Week 5 Picks!

The NFL season is now a quarter through and apparently I’m learning nothing as my record for picks was in the gutter for the second start week. But I have a good feeling this week, it might be time for a turn-around.

SAINTS (-3) over Panthers

The Saints are coming off a bye week where they really had to sort things out and right their ship. Playing at home against a David Carr-led offense should be able to secure them their first victory of the season but the future outlook is still bleak until their offense can show some substance.

CHIEFS (+2) over Jaguars

The Jaguars are officially the least liked team in the league for the third year running. That’s not really why I don’t like them this week, but I (heart) Dwayne Bowe wasn’t long enough.

Lions (+3.5) over REDSKINS

The Jon Kitna show hits the road and stops in Washington. The ‘skins are coming off a bye which followed a meltdown against the Giants. I actually flipped a coin on this one.

TITANS (-8) over Falcons

Joey Harrington could put up Peyton Manning-like numbers for weeks and I still wouldn’t back a team he was piloting. He just has this aura of crappiness surrounding him.

TEXANS (-5.5) over Dolphins

It’s not so much that the Texans are that good (especially without Ahman Green and Andre Johnson), it’s more that the Dolphins are that bad. Because I just wrote that, Miami will more than likely cover now.

Seahawks (+6) over STEELERS

These teams are pretty much even and while the Steelers have the home-field advantage, it’s been a relatively safe bet for the past two seasons to take the underdog in such a scenario.

PATRIOTS (-16.5) over Browns

The last time I bashed Derek Anderson he lead the Browns to a 51-45 win and threw 5 touchdowns in the process. That was against the Bengals C- defense; against the Patriots A defense, he doesn’t have a shot at winning.

Cardinals (-3.5) over RAMS

Gus Frerotte is starting for the Rams. Debate: Should fantasy owners start dropping Marc Bulger? I say it’s too early and that this week is to rest his banged up body. He can’t sit on the bench too long, can he?

GIANTS (-3.5) over Jets

How this is considered a home game for either team is straight-up dumb. They play in the same stadium. The Jets just lost to the Bills and I don’t see them turning it around against the Giants. We’ll also get to see if the Giants’ defense line is that good or if Philly’s O-line was that bad.

COLTS (-9.5) over Bucs

The Bucs were looking good and then both Cadillac and their starting tackle went down for the season. Even if Williams and Petitgout were in the line up I’d be taking Indy.

BRONCOS (-1) over Chargers

I mean, the Chargers HAVE to win, right? I still don’t think they will. Also, who’re Champ Bailey and Dre Bly going to cover? This looks like a week off for them.

Ravens (-3) over NINERS

Quite possibly the two most over-rated teams face off. Of course, I’m still a sucker for the Ravens but Trent Dilfer starting for San Fran sure does boost my confidence.

PACKERS (-3) over Bears

Is Brian Griese still starting for Chicago or is it back to Rex Grossman? Even Kyle Orton is looking like a step up from those two right now. What a bad situation they’ve got going under center and it’s killing the team more than the injuries they’ve suffered on defense.

Cowboys (-10) versus BILLS

I’ll be at the game whole heartedly cheering on God’s team. Even though Trent Edwards looked good last week and might even lead the Bills to a few scores, the Bills tattered defense will never be able to contain Big D’s offense.

Last week: 5-8
Season: 23-29-6

Snap MLB Playoff judgements

After two days of watching playoff baseball, I've managed to come to some conclusions that have little to now backing.

—I'm still waiting for one of those super-exciting, down to the wire games that make legends out of normal players. Or a game with an emotional charged walk off shot. Or a spectacular pitcher’s duel. Or even a late inning meltdown. I know it's still early and only two days in, but the Colorado-San Diego play-in game really got my hopes up.

— At this rate, Joe “the bum” Borowski won’t have a chance to blow it for Cleveland.

— There is no hope of the Yankees and Red Sox meeting in the second round. Boston look fully on their way after shutting down the Angels on Wednesday night but the Yanks lost horrendously last night. Set your TiVos for Cleveland's incredible hitting vs. Boston's pitching in a bit more than a week.

— The MLB has no business scheduling a playoff game for 10 p.m. Who on the east coast wants to stay up until 1 a.m. watching the Cubs and Diamondbacks plod boringly to a 4-2 result? If Brandon Webb did pitch a gem, I wouldn't be watching to see it. If Lou Piniella pulled Carlos Zambrano too early, I wouldn't know until I read about the next day. What was so wrong with playing a three-team slate at a 2-5-8 staggering? The ratings would increase dramatically if they planned it that way.

— Colorado's end of the season, incredible hot streak has continued into the playoffs. Winning the first two games of their series, in Philly no less, is huge in any playoff series and even bigger when it's a best of 5. One more win then they get the luxury or resting before facing the D-Backs-Cubs winner.

Well, October has just begun. Let’s give it another day or two to see if these snap judgements have any true foundation.

Hockey’s back.

Whether you like it or not.

Well, if you want to get into technicalities, it started on the weekend but how can you take a league seriously when you have your regular season schedule begin before your pre-season schedule end. Besides, the games were in London, England. I mean, who even watched them? Noon is far too early for hockey.

So, there are a few incredibly skewed projections I’ve figured out and these are always fun to bring up because there’s no chance they’ll happen:

Toronto, Carolina and Dallas are all on pace to lose every game this season.

Paul Stasny is on pace to score 246 goals without any assists. Talk about selfish! His line-mate Andrew Brunette is on pace for 246 assists. Who would win the Hart Trophy if that happened?

Not including the Ducks-Kings games in England, 50% of this season’s games will end in overtime while 25% will end in a shootout. Every game will end up with a one-goal difference.

