=========

Hacksaw’s Great Sports Weekend Podcast-1pm-Thursday
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
NFL-College Football Playoff Previews
Look-Listen-Share-Subscribe
==========
“NFL ON TV-WHERE ARE THE VIEWERS?
==========

A year of monster TV ratings for big games involving the best teams.
But in the big picture of things, TV viewership dipped 2%-in regular season.

The excitement of Wildcard weekend was expected to flood fans back to the matchups.
Instead, there were blowouts, when the Haves-battered-Have Nots.
The Ratings dropped virtually across the board…Dropped 9% in all from (31.3M) regular season to (28M) per game on the weekend.

Guess you can now expect a bump in that the Big Boys are playing Saturday-Sunday.
The wanna-be’s gone.  Remaining great games and quarterbacks

A closeup look at the Ratings scoreboard stories, courtesy of Front Office Sports
===========
The NFL took another viewership hit over the wild-card playoff weekend, showing more ratings erosion compared to last year—even as the league continues to outstrip everything else in U.S. television.

The six games played over the three-day weekend collectively showed attrition from a year ago, following the 2% audience decline during the regular season. Among the individual viewership results from the initial playoff round:

Chargers-Texans (Jan. 11): As the Texans played yet again in the early Saturday wild-card slot, the game averaged 31.1 million on CBS and Nickelodeon, up 7% from a comparable Cleveland-Houston game last year.
Steelers-Ravens (Jan. 11): Amazon’s first livestream of an NFL playoff game made company history, averaging 22.1 million. The figure is by far the best individual NFL result in the company’s three years of streaming the league but is down 3% from the 23 million average for Peacock’s exclusive stream of a comparable Dolphins-Chiefs game. The Amazon figure, likely impaired by Baltimore’s racing to a 21–0 halftime lead, also failed to match the average of more than 24 million for Netflix’s streaming doubleheader on Christmas Day.
Broncos-Bills (Jan. 12): This CBS game also averaged 31.1 million, essentially flat from a comparable Steelers-Bills game last year that was shifted to a Monday afternoon due to heavy snow in the Buffalo area.
Packers-Eagles (Jan. 12): This game averaged 35.6 million viewers on Fox, the largest figure of any of the six games last weekend. The total, however, trailed a comparable late Sunday afternoon game last year between the Packers and Cowboys by 11%, again showing the impact of a down Dallas season on overall NFL viewership.
Commanders-Buccaneers (Jan. 12): The primetime matchup on NBC averaged a total audience delivery of 29 million, down 19% from a comparable Rams-Lions game last year, and the worst-performing Sunday night wild-card game in four years.
Vikings-Rams (Jan. 13): This game, relocated from Los Angeles due to the ongoing and devastating wildfires there, averaged 25.4 million, down 13% from the comparable Eagles-Buccaneers game in 2024. The Monday night contest also saw viewer attrition in the second half as the Rams built a three-touchdown lead in the first half en route to a 27–9 victory, with the audience peaking before halftime at more than 30 million viewers.

========

“PADRES & ROCKET MAN”
========

We are waiting.
They are waiting.
All of baseball, MLB and Japan, are waiting.

Wednesday is the day the window opens for Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki to make his decision which team he signs with as an International Free Agent.

20-teams asked for meetings with the Chiba Lotte Marines sensation.
7-teams had formal sitdowns in Los Angeles.
3-teams had followup visits.

The Dodgers, Padres and surprisingly, Toronto, are the 3-finalists.

Not in the mix, the big money Yankees, the Mets, the Red Sox or the Mariners.

The price tag is reasonable, since he is not a veteran free agent.  He cannot command (30M) a year.  The team that signs him can pay him only the Max slot in their International signing pool, that goes from a high of (7.7M) to a lower amount of (5.7M), unless one of the three finalists makes deals to acquire more international signing money.

The Dodgers, by virtue of carry over money from a year ago, have some (10.7M) available in their 2025 pool.  The Padres were in the (6.2M) range.

The bonus is, he can stake a claim to big time sponsor endorsement money depending on where he winds up.  The Dodgers had 15-corporations comes on board as sponsors with the Shohei Ohtani acquisitions, and his Japanese sponsorship packages were part of his amazing contract in LA.

These talks have been just as secretive as years ago when Ohtani left Japan, and wound up with the Angels, a similar smaller financial deal that locked him in to the Halos for 6-star studded season.

How good is this righthander?  A (30-15) record. with a (2.02-ERA) in his career.

Not the experience of former Pacific Rim pitchers like Dice Matsuzaka..Hideo Nomo…Kenta Maeda or more recently Yosh Yamamoto.

