Week 8 picks

By Jeff

Sorry the delay. The power was out here until 11 this morning. I'll make this quick.

Last week I somehow forgot the New Orleans-Indianapolis game last week, which sucks as I would have picks New Orleans. Oh well, I went 5-6-1 as a result of that brain fart and move to 40-41-5 on the year. The big miss was taking Oakland to cover against Kansas City. How was I supposed to know Kyler Boller and Carson Palmer would combine for four picks? Actually, that sounds a lot more probable than them leading the team to victory.

So once again my picks are mediocre. We'll see what happens when my fiancee does the picking this week, as she usually crushed me.

The home teams are in caps.

• TENNESSEE (-8) over Indianapolis
• Jacksonville (+10) over HOUSTON
• CAROLINA (-3) over Minnesota
• New Orleans (-13.5) over ST. LOUIS
• Arizona (+12) over BALTIMORE
• NEW YORK GIANTS (-9.5) over Miami
• BUFFALO (-4.5) over Washington
• Detroit (-3) over DENVER
• PITTSBURGH (+2.5) over New England
• SAN FRANCISCO (-9) over Cleveland
• Cincinnati (-1.5) over SEATTLE
• Dallas (+3) over PHILADELPHIA
• San Diego (-3) over KANSAS CITY

Baseball trivia

By Jeff

Greg sent out a baseball question last week, which inspired this post. Test your baseball knowledge! Please try to resist the urge to Google or use other search engines, Web sites, baseball almanacs, other blogs or friends.

1. What active pitcher(s) has the most postseason wins?
2. Albert Pujols has the fourth most postseason hits among active players. Who are the other top 3 (No order)?
3. What player had the most hits in the 1990s?

The following questions are all regarding 2000-2010

1. Who hit the most home runs in the decade?
2. What year did Barry Bonds hit 72 home runs?
3. Who was the only player to collect 2,000 hits in the decade?
4. What team used a rally monkey on their way to a World Series win?
5. What team only dropped one game en route to the championship?
6. Who did the Red Sox beat in 2007 World Series?
7. Jake Westbrook had the most wins for the Indians in 2006. Who had the second and third most wins for the team that season?
8. Who did Roger Clemens throw a broken bat at in the 2000 "Subway Series"?
9. Which team won 116 games in 2001, but didn't get to the World Series?
10. Who was the 2004 World Series MVP?

Got more? share them.

Don Henley - Boys of Summer

Thoughts on Tebow's comeback

By Jeff

Has there ever been an NFL game between two terrible teams so hyped before last Sunday's Denver-Miami contest? The teams came in boasting a combined 1-9 record. Yet all the analysts and sports shows were watching for one reason. That reason was Tim Tebow was starting.

And what a start it was. For three and a half quarters, Tebow was dreadful. I've had the pleasure to watch the game earlier this week on replay. It was painful and made me hate football for three hours.

Of course, the Tebow lovers out there will point out that it was the first time in NFL history a team came back from a 15-point deficit with five minutes left to win. This is true, but come on. We're talking about the Miami Dolphins. The 0-6 Miami Dolphins who have lost nine straight games if you go back to last year. The Miami Dolphins who were starting Matt Moore at quarterback.

Tebow was 13-for-27 with two touchdowns and less than 170 yards through the air. He did well with some runs and ended up ith more than 60, but it was not a good start.

He absolutely had a great throw to tight end Daniel Fells to set up the touchdown. Fells also made a great catch. And on that second touchdown, go back and look at how at least one offensive lineman was illegally down the field. Just something to keep in mind before we declare this one of the greatest wins in the history of the sports world.

There was also a great story on Grantland that pointed out how the rest of the Broncos team was more responsible for the win than Tebow. They got onside kick, and they recovered the fumble that set up the winning field goal.

This is really turning into more of a hatefest than I intended, so I apologize. You can't deny that Tebow is a born leader. His team rallies around him wherever he plays. He is charismatic and you can tell he lives for the game. He is the type of player you want in the locker room and to have your back.

