By Jon…

(See also… Jon Wants a National Title and Some Butterscotch… Be sure to be at the South Congress Bridge tonight if the Horns do win the National Championship. Jon’s gonna run down it naked…)

I told Toph about a week and a half ago that my New Year’s resolution was to rededicate myself to the Biz. Well, here we are a week into the New Year, and what have I done about it…

Nada.

So I’m going to do my job, live up to my word, and drop some Bizzo on all of you…

Here:

I had a conversation with someone the other day, the same conversation I have with most everyone who’s just getting to know me.

“Wait, you like sports?”

To which I reply, “Absolutely, I have been since I was a kid.”

And it’s true.

Quick tangent:

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I was at my Uncle Rey’s house in Bastrop. He’s a lifelong golfer who always lives right next to a golf course.  Anyway, we were sitting around talking about language. Uncle Rey made a point about how kids will invariably remember their primary language. If they learned it first, and learned it early, it will stick with them for the rest of their lives. It may start to atrophy if they don’t use, but they will always retain some connection to it.

He, of course, was speaking of their upbringing as Spanish speakers who learned English in school.

I, however, am using the quick tangent as a metaphor for my life as a sports fan.

When I was a kid, all of the kids in my neighborhood played sports. My dad played on his work softball team and we went to the game’s every week. And as a result, I spoke sports. My Uncle Lando used to call from San Francisco, and when I answered, he would tell me it was Tommy Lasorda or Tony LaRussa.

Most of my friends now, we’re all in to comic books at that age. And sure, I went to the comic book store as frequently as they did.

I never bought comic books, though. Just baseball cards. Lots and lots of baseball cards.

….

I guess looking at me now, it is a little surprising that I can rattle off an inordinate amount of sports trivia. It comes in handy. Especially during Trivial Pursuit games.

I guess the real point I’m getting at, is that people love different things for different reasons. And it doesn’t matter their reasons are. I love sports, because I’ve always loved sports. It was my primary hobby as a kid, and I’ll always retain some sort of connection to it.

Incidentally, Texas and Alabama are playing for the National Title tonight, and I’m effin’ pumped and it’s why I decided to write this article about my love for sports.

Because night’s like tonight are why being a sports fan is one of the greatest things in the world.

Doug, I’d say you were a lucky SOB, but you didn’t actually get to meet Melissa Rycroft, so you’re not.

But… Merry Christmas from Toph, Jon, Christian and the rest of The Sports Bizzo contributors.

Right, so we’ve forgotten to do a big Super Bowl Prediction post.

We’re fucking retarded, and were too busy planning the after the Super Bowl podcast, which, will be awesome. We’ll have Christian, Ray, Ryan and Eman on to discuss their favorite parts of the game. So, check it out Monday (unless we’re too drunk to do it). To make for it, here are chicks from both sides. Hotness is subjective.

Anyways, Toph says Cardinals, because he hate the Steelers 24 – 21.

Jon says Steelers 27 – 17, but wants the Cardinals to win.

Christian says whoever is in the lead is who he’ll be rooting for.

Enjoy!

The photo that launched 1,000 blogs.

Yes, we realize Allison is relative old news, but let’s be honest with yourselves, you’re still searching for her. TophSpeaks has been on it for a while now, and we want the traffic!

We’re actually big fans of Allison. She’s killing it at Cal (our unofficial bandwagon University). Hopefully, for the sake of the world we’ll see her in London for the 2012 Olympics.

Support your local track and field teams. You never know who could be the next internet sensation.

Keep up the good work, Stokke! (Sorry, all the other cliches have been exhausted. That’s what happens when I use you for traffic.)

Click the image for larger views…

Toph Preview’s the NFC East

Who’s the lucky guy with the best division in football? This guy. Covering the NFC East is a daunting task for anyone who’s a complete homer, which I am. Now I have to turn a slight biased eye when the Eagles, Giants and Redskins play. (OK, so maybe it’s only going to be when I write about the teams.) Of course, my hometown biased will come in to play when I declare to world in this week’s podcast that the Cowboys are my Super Bowl champion pick. But, really, is anyone surprised by this?

Thank God football season is here. I can almost smell the stale popcorn and taste the disgusting Bloody Mary’s of The Final Final, our sports bar of choice. There’s nothing better than waking up at 8am (earlier than I do for work) and catching the 21 bus (which is now the Pacman Jones bus) to drink and root for the Boys. Don’t worry, I’m not the most annoying fan there. No, that award goes to the awful Bears fans. Have fun with Kyle Orton.

