Looking back on football

Sadly, the football season has come to an end with another excellent Super Bowl between two very good teams in the Patriots and Giants. Eli is now most definitely in the class of Rodgers, Brees and Brady now. When the game is close in the fourth quarter, expect Eli Manning to come back and win the game, he's done it just so often lately. Now, it's seven long months until another football game which matters, and will probably be the Packers versus the Giants the Thursday after Labor Day. But, do not fear football fans, there is another sport which features hard hitting and is faster paced, hockey. Please, go to it, hockey fans will thank you. Now, it's time for me to look back at my record over these past five months. I will also look back at my predictions from the beginning of the season and see just how wrong I was.

My record over the past five months was: 7-3, 5-0, 3-2, 4-1, 5-0, 5-0, 4-1, 3-2, 4-1, 4-1, 3-2, 2-3, 4-1, 3-2, 1-0, bowls: 2-3, 3-2, 3-2, 1-0

College, I was 57-17, which works out to a .770 winning percentage, not too shabby if I say so myself. Granted, in bowls, I was a middling 9-7, which this year would have been good enough to win the Super Bowl, but in most seasons, wouldn't have even made the playoffs as even a wild card team. So, overall, I was 66-24, which works out to a still pretty good winning percentage of .733. Not bad considering nearly all of the games I picked included at least one ranked team. Next year, I'm still going to be like my friend Jason, and go for a .700 winning percentage.

Now, for the professional league, where it is much harder to pick games. Again, I'll go week by week in my picks. Record per week: 4-1, 4-1, 4-1, 4-1, 4-1, 2-3, 2-3, 0-5, 3-2, 2-3, 4-1, 4-1, 5-0, 4-1, 8-1, 2-3, 3-2, 2-2 (note: Will Rush picked the Denver game in week 17). Playoffs: Wild Card: 3-1, Divisional: 2-2, Conference Championship: 2-0, Super Bowl: 0-1. So, again, I did surprisingly well during the regular season, when I picked the games which I thought had the most intrigue each week. Regular season record: 66-32, which is a .673 winning percentage. Again, not too shabby. Playoffs, I went a not too bad 7-4, but still didn't get the biggest game right, which I count as failure. But, still, a .636 winning percentage is something to be proud of, especially in the playoffs.

Now, allow me to look at my picks for each division and I'll go division by division here.

The NFC East was a complete failure except for the Redskins, where I picked them last and they finished last. Otherwise, I had the Super Bowl winners in third, not a good pick. Plus, way overestimated the greatness of the Eagles, much like many others.

The NFC North was a mixed bag, only having the Vikings completely off, with them having a 8-8 prediction, and that fell flat. Otherwise, picked both the Lions and Packers in the playoffs, and got that right.

The NFC South was again a mixed bag, having the Panthers last at 5-11, which wasn't bad, as they finished 6-10. I also had the Saints pinned at 11-5, and that's where they finished, with the three seed, nailed that. I grossly overestimated the Bucs, as I picked them at 11-5, and they sompletely broke down after a 4-2 start, losing their next 10. I also had the Falcons missing out on the playoffs, but they made the playoffs.

Finally, the NFC West, I was awful here, as I had the Rams winning the division, and the 49ers finishing 6-10, well, that didn't work out too well. Plus, the Seahawks weren't as bad as previously thought with Tarvaris Jackson at quarterback. Then, with the Cardinals, only had them one game off at 7-9, and they finished 8-8.

Now, on to the AFC, and the East. I was fairly close here, having every team in its correct spot, and every team either on the nose with the record or, just one win off from their total. So, again, turned out pretty well.

The AFC North turned out ok. I had the Steelers and Ravens in the playoffs, just not in their correct positions. But, I had the Bengals losing 14 games, which, as it turns out was double what they would end up losing. Oops.

The AFC South turned out horribly, as I had everyone wrong in where they would end up finishing. I had the Colts finishing first, under the assumption that Peyton Manning would start the majority of the games. That obviously didn't happen. So, overall, this division was a complete disaster.

The AFC West again I picked horribly. I picked the Broncos to finish last, and then the rest of it was bad. The Chargers finished second, tied with the Raiders. Kansas City finished last, but that was mainly due to injuries, they should be back in contention next season.

Overall, my projections were not overtly horrible. But, it's always good to look back at my projections and see where you finished. This may be a thing which I may continue throughout to just see how I fared in my projections. Please let me know what you think of it.

Now, as mentioned previously, it is seven months until the next football game which matters. But, football fans, there are other sports out there, so do not fret. There is hockey, which has some very hard hitting and is fast paced. Then, there is both pro and college basketball, as well as soccer coming in March with the MLS and finally baseball, the great American pastime. Or, better yet, spend the time on a Sunday with your family now. Build a closer relationship with them. Have a wonderful time reading this until March, when I'll be back with March Madness picks, as well as my projections for baseball's divisions.