Category Archives: Sports

January 20, 2011

Not Even Billionaires Get Everything They Want…

By chappy81

Last year I was ready to enslave myself to billionaire Larry Ellison, because I thought he’d be the best option as the Warriors owner since he had money to spend, and could go into the luxury tax without thinking twice. What I didn’t really think about was how much time he’d actually spend on this team to improve them. Granted we haven’t seen what Lacob-Gruber ownership group can really do, but one thing I’m positive on so far is that they care about winning. They answer questions from bloggers, they go to most of the games, and they explain why they signed or released player X. I think these guys understand the business of basketball, and what it takes to build a winner. Whether that will actually happen remains to be seen, but it does feel like they have a REAL plan opposed to every other year that didn’t involve Mullen as our GM. Would Ellison have been as accessible as the new group we have? Would he have been sitting courtside? I can’t really say he wouldn’t, but if your worth a billion dollars you probably are more busy than millionaires.

What got me thinking about this was Mikhail Prokhorov’s rambling last night about how they were going to get out of the Carmelo trade talks. Not really shocking since there was no way Melo was going to sign his three year extension to play in NJ. Like Cali4Dre said Melo’s probably pussy whooped, and he’ll follow his ladies demands and make the move to NY when he’s a free agent. I honestly think the Russian was just trying to save his team from a little embarrassment since he had to know deep down if he flew his billion dollar ass to Denver, Melo would just let him down, and he’d look weaker than ever. Something I’m sure no billionaire is used to. What if Jay-Z went with him? The only thing I could see Jay-Z contributing is if he said he’d only rap about Melo for any basketball reference in his songs… Can’t say that’s a deal maker. Continue reading

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 19, 2011

Is Oakland Ready to Re-Claim The AL West?

By chappy81

I can’t contain my excitement anymore. This is by far the most excited I’ve been about baseball during the offseason in at least three or four years. The A’s have made a lot of moves that made sense this offseason after last year’s overachieving team went 81-81 showing that sometimes less is more. We had less recognizable names playing for us, but did better than we have for a couple of years. I still can’t quite figure out how they won as many games as they did, but we found out what needed to be addressed, and all knew going into this season that they would finally have some money to spend with expiring contracts. I was skeptical that they would in fact spend that money, but they have shown so far they aren’t scared to make some moves. If they didn’t make the moves they did, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could give them the full on support that I have over the years. Yes, I understand they need a new stadium, and would love nothing more than for them to have a billion dollar state of the art park to call home, but there’s no way that will happen when they aren’t a competitive team. As MCeezy keeps saying build a winner then build a new stadium. Another point I’ll give him credit for, is they needed even more so than years past to make some moves this year since their across the bay counterpart just won the World Series. I mean really how tough decision is it for the fair-weather fans in the bay to make? Go to the ghetto Oakland Coliseum and watch a 2nd place team, or head across the bay bridge to the amazing AT&T Park watching the defending world champs? If I was one of the transplants that overtake the area, I’d be heading to SF. Of course the devil’s advocate would say, Lew Wolffe wants to move this team, and what better way to show the need than to tank in attendance. Thankfully it’s not the latter.

Okay enough ranting and onto the real reason for this post was why I can’t wait for this MLB season to start. First off another reason I’m looking forward to it is because there won’t be a lockout, so it might be the only sport to follow unless you love the financials of CBA’s. The A’s started the offseason by trading for David Dejesus, which shouldn’t be mistaken for a huge trade, but was an upgrade in the outfield getting a career .318 hitter, and a guy that usually stays healthy. Can’t say the same for any of the other 15 outfielders we have on the roster.

Our second signing will probably get some of the Asian demographic on board getting Hideki Matsui for a reasonable price. He’s not the most exciting signing in the world, but he does bring something that we clearly lacked, a player that can hit 20+ homers without striking out 300 times a season. He’s been a workhorse throughout his career, and is the opposite of the constantly complaining Jack Cust. He’s also not completely falling apart like some of the guys we’ve signed over the years with the exception of Frank Thomas during his resurrection.

Just days after the Matsui signing we picked up Josh Willingham in a trade. I loved this move as I’ve always liked Willingham. He’s a powerful guy when he gets the atbats, and with two powerful bats in the lineup, maybe they will produce enough to avoid those 1-0 2-1 losses they seemed to frequently have last year. It also gives us a little hope in those extra inning games of a walkoff homer instead of waiting for three singles to get that run. For an A’s fan, it felt like we signed Carl Crawford and David Ortiz this offseason. Not because we think they are THAT good of players, but because they never sign or trade for guys that aren’t over the hill (sans the Holiday deal). We still have some big holes in the lineup, and I’d like to see an upgrade at SS or 3B, but if this is all we do, I’m still happy with it.

