KarateKen

I was one of two on opening day of NFL playoffs, Ravens looked like Super Bowl contenders in their win over the Steelers. They controlled the clock and ran the ball well. Ravens are going to be a tough out for anyone. They will either play in Buffalo next week, or play at home against the Texans, as Houston blew through the LA Chargers like a California fire, 32-12, making it the first time in NFL history that 32-12 was the final score of a game. Chargers QB Justin Herbert, who had only three interceptions the entire regular season, threw four in the loss on Saturday. His QBR was 40.9, a season low, where his average had been 101 for the year and is 96 for his career. Surprising performance by Herbert for sure. Another first round exit for the Chargers and the Steelers. The Chargers have a new coach and the right QB, so they will probably be on the up and up, but the Steelers continue to have this just above mediocre seasons every year. How long will they stick with Mike Tomlin? He has never had a losing season, but it has been a while since they were a real contender. They seem to be just good enough to get into the playoffs but then lose in the first round.

Just for fun I am going to take a shot at some NFL Playoff picks for this weekend. Not something I usually do well at but let's just see how it goes. in the AFC I like the Ravens over the Steelers. I think the Ravens are a better team and the Steelers offense has struggled in recent weeks. I also like the Bills over the Broncos, Buffalo is a better team with a better QB and is at home. I am going to pick the Chargers over the Texans, the Chargers have the better team and the Texans have been too inconsistent for me. NFC is interesting between the Eagles and Packers. I'd like to see the Packers win and maybe they can pull a first round upset like they did last year, but I don't think so. Eagles have maybe the best offensive line in the league and are a very good team. I'm picking Philly. I am also going with the Bucs, who are at home, against Washington. Then on Monday I am picking the Vikings to win against the Rams in another close game.

Only five games tonight, Kings over the Jets, Red Wings over Blackhawks, Canadians over Capitals, Hurricanes over Canucks, and the Utah Hockey Club beat the Sharks.

Getto Boys - It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta

Evander Kane of the Oilers had knee surgery that will set back his recovery 4-8 weeks. Kane had a previous surgery in September and has not played this season, with the latest news the 33-year-old might not see the ice until next season. Without Kane the Oilers have 53 standings points, putting them at second place in the Pacific division.

The NFL has moved the MNF game between the Vikings and Rams out of LA and to Phoenix, AZ because of the fires. The game will be played in the Cardinals home stadium. Gametime and broadcast information all remains the same.

It is an excellent idea and thanks for sharing your information. Monitoring your heart during a workout is a good way to make sure you are pushing yourself just enough but not too much. This is especially important as we get older and our maximum heart rates lower. I always heard that your max heart rate should be 220 minus your age, so if you are 40 (I have no idea how old you are) your max heart rate should be 180 during a workout.

I appreciate the feedback. I am meeting with a nutritionist next week to discuss these new ideas.

@sensei8 is your wife a fan of Bill Belichick? Rumors starting now that Tom Brady, part owner of the Raiders, is attempting to convince Bill to leave North Carolina and take the Raiders job. Personally, I think Tom just wants to hire Bill so he can be Bill's boss and tell him what to do for a change. Oh, how the tables have turned!!!

A short hockey schedule got even shorter when the Flames and Kings had to be postponed due to the California fires. In the three games that were played the Blackhawks beat the Avalanche 3-1, the Capitals beat the Canucks 2-1 in overtime, and at last check the Panthers were up on Utah 2-0 in the third. Not a lot of news and notes otherwise tonight. As you can imagine a big part of the storyline for the rest of the season will be Ovechkin chasing Gretzky. Currently Ovechkin needs only 23 more goals to break the record. If he does not get it this season, he will early next year. Personally, I really don't care about it at this point, I grew up a Gretzky fan and remember when he broke the record in 1994 when he played for LA. I kind of hoped nobody would break it but it has been clear for a while that Ovi would break it sooner or later. I remember telling people three years or four years ago that he was going to do this. It just seemed inevitable. Some say records are meant to be broken, and maybe that is true. We might see this record broken as well. Austin Matthews is the current player with the best chance. He is 27 years old with 381 career goals, and last season he lead the league with a career high 69. Unfortunately, he has been injured much of this season and is having a down year. There is little argument that when healthy, Matthews is one of the top players in the league. Maybe someday he will have a chase of his own. For a little longer Gretzky will hold one of the most eye-opening stats you will ever come across in sports. Gretzky has 894 career goals, and if you took all of them away and put his total at zero, based on assists alone he still has more career points than any player in NHL history. His goals record will be passed, but nobody will catch him in assists or total points anytime soon. Two records I think will never be broken in my lifetime, both in other sports, are consecutive games. Cal Ripken Jr and Brett Favre. If you look at active streaks nobody is even close. In MLB, Ripken had 2,643 consecutive games played. The longest active streak is by Matt Olson at 620, more than 2,000 games and over 12 years away. Favre started 297 games in a row (321 if you count the playoffs) and the longest active streak is by Jake Matthews of the Falcons, at 174. More than 120 games and over seven years away. Not happening in either case.

Because of the wildfires in Southern California the NFL is considering moving the Vikings Rams game to Arizona. As of now the game is on as scheduled.

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck snagged his 300th career win Tuesday night when the Jets beat the Preds. Hellebuyck becomes the fastest American born goalie to win 300 games and the third fastest in NHL history. He has played great this season, and the Jets continue to be among the top teams in the standings. His 2.08 GPG average is best in the NHL this season among goalies who have at least ten starts. He also ranks second in save percentage at .926. Dallas and Detroit both win in overtime tonight and both now are on five game winning streaks. The Red Wings are beginning to come around after a bad start to the season. Other winners on Tuesday were the Lightning, Oilers, Maple Leafs, Blue Jackets, Flames, Wild and Golden Knights.

