New Plans, Gallo, Missing McCoy, Playoffs

With the mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather apparently off, the Pacquiao camp has turned its attention to a Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KO's) fight on March 13. Clottey last fought against Miguel Cotto, a fight he lost, but many thought he had won. Although Mayweather claims he still wants to fight the Filipino champion, the failed mediation attempt this past Wednesday makes things iffy. This is all still up in the air, but it looks more and more that the fight we are all waiting for isn't happening anytime soon.

Danilo Gallinari played a crucial role in crunch time as the Knicks (15-20) held on against the Charlotte Bobcats last night in the Garden. He finished with 17 points on 5-11 shooting from beyond the arc, with two of those 3's in the final ninety seconds. He has never been scared to shoot and has been told by coach D'Antoni not to second guess his selection. However, earlier in the year he was getting too comfortable taking ridiculous shots. Last night's dagger, a 28-foot, straight away bomb from Gallo iced the game and received a roar from the MSG fans. It also prompted an arms out, "I'm the man" response from the young Italian. Keep it going Gallo!

I watched most of the BCS Championship last night, but missed the first eight minutes of the game. When I finally sat down and saw number 3 for the Long Horns under center I already knew the game was over. Colt McCoy is Texas football. His name is Texas football, his polite demeanour is Texas football and his competitive nature is Texas football. He is the heartbeat of that team and his loss affected the defense as much as it did the offense. Although the Long Horns made a push late and had a chance to tie the game, it was too much to expect true freshman Garrett Gilbert to step into the biggest stage in college football and play at McCoy's level. Its too bad for Texas, but McCoy has to be pretty bummed this morning that his college career ended like it did. I feel bad, he deserved the Vince Young farewell.


I am in Portland, Oregon right now and have tickets for tonight's Blazers/Lakers game. Both teams will be missing key players, but both teams will have their respective stars ready. Last year I was out here and the Blazers played the New Orleans Hornets without Brandon Roy, I am excited to final see one of my favorite players in the L. The Blazers have won eight consecutive home games against L.A. (dates back to 2005) and will try to keep the streak alive against a Lakers team missing Pau Gasol. Kobe Bryant will have to pick up for Gasol's absence, but hopefully not jack up 40 shots to do so. I'd love to see him spread the ball around and get Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum involved. Should be a good time, Portland fans really get behind the Blazers (they are the only professional team in the state). I Hope for a close game that features Roy and Kobe battling for 48 minutes. Oh yea, I got tickets to Friday's game against the Cavaliers. Mamba as an appetizer, King as the main course. Hope Kobe isn't reading this!

Jets are lucky to have made it into the playoffs, don't expect their luck to continue. Cincinnati has dealt with two deaths within the organization and has still played at a high level. Expect Marvin Lewis, Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco to get into round two.

I hate Dallas, love Donavon McNabb and hate Dallas. Eagles win a shootout behind solid effort from McNabb and a couple touchdowns from DeSean Jackson. However, expect a similar effort from the Tony Romo/Miles Austin combo.

I would love to see Baltimore bang around the Patriots in Foxboro and hush those New England fans. However, the Patriots are a different team in the playoffs and the Raven's offense is led by a young quarterback (Joe Flacco) and a talented, but young running back (Ray Rice). Matching those two against Tom Brady and Randy Moss is tough. Yes, the Ravens have an intimidating defense, but Brady doesn't fold easily. The Patriots will have to overcome the unfortunate loss of Wes Welker, whose absence could prove to be a difference.

The final game of the weekend is another rematch from week 17, with the Green Bay Packers visiting the Arizona Cardinals. Last week, Ken Whisenhunt decided to remove Kurt Warner earlier since his team was out of contention for an opening round bye. Packers won 33-7. I understand protecting your key players, you don't want a Welker dilemma. However, now you see the same team again with more momentum and confidence. This game is going to come down to which quarterback shows up. If Aaron Rodgers is on, and he has been most the season(4434/30 td/7 int), the Packers are a machine. However, he (as does Warner) has the ability to get a little sloppy and give points away. Smart ball management and minimizing turnovers (synonyms?) will decide who wins this one.