It’s time for me to feebly attempt to guess correct winners and scores of the AFC and NFC championship game.

 New York at San Francisco

 One great defense meets another in this championship game.

The Giants are known for their pass-rushing prowess, but the 49er’s aren’t known for their passing game. The Giants are going to have to adjust to the run-first mentality of the Niners and be able to react fast enough when the Niners utilize their highly successful play-action passes.

 Having to cover an athletic freak in Vernon Davis doesn’t help either.

 On the flip side, the Giants mix the pass and run very well, with a veteran quarterback and offensive line. The Niners, led by equally athletic freak Patrick Willis will have to be able to confuse Manning and beat them at the line.

 It kills me to predict this, but I’m no romantic and foresee a Giants/Patriots round 2 redemption game for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

 With home-field advantage, and the knack to make clutch plays, I think the Niners will win.

 27-21 49ers.

 Looks like I will have to put up with my Niner friends and roommate for one more week.

 Sigh.

Baltimore at New England

Here’s a perfect example of a great offense versus an equally great defense, and the famous saying, "defense wins championships."

 Thing is though, this saying was said before Tom Brady and Bill Belichick were in the league. I don’t think the Ravens will be able to stop the Patriots offense. After all, Bellichick is one of the best game-planners ever. I’m a huge believer in home field, and with that I have to give the nod to the Patriots.

 31-21 Patriots.

Before we move on to the other sports, the firing of Jim Caldwell proves how unreliable twitter and other sources can be in today’s fast paced news lifestyle.

 At first ESPN reported that Jim Caldwell would be retained as head coach of the Colts, but then breaking news 5 minutes later showed that Caldwell had in fact been fired.

 I found it funny only because ESPN analyst John Clayton was on the air saying Caldwell was going to brought back, then the announcement was made of him being re-hired, but then news broke out 5 minutes later that Caldwell had been fired. After hearing that, Clayton had to go back on ESPN and try to explain the confusion. For me, it was pretty hilarious.

 On the topic of coaches, Jeff Fisher agreed to become the new St. Louis Rams head coach on Monday.

 This brings back the famous saying, “if you can’t beat them, join them twelve years later.” (Fisher and the Titans lost to the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl in 2000.)

 Wait, I am being told that isn’t the famous saying. Oh well, close enough.

Baseball

 I want to first start with the semi-bombshell of the Mariners trading away young All-star Michael Pineda to the Yankees for catcher Jesus Montero. (two other players were involved, but honestly, do we really care?)

 At first glance, I was very upset by the trade since Pineda pitched so well for the Mariners as a rookie.

 But when you delve deeper into the issue, the trade makes sense for both sides.

 The Mariners have a lot of depth in their minor league system when it comes to starting pitching and the Yankees desperately needed pitching.

  By doing this trade, the Mariners are sacrificing their strength to improve their weakness, like all good teams normally do.

Montero only had 61 at-bats in the majors but he posted a very respectful .328 average, hit 4 homeruns and had a .408 On-Base-Percentage.

 Looking even deeper, you can see that teams started to figure out Pineda by the end of the season. After the All-Star break, Pineda went 1-4 with an era of 5.50. It should be noted though Pineda was used sparingly due to not wanting to over work his young arm.

 Only time will tell if the trade works out, but right now, I like the approach the Mariners are taking and so does another Daily Evergreen writer.

 In other news, San Francisco Giants Ace Tim Lincecum demanded the most money ever during arbitration. “The Freak” asked for $21.5 million dollars, and most likely he’ll get that money. Looks like Timmy will finally have enough money for his “extracurricular activities”.

 Outside of that, not much has happened, the Phillies re-signed Cole Hamels to a one year deal, and the Rangers signed Japanese pitching phenom to a $60 million contract.

 “Prince Fielder watch 2012” still continues. Fielder has not signed a contract yet, but his agent has said a deal will be signed before Spring Training begins.

 So you may want to get a refill on that soda and popcorn, it may be awhile until the slugger finally makes a decision.

Miscellaneous

On Tuesday, ESPN and the rest of the nation celebrated possibly the most iconic athlete ever, Muhammad Ali. Ali turned 70, and is still today a sports figure that many people look up to.

 He was a great boxer, and we may never see his unique blend of speed and power in a boxer ever again.

 On Thursday, Canadian skier Sarah Burke passed away at the very young age of 29. While I do not follow women’s skiing, it is still very sad to see athletes die while still in their prime.

 It’s a tragedy for any person to die, but when it happens at such a young age, its especially tragic in my opinion.

 You may be asking, where the hell is the NBA segment Ryan?

 Well, to tell you the truth, I could probably make an entire Weekly Wrap-Up with just NBA highlights and events.

  It’s right in the thick of the season with many storylines that are intriguing to follow.

 Maybe, if there is enough demand for a NBA only blog, I will start one, but in the meantime you will have to enjoy other bloggers and columnist’s thoughts on the matter.

 I will mention, it’s been very nice to see Kobe Bryant dominate and find the fountain of youth, and seeing LeBron James win games without the aid of Dwyane Wade (4-0 since Wade went down with an injury).

 And with that my friends, another week has been wrapped up, delievered, and been opened. I hope you all have a good weekend, and enjoy the snow we have.

 Be safe.