Sports Blog of the Day

After seven seasons and an 85-27 regular season record and one Super Bowl title, Indianapolis Colts’ head coach, Tony Dungy said “the time is right” and is walking away from the sidelines.

Dungy will be replaced by assistant head coach Jim Caldwell who has been waiting in the wings waiting for a final decision.

Caldwell is extremely familiar with Dungy’s system having worked under him in Tampa Bay in 2001 then traveling to the Colts’ organization in 2002 as quarterback coach.

Dungy has had an illustrious career being the only NFL head coach to ever compile six straight 12-win seasons and 10 consecutive playoff seasons.

Caldwell signed a four-year deal. You can see his video press conference here.

Base-stealing wizard Rickey Henderson is expected to cruise into the Baseball Hall of Fame after Monday’s vote. The last left fielder elected was Boston Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski and the year was 1989.

Although Henderson is a heavy favorite to make it in, several other players appear to be on the fence and will have to sweat it out until the votes are tallied. One of those players is another Red Sox star Jim Rice who is on the ballot for the 15th and final year.

That’s what is wrong with the HOF voting. How can a guy like Rice not be inducted after all those years of voting. Rice had 2,452 hits, 382 HRs and 1,451 RBIs in 16 seasons.

The question surrounding the baseball HOF voting is “What does a guy have to do to get in”!

There’s no specific answer but stealing a ML record 1,406 stolen bases, scoring a league-record 2,295 runs and compiling 3,055 hits over a long 25 year career like Henderson did should do it.

Others on the ballot are Andre Dawson and pitchers Tommy John and Bert Blyleven.

 When the Philadelphia Eagles and Donovan McNabb went into New York and upset the top seeded New York Giants 23-11, history was made. For the first time ever, all three top seeds failed to make it to the championship game.

The Eagles will travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals who, like the Eagles have been surging these playoffs. The Cardinals upset the Carolina Panthers who were 10 point favorites by converting 6 turnovers into 23 points and coasting to a 33-13 win Saturday.

The Eagles managed to find a way to win with their star RB Brian Westbrook picking up only 46 total yards, 36 rushing and 10 passing.

One key to the game was the Eagles defense stopping the Giants twice in the fourth quarter on 4th down, causing the Giants to turn over the ball on downs at a crucial point of the game.

Sunday’s NFC Championship kickoff in Arizona is scheduled for 3 p.m.

This year’s NHL All-Star game starting rosters reminds us why fans should not be choosing the players who play in these All-Star games. Last year there was an aggressive drive to get an unknown Buffalo Sabre in a starting spot, a move created to make a mockery out of the voting process. Although that drive failed, it was close and faltered in the final few days of the campaign.

The Western Conference team’s starting six consists of three Chicago Black Hawks and a few ‘lame Ducks’. While those two teams take the ice for the opening faceoff, the powerhouse Detroit Red Wings will be represented on the bench with two of the league’s premier players, Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk. Lidstrom is also a heavy favorite to wear the ‘C’ for the West.

Like the West, the starting line-up for the Eastern Conference is also made up of just two teams, the Montreal Canadians who are hosting the game and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

To see the entire rosters and alternates, go to NHL.com here.

Eric Mangini has pulled a full circle after landing the head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns, the same team he started with as a ball boy at the age of twenty-three.

Mangini was fired by the New York Jets last month after his team dropped the final game of the season at home against the overachieving Miami Dolphins, knocking the Jets (9-7) out of the playoffs.

On that same day, the Browns (4-12) handed Romeo Crennel his pink slip creating the opening for Mangini.

The 37-year-old Mangini who compiled a 23-25 record and one playoff appearance over three years with the Jets, signed a four-year contract with his new team.

See Mangini’s video press conference here.

SCOTTSDALE - Indy racer Danica Patrick who has been the center of many sexiest female athlete galleries over the past few years found another way to gain national media attention.

Over the past year the sexy 26-year-old driver has been written two speeding tickets by the Scottsdale, Arizona police.

Last year for cruising 57 MPH in a 40 MPH zone and again last month for racing 54 MPH in a 35 MPH area.

To avoid a court appearance, Danica opted to pay the $196 fine for the most recent ticket but was required to attend driving school for the first offense last year.

According to the Associated Press, Scottsdale records also indicated the speedy driver has collected several more tickets in her hometown over the past three years.

You have to wonder how thick her pile of tickets could potentially be considering how many other times the sexy racer may have needed to talk her way out of getting written.

The Philadelphia Eagles have won 5 out of 6 games since five-time Pro Bowl quarterback Donavan McNabb was benched November 23rd during a 36-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

McNabb bounced back from that benching with a vengeance, leading the Eagles on a hot streak beating improbable odds and snagging the final NFC wild-card spot.

After going into Minnesota last weekend and winning a playoff game with another strong performance, completing 23 of 34 for 300yds and one TD, Eagles owner Jeff Lurie said in an interview with ESPN, “All signs point to McNabb being back next season”.

McNabb’s agent said McNabb is interested but some items need to be ironed out during the offseason, specifically McNabb’s desire to get a new deal and an extension to include new guaranteed money.

The Eagles travel to the Big Apple to take on the NFL Champion New York Giants on Sunday. The Eagles won the last meeting between these two rivals 20-14 at the Meadowlands on December 7. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

Baltimore Ravens rookie quarterback Joe Flacco and rookie head coach John Harbaugh became the first rookie QB/coach duo to ever win an NFL playoff game when their team went into Miami and defeated the overachieving Dolphins 27-9.

Flacco picked the perfect time to have a statistically-weak game.

The Ravens stellar defense forced five turnovers, including four interceptions, dominating Chad Pennington and the Dolphin offense. Prior to the game, the ‘Fins have only turned the ball over a total of 13 times all season and Pennington only had thrown 7 interceptions over 16 regular season games.

Flacco and Harbaugh will try to continue their streak when the Ravens travel to Tennessee to face the Titans on Saturday January 10.

 Is the economy really this bad or are NFL fans tired of overinflated playoff ticket prices?

The NFL almost got caught with their pants down but avoided an embarrassing situation when the final 20,000 tickets for the Minnesota Vikings playoff game were scooped up, lifting the local blackout of today’s first-round playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Vikings organization had sold out the past 115 games and not had a local blackout since 1997 but this time only about 55% of the Minnesota Vikings season ticket holders purchased their seats causing tens of thousands of additional seats to become available. The NFC North division winners needed not one, but two extensions by the league office to allow them time to sell out and lift the local blackout.

Expect to see some green clad fans in the stands though. According to sources, Philly fans were snagging up the remaining seats and getting packed up to travel to the Metrodome to cheer on McNabb and the Eagles.

The same scenario occurred in one of the match-ups that were played on Saturday. The Arizona Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Falcons 30-24 Saturday afternoon and also needed two extensions by the league office to sell out.

Cardinals’ spokesman Chris Melvin said they had until 2:30 p.m. on Friday to sell the remaining 2,400 tickets and were able to accomplish the task.

 With the NFL playoffs starting this afternoon, it’s time to pick ‘em.

Atlanta at Arizona - The desert heat must be getting to these Cardinals. Over the last six weeks of the season, they lost 4 out of 6 and coasted to a 9-7 record, the worst of all the NFC playoff teams.

AP Rookie-of-the-Year Matt Ryan will quarterback his overachieving Falcons to a win on the road that will feature running back tandem Michael Turner (1699 yds)and Jerious Norwood running at will against the Cardinal sieve run-defense, keeping the ball away from passing specialist Kurt Warner (4583 yds). Pick: Falcons

Indianapolis at San Diego - The Colts take their 9 game win streak into southern California to take on a Chargers team who managed to win their weak division with an 8-8 record. In the 2007 playoffs, the Chargers upset the Colts 28-24, shocking Tony Dungy and the favorite Colts but it won’t happen this time. NFL MVP Peyton Manning will live up to his reputation and come out gunning. Pick: Colts

Baltimore at Miami - This game features two rookie head coaches Tony Sparano (Dolphins) and John Harbaugh (Ravens) who have rejuvenated two struggling teams and led their troops into the playoffs with 11-5 records. Rookie QB Joe Flacco is having an overachieving season and Chad Pennington will face a tough task of breaching the Ravens potent defense. Miami capitalizes on the home field advantage and Flacco finally plays like a rookie. Pick: Dolphins

Philadelphia at Minnesota - What Eagles team will show up, the team who won 4 out of the final 5 during the regular season to squeak into the final wild-card spot or the team that tied the lowly Bengals and lost to the Redskins?
Vikings have some key injuries on defense, A.P. has developed fumblitis and they still can’t get a consistent QB to take the snaps. Pick: Eagles