College Athletes should be paid

For as long as college sports have existed, student-athletes have not been paid, but the demand for payment for these students has increased with time, as the industry of college sports continues to grow. There are plenty of strong and reasonable arguments for both sides of the discussion, which has made it the easy decision for the NCAA to just leave it the way it is. As time has gone on, the amount of money made by the main conferences of college sports has rapidly increased, which has only spiraled the debate out of control. Players, according to the NCAA, are paid back for their work with scholarships. Still, due to the substantial amount of money brought in as a result of the hard work put in by male college football and basketball players, these athletes deserve a reasonable amount of payment on top of their scholarships. The simplest argument for this viewpoint is the fact that college football and basketball generate billions of dollars annually, and they are still a growing business. The fact that so much money is made solely off of the entertainment of watching these young talents play, yet they receive $0.00 is outrageous. The players in college sports must be paid back for bringing in so much money year in and year out.

College sports is a tough industry to get into, as it requires an absurd work ethic and loads of natural talent. Therefore, being involved in Division-1 football or basketball could be considered a full time job. Focusing on classes and learning a subject that could lead to a future career is another activity that requires countless hours of work. When potential professional athletes are given full-time scholarships, they feel the pressure to do well in their athletics and not their education. Making their sport a job and giving them some payment for their work could relieve the stress of these students having to find another job, and it could lead to them having a better experience in their academics. Also, the opportunity that these Division-1 college athletes are given is extraordinary in the way that their experience could be setting them up for a long career in the professional leagues. Many people say that this is another way that college athletes are paid, as if they happen to go pro, they end up making millions of dollars. However, this scenario where the college star football or basketball player later makes a living off of playing their sport is rare. Only 1.7% of college football players make it to the NFL, and only 1.2% of college basketball players play in the NBA. On top of that, the average career for a player in the NFL lasts roughly three years. This means that the majority of college football or basketball players end up coasting through their college career without an education because of their optimism in their sport. Most of them waste their education and therefore waste the opportunity they were given. If these players are paid, they can at least say that they got a little out of their years. A possibly deal-breaking point is that players of sports other than men’s basketball and football would not receive payment for their work, even though they put in just as much work. It can be imagined that the star pitcher for UCLA’s softball team, or the goalie for Boston College’s hockey team would be agitated as they watch their fellow students receive money while they did not. Seeing this system set up would almost be cruel to other sports players, and knowing that these sometimes desperate for money students would be told that there is no money for them because the sport they play is not popular enough. Hopefully, there would eventually be enough money for the student-athletes of other sports after college football and basketball players are paid.

 

                                                                   Playoff Predictions

The NFL this year has been made up of many surprise games, players and teams. Several teams, like the Saints, Panthers, and 49ers have hugely disappointed thus far this season, while the Cardinals, Browns and Bills have impressed with winning records so far. Although the ranking are not set yet with two weeks remaining in the season, it is predictable which teams will make the playoffs. With several capable teams this year, the race to the Super bowl will be one with much competition.

AFC- The two teams that will earn a bye-week in the first round will be the Patriots and the Broncos, as they both have an 11-3 record right now. The two games for the first round will be the Colts against the Chargers for the 3 versus 6 game, and the Ravens at the Bengals for the 4 versus 5 game. All four teams have a great chance to move on to the next round, as all four have solid quarterbacks and good defenses. The Colts should go on to beat the Chargers, as Andrew Luck will lead his young team past Philip Rivers and his talented offense. The Ravens will upset the Bengal, which will leave Cincinnati with their sixth playoff loss in a row. Although Joe Flacco isn't a great quarterback, he's better than Andy Dalton, and his experience with the playoffs will help him drive past the Bengals. In the next round, the Patriots will host the Ravens, and the Colts will play at the Broncos. The Patriots will easily win, with Pat Chung leading the defense to a great game. The Denver and Indianapolis game will be a good one, but Peyton Manning will escape with a victory against his old team. The matchup the following week between Brady and Manning will be a high scoring one, but Brady will ultimately lead his team to a hard fought victory to the Super Bowl.

