My Super Bowl XLIV Prediction

After 266 games, it all comes down to this. You've heard all the hype, you've seen all the puff pieces on New Orleans and Peyton Manning's "God-like abilities", you've placed all your bets on who will win the coin toss and how long the national anthem will last. When you wade past all the BS that surrounds the Super Bowl this week, you are left with a game that has the potential for a lot of points and a lot of fun. Of course, since the last two Super Bowls have been incredibly entertaining, we are due for a stinker.

After a season of picking every NFL game, here is my final pick of the year. Remember, all picks are made strictly based on who I think will win and do not take the spread into consideration.

Last Week: 2-0, 1.000
Playoff Overall: 5-5, .500

Super Bowl 44
Saints @ Colts, 6:25 pm
How this game will go should be determined by the Colts first drive. If Peyton Manning marches the team right down the field for a touchdown, it's going to be a long game for New Orleans. Should the Saints throw some different looks at Peyton and force the Colts to punt, we should have a good game on our hands. Really, this entire game comes down to whether the Saints defense can come up with that elusive gameplan that forces Manning to make mistakes. Since there isn't enough talent on the Saints D to make up for poor gameplanning, all of the pressure is on what Gregg Williams has come up with to disrupt and confuse the Colts QB. Of course, we all know Manning has seen everything you can possibly throw at him, so that's going to be a tall order. As for the Saints offense, I expect them to put up at least 20 points as they will be able to move the ball all day on the Colts. If both defenses completely fail, a distinct possibility, this game will simply come down to who has the ball last. I see Manning and the Colts marching on the Saints all day in this one, forcing New Orleans in some mistakes as they play catch up. My pick: Colts 34, Saints 28

That is my final pick of this NFL season. Check back next season for my picks for the 2010 season! Feel free to discuss, argue or make your own picks in the comments section.

Flyers acquire Leino for Tollefsen

Clearly upset about not getting Ilya Kovalchuk the other day, the Flyers made a trade to get the next best thing: Ville Leino. Okay, he's not really the next best thing or even the 50th best thing, but this is still a good move by the Flyers.

The Flyers acquired Leino from the Red Wings for Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a 5th round pick. Leino, who has 55 games of NHL experience, is mostly a depth forward. He showed some real potential last season in Detroit when he scored 9 points in 13 games but fell off this season, notching only 7 points in 42 games. Leino is known to have a good touch around the net and put up great numbers back when he played in the AHL and in Finland.

Leino figures to just be a 3rd or 4th liner with the Flyers. If he somehow finds his scoring touch, he could be a solid contributor, but I wouldn't expect anything more than 5 or 6 goals out of him for the rest of the season. The Red Wings likely dealt Leino because they were tired of waiting for him to break out and they have injured players they needed to make room for; the Flyers are taking a chance on Leino that a change of scenery will jump-start his career.

As for Tollefsen, his time in Philadelphia had run its course. With the recent signing of Lukas Krajicek, Tollefsen was the odd man out on defense. With Danny Syvret set to return at some point after the Olympics, Tollefsen was going to be the odd man out so the Flyers were smart to turn him into an asset rather then simply waive him and lose him for nothing.

As for the cap implications, Leino will be around this year and next for 800,000. He makes 200K more than Tollefsen so the Flyers find themselves inching closer to the cap. There is some early speculation that this is just the first of a few moves for the Flyers, who still find themselves thin on defense and deep at forward. Paul Holmgren could be working on another deal that would land a bigger name defenseman at some point before the roster freeze due to the Olympic break.

While this isn't an impact move or even the Flyers answer to the Devils acquisition of Kovalchuk, Holmgren deserves some credit for ridding the team of a player who had become useless and actually getting something in return. If Leino develops into that sniping forward the Flyers have been desperate for, that would be all the better.

The Eastern Conference just got a whole lot tougher: Devils acquire Ilya Kovalchuk

Due to budget constraints and not having any draft picks to deal, the Flyers were never really in the running for Ilya Kovalchuk. Despite all the rumors you heard over the last few days, it simply wasn't feasible for the Flyers to pick up the young sniper who was placed on the trading block by the Atlanta Thrashers. Unless the Flyers found a way to unload Danny Briere and/or Scott Hartnell, two players with no trade clauses, the Flyers simply didn't have enough room under the cap to get Kovalchuk, let alone sign him to a long-term deal.

With the Flyers out of the picture, Flyers fans were left to hope Kovalchuk wouldn't get traded to a rival. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened: Ilya Kovalchuk has been traded to the Atlantic Division leader, the Devils. As of this writing, details as to who the Devils will be giving up aren't known, but it's likely that it took a solid young NHL player, a top prospect and a 1st round draft pick.

