Steelers over FALCONS
Patriots over BILLS
BENGALS over Panthers
Chargers over CHIEFS
DOLPHINS over Packers
JETS over Lions
Eagles over BUCS
Jags over TEXANS
Broncos over BROWNS
COLTS over Redskins
CARDS over Raiders
Vikings over SEAHAWKS
COWBOYS over Giants
Last week: 7-4 (Somehow I missed a couple of games last week)
Season: 58-27
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Picks for Week Six
Let me just start out by saying that the Eagles game was hugely satisfying. Sure, I would have liked to see T.O. take a big hit, but it was almost as good to see him bring out the alligator arms across the middle when he heard Michael Lewis coming. Not to mention the Birds picked up a critical division win. I didn't get to see a lot of the games last week, since I was in Fort Wayne, but let's have a look at this week's matchups.
Giants over FALCONS
I need to see more dominant offense from the Falcons before I pick them against a decent team. Their defense is good, but I don't think they'll score much today. Of course, either that or they put up about 49 points.
COWBOYS over Texans
Bills over LIONS
If the Lions had any kind of defense, or if they'd proven they could win, I'd pick them here. But one of my rules of picking games is not to pick a winless team past week 4 until they pull one out. The opposite is true of undefeated teams, in case you're wondering.
RAMS over Seahawks
If Alexander is out, the Hawks have no prayer.
Eagles over SAINTS
Everyone is screaming "letdown game", but McNabb is just too good right now. If he keeps playing like he has been, there's no way they lose here. And the defense will have their hands full with everyone except Reggie Bush, but look for them to give up no more than 17 points.
RAVENS over Panthers
Could be a 3-0 game.
JETS over Dolphins
Boy, was I wrong about the Jets-Jags game. But there's no way they lose this one. The Dolphins are bad, and you'd better believe the Jets will put together a string of victories once they get some confidence back.
BRONCOS over Raiders
Oakland is horrendous.
STEELERS over Chiefs
I told you I had a feeling about that Arizona game last week, and they almost pulled it out. I'm only picking Pittsburgh here because they're at home and have a better coach. They don't have too much else going for them at this point. KC is also hurting without Larry Johnson.
Chargers over NINERS
Alex Smith is coming along nicely, but he'll likely get clobbered a few times against SD.
Bears over CARDINALS
How did Arizona end up on Monday night? They may score a field goal or two here, but that's about it. This one could get ugly. I'd say they had a chance, since the best teams usually lose to at least one bad team per year, but not on Monday night.
Last week: 11-3
Season: 51-23
Giants over FALCONS
I need to see more dominant offense from the Falcons before I pick them against a decent team. Their defense is good, but I don't think they'll score much today. Of course, either that or they put up about 49 points.
COWBOYS over Texans
Bills over LIONS
If the Lions had any kind of defense, or if they'd proven they could win, I'd pick them here. But one of my rules of picking games is not to pick a winless team past week 4 until they pull one out. The opposite is true of undefeated teams, in case you're wondering.
RAMS over Seahawks
If Alexander is out, the Hawks have no prayer.
Eagles over SAINTS
Everyone is screaming "letdown game", but McNabb is just too good right now. If he keeps playing like he has been, there's no way they lose here. And the defense will have their hands full with everyone except Reggie Bush, but look for them to give up no more than 17 points.
RAVENS over Panthers
Could be a 3-0 game.
JETS over Dolphins
Boy, was I wrong about the Jets-Jags game. But there's no way they lose this one. The Dolphins are bad, and you'd better believe the Jets will put together a string of victories once they get some confidence back.
BRONCOS over Raiders
Oakland is horrendous.
STEELERS over Chiefs
I told you I had a feeling about that Arizona game last week, and they almost pulled it out. I'm only picking Pittsburgh here because they're at home and have a better coach. They don't have too much else going for them at this point. KC is also hurting without Larry Johnson.
Chargers over NINERS
Alex Smith is coming along nicely, but he'll likely get clobbered a few times against SD.
Bears over CARDINALS
How did Arizona end up on Monday night? They may score a field goal or two here, but that's about it. This one could get ugly. I'd say they had a chance, since the best teams usually lose to at least one bad team per year, but not on Monday night.
Last week: 11-3
Season: 51-23
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Week 5: What is There to Talk About This Week? Hmmmm....
This will be the biggest sports week for me in recent memory. I've got TO coming back to Philly tomorrow, a televised UFC card on Tuesday, and a Pay-Per-View card on Saturday. In the meantime, the baseball playoffs are going on. Had the Phillies not once again yanked the rug out from under themselves to get into the postseason, I might be having a heart attack right now. So without further delay, let's get into this week's NFL games.
BEARS over Bills
The Bears made mincemeat out of the reigning NFC champs last week, and that was no fluke. But at the same time, that one had "letdown game" written all over it for the Hawks, and it was one the Bears wanted badly to prove they were legit. I still think the Bears are a better team than the Seahawks, and definitely the most impressive team in the league thus far, but they're not that much better than the upper echelon of the league. At least not yet. They should pound the Bills here, but this one has letdown game potential for Chicago. I think they pull it out at home, but it could be a close one.
Rams over PACKERS
Even when Favre is on target, which isn't as often as anyone would like to see, his defense is just hapless. Look for Bulger to carve the Pack to pieces.
COLTS over Titans
Unfortunately for Tennessee, they play in the same division as Peyton Manning. This one is going to be real ugly. Indy may look to just run all over the Titans and not make this any longer than it has to be.
VIKINGS over Lions
I tell you, if the Lions defense played every week like they played in week one, they'd have a chance here. But that was week one, which is more often the exception than the rule. It probably won't be a blowout, but the Vikings will take this one.
PATRIOTS over Dolphins
Miami is in a tailspin with Culpepper under center, and they probably won't pull out of it this season unless Joey Harrington really is better than he looked in Detroit. Pats should win big.
SAINTS over Bucs
The Saints' defense might or might not hold up down the road, but they won't need much of it against the Bucs. This is a division game, and anything can happen in a division game, but Tampa just seems lost right now.
Redskins over GIANTS
Washington is picking up momentum, and the Giants are losing it. They couldn't carry the momentum from their fluke win over the Eagles into Seattle, and they got blown out badly. They're entering the "dysfunctional" territory very early in the season, and that's not good for Tom Coughlin or anyone else. They need this win at home, or they could be in serious trouble. Meanwhile, the Redskins' offense is looking like a well-oiled machine, with Santana Moss playing the role of big time receiver. Old man Mark Brunell is holding his own, and I don't know how long that will last, but it'll last through this week. Skins win a close one, because the Giants can't help but play them close.
PANTHERS over Browns
Browns fans, don't get too excited about the win over Oakland. Cleveland had to make a comeback against the bar none worst team in the NFL. Be glad they won, but don't expect too many more until the schedule gets easier. Carolina needs this game to continue their roll after two straight division wins, and they should pick it up.
CARDINALS over Chiefs
This pick makes no sense. Just call it a gut feeling.
49ERS over Raiders
I don't think the Raiders will go winless this year; the bad teams who only have a couple of wins usually pick up a fluke or two over a good team that drops its guard. The Niners have some semblance of offense, and if Oakland can put together a few drives, we might have a mini-shootout. I wouldn't count on it though. This will probably be another ugly one.
Jets over JAGS
The Jets have been killed by the schedule, but don't count them out in any game. I told you they'd make a game out of the Colts loss last week. I would have loved it had they been able to pull off a touchdown from that last play. That went on way longer than it should have, and it was great. I think they're due for a win here, and the Jags are hurting a little bit.
CHARGERS over Steelers
Behold, the demise of last year's mighty Super Bowl champions…..okay, maybe that's a bit premature. But they're certainly not the team they were last year. I don't think Ben Roethlisberger is going to be himself this year at all, much to the chagrin of all those who have been waiting for him to get back to last year's form. I just don't see it happening. The Chargers, on the other hand, are going to be playing at home, and they're going to be angry. Philip Rivers is turning out not to be such a huge dropoff at quarterback, and if he hits a good stride, the Chargers could live up to what I expected them to be last year.
BRONCOS over Ravens
It's only a matter of time before the Ravens are exposed for having no offense. McNair can't keep playing well for 5 minutes per game and have Baltimore continue to win. I think Denver calls the hype into question this week.
Which brings us to….
EAGLES over Cowboys
It's the game I've been waiting for since finding out you-know-who signed with Dallas. Seriously, it wouldn't have been fitting if Owens just went over to the AFC and we didn't hear from him again. We need to play his team twice a year. And it needs to be the team that the hated Bill Parcells coaches. And the team that the hated Jerry Jones owns. With the hated star on the helmet. I just can't wait for this. It should be a close game with the Eagles' secondary banged up a bit, and without Stallworth, and without Westbrook at 100%. And still, I see the Birds taking it. Dallas will look to pound the ball early to set up the pass, and it won't work. They may have a good first drive, as has been the MO for the defense this year (for whatever reason), but I don't see them having much success on a consistent basis. The front four is too good for the Eagles, and I don't think Jim Johnson will blitz quite as much as he usually does. The defensive line will be able to get to the flat-footed Drew Bledsoe and put him on his back. And when they do blitz, look for Dawkins to get in the backfield before you can say "sack". The man is ageless, and he plays like a man possessed every week. He's one of the most thrilling defensive players in the league, and I can't wait to see him knock TO's head off when he runs one of those crossing routes across the middle. I can hardly type I'm so excited. The last time Owens met an Eagles safety from an opposing standpoint, he ended up with a broken collarbone. And that was before…you know.
As for the offense, I can tell you that no one is any match for Donovan McNabb right now. No one. When he hits his stride like he has so far, he's the best quarterback in the league. Show me another QB that befuddles defenses and makes plays happen like McNabb does. The Dallas defense will have its moments, but it will be Donovan's day.
(And by the way, Terry Glenn will have more impact than you-know-who.)
Well, that felt good. It's nice to be able to write a column again.
Last Week: 9-5
Season: 40-20
BEARS over Bills
The Bears made mincemeat out of the reigning NFC champs last week, and that was no fluke. But at the same time, that one had "letdown game" written all over it for the Hawks, and it was one the Bears wanted badly to prove they were legit. I still think the Bears are a better team than the Seahawks, and definitely the most impressive team in the league thus far, but they're not that much better than the upper echelon of the league. At least not yet. They should pound the Bills here, but this one has letdown game potential for Chicago. I think they pull it out at home, but it could be a close one.
Rams over PACKERS
Even when Favre is on target, which isn't as often as anyone would like to see, his defense is just hapless. Look for Bulger to carve the Pack to pieces.
COLTS over Titans
Unfortunately for Tennessee, they play in the same division as Peyton Manning. This one is going to be real ugly. Indy may look to just run all over the Titans and not make this any longer than it has to be.
VIKINGS over Lions
I tell you, if the Lions defense played every week like they played in week one, they'd have a chance here. But that was week one, which is more often the exception than the rule. It probably won't be a blowout, but the Vikings will take this one.
PATRIOTS over Dolphins
Miami is in a tailspin with Culpepper under center, and they probably won't pull out of it this season unless Joey Harrington really is better than he looked in Detroit. Pats should win big.
SAINTS over Bucs
The Saints' defense might or might not hold up down the road, but they won't need much of it against the Bucs. This is a division game, and anything can happen in a division game, but Tampa just seems lost right now.
Redskins over GIANTS
Washington is picking up momentum, and the Giants are losing it. They couldn't carry the momentum from their fluke win over the Eagles into Seattle, and they got blown out badly. They're entering the "dysfunctional" territory very early in the season, and that's not good for Tom Coughlin or anyone else. They need this win at home, or they could be in serious trouble. Meanwhile, the Redskins' offense is looking like a well-oiled machine, with Santana Moss playing the role of big time receiver. Old man Mark Brunell is holding his own, and I don't know how long that will last, but it'll last through this week. Skins win a close one, because the Giants can't help but play them close.
PANTHERS over Browns
Browns fans, don't get too excited about the win over Oakland. Cleveland had to make a comeback against the bar none worst team in the NFL. Be glad they won, but don't expect too many more until the schedule gets easier. Carolina needs this game to continue their roll after two straight division wins, and they should pick it up.
CARDINALS over Chiefs
This pick makes no sense. Just call it a gut feeling.
49ERS over Raiders
I don't think the Raiders will go winless this year; the bad teams who only have a couple of wins usually pick up a fluke or two over a good team that drops its guard. The Niners have some semblance of offense, and if Oakland can put together a few drives, we might have a mini-shootout. I wouldn't count on it though. This will probably be another ugly one.
Jets over JAGS
The Jets have been killed by the schedule, but don't count them out in any game. I told you they'd make a game out of the Colts loss last week. I would have loved it had they been able to pull off a touchdown from that last play. That went on way longer than it should have, and it was great. I think they're due for a win here, and the Jags are hurting a little bit.
CHARGERS over Steelers
Behold, the demise of last year's mighty Super Bowl champions…..okay, maybe that's a bit premature. But they're certainly not the team they were last year. I don't think Ben Roethlisberger is going to be himself this year at all, much to the chagrin of all those who have been waiting for him to get back to last year's form. I just don't see it happening. The Chargers, on the other hand, are going to be playing at home, and they're going to be angry. Philip Rivers is turning out not to be such a huge dropoff at quarterback, and if he hits a good stride, the Chargers could live up to what I expected them to be last year.
