Thursday game?

I don't like this Thursday game stuff. Just a gimmick to push NFL Network. Late season Saturdays are ok, but Thursday comes too quick, and then there's three days to wait for the rest of the games. Dumb. Besides, isn't there a distinct advantage for the next game to the teams playing Thursday? Both Thursday teams have to play on short rest, so no advantage, but they both get long rest before playing the next game, likely against an opponent on normal rest. I don't like this one bit.

So now there may be weeks where I simply ignore the Thursday game for a pick. Out of spite or because I forgot. Either way...Damn you NFL!

I'll pick this week's because it should be a good game (I may not watch it anyway because I never miss the King of Queens/Friends/Seinfeld re-runs). I may even re-cap the pick and add it to my total record before the rest of the games just to streamline to whole blogging process.

Baltimore at Cincy
Would I be surprised if Cincy (formerly known as Cinci) beats a division opponent at home, especially based on the way they have been playing? Nope. Now in the spirit of last week's picks, I should stop after my first thought and pick Cincy. But I never learn, or at least it takes me more than that to learn sometimes, so I still have to think that the way Baltimore has been playing is just that much more impressive than Cincy. I am not knocking Cincy here. There is a difference between a 49er 3 game winning streak and a Cincy streak (which is only 2 games, I know). Just as there is a difference between having the Rams as you next opponent and having the Ravens. What is the same, is the loss looming to end your streak. Baltimore is too strong right now to pick against. Its really that simple (there I go again using that word).

Baltimore could possibly win the game. I sound so confident, don't I? That is pretty weak. I'll try again: Baltimore WILL win this game!

The nightmare that was my picks

This is going to be cool. Not the recap of what I think is a poor week of picking, but I'm writing this as the Monday Night game is about to begin. And its snowing in Green Bay. Snowy games are fun. So as I write, I may throw in an observation or two along the way. If so, they'll get stuck here, before the recap. Don't get confused.

The snow is actually falling in Seattle. I am flabbergasted. When I saw snow, I assumed Green Bay. Sorry.

Snow may make this game worth watching. Especially if you like interceptions.

If you don't really listen to what Joe Theisman is saying, he sounds really smart.

"Run the ball? Lets try that, shall we. And look, now we are winning" - Mike Holmgren

Sideline reporter seems confused that a player became dehydrated...because it is cold. I'm confused because they claim he had an IV because of it and is back play in five minutes.

ESPN needs to stop having guests come into the booth. Every week they get someone better than the guys doing the game. This idea is making it really obvious that they could do better.

The results:

Miami at Detroit - CORRECT
"Yes, Miami will go on the road, on a major holiday, and beat Detroit."
Good start. I seem to have a good sense of Miami right now. Gotta ride that feeling.

Tampa Bay at Dallas - WRONG
"I just want Tampa to win sooooo badly. I think they deserve it because they try hard and when they are losing, we have see "Gruden Face" for three hours. Not a good Thanksgiving meal appetizer. Go Tampa Bay!"
It was ALL Gruden face in this one.

Denver at Kansas City - WRONG
"To put it simply, the Denver Horsies will win this game."
To put it complicatedly, there was a change in philosophy with the coaching mechanisms deep within the heartfelt stereotypical playcalling of the outcome based ramifications of such, and thusly, I was misled in where I should lean my positivity laden victorious suggestion. Yeah, I screwed up.

New Orleans at Atlanta - CORRECT
"Atlanta's struggles won't allow for victory. New Orleans takes it."
Atlanta's struggles were demonstrated by their QB's double-middle finger salute to the fans.

Jacksonville at Buffalo - WRONG
"Jacksonville to win."
Well, I'm having a bad week. But Jacksonville certainly feels worse after coughing away this one to Buffalo.

Cinci at Cleveland - CORRECT
"No challenge, Go Cinci."
I nailed it. Shut 'em out! I'm feelin' Cinci!!!

San Francisco at St. Louis - WRONG
"Normally I would give the edge to even a struggling St Louis at home against the Niners. The Niners only road win was against Detroit..."
I should have stopped right there. But not me. I overthink, I second guess, and I actually do this for the first time this year: "The pick is the 49ers."
Bad picker. I need to be punished.

Arizona at Minnesota - CORRECT
"Stinker of the week...Minnesota wins this one."
Man the Vikings tried to lose this one, but Arizona is still weeks away from becoming less "Arizona-like" as the young star QB keeps learning. Once the QB is solid, all they need is the rest of a team.

Houston at NY Jets - CORRECT
"Jets to win."
The Jets are a game over .500. In the NFC, they'd be a playoff team. In the AFC, they're in the thick of the also-rans. Clearly I knew they'd beat the Astros... er, Texans.

Carolina at Wash. - WRONG
"Wash. is horrible, Carolina is good. I refuse to spell out Wash. until they rejoin the NFL. Carolina wins it."
Carolina got washed and dried and folded and put away in the closet. They should hide there until we all forget what we just saw from them.

Pittsburgh at Baltimore - WRONG
"Pittsburgh wins this one"
Pittsburgh was on a roll coming into this one. I'm not sure if the result shows how strong Baltimore is, or how wrong I was. Yeah, I'm wrong either way, but whichever way makes me seem less wrong, think that.

Oakland at San Diego - CORRECT
"Oakland will not win."
The referee clearly picked San Diego on his blog, too.

NY Giants at Tennessee - WRONG
"The Giants are hurting... Despite the troubles for the Giants, they still have enough to win this one."
Okay, you gotta admit, I looked right on this one. Giants up 21-0 in the fourth quarter. I even started bragging about my superior foresight. But once again, I should have stopped after my first sentence. Too bad the Giants couldn't have stopped after 3 quarters.

Chicago at New England - CORRECT
"New England has what it takes right now to take down Chicago and prove the AFC supremacy. New England to win."
That's what I said, and that's what this one was. A strange way to go about it, but if one of the factors to use in judging good teams is who wins a 9 turnover game, the the Pats show again that the AFC is way ahead right now.

Philly at Indy - CORRECT
"Indy wins."
Too easy. Can't wait to see who falls down in front of Indy next week.

Green Bay at Seattle - CORRECT
"Seattle wins."
Snow was cool. Yeah. Remind me later, in snow games, pick the team that can run, and if equal in that, pick the team that can stop the run.

Whew, comeback at the end. Just like Seattle. And Tennessee. 9 and 7 for the week, making me 35 and 25 on the experiment. Bye.

What the... Oh, its just another Sunday of football madness

So I watched a bit of football today. It was a fascinating day. I was amazed at the bizarre happenings, pathetic performances, and unlikely endings. But it was two "what the..." moments that inspire me to blog.

First, this seems to be the consensus definition that I could find for a particular football term, the FORWARD PASS: "A forward pass - usually called simply a pass - is a throwing of the football from a member of the team in possession of the ball to another member of the same team who is closer to the opponent's goal line". The play in question will likely cause a new rule as a result of the inexplicable decision by the referee. And once again, at the expense of the Raiders. Like they need any un-help. Anyway, opponent catches pass as he falls to the ground. He is not touched by a Raider. He gets up, again not being touched, and immediately "flings" the ball toward the ground, slightly forward of where he stands (he is facing "the opponents goal line"), and as the ball hits the ground, it bounces a bit further "forward". He was not throwing the ball to ANYONE, let alone a teammate who was closer to the opponents goal line.

Now EVERYONE ELSE ON THE FIELD realizes that the guy was not touched, and he just tossed the ball away, and thus the ball is live and anyone can pick it up. So the ENTIRE RAIDER TEAM goes for the ball, and it seemed to me that all the opponents in the picture also went for the ball. The Raider recovered the... we'll call it a fumble, since tha's what it is... and after some thought, the referee ruled Raider ball. He then thought some more and ruled that after the player caught the ball, he threw an illegal forward pass, causing the play to end at that point. He assessed a five yard penalty from the location of the illegal pass, but the opponents were allowed to retain possession of the ball. They of course went on to score the winning touchdown on the drive.

Bottom line: Stupid player throws the ball down without realizing the play is still live (or should have been)= FUMBLE. Your thoughts?

