Weekly Picks

A horrible regular season is over so now I can begin a horrible postseason.

cincinnati +4 ½ HOUSTON
I never believed in the Texans though they seem to have all the weapons. I don’t much believe in momentum but there’s definitely something to teams that either improve or get worse as the season goes along. I actually think the Bengals have a decent chance to win this game so I will gladly take the points.

GREEN BAY -7 ½ minnesota
Same exact spread as last week when the Vikings covered. I normally love when teams play twice in a row or in short proximity, just pick the first winner to win again, probably because they’re better. But in this case I think the Packers are better. They got totally run over twice in a row by Adrian Peterson. I think they’ll be able to do more to stop him this time and Aaron Rodgers will put up enough points to cover this spread.

seattle -2 ½ WASHINGTON
There was no chance I was going to pick the Redskins in this game, no matter the opposition, no matter the spread. But I do think the Seahawks are going to win this game. Their defense is great, ours is adequate. Both teams have great running games and dynamic, young quarterbacks. Both teams are better than their records indicate because they’re both on long winning streaks. Maybe because I’ve watched every Redskins game I’m more familiar with their warts, but the Redskins need to force turnovers to win. If Wilson protects the ball, the Seahawks will prevail. Assuming their secondary is all hopped up on Adderal and Viagra as they normally are.

BEST BET
indianapolis +6 ½ BALTIMORE
I actually think the Colts are going to win this game. The Ravens time has come. I love Ray Lewis and will miss him dearly but his impact on this game will be minimal, and the impact of his retirement announcement as a motivator for the rest of the defense.

Last Week: 3-2 (2 points)
Season: 36-49 (27 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (4-13)
Home Favorites: 3-1 (12-22)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (6-4)
Road Favorites: 0-1 (10-15)
Road Underdogs: 0-0 (8-8)

NFL Playoff Predictions

AFC Playoffs
Houston over Cincinnati
Indianapolis over Baltimore

Denver over Indianapolis
New England over Houston

Denver over New England

NFC Playoffs
Green Bay over Minnesota
Seattle over Washington

San Francisco over Green Bay
Seattle over Atlanta

San Francisco over Seattle

Super Bowl
Denver 31 San Francisco 23

Song of the Week

"New York Minute" - Don Henley
One of the most hauntingly beautiful songs I've heard.
"In a New York minute, everything can change."

Extreme Makeover: Paulo Edition

Due to a bout of indifference stemming from my job-borne frustration, I grew my normal winter beard, but instead of keeping it neat and trim as I normally do, I let it grow wild and unruly until I looked Hasidic. But because I am starting a new job, and you never get a second chance to make a first impression (I'm going to do my George W. Bush), I had to cut my hair, shave my beard and trim the goatee portion of my facial hair. This massive transformation took place over the course of about 15 minutes in my kitchen and bathroom.

New Year, New Job

A few months ago my friend and supervisor left my place of employment to take a better job at a competitor. Someone else was elevated to his role, it was widely assumed, especially by me, that I would be elevated to that vacancy. For reasons too complicated and aggravating to explain here, that did not happen.
I was shocked, saddened, angry, confused and hopeless. But as always, the Universe takes care of me. The reason I didn't get that job is so the Universe could reward me with a better one instead. The aforementioned friend and supervisor has recruited me to join him at his new place of employment.
I will be making more money, getting a key promotion I have been seeking for 5 years, and working much closer to home. Because I no longer have to commute, in addition to the increase salary I will be saving thousands on parking, gas and tolls.
And the biggest perk of all, I get free dinner every night. Which leads me to the worst part of this new job. By the way, isn't that always the case, the best part is the result of the worst part.
My new hours will be 11a to 8p. I won't have to wake up early, or even set an alarm, I won't get dressed in the dark, which may seem better to some. But to me I will miss my afternoons off. I will be devastated when summer rolls around and I don't get to come home at 3p and take the boys to the park. And I won't eat dinner with my family every night.
But that is a small sacrifice to make in the face of all I am going to gain from this new job. And Mrs. Poop who is making the biggest sacrifice of all, facing these monsters alone everyday, is also reaping the rewards, beginning with a brand new iPhone5.
And that is how life goes, you always have to let go of what you have to open your hand to get something better. It is fitting I start this job on the beginning of a new years, because it represents new challenges, new rewards and stuff we're going to buy with all that new money.

