December 24, 2024

R U Ready for Some NFL?

September 11, 2010 by

Here are the unconventional picks for Week 1 in the NFL.

How many of you are in a suicide pool and looking for answers? Well, I totally laid out in my ‘Big $’ pool and chose New Orleans so I’m on to week two. I couldn’t play just one entry though so my second one is the Jacksonville Jaguars.

While we are on the subject take Jax -3 over Tim Tebow, errr I mean Denver because they have no defense and no running backs. The Jags are loaded with vets including a top 3 pick in fantasy player in MJD. Garrard is a a vet and the WR core is not too bad. Can you name the QB, RB, WR tandem in Denver? Exactly so Jville rolls.

Prediction Jacksonville -3

Detroit is at the Bears. Jay Cutler still hasn’t got it and Matt Stafford has a top 3 WR in Calvin Johnson along with Jahvid Best as a RB. Take the 6.5 and run to the bank!

Prediction Lions +6.5

The Niners are going to the playoffs this year so put the mortgage on SF as they roll.

Prediction SF -4

Filed Under: Football, NFL Tagged With: ,

Survey Says

September 2, 2010 by

College football kicks off tomorrow evening and it should be another fantastic year. Here are my predicitions for conference champions and the national champion.

ACC
Florida State, Miami and North Carolina are all veteran teams. If UNC has player suspension issues that linger for too long look for Florida State to win the Atlantic and Miami to win the Coastal.

Prediction: Miami beats Florida State in the ACC Championship

Big East
Cincinnati lost their QB and head coach while UConn, Pitt and Rutgers have gained another year of seasoning and are ready to win this wide open conference. While some may say that West Virginia is always in contention the Rich Rodriguez days are long gone. Upstarts UConn and Rutgers have skill players back and great coaching in order to win tight games. Pitt may has a Heisman hopeful, but they still have a coach who chokes in more big games than Marty Shottenheimer. South Florida has a nice offense coming back but the defense is the weakest in quite some time for the Bulls.

Prediction: Rutgers to win the Big East

Big 10
It is almost unanimous that Ohio State, Iowa and Wisconsin have some of the best teams in all of football this year. OSU plays at Iowa and Wisconsin and at home to Miami, Penn St and Michigan. Iowa has most of their tough games at home, but the Arizona game on the road in Week 3 could be a pitfall. Wisconsin has to go to Iowa which will more than likely be their demise.

Prediction: Ohio State wins

Big 12
This year is the last hurrah for Colorado and Nebraska. Unfortunately it doesn’t matter because Nebraska will win the North Division in a landslide. Texas and Oklahoma will once again play the Red River Shootout for conference supremacy. Oklahoma may have a Heisman hopeful at RB in DeMarco Murray and Texas could be good, but they lost a lot.

Prediction: Oklahoma wins the Big 12 Championship

Pac 10
Lots of good QBs, a death penalty and many other young talented players are heading up this conference. Arizona gets Iowa, USC, Washington and Oregon State at home. Oregon State has to open up at TCU and then 2 weeks later goes to Boise State besides back-to-back road games at Arizona and Washington. USC can’t win anything tangible, but have the talent to make a huge statement. Washington Heisman hopeful Jake Locker is a true playmaker and should keep the Huskies in most games. Stanford has the offense, but will need a defense to make anyone look at them as contenders.

Prediction: Arizona wins the Pac 10

SEC
Tim Tebow is gone, but Florida continues to reload as usual. Alabama is coming off a dream season, but have issues with the Heisman winner Mark Ingram getting banged up plus they have a lot of new faces on defense. Auburn has a pretty easy path to their tango against Alabama in the season finale while Arkansas and South Carolina should have explosive offenses. You can’t count out LSU, but in the end Florida wins SEC East and Auburn in a stunner wins the SEC West.

Prediction: Auburn wins the SEC

Sleeper Teams:
Middle Tennessee State, NC State, UCLA, and South Florida

BCS Championship
The BCS Championship game will not have a WAC or Mountain West team in it even though there is a lot of preseason hype that Boise or TCU will make the big game. The usual suspects Ohio State and Oklahoma will battle for the title with Terrelle Pryor and Ohio State gutting through a great game for the win.

Filed Under: College Football, Football, General Sports Tagged With:

How good is Green Bay?

August 27, 2010 by

Are you kidding me? I watched their preseason NFL game last night against the Colts which by no surprise was in front of a sold out crowd at Lambeau Field. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers dropped 59 Points on Indy and looked stellar.

Is this something we can look forward to in all the NFL games this year? Has this turned into a 7-on-7 game?

Yes I know it is freaking preseason, but the game between Indy and Green Bay was a joy to watch. If you didn’t watch the shootout then I can only guess you were watching Snookie get arrested? I mean football is almost here and the third week is when you really get to see the starters play for at least a half so make sure you enjoy the rest of the games this weekend.

What a great time of year! Fantasy drafts are taking place, NCAA football is less than a week away and the NFL regular season is just two weeks ago.

This is why we endure the 100% humidity through the summer in order to reach the fall and football baby!

