Category Archives: Sports

September 19, 2011

Moneyball Movie Premiere Recap

By mceezy

Unfortunately my invitation got lost in the mail somewhere, surely, so I wasn’t in attendance for the movie premiere of “Moneyball” in Oakland tonight. Therefore, I couldn’t really recap it any better than the San Francisco Chronicle. Here’s some highlights…

Brad Pitt, Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman and Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin were among those on the red carpet at the Paramount Theater in Oakland on Monday evening as “Moneyball,” the movie based on A’s general manager Billy Beane and the 2002 Oakland team, made its national premiere.

“It’s very cool,” Pitt said as he paused on the carpet to speak to two Bay Area papers. “We’ve been gearing up for this viewing for a long time. This is a special screening for us.

“The people of Oakland gave such a great response. They stayed up with us for hours on end to tape the baseball scenes and never lost energy. We see a lot of fans from the ’02 season. It’s just special.”

Having played Beane in a movie, Pitt disclosed that he now follows Oakland, and he said, “I feel a bit romantic about the A’s.”

Another of the major actors, Chris Pratt, has a less than storied baseball background. Pratt, who plays first baseman Scott Hatteberg, said he has not hit a home run at any level, including T-ball, and in the movie, Pratt, a right-handed hitter, must bat lefty. Through the magic of cinema, his homer gives the A’s their record 20th consecutive victory.

Pratt nails Hatteberg’s preparations at the plate, and he accurately captures Hatteberg’s joyous trip around the bases on the game-winning homer.

“None of it was spontaneous,” Pratt said. “That was the one physicality that I really spent a ton of time trying to mimic exactly.”

High-powered baseball agent Scott Boras walked the red carpet, and though he’s called a bad name in “Moneyball,” he described the movie as “great for baseball.”

*Other observations from the Moneyball premiere: Jonah Hill is HELLA skinny. Philip Seymour Hoffman looks like Sandy Lyle again.

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Movies, Sports

September 19, 2011

Why I Hate the NFL

By chappy81

This weekend I was treated to an amazingly competitive game Sunday morning between my Raiders and the Bills. I was proud to see the Raiders show some life after playing late Monday and flying across the country. I was at home watching the battle, and don’t own the NFL package because I’ve refused to give them any of my hard earned money when it could be better spent at a bar on a couple beers when my team isn’t on. Anyways, with the game on the line with :27 seconds left and the Bills facing a 3rd and 10 from the 15 yard line down by 4, what does CBS do? Oh lets switch to our contract obligation and show the SD-NE game instead of showing the last :27 seconds of this one. In hindsight, maybe I’m somewhat glad I didn’t see the winning score, but it pretty much ruined my Sunday either way. I had to go online and hit refresh 200 times to find out they scored, pathetic I know…

First off, when they switched from the game, the viewers were given three full minutes of straight commercials. What followed you may ask? Oh, just some player intros and some lame commentary about Phillip Rivers and Tom Brady. About five minutes of rambling about the two teams went on before they actually got to kickoff. How much longer did the Raider game last? Less than that first commercial break would be the correct answer. Is this the NFL I was so sad to see go?  The money hungry idiots pulling the plug on the game right before the most meaningful two plays of the game must be one of the biggest blunders I’ve seen in awhile. It’s a known fact that LA is Raiders country even with the team not playing here since 94′, and to switch from the game to a commercial is almost as bad as switching to Heidi in the middle of a game (Oh wait they already pulled that one on us Raiders fans). I was mildly surprised there weren’t some riots. How about this time instead of Heidi, we switch you viewers to watch your hated rival the San Diego Chargers instead? Either the guy on the switchboard hates Raiders fans, or he/she didn’t understand the magnitude of the moment, and actually followed the contractual agreement. At least give us the end of the third down play for Christ sake! It felt like I watched a movie for three hours, and the movie theatre all of a sudden decided that the next movie should start instead of finishing the action thriller I was watching. Maybe I will hit up a Raiders game this year, so I can actually see the ending…

Signed,

One Pissed Fan

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

September 16, 2011

Doin Lines Week 2

By chappy81

Chappy: Off to a terrific start to the gambling season, I mean NFL season, and I’m already feeling better than I did last year. I think we all learned more about teams in week 1’s 16 games than we did in all 60 preseason games combined. It seems like a thousand things happened in only one week of football, but that’s probably because we over analyze everything. Let’s keep all this good mojo we got going, and get on to the picks for week 2!

By: A quick blurb.  It’s week two, and I still feel so grateful that we are even watching football, maybe the effects of it won’t wear off at all this year.  People don’t realize how much they appreciate watching a game until it’s almost taken away from them.  Perhaps that’s the reason why Chappy and I were on fire during opening week, look at that winning percentage right there!  We got a good thing back with football, and we weren’t blowing picks on just any game.  We were focused.  We were determined.  We still are.  Although I must apologize ahead of time to Chaps, I think I just jinxed us for the rest of the season there … I guess we’ll find out soon enough.  On to the lines!