The second wave of signings were all for the bullpen, which was a great idea backing up the awesome starting pitching they already have, and possibly one of them will end up being their 5th starter. When you lead the AL in ERA, you think there must not be much that needs to be changed. That could be the farthest thing from the truth, as their bullpen wasn’t actually that strong last season. The first addition was the return of Rich Harden. A’s fans have always had a soft spot for him, and it’s really the only place he’s had any success. This time around he’s going to be in the bullpen though hopefully keeping him off of the DL. They also signed Brandon McCarthy, who I’m not sure if they are trying him out for the 5th spot in the rotation or a long reliever.

They officially signed Grant Balfour yesterday, and I thought this was a GREAT signing. No longer will we have to rely on Michael Wuertz’s roller coaster rides to set up the end of the game for Bailey. I’ve never heard a bad thing about the guy, so no reason to not like the move. He also said of the team that they remind him a lot of the 2008 Rays, hopefully he’s right about that! He struck out the most hitters of any reliever last year against the AL East, so there’s no reason to think he can’t do it against the AL West. I have a feeling that Braden and Balfour are going to get this pitching staff fired up regularly.

Today they signed lefty Brian Fuentes. I’ll be honest, I don’t really like Fuentes. I loved it when he was on the Angels, and every time he came in the game there was a chance they’d lose. I’m okay with Fuentes in a set up role, let’s just hope he’s our lefty specialist and not pitching full innings, because I don’t want to be on that roller-coaster regularly.

All in all, this has been a great offseason, and there’s still a few months left to make some more moves. Do you see these moves making the A’s take over the AL West? I sure do, but I’m bias as hell…

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 19, 2011

Cavs Fan Gets Owned

By chappy81

Not sure if this is real or was set up, because I’ve never seen a fan able to just walk onto the court without security chasing him/her down. The way he went after the mascot deserved at least a tackle attempt from security. Anyways, this video sums up Cleveland’s season in a nutshell, and is just one more reason I put them at #1 in the worst of the worst power rankings. They even get owned by mascots…

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 17, 2011

Is The Patriots Dynasty Dead?

By mceezy

Despite continued regular season success, the New England Patriots have now lost their last three postseason games. Yesterday’s loss to the Jets has prompted me to officially declare the Patriots’ dynasty dead. Players had come and gone, but the team remained pretty successful. With the exception of Tom Brady, everyone else has been pretty dispensable. They’ve won regardless of who was in what position. Corey Dillon, Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, it really didn’t matter. Yesterday, though, when the starting lineups were announced, I was literally thinking, who are some of these guys? It’s almost as if Bill Belichik got bored with a level playing field and wanted to make it more difficult. It’s like when you win the Super Bowl on Madden so you start the next season on All-Madden difficulty instead. I’ll even go so far as to say he deliberately picked up Danny Woodhead just to show the Jets that he could make him a great player, while they weren’t even using him. Sure, he looked pretty good all year, but it didn’t help them win in the postseason. I expect a major retooling offseason for the Patriots.

I’m not so sure that upgrading the roster is going to help at this point though. The Pats have lost their swagger. Like Jets’ linebacker Bart Scott said, the media fell for the Patriots’ act, believing that they were just confident, but not cocky. Anyone who doesn’t have a mancrush on Belichik or Brady can see right through that. Rex Ryan outcoached Belichik though, and Brady through a key pick early on that pretty much changed the tone of the game. So maybe they’ll reload their roster for next year. I’m almost positive they’ll need to add a legit receiver or two. Deion Branch is not the answer, no matter how much he cries about classless Jets players. Sure, the “act like you’ve been there before” line comes into play, but the Jets haven’t been there. Patriots players have been telling them how much better they are for years now (and allegedly Branch was saying as much during the game yesterday), so when they finally got over the hump, of course they went batshit crazy. Fingers to the New England fans? I’m all for it. Yesterday will most likely go down in history as the day the Patriots dynasty died. I’ve long said that in order to be the best, you have to know you’re the best. I just don’t think they know they’re the best anymore.

9 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 16, 2011

NFL Weekend Wrapup Part II

By mceezy

Steelers Rally Back On The Ravens – Well this game certainly didn’t disappoint. After the Steelers got on the board first, Baltimore ran off three straight touchdowns to take a 21-7 lead into halftime. As the title suggests though, the Steelers rallied back and ended up winning 31-24. I still don’t like the holding call on that potential go-ahead punt return, but of course this game was going to have it’s share of close calls. The real interesting part in this game for me was the winner would be who I’d root for to come out of the AFC, since they’d likely go on to play the Patriots the following week. ……or would they?!?!