Filed Under: Football, General Sports, NFL Tagged With: ,

Hall Of Fame for the Best Owner in Sports

August 15, 2010 by

25 years ago Jerry Buss decided to offer “Showtime” in as many Southern California homes as possible. Just a few seasons after he purchased the Lake Show from Jack Kent Cooke Buss decided to give the average fan an opportunity to watch all the Lakers home games for $20 a month by launching Prime Ticket. Due to his vision of changing the landscape on how he Lakers could be seen along with owning a team that has won 10 NBA Championships during his 31 year ownership Dr. Jerry Buss was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.

I salute you Jerry Buss who won a coin flip and drafted Magic Johnson which started a wave of dominance only the NY Yankees have enjoyed since 1980.

Filed Under: Basketball, NBA Tagged With: ,

Preseason Week 1 and My Thoughts

August 15, 2010 by

We are only in week 1 of the preseason and it is already obvious there are teams that have ZERO chance of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in February. Here are the teams that won’t win 6 games this year.

In the order of worst to still incredibly crappy:

1. St Louis Rams – OMG!!! $50M for a QB that has no offensive line to protect him. You think Matt Stafford had a tough time in Detroit?  Wait until Sam Bradford takes the field as a starter after AJ Feeley gets jacked up early in the season. This team is in a major rebuilding era and will not win more than 2 games which is actually 1 more than 2009. How bad were the Rams in 2009? Keith Null was their starting QB for the last 5 games. They were 29th in overall offense with no thanks to over 1,400 yards rushing by the 2nd best RB (Steven Jackson) in the NFL. The Rams got shut out twice including the season opener and scored 10 points or less in 8 games. If it wasn’t for teams with Jamarcus Russell, Brady Quinn and Ryan Fitzpatrick the Rams would have been last in overall yards. Their only win was against Detroit in front of the lowest attended 2009 NFL game with a putrid 40,000 fans in the stands.  Maybe 2 wins for the lowly Rams this year.

2. Buffalo Bills – Buffalo has not been to the playoffs since 1999 and they won’t make it there any time soon. No QB, no WR’s and their top two running backs are already hurt for at least a month. They may be the first NFL team to play in Canada on a full time basis because the owner is losing money and needs a new audience for this poor display of a football team. Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Brohm and Levi Brown are the current QB’s on the roster which is depressing to say the least.  Draftee CJ Spiller will have to run back a punt per game to get this team points because they are in huge trouble offensively. 30th in total offense in 2009 and it could even be worse this year. Maybe 3 wins for the Bills.

3. Denver Broncos – Look for Tim Tebow to start by week 5 and I think he will be a good quarterback. He has all the tools and a great attitude in order for him to be a long time fixture in the league. All their RB’s are hurt and really don’t impress me overall anyway. Heck they even picked up Justin Fargas recently because they are so decimated. The loss of Brandon Marshall hurts very bad because just imagine Eddie Royal or Jabbar Gaffney as Kyle Orton’s number one target. Elvis Dumervil is out for the year which is a huge blow to the Broncos ability to pass rush. Champ Bailey is still a stud, but he can’t do it all on defense. Don’t forget the Broncos lost 8 of their last 10 games last year and their struggles will continue. Maybe 4 wins for the Broncos.

4. Kansas City Chiefs – Their QB never took a snap in college and signed a huge contract after leading New England to 11 wins when Brady got injured. That team was coming off a Super Bowl so it was really a plug and play more than anything else. The questions surrounding Cassel along with no real formidable running backs or receivers could lead to scoring problems. The Chiefs are very young on offense and don’t forget last year they were 26th overall in offense. One positive is KC only plays three teams from the 2009 playoffs plus they play St. Louis and Buffalo so anything is possible. Looking like 5 wins for the Chiefs.

5. Carolina Panthers – The loss of Julius Peppers is devastating from the #9 overall defense in 2009. Peppers was the Panthers big name defensive lineman who anchored the defense with tons of sacks over the last several years.  His replacement has 15.5 sacks in his career and the defensive line has been completely overhauled. The new everyday QB Matt Moore took over in game nine last year for Jake Delhomme and looked decent overall. The issue for Moore is outside of Steve Smith they have no other proven talent at the receiver position. The good news is their RB’s are total studs. Both Stewart and Williams had over 1,100 yards rushing last year, 17 total touchdowns and finished as the #3 rushing team in the NFL. The Panthers will struggle to score and with so many questions around their defense things don’t look promising. Maybe 6 wins for the Panthers.

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Tampa lost their first 7 games in 2009 and 12 of their first 13. That being said, they did beat 2 playoff teams and the Super Bowl champs which is promising. Josh Freeman looks like he could be the real deal, but the Bucs receiving corps is really weak. Cadillac Williams when healthy is a top 10-12 RB, but he just can’t stay healthy. Tampa did draft 2009 All-Americans Gerald McCoy and Brian Price so they are starting to shore up their defense. Ronde Barber is still there in center field with a core of second and third year corners who were 10th overall against the pass and 9th in INT’s. The problem was they were dead last against the rush. Maybe 6 wins.