BRONCOS over Ravens
It's only a matter of time before the Ravens are exposed for having no offense. McNair can't keep playing well for 5 minutes per game and have Baltimore continue to win. I think Denver calls the hype into question this week.
Which brings us to….
EAGLES over Cowboys
It's the game I've been waiting for since finding out you-know-who signed with Dallas. Seriously, it wouldn't have been fitting if Owens just went over to the AFC and we didn't hear from him again. We need to play his team twice a year. And it needs to be the team that the hated Bill Parcells coaches. And the team that the hated Jerry Jones owns. With the hated star on the helmet. I just can't wait for this. It should be a close game with the Eagles' secondary banged up a bit, and without Stallworth, and without Westbrook at 100%. And still, I see the Birds taking it. Dallas will look to pound the ball early to set up the pass, and it won't work. They may have a good first drive, as has been the MO for the defense this year (for whatever reason), but I don't see them having much success on a consistent basis. The front four is too good for the Eagles, and I don't think Jim Johnson will blitz quite as much as he usually does. The defensive line will be able to get to the flat-footed Drew Bledsoe and put him on his back. And when they do blitz, look for Dawkins to get in the backfield before you can say "sack". The man is ageless, and he plays like a man possessed every week. He's one of the most thrilling defensive players in the league, and I can't wait to see him knock TO's head off when he runs one of those crossing routes across the middle. I can hardly type I'm so excited. The last time Owens met an Eagles safety from an opposing standpoint, he ended up with a broken collarbone. And that was before…you know.
As for the offense, I can tell you that no one is any match for Donovan McNabb right now. No one. When he hits his stride like he has so far, he's the best quarterback in the league. Show me another QB that befuddles defenses and makes plays happen like McNabb does. The Dallas defense will have its moments, but it will be Donovan's day.
(And by the way, Terry Glenn will have more impact than you-know-who.)
Well, that felt good. It's nice to be able to write a column again.
Last Week: 9-5
Season: 40-20
Sunday, October 01, 2006
No Big Column This Week; Just Picks
I’ll eventually get back to writing a full-length NFL column weekly, but for now, here’s some more picks (home team in caps):
ATLANTA over Arizona
Minnesota over BUFFALO
Dallas over TENNESSEE
KANSAS CITY over San Francisco
Indy over NY JETS (but they’ll make a game out of it…more than you think)
New Orleans over CAROLINA (Panthers are totally uninspired right now)
San Diego over BALTIMORE (Should be a good one)
HOUSTON over Miami
ST. LOUIS over Detroit
CINCINNATTI over New England (and it won’t be close)
Cleveland over OAKLAND (in the ugliest game of the week—the teams’ own fans might not even be able to watch this one)
Jacksonville over WASHINGTON
CHICAGO over Seattle
PHILLY over Green Bay (Jon Kitna lit up the Packers last week. Donovan is going to be ridiculous)
Last Week: 8-6
Season: 31-15
ATLANTA over Arizona
Minnesota over BUFFALO
Dallas over TENNESSEE
KANSAS CITY over San Francisco
Indy over NY JETS (but they’ll make a game out of it…more than you think)
New Orleans over CAROLINA (Panthers are totally uninspired right now)
San Diego over BALTIMORE (Should be a good one)
HOUSTON over Miami
ST. LOUIS over Detroit
CINCINNATTI over New England (and it won’t be close)
Cleveland over OAKLAND (in the ugliest game of the week—the teams’ own fans might not even be able to watch this one)
Jacksonville over WASHINGTON
CHICAGO over Seattle
PHILLY over Green Bay (Jon Kitna lit up the Packers last week. Donovan is going to be ridiculous)
Last Week: 8-6
Season: 31-15
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Quick Week 3 Picks
I didn't have time to do my NFL column this week with UFC 63 going on, but here's my picks for the week (and no, I'm not going to comment on the fluke that was the Eagles-Giants game last week. It was the beginning of the end when the Giants recovered the fumble in the end zone, and every Eagle fan knew it. And what's it mean? Nothing. The Eagles smacked the Giants around easily for three quarters and then fell apart. It means nothing. And they'll be fine without Kearse...it's the secondary that I'm more worried about. But i digress. Home teams in caps):
TEXANS over Redskins
Jets over BILLS
LIONS over Packers
Jags over COLTS
VIKINGS over Bears
Titans over DOLPHINS
Bengals over STEELERS
Panthers over BUCS
Ravens over BROWNS
SEAHAWKS over Giants
CARDINALS over Rams
Eagles over 49ERS
Broncos over PATS
SAINTS over Falcons
Last week's record: 12-4
Season: 23-9
TEXANS over Redskins
Jets over BILLS
LIONS over Packers
Jags over COLTS
VIKINGS over Bears
Titans over DOLPHINS
Bengals over STEELERS
Panthers over BUCS
Ravens over BROWNS
SEAHAWKS over Giants
CARDINALS over Rams
Eagles over 49ERS
Broncos over PATS
SAINTS over Falcons
Last week's record: 12-4
Season: 23-9
Saturday, September 16, 2006
NFL Week 2 and a Bit of Baseball
Week one is over, and we know a few things. A few. Not much, because the first three weeks of the season mean slightly more than the preseason. That having been said, there are plenty of division games this week, and division games always mean something. I’ll pass on my observations as I make my picks for this week (home team in caps, winners in bold).
Bucs vs. FALCONS
This is a tougher one to call than I thought. I didn’t catch much of either game these teams played in last week, but I can’t help but think that the outcome of the Falcons-Panthers game would have been slightly different had Steve Smith been healthy. It’s still too early to know, of course, whether the Ravens offense is for real with McNair at the helm, but I would imagine that if the Bucs couldn’t stop them, they won’t be able to stop the seemingly reborn Michael Vick. This game should tell us a lot about both teams.
Lions vs. BEARS
Was the Lions’ defense for real against Seattle last week? Was the Bears’ offense for real against the awful, awful Packers? I’m more inclined to believe the former, as Seattle’s offense is more likely to be good than Green Bay’s defense is. I caught quite a bit of the Lions-Seahawks game last week, and they were playing with a little extra something that they haven’t had over the past few years. They’ll be worth keeping an eye on, and quite honestly I could see them pulling the upset here, but I can’t bring myself to pick them.
Browns vs. BENGALS
Man, Cincy looked good last week against the Chiefs. They will smash the Browns this week.
Saints vs. PACKERS
I really do like Brett Favre. He’s always been fun to watch, and he’s been portrayed throughout his career as a likeable guy. But it sure is over, man. And it has been for a couple of years now. He’d be alright on a team with receivers that could jump up and grab those crazy hail Mary’s, but there is no support for him on this team. Seriously no bright side. The Saints, on the other hand, looked pretty good last week. Let’s see how they look against another bad team. Reggie Bush is going to be a lot of fun to watch.
Texans vs. COLTS
Colts-Giants was a good game. This will not be such a good one. The Texans are better this year, but they still have a ways to go.
Bills vs. DOLPHINS
Honestly, I have no idea here. I didn’t see enough of the Bills to form an opinion, but Miami has a decent defense, and if Culpepper can not lose the game, they should be able to pull it out. On the other hand, if the Bills play the same way they did against New England last week, they may blow Miami out. Maybe. That’s just an assumption, because I didn’t see it.
Panthers vs. VIKINGS
For some reason, I like the Vikings. They’re playing with confidence and no real expectations from anyone but themselves, while the Panthers are only playing with expectations (and maybe without Steve Smith again). I think the Panthers will get on a roll as the season moves on; maybe once they feel “disrespected” enough, but I think the Vikes take this one at home
Giants vs. EAGLES
Key to the Eagles winning will be stopping Tiki Barber. That guy kills me. And the Eagles. Can I just say I’m extremely excited for this game? It’s one of those that means as much as a game in week two can mean. Key to the Giants winning will be stopping McNabb, but they just won’t be able to. The Eagles are too strong on the offensive line, and if McNabb even has a little time, he’s got enough weapons to take advantage of the Giants’ secondary. Watch for LJ Smith, Brian Westbrook, and Correll Buckhalter to have big games. This will be a breakout game for Buck, who (if he can stay healthy) is a lock for comeback player of the year.
Raiders vs. RAVENS
Oh man, are the Raiders bad. Week one or not, they looked completely hapless against the Chargers. Baltimore’s defense isn’t as good as they think they are, but they’re going to eat Oakland for freaking breakfast. Aaron Brooks might not get one pass off. It would be no surprise at all to see the Ravens get their second straight shutout to open the season. And if they do, let the hype begin.
Rams vs. 49ERS
San Francisco is better this year than they were last year, but that’s not saying much. I think Alex Smith will show that he doesn’t suck, but they still need help running the ball and everywhere on defense. I’m not ready to jump on the Rams bandwagon just yet, but they’re definitely worth watching.
Cardinals vs. SEAHAWKS
The Seahawks should be angry this week, and they’ll probably score a lot of points. But it wouldn’t surprise me to see Arizona make a game out of this one.
Chiefs vs. BRONCOS
Once again, the Broncos are a mystery wrapped in an enigma to me. And who is the perfect quarterback to lead that kind of team? Jake Plummer, of course. This pick is a total guess. I need to see more of the AFC West, but I’m already doubting my picks in that division.
Patriots vs. JETS
So wait. I pick the Jets to finish last in the AFC East, and now I’m picking them to be first after two weeks? Makes no sense, does it? Well, I can’t defend my gut, and that’s what my gut is telling me. I don’t think the Jets will last, but they’ll beat the Pats this week in a good game.
Titans vs. CHARGERS
San Diego bulldozes Tennessee this week. I’m looking forward to seeing them play a good team.
Redskins vs. COWBOYS
I hate the Cowboys. But they’ll win this one. Both offenses leave something to be desired (namely a quarterback), but Dallas’ defense is better. That’s what wins the game for them.
Steelers vs. JAGUARS
I can’t see Charlie Batch beating the Jags’ defense like he did to the Dolphins. This should be a good game, but Jax pulls it out.
Last Week’s Record: 11-5
Baseball
The Phillies are doing it again. They’re way out of the division race (and have been since the beginning of the season), but they’re making a serious run at the Wild Card. Last year, they finished second in the Wild Card race by one game. They do this every year, but usually they wouldn’t have started their run so soon (about mid-August), and they’d be fading by now. So what’s different this year? Honestly, I can’t think of a factor bigger than Ryan Howard. The Phils are a game and a half out right now, and they’re not showing any sign of fading. It’s been frustrating in that whenever they get this close, they seem to freeze, but I really think they have a chance this year of making the playoffs. I don’t have illusions of winning it all this year, but it sure would be nice to see a playoff series after 13 years of frustration and apathy. There are 14 games left. Here’s hoping the past doesn’t repeat itself this year (that’s about the most optimistic statement I can muster to close). Go Phils!
Bucs vs. FALCONS
This is a tougher one to call than I thought. I didn’t catch much of either game these teams played in last week, but I can’t help but think that the outcome of the Falcons-Panthers game would have been slightly different had Steve Smith been healthy. It’s still too early to know, of course, whether the Ravens offense is for real with McNair at the helm, but I would imagine that if the Bucs couldn’t stop them, they won’t be able to stop the seemingly reborn Michael Vick. This game should tell us a lot about both teams.
Lions vs. BEARS
Was the Lions’ defense for real against Seattle last week? Was the Bears’ offense for real against the awful, awful Packers? I’m more inclined to believe the former, as Seattle’s offense is more likely to be good than Green Bay’s defense is. I caught quite a bit of the Lions-Seahawks game last week, and they were playing with a little extra something that they haven’t had over the past few years. They’ll be worth keeping an eye on, and quite honestly I could see them pulling the upset here, but I can’t bring myself to pick them.
Browns vs. BENGALS
Man, Cincy looked good last week against the Chiefs. They will smash the Browns this week.
Saints vs. PACKERS
I really do like Brett Favre. He’s always been fun to watch, and he’s been portrayed throughout his career as a likeable guy. But it sure is over, man. And it has been for a couple of years now. He’d be alright on a team with receivers that could jump up and grab those crazy hail Mary’s, but there is no support for him on this team. Seriously no bright side. The Saints, on the other hand, looked pretty good last week. Let’s see how they look against another bad team. Reggie Bush is going to be a lot of fun to watch.
Texans vs. COLTS
Colts-Giants was a good game. This will not be such a good one. The Texans are better this year, but they still have a ways to go.
Bills vs. DOLPHINS
Honestly, I have no idea here. I didn’t see enough of the Bills to form an opinion, but Miami has a decent defense, and if Culpepper can not lose the game, they should be able to pull it out. On the other hand, if the Bills play the same way they did against New England last week, they may blow Miami out. Maybe. That’s just an assumption, because I didn’t see it.
Panthers vs. VIKINGS
For some reason, I like the Vikings. They’re playing with confidence and no real expectations from anyone but themselves, while the Panthers are only playing with expectations (and maybe without Steve Smith again). I think the Panthers will get on a roll as the season moves on; maybe once they feel “disrespected” enough, but I think the Vikes take this one at home
Giants vs. EAGLES
Key to the Eagles winning will be stopping Tiki Barber. That guy kills me. And the Eagles. Can I just say I’m extremely excited for this game? It’s one of those that means as much as a game in week two can mean. Key to the Giants winning will be stopping McNabb, but they just won’t be able to. The Eagles are too strong on the offensive line, and if McNabb even has a little time, he’s got enough weapons to take advantage of the Giants’ secondary. Watch for LJ Smith, Brian Westbrook, and Correll Buckhalter to have big games. This will be a breakout game for Buck, who (if he can stay healthy) is a lock for comeback player of the year.
