-Game
Matt Flynn - Man, he did some nice things in this game, but holy hell did he do some bad things in this game. Let's start with throwing the hitch route... Hey Matt, STOP THROWING THE GODDAMN HITCH. He does not have the arm strength for it, and they kept begging for a pick-six which sure did happened changing the landscape of this game. Flynn also had a back-breaker fumble when he needed to escape the pocket and you wonder if he would have got the first down if he slid down. I have no idea because I am a slave to technology and could not see it from my vantage point at Lambeau.

Mike McCarthy's playcalls - Most notably the hitch route, but I had no idea at times what McCarthy was thinking out there. He seems to forget Eddie Lacy and James Starks can definitely hammer it into the end zone. When Aaron Rodgers was still at quarterback, I wondered if McCarthy would overthink about play calls trying to decide whether Rodgers or Lacy deserved the ball.  The fact Green Bay only had two plays with a minute left to go in the game is pathetic. Mac deserves some of the blame, but also the quarterback is at fault.

D-Game
Clay Matthews - This is not really for the game, but more for Matthews' season as he fractures his thumb again knocking him out for the year. It was a disappointing year for Matthews whom started off so strong only to come up with multiple injuries. It will be interesting to see what the narrative will be about Clay in the following off-season. People will start saying he is injury-prone because people are goddamn idiots. Breaks are so much different than strains, sprains and tears.

F-Game
Nick Perry - Man oh man. Perry jumped offsides on a field goal attempt at the end of the game. It led to the game being 38-31 instead of 34-31 (Let's be realistic) and costing Green Bay their final timeout. I could not believe a second-year player like Perry would make such a rookie mistake. It was the story of the game with Green Bay's special teams though. Granted, they had some nice kick returns, but from the fake punt to Perry's offsides just a disaster for defensive special teams.

B.J. Raji - This is a guy currently on my shit list. If I were Santa Claus, Raji is getting coal in his stocking. He is a man whom we see on this football team as a leader and he did not look like one on Sunday with a horrific personal foul call after the play against Pittsburgh. Instead of the Steelers being third and six from Green Bay's 39, Pittsburgh got the ball from the 24 and got a score out of it. Completely dumb and something Raji hopefully will never do again.

NFC North - I am going to write more about this tomorrow, but I really have no idea how Green Bay has a chance at this division yet I do not know if I want the title. I will take it, fine, but this has been a real frustrating season. I do not want it to end, but I feel like a boxer in the 12th round where I have been beat to hell yet there is still a chance for the belt even if I do not know if I can take it anymore.

Charlie.