Last Week: Chappy (3-1-1) By (3-1)

Kansas City @ Detroit (-8.5)

Chappy picks Detroit (-8.5). Under normal conditions I’d never take the Lions to beat any team by more than a touchdown. I don’t think the Chiefs offense will be nearly as bad as they were against Buffalo as Bowe and Charles are bound to have better games, but their defense is awful. How do you let Ryan Fitzpatrick rip you a new one. I mean the Chiefs didn’t land at #32 in our power rankings for no reason! I don’t see the Chiefs having any answers for Megatron as he’ll knock the cornerbacks off him like nats without Eric Berry roaming the secondary. I see a close first half and a dominating second half for the Lions.

Arizona @ Washington (-4)

By picks Washington (-4). Am I really going with a team that has Rex Grossman running the show?  You bet your bottom dollar I am!  It’s not that I’m high on Grossman, but Arizona didn’t exactly impress me squeaking by Carolina at home last week.  Yes, Cam Newton went off, but what many are neglecting to ask is, how much of that was due to bad defense?  Cam Newton can’t really be that good, can he?  While not blown away by Washington’s opening performance, I did take notice.  Ultimately, my prediction is Grossman puts together a string of solid games to start the season, then returns to his “Hyde” form shortly after, throwing plenty of picks, and throwing away chances at wins along the way.  But for the time being, the Redskins ride their high all the way to their second consecutive home victory by at least 10 points.  Keep your eye on Tim Hightower as well, he’ll have a bit of a chip on his shoulder facing his old team.

Oakland @ Buffalo (-3.5)

Chappy picks Oakland (+3.5). I’m never a big fan of picking my team especially when they are travelling to the eastcoast to play an early game when they just played a Monday night game, but I can’t help myself. I actually have hope they can win outside the division this year, and hopefully it will start this week. A lot has changed since their last match up three years ago. Jamarcus was our starting QB, Buffalo still believed in Marshawn. Now both these teams look somewhat competent coming out of the gates. I love the way the Raiders are trying to be the bullies they were back in their glory days. In the MNF game they tried to give Denver chances to win with many ugly penalties, but maybe they learned something (probably not). I see them at least covering the spread.

Tampa Bay @ Minnesota (-3)

By picks Minnesota (-3). The Vikings did everything in their power to lose their season opening game at San Diego.  They begged Philip Rivers to bring the Chargers back, and that’s exactly what he did.  The Chargers are also said to be contenders in the opinions of many.  Conversely, Tampa Bay, last season’s surprise, got flat out beat by Detroit at home.  This makes the Vikings loss the more impressive of the two, or the lesser between two evils.  To Tampa’s credit, a lot is expected from the Lions this season, but I said in last week’s predictions, that I felt Tampa would use this season as an opportunity to take two steps back from last season’s success, and nothing that happened in week one has me thinking otherwise.  It should be a close game late, until Tampa subjects to some growing pains, making some crucial mistakes, while AP goes nuts.  I have a strange feeling AP goes over 200 in this game.  Vikings by 6.

Baltimore @ Tennessee (+6)

Chappy picks Baltimore (-6). The Ravens were easily the most impressive team last weekend while destroying their division foes, but like Terell Suggs said “You’re only as good as your next game”. That kind of attitude has me believing in this team more than I thought I would. There’s nothing not to like about Ray Rice right now, He was snatched up just before my first pick in both my fantasy drafts. I see their defense being able to contain CJ and possibly making Rice the best running back in the game right now. If they can stay healthy, they are going to be tough for any team to beat. Hasselbeck had a decent game for Tennessee last week, but he’s always one play away from being out for the year. Baltimore can deliver those kinds of blows, and will rattle the veteran at some point during the game into a turnover or two.

Cincinnati @ Denver (-5)

By picks Denver (-5). Listen, I’m probably more pro Tebow than anyone outside of Jesus, but even I know Tebow isn’t Denver’s best option at quarterback yet.  The Broncos ran into a highly motivated, and talented Raiders team, that ran wild on them.  That’s not really Kyle Orton’s fault.  I don’t believe the Broncos are a playoff contender, but I do believe they have more to offer than what was shown last Monday.  It’s the fans in Denver that are making them seem worse than what they really are.  The Bengals won their first game by fluke, and when pitted against a team that would like nothing more than to shut their own fans up, Kyle Orton goes ape shit and adds another 400 yard game to the calendar, while the Bengals reveal their true stripes.  Denver by 14.

Green Bay @ Carolina (+9.5)

Chappy picks Green Bay (-9.5). Cam was spectacular in his debut. I’ll be honest, I didn’t see it coming. I thought he’d be okay this year, as in, better than Tebow, but not 422 yards good. While it was a nice story for week 1, he still lost, and the Packers are going to roll out a lot of defensive schemes that will make him look like the rookie he is. If AZ can put up 28 on Carolina’d D, there’s no reason to think the Packers can’t put up 50 without breaking a sweat. I wouldn’t be shocked to see this line jump to 10 before the weekend (I wrote this on Wednesday, and low and behold the line is 10!). Too many people betting on Green Bay I see, they still look plenty attractive with the adjusted half point to the line!

