Topic: American Sports

Man, the Vikings went from playing for the number 1 overall seed to clattering out in the wild card in ugly fashion. There have been talks about changing how seeding works for future playoffs, and I feel like once you start pulling on this thread, the entire set up of the NFL sorta doesn't make a huge amount of sense.

Like if you are a Vet QB, the Brady move was the right move. Why would you want to go to the AFC North or East, when you can go to the NFC South, and host a home playoff game with probably about four or five less wins needed, and a guaranteed easier schedule cause all of your division opponents are all terrible. Like you have zero advantages if you end up in a strong division, it is entirely downsides.

We had three teams this Wild Card hosting a home playoff game this weekend with a worse record than their opponents. And I'm not sure it would have saved the Vikings if they had played at home, but it is still the principle of a 14 win team needing to go on the road like what are we doing here.

Given actual location sorta doesn't seem to mean anything in the divisions cause teams can relocate, I kinda wonder if a European style system is needed, so divisions aren't static, so you don't end up with divisions where all the worst teams or all the best teams are bunched together. I know salary caps and draft order is sorta meant to achieve this same purpose, but I don't think it really works. Cause just cause one team in a bad division might strike gold, that doesn't mean all the other teams in that division level up equally, and if fact if that one team does strike gold, it just highlights the inequality of the system, cause now you can just bully your way around a very small pond.

And the opposite of that of course is something like the Tomlin Steelers. Because of how static the NFL is, being a mid tier team is sorta worse than being a bad one. Under Tomlin they seem forever destined to win 9 or 10 games, make it into the wild card and then get blown out because the Steelers are always like two or three tiers below the genuine post season teams with real chances to make a run. Unless the Steelers intentionally tank, they are never going to be bad enough to amass enough draft capitol to push their team into the next tier and be competitive in the post season, so you are doomed to just live out the same season for the rest of time.

Merry first day of the divisional round day. People call this the best weekend in football, I am not sure if I necessarily agree with this, but outside of Chiefs Texans which kinda has no juice to it at all, unless the Texans win which I feel is super unlikely (but I would have said the same in the Chargers game too, so who knows), all the other games have a lot of intrigue.

I am kinda looking at the Rams as a team of destiny. All the ***** going on in LA, this roster is very well coached and weirdly stacked on both sides of the ball. Eagles are an absolute mountain to overcome, but I don't see the Eagles as immortal. And if the Rams can win, and the Commanders lose, it is a Goff Stafford revenge rematch in the Championship round, and like narratively, whoever overcomes who to make the SB, I mean it is one they could make movies about.

If the Rams aren't the team of destiny, then the Commanders probably are. And I feel like for neutral fans, that Commanders game has to be one of the most emotionally confusing games all season. Do we root for the rookie phenom to carry on what would be a historic run to round out this incredible story. Or do we root for the Lions, the loveable team that has kinda felt like every body's team for the whole year.

And then of course Bills Ravens, which is basically the MVP Bowl and kinda highlights to me how lopsided the AFC / NFC divide is. Where it feels like SB ready QBs potentially could even go out in the wild card just cause all of these generational QBs are all in the AFC and are playing at the same time. Whoever loses this game, they will absolutely treat it like a referendum and I don't think that is fair. The crazy reality is a lot of these guys may just never make the SB, and it says way less about them as players or teams, and way more about how absurdly stacked the AFC is.

American sports are so deeply tied to culture—it’s incredible how events like the Super Bowl or the World Series can bring people together, whether they’re die-hard fans or just tuning in for the spectacle. I’ve always loved how the playoff systems work in leagues like the NBA and NHL. There’s something thrilling about seeing underdog teams rise to the occasion and shake things up. And let’s not forget college sports—they add a whole other level of excitement, especially with the draft system that bridges college talent to the pros. It’s such a unique setup compared to other sports around the world.

Speaking of sports, I’ve noticed that platforms like BetMGM and Morocco Onex come up a lot in conversations about sports betting. It’s interesting how these platforms tie into the whole experience, though I’m not really into that side of things myself.

What an upset by the Commanders. Chiefs went full villain mode. Henry wasn't the big difference maker that was gonna let the Ravens make a deep run like I expected. Given the conditions they played in, the Rams and Eagles was probably one of the cleanest games we've seen in these playoffs. Feel like almost every other game was defined either by three or four disaster level mistakes or just a full QB meltdown, and I kinda feel like this game was the only one that didn't really have either (or at least none that couldn't be explained by the conditions).

Washington are the story of the season. Good old Commies.
Detroit had shown signs of capitulation all season long despite their record. Massive shame for Lions fans.
Kansas doing Kansas things at the business end.
Satisfied to see Buffalo march on despite riding their luck and just being outplayed in general.
Rams just made too many mistakes in the end, though they came extremely close! The way Barkley is playing, Philly are a huge problem for any one of the 4 remaining outfits.
Every single team that progressed were outgained in yardage. Bizarre stat.
I'm probably cursing them here, but I want Buffalo to go and finally get over the hump.