This season has been great so far! I had a good Sunday last week going 5-1, and my sole misstep was betting on my own team. I guess my new rule should be to never bet on JaMarcus especially at home, where the crowd might be more hostile than any away game as seen on this youtube clip after the Denver game! My season record is now 14-4 from my picks last week, and my high confidence picks from the first two weeks. It’s scary how confident I feel picking games right now, I think I might be in for a big let down soon. Not like .500 let down, we’re talking Brad Lidge meltdown, but hopefully that won’t be next week! Since the bye weeks are starting up, I only really like five of the games on the board, so without further ado, here are my LOCKS of the week. Once again the home teams are in bold.
Detroit (+10) Over Chicago
I can’t really believe that I’m going to pick the Lions two weeks in a row, but when you get ten points for a team playing against a team that only shows up half the time, I’ll take those points. For some reason I think if Detroit tries hard in any game for the rest of this season it will be this one. If you win your first game out of the last 20, wouldn’t you be fired up to do it again? I’m pretty sure I would, especially going against a long time rival. I don’t see them winning on the road, but I look for them to put up a good fight to cover two scores.
On the Chicago side, it seems like even though they injected some insulin into their offense they still don’t seem to be clicking. Sure they beat Seattle, but it was lucky at the end of the game on some blown coverage. If a suspect Seahawks team can hang around with them, so can the Lions.
Indianapolis (-10) Over Seattle
Speaking of those Seahawks, they get to play against the princess of the NFL, Peyton Manning. In any betting format can anyone really talk themselves into taking Seneca Wallace over Manning on the road? Didn’t think so. Who cares if Freeney is out this game, Seneca probably couldn’t even start for the Browns. Seattle has six starters missing from the lineup including their QB. When you already have your 8th starting lineman in the lineup it’s not a good sign for Seattle’s offensive continuity. Opposing quarterbacks have completed 74% of their passes against the Seattle D, and although they get Lofa Tatupu back, I think Peyton should have this one finished off by halftime. Look for Joseph Addai and Donald Brown killing some clock in the second half. Like Fabulous says “Put it in the bag”.
Buffalo (-1.5) Over Miami
Pennington’s absence is obviously going to hurt the Dolphins. They can only run the wildcat so many times before they need to throw the ball, at least a little. For some reason I can’t see Chad Henne having the same type of success as Mark Sanchez or even Matthew Stafford has had in their young careers. Hell, he could barely manage Michigan’s offense. With Porter, their defensive leader, still questionable for the game I have to go with the Bills.
Are you ready for BEAST MODE!?!
It’s really hard to be confident in the Bills offense, as they somehow got shut down by a Saints team that seems to give up a lot of points even if it happens to be garbage time. TO didn’t record one catch last week, which was the first time in 185 games. I’m sure this news is as relevant as his show is, but they do need to find ways to get him and Lee Evans the ball. They will get a huge boost as Marshawn Lynch is coming back fresh off his suspension.
San Francisco (-9.5) Over St. Louis
Last weekend was a heart breaker for the 49ers as they were the better team through much of the game. Despite losing Gore they proved that Singletary has turned them into a full on team – that doesn’t quit. They seemed to receive contributions from everyone. Now that they’re in the confines of their own home, I see them dominating a weak St. Louis team.
The Lambs are racking up injuries and losses like they’re going out of style. They have dropped 13 straight which is making me a believer that they could be this year’s Lions. The lambs must be scared that there are wolves in the end zone, because they’re averaging a league low 8.0 points per game. Kyle Boller is supposed to start this weekend, so it looks like he’ll be Patrick Willis’s lamb chop.
Green Bay (+3.5) Over Minnesota
I have as much confidence in this pick as I believe Jordan can make a comeback at 50, but only picking four games is weak! I know we’ve all heard that this isn’t personal for Favre, and that he’s not taking it as anything more than a game. Screw what he says, I think it will be more emotional than he anticipates, and in a spiteful rage he’s going to force some throws maybe getting a little too greedy. This is a very bad idea against a ball hawking defense like the Packers. Their D already has 7 picks on the season, and I see Favre forcing one at some point for a pick 6. The Minnesota defense is currently ranked 4th in the league, but their first two weeks were against the Browns and the Lions (not exactly powerhouse offenses). Although the Packers lost to the Bengals, and haven’t showed much consistency this year, I feel like they are due for a all around well played game. I think Rodgers will benefit from overload of media surrounding Favre, so hopefully we’ll see relaxed Rodgers out there. Plus, in the wishy washy state I’m in with this game I’ll take the points, because many of these divisional battles come down to a last second field goal.