San Diego @ New England (-6.5)

Chappy: San Diego (+6.5). Whoa, four picks for the road teams this week. Hopefully this works out. It seems like everyone has the Chargers somewhere between 5-8 in their power rankings, yet the Patriots are a touchdown favorite for this game?!? It feels like this line should be more in the 4 range, because the last three times they’ve hooked up the games have been decided by 4 or less points. Granted the Patriots looked amazing in their opener, while the Chargers looked a little rusty, but both over matched their opponent throughout their respective games. One thing I think we can all agree on is that both these offenses are great. Another thing we can probably agree on is that the Chargers have the better defense, and a few recievers as big as Brandon Marshall with a better QB than Chad Henne throwing to them. I hope SD loses by six or less!

Philadelphia @ Atlanta (+3)

By picks Philadelphia

You didn’t think I was only going to pick teams with home games this week, did you?  You didn’t think I was going to turn my back on the Eagles, did you?  If you said no to those questions, you thought right!  Although if there’s one team that could steal away a vote from me towards Philly in a match up, it would be the Falcons.  Matty Ice, Roddy Roddy Piper White, Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez and Burner Turner.  That’s a lot of weapons, and despite being held in check out in Chicago last week, no one expects this high octane offense to stall any further.  With that said, Mike Vick has been amazing since last season, and the balance on Philly’s offense, as well as the ability for the Eagles to hit a home run on any given play gives them the edge here.  I think the Eagles win by 6 in a barn burner, 40-34 in what will easily be the game of the week.  Vick returns to Atlanta too, drama …

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

September 15, 2011

Be Careful What You Wish For, Broncos Fans

By mceezy

I really don’t get the Coup d’eTebow going on out in Denver. Well, I do, but I don’t get how some fans can be so disillusioned to think that replacing Kyle Orton with Tim Tebow would turn the Broncos around. I wasn’t going to chime in when the fans were already chanting Te-bow in the season opener, but now I hear some wealthier fans are actually taking up billboards.  I don’t think the Broncos front office is trying to keep Tebow off the field. All the chatter at the beginning of training camp was that he would be the starter. Then he fell to number 2, then to 2B, next to Brady Quinn. Clearly Tebow played his way off the field. Surely the front office would LOVE to put their most marketable player out their on the field. Shoot, if he played even with Kyle Orton, they’d probably give him the nod. Obviously, playing Tebow is simply not a good football decision. It’d be like out here in Sacramento, if the NBA season ever starts, and the Kings weren’t playing Jimmer Fredette (which won’t happen). Fans would react the same, EXCEPT, they’d be smart enough NOT to call for him to play over Tyreke Evans. Fortunately in basketball it’s different and they can play together.

I got quite a heavy dose of Kyle Orton this past week, since the Broncos were opening the season against the Oakland Raiders. True, he can leave a little to be desired at times, but what I kept thinking to myself – especially in the second half, when the Te-Bow chants ridiculously started chiming on from the Mile High Crowd – was, would Tebow be making the plays that Orton isn’t? Not once did I say yes. The bad throws by Orton, I couldn’t see Tebow threading the needle any better. And even though Orton was sacked five times, Tebow, despite his well-documented scrambling skills, would not have evaded ANY of them. It’s not as though Orton was dancing around in the pocket getting chased down by 300 pounders. The Raiders defensive line (which I’m going to start calling the best in the NFL pretty soon) was simply bullrushing through the Broncos’ offensive line. Orton didn’t even have time to SEE them. What’s Tebow going to do in that situation?! I guess Denver fans want to find out. One day they probably will, and that’ll be the day the Tebow billboards will come down. Let’s just hope there’s a good-humored fan out there who’ll have the cash to replace it with a “IN with Quinn” billboard.

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

September 14, 2011

Detroit’s Delmon Deserves Some Love

By chappy81

Over the past couple weeks there’s been a lot of buzz on how good the Detroit Tigers are, and I agree with the sentiment that they are a very good team. Usually the conversation goes something like Verlander is amazing, Cabrera is a great hitter, and Valverde hasn’t blown a save all season, but that doesn’t explain this recent 11 win hot streak at all because those three have been on the team all year. Could you point to Doug Fister’s addition to the rotation? Probably a little, but since they were still playing just .500 ball since he was acquired to when they got the real piece that has had them on an offensive tear, I’d say no. That piece offensive piece was Delmon Young.

Delmon had a terrible year in Minnesota. I was one of those fantasy owners that held onto him way too long hoping he’d show some glimpse of what he did last year. On August 15th the best thing that could’ve happened to him did happen when he was traded to Detroit. He was instantly inserted into the 3 hole in the lineup, just in front of Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. His bat has reeked of burnt wood since the move. After making that lineup adjustment, they are an impressive 22-6. While Young was playing in Minnesota he had no protection with Mauer and Morneau always being hurt and out of the lineup, now he has a ton of protection, and is not only getting good pitches to hit, but isn’t missing many of them. Since the trade  on August 15th Delmon has hit .313 with 5 homers, 20 RBI’s, and 19 runs scored over 28 games. Is it a coincidence that Detroit has scored the most runs in the league since he joined their team? Not in my opinion since this offense was average at best before he arrived, and now it seems like everyone is hitting in thier lineup, even Miguel Cabrera has picked it up after his arrival as hard as that may be to believe. With Delmon on this team they’ve also increased their division lead from 2.5 games all the way up to their now 12.5 game lead in just a month of his presence. I just wanted to give Delmon some love since it seems like he got lost in the media when they talk about Detroit and the Verlander for CY and MVP…

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

September 13, 2011

Doin NFL Week 1 Power Rankings

By mceezy

1. Green Bay Packers – They played on the biggest stage of Week One and arguably put on the greatest show. The defending champs opened the season with a win over one of their primary challengers. The throne is theirs until someone knocks them off.

