Mike O'Connell

After a great day of football yesterday, the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks have their tickets punched for Super Bowl XLVIII. in most sports a Denver/Seattle championship would have TV execs in tears–not exactly the nation’s biggest markets–but the Super Bowl isn’t really about pulling for the home team. This year’s “big game” (as it’s called in places that can’t advertise it) should have fans and studio heads cheering. A classic youth versus experience matchup in Wilson/Manning and the first outdoor game in years? This one is set to be Super.

If the two-minute montage at the end of Monday’s episode of Archer is a sign of things to come for its new-look fifth season, count me in. I’ve always thought of Archer as like Entourage on coke. Looks like I was right. 

No surprises.

That was my reaction when reading the vote total of every single former major leaguer on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. I know it’s easy to say now, but I assure you each player was within a percentage point or two of where I thought he would be. Maddux, Glavine, and Frank Thomas were all well-deserved locks. No surprises. Steriod-plagued candidates such as Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds? Not even close. No surprises. The fact that Craig Biggio was close but didn’t quite make it? No surprise. Biggio’s a Hall of Famer for sure. He’s just not a first ballot Hall of Famer. Sound strange? Well, that’s just how the Hall of Fame operates. No surprises.

Baseball lost one of its great men Sunday when Jerry Coleman passed away at age 89. Coleman was a player, manager, announcer, and combat pilot who saw action in both World War II and Korea. This quote from Bug Selig says it all: Jerry Coleman was a hero and a role model to myself and countless others in the game of Baseball. He had a memorable, multifaceted career in the National Pastime — as an All-Star during the great Yankees’ dynasty from 1949-1953, a manager and, for more than a half-century, a beloved broadcaster, including as an exemplary ambassador for the San Diego Padres. But above all, Jerry’s decorated service to our country in both World War II and Korea made him an integral part of the Greatest Generation.

Full obituary here: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/nyy/san-diego-padres-announcer-jerry-coleman-dies-at-89?ymd=20140105&content_id=66332642&vkey=news_nyy.

Made it!