Then, in a move makes me wonder how coaches keep their jobs, the Niners are at the opponents 6 yard line, like 4 minutes to go, leading by 1 point. All day they have been running the ball very well. But itfourthth down. But its fourth and like less than a yard. Two options. 1-Field Goal, 2-Go For It.

Pros and cons: Kick Field Goal-PRO; make it and lead by 4 so opponent has to score a touchdown to win, with only four minutes to go. CON; miss it and opponent gets the ball at the 20 and needs only a field goal to win.

GO FOR IT-PRO; make it and score, or at least have three more shots at a touchdown, to lead by 8 (more than likely), which means the opponent needs a touchdown AND a 2 point conversion just to tie; failing that, you still have a chance to kick a field goal, all the while running much more time off the clock, likely causing opponent to use timeouts; and let's not forget showing confidence in your players that they can perform a relatively simple football task. CON; don't make it and opponent gets the ball at the 6 and needs only a field goal to win.

Seems to me that the downside of both options is the same, while the upside of kicking the field goal still allows a better chance for the opponent to win. The upside of going for it, even if just to eventually kick a field goal later, is HUGE. Go for it and make it and the game is all but over if you do things right.

If you can't make a yard, or you as the coach don't think your team can, then you lose. He kicked, it was good, and they lost. Your thoughts?

The rest of the picks

Ok, time is short this week because of the holiday traveling and the rides in police cars. So without further ado, the rest of the picks:

New Orleans at Atlanta
New Orleans and Atlanta have both been a bit wishy washy lately after both looked so good early on. But Atlanta troubles of late look a bit more terminal than the Saints woes. This one should be a close one for the familiarity of the division matchup, and the home team advantage going to the "lesser" team. Close but Atlanta's struggles won't allow for victory. New Orleans takes it.

Jacksonville at Buffalo
Jacksonville is not your typical warm weather team. They can and do win on the road in bad weather. And they typically beat the lesser teams that aren't named Houston. They've shut down much better offenses this year. Jacksonville to win.


Cinci at Cleveland
Cinci seems to be hitting that offensive stride now. Defensively, not so much, but good thing the opponent is Cleveland's offense. No challenge, not even on the road. Go Cinci.

San Francisco at St. Louis
Wow, San Francisco is surprising me. Normally I would give the edge to even a struggling St Louis at home against the Niners. The Niners only road win was against Detroit, and they lost at Arizona. Not impressive. But the Niners are on a three game winning streak, and the Rams are on a five game loser. They had a three game winning streak right before, but those three were all close games and they were against Green Bay, Detroit, and Arizona. Add it up, three close wins against really bad teams, followed by five straight losses. I don't care who you are playing (unless its the Raiders) or where the game is, you can't pick a team on that kind of run to win. The pick is the 49ers.

Arizona at Minnesota
Stinker of the week. Don't watch it. And you don't have to, because I can tell you that Minnesota wins this one.

Houston at NY Jets
Houston at New Jersey, actually. I may start picking against teams that don't even play in the same state that the city they are named after is a part of. May, but when I look at this game, I won't start that trend. I just can't pick Houston on the road, any road, until they prove themselves worthy of such confidence. Their only road win is at Jacksonville, and they own Jacksonville (2 of 3 wins are against them). Now the Jets may not be the best home team around, but where is home after all? Jets to win.

Carolina at Wash.
Wash. is horrible, Carolina is good. I refuse to spell out Wash. until they rejoin the NFL. Carolina wins it.

Pittsburgh at Baltimore
Pittsburgh is hot, on a roll, they've turned it around, the are still the defending champs. But this is AT Baltimore. So... UPSET SPECIAL!!! Pittsburgh wins this one (and creates a lot of AFC drama in the process).

Oakland at San Diego
San Diego is one of the top 5 teams in the NFL. Unless Oakland's opponent has been changed to San Diego State, and even then maybe... Oakland will not win.

NY Giants at Tennessee
The Giants are hurting. Many defensive guys out hurt, QB has regressed to high school form, running game getting shut down. Going on the road to play an inferior opponent. Would not be a major upset for Tennessee to win at home, but it would be an upset. Despite the troubles for the Giants, they still have enough to win this one.

Chicago at New England
New England stopped their slide, and a hot Patriot team is hard to beat at home. This is a classic game to determine conference strength. New England has what it takes right now to take down Chicago and prove the AFC supremacy. New England to win.

Philly at Indy
No question here. Indy wins. And I'm running out of time...

Green Bay at Seattle
Seattle wins.

Talk to you all after the games!!!

NFL T-Day game picks

In the spirit of the holiday upon us, I will be thankful for being able to pick the three winners on this festive Thursday slate of games. Thankfulness is always an appropriate response when a gift is bestowed. Since I have to pick these three games with three less days of analysis available, it will be a gift if I were to pick them right. I can just about guarantee that if I were allowed to make these three picks on Friday or Saturday, I would get all three right. On to the picks!!!

Miami at Detroit
Here is a traditional Turkey Day matchup that this year is all turkey and no matchup. Detroit may have settled in as the worst team in the NFL. I said may. I hedge that bet because at last check, the Raiders are still in the NFL (I kid the Raiders, but they love it). Midseason relegation to the CFL is not happening yet (I kid the CFL. They are not so amused).

Miami is one of the teams I have identified as one on the rise. They still reside in a tie for last in their division with Buffalo. So Buffalo better win this week if they want to stay in that tie. Yes, Miami will go on the road, on a major holiday, and beat Detroit.

Tampa Bay at Dallas
Dallas is the other traditional T-Day game host. This is a tradition so old that no one remembers why its a tradition. In my opinion, that is when you re-examine a tradition and make some changes. It had been a tradition in the land to start the "Christmas Season" after Thanksgiving. That was apparently re-examined in the recent past and not the "Christmas Season" begins after Halloween. So everything is subject to change. Anything that makes Dallas less relevant is fine by be.

Dallas knocked off Indy last week. If Dallas wins this game it means that I would still pick it wrong if I picked it on Friday. I just want Tampa to win sooooo badly. I think they deserve it because they try hard and when they are losing, we have see "Gruden Face" for three hours. Not a good Thanksgiving meal appetizer. Go Tampa Bay!

Denver at Kansas City
Hey look, a new tradition is started! Its a third T-Day game. And its being shown on the NFL Network. Have you heard of that? Can you get that on your home television system? Will anyone still be awake to watch it after all that food? Aren't we traditionally napping at this time? The NFL started its own network this year, and rumor has it that they want to do their own broadcasting of the games after the current TV deals expire. So they gotta get their network on all the cable systems. So they are hoping if you don't have it on yours, you will call and complain to your cable company, otherwise you can't see this game. Ok, maybe you don't really care about THIS game, but its the foreshadowing of ALL games being on NFL Network, meaning the ones you do want to see.

In a not so subtle move that shows how the NFL flexes, the two early games on the other networks are duds, with only one winning record and not even a good rivalry OR intra division matchup. This game has all that, and interesting head coaches, one of the best home crowds in the game, and its in "Prime Time". It won't have Madden's 18 legged turkey, but that's about all this one is missing.

For the game itself it comes down to this. Denver lost a tough one to San Diego so they should be hurting for a win, and coming off a game in which their level of play had to be high they will no doubt have that high level of play ready to go. Kansas City just barely beat the Raiders. So they think they can win, but at what level are they grooved into? If that made any sense at all and you know what I'm trying to say, you can skip the next sentence and go get a snack. To put it simply, the Denver Horsies will win this game.

There you have it. I just picked all three road teams. I'll let you know after the games how I would have picked them if I had that few extra days to do the analysis.

Happy Turkey Day, y'all.

Sports AND Random.... this one is random

I am watching the American Music Awards. It occurs to me that America's taste in music is declining. The BIG performance was Lionel Ritchie, doing 14 year old songs. That's not too bad, I suppose, but they also had Barry Manilow? And it seems that he has a current hit album out? This is not good. But the Grand Finale is coming up. I'm excited. According to the guy I've never heard of who is about to introduce the Grand Finale, "We did seen a lot of 'dope' performances tonight. My favorite being Mary J, Jamie Foxx...". Uh, that's two, dude. The Grand Finale? Snoop Dogg. I rest my case.