Right now there seems to be a trend with all of these teams (I'm looking at you Ravens, Dolphins, Colts and Jets) having players call out coaches and fellow players. Tebow will never do that. Look back to his press conference after he and the Florida Gators lost to Ole Miss. He took responsibility, promised he'd do what it took to ensure the team never lost again that season, and then he delivered. There is no question he has the heart and attitude to succeed in the NFL. I just don't think he has the skill set.

You can have an awkward throwing motion in the NFL and get away with it. Phillip Rivers is the perfect example. The difference between Rivers and Tebow, though, is that Rivers' motion allows him to get rid of the ball quick. Tebow's takes a lot of time. In the NFL, that usually translates to problems.

Tebow also doesn't see the field well right now. This is something he should improve on, but it's not happening right now. If his man isn't open when he looks at him, Tebow isn't throwing it that way. The guy could be open in another step, but Tebow is already looking elsewhere or tucking it. I think that should change as he gets more comfortable with his receivers and they with him. He did just lose his best option in Brandon Lloyd, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt there.

So now that I've made nice, I want to get back to all the hype surrounding that game. It was so overblown and ridiculous. It overshadowed so many other, more interesting storylines (This seems to be a running theme with Tebow coverage). Let's look at a few that were hardly covered, if at all, by the media.

• The Texans destroying Tennessee and maybe on their way to a first-ever playoff appearance
• The Chiefs shutting out the Raiders and improving to 3-3. They've won three in a row and the AFC West is wide open
• The Chargers' atrocious clock management, strategy and execution in the second half
• Can analysts finally admit they may have been wrong when they gushed about Joe Flacco?
• What are the Dolphins waiting for in firing Tony Sparano? The team has given up on him and life
• Here are some players with a higher passer rating than Kevin Kolb: Alex Smith, Curtis Painter, Andy Dalton, Mark Sanchez, Donovan McNabb, Cam Newton, Tavaris Jackson, Matt Cassel and Chad Henne
• Other than Jackson, Cassel and Henne, all of the above names also have higher passer ratings than Rivers as well
• Other than his 10-catch, 172-yard performance against New England, Vincent Jackson has 14 catches for 251 yards in the other five games combined this season. Thhis is a year after he held out for more than half the season and tried to hold up CBA negotiations this summer because he didn't want to be franchised. I drafted him in three fantasy leagues. Balls

Kenny Loggins ft. Michael McDonald - This is It

Week 7 picks

By Jeff

No time to really get into detail this week. I'm bidding on house and am nervous.

After a 6-6-1 Week 6, I'm 35-35-4 on the season. The biggest miss was picking the Dallas Cowboys to cover against the New England Patriots and then switching. Cowardly move on my part.

Week 7 is below and the home teams are in caps.

Tampa Bay (+1.5) over Chicago - I have no idea what will happen in the London game. Jay Cutler will probably be sacked a lot.

Washington (+2.5) over CAROLINA - I get that John Beck is not great, but neither was Rex Grossman.

San Diego (+1) over NEW YORK JETS - The Jets have a terrible offense.

CLEVELAND (-3) over Seattle - Pretty sure I just saw an injury report that both of Seattle's quarterbacks are doubtful.

Houston (+3) over TENNESSEE - This is a huge game. The two fantasy MVPs from the past two years with their big receivers hurt. Going with the points.

Denver (PK) over MIAMI - The Dolphins are so bad I'm picking Tebow.

Atlanta (+4) over DETROIT - Not sure how the Lions are going to rebound from last week's tough loss.

OAKLAND (-4) over Kansas City - I can't name five offensive starters for the Chiefs.

Pittsburgh (-3.5) over ARIZONA - Poor Larry Fitzgerald. The man could be one of the best to play thegame, yet he is having seasons wasted away because of poor quarterback play.

DALLAS (-14) over St. Louis - The Rams really suck.

Green Bay (-9.5) over MINNESOTA - I understand why the Vikings are starting Christian Ponder. Donovan McNabb was not getting it done. Of course, having your first NFL start against a great defense led by Charles Woodson is rough. Ponder will struggle a lot and the Packers will roll.

