The Picks

What do you know?

I talk about needing to get over that .500 record for the season and my Thursday picks come through with a bang!

Illinois got destroyed by Ralph Sampson III and Gonzaga managed to injure St. Mary's best player without even touching him!

Enough gloating, season record: 6-5

There are 15 games of Top 25 teams on Saturday. There are 17 teams playing.

Sunday features 4 games, but all ranked teams should win.

The biggest games of the day are: Notre Dame @ Pitt, and Georgetown @ Marquette

Both games feature Top 25 matchups, but both also feature teams (ND and G'Town) who are reeling and desperately need a win to keep up the pace. Georgetown is not even in the top 10 teams in the Big East now and both teams have lost 4 in a row. Both teams will be out of the Top 25 rankings next week if they don't get a win.

That said, both Notre Dame and G'Town are on the road against Top 10 opponents. In any conference it is extremely important to hold home court. Good teams hold their home court and snag W's on the road. Both Pittsburgh and Marquette are good teams and will hold home court. It doesn't look good for Irish or Hoya fans.

Other games that could be interesting:
-West Virginia travels to #7 Louisville, but the Pitino generic mascots get a win.
-Oklahoma visits Ames, Iowa for a good matchup with Blake Griffin and Craig Brackens, but OU has no trouble dispatching the Cyclones.
-Providence (6-2 in League play) visits #2 UConn (8-1 in League play). When the Huskies win, they will be the new #1 team in the nation. Atleast for one week anyway.
- North Carolina travels to play the Wolfpack of NC State, but walks out with an easy win.
- And my upset special of the week is Washington traveling to #14 Arizona State and walking away with a big Pac10 win.

7 games. The rest of the games over the weekend should be pieces of cake for the ranked teams and I don't think too many upsets happen this weekend. But that's why they play the games right?



Now, what you have all been waiting for. My final analysis and picks for Sunday's NFL game.

I gave you a breakdown of the games that both teams shared in common, and here's a summary:

Arizona had offense, NO defense, won the games that mattered and gave up tons of passing yards and not much rushing in their wins.
Pittsburgh's defense was awesome, they had NO offense, turnover margin was critical and just seemed to win a lot.

So what does that all mean?

Trends, people! Trends!

My pick to win Sunday's NFL game is the Arizona Cardinals. No, I'm not just talking about covering the 7 point spread that has held up over the last two weeks, I'm talking about winning the whole darn thing.

Everything in my soul is telling me that picking the Cardinals is appaling and absurd. I mean, John McCain is a Cardinals fan and that alone should make me think that Arizona will just give up sometime in the second half, allowing Kurt Warner to give a speech conceding defeat! Plus, the Cardinals owner looks so lifeless (the guy on the right) you wonder how this guy owns an NFL franchise.

The reason I am picking the Cardinals is the trends.

Pittsburgh has had no offensein the playoffs. Against Baltimore they scored a touchdown off of Joe Flacco's third interception and a touchdown off a pass the Big Ben hucked in the air as a prayer. Against, San Diego Willie Parker had a huge day and the offense did something good.

Arizona has won their playoff games by having a good offense (and by good offense I mean Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner), winning the turnover battle with defense (+2 vs. Philly and Atlanta and +5 against Carolina) and holding all three good rushing teams to less than 100 yards rushing.

The trends that carried over from common opponents into the playoffs:
Pittsburgh had no offense and they just seemed to win.
Arizona had offense, won the games they needed to, and they didn't give up rushing yards.

The turnover battle will be key. Both teams had trends of winning the turnover battle in games they won.
I think that because Kurt Warner has been around long enough to realize that, he doesn't turn it over.
And because Roethlisberger has been banged up, Arizona will make him throw the ball (no running for fast Willie) and will get a turnover or two to capitalize on.

I will say 31-27 with the Steelers getting the ball back late and having a chance to drive for the win and not succeeding.



Before I finish this post I want everyone to know that if all of the things I just told you are actually correct, I will gloat for probably the rest of my entire life.

If not, there's still College basketball!

DDSF

College Basketball Smells Like Awesome

First things first, yesterday's picks.

I did manage to get two picks right yesterday, but only finished with a .500 record for the day. Not good enough to get back to .500 for the year. Next picks will!

Wake beat Duke in an "instant classic". Duke fell asleep on defense on the last possesion allowing Wake to get an inbounds pass from under their own basket for an easy layup.

Kansas won a scary battle against Nebraska in which Cole Aldrich was completely ineffective (0 points and 0 rebounds in first half) AND completely effective (8 points, 8 rebounds in the second half).
The best part of the game was Doug Gottlieb being the color commentator, making references to video games (his partner in crime brought up Donkey Kong - totally random and did not fit at all) and also giving unbiased opinions about officiating calls that were pretty bad. He even admitted he was wrong on first judgment after seeing a replay! Unprecedented in the world of color announcing!

My losses for the day came at the hands of KState who got a good win over a pretty good Mizzou team. I can not tell you how relieved I am they won. I do not like Mizzou and will have to say that second to Kansas (duh) Kansas State is my favorite Big XII team. They won by getting a ton of points from Jamar Samuels and Fred Brown off the bench. Well done Kstate.

I did call a couple upsets and am darn proud of it. Georgetown looks just plain awful now and Syracuse is not the same team they were starting Big East play. Providence put up 100 on the 'Cuse.

Record to date: 4-5

Tonight: 8 of the Top 25 in action with 2 games featuring both teams ranked.

Illinois @ Minnesota

St. Mary's @ Gonzaga in a battle for West Coast Supremacy

I really really want to pick the Illini, but I just can't see them taking care of business in the Golden Gopher's house. Minnesota and Tubby Smith get the W.

Gonzaga has been too good for too long in conference play, especially at home. The 'Zags take it. I do like Micah Downs for the Gonzaga even if he was a punk leaving KU. He is a different style player and I am glad he found his calling in Spokane.

College Basketball. Check.


The biggest news of yesterday was the awesome post by Colin. Since I haven't written anything in so long, its time to cover everything.