My favorite AMA moment, without a doubt, and maybe, just maybe, some justification for one of my pet peeves, one that even extends to sports... thanking God. Mary J. Blige thanked God (all his glory, da da da...). It was the first "thank" she said. She won again and thanked God again. We know Mary, we know. Carrie Underwood thanked God first, too. At least one other early winner thanked God. I almost started counting, but I was playing on-line poker too and lost track of the winning moments sometimes. But oh, was I paying attention when they announced the winner of the best "Inspirational Artist", formerly known as gospel, of course.

The winner was well known gospel artist, Kirk Franklin (I read that on the internet). He approached the podium, dressed very nicely in a suit, and the FIRST thing he said was that one of the other nominees was his favorite band and said something nice about them, then I think he thanked his mom, and/or other family members, and record company dudes or something... I'll admit I really didn't pay attention to exactly what he said because I was waiting for him to praise God and all the glory of His music that he makes come out of his mortal vocal cords. Something like that. Franklin NEVER thanked God. This is the musician who seems to have a good feel for God, and His place in his life, since he spends his career singing His praises. Seems he is also aware that he is doing the singing, it's his talent, inspired by and in tribute to God, perhaps, but not imparted into him by God's majesty, and no fake "Thanking" going on to try to appear as anything other than what he is.

The moment continued: He then said that he just hoped that the way he lived his life (whether in honor of God, he didn't say) was a good example to others. Then he quietly walked away from the podium.

I didn't hear Snoop Dogg hoping he was living his life as a good example to others.

Peace out, homies.

v. 3.0 (beta) Recap

Cinci at New Orleans - WRONG
"After the mammoth scoring game Cinci and San Diego were in last week, I see points. I loaded up my fantasy team with as many Saints as I could. Yeah, I think the Saints will win."
I was wrong about the outcome, but there points. And Brees threw for over 500 yds. Big help to the fantasy squad, not enough to overcome Cinci's offense.

Buffalo at Houston - CORRECT
"Buffalo showed their potential last week... Go Buffalo."
And Buffalo did go. Closer than I might have guessed, so I will remember that, but da Bills were on the road. You know, I think this was a good pick on my part. Why thank you.

New England at Green Bay - CORRECT
"New England's slide ends this week."
I've also been saying that Green Bay is not that good a team this year. So many reasons to pick New England so I sure am glad I did.

Oakland at K.C. - CORRECT
"KC wins."
Again, a little closer than I would have guessed. But since I didn't guess about that, I can again claim overwhelming victory. Now I didn't know that Oakland's starting QB was returning from injury himself this game. So that's what made the difference. You like that excuse. You like I'm making it even though I actually got this one right? I may need to save excuses, so lets move on.

Atlanta at Baltimore - CORRECT
"Baltimore, at home, just too strong for an average NFC team. Besides, it looks like Vick and the Falcons have already hit the wall they hit every year when they go from super bowl to toilet bowl. Baltimore wins."
So how good am I? Nailed it.

Chicago at NY Jets - CORRECT
"I just can't fathom Chicago losing to the Jets."
Chicago couldn't fathom it either. I'm sure glad to have them on my side.

Pittsburgh at Cleveland - CORRECT
"Pittsburgh appears to have awoken (is that a word?) from their slumber... that will be plenty to take care of the pitiful Browns."
Played the game like they played the season up to now. Sucked early, looked like they couldn't beat the...the... well the Browns. Came on like the ex-champs, uh, I mean defending champs, and celebrated victorious triumph.

St. Louis at Carolina - CORRECT
"St. Louis travels to Carolina. I wonder if they will find the place? Are NFL teams required to give directions to the stadium to the opponents? ... St. Louis. Try winning. Not going to this week, though."
Forget the game predictions, all though they are almost all awesome. Lets start looking at the little things in my picks. Did St. Louis find the stadium? It appears not. At least their offense didn't make it. Perhaps they rounded up some tailgaters in the parking lot and threw uniforms on them. Hmmm, quarterback didn't make it. Hey, there's a guy eating a burger. Close enough. Just need to make that "R" an "L". Yeah. Mission accomplished.

Tennessee at Philly - WRONG
"Philly will win, enough about the game."
Little did I know that Philly's awesome star starting QB would go down with a season ending injury just after the game started. That kinda sucked for me. I am torn apart by the development and shocked that I have taken a loss in a game that I really should have won. Its like nothing can go right for me all of a sudden. Man, I am pissed. (I wonder how the Eagles feel about it?)

Wash at TB - CORRECT
"That should be enough. For Tampa. To win."
Whatever it was, it was enough. Tampa score 20. Won by three. At home. Against Washington. Who had a starting QB who was starting for the first time. Ever. I've seen more impressive offenses in World Cup soccer. But I got it right!!!!

Minnesota at Miami - CORRECT
"Oh, Miami wins because they are at home."
Miami was NEGATIVE in rushing yards. And not too impressive passing. Minnesota actually ran forward, but twice gave the ball to a grateful Miami defender in the fourth quarter. Each defender, in the spirit of the season, hogged the ball and ran for self glorification to the end zone for the elusive defender-scored touchdown. If you are keeping score at home, that's 14 points from the 'D' in the 4th Q, in a game that ended 24-20. Weak game. Excellent pick by me.

Seattle at San Francisco - wrong
"Seattle is muchly the better team and as such shall vanquish the 50 minus ones."
Maybe I am being to hard on my 49ers, the team I know so well. Maybe I keep guessing them to lose because I am afraid of appearing biased? I mean, seriously, Shaun Alexander is nowhere near ready to dominate and Hassleback is still out...what was I thinking? Gore is tops in the league in rushing yards. Alex Smith is a NUMBER ONE draft pick coming into his own. Honestly, the Niners have nowhere to go but up. I should be more careful. I'm sorry I doubted you, my 49ers.

Detroit and Arizona - WRONG
"I predict a tie."
Close. But close does not count. Oh it counts in horse shoes. And hand grenades. Half credit for knowing that Detroit WOULDN'T win? At least I know who is worser. Duly noted. Thank you Lions.

Indy at Dallas - wrong
#^#$@

San Diego at Denver - CORRECT
"In my humble opinion, I think San Diego is slightly better as a team than the Denvers. Usually, in closely matched games, the home boys get a nod towards victory. In hard fought intra-division rivalry games who is at home seems to matter a bit less. Even big upsets occur in some divisional games because of how familiar the teams are with each other. So being better, or at home should not be a factor in this game. If you have followed so far, I have predicted that neither team will win, or, either team CAN win. I should leave it at that and claim victory myself after its over, but I have saved energy and will delve a little deeper into this one for you, my faithful readers. San Diego will win because Philip Rivers is really coming on strong and looks like a top flight QB, he's got LaDanian Tomlinson on his team, and the SD defense is powerful; while Denver may have the strong D, and the running game, Jake Plummer is still Denver's QB."

Again, I leave you my entire pick reasoning to read again. I'm pretty good at this. The end comes down to Plummer with the last chance to win after Rivers and Tomlinson lead the Chargers to come from behind in dramatic fashion. And though San Diego appears to keep helping the Broncos at the end...Plummer finds a way to not win, throwing two yard passes with 98 yards to go, and to cap it off, fumbling on the last chance play.

New York Giants at Jacksonville - No Pick
Yeah. I never got around to a guest pick. I would have picked JAX, of course. Just look back at the last two weeks and you should be able to figure that out. But I didn't get it in in time.

So I'm 9 and 5 this week making me overall, 26 correct to 18 wrong. That's like 2/3 correct. Nearly. If you added half again as many wrong picks to my wrong picks it totals just more than my right picks, so that's why I say 2/3, almost. And it would be if I had gotten in my JAX pick. So its not only "almost" mathematically, but "almost" if-I-had-gotten-in-my-pick-ally, as well. Darn it.

Stay tuned for my "2/3 of the Season (or close to it since there can't actually be 2/3 of 16 games played) Report".

Plus my basketball re-preview report, my English Premier League "Game of the Year" Preview, Various Miscellaneous Rants, and then the post where I apologize for never getting around to all those other posts.

Feel free to comment via the link under this word.

Weekly NFL picks, v. 3.0 (beta)

No ranting... for that, see my last post, and likely my next post... just picks.