Note: please use discretion when commenting about my past or current employers.

Note: my e-mail account and blackberry had to be surrendered when I left. So you can't e-mail me at that address or text or call me on that phone number. Stand by for new information and if you need to reach me most of you know my personal address or can contact me through social media.

Black Monday

7 NFL head coaches were fired on Monday, the day after the NFL season ended.
12 coaches made the playoffs. 5 coaches just completed their first year (hired after their predecessors were fired on last Black Monday.
The leaves just 8 coaches who missed the playoffs and kept jobs they've had for more than a year (Ron Rivera, Jason Garrett, Jim Schwartz, Sean Payton, Tom Coughlin, Mike Tomlin, Mike Munchak and Rex Ryan).
I can understand most of those, except Rex Ryan.
The Jets did fire GM Mike Tannenbaum who certainly was a large part of the problem. When the Jets were contending for AFC titles Tannenbaum pursued a very polarized salary structure (a few high-priced players, mostly low priced roster-filler) and it backfired due to injury and underperformance. He also made a huge bad gamble on by giving Mark Sanchez more money. I don't blame him for the Tebow deal, because it was low risk and never given a chance to pay off.
And that's where Ryan comes in. He continued to insist his strategies were working when everyone else knew they failed. His stubbornness in refusing to replace Sanchez, was a major failing. And it's not as if the Jets have real hopes to turn this around next season, with such weak quarterback prospects. What's the point of giving Ryan one more year when he's likely to fail anyway. Better to completely clean house, bottom out and start to rebuild.

If there's any fired coach I would have given another chance to, it would have been Lovie Smith. The Bears finished 10-6 but missed the playoffs, particularly hard to swallow given their 7-1 start. Smith has been unable to get the best consistently out of Jay Cutler. I'm starting to believe that no one will ever be able to do that. But Smith continued to field a strong defense intent on forcing turnovers and keeping the team in games. The Bears are getting older on defense, but I think Smith could have been given another season or two to try to make this work.

Unlike Andy Reid who had long since overstayed his welcome. 14 years is a long time, and despite his early success, there comes a time when change is necessary for change sake. Like Smith and Cutler, Reid wasn't able to reform Michael Vick into a quarterback who could play without turning the ball over. Unlike Smith, he's an offensive coach who should have had more success than that.

Norv Turner also was there too long. Turner is a terrible a coach. His teams always underachieve and though it's hard to pinpoint his exact problem I think it's clear at this point that he should never be an NFL head coach ever again. I think there is a good chance Andy Reid gets this job and tries to make something out of Philip Rivers.

Ken Whisenhunt is another coach who had success early on (almost won a Super Bowl) but has since faded horribly. Remember when the Cardinals won their first 4 games this season, including a win over the Patriots? Well, they lost 11 of the next 12, and that was the end of Whisenhunt. But I'm not sure any coach can win with that array of quarterbacks.

Pat Shurmur in Cleveland was also dealt a difficult hand. He got only two years and shitty quarterbacks. The team and Brandon Weeden showed promise towards the end of the season. I would have given Shurmur more time but I understand a new owner wants to come in and pick his own guys.

Chan Gailey coached the Bills for 3 seasons. They lost at least 10 games and finished last all three years. This season the team sank a ton of money into its defense, which stunk. Gailey deserved to be fired, but good luck to the next guy.

