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Various Sports
Every year, I claim to be quite the prognosticator. I know that barring any huge collapses, I can pick nearly 80% of the week’s game correctly. Thats right. 80%. Ever seen that movie, “Two For the Money” with Matthew McConaughey and Al Pacino? I’m like Matthew McConaughey except I don’t take my shirt off at any given chance, and I’m not a giant douche. Okay, fine. I probably would take my shirt off whenever I get a chance… but I’m still not a giant douche.
The point is, I know football, and every week, I’m going to post my picks along with a little analysis. Don’t be scared by the crazy terminology like “point spread” and “margin of victory” and “the.” I’ll keep things simple. Home team in caps. Winner in bol. And please, don’t use me to try to get rich, pay your way through college, or get out of debt. I’m only human, I make mistakes and I don’t want to be the reason for your “accident” down that flight of stairs.
GIANTS over Redskins- Do you really expect Jim Zorn to win this opener? Especially with his defense? Too much pressure. A rookie head coach against the defending Super Bowl Champs? Plus Jason Taylor is a game time decision. I’d pick the Giants even if I wasn’t a fan. Its a new offense for Jason Campbell, those recievers are still learning, and the Redskins defense hasn’t done much.
Lions over FALCONS- I think Matt Ryan is good but he’ll struggle like all rookie quarterbacks do. I don’t think the Lions defense is all that great but it’ll be just enough for keep the Falcons down. And besides, Calvin Johnson and Roy Williams are both healthy, and Jon Kitna can play, whether he’s sane or not.
BILLS over Seahawks- If I had to pick one upset to pick this week, this would be the one. I like the Bills defense, and their offense isn’t so bad either. I’m not saying it’ll be a decisive win, but I like Buffalo’s chances.
Jaguars over TITANS- The Titans had one job to do in the offseason- get Vince Young some wide receivers. Did they do it? Not so much. They didn’t draft a receiver until
the 4th round, and in this past draft, thats saying something. The Jaguars defense is significantly better than it was last season. I like the Jags here.
Jets over DOLPHINS- I’m actually hoping the Dolphins make another bid for 0-16. They aren’t that much better on either side of the ball, and somehow they managed to get worse on defense. The Jets spent over 100 million dollars in the offseason before trading for Brett Favre. The Jets want to win now, and this game is a good start.
PATRIOTS over Chiefs- The Chiefs have improved this offseason, but the Pats offense is still intact. As long as Moss and Brady are healthy, that team is scary.
SAINTS over Buccanneers- The Saints were missing a few pieces and they filled both those gaps. They needed an impact player on defense, and they traded for Jonathan Vilma. Then they got an underrated player in Randall Gay. They needed an impact player on offense, and they got Jeremy Shockey. Believe me, the combination of Sean Payton and Jeremy Shockey is going to be good for the Saints. I’ll even go as far as to say they’ll win the NFC South.
EAGLES over Rams- I like the Rams offense, but not that defense. At least not the entire defense. Basically, I like Leonard Little and Chris Long. But thats it. They barely have a linebacking corps and a secondary. McNabb should have a field day.
STEELERS over Texans- I think this game could be closer than most people think. The Texans defense is pretty good but the Steelers have home field advantage here.
Bengals over RAVENS- As good as Joe Flacco might have looked in preseason, Carson Palmer knows how to win in this league. If anyone can find a way to score on the Ravens, its him.
CHARGERS over Panthers– The Panthers will be without Steve Smith… lets be real. Even with him, the Panthers would have trouble against one of the best secondary units in football.
Cardinals over 49ERS– Did you hear that J.T. O’Sullivan is starting for the Niners? Yeah. Thats all I have to say.
Cowboys over BROWNS– I think this is going to be a high scoring game but the Cowboys are going to come out on top. The Cowboys are the most improved team among those that won more than 12 games. The Browns look good, but I don’t know if it’s going going to be enough. Deep down, I’m hoping Shaun Rogers breaks through the line and puts Romo on the shelf for the season. That should ensure my Giants the division.
