MLK Day. A day ON.

It has been a while since my last post and I must admit that it was not the best time to take a break. A lot has happened in the world of sports over this past weekend and there is plenty of discussion to be had. I don't plan on cramming all of that in just one entry but let's see what I can do.

The football world is in a state of disbelief as Kurt Warner and his high octane passing game has led his cinderella team, the Arizona Cardinals, to Super Bowl XLIII. That's right, the NFC West division champs who finished the regular season with a less than satisfactory record of 9-7, have proved all the doubters and critics as they waltzed right into this year's championship game for a shot at the Lombardi Trophy. The one team that stands in their way, the AFC CHampions, the very experienced and high powered Steelers. On paper, the Steelers have the Cardinals beat in almost every single category that could be named. For instance, Ben Roethlisberger is a better quarterback, the Steelers have a better wide receiver corp... Hold on... Did anyone find that last sentence hard to read? That might be because Ben Roethlisberger isn't a better quarterback than Kurt Warner, and the wide receivers in yellow and black aren't exactly more talented. Say what you want and make your own opinions but for now. There is still plenty of time before the 60 minutes in Tampa Florida are actually going to be played so there is no need for me to get ahead of myself already. Between now and then, I will slowly breakdown the two teams as Super Bowl XLIII comes near. For now though, congratulations to the Cardinals for their first ever Super Bowl appearance. As for the Steelers, don't get too ahead of yourselves, you don't want to end up like the Falcons (this could have been you guys in the Cardinals' position), Panthers (Coach Fox, you were foolish to think it would be easy), or Eagles (Didn't you see a trend? You couldn't possibly have thought that a 48-20 win in the regular season against the Cardinals would mean anything now did you?).

Wake Forest stands atop the AP Poll as the only undefeated team in Division-1 basketball! Do they deserve it?

Pittsburgh was the former #1 ranked team before falling to Coach Pitino's, then #20, Cardinals 69-63. While the Panthers dropped from the ranks of the undefeated, the only other two undefeated teams were battling it out in Littlejohn Coliseum as Wake Forest visited Clemson. The crowd was loud and filled the stands with purple and orange. It wasn't really the atmosphere that the Demon Deacons wanted to be in while trying to knock off a conference rival but the crowd didn't seem to be much of a factor as Dino's squad led almost throughout the entire 40 minutes of regulation. The young men of Wake Forest showed plenty of composure whenever it was needed, except for a few times when some questionable decisions led to points in favor of the Tigers. With a comfortable lead, the Demon Deacons answered to every basket Clemson had to offer. With under 5 minutes to go in regulation, the Tigers rallied back to make it a 1 point game but Sophomore James Johnson quickly answered to the comeback by leading his team to a 10-2 run. Wake Forest never looked back and the crowd was silent as the clock read 0:00.

The rest of Saturdays action packed schedule of college basketball games stayed true to its expectations as upsets were dealt and last minute crunch time was in full effect. On top of the Louisville upset over Pittsburgh, Arizona State quickly forgot about their loss to USC as they joined Louisville's party by reigning on UCLA's parade and shocking the home team Bruins in a comeback win in overtime. James Harden once again displayed why he is without a doubt, a top prospect in the 2009 NBA draft. Can't leave out the impressive performance by Duke as they calmly handed Georgetown its fourth loss of the season. Kyle Singler was once again a standout performer with 15 points and 16 rebounds. A colossal Big East match up was also showcased as #8 Syracuse hosted #13 Notre Dame. Might I say that the Orange weren't very house warming as they trampled on the Irish by 19 and quickly forgot about their loss to Georgetown. The first five minutes of the game was wire to wire as both teams answered to one another but the Orange weren't interested in keeping the game close and went off by starting with a 7-0 run and never gave Harangody and his crew another shot at coming back. Notre Dame could not stop the fast offense of Syracuse as the Orange put up 93 points.

As the unpredictable NBA crosses the halfway mark in the regular season, much talk is going on about the big time match up between Kobe and LeBron tonight at 10:30 as the Lakers host the Cavaliers. Comparisons with Jordan have been put aside as these two have been said to possibly be the next "Magic and Bird". While everyone is wondering what's going to happen in this bout tonight, my question is, who can slow down the fire hot Orlando Magic? Sure the "rivalry" between Olympic Gold Medalists Kobe and LeBron is going to be exciting to watch tonight, but neither of them are on the current top team in the league. The Cavs are undefeated at home and almost unstoppable and the Lakers are #1 in the Western conference, but the Magic are ahead of Cleveland in the East as the #1 team in the conference and they just recently defeated the Zen Master's Western powerhouse. So, if Orlando is ahead of Cleveland and they beat the top team in the other conference, The Los Angeles Lakers, wouldn't that make the Magic the best team in the league at this moment? Instead of focusing on tonight's match up, most people should be thinking about how any team is going to stop #12 who seems to get better and better after every game, or #15 and #7, who seem to be capable of playing any position on the floor. On paper, the Magic might not be the most talented squad with depth, size, and speed, but this squad has the ability to beat anyone. Without a doubt, tonight's game will get all the attention that it deserves and I will most definitely have my eyes glued to the screen as two future hall of famers go at it with each other, but just keep in mind that Dwight and Stan will be at home relaxing as they await for any challenger that could take away the position as the top team in the NBA. Tonight? It's Kobe and LeBron's "15 minutes" (or is it 48?), but I assure you that Dwight is very much interested in that trophy they hand out in the end of the post season. Just Saying.

That's all for today, and can't forget to say Happy Martin Luther King Day!

-Jason Chong