The Chiefs coaching situation is better than it was. Herm Edwards is gone and that was a good move by Pioli. I don't know that I can really make a whole lot of opinions yet because the Chiefs do not have a coach.

I don't like Shanahan. I know he is a good coach, but just because he will forever be associated with the Broncos, I can not be a fan. I think that he might feel the same way about the Chiefs. I would love love love Cowher as a coach, but he is off the list. "Poop" (direct quote from Mark).

I totally agree that Gruden is a good coach, but I wonder about the recent stuff coming out about his personality. I don't really think that would work in the Chiefs organization.

Would he be a good coach? Yes.
Would the Hunt family like a man with this recent publicity? I don't think so.

The Hunt family kept Herm around for so long because he was loyal and respectful to the organiztaion. Those words just don't sound like Gruden.

The reason I think that Haley might not be a bad coach for the Chiefs is that I have read some articles giving him credit for pushing Larry Fitzgerald to an all-world reciever. Dwayne Bowe just needs someone to take him to the next level, because he is talented, but needs more incentive being on a terrible team like the Chiefs.

I would say the Chiefs need a defensive coach, but that didn't work with Gunther or Herm. Why not change it up? Plus, Haley did make the tough call to start Kurt Warner and uses intelligent guys (The double back pass in the NFC championship game was called at the right moment by third string quarterback Brian St. Pierre) to help him get the most of his team. And, any offense coordinator who can get to the Super Bowl without a running game is not too shabby.


The Royals signing Grienke was awesome.

He is a stud, and by getting paid should be able to hire a full time psychiatrist.

If Teahan can play second base (and his offensive production in the 6th or 7th spot of the lineup would be better than anyone else that could play) I say why not. He adjusted to outfield so well after playing third that I think the Royals should give it a shot before giving up. I am also skeptical about the change, but the organization doesn't have a good history of second baseman in their system (did someone say Carlos Febles?).

K-State did get fortunate with their AD stepping down. I wish Bob Krause (Kstate AD) would not have been put in that position. I think that the whole downfall with the athletics program started with Tim Weiser who I think is a weasel and should have been kicked out long ago when he couldn't get KState into the NCAA's a couple years before Huggy-Bear's reign. I also think that they buyouts they have put on contracts (Huggins' was too low allowing him to leave in a heartbeat and Weiser's was just freaking ridiculous so he could get paid to leave) really put a bind on the University. My opinion: It was Weiser's fault and KSU realized it a year too late.

Awesome Posts. Check.



NFL

Ok, so as promised yesterday a breakdown of the common opponents.

First, Arizona's results:
6 games (2 versus Philly)
2-4 Record
2-1 Home
0-3 Road

@ Washington - L 17-24
vs. Dallas - W 30-24
vs. NYG - L 37-29
@ Philadelphia (Regular Season) - L 48-20
@ New England - L 47-7
vs. Philadelphia (NFC championship) - W 32-25

129 (Arizona) - 211 (opponents) combined score

Pittsburgh's results:
5 games total
3-2 Record
1-1 Home
2-1 Road

@ Philadelphia - L 6-15
vs. NYG - L 14-21
@ Washington - W 23-6
@ New England - W 33-10
vs. Dallas - W 20-13

96 (Pittsburgh) - 65 (opponents) combined score

So, Pittsburgh outscored their opponents, while Arizona got destroyed. Pittsburgh won on the road and at home; Arizona, did not win on the road.

There were some trends on both teams when I dove into the stats.

List #8:
Trends for 'Zona and Pitt
1. Pittsburgh's offense was not good. They only gained over 250 total yards in 1 game. At New England. I guess what you can take from that is if Pittsburgh's offense takes off, Arizona loses by a ton.
2. Arizona really does not have a running game. As a team, they did not break 100 yards against any opponent. In 6 games. The Cards had 25 yards or less against two opponents. Yikes!
3. When the teams won the turnover battle, they usually won. In the Steelers 3 wins, they won the turnover battle 3 times. They lost were -4 and even in the two losses. The Cardinals only time they won the turnover battle was the playoff game against Philly. They were -2 in 3 games and -4 against Philly during the regular season.
4. Arizona gave up less than 100 yards rushing in their two wins and only once in their 4 losses. They gave up greater than 300 yards passing in their wins also. Cards fans are hoping Big Ben looks like Tom Brady on Sunday!
5. Pittsburgh lost Big Ben in two games and split those two games. A win at Washington (Leftwich looked great and it was in primetime) and a Loss at home versus Philadelphia.
6. In my opinion, Arizona won the "must wins". They beat Dallas at home to state that they were a team to reckon with, they got a "moral" victory hanging with the Giants until the end, and they won in the NFC championship game. Sure, they didn't show up in the other 3 losses, but they are in the Big Game, so who cares!?!??

NFL. Check.

Song of the Day:
Incubus "Love Hurts"
It's on their greatest hits album. Great song. And thanks to Lor for a great job on coming up with a song for the day.

Song of the day. Check.

I think that's it for the day. Check back tomorrow for my picks for the weekend Basketball and the NFL's biggest game of the year.

DDSF

Wednesday Smells Like Awesome

I know my loyal followers have been lost without posts for 6 whole days. Don't worry, just in the nick of time, a new post.

The two greatest sports are at the top of the agenda: college basketball and the NFL

College Basketball is just starting to heat up and today is probably one of the most action packed week days that there have been so far this season. 11 of the Top 25 teams in the nation are playing tonight with two games featuring Top 25 match ups (Duke @ Wake Forest, and Pitt @ Villanova).

I've decided that since I don't know anyone who actually gambles consistently on any sporting event that I would just pick the winners of the games I predict. I will keep my same record from before (2-3) just to keep things fair even though I did pick 2 winners that just did not cover the spread.

**
Speaking of spreads, if you have not checked out centsports.com you should and be my friend. Free gambling for those who want to try it with real payouts (albeit you have to turn 10 cents into 20 dollars before you have a chance) is just fun. I'm already over 4 dollars and will keep you updated.

