A year is too long.

Maybe I'll blog about my thoughts on my mostest favorite baseball team, the Athletics. Then again, it might just depress me. We'll see. I'll try to find time to be more fun. I promise. Even if no one reads it.

NASCAR? Yeah, NASCAR!

I don't like Jeff Gordon.

That being said up front, I really don't like announcers who so obviously favor one team/side so I share this thought:

The announcers on FOX for the NASCAR race today must be in love with Jeffy Gordon.

*They were talking about how its easy to "overdrive" the new car at this track...
*They were talking about how Jeffy really knows this track well and understands how to drive here...
*They were talking about how some drivers will just hang back and conserve the car....

Then Jeffy loses it in a corner and gets passed easily, by like 9 guys, and they "assume" that something was wrong with the car...

...tire going down?...

...brakes locked up?...

Zoom in on the car - they don't see a tire going down. They look at the replay and its clear that the brakes did not lock up.

The ONLY possibility is... that Jeffy MESSED UP. But do they even suggest that? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Even after a pit stop and the crew confirms that nothing is wrong with the tires or brakes... they just stop talking about it rather than suggest that good old Jeff Gordon might have screwed up. (Even he was on the radio whining that something must be wrong with the car. What a frickin' idiot.)

Face it people, Jeffy drove into the corner too hard and lost it.

Ok, I'm calm now.

Baseball... oh its about time.

Since the new baseball season is upon us, I feel the need to predict. If things are like they should be, I will be as good at this as I was at picking football games. My edge is that I have not paid attention to anything baseball related that really matters in the past 5 months. Oh I know that Frank Thomas left the A's and went to... I think... the Blue Jays. I know that Barry Zito died in a surfing accident. Or joined the Giants... either way. I know that the Diamondbacks signed Randy Johnson and redesigned their uniforms. I know other stuff, too, but none of it really tells me what is going to happen this season. But since "the experts" are always wrong about what's going to happen after doing thousands of hours of research and analyzing relative humidity as it applies to pitching rubber grip and ball/strike ratios of non-american born relief pitchers with somewhat wavy light brown hair...I have as good a chance of being right as anyone. So its on to what I see happening in baseball this year:

Ok, get these first few out of the way.

1) The A's will win the World Series.

2) The Yankees will suck

3) The Red Sox will suck

4) Barry Bonds will suck

Now, some new ones for this year:

5) Something will happen this year that has never happened before.

6) There will be a no-hitter on May 12th.

7) There will be a series freak accidents where foul balls will seem to target fans wearing pink team hats.

8) A player will come up with a novel new way of drawing attention to himself.

9) Rich Harden will win the Cy Young.

10) Nick Swisher will have fun playing the game.

11) Barry Zito will not perform as well as last year.

12) Besides the A's, playoff teams will be: Blue Jays, Indians, Yankees (even though they suck), D-Backs, Brewers, Braves, Padres.

13) No more than three of my predictions will happen... unless one is this one.

I'll check back in a few months and see how I did.

PLAY BALL!!!!

March Madness

I've been watching quite a bit of the NCAA tournament. It's quite enjoyable. Basketball is not my favorite sport, and I prefer pro to college, but the emotion of these athletes, and the skills of some, are fun to watch. I have no particular allegiance to any college, so I'm not really rooting for anyone, but I find myself pulling for west coast teams first. If I have no favorite, I find myself rooting for the team that the announcers aren't favoring. No matter how hard the announcers try, you can easily tell who THEY are pulling for.

Silence

Over a month of silence. I'm not a big winter sports fan, save for a little interest in the Sharks. March madness isn't, but it can get my attention, but nothing else about college basketball draws me in. Pro hoops... well, I just can't relate anymore. But I'm sniffing baseball in the air, so as soon as this madness is over, its baseball full speed ahead. I may have a thing or two to discuss. Maybe even about baseball. Stay tuned.

My "un-pick" for the Super bowl

I would prefer to have the Colts win the Super Bowl. Mostly, I would prefer a close, at least, good, game. Score a TD for each comma in this post, if you please, you two suberb, yet classy, teams!

No football week

Without football this week, I've decided to talk about...football. Briefly.

• Lane Kiffin. Who? Is that his name? Where did he come from? Hey, someone actually DID NOT hire an old re-tread loser coach. My prediction: Raiders improve 5 games minimum (that's 7 wins, Raider fans).

• NFL NEWS ALERTS: "KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs said Friday they had agreed to terms on a two-year contract with offensive lineman Ramiro Pruneda, who led Monterrey Tech to four Mexican national championships.
  Several print and television reporters from Pruneda's home town of Monterrey were on hand to see the 6-6, 317-pounder introduced at a formal news conference. Named three times as the best offensive lineman in Mexico, he was supposed to play in NFL-Europe last year but pulled out because of a knee injury." Someone needs to just make sure that there's only one guy in his uniform when he crosses the border.
• "Harris says Tomlin hiring shows NFL's racial progress
  Associated Press
  
  PITTSBURGH -- Franco Harris remembers the day it would have been a big deal that the Pittsburgh Steelers hired a black coach..."

