Baseball Is A Talking Sport..

...and I'm not very good at predicting it.

This blog predicted a Yankees-Phillies World Series. That prediction was blown to smitherines. So, we have the Rockies and the Diamondbacks in the National League, and the Red Sox and the Indians in the American League.

The National League matchup begins tonight, and has been looked upon as the Ugly Duckling of the two series. Both teams are young. They are also both recent expansion teams, though the Diamondbacks won a World Series in 2001. This series is already getting grief, as Game 1 is not a sellout in Phoenix. The Division Series games there last week were sold out with the help of a lot of Cub fans.

In a way, I can't really blame the people of Phoenix for not jumping on the bandwagon. First, the fan base was burned by the results of the 2001 championship. The team overspent on a lot of veteran players, then had to dump a ton of contracts and start over in building their team. Six years later, they have a very good young team, but the fans haven't identified with them yet. Second, Phoenix is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States. There are tons of transplants there. Thus, loyalties in Phoenix are spread all around the country. A lot of people simply aren't going to jump on the bandwagon, at least where their time and money are concerned. As for me, I'm for the Rockies. They've been in the baseball wilderness for all but one year of their existence.


In the American League, the Red Sox and Indians begin their series Friday night in Boston. The Red Sox are slightly favored. I was listening to a radio show out of Boston last night, and everyone called in to analyze the National League teams as future Red Sox opponents. I have to admit that I was impressed with their baseball knowledge. However, I have one thing to say to Red Sox Nation: YA GOTTA LOOK OUT FOR CLE! Go Tribe!

College Picks: Week 7

College football has been nothing if not exciting and interesting. The last two weeks have been good for more upsets than Pepto-Bismol can handle. The second half of the season looks to provide more of the same. The last two teams standing will be in New Orleans in January for the BCS National Championship Game.

The ranks of the unbeaten have been whittled down to 11. They are: Cincinnati, South Florida, Connecticut, Boston College, Ohio State, LSU, Kansas, Missouri, Cal, Arizona State, and Hawaii.

Last Week: 13-7
Overall: 80-40

Missouri at Oklahoma: The Tigers have moved up to #11 in the country and are favored to win the Big 12 North. Sooners are coming off of a win over hated archrival Texas. Bob Stoops has lost one conference home game in eight years as coach of OU. That won’t change. Pick: OU

Oklahoma State at Nebraska: Who can figure this out? OSU is good enough to beat Nebraska, but can they win on the road? Nebraska had a road game scheduled last week, but didn’t show up to play Missouri. Oops, I guess those were the Huskers that got their heads handed to them. All will be well in Huskerland for one week. Pick: Nebraska

Texas A&M at Texas Tech: First of four murderous road trips in the Big 12 for the Aggies. Ags were fortunate to escape with a home win last week over OSU. Ags have not had success in recent years in Lubbock. Tech should be able to win this game. Pick: Tech

Colorado at Kansas State: K-State needs this one desperately to stay in the race in the Big 12 North. CU finds themselves in first place in the North. The cannibalization of the Big 12 North begins here. They all start to eat each other up. Pick: K-State

Baylor at Kansas: The Guy Morriss death watch continues in Waco. Well, he’s not actually going to die, but he won’t be the Baylor coach after November. KU is flying high at 5-0. Jayhawks become bowl eligible this week. Pick: KU

Texas at Iowa State: Longhorns gave a valiant effort last week against OU, but came up short. They have now lost star WR Limas Sweed for the year. Things don’t look good for the Longhorns. However, they’re Texas. They should beat Iowa State. Pick: Texas

LSU at Kentucky: Tigers got a big, big comeback win over the mighty Gators last week. Kentucky fell flat on its face on the national stage, losing at South Carolina. Can the Cats bounce back? The way this college football season has been going, that’s a pretty good possibility. #1 goes down again. Pick: Kentucky

South Carolina at North Carolina: One of the crimes of South Carolina’s now long-ago departure from the ACC is that these two schools do not play every year. These two schools really should be in the same conference and should play regularly. It’s now a rivalry that rarely is. The Old Ball Coach takes his ‘Cocks to Chapel Hill, where Butch Davis is rebuilding the Tar Heels. This is a dangerous trap for USC of the East. But, the ‘Cocks have surprised us before. Pick: SC

Purdue at Michigan: After two years of not playing Ohio State and Michigan, the Boilermakers get them back-to-back this season. The Train Men make the trip to the Big House, where the Wolverines are still paying penance for the opening loss to Appalachian State. Meatchicken puts itself back on the map this week. Pick: Michigan

Georgia Tech at Miami: The Ramblin’ Wreck are the ultimate yo-yo team. Up and down. They now go down to Little Havana to take on the Canes, who saved face last week in a near-blowout loss to North Carolina. When in doubt, go with the home field. Pick: Miami

Boston College at Notre Dame: Who does the Pope root for? The only two Catholic schools in Division I-A meet in South Bend. Notre Dame got their first win of the season last week, despite 140 yards of offense against UCLA. Boston College is undefeated and ranked #4 in the nation. Notre Dame needs all the luck they can get. This game will be worthy of the green jerseys for the Fighting Leprechauns. Luck or no luck, BC is just plain better than Notre Dame. Pick: BC

Rice at Houston: The Bayou Bucket is on the line at Robertson Stadium. Rice absolutely stunk until last week, when they upset Southern Miss in Hattiesburg. The Coogs had a chance to pull out a comeback win at Alabama last week. Things should return to form this week. Pick: Houston

