January 7, 2010

The Cuban Missile is Going to be a Gayngel

By chappy81

Awhile back you may remember me writing how excited I was for the 22-year-old lefty, Aroldis Chapman. I really couldn’t contain my excitement of seeing the next great bearer of last name Chapman (which is my last name), and was hoping he would be the best since Rex Chapman (the basketball player). I already had a nickname picked out for him “The Cuban Missile”. He has tons of upside, and will get his shot at the big league level just like anyone else who has hit 101 mph on the radar gun with some accuracy. I’m still curious if he really is 22, but that’s for Cuban immigration to figure out. I would still be behind him, but yesterday it was reported that the Angels agreed to terms and have locked him up for $21 million. I’ve been an advocate of not paying guys before they throw a pitch at the big league level, and do think giving Chapman and Strausberg contracts this size isn’t the smartest thing to do for unproven talent. Alas, I’m at a loss, because I can’t stand anything Angels related, so this might bring an end to me rooting for him to succeed. Donning the Halo’s uniform, I’m scared to hear what Rex Hudler (Angels Announcer) has to say about him. If you’ve never heard Rex Hudler announce, he puts Angels players on the same pedestal as NFL announcers put Brett Favre. If Aroldis does succeed, I hope they find out he’s really 33, and trade him away to a team I don’t care about so I can root for him again! Actually I hope they trade him before he ever gets to the bigs, but we all know that the Angels hold on to prospects  tighter than Gilbert and his guns.

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

January 6, 2010

My Apologies to the GMAC Bowl

By mceezy

A couple weeks ago, I picked the GMAC Bowl as my Least Exciting Bowl Game. Well, here I am, glued to my TV, much like I have been the entire second half. Sorry CMU and Troy. You got me now. OVERRRRRTIIIIMMMMME!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Sports

January 6, 2010

The Shake Weight!

By mceezy

Saw this over the Holidays. I’m not gonna say anything, but I’m sure we’re on the same page…

2 Comments   |  tags: | posted in Comedy

January 6, 2010

Doin Work Mailbag

By mceezy

Welcome to the first installment of the Doin Work Mailbag. Some of these go pretty far back, since we haven’t published any e-mail feedback to this point. You’ll be surprised at some of the letters we got….

Dear Doin Work,

I don’t caer for yor coments about me. I never listen to crittics. Oviusly you didn’t wach any of owr games. I’m the onley one out there playin good. You try throwin ta guys named Chaz, Louis, and Jonnie Lee. Shoot, I can’t even see past my center’s hair. Plus, the ofensiv line is teribel. As soon as I can get out of Oakland, you’ll see. I’ll be wining. A lot. You probbably see me holding a mvp trophey one day.

-Jamarcus Russell

First off, allow me to apologize. We didn’t want to make it look like you didn’t bring value to the team. You give fans something to cheer for – like, when you get hurt or yanked out of the game. You also keep things interesting. We love going into a game against a team like the Chiefs or Browns knowing that we could very well get shut out. We also love the fact that you could be replaced by a backup QB and we could beat any team in the league.

Dear Doin Work,

I really don’t appreciate your use of my likeness as the Joker in your Doin Lines feature. Was this supposed to be a subtle reference to my overdose? I don’t remember doing any cocaine that night, if that’s what you’re getting at. I’ll let you off the hook for now, but I swear, mate, if you put up a picture of Jake Gyllenhal and I the next time a pro athlete comes out of the closet, that’ll be the 10th thing I hate about you. You don’t wanna see that!

-Heath Ledger

Don’t worry, Heath. I’m sure that wasn’t the reason Chappy put your picture up. I think it had something to do with New Year’s, and how the Joker gassed up the Gotham City NYE celebration. Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.

Dear Doin Work,

Thanks for posting Brass Bonanza on Christmas Eve! It’s still the greatest sports song of all time. We may not have the Whalers anymore, but there’ll always be NHL 94 on Sega!

-Greg R. Hartford, CT

Greg, you don’t have to tell us twice! Brass Bonanza will live on for eternity with such classics as NBA on NBC and Rock and Roll Part 2.

Dear Doin Work,

Don’t blame me for “spoiling” USC basketball. I didn’t do anything wrong. Money was on the table, I took it. No one would do anything different – ask Stephen Jackson. Whatever, SC got what they deserved. I don’t care if they have to forfeit wins or postseason appearances. I was never a Trojan. I just wanted to play my one year of college ball in LA and move on.