COLTS over Bears– The Bears can’t decide on a quarterback or an identity. I like the Colts.
Vikings over PACKERS– No more Brett, no more easy wins in the NFC North. AP= All Day.
Broncos over RAIDERS– I think Jay Cutler is finally ready to take the Broncos to the next level. He’s matured in the offseason and he’s got a good team around him.
As always, here’s a few thoughts about what’s going on in the sports world.
– So Tatum Bell got cut to make room for Rudi Johnson, and then Johnson accused Bell of stealing his luggage. First off, who the hell steals luggage? Second, talk about adding insult to injury. Not only do you get cut for a player at the same position, but then he accuses you of stealing his underwear? Wow.
– Did Yankee fans really think that the Yanks would never miss the playoffs? Look at it this way, the next time they do win a World Series, it’ll be that much sweeter.
– Met fans… do us real fans a favor and stop caring about what the Yankees do. They’re in another league. We don’t play them that often. We won’t play against them until next May. Let’s focus on our team.
– I really thought CC Sabathia threw a no-hitter against the Pirates, but I will say this- the ump made a really good point about it being a one-hitter instead.
– As a baseball fan, I can’t wait for David Price to come up to the majors. I have a feeling he’s going to be a fantasy stud. Imagine a fantasy baseball rotation with him and Joba. That’d be sick.
– I’m tired of people comparing Venus and Serena. I say we fuse them into one uber-tennis player.
– Finally, I was thinking the other night about how much I despise Dustin Pedroia… mostly because he’s in Boston and not Flushing. But then I thought about how much some Red Sox fan must hate Jose Reyes because he’s a Met. For a quick second, I almost stopped hating Pedroia. Key word? Almost.
I’m actually glad the Mets didn’t make a move. Part of me was afraid the Omar Minaya was gonna think he was in the World Series of Poker and go all in to get Manny when we really don’t need him. As good as Manny is, he’s 36 and it’s not worth trading a 19 year old outfielder with a bright future to get him. Fernando Tatis is a good enough outfielder and Ryan Church is coming back, so I think we’ll be fine. Sure, the Mets just got swept by the Astros and currently sit at third in the division, but its only August 3rd.
While I’m on the subject of the Mets, I’ll bring up Johan Santana. There is no one in baseball more frustrated than Johan Santana. He comes over from the American League, where he absolutely dominated, and you think that without having to face a DH, he’d continue his string of success. Especially since the Mets offense is pretty potent. But no. Its like he’s on Punk’d. I bet after every game, he’s wondering where Ashton Kutcher is gonna pop out from and tell him its all a big joke and he’s actually got 14 wins rather than 9. He’s going to have to pitch complete game shutouts for the rest of the season to see some wins. This Mets offense seems to take a day off when he pitches. And I can understand that since he’s the ace of the staff, he can shut down most teams. But score at least two runs, guys. Just one run, and then another one for insurance. He’ll do the rest. And when the offense does come through, when Johan leaves the game, how about the bullpen? I used to make excuses for Duaner Sanchez because of his car accident in 2006. Its been two years. Its time to pitch well again. Aaron Heilman was pitching pretty well earlier in the season and I was starting to think he didn’t deserve to be 1-5. I’m second guessing myself. Joe Smith has his good days, Pedro Feliciano used to be lights out, and I can’t even count on Billy Wagner anymore. Still, I think they can win the division because the Phillies and the Marlins don’t have the pitching necessary to do so. The Marlins are one of the worst fielding teams in baseball and they hit way too many balls in the air. The Phillies have a good offense but all the only pitcher they have that puts any fear in me is Cole Hamels.
The last thing about the Mets is the young guys. Nick Evans has come up from AA and the kid can hit. Today, they brought up Daniel Murphy to replace Marlon Anderson, and Eddie Kunz made his major league debut. All the analysts say that the Mets’ farm system isn’t that good, but Argenis Reyes, Kunz, Murphy, Evans, and Robinson Cancel have all come up to help. We’ve had Nelson Figueroa pitch for us, Jonathon Niese may be up at the majors at some point, and Mets fans are waiting for the arrival of Mike Carp and Fernando Martinez. So, yeah maybe we don’t have the prospects to give up for Manny, but I like our chances without him.