Packers Run Away From The Falcons – It’s a pretty fine line between whether the Falcons played that bad or the Packers played that good. The pivotal second quarter was the difference maker, where Matt Ryan killed both of Atlanta’s drives with costly interceptions. Aaron Rodgers became the star of the Joe and Troy Show. Buck and Aikmen displayed a level of mancrush that I haven’t seen on a broadcast since Brett Favre was in Green Bay. But honestly, why wouldn’t they? Rodgers is the only quarterback in the NFL who was fortunate enough to come from Chico, California, home of the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. The only other big headline here is this sets the stage for a possible NFC Championship IN Seattle, home of the 7-9 Seahawks.

Bears Shut Down Seahawks – This game wasn’t nearly as close as the 35-24 score suggests. It was 28-3 after three quarters, and Seattle had to punt on their first 8 drives. At least they weren’t turning the ball over! The best part about this game being a blowout was it gave me a chance to make the hour drive back home from Walnut Creek in time to catch the start of the late game. It also gave me some time to reflect on the night before, where I paid my last respects to one of my favorite clubs in San Francisco, Gravity, on its last night in operation. I guess it’s fitting that the Bay Area backfield of Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett seemed to have an extra dose of gravity, and never really got off the ground, combining for just 11 rushing yards.

Jets Shock The World – Or me, at least. I gave the Jets zero chance to win this game and I was thoroughly impressed with their overall performance. They didn’t necessarily come out of the gate rolling, but they controlled the ball and once they pushed across two touchdowns, they never looked back. Sanchez seemed to be on a pretty tight leash to start the game, but he finished with a solid game of 194 yards and 3 touchdowns. He may just be the ultimate game manager, since he boasts an impressive 4-1 postseason record in his two year career. Not taking away from a solid Green Bay – Chicago showdown in the NFC, I can’t wait for this Jets-Steelers matchup next weekend. If you didn’t know from my Adrian Murrell RFP of the Day a while back, I was a huge Jets fan from 1995-1997. Having said that, I’m really excited to see Neil O’Donnell’s former teams battling it out. I’ll probably even have to bring out the Keyshawn #19 jersey…. again.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Sports

January 15, 2011

Doin Divisional Lines

By chappy81

0-2 on Saturday 2-0 on Sunday. I’ll take it since I hit one parlay at least. Wild card weekend is always fun, but the real matchups start in the Divisional round, and what better way to have it play out than two games with divisional rivals! Stat of the week for the divisional round. The home teams are 10-10 in the divisional round over the last five years. So, I guess I have to take two road teams this week to keep that trend going. I’m loving all the trash talking going on this week, which just gives us a few more things to watch over the weekend.

2-2 last week, not bad, but I could do better.  I do feel I deserve some bonus points for predicting the Seattle upset. Anyway, as Jay-Z would say “On to the next, on on to the next one”.


Baltimore @ Pittsburgh (-3)

Chappy picks Baltimore (+3). I’ve been leaning on the Ravens and Steelers all season with my picks, and have declared it the best division in football from time to time. It’s really a coin flip when these two teams hook up, because they are basically the same team built the same way. I honestly think the Steelers will win, but I usually pick this match up wrong, so this time I’m going with the team that’s getting points. The road team won both games this year when they matched up, so I’m hoping that trend continues with this pick. If Polamalu is the Steelers best player, and he isn’t 100% then I feel like it might be one of those injuries that makes him ineffective. Kind of like when Freeney was hurt in the Super Bowl last year. He was on the field, but not really there, which is a huge blow to the heart of the D. I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is the first time we see the new overtime rules tested.

By picks Baltimore (+3). This is the first of three tough match ups this weekend (not including the spread), can you guess which one is the odd game out?  Pittsburgh is a legit contender, and given the fact that they’re at home this weekend should be enough for me to pick them.  But there’s something I don’t like about the Steelers that I can’t quite get my finger on in this match up, and therefore I choose the Ravens.  Perhaps I just get the feeling Baltimore’s destined to make a trip to Texas come February, and I’ve done a pretty decent job with going with my gut instincts this season.  Also, I can’t root against a Harbaugh right now.

Green Bay @ Atlanta (-2.5)

Starks is the key on Saturday

Chappy picks Atlanta (-2.5). I think I’ll be rooting for the Packers in this one. Mostly because I’ve had a mini-mancrush on Rodgers for a while, but that doesn’t mean I think they will win. The Falcons are one of the few complete teams top to bottom. They might not be flashy or have a true identity like everybody wants them to have, but they get the job done. I think this is going to be a close game, and if the Falcons show any rust after having a week off, the Packers need to take advantage of it early. I still just can’t talk myself into Starks having two big games in a row out of nowhere. The Packers D has been great lately, but they haven’t faced as balanced of a team as Atlanta in a while. Turner’s running should neutralize Clay Matthews pass rush a little bit as the game goes along. The Falcons have given up 18 points or fewer and gotten two takeaways in all of their last four games. If they hold the Packers under 18 points, I see them winning.

