NFL Films and Rankin/Bass Present

Like most kids, growing up, I was obsessed with Christmas movies around the holidays. And while Home Alone, A Christmas Story, and Die Hard (Yeah, it’s technically a Christmas movie… Ralphie had a gun too) were all favourites, nothing quite felt the same as the classic animated TV specials: Rudolph, Frosty, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and The Grinch. However unlike most kids, I also possessed an unhealthy love of football, which meant sometimes the two got crossed. So while you curl up on your couch this Christmas Eve watching one of these aforementioned films and possibly not the batch of Week 16 NFL action you may have had your heart set on; don’t fret! They may just have more in common than you think…

Greg Jennings – Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Now if Aaron Rodgers is Santa, and he could be, I mean his stats this season seem like they might be fictional; then the team of reindeer carrying him to the playoffs and a possible undefeated season are his backs and receivers (Actually 14 Packers have an offensive touchdown this season; there’s only nine reindeer!). But if Santa Rodgers had to single out one of these men, it would be Greg Jennings, because quite simply Jennings can put the team on his back. It’s a lot like Rudolph. Sure, you need the other eight deer, but who’s out in front leading the way with his bright red nose? Sure as hell isn’t Dancer.

Tim Tebow – The Winter Warlock

Much like the Winter Warlock, or Winter as he’s come to be known, Tim Tebow is not quite what he appears to be. Yes, he is a quarterback by position, but as Brian Urlacher so eloquently put this Sunday, he’s also “a good running back”. Still, in the clutch when it matters, Tebow is magical, and frankly, all he does is win, even if he doesn’t have his best stuff. The Winter Warlock himself was out of magic by the end of the movie, but he was still the one with the magic corn feed that made the reindeer fly. You thought that loser Dancer learned all by himself? Wrong.

Willis McGahee – Max

But with all that said who’s really doing the heavy lifting for the Broncos? Willis McGahee has been a stud for Denver this season, with 920 yards on the ground, and at 30 years of age, five games of over 20 carries. But just like Max does he get the credit for carrying the sleigh all the way up the side of Mount Crumpit? Nope. It’s the Grinch who steals all the accolades in the 4^th quarter by saving the day. In fact, if Tebow didn’t have so many reasons to love December 25^th, he might have been that green, former Christmas stealing, cave dweller…

Peyton Manning – The Grinch

Of course then Peyton Manning couldn’t be the Grinch as well. Manning hasn’t taken a snap this season, and for Colts, or just NFL fans in general, this is like Christmas being stolen. He’s taken all their talent; he’s taken all their competitiveness; and apparently he’s taken their ability to win a single game. However like this Seuss classic, it could all turn around at the end for the Colts. Not only will they get their star QB back, but they might just get their next star QB in Andrew Luck. Oh, and in fairness to Peyton, he may be the Grinch, but it is most definitely Indianapolis and not him that nauseates me and has termites in its smile.

Albert Haynesworth – The Bumble

Now in my opinion this is a pretty obvious comparison. Both are huge; both are angry; and both bounce. Albert Haynesworth just happens to do it from team to team. The big man has packed his bags a lot these past few years, seemingly ever since stepping on Cowboys’ offensive lineman Andre Gurode’s face. He left Tennessee, signed a big deal in Washington that never worked out (mirroring the man himself), and went to New England to begin this season before currently ending up in Tampa Bay. For his sake he’s just lucky the North Pole doesn’t have an NFL franchise. And has anyone just tried sending him to a dentist?

Ryan Fitzpatrick – Frosty the Snowman

I’ll start with the lyric “Frosty the Snowman knew the sun was hot that day, So he said lets run, And we’ll have some fun, Now before I melt away.” Frosty was a smart snowman, it might have just been the hat, but still. He knew the magical adventure that he and Karen and the other children were on just wasn’t going to last. If only the Buffalo Bills were so smart. After a 5-2 start the Bills gave journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick a $59 million contract with $24 million in guarantees. Since then the team has lost six in a row as Fitzpatrick’s amazing first half stats have melted away. Buffalo fans just better pray that he’s made of Christmas snow.

Jays Stay Relatively Frozen at Winter Meetings

There's a saying about the month of March: it comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. Of course this is in regard to the change of seasons; Winter to Spring. Now for me, Winter begins when the baseball season ends, and I have no greater way to justify that point than with the MLB's Winter Meetings always there to kick off December. And this year's installment was anything but like March, in fact, to quote another saying, this year's meetings went out with a bang.