2. Baltimore Ravens -Wow, I’m on board with the Ravens after watching their dismantling of the Steelers to kick off the NFL Sunday season. Lewis, Suggs, and Reed all look like they’re still the same age as they have been the last 8 years. Who’s gonna stop the Ravens in the AFC?

3. Philadelphia Eagles – It looked like they were going be an average team for the first 20 minutes or so of their game against the Rams, but in the second half particularly, the Eagles showed they should have no problem living up to expectations as an elite team in the NFL this year.

4. New England Patriots – I watched the game with a couple of New England natives, and at one point I actually said, “I feel like the Pats promised someone they’d keep the game close.” That’s what it felt like. Even when they weren’t dominating the scoreboard, they were in control of the Dolphins the entire game. As usual, that’s how they’ll look for thirteen or fourteen of their games this year.

5. San Diego Chargers – The Chargers, thanks to their schedule, have every opportunity to start no worse than 4-1. They weren’t particularly overpowering in their defeat of Minnesota, but they capitalized on Donovan McNabb’s existence.
6.Chicago Bears – No one gave them a chance to win the opener against Atlanta. So, even though it’s just one win, it’s a win over another NFC contender that may prove valuable when it comes to playoff seeding.

7. San Francisco 49ers – Jim Harbaugh notched his first win as an NFL head coach. I’m not sure where the credit should lie, since the Niners didn’t do any one thing special. But anytime you can get 2 returns for TDs from Ted Ginn, I’m sure you like your odds

8. Washington Redskins – Washington took advantage of an injury-riddled Giants team and an uninspired Eli Manning. Rex Grossman was the better QB on Sunday, and the Redskins notched a much needed division win.

9. New Orleans Saints – Brees and co. didn’t disappoint, but the ground game was pretty painful. Not sure if it had anything to do with Reggie Bush, but I expected bigger things from the trio of Thomas, Ingram, and Sproles. There’s no shame in losing to the defending Super Bowl champs though.

10. Atlanta Falcons – Maybe it was just one game, but the Falcons did NOT look good in their opener. The offense is supposed to be their strength, so 12 points isn’t going to cut it – especially when your defense is going to give up 30 points to the likes of the Bears.

11. Buffalo Bills – So far the Bills have one more win than a lot people predicted they would have. Beating the Chiefs is no accomplishment, but putting up 41 points on offense is more than enough to get recognized. Especially when you do it with guys like Fitzpatrick, Jackson, and Johnson.

12. Cincinnati Bengals – The Bengals are only this high because most people picked them to be at the bottom of the league. I don’t think they’re going to be as bad as many predict though. Granted, their victory came at the expense of the Browns, so we won’t go pumping them up into the top ten just yet.

13. Detroit Lions – Matthew Stafford threw for 305 yards and 3 TDs leading the Lions to a week one win over a Tampa Bay team that was over .500 last year. The talent seems to finally be there in Detroit, but can they put it all together?

14. New York Giants – Expectations were fairly low after injuries ripped through the Giants roster in the preseason, but no one really expected them to lose to the Redskins. Lucky for them, the Cowboys couldn’t pull off the win against the Jets, so it won’t be too lonely at the bottom of the NFC East just yet.

15. New York Jets – Mark Sanchez doesn’t set the world on fire, but he seems to come through in the clutch more often than not, which is exactly the opposite of the guy he beat this weekend in Tony Romo. This didn’t look like the team that got to the AFC Championship game, but they didn’t look too bad either. 

16. Houston Texans – I’m not sure if the Texans won, or the Colts lost because they didn’t have their captain of the ship running the show, but they did win in convincing fashion. This could be their year to reign supreme in that division.

17. Miami Dolphins – Miami put up a respectable fight agains the Patriots Monday night, but they never really threatened to win the game. Not when you rely on Chad Henne to make throws, or Reggie Bush to be your primary back. He came out of the gates hard and then ran out of gas 4 min into the game! At one point, the Dolphins seemed like they were handcuffed – forced to throw exclusively at Brandon Marshall just to keep his evil personality from coming out.

18. Oakland Raiders – At the time Janikowski put his name in the NFL record books for his 63 yard field goal, it didn’t seem like that would be the difference in the game as the Raiders were dominating the Broncos. Still they have way too many penalties to consider them a contender just yet.

19. Jacksonville Jaguars – The Luke McCown era begins with a win, as the Save Jack Del Rio season gets underway. Home games against teams like the Titans are the ones the Jags will need to stay afloat this season.

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Hopes are high this season for the Bucs coming off an impressive 2010 campaign. Kicking off the year with a home loss to the Lions will kill all that noise real quick…

21. Minnesota Vikings – Oh man, are we witnessing one of the greatest, fastest falls from the elite ranks of an athlete this decade? Where does this rank on the Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Ken Griffey, or Tiger Woods scale? Donovan McNabb threw for 39 yards in his Vikings debut. His first pass was  an interception that led to a San Diego TD.