NFC- The NFC does not have as many teams in contention for the last playoff spot, but they still have plenty of Super Bowl worthy teams. The Cardinals and Packers will earn themselves a bye-week in the first round, as both teams will win their remaining two games. The two first round games will be between the three seed Eagles  and the Lions, and the four seed Panthers will play against the wild-card Seahawks. Both wild-card teams will win their games, as Mark Sánchez will fall short of leading his new team past the number one defense in the league, and the Seahawks will manhandle the outmatched Panthers. The following week, the Seahawks will take on the Packers, a game between possibly the two best teams in the league. Aaron Rodgers will barely edge out Russell Wilson's team, upsetting the previous champs. The Cardinals and Lions will play, with the Cardinals pulling out the win with their explosive defense. In the NFC Championship game, the Cardinal will host the Packers, but the visiting team will comfortably get the win, as Rodgers will prove to be too much for the Cardinals defense.

Super Bowl- This game would be a rematch of week 13, where the Packers were able to beat the Patriots at home 26-21. It would be a matchup between two Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, as Brady has won three and Rodgers has won one. The game would be close, but Pat Chung's late interception will close the game for a Patriots victory 31-27. With his tremendous play, Chung will bring home the Super Bowl MVP award.

                                                      Best Quarterbacks in the NFL

In the National Football League and football everywhere, the quarterback is the most important player on the field. A team can really be converted from a mediocre team to a great one with an upgrade at the position. Today, there is a high level of competition as far as who the best in the league are, as several quarterbacks playing are considered all-time greats. The following players make up the list as the best in the league today.

1) Tom Brady- Tom has been the best in the business for the last decade, and even though he is getting old, he is still the best. He has lead the Patriots to a 9-3 start to the year, which is nothing spectacular compared to what he is used to. He has the highest win percentage of any quarterback of all time, and he has seven more playoff wins than any other quarterback playing right now. He throws an incredibly low amount of interceptions, and always seems to win games despite who is playing alongside him. The combo of Brady and Belichick  continues to be the deadliest combo in the league.

2) Aaron Rodgers- The quarterback for Green Bay continues to prove that he is a machine. His accuracy is unreal, as he has a career touchdown to interception ratio of 4.0, which is 1.3 better than the second best of all-time, Tom Brady. His many years as a backup for Brett Favre clearly helped him, as he made the Packers his team since Favre's departure. Rodgers has the Packers starting the year with nine wins, tied for the lead in the league. With one Super Bowl win in his career already, another one could be coming in the next few years, as his Packers look great.

3) Drew Brees- The quarterback of the New Orleans Saints is third in the league because of his powerful throw and precise accuracy. Although this year has been tough, he has had a great career with the Saints, as he brought them their first Super Bowl ever a few years ago. Despite his short stature, Brees is able to throw the ball with a tremendous amount of strength, which he has been doing for years. What puts Brady and Rodgers past him is that they tend to throw less interceptions than Brees, yet his accuracy is still exceptional. Also, he has only managed to win five games this year, even with playing against the worst division in the league.

4) Andrew Luck- The man running the quarterback position for the Colts is fourth in the league because of his combination of his arm accuracy and mobility. The first pick in the draft a couple of years ago, Luck has shown that he could have an amazing career ahead of him. In his first three years, he has turned the Colts into one of the worst teams in the league to one of the top playoff contenders. In a couple of years, it would be no surprise to see him win an MVP award, or even a Super Bowl.

5) Phillip Rivers- San Diego's quarterback is fifth in the league because he has maybe the strongest arm in the league, and he can also run pretty well. Although he has had an inconsistent career, Rivers has always been known to put up huge passing yards numbers. He is also known to end the year very strong, more often then not resulting in the playoffs. He is yet to win a Super Bowl, or even make a serious playoff run, but Rivers has still proven that he is one of the league's best.

                                                            Tanking in the NBA

 

Teams trying to lose games throughout the season has become a serious issue for the NBA. Many teams who feel as if their players do not have nearly enough talent to make a playoff run may think that losing the majority of their games to get a good draft pick is the best option. The general managers or coaches of the teams might use a starting lineup that is made up of their less talented players to do this. This year, the 76ers have appeared to be using this strategy, as they have started with eleven losses in a row. Many felt that the Celtics last year used this technique, which resulted in them obtaining Marcus Smart with the sixth pick. Whether or not tanking is a good strategy is up for debate.