That's the headline and first sentence. Can you fill in the rest on your own? Would it surprise you to find out that the word "black" in describing people was used 11 times in the short article? Yeah, it sure is no longer a big deal what a person's skin color is.

• Yeah, if you checked, two of my three "hope-they-win" teams actually won last week. Arsenal/ManU and Indy/NewE were very fun to watch, too. Can the Super Bowl live up to what I now have as an expectation?
  

The NBA and image

The NBA has recently done things like mandate dress codes, and impose lengthy suspensions for fighting. But even with the nicey nice changes, the NBA and its players continue to wonder why they are portrayed as thugs? Hmmm. I wonder.

I was going to put a picture to illustrate something, but for some reason, I can't. So just google search for Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony and look at the image they project. Sorry you have to work for it.

No picks

The title of the post is the hope of Bears fans everywhere. I am not picking the games this weekend. I am simply going to express my feelings about who I want to win the games. Lets start with the early one.

ARSENAL v. ManU
No question my loyalties lie with Arsenal. Recent events have also shown that the "Rooneys" can be beaten (right, moon frog?). I root harder for Arsenal than any other team except maybe the A's.

New Orleans at Chicago
I mentioned my "soft spot" for the Saints and how I wasn't sure why. I still feel it. Maybe I just have those bad feelings for the Bears stemming from the Ditka/Fridge days as well. Maybe its the history of losing by the Saints that I don't mind seeing reversed? I might not feel the same way if I was viewing this as "city vs. city", but as far as the NFL football teams go, I'm rooting for the Saints.

New England at Indy
Hatred for New England and all the breaks they get, rules and calls in their favor, you name it, I hate New England for it. Besides, I find nothing wrong with "original" England anyway. Feelings for Indy... not so strong. For Peyton Manning? Really, its all because he tends to choke in the big moments more than hatred. You just don't trust him. Well, maybe his face is on too many damn commercials, too. I may find myself rooting for 25 of the 32 teams to beat Indy, but I have thought about it and can't think of ANY team I'd prefer to see lose to New England. Not even Dallas - but to be fair, if New England and Dallas were playing I'd be rooting for catastrophic destruction of the stadium and both teams while sparing the innocent non-fans of either who happened to be there.

On a side note, maybe someday getting a whole post of its own, I heard a guy on the radio yesterday (I think it was Rod Brooks on KNBR)say that if the Bears and Indy won, he would want to be in Miami for the Super Bowl to witness the historic event for himself. What historic event was he talking about? It would be the first time that two black head coaches met each other in the super bowl. Now folks, as long as the color of someone's skin is "a story", you can never escape the subtle race bias and obvious racism in society. The color of the coaches skin should not be an issue. Stop making it one.

Don't ever listen to me again

I have noticed this a few times, and once this weekend though I don't remember what game. It was fourth and less than a yard and the coach called for a measurement even though it was obviously short. I know why. The coach wanted to have some time to make a decision. TV guy suggested that the coach wanted to know "exactly" how far there was to go. Why? Do have they have different plays for 4th and inches or 4th and a foot?

Why do football announcers wear a suit and tie?

As for the games, I missed 3 out of four. I'm done picking winners. I'll just tell you other stuff I think about games. I suck too much and it's getting embarrassing.

Indianapolis at Baltimore - WRONG
I turned on the game and saw Ray Lewis prancing out of the fog and it reminded me how much I detest him and his act and how is so revered as a great player and team leader... and the guy is a thug and a murderer who ratted out his friends to save himself and then bought out the daughter of one of the victims to avoid a civil suit. I rooted for Indy (despite "picking" Baltimore) because after all, Peyton is a nice enough guy and why shouldn't he finally win one?

Philadelphia at New Orleans - CORRECT
Pretty much the shootout I predicted (shootout compared to the rest of the weekend scoring, anyway). Always a good sign to be able to win the close game even when you make some mess-ups along the way. Regardless of whether Philly "blew it", or New Orleans "won it". Looking good, Saints (that sounds odd).

Seattle at Chicago - WRONG
This one hurt a little. I really did have good feelings for Seattle. I felt that angst at the end that is usually reserved for the home team. A few notes on the game:

- With about 2:00 to go in the first quarter, Hasselbeck was severely roughed. He threw a pass, took two steps, was hit from the side by a defender, then Tank Johnson slams him in the back knocking him to the ground. Tank did the usual hands-in-the-air-so-I-couldn't-have-done-anything pose, all the Seattle linemen started looking around for the flag (and pleading for it to be throw in some cases), but no flag was thrown. Pretty clear roughing the passer based on what I've seen recently. No flag? Not only that, they showed the replay and the commentators pointed out that he was hit after he threw, but neither even suggested that it might have been a late hit. I hate commentator favoritism....

