NFL Late-Season Predictions

Being almost three quarters of the way through the regular season, I’d like to update everyone on my preseason predictions and make some new playoff predictions. As the season began, I had the Giants last in the NFC East, the Chargers in first in AFC West, and the Jets in second in the AFC East. Well, if you don’t mind me stating the obvious, those were way off.

Not only are the Giants in first in the East, they’re first in the NFC and, honestly, the best team in the NFL right now. That team is unreal. Just watch and you’ll see, I promise. Their running game is so balanced between the strength of Jacobs and the speed of Ward (and Bradshaw late in the game), it’s damn near impossible to stop. Also, Eli hasn’t looked this composed and…well…good, ever. Even last year, he was throwing off his back foot and making textbook mistakes, but because the rushing attack is so strong, a lot of the pressure is off him, allowing him to win with receivers like Domenik Hixon, Steve Smith, and Sinorice Moss. And finally, am I the only one who is baffled that this team defensively has not lost a step despite an injury from Osi and a retirement from Strahan? Just wonderful football all around from the Giants. I think they could improve the play-calling a little, but who am I to criticize?

The Chargers are the most unlucky team in football right now. 1) They’ve had 4 of their 7 losses come within the final 24 seconds of the game. 2) Denver has had several very lucky wins (Gramatica’s miss, Winslow’s choke job, and who could forget that Week 2 Hochuli call). And 3) they’ve had two serious injuries in Merriman and LT (everyone knows he wasn’t himself the first couple of weeks. There’s no way they’re second in the AFC West with even half of those things going their way.

And the Jets…what a turn around. Since that horrible 48-29 loss to SD in Week 3, we’ve gone 8-1 with our only loss coming in OT in Oakland. We beat Buffalo when they were 5-1, we beat Arizona in Arizona, New England in New Engand, and Tennessee in Tennessee. We have the second overall scoring offense in the NFL, we’re top 5 in sacks, top 5 in rushing, top 5 in run stopping, and top 5 in forced fumbles. Wow, I definitely didn’t see that coming.

My NFL Playoff predictions go as follows:

NFC
1) NYG 2) ARI 3) TB 4) GB 5) CAR 6) WAS
AFC
1) TEN 2) NYJ 3) PIT 4) SD 5) NE 6) IND

WILD CARD
TB over WAS, CAR over GB, NE over SD, IND over PIT
FIRST ROUND
NYG over CAR, TB over ARI, TEN over IND, NYJ over NE
CHAMPIONSHIPS
NYG over TB, NYJ over TEN
SUPER BOWL--> NYJ 38 NYG 27

My Man: A Weekly Segment

Even though he looks like he’s 12 years old, Stephen Curry doesn’t play like it. I always thought this kid was good when I first saw him play in his freshman year. But now, I’m left speechless when I see him create shots when he’s given nothing to work with.

As some of you may have heard (or seen), earlier this week, Curry’s Davidson played against a rising Oklahoma team that was ranked higher and also had one of the best players in the country in Blake Griffin. After Curry’s performance in last year’s March Madness tournament, there’s no way opposing teams are going to let him get away with anything. They know if they can stop him, they can find a win. Well…Oklahoma did get the win, but they failed in stopping Curry who would go on to score a career high 44 points with a 41.4% field goal percentage. He also managed to rack up 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals although he committed 3 turnovers, and even though putting up a career high against a solid defensive team is as good as it gets, that’s not what caught my attention.

What I saw in Curry was a player who could create shots for himself with no help from his team or the opposing defense. I saw Curry take step back threes in the corner in order to create space for himself, I saw Curry take running threes from beyond NBA range in order to get a shot off before the defense could catch up, I saw Curry use his quickness off the ball to free up high-percentage shots, and I saw Curry make all 14 of his free throws, something the greatest defense couldn’t defend. What didn’t help create shots was the fact that the rest of his team shot 30.8% from the field including Bryant Barr who went 1-9 playing only 6 less minutes than Curry.

Curry is going to be an undersized pure shooter in the NBA, but everyone knows that there’s always a need in the NBA for shooters. And although he might not prove to be the best pro ever, if he decides to stay in college next year, he has a good chance of passing Pistol Pete as the NCAA’s all-time scoring champ, something everyone can appreciate…especially his father, Del Curry. So here’s to My Man, Davidson College’s MVW (Most Valuable Wildcat), Stephen Curry.

