Week 11 picks

It was really nice to have a week with the Patriots doing their “We’re going to be dicks about everything because you called us cheaters when we did in fact cheat” routine. Too bad we’re back to the real world in which jerks apparently have the right to throw it in everyone’s faces that they are, in fact, jerks.

Chargers (+3) over JAGUARS

Well I know that the Chargers were a missed field goal away from losing last week against Indy, but I’m betting on LDT having a huge game here. The Jags still haven’t caught my eye as one of the good teams in the league despite their record. They’ll probably win just because I said that though.

Chiefs (+14.5) over COLTS

The Colts’ loss of Freeney and having to play another week without Harrison, Clark and Gonzalez will catch up to them this week. Despite the fact that they’re at home and the Chiefs will be without Larry Johnson, I don’t think that Indy can win by more than two touchdowns. Maybe by 14, but not more.

Raiders (+5.5) over VIKINGS

No Adrian Peterson, no game. The Raiders may be bad, but have you seen Brooks Bollinger?

Browns (-2.5) over RAVENS

Did anyone call the Browns as a sleeper this season? Can you even call them the sleeper of the season with Detroit playing and winning like they are? There is, shockingly, a possibility that with a lot of lucky breaks in the playoffs, we could see a Cleveland-Detroit Super Bowl. The winner in that game? Certainly not the viewing public.

Steelers (-9.5) over JETS

How is this line not higher? Are you serious? I would still be taking Pittsburgh if you bumped the line up to 13.5, maybe even higher. In fact, where’s my bookie’s number.

Bucs (-3) over FALCONS

The Sports Guy was right, someone can win the NFC south with a 7-9 record. The Bucs looked great until almost every running back they have on the depth chart went out. Jeff Garcia’s keeping them in there and the Falcons are atrocious.

Cards (+3) over BENGALS

Considering I have Ocho Cinco and Kurt Warner on my fantasy football team, I’m seriously hoping for a blow and not one of those seven-field-goals-by-Shayne-Graham games.

Dolphins (+10) over EAGLES

When is it too early to buy a Kevin Kolb jersey? Should I wait until after McNabb loses to the formerly-winless Dolphins, or wait. I think I’ll wait, just in case you know. At the very least, I don’t think the Eagles will cover 10 points.

Patriots (-16) over BILLS

Dear Bill Belichick, you are everything that’s wrong with sports (spitting sound)...

COWBOYS (-10.5) at Redskins

I think the ‘skins can play God’s team close, but missing Sean Taylor in their secondary is seriously going to hurt them. This is Romo’s game to lose (a la Buffalo) in my eyes.

TEXANS (-1) over Saints

Reggie Bush vs. Mario Williams eh? Has the media been alerted to this? Are we sure? I haven’t seen or heard anything yet... (rolls eyes).

PACKERS (-10) over Panthers

Would Vinny vs. Favre be the oldest match up of quarterbacks ever? It has to be very high on that list. Also, now that the Packers seemingly have a running-game, I’m a little worried for my Cowboys now. Their upcoming match-up is shaping up to be a game to decide home-field advantage in the NFC Championship.

LIONS (+3) over Giants

So the team that had a NFL-record minus 18 yards rushing is going up against one of the best front-fours in the league this week? I want in! Yes, that may sound dumb considering I’m taking the Lions, but I’m really routing for a Kitna-Anderson Super Bowl now.

Rams (-3) over NINERS

What an ugly game this is.

SEAHAWKS (-6) over Bears

I’ve always liked the Seahawks at home and always will. That stadium is fantastic.

Titans (+2) over BRONCOS

What was I thinking picking the Broncos to win it all? Ugh, I feel sick a little. And how many night games can Denver play in one season? It seems that they’re playing on either Sunday Night or Monday Night Football every week.

Last week: 5-8
This Season: 58-67-8

A huge day in the MLB

When the least intriguing new of the day is that a pitcher won the NL Cy Young unanimously, you know it was a heavy news day. So, to begin, let's congratulate Jake Peavy for his earning his first Cy Young, probably of many. Now...