But his stuff is vibrant-electric.  Scouts say he has the ingredients to become
a Roger Clemens, his fastball and splitter that explosive.  Polishing pitches 3-and-4 will be the next horizon for him to conquer.

Because he has done all these meetings in seclusion, no one really knows, with the exception of AJ Preller-Andrew Friedman and the people in Toronto, what Sasaki values the most.

It is the legacy, the tradition of a franchise?
World Series rings?
History of developing pitching?
History of rehabbing pitching injuries?
Past experiences of Japanese players with a certain team?
His friendships with Japanese players named Darvish-Ohtani-Suzuki-Kikuchi?
The market size and endorsement possibilities?
The wish to be a star rather than be in the shadows of other players?

So many unknowns, except this:

The Dodgers close deals over their long years of baseball dominance.
The Padres have built something dynamic in the last four years.
The Blue Jays want the next star to go with current stars as Canada’s team.

We wait to see if he saves the Padres off season, a winter in which they have done nothing yet.  Wait to see if this is the final piece of the puzzle of a spectacular Dodgers winter. Or is this a new beginning for baseball in Toronto.

The Rocket Man is about to make his choice.  A fun week ahead for somebody’s pitching staff.

==================

========

Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus Podcast
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Look-Listen-Share-Subscribe

==========
“RAMS FOOTBALL-ALWAYS IMPRESSIVE”
==========
They moved to Los Angeles from St Louis.

They had a Super Bowl tradition back there, the Kurt Warner-Marshall Faulk ‘Greatest Show on Turf’.

They got a Super Bowl ring upon their return to Los Angeles.

And now in what was supposed to be a rebuild-transition year, they are headed to the next round of the playoffs.

Driven by a demanding coach, Sean McVay, a creative genius, and guided by elite player acquisitions in the draft via GM-Les Snead, this is a team on a mission.

They have now won 10-of-13 games since a (1-4) start, a start to the season that was hung in black crepe.

6-offensive lineman on IR.  A battered secondary.  Holes to fill at defensive tackle and inside linebacker.

What we got over the long haul, was the emergence of a fierce pass rush, led by the high rookie draft picks Jared Verse and Brandon Fiske.  The continued development of 2nd year starters upfront Byron Young and Kobie Brown.

A bunch of linebackers and guys in the secondary who got better and better.

Matthew Stafford, who found the fountain of youth after his trade from Detroit, coupled with ex Notre Dame RB-Kyran Williams, and the mixture of Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Demarcus Robinson, has led to an explosive mix of offensive firepower.

They got the guys upfront healthy and now the Rams are hitting on all cylinders.

Are they a threat to the other NFC-Beasts still alive in the playoff bracket?  No they are not the Lions nor the Eagles, but they are close to being very dangerous.

Just ask the Minnesota Vikings, in the aftermath of sacks, QB hits, turnovers caused, how good the Rams are.

Dominance and destruction, right from the get-go.  Matthew Stafford hit passes of 20-23-23-27-yards on the first two series and it was 10-0.

The defense was everywhere, 6-first half QB sacks, 9-sacks in all and two takeaways in an 8-play span added insult to injury.

it was an awful finish to an other great comeback season for Sam Darnold and a step forward in the respect towards young coach Kevin O’Connell.  But the Vikings stagger home with back-to-back beatdowns at the hands of Detroit and the Rams.

It was awful to watch and for the Vikings to experience.  And we know how good LA really is.

Good enough to know the Rams beat the hell out of them and Minnesota is headed home.

Rams football, always seems to be impressive.

=================================

=======

Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus Podcast-1pm
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Look-Listen-Share-Subscribe
=======
“CHARGERS-PLAYOFFS–WHAT DID YOU EXPECT”
=======
It ended the way I thought it would.
It was like I was like a lone wolf out on the prairies.

The Chargers got to the playoffs because they beat up alot of bad teams.
When they played good teams, they got punched in the mouth.

The scoreboard did not lie, this (32-12) beat down in Houston against the Texans.

Justin Herbert had an exceptionally bad day, because he had no help.
He threw four picks in the game, pressured, hits, no throwing rhythm.
No run game, in fact hasn’t had one since early in the season.
No protection, four sacks, 11-hits, something that has gone on alot this year
No consistent receiving game with dropped passes by receivers and tight ends

The country is now battering him nationally for being (0-2) in the playoffs.  Weeks ago they heaped praise on him for having thrown for the most yards of any quarterback over his first five years in the league.  Now they are jumping all over him career.  Bit unfair, bit of a reach.

This is an organizational deficiency, not a QB making bad reads, or forcing throws, or not getting enough help.  Sunday scar tissue will continue to ache until he wins.

