Mikey D

Just call me "Ironman" from now on. The final updated standings:

Mike: 174
Kevin: 164
Adam: 157

I felt bad before Week 17 that Kevin had to make his picks two weeks in advance, as it was kind of an unfair advantage for me. Then I remembered why he made his picks two weeks in advance, so I stopped feeling bad for him. Besides that, I went 14-2 anyway in Week 17, so it would have been impossible for him to have beaten me even if he got every game right.

Fair is fair though, Adam. You took a title away from me, so I took one from you. Except you have shiny belt to show off....grrr....

Okay, onto the playoff predictions!

Wild Card:
Baltimore over Miami
Minnesota over Philadelphia
Arizona over Atlanta
San Diego over Indianapolis

Divisional:
Tennessee over Baltimore
Pittsburgh over San Diego
New York over Arizona
Carolina over Minnesota

Conference:
Pittsburgh over Tennessee
New York over Carolina

Super Bowl:
New York Giants over Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-16

I had the Steelers vs. Saints in my preseason prediction (oops on one of those), with the Steelers winning it all, so obviously I'm changing my mind on my Super Bowl champ. That means go bet heavily on the Steelers. The sports gods will make me pay for not sticking with my original pick.

Did anyone read about how the Pro Bowl in a couple years will be played before the Super Bowl? There's no way that players preparing for the Super Bowl will be able to play in that...what if, for argument sake, the Cowboys had made it to the Super Bowl with their 13 Pro-Bowlers? That's like a forth of the roster that'll need to be replaced! My personal feeling is make Week 9 reserved for the Pro Bowl, eliminate all bye-weeks, and have it played in the middle of the season like every other major sport. Or just keep it the way it is.

~Mikey D

This is it!

Updated Standings:
Mike: 160
Kevin: 156
Adam: 145

Week 17 Picks
Houston over Chicago
Minnesota over New York
Atlanta over St. Louis
Indianapolis over Tennessee
New Orleans over Carolina
New England over Buffalo
Pittsburgh over Cleveland
Cincinnati over Kansas City
Tampa Bay over Oakland
Green Bay over Detroit
San Francisco over Washington
Arizona over Seattle
Baltimore over Jacksonville
Miami over New York
San Diego over Denver
Philadelphia over Dallas

~Mikey D

Kev, make sure you make picks for Week 17, too!

So the bowl match-ups are out, and these are the games I'll be shooting to watch:
Poinsettia Bowl: TCU/Boise St. (Dec. 23)
Capital One Bowl: Michigan State/Georgia (Jan. 1)
Rose Bowl: Penn State/USC (Jan. 1)
Sugar Bowl: Utah/Alabama (Jan. 2)
BCS Championship: Florida/Oklahoma (Jan. 8)

There really aren't a lot of intriguing match-ups outside the heavyweight BCS bowls. I really wish Texas Tech could have drawn a better opponent, and the same with Texas and BYU. The games just aren't appealing, and its sad because they all have had fantastic seasons and deserve better than the bowls they got. TCU and Boise St. on December 23rd in the fucking Poinsettia Bowl??? Boise St. was a borderline BCS team for Christ's sake! Not to mention it's the #9 against #11 team in the nation. It just deserves a better billing, that's all.

Michigan State basketball is dropping like a rock...#18 and #20 in the polls. I'm not worried though. We have a lot of growing to do, so I haven't hit the panic button yet. If we're playing this badly in January/February with Suton back, then I'll start to freak out. Has anyone else noticed that Michigan has beaten UCLA and Duke so far this season. Uh-oh, they're back...

Good luck to everyone in their fantasy playoffs. Grace in her work league and Knob Hill, Adam in Knob Hill, Kevin in his family league, and me in my three other Yahoo leagues not named Knob Hill. Kev, I hope I beat you by a tenth of a point this week.

Onto the picks.

Updated standings:
Mike: 143
Kevin: 136
Adam: 128

Just trying to hold on...go make those Week 15 picks!

Week 15 Picks
Chicago over New Orleans
Kansas City over San Diego
Miami over San Francisco
Atlanta over Tampa Bay
New York over Buffalo
Washington over Cincinnati
Seattle over St. Louis
Indianapolis over Detroit
Houston over Tennessee
Jacksonville over Green Bay
Arizona over Minnesota
Carolina over Denver
Baltimore over Pittsburgh
New England over Oakland
New York over Dallas
Philadelphia over Cleveland

These picks make me uncomfortable....

~Mikey D

Well, not much to say about the MSU game last night. I liked what I saw, for the most part, in the half of basketball that I watched. Mark my words, we will be a completely different team come February and March. I am excited to see how we grow. But last night was all about Carolina. Holy mother of god they are ridiculous at every position. That is one hell of a basketball team, and it's better than their national championship team of Felton, May, and Williams. To state the obvious, they're really good.

I liked how Izzo summed up the game: "You didn't see our real team tonight, but our real team might have lost by 20," Izzo said. "They're definitely one of the best teams I've seen in my 25 years at Michigan State."

Onto the picks.

Updated Standings:
Mike: 131
Kevin: 123
Adam: 115

Go make those picks!

Week 14 Picks
San Diego over Oakland
Chicago over Jacksonville
Minnesota over Detroit
Green Bay over Houston
Tennessee over Cleveland
Indianapolis over Cincinnati
New Orleans over Atlanta
New York over Philadelphia
Denver over Kansas City
Miami over Buffalo
New York over San Francisco
New England over Seattle
Arizona over St. Louis
Dallas over Pittsburgh
Baltimore over Washington
Carolina over Tampa Bay

~Mikey D

I'm going to play the repeater for the second year in a row. Last year I talked about what a travesty it was that LSU jumped 3 teams in the BCS poll and into the National Championship despite the three teams in front of them not losing. What irked me was that the polls (AP and Coach's) were essentially rendered meaningless in the end. Because the polls play such a large part in the formula of the BCS, the only way that people could have gotten LSU into the title game was if they moved LSU up to #2 in the ranking, which they did, thus pushing them in front of three teams that did nothing to hurt their stock. The integrity of the poll system, the little that it had (biased coaches and the such), was gone. College football used the poll system all season long as a gauge for measuring the "best team", but abandoned their system and rankings at the very end. What's the point of even having rankings? If none, why are they such a large part of the BCS system?

So all morning I hear about this Texas-Oklahoma bullshit. "Well Texas beat Oklahoma head-to-head." "Well Oklahoma destroyed Texas Tech and has scored 60+ the last two weeks over ranked opponents." Irrelevant, I say! Save your arguments and reasoning, because I don't give two shits and a fuck. The only thing that should matter is the polls. Texas was #2, Oklahoma #3. Texas won convincingly over their in-state rival, and Oklahoma did as well. Both teams won. Texas is still #2. Oklahoma is still #3. No more discussion. Respect the polls. You had Oklahoma at #3 a week ago, keep them there dammit! You should not jump a team in the polls that did nothing to hurt its ranking (and did everything to help it) if the polls have any integrity and true meaning.

But they don't. And I hate it.

~Mikey D

On the ESPN scroll this morning during SportsCenter it said that Drew Henson has been named the backup to Daunte Culpepper. First, how is this news that made the ticker? Second, how can you not laugh after reading that? Drew Henson is the backup to Daunte Culpepper- that’s how awful the Lions are. Third, how is that Drew Stanton pick looking? Here’s hoping he’s injured or something, because that’s awful to be third on our depth chart, especially behind two wastes of spaces in Culpepper and Henson.

I lost again in fantasy this week, but I am happy. For once I did not lose to the first or second highest scorer. It just brings peace to my fantasy soul for some reason. My team did okay again, so I can’t complain. They’ve been consistently mediocre all year, so they lived up to their billing. Another benefit of losing this week means that Stacey jumps in front of Kevin for the last playoff spot. Since I hate Kevin, that makes me happy.

Listening to the debates about how the BCS is all screwed up (again) just makes me want to scream and yell. Adam, I just don’t get how you can love this sport so much when year after year we get this same drama. It’s getting old year after year, and the debates aren’t even fun because they will not come to any sort of satisfying resolution when the season is all said and done. Grrrr…just get a damn playoff!

