Start Playing Leon Powe Dot Com

Quote from Leon

2009-08-14T14:34:00.003-04:00

In a teleconference yesterday, Leon had this to say about the Celtics organization not resigning him:

“I thought I did everything I could to prove to them that I am loyal and a hard worker. And it didn’t work out. I put that on their heads.’’

I guess Sheldon Williams is a better option.

In all honesty though, even when Leon comes back at some point this season, it's unclear what kind of player he'll be. Before he blew out his knee the first time, he was an explosive force who could fly down the court. He adjusted and morphed into a banger down low who never stopped hustling. He's still relatively young and I hope he can really stick it to Boston (especially come playoff time) but his skill level will most likely be decreased from the glory days of the NBA finals against the Lakers. I'm just glad Cleveland took a chance on him.

Would have loved to see him in a Heat jersey though...

Powe close to deal....

2009-08-11T14:59:00.003-04:00

..... with the Cavs.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that the Cavaliers and Powe have agreed to the framework of a two year deal.

Good for you, Leon! Sucks to be the Celtics.

Petition to Resign Powe

2009-07-02T09:21:00.002-04:00

Do this!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/powe-tition/

My nomination for the Album of the Year Goes to...

2009-05-29T07:58:00.010-04:00

Ben Utecht makes Chris Daughtry look like Hannah Montana.

You may know him as the former tight (and I mean TIGHT) end for the Indianapolis Colts.

Or, you may know him as the tight end for the stupid stupid Bengals.

However, I now know him as HUNKROCKSTARCOBAINMEATDOCTOR.

You look at this album cover and probably think "Wow, if Chad Kroeger dies, then we know who the new God of rock music is". You then pop in the CD, and the immediate sound that fills your ears is like a thousand beautiful women orgasming gloriously at your command.

With tracks like We All Bow Down (I believe this was written during his tenure with the Colts, and is obviously about Peyton Manning), Heal Me (an ode to the many trainers Utecht has had throughout his career), So Far Away (Carole King cover), Glimpse of Heaven (another song about Peyton I presume), and Run To You (written after this one time where Peyton Manning got sacked and Utecht was really worried and so he ran back to check on Peyton and see if he was ok or not and Peyton said he was ok but Utecht still was afraid for his safety and Dallas Clark only jogged towards Peyton to see if he was ok so him and Utecht got into an argument about the speed in which they should be checking on Peyton if he ever gets hit and this led to a restraining order by Peyton and thus Utecht is now a Bengal), this album is sure to be a hit!

James' rating: Five out of five stars plus a thumbs up and three smiley faces.

Please enjoy

2009-05-11T14:05:00.003-04:00

THIS.

Quick Rambling Pre-Game Thought

2009-05-06T10:42:00.004-04:00

So it was clear in the Bulls series that Boston had to slow it down to win. Chicago was by far the more athletic team, and the Celtics best chance lay in defending in the half court, not in the transition. Now the boy's in green find themselves matched up against one of the best interior players in the game surround by a slew of 3-point shooters, and their strategy is going to have to change if they want to advance.

Dwight Howard affected the Celtics desire to take it to the hole far too much in the first half of game 1, and that is reflected by their complete lack free throws before the break. Picking up the tempo of the game will give the Celtics looks at the basket before Howard can set up and start changing shots. We saw that Rondo can be contained in the half court if Rafer Alston gives him some ground and forces the jump shot. On the break however, Orlando has no hope of stopping Rondo without putting him at the line.

Of course this all hinges on the Celtics ability to get a few stops. If Boston can run off of some steals and defensive rebounds early in the game, the Magic might be tempted to match their pace which will effectively eliminate Howard from the contest.

Surgery

2009-05-05T14:12:00.004-04:00

Leon went under the knife today at New England Baptist Hospital and the procedure was deemed "successful" by the team. He had his torn ACL and meniscus repaired in his left knee. Even though he's only 25, this is the third surgery he has had on that knee. He's worked hard before to rehabilitate but there is only so much reconstruction that the body can withstand. I continue to be bummed out by this and can only hope a team takes a chance on him this summer.

And in other sports news, there is stuff going on.

UPDATE: Apparently he also had microfracture surgery. Can't make this stuff up. That combined with the ligament repairs could mean that Leon might not be able to play until well into next season assuming everything heals correctly. Microfracture surgery isn't as serious as it once was (see Stoudamire, Amare) but I'm sure the rehab isn't a walk in the park. I've been reading some other sites saying that we shouldn't feel too bad since he's made roughly $2 million in three years. To that, I quote the great Mark Wahlberg. "Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe fuck yourself."

FIIIIIIIIIIGGGGHHHHT!

2009-04-30T19:40:00.005-04:00

Okay, NBA, it is clear you want the Celtics-Bulls to go seven games to show the young team coming into their own against the aging defending champs, but seriously. Brad Miller throws Perk down and Perk gets called for the foul. Then Scal knocks into Mill---

WHOAAAAAA!

Kirk Hinrich and Rondo. Bang! Boom! Bam! Tommy Heinsohn is LIVID at Brad Miller (for being a baby the last few nights) and Hinrich (for this fight).

Rondo with the flagrant one, Hinrich with the tech.

Considering Chicago's hatred for Rondo, maybe Tony Allen can lend Rondo a bodygaurd.

BROWNGASM!!!

2009-04-26T20:07:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was single handedly the greatest draft day of my life since Peyton Manning was taken #1. My two favorite things in the world (no, not weed and blowjobs) collided in an ultra amazing conglomeration of football boner power! With the 27th overall pick in the 2009 draft...the Indianapolis Colts selected...

Now, as a UConn fan, I wanted the Colts to take Brown. Did I think they would? No, not a chance. The most pressing needs were for defensive tackle and a replacement for Marvin Harrison, right? Wrong. The genius of Bill Polian is often overlooked, and much was the case this time as many horrified Colts fans couldn't figure out why we would draft another running back. After all, we do have Joseph Addai, and he was good for about 230 yards total last season.

31st rushing says it all. The Colts needed a running back, and they needed a workhorse.

But what about Chris "Beanie" Wells?

He sucks, he'll be broken within a month in the NFL, and he's twice as hyped as Brown without the skills to show for it. Just trust me on this.

Once Peria Jerry was drafted, I knew the Colts would go for a skill position. I was thinking Hakeem Nicks was the logical choice at this point. I am happy that he went to my second favorite team, and ought to compliment Eli Manning nicely.

But back to Donald Brown. He's a good guy, he's a GREAT running back, and is going to surprise a lot of people. Around these parts, everyone knows who Brown is, but over in Indiana he's not so popular. Yet.

My jersey will be preordered by the end of the week.

I have to say, I giggled a bit. I jumped up and down and said some things that would lead people to question my sexuality.

#31 may soon rival Peyton Manning as my favorite player of all time. THAT'S how excited I am about this pick.

Additionally, the Colts took defensive tackle Fili Moala, who is a total badass and great pass rusher.

Jerraud Powers ought to be a nice hard hitting addition at cornerback. He can't blow as many coverages as Tim Jennings, can he?

Terrance Thomas and Austin Collie combined to make me excited about a 4th round for the first time in my life. Collie reminds me of a more reception oriented Dallas Clark, so he'll be a great short yardage route runner for Manning to look to when time is short. Thomas will plug up the middle very nicely.

The Colts also took Curtis Painter, who will battle Jim Sorgi for the job of holding Peyton's clipboard. I don't think Painter is being groomed to replace Manning, but maybe they see him as a Matt Cassel in the rough? Who knows.

Anyway, I will continue enjoying my post-Draft Day happiness and let this sink in a bit more.

Party Like a Mock Star

2009-04-24T11:37:00.005-04:00

Sorry for the corny heading, but I looked it up and literally every other "mock" pun had been used for mock draft articles. Seriously, there's like a billion of them out there. Serious mock drafts. Re-dos of those serious mock drafts. Re-dos of the re-dos. "Joke" mock drafts. Historical mock drafts. Even curmudgeony old coot mock drafts. It's overkill, overload, and overcooked. Which got me thinking... I should totally do a mock draft! Yes! This is what the people ~~need~~ ~~want~~ will tolerate because it's like throwing a twig on a California wild fire!

I'm going to do things a little bit differently though. I'm not going to go with "leads" and "credible inside information" about what the teams will actually do. Mostly because I don't have any. I'm going to break out my rational thinking cap and tell you what these teams should ACTUALLY do... even though you know they won't. I look forward to people looking back 10 years from now and saying "HOLY CRAP, WE TOTALLY WOULD HAVE HAD A BENGALS/SEAHAWKS SUPERBOWL IF ONLY THEY HAD LISTENED TO ADAM MAN!". Or not, whatever. Let's get this over with.

1. Detroit Lions - Jason Smith, T, Baylor
- Matthew Stafford is not going to bring your team back to relevance. Your team is HORRIBLE, in general, and you need to build a foundation before you put that big shiny ornament on top. Smith is an Orlando Pace/Jonathan Ogden type of centerpiece. Wait until next year and draft a better QB than Matty S.

2. St. Louis Rams - Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest
- Do you know who your starting strong side linebacker is? Somebody named Quinton Culberson. Oh, you've never heard of him either? Then take the best defensive player in the draft and don't overpay for a tackle not named Jason Smith.

3. Kansas City Cheifs - Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech
- You just traded away your second best receiving option in Gonzo. The only problem is, you only had 2 receiving options. Old ass Bobby Engram is not the answer. Take a guy who will continue to make Matt Cassel look good. Also a good option: BJ Raji.

4. Seattle Seahawks - BJ Raji, DT, Boston College
- The urge to take the top-rated QB in this class and stash him for a year or two until Hasselbeck's back finally snaps in half will be strong... but this defense is a dominant interior lineman and a pass rushing LB away from being one of the best in the league. Since Curry is gone, go with Raji. Also acceptable: Euegene Monroe.

5. Cleveland Browns - Brian Orakpo, DE, Texas
- Your pass rush was atrocious last year, and Orakpo has the size and pass rushing ability to be your defensive spark plug. Aaron Maybin would also work, but I think Orakpo is more of the sure thing Cleveland needs.

6. Cincinnati Bengals - Eugene Monroe, OT, Virginia
- They could take Maybin here as well, but their offense was actually worse than their defense last year, and a big part of that was because Palmer got hurt. Invest in protecting him and things will get better fast.

7. Oakland Raiders - Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri
- When you can hear the phrase "Javon Walker is your best WR and there is a sharp dropoff after that"... and it's 2009... you need to take the best receiver available.

8. Jacksonville Jaguars - Aaron Maybin, DE/LB, Penn State
- I was very tempted to put Stafford here, because I don't beleive in Garrard, but with the contract they gave him they can't afford to pay top-10 QB money to a backup. Maybin adds some young explosiveness to an aging defense.

9. Green Bay Packers - Andre Smith, OT, Alabama
- I was back and forth on this pick, but on value Smith is the best and they need their starting LT of the future. I wouldn't blame them for picking Knowshon Moreno either, as Ryan Grant has shown he's very good but not consistent enough to be counted on.

10. San Francisco 49ers - Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia
- Stafford finally gets out of the green room and on a team that's a good fit. Again, this will never happen, but I think it should. He wouldn't have to start right away here, but he could if he really impressed and it wouldn't ruffle any feathers.

11. Buffalo Bills - Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma State
- When TO starts dropping balls, Trent Edwards will need another solid set of hands to pull defenders off Lee Evans.

12. Denver Broncos - Mark Sanchez, QB, USC
- They really need defensive help, but anybody who's left they'd have to make a reach for. Sanchez makes sense because Orton is the guy of today, not of the future.

13. Washington Redskins - Brian Cushing, OLB, USC
- They're going to do whatever they can to get Sanchez, which is dumb. You've gone out and gotten Haynsworth, now build the second level of your defense. Also, I can't tell Cushing and Clay Matthews apart, so feel free to interchange them here.

14. New Orleans Saints - Malcolm Jenkins, CB, Ohio State
- Everybody is talking about replacing Deuce with a RB here, but how about you fix your 23rd ranked defense instead of your 1st ranked offense? Take Jenkins so you can stop pretending Randall Gay is a starting CB.

15. Houston Texans - Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU
- Their offense is really clicking right now, but I'd still consider Beanie Wells here to take some pressure off Steve Slaton... but Jackson is the right choice here to give the Texans a solid defensive end to go opposite Mario Williams.

16. San Diego Chargers - Rey Maualuga, ILB, USC
- I don't buy the Chargers drafting RB here either. Their defense is what held them back last year, and they get a solid ILB to go with Merriman and Phillips on the outside.

17. New York Jets - Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, North Carolina State
- This is a hard pick to judge, actually. I don't think Josh Freeman is right for them, so the obvious need of QB doesn't fit here. The Jets have improved a lot of weaknesses in free agency, so it's hard to tell what direction their pick will go in. This probably improves their team the most, but they could still go with a RB, OT, or LB here. Should be interesting. Expect boos no matter what.

18. Denver Broncos - Robert Ayers, DE, Tennessee
- See Denver, you can be patient and still get the guy you want! I've seen mocks where the Broncos take Ayers with their first pick, but if teams actually acted the way they should, he'd be available here. Look for Sarah Palin to get confused and protest this selection.

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas State
- Sometimes I'll agree with what everybody in the world is saying, and here's an example. With Freeman's ties to the new Tampa coach and their bevy of mediocre signal callers, this just makes sense.

20. Detroit Lions - Everette Brown, DE, Florida State
- They HAVE to go defense here, and they get very good value with a great pass rusher than can take pressure off their secondary.

21. Philadelphia Eagles - Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia
- Another instance of agreeing with everybody... Westbrook can't stay healthy and Moreno is the best back in the draft. If there was a safety worth taking here it would be better, but Moreno is the pick.

22. Minnesota Vikings - Michel Oher, OT, Mississippi
- Without a QB, WR, or CB really worth taking here, the Vikes pick someone to help give Tavaris more time to pick which bad decision to make.

23. New England Patriots - Clay Matthews, LB, USC
- The pundits are actually making sense here... based on value and need, whichever USC linebacker is left when they pick should be the Patriots' guy. Having someone to pair up with Jerod Mayo for the next 8 to 10 years is a pretty exciting thought. Going off the board though... I wouldn't rule out the Patriots taking Beanie Wells if he's still available like I say he will be.

*** Note: After the Patriots first pick is usually when I stop paying as much attention to the first round of the draft. You may see some similarities in regards to this post ***

24. Hotlanta Falcons - Peria Jerry, DT, Mississippi
- They need an inside presence on defense, plus I hear they love guys with names that look like they're in reverse order.

25. Miami Dolphins - Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois
- One of the best players available and at a spot where Miami needs help. Also consider Hakeem Nicks here to help that WR corps.

26. Baltimore Ravens - Hakeem Nicks, WR, North Carolina
- Eventually teams will figure out that if you cover Derrick Mason, Joe Flacco curls into the fetal position and starts crying. Nicks will be another reliable target for Flacoo right away.

27. Indiannapolis Colts - Percy Harvin, WR, Florida
- Heyyy, it's just a little weed, right?! With Starvin Marvin gone, the Colts pick a playmaker that can keep defenses off-balance. Kind of scary when you think about it. Please god don't let this actually happen.

28. Buffalo Bills - Ebon Britton, OT, Arizona
- Blah blah, value, something about upside.

29. New York Giants - Larry English, DE/LB, Northern Ill.
- The Giants could use an upgrade in their pass rush and this guy comes from all angles.

30. Tennessee Titans - Kenny Britt, WR, Rutgers
- Oh hey look! The Celtics game is starting! Huh? Oh right... Tennessee... receivers suck, or soemthing.

31. Arizona Cardinals - Beanie Wells, RB, Ohio State
- OHHHH SNAP! RAJON RONDO is a BEAST!

32. Pittsburgh Steelers - Max Unger, C, Oregon
- I dunno, Todd McShay said they would pick him. I don't even know who this is. Are we done here?

So there you have it... my prediction of what is almost definitely not going to happen. Also, this is assuming there will be no trades, which there obviously will be. Which is why mock drafts are always dumb and worthless and... oh who am I kidding, I love them. Have fun tomorrow kiddies!

Welcome To Earf (Day)

2009-04-22T10:49:00.003-04:00

The Boston Globe continues to lurch toward its demise, but they have a feature on Leon and his lifetime of bad luck.

"The number of lucky breaks the Celtics' tough and tireless backup forward has had through the years is right there on his jersey -- 0."

As Chad Finn points out, this latest setback for Powe probably makes it likelier that he'd be resigned by the Celtics. They know what he can do, despite a history of injury problems. Unfortuantely for Leon, he'll probably lose out on the type of big money deal that Baby might land this off-season. Just another tough break for the Show.

Happy Wednesday that feels like a Tuesday.. thanks fake holidays!

Another one bites the dust

2009-04-21T12:39:00.005-04:00

Leon Powe is expected to have surgery on his left knee, which was injured during last night's victory over the Bulls. He'll miss the remainder of the playoffs.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Scrob: post-jack away.

Oh boy-

Honestly, between not even being able to watch most of these damn games (Dallas vs. San Antonio really doesn't count), the Heat looking like a high school team, and now Leon tearing his ACL, I don't have it in me to make the effort to post about the NBA playoffs any further. When I think about where the Celtics were at when I started this site last year, to where they are right now, it's kind of sad. I really hope this doesn't cost Leon a decent contract. He'll probably have to take some crap deal from Boston because other teams will now see him as injury prone. When is this guy ever going to catch a fucking break? This sucks. A lot.

Friday Pic O' tha Week

2009-04-17T18:14:00.005-04:00

Things have slowed down here once again to the point where I didn't even get a pic o' the week post up last Friday. (Had a half day, but still...) This week has been pretty damn awful for the Celtics with the Garnett news on top of the fact that Danny Ainge had a freakin' heart attack! Yikes. The playoffs officially start tomorrow and will last for the next two months. Seriously. The seldom mentioned NHL is also in the beginnings of their playoffs with the Bruins, Blackhaws, Red Wings and the surprising Ducks all picking up wins last night. Mark Sanchez is moving up projected draft boards faster than people downloaded the Wolverine movie. One more week till the draft! And the Florida Marlins are the best team in baseball right now? Really? The Blue Jays are 8-3? Our pic o' the week is a guy who won 18 games last year but is already on the DL. Is John Smoltz ready yet? Enjoy the weekend and someone on the west coast holla at me if you see any Sam Summer!

Oh Noes!

2009-04-16T10:01:00.006-04:00

KG will miss the entire playoffs due to his mystery knee injury. Story here. Boo.

Leon has had a great couple games back. Time for him to get buckets and contracts!

Editor post jack!

I'm going to chime in here for a hot minute. The TPS Reports have been piling up out here but I had to make the time for this. I'm sure some people will question the decision to try and bring him back for those few games but just going back and watching the injury, I don't think that really made much of a difference. There was no contact with anyone and have some weird collision ala Shaun Livingston. He literally hurt it by jumping up for an alley-oop. Jumping! His game has been too intense for too long and something like this was bound to happen. My dad summed it up the best by saying, "I'm just glad they won last year."

Be that as it may, this gives Leon a great chance to showcase his skills to cash in on a great contract next year as Kate pointed out. Big Baby will most likely start at least against Chicago. But if the C's make it past them, Powe, Big Baby, Miki Moore and probably even Robert Parish will be on the court to guard Dwight Howard. The bench guys will obviously be key in making it to the Eastern Conference finals. You know Paul Pierce is going to push it to the limit maybe even at the expense of the rest of his career. Hopefully Ray Allen will be able to turn it on a little earlier than he did last year in the playoffs. But I believe the time is now for Rondo to make "the leap" into the upper echelon of point guards. I think he'll take young Derrick Rose to school starting this weekend.

So yeah, it's going to suck to watch the playoffs without Kevin Garnett, but I don't see any reason why it still won't be a Celtics/Cavaliers finals. If KG isn't on the floor by then, it might be up to Cleveland (I didn't know they still had a team) to make sure the Los Angeles Kobes don't win the championship. Here's hoping Leon can go all Chev Chelios on everyone's ass!

Celtics update

2009-04-14T16:56:00.005-04:00

Leon will be suiting up for tonights game (and likely 1st round preview) at Philly! He may play, considering that:

Ray Allen got suspended for tonights game for elbowing Anderson Varejao in the nuts. Totally worth it.
Big Baby left today's practice with a stomach bug, and
KG is defintiely not playing until the playoffs.

Since this is all-around a great situation in which to tank a game, I don't expect Doc to really try to reintegrate Leon, but Doc DOES hate him, so you never know.

2009-04-06T15:06:00.002-04:00

Wright out at home. That was probably exciting. Glad I'm only box watching* this game.

Of course...

2009-04-06T14:57:00.002-04:00

As soon as I post, D Murph hits a rocket at the Cincy faithful.

Los Mets v. Cincy Live Blog

2009-04-06T14:54:00.003-04:00

I'm doing whatever the verb is for watching the yahoo box score of the Mets/Reds game (Box Watching? - No. Too sexy). I'm liveblogging every interesting thing that happens:

The Mets signed the Sheff?

Friday Pic O' tha Week

2009-04-03T13:55:00.004-04:00

Let me take you to flight school! The 2009 MLB Regular Season starts this Sunday with the defending champs hosting Derek Lowe and the Braves. Then Monday has a full slate of games highlighted by Red Sox/Rays and Angels/A's. The Final Four also starts tonight. Gotta keep pulling for Nova. The Celtics are still battling for the second spot in the East with four of their last six games being at the Gahden. Dwayne Wade became the first player in NBA history to record 2,000 points, 500 assists, 150 steals and 100 blocks in one season. And looking at his team's record down the stretch, he might as well be playing 1 0n 5. But our pic o tha week is dedicated to the whiniest of whiners, the 25 year old man baby and new fav here at SPLP, Jay Cutler. Good luck getting destroyed by Green Bay and Minnesota's defenses buddy. Oh, and extra points for the sick-rad-bro tribal tattoo. The Sunshine state...GORGEOUS!

I know this is probably common sense, but...

2009-04-02T21:28:00.003-04:00

if you have time to shine your lights at someone because they walked in front of your car, doesn't that also mean you had time to make the most reaction-based move possible in that situation...slam on the breaks?

Shining your lights is something you have to think about, and is also something cars usually do to signal GO.

Slamming on the breaks is something you do before you can even start thinking, and is also something cars usually do to NOT KILL A DUDE.

The more you know.

Out until the playoffs...

2009-03-30T19:56:00.006-04:00

From everything I've read today, it looks like Leon is shut down for the rest of the regular season in the hopes that he can rehab his knee and make it back for the first round of the playoffs. Details are still pretty vague as it seems like the Celtics front office have recently attended classes at the New England Patriots Injury Information Chokehold University. This obviously sucks but considering the way the top of the Eastern Conference is looking, Danny and Doc might want to consider doing the same with KG. Watching Leon put up those great numbers while Garnett was out makes this harder to take. Leon's contract is also up the end of the year so going into free agency with an injury history isn't going to help his chances on landing a sweet deal. (On boston.com's sports section right now, there is a local interview with Leon discussing his injury and the team's overall health that's over seven minutes long. I tried posting here but the media player didn't fit properly. Also the audio is pretty wack. But do check it out if you're trying to kill the last 14 minutes of your workday...)

By the way, I REALLY don't want to see the Heat play the Celtics in the first round.

Final Four!

2009-03-29T08:33:00.007-04:00

This is my official "I am happy that UConn made it to the Final Four" post. They played a brilliant game against Purdue, and had one of the best games of the season yesterday afternoon against Missouri.

I had Missouri losing to UConn in my bracket, so it was no surprise when they beat Memphis. I'm a firm believer that Memphis will always be overrated no matter how talented they are until they get into a stronger conference. Either that or Conference USA gets competitive. What if Tulsa or Marshall decide to give Memphis a run for their money and just go all out on recruiting? That might give the Tigers some clout. But instead, they just come off as a big fish in a small pond.

For the record, I have one Final Four team (Duke) out. However, UNC and UConn, who are meeting in the finals for me, are both very much alive, AND everyone who's competition for me had Pitt in the finals. They all also had Louisville in the Final Four as opposed to my pick of Michigan State. If UNC and Michigan State win tonight, I wins myself some cash money. Expect a "Hooray I'm rich!" post very soon.

Back to UConn. Missouri is a better team than they've been given credit for, and I knew they'd be a challenge. UConn shot brilliantly the first half, and they played great defense, but it didn't matter. They'd have 3 hands in their face, and Missouri guys would still be hitting shots left and right.

I hate when fouls are called on Hasheem Thabeet, because 90% of the time they're not fouls, but the refs had let him slide on another foul that should've been called earlier, so you can't argue too much. The announcers yesterday, as during the entire tournament, kept harping on the fact that Hasheem Thabeet is a disgustingly good Scrabble player. I'm considering challenging him on Facebook. How many points do you get for "2009 National Champion UConn Huskies"?

There was one play where they called a travel on Jeff Adrien. The amazing part of this was that HE DIDN'T HAVE THE BALL. There was a loose ball, he and a Missouri player were both trying to gain possession, and before he ever got possession, a travel was called. The next play, a reach-in was called on Thabeet which left Jay Bilas baffled, saying "I have no idea where that foul was".

However, my boy Kemba Walker stepped it up and hit his stride. So begins the Kemba Walker era. With A.J. Price going into the NBA next year, how does UConn replace that void? Oh, just by finding an even better point guard. I expect Walker will go down as THE BEST point guard in UConn history. He's got that much natural ability, he just needs to learn the mental part (which, as he showed yesterday, he's doing quite well with).

