The Super Bowl is right around the corner, again, and as such I am gambling on it. At the end of this post I will list everything I bet on, and they're all really smart bets so you should probably tail me. Want to know more about the Super Bowl this Sunday? Check Sportbet.com for more news and odds.
The whole deflated football controversy is complete nonsense, although watching people get all twisted up inside about it is hilarious on both sides. It's not really that hard to figure out. The Patriots probably did something semi shady but also likely not strictly prohibited by the rules. Many other teams probably do many similar things. Or, more likely, it was something like the refs didn't really check the balls or something even more innocent. Really, who cares if a ball is slightly deflated, do we really think it makes that much of a difference? Morons, the lot of you.
As far as the game, I really don't know but I think and expect it to be close. I think both teams will try to establish the running game, and if New England can get Blount going it's going to be a rough day for Seattle, because if they start having to commit to the run Brady should be able to pick them apart with some play action and short stuff. The other way I see New England winning is getting ahead early, because Russell Wilson just isn't the kind of QB who can come back from a big deficit. I know they came back against Green Bay but that had nothing to do with Wilson and if you think it did it's because you love him so much and want to marry him. Green Bay screwed themselves at least three different ways. God you Wilson lovers are the worst. I don't even like the Patriots and I'm just praying that they win. Anyway, here's my bets:
Due to a combination of a Patriots future I made last week at 2-1 to win and a whole bunch of teasers I'm guaranteed to make a profit on the game no matter what because somehow I've nailed every teaser (leaving one side of the Super Bowl) I made last week. Best case scenario is a Patriots win by less than 7 or a Seahawk win by less than 7. I make money even if one team blows the other out, but if the game stays close we're going Sizzler.
Props:
Seattle First Penalty called
Katy Perry first song Roar
Ovechkin shots on goal over Wilson TD passes
Arsenal/Aston Villa total goals over Brady TD passes
Delon Wright points over Seattle first half points
Wilson TD passes over Sidney Crosby points
Blount under 4.5 receiving yards
Collins under 8.5 tackles
Revis under 2.5 tackles
Chung under 5.5 tackles
Wilfork under 2.5 tackles
Wagner u 9.5 tackles
Ninkovich u 4.5 tackles
Hightower u 7.5 tackles
Chancellor u 6.5 tackles
Thomas u 5.5 tackles
Wright u 6.5 tackles
McCourty u 4.5 tackles
Sherman u 3.5 tackles
New England longest kick return
Blount MVP
Blount first TD
Blount over 62.5 yards rushing
No defensive or special teams touchdown
Longest TD of the game under 44.5 yards
First punt over 42.5 yards
No roughing the passer penalty
Belichick wearing blue hoodie
Belichick wearing hoodie with sleeves cut off
Katy Perry with Brown/Black hair
No, you have a gambling problem.
Showing posts with label Super Bowl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Super Bowl. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Friday, February 3, 2012
Friday Stuff
I realize it makes more sense to have this post up Friday morning rather than Friday night because I can't imagine anyone other than the deranged and the incredibly lonely read this blog on the weekend, particularly Super Bowl weekend, but I really didn't feel like writing before now. I passes several very fun offers of things to do tonight to write this for you, so you better read it. Also I lied just now. My Friday plans are pretty much set in stone every week and it's called put the kids to bed, have a drink while watching some stupid tv show, and go to bed early. I'M A DYNAMO!
First order of business would be a preview for Sunday's game against Nebraska, but I don't really feel like making an entire post about the crap factory that is Tubby Smith's squad. According to Loretta8 from Sippin' on Purple, whose Northwesterners just beat them by 10, their big men didn't do anything against David freaking Curletti, they have a couple of ok guards who can get hot from three, and they play terrible defense. Sounds great. Kenpom.com confirms they aren't a very good defensive team, Bo Spencer is a guy who can get way hot and possible win a game on his own, and even though Jorge Brian Diaz is their center who was supposed to take the leap in his third season he's actually regressed to the point where he's averaging a career low in minutes and only played 18 against Northwestern.
Sounds like a game the Gophers should win, but after that debacle against Iowa I don't see how you can possibly trust this team. You could just say they're completely terrible, but then again they won at Indiana so you can't just write them off on the road. The Gophers are officially your crazy cousin who lives in New York and once showed up at Thanksgiving in a Misfits t-shirt with those weird plug things in her ears and pink hair and a boyfriend with a face tattoo with news she dropped out of college to play the harmonica for an underground thrash band, but then showed up for Christmas in a prim and proper button up pink sweater driving a Honda Civic and announced she had just enrolled at Moody Bible College and then stayed up all night playing cribbage with your mom and drinking green tea. I have no idea what to expect. Still, Wikipedia tells me Nebraska is a terrible program and I can't quite bring myself to quit on this season even though Tubby probably has. Gophers 65, Huskers 61.
- I suppose the other big news is that there's the Super Bowl this weekend and everybody keeps bugging me to know my pick. Well fine, my bet to win the Super Bowl at TopBet is the Giants, although the smart money is on Giants +3. New York's offense isn't that much worse than New England's, but their defense is infinitely better. Of course, I'm pretty sure my opinion on this is not to be trusted because the only thing I hate more than Boston/New England fans are people who wear stupid hats and listen to Coldplay. Honestly if somebody told me that I could choose who wins this Super Bowl and if I choose New England all hunger and poverty in the world would be wiped out I'd need like 48 hours to decide. So yes, my opinion is slightly skewed but I think it's a legit thought.
Of course, on the other side is that everyone, and I mean everyone, loves the Giants +3 and usually when something like that happens you're wrong because people are idiots. And they have Gronkowski, who is probably not even hurt and even if he is like it will matter. They'll give him some of that Bud Kilmer magic juice and he'll rack up 3 TDs in the first half. Gronky for MVP. You heard it hear first.
First order of business would be a preview for Sunday's game against Nebraska, but I don't really feel like making an entire post about the crap factory that is Tubby Smith's squad. According to Loretta8 from Sippin' on Purple, whose Northwesterners just beat them by 10, their big men didn't do anything against David freaking Curletti, they have a couple of ok guards who can get hot from three, and they play terrible defense. Sounds great. Kenpom.com confirms they aren't a very good defensive team, Bo Spencer is a guy who can get way hot and possible win a game on his own, and even though Jorge Brian Diaz is their center who was supposed to take the leap in his third season he's actually regressed to the point where he's averaging a career low in minutes and only played 18 against Northwestern.
Sounds like a game the Gophers should win, but after that debacle against Iowa I don't see how you can possibly trust this team. You could just say they're completely terrible, but then again they won at Indiana so you can't just write them off on the road. The Gophers are officially your crazy cousin who lives in New York and once showed up at Thanksgiving in a Misfits t-shirt with those weird plug things in her ears and pink hair and a boyfriend with a face tattoo with news she dropped out of college to play the harmonica for an underground thrash band, but then showed up for Christmas in a prim and proper button up pink sweater driving a Honda Civic and announced she had just enrolled at Moody Bible College and then stayed up all night playing cribbage with your mom and drinking green tea. I have no idea what to expect. Still, Wikipedia tells me Nebraska is a terrible program and I can't quite bring myself to quit on this season even though Tubby probably has. Gophers 65, Huskers 61.
- I suppose the other big news is that there's the Super Bowl this weekend and everybody keeps bugging me to know my pick. Well fine, my bet to win the Super Bowl at TopBet is the Giants, although the smart money is on Giants +3. New York's offense isn't that much worse than New England's, but their defense is infinitely better. Of course, I'm pretty sure my opinion on this is not to be trusted because the only thing I hate more than Boston/New England fans are people who wear stupid hats and listen to Coldplay. Honestly if somebody told me that I could choose who wins this Super Bowl and if I choose New England all hunger and poverty in the world would be wiped out I'd need like 48 hours to decide. So yes, my opinion is slightly skewed but I think it's a legit thought.
