Super Bowl mania

Well, as many of you know, the super bowl was contested last Sunday in Glendale, Arizona for Vince Lombardi trophy number 49. Based on last week, you knew that I was not going to watch the game nor would I look at the score until the following morning. The final: Patriots defeated the Seahawks 28-24. I saw some highlights and was amazed at the back and forth motion of the game. At the end, there was less than a minute left and the Seahawks were knocking at the door on the one yard line looking to punch their ticket to Disney world as super bowl champions. But Pete Carroll drew up a controversial play call in which Russel Wilson would drop back to his right where a crossing receiver would come in on the right side where Wilson would pass at the goal line. Safety Malcolm Butler came in and stole the pass away for the game-winning pick at the goal line. Experts question the play call because the Seahawks have the best running back in the league in the form of Marshawn Lynch. If they used him, they would have scored and won the game. Although I personally do not disagree with the call because what if it dropped incomplete? Or what if he caught it? Then we would not be having this conversation. There was always the possibility that Lynch would fumble the ball too. So lots going on in that game. Nonetheless, the Patriots were the victors. Congratulations to them!

So, single game tickets for the Padres went on sale yesterday morning and tickets for the home opener against the defending world champion Giants were sold out within the first few hours. This is a good sign. People actually want to go see the Padres play baseball now. I am excited and I hope to be able to see more crowds this year than any other year. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in 12 days at the Peoria sports complex. It is a time to rejoice! Baseball is just around the corner! Speaking of pitchers, it looks like the Padres are in the hunting again for a big time fish in the form of James Shields. He was the ace of the staff in Kansas City this past year and was expected to sign big somewhere just like Max Scherzer did with the Nationals. But since it has taken so long for a suitor to come and get him, his price has dropped significantly (like under $20 million a year). That is still quite expensive, but the Padres and A.J. Preller will pursue him if it makes this ball club better. We'll see what he chooses, but I kind of hope that it is San Diego.

In the wonderful world of the NBA, all of those long winning streaks have ended. The Atlanta Hawks were defeated by the New Orleans Pelicans a few days ago, which snapped a 19-game winning streak. The Cavaliers lost last night in Indianapolis to the Pacers, snapping their 12-game winning streak. And the Orlando Magic won last night against the Lakers in Orlando to snap a 10-game losing streak. Here is the current playoff picture here below:

Eastern Conference
EASTERN		W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	DIFF	STRK	L10
1	Atlanta	42	9	.824	-	25-3	17-6	7-2	28-6	103.8	96.9	+6.9	Won 2	9-1
2	Toronto	34	17	.667	8	19-9	15-8	9-1	23-10	106.2	101.3	+4.9	Won 1	7-3
3	Washington	31	20	.608	11	18-8	13-12	5-6	20-12	99.6	98.1	+1.5	Lost 5	3-7
4	Chicago	30	20	.600	11 ½	13-11	17-9	4-3	18-11	101.9	99.9	+2.0	Lost 3	4-6
5	Cleveland	31	21	.596	11 ½	19-9	12-12	5-3	19-10	101.7	99.1	+2.6	Lost 1	9-1
6	Milwaukee	27	23	.540	14 ½	12-10	15-13	5-5	18-13	98.9	97.1	+1.8	Lost 1	6-4
7	Charlotte	22	27	.449	19	13-13	9-14	6-4	16-12	94.7	96.7	-2.0	Won 3	7-3
8	Brooklyn	21	28	.429	20	10-15	11-13	7-5	14-18	96.0	99.2	-3.2	Won 3	5-5
	Miami	21	29	.420	20 ½	8-15	13-14	3-7	14-15	92.4	96.3	-3.9	Lost 3	3-7
	Detroit	20	31	.392	22	10-16	10-15	4-6	12-18	98.3	99.9	-1.6	Won 1	4-6
	Boston	19	30	.388	22	11-15	8-15	6-4	11-18	101.2	102.7	-1.5	Won 3	6-4
	Indiana	19	32	.373	23	11-13	8-19	4-5	13-16	95.5	97.3	-1.7	Won 2	4-6
	Orlando	16	37	.302	27	6-17	10-20	4-6	10-22	96.1	102.2	-6.1	Won 1	1-9
	Philadelphia	11	40	.216	31	6-18	5-22	1-10	7-23	90.0	101.1	-11.2	Lost 1	3-7
	New York	10	40	.200	31 ½	7-18	3-22	3-6	6-25	92.7	100.2	-7.5	Lost 2	5-5
Western Conference
WESTERN		W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	DIFF	STRK	L10
1	Golden State	39	9	.813	-	23-2	16-7	8-3	25-7	111.5	100.3	+11.2	Lost 1	7-3
2	Memphis	37	13	.740	3	21-5	16-8	6-5	23-8	101.0	95.9	+5.1	Lost 1	8-2
3	Houston	35	15	.700	5	18-7	17-8	5-4	20-10	102.9	99.0	+3.9	Won 2	7-3
4	Portland	34	16	.680	6	22-5	12-11	7-1	16-10	102.5	97.2	+5.3	Won 2	4-6
5	Dallas	34	18	.654	7	15-8	19-10	4-6	16-13	106.8	101.1	+5.7	Won 1	5-5
6	LA Clippers	33	18	.647	7 ½	20-7	13-11	7-2	20-7	106.5	100.3	+6.2	Lost 3	6-4
7	San Antonio	32	18	.640	8	20-7	12-11	4-6	18-14	101.1	97.2	+3.9	Won 2	8-2
8	Phoenix	29	23	.558	12	16-10	13-13	6-5	14-17	106.1	104.7	+1.4	Won 1	5-5
	New Orleans	27	23	.540	13	17-7	10-16	6-4	19-13	100.6	99.5	+1.2	Won 1	7-3
	Oklahoma City	25	25	.500	15	14-8	11-17	5-4	13-17	99.5	98.5	+1.0	Lost 1	5-5
	Denver	19	32	.373	21 ½	12-13	7-19	4-5	12-17	100.3	103.9	-3.5	Lost 5	1-9
	Sacramento	17	31	.354	22	10-17	7-14	3-7	12-20	100.8	104.6	-3.8	Lost 2	1-9
	Utah	17	33	.340	23	9-15	8-18	3-4	8-20	95.8	98.6	-2.8	Lost 3	3-7
	LA Lakers	13	37	.260	27	7-17	6-20	2-9	6-27	99.3	106.0	-6.7	Lost 3	1-9
	Minnesota	10	40	.200	30	6-19	4-21	2-7	4-26	97.2	106.2	-9.0	Won 2	3-7

Exciting times are coming here too! The playoffs don't begin for another two months, but it is still exciting to look and see who is in the hunt in the western conference with so many teams playing so well. It will be fun to see who makes it into that last playoff slot between Phoenix, New Orleans, and Oklahoma City. Tune in for more drama!

At the Farmers Insurance open in Torrey Pines this week, Tiger was set to come in and hopefully make the cut. But after waiting for over two hours for the fog to clear (common thing in San Diego), he started to play and by the eleventh hole was in pain...again. His back gave out on him. The same back that caused him to withdraw back in August has now caused him to withdraw here. Will he ever be the same? Phil Mickelson also missed the cut. It's unfortunate to see so many struggling golfers but also great at the same time to give the opportunity to new up-and-coming golfers.

That should be it for this week! Sorry I did not post last night. I was super busy and had a bunch to do. Have a great week and I'll see you next Friday night!