It's Almost Time, Kobe

  It's been a great run for Kobe Bean Bryant in the NBA. However, just like anything else, all things, good or bad must come to an end at some point.  Bryant announced this would be his final season earlier this season in the Player Tribune in the form of a farewell poem/letter to the game he gave his all to.
  
 "I played through the sweat and hurt. Not because challenge called me. But because you called me" - Kobe Bryant

Bryant, 37, has been making this season worth it for basketball fans, even if his team isn't winning and he isn't even averaging over 20 points per game. But he's been having a lot of fun with the fans, other players and the media. Through what has been a difficult season for Bryant and the Lakers, having only won 15 games (15-59) and only having a better record than the Philadelphia 76ers (9-65), thus far, it's obvious that Bryant is content with what he's accomplished through his career and is finally accepting that it's his time to walk away from the game that he has helped to revolutionize and helped grow to the level that it is today.

Over the past three years or so, Bryant has battled injuries and between the 2013-14 & 2014-15 season he played in a total of 41 games due to injury. A lot of people wondered if he'd be able to make it through half of the 2015-16 season. To be honest, after the past two seasons ended early for Bryant, I thought that he would've hung it up before this season.

Bryant has appeared in 58 of this seasons game so far. With the Lakers having eight games left on their schedule, barring injury, Bryant is scheduled to play in every game.

Even with the Lakers being one of the more dysfunctional teams and organizations right now, there's been something special about their season. It's all been centered around Bryant. That's not necessarily a bad thing either, it's been one of the very few bright spots of their season. Quit honestly, I can't say that I've seen a player receive so much love from sports fans of every city/team, the media, and even the players from other teams since Michael Jordan in his final season with the  Washington Wizards.

Bryant is averaging 16.9 ppg, 3 ast, 3.9 rebs on a career low 35-percent-shooting.  

The next Lakers game is Wednesday, March 30 @ 10:30 vs the Miami Heat on NBATV.  Bryant's final game of his career is projected to be Wednesday, April 13 @ 10:30 vs the Utah Jazz on ESPN. Circle your calenders and set your DVRs, you don't want to miss this.

Through his career, we've seen Kobe Bean Bryant do and go through so much, he's grown as a player and a person, on and off the hardwood. From his first few years of coming off the bench, winning three titles and making the Lakers a Dynasty, again, in the early 2000s with Shaquille O'Neal, he suffered through a rough patch after Shaq's departure, nearly had his marriage and reputation fall apart, another run in the finals with Pau Gasol to capture two more titles in 2008-09 & 2009-10 (no.4 & 5) -- after losing to the Celtics in 2007-08. To me, all of this proves one thing to me. It's not only his physical abilities that made him one of kind, but it was his mentality. He could've broke down and lost his focus through the hardships, but you could make an argument that after going through those tough times made him a better player. He's one of a kind and he'll be missed by all sports fans. 19 seasons is what he gave to the sport that he loved, now he'll be able to soak it all in and reflect on an illustrious career.

Thank, Kobe. Farewell.

Can Tom Brady Get the One Victory We Didn't See Coming?

  The New England Patriots are coming off an AFC championship game loss to the Denver Broncos, one year after winning the Super Bowl over the Seattle Seahawks. But this pattern seems to be the norm for nearly two decades now for the Bill Belichick led team. And next year I think most people can expect a good run from the Patriots as well.

I think that by now "The Patriot Way" is a phrase that all football fans are familiar with, it's not only a style of football but a standard that has been set by Belichick and his staff. Quarterback, Tom Brady has been the "poster child" for the Patriot's organization/team for nearly two decades.

In his Career, Tom Brady has:

• 58,028 passing yards (5th all-time)
• 428 Touchdowns (t - 3rd all-time)
• Six Super Bowl appearances, winner of four of them and MVP of three.
• NFL MVP (2x) - 2007 & 2010

However, even with all of his career accomplishments, it's one thing that we could be overlooking. 

Brady, 38 and will be 39 years of age by the start of next season, doesn't seem to be slowing down on the field as far as his production goes.  Just this past week the Patriots locked up the veteran quarterback for an additional two years, with a contract extension that goes through 2019 (he'll be 42 years of age).

Why is this important?

Historically, it hasn't worked out well for players at the age of 40 or older. As we've seen recently with aged athletes like Kobe Bryant and Peyton Manning, it's very common for aged superstar athletes to have a decrease in production.

Manning, 39, had 9 passing touchdowns and 17 interceptions through 10 games before being sidelined for a foot injury. But was this lack of production and bad play due to the foot injury or did father time play a role in the downward spiral of Manning's production? The one thing that's saving Manning's name right now is that his team is coming off a Super Bowl victory and well his legacy, honestly.

The one upside to this whole "father time" vs aging player battle is that, no matter what, when it comes to the elite players who suffer a downfall in their production it's only remembered temporarily; we don't talk about the Michael Jordan years when he was with the Wizards, we talk about his iconic moments and his championship years with the Chicago Bulls. We don't talk about Joe Montana with the Kansas City Chiefs, we talk about his glory days with the San Francisco 49ers.

We often see these aging players become one-dimensional in sports and that's when we can start to notice them fading in production. Derek Jeter, even though he was never known to be a home-run hitter, when he got older teams knew he most likely wasn't going to hit the ball very far. In 2010, teams knew that Shaquille O'Neal wasn't going to do the same things in the post area as he would've in 2000.

What does all of this mean for Brady? Can we really expect a decrease in his performance? Can his body hold up another three season? Could he win another MVP or Super Bowl and continue to play at an elite level through the age of 42?

Right now, they say father time is undefeated. But, could Tom Brady be the one to finally defeat him? Or will father time remain undefeated?

In 2015 Brady passed for 4,770 yards, 36 touchdowns and 7 interceptions while completing 64 percent of his passes.

stats via NFL.com and ESPN.com