Cinci at New Orleans
After the mammoth scoring game Cinci and San Diego were in last week, I see points. I loaded up my fantasy team with as many Saints as I could. Yeah, I think the Saints will win.

Buffalo at Houston
Buffalo showed their potential last week. Houston has never showed theirs (except against Jax, last weeks opponent). Go Buffalo.

New England at Green Bay
I've been predicting the New England slide for one whole week now. I'm so proud. I know that my luck spotting trends does not extend beyond one. New England's slide ends this week.

Oakland at K.C.
Trent Green returns for KC. Don't know what that really means. And he could get hit early and go back out. Don't know what that means, either. KC has Larry Johnson. I know what that means. Oakland is not a good team, and now the lousy QB is complaining about the lousy coaching. I really know what that means. KC wins.

Atlanta at Baltimore
Baltimore, at home, just too strong for an average NFC team. Besides, it looks like Vick and the Falcons have already hit the wall they hit every year when they go from super bowl to toilet bowl. Baltimore wins.

Chicago at NY Jets
6th game in a row that I really don't have to think too hard about to pick a winner. There have got to be some tough ones coming up or all this extra brain power will be going to waste. I just can't fathom Chicago losing to the Jets. Even though they struggled early against the Giants last week, they won going away, and the Giants are far tougher than the Jets. See the logic?

Pittsburgh at Cleveland
Pittsburgh appears to have awoken (is that a word?) from their slumber. If you average how they have looked this year with how they looked last year, and factor in that they are starting to head back closer to last year in performance... that will be plenty to take care of the pitiful Browns. I only had to think a little for this one, but you can see that my brain is slightly off due to the lack of a decent pre-pick stretching session.

St. Louis at Carolina
St. Louis travels to Carolina. I wonder if they will find the place? Are NFL teams required to give directions to the stadium to the opponents? But I digress. I really think the Rams are taking the lead of the Cards too seriously. Around .500, eek into the playoffs, no one takes you seriously, win the whole thing. Not going to work again, St. Louis. Try winning. Not going to this week, though.

Tennessee at Philly
Philly will win, enough about the game. Now I like to abbreviate when I can. Because I'm basically lazy, I suppose. Or I'm trying to save wear and tear on my keyboard. Thus the use of Philly, SF, KC, Cinci, Indy, NY, and others, sometimes always, sometimes sometimes. Or the use of the nickname instead, but that's off the topic, so never mind that for now, I trying to make a point. The point is, is there a good abbreviation for Tennessee? Ten? Nope, that's another word. Tenn? Now it looks like I can't spell ten. Tnse, Tenns, Tnese? All appear as if I am not relaxed enough to spell tense, or tennis. So I'm putting out a call. Anyone have a good easy to understand abbrev. for Tennessee? Until such time comes, I may never pick them to win, just to save the keyboard.

Wash at TB
Finally I have to think about one. Give me a minute. Okay. Tampa SHOULD be the better team. They are also at home. Washington's defense is so bad, Tampa's offense might look respectable. That should be enough. For Tampa. To win.

Minnesota at Miami
Miami is on the same train as Pittsburgh right now. Shaking off the early season horribles, and making a case to be only slightly below average (oh how I lavish the praise). Minnesota on the other hand just lost to the Niners and Packers in consecutive weeks, and before that, they were the last team that New England beat before their slide. Minnesota's train isn't just going the other way, it derailed twice on the way. Someone needs to stoke the boiler under the Vikings before they are eliminated from reaching the playoff platform. Oh, Miami wins because they are at home.

Seattle at San Francisco
I like typing out San Francisco because I am among the 5% of Americans who can correctly spell San Francisco. Strangely enough, only 5% of Seattlites can spell Seattle until they've had their morning coffee. The Seahawks might be better served to fly into San Fran... SF the morning of the game, making sure to have some coffee on board. Shaun Alexander MIGHT play (though really, he could rest one more week, its only the Niners), but even if he is just the wafting aroma of his usual cup o' self, it shoudn't matter. Seattle is muchly the better team and as such shall vanquish the 50 minus ones.

Detroit and Arizona
Stinker of the week. Anti-Super Bowl. Both teams LOST to the 49ers. Three wins between them. Frankly, it would be an upset if either team won, even against each other. So I'm going radical. Edgy. Off my rocker. Outside the box. I predict a tie.

Indy at Dallas
By now, I don't really need to tell you my pick for this one. Everyone together now... INNNNNNNNDY!!! Bonus Dallas game prediction: Parcells looks like someone just stole his puppy after T.O. complains yet again and subsequently drops a key pass.

San Diego at Denver
In my humble opinion, I think San Diego is slightly better as a team than the Denvers. Usually, in closely matched games, the home boys get a nod towards victory. In hard fought intra-division rivalry games who is at home seems to matter a bit less. Even big upsets occur in some divisional games because of how familiar the teams are with each other. So being better, or at home should not be a factor in this game. If you have followed so far, I have predicted that neither team will win, or, either team CAN win. I should leave it at that and claim victory myself after its over, but I have saved energy and will delve a little deeper into this one for you, my faithful readers. San Diego will win because Philip Rivers is really coming on strong and looks like a top flight QB, he's got LaDanian Tomlinson on his team, and the SD defense is powerful; while Denver may have the strong D, and the running game, Jake Plummer is still Denver's QB.

New York Giants at Jacksonville
Stay tuned for the upcoming Guest Pick for this one, after which I will reveal my obviously superior choice. And no, I'm not going to let my sister embarrass me yet again.

False Advertising

If you read an ad offering bananas at 79 cents a pound and when you get to the store they give you head lettuce at 79 cents each...If you purchase a vacation package to Aruba but when you look at the plane ticket it says "Panama"...If you buy an Ipod and when you get home and open the box you find a pea pod... Well, you would feel ripped off. Blatant false advertising, no? Since this is not a blog about consumerism, where am I going? Glad you wondered. Its time for my rant, inspired by recent proposed moves by my beloved A's and 49ers, about sports teams calling themselves whatever they want. And getting away with it.

To my dismay, it seems that the A's are practically in Fremont already. Taking a page from the insanity that is the Angels, they propose calling the team "The San Jose A's of Fremont" and at the very least "of Fremont" will be part of the name. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are not in Los Angeles. The "Anything" A's of Fremont will be in Fremont, no where else. If you want to move to Fremont, you lose the marketing edge of the "big" city. Call yourself the Fremont A's. If they were to retain the Oakland name, the city of Oakland should sue for copyright infringement or something. Ditto for San Jose if they try that trick. Since I'm whining about it, here's a quote about wine labels from winebrats.org

"Appellation of Origin
If a wine says "California" on the label it must be 100% from California. If a wine is labeled with a specific county name, i.e. Sonoma, Mendocino, Santa Barbara, etc., it must be 75% from that county. As you get more specific, the standards go up. If the bottle is labeled with an "American Viticultural Area," or AVA, such as Napa Valley, Dry Creek, or Central Coast, then 85% of the grapes in that wine must be from that area. If the label mentions a specific vineyard, then it must be 95% from that vineyard. Generally, the more specific the label, the more consistent and more expensive the wine is going to be."

The rules for wine are exactly what I'm trying to talk about here. The New York Giants and New York Jets play in New Jersey. I believe that neither team even has offices or practice facilities in the state of New York anymore. If the 49ers offices and practice facilities are in Santa Clara but they play in San Francisco, could they refer to themselves as from either location? What's more important?

As one example from the college ranks, UCLA plays its games in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl. But college teams "represent" the college as the players all attend it. I suppose if all the players on the New York Giants lived in New York, they could call themselves New York all they wanted. But I don't think a pro team really can represent a place in the same way a college does.

The Lions used to play in Detroit, then moved to Pontiac, and are now back in Detroit. They always used "Detroit". The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Devil Rays don't represent Tampa Bay. Close, but they don't actually play in the water, they play on dry land. The Dallas Cowboys play in Irving, yes Irving. Say it a few times, then imagine how intimidated the opposition would be having to face the "Irving Cowboys". Sounds like a sequel to Brokeback Mountain.