A few players are on pace to finish the season with 164 points. Of them, the players with the most realistic chance of even coming close are Henrik Zetterberg, Saku Koivu while Nik Antropov has already matched Leafs fan’s expectations for the season.

Finally, Trevor Daley, a defenseman on Dallas, is on pace to be the worst defenseman in the history of the NHL. He is heading for a plus/minus rating of -246, which pretty much means that the opposing team is unstoppable when he’s on the ice. Even better, he’s on pace for 82 points, which would mean that his opponents will score 328 goals while he stands on the ice watching.

It’s about 99.99% certain that none of these things will happen, but I can always hope the Leafs go winless and the Avalanche go undefeated, can’t I?

And then there were three.

After week four, only four teams managed to remain unbeaten: The Colts, the Patriots, the Packers and God’s team, the Dallas Cowboys. Of these teams, I’m still finding it hard to believe the Packers are still involved in this, but then again, they haven’t faced any real competition yet. Sure, they faced the Eagles in week one, but now we know they suck. They faced the Giants but who’re now looking like an on-again, off-again team that is destined for an 8-8 record. Turns out the Chargers suck and Minnesota couldn’t handle them either. If they keep this up, the Packers may be welcoming Favre back for another year.

As for my week four thoughts:

Of course the Patriots won against an awful Bengals defense; nobody should be surprised by that. Also, I noticed on Brady’s first touchdown pass to Moss that it’s not just Brady that’s playing out of his mind. The pass he threw, Moss had to jump for and go over a defender, who didn’t leave his feet. The pass whizzed by the defender and nearly hit his arm while Moss scooped it up. If Brady tried that against anyone besides the Bengals, it would have been an interception.

The Eagles offensive line stinks. The Giants record for most sacks by a team for a game (12) is more of a product of the Eagles severely weak O-line than the Giants pass rush, even thought the Giants pass rush is above average.

After losing both Luke Petitgout and Cadillac Williams, the Bucs surprising run may be coming to an end. Both players are done for the season after knee surgeries. Now I seriously need to find a second fantasy RB.

Favre broke the passing touchdown record early in their win against Minnesota. But we already knew this would happen.

The Chargers absolutely stink and Coach Norv Turner should be fired immediately. There shouldn’t be any arguments after that embarrassing loss to the Chiefs.

Trent Edwards of the Bills won his first NFL start against the Bills. He looked really good, I must say, but we’ve been watching J.P. Losman run this offense for a bit too long. The win may have also been a product of Chad Pennington’s late interceptions as well, but I really don’t want to take too much credit away from the kid.

So, I was right about the Cardinals. I knew they’d cover (even if my pick didn’t reflect that), but I think they surprised a lot of people by beating the Steelers.

Finally, the 49ers are going to be in trouble for 4-to-6 weeks because that’s how long Alex Smith is out. Also, missing Vernon Davis is going to hurt for at least another week. Trent Dilfer now has the keys to the offense which I’m not really sure I can get excited for.

And, again, I got slaughtered with my picks. I’m going to have to step up my game to get back to .500.

Week 4: 5-8
Season: 23-29-6

What a game!

It’s good to have a reminder just how exciting playoff baseball is. Last night’s tiebreaking, play-in game between the Rockies and the Padres had me on the edge of my seat for innings on end. The back and forth play by the teams, especially the remarkable relief work in extras, had me thrilled and genuinely excited as not only a baseball fan, but as a sports fan in general. It’s a whole different brand of baseball; tons of more drama and excitement are injected into every game. This is what the season’s about.

There no playoffs quite like baseball’s system; arguably the second best in all of sports. Firstly, you can rule out the BCS because it’s that dumb. The Nextel Cup and the PGA’s FedEx Cup aren’t going to be up there. In the NBA, most fans lost interest before the Finals even started this year. Like the NBA, the NHL allows more than half of their teams in, which lowers the feeling of exclusivity. Now, of the major sports, that leaves the NFL, NCAA basketball and the MLB. My thought is that the Final Four is the most exciting in the first weekend and that the fans that’re only really in it for pools filter out after the first or second weekend. The MLB have the most exclusive playoffs in all of sports with only eight of the 30 big league teams making it to the postseason. Now that is a system that truly weeds out the best of your sport, while also creating the most drama for playoff races (ask any Mets fan how they feel right now). That leaves the NFL, which is only fitting as the best run league ain North America has the best playoff system.

And by the way, San Diego fans must be really in the dumps this week. First the Chargers lose AT HOME to the lowly Chiefs and then they lose the wild card in extra innings to the Rockies when Matt Holliday slid into home, avoided the tag and was called safe even though he clearly didn’t touch the plate. How bad can the morale in that city be right now?

Reversal of fortune.

It's the same type of thing that sports fans in Philadelphia have endured over and over again for years, now they're on the opposite end. Yesterday, the New York Mets completed the biggest September collapse in Major League history. Even worse, it was with Tom Glavine, a man who has won over 300 games in his career, on the hill. He was chased before the Marlins took the field on defense.

You could nearly see it coming, a traditional Philly collapse. Fans of any Philadelphia-based franchise have taken their lumps over the past decade or so. From the Eagles inability to get to the Super Bowl, then choking away the one they made, to the Phillies getting beat by the Blue Jays in '93 and their recent woes. The Flyers were at the cellar of the NHL last year and the Sixers dealt away their franchise superstar. It's been rough for Philly fans, they deserve this, even though they'll lose in the first round to either San Diego or Colorado.

The Mets had a seven game lead on September 12. That's right. Within a few weeks, they blew a seven game lead and their shot at the post-season. What a choke job from a very talented group of players.

But Way to choke guys. Way. To. Choke. How sad is it that you're making Philly fans less depressed?

Speaking of depressed Philly fans, more on the NFL and the lowly Eagles later.