Baltimore (-9) over JACKSONVILLE - Jack Del Rio's seat has to be burning right now.

Tom Petty - You Wreck Me

Losing faith in humanity

By Jeff

Moammar Qaddafi, the former tyrannical leader of Libya was killed today. He was an evil man and I'm not sad one bit about his death. But that doesn't mean I enjoyed the video on Yahoo of his corpse being paraded around.

I'm not proud to say I watched it. But I did. I wish I didn't. It was gruesome. No matter how many video games or movies you've seen where there are corpses, it really doesn't desensitize you to a real dead body. Well, at least not me.

I'm sure there are people out there who saw the video and nodded approval or just didn't give it much of a thought. The fact major news outlets are showing the video is proof of that.

There was a time that kind of footage would never be shown. My instinct would be to not run it, just as I would not have released photos of Osama Bin Laden despite many cries to do so. Maybe I sound lame, but with as much violence, fake and real, in the world, do we really need to see a corpse of a fallen enemy? Does it bring us more closure than just knowing an evil person is gone?

It's not as if seeing video would make those who would doubt Qaddafi (or Bin Laden) are actually dead change their minds and be convinced. So once again, what is the point of releasing this video? I understand that it was Al Jazeera who released the footage, but Yahoo and other US outlets didn't have to follow suit.

More Philly radio whining

By Jeff

When the Philadelphia Phillies lost, the town of Philadelphia was pretty crushed. Their radio stations jumped all over this and asked their callers to call in the week following to share how sad they were about the loss.

This week is something new. Now some of their popular radio hosts and the callers are crying about the Major League Baseball playoff format.

What are they crying about? The best-of-five series in the Divisional Round. Apparently it's not fair that a team that won more than 100 games only gets one more home game than the wild card team with 90 wins.

My favorite complaint of a radio host here, Mike Missanelli, is that the five-game series doesn' let the No. 1 seed comeback if they lose Game 2. His example was Cliff Lee not getting an opportunity to pitch two games, especially after blowing Game 2 this year.

You have to be kidding me. The advantage the Phillies had was they were playing the team with the worst record in the playoffs. They had one more home game and a better team. What more of an advantage do you need? To blame the format for the loss is a joke. The offense couldn't score a run in their biggest game of the season. That's why they lost.

Also, even if it is a seven-game series, the higher seed would still only have one more home game. You have more time to come back, but if they played to the level they should have and were capable of, it would have never got to Game 5.

As annoying as it is to hear these excuses, and I'm finding there is always an excuse for Philly sports teams, it's fun hearing these members of the sports media and the fans talk up their teams so much, only to watch them choke.

Bad Company - Shooting Star

Schwartz and Harbaugh tussle overblown

By Jeff

The little pushing contest between Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz and San Francisco 49ers head coach John Harbaugh was entertaining. It's not often coaches get in each others' faces. Usually we just hear them trading barbs back and forth through the media.

With that being said, should it really be the biggest story coming out of Week 6? It wasn't even much of a scrum. One guy shook a hand too hard and gave too hard of a pat on the back. The other then chased him down the field. That's it.

And lost in that was a game that saw five or six lead changes throughout. That is the story. The 49ers and Lions are 5-1 this season. One of them will probably have a first-round bye in the playoffs if they keep this up. Yet what most people are talking about is a over enthusiastic handshake.

As I'm watching Sportscenter right now they are calling it Handshake gate. Seriously? It has it's own name?

This type of thing really annoys me, as you can tell. There are probably 10 better, more interesting storylines from the weekend's games. Did the Dallas Cowboys give a blue print to stall the New England offense? Should we really worry about the Cincinnati Bengals? Are the Oakland Raiders the favorite to win the AFC West? Will the New York Giants ever be consistent? Will the Tampa Bay Bucs ever be consistent? Are the Philadelphia Eagles back?

All of these deserve more time than a handshake that ended in shoving.

Velvet Underground - Heroin