There are numerous other examples of this false advertising in sports and there are laws against false and misleading advertising, so when your team name is a large part of your marketing, why should you be allowed to get away with it? Why do I wonder why a city has not "sued" over the use of its name for a team that does not play there? Simple, they still get the benefit of the advertising, and the status as a "major league" city. So why don't the actual home cities of these teams do something? Could it because they are still reaping the direct benefits of the team's location? Hey, people come to pump money Irving's tax base whether the team name is the Irving Cowboys, Dallas Cowboys, or The Southwestern US/Northeast-ish Texas Cowboys. Someone needs to remind me that its all about money. Silly me sometimes forgets that.

On another team name angle, some teams cover up their exact location with wide geographic area names. The New England Patriots represent an entire region of the country, the Carolina Panthers cover two whole states, the Texas Rangers, Golden State Warriors (who ARE in Oakland, so...), Minnesota Wild (no I didn't make that up, they are a Hockey team) all claim an entire state as their home area. I have real no issue with them...except when there are other teams from the same geographic area. There are other baseball teams in Texas and other NBA teams in the "Golden State" after all. Maybe a complicated, yet more accurate designation can save me some mental anguish. How about, "The Golden State (Except for the Los Angeles and Sacramento Metropolitan Area) Warriors?

So to all the sports teams out there I say: Guys, if you're from Oakland, Detroit, New Jersey, or, yes, even Irving, PROUDLY claim it. Build your facilities in the place you call home. At least have your offices in the city you claim to represent. Otherwise go away. Look at it this way, if the BUFFALO BILLS can proudly claim to be from Buffalo, what's your excuse? What...the heck you say, the Bills play in Orchard Park? Oh my.

How did I do on my picks?

Not too good. My spiffy decision to include my picks against the spread as well seems to have confused my picking acumen. Had I just put my considerable narrow focus into just picking a winner (I am good at that, so I've been told), like I did last week, I would have done much better, as I did last week. Experiment over.

I am withholding judgment on the guest picker. For now. But the guests better miss once in a while or I might abandon that idea, too.

On to the results...yuck:

Green Bay at Minnesota
"Minnesota at least knows humiliation, and they will not lose to a second lousy team in a row (I have no idea what that had to do with the Bears last week). But they aren't really very good either, so Green Bay covers with the gift of 5 1/2 points."
Minnesota needed more humiliation. How they can fit it all in the Metrodome I couldn't tell you. But I got the spread right!

Baltimore at Tennessee
"Baltimore even covers the 7 1/2 they are giving the Titans."
Egads, it was close. A one point win should not please the Ravens, but I'll take it.

Houston at Jacksonville
"JAX wins it, but I think it'll be close enough for Houston to cover with the 10 1/2 they are getting."
If not for Miami Chicago last week, this would be the upset of the year. I am excused for not seeing it coming. But again, I nailed the spread pick!

Kansas City at Miami
"K.C. covers it."
My worst pick this week? Missed both guesses, so maybe. We'll see...

NY Jets at New England
"(Upset game?) Something tells me that the Jets could win this. New England was hot, then got rolled at home by Indy. I smell a downward trend for New England. This is one where I don't even agree with the other half of myself, but I certainly don't see New England covering 10 1/2 points. Not this week. But I gotta pick it..... New York Jets to win."
I have left the whole text of the original pick. I want you to read it again. So do you. I told you this would happen. Can I take extra credit for this one? Erase one of my wrong ones?

San Diego at Cinci
"Chargers cover."
Big time comeback, lots of points. I nailed the outcome. The Chargers like me.

San Francisco at Detroit
"I gotta go with the Lions. ...getting 6 1/2 points, the Niners can cover...."
I missed another straight pick, got lucky on the spread. See, if you pay attention, and pick the favorite to win and the underdog to cover, you can split a lot of games. Its really a cheap way of doing it. So what. Oh yeah, this game was ugly. I watched it.

Washington at Philly
"Philly, at home, no problem, give Washington 6 1/2 points and Philly still covers."
Nicely done by me as Philly romped. My third game in which I nailed the winner and the spread. Third and last, unfortunately.

Buffalo at Indy
"Call me after the game, I want to hear how amazing this pick was. Buffalo wins it."
Hot damn I almost called this one too. One more point? Can't I... I mean Buffalo...get one more point? I should take the credit for this one, too, it was so damn close to super-upset. I am starting to smell like I know what I'm thinking. It smells like an overheating toaster.

Cleveland at Atlanta
"I'm getting tired. Atlanta wins this one. At home, giving 9 1/2 points, they cover. Its Cleveland, yo."
I was tired. That's my excuse for this pick. I should have seen the Vick implosion coming.

Denver at Oakland
"Denver carries the 8 1/2 points in a rousing victory."
Denver again causes me anguish by playing down to the level of their opponents. Way, way down in this case. Oh, they won the game, but I will remember the facts. Of course, if I had done a little research I would have seen that this is a great Denver tradition. Good example of why I am bailing on spread picks from now on.

New Orleans at Pittsburgh
"Saints to win. And for the joke of the year so far, the Steelers (at 2-6) are actually FAVORED to win over the 6-2 Saints."
Hmmm. Someone in Vegas knows more than me? I'm shocked. So are the Saints.

St. Louis at Seattle
"Uh, Simply put, home team wins. That's Seattle."
Odd game. Seattle takes it by 2. Nothing to be proud of, Seattle fans. But I'll take that end of the pick. I'll take anything about now.

Dallas at Arizona
"Dallas. I hate them."
Arizona did not win.

Chicago at NY Giants
"Giants give 2 1/2 at home as home favorites, and they cover it."
Now I know. Eli Manning crashes and burns 8 weeks before his brother does. Point taken. As long as teams keep handing the Bears bizarre TD opportunities, I will not pick against them.

Tampa Bay at Carolina
My sister said, "I pick the Panthers over the Bucs. Johnson and Smith are going to have excellent games and romp all over the poor pitiful Bucs (sorry Annie) It will be a good day in our house!!!"
Damn she's good.

My scorecard: I picked only 7 of 16 winners, makes me 17-13 in my two week history. I picked only 7 of 16 against the spread. Only 3 did I get both ways, while 5 I missed both ways. Bad, bad week. Try to forget it. As for my sister. 1 for 1, and Johnson and Smith go for 14 catches, almost 200 yards, and two TD's. Damn she's good.

The Monday Night game official "not mine" pick.

So far this week has been a disaster for my picks. I will recap the weekend of terror later on, but without further ado, I present the Guest Pick of the Week! This week, it happens to be the Monday Night tilt between the Panthers of Carolina and the Bucs of the City of Tampa. Your guest picker: My sister.

"Talk about pressure. I have a bit of a dilemma here. My friend Annie loves the Bucs! But that cannot sway me, can it.

The truth is I have had it in for John Gruden since he left my Raiders. Big Time...everytime I see his mug on the TV I yell at it (and it has't been pretty) So my pick it definitely not based on team stats or anything. It's pure emotion.

I pick the Panthers over the Bucs. Johnson and Smith are going to have excellent games and romp all over the poor pitiful Bucs (sorry Annie) It will be a good day in our house!!!"

My sister is a Panther fan, could you tell? Anyway, since I usually pick based on intellectual statistical analysis (except Dallas games), emotion may be the way to go. But just for laughs, I think Carolina will win, too. But given 9 1/2 points... Tampa should cover.

Sunday Sports...What Sucks, Part 3

NASCAR. Really. Not all of it. Just these two little tiny issues.

First: I'm watching and there is "debris" on the track. A small piece of something. So the yellow comes out. Everyone slows down, no passing allowed. Pace car gets on the track, the leader stays behind it, and the rest of the cars line up. Within a lap, every car is lined up behind the pace car. Plenty of opportunity for some track worker to dash out and pick up the "debris", and the pace car can get back off the track and the race can start back up after ONE lap under yellow, okay, maybe TWO laps might be needed on a shorter track.

BUT NOOOOOOO. Five or so laps of yellow flag "racing", so that all the cars can make relaxed pit stops which only affect track position that will be quickly made up since everyone lines back up before the race starts again. Can't they clear the track a little quicker?