-OJ Mayo

You’re right, and let’s face it, anything to keep eyes off the football team is a good thing.

Dear Doin Work,

What’s up with all the Tyreke Evans hype? Everybody knows Brandon Jennings will be the rookie of the year. He scored 55 points in a game! What’s Tyreke’s season high? It definitely wasn’t 55. He also has a lot more help on his team with great players like Sean May and Andres Nocioni. Brandon Jennings has no one, yet he scored 55 points in a game! It’s called the rookie of the year award, not rookie on the most surprising team of the year. Did I mention Jennings scored 55 in a game?!

-Jake R. Waukesha, WI

Perhaps we’re biased living on the West Coast, but Tyreke Evans has been having a more consistent, more impressive year. If Evans fails to notch a 55 point game, though, the award is all Jennings’.

Dear Doin Work,

I heard you wrote about me “having fun in Charlotte.” I tried to read the article, but when I picked up my laptop, I fumbled it off my foot and it went out of bounds.

-Stephen Jackson

Understandable. If you get it back though, just shoot it. I hope you don’t take that the wrong way.

Dear Doin Work,

Please take down the video of me blocking Kobe’s dunk attempt. True, it was a most beautiful block, but Kobe is the best player in the game. By posting this video, you are devaluing the game of basketball. I hope you will reconsider this practice in the future. Until then, go Lakers Warriors!

-Ronny Turiaf

First off, let me just say I thoroughly enjoyed the first installment of ‘Movie Time with Ronny’ on Warriors Weekly. Your analysis of The Hangover was fantastic. If I hadn’t seen it already, I surely would’ve rushed to Blockbuster to pick it up. I never would’ve guessed it was “very funny.” As for the video we posted, some of us are Warriors fans. We know you’re still a Laker at heart, but I’ve spent the last few years cheering against you, first at Gonzaga, then in Los Angeles. You wear a Warriors jersey and you blocked Kobe Bryant. We’re going to show that no matter what.

Dear MCeezy,

I’m sorry to hear about your frustration with Xbox. I can’t say that I’m sorry, because I really have nothing to do with that. However, you may be happy to know you can still play great games on your PC. It looks like you are running Windows 7, a fine choice. If you have any other questions, feel free to respond to this email via Microsoft Word, the best word processor available. How come there are no posts about the Seattle Sonics on your page?

-Bill Gates

Don’t worry about it Bill. I crafted a beautiful chart of my experience with Xbox on Microsoft Excel, then exported it to Microsoft Access for review. I’m just putting some finishing touches on it in Microsoft Publisher and I’ll show it to you once I set up my Microsoft Outlook. As for Sonics news, just search Kevin Durant and you’ll find plenty of mention of the Sonics.

Dear Doin Work,

Hey Brah, I really hope you weren’t making fun of us with the cross country snowboarding vid. Skootching a serious sport man.

-Tyler F. Kings Beach, CA

Not at all….. Not at all.


1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 6, 2010

Doin Wild Card Lines

By chappy81

Last week was a nice winning week of 4-3 and finishing the regular season vs. the spread at 49-45-3. I’m happier than Scott Boras every time a client of his signs a long deal that my predictions led to a winning season! The playoffs are a completely different story though. I usually struggle in predicting the outcomes in recent years. You really don’t know how these games are going to turn out, but I’ll do my best to steer you in the right direction. As always the home teams are in bold.

Ochocinco will have a tough time on Revis Island

New York Jets (+2.5) Over Cincinnati

The Bengals have shown one thing since Chris Henry’s untimely death, which is, they aren’t past it. The gloom of losing a teammate has put them in the losing column in three of their last four games. The Jets meanwhile got two straight teams on bye weeks, and are amazingly in the playoffs. Indy and Cinncinati laid down for them, Tampa wasn’t hard to keep under 10 points, Atlanta WAS a tough opponent to hold to ten, but I’m tired of this double fist pump fetish on the Jets D. Sure they have Revis, who will shut down Ochocinco, but I don’t see them winning more than this wild card game. Sorry Cincy, but you’re injured at the wrong time, and playing your worst when it counts most. At least you were the most successful Hard Knocks team so far! The Jets will win, but I’ll be rooting for Cincy. Who knows Sanchez could choke on a pepper and throw a few interceptions and give this one away.