So UConn held off Missouri, and frankly I think that Missouri is a tougher matchup for UConn than either one they'll face next round. I'm looking forward to Michigan State upsetting Louisville, and for UConn to then stomp all over their dreams of playing a home championship game.

The women's team is currently delivering a second half beatdown to California after looking slightly human the first half. Tiffany Hayes is pulling off a female Kemba Walker performance, and frankly these women just can't be beat.

In other women's basketball news, Michigan State got boned by the referees at the end of the game last night. They blew an 8 point lead in the last minute of the game, but when throwing up their final shots of the game and attempting to get a rebound off of the miss, they got hacked to all hell. I have a slight crush on their coach, Suzy Merchant, which is why I mention this. The no-call was disappointing to see, and Iowa State squeaked by with a win they might not have deserved.

Time to tune in to the end of Louisville's run.

Friday Pic O' tha Week

2009-03-27T14:23:00.005-04:00

Villanova and Pitt? Yay! Memphis and Purdue? Boo! I actually thought for a second that John Calipari's squad could complete the comeback, but it was not to be. Let's see if Louisville and UNC can match their number one counterparts and make it to the Elite Eight tonight. The NBA regular season is rapidly coming to a close and our pic o' that week is quite the metaphor for the Eastern Conference. And Leon will be out at least another couple of games. In the West, the two through eight spots are tighter than Tiger Woods' wallet after a meal. Japan won the WBC this past Monday and while no one in the US still gave a crap (about the whole tournament in general), the worldwide audience was quite sizable. Finally, what do you all think of NFL commish Roger Goodell wanting to convert some preseason games into regular season ones? It won't be for at least another couple of years but we can all agree that four preseason games is a bit much. Eighty degrees tomorrow!

An open letter of apology to all my fellow Patriots fans

2009-03-26T13:31:00.003-04:00

Dear Patriots fans,

I have been wrong. For the past two seasons, I have firmly held the belief that Bill Belichick is a dirty, cheating, no good dickhead. When Patriots fan friends of mine said "Well, EVERYONE in the NFL has taped at some point, not just the Patriots", the easiest response was to get up on my pedestal and tell everyone how good the Colts are and how they'd never do that because they have ethics.

No, the Colts haven't been caught video taping. They'd never do that. They have ethics.

However...when the story broke yesterday about UConn's alleged NCAA rules violations in recruiting Nate "Devendorf Jr" Miles, I was fuming for many reasons.

1. Why now? Yes, I understand that Yahoo sports writers throw a party whenever someone decides to read them over anyone else, but this is a terrible time for the team. They've got a Sweet Sixteen game tonight against a great team, and so this creates a massive distraction. Is this Yahoo writer a Duke, UNC or Syracuse fan who needs some sort of edge by knocking UConn out? Wait til after they've won the title, then let this play out during the offseason. Don't be an ass.

2. Nate Miles? Who never played a single game for UConn? WHO CARES? This is what makes me feel that whoever looked into this had extremely petty ulterior motives. If this were Hasheem Thabeet being FedEx'd strippers to Tanzania when he was being recruited, or A.J. Price being given free laptops, that's something to worry about. That's when it's an urgent matter that needs to be looked into. Not when it's some douchebag who got expelled and never played a single game for the team.

3. This is where I realized I was wrong about Patriots fans. My third thought on this was...EVERYONE USES SHADY RECRUITING TACTICS. This is like parents finding out their high school kid drinks for the first time and they act all shocked. "NO WAY, YOU DRANK?!?! I HAD NO IDEA!!!" Am I shocked? No. Would I be shocked if similar allegations came out against Louisville, Duke, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, or other power schools? Not at all. Maybe it's just me, but I never thought shady recruitment was that big a deal because I assumed everyone does it. Now I understand how Patriots fans feel.

I apologize.

Best regards,
-James

The Blake Griffin Sweepstakes is Here!

2009-03-25T14:09:00.006-04:00

I suppose I could write about the enormous Celtics/Magic game tonight and the potential repercussions it will have on playoff seeding and home court advantage in the East. I could look at current playoff match-ups too. But where's the fun in that? See, it's about that time in the NBA season when certain teams not only know that they have absolutely no shot of making the playoffs but they might not even win another game. And some are okay with that, fans be damned. This particular draft class isn't the strongest, so the worse your record is after 82 games, the better chance you'll have in drafting the six foot ten powerhouse from Oklahoma. It has been more prevalent over the past two or three seasons, but teams like Washington, Memphis and Minnesota have entered full, complete and utter TANK mode.

First, let's take a look at the current "lottery" standings. Highlighted almost exclusively from the Western Conference we have:

Sacramento -
Washington -
LA Clippers 1.5
Memphis 2
Minnesota 4.5
OKC 4.5

The Warriors and Raptors are right there as well as the only other teams mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Out of all those teams, the only one that I feel bad for is Minnesota. Big Al was playing fantastic basketball before he blew out his knee and the team went into a tailspin. Maybe you could drum up some pity for the Wizards with Haywood and Arenas being out the whole year, but then again, they shouldn't have signed Agent Zero(Games Played) to that insane $111 million contract. Memphis and the Thunder have some great young players who might start exhibiting some "nagging injuries" over these last 12 or so games. Honestly, who the hell is going to the OKC/Toronto game this Friday night. Even if everyone is going to play? Attendance is in the crapper as it is because of the economy, so are these teams really going to lose that much more money by trotting out a D-League squad for a few more weeks? If it means a shot at Griffin? As for the Clip, well, I think they've been in the sweepstakes since November.

So Sacramento might have the upper hand here. They still have to play Phoenix twice, New Orleans, San Antonio, the Lakers, Rockets and Nuggets. That's seven more losses right there. (Did they seriously only win one game against the entire Eastern Conference this year? That's fantastic or depressing depending on how you look at it.) Then again, the Wiz play three teams still battling for playoff spots in the East, Cleveland twice and Boston. But let's not rule out those pesky Clippers. They have a stretch of San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Denver and the Lakers coming up. Any one of these teams could get that 25% chance when the lottery rolls around.

HOWEVER!

Look what happened to the Heat last year. They were far and away the worst team in the league but somehow didn't end up with the first pick. Chicago did. A team that had the ninth best chance. NINTH! (1.7% for those keeping track at home) Which team holds that coveted spot as of today? The friggin' Knicks. A team that has shown signs of tankage lately themselves losing five in a row. Could that mean the eventual departure of David Lee? Thing is, Griffin is a stud. He averaged 30 and 15 this year and unlike my man B-Easy, he's a legit 6-10 with some bulk. Whereas last year, there was some debate as to who would be picked first, there isn't the slightest sliver of doubt this year. So who else is out there? Question marks, that's who. Guys like Ricky Rubio, Brandon Jennings, Hasheem Thabeet and Steph Curry to name a few. All guys with great potential or a certain valuable skill, but nowhere near a complete package or even a sure thing. As usual, there are no college seniors projected to go in the lottery.

How obvious and thorough will these teams be in their quest to suck the most? Will David Stern ever step in or does he think no one notices this stuff because of how good the top teams are? Will a team with a less than 2% chance get a crack at Griffin? The regular season ends April 15th and the draft lottery occurs on May 19th. Between now and then, we are in store for some possibly epic failure all in front of a televised audience. (The Kings do have a TV deal, right?)

Guess who's birthday it is...

2009-03-24T15:51:00.003-04:00

HOORAY PEYTON!

The greatest quarterback to ever play the game turns 33 today. Since Manning only gets better with age, he should be hitting his prime in about 5 years.

You are all invited to my Peyton Manning Birthday Party.

The Ballad of Jay Cutler

2009-03-23T13:36:00.003-04:00

March Madness: Day 2

2009-03-21T11:56:00.004-04:00

Day 2 brought way more thrills and upsets than Day 1, which was good for people who picked all of those games right. That wasn't me. I missed Siena, Utah (I had a feeling that would happen), Wake Forest (Cleveland St on 4/5 brackets except the one that counted), Utah St, Portland St, and Temple.

Thankfully, I only had Wake going to the Sweet Sixteen. That woman that was in first place? She had West Virginia in the Elite Eight and Portland St in the Sweet Sixteen. Anytime you make it through the first two days with all of your Elite Eight teams in tact, you're in good shape.

First place is now some guy who picked the rest of the 8 games correctly last night. He had Wake in the Sweet Sixteen too, but he's up on me by 1.

Now for yesterday's highlights, because I have a feeling if I continued on about my bracket, you'd stop reading.

Syracuse did as expected and spanked Stephen F. Austin. I watched about 5 minutes of the game and immediately hopped on to E-Bay to order my very own Eric Bell. He's almost life size!

Oklahoma St beat Tennessee. I've written an apology to Peyton Manning for picking Ok St, but I don't know if he's gotten it yet. Picking 8/9 games don't matter anyway, because unless there's a REALLY good sleeper, you're not putting them past the second round. Anyway, it was a good, close game, just as expected.

My Utah St. Aggies almost pulled off the upset. I call them mine only because I was so confident in them winning that I felt I should get some sort of credit if they actually did win. The worst feeling in the world is hitting a last second 3 pointer when you're 4 points down. It was a great game by them.

I didn't watch much of the Kansas/North Dakota St game. I hate Kansas, and I didn't even realize North Dakota was a state.

Temple sucked against Arizona St. Santa Claus can't do it all by himself, so effort from the rest of his team would've been nice. Thanks suckbags.

The Pittsburgh/East Tennessee St game was almost one of the greatest games I've ever seen. I don't think I've ever seen a 1/16 game where I really thought they were going to do it. 8 minutes left, I thought Pittsburgh was just going to collapse any minute. Nope, it didn't happen, meaning I didn't run around outside naked and screaming. Sorry ladies. And Adam.

Dayton beat West Virginia. I don't know much about basketball lingo, so I don't even know what kind of offense that's called. They basically do with a basketball what a football does with a football when they run a triple reverse option. And they really played off the fake handoffs beautifully. Imagine a bunch of tall, lanky, speedy guys playing basketball the only way tall, lanky guys can. Dayton's my upset pick against Kansas. Just watch.

Missouri beat Cornell, but didn't pull away until later in the second half. Reason being, Missouri sucks, and so does the fact that I picked them to go to the Elite Eight. I expect to regret that decision tomorrow, but I really thought they'd be playing Utah St (and then overranked Memphis who are bound to drop their Sweet Sixteen game).

At this point I went to see Watchmen for the second time. It's so much better on IMAX. Imagine Malin Akerman's beautiful breasts as she rides Patrick Wilson to the tune of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Now imagine her breasts are bigger than your entire body. Yeah.

Arizona spanked Utah. I picked against Arizona teams twice and have twice regretted it. I picked Utah teams twice and twice I have regretted it. Never again.

Southern Cal beat Boston College. Obviously. BC only beats good teams, they lose to bad ones.

Portland St. got rocked by Xavier. This makes my picking Wisconsin for the Sweet Sixteen much more unlikely. Crap.

I got back in time for the end of the first overtime for the Siena/Ohio St game. That game was incredible, even if you only started watching during overtime. Ronald Moore gets to be the first superhero of the tournament with his 3 pointers he hit under ten seconds in both overtimes, to first tie it up, and then give them the win. Brilliant.

I thought Cleveland St would upset Wake Forest, but I wasn't confident enough to pick them when money mattered. After all, Wake was at one time the best team in the country (or overrated by the media). Ohio's definitely representing this tournament.

Michigan St. left just enough breathing room that Robert Morris could have climbed back into it. They unfortunately didn't, but I would have sent links to every guy on ESPN to this blog just to tell them how bad I called an upset (except I would have cleverly edited my post so I didn't mention at the end that I was just kidding).

Wisconsin over Florida St was huge for me. It was also a great game, even though they would only switch over to it when there was about 30 seconds left in regulation (and there were like, 3 minutes in overtime for the Ohio St/Siena game). I was too lazy to grab my laptop and throw the game on there, so I just watched the bits and pieces CBS showed. Two seconds to go and they get a prayer thrown up that goes in, plus the foul. Trevon Hughes hit his free throw, and that was the game. Brilliant.

I'm going to keep it short today, because I need to start drinking approximately NOW to calm my nerves for the UConn/Texas A&M game. Ok, maybe it's not that bad, but I did realize something. Over in California, when my friend Kris and I were at a sports bar in Long Beach to watch the UConn/Syracuse game, people kept asking why we were so into it. I answered, "Have you ever been in Connecticut? Can you find anything else to be unashamedly prideful of except for UConn athletics?" At least when a team in California loses, they go out and take a walk amongst some palm trees and the beach before hitting up their local medical marijuana store. In New England, when our team loses, we have to go dig our car out of five feet of snow when it's -20 degrees and cigarettes are $7 a pack. THAT'S why we take our sports so seriously.

Games to most definitely not miss:

UCLA/Villanova. I think UCLA come in to this as a heavy underdog. If Nova were in another conference, they could've very well won it and gotten a #1 seed. Instead, they had to be in the Big East, where there are 3 #1 seeds and 1 other #3 seed. However, UCLA is the type of team that can shine in the NCAA Tournament, and if they're on today, it could be a tough time for Nova. My pick: UCLA

Maryland/Memphis. Memphis barely fended off Cal State Northridge, and Maryland had a tough game grinding it out against California. For my bracket's sake, I'm rooting for Memphis, but my heart is hoping the Fighting Turtles will knock the first #2 seed out of the tournament.

UConn/Texas A&M. Texas A&M is the type of team that can cause a lot of turnovers, especially against UConn who has sloppier ball handling than a heroin addicted hooker who hasn't had a fix in a week. Wait...let that sink in. Ok, let's move on. I definitely think UConn has the toughest 2nd round game of any #1 seed, but I also think they should be put up against #16 seeds the entire tournament. My pick: Texas A&M. To lose.

Purdue/Washington. This game's going one of two ways. It'll be close the entire game, giving Purdue a chance to take it at the end. Or...Washington dominates the entire time. I'm taking the latter. Jon Brockman is a beast, and I just hope he comes down with the 2 day flu or something after the game so UConn doesn't have to see him.

Western Kentucky/Gonzaga. Can the Gonzagas of this tournament beat Gonzaga? There is a very realistic possibility of it. This ought to be a shocker, no matter what happens.

Alright, it's past noon. Let's hit up those beers.

For all my UConn attending readers out there (Kris):

UCONNNNNN

HUSKIEEEEES!

UCONNNNNN

HUSKIEEEEES!

UCONNNNNN

HUSKIEEEEES!

HUSKIEEEEES!

UCONNNNNN!

WOOF.

2:57 pm: UCLA was a dumb pick.

I swear to God if East Tennessee wins,

2009-03-20T16:28:00.004-04:00

I'm going to have to run around Boston naked and screaming. I won't even know what to do with myself.

5:31 pm: A great effort by East Tennessee. Very close. I needed Temple and they lost, but I went 3/4 on the rest. 1st place in my tournament had West Virginia going to the Elite Eight, so I just took the lead by being the only person in the top 7 to pick Dayton. Good thing because I have them in the Sweet Sixteen. Dayton has one of the most fun offenses to watch. They could make it as a football team if they just kept running the ridiculous reverses they throw out there. Love it.

Break time. Going to see Watchmen again tonight. Not as good as on IMAX, but it'll do.

Upset picks: Portland St., USC, Wisconsin.

Friday Pic O' tha Week

2009-03-20T14:21:00.004-04:00

Yeah Western Kentucky! Of course, my bracket will immediately look like poop after today's games, but it was fun while it lasted. Is anything better than watching basketball on the internet at work? Huge game tonight for the Celtics in San Antone. Leon suffered the first real injury of his pro career this week so we'll be keeping an eye on that. Tons of great sports to watch this weekend so there's no need to leave the house people. Also, the NFL draft is less than five weeks away. Sweet!

March Madness: Day 1

2009-03-20T07:27:00.011-04:00

I'm going to write a thank you letter to Al Gore. Because of his invention, I was able to catch nearly every single game of the greatest tournament on Earth (Mortal Kombat is disqualified because only part of it takes place on Earth, but if we're talking about the greatest tournament in the universe, Mortal Kombat does take the cake). I had my TV on CBS while I flipped back and forth between the three remaining games on the internet, typically only needing to watch one at a time since half of them weren't even competitive.

I'm competing in 5 brackets. Up until the Illinois/Western Kentucky game last night, I still had one perfect bracket left. I picked Western Kentucky in 4 out of 5 brackets, but neglected to take the same common sense approach for my perfect bracket. It's no longer perfect, but I'm still doing better than I ever have in previous years. Maybe it's the lack of upsets, and the fact that everyone who SHOULD have won, won. I don't care as long as I finish in the money.

I'm going against about 70 people in the pool at my dad's job. My dad is maybe 5th from last, my grandfather's doing well, he only has 2 wrong so far, and my 1 wrong is good enough for a 2 way tie at 2nd place. You can be sure after today though, I'll have a good 7 or 8 wrong and half my Elite Eight will be out.

Texas A&M was far and away the better team going into their matchup against BYU. They can give a lot of teams headaches, and I'm happy I picked them in all 5 brackets. They're going to give UConn a tough matchup, and I'm not looking forward to that game.

Jon Brockman of Washington gets my "Most Badass Dude" award for Day 1, and definitely put himself far above everyone else for the entire tournament. If you didn't see the play, Brockman jumps up for a rebound, is completely horizontal about 7 feet in the air, and comes down ridiculously hard on the floor. Less than a second later, he turns himself over and flips himself up. It wasn't just the fact that he got up so quickly, but HOW he got up that was super badass. He just made it look like he fell into a pile of feathers, but you know the entire left side of his body was screaming in pain. Badass.

The look on the faces of the women behind the hoop tell the
whole story. My face looked like that, but was also accompanied
by a high pitched "Oh no!". Thankfully, the floor declined to
press charges for the cracks Brockman made when he hit the ground.

Cal State Northridge almost kept up with Memphis. Almost. People still think Memphis should have had the #1 seed over UConn? Proceed with shutting the hell up, now. Now, the Big West is no joke (I have to say that now, because my best friend Kris is about to be an athletic trainer at Cal State Long Beach), but UConn would have at least won by 30 points or more.

Jim Calhoun was in the hospital and couldn't coach the UConn/Chattanooga game. At least that's what he WANTS you to think. You see, George Blaney is a better head coach than a good handful of the head coaches in this tournament. He's just even better as Calhoun's right hand man. Early yesterday morning, Blaney called up Calhoun and said:

GB: Hey Jim, I got two plane tickets to Las Vegas. You want to go get wasted and bang some hookers?

JC: George, we've got a game today, remember?

GB: Oh yeah. Shit...well, how about this? You go, I'll coach the game for you. You've been through a whole ton of crap lately, you deserve a break. Go let off some steam.

JC: I can't just NOT show up George.

GB: Sure you can. You're Jim Calhoun, you're sick ALL THE TIME! Just get Doc Anderson to tell the media that you're not feeling well, and no one will even question you.

JC: You're a true friend, George.

GB: You got it, Jim! Now tell me, if you had $10,000, and you had to budget all of that between hookers, blow, booze, and gambling...how much money would you budget for food?

JC: Not a dime!

GB: Good boy Jimmy.

Note to self: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless
you're rich as hell and can bring the hookers back with you.

Michigan gave me a scare for a while, but eventually they prevailed and topped Clemson. Barely. The good thing for Michigan is that they play an overrated Oklahoma next round. The bad thing is that Michigan sucks.

Speaking of Oklahoma, I would love to get a lesson from Ameer Ali, who flipped Blake Griffin over, on how to do that. Now before I continue, that's a cheap, dirty move, and the guy should be banned from the NCAA. Griffin, while he is a giant toolbox, hadn't done a whole lot to warrant that extremely dangerous move. He could've landed on his head, and a serious injury like that would ruin March Madness for everyone.

Now that I've said that, if this were a wrestling match, I'd have been really excited about how badass that flip was. Their arms were slightly tangled, so he grabbed a hold of Griffin's arm, quickly did some long division and trigonometry and calculated the best angle to flip Griffin over. Then I think he actually tried to argue being ejected. There was room to believe when DeJuan Blair flipped Hasheem Thabeet over that it could've been unintentional. You couldn't really make that argument here. Ali, you win my award for "Most douchebag move that would be totally awesome if this weren't the NCAA Tournament". Congratulations!

Villanova gave me a big scare, but I've got them out in the 2nd round anyway, so it would'nt have been devastating if American pulled off the upset. It would have ruined my all Big East bracket though, where no Big East team loses except to another Big East team. It's like how the only thing strong enough to cut a diamond is another diamond. Or Jon Brockman.

UCLA also gave me a scare. Luckily the scare wasn't as big because I was asleep before halftime (that's what you get for working at 6am every day). Virginia Commonwealth, representing my suckbag conference, the CAA, put together a solid outing. Good game fellas, I'm just glad you didn't beat my sacrificial lamb to Duke in the Sweet 16.

I may have overlooked how tough Washington is. I've got a sinking feeling if they beat Purdue, then the Jon Brockman/Hasheem Thabeet matchup is going to be very bad for UConn. Brockman's not built like a basketball player, he's built like a guy who crushes rocks with his bare hands for a living.

Matchups you should be interested in today:

Marquette/Utah St. The Aggies might very well be the weakest 11 seed, and on a good day Marquette can play like a #3 seed, but Utah St. has the home court advantage. Their fans will travel a long way to see them, and while Idaho is a ways away, I've got a feeling it'll feel just like home for Utah St.

Syracuse/Stephen F. Austin. I'm interested in this game for 2 reasons. The first is to see if the guy on SFA I paid off to Blake Griffin flip Devendorf will actually go through with it. Wishful thinking isn't too terrible, right? The second reason is to see how Cuse performs. They've had time to rest since the Big East Tournament, and while I think they're ranked too highly, they've got a ton of confidence. They'll win this game, that I'm sure of. I just want to see what kind of matchup they'll be giving the rest of the South field this tournament. I need an Elite Eight out of them, but I'll settle for a busted bracket if they get knocked out early. Also, Eric Devendorf.

Michigan St/Robert Morris. If there's going to be a #2/#15 upset this year, it's right here. Michigan St. is far and away the best #2 seed, but Robert Morris has that undeniable swagger you can only find from a Pennsylvania school with 4,000 students. Tom Izzo probably feels his guys deserved a #1 bid, but after the Beasts of the Northeast start the game on a 10-0 run, he'll hit the panic button. Ok, in reality this should be a blowout for Michigan St. But I would love a Disney movie in 10 years about the improbable run Robert Morris made in the NCAA Tournament.

People shouldn't be surprised when Robert Morris proves to
be a basketball powerhouse, as their namesake was known
to be a hoops fanatic. Even before the sport was invented.

Utah/Arizona. If Arizona has watched absolutely ANY coverage of the tournament selections (which they have), they know that everyone felt they didn't deserve to get in. That's what makes this matchup interesting. Will the Arizona that we expect to fall on their face show up, or will Kurt Warner come and give a pregame pep talk about how no one believed in the Cardinals but themselves? Then before we know it, we have a stupid #12 seed in the Final Four.

Xavier/Portland St. This is my upset pick. On my official bracket (a.k.a. the one I care about the most because of the massive amounts of money I can win), I've got them facing off against Wisconsin in the 2nd round. Portland St. isn't coming in with the "We're happy just to be here" mentality, that I can assure you. Xavier's got a lot of weak spots and has played inconsistently as of late. Portland St. has a dangerous perimeter game, and it's teams that can knock down the 3's that can make a late run and get a huge upset.

I'll probably make a post later once I've lost 5 games in a row.

1:03 pm: Ok, so as of right now, it looks like I was right about the crowd for Utah St. They're definitely there to root for them. It looks like this game might not be as close as I expected though.

If North Dakota St. keeps it close and wins, that's alright with me. I've got Kansas losing 2nd round anyhow.

Eric Bell, the shortest player in the NCAA Tournament, is shorter than my mom. I just want to throw Eric Bell in my backpack and walk around with him, he's so tiny.

The Tennessee/Oklahoma St game looks to be better than I expected. I'll be rooting for OK St for my bracket's sake, but in my hurt, I can't go against Peyton Manning's alma mater.

1:17 pm: Utah St is staying in this now. If they catch fire the second half, just watch. An 8 point deficit can turn into a one possession game very quickly.

1:45 pm: Utah St now down by 1 point. I'm telling you guys, it can happen.

2:43 pm: Marquette won by a point. Total margin of loss in my two bracket losses: 5 points.

Ten Reasons to Hate Eric Devendorf

2009-03-19T08:32:00.011-04:00

It's March Madness, my third or fourth favorite time of the year. My Huskies are a #1 seed, maybe deserved, maybe undeserved, but it doesn't really matter now. They've got to win the same amount of games as everyone else. Except for Morehead St, who need to win 1 more game than everyone.

However, I'm not going to talk about UConn. I'm going to give you my official March Madness 10 Reasons to Hate Eric Douchendorf.

1. He's ugly. He is honestly one of the ugliest looking dudes I've seen in a while. You show me a girl who wants to rail him because he's handsome and I'll show you a girl who thinks donkeys are handsome.

Luckily, Eric Devendorf goes to Syracuse, where 90%
of the student population is actually this ugly.

2. He hits women. If you don't remember, here's a reminder. The dude hit a girl. In the face. He claims it was in self defense. If you're the size of Eric Devendorf, and a girl is going after you, I'm pretty sure a simple hand up protecting you is defense enough.

3. Stupid tattoos. Stupid, stupid tattoos. Eric Devendorf is like the Kevin Federline of the NBA. Except Kevin Federline has more money, is more attractive, and plays the whole "I'm super white trash but I really REALLY want to be cool with black dudes" schtick much better.

