After months of hard fought play and exciting NFL conference championship games that feel like they happened ages ago, the day for the big game is finally here – Super Bowl Sunday is upon us.

As everyone puts the finishing touches on their hot wings and pizza and fills their coolers with beer in anticipation of the action between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers, it’s down to the wire for some good old fashioned Super Bowl betting.

The Super Bowl is a classic example of two sides being pitted against each other, with the fans of both the Packers and Steelers carrying the on-the-field battle between the players into living rooms across the country sure to be full of trash talking. When it comes to bragging rights, what better way to celebrate your team’s win is there than making the right Super Bowl picks.

You already know that Troy Polamalu and James Harrison are beasts on the defensive side or that Aaron Rodgers anchors a high-powered offense. Everyone’s seen Clay Matthews relentlessly attack quarterbacks and Charles Woodson has been annoying receivers with his pesky defense for years.

Combine that knowledge with the Super Bowl odds and you just might be able to take your own trip to Disney World.

You don’t know anything about Rex Ryan or the Ryan family if you thought the New York Jets head coach would change his trash-talking ways after a 45-3 Week 13 loss to the New England Patriots. Rex said in his postgame press conference that he would line ‘em up and play the Patriots again if they could. It’s six weeks late but Rex is getting his wish.

Oddsmakers have the Patriots as 8.5 point favorites over the Jets which seems mighty generous considering the last beatdown at Gillette and all of the talking NY is doing. The payback for the mouths of Ryan and Antonio Cromartie should be worth seven points alone. Then you add in home field advantage and the hit-or-miss Mark Sanchez vs. Brady and I have the line closer to two touchdowns. But all of that is just entertainment. The game promises to be war.

In Round 1 Rex Ryan set his sights on Peyton Manning and was successful. Granted the Jets beat one of the worst playoff teams in Manning’s career but a win’s a win. The squad they’re facing Sunday in Foxborro is playing at an all-time high level and won’t make the mistakes Indianapolis did. No audibles to long runs on third down. No timeouts called when the Jets have none remaining.

The Jets beat the Patriots 28-14 in their Week 2 meeting and that earned them a 42 point loss the next time the teams met. What’s the payback for calling Brady an asshole and saying you’re out to get Belichick? 52? 72? If you check the NFL Super Bowl favorites found at BetUS you’ll see the AFC East has the best odds to win the Super Bowl at +130. The number says more about the oddsmaker’s faith in the Patriots than it does in the Patriots and the Jets. If Rex and crew pull of the upset watch the number for the AFC North (currently +300) drop significantly.

There are no moral victories so covering doesn’t mean jack for the Jets. In the grand scheme of things even winning this game isn’t that big of a deal (I don’t care if Rex says it’s the second most important game in the franchise’s history). Darrelle Revis told me this summer it’s Super Bowl or bust for New York. If they lose, then just like their mouths, the Jets crap out.

It hasn’t been a particularly good month for the New York Jets. Prior to winning their last game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jets had lost two in a row in December and were embroiled in a controversy involving one of their coaches tripping a Miami Dolphins player.

Just when it seemed like things were settling down, head coach Rex Ryan and his wife Michelle Ryan are now involved in an alleged foot fetish video scandal. According to DeadSpin.com, which broke the story, Rex and Michelle appear to have created a series of foot fetish videos online.

DeadSpin provided a bunch of compelling evidence suggesting it may in fact be Mr and Mrs. Ryan in the videos, which were originally published on YouTube.com through the last several years. The story has taken the Internet by storm today and Rex has responded by saying he will not respond to the story, citing it as a “personal matter.”

“To be honest, and I get it, I know you need to ask and all that stuff,” Ryan told reporters when asked if the situation could snowball into a distraction. “But it’s a personal matter and I’m really not going to discuss it, OK?”

Ryan said it was between him and his wife and he would not elaborate beyond that. At his news conference, he was asked repeatedly about the videos and said many times: “It’s a personal matter.”

Even if the story is embarrassing (and it is) it shouldn’t be too big of a deal in a few days, since he technically didn’t do anything wrong. One thing is for sure though, it’s yet another distraction for a team that was widely believed to be a Super Bowl favorite coming into the season.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, Bet on Super Bowl at BetUS.

-Will.

Will R. is a journalist/writer who covers sports, news and music for several websites. His music work can be found on www.WestCoastRydaz.com

We’re used to seeing Troy Polamalu throw his body into the opposition for a devastating hit that gets shown over and over again on ESPN. On Monday night Polamalu’s head and shoulders ended up on the wrong end of a highlight. The Cincinnati Bengals used defensive tackle Domata Peko at fullback for a goal line run and he cleared a path by putting his pads on Polamalu. It would’ve been the biggest hit of the game if not for TO running over a security guard after a touchdown catch.

