2014 Australian Open: Our Predictions

Alright tennis fans, the 2014 season is finally underway down under! The Australian Open always gives us great drama, and we should expect nothing less from this year's event. Since the tournament has begun, I'd like to share with you my guesses of who will take home the Men's & Women's singles titles. I'm not a tennis expert, but I am a big tennis fan who loves to give input about the game. Let's do this!

Photo via keithprowse.eu

Men's Singles

Dark Horses: Tommy Haas (12), Grigor Dimitrov (22), Mikhail Youzhny (14)

Upset Alert (4th round or earlier) : Roger Federer (6), David Ferrer (3)

Semi-finalists: Rafa Nadal (1), Andy Murray (4), Novak Djokovic (2), Tomas Berdych (7)

Final: Rafa Nadal v. Novak Djokovic

Winner & Score: Novak Djokovic def. Rafa Nadal, 7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6

Women's Singles:

Dark Horses: Ana Ivanovic (14), Sloane Stephens (13)

Upset Alert (4th round or earlier) : Sara Errani (7), Jelena Jankovic (8)

Semi-finalists: Serena Williams (1), Petra Kvitova (5), Victoria Azarenka (2), Maria Sharapova (4)

Final: Serena Williams v. Victoria Azarenka

Winner & Score: Serena Williams def. Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 7-5

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These are our picks. Who do you have winning? Let us know in the comments!

NFL Playoffs Divisional Round: Saturday Game Predictions

Since we are into the second round of the NFL playoffs this week, I've decided to give my take of what will happen. In case you didn't know, there will be 2 games on Saturday, and 2 games on Sunday. I'll share my own analysis and predictions for the Saturday games.

January 11 Games:

New Orleans Saints vs. Seattle Seahawks (H)

Game time: 4:35 PM EST

BOVADA Spread: Seattle (-8)

BOVADA Over/Under: 45

Analysis: After annihilating New Orleans on MNF last month, the Seahawks will look to repeat that performance to head to the NFC Championship game. Their 12th man combined with the best defense in the playoffs and a steady offense will be a tall task for Sean Payton's team. I certainly anticipate the Saints offense to put up more than 200 total yards this time, but I still can't see them winning this game. Playing in Seattle in a playoff game just seems a losing situation. Expect Russell Wilson to lead his team 1 step closer to the Super Bowl.

Predicted Score: 28-20, Seahawks

Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots (H)

Game time: 8:15 PM EST

BOVADA Spread: New England (-7.5)

BOVADA Over/Under: 51

Analysis: After a stunning comeback vs. Kansas City last week, Andrew Luck now has the challenge of facing Tom Brady in Foxboro. Luck got his first playoff win last week, which should increase his confidence. But, the fact that he's going up against Brady, who is very close to setting the NFL record in playoff wins doesn't bode well. I understand that New England is decimated with injuries, but I still think they'll play a great game and come out fully prepared. Of the two games on Saturday, this could the closer one (with more upset potential), but I don't see it happening.

Predicted Score: 35-24, Patriots

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These are my predictions of the Saturday set of NFL playoff games. I see the home teams advancing without any trouble for the most party. What are your predictions? Let us know in the comments!

NFL Draft: Johnny Football Joins the Party

Photo via sbnation

It's (pretty much) official: Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel has entered the 2014 NFL Draft.

Most media outlets are reporting this news now, but ESPN was the first place I saw the reports coming from.

Nicknamed "Johnny Football", Manziel won the Heisman in 2013 and has been a very polarizing figure in the world of college football. His electrifying ability on the field combined with his off field controversies has the sports world divided on whether they hate or love him. His stature is similar to Tim Tebow, the New York Yankees, and the Dallas Cowboys: you either root for them, or want them to fail miserably, there is no in-between.

This can also be seen in his draft stock, where some project him to go as a top-5 pick (possibly to Cleveland or Oakland), to as far as the second round, solely because of his off-field persona & lack of size/durability questions.