Raiders vs. RAVENS
Oh man, are the Raiders bad. Week one or not, they looked completely hapless against the Chargers. Baltimore’s defense isn’t as good as they think they are, but they’re going to eat Oakland for freaking breakfast. Aaron Brooks might not get one pass off. It would be no surprise at all to see the Ravens get their second straight shutout to open the season. And if they do, let the hype begin.
Rams vs. 49ERS
San Francisco is better this year than they were last year, but that’s not saying much. I think Alex Smith will show that he doesn’t suck, but they still need help running the ball and everywhere on defense. I’m not ready to jump on the Rams bandwagon just yet, but they’re definitely worth watching.
Cardinals vs. SEAHAWKS
The Seahawks should be angry this week, and they’ll probably score a lot of points. But it wouldn’t surprise me to see Arizona make a game out of this one.
Chiefs vs. BRONCOS
Once again, the Broncos are a mystery wrapped in an enigma to me. And who is the perfect quarterback to lead that kind of team? Jake Plummer, of course. This pick is a total guess. I need to see more of the AFC West, but I’m already doubting my picks in that division.
Patriots vs. JETS
So wait. I pick the Jets to finish last in the AFC East, and now I’m picking them to be first after two weeks? Makes no sense, does it? Well, I can’t defend my gut, and that’s what my gut is telling me. I don’t think the Jets will last, but they’ll beat the Pats this week in a good game.
Titans vs. CHARGERS
San Diego bulldozes Tennessee this week. I’m looking forward to seeing them play a good team.
Redskins vs. COWBOYS
I hate the Cowboys. But they’ll win this one. Both offenses leave something to be desired (namely a quarterback), but Dallas’ defense is better. That’s what wins the game for them.
Steelers vs. JAGUARS
I can’t see Charlie Batch beating the Jags’ defense like he did to the Dolphins. This should be a good game, but Jax pulls it out.
Last Week’s Record: 11-5
Baseball
The Phillies are doing it again. They’re way out of the division race (and have been since the beginning of the season), but they’re making a serious run at the Wild Card. Last year, they finished second in the Wild Card race by one game. They do this every year, but usually they wouldn’t have started their run so soon (about mid-August), and they’d be fading by now. So what’s different this year? Honestly, I can’t think of a factor bigger than Ryan Howard. The Phils are a game and a half out right now, and they’re not showing any sign of fading. It’s been frustrating in that whenever they get this close, they seem to freeze, but I really think they have a chance this year of making the playoffs. I don’t have illusions of winning it all this year, but it sure would be nice to see a playoff series after 13 years of frustration and apathy. There are 14 games left. Here’s hoping the past doesn’t repeat itself this year (that’s about the most optimistic statement I can muster to close). Go Phils!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
2006 NFL Preview, Part Two: AFC
Yeah, so it’s after the first game of the season. It’s not like anyone’s reading this anyway. I’m just doing this because I enjoy it. So let’s have a look at the AFC picks real quick.
AFC
East
4. Patriots
Dolphins
Bills
Jets
North
3. Bengals
Steelers
Ravens
Browns
South
1. Colts
6. Jags
Texans
Titans
West
2. Broncos
5. Chargers
Chiefs
Raiders
(Numbers are playoff seedings)
Notes:
With Drew Brees, the Chargers win the AFC this year. With Phillip Rivers, I don’t know.
The Dolphins will get there, but they’re still a year away unless Culpepper plays like the guy we saw in ’04, and not the guy we saw last year.
That’s right. The Steelers miss the playoffs, but not by much. And before you laugh, think of it this way: they almost missed the playoffs last year, and are they better this year without Bettis and Randle-El on offense?
The AFC West is still has three really good teams. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they can’t be in the East or South.
Sorry, Myq. It just doesn’t look good for the Jets. The only thing that makes Buffalo better is Willis McGahee, who is going to be a monster.
I don’t know what the Jags need to put them over the top, but I don’t think it’s much.
So let’s have look at the AFC side of the playoffs (winners in bold):
Wild Card Games:
(5) Chargers at (4) Patriots
(6) Jags at (3) Bengals
Divisional Championships:
(4) Patriots at (1) Colts
(3) Bengals at (2) Broncos
Conference Championship:
(4) Patriots at (2) Broncos
Everyone’s picking the Colts for some reason, even though Peyton Manning has does his best impression of Chernobyl every January (he’s the Arizona Cardinals of quarterbacks right now—I won’t pick him until he proves he can get over the hump. And it is Manning that’s losing for the Colts. He looks awful in the clutch). And should they play New England in the postseason, I don’t care where it is, they have no chance.
I know Patriot fans would call for my head if any of them ever read the blog, but it doesn’t matter. Tom Brady is going to carry the team, but he won’t be able to carry them through Mile High Stadium this year any more than he could last year. Denver wins the AFC.
Super Bowl XLI in Miami: Eagles 35, Broncos 10
All that having been said, let’s get to the picks for this week. It’s late, so I’m doing it in a lazy format.
Wins: Steelers (I know they already played, but my opinion was formed before the game), Bucs, Panthers, Pats, Eagles, Browns, Seahawks, Jets, Bengals, Bears, Cowboys, Cardinals, Colts, Vikings, Chargers.
Everyone else loses, and a lot of the teams that lose this week will need to get used to it. Not that the first three weeks mean anything, mind you. They’re just bad teams.
AFC
East
4. Patriots
Dolphins
Bills
Jets
North
3. Bengals
Steelers
Ravens
Browns
South
1. Colts
6. Jags
Texans
Titans
West
2. Broncos
5. Chargers
Chiefs
Raiders
(Numbers are playoff seedings)
Notes:
With Drew Brees, the Chargers win the AFC this year. With Phillip Rivers, I don’t know.
The Dolphins will get there, but they’re still a year away unless Culpepper plays like the guy we saw in ’04, and not the guy we saw last year.
That’s right. The Steelers miss the playoffs, but not by much. And before you laugh, think of it this way: they almost missed the playoffs last year, and are they better this year without Bettis and Randle-El on offense?
The AFC West is still has three really good teams. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they can’t be in the East or South.
Sorry, Myq. It just doesn’t look good for the Jets. The only thing that makes Buffalo better is Willis McGahee, who is going to be a monster.
I don’t know what the Jags need to put them over the top, but I don’t think it’s much.
So let’s have look at the AFC side of the playoffs (winners in bold):
Wild Card Games:
(5) Chargers at (4) Patriots
(6) Jags at (3) Bengals
Divisional Championships:
(4) Patriots at (1) Colts
(3) Bengals at (2) Broncos
Conference Championship:
(4) Patriots at (2) Broncos
Everyone’s picking the Colts for some reason, even though Peyton Manning has does his best impression of Chernobyl every January (he’s the Arizona Cardinals of quarterbacks right now—I won’t pick him until he proves he can get over the hump. And it is Manning that’s losing for the Colts. He looks awful in the clutch). And should they play New England in the postseason, I don’t care where it is, they have no chance.
I know Patriot fans would call for my head if any of them ever read the blog, but it doesn’t matter. Tom Brady is going to carry the team, but he won’t be able to carry them through Mile High Stadium this year any more than he could last year. Denver wins the AFC.
Super Bowl XLI in Miami: Eagles 35, Broncos 10
All that having been said, let’s get to the picks for this week. It’s late, so I’m doing it in a lazy format.
Wins: Steelers (I know they already played, but my opinion was formed before the game), Bucs, Panthers, Pats, Eagles, Browns, Seahawks, Jets, Bengals, Bears, Cowboys, Cardinals, Colts, Vikings, Chargers.
Everyone else loses, and a lot of the teams that lose this week will need to get used to it. Not that the first three weeks mean anything, mind you. They’re just bad teams.
Monday, September 04, 2006
2006 NFL Preview, Part One: NFC
With three days before the regular season kicks off, I’m coming through with this year’s NFL predictions. But before we start with this year’s picks, let’s see how I fared last year.
NFC
Division My Pick Winner
East Eagles Giants
North Vikings Bears
South Panthers Bucs
West Cardinals Seahawks
Wild Card 1 Lions Redskins
Wild Card 2 Rams Panthers
AFC
Division My Pick Winner
East Patriots Patriots
North Steelers Bengals
South Colts Colts
West Chargers Broncos
Wild Card 1 Jets Steelers
Wild Card 2 Chiefs Jags
Not great, huh? To sum up, I picked two out of eight divisions, and a big zero in the wild card and conference champ picks. Well, the good news is that I’ve shined up my crystal ball this year and it’s clearer than ever. Let’s move on to this year’s picks. I’m doing it a little differently this year, as I’ll just list each division from top to bottom and then pick the playoff games. Here we go.
NFC
East
3. Eagles
5. Cowboys
Giants
Redskins
North
2. Chicago
Detroit
Minnesota
Green Bay
South
4. Panthers
6. Bucs
Falcons
Saints
West
1. Seattle
Arizona
St. Louis
San Francisco
(Numbers are playoff seedings)
Notes:
You didn’t really think I’d pick someone other than the Eagles to win the East, did you? Come now. The Birds have absolutely stacked both the offensive and defensive lines, and we all know that you win games in the trenches. Stay tuned, folks. The defense is going to be very nasty. I know the preseason means jack, but the Eagles’ starting D has allowed three points in eight series during the preseason. And as far as offense goes, the acquisition of Donte Stallworth was huge. He’s a number one guy that has tremendous speed and actually has some hands worth talking about. Add the young guys (especially Reggie Brown) to the mix, and you’ve got what’s going to be an underrated wide receiver corps. But I tell you, look out for them. Donovan McNabb is in top form, and he’s got a tremendous offensive line in front to give him plenty of time. The rest of the East could really shake out in any way. Surely there will be two playoff teams in the division, and there’s no bad team from top to bottom, so who takes positions 2-4 is anyone’s guess. It looks like I’m sleeping on the Redskins, but in truth I just put them in alphabetical order after Philly. Just bank on the Birds reasserting themselves as the best. (Oh—and while I’m on the subject of the NFC East, I can’t get away without mentioning that I’m absolutely delighted that Terrell Owens is in Dallas. Jerry Jones, Bill Parcells and T.O. is a match made in Eagle fan heaven. Just the fact that we get the chance to play a team associated with all three simultaneously is a gift. The prospect of beating them? It’s almost too much to think of. And if both make the playoffs, show me a single Eagles fan that wouldn’t take a lower seed just to have a shot at ousting Dallas in the first round, and I’ll show you a wuss. In fact, I’m changing my rankings. Give the Eagles the fourth seed and the ‘boys the fifth seed, and we’ll see you in the first round.)
You will see that I put the Cardinals in the number two spot in the West. Well, the West is bad enough, and the Cardinals did barely enough in the offseason, that I’ll put enough faith in them to make second place. Notice, however, that neither they nor the Lions make the playoffs. I am taking a hiatus from picking these teams until they prove that it’s actually possible for them to achieve anything.
After a regular season for the ages, here’s how the playoffs will look (winners in bold):
Wild Card Games:
(5) Cowboys at (4) Eagles
(6) Bucs at (3) Panthers
Divisional Championships:
(4) Eagles at (1) Seahawks
(3) Panthers at (2) Bears
Conference Championship:
(4) Eagles at (3) Panthers
In case you haven’t figured it out, I’ll always be picking the Eagles to win the Super Bowl as long as they’re anything resembling good. And you’d better believe they’ll be good this year.
You may also notice that I’ve got the 3rd and 4th seeds in the conference title game. This isn’t because the Seahawks and Bears aren’t any good, because they’ll both be very good teams. It’s the lack of quality in opponents that will set the teams apart. I’m not saying the NFC South is going to be outstanding, but it’ll be the major league to the West and North’s minor leagues. Not to mention the North and West play each other during the season, so they’ll barely get any quality competition inside the conference. So there’s your NFC preview. I’d do the AFC right now, but I don’t want to be overly long-winded. So the AFC will come later this week (before Thursday, mind you).
NFC
Division My Pick Winner
East Eagles Giants
North Vikings Bears
South Panthers Bucs
West Cardinals Seahawks
Wild Card 1 Lions Redskins
Wild Card 2 Rams Panthers
AFC
Division My Pick Winner
East Patriots Patriots
North Steelers Bengals
South Colts Colts
West Chargers Broncos
Wild Card 1 Jets Steelers
Wild Card 2 Chiefs Jags
Not great, huh? To sum up, I picked two out of eight divisions, and a big zero in the wild card and conference champ picks. Well, the good news is that I’ve shined up my crystal ball this year and it’s clearer than ever. Let’s move on to this year’s picks. I’m doing it a little differently this year, as I’ll just list each division from top to bottom and then pick the playoff games. Here we go.
