Scribbler's 11th Hour Post of the Week: Recap of the 2016 CollegeFootball Playoff National Championship

Although I cannot say that I go crazy over NCAA football like I do with the NFL, I still enjoy a thrilling game nonetheless.  I was heartbroken as my favorite team in the land, the Miami Hurricanes, got cheated in 2002 against Ohio State--who I also liked a lot that year.  (I know have friends who are still adamant about not discussing that game.)  Then, despite Matt Leinart's butt-hurt remark about being the "better team", my favorite West Coast team, the USC Trojans, suffered defeat in 2006 at the hands (and feet) of Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns.  Finally, in one of my personal faves in recent memory, Jameis Winston led a thrilling game-winning drive as the Florida State Seminoles triumphed over the Auburn Tigers in 2014 and ended the BCS era in style.  After Ohio State surprisingly dominated Oregon in the inaugural CFP National Championship last year, this year's game between the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 1 Clemson Tigers more than made up for last year's let-down.  I'll try to keep my takes as short as possible.  (Keyword: TRY.)

Scribbler's Predictions: 2015 NFL Divisional Playoff Games

So I nearly went a perfect four for four with my picks no thanks to the home team.  (No, Captain Kirk...I in fact did not like that.)  Outside of history being made as all four road teams won the Wild Card round for the first time ever and all of the "better" quarterbacks winning their games, allow me to sum up each game in one sentence a piece.  Any quarterback that has ever played for the Browns automatically brings bad ju-ju, so although Brian Hoyer did a decent job this year as the starter, the Texans should've expected that outcome in his first playoff start and need a franchise quarterback ASAPington.  Jeremy Hill, Vontaze Burfict, Adam Jones and the Cincinnati Bungles might just get Marvin Lewis aka  "Blarty Schottenheimer" (a term coined by the big homie James F. Hines, Jr.) fired.  Ray Finkle taught us about the life-and-death significance of laces out, so hopefully there is no Lois Einhorn in Blair Walsh's future--or Jeff Locke's for that matter.  Finally, I am about 99.52 percent sure that DeSean Jackson's jersey number actually represents his football IQ score as he continues his personal crusade against planes and pylons, while slugs, snails and pond water could probably score against the Skins' run defense.  Okay, rant over...time for the teams who still count...

Scribbler's Predictions: 2015 NFL Wild Card Weekend

Kinda quick recap...or as quick as I am known to attempt, but usually unsuccessful at doing...the Indianapolis Colts and their 0.000000001% chance of winning the AFC South and remaining in playoff contention have been settled.  The New York Jets not only blew their shot at the last playoff spot, but their collapse fittingly came courtesy of Rex Ryan--the same man who was relieved of his duties there the year before.  (Apparently, Ryan also made NFL history by doing so because no head coach in professional football had ever eliminated his former team from playoff contention on the final weekend of the regular season after being fired the previous season. One word: salty.)  So much for the pretenders.  As for the contenders, the defending champion New England Patriots had already secured a first-round bye and were playing for home-field advantage, but wet the bed against the Meh-ami Dolphins as their future first-ballot HOF QB injured his ankle and gave up the #1 seed to the Denver Broncos. Finally, the Arizona Cardinals needed to win against the Seattle Seahawks and the Carolina Panthers to lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but DangeRuss & The Legion of Boom had a blowout as a late Christmas present in mind while the soon-to-be MVP Cam Newton convincingly got his Sir Dab-a-Lot on in Charlotte.  Now that I've covered what you already knew by now unless you follow my blog more than the NFL--which is flattering if you do--it's time to preview the beginning of the most bittersweet time of the year: NFL Wild Card Weekend, which features three rematches from the regular season this year, and the official road to knocking off the guys above.

Writing the Ship

So as many of you may have noticed--or not--I haven't posted anything to New Problem Tuesdays in nearly a year.  In case your curiosity may be overtaking you--and if it isn't, then let's pretend anyway--there are many reasons for my hiatus.  Between the 9-to-5 grind, family life, my other side hustle (i.e. music) and various other distractions, the usual suspects can easily be lined up and questioned.  However,there is a more heinous and culpable culprit who has prevented me from sharing one of my God-given talents and passions with you all: me.

If you've been a faithful follower of this blog since its inception in 2013, then one thing is clear: very few of my posts are short on words.  Because I have always allowed others to speak more than I do, everything that I want to say in face-to-face discussion vastly manifests itself in my writing.  With that said, it takes a lot of time and energy to get out all of my thoughts--often feeling like I still leave points on the field.  Thus, mental fatigue sets in trying to say things pursuant to my unique perspective. The thought of writing just ONE blog post let alone three to four often causes my brain to have a narcoleptic episode, consequently leading me to shut down and crawl into my jumbo-sized cubby hole.  So between the massive amount of police brutality cases, the shenanigans with the upcoming Presidential election and, of course, my favorite sport in the whole wide world, trust me when I tell you that I've had a whole lot to say about many topics; I just haven't felt like writing about any of it.

Scribbler's Black History Milestones: The Wide World of Sports

So I have a confession to make: in the past five years or so, I have not celebrated Black History Month in the way that I grew accustomed to doing when I was a child, teenager and young adult.  Maybe I've had a few self-righteous moments of feeling like Black history should be celebrated all year long.  Then again, maybe I was just too lazy to uncover more pivotal moments in our historical landscape.  Thus, one of the two ways that I have decided to commemorate Black History Month this year is to celebrate several people and/or events in different areas of our society that not only display the heritage of our people, but also provide a little more depth to the American narrative. After watching quite a few documentaries in the past week or so, I was inspired to begin this series in one of my favorite areas of discussion: sports.