22. St Louis Rams – Expectations are fairly high for Sam Bradford and the Rams, but no one can overlook their ridiculous schedule. They put up a decent (albeit futile) fight against Philadelphia, but things don’t appear to be looking up, as Steven Jackson will miss at least the next week, and Bradford has a banged up right index finger.

23. Cleveland Browns – The loser of the Cleveland-Cincinnati matchup gets an automatic invite to the bottom three in the league. Add the fact that they lost at home. But they were able to move the ball a bit, and managed to put 17 points on the board.

24. Tennessee Titans – The wannabe highest paid player in football rushed for 24 yards on 9 carries, and so went the Titans offense. They struggled to move the ball in a 16-14 loss to Jacksonville

25. Pittsburgh Steelers – They sure didn’t look like a team ready to go to war in week 1. It was more like the U.S. (Baltimore) taking on some third world country  with rocks as weapons in a war. It looked over by halftime as mistake after mistake happened to them. Maybe they got them all out in this opener…

26. Arizona Cardinals – The Panthers gave them all they could handle, but Kolb looked really good in his first game as a red bird. He better be good if they are going to be in shootouts with against a QB making his first start. I have very little confidence in this team going forward, because they need to make some major adjustments on defense.

27. Indianapolis Colts – Poor Indy. They’ve fallen so far in just one week of football. I’d like to see them go out and get someone not named Kerry Col lins. I feel like nobody in the locker room trusts the guy, and why should they?

28. Carolina Panthers – Wow, was Cam impressive. I couldn’t tell if it was terrible defense on Arizona’s part or if he was really tearing them up. Either way it looks like Carolina picked a heckuva player with the #1 pick this year. 

29. Seattle Seahawks – Losing to the 49ers in the fashion they did is reason for plenty of pessimism in Seattle. Despite lackluster performances from Alex Smith and Frank Gore, the Seahawks suffered a 33-17 defeat in San Francisco. At least none of their fans got shot.

30. Denver Broncos – They battled the Raiders, but never really looked like they could win the game. It was awesome to hear the crowd chant for Tebow at the end of the game. Maybe it was because they had no running game!?!

31. Dallas Cowboys – You didn’t think they’d be high on these rankings did you? Romo seems to do everything possible wrong in the moment. Maybe he tries too hard to make the big play, but he never makes the right one. They’ve got talent, but there’s many areas they need to improve on, like conditioning. They looked winded down the stretch this weekend.

32. Kansas City Chiefs – Yikes, losing by 36 to the Bills!?! If you thought they took a step in the right direction last season, then this must be three steps backwards. Getting blown out by those proportions and getting beat in every phase of the games lands you last in the ol power rankings!

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

September 9, 2011

Doin Lines Week 1

By chappy81

Chappy: It feels like football crept up on us quickly. It feels like just yesterday they were locked out and crying over spilt milk. Now that my fantasy teams are set it’s time to take a look at some of the bets to make this weekend to avenge my losing trip to the Del Mar horse races last weekend. I feel like week 1 is always the toughest to pick, and this year it feels a little tougher to pick with the extremely shortened offseason, and not knowing exactly where all the free agents landed. I’m looking for a bounce back year with my picks. I didn’t have a whole lot of luck last year which might have evened out my extremely successful 2009. Anyways we’re on to year three in the Doin Lines picks, and I think it’s going to be a good one!

By: Doin Lines is back!  Woot a mother f**king woot!  I’m so excited to yet again, give you all my idiotic thoughts, opinions and overall predictions for another season!  I really don’t have much to say as far as an intro to our picks, I’m just so happy and excited that football is back!  We all know the NFL is king in terms of sports ratings, so with that being said, LONG LIVE THE KING!  Glad the suits were able to get together with the hard hats and hash it out!  Now … let’s get this show on the road!

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore (+2.5)

Chappy picks Baltimore (+2.5). Wow starting the year with a pick that I don’t really want to go with, but it’s going to be a great game, so I couldn’t resist. Anytime these two teams meet up, you know it’s going to be close. I feel like Big Ben might have his best season of his career this year, but that might have to start after week 1. I really like taking the points when (A) the home team is the underdog and (B) said home team is looking for some revenge from the season before. I’m scared of this pick because the only time the Ravens did beat them last year was during Big Ben’s four game suspension, but that won’t stop me from throwing them in a parlay.

Detroit @ Tampa Bay (+1.5)

By picks Detroit (-1.5)

It’s tough to pick the unproven Lions, who are led by an unproven and often injured quarterback to open the season with a win on the road against an upstart Tampa team, but … that’s exactly what I’m going to do here.  My mouth salivates thinking about all the weapons Detroit has at its disposal, from Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, to Jahvid Best (who is also injury prone).  If this team can stay healthy, watch out.  Aside from the potential explosiveness from Detroit’s offense, their defensive line is equally ferocious.  Anchored by the fiery Ndamukong Suh, they’re an opposing quarterback’s nightmare, just ask Tom Brady.  Plus, I have a gut feeling the Bucs are going to fall into the category of “one step forward, two steps back” from last season to this, and it starts with week one.

