Well, here we go. The countdown to the Super Bowl has begun. The time for talking (at Media Day) has ended and now’s it time for the teams to get ready for the game. But before the talking ended, of course the Giants had to run their mouths a little more. Was there really any doubt that it would happen?

This time is was Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress doing the talking. He predicted the Giants would win and he also predicted the sometimes unstoppable New England Patriots offense would only score 17 points.

When asked about this bold prediction, Tom Brady’s response was something like “Only 17 points?” That’s a pretty tame reaction. But Brady knows what’s up. And he must know that making predictions and running their mouths is all part of the Giants MO. And if it wasn’t for the Cowboys and the Packers giving the Giants their games then the talking would’ve stopped a long time ago. Instead, we have to still hear the Giants and their foolish predictions and other silly comments.

I’m beginning to see things in a bit of a different light now. I’m beginning to fear this Super Bowl just might not be that close. I hope it is. And I hope the Patriots lose their bid for perfection. But I think the Giants are going to walk into a bee hive in this one.

The Pats and their coaches know what this game means. They also know that the Giants are vulnerable in a couple spots. We’ll talk more about these vulnerabilities is the next couple of days. And we’ll also talk about where the Pats might be vulnerable. But for now let’s just mention that the Giants are very weak in the secondary. They’ve been able to make-do against a Tampa Bay team that is very strong, a Dallas team that was just out of sync and dropping easy passes, and a Green Bay team that got a less than stellar performance from Brett Favre. But the Pats will be on and I think we may not see them punt the entire game.

I will tell you right now, I give the Giants very little chance to win the game but I give them no chance to hold the Pats to 17 points. That’s just not going to happen. If the Giants want to win they better plan on scoring at least 30 points.

(93)

Real Madrid travel to Almeria this weekend with some historic statistics. They have won their last eight league matches, all their home games this season, and have amounted fifty three points from twenty one games. Although their level of play hasn’t been amazing and they have been accused of not playing ‘beautiful’ football, they affectivity has been devastating. Last weekend saw them beat Villarreal at home by three goals to two to put them nine points clear of second placed Barcelona, fifteen points from Villarreal and sixteen form fourth placed Atlético Madrid. People are now saying that the league is all but over, and Madrid know that their only rival is themselves.
Almeria though won’t be a walk in the park for Madrid, as quite a few top teams have found out for themselves this season. They have won eight games this season, which isn’t bad for a newly promoted club, and have beaten teams like Sevilla, Espanyol and Valencia. They also are on a great run of three consecutive wins, so whatever happens on Saturday, one of them is going to end their winning streak.
One of the secrets to Madrid’s success is their lack of major injury problems this season. Central defender Metzelder is still out though, and may even have to go through surgery to correct his niggling foot injury. However, he hasn’t played a big part in Madrid’s plans so far and won’t be too missed. The problem for coach Bernd Schuster though is the injury to Pepe. He has played an important role and as he plays in the same position as Metzelder, there only remains Cannavaro and Sergio Ramos to cover. Also out are Heinze and Marcelo –both left backs- but one or the other should be fit to play against Almeria.
The Andalucian side doesn’t have any injury worries at all and face Madrid with all their heavy artillery at the ready. This will be an historic day for Almeria, as they haven’t faced Real Madrid at home in an official match for over twenty seven years, and will definitely make a party of it. The stadium has sold out of tickets already and with the support of the fans they are hoping to surprise the leaders of La Liga.
This won’t be as easy for Real Madrid as people are thinking. Almeria has a serious side and is well organized. However, they don’t possess the class that Madrid does and I’m going for a narrow away win.
Prediction: Away win (2-3)

South Africa meet Senegal in Kumasi in a match that both teams must win to retain any hopes of going through to the next round.

Senegal were stunned 1-3 by Angola after leading the game going into the lemon break. That leaves them with a point from two games. They need to win this and hope that Angola get the better of Tunisia. Henri Kasperczak has resigned as national coach, and that means that the team is undergoing a crisis of sorts. One could also see the Senegalese players arguing with each other during the Angola game, and despite having one of the best teams in the tournament on paper, the Teranga Lions have not managed to come up with the results that people expect out of top teams. Assistant coach Lamine N’Diaye will take over the team for this game. The tackles were flying in against Angola, and four Senegalese players got carded. Moustapha Sall is suspended while Habib Beye, Abdoulaye Faye, Souleymane Diawara and Diomansy Kamara are on one yellow. Papa Waigo could return from injury, and Henri Camara may get his first start of the tournament.

Life has been tough for the young South African team. They needed Elrio Van Heerden to rescue them against Angola, and turned in a forgettable performance against Tunisia. South Africa need to win this game by a huge margin and hope that Tunisia beat the Palancas Negras If Rowan Fernandez is still not fit, Moeneeb Josephs continues between the sticks. There are doubts regarding the fitness of fullback Tsepo Masilela and Steven Pienaar, who created South Africa’s only goal of the evening for Katlego Mphela. Aaron Mokoena and Bryce Moon are on a yellow, with no South African getting booked against Tunisia, in comparison to Senegal’s physical game in midfield against Angola . Against the likes of Diouf and co., defensive mistakes need to be avoided at all costs. Carlos Alberto Parriera will be hoping for divine intervention if the Bafana Bafana are to qualify for the next round. South Africa’s finishing needs to improve if their passing game has to result in goals.

