Thoughts from the Weekend...

Some thoughts from the weekend:

-I have never been a huge supporter of Trader Joes over the years. I think I have been there once over the past 10 years. I was never really interested in all the stuff they had in there since it had a "organic hippy type food" reputation. But two weeks ago I stopped in one that is right next to my house and I absolutely love the place. The produce sucks, their cookies tastes like cardboard, and they do have a lot of crap in there that I'm afraid to even try, but I have found some great things.

• Marinades- I'm tired of spending $6 for sauces that are just loaded with sugar and basically taste the same. The variety of sauces here are second to none and are outstanding.
  
• Wine- I'm a borderline "wine snob", but I love trying small and obscure Cabs, Syrahs, and Pinots that are moderately priced. I have found some gems since I have moved out here that cost only $10 a bottle and rival the $40-$50 bottles, but since moving down to Orange County I have had some trouble finding these types of deals. Trader Joes has a large wine section with nothing but $10 bottles from small CA wineries. I spent close to 30 minutes yesterday trying to pick out 6 bottles to try out.
  
• Cheeses- Since I'm struggling to fit into my size 38 pants, despite running 30-45 minutes a day, I have finally decided to cut back my intake of cheese. This is big for me. I think that is the main reason why I've been in a bad mood for the past several months. But then I found this Yogurt Cheese that is not that bad for you and actually tastes like cheese, unlike those other low fat cheeses. This alone will make me go back to the store each time.
  
• Milk- For some reason milk is so expensive out here. Actually all diary products are expensive compared to back east. I usually pay $2.99 for one of those small 1/4 gallon containers, but Trader Joes has it for $1.49. Wow, I'm getting old when I'm actually excited about milk prices.
  
• The Help- Everyone is so nice there. Its amazing. A young girl actually took the time to help me decide on which cookies and bread to buy. Unlike the unionized check out people at your normal stores, I've actually had some really nice conversations with the check out people. Who would of thought that hippies were so nice.
  

-Is this the first year where it is harder to pick the worse 5 teams instead of the top 5 teams? I mean who is worse; Baltimore, Cleveland, Minnesota, GB, Houston, Detroit, AZ, Jets, New Orleans, Miami, or San Fran. And you could even throw in Chicago despite them having a winning record. Who has Chicago beaten this year? Detroit twice, Baltimore, and Minnesota. Ugh.

-Bought a nice pair of Johnstone and Murphys about a month ago and they are tearing up my feet. Any ideas on how to soften a shoe so I don't bleed?

-So I really like the new Rev Run show on MTV. I was thinking about why I liked it so much and it dawned on me that reality TV is gone so far overboard, it is actually refreshing and unique to have a reality show about a family that is normal and has some sort of family structure. The Hulk Hogan show is like this and now we have Rev Run.

-Laguna Beach Update: So Jason cheats on LC during the next episode. Hmmm, didn't see this one coming. The highlight of my week has now become the conversations with my mom about the show. Nothing like hearing the words player and slut coming from your mom's mouth.

-The business is taking a beating this year. Ugh. The older clientele is killing us this year. I need to find more 20-25 year old kids that think that they know everything about football.

-Eric is thinking about buying the NBA package since Cleveland might be solid this year. I'm still at a loss for words. This is coming from a guy who couldn't even name two players on the Cavs three years ago to now spending $150 dollars to watch all the games. Why is he buying the NBA package and not the MLB package? Is it marketing? Is it preseason hype? Someone needs to look into this.

-Driving cross country in about a month. Going from Louisville to San Diego. Any ideas on where to stop? Vegas is a given.

NFL Picks, Week 8

Shake it off - let's just shake off the bad performance of last week.....

Predictions for week 8:

Dal 31, Ariz 16: McCown on the road against a fired-up Dallas D? No. Lots of turnovers and points.

Cin 31, GB 17: GB has no defense. If Cle can score 26, Cinci will score at least 31.

Oak 24, Ten 13. Is this the week the Riaders turn the corner? Always wary about picking the Raiders on the road.

NYG 24, Was 13: The Giants play great at home. Eli will play well, and the D is strong enough to hold washington down.

Cle 20, Hou 13: Please, for the love of God....

Chi 20, Det 10: This talk about Jeff Garcia being the savior kills me. Did anyone watch that game last week? I did. The Browns gave them that game. Garcia was not a spark - the turnovers were. The Bears' D will kill the depleted Detroit offense.

Car 27, Min 13: This pick is easy... too easy, if you ask me. Still, there is no reason why the Panthers shouldn't win by 10 or more.

Stl 24, Jax 21: I like what I saw in Martin at the end of last week's game. St Louis will find a way to win this at home.

NO 27, Mia 16: I just feel like NO is ready to take all their frustrations out sometime.. return home to Louisiana seems like as good a time as any.

SD 31, KC 24: A good old AFC West Shootout. The Chargers will win, I'm not sure of the margin.

Den 27, Phi 17: Somehow, I have Plummer and Bell starting on my fantasy team this week. I think Philly is vulnerable here - and Den should romp.

TB 19, SF 10: What a complete guess at Tampa's total for the game. It could be 13, or 41.

NE 24, Buf 13: Lots of running plays and time-eating possessions. I think NE will be able to punch it in for a TD in the red zone more often than Buffalo.

Pit 27, Bal 10. If this turns into a 31-0 Pit blowout, I'll still watch with a smile on my face.

Best bets: (Last week: 6-11-2; overall: 57-53-5):
Dal -8.5
Dal/Az over 40
Cin -8 *
Oak PK
Oak/Ten Under 46
NYG -2.5
Nyg/Was under 42
Chi +3
Car -7.5
Car/Min Under 45
StL +3
NO -2
Den -3.5
TB/SF Under 36.5
Buf/NE Under 44
Pit -10
and 2 college games:
Ind +18
Iowa St +11.5

Derek's picks are in the comments.

Let the good times roll....

Ever hear a song that totally triggers a memory that is totally unrelated to the lyrics, and it sends you into a weird trance for as long as you are not disturbed? Today I was driving and NIN- Closer came on XM, and I instantly pictured Richie and his old Prelude parked in Keith's front yard doing "what he does best" while we were all waiting for him to grab a bat and go hit. Then I started to think about how I missed playing and how pitiful I was during our last couple of games, and how sore I was afterwards, but that didn't compare to how sore I used to get playing football. Then it went into playing tackle football back in the day and how great that was with the "chump of the week", Maroon Brad, the double snap to me for our lone completion which was a touchdown to Keith against those Hereford guys who were a couple of years older than us, and how good those guys were, but that didn't compare to playing in college against Dave Fields and the Wu brothers, and how Jay used to play in docksiders and black socks but had the greatest TD dances, and how Blondie and Rico would sell me out on every other play by providing the "Hey..watch out" blocking scheme against that monster black guy that I could actually hear breathing behind me as I tried to get away. Anyway, this went on for about 20 minutes, and I didn't snap out of it until my cell phone rang. This has happened to me on a couple of my drives recently which is very strange. Other songs that triggered these lapses over the past week:

Black Crowes- She talks to Angels- This song made me burst out laughing whenever I hear it since it reminds me of Clucky and the word "juniper". This went into several great memories like the "Philly Sucks" Song, Century Club, Prodigy Internet Service, Basketball Fantasy League, 5 team parlays, and Parks Rum.