The move immediately makes the Devils one of the favorites, if not the favorite to win the Eastern Conference. While the Devils still have the personality of a grind-it-out team and Kovalchuk isn't known for his play in the defensive end, adding a top goal scorer to a team that has issues putting the puck in the net will surely help a Devils squad that is already one of the best in the East.

Don't be angry that the Flyers couldn't find a way to get Kovalchuk. Paul Holmgren's hands were tied with all of the contracts he has given out and the lack of a first round pick next year. Okay, so maybe you can be a little angry about that, Homer is the one who created this salary cap mess.

The reality is, Ilya Kovalchuk will be skating for a Devils team that looks poised to be a Cup contender for several years while the Flyers have hamstrung themselves from acquiring a truly elite impact player at this time.

Michael Vick: Staying or going?

Donovan McNabb isn't the only Eagles quarterback whose future is in question: conflicting reports have arisen over the last few days as to what the Eagles will do with backup quarterback Michael Vick. As you may recall, Vick signed a two year deal with the Eagles prior to last season but the second year is a team option that will see his salary jump to 5 million dollars per year.

On the one hand, Michael Lombardi of NFL Network says that the Eagles will keep Vick around for next season and pay him the big salary he is owed. On the other hand, several reporters, including Sal Paolantonio of ESPN, are saying that the Eagles have told Vick's agent to start shopping him around the league, looking for a team willing to make a trade.

So, what's the real story? The more likely scenario of the two is that the Eagles are exploring trade options for Vick and gauging how much the rest of the league is willing to give up. Pro Football Talk even speculated that Mike Lombardi was told the Eagles wouldn't trade Vick by someone working for the Eagles to drive up the price. That seems like a much more reasonable explanation than the Eagles wanting to pay Vick 5 million dollars to be a backup QB and get on the field three or four times a game next year.

Of course, the fate of Kevin Kolb also has to play into this situation. If the Eagles look to deal Kolb, keeping Vick around makes a lot more sense. What the Eagles could be doing right now is putting out feelers on Vick and Kolb and seeing which one draws more interest with the intention of dealing whichever one nets the higher draft pick.

The Eagles quarterback situation is certainly in flux as any one of the three QB's could be shipped out of town if the right offer is made. With such a glut at the position, I'm willing to bet one of them will be traded and that Vick is the most likely candidate. With Donovan McNabb likely locked in for one more year and Andy Reid not wanting to give up on Kolb just yet, Vick seems like the odd man out. In fact, if someone offered the Eagles a 3rd round pick for Vick, I bet the Eagles will start packing Vick's bags for him.

Eagles add Dick Jauron to the coaching staff

The Eagles will sure have one overqualified defensive backs coach. Dick Jauron, who was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills for the last four years before being fired, has been named the Eagles new secondary coach. While the move appears to be a big demotion for Jauron, he is likely taking the job so he can work with Andy Reid again, whom Jauron assisted with in Green Bay in the early 90's.

Jauron, who has a career head coaching record of 60-82 in 10 seasons with the Bills, Lions and Bears, will be given the task of shoring up a secondary that, given all of their talent, underachieved last season. Hopefully Jauron's experience playing free safety in the NFL can influence Macho Harris and make him into a reliable football player. Let's hope he is more successful in this low-stress position coach job than he was as the Bills head man.

Given Jauron's experience and Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott's inexperience, this should be an excellent addition to the coaching staff. Now if he could just get Asante Samuel to tackle somebody...

Former Phillies finding new homes for 2010

With the recent signing of Jose Contreras, the Phillies roster appears set for the 2010 season. While I have some work to do to update my How They Were Built: Phillies post, I figured now is as good a time as any to look at which Phillies from 2009 won't be returning to the team.

Listed below are all of the players who were on the Phillies MLB roster in 2009 that will be with new teams in 2010 and how they got there:

Arms:
Clay Condrey: Twins, Free Agency (1 year deal)
Scott Eyre: Retired
Cliff Lee: Mariners, Trade
Rodrigo Lopez: Diamondbacks, Free Agency (Minor league deal)
Pedro Martinez: Unsigned free agent
Brett Myers: Astros, Free Agency (1 year deal)
Chan Ho Park: Unsigned free agent
Steven Register: Blue Jays, Free Agency (Minor league deal)
Jack Taschner: Pirates, Free Agency (Minor league deal)
Tyler Walker: Nationals, Free Agency (1 year deal)

Bats:
Paul Bako: Unsigned free agent
Eric Bruntlett: Nationals, Free Agency (Minor league deal)
Miguel Cairo: Reds, Free Agency (Minor league deal)
Pedro Feliz: Astros, Free Agency (1 year deal)
Matt Stairs: Padres, Free Agency (Minor league deal)

The only possible player from this list that might come back to the Phillies is Pedro Martinez. There are some grumblings that the Phillies want to bring back Pedro for the right price but it's not known whether the team can actually afford him.

Let me know if I'm missing anyone!