NFC
East
3. Eagles
5. Cowboys
Giants
Redskins
North
2. Chicago
Detroit
Minnesota
Green Bay
South
4. Panthers
6. Bucs
Falcons
Saints
West
1. Seattle
Arizona
St. Louis
San Francisco
(Numbers are playoff seedings)
Notes:
You didn’t really think I’d pick someone other than the Eagles to win the East, did you? Come now. The Birds have absolutely stacked both the offensive and defensive lines, and we all know that you win games in the trenches. Stay tuned, folks. The defense is going to be very nasty. I know the preseason means jack, but the Eagles’ starting D has allowed three points in eight series during the preseason. And as far as offense goes, the acquisition of Donte Stallworth was huge. He’s a number one guy that has tremendous speed and actually has some hands worth talking about. Add the young guys (especially Reggie Brown) to the mix, and you’ve got what’s going to be an underrated wide receiver corps. But I tell you, look out for them. Donovan McNabb is in top form, and he’s got a tremendous offensive line in front to give him plenty of time. The rest of the East could really shake out in any way. Surely there will be two playoff teams in the division, and there’s no bad team from top to bottom, so who takes positions 2-4 is anyone’s guess. It looks like I’m sleeping on the Redskins, but in truth I just put them in alphabetical order after Philly. Just bank on the Birds reasserting themselves as the best. (Oh—and while I’m on the subject of the NFC East, I can’t get away without mentioning that I’m absolutely delighted that Terrell Owens is in Dallas. Jerry Jones, Bill Parcells and T.O. is a match made in Eagle fan heaven. Just the fact that we get the chance to play a team associated with all three simultaneously is a gift. The prospect of beating them? It’s almost too much to think of. And if both make the playoffs, show me a single Eagles fan that wouldn’t take a lower seed just to have a shot at ousting Dallas in the first round, and I’ll show you a wuss. In fact, I’m changing my rankings. Give the Eagles the fourth seed and the ‘boys the fifth seed, and we’ll see you in the first round.)
You will see that I put the Cardinals in the number two spot in the West. Well, the West is bad enough, and the Cardinals did barely enough in the offseason, that I’ll put enough faith in them to make second place. Notice, however, that neither they nor the Lions make the playoffs. I am taking a hiatus from picking these teams until they prove that it’s actually possible for them to achieve anything.
After a regular season for the ages, here’s how the playoffs will look (winners in bold):
Wild Card Games:
(5) Cowboys at (4) Eagles
(6) Bucs at (3) Panthers
Divisional Championships:
(4) Eagles at (1) Seahawks
(3) Panthers at (2) Bears
Conference Championship:
(4) Eagles at (3) Panthers
In case you haven’t figured it out, I’ll always be picking the Eagles to win the Super Bowl as long as they’re anything resembling good. And you’d better believe they’ll be good this year.
You may also notice that I’ve got the 3rd and 4th seeds in the conference title game. This isn’t because the Seahawks and Bears aren’t any good, because they’ll both be very good teams. It’s the lack of quality in opponents that will set the teams apart. I’m not saying the NFC South is going to be outstanding, but it’ll be the major league to the West and North’s minor leagues. Not to mention the North and West play each other during the season, so they’ll barely get any quality competition inside the conference. So there’s your NFC preview. I’d do the AFC right now, but I don’t want to be overly long-winded. So the AFC will come later this week (before Thursday, mind you).
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Big MMA News and Thoughts on UFC 61
UFC 61 is in the books, and that’s a good thing. What a lackluster event that was. I’m not complaining too heavily, because regardless of how a fight card looks, nothing is ever a sure thing. Even with a heavyweight title decided, I think the biggest story (looking at the long term big picture) to come out of the event was the announcement that Wanderlei Silva will fight Chuck Liddell in November. This is absolutely huge. Apparently there were rumors before the event, but I never heard them. I was completely blown away when Dana White introduced Silva. The implications of this deal are almost unimaginable. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a process that makes inter-promotional matches a regular occurrence.
For the uninitiated (hardcore MMA fans skip this paragraph), Wanderlei Silva is the middleweight (205 lbs) champion in the Japanese mixed martial arts organization, Pride Fighting Championship. Chuck Liddell is the light heavyweight (also 205 lb.) champion for the UFC. Both fighters are currently under contract with their respective organizations.
So why is this such a big deal? Well, if the UFC and Pride can agree on something like this, it means that we could see more of the same. Before this announcement, MMA fans everywhere would bemoan the fact that we would never see “dream matches” between top stars in rival organizations. Is it possible now that we could see Andrei Arlovski and Tim Silvia take on the likes of Mirko Filipovic and Fedor Emelianenko? Who knows? And why would it have to stop with Pride? Personally, I hope that some time down the road there will be events once or twice a year that pit the big time fighters from different organizations against each other. I think it’s a good thing to have different promotions on the whole. You get the same sport with different looks and maybe even slightly different rules. That’s great. But the possible inter-promotional dream matches would be huge for the sport of mixed martial arts in general. Imagine the buildup for these events. You want to see Rich Franklin fight Dan Henderson? How about a rematch between Quinton Jackson and Chuck Liddell? Spencer Fisher vs. Gomi? Jason Miller vs. Diego Sanchez? The possibilities that could be staring us in the face within a few years are almost endless. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
All that having been said, let’s go through some notes from UFC 61:
-That main event was just not good. And you know what? I blame Arlovski’s corner. The Pit Bull was killing Silvia with the inside leg kicks in the first couple of rounds, and he never went back to that tactic? His corner never said anything about that? What about takedowns? Or even faking a takedown to set something up? Nope. Instead, all we saw was that same looping right hand again and again, and Silvia had the answer for it this time. (By the way, Andre answered any questions about his chin last night. Silvia tagged him with some big shots and he never went down.) Andre Arlovski’s ground game would have ended the fight, guaranteed. If he’d stayed with the leg kicks and made Big Tim uneasy on his legs, he could have gone for a takedown and finished the fight. (If Arlovski’s corner advised him correctly, I take all that back.) It will be interesting to see what Arlovski does next. In hindsight, I wish he’d taken a few tune-up fights between UFC 59 and last night in order to get his confidence back. Hopefully we’ll see him go on another tear. The guy’s only 27. I’d like to see him switch camps and come back better than ever.
-Tough break for Yves Edwards. That was probably the worst looking cut I’ve ever seen. Actually the cut itself wasn’t the worst, but man did that sucker bleed. I had Stevenson and Edwards even on points going into the third round, and had Yves been able to keep it on the feet, he very likely would have won the fight. On the other hand, that was by far the best that Joe Stevenson has ever looked. He could definitely be a contender at 155 pounds. (And as a side note, this is the most exciting division in the UFC to me right now. There are a ton of good fighters at this weight, making for lots of exciting potential matches.)
-Frank Mir is an embarrassment right now. This former heavyweight champion had to work extremely hard to come back from a severe motorcycle accident, and he gasses in the first round? The fact that he was still able to pull out the decision says something about him and Dan Christison both. Mir could get back on track again, but seriously…could he train just a little bit of cardio? You can’t end all your matches by submission inside the first minute of the fight, Frank.
-The Burkman-Neer fight was good, and would have made a solid addition to a stronger card, but it was overshadowed by the mediocrity of the rest of the night. I think both guys are good fighters with a lot of potential, and especially Burkman.
-Ortiz vs. Shamrock. Listen—Herb Dean did the right thing. He may have done it a little early (I would have liked to see the fight go longer too), but Shamrock was in no way getting away from Ortiz’s elbows. He took four straight elbows to the head without so much as lifting a hand. Just because you couldn’t see it very clearly doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. The elbows were raining down very accurately, and Shamrock didn’t do anything to get away from them. Even if Dean didn’t end the fight at that point, it wouldn’t have made it out of the first round.
Next up is the inaugural WFA event on July 22. This is a stacked card from top to bottom, and hopefully it will deliver. It’s just another sign of the emergence of mixed martial arts that a startup organization can put together a show like this for its first event. This sport will explode into network TV and ESPN soon, and that’s a good thing. I personally can’t wait.
For the uninitiated (hardcore MMA fans skip this paragraph), Wanderlei Silva is the middleweight (205 lbs) champion in the Japanese mixed martial arts organization, Pride Fighting Championship. Chuck Liddell is the light heavyweight (also 205 lb.) champion for the UFC. Both fighters are currently under contract with their respective organizations.
So why is this such a big deal? Well, if the UFC and Pride can agree on something like this, it means that we could see more of the same. Before this announcement, MMA fans everywhere would bemoan the fact that we would never see “dream matches” between top stars in rival organizations. Is it possible now that we could see Andrei Arlovski and Tim Silvia take on the likes of Mirko Filipovic and Fedor Emelianenko? Who knows? And why would it have to stop with Pride? Personally, I hope that some time down the road there will be events once or twice a year that pit the big time fighters from different organizations against each other. I think it’s a good thing to have different promotions on the whole. You get the same sport with different looks and maybe even slightly different rules. That’s great. But the possible inter-promotional dream matches would be huge for the sport of mixed martial arts in general. Imagine the buildup for these events. You want to see Rich Franklin fight Dan Henderson? How about a rematch between Quinton Jackson and Chuck Liddell? Spencer Fisher vs. Gomi? Jason Miller vs. Diego Sanchez? The possibilities that could be staring us in the face within a few years are almost endless. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
All that having been said, let’s go through some notes from UFC 61:
-That main event was just not good. And you know what? I blame Arlovski’s corner. The Pit Bull was killing Silvia with the inside leg kicks in the first couple of rounds, and he never went back to that tactic? His corner never said anything about that? What about takedowns? Or even faking a takedown to set something up? Nope. Instead, all we saw was that same looping right hand again and again, and Silvia had the answer for it this time. (By the way, Andre answered any questions about his chin last night. Silvia tagged him with some big shots and he never went down.) Andre Arlovski’s ground game would have ended the fight, guaranteed. If he’d stayed with the leg kicks and made Big Tim uneasy on his legs, he could have gone for a takedown and finished the fight. (If Arlovski’s corner advised him correctly, I take all that back.) It will be interesting to see what Arlovski does next. In hindsight, I wish he’d taken a few tune-up fights between UFC 59 and last night in order to get his confidence back. Hopefully we’ll see him go on another tear. The guy’s only 27. I’d like to see him switch camps and come back better than ever.
-Tough break for Yves Edwards. That was probably the worst looking cut I’ve ever seen. Actually the cut itself wasn’t the worst, but man did that sucker bleed. I had Stevenson and Edwards even on points going into the third round, and had Yves been able to keep it on the feet, he very likely would have won the fight. On the other hand, that was by far the best that Joe Stevenson has ever looked. He could definitely be a contender at 155 pounds. (And as a side note, this is the most exciting division in the UFC to me right now. There are a ton of good fighters at this weight, making for lots of exciting potential matches.)
-Frank Mir is an embarrassment right now. This former heavyweight champion had to work extremely hard to come back from a severe motorcycle accident, and he gasses in the first round? The fact that he was still able to pull out the decision says something about him and Dan Christison both. Mir could get back on track again, but seriously…could he train just a little bit of cardio? You can’t end all your matches by submission inside the first minute of the fight, Frank.
-The Burkman-Neer fight was good, and would have made a solid addition to a stronger card, but it was overshadowed by the mediocrity of the rest of the night. I think both guys are good fighters with a lot of potential, and especially Burkman.
-Ortiz vs. Shamrock. Listen—Herb Dean did the right thing. He may have done it a little early (I would have liked to see the fight go longer too), but Shamrock was in no way getting away from Ortiz’s elbows. He took four straight elbows to the head without so much as lifting a hand. Just because you couldn’t see it very clearly doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. The elbows were raining down very accurately, and Shamrock didn’t do anything to get away from them. Even if Dean didn’t end the fight at that point, it wouldn’t have made it out of the first round.
Next up is the inaugural WFA event on July 22. This is a stacked card from top to bottom, and hopefully it will deliver. It’s just another sign of the emergence of mixed martial arts that a startup organization can put together a show like this for its first event. This sport will explode into network TV and ESPN soon, and that’s a good thing. I personally can’t wait.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
How the UFC and Colts Make Me Angry
We’re a couple of days away from UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie, and I’ve got a few thoughts about the event and mixed martial arts in general.
I’ve been reading around the Web, like I always do, about the event, and I’ve heard recently that the tickets are not selling well for UFC 60 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. This comes as somewhat of a surprise to some, seeing as how UFC 59 sold out (there were about 17,000 in attendance) in a matter of hours. Here’s a bit of history for the uninitiated, and an explanation:
The main event for UFC 60 has the current middleweight champion, Matt Hughes (the most dominating champion in UFC history in terms of title defenses) taking Royce (pronounced Hoyce) Gracie, who won the tournament-style UFC 1, 2, and 4 (he withdrew from UFC 3 after taking a beating in his first fight, which he won). It’s being billed as “Champion vs. Legend”. Gracie is indeed a legend in the sport, having brought the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the masses nearly 13 years ago. He made it known that size didn’t matter in this particular martial art when it was used correctly. He showed that by beating men twice his size on numerous occasions. He would beat them by basically neutralizing their strengths and waiting until a window opened where he could grab an arm or a chokehold and make his opponent submit, or “tap out”, which signifies submission.
Matt Hughes has been unstoppable over the last few years, going 17-1 since 2001. He’s the current welterweight (170 pounds) champion in the UFC. He’s a ground-and-pound machine, which means he’s adept at taking his opponents down via a shoot or a similar move, and then getting in an advantageous position and beating his opponents until they submit or the referee stops the fight. Hughes is an excellent wrestler who is also very good with submission holds.