Second: The Lucky Dog. Really, they have one. When the yellow comes out, the first guy behind the leader who is a lap or more down is "The Lucky Dog" and is allowed to PASS the leader (and anyone else on the lead lap between the leader and he) to get a lap back. No skill involved at all. If you are a lap or more down and just happen to be in the right place at the right time, you get the gift of A LAP. Now remember what insignificant thing can cause a yellow flag. As if a baseball team was given a run every time they trailed by at least two and there was a foul ball. But in NASCAR, even non-participants can affect the outcome. If I'm Joe Nascar fan and "my driver" was down a lap, and he was in the "Lucky Dog" position, I could toss an empty beer can onto the track, bringing out a caution, and allowing my guy to get that lap back. Is there anyone out there who thinks this is a good thing? Oh please NASCAR, get rid of the Lucky Dog rule.

Sunday Sports...What Sucks, Part 2

I watched the first half of the MLS Championship game. American pro soccer has a long way to go. Scoreless first half, which will not attract the casual American fan, who wants OFFENSE!!!! But it will not attract the soccer aficionado either, since we (yeah, I'm going to say I'm one) demand quality play. In the first half, I saw NO sustained attacks ending in a good offensive chance. Pass, pass, long pass intercepted was about 90% of the game. And that's only if they got two passes first. I actually saw a dribbler surrounded, make a good decision to back pass to a wide open defender who was 30 yards clear of an opponent, and he chose to blast a first touch long pass to...the opposition. As the camera followed the flight of the ball I even saw the four wide open teammates he COULD have passed to.

And unfortunately, the TV commentary (including recent US National Coach Bruce Arena, who I hate) kept saying stupid things like, "These two teams are taking some time feeling each other out" into the 40th minute. Like they haven't played each other 42 times in the past year or so. Sorry guys, but what it really is...American soccer is not "world class" yet, and its boring.

Sunday Sports...What Sucks, Part 1

Thought number one: I saw a Denver Bronco punt return in the first half, the returner zigged and zagged through almost all the Raiders. He only had the punter to beat. And in such good fortune, he had a blocker ahead of him. The blocker was 13 year veteran linebacker Keith Burns. He saw the runner coming, turned upfield, saw only the punter in the way, and then chose to run PAST the punter to block...no one, because there was no one else between he (and the runner) and the goal line. What was he thinking? Did he want to joyously run into the endzone with the runner? Blocking the punter may have prevented that, even though just "getting in the way" of the punter would have been sufficient.

But that's not the only horrendous event on the punt return. I've seen NFL players amazingly break very good tackle attempts. I've seen runners literally drag several defenders for yards before going down. This runner avoided several tackle attempts by NFL quality defenders, some even touched him but could not stop him. Then he comes to the punter. He juked, and tried to go around the punter, who was able to dive fully stretched and just get a hand on the runners leg. And down goes the runner!?!?

Weekly NFL picks

It went so well last week, I am going to make my harebrained picks public again. Sooner or later I might become the object of scorn and ridicule. Might be, just because no one may read this.

I had planned on another post this past week after I reviewed last weeks picks, but I guess nothing caught my fancy enough to have a thought about. Not even the new plans for my beloved A's to move to Fremont (where?), or my beloved Niners to move to Santa Clara. Since I moved to where its a two hour drive to see either team, I haven't gone to the games much. Okay, I've never gone to a Niner game at Candlestick, but I went to see them in L.A. against the Raiders once. But the A's once were a regular thing for me. Moving another 30 minutes away is not really going to make a difference to me. Except for one thing. Since I moved far away, I've always driven to the nearest BART station and hopped the train to the Coliseum. Not going to happen now. I am not going to DRIVE to Fremont to pay for parking. The train was cheaper than parking, not to mention more fun than driving, and wildly more entertaining all the way around. Unless one was to tailgate. Solution... find a nearby watering hole and drink before the train ride. Makes that part even more entertaining.

So there you go. The reason I have not posted about the A's or Niners impending moves. Except I just did. And I likely will again when something more concrete is afoot. Or the hopes of Oakland and S.F. are like feet encased in concrete and dumped into the bay.

Okay, time for picks. Here's how I roll. I am entered in two pick em "groups" on line. One is a straight pick, and one is by the spread. I try not to pick the two groups right after each other, that way if I think differently about a game later, I can debate myself when I compare the picks. So this will be my debate space if needed, and I might not agree with either of my selves here. Should be fun reading about me debating myself about...who is going to win a football game... and by how much, and why I just changed my mind. ENJOY.

Now on to the picks:

Green Bay at Minnesota
Like I said last week, Green Bay is not that good this year. But Minnesota just lost to the Niners, and the Niners didn't even need a touchdown do do it. That is sad. Very sad. My thought about Bears, who played the Niners the week before, was that they were rested after not needing to put out the effort. The Bears were rested right into losing. My analogy and how it plays regarding Minnesota? Minnesota at least knows humiliation, and they will not lose to a second lousy team in a row (I have no idea what that had to do with the Bears last week). But they aren't really very good either, so Green Bay covers with the gift of 5 1/2 points.

Baltimore at Tennessee
Baltimore is on the road but this is the kind of mismatch that matters not where it is played. Play it on the moon and the Ravens win. Tennessee is that bad. Baltimore even covers the 7 1/2 they are giving the Titans.

Houston at Jacksonville
My instinct says Jacksonville for some reason. I even agree with myself on that note. Now for some reason, this game stands out as one of those "close to major upset" games. Top level team, big favorite at home against perennial, unproven, weakling. JAX wins it, but I think it'll be close enough for Houston to cover with the 10 1/2 they are getting.

Kansas City at Miami
This is looking like a week where each game has at least one sucky team in it. That reeks of upsets everywhere. K.C. has been the better team, and all Miami really has going for it is last weeks upset of the Bears. I hope Miami doesn't think they are that good. K.C. will show them, Miami comes back to earth. I agree with myself, and K.C. is a 1 1/2 point road favorite. That is too few points to stress over. K.C. covers it.

NY Jets at New England
(Upset game?) Something tells me that the Jets could win this. New England was hot, then got rolled at home by Indy. I smell a downward trend for New England. This is one where I don't even agree with the other half of myself, but I certainly don't see New England covering 10 1/2 points. Not this week. But I gotta pick it..... New York Jets to win.

San Diego at Cinci
Cinci loses to a tough D last week, and again this week. They just are not last years Bengals anymore. San Diego is 1 1/2 point road favorite...ditto what I said above about 1 1/2 points. Chargers cover.

San Francisco at Detroit
Yikes. Are they actually going to play this one and call it the NFL? Time for a second division and make this a battle to avoid relegation. Heck, the Niners are going to move anyway, to a less than major league city. Detroit is NOT IN DETROIT. Or they weren't, but now they are. I think. I don't care who wins, and I'm a long time Niner fan. The loser? Anyone who watches this game, and pro football in general. This should be a close game, just don't judge the winner too favorably. In Detroit (or wherever the stadium is this year) I gotta go with the Lions. The Niners play like a water polo team on the road. But I'm thinking that getting 6 1/2 points, the Niners can cover, since its not likely that a touchdown will be scored (by an offense anyway).

Washington at Philly
I nailed the Washington "not loss" last week. This week they will lose. Philly, at home, no problem, give Washington 6 1/2 points and Philly still covers.

Buffalo at Indy
So Indy, the best team in the league, at home, weak opponent, Indy just relatively easily beat their nemesis on the road, Indy 12 1/2 point favorites, 5 games better than Buffalo in the standings... Everything says INDY. Except me. This is the game this week that has everyone scratching their heads saying, "I did not see that happening". Call me after the game, I want to hear how amazing this pick was. Buffalo wins it.

Cleveland at Atlanta
I'm getting tired. Atlanta wins this one. At home, giving 9 1/2 points, they cover. Its Cleveland, yo.

Denver at Oakland
I'm not falling for any tricks this time. Upsets are when a team that most, or all people think won't win, does win. Does that mean that technically, Oakland can win? Well, not really. Because LESS than no one really gives the Raiders a chance against Denver. This would not be just an upset. The person most responsible for a Raider victory would be looked at closely for either Sainthood, or Satanhood, depending. Denver carries the 8 1/2 points in a rousing victory.

New Orleans at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh keeps getting worse and worse. They are Worser. After this week (weak?) they will be worserer. They are very nearly the sauce. Saints to win. And for the joke of the year so far, the Steelers (at 2-6) are actually FAVORED to win over the 6-2 Saints. Go figure.