TCU at Stanford: The Frogs are reeling, having lost three games, and must now go out to Palo Alto to face Stanford. You remember Stanford. Last week, they were a 40 point underdog against USC, and pulled the biggest upset in the history of Las Vegas bookmakers. Stanford will not be able to avoid a letdown. The Frogs have struggled on offense this year. Which Stanford shows up? Pick: Trees

Connecticut at Virginia: The Huskies are 5-0, though their schedule has been suspect. Still, 5-0 is 5-0 at this stage of the season. They get their toughest test in a road trip to Virginia, who has a five-game winning streak of their own after losing their opener at Wyoming. Pick: Virginia

Louisville at Cincinnati: The Ville has collapsed. At the beginning of the season, they were thinking BCS. Now, they’re just thinking BS. This team has no defense, and must go up the river to face the undefeated Bearcats. Cincy took care of business in a surprising way last week, beating Rutgers on the road. This one looks too obvious. Pick: The ‘Nati

Auburn at Arkansas: Auburn has, in a short amount of time, turned their season around. Winning in the Swamp will do that for you. Now, they make a trip to the Pigsty to face the Razorbacks. All is not well in Hogland, as the natives are restless and ready to make a coaching change. The Hogs have a great RB in Darren McFadden, but that’s all they have. If War Eagle can win in Gainesville, they can win in Fayetteville. Pick: Auburn

Florida State at Wake Forest (Thursday): When these two teams last met, it was a shellacking in Tallahassee. Wake Forest delivered the pasting. FSU has found a quarterback in Xavier Lee. The Noles are slowly returning to relevance. Wake Forest is no pushover. Still, I like FSU to pull this one off on the road. Pick: Florida State

Indiana at Michigan State: Just when you thought Michigan State was going to be pretty good, they go and lose an overtime game at home to Northwestern. Indiana has won 5 games, and can become bowl eligible with a win. Indiana and bowl in the same sentence? It could happen. Not this week, though. Sparty bounces back. Pick: Michigan State

Oregon State at California: Cal has not been to the Rose Bowl since 1958. This year, they’re in line for something even bigger: the national championship game. This game is guaranteed to feature some ugly uniforms. The play on the field, however, won’t be as ugly as the clothes. Pick: Cal

Benedictine at Peru State: Peru is a state? Do they play Ecuador A&M or the University of Colombia? Actually, this Peru is a town in Nebraska with a college. Pick: Peru State

Homer Call of the Day

This is courtesy of YouTube and the Worldwide Leader in Sports. The clip is from last Saturday's Akron-Western Michigan game. The Akron radio broadcast team of Steve French and Frank Stams got a little excited on this game-winning play.

Bizarreness

The Dallas Cowboys remain undefeated, in the most unlikely of ways.

The Cowboys went to Buffalo and snatched a 25-24 win. How did it happen?

Tony Romo threw five interceptions and lost a fumble for the Cowboys. The Bills ran two interceptions back for touchdowns, and also scored a touchdown on a kickoff return.

At the end of the game, Romo led the Cowboys on an 80-yard drive for a touchdown. The Cowboys scored with 20 seconds left, and missed a tying two-point conversion. The Cowboys then improbably recovered an onside kick. Romo led the Cowboys down the field to set up a long game winning field goal. Nick Folk kicked a 53 yard field goal to win the game. But wait! The Bills called timeout right before the snap, forcing the rookie kicker to think about what he was doing. What does Folk do? On the rekick, he kicks a 53 yard field goal to win the game.

There was a little bit of fortune involved in this game, and a whole lot of skill. The Cowboys went out there and stole a game they deserved to lose.

It would really suck to be a Buffalo fan. All of the ghosts of Buffalo teams past came back to haunt them. All of western New York has to be totally sick right now.

NFL Highway, Week 5

Back on the NFL highway for 13 games. Nothing is ever a sure thing in the NFL, and some of the events of Sunday only proved that notion.

Poor Miami. The Dolphins can’t buy a break. They lost their fifth game in a row on Sunday, as Kris Brown kicked a 57 yard field goal on the last play of the game to give the Houston Texans the win. A bizarre occurrence happened earlier in the game. Dolphins QB Trent Green was on the ground, and attempted to get back up to make a block. He tried to block Texans DL Travis Johnson at the knees, and promptly suffered a concussion as a result of a head-to-knee collision. As Green laid on the ground, Johnson continued to talk trash to him. Unbelievable.

The New England Patriots continue to roll. The Pats scored 34 points once again, defeating the Cleveland Browns, 34-17. The game was actually closer than that, but the Patriots returned an interception for a touchdown late in the game to provide the winning margin and to cover the point spread. The Pats have scored 38, 38, 38, 34, and 34 points in their first 5 games. They are nothing if not consistent. They next travel to Irving to meet the Dallas Cowboys.

The Jacksonville Jaguars held Kansas City to 10 yards rushing as they went to Arrowhead and spanked the Chiefs, 17-7. The Chiefs did not score until the last play of the game. I’m glad I didn’t see this game. It looked ugly.

The New Orleans Saints are quickly reverting to becoming the Aints again. The Saints, for the first time in four games, were not blown out. Nonetheless, they lost to David Carr and the Carolina Panthers, 16-13. This team was picked by many to go to the Super Bowl. They’re a long way from there right now.