Not to brag or anything, but that 10 cents to 4 dollars thing is a 4000% profit. Too bad my gambling prowess does not actually apply to real life.
**

Back to the basketball.
Duke @ Wake
I don't know what I was thinking last time keeping The Dukies out of my Final Four, (wait, yes I do, Duke is all that is evil about college basketball, that's what I was thinking) but I was wrong. They have proved it over and over this season that they belong and just beat a decent opponent (Maryland) 85-44, and being up by 40 virtually the last 15 minutes of the game.

Wake is the home team,but their last game was a loss to Virginia Tech @ home. They have one of the best scorers in college basketball in Jeff Teague (21.5 Points per game) and have a good crop of young talent. Does young talent translate into wins though?

Tonight it will. I think the Demon Deacons will be rearing to go after a week off and will take care of the Blue Devils.

Pitt @ Villanova
Pitt is still the team to beat in the Big East in my opinion. They have a good inside out combo with Levance Fields and everyone down low. They play tough and play defense. I still like them over UConn in the Big East and look for them to still make a run in the Big Dance.

'Nova is one of those teams that you know is pretty good, but they just can't quite get over the hump. They are 15-4 with a 3-3 record in Big East Play and their losses have all come against teams in the Top 25 (UConn, Marquette, Louisville, and Texas). Their best win this year is either @ Seton hall in OT, Home vs. Temple, or @ Penn.

The Point = Villanova has not beaten anyone better than them.

The Pick = Pitt

Reason = Villanova has not beaten anyone better than them.


As I said there were 11 ranked teams in action tonight. Other include North Carolina, UConn, G'Town, Syracuse, Xavier, Memphis and Louisville.

The teams that should be on upset alert are:
Memphis (on the road against an average East Carolina team)
Syracuse (@ Providence who is 5-2 in Big East play and currently in 5th in league standings)
Georgetown (@ Cincinnati who has the same 3-4 record in Big East play)

Everyone else will win. Write it down.

KU and K-state both are playing tonight.
Kansas travels to Lincoln to take on an underrated Nebraska Cornhuskers' (Husk... immature teenage laugh) team. If they Jayhawks win, the will take a 6-0 league record to Waco on Monday to face a dangerous Baylor team. I think they do, they have just enough experience (as well as Mighty Mouse flying to the rescue) to put the Huskers in their place.

Look for Aldrich to either be extremely effective or not at all against a smaller Nebraska team. No middle ground here. If he is effective, he will have turned a corner for the year and just dominate. Mario Little is a stud and will also help add experience and points to a young lineup.

K-State plays Mizzou @ Manhappenin' and just came off a huge OT win in Boulder. It looked as though the game was locked up for the 'Cats in regulation, but it took an extra period to settle it, and that was dicey. Mizzou is a "Sleeper" team according to Si.com's Seth Davis due to the fact that they score a lot and win by a lot. K-State really needs this game to "save" their season and Mizzou just wants to stay in the hunt for the NCAA's and the conference crown. Unfortunatey, Mizzou will take this because they have a decent inside presence and K-State is not big enough.



NFL in Tampa

The Big Game is this Sunday for those of you living in caves with headphones playing angry chick music and knitting sweaters for kittens that you don't have.

Arizona (a 7 point underdog, kind of a lot) plays Pittsburgh in what should be a good game.

I don't have time for it today (Cliffhanger Alert!!!!) , but I'm going to dive into the common opponents between the two teams. During the course of the regular season and playoffs the Steelers and Cardinals played five common opponents. They are:
New England
Washington
Dallas
New York Giants
Philadelphia

Since this is absolutely the best way to evaluate teams (if you dont know I'm kidding you need to stop reading and smack yourself), I think it will help us predict the winner of Sunday's matchup.



Song of the Day

Remembering Sunday, by All Time Low

You all know I love my hip-hop, but I'm on a real Punk/Alternative kick. Partly in thanks to my beautiful wife (she's into the more Emo type stuff, but close) and Mark cause that's all he listens to, ever.

Complex song with a lot of emotion stuck to it and multiple people singing, which I like.



That's all for today, tune in tomorrow for a recap of my basketball picks (2-3 record needs to get back to atleast .500) and for the extremely scientific breakdown of Sunday's premeir NFL matchup.

DDSF

Upset Wednesday?

Love college basketball.

Love it.

Especially when upsets occur and spin your entire perception of who is good and who is bad.

Last night there were numerous upsets. This will surely have a huge effect upon the rankings, but more importantly gave us insight into weaknesses of the top teams.

Virginia Tech 78, Wake Forest 71
Tech has beaten three number 1 seeds in the last three years. This was the first time it occurred on the road. This makes you think though, if Virginia Tech can consistently beat number 1 seeds (or come close, they lost on last second shots twice in the last two years also) why the hell can't they play against everybody else?
So far, 4 games into conference play Duke is the only undefeated team in the ACC. The ACC is good and with 4 of the top 10 teams in the nation, I think is better than the Big East.

Northwestern 70, Michigan State 63
Northwestern has now beaten two ranked teams in a row (after screwing my Streak on ESPN by beating Minnesota). Also by winning they ended Michigan State's 28-game home winning streak which was tied for third longest in the nation. So you would think they are a pretty decent team right?

Right?

Those two wins took their conference record to 2-4. They did barely lose to Purdue earlier this year, but need to put together a consistent performance against every team, not just the good ones.

The only team with a worse conference record in the Great Lakes 11 is Indiana. Which makes me think, "Yikes! What was Tom Crean thinking! He left the best trio of guards at Marquette to coach a poor team that was run into the ground by Kelvin "Cheaters Never Prosper" Sampson.

Florida 69, South Carolina 70
One of the coolest plays I have ever seen. I still dont get how bad Florida's defense was so bad. Just take a watch via ESPN, here.

Bryant University 51, New Jersey Institute of Technology 61
NJIT ended a 51 game winning streak in the process holding Bryant, 3-16, to 51 points. How ironic?

NJIT's mascot: The Highlanders.

I would make some wise crack about the TV show/Movie Highlander coming to kill someone or avoid death, but I really dont even know what to say. Suggestions are welcome.