The defense tried hard, but as the game wore on, they wore down and they were done in.

Even with a flurry of Houston turnovers, botched plays, and 6-stupid major penalties, the Chargers would not take advantage.

The Texans kept making plays to overcome the mess they created.
And then they took over the game by pounding it with Joe Mixon.

No more tent revival speeches from Jim Harbaugh.  As dynamic as his quarterback could be, they never did a consistent job to help him.  And yes Harbaugh has a track record of fixing ailing teams, but he didn’t this year, yet.  Another draft may help.

3-number 1-draft picks upfront and Herbert wound up getting pounded in the pocket way too much.  And all those bluechip lineman didn’t run block very well either.

Enough about the greatness of playcaller Greg Roman.  How many second half games did they go scoreless?  How awful was Herbert’s stretch of 1-for-9 throwing the ball in the  Houston game in the second half?  Where was the max protection plan that would have helped Herbert in the pocket?  The run game, with who and when?

Jess Minter’s defense may have piled up great stats against rookie QBs and journeyman backups.  But where was the creative juice and the blitz rush when they needed to destroy the momentum that QB-CJ Stroud was building?  The Bolts got blasted by another good team, things that always happened during the season when they played better teams.  The Texans piled up (429Y) in the lopsided loss

Sorry to be so down about this, but I kept projecting all this while the LA media and the national guys were praising all the things Happy Harbaugh was saying.  A very unimpressive 11-win season.

They need another good draft, some free agent upgrades, and will have to get some cap relief too.

Bad day at the office for the kid quarterback.  Hell, Dan Fouts threw 5-interceptions in a playoff game against Houston, so this four pick day goes down in the record book too as one of those days.

I didn’t expect greatness this past weekend.  I didn’t see greatness all season long.  Greatness is in Kansas City, Buffalo, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Detroit.

The Chargers have work to do to help the kid QB.  The fans and media have work to do to understand what it takes to become upper echelon in the NFL.  This team is farther away right now than anyone realizes.

====================

========

Hacksaw’s Great Sports Weekend Podcast
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Look-Listen-Share-Subscribe

=========
“NFL WILDCARD WEEKEND
=========

Lots of games, lots of opinions.

CHARGERS-HOUSTON
..Justin Herbert has been brilliant (23TD-3Int) this season, playing thru his own injuries and all the problems with his skilled people getting hurt.  But they are banged up coming in, ailing at WR-RB.  How really good is the Bolts defense?  When they played good people they dominated.  When they played hi powered teams, they got ripped.  Here comes CJ Stroud and Houston, but they have not played great either, going (4-5) from mid season on, hurt by injuries too.  But the Texans defense (315YPG-49 Sacks-29-Takeaways) is pretty explosive.  And this game is in Houston.  The Chargers can win, but they could lose too.

RAVENS-STEELERS…Everything that could be said-written-surmised about Lamar Jackson, has this year.  Over 5,000-yards offense and 42TDs.  Ditto for his RB-Derrick Henry.  And alot said about a sad sack Steelers offense (319YPG).  Not so much if the Ravens will win, but by how much.  The season ends badly in Steelerville.  Baltimore takes the next step.

DENVER-BUFFALO..Josh Allen has been brilliant, and the people around him have gotten better as the year has gone on.  Allen is no longer a one man gang.  Denver is a one man gang, thank you to the great rookie season of QB-Bo Nix.  But the Broncos defense has 63-sacks and 25-takeaways, but they cannot play the entire game.  Bills move on.

EAGLES-PACKERS…it is odd, both QBs are banged up, so it begs the question, how long will Jalen Hurts-Jordan Love be able to stay in the game.  The Eagles can pound it (Barkley), throw it (Brown-Smith) and play amazing defense (278YPG).  Green Bay goes only as far as Love takes them.  Philadelphia celebrates a win.

TAMPA BAY-WASHINGTON..The most fascinating game of the weekend.  Bake Mayfield reinvented himself with a 41-TD season.  Jayden Daniels captivated everyone with his rookie season heroics that led to 12-wins.  Call this one a toss up.

VIKINGS-RAMS..No one could expect this.  The Vikings with a journeyman QB putting up staggering Sam Darnold numbers.  The Rams, facing  a major rebuild on defense, got great play from their young draft picks.  Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Kayron Williams, that’s a load of offense talent.  This should be a shootout game, but the Rams lose home field support with the game moved to Arizona by the fires.  This Vikings team is new to this. The Rams have all the playoff experience.  Vikes explosiveness probably too much for the young Rams defense.

Enjoy it.  It will be wild.
==============