Alright, onto the picks. Kevin has started his comeback charge…

Updated Standings:
Mike: 120
Kevin: 113
Adam: 106

Go make your picks! (Adam, don't forget the MNF game this week. You forgot it last week and I didn't notice until I was counting winners, sorry.)

Week 13 Picks
Philadelphia over Arizona
Tennessee over Detroit
Dallas over Seattle
Green Bay over Carolina
New York over Washington
Baltimore over Cincinnati
Indianapolis over Cleveland
Buffalo over San Francisco
Tampa Bay over New Orleans
Miami over St. Louis
San Diego over Atlanta
Kansas City over Oakland
New York over Denver
Minnesota over Chicago
New England over Pittsburgh
Houston over Jacksonville

Not picking the Lions this week…a smart decision on my part.

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Mikey D

Updated Standings:
Mike: 110
Kevin: 100
Adam: 98

Go make your picks!

Week 12 Picks
Pittsburgh over Cincinnati
Cleveland over Houston
Kansas City over Buffalo
Miami over New England
Tennessee over New York
Baltimore over Philadelphia
Dallas over San Francisco
Detroit over Tampa Bay
Chicago over St. Louis
Denver over Oakland
Minnesota over Jacksonville
Atlanta over Carolina
New York over Arizona
Washington over Seattle
San Diego over Indianapolis
New Orleans over Green Bay

Yeah, I'm picking the Lions. Oops.

~Mikey D

I've been enamored the past couple of days with fantasy stats since Matt Cassell decided to have his best game of his career (probably at any level) on Thursday night.

I discovered that each and every week I've played either the top scorer for the week, or the 2nd highest scorer, in all nine of my losses. It doesn't upset me anymore as the season is lost for me, but now it just amazes me how it happens week in and week out, and thus far in Week 11 it appears it's going that route again.

But I delved in a little deeper into the stats of our league this year, and found some interesting things- well to me, because I'm a gigantic dork. Although Kevin probably spent hours making a fantasy video about Vince Young, so maybe that just makes me a dork.

I started looking at the FPA (Fantasy Points Against). Here's the list of the total points scored against each team thus far:

Mike: 996.88
Kevin: 891.08
Stacey: 846.77
Amber: 792.07
Grace: 770.54
Dave: 744.39
Brian: 732.17
Adam: 711.14

What to take away from these stats? Well, I've been scored on over a 100 points than the next highest person, for starters! But besides that, I was surprised to see that Kevin and Stacey were the next in line, given their overall records. What it means is that they are winning despite getting scored upon, which translates to their teams legit and good. If they play you and you have a down week, they are probably going to beat you.

Also, the top two teams in our league are Adam and Dave, and they're in the top 3 in least points scored against. Coincidence? Maybe. But it doesn't hurt when trying to win in fantasy. In looking a little deeper I was amazed to see Adam's schedule. No team all year has scored over 87.06 points against Adam! In fact, only two teams have broken 80 against Adam all year!!! And the two teams that did have given Adam his only two losses. That's some great luck with the schedule, but to Adam's credit his team has capitalized with good performances to take the wins. Luck and skill is a tough combination to beat.

One last curiosity...Brian's team, despite my record, is the worst team in the league. Despite being scored on the 3rd least, he's the worst in the amount of points he's scored. His team does not put up points, but because of bad weeks by other teams he's somehow pulling out a 4-6 record.

Another thing I noticed was the point differentials (points scored minus points scored by opponent). Look at the list:

Dave: +147.49
Adam: +81.77
Grace: +33.11
Amber: +19.27
Kevin: -37.83
Brian: -38.28
Stacey: -42.34
Mike: -163.21

Dave and Adam have taken care of business. Again, I think it's telling that Kevin and Stacey's teams have a negative differential but are right there in the playoff mix. If you had to project the four playoff teams right now, you'd have to Dave, Adam, Kevin, and Stacey. They have good squads. Me? Not so much.

Also, when looking at trades done this year, Adam is involved in most. So? When you push the action, good things happen. Well...most of the time. I'm the second most active, and it hasn't worked out so well. But in my three other leagues I have been active and it's brought much success. I'm sure Adam would agree trading and being active is a key part in fantasy success. Here's the list of trades and the winners:

-L.T. and Holt for Barber and Colston (Adam and Mike, slight advantage Mike based on points scored thus far)
-Dallas Clark for Tony Gonzalez (Mike and Amber, advantage Amber)
-Steven Jackson for Marshawn Lynch and Felix Jones (Mike and Stacey, advantage Stacey)
-Greg Jennings for Kellen Winslow (Adam and Kevin, advantage Adam)
-Kyle Orton for Laverneous Coles (Adam and Mike, advantage Adam)
-Peyton Manning for Muhammed and Rodgers (Adam and Brian, advantage Adam)

Adam recognized weaknesses in his team and then made it better. Remember he started the year with Hasselbeck and Anderson as his two starting QBs, and while he was fortunate A. Rodgers bailed him out, he is starting Peyton Manning and the surprising Orton (most of the time) now. Upgrade. And sorry Kev, but he got a stud #1 receiver when he needed it (with Moss' value down) for a tight end, an absolute steal. And with LT being a usual second half star, there's no reason to think he won't win our initial trade that began the year. I love the trades he made; that's what makes him good.

But enough love for Adam. I hope the rest of your team sucks this week you stupid fucker.

~Mikey D

Short and sweet.

Updated Standings:
Mike- 99
Kevin- 88
Adam- 87

Go make your picks!

Week 11 Picks
New England over New York
Atlanta over Denver
Indianapolis over Houston
Miami over Oakland
New York over Baltimore
Carolina over Detroit
Philadelphia over Cincinnati
New Orleans over Kansas City
Green Bay over Chicago
San Francisco over St. Louis
Minnesota over Tampa Bay
Arizona over Seattle
Tennessee over Jacksonville
Pittsburgh over San Diego
Washington over Dallas
Buffalo over Cleveland

~Mikey D

First, I cannot believe Michigan State could possibly be a 10-win team, Big Ten Champs, and Rose Bowl bound. I thought it could happen sometime in my lifetime, but this soon under Dantonio's tenure? Perhaps it's because the conference is down that we're still in it, but perhaps it's because for the first time in awhile we're legit. I'm guessing it's somewhere in the middle. A #18 ranking seems about right. I am ridiculously impressed though, and while I won't go as far as Adam to say I like Dantonio more than Izzo, I do hope he stays awhile and leaves his mark on this program.

And as much as I love MSU, I am just as in love with Texas Tech!!! I am such a fan of college football right now and it's because of this group. Name me a team that's more fun to watch? I cannot take my eyes off them. Their games are highly entertaining and they're just so damn likable. I mean for years all you hear about is Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and sometimes schools like K-State, Kansas, and Missouri in the Big 12. But Tech is for real.

And look how much fun their student body has! Faces painted up like the Joker?! That's just fucking awesome. How creepy is that to look into the stands and see?

And Michael Crabtree. Yes, here's my weekly Heisman plug. 13th straight game with at least 5 catches and a TD. The only other two to do that was Larry Fitzgerald and Randy Moss (good company). What's more impressive is he got 89 yards and 3 TDs yesterday against the #9 team in the land on a bum ankle. And if you watched Sportscenter this morning, after each one of his TDs they replayed the moves he put on the defender to get open. What more do you need??? On a bum ankle, against the 9th ranked team in the country, he hauls in 3 touchdowns! And not only that, the moves he put on the defenders were done effortlessly and given props by ESPN! Heisman, Heisman, Heisman!!!

I found this video on YouTube. It's from last year, but I kind of like it. I was doing the little crab-pinchers all during the game last night. If you watch this entire video (yes, it's dumb as all hell, so please, no comments about that), I will mail you one dollar. Now we are going off the honor system here, so I am trusting your integrity. If you can make it through...one dollar.