Teams who finish as one of the bottom twelve teams in the league have a chance to get the first overall pick. Many players who are drafted in the early picks of the draft turn out to be superstars, for example, Lebron James, Dwight Howard, and Blake Griffin were all picked first overall in their drafts, and they all now lead their respective teams to the playoffs consistently. Others, such as Kwame Brown, Greg Oden, and Anthony Bennett, who were all also the first picks in their draft, turned out to be not as great. This proves that tanking does not guarantee a superstar, as it might just land you someone like Kwame Brown for the next decade. This being said, it appears that many teams still try to throw their season, and this could be because their are a lot of talented players that enter the NBA draft from year to year. Several college players thrive in the environment of college basketball, yet they fail to find the same success in the NBA. For example, Greg Oden dominated his freshman year at Ohio St. and went first to the Portland Trail Blazers. He has so far spent most of his career on crutches or in a wheelchair, and several injuries to his knees have derailed his potential. Clearly, tanking to draft a highly anticipated college kid is risky.

In recent memory, teams such as the 76ers, Cavaliers, Bobcats, Celtics, Lakers, and the Magic have been accused of tanking, among others. Some of these teams may not have intended to do bad, but they may have just had costly injuries, a tough schedule, or a terrible roster. Yet it is almost certain that some if not all of these teams could have done more recently to get wins. Teams have tanked in different ways, whether or not the players were told to not give all of their effort, or if the coaches gave the twelfth man on the roster a little too much playing time. Many of these teams see tanking as the only option, as they have trouble signing free agents in the off-season. Teams such as the Utah Jazz, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Sacramento King's do not have the same luxury of being in a desirable location like the Los Angelo's Lakers or the Miami Heat have. Therefore, they have a hard time attracting superstars to their team. Because of teams tanking their season, the NBA has received a lot of criticism about the draft process, and how teams should not be able to get a high draft pick by losing their games purposefully. The NBA, however, really has no way to prevent teams from doing this, and the draft process that they use now is the most reasonable. The reality is that teams could be tanking for the remainder of the existence of the NBA.

2014 NFC Predictions

 

NFC South: The Falcons, Saints, Buccaneers, and Panthers make up this division, and it is one that could be highly competitive. The Falcons have shown great things with Matt Ryan as their quarterback, and they look like they will do at least a little better than their horrendous year last year. The Saints still have Drew Brees leading the offense and Sean Payton as their head coach, so they are destined to have some good games. The Buccaneers do not show as much promise as the other teams in this division, although they may surprise some people. The Panthers had a great year last year, but their receivers this year are pretty terrible. I will pick the Falcons to barely edge out the Saints and Panthers.

 

NFC North: The division with the Lions, Packers, Bears, and Vikings is a good one. The Lions obviously have one of the most explosive offenses, with Matthew Stafford, Reggie Bush and Calvin Johnson leading the team. The Packers have been one of the best teams in recent memory, and with Aaron Rogers still leading the team, they should have another good year. The Vikings will have to give up on their goal of winning four games this year, as Adrian Peterson's absence will result in another bad year for them. The Bears are very similar to the Lions, as they have a strong quarterback, a well built yet quick running back, and one of the best receivers in the league. I do think both teams will fall short of beating out the Packers for the playoff spot.

 

NFC East: The Eagles, Redskins, Cowboys and Giants make up this division. The Eagles appear to be a team that could have a pretty good year, especially with Lesean McCoy at running back. The Redskins are looking really awful this year, with Robert Griffin III turning out to be a bust and with the defense allowing to many touchdowns. The Giants, like the Redskins, are going to be terrible this year because Eli Manning is continuing to make a strong campaign for worst quarterback in the league. The Cowboys have the potential to win the division, with Demarco Murray showing so far that he is a decent running back, and with the defense showing that they can play. I still have the Eagles taking the division title, and Tony Romo blowing it for the hundredth time.

 

NFC West: The 49ers, Rams, Seahawks, and Cardinals make up one of the strongest divisions in the league. The Seahawks are an obvious choice, for their well rounded offense and near perfect defense cannot be matched by any team. The Rams are the worst team in the division, mostly because they are not that good. I could not name a single player on the Rams. The 49ers are one of the best teams in the league, with Kaepernick leading the offense and Patrick Willis still leading the defense. The Arizona Cardinals had a surprising season last year, yet still missed the playoffs. They still have Larry Fitzgerald leading the team, and they have the young star Patrick Peterson playing great defense. The Seahawks will win the division, and the Cardinals will beat the 49ers for second place.

