Hello people of America and welcome back to another edition of the Highlight Reel blog. This weekend was one my best predicted weekends in sports in a long time! Saint win and the Colts win making this Super Bowl one of the best match ups in years. Two great quarterbacks will square off to prove who is the champion of the NFL. We will get into this in great detail in weeks to come.

I would like to thank everybody who has been apart of this show and the listeners for making this show number one on scoreonair.com. Tune in all this week for great sports action and we might just throw a little humor in there as well. The one thing I look forward to is watching Joe from the Buckeye Show singing the Mountaineer fight song. Hail West Virginia! hahaha.

Brandon
scoreonair.com

I am a huge Ohio State fan. This is no secret. Brandon Lowe, executive producer of 'The Highlight Reel' is a huge West Virginia fan. This is no secret as well. The two of us have made a bet on the air and will discuss tomorrow. Should Ohio State beat West Virginia, Brandon will be forced to come on The Buckeye Show and sing the OSU fight song. Should West Virginia beat Ohio State, I will be forced to come on The Highlight Reel and sing the WVU fight song. May the best OSU basketball team win

Boring, predictable, and just about as entertaining as watching professional golfers watch the grass grow before tee off time. What is this I am talking about? The NFL playoffs of course! This weekend I was hoping for some playoff magic or at least some hard battled games. It seemed to me like we were watching the Bearcats and Gators play every game I watched this weekend except for the Jets and Chargers matchup. Let's go into each one and just find out exactly what I am talking about, shall we?
Everybody thought since the Cardinals last week put up 50 points that they would have to come into New Orleans with some momentum. Wrong... Drew Brees, who should of been named league mvp came out on fire and ended the game with 23/32 247 yards and 3tds not to mention Reggie Bush who decided to actually play this game pulled out the most yards average by a rusher per carry in a single game since the Super Bowl era. Kurt Warner who is suppose to retire after the playoffs really did not stand out until he got laid out after an interception he threw trying to make the tackle. Warner tried to comeback into the game but later left due to the school being so high and the fact that they would like Warner to walk to the Hall of Fame and not roll his wheelchair up to the ceremony. The final score of this retarded matchup was Saints 45- Cards 14.
The Colts and the Ravens, the most hyped up game of the day. Before the game and of course in the media world everybody was doubting the Colts because of all the time the starters have taken off to rest for the playoffs. Wrong again sports world, I really do not know how many times these people could be so wrong. The Ravens who destroyed the Pats last week and just put on one hell of a defensive battle came into this game and let Manning do pretty much whatever he wanted but still put on a good effort never the less. The second thing is that when looking at this match up you think about the comparison of the defenses- Colts- weak- Ravens - strong. Not the case here, the Ravens put a field goal in the 1st quarter and never landed another point the rest of the game making Joey Slacco throw 2 picks no tds but at least he threw more than 4 passes. Not to mention holding the "awesome" Ray Rice to 67 yards and no tds. Hats off to the Colts defense for out playing the Ravens for four quarters and giving yourself a 20 to 3 win.
Now let's talk about the domination by the oldest quarterback to start a playoff game and win it, of course we are talking about Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. The next match up would be the choke artist Cowboys and the Vikings of Minnesota. Don't cha know? Let's start wil Favre, 4 tds 234 yards passing on 15 attempts, were the Cowboys defense even out there. We can not give Favre all the credit considering he had another great performance out of one of the best receivers in the league Sidney Rice who caught 6 passes for 141 yards and 3 of Favres td passes. Jumping off the offensive of wagon, let's just go ahead and say that the Vikings defense completely shut off Romo by getting to him on several occasions and never letting him get comfortable as Romo ended the season with 22/35 198 and 1 int performance. The running game was never effect as well and that 12th man aka the purple dome-ination was stunning. Vikes win 34-3 over the Cowgirls of Dallas.
The most exciting game of the weekend goes to: the Jets and Chargers. The rookie Mark Sanchez finally got comfortable in a hostile enviroment and lead the Jets on two drives to the end zone to push them past the Chargers 17 -14. Got to give a big thumbs up to the Jets defense as well really taking it to the Chargers offense in the second half, gaining two picks in the second half one leading them right into the redzone to start the drive. The Jets won two playoff games since 1982 and also became the second team with a 9-7 record to beat a 12-4 team out of the playoffs. The biggest factor to me was the missed field goal from 40 yards by 12 year old Nate Kaeding not to mention the other two he missed earlier. You put 9 points on the board and the Chargers would of won this game, not to mention a lot of laundry on the field for the Chargers as they had 10 for 87 yards. This was my pick up game, not going to lie I was kinda asleep all weekend until this game came on. I will post another blog on Friday to give my predictions and comments on the upcoming NFC championship game between the Vikings and Saints. As well as the AFC championship game between the Jets and Colts.