The New York Giants won the endorsement of Mayor Bloomberg on Sunday, as they won bragging rights to the Big Apple by pasting the Jets, 35-21. Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward are now a two-headed running back monster for the Giants, as both scored touchdowns.

In Pittsburgh, the Steelers returned to the win column by skunking the Seattle Seahawks, 21-0. The Eastern Time Zone has not been kind to the Seahawks, who reverted to their former nickname of Seabags in this one.

A Jekyll and Hyde team resides in Detroit. Or, maybe I-95 is Kryptonite for the Lions. The Lions were spanked yesterday by Washington, 34-3. The Lions have played two games to date in stadiums on the Main Street of the East Coast. Philadelphia hung 56 on the Lions, and the Redskins scored 34 on them. That’s a total of 90 points allowed in two games against the NFC East. The Lions have actually won 3 games this year. However, they can’t drive 95.

The Cardinals played in St. Louis yesterday. Kurt Warner also played in the River City yesterday. And, both of them won. The current St. Louis football team, though, is a shambles. Warner led the Cardinals to a 34-31 win over the injury-depleted Rams. The Rams are in deep doo-doo at 0-5.

The states of Georgia and Tennessee did a two-step over the weekend, as their universities met on Saturday in Knoxville, and their pro teams met on Sunday in Nashville. Tennessee came out on top on both days. The Titans hosted the Atlanta Falcons and came out on top, 20-13. The Titans get that Cracker Barrel franchise in Chattanooga. The Falcons go home to lick their wounds.

The Indianapolis Colts just keep rolling along. They plugged in a no-name running back, Kenton Keith, and ran all over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 33-14. The Patriots are getting all the attention, but they will have to beat the Colts to get to the Super Bowl. That will not be an easy task.

The AFC West is officially pathetic. The San Diego Chargers are not out, and aren’t even down any longer. The Chargers beat the bejeebers out of Denver at Mile High, 41-3. All of a sudden, Norv Turner can coach. As bad as the Chargers were, they are in the thick of the division race. Actually, the Raiders are in first place due to their bye, at 2-2.

Out on the Left Coast, the Baltimore Ravens got three field goals and beat the 49ers, 9-7. This defined ugly. The Ravens don’t care what it looks like, as long as they win.

In the Sunday Night extravaganza, the Chicago Bears saved their season, as Brian Griese led Da Bears to a 27-20 win over the Green Bay Packers. Brett Favre, fresh off of breaking the all-time record for touchdown passes, broke the all-time record for interceptions thrown. That only proves that he played for a long, long time. You have to be good to play long enough to break that record.

Tonight, Wade Phillips returns to Buffalo as coach of the Dallas Cowboys. The fans will be jacked up in Buffalo. This is the definition of trap game. Anything can happen in the NFL. Hopefully, the Cowboys will escape with the W.

Even More Knee-Jerk Reactions

It seems there was more football on TV Saturday night than there was in the afternoon. At one time, there were 6 different college football games on on our TV (ABC, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, FSN, and Versus).

A game I am glad ABC did not send into our area was Notre Dame-UCLA. The Uclans were down to a third string walk-on QB, and turned the ball over 7 times. Notre Dame had a whopping 140 yards of total offense. This sounds like it was an awful game. And, to make it worse, the Irish won. Yuck.

Nebraska is so ordinary. The Huskers have gone into the tank after giving contract extensions to their coach and athletic director. They fired Frank Solich for this? That "antiquated" option offense they ran wouldn't have done any worse than what the Huskers are throwing out there now. And, the Blackshirt defense is looking more like the Tie Dye defense. No, the old Nebraska will never be back. But, the new one isn't even a cheap imitation of the old one. Missouri made them look like a high school team.

The Big 12 North is up for grabs, in a good way. Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Colorado and Nebraska can all beat each other. Actually, it might be a stretch to put Nebraska in that group. Mizzou, KU, K-State, and CU are all pretty good teams. CU has improved a ton from Week 1 to the present. Sadly, the same doesn't apply to the Huskers.

The Oklahoma Aggies found another way to pull off a Poke Choke. Actually, they were behind, so it's not really a choke. But, they found a way to blow a chance to win a game. With less than two minutes to go against the Texas Aggies in College Station, and Texas A&M leading 24-23, OSU attempted to block a punt. The Cowboys were called for running into the kicker, giving A&M the first down and the chance to run out the clock. OSU didn't get a chance to drive for a game winning field goal. You have to have spent a lifetime watching Oklahoma State to understand this. They find new ways to blow chances to win. But, they're good kids. They go to class. They're respectful to the media.

Meanwhile, ex-OSU coach Les Miles finds himself on top of the college football world at LSU. The Tigers made a fourth quarter comeback to beat Florida, 28-24. LSU stole victory from the jaws of defeat. The Tigers are shooting for a home crowd advantage in the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans.

Double Knee-Jerk Reaction

My mouth is about to fall off. I'm in shock.

Stanford has just upset USC, 24-23. The Cardinal have been the dregs of the Pac-10 throughout this decade. This year, they hired Captain Comeback, Jim Harbaugh, as head coach. Harbaugh is better known as ex-quarterback of Michigan and the Indianapolis Colts. He has spent recent years coaching at places such as the University of San Diego.

This is really huge. If the Florida Gators hold on and beat LSU, the Cal Bears could very well be the #1 team in the nation in next week's polls. Wow.

Knee-Jerk Reactions

Oklahoma 28, Texas 21. The universe returns to normal.