My updated top-5:
1. Alabama
2. Texas Tech
3. Florida
4. Texas
5. USC

And Tech would smoke Bama if they played. No doubt.

~Mikey D

Is Adam destined to be the fantasy champ? I wouldn't bet against it. Going into Monday night, Stacey had Jeff Reed and was trailing Adam by a few points. Stacey must have felt good knowing that the game was going to be low scoring (lots of field goals potentially). And while there were less field goals than anticipated, Jeff Reed got the 5 points that Stacey needed to put her on top. Except Adam ended up winning by four. Why? Jeff Reed inexcusably missed an extra point, thus costing Stacey the game. Destiny? When kickers start missing extra points and thus leading your team to victory, one has to wonder...

A.I. trade. I'm warming to it. I was intially against it for a few reasons. The main being I don't like A.I. as a player. I always thought he was a me-first guy who just didn't mesh well with teammates. If the game was all about going one-on-one, I'd love him. He's not a point guard, so just plugging him in where Billups was isn't logical. He's a scorer first and foremost, a passer second. Billups was the team leader, the floor general, the heart and soul of our team. If anyone were going, I thought it'd be Sheed...

All that being said, the trade makes a lot of sense for us now. Obviously we needed to shake things up. Mission accomplished. Whether the risk will end in reward remains to be seen, but if it doesn't work out we're not locked into anything. I think that's what's most important. If A.I. sucks in Detroit, we can let him walk and say we tried. His contract is expiring at the end of this year, which is fantastic for us as it clears all sorts of money off our books and puts us way under the salary cap. Stephen A. said the move opens up the possibility of going after a guy like LeBron, and while I could never see that happening, I do like the idea of going after other free agents from that crop, like Bosh or Wade. Thinking ahead, I'd love Bosh in Detroit. I'm picturing a starting five of Stuckey-Hamilton-Prince-Bosh-Maxiell. I'd go to battle with that. Notice there's no Sheed in the picture, as I'm hoping we move him for something that makes our roster better, either excellent parts off the bench or draft picks. So like I said, I can see the benefits of the trade now, especially long term. In Joe D I trust.

Okay, back to football.

Updated Standings after 9 Weeks:
Mike: 90 (12-2 last week, 10-4 on coin flip picks)
Kevin: 79 (11-3 last week, 8-6 on coin flip picks)
Adam: 78 (9-5 last week, 5-9 on coin flip picks)

Even though Adam picked the least amount correctly, he had the balls to pick Kansas City over Tampa Bay, and he should have been right on that one. That was almost the call of the year, and I don't think anyone would have predicted that anywhere in the country (outside of Kansas City).

Go make your picks!

Week 10 Picks
Cleveland over Denver
Jacksonville over Detroit
New York over St. Louis
Tennessee over Chicago
Baltimore over Houston
New Orleans over Atlanta
Buffalo over New England
Miami over Seattle
Minnesota over Green Bay
Pittsburgh over Indianapolis
Carolina over Oakland
San Diego over Kansas City
Philadelphia over New York
Arizona over San Francisco

Upset Pick: I'm not sure what the lines are to see who's favored, but I'm imagining New England at home will be favored over Buffalo. I like Buffalo! They've been beat down their last two divisional games, so this is really a must-win for them. Give me a talented team with their backs against the wall! While everyone loves the Patriots resilience, their schedule has been s-o-f-t. Bottom line: They don't have Brady, they lost their RBs, and their defense is suspect. You can only go so far with Cassell and Kevin Faulk in your backfield. Trent Edwards hits Lee Evans deep, throw a couple TDs, and Lynch and Jackson control the game late on the ground.

Fantasy Guys I Was Impressed With This Week:
QB- Tyler Thigpen. I just love his stat line. 164 yards and 1 TD passing, 6 carries for 22 yards on the ground, and 1 catch for 37 yards and a TD. He outperformed 2 of the 3 guys who I started at receiver this week, haha. I am even more impressed he did all that against Tampa Bay, which is pretty stout on the defensive end.

RB- Ray Rice. Guessing who is coming out of the Baltimore backfield is becoming ridiculously difficult, and Grace has been burned twice this year. That being said, Rice emerged and ran for a 154 yards this week. Nice job, rook.

WR- Derek Mason- Woop! The juke move he put on the Cleveland corner was a thing of beauty. This old timer still has it, to the tune of 136 yards and a TD.

TE- Brent Celek- The backup to the backup tight end isn't supposed to catch 131 yards worth of passes and set a team record for yards caught by a tight end! Except that's what he did.

Fantasy Guys I Like This Week:
QB- Brady Quinn (a short week means less time to think about his start, and he's been waiting for this moment. And Denver is bad), RB- DeAngelo Williams (I think Oakland is bad, so I'm picturing Carolina with a lead and sitting on it), Roscoe Parish (I just think there's some big plays to be had against that NE secondary...), TE- Marcedes Lewis (Way out on a limb here, but we'll see)

Last week I was 3 out of 4. Not bad. I hit on Bulger (couple of TD tosses), Shiancoe (got a TD, which you will gladly take out of a tight end), and Graham (although his fumbles almost made his decent day bad). Missed on Hester, as his fumble hurt him, as well as losing Orton halfway through the game.

And before I go, I was perusing YouTube when I found this old clip of Plaxico during his MSU days abusing David Terrell. It makes me happy. I am still enjoying and smiling about our victory over U of M this year. I feel like with 8+ wins, a win over U of M, and U of M not going to a bowl this year, our season has been like a dream. Just finish strong, MSU!



Was that Mike Golic doing the announcing?

~Mikey D

Love me some Texas Tech!

Besides Michigan State this is by far my favorite college team. Love the offense. Love the coach (did you know he went to law school?). Love that each member of the offensive line has a nickname, like 'Mankind'. Love that their kicker was a student two weeks ago and won a contest for free rent, and then the starting kicker job.

Oh, and I love Michael Crabtree...did you know?

College football is not my favorite sport, I am a pro guy, and I've made that known before. But yesterday I was actually excited to watch Texas-Texas Tech. It's been a long while since I've been this pumped about a college football game- and it delivered.

Hell of a game, and if it was on Texas' turf, they probably would have won it. They were a few seconds away from winning this one. But I don't want to get into all the details of the game. Just the last play of the game.

Michael fucking Crabtree. Game on the line. 28 yards from the win. Last chance. Watch that play. Harrell got him the ball, but then Michael Crabtree, with two defenders, spins off one, and just races to the endzone. If you watch it, he does it so effortlessly. Think about it though- if just one of them can push Crabtree just a few more inches to the sideline and out of bounds, the game is over. No more time on the clock. Tech will lose the game. Crabtree gets away from both defenders for the game winning score. Fantastic.

Crabtree's final line was 10 catches, 127 yards, and that game winning score. He put up those numbers against the number one team, and you have to remember that defenses now are trying to stop him! He's the guy secondaries are paying the most attention to! Amazing.

Please give him some Heisman love. I don't care if he doesn't win it, just put his name in the mix. Even Herbstreit said, "Michael Crabtree, the best player in college football." What's the definition of the Heisman again?

And if I had a choice, I'd love to see Florida-Texas Tech in the National Championship. I think SEC-Big 12 would be the match-up of the two premiere conferences, and in my opinion, these are the two most exciting teams from each.

My Top 5:

1. Penn State
2. Alabama
3. Texas Tech
4. Florida
5. USC

~Mikey D

I'll be honest, I want more baseball. I'm sad to see it go. But I'm glad to see it go the way it did- with the Phillies on top (the only thing better would have been the Tigers!). They are clearly my second favorite team now, with Grace's undying loyalty and the love I felt after catching Jimmy Rollins' homerun ball up in Philly. I can actually name every player on the Phillies roster, but not every Tigers player. Eek.

Yesterday was the parade for the Phillies championship, and over two million people showed. I tried to watch as much of it as I could at work online, and when I got home. It was pretty awesome, just based on the enthusiasm of the fans. You could tell this championship meant a lot to the city, which is great. I like it better that way. Teams from New York, Boston, L.A.- it happens all the time, and while I'm sure it's special, a championship doesn't have the same meaning to the city as it does elsewhere.

