J-Hill’s Two Minute Drill: Holiday Edition

Featured Stories, Team FYN Sports

Hello again, and welcome to another edition of “J-Hill’s Two Minute Drill”. The holidays are here again, and as we all celebrate this precious time with our friends and loved ones, we should also take a look at some of the headlines across the world of sports. They include:

Hello Romeo – The Chiefs pulled the upset of the year in the NFL last Sunday, beating the previously undefeated Green Bay Packers 19-14. The win was huge for the entire Kansas City squad, especially interim head coach Romeo Crennel. Crennel, a former assistant under Bill Belichick that led the Browns to their last playoff appearance back in 2007, is gaining steam to replace Todd Haley on a full-time basis, as both the team’s play and words show that they support him taking on the role as head coach. The Chiefs sit at 6-8 with just two games left in the season, and if they can beat both the Raiders and the Tebow-led Broncos, you can bet that Crennel will be named the next Chiefs head coach.

Hoosier Daddy? – It’s been a while, but the Indiana Hoosiers are finally contenders in men’s college basketball again. Indiana has had a tremendous start to the 2011 season, holding a 12-0 record, including a last-second win over the Kentucky Wildcats. The Hoosiers basketball program is much like the Michigan or Notre Dame programs in football in the fact that the entire sport is better off when they contend due to its rich tradition in winning, and it’s nice to see that Tom Crean finally has it going in Bloomington. Expect Indiana to fight Ohio State for the best record in the Big Ten and for one of the top seeds come March.

Falcons Fight on Monday Night – The Atlanta Falcons will have arguably the biggest test of the season on Monday, as they head to New Orleans to take on the 11-3 Saints in the Mercedes Benz Super Dome. The Falcons have been hot lately and will be coming off an extended break thanks to its Thursday night game against the Jaguars, but it looks like it will take a miracle to top these Saints, a team that is currently riding a six-game winning streak, tying them with New England for the longest current streak. It seems like it will come down to the Atlanta Falcons defense stopping Drew Brees, who will be fresh off a game against the Vikings in which he threw for 412 yards and 5 touchdowns. If the Falcons hold Brees to under 280 yards, expect Atlanta to have a chance to win; if Brees goes over 280 passing yards, expect the Saints to carry their MVP candidate off the field in celebration at the end of the game.

A Fall From Grace in NASCAR – Kurt Busch found out how costly his mouth could be this week, as an altercation with ESPN reporter Dr. Jerry Punch at Homestead cost him his ride with Penske Racing, leaving him to sign with Phoenix Racing, owned by James Finch. For those who don’t follow NASCAR very closely, moving from Penske to Phoenix Racing is like moving from USC to San Jose State in college football or moving from the New England Patriots to pretty much any Ohio-based team in the NFL: it’s a considerable downgrade. Phoenix Racing has just one win in twenty-one years of fielding cars in the Sprint Cup Series, and while the team does acquire its equipment from Hendrick Motorsports, it definitely isn’t considered competitive. Expect Busch to put Phoenix Racing in the spotlight for the first time in team history, with the Las Vegas native winning at least 1 race and finishing in the Top 15 in points in what will more than likely be his only season with the team.

DiceK Version 2.0? – The Texas Rangers, looking to replace ace C.J. Wilson, made a big move earlier this week by posting the largest bid necessary to negotiate with Japanese star pitcher Yu Darvish, reportedly around $51.7 million. The Rangers have thirty days to work out a deal with the 25-year-old Darvish, and if no deal is reached by in that time frame the $51.7 million is returned to the Rangers and Darvish pitches for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters next season. While this has the potential to be a huge deal for the Rangers, I must advise them of a pesky fact on the grounds of “Caveat Emptor”, a Latin phrase that means “let the buyer beware”: Japanese pitchers have not fared very well as of late in Major League Baseball. Daisuke Matsuzaka, who signed a six-year, $52 million deal with the Boston Red Sox in 2006, has posted a disappointing 49-30 record with an average ERA of 4.25. A deal that hits closer to home came just two years ago, when the Atlanta Braves signed Kenshin Kawakami to a three-year contract. Although Kawakami’s run with the Braves started out promising, it ended disastrously, as the former Chunichi Dragon posted a 1-10 record with a 5.15 ERA in the 2009 season. Kawakami spent the 2010 season in the Braves minor league system and is currently a free agent. I’m not saying that the Rangers should run as fast as they can from the negotiating table when it comes to Darvish, I’m just stating that there is precedent for the situation to be quite disappointing.

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