Enigma-Sadeness- Ahhhh Laura Lebowitz aka Whora..... This went into a catelog of college romances that sometimes I wish I could forget. I actually hit my steering wheel in anger a couple of times remembering some of the "mistakes" from college.

Pixies-Broken Face- I actually heard this song on Jackass and it triggered all of the stupid shit we all used to do back in day and how much money we all would of made if someone had a video camera. Chris Smith and I in a shopping cart, Richie Keith and I with those fireworks, and Jon and I beating the living shit out of each other which would of put Bam Magera and his Dad to shame.

Random thoughts

Random thoughts, as I run around here at home with a sick kid:

1) You know the "cuckoo" noise on the $25,000 Pyramid (the OLD show - I refuse to watch the Donny Osmond version) - when a contestant says the word he's trying to get his/her partner to say? Wouldn't that be a great noise to have in some hand-held device (like the Taboo buzzer)?

So when Janice and I get into a fight - and she says something illogical, I can just press the button and out comes the "cuckoo" noise from Pyramid. Boy, it would be worth the 7 nights on the couch for that one moment.

2) I'm not home during the day that often - I'd say once every two months or so - but whenever I am, the Maury episode is ALWAYS one about DNA paternity tests. Is this all he runs, or am I just blessed?

3) I'm still bummed about the Browns loss on Sunday. That one hurt. Derek said to me that I should be upset over last week's loss at Baltimore, but this one hurt even more -at home, to a team with many injury problems and a defense that no one has starting on their fantasy team.
This loss has forced me to re-look at all parts of the team, and readjust my thoughts. And that's painful.

And we have Houston coming up. Oh God, if we lose....

4) What a great day for conservatives - and, more importantly, for populists - with the Miers nomination being withdrawn. It's nice to see that regular folks can rise up and make a difference. I believe that's what happened here. The backlash from the voters who voted for Bush (not all voters, but those who supported Bush) put enough pressure in the right places to make this happen.

Let's make sure we can affect policy in other ways, too, like the porkbusters activity with Sen. Coburn (R-OK) taking the lead.

For the love of God, we have Republican congressmen saying "there's no pork in the budget" (DeLay) and "Critics of the bridge funding can kiss my ear" (Young, referencing the bridge to nowhere).

The populist republicans must revolt now to get the message across before disaster awaits in 2006. Democrats failed (or refused) to see the tidal wave in 1993; some of us see it now and are trying to change course quickly.

Wow

Is it just me or is everyone else as excited about this "Trading Spouses" episode next Wednesday that I keep seeing during the World Series. Thank God I have Tivo.

Nothing else to comment about since the World Series is pretty boring, I've been working non stop, and the only thing I've done in my free time is catch up on season 6 of West Wing. 16 straigh hours of West Wing and I feel like a politcal operative that could get Eric elected to the Cedar Rapids City Council next week. All I need is Donna, that deaf chick to do my polling, and a sit room.

Hardball Times

Two great articles this morning over at HardballTimes.com dealing with last nights game and Gold Gloves.

Aaron Gleeman takes a closer look at last nights game between the Sox and Astros and breaks down all of the coaching issues on both ends. Really interesting.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/playing-in-the-rain/

David Glasko uses his "Range" formula to decipher who should win this years Gold Gloves. Jeter once again is slammed by the stat guys for being overrated at SS, and ARod was trashed as well. A couple of great comments on several bad players, and is worth a read.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/2005-gold-gloves/

Walk Offs

Quick question. Who is the biggest pussy to hit a walk off homer in the World Series? Chad Curtis or Scott Podsednik?

World Series of Poker

Has anyone watched the main event over the weekend? I'm sure that I'm watching a repeat since the tournament was like 5 months ago, but they have this guy that plays with his feet. He only has one arm and it is cripple, so he has learned to look at his cards with he freaking feet. What the F????? It was so disturbing that I had to fast forward it everytime he was on. And on a side note I'm beginning to love Phil Hellmuth. Too bad that I'm just about fed up with both playing and watching poker.

Winter is here!?!?

I checked weather.com today and saw this on our radar this morning. What is that white stuff out in the west??

It's a refreshing 32 degrees at 7 am. I'm serious! It's great!

Sports-related

Just to try to balance my long rambling baby entry, here's a quick sports rant:

I fucking HATE the dumb-ass diamond cam that Fox is using. It's a completely worthless view that adds absolutely nothing. I hate it more than I hate Tim McCarver (no small statement), but less than I hate Tony Siragusa. Tony Siragusa actually makes me dumber by listening to him.

Baby Timeline

Since it's Saturday night and I have nothing better to do, I thought that I'd give you guys the recap of us having our kid. Not that you care, but you've been bitching about no one else contributing, so watch out what you ask for.

3:30 AM - Katie wakes me up telling me that she is having contractions. Tells me that her water broke at 2:30AM and she's been timing the contractions for the last hour. Bless her for letting me sleep, but I could not be more confused at this point. The doctors tell you that you have to be having contractions for a while and they have to be coming pretty frequently before you call them. I guess that they get a lot of people coming in and actually send a lot of them home, because they could be in labor for hours before it really gets to the point where they need to act. From 3:30 AM to about 4:00AM I am get up, get dressed, get my contacts in, and try to figure out just what the fuck is going on.

4:15 AM - We call the OB/GYN and let her know the deal and they we are headed to the hospital. She confirms everything and OKs us to head to the hospital.

4:30 AM - Leave for the hospital. It's not really as hectic as the movies would make you believe, but contractions sound to me like Katie is getting stabbed every 10 minutes. Doubling over in pain--not screaming--but it really looks like it hurts. The nice thing about going into labor at 4:30AM is that there really isn't much traffic on the roads. Which is a real bonus if you know anything about the DC area rush hour. I'm debating in my head how fast I can drive without Katie noticing that we are speeding excessively. Turns out that you can go just about as fast as you want when you wife is in labor, but I settle in at about 90 mph.

5:00 AM - We're checked into the hospital and in the labor and delivery room. The nurse checks Katie out and says that she's 5 cm dilated. You gotta get to 10 cm to deliver the kid, so we're actually doing pretty well. BTW, you don't want to know how they check to see how dilated you are.

6:00 AM - Contractions are coming pretty fast and furious, so they call for the epidural. Probably about 6 cm at this point.

6:30 AM - 7 cm and moving fast at this point. Guy comes in for the epidural and has somewhat of a hard time with it. An epidural is when they inject the painkiller via a big-ass needle directly into the spine in the small of your back--just above where the slut tattoo would be. I get queasy around needles, so this guy repeatedly sticking a big needle into my wife's back is not good times for the home team. He gets it to go just in the nick of time, for me and Katie. He promises that it will take effect within 15 minutes, and damn if he isn't right on.

6:45 AM - Sitting pretty. Epidural has kicked in, and we're at about 8 cm. The thing about the epidural is that it slows down the contractions, so the OB/GYN stops in around this time and checks everything out. She predicts that we'll have the kid by noon.

7:00 AM - Calls go out to family members, contractions slow and the pain is minimal. Better living through chemistry.

9:00 AM - Katie's mom shows up. Katie stops reading US Weekly long enough to talk to her mom and they discuss how hard she had it when she had Katie. Blah, blah, blah. I'm tuning out and wondering if there are any hot nurses in this place.