Brett Favre and Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress don’t get along and their relationship won’t be improving any time soon thanks to Chili’s postgame press conference after Minnesota’s OT win over Arizona. Childress was all over the place during the interview, even cussing a couple of times, but he went one step too far near the end. When asked if he was looking for a vote of confidence from ownership Childress said “I’m not gonna stand here like Brett Favre and tell you, compassionate, that I need a hug. I’m alright.”

Dude is delusional. He doesn’t need a hug but Coach Brad is gonna need a job in the very near future.

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Austin Collie left the game with a concussion after being knocked out by hits from Philadelphia Eagles safeties Kurt Coleman and Quinton Mikell late in the second quarter. Coleman was flagged for hitting a defenseless receiver although it appears Collie had two feet down and made a “football” move. Either way, this week’s football “controversy” has been set.

As a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Clippers, I don’t have many reasons to smile or excitedly gloat about things in sports.

That’s especially true when it comes to the NFL. See I’m a fan of the Miami Dolphins, who I grew up watching thanks to my older brother being a huge Dan Marino supporter. That means I was constantly watching one of the greatest quarterbacks ever flounder year after year.

Terrible playoff losses and field goals instead of touchdowns were a staple of those teams. Fast forward 10 years and they’re pretty much the same. Since I can’t realistically expect to root for them in the Super Bowl any time soon, I take a lot of pleasure watching certain teams miserably fall short.

Enter the San Diego Chargers aka my team I love to see fail. Every true fan has a team they dislike so much that seeing them lose is almost as sweet as watching your own win.

I’ve known a few douchebag Chargers fans that would stick their chests out every season and huff and puff a bunch of bravado even though the franchise has literally accomplished absolutely nothing in regards to championships in its history. I’m talking about guys who would have someone believing the Chargers were the freaking New York Yankees of baseball with the way they’d brag about their team.

No matter how much they lied to themselves about how good the team was and how ‘this year will be the one we win it all!’ they always found ways to choke and get eliminated. This year has been particularly sweet for me because of a start even worse than their usual early season sputters.

Coming into yesterday’s game against the New England Patriots the Chargers were 2-4 and reeling and I was happy. By the time I turned on my TV I saw them down 20-3 and I was elated. I contemplated hopping on my Twitter and publicly rejoice in their suffering.

Thankfully I know about the law of jinxes in sports and kept my mouth shut, because some 20 or so minutes later I flipped back to the game expecting to see some post game analysis and I was instead shocked with at 23-20 score and less than three minutes left.

What the fruck? I’ve seen bad teams like the Oakland Raiders blow leads against San Diego in the past, but I sure didn’t expect that from Tom Brady and the might Patriots. I was suddenly very relieved that I hadn’t said anything about the previous score, because the outcome of the game was suddenly up in the air.

A failed fourth and one attempt by the Pats made it even worse, with Phillip Rivers and the fans energized and seemingly poised to pull off the potentially season-saving win. Thankfully they are the Chargers, so they stupidly got a false start penalty on a game-tying field goal attempt that set them back a crucial five extra yards and their kicker scored a fail and they lost.

Now they’re 2-5, have lost three straight and have pretty much cemented their place in the cellar of the AFC West. Somewhere I can just imagine how ridiculous those loudmouth fans must feel.

They won’t be getting any sympathy from me for their suffering, because I’m starving and this nice cold revenge looks delicious.

- Will.

The Sports Snob will be published once a week here on YouBeenBlinded.com. Will R. is a journalist/writer who covers sports, news and music for several websites. His music work can be found on www.WestCoastRydaz.com

For the Dallas Cowboys, the first five weeks of the 2010 NFL season have been quite a surprise. They started the year much like the New York Jets did, dreaming big and expecting an appearance in the Super Bowl that would be especially remarkable because the championship game will be played in the massive new Cowboys Stadium .

They’ve been a perennial playoff contender for the last several years but always came up short, unable to avoid ending a playoff winless drought that started in 1995 (their last Super Bowl win) until last year’s wild card win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

It seemed like a genuinely significant step forward for the Cowboys, who have had to endure the pressure of not only being “America’s Team” to so many, but the high expectations of their high profile owner Jerry Jones.

It also appeared to be room to breathe for Wade Phillips, who had endured calls for his firing every year since he became head coach for the 2007 season. Everything was supposed to come together this year, but then the games started.

After today’s 24-21 loss to the Minnesota Vikings , the Cowboys find themselves at 1-4 and in danger of watching their dream season turn into yet another disappointment.

It’s been bad all around for the team, from Tony Romo throwing two interceptions to bring him to seven through five games to ridiculously bad penalties and an overall lack of focus.