In non-sports related news, I just caught the film Reign of Fire on AMC today. Its a movie from 2002 about how there are only a small amount of humans left on Earth because Dragons (who do spit fire) have taken over.

I remember the previews looked awful especially because the big star at the time was Matthew "Shirtless" McConaughey;I chose to watch it today because it also had Pre-Batman Christian Bale.

Bale was decent, but after seeing him in Batman, was no where near as cool. Shirtless on the other hand fit his character perfectly. Crazy army general who is a dragon slayer ready to jump at the first chance to kill something and has no regard for his own men's lives.

The reason I am telling about this movie (I know, get to the point already!) is that do you think McConaughey just runs around all day pretending to be a war general?

I bet you he goes to the gym and hides behind excercise equipment just to scare the crap out of some poor girl trying to get in shape because of a New Year's resolution she won't follow.

Seriously, can't you just imagine him running around some neighborhood sneaking in peoples bushes with a fake gun and war paint just to pop out and shoot water in their face! He's probably directing his dog to flank him on the attack and gets peeved when it just runs up and starts humping the yard gnome!

My idea for a movie:
"A day in the life of McConaughey:
How the dilusional live"

Or atleast a reality show...


Your takes are appreciated and I will preview the weekend tomorrow!

DDSF

Today is Tuessssdaaayyy

Tuesday's in my mind are usually a great day. Full of new releases of CD's and Movies and it gets really exciting when you actually care the new releases.

Today, I don't care. Nothing good out right now.

College Basketball has been fair to me this year. On Centsports.com I have gotten over 2 dollars now and it is mostly because of college basketball. Indiana State beats Missouri State by 12 to cover the 11 point spread and Southern Illinois covering -4 against some MVC opponent at home means I get over 2 dollars after a couple smaller bets.

Season Record: 2-3

Pitt destroyed Syracuse in the second half last night because the Orange play about as well on the road as the Washington Generals do and Pitt is actually good.

Kansas did win. I must say I was excited to see that and A&M looked bad. KU got some good play from the Morris twins (Two 3-pointers from twin 1) as well as the emergence of Mario Little's scoring ability.

However, A&M did not come close to covering. KU was up by 14 points five minutes into the game and almost maintained that the rest of the game.

Some thoughts from the game brought to you by Ron Franklin (RF) and Fran Fraschilla (FF).

Just before halftime:
RF: "The shot is short and that is a shot clock violation."

**Yes, the shot was short. No, it was not a shot clock violation. Texas A&M caught the ball as clear as day and THEN the shot clock buzzer went off.

Dear Ron,
Please pay attention if you are calling a basketball game on national television. You look like a fool when you so wrong that EVERYONE WATCHING KNEW YOU WERE WRONG!
Thanks,
DDSF

KU steals the ball Mario Little goes up for a layup that is waaay off because there is 2 seconds left.

RF: Little puts the ball up for an alley oop and that is halftime.

Ok, I could maybe understand that you miss that early in the game because it was an awful shot. I will give you that. But.....

THERE ARE 2 SECONDS LEFT IN THE HALF!!!!

WHY WOULD HE PUT UP AN ALLEY OOP FOR SHERRON COLLINS (all 5'11" of him) WHEN THERE ARE 3 (not 1, not 2, but 3) AGGIE DEFENDERS - all taller than Sherron - CLOSER TO THE BASKET!?!??!?!??!

Did I mention there were only 2 seconds left in the half?

Dear Ron,
Please pay attention if you are calling a basketball game on national television. Please stop talking with Fran (you and I both know he is not good for anyone's career) about Brady Morningstar's Dad, about how he used to coach and how he thinks the Aggies are getting behind because they are not playing defense when they are down 18-4. Excellent.
Thanks,
DDSF

I think that these are bad (really?!?!?), but Fran took the cake in the second half. He was talking about how he could not tell the Morris twins apart and said:

FF: "One of them has a little bigger 'fro." *Commercial*

He just left us with that.

That's bad enough on its own, but have you seen the Morris twins? They do not have 'fros.

Not at all.

Not even close.

Afro (n): An afro, sometimes called a "natural" or shortened to "fro", is a hairstyle in which the hair extends out from the head like a halo, cloud or ball.

Here are pictures of the Morris Twins.

Markieff.

Marcus.

Not even close.

Fran,
Please stop talking about basketball on national television.
Thanks,
DDSF


After all of that, I just have the energy to do another song of the day.

"Lollipop" by Framing Hanley

Pretty hilarious stuff. This is a cover of the Lil' Wayne song lollipop, just darker and rock oriented instead of hip hop and rap.

***Robot power shutting down noises***

DDSF

Ponedjeljak Schmonedjeljak

What words would you use to describe the past weekend?

Awesome?

Spectacular?

Crazy Good?

How about Scrumptious?

Scrumptious it is.

Full of mouth watering sporting events and a smorgasbord of turn of events, this weekend was pretty darn good. College Basketball is finally starting to get on the national map as conference play is starting to get good and the NFL season is coming to a close. The NBA is developing some new story lines (The Cavs are the best team in the league), and did I mention college basketball?

The biggest event over the weekend was obviously the AFC and NFC championships. I got a chance to watch most of the games, and have some thoughts about both of them.

NFC

- The Cardinals have done a great job on defense this postseason. They held Brian Westbrook to 45 yards rushing and 26 yards receiving. This was a big reason the Eagles lost.

- Edgerrin James was the leading rusher for the weekend (73 yards on 16 carries). He wants a ring and is doing everything he can to get one.

- If I told you before the game that Brent Celek would have 2 touchdowns and 10 catches, you would smack me, call me an idiot and not run in the other direction because I would know it too. Yet, that's what happened.

- The reason I love the Cardinals: Tim Hightower scored the winning touchdown with 2:53 left in the game. This has to be the highlight of his career so far. Taking a forelorn franchise and getting it as close to the Big Game as possible.

You know what he does for an encore?

He lines up just to the left of Neil Rackers on the ensuing Kickoff to help with coverage! How many starting running backs in the league would do that?