By picks Atlanta (-2.5).  This is difficult pick for personal reasons.  I’m a huge Cal fan, as my girlfriend is an alumni, so Aaron Rodgers is among my favorite signal callers to cheer for, and aside from where he went to school, he throws a pretty ball, which I admire.  But for some reason, I’ve become a ginormous Matt Ryan supporter, and I can’t bail ship on him and the Falcons now.  Plus I still think the Falcons have too many weapons on offense to be contained over four quarters.  Atlanta in this one.

This isn't Qwest Field, Seattle.

Seattle @ Chicago (-10)

Chappy picks Seattle (+10). I can’t remember the last time I saw a double-digit line in the second round of the playoffs. I’m almost positive the Bears will win, because they know how to tackle better than the Saints, but feel like it will be somewhat close. The Bears like to keep games close with all those negative plays they rack up. Did you know that Forte and Cutler have combined for a whopping 134 negative plays!?! I didn’t until Skip Bayless just told me. The Seattle defense looked great against the Saints. I think they will look equally as good against a lesser offense. Take the points in this one even if you don’t really believe in Seattle.

By picks Chicago (-10). Giving up ten points in a divisional playoff game is tough, but two reasons why I think the Bears cover are:  A)  Seattle isn’t going to sneak up on anybody now and B)  They won’t have the twelfth man behind them in this one, which was a huge advantage for them last week.  In fact, being that they’re going to be playing out in the cold, I give Seattle little chance to crack double digits in points here.  Chicago big.

New York Jets @ New England (-9)

BB vs RR

Chappy picks New England (-9). Did I already say I loved the trash talking going on this week? Okay, just checking. Cromartie said he hates Tom Brady. When asked about it again he didn’t pull a Lebron and take back what he said, he re-enforced it saying he’s hated him since 2006. I guess I just like to throw in Lebron jabs where I can. Anyways, this game is the one I’m least looking forward to. Actually, I’m not really that excited about the Sunday slate overall, but hopefully I’m pleasantly surprised with some good football. This game should be cool if you’re a Patriots fan. Belichick always has his guys ready, and with an extra week they probably have a brand new playbook. Brady knows how to score points on the Jets, and with them missing their talented safety Jim Leonard, the Patriots will be hitting their tight ends all game long. The only way the Jets stay close enough to pull out a miracle is if they dominate the time of possession. I’m thinking a 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 ratio in their favor is their only hope.

By picks N.Y. (+9). Not sure why New England’s giving up nine here, are the Jets that bad?  Would the odd makers give the Colts nine.  Anyway, enough with the talk, let’s get it on!  I can’t wait for this game to start.  I do feel an upset brewing though, the Jets may talk a big game, but they’re also in a position where they have nothing to lose.  No one expects them to win, I mean they’re nine-point dogs for crying out loud.  Rex Ryan will motivate these guys come Sunday and at the very least they’ll cover.

11 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 13, 2011

Oregon’s New Floor

By mceezy

They may have lost the BCS National Championship, but they’ve got plenty to look forward to in Eugene. Always a trendsetter, or original at the very least, the Oregon Ducks are garnering attention for another fashion statement by one of their athletic teams. Usually it’s a crazy new jersey, but now the Ducks have taken it to the floor. The floor of “The Matt”, their new digs, full name Matthew Knight Arena. I think it’s cool to look at once, but playing on it must be a nightmare. It’s hard enough when the basketball court has volleyball lines on it, but now these guys gotta watch out for trees? Word is the halfcourt line is hard to see, if at all existent. I’ve got a feeling they’re going to have to darken that middle portion eventually to please the naysayers.

10 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 13, 2011

Doin The NBA’s Worst of the Worst Power Rankings

By chappy81

While I was growing up the A’s, Raiders, and to a lesser extent the Warriors were good. I know they were, because people hated them, and the only reason you hate a team is because they are good. Lately I’ve noticed when I tell a new found friend my sports affiliations I hear pity more than anything. Tuesday, I was watching the Cavs-Lakers game and it hit me, I needed to make an anti-power rankings, and tried to decide which is the worst team in the NBA. I used some criteria for this glorious list. One, obviously team record, and second, how much hope they have for the future with their core players.

#7 Minnesota – Kevin Love is an All-Star. Nobody does what he does. He hits threes while scoring 21.1 ppg, and pulls in 15.8 rebounds a game. If Griffin owns the air above the rim, then Love owns everything below the rim. If the second best player on that team wasn’t Luke Ridnour now that Beasley is hurt, they might have some more wins than they do. I bet if they were in the East, they’d be the 8th seed. They have a solid young front court. If Kahn can finally use these guys to build off, they might be relevant again one of these years.

