Titans Should Make Move For Tomlinson, Westbrook

Two of the NFL's best veteran running backs, Ladanian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook, are bidding farewell to their franchises that both have called home for a while now. Tomlinson for nine seasons and Westbrook for eight seasons. Both have already expressed their desires to keep playing.

As for the Titans, they have to look at these two situations as an opportunity to give some help to Chris Johnson. The NFL has turned into a league that features two tailbacks per team and the Titans only have one to lean on right now.

Most likely Lendale White will depart during the offseason leaving the Titans with very little experience at the position. That's where Tomlinson and Westrbrook come into play.

Tomlinson is the better choice for the Titans because he runs more like Chris Johnson and would be a great mentor.

Even though Tomlinson is the better fit for the Titans, Westbrook's style of play would fit very well with the Jeff Fisher's offense scheme as well.

Westbrook is a running back that can lead your team in receptions week after week and Fisher loves to throw screen passes and dumb-off passes in his offense.

There are still a ton of questions about Westbrook's ability to stay healthy for an entire season so that has to be put into consideration here.

Either way, the Titans need another proven running back to help out Chris Johnson in the backfield.

There's no reason for the Titans to sit on their hands this offseason like they've done so many times in the past. It's time to make a move and see if the Titans can find their way back to the postseason.

Just How "Miraculous" Was the Win Over Canada?

Just shortly after Team USA upset Cananda 5-3 on Sunday many people were comparing this win to the "Miracle on Ice" in 1980 when we upset the heavily favored Russians in Lake Placid.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here even though it is really easy to. Although it was a great win for U.S hockey, the gap between ourselves and Canada is nowhere near the gap that there was between us and the Russians in 1980.

Team Canada hasn't looked spectacular during this year's Olympics. It took a shootout to get past Switzerland while Team USA defeated the Swiss in regulation, 3-1.

You also have to really study the "Miracle on Ice" to understand how big of an upset that actually was.

The Russians were ahead by one goal three separate times during the game before Team USA notched back-to-back goals to take the lead. There was also still ten minutes left in the game for the Russians to tally the tying goal and go for the win.

Sunday's game was predominantly led by Team USA on the scoreboard as they scored 40 seconds into the game. They also led 4-2 before Sidney Crosby added a power play goal with less than four minutes remaining.

What really made this such a great game was the stellar net-minding by Ryan Miller. He made 42 saves including three simultaneous saves in the third period to keep Team USA ahead.

We also can't get too big-headed here. There's still a ton of work to do. When you really look at it Team USA got bailed out by Ryan Miller. They were outshot 45-22 which will probably lead to a loss in the medal rounds.

The next game will be against either Switzerland or Belarus. I expect a rematch against the Swiss to be the next game for Team USA. It's always harder beating a team a second time in a row.

One good thing about Team USA's spot in this tournament is that both Russia and Canada are on the lower part of the bracket meaning that one of them will be taken out by the other before they can reach Team USA in the tournament.

Either way, Team USA will most likely have to beat one of them if they want a silver or gold medal.

In the end the gap just wasn't as large as people originally thought between Canada and the USA in hockey. The Canadiens are better, but they're not on the same level as the 1980 Soviet team that everyone feared at the time.

Bracketology: Tennessee Edition

Last season was a great season for basketball programs from the great state of Tennessee. You had Memphis, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Tennessee-Chattanooga, and East Tennessee State all make the NCAA Tournament.

Their most likely won't be that many team representing Tennessee this season, but there's still two teams that could do damage and that's No.19 Vanderbilt and No. 18 Tennessee.

In no way do I agree with Tennessee currently being ranked ahead of Vanderbilt in the rankings. Vandy has beaten them twice this season, including a double-digit win just a week ago.

Joe Lunardi is the expert when it comes to the science of bracketology and currently he has Vanderbilt as a No.4 seed and Tennessee as a No.5 seed.