- Kurt Warner promised his kids that he would get them a puppy if the Cards won it all.

- I think I have a man crush on Larry Fitzgerald. Did you see him in post game interviews?

He is not only a badass Wide Receiver who now holds the record for most receiving yards in a single postseason (with one game to go, yikes!), but he speaks and sounds intelligent and dresses to a T.

I also loved how excited he was when the Cards scored their last TD. He was jumping up and down like he just found out that Wendy's now makes spicy chicken nuggets and couldn't wait to go get a 5 piece.

And Kurt Warner hugged him. And he likes puppies.

- Adrian Wilson cried.

Like a girl.

Like a little girl.

But it's ok because he could break me.

Really quickly.

With his bare hands.



AFC

- If you do not care very much about football, this game would have sucked. It was really boring except for a few plays, but showcased some awesome defense.

- The touchdown pass from Big Ben to Santonio Holmes was lucky. L-U-C-K-Y! Roethlisberger just threw it up and if the Ravens defensive back would have realized where the ball was sooner, it would have been a pick.

- Willis McGahee attracts catastrophe on the football field.

I got a text message last night from my buddy Allen:

"Did you see that hit! Oh my god, McGahee is dead."

Fortunately, McGahee is doing well and has movement in all his extremities. Still, the hit he took last night after catching the ball was absolutely brutal. You could tell before he hit the ground that he was going to require attention from atleast one team's training staff.

And this is not the first time he has been completely devastated in a primetime game.

One of the most gruesome hits that I have ever seen live on TV happened when he was in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. This picture is not for the faint of heart, so be warned. His knee got hit and went backwards!

- We all know that rookie QB's (Joe Flacco) don't historically do well and big games. This game was no exception. Flacco threw 3 Int's including one that Troy Polamalu took to the house.

But....

I dont think it was entirely all Flacco's fault. I think that Pittsburgh's defense did a great job in coverage and Baltimore does not have very good recievers. The leading Ravens reciever was third string running back Ray Rice.

Not good.

- Pittsburgh's punter not only made a touchdown saving tackle, but stripped the ball from the return man.

Sucks to be that guy.



College Basketball
I was able to attend the Kansas game this weekend in Boulder. They are not even close to the same team as last year, but it is still fun to see your team live. Especially when you get seats in the 6th row!

The Coors Event Center is no Allen Fieldhouse. They didn't come close to selling the place out, and there were atleast as many KU fans as there were Colorado fans. Then again, Allen is not what it used to be.

***
Warning: Rant occuring
***

What grinds my gears about Allen Fieldhouse is that when KU got a new Athletic Director (he has done a fairly good job so far) the focus changed from tradition to money. There are significantly less seats for students now (I think about 3,000). The student tickets are now on Student ID's so that they can not be passed from student to student (or graduate with an ID) as easily. This makes those tickets not used (bad) and doesn't get the fans who can't buy tickets into the game (also bad).

The Fieldhouse is an awesome place to watch a game. Don't get me wrong. But it ain't what it once was. The atmosphere is not even close to what it was.

The first game I went to was when I was in 7th grade. My mom, a Mizzou fan but still cool, bought us tickets to the game up in the rafters. I brought a poster and watched as KU won the Big 8 with a win over Oklahoma State and Bryant "Big Country Fried Steak" Reeves on Senoir night. The crowd was electric. There was not even any standing room. It was wild.

While I was a student, I remember KU playing Georgia Tech at home on New Year's Day. Huge matchup. Monumental. KU sent the game to overtime when Keith "Freeze" Langford drilled a three in the closing seconds. I remember the Fieldhouse shaking. Actually shaking because there was so much noise. Later, I watched highlights on ESPN and the camera was shaking like it was on a train that had just row over a series of cows. It was amazing.

Now, even at the biggest non-conference game of the year (vs. Tennessee) there are still empty seats at the top corners. Unacceptable if you ask me. If KU gets to the point where it is not expected to make the tourney, they will not sell out the Fieldhouse.

Rant over.

More College Basketball thoughts:

Wake is the Best team in the nation beating a good Clemson team on the road.

The ACC is the best conference (atleast at the top) with Duke, UNC, Wake and Clemson.

The Big East is good and will be brutal for conference play. I don't think there is one team in that league that is head and shoulders above everyone else. But, the bottom of the league is terrible. Just awful.

My Final Four right now: UNC, Pitt, Oklahoma, and Wake.

Others in the mix: Duke (too small right now), UConn (no killer instinct), and Michigan State (not there because they are in the Great Lakes 11).

Picks for the night:

Syracuse @ Pittsburgh (-8)

I told you at the start of the year that Pitt would be the best team in the Big East and I still believe that. Shoot, they are in my Final Four right now. I still believe that no one will care if they win it all. Pitt plays good defense and gets a home game after losing to a pretty good Louisville Generic Mascot team.

Syracuse comes off a big win at home against a pretty good Notre Dame team. But that was in Syracuse. They have yet to prove it on the road.

Pitt at home + 'Cuse on the road + Redemption for Pitt + Overrated Orange Guards =
Pitt Covers

Texas A&M @ Kansas (-10.5)
A&M has had one of the toughest conference schedules so far playing @ Oklahoma State, home against Baylor, home against Oklahoma and now @ Kansas. They do have a good experienced team with 4 Juniors and a Senoir in the starting lineup. Plus, they have a guy coming off the bench named Dash, so plus one for that.

Kansas is playing at home after traveling to Boulder and getting a W. Not very impressive, but they were able to adjust to a pretty good zone defense when they needed too. They don't have the experience, but they have home court. In conference play you have to hold home court if you want to win. Period.

Due to experience, the return of Coach Mark Turgeon to Kansas, and the fact that the last team to beat the Jayhawks in Allen was A&M, I give the spread to the Aggies. Kansas wins the game though.

Next time, basketball at both levels.

DDSF

Catching Up

Thanks for the comments and emails. It's totally awesome and makes me think that I am doing something that other people enjoy.