#6 Toronto – They’ve been hit hard by the injury bug this year, and on second thought, maybe losing Bosh was a bigger deal up there than I originally thought. Somehow they are only a couple games outside of the Eastern Conference’s 8th seed, which shows you why there are so many Eastern Conference teams on my list. Hockey still rules Toronto, the Raptors will be extinct there one of these days up there.

#5 Detroit Continue reading

20 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 11, 2011

Tigers Out Slop The Ducks

By chappy81


The National Championship last night had it’s moments, but for the most part was a pretty boring game, and it looked like both these offenses weren’t in sync, which was the opposite of what everyone was hoping for. I wanted Oregon to pull out the win or find some way to get the game into overtime, but instead we got one of the lowest scoring, and boring bowl games of the year. Congratulations goes out to the Auburn Tigers, too bad that trophy will be taken back in the next few years and nobody will really care that it was taken back, because we obviously know something is up with money going to Cam.

After watching this slopfest of a championship game, I couldn’t help but wonder if this game would’ve been much better if they had played it slightly sooner than 20 weeks after the season. Sports aren’t supposed to be played like this. I’m the kind of guy that complains when there are too many days between games in the NBA Finals or MLB World Series games.  I understand that Bowl games are a big part of New Years day, but why do we have to wait an extra ten days to put the National Championship game on? The simple answer is money of course. It’s like starting from scratch for these two teams though. We may as well have the game right before the season starts, because both teams looked like they were in week 1 for most of the game. Unless Cuban figures out some way to get us a college playoff, the only way to fight back will be to boycott the championship all together. Nobody buying tickets to the game, and nobody watching is the only way we have any hope of changing the crappy system. That being said, I can’t bring myself not to watch, so it looks like we will have to watch two rusty teams play for the National Championship every year for the rest of my lifetime…

12 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 10, 2011

Clippers-Warriors Game Thoughts

By chappy81

The Warriors were a step slow all game long...

It was the first time my Warriors headed down to Socal to play the Lakers ugly stepsister, the Clippers, so naturally I had to go. I usually avoid going to games that the dubs play the Lakers, because we pretty much know what the result is going to be. The Warriors usually play good against the Clippers for obvious sucktitude reasons over our lifetime, so every time I go to Staples Center I want at least a shot at seeing my team come in and win. Yesterday the Warriors had a horrible 2nd half performance, and saw three players foul out (Beindris, Lee, and Wright), but overall I was the most excited to just see Blake Griffin live.

As far as first impressions go on Blake, he is pretty freakish, and I got to see a couple of his league leading dunks. I was a little surprised how big he was in a muscular sense. The kid looked like a taller version of Corey Maggette. Fortunately, he isn’t nearly as one dimensional as Maggette. The Warriors constantly double and triple teamed him throughout the game, so I didn’t get to see many highlight reel dunks, and even with all the extra focus on Griff, we still couldn’t stop him from putting up another 20-10 game. His highlight of the game was pretty amazing to see Baron throw a lob from close to halfcourt for him, but aside from that I didn’t get to see a lot of high flying dunks. Here’s the dunk I was talking about…

DeAndre Jordan actually impressed me more than Griffin, which was probably the shocker of the afternoon. Jordan is a force in the paint grabbing 13 boards and blocking 4 shots. He cleaned up a couple of Clipper misses with thunderous dunks including an awesome off the backboard putback (can’t find it on youtube), and he also sent a few shots away including a twisting and turning Monta Ellis drive through the paint that riled up the crowd.

Baron Davis was probably the second best Clipper on the court after Jordan, which caught me off guard. Anyone that’s owned him on a fantasy team this year knows what I’m talking about. Anyways, Baron looked rejuvenated against his old team. He was sinking threes, driving to the hoop with authority, and dishing the ball like Sterling was booing him. He set up Gordon for a huge first half, and everytime Davis gave him an open look with a pass, he was knocking it down.

Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin were impressive, but for some reason Baron and DeAndre were the reasons for their dominating win.

As for the Warriors players I was very disappointed. Only two guys showed up for the contest, and it wasn’t either of our special backcourt players or our newly acquired PF David Lee. Only one of our starters played well. Dorell Wright started the game on fire, and was the only Warriors player to do anything on the offensive end efficiently. The second best player of the day for our squad was Vlad Radmanovic. Yup, I said it. He was the only guy out there giving 110% on the court. He was getting in the face of Clippers players, and throwing Baron and Eric Gordon on the ground during some hard fouls of frustration. He was in essence the only guy on the floor that I really thought was trying. There was a funny quote from Baron after the game about the little face to face stare down after Vlad threw him to the ground and both benches cleared a little. “”I told him I had mine longer,” referring to his beard over Vlad’s beard.