I remember the first time I saw him and went "Wait...is that a fucking basketball inside of an cross?" Congratulations asshole, you have the dumbest tattoo I've ever seen. The great thing about the internet is that you can see the transformation of the tattoo from when he probably thought it was really cool, to after he got tons of work done on it to make it extreme and badass. Let's look at his before and after thought processes...

4. He wants to be Eminem. If you're white, from Michigan, you have a shaved head, and your nickname is 8 Mile, it's a safe assumption to say you actually want to be Eminem. I suppose the fact that I already mentioned he has less black dude cred than Kevin Federline means that being like Eminem is out of the picture. "Hi, my name is...what, my name is...who, my name is (tick-e-tick-e) Eric Devendorf" just doesn't have the same ring.

5. Seriously. I wasn't kidding about how ugly he is. Adam Morrison called, he wants his first month's growth of a moustache back.

6. His last name is Devendorf. I hope he enjoys his tenure at Hogwarts. Hey-ohhhhhh.

7. He makes Gerry McNamara seem tolerable. Do you know how hard it is for me to say that I like Gerry McNamara more than ANYONE? Being a UConn fan, McNamara was the bane of my existence for a small period of time. Now whenever I see Gerry at Syracuse games, I think "He's saving the seat next to him for you, Eric". Except you can't go to basketball games when you're getting your salad tossed in prison, which you will be.

8. For being such a tough wannabe gangsta thug, he is an unbelievably whiny bitch. Whenever Syracuse loses in this tournament in some heartbreaking fashion, expect a closeup of Devendorf sobbing on the shoulder of Jonny Flynn.

9. Be jealous, because he will probably have a better place than you when he moves back to his double wide in Michigan. I finally hit it big mama!

10. He yells way too fucking much. Yes, it's good when a player gets excited, but you can tell when a guy's just full of himself. That's Devendorf. He's the leader of his own fan club, and overdoes it in the limelight every chance he gets because he's well aware that his basketball career ends when he finishes college. When he's fighting to keep his spot on a D League squad 5 years down the road, I bet he'll tone his chest bumping down a bit. Also, we'll probably see some more abuse incidents. I'd put money on that.

Julian Tavarez is Still Crazy, Awesome

2009-03-18T16:14:00.007-04:00

There's a name you probably haven't thought of for a while. You remember good ole Julian (ed. note - "The Ghoul") right? Famous for punching things, punching people, and various other transgressions. Well after an off-season of being unemployed, he's the newest member of the Washington Nationals. Why the Nats? Well let's allow Julian to explain for himself:

"Why did I sign with the Nationals?" Tavárez said on Sunday. "When you go to a club at 4 in the morning, and you're just waiting, waiting, a 600-pounder looks like J-Lo. And to me this is Jennifer Lopez right here. It's 4 in the morning. Too much to drink. So, Nationals: Jennifer Lopez to me."

I couldn't have put it better myself. I'll now be referring to the baseball club from Washington as the "4 AM J-Lo's" for the rest of the season. It's a mouthful, but it's worth it..... that's what she said.

The Walking Wounded

2009-03-18T12:38:00.005-04:00

The Celtics are down to just eight players available for tonight's game against Scrob's beloved Heat, after Leon sustained a bruised kneecap in the opening minutes at Chicago, Ray Ray hyper-extended his elbow near the end of the game, and Rondo re-injured an ankle. All are listed as day-to-day, but the team described Powe's injury as the most serious of the three.

Even though he only played four minutes last night, Leon still managed 3 rebounds (2 offensive) and 2 points. Not too shabby.. now get healthy!

A fun note: for the first time since his days at Inglewood, Paul Pierce was forced to play center last night, due to all the injuries/Mikki Moore fouling out.

The next couple games should be interesting, as Doc will be forced to play his least favorite guys or else suit up himself and try not to get double technicals and get ejected. Seriously, NBA.. five games in seven days?!

Editor Update - Leon is out tonight. Big Baby makes his return.

Kate's p.s. to editor's note: Leon is out for at least two to three weeks. Ray Ray is day to day, and will not play this weekend, but will be the sharpest dressed guy on the bench.

Friday Pic O' tha Week

2009-03-13T14:50:00.005-04:00

That was quite the game last night. I can't even imagine being Cuse and having to play a pumped up West Virginia team tonight. Somewhere, Carmelo Anthony is smiling. Somewhere else, Kevin Pittsnogle is at a buffet. The conference tournaments finish up this weekend leading straight to Selection Sunday. There are also some great NBA games, especially on Saturday with Miami vs. Utah and San Antonio vs. Houston. And...spring training continues? Whoo hoo!

How much longer do I have to wait for Sam Summer???

Matchup Tonight

2009-03-11T17:46:00.007-04:00

So naturally, on 311 Day, the Miami Heat are playing the Boston Celtics, and I won't be able to see the game. With the Celtics only dressing ten players and starting a point guard who up until two weeks ago was a punch line to numerous jokes throughout the NBA, some believe it's a foregone conclusion that the Heat will cruise to an easy victory. Yes, Dwyane Wade is the best player in the league right now (all year?) but don't count out the reigning Finals MVP and Jesus Shuttlesworth. It might not be a pretty game, but I really want to see it, if for no other reason, than to see Leon and Udonis Haslem battle it out down low.

He'll be all up in Leon's grill tonight as well.

With tip-off a little over an hour away, I'd like to take a quick look at the two players and how similar their games are, as well as their similar roles on their respective teams. Basically their two of the best "dirty work" guys in the entire league. They don't have the height of most power forwards, but have the strength to body up on guys much taller than them. (Ask Ilgauskas about how fun it is to play against Leon.) Both guys have a knack for grabbing offensive boards. Both guys are soft spoken and prefer their play on the court to so the talking. I'm not forgetting when Haslem got ejected after throwing his mouth piece at a ref once, okay. But other than that transgression, Youuuuu-donis has been well behaved. Leon does get to the line way more often, even with his limited minutes, but Haslem has the better percentage. Both shoot around 50% from the field. I think Udonis has a better outside shot, but Leon is a bit more explosive and is a better finisher, especially on fast breaks.

Now while the Heat and Celtics play each other four times a year, this is the first occasion that Leon will get serious playing time with Haslem in the lineup for Miami. He'll be starting for Doc's squad tonight. I think this will be a true test for Powe to really see him go up against a four spot instead of guys like Yao Ming. Udonis has also been forced to play out of position at certain points in his career, so this could really bring out the best in both players. Flash and The Truth will get most of the attention for sure and looking at the box score tomorrow, you might not be able to tell that Leon and Udonis played great games. But that's the kind of players they are. Michael Lewis of Moneyball fame recently wrote an article about Shane Battier and how a lot of the stuff he does during games is hard to quantify. Leon Powe and Udonis Haslem are pretty much in the same boat in that respect. (Now that I'm thinking about it, if Lewis ever wrote a book about The Show, my head might explode.) But just remember, both the Celtics and Heat won a championship with the aforementioned guys contributing in big ways. Just sayin'.

"There's no break in the rhythm."

Friday Pic O' tha Week

2009-03-06T19:39:00.004-05:00

This picture summarizes the futility of women's basketball and essentially women's sports altogether. I apologize to our legions of female fans if you are offended. Enjoy Watchmen everybody!

When do you draft A-Rod now?

2009-03-05T13:58:00.008-05:00

FANTASY BASEBALL ALERT!!!

Oh yes, it's that time of year. Spring training has just begun and invites to fantasy leagues are being sent out. The last of the free agents are signing and in a few short weeks, major league rosters will be finalized. But what about your roster? Those of you with the number one pick in your draft this year will have one less superstar to consider. As if being the center of yet another steroid scandal hasn't been bad enough, Alex Rodriguez needs to have surgery on his hip and will be out at least 10 weeks. At least. So the question is, is A-Rod now a second round pick? A third? And furthermore, who now goes first in the draft?

"Oh Red Sox fans..."

There are obviously a bunch of factors to consider. Will he be back in the beginning of May or will his rehab take longer? Will the power be there immediately or will it take until July for him to start racking up home runs? Will he risk stealing bases and re-injuring the hip? (He had 18 thefts last season.) That's two of the five categories right there. That leaves average, runs batted in and hits. Now you also need to look at the position he plays. By my accounts, David Wright, Aramis Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis and Evan Longoria should all be taken before Rodriguez. You could even consider Chipper Jones just because of the great batting average. After that however, third base really drops off although a lot of "experts" are high on that kid Chris Davis from the Rangers. So putting all of that together, there's no real reason to take A-Rod in the first two rounds.

But here's the X-factor. What if Alex Rodriguez has been on steroids this whole time? AND, will he try to take HGH to help in his recovery and risk getting caught? For the rest of his career, he will be under a microscope. Now this isn't the time or the place to get into how he was essentially thrown under the bus by having his name released from supposed confidential tests. (Are we ever going to see those other 103 names?) But if you believe him when he said he stopped taking the banned substances before he played for the Yankees, well, you're just a glass full kinda guy/gal. You might be the person to take him with your second pick. Me? I'm shying away from him altogether. Plus he bangs Madonna. Ewwwww.

Finally, you have to factor in the draft process. If you've taken an outfielder and a starting pitcher already, and it's late in the third round? You might be more inclined to take a chance. Also, are you in a snake draft or auction league? Luckily for us in the fantasy baseball world, this announcement came early enough to prepare a strategy.

So now that he's not first pick/round material, who looks like a solid choice? The consensus choice for the top five, in no particular order are David Wright, Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun. All upper echelon talents to be sure. At first glance you could make a case for any one of them especially since only two of them play the same position. But take a closer look at those names. Now, remember how Bud Selig is big ol' pile of suckage. All but one of those guys has their March calenders filled with a little something extra besides spring training.

The World Baseball Classic.

Take a quick look at the stats of major league players from three years ago that participated in the WBC. Notice something a little odd? Maybe at bats are down? Hmmm? Power numbers not looking so hot?

Albert Pujols was the only one of the top five candidates to say nope.com (copyright Kevin and Bean) this year. And his stats won't suffer because of it. Sure Hanley Ramirez is 25 years old, but come early August, he's going to be feeling more fatigued than Pujols. Yeah, Wright, Braun and Reyes are all young too, but for me, Pujols is the answer. No one has been more consistent than the Cardinals first basemen. Plus, you'd have to think that by the time you pick again, Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixeira and possibly Lance Berkman will all be off the board.

Or don't listen to me. Whatever. Join a league with me and see what happens. Oh, and since this is a blog, I'm obligated by the Blogging Governing Body to mention Chris Brown and Rihanna. Oh Breezy...

UPDATE: It's now being reported that A-Rod also has a torn labrum and if he gets surgery, he'll be out for four months. So yeah...10th round?

Gene Wojciechowski Owes Me Royalties

2009-03-04T19:56:00.004-05:00

He took my idea but added a "professional" and "creative" twist to it, making it "interesting". Those to me are cheap tactics. However, it doesn't matter how you say it, calling Jay Cutler out on being a pansy ass bitch is always a good read. Link so you're not so lost.

Let me just quote one of the better pieces of sports journalism in ages...

"And this from Cutler's agent, James "Bus" Cook, who told The Associated Press, "Nobody's going to call the [New York] Giants and ask for Eli [Manning]. Nobody's calling the [Indianapolis] Colts asking about Peyton [Manning]. [Tom] Brady? Come on. So, why call Denver and ask about Jay? And if they do call, why not say, 'That's not for discussion. What else do you want?'"

Why call Denver and ask about Cutler? Because the Broncos haven't reached the playoffs since the 2005 season. Because Cutler's record as a starter is 17-20. Because new Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels just happened to coach Cassel last season. And Cassel's team finished 11-5, including a 41-7 victory against Cutler's Broncos in October.

Nobody is calling the Giants and the Colts about the Manning brothers because the Manning brothers actually reach the postseason and have won Super Bowls. And here's guessing somebody called the Patriots asking whether Brady might be available."

Suck it Jay Cutler, you double chinned crybaby egomaniac papeldouching child toucher.

Q: Who wins in a fight between Jay Cutler and Philip Rivers?

A: Everyone. And Peyton Manning.

Leon Update

2009-03-03T17:04:00.008-05:00

We all know the Celtics have hit some rocky waters as of late. They are currently one game behind Cleveland for the top spot in the Eastern Conference and have gone 3 - 3 in their last six (Thanks AdamMan) games with losses to Detroit and the Clippers.

But Leon has certainly done an admirable job filling in for the injured Kevin Garnett. Combine KG's absence with the additions and thus adjustments of Mikki Moore and Starbury, there are certainly questions surrounding the defending champs. The Show has continued to come off the bench with first Scalabrine and now Big Baby starting, but has responded with 9.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and a 50% FG percentage all in 22 minutes of play-since Feb. 22nd.

"Look how awesome this guy is!"

I've maintained since last season that Leon could put up these kinds of numbers if he only got the playing time. Now granted, the well talked about free throw shooting problems have kept those point totals a little lower than they should be. But it takes KG and Brian Scalabrine's busted noggin' to get Leon some burn. The Celtics have 21 regular season games left to overtake the Cavs and Lakers for home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Some Boston fans that I have talked to don't seem terribly optimistic, but the hope is that Garnett can come back fresh and instill fear into his teammates they way only he can. Leon's minutes will inevitably go back down but hopefully Doc keeps him in mind come playoff time.

Oh, and yeah, Dwyane Wade has been playing out of his freaking mind pretty much all year, but these past couple of weeks have been RIDICULOUS. He's set new career highs in points (50) assists (16) and steals (7) since February 22nd not to mention his 41-9-7-7 game last night against Lebron. Unfortunately, Miami lost three of those games. Just when it seems like the Heat can slip past the Hawks and into the 4th spot in the East, they blow it. But, yeah, totally had to mention Wade.

Don't hate on the band-aid.

Do NOT mess with Jim Calhoun. Ever.

2009-03-02T13:14:00.001-05:00

This has nothing to do with the article except to
capture Coach Calhoun in all his badass glory.

It's a good time to be a UConn fan. The men are #1 again, the women are #1 and pretty much unbeatable. Donald Brown is poised to be the biggest NFL star out of UConn since Dan Orlovsky. But what's best about being a UConn fan is the badass-ness of Jim Calhoun.

You've probably already seen the interview. Ken Krayeske, a "freelance writer" (dude with a blog who takes himself too seriously), started taking shots about his $1.6 million salary. Keep in mind, this guy is a UConn student (and soon to be most shunned person in UConn history).

If you haven't seen the video, click here.

Jim Calhoun pretty much claims the title of "Most Justified Blowup by a Coach at a Press Conference". $1.6 million? That's a small cost for having one of the best known faces in college basketball bringing in millions of dollars to your school (and not just the athletic department, the entire university population).

Let's face it, being a Connecticut native, I know there's not a whole lot going on in the state worth shitting yourself over. For all that we totally suck at in Connecticut, we have one source of pride. College basketball. Sort've college football now that UConn's a decent team there, but they're still a ways away from being a powerhouse.

Anyway, the point is: Ken Krayeske is a douchebag. He to me is like Jonathan Papelbon, the San Diego Chargers, and the guy that does the Sham-Wow commercials rolled into one. He's a Green Party activist who's more busy trying to make a name for himself than tackling real issues. Case in point: Jim Calhoun makes $1.6 million. Connecticut is almost a billion in the red. That means that Jim Calhoun is approximately .0016% of the state's budget problem. Shouldn't the lawmakers who are now asking for Calhoun to be reprimanded for his comments be reprimanding themselves for being a good part of why our state is in this mess?

However, since our readership is approximately...5, I don't really need to take the high road and argue the logical issues behind Krayeske's various arguments (I took the time to read his blog and now I hate him even more). Therefore, I will leave you with this picture of Krayeske.

See what acting like a dick gets you, Ken Krayeske? That's right,
your face on a completely unknown blog with the word "sphincter"
written on it. I hope you've learned your lesson.

Jay Cutler is a whiny bitch.

2009-03-02T09:44:00.007-05:00

In not-so breaking news, Jay Cutler can't really accept the fact that the Denver Broncos and new head coach Josh McDaniels may have been looking for, perhaps, a better option at quarterback. Since talks of a possible trade involving teams such as Tampa Bay, Detroit, and of course, New England, Jay Cutler has been giving the Broncos the silent treatment. The Denver front office has attempted to reach out and talk to Cutler about this, but Cutler's response was "Talk to the hand cause the face don't wanna listen".

I'm sure whenever Jay Cutler decides to talk to the Broncos again, the conversation will go something like this.

Jay Cutler: I can't believe you guys tried to trade me. Are you aware I'm stronger, faster, and smarter than John Elway?

Denver Broncos: You're really not.

JC: I'm like rubber, you're like glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and...

DB: Look kid, you showed us a lot of potential, and I know you really feel like you earned the starting role a while back, but beating the ghost of Jake Plummer isn't saying a whole lot.

JC: But I threw for the third highest amount of yards in the league last season. I'm a machine! I'm a beast! I'm a beast machine!

DB: Yeah, but you were also second only to Brett Favre in interceptions. And Brett Favre is pretty much handed the distinction of having the most interceptions before the season even begins. Do you know that Brett Favre actually had to intentionally throw four interceptions last season just because he was worried you'd take his title?

Jay Cutler sticks his fingers inside his ears and begins humming obnoxiously loud.

JC: I'm not listening...

DB: Also, you have absolutely no comprehension of field leadership. That's why we were looking at Matt Cassel.

JC: But HE'S A SYSTEM QUARTERBACK!

DB: At least he IS a quarterback. You're just a double chinned cry baby who creates his own hype because no one else will anymore. Also, that SYSTEM that you mentioned, I'm not sure if you're aware, but this guy here, Josh McDaniels...well he's sort of partly responsible for that system. And the thing about McDaniels' system, is that it doesn't involve collapsing midway through the season in the worst division in football. The Chargers and referees literally HANDED you the season, and you still blew it.

JC: I don't have two chins!

DB: Yes, you do. Listen, I know you don't understand that football is a business, but here's the thing. We, as an organization, want to have the best group of guys out there to help us win a Super Bowl. The people of Denver already hate you, and you're not very good at your job. If we're going to vouch for you and say that you're our guy even though you've already established you're more interested in your own stats than winning football games, you need to stop bitching about this and move in.

JC: Make me!

DB: We don't make overrated tools with far too big an ego for their own good, we trade them.

I'd like to introduce you to my new favorite baseball team...

2009-02-28T13:20:00.004-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you these guys. They're called the Royals. I know you probably don't know what a Royal is, or have ever met a Royal fan before, but here you go...a living, breathing, Royals fan.

You see, I used to follow the Braves growing up. Chipper Jones was my idol and always will be my idol. I don't remember many seasons playing baseball where I didn't pick #10 for my jersey (cheaply made t-shirt that I had to give back at the end of the season). The thing about the Braves is, they gave me one World Series, and a whole bunch of great regular seasons that ended up in disappointing playoff performances. I only have enough energy to follow one team like that...

Yes Peyton. Curl up in the fetal position and wish to die. That's what I do every year
come playoff time.

Anyway, the Braves fell off my map a few years back, and after I decided on Northeastern for college, I became a Red Sox fan. I got my World Series after being a fan for just a couple years, and enjoyed all the rioting and tit-flashing that came with it. Being in Boston for their first World Series was definitely an exciting moment, but the following year all Red Sox fans took to baseball the same way they took to football...all out "we're superior to you because of the team we like" attitude. That was Strike 1.

Then came Strike 2: quite possibly the biggest tool I've ever seen in baseball. If this guy were a Yankee, I can only imagine the nicknames, the signs, and the shirts that would be made. He bought into his own hype more than anyone else, and I'm pretty sure you know who I'm talking about...

Ok, I went overboard with the amount of pictures, but if you Google image search him, so much douchiness comes up you can't really help but be taken in by it. Also, Vista is completely incompatible with the amount of douche on the page and I've had to restart my computer 4 times because of FDE's, Fatal Douche Errors. As much as I hate Tom Brady, I feel that he deserves every ounce of credit he gets. Papelbon on the other hand is a good pitcher with a highly bloated ego. He's also a douchebag.

Anyway...it all came crashing down and I realized how much I hate everything about the Red Sox. Jerry Remy getting all the play while Don Orsillo is frankly much better to listen to. Celebrities in the booth. Celebrities in the stands. Jacoby Ellsbury. Curt "Curt-mudgeon" Schilling. 90% of of all Boston college girls in Ellsbury shirts two weeks after he was brought up. Theo Epstein. And on top if it...

Fuck both these guys. Seriously.

On a side note...ten things that are funnier than Jimmy Fallon.

1. Genocide.
2. Requiem for a Dream.
3. Maya Rudolph.
4. Chris Brown beating up on Rihanna.
5. Those commercials with Sarah McLachlan where they show sad dogs and cats and she sings "Angel" and I cry even though whenever they show commercials of starving children in Africa I just get annoyed and change the channel.
6. NFL booth reviewers NOT reviewing the highly questionable final play of the biggest game of the season.
7. This show I watched last night where this ultra traumatized kid retold the story of how this bear ate his mom's face off.
8. People who caused the economic crisis having vast amounts of money.
9. Ben Folds - "Brick"
10. Plane crashes.

Now that that's off my chest, I spent some time thinking about who my team would be. After some thought, I narrowed the search down to:

Colorado Rockies
Texas Rangers
Washington Nationals
Kansas City Royals

Colorado's a nice young team in a small market. I've got a boner for Chris Iannetta, and am pretty sure he's going to have a monster season. Clint Barmes, Troy Tulowitski, Ryan Spilborghs, Jorge De La Rosa, Ubaldo Jiminez. I'm pretty sure the combined MLB experience between all of them is less than 20 years. However, they let Holliday and Taveras go in the offseason, and it just didn't feel right.

Being that I'm moving to Texas in just a couple months now, I figured I should get a Texas based team. I wouldn't root for the Cowboys, ever, I don't give a shit about the Stars, or the Spurs, or the Rockets, and the Astros just aren't my style. The Rangers seemed like a nice choice. A very deep outfield which includes what could be a monster year for David Murphy if he stays healthy, everyone's favorite "I used to do lots of drugs but now I don't" story in Mr. Josh Hamilton, Marlon Byrd, Nelson Cruz, Brandon Boggs...and a guy that if he studies his old game tape and remembers how to play baseball, could come back with a bang. That man is Andruw Jones. Then once you get to the infield, dudes like Chris Davis and Ian Kinsler make for a pretty solid infield. Their only problem is, once you get past Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla, their pitching sucks. So bad. They were still the pick though.

I thought about the Nationals. My best friend was telling me to root for them because no one else will. They're a bunch of douchebags for the most part, and not that good either. I like guys like Elijah Dukes and Adam Dunn, who are total assholes, but can get the job done. Still though, I'm not into the rest of the team and they just didn't spark my interest enough to keep thinking about them.

Then came the Royals. Mike Aviles. Fwap fwap. Billy Butler. Fwap fwap. Brian Bannister, Gil Meche, Zach Greinke, Kyle Davies. Fwap fwap fwap fwap fwap fwap. An outfield rounded out by Jose Guillen, Mark Teahen, David DeJesus, and now Coco Crisp? FWAP FWAP FWAP FWAP. I haven't even started on Mike Jacobs, Alberto Callaspo, Alex Gordon, or Miguel Olivo. I haven't even mentioned their dynamic closer Joakim Soria, who I like even though I hate closers.

This team is winning the AL Central. I wanted to jump on their bandwagon before everyone else (so I can tell people that I was totally a Royals fan three months before they were). This is a brilliant young team, and they're only going to get better. If Kansas City's front office plays their cards right, these guys ought to be hanging some flags up in their stadium pretty soon.

Therefore, I am now a diehard, blue and gold til I die (or the team trades away all their young stars to make cap room), Kansas City Royals fan. My hat's in the mail, my Kyle Farnsworth jersey is being custom ordered (because even Kyle Farnsworth doesn't have a Kyle Farnsworth jersey), and I'm getting a Royals tattoo on the small of my back.

Friday Pic O' tha Week

2009-02-27T15:35:00.003-05:00

To continue with the tradition that I just made up 5 minutes ago, here is the Start Playing Leon Powe picture of the week. These pictures will represent something awesome in the world of sports that I hijack from some other site on the internet. Enjoy!

Celtics vs. Clippers 2/25/09

2009-02-26T12:52:00.007-05:00

Nothing like a live NBA experience to break up the work week. No Garnett (and Scalabrine) meant more Leon. Since I'm swamped at the office, seriously, I'm going to list my 10 favorite things about the game in no particular order. Oh, and since I don't own a camera and my cell phone is from 1988, I don't have pictures. What a blog!

1. RED PANDA ACROBAT!

2. Sitting in the Premier Level area (thanks Mike) and not being able to afford anything on the menu. Great view of the game though.

3. How many different Celtics shirts/jerseys/jackets people were wearing. To the jersey t-shirt that had "Chief" and the dub zero on the back, to the 350lb. Irish dude wearing a Pierce jersey with no shirt on underneath. Even the little girl with the pink 2008 championship shirt was cute.

4. But none of those compare to the guy in my section wearing an authentic MICHAEL JORDAN WHITE SOX JERSEY! Speechless...

That went well...

5. The sequence of Zach Randolph slamming his shoulder into Leon, Leon flying to the floor, Randolph dribbling over his prone body, then the ref calling a foul on Powe. You can't make this stuff up. It's one thing to watch the refs on TV and complain. But you really don't know just how awful the officiating is until you have good seats at a live game. Unbelievable. Anyway, Leon was a trooper last night grabbing nine boards and defending a guy with at least three inches and 75 bills on him. Randolph had his way early on but Leon really buckled down in the second half. Plus Leon's only field goal was a MONSTROUS alley oop dunk. I mean, he really got up there. But Leon, seriously, work on your free throws dude.