But yes, the parade. It had all your usually parade shit, minus all the gigantic floats. My favorite part was when a reporter interviewed a kid and asked, "Shouldn't you be in school?" and the kid said, "Hell no!" And instead of laughing, the reporter just agreed with the kid and said, "That's right! You get an 'A' for social studies today!" It was funny. And the parade "announcers" continually made fun of people that didn't take off work or went to school. They showed shots of the side streets with cars, and they would call them out, saying they shouldn't be driving, but out in the streets. Good times.

The parade ended at the ballpark and all the players gave a little speech. And Chase Utley stole the show. I'm sure people in the Phillies front office were none to happy with him, but of well. To preface, Chase got in a little hot water at the All-Star game for swearing on national television. When introduced at Yankee Stadium, the fans booed him (Mets-Phillies hate each other, mind you), and Chase, straight into the camera said, "Boo? Fuck you!" Not the classiest of moves, but I do say he embodies that Philadelphia spirit. That's a town of people that doesn't take crap from anyone.

So Chase got up yesterday, and gave his small speech. This speech was shown live on MLB.com, as well as all the Philadelphia tv stations (Fox, NBC, etc.). Chase, again, had the live tv spotlight...



Haha, ah Chase Utley. A Philadelphia Phillie for life.

Congrats, Phillies. 2008 World Series Champions. And for those who discount them, think about these things. They were 11-3 in the postseason and undefeated at home. They beat the team that was best set up for a short series in the Brewers in four, knocked off the hottest team in baseball in the Dodgers in five, and smoked the team that had the league's best record in Tampa Bay in five. There were no flukes, there were no, "well the Phillies just got hot". If that was the case people would have actually picked the "hot" team in each of those series, but nobody did. The majority went with the Brewers. The majority went with the Dodgers. The majority went with the Rays. And the Phillies, EASILY, beat them all.

World Champs.

~Mikey D

Well, that's it. My fantasy season, barring any sort of miracle, is all but over. This must make Adam quite happy, as he had trashed talked me all last week, which I will take as a compliment. It shows he was worried about me, even though I was 1-6. Or he was just rubbing all the losing I have endured in my face =). Either wayyyyyyyyyyy it looks like the belt is going to someone else. May the best man...or woman...win. Except Kevin. I hate him.

I actually got the privilege of watching the Lions this weekend! Well, I don't know if I should call it a privilege, because they were god-awful. The 8-point deficit they lost by could have been 20+. I was screaming at Orlovsky every time he threw a fucking dump off to a running back. That's all he did! And the Redskins, like any good team, let them have it and then smacked the running back in the face and held them to a three yard gain. It was ridiculous. And amazingly, when they got the ball to Calvin Johnson, good things happened. Go figure. And it wasn't even like he was double-covered! The announcers throughout the game kept questioning the Lions' strategy, as they kept saying Johnson was open for the ball. Again, just ridiculous. Has this been what it's been like all year??? I know I shouldn't be surprised, but my god.

But, on the plus side, I love Calvin Johnson. I love calling him Megatron. I do a robot voice whenever he touches the ball. "I...am...MEGATRON!!!" It kind of sounds like the Fox robot, Cleatus when I do it. Good times. It was my only amusement during the Lions game. Man, I think I've officially hit rock bottom as a Lions fan...

Anyway, after 8 weeks the standings are:
Mike: 78
Adam: 69
Kevin: 68

Alright, onto the Week 9 picks!

Week 9
Buffalo over New York
Minnesota over Houston
Arizona over St. Louis
Chicago over Detroit
Tampa Bay over Kansas City
Baltimore over Cleveland
Jacksonville over Cincinnati
Tennessee over Green Bay
Miami over Denver
Atlanta over Oakland
Philadelphia over Seattle
New York over Dallas
Indianapolis over New England
Pittsburgh over Washington

Upset Pick: I've got two in a row! First Oakland over New York, then Miami over Buffalo! I've got no true upset pick this week, so I am on my bye week. Unless you consider Miami over Denver an upset. Or Arizona over St. Louis. Those are coin flips, in my opinion. Pick em'.

Fantasy Guys I Was Impressed With This Week
QB- Kurt Warner. I benched him this week because of all the success that Carolina has had at home against QBs. Drew Brees did absolutely nothing against them, and I figure Warner and the Cardinals would struggle. Oops. 350+ yards and two scores later I'm kicking myself for starting J.T. fucking O'Sullivan over him.

RB- Brian Westbrook. Heeeee's back! He didn't need to shake off any rust, and there looked to be no signs of him ever having an injury. 175+ total yards and 2TDs? Nicely done.

WR- Santana Moss. I know he was against the Lions, but still. 140 yards and a score, AND a returned punt for a TD. He was Reggie Bush. He was everywhere, and the Lions could not even come close to stopping him.

TE- Antonio Gates. I haven't said his name all year, and he had a solid game. Good job, Antonio Gates. Now I've said his name twice in three sentences.

Fantasy Guys I Like This Week:

QB-Marc Bulger (I predict a shootout with Arizona, so Bulger will get at least two scores), RB- Earnest Graham (Kansas City is not good against the rush), WR- Devin Hester (a playmaker against Detroit at home...yes please), TE-Visanthe Shiancoe (Ferotte likes him, and will have his opportunities against Houston)

Last week I was 1 for 4, hitting on Devery Henderson, but missing on O'Sullivan, Ahman Green, and Dustin Keller. Not only did I miss on O'Sullivan, he got pulled at halftime. Nice. And Ahman Green pretended he was still on Kevin's roster and did nothing. Nice again. And Dustin Keller forgot where the stadium was, or either that Brett Favre was too busy throwing interceptions. Triple niceness. Either way I sucked last week like I've sucked all year. I'm positive I'll go 4-4 next week.

Holla.

~Mikey D

I think I'm a jinx. A couple of posts ago I listed, in order, Brees, Gore, Jennings, and Ronnie Brown has the most valuable players thus far... And the four combined for zero touchdowns this past week. Talk about backing me up. Not only that, Reggie Bush, another guy on my list, is gone for a couple weeks with whatever the hell he did to his leg. If I ever do a list again, I have to make sure none of my guys are on it (shouldn't be too hard...).

Talk about a double-edged sword. The difference between my score and Dave's this past week was essentially Calvin Johnson's 96-yard TD catch and 2-point conversion. Essentially, that big play is what did it. Now Dave works with Grace and they are both in an Enterprise fantasy league and happened to be playing each other this past week. The difference in their score? A 96-yard Calvin Johnson TD and 2-point conversion...except Grace owned Johnson. I wonder how you celebrate that? Are you happy you won in one, but got beat at the same time in another? Not often one play makes you a winner and a loser at the same time.

Alright, after 7 weeks here are the standings:
Mike: 68
Kevin: 59
Adam: 59

Go make those Week 8 picks!

Week 8
New England over St. Louis
Baltimore over Oakland
Philadelphia over Atlanta
New York over Kansas City
Carolina over Arizona
Washington over Detroit
Tampa Bay over Dallas
Miami over Buffalo
New Orleans over San Diego
Houston over Cincinnati
Jacksonville over Cleveland
Pittsburgh over New York
San Francisco over Seattle
Tennessee over Indianapolis

Upset Pick: Miami over Buffalo. I know the Bills are 5-1, and they've played great football...but Miami is better than their 2-4 record indicates. Division game, Dolphins at home coming off an embarrassing loss last week, and the Bills a smidge overconfident...I like the Dolphins and Chad Pennington.

Fantasy Guys I Was Impressed With This Week
QB-Jamarcus Russell. Okay, perhaps he doesn't belong here. His 200 yards and 1 TD are far from extraodinary fantasy numbers, but that's still more point than Drew Brees this week. I have to give him his props for not only beating the New York Bretts, but also leading their last overtime drive. He made some big time throws to Javon Walked to get them into field goal range, and he deserves some recognition.