Above is DeMarco Murray's best impression of an Olympic hurdler as he breaks a long one for a Sooner touchdown.

Child Abuse

Parents, don't let your babies grow up to be Longhorns.

NFL Picks, Week 5

Something NFL-related that I have just come across: I’m reading the sports section of the New York Post. In the standings and in the betting lines, the Post has placed an asterisk next to the Patriots. At the bottom of the standings and lines, they describe the asterisk as “Caught Cheating”. How funny. That’s New York. That's the Post. Of course, the Pats got caught cheating against a New York team. I don’t think the Post would give a flying rat’s behind if the Pats got caught cheating against the Arizona Cardinals.

We move on to the picks..

Last Week: 7-7
Season: 39-23

Dallas at Buffalo: Rematch of Super Bowls XVII and XVIII. That was a long time ago. People in Buffalo have a lot of pent-up anger about Dallas, due to the two Super Bowls and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals (by the way, it was a goal). The Cowboys are cruising along behind America’s Quarterback, Tony Romo. The Bills got into the win column for the first time last week, sneaking past the Jets, 17-14. On paper, this looks like a mismatch in favor of the Cowboys. But, this is the NFL, and anything can happen. This is a trap game for Dallas, as the Cowboys host the Patriots in Week 6, and could very well be looking ahead to that. So, look out for the Bills in front of 80,000 drunk Western New Yorkers on Monday night. Nonetheless, I’m a homer. Pick: Dallas

New York Jets at New York Giants: The Jets make the long trek to the Meadowlands for an away game in their home stadium. This is a Giants home game, played in front of Giants season ticket holders and televised on the visitors’ network, CBS. The Giants are healing up and looked decent in smashing the Eagles last week. The Jets are dazed and confused. Go with the hot hand and the home team. Pick: Giants

Cleveland at New England: The Browns are a surprising 2-2. But, they haven’t played anyone as good as New England. The Patriots are a machine. The Pats were held to a season-low 34 points last week by Cincinnati. Look for Tom Brady and Randy Moss to work their magic again. Just another day at the office in Foxboro. Pick: Patriots

Miami at Houston: The Texans are crashing back to earth, having lost their last two games. The Dolphins come in as one of the worst teams in the league. This will be good for the Texans. The Dolphins will get a win this year. Not this week. Pick: Houston

Atlanta at Tennessee: Winner gets to own a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Chattanooga. Falcons finally got a win last week. Titans are above average. Go with the home team, especially when the visiting team is a dome team playing outdoors on grass. Pick: Tennessee

Detroit at Washington: Motor City Madmen are 3-1 after using a 34 point 4th quarter to beat the Bears. Can they crank up the offense two weeks in a row? Can they outscore the Redskins? The last time DET went to the East Coast, they were spanked by Philly. My gut says Washington. Pick: Redskins

Seattle at Pittsburgh: Rematch of Super Bowl XL. I still can’t believe the Steelers lost last week in the desert. Pittsburgh bounces back in a big way. Pick: Pittsburgh

Arizona at St. Louis: Cardinals make their annual return to St. Louis. Not many people on that team remember the St. Louis Football Cardinals. The Rams have more injuries than a M*A*S*H unit. They resemble the Toronto Argonauts at this point. Pick: Arizona

Carolina at New Orleans: Saints are the biggest disappointment in the league this year. But, they get a present as David Carr will be the QB for Carolina this week. Saints come back from the bye on a good note. Pick: New Orleans

Jacksonville at Kansas City: The Chiefs have duct-taped themselves together into a 2-2 record. The Jags are very unpredictable. When in doubt, pick the home team. Pick: KC

Tampa Bay at Indianapolis: The Tony Dungy Bowl. The Bucs are a surprising 3-1. They haven’t played the Colts yet. The Colts are banged up, but should have enough to send the Bucs packing with an L. Pick: Indy

Baltimore at San Francisco: The 49ers have turned to the ageless Trent Dilfer as QB due to the injury to Alex Smith. Dilfer once led the Ravens to a Super Bowl win, whether the Ravens will admit it or not. The Ravens’ defense has been giving up more points than usual. Ravens go West and get a W. Pick: Baltimore

San Diego at Denver: The Chargers are a train wreck. They need something good to happen, fast. The Broncos are a pretty inconsistent team in their own right. Denver makes the Chargers’ season even more miserable. Pick: Denver

Chicago at Green Bay: The Bears have slipped badly. They throw interceptions in multiple varieties, no matter who the quarterback is. Green Bay is off to a great start, and Brett Favre is as good as ever. It’s Sunday night on the not-yet-frozen tundra of Lambeau Field-who else? Pick: Green Bay

Bye: Cincinnati, Oakland, Philadelphia, Minnesota

If You Had A Favorite Team...

Here is Cowboy Fan's version of the Mike Gundy meltdown..

College Picks, Week 6

Last week was supposed to be a rather pedestrian weekend of college football. Instead, 5 of the top 10 teams were upset. This turned the college football world upside down, as college football powerhouses such as South Florida and Kentucky moved into this week’s Top 10. What does this week have in store? A ton of good games.