10:00 AM - OB/GYN (Dr. Anderson) comes in and tells us that she's got a hysterectomy (sp?) and she'll be back by 11 AM to deliver the kid. Still sticking to the noon prediction.

11:30 AM - She shows back up and we start to push. The only way I can describe it is that it's like trying to take a dump if you were really constipated. Imagine trying to take a 6-8 pound dump. (Might be easier for some of us to imagine than others--Derek, I'm looking in your direction.)

12:00 PM - No baby, but we're making progress. Looks like we'll have something within the hour. OB/GYN (Dr. Anderson) leaves and another doc from her practice tags in. I've heard about the "hot doctor" and here she is. Dr. Manaavi is probably 40-43 years old, 5' 8", 125 lbs, and blonde. She's not stopping traffic, but she definitely is hot.

1:00 PM - No baby, and we're starting to wonder what is going on. The baby's head gets right to the end when Katie pushes and then, when she stops, the baby goes back a couple of inches. We do this back and forth for the next couple of hours.

2:30 PM - They tell us that we've been pushing for about 3 hours and they usually don't let people push more than 2 hours. We're getting to the point where we need to make a C-section decision. It's something that we wanted to avoid, but it looks like it's increasingly likely.

3:00 PM - We've tried just about everything and we can't figure out what's going on. It seems like something is holding her back and the doctor guesses that the cord may be wrapped around her arm or something and may not be letting her out. We schedule for a C-section and they wheel her to the OR.

3:30 PM - Katie's in the OR getting prepped and I'm in the hallway pulling the paper scrubs over my clothes and waiting for the nurse to let me into the OR. They let me in and I try not to look at the incision. There are 2-3 nurses around Katie plus the doctor, with nurses walking around doing all kinds of other things. Add in an anathesologist (sp?) and we're talking about approx. 8 people in the room doing all kinds of things. I walk in and Katie is gulping for air like a fish out of water. The anathesologist assures me that she is OK, but it looks like she's had the wind knocked out of her. Scary as shit. Turns out the epidural wore off and they had to give her what they call a "spinal", which is another shot directly into the spine. The catch is that they put it up around the area between the shoulder blades and it means that you can't feel yourself breath. Scary, but she's getting enough oxygen and the feeling will wear off in a minute or so.

3:38 PM - Sydney is born! The doctor pull her out and holy shit, it's a bloody mess. We didn't find out the sex, so the doc hold her up and asks me if it's a boy or girl. First of all, newborns are this weird purple color until they breathe a couple of times to get oxygen and pink up. Second, they are covered in blood and this weird white-ish crap that protects their skin while they are in the womb. Third, she's got the cord draped between her legs and into Katie's gut. With all of this, I'm supposed to tell you if it's a boy or a girl?!?!? "It's a...girl?" I say/ask timidly. Correct answer! As I stand up to follow her to the clean-up area, I sneak a peek into the incision. Wow. I won't go into it here, but it's amazing to see the insides of another person.

BTW, it turns out that the cord was wrapped around her neck twice and that's what was holding her up. Yikes.

4:30 PM - Katie is out and in the recovery area and they leave us with the baby. Just weird and surreal. They really are just leaving us here with this kid? One of us just had major surgery, and the other one barely knows which end of the baby to hold up. This is already looking like it might end in disaster.

7:00 PM - We are checked into our recovery room--what an experience. And it's just begun.

So that's what I've been doing for the last three weeks or so...

Chirp Chirp

Sorry everyone for not participating lately. We have been in an awful stretch of bad luck with my company. We had a couple deals fall through, some things stall out and then to top it off we couldn't sell toilet paper to a person with diarreah lately. All of this culminated with us barely making payroll over the last two months and me wondering where my next paycheck was coming from. So I have been doing slightly more important things other than blogging, like trying to figure out how to keep my family fed and our mortgage/bills paid. Anyway, the good news is I think this past week may be a sign that things are turning around. We just got two new deals and some other promising leads. For everyone that works at a large stable company (I think most of the people in this space) and gets a nice regular, like-clockwork, direct deposited paycheck I have some advice. The next time payday comes around, savor it. Take a moment to think about how great it is to get paid! :)

Regarding the World Series tonight. Call me crazy, but I like the Over for tonights game. Now, for those of you who haven't spit out your coffee or soda and are still with me, I'll explain my thoughts. We have two pitchers who have been known to get the "yips" occasionlly in big spots. I know, Rocket has been great this year, and Contreras has been dominating since the ASB. But, with an O/U of 7.0 the game needs to be very clean, and I can see the first inning or two both pitchers struggling with command a little bit. For Contrares and the Sox, I think a long layoff will affect them in the field a little. I have a feeling that after the game you will say both pitchers pitched OK but there were a few errors or missed defensive plays that cost them pitches, and cost them runs (even if they are unearned). I have to think the Sox bullpen will not be as crisp since they haven't done anything in two weeks. So I guess I see it as Contreras gives up a a couple in the early innings, Roger does his normal Brett Favre-esq coming out way too hyped and gives up 3 early runs. Then the ChiSox pen gives up another couple with the help of some shoddy Defense. Final - 6 to 4 Astros winning with Lidge getting the last 5 outs.

With all of that being said I'm sure Contreras and Clemens will both pitch into the 14th inning of a 0-0 game. Sox will probably win when a Hit Batsmen, Stolen Base, Sac bunt, Sac Fly scores the games only run.

Audience Participation II

To get the women involved (I think we have 3 regulars here at this site), please comment on the following situation:

I have a co-worker who has a 16 year old daughter who is not sexually active but states that she is getting major pressure from her boyfriend to have sex and wants to get on the "pill". Is that too young? As a parent do you take the a realistic approach (its going to happen one way or the other) to the situation and allow her to go on the pill or do you just stick your head in the ground and not get her on birth control and have a chance that you could be a 42 year grandfather?

My response was not to let her get on the pill. I think that once she goes to college, this is where you step in and get her on the pill. I think that by getting her on the pill this young, not only are you advocating it, but you might also be opening her up to unprotected sex. And to top it off, what 16 year is responsible enough to take a pill at the same time everyday? What is the Dad going to make sure she has the pill at breakfast every morning?

Audience Participation

To stimulate more comments and input into the blog, let's start with this question.

Without looking, can you tell me who Spero Dedes is and what role he played in last week's Browns-Ravens game?

Derek, you are ineligble, since you know the answer.

10 Questions for Eric

Since no one else is on this site anymore I'll ask Eric some direct questions to force other people to write....

1. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?
2. What's going on with Rod Stewart? Is he a lounge singer now? His new album is nothing but Sinatra covers.
3. Can you find mom a job? I think that is the only way to end the random calls I get at work from her asking me about my love life, and then her getting all offended when I tell her I can't talk since I'm in a meeting. The last call two weeks ago set me off since I had just talked to her about only calling me on my cell during the week if it was important. So I'm in a meeting, she calls me three times in a row, so I decide to pick it up on the third call since I was worried, and she asked some ignorant question about my dating life? How do you respond without telling her off?
4. How can the NFL not put the game on TV tonight? And their reason is that they didn't want to impede on the Florida High School Football scene? That's crap!!!
5. Who is worse right now on football picks; Me or Paul Katcher?
6. Reading the BSG book last night and did you know that there were two Sports Gals? I always thought it was the same one.
7. Bill King died the other day. Didn't even know who he was two years ago, until I got MLB radio to listen to all of the A's games. He might be the most under-rated radio announcer, since I'm sure nobody knows of him outside of the Bay area.
8. With the preseason rankings out for college BB, I want your projected final four teams.
9. Will the Indians trade for Manny?
10. Can you blame the Saints on wanting to move? Before everyone starts in on the Saints Owner, Tom Benson, shouldn't we see how many people move back? The reconstruction plans? From all the news sources I have seen, it will take many years to clean up and rebuild NO, as well as many of the people who evacuated will not be moving back. If the NO population decreases by 40%, can they even support a team?