Chappy picks Detroit (-1.5). I think the Lions meaningless undefeated pre-season record talked me into this one. Yeah, I get it, preseason means about as much as my opinion, but I feel like Detroit is going to be good this year as long as Stafford can stay on the field. Megatron should have his breakout year pretty soon as he enters his physical prime. I was disappointed in Tampa’s offseason as they seemed to forget to spend some of their money when they had a ton left under the cap. I’m a big Freeman fan, but I just don’t see this one ending in the Bucs favor.

Philadelphia @ St. Louis (+6)

By picks Philadelphia (-6). Although the Eagles haven’t exactly set the world on fire during the pre-season, it is, still … pre-season.  Some experts now have Dallas as the favorites out of the East … seriously?  What has Tony Romo done to sway their predictions?  Anyway, this is about Philly and how they’ll dominate St. Louis.  As oppose to listing reasons as to why the Eagles will cover, I’ll ask a few questions.  Once you answer them in your own head, you’ll understand.  Who on St. Louis will stop Mike Vick, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek?  That’s to name a few.  Can you see how easily Philly can spread the field?  Now, does St. Louis have enough on offense to pose a threat to this stacked Eagles d?  Bare in mind, Nnamdi Asomugha will erase half the field. Not sure why the spread is so low, Eagles big.

Cincinnati @ Cleveland (-6.5)

Chappy picks Cleveland (-6.5). I have few rules with my betting in week 1, but this is one I’ve always stood firm by. Bet against any rookie QB starting their first game. This holds even more true after a lockout, and while I don’t have anything against Dalton, I don’t think he’s had enough time to guide this team to a victory in week 1, plus Cincy is far from a contender. Not that Cleveland is, but they looked pretty legit down the stretch last year under Colt (I wish the Raiders picked him) McCoy. If Cincy has a tough time scoring early, Cleveland covers easily.

Tennessee @ Jacksonville (-3)

Does this look like the face of a guy you want leading your team?

By picks Tennessee (+3). To be honest, I don’t even know who Luke McCown is, and I’m not even going to Google him.  He’s probably just keeping the quarterback seat “luke” warm for Blaine Gabbert anyway.  See what I did there?  If I stated Matthew Stafford is unproven earlier, then what does that make McCown?  And with that being said, that is why I’m going with Tennessee here.  It’s crazy how quickly people have pushed aside Matt Hasselbeck.  He may not be the Hasselbeck of 2005, but the guy can still sling the rock.  Plus there’s some good targets out there in Tennessee, Kenny Brit, Jared Cook.  Oh by the way, having Chris Johnson in the backfield is not a bad thing.  Long story short, the Titans load the box and force McCown to win the game, which he won’t.  Tennessee 21, Jacksonville 10.

Carolina @ Arizona (-7)

Chappy picks Arizona (-7). My week 1 rule applies twice to my picks. Always pick against a rookie making his first career start, and you can count on me parlaying the two rookies in the loss column. I have little to no confidence in Arizona, but of any team in the NFC West, for some reason I think they are the best. They should be able to handle last years worst team. Cam will throw a couple picks and Beanie Wells will run over their terrible defense. Yeah, I just said Beanie Wells is going to play well this weekend, and that will probably be the only time you hear me say that.

NY Giants @ Washington (+4)

By picks NY Giants (-4). This is a situation in which I’m not so much in love with one team, as much as I am in hate with the other.  Experts expect big things from the G Men, but I’m still skeptical.  Yes, Eli Manning is the best Manning right now, but obviously that’s by default.  To this day I don’t believe he has what it takes to win a Super Bowl, and that’s with him already winning a Super Bowl!  I know, it doesn’t make sense, right?  Yet, it kind of does, huh?  But the Giants have plenty of weapons to make up for a sub par quarterback performance where as the Redskins have nothing.  Literally … nothing.  ‘Nuff said.

New England @ Miami (+6.5)

Chappy picks New England (-6.5). Even though we’ve seen Miami hang tough against the Pats a few times, I don’t see it happening Monday Night. Bellichick had a whole off-season to prepare for this game, and that’s never a good thing for the competition. I feel like Brandon Marshall and Devon Bess could have big games after they are getting blown out against a weak Pats secondary, but that’s a crappy consolation prize. I’m pretty excited to see Daniel Thomas in the backfield for Miami, dude looked like he had some skills in college.

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

September 8, 2011

Fired up Commentator

By chappy81

There’s a few people out there that can get me engaged in a event I could care less about. Gus Johnson would easily top the list. This guy might rank somewhere in the top 5, because he got me to watch a full run of some guy I could care less about. One thing I was wondering though, is if this announcer was this excited for all the racers. It sounded like he was going to pass out from excitement. It seems unlikely he had that pace all the way through, but he can take solace in the fact he got me to watch my first full run of a mountain bike racing…

8 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Sports

September 7, 2011

Moscoso Def

By mceezy

You wanna dance? Guillermo Moscoso’ll make you dance. Well, half the time. Like Chappy and I determined earlier today, he’s either lights out, or gets lit up. Today he was on fire though. Neither of us caught the game, since it was a weekday day game, but we both certainly kept up on it. Oakland A’s pitcher, Guillermo Moscoso carried a perfect game into the 6th, and a no-hitter deep into the 8th. Apparently today’s start, coupled with his last start against Seattle, set an Oakland record with 30 consecutive batters retired. On paper, he didn’t appear to be particularly dominating. He struck out just four and had a ground ball to fly ball ratio of 3 : 19. But an outstanding performance is outstanding regardless of how it looks. And while the game itself doesn’t have much significance for the A’s for this season, Moscoso is looking more like yet another Oakland young player that, with a full season’s work, can help carry the team back into contention next year.