6. Baron Davis fouling out and proceeding to bitch at the refs for a good 45 seconds straight but not getting a technical with less than two minutes to play.

7. The French kids sitting next to us flipping out and trying to take pictures of Adam Sandler who was sitting courtside. Next to Marcus Allen which was quite the odd pairing. Also, Sandler was shaking hands with people at halftime and seemed like a pretty likeable guy. Too bad he hasn't made a good movie since 1996.

8. Knowing that the game could have been over if Pierce hit a wide open three following a sick block by Leon. It would have put the Celtics up by 12 with 8:42 left. Trust me, even with that much time left, Randolph was getting tired, Eric Gordon couldn't hit the water if he fell out of T-Pain's boat (He finished with 4 points. Gordon, not T-Pain.) and Camby and Davis were inconsistent all night. But Pierce bricked it and the Clip, to their credit, hung in there and forced Pierce back into 2006 mode at the end of the game where he just dribbled at the three point line for about 10 seconds, then drove towards the foul line and launched an off balanced jumper. Which he also missed.

9. As Rondo drove the length of the court with five seconds left, Big Baby whiffs on setting a screen but pops out to the three point line anyway and holds his hand up motioning that he's open while Rondo proceeds to dribble the ball out of bounds, ending the game.

10. Realizing that out of the 15 total wins the Clippers have this year, I was there for two of them.

Buccaneers Release Brooks, Dunn

2009-02-26T07:06:00.006-05:00

Montgomery, Gentry quoted as "happy to still be employed".

Save a horse, ride Jason Witten.

Hey ohhhhhhhhhh.

P.S. check back soon for an actual post that took time. It'll be good, I 64% promise.

Edit: I also just realized that I'm pretty sure it's Big & Rich and not Montgomery Gentry that did "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy". The point is, the song sucks, so do the Cowboys.

What To Expect When You're Expecting No Posts

2009-02-20T15:27:00.004-05:00

So as we've commented on already, we haven't been posting much, but I'm planning to change that. As the resident football correspondent (at least now that James has gone MIA) I'll admit I'm one of the losers that gets jazzed for the NFL Combine and all of its meaninglessness each year. One thing is different this year than most though... due to my switch RCN (note: EFF YOU COMCAST) I actually have the NFL Network now! So I can watch guys run fast and jump high! In HD!!

I plan to watch the workouts for each of the position groups and put up some posts breaking down anything notable that stands out from each workout. Why would you bother listening to me when hundreds of other sites (including ones full of professionals who actually know what they're talking about) are doing the same thing? Because I'll focus more on hilarious names and facial hair than actual performance, and that's information you can't afford to miss. Let's just say I was touting Ashton Youboty (hee hee, it sounds like booty!) for first overall pick a couple seasons ago.

Oh, and will all the sweating, grunting, and disc herniating this next week, let's try and have a little sympathy for the little guy that takes the brunt of it all... the tackling dummy. Hang in there buddy.

Addition by Subtraction

2009-02-17T10:24:00.003-05:00

I'll let the above picture speak for itself. Okay, so it's not like Sam I Am was actually doing anything to hurt the Celtics on the court this year, but I take some comfort in the fact that he won't be able to. That's right, the Celtics traded away Sam Cassel to Sacramento for a "heavily protected" second round pick. Really? Second round picks can come heavily protected? What the hell for?

Anyway, while I understand and appreciate that KG and Cassel are supposed to be buddies, and he's like having another coach (party because he's almost 40) and yadda yadda yadda... it's nice that they were able to dump some salary for a guy who doesn't even get on the court. And if we do get a 2nd round pick out of it, we've all seen what Danny Ainge can do with those (see: Davis, Powe, Gomes).

Thanks for your time with the team Sam. Who knows, maybe it was your advice that helped Rondo mature to where he is now as a player. I'm just glad I don't have to see your face on a regular basis anymore. As far as I'm concerned you can take your freaky alien face and your testicle dance and move on back to the left coast.

PS: Scrob, it ain't dead yet. I'm still in if you are. Love, Adam Man.

Tyler Durden hearts Sabermetrics

2009-02-05T20:03:00.004-05:00

Brad Pitt and his Ocean's Eleven director Steven Soderbergh are set to reteam for a movie adaptation of Michael Lewis' bestselling book Moneyball: The Art Of Winning An Unfair Game. Soderbergh is in talks to direct the film in which Pitt is slated to star as Oakland A's general manager, Billy Beane.

Somewhere, Joe Morgan is crying and masterbating using his tears as lubricant.

Okay, go back to not caring about this blog anymore.

Uh ohhhhhh

2009-02-02T14:34:00.003-05:00

During the Celtics game yesterday, Tommy Heinsohn and Mike Gorman on Comcast Sports Net were not giving Leon ANY love. After one stretch of a couple great assists and steals from Leon, he missed a shot. Tommy's only comment was "Gotta make those baskets, Leon." Moments later, Patrick O'Bryant came in and played a couple minutes of terrible basketball, which was met with "God, this kid is great to watch!!" from Tommy and Mike. Ugh. Methinks the Doc hate for Leon has spread to the homer announcers. Better get your agent ready, Leon.. doesn't look like Boston will make a place for you next year.

P.S. This morning, Sportscenter: "In the abscence of KG, Leon Powe really shined yesterday." Take that, terrible people who hate Leon.

The Superbowl

2009-02-01T22:12:00.002-05:00

HOW DO YOU NOT REVIEW THAT FUMBLE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

The Franchise

2009-01-06T13:02:00.008-05:00

Let's get one thing straight. Tom Brady is going to the Hall of Fame. He is one of the five greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. And once he is healthy, he will once again be the starter for the New England Patriots. Unfortunately, no one knows when that will be. And until then, Matt Cassel will be behind center for potentially the entire 2009 season. In order for this to happen, the Patriots need to franchise him and keep him from becoming a free agent. They have from February 5th to the 19th to do so. Of course, this means he will be paid the average of the five highest QB salaries (roughly $14.4 million).

He is worth it.

"You're going to pay me how much?"

For one year anyway.

Just consider how far he's come from a guy some people thought would be cut after the preseason, to a dude who finished with an 89.4 rating, good for tenth in the league. He didn't throw a ton of touchdowns and he sometimes stayed in the pocket too long, but a "rookie" season of 11-5 is pretty damn good. Especially considering all the injuries that the team had to deal with.
And just briefly getting back to the "staying in the pocket" issue, dude was sacked 47 times, the most of any QB in the entire NFL. I don't care if you're Drew Bledsoe circa 2009, the O-line has to claim some responsibility. 47 TIMES!?! Plus, he finished 8th in passing yards, only threw 11 picks and led the team to four straight wins to end the year.

We all saw how bringing in some random dude (or douche in the Jets' situation) to jump in without having the slightest clue about how to run the team's offense works. Yeah, it sucks that Brady will most likely miss more time, but it's in the team's best interest to have Cassel stick around for another year. If Brady does make it back at any point in the 2009 campaign, the Patriots can certainly trade Cassel. But both players deserve the respect of keeping them both aboard by the front office/fans/media in an effort to avenge an 11-5 season without making the playoffs. (Although, the Chargers did win their first round game, so...)

And yes, I picked that picture on purpose. His brother Justin is in the White Sox farm system.

This Can't Be Good

2009-01-02T18:38:00.004-05:00

I rouse from my New Years stupor to see this horrifying story.

Maybe the most freightening line in the entire article:

When asked specifically about the likelihood of Marbury joining the Celtics this season, the source predicted that "it will happen."

Oh my god Danny, please don't do this. Anything was this. I know you're trying to get people off your back for sticking with Sam Cassell, but going with an even crazier old point guard is not the way to do it.

*crawls back into a bottle*

Newman's wax beans...

2008-12-19T19:21:00.004-05:00

Obscure Seinfeld reference for you. Anyway, it's no secret that there haven't been many posts lately. Whether it's the time of year, a laissez-faire funk, or the fact that I can't access G-mail, we've sort of bottomed out here at startplayingleonpowe.com. I'm heading back to the east coast tomorrow and will meet with the rest of the contributers to figure out where we go from here. Hopefully we can get back on track.

Until then, Happy Holidays.

Finally!

2008-12-10T18:58:00.008-05:00

I know the Casey Blake and Adam Everett signings were setting your world on fire, but the first big signing of the offseason is official. CC Sabathia has been signed by the New York Yankees for 7 years at $161 million (with an opt out clause after only 3 years) making the 28 year old, the second richest player on his team. Many reports were saying that Sabathia wanted to play for a west coast team but as Ted Dibiase always said, "Everybody's got a price."

Breaking news: Dude is fat.

The Yankees' starting rotation looks a wee bit better with the big guy at the top. A healthy Chein-Ming Wang shifts down to number 2 and the second coming of Roger Clemens, er, I mean Joba Chamberlain will be third. Now MLB.com has some guy named Alfredo Aceves after Joba followed by Phil Hughes. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say New York is going to sign one more starting pitcher but if they don't, that's Sabathia followed by 4 right handed pitchers all of whom are under 30. The fun stat of the day is that CC is 21-8 lifetime against the four other AL East teams.

If the Rays end up dealing Sonnanstine or Jackson, they can still put David Price into a rotation that won 97 games last year. I haven't heard anything out of Tampa Bay, but I would consider using the Jonathan Papelbon model and converting Price into a lights out closer. Either way, that starting five is tremendous. A healthy Josh Beckett is still one of the best in the game, but he needs to show up to camp in shape next year so he can avoid those nagging injuries. But he along with Daisuke, Lester, possibly Masterson and whatever free agent Boston inevitably signs (John Smoltz, really?) comprise a pretty formidable rotation as well.

Of course, Sabathia signing with the Yankees leaves the Dodgers a little high and dry. Lowe is obviously not staying and they don't seem to be on Burnett's radar. So without a top pitching free agent to sign, I think Ned Coletti has do something he wasn't too keen on doing: paying Manny Ramirez a lot of scrilla. Fortunately for LA however, not too many teams seem to be chomping at the bit to sign Manny. On a side note, I love how the GM meetings are at the Bellagio. Awesome.

So will Teixeira be the next one to sign? Are teams seriously considering giving Derek Lowe a 4 year deal? Also, can we expect a few big trades (hey Kenny Williams, I like Jermaine Dye, don't trade him, thanks) before the New Year? Why don't I have Peter Gammons' phone number? We should totally hang out!

UPDATE: The Yankees just offered A.J. Burnett five years for $80 million. Hmmm....

UPDATE #2: Friday - Sabathia, Wang, Burnett, Joba, Phil Hughes. Yikes.

Dear James...

2008-12-09T10:02:00.005-05:00

SUCK IT!!

For those of you who care (read: nobody) I'm still fighting for a playoff spot in one league, the one that all other writers for this blog are a part of. I went into last night trailing James, who is in 1st place in that league, by 30 points with DeAngelo Williams left to go. I trailed by over 20 points going into halftime. And I left the game victorious. Because DeAngelo Williams is effing AWESOME.

Sure, James will still be in the playoffs, while I have to win next week and outscore the 4th place team by 40 points. But I don't care right now, because I went from 2-7 to 7-7 and at least have a reason to care about fantasy football for another week.

Also, James: continue to suck it.

6 20 17 12 9 18 11

2008-12-08T20:40:00.003-05:00

No this isn't some crazy new Lost number sequence. It is actually the number of minutes Leon has played in the last seven games dating back to 11/26. Only one of those games was a back to back so Doc can't use that excuse. In fact, there is no discernible pattern to his playing time. Nine minutes against the Pacers at home in a 114-96 final? (Scalabrine had 15 for those of you keeping track at home/hating life.) His total number of minutes is down to 16.3 on the year. Celtics fans can't be complaining too much since the team is a ridiculous 20-2 but I'm not going to let up on Doc. One negative thing I can say about Leon's game though is his free throw percentage is down. (Fun fact: Leon has gotten to the line every game except one so far this season.) Other than that, why is he only getting two more minutes per game than last year? Is it matchups? Is Garnett refusing to leave games? By the way, KG's numbers are all down across the board except FG% and FT% so it's not like he's lighting it up.

Halp Plz.

Quick note

2008-12-03T15:03:00.003-05:00

I realize I haven't been writing about Leon all that much so far this season but I wanted to pass this along. I was reading through some Bob Ryan posts on boston.com and came across this excerpt from a couple of weeks ago:

"You have to love the bench. Man-for-man, they don't seem that imposing, but they have really developed a group rapport and it's really fun when they get into the game. How can you not appreciate Leon Powe? That is one inside scoring, rebounding, and hustling kid. You say, "Wow, wouldn't it be great if he were 6-foot-11?" but then you realize he might not try so hard if he were 6-11. He's just right at 6-8."

The Celtics host the Pacers tonight who are coming off a gigantic last second win against the Lakers. Indiana is also the last team to beat Boston...on November 1st.

12/1/08: Celtics v. Magic

2008-12-02T10:05:00.003-05:00

Thanks to my obsessive refreshing of Ticketmaster, Ben and I were able to grab some cheap seats to see the defending champs take on the Orlando Magic last night at the garden. Psyched! A few random thoughts from last night:

J.J. Redick started the game, thanks to a host of injured Orlando players. A shooting clinic it was not, however, as Jonathan Clay managed only six points despite playing 31 minutes. The crowd was pretty excited by his appearance, though, but not nearly as excited as they were for..
SCAL-A-BRI-NE. Alright. Yes. It's funny that he's goofy looking and terrible, and when the blinding all-orange AT&T ad comes on while he's playing, he looks even goofier. But he's BAD. Stop the chants, people. Doc doesn't know you're kidding and actually puts him in. Just stop.
Nine technicals in the game! The Celtics now lead for most technicals in the league, thanks in large part to Perk's nine on the season. I had two favorites on the night:

Sam Cassell drew a technical and was ejected (to massive cheers) in the 2nd quarter for arguing a technical that was called on Perk. And no, he was not playing at the time.
Rashard Lewis got a technical and was stewing, perhaps thinking about starting a conversation with the ref. Hedo Turkoglu noted that this would be a bad decision, and ambled over to Lewis to talk him down, rub his back, maybe make him a warm cup of milk, but Rashard would have none of that and shoved Turkoglu down. Which leads me to this..

Orlando looked like a pile of garbage. Clearly evident from the score (107-88), and the shooting %s (54%-42%), but this looked like a dysfunctional team. Dwight Howard looked annoyed that he's not still playing with the Olympic team/impatient for the dunk contest. Obviously this was not the usual Orlando starting lineup, but they just looked off for much of the game.
Kind of a lackluster night for Leon.. 12 mins, a couple rebounds, a couple points, and three fouls. Note to Leon: work on your damn free throws! I'm sure RayRay can help you obsessively practice this shot until your arms fall off...

A great night for Pierce, Rondo, Allen, Garnett, House, and the row in front of us that won free bowls of clam chowder from Legal. Jerks. I'm hungry now, after looking at pictures of clam chowder, so I'm out.

Monday...Meditations?

2008-12-01T20:17:00.006-05:00

Damn it. Monday Musings sounds sooo much better than Sunday Musings AdamMan! Oh well. Thanksgiving slowed down the production at SPLP but we're getting back on track. Of course, this is just going to be me talking about random things incoherently because I don't (never?) have the ability to put together an actual structured column right now. My brain is fried from being back at work for one day. Okay ramblers, let's get ramblin'.

I had a feeling last Monday that the first big free agent signing was going to happen before the holiday. It's a week later and all we have is...Mike Hampton? Wow, way to make headlines Houston. This guy is like the Family Guy flashback when they remade Peter into the six hundred dollar man. He's not quite human, not quite cyborg, but all kinds of washed up. I know they aren't going to pay him a lot of money but where's the huge Teixeira deal? How come the Yankees haven't signed Sabathia yet? The Hot Stove is cooler than Freddie Jackson sipping a milkshake in a snowstorm.

Speaking of AdamMan, I can't even begin to imagine what it was like at Gillette yesterday. Apparently no one told Matt Light that poor Matt Cassel is playing for a contract. The running game continues to fail and I have never seen Randy Moss drop two wide open catches like that in the same game. The Patriots might have to win every game from here on out just to make the playoffs although only one team will make it out of the AFC West. James' absence is oddly conspicuous so far today. How could anyone be proud of that Colts' win? Whether you like them or not though, they are building some serious momentum. And I HIGHLY doubt Manning will ever have a game like that for the rest of his career.

If you have plans on Saturday night, break them immediately. Manny Pacquiao is set to put the beatdown on the Golden Boy himself, Oscar De La Hoya. Pacquiao is regarded as the best pound for pound fighter in the world. I know next to nothing about the sport, but I've watched a bunch of Pacquiao's fights and they never fail to entertain. Now he's in the biggest fight of his career against a very unlikeable opponent who will most likely outweigh him by at least 15 pounds when they step into the ring together. Manny started his career at 108 pounds (or lbs.) and critics are hailing this as nothing more than De La Hoya not wanting to fight someone his own size. If you are on the fence about watching the fight and have HBO, watch the great 24/7 series. Initially when the fight was being discussed, Oscar said it would be his last fight. He has already changed his mind and will most likely fight again. But he'll keep ducking guys like Margarito. On the other hand, a Pacquiao/Ricky Hatton showdown could be infinitely entertaining and could quite possibly be one of the last great fights of this era. Let's face it folks, boxing in the United States has been on it's deathbed for some time. And whether Pacquiao wins or loses, the sport is only a few years away from finally kicking the bucket.

Has fan(s).

Saturday night, I attended the Clippers/Heat game at the Staples Center. Believe it or not, it was actually a pretty exciting game with LA squeaking out a 97-96 win. Miami had just beated Phoenix the night before and just didn't have enough gas to close out the game. They were outscored 29-23 in the fourth quarter despite good showings from Dwayne Wade (duh), Michael Beasley who came off the bench, and Udonis Haslem. One player who wasn't so productive was Shawn Marion. But that didn't really matter to one dedicated fan of "The Matrix." We were sitting in section 301, halfway up. And as stated before, I am a Heat fan. Apparently I'm not taking my team seriously enough. There was this dude in a Marion jersey yelling in a deadpan voice (if that's possible) "Let's go Shawn Marion! Let's go Matrix!" to the point where other people started chanting in jest. DID NOT bother this guy one bit. It also didn't bother him that Marion scored 5 points in 33 minutes. I had to go over and high five him at one point just so he didn't hurl himself off the balcony. Good times.

And just to throw this out there, I just finished Bret Hart's autobiography. If you were ever a fan of the Hitman or professional wrestling in general, it is a fascinating read. He kept an audio diary of his entire career and man is it in depth. The tragedies and struggles of Bret and the entire Hart family are truly monumental. It's a good 550 pages, but once you start, it's tough to put down. Kind of like a package of Peeps.

Sunday Musings

2008-11-30T22:58:00.007-05:00

As you probably didn't notice, we didn't get a picks column up today. Blame it on Thanksgiving. Blame it on us being a couple of lazy assholes. Or, if you're like me and Milli, you could blame it on the rain. I would have thrown up a half-assed column (again) but I was busy watching Ben ROFLsberger and the Steelers capitalize on big-ass mistakes by the Patriots today. It's one thing to watch your team choke in a statement game at home. It's another thing to sit through 3 hours of 35 degree driving rain while watching it. Just ask the icy, blunt objects that I used to refer to as "my feet"... that blew.
Around the league, an unbelievable 10 out of 12 road teams won today. I'm sure that made a lot of bookies smile big grill-filled smiles. At least you can still count on Cincinnati, Cleveland, and St. Louis to lose in this mixed up NFL of ours. Buffalo continues their giant nose-dive. Has anybody else noticed this all started after 1) they gave Jauron a contract extension because they went 5-1 and 2) Their QB got knocked in the head? Meanwhile, everything you know about the Broncos and Jets is apparently wrong. But of course, my day was mainly based around this:

You may not have known about Matt Slater, rookie DB/WR/special teams "specialist" who's the son of Hall of Famer Jackie Slater, before today. But if you care even vaguely about the Patriots, Steelers, or AFC playoff picture in general, you're probably familiar with him now. One epic doink off Slater's hands helped set a tightly contested 13-10 game on it's course towards a frustrating 33-10 laugher. With games coming up against the Seahawks and Raiders, plus games against the slumping Cardinals and Bills, the Patriots season is by no means over. But today was just more proof that this is not the efficient, mistake-free Patriots team that you're used to.

I know it will be easy for people to look at Cassel's 2 INTs and 2 fumbles and assume he's to blame for this one. But with Randy Moss dropping 2 wide-open passes (one in the endzone), both fumbles coming on blindside hits after Matt Light got horribly beat, and one of those picks being in desperation garbage time... watching the game it was clear there were others far more to blame for this one.

Just a side note: I feel the need to point out the impressive amount of mediocrity I've managed to achieve in fantasy football this season. Going into this week, in my four fantasy football leagues, ALL four teams came in with a gag-inducing 5-7 record. They all got there different ways, they all had a unique path to ineptitude, but my fantasy teams are united in that beautiful mark that is eerily similar to Dustin Pedroia's height. The one bright spot: the team I'm the most invested in just locked up it's 4th straight win to pull to 6-7, and I actually have a shot at a playoff spot in that league. Hooray for small victories!

Turducken Day Picks!

2008-11-27T10:11:00.007-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. James here to throw up some Thanksgiving football picks. You know, at first glance, this seems like a pretty awful group of games. Detroit playing Tennessee? Oh my God, blowout, right? Dallas and Seattle? BORING. Well at least the Cards and Eagles could be entertaining tonight except OH WAIT, it's on the NFL Network, so 80% of you won't see it!

Anyway, yeah, this seems fairly unentertaining unless you follow one of these teams. Still, I'm excited. Mostly excited for the Detroit/Tennessee game. Let me explain.

Tennessee Titans at Detroit Lions
This is a game the Lions can win. I swear to God I'm not crazy. Detroit came out strong last week against Tampa Bay, and if football games were 15 minutes long, it would have been a blowout. They've got to win one game this season, they've GOT to. I think this is their best matchup. Culpepper has shown flashes of his old self since coming back, and if the Lions can build an early lead on the Titans, Tennessee's waning offense might not come back. Yes, Detroit has the second worst defense in the league, but Kerry Collins is finally becoming a liability (although you won't hear the media admit that, they'll still gush all day about how great he is at 'game management'), and the whole Smash and Dash combination isn't smashing or dashing like they were a few weeks ago.

This game will be decided in the first 10 minutes. If Tennessee comes out and plays like they did to win their first 10 games, they'll dominate. If they can get ahead of Detroit, the Lions stand almost no chance of winning the game.

This is the Lions' day. Thanksgiving is reserved for them and the Cowboys. If the Lions are going to win any day this season, it's today. They can play with teams, they just haven't for 60 minutes. Even if they go 1-15 this season, the damage will be much worse if than one win came against the Titans. If this weren't Thanksgiving, and this were a 1:00 game on a Sunday, I'd say it'd be a blowout for the Titans. This is a special football day though, and special things could happen.

Adam: I was really excited to predict for all of you the 0-12 DEE-TROIT ~~BASKET-BALL~~ Lions defeating the 12-0 Titans for the biggest NFL upset in upwards of 10 months... but stupid Bart Frave and the NY Jerks ruined all that. Fuck it, I'm still picking the Lions, and I predict Megatron knocking Cortland "Don't Call Me Seamus" Finnegan out for at least a quarter. Lions win, 24-21

James' pick: If you couldn't tell already, I'm picking the Lions to win for the second week in a row. 24-21.

Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys
This game comes across to me as far less special and exciting as the Lions/Titans game. Dallas finally found its groove and has played better football than the Titans these last couple weeks. Let's face it, the Seahawks are awful. Their two wins this season? Pre-Haslett St. Louis, and San Francisco. If the Lions played the Seahawks, I'd take the Lions in a heartbeat. Seattle stinks.

Let's face it. if the Cowboys lose this game, Tony Romo will be burned in effigy all around Dallas. This is a must-win game for the Cowboys. They NEED to be 8-4 going into next week. After today, they have arguably the toughest schedule in the NFL for any playoff contender. They go up against the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Football Giants, Baltimore Ravens, and Philadelpia Eagles. They'll need to go at least 3-1 to have a shot at the Wild Card, so any hiccups in their most winnable game will be detrimental to their chances at seeing January. Most coaches want their teams to look at this week and only this week, but Wade Phillips has to be stressing the importance of winning this game.

Seattle has to be dying to get through this week and be one game closer to finishing this season. Mike Holmgren has to be dying to be one game closer to having a nice long vacation (as if he'll stay away from football for very long). Julius Jones ought to be getting tons of carries for the Seahawks. Matt Hasselbeck ought to be throwing lots of incompletions. Their defense ought to be giving up lots of points. When you've been through the kind of season that Seattle's had, you can't blame them for not having any heart left. While 31 teams are looking forward to next week, Seattle's looking forward to next season.

Side note. I just got Rick Roll'd by the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Now my entire family thinks I'm crazy because they don't get the phenomenon. Not to mention RICK FREAKING ASTLEY performed it live. I think Rick Astley wins the award for the greatest Rick Roll of all time. I also think I just witnessed the death of Rick Rolling. You can't top it, you just can't. Alright 4Chan people, let's get on finding a new internet prank phenomenon.

Anyway, I don't care about talking about this game anymore.

