Was Polamalu right choice for NFL DPOY?

There was a lot of outcry, at least in these parts, about Troy Polamalu (yes it's spelled right) winning the AP's Defensive Player of the Year earlier this week. To be fair in this discussion there was no clear player that jumped off the page. Sure Packers fans all though Clay Matthews should have won the award running way, but that was not an open-and-shut case like they thought.
Matthews, like Polamalu missed time during the season. Both are however, the glue that hold their respective unit together. I'll admit I was a little shocked Polamalu shot to the top of the list for the DPOY over Matthews. But let's be real here, this award is voted on by 50 members of the AP not the Football Writers Association of America so there could be some discrepancy and issues with this.
To be fair, I actually thought Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher would be high than fourth or fifth, but they were both right there. Maybe it was my fandom that though this was close.
Polamalu is great and does impact games, but I'm not sure he was better than Matthews this season. Maybe in past seasons, but not this one. He did make a couple more plays that directly effected the outcome of games and tipped things in the Steelers favor. Matthews, while great, did not have many plays where you can say turned the game late in the Packers favor. I may be wrong on this, so let me know, but I can't remember any ideas off the top of my head.


So now the question become which of the two; Polamalu and Matthews is more of a factor Sunday? My answer is Matthews and here's why. I see guys like Lamar Woodley and James Harrison being more of a factor with Aaron Rodgers for the Steelers Sunday than Troy. The biggest key for the Steelers is going to be keeping Aaron Rodgers in the pocket or at least containing him where he won't run away from guys on the outside. Harrison says he's going head hunting, which is nothing new for him, but with him I wouldn't be surprised if he gets caught trying to lay a hit and Rodgers runs right past him.
On the Packers side of the defense, I see Matthews having more of an impact on getting to Ben Roethlisberger. Both teams blitz, but I see the linebackers for the Packers being more part of that with Matthews and A.J. Hawk likely being a big force in not only getting to Big Ben, but stopping the Steelers running game.
Does this mean Polamalu doesn't deserve DPOY? No. It just means in this matchup, he is going to be doing other things and won't have as big of a factor than Matthews.

I've hit a couple points the last two days leading up to the Super Bowl, but tomorrow is the big day where I will break down the game closer and make my pick for the game. If you have yours be sure to comment below or shoot us an E-mail.

Next up is some news on this blog. I am proud to announce this site which has seen 170 posts (including this one) will now be in conjunction with WiscoSportsTalk.com. Be sure to check out the site. I will still be covering all sports here, but will share some content and write some original content for them during the Brewers season as their Brewers beat reporter. It's a great opportunity for me to broaden the audience here and get a chance to do what I love covering a team I love. Should be fun.


Now to the Nussie Hunter portion of the broadcast. I'd like to introduce you to Kate Upton, an Australian model who is in a Guess ad campaign you can see here, and is also seen in some bikinis you can see here, and sample below. She is said to be the next big thing. So check her out!

Time to hunker down on Super Bowl XLV matchups

Super Bowl media day was Tuesday and while the day itself is full of crazies, yahoos and in the case of Ines Sans, hot crazies, hot yahoos.
There is absolutely nothing anyone who follows football takes from Media Day any more, but it is the kick start to Super Bowl week. Both teams had practice today and we can start getting into the meat of breaking down the game as it nears closer.
I'm not going to get too specific just yet as I have a bit of research to do on how the Steelers will handle some things, but I do have one thing of note to talk about.
No, it's not that Clay Matthews has great hair. I actually hate long hair on guys, but something more football related.
It is actually the debate on whether Ben Roethlisberger is a good quarterback or not. I was reading some things on my friend's Facebook pages that pretty much said he was worthless. While yes, off the field, he is not the best of guys, those who are on his team turn to him for leadership and he delivers. Yes, he has a great defense around him, but you can't ignore the fact that in big games he wins. You can go all the way back to his time in college at Miami of Ohio to see him winning big games. When he got to the NFL he has done nothing but win the game. He could have faltered under the pressure, but he has shined.
Some called him a game manager. Yes, he's not real flashy. And for a 260-pound quarterback he doesn't try to be. But when he's called upon to lead a big drive, you can't ignore what he has done. Just look at the great throw to Santonio Holmes to beat the Cardinals a couple years back. You couldn't have asked for better placement of that ball and Ben put it there.
Yes, Aaron Rodgers is becoming one of the best in the league, but you cannot ignore what Ben has done on the field. He wins games. The Steelers don't win games in spite of him, they win games because of him and the defense.


I didn't get time for a Brewers On Deck post to recap my day with the Brewers (Check the photos here) but again, there was controversy. Last year it was on Corey Hart taking the Brewers to an arbitration hearing and this year it is Rickie Weeks giving the Brewers a deadline for his multi-year contract.
After reading Gord Ash's comments on Tom Haudricourt's JS Brewers blog, it is being downplayed because that is the deadline the team had anyhow, but it is a bit significant. The way things sound they are so far apart it looks rather certain a deal won't get done, as Weeks submitted a number over $7 million for his arby hearing and the Brewers had one over $4.5 million.
The only difference from last year's deal with Corey Hart is that Weeks is coming off his best year as a pro and seems to deserve the money. I remember thinking Corey was dumb for taking it to a trial, but he ended up winning and then having a career year on top of it. Weeks seems set to go down the same path with his free agency looming.
If I were the Brewers, I'd swallow a little pride and get this deal done NOW. They cannot afford to lose him to free agency having just traded the prospect at the position away to bring in pitching. Rickie needs to be in the core of this team and deserves the payday.

Now to the Nussie Hunter portion of the broadcast of today's show. AskMen.com released it's list of 99 Most Desirable women Tuesday with Blake Lively being now at the top spot. I was unsure of the decision, but after checking up on her a bit closer, it may be a good call for a up and coming star. Here's some samples on top of the one below.