Philadelphia (+4) Over Dallas

Call me crazy, but I still think the Eagles are the better team. In the playoffs, they will pick up their game. They have been there, and will step up. McNabb is a perfect 3-0 in the wild card round over his career, and has 8 more playoff wins than Romo, who hasn’t won A playoff game. I can’t take anything away from Romo at this point as he has played some very good football lately. My lingering hope is that since he has played so damn well lately, he is bound to come crashing down to the Romo that looked so bad earlier in the season. Or even the Romo we saw four weeks ago will do. I know there’s a lot of doubters on the Eagles side after last week’s shellacking, but about this time a week ago, the experts were putting them in the Super Bowl. I guess everybody likes to jump ship every now and then.

New England (-3.5) Over Baltimore

Wes Welker this, Wes Welker that, is pretty much all you hear about this game. Although Brady hasn’t thrown many other receivers this year, that doesn’t make me believe he can’t throw to the other guys. Sure his completion percentage is going to go down with Welker out of the game, because Welker is that good. I’ve seen Tom be that good too without big names, and everytime I doubt the guy he proves me wrong. Plus his opposition is Mr. Flacco, and honestly I’m still not sold on him. He’s successful enough to keep his job, but I’ve rarely been impressed when watching him. Maybe it’s his weak receiving group. There’s also the Foxboro factor too, that seems to win them games somehow. I see Brady exposing Baltimore’s weak secondary in ways that the Raiders couldn’t last week.

Green Bay (+1) Over Arizona

I’m kind of surprised I’m picking three road teams, but you have to go with your gut on playoff picks. Green Bay opened up a can of offense last week, destroying Arizona’s 2nd team everything. It won’t be quite as easy this time around. Arizona will surely play all of it’s playmakers, and they aren’t short on those. Their main question going into the game has to be their defnese’s inability to contain teams. Green Bay has proved they can put up points in bunches, and seem to be rolling as good as anytime I can remember this season. Rodgers has turned into the anti-first round flop pick, and been the leader that they hoped he would be! They also have a defensive leader in Charles Woodson. He has been all over the field and deserves to be the defensive player of the year. Woodson should be all over the field trying to confuse old man Warner and his receivers. If he’s a major factor in this game ie. picks, tackles, or sacks I like the Packers chances. I’d love to see a Minnesota Green Bay matchup next round, and that would mean that Philly also won!

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

January 5, 2010

Tim Raines, A Hall of Famer in My Book!

By chappy81

Tomorrow the Hall of Fame elections will be made public, and there’s a possibility that two guys, Blyleven and Dawson, could be the first pair inducted after being on the ballot for over nine seasons, but I doubt it. I guess perceptions have changed since the first time they were on the ballot, and there is a possibility that they could get in this time around, but I won’t hold my breath or really care all that much if they do. I’m guessing that Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin will make it in on their first attempt. Both were outstanding shortstops and deserve a spot in the Hall. Mark McGwire, who I feel should be in the Hall regardless of his steroid use, probably won’t get the votes, but will be in the conversations regardless of the percentages he gets. The whole steroid era is a little too heavily criticized by Hall of Fame voting even though everybody was using them, it’s just the era so let the best of that era in. If it’s pretty close to even across the boards, why not let those guys in? I won’t go down that road on this post since it’s a completely different topic altogether. The main reason for this post was to question why Tim Raines isn’t even being considered on most voters Hall of Fame ballots. They all have ten votes each, how is he not one of their top 10!?! I guess most voters don’t vote for all ten of their votes or even five of them for that matter, but I believe Raines should be on them.