Of course, on the other side is that everyone, and I mean everyone, loves the Giants +3 and usually when something like that happens you're wrong because people are idiots. And they have Gronkowski, who is probably not even hurt and even if he is like it will matter. They'll give him some of that Bud Kilmer magic juice and he'll rack up 3 TDs in the first half. Gronky for MVP. You heard it hear first.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Week in Review - 02.07.11
Well that was pretty thoroughly depressing. Ohio State completely controlled that game the whole way and, just in case you were starting to suffer from delusions of grandeur, reminded you that the Gophers are completely mediocre, and nothing more than first round fodder for a good team to take down. Chip Armelin played his ass off and made me love him even more than I already do, Hoff always plays hard, and Mbakwe is still a beast, but god most of these guys drive me crazy. Ralph had a good statistical game, but I swear he suffers from some sort of modified form of narcolepsy where instead of falling asleep he just falls into a general malaise, and I think Rodney Williams sometimes forgets he's actually playing a basketball game for real and isn't just messing around with some buddies at the gym. And for a "tough guy" Iverson has periods where he's as soft as new born baby.
Terrible defense yesterday, too. How many open layups and dunks did Ohio State get, my god. And most of those were off of poor decisions or poor effort. And did they really need to double-down every time anybody got the ball in the post? Ohio State shoots way too well for that. And why did Hoff disappear for about 8 minutes of game time in the middle of the second half? I just don't get how this game unfolded. Yeah, Ohio State is far more talented and just an overall better team, but the Gophers didn't even bother to put up a fight, and just gave the damn thing away. I think the upside for this season has now shifted to a first round NCAA win. Let's hope they can get that done. And also maybe pick up a point guard from somewhere.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Florida Gators. Pretty much gotta be the team of the week, and for good reason. If you can admit that Tennessee and the whole SEC West sucks then there are only three good teams in the conference: Florida, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky. And guess who Florida beat this week? Yep, Vandy and Kentucky. Both wins came at home, so it isn't an earth-shaking pair of victories, but it's always nice to assert yourself and win at home. I still think Vandy is probably the best team in this conference, but I think Florida is probably better than Kentucky. Those two chuckers they play at guard make me awfully nervous, but I think Chandler Parsons, though having the name of a rich gay guy, is the kind of all-around player who can step up and help carry a team in March. Assuming they aren't completely shot out of the game those two chuckleheads.
2. Arizona Wildcats. Guess who's leading the Pac-10? It's not Washington because they suck, but Arizona was able to take care of business this week, winning both games on their North California swing versus Stanford and Cal. It's not really any great shakes beating either of those squads, especially when it takes you triple OT to beat the Bears, but they were able to win two road games, something those donkeys from Washington couldn't handle. Derrick Williams is a really, really good player, but he doesn't have much help which means Zona is heading towards a nice first round exit come March. But at least that first round exit will happen in the NCAAs, not the NIT. Probably.
3. Harrison Barnes. He started as a well-publicized All-American as a freshman, quickly became the poster child for overhyped, overrated, freshmen who get too much press despite not having accomplished anything yet, but at this point he's finally starting to look like he might be getting it, and the Tar Heels are clicking. Barnes helped lead UNC to a big road win over Boston College earlier this week, scoring 26 points on 9-16 shooting, and then followed that up with a nice 17 and 10 outing against Florida State - an excellent defensive squad (and those come after a 25-point night against NC State last week). With him coming around and Kendall Marshall filling in nicely as the starting PG after Larry Drew's departure (he had 16 assists in that FSU game), the Heels are suddenly looking like a threat, and making the Gophers' March resume look better.
4. Wisconsin Badgers. I don't much like to praise anything or anybody from, affiliated with, or who has heard of Wisconsin, but it's time to give credit to the Badgers who, after beating Purdue and then soundly thrashing Michigan State have laid out a pretty convincing case to be the #2 team in the conference. Looking back at their record their three losses were on the road against a very hot and dangerous Penn State (except this weekend against Michigan, LOL), on a neutral court against a now top-10 Notre Dame, and in Vegas against UNLV - potentially all three NCAA teams, although it looks bleak for the Nittany Lions right now. And all this with only two players who don't trip over their own feet at least three times a day. Maybe Bo Ryan really is some kind of wizardly grinch.
5. Syracuse Orange. What's a damn good way to stop a four-game losing streak that followed an 18 game winning streak and included a home loss to Seton Hall? How about going up to Storrs, Connecticut and beating the #7 team in the country in their own place? Rick Jackson had another double-double (his 16th), but Scoop Jardine and Fab Melo still sucked, and then those two still sucked against South Florida on Saturday, even thought the Orange won. So even though this entry is about how awesome Syracuse was, I'm also saying that unless Scoop remembers how to shoot or they get anything out of Melo, they aren't really a March threat.
WHO SUCKED
1. Washington Huskies. Way to go, dingleberries. The easiest road trip in the Pac-10 is to Oregon, where the Ducks and Beavers might be the second and third worst team in the conference (Ariz State is #1, hands down), so what does Warshington do on their trip this week? Drop both games to fall out of first place, losing by 13 to Oregon State and 5 to the regular Oregon. Special shout out to Isaiah Thomas, who shot 2-11 with 7 turnovers against State, practically giving the game away single-handedly. Maybe he's the one who's point-shaving? With five home games left and just two roadies (the Arizona trip) their still in good shape, if not to overtake Arizona at least to grab an at large bid in March thankfully, because there's not much that's more fun than watching Washington circus ball.
2. Michigan State Spartans. What else is there left to write? They lost to Iowa by 20, and then got smoked by Wisconsin by almost 30. I don't know what you call it when you fall further than rock bottom, but whatever it is that's where you'd find Sparty right now. I can't imagine being a fan of there's right now, must be brutally frustrating.
3. Demetri McCamey. You guys know this guy sucks, right? I know his overall numbers for the season look good, but in his last seven games he's shot 20 for 69, turned it over 22 times, and basically kicked away the game a handful of times. I can't get over it, and mostly I can't get over how at the end of the Indiana game they used Brandon Paul to run their offense instead of their "point" guard. I am going to be everything I own against them in March.
4. Baylor Bears. Seriously? I mean seriously? An elite 8 team last year that brought in one of the best freshmen in the country, and you can't even beat Oklahoma or manage a better than .500 record in the Big 12, which has like, 3 good teams? Iowa State's only conference victory is over Baylor, and they haven't beaten anybody with a pulse this entire year, generally preferring to not even compete. Damn it, this team was set up for a very successful season. They only player they lost was Tweety Carter, and he can't mean anything since the only person nicknamed Tweety who every mattered at all was this chick from my high school who got her nipple pierced and then let me see it. Just so frustrating. I thought getting them at 30-1 to win the whole thing was a steal. Turns out, 30-1 to make the tournament at all might have been poor odds. And yes I know they helped themselves out with a nice win over A&M on Saturday, but I already wrote all that so it stays.
5. Texas A&M Aggies. Speaking of A&M, they did a hell of a job of making sure nobody would make the mistake of thinking they were an elite team ever again. They were ranked 10th before losing at Nebraska last week, but had a couple of big home games this week that could have helped to cancel that one out. First they had a huge chance to make a statement with a home game against #3 Texas, but apparently couldn't get up for their hated rival and got blown out 69-49, helped out by their stud Khris Middleton going 0-9 from the floor. Then they followed that up by losing, again at home, to the basically worthless Baylor Bears. Just an ugly week, and now they go on the road to Texas Tech and Colorado, games they should win, but then again this could be the beginning of their shame spiral. Not too dissimilar to the Gophers actually.
Pretty good little Super Bowl, too. Even though I hate Wisconsin and everything in it, this version of the Packers is easily the least offensive I can ever remember, so their win doesn't kill me inside like it did last time they won. The only Packer I really hate now is A.J. Hawk, who completely sucks at football but saw how good Clay Matthews is and decided to copy his girlie hair so instead of pointing out how bad he was, maybe people who start referring to them as a tandem and Matthews could save his career. And it worked. Way to go, girl.
No, it didn't bug me that they won, and it was a pretty good and entertaining game that I made a little money on (for the second year in a row I lost my game bet but more than made up for it on props - Orange Gatorade, baby!), so I'm pretty satisfied with that part. The overall production though? Oof. The halftime show was completely brutal and other than the Darth Vader commercial overall they were pretty lame, but the worst part of the night was by far how this:
has somehow morphed into Cyndi Lauper. Seriously, her transition from dream girl to no thank you is nearly complete. Won't someone step in to prevent this national tragedy?