RB- LenDale White. Run, fat boy, run! The Chiefs should be ashamed of themselves...

WR- Donnie Avery. If Deshaun Jackson was a Ram, he'd be Donnie Avery. That kid is a playmaker and he easily could have had 3 touchdowns if it weren't for a penalty and a poorly thrown ball too far out in front of him (he was WIDE OPEN. Bulger, just get it in the vicinity!!!). The rookie has a future.

TE- Owen Daniels. I didn't think the guy would ever find the endzone. Then he did. Twice. The Lions are good for getting touchdowns.

Fantasy Guys I Like This Week: QB-JT O'Sullivan (back home against a Seattle defense that is god-awful), WR-Devery Henderson (bombs away in a Saints-Chargers match-up...and who catches bombs for New Orleans the most?), RB-Ahman Green (The Bengals can't stop the run...cough Mewelde Moore cough cough...and Green has been splitting with Slaton. He's good for a score), TE-Dustin Keller (Favre will find him against the Chiefs)

Last week I was one out of four. I hit on Jake Delhomme, but missed on Kevin Walter, Justin Fargas, and Alex Smith. None of those guys had awful days, they just didn't find the endzone, which is all that truly matters.

Holla.

~Mikey D

For as long as Michael Crabtree is running routes for Texas Tech he shall get a post dedicated to his deserving of the Heisman award. Once again, in my humble opinion, it is Crabtree who is the most deserving.

Before I begin promoting Crabtree, let me say that I absolutely hate what the Heisman award has become. I cannot decide which I dislike more: the BCS system or the Heisman award. I think that I would have to choose the Heisman because at least on some level the BCS is making an attempt to set forth some criteria for choosing the best two teams. The Heisman has become American Idol-esque. It almost feels like whichever school puts out the best advertising and promotion campaign will give their guy a chance. Seriously with that? Of course most player awards are based on "experts" opinions, but last time I checked I didn't see billboards of Alex Rodriguez or Tom Brady in Times Square pushing for their MVP consideration. It's ridiculous.

That being said, I am going to give the award to the man who is college football's best player, Michael Crabtree. He is the most dominant player at his position in college football, hands down. Best QB? Debatable. Best RB? Debatable. Best WR? Michael Crabtree. No doubt about it.

Looking at Crabtree's stats, there's nothing that there isn't to like. The man's worse day this year was 5 catches, 65 yards, and a TD. His worst day! His overall stats look something like this:
51 Catches
724 Yards
12 TDs

Not bad for 7 games, yeah? And I know that some of you (Adam) will look at the stats for wide receivers and notice that he isn't tops for any three of those stat categories. You might even point out to me that a guy like Jarett Dillard of Rice, who has 53 catches, 815 yards, and 14 TDs is better than Crabtree (and maybe more deserving if you're going to give the award to a wide receiver). First, Dillard plays for Rice. I can't even tell you what conference Rice play for. Crabtree is in the Big 12, a conference some regard as being better than the SEC as this point in the season. Crabtree is on an undefeated Texas Tech team, while Rice is a whopping 4-3. So? What's my point? My point is that Crabtree is doing it in the limelight, with the pressure on him, against better competition, and most importantly, his team is winning.

And another thing I hate about the Heisman is that it's purely a flash and stats award. The guy with the best numbers who looks the best is favored. So why isn't Crabtree's named mentioned? Or Graham Harrell for that matter? The answer is because Texas Tech is in a pass-happy offense so their numbers are skewed. I cannot stand this argument. Let's take Colt McCoy, the Heisman front-runner, for example. Tell me how his numbers aren't skewed??? He plays with an offensive line and receivers that are elite. The same with Mark Sanchez. And Sam Bradford. Tim Tebow. The talent that surrounds all of those guys gives them more weapons and playmakers than anyone else in the country, and ultimately makes them better. Watching highlights from last night's Texas-Missouri game solidifies my point. Colt McCoy had two TD passes, one in which he threw a bomb into double coverage that his receiver made a tremendous grab to haul in. Colt McCoy throws a terrible pass into double coverage and gets rewarded in his stat line? Bullshit! And his second TD pass came on a fucking 3-yard flip that the receiver took an extra twenty for a score. All I'm saying is, if you're going to downgrade Crabtree because his offense throws a lot, then downgrade the rest of the lot for competitive advantage they have.

Again, I think Crabtree is the best player at his position and as a sophomore is again putting up ridiculous numbers on a team that is in the top-10. He is the playmaker on an elite college football team in one of the two toughest conferences in college football. Give him some respect, give him some recognition...

Give him the Heisman.

~Mikey D

As excited as Adam gets for college football, I get just as excited for college basketball and Michigan State basketball. And with Midnight Madness having come and gone, it's time to get a new year started. This post is dedicated to everything that is Michigan State basketball, and serves as everything you should need to get ready for the upcoming season. Go Green!

Before we get started with the upcoming season, let's say thank you to Drew Neitzel. You were the man.



Losing Drew Neitzel is a big blow, but if we overcome it this year, we should be a damn good team. Andy Katz of ESPN has MSU ranked as the 4th best team right now in the nation, which, in my opinion, is rather high, but speaks volumes about the group of freshmen Izzo has brought on board and the talent we still have on our roster currently.

What does our roster look like? From seniors to freshman, take a look:
MSU 2008-2009 Roster
Travis Walton-G (senior)
Idong Ibok-C (senior)
Goran Suton-C (senior)
Marquise Gray-F (senior)
Raymar Morgan-F (junior)
Isaiah Dahlman-G (junior)
Joe Crandell-F (junior)
Chris Allen-G (sophomore)
Tom Herzog-C (sophomore)
Mike Kebler-G (sophomore)
Kailin Lucas-G (sophomore)
Durrell Summers-G (sophomore)
Austin Thornton-F (freshman)
Delvon Roe-F (freshman)
Korie Lucious-G (freshman)
Draymond Green-F (freshman)

Obviously some of those guys will never see the court, but we're looking at a starting roster of:
G-Travis Walton
G-Kailin Lucas
F-???
F-Raymar Morgan
C-Goran Suton

The fifth spot feels wide open. Will Izzo go big and put in the senior Gray? Will he go small and go with Allen or Summers? Maybe we go with the freshman phenom Delmon Roe? My prediction is he'll go with Gray to start the year, but it'll be Roe to finish it.

Schedule
This looks like a down year for the Big Ten, which will be good for us. Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State, and Michigan are rebuilding, and Wisconsin lost a lot off of last year's team. Purdue seems like it will give MSU the biggest threat as they are bringing back basically their entire squad from last year.

Big Ten Schedule
@Minnesota
@Northwestern
Ohio State
Penn State
Illinois
Northwestern
@Ohio State
@Iowa
Penn State
Minnesota
Indiana
@Michigan
@Purdue
Wisconsin
Iowa
@Illinois
@Indiana
Purdue

The biggest games to me right now are those Purdue match-ups, and it seems fitting we end with them at home. Somebody is going to have to explain to me why we only play Wisconsin and Michigan once. That's absolutely ridiculous. MSU and Wisconsin have been the two premier teams this past decade and they should be playing more than once against one another. And Michigan is our in-state rival! And we only played them once last year! What the hell?

On the plus side, this schedule is ridiculously favorable for us right now. Of course there will be some surprise team that pops up and challenges for the top spot in the Big Ten, so we'll wait and see who that is.

Outside of the Big Ten, we are going to get challenged. Big time.

We start with the "Old Spice" Classic, which is one of those mini-tournaments. In that one we get to play Maryland in the opening round, then possibly Gonzaga in the semifinals (a top-10 team), and Georgetown or Tennessee likely in the finals. Wow.

But that's not all. We also have non-conference match-ups at home against North Carolina and Kansas, as well as on the road with Texas. Holy shit. At least we should be battle tested before the big dance.