NFL Picks, week 7

Since there is an NFL game on Friday night, I have been ordered to post my picks tonight so others can use them in a pool. (I don't know what "others" there are, since it just seems this blog has been me, Derek and 14 crickets chirping during this past week.)

Anyway, so here goes:

KC 24, Mia 13 - I just feel that the KC offense can score 20-24 pts in any situation against anyone - and that will be enough here.

Stl 27, NO 21. NO defense is terrible. I believe Martin can handle this and get the job done.

(a moment of silence for all of us who own Marc Bulger in Fantasy leagues... get well soon, Marc!)

GB 24, Min 16: After a bye week, Favre and co. will roll through the Good Ship Viking. Can you imagine the boos in the Metrodome if the Vikes are down early?

Ind 20, Hou 10: Don't let last week fool you. The Ind offense will only comeout to play when absolutely needed. In this game, it will be all about ball control, like the Ind-Cle game 4 weeks ago.

Pit 20, Cin 17. Boy,did I go round and round on this one. I have to put aside my hatred for Pit and realise that Cincy's run defense is not all that stellar - and that's the key. Pit will control the ball here.

Phi 21, SD 16: Another bad break for the Chargers, getting Phi after a bye. If Phi can't get its defense in order after a bye week and facing a Chargers team that played two tough, emotional games - well, then, they are probably going to miss the playoffs.

Cle 24, Det 20: Everyone says how the Browns O is terrible, but let's review who they have played:
Cin (13), GB (26), Ind (6), Chi (20), Bal (3). That's 3 of the top 10 defense in the league, and Cinci's not bad either. Let's not bury the Browns O until we play Det, Hou, Ten, Oak, and so on.

Was 27, SF 10. Who cares?

Dal 24, Sea 23. It's too easy to write down "Seattle" and move on. Dallas's D is the real thing, and I'm not sold on the Sea passing game.

Buf 20, Oak 10. The defense will destroy the Raiders -especially if Moss is out - and Kelly will do just enough to win.

Chi 16, Bal 9. Wow. This is my best guess, but it all depends on the turnovers.

Ten 27, Az 23. Let's all ride the Anti-Arizona bandwagon until it crashes! I just picked up McCown in my fantasy league - if Green is dumb enough to start Warner over McCown, me and the 10 Cardinal fans will protest in front of Sun Devil Stadium.

NYG 31, Den 20. I think that Belicheck showed the league how to beat the Den D in that last 4th quarter. The Giants have the ability to copy that.

Atl 24, NYJ 20. The Falcons have no D; that's why this will be close.

Against the spread, I'm taking: KC, Stl, GB, Hou, Pit, Phi, Cle, Was, Dal, Buf, Chi, Ten, NYG, NYJ

Best Bets: (last week: 8-8-1 (damn that College game!); overall, 51-42-3 (55%)):
KC +1
KC/Mia Under 43
Stl -3
GB -2
Hou +15
Hou/Ind Under 45
Pit +1.5
Pit/Cin Under 43 1/2
Phi/SD Under 47
Cle/Det Over 35
Dal +3
Buf +3
Buf/Oak Under 40
Chi -1
Ten +3.5
Ten/Az Over 45
NYG -2
NYJ +7.5
NYJ/Atl Over 41
19 best bets


Phi 21, SD 16.

Stomach Punchers

I just read BSG today. Good article, describing the pain of a loss like. But I'd like to expand on two points.

1) I know this is an old, tired rant from me - but when SG calls himself an expert in the Stomach Punch, my skin crawls. He's not. Only one of the teams he roots for has a history of excruciating losses in the playoffs. What about the Celtics? Pats?
For every Buckner, I have a Mesa. For every Boone, I have a Byner. What about Red Right 88? The Drive? The Shot? Pedro? Even the Move?
No other fan base has had to put up with what we have. Period. Take your woe is me crap and shove it.
It's ironic that we have to hear BSG talk about this pain when he titled his book "Now I Can Die in Peace". That's like hearing John Edwards talk about poverty. You can't relate any more once you've become rich.

(thank you for indulging me)

2) He mentioned that "the pain never goes away" even if the team wins a title. I can't relate - yet - but I ask myself the same questions:
Will the pain of Mesa go away if the Tribe wins the WS? I think so.
Will the pain of the Drive/Fumble go away if the Browns win the SB? I'm not so sure.

3) Because I have to suffer this pain, I don't want to see anyone else be happy until my burden is lifted. I'm very happy about last night's ending; I'm rooting for the Cards whole heartedly now to complete the Astros choke.
And, of course, the perfect ending would be to have Bobby Jenks blow a 2-run lead in game 7 vs. St Louis. Then the pain of the Astros and the White Sox would continue on.

Yes, I'm masochistic.

MTV Update

Anyone see Laguna Beach last night? Lets just say we can all take lessons from this kid Jason. He has torn through at least 5 different girls over the past 3-4 epidsodes. It has become so amazing, even my mom is commenting on it. "Now Derek, you know I don't approve of his actions, but DAMN!!! THAT KID'S GOTZ MOVES".

And this gets me to this question...Has anyone investigated MTV for child porn? I'm usually a big fan of their programming, but I think all of this might be crossing a line somewhere.

BSG

So I picked up the new Sports Guy book this weekend, despite some concerns over the content. While I tend to agree with my brother and others that this book will contain nothing but Boston propaganda and references to the Red Sox Nation, I still decided to spend $25 at Barnes and Noble. Consider this more of a donation instead of reading entertainment, since I probably won't read the entire book. Now why would I waste $25 to read about a topic that I'm growing very tired of, and frankly can't even stand? Well its to support someone who has posted free articles over the past 7 years that has provided endless amounts of entertainment. Its to support someone who took a chance, broke from the norm, and provided a sports and entertainment view point that was never presented to us. He might of been the first sports and entertainment blogger back in the day, even though he would probably refute this statement due to his hatred of bloggers. He opened the door so that people like Aaron Gleeman, Paul Katchner, and even us, who can sit here on the internet and write about things that would typically be talked about in bars or parties. And on top of everything else, he provided topics for Eric, Lee, Jay, and I to discuss years after college ended that helped keep us close.

Now, I know I'm very critical of the Sportsguy now, but that doesn't take away from anything that he did in the past. I mean he was a comedic force back in 98-01 at the old site before he joined ESPN. He almost posted 4,000 word articles each day on topics ranging from Gambling, Basketball, Baseball, Football, and his notorious Reader Email responses. His Gambling Manifesto and his diaries about Vegas, drafts, and random TV shows are legendary. He was in my highly touted "Daily Bathroom Reading" rotation that consisted of free material off the internet from Reilly, Gammons, Neyer, Kornheiser, Chad, and Wilbon all writing top notch articles for the internet almost everyday. Now everyone except for the Sportsguy, Kornheiser, and Wilbon are associated to pay sites, with only the Sportsguy worth reading anymore. And even now that he has become more mainstream, is off the mark many times, and contradicts himself in almost every article, he is still 10 times better than any one else out there. With all that being said, I'm happy to give him $25 to make sure he is still around for years to come.