Sounds like a compelling matchup, right? Well, here’s the thing. Hughes has fought 25 times since June of 2000, and Gracie has fought thrice. When Gracie made his initial appearances in the UFC, Brazilian jiu-jitsu was an unknown entity in the United States. Now it’s an essential part of mixed martial arts. In the UFC where Gracie fought, there were few rules and no rounds. Gracie could literally just sit and wait indefinitely until the opportunity presented itself to sink in a submission hold. Now there are five-minute rounds and the rules are very specific. There are all sorts of differences I could list here. As long as Hughes can avoid Gracie’s submissions (and you can bet that’s what he’s been training for, if nothing else—Hughes has a history of only training as much as he absolutely needs to), Gracie is in for a long night. Or a short night, depending on how fast Hughes can get into an advantageous position.
This is a big reason that the fight isn’t drawing like a strong UFC event is capable of doing. Today’s more recent mixed martial arts fans aren’t familiar with Royce Gracie. They watch “The Ultimate Fighter”. They know Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell. Rich Franklin, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Silvia, and all the rest. This is not an interesting fight for the newer fans. And frankly, it’s not an interesting fight for a lot of hardcore old fans either. I could really care less about this one. It won’t be a close fight, and Hughes’ welterweight title will not be on the line. That’s another problem: you need to have a title fight to headline every card, in my opinion. Without something on the line, there is significantly less motivation to pay the huge price of an event ticket.
That having been said, there are actually a few compelling matches on this card. Swick-Riggs should be a barnburner, and I’m excited to see Brandon Vera take on Assuerio Silva. It’s exciting to have two promising heavyweights like these two in the division. I also like the lightweight fights on the card. Spencer Fisher is a very exciting fighter, and I think he’s a future lightweight champion in the UFC. But that brings me to something that really bothers me about the UFC pay-per-view events.
Customers, including myself, pay good money to see these events. They’re scheduled to go for about 3 ½ hours according to my DirecTV feed. And yet, on a card with nine fights, they only broadcast five? Really? If every fight goes to a decision, that’s 15 minutes per fight, which comes to 60 minutes of action. The rest of the night is spent talking and hyping the upcoming fights. Look, I’ve already bought the event. I know what’s coming up. I don’t need advertisements about something I already paid for. I don’t need ads for “The Ultimate Fighter”. I don’t need analysis and commentary from all the celebrities on hand. Do you really think I need to hear from Paris Hilton? I hate that part of the UFC broadcasts. Absolutely hate it. It’s a huge downside to buying the event. And yet I continue to do so because the fights have been of a good quality as of late. But seriously here, I know no one probably even reads this blog, but if by some fluke someone in the UFC reads this, I’m telling you on behalf of everyone that buys pay-per-view events: Show more fights. Please.
Here are my predictions for the night (fighters I’m not familiar with in italics):
Hughes over Gracie, TKO 2
Vera over Silva, TKO 3
Swick over Riggs, KO 2
Sanchez over Alessio, sub 1
Guillard over Davis, decision
Fisher over Wiman, sub 1
Lister over Sakara, decision
Gonzaga over Scherner, KO 2
Horn over Sonnen, decision
Turns out my UFC 60 thoughts were longer than I thought, so I’ll stop there for now. I’ll throw in my general MMA thoughts with the next column about fighting.
By the way, in my last post, I said I’d explain why the Colts pissed me off. So here it is:
The Eagles play the Colts this year in Indianapolis in November. So of course, I figured I’d get some tickets to the game. When I looked at the Colts website to see when single game tickets were going on sale, I found out that there were no single game tickets. None. They won’t be sold this year. Now, I understand you want to sell season tickets. I understand you want your own fans at the games. That’s cool with me. What I don’t dig is that in order to attend a single game, you have to be able to afford expensive season tickets. And what happens now? Are they going to keep selling all the seats as season tickets? Will they not have single game tickets anymore? They can’t very well take peoples’ season tickets away in order to make it possible for them to sell single game tickets. There’s a waiting list for them as it is. So if you ask me, this is just bad business. Yeah, you fill up the stadium, but you do it at the expense of the fans who can’t afford to buy a ticket for every game. And in my opinion, that sucks. On behalf of your fans, thanks a lot Colts.
I’ve been reading around the Web, like I always do, about the event, and I’ve heard recently that the tickets are not selling well for UFC 60 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. This comes as somewhat of a surprise to some, seeing as how UFC 59 sold out (there were about 17,000 in attendance) in a matter of hours. Here’s a bit of history for the uninitiated, and an explanation:
The main event for UFC 60 has the current middleweight champion, Matt Hughes (the most dominating champion in UFC history in terms of title defenses) taking Royce (pronounced Hoyce) Gracie, who won the tournament-style UFC 1, 2, and 4 (he withdrew from UFC 3 after taking a beating in his first fight, which he won). It’s being billed as “Champion vs. Legend”. Gracie is indeed a legend in the sport, having brought the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the masses nearly 13 years ago. He made it known that size didn’t matter in this particular martial art when it was used correctly. He showed that by beating men twice his size on numerous occasions. He would beat them by basically neutralizing their strengths and waiting until a window opened where he could grab an arm or a chokehold and make his opponent submit, or “tap out”, which signifies submission.
Matt Hughes has been unstoppable over the last few years, going 17-1 since 2001. He’s the current welterweight (170 pounds) champion in the UFC. He’s a ground-and-pound machine, which means he’s adept at taking his opponents down via a shoot or a similar move, and then getting in an advantageous position and beating his opponents until they submit or the referee stops the fight. Hughes is an excellent wrestler who is also very good with submission holds.
Sounds like a compelling matchup, right? Well, here’s the thing. Hughes has fought 25 times since June of 2000, and Gracie has fought thrice. When Gracie made his initial appearances in the UFC, Brazilian jiu-jitsu was an unknown entity in the United States. Now it’s an essential part of mixed martial arts. In the UFC where Gracie fought, there were few rules and no rounds. Gracie could literally just sit and wait indefinitely until the opportunity presented itself to sink in a submission hold. Now there are five-minute rounds and the rules are very specific. There are all sorts of differences I could list here. As long as Hughes can avoid Gracie’s submissions (and you can bet that’s what he’s been training for, if nothing else—Hughes has a history of only training as much as he absolutely needs to), Gracie is in for a long night. Or a short night, depending on how fast Hughes can get into an advantageous position.
This is a big reason that the fight isn’t drawing like a strong UFC event is capable of doing. Today’s more recent mixed martial arts fans aren’t familiar with Royce Gracie. They watch “The Ultimate Fighter”. They know Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell. Rich Franklin, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Silvia, and all the rest. This is not an interesting fight for the newer fans. And frankly, it’s not an interesting fight for a lot of hardcore old fans either. I could really care less about this one. It won’t be a close fight, and Hughes’ welterweight title will not be on the line. That’s another problem: you need to have a title fight to headline every card, in my opinion. Without something on the line, there is significantly less motivation to pay the huge price of an event ticket.
That having been said, there are actually a few compelling matches on this card. Swick-Riggs should be a barnburner, and I’m excited to see Brandon Vera take on Assuerio Silva. It’s exciting to have two promising heavyweights like these two in the division. I also like the lightweight fights on the card. Spencer Fisher is a very exciting fighter, and I think he’s a future lightweight champion in the UFC. But that brings me to something that really bothers me about the UFC pay-per-view events.
Customers, including myself, pay good money to see these events. They’re scheduled to go for about 3 ½ hours according to my DirecTV feed. And yet, on a card with nine fights, they only broadcast five? Really? If every fight goes to a decision, that’s 15 minutes per fight, which comes to 60 minutes of action. The rest of the night is spent talking and hyping the upcoming fights. Look, I’ve already bought the event. I know what’s coming up. I don’t need advertisements about something I already paid for. I don’t need ads for “The Ultimate Fighter”. I don’t need analysis and commentary from all the celebrities on hand. Do you really think I need to hear from Paris Hilton? I hate that part of the UFC broadcasts. Absolutely hate it. It’s a huge downside to buying the event. And yet I continue to do so because the fights have been of a good quality as of late. But seriously here, I know no one probably even reads this blog, but if by some fluke someone in the UFC reads this, I’m telling you on behalf of everyone that buys pay-per-view events: Show more fights. Please.
Here are my predictions for the night (fighters I’m not familiar with in italics):
Hughes over Gracie, TKO 2
Vera over Silva, TKO 3
Swick over Riggs, KO 2
Sanchez over Alessio, sub 1
Guillard over Davis, decision
Fisher over Wiman, sub 1
Lister over Sakara, decision
Gonzaga over Scherner, KO 2
Horn over Sonnen, decision
Turns out my UFC 60 thoughts were longer than I thought, so I’ll stop there for now. I’ll throw in my general MMA thoughts with the next column about fighting.
By the way, in my last post, I said I’d explain why the Colts pissed me off. So here it is:
The Eagles play the Colts this year in Indianapolis in November. So of course, I figured I’d get some tickets to the game. When I looked at the Colts website to see when single game tickets were going on sale, I found out that there were no single game tickets. None. They won’t be sold this year. Now, I understand you want to sell season tickets. I understand you want your own fans at the games. That’s cool with me. What I don’t dig is that in order to attend a single game, you have to be able to afford expensive season tickets. And what happens now? Are they going to keep selling all the seats as season tickets? Will they not have single game tickets anymore? They can’t very well take peoples’ season tickets away in order to make it possible for them to sell single game tickets. There’s a waiting list for them as it is. So if you ask me, this is just bad business. Yeah, you fill up the stadium, but you do it at the expense of the fans who can’t afford to buy a ticket for every game. And in my opinion, that sucks. On behalf of your fans, thanks a lot Colts.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Barry Who?
So Barry Bonds is coming to Philly this weekend. All weekend long on Sportscenter and the like, you’ll hear how mean ol’ Philadelphia booed Bonds out of the city. And you’ll hear it as if it hasn’t happened everywhere else, outside of San Francisco, that the Giants have played this year. I know that back in 1968 they booed Santa Claus (briefly, the real story). I know we cheered Michael Irvin getting injured at the vet. There are plenty of other things for which Philly fans are run down. And I’ve touched on the subject before, so I won’t go in depth, but we boo because we care. Now I’m not saying Bonds won’t get booed when he plays (I don’t think he’s playing tonight), but he won’t get trashed the way everyone is expecting. At least no more than everywhere else. Remember at the beginning of the season when a fan threw an empty syringe onto the field? Had it happened at Citizens Bank Park, it would’ve been another black mark on the Philadelphia fans. But as it is, does anyone even remember where that happened? I don’t.
But is Bonds really getting booed because he juiced up? I don’t think that’s the only reason. No one has ever liked Bonds because he acts like a complete jackass. Now that there’s a reason to boo, everyone’s letting him have it. I mean seriously: is he really the first guy we’re pretty sure took steroids? What about Mark McGuire? Anyone? What about Sammy Sosa? Would these guys get booed anywhere near as heavily as Bonds if they had equally damning evidence of steroid use presented during their careers? I’m going to lean towards “no”. If Barry Bonds weren’t a jerk (and closing in on one of the most hallowed records in all of sports), nobody would care about this. And really I don’t think anyone cares all that much anyway. Whether or not there’s an asterisk in the history books, everyone will know that Bonds’ passing of Babe Ruth’s homerun record is tainted. Every dad will tell his sons that Bonds cheated. Aside from that, we all know it’s just a matter of time before Bud Selig suspends Bonds anyway. So go to the game, boo Barry Bonds, hope he doesn’t break Ruth’s record in your park, and forget about it.
Next time: Why I’m pissed off at the Indianapolis Colts.
But is Bonds really getting booed because he juiced up? I don’t think that’s the only reason. No one has ever liked Bonds because he acts like a complete jackass. Now that there’s a reason to boo, everyone’s letting him have it. I mean seriously: is he really the first guy we’re pretty sure took steroids? What about Mark McGuire? Anyone? What about Sammy Sosa? Would these guys get booed anywhere near as heavily as Bonds if they had equally damning evidence of steroid use presented during their careers? I’m going to lean towards “no”. If Barry Bonds weren’t a jerk (and closing in on one of the most hallowed records in all of sports), nobody would care about this. And really I don’t think anyone cares all that much anyway. Whether or not there’s an asterisk in the history books, everyone will know that Bonds’ passing of Babe Ruth’s homerun record is tainted. Every dad will tell his sons that Bonds cheated. Aside from that, we all know it’s just a matter of time before Bud Selig suspends Bonds anyway. So go to the game, boo Barry Bonds, hope he doesn’t break Ruth’s record in your park, and forget about it.
Next time: Why I’m pissed off at the Indianapolis Colts.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
The Draft and Other Football Stuff
So the draft is over. I always watch passively to see what positions the Eagles draft, but honestly I have no idea who anyone even is outside of the top ten or so picks. I saw that the Eagles drafted a bunch of linemen and a couple receivers. I think it’s pretty cool that they drafted Jeremy Bloom, though. I couldn’t figure out why I knew his name, and finally I heard that he was an Olympic skier. Apparently the guy has blinding speed and will be a force on special teams right away, with a chance to push for playing time at receiver later in the year. He’s apparently not the only one that could contribute on special teams right away, which is a very good thing. Give special teams coach John Harbaugh some tools, and he’ll put a great team out there. He’s shown it in the past. On the other hand, I would have liked to see them make a move for Lendale White in the draft, and it would have also been nice had they been able to get Javon Walker from the Packers.