Browns quarterback Deshawn Watson suffered a setback in his injury recovery. Watson's season ended back in October when he suffered a ruptured Achilles during a loss against the Bengals and the latest setback could put him out of most or all of the 2025 season. Watson has been a monumental disaster since being traded to the Browns, in 19 games he has posted some of the worst stats ever and the team has continued to struggle. Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield is playing this weekend with Tampa and helped them win the division for the second year in a row. If you remember the Browns traded Mayfield to make room for Watson, then inexcusably gave Watson a massive contract. Cleveland has the number two pick in the draft, I would expect them to select a quarterback. It is my belief that the Browns have moved on from Watson and he will not be part of their future. With his injury issues, massive contract, and terrible play on the field, I would not be surprised if the entire NFL were to move on. The Deshawn Watson experiment is one of the all-time worst failures in American sports history.

Radiohead - Creep

Black Monday continues as the Raiders have fired head coach Antonio Pierce after a dismal 4-13 season that included an 11-game losing streak. @sensei8 was on this one I think back in November. Yet again the Raiders are looking for a new coach. They fired Gruden in 2021, and McDaniel's in 2023, now Pierce is gone after his first full season, though he did get about half a season in 2023 after McDaniel's was canned. With the new rule this year that teams are not allowed to hire coaches who are on teams that are still playing we might see later announcements in hiring of coaches. For example, if the Raiders wanted to hire Lions OC Ben Johnson, they would have to wait until the Lions were out of the playoffs, which might not be until the Super Bowl is over. This will delay possible hirings by some teams. Now there are six teams looking for a head coach. Jets, Jaguars, Patriots, Bears, Saints, and Raiders. Edit: The NY Jets have already announced they will not even interview Ben Johnson because they do not think he is the right fit. Once again, the Jets show everyone how stupid they are.

Interesting video for sure, thanks for posting. As usual the teacher makes it look so easy, then the student tries it and it is tougher than it looks.

The Sabers end a three-game losing streak and get the win against the Capitals tonight, lead by Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson. Other games on Monday had the Avs beating the Panthers, Canadians wining in OT over the Canucks, and right now the Devils lead the Kraken 3-2 in the 3rd from Seattle. In a further note former NHL player, coach, and front office member Al MacNiel has passed away at 89. MacNiel won the Stanley Cup three times working in the front office, twice for the Canadians in the 70s and once as an assistant GM for the Calgary Flames in 1989. He also won the cup has head coach of the Canadians in 1971, a job he took over midseason. MacNiel played 524 games in the NHL. He was 89 years old.

Well, as I typically do, I did pretty well at following the diet plan for the first day or two but since then I have fallen back into my regular routine.

I saw the first one many years ago but never watched any of the others. Did not even know there was more than one, to be honest. I don't keep up with movies much anymore.

When I was in college I had a marketing class where our final exam was a presentation instead of a written test. We had to make a sales pitch for a product, and I was doing 5 Hour Energy. In the presentation I was giving free samples of different 5 Hour Energy flavors, but ended up with a lot of opened but not empty bottles. Well I was able to give a couple a way but I had several others, so I just downed them, and this class was in the evening, so I was wired. I remember lying in bed with my heart beating as if I was just done having an intense workout. I did not sleep that night. I said it was the last time I was going to drink an energy drink, and it was, for many years, but now I do drink one on occasion, usually a Celsius. However, I had a Ghost energy today. Energy drinks are terrible for you, and I recommend avoiding them, especially if you are sensitive to caffeine or have heart problems. I know people who down two or three Red Bulls a day and it is not good. If you need the energy boost I recommend getting more sleep, or if you can't, have some coffee. I've definitely had my caffeine addiction at times in my life, but a couple years ago I got away from it all together and realized I did not need the energy boost I thought I did to get through the day. Then somehow, I fell back into drinking it and now I feel addicted again. I wish I would get back to not drinking them, maybe than can be my goal for this year.

Nope, I don't have any based on the new year. As the year and life unfolds things will happen that I will aspire to but that is not based on new year's goals.

I've never heard of any of these. As Mickey Mantle once said "it's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you have been playing your entire life." It carries over the martial arts for sure.

Tyreek Hill wants out of Miami. Must be frustrating for the Dolphins who gave up five draft picks to get Hill in a trade only to have him say he wants to be shipped out of town. Maybe they can get some picks back if they trade Hill but clearly the Chiefs got the better of that deal. Not only did KC load up on picks, but they won two Super Bowls without him anyway and have a chance to three peat. Hill had a big season in 2023, lead the league in receiving yards and TD catches, but was down this year and had under 1000 yards. It has been a long time since the Dolphins won a playoff game, you have to go back to December of 2000, when they defeated the Colts, the longest current streak in the NFL without a playoff win. The team has not played winning football in cold weather either, so something needs to be fixed before the Dolphins can be true contenders.

Prince - 1999

As to the surprise of nobody the Jaguars have fired head coach Doug Peterson. Peterson, who coached the Eagles to a Super Bowl title, lasted three seasons. He was hired after the disastrous Urban Meyer experience which lasted less than one season. While Peterson had the Jaguars in the playoffs his first year the team struggled down the stretch last season, missing the playoffs, and regressed further this season. That means the following teams are looking for a head coach: Jaguars, Jets, Patriots, Bears, and Saints. The frontrunner could be former Titans coach Mike Vrabel who interviewed for the Jets position and is speculated to be interested in the Patriots job. You are also going to hear a lot about Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson who passed on head coaching options last year to stay with the Lions. It would be shocking if he did that again, expect him to be a head coach somewhere next season.