NFL Picks Week 6

Before we start, a sad note: Jason Collier has died at the age of 28.

Jason was a center for the Hawks and (more notably) a center for Georgia Tech in the late 90s- early 00s. He grew up in Spring field, OH, and went to Springfield Central Catholic. When I was a high school basketball ref, I did two or three Springfield CC JV games, and then satyed around and watched Jason play on the varsity team.

(One of those JV games was when I received the worst tongue lashing from a varsity ref watching my game; I deserved it and never forgot what he told me. Another story for another time.)

He signed a letter of intent with Indiana, I believe, and either backed out or transferred immediately and enrolled in Ga Tech. He then was drafted by the Hawks and was having a solid career.

It's a weird feeling when people you are familiar with - and who are younger than you - die.

Anyway, on to the picks, after a solid week 5:

Det 27, Car 20 - I'm more and more convinced of this pick after seeing everyone go the other way. Det is a completely different team at home.

NYG 27, Dal 24, OT: Dallas will have a letdown - Parcells will try not to let it happen, but it will - and the Giants are coming off of a bye. I'm starting to be a believer in the Giants offense.

Min 13, Chi 10. Where are the points coming from? Min will score 10-17; Chi scored 10 last week against an average Cleveland defense - and now they are without Thomas Jones. An upset here.

Atl 31, NO 24. Just seems like a shootout to me.

Cin 24, Ten 20. I have a feel for all of the NFL teams - how they score, what their strengths are on offense and defense - except for Tennessee. Truly, I know nothing about them. Are they a passing O? How is their run D? I really have not seen much of their games at all. This is the one team I'm in the dark about.

TB 20, Mia 9. How, exactly, will Miami score here? In Tampa?

Pit 24, Jax 13 - Pittsburgh - and Cowher - are too good to lose a game like this - at home - when Ben is out. I expect lots and lots of runs, with the occasional trick play with Randle El.

KC 31, Was 17. I went out drinking last night with a guy who was not even born when Gibbs-Vermeil last met. That's scary. KC will explode in this game.

Buf 24, NYJ 16 - I just feel like there will be a whole lot of turnovers in this game - say, 6. That means points.

SD 31, Oak 21. I'm sold on San Diego. They will win this division. They have the offense and enough of a D to win these types of games.

NE 27, Den 24: Derek, if Den wins this game, I will recant my comment on the Denver line. But I don't see it. NE will win late, as usual.

Sea 26, Hou 10. I know, this looks and smells like a trap. But how can this game NOT be a blowout by halftime?

Ind 31, Stl 20. St Louis will score enough junk TDs to keep it close at the end. Go Go Go Marc Bulger!

**Biased Pick coming up!***
Cle 17, Bal 13. Boy, I hope this happens. Let's get up 10 early and watch the crowd turn against the Ravens. If we fall behind early, then we're in trouble.

Best Bests: (Last week: 12-4-1; overall, 43-34-2)
17 picks:
Det -1
NYG +3
Min +3
Min-Chi UNDER 37.5
Atl/NO OVER 43.5
TB -4
TB/Mia UNDER 34.5
Pit -3.5
KC -6
Buf -3.5
Buf/Mia OVER 33
SD -2.5
NE +3.5
Sea -9.5
Hou/Sea UNDER 46
Stl +13.5
and a bonus college pick!
Wyoming -6.5 today.

Ugh...

Why. I got nothing else except that I blame him for losing the Sox series and missing the playoffs the last two years. Don't like his attitude. Don't like the way he manages his starters and bullpen. Don't like the way he changes the lineup each day. Don't like that he reacts to player trends about 10 days too late.

More Random Thoughts

1. Need a lawyer? Can't do much better than this guy...

http://www.jshfirm.com/custom.cfm?name=c_attorneydetail.cfm&id=7

Imagine trying to go up against him in court.

2. Midnight Madness is upon us - which means it's time to go get the NCAA BB preview issues! Who cares about who is in the top 25 - I go right for the important stuff like:
- what new fodder teams have entered D-I hoops
- what conference changes have taken place (where is Centenary now? Oral Roberts? Boise St?)
- what interesting non-conference games will take place in November that I can take advantage of (usually involves a mid- or low-major vs. a team that's coming down but still has a reputation). Those are the money-makers.

I swear, if Stump the Schwab ever had a question like "There are 22 teams in the Atlantic Sun and the Southland Conferences. Name them", I'd get at least 17 and I'd outlast Schwab.

3. Two great articles by Dr. Z. and SG today regarding football picks. Dr. Z about his experience in trying to pick NFL games, and SG in breaking down the "Kitchen Sink" philosophy that I whole heartedly agree with. (I was 4-1 in the 5 games he mentioned).

But in a box in SG's article, where it says "Gambling Stats through 5 weeks", it says underdogs have won outright "26 out of 37 games". What does this mean? There have been over 64 games played in the NFL - so how do we get only 37 underdogs???? I don't understand.

4. I meant to blog on this earlier in the week, but here goes:
The great thing about the midwest is that there is a distinct change of seasons. Last week in Iowa, the temperateures dropped from highs in the 70-80 range to 55 over two days.
One may think that's depressing, but it's not. So many people commented that "it now feels like fall.... feels like football weather". What a great feeling.
It's one thing to tailgate in September, when it is 85 and sunny - but you really aren't into a football game with that weather. It has to be chilly (or even cold) to get the blood boiling.

Twice last week I walk into the plant - it's 45, 10 mph winds - and I think to myself: "there's no better place to be in this weather than in Cleveland Muni parking lot, 3 hours before gametime, lighting up a grill and drinking beer/liquor".

I know we all have different favorite places/ways to tailgate - but when the weather turns like this, my mind always goes back to the lakefront and the Sunday Morning party/tailgates we had before Browns' games. The chill in the air, the small of chili and brats, the anticipation of the game (especially if the game was an important one)...... it all comes back to me once the seasons change.

Am I crazy, or do others experience this feeling as well?

National Boss's Day

For the first time, I actually received a card for National Boss's Day. This is what happens when you start to employ some clerical people (women) to work for you. What a crap Hallmark ploy. I guess I would make up days to give people cards if I was in that industry. So on that note, in honor of Jimmy the Greek's birthday, this weekend I'm giving half off the juice, except for you Lee since you posted before this offer. Oh and Eric your not eligible either since, well, I don't know why, but since your my brother you will have to deal with it. I'm tired of losing money to you, as well as I always give you other ways to reduce the juice with our stupid "guess the line" wagers on Monday and Tuesdays.

Now if I can just get them to remember my birthday so I can get some ice cream cake, I would be happy. That's right RRD, I LOVE ICE CREAM CAKE.

The problem with A-Rod

The recent outcry against A-Rod has me concerned. Why is there such hatred towards A-Rod? Why are there 15 articles about the problems with A-Rod? The guy is a standup baseball player who stays out of trouble, plays hard, puts up tremendous numbers, and as far as we know doesn't use steroids.