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So Arnold Schwarzennegger wants to bring two football teams to L.A.? No one in L.A. even cared when both of their old teams left! Did you notice the huge outcry in Cleveland when the Browns became the Baltimore Ravens? How fast did the NFL bring the Browns back? They made it happen because it had to happen. Los Angeles can have its Lakers and its Dodgers (and the poor man’s teams of the Clippers and Angels), and stay out of football. If Angelinos want to see a game, drive to friggin’ San Diego. You don’t deserve a football team just because you have a big city.
Speaking of cities that don’t deserve a pro team, how about Atlanta? Get the Hawks out of there and move them to Oklahoma City. The Okies showed they’d be a great basketball town when New Orleans moved there temporarily. Atlanta can’t even fill up Turner Field for every Braves playoff game, and that’s sad. They don’t care about pro sports. They like their college sports, and that’s fine. I say give them college sports, but don’t let the pro teams languish there. Get them to a place that can appreciate them and put butts in the seats. Sure, it’s tough to sell tickets for a team as bad as the Hawks, but no one would care if they were any good anyway, if the Braves are any indicator. I should say however, that the Falcons actually do pretty well in attendance, so they can stay. Which kind of negates the segue to this paragraph, but get over it.
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Granted, I don't know much about hockey. But I do know that in any sport, when you're down 3-2 in a best-of-seven playoff series and you're on your home ice (court, field, whatever), you don't lose 7-1. You just don't do that. Unless you're a team from Philadelphia. The Flyers need a new goalie, because Esche was just awful. Let's just say that if you're not sure whether to start your first-string goalie in the playoffs, you're not getting very far.
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So Arnold Schwarzennegger wants to bring two football teams to L.A.? No one in L.A. even cared when both of their old teams left! Did you notice the huge outcry in Cleveland when the Browns became the Baltimore Ravens? How fast did the NFL bring the Browns back? They made it happen because it had to happen. Los Angeles can have its Lakers and its Dodgers (and the poor man’s teams of the Clippers and Angels), and stay out of football. If Angelinos want to see a game, drive to friggin’ San Diego. You don’t deserve a football team just because you have a big city.
Speaking of cities that don’t deserve a pro team, how about Atlanta? Get the Hawks out of there and move them to Oklahoma City. The Okies showed they’d be a great basketball town when New Orleans moved there temporarily. Atlanta can’t even fill up Turner Field for every Braves playoff game, and that’s sad. They don’t care about pro sports. They like their college sports, and that’s fine. I say give them college sports, but don’t let the pro teams languish there. Get them to a place that can appreciate them and put butts in the seats. Sure, it’s tough to sell tickets for a team as bad as the Hawks, but no one would care if they were any good anyway, if the Braves are any indicator. I should say however, that the Falcons actually do pretty well in attendance, so they can stay. Which kind of negates the segue to this paragraph, but get over it.
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Granted, I don't know much about hockey. But I do know that in any sport, when you're down 3-2 in a best-of-seven playoff series and you're on your home ice (court, field, whatever), you don't lose 7-1. You just don't do that. Unless you're a team from Philadelphia. The Flyers need a new goalie, because Esche was just awful. Let's just say that if you're not sure whether to start your first-string goalie in the playoffs, you're not getting very far.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Come See the New Blog, Same as the Old Blog
Well, the blog is the same, but this is the new and improved look. I haven't posted much anywhere this week (in-law visit and connection problems), but I'll be back soon. We've got lots of mixed martial arts, the stinkin' Phillies, and the Flyers (just barely missing a division title) in the playoffs to talk about. Until then, enjoy your sports.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
The Self Destruction of the NFL
You may or may not have heard that the NFL collective bargaining agreement is in danger of expiring without being renewed, because the players union and NFL management can't agree on a few things. The implications of this happening are detailed in this article.
In short, if this agreement isn't renewed, you can say goodbye to the new and improved NFL. Remember how I've been talking about other sports needing a salary cap? If things go the way it looks like they will, the 07-08 season will be "uncapped", and according to Gene Upshaw, the union representative, once that happens, the players will never agree to a salary cap again. And he's probably right. All three other major sports organizations have tried to work out a salary cap. Why? Because it's good for everyone. It breeds more competitiveness (is that a word?). The small market teams can compete, because they're not being outspent by the big market teams. It's basically an equalizer. They say, "Alright. Everyone has the same amount of money to spend on player salaries. Now go see what you can get." If this deal falls through, you can expect to see the big market dynasties come back. You want to see Seattle win a Super Bowl? Forget about it. Indianapolis? Same boat. It can happen, technically of course, but what you'll see is more teams like the Cowboys of the 90s and the 49ers of the 80s. Who wants that? I know I don't. The salary cap has helped football become by far the most popular sport in the country. And if the people in charge of getting this agreement done can't see that, then they deserve what happens when the deal runs out.
The problem is that the fans in large market cities probably won't care as much, because their teams are the ones with the money. If there was a big enough fan backlash, there might be some voices to be heard by the higher-ups. And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe those who are screwed by this situation will pipe up and say something. At least I hope so. But if what Len Pasqurelli says in his article is true, the fans won't be the only ones upset. And no one will have anyone to blame but themselves. The want of more money could be the downfall of the NFL as we know it, and that makes one angry Philly fan angrier than he was before.
In short, if this agreement isn't renewed, you can say goodbye to the new and improved NFL. Remember how I've been talking about other sports needing a salary cap? If things go the way it looks like they will, the 07-08 season will be "uncapped", and according to Gene Upshaw, the union representative, once that happens, the players will never agree to a salary cap again. And he's probably right. All three other major sports organizations have tried to work out a salary cap. Why? Because it's good for everyone. It breeds more competitiveness (is that a word?). The small market teams can compete, because they're not being outspent by the big market teams. It's basically an equalizer. They say, "Alright. Everyone has the same amount of money to spend on player salaries. Now go see what you can get." If this deal falls through, you can expect to see the big market dynasties come back. You want to see Seattle win a Super Bowl? Forget about it. Indianapolis? Same boat. It can happen, technically of course, but what you'll see is more teams like the Cowboys of the 90s and the 49ers of the 80s. Who wants that? I know I don't. The salary cap has helped football become by far the most popular sport in the country. And if the people in charge of getting this agreement done can't see that, then they deserve what happens when the deal runs out.
The problem is that the fans in large market cities probably won't care as much, because their teams are the ones with the money. If there was a big enough fan backlash, there might be some voices to be heard by the higher-ups. And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe those who are screwed by this situation will pipe up and say something. At least I hope so. But if what Len Pasqurelli says in his article is true, the fans won't be the only ones upset. And no one will have anyone to blame but themselves. The want of more money could be the downfall of the NFL as we know it, and that makes one angry Philly fan angrier than he was before.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
How to Fix the Olympics
The Olympics used to be a huge event in America, even when the games weren’t actually taking place here. But there’s a huge difference between the excitement for the Olympics this year and the excitement of four years ago, when the games were in Salt Lake City. Why is that? The competition is the same. The games themselves haven’t changed. And how many people really made it to Salt Lake to see the games live, anyway? (I was there, but I didn’t actually see any events. Those tickets are freaking expensive…especially when you’re in college.) I think there are a few reasons for the lack of buzz this year for the Olympics. Interestingly enough, many of them are linked. So pull up a chair, because I’m about to clue you in.
Reason 1: Tape Delay
In a time where we can hop on the Internet anywhere at any time, why wait to find out what happened? I bring up espn.com multiple times every day, and whether I want to or not, I see the big results of the day as the top story. Usually I don’t care that much anyway, but if I did, it’d be hard to break the habit of surfing over to that particular website.
Reason 2: America’s Competitiveness
One problem here is that we don’t know the people we’re rooting for. We had Bode Miller and Michelle Kwan shoved down our collective throats before the Olympics started, and look how that turned out. There have been other stories during the games themselves, but does anyone know what they are? We don’t know what to watch for when we don’t know the athletes ahead of time. I would have liked to know we had such a good speed skating team beforehand so that I could have watched for them. I enjoy speed skating when I have someone to root for, but if not, it’s not like there are amazing feats of athleticism going on here. It’s guys racing. That kind of event doesn’t lend itself to watching anonymous people like something such as ski jumping, or watching the guys do tricks and whatnot. That and slalom skiing and the like are things where you want to say, “Ooh, I know so-and-so is competing here…I’ll have to watch for them.”
Reason 3: Presentation
I’ve got a few gripes here, though I’m not sure how to fix them completely. I’m a TiVo viewer, and I know that gives me a skewed perspective. But come with me here, will you?
I never know when anything is on. It doesn’t matter to me. As long as I know something is on, I can tell my TiVo to record it for me, regardless of when said recording takes place. When it comes to the Olympics, however, I need to know when things are on. I don’t want to sit through figure skating so that I can see hockey or speed skating or what have you. And have you tried to navigate NBC’s website? It’s like pulling teeth to find out when any event is actually on TV. They really need to simplify the way the schedule is presented, so that I can watch what I want to watch. I know they want people to sit through the things they don’t want to see in order to get more viewers, but when you’re talking about people who are watching for very specific events, it doesn’t help. I tried to watch the Olympics live once. It seemed that for every 20 minutes of Bob Costas and commercials, there was about 5 minutes of actual competition. Now, maybe I’m in the minority here, but when I want to check out the Olympics, I’m doing so to actually watch the events. I don’t need hours of back-story for every athlete. If I didn’t know about them before the Olympics started, it’s already too late. Am I supposed to sit through hours of back-story and history of Torino so that I know what’s going on for the 10 minutes per hour of actual sports? Doesn’t seem like such a great pay-off to me.
I don’t think the problem lies within the events themselves. A lot of it is just the coverage. If we knew ahead of time about interesting athletes, and if we knew the schedule of how the events are going to be aired, it would really help people see what they want to see, and I think it would help the ratings, which is certainly what NBC is concerned about.
Reason 1: Tape Delay
In a time where we can hop on the Internet anywhere at any time, why wait to find out what happened? I bring up espn.com multiple times every day, and whether I want to or not, I see the big results of the day as the top story. Usually I don’t care that much anyway, but if I did, it’d be hard to break the habit of surfing over to that particular website.
Reason 2: America’s Competitiveness
One problem here is that we don’t know the people we’re rooting for. We had Bode Miller and Michelle Kwan shoved down our collective throats before the Olympics started, and look how that turned out. There have been other stories during the games themselves, but does anyone know what they are? We don’t know what to watch for when we don’t know the athletes ahead of time. I would have liked to know we had such a good speed skating team beforehand so that I could have watched for them. I enjoy speed skating when I have someone to root for, but if not, it’s not like there are amazing feats of athleticism going on here. It’s guys racing. That kind of event doesn’t lend itself to watching anonymous people like something such as ski jumping, or watching the guys do tricks and whatnot. That and slalom skiing and the like are things where you want to say, “Ooh, I know so-and-so is competing here…I’ll have to watch for them.”
Reason 3: Presentation
I’ve got a few gripes here, though I’m not sure how to fix them completely. I’m a TiVo viewer, and I know that gives me a skewed perspective. But come with me here, will you?
I never know when anything is on. It doesn’t matter to me. As long as I know something is on, I can tell my TiVo to record it for me, regardless of when said recording takes place. When it comes to the Olympics, however, I need to know when things are on. I don’t want to sit through figure skating so that I can see hockey or speed skating or what have you. And have you tried to navigate NBC’s website? It’s like pulling teeth to find out when any event is actually on TV. They really need to simplify the way the schedule is presented, so that I can watch what I want to watch. I know they want people to sit through the things they don’t want to see in order to get more viewers, but when you’re talking about people who are watching for very specific events, it doesn’t help. I tried to watch the Olympics live once. It seemed that for every 20 minutes of Bob Costas and commercials, there was about 5 minutes of actual competition. Now, maybe I’m in the minority here, but when I want to check out the Olympics, I’m doing so to actually watch the events. I don’t need hours of back-story for every athlete. If I didn’t know about them before the Olympics started, it’s already too late. Am I supposed to sit through hours of back-story and history of Torino so that I know what’s going on for the 10 minutes per hour of actual sports? Doesn’t seem like such a great pay-off to me.
I don’t think the problem lies within the events themselves. A lot of it is just the coverage. If we knew ahead of time about interesting athletes, and if we knew the schedule of how the events are going to be aired, it would really help people see what they want to see, and I think it would help the ratings, which is certainly what NBC is concerned about.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
A Late Super Bowl Review
Note: This post isn’t actually finished, but I’m sick as a dog right now, so I figured I’d at least publish what I did finish. More to come later.
I meant to post this last night, but I fell asleep before I even got around to writing it. So hopefully I’m not all late and wrong here.
Now let me just start out by saying that I feel the pain of the Seahawks fans. You wait and wait and wait to get to the big one, and then you’re there and you’re beaten by a team that’s won it before. Granted, the Steelers hadn’t won in about 30 years, but it still stings to lose to a franchise with such a “rich history”, and all that garbage.