I also got my first glimpse at our rookie Epke Udoh. He wasn’t active in the NY-Warriors match up I went to with MCeezy and Dyslecix at Oracle. I actually kept thinking Udoh would be a solid pro when I was watching him at Baylor, and really liked what Udoh brought to the table when he was on the court for his limited minutes Sunday afternoon. He swatted a couple of shots, and actually helped them get back into the game by playing some defense, and was part of the crew that cut the lead from twenty something to eleven. Shortly after he left the game, they were down by 15 again never to come closer.

Hopefully when I head up to Staples on January 22nd when they play the Clippers again, it will be a more entertaining game with a better result, like a Warriors victory. A random Warriors fact, their team is playing with a full roster for the first time since 2008. It’s basically the first time that they haven’t had guys injured not suiting up, which is remarkable to think that it hasn’t happened since 2008. So far they are 2-1 with a full squad. Hopefully they can keep that 66% winning percentage going with a full squad.

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 9, 2011

NFL Weekend Wrapup

By mceezy

Seattle Stuns New Orleans – Not a lot of people saw this coming, but the popular argument was that it was unfair that the Seahawks got home field advantage. Then the other three home teams proceeded to blow that ‘advantage.’ The highlight of the game for most will no doubt be the return of Beast Mode. For me it will be Bones Roadhouse in Gualala, CA. I decided to take a drive up the coast to Mendocino County to catch the game and wound up enjoying quite possibly the best brisket I’ve ever had, but at least top five. Throw in a couple of the finest offerings from the region’s best breweries (Hop Stoopid Ale by Lagunitas and Scrimshaw by North Coast) and this was a pretty solid game!

Folk You, Vinatieri – Peyton did it again, then Adam Vinatieri did it again. After what seemed like yet another game-winner for the future Hall of Fame kicker, as Al Michaels pointed out, Mark Sanchez and the Jets drove down the field for the improbable upset in Indianapolis. I feel like the Colts would’ve have a better chance against the Patriots. Sure the Jets were one of the two teams to beat New England, but we all saw what happened in Foxboro on Monday Night, when it mattered. This one matters even more, and Tom Brady will surely be out to prove to Rex Ryan that he’s a better quarterback than Peyton Manning.

Ravens Chop Down the Chiefs – The lone blowout of the Wild Card weekend, this one started promising for the Chiefs, especially when Jamaal Charles put them ahead 7-3 with a 41 yard TD run. It was all Ravens from there though. I kept saying last weekend that the Raiders were absolutely shutting the Chiefs down – how in the world were they supposed to move the ball against Baltimore? Well ultimately they didn’t, and Cassel threw three more interceptions and the Ravens earned themselves a showdown with the Steelers next weekend.

Eagles Pack It In Early – Michael Vick and company simply didn’t show up today. The Packers didn’t particularly dazzle on offense, but their defense kept the Eagles pretty well bottled up for the majority of the game. Watching Vick survey closely-covered receivers and dance around the pocket all day, I couldn’t help but think of Tyrod Taylor hopelessly trying to keep his Virginia Tech team in the game against an overpowering Stanford. The only difference is Taylor was making things happen.

8 Comments   |  tags: | posted in Sports

January 7, 2011

Doin Cali Storylines

By chappy81

Jim Harbaugh is going to be the 49ers new coach for the next five years. Great signing for a guy who is forever embedded in California going all the way back to High School, to coaching Stanford, and now his newest job as the 49ers head coach. Solid move by the coach for choosing the Niners over the Dolphins. It was a great move to stay where his family is, and even more so because he decided to go with the NFC West over the AFC East. I think he liked beating Pete Carroll so much in college in Pete’s last year at USC, he wanted the chance to do it twice a year in the pros. I’m not a big Niners or NFC fan, so that’s all I have to say about that, maybe By will have a post on it sometime later breaking it down, because it is the biggest thing they’ve done since they beat the Giants in the playoffs.

The Raiders fired Cable a couple of days ago as Mceezy already told us. I’ve let the feelings I had on the firing set in a little more over the last couple of days, because originally, I was pretty mad since the Raiders players seemed to respect Cable so much. Now, I’m not quite as mad as the initial shock of the announcement. I’m thinking that Al hired on Hue Jackson as the OC last year, because he wanted to groom him into the next HC. Hue improved the offense by leaps and bounds this year by actually getting them into the endzone last season. I remember last year, we went through a three game stretch where all we managed were field goals, and watching the offense was painful more times than not. They might have scored a TD in that three game stretch, but it was a defensive one.