Adam: Dallas/Seattle: I want to pick Seattle, I really do. I want that lovely city to have something to cheer about. I want local boy Matt Hasselbeck to make good and give the Hawks hope that next year, when they're not forced to use backup QBs as wideouts, things can be better. I want to, but I just can't Not in Dallas. Not on Thanksgiving. Not this year. Dallas wins, 34-13.

James' pick: Cowboys win 37-17

Arizona Cardinals at Philadelphia Eagles
Did anyone think at the beginning of the season that Kurt Warner and Ken Whisenhunt would be a heavy favorite over Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid at this point in the season? In fact, did anyone think that four weeks into the season? Four weeks ago even? Well they are, and even though the Cardinals are only being given 3 points, I think people are expecting a much bigger win from Arizona than that.

Let's face it Eagles, this is the NFL, and even a team as talented as yours can lose hold of their season in a matter of seconds. I actually think the Eagles are a far better team than the Cardinals, but their morale is so broken at this point that I don't know what to expect. Are they going to have a resurgence and make their record at the end of the season more reflective of the team they should have been? Maybe.

Another parade side note. What's with all of these cheesy tween boy/girl groups? I mean, seriously, this is terrible. Miley Cyrus is expected, but they're throwing out groups such as the Clique Girlz and the Varsity Fanclub and I don't know who else, but it's so awful. I'd rather listen to new age renditions of Christmas music the entire parade than another one of these douchebag groups.

Back to the game. The Cardinals' magic number is 1. No pressure to win this game, which could hurt them. Do I think Whisenhunt is telling his team "Don't worry about playing well fellas, if we don't get them this game, we'll get em next time"? No, but the Cardinals aren't going to kill themselves to win this game. Maybe the Eagles' desire to end this season with a little bit more respect will fuel them to outplay Arizona, or maybe they'll come out tonight and play the exact same way they've played these past couple weeks.

Last side note. The View episode with Rachael Ray and Elizabeth Hasselbeck looking smoking hot side by side is on, so I think it's time to say goodbye to the parade and hello to fwap fwap fwap time.

Well, time to load up on food prior to watching football, drinking beer, and loading up on more food.

Adam: Last week's gut check against the Giants will do the Cards a lot of good. When it comes down to it, they didn't get blown out of the joint. They didn't roll over and die. They played hard, they put up some points on a good defense, and they made a late game onside kick mean something. Meanwhile the Eagles are doing their best to cash in on all the good spirit of the Phillies' win, and finally tanking like they've always wanted. I see a sizeable win for Arizona (38-20), and a lot of these kids of looks on the Philly bench:

James' pick: Rachael Ray looks BANGIN. Oh, and the Cardinals win 31-24

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Week 12 Picks

2008-11-23T12:06:00.006-05:00

Hey there boys and girls. It's Adam Man here, and yes I'm still alive. First off I want to thank James for filling in last week while I was incapacitated. I know I've been getting a little lazy around here lately, but I assure you all I'm still fully committed to writing inane drivel that nobody will read. And you can take that to the bank.

Week 12 is here, and that means records are starting to mean something, fluke seasons are starting to turn into football fact, and most importantly that it's time for Marques Colston to catch a god damned pass. Seriously. Looking around the league, it seems that there is no Eastern Division team, in either conference, with a losing record. That's simply amazing. Almost as amazing as there being no NFC North team with a winning record. I can't figure out if that's the worst thing right now, or if it's the fact that a horrible Denver team has the inside track to win their division.

I know these are getting up late today, but the blame for that can be placed on the wonderful feast that is Turducken. That took up my entire Saturday and left me in a coma until late this morning. Anyway, enough of my rambling, here are the picks (featuring James' rambling).

Week 12 Picks:

Texans @ Browns (-3)
Adam: So I've decided to dub this the "Wow, We Really Expected This To Go Better" Bowl. Both teams came into the season with big hype that they were going to break out and become one of the next bigtime AFC teams. Now at 3-7 and 4-6 respectively, it's looking like another year of trying to figure out how to make that leap. Two games into the Brady Quinn era, the offense has scored 29 and 30 points in his two starts, good for 2nd and 3rd most points all year. Looking down the pipe, the Browns need this game as they've still got the Colts, Titans, Steelers, and a desperate Eagles team on their schedule. Houston, meanwhile, has been a very streaky team. A 4-game losing streak to start the year, followed by a nice 3-game win streak, but they've dropped 3 straight since then to some very good teams. With Cleveland, Jax, and Green Bay up next, I see another little streak coming on. I just don't see the Browns slowing Steve Slaton down, and Quinn is due for his first stinker game as a starter.
Adam's Pick: Houston wins, 24-20
James' Pick: Texans over the Browns 28-20

49ers @ Cowboys (-7)
James: The 49ers are playing to keep their dignity. The Cowboys are playing to keep their playoff hopes alive. This is a must-win for Dallas, and they know it. A big win over Washington last week kept America's team looking towards January, but it's far from a done deal. Can they get over their locker room drama? Will Tony Romo's homeless date show up at the game in a pink #9 jersey and jinx the team? Those questions will be answered Sunday. Later in the day, Washington's going up against Seattle, so the Cowboys know they MUST win. In must-win situations, Dallas has a tendency to stink worse than say...a homeless guy who hasn't showered in days sitting next to you in a movie theater. Mike Singletary wants this one bad, so while Dallas is a far better team, expect the Niners to come out swinging and take advantage of every opportunity they can.
Adam's Pick: Cowboys take it, 34-13
James' Pick: : Dallas gets a sloppy victory marred by Jessica Simpson, Terrell Owens, and Homeless Man bickering after the game about who Tony loves more. They all find out they're wrong as Romo struts out of the locker room holding Jason Witten's wrist. 24-18

Buccaneers @ Lions (+8)
James: We're actually going to see an 0-11 Detroit team on Thanksgiving. We might as well have fried cod instead of turkey, Jell-O pudding instead of cranberry sauce, and french fries instead of stuffing. Very un-Thanksgiving. That is, of course, as long as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers don't have the worst game of their collective lives. I won't buy that 'trap game' excuse if the Bucs lose, but facing off against New Orleans next week has to be in the back of their minds. Tampa Bay has come so far, yet still has a ways to go before securing a playoff spot. Jeff Garcia has come through for the second season in a row, not having secured the starting job prior to the season starting, but still ending up one of the league's most effective quarterbacks. Detroit hung around with Carolina last week, so an automatic win isn't necessarily the case for Tampa. As bad as the Lions are, the Bucs still have to play a good game if they want to stay with the Panthers in the division.
Adam's Pick: Bucs win, 21-17
James' Pick: Detroit saves Thanksgiving by winning 21-20

Jets @ Titans (-1.5)
Adam: I dunno about you, but that looks like a might tiny line to me for an undefeated team at home. Apparently people are convinced by the Jets and their 4-game winning streak. That, and it seems people know the Titans are good, but nobody believes they're good enough to take this streak all the way. As people have been pointing out all week, these teams actually have a lot of similarities. Big, fat, and ridiculously awesome run-stuffing Defensive Tackles (Jenkins and ~~Face-Stomper~~ Haynesworth); old, grizzled, ex-alcoholic QB's, quality running back tandems... it sets up nicely for an entertaining slugfest of a game. When it comes down to it, however, I really see the Titans being a little more physical, especially on D, and I have no faith in the Jets to win two big road games in a row. Plus, I'm really looking forward to predicting next week that the 12-0 Titans will lose to the 0-12 Lions on Thanksgiving. Oh, it's gonna happen. BA-LEE DAT!
Adam's Pick: Titans win a tight one, 28-24
James' Pick: Jets over the Titans 20-14

Bills @ Chiefs (+2.5)
James: It was too good to last. Buffalo was one of the hottest teams in the NFL, and they looked legit. Very legit. When they were 5-1, no one could see anyone but them winning the AFC East. Four games later and no one can see them doing anything but winding up dead last in the division. What happened to the Bills? I don't know, but it's not very fun to watch. Maybe Trent Edwards is still in his development phase. That would explain the three interceptions in the first quarter of last Monday's game. They weren't great plays by Cleveland's defense as much as they were easy giveaways. Rian Lindell continued the Bills legacy of going wide right, and if everyone else watching felt the same thing as me, it was destined to happen. It was like the Colts/Steelers game in '05 and the refs blew Troy Polamalu's interception call and the Colts held on for a field goal try. I knew before the kick that Vanderjagt would miss. Sometimes kickers are destined to miss. The positive from the Bills' game: Marshawn Lynch had his first 100 yard game this season (and in turn got me the 22 fantasy points I needed to win last week). They're going to need to have a big offense against the Chiefs if they want to outscore the red hot Tyler Thigpen, one of those rare gems that skips the developmental phase and goes straight to being uber-productive. The Chiefs need a win for their own sanity, and they've got a great shot at doing it.
Adam's Pick: Chiefs win it, 31-21
James' Pick: Kansas City hands Buffalo their 5th loss in a row, 34-24. Bills fans are sad. So am I.

Bears @ Rams (+5)
James: The Bears are in the best position to take control of the NFC North this week. While Minnesota and Green Bay are off facing the Jaguars and Saints, respectively, they get the lowly Rams who have gotten back to playing the Rams football we all expected to see this season. Chicago has an opportunity to brush off being on the wrong end of a blowout against the Pack last week with a victory in St. Louis. Steven Jackson's holdout injury and the Rams inability to stop good offenses such as Chicago's makes this matchup very favorable for the Bears. We'll see if their defense gets back to normal and they're able to either stay in first or take the lead outright.
Adam's Pick: Bears win, 20-14
James' Pick: Nothing special, Bears win 32-14

Patriots @ Dolphins (-1.5)
Adam: After only one win in 2007 the question is: are the Fins just happy to be here at the 5-win mark? Or are they hungry for more? The way they're playing, and the way they're talking, it suggests they're looking to keep this going. Meanwhile, all aboard the Matty Cassel bandwagon! Seriously, he's looking better and better every week, which I expected would happen for a guy with so little starting experience. 400 yards, 3 TDs, 60 rushing yards... it's pretty amazing the numbers he put up in last week's effort. That being said, he's still leaving some plays on the field that could be game changers. A lot of red zone trips are coming away as 3-pointers, and I think there's some value to the theory that Cassel is being told "Hey, no matter what you do, don't throw a pick." He's not taking many chances, in tight coverage, he throws it so far outside that it really looks like he's playing it safe. With how much confidence he seems to be getting, if they take the cuffs off, this offense could really take off.
Adam's Pick: The Pats look at some tape, stop the Wildcat, and win 31-17
James' Pick: New England over Miami 27-24

Vikings @ Jaguars (+1)
James: While I'm sure the Vikes would much rather be going up against St. Louis in a big week for the NFC North contenders, facing the Jaguars isn't much worse. The Jaguars, with a 1-4 home record, have been the epitome of mediocrity this season. When they win, they don't look that great, and when they lose, they look awful. Minnesota's the kind of team that Jacksonville can stay with and even beat if they're on their best game, but Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor really need to have a big game. MoJo is averaging 49.5 yards per game since running all over Denver for 125 yards a month and a half back. Minnesota missed a golden opportunity to beat the Bucs last week and take the division lead, so you know they're going to bring their best game possibly to Jacksonville.

Oh, who am I kidding? Brad Childress was hired to make sure that this team never gains momentum in crucial times, and a six game collapse is imminent. Watch as Adrian Peterson punishes the Jaguars' offensive line for 80 yards in the first quarter, and then gets 5 carries the entire rest of the game.
Adam's Pick: The Vikings take it 29-21, and the Jags continue to be who I thought they were.
James' Pick: Jags take it 25-21

Eagles @ Ravens (EVEN)
James: Seriously, you have to be a giant asshole to tie. It's worse than losing, absolutely worse. Bob, my Eagles fan friend, said he was actually hoping the Bengals kicked the field goal and won the game. You know how in like, 23% of all horror films, the tag line is “THERE ARE FATES WORSE THAN DEATH”? In football, there are fates worse than losing. Like tying, and being known as “the team that tied that one game”. Worse, when your slightly slumping quarterback who's always on thin ice in Philadelphia tells the media he didn't know there were ties in football even though MY MOM knows there are ties in football, you've got a serious, serious problem on your hands. The Ravens aren't a team who want to tie. They're pissed from getting embarrassed by the Giants, and frankly, they're a better team than the Eagles. Much better. This game's in Baltimore, and it's going to be a good one. Trust me. If the Patriots/Dolphins and Jets/Titans weren't going on, I'd probably have this game on at 1:00
Adam's Pick: Ravens win it behind Super Flacco's arm, 24-16
James' Pick: Ravens win big, 31-13, as the Eagles' offense never takes flight.

Raiders @ Broncos (-10)
Adam: As much as I think the Broncos are a bunch of frauds, I still understand that the Raiders are just horrible. They give up over 100 more yards per game than they gain, they are dead last in points scored. It's pretty bad when your fans are looking wistfully up at Daunte Culpepper in Detroit and wondering what might have been. For Denver, the Leatherhead Larson story is enough to give the Broncos good football karma and make sure they don't fall to an upset. That and I always have a hard time rooting against a white running back. Go Peyton Hillis go! Take the Mike Alstott torch and run like hell with it!
Adam's Pick: Broncos yawn to a 34-12 win.
James' Pick: Raiders beat the pants off of the Broncos 12-7 and still don't score a touchdown.

Panthers @ Falcons (EVEN)
Adam: What a big game here for both teams. The Falcons, your feel-good story of the 2008 season, sit at 6-4 and in 3rd place of a very strong division. If they were able to pull off this big win at home, they'd only be one game out of first place with 5 games to play. Even with the uphill climb ahead of them for this season... having an offensive core of young players (with quality personal character) has got to give Falcons fans plenty of hope for the future. The Panthers are playing beyond expectations this season (after being sleeper Super Bowl picks for the past few years) and have a chance to put some space between them and a division opponent. The Panthers live and die by the run (6th ranked rush offense, 17th ranked rush D) as to the Falcons (2nd and 22nd), so expect a quick game with lots of rushes and the clock moving pretty constantly. If I was a betting man? My money would be on the Burner to get the best of this one though.
Adam's Pick: Atlanta closes the gap and wins, 20-17
James' Pick: Panthers over the Falcons 37-34

Giants @ Cardinals (+4.5)
James: A lot of times when a team looks as good as the Giants do, it's because their strength of schedule isn't that great, making them look dominant against easy teams. You can't accuse the G-Men of that this season. They've beaten the Steelers, Cowboys, Eagles, and Ravens all in a row. Eli Manning's got one of the easiest jobs in football. Just hand the ball off to one of your three 70's disco/R&B band themed running backs, and occasionally throw to a receiver and hear about how well you spread the ball around. When your job is made this simple, and you're as good as Eli Manning, a lot of positive things can happen when you get the ball. Justin Tuck leads an absolutely dirty defense that no quarterback ever looks forward to playing against. Even if they're current MVP front-runner Kurt Warner. Warner, Matt Leinart's backup in preseason, is playing like he did with the Rams. Having Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston to throw to doesn't hurt either. It's the #2 offense facing off against the #2 defense. The Super Bowl MVP vs the guy trying to win regular season MVP. The Giants vs the Cardinals. Expect a huge game.
Adam's Pick: The Cards make the NFC a lot more interesting, winning 37-31
James' Pick: The Giants defense has a few hiccups, but is able to hold the Cardinals to just a couple touchdowns while cruising to 10-1. 37-21

Redskins @ Seahawks (+6)
Adam: Here we've got a team on a 3 game losing streak coming in to face a team on a 2-8 streak. The Seahawks have really been doomed by their geography alone this season, falling victim to the curse of Seattle. The injuries they've faced, plus another team in the division pretending to show the slightest sign of competence for the first time this decade, and they didn't stand a chance. This offseason should be very interesting with the expected departure of Holmgrem and the glaring need for an offensive shot in the arm. The Zorn era in Washington has been a roller coaster confidence ride. They really need this game, with tough matchups against the Giants and Ravens the next two week, if they want to stay in the NFC playoff race. The Seahawks are just trying to figure out if Beanie Wells is worth a top-5 pick. Count on the team with urgency winning this one.
Adam's Pick: Redskins stay in the hunt with a 31-13 win
James' Pick: Redskins over the Seahawks 24-10

Colts @ Chargers (+3.5)
James: Do you remember that scene in Rookie of the Year where the kid is facing his first major league pitcher, and the pitch comes in, but he's so scared and nervous that he just goes “ohmygodohmygodohmygod” the entire time? I think that's how the scene goes, but it's been a few years months since I've seen it. Anyway, that has been me this entire week. Part of me is excited on the prospect of going 7-4 while getting revenge on the team that has given us the most trouble these past couple seasons (including ending our season last year). Another part of me is scared to all hell that another nightmare like last season is going to happen. It doesn't get much worse than Peyton Manning throwing 6 interceptions and Adam Vinatieri missing a chip shot field goal that could have won the game, but the postseason wasn't on the line last year. Last time I was this nervous or a game was before the Colts/Patriots AFC Championship game in 2006. This is the biggest game of the season for any Colts fan, without a doubt.

This game is much, much different than last year's. For one, the Colts had just lost their first game of the season, and were just beginning to be hurt by injuries. This was when they started falling apart. The 2008 Colts went through that the first month and a half, and now they're healthy and gelled and much better than this point last year. Also, San Diego's pass defense was a bajillion times better than this year. In fact, the Bolts rank dead last in the NFL in pass defense. Also different from last year is that we don't have to worry about stopping Michael Turner. Instead, we get to focus on the lowly LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles. Ok, so that's not much easier, but still.

I just want the game to be over with already. I get nervous and start sweating and my heart starts racing during preseason games, so this one's going to be tough on me. Luckily, I have DVR now, so I can tape the game and go back to Faith Hill any time things aren't going so well.
Adam's Pick: Sorry James, I pick the Bolts over the Colts, 28-17
James' Pick: Colts 34-27. It'll be another 4th quarter comeback, because Peyton loves doing that and enjoys throwing it in the face of everyone that he can do it better than anyone ever. Colts go 7-4 and create some space between them and a couple other contenders, and I poop myself all over the place.

Bring on the Cubans!

2008-11-21T19:10:00.009-05:00

Alexei Ramirez kicked all kinds of ass the year playing second base for the Chicago White Sox and ended up finishing second in the ROY voting. Let's face it, the Sox weren't getting any younger with guys like Konerko, Pierzynski, Thome and Dye so watching a young guy flourish like that certainly gave me hope for the future of the franchise. He will most likely move to shortstop next season and up until this morning, it was unclear who would be playing to his right.

That fine young gentleman pictured above is Dayan Viciedo, a "19 year old" Cuban defector who is about to sign a 4 year deal to play on the South Side. And okay, I might be getting a little ahead of myself saying that he'll definitely start at third, but he'll certainly compete for the job with Josh Fields as the only player likely standing in his way. And reports are coming in that it was that opportunity to immediately fight for a starting job that swayed Viciedo to sign with Chicago. Plus the presence of Ramirez and Jose Contreras will only help Viciedo to get acclimated to America and to Major League Baseball. He was the youngest player to ever play in the top Cuban league's All-Star game and he can also play right field. However, critics of his play maintain that he is already overweight and unmotivated. Miguel Cabrera comes to mind. That could be good and bad.

Either way, this is the second step (the first was trading Swisher which I didn't touch on here at SPLP just because he was so woefully underperformed and Kenny Williams knew he was wrong in trading for him and cut his losses) in building upon a team that made it to the playoffs this past year. Center field is a big concern as well as another starter in the rotation (Clayton Richard?). Second base could be filled by rookie Chris Getz whose minor league numbers look pretty impressive. With all the talk about the Teixeiras and the Mannys, there are still plenty of free agents out there that could have major impacts on teams. And Williams isn't shy about making trades either. I love how it's not even Thanksgiving yet and I'm already talking looking forward to baseball again. Not to say I'm ignoring the NBA by any means. In fact, the Celtics' win last night was very, very impressive. People back home are saying that Boston's defense might actually be better than last year. Holy crap. I don't think Al Harrington and Cuttino Mobley know what they're in for. (And by the way Clippers fans, how excited are you about having Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby and Zach Randolph in the game at the same time? That was only semi-sarcastic too!)

Finally, there are six HUGE NFL games this weekend that James and AdamMan will cover in their picks post. It's do or die for a few teams with Titans/Jets and Giants/Cardinals standing as potential playoff matchups. Sooo glad I have DIRECTV. Have a good weekend everyone!

Preview: Thursday Night Football! Woo!

2008-11-20T13:04:00.004-05:00

When I think of Thursday night, the one thing that most comes to mind is how excited I am to sit back, crack open a cold beer, and occasionally check on the game on ESPN.com while watching something else because I don't get the NFL network.

Seriously though, I hate when the Colts are Thursday nighters because a) Playing three days before everyone else does sucks and b) I have to go out to actually see the game. The Colts get to play in the armpit of NFL time slots week 16, and I am looking forward to that, mainly because that means we get three extra days of rest and practice before we play the Titans the final game of the season.

Anyway, so the Steelers and Bengals sans Ocho Cinco play tonight. I don't think Cinci's chances were that great with 85, but they definitely don't improve without him. The team says no comment until after the game on why he's inactive, but sounds like no good.

The Steelers are coming off a close 11-10 game last week against the Bolts. Prior to that, the Colts beat them. They've been shaky these past couple weeks, but were able to play smart football and not turn the ball over in their San Diego win. Don't count Cinci out, but this game's being played at Heinz Field, and the Steelers are definitely looking to create some space between them and the Ravens.

I expect awkward play from both teams, because that's what happens on a Thursday night game. Roethlisberger will probably throw for 80 yards with 4 turnovers, but the Steelers still score 42 points on interceptions and fumbles returned for touchdowns or something.

The Bengals need to play consistent offense if they're going to have any chance. Last time these two teams played, the Bengals hung on for a while, but eventually the Steelers just bullied them out of the game.

On the plus side for the Bengals, at least this game gives them an extra three days to prepare for the Ravens.

James' pick: I call upset. Why the f not? Forget everything I just said, Bengals win 17-7

OH MY GOD DOC!

2008-11-18T20:04:00.007-05:00

I guess myself, espn.com, and common sense weren't enough to sway Doc Rivers. He started BRIAN SCALABRINE tonight! He played in the first 6 minutes with Garnett suspended and did jack squat. Leon mercifully came in to replace him and this better be one of those things like Doc pulled last year. Start someone and have them play roughly half of the first quarter and sit them on the bench for the rest of the game. There is no excuse for Leon to not start and as long as he doesn't get into foul trouble tonight, there is no reason why he shouldn't get upwards of 28-30 minutes. You can even make the lame argument that Leon is more effective because he comes off the bench and provides a spark but that doesn't fly after what he accomplished in the finals last year. That's the biggest stage there is, coming off the bench or not. And it's his third year in the league. Further proof that Doc is going to bail after the Big Three move along and has no interest in grooming the young guys for future success. Honestly Doc, just because your team is 9-2 and are the defending World Champs doesn't mean you can pull crap like this. Prove me wrong buddy.

Oh yeah, I just checked the play by play. Leon scored 6 points in the final minute of the quarter on two jump shots and two free throws.

P.S. If someone can come across an actual, real reason that Doc provided to start Scalabrine, holla.

EDIT: According to Boston.com, Doc wanted to "keep the second unit in tact." Yeah, a good way to do that is by putting a guy in who is below the second unit. They also reference the whopping 13 minutes Scalabrine played against the Bucks where he went 2-2 and had 1 assist. Great. The website also provided this gem that I addressed during the finals:

"After a 21-point effort in Game 2 of last year's NBA Finals, Powe put up a dud when he started Game 5 in place of Kendrick Perkins, going scoreless in 5 minutes of play."

Ugh.

Anyway, with 1:45 left in the 3rd quarter, Leon is leading the team with 14 points in just 15 minutes.

WTF, Mercury Morris?

2008-11-18T06:48:00.005-05:00

So if you haven't heard, Mercury Morris couldn't stand that his fifteen minutes of post-NFL fame were over from last season. A couple days ago, the guy who was about the 6th or 7th most impressive 1972 Dolphin (seriously, he's not even their best running back. Guess which back from the 72 Fins is in the Hall of Fame? I'll give you a hint, it's Larry Csonka and not Mercury Morris) saw another opportunity to come out and have people listen to him, and said he likes the 2008 Tennessee Titans.

Now, ok, don't get me wrong. If the Titans went undefeated, that's great for them. I'd be disappointed the Colts didn't win it all, but you can't argue a perfect season. However, Mercury Morris is the same guy who was on ESPN literally every 20 minutes last year to talk about how he didn't want the Patriots to go 19-0. I didn't want them to go 19-0 either, but I can at least appreciate that what the Patriots did was far more impressive than what the Titans have accomplished thus far.

I've said it before, and this isn't just a bitter Colts fan talking now (if I'm arguing FOR the Patriots, you can't in good conscience call me biased), but the Titans aren't as good as their record shows. They don't have the capability to go 19-0, or even 16-0 for that matter. I can guarantee it won't happen. If we adjusted the records to show where teams should actually be had referees not made game changing blown calls, the Titans would have lost back in week 5 to the Ravens. You remember that false start on the Titans where the referees "blew" the whistle (funny how no one really gives up on the play despite it having been blown dead) and then Terrell Suggs gets called for contact to Kerry Collins' helmet? Except instead of hitting Collins' helmet, Suggs had a clean swipe at his arm as he threw and didn't touch his helmet at all? That play? And that call wiped out the 3rd down stop the Ravens made, allowing the Titans to go downfield and score? Yeah, that.

