#5 The Lombardi Trophy
No, no one will actually be claiming the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the Super Bowl each year, this weekend. But the secret talks – closed to the press and lawyers – between the NFL Owners and Players Association give us hope that someone will be hoisting the trophy in February 2012.

#4 The Pocono Trophy
The winner of the 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway this weekend will receive the Pocono Trophy, but most eyes will be on the competition between Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Busch was attacked by owner Richard Childress after last week’s Truck Series race. NASCAR put the full blame on Childress, which was the right move. But I doubt that Chldress’ top driver – who has had his own run ins with Busch in the past – will see it that way. If one of these guys is out of contention and the other is in the thick of it on Sunday, things could get ugly between the two.

#3 The Gold Cup
The Gold Cup is easily the best soccer tournament of the year for the simple reason that the USA actually has a chance to win it. After dispatching Canada with relative ease this week, the US team will play Panama on Saturday. If the US can beat Panama, then only Guadeloupe (is that a country?) will stand between them and a perfect record going into the Quarter Finals.

#2 The Larry O’Brien Trophy
If Dirk Nowitzki is this good in the Finals when he’s sick, imagine how dominant he can be when he’s healthy. As of this writing, the series is all tied up. The Dallas Mavericks have something to prove. The Miami Heat have the weight of expectation. This weekend will reveal the last team standing.

#1 The Stanley Cup
Somebody’s gonna win it. By the end of the week, either the Boston Bruins or the Vancouver Canucks will hoist the Stanley Cup. Home ice seems more important than usual, considering the Canucks outscored Boston 4-2 in two games at home, but fell 8-1 in the first game in Beantown. Boston will play the remainder of the series without Nathan Horton, who suffered that brutal hit in Game 3. Vancouver will be without the services of Aaron Rome, who delivered that concussive shot, for the rest of the year. With the additional motivation factored in, the advantage goes to Boston.

#5 Packers Top Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles have made an art out of second half comebacks this year, headlined by their historic resurgence against the New York Giants a few weeks back. They nearly did it again on Sunday, but the Green Bay Packers weren’t willing to become the latest victim of Philadelphia’s late-game heroics. With the clock winding down and a first down inside the Packers 30, football fans everywhere (with the notable exception of Wisconsin) were screaming for Philly QB Mike Vick to spike the ball and stop the clock. Vick instead chose to rush a play, lobbed up an interception, and the game went to the Pack.

#4 Southeast Gone Wild
The New Look Orlando Magic haven’t lost a game since taking on their new look. Since that time, they’ve gone on a dominating 9-0. They’re playing offense, defense, and acting as a team. And they haven’t made up a single game against the division leading Miami Heat, who have likewise gone on a 9 game winning streak. The poor Atlanta Hawks went a normally triumphant 8-1 during that stretch and actually lost ground in the division. I’m sure the other divisions would like to import whatever’s in the water in the Southeast.

#3 Jets Over Colts
The New York Jets talk smack better than anybody in the league. They lead the league in player misconduct, employees lawsuits, and embarrassing YouTube videos. They also overcame a late Indianapolis Colts rally lead by –who else?- Peyton Manning to reclaim the lead as time expired. The Jets beat the Patriots early in the season, but were slapped all over the field by the Pats in a rematch later in the season. The third meeting of these two rivals should prove to be a real battle, or at least really entertaining.

#2 Seahawks Shock Saints
The Seattle Seahawks shocked the New Orleans Saints, and everyone else, by winning a wild shootout in the Wildcard round, 41-36. The Saturday early game started out the way we all imagined it would: Drew Brees led the Saints to an early lead and looked like they’d be coasting into the next round of the playoffs. Then, somehow, the Seahawks crawled back into the game.

Matt Hasselbeck has been holding out on us. Who knew he had it in him to throw for four touchdowns against the defending World Champs? Then again, it may no longer be accurate to refer to the Saint’s D as ‘solid’, after the embarrassment of 8 missed tackles on that 67 yard touchdown scamper by Marshawn Lynch that sealed the game for Seattle.

#1 Tostitios BCS National Championship Game
Trick plays. Potent offenses. Stiff defenses. Two point conversions. And a game-winning field goal as time expires. The Tostitios BCS National Championship Game delivered in a big way. The game looked for all the world like it was going into overtime, until everyone on the field forgot a lesson from the first day of peewee football – play until the whistle blows. Michael Dyer’s improbable 37 yard run after he appeared to be down was the play of the game. In fact, Dyer, a true freshman, was the most impressive player of the game, upstaging teammate Cam Newton.