Maybe I’m a little biased on leadoff hitters, since my childhood mancrush was Rickey Henderson. I guess my main question to the voters is why? I honestly didn’t like him when I was younger since he was a threat to Rickey’s league leading stat categories, but that doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be considered worthy. He played in an era with the best leadoff hitter of all time, how can the second best in that era not garner a look from voters. The past two years he’s only received 24.3% and 22.6% of the votes, and I can’t figure out why. He had an amazing career, and was consistently battling for the league lead in stolen bases, batting average, and runs scored. He reached base more times that Tony Gwynn, Lou Brock, Roberto Clemente, and Honus Wagner. From 82-88 he led the league in getting on base. He’s the only player to ever steal 70 or more bases in six straight years. He is the only player with an on base percentage of (.385) NOT in the Hall. He hit .295 over his career. Out of the 808 stolen bases (4th all time), he was only caught 146 times. That’s fewer times caught than Juan Pierre has had so far in his career (156). Who knows, maybe voters are caught up on his former cocaine addiction that he once had. Sometimes lasting images stay in the heads of people, kinda like Mark McGwire’s congressional hearings. He was young, and did things that I’m sure he regrets, I get it, I’ve done that too. In case you forgot, Raines testified that he’d have gram of coke in his uniform pocket at most games. I don’t really see how that would help you while playing baseball, but since IT was the 80’s it was hard to avoid it. I’ll bet that half the league was dabbling in some blow at the time, and is probably fairly comparable to the amount of guys on steroids nowadays. Maybe it was his admission that he slide head first so it wouldn’t break his vile he carried around with him that makes voters shun him. I could care less what the voters reasons are, but here’s a couple of reason’s voters didn’t pick him last year which were lame. He deserves to be in the Hall even if he altered some of his playing style to support his habbit! Aren’t we used to that by now, give the man his due!

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

January 5, 2010

Athletes With Guns? Who Cares?

By mceezy

Who ride, I ride, hands on my 4-5. Yeah, I just quoted a Silkk the Shocker song. Not sure if many NBA players are old enough to remember that one, but they may as well be bumpin it in their cars as they ride to the arena. By this point, we all know Gilbert Arenas stored his unloaded guns at the arena. I do agree that is wrong, but this has opened up a whole new discussion about athletes with weapons, especially once Devin Harris publicly estimated that 75% of NBA players carry guns. It got me thinking, do I really care if professional athletes worth millions and millions of dollars carry guns? Not really. I don’t think someone like Gilbert Arenas is really a public threat. Broke people buy guns to commit crimes. Millionaire athletes buy guns for protection. Off the top of my head, I think of examples like Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce, and I’m more upset about that than any athlete carrying a gun. Let’s think about this. How often do we hear about athletes actually committing crimes with their weapons? Are you done? Let’s see what you’ve come up with. Plaxico Burress. Sure, he shot someone, but it was himself. I’d say karma handled that situation. Jayson Williams. Sure, he shot and killed someone, but after his recent car crash, something tells me he would’ve found another way to kill someone anyway. Oh yeah, then there’s Stephen Jackson, who shot some air. Unless I’m forgetting someone, the only other athletes who get busted for guns is for simply having them. So go ahead Stern, do what you do best and make an example of Arenas, but make it about bringing guns to the arena, not a witch hunt about athletes who own guns.

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

January 4, 2010

RECONNECTED: a short ski/snowboard flick

By mceezy

In honor of my recent trip to the Tahoe area for New Year’s, it felt right to showcase a little bit of our big backyard out here in Northern California. And, since we posted that ridiculous video of “Cross Country Snowboarding,” it’s only right that we share a little REAL snowboarding and skiing.

Video created, produced, edited, et cetera by Scott Hargrove. Keep an eye out for his new website: http://www.scotthargrove.com/

Filmed in Tahoe between the 2005-2007 seasons. Riders: RYAN PRICE TREVOR BROWN NATE FARRELL JARED DALEN AARON SEEWALD SCOTT HARGROVE and many others

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

January 4, 2010

Going Up / Going Down: Alex Smith vs. Jamarcus Russell

By mceezy

This offseason, the other two California football teams will have many different decisions to make, but the most important one will be the same. Do we give our former #1 pick another year to become the franchise QB we need, or is it time to cut ties and move in a new direction? The 49ers and Raiders each had a number one draft pick within a three year span. They both took potential franchise quarterbacks, but neither has panned out to this point. Though there are plenty of pros and cons for both dilemmas, I think the answers are pretty simple. One is favorable and one is not. Let’s take a look at how both QBs got to the point they’re at, and the potential outcomes moving forward.

