As the last few days and weeks have rolled by in the world of sports, I have made two observations.  The first is that some of the most amazing things have been happening.  Things that a true sports fan lives to see.  We've had fantastic finishes, great team and player stories, as well as historically significant individual efforts.  There has also been things that have dominated headlines that are nowhere near "newsworthy".  The crime in this is that many fans' attentions are being diverted to this garbage, and missing these wonderful events in sports. 

As a teacher, I always assume that when people behave inappropriately it's because they don't know what the appropriate action is.  Therefore you, the fan, will no longer need to miss the unmissable.  I, XEA76, will help you navigate your way through the trash and find the treasure.

Worthy:  Derek Fisher

This guy flies 2/3 of the way across the U.S. to pray for his potentially dying child, support the mother of his child, and be there when a man needs to be there most.  When he knows all is safe, he flies back to Utah, suits up, and inspires his team to a huge OT win. 

Not Worthy:  Racially biased NBA officiating

You have to ask what the agenda is of any organization that would even support such a study.  Anyone who actually saw the raw numbers knows that the illedged discrepency of calls of officials to players of another race were not statiscally significant.  Translated, this is why all polls have a "margin of error".  The statistics were not so skewed that there appeared to be a problem, but there was a SLIGHT descrepency.  If you really want to help the racism problem, don't make it the issue everytime people that don't look the same are in the same room.

Worthy:  Barry Bonds

I started this blog over a year ago because of this man.  Barry is a jerk.  Barry MAY be a cheater (probably).  Having said that, Barry is the greatest baseball player I've ever seen, BAR NONE!  Baseball fans live their whole lives wanting to see records broken.  He's already broken the big one.  Now he's going for the #2 record in all of baseball, the all-time HR mark.  Don't miss this because of a stupid grudge.  This is what you want to tell your kids about.  If you ignore him, you make him a mystery to the next generation. Educate yourself about him.  Teach the kids why he's so good.  Explain why cheating is bad.  However, do not miss one of the most amazing feats by one of the five greatest baseball players of all time.

Not Worthy:  Curt Schilling

Speaking his name in public is difficult to do.  This is a guy who gives the media the quotes they want, so he gets a pass on being an ####.  He is not a Hall of Fame player.  That's right, being an outspoken member of the 2004 Red Sox doesn't make you one.  Sorry Kevin Millar.  I'm not sure any person in sports is less socially significant while being oblivious to that fact at the same time.  He thinks he's important.  He speaks for political candidates.  He's a social commentator.  And frankly, all the Beanbrains want him to do is get people out.  That's right Curt.  If you make the country less dependent on oil and have an ERA over 5.00, then Boston will hate you.  I promise.

Worthy:  Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Jr. is leaving the company his father founded.  NASCAR's biggest star with it's biggest sponsor is officially a free agent (at the end of the year).  This event really has no other worthy comparison.  There is no other athlete more popular, in his prime, and about to be persued by about 15 Nextel Cup teams, the idea of starting his own team, or even other racing outfits like the IRL or Formula One.  Junior is the biggest free agent in the history of American sports. 

Not Worthy:  Car of Tomorrow

NASCAR made it.  NASCAR uses it now.  NASCAR wants it full time in 2008.  That settles it.  Shut up and drive it.

Worthy:  Tiger Woods

Tiger is on another dominating run.  He's winning almost every tournament he signs up for.  He's back to his dominating form with his 15th different swing.  He got to the point in 2000 when he decided to compare himself to himself, and not to the other players.  Now he's back to being so far ahead of the field it's almost laughable.

Not Worthy:  Mike Vick

He's the biggest bust since Ryan Leaf.  He's a punk who's popularity so far supercedes his accomplishments that it's obsurd.  He's a great athlete who can't play QB.  He's a spoiled brat who has robbed me of the 60 seconds of my life that it took to write this blurb.  I'm out!

For those that just tuned in, I am the Fox Bloggers NFL Pick 'em champion this year (Mr. NFL organized the league and he talks about it on his site http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/MrNFL.) 
That having been said and my dominance being made complete, I'm pulling a Tiger Woods.  I'm changing my swing.  I'm going back to the drawing board in the hopes of coming back even more dominating than I am today.  That is hard to believe, but no one believed Tiger either.  Here is the method to my prognosticating madness:  

I have developed an alphabetically enhanced system known as "XEA's Q.C.K. I.Q."  This obviously stands for the Quarterback, Coach, and Kicker Intelligence Quotent.  In this system, I will pick the winner of each playoff game by evaluating the teams based only on those three individuals.  Quarterbacks and coaches always recieve an enormous amount of credit when teams win.  Couple that with the fact that so many NFL games, especially playoff games, come down to last second field goals, and this system should be "fool-proof", "####-proof", "infallable" if you will.  So here it goes.

SATURDAY

Trent Green/ Herman Edwards/ Lawrence Tynes  @  Peyton Manning/ Tony Dungy/ Adam Vinatieri  

This may be the biggest mismatch of the weekend.  The Colts have a clear advantage in each category and should coast to an easy victory.

Tony Romo/ Bill Parcells/ Martin Gramatica  @  Matt Hasselbeck/ Mike Holmgren/ Josh Brown

The defending conference champion Hasselbeck has a huge advantage over the still un-playoff-proven Romo.  Parcells may get a slight advantage in this category, but Holmgren's three Super Bowl appearances and four consecutive playoff berths make it closer than many may think.  Josh Brown set an NFL record this year with four last minute game winning field goals.  That equals a Seahawks victory.

SUNDAY

Chad Pennington/ Eric Mangenius/ Mike "Ted" Nugent  @  Tom Brady/ "Best Dressed" Bill Belichick/ Stephen Gostkowski

Pennington is the NFL Comeback Player of the Year this season.  He'll have to comeback a whole lot farther to be Tom Brady.  I love the Mangenius!!!  I love the Mangenius!!!  I love the Mangenius!!!  (Reread the previous sentence about Pennington and Brady.  The same holds true here.  Belichick is still the king.  What's love got to do with it anyway?)  The Jets attempt to save face in the "K" category, but it's not nearly enough.  Patriots win.

Eli Manning/ Tom Coughlin/ Jay Feely  @  Jeff Garcia/ Andy Reid/ David Akers

At this point I'd favor Jerry Garcia over Eli.  Jeff will certainly get by!  Reid is an advantage for the Eagles against almost anyone.  I can't get those three missed game winning attempts in Seattle from last year out of my mind when I think of Feely.  Big advantage here to the Eagles.

These predictions are completely based upon XEA's Q.C.K.I.Q.  We'll see how it goes this weekend.  This is how weekend two would look based upon the quotent.

Seahawks @ Bears   and   Eagles @ Saints in the NFC

Patriots @ Chargers     and      Colts @ Ravens in the AFC

From there the quotent predicts Seahawks @ Eagles in the NFC title game, and Patriots @ Colts in the AFC game.  

This would then give way to a Seahawks vs. Colts Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts immerging as the World Champions. 

I will monitor this quotent as the playoffs roll on, making new picks based on the quotent if any of the previous predictions prove to be incorrect.  More analysis will be given as each weekend's matchups become official.

(These predictions are simply a strict result of the XEA Q.C.K.I.Q and do not reflect the opinions of XEA himself or any of the countless scientists, environmentalists, and trout fishermen who worked to establish this method.  No anmials were harmed in the establishment of this statistical breakthrough.  We catch and release.)