Who would of thought that a 4-8 team would win their last 4 games and then host a playoff game for their efforts. Who also would of thought that a team almost kind of i the same boat would win 9 straight and also make the playoffs.

That is exactly what happenend yesterday as the San Diego Chargers faced off against the MVP QB Peyton Manning and the Colts of Indianapolis. When the Chargers lost in week 1 not only did they lose on a last second touchdown by the Carolina Panters, but they also lost their key player in Shawn Merrian to an season ending knee surgery. To add injury to insult, the Chargers LT was also banged up with his turf toe. So they main foucus was on veteran QB Phillip Rivers and that arm of his make a charge towards they playoffs.

In Week 2 things did not get any better for they Chargers losing to their arch enemies and divsion oppenent Denver Broncos. The Broncos made the Chargers 0-2 on a contraversial call made by the referees. Well most people have counted out the Chargers and what was supposed to be a dominating season was looking to that familiar song” What till next year”.

As far as the Colts season went, in the Pre-season Peyton Maniing did not take a snap. They were opening their 2008 campaign at home in a new stadium against a defense that was ranked close to the top 9n 07. The Bears did have a rookie running back stealing the show and the inconsistancy of Manning led the Bears to a victory and put the Colts in unfamiliar territory at 0-1. After week number 7 the Colts were 3-4 and one game away from ending their season. However, when you have a number 18 and his name is Peyton Manning , there is no reason to panic nor fear that the year is over. The Colts continued to take it one game at a time, and proceeded to win 8 games in a row only to take 2 place (the Titians won the division). In the season finale, they even shout out the Titians to finish off the regular season.

The Chargers were 140-2 in 2006 and lost in the Divisional Playoffs. In 2007 they went 11-5 and only won one playoff game and these year were 8-8 and won the divsion and hosting the first palyoff game in the AFC. So what are they odds of an 8-8 team can continue their winning streak without key players being involved in the offense and defense? Well the Chargers to have a guy named Spoiles. This star is a one man team and does not know the mean of quit. That is the reason that they won the division after trailing the Broncos by three games and in the final regular season game, destroyed the Broncos which led to the dismal of Mike Shannan in Dever after the seaon. So why did the Chargers prove to the nay sayers that they are still a team of destiny? Only God will have that answer.

The Chargers and Colts games are so close and well played that this game could still be played well into Tuesday. These two teams played in the regular season, and it was won on a last minute field goal by the Colts veteran kicker Adam Vinitari. However, the Chargers took had that lead before but left too much time on the clock for Peyton Manning. In fact, the last three meetings between these two team have coming down to the battle of the special teams with the victory of margain being 3 points. Who would continue their hot streak and who would finally cool off and get their golf clubs out and head to the links instead of Pittsburgh or Tennessee? Well if you watched the game last night, you know the answer to that question. Ther real question is can the Chargers go to Tennssee and defeat the Number 1 team in the playoffs, or will the Titans defense just be too much for Phillip Rivers and the Chargers?

Can another wild card team make to the Superbowl two years in a row? Remember the Giants were the NFC wild card team who knocked off the perfect seaon of the Patriots and Tom Brady. Can Rivers swim his way to Tampa? (just a bit of humor) Or will in get stuck in a stream and find himself without a paddle? In any case, these Chargers will live for one more week after that it is all up to them.

So, who would of thought that the Colts did not one more victory in them? I surely did not think that the Chargers had any chance of beating the Colts but they did and know go to Pittsburgh and face a team that has the /Number 1 defense and a QB that has been injuryed in the last week of the season. The Steelers wil use their muscles and stop the Charger attack and win a date to Tennessee.

The end of 2008 saw a lot of things that happenend in Chicago Sports. We saw the ups and downs that happened. We will be taking a look of the best and worst in 2008 sports and especially Chicago teams.

What will 2009 hold for the Blackhawks. Well if the start of the NHL season is any indecation, Detroit better watch their back cuz here come the Hawks the mighty Blackhawks. 2008 has the Hawks fighting for first place with a bunch of no name guys. Partrick Kane is not a no name but last year he was a rookie and this year he is acting like a Veteran. The 2009 Hawks will contine their domination of the Western Conference hoping to overthrow those Red Wings and don’t forget about the San Jose Sharks and an ex Hawk leading the charge.

We saw a team that had no expectations to compete for a divsion title let alone make the playoffs. The Chicago White Sox were to place 2nd in the division and miss the playoffs again for the second straight year after winning the World Series. Tell that to Manager Ozzie Guiien and the 2008 White Sox. Not only did they compete for the title since the beginning of the season, they won it in a one game playoff against Minnesota.

