Dusty Dvoracek is currently an ineffective defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears and a former stud for the Oklahoma Sooners. Dvoracek ran into some trouble down in Norman, Oklahoma when he was arrested at a bar called Seven47. Witnesses reported that once Dusty was asked to hit the road he did what all liquored up meatheads do when they are told to leave a club. He decided to “allegedly” hit a representative of the security team for the bar instead of doing as he was told. Luckily he was arrested for assault and battery, public intoxication, interfering with an official process and most importantly for simply being a douche. Dvoracek might have a bit of a chip on his shoulder these days since he has basically done nothing for the Bears since arriving as a third round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. To date he has played in only 13 games over a four year career and the lack of playing time is due to ending each of his four seasons on injured reserve.
Will Americas Team Win Today?
I have been spot on during the playoffs except for the Green Bay game which was a wagering loss, but it gave me hope the playoffs were not going to be as bad as the initial three Wild Card games we had to endure.
This weeks spotlight game is Dallas at Minnesota. The Vikes and their 40 year old QB with all kinds of playoff experience meet the hottest team other than San Diego (which means whales vagina) in Dallas. Tony Romo has essentially been playing playoff football for a month and he and his teammates have come away with an A grade.
Since the Cowboys’ loss at home Dec 13 against the Chargers 20-17 they have reeled off 4 straight wins against the likes of @ New Orleans, twice against PhilLY (who at the time many thought were the NFC favorites) and lowly Washington. Its not that they won, but how they won. They have outscored their opponents 89-31 over this span including back to back shutouts which is the first time they have done so in franchise history. They won for the first time since Nov 1st by scoring more than 26 points so although on paper they have have looked solid their offense is still a little suspect. That being said who needs offense when you have a defense only giving up an average of a little more than 15 points per game.
The Vikings defense was getting riddled late in the year by the likes of Chicago, ‘Zona and Carolina, but still have similar overall D stats to the ‘Boys. What we have here is a game where the defenses will be the talk of the game and whoever doesn’t turn the ball over will be the victors. I know novel concept, but here is the difference. Dallas has issues on the road and Minnesota is 8-0 at home. The most points Dallas scored on the road was 31 game 1 at Tampa and their next highest was 26 in mid-October in OT against KC. Not exactly a juggernaut.
Farve is playing what quite possibly could be his last game and if so he and Kurt Warner will be giving us speeches 5 years from now in Canton. Brett needs to get rid of the ball quickly and hope his O-line gives him the 3 step drop time needed to carve out some yards so AP can then provide a solid runnig game and force Dallas to respect the rush. Remember this, Dallas has not played a team with a serious running game since New Orleans and Brees threw 45 times so the rush was not in play and only 2 teams in the NFL who are in the top 10 in rushing (Carolina and Saints). Yes they beat them but we still haven’t seen the defense go up against a team like the Vikings on the road and win.
I am betting the Vikings to cover -2 1/2
NFL Bets of the Day – January 16th, 2010
Today starts the Divisional playoff games and I couldn’t be more excited. While I think tomorrow is the best slate of games today isn’t shabby at all. Good luck!
Arizona +7
Baltimore +6
Overall Record:
NFL 33-18 (2009-10) 136-90-5 (overall)
College Basketball 15-8-1 (2009-10) 212-157-7 (overall)
NBA 44-36
NHL 1-2
MLB 90-69-5
College Football 37-24 (2009-10) 142-115-1 (overall)
WTF? WOW! and makes sense
Say it aint so? Another coach ala Mike White from the west coast has worn out his welcome in the SEC.
Lane Kiffin has accepted the USC head coaching job and I think the Trojans really did get their man and he was more than happy to get out of Knoxville and Tennessee is more than accommodating to allow it to happen.
He doesn’t come alone as family and friends are on the plane. Kiffin will bring his father and defensive coordinator, Monte Kiffin, and assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron (ex-Mississippi head coach) to Southern Cal with him. Wide receivers coach Kippy Brown will be named interim head coach at Tennessee, but that won’t last for long.
With Kiffin, USC will get a proven offensive mind who knows the system. Kiffin already has Matt Barkley and he will be able to work with the best QB prospects in the country in the coming years. What the Trojans just did was reload, not rebuild. I don’t know how they did it, but they got better in coaching plus they have a young team primed for success and they will drive even more recruits to the school. Sorry to my beloved UCLA, but this is a great move by Mike Garrett who I hate with a passion orchestrated this along with Pete Carroll masterfully.
Now, who is the Vols next coach? Does Gruden now have a chance to take over a program where he started his coaching career as a graduate assistant in ’86? I think if he wants to coach college over pro then he wont get better than this, but he could be waiting for or an opening in the NFL in 2011.
Kiffin has left the cupboard full with a young solid team and 22 recruits leading to the #6 overall 2010 ranking from Rival Sports. 14 of the recruits are 4 stars and Kiffin recruited defensive studs, top wide receivers and straight up athletes from all over the country. See a pattern? Sound familiar? This is a win/win for both school. Also, do you really think Kiffin leaves Tennessee for USC if there was a death penalty coming? USC is the #8 ranked recruiting class with only 14 recruits, but of course three were 5-stars and eight were 4-stars.
Why will Baltimore win today?
New England has not lost at home in a long time.. November 2006 to be exact. They still have Brady and Moss and Belichick is still at the helm. So why is New England going to lose today?
Baltimore comes in with a 9-7 record and really with the old Defense that has made them the most feared team in the NFL. But what they have is the #3 Total defense in the NFL, #5 against the rush and #8 against the pass. They will load the box against the likes of Sammy Morris, Fred Taylor and Lawrence Maroney. Maroney is just what Baltimore loves.. a guy who cant hold on to the ball, Taylor hasn’t played but in 5 games and Morris has been banged up. A nice Combo when healthy, but they will not be as effective because of a missing WR.