And lastly, Romeo Crennel. He took over with 3 games left in last season and was given the full-time job. Then the Chiefs went 2-14. Crennel is a nice man but not a very good head coach. But like most coaches on this list, he was the victim of poor quarterback play. His season as head coach of the Chiefs will always be remembered for Jovan Belcher committing suicide as Crennel watched and tried to convince him not to. "You're taking the easy way out," Crennel yelled, to no avail.

The NFL is Poop - Week 17

Yo, Adrian
An amazing season by Adrian Peterson comes to an end 9 yards short of breaking the NFL's single-season rushing record. The passing record fell in 2011, the receiving record in 2012, maybe next year is Peterson's year. Regardless of a record Peterson was absolutely incredible this year, especially in this game. He didn't even seem to know how few yards he fell short by when Pam Oliver referenced it in the postgame interview. And even more amazing because he tore his ACL a year ago. Amazing player, amazing season, the lack of a record doesn't diminish it at all.

A Brief Rant About the Redskins
A beautiful game following the formula the Redskins have followed all season. Run the ball down the opponents throat, give up tons of yards on defense and then force the key interception. The Redskins picked off Tony Romo 3 times, the first one thwarted the Cowboys when they were poised to take an early lead. The last one pretty much sealed the game and snuffed out any hopes of an heroic Romo comeback. RGIII was clearly not himself, he rushed for 63 yards (but you could see he was holding back) and completed only 9 passes for 100 yards. But that's because the Redskins didn't need more.

The Forgotten Rookie
This year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award is going to go to Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III with an outside chance of Russell Wilson.
Note: Perhaps I'll analyze this rookie of the year race at a later date.
And though Alfred Morris is probably going to finish 4th, his season is no less remarkable just because it happened to occur in conjunction with three exceptional rookie QB seasons. Morris's 1613 yards is the best 3rd best rookie total ever. In the past 20 years, 11 running backs have won the rookie of the year (Faulk, Martin, Bettis) and Morrs's numbers compare favorably with all of them. I'm not saying Alf deserves to win. I'm just pointing out that for a guy who was a 6th round pick out of Florida International, he had a hell of a rookie season. And the 6th round pick the Redskins used to take him, that was acquired from Minnesota in the Donovan McNabb trade.

Why the Super Bowl Isn't Played in October
For much of the season the two teams competing in my mythical Today Super Bowl were the Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons. Now neither team is seen as a favorite to get there. The Falcons played well enough to clinch home-field last week so they can't be faulted for losing the to the ExpensiveCornPrices and falling to 13-3. But what was the Texans' excuse? They completely shit the bed against a Colts team with little to play for and now they don't even get a first round bye. Last year the Texans, with TJ Yates starting at quarterback for the injured Matt Schaub, beat the Bengals in the first round of the playoffs. This year they draw the Bengals again but I'm not so sure the result will be the same this time.

Game of the Week
Minnesota Vikings 37 Green Bay Packers 34
This game was not just great because of all the great things Adrian Peterson did. Both quarterbacks played awesome. Rodgers's 73 yard pass to Jordy Nelson that set up the touchdown that got Green Bay back to within 3 late in the 3rd, was surpassed in beauty and accuracy only by the 65-yarder from Christian Ponder to Jarius Wright that got Minnesota back on top 34-27. After that Green Bay tied it up setting up Peterson's dramatic final game-winning drive.

Game of Next Week
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Who doesn't want to see a rematch of that one. Division rivals, Peterson vs. Rodgers. Let's see who can adjust better to stop what the other team did the previous week.

Picture of the Week
San Diego Chargers lineman Antonio Garay shows off his unique haircut. This year NFL Films Presents, one of my favorite shows, did an interesting piece on Garay.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Denver Broncos 31 Seattle Seahawks 13
Denver is one of very few things I got right this year. After Week 5 they were 2-3 but had played a very strong schedule. Their remaining games were considerably weaker, and I thought they would win most of them, but I explicitly said not all. They did win them all and thanks to the collapse by the Texans they have home-field throughout the playoffs. Seattle is still hot, but didn't play great against the Rams.