Barry Bonds was indicted yesterday! Bonds dared them to indict him all last year, even while chasing and then breaking Hank Aaron's home run record and now it finally happened. Bonds has been indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice sprouting from his testimony, to investigators and in front of the grand jury, that he has never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

Wow, so where does this put his record now? He is innocent until proven guilty but it's not like many people in the media and especially the fans are going to look at it that way. The U.S. government has been building their case for years now and you would have to expect that it's strong enough to put away Bonds. Oh, and the extreme part of this whole thing is that Barry faces a 30-year prison sentence. That's right, he would get out of jail after he's turned 73.

How much of a shame is it for baseball and all its' supporters that this has happened. Yet another black eye for a sport that's just really started coming back around again.

On the much lighter side of the big news moves in the baseball world, Alex Rodriguez will be a Yankee next year after all. After screwing the team out of several millions of dollars spouting from the deal that sent him to the Bronx from Texas, he's now agreed to stay in town for the next ten years, if he doesn't negotiate any more opt-out clauses into his new deal that is.

The outline of the deal is reportedly worth $275-million US over ten years and also features a bonus if A-Rod breaks the career home run record while wearing the Yankees' pinstripes.

Also, do you really think that A-Rod can last another 10 seasons in New York? He's been ridden by the fans, the media and sometimes even teammates over the course of his stay so far, does he think that will change now that he's pulled off this flip-flop? Only time will tell and it will be interesting to see what kind of clauses are written into this deal and if Scott Boras will even be around to cash in on it after A-Rod walked into the Yank's office without him.

Here and there...

The Colts have lost all-pro defensive end Dwight Freeney for the season. This is a huge blow for the defending Super Bowl Champions. The official diagnosis is a Lisfranc injury but most people would have to Wikipedia that to know what it is. Anyway, surgery to fix his foot will happen later this week or early next. This gives Denver Broncos cast-off Simeon Rice a chance to prove he can still play after signing on with the Colts this week. Freeney's injury is quite damaging to the team's repeat hopes. I'm not so sure about betting on them to take it all from here on out.

Former-CFLer Ricky Williams has been reinstated by the NFL and it's looking like he may actually get some playing time with the Miami Dolphins. I would imagine he isn't in game shape and will have to get back to an NFL-standard but any warm body could help this 0-9 disaster. Ronnie Brown being out for the year only helps Williams' cause as well.

Stephon Marbury is missing from the Knicks lineup. Looks like he desparately wants to be bought out and leave town, maybe even the country, after Isiah Thomas told him he was going to cut his playing time. Starbury has said he would like to play in Italy but that buy-out is going to be a big one and who knows if the Knicks will be willing to do that. They could trade him but they would need to find a team that a) would want him to play there or b) buy him out. There's also c) would Starbury want to be there? If he's being this testy with the Knicks, who knows how he'd feel about other teams. Apparently he was back practicing last night, but how much has he damaged his report with the team and management?

A-Rod wants to come back to the Yankees? Are you serious? The first thought that comes to my mind is that Scott Boras, with many dollar signs in his eyes, thought of the huge commission he could make off of his favourite client if he signed a new $300 or so million deal instead of the pithy $252-million one he has right now. But if A-Rod really wanted to stay with the Yanks, why did he opt out of his deal and not even listen to New York's offer before walking? By doing so, he even cost the Yanks several millions of dollars that would've come their way from Texas as a result of their trade. This whole situation is just another debacle in this already twisted baseball off-season.

And while nobody probably cares except their teams and families, Eric Wedge and Bob Melvin were named MLB managers of the year for leading the Cleveland Indians and Arizona Diamondbacks respectively. That about as much print I'd like to give that.

MLB awards

I like Major League Baseball's style... Well, sort of. While it's nice to have an award show where all the players and coaches can dress up, bring sexy dates and then after-party the night away, why not spread out the individual awards and soak up as much press as possible? Come to think of it, I've now realized after a quick head-count of the professional sports leagues that only the NHL, the weakest of them all, still throws a gala of sorts.

