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As of right now, there is no NFL!  That doesn't mean we can't talk about football though, right?  Let's talk about Madden '12.  This year, EA and the Madden Franchise have put a bracket together to allow the fans to vote who is on the cover. 

Why is this a big deal?  Madden is the greatest gaming franchise in the history of video games, and this year we, the fans, got to narrow down the field and choose which athlete would grace it's cover.  This is also big news because of "The Madden Curse" ... <insert ominous music here> ... and its negative effect on seemingly everyone that has been on the Madden Cover.  This started with Eddie George in 2001 (The first year John Madden himself didn't grace the cover) and continued through the years with a multitude of injuries, or just all out horrific years. 

So who did the fans choose to be on the cover of Madden '12?  Well, we've narrowed it down from a field of 32 to only 2 players.  Peyton Hillis of the Cleveland Browns, or Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles.  You can cast your vote here.  

Vote for Madden 12 Cover

Do you choose the Ex-Con, Michael Vick that has "turned" his life around, or do we vote for someone from Cleveland?  This is a REALLY tough choice, but I will share my vote with the Sports-Break world.  I voted to give Cleveland something to cheer about; after all, they have to live with the fact that they have the Indians, Browns, and Cavaliers in their city.  What else do they have to be happy about?

The 2011 NBA Playoffs have begun and we’ll have to see what comes of it this year.  Will the Lakers get a 3-peat, or the Heat’s 3 Superstars going to be enough? How about the Spurs ‘Team-Players’, with the best record in the Western Conference , or the Old-Timers in Boston? 

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Personally, I look forward this year to a few upsets.  After the sweep of the Hawks last year, I think the Magic will have their hands full this postseason with the Boys from Atlanta.  The Knicks are a good team, and with the addition of Carmello Anthony, they have a good shot of upsetting the aging Boston Celtics.   

You’d think I’d learned my lesson after making predictions in the NFL playoffs, but here we go.  Round 1 predictions:

Chicago 4 – Indiana 1

Miami 4 – Philadelphia 2

Atlanta 4 – Orlando 3

New York 4 – Boston 2

San Antonio 4 – Memphis 2

New Orleans 4 – Las Angeles 3

Dallas 4 – Portland 1

Denver 4 – Oklahoma 2

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One week down and only 7 more to go in GSP's Rushfit workout.  As someone that wrestled for almost 10 years, played football throughout my adolence and participated in pretty much any other sport I could find for a number of years,  I thought I'd easily be able to hang with this and not struggle too much.  As you saw in my previous post, I did about half as well with the assesment as GSP, and that was a farely accurate testament.  During this week I did about half as much strength and endurance, using half the weight and half the reps that GSP himself was doing. 

It is nice though to see St. Pierre struggle with certain excercises, especially ones that I'm not too bad at myself; but just so that you don't get your hopes up too much that you might 'sorta' be in shape, Eric Owings, the GSP Rushfit Trainer has Georges doing extra work on a few of the remaining exercises. 

I find myself only slightly sore the following day, and not hurting so badly that I couldn't workout.  This is a HUGE benefit, since I've done previous workouts and found it so hard to move that I could not possibly work out the next day without fear of injuring myself.  With this workout program, you'll find yourself drenched in sweat but not failing to complete it.  GSP and Owings have worked out a program that gives your five 5-minute rounds of work out that gives you just enough recover time to go again. 

So far, this workout has worked for me,  even on vacation I'm finding time to do it (I did miss 2 cardio days, but did find myself doing other things those days to try and get something in.)  I can't wait for week 2 to start so that I can see more results. 

The Mets opened up the season against the Florida Marlins and didn't fare too well.  Most Mets fans felt the same way Stewie, from Family Guy, did.  Although many of the fans expressed this,  It probably wasn't smart for a SportsNet New York Employee, the Mets TV affiliate, to play this over the TV announcer, Gary Cohen, during a live broadcast after the 6-2 opening day loss. 

A representative of SportsNet told the NY Post that it was "a very poor decision" by an employee and that it was being handled "internally."  This means that either A) We didn't fire the guy responsible because he played a truthful clip.  or Unemployment went up by one more person.  Either way, I can't blame SNY.

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Minnesota Twins 94-68 - When a team wins 94 games the previous season, and doesn't lose anything major, it safe to say that they are going to be good again.  The one move they did make was signing Japanese shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka to a 3 year contract.  Yoshi won the batting title in the Pacific League, and averages almost 30 stolen bases a season for the last 4 or 5 years.  This helps them out with something the struggled with last year, Baserunning.  With Cleveland and KC still in their division, it's hard to imagine them with less than 90 wins. 