So, as always, here are few stories around the sports world that intrigue me.
– Talk about having a Napoleon complex. Steve Smith got suspended for two games after he broke Ken Lucas’ nose in practice. Good job, Mighty Mouse. The Panthers have you to blame if they start out 0-2.
– I understand that Ryan Grant felt like he deserved more money after last season. I mean, he rushed for almost 1,000 yards in about 8 or 9 games, and helped the team get to the NFC Championship… where to they lost to my New York Giants. But Grant must have forgotten how lucky he is to be even be in the league. He wasn’t drafted. He barely got playing time with the Giants, and he barely got playing time in Green Bay in the beginning of the season. If I’m not mistaken, Selvin Young got the majority of the carries early on before he got hurt. If I were the Packers, I’d wait until after next season to pay Grant the kind of money he got. Or at least make a lot of it incentive based.
– Did anyone catch Colt Brennan’s two touchdowns in the Hall of Fame game? He’s not going to start, and I don’t really he’s all that great, but its a nice little story for people that sympathize with third string quarterbacks.
– How about Aaron Ross’ fiancee in the Olympics running the 400 meter relay? Just another reason to watch the Olympics. Sanya Richards, look her up.
– Some guy in one of my fantasy baseball leagues had Francisco Liriano since the beginning of the season, and now he gets to reap the benefits of having a Cy Young caliber pitcher for the rest of the season. I’ll be honest, I’m just upset because he beat me to the punch.
– Yet another NBA roleplayer has decided to go play overseas. Carlos Arroyo (who would have been awesome playing with the Knicks under Mike D’Antoni.) signed a deal to play in Israel. Great. Note to David Stern: DO SOMETHING!!
– Finally, Chris Paul replaced Jason Kidd in the starting lineup on the USA team. Quite frankly, I’m not surprised.
Questions or comments, email me at s_talouis@yahoo.com
Sometimes all these thoughts just pile up in my head and after a while, I just forget a lot of them. These days, I’ve been having a lot of thoughts and I can’t afford to forget them, so I thought it would be a great idea if I just threw everything out there. About everything. So here are my thoughts on the current state of affairs… in sports.
First, lets start with baseball. I’m starting with baseball simply because thats the hottest topic that matters. So with the trade deadline 24 hours away (I’ll be back tomorrow if the Mets make a move) there’s been a few intriguing moves and a lot more talk. No one had really answered Milwaukee and Chicago’s trades to get Sabathia and Harden up until a few days ago. Granted, some of the moves weren’t as flashy but they certainly made an impact. The Yankees trading away prospects to get Xavier Nady helped pave the way for them to deal Kyle Farnsworth for Pudge Rodriguez. Obviously, Posada’s injury had a lot to do with it too. I don’t know about a lot of other people, but I like this move. Pudge is a good defensive catcher and he might not put up the kind of numbers he did in Texas and Florida but he can still hit. And as for Detroit, certain people (cough Ed cough) thought they were the team to beat after bringing in Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. I think this pretty much seals the deal for them.
Another big story surrounding baseball is Manny Ramirez and his desire to just be himself. Boston doesn’t want Manny being Manny. At least not Manny with 20 homers and 70 or so rbi. They want Manny being Manny with a .330 avg, 45 homers and 130 rbi. So what should they do? Trade him for prospects, platoon left field, have no protection in the lineup for Ortiz and not pursue the playoffs? Or should they keep him for the next few months, hope he shows up in time for their parade through Bahstin Yahd? Personally, I could care less. I hate that city. And as a Mets fan, I saw they trade him to the Mets for a single-A prospect with no potential at all. What better way for Theo Upstein to show him ManRam than to trade him for basically nothing? And then the Mets get an angry Manny hellbent on showing Boston what they lost. The other night I heard someone on WFAN say the Mets should trade Beltran for Ellsbury and Manny. Clearly, this person wasn’t thinking hard enough.