Terrible defense yesterday, too. How many open layups and dunks did Ohio State get, my god. And most of those were off of poor decisions or poor effort. And did they really need to double-down every time anybody got the ball in the post? Ohio State shoots way too well for that. And why did Hoff disappear for about 8 minutes of game time in the middle of the second half? I just don't get how this game unfolded. Yeah, Ohio State is far more talented and just an overall better team, but the Gophers didn't even bother to put up a fight, and just gave the damn thing away. I think the upside for this season has now shifted to a first round NCAA win. Let's hope they can get that done. And also maybe pick up a point guard from somewhere.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Florida Gators. Pretty much gotta be the team of the week, and for good reason. If you can admit that Tennessee and the whole SEC West sucks then there are only three good teams in the conference: Florida, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky. And guess who Florida beat this week? Yep, Vandy and Kentucky. Both wins came at home, so it isn't an earth-shaking pair of victories, but it's always nice to assert yourself and win at home. I still think Vandy is probably the best team in this conference, but I think Florida is probably better than Kentucky. Those two chuckers they play at guard make me awfully nervous, but I think Chandler Parsons, though having the name of a rich gay guy, is the kind of all-around player who can step up and help carry a team in March. Assuming they aren't completely shot out of the game those two chuckleheads.
2. Arizona Wildcats. Guess who's leading the Pac-10? It's not Washington because they suck, but Arizona was able to take care of business this week, winning both games on their North California swing versus Stanford and Cal. It's not really any great shakes beating either of those squads, especially when it takes you triple OT to beat the Bears, but they were able to win two road games, something those donkeys from Washington couldn't handle. Derrick Williams is a really, really good player, but he doesn't have much help which means Zona is heading towards a nice first round exit come March. But at least that first round exit will happen in the NCAAs, not the NIT. Probably.
3. Harrison Barnes. He started as a well-publicized All-American as a freshman, quickly became the poster child for overhyped, overrated, freshmen who get too much press despite not having accomplished anything yet, but at this point he's finally starting to look like he might be getting it, and the Tar Heels are clicking. Barnes helped lead UNC to a big road win over Boston College earlier this week, scoring 26 points on 9-16 shooting, and then followed that up with a nice 17 and 10 outing against Florida State - an excellent defensive squad (and those come after a 25-point night against NC State last week). With him coming around and Kendall Marshall filling in nicely as the starting PG after Larry Drew's departure (he had 16 assists in that FSU game), the Heels are suddenly looking like a threat, and making the Gophers' March resume look better.
4. Wisconsin Badgers. I don't much like to praise anything or anybody from, affiliated with, or who has heard of Wisconsin, but it's time to give credit to the Badgers who, after beating Purdue and then soundly thrashing Michigan State have laid out a pretty convincing case to be the #2 team in the conference. Looking back at their record their three losses were on the road against a very hot and dangerous Penn State (except this weekend against Michigan, LOL), on a neutral court against a now top-10 Notre Dame, and in Vegas against UNLV - potentially all three NCAA teams, although it looks bleak for the Nittany Lions right now. And all this with only two players who don't trip over their own feet at least three times a day. Maybe Bo Ryan really is some kind of wizardly grinch.
5. Syracuse Orange. What's a damn good way to stop a four-game losing streak that followed an 18 game winning streak and included a home loss to Seton Hall? How about going up to Storrs, Connecticut and beating the #7 team in the country in their own place? Rick Jackson had another double-double (his 16th), but Scoop Jardine and Fab Melo still sucked, and then those two still sucked against South Florida on Saturday, even thought the Orange won. So even though this entry is about how awesome Syracuse was, I'm also saying that unless Scoop remembers how to shoot or they get anything out of Melo, they aren't really a March threat.
WHO SUCKED
1. Washington Huskies. Way to go, dingleberries. The easiest road trip in the Pac-10 is to Oregon, where the Ducks and Beavers might be the second and third worst team in the conference (Ariz State is #1, hands down), so what does Warshington do on their trip this week? Drop both games to fall out of first place, losing by 13 to Oregon State and 5 to the regular Oregon. Special shout out to Isaiah Thomas, who shot 2-11 with 7 turnovers against State, practically giving the game away single-handedly. Maybe he's the one who's point-shaving? With five home games left and just two roadies (the Arizona trip) their still in good shape, if not to overtake Arizona at least to grab an at large bid in March thankfully, because there's not much that's more fun than watching Washington circus ball.
2. Michigan State Spartans. What else is there left to write? They lost to Iowa by 20, and then got smoked by Wisconsin by almost 30. I don't know what you call it when you fall further than rock bottom, but whatever it is that's where you'd find Sparty right now. I can't imagine being a fan of there's right now, must be brutally frustrating.
3. Demetri McCamey. You guys know this guy sucks, right? I know his overall numbers for the season look good, but in his last seven games he's shot 20 for 69, turned it over 22 times, and basically kicked away the game a handful of times. I can't get over it, and mostly I can't get over how at the end of the Indiana game they used Brandon Paul to run their offense instead of their "point" guard. I am going to be everything I own against them in March.
4. Baylor Bears. Seriously? I mean seriously? An elite 8 team last year that brought in one of the best freshmen in the country, and you can't even beat Oklahoma or manage a better than .500 record in the Big 12, which has like, 3 good teams? Iowa State's only conference victory is over Baylor, and they haven't beaten anybody with a pulse this entire year, generally preferring to not even compete. Damn it, this team was set up for a very successful season. They only player they lost was Tweety Carter, and he can't mean anything since the only person nicknamed Tweety who every mattered at all was this chick from my high school who got her nipple pierced and then let me see it. Just so frustrating. I thought getting them at 30-1 to win the whole thing was a steal. Turns out, 30-1 to make the tournament at all might have been poor odds. And yes I know they helped themselves out with a nice win over A&M on Saturday, but I already wrote all that so it stays.
5. Texas A&M Aggies. Speaking of A&M, they did a hell of a job of making sure nobody would make the mistake of thinking they were an elite team ever again. They were ranked 10th before losing at Nebraska last week, but had a couple of big home games this week that could have helped to cancel that one out. First they had a huge chance to make a statement with a home game against #3 Texas, but apparently couldn't get up for their hated rival and got blown out 69-49, helped out by their stud Khris Middleton going 0-9 from the floor. Then they followed that up by losing, again at home, to the basically worthless Baylor Bears. Just an ugly week, and now they go on the road to Texas Tech and Colorado, games they should win, but then again this could be the beginning of their shame spiral. Not too dissimilar to the Gophers actually.
Pretty good little Super Bowl, too. Even though I hate Wisconsin and everything in it, this version of the Packers is easily the least offensive I can ever remember, so their win doesn't kill me inside like it did last time they won. The only Packer I really hate now is A.J. Hawk, who completely sucks at football but saw how good Clay Matthews is and decided to copy his girlie hair so instead of pointing out how bad he was, maybe people who start referring to them as a tandem and Matthews could save his career. And it worked. Way to go, girl.
No, it didn't bug me that they won, and it was a pretty good and entertaining game that I made a little money on (for the second year in a row I lost my game bet but more than made up for it on props - Orange Gatorade, baby!), so I'm pretty satisfied with that part. The overall production though? Oof. The halftime show was completely brutal and other than the Darth Vader commercial overall they were pretty lame, but the worst part of the night was by far how this:
has somehow morphed into Cyndi Lauper. Seriously, her transition from dream girl to no thank you is nearly complete. Won't someone step in to prevent this national tragedy?
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Week in Review - 2/8/2010
You cretins probably don't realize how difficult it is to run a blog, especially when you do a critically acclaimed and widely recognized Week in Review every Monday with an Awesome and Sucks section. Like, what am I supposed to do about this Gopher basketball game?
They won a road game on a last-second shot: Awesome. But it was against Penn State: Sucks. They played well enough to essentially dominate the game: Awesome. But a serious of mistakes in the final minutes almost let the game slip away: Sucks. Huge shot by Westbrook to win the game: Awesome. But it wouldn't have come to that if Westbrook hadn't made maybe the biggest of the mistakes down the stretch: Sucks.
Seriously, I didn't feel any excitement at all after he hit that shot, it was something closer to relief mixed with exasperation. About the only good thing about this game was Ralph turning into a monster. Snake once told me I expected too much out of Ralph too soon, and I think he was right. I was looking for this monster to emerge too early in his career, but I can see the career arch I had envisioned beginning to take shape. I'm starting to think two Big Ten Player of the Year awards was a bit too optimistic, but one is practically a given - assuming he stays two more years.
