THE FANTASY SPORTZ GURUZ: 2015-02-01

Well here we are, at the end of one of the most highly contested playoffs in the Superbowl era, we have the New England Patriots squaring off against the Seattle Seahawks! Now let's shed some light on what everyone's been asking, do either of these teams actually belong in the championship game?!? I mean after all the conspiracy surrounding the playoffs including the referees with their blown calls, the excessive fining of certain players, and the whole "DeflateGate" ordeal, it's a fair question to ask, and an even harder one to answer. Let's start off with the Patriots, shall we?

The Patriots started the season off pretty poorly, especially for them at 2-2, causing many experts to question Tom Brady and the team's overall strengths/abilities. Their running game seemed out-of-whack and with no clear-cut lead back to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack, they seemed lost and unable to finish games off. This quickly had people dismissing the Patriots as Superbowl contenders, and made many wonder if they would even make the playoffs, and then something happened. Exactly what it was, no one can be sure, but whatever it was, the New England Patriots were not the same team after their week 4 loss, as they went on to win 7 games in a row and pretty much secured a playoff birth. Many attribute the slow and rocky start to Gronkowski not being fully healthy, one of Brady's favourite targets. It is no secret that Rob Gronkowski has become a ferocious Redzone machine, and is without a doubt Tom Brady's favourite go-to guy whenever they need yards or points! Another popular reason is that Brady didn't have an experienced enough receiving corps, thus was not able to use their pass-heavy offensive game plan and were forced to rely on their shaky run-game instead. Whatever the reason is irrelevant, as Tom Brady and the New England Patriots once again seemed to easily trot their way into the playoffs, and this is where all the fun really began!!!

The Pats/Ravens game didn't have much controversy, although the Patriots were losing for most of the match and mounted a heroic comeback, there was no chatter of a rigged game. However the Pats/Colts game held a much different story! Now don't get me wrong, the Patriots would have won regardless of "DeflateGate" as the Colts sucked massively that day, but it still caused/causing quite the stir in the football world, and many people wonder if the Patriots should even still be in the Superbowl. By now you should know the whole

"DeflateGate" story, but if you don't, the super quick version is that 11/12 of the Patriot's footballs used during the game against the Colts were found to be deflated by about 2 pounds, making it easier to throw, catch and run with. Who did it and who paid him/her off is still unknown, but that really doesn't matter, as someone cheated in order to further advance the Patriots, and the question is should they be forfeited because of it. If this was any other team, no one would be calling for them to miss the Superbowl, but this isn't any other team, this is the Patriots. The team that has been accused and found guilty of cheating several other times, most recently and notably they were caught filming other teams private practises before they would play them. Now of course they aren't going to miss the Superbowl, that would be a PR nightmare for the NFL, especially since the league only ever admits it's made mistakes, but never actually does anything to fix them. We might see some light fines or some loss of draft picks, but the Patriots were never in any trouble of missing out on this years Superbowl, proving that even when he gets caught, Bill Belichick can still get away with cheating!!! Hahaha! Now the Patriots vs. the Seahawks game will be a perfect, made for TV matchup, as it pits the defending champs trying to make it two in a row, against the team that has won back-to-back Superbowls most recently. Just adding more flame to the conspiracy fire? Maybe, but facts are facts, when Gronkowski is healthy, Brady and the Patriots really do seem to be a completely different football team, and even with their shaky run-game and the "DeflateGate" dilemma, I believe they deserve to be in the Superbowl.

Now on to the defending Superbowl champs, the Skittles fuelled Seattle Seahawks. Russell Wilson led the Seahawks to a mediocre start to the season at 3-3, and the whole team seemed like a ghost of its past season champion-selves. The defense was lacking the decisive quick and brutal punch that caused so many teams such terrible headaches last season, and their infamous run game was non-existent, both from the running-back Marshawn Lynch and their extremely mobile quarterback, Russell Wilson. Then they got a couple guys back from injury and presto, the Superbowl Champs returned, falling into a groove and coasting into the playoffs with a first round bye. There isn't really any foul play to speak of surrounding Seattle, but what the team does have issues with is players going against the NFL's rules and getting fined, and one in particular had a knack for causing a plethora of issues...

Marshawn Lynch's many media kerfuffles are all well documented, with each new infraction garnering him more and more fines. He has been fined for what he's said and hasn't said during interviews, what he's wore on the field and during interviews as well as being fined for certain gestures and actions he has taken on the field during games. It all adds up to one huge media frenzy, which sees "Marshawn Lynch" trending nearly every Sunday and Monday, making him the most talked about NFL player this season. The same can be said about Richard Sherman and his loud mouth which seems to always land him in hot water. The Seahawks are a team the NFL hates to love as they constantly are breaking the rules and causing trouble, but at the same time it's these very actions that are attracting so many interested fans and viewers. All the NFL sees is $$$, so the more viewers/fans, the more money, meaning as much as the NFL might make you think its completely against a player like Lynch and Sherman, secretly they are really egging them on, hoping to create an even larger media explosion, and making sure that they make the Superbowl!!! For all the conspiracy theorists out there, here you go. Well into the season the Seahawks looked lost and highly unlikely to repeat as champs, and it can be said that since the NFL saw a huge possibility for greater media exposure, measures were taken to ensure that the Seattle Seahawks made the playoffs and had a chance of repeating as Superbowl Champs.

Here's what it boils down to, any moderately intelligent person knows that all professional organized sports are rigged, but we never want this fact thrown so blatantly in our faces. Just because we know the dirty truth, doesn't mean we can't still enjoy watching our favourite games, but it makes it really difficult to want to watch when the cheating is so

thinly veiled. Is the Superbowl fixed? Most likely(yes)! Will it stop millions of people from watching it? No! Who will win? Whoever makes the bookies the most money probably, but it will still be an entertaining game to watch, and as long as they don't remind us that the sport is rigged and we have an almost naked Katy Perry entertain us at halftime, we should all be A-OK!