- Later in the game, Chicago scored on a long touchdown play. The commentator said the following (and I played it back a few times to get the quote EXACT): "If you're Seattle you have to be thinking, 'Well finally, finally someone found the holes in our secondary'. I think when you talk to the Seahawks, they're stunned that Dallas didn't take more shots down the field last week and they feel like they got away with a game because Dallas just kept it tight and around the line of scrimmage."

He's not only telling me what Seattle must be thinking of themselves...twice... with nothing like an actual quote to back it up, but he basically slams them for being bad and just lucky to be here. And I don't think his "analysis" of the Seattle/Dallas game is accurate anyway. There's really three ways to look at that game: Seattle's undermanned secondary played really well in a critical game; Dallas failed to take advantage of Seattle's weakness; Dallas played poorly overall. Two of the three make Dallas look bad but somehow our beloved commentator tried to use one of those two to make Seattle look bad.

My feeling on the commentator: If I was him right now I must be thinking, "Finally someone has figured out that I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm lucky to be getting a paycheck for this".

New England at San Diego - WRONG
This is why I'm not picking any more games. When this weekend rolls around, I'll just explain who I want to win and why. I've heard a lot of talk about how New England, Tom Brady, and Bill Belichick just seem to put it all together for the playoffs. I watched this game, and maybe there's a shred of truth to that theory, but it also seems like for whatever reason, most of the uncontrollable little things just seem to go their way, too. I think there's a bigger element of luck than a lot of New England lovers will admit.

You too could be an NFL Head Coach

Just review the scenario and answer a question and see how you stack up against the NFL elite:

Its the playoffs. Its the 4th quarter. You are behind by three points. There's about 1:55 left in the game (your season, too). You have the ball. You are at your own 45 yard line. You have two timeouts left. It is 4th down, 10 yards to go. WHAT DO YOU DO?

If you answered GO FOR IT, congratulations, you could be an NFL head coach. Andy Reid of the Philly Eagles is an NFL head coach and he did just that. And they got enough yardage for a first down to keep their season alive! Problem for his team (but we are coaching so its not our fault) is that there was a "false start" penalty. So, 5 yards and repeat 4th down. Andy Reid decides to punt this time. Huh? What the flingin' crud are you saying? PUNT? PUNT? Umm, coach (and I am talking to you this time) why would you not go for it? Your team just showed that they can make it to keep the season alive. If we give up the ball (last time I checked, its a good thing to have the ball if you want to score) we must then stop the opponent, and we will likely not get any better field position but there will be less than a minute to go and we will no longer have any timeouts. If we fail to keep the opponent from just ONE first down, we will not get the ball back and our season will be over. So he can't really be punting. A fake? Nope. Punt.

As if I need to go on, but Philly did not get the ball back. the punt and then New Orleans' (the opponent) first two downs ran the clock to 1:37 and Philly used both timeouts. Best case would have been a stop, 40 seconds to punt. A New Orleans first down ended the game, though.

Maybe you can't be an NFL Head Coach. Too smart.

Break it up

To break up the near constant stream of football related posts, I bring you... a football related post! Just not American football this time.

I watched the Blackburn v. Arsenal match today. Some thoughts:

-Blackburn takes a corner kick and Arsenal goalie Jens Lehmann (I don't like him) runs to the near post as the ball clearly sails over him to the far post. Some Blackburn dude named Derbyshire has an easy header into the vacated goal but he nods it poorly and wide. What Derbyshire does do with considerable skill is grasp the sides of his head in disbelief that he missed such an easy chance. It seems that is all Derbyshire has skill at as he had to be shocked at his lack of skill later in the match and again was spot on with his reaction to utter lack of football skills.

-Blackburn's Savage (that's his name and skill level in one) plows over Gilberto from the back and finishes off the move with a forearm shiver to Gilberto's spine. Gilberto does what any effete Brazilian would do; he weakly kicks at Savage's ankle. Whether he contacted the ankle or not matters not as Savage leapt in the air grabbing his ankle then fell to the ground in pain. A dive good enough to earn him a spot on the Italian national team. Gilberto was issued a red card for his...violence. Savage was also issued a yellow card, presumably for the initial foul, but funny this was he seemed to be quite healthy before Gilberto had even reached the sideline. Nice recovery. Savage also had a chance at a header on goal later and just nodded it wide. I think it came off his nose wrong.

