Weekly Picks

A decent week but three points is just treading water, I need to string together a few big weeks in a row.

KANSAS CITY +8 dallas
I haven't picked a home underdog at all this year and I think this spread gives us a chance to lose by a touchdown and still cover.

pittsburgh -10.5 DETROIT
The Lions have been putting up points and the Steelers have been giving them up in bunches, but something tells me the Steelers defense will toughen up this week, especially late with a big lead.

atlanta +2.5 SAN FRANCISCO
I've underestimated the 49ers a few times this year but I just don't trust Shaun Hill.

new england -3.5 DENVER
I said Denver would have a disastrous year and I was dead wrong. But that doesn't mean they are going to win every game and give up the fewest points ever. The Patriots have bounced back from their loss to the Jets and got a big win last week against the Ravens (thanks to some bad officiating and a drop by Mark Clayton) but I think they can go on the road and knock Denver down a peg. And if they should lose, I guarantee Belichick won't be shaking McDaniels's hand after the game.

BEST BET
indianapolis -3.5 TENNESSEE
Am I reading this right? The Colts are only giving up 3 and a half points to the Titans? Usually when a line seems like a typo I get scared and stay away from it. Not this time. This seems too juicy. You've got the Colts, maybe the best team in the NFL, led by Peyton Manning playing some of the best football of his career. Then you have the Titans who are giving up points by the bucketload and don't look anything like the team they were last year, or the team oddsmakers seem to think they are. I'd be shocked if the Colts didn't cover.

Last week: 2-3 (3 points)
Season: 10-10 (10 points)
Best Bets: 1-0 (2-2)
Home Favorites: 1-0 (3-1)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (0-0)
Road Favorites: 1-1 (4-4)
Road Underdogs: 0-2 (3-5)

There are Two Kinds of People in This Country

Americans are waking up this morning to learn President Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. The President was awarded the prize because of his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

Because the nation is very polarized right now I'm betting most people fall roughly in line with one of the following schools of thought.

"I'm glad the President was recognized for his efforts to restore America's image in the world."

Or

"He got the Nobel Peace Prize for going around the world and apologizing for everything America's ever done."




Because I try not to post too many things about politics on this blog, for months I never completed a post I started about President Obama. It was titled "Let's Not Start Sucking the President's Dick Quite Yet."
That's a bastardization of The Wolf's famous line from "Pulp Fiction" but it just means "maybe we're getting a little ahead of ourselves."
At the time I was inspired by an article suggesting in 50 years schoolchildren would be learning about Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Obama.
I'm sure no matter how you answered the above question you probably would agree that pronouncement and the Nobel Peace Prize may be a little premature.
Because The Wolf knew Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield (and I guess President Obama too) did a great job cleaning up a mess, but congratulations don't come until we see results.

World peace is a results business.

Best Captcha Ever

If you've ever posted a comment on this blog (and many of you haven't --- no matter how many times I beg) you might notice it requires you to type in what is called a "captcha."
It's basically a random sequence of letters but every so often it can be a real word -- or in this case, the name of someone special.

That Would Get Me To Go To the Game

Troy University, in an effort to increase student attendance at its Tuesday night national TV game on ESPN used an interesting promotional campaign.

"Bear Woods is going to punch every student in the face who doesn't show up at the game," quarterback Levi Brown said.

Ok, so that's not an official school campaign, but it would still scare me enough.

Baseball Playoff Predictions

Division Series:
Twins over Yankees in 4
Red Sox over Angels in 5

Phillies over Rockies in 4
Cardinals over Dodgers in 3

League Championship Series:
Red Sox over Twins in 5
Cardinals over Phillies in 7

World Series:
Cardinals over Red Sox in 6

Post your picks in the comments section

I Hate Sports Cliches

One of the worst parts of being a sports fan in this day and age is having to listen to and read hundreds of writers and formers players spouting the same hackneyed cliches.

After that classic 1-game playoff between the Twins and the Tigers, everyone and their mother is saying the real winner of this game is the Yankees.

It's true the Twins are facing a difficult travel schedule and they won't be able to set their pitching rotation. And it's also true they will probably lose to the Yankees.

But if they do it will be because the Yankees are a better team.

If they don't, expect the same idiot analysts to say the Twins were the "hot" team and came in with all the "momentum" and having to wait two days actually hurt the Yankees.

Song of the Week

"La La La" - LMFAO
Featuring Jonna from "The Real World: Cancun"

Why is Master Bates Smiling?

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman reports the Mets will hire Wally Backman.

"The team now appears willing to give scrappy fan favorite Wally Backman a chance to return to baseball in a minor-league job. Backman has technically not been given a new position yet, but he's been told they'd like to hire him and have invited him for an interview that is expected to be a formality.

The Mets apparently will resist any temptation to immediately add Backman to the major-league staff.

The Mets fired a few minor-league coaches recently and have openings to fill there as well."



But that's not all the good news for MB.

The Marlins have had conversations with Bobby Valentine about a possible position within the organization.
Current manager Fredi Gonzalez is expected to be fired.