My theory is the media. He plays in New York and he is an easy target for the New York media since they haven't won a World Series in 5 years? The Boston media jumps in and rubs it in, which I would do if I was a Sox fan. I mean the way that they have continued to blow the "Slap Play" from last years playoffs is unbelievable. A-Rod was called out and that should of been the end of it. Now it is listed as one of the most controversial plays in baseball? What was the controversy? And finally you have all the small markets jumping in and trashing A-Rod due to their combined hatred of the Yanks and any high salary player.

Now, I'm not defending A-Rod's past playoff performances, since I have seen him strikeout time after time during the stretch run against the A's in late inning situations with the game on the line. Heck, Jim Mecir and his club foot earned himself a 3 year deal with the A's due to his ability to get A-Rod out, but nobody else. Has there ever been a right handed specialist since Mecir? I feared Raffy and Edgar tens time more than A-Rod back in the day.

I just think that the media is going way overboard with this. Over at hardballtimes.com, http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/fall-from-grace/>John Battain, breaks the reasons on why everyone is jumping on the "I hate A-Rod" bandwagon and what A-Rod should do.

On a different note, I want to make a note of my two lock of the week picks for college football. USC-11.5 over ND, and LSU-6 over Florida. While Weis is a good coach, he can't make up for the talent difference between ND and USC. ND might be able to beat up on Big Ten schools that have a grind em out offense, but with USC, you have to score TDs. On a bad day (which they have had two so far), USC will still score 38 points. Do you really think ND can score that many points? Maybe, but the chances are slim and this isn't Pittsburgh or Purdue. I was licking my chops once I saw that the line was below 14. And LSU will probably only score 24 points against an above average Florida defense, but Florida can't score against a good team. And if you see a line above 3 points in the Big Ten, take the underdog if it isn't Indiana or Illinois.

And my final gambling note of the week is how can the Ravens be favored by 6? Will they even score that many points? Vegas always over-values the Broncos, Ravens, and Green Bay, based off of things that they have done in the past. And for some reason this year, Vegas keeps on riding the Arizona bandwagon. Lets see how this compares to Eric's picks on Sunday.

Baseball Playoffs

NOTE***PERSON WRITING THIS ANALYSIS HAS GONE 0-20 IN HIS LAST 20 WAGERS******

So I will make a couple quick predictions on the baseball playoffs;

AL- White Sox over Angels in 5
What a blah series in my mind, despite both of these teams being pretty good. This is what happens when the media pays too much attention to the Yanks and Red Sox. Now I get to hear possibly the two worst radio/TV guys (not named Buck or McCarver) in the game in Rex Dog for the Angels and Hawk for the Sox for another couple of weeks. Thanks.

NL- Cards over Astros in 7
I'm actually really excited for this one, except for the fact that Buck and McCarver will be doing the games and probably won't stop talking about the man love affair between Clemens and Pettite, how Pujols befriended that retarded girl, how Edmonds plays CF like no other (cue the film), and how LaRussa's 18 pitching changes in inning 7 won them the game. Ugh, I hate these guys.

Since I can't win a game to save my life, I was pleasantly surprised to see that McDonalds brought back the Monopoly game. This is one game that I never get tired of, and seem to win all the time. And at lunch today I won a free ice cream cone. Yipee!!!! I remember when Rico, Blondie, and I took the time to set up the board and actually keep all of our pieces and stick them to the board. We collected all the pieces except for those that they keep hidden in Alaska and probably won about 2500 hamburgers and small drinks. It was quite a sight.

You can't make these stories up

From SG's links of the day, comes this story:

http://www.local6.com/news/5081130/detail.html

How do we not have video of the driver emerging from the crash with a 2x4????

Foxtrot to Motherhen

Had this dream last night that I've had about 4-5 times a year for the past 7 years, involving a couple of my friends in a wartime jungle setting. It always involves Dudeman and I going into a house to extract 3 people, while Lee and Ty battle some troops in the backyard of the house. Cox is the sniper (in the woods in full camo), Jay runs our communications, Keith is in charge of transportation (always on time), Jon is at the extraction point (always so nervous), and Richie is always the helicopter pilot (wearing those aviator shades and smoking a large cigar). Remind me to send Cox a thank you letter for always snipping that guy on the roof as Dudeman and I are running across the front yard with the hostages. And this dream is so intense and now I realize during the dream what is going on and its like I'm actually doing this shit. I always wake up all nervous and I can't go back to bed. Don't know what brings this dream on since the only thing I did last night was watch West Wing and the ball game. Maybe its because I play too many video games or that I've been on the patch for 4 years, or maybe its a sign that I need to write a movie based off of this dream. Something isn't right.

Chad Johnson/50 Cent

Anyone ever seen Chad Johnson and 50 Cent in the same room?

NFL Week 5, Part 2

Everything is sweeter after a Browns win...

2 more picks to add on:

Jax -3
Jax/Cin UNDER 38

NFL Week 5

Boy, I haven't been this excited for a Browns game since....well, it's been a while. If we can win today - and we should! - that will get us to 2-2, and a .500 record would be great to have at this point.
Anyway, here are my picks for the week:

Det 17, Bal 16: Who knows.

TB 23, NYJ 10 - TB's defense has got to stop Vinny, right?

Buf 31, Mia 17 - Every time Holcomb filled in for Tim Couch, his first game was a barnburner. For example: the Dwayne Rudd helmet game (KC 40, Cle 39); the 2002 playoff game (Pit 38, Cle 31), etc. Lots of points in this one.

Ten 24, Hou 20 - it's hard to pick this since I HAVEN'T SEEN THESE TEAMS PLAY YET! Seriously, if you have DirectTv, why turn to a game with one of these teams?

Cle 24, Chi 20 - maybe a bit optimistic about the offenses here.

NE 27, Atl 20. The Pat's won't go to 2-3.

GB31, NO 24. This is it - the last stand. Sherman better run the offense like he did in the 4th quarter Monday night. They do that, they will win.

Stl 29, Sea 27. Seattle will find a way to lose.

Ind 24, San Fran 10. Indy will keep the ball for 40 minutes and have 5 drives in excess of 6 minutes each - domnating the game, but there won't be the fireworks.

Den 20, Was 16. Wow. Seriously, I can't wait to see this game. Are both teams as good as advertised?

Car 30, Arz 20 - Rinse and repeat for Carolina. Play the same way they did Monday night. The same game plan will work.

Dal 23, Phi 20 - Upset of the week. Not impressed with Philly on the road yet ( i know, last week - ok I should say I'm not impressed with Philly on the road vs. a good defense). Does Phi have any home games? It seems like they are always on the road.

Jax 20, Cin 17 - Going with the home ream that needs the win.

Pit 20, SD 17 - You don't think Cowher will be ready for the Chargers after a week off?

Best bets: (last week: 6-8; overall: 31-30-2):
TB -3
Buf -3
Buf/Mia OVER 35
Ten +3
NE +2.5
GB -3
GB/NO OVER 42
Stl/Sea OVER 49
Ind/SF UNDER 46.5
Was +7
Car -2.5
Car/Az OVER 43
Dal +3
Pit +3
Pit/SD UNDER 45.5

Random Thoughts

A list of topics that have been floating through my head:

1. Sad news from the world of entertainment: Nipsey Russell has died at the age of 80. What would an episode of "Match Game 78" be without him and his four line stanza om pop culture:
"The opposite of pro is con
That much is plainly seen
If progress is moving forward,
Then what does Congress mean?"