It’s all been well documented how the Steelers outplayed the Seahawks on Sunday, and how Pittsburgh also had a ton of calls go their way en route to their victory. The refs were awful for sure. Not only did they screw up calls, but they screwed up huge calls in the biggest game in all of American sports. But you know what? As a fan of neither team, I’m not as outraged about the Seahawks getting screwed. Sure they got screwed, but they still could have overcome the bad calls with better play. They looked awful. It looked like the only guys playing on offense were Hasselbeck and the offensive line (who did a fantastic job against Pittsburgh’s blitz, by the way. The Steelers dropped into coverage instead of bringing more heat, and Seattle’s receivers couldn’t take it. The league MVP, Shaun Alexander, was all but invisible even with 95 yards rushing (I don’t know whether that’s his fault or whoever was calling the plays). That tight end, Stevens, pulled a choke job for the ages. And I’m sorry, but as beautifully run as the trick play was, it should never have worked. Seattle’s defense should have seen it coming a mile away. If I saw it coming, there’s no excuse for them not to have done as much. But enough of that. You know who got screwed by the refs in this one? Me. And you. And everyone else that watched the Super Bowl hoping and expecting to see a good game.
How much more competitive would the game have been if the Seahawks don’t get the touchdown in the first half taken away by a phantom offensive pass interference call? Or the non-existent hold on a play that would have taken Seattle to Pittsburgh’s 1-yard line? Every time they started driving, I’d think to myself, “Here we go! Now we get to see who steps up when it’s close!” Of course, the game was pretty close the whole time, but it was close in a non-competitive kind of way, if that makes any sense. So that’s what made me mad. Yeah, I’d be fuming about the refs if I were a Seahawks fan, and I still feel their pain, but I’m mostly disappointed because I could have seen a better game, and they took it away from me.
While I’m on the subject of the Super Bowl, I’ll address the halftime show. Yes, it sucked. But you know what? Who cares? I don’t watch the Super Bowl for a concert. I watch it for football and commercials (which also sucked this year, by the way). Some people are saying that the format is bad because the NFL is scared of another Janet Jackson incident. So am I to assume those people want to bring back the clusterhumps (word edited for profanity) that MTV used to produce? Those were unwatchable. The music was bad, the choreography was bad—everything was bad about them. There were way too many artists involved, and it was a mess. You want to see an example of a good Super Bowl halftime show? Check out U2 from 2002. That was great. Of course it helped that it was a tribute to those who died in the World Trade Center attacks, but the idea is the same. If you put an act out there that everyone can enjoy (and no, not everyone enjoys the Stones anymore), give them the stage to themselves, and let them put on a show for a few minutes, it will be fine. Try to do too much and you end up with the ADD fests that MTV put on.
I meant to post this last night, but I fell asleep before I even got around to writing it. So hopefully I’m not all late and wrong here.
Now let me just start out by saying that I feel the pain of the Seahawks fans. You wait and wait and wait to get to the big one, and then you’re there and you’re beaten by a team that’s won it before. Granted, the Steelers hadn’t won in about 30 years, but it still stings to lose to a franchise with such a “rich history”, and all that garbage.
It’s all been well documented how the Steelers outplayed the Seahawks on Sunday, and how Pittsburgh also had a ton of calls go their way en route to their victory. The refs were awful for sure. Not only did they screw up calls, but they screwed up huge calls in the biggest game in all of American sports. But you know what? As a fan of neither team, I’m not as outraged about the Seahawks getting screwed. Sure they got screwed, but they still could have overcome the bad calls with better play. They looked awful. It looked like the only guys playing on offense were Hasselbeck and the offensive line (who did a fantastic job against Pittsburgh’s blitz, by the way. The Steelers dropped into coverage instead of bringing more heat, and Seattle’s receivers couldn’t take it. The league MVP, Shaun Alexander, was all but invisible even with 95 yards rushing (I don’t know whether that’s his fault or whoever was calling the plays). That tight end, Stevens, pulled a choke job for the ages. And I’m sorry, but as beautifully run as the trick play was, it should never have worked. Seattle’s defense should have seen it coming a mile away. If I saw it coming, there’s no excuse for them not to have done as much. But enough of that. You know who got screwed by the refs in this one? Me. And you. And everyone else that watched the Super Bowl hoping and expecting to see a good game.
How much more competitive would the game have been if the Seahawks don’t get the touchdown in the first half taken away by a phantom offensive pass interference call? Or the non-existent hold on a play that would have taken Seattle to Pittsburgh’s 1-yard line? Every time they started driving, I’d think to myself, “Here we go! Now we get to see who steps up when it’s close!” Of course, the game was pretty close the whole time, but it was close in a non-competitive kind of way, if that makes any sense. So that’s what made me mad. Yeah, I’d be fuming about the refs if I were a Seahawks fan, and I still feel their pain, but I’m mostly disappointed because I could have seen a better game, and they took it away from me.
While I’m on the subject of the Super Bowl, I’ll address the halftime show. Yes, it sucked. But you know what? Who cares? I don’t watch the Super Bowl for a concert. I watch it for football and commercials (which also sucked this year, by the way). Some people are saying that the format is bad because the NFL is scared of another Janet Jackson incident. So am I to assume those people want to bring back the clusterhumps (word edited for profanity) that MTV used to produce? Those were unwatchable. The music was bad, the choreography was bad—everything was bad about them. There were way too many artists involved, and it was a mess. You want to see an example of a good Super Bowl halftime show? Check out U2 from 2002. That was great. Of course it helped that it was a tribute to those who died in the World Trade Center attacks, but the idea is the same. If you put an act out there that everyone can enjoy (and no, not everyone enjoys the Stones anymore), give them the stage to themselves, and let them put on a show for a few minutes, it will be fine. Try to do too much and you end up with the ADD fests that MTV put on.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Super Weekend Preview, Part One: UFC 57
If you’re a fight fan and a football fan, like I am, this weekend is huge. I’ll be breaking down the UFC event on Saturday night and the Super Bowl in separate posts, so I’ll start with Saturday night here.
The UFC is putting together something that rarely happens in combat sports at all, and even less often in the world of mixed martial arts. It will be the third meeting between “The Natural” Randy Couture and the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell. This will be the rubber match, with Couture having won the first match and Liddell the second. It looks to be a great match, as were the first two (though the second resulted in a first round knockout, the surprise and the significance of the bout made it classic). But first, let’s talk about a few of the undercard matches, shall we? I don’t know much about a few of the fighters, so I’ll predict what I think I know and hazard a guess on what I probably don’t.
Mike Whitehead vs. Keith Jardine
Both fighters are moving down from heavyweight to light heavy, and this prediction is only provided Whitehead has any energy at all. He walked around at about 240 or 250 if I’m not mistaken, and he’ll be cutting to 205 for this fight. If he can do it, by the time the fight comes around, he’ll be a quite a bit heavier than Jardine. I believe he’s working with Billy Rush, which, if this is the case, probably means he’ll be in excellent condition. So I’m taking Whitehead’s heavy hands in this one.
Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello vs. Gilbert Aldana
I don’t know much about the 5-0 Aldana, other than the fact that all of his wins have come by first round knockout, and that he’s fought some less-than-stellar opponents. I have to go with Buentello here, if for no other reason than because I know he has excellent striking ability and his experience far outweighs his younger opponent. But this will definitely be a slugfest that doesn’t go the distance. Someone will get knocked out.
Alessio Sakara vs. Elvis Sinosic
Sakara came out in his UFC debut and dominated Ron Faircloth until a nasty accidental kick to the groin ended the bout in a no contest. The Italian showed great hands, though his ground game is probably not stellar. Sakara has a boxing background, and make no mistake: boxers hit harder than MMA fighters. Sinosic is no slouch; a fact belied by his losing MMA record, but he’s a UFC gatekeeper for a reason. He’s not great, but certainly not top tier. That’s why UFC matchmaker Joe Silva puts him in the octagon against younger, unproven fighters—to see if they can knock him out. I believe Sakara will deliver, and in devastating fashion.
Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Mike Van Arsdale
I don’t know much about Van Arsdale other than the fact that he is an outstanding wrestler. He was beaten fairly soundly by Randy Couture, but he hung with The Natural on the mat, which is not easy by any stretch. Babalu couldn’t outwrestle Van Arsdale, but he’s good enough on the ground that he would be very difficult to submit. Combine that with some nasty strikes and it could be a long night for Van Arsdale. (Or a short night, depending on how you look at it.)
Frank Mir vs. Marcio Cruz
I know absolutely nothing about Crus, other than he has one professional fight. Mir, on the other hand, is a former heavyweight champion coming back from a year layoff due to injury. This is a tune up fight that will probably end rather quickly, but it will still be interesting to see how Mir does after a year of being inactive in the octagon.
Brandon “The Truth” Vera vs. Justin Eilers
Vera is a very cocky newcomer who is undefeated in five fights, and Eilers is more of a veteran, but he’s coming off of two straight fairly devastating knockout losses to Paul Buentello and Heavyweight Champ Andrei Arlovski. That having been said, Eilers hits like a freight train and will look to slug it out with Vera. The big question is whether he’ll have his confidence back. Show me a hesitant fighter, and I’ll show you a guy that’s about to lose. That Vera will be confident is a given. Eilers also pretty much has his UFC future and a bigger payday on the line. This is the last fight in his current contract, and if he loses, we probably won’t see him on the big stage for a while. And yet, for some reason I’m going with Vera. Call it a gut feeling.
Branden Lee Hinkle vs. Jeff Monson
I have no idea here, having never seen either man fight. I know Hinkle is a highly touted newcomer, and they’re probably looking to get him a win. Other than that, no clue.
Nick Diaz vs. Joe “Diesel” Riggs
Riggs will be the bigger fighter here, and has fists of dynamite. But Diaz has a granite chin and has only been knocked out once (three years ago, to a guy he’s beaten twice since). I see these two starting off standing, as Diaz always welcomes a slugfest despite being the smaller guy. Diaz is angry after his decision loss to Diego Sanchez, and has been relatively quiet since then for a guy who usually talks a little trash. On the other hand, I think Riggs is taking Diaz a bit lightly. The style matchup favors Riggs slightly, but not as much as he thinks. I think he’ll get Diaz on the ground after being frustrated by not being able to knock him out, and then he’ll start working ground and pound and get caught in a submission. This should be a great fight.
Randy “The Natural” Couture vs. Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell
Here’s what makes this fight tough for me: I never pick against either of these guys. They’re two of the best the sport has ever seen. I know Couture is 43 years old, and Liddell is on a ridiculous roll. Everything points to Liddell being able to stop Couture again. But I think Couture will take it. It may not be a repeat of the first fight, where Liddell underestimated Couture’s strikes and was pounded out. But I think Couture will look to close the distance between the fighters and try to work the clinch and take Liddell down. He won’t be over-anxious like he was the last time. Couture’s pedigree is well documented, so I won’t go into it here. Let it suffice to say he’s an insanely good wrestler with decent strikes and great clinch work. He’s the two-time Heavyweight Champ and two-time Light Heavyweight Champ. I think the thing that makes me pick Couture is that he just has so many ways he can beat an opponent, whereas Liddell is mainly a striker (rumor has it that his ground game is actually pretty good, but I’ve never actually seen it). I don’t mean that as a knock on Liddell, because he’s never needed to go to the ground, and his takedown defense is the best I’ve ever seen. But there’s just something in me that can’t bet against Couture.
So there you have it. The biggest fight of the night gets perhaps my least eloquent explanation. This card has a chance to be a classic. At worst, it would be an average card, but at best, it could just be stellar. The main event alone is worth the price of admission.
I’ll be posting my Super Bowl analysis tonight if all goes well, but we all know how that is sometimes. Anyway, until then, enjoy the fights.
The UFC is putting together something that rarely happens in combat sports at all, and even less often in the world of mixed martial arts. It will be the third meeting between “The Natural” Randy Couture and the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell. This will be the rubber match, with Couture having won the first match and Liddell the second. It looks to be a great match, as were the first two (though the second resulted in a first round knockout, the surprise and the significance of the bout made it classic). But first, let’s talk about a few of the undercard matches, shall we? I don’t know much about a few of the fighters, so I’ll predict what I think I know and hazard a guess on what I probably don’t.
Mike Whitehead vs. Keith Jardine
Both fighters are moving down from heavyweight to light heavy, and this prediction is only provided Whitehead has any energy at all. He walked around at about 240 or 250 if I’m not mistaken, and he’ll be cutting to 205 for this fight. If he can do it, by the time the fight comes around, he’ll be a quite a bit heavier than Jardine. I believe he’s working with Billy Rush, which, if this is the case, probably means he’ll be in excellent condition. So I’m taking Whitehead’s heavy hands in this one.
Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello vs. Gilbert Aldana
I don’t know much about the 5-0 Aldana, other than the fact that all of his wins have come by first round knockout, and that he’s fought some less-than-stellar opponents. I have to go with Buentello here, if for no other reason than because I know he has excellent striking ability and his experience far outweighs his younger opponent. But this will definitely be a slugfest that doesn’t go the distance. Someone will get knocked out.