On the North side of town, the Chicago Cubs were not only predicted to win the division but end an 100 year drought. The Cubs had the talent and the pitching that was missing in previous years. The clutch hitters were alive and the young players played like veterans. So what happenened? The curse struck again and the Cubs were destroyed in the first round of the playoffs. What was the use of playing 180 games only to lose 4 games staight. The Cubs set a seaon record with over 91 wins and beating the nieghbors in Wisconsin(The Milwaukee Brewers.) Now they have gotten rid of the best utility player for a bunch of prospect minor leaguers. Well it will be wait for 2010 for the Cubs.

Let’s not start about the Chicago Bears. Wow what a horrible team and especially Lovie Smith. 2008 was a year that we had a new QB start in season, played well and maybe we finally had that QB that this town has been yawing for since the ageless Sid Luckman graced in field in the 60’s. But wait as usual reality set in for Kyle Orton and the Bears missed the playoffs for a second straight year.

We had a QB say he was retiring and then a few months later, he wants to play. Brett Favre got his wish and played for the New York Jets. In the beginning, Eric Mangini, looked like a genius in letting an injured prone QB go, and let Brett Favre lead his team to the promise land. When Brett came to New York fans thought well finally we can overtake the Patriots and win the division. Well Brett was is old self in the finall game of the season and maybe his career. Throwing 3 costly interceptions, the Jets lost to the QB that Farve was traded for and gave the Dolphins the division. A team that the previous year, just one a single game and this year are the Divsion Champs. Well it better winning one rather than none.

In 2008 history was wriiten has the first team in NFL history had a 16 losing streak. Who is that you may ask? The Detrioit Lions. To bad they did not take a page out of the Red Wings play book. (Detriot Winning the Stanley Cup). Enough of them!!!

2008 had a swimming record broken. The Micheal Phelps sage has started. He broke Mark’s Spitz record of 7 gold medals by winning 8. Phelps is only 23 years old and will continue to win and break his own records.

This year had alot more memories that happenend, too many to mention. The only thing once again for at least the Chicago Sports fan is the the hope of the Blackhawks. The NHL and Blackhawks will be exciting to watch in 2009. Hey what else do we have to cheer for? Derek Rose and the Chicago Bulls? Give me a break!!!

Now that the NFL playoffs are about to start, who is the favorite going into the postseason and who will surprise most of the fans. Well it is a toss up. Will the Titans represent their #1 seed and forget about the loss yesterday. Will Pitsburgh have Ben as their starting QB or will it be Leftwich carring the Big Black to the promise land. Will Peyton Manning contine to tear up defenses with his precision passing or will the Wild Card team (Baltimore, San Diego) surprise all the naw sayers and go to the Super Bowl.

What about the Super Bowl champions NEW YORK GIANTS. Can they overcome the off the field distraction with Buress or will that shoot them in the foot? Can the Panthers use Williams to carry them to Tampa? Will the Cardinals after winning their first divsion titile in 48 years make it past the red hot ATLANTA FALCONS or will a rookie quarterback steal the show and put its team into the Super Bowl.

What about the teams that were predicted to make the playoffs? Like say the Dallas Cowboys. Is there too much hype on Tony Romo, Terell Ownens and their off the field problems? Will Minnesota finally have enough power to overpass the Eagles and Donavan McNabb? Why can’t a coach control his team and lay down the law and say hey Enough is Enough. That is the reason why the Cowboys didn’t make the playoffs. They are more considered with stats and getting bonuses rather than trying to work as a team and helping each other. The Cowboys coach Wade Phillips has no control over his team and Dallas owner Jerrry Jones should step in and fire Phillips. Who will he get to replace Phillips. Forget about the offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. This team needs a coach who can disipline its players without losing the respect of its players. Take Mike Singletary in San Franciso. He would not take any of this crying and crap and probably would bench T.O. for his baby like attitude. Tony Romo chokes in Decemember. He is now 0-9 in Decemember and that is another reason why the Cowboys missed the playoffs.

The Gians will go to the NFL Conference game against the Carolina Panthers. This will be a rematch of the regular season game that was last week. In that game, you had a running match tug of war. Will Brendon Jacobs be healthy enough to paly in the Giants first palyoff game. Without Jacobs, and Manning passing the ball the Giants will miss the Conference title game. Will DeAngelo Williams carry the Panthers to New York? He will to just that. In the last regular season game, Williams carried his team back from defeat to beat the New Orleans Saints and win the South and the first round bye. The real question is cand Jake D. be as accurate with his passes and help out the Panthers. The Panthers have two wonderful receivers in Steve Smith and Musin Muhhamd.