The Most Obvious Hanukkah Present Ever

Two very obvious things happened on Hanukah:
1) I got a Robert Griffin III jersey
2) RG3 got hurt the next day

I can't say this enough times, and I probably mention every week in my brief rant about the Redskins, I love RGIII. He is a great player, and a great role model for my children.
Over the summer, Chase had to create an alphabet book using a picture of an item or two starting with each letter. Normally, Q is difficult one, but not for us. We printed a picture of RGIII from the internet and said "that's our quarterback."
With his superior play, his leadership, his grace, his smile and his panache this is a player Chase and Julian will grow up watching and loving.
And by the time RGIII retires (hopefully after 15 years with the Redskins), they may fit into this jersey.

My Week With New York's College Team

Syracuse's efforts to brand itself as New York's College Team are going to take a big hit next year when it joins the Atlantic Coast Conference. One showcase it will lose is access to the Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium, which has obligations to take teams from the Big East and Big XII.

This is the third season of the Pinstripe Bowl and SU's second appearance. I missed the debut game against Kansas State in 2010, which SU won thrillingly. But I wasn't going to miss their second and perhaps last appearance, so as soon as it was officially announced I ordered the tickets for Poppy and me through the Dome Box office. $60 each and only $7 total for shipping and handling, no other fees. Seats were in section 226, the third baseline, second deck 6th. Pretty good seats, along the goal line in the end zone reading Syracuse.

The game was great, SU dominated on the ground, rushing for almost 400 yards, 208 for Prince-Tyson Gulley and 157 for Jerome Smith. SU pulled away in the second half, for a 38-14 win.
The weather really stymied both teams, but I will readily admit that Syracuse is much better equipped to deal with a day such as this when it's hard to throw or catch a pass. The Orange got two safeties, and neither QB threw for 200 yards. At a certain point Syracuse stopped even trying to throw the ball.

The weather actually wasn't that bad from a fan's perspective. The first quarter it rained, which really sucked, but it makes your clothes cold and heavy. But into the second quarter it started to snow lightly which was actually cool. And by the end of the game you could look up and see the perfectly white snow trickling down, set against the pitch black sky.

The worst part of the game were the hooligans seated in front of us. A group of about 10 recent alumni, totally wasted. At first they refused to sit down. At some point they moved to an adjacent section, and remained standing, but out of our line of vision. One of them got so drunk he passed out in the bathroom and security came down to notify his next of kin. Eventually they carried that drunk dumbass back to his seat, literally carried him. But he last only about 5 more minutes before either going underneath or going home. One of his idiotic cohorts almost got into a fistfight with a West Virginia fan, but eventually they calmed down and Poppy and I were able to enjoy the game.

Which is more than I can say about the SU game I went to the previous week, basketball, at Madison Sqaure Garden in something called the Gotham Classic. Seems like a trumped up reason to get a home away from Dome game at MSG.

Billy, who is a baller now, got us some awesome tickets. We were on the sidecourt, opposite the SU bench, looking down the baseline, about 6 rows up in the first section of permanent seats (they have some risers they use for basketball games). Incidentally Scoop Jardine sat in those seats in front of us in the second half and his pants were sagging so low I saw his drawers.

The game was a total disappointment as SU went into an offensive funk early in the second half allowing Temple to take a big lead. SU closed it several times, and actually had the chance to take the lead late when on a fast break Brandon Triche pulled up for 3, inexplicably and missed, giving Temple control of the ball and the game.

The usual suspects hurt SU, shooting 56% from the line and allowing Temple to get 16 offensive rebounds on 36 missed shots.

3 things about Hall of Fame Coach, 900 game winner, Jim Boeheim. He has never figured out how to teach his guys to shoot free throws. And unlike times when he had big men missing free throws and skewing the average, in this game his point guards, Michael Carter Williams and Brandon Triche, shot 9 of 19. I have no idea why he played DaJuan Coleman so sparingly when SU needed rebounding, and boxing out. And I still don't know why he insists on playing such incredibly weak non-conference schedules.