So we are not off to a good start on the College Basketball. G'Town got the W, but covered the spread taking DDSF's (And yes, I just referred to myself in the third person) record to 1-2. We will do better in the future don't worry.

This is all because I have started getting the hang of things due to my new addiction centsports.com. Again, if you have not checked this site out, do it now here and become my friend giving me a piece of your winnings at the same time.

Recently, I parlayed a 3 way bet in to 61 cents! Not bad considering I started with 10. I am now up to 49 with a two game parlay on my picks for the spread of the NFL division championship games.


I know I missed on the College Basketball this weekend. I did pick Wake to beat Clemson in the last meeting of undefeated teams this year to continue my Streak on ESPN. I don't know that any one cares about that, but just thought I should let you know.

Big Monday is tomorrow (that's what she said!) and I will definitely give my picks for that tomorrow, so check back and feel free to make fun of me.


Couple quick things I forgot about.

Verne Lundquist referred to Kansas' Marcus Morris as "McMorris". The back of his Uni does say Mc__Morris, but come on! You call yourself a national play by play announcer! That is completely unacceptable! Did you even read the roster?? Seriously, Verne.

The Sonics-No-More have won some games. Who would have thought?!? Durant is still shooting 3's at a 42.6% clip and they are 5-5 in their last 10 games and actually favorites tonight over the Heat in OKC!


The NFL is down to its final four, and that is excitment for all. It's such a big deal, they moved the times of the games (not that it had anything to do with the early game being played on the west coast or anything) back 2 hours.

I would really like to just watch the games all day, and not do anything else at all. However, I still have other duties (mainly making sure my dogs don't eat the house) so will just get to watch most of them. The best way to watch games is in a bar with friends and the drinks on the house, but seeing as many of my closest friends dont live in the same town, I am no where near famous (and neither are my friends - sorry guys) that will not happen. There's always the lottery right?

Picks

Philly (-4) at Arizona
I know that a lot of the media is jumping all over the Philadelphia team that has played extremely well over the last few weeks after just sneaking into the playoffs. I, however, am not. I think that Arizona has some form of destiny that rests upon the arm of Kurt Warner, the legs of Edgerrin James and the hands of Larry Fitzgerald who has been nothing short of amazing in the playoffs.

I think that the Cardinals will find a way to shut down Brian Westbrook. That leaves the likes of Jason Avant and DeSean Jackson to beat the Cardinals on offense. Avant is a 3rd stringer at best, and Jackson is a rookie and will show it today.

No matter what the Eagles do today, they will not be able to shut down Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner. Fitzgerald is too good and Anquan Boldin is back this week to add to the awesome passing attack.

If the Eagles win, it will be the second year in a row that the 6th seed from the NFC has won the league. I just don't see it happening. I'm taking the Cardinals!



***Song of the Day: "Say Anything(Else)" by Cartel***

Good band that I just got into courtesy of Mark, my punk music specialist. This is a song that you can rock out to or just have in the background to chill to. I recommend it to anyone who likes any kind of rock, punk or alternative music.


Pick #2
Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh (-6)
Pittsburgh won both regular season matchups by a total of 7 points. Week 4, 23-20 in overtime and Week 15, 13 - 9 in a game that was decided by the slimmest of margins. Santonio Holmes caught a pass that was initially ruled short of the goalline only to be overturned on review and remains a highly controversial call.

Interesting fact from both games, Le'Ron McClain was the leading rusher in both games. The Ravens' fullback who is in his second year and had a total of 18 rushing yards as a rookie outrushed both teams' best backs (Willis and Fast Willie).

This game looks to be the definition of a defensive battle. A rookie quarterback in Joe Flacco is going against a quarterback who recently had a spinal contusion!

What do you think the over/under is on interceptions for this game? 4? 4.5? 5?

Let's go over. Heck, a former successful playoff QB (Jake Delhomme) threw 5 (Really, he's a starter?!?! Really?!) while Kurt Warner threw one himself (Atleast it wasn't 5!).

I think that Big Game Ben will take care of the ball enough (Flacco gets 3 picks and a fumble) and leads the team to their second AFC championship in 4 years.

Plus, Baltimore hasn't had a bye week since week 2. Pittsburgh has had two in that span. They have to be hurting.

Pittsburgh gets the W and covers. Write it down. It will happen.

Reactions tomorrow.


DDSF

Email and a GM to the rescue

For those of you who do not know me for who I am, my real name is Matt. I have a twin brother who's name is Mark and he is a huge sports fan just like myself. Most of the conversations that we have on the phone anymore are centered around sports. Lots of sports. The Weather Girl (trying out a nickname for my wife, I'll let you know how it goes) always reminds me of things that I forgot to ask or tell Mark when we talk on the phone because we are too busy talking about sports, and when we run out of sports to talk about, well... we're done.

So why does any of this matter?

Mark sent me an email this morning that was his reaction to the Kansas City Chiefs hiring Scott Pioli as GM. He and I could not be happier about someone who actually cares about winning coming into Kansas City. Carl "all that was evil about the Chiefs" Peterson really only cared about filling the stadium.

And I quote (I edited the spacing for readability sake and ... pause ... dramatic effect):



Dude, I don't know what you wrote about (yet), but you did it a day or some too early.

Pioli, Matt.

Pioli.

After 20 years of Carl Peterson we now have Pioli. A GM who actually knows what the hell he is doing.

A GM who will win, not just sign the occasional big name who is past his prime but still good enough to win some games and put fans in the stands(Joe Montana, Marcus Allen, Elvis Grbac).

No more having a TERRIBLE crop of wide receivers for the last ump-teen years. Guys who audition for an NFL franchises second receiver.

See you later Jeff Webb.

Go home Devard Darling.

DEVARD DARLING!

Damn it, Matt!

Pioli!

The Chiefs are already a well respected franchise and now we can finally get over the hump! We might win a postseason game for the first time in 15 years!

DAMN IT, MATT!

This is the best thing to happen to the Chiefs since, since... before we were alive??? I don't even know, it's just so monumental.

And this is a GM.