As far as the AFC goes, here is what’s going to happen. The Colts will go to San Diego and the warm weather will be in favor of the Colts. YES the COLTS!! Without Shawn Merrian the Chargers will lucky that the Broncos defaulted with their season and had the shot of getting into the playoffs. The other Wild Card game in Miami will be a battle of field goal kickers and special teams. A rookie quarterback with a rookie coach does not equal a win for the Ravens. The Ravens are going to have to rely on their defense once again to carry them past the Dolphins. The Dolphins on the other hand, have a veteran QB with a little playoff experience if any at all. Chad will use his MVP candidate status to carry the Dolphins past the Ravens and into the second round.

Now the AFC second round. With the lowest seed left will go to Tennesse and the highest seeded team will head to Pittsburgh. So if Miami wins they will go to Pittsburgh and play the Steelers. Will Big Ben be healthy enough to play in that particular game or will an inexperienced QB be at the helm? Or better yet, will Pittsburgh have to rely on the running game to get them to Tennesse. The Titans will host the lowest seeded team. If Miami does win then the winner of Indy and San Diego will go up against the Titans. It will be the COLTS and the rematch of Week 17. Only this time, all the regular players will be fighting it out the whole entire game. The Colts yesterday shut out the Titans to win 10 straight games to make the playoffs. Finally Peyton Manning woke up and carried this team to the playoffs.

Six out of the Eight teams are new from last year’s playoff schedule. Who has the advantage? Can it be a Manning vs Manning Super Bowl? If it is that then who will ARCHIE be rounting for? Will he route for ELI and back to back Super Bowl titles, or will the first born get his father’s Endorsement. Can Kerry Collins and the Tennessee offense have enoght in their tank to carry them to Tampa? Only time will tell, so stay tuned to this column and the interesting results of the 2009 NFL PLAYOFFS

The Bears had a chance to make the playoffs for the 2008 season. A year in which they had a new QB and a rookie Running Back. A year of the Defense getting older and a year of Lovie Smith as the Head Coach. They had the chance to either make the playoffs by either winning the division and be a third seed or a wild card berth and be the 6 seed.

The Bears neede help as well. After that Sunday night’s diaster in Minnesota, the Bears had to beat the New Orleans Saints and the high power Drew Brees, The Revenge Game(Green Bay), and the team from Space, (HOUSTON).

With a 21-7 lead against the Saints , the stagering offense could not do anything and the defense once again had to save the day. A loss and the Bears would be 7-7 and pretty much out of the playoff race. The game went into overtime and Robbie Gould (the only reliable player that the Bears have) kicked the game winning field goal and the Bears have kept their team alive at 8-6.

Now the The Revenge game against their arch rivals the Green Bay Packers and a Monday Night Game. Just 11 days before, the Bears beat the Saints. After losing 37-3 to Green Bay in Week 11, the Bears had two goal agenda. One to continue to squeeze into the playoffs, and two get satisfaction in beating a team who was playing without a guy named Brett. Before that Monday game, the Bears hoped that the warm weather would be an end to the Minnesota game and move the Bears a inch closer to Minnesota. Minnesota destroyed Arizona and the Bears had two win against the Packers to keep the drive to the playoffs alive.

The Bears relied on Robbie’s foot once again, coming from behind this time to beat the Packers and to set up to play Houston to get into the playoffs. The Vikes would be facing off against the Giants.

The Bears needed help from the Giants, Eagles, Radiers for the Bears to get the wild card. But first the Bears had to take care of business in Houston. Could it be Three Nail Bitters for the hapless Bears?

The Bears did get their wish. The Radiers did indeed beat the Bucs, the Eagles destroyed the hapless Cowboys (more on that later). But the Bears did not beat the Texans, and so ends a disappointing season at 9-7.

What is next for the Bears? The ownership of the Bears should fire Lovie Smith and all the coaching staff. This is the worst Bears defense that ever has played the game of football. The Bears could not even beat the Oklahoma Sooners nor the Flordia Gators(teams from the NCAA fighting for the BCS title). These guys are a bunch of old ladies trying to play a game they have no business playing.

So ends the 2008 season, and the same song plays in Chicago “Wait til next season”. That song should be a number one hit for Chicago teams. For the Cubs, White Sox and Bulls it is all over. The only thing that Chicago has any cheering to do is for the Blackhawks and that still is a bit to early to brake out the bubbles. However, the Hawks did set a franchise record by winning 9 games in a row. The Hawks are only 4 points behind the Detroit Red Wings in the Divsion with a home and home series with the Red Wings starting Tuesday and a New Years Day outdoor game at Wrigley Field.