Anyway, I think the best strategy is just to ignore this game. It really means nothing other than now we have to watch a few more games before we can give up on this team. I'm still looking forward to a few NIT games.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Gonzaga. The Zags dropped a WCC game to San Francisco two weeks ago, ending their nine game win streak, but if you thought it was some kind of indication that they weren't awesome you are sadly mistaken my buddy friend. They started out this week with a complete drubbing of one of this season's pretenders to the WCC crown - Portland (Gopher fan: *cry*), waxing the Pilots 76-49, and then picked up a nice win on Saturday, beating Memphis at the FedEx Forum (that's in Memphis, genius). Beating the Tigers isn't quite the same feather in your cap it used to be the last few years, but beating a good team, and a good home team, in their place is always a good indication of a tough team. I don't love Matt Bouldin (GrandSlam's favorite player, FYI) but he can light it up when he needs to. Stephen Gray is the next Jeremy Pargo, Elias Harris is the next Austin Daye, and Robert Sacre is the most athletic center I can remember Gonzaga having. I don't think they're a final four threat, but they're closer to that than some of the versions we've seen of the Bulldogs before who were just ripe for a first round upset.
2. UNLV. Right now the Mountain West has probably two guaranteed bids - BYU and New Mexico - and there is probably room for one other team, either UNLV or San Diego State. The Rebels just took a huge stride towards grabbing that bid, blowing out BYU in Las Vegas in a game that was much less close than the 88-74 score would indicate. UNLV jumped out to a 15-2 lead to start the game and led 47-18 at one point before letting the foot off the gas. Former Memphis transfer Tre'Von Willis led the way with 33 points, 8 assists, and five rebounds, following up his 15-8-8 effort earlier in the week against Wyoming. The Rebels already have wins over Louisville, Arizona, and Nevada in the non-conference season and have already beaten New Mexico and San Diego State to go along with that win over BYU, so assuming there are no major hiccups they are in pretty good shape to grab a bid. Just don't lose to teams like Air Force or Colorado State or anything.
3. New Orleans Saints. I'm actually pretty bummed about this despite betting on the Saints. First, because I'm kind of a half-assed Colts fan and it sucks to keep watching the greatest QB of all-time (yeah, I said it) keep losing in the playoffs due to other people's mistakes. Secondly, the whole "Saints are destined to win to make up for Katrina" crap is mind-blowingly retarded. Seriously, how stupid are you people? A Super Bowl is going to make up for eighty-bajillion dollars in damages and a kajillion deaths? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure God still owes New Orleans a whole lot. And then he goes and has Chris Paul get hurt? Nice guy, your god. Anyway, congrats to the Saints. Sean Payton outcoached Jim Caldwell to infinity, Drew Brees executed perfectly, and that onside kick to start the 2nd half might have been the ballsiest call in history. This was probably the first Super Bowl in history where I didn't hate at least one of the teams, so I'm happy either way. But I would have been way happier if the Colts won. Also the Sidler is probably on suicide watch (he's from Indiana). Yes, again.
4. Steve Stricker. I haven't written a word about golf since the season started back in January, mainly because all the tournaments thus far have had less than thrilling player fields, but this week I have to give props to Stricker. After two good rounds, Stricker was in a tie with Dustin Johnson at ten under heading into the weekend, both three shots clear of the third place golfer. Rather than sit back, Stricker got after it again on Saturday, posting a five under 66, the second-best round of the day, which staked him to a huge lead going into the final round, a lead that let him simply coast to the championship with a 70. It was a very impressive and convincing win over a pretty good field that included Phil Mickelson, Paddy Harrington, Hunter Mahan, Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, and notorious homo Stew Cink, among others. It seems strange to say Stricker is the #2 golfer in the world, but it's now official - he is.
5. Bracket Busters. The matchups for Bracket Busters were announced this week, and for once they managed not to screw it up. Of course, as usual there are a ton of matchups and a lot of them include teams like Presbyterian (RPI 318), UT-Martin (RPI 335), and Marist (RPI 337), but the eleven tv matchups are pretty intriguing with 19 of the 22 teams having an RPI under 100. The highlight is Siena at Butler, with Butler probably ok either way but Siena really needing this win to get an at-large, but there are six other games involving ten other teams that have NCAA At-Large bid ramifications (at-large hopefuls in bold): Old Dominion at Northern Iowa, William & Mary at Iona, Louisiana Tech at Northeastern, Akron at Virginia Commonwealth, Charleston at George Mason, and Wichita State at Utah State - although both W&M and GMU lost this week, probably ending their chances. In year's past there was usually one, maybe two games worth watching, but this year there are at least seven. The only thing really missing is a couple of Ivy League squads in Cornell and Harvard, but I guess the nerds have to nerd it up in their precious library and can't come out and play. Way to go, Poindexter! Enjoy your English Lit degree when you're serving my kids fries at a drive-thru on our way to a skiing trip.
WHO SUCKED
1. Michigan. If it's frustrating to be a Gopher fan this basketball season, and it most certainly is, try to imagine being a Michigan fan. Picked by most analysts to be a NCAA Tournament team and in the top five or so in the conference this season has been a huge struggle. A tough schedule and some poor play led to the Wolverines coming into conference play with a 6-5 record, but with a very good RPI and SOS they had a pretty good chance at a bid if they just played well against conference teams. However they dropped the opener to Indiana and have been faltering ever since. I win over UCONN two weeks ago could have been a rallying point for a late season push, but since then Michigan has gone 2-5, culminating this week in a blowout loss at Northwestern and then a blowout at home against Wisconsin, dropping them to 4-7 in the Big Ten and 11-12 overall, aka not even eligible for the NIT. This is what happens when a coach (Beilien) tries to force the players on his team to play in his stupid everybody bomb three-pointers at all times system when those players can't shoot. It's like a team of Paul Carters out there just bombing away.
2. LSU. Maybe it isn't exactly fair to call out LSU this week since they did play Tennessee and Kentucky, but they had them both at home, lost both, were completely embarrassed by Kentucky (lost 81-55), and it has become impossible to ignore the fact that the Tigers are now sitting at 0-9 in SEC play. Ouch. They were just in the Final four in 2006, and made the tournament last year and stretched eventual champ UNC into a damn good game. What happened? They still have Tasmin Mitchell, who is one of the best overall players in the NCAA, but everybody else is gone from last year, and the new guys all suck. Bo Spencer, a three-point specialist last year who shot 40% behind the line, has been unable to move into a more prominent role and is shooting just 28% from three this year. It's just depressing. I like my LSU teams to be hyper-athletic and capable of beating anybody at any time. Not on nine-game losing streaks with a win over Rice as their best of the year. And did I mention that Kentucky was winning 42-14 at half on Saturday? Yuck.
3. LaSalle. If you ever want proof that I'm an idiot, you can ring up my preseason LaSalle prediction as your latest in a long, long, line of evidence. I was blinded in the preseason by a returning super-stud scoring machine (Rodney Green) and a super fancy brand new freshman center (Aaric Murray) and picked them to finish second in the A-10. Well it turns out they suck, and this week eliminates any doubt. They had two home games - the first a nice chance to pick off a top team with Rhode Island coming in, the second a simple win over St. Louis - and obviously they lost them both or I wouldn't be here typing this right now. LaSalle is now 3-6 in the conference, tied for 8th with crap factory Duquesne, and is at 11-12 overall. Like Michigan, they are now not even eligible to make the NIT since they are under .500. Sounds like a killer CBI match-up. Between this and my pimping of Cincinnati it's pretty clear my eye for talent is worse than someone who thought Troy Williamson would be a super star (bogart). Ohio State better come through for me.
4. Cincinnati. Oh yeah, Cincinnati. The team I pimped as a final four sleeper this year. Whoops. They might still make the tournament and all, currently sitting at 5-6 in the Big East with a couple of really good non-conference wins already on the resume, but you can go ahead and forget about them making any kind of run barring Lance Stephenson turning into Carmelo Anthony in the next month. This week was a pretty good barometer of what type of team we have here. Good teams beat bad teams on the road and beat other good teams at home. This week the Bearcats played Notre Dame on the road and Syracuse at home - they went 0-2 and neither game was even close, which tells me this isn't any kind of special team whatsoever, just another lame-o team like so many out there. Deonta Vaughn has taken about twenty steps backwards, Stephenson has been just ok, Ibrahima Thomas hasn't made much of an impact, and everybody else here is just meh. I'm so disappointed.
