Sleeper Pick Up in Fantasy Football

Michael Hill from the Packer's practice squad has been signed to the Tampa Bay Bucs. He was the 2012 Player of the Year in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association. With all the other Tamp Bay Running squad being on Injured Reserve, you can look for Hill to get some carries. During his 2012 Season at Missouri Western State, he rushed for nearly 5,000 yards and had 35 touchdowns. So, if you need a running back check into Michael Hill.

Pressure on Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning is the most beloved Colt to ever play the game. Last year he was cut by the Colts for a much younger quarterback in Andrew Luck. Sunday night Peyton will return to his old stadium where he once reigned as Captain of the Colts but this time as the enemy.

Many people are writing that this is a battle between quarterbacks but is it? Do Manning and Luck actually vs each other? No, is the simple answer. It is Manning vs the Colts defense and Luck vs the Broncos defense. Currently, the Broncos have the 32nd ranked passing defense and 1st ranked rushing defense. On the other hand, you have the Colts with the 5th ranked passing defense and 29th ranked rushing defense.

If you ask most people this will be a shootout but I believe it will be on one side of the field. Andrew Luck will have a field day with the Broncos defense who have already given up 2,026 passing yards this year. Andrew Luck is no stranger to pressure situations and is ready for this situation. If you ask him, he would probably tell you that this is what he has been waiting for.

Photo taken by Jeffrey Beall

On the other hand, you have Peyton Manning. Yes, Manning is arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. He is also known for breaking under pressure. He made the playoffs 11 times, has been eliminates 7 times in the first round, and only has one Superbowl. This is not good for the Broncos because all of the pressure is on Peyton to win this game. Do not look for Manning to make record numbers but more of an average performance Sunday.

All in all, I have this game going to the Broncos.  This game will be won by the Broncos with the running and short passing game to Knowshon Moreno. This is a much needed game for Manning to help him overcome pressure moments but they shouldn't undefeated this year. If they go undefeated in the regular season, look for them to lose in the playoffs.

Wayne "The Great One" Gretzky

Gretzky is said to be the greatest hockey player ever. This may be because he is the leading NHL scoring or maybe because he has more assists then any other player has points. No one but Wayne has had over 200 total points in one season and he has done it four times. He has over 100 points in 16 seasons and 14 of the seasons were consecutive. When he retired he had 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records. This could be why he is considered "The Great One". 

Gretzky was not really known for being the strongest, biggest or fastest but he had a high hockey IQ and could dodge his opponents that would try checking him. It just seemed like he knew how to make the right move or shot at just the right time. 

Photo by Iris Kawling

Gretzky started in the World Hockey Associations (WHA) in 1978 with the Indianapolis Racers. He was traded to the Edmonton Oilers and shortly after the Oilers joined the NHL. He led the team to four Stanley Cups and was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988.  He led them to a Stanley Cup Finals in 1993. He has also played for the St. Louis Blues and the New York Rangers. He retired in 1999 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame shortly after.

In his 20 seasons, Gretzky played a total of 1695 games, 1016 goals, 2223 assists, and 3239 points. There is not much evidence to argue that fact Gretzky is the greatest hockey player and clearly he has deserved the nickname "The Great One". To this day when people think hock they think Wayne Gretzky.

Awards and Achievements:

• Ranked #1 Hockey player of all time by "The Hockey News"
• Hall of fame 1999
• WHA Rookie of the Year 1979
• NHL MVP 1980-1987 and 1989
• Scoring Champion 1981-1987, 1990, 1991, 1994
• NHL Playoff MVP 1985, 1988
• 4x Stanley Cup Winner
• 3x NHL All-Star MVP
• Olympic Gold Medal
• 8x All NHL First Team
• AP- Athlete of the Decade 1980s
• Ranked #1 Canadian Athlete of the Century
• Ranked #5 in ESPN's top 100 Athletes of the 20th Century
• His Number 99 is retired by the NHL
• Most Career Goals 1016
• Most Goals in a Season 100
• Most Goals in one period 4
• Most Career Assists 2223
• Most Assists in a Season 174
• Most Assists in one period 7
• Most Career Points 3239
• Most Points in a Season 255
• Most 3 or more goal games 50
• Most 100 or more point Seasons 15
• Highest Goal per game average 1.18
• Highest assist per game average 1.321
• Highest points per game average 2.04
• Longest consecutive assist scoring streak 23 games
• Longest consecutive point scoring streak 51 games

The Axe Murderer

Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva is one of MMA's most vicious fighters of all time. He received his nickname "The Axe Murderer" from his aggressive style of fighting. A majority of his fights end in either a knockout or a referee stoppage due to strikes. His striking style is based of the art of Muay Thai, which helps him destroy his opponents with combination of knees and punches. 