Last week: 11-9 (including upset wins by South Florida and Illinois)
Season: 67-33

Oklahoma vs. Texas at Dallas: The Red River Rivalry. It was a shootout, until the powers that be decided to remove the connotation of violence that came from Red River Shootout. It doesn’t matter that both teams were upset last week. This is the greatest rivalry in college football, no matter how good either team is. Last week’s OU loss at Colorado was a shocking aberration. Last week’s loss by Texas to Kansas State was not totally unexpected. Of course I’m going to pick the Sooners. Pick: OU

Kansas at Kansas State: Both teams are flying high. KU is 4-0, and has been whipping up on the likes of Central Michigan and Toledo. K-State just creamed Texas. K-State has played a tougher schedule to date, and is at home. Don't forget your Power Towel. Pick: K-State

Nebraska at Missouri: An early showdown for the lead in the Big 12 North. It’s a Saturday night game in Columbia. Mizzou is undefeated, and is favored by some to win the North. They need this one if they are going to do that. Nebraska has not returned to glory days. The Huskers aren’t even as good as they were last season, when they won the North. Pick: Missouri

Iowa State at Texas Tech: Cyclones continue to struggle in Gene Chizik’s first year. Tech is trying to straighten out their defensive problems, but they won’t need a defense this week. Pick: Tech

Colorado at Baylor: Buffs are riding a Rocky Mountain high after last week’s stunning upset of OU. This week, they travel to the wasteland of Waco, Texas. Baylor is attempting to improve, but CU has improved more. Pick: Colorado

Oklahoma State at Texas A&M: Oklahoma Aggies vs. Texas Aggies. Winner gets a John Deere tractor. Both teams have been wrapped up in coaching controversies. Mike Gundy has been the star of YouTube. Dennis Franchione has been the star of eBay. Make that coachfran.com, as the VIP reports haven’t made it to eBay yet. When in doubt, take the home team. Pick: Texas A&M

Kentucky at South Carolina (Thursday): Things are changing in the SEC. These are now two of the better teams in the toughest division in football the SEC East. Who woulda thunk it? Steve Spurrier’s team is winning with defense. He doesn’t have the high-powered air attack that he had at Florida. Kentucky, meanwhile, will outscore anyone. I look for that to happen in Columbia. Pick: Kentucky

Florida at LSU: Saturday night in Baton Rouge on national television. The Gators unexpectedly lost to War Eagle last week, taking some luster off this game. Florida proved themselves mortal. Strange things can happen on the road in the SEC, but LSU won’t lose this one. Pick: Tigers

Georgia at Tennessee: Things are upside down: Kentucky is better in football than in basketball, and Tennessee is better in hoops than in football. Phil Fulmer is on his way to becoming the first casualty of the rise of South Carolina and Kentucky. The Vols are pretty ordinary. Georgia is above average. This one is up on old Rocky Top, but that won’t matter. Uga barks loud and long. Pick: Georgia

Ohio State at Purdue: Both teams are undefeated. Purdue has a lot to prove, and takes a big step up in competition this week. Ohio State has played in plenty of big games before. Pick: TOSU

Wisconsin at Illinois: Wisconsin has lost 1 game in the past 1 ½ seasons under coach Bret Bielema. They aren’t always pretty, but they find a way to win, whether it’s 10-7 or 38-35. The Fighting Illini are vastly improved, but aren’t in the Badgers’ league just yet. Pick: Wiscy

Notre Dame at UCLA: Why do I bother picking Notre Dame games? Because I want an easy win. UCLA can be really bad, like when they lost 44-6 to Utah. UCLA can be really good, like last week when they drilled Oregon State 42-10 on the road. Notre Dame has learned how to score touchdowns, but they need to score more than the other team. That won’t happen this week. Irish go 0-6. Pick: UCLA

Cincinnati at Rutgers: The big games just keep coming. Cincy is undefeated. The Bearcats ruined Rutgers’ season last year with an upset win. This year, the Scarlet Knights get revenge. Rutgers lost a game last week, but they didn’t lose their season. Pick: The State University of New Jersey

TCU at Wyoming: Tough game for the Frogs, as they visit Cowboy Joe. Wyoming is a tough place to play. But, the Frogs have a lot to prove, and continue to win. Pick: TCU

Georgia Tech at Maryland: Georgia Tech is like a yo-yo. Sometimes they’re up, sometimes they’re down. Maryland got a big win last week at Rutgers. When you’re hot, you’re hot… Pick: Terps

Iowa at Penn State: Iowa has been below ordinary this year, and now must travel to Happy Valley. Joe Pa U. has lost two in a row on the road in the conference. The Blue and White bounce back. Pick: Penn State

Virginia Tech at Clemson: Clemson was on a nice roll until last week when they ran into the buzzsaw known as Georgia Tech. The Hokies have been quietly picking up steam after an early debacle at LSU. Hokies are a little better. Pick: VT

Tulane at Army: Neither team is that great. But, it’s an even matchup. West Point is a great place in October. Pick: Army

Minnesota at Indiana: Gophers, please don’t wear those yellow unis again! Indiana is off to a good start at 4-1. The Hoosiers wear uniforms that look an awful lot like OU’s. That gives me good reason to pick them. Pick: Indiana

SUNY Brockport at St. John Fisher: SJFC was upset last week by Hartwick, giving them their first loss of the year. Cardinals bounce back this week. Pick: St. John Fisher

MLB Projections

It’s Actober. I don’t know what Actober is supposed to mean, but Major League Baseball has been using that as their slogan to promote the postseason, which begins Wednesday. By the way, why does baseball insist on calling it the postseason? Why can’t they just call it what they are: the playoffs? Yes, it is postseason play. But, those who make a living off the Great Game insist on calling it the postseason. Just a little rant.