5. Reggie Wayne. If you're looking for a goat for the game, don't bother with Peyton or Caldwell, look to Wayne. Targeted eleven times he came up with just five catches for 46 yards. He let a perfect pass go right through his hands at the end of the game which would have been a touchdown (also we could maybe look hard at Pierre Garcon here if we're talking dropping passes). Most importantly, he slipped on the big Peyton INT that Porter returned for a TD. If he doesn't slip, that's either a catch or, at worst, an incompletion. Instead, he slips and can't get back for the ball, and you know the rest. Yeah. It's not Manning this time, it's Wayne. And with Garcon and Collie on board and Gonzalez coming back from injury, it's probably time to trade him while his value is high. Maybe to like, the Vikings or something. I don't know, just brain storming here.
Seriously though, I am happy for the Saints. They're almost impossible to hate, other than the whole "team of destiny" crap and the fact that Reggie Bush is a big piece of crap yet Bogart loves him. Seriously, he totaled 25 rushing yards and 38 receiving yards in the game. You know what's even worse? He covered the OVER with both of those. Seriously. Dude sucks. He's the next Dave Meggett. But he does have Kim Kardashian, so who am I to argue?
And if you aren't excited now, you should start getting excited because it's RIVALRY WEEK on ESPN! Woo! What does that mean? Well, like every other year, it pretty much just means North Carolina and Duke play this week, and then they pretend that a bunch of non-rivalries are rivalries so they can call it a "week." Whoopy.
They won a road game on a last-second shot: Awesome. But it was against Penn State: Sucks. They played well enough to essentially dominate the game: Awesome. But a serious of mistakes in the final minutes almost let the game slip away: Sucks. Huge shot by Westbrook to win the game: Awesome. But it wouldn't have come to that if Westbrook hadn't made maybe the biggest of the mistakes down the stretch: Sucks.
Seriously, I didn't feel any excitement at all after he hit that shot, it was something closer to relief mixed with exasperation. About the only good thing about this game was Ralph turning into a monster. Snake once told me I expected too much out of Ralph too soon, and I think he was right. I was looking for this monster to emerge too early in his career, but I can see the career arch I had envisioned beginning to take shape. I'm starting to think two Big Ten Player of the Year awards was a bit too optimistic, but one is practically a given - assuming he stays two more years.
Anyway, I think the best strategy is just to ignore this game. It really means nothing other than now we have to watch a few more games before we can give up on this team. I'm still looking forward to a few NIT games.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Gonzaga. The Zags dropped a WCC game to San Francisco two weeks ago, ending their nine game win streak, but if you thought it was some kind of indication that they weren't awesome you are sadly mistaken my buddy friend. They started out this week with a complete drubbing of one of this season's pretenders to the WCC crown - Portland (Gopher fan: *cry*), waxing the Pilots 76-49, and then picked up a nice win on Saturday, beating Memphis at the FedEx Forum (that's in Memphis, genius). Beating the Tigers isn't quite the same feather in your cap it used to be the last few years, but beating a good team, and a good home team, in their place is always a good indication of a tough team. I don't love Matt Bouldin (GrandSlam's favorite player, FYI) but he can light it up when he needs to. Stephen Gray is the next Jeremy Pargo, Elias Harris is the next Austin Daye, and Robert Sacre is the most athletic center I can remember Gonzaga having. I don't think they're a final four threat, but they're closer to that than some of the versions we've seen of the Bulldogs before who were just ripe for a first round upset.
2. UNLV. Right now the Mountain West has probably two guaranteed bids - BYU and New Mexico - and there is probably room for one other team, either UNLV or San Diego State. The Rebels just took a huge stride towards grabbing that bid, blowing out BYU in Las Vegas in a game that was much less close than the 88-74 score would indicate. UNLV jumped out to a 15-2 lead to start the game and led 47-18 at one point before letting the foot off the gas. Former Memphis transfer Tre'Von Willis led the way with 33 points, 8 assists, and five rebounds, following up his 15-8-8 effort earlier in the week against Wyoming. The Rebels already have wins over Louisville, Arizona, and Nevada in the non-conference season and have already beaten New Mexico and San Diego State to go along with that win over BYU, so assuming there are no major hiccups they are in pretty good shape to grab a bid. Just don't lose to teams like Air Force or Colorado State or anything.
3. New Orleans Saints. I'm actually pretty bummed about this despite betting on the Saints. First, because I'm kind of a half-assed Colts fan and it sucks to keep watching the greatest QB of all-time (yeah, I said it) keep losing in the playoffs due to other people's mistakes. Secondly, the whole "Saints are destined to win to make up for Katrina" crap is mind-blowingly retarded. Seriously, how stupid are you people? A Super Bowl is going to make up for eighty-bajillion dollars in damages and a kajillion deaths? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure God still owes New Orleans a whole lot. And then he goes and has Chris Paul get hurt? Nice guy, your god. Anyway, congrats to the Saints. Sean Payton outcoached Jim Caldwell to infinity, Drew Brees executed perfectly, and that onside kick to start the 2nd half might have been the ballsiest call in history. This was probably the first Super Bowl in history where I didn't hate at least one of the teams, so I'm happy either way. But I would have been way happier if the Colts won. Also the Sidler is probably on suicide watch (he's from Indiana). Yes, again.
4. Steve Stricker. I haven't written a word about golf since the season started back in January, mainly because all the tournaments thus far have had less than thrilling player fields, but this week I have to give props to Stricker. After two good rounds, Stricker was in a tie with Dustin Johnson at ten under heading into the weekend, both three shots clear of the third place golfer. Rather than sit back, Stricker got after it again on Saturday, posting a five under 66, the second-best round of the day, which staked him to a huge lead going into the final round, a lead that let him simply coast to the championship with a 70. It was a very impressive and convincing win over a pretty good field that included Phil Mickelson, Paddy Harrington, Hunter Mahan, Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, and notorious homo Stew Cink, among others. It seems strange to say Stricker is the #2 golfer in the world, but it's now official - he is.
5. Bracket Busters. The matchups for Bracket Busters were announced this week, and for once they managed not to screw it up. Of course, as usual there are a ton of matchups and a lot of them include teams like Presbyterian (RPI 318), UT-Martin (RPI 335), and Marist (RPI 337), but the eleven tv matchups are pretty intriguing with 19 of the 22 teams having an RPI under 100. The highlight is Siena at Butler, with Butler probably ok either way but Siena really needing this win to get an at-large, but there are six other games involving ten other teams that have NCAA At-Large bid ramifications (at-large hopefuls in bold): Old Dominion at Northern Iowa, William & Mary at Iona, Louisiana Tech at Northeastern, Akron at Virginia Commonwealth, Charleston at George Mason, and Wichita State at Utah State - although both W&M and GMU lost this week, probably ending their chances. In year's past there was usually one, maybe two games worth watching, but this year there are at least seven. The only thing really missing is a couple of Ivy League squads in Cornell and Harvard, but I guess the nerds have to nerd it up in their precious library and can't come out and play. Way to go, Poindexter! Enjoy your English Lit degree when you're serving my kids fries at a drive-thru on our way to a skiing trip.
WHO SUCKED
1. Michigan. If it's frustrating to be a Gopher fan this basketball season, and it most certainly is, try to imagine being a Michigan fan. Picked by most analysts to be a NCAA Tournament team and in the top five or so in the conference this season has been a huge struggle. A tough schedule and some poor play led to the Wolverines coming into conference play with a 6-5 record, but with a very good RPI and SOS they had a pretty good chance at a bid if they just played well against conference teams. However they dropped the opener to Indiana and have been faltering ever since. I win over UCONN two weeks ago could have been a rallying point for a late season push, but since then Michigan has gone 2-5, culminating this week in a blowout loss at Northwestern and then a blowout at home against Wisconsin, dropping them to 4-7 in the Big Ten and 11-12 overall, aka not even eligible for the NIT. This is what happens when a coach (Beilien) tries to force the players on his team to play in his stupid everybody bomb three-pointers at all times system when those players can't shoot. It's like a team of Paul Carters out there just bombing away.