St. Louis at Seattle
Didn't they play last week? I swear, these are two very generic teams. Middle of the road records, no real excitement on the rosters. Even their stars are boring. Its hard to pick a game that is so boring. I have to check the standings to see how they are doing because they do nothing to make anyone notice them. So lets see, which game am I picking? Oh, them. Uh, Simply put, home team wins. That's Seattle. Even the gift of 4 1/2 points won't help the other team.

Dallas at Arizona
Dallas. I hate them. See last weeks picks for details. Arizona is not a good team. I so WANT Arizona to win, that I will even pick them to win. Its not confidence. Its hope. Or hatred. Arizona to win, and they are the underdog. Now its going to get old picking AGAINST Dallas every week, so I will make it interesting. I will pick beyond the game when it comes to Dallas. This week, I pick...Tony Romo gets hurt, and Drew Bledsoe has to come off the bench to rally the Cowboys to the loss.

Chicago at NY Giants
Chicago's dream season ended last week. Oh how the mighty will fall, like this week to the Giants. Bears QB Grossman is leveling off after a hot start, and the Giants D will eat him up. Eli may not be the best QB in the land, but he and Tiki are enough this week, yes they are. Giants give 2 1/2 at home as home favorites, and they cover it.

Tampa Bay at Carolina
Yeah! Last game to pick. I should turn to a guest picker for this one. In fact, I think I will. Its a monday night game, so its a biggie. I will find a Carolina or a Tampa fan to pick this one for me. Maybe a trend will start of a guest picker for one game a week. Stay tuned for the actual pick.

Enjoy your football!

Pick-em results post

How many people actually own up to their picks, bad ones anyway. I will be totally honest: As of right now, I do not know how I did. I was busy this weekend and did not follow the results, except the 49er, Raider, and Pats/Colts contests. And I think I picked all three wrong. But I'm going to check the scoreboard and recaps now, and here we go....

Green Bay at Buffalo - RIGHT
"So Buffalo should win..."
Wow, they did. More points than I thought, but I was right about Green Bay being bad.

Miami at Chicago - WRONG
"...Miami was the last undefeated team and the last time they played an undefeated Chicago squad, in 1985, Miami won. So this year, my choice is too easy. Chicago in a walk."
I so should have ended that thought after the first sentence. But really, did anyone outside of Dade County pick this one?

Atlanta at Detroit - WRONG
"...Detroit will not win this one."
Wow. Two pretty much major upsets in a row. One a week, maybe. Two. Odd. Detroit at least was the home team, and I guess they had some home cooking mojo going. If I knew anything, I might have seen this coming. I just had no idea Atlanta would forget to put their defense on the plane.

Kansas City at St. Louis - RIGHT
"...and Larry Johnson is on my fantasy team. I pick KC."
Yeah, and Larry goes for 172 and a TD!!!! I still needed more, KC had enough.

Houston at NY Giants - RIGHT
"But the Giants win this one..."
Yes, they did. Had to rally late, and Eli (and Toomer) killed my fantasy team.


New Orleans at Tampa Bay - RIGHT
"...its too much Saintliness."
Solid pick, solid win for the Saints. Brees was on my fantasy bench. He won't be next week.

Dallas at Washington - RIGHT
"Dallas will lose."
I nailed this one. Even a bizarre ending works out for my astute forecasting. And the guy I won't mention drops a pass that is key in the Dallas loss. Extra sweet.

Tennessee at Jacksonville - RIGHT
"...three things push this one to Jax."
Again, as if I need to tout my wisdom, Jax blew them away. I will be uploading my next picks post from a Vegas sports book!!!

Cincinnati at Baltimore - RIGHT
"The pick is the Ravens."
Regardless of WHY I picked the Ravens, I did. And you don't need to re-read the original post to find out why. It does raise an interesting question. If your instinct is right, but you just can't express the feeling, does it matter in the end?

Minnesota at San Francisco - WRONG
"I still think the Niners can win this game. They are at home. And they really conserved their energy last week against the Bears. They can win, but they won't."
Here we go again. When I really think about it, I end up being wrong. Minnesota's O clearly joined Atlanta's D at that vacation resort this week. Please, the Niners score 9 and win? Add the Vikings to the list of teams that suck when it really matters.

Denver at Pittsburgh - RIGHT
"This one is Denver. Easily."
Pittsburg is horrid, so this was an easy pick. Thankfully Denver put their whole team on the flight to Pittsburg, not that they needed to.

Cleveland at San Diego - RIGHT
"...the Chargers have LT2...Yes, Chargers take this one."
Closer than I would have guessed, except I don't pick scores. I still feel bummed because my fantasy opponent had LT2 (and Javon Walker of Denver).

Indianapolis at New England - WRONG
"So figure the Pats, especially at home, to control this game from the start. The score may not be a blowout, but you'll know who's in control from the start and never doubt the outcome."
Oops, I missed it. Indy is on fire, and Brady chose this one to stink.

Oakland at Seattle - RIGHT
"Ummm, Seattle in this one."
On the bright side for Raider fans, they doubled their offensive yardage to 185. No points is a bit of a downer. Who could score in that driving rain, though. I know Seattle did, but they were opposed by the Raider defense so its not a fair comparison.

Hey, not bad. I did get the Raider game right. I go 10 and 4. And really, three of my losses were pretty major upsets. I'll even it up next week.

My first "pick-em" post

I just decided to blog my picks for this weekend's NFL contests. And I will absolutely include my well thought out reasons for why picking who I picked. On to my FIRST EVER PICKS POST (this is so very exciting):

Green Bay at Buffalo
10 years ago...what a game this would be. This weekend, its two sub .500 teams playing in the freezing rain. They last played in 2002 and Green Bay won 10 to 0. Green Bay is not that good anymore. So Buffalo should win, just because they are at home. The final score would be 0 to -3, except thats not possible. But I don't predict final scores anyway.

Miami at Chicago
I was doing a bit of research to help me pick the winner of this one. I read that Miami's offense might struggle against the Bears. Hmmm, good info. Chicago allows nothing, and Miami scores nothing. Chicago scores tons, Miami allows an average amount. Chicago is 7 and 0. Miami is 1 and 6. BUt if you remember your NFL history, Miami was the last undefeated team and the last time they played an undefeated Chicago squad, in 1985, Miami won. So this year, my choice is too easy. Chicago in a walk.

Atlanta at Detroit
Again, too easy. Even though Atlanta is on the road, they are 5-2 to Detroit's 1-6 mark. So unless Detroit fires Matt Millen and imports an entire new roster, Detroit will not win this one.

Kansas City at St. Louis
They have the same record. Its at St. Louis. KC is playing a backup QB. But two factors swing this in KC's favor. St Louis just won the World Series, so they deserve no more glory, and Larry Johnson is on my fantast team. I pick KC.

Houston at NY Giants
Its is still just about impossible to pick Houston on the road. They just still are not that good a team. The giants are a strong team, with an up-and coming QB, excellent receivers, superb running game, and one of the top defenses in the league. If only they actually played in New York. But the Giants win this one in New Jersey anyway.

New Orleans at Tampa Bay
N.O. is 5-2, T.B is 2-5. Being the home team can allow you to overcome a game or two worse record. But not 3 games. Tampa's starting QB is horrible, and he is injured, so his backup is playing. Reggie Bush was humiliated in his last game, he will learn from it...at least thats what the Saints fans hope. Even with Deuce McAllister hurting and Bush humbled, its too much Saintliness.

Dallas at Washington
Dallas may have the better record, but this is a big rivalry game, so toss out the records. Rivalries are more often won due to outside the box reasons. I hate Dallas more. I don't like Bill Parcells, I don't like the star, Jerry Jones, Too Tall Jones, Michael Irvin, or Danny White. I will not mention.... Not that I'm a big fan of Washington, either. So I'll put it this way. Dallas will lose.

Tennessee at Jacksonville
I'm not too familiar with these two teams. To just pick based on their records is a cop out. But its all I have. And the better record is the home team, so I've got that, too. But I check stuff, and three things push this one to Jax. They have a stronger defense. Which ever of their QBs they trot out there is better than what the Titans have (right now, anyway). And Jeff Fisher's mustache?