Wanderlei has had a total of 49 fights in his mixed martial arts career with 35 wins, 12 losses, 1 draw, and 1 no contest. Twenty Five of these wins came by the way of knockout. He even had a 5 year undefeated streak where he had 18 wins and 13 knockouts during his PRIDE reign. Wanderlei holds wins notable wins over Guy Mezger, Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Quinton Jackson, Ricardo Arona, Keith Jardine, and Michael Bisping.

Photo by Lee Brimelow

Wanderlei Silva is one of the only fighters who never would turned down a fight. Even if he had to move up in a weight to take on a contender such as Mark Hunt or Mikro "CroCop" Filipovic. He has even fought twice in one night. If you were to get into a street fight this is a man you would want on your side.

Achievements and Accomplishments:

• First Pride Middleweight Champion
• Longest undefeated streak in Pride (20)
• Most win in Pride (22)
• Most Knockouts in Pride (15)
• IVC Light Heavyweight Champion
• 2004 Sports Illustrated Knockout of the Decade
• 2004 MMAFighting.com Fighter of the Year
• 2007 Fight of the Year
• 2008 Knockout of the Year
• Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Shaquille O'Neal

Shaq is the heaviest NBA player to ever play the game. He weighs 325 pounds and stands at 7'11". Shaq was first drafted in 1992 by the Orlando Magic. During his 19 season career he played on 6 different teams. These teams include Magic, Lakers, Miami, Suns, Cavilers, and Celtics.

During his career he won 4 NBA Championships, 3 with the Lakers and 1 with the Heat. O'Neil was one of the most dominate centers to play the game. He was not only part of the 3 championships that the Lakers won. He was the MVP of all three NBA Finals that the Lakers won, while he was on the team. This is pretty amazing considering Kobe Bryant was on the team during this time period. He is currently 1 of 3 players to have a NBA MVP, All-Star MVP, and NBA Finals MVP all in the same year. This puts him in the same category as Michael Jordan and Willis Reed.

Photo by Keith Allison

During his Career Shaq averaged 23.7 PPG, 2.3 BPG, 2.5 APG, and 10.9 RPG. Shaq is an inspiration and role model to all centers that play basketball. He has a great work ethic and a will to win. Kobe and Shaq may have had their feuds but Shaq definitely proved that his play was more important or as important as Kobe's during their Championship runs together.

Awards and Accomplishments: 

• 3x NBA Finals MVP
• 4x NBA Champion
• 2000 NBA MVP
• 3x NBA All-Star MVP
• 15x NBA All-Star
• 2x NBA Scoring Champion
• 8x NBA First Team
• 1993 NBA Rookie of the Year
• Lakers Retired #34

Walter Payton's Birthday

Time to say Happy Birthday to a legend of the NFL, Walter Payton. Payton was a running back for the Chicago Bears for 13 seasons and was a big reason for their only Superbowl win in 1985. Payton was said to be the best player that people have seen, most notably said by Mike Ditka and was rated the #5 NFL player of all-time by NFL.com. Walter has two awards named after him the Walter Payton Awards and the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. 

Photo by Korye Logan

During his career with the Bears, Walter has 16,726 rushing yards, 4.4 yard per rush average, 110 rushing touchdowns, 4,538 receiving yards, 9.2 yards per catch average, and 15 touchdowns receiving. Payton also has the record for most touchdowns thrown by a non-quarterback position with 8.

Walter Payton died November 1st, 1999 from a liver disease. He was only 45 years old but he lived more then most do and still does to this day. His number 34 was retired by the Chicago Bears in remembrance of Payton's great work ethic and personality. He was one of the toughest players to ever play the game. He would run over a defender before running out of bounds and he would only miss one game in his career. He was eligible to play but it was the coaches decision he sat out.

Awards and Achievements:

• #5 NFL Player of All-time by nfl.com
• 1985 Superbowl Champion
• 1977 AP NFL MVP
• 1977 PFWA NFL MVP
• 1977 Pro Bowl MVP
• 1977 NFL Offensive Player of the Year
• NFL 1970's All-Decade Team
• NFL 1980's All-Decade Team
• NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
• 34 Jersey Number Retired
• 9x Pro Bowler
• 6x First Team All Pro Selection
• 2x UPI NFC Player of the Year Award
• Most Career games with 100 or more rushing yards (77) 
• Most 150 or more all purpose yards (46)

Jones or GSP: Pound for Pound King?

Many fans currently say Jon "Bones" Jones is thee pound for pound champ, now that Silva lost to Chris Weidman. I am not here to say that Jones isn't a great fighter because he clearly is a young phenomenon that has come to the UFC and devastated the light heavyweight division. What I am saying is that George St. Pierre has more of a deserving resume of a pound for pound champion.