Anyways, my theory goes like this. Al was going to roll with Cable this year, and see how Hue did with getting the offense functioning like a real offense again. Both were reasonably successful, so no changes were made for the first half of the season. Al probably would’ve kicked Cable to the curb if had a crappy record at the bye week, but that wasn’t the case. Since they were still in the hunt, Al decided to let the year play out and waited through December to see if Cable could get them to the playoffs. He didn’t, and when Cable emphatically said after the season finale win over the Chiefs “we aren’t losers anymore”, that probably pissed Al off more than anything, and was the final straw in a tenure that had him switching QB’s, punching assistants, and receiving battery charges from ex-girlfriends. If they don’t hire/promote Hue Jackson who has the players respect already, then it will be another one of Al’s crazy decisions that I will never understand. The players overall were outspoken against the firing, but I think having a familiar face leading them next year would negate some of that negative energy. So the moral of this rant, if Al hires Hue then I’ll believe he really had a plan. If Al hires someone else, he’s should be checked back into the insane asylum.

The A’s new ballpark. The Oakland City Council approved spending  ¾ of a million dollars into looking at a site in downtown Oakland for a new baseball only park for the A’s. I’m not really sure what this means, but I know there isn’t going to be a stadium anytime soon. I think this was a counter to San Jose trying to find a place to put the A’s, which Lew Wolff has longed for. It’s sad that the MLB still hasn’t concluded their research to decide where is the best fit for the A’s new park if there is one, after only two years of research. If they put me on that committee, I bet I could figure it out faster than two damn years!

Speaking of San Jose, how does the San Jose Hornets sound? It wouldn’t be possible till 2014 (when CP3 is gone), but Larry Ellison easily has the funds to buy the Hornets from the league and the wherewithal to make that move happen. He might do it just because he got punked when he was trying to buy the Warriors. It would be a pretty bold move to try to steal them away to San Jose, especially since the Warriors have as strong a fanbase as any in the league. I wonder if he’d just do it to take money and value away from Lacob and Gruber who bought the Warriors? Probably, because I think this guy HATES losing at anything, and I’m sure losing out on buying the Warriors is still eating at him. Five NBA teams in California seems like a little much, especially when three are in Northern California. I guess we will see how it all plays out, but I thought it was an interesting rumor nonetheless. The Kings are the most likely to move of the current teams here, so maybe there would still only be four teams in Cali if Ellison bought the Hornets.

The Lakers shenanigans leading to losing. I always love when Lakers fans start panicking after a few loses. I’m sure if I was a fan of theirs I’d be a little worried, but seriously, they still have the third best record in the west, so stop bitching Laker Nation. Even though their players are missing practices because of their IPhones, Ron doesn’t like the way Phil yells at him, and Odom is convincing teammates to sign waivers to be on his reality show, they shouldn’t be worried. They’ve gone through much worse with Kobe and Shaq, so they will right the ship. Last year just before the playoffs started, they played some of their worst ball of the season, and that sure didn’t seem to stop them from winning a championship. December and January isn’t the time to worry about the Lakers. This is a team that has been to the finals three years in a row. Sometimes you probably get bored during the season. I think that’s what is happening here more than anything…

19 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 6, 2011

Doin Wild Lines

By chappy81

6-0 last week. I can’t believe it took me all season to finally have a perfect week, but it actually happened! What was even better about the perfect week is that it put me over.500 for the season for the first time all season. It’s been a fun this year having By around to keep me motivated on making all these picks. Plus, it’s much more fun than caring about the Starbucks logo changing. Hopefully next year I can take By down!! Also, this week we were joined by Ryan Meehan from First Order Historians. I made the same picks over on his site if you want to check out even more reasons why I picked these teams check it out here.

I must admit, I’m a bit jealous Chaps had a perfect week, something that I was striving for all season long.  But I can’t complain about a 42-35-5 record on the season, the first time I’ve made picks in which I could reflect back on from a whole season’s worth.  It was real fun joining Chaps this season, and I definitely look forward to next (if there is one).  According to Roger Goodell, there will be.  But for now it’s money time, onto the playoffs!

Week 17 (Chap 6-0, By 2-2) Overall (Chap 48-47-3 By 42-35-5)

New Orleans (-10.5) @ Seattle

Chappy picks New Orleans -10.5. Is there any question on this one? Seattle shouldn’t be in the playoffs, and the Saints will show us all why. I understand that Drew Brees hasn’t had a career year, and has thrown quite a few picks this year, but you know what makes up for a subpar season? Winning in January. He’s shown he can do that, and I think he’ll open up a few big plays against a not very impressive Seahawks defense. Plus, the Saints have had the same problems as two other playoff teams during the regular season, injuries to the offense (Packers and Colts), but were good enough to still win 10 games. I feel like injuries were the reason the Falcons are widely conceived to be a much better team. Now, Brees has most of his weapons back at the right time, so we will soon see who is best, I think they’d play next round.