In my opinion, I'd take him first overall, over other QBs Teddy Bridgewater & Blake Bortles. Yes, Bortles & Bridgewater possess the more traditional "NFL requirements", but, the way I see it, Manziel has the highest upside. His risk/reward is so great that he could either end up as the next Brett Favre, or he could combust into another Ryan Leaf. If I were the Houston Texans, the potential is too great to pass up. Plus, he's a Texas kid, so that could sell tickets and add more hype to a franchise that had a nightmare season. Give him weapons such as Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, and DeAndre Hopkins, and let's see what plays he can make at the highest level.

Where do you think Johnny will go, and how do you think his career will end up? Let us know in the comments!

Check out his last college game, vs. Duke in the Chic-Fil-A Bowl, below:

BCS Recap: FSU defeats Auburn

Getty Images

So instead of posting the "About Me" blog today, we are pushing that to tomorrow (Wednesday) and giving you a recap of the incredible BCS national championship game from last night. So, go ahead and read our take of the game, and then stay tuned for a few different updates for tomorrow.

Last night, we ended the controversial BCS-era of college football with a bang. After a 60 minute roller coaster of top tier college football, the Florida State Seminoles defeated the Auburn Tigers by a score of 34-31, with the TD pass from "Famous" Jameis Winston to Kelvin Benjamin being the game winner.

Auburn dominated the first half by a score of 21-3, but couldn't sustain their play throughout the entire game. Slowly but surely, FSU clawed back into the game, with the momentum completely changing late in the 4th quarter when they returned kickoff for a touchdown. Auburn responded with a Tre Mason TD run, but that's when Winston worked his Heisman magic and led his team down for the game clincher. Auburn simply ran out of magic, and FSU became the last ever BCS champions (2015 will be the first year of the 4 team playoff system).

The main storyline heading into this game was how well Auburn would do. They were 10.5 point underdogs and many people thought they were going to get blown out on national TV, much like Notre Dame did vs. Alabama last year. It turned out that they were very wrong. Tre Mason & Nick Marshall show why their offense helped them get to the title game, and the Tigers defense was ruthless all night, sacking Famous Jameis 4 times and causing a fumble. Auburn came to play, and FSU didn't really show up until the 4th quarter.

But, that's exactly when they needed to show. That's when Winston finally woke up and began making plays. He came up big and threw 2 TDs in the 4th, which quieted that haters that questioned his Heisman trophy winning season.

The sky is now the limit for Winston and Co. He's only a redshirt freshman, so he has at least 1 more year of eligibility to see if he can defend his title in the new playoff format next year. With the talent that this Seminole team has, I wouldn't be surprised if did.

Congrats, Jameis Winston. And congrats, Florida State University!

Chceck out a video highlight of the crazy ending, courtesy of ESPN:

the return.

Welcome back, everybody. And to new readers: welcome to this site for the first time!

First off, I'd like to apologize for leaving on an unannounced hiatus since the PGA Championship. Priorities got shuffled around, and next thing you know, it's mid-December and I hadn't written a blog post in months. I feel bad for not being as committed to this as I was before, but after such a long break (and prioritizing), I'm ready to get back to blogging!

I'll admit that I'm not 100% sure how organized and consistent my blog will be this year. But, I can admit that I'm going to do my best to give you at least 1 blog post every day. I'm a fan of constant content, so I feel that 1 post per day is the least I could do.

That's where things might get tricky. I'm not sure how "organized" my posts will be. I haven't decided yet on whether I'm going to be like Grace Helbig and have certain topics on certain days, or if I'm going to be on a more random route, where I'd have more freedom in my topic each day. I'll probably start off with the later, then eventually make a decision and roll with it.

I do know how this week will go down though. Looking back on our previous posts, I noticed that I never really introduced myself to you guys (the readers). So, to fix that, tomorrow (Tuesday) you can expect a little About Me post, where you can learn a little bit more about the person that is going to write the stuff that you might/might not read. Then, on Wednesday, you'll be treated to a new little change (can't give it away just yet). Thursday, we'll give you an About HTWD post, and Friday will also be another special little event.

Until then, I'll catch you guys later. It was really fun to write this, and I hope you all will enjoy what we have to say about sports in 2014.

Stay tuned!

- J.J. Sanchez