#5 New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks
We all want to see how the first ever 7-9 team to host a playoff game will make out against the defending Super Bowl champions. If you look at their body of work over the season, it would be hard to argue that the Seahawks have a chance against the Saints. But the NFL is all about momentum, and the ‘Hawks are coming off a big win while the Saints were embarrassed by Tampa Bay last week. So anything is possible, right?

#4 Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs won a relatively weak AFC West (what is it with the Western divisions this year?) at 10-6. The Ravens finished the 2010 campaign with 4 straight wins and lost the AFC North to the Pittsburgh Steelers by a tie-breaker. Kansas City lost only one game at home this year, so home field advantage should even this game out a bit and keep KC close.

#3 New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts
Coach Rex Ryan and the New York Jets set an NFL record for the most smack talked in a single season this year. They had a chance to walk the talk against New England last month, and fell miserably short. Now it is win or go home time and they may get another shot and Tom Brady and company. But first, they’ll have to go through the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have hardly been overpowering this season, but they did just enough to get into the playoffs – and they’ve got a guy named Peyton Manning leading the offense.

#2 Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles
Aaron Rodgers has put up some great numbers in his last four starts. Mike Vick has looked absolutely incredible when healthy this year. This game will probably come down to how healthy Vick will be on Saturday. A season of pounding has clearly taken its toll on the Eagle’s quarterback but he, along with virtually all the Philadelphia starters, took a week off last week to rest up. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, word has gotten out that the way to beat them is to beat up on Mike Vick. Doubly unfortunately for Philadelphia, their offensive line is a sieve.

#1 Oregon Ducks vs. Auburn Tigers
That’s right – for all the ballyhoo about the NFL postseason, this weekend’s most intriguing game isn’t an NFL game. It isn’t technically this weekend, either. The Tostitos BCS National Championship Game on Monday night has all the makings of a classic. Oregon has cruised through 2010 without so much as a hiccup.  Tigers quarterback Cam Newton just won’t let Auburn lose. He leads the team in both passing and rushing. He has engineered eight come from behind wins – that’s three quarters of the team’s games. Only one of these teams can finish the season undefeated. Monday night we’ll find out which it will be.

#5 The Best of the Worst
The St. Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks battled for the NFC West Divisional Title on Sunday night. Seattle came out on top in an ugly 16-6 win. Two mediocre teams slugging it out in the final game of the regular season usually isn’t much to talk about, but in this case the outcome was absolutely historic. For the first time in NFL history, a sub-.500 team has won the division and will host a playoff game. The ‘Hawks will have their hands full against a New Orleans Saints team that won four more games than they did in the regular season this year.

#4 Winning Streak
Believe it or not, the longest current winning streak in the NFC is owned by the Detroit Lions. Yes, the Detroit Lions have won four games in a row, which is 2 more than they had won in the two previous seasons. Quietly, under the radar, the Lions are moving toward respectability late in the season. After years of frustration and futility, after starting the season 2-10, the Lions put together a perfect late-season run to close out 2010.

#3 The Chick-Fil-A Bowl
The rivalry between Florida State University and Steve Spurrier’s Florida Gators may be ancient history to the current members of the Seminoles’ roster, but the fans haven’t forgotten. Steve Spurrier certainly hasn’t forgotten his losing record against FSU. The Chick-Fil-A Bowl pitted the Spurrier’s current team against his old nemesis and was predictably thrilling, but surprisingly sloppy and turnover-filled.

#2 NBA Southeast Division
The invincible Miami Heat lineup with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh – maybe you heard about them – looked a little underwhelming at the start of the season. Now, they’ve righted the ship and are efficiently taking care of business. They’ve won five straight and looked sharp doing it. But…

The New Look Orlando Magic have been unstoppable since taking on their much ballyhooed new look. They also own a five game winning streak. Unfortunately for the New Look Orlando Magic, the Old Look Orlando Magic put them in a four-game hole against their division rivals. The good news for Orlando is that there are a lot of games left in the season. The Southeast should be a lot of fun to watch for the remainder of the year.

#1 The Rose Bowl
Texas Christian University (TCU) is the first team from a non-automatically qualifying (AQ) school to play in the Rose Bowl since the BCS (Massively Corrupt Ranking System) devised the whole AQ scheme. The Horned Frogs, who were denied a shot at the National Championship, made the most of their #3 ranking by taking care of business against the #5 ranked Wisconsin Badgers. The game came down to a 2 point conversion attempt with less than 2 minutes remaining on the clock.