Not a coach.

Not a star player.

A GM.

That's how much Kansas City hates Carl Peterson. Mediocrity is nice, Carl Peterson.

It's ok. But winning. Winning and smart football. I don't even know what that's like.

Oh how I'm so glad you're gone Carl Peterson.

DAMN IT MATT!!!

PIOLI!!!

SCOTT FREAKIN' PIOLI!!!

One last thought.

Pioli + Lots of Cap space + a crop of young players +
LOTS of Cap space + No more "We can build on this!!!" =

Turning the franchise around.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Love ya,
Mark



I love you too Mark.

More on this when the Chiefs make a decision on the head coaching position.

Keep it comin' y'all.

DDSF

This and That

All of you Kansas City fans, do not worry I will comment on the Chiefs in just a bit. I do need to get everyone caught up first and discuss the KU vs. K-State game that happened last night.

Quotes from the game that I loved:
"He is close to beastness"
Reid Gettys
He was talking about how Cole Aldrich was dominating this season. I don't think any color commentator should be allowed to use the word beastness. Ever. Period.

"I can't believe this is something we are talking about"
Dave Anderson
Referring to the fact that Luis Colon fouled out with 12+ minutes remaining. Colon was actually a difference maker even though he has been a role player the whole year and has the worst shot in the history of college basketball.
Shotputting is not a style of shooting that is very effective. Ever. Period.

KU vs. KSU
After the first 5 minutes, I thought it was over. KU started out with an 18-0 run to open the game. They had just come off a tough loss to Michigan State in which they played their age (young, young and more young) and were playing at home in a rivalry game.

However, in the spirit of the Sunflower Showdown (we need a better name for the rivalry; Sunflower Showdown is not bad, but it has no zing to it. We need to come up with something before the next meeting) K-State made a comeback on free throws and some timely scoring from players that have no business scoring.

Dominique Sutton made a three, Luis Colon was a factor (not an afterthought), and K-State had more turnovers than my former middle school girls' team who managed to finish a game with one point (true story). It reminded me of when KSU came to Lawrence a few years ago only to have a power forward who's name was close to Diarrhea score double figures and Skylar Thomas (a walk on) drilled a three to help catapult the Wildcats to victory. It was scary.

KU managed to pull away after Colon fouled out on some timely shooting from role players (Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar) and star players performing (Mighty Mouse and Cole-nan the Barbarian). It was a pretty fun game to watch and I can't wait for the rematch.




Enough with the homer talk, what really matters is the betting lines and the outcomes.

Last post, I tried to predict the outcomes of major games. Texas - OU and Louisville - ND.

Record: 1-1

Louisville covered in OT (thank goodness) and Luke HaranUGLY didn't score in the extra frame.

Texas, on the other hand, was apparently not long enough to stop Oklahoma and Blake Griffin. Better luck next time right?

Tonight's schedule includes one big time game in the Big East: Syracuse - Georgetown (-6.5).

I do not like the 'Cuse as a team. I think they are overrated, they have a couple of good guards, but are way better at home than they are on the road. So what if they haven't lost on the road, they only beat South Florida (bad) by 5 and Memphis (not as bad) by 7. They did destroy Rutgers, but who doesn't.

G'Town is a team that has lost 3 games this year, 2 in conference play. The Hoyas lost to Notre Dame in South Bend (they have the longest home win streak in the nation) and at home to current #1 Pitt (who I told you would be the one Big East team to win it all this year, and still no one cares).

When it comes down to it though, both of these teams play pretty close against good competition. I think that Georgetown will win the game but my PICK is the 'Cuse to cover.



NFL news
Arizona is hosting the NFC Championship game.

Let me repeat that so it sinks in....

Arizona (yes, the Arizona Cardinals who had a quarterback controversy, that led to a former first round pick warming the bench, to start the year and who's leading rusher - Edgerrin James - only touched to ball 18 times between weeks 8 and 16) is hosting the NFC championship game.

Philly is the favorite on the road this week (betters beware) and look to be on course for another appearance in the big game.

Of note in this game, you have 2 quarterbacks with really good resumes. Kurt Warner, a former MVP, is matched against Donovan McNabb who has done more for a team with less talent (Freddie Mitchell, Greg Lewis, LJ Smith) at recievers than I think any other quarterback has.


In the AFC we have 2 power Defenses (Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore) and division rivals squaring off for the third time this year in what should be a great football game.

Again, the quarterback matchup is what I am intrigued about. You have Big Ben for the Steelers, arguable the best rookie quarterback in recent memory, against Joe Flacco (he's a Delaware Blue Hen!!!) who has been an amazing rookie quarterback this year. Whoever screws up more, either Ben with his spinal contusion or Flacco with a complete lack of NFL experience, will lose the game.

That's all for this post, but stay tuned for more exciting fun, and keep the comments coming!

DDSF

2008. Yeah, it was that good.

I realize that I am extremely late with this post. I has been like 4 weeks since the last time I did anything and that is completely and absurdly unacceptable. In order to make up for the appalling length of time that I did not post, I will make this post the greatest of all time (or at least the greatest of this year).

Let's start by going over my review of the sports year that was 2008. 2008 was probably the greatest sports related year that I have experienced and why not make a list of it. Here we go:

List #7
2008, the sports events that mattered:

1. The Kansas Jayhawks win the College Basketball National Championship in one of the most memorable championship games in history. Mario Chamlers makes a 3 pointer to send the game to overtime with less than 3 seconds left after Memphis shoots free throws like a third grade girl. I would tell you more about how much this meant to me, but most of you would get bored.

2. The New York Giants win the Super dee dooper Bowl on probably the most amazing catch in the big game ever. David Tyree (who hardly played during the 2008-2009 season) pinned the ball against his helmet while being assaulted by Rodney Harrison of the Patriots and prevented New England from having a perfect 19-0 record.
To make matters worse for the Patriots, Tom Brady's knee became a hearty lunch for Bernard Pollard of the Chiefs (finishing 2-14 in 2008, prompting Carl Peterson to quit!). Then, under the leadership of a quarterback who hadn't started a game since high school, went 11-5 only to miss the playoffs because the Pennington (yes, Chad Pennington) led Dolphins got the tie breaker. Ouch!

