For a variety of reasons, over the past two months or so it's been obvious that I have not written in my blog. Busy, of course I am, i'm a college student. Lazy, I admit, little bit of that also. In the back of my mind i've thought "when am I going to start doing the blog again?", and time and time again i've resorted to pushing that thought back a day. That's why I'm sitting here, months later, writing an intro for the blog I didn't keep up on. It took a certain situation for me to realize that reasons like "being busy" or "lazy" are not even close to being substancial excuses on why I didn't continue writing. Pulling the "life is short" card is not my taste or style, but let my three seconds of being corny go, so I can say that it really is true. Why refrain from doing something you enjoy so much because of a busy schedule or laziness when so many others don't have the luxury of doing so because they can't, not because they want to. I love writing about sports, so that's what I am going to do. The Blog is back.
Pro Bowl All-Snub team
QB: Phillip Rivers (Honorable Mention: Chad Pennington)
Reason: A career year for Rivers it has been, which is highlighted by his #1 QB Rating in the NFL. It seems like he is being penalized for his team underachieving at 6-8, but truth be told he is the only reason why the Chargers have a chance to win the AFC West. His 3515 yards passing and 28 TD are among the top 5 in the NFL, something that the two Pro-bowl quarterbacks chosen ahead of Rivers, Brett Farve and Jay Cutler, could not achieve.
RB: Steve Slaton (Honorable Mention: Matt Forte/Brian Westbrook)
Reason: 2008 is the year of the rookie running back, and Slaton is a big part of that. The 3rd round draft pick from West Virginia is as electrifying as he was in college, and his productivity for the Houston Texans is one of the main reasons why they are charging towards their first winning season in franchise history. His 1124 yards rushing is 3rd in the AFC, almost 200 yards ahead of Miami RB Ronnie Brown, who was selected ahead of him to the pro-bowl. His combined yardage totals and touchdowns are more than fellow rookie RB Chris Johnson. The difference is, Johnson is on a winning team, and he is going to Hawaii, Slaton is not.
WR: Greg Jennings (Honorable Mention: Randy Moss)
Reason: Hard to provide an argument here, as all four receivers chosen to the pro-bowl in the NFC are deserving. Boldin's touchdowns and Fitzgerald's yardage totals are both far superior to Jennings, and Roddy White and Steve Smith have similar statistics (White's are better), but are respectively leading their teams into the playoffs (for now). Jennings, on the other hand, is playing on a team that is 5-9, but his breakout season cannot go unoticed. His 1153 yards and 8 TD's would send him to the pro-bowl in most years, and if he keeps it up, his trip to Hawaii may come sooner rather than later.
TE: Owen Daniels (Honorable Mention: John Carlson)
Reason: This was an easy one. Antonio Gates is the reserve pro-bowl TE for the AFC for one reason. REPUTATION. There is no way the voting committee can justify another reason. His 60 catches for 714 yards are both better than Gates, and he's always been a better blocking TE than Gates, because simply, Gates doesn't know how to to block.
Offensive Line: No one
Defensive Line: John Abraham (Honorable Mention: Trent Cole/Darnell Dockett)
Reason: This is tough. Both Justin Tuck and Jared Allen are very deserving. With that said, Abraham's 15.5 sacks are impressive, but what's more impressive that he's been doing it facing the double teams that Jared Allen can't face because of the Williams brothers inside at defensive tackle. Abraham is by far the defensive MVP for his team (Falcons), something that arguable when discussing Tuck (Giants) and Allen (Vikings)
Linebacker: London Fletcher (Honorable Mention: Jonathan Vilma)
Reason: After finding out about his pro-bowl snub, Fletcher went to the media (always a bad choice) defining himself as the Susan Lucci of the NFL. He also went onto the say that his statistics meriting NFL Hall-of-fame credentials. He obviously hasn't learned anything about the media in his 10+ years in the NFL. The sad thing is, he's right. His 84 solo tackles are 4th in the NFC (almost 30 more than Tampa Bay LB Derrick Brooks, who was voted in ahead of Fletcher), and he's the anchor of the Redskins defense.
Secondary: Quintin Mikell (Honorable Mention: Jermaine Phillips)
Reason: At the safety position, Mikell is versed in both roles (Free and Strong). With all due respect to Eagles Safety Brian Dawkins, he's one of my favorite all-time players and is still going strong at the age of 35, but his level of play has diminished a bit, and his counter-part in the secondary Mikell had a better all-around year. Dawkins, like Antonio Gates, was voted in because of reputation, but the Eagles know who is the better safety (I hope).
That's it for today. Lets go Jags.
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