5 The Ryder Cup -

Tiger Woods isn’t the golfer he used to be.  Ever since his very public family problems he just hasn’t been the same on the course.  If ever there was a perfect stage for him to launch a return to prominence, this weekend’s Ryder Cup is it.  Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland made the mistake of baiting Woods with some less than flattering comments.  The world will be tuning in October 1-3 to see how Woods responds.

4 Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves -

The Atlanta Braves have a 1-1/2 game lead over the San Diego Padres for the National League Wild Card spot with 4 games left to play.  The bad news for the Braves is that 3 of those games will be this weekend against their division rivals the Philadelphia Phillies.  The good news is that the Phils pretty well have the top seed in the NL locked up and have little left to play for until the first round.

3 The San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres -

The Padres have five games left to play, three against their division rival (the MLB schedule makers were really on their game this year) the San Francisco Giants.  That division is still up for grabs, so this series will be the biggest thing happening the final week of the MLB season.  It’s all or nothing in the NL West, because unless the Braves falter only one of these teams can make the playoffs.

2 The AL East Race -

The Red Sox took two out of three from the Yankees last week, but the Tampa Bay Rays continue to let their competition from New York hang close.  Both the Rays and the Yankees are in the playoffs, but the AL East Division title is very much up for grabs.  The Rays can take control by beating up the very- much-out- of- contention Kansas City Royals.  If the Yankees want to take the lead, they’ll have to make up ground against their final opponent of the season – who else? – the Boston Red Sox.

1 Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles -

This one has been circled on the calendar of NFL fans since the day the 2010 schedule came out.  Donovan McNabb‘s triumphant (or not) return to Philadelphia.  It was supposed to be a grudge match between McNabb and his successor.  Thanks to Kevin Kolb‘s concussion and Michael Vick‘s extraordinary play, it will instead be a still-grudging match between McNabb and his successor’s (temporary?) successor.  Still – McNabb back in Philly in a ‘Skins uniform is going to be something that no NFL fan should miss.

4 – The Return of Jimmie Johnson.
No, I’m not talking about former Cowboy coach Jimmy Johnson turning up on Survivor. Jimmie Johnson, winner of the last four Sprint Cup Championships, hasn’t won a Sprint Cup race since June. Until this weekend, that is, when the champ outdrove everybody to claim the second of the ten races that make up the Sprint Cup Chase.

3 – The Return of the Blame Game.
The winless San Francisco 49ers fired offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye. Yeah, that’ll fix all their problems.

2 – The Return of Michael Vick.
Yes, he started last week and played one half of football game the week before. But that was Michael Vick the back-up filling in for injured Kevin Kolb. This was the first game played by Michael Vick, starting quarterback in his second chance career.  Vick was spectacular. He threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another TD. Maybe the most impressive stat for Vick is 0, the number of interceptions he has thrown through 2-1/2 games this year.

1 – The Return of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.
The Sox are mathematically alive in the playoff hunt as of this writing, but in all reality they’ve been out of it for weeks. All Boston had left to play for was to beat their hated rivals, the New York Yankees. And in two of the three games these classic competitors played in New York this week, they did just that. The BoSox can’t earn their way into the playoffs, but they can sure have fun knocking the Yanks out of first place and into the lowly Wildcard spot. With a little help from the Tampa Bay Rays, who won two out of three during the same time span, the Red Sox left town with the satisfaction of dropping the Yankees into the runner-up spot in the AL East with just six games left to play.

Now we’re down to just baseball. And soccer, I guess. I, for one, can’t watch another minute of the FIFA World Cup. Really, I’ll get a note from my doctor to prove it. One more minute of listening to those vuvuzelas will likely give me some sort of seizure, I’m sure of it. The fact that I know that the silly plastic horns that blare for three straight hours are called vuvuzelas means that I have sacrificed way too much of my time on soccer this year.

If my four year old son brought a vuvuzela home from some venue, I would have to make sure that it disappeared in the middle of the night. As a Tampa Bay Rays fan, I always thought the cow bells that some fans bang incessantly throughout the games were annoying. Not anymore. The cacophony of dozens of cow bells is sweet music to my ears compared to that awful, unending sound that drowns out the inspiring British commentary at the FIFA World Cup.

Anyway – Baseball is the uncontested sport of the summer. With the exception of those sad days immediately before and after the All Star Game, there will be a game on day and night throughout the long hot days of summer. Baseball is king from now until 8:30 pm on September 9th, when America’s Pastime will take a back seat to America’s Passion – Football.