-When Arsenal scored goal number one it was on a free kick. Now Arsenal is down a man, has a free kick about 50 yards from goal with striker Thierry Henry poised to take the kick. Henry stands alone near the ball with the rest of the Arsenal offense positioning themselves to receive the kick near Blackburn's goal. Just a thought, but, where oh where might Henry kick the ball? Towards the goal, perhaps? And would you expect Arsenal players might attempt to direct said ball further toward the goal? Yes, I thought so. Blackburn seemed to have been looking for something else as Toure was allowed to simply run toward the flight path of the ball leaving nothing but air between he and the goal while a defender jogged along behind him. Toure skillfully headed the ball to the near post, striking the post but deflecting across the goal behind the line. Strangely, Blackburn keeper Brad Friedel just stood there watching the ball sail to Toure's head and then pinball from his right to left without any attempt to make a save.

-Arsenal's second goal came when they were in full defensive mode, having subbed in a defender for their second striker, still a man down. Henry was allowed to dribble alone up the left side from the Arsenal side of midfield while four Blackburn players surrounded him but made no attempt to take the ball. Fabregas then joined Henry up front and managed to get open for a pass with two additional Blackburn players marking him. They to watched as Henry trotted to the middle, Fabregas waited patiently for Henry to get in a good position, then passed to Henry as he and the pass from Fabregas somehow managed to avoid all six Blackburn defenders, and Henry deftly pushed the ball into the top corner just off the fingertips of a diving Friedel. Masterful skill. Classic Arsenal.

It's already Saturday and there's football today!

I am going to tell you who is going to win the games today. How's that for fun reading? But first, let me tell you a bit about myself...nah, just kidding. Or not.

I have learned a bit about myself in picking games this year. I don't really care if I'm right or wrong most of the time. I have nothing riding on it. I will watch a game and something will happen to make me care who wins, and it doesn't matter if that is contrary to who I picked. For instance, if I pick a team to win and their opponent has some tragedy occur and the odds are stacked against them, and they make a big comeback and their coach is crying on the sideline as they are about to attempt a game winning field goal... well, I might just hope they win. My pick be damned. So what I'm saying is that my results mean less to me than a good storyline. Really, even if I had picked Dallas to win last week I would have been so happy to have the game end the way it did. That is a great story! Just the thing I can get behind. There may be stories this week. Difficult games to forecast, even matchups, colliding destinies. You name it, this week has it in four games. I'm not trying to excuse the inevitable wrong picks, I'm just saying it how it is. And I'm not going to take the easy route and pick all the home teams, either. I am picking three of them, but I'll have good reasons (for me. Which means nothing) for all three. Shut up already, I know.

Indianapolis at Baltimore
Baltimore has been a solid team all year. Winning games they are supposed to (which was a rarity this year). Baltimore is at home. Their field is outside. those last two items were direct digs at Indy. Facts are, Peyton Manning has a losing record in the playoffs. Indy Coach Dungy has a losing record in the playoffs. both are reversals of regular season performance. So to base a prediction of playoff performance on regular season performance for Indy is not a good thing. Mr. Manning just seems to gag in the playoffs. Not to mention that the Indy defense has totally sucked against the run (Baltimore runs a bit). Okay, Indy held down the K.C. running game last week, but did they? Or was it a case of K.C. not realizing what Indy was trying to do (stop the run at the expense of everything else) and just never adjusting from their "run, run, run" game plan? Come on, Indy stacked the line and K.C. obliged by running into a mass of bodies for little gain for three quarters. Not even half time gave them enough time to figure it out. What I'm saying is don't think that one game has turned Indy's D around. If that's the though, then there is no way that historical performance and a bad defense can win in the playoffs on the road against a solid opponent. Baltimore to win!

Philadelphia at New Orleans
I typed way too much about that last game. I'm getting tired and since no one pays me per word and all I really care about is getting my prediction on "paper", I'm going to be briefer all of a sudden. New Orleans has been a team on a roll all year. They are this year’s team of destiny. They are also pretty damn good. Philly lost a defensive starter (a cornerback at that) last week as they prepare to slow down the NFC's best offense. This game will be a shootout, or a New Orleans blow out if Jeff Garcia can't keep up. So sorry Philly fans, New Orleans wins this game.

Seattle at Chicago
I admit I have a little soft spot for New Orleans. I don't know exactly why. Maybe Katrina, maybe because Drew Brees was my fantasy QB...whatever. I also have a soft spot for Seattle because of the "Root for teams in sibling's home towns if your team is out" theory. Dig that. My take on this game... well, its in Chicago and the weather is supposed to suck. Chicago has a good defense. That's it for Chicago. Seattle plays well in crappy weather. Seattle has a playoff tested team, and coach. Seattle had a big, confidence building win last week. Chicago has NO offense. If Chicago can't score defensive and special teams points they will not win. Mike Holmgren will know this of course, and will coach his team accordingly. His players do not make stupid mistakes. I don't really foresee many points being scored, but I see Seattle scoring more than Chicago, and I don't see Seattle giving point to Chicago's D and special teams. Seattle to win.