I believe both seeds are a little generous considering the SEC is very weak once again. Vandy deserves no higher than a No. 5 seed thanks to some questionable losses against Cincinnati, Illinois, and Georgia.

Tennessee on the other hand should be no higher than No.7 seed as of right now. They've faired even worse in the SEC and their only impressive win of the season was against No.1 Kansas. Without that huge upset win then Tennessee would be even farther back for me.

The only other team representing the state right now in Lunardi's bracket is Belmont out of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Belmont always has a respectable program and many of you probably remember when they gave Duke that scare just a few years ago. Sadly enough they'll be another sacrificial lamb to the likes of Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, etc.

You can't ever count Memphis out of the equation. They still have time to build on their resume with their current record sitting at 19-7. After looking over their remaining schedule it's very likely they could win-out the rest of the way and get into the field of 65.

Out of all of these teams Vanderbilt has the best shot at making a run in the tournament. They're balanced and well-coached. A Sweet 16 berth is probably the most you can realistically hope for, but in college basketball the impossible sometimes happens.

Current Resume's

1. Vanderbilt ( #5) Key Wins: Tennessee twice, @St. Mary's, Missouri
2. Tennessee (#7) Key Wins: Kansas, @Memphis
3. Memphis (#13) Key Wins: @Tulsa
   

Memo To Tiger: Your "Apology" Was a Load of Crap

Nothing like waking up to a robot like creature giving a speech on your television. Oh wait, how careless of me. That was Tiger Woods attempting to apologize for his actions that he displayed.

I'm sorry but when you wait three months to make a public statement and then follow that silence up with what seemed like an insincere apology that was well-rehearsed, then you're getting no sympathy from me.

There were times when Tiger would look blankly at the camera in front of him and then look back down at the podium to gather his next thought.

I'm no speech writing expert, but shouldn't you be able to give a heart-felt apology without the aid of a sheet of paper on a podium?

Here's the main issue I have with these formal public apologies that Tiger and many other athletes have given in the past. How do we know who actually wrote this apology? For all we know he could've hired a speech writer to handle the whole thing. He's certainly got the money for it.

And one more thing. Why didn't Tiger allow the media in the room to ask questions? I can probably answer that question already. Because he simply didn't want to handle the situation on his own. Instead he would rather say whatever he wants to say and be done with it. Many of the people in the room were hand picked by him.

Well that won't last for long once he decides to return to golf. The media will hound him with questions regarding this situation for years to come until he decides to man up to his actions and answer the questions that the public has.

Toward the end of his speech Tiger began to somewhat lash out at the media, and some of it was well deserved. The media has no right to drag his wife, Elin, or his two-year-old daughter into the middle of this. Tiger deserves all of the media scrutiny in the world, but not his family.

However, Tiger then brought the spotlight back onto his own selfishness by denying that he's ever done performance enhancing drugs.

What does that have to do with anything? Stop trying to make a case for yourself. You screwed up and now it's time to deal with it like a man, not like a puppet.

Vandy's Top Recruit Murdered at Georgia Home

Sad news is coming out of Powder Springs, Georgia today as Vanderbilt's 4-star recruit Rajaan Bennett was the victim of a murder-suicide in his own home.

I can't even begin to express how badly I feel for everyone involved in this gruesome situation. It just reminds me how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken away.

In the grand scheme of things, sports are secondary to way more important things in life, like friends and family.

Bennett had just signed with one of the most prestigious schools in the country to play football for a program that is gradually on the rise. He was going to be the face of Vanderbilt football very quickly.

"Rajaan was an extraordinary young man and an ideal fit for Vanderbilt University," head coach Bobby Johnson said. "As we got to know Rajaan, it became very clear to our coaches that he was a better person than he was an athlete. He was a leader, a young man who gained the respect of the entire community at McEachern High School."

The key part in that statement is he was a better person than he was an athlete. That's no surprise to me considering Vanderbilt doesn't just recruit athletes based on what they can do on the football field.