2005: The 49ers were coming off a 2-14 season and held the first overall pick. There was plenty of talent available, but SF’s biggest need was at Quarterback. The choice came down to Alex Smith or Aaron Rodgers. In the end, Smith was heralded as the better athlete, and more intelligent. Now, for every Ronnie Brown, Braylon Edwards, or Demarcus Ware they passed on, there was also a Cedric Benson, Pacman Jones, or Mike Williams that would’ve been worse. But, since Rodgers was the only other guy they were going to pick, he’s the only one it’s fair to compare with. To this point, Rodgers has thrown for more yards and touchdowns on less attempts than Smith, while throwing less interceptions as well. Smith got off to a rough start in his first year, throwing 1 TD pass to 11 interceptions. In 2006, he looked to be coming into form, completing 58% of his passes and connecting on 16 TD passes to 16 INTs. Last season was derailed by a shoulder injury, however, and when he came back this season, Shaun Hill had beat him out for the starting job. Smith, however, replaced Hill in Week 7, and had an up and down final 11 games to end the season. He finished with his best ever TD to INT ratio at 18:12. He also completed over 60% of his passes. The problem, though, is he still has yet to live up to his potential, and the 49ers are left to question whether he ever will. I can’t say with confidence that he will, but the chances are much better than his Oakland counterpart. Smith’s shoulder probably still caused him some discomfort early this season, but he should be back to full strength by now. The reason I see him getting better is his intelligence. While there certainly are exceptions based on physical gifts, the best QBs, like starting pitchers in baseball, are the smart ones who figure out the game and learn to play within it. I think Alex Smith can only get better the more he plays.

2007: The Raiders were coming off a 2-14 season of their own and held the first pick also. Also in need of a franchise QB, Al Davis couldn’t resist the size of LSU’s Jamarcus Russell, and despite new Head Coach, Lane Kiffin’s objections, selected him with the #1 overall pick. While I never really questioned the Niners’ selection of Alex Smith, I knew this one was doomed from the start. We all knew Russell could throw a ball across the Bay from his knees, but how does that translate to playing QB in the NFL? What he made up for in physical tools, he lacked in the mental department. Three seasons later, he has alienated himself from teammates and fans, something that’s hard to do in Oakland. The combination of bonehead plays, lack of accountability and complete lack of pocket presence has lead many to question his future as this team’s quarterback. He was given the keys to the franchise this year and repeatedly drove the wagon off a cliff, with an untimely interception, sack, or fumble. In his three year career, he’s completed just 52% of his passes for a lowly 65.2 QB rating. He’s also thrown just 18 TD passes to 23 INTs. Those numbers would all surely be lower if 90% of his passes weren’t dump off passes to backs. When he was replaced by Bruce Gradkowski this year, the rest of the team clearly elevated their level of play. It looked as if they felt they had a much better chance with anyone other than Russell out there. Now, whenever Russell gets into the game, it’s the result of an injury to another QB, and he is inevitably greeted with boos from the Raider Nation. Russell has shown no signs of getting better, and even worse, his drive and desire to get better have been called into question far too often. The Raiders need to make a decision, but if I know Al Davis, Tom Cable will be far more likely to be shown the door. My only hope is that the Raiders at least pick up a new QB who could challenge, and ultimately beat out Russell for the starting spot.

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

January 3, 2010

Mayo Spoils USC Basketball

By chappy81

USC Basketball will have to take a seat for next season as they admitted to the NCAA commission. They came down with their own self imposed ruling on the OJ Mayo investigation. They vacated all their 07-08 wins, and money earned from the Pac-10. Ultimately, the basketball program is banned from post-season play next year, and is stripped of one scholarship for the next two years, and have to make one coach sit out from recruiting, and have 20 less recruiting days per year (110 instead of 130) for the next two years. I’m far from shocked at the ending to this story. The facts seemed pretty stacked against them, and while I hoped it would prove to be false accusations, deep down I knew it wasn’t. That’s why the age eligibility rule that the NBA decided to impose has made the guys ready to get into the NBA too dangerous for the NCAA. Teams are hard pressed into trying to get these players, so if it means giving them a few extra perks, so be it. We all know that Mayo wasn’t there for school purposes, and the one and done type player accomplishes nothing substantial towards a degree. I wonder if the NCAA gave USC some sort of an ultimatum. Either we bust you for Mayo, or we bust you for Bush and McKnight. I’m sure the school would much rather lose hoops for a season over the losing the storied football team, and giving back a National Championship. Lucky for them it’s just the hoops squad!

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

January 3, 2010

The Duke Finally Speaks Out on His Depression

By chappy81

I had so many questions when Justin Duchscherer, the Athletics two-time all-star, decided to shut it down last August for the season. He seemed like he was on the road back to joining the A’s with a quality outing in Sacramento I figured he’d rejoin the team soon. Then out of nowhere he shut it down and cited emotional distress, aka depression. I was pretty curious what actually happened with him, since there were never reports on what it was truly about. The only updates A’s fans got were the ol, he’s making progress, he’s entered a program to treat his condition, etc. The A’s Drumbeat reports that the media phone interview with Duchscherer shed some light on his abrupt leave of absence from the organization. They said he was “paralyzed” when he got off a plane for a rehab start in Sacramento. It was the first time he’d ever felt that way in his life. He was diagnosed by the medical staff, and they found there were some off-field issues that had caused him to feel the way he did. In particular, he had never completely gotten over his divorce from a couple of years ago.

