Why I want the Dolphins to make the playoffs
I should first point out that I am a Patriots fan. (Readers: Booooo) Ok. But if the Patriots can’t make it into the playoffs this weekend, my clear preference for AFC East winner would be the Miami Dolphins.

If the Dolphins beat the Jets this week in the Meadowlands, it would be a great thing for the NFL. Why? Because it means that parity in the league really does exist, and that every year is truly a new year for teams (I’m looking at you, Detroit Lions). The Dolphins had just 1 win last year, then made a few smart moves, and now they control their own destiny into the playoffs. You can say they’re doing it with a gimmick offense, and a QB with less pop in his arm than a Red Ryder BB gun, and with a cupcake schedule, but they are doing it.

The Lions aren’t as bad as they seem. It’d be one thing if they phoned in every game after going 0-10 and then finished the season at (likely) 0-16. But they’ve played hard every week. They gave the Colts, who may be one of the most dangerous teams in January, a tie ballgame into the 4th quarter. This team also has some talent too, even if most of it is concentrated in the body of Calvin Johnson. But if a 1-15 team can make the playoffs a season later, who’s to say that a 0-16 team can’t?

Headline: “Guns Found At Burress’ Home”

How is this news? No one is denying that Plax had guns. The evidence is lodged somewhere near his femur. So it’s pretty obvious that he would have guns in his home… right? Obvious enough that it shouldn’t be headline news. Just keep a lookout for this headline next: “Christmas 08; Presents, Ornaments Found Lying Near Trees”.

“Those damn Yankees!”

That quote was uttered by Angels OF Torri Hunter, as well as millions of Red Sox fans around the New England area. But people need to stop hating on the Yankees. They have the four highest paid players in the game, and that those four players’ salaries could pay for the payrolls several small market teams and GDP of a small country. But what is lost in the Yankee-bashing is that they’re payroll is actually under what it was last year. Th Bronx Bombers shed $85 million in payroll this off-season. Even with the big signings so far, if they stopped spending now they’d be penny-pinching compared to last year.

And while they Yankees are buying all the Christmas presents for Scott Boras’ extended family, it seems the Rays aren’t going to be bothered by the rah-rah going on in NY, probably because they’re too busy making their team better as well. The Rays signed reliever Joe Nelson for a frugal $1.3 million. I had never heard of him before the signing, but with a 2.0 ERA and 60 strikeouts over 54 innings, I’d guess that he was cut from the same cloth as Grant Balfour and J.P Howell. Pitchers who no one has really heard of, until they beat out both Goliath and Godzilla in a Japanese-biblical battle for the AL East.
Say as much as you want about the Yankees, but I want to know how the Rays keep getting these bargains on some of the best talent in the league.