Highlights….

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_09_07_kcamlb_oakmlb_1&mode=video

 

3 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Sports

September 6, 2011

Was Garrard The Face Of The Jaguars’ Franchise?

By mceezy

Perhaps it’s a sign of nothing else going on, but the top story out of the NFL today was the release of quarterback David Garrard by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Some are wondering how it will affect the Jags’ locker room. Others are wondering if it was poor timing, just five days before the regular season begins. I can’t speculate on how they’ll fare with Luke McCown under center, because quite frankly, I couldn’t tell you the difference between Luke McCown and Josh McCown, or even Cade McNown for that matter. The question I keep asking myself today is, is David Garrard the face of the franchise for Jacksonville. Your first instinct is probably to say, without a shadow of a doubt, NO. But when you dig a little deeper, you might realize that Garrard had a pretty good run with the Jags. They’ve really only had three quarterbacks in franchise history, and Garrard was the second longest tenured of the three. But that itself may be an indication that the longest tenured QB, Mark Brunell, may in fact be the answer to this question. There’s actually two other guys who you’d have to put ahead of Garrard as well, and there’ll be another in the next year or two. So forgive me when I say I never really considered Garrard to be the G.O.A.T. in Jacksonville, but it does make for a pretty fun poll…..

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

September 2, 2011

Kershaw, The Diamondbacks, and Milwaukee’s Best

By chappy81

I have to admit, I haven’t been watching a ton of baseball lately. Maybe having the A’s out of the picture before summer was in full swing is to blame. I have however, seemed to catch all of Clayton Kershaw’s starts over the past month and a half, and the scruffy faced kid has won me over, and for the record he can blow one helluva bubble. He reminds me of Lincecum a little, but bigger and more imposing on the hill. He’s gone 9-1 with a 1.18 ERA since the All-Star Break, and has looked filthy every time he takes the hill. Not even Cliff Lee’s dominant August can help him match what Kershaw has done over the past two months. Maybe he hasn’t gotten that much hype, because there’s only 10 people showing up to Chavez Ravine these days. Some argue that when you’re pitching on a losing team in meaningless games it makes it so much easier to put up great numbers. Personally, I think it’s probably harder, because you get less run support, but that’s a whole other argument. Plus let’s face it, nobody wants to lose anywhere in life, most players are competitive and aren’t simply mailing in these games, they just have inferior talent. Kershaw currently outpaces Halladay (the yearly Cy Young favorite), in wins, K’s, WHIP, IP, and ERA. Sure, Kershaw has had one more start than Doc, but it’s a lot closer race than you might think. Kershaw is starting to be the Jered Weaver of the NL. Great pitcher, but for some reason not considered the best by many, yet that is…

The Diamondbacks have been a HUGE surprise this year. I’ve heard people trying to decipher whether Kevin Towers or Kirk Gibson deserves the credit for their success. I’d say it’s Towers hands down, and not because I’m still bitter from the homer Gibson hit off Eckersly in the 88 World Series, ok so maybe I am, I’m sure you’d hold onto the grudge too if it happened to your team. Anyways, if it weren’t for Towers, Gibson would never have had the “interim” tag taken off his “coach” title. A lot of newly appointed GM’s like hand pick their own manager, but he’s being rewarded for sticking with the guy he saw had some passion for this team. Also in his first week in the office, he sent strikeout/home run king Mark Reynolds to Baltimore for David Hernandez and Cam Mikolio. Winning trade right there for the D’backs adding their setup man in Hernandez, for the overpaid Reynolds. Shortly after that trade, he signed JJ Putz. Not many people outside Seattle really knew much about Putz or his skills, but he has always been a good option out of the pen, and came pretty cheap considering he was injured almost all last year. I’m not sure he knew at the time, but in two quick moves he secured the 8th and 9th innings of games. Sound familiar? He did the same thing with the Padres for many years, believing in having a strong bullpen, and making the game a little shorter. What’s the result? Last year their bullpen ERA was 5.75, this year you ask? 3.19 ERA. He went on to sign Joe Saunders, Miguel Montero, Kelly Johnson, and Micah Owings to one year deals. What was his best move this year you may ask? NOT moving Justin Upton. It sounded like his phone was ringing off the hook with multiple offers for him, and to his credit he stood pat, which looks like a wise choice since he’s now an MVP candidate.