By picks Seattle (+10.5). What!?  I stated how much I hate Pete Carrol before right?  So why the contradiction here?  Why would I pick his team to win?  Quite simply put, this game can only head in one of two directions.  Either the Saints completely mop the floor with the Seahawks winning by some 40 points, or the Seahawks pull off one of the greatest upsets in playoff history by dethroning the champs.  There’s no in between in my eyes.  There’s no Seahawks lose a tight one.  And as much as I love Drew Brees and despise Cheat Carrol, I’m hoping Seattle shows some NFC West pride and represents our division well.  Otherwise the NFL might have themselves a BCS like controversy in terms of how they decide playoff participants going forward.  Seahawks have nothing to lose here, which makes them dangerous, I like their chances.

Meehan picks New Orleans -10.5.   The Seahawks ended the year with a -79 point differential, and to make matters even more depressing, lost every one of those nine games by 15 points or more.  Yikes.  Later on, I’ll discuss why this upsets me so much.  The Seahawks shouldn’t get their “12th man” advantage, because this game should be in New Orleans.  They didn’t beat anybody good and all of the good teams they played they got smoked.  Now, I’m picking the Saints, but I will say that if an upset this weekend has to happen it’s this one here. Prediction:  New Orleans Saints 32, Seattle Seahawks 15

NY Jets @ Indianapolis (-2.5) Continue reading

17 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 6, 2011

Most Villified Pervert

By chappy81

Brett Favre is getting sued as I’m sure you’ve heard by now. Ran across this little re-enactment from a news team in Taiwan not to be confused with China, since censorship there isn’t as high on the governments priority list. Anyways, if you haven’t seen this yet enjoy!

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Comedy, Random, Sports

January 5, 2011

Old Guys Vs. The Lockout

By chappy81

As the 2011 NBA lockout comes closer to a reality it got me wondering who we might see retire rather than continue on with their career since there are a lot of players out there that are old and still performing at a very high level. That being said the dinosaurs of the NBA might not want to take less than they are already making when the new CBA is reached. Thanks to a Wikki search they listed the ten oldest players in the league right now, and I will go through the seven oldest, and put a percentage on their chances of sticking around to play after the strike is over.

Shaquille O’Neal, 38 years old. Shaq might actually be helped out by this lockout. He hasn’t played a full 82 games since 1994, so I’m guessing that the lockout could actually keep him fresh. At the same time, if he knows that there won’t be basketball being played, I’m sure he’s going to eat himself into retirement. Look for him to have a waist growth spurt and remind us that people can be as big as Refrigerator Perry. Odds of returning after a lockout: 5%

Kurt Thomas, 38 years old. I actually forgot Kurt was still in the league, but he’s alive and well in Chicago filling in for the many injuries they’ve had to their frontline. He’s one of those guys that teams just keep picking up making the Bulls the 8th team of his career. I feel like he has some solid value for teams because he’s seen it all and isn’t a distraction. Odds of returning after a lockout: 80%

Grant Hill, 38 years old. Grant found the fountain of youth with his teammate Steve Nash.

Is Sprite the fountain of youth or is it the fountain of knee surgeries?

The guy is having his best year since he was in Orlando statically. If there’s anyone you think would stay in shape of these old guys during a lockout it would be Grant. He’s also the Suns best defensive player, which I can’t tell if that’s a good or bad thing for the Suns. Odds of returning after a lockout: 90%

Juwan Howard, 37 years old. Honestly I thought Juwan would have hung up the sneakers by now, but the Heat needed some bodies to fill up the roster and he got a call. Sure, he started some games in Portland last year, but we all know about that injury factory in the pacific northwest. If Miami doesn’t win it all this year, Howard is very expendable. Odds of returning after a lockout: 10% unless someone takes a chance on him.

Jason Kidd, 37 years old. I’ve always had a soft spot for the wife beater from Oakland. He’s been declining this year, but mostly because there’s so many other talented guys around him so he doesn’t need to be as great as he was. I think Cuban rides him until he’s shooting 20% from the floor. Odds of returning after a lockout: 99%

Theo Ratliff, 37 years old. He hasn’t really made an impact anywhere over the last few years. I don’t see him really making an impact on the Lakers except replacing Adam Morrison on the bench as the best towel waiver. This feels like his last season to me. Odds of returning after a lockout: 1%

Steve Nash, 36 years old. He’s better than Kidd, but the thing I worry about with Nash is what if the lockout happens and he signs with the MLS in an effort to ignite some support for his one true love, soccer. They can’t pay him as much as he’d make in the NBA though, so his odds of returning after a lockout feel like 99%, but you never know with a real footballer.

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Sports