2. LSU. Maybe it isn't exactly fair to call out LSU this week since they did play Tennessee and Kentucky, but they had them both at home, lost both, were completely embarrassed by Kentucky (lost 81-55), and it has become impossible to ignore the fact that the Tigers are now sitting at 0-9 in SEC play. Ouch. They were just in the Final four in 2006, and made the tournament last year and stretched eventual champ UNC into a damn good game. What happened? They still have Tasmin Mitchell, who is one of the best overall players in the NCAA, but everybody else is gone from last year, and the new guys all suck. Bo Spencer, a three-point specialist last year who shot 40% behind the line, has been unable to move into a more prominent role and is shooting just 28% from three this year. It's just depressing. I like my LSU teams to be hyper-athletic and capable of beating anybody at any time. Not on nine-game losing streaks with a win over Rice as their best of the year. And did I mention that Kentucky was winning 42-14 at half on Saturday? Yuck.
3. LaSalle. If you ever want proof that I'm an idiot, you can ring up my preseason LaSalle prediction as your latest in a long, long, line of evidence. I was blinded in the preseason by a returning super-stud scoring machine (Rodney Green) and a super fancy brand new freshman center (Aaric Murray) and picked them to finish second in the A-10. Well it turns out they suck, and this week eliminates any doubt. They had two home games - the first a nice chance to pick off a top team with Rhode Island coming in, the second a simple win over St. Louis - and obviously they lost them both or I wouldn't be here typing this right now. LaSalle is now 3-6 in the conference, tied for 8th with crap factory Duquesne, and is at 11-12 overall. Like Michigan, they are now not even eligible to make the NIT since they are under .500. Sounds like a killer CBI match-up. Between this and my pimping of Cincinnati it's pretty clear my eye for talent is worse than someone who thought Troy Williamson would be a super star (bogart). Ohio State better come through for me.
4. Cincinnati. Oh yeah, Cincinnati. The team I pimped as a final four sleeper this year. Whoops. They might still make the tournament and all, currently sitting at 5-6 in the Big East with a couple of really good non-conference wins already on the resume, but you can go ahead and forget about them making any kind of run barring Lance Stephenson turning into Carmelo Anthony in the next month. This week was a pretty good barometer of what type of team we have here. Good teams beat bad teams on the road and beat other good teams at home. This week the Bearcats played Notre Dame on the road and Syracuse at home - they went 0-2 and neither game was even close, which tells me this isn't any kind of special team whatsoever, just another lame-o team like so many out there. Deonta Vaughn has taken about twenty steps backwards, Stephenson has been just ok, Ibrahima Thomas hasn't made much of an impact, and everybody else here is just meh. I'm so disappointed.
5. Reggie Wayne. If you're looking for a goat for the game, don't bother with Peyton or Caldwell, look to Wayne. Targeted eleven times he came up with just five catches for 46 yards. He let a perfect pass go right through his hands at the end of the game which would have been a touchdown (also we could maybe look hard at Pierre Garcon here if we're talking dropping passes). Most importantly, he slipped on the big Peyton INT that Porter returned for a TD. If he doesn't slip, that's either a catch or, at worst, an incompletion. Instead, he slips and can't get back for the ball, and you know the rest. Yeah. It's not Manning this time, it's Wayne. And with Garcon and Collie on board and Gonzalez coming back from injury, it's probably time to trade him while his value is high. Maybe to like, the Vikings or something. I don't know, just brain storming here.
Seriously though, I am happy for the Saints. They're almost impossible to hate, other than the whole "team of destiny" crap and the fact that Reggie Bush is a big piece of crap yet Bogart loves him. Seriously, he totaled 25 rushing yards and 38 receiving yards in the game. You know what's even worse? He covered the OVER with both of those. Seriously. Dude sucks. He's the next Dave Meggett. But he does have Kim Kardashian, so who am I to argue?
And if you aren't excited now, you should start getting excited because it's RIVALRY WEEK on ESPN! Woo! What does that mean? Well, like every other year, it pretty much just means North Carolina and Duke play this week, and then they pretend that a bunch of non-rivalries are rivalries so they can call it a "week." Whoopy.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Super Bowl of Gambling
Remember how I used to post my basketball picks on here every day? I'm sure that was pretty annoying, and I stopped doing it because it got too be too much of a chore to post and keep track of record and everything. I like to lose my money on my own, not by sharing the misery with others. Although for something like the Super Bowl I will make an exception. Here's what I'm going with tomorrow:
Saints +5
OVER 55.5 total points
Reggie Bush OVER 23.5 rushing yards
Reggie Bush OVER 28.5 receiving yards
Dallas Clark OVER 67.5 receiving yards
Dallas Clark OVER 6 receptions
Pierre Garcon OVER 56.5 receiving yards
Austin Collie OVER 49.5 receiving yards
Dwight Freeney UNDER 2 tackles
Shortest TD in the game OVER 1.5 yards
Longest FG UNDER 42.5 yards
Longest TD UNDER 50.5 yards
UNDER 3 sacks for the game
Largest lead of the game UNDER 16.5 points
UNDER 3 total FGs for the game
NO defensive or special teams TD in the game
Kim Kardashian WILL BE shown wearing a Saints shirt
Pierre Garcon -3.5 pts vs. Raptors/Kings first quarter points
Saints/Colts 1st quarter points PICK vs. Dwight Howard free throw attempts
Saints to WIN the coin toss
Drew Brees UNDER 1.5 rushing yards
Pierre Thomas to score NO touchdown
Jeremy Shockey UNDER 27.5 receiving yards
Donald Brown 1st reception OVER 6.5 yards
Mike Hart 1st rush UNDER 1.5 yards (no rush = under)
Peyton Manning 1st rush UNDER 0.5 yards (no rush = under)
Drew Brees 1st rush UNDER 0.5 yards (no rush = under)
Mike Bell UNDER 13.5 rushing yards)
ZERO fumbles lost for the game by both teams
Mickelson birdies -1 vs. Manning TD passes
Saints +5
OVER 55.5 total points
Reggie Bush OVER 23.5 rushing yards
Reggie Bush OVER 28.5 receiving yards
Dallas Clark OVER 67.5 receiving yards
Dallas Clark OVER 6 receptions
Pierre Garcon OVER 56.5 receiving yards
Austin Collie OVER 49.5 receiving yards
Dwight Freeney UNDER 2 tackles
Shortest TD in the game OVER 1.5 yards
Longest FG UNDER 42.5 yards
Longest TD UNDER 50.5 yards
UNDER 3 sacks for the game
Largest lead of the game UNDER 16.5 points
UNDER 3 total FGs for the game
NO defensive or special teams TD in the game
Kim Kardashian WILL BE shown wearing a Saints shirt
Pierre Garcon -3.5 pts vs. Raptors/Kings first quarter points
Saints/Colts 1st quarter points PICK vs. Dwight Howard free throw attempts
Saints to WIN the coin toss
Drew Brees UNDER 1.5 rushing yards
Pierre Thomas to score NO touchdown
Jeremy Shockey UNDER 27.5 receiving yards
Donald Brown 1st reception OVER 6.5 yards
Mike Hart 1st rush UNDER 1.5 yards (no rush = under)
Peyton Manning 1st rush UNDER 0.5 yards (no rush = under)
Drew Brees 1st rush UNDER 0.5 yards (no rush = under)
Mike Bell UNDER 13.5 rushing yards)
ZERO fumbles lost for the game by both teams
Mickelson birdies -1 vs. Manning TD passes
Monday, February 2, 2009
Weekend Review
Weird week. Hasheem Thabeet had a triple double and DeJuan Blair went for a rare 20/20. Tennessee bounced back to grab a win they desperately needed while Michigan and Georgetown continue to suck. LSU is suddenly looking like they might be the class of the SEC while Baylor is suddenly looking irrelevant. Michigan State lost again at home, this time to a Penn State team that’s starting to make some NCAA tournament noise. I rented season one of 30 Rock after never having seen it, and it is completely brilliant. And it’s basically impossible to place Wake Forest this week, since the win over #1 Duke would put them in the Awesome category, but the Saturday loss to Georgia Tech, giving the Jackets their first ACC victory, definitely puts them in the sucks category. So we’ll just call it neutral.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Marquette. Holy crap are these guys good. This week the Golden Eagles again went 2-0, taking down two sinking ships in Georgetown and Notre Dame, and looked damn good doing it, beating the Irish on the road and taking down G-Town despite allowing them to shoot 56% by forcing 17 turnovers and outrebounding the Hoyas 31-26 despite being undersized. It doesn’t much matter if you’re undersized when you have three guys who can go for 20 at any time, which Lazar Haywood, Jerel McNeal, and Wes Matthews all did against the Hoyas. Add in one of the top point guards in the country in Dominic James, and these guys have some serious weapons, the biggest reason why they now 8-0 in the Big East. Their biggest hurdle, now that they’ve shown they can handle bigger opponents, is their lack of depth. They count on those four listed above to play over 30 minutes a game, with nobody else playing more than 20. Against the Hoyas, the big four accounted for all but 12 of the team’s 94 points. Even if nobody else steps up in the tourney, they can go a long way, but if somebody does, look the hell out.