Brandon Lowe, Executive Producer - Highlight Reel
ScoreOnAir.com

Hello all sports fans and welcome to an old fashioned, smashed mouth, in your face, welcome to the league weekend. When you saw upsets in basketball, NFL playoffs, Pete Carroll coming in terms with the Seahawks, and the next years predicted top 25 for college football post. These are just some of the big news to come in the year of 2010.
Not to mention you got an NBA player who decided to bring in guns to the locker room and claim it was a joke. The only joke in this situation are the Wizards. Maybe he brought the guns to put everybody out of thier misery but hey if you wanted off the team, you should of asked for a trade. If Iverson can get traded then anybody can get traded Oh, speaking of trades if I hear one more trade rumor of Lebron going to the Knicks I might just have to stop watching NBA news. Give it up Lebron loves Cleveland and he wants to finally put that city on the map.
In the NFL playoffs, I saw a couple of things that surprised me. First, the Cowboys actually pulled together and took the Eagles to the woodshed twice in two weeks. Two words:very impressive. How did the bungalos choke two weeks in a row? I thought personally the last week of the season's loss to the Jets were just to put off the show for the playoffs. So much for pulling together as a team and getting it done. But hey at least you made it there>not. The Ravens just took it to the "has been" Patriots 33 to 14. One word:Wow. The best game this weekend was of course starring ex bagger Kurt Warner-Super Bowl Champion Quarterback- winning in stunning fashion in overtime over the Packers 51 to 45. Now Kurt Warner is saying after the playoffs he will retire and return to bagging groceries. Just kidding.
College men's basketball had a lot of surprises with some top ten teams crumbling to defeat. Let me start with the best upset of them all with Kansas getting beat by an under matched Volvs team by a margin of 8 points. This is suppose to be the best team in the country but they fall to the 15th ranked team in the nation. But the Volvs have been nothing less than perfect at home posting a 8-0 record this season. Thanks to the walk on McBee who hits a three point stunner to seal the victory and lop side the big mo to the Volvs. Kansas (14-1) will try to regain themselves with a game coming up with Nebraska Wednesday at 9:00 pm in the national spotlight.
Other big upsets occurring in men's baskteball include: Maryland over 19th Florida State, Arizona over 22 Washington, 17GT over 5Duke, Notre Dame over 8WVU, Missouri over 10Kansas State, UNLV over 14 New Mexico, Miss St over 16OleMiss, and the other big upset 20 Wisconsin over 4 Purdue giving them their first loss of the season. So many upsets to report hope I did not miss one. If I did I am sure no one is begging me to post you in this blog. RIP top 25>someone put a hit out on the top 25?
The final thing I want to bring up of course is the Pete Carroll affair with the Seattle Seahawks. We all saw what Pete did the last time he was in the NFL, it wasn't like in Southern California where people were begging for Pete's attention. In Southern California Carroll posted a 88-15 record in eight years, he reached 50 wins faster than any other USC coach in history, 7 pac 10 titles, 11 win seasons in the past 7 years most in school and national history, and not to mention national championships. There is more to his resume but I would be writing this blog for about a month.
Now let's look at his NFL resume: entered the NFL in 1984 as Bills defensive backs coach then held the same position with the Vikings for five years (1985-1989).Carroll was head coach of the New York Jets posting a record of 6-10 in 1994, only three other rookie coaches posted more wins in Jets history. Carroll's defense lead the league in pass defense in 1989 and won the NFC Central Division. In 1995-96 he spent some time in San Fran where they won the NFC west and had the leagues top defense posting a record of 12-4. In 1997-99 he was the Patriots head coach, guided them in the playoffs first two years, 9-7 record in 1998, 27-21 record 1-2 in playoffs, and has second best winning percentage in Pats history with 54 percent.
So after taking this all in I have come to a conclusion that Pete Carroll could potentially do big things with the Seahawks but it will not be an easy road. Since we saw a man of pure genius Mike Holmgren fail eventually in Seattle although getting them to the Super Bowl. Does Pete Carroll have enough left in the tank and will he be able to spark the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl and one day living like a Spartan in Seattle.

January 8th- Chris Mortenson, ESPN, reports that the Seattle Seahawks are targeting Pete Carroll, Head Coach of the University of Southern California, for their head coach vacancy left by Jim Mora Jr. fired the same day.

January 9th (my birthday by the way) ESPN reports that Seattle and Carroll are close to inking a deal worth $35 million over five years to be head coach and President of the Seahawks.

Now all that being said, two questions come to light. Why Carroll and why now? We could start by looking at the fact that USC and Carroll, have lost a significant lot of coaches due to USC's success over the last ten years and the struggles the team faced in 2009 because of those losses.