Anyway, you could make at least 10 of those arguments this season and change the entire shape of the playoffs. The point is, the Patriots were about 100 times the team the Titans are. I can understand how Morris is rooting for the team who no one believes in. But the reason no one believes in them is because they're not even the best team in the NFL. As long as they stay perfect, they'll be on top of the power rankings, but once they lose, expect teams like the Giants and Panthers to take their spot. If the Jets beat them this Sunday, they could also move past Tennessee.

What the Patriots did was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. No one embarrassed so many quarterbacks, so many defenses, so many coaches, or so many fans as the 2007 Patriots. When the Patriots came out, except for maybe three games during the regular season, they completely dominated the other team for 60 minutes. They hardly had to fight for a win. When have the Titans ever been accused of running up the score? The Titans are +113 in point differential so far, which is not too shabby. I won't argue that. The Patriots in week 6 were +138. By week 11, they were +254.

I love this quote from Mercury. "The Patriots, you people were crowning them after the second game and the season was a formality. I kept trying to tell you". I think they were made the favorite after the second game, but they certainly weren't handed the Lombardi Trophy. By the way Mercury, if the season was as long in 2007 as it was in 1972, the Patriots would have won the Super Bowl + 1.

I can see why Morris is rooting for the underdogs, although it's kind of strange to call the Titans underdogs. However, I just don't see how if you were part of the only undefeated team in history, you would rather a team that's barely squeaked out a good portion of their wins and benefitted greatly from others' mistakes join you in history than the most talented, most dominant group of guys ever put onto a football field.

So how much talk did Larry Csonka do during the season? Well, he said he didn't wish the Patriots any luck, but would congratulate them if they went 19-0. That was it.

Mercury, for the love of Peyton Manning, just go away. I'm really really hoping the Jets quiet him for another few months on Sunday.

Would Tom Brady make a difference at this point?

2008-11-17T23:51:00.008-05:00

I know it's kind of a silly question, but after putting up a 30-51 400 yard, 3 TD no INT performance (with 60 rushing yards just because) on a really good defense, what else can Matt Cassel do at this point? The team still lost on Thursday and wouldn't even make the playoffs if the season ended today. In an earlier post I mentioned how the injuries were once again piling up for New England. Combine that with a defense that is almost last in passing TDs given up and the amount of quality teams in the AFC, the Pats, even with a 6-4 record might be headed for a disappointing end to their season. Miami squeaking out a crappy win against Oakland on Sunday didn't help matters either. Speaking of the Dolphins, they host the Patriots this Sunday. It's been a while since a late November Miami/New England matchup actually meant something. Here's a helpful tip to Belichick and the boys: if Miami is lined up in the wild cat, RONNIE BROWN IS GOING TO RUN THE BALL. You're welcome. (How they failed to adjust to that at halftime is just crazy.)

The rest of New England's schedule has the Steelers and the Cardinals at Gillette and road games in Seattle, Oakland and Buffalo. They need to win at least four of those and the playoffs still aren't guaranteed. Meanwhile, the current leaders of the AFC East are the damn Jets who just so happed to be in Tennessee this week. Collins vs. Favre, catch it! Old bastards...

Stupid panda jerk. Making me look like an idiot!

Whenever I start Cotchery, Favre NEVER throws him the ball. In the two games I didn't start him? 14 catches 187 yards and 1 TD. Anyway, after the Titans, New York still has to travel to San Francisco and Seattle. They have home games against Denver, Buffalo and Miami. We could be getting into crazy tie break territory when all is said and done. Buffalo has really dropped of the face of the earth and that loss last night might have sealed their fate.

Switching topics now to the NBA. Every team has played at least ten games and now and looking at the standings, there are very few surprises so far. The Knicks (vomit) are currently 6-4 and Mike D'Antoni has expertly swept all the drama under the rug and has his team playing halfway decent basketball. I love how he just isn't playing Marbury, the type of dude who exemplifies the NBA thug stereotype. He's also the type of dude that will seriously just sit on the bench all year and collect his TWENTY ONE MILLION DOLLARS. What a joke. New York does play Boston tonight however. Just ask Atlanta what happens to your momentum when you play the Celtics. (quick note: Garnett has been suspended for tonight's game. Leon starting anyone?)

How about Dwight Howard's 30 point 19 rebound 10 block performance last week? Can you imagine if he could hit his free throws? The Shaq parallels eerily continue... Oh and I like how he's already talking about the dunk contest.

The rookies have been playing some good ball too. Rose, Beasley and Mayo are all putting up some big numbers with guys like Jason Thompson, Luc Mbah a Moute and Marc Gasol all seriously contributing to their respective teams.

And if having your team start 3-7 isn't bad enough, how about charges of insider trading? I like Mark Cuban more often than not (especially how he constantly brings up how poor the officiating is) but what is a billionaire doing worrying about losing $750,000? Sure I would take several hundred Jack Bauer kicks to the balls for that kind of cake but c'mon Mark. Guess you won't be buying those Cubs now huh?

Oh and congrats to little Dusty P for winning the AL MVP Award. Laser show indeed.

Shocked

2008-11-17T18:31:00.004-05:00

I almost fell out of my chair yesterday watching the San Diego/Pittsburgh game. Jim Nantz was talking about a hurt player and actually said, "he's out with a hamstring injury." He said injury! As a person I hold personally responsible for starting the whole, "this guy's out with a knee/leg/assneck" trend, it made my day to hear him refer to the entire malady, not just the body part. I was almost as surprised by this as the woman who sits in front of me at work who spends half of her day on personal calls. And we don't sit in cubicles here. There are three rows of tables facing the offices of the more important people. I've never seen anyone with such blatant disregard to office etiquette. It's so bad that at some points, she'll be there talking on her work phone when her cell phone rings. She'll answer the cell phone too and have a phone in each hand! Seriously! How she is still employed blows my mind. On top of that, she talks at full volume and just babbles about the most mundane "details" of her life. What an insufferable pig. (Of course this is coming from a guy who posts on his sports blog during work so I guess it's all relative. But at least it looks like I'm working...)

Anyway, nice job Jim. Keep up the good work.

I'll hopefully be back later tonight with some random musings on the first ten games of the NBA season, the AFC East and more.

Weeeeek 11 baby

2008-11-14T14:18:00.015-05:00

Ok, so Adam sent me an email, something about hanging out with the bros, going clubbing, a little nose candy, goat sex, I don't know. I didn't pay attention, all I saw was "can you do the entire picks section?" and got really excited and started thinking of ways to make Adam regret this.

Now, before we begin, let me just start by saying that the Colts are 1/3 of the way to the 3rd best record in the AFC. Two weeks ago, I would have been happy with the 3rd best in the division, but there is a very real chance that the Colts can take the top spot in the Wild Card hunt. Ok, consider this.

Going into last night's game, New England was 6-3. Pittsburgh and Baltimore also sit at 6-3. Indy has the tiebreaker over all three, because they've beaten all three. If San Diego defeats Pittsburgh, and the Giants beat the Ravens, and Indianapolis wins (of course that factors more into this than anything), we've got ourselves a team on top of the Wild Card.

Anyway, the Jets won, and I called it. Don't believe me? My Yahoo! pick-em doesn't lie, and neither does my ESPN Streak for the Cash thingamajigger.

Booya. Jets won, barely. BenJarvus Green-Ellis turned out to be a dumb start because I was banking on the thought that he might get more than 2 carries. Faulk was pretty solid and they spent much of the game passing and coming from behind, so I accepted Green-Ellis would be on the sideline most of the game pretty early. Now I'm just hoping that both Brandon Jacobs or Dominic Rhodes get less than 9 yards to make me feel ok about them on my bench.

Now... onto the picks!

New York Jets at New England Patriots
I'll be honest, once the Patriots started coming back, I would have changed my pick around halftime if I could. I was thinking "Ok, Belichick figured out what the Jets are doing that he wasn't expecting, so things should change come second half". Well, things changed, but not quite enough. The Jets lucked out and got the ball first for overtime. Otherwise, I don't think their defense could have stopped New England's momentum. The game was dominated by both teams at different times, and was exciting all around. I still have confidence the Patriots will make the playoffs if not win the division, but if neither happen, the "what if" surrounding the coin flip in overtime might haunt them. Anyway, I picked the Jets and I feel it's safe to assume Adam picked the Patriots, so chalk one up for me.

Denver Broncos at Atlanta Falcons
I'd like to title this "The Kill Two Birds With One Stone" game. This can do two things: first, show that the Atlanta Falcons are actually really good and even though it's still tough to swallow that they're a better team than the Dallas Cowboys, they are. Second, this will show that the Broncos stink, and can't play against a team like the Falcons. Which Jay Cutler will show up on Sunday, the one who's sole job it is to convince everyone that he's the next John Elway, or the one who's sole job it is to convince everyone he should never ever compare himself to John Elway again? The Broncos are planning to scrap their run game almost entirely (hence signing Tatum Bell to their roster), so if the Falcons' pass defense is on their game, this could turn ugly quickly. When Michael Turner gets matched up against bad run defenses, he can go for miles. I fully expect nothing less from the Burner. Notice I haven't even once drooled over Matt Ryan yet. Matt Ryan....grlblrlrlrglrblll.

James' pick: The Dirty Birds shut down Jay Silverware (get it, Cutler...y, silverware...amiright?) 24-13

Philadelphia Eagles at Cincinnati Bengals
What in the hell is going on with Ocho Cinco? Can someone tell me why he's being polite, civil, and positive when talking about his 1-8 team? This is acceptable for anyone but #85. I don't like hearing about his "words of encouragement" for Ryan Fitzpatrick, or his inability to throw Marv Lewis under the bus for why the team is so bad. If I had a Chad Johnson jersey, I'd burn it. No grill, no thrill.

As for the game, this is a must-win for the Eagles. Every win at this point in the NFC East is a must-win, but this is the sort of game that the Eagles might look past. They're maybe the best 5-4 team I've ever seen, but there's a reason they have 4 losses. The Bengals and their new positive outlook on things see themselves as the spoiler team that ruins a couple playoff hopes this year. If McNabb and his boys aren't careful, Cinci has a very, very good chance of keeping the Eagles in the cellar.

James' pick: Cincinnati keeps it positive, upsetting the Eagles 24-13

Before the next matchup, I want to conclude my friend Bob's story. So, I mentioned last week that he was going to the game. I ran into him on Saturday as he was attempting to get to a bus for Philly. Easy, right? Well, not so. Another important fact about Bob is that once every two months or so, he loses all of his personal belongings. No cash, license, credit card, cell phone, pants, nothing. When I saw him he was trying to find a Bank of America to get cash from without any said personal identification. Everything was a mystery until I saw him tonight. As he was on his way to buy Sparks at the local booze store (seriously, this guy is obsessed with Sparks), he told me about how he was stuck in New York for three hours, finally made it to the game, the Eagles lost, hopped on a bus and came back to Boston still drunk, and got to class in time to give a presentation that he got an A on. While still wearing his McNabb jersey. That's Bob.

Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
Anyone else starting to feel bad for the Packers? These guys are literally just a few well executed plays from 6-3 or even 7-2. They've been outplayed two games, and their other three losses were on a last second field goal (Falcons), overtime (Titans), and pulled ahead of the Vikings last week but couldn't hold on to the lead. Anyone playing the Packers is looking at them like a 7-2 team, and should be. They're good, and can beat anyone, anytime. The Bears on the other hand, are looking to go 4-0 in what's been a very tough division (Lions aside). Having some more separation between themselves and the Packers would certainly be nice, so if they can bring their game to Lambeau, they can rest assured knowing that Minnesota's their only real divisional worry. Having almost beat the Titans last week by shutting down Smash and Dash (if you don't know what that refers to, watch a Titans game and you'll hear the story 10,000 times), the Bears need a win to keep their momentum alive. Well, so do the Packers. Both teams need this win very badly, and the effort put in by both teams should show it. It'll be a fight to the finish, which is a good place to end.

James' pick: Aaron Rodgers has his first big game to remember and topples the Bears, 37-28

Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts
Guess which game these past three weeks I've most dreaded for the Colts. New England? Nope. Pittsburgh? Nope. Houston? Absolutely. I don't know what it is about this team, but they scare the crap out of me. At 3-6, and with only one of the wins against a team over .500, they really aren't that good. They'll have Sage Rosenfels throwing the ball, a defense who gives up 25 points a game, and Steve Slaton's quick start has hit a wall. Still, this team has a lot of weapons, and if the Colts don't play smart football, this could be a very, very, sad week for me.

With that being said, I feel very confident that the Colts will get their first three game streak of the season. Our defense has responded extremely well to the many criticisms about them, and they've had some massive series' in which they've saved the game with some big stops (the goal line stand against Pittsburgh is one example). The offense is clicking well, and if people are talking about how Marvin's lost a step one week, they're usually eating their words the next. This is the game for the run defense to come into their own, especially with a crucial game against San Diego coming up next week. I'm calling for Rhodes to hit 100 yards this game. I'm also calling for at least 5 more plays that look like this.

James' pick: Colts blow out the Texans 31-12 and move to 4th place in the AFC when all's said and done.

New Orleans Saints at Kansas City Chiefs
Adam's been covering the Saints games all season, so I don't really know what's going on with them. They've got that good guy at quarterback, that injured guy at running back, the New York Giants reject with the awful tattoos, and a bunch of really nasty wide receivers. And Gary Payton is their head coach. Well, that all sounds good, but what they don't have is Tyler Thigpen, the guy who's been hiding in the shadows of the Chiefs' depth chart this year, waiting for Herm Edwards to say "Screw it guys, let's just throw him in". Well, they threw him in, and he's been nothing but good. Unfortunately, losing by 4 points to the Jets, 3 points in overtime to the Bucs, and 1 point to the Chargers is still losing.

For the Chiefs to win, Tyler Thigpen is going to have to play better quarterback than the Chiefs' defense is bad. That's the key to winning. A couple stops here and there, and the God awful Chiefs would be 4-5 and in the hunt for the AFC West. These guys aren't the worst team in football, but you wouldn't guess it from their record. They need a win badly, and the falling Saints are just the team that they can pull this off with.

James' pick: The Chiefs play up to their potential and win this one 24-21

Oakland Raiders at Miami Dolphins
Last year, this might have been marketed as "maybe the worst matchup we could ever give to you". Now it's "ok, still no one cares about this matchup, but it has playoff implications and there's always the chance Al Davis dies/grows wings and flies away". If Miami wins this game, it'll be huge. The Dolphins, last year's worst team, will be technically ahead of New England, last year's best team.

Oakland's defense fears Ronnie Brown. Even though Ricky Williams stole the show (and a whole bunch of my fantasy points), I would expect to see Pennington in about 5 snaps behind center, and the rest will be left up to Brown. Ok, maybe this is a ridiculous assumption to make, but it would make for a high scoring, fun game. The Fins are riding a three game win streak, while the Raiders have lost three in a row. JaMarcus Russell will be starting, meaning I still wouldn't expect any passing touchdowns, and if you're watching the game, you'll hear about thirty times "JaMarcus Russell has only started X amount of NFL games. He's making progress, he's still transitioning, blah blah blah". Remember that transition period Trent Edwards went through? Or Matt Ryan? Or Joe Flacco? At some point, you need to say "Ok, we screwed up and thought the running QB that almost never works in the NFL deserved a #1 pick". Anyone could have made that mistake, but it was Oakland's destiny. Someday, after Russell has gotten the NFL record for most consecutive games without a touchdown, he'll go down in history with the likes of Tarvaris Jackson and Vince Young.

James' pick: Ronnie Brown Ronnie Browns all over the Raiders 28-6

Baltimore Ravens at New York Giants
I love this game, because it's my second least favorite team visiting my second favorite team. It's almost as good as a Colts/Pats game. The Ravens have to be a bit insulted that the Giants are given the same spread as the Cardinals over Seahawks. I mean, the Giants are better than the Cardinals, but the Ravens being associated with Seattle must be an insult to the hard work they've put in this season.

Baltimore is finally getting known for something I don't think they expected: offense. Joe Flacco has surpassed all expectations. Willis McGahee, LeRon McClain, and Ray McRice have been a fairly effective three headed running attack. On top of this, they have the Ravens defense. They're big, tough, and scary, and the Giants know this game isn't an automatic win. Brandon Jacobs is going to have a tough matchup similar to the one against Pittsburgh, so if he can't get the run going, it's up to Eli to spark the Giants' offense.

The Giants may be without their right tackle Kareem McKenzie this game after he was arrested for drunk driving, so you can rest assured that if this happens, the announcers will mention at least 45 times during the game that this is the first time in 2 years or something that the entire Giants' starting offensive line hasn't been together.

James' pick: Ravens almost pull off the upset, but Giants hold on 20-17

Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
For the Vikings, who started out at 0-2 with Tarvaris Jackson at quarterback, to make the progress they've made and get to 5-4, is a testament to why this season, no one should count themselves out at any point (until it's mathematically impossible to make the postseason). Minnesota beat the Panthers, the Packers, and the Saints...all very legitimate teams. The Purple People Eaters have a nice trip down south to warm Tampa Bay, and both teams NEED to win this game.

A win keeps the Bucs in 2nd place, or with a miracle Lions wins over the Panthers, can put them in 1st place. They hold the tiebreaker over Carolina as of now, so the Bucs could certainly use some momentum before their week 14 matchup with the Panthers.

A win for the Vikes keeps them tied for 1st with the Bears unless of course, the Bears lose. This would give them sole possession of the NFC North, which is somewhere they didn't expect to be a few weeks ago. Big game for both teams, probably a bit bigger for Minnesota.

When they're on their A game, the Buccaneers are one of the best teams in football, as in top 5 best. When they're not, disastrous things can happen. Look for Garcia to test the Vikings' corners early, and look for Chester Taylor to be called upon to make some big plays when the Vikes need them. If I wasn't going to be glued to the Colts' game, this would probably be 3rd on the list of games to watch this Sunday. Maybe if the Colts and Giants start blowing their teams out early...

James' pick: The Vikings beat the Bucs, steal their ship, rape and pillage for the next three days in Tampa, and Jon Gruden goes on a killing spree. 27-20

Detroit Lions at Carolina Panthers
As soon as I looked at this game, the first thing that ran through my mind was the Rams and Redskins game and how I thought it would be a bloodbath, and then the Rams managed to pull it off, and I swore I'd never underestimate a team ever again. I've also swore I'd never have another drink in my life ever again many times. I'm calling for a massive bloodbath, and the Panthers shouldn't have any trouble putting the cowardly Lions away. The best thing for Detroit to do right now is to sign Jake Plummer and give him one last shot to go down in a blaze of glory. If that happens between now and tomorrow, I switch my pick and say the Lions win. Instead, the Lions have Daunte Culpepper.

The Panthers are a team full of guys you probably don't recognize, unless you've finally bought in to the NFC South hype and are expecting one of them to be in the NFC Championship game or even the Super Bowl. Jake Delhomme isn't great, DeAngelo Williams isn't great, and Steve Smith isn't great, Muhsin Muhammad isn't great, but together this offense has been beyond great. Their special teams, having punted more than any other team in the NFL, has stepped up and held their own. Carolina doesn't have a lot of the elements of a glitzy team that's going to be on Sportscenter every day, but they are quietly becoming one of the best teams in the NFL.

James' pick: Carolina over Detroit 42-14

St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers
Do I really have to write anything up about this game? It doesn't really matter who wins, both teams stink. Whoever wins is 3-7, but it doesn't matter. The 49ers had their shot last week, and whether it was the refs fault for giving them a bad spot on that last play or whatever, I don't care. I'm bitter. I was up by .2 points or something like that and all I needed was for Arizona's defense to not get any more points. What does Shaun Hill do? He throws an interception. For that, I hope the Niners lose. I don't think Steven Jackson is playing, but I really don't care about the game. The Rams only win if they're playing overrated NFC East teams, and the Niners are definitely not on the east coast, nor overrated. If San Fran doesn't win, expect Mike Singletary to give the media a fruit bowl (see definition #3 and the South Park episode that brilliantly illustrates it) at the post-game press conference.

James' pick: Both teams lose. By default, the 49ers win 5-4.

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks
Seriously, more NFC West? Ugh. Memo to NFL: NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE NFC WEST. I would rather watch a marathon of Gossip Girls than sit through another NFC West game this season. Last week's MNF was about as good as those games get, but I still could barely pay attention. I guess the Cardinals are a little bit different than the other three teams, but if it's a divisional game, I just don't care. Kurt Warner is a great quarterback, Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, etc etc. Hasselbeck is back in, Deion Branch too, blah blah blah. The Cards are looking to put even more space between them and the rest of their minor league division, so they should bring all their weapons, scheme smart, and do other good things at footballing.

James' pick: Let's go crazy and say that the Seahawks win this game 18-14. Why not?

Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars
I've been expecting the Titans to lose for about a month straight, and they somehow keep finding ways to win. I don't know how they do it, I don't like the fact that it keeps happening, but they have to lose sometime. However, I just don't see it happening this week. The Jaguars aren't quite what they used to be, they're just not the dangerous force that every team going up against them would fear. The MoJo/Fred Taylor show isn't selling tickets, and everything about the Jaguars is just too middle-of-the-road for them to be much of a contender. At 4-5, they still have a shot, but if we're being realistic about whether they have the talent on their roster to turn their season around and make the playoffs, it just ain't happening.

James' pick: The Jags tease us early by staying in this game, but Tennessee comes away with yet another win 28-17

San Diego Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers
Things these two teams have in common. 1. There are both in my 3 most hated teams in the NFL. 2. They both play the Colts this season. 3. By the end of next week, the Colts will have beaten both teams.

As much as I hate the Chargers more than I could ever hate the Steelers, I have to root for them to win to give the Colts better playoff leverage. I'm not starting Chris Chambers on my fantasy team, which means he'll probably get 2 touchdowns and 8 receptions for about 110 yards. I can live with that as long as my entire plan works out. The Steelers are recovering from a tough loss last week to my boys, and find themselves in a position they didn't expect to be in, nor anyone else for that matter. They need this win to stay in first place, and Big Ben can't afford carrying the blame for his team's woes anymore. He's going to do one of two things this game.

1. Try to do too much himself and win this game by himself. If he does this, he'll make mistakes and costly turnovers. 2. Step back, let the running game do its job, hit the short passes to open receivers, and keep the defense fresh. If the Steelers can get an early lead, they stand a very good chance to win this game. It all depends on what kind of offense Rivers and his boys are bringing Sunday.

James' pick: The Steelers do not lose twice in a row at Heinz Field. It just doesn't happen. Steelers win 27-21

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins
What do these two teams have in common? They've both been embarrassed by the Rams this year. After missing a month after getting an ouchy on his finger. Tony Romo is back, nice and tan from all the hours of sitting on a beach in Mexico "studying game tape".

Anyway, the Cowboys are 5-4, staring at last place and the possibility of missing the playoffs. They're 3 feet underground right now, and the Redskins have the opportunity to shovel some dirt on them and bury their season. Romo's job this week is to bring his team back out of the grave and into contention. A win this week is all it takes to get the Cowboys started up again. Well, that, and a good team. The Cowboys have no room for error, and if they can come out of the Sunday night game with a win, once they get that stupid Faith Hill song out of their head they can prepare for the Niners and Seahawks the next two weeks. Three straight wins and we're looking at 8-4. The importance of this game for Dallas cannot be overemphasized, which means I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to a Washington massacre.

James' pick: Washington spoils Tony Romo's debut 37-30 , and Romo is out for three weeks with a bruised ego. Meanwhile Jason Witten snaps his neck, breaks his back twice, is diagnosed with AIDS, Lupus, and an Ovarian cyst, yet still says he "feels pretty good about playing Sunday".

Cleveland Browns at Buffalo Bills
Come on and get ready...I said are you ready? I mean REALLY ready! Are you ready for some disappointing teams that failed to live up to their expectationsssssssss???!!!

Ok, well, the Bills still have a chance, but when you're 0-3 in your division, and you're going downhill when everyone else seems to be making progress and improving, your chances are looking pretty bleak. When your 5 wins came against teams with sub .500 records, and your 4 losses came to teams with above .500 records, that doesn't say a whole lot of good about your club. I like the Bills and I'll be rooting for them Monday night, but don't be surprised if this turns into the Brady Quinn show. Also, don't be surprised if my lack of faith in Buffalo proves to be very wrong and the game turns into the Trent Edwards or Marshawn Lynch show. If Lynch can turn the Beast Mode on, then the Bills can control this game and stay in the hunt. If not, I might consider this loss to be the stake through the heart that ends the Bills' season.

James' pick: I'm going to go against my better judgement and take the Bills to win this game. It won't be pretty, but they'll take it 18-15.

Checking in with Leon and the C's

2008-11-12T17:14:00.005-05:00

Tonight marks the first time that the Celtics will face the Hawks since their riveting/blood pressure raising first round playoff series last season. Sooooo much trash talk in a series that went down to the wire. Don't think Paul Pierce has forgotten when brash Al Horford got all up in his grill-piece. Dude was a rookie! Flash forward to our current situation. Boston is 7-1 right now coming off huge wins against Detroit and Toronto. And check this: Atlanta has a better record. They are 6-0. They even beat the Hornets at New Orleans. However, they just played a close game in Chicago last night and are without "The Box Score Superstar" Josh Smith. And all of the Celtics' wins in the aforementioned 7 game clash, were at the TD Banknorth Garden. Should be a good one. Look for more of the same where Atlanta's youth and athleticism keeps them in the game until Boston's skill and experience allows them to pull away in the fourth. Plus, the Hawks' bench is pretty slim.