RIP, Nipsey. May you always be in the seat next to Brett Sommers in heaven.

2. Some of you may have seen the Kyle Orton pictures on the internet; click on the link to see Kyle - on the Thursday of a bye week - enjoying himself in an Iowa City bar.
a. How does this make sense? He is from Iowa - although he's fromWestern Iowa, not the estern part - and he went to Purdue, not Iowa. Why is he partying in Iowa City?
b. Unfortnately, he did not call me to party with him. C'mon Kyle, I'm within 10 minutes of that bar - I could have made it down as soon as I stopped reading "Wheels on the Bus"
c. There's nothing inherently wrong about this - it's his bye week, and he can spend it any way he wants. But I hope Romeo's got these pictures and is passing it around the locker room today - you're going to let this guy beat us?

3. As some of you might know, the conservative blogosphere (instapundit, and others) are trying to organize and effort to force our Congress to cut pork in order to pay for the Katrina clean-up effort.
However, one vlaued project that has been funded already is the Iowa Rain Forest, which is planned to be built right here in my home town of Coralville.

This project has come under fire as pork that could be cut out of the budget in order to pay for Katrina. IowaHawk makes the case for the Rainforest.
If you have any political interest at all, this post will leave you rolling on the floor.

And while you are there, check out a copy of Harriet Miers' application to the Supreme Court.

4. Do stock analysts have too much power? This week, one analyst downgraded P&G due to her concern over rising raw material costs. Even though she admits that P&G is "extraordinarily" disciplined in cost-cutting moves, she woders about the impact.
On that news, we lost $3/share over the week.

Is that too much power?

5. There's no bigger disappointment than this: you get up Sat morning, yearning for toast; it comes out perfect -now to load it up with Country Crock - oh no! All we have is that Land O Lakes whipped butter crap -that's impossible to spread.

There is no substitue for Country Crock.

HR Issues...

Ever sent an email that you wish you could take back? Here is one from Austin who he sent to all of the Property Directors and Executives. The word is supposed to be testers.

"ReportNet reports/data elements will not be released to production until they have been completely signed off by your testers. Please add your testes to the test log and return to me by 10/17/05."

Recently I've been lucky and only had one bad experience with sending an email that I shouldn't have. It was a conversation I was having with my VP about a new process we were thinking about implementing that would affect several employees which he told me to keep a secret and I accidentally forwarded some of the documentation to one of the employees. I felt sick about it until I went over and talked to the guy and he had no clue what the email was all about.

TRL....

Does anyone know how TRL works? Who is in charge of electing who is number 1? I'm not bothered by it, just confused on how this all works. Is it like B104 top 9 at 9, where everyone has to call in to vote, or is it all internet.

Today's Games...

I over-analyized everything too much yesterday and went 1-3, so here are today's best bets:
San Diego
San Diego/Cards Over (8)
Houston
Houston/Braves Under (7)

Today's games

So I went 2-0 last night, on games I thought were easy bets. Onto today's games:

Braves vs. Houston- Hudson, when healthy was a great playoff pitcher back in the day, but against the Sox and Twins, he wasn't that dominant. Pettitte is either hit or miss. He either is on his game with a sub 2.00 ERA or just sucks with a 11.74 ERA. The over is so tempting at 7, but the Braves can't hit Lefties and Houston can't score on the road. Too many factors in this so I'm staying away. I will go with the prop of "Will Everett get a basehit" and go with No and get +120 odds.

Boston vs Chicago- What a crap game yesterday, despite my winning on the over. The over again is set at 9 again, despite Wells and Buerhle pitching. Wells's post season career is pretty impressive (10-3 with a 3.18 ERA), but Buerhle has slipped a little in the second half and has not done well against the Sox (6.23 in two games this year). Jay, please refrain from calling anyone the Sox's bitch as we saw what happened yesterday. I'm going to stay away from the Over/Under and take the Red Sox at even money. I would like to get better odds and take the Red Sox -1.5 at +160, but I'm too scared of the bullpen.

Yanks vs Angels. It was nice to see Colon, aka Shrek, show up for the game last night. Now they throw out Lackey, aka Sling Blade, at the Yanks. I hate Lackey and still continue to deny that he actually put up great numbers this year. Listening to Dibble and Kennedy yesterday, they quoted Torre saying that game 2 in a short series is the most important game since you can either put the dagger in the other teams heart and go up 2 games, or be out of it before even going home by going down 0-2. This seems a little obvious, but I'm going to say that the Yanks will come out strong and really put the pressure on the Angels. I'm a little worried that Lackey has been on fire in September, pitches well at home, and has done fairly well against the Yanks, but once again, I just don't think that the Angels can score, and the Yanks will get a few runs, so I'm going with the Yanks on this one. Also, I will take the under on Lackey's strikeout total of 5.5. This is risky since Lackey is average more than a K/IP against the Yanks, but I'm banking on the fact that he will be out of the game early as well as the Yanks will be a little more patient like last nights game in which Colon only struck out 6 in 7 innings.

So to summarize;
Everett won't get a hit
Red Sox
Yanks
Lackey- Under in K's

Moneyball hater

Received an email this morning from my friend Austin. For some reason he can't post on here, so here it is:

It only took your boy Moneyball Jr. a year to put us at the bottom of a bad division and run a winning manager out of town. I told you before the season that Tracy was being setup (the team was gutted) to be fired. Please post this on your blog site:

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/8926734

In my opinion, this article is crap due to the following statements:

"During his two seasons as GM, DePodesta has guided the Dodgers to a stunning regression that rendered them irrelevant in the NL West this season -- a difficult thing to do considering their division title in '04 and the overall puny division in '05."

Would someone like to mention the massive amounts of injuries? And they make it sound like the Dodgers were dominant before this. When was the last time they won the division? Um...1995. When was the last time the Dodgers won a playoff game? 1988. So lets not think that this was a dominant team and didn't have any problems.

"During his five years as manager, Tracy's teams overachieved in at least three of them, and he steered the club to its first postseason victory in 16 years last October."

Overachieve? How do you overachieve with such a large payroll and only making the playoffs once? And that was under DePodesta?

"Boston didn't have Curt Schilling this year, either. The Red Sox still managed to win 95 games. The Yankees ran through pitchers like George Steinbrenner goes through secretaries. New York also managed to win 95 games this year"

Is this guy serious? Schilling was one guy, and the Yankees have a payroll $100 million more than the Dodgers so they could run through pitchers, but when you are playing without Drew, Bradley, Izturis, Perez, and Gagne, for extended parts of the year, I don't think you will be that successful. Let's see how the Sox would do without two out of three top RBI producers and their leadoff guy.

But whatever...I'm sure if the A's ended up only winning 70 games, people would be writing about how bad Beane is how he should be fired.

Baseball playoff predictions/in-game threads

*sigh*

OK, let's post our predictions for the playoffs. I've think I have recovered enough from the devastation of last week.

AL DS:
Angels in 5 -I just don't trust the Yankees' pitching, outside of Rivera
Red Sox in 4 - People are underestimating how bad the White Sox pen is. When we were playing well - 2 weeks ago, we had confidence that we were going to score - and we did! I know Boston's pen is a mess, but I'd be scared (if I were a White Sox fan) having that bullpen up against Ortiz, Manny, etc.