New England at San Diego
(Super Bowl?)
This game may be the real super bowl. Try to stop the winner of this one from going all the way. Drunk or not, I will watch this game. I have absolutely no way I can predict a winner. San Diego has been THE team for most of this year. New England has the past performance and the recent results to lay claim to being THE team right now. Past performance? QB and Coach rule in the playoffs. San Diego can't say that. Their QB is making his first playoff start. Their coach has a history of not winning in the playoffs. if this game was in New England, the pick would be easy. If LaDanian Tomlinson didn't play for the Chargers (and when I say that I mean all the Chargers who play with him of course), then the pick would be easy. Something tells me that San Diego just has too much for New England to overcome, past history or not. Just too much. Barring injuries or other unknown future factors, I see the winner of this game winning the Super Bowl. Seriously. Watch this game.

Okay, If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. Maybe even before it happens and I change my mind about it.

Who won the playoff games?

"This will be Romo's meltdown week and everyone will see it."

Oh my will they ever. I might feel sorry for Romo if he wore anything other than a Cowboy uniform. Thank you Tony Romo, now go have fun with a blonde celebrity.

I successfully picked 3 out of 4 games.

K.C. did not run, so did not win.

Eli didn't do as bad as I would have thought, but his teammates made up for every good moment he had. Jeff Garcia didn't really do anything wonderful, but he didn't do anything horrible, either.

New England was as you would expect. Big game and an opponent they know well = win.

I already covered the Seattle victory in depth.

I still have a few days to figure out who to pick this weekend, and at first glance, there ought to be some good games, and some tough picks. Four solid teams left in the AFC, four seriously flawed or just plain shaky teams left in the NFC. Any of the remaining AFC teams should win the Super Bowl the way things look right now.

I really have to do a hockey post someday.

Mark McGwire

And others. Its time for Hall of Fame voting and the "steroid era" has begun. My thought is simple. What did the guy do as a baseball player and is it good enough to be a Hall of Famer? A players "character" is one of the voting criteria, but shouldn't be. Voters can too easily inject their own values into that area. Now a baseball writer who didn't like a player for some reason can just say he didn't vote for him because he thinks he cheated. Well Ty Cobb was a racist. Gaylord Perry cheated and admitted that he did. Players used to use "greenies". Will they go back and remove guys? Did McGwire do something that the rules said he couldn't? Was he caught? Was he the only one? Can you tell me that no pitcher he faced did the same thing?

Wasn't there a time where the pool of men that baseball drew from a bit smaller? Whites only? Smaller country? Less foreign players? Now there is an abundance of "specialized" pitchers. On the flip side, before pro football and basketball were so popular, all the best athletes played baseball. Could some guys have compiled the career achievements had they not gone to war? Wasn't it known that the mound at Dodger stadium was always a little higher? All the mounds were lowered by rule change at some point. Grass has been kept long for groundball pitchers. Foul lines slanted to benefit bunters. Players now know a lot more about nutrition and working out. Has anyone noticed that records in all sports fall as time passes?

How long can we keep going with all the differences between the times before we realize that times change, the game changes, so the only thing that matters is what the heck a guy did in the game when he played.

For me it comes down to this. It’s the Baseball Hall of Fame, dudes. Relax, it’s a game. Put the best players in the thing and if you are so morally concerned, put your concern on the plaque, "Dude accomplished 'this', people thought he did 'this' to help himself". Like all the sportswriters who vote are so perfect, huh? You know that they take voting for the hall of fame too serious when you still hear about not voting for a guy in his first year of eligibility because "that's the way it is".

Mark McGwire belongs in the Hall of Fame for what he did as a player. Yeah, so does Pete Rose. And Shoeless Joe Jackson. And so will Barry Bonds.

So worth it

I watched the Seattle/Dallas game. Loved it. So far, I'm loving the aftergame stuff.

Bill Parcells has pretty much thrown Romo under the bus. He said in his interview that it was basically an extra point, the snap looked good, and "I don't know what happened after that...", and, "You know you've got to finish the game. We just didn't do that."

Parcells is an ass.

I've heard the game commentator (I think it was Al Michaels), and TV analysts (so far Ron Jaworski and Mike Ditka) say something about how the ball Romo dropped "looked slick" or "shiny". Oh my. How many excuses will we make for a stinking Cowboy. HE SCREWED UP. HE CHOKED. Stop it.

Best Play Made: On the botched FG, Jordan Babineaux of the Hawks lined up on the far left of the defense, preparing to come around the corner to try to block the kick. The snap was quick (maybe he wasn't) and he ran maybe three steps, realized he was not going to have a chance, so he held his ground on the outside for a second, then realized that the snap was dropped. He then sped towards the ball, almost tripped over a teammate who had dived towards the spot of the kick, then avoided a pathetic attempt at a block by the kicker, continued on and chased Romo all the way around the other side of the field, getting just close enough to dive at his feet, and just grabbed enough ankle to upend Romo just short of not only a first down, but likely a touchdown.