There's no doubt in my mind that this young man was going to be a star in more ways than one in this world. He was going to Vanderbilt University, which is more than a lot of people can say in this world.

My heart truly hurts for his family right now and my prayers go out to them.

The Chances for Success for the Men's Hockey Team in Vancouver

The opening of the men's hockey is just minutes away with Team USA getting ready to take on Switzerland.

Many of the analysts, including ESPN's Barry Melrose, are calling this a good warm-up game for Team USA.

I guess we'll see about that.

The key to success for the U.S. is goalie Ryan Miller. Miller has a 93 percent save percentage which is good for 2nd in the NHL. If he can relay that success to the Olympics then the U.S. has a legitimate shot at a medal.

Another thing that plays in the favor of the U.S. is that they will be playing on an NHL-size rink, which is narrower than the European rinks. It means the play will be much more physical, but it should favor the North American teams more so than the European teams.

However, outside of a few players, the U.S. lacks star power on their team. All of stars that we have come to know in the NHL play for other countries. The best scoring threat we have is Patrick Kane of the Blackhawks. He has 28 goals this season and a plus/minus ratio of plus-18.

For all you casual hockey fans, that means when he's on the ice his team is outscoring the opposition by 18 goals. Pretty good odds if you ask me.

The biggest threat that Switzerland will throw at us will be goalie Jonas Hiller. He has a ton of talent and we'll see if that results in success for Switzerland.

The Predators have several players competing in the Olympics, but only one for the U.S. That player is Ryan Suter, who will be out there more for his defense than scoring goals.

By far the favorite to win the Olympics is Canada, who has some guy named Sidney Crosby suiting up for them. Hopefully you caught the sarcasm on that. But they have a ton of pressure on them playing in front of their home country.

Don't leave Russia out of the equation. They've got Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Ilya Kovalchuk. Expect a lot goals to be scored by this team.

The U.S. was unfortunate enough to be in the same group as Canada, along with Switzerland and Norway. A second-place finish in this group wouldn't be a disappointment at all.

Most likely a bronze medal is the most the U.S. can hope for, but we Americans love our underdog stories. Anything can happen in sports and that's why we watch and cheer for our teams.

USA! USA! USA!

Preds in the Olympics

1. Martin Erat (Czech Republic)
2. Ryan Suter (USA)
3. Shea Weber (Canada)
4. Patric Hornqvist (Sweden)
5. Marcel Goc (Germany)
6. Alexander Sulzer (Germany)

The All-Star Game Gets a Record Attendance

Over 108,000 people packed into the new Cowboys Stadium to see players like LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Kevin Durant put on a show that was badly needed for the NBA.

I'm among the many people who are surprised as too how many people showed up for the All-Star game. We're talking about almost 100,000 more people showing up for this game than any other regular season game.

You also have to take into account the even the Dallas Cowboys couldn't get a crowd this large to one of their games, and football rules in Texas. It was the largest crowd recorded in this building's short history.

The NBA has a lot to be proud of after last night.

It makes you wonder that if all NBA arenas could fit this many people, or even half, could they fill them up?

Judging from the highlights the game's best definitely put on a good show for the fans. Especially Dwyane Wade who showed off not just his scoring abilities, but also his underrated passing abilities as he dished out 11 assists. He took home All-Star MVP honors.

As of recent years the winning conference has usually produced the eventual NBA champion and this year the East took it by two, 141-139.

Once again, mad props to the NBA for putting together a great weekend of entertainment. The NBA's All-Star weekend use to be the best of any sport and it looks to be climbing back up to the top once again.

All-Star Top Performers

• Dwyane Wade (MIA): 28 pts, 11 asst, 6 reb, 5 stl
• LeBron James (CLE): 25 pts, 6 asst, 5 reb
• Carmelo Anthony (DEN): 27 pts, 10 reb
• Chris Bosh (TOR): 23 pts, 10 reb