Senegal are desperate but so are their opponents. If the Teranga Lions can combine as a team, there is no reason why they shouldn’t beat South Africa. 3-1 to Senegal- Diouf, Niang, Camara and Zuma on the scoresheet. The last three encounters between the two have seen Senegal winning two, with one being drawn.

Qualifiers from three of the four groups have been decided, and now it is the turn of Group D’s representatives to stand up and power themselves into the quarterfinals. In this clash, Roger Lemerre’s Tunisia take on Luis Goncalves’ Angola in Tamale.

Tunisia come into this match after drawing with Senegal and beating South Africa 3-1. Dos Santos was extremely impressive, thereby justifying Lemerre’s faith in him after his poor performance in the draw against Senegal. A draw here would put both Angola and Tunisia into the quarterfinals but both the teams have stated that they have no intention of doing so. Santos, Traoui, Ben Fradj and Zaiem are on yellows. For the first time, Roger Lemerre has the exciting Amine Chermiti available for selection. The Etoile Du Sahel forward was suspended for the first two games. Yassine Chekhaoui bamboozled the South African defence with his movement, and could be a deciding factor against Angola. Saber Ben Frandj played well against South Africa, but the yellow card that he got for time wasting leaves him walking a thin rope in this one. Chouki Ben Saada may again be played ahead of Issam Jemaa.

Angola produced one of the greatest upsets of the tournament when they came down from a goal down to beat Senegal 3-1. They lead for most of their game against South Africa and were robbed of two points by a late strike from Elrio Van Heerden. Flavio and Manucho have combined well upfront, and the latter has shown why Sir Alex was impressed by him. However winning battles in the air is not going to be easy, given that the Tunisian defence consists of tall and hefty people like Jaidi, Felhi and Haggui. The trio dealt with all the crosses that the Bafana Bafana put into the box, and Luis Goncalves needs to think about it before playing. 2 of Angola’s three goals against Senegal came from headers. Flavio, Macanga and Airosa are on yellows.

A draw will ensure progress for both teams, and will see Senegal and South Africa knocked. And judging by the way the two teams have played, a draw would be probably be a fair result. We could even see Tunisia nicking it by a goal. Chekhaoui and Manucho on the scoresheet. The second placed team in this group will have to face Egypt, and that will be on the minds of Lemerre and Goncalves.

On Tuesday the NFL’s greatest circus – aka Media Day – reared its ugly head once again. And now – thankfully – it will go away for another year.

It’s not that I hate to watch media day. I actually kinda like it. It’s cool to see some players like Brady, Moss, and Manning, get absolutely hounded and surrounded while some of the second stringers sit idly by with nothing to do but watch. It’s good theater.

But to call it anything other than a circus is just silly. What we’re talking about is a bunch of people – many of whom can’t even be honored with the title “journalist” – asking questions that have nothing to do with football.

While there is plenty of non-football questions asked every year, probably the stupidest question ever actually had a little something to do with football. Years ago when the Washington Redskins were in the Super Bowl, their quarterback was Doug Williams, who just happens to be African American. One of the reporters asked him, “How long have you been a black quarterback?” Huh?

Not sure what the reporter meant but it’s tough to make this into an intelligent question no matter how much you twist and turn it.

Perhaps the reporter was distracted by all the other “stuff” that goes on during the session.

This year was no different with the strange happenings. You had the woman from TV Azteca running around and making a spectacle of herself. You have Kenny Mayne (from ESPN) running around and getting ready for his weekly segment in which something funny will be happening. You also had Kellie Pickler running around and conducting interviews for the Tonight Show.

And that’s just to name a few things. There is a lot of other madness that happened as well. You can even tell the players don’t take it seriously by the answers they give. Some of the players are kinds funny but most of them are just trying to rip off a great one-liner and failing miserably.

But if I had to tell you what I think the best part of Media Day is I would be able to say with absolute certainty that it’s the fact that when it’s finished everyone gets really serious about the game.

And that’s where we are now. We have made it to part where the teams get really serious and it’s only football that’s focused on. No more Media Day and no more of the other silly stories. Now it’s time to get ready for some football.

(92)

Racing de Santander are the form team at the moment. The two – two draw at the weekend means they have lost just one game in the last eight, and that defeat was against Barcelona at the Nou Camp so they are doing pretty well at the moment. What’s more is that they beat Athletic Bilbao by two goals to nil in the first leg of the quarter final of the King’s cup, and could reach the semi final for the first time in their history. All in all it has been a very good season so far for this Racing side, who are getting used to winning matches. They are still sitting comfortably in sixth position in the league, four points above seventh placed Sevilla, and astonishingly enough, they are only four points from a Champions league spot. Before this Levante game they do have to play Athletic Bilbao in the return leg of the King’s cup, but I’m betting on coach Marcelino using some of his reserve players to defend their two goal advantage.
Levante can also be pleased with themselves, although obviously much less than their opponents in this game. Last weekend they finally won an away game, their first of the season. Murcia were the unfortunate side and fell by three goals to two. It was a close game though, and Levante were very lucky with the late winner. Even with this victory though, they still have a very tough job of surviving in the league. They are currently bottom and ten points from safety. They also have a very difficult task ahead of them in getting something form this match against Racing de Santander. Add to this the chronic financial problems the club is going through and there seems to be no way out for the club. They have just sold Brazilian defender Alvaro to Newcastle and the money will go a long way to playing off some of their debts, including the player’s salaries and other staff.
You really have to fancy Racing de Santander to take all three points in this match. They have been playing some delightful football of late and their morale is so high I doubt very much whether Levante could stop them.
Prediction: Away win (1-3)