Chicago White Sox 88-74 - ChiSox headmen decided that not a lot of change was needed in the offseason to win this division.  They were six games back last year but made great strides in September.  They did make one BIG splash though with signing 1B/DH Adam Dunn.  Dunn hit almost 40 homeruns last year in the pitcher friendly Nationals Park, this means he's likely to hit 45+ in the hitter friend confines of US Celluar Field.  I think that will help boost them to 90 wins this season. and possibly the Central Division Championship

Detriot Tigers 81-81 - The Tigers added Victor Martinez and Joaquin Benoit this offseason, but they lost Johnny Damon and Dontrelle Willis.  The Loss of Damon and Willis end up not hurting the team nearly as much as adding a quality catcher to the team helps. Will it give them enough to overtake the White Sox and Twins?  That's a Question to be seen this season, as for me, I don't think they will.  84 wins this season sounds about right.

Cleveland Indians 69-93 - A team lead by Shin-Soo Choo isn't a team that's going to be any good. Orlanda Cabrera is playing a new position, and is with his 6th team in has many seasons.  Travis Hafner is the biggest name on the team, but he's nothing like he used to be.  with any luck, Grady Sizemore will come back earlier than later and give them something to look forward to.  Their ace is Fausto Carmona, and he's struggled mightly since breakout season a couple years ago.  This team looks destined to only get worse.  59 wins this year for Cleve-Land

Kansas City Royals 67-95 - KC added decent bats with Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur.  Francoeur adds a huge help in the outfield as he's seemingly led all of baseball in Outfield assists since he came into the league.  These guys aren't far off from being a good team, and in a few years I could see them coming around to win the division, but this year isn't their year.  76 wins for the Royals in 2011

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Tampa Bay Rays 96-66 - The Rays stepped up last year moving from 3rd place in 2009, and over taking the '09 World Champion Yankees.  They were hurt a ton by losing Carl Crawford in the offseason, but they did step up and sign Johnny Damon and Manny 'being Manny' Ramirez.  They made their already young bullpen a little better by signing Veteran fireballer, Kyle Farnsworth.  I don't think they can keep up the magic from last year and will take a slight dip to 90 or 91 wins.

New York Yankees 95-67 - In hopes to keep up with the Rays and the Red Sox, The Yankees went hard after Cliff Lee this offseason. They lost that battle, and ended up with Bartolo Colon.  That's not a big difference but still not who they wanted.  They also signed former-Cub Mark Prior, Eric Chavez, Rafael Soriano, and the always smiling Andruw Jones.  What this sounds like to me is that they are trying for everything they have to stay afloat by signing a bunch of dinosaurs that were good 10 years ago.  They will take a step back again this year and finish with 88 wins.

Boston Red Sox 89-73 - Boston made the biggest splash in the 2011 offseason for the AL East.  They signed Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford.  They'll hoping Jonathon Papelbon will step it up since it's a contract year.  What they need to step it up this season is Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester to continue their winning ways, and then add the Josh Beckett and John Lackey to pitch like we all know they can. I think this team will get back to scaring teams again this season, and will move into first place with 95 wins.

Toronto Blue Jays 85-77 - Vernon Wells was showed the door this offseason, and the Canadians were happy to spend that money to make their team better.  Their biggest hole last year was in pitching, and they signed Jon Rauch, Octavio Dotel, and Frank Francisco.  I think in most divisions this team will look pretty good, but sadly they are in the AL East and must play the Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox a combined 54 times this season.  I was surprised they won 85 games last year, and even though they got better in my opinion, they will lose 3 additional games this year.  82 wins for the lone Canadian team in MLB

Baltimore Orioles 66-96 - This team added Derek Lee, JJ Hardy, Randy Winn, Vlad Guerrero, and Mark Reynolds between December 31st and February 4th.  For one of the worst teams in baseball last year, they made a big splash.  It's not enough to make the O's contenders in the AL East, but you will see a much better team.  You can add 12-15 wins to their record to give them something in the 80 win range.

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Philadelphia Phillies 97-65 - Last Years favorites came up short in the NLCS,  but didn't wait long to make their team better this offseason.  With a Starting rotation featuring Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels, to add yet another ace in the form or Cliff Lee.  This gives them without a doubt the best rotation in baseball, and brings a lot of comparison to the Braves of the early 90's (with Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, and Avery).  They still have question marks though when it comes to the health of their Bats.  Everyone knows Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley are studs, but can they, along with fellow infielder Ryan Howard, stay healthy and produce?  Even with the 4 great starting pitchers, I think they will take a step back to 93-95 wins.  The will either win the East or Wildcard

Atlanta Braves 91-71 - The Braves snuck into the playoffs last season winning the NL Wildcard and making the playoffs for first time in 5 years.  They have one of the few pitching staffs in baseball that can compete with the Phillies: Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens are their top 4.  Adding a power hitting second baseman, Dan Uggla, and getting a healthy Chipper Jones back will help Brian McCann and Jason Heyward carry the weight of this team. With their 1 through 8 batting order, I think they will be able to take the Phillies. I look for 95-98 wins from the Braves

Florida Marlins 80-82 - The Marlins were just good enough last year to be a thorn in the side of potential playoff teams.  They were weakened in the offseason with losing Dan Uggla, but they will still be around to annoy the Braves and Phillies, I just think they didn't add enough to make them a better team.  I'm seeing a 70 win season from the Fish.