 

Playoffs: My predictions for the playoff standing are: 1) Seahawks at 14-2. 2) Packers at 12-4. 3) Falcons at 11-5. 4) Eagles at 10-6. 5) Cardinals at 11-5. 6) 49ers at 10-6. I think the Seahawks will blow past the Packers in the Conference Championship game, but lose to the Patriots in the Superbowl.

 

 

2014 AFC Predictions

 

 

AFC East:  The division containing the Dolphins, Bills, Jets, and Patriots will not be very competitive this year because with the additions of Pat Chung and Darrel Revis, the Patriots are looking far better than their competition. The Jets will mostly do bad because Rex Ryan is still the coach and they have a team with little talent. The Bills could be alright, as their off to a 2-1 start and have a young team, including quarterback E.J. Manuel. The Dolphins have the potential to lose the rest of their games and maybe become the worst team in history of all sports of all kind because they are terrible. The Patriots will easily win the division.

AFC North: The division with the Bengals, Browns, Ravens, and Steelers is a decent one with three teams in contention to take the division. My pick would be the Bengals, despite the fact that they have the most mediocre quarterback in the league, because they have outstanding young players such as A.J. Green and Giovanni Bernard who can carry the offense. The Browns will of course be garbage this year because their players are not very good, but I do expect Manziel to take the starting job and have a pretty good rookie season. The Ravens will have a worse season than they're used to because of the negativity around the team with the Ray Rice story, and because of their worsening defense. The Steelers will be alright, with Troy Polamalu still playing at safety and Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback.

AFC South: This division is made up of the Colts, Texans, Titans, and Jaguars. This is a good division if you like to watch terrible football because the Jaguars suck, the Titans are not very good, and the Texans had the worst record in the league last season. The Titans could suffer from the loss of Chris Johnson this year, especially considering their quarterback, Jake Locker, is not very good. The Texans cannot do as bad as they did last year because they are a much better team than they did, with J.J. Watt and Arian Foster leading the team. The Colts are a team that continues to get better because Andrew Luck is a great quarterback, and they have several good supporting players. The Colts should win the division, with the Texans closely behind.

AFC West: The  Chargers, Chiefs, Broncos, and Raiders would be a good division if the Raiders and Broncos were not in it. The Raiders have close to no one good on the team, so I boldly predict they will do bad. The Broncos have Peyton Manning at quarterback, so they will have a poor season, although their talented receivers should pick up some of Peyton's slack. The Chiefs will be pretty good because Jamal Charles has the potential to be the best running back in the league. My prediction is that the Chargers will win the division because Phillip Rivers is an outstanding leader, and they have a tough defense.

Playoffs: My predictions for the playoff seeding are: 1) Patriots at 14-2. 2) Colts at 13-3. 3) Bengal at 13-3. 4) Chargers at 10-6. 5) Texans at 10-6. 6) Steelers at 9-7. The Patriots will have no problem rolling through the playoffs, especially if their star safety Pat Chung remains healthy. New England will beat the Colts in the AFC Championship game.

Pat Chung's return to the Patriots

Patrick Chung made his return to the New England Patriots on September 7, after his quick one year absence from the team. Chung started off his career five years ago, after being drafted in the second round by the Patriots. The safety had a successful four years in college with the Oregon Ducks, Eventually holding the school record for most starts on the defensive side of the ball. Chung's outstanding skills at Oregon would translate nicely into the NFL, as he was able to hold a starting spot for the Patriot's for four years. He even started for them in Super Bowl XLVI. After the 2013 season, where he struggled with injuries, Chung decided to leave the Patriots and join the Philadelphia Eagles. The new coach in Philly was Chip Kelly, who Chung played under while at Oregon. His career with the Eagles was not what he was hoping for, as he failed to stay on the field due to injury and poor performances. After a long season, Chung decided New England was right for him, and he tried out for a spot on the team. He would end up making the team, after much competition at the safety position, and even end up earning the starting job. So far this season, he has six tackles and has even returned some kick offs. Having a healthy and hard hitting Chung could be a huge asset for New England this season.