But you win some you lose some and as a fan of SU in New York I will try to keep being there for all of it.

Weekly Picks

Thank God this year is almost over.

NEW YORK GIANTS -6 1/2 philadelphia
I don't think the Giants have quit even though they've played horribly two straight weeks when a lot was on the line.

NEW ORLEANS -4 1/2 carolina
The Saints seem to still be playing hard. This is a pretty small spread for a home team. But hard to figure when two teams are out of it.

DENVER -16 kansas city
Last time they played Kansas City kept it close. Not this time.

NEW ENGLAND -9 1/2 miami
Patriots were disappointing against Jacksonville last week. And disappointed against San Francisco the previous week. They will go into the playoffs playing better than that.

BEST BET
chicago -3 DETROIT
The Bears need this game (and a Vikings loss) to make the playoffs. Detroit is done, and probably have nothing left to care about after getting Calvin Johnson the receiving yards record last week.

Last Week: 2-3 (1 point)
Season: 33-47 (25 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (4-12)
Home Favorites: 0-0 (9-21)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (6-4)
Road Favorites: 1-2 (10-14)
Road Underdogs: 1-1 (8-8)

Washington's Real First Lady

The whole country is smitten with our First Lady Michelle Obama. And they love her even more in Washington DC. Her normal stay-at-home mom wardrobe, her perfectly toned arms and her wonderful caring anti-childhood-obesity program are enough to make you swoon. But there are some holdouts, probably racists and right-wing nuts.
But Washington does have a first lady we can all agree on, Rebecca Liddicoat, soon to be Mrs. Robert Griffin III.
By all accounts, Liddicoat and Griffin have a great relationship. They met and fell in love at Baylor and RG3 proposed to her last year with a love song he wrote himself. The fact that they are different races doesn't matter to them, or anyone who is not Rob Parker.
They certainly look happy.

But there's one thing that nags at me about this, she isn't that hot. Yes, she is pretty, and she'd be attractive enough to date just about any other man. But not the star quarterback, one of the best players in the league. Doesn't RG3 need a smokin' hottie like Lauren Tannehill? Or an international supermodel like Giselle?
But then again, do I really want my star QB involved with some shrew? Don't I want him to have a loving supportive wife who always stands by him and never causes trouble? I think the Mannings have done this right, Peyton Manning's wife Ashley and Eli Manning's wife Abigail are both low-key, but they're also gorgeous, more attractive than the future Mrs. Griffin III.

Poppy Didn't React Like This for His Pinstripe Bowl Ticket

A very touching video is making the rounds on the internet since Christmas. An Alabama fan gets a ticket to the BCS National Title Game, Alabama vs. Notre Dame.



Strange that Poppy didn't react that way when he got a ticket to the Pinstripe Bowl for Christmas.
I love the way the guy tried to seem happy about the hat, and they had to say "what size is it?" in order for him to notice the ticket.

Song of the Week

"Die Young" - Ke$ha
Congratulations on surviving the end of the world prediction from the normally infallible Mayans. But don't rest on your laurels and think you are going to live forever. Take Ke$ha's advice and make a New Year's resolution to live like you're going to die young. But do so in a fiscally prudent matter, just in case you do make it into your golden years.

He Was Asked to Leave His Place of Residence

Jack Klugman died on Christmas Eve at age 90. Klugman, no relation to Razor or FatScat, had been a smoker and had throat cancer and even lost a vocal cord because of it.
He was in one of my favorite old movies, the simple but elegant "12 Angry Men." He was the last surviving actor from the movie.
But he is most famous for his role as the slovenly sports reporter Oscar Madison on the sitcom adaptation of the play/movie, "The Odd Couple", which had one of the best opening themes in TV history.