The Freshmen
Roe, Green, and Lucious. Delvon Roe is the prize. A five-star recruit stolen out of the state of Ohio. He just had off season surgery, but it is said he's good to go. If he can make an immediate impact...our front-line might be one of the most versatile in the country with Morgan, Suton, Roe, Gray, and Ibok. We can rebound, score, shot block- we've got players that can match-up with any style of play.

Lucious is four-star recruit stolen from Wisconsin (how lovely to take kids out of the backyards of Ohio State and Wisconsin!) who is downright scorer. And he's miniature like Kailin Lucas. He's said to be one of those guys who'll fit right in. I'm thinking he's going to have a Lucas-like impact off the bench. That spark that comes in and gets your team on a run.

Green I'm not expecting much from. He's a big boy, but apparently he's still "green" when it comes to the game of basketball. There's a lot of talent on this MSU squad, so maybe he can take a year and truly develop.

Prediction
National Championship. The stars are aligned for us this year. The Final Four is in Detroit, the Big Ten is winnable, we'll be battle-tested with a tough non-conference schedule, and we are overloaded with talent. It's going to be up to Izzo to get it all out of them, but in Izzo I trust.

Suton and Lucas really emerged last year, and I like what Allen and Summers brought and I expect them to contribute more. Raymar had a lot of pressure on him last year to be the 2nd option to Neitzel, and I feel that's off him a bit this year- which is perfect for the kind of player he is. We lost Neitzel, but we found ourselves with three fantastic freshmen that could possibly contribute immediately. And don't underestimate Dahlman coming off the bench. He was hurt for the majority of last year, so you never know what kind of game he could bring to the table.

I just see a really balanced team this year that is going to win a lot of different ways, but it will be known for it's toughness and physicality.

2008-2009 Michigan State Spartans:
Record: 25-5 (#2 seed in the NCAA Tournament)
---Losses: North Carolina, Texas, @Iowa, @Illinois, @Purdue
Big 10 Record: 15-3 (1st Place)
Big 10 Tournament Champs
National Champions

And for the road...

~Mikey D

I have not made a top-whatever list in the longest of times, so I am making this post nothing but lists. Fantastic.

Top 15 Songs I Am Currently Listening To
1. Jack's Mannequin- The Revolution
2. The Lift- Light's Out
3. Lil Wayne Feat. T-Pain- Got Money
4. Jack's Mannequin- We Were Made for Each Other
5. Jack's Mannequin- Holiday in Real
6. Jet Lag Gemini- Run This City
7. Plain White T's- Natural Disaster
8. Richard Ashcroft- Break the Night With Colour
9. Owl City- Fuzzy Blue Lights
10. The Perishers- Sway
11. Vampire Weekend- A-Punk
12. Automatic Loveletter- Don't Make it So
13. Stars- What I'm Trying To Say
14. The Go Find- Dictionary
15. Black Kids- I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You

Grace and I have decided to go on a weekend getaway at the beginning of the new year instead of spending money on Christmas presents for each other. I am very excited at the thought of getting away for a weekend, but we are struggling with ideas. So far we've come up with Atlantic City (never been, and would love to, and Grace thinks it's amazing), but little else.

What's a nice weekend trip that won't break the bank?

We're kind of stumped.

~Mikey D

First, congrats to Grace's Phillies!!! I actually stayed up to watch the game last night (and paid for it this morning...oye...) and was rewarded with a well-played clinching game (well, on the Phillies side) and the pleasure of watching grown men dog pile on one another and spray each other with champagne. It's a beautiful site; baseball's celebrations are always my favorite.

But after watching last night's game, I have a change in how I would like the game to be run, so here me out.

Question: What's the most embarrassing moment for a pitcher in a game? In my opinion, it's when the manager makes that long walk out of the dugout to the pitcher's mound after a rough outing, takes the ball from the pitcher without saying a word, and the pitcher makes that painful walk of shame back to the dugout alone. Think about it. In front of 40,000+, the game is stopped so the leader of the team can personally take a player of his out of the game. I mean, it's bad enough you got pounded by the other team, but then for your manager to give you a public display of humiliation is even worse!

Substitutions happen all the time. Batters pulled from the on-deck circle. Fielders switched. Even in other sports...players check-in, run-off, or change shifts. But only one substitution is made public in the middle of the field by the head coach. I say this needs to change. For now, my focus is baseball. Now it would be easy for me to recommend just having a new pitcher run in from the bullpen without having the manager to come out and personally take the ball from the old pitcher, but that's lame. I want public embarrassment for all.

Case in point: Rafael Furcal last night. The man had three errors in one inning, which prompted my response to Grace, "Joe Torre should walk out to shortstop and take his glove." Yes! Why do pitchers always have to suffer after doing awful? Joe Torre should have made that long, slow, 0ld-guy walk to shortstop, put out his hand, and Furcal should have placed his glove in it. Furcal would then make the walk back to the dugout while the fans shower him with boos. Then his replacement would come bolting out the dugout, take the glove out of Torre's hand, make a few practice throws to first, and the game would continue. Brilliant I say!

And why stop there? Pedro Feliz of the Phillies last night made Brandon Inge look like a silver slugger. After watching Feliz strike out on three pitches, the next time he came up and took an awful swing and a miss, Charlie Manuel should have walked up to home plate and took the bat right out Feliz's hands personally. He didn't deserve the opportunity to bat, but he did deserve to be booed all the way back to the dugout.

Hey, you might think I'm horrible for wanting to see people booed and publicly humiliated, but I think fair is fair. Baseball is steeped in tradition, and the manager taking the ball from the pitcher is part of that. So if you're not going to do away with tradition, you might as well add to it.

At least for my enjoyment.

~Mikey D

So I lost all my money. The Ravens could not lose by less than 14, so I'm out my ten bucks. Oh well, there's always next year.

I stand by my rules for picking though. The NFL can be crazy sometimes, and you'll have weeks where the Ravens lose by 28 (28!?!?). I am very happy I was not only correct, I was very correct on St. Louis and Green Bay. Somebody probably fell into Vegas' trap and took the Skins and the points, somebody also probably picked the Vikings to destroy the Lions (they won, but they didn't cover...stay away from division games), and somebody undoubtedly said New England will take care of San Diego (back to back west coast games=death).

Michigan State, rising up...congrats.

Okay, updated standings:
Mike: 58
Kevin: 50
Adam: 49

Kevin got 10 picks right this past week...nicely done. Go make your week 7 picks!

Week 7 Picks
Buffalo over San Diego
Carolina over New Orleans
Chicago over Minnesota
Pittsburgh over Cincinnati
Tennessee over Kansas City
Miami over Baltimore
New York over San Francisco
Dallas over St. Louis
Houston over Detroit
Indianapolis over Green Bay
Oakland over New York
Washington over Cleveland
Tampa Bay over Seattle
Denver over New England

Upset of the Week: Oakland over New York. Nothing about the Jets last trip out west (blowout in San Diego) makes me feel they travel well. At home against the Bengals (who didn't have C. Palmer...), the Jets didn't exactly come out with an impressive win. Oakland was embarrassed last week, are back home, have a game under their belts with the new coach, and will come out blazing.

Fantasy Guys I Was Impressed With This Week:
QB- Matt Schaub. The fans were chanting the backup's name throughout the game, especially after he threw two early picks. But 379 yards later and two total TDs, including the game winning touchdown run on 4th down, and he was a hero. I like Schaub a lot, not just because he's on my fantasy team, but because I want to see him to do well. He was behind Vick in Atlanta, and for one reason or another, can't seem to stay healthy enough to play that full season. I think he's good, and I was glad to see him do well against Miami.

RB- Correll Buckhalter. Brian Westbrook's shoes are big and tough to fill. And all he did was post a Westbrook stat line: 93 yards rushing, 85 yards receiving, 1 TD. Didn't see that coming at all.

WR- Marion Barber. That's right, Marion the Barbarian!!! 11 catches for 128 and a score! Nobody had more catches than him Sunday, and he was right up there yardage wise with the week's best. His 70-yard scamper was awesome (by the way, I know that game had an exciting finish, but that was some terrible football...I had to turn it the game was so sloppy. Both of those teams have a lot of work to do...). I will definitely take this output from my running back any day.