2. Denis Clemente. I know you’ve never heard of him, but luckily for you I know who he is and he was awesome on Saturday against Texas, leading Kansas State to an improbable 85-81 victory in OT – in Texas no less. Clemente played for Miami (FL) right out of high school for two seasons before transferring to K-State to play for Bob Huggins – Surprise! Now Clemente is stuck on a crappy K-State team, but the win over the Longhorns was huge and he led the way scoring a ridiculous 44 points on 13-25 shooting (including 6-6 from three) and 12-12 from the line, helping overcome a horrid statline from a guy I used to like, KSU’s point guard Jake Pullen who shot 1-13 and topped it off with 7 turnovers. The 44 point explosion comes out of nowhere for Clemente, whose career high before Saturday was 24 points, and he had only reached 20 three times in his 2+ year college career. More evidence of the unexpectedocity of this? He had never before had double-digit field goal makes (he had 13 on Sat.) and had only taken as many as 20 shots once (25). He set career highs for free throws made and attempted (12-12), and three pointers made with six. Despite being just a career 32% three point shooter he made all six of is attempts on Saturday, and went 12-12 from the line despite his season average of just 2 attempts per game. Just a stunning display all around. This would be like Damian Johnson scoring 40 – not just because of the points, but because of the attempts as well. Very bizarro-world.
3. Providence. Yes, the Friars got blown out of the water by UCONN on Saturday, but this week has to be considered a success for Providence. At the beginning of the week, they were 5-2 in the Big East but were generally considered a fraud. The five Big East wins were against the dregs of the conference: DePaul, St Johns, Seton Hall, and Cincinnati twice. There was nothing in the non-conference profile to suggest this was a good team, their best win being over a now-looking terrible Rhode Island team, and an 0-3 record against good teams (Baylor, Boston College, and St. Mary’s). This week was a big one, with Syracuse coming to Providence and then the trip to UCONN, it would be the opportunity for the Friars to prove themselves, and they did, winning over Syracuse earlier in the week 100-94 and hanging with UCONN for a half (34-38). With an incredibly balanced attack (7 players average between 9.2 and 13.4 points) and double-double machine Geoff McDermott on board (five this year, third in his career amongst active Big East players) the Friars look like they might be dancing. They still get to play Rutgers twice and South Florida once, if they can win those three and steal another one, could the committee really keep a 10-8 Big East team at home?
4. Utah State. Losing a guy like Jaycee Carroll, who led the team in scoring the previous two seasons and was 2nd the two before that, not to mention playing over 30 minutes a game all four years, would usually leave a team with a tough road ahead, but not for the Aggies, who are a surprising 9-0 in the WAC right now. After beating top WAC competition Nevada this week, then following it up with a win at Fresno State, the Aggies are again the class of the WAC, and may be creeping on into at-large consideration if they fall in the WAC tournament. Gary Wilkinson and Tai Wesley have both improved from last year, and give Utah State a very solid front line. I also may be attending this Saturday's Utah State v. La Tech game, so that makes them extra awesome.
5. The Super Bowl. Bets aside, all I really wanted was a good, entertaining game and we certainly got that. Congrats to the Steelers and Mike Tomlin on the win, and especially to Santonio Holmes for that great, great catch to win the game. Entertaining to the last, especially when Theory needed the half to end on 4, and the Cards had first and goal looking to win him the money and then this happened, "NO! No!........Go! Go!" And to all you people who laugh way too hard at the commercials, I'm going to kill every single one of you. RELAX.
WHO SUCKED
1. Phil Mickelson. Since our golf guy seemingly has been chased away from this site, I guess it falls on me to give the golf news, and Mr. Mickelson certainly fits in the Sucked column. Making his 2009 debut this week at the FBR Open, Phil didn’t even make it to the weekend, shooting a 76 and a 73 and missing the cut by seven shots at +7 en route to finishing in 121st place. Surprising as it is that Phil missed a cut, the fact that it comes at the FBR is extra weird. The tournament is played at the TPC of Scottsdale, which is Phil’s home course after coming out of Arizona State, and he is the leading money-winner in the tournament’s history, and finished in second place last year. Then again, he’s now missed the cut here two out of the last three years, so perhaps whatever magic this course held for him has been used up.
2. Notre Dame. It’s starting to seem a bit redundant putting the Irish here week after week, but they just keep earning it. This week they went 0-2 again, losing a backbreaker to at home to Marquette and on the road against Pitt. The loss against Marquette isn’t exactly shameful, the Eagles are undefeated in league play and are ranked #8 in the country, but when you’re reeling and in the midst of a three game losing streak, you need to hold serve at home if you consider yourself the class of the conference. Similarly, the loss at Pitt normally wouldn’t even warrant a mention, but the Irish came out of halftime with a six point lead, then turned the ball over on their first three possessions, gave up a layup on a three pointer when McAlarney refused to even make an attempt to get through a screen to guard Fields, and before you could blink the Panthers had scored the first ten points of the half and cruised to a 93-80 victory and dropping Notre Dame to a suddenly desperate 3-6 in conference play. Things don’t get easier, as their next three games are at Cincinnati, at UCLA, and then home against Louisville. It opens up a bit after that, with four straight games against unranked teams, but things are looking tough. The non-conference results aren’t that special, but they do have a win over Texas. Suddenly the Irish are scrambling to get in the tournament, rather than playing for a high seed.
3. Kentucky. Coming into the week the Wildcats were ranked #24, were sitting at 5-0 in the SEC, and at 16-4 confidence was high. Suddenly, things aren’t so rosy, as UK went 0-2 this week, losing on the road at Ole Miss (1-4 previously in the SEC) and on Saturday at home to the suddenly streaking South Carolina. Against the Rebels Kentucky couldn’t overcome poor shooting by Jodie Meeks, who was just 4-15 from the floor and a 42-32 rebounding deficit, despite a great game by the suddenly all but forgotten Patrick Patterson, who put up 24 and 7 rebs. Then against the Gamecocks Patterson had another monster game (28 and 8), and the team as a whole shot 51%, but a poor shooting game once again from Meeks (5-12) and 19 second half points for USC’s Devan Downey led to the Wildcats dropping a winnable game at home on a last second Downey jumper. Is this just a minor hiccup for UK in an otherwise stellar season, or are teams figuring out if you can control Meeks, you can win the game?