Just kidding.

Don’t worry, I haven’t gone soft on soccer.  I am a big USA homer and would have watched the big match against Britain, if I didn’t have to go to a wedding instead.  Luckily for me, the entire three hour affair could be boiled down into one 10 second clip shown repeatedly on ESPN of the British goalie failing to stop a slow rolling ball that my 4 year old could have handled.  And so the US’s thrilling debut in the World Cup ended in a draw.

Back in the USA, the Blackhawks won an actual thriller in overtime.  Overtime!  What a concept.  Instead of declaring the match a tie and going home, this sport continued to play until somebody won.

Hockey isn’t my favorite sport, but it sure beats the short pants off soccer.  In fact, on casual analysis over the course of the weekend, soccer seems to be all the worst parts of hockey without the good stuff.  Both are low scoring games.  Both have essentially the same rules and goals.  But hockey requires the additional skill of ice skating and prominently features fighting, checking, and angry Canadians carrying big sticks.

Soccer players run around on a GIANT field for long periods of time without any physical contact.  And when they do touch one another, it results in a penalty.  There is no checking.  Fighting is definitely frowned upon.  If there are any angry Canadians, they had their sticks taken away by security prior to the game.  Or match.  Whatever.

ESPN is proud of the fact that they’ve got endless coverage of the entire FIFA World Cup.  They’re not going to ‘dumb it down’ for an American audience that has traditionally shown little interest in soccer.  I’m sure they’ll strike ratings gold by NOT explaining the highly anticipated Ghana vs. Ethiopia matchup.

Anyway, I could go on mocking the world’s most popular sport all day, but I’ll restrain myself.  Until next week…

Every year we look for the Cinderella story, the unheralded team that shouldn’t have a chance but goes farther than anyone dreamed they could.  Could Lehigh beat Kansas?  No, they can’t.  But maybe, just maybe… no, they can’t.  But some other schlub team that everyone counts as a first round loss could shock the world and move on to the Elite Eight.

Every year there are teams, like East Tennessee State, Morgan State, Vermont, Murray State, and yes, Lehigh, who make the tournament and capture the hopes and dreams of their student body, alumni, local well-wishers, and fans of underdogs everywhere.  We know who’s in the tournament now.  We know who should win and who should lose (brackets are handy for that sort of thing).

We also know that the teams will not go down in order.  Chances for poor hapless Lehigh and their 16th seed counterparts in the other regions aren’t good.  Actually, chances for the 15, 14, and 13 seeds are pretty bleak, too.  But the magic #12 seed has a history of surprising people.  You just never know who has what it takes and who’s going to fold up when they get to the big stage.

For the record, this year’s #12 seeds are New Mexico State, UTEP, Cornell (I can no longer think of Cornell without thinking of Andy Bernard from The Office), and Utah State.  They face some big time opposition in the first round against the #5 seeds in their respective conferences.  But if there’s going to be a Cinderella Story in the tournament, it probably will feature one of those four schools.  Sorry, Lehigh.

Milorad Cavic is the swimmer Phelps beat by a fingernail in the Beijing Olympics path to eight gold medals.  Cavic and many others protested that Cavic actually won the race despite photo evidence and the touchpad time.  He was determined to crush Phelps in a Rome rematch and called him out publicly.  Phelps refused to wear this new style swimsuit that many others are wearing which will be banned soon because of its unfair technology and advantages in the water.

Cavic was certain that he would use this new suit to crush Phelps.  Knowing full well Michael would not stray from his loyalty to sponsor Speedo, Cavic tried to stir the pot by saying he would even buy Phelps one of these new suits.  Phelps denied the suit and didn’t comment much about the trash talking coming from this Serbian competitor.

Coach Bowman stated that Phelps does all of his talking in the pool, and that he did.  Phelps had a great start off of the podium and as expected lagged behind Cavic at the turn.  Phelps made up his ground and passed Milorad right at the finish, again.  It was not as close a victory as in Beijing, but it was still a close one.

Immediately, Phelps celebrated the win with a new World Record in the 100 meter butterfly.  Cavic had absolutely nothing to say.  All he could do was try to act with grace and congratulate Phelps.  I still am trying to figure out what Cavic was thinking in angering the world’s greatest swimmer who already is competing against himself daily.  Now, Cavic just gave him another and easier to beat target.  So, to Cavic…HAHAHAHAHA!

My question for you is, how much faster do you think Phelps would be if he had worn this new record breaking suit?