I think I can safely say for all of A’s fans, that we are glad he’s got his head right, because he is one of those guys that we need on this team. Duke has always been a fighter and we know he can make it through whatever is plaguing him. He’s never been a complainer or hard to please. They’ve moved him from a starter, to the bullpen, to long reliever, back to starter and he never complained (not to the media at least). He’s the whatever I can do for the team kind of guy, which was why the leave of absence last year was so strange!

Awe, Duke said he missed working with Kurt...

Awe, Duke said he missed working with Kurt...

It was good to see that we agreed to a new contract for him, and based on the interview this IS our best move we’ve made this off-season. He sounds like the anti-Favre as he wants to help the young guys and mentor them. He want’s to teach them how to pitch well when they don’t have their best stuff, and we know he will. Thanks for keeping it classy Duke, we are rooting for you this year. You are already my #1 feel good story in 2010!

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

January 3, 2010

Gilbert is One Hell of a Prankster!

By chappy81

One of my favorite players in the NBA, Gilbert Arenas, has been all over the news because he pulled a gun on his teammate, Jarvis Critteron reportedly over a gambling debt. I dunno if I believe that story, but something obviously went down considering they met with police today. I find it comical that Gilbert would be THAT angry over a gambling debt when he’s in his third year of a $111 million dollar contract! BUT, a ridiculous amount of athlete’s live outside their means, and Gilbert could be no different. Who knows, maybe he lost a few pay checks to Critteron playing cards, and pulled a gun on him to get his money back. Sounds very plausible. I’m thinking he has more common sense than that. Gil hasn’t been nearly as active on his blog as he used to be in the past, and has been far less of a showman this season on the court. I’m sure being on a losing team has something to do with it, but he was more outgoing a couple of years ago to the media. I guess I buy the most recent story that he was pulling a prank on Critteron. Since he spoke to police, they allowed him to clear it up. Honestly, it’s not a big deal to me if he didn’t have them loaded, and used them as a joke. Also, a side thought on DC, I hear it’s pretty ghetto around there, so maybe guys do need some guns around to protect those Bentley’s when they leave the arena. Either way, I love some of the reactions that players around the league had!

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

January 1, 2010

Sounds Like Stephen Jackson is Having Plenty of Fun in Charlotte

By chappy81

From the Charlotte Observer Coach Larry Brown approached Stephen Jackson in the locker room, after media was let in, to talk about attitude. Sounds like Brown wants Jackson listening more receptively. As Brown is fond of saying to players, “it’s not criticism, it’s coaching.” Jackson is shooting the ball a lot, but not at a high percentage, while turning it over some. Apparently coach Brown feels he is a player that needs some coaching at this time.

I guess there’s something pent up inside me that is still bitter on the Stephen Jackson fiasco that led to his departure from the Warriors. I’m still happy we got rid of him, and love what team we gave him to (a non-winning team, opposite of his trade request). I’m loving the fact that he’s already causing problems in Charlotte, and he hasn’t even been there for a year. I guess I understand why he’s a fun guy to follow now that he’s not on my team. Shooting too much, and having a poor attitude, are they really surprised!?! It sounds exactly like what he was doing when he dumped the “Captain” tag in Oakland. He did those same things for the Warriors, but you couldn’t tell as much since they are arguably the fastest team in the league, and many others had the opportunity to make up for his off nights. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, they are finding out that he is at the center of his own world, and being on a non-contender will only make him pout about even calls more (causing technicals), and dominate the stat sheet in missed threes and turnovers. Moving to the slowest paced team in the league has made his sometimes ugly stat lines un-miss able. At least it’s given the local beat writers a fresh topic to complain about. Good luck Jack, I’ll continue to follow your awful time in Charlotte from a distance with a smile!