4. Arizona State. The Sun Devils looked to be possibly be the class of the Pac 10, perhaps above even UCLA, with a 5-2 conference record, a win over UCLA at Pauley, and a national ranking of 14; then this week happened. Welcoming the Washington schools into town, ASU should have come out with a split and probably a sweep, but instead ended up getting swept themselves. The loss to Washington State comes as the bigger shock, since the Cougars have just three wins in the conference, against Stanford and the two shitty Oregon schools. The loss to Washington isn’t nearly as big a shock, since the Huskies are one of the top teams in the conference, but since the WSU game came first the Sun Devils knew they needed this one. Worried? Nope, any team with James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph is still in good shape, but I wouldn’t have thought they’d drop an entire weekend to the Washington teams. Side note: Mychal’s son Klay Thompson is looking pretty damn good, putting up a career high 28 against Arizona State (which he, of course, then followed up with 8 points on 3-13 vs. Arizona)
5. Wisconsin. I’ve sort of been trying to keep from putting the Badgers here, due to my own bias, but at this point I think it’s pretty much impossible to avoid after Bucky lost to Northwestern on Saturday to run their losing streak to six straight games and pretty much wipe out their 3-0 start as well as any hope to get to the NCAA tournament. Like I called, the Badgers are at the bottom of the Big Ten (ninth to be exact) sitting at 3-6 and ahead of just Iowa and Indiana. Their inability to win on the road (1-4 in the Big Ten, 2-6 overall) and loss of home invincibility (2-2 in the conference at Kohl) have mainly come about by a shocking loss of defensive toughness and/or ability. This season, the Badgers rank 107th in the country in defensive efficiency (including 309th in turning the opponent over), putting them 8th in the Big Ten in that category. This follows seasons where they ranked 2nd and 6th in D-efficiency. And they haven’t just fallen off, they’re overall terrible. Northwestern shot 57% against them and earlier in the week Purdue nearly broke 60% (59.5%) and Illinois shot 50% the week before that. As a matter a fact, the Badgers have only held two of their nine Big Ten opponents to under 40% shooting, and none since January 7th. For Wisconsin, a team where if you broke 40% shooting the last several years you had a pretty good night. This team has now become total garbage, and is completely and totally unsalvageable. The should probably disband the team, and probably the entire university. Then go ahead and put walls around the state, so that none of the morons from the state can ever escape – or put them on an island like in that movie with Ray Liotta.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Marquette. Holy crap are these guys good. This week the Golden Eagles again went 2-0, taking down two sinking ships in Georgetown and Notre Dame, and looked damn good doing it, beating the Irish on the road and taking down G-Town despite allowing them to shoot 56% by forcing 17 turnovers and outrebounding the Hoyas 31-26 despite being undersized. It doesn’t much matter if you’re undersized when you have three guys who can go for 20 at any time, which Lazar Haywood, Jerel McNeal, and Wes Matthews all did against the Hoyas. Add in one of the top point guards in the country in Dominic James, and these guys have some serious weapons, the biggest reason why they now 8-0 in the Big East. Their biggest hurdle, now that they’ve shown they can handle bigger opponents, is their lack of depth. They count on those four listed above to play over 30 minutes a game, with nobody else playing more than 20. Against the Hoyas, the big four accounted for all but 12 of the team’s 94 points. Even if nobody else steps up in the tourney, they can go a long way, but if somebody does, look the hell out.
2. Denis Clemente. I know you’ve never heard of him, but luckily for you I know who he is and he was awesome on Saturday against Texas, leading Kansas State to an improbable 85-81 victory in OT – in Texas no less. Clemente played for Miami (FL) right out of high school for two seasons before transferring to K-State to play for Bob Huggins – Surprise! Now Clemente is stuck on a crappy K-State team, but the win over the Longhorns was huge and he led the way scoring a ridiculous 44 points on 13-25 shooting (including 6-6 from three) and 12-12 from the line, helping overcome a horrid statline from a guy I used to like, KSU’s point guard Jake Pullen who shot 1-13 and topped it off with 7 turnovers. The 44 point explosion comes out of nowhere for Clemente, whose career high before Saturday was 24 points, and he had only reached 20 three times in his 2+ year college career. More evidence of the unexpectedocity of this? He had never before had double-digit field goal makes (he had 13 on Sat.) and had only taken as many as 20 shots once (25). He set career highs for free throws made and attempted (12-12), and three pointers made with six. Despite being just a career 32% three point shooter he made all six of is attempts on Saturday, and went 12-12 from the line despite his season average of just 2 attempts per game. Just a stunning display all around. This would be like Damian Johnson scoring 40 – not just because of the points, but because of the attempts as well. Very bizarro-world.
3. Providence. Yes, the Friars got blown out of the water by UCONN on Saturday, but this week has to be considered a success for Providence. At the beginning of the week, they were 5-2 in the Big East but were generally considered a fraud. The five Big East wins were against the dregs of the conference: DePaul, St Johns, Seton Hall, and Cincinnati twice. There was nothing in the non-conference profile to suggest this was a good team, their best win being over a now-looking terrible Rhode Island team, and an 0-3 record against good teams (Baylor, Boston College, and St. Mary’s). This week was a big one, with Syracuse coming to Providence and then the trip to UCONN, it would be the opportunity for the Friars to prove themselves, and they did, winning over Syracuse earlier in the week 100-94 and hanging with UCONN for a half (34-38). With an incredibly balanced attack (7 players average between 9.2 and 13.4 points) and double-double machine Geoff McDermott on board (five this year, third in his career amongst active Big East players) the Friars look like they might be dancing. They still get to play Rutgers twice and South Florida once, if they can win those three and steal another one, could the committee really keep a 10-8 Big East team at home?
4. Utah State. Losing a guy like Jaycee Carroll, who led the team in scoring the previous two seasons and was 2nd the two before that, not to mention playing over 30 minutes a game all four years, would usually leave a team with a tough road ahead, but not for the Aggies, who are a surprising 9-0 in the WAC right now. After beating top WAC competition Nevada this week, then following it up with a win at Fresno State, the Aggies are again the class of the WAC, and may be creeping on into at-large consideration if they fall in the WAC tournament. Gary Wilkinson and Tai Wesley have both improved from last year, and give Utah State a very solid front line. I also may be attending this Saturday's Utah State v. La Tech game, so that makes them extra awesome.
5. The Super Bowl. Bets aside, all I really wanted was a good, entertaining game and we certainly got that. Congrats to the Steelers and Mike Tomlin on the win, and especially to Santonio Holmes for that great, great catch to win the game. Entertaining to the last, especially when Theory needed the half to end on 4, and the Cards had first and goal looking to win him the money and then this happened, "NO! No!........Go! Go!" And to all you people who laugh way too hard at the commercials, I'm going to kill every single one of you. RELAX.
WHO SUCKED
1. Phil Mickelson. Since our golf guy seemingly has been chased away from this site, I guess it falls on me to give the golf news, and Mr. Mickelson certainly fits in the Sucked column. Making his 2009 debut this week at the FBR Open, Phil didn’t even make it to the weekend, shooting a 76 and a 73 and missing the cut by seven shots at +7 en route to finishing in 121st place. Surprising as it is that Phil missed a cut, the fact that it comes at the FBR is extra weird. The tournament is played at the TPC of Scottsdale, which is Phil’s home course after coming out of Arizona State, and he is the leading money-winner in the tournament’s history, and finished in second place last year. Then again, he’s now missed the cut here two out of the last three years, so perhaps whatever magic this course held for him has been used up.
2. Notre Dame. It’s starting to seem a bit redundant putting the Irish here week after week, but they just keep earning it. This week they went 0-2 again, losing a backbreaker to at home to Marquette and on the road against Pitt. The loss against Marquette isn’t exactly shameful, the Eagles are undefeated in league play and are ranked #8 in the country, but when you’re reeling and in the midst of a three game losing streak, you need to hold serve at home if you consider yourself the class of the conference. Similarly, the loss at Pitt normally wouldn’t even warrant a mention, but the Irish came out of halftime with a six point lead, then turned the ball over on their first three possessions, gave up a layup on a three pointer when McAlarney refused to even make an attempt to get through a screen to guard Fields, and before you could blink the Panthers had scored the first ten points of the half and cruised to a 93-80 victory and dropping Notre Dame to a suddenly desperate 3-6 in conference play. Things don’t get easier, as their next three games are at Cincinnati, at UCLA, and then home against Louisville. It opens up a bit after that, with four straight games against unranked teams, but things are looking tough. The non-conference results aren’t that special, but they do have a win over Texas. Suddenly the Irish are scrambling to get in the tournament, rather than playing for a high seed.
3. Kentucky. Coming into the week the Wildcats were ranked #24, were sitting at 5-0 in the SEC, and at 16-4 confidence was high. Suddenly, things aren’t so rosy, as UK went 0-2 this week, losing on the road at Ole Miss (1-4 previously in the SEC) and on Saturday at home to the suddenly streaking South Carolina. Against the Rebels Kentucky couldn’t overcome poor shooting by Jodie Meeks, who was just 4-15 from the floor and a 42-32 rebounding deficit, despite a great game by the suddenly all but forgotten Patrick Patterson, who put up 24 and 7 rebs. Then against the Gamecocks Patterson had another monster game (28 and 8), and the team as a whole shot 51%, but a poor shooting game once again from Meeks (5-12) and 19 second half points for USC’s Devan Downey led to the Wildcats dropping a winnable game at home on a last second Downey jumper. Is this just a minor hiccup for UK in an otherwise stellar season, or are teams figuring out if you can control Meeks, you can win the game?
4. Arizona State. The Sun Devils looked to be possibly be the class of the Pac 10, perhaps above even UCLA, with a 5-2 conference record, a win over UