Super Sunday Thoughts

Towards the end of last year's Super Bowl it was feared that the NFL might not have a season this winter meaning that the last team left to celebrate this big accomplishment would be Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers.  Okay, maybe that's not such a bad thing as it really deflated the mysticism of Brett Favre's legacy in Green Bay allowing a superstar to rise up in the Discount Double Check guy.

The NFL lockout dragged its heels and scared some into believing that there would be no football this season.  This wouldn't affect ESPN in the slightest as they'd still find a way to fill out 22 hours of their scheduling to talk about the sport, but luckily for them they were given new highlights and stories to fill in their time.

Football was back on, and for many this was great news.  For others, it was just another season to have to drag on through as their team did little or nothing to excite them and give them even the glimmer of false hope on the horizon.  I'm looking at you, Miami.

For some, the shortened time to prepare for the season failed to faze them in their preparation while others seemed like more time could have been helpful.

No team looked stronger this season than the Green Bay Packers despite their defense ranking thirty-second in the league for total yards surrendered.  Storming forward with a 14-0 record to visit the Kansas City Chiefs, it was already being written about Aaron Rogers having an MVP season and looking like he could lock up a second Super Bowl victory on the high note of leading his team to perfection.  Again, sounds like a great way to wipe away some of the memory that Brett Favre installed in that city.

But the playoffs this season would prove to be a fickle beast incapable of following the script.  The resurgent Giants would carry behind them a whirlwind of momentum since dropping to the misery suffering Washington Redskins.

Just like that, the team most pegged to win this years Super Bowl was gone, with a whimper.

Over in the AFC, however, the team most likely to go to the Super Bowl managed to rid themselves of the pest known as history.  The Baltimore Ravens managed to shut down the Pittsburgh Steelers twice within the season and look like heavy favorites to represent the AFC come this Sunday.

They would ultimately buckle to a less-then-impressive New England Patriots who suffered two demoralizing defeats to the Buffalo Bills, of all teams.  With poor time management to try and tie the game, the Baltimore Ravens would boot, wide left, their shot to at going to the biggest stage in sports since their 2001 Super Bowl victory over the Giants.

So the stage is set, a return of the 2008 Super Bowl contenders square off once more but looking slightly different in terms of momentum.

New England's defense may have turned their story around after an abysmal regular season, hosting key stops of the offensive-less Denver Broncos and maintaining control over the Baltimore Ravens but neither team was as offensively threatening as what the Giants had faced in the Atlanta Falcons, Packers, and gun slinging San Francisco 49ers.

The question still remains if the Patriots defense has really turned the corner to be a threat to the G-Men's offensive line and place heavy pressure on Eli Manning all game long.  It was easy to pin down Tim Tebow who is looked upon as being more of a tight end or a full back playing the quarterback role as his ability to play the short game is incredibly limited.  They couldn't completely contain Joe Flacco as he stepped up to fill in the role that the Ravens hoped he could become when they drafted him, but they managed to make big key stops when it mattered most.

The same cannot be said of the Giants who simply have improved throughout these past seven weeks - not that they appear to have improved, they simply have.

Negating Matt Ryan's ability to find open targets in their secondary, pinning him deep in his pocket and collapsing it; containing Aaron Rogers to only 66 yards rushing and forcing dropped passes in the midfield; preventing Alex Smith to repeat his level of success that he gained hosting the New Orleans Saints the week prior to the NFC Championship game.

All this while Eli Manning has only grown to be a better quarterback and has found strong assets in Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, and Mario Manningham.  Their running game has still had its issues but thankfully they have fallen into a strength in Manning's pinpoint accuracy and the athletic play styles of his wide outs.

So what could sway me to believe in the Patriots dynasty once again reclaiming glory at the top of the football world?  Tom Brady.

Honestly, Tom Brady will have to be better than what he appeared in the AFC Championship game.

