NFL Week 9 Picks

Want to see something anti-climatic? I picked the game of the year first instead of making you wait until the bottom. Bad for business? Probably; but I needed to get it off my chest.

Patriots (-5.5) over COLTS
Just because I want them to lose, doesn't mean that they will. It hurts to say, but even against the next strongest team in the NFL, the Patriots will probably still win and cover. On a side note, after watching the Pats awful, temper tantrum style of running up scores and continually keeping starters in the game to do so, don't you just hope that a key player like Brady gets hurt in the process? Wouldn't that be the ultimate F*** you back to Belichick the cheater? It's probably not going to happen with the way the Pats line is protecting the pretty boy though.

And somehow, through making me hate them more and more each week, the Red Sox, another team I hate, are now at the point where I actually thought, "good for them" while watching them celebrate their World Series sweep —none-the-less against a team I support. The Pats have raised the hatred bar so much it's making the Red Sox and Yankees look good.

Redskins (-3.5) over JETS
Washington has every reason to play with anger after being slaughtered by the temper tantruming Patriots last week. Expect the Jets to feel their wrath.

Packers (+2) over CHIEFS
Damon Huard is 9-1 when starting at home but there's just something about these Packers. At this rate, the Pack are going to be dealing with Favre for a few more years possibly.

Cards (+3.5) over BUCS
I still don't know how the Bucs are doing this well without a good running back. Yeah, Jeff Garcia is good, but how long can this last? I think Kurt Warner has a big week.

TITANS (-4) over Panthers
Yes, I've been suckered in by those delightful Titans again. They'll probably win but fail to cover. But who knows? Either David Carr or Vinny Testaverde is starting at QB for Carolina. How bad do you feel for Steve Smith right now?

49ers (+3) over FALCONS
This is going to be a bad game; I can feel it. The Niners are nowhere near where everyone expected them to be but Joey Harrington is back under center for Atlanta. How much do Falcons have to suffer? Even more sadly, they won't even get the number one or two pick in the draft because Miami and St. Louis are even worse.

SAINTS (-3.5) over Jaguars
Quinn Gray actually won last week. It won't happen again, especially with the Saints looking back on track offensively and at home.

LIONS (-3) over Broncos
Don't take this as me bailing off of the Broncos Super Bowl bandwagon, but this Lions team is somehow good, even with Jon Kitna at QB. And how exactly do you dress up like a man for halloween like he did? You know what, don't tell me.

Bengals (-1) over BILLS
I can sense a breakout week for the Bengals here. Sure, they've looked awful all season, but J.P. Losman is back at QB for the Bills.

Chargers (-7) over VIKINGS
The Vikes were a dud last week and the Chargers are looking like a top-5 team in the NFL and remember, the Chargers have to make the playoffs for Norv Turner to blow it for them. Even Adrian Peterson can't save Minnesota this week.

BROWNS (-1.5) over Seahawks
These Browns, they look good, especially at home. These Seahawks, well, nobody in the NFC West looks good at all, including them.

Texans (+3) over RAIDERS
I would say these teams are fairly evenly matched. I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up as a tie because of a game winning field goal.

Cowboys (-3) at EAGLES
T.O. comes back to Philly again. This Eagles team isn't very good but they are getting an impact player in Brian Dawkins back. I could see an upset happening here, but I could also see a blow out for God's team. We'll also get to see Tank Johnson suit up for the 'Boys for the first time this season.

STEELERS (-9) over Ravens
The Steelers haven't had any trouble with the rest of their AFC North competition, why should this Ravens team be any different? The fact that they're in Pittsburgh only helps the cause.

Last Week: 7-6
This Season: 46-53-8

A night of firsts

A few things happened for the first time in the NBA last night, some were expected while some, well not so much.

For the first time in his career, Lebron James failed to score in the entire first half last night against the Dallas Mavericks. Lebron would go on to shoot 2-for-11 from the field, ending up with a pithy ten points. Now, everyone shouldn't panic yet and remember a) Lebron had a busy summer. b) He was facing the team who had the best record in the NBA last season and c) Cavaliers management didn't improve this team at all so now teams know that if they can stop James, they've pretty much got a great shot at winning. Then, we should also be reminded that Lebron can coast for a half of a season, then lead his team into the playoffs. But, that may be harder with the way the East improved in the off-season.

Kevin Durant played in the first game of his career when the SuperSonics visited the Denver Nuggets last night. Durant shot a lousy 7-of-22 for 18 points in a 120-103 loss. He still plays the way a college player would, jacking up shots whenever he thinks he’s open and last night he showed that if he continues this, he’s not going to be incredibly successful. He also finished the game with five rebounds and three assists.

On the Kobe-trade front, he’s now said that he would not waive his no-trade clause if a deal sending him to Chicago includes Loul Deng. This shows that Kobe realizes that Deng is one of the upcoming and coming stars of the game and if the two get to play together, the Bulls will be scary-deadly.

