Take Your Pick- Best Defensive Player in NFL to Build Team Around

Question- If you were building a franchise, would you build around a superb pass rusher (DeMarcus Ware), a shut down cornerback (Darrelle Revis) or a guy that has the responsibility to anchor the entire defense at linebacker (Patrick Willis)?

     The best defensive player in the NFL needs to be able to defend both the run and pass. Revis and Ware are outstanding at what they do, but Revis and Ware are not elite at stopping the run. Patrick Willis was the anchor of the NFL's best run defense at middle linebacker. Willis also broke up twelve passes, more than star defensive backs such as Champ Bailey and Eric Weddle. While only playing thirteen regular season games last year, Willis forced five turnovers, more than Revis and Ware. Patrick Willis is the backbone of the NFL's best defense and given the fact that he makes an impact both in the run and pass game, Patrick Willis is the defensive player I would take first if I was building an NFL franchise, making him the best defensive player in the NFL. 

  

     

Best Head Coaches in NFL- 2012

     As we head into the upcoming season, let's examine which teams have the advantage in the head coach department. Coming in at number ten is new Rams coach Jeff Fisher. After years of coaching the Tennessee Titans, Fisher is back hoping to carve the Rams into the same, consistent franchise the Titans were in Fisher's time. Tennessee's lack of consistency was seldom and while they never won a Super Bowl, they were always a team that you had to take seriously. Without a lot of talent in St. Louis right now, an immediate turnaround this season will be in part because of Fisher leading the charge.
     Next in the rankings is the infamous Rex Ryan. The Jets have taken a lot of heat recently because the failed to make the playoffs last year and though it is only the preseason, the prognosis for the 2012 season is bleaker than usual. While the Jets are heading in the wrong direction, it speaks to the job Ryan has done because he has set the bar so high. In his first two seasons, he lead the Jets to back to back AFC Championships. Ryan's motivational tactics may be a hit or miss at times, but to appear in two AFC Championship games in three seasons is very, very good, which puts Ryan as one of the top ten head coaches in the league.
     At eight is Andy Reid. Few coaches have had the longevity of Andy Reid and while his tenure in Philly has been unstable at times, he has managed to lead the Eagles to five NFC Championship game appearances and one Super Bowl appearance. Reid has been to the playoffs with three different quarterbacks and has succeeded with different personal on his roster, securing his status as a top tier head coach.
    Next is Jim Harbaugh of the 49ers. In his first season as an NFL head coach, he turned San Francisco from a 6 win team to a 13 win team that was one or two miscues away from a Super Bowl appearance. Not bad for his first season. Harbaugh is one of the most passionate coaches in the game and if he continues to take the 49ers to new heights, he will continue to move up this list.
    Jim Harbaugh has nothing on his brother John Harbaugh, who ranks at six in this year's list of top head coaches. The Ravens are one of the NFL's most stable franchises and starts at it's core with Harbaugh. Baltimore was on the verge of breaking through and getting to the Super Bowl before falling just short. In Harbaugh's tenure, the Ravens have been one of the most successful playoff teams including the most road playoff victories since 2008 by a large margin.
    Cracking the top five is Mike McCarthy, head coach of the Green Bay Packers. He has a Super Bowl ring and his Packers went 15-1 last season before falling short of a repeat. McCarthy is proven as one of the more innovative offensive coaches in the league, as exemplified by Aaron Rodgers putting together one of the most prolific seasons in NFL history in 2011. 
     As we move on closer to number one, at four is Mike Tomlin. Tomlin has taken the Steelers to two Super Bowl appearances, winning one. The Steelers are a perennial contender, establishing Tomlin as one of the game's best coaches in terms of motivation and consistency. 
     Next is Tom Coughlin, head coach of the defending champion New York Giants. Some may make the argument he should be at number two, but though he has two Super Bowl rings, the Giants are at times inconsistent and fall short of expectations. That being said, Coughlin is a veteran and his leadership and expertise has guided the Giants on two remarkable Super Bowl runs.
     Number two is suspended New Orleans coach Sean Payton. Bountygate scandal aside, Payton took over the Saints in 2006 and lead them to the NFC Championship in his first year. Three years later, the Saints claimed their first Super Bowl title, a complete 180 turnaround from where the Saints were four years prior. Payton is one of the game's best offensive minds which is a big reason why the Saints are so difficult to stop offensively.
     And finally, the best coach in the NFL has been and remains Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. Three Super Bowl victories, five Super Bowl appearances, nine division titles in eleven years and an undefeated regular season. Some of his minor achievements are leading a Tom Brady less team to an 11-5 record with unproven Matt Cassel at quarterback. Belichick is not only the best coach in the game right now, he is one of the greatest coaches the NFL has ever seen. 
                                        