My Man: A Weekly Segment

There’s a reason why Leon Washington was voted by the Jets as their MVP last season. For a guy who was criticized for not being able to hold onto the ball when he got drafted, he’s done ok for himself. I’m a huge proponent of solid special-teamers, and Leon Washington is as good as they come. He’s got 1475 total yards in 10 weeks, which amounts to 147.5 all purpose yards per game (second in the league behind Darren Sproles). He’s got the highest average of any eligible punt returner at 29.6 yards per kick return and is currently in 4th for punt return average. He also had one of the best “heads up” plays I’ve ever seen when, on a kickoff, he stood out of bounds and grabbed the ball when it came to him. Because he was out of bounds when he caught the ball, it was a penalty and it moved us up to our 40 yard line.

Leon’s also transformed into the Jets’ 3rd down go-to guy (although Dustin Keller’s slowly been easing into a job there). His kick return for a touchdown ended up being the difference in the Jets’ win over the Pats yesterday, moving them into sole-possession of first place in the AFC East. He’s got a great speed burst, making him a big threat catching the ball out of the back field. He’s the one guy we can count on for anything. When we need a first down, he can get it. When we need good field position, he can get it. When he just need to give Thomas Jones a breather, he can do it. So my first shout out goes to My Man, Neon Leon, Leon Washington.

Pujols for MVP

The NL MVP comes down to 2 guys in my opinion. And until recently (actually 20 minutes ago) I was saying that Ryan Howard should win the MVP. I admit now that I was wrong (ah the horror). I, like most others who have been supporting Howard, have used these 3 points to make my case:

1) Howard has more home runs than Pujols (48-37)

2) More RBI (146-116)

3) His team made the playoffs (and this is always a factor in voting whether you think it should be or not)

But in almost every other statistic you look at Pujols has the edge (and it's not even close in many cases). I knew Pujols had a huge advantage over Howard in average (.357 to .251), but I decided this wasn't enough to take the award away from Howard. The thing that really put me into Pujols corner was his slugging percentage was higher than Howard's (.653 to .543). This I was not expecting. I figured Howard should at least be ahead of Pujols in every power category if he's going to strikeout 199 times and bat .251. Pujols also led Howard in total bases, 342-331, while playing in 14 fewer games than Howard.

I am one of those people who does like to consider team performance in giving out MVP, but in this case the numbers aren't that close (thanks media for misleading me here, do I have to do everything myself). Hopefully the media doesn't end up giving Howard the MVP over Pujols again like they did in 2006.

My Nemesis - Scott Brosius

First of all, I'm a fan of the San Diego Padres (63-99 this year with a strong 5-5 stretch at the end to avoid 100 losses, nice). It's no secret that the Padres are usually garbage (and we'll remain terrrible as long as Brian Giles continues to reject trades, thanks buddy). Once and a while the Padres do produce something respectable. And twice in our 39 year history we produced something special. That would be two World Series runs, 1984 and 1998. 1998 brings me to my main point, Scott Brosius.

Scott Brosius is not good. Actually he was quite horrible. Check out this website http://www.retrosheet.org/Research/RuaneT/valueadd_art.htm which evaluates batting performance with a value added calculation. According to the site Scott Brosius' 1997 campaign with the Oakland Athletics was the 2nd worst performance by a hitter from 1960-2004.

Here's the situation for Scott Brosius after 1997. He's had one of the worst hitting seasons ever and he's 30 years old. Career over. But not so fast my friends (last part with John McCain voice), here come the New York Yankees. They inexplicably bring Brosius aboard to start at third base. Why would the Yankees do this? After investigation it turns out that the Yankees underwent a GM change after the 1997 season. Bob Watson retired as GM and Brian Cashman was named GM in February 1998. So it had to be during this transition that Brosius was able to sneak his way onto the team.

So the Yankees end up playing my Padres in the 1998 World Series. And that was a damn good Yankee team (114-48), so I'm a little scared (but not too scared, we did have Sterling Hitchcock). The Yankees pitching was good (Rivera, Pettitte, El Duque, Cone, Wells, Irabu - okay Irabu kind of sucked). The hitting was good (Jeter, Bernie, Paul O'Neill, Darryl Strawberry, Knoblauch).

Skip over the ugly details and the Yankees win the Series 4-0. World Series MVP: Scott Brosius, who goes 8 for 17, .471 avg. , 2 hrs, 6 rbi in the Series. And to make things worse, he singlehandedly wins Game 3 (score was 5-4) by going 3-4, with 2 hrs, and 4 rbi.