The awful start has re-ignited calls to fire Phillips and it honestly seems like right now is the perfect time to change things up. While they haven’t been as bad as their record would suggest, they’ve been their biggest enemy.

If you’re not sure what I mean, consider this; for the second week in a row they punished themselves through penalties, the most egregious being yet another one for excessive celebration after a score.

Coaches always take the fall when things go bad and it isn’t always fair, but in this case it’s absolutely inexcusable that Phillips would allow his players to learn nothing from the celebration debacle in last week’s loss to the Tennessee Titans.

If his players are going to act like children incapable of learning from their mistakes, he should have treated them as such. Even if it means threatening to bench people for disobeying, there needs to be a big notice on that shiny new giant TV screen in Cowboys Stadium that says “NO CELEBRATING.”

Given their record, somebody should remind them that you’re supposed to actually win first if you really want to party.

- Will.

The Sports Snob will be published once a week here on YouBeenBlinded.com. Will R. is a journalist/writer who covers sports, news and music for several websites. His music work can be found on www.WestCoastRydaz.com

I’m pressed for time this week so I’ll break it down quickly. I went 6-8 last week moving my season record to 30-27-4. The dogs were where the money was last week. Let’s see how they do in Week 5. My picks are in bold type.

Denver Broncos +7.5 @ Baltimore Ravens

Jacksonville Jaguars +2 @ Buffalo Bills

Kansas City Chiefs +7.5 @ Indianapolis Colts

St. Louis Rams +3 @ Detroit Lions

Atlanta Falcons -3 @ Cleveland Browns

Tampa Bay Buccaneers +6.5 @ Cincinnati Bengals

Chicago Bears -3 @ Carolina Panthers

Green Bay Packers -3 @ Washington Redskins

New York Giants +3 @ Houston Texans

New Orleans Saints -7 @ Arizona Cardinals

San Diego Chargers -7 @ Oakland Raiders

Tennessee Titans +7 @ Dallas Cowboys

Philadelphia Eagles +3 @ San Francisco 49ers

Minnesota Vikings +4.5 @ New York Jets

Prior to the start of the 2007 season, Brett Favre made it abundantly clear that he wanted the talented but troubled Randy Moss in Green Bay. At the time, the Raiders were willing to part ways with an unmotivated and underachieving Moss for well below market value.

The Packers unwillingness or inability to pry Moss from the Raiders was supposedly an offense Favre never forgave and was a major reason 2007 was his last in Green Bay. The bitterness only festered for Favre as Moss had one of the more prolific receiving seasons in history while leading the Patriots to an undefeated regular season and a Super Bowl appearance.

In a town where gridiron superstars are worshipped, Favre was arguably the most popular Packer of them all. The fact that he was willing throw all of that away, in part, because of missing out on Moss, is an indication of just how badly he wanted Moss to be a Packer.

Flash forward three years, Favre now has the chance to team with Randy Moss at long last. The protocol son has returned to Minnesota (via trade with New England), and Favre finally gets the electrifying vertical threat he so longed for in his last season with Green Bay.

Favre and the rest of the Vikings are hoping Moss can breathe life into a receiving corps that has been rather pedestrian so far. Minnesota’s offense has struggled mightily in its first three games with Favre unable to find a reliable target at receiver.

Without Sidney Rice, the Vikings have lacked the playmaking ability on the outside to threaten defenses down the field. Not only does Moss provide Minnesota a big play threat, he opens up the rest of the field for the other Minnesota receivers. Percy Harvin, Greg Camarillo, Visanthe Shiancoe and Bernard Berrian are likely to see looser coverage as Moss draws the attention of two or three defenders.

Brett Favre won’t be the only offensive star on the Vikings roster to welcome Randy Moss with open arms. All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson will also benefit from having Moss in the Land of Lakes. Amazingly, Peterson is averaging nearly 131 yards rushing a game with a passing attack that has been anemic to this point. He was likely to begin seeing safeties sneaking into the box to provide run support, but that now seems less likely with the arrival of Moss.

Some may say the move smacks of desperation given Moss’ notorious attitude and lack of all-out effort at times. Those questions are legitimate especially if Moss fails to become a feature in Minny. Given the enormous pride and egos of both Moss and Favre, it’s not hard to imagine this thing blowing completely up in the Vikings face if their fortunes on the field don’t turnaround fairly quickly.

Yes, the move may be a desperate attempt to save a season on the brink but most blockbuster trades or moves often are. As I was three years ago, I find myself intrigued by a Favre-to-Moss hookup. Only this time around, I get to find out if the substance matches the sexy.

–Antwan Leonard

Antwan writes a Fantasy Sports Blog – H2H Fantasy Sports – with the latest in Head-to-Head Fantasy news, tips and recommendations.

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