Why is it that every year at the trade deadline, small market teams get rid of their good players? I know they want to get some value for the guy they won’t re-sign anyway, but some teams do it every year and it never helps. Look at Oakland. Every season, it seems like they’re dumping salary and playing what Billy Beane calls Money Ball. And sure, they’re usually in contention but why not hang on to your guys and see what happens? Imagine if the A’s had Mulder, Zito, Hudson, Harden, and Duchsherer. And then you’d look at the bullpen with guys like Dana Eveland, Joe Blanton, Huston Street, etc. Thats the best pitching team in baseball easily. How does that team NOT win the World Series. Hell, they could trade off some of those guys if they want for some hitting. The best example of what to do is Tampa Bay. Ten years ago, the DEVIL Rays put together the “Hit Show” with Fred McGriff, Jose Canseco, Wade Boggs, and a lot of other guys that were past their prime. Now they’re leading the AL East. Thats right, the same AL East with the Yankees and the Red Sox. Now, I don’t think they’re going to win the division, but they’ve got a shot, which is more than I can say for Oakland.
So I guess thats it on baseball… for now.
I know its been gone over and reviewed and talked about, but is Brett Favre serious right now? Is he serious? An itch? Come on. He’s what? 38 years old? He’s got almost every statistical career record for a quarterback. He’s the Cal Ripken of football. He’s beloved. And now he wants to pull a Joe Montana and show up in a different uniform? I can understand both sides, but at the same time, both sides are wrong. The Packers were wrong for announcing Aaron Rodgers would be the starter. Now they don’t want to look stupid. Favre was wrong for retiring so early without being 100% sure. Now he wants to play and he’s putting Green Bay is a tough spot. There are only two ways to solve this. Either Green Bay brings in Brett and he starts, thereby throwing the finishing blow to Aaron Rodgers and the slim confidence he’s got left… or they release him and let him play somewhere else. Anywhere else. How many people really remember Joe Montana in Kansas City? Unless Brett Favre breaks the single season records for passing yards and touchdowns, leads his team (whichever team it might be) to an undefeated record and a Super Bowl win, Favre will always be a Packer… or in some cases a Falcon… or in even less cases, a Jet. Hmm. Browning Nagle or Brett Favre? Tough choice.
In less Brett Favre-related news, I can’t wait for the season to start so I can finally start making picks and being absolutely right about more than half of them.
Now, onto the NBA. With the Olympics starting soon, its nice to see that USA Basketball is beginning to take these games seriously and may just be able to get past teams countries like Lithuania. Its no secret that basketball has become widely globalized, but is the globalization of basketball come back to bite the United States? If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m highly upset that a few of our good players are going overseas to play in Europe. I can understand Juan Carlos Navarro, an All-Rookie Second Team player, going to play in Barcelona. He’s from Spain. Or Bostjan Nachbar going to play in Russia. But Josh Childress going to play in Greece? Thats right. Josh Childress. 6th overall pick in the 2004 draft. He was on the cover of College Hoops 2k5, dammit? How could the Hawks… how could the NBA let this happen? The fact that bench warmers or guys that couldn’t land a team go overseas is understood. These guys get an opportunity to play and get paid. Trajan Langdon was a star at Duke, played for Cleveland, and most recently he was named MVP of the Euroleague Finals. But how can we allow decent role players to leave? Maybe if bums like Jerome James weren’t tying up so much salary cap space, guys like Childress could get more money. Why are NBA salaries guaranteed anyway? Why aren’t there more incentive based contracts? And if you think this isn’t going to have a huge impact, whats going to happen when higher caliber players decide they can get more money in Europe? Don’t think it’ll happen? Well, Ben Gordon is currently considering going overseas. That could be just the beginning.