Not to Mention: Babineaux has been a safety but was moved to cornerback because of injuries, and the other cornerback, Pete Hunter, according to the TV guys, was sitting on his couch last week and was signed by the Seahawks this week. I think. I can't find the transaction on ESPN.com at all. Anyway, these guys held the Cowboy W.R.'s to 9 catches for 109 yds. Considering that the Cowboys were predicted to pass all over the place.... well, good job.

SHUT UP: As soon as the game ended, the cameras followed Romo off the field. There was a quick interview with the WINNING QB, Hasslebeck, then it was all about the Cowboys, and "Will Parcells retire?" talk. SHUT UP. We know the "media" loves the frickin' cowboys already. Aside from the recap of the actual game all the post game talk seems to be all Cowboys, with heavy doses of Parcells, Romo, and even for some goldarn reason... Terrell Owens (2 catches, 26 yards - why is he newsworthy?).

HOW ABOUT: Matt Hasselbeck - did it again. That pass to Stevens to take the lead... awesome. 40 yards in the air-on a line-on a dime. Sweet. Stevens - Big time game, 5 catches for 77 and two TD's, no drops (that I saw) from a guy who is best known for dropping passes. I already mentioned the cornerbacks, how about Tatupu (almost) saving that ball for the TD. Tatupu and a few others for the stop of Witten at the 1 1/2 yard line to force the FG try. Shaun Alexander - limped off the field on the final drive but came back on a play later, but I heard no info from the TV about what happened (had he been a Cowboy, there would have been a sideline reporter telling us if it was just a wedgie or something).

REFEREE: Lets hear it for the Ref actually looking at the spot of the ball on the 1 1/2 yard line stop. Very nice, and clearly they got the call right in the end. No part of the receiver's body ever crossed the one yard line, and the ball was mid-body at best. There was no "forward progress" to dissect, the guy caught it and was stuffed on the spot. The idiot official coming in from the sideline to mark the spot was about two feet closer to the goal line than the player, and a yard or more from where the ball itself was. How he thought he was going to get away with that I'll never know. It sure seemed like he was just going to mark it far enough for the first down but it was just too blatant to stand. The TV guys seem to be complicit in the Cowboy favoritism, so it must be a league issue. On one reviewed call, the TV kept showing different angles to show that the call should go in the Cowboy's favor. All the angles showed Seattle favor. Then to commercial while it was reviewed, then back from commercial they showed a different angle, overhead shot, and stopped the film at a point and said that the guy was in bounds (see the green between his foot and the sideline?). I say, keep the film rolling so we can see where his foot actuall comes down. And then when the call initially was in Seattle's favor, they showed a replay that was not going to be of use in overturning the call, then quickly went to commercial, and when they came back, they had some magnificent super slo-mo, close-up high def view of the Seattle guy's toe barely touching the sideline. Where was that camera shot on the Cowboy-on-the-sideline call?

So what was the worst play of the game? Nope, not Romo. High pressure situation, rookie, "slick ball" and all, plus I told you that Romo would collapse in this game, so his was expected. Just higher profile. I saw a worse display of football. Really, I did. It was on the kickoff return for a touchdown by Dallas. As the runner followed his blockers, I saw Seattle guys running towards the play from the opposite side of the field. Uh, the kick went right, the runner ran that way, why are you on the other side of the field? But that was not it. At some point the runner had pulled even with the last blocker ahead of him. They were running side by side and there was a Seahawk player in the way. The blocker was not in a position to keep the Seattle guy from at least pushing the runner out of bounds. It looked like the Seattle guy was the kicker. But that's no excuse for what I saw (and I watched the run over and over to make sure I'd seen this right). The kicker ignored the runner and went after the blocker. Really, it happened. If you get a chance to see the highlights again (NFL.com will have them, probably ESPN and SI.coms) watch it. Watch as the runner comes upon the last guy with a chance to stop him. Watch that guy move into the blocker running next to (not in front of) the runner. Pathetic.

I hope Sunday's games are fun. This sure was.

NFL wild guesses, Wild Card Weekend

Okay, let me check and see who is playing this weekend...now I'm ready to go.

Kansas City at Indy
Somewhere along the way I suggested that Indy would not win again. I think it was last week. Anyway, the reason behind that was that Indy was having a hard time stopping the run. Well, nothing that has happened since should change that thought process. It’s always been a good idea to run the ball, control the clock, and keep the Indy offense on the sideline. They can't score from there. Indy draws perhaps the weakest AFC playoff team, the Chiefs, but what the Chiefs can do is run the ball. Larry Johnson might get 50 carries this game. Since Trent Green has come back from his injury, the Chiefs' passing game has taken a step back, with only one game of the last seven with better than 200 passing yards. In contrast, Larry Johnson has 6 100 yard games in those last 7. Although the Chiefs are 4-3 in those seven, two of the losses are to San Diego and Baltimore, the two best teams in the league. The only hiccup was an O.T. loss to Cleveland. Yeah, Cleveland. Well, two of the wins were against Oakland, but at least the other two were against quality opponents, Denver and Jax.

