SirPuttsAlot Random Ramblings

Welcome to a great weekend of sports!  The PGA Tour returns to action in Hawaii and the NFL playoffs get underway. Lets start by talking golf.  The PGA Tour is back in Hawaii for the season opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.  Vijay looks to defend his title from last year while perennial contender Stuart Appleby is not …

Welcome to a great weekend of sports!  The PGA Tour returns to action in Hawaii and the NFL playoffs get underway.

Lets start by talking golf.  The PGA Tour is back in Hawaii for the season opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.  Vijay looks to defend his title from last year while perennial contender Stuart Appleby is not in the field this year.  Right now a couple of Canadians sit at the top of the leaderboard but there are a number of players within striking distance.  I look for Brandt Snedeker to continue his hot play and Badds to move up the leaderboard.

Since we are back into the "swing" of things for 2008 I thought I would pass along an interesting link from ESPN.com on how to build the perfect golfer.  Tough to argue with any of these selections.

In more golf news, the members of Winged Foot Golf Club decided in a vote that they do not want the U.S. Open returning to their golf course anytime soon.  A major factor cited by many of the members was the inconvenience and disruption of holding a major golf tournament at their facility but unfortunately it appears that money may have been the overriding factor in the decision.  

Now onto football.  Seattle vs. Washington is the first game today. The 'Skins are coming in on a roll since the untimely death of Sean Taylor having won four in a row.  They come up against the strong passing attack of the Seahawks but there are many questions surrounding the 'Hawks running game.  If anybody has seen Shaun Alexander he is wanted in Seattle.  In the end I think the talent of the Seahawks combined with the Qwest Field crowd will be too much.  I'm picking Seattle 23 Washington 14.

In the second game of the day we will see the 11 – 5 Jacksonville Jaguars travel to Pittsburgh to destroy the Steelers.  The Jaguars are emerging as one of the top teams in the AFC and I don't think anybody wanted to face them in the first round.  The only thing that concerns me about the Jaguars is their complaints about the field conditions before the game even starts.  Everyone knows how bad Heinz Field is but I worry that Fred Taylor is already getting into his own head.  That said, the Steelers have too many injuries and are just too inconsistent to have a chance in this game.  Jacksonville 20 Pittsburgh 7.

Tomorrow afternoon we move to Florida to see the Buccaneers do battle with the Giants.  Before commenting on this game you should know that, as a Charger's fan it goes against everything in me to pick Eli Manning.  This game should be another defensive battle with two sluggish offenses.  The Giants played a great game last week but Eli's knack for throwing inopportune interceptions will come back to hurt the Giants again.  Tampa Bay 16 New York 14.

And finally, the game of the weekend, San Diego hosts Tennessee.  Can Norv Turner reverse the playoff fortunes in San Diego?  Here's hoping.  With injuries mounting to Tennessee's offense I expect San Diego to win this one in a walk.  And if not… here's hoping I don't end up with Britney in the psych ward.  San Diego 38 Tennessee 20.

And if you haven't heard the latest Britney news here is the full story.

I want to put up a link to an article by Bill Simmons from ESPN.  Bill Simmons is one of my favorite sports writers and has possibly the best job in the world.  If you are a fan of the Karate Kid click here for The Sports Guy's take on the trilogy.

And finally, in honor of the new American Gladiators check out this hilarious clip.  I don't know if this can possibly be as bad as I am expecting but I plan on tuning in to find out.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your sports weekend.  And don't forget, its time to take down that Christmas tree.