And it doesnt end there. Brandon Jennings is going to play in Italy because his SAT scores weren’t high enough for him to qualify and play at Arizona. So, rather than study a little harder and score higher on the test… or maybe try to attend a college with slightly lower academic standards, he chose to play professionally in Italy until he’s eligible to enter the NBA draft. Mark my words, Jennings is playing with fire right now. He won’t be the last high school player to do this. Guys that coast through high school are going to opt out of going to college so that they can go play in Europe for a year. This is going to ruin the college game, and there are going to be a lot of high school guys going to Europe to make some money before becoming eligible for the draft.
Which brings me back to an idea I’ve had for some time now. Why doesn’t the NBA do what Major League Baseball does? If a player decides to enter the NBA draft out of high school, let him. But if he goes to college, he has to stay for at least three seasons. The college game doesn’t suffer, NBA teams get a better idea of what kind of prospect they’re seeing, and I think it makes for a more efficient system.
So thats the current state of affairs as of right now. With the way things are going with Brett Favre, Manny Ramirez, and the NBA, its hard to see when there might be any change.
So we’ve hit the midpoint of the year and what do we have to show for it? I’d say a lot. As a sports fan, I’m not completely satisfied with my teams, but I’m as happy as I can be considering where they could be. As I think back to the past few months, overall this has been as good of a first half of the year for sports as I’ve ever remembered.
The Giants were double digit underdogs and held the most prolific offense in the history of the game to 14 en route to a remarkable Super Bowl win. We watched as a hobbled Tiger Woods pushed his body to the limit and won the US Open. We saw Sid the Kid become a man in the playoffs, and were treated to a Celtics win that meant vindication for one man- Kevin Garnett. Personally, I got to see the Knicks gamble with the franchise by taking an international star. The Kansas Jayhawks provided us with a amazing national championship win. Even this past weekend, we watched the Williams’ sisters battle for what eventually became Venus’ fifth Wimbledon title, and Rafael Nadal’s first. I’m sure winning his first Wimbledon title over Roger Federer the way he did makes it even better.
Don’t be fooled, however. This isn’t just about the year that was. There are several things on my mind right now and what better place to air out these issues?
Lets start with the NFL. Why are the Packers even letting Brett Favre push them around like this? I’m not saying that Favre is doing this intentionally but at some point he has to realize that this “i’m want to come back” drama isn’t helping the locker room. For the past three years, the Packers have had to deal with this “will he or won’t he” stuff. At this rate, Aaron Rodgers is going to have to move on to another team so that he can get some playing time. I can understand Favre having “the itch” to come back but at his age, what else can he contribute? He had his shot last season. He led his team to a 13-3 record and took them to the NFC Championship game. Its not exactly retiring on top but its as close as anyone’s going to get. And besides, lets look at the big picture here. Imagine a Hall of Fame class in 2013 with Brett Favre, Warren Sapp, and Michael Strahan all being on the ballot. Brett, if you happen to be browsing the internet and come across this… heed my words. Stop thinking about yourself. You’re a legend in Wisconsin and Mississippi. Stop being so selfish. Think about the big picture. You, Mike, and Warren all going into the Hall together. Thats the stuff movies are made of.
Now, onto some baseball. It took a little while but the Mets are above .500 again. Now, they’re only two and a half games out in the division and have to play the Giants and the Rockies before the All-Star break. If they can win four of their next six games, they can take a a lead in the division as well as some confidence. Johan Santana has always been a better pitcher in the second half of the season. All he needs is some run support and the Mets should be alright down the stretch.
How about those Tampa Bay Rays? Not only do they have the best home record in the majors, they have the best record altogether. Their pitching has been stellar, they play great defense, they have an amazing rookie in Evan Longoria. Judging by the way they swept the Red Sox last week, I’d say these guys are ready to finally get some respect. It wasn’t too long ago that they were the laughingstock of the American League. Now they’ve put it all together and could make a run for the division. With Ortiz still hurting, and the Yankees so far back, who’s going to stop them?