I think I’ve been a closet Brewers fan since CC was going on three days rest every start for their playoff push in 2008. Or maybe it was the Prince walk-off bowling pin celebration that did it. I’m always drawn to those loose creative type teams that seem like they want to have fun. Maybe those images from that year were ingrained in my mind, so that’s why I picked them the last couple years in our pre-season MLB predictions to win the Central. Whatever the reason for the sudden infatuation with them, they played some great baseball in August going 20-7. It’s been amazing that they’ve kept building a lead in the division when they were without All-Star 2nd baseman Rickie Weeks. They’ve pretty much done it all with pitching now that Greinke is finally showing them his Cy Young form, and is giving them what they hoped they’d get out of him when they sent a lot of prospects to KC. Is it just me or does this team feel a little like the Giants last year? Not necessarily how the cast was built, but more so in the timely hitting department backed by solid starting pitching every night. I guess this offense is a little more intimidating than the Giants O was last year, especially with Hart finding his stroke lately they truly are starting to resemble an AL lineup. With Weeks coming off the DL within a week this could be the team to beat! Even if they happen to get a little tight down the stretch, they always have Nyjer (Bryant Gumble) Morgan to loosen up the locker room. For some reason I feel so confident in them at the moment I just put a futures bet in at 20/1 odds to win it all. I’m sure I’ll celebrate a $400 win with a post if it all works out….

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

August 31, 2011

A’s Get Robbed In Bugtown USA

By mceezy

I guess it doesn’t really matter, so I shouldn’t be crying over spilled milk, but the A’s got robbed in Cleveland tonight. For a while I thought the bugs were going to dictate the outcome of the game, and we’d be able to blame it on the insects, like the Yankees did in the playoffs a few years back. Instead, we can blame it on BRUCE DRECKMAN.  YOU blew a call tonight Dreckman, all because you wanted to go home. The A’s and Indians were deadlocked in a 3-3 tie in the 16th inning. A run hadn’t been scored in 10 innings, but it was just passed midnight in Cleveland, and you wanted to hit the hay. Well I’m not gonna stand for this. This aggression will not stand, man. Kurt Suzuki clearly made the tag on the ass no less than 6 inches ahead of the plate. I know the bugs must be a pain in the ass, but let’s at least let the players on the field determine the outcome of the game. This was the biggest blown call since Jim Joyce ruined Armando Galarraga’s career. There was only one out, so it’s not like the Indians probably wouldn’t have scored. But to send a team home on that play, is no doubt a low point in the season. It may not seem like a big deal now, but for all you fans of playoff teams, just hope that you don’t get dealt Bruce Dreckman for one of your series. His blown call will sail under the radar, but it won’t go without notice on Doin Work. F*** YOU BRUCE DRECKMAN.

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

August 31, 2011

Crazy Car Chase

By chappy81

I know I’ve neglected the blog for the past couple weeks, and it’s mostly because summer seems to get in the way of everything. Let’s face it there’s so many more fun things to do than sit in front of your computer when it’s nice out. Anyways, this video is a little old, but if you haven’t seen this guy steal a police car and take you with him on his wild ride with the dash cam, you have to watch it once. I don’t play video games nearly as much as I used to, but this is truly a GTA move in real life. I’m sure grabbing the cop car instantly got him two stars. Not quite a three star robbery, because no helicopters entered the chase, but ballsy to say the least.

7 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Sports

August 29, 2011

If I Only Had A Tweet….

By mceezy

Sedale Thweet and the Designated Twitter

Clearly we’re all in full Summer swing each weekend as Doin Work seems to get laid off every Saturday and Sunday. But just because I spent my weekend bouncing between the pool, Hurricane Irene coverage, and beautiful Lake Clementine doesn’t mean I didn’t catch my share of sports this weekend. And what I didn’t catch over the weekend, I caught up on the radio during my morning and afternoon commute. Twice today, I started my thought with “If I had a Twitter, I’d tweet…..” Well I don’t have a twitter, but I do have a blog. So here are the tweets you would have seen if @The RealMCeezy existed…..

@Arian Foster: If it weren’t for Fantasy, no one would even KNOW you’re hurt. Be glad people know who you are!

@MichaelVick: Unless something CRAZY happened in the pen’, you just grabbed the biggest rebound in the history of human redemption.

@WilsonChandler: Bold move signing in China knowing you can’t come back if the lockout ends. But what does that say about the status of the lockout more importantly?

@JCrittendon: RUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!

@JoshWillingham: Thank the baseball gods you hit a two-run double of Boston pitching outfielder Darnell McDonald on Friday night.

@SFGiantsFans: I hear you griping about the offense on KNBR 680 and KHTK 1140. You’re forgetting they overachieved last year. Vegas didn’t pick them to repeat, so you shouldn’t either.

@PepsiRoyaners: Congratulations to my fantasy baseball team for clinching a playoff spot. We survived serious injuries to Buster Posey, David Wright, and Jimmy Rollins, but we stuck with our guns, i.e. Matt Kemp. We pulled the league’s best ERA on the strength of Matt Cain, Ricky Romero, Ervin Santana, and Jeremy Hellickson (plus Price, Carpenter, Harrison, and Danks). But, just like real baseball, if we can JUST all get healthy and hot at the right time……

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

August 26, 2011

Tiger Spoof

By chappy81

I was going to try and give this one some kind of insight, but they paralleled Tigers golf game with his sex life pretty well, so I’ll just let these two mock PTI guys tell you what is going on in Tiger’s world.

 

13 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Comedy, Sports