TE- John Carlson. I want to give Adam props for this one. The guy doesn't have a single touchdown catch all year, and Hasselbeck is out with an injury. Everything screamed that this guy wasn't going to do jack shit, and 22 yards receiving would indicate that, except it was 22 yards receiving with a touchdown. Good call, Adam, on the replacement for your starter!

Fantasy Guys I Like This Week: QB-Jake Delhomme (he'll bounce back from a 3-INT day at home against a weak New Orleans secondary), WR- Kevin Walter (he was targeted a lot by Schaub, and with Detroit coming to town, I see no reason why they wouldn't keep throwing to Johnson and him), RB- Justin Fargas (he's done nothing all year...but now is his time. He'll be the leader of my upset pick of the week, the Raaaaaaaaaaiders), TE- Alex Smith (Jeff Garcia likes him and he's a red-zone target. I'll take him against a weak Seattle defense at home).

Last week I was 2 out of 4. I hit on Matt Schaub and Calvin Johnson, and I missed on Le'Ron McClain and Greg Olsen (although I suppose 3 catches for 41 yards isn't terrible...but no TD). Not bad.

And it was good to have Donald Driver back and performing to his usual standards! It's even better that I basically dropped Marvin Harrison for him, because, silly me, I thought he'd have a better match-up, and thus a better day. Haha, ohhhhhhhh fuck you Donald Driver.

~Mikey D

That James Jones, 3rd wide receiver of the Green Bay Packers, will score a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks today.

That would be weird if it actually happens.

~Mikey D

P.S.~ I need new dreams.

Every year I end up putting a little bit of money into my account on my favorite betting site and every year I end up losing it betting on games. It's only a small amount ($20), so it's not like I'm losing a lot. But still, I'm losing.

But through all my losing, I have developed a set of rules in which I plan on following in order to become more successful. Of course I'm not always going to be a winner, but I can win more than I'm going to lose...at least I hope...by following these rules.

I submit to you the "Rules of Betting". I created these in my head last week before picking games, and I failed to follow them and lost. I am now putting them on virtual paper and following them religiously from this point forward.

The Rules of Betting

1. Never Bet On Division Games.
Don't do it. You will always get burned. No matter how good the match-up is, no matter how many points one team is favored over the other, they are just too unpredictable. This is my cardinal rule...and the one I always break. Like last week, for example. I took the Lions to cover over the Vikings, and the Eagles to beat the Redskins. I broke the rule twice. No matter what justification you can make in your head for wanting to bet on a particular division game, ignore it. Even if you are so confident that the Vikings will manhandle the Lions this week, please, please, please, just stay away. Even if you're right once, you'll definitely be wrong three other times. For your own peace of mind, follow my cardinal rule.

2. Take Advantage of the West Coast-East Coast Games.
If a team is flying across the country to play another, 75% of the time that team will lose. I just made up that statistic, but it feels about right. The only exception should be if the team that is flying across the country is decently good and playing a mediocre/bad team. Other than that, bet the home team. Last week for example, I did end up taking Miami at home. You had San Diego, a mediocre team, flying across the country to play another mediocre team. Not only that, Miami was coming off a bye and playing a porous San Diego defense. Take the home team. That 75% success rate rises even higher if the team that is traveling also traveled the week before. Take Buffalo. Before last week, they had to fly into St. Louis, then they had to go and fly to Arizona. That's a lot of traveling! And Arizona took full advantage. Not convinced? Remember what the Jets did to Arizona at home? Even when Arizona stayed on the east coast??? Back to back cross country games are a death sentence. These are safer games to pick than most would think.

3. Don't Take the Points on Teams that are Favored by Double-Digits.
Vegas wants you to. They make teams like the Cowboys 17 point favorites against the lowly Bengals. And then they take your money. They make the undefeated Patriots 21 point favorites against the Eagles, and then they take your money. There are double-digit blowouts and wins every week, but they aren't predictable, so you sure as hell can't bank on them. This is professional football were talking about, with actual professionals. They read the papers and see the betting lines...and they all have pride and are competitors. You can't tell me that the Bengals walked into Dallas last week with a "nobody is giving us a chance" chip on their shoulder and weren't prepared to play their hardest. This is Vegas' trap. The week before last the Cowboys were 11-point favorites over the Redskins. That's a double whammy. Double-digit point spread and a division game...whoa, don't touch that with a ten-foot pole. Point is, the Redskins covered with ease. In fact, they won. This week it's the Redskins-Rams. The Skins were 15 point favorite. Are they 15 points better than St. Louis? Maybe. But St. Louis is coming off a bye, have Bulger back, and are prepared to play hard for the new coach. Couple that with the Skins coming off the high of two physically demanding wins, and I could see St. Louis covering. Vegas' little trap.

4. Don't Bet on College Games.
Talk about unpredictable. You could take Florida at home against Mississippi and all the points in the world and feel comfortable, and end up being a loser. There's a guy at work who only bets on college games, and every week he has some sob story. They usually end with this: "They had it! And then the _______ (insert team) scored 21 in the last four minutes to screw me!" Every week one of the games he bets on ends like this. It's too unpredictable to even pick winners, much less picking teams to cover points. Stick to the professionals. At least you know that the Giants will beat the fuck out of the Seahawks. Very good teams always win against piss-poor teams in the pros, and that's not the case in college.

5. For Peace of Mind, Play Teasers.
A teaser allows you to add points to the spread. For example, last week Miami was 7 point underdogs against San Diego. I played a seven-point teaser, which added 7 points to the spread. So Miami became a 14 point underdog, and in order for me to win, all Miami had to do was win, or lose by less than 14. It's safer. The payout is less, but it's worth the piece of mind. It makes picking those underdog over favorite games a little easier.

***

So those are my rules. I have reviewed this week's match-ups, and here's what I'm betting on:

First, I'm playing it ultra-safe this week because I'm down to my last $10. I am playing a ten-point teaser, and if I get these three games correct I will double my money, putting me right back where I started.

1) Green Bay (+12) over Seattle- I know Green Bay is struggling, but so is Seattle. I just cannot fathom Green Bay losing by more than 12 to Seattle, who has Hasselbeck banged up and Branch out again. Plus Green Bay needs this game...and god Seattle is bad.

2) Baltimore (+14.5) over Indianapolis- This defense is really good. The Colts aren't going to be able to run the ball, which will make them one-dimensional. One-dimensional teams aren't going to get two-touchdown plus wins that often. Plus I like the Ravens to run the ball all day, keeping the clock moving and the score low.

3) St. Louis (+23.5) over Washington- Rule number 3. Just too many points.

***

We shall see.

~Mikey D

I don't care, I'm going to vent. I HAVE THE MOST POINTS IN THE GODDAMN LEAGUE AND I DON'T HAVE ONE SINGLE WIN TO SHOW FOR IT!!! You must be loving this Adam and Kevin.

Breaking from football, did anyone notice on the Sportscenter rundown on Monday morning that the Shock highlights (their championship winning highlights) were mentioned with "Series Sweep" as the title? Very interesting...I wonder if ESPN purposely did this to keep viewers from turning away from women's basketball highlights. I'm thinking yes, because I was admittedly intrigued by what "Series Sweep" meant. Not the exact meaning, but who swept who...shut-up, you know what I'm talking about.

And congrats to Grace's Phillies. She is on cloud nine. It's funny when they play because she either can't watch the game at all, or when she does she is constantly chattering during it. I get another series of that against the Dodgers. My prediction? Phillies in three. That's right, in three. The Dodgers will forfeit the last because they'll be tired of getting their ass handed to them.

Back to football...congrats to MSU. #23!!! Hey, the wins haven't been pretty, but a win is a win. I have been happily able to watch every game but the first. Thank you, ESPN2.

Now to the picks...Updated Standings:
Mike: 50
Adam: 42
Kevin: 40

Go make those Week 6 picks!!!