The Poop's Christmas Message

A lot has been lost this year, a massive hurricane destroying the East Coast, a horrific mass shooting devastating the entire country, and a presidential election saddening about 50 percent of Americans.
It's been a crazy year, but when so much has been lost the best thing to do is to be thankful for that which we do have.
So whether you're spending this time with family celebrating Christmas, or spending it with the proprietors of your local Chinese food restaurant, take a minute to reflect on all that you have gained this year, while others have lost so much.

The NFL is Poop - Week 16

For Real
Four weeks ago I watched the Seattle Seahawks play the Chicago Bears. The Seahawks were 6-5, with one of those wins being the screwjob against the Packers. The Bears had a 14-10 lead late in the game and seemed likely to make the Seahawks 6-6, but really should have been 5-7. Then the Seahawks struck. They scored a late TD in regulation to take a 17-14 lead, then another one in overtime to win the game.
If there were such a thing as momentum, that game started it all. In the three games since the Seahawks have outscored opponents 150-30. Granted, two of the opponents were weak, but they pounded a pretty good San Francisco team.
Seattle has a great defense, with big, strong fast players up front, and in the secondary. They have a great running game which opens things up for Russell Wilson who is putting up numbers just as good or better than his more highly regarded rookie counterparts.

Choke Job
For the second week in a row the Steelers chances of winning the game and making the playoffs were erased by a bad decision by Ben Roethlisberger leading to an interception. This time the Steelers got the ball back with 44 seconds to go deep in their own territory. It probably would have been prudent to play for overtime, but Mike Tomlin trusted his veteran quarterback and Roethlisberger let him down again. Big Ben got intercepted and after one long pass by Andy Dalton the Bengals kicked the winning field goal knocking Pittsburgh out of the playoffs.
Once you win two Super Bowls you pretty much get a free pass for the rest of you career, at least in regards to choking under pressure. But clearly Ben knows the team he is on now is not nearly as good as the ones he used to play for. And tries to do too much, to win games by himself, and sometimes he ends up losing them.

Welcome to the NFL
So you want to be an NFL quarterback? Greg McElroy finally got his big chance and probably wishes Mark Sanchez had started and taken that ass-whipping. McElroy was sacked 11 times, and hit 16 times in total (sacks are included in that). But it's not just the offensive line that's decimated. McElroy was throwing to such luminaries as Clyde Gates, Hayden Smith and Konrad Reuland. The Jets are a terrible team right now and though I agree with giving McElroy the start, the players around him are so bad, it doesn't even seem fair to judge him based on this performance.

Game of the Week
New Orleans Saints 34 Dallas Cowboys 31
In a game the Cowboys absolutely needed to have, they dug themselves a hole, and had Tony Romo dig them out of it. Trailing 31-17 with 4 minutes to go, Romo led a furious comeback with some great passes to Dez Bryant for a big gainer, to Dwayne Harris for the first touchdown, and Miles Austin for the second.
Both quarterbacks threw for over 400 yards, Marques Colston had 153 yards, pretty good, but not compared to the 224 by Dez Bryant.
The good thing for the Cowboys was that this game was basically meaningless for them. Win or lose they still need to beat the Redskins in Week 17 to make the playoffs.

Game of Next Week
Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins
Two bitter rivals, winner take all, most likely the loser misses the playoffs. Sunday night, last game of the season.

A Brief Rant About the Redskins
For many years in this space I bitched about the Redskins inability to create turnovers. This year's defense is much better at doing that. 27 turnovers (18 INTs, 9 fumble recoveries) for a +13 turnover margin. It's a good thing they can do that, because they can't stop anyone. The Eagles dominated this game early but the Redskins made the big plays to thwart their scoring opportunities. And eventually they tightened up, though the bend but don't break philosophy almost cost them, but luckily they put enough pressure on Foles to force him into a game-ending mistake.

Picture of the Week
Carolina Panthers cheerleaders dressed for the Christmas season.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Seattle Seahawks 31 Denver Broncos 24
I would not want to play the Seahawks right now, but please remember the Broncos have won 10 games in a row and face the Chiefs with a chance to earn home field throughout the playoffs.