If the rest of the baseball playoffs are like Monday night’s National League wildcard tiebreaker, we are in for a lot of fun. It’s a pretty familiar cast of characters in the American League, while the National League features some teams treading where they haven’t tread in a long time.

Now, for some fearless predictions of this year’s baseball playoffs. This blog blew it last year, big time, in predicting the Cardinals to go out quickly in the first round. St. Louis went on to win the World Series. So, don’t go out to Nevada and bet money based on these picks.

Because baseball is a talking sport….

American League

Division Series
Boston vs. Los Angeles of Anaheim, Irvine, Santa Ana, and all of Orange County: The Angels cruised to the AL West title, while the Red Sox led most of the season in the East. Boston was hampered by injuries late in the year, but chose to play the series with three built-in off days. This will help the boys from Beantown. Pick: Boston in 5.

New York (AL) vs. Cleveland: The Yankees tore it up in the second half of the season, and are playing as well as anyone. You always have to look out for CLE. But, how can anyone pick against a team with a guy named Joba? Pick: Yankees in 4.

Championship Series
As if anyone else even plays in the American League. Fox will love having a series featuring Boston and the Yankees. The Yankees are playing better. Things return to their natural order. Yankees in 5.

National League

Division Series
Arizona vs. Chicago (NL): The Cubs struggled for part of the year, but they won a weak NL Central, and are here. The Diamondbacks have a good young team, featuring P Brandon Webb. But, guess what? Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs in 4.

Philadelphia vs. Colorado: Who would have predicted this two weeks ago? The Phillies were down by 7 games with 17 to play. The Rockies have won 13 of their last 14 to make it here in an improbable way. There will be very little pitching in this series. The Phillies will hit one more home run than the Rockies. Pick: Phillies in 5.

Championship Series
Will the Cubs exorcise all of their past demons? I don’t think so. Something really strange will happen to them in this series as well. Pick: Philadelphia in 6.

World Series
Yankees vs. Phillies: Just when the Mets weren’t any sicker, they’ll have to watch their division rival Phils play in the World Series against their hated city rival Yankees. Winner wins a lot more than a service area on the New Jersey Turnpike. The Curse of A-Rod is broken. Pick: Yanquis in 6.

NFL Highway, Week 4

There were all kinds of turns on the NFL highway this week. Once again, the only thing to expect in the NFL is the unexpected. A look at this week’s action in the National Football League:

The Dallas Cowboys continue to roll, as the Romo Empire is built one week at a time. Sunday, the Cowboys crushed the St. Louis Rams, 35-7. Tony Romo threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another. The Cowboys are now 4-0 for the first time since 1995, the last year they won a Super Bowl. The Rams were missing eight starters due to injury or suspension. In addition, QB Marc Bulger was playing with two broken ribs. At this point, the Rams officially suck.

Every dog has its day, and the Atlanta Falcons had theirs on Sunday, as they defeated the Houston Texans, 26-16. Joey Harrington threw two touchdown passes, and Morten Andersen kicked four field goals for Atlanta. Andersen gladly gave up his monthly Social Security check to return to the Falcons to kick field goals. The Falcons pay better.

Brett Favre isn’t quite as old as Morten Andersen. However, he’s looking as good as ever. Favre broke the record for most touchdowns in a career, and the Packers moved to 4-0 with a 23-16 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The great Adrian (Oklahoma) Peterson rushed for 112 yards on only 12 carries.

Don’t look now, but the new Browns have exactly the same record as the old Browns. Cleveland surprised Baltimore and the world with a 27-13 win. Derek Anderson continued his bid for All-Pro status and a lifetime contract with two touchdown passes. The Ravens’ defense suddenly looks mortal.

The Buffalo Bills got their first win of the season, defeating the New York Jets, 17-14. Not many people outside the state of New York cared about that game, and neither team will get many wins this year.

The Packers’ quick start in the NFC North has overshadowed that of the Detroit Lions. The Lions are now 3-1 after manhandling the Chicago Bears, 37-27. The Bears replaced their quarterback, but got the same result as Brian Griese threw three interceptions. The Lions scored a record 34 points in the fourth quarter, and both teams combined for a record 48 points in the final quarter. The Bears’ mojo is officially gone.

The Oakland Raiders, at least this week, officially do not suck. The Silver and Black got their second win in a row by manhandling Flipper and the Miami Dolphins, 35-17. Daunte Culpepper made his first start in his return to Miami, and threw two touchdown passes for the Raiders. The Dolphins are working hard to obtain the top pick in next year’s draft.

The more things change, the more things stay the same. The Indianapolis Colts are now 4-0, as they handled the Denver Broncos by a score of 38-20. Peyton Manning threw three touchdown passes, in spite of the loss of star WR Marvin Harrison to a first quarter injury. The Colts aren’t going away without a fight.

Another team that does not suck is the 3-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs and quarterback Jeff Garcia are surprising lots of people, and the Bucs went to Charlotte and got a 20-7 win over the Carolina Panthers. Panthers WR Steve Smith was seen in the third quarter yelling on the phone to coaches upstairs. Could it be that he wanted a different backup quarterback? David Carr is showing the folks in Carolina what he showed in Houston: he’s not an NFL quarterback.

Speaking of quarterback problems, the San Francisco 49ers had them yesterday, as Alex Smith was knocked out of the game on the third play from scrimmage on a killer hit by Seahawks DL Rocky Bernard. Seattle rolled over the 49ers, 23-3, and are not ready to give up their reign over the NFC West.