I just spent a lot of time talking about the Chiefs. Look, I suck at this and I really know nothing about the Colts except they usually score many points. And Payton Manning gags in the playoffs. And it’s the playoffs.

Bottom line, Chiefs run, Colts lose.

Dallas at Seattle
Dallas has lost two in a row. Dallas lost to Detroit last week. Dallas has had ZERO backs run for 100 yards since week 6. Tony Romo has turned the ball over 15 times in the past 5 games. Terrell Owens.

Seattle has won 1 in a row (forget the 3 losses before that). Matt Hasslebeck has been to the Super Bowl. Last year. Shaun Alexander.

Dallas has really not been that good the past few weeks. Sure, it was all rosy after Romo got going, but everyone seems to have figured out how to slow down Romo (or his night life has done that) and there is always so much attention on the Dallas distractions that no one noticed. This will be Romo's meltdown week and everyone will see it. Bill Parcells spends more time apologizing and explaining than he does coaching. These two teams are pretty equal overall, but Seattle has so much more potential, and Mike Holmgren has always been able to keep his teams focused and prepared.

Figure on Seattle winning this one pretty easily, and if they can play like they are capable for a few weeks they have just as good a shot of going back to lose the Super Bowl again. Yeah, the NFC is that weak. Plus I hate Dallas.

New York Jets at New England
Sorry Jets, but I think your season ends this week. Really, I've been picking the Jets to win and watching it happen. Then I look back at the Jets' last six opponents: Houston, Green Bay, Buffalo, Minnesota, Miami, Oakland. The Jets only lost one, but a good playoff team would not have lost to any of them. Now New England has the same problem, sort of, a loss to Miami four weeks ago, but among their 5 wins in the past six are wins against the NFC's best, Chicago, and road wins at Jax and Tennessee (both playoff hopefuls) the past two weeks.

New England is just a far superior team and a playoff veteran. They will not lose to an inferior opponent and right now, that is what the Jets are.

New York Giants at Philly
Philly is hot, on a roll. The Giants made the playoff on a tiebreaker. The Giants did not come close to beating a quality, non-divisional opponent this year. The Giants also almost imploded earlier and got crushed in every way possible 6 out of 7 games before eeking out a win in the final game. The only Giants win in that stretch was against Carolina, who were absolutely horrible at that time. The Giants have played bad and do not trust each other to play well. They get what they hope for?

The Giants won four games in the division (nothing special), and the other four wins were the aforementioned Carolina and Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Houston. While Philly's wins have not come against much better opponents (Green Bay and Atlanta as their best) this one is all about the streak that Philly is on. Are they that good? Or is it the weak opponents? We'll see next week when Philly has a real opponent. Anyway, no way do the Giants win this game. No way.

This is so going to be a perfect week for me. Just you wait and see.

What is Wrong with this statement

Item 1) Tiki Barber was asked during an interview about Eli Manning and his struggles. Here is what Tiki said: "Eli can handle anything, it's just a matter of us protecting him, keeping him confident so he's not getting hit, so he's not feeling pressure and forcing himself into mistakes."

What is wrong with this statement? May I begin? You can certainly add your thoughts in the comments. Tiki's main premise appears to be convincing us that Eli Manning can handle anything. If that is true, why do his teammates feel the need to protect him against seemingly everything, including himself? I would have no problem with this statement if Tiki had simply started this way: "Eli can't handle anything...".

Itme 2) I hate sad stories and death and all, and I certainly don't intend to minimize the death of Darrent Williams of the Broncos, but I heard a sort of pet peeve of mine from Coach Mike Shanahan when interviewed about the tragedy: "You never know why God takes somebody but I know one thing... He got somebody very special".

What is wrong with this statement? Coach, a murderer "took" Darrent Williams, not God. Very special people wouldn't have bad things happening to them if there was God watching over them all the time. I know I've heard before that the reason God "called someone home" when that person was not expected to die was that God just wanted to hang out (my words) with that person (No, I'm not intending to get into a theological debate on the subject of God). Most of all, by now, haven't we learned that God, if there is one, does not really pay attention to sports with all the other things to look after.

Final week before playoff's re-cap

NY Giants at Washington - WRONG
"Washington to win."
The Giants surprise me. Just when I think they suck, they win. When I'm convinced they can win, they suck. And they made the playoffs so I have to deal with them one more time.

