We are near the end of January of 2012, and there is only one undefeated team left in all of Division I basketball. One must think, it has to be one of the annual powerhouses, right?  Teams like Duke, Syracuse, UNC or Kansas? Wrong. Last night, Syracuse, the number one team in all of college basketball, fell to Notre Dame, 67-58, in one of the most surprising upsets in all of college basketball this year. Syracuse was one of the two remaining unbeatens, and no one in this world would have ever guessed who the other unbeaten would be… Now prepare yourself for this: The Murray State Racers.

Now, let me ask the question that all the readers are asking. WHO? The Murray State Racers are now 20-0 this year, with their last victory over Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville last night. Now trust me, I’m no bandwagon, but you have to respect any team that is undefeated at this point in the year, whether it is mighty Syracuse or mid-major (if you can call them that) Murray State. Murray State did make a splash in the 2010 NCAA tourney, beating Vanderbilt in the first round and narrowly losing to Butler, who went on the Cinderella Story journey by losing to Duke in a photo finish game in the Championship game. Other than that, no one really knows about Murray State and what they have done. They don’t have the élite schedule that most top teams have, but what sticks out to me is that they have beaten a ranked team, which was Memphis. They won’t face another ranked team for the rest of the regular season, but when you face a ranked team and beat them when you have the chance to is rather impressive to me.

Now I will admit, I am a fan of the Racers at this point, but there are some naysayers. For example, my dad says they should not even be ranked at this point because of the weakness of their schedule. I argue that they have beaten a ranked team and they beat Morehead State, who ousted Louisville in the first round of the Tourney last year. Now obviously, other than Memphis, they don’t have much competition, but here is my point of view on it. I highly doubt that the high ranked teams want to play a team like Murray State, which would most likely hurt their strength of schedule, which is crucial to the seeding in the Tournament. That isn’t Murray State’s fault. It isn’t their fault that they aren’t a big name team. But most importantly, it isn’t their fault that the teams that they have faced have not been able to beat them.

Finally, I come to my conclusion. I’m not vying for Murray State to be a number one seed. I’m not saying they’re going to win the March Madness tournament. All I’m saying is that you have to respect a team that is undefeated this far into the season, whether it is the powerhouses, or in this case, the Murray State Racers. I think that a small name school being the only undefeated team in Division I basketball is, quite frankly, amazing and inspiring. So go ahead and do your thing, Murray State, you now have my, and the rest of the nation’s, undivided attention.

Well, once again, Albert Pujols has shocked the baseball world. This time, what he did didn’t happen on the baseball field. Earlier today, December 8th, 2011, I went to yahoo.com and saw that he had signed with not the St. Louis Cardinals, but with the, wait for it, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. WHO?!?!?! Who even thought that the Angels were in the running to get him? The whole situation starts many months ago…. all the way back to January of this year. Apparently, the Cards had offered him a nine-year, so many millions of dollars, and he turned it down. Albert Pujols, the figure of St. Louis for the last decade, turned down the option to finish out his career in St. Louis. That’s when I knew Pujols wasn’t going back. Pujols also told the Cardinals front office that he was not going to negotiate during the season. After an improbable run to the World Series, I thought for a couple of days that Albert would possibly go back. But after a couple of months of silence, the Winter Meetings hit. The Marlins and the Cardinals were the top two in the running to sign him. After a few days of intense negotiations, the Miami Marlins backed off their deal with Pujols, with no clear explanation to why Pujols backed out of the deal. Once again, it seemed like the Cardinals were the front-runners for the Albert Pujols Sweepstakes. Then the wackiness began. The Cardinals offered Pujols yet another deal, and he denied it again, because according to his agent, the deal didn’t have enough money on it. Personally, this is when I started to think that he was in it for the money. But then later it was being reported that the Marlins had offered him 275 million dollars. And here we are. On December 8th, 2011, Albert Pujols is no longer a St. Louis Cardinal for life. Now, I live a couple of hours from St. Louis. And when I read that Pujols had gone to the Angels out loud to a few faculty members at my high school, they were shocked. And within a matter of seconds, that shock turned into resentment. Throughout the day, I never heard one good word about Pujols, never heard anything about him playing his heart out for a decade for the team that he has cemented, never heard about his good deeds in the community. “Goodbye, and good riddance”, one of my friends said. It honestly feels like the LeBron James situation. But, this is completely different. Pujols has done so much for the community, and to hear all these people rag on him is disgusting. I can’t stand some Cardinals fans, and this just adds to the list. I hope Albert gets the respect he deserves in St. Louis, and I hope that he can cement his legacy as one of the best to play the game. And I’m happy that he gets the opportunity to do it in a city that might actually have respect for the man, the machine, and the player.

Well, he we are, after another wonderful performance on a Sunday from the Green Bay Packers. The Pack Attack are sitting pretty at 12-0 after their close, electrifying win against the New York Giants in The Meadowlands.

Now, I know what you guys are thinking. Going through your head is “Wait, this happens every year, why is it such a big deal now?” Well, I’ll tell you what the difference is this time: the Packers are the real deal. Don’t get me wrong, the 2007 Patriots were right there. Getting to the Super Bowl undefeated is a great feat, but somehow, wide receiver David Tyree made the catch of the century which led to the game winning fade pass from Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress, thus ending the Patriots magical run. That being said, I think that this Packers team has all the tools to make it to the Super Bowl, and win it all. First off, Aaron Rodgers is the real deal. The last drive of the game solidifies him as one of the best quarterbacks in the league. With all the talent around him on the offensive side, such as wideout targets Greg Jennings and Jermichael Finley, it just makes Rodger’s job that much easier. Plus, Jordy Nelson has emerged as a go-to receiver for this ball club. Defensive secondaries also can’t forget about James Jones as a deep threat as well. Throw in a seasoned veteran such as Donald Driver, with a backfield with two solid backs with Ryan Grant and James Starks. Even though Starks re-aggravated an ankle injury in today’s win, he should be set to go for future games. Plus, the offensive line has improved, and you don’t see Rodgers running for his life anymore. Now you might think that the Packers are all about offense, but that isn’t the case. The Packers have a solid rush defense, headlined by the intimidating Clay Matthews. They also have another solid linebacker in AJ Hawk. One pass rusher that people have probably heard of but doesn’t get enough credit is the Packers defensive tackle BJ Raji. The Packers also have a good secondary which is led by Charles Woodson. Woodson also got injured in this game with a head injury, but he should be back in a few weeks.br /The Packers also have exceptional special teams units. In his first professional game, a rookie from Kentucky University named Randall Cobb returned a kickoff for a touchdown and has done a great job this entire year. They also have a great kicker in Mason Crosby, whose long on the year is 58 yards, and a solid punter in Tim Masthay.br /All in all, the 2011 Green Bay Packers are the real deal. If they get to about 14-0, you can guarantee to hear from the almighty Mercury Morris from the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins. But mark my word this year’s Packers has the best chance I’ve ever seen to be the second team in the history of the NFL to have an undefeated season.