Alessio Sakara vs. Elvis Sinosic
Sakara came out in his UFC debut and dominated Ron Faircloth until a nasty accidental kick to the groin ended the bout in a no contest. The Italian showed great hands, though his ground game is probably not stellar. Sakara has a boxing background, and make no mistake: boxers hit harder than MMA fighters. Sinosic is no slouch; a fact belied by his losing MMA record, but he’s a UFC gatekeeper for a reason. He’s not great, but certainly not top tier. That’s why UFC matchmaker Joe Silva puts him in the octagon against younger, unproven fighters—to see if they can knock him out. I believe Sakara will deliver, and in devastating fashion.
Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Mike Van Arsdale
I don’t know much about Van Arsdale other than the fact that he is an outstanding wrestler. He was beaten fairly soundly by Randy Couture, but he hung with The Natural on the mat, which is not easy by any stretch. Babalu couldn’t outwrestle Van Arsdale, but he’s good enough on the ground that he would be very difficult to submit. Combine that with some nasty strikes and it could be a long night for Van Arsdale. (Or a short night, depending on how you look at it.)
Frank Mir vs. Marcio Cruz
I know absolutely nothing about Crus, other than he has one professional fight. Mir, on the other hand, is a former heavyweight champion coming back from a year layoff due to injury. This is a tune up fight that will probably end rather quickly, but it will still be interesting to see how Mir does after a year of being inactive in the octagon.
Brandon “The Truth” Vera vs. Justin Eilers
Vera is a very cocky newcomer who is undefeated in five fights, and Eilers is more of a veteran, but he’s coming off of two straight fairly devastating knockout losses to Paul Buentello and Heavyweight Champ Andrei Arlovski. That having been said, Eilers hits like a freight train and will look to slug it out with Vera. The big question is whether he’ll have his confidence back. Show me a hesitant fighter, and I’ll show you a guy that’s about to lose. That Vera will be confident is a given. Eilers also pretty much has his UFC future and a bigger payday on the line. This is the last fight in his current contract, and if he loses, we probably won’t see him on the big stage for a while. And yet, for some reason I’m going with Vera. Call it a gut feeling.
Branden Lee Hinkle vs. Jeff Monson
I have no idea here, having never seen either man fight. I know Hinkle is a highly touted newcomer, and they’re probably looking to get him a win. Other than that, no clue.
Nick Diaz vs. Joe “Diesel” Riggs
Riggs will be the bigger fighter here, and has fists of dynamite. But Diaz has a granite chin and has only been knocked out once (three years ago, to a guy he’s beaten twice since). I see these two starting off standing, as Diaz always welcomes a slugfest despite being the smaller guy. Diaz is angry after his decision loss to Diego Sanchez, and has been relatively quiet since then for a guy who usually talks a little trash. On the other hand, I think Riggs is taking Diaz a bit lightly. The style matchup favors Riggs slightly, but not as much as he thinks. I think he’ll get Diaz on the ground after being frustrated by not being able to knock him out, and then he’ll start working ground and pound and get caught in a submission. This should be a great fight.
Randy “The Natural” Couture vs. Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell
Here’s what makes this fight tough for me: I never pick against either of these guys. They’re two of the best the sport has ever seen. I know Couture is 43 years old, and Liddell is on a ridiculous roll. Everything points to Liddell being able to stop Couture again. But I think Couture will take it. It may not be a repeat of the first fight, where Liddell underestimated Couture’s strikes and was pounded out. But I think Couture will look to close the distance between the fighters and try to work the clinch and take Liddell down. He won’t be over-anxious like he was the last time. Couture’s pedigree is well documented, so I won’t go into it here. Let it suffice to say he’s an insanely good wrestler with decent strikes and great clinch work. He’s the two-time Heavyweight Champ and two-time Light Heavyweight Champ. I think the thing that makes me pick Couture is that he just has so many ways he can beat an opponent, whereas Liddell is mainly a striker (rumor has it that his ground game is actually pretty good, but I’ve never actually seen it). I don’t mean that as a knock on Liddell, because he’s never needed to go to the ground, and his takedown defense is the best I’ve ever seen. But there’s just something in me that can’t bet against Couture.
So there you have it. The biggest fight of the night gets perhaps my least eloquent explanation. This card has a chance to be a classic. At worst, it would be an average card, but at best, it could just be stellar. The main event alone is worth the price of admission.
I’ll be posting my Super Bowl analysis tonight if all goes well, but we all know how that is sometimes. Anyway, until then, enjoy the fights.
Monday, January 16, 2006
The Weekend That Didn't Disappoint
Well, what kind of sports blog would this be if I didn’t talk about the fantastic weekend of football we just had. Despite my Eagles enduring the season they did and not making an appearance in the playoffs, I really enjoyed the games this week.
The Seahawks really showed something taking apart the Redskins like they did without the MVP of the league in Shaun Alexander. It’s shaping up to be a great game between them and Carolina next week, should Alexander play. If that’s the case, I’ve got to pick Seattle. The thing is, the only reason I’m picking Seattle is that I’m obligated to pick someone. This one could really go either way. The Panthers are red hot, and Steve Smith is playing like a man possessed, so it’s going to take a big effort from the Seattle defense to keep this one close.
Already the Patriots fans I know are whining about bad calls. To them I say, “Get the frick over it”. Everyone is victimized by bad calls at one time or another, and there were enough to go around this weekend as well. And by the way, there’s no way they could have overturned that Champ Bailey fumble. Despite the geometry the commentators were talking about, there’s just no way to tell whether it was inside or outside the pylon. Denver was the better team on that day, and I don’t think I need to get into the past few years for the Patriots. When you’ve got three rings in four years, guess how much sympathy I have for a playoff loss? And I saw an article on ESPN.com today about how this was the first time Brady lost in the playoffs and how much he hated it. I hate articles like that. So losing in the playoffs didn’t bother Mark Brunell, or Peyton Manning, who comes so close every year, or McNabb and the entire Eagles team that lost three consecutive NFC Championship games? Get out of my face. You lost, so come back next year. There’s only one team at the end that wins their last game.
If I were a Colts or Steelers fan, I would be spending today recovering from multiple heart attacks, and if I were a Colts fan, I’d probably be spending today like I’ve spent the last four years after my team’s last game. So I’m with you Colts fans. But seriously, I don’t know if I’ve ever enjoyed a game that much that didn’t involve my team. I was yelling along with everyone else when Bettis lost that fumble (who do you think is the happiest guy in Pittsburgh today?). By the way, that was his first fumble this season! There were a few things we learned from this game and a few things we were reminded of.
-Peyton Manning really looks mortal if you get pressure on him. Big Ben would stand in the pocket in the face of the Colts’ defense and deliver a laser on target. Manning would fire the ball about 15 yards ahead of his receiver. We found out Manning was not great under pressure when the Colts played San Diego, and we were reminded yesterday.
-Not every extremely accurate kicker has ice water in the veins. This was the first time I’d seen a kicker of Vanderjagt’s caliber blow a kick so badly in a big moment. And it wasn’t that the kick was off—he choked. That kick wasn’t in the same zip code as the uprights. Vanderjagt is the most accurate kicker in the history of the league, and he probably makes that same kick in that same situation 9 times out of 10, but I did not see that one coming.
-Ben Roethlisberger is really going to be something special. He already is, but he’s going to be a big star for a long time. The guy cannot be rattled, and that’s huge for a quarterback.
-It ain’t over till it’s over. It’s a cliché, yes, but was it ever true in this one. Roethlisberger could have let Harper run back for that touchdown, but he ran after him and made a lucky tackle. And I thought for sure it was going into OT when Vanderjagt trotted out onto the field. My reaction was the same as everyone else. I said, “He missed it”. I only mention this because they showed a ton of replays with different reactions, and that’s what everyone said. I wonder how many people in the country all said that exact phrase at the same time.
The Panthers-Bears game was another good one. Rex Grossman showed that if he can stay healthy, he could be a big asset to the Bears over the next while. He showed a lot of confidence once he got his feet under him. Also, Steve Smith was just unbelievable. The whole Panthers offense just lit up the Bears’ vaunted defense. That’s what they get for talking trash and motivating the other team. It’s one thing to be confident and say, “We’re going to beat them”. It’s another to say that the team you’re playing gets more credit than they deserve. Good job, Bears defense.
So it’s shaping up to be a great Championship weekend and Super Bowl. All four teams that are playing next week played very well this week, and hopefully we’ll be treated to another couple of great games. For my picks, I already mentioned I’m going with the Seahawks in the NFC, and as hot as the Steelers are, I’ve got to take the Broncos at home for the AFC. I know Pittsburgh just won two road playoff games, but the Broncos have just been consistently shredding good teams this year. At the beginning of the season, the Broncos and the Seahawks were two teams I criticized for lack of consistency. This year they’ve shown that they can get on a roll and keep it going. I think they’ll continue to do so this weekend, and we’ll end up with a good game at the Super Bowl. Then again, any combination of these four teams would probably be a good game. I love the NFL.
Picks: Seattle and Denver.
P.S.: You probably noticed the layout change and whatnot. That will continue over the next little while until the full redesign is functional.
The Seahawks really showed something taking apart the Redskins like they did without the MVP of the league in Shaun Alexander. It’s shaping up to be a great game between them and Carolina next week, should Alexander play. If that’s the case, I’ve got to pick Seattle. The thing is, the only reason I’m picking Seattle is that I’m obligated to pick someone. This one could really go either way. The Panthers are red hot, and Steve Smith is playing like a man possessed, so it’s going to take a big effort from the Seattle defense to keep this one close.
Already the Patriots fans I know are whining about bad calls. To them I say, “Get the frick over it”. Everyone is victimized by bad calls at one time or another, and there were enough to go around this weekend as well. And by the way, there’s no way they could have overturned that Champ Bailey fumble. Despite the geometry the commentators were talking about, there’s just no way to tell whether it was inside or outside the pylon. Denver was the better team on that day, and I don’t think I need to get into the past few years for the Patriots. When you’ve got three rings in four years, guess how much sympathy I have for a playoff loss? And I saw an article on ESPN.com today about how this was the first time Brady lost in the playoffs and how much he hated it. I hate articles like that. So losing in the playoffs didn’t bother Mark Brunell, or Peyton Manning, who comes so close every year, or McNabb and the entire Eagles team that lost three consecutive NFC Championship games? Get out of my face. You lost, so come back next year. There’s only one team at the end that wins their last game.
If I were a Colts or Steelers fan, I would be spending today recovering from multiple heart attacks, and if I were a Colts fan, I’d probably be spending today like I’ve spent the last four years after my team’s last game. So I’m with you Colts fans. But seriously, I don’t know if I’ve ever enjoyed a game that much that didn’t involve my team. I was yelling along with everyone else when Bettis lost that fumble (who do you think is the happiest guy in Pittsburgh today?). By the way, that was his first fumble this season! There were a few things we learned from this game and a few things we were reminded of.
-Peyton Manning really looks mortal if you get pressure on him. Big Ben would stand in the pocket in the face of the Colts’ defense and deliver a laser on target. Manning would fire the ball about 15 yards ahead of his receiver. We found out Manning was not great under pressure when the Colts played San Diego, and we were reminded yesterday.
-Not every extremely accurate kicker has ice water in the veins. This was the first time I’d seen a kicker of Vanderjagt’s caliber blow a kick so badly in a big moment. And it wasn’t that the kick was off—he choked. That kick wasn’t in the same zip code as the uprights. Vanderjagt is the most accurate kicker in the history of the league, and he probably makes that same kick in that same situation 9 times out of 10, but I did not see that one coming.
-Ben Roethlisberger is really going to be something special. He already is, but he’s going to be a big star for a long time. The guy cannot be rattled, and that’s huge for a quarterback.
-It ain’t over till it’s over. It’s a cliché, yes, but was it ever true in this one. Roethlisberger could have let Harper run back for that touchdown, but he ran after him and made a lucky tackle. And I thought for sure it was going into OT when Vanderjagt trotted out onto the field. My reaction was the same as everyone else. I said, “He missed it”. I only mention this because they showed a ton of replays with different reactions, and that’s what everyone said. I wonder how many people in the country all said that exact phrase at the same time.
The Panthers-Bears game was another good one. Rex Grossman showed that if he can stay healthy, he could be a big asset to the Bears over the next while. He showed a lot of confidence once he got his feet under him. Also, Steve Smith was just unbelievable. The whole Panthers offense just lit up the Bears’ vaunted defense. That’s what they get for talking trash and motivating the other team. It’s one thing to be confident and say, “We’re going to beat them”. It’s another to say that the team you’re playing gets more credit than they deserve. Good job, Bears defense.
So it’s shaping up to be a great Championship weekend and Super Bowl. All four teams that are playing next week played very well this week, and hopefully we’ll be treated to another couple of great games. For my picks, I already mentioned I’m going with the Seahawks in the NFC, and as hot as the Steelers are, I’ve got to take the Broncos at home for the AFC. I know Pittsburgh just won two road playoff games, but the Broncos have just been consistently shredding good teams this year. At the beginning of the season, the Broncos and the Seahawks were two teams I criticized for lack of consistency. This year they’ve shown that they can get on a roll and keep it going. I think they’ll continue to do so this weekend, and we’ll end up with a good game at the Super Bowl. Then again, any combination of these four teams would probably be a good game. I love the NFL.
Picks: Seattle and Denver.
P.S.: You probably noticed the layout change and whatnot. That will continue over the next little while until the full redesign is functional.
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