ALCS: Angels in 6.

NLDS:
Cardinals in 4. SD's offense is nothing.
Astros in 5. I just don't see the Braves as the better team. Houston's pitching is too good.

NLCS: Cardinals in 7, again. The magic of Busch.

World Series:
Cardinals in 6. The superior team, from top to bottom, in all of baseball.


PS - anyone see the MNF game last night? Did you see the Car's running back - Foster? - carrying the GB safety for 30 yards?
Well, the GB player on piggyback was our good friend Earl Little. He was a starter for the Browns over the last few years. As Troy McClure (from "The Simpsons") would say:
"You might remember me from "Jamal Lewis gains 235 yards" and "Jamal Lewis gains 276 yards".

Anyway, I wasn't worried about losing him in the offseason. You can see why.

Chutzpah

I'm still not ready to write a long post about the AL Playoffs and the absence of the Tribe, but this news just infuriates me.

1) Read the following article:

Yanks are pissed at Showalter

2) Now, answer the following question:
Who started Sunday's game vs. the Red Sox, a game with playoff implications for other teams (like the Tribe)? Was it:
a. Planned starter Mike Mussina
b. Emergency starter Jaret Wright after Torre pulled Mussina

And the Yanks are complaining about Texas? What gall.

I heart Bran

I can't tell what is worse. That I have 4 different types of bran cereal in my cupboard, or that Ben and I regularly discuss in detail our favorite Bran cereals.

Several things before I head back up to LA

Interesting day in the NFL that deserves a couple of comments:

1. What the hell was Belichick wearing? It was a XXXL sweatshirt that looked to be cut off at the elbows. Strangest coaching outfit ever!!
2. Has there been any other fantasy player to put up more fantasy points within the last 4 minutes of a meaningless comeback than Marc Bulger? That guy is a king. His team could be down by 35 points and he will throw 200 yards with 2 TDs in a span of 2 minutes. Crazy shit.
3. It took me a while to understand why the NFL sent AZ and SF to Mexico. These teams probably wouldn't sell out, so they wanted to make sure that this game would make some money, so they packed them up, put them on Sunday night and promoted the first regular season NFL game in Mexico.
4. Broncos surprised me again. And how the hell are the Skins undefeated with Brunell manning the ship. God I hate that guy. But I do love that Burger King guy. And man, that breakfast sandwich looks like a winner. Sausage, Bacon, Ham, Egg, and Cheese all on a sub roll? I'm in.

Other thoughts:

1. Anyone watch the USC game on Saturday. Caroll is starting to get exposed. Now granted he doesn't call the plays on offense, but that might of been the worst game plan I have ever seen. Let's see, you have two guys rushing for nearly 10 yards per carry, and you continue to go to the guy who is having an off day and can't complete a pass to anyone other than his fullback. USC didn't start to comeback and take control of the game until they gave it to Bush and White, late in the 4th. Caroll and his staff tried to give Leinart the chance to bring the team back in the 2nd half, despite knowing that ASU couldn't stop the run. This is what happens when a college backs a Heisman candidate a little too much. And in the papers today, all the articles said that USC's 2nd half comeback was led by Leinart. What a crock!!!

2. Was that Janeane Garofalo on West Wing, or as Eric says, Left Wing? She looked pretty good when she gets cleaned up and doesn't look like a fucking hippy.

3. History of Violence will be the last movie that I will see at the theaters. I'm already down to 2 movies a year due to the high prices and the crappy product, but with an adult audience at 8:00pm, I was subjected to clapping during a sex scene, laughing during an intense killing, and then more clapping during a fight. I would of understood if it was a midnight movie, or some action flick, but this was supposed to be a thriller, and I saw probably 95% of the audience come in and there wasn't anyone under the age of 21 in there. Maybe I'm just being a little bitch, but I'm done with dealing with people in public places.

NFL Week 4

There are some really tough games this weekend.

Last week: 9-5 on best bets: 25-22-2 overall.

TB 24, Det 13. Can anyone, at this point, really think that Harrington will play well against an above average defense on the road?

Ind 27, Ten 17. After watching the Cle-Ind last weekend, I'm just puzzled by the Indy O. We shut everything down deep - and they took the little stuff and marched down the field. But the drives were 7, 8 minutes in length. If Indy falls behind significantly - by 10 or so in the 2nd half - I don't know if they can come back. Something just seems a little off.

NO 20, Buf 17. What a perfect opponent for the Saints in the Alamodome.

NYG 31, Stl 24. I predict a total of 7 turnovers combined on both sides.

Was 17, Sea 16. Until I see different, go against Sea on the road.

NE 30, SD 20. Tough game for both teams. I think Brady found something in the 4th quarter of the Pittsburgh game.

Jax 24, Den 16. Boy, did I struggle on this one. I thnk Jax wil win, but by how much? 3? 10? 17? Any of those numbers seems likely.

Cin 27, Hou 20. Something just tells me that Houston will be in this one.

Bal 20, NYJ 9. I fell over when I saw the over/under on this. 31!!! - a place called Leroy's has it at 30! That is the lowest I have ever seen - even during the Spergon Wynn days for the 2000 Cleveland Browns. And yet, that's about the right number for these two teams.

KC 34, Phi 20. Yes, I believe in the Chiefs, probably too much.

Min 27, Atl 24. Another gut feeling. I don't think Atlanta is all there quite yet.

Oak 26, Dallas 20. Wow. Can anyone really say how this will turnout? Oakland could win 31-7; Dallas could win 27-0. A pure toss-up

SF 17, Arizona 10. I hope they're not charging the good people of Mexico City more than $10 US for this one. HOT GUTTS, baby!

Car 24, GB 17. Just don't see Favre pulling this one out. Not on Monday night, not in Carolina, not against a hungry Panthers team.

Best bets (14):
NE -5
Jax -4
Hou +10
KC -1.5
KC/Phi Over 45.5
TB -6.5
NYG -3
NYG/Stl OVER 47
NO pick
Bal -7
Min +6
Min/Atl Over 44.5
SF +2.5
SF/Az Under 43.5

Where celebrities go to die

In a comment to Derek's post, I mentioned John Pinette. I did a Google serach on him and found this website:

Patterson and Associates

My God, just look at this B-list of celebrities that this agency has! Click on Mark Price - you won't be disappointed.

By the way - if you list "She's the Sheriff" as a acting credit on your resume, things aren't going well, no matter what your agent says.

A long 24 hours

Ever try watching an important game involving your favorite team while you have the stomach flu? Oh boy, it's not fun.

I threw up 3 times during Friday's game vs. the White Sox. I was hoping that's the price I had to pay for a big win, but the Tribe blew it again and lost in the 13th.

After a sleepness night, I caught the end of the game on the computer to see that they lost again today 4-3. So, in the last 6 games, the Tribe has outscored their opponents 19-18, and yet are 1-5 in those games. 5 1-run losses.

Can those losses be more devastating? Yes, yes, there still is a chance, but really -who expect the Yanks (after clinching the East) to play hard tomorrow?

How can this team fail to execute with a man on 3rd and less and 2 out time and time again this week. 5 times over the past week were we in this situation - and came away with nothing.

I can't talk about this anymore. Baseball is now over.