He cannot show up and become rattled easily because of the defensive pressure that this team is capable of placing upon him.  Brady needs to actually find the end zone and involve his receivers because relying upon the running game will not bring another championship to Boston.

I hold a fear - perhaps it's unfounded and completely illogical - that Brady may just have lost his nerve and will fail to show up this Sunday in a big enough manner to help bring the Patriots within striking distance of winning this game.

It's a tough call between the two teams but I'm ready to buy into the momentum of Tom Coughlin and the New York Giants over the defensively weaker Patriots.

Nothing would be sweeter than seeing if the Patriots could maintain the momentum of their earlier success and demonstrate, once and for all, that they are the true dynasty of this era.  Nothing would be cooler than to see someone like Tom Brady, a sixth round draft pick, become viewed as a better quarterback than Joe Montana.

But the reality for me is, I have to pick the New York Giants to win this game - they just look better, right now.

Sign me up for a 34-24 G-Man victory.

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Retirement Rumble 2012: The Flop

It seems like not matter how much things change, they constantly remain the same.  Take for example the push of young talent to title positions within the WWE right now - CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Beth Phoenix, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Epico and Primo.

Who would have though 5 years ago that two Ring of Honor alumnus would be sitting atop the WWE as their World champions?

This all sounds like progress, right?  A wrestler doesn't have to be based on their size so much as what they can provide to the company as a character, a performer, and as a worker.

Then Sheamus went and won the 2012 Royal Rumble match.  A guy who is liked because of his looks alone, despite the fact that his looks work sharply against him because of his lack of pigmentation.

There are a number of things working against Sheamus, such as his lack of character and his weak charisma instantly spring to mind.  He lacked the intimidation factor to carry himself over as a heel, but as a face he is somehow gaining steam with the crowds for reasons that are unknown to me.

What also hurts Sheamus, at least in my mind, is the fact that he's a Triple H guy and is notably being pushed because of his ties to the new COO of the WWE.  Instead of naturally getting over with the crowd because he has been honing his craft as an athlete and as a performer he's being pushed, continuously since his debut, as a result of his friendship with a man that has the power and pull to ensure a spot for him on the card.

Some would argue that's not true because Drew McIntyre is also a Triple H guy but is currently struggling to get time on events and is locked in a storyline that has him being defeated by just about everyone and their grandmothers.  What's missing from that equation is the fact that these two aren't the only examples of Triple H's influence aiding their spots, because Dave Batista and Randy Orton also showcase just how much pull he has.

So why do I have a problem with Sheamus?  Aside from his weak look and weak character, I take great offense to him being shoved down my throat simply because he is a crony of Triple H's.

This demonstrates the same lesson we've learned before back in 2004 - that it's not about how hard you work but rather who you know that gets you ahead in life.  That goes against everything we're taught growing up.

Remember when you were told, "if you work hard enough, you can achieve anything you put your mind to?" This goes right in the face of that and reminds us that this world is cruel, unfair, and unjust - that only with the right connections can you truly achieve your goals.

At the moment, it's likely that Sheamus will be facing off with Daniel Bryan for the championship at Wrestlemania XXVIII - what sickens me about is here is a prime example of going in the face of hard work.

Daniel is a hard working performer who has struggled and conquered the biggest hurdle of his career to even receive a contract with the WWE - his looks.  He's too small, standing in at 5'10", a far cry from the Hulk Hogan's and Randy Orton's the WWE is so used to pushing as their stars.

He lacks quite a bit of personality, as well.  Coming off as stiff in his delivery and dry in his presence, it's hard to imagine fans getting behind him when it's time for him to speak.

Sounding familiar?  It should, because these are all the same qualities that best described the late Chris Benoit.  Both were respected because of their dedication to their craft as athletes more so than their character.

What's also disturbing to me is how both men's title reigns are just as comparable as Benoit was never given much room to grow as a main eventer, constantly stuck in a feud with Shawn Michaels and Triple H throughout most of his reign - thus far Bryan is also stuck having to face off with The Big Show and an injured Mark Henry.