New York Mets 79-83 - The Mets were in the bottom few of all offensive categories last year, and they had a poor offseason.  Their ace, Johan Santana, won't be back until the second half of the season following shoulder surgery.  Their bullpen is going to likely blow most leads that they are given because it seems that most everyone in their pen has issues throwing strikes.  I see the New York 'Non-Yankees' only winning 65 or 70 games this year and finishing in the bottom of the NL East.

Washington Nationals 69-93 - Much like the Pirates, the Nationals can't get much worse this year.  The did lose Adam Dunn this year and that will hurt a lot, but the did replace him with a decent first basemen, Adam LaRoche.  LaRoche won't be able to match Dunn's power numbers but they brought in Jayson Werth to pick up the slack.  Their offense will have a chance to shine this season with Werth, Zimmerman, LaRoche, and Pudge Rodriguez. Their biggest whole in in their pitching, Strasburg will be out most of the season, if not all of it, so their ace is now Livan Hernandez.  They will be a better team this year though,  I see 75 wins this season and a move into 3rd place.

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GSP Rushfit arrived today, and the first step is to do the take the GSPRushfit assesment.  This consists of 4 workouts: Squats, Pushups, Situps, and Burpees.  Each is done in succession for 60 seconds each with a 20 second break in between.

You can watch Georges St. Pierres assesment test here: GSP Assessment 

Below you can see my results of the Assesment.  I'd like to use this to say I'm in half as good of shape as the baddest man in MMA.  But in all honesty, I know it's MUCH further from the truth. 

Exercise	Georges St. Pierre Score	Before Rushfit Score	Post Rushfit Score
Air Squats	75	46
Push ups	57	21
Sit ups	55	20
Burpees	22	12

I start tomorrow with the first day of GSP world.  Look forward to each week, and I hope that in 8 weeks we can have much better results in the post score. 

For anyone that knows me, you'll know that I've flucated with working out and with my weight over the last  7 or 8 years of my life.  I've been as small as 206lbs and as much as 258 lbs.  Currently I'm 227 lbs.  I've recently purchased GSP Rushfit from www.gspsrushft.com. Over the next 10 weeks i will have a weekly report of how the training is going along with my stats.

The training should start in 2 weeks.  After the 8 week program, I will post before/during/after photos of myself and promise to do this every bit as often as I can.

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1) Cincinnati Reds 91-71 - The surprise team of the National League in 2010 came away with the 3rd best record.  I remember thinking during the All-star game that there was no way the Reds would be able to keep up the NL Central.  The had just lost 4-straight games and that break was just what they needed.  They finished the year with a 5 game lead over St. Louis.  This offseason started off slow, but ended up with the Reds getting Edgar Renteria, and Jeremy Hermida.  They might take a step back this year though, since they lost Orlando Cabrera, Jim Edmonds, and Aaron Harang.  I think if they can continue riding MVP Joey Votto this season,  they should end the season with something between 85-90 wins and in NL Central/Wildcard contention

2) St. Louis Cardinals 86-76 - St. Louis has been the talk of the offseason, and not because they signed the biggest name. Albert Pujols has been with the Cardinals since his first Major League game, and this offseason he was asking for $300,000,000 contract extension.  The negotionations aside, their infield is still well above average.  If their outfield can hold up, it's well above average as well.  The biggest question mark is the Starting pitching since Adam Wainwright went down in Spring Training.  Even with the loss of their Ace,  the Cardinals will push 85-90 wins and like the Reds will mostly likely be in the running for NL Central/Wildcard

3) Milwaukee Brewers 77-85 - Milwaukee was only slightly below average this season, and I feel that with new Manager Ron Roenicke they are in a better place this year.  The added a couple Pitchers, and couple that with pitching they had last year, and this team is starting to look pretty decent.  Corey Hart, Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun, and the always dangerous Prince Fielder  are all parts of an offense that scares most National League pitching coaches.  I see these guys ending the season with 80 to 85 wins this season.

4) Houston Astros 76-86 - Houston will most likely take a step back this season.  They made a couple decent moves this offseason, picking up Ryan Rowland-Smith and Clint Barmes, but that isn't near enough to keep up with the others in the NL Central.  look for 65-70 wins from the Astros

5) Chicago Cubs 75-87 - The Cubs added a few pieces this year, but shouldn't get too much better than last year.  They replace Derek Lee with Carlos Pena, which is slightly an increase in offense but hurts with the glove.  Kerry Wood is back in Chicago but as a reliever this time.  Wood is a solid setup man and should help in the 7th and 8th innings. Finally they added Matt Garza from the Rays,  He'll move right into the top of their rotation and should help provide a much deeper depth.  They should win 81 games this year. 

6) Pittsburgh Pirates 57-105 - The Bucs were the worst team in baseball last season.  In losing 105 games, they set a record for most consecutive losing seasons(18).  This team is really bad, and they didn't get much better this offseason.  It's hard for me to predict that anyone will lose 100 games in a season.  so I'll say they are a 65 win team this year.