Losing Wes Welker, as much as NE wants to spin it as just a minor setback, will clamp down on Moss and while NE used to have the effective weopons at the 3-4 WR spot those days are over. Jabar Gaffney is gone.. he’s brutal, but he fit the system, Terry Glenn was let go mid season, and rookie, an ex-QB 7th round pick out of Kent St. , will be the slot man in a Playoff game. Dont forget that Sam Aikin is a 4th round pick in 2003 who couldn’t make it in Buffalo and Mathew Slater.. yes HOF Jackie Slater’s son, who was an 8th rounder in 2008 as a DB is also there.
Let’s not forget Tom Brady is still rehabbing the knee cus everyone knows that it is a year to get healthy to play and 2 years to get back to normal. Not to mention his broken ribs, and digits, and lately if you have had any old HS injuries and you live in the south where its been cold as hell.. you are hurting because of the cold. It will be in the high teens with a 15-20 mph wind..
I like the Offensive line and Ray Rice as well as the demeanor of Flacco. Harbaugh is a good coach and the last 2 times Baltimore played NE they had them by the cajones and as Denny Greene once said, “…we let ’em off the hook”. The Ravens will run the ball with their NFL ranked #5 rush O and the overall #13 Offense.. Think of it this way.. Arizona is ranked behind them in Rushing and Overall O.
I am betting Baltimore to cover +4
Congrats, 2010 Top 5 and a Long Spring and Summer Ahead
Congratulations to Alabama for becoming the 2009-10 BCS Champions.
Now that college football and the regular season of the NFL is over we have to get over the fact there will not be a Monday night game nor will there be a Toledo vs. Bowling Green Tuesday or Wednesday night ‘football jonesing’ game.
We have come to that time a year where we get 4 NFL games this week and next then 2 games on one day in 2 weeks and then 2 weeks later a single game and that will be it until August. I can’t say it has been the greatest of college football years because ethe excitement of previous years did not resonate. I’m not sure why, but maybe its because only Oklahoma #2, USC #4 and #7 Oklahoma St really didn’t live up to their preseason rankings. Preseason ranked Florida #1, Alabama #5 and Texas #3 were always in the top 3 or 4 and really nobody came close to knocking them out.
The real surprises to watch this year were TCU preseason ranked #18 and Boise State #20 who both finished the regular season undefeated. The Broncos and Horny Frogs rose the ranks and in a small way give us hope for a potential playoff scenario in the future.
The biggest tanks of 2009 were Mississippi, USC, Oklahoma, Kansas and of course Lou Holt’s National Champion, Notre Dame.
I know its way way too early to even think about next year, but here are my 2010 NCAA Football preseason Top 5 picks:
#1 USC – have you seen the 2010 cupcake schedule? Hawaii, Virgina, Minny and Wazu to open. Barkley and the defense are another year older and will roll.
#2 Virginia Tech – except for Boise State they can breeze through the ACC with no Fla St, Clemson or Maryland on the schedule. Miami and North Carolina are on the road.
#3 Alabamaa – They return 13 from a National Championship team with most of the offense either sophomores or juniors. They play Penn St in their second game and Florida in Tuscaloosa.
#4 Boise St. – They have a ‘real’ game against VTech in October at FedEx field and a home game vs Oregon St. They bring back a lot of skill players and 20 starters.
#5 Ohio St. – Terrelle Pryor has the confidence now and so does Tressel to take this project to the next level. Marshall, EMU and Indiana on the schedule.
Jim Leavitt Shown the Door
The University of South Florida has fired head football coach Jim Leavitt due to his interactions with a football player in late November. Leavitt allegedly grabbed sophomore defensive back Joel Miller by the throat and later hit him in the face a couple of times during halftime of a game against Louisville. Not only did Leavitt get fired today after the internal investigation, but so did his entire coaching staff which I guess comes as no surprise. Leavitt was the only head coach for South Florida over the last 13 years and just completed the second year of a $12.6 million contract. Leavitt becomes the third head coach along with Mark Mangino and Mike Leach over the last month to be fired due to questionable acts involving their players. The microscope is all over head coaches these days and whether they like it or not you can’t treat players the same way they were treated 15-20 years ago. We are litigious society that has evolved into a PC or bust mindset and I think after these three firings you will see adjustments made by a lot of head coaches moving forward.
Hook ’em Horns
Tonight #1 Alabama plays #2 Texas in the Rose Bowl for the BCS Championship. My heart isn’t with either team, but we have to pull for the Longhorns this evening because if they can pull out a win then I rake in some cabbage from a Bowl Pool challenge. I hope the curse of the Heisman trophy winner hangs over Mark Ingram and the Tide because McCoy and the boys will need some help to overcome them. Here is the University of Texas fight song to get anyone else in the mood who is pulling for Texas. Hook ’em Horns!
College Football Bet of the Day – January 6th, 2010
No the BCS Championship game isn’t this evening instead we have the all impressive GMAC Bowl to watch. Troy takes on Dan LeFevour and the Central Michigan Chippewas. Former head coach Butch Jones won’t be with Central Michigan this evening because he is now the head coach of Cincinnati. Don’t worry about a thing though because LeFevour and gang will still cover.
Central Michigan -2.5
Overall Record:
College Football 36-24 (this year) 141-115-1 (overall)
NFL 33-18 (this year) 136-90-5 (overall)
College Basketball 8-3 (this year) 205-152-6 (overall)
NBA 44-36
NHL 1-2
MLB 90-69-5