It is what it is: Back in the saddle again

Hello avid fans, lovers and haters alike! I want to preface this article with an apology; my absence this semester has been a necessary casualty of me student teaching. I had to make a conscious decision to cut something from my life and unfortunately it was The Clock. But now that some time has been freed up I am going to start writing again. So let's get started again with a little bit of everything for my first article again. 

The first and most important thing, to me anyway, is the potential for the NFL locking out next season because nobody is willing to compromise and listen to one another. Do both sides realize how bad it is going to be for everyone, players, owners and fans, if there is no NFL next year? Or how much respect and money they stand to lose? As a former player I understand the work that goes into preparing for just one game. I also can see the difficulty in running an NFL franchise, but I also learned a long time ago that sometimes in life you have to compromise. The owners need to abandon the idea of an 18 game season and the players need to be happy with the money the owners offered them because it was more than enough. 

The potential of a lockout has opened the door for college football to spread their games out from Thursday to Sunday, with the ability to schedule marquee games on Sunday during primetime. Let's face it, who wouldn't watch a game against two major teams from the SEC, Big 10, Pac-12 or ACC on Sunday night. I'm willing to bet money that watching Florida and Alabama play would draw just the same, or more, ratings than watching a Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers play on a Sunday night. 

What about the UFL? Will the lockout  give the UFL the chance to boost their talent pool by having some of the big draft picks sign one year contracts? If I was someone scouts doubted to be able to handle the pro game, I would sign a contract and use the one year as a tryout for NFL teams. 

Speaking of college football, spring ball is up and running. And even though it is way to early to start ranking teams, I have a couple points to make and questions to ask.

-How is Florida going to look under Will Muschamp? And will John Brantley finally live up to his potential under Charlie Weis' system? Early reports out of Gainesville says Brantley has taken to the system like a duck to water and position changes to some key skill guys like Jordan Reed and Trey Burton could pay dividends for The Gators.

-Can Texas bounce back after a dismal season last year? Mack Brown is taking steps to get the ‘Horns back to championship form. Much of their struggles are due to their inability to stick to an offense on a consistent basis. They first said they wanted to establish a running game, but abandoned that and tried to be a spread team with Garret Gilbert as a quarterback. They need to either stick to the run or find an athlete to be a spread quarterback. 

-Can Auburn reload and win the West? Or is ‘Bama back? Nick Saban can't be kept down for long and should have his team back and Auburn lost Cam Newton. With these changes there is room for someone like LSU in the west to sneak into the conversation.

-Nebraska will win the Big 10. Hands down, no exceptions, they will beat Ohio State and are better than all the teams. The Pelini brothers are fired up already, and this will only get ratcheted up as the season begins. 

Playoffs are starting, or have started pending on when you read this, for the NBA and NHL. I'm going to forgo my analysis of the NHL playoffs because every time I write something about The Bruins they nosedive. As for NBA playoffs I'm predicting a Bulls and Lakers NBA Finals. The Bulls are the best team in the East, nobody else comes close. The Celtics are too old and lack a big man, or a big man that can play for more than 10 minutes without getting hurt. Any Celtics fans that think Shaq is going to give you 30 quality minutes a night are joking with themselves. The Magic are solid but rely too much on Dwight Howard to get the job done. Out West it's the Lakers and Kobe Bryant, nobody else will compete. The Spurs are good, but not good enough to beat the Lakers. 

Baseball is getting under way, and for all the Red Sox fans standing on the edge of the cliff because of the start they're getting off to, relax it is the beginning of the season. If you are a Cubs, Pirates or Orioles fan, it is another year of misery. But with baseball comes the spring and the summer, I'm happy about all of this.

So readers, we have come to the end of me for this week. I look forward to writing from now until the end of the year, and I hope you all enjoy reading it. It is what it is.