Filed Under: Football, General Sports, NFL Tagged With:

My Top 3 NCAA Football Summer Pix

July 29, 2010 by

We are five weeks out and USC is on probation, Urban Meyer took no time away from the game and Nick Saban is calling out agents and boosters. Are you ready for some college football?

This offseason seems to have been more interesting than any other I can remember. Lane Kiffen and USC got smacked down, The Pac whatever and Texas were gonna be in the same conference and you have multiple teams being investigated by the NCAA for player interaction with agents or runners.

My Top 3 Teams – after spring ball and district court appearances are:

#1 – Ohio State

#2 – USC

#3 – Boise St.

USC will have more incentive than any school in the country due to the ‘non-bowl’ sanction. Before this sanction they were top 4 and in the end what has changed for this year? They didn’t get the #1 recruit in the country due to the sanctions, but they are still loaded. I am a UCLA guy, but this is USC’s year.

Jim Tressel and OSU seem to be a bit under the radar and I feel this is the year of the Buckeye. Other than their rivalry game against Michigan the Buckeyes have Miami the second week in Columbus and the typical Big 10 games they will more than likely roll through in typical fashion. Besides the schedule Pryor is a stud and has major confidence after the Rose Bowl win against Oregon earlier this year. Can you name another big name QB in college football?

Boise has one tough game the entire year and it is the first game of the year against Virginia Tech in Washington, DC. If they win that game look out!

Filed Under: College Football, Football, General Sports Tagged With:

In-Fighting Going on at SoCal

July 26, 2010 by

It’s bad enough the USC Trojans are on double secret probation, had to give back a Heisman trophy, have a new AD and don’t forget they have a head coach who got chased out of Tennessee. Now USC has an alum who is considered royalty in coaching, considering he has the longest coaching tenure in the NFL, suing head Coach Lane Kiffin over the theft of an offensive coach. A freaking running backs coach nevertheless.

Kennedy Pola left the Tennessee Titans to become the offensive coordinator at USC even though Jeff Fisher was never aware until after the fact. You have to figure this process was going on during Mike Garrett’s term as AD and was already in motion by the time Pat Haden came into the office as the new AD.  I can’t believe Haden would have allowed this to happen without reaching out to Jeff Fisher especially since they know each other.

Personally, I don’t see Lane Kiffin at USC very long past this year as he has a way to even make me feel sorry for Al Davis. This guy is bad news for the university and for amateur athletics as a whole.

Filed Under: College Football, Football, NFL Tagged With: , , ,

Saban Speaks Out on Agent Participation

July 21, 2010 by

University of Alabama officials are investigating whether junior defensive lineman Marcel Dareus broke NCAA rules by attending an agent’s party in Miami’s South Beach earlier this summer and Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban who has been on both the college and NFL side of things has decided to speak out.

Saban says it is finally time for a change: “What the NFL Players Association and the NFL need to do is if any agent breaks a rule and causes ineligibility for a player, they should suspend his [agent’s] license for a year or two.” “I’m about ready for college football to say, ‘Let’s just throw the NFL out. Don’t let them evaluate players. Don’t let them talk to players. Let them do it at the combine.’ If they are not going to help us, why should we help them?” Right now, agents are screwing it up,” Saban said. “They are taking the eligibility of players. It’s not right that those players do the wrong thing. We have a great education process here. We have a full-time worker who meets with players and their families and does everything else.”

With what has gone on at USC and Reggie Bush and for all the other players over the last 30+ years who have been screwed because of overzealous agents it is about time to start penalizing people instead of programs for the offenses that are continually making ink inside the newspapers and ruining the integrity of the amateur athlete.

Filed Under: College Football, Football, General Sports, NFL Tagged With: ,

USC Gets Smart and Hires New AD

July 20, 2010 by

The USC of the west coast has finally put to pasture Mike Garrett who was their AD for the last 17 years. USC has hired Pat Haden who in the 1970’s quarterbacked the Trojans to three Rose Bowls, two National Championships and was a Rhodes Scholar before playing in the NFL for the Rams from 1976-81.  Recently he was an analyst for Notre Dame football on NBC and is a partner for a venture capital firm in LA. Haden will begin reporting to the president of the University August 3rd.

This hire will bring stability to an athletic program which is one of the best in the country, but also one of the dirtiest in recent years.

Filed Under: College Basketball, College Football, General Sports Tagged With:

Bob Sheppard Has Died

July 12, 2010 by

We have lost a great name in sports today because Bob Sheppard the long time announcer of the New York Yankees home games passed away. There wasn’t rock or hip-hop music when a player went to the plate instead there was a simple announcement of the man, his position and his number. That is all we really needed to know and Bob Sheppard did it so well.

This like when we lose man like Chick Hearn, Jack Buck, Donny Most or Curt Gowdy. These long-time voices of sports teams are true icons and it’s very sad each time one of them passes away.

Here is Bob Sheppard reenacting the announcement of the line-up from Game 6 of the 1951 World Series. If this video doesn’t get your arm hairs rising with the ‘Field of Dreams’ theme playing then I guess you just aren’t a fan. Also, listen to who bats eighth in the New York Giants line-up. There was no DH which means they were one slot above the pitcher.

Filed Under: Baseball, MLB Tagged With: ,
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