Photo by ericdwheeler

When you look at notable wins Jones has some good ones under his belt. Jones top wins consist of Ryan Bader, Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, and Chael Sonnen. Now, this is a good list of fight but lets take more of a look into these fights. Jon beat Ryan Bader in every dimension of the fight and just simple outclassed him. Bader did not seem ready for the fight with Jones and ended up losing in the 2nd round by guillotine choke. After that fight, Jones was given opportunity to fight for the UFC Light Heavyweight belt and he capitalized. He hit Shogun with early knee and from then on the whole fight was all Jon Jones. Jon ended up beating up a legend to many and winning by TKO in the 3rd round. His next fight was against Quinton Jackson, many thought Jackson would be a big test for Jones. Quinton said he trained the hardest he has ever trained for the fight but ended up getting man handled by the younger athlete. Jones ended up winning in the 4th round by rear naked choke. After the Rampage fight there was only a few fights that fans wanted to see, one was with Evans and the the other was with Machida. Machida ended up getting the fight. Machida did very well in the stand up and some watchers believe that Machida was even winning the stand up battle, but during a exchange Machida was caught with an elbow and Jones took over. Winning in the 2nd round by guillotine choke. After winning the fight Rashad Evans wanted a piece of his former training partner. There was a little bad blood between the two after Evans claims Jones said he would fight him (Evans) if he had too. Evans took Jones the distance but ended up losing by decision in the end. Jones next two fights were Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen. These two are both great fights but there both middleweights that moved up and got a title shot. Neither of these two deserved the title shot they got. They are both small for the division and would be beat by much of the top talent in light heavyweight. The two fighters probably also think the same, that is why Vitor moved back down to middleweight and Chael is planning to after his next fight with Shogun. Vitor actually almost beat Jones by arm bar and showed the world Jones weakness and broke a little of his aura.

Photo by scienceduck

Now lets take a look at GSP's most notable wins. George St Pierre has victories over Matt Hughes 2x, Sean Sherk, B.J. Penn 2x, Josh Koscheck 2x, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, and Nick Diaz. Now if you look at these wins when GSP beat all of these people most of the were ranked in the Top 10 and most in the Top 5. He came into the division and took the crown from his old hero Matt Hughes. Who at the time dominated the welterweight division. In his first fight with Matt, GSP could barely look into Matt's face at the stare down. He ended up losing right before the bell rang  in the first round by arm bar. After that loss GSP changed and gained a lot more confidence in himself. He ended up dominating his next 5 fights. These fight include the fighter Sean Sherk (who ended up moving down to lightweight after this fight) and B.J. Penn (Many think is a natural lightweight). GSP ended up beating up Sean Sherk pretty bad in the 2nd round by TKO, who was at the time 32-1-1. After that fight he fought BJ Penn and got pretty beat up in the first round. Many thought that Penn had the fight won but GSP ended up coming back and winning the next two rounds and surprised the crowd by winning a split decision. By winning this fight GSP was given a title shot and proved he deserved it. In the title fight Hughes was beat up from beginning to end and ended up losing by TKO in the second round. GSP ended the reign of Matt Hughes over the welterweight division that day and became welterweight champion for the first time. He ended up loses his next fight to Matt Serra by TKO in the first, but that was the last time GSP lost and that was in 2007. It is now 2013 and GSP has won his last 11 fights. At the time each of the 11 fighters were top 10 fighter and many were top 5. He gets much criticism for not finishing fights lately but he does dominate each of the 5 

rounds he fights and there is no question by the fans who wins his fights even though he is not finishing them. There isn't ever a point in time anyone thinks GSP has a weak spot in his game, like they believe Jones may have a weak BJJ game. 

After looking at both of the fighters records we can see that Jones has beat some good fighter with some big names but only 4 of these fights were actually even top 10 in his division when he beat them. He has a good story with his reign and beat some big name fighters but not all of them were even top 10 when they fought in his division. On the other hand, GSP has won 13 fights against top ten opponents. He gets less press around it because that is what people expect of him. They know he will win and they just take it for granted. He is expected to win by so many that after he wins and beats a person like Jake Shields on a 15 fight win streak, they consider Jake Shields a can, say he never deserved the fight, and say GSP never fights good competition. This is clearly not true and GSP is definitely deserving of the top spot as pound for pound king.

Anyone who can give you the belief that every fighter who fights him is undeserving and clears out a whole division numerous times is more deserving of the pound for pound king title. Not someone with only 4 top ten wins and who beats fighters from a lower division. Jones may at some point be the pound for pound king but he is going to have to wait his time just like GSP and wait for the new king to lose.