Well, since I’ve been following SJax on his rampage of 
He felt that may have been one of the reasons the NBA picked to fine him $25K for his comments, and didn’t fine a guy like Kobe for making the same statement. Here’s the 
First off, I’m not a 49ers fan, so sour grapes this is not. However, I am a Northern California guy, so I will admit the thought of them going 3-0 to start the season did have me a bit tingly inside. See, I’m a Raiders fan, and since they already got their win for the season, I have to hope for something else good to happen. It seemed to be in hand late in the game when I tuned in upon my return from Costco. (Side note: although they have huge ribeye steaks, I was left unsatisfied tonight) ANYWAY…. with the Niners up 24-20 in the latter stages of the 4th, it looked like if they could just hold on for one more Vikings’ drive, they would have this thing locked up. They did, and got the ball back with under 2 minutes to go – I believe. Three quick Glen Coffee runs and three timeouts later, the Vikings got the ball back and didn’t particularly look like they were going to do anything with the ball. Then, on what would turn out to be the last play, Favre, under pressure, manages to escape and rifle one downfield that was caught, albeit miracuslously, by none other than… wait, who was it? I know it was one of those sloppy seconds the Vikings like to employ at wideout. Oh, man… not Bernard Berrian. Not Bobby Wade. Billy McMullen? No, we’re on the right track though. Greg Lewis! I knew it was one of those ex-Philly receivers.
So, my first thought was, “damn, Favre does it again!” But the more I watched the replay, the less complimentary I became. Sure, he did a great job of avoiding the blitz, but when you watch the replay from the behind-the-pocket cam, it looks like Favre is simply throwing toward the end zone with nary a preference where or to who. I heard something to the effect of Favre admitting he had, in fact, no intended receiver on the play. My less than substantial efforts to track down his quote surprisingly went unfulfilled. However, if he said that, good for him. Greg Lewis also disclosed the fact that he wouldn’t have been in on that play except that Percy Harvin had run, like, 9 or 10 deep routes leading up to that play. What I do know is Percy Harvin doesn’t make that catch. Nate Clements was covering that play about as good as you can, but ultimately it was the couple inches that Lewis had on Clements in height that made the difference.
The fun part of today was seeing Phil get into a good groove as he shot four under! It’s been a few months since he was close to the top of the leaderboard, so hopefully he can take something positive going into next season. I can’t think of one person that roots against the guy, and it’s pretty remarkable to be liked across the board the way he is. He’s had about as tough of a year as anyone could have with family health problems. Hopefully he’ll come out of the gates on fire tomorrow, and give us a show! It’s always fun when he’s in the hunt! Here’s a good interview with Phil, after today’s 
Birmingham always faced an uphill battle to stave off relegation this season, and a quick 7 points to start the season should give ample hope to City fans that reaching the all important 40pts is achievable. Bolton meanwhile may finally be facing the relegation dance they’ve been lucky to avoid in seasons past. I’ve always believed Bolton have over achieved in past campaigns, and avoiding relegation issues with the type of talent they put out on the pitch has been an accomplishment byself. I think this is there season of reckoning. 
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
Coaches Gone Wild, Part I: The Hawai’ian Rainbow
Isaiah: poster boy for coaches with issues...
If you are a new coach at any level, whether it’s high school, college, or professional athletics, boy do I have a treat for you this week! With the rash of poor decisions being made by high profile coaches across the country, I have compiled four excellent examples of how not to behave as a person in such a position. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are several others out there, but these seemed to be the highest profile cases.
Each of these individuals is well versed in dealing with the media and speaking in front of large crowds. It pretty much comes with the position, because even at the high school level coaches are asked to make speeches for groups like Booster Clubs, local Rotary chapters, or Pop Warner/Little League/etc. to encourage young athletes. By the time coaches reach college and the pros, they are used to speaking in front of thousands and at times millions via broadcast. Whether they are in front of 10 media members, 100 club members, several thousand students, or on TV, coaches are asked to be a leader of their community and a positive influence in all facets of life.
This week I will present the case of each “Coach Gone Wild” starting in chronological order of events from the summer and early fall. We’ll examine exactly what they did and where they went wrong, and believe me it won’t be very difficult to find.
Brah, bathroom is that way!
07/30/09 – Hawai’i football coach Greg McMackin makes a huge blunder at the WAC media football preview for the 2009 season. Coach McMackin described how Notre Dame, their opponent and guest at the 2009 Hawai’i Bowl, had done “this little (gay slur beginning with f-) dance” at a celebration the night before. He used the term not once but three times while explaining why Notre Dame might have been so fired up to play Hawai’i in the 2008 Hawai’i Bowl. At the banquet the night before, as the Fighting Irish finished their version of a “ha’a”, an intense Polynesian war dance and chant performed by the Warrior’s before each game, Coach McMackin had his boys show up the Irish with a dramatic performance of their own. Needless to say this made quite the impression on the entire banquet, and the next day’s game was won handily by Notre Dame 49-21, giving them their first post-season victory in the past 15 years.
Not so cool Coach, not so cool
Here is Coach McMackin’s explanation of what happened and why: “What I was trying to do was be funny and it wasn’t funny,” he said, according to a recording of the conversation posted on the Idaho Statesman’s Web site (provided below, with full graphic language of original statements). “It’s not funny. Even more, it isn’t funny to me. I was trying to make a joke and it was a bad choice of words. And I really, really feel bad about it. … It was really stupid.”
http://voices.idahostatesman.com/node/20709 article –Idahostatesman.com
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1412/story/666185.html article – tri-cityherald.com
1 Comment | tags: apology, Coach, Coaches Gone Wild, college football, dance, fighting, football, gay comment, gay slur, Hawaii, NCAA, notre dame, warriors | posted in Sports