Last thing on baseball. The All-Star Committee or whoever it is that decides on who makes it to the All-Star Game really messed up this year.Why isn’t Jermaine Dye on the team. Not only should he be on the team, he should be starting. Why is Jason Varitek or David Ortiz on the team. Ortiz started off the season batting .070. And then he got hurt. Why is he in the game over a guy like Jason Giambi… who happens to be happens a monster season. Varitek is batting .219 and he’s in the game over a guy like AJ Pierzynski, who’s batting .296. Maybe the American League roster is crowded. But there are guys who deserve to be on the roster like Evan Longoria. And there are guys who don’t deserve to be there like Joe Crede. As far as the National League roster goes, why is Kosuke Fukodome starting over a guy like Nate McLouth? And they got the wrong guy to represent the Mets. They should have picked David Wright, not Billy Wagner. Wagner has been blowing saves left and right… and he almost blew another tonight against the Phillies. I hope Wright gets voted in. He’s one of the few that actually deserves it. To be honest, I hope the fact that Beltran, Delgado, Reyes, and the rest realize that they’ve been snubbed because they’ve been playing sub-par ball all season. Maybe this will light a fire underneath them and they’ll start playing up to their potential.
Next up, basketball. I think it should be fairly obvious how I feel about the hype over a summer league game between the Bulls and the Heat. There are rumors that the Sixers want Elton Brand. In order to create cap space, they’re willing to trade away Rodney Carney and Calvin Booth. Now, maybe I’m bitter but didn’t I suggest a trade between the Knicks and the Sixers that would bring Carney and Booth or Carney and Andre Miller for Zach Randolph? The Sixers would get the low post presence they want that could complement Sammy Dalembert. I hate being right all the time. By the way, kudos to the Knicks for signing Chris Duhon. Thats the kind of smart acquisition that could turn the team around. He works hard and plays defense. Thats all you could ask for.
And kudos to both the Celtics and Corey Maggette. If they work out a deal, its perfect for both sides. Maggette is willing to take a cut in minutes and money to play for Doc Rivers. All I have to say is Umbutu.
So here are a few things I’ve been thinking about lately.
– I was watching Mars Attacks! the other night, and I had completely forgotten that Ray J was in it. And he was really young. I almost spilled my beer… oops, I mean my iced tea when he yells, “What are you guys gawking at?? Get the President outta here!!” Yes, people… that guy had sex with Kim Kardashian.
– Why is everyone so concerned about A-Rod’s marriage? I never really got a great look at his wife anyway. How hot can she possibly be?
Okay fine. I guess she’s pretty hot. Jesus. A-Rod’s hands are huge. Those things are like oven mitts.
– I’m actually surprised that Forrest Griffin beat Quentin “Rampage” Jackson. In my opinion, Chuck Liddell is awesome, and the Iceman could take out Griffin. So if Jackson can beat Liddell, I figured he’d have no problem with Griffin. Guess I was wrong.
Yeah, he’s the lightheavyweight champ now… but with a face like that, who’s the real winner here?
– Floyd Mayweather Jr came out and said that HBO is racially biased. He says that HBO praises Kelly Pavlik and Manny Pacquiao, but none of the black fighters like himself. To be honest, I can’t speak for HBO, but I dont praise Mayweather because he talks too much and he’s too cocky.
– CC Sabathia just got traded to the Brewers for some minor leaguers. Everyone on ESPN is now drinking the Milwaukee Kool-Aid. I’m not. One extra pitcher won’t make the difference for them this year. The Brewers would not only have to catch the Cardinals, but the Cubs as well. Does this mean either one of those teams is going to try to get Rich Harden or AJ Burnett? (Personally, I’d like the Mets to try to make a move for those guys… as long as they don’t give up any good prospects.) If I’m the Brewers, why would I give up prospects to get CC when I know I can’t afford to sign him at the end of the season? Maybe they’re desperate to win a World Series since they know Ben Sheets isn’t coming back either.
Questions or comments? Email me at s_talouis@yahoo.com
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