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

January 1, 2010

Pac-10 Sucks It Up For The Holiday Season

By chappy81

Oregon capped off a crappy bowl season for the Pac-10. The Ducks were smothered 26-17 by team sweater-vest tonight in the Rose Bowl. It wasn’t all that great of a game, just like many of the other games that Pac-10 teams decided to NOT show up for. As a whole they went 2-5, and the only teams that seemed to actually want to play were USC and UCLA. I guess there’s something in the water in Socal, like salt, but something went wrong for everybody else. Arizona, Oregon State, Oregon, Cal, and Stanford all seemed to forget how to play. I was especially disappointed in the Arizona performance, and was glad I only caught a quarter of the game. They must have been thinking about their New Years Eve plans more than the game. Personally I thought we’d do a lot better, but I guess it proves that the Pac-10 isn’t as strong as I thought. I truly thought Stanford, Oregon, and Oregon State would pull out wins. I guess if there was a playoff setup we wouldn’t have made it anywhere… Anyways, now we can move to a new decade. One that will hopefully be a stronger one for the Pac-10!

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

December 31, 2009

Doin Lines Week 17

By chappy81

I made it through my first published season here on Doin Work (minus one week when I was gone). I have to say that I’m pretty happy with the results considering I made myself pick a few here and there just because I knew they’d be on TV and interesting. I found that when I was a more avid gambler, I never really won or lost much, which probably wasn’t a bad thing! This season pretty much reflected that. I went (3-2-1) last week bringing my season record to (45-42-3). Unless this week goes terribly wrong, I should end the regular season above .500. I’m extra scared of this last week of the season, because you never know which playoff teams will rest guys. It’s almost like betting on pre-season games… Obviously the teams that need to win to get in are full throttle, but the teams that are already in and have a limited need to win this week are kind of scary. Kind of like wondering what the new year will bring tomorrow scary. As always the home teams are in bold.

Buffalo (+8) Over Indianapolis

Will Peyton pout on the sideline this week too?

Will Peyton be pouting on the sideline again this week?

With headliners at the franchise quarterback spot, we have a hall of fame duo of Fitzpatrick versus Painter. If you aren’t already extra excited about this one, you might be the type of person that needs to cancel their Antiques Roadshow on the DVR, so you can re-watch this epic battle over and over for weeks to come. I forsee this being a battle for which QB can keep his rating over 50! I know that the Bills have locked up last place in the AFC East, and the Colts have locked up the 1st seed in all of the AFC which might make some think it’s a meaningless game. I guess I’ll agree, but it DOES look like a good game to bet on. The Colts laid down for the Jets last week with a pissed off Peyton strolling the sidelines, so I think the Bills can cover this one. Speaking of the Jets, if they make it in the playoffs, they are the luckiest potential playoff team out there. They play the best team in the league (Colts), who rest guys, and then another playoff team (Bengals), that will likely rest up for their first round match up. Talk about a cake walk schedule at the end of the year against playoff teams! The Bills will be playing all their starters, and whether they play good or not it shouldn’t matter too much since they should easily beat the Colts 2nd team.

Texans (-8) Over New England

The Texans have a shot at making the playoffs for the first time in their franchise history (8 years). I figure they are going to give it everything they have, and pull out victory. They’ve been playing very well as of late, and have given themselves an opportunity to make some history for themselves. Andre Johnson has been nothing short of unstoppable, and pulling in over 450+ yards in the last three games has him atop the league leader board in receiving yards. The Patriots on the other hand, will be a guessing game on what Bellichick will do. He’s been very evasive on what his plan is with his players and their playing time. My guess is he doesn’t  play his starters for that long, and that would mean the Texans could put up huge points on a very weak 2nd defensive unit from New England. I see the Pats going into pre-season mode. If they rest Brady, Moss, and Welker for most of the game, this one shouldn’t be all that close as the Texans run the score up in their home finale.

San Francisco (-7) Over St. Louis

There is no game on the slate I feel more comfortable picking. The Niners desperately want to end the season 8-8. They had a few unlucky breaks this season that kept them from being within reach of a playoff spot, but Singletary won’t let them lay down for the final game of the year. He’s instilled a strong sense of pride, that this organization was lacking since Mariucci left. The Rams desperately want to lock up the #1 overall pick. Tanking this game would give them just that. It’s hard to pick the Rams in any situation, but here it would be plain ridiculous as they seemed to have taken the last seven weeks off after nabbing their sole win of the season. The only buzz in St. Louis is: What’s up with Holliday? Did the Cards sign him yet? The 49ers do have a lot of weapons aside from Frank Gore now. Crabtree and Davis are good complements to Gore, and have shown that they can efficiently work within the passing game. Problem for them is Alex Smith isn’t the answer at QB. I think even if they still only had Gore and Patrick Willis, they could cover the spread without breaking a sweat. Mark this as a lock on your gambling slate!