All the Wright Moves

I have been calling for a total dismantling of the New York Mets since around 2009. I have blamed the Mets fans and their desire to keep up with their obnoxious neighbors for preventing the Mets from doing what they need to do to win a World Series.
Here is how you compete in baseball today: draft well, develop those draftees, sign the ones that show the most promise early in their major league careers to long-term deals to lock them up until at least their age 30 seasons. Something the Mets can afford to do, given their market size and revenues. And once you've done all that, and you have 5-6 really good players locked up to cost-effective contracts, then you sign a couple veterans to short deals, 1 or 2 years, 3 at the most.
The Mets are finally embracing that philosophy and it's promising to pay dividends, probably not in 2013, maybe not in 2014, but by 2015 the Mets should be on the road to contention. And trading R.A. Dickey was a huge part of it. I love R.A. Dickey. What a nice man, a class act and a great pitcher, but he had to go.
Even if the Mets were in position to be competitive this season, I still would favor this trade. Dickey is old (entering his age 38 season). He throws a knuckleball, which may mitigate some of the expected decline of aging, but can also be a fickle mistress, meaning his magic could fade quickly. Speaking of magic, let's take a brief interlude to appreciate just how awesome, Dickey's knuckleball is.



Plus, he's coming off a Cy Young season, even if the Mets were on the verge of contention, selling high on Dickey would be the right thing to do.
But the Mets aren't good. And Dickey was seeking a 2-year extension for $25 million, through his age 40 season. And the Mets got two very good prospects for him, Travis D'Arnaud who could be a solid hitting catcher for a long time for the Mets. And a hard-throwing righty Noah Syndergaard who will fit in the nicely with the young arms the Mets are already developing. Add that to Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey and Jon Niese and the Mets have a promising young rotation.

The lineup is another matter which is why I like resigning Daving Wright. The Mets lineup is very weak, and doesn't have the youthful reinforcements the way the pitching staff does. Wright is an excellent player at a very important position. His presence will likely help the development of younger players like Davis and Duda (who I think still has potential and should be given fielding lessons and the everyday left field job).

I'm also a pragmatist. I understand this is a business. Wright has marquee value and even though the fans are idiots, the Mets need those idiots to buy tickets and jerseys and to watch SNY so keeping Wright was a very important gesture to keep those fans. Sure, I would have liked the slew of prospects a trade for Wright could have brought in return, but I understand his value to the team goes beyond his contributions on the field.

And Wright is entering his age 28 season which means, when the team Sandy Alderson has expertly crafted is ready to compete, Wright should still be performing at a high level, hopefully high enough to return the Mets to the World Series.

Weekly Picks

Thanks to the Jets I finally got off my long schneid of losing best bets. Even more surprising considering I put my stamp of confidence on it.

atlanta -3 1/2 DETROIT
I normally hate this, team that dominated last week against a team that got abused, but the Lions are dead and the Falcons want to clinch home field.

indianapolis -7 KANSAS CITY
The Colts haven't clinched anything yet, and they are not going to lose this game to the Chiefs with so much on the line. Not sure they will win by 8, but I'm pretty sure they'll win.

san francisco +1 SEATTLE
There has to be a letdown coming from Seattle. And I know they are great at home, but...

new orleans +2 1/2 DALLAS
Maybe this is wishful thinking but there always seems to be a team that needs the game that loses to a team that doesn't.

BEST BET
new england -14 1/2 JACKSONVILLE
After last week's loss to San Francisco I expect the Patriots to take no prisoners.

Last Week: 3-2 (4 points)
Season: 31-44 (24 points)
Best Bets: 1-0 (4-11)
Home Favorites: 3-1 (9-21)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (6-4)
Road Favorites: 0-1 (9-12)
Road Underdogs: 0-0 (7-7)

We Are Not Doing Enough To Keep Our Children Safe

Shortly after the September 11th attacks I was talking to The Concierge's uncle and he shared with me his plan to prevent future airplane hijackings. If every passenger were shackled to his or her seat during the flight, with one passenger at a time allowed to be set free to use the bathroom, those horrible attacks never would have happened. Obviously we all want to be safer, but we have to make sure not to go too far in abridging freedoms in the hope for increased safety.

Benjamin Franklin said "People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both."
While I believe Benjamin Franklin had the right idea, some things have changed in the past 200, 220, 230 years. That's the same way I feel about the Constitution. I believe in the Constitution as the foundation for our land, but I also recognize its limits. In those days they needed the right to have guns to form a militia to protect themselves from an oppressive government.
I think the Constitution is great and we should uphold it as the framework for what we want our country to be. But it has been changed, amended and interpreted many times. And I don't some small curbs on gun possession will take away the right to bear arms as granted in the Second Amendment.
However, if this world were perfect, I would wipe away all the guns, no one can have one for any reason, like the U.K. Property crimes might go up, but murders would go way down, especially mass murders.

But that's not possible here so let's deal with the reality of the situation. I hate hunting, but I realize some people enjoy it as a hobby. I don't know why killing animals is so much fun for some people, but I was angry when the government took away my hobby (online poker) so I would be the last one to suggest hunters lose their rights.
I have read the stories, and even written about them, when someone has used a firearm to successfully and lawfully defend their home and property and protect their loved ones from someone wishing to do them harm. I'm sure you could find just as many stories, maybe more, of gun accidents, where little kids got killed playing with their fathers' shotguns.

I keep a kosher home. We have two sets of dishes, don't eat meat and milk together, etc. Outside the home I go nuts. I like the chicken parm at Carmine's. I have been known to devour shrimp at weddings. I like lobster and I love bacon. People often ask me (mostly non-kosher jews), "isn't that hypocrital?" The answer might be yes. But the better answer is, if I am unwilling and unable to do everything, should I do nothing, or should I do something?

We will never ever be totally safe. We will never be able to completely take guns away from people. We will never diagnose every mental illness. We will never have an armed guard, trained gunman in every place a gunman enters, and even if we could I still wouldn't feel safe sending my child to a school where a teacher/principal/security guard is strapped.

But that doesn't mean we should do nothing. Maybe we should place limits on certain "assault weapons." Maybe we shouldn't allow civilians to have magazines that can fire so many rounds per minute, like the one the Connecticut shooter used. You want to make those changes, I'm fine with it. Maybe the next deranged killer will murder 20 people, instead of 26. That would be a great way to save 6 lives, but still a horrible way to lose 20.

You want to loosen privacy laws. You want shrinks to be able to alert law enforcement about potentially violent patients. Fine. You want to ban the mentally ill from possessing guns, that's fine with me.

But let's be realistic about what your gun laws will accomplish: very little. The perpetrators of these crimes don't care that murder is illegal, they certainly aren't going to abide by your gun laws. If someone wants to do harm to someone else, they will do it.

You want to ban violent video games, and violent movies and violent song lyrics, go ahead. But again, remember what Benjamin Franklin said.

You may have read this entire post, looking for answers and not found any. Because I don't have any. I have only a thought, that I have harped on many times on this blog: personal responsibility.

When it comes down to it, it is up to the individual. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. It's an oversimplified cliche, but it is true. A gun without a bad person firing it is fairly benign. A bad person, a crazed, psychotic individual without a gun is just going to look for another way to do harm.

By putting the fault for these crimes in the gun, the mental illness, the violent video game or the bully who picked on the killer in 4th grade, we obscure the responsibility of the individual. We allow sick, scared, hopeless people to separate themselves from their actions.

We need to restore personal responsibility in America. What happens to me is because of what I do and what I choose. What I do and the consequences of my actions are mine and mine alone. We need to do that today. And it starts with you. And me.

God Bless America

With all the problems in our country right now, I think it's nice to also notice the good things we have going for us. Like the smoking hot Olivia Culpo, she became the first Miss USA to win the Miss Universe pageant in 15 years.