Week 6 Picks:
Chicago over Atlanta
Houston over Miami
Baltimore over Indianapolis
Minnesota over Detroit
New Orleans over Oakland
Washington over St. Louis
New York over Cincinnati
Tampa Bay over Carolina
Denver over Jacksonville
Philadelphia over San Francisco
Dallas over Arizona
Green Bay over Seattle
San Diego over New England
New York over Cleveland

My upset: Baltimore over Indianapolis. Indianapolis cannot stop the run, and that's all that Baltimore will be doing. McGahee and LeRon McClain are a fantastic 1-2 punch and they'll get the rock all day. Remember what Chicago did against Indy Week 1? Yeah, same thing, but this time Indy doesn't have Bob Sanders...eek. Couple that with recent poor performances by Adaii against the Raven defense, which leaves it all on Manning. So yes, I'm betting against Peyton Manning. Hey, that lucky streak (Minnesota and Houston) has to run out sometime, right?

Fantasy Guys I Was Impressed With This Week:
QB- Carson Palmer. No, he didn't have a monster stat line, but the guy went into Dallas with a bum arm and almost led that team to win. In my opinion, Palmer deserved the win. If he just had some resemblence of a defense and a capable running game (why did they cut Rudi again), there definitely be some more wins coming the Bengals' way, because Palmer is the real deal. It was fun to watch him play yesterday.

RB- Clinton Portis. 145 against the leagues number one rushing defense. And on the road. Well done, sir. I give you props for carrying your team when they needed to be carried.

WR- Andre Johnson. In Grace's work league I just traded a bag of peanuts and a piece of shit to get him for her team. She was weak at wideout, and this guy is the real deal, despite his slow start...He played a ridiculously hard schedule, and all on the road for that matter. His next four are money in the bank, and Grace will happily enjoy all the benefits (and I suppose you too, Kev!), as the Texans schedule is soft, and mostly at home. Nice. Very nice.

TE- Chris Cooley. They blanketed Santana Moss so he stepped up and got Santana Moss numbers. Anytime you get WR numbers as a TE, I'm impressed.

Fantasy Guys I Like This Week: QB- Matt Schaub (Houston is hurting after that loss to Indy, and will be more focused than ever in their game against Miami), WR- Calvin Johnson (We haven't heard from him in a couple of weeks, and the Lions are against Minny, which means pass, pass, pass...and don't think I forgot what he did to Minny last year), RB- LeRon McClain (Watching him run over people is awesome. And he gets all the goal line carries. Fun player.), TE- Greg Olsen (I like Fasano again this week, but he burned me last week. Olsen against Atlanta is a good match-up, and he did pretty well against Detroit last week...although who didn't, really?

Last week I was 1 out of 4. Hit on Slaton, missed on Griese, Fasano, and Gonzalez. Picking sleepers is kind of hard. It's fun when you get them, but it doesn't happen too often.

And as a parting shot...Fuck you Donald Driver for doing jack shit for me, and then the minute I drop you because you've sucked and your quarterback has a semi-injured arm you go and get 70 and a touch. Just fuck you. Fuck you fuck you fuck you.

~Mikey D

ESPN.com, fantasy section, this article!

Most big play rushes this year (10 or more yards)??? Nope, not A.P. Not L.T. Not even Michael Turner, the destroyer of terrible rush defenses.

Marion Barber.

"If I had to elevate one back to supplant Tomlinson at one of the top two slots, Barber would be the choice. He's got the complete package, and you can probably grab him and a solid No. 2 wideout for Tomlinson and a throw-in. I'd jump on that."

Hmmm...Barber and a no.2 wideout for LT and a throw in...that sounds familiar...hey Adam, can you help me out with this one??? =) I kid, I kid! It will be fun to see who ends up as the top fantasy back when it's all said and done, though.

Still a long season, but I love that people are coming around on Barber. Love it, love it, love it.

Marion the Barbarian!!!

~Mikey D

Still looking for that first 'W'! I'm not going to go complain and bitch though. Overall, my team has played pretty decent, so I can't ask for much more than that. I'll get one someday =). Besides, Adam could have beaten me a lot worse than the score indicated this past week.

I'm having much better success in one of my other leagues. I pulled off a trade a couple weeks ago where I sent Brandon Jacobs and Kevin Smith to a guy for Joseph Addai (after Addai had to go against Chicago and Minnesota's run defenses). Take a look at this roster:

QB: Kurt Warner, Eli Manning, Carson Palmer
RB: Adrian Peterson, Joseph Addai, Steve Slaton
WR: Reggie Wayne, Hines Ward, Laverneous Coles, Braylon Edwards, Marques Colston
TE: Dallas Clark, Owen Daniels
K: Nick Folk
DEF: Baltimore

Not bad for a standard 10-team league, yeah? I got Ward and Coles late in the draft, and somebody dropped Colston after he got hurt. I figure when he gets back I'll have huge depth at WR, so I can trade someone for RB depth if needed. I can play the matchups with Warner and Manning, so I feel comfortable there, and if Palmer does anything, I'll find someone desperate for a QB and trade him away.

So my St. Louis over Buffalo upset pick was looking good for a half! Fucking Trent Green throwing pick sixes. The bad thing about making picks early in the week is you miss out on the good information, like Bulger being benched and Palmer not being able to play against Cleveland. Would anyone in their right mind pick Cincinnati over Cleveland without Palmer? Shut up, Kevin, no you wouldn't...

Okay, updated standings:
Mike: 40
Adam: 32
Kevin: 31

Go make those Week 5 picks!

Week 5 Picks:
Tennessee over Baltimore
Carolina over Kansas City
New York over Seattle
Green Bay over Atlanta
Detroit over Chicago
Miami over San Diego
Indianapolis over Houston
Philadelphia over Washington
Denver over Tampa Bay
Arizona over Buffalo
New England over San Francisco
Dallas over Cincinnati
Jacksonville over Pittsburgh
New Orleans over Minnesota

My upsets: Detroit over Chicago AND Miami over San Diego! What?!?! Crazy??? Detroit coming off a bye week at home, Chicago coming off the high of a big (and physical) win against Philly, and Detroit ready to turn a new leaf in the post-Millen era. Hey, those Lions can't run, but they'll throw on them! And Miami! Again, at home, coming off the bye, and San Diego has to fly cross country to play the Dolphins. And has anybody been less than impressed with SD's defense? I have! Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams stay in the groove they were in against New England and the Dolphins win a squeaker against a superior team.

And hey, if they don't win, they'll at least cover the spread. Put money on that.

Fantasy Guys I Was Impressed With This Week:
QB: Brett Favre. What's better than Ronnie Brown's five touchdowns? Why six of course! Except Ronnie got his without turning the ball over...just saying...but hey, six touchdowns is still pretty frickin' amazing.

RB: Chris Johnson. A lot of guys had more yards, but nobody had to run against the league's best rush defense like Johnson did. And against the best rush defense, Johnson went and scored twice, and some would argue (myself included) that he needs to touch the ball a lot more because LenDale White flat out blows. Impressive work with the amount of carries he got.

WR: Mushin Muhammed. Go Green! Go White! Who knew the old fart still had it in him? I wish I did when I was scouring the waiver wire for a receiver...grrr...

TE: Jason Witten. The guy is a man among boys out there. The Redskins had to put a cornerback on him because a linebacker couldn't keep up with him. He still got 90 yards and a touch. Beast. Fucking beast.

Fantasy Guys I Like This Week: QB- Brian Griese (there's going to be a shootout in Denver, and Griese has been throwing it up a lot lately), RB- Steve Slaton (this guy is growing on me...he gets the carries and receptions, which makes him a dual threat...and going against Indy's run defense is not a bad thing, either), WR- Anthony Gonzalez (just a hunch, here...I feel like he's due for one of those Wes Welker-like 7 catches, 70 yards and a TD games), TE- Anthony Fasano (every tight end that has played San Diego has scored. I like that stat when picking a tight end)

Last week I was 2 out of 4. I hit on Jason Campbell and DeShaun Jackson, but missed on Chris Perry (although without Palmer didn't help) and Robert Royal.

~Mikey D