This isn't to say I think Daniel should be off and about defending his title against everyone, but if his only notable feuds surrounding his title are going to be rematches against the former champions then there's not really room to see him grow in the main event.  This was problematic for Benoit, as well, as he was never placed near the WWE or World Heavyweight titles since dropping to Randy Orton.

Personally, I'm not willing to buy a pay-per-view that features one of Triple H's friend again in a position to take a title from a person who has been working against the industry and its standards to get to where they are.

Things aren't really changing if we're falling back into the same pattern we've already lived out not even a decade ago.

All that's missing for this full circle is CM Punk having a feud with a long time tag team champion mid-carder that is suddenly flung into the stardom of the main event scene.  Thankfully there hasn't been much of a tag team division for the past five years to raise this concern. Read More!

How You Can Help Grow the SAINTofSINS Channel

The YouTube gaming scene is notable for being a nice way for people to try and earn money for various reasons through their gameplay, commentary, or variety of original content.  For some this is a nice incentive to continue sharing in their favorite hobby of gaming, for others its the driving reason behind their every contribution to your subscription inbox.

One way a person can truly stand out in this heavily competed market of entertainment is a varied selection of content, typically being a wide selection of game play footage.

My goal for providing you with a wide range of content is to do more than just record a wide variety of game play footage, but rather to create original content.  Such original content in mind would be a year long baseball podcast featuring my close friend, Big Guy.

Other ideas to provide for your viewing pleasure would be digital art projects ranging from speed art to tutorials.

But focusing solely upon games for the sake of this article, the way you can help grow my content isn't by PayPal donations.  Quite the contrary, money donated directly to me via PayPal are looked upon as funds for future video projects - namely buying royalty free music, stock footage, stock photos, etc.  These donations are your way of encouraging video projects such as music videos and video packages that benefit you directly rather than supplying me with a means to buy the latest game releases.  So for every dollar you donate you help the channel's library of resources to be more creative than your standard gaming director's content.

Instead, to help aide me in obtaining new games you can donate nothing more than a little bit of your time.

For me, your time is a better donation contribution to my cause of obtaining new video games for your viewing benefit thanks in large part to websites such as SwagBucks, iRazoo, Lockerz, and Bing Rewards Program.  Simply signing up under my referral links for the following digital currency websites helps me out almost as much as a donation to any other YouTube director would.

The beauty of this suggestion for help is it can also help you out.  Referrals are considered a really good and quick way to accumulate points for earning items such as Amazon gift cards.  Every time you earn points for searches, your referral gets an equal amount of points based upon the site's rules.

By simply following the directions below you can help me out for every successful search result you are rewarded with points.

Click the link on your left hand side and follow the registration instructions.  After registering with the site, perform two searches every twelve hours.  For each successful search you are rewarded 10 or more points you help me gain an equal amount for my own account.

Click the link on your left hand side and follow the registration instructions.  After registering with the site, perform as many searches as you wish during the day.  You can earn points for searches every hour, but you are almost guaranteed points for searches every two hours.  For each successful search you are rewarded any amount of points I earn an equal amount for my own account.

Click on the link on your left hand side and follow the registration instructions.  After registering with the site, you do not have to do anything more as I will have received points for your registration.  However, you can earn points for searches and redeem them for Microsoft Points.

Beyond all of this, simply watching my videos, reading my blogs, and clicking on the advertisements helps me out just as much.  It costs almost nothing of you but a little bit of time and you don't have to do anything that would compromise your personal information.

I only ask of you to do this if you enjoy what you see on my channel and feel up to helping me grow.  If I'm not doing a good enough job of entertaining you then obviously I shouldn't ask of you to waste more of your time for me.

So if you enjoy what kind of content I put out and want to see more of the same, or want to see new things then jump on board and help out.  Every minute helps.

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