When you cover the NFC East, you find it hard to forget that last year’s Super Bowl champs was actually the New York Giants. Strange isn’t it? You also have to remind yourself that the Eagles could put something together and make a run. Lastly, you have to make sure you tell yourself that even though Jason Taylor ruined his offseason with Dancing With The Stars, he could be a factor with the Redskins. (This just in… Jason Taylor is injured… hummm…) Now… let’s get to the preview.

Dallas Cowboys – Record: 12 – 4 – Super Bowl Champions

Disappointment the last 2 years?! Pshaw… Here’s an idea, rest of the NFL. Why don’t you let your undrafted 2nd string QB take over your team in the middle of the year? In a year and a half tell me where your team is, OK? Disappointment? Kidding me?

Here’s the good news, the Cowboys got better. Tank Johnson is here for the whole year, and he’s been looking mean as shit. I know you’ve been watching Hard Knocks, and you’re scarred of him. Hell, I am, too. The Cowboys defense will be sick. This is a defense that added Zach Thomas, Adam Jones and drafted Mike Jenkins out of South Florida. It’s damn near possible the whole Defense could be headed to the Pro Bowl. I get boners just thinking about it.

The Offense is planning on opening up the playbook this year. It’s enough to make me want to crap my pants, and I don’t have to plan a defensive scheme against them. Romo and Co. has looked good in the preseason (minus a few blunders), and they will light it up this year. Just draft as many as you can in your fantasy draft. Julius Jones has gone to Seattle, but in his place is rookie RB Felix Jones. As Jon likes to say, Felix will be the lighting to Marion Barber’s thunder. Or is it the other way around? Regardless, they will be a great compliment to the already stellar passing game. Don’t worry that they don’t have a big named #2 receiver yet. Patrick Crayton will do more than he needs to as the #2. Plus, with Hurd and Austin, the Boys are going to be OK. Plus, you can’t tell me you’re not more than OK with Witten being the #2 target, right?

And, how much do you love Jason Garrett’s dad? Hard Knocks rules.

I did pick them to lose a few, but honestly, I’m just trying to be judicial, and have no plans to do the math to make sure the records make sense.

Philadelphia Eagles – 10 – 6 – Wildcard

This is one of those shot in the dark kinds of predictions. Have they gotten any better? Well, as long as McNabb and Westbrook are healthy, then they’re better. Sure, this is a team that lost Kearse (underachiever) and Takeo Spikes (who’s only good in Madden), but they did get CB Asante Samuel. They’ve also added DT Trevor Laws out of Notre Dame, who will replace Kearse, as well WR DeSean Jackson out of Cal. Expect DeSean Jackson to do big things. He was all they talked about in the Bay Area last year, and Cal is now paying my wife’s salary. Since I went to such a crappy school, I’m totally jumping on the Cal bandwagon.

Go ahead and draft Brian Westbrook #2 in your fantasy draft. If you think Adrian Peterson is going to be better, youse dumb. If you’re playing the Vikings, don’t you put 12 guys in the box? What else are they going to do?

The Eagles defense is always really good, because Jim Johnson is really good. I could be starting DT for the Eagles, and we’d be a Top 10 D. They’ll bother the hell out of opposing offenses, plus they play San Francisco, St. Louis, Atlanta, Arizona, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Chicago and Washington twice. That’s 8 easy wins. They’ll probably get one against the Giants, and get into the playoffs. Plus, the Eagles have been known to have some phenomenal cheerleaders. They’re guaranteed to have a hand in two more wins just by being there.

New York Giants – 10 – 6 – Wildcard

It’s possible for the Eagles and Giants to have the same record. I did some counting, and they could easily win some games. Basically, the same games that the Eagles win, and I had them splitting, so it all makes sense. Unfortunately, the Giants won’t be as good as they were last year, despite adding QB David Carr (hahahhaha… ). In fact, besides the great Carr, all the Giants did in the offseason was pick up CB Sammy Knight. Sammy Knight? The Giants, of course, lost Michael Strahan to retirement and they just lost Osi Umenyiora to what appears to be year ending knee surgery.

On offense, it’s more of the same ugly we saw from them last year. Eli will have to once again pull a miracle out of his ass to get this team to preform. They just lack the star power on offense, and they pretend like Plaxico Burress is a top-notch receiver. He’s a good #2 guy at best, but when your other option is Amani Toomer, Plax looks pretty good. Brandon Jacobs was decent at best last year, and he’s probably not going to be any better this year.

On defense, despite losing Strahan and Osi, the Giants are solid. They’re like a better version of the Ravens and Bucs. Their secondary, which features an old Sam Madison and Sammy Knight (remember when they were Dolphins?), along with Aaron Ross and James Butler. This just in, we’re now hearing Strahan might come back? That’s cool, come back after you were allowed into Cowboys training camp for Fox. I hate this team. Regardless, the problem is, they won’t be able to stop the Cowboys onslaught of offense this year. It’ll be a decent year for them, but I will not take any of them in Madden or Fantasy.