As for what has been awarded so far in baseball's award season...

C.C. Sabathia finally beat Josh Beckett, too bad it wasn't in the playoffs eh? If you're looking around reading stories about the AL's Cy Young award winner this year, you're going to be seeing that lead A LOT. Cleveland's ace but Boston's clutch performer by a fair margin, picking up 119 points to Beckett's 86. Sabathia also had 19 first place votes while Beckett only managed eight. The other first-place vote getter you might ask? None other than Anaheim's John Lackey. You've gotta love those jackasses who show home-town pride and vote stupidly for these awards.

Sabathia and Beckett both had similar, great numbers but the deciding factor, I would think is that C.C. pitched a whopping 40 more innings than Josh. Maybe that's why Boston was able to comeback against the Indians ace and start their ALCS roll this year...

In rookie of the year voting, Dustin Pedroia easily won the American League award but the NL's race turned out to be the closest ever. Milwaukee's Ryan Braun beat Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki by a mere two points, 128-126. Both Braun and Troy had great seasons and either had a great case for the award. Good thing nobody really cares about the rookies of the year, I mean, look how well Eric Hinske and Angel Berroa are doing now.

Problems in Indy?

So is there something wrong with Peyton Manning, or is it just the lack of talent in Indianapolis due to a staggering amount of injuries? With two of his main targets (Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark) and another better than decent one (Anthony Gonzalez) out of action against the Chargers on Sunday, Manning threw six interceptions, the most of his career. But get this, he almost won the game. If not for Adam Vinatieri missing the easiest field goal of his career, the Colts would've won an improbably game that was one of the better contests of the season. If Peyton and Colts can barely lose a game with that amount of key injuries and unfortunate miscues, nobody can rule them out of the Championship running yet.

Well look at that; the Cowboys beat their division rival New York Giants quite handily. There should be no doubt that the Cowboys are the best team in the NFC and I wouldn't be surprised if they go 15-1, which while impressive by itself, is even more considering the class of opponent they lost to. It's also good to see that Tony Romo isn't easing up after signing that big contract extension as well.

Super-rookie Adrian Peterson had a sub-par day, just as I predicted, against the Packers before tearing a ligament in his knee. After reading about how Peterson doesn't look around him he's running, instead opting to keep his eyes towards the end-zone, maybe now he'll change his style to avoid tacklers and therefore injuries. He is lucky that it's only his LCL and nothing major, although he will miss next week's game, at the very least. The Packers also asserted their dominance with the huge win, but come on, Brooks Bollinger was starting at QB for Minnesota. The Pack are still second in the NFC, a ways behind Dallas in my books.

So apparently passing the ball works for Seattle; maybe they should've tried that after earlier. After finally realizing that their running game isn't as good as they think it is, the Seahawks decided to go pass-heavier last night and in the process, beat down the 49ers. While it's nice that they might get back on track now, it was just the Niners and should take the win with a grain of salt.

After Damon Huard was knocked around on Sunday by the Denver Broncos, Chiefs coach Herm Edwards has already decided that Brodie Croyal will start next week at QB. Can we all agree that nobody cares and move on?

In the race to 0-16, the Rams have done the unthinkable and won. It's now up to Miami to keep the dream of a win-less season alive. Although, they don't seem too enthused at the idea of it. They fell barely short of beating Buffalo in what was probably their last chance for an easy win this season. They do have the Jets coming up, but with Kellen Clemens at QB, they're a good bet to win that week 13 match up.

I actually thought I still had a chance facing Big Ben in fantasy this week after seeing Cleveland up big after the first of their game; I was sadly mistaken. Big Ben and the Steelers caught fire and scored 22 second half points, then won on a missed 50-something yard field goal attempt with time expiring. What a game that was to watch.

And in what is can be considered both pathetic and good at the same time, the Bengals beat the Ravens 21-7, but did so by kicking seven field goals. How does such a potent offence not make it into the end-zone even once when they can make it into field goal range?

This Week: 5-8
This Season: 58-67-8