Also, an apparent three-team deal has died that would’ve sent Kobe to Chicago, Ron Artest and Ben Wallace to Los Angeles while Ben Gordon would’ve ended up in Sacramento. I like this deal except for Sacramento’s end; they would have Kevin Martin and Ben Gordon creating a traffic jam at shooting guard while losing their starting small forward.

The Intern’s Toronto Raptors season preview

Note: The Intern was going to write about more teams but he is a very, very busy man. (Read that sarcastically).

For the starting line-up the only guaranteed spots are for TJ Ford, Anthony Parker and Toronto’s All-Star CB4. With an over abundance of small forwards this is a little harder to predict. On any given night Mitchell could start 3rd year Joey Graham, Slasher Carlos Delfino and sharpshooter Jason Kapono. For center I could see Rasho Nestorvich starting and Bargnani being a spark coming off the bench at least for the beginning of the season. For 6th man I will have to go with the second half of the pg duo Jose Calderon.

The burning question has to be can the Toronto Raptors be repeat Atlantic champions. It seems like this might be an uphill battle. The Atlantic division has vastly improved with Boston and their three head monster, the Knicks with their gigantic front court and the Nets still have their three All-stars with the addition of Magloire in the front court. It should make for a great race for the Atlantic banner.

Tip off!

The NBA season has officially begun and from here until the Super Bowl, three of the biggest sports in North America will be vying for attention in daily sports sections. Not to mention the stories dedicated to baseball's off-season deals and movement.

So what do the intern and I think is going to happen in the NBA this season? Well here's our predictions that we may or may not have put money on. For legal purposes, let's say we didn't.

Dan's picks
West champion: San Antonio.
East champion: Chicago.
NBA champion: San Antonio.
MVP: Kobe Bryant.
Rookie of the Year: Al Thornton.
Sixth man: Manu Ginobili.
Defensive player: Dwight Howard
Kobe will end the season on: The Lakers, with some more talent around him.
Biggest name to move besides Kobe: Jermaine O'Neal.

The Intern's picks
West Champion - Spurs
East - Nets
NBA Champions- Spurs
MVP – Kevin Garnett
Rookie of the Year- Kevin Durant
Sixth man – Manu Ginobili
Defensive player - Kevin Garnett
Kobe will end the season on - Lakers
Biggest name to move besides Kobe- Jermaine O’Neal


And in last night's action...

Defending NBA champions, the Spurs, opened their season against the TrailBlazers, who the league schedulers would've hoped to have had first-overall pick Greg Oden in the lineup instead of rehabbing his knee after micro-fracture surgery. San Antonio, with their fresh new bling, had no problem with Portland, winning 106-97.

In a rematch of one of the West's semi-finals last year, the Jazz took on the underdog Warriors and looked great, especially power-forward Carlos Boozer who walked away with 32 points and 16 rebounds in the 117-96 Jazz win.

And then there were the Lakers, with Kobe Bryant, facing the Rockets. Well, if Kobe was upset in L.A., his performance sure didn’t show it. He scored 45 while being tightly guarded by Shane Battier for most of the game. Battier did get the upperhand at the end of the game though, sealing Houston’s 95-93 victory with a late three.

Tonight: The debut of phenom Kevin Durant, the Raptors begin defending their Atlantic division title and the Bulls and Nets square off in a possible eastern conference final preview.

Favre keeps on surprising.

Who would have ever put the Green Bay Packers at 6-1 so far this season? A team with the worst rushing game in the season won again last night, in Denver, on Monday night football. And they did it in dramatic fashion as well.

After the Broncos drove down the field with less than a minute to play and kicked a short field goal to force overtime, the Packers won the toss and got the ball first. Then, on their first play from scrimmage, the legendary Brett Favre unleashed a deep ball that landed perfectly in the hands of Greg Jennings. Jennings took the ball the rest of the way to seal a 19-13 victory. It was vintage Favre if I ever saw it.

Elsewhere in week eight action, the Patriots and Colts did their parts to make sure that this Sunday’s match up will be record setting. This is the latest in any season that two undefeated teams have faced each other. The Colts routed the Vinny Testaverde/David Carr-lead Panthers to improve to 7-0 while the Patriots defeated the Redskins in humiliating fashion, 52-7.

I did learn one thing this weekend about the Patriots that actually made me feel a little good. They are now my most hated team in sports; with their cockiness, their reckless disregard for the rules of the game and their despicable shows of sportsmanship (or lack thereof), who could like this team? Because these reasons, they have officially over-passed the Red Sox for my highest mantle of hatred. In fact, I didn’t really have any quarrels about the Red Sox winning the World Series on Sunday night, mainly because I was too pissed off about the Patriots blatant displays of unsportsmanlike conduct.