Pitts at Cincy - CORRECT
"Cincy has a chance to make the playoffs with a win, but this is the bad decision team of the year and it all comes together in the last game where they choke their chance away to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh really needs to win this one to salvage their post championship year, and Pittburgh will win to do just that."
I leave the entire projection intact for your review. I do this when I'm really proud of myself. Not only did I get it right, but Cincy had a really good chance to win but their kicker yanked a mid range field goal at the end of regulation. Nice choke, Cincy.

Detroit at Dallas - WRONG
"Screw it, Dallas will win."
I finally injure myself by picking Dallas and they show their true selves. You can't lose to Detroit and seriously hope to ever win again. Easpecially in the playoffs.

New England at Tennessee - WRONG
"Tennessee will win this game."
No they won't. New England still can win 'em when it matters.

Jax at K.C. - CORRECT
"K.C. to win."
K.C. needed the win for a chance to make the playoffs and it worked out for them. Is that going to be playoff momentum?

St. Louis at Minnesota - CORRECT
"St Louis might make the playoffs. Maybe they will. They will win this game."
Yeah, I got it right. St. Louis was eliminated from the playoffs when the Giants won, so they were playing for nothing.

Carolina at New Orleans - WRONG
"New Orleans finishes strong, but against Carolina, who wouldn't?"
I was a victim of New Orleans resting many key players since this game meant nothing.

Oakland at NY Jets - CORRECT
"*Laughing too hard to tell you that the Jets will win*"
*Still laughing*

Seattle at Tampa Bay - CORRECT
"Seattle: Weakest division winner ever. At least they win this one to finish over .500."
To salvage what remains of the shred of respect the NFC has.

Cleveland at Houston - CORRECT
"Houston will win."
I checked everywhere I could and it seems that they really did actually play this game. Why?

San Francisco at Denver - WRONG
"Denver to win. I can't talk about the Niners anymore. They have done me wrong all year."
The Niners. Geez. Denver pretty much gagged this one, but it still says something about the niners. Says a little bit. Says, "Wait 'till next year".

Miami at Indy - CORRECT
"Indy will win for the last time this year."
We'll see if the whole prediction plays out next week...

Atlanta at Philly - CORRECT
"Philly to win; just too good as of late as they roll with Jeff Garcia into the playoffs."
Philly had their spot clinched going into the game, rested starters, and still won it.

Arizona at San Diego - CORRECT
"San Diego will win, but I hope they forget this one as soon as its over."
Wow, another shrewd prediction. Not only did they win, but QB and RB both got a bit dinged up (so they want to forget the game?) as they clinched home field for the playoffs. They'll need the week off, and the home field (no cold weather!).

Buffalo at Baltimore - CORRECT
"Baltimore will relax just enough to give Buffalo a chance, but in the end, Baltimore is just too good to lose this one."
Yup. I was right on the money. Again.

Green Bay at Chicago - WRONG
"The only reason this will possible be close is because Chicago has no offense. Chicago to win."
Serious conspiracy game here. I know Chicago has no offense, but they were so downright horrid in this one, and so was their defense, I think that the NFL told them to lay down and let Brett Favre win since the game announcers were going to verbally fellate him for three hours.

So 10-6 for the week. 78-62 for my year. Now the picks will count.

Based on my picks, I though St. Louis would make the playoffs but the Giants did, and I thought Denver, not K.C. would make it. I guessed all the other playoff teams correctly, but learned that they had all clinched spots before this week anyway, so I'm just not going to brag about those predictions. You might not believe me.

Now I gotta go concentrate on the playoff matchups. I don't want to miss one.

Happy New Year (personal version, skip it if you're only here for the sports)

I'm looking up at 2007. I paraphrase from Dream Theater:

Life is short
So learn from your mistakes
And stand behind
The choices that you make

Face each day
With both eyes open wide
And try to give
Don't keep it all inside

You've got the future on your side
You're gonna be fine now
You're ready to begin
Don't let a day go by in doubt
The answer lies within.

**

I've shed enough tears this year, but I can't say I won't shed more.

To those people who stood by me, Thank You and I Love You, for you are the reasons I was able to keep it together. Even though my "posse" may be small, it is powerful, as evidenced by how I would feel before and then after talking it out with any one of them. I won't hesitate to tell you what you mean to me this year (not that I failed to do that this year, mind you).

To anyone out there who I may have wronged in some way, I'm sorry. If you come to me I will say it to you personally. Now let's see if those who have wronged me will do the same. Speaking of... A special note to them: I have never been treated so poorly, and subjected to as much baseless contempt and dishonesty as I was by you. You have no integrity and no future as honorable people. If you have a conscience, listen to it and do what is right for once. It'll save me the trouble. Someday, who you really are, and what you did, will be known in a way that will affect you, and then may you suffer as I have. Remember, it’s only a secret if only you know it. But if as I might suspect, you can't even be honest with yourselves, then just know that I will always be a better person than you.

Day one has begun...