Now that's not to say teams, well, maybe not plural, hadn't been making noise. The Marlins broke the bank and lived up to their new home's city motto: "Where athletes take their talents", and signed Heath Bell (3-year, $27 million), Jose Reyes (6-year, $106 million), and Mark Buerhle (4-year, $58 million). But the big action wasn't until day 4, and no, it wasn't the Rule 5 draft. Albert Pujols became the player with the 2nd largest contract in MLB history inking a 10-year, $256 million deal with the Angels. Not quite as big as the one A-Rod signed at the same age of 31 and with the same number, 3, of MVPs under his belt just a few years ago. However the Halos weren't done there. Nearly an hour later they announced the signing of possibly this year's best free agent pitcher, C.J. Wilson, to a 5-year, $77.5 million contract. When the dust settled two things were apparent: The landscape of baseball had changed and the Astros' pitching staff just couldn't catch a break.

But where were the Blue Jays in all this? Did they not come into these meetings with cash to burn and big name dreams? Or was that just Toronto fans being impatient and needing to be impressed once again? Truth be told, the Jays came into the week with some serious issues. They had no guarantees at 2nd base; the supposed "8th and 9th inning guys" from last year's bullpen were up for arbitration; and the back end of the rotation, as it always seems to be, was up in the air. Four days later two of these issues were taken care of and yet there are still complaints! Am I the only one who proscribes to the Meat Loaf way of life? When did two out of three become bad again?

Toronto's first move was to trade highly touted pitching prospect Nestor Molina to Chicago for closer Sergio Santos, he of the 97 mph fastball and nastyyy (with three Y's) slider. At first glance I wasn't overly impressed with this move, I was a big Molina backer and a closer (and save stat) hater, but when you really get into it, if Santos can stay somewhere in between his first and second half last season, the Jays don't lose this trade. Santos is 28. He is currently signed to a 3-year, $8 million deal with affordable team options till 2017. With Bell and Jonathan Papelbon signing for roughly $10 million a season this Winter, it's incredible how cheap Santos really is. Now, yes, you can point to Molina developing into a stud, which might happen. But it had already been discussed that Molina's future might just be in the bullpen anyway and with other prospects Deck McGuire, Aaron Sanchez, Asher Wojciechowski, and Drew Hutchison all on their way, not to mention current MLBers only just prospects Joel Carreno, Henderson Alvarez, and Kyle Drabek; Toronto was going to have to make a few difficult decisions in the near future. Then, on Wednesday night, Kelly Johnson accepted arbitration. A great sign for this upcoming season, and maybe just enough of a stopgap until Adeiny Hechavarria is ready to play big league middle infield.

But of course this wasn't enough. Where was Prince Fielder? Why wasn't this the year the Jays started spending some cash. The answer, quite simply, and just as frustrating as it was when it was our parents' reason, is just because. Because Toronto doesn't know how many of those prospects will turn into stars. Because Fielder would want too many years on his contract. Because it's not time yet! A proper rebuild takes time and you have to stick to the course to have it done right. That's why other Toronto teams toil in mediocrity. The Jays have one of the best minor league systems in baseball. They have their core MLB players tied up for several years to come. The window they've created is a wide one and if it's done right it could just keep getting wider.

The Tampa Bay Rays are a perfect example of a team being successful through drafting. Lose Crawford? Okay, call Jennings up. Lose Garza? Will Matt Moore suffice? Tampa appears to have the ability to turn over their team every five or so years and that's the kind of steamroller affect Toronto envisions. Except that when one of the Jays prospects becomes a star, Toronto might actually have the money to pay him. And that's the difference between what the Rays do and what the Jays can do. When Toronto locked up Jose Bautista for 5 years at only $65 million or when they got Ricky Romero for the same length at $30 million they had seen the production and the skill for at least a season. They had seen Bautista hit 54 home runs and Romero win 14 games. The contracts were risks and are now steals, but not nearly as risky as what Tampa has done. They signed Evan Longoria to a 6-year, $17 million deal after about a month of MLB play, and it's what they've just done with Moore after only five appearances (two starts). Sure, the Longo contract looks great now, but it was a massive risk at the time, one the Rays have to take to keep up. People complain that the Jays don't spend the kind money to win, Tampa has to gamble and beat the house to succeed.

As we sit now, with the 2012 season four months away, Toronto is not a playoff team, they are merely a good team, young and exciting. But what fans have to understand is young and exciting turns into experienced and talented pretty quick if you are patient enough to wait. The Jays might have money to spend, but why spend it now to chance making the playoffs when in two years you could spend it to cement a championship run? It's not definitely going to happen, but in my opinion it's looking the most positive it has in years. Toronto will do anything it takes to win, but jeopardizing their bright future, well, they won't do that.