And now forever you'll hear Yankee fans say, "Hey remember Scott Brosius, that guy was the man." NO HE WASN'T. Scott, why didn't you just retire after 1997 like you were supposed to? Damn you Scott Brosius, damn you.

WHAT!?: A WEEKLY SPORTS RANT FROM THE SPORTS FAN WHO THINKS HE KNOWS EVERYTHING BUT REALLY KNOWS NOTHING

THE MADDEN FOOTBALL EDITION


Purchasing the latest edition of Madden NFL Football has become a tradition of sorts. As we place the disc into our respective Xbox 360s and Playstation 3s we are overcome with joy, taking over in the unique position of owner, general manager, coach and player. A Lions fan can have solace in that they have the ability to take Jon Kitna to the Super Bowl, a Jets fan could live with the hope that Kellen Clemens one day develops into a franchise quarterback, and finally a Raiders fan could wrestle ownership from Al Davis’ vice like grip and re-hire Art Shell for the sheer hilarity that ensues (I did just to see the classic “Art Shell face”).

Reminiscent of the classic Norv Turner and Eli Manning face, Art Shell reached a new low as THE face of confusion and helplessness


Yes Madden has become as much of a part of football as wings and beer on a Sunday afternoon. However, we enjoy the hope that the famous video game franchise grants us, we can’t help but be bitten by the unrealistic nature of the game. Ranging from Jason David, the shutdown corner, to Cadillac Williams the hobbled 200 yard a game rusher, Madden never ceases to amaze me in how it is able to develop new ways of frustrating the player. This year’s edition is no different as the game is riddled with bugs that make the infamous New York Knicks under James Dolan seem better managed. But is it fair for us, to harshly criticize the developers of the game, to ask if they really do watch football or know the difference between Tom Brady’s natural ability and Taylor Thigpen’s? Do we really continue to want to play a football game in which a retired Dan Morgan is athletic enough to jump five yards in the air, while not looking at the ball and seamlessly catch it with one hand? Do we really enjoy being asked to throw a challenge flag after our team scores the go ahead touchdown? Do we really like seeing the computer continue an 80 yard drive with 2 minutes left only to call inexplicable timeouts? Gamers are placed in this quandary, as we ask ourselves do we prefer realism or winning. But for every Dan Morgan circus interception there is a special teamer who makes the miraculous helmet catch to help set up the eventual Super Bowl touchdown. For every stupid challenge that may in fact hurt the team, there is an Andy Reid challenge, for every clock management miscue, there is an Andy Reid play call (This article wasn’t meant to bash Andy Reid, but seriously look at the guys history of challenges and play calls). The point is for as much as Americans love the parity of football, we despise the chance of being crushed by a team on Madden that would make even Denny Green ponder whether they were who we “thought they were?” Though I’ve broken controllers, games and even Xboxs over the course of my eight year marriage/divorce with Madden, the truth is no matter how outlandish, how unrealistic, how blatantly bullshit the game is, there is nothing in the world as gratifying as lifting the pixilated Lombardi trophy in triumph. That is why next year around mid august, at midnight I will be sitting somewhere in America in line to receive the latest Madden in the hope of leading my pixilated team to a championship.

The "Silent" Boo

Sports Fans,

Have you ever had a team that was so bad, words could not express your frustration? Well, being both a Knicks fan and a Jets fan for my whole life, I have had this feeling. After many sleepless nights and days wondering when Vinnie Testaverde would finally croak or when we’d call Latrell Sprewell from retirement, I came up with a simple gesture that gets the point across.

The “Silent” Boo is made of a simple thumbs down with the right hand, and another thumbs down with the left hand, all simultaneously. Just your basic double thumbs down, but with an added up-and-down motion. For all those turnovers that leave you speechless. For all those defensive stands that lack…defense. For all those third-and-long HB Draws. For all those 0-2 fastballs right down Broadway, this is your statement. Don’t waste your breath yelling at people that can’t hear you. Don’t make you neighbor call the cops due to noise violations. Don’t waste your water bottles on Ron Artest. Just “silent” boo.

Now why have I put “silent” in quotations? Well it’s a noiseless motion, but with more and more support, we can get people from all over to silently protest these horrendous mistakes. So next time you want to hit Milton Bradley with your drink or liter the field with beer bottles, don’t.

Just “silent” boo.