Meanwhile, Leon's last two games haven't been eye popping statistically, but not everyone can score 41 points every night. One quirky thing to note: Monday's game against the Raptors was the first game where Leon didn't have at least 3 personal fouls. He actually had none. Hey, just throwin' it out there... Contractually (not really) we have to look at his PT. In the eight games so far, there have only been two that Leon hasn't played at least 17 minutes. Doc has been sticking with a nine man rotation of the usual starters complimented by Leon(17.5 mpg), Tony Allen(20.9 mpg), Eddie House(16.8 mpg) and Big Baby(16.5 mpg). I can't get too mad at that but I think as the season goes on, Leon's minutes will go up simply due to the wear and tear of an 82 game season on a guy who just played in his 1000th game.

Fun NBA Fact: The Western Conference has more teams under .500 (8) than the Eastern Conference (6).

0-16?

2008-11-12T07:48:00.009-05:00

The 16-0 chatter started around this time last year for the Pats, and the 0-16 talk began for the Rams and the Dolphins (until the Rams disappointed us all and finally won a game, followed eventually by Miami). After having lost their last winnable game of the season, not only am I amazed no one's started talking 0-16 as a possibility yet, but I can't believe that no one considers the Lions going 0-16 to be anything more than a matter of formality. Let's look at their upcoming schedule. See if you can spot a trend.

Carolina
Tampa Bay
Tennessee
Minnesota
Indianapolis
New Orleans
Green Bay

The trend is, these teams are all very good and much better than the Lions.

Also, you may notice that my team colors are spot on today. I had some extra time on my hands and took the precise color codes straight from every NFL teams' logo. Now I'm like a real professional web logger!

Back to Detroit. I mean, how bad are they? Right now, kids in Detroit are looking up at their old Lions posters and thinking about the good old days.

Joey Harrington: Never Forget

Even Captain Crusader Kitna seems like a better option than what they've got at this point. If you have a UConn quarterback fighting for reps with Daunte Culpepper, your team has more than just issues. Well, if this was 2001, you might have a fighting chance, but 2008 Culpepper is slightly different.

The Lions have made 3 of their 9 losses close. Those were against the Bears, Texans, and Vikings. Not the same caliber as the Panthers, Bucs, and Titans. I can almost guarantee you 100% the Lions will be 0-12 after their next three game stretch. I don't know, maybe Thanksgiving we'll all get a special afternoon surprise with the upset of the season as the Lions defeat the Titans, but I think John Madden is more likely to keep his vow to never have another Turducken than for that to happen.

After those three losses come their four "easy" games. Minnesota barely scraped by them last time they played, and if all calls in football were 100% correct all the time, Detroit would have won it, but the Vikings played their absolute worst game of the football season. If you saw the second half of the Colts/Vikings game, think about how bad Minnesota played. Now, have them be even worse, but for an entire 60 minutes. Brad Childress did absolutely EVERYTHING in his power to give Detroit the win, but they just couldn't do it. It was like when you're trying to run a race with your 5 year old cousin/nephew/niece/son/daughter/friend's son/friend's daughter/kid on the playground that has a restraining order against you, and you keep stumbling on purpose or running into things. You exaggerate a fall and let them get way ahead of you, but they're slow and dumb as hell, so they somehow still manage to lose? That's what that game was like.

These last four games of the season are most likely must-wins for these teams if they're still in the playoff race at that point. I don't think anyone's going to be resting their starters and I don't think anyone's going to give Detroit an inch. There aren't any games where the Lions can come in and sneak up on someone. When you're 5-4 and 4-5, there's no such thing as a trap game. Every game from here on out is a must-win, and I can guarantee you every team the Lions go against will be scheming against them as if they were the 2007 Patriots.

Maybe the Lions will sneak in a win. Maybe the Saints go on a 3 game losing streak, find themselves out of playoff contention at 4-8, and give up on the season. It could happen. Drew Brees gets injured, their entire group of defensive backs tests positive for steroids and are suspended, and Reggie Bush gets lost in the black hole that is Kim Kardashian's lady parts. Maybe Jesus comes down and blesses Dan Orlovsky's arm so that he throws nothing but touchdowns (Kitna would be soooooo jeal). I don't know, it could happen. The thing is, I just don't see it happening, and I am calling the Lions to go winless for 2008. That elusive first win didn't happen with Kitna, and it won't happen with anyone else they throw in there.

The Walking Wounded

2008-11-10T20:32:00.005-05:00

By October 20th, the New England Patriots had their starting quarterback, starting running back and starting safety all injured and out for the rest of the season. Today it is being reported that starting LB and all around ass kicker Adelius Thomas has a broken forearm and will join Brady, Maroney and Harrison on the IR. And this is in addition to Sammy Morris and Lamont Jordon missing significant time. Maybe I don't follow every team's injuries as closely as I do New England's, but it seems EVERY damn year that multiple key players miss huge chunks of the season. I know football is a grueling sport but yikes. Thanks to the emergence of "The Lawfirm" BenJarvus Jeremy Green-Ellis, the Pats still somehow have a semblance of a running game. Cassel is settling in nicely and they are tied for the division lead with a 6-3 record.

New England has a HUUUUGE game this Thursday against the Jets at Gillette. And just for S's and G's, New York has just signed old friend Ty Law and will trot him against his former team. This division is damn close but I think in a different way than people expected when Brady went down. I personally thought it was going to be a battle of mediocrity but all four teams are still very much in the running with every team have an above .500 record (see James' AFC post). One thing is for sure (besides my undying hatred for Brett Favre and the fact that Jerricho Cotchery caught 1 friggin pass in a game where his team scored 47 points), the Patriots cannot afford anymore huge injuries if they want to make the playoffs. Belichick is good, but he can only do so much with backups and backups to backups.

In an unrelated note, I wanted to quickly touch on the likely trade of Matt Holliday to the Oakland A's. He'll only be there for possibly less than one year but his huge OBP will fit right in with Billy Beane's team concept. Leaving Colorado will negatively impact his offensive stats, but not by leaps and bounds. Oakland's offense has really been terrible these past couple of seasons so it will be nice for their fans to have a legit star on the team. This is the first big move of the offseason and will only get baseball fans salivating for more deals and more signings. And does this move put more pressure on the Angels to lock up Teixeira?

Hello, January! NFC Version

2008-11-10T10:39:00.007-05:00

I should probably write myself a note that if I'm going to start a special post such as this, I should finish it before Sunday and everything gets changed. Let's start this from scratch...

Unlike the AFC, no one has a lock on their division in the NFC. As good as the New York Giants are, and as bad as the NFC West is sans Arizona, no one is even looking at a magic number yet. For the Giants, they need 5 of their next 7 to guarantee the division. Arizona's looking at 5 of the next 8, but a win tonight would make that 4 of 7. Still no definite title in sight for Warner and them fellers.

If you thought the AFC was a clusterfudge, just look at the NFC. For the first time since...what did the announcers say, 1960 or something?, a team with a winning record is in last place at this point in the season. In fact, say the Saints got put up against a non-division team this week and won. We'd then have 2 last place teams with better than .500 records. When you're currently one of the favorites for MVP and your team is in last place, you know you're Drew Brees and it's the 2008-09 NFL season.

Additionally, I'll have to update the AFC playoff look later this week now that my entire Steelers theory is out the window.

Just to make things easier, let's pretend the Giants win out and no one catches the Cardinals. I assume the latter will definitely happen (which means the Niners will win tonight and I'll be once again pulling my hair out), but the Giants still have a lot of work to do.

Anyway...this leaves us 2 divisions up for grabs and two wild card slots.

At 7-2 we've got Carolina. Arguably the 3rd best team in the NFL right now, they're in the most surprising, quiet, competitive, and funnest division in the NFL. Oh yeah, and underrated. The NFC South still doesn't get talked about or cared about. It'll be tough to stay under the radar when you've got three teams in the playoffs, but that division seems to be ok where it is right now.

At 6-3 lies Washington, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and if they win tonight, Arizona.

5-4 we have Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas, and Philadelphia. Half North and half East.

At 4-5, Green Bay and New Orleans have played far too well to drop below .500, but it happened.

The NFC North can go to the Bears, Vikings, or Packers. Neither team is a long shot, and even if the Packers lose next week, I still wouldn't count them out. They're too dangerous when they play smart football.

The NFC South has Carolina trying to pull away from the pack, but there's still a ways to go.

Last year, we knew that 4 or 5 teams were amazing, and there were a bunch of mediocre teams fighting for wild card spots. This year, either teams are getting better and the talent's getting spread out, or teams are just getting worse. I think the former is correct here.

There are, count them, THREE teams with next to no shot of the playoffs. Detroit, St. Louis, and Seattle. If Arizona wins, add San Fran to the list. Still. Everyone but those four teams and the three in the AFC (Oakland, Kansas City, Cincy) has their fans cheering for them to just get a streak going and make the playoffs. Anyone can do it. Even some of the seven I just mentioned.

Now, for my Giants theory. When you look at the rest of their schedule, their two game lead on the division seems a lot less comfortable. Not a single team under .500. Minnesota and Baltimore are their 'easy' games. They have Dallas IN Dallas, with Tony Romo most likely. Washington IN Washington. And they get to face the rival for best team in the NFC, Carolina. Not easy. The Giants will tell you it's the exact same thing as if they were playing Cincy, Detroit, Kansas City, Oakland, and Seattle, but it's definitely not. The Giants know every game will be a fight, and they need to keep their guys healthy for the playoffs. It'll be interesting down the stretch to see how the guys who love to collapse in the second half and barely crawl into the playoffs handle being the favorite.

If Matt Ryan doesn't win Rookie of the Year...I will quit football-watching. He came out swinging at the beginning of the season and keeps getting better every game. He's assumed the role of leader on a horrendous Falcons team and you can't ever really give him enough credit for how he's turned this offense around. His touchdown numbers aren't Manning-like yet (Ryan has 11, although a solid second half could have him up there with Manning's rookie number of 26), but he has a great passer rating and is completing nearly 60% of his passes. The entire Atlanta offense looks so confident with him at the helm. Remember the frightened "what the hell is going on with this play?" look you'd see from guys like Roddy White last season? White is finally able to be the type of receiver he wants to be with a guy who can hit him, and he's putting up some of the most solid and consistent numbers in the NFL right now. Matt Ryan. ROTY.

Ok, now to go bask in my Colts glory.

Week 10 Picks

2008-11-09T09:54:00.004-05:00

Hey everybody. It's been a rough weekend involving a Party Bus, sleeping in a bathtub, a broken iPhone, and my girlfriend's lost purse. Let's just power through this...(Ed. note - I was not on said party bus and feel slighted. Sad face.)

By the way, I'm officially suspending Fantasy Love/Hate until I have a fantasy team over .500

Saints @ Falcons (-2)
Adam: Wow, who would have thought that this late in the season we'd have the Atlanta Falcons favored over the New Orleans Saints? I don't know if I fully agree with that, but apparently enough gamblers do to make the line swing that way. One thing's for sure... everybody is impressed with Matt Ryan is doing. And with him, Roddy White, and Michael Turner, this team has the cornerstones of a very sold offense for years to come. The Saints have alternated wins and losses for their last 5 games, so they should be due to lose this one... but after the bye week and a big win over San Diego in their last game, I don't see it happening. This Falcons defense just isn't quite good enough to keep up with the Saints, and I see Colston having his first big game of the year.
Adam's Pick: New Orleans, 38-27
James' Pick: Atlanta wins, 27-20

Titans @ Bears (+2)
Adam: Oh man, Sex Cannon, back in action. I see a beautiful scenario playing out, where Grossman goes off for, like, 5 TDs against the best defense in the NFL, and then Orton gets healthy, and you see Lovie Smith staring glossy-eyed into the camera while trying to explain who is starting QB is going to be next week. Oh my god, please let this happen.
Adam's Pick: Chicago wins, 35-17
James' Pick: Chicago over Tennesse (fingers crossed) 18-15

Jaguars @ Lions (+4.5)
Adam: If you thought I was excited about Sexy Rexy.... you have no idea how pumped I am to see Daunte Culpepper back in the NFC North. And you can't really blame the Lions. With Dan Orlovsky struggling so much, and the unknown quality of Drew Stanton the only other option, it can't make your season any worse to take a flier on Daunte. Although, the second year on the deal did confuse me a bit. Meanwhile the Jaguars are struggling just as much as I expected them to. Everybody was convinced they'd make the leap into a premier team this year, but I just didn't see it. I still think they'll win today though, because they do have talent and are too proud to lose to this team.
Adam's Pick: Jaguars win, 24-13
James' Pick: Jacksonville beats Detroit, 21-9

Seahawks @ Dolphins (-6.5)
James: And the third biggest favorite during this week's games is...*drum roll*...the Miami Dolphins? When you think about it, it makes sense. It shouldn't make sense, but it does. The Tampa Bay Rays have put on the pressure for the Fins to go from worst to first, and if they can bring a solid game on Sunday, they'll be within striking distance of the Patriots/Bills and possibly Jets. Chad Pennington has been a great fit in this offense; a cerebral quarterback who can do a lot of things to help win games except hurl the ball downfield. As the Jets have seen, throwing the ball downfield doesn't always have great results. If the Seahawks can't win this game, their chances of catching Arizona are slim to none. If Seattle can get the ground game going with Julius Jones and win some clock time, they have a legitimate chance of coming away with this. If they buy into any of the Dolphins trickery and tomfoolery, it'll be a blowout by the 2nd quarter.
Adam's Pick: Dolphins take it, 23-17
James' Pick: Dolphins win, 34-10

Packers @ Vikings (-2)
James: You always know what you're getting into when the Packers and Vikes go at it, and this contest will be no different. Green Bay has to be sore over coming so close to defeating Tennessee last week, and Minnesota is always a tough, physical matchup for anyone. Mix in the bad blood these teams have, and I'm sure we'll see two or three hits that will make you cringe. If either team is going to win this game, they're going to have to find ways to score that might be outside of their comfort zone. Minnesota will rely on more than Adrian Peterson, and Aaron Rodgers will be spreading his passes out. The emergence of Brandon Jackson in their running game may help their cause, but this game, with its divisional implications, is going to be a battle either way.
Adam's Pick: Packers win, 27-24
James' Pick: Brad Childress almost blows it, but Minnesota hangs on 24-18

Bills @ Patriots (-2)
Adam: I'm actually gearing up to head out to this game right now, and I'll be bringing my girlfriend along for her first NFL game. Some guys have a strict no-chicks at games rule, but I think that's dumb. Ive always thought my father was a genius for getting my mom to like football... it's something she gets excited about instead of nagging him when he watches it. This should be a great game to introduce her with, as the winner gets a leg up on the AFC East race. Interesting note: as well as the Bills have played, they still have not beaten a team in their division. I'll be screaming my head off hoping that trend stays.
Adam's Pick: Patriots win, 31-20
James' Pick: New England ends up in their proper place (grr) 24-16

Rams @ Jets (-5)
Adam: I feel extremely confident that the Rams will win this game. For a few reasons. All of them selfish wishful thinking. Reason #1: The Patriots will be alone in 1st place in the division if this happens. Reason #2: I'm starting Kenneth Darby in one fantasy league. Which is probably a horrible sign. But... maybe not? Reason #3: The Jets suck and I hate them. There you go, hard hitting analysis.
Adam's Pick: Rams win, 21-17
James' Pick: Jets stay in first place with a win over St. Louis, 37-24

Ravens @ Texans (EVEN)
James: There are many very feasible scenarios in which this could be a matchup of two playoff teams, as my "Hello January!" column showed. Houston's bringing a lot of momentum into this game, while the Ravens seem to be easing in to their offense and putting less pressure on the defense. For the Texans, any game is a must-win, but a victory at home could be the very thing to catapult them into a wild card spot in January. Houston's strengths are Baltimore's weaknesses, so the winner will be whoever can overcome those weaknesses more. Seems obvious, but there is no room for error by either team this game. Can Houston stop the run and keep their offense on the field, or will the Ravens score big early and embarrass the Texans at Reliant Stadium?
Adam's Pick: Texans over Ravens 19-13
James' pick: Houston wins 28-18

Panthers @ Raiders (+7.5)
Adam: The Raiders are an absolute mess. They just cut DeAngelo Hall, they've already fired their head coach, their big WR signing of the offseason couldn't have been more insane or more of a bust. It's amazing how much a team can resemble their owner. The Panthers should be ashamed of themselves if they don't take this one in a rout.
Adam's Pick: Panthers win, 34-12
James' pick: Oakland stuns Carolina 17-14

Colts @ Steelers (-5)
James: Ben Roethlisberger or not, the Steelers are GOOD. I thought the initial reactions to them this season would quickly prove to be wrong as teams found their weaknesses. With Pittsburgh this season, there aren't too many weaknesses. They can hurt you with the run, they can hurt you with the pass, and then if you can stop either of those, you need to score against their rock solid defense. The fan in me is saying "this game is winnable", which it is. No game is unwinnable in the NFL. However, the Colts' chances are slim. They finally someone over 265 lbs at defensive tackle in Antonio Johnson, but he probably won't be ready to play for this matchup. This game is going to be won or lost by Peyton Manning. The defense will be pushed around, that's a given, but they'll need to not miss tackles, get to the ball quickly, and not give a 10 yard cushion (much like their defensive plan against the Patriots). Their biggest strategy on defense, however, is to win ball control. Peyton Manning needs to be a master at the helm for the Colts to win. If we're seeing a lot of 5-6 yard checkdowns to Clark, Gonzalez, and Rhodes/Addai, then we can know that the Colts are playing this game correctly. Even with doing everything perfectly, the sheer physicality of this game is going to make it a tough one to win.
Adam's Pick: Steelers win, 31-27
James the fan's prediction: Indianapolis wins 34-30
James the realist's prediction: Pittsburgh wins 34-18

Cheifs @ Chargers (-4)
James: Nooooo way the Chiefs can upset the Chargers a second time. ...Right? Well, it's highly unlikely, but very possible. This is entirely up to the Chargers. This is the trap game of the year, with Pittsburgh coming up next for San Diego. The Chargers should expect to win this game, but they could very well be thinking about building momentum with a win against the Steelers next week. If the Bolts don't have their head focused on this game, Kansas City could very well take advantage of that and have another strange dominating performance like their first meeting. Jamaal Charles and Tyler Thigpen have a lot more things to like right now than Larry Johnson and Damon Huard/Brodie Croyle. If the Chiefs can stick with San Diego through the first half, they have a great shot to take this game. We'll see what San Diego can bring with an extra week of rest.
Adam's Pick: Chargers win, 34-10
James' pick: Evil Tony Dungy brings the Chiefs to win the season series, 24-13

Giants @ Eagles (+2)
James: My friend Bob is an Eagles fan. He fits into "dudes from New Jersey who associate with Philadelphia teams" category. He walked the entire World Series parade in Philadelphia dressed in a gorilla outfit while drinking Sparks the entire time. Therefore, Bob is the kind of guy you hate to root against. However, this weekend I hope Eli Manning breaks his heart. Every divisional game for the Giants is a statement game, and the statement gets louder each time. Defensive players have nightmares that they keep having to try and tackle Brandon Jacobs one-on-one and wake up just as they're being flattened. Their defense is as good if not better than Pittsburgh's. I think this is the best team in the NFL, and as soon as Tennessee loses, most power rankings should show that. I don't think McNabb and his boys have enough to take the G-Men on.
Adam's Pick: Eagles win, 24-21
James' pick: Giants win in an unbELIable fashion, 31-21

49ers @ Cardinals
James: I can guarantee you the guys on the Niners do not want to see Mike Singletary drop his pants at halftime again. Therefore, we should see some effort from these guys that's been missing these past few weeks. I had a lot of hope for San Francisco prior to the season starting, and I think Singletary could very well turn this season around for them. I don't see them in the playoffs, but a few wins here and a few wins there could put them at 7-9 or 8-8. Arizona has a great opportunity here to put some more space between them and the rest of their division. The Cards brilliant receiving corps and Tim Hightower, maybe the steal of the draft (5^th round, overall 149), has reignited the Cards' running game. If the 49ers want a shot at winning, they're going to have to listen to Coach Singletary and play disciplined football. They've had a bye week to prepare for this game, and Shaun Hill may be the answer at quarterback. He also might not be the answer, but it's tough to tell how good a quarterback is when they get sacked more than they complete a pass.
Adam's Pick: Cards win, 48-12
James' pick: San Francisco stuns Arizona 18-13

Looks Like My NFL Network Was Turned On Just In Time

2008-11-06T16:15:00.006-05:00

Seriously guys, Thursday games three weeks before Thanksgiving? Nobody asked me if this was okay. Luckily I just switched out of the living hell that is being a Comcast customer, and RCN comes with NFL Network in its regular package. Now I get to ~~see the Browns and Broncos play tonight~~ hang out at my girlfriend's place. Crap, I've got to start planning to be home on Thursdays now. I can DVR 30 Rock, The Office, and My Name is Earl, but who the hell watches football games on DVR? Nobody, that's who. Somebody should tell this to Toyota.

Oh, did we mention Brady Quinn is finally getting his chance to start? Smart move by Cleveland by the way. If you're going to throw your shaky young QB in there, you might as well do it against the team giving up half a billion yards per game. Hell, if they can make Damon Huard, Matt Cassel, and Chad Pennington look good, surely it can work for the Mighty Quinn.

This also seems like a good time to mention that Denver ran the ball 12 times this past Sunday and gained 14 yards. Total. Against the Miami Dolphins. Maybe this has to do with the fact they lost Michael Pittman AND Andre Hall for the season during the game. Ryan Torian owners would probably be stoked about this if he had more than 3 carries for 1 yard last week.

My Prediction: Cleveland will win, 34-21, and Ryan Torian will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer at halftime.
Fantasy Love: Braylon Edwards
Fantasy Hate: Ryan Torian

The NBA: Where only watching Lakers, Clippers, Blazers and Nuggets games Happens!

2008-11-06T13:30:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I could throw Utah and Phoenix in there too and I know the season is basically 5 games old, but after watching the Lakers rip off a 22-0 run against the Clip last night, I realized I'm pretty stuck as far as my options go. Things could get old kinda quick. And now that Seattle had their team ripped away from them, that's another potential game I am missing out on. (Not that they are any good.) Plus I don't get home from work until 7:00 PT at the earliest. I guess I'm going to have to get used to seeing Ricky Davis go 3-14 from the field, Greg Oden sitting on the bench, and Chauncey Billups being a boring ass dude in Iverson's place.

On the other hand, it's 78 degrees here right now.

Moving on. Back in the world of the man they call The Show, Leon had a strong first half last night with 11 points and 4 rebounds. The Celtics won again improving to 4-1. And although he didn't score in the second half, he drew multiple fouls on both sides of the ball. Just for fun he threw in a steal and an assist. He played a total of 18 minutes which is right on par with his season average. Not only that, but every game that he's played 18 minutes or more, he's scored in double figures. Good stuff. Boston will play Milwaukee on Friday and then have a sweet showdown with the Pistons and AI. (If Billups takes his damn physical by then.)

Speaking of schedules, what's the deal? There have only been two days so far when there's been a full slate of games. Tonight for instance? Two games. This past Tuesday? Three games. I don't recall things starting out so slowly. The Lakers play one game this week. ONE! It almost still feels like the damn preseason here. And while we're at it, here are some other NBA related questions I got kickin' around in the old brizain:

-Will the refereeing get any better in the wake of the Donaghy fiasco?

-Will Lebron get to the NBA Finals and if so, will his poor clutch free throw shooting cost him team the Championship?

-Will Larry Brown quit after 15 games? 10?

-Will Yao and Tracy McGrady play more than 55 games each?

-Will Gilbert Arenas play at all?

-Will any of the Celtics' Big Three get serious MVP consideration?

-Will the Knicks manage to not embarrass themselves?

-Will Al Jefferson get voted into the All-Star Game?

-Will the Heat make the playoffs?

-Will the Iverson/Billups trade be the biggest of the year?

-Will the Spurs win more than 50 games?

-Will any team besides the Hornets and Lakers make the Western Conference Finals?

and...

-Will Leon Powe average more than 20 minutes a game? Doc?

Hello, January! AFC Version

2008-11-04T15:28:00.004-05:00

This isn't really something a lot of teams can be thinking right now. Even Tennessee, enjoying its undefeated status, knows that historic collapses can and do happen. There is no such thing as a sure thing in the NFL, especially this year. Let's take a look at the playoff race right now and see who's got a shot, who's on the outside looking in, and who's spending more time scouting prospective draft picks than next week's opponent.

AFC
Right now, two teams have what you can consider a commanding lead on their division. The first being Tennessee, of course, who are up 4 games on Indianapolis. No one expects the Titans to go 16-0, but their schedule from here on out almost guarantees a playoff spot. Say Tennessee plays poorly and loses to the Bears, Jags, Jets, Steelers, and Colts. Even with bad games, they should beat the Texans, Lions, and Browns. That puts them at 11-5, which means we'll be seeing them in early 2009. Yes, I said there's no guarantee in the NFL, but this is as good of a sure thing as you'll get.

Pittsburgh and their 6-2 record is the other team. At 5-3, Baltimore's right on their ass, but with the way the Steelers have played lately, I would be very hard pressed to see anyone but them winning the division. Cleveland has underperformed all season, and the Bengals just got their first win, so it really comes down to these two teams. Even if Roethlisberger can't stay healthy, I'll still take him over Joe Flacco over the long run. We're only halfway through, but I very much expect the North to be taken by Pittsburgh.

The rest is a toss-up. No one else should feel comfortable, and most should still have postseason hope even if they haven't played up to their abilities.