The ineptness of the front office of the San Diego Chargers was on full display Sunday. The Chargers continue to prove that the firing of Marty Schottenheimer was a mistake. The supposedly woeful Kansas City Chiefs went into San Diego, beat the Chargers up, and stole their lunch money, winning 30-16. Poor Norv Turner. I like Norv. But, good offensive coordinators don’t always make good head coaches. The Chargers find themselves trying to dig out of a 1-3 hole.

The Arizona Cardinals are 2-2. They’re not horrible. And, they knocked the Pittsburgh Steelers from the ranks of the unbeaten, 21-14. Steve Breaston returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown to provide the winning margin for the Cardinals. San Antonio Holmes caught two touchdown passes for the Steelers. Oops, San Antonio Holmes is a high school. Santonio Holmes plays for Pittsburgh, and caught the 2 TD passes.

The Sunday night extravaganza was a big stinker. The Philadelphia Eagles returned to their normal uniforms, but royally stunk up the joint. Donovan McNabb was sacked 12 times in an ugly 16-3 Giants win. Osi Umenyiora had 6 of those sacks.

Tonight’s game matches the New England Patriots and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Pats have been unstoppable. The Bengals haven’t been able to stop anyone up until now.

Ugly Uniform of the Day

Or, would you like some mustard on that hot dog?

Saturday night, the Minnesota Golden Gophers hosted the Buckeyes of The Ohio State University. I don't know what the Gophers were thinking. Was this a motivational tool? Were they trying to honor someone? Did they want to gross the Buckeyes out? Whatever the intent, the Gophers wore these awful mustard yellow uniforms on national television. Gross.

It's hard to do a whole lot with maroon and gold. However, mustard yellow jerseys and pants with red helmets do not work at all. These are ugly.

I hope and pray Minnesota and Syracuse never meet in a bowl game. All-yellow vs. all-orange would be beyond awful.

This definitely makes me want to gouge both eyes.

Get A Life!

Tonight, the fan bases at schools such as Oklahoma, Florida, Texas, and West Virginia are in meltdown mode following upset losses.

I love college football. I spend too much time watching and analyzing it. However, there are more important things in life.

There are way too many people out there that place their entire self-worth and identity in their teams, whether it is a college or professional football team. It is really silly to wrap one's identity in what a group of 18 to 22 year olds do on a football field. Here is an example of this type of reaction, from a post tonight on OUInsider.com:

If I needed the money for the tickets I wouldn't have bought them. If I have a family member that wants them I'll let them have my tickets but I'm not going to support them until we get a BCS bowl win. I'll tell someone where my seats are vacant and you can stretch out on them and sleep for all I care. I left in 2005 for an RV trip with them and I'm heading out again. Surely this loss isn't a surprise to anyone the way OU has been the past 3 years? Go to the post picking OU's lost games this year. I said 3 lost games this year and I got it right the past two years with 3 last year and 4 the year before. This isn't rocket science, Stoops can't coach a team picked to win every game. He does well with underdogs. After that he's a big game loser. I'm not an OU fan near as much as I am a State of Oklahoma fan. Lately OU has been more of an embarrasment to our state rather than an asset! The only thing I hate as bad as a Texas fan is a Crimson blind OU fan. They are far more dangerous to OU than UT ever will be.

Excuse me, but embarrassment to your state? And ultimately, yourself? In the words of Mike Gundy: "They're good kids. They go to class. They're respectful to the press." etc. Yes, it's bad to lose a game you shouldn't lose, especially when your team had it won. However, it's nothing to be personally embarrassed about.

For a lot of people, it's National Championship or Bust. A 10 win season and a conference championship just isn't good enough. People tolerate a whole lot of mediocrity and spareness in their own personal lives, but don't tolerate so much as an offsides penalty from their football team.

Folks, football is a ton of fun to follow. But, at the end of the day, it's a game. It's only a game. For most of us, it's not our livelihood.

Get a life!

Knee-Jerk Reactions

I'm in shock. I'm almost so numb I can't get upset. The Oklahoma Sooners blew a 24-7 lead and lost to Colorado, 27-24. The Sooners started playing not to lose in the 2nd half, turned the ball over three times, and couldn't find a way to win. The Big 12 is anyone's to win.

Elsewhere, the Fighting Ron Zooks put themselves on the map, as Illinois beat Penn State, 27-20. Illinois has won four in a row after an opening week loss to Missouri.

My, how Notre Dame has fallen. The Irish played in the spare 11:00 AM game on ESPN today against Purdue. Purdue took them to the cleaners in the first half, and led 26-0. The Irish made it interesting in the second half before Purdue scored again to provide the winning margin of 33-19. Notre Dame is 0-5. Purdue is 5-0.

More knee-jerk reactions later on. I'm going to go absorb defeat.

A Really Bad Aggie Joke

It's safe to say the countdown to a new football coach has started at Texas A&M.

The San Antonio Express-News reported today that Aggie coach Dennis Franchione had been selling insider subscriptions to an e-mail newsletter at $1,200 per subscription. The subscriptions were sold to VIP boosters, and contained information not revealed to the public. This information included injury reports and personal comments about players. The newsletter was written by Franchione's personal assistant, Mike McKenzie. The proceeds from the subscriptions supposedly went to the upkeep of Franchione's website, coachfran.com.