Norm Chow/Offensive Coordinator- hired by NFL's Tennessee Titans as Offensive Coordinator- now holds same position @ USC's rival, UCLA

Lane Kiffen/Offensive Coordinator, replaced Chow- Hired as NFL's Oakland Raiders as Head Coach- now Holds Head Coaching Position at the University of Tennessee

Steve Sarkisian/Offensive Coordinator, replaced Kiffen- Hired as Head Coach at the University of Washington

John Morton/QB Coach- Hired as Offensive Coordinator at the University of Washington

These are just a few examples of what USC's football program and Pete Carroll essentially has lost over the last five years. Replacing coaches with resumes such as these men is more difficult than you can imagine. Carroll you might say is a victim of his own success.In 2009 USC missed a BCS bowl game for the first time since 2001, losing 6-10 to Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Then there is the Reggie Bush scandal. USC's football program is currently under investigation for boosters setting up Bush's parents in a $300,000 home. Bush, a Heisman trophy winner for USC, denies any wrong doing and no word from the NCAA has come down as far a ruling on the situation. Clearly the writing is on the wall after USC's basketball program was sanctioned heavily for the O.J Mayo scandal that cost then coach, Tim Floyd his job. I guess your wondering is Carroll running? Is he trying to get from under the gaze of the NCAA's ultimate power? I say without a doubt, YES! Think about it, February 3rd is National Signing Day. Why would Carroll put his program at risk of losing top recruits to this story if he wasn't leaving? Quick answer, HE WOULDN'T.

Coaching these days is a dirty game, in all college and professional sports. Say one thing only to do another. Building a dominant program is clearly a job for those not afraid to get their hands dirty. Image has become everything and Carroll's has been squeaky clean for the most part. Untill now, when sanctions and penalties would stain a reputation he has vigorously tried to protect. So rather than do what he is supposed to set the example to do for these young men who came to USC on his promises, he runs. Only to follow in the footsteps of fools such as Spurrier, Petrino, and Saban who left for the greener pastures in the NFL, only to come back with their backsides receiving a substantial beat down at the hands of real professionals.

So in closing, "Buyer Beware" Seattle. Pete's record in the NFL is something the "12th Man" might not even be able to overcome.

Danny Cross
Scoreonair.com

Well how does it feel OSU/Big 10 fans? did you feel it? around 8:00 PM New Years day the proverbial monkey woke up, decided he had had enough, and got off our back. With Penn State's win over LSU in the Capital One Bowl and Ohio State slowing down Oregon, the Big 10 is no longer the official laughingstock of the college football world (here's looking at you, Pac 10). All of the pundits said that in order for the Big 10 to gain respectability, the conference "big boys" needed to step up and win meaningful bowl games. Mission:accomplished. What the weekend did for the Buckeyes was springboard them to a national title run in 2010. They will undoubtably be a preseason top 5 team and to say they play a manageable schedule would be an understatement. Terrelle Pryor looks like he finally gets it and will be one of nine returning offensive starters, and should the dominoes fall the right way (in other words: not fall), Ohio State could boast arguably the nations top defense. Things are all well in Columbus, Ohio. At least until Marshall invades the Horseshoe.

Watched a very fun packed college football bowl weekend. Ohio State finally got out of thier slump and won a bowl game. Good thing they were not playing the SEC, lol! But now it is back to business and I am happy to return to the highlight reel for a full week of great sports conversation and much more. Look out also for our free for all friday where we have the freedom of pretty much doing anything for the day. Thank you all for listening to our show and keeping us number on on scoreonair.com

Whats up Chalk Talk Tribe. There's a new Cheif in the house and his name is Danny Cross or "DC" if your in his good graces. All that being said, from everyone here at ScoreonAir.com, We wish you a safe and happy New Year. We hope that 2010 is as big for you as our aspirations for the scoreonair.com are.

All that being said, Com'on on man, tune in. We know your siting there ,at your computer, staring at numbers or a blank word processor page.... Why not at least be entertained? Nothing to watch, just listen, it doesnt hurt...........YET!

Todays topics..... We pick the games of the weekend. Why? Cause the studio is closed the next 2 days, NUMBSKULL!

Pro Bowl Selections....... Why do we care when you obviously dont? I'll tell you why, cause it's a Reunion in the NFC, we'll explain at 2pm on scoreonair.com .

Also, We'll pick the story of the decade in the NFL. Is it Micheal Vick and dogfighting? Favre retirement, oh wait.... not so fast, Patriots Video Scandal, or Rush Limbaugh vs McNabb, the list is endless really, but these fit the bill the most.

TUNE IN, IT'S BETTER THAN WHATEVER ELSE YOUR LISTENING TO.