AL Cy Young Debate

     Chris Sale, Jered Weaver and Justin Verlander all are on the bump tonight for their respective teams. That raises the question, who is the favorite in the AL Cy Young race heading into September and who will end up winning that battle? First, here are your contenders. There are those three guys I mentioned above and then the other two are David Price and Felix Hernandez. If the award was given today, it would be extremely difficult to hand this award out because all five pitchers have been outstanding in their own right, but the award would go to Felix Hernandez by a slim margin. Hernandez is 13-5, equaling his win total from when he won the Cy Young award a couple years ago along with far fewer losses heading into the final month of the season. Hernandez leads baseball in innings pitched, confirming his case as a workhorse pitcher that the Mariners can consistently rely on to pitch late into games consistently while he is also second in the majors in strikeouts behind Verlander, showing that he remains one of the nastiest and most dominate pitchers in the league. On top of that, he leads the majors in shutouts with five, three more than the second most in the league as well as the perfect game very recently against the Rays that will sit in many voters minds come award time.
     While I believe Hernandez deserves the award in one of the tightest award races in many years, you could ask ten different people and no more than three of them will all agree on the same guy being the winner if the season were to end today. So the race will come down to the final month of the season. The pitcher that is most likely to fall out of this race is Jered Weaver and it is due more to his teams failing performance. While Weaver is a terrific 16-3, he has far less strikeouts than the other guys he is competing against and his ERA is also the highest among the other four pitchers. I predict that because the Angels will ultimately fall a little short in the end, Weaver's campaign will fall with it, even though I think he will win at least 19 games.
     The next determining factor will be how the AL Central race plays out. If the White Sox hang on, it will most likely be because of Chris Sale holding off the Tigers. On the other hand, if the Tigers were to catch the Tigers and win the Central, guaranteed it will have something to do with Justin Verlander leading the charge. I believe Verlander will be outstanding in September, but the Tigers will fall just short. Chris Sale will have another strong month as well, furthering his case for the Cy Young.
     Finally, we have David Price. His Tampa Bay Rays sit in possession of the final and it has largely been because of Price's superb season. My prediction is that the Rays capture a wild card behind Price continuing to pitch like an ace.

    With Weaver out and Verlander not having enough of a case, the race comes down to Chris Sale, David Price and Felix Hernandez. Sale's lack of dominant performances including no shut outs up to this point put him slightly behind Price and Hernandez, narrowing it to a two horse race. Price and Hernandez is a pick him, both are deserving. But voters will not overlook the raw numbers. Forget the fact that Hernandez plays for a pedestrian Mariners team, his lead in strikeouts, shut outs, innings pitched and ERA along with his stellar record with few losses will give him his second Cy Young Award over David Price after a thrilling month of September.

MLB's Most Crucial Matchups Down The Stretch That Will Decide The Playoff Races

Aug. 27-29- St. Louis @ Pittsburgh
 
What's at Stake: The Cardinals hold a one game lead over the Pirates, who remain on the outside looking in as of August 26th. The Pirates will throw their best at the Cardinals in hopes of utilizing their home field advantage to leap frog the Cardinals in the Wild Card race.

Sep. 3-5- New York @ Tampa Bay
 
What's at Stake: The Yankees lead in the AL East is substantial, but the Rays are closing in. The AL East is not out of the question and two or three wins in this series for the Rays will not only help them fend off the four teams chasing them in the Wild Card race, they will put some added pressure on the Yankees.

