Archive for October, 2009
Van Damme its Friday
Martial Arts expert, world class actor, and now we can add dancer extraordinaire to Van Damme’s resume. And how was I not aware of this video until now? Every Friday from now on Van Damme Friday.
Mike Blowers Can Predict the Future
Are you serious? Blowers calls the at bat, the count, and the spot where its going to land. Its like he went to the future in a DeLorean, grabbed a sports almanac and came back claiming to be able to predict sports outcomes. But just in case he didn’t time travel – maybe I should see if he can predict the lottery numbers
Favre vs. Packers
What is wrong with this picture? Is it the fact that Fox is advertising this game on October 4th, when in reality the game is on October 5th on ESPN’s Monday Night Football? Or is it the Favre vs Packers, instead of the Vikings vs. Packers. If there is a field full of Favres taking on the Packers, that would be kind of awesome – would their uniforms be Wrangler jeans and jean jackets?
Week 4 NFL Picks
Down week last week puts the overall NFL record at 13-8 for the season. Some exciting games this weekend and there is sure to be a lot of close games. Lets get back on the winning track – picks are in italics
1. Baltimore (+1.5) @ New England. I really like the Ravens’ D in this one to get pressure on Brady and give him a difficult time getting comfortable in the pocket. Joe Flacco has been a surprise thus far this season and will look to continue on his remarkable season with help from the running game. This game should be exciting to watch, and I see Baltimore pulling off the upset.
2. New York Giants (-9.5) @ Kansas City. The Giants passing game has been surprisingly good this season with a lot of untested wide receivers. They will continue to rack up a lot of yards in the air and get their running game on track in this game against a bad Chiefs team. Look for the Giants to win by 2 touchdowns.
3. Seattle @ Indianapolis (-10.5). Look for the Colts to continue their offensive dominance of the past two weeks in this game. The Seahawks are injured on both sides of the ball and will have a tough time getting anything going on offense and stopping the Colts. West Coast teams generally put on poor performances when they head across country – Colts win big.
4. New York Jets @ New Orleans (-7.5). The Jets will not be fortunate enough to get several muffed punts and fumbled kickoffs in this game, and the pressure will be on Mark Sanchez to keep up with Drew Brees and the Saints offense – which will lead to a couple key interceptions. Look for a the Jets to finally lose a game this season.
5. San Diego (+7) @ Pittsburgh. The Steelers’ secondary is just not the same without Troy Polamalu, and it showed last week as they were not able to stop the Bengals from scoring the winning touchdown. Philip Rivers will be able to exploit this hole in the secondary and be able to move the ball. This will be a close game coming down to game winning touchdown or field goal by either team. If the Steelers win, they do not cover.
6. Green Bay @ Minnesota – Over/Under 45.5. This divisional contest will be an emotional game for both Favre and the Packers. Both teams have played well as of late and this should be an exciting game, but a hard one to judge who will win. Play it safe and go with the over on the points.
Week 5 College Football Picks
Rough Week last week leaving me with a 13-14-1 record in the college game. Another week of big games in the Pac-10, Big 12, and SEC, Lets get some winners – pics in italics.
1. South Florida (-7) @ Syracuse. USF surprised everybody by beating FSU in Tallahassee. The more reps BJ Daniels gets, the better he will be – especially after his first career start against the Seminoles last week. The Syracuse defense has played horrible all year, and their offense will not be able to do much against a stout Bulls’ defense. I see USF winning this game handily.
2. Florida State (-4.5) @ Boston College. The Noles burned me last week when they were a no brainer pick to cover the 14 against the USF and they ended up losing. They’ll be hungry and ready to put up a lot of points against the Eagles. Boston College’s offense is not much of a threat, and expect FSU to force some turnovers into easy scores. FSU wins big.
3. LSU @ UGA (-3.5). Despite gaudy records coming into this game, both these teams have a lot of issues on both sides of the ball – LSU has not been as dominant on offense as years past, and Georgia has been turning it over too often, and their defense has been atrocius all year long. Georgia has been in close games all year long since the opener and this game will be no different – the defense will do a better job, and the offense will put together a late touchdown to cover.
4. Penn St. (-7.5) @ Illinois. The Nittany Lion offense looked bad last week against Iowa, and the defense will again be missing Sean Lee. Illinois has played a lot more poorly than most people expected this year. Penn State will be looking to fix a lot of things this week after a crushing lost last Saturday night, and will not see much competition against the Fighting Illini. Expect a typical afternoon, boring, blowout game in the Big 10 where a top team defeats a middle of the road team.
5. UCLA (+5.5) @ Stanford. Who expected UCLA to be the only undefeated team in the Pac-10 thus far. Their quarterback play has been inconsistent all year, but their defense and special teams has kept them in all their games. I like the job Jim Harbaugh has done at Stanford, and it looks like they will finally make it back to a bowl game this year. This game will be a defensive struggle, and while Stanford may pull it off – UCLA keeps it close.
6. Oklahoma (-7.5) @ Miami. Sam Bradford is not back, but Landry Jones has looked real good in the last two games – albeit against lesser opponents. Miami surprisingly suffered its first loss last week against a Va Tech team that has no offense. The difference in this game will be the Oklahoma defense – their front 4 will get pressure on Jacory Harris and plug the running lanes, and the extra week to prepare will give OU the edge to cover.
7. Arkansas @ Texas A&M OVER/Under 66. Another college game at Jerry World showcases two explosive offenses and no defense. There will probably be about 900 yards gained in this game and a ton of points put on the board. This game will go well north of the 66 predicted – look for close to 80+ points in this one.
8. USC (-4.5) @ Cal. Both these teams expected to be undefeated and in the top 5 going in to this game – but have had major letdowns along the way. Both teams boast explosive running games, but the Trojans actually have a defense that can stop their opponents. Look for Joe McKnight to gain a lot of yards and open up the passing game for Matt Barkley. USC beats Cal for the 6th straight year while covering.