Cincinnati at Baltimore
The second best game of the weekend. Cinci is still trying to put it all together, Baltimore is suviving with tough D. This looks like an edge to Baltimore based on
the year so far, but Cinci is still a dangerous team waiting to bust out. This is the time to do it. Prove yourself on the road against a potential playoff team with a stifling defense and power running game. Just not going to happen. Too many Bengals players have those tiring meetings with their defense attorneys during the week. The pick is the Ravens.

Minnesota at San Francisco
San Francisco is the team I know the best. Did you know that their starting middle linebacker, Derek Smith, is suffering with "lazy eye syndrome" and cannot see straight. In fact he and the team have admitted that it is really affecting his play. But Smith has decided that rather than have corrective sugery that might end his year, he is going to keep playing, even though he can't see well enough to see where the ball is some of the time. Now Ronnie Lott once had a finger amputated so he could keep playing, but he actually helped his team when he played. Smith on the other hand? Well, if your middle linebacker can't see, you have a built in excuse for being bad. Like they need another. But.... I still think the Niners can win this game. They are at home. And they really conserved their energy last week against the Bears. They can win, but they won't.

Denver at Pittsburgh
Denver has the annoying habit of losing the big road games. Pittsburgh is the defending Super Bowl Champs. Fortunately I have paid attention to what has happened this year so far. Only one factor need apply, though. Pittsburg lost to the Raiders. They are that bad. This one is Denver. Easily.

Cleveland at San Diego
Yeah, I know San Diego has been a little unstable. Yeah, I know that Philip Rivers is in his first year as a starter. But its Cleveland, folks. And the Chargers have LT2, and Shawn Merriman is still playing while waiting to appeal his steroid suspension. And most of all, you know that the Browns are going to be disoriented, what with that glare from the strange sun in their eyes. Yes, Chargers take this one.

Indianapolis at New England
This is the game of the week, except for some folks in Oakland or Seattle (prime time games of course trump the daytime contests). I sure hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but this is not going to be as good a game as a lot of people expect. Indy can score and score... against most teams. But Indy cannot stop opponents running up the middle. 5.2 yards a carry against them. New England defensive schemes outwit Peyton Manning led teams at will (or so it seems). And you know that the Patriot coaching staff will exploit the Indy defensive weakness, and the Pats passing attack is getting really good. And they got a lot of practice with it last week with that almost constant 5 wide attack (3 times as many runs as passes). So figure the Pats, especially at home, to control this game from the start. The score may not be a blowout, but you'll know who's in control from the start and never doubt the outcome.

Oakland at Seattle
Okay, its the Raiders. No team in NFL history looked worse the first 5 weeks. Then the miracle happened. They played the Cardinals. Then they beat the defending champs. Seattle is without their starting QB, and big time Shaun Alexander should return to the lineup, but will he be full strength? Even at Seattle, the Raiders might look like a good pick...this week. But I look a little deeper. Even though the Raiders beat the Steelers last week, they did it due to Steeler mistakes more than anything. Andrew Walter was 5 for 14 for 51 yards. Raider offense for the game...98 yards. That beats no one. If you saw the game, the Steelers had to work really hard to lose. So just a win against the Cardinals does not make for great hope. Ummm, Seattle in this one.


Hey, I've run out of games. I was just getting into this. I pretty much B.S'd my way through half those predictions, so I should do pretty well overall. Feel free to add your picks in the comments.

Basketball preview issue

Yes, you read correctly. I have an issue with basketball previews. All sports season previews actually. They are all wrong. If the experts were expert then they would all forecast the same outcome. They aren't, they don't. That would be boring. Oh sure, a very small percentage can pick the eventual champ, but so can a similar percentage of homeless Hungarian children throwing darts at the team logos painted on a donkey. In fact I bet that if you let me write 30 NBA previews I could predict the eventual champ. Just hold of reading any of them until after the year, then I'll show you the "real" one that I was going to publish, honest. Being a sports fan, I still read the previews, of course. Boring and wrong as they are.

So why not throw out the usual forecast, and predict something a little different. Like how many times is Rasheed Wallace going to be ejected this year, or how many times is Jason Kidd going to questioned by the police, or how many times is Jay Williams going to be confused with Jason Williams. And how do you say this name: YAKHOUBA DIAWARA. Oh, wait... thats not a forecast, thats a blind guess. Eh, same thing.

I can't go that deep, because I really don't follow basketball that closely. The closest team to me geographically is the Warriors, explaining why I don't follow basketball that closely I suppose. I did read a preview of the Warriors but I thought I'd gotten the archives instead. Don Nelson? That was YEARS ago. But I checked the date, its a current article. I better check the roster, maybe his son is on the team now. Nope. Not unless Don adopted Zarko Cabarkapa. I only know five of the names on the whole roster. Maybe six. Isn't that Pietrus guy the one who was supposed to be a big deal last year? Maybe he was supposed to be, but it doesn't look like he was after all, cause I don't know him. So I only know five guys on my "home town" team. Is this player turnover and new talent? A rich draft class? Or lack of familiarity because I don't actually pay much attention to basketball (did I mention that yet?).

For laughs, I started checking the rosters of the other teams to find all the ex-Warriors, or guys I knew of from anywhere. I started with the Atlanta Hawks. I found Zaza Pachulia. I never heard of him, but what a cool name. I'd heard of only like five of their guys, too. And I suspect that three of them I'd heard of because of college stuff, and the other two have odd names (Speedy Claxton and Tyronn Lue)that might have helped me remember them. I have heard of Joe Johnson, too, but not the basketball player, unless he is also the singer. Or was that Joe Jackson? Okay, I'm not going to count names that are that common unless I'm positive I know the PLAYER by that name.

On to the Boston Celtics...or not, I hate Boston teams. On to the Charlotte Bobcats? Charlotte has a team? When did that happen? But looking at their roster I see... Primoz Brezec? Is it mandatory that each team have a completely unpronounceable name on the roster just to challenge the arena announcers? Beyond Primoz, I find four names I recognize.

To be fair, I'm taking credit if I can name the college a guy went to. Or his position. Or his ethnicity. Because otherwise, I might look like I don't know anything about basketball at all, when I actually know "little" about basketball.

On to the next team, the Chicago Bulls. I know these guys, I'm sure. I think they were the champs last year. Or a few years ago, or something like that. Anyway they cornered the market on the names. They have Martynas Andriuskevicius, Luol Deng, Viktor Khryapa, and Thabo Sefolosha. Heck, throw in Andres Nocioni, too. I've heard of five other guys, and their coach, too.

Now, this is getting boring, so you can find the rest of the odd names yourself (that is what we were doing, right?). My eyes are scrambled from all those consonants anyway. And my spell checker just went up in flames. But I've made my point. I don't really know all that many names on the rosters. Maybe the starters, but not much more. So I either need to pay more attention, or forget about writing any good basketball posts this year.

Being no expert, I still feel adequately qualified to lay at your feet, my very own NBA preview edition post:

Western Conference - The Lakers will implode again due to the negative gravitational pull of Kobe Bryant. The Suns look good. A lot of experts pick them. So they will not win it all. Dallas is like the A's of basketball. Always in the playoffs, always look strong, never make it to the end. The Hornets have that New Orleans mojo, need better players. Denver, Portland, Sacramento, Houston, Minnesota, Utah. No. Memphis, Seattle? Not a chance in heck. The Warriors suck way too bad. San Antonio? Maybe. But aren't they getting kind of old? 10 guys born in the 70's? That leaves... Yes, the Clippers. Your Western Conference Champs. Book it, go to Vegas, bet the farm.

Eastern Conference - Umm, short version? Heat? Too many people think so, and repeats are out of style these days. Indiana? Dallas of the East. Its gotta be the New Jersey Nets. Really. Unless they have the injury woes. Land gently Vince.

Feel free to hate my preview. I'm sure its worng, too. I just hope it wasn't boring. And now the finale...

The NBA champs this year just can't be the Clippers. The world is not ready for that yet. Not so soon after the Red Sox. Go Nets!

Update: Rasheed - 1 game, 1 ejection. This might be too easy a prediction. There needs to be a new rule that a player can be ejected more than once per game or else everyone will guess 82.