Sep. 7-9- Detroit @ Los Angeles
 
What's at Stake: The Angels need a big month of September just to get even with the teams chasing the two wild card spots. One of those teams is the Detroit Tigers, who are in two races, one for the wild card and one for the AL Central. Hopefully we'll see a Justin Verlander/Jared Weaver duel in this series.

Sep. 7-9- Los Angeles @ San Francisco
 
What's at Stake: Everything. This is the first big series new additions Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett will play in as members of the Dodgers and it comes against the team they are chasing in the NL West, the rival Giants. The pitching match ups should be tremendous as well as the pitcher v.s. hitter match ups including Matt Cain having to fight through a 3-4-5 combo of Matt Kemp, Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez. Baseball at it's best will be on display in this series.

Sep. 10-13- Detroit @ Chicago
 
What's at Stake: Both clubs are surging as we head into September, so the winner of the AL Central will come down to whether Justin Verlander will be enough to stabilize a sometimes shaky Tigers rotation and will that be enough to out pitch the tremendous duo of Chris Sale and Jake Peavy that has gotten the White Sox this far.

Sep. 14-16- St. Louis @ Los Angeles
 
What's at Stake: The Dodgers continue to muscle their way into the playoffs while the Cardinals hope to rekindle some more September magic to get back into the playoffs.

Sep. 18-20- Los Angeles @ Washington
 
What's at Stake: Stephen Strasburg will be shut down by around this time of year, so while the Nationals try to avoid a major collapse in September, the Dodgers look to capitalize on not facing Strasburg in their quest to make the playoffs.

Sep. 21-23- Chicago @ Los Angeles
 
What's at Stake: There will come a time when the Angels need to put up or shut up. Talent wise, they are the best team in baseball and if they get hot at the right time, it may be very difficult for an anomaly like the White Sox to keep up with the Angels if they get hot at the right time, severely impacting the AL Central race.

Sep. 28-30- Tampa Bay @ Chicago 
 
What's at Stake: The Rays young pitching staff will be tested in the coming weeks when the Rays need to stave off many teams including the White Sox as they attempt to make the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.

Oct. 1-3- Baltimore @ Tampa Bay
 
What's at Stake: The AL Wild Card, assuming both teams are still around, will come down to this matchup right here. Both teams are tied as of August 26th and it will be very intriguing to see whether Baltimore's no name pitching staff can continue to keep pace up to this point and sneak into the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Oct. 1-3- Atlanta @ Pittsburgh
 
What's at Stake: The Braves could be fighting to win the NL East because stranger things have happened in baseball. The Pirates also look to be in a position where taking two out of three could be enough to get them into that fifth and final wild card slot.

Oct. 1-3- San Francisco @ Los Angles 
 
What's at Stake: Baseball's best race comes to a climax in the last week of the season. Odds are these two teams are within a game of each other and they will only be fighting for the NL West title because the final wild card should come down St. Louis and Pittsburgh. With everything on the line, get ready for what should be one of the most thrilling ends to a baseball season.

NHL's Best Uniforms

     In response to ESPN's recent uniform rankings, I figured that a few adjustments needed to be made. Here are the rankings for the NHL's best uniforms.

30  Florida Panthers
29  Anaheim Ducks
28  Columbus Blue Jackets
27  Dallas Stars
26  Nashville Predators
25  Phoenix Coyotes
24  Winnipeg Jets
23  Carolina Hurricanes
22  Minnesota Wild
21  Colorado Avalanche
20  San Jose Sharks


19  Ottawa Senators


18  New York Islanders


17  Calgary Flames


16  Buffalo Sabres


15  Washington Capitals


14  New Jersey Devils


13  Pittsburgh Penguins


12  Los Angeles Kings


11  Tampa Bay Lightning



10  Vancouver Canucks
 

9  Boston Bruins
 

8  Edmonton Oilers
 
7  St. Louis Blues
 
6  Philadelphia Flyers
 

5  Montreal Canadiens
 

4  New York Rangers
 

3  Chicago Blackhawks
 

2  Detroit Red Wings
  

1  Toronto Maple Leafs