Three teams are tied for the AFC East lead at 5-3: Buffalo, New York and New England. Buffalo dropped 3 of their last 4 games and can't seem to get in a rhythm. The Jets play well depending on what side of the bed they wake up on, and while their offense and defense can both play very well, they don't seem to play well at the same time. Matt Saracen, err, Cassel, has struggled, but you can't help but be impressed with his composure this season. If the Patriots are going to take the division, Cassel's going to have to grow up very, very quickly and rally the Pats past the Jets and Bills, who happen to be their next two games.

After this Sunday, the lead in the East will be narrowed down to at the most, 2 teams. The Jets will have to beat the Rams to stay on top with the winner of the Bills/Pats. These next two weeks are crucial for the shape of the East, but right now it's anybody's game. Oh, I haven't even mentioned that these three teams are only a game ahead of Miami. A big win from the Fins over Seattle on Sunday and another win against the Raiders next week means we're talking about them as a legitimate January team.

The West has Denver on top, but they're struggling. At 4-4, they keep letting San Diego stay in the division race. If you let a team like the Bolts hang around, you're bound to regret it later. Jay Cutler quickly let the early touts of how great he was get to him, and I don't have to tell you about their defense. If the Chargers can beat the Chiefs this week (which is no guarantee, considering Kansas City won their first matchup), and Cleveland can take out the Broncs, both teams will be tied at 4-5 for first place. With any sort of momentum in their favor, San Diego can turn their season around in a heartbeat and win that division. If I had to put money on it, I'd take the Chargers to grab that automatic playoff spot. With all that, Oakland isn't dead in the water yet. The poor performances of their division means that there is still an actual chance. Not a great chance considering the fact that the Raiders are terrible, but still a chance.

Then there's our two wild card spots. Four teams at 5-3, three teams at 4-4, and four teams at 3-5 means that there are 11 teams who aren't the Steelers or Titans that can very well see the playoffs.

5-3
I've already mentioned these four. New York, New England, Buffalo, and Baltimore all have the same record, but do they all have the stuff to get to January? If I had to take two of them to make it right now, I'd go with Baltimore's defense to pull them through, and New England's coaching, tradition, and inability to give up to give them a spot.

4-4
Miami, Denver, and my boys from Indianapolis are sitting at .500. I don't think anyone would have pegged the Dolphins or Colts as a .500 team, but for very different reasons. Inconsistent play has plagued Denver and Indy, and Miami's just finding ways to win. Out of the three, the biased fan in me will take the Colts any day of the week, but Denver's weak division and easy schedule gives them a good shot.

3-5
Cleveland, Jacksonville, Houston, and San Diego are 3-5, but there's no counting a single one of them out. They've got their strengths, they've got their weaknesses, but most importantly, they've got seven teams ahead of them who could within the span of two weeks, have the same or a worse record than them. I think we should see at least one or two of these guys in the playoffs.

Just wondering how crazy this is? Take a look at how much space there was between the good and the bad at this time in 2007.

9-0
New England (made playoffs)

7-1
Indianapolis (made playoffs)

6-2
Tennessee (made playoffs), Pittsburgh (made playoffs)

5-3
Cleveland (didn't make playoffs), Jacksonville (made playoffs),

4-4
Baltimore (didn't make playoffs), Buffalo (didn't make playoffs), San Diego (made playoffs)

Under .500 (4-5 or 3-5)
Houston (didn't make playoffs), Denver (didn't make playoffs)

Only one team at .500 at this point in 2007 made the playoffs, and that was the Chargers. Right now there are 7 times fighting for their division or the wild card, and in all likelihood, we will see these guys fight it out to the end. Remember how last season you had to start guys like Todd Collins or T.J. Duckett in your fantasy championship because most teams were resting their starters for the playoffs or not bothering to get them injured going into the postseason? Ok, well I started Collins and Duckett (and won), but your stars will be there playing Week 17, because we ought to have plenty of games the last week of the season with playoff implications.

I love football.

Heading back East (aka It's so Cold in the D...)

2008-11-03T13:29:00.007-05:00

After a short stay in Denver, Allen Iverson is going back to the Eastern Conference. In a trade that will be confirmed shortly, AI will be sent to Detroit (UGH!) for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess. Whether or not Joe Dumars is just blowing up the nucleus for the sake of doing it or whether he saw what the Celtics did and wanted to try and keep up, Iverson (in the last year of his contract) can still score the basketball. He won't average 33 a season anymore, but his numbers are still fairly impressive. Also keep in mind that he played in every game last year. One of the main complaints about Iverson's game is that he doesn't pass the ball. Well, he averaged over 7 assists in each of the last 4 regular seasons. Not too shabby.

I'm not sure how much better this makes Detroit overall because it was a essentially a three team race in the East before this trade anyway. The same question will arise on whether or not AI can coexist with Rip Hamilton just like the question was asked if AI could coexist with Carmelo. We'll have to wait and see on that one. The trade will help the Nuggets too, but again, this isn't enough to put them into the elite of the West. Just like getting Shaq wasn't enough to push Phoenix into the next level. One thing is for sure though. Blockbuster trades three games into the year are pretty kick ass. I'm sure David Stern is smiling since sports fans are still coming down off the World Series and the NFL season is in full crazy swing.

All's I got to say is...

2008-11-02T23:25:00.004-05:00

Ok, maybe that's a cheap shot. Last season, when I was cursing every single Patriots fan in the world, Adam was the only fan I had respect for. He's there, win or lose, good or bad, and he typifies the fan that any team could ever want. Tonight's game could have been won by either team. It lived up to the expectations, and it happened to go in Indy's favor.

Being realistic, the Patriots are still tied for first, the Colts still are fighting for a playoff spot, but this gives us credibility. We can beat the best (yes, even without Brady, the Pats are still one of the best), we can stop teams when we need to, and we can play disciplined football.

Next game, I'm hoping to see Rhodes much much much more than Addai. I hope to see Kelvin Hayden back so I don't poop myself every time someone throws to their 1 or 2 wide receivers. Also, I hope we don't play a team that can pound the ball with the running backs or throw the ball and be equally effective, like the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Oh. Crap.

Week 9 Picks

2008-11-02T13:06:00.006-05:00

Well, we've reached the midway-point in the season, and we know this much for now.
1) Scott Linehan might have actually been the problem in St. Louis
2) Marvin Lewis still has a job mainly because he coached the lone bright spot in the past 20 years of Bengals football
3) The Colts are currently on the outside looking in on the AFC playoff race
4) Tennessee can absolutely compete for a title with their defense and running game (Note: James does NOT approve this message)
5) The NFC South is surprisingly giving the NFC East a run for its money for toughest division in football.
6) Both the NFC and AFC West divisions still suck.
7) Nothing. No seriously, forget everything I just told you. The one thing I actually know about this season is that we know nothing. And I love it.

On to the games...

Jets @ Bills
James: During the offseason, there was talk about these two teams “having a chance” at playing in January. Guess what? That chance is still very real for both teams, and this week's matchup is going to be a crucial divisional game. Right now, Buffalo is tied with New England for tops of the AFC East, so a win means that at the very least, a tie for first place for another week. Broadway Brett Favre and the Jets have been wavering between looking like a playoff contender and a playoff spectator much in the same fashion Oprah Winfrey has wavered between fat and more fat (Just kidding Oprah. You go girl!). Missing for Buffalo are Josh Reed, Aaron Schoebel, and Brad Butler. Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssqa 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 I'd like to thank this cute little kitten my girlfriend rescued off the side of the road the other day for providing the Jets injury report. We've already named it and already grown attached, now it just needs a home. Back to this football stuff. The Jets and Bills both have defenses that have improved a great deal last season, and there's a ton of pressure on both sides to win. Expect to see an epic battle where Buffalo will pound the ball with Lynch and Jackson, and New York will take score any way they can figure out how.
James' Pick: Buffalo wins, 20-17
Adam's Pick: Buffalo wins, 28-14
Fantasy Love: Trent Edwards
Fantasy Hate: Tom Jones

Lions @ Bears
Adam: I've got two words for you: ORTON EXPRESS! Seriously, I don't think anybody saw this coming. This is a guy that I've always thought would carry the torch as "The Next Trent Dilfer", but he's done more than just play safe and keep mistakes to a minimum, he's pushed the offense to another, balanced level and complemented Matt Forte very well. Did you know the Bears have scored the 5th most points in the NFL this season? No, I bet you didn't. Mr. Neck Beard has a lot to do with that fact. The Lions meanwhile are one of the two winless teams in the NFL. They have lost their starting QB for the season. They have traded away their most accomplished WR. They are starting the 2008 model of Rudi Johnson at running back. Oh, and they're giving up 30 points per game. Awesome. At least they're still keeping it light with hilarious Halloween costumes.
Adam's Pick: Chicago wins, 31-10
James' Pick: Lions over Da Bears, 17-10
Fantasy Love: Kyle Orton, Matt Forte
Fantasy Hate: The Lions

Jaguars @ Bengals
James: What's tougher, a jaguar or a bengal? Well, initially, you might say a bengal. However because Cincy never specified what kind of bengal they are, I'm inclined to believe they named themselves after bengal cats and not bengal tigers based on their performance this year. Bengal cats are adorable and well known for their antics, much like Chad Javon Ocho Cinco Johnson and Chris Henry and the rest of those guys.Jacksonville's sitting at 3-4, and Cincinnati is just trying to beat the Lions to the first win of the season. Ryan Fitzpatrick has shown some promise at some points, but the way they were absolutely spanked by Houston last week makes me feel like they just want to get the season over with. Jacksonville, on the other hand, is one of those teams who are fighting through injuries, and they seem like they just might click and come together at any minute. This would be a good starting point
James' Pick: Jaguars trample the Kittens, 34-10
Adam's Pick: Jaguars win, 24-21. But I would not be shocked by an upset.
Fantasy Love: Maurice Jones-Drew
Fantasy Hate: Chris Perry

Ravens @ Browns
Adam: This is one of those games that's really tough to call. Four weeks ago, you'd take the Ravens to beat the Browns in a landslide. But Cleveland's woken up finally and are starting to turn it on offensively. The Ravens were looking pretty bad with that loss to the Colts, but have rolled off a couple wins a row. I think the Browns still make a run at a playoff spot this year, but it'll be after losing this one today. The Ravens D is just too keyed-in.
Adam's Pick: Ravens win, 28-13
James' Pick: Lions over Da Bears, 17-10
Fantasy Love: Willis McGahee
Fantasy Hate: Jamal Lewis

Packers @ Titans
Adam: So, James can talk all he wants, but I'm convinced with these Titans. They have a complete defense, with pass rushers, run-stuffers, and shutdown corners. They have a fast, exciting running back and a fat guy who gets into the end zone. And they have Kerry Collins. Hm. Well nevermind that, I still think they're good. The Packers are in a tough spot. After coming out on fire to start the season, they had a few rough weeks in a row. They've righted the ship since then, but run into the "it" team of 2008 here. I see this being a close game, but one ultimately won by timely defensive plays by the Titans.
Adam's Pick: Tennessee over GB, 24-21
James' Pick: Packers over Titans, 37-21
Fantasy Love: Chris Johnson
Fantasy Hate: Donald Driver

Buccaneers @ Cheifs
James: This is my “so obvious who's going to win you might as well not even play game”. I think my record on those games this season is worse than Kansas City's. The Chiefs are missing Larry Johnson once again because he seems to have a spitting problem, while the Bucs are looking to redeem themselves after losing to Dallas. This goes to show you how crazy this season is, when you're shocked that Dallas pulled off that win. If the Chiefs can get any offense going against the Bucs tough defense...well then they'll have to actually stop Jeff Garcia, Earnest Graham, and Warrick Dunn. While the chances of that are slim to none, it still wouldn't surprise me one bit. Herm Edwards has to be embarrassed that his defense is the one teams get excited to go up against, and he might have a trick or two up his sleeve (like suiting up and filling in at cornerback). Tampa's looking to improve in the very tough NFC South (I still can't believe I'm calling the NFC South “tough”), and needs to play 60 minutes of solid football in order to win Kansas City. I can guarantee you if there's one coach in the NFL who isn't taking a game against the Chiefs as an easy win, it's Jon Gruden.
Adam's Pick: Tampa Bay wins, 28-18
James' Pick: Bucs take it, 24-10
Fantasy Love: Earnest Graham
Fantasy Hate: Kolby Smith

Cardinals @ Rams
Adam: The battle for St. Louis, past vs. present! The Cardinals are going for it, that's for sure. Now that Anquan Boldin isn't out with a face anymore (dumbest injury description ever), and they're moving to Tim Hightower instead of Creaky-Knees James, they should make a serious run at being the highest scoring team this year. If only they could get that young D to perform. The Rams, meanwhile, are rejuvenated since the Linehan firing. Watching the game last week, at no point did you feel like you were playing a JV team, and that's new to the past 2 years of Rams teams. Stephen Jackson is coming back this week, Donnie Avery is finding his rhythm with Bulger, and Atogwe is quickly playing himself towards the top of the CB list. I say they continue their good vibe at home this week, and New St. Louis beats Old St. Louis.
Adam's Pick: New St. Louis wins, 27-24
James' Pick: New St. Louis, 24-9
Fantasy Love: Donnie Avery
Fantasy Hate: Tim Hightower

Texans @ Vikings
James: I'm excited about this game. These are two very talented, very good teams who make a lot of mistakes and end up screwing themselves. Both are 3-4, meaning both still have a shot at making the playoffs. Houston has yet to win a game on the road, so improving to .500 after a disastrous start would put them on par to be the 2008 Feel Good Team Of The Year. Steve Slaton will be seeing his toughest run defense since, and has a good chance to legitimatize himself as the next great premier back. Minnesota can, with losses from Green Bay and Chicago, tie for first place in the NFC North with a win today. If they can keep their Achilles heel in check (Brad Childress. You know, that guy that stands on the sidelines at Vikings games who looks like your 8th grade English teacher, and every time he opens his mouth something bad happens. That guy.), the Vikings will certainly have a good shot.
Adam's Pick: I'll take Houston, 34-24
James' Pick: Houston wins, 37-14
Fantasy Love: Andre Johnson
Fantasy Hate: Gus Bus

Dolphins @ Broncos
Adam: Nobody thought this was possible before the season, but if the Dolphins can pull out a win here in week 9, no team in the AFC East will have a losing record. You've got to give it to Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano, they've changed the way Miami does things in a big way. Aside from the highly effective gimmick plays, the Dophins are playing much more physical than they had in the past, and it's keeping them in games right down to the very end. The Broncos, coming off their bye week, have plenty of motivation. They seemed to be exposed as the biggest frauds in the NFL in their last game, a Monday Night blowout by the Patriots. With the Pats winning again last week to get to 5-2, that could end being a turning point game for the two teams, where the Pats stopped feeling sorry for themselves and the Broncos started paying for their poor defense. They have the power to stop all that today, and with the bye week to prepare for everything the Dolphins can throw at them, my money's on Mike Shannahan doing exactly that.
Adam's Pick: Broncos top the Fins, 31-27
James' Pick: Miami over Denver, 28-20
Fantasy Love: Brandon Marshall
Fantasy Hate: Anthony Fasano

Falcons @ Raiders
James: The Falcons are inches away from being taken seriously, and they should be very happy with the way they've played this season. If the team can hold on to Roddy White for a while, imagine what he and Matt Ryan will be doing a few seasons from now. I'm excited, are you? Both teams need a win to stay in the playoff hunt. Yeah, Oakland is actually still in the playoff hunt, which goes to show you how bad the AFC West is. Hopefully, this is the game where commentators stop giving JaMarcus Russell excuses, saying “He's only in his Xth game, he's still developing” and realize “Holy crap, Matt Ryan is miles better than this guy and he's a true rookie”. If McFadden can step up and the Raiders can win ball control, this game could very well be their's for the taking. The Falcons seems to live or die by whether they can establish a running game, so if Michael Turner hasn't gotten at least 20 or 30 yards by the end of the first quarter, this will be a very tough battle for Atlanta. Matt Ryan's good, but he's still not quite there in being able to win road games when he's getting no rushing support.
Adam's Pick: Atlanta wins, 24-13
James' Pick: Oakland wins, 22-14
Fantasy Love: Roddy White
Fantasy Hate: Jamarcus Russell

Cowboys @ Giants
James: If anything, this week of football won't be short on exciting divisional matchups with playoff ramifications. The Cowboys, missing Romo and most likely Witten, will be in New York Jersey to see if they can gain some ground on the Super Bowl Champs. One of the biggest surprises this season might have been the role reversal the Giants and Cowboys took. Feeling a bit like Rodney Dangerfield, Eli, the three headed running beast of Branderrahmad Jawardshaw, and the best (yes, BEST) defense in the NFL have taken it upon themselves to earn some respect this season. If they can win today, Dallas drops to 5-4 and 1-2 in the division. Last week, I predicted Dallas would be dead in the water against Tampa, but their defense stepped up to the challenge and was able to pull off a win. It'll take that and then some to win this week, but coming out with a win isn't out of the question
Adam's Pick: Giants win it, 38-30
James' Pick: New York Football Giants take control of the NFC East and win 27- 13 23 (After all, this is the Giants and Cowboys we're talking about, I should expect the Cowboys to bring their best)
Fantasy Love: Charlie
Fantasy Hate: Dennis

Eagles @ Seahawks
James: I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and no matter how bad my teams do, I will never have a worse season than Seattle fans. Their basketball team was stolen from them at gun point, their baseball team was beyond bad, and even the backups' backups on the Seahawks can't stay healthy. When you're putting your teams' chances in the hands of Seneca Wallace and Julius Jones and your defense hasn't done half as well as was expected, you're in for a tough time. The Eagles probably watched the World Series parade and how excited Philadelphia fans were, and right now they're drooling uncontrollably. Rumor has it that McNabb has been given orders by Andy Reid to wear a bib for this very reason. Rumor also has it that Reid and Mike Holmgren will be switching clothes this game to see if anyone notices, just like that episode of Sister, Sister where Tia and Tamara take each others tests (but sadly end up getting caught out). Philly's an undeserved dead last in the NFC East at 4-3, and this game is a must-win in order to stay on track for the playoffs. Also, Seattle is an undeserved 2nd place in the NFC West at 2-5. Just keep that in mind.
Adam's Pick: Eagles win, 25-18 (yeah, that's right, wacky numbers. I'm CRAZY like that)
James' Pick: Seattle, under the wing of Andy Reid, pull off an upset 31-17
Fantasy Love: Kevin Curtis reminds me why I stashed him on my bench for 8 weeks
Fantasy Hate: Julius Jones

Stay tuned for our totally impartial Patriots/Colts debate! Plus, the Monday Night Preview.

SHOW-stopper!

2008-10-29T00:14:00.005-04:00

Yup, I reward Leon with that horribly unoriginal headline. As AdamMan astutely observed, Leon had a monster game on opening night helping the defending champs to a 90-85 victory. Would you expect anything less? The performance was punctuated with a two handed slam right into Verejao's fro-piece to seal the win. Unfortunately my internet is failing miserably yet again (seriously California?) so I have to resort to this quick post. Of course I would have liked to write some extravagant NBA preview type deal, but let's be honest, there's about 8 trillion of those floating around the interwebz. Besides, just go back to my baseball midseason predictions and see if you want me forecasting things like who the Defensive POY will be. In an effort to keep the posting futility at bay, I will have to resort to posting at my new job. Not the brightest move to be sure but Leon and the NBA deserve better. Kiss baseball and football goodbye kiddies, it's BASKETBALL time!

Oh, did I mention I drafted Leon in my fantasy league? Because I did.

I had the worst dream last night...

2008-10-28T21:19:00.000-04:00

The Colts were playing a pretty good game. Their soft cover 2, while allowing the Titans to control the ball, was holding up and keeping them in check. Their offense was being somewhat productive, although they could have been better. However, they got their run game going, and aside from when he'd try to hit Marvin deep and then suddenly realize Marvin's not as fast as he used to be, the passing game seemed solid. Even the special teams were stepping up.

Then it turned into a nightmare...

We cause a fumble. A very obvious fumble. We recover. The refs say he's down by contact. Tony Dungy, who loves challenging even the plays which we have no chance of getting turned over, doesn't even consider throwing a challenge flag. It would have been our ball. Next play, tipped ball, intercept...he drops it. Right in his hands. It couldn't have been coming to Clint Session any softer and he dropped it. There was nothing but an open field and an end zone in front of him and he dropped it.

That same scenario, another possible touchdown, and once again, the ball is dropped.

Every deep ball from Manning seems to be inches away from where the receiver is, and it glides through their hands every time.

The cover 2 is getting less and less effective. The Colts keep allowing the Titans to play their short passing game, letting up 5-6 yards per play because their corners are playing the receivers deep.

On 4th and 1, Dungy goes for it. The offensive line barely looks set and the play gets stopped.

4th and 2, Manning to Harrison. Oh yeah, Nick Harper is faster getting to the ball than Harrison. Play broken up.

Marlin Jackson makes a great play on a 3rd down. They call him for illegal contact. But...he didn't...actually touch...anyone. Um...really? 8 points later...this game is tied.

The Titans next drive...we're not going to be idiots and let them eat up time on the clock and play the short game, right?

7 minutes, 66 yards and a touchdown later...this doesn't look good.

That's ok, Peyton will bring us back. He'll just hit his favorite target tonight Dallas Cla...right through his hands and intercepted. Oh.

Next play, touchdown.

We get the ball, time to come back. I really still think we can. Tennessee hasn't been that great all night, we've just been our own worst enemy.

Ok, the drive was a bit longer than expected, but we still get 7 out of it. Time for the onsides kick. No way Vinatieri will botch this and kick it 4 yards or something, right? Oh God.

And that's when it ended. After watching the game last night, I still don't think my prediction for a blowout was all that crazy. I don't think the Titans are that good. They don't have the best defense in the league, and their offense can be shut down easily if you plug the run and play anything but a soft cover 2.

I hate being the typical "the referees blew this", but they did, and they have all season for a lot of teams. At some point the NFL needs to start fining refs for blown calls when they have a drastic effect on the game *cough* Chargers *cough*. I noticed ESPN didn't even show any replays on penalties that looked like they could be questionable, probably so the audience at home wouldn't look at a play and think "Wait, but he didn't actually touch the guy...".

I dunno, it's probably because I'm bitter and will be until next Sunday night, but I really felt ESPN was all over Tennessee's junk all game. The referees were too. I have a special selective mute option in my brain, so I didn't even notice, but I assume Kornheiser was lubing up in the 4th quarter to go congratulate Kerry Collins.

So anyway, without going into further detail with my disgust of the way the game played out, I still firmly believe the Colts can and should be a great team. They're just not showing it.

This Is Why We're Here

2008-10-28T20:29:00.005-04:00

I couldn't let the opening night of the NBA season go by without at least a quick post. Especially when Leon Powe comes into the game and, in typical fashion, gets a bucket and a foul immediately. As the announcer just said, Wally Szerbiak cannot D up on Powe.

I'll update more as the game goes on, but it's nice to see you can still count on Zero.

UPDATE: So the 2008/2009 Celtics start the season off with a win, and our namesake Leon Powe ends the game with 13 points on 5/7 shooting and 4 free throws. What's more interesting is that, with Patrick O'Bryant inactive for the game, the C's really had no backup Center. What does that mean to us? It means more power to our cause, as Leon logged 23 minutes tonight. That's a number he didn't reach until January last season, and only hit 12 times all year (mostly when Garnett was hurt). If Doc keeps this up we're going to have to change our name to "Keep Playing Leon Powe Dot Com." Pats on the back all around.

PS: I'm watching the Lakers/Blazers game and I have two notes. 1) It looks like Greg Oden's age is finally catching up to him, and 2) The broadcast does not show the time anywhere on the screen. Seriously TNT, act like you've been here before.

Titan-ic Loss Leaves Indy out in the Colt

2008-10-28T13:06:00.006-04:00

It's okay James. Everything will be okay. I just feel bad that you spent 1000+ words in vain. For overconfidence to lead to that much carpal tunnel.... my heart goes out to you man. It is a bit ironic though, since just a week ago I had posted a lengthy self-deprecating article about my struggling team, and they went on to win in a blowout... yet your prediction of a blowout let to a crushing defeat that puts the Colts 4 games back in the division. Sad. Oh by the way, the Titans read your article and they have something they'd like to say...

But I'm not writing here to make fun of James. I'm writing to brag. Brag that I've finally figured it out. The NFL that is. I got it guys. I finally understand. This week, I went 11-3 in my office pool, and won for the first time in the 2 years I've been taking part. That includes my pick of Indy to win last night. So really James, I feel your pain. I simply won instead of dominating. It also includes my pick of Cleveland, which I forgot to duplicate on my post here. Even if I give up that one, that's 10-4. To match my 10-4 from last week. So in my office I'm 21-7 for weeks 7 and 8, 75% right. That includes my picks of St. Louis over Dallas, Oakland over the Jets, Miami over Buffalo, and Cleveland over Jacksonville. I'm not here to rub in the fact that James is 15-13 over that same period. I'm just trying to say that I'm awesome.

One more quick note... I am pretty impartial about who wins this World Series, but I was on my feet screaming at BJ Upton to make it home last night. Then I was immediately screaming at Joe Maddon to demand the umps suspend the game. There's no way they should have been playing in that storm... but it would have been a crime if the World Series was decided by rain ending a game in the 6th. I also think that the rule should be amended after this post-season that there is no such thing as an "official game" in the World Series that isn't a full one. And to any Phillies fan that wishes they would have just called it in their favor while they had the lead last night... shame on you. That's no way to win.