Chicago (-3) Detroit

Speaking of not messing with draft pick chances, why wouldn’t the Lions lay down for one more game to secure the #2 pick in next years’ draft? I tried to answer this question, and figured that since there isn’t one reasonable answer, this has to be a safe pick. The Bears pretty much sucked for most of the year, whether it was Cutler, injuries, or bad coaching they looked like cubs not bears more often than not. Cutler has a chance to hit 30 interceptions for the season if he can throw four this week, but I think they’ll end this year on a high note as much as I don’t want to see it. A two game winning streak might give them a little confidence going into next year. I’ve tried to look at any possible bright side for them to this season, and there aren’t many. Last week, when they looked pretty good against the Vikings most likely was, their brightest moment of the year. It also gave me hope that the Vikings could get knocked out of the playoffs sooner than later, and end all of the Favre talks for a few months, until he decides if he wants to keep playing! I could never see Detroit beating the Vikes, so the Bears must be halfway decent. This is my 2nd favorite pick of the week!

Oakland (+10.5) Over Baltimore

The Charlie Frye era in Oakland hasn’t been anything to write home about. I hope this era will mercifully end at the conclusion of this season. He played bad last week including 3 interceptions against a pretty bad Cleveland Browns team, but the Raiders play surprisingly better at home, and keep it close. Last season they ended Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes with an upset victory that had people hoping that Jamarcus had finally taken the next step. Sadly Raider Nation was given some false hope, and he regressed into oblivion. Frye did have a bright spot last week as he threw for 333 yards. If he can keep from throwing picks in the redzone, they should at least cover the spread. Hopefully they’ll come back with a heavy dose of Michael Bush, since he looks like their best running back. Baltimore’s playoff hopes hinge on a few things happening, but they need this win to get in. I think they might be watching what is happening in the other games more than the one they are in, and get upset. I’m not sure why, but I just don’t see why everybody likes Flacco so much. He’s more hot and cold than a bi-polar Texan without his gun. There’s always at least one WTF kind of upset game each week, and I’m predicting it will be this one!

Tennessee (-4.5) Over Seattle

The Titans played really bad against SD, or it could be that the Chargers ARE that good. I’m thinking that was the case, so there’s no reason not to pick them this week. I’m sure they’d love to end the year at 8-8 giving them plenty of hope for next season in the rejuvenated Vince Young era. Not relying on old man Collins to lead the way can only do wonders for this team. I see Chris Johnson getting his 128 rushing yards this week to get to 2,000 rushing yards on the season. I’m betting he will break a couple 50+ yard runs, that is unless, the endzone is too close when he breaks them! The Seahawks are a team that regresses each week, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that they’ll get blown out. Forsett still isn’t getting enough touches! When will this change? I guess not for this season, since they’ve all but mailed it in. Watching them play it’s amazing that they’ve even won 5 games this year. Julius Jones is not as good a play maker as Justin Forsett, get it right over there Jim Mora Jr.

Philadelphia (+3) Over Dallas

I’m not sure why, but lately I’ve become somewhat of an Eagles fan. Maybe it’s because they are on Fox every week or it might have something to do with one of my favorite college players (Desean Jackson) coming into his own in Philly. He’s been making a huge difference every time he gets the ball. Mcnabb looks like he’s moving into the been there done that mode, which he has, and has to be pretty comfortable playing that role by now. He also looks like he loves his latest crop of offensive weapons that he’s been given. Celek has even been making huge strides, and even though Mcnabb couldn’t quite make good on his promise of getting him into the pro bowl, Celek still had a great season either way. I keep waiting for Dallas to fall apart at the hinges, but it keeps not happening! It’s that empty feeling of hoping that your getting something for Xmas, but in the end you don’t get it. That’s how I feel every time I watch the Cowboys hoping for a loss. Maybe it’s more rooting for Romo to fail. Maybe it’s disliking Jerry Jones. It’s just fun to them fail I guess. I’m sure both these teams will be playing everybody, so if they happen to meet in the playoffs they will have home field over the other team. Let’s hope Romo fumbles another field goal attempt!

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