Washington Redskins – Record: 5 – 11 – Sad

I do feel bad for the Redskins. I want them to be good, but it’s just not going to happen any time soon. They lost Sean Taylor, and rallied around that to put together a solid year. However, this year that’s not going to happen. They didn’t really lose anyone, QB Mark Brunell doesn’t count, and WRs Brandon Lloyd and Reche Caldwell are nobodies. They added DE Erasmus James to the solid defense, and had an OK draft selecting WR Devin Thomas out of Michigan State. But, who does this excite? They also added Jason Taylor from the Dolphins. He’s still really good, but, again, Dancing with the Stars pissed off some people in Miami. Apparently, they were right, because he’s already out with his first injury of the year.

Joe Gibbs is gone, again… and I can’t even remember the name of their new coach. They have an decent young QB in Jason Campbell, but this team isn’t going anywhere in this division for a while.

I’m not too mad, though. It’s guaranteed 2 victories for the Cowboys. Strange that Daniel Snyder didn’t spend any money in the offseason, though.

(Editors Note: The Bizzo welcomes its newest contributor, Eric “Tits” Ariola. [unapproved nickname that Jon came up with... I'm just saying])

By Eric…

If I don’t show up for work because I don’t like my pay, can I hold out? Imagine if the rules and ethics that apply to professional sports somehow bled over into the real world. Scene, middle of a heart transplant, a physician holds his patients life in his hands. Boom! All of a sudden he asks the relatives for more money to finish the operation. I am not trying to compare the trivial pursuits of a running back to the importance of a health official, but in some context isn’t it similar?

When someone asks us to do a job, to play a game in exchange for an exorbitant amount of money; should we just shut up and play? Stephen Jackson isn’t the first player to holdout from training camp to secure his financial success, but he is the most recent. I did some research before I started typing and the average career span for a NFL running back is 3.4 seasons. What then? A life reduced to commentary along with 4 other newscasters that have never played a day in their life? Shouldn’t he be trying to maximize his profitability while he is still marketable?

The flip side of that coin is that professional sports is an at will employer, they can cut you at anytime they want; sure there are certain penalties and protections given under collective bargaining agreements and protected by player’s associations, but that net is very slippery. Not producing? You end up playing arena ball in Grand Rapids for the Rampage. Your whole life can be ripped out from underneath you if you have a couple of bad weeks. Right now all around the country, players are fighting for their lives in NFL training camps. There are no guarantees anymore; your spot isn’t safe as an incumbent. Ran for 1500 yards last year, who cares, what have you done for me lately? Revitalized a franchise and given them credibility again? Who cares, what have you done for me lately?

I understand that these men are being paid on average, more money a year than most of us will see in our entire life, but have you seen Earl Campbell try to walk lately? The price they pay for fame and wealth can be ultimate. I don’t have to worry about breaking my neck at my job, or a baseball flying at my skull at 101 mph. It is a game, but a game with some serious consequences.

In the end teams have their best interest in mind; players are merely doing the same. I say good job Stephen Jackson, get your money while you can. Before you know it you will be hosting regional games for some cut rate radio station, and the Rams, much like every other franchise will make it without you.

When you’re good, it helps to also be hot. OK, so, just being hot is good enough for us, but we’re lucky that Ana Ivanovic is hot, too.

Currently, Ana is the number 1 tennis player in the world, but that could all change due to her early ousting at Wimbledon. Granted, nothing is certain at Wimbledon this year, Ana had a strong opening, but couldn’t quite overcome the physical drain the over 3 hour match had on her.

Don’t expect this sexy Serb to go away anytime soon, though. She’s cute, and seems to enjoy being in the limelight. For that, The Bizzo salutes her…

Natalie Gulbis, The Bizzo thanks you. We thank you for being good and hot at the same time. We’re aware that’s not an easy task, but you step it up every time. We look forward to seeing more of you on the course.

Natalie is a native Sacramento-ian, who has been on the course since around 4. She won her first tournament at the age of 7. Seven years later, at 14, Natalie became the youngest player to qualify for a LPGA event (a record that was broken by Michelle Wie). She was an All-American honors her freshman year at Arizona, and basically owned NCAA golf. She joined the tour in 2002, and finished 2nd as a Rookie of the Year. She’s been on the tour ever since, and we’ve been happy about that.

Here’s to Natalie Gulbis.

Do you have a hot athlete The Bizzo should know about? Hit us up at thesportsbizzo@gmail.com.