All has not been well in Aggieland. In my opinion, a booster decided to leak this information in order to speed up the process of Fran's dismissal. Aggies are not (and should not be) happy with the performance delivered by their program. They have a coach making $2 million per year, and a program that does well to finish 3rd in the Big 12 South division.

I have a couple of takes on this situation.

First, this is not worth risking trouble over. These are health records that are now subject to federal privacy laws. Also, this is information that could end up in the hands of gamblers. This is a big can of worms.

Second, this is coming from a coach left his two previous jobs in less than stellar fashion. It appears he is about to burn some bridges on the Brazos River, as well.

This is not going to end well for either Fran or the Aggies.

Where's R.C. Slocum when you need him?

Ugly Uniform of the Day

Today's edition of UUOTD takes us to sunny south Florida.

The University of Miami, also known as The U, has been creative in their combination of their colors of orange and green. They were also one of the first schools to use creative stripes and trim on their uniforms.

This year, Miami has added a green line which comes extends all the way to the back of the jersey, up onto the back of the jersey where the name would normally be. It looks like someone took a picture of their orange jersey and used Microsoft Paint to draw a green line on the jersey. The green stripe looks like two snakes are meeting on the back of the jersey.

This is a bad use of green and orange. Yuck!

NFL Picks, Week 4

Last Week: 11-5
Overall: 32-16

It’s time for another round of picks in the National Football League.

Week 4 begins the series of byes. Each team will take a week off during one of the next several weeks of the regular season. Jacksonville, New Orleans, Tennessee, and Washington are all off this week.

Without further adieu, here are this week’s picks:

St. Louis at Dallas: The Rams have been most unimpressive in an 0-3 start. Now, star RB Steven Jackson is out for this week. The Cowboys, on the other hand, have moved to the front of the NFC pack. This pick is not hard, whether I’m a Cowboy homer or not. Pick: Dallas

Houston at Atlanta: Matt Schaub returns to Atlanta, where he would have become the quarterback by default after the Michael Vick legal trouble. The Texans are better than the Falcons. It’s still hard for me to believe the Texans are better than anybody, but it’s true. Pick: Houston

New York Jets at Buffalo: Yuck. Buffalo is terrible. The Jets are mediocre. I’m glad I don’t have to watch this stinker. A stopped clock is right twice a day, and every dog has its day, so I’m going with the Bills. Pick: Buffalo

Chicago at Detroit: The Rex Grossman era in Chicago is over, at least for now. Brian Griese is now the starter in Chicago. It’s strength vs. strength, as the Detroit offense faces the Chicago defense. DET gave up 56 last week to Philadelphia. It would take the Bears three games to score 56 points, even against a sorry defense such as the Lions. Pick: DET

Oakland at Miami: Another stinker. The Raiders broke into the win column last week, blocking a Cleveland field goal at the end of the game to preserve the win. Now, they travel to sunny south Florida to take on the ‘Fins. Miami has had a couple of close losses to Washington and the Jets. Everyone loves the king of the sea… Pick: Miami

Green Bay at Minnesota: Don’t look now, but the Packers are 3-0. Brett Favre needs one touchdown pass to break the all-time record for career touchdown passes. He gets it. However, the Vikes find a way to steal this one at home. Paul the Damn Viking is happy. Pick: Minnesota

Baltimore at Cleveland: The old Browns vs. the new Browns. The Ravens are a mysterious team, as their vaunted defense has been giving up a lot of points. However, the Cleveland defense has been giving up a lot of points, as well. Ya gotta look out for CLE. Oops, wrong sport. Ya gotta look out for CLE in baseball. In football, Cleveland still stinks. The Ravens are better, even on the road. Pick: Balmer

Seattle at San Francisco: Important NFC West showdown. The 49ers went home with their heads down last week after a 37-16 thumping by Pittsburgh. Seattle got a big win over Cincinnati. These teams are really pretty even. When in doubt, pick the home team. Pick: Frisco

Tampa Bay at Carolina: This one is for first place in the NFC South. The Bucs have gotten two big wins at home, but now travel to Charlotte to face the Panthers. The Panthers may be without QB Jake Delhomme. The QB reins would then fall to David Carr, who was run out of Houston on a rail. Pick: Bucs

Denver at Indianapolis: The Broncos have stunk the last two weeks. They escaped in overtime against the sorry Raiders, then were kicked all over their home field by the Jaguars. Now, they go to the RCA Dome to face the mighty Colts. This one looks ugly. Pick: Colts

Kansas City at San Diego: The Chargers are off to a slow start, and are doubting themselves in a huge way. Think the front office knee-jerked a little too much by letting Marty Schottenheimer go after last year’s playoff debacle? I think so. By the way, Marty once coached the Chiefs as well. The Chargers get well this week. Pick: San Diego

Pittsburgh at Arizona: Steelers have rolled through three games this season, and travel to the desert to take on the enigmatic Cardinals. This could be more entertaining than it looks on the surface. Still, Pittsburgh is a better team. Pick: Steelers

Philadelphia at New York Giants: The Sunday Night extravaganza gives us a classic NFC East battle. Both teams saved their seasons last week, as Philly blasted Detroit and the Giants got a big win in Washington. Eagles should be back in their normal uniforms after last week’s fashion atrocity. This is so unpredictable. When in doubt, pick the home team. Pick: New York Football Giants

New England at Cincinnati: The Monday night special gives us a matchup that should provide plenty of fireworks. The Patriots will score exactly 38 points. That is what they have scored in their first three games. Can the Bengals outscore them? No. Pick: New England