Are you ready for some football?! The time is here!

The time is nearing. Thursday night the NFL season finally kicks off and I must say as much as I love the Brewers it's time to move on to my other favorite team. You know, the one who's stadium shares the Wilber's Way flag with Miller Park, the Chicago Bears and the NFL.
So why, you are probably asking, is there a picture of Aaron Rodgers on the top of the page? Well, that one is easy, my friends, I'm a smart fan and am willing to realize that Rodgers and the Packers might be the team to beat in all the land. It will come down to the Packers defense in Year 2 under Dom Capers in the 3-4 defense and how well the guys around Rodgers step up. I'm going to cut right to the chase and make my division-by-division picks. Yes this is debatable, so please comment below and let's get the chatter going.

NFC North
Packers: The Green and Gold will beat out Brett Favre who will be without key parts for half the season. That might be enough for the Packers to get out front and beat the Vikings in their trip to Lambeau this season.
NFC South 
Saints: The defending champs will have to fend off the Falcons to win the division, but should get it done with Drew Brees leading the way.
NFC East
Cowboys: This might not be a popular pick with the followers of the way, but Tony Romo and his supporting cast is good enough to beat out the Shanahan-led Redskins for the division.
NFC West
49ers: This one is pretty much by default, but the Niners will have a lot of teams outside of the division fits this year. The key is coach Mike Singletary bringing Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis, Frank Gore and Alex Smith together. That should be a potent quartet and all they need to do is get on the right page and stay healthy.

Wild Cards
Vikings: Favre will get this team back to the playoffs.
Redskins: Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb are too good to not get this team into the playoffs in their first year on the job with the weapons of Chris Cooley and Clinton Portis.


Before we get into the AFC, I have to talk about Joe Flacco. He might be the player with the most pressure on him in the entire league the season. Don't think so. Here's what I'm thinking. Yes, Ray Rice and Willis McGahee are in the backfield to ease the pressure, but for the first time in his NFL career, Flacco has guys to throw to on the outside in the traded for Anquan Boldin and the just signed T.J. Houshmanzadah (I'm allowed to spell that wrong). Add to the mix and aging defense and the offense will need to score more points to keep the wins coming. The one thing about him that leads me to think he will step up to the challenge is that winning is all he knows. The guy is the hero of Delaware. Name me one person that amounted to anything from there not a politician and I'd be surprised. OK, back to the Division picks.

AFC North
Ravens: The defense is aging, but can still make the big plays when needed and that could be the difference.

AFC South
Colts: The Texans are going to be in the hunt, but Peyton is too good to let the Colts sink. The only thing Indy might lose could be the consecutive seasons with 12-wins one that has made them the model of consistency.

AFC East
Patriots: Randy Moss and Tom Brady are in contract years. I'm not sure Brady will throw 50 TDs and Moss catch 25 like they did a couple years ago, but they might come close in proving how much they mean to their team.


AFC West
Chargers: Philip Rivers has had LT to look to turn to in each of his season until now. We'll see what he's made of on his own now. Let's be honest, there really isn't anyone else in the division who will put up a fight.

Wild Cards
Dolphins: Brandon Marshall's arrival means the 'phins have a playmaker on the outside. If they can work that i with the Wildcat, their offense should start carrying their part of the bargain.
Texans: I'm going to be honest, I originally had the Steelers in this spot, but Pittsburgh is nothing without Big Ben and him missing the first four games is going to take until Week 6 to shake off.
I'm saying Matt Schaub and the crew in Houston finally gets over the hump and into the playoffs.

Playoffs
NFC Wild Card
Cowboys over Redskins
Vikings over 49ers
AFC Wild Card
Patriots over Texans
Dolphins over Chargers

NFC Divisional Playoffs
Vikings over Saints
Packers over Cowboys
AFC Divisional Playoffs
Colts over Dolphins
Ravens over Patriots

NFC Championship
Packers over Vikings
AFC Championshp
Ravens over Colts

Super Bowl
Packers over Ravens
Yes, I just picked the Packers to win the Super Bowl. Now they will win just six games this season because hells is close to freezing and they need to balance the world. Or, everything will come together and they will show why I just took a chance on them.

Coming up: With a game Thursday, I'm going to make a quick post tomorrow night to continue something I started last year with posting my picks, by doing the same this year.
Friday or Saturday: My Bears season preview will come one of those two days depending on when I get to it and if I have game prep to do for that other Web site I write for.

Had enough NFL talk for the night. It's time to check out the woman Jason Kidd calls his own and the woman who is the Playboy Playmate of the Year. Yes there is hope. More specifically, Hope Dworaczyk. Want more? Here ya go!

Looking to give the "Perfect Blog" today

Well, this afternoon was a perfect one for Mark Buehrle and the Chicago White Sox. Of course, I was doing other things at the office, but when word came over he was into the eighth with a perfect game in tact, I was glued to the Game Tracker, then the radio in the car outside of the office (Yes, 670 AM The Score reaches West Bend).

I tuned in just in time to hear Dewayne Wise make a home-run stealing catch on Gabe Kapler's shot to left center field. It sounded good when I heard it, but after seeing it, I knew it was crazy. Wow. The story is every perfect game and no-hitter seems to have a defensive play that is amazing and that fit the bill in this one.

Here's your comb around the Interweb for some stories on the gem of a game pitched by the somehow underappreciated southpaw. Mike Bauman talks just about that fact here and this one talks about Mark getting a call from Chicagoan who just happens to be President, Barack Obama.
Those are on MLB.com, these are on ESPNChicago.com. Nick Friedell writes how the scene was (obviously) wild at U.S. Cellular Field and this story looks back at his first career no-hitter in the bigs, back on April 18, 2007.
Finally, here's a look back at all the perfect games in MLB history as this was the first in 10 years. It was also the first no-hitter of the 2009 season. Here's a look back at the rest of the no-hitters in MLB history.

Yesterday, the main feature here was the Lebron dunk video and, to be honest, it was such a disappointment. So lame. Well, Ebaumsworld.com got a much clearer one. Same play, just as lame. Was reading a story on SI.com on the matter of confiscating the tapes and what it does for LeBron and I might agree with him a little bit. Take a read for yourself.
Here's the new dunk video:



Another great video today that I found today on SI.com's Hot Clicks, one of my usual spots, is this Joe Flacco NFL.com "Fantasy Files" They had the same feature last year. Take a look at some of the best here.



OK boys and girls, I've told you before I was a big fan of Entourage and this week's episode was a damn good one. But apparently Seth Rogen didn't get the joke. He's pissed about Turtle and the gang making fun of his fatness and looks. Here's the story.

While I'm on the subject of Entourage, I always have to make time to mention Sloan, or Emmanuelle Chriqui, who is one of my favorites on the show. Apparently Perry Reeves really likes her breasts. And well, how can you not? That folks, is our Nussie Hunter for the day!



A programming note for you: Tomorrow I'm covering baseball all day and won't have time to get a post in for sure. So might have a 3-day weekend as I make a trip back to Cuba City to handle some business and then see some friends. Keep looking for some great web knowledge.