3. Ohio State lost in the National Championship game to an SEC school. Ha.

4. Kansas won TWO bowl games. The first being the Orange Bowl in January over Virginia Tech, which was awesome just being in the game itself because Mizzou was not in a BCS bowl and KU was. The second being over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on New Year's Eve. I love beating the Great Lakes 11 conference.

5. The Olympics. Usain Bolt became the fastest man ever, and did it by jogging (for real, I still don't understand it) across the finish line of the 100meter dash. I still think if he wanted to he could run a 9.5. I hope this helps the sport of Track progress to another level. As a former Track athlete, I have the utmost respect for the sport and root for it every time it is on TV.

Michael Phelps also won 8 Gold Medals in a single games, breaking Mark Spitz's record of 7. Not only did he win 8 golds, but he did it in the most exciting fashion. As part of the Men's 4 X 100 meter freestyle team, Jason Lezak closed almost a body length in the last 25 meters, swimming the fastest 100 meter split ever against the previous world record holder, giving the American team a 0.08 second win. Commence goosebumps.

He won the 100meter Butterfly by 0.01 seconds in a photo finish that I'm not sure I will ever understand (Not that I'm complaining, but I swear the other guy is touching in the famous picture, but it looks like Phelps is touching the black part and Milorad Cavic is not. Someone who knows swimming please fill me in if that matters at all).

6. The world series went the Phillies against the Tampa Bay Rays (Devil Rays be gone!). Now, the Royals just need to follow the model of the Rays with defense and speed and they might be able to get into at least contention for a playoff spot.

7. The Celtics Big Three (Ray Ray Allen, The Truth and KG) beat Kobe and the Lakers for the NBA championship. Good for Paul Pierce. This is the same guy who got stabbed multiple times in 2000 and only lived because he was wearing a heavy leather jacket. Fascinating.

8. Nascar had its first 3 peat champion.

9. The NHL happened. However, Sean Avery (who subsequently got released) made a comment about another player he got in a fight with about how the other player who was dating his ex-girlfriend was getting his sloppy seconds.

Note to self, by Sean Avery: References to my sloppy seconds on national TV do not end well.

****
Song of the Day: "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon
So, I had heard of the Kings of Leon through various different media (radio, TV, friends), but that is not the reason that they are honored with the song of the day. The reason is because of this article I found on ESPN. Its a breakdown of good music from 2008 courtesy of Iowa State's own Paul Shirley.

I know what you are thinking. "I thought Paul Shirley died and I went to his funeral in Ames and hung out with the basketball team and Steve Nash because he played with Paul when he was with the Suns for that one month." No, that did not actually happen.

That was part of your dream that you were a college basketball player in the Midwest/Big XII and you were so good everyone wanted to be your friend. Trust me, you are not good enough to be a college basketball player at any level, and Paul Shirley did not die. He is writing columns and a blog for ESPN about random stuff.

Check out the song and quit thinking that you could play college basketball, or professional basketball for that matter, just because Paul Shirley could do it.
****

Ok, 2008 was a great year, but 2009 is off to a heck of a start.

The biggest events so far circle around the fact that I found a free sports gambling website (be my friend and give me part of your winnings here!) The website, centsports.com, gives you a dime to bet with for free from their advertisers. The catch is that they don't pay out until you get to $10 or so. So far the most I have achieved is 44 cents. Not very good, but I will win more. I'll keep you posted.

*Special note to my wife and my parents: Do not worry, this will not turn into a problem. I am too cheap to actually gamble any significant portion of my own money on sports; maybe blackjack, but I have not quite developed a refined taste for that yet.*

Secondly, I have decided where I am going to go with this blog. I think that by focusing on College Basketball and possibly the betting lines of ranked teams over the weekends and rather big-time games during the week, I will make a niche for the site that can translate into a two-game parlay on the number one seeds to beat the number sixteen seeds on Friday of this year's NCAA tourney (i.e. Sure Money!)


So to start things off for the new year let's breakdown the 2 games that happen on the first Big Monday (Wooo Hooo Big Monday!) of 2009.

Notre Dame @ Louisville (-6.5)
So Notre Dame is led by the ugliest Player of the Year candidate in Luke Harangody, who is averaging 24.5 Points and 12.7 Rebounds a contest. He is quite a player and you have to love Notre Dame as a team who can jack up 3's with the best of them.

Louisville is a team that was ranked as high as #3 this year with a bunch of talent, a prima dona coach in Pitino and a decent home court advantage. Key here is being home court.

The Fightin' Irish have not played well on the road this year (losing to St. John's was not good), and Louisville always manages to get psyched at home. Plus, 3's don't fall as well on the road.
Pick: The Louisville Generic Mascots

Texas @ Oklahoma (-4.5)
Texas has one of the most athletic lineups in college basketball. They are led by AJ Abrams who can also jack 3's with the best of them, only he can make a bunch. Also, they have undersized power forward/not quite quick enough small forward Damion James to light up the stat sheet. Texas also has quite a tough schedule (including losing by 1 to Notre Dame in South Bend and by 4 to Michigan State, but also wins against UCLA, Oregon and Villanova).

Oklahoma has my pick for Player of the Year, Blake Griffin (22.5 Points, 14.1 Rebounds), Freshman sensation Willie Warren (15.8 Points), and a young coach on the rise in Jeff Capel. Plus home court.

The Red River Shootout Basketball Edition Part 1 will be a very close game. Norman is not an easy place to win, but Texas has too much of Jay Bilas's Buzzword ("I love their length; they are so long") and Oklahoma doesn't have as much big game experience this year.
Pick: Texas

I'll keep a tally of my record as the year goes along, so we can see how good/bad/average I am and determine if I know anything about sports or betting.

Later this week, I'll go over some other goings on in 2009 (The NFC championship is being played in Arizona???!!!??) and hopefully talk some more college basketball. Peace out and happy New Year.

DDSF