Also, the Chargers took their emotions over the wild fire tragedies out on the Texans with a 35-10 win.

The Bills, backed by J.P. Losman, took out the Jets 13-3. Who would’ve thought the Jets would be this bad? Certainly not me, I had them to be second in this division, but then again, 5 wins might get you that title. Maybe with Kellen Clemens starting at QB next week they’ll do better.

I must’ve been a sleep for a while because I had no idea that the Lions are now 5-2. I would’ve guessed 3-4 or 4-3 tops. Not 5-2 ever. Matt Millen can breathe a sigh of relief that no one will be questioning his decisions now.

Did they not realize that the grass they played on in London wouldn’t hold up to the grind of an NFL battle? The pitch at Wembley was torn apart during the Dolphins-Giants match up and hardly anyone played well because of it. Also, Eli Manning threw for only 59 yards but still won. This Dolphins team may be one of the worst teams ever.

Speaking of 0-8 teams, the Rams kept pace with the ‘fins by losing to the Browns 27-20. This was the Browns (4-3) first win on the road, which actually surprises me. The whole fact that they’re above .500 surprises me as well. This is the Browns we’re talking about here.

As for my picks, I was above .500 again but not by much.

This week: 7-6
This season: 46-53-8

Let the bidding begin.

Quite possibly the best player in baseball’s history is hitting the open market. Yes, Alex Rodriguez opted out of his mega-deal with the Yankees and in class-less fashion as well. While the Yankees’ bitter rivals the Red Sox were about to take home their 2nd title in four years, A-Rod felt fit to announce his impending free agency to the world; during the eighth inning. Sure it was a bit of a dick move but what a great way to hit the biggest amount of audience you possibly could though.

So where will much-maligned third-baseman go? How much will he rake in now? Well, it’s safe to say that he won’t be back in New York, with the Yankees or the Mets after the way that the media treated him in the big apple. The list of possible bidders off the top of my head would be the Dodgers and Angels in Los Angele and the Chicago Cubs. Boston may also take part but it seems kind of unlikely given the philosophy and the core of their current squad. It’s not inconceivable that a smaller market team could go big for A-Rod like the Rangers did the last time he was on the market.

As for money, with Scott Boras negotiating his deal, it will have to at least be a few million dollars per year raise on the $25 million he was previously making. Somewhere between 27 and 31 per season should be around right.

My prediction? A-Rod goes to the Angels where he gets an average of $29-million a year for the next six years. He gets booed mercilessly when he plays at both Yankee Stadium and Fenway.

In other baseball news, the Yankees have hired former manager of the year/announcer Joe Girardi to take over behind the bench with the ousting of Joe Torre. One of their coaches and managerial candidate Don Mattingly won’t be back either. You can’t help but think he was left feeling slighted after being with the organization for as long as he has.

Well, the baseball offseason is just beginning and this winter should be an interesting one to say the least.

BoSox win it all.

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox who completed their sweep of the Colorado Rockies to win the World Series last night. The Sox made it look easy against the hottest team in baseball going in. A lot could’ve happened differently had the Rockies not had to wait more than a week between games while the Red Sox orchestrated their ALCS comeback against the Indians but that was just how the dice landed.

Last night’s starters, Lester for Boston and Cook for Colorado pitched outstanding games. Cook was making his first start since August after being put the DL while Lester had been fighting cancer coming into the year. Both back-stories were incredible and both pitchers delivered on the grandest stage.

As for the MVP, if Boston had not won last night and Beckett had pitched game 5 tonight, the award would have been his and not Mike Lowell’s. A friend of mine brought up the possibility of Beckett winning the award after his dominant performance which I quickly rebuked with the argument of “how do you give the MVP to a guy who only played in one game?” Sure, he was great, but the rest of Boston’s starters didn’t look to shabby either.

And how about Hideki Okajima doing his best Eric Gagne impression? Giving up two home runs in two days that had Colorado climb within a run of tying games 3 and 4 wasn’t some of his finest work. Good thing the playoffs don’t count for rookie of the year voting.

An interesting side note about the Rockies: After putting down MLB 2K7 in favour of either Madden 08 or NBA 2K8 for a while, I came back to it during the playoffs and made the big dance with my rebuilt Toronto Blue Jays. The funny thing is, in the ALCS, I beat out Boston to advance and face the Rockies! This video game Rockies team actually won a play-in to get into the playoffs as well. Not to mention, they were rated an astounding 29th overall. I ended up beating them in 7 games, even with a semi-stacked squad, and celebrating what I’m sure would be the least watched World Series in the history of time. In free agency afterwards, I went on to assemble a pitching rotation of Roy Halladay, Johan Santana, Jake Peavy, Dontrelle Willis and Scott Kazmir with a team budget of $120-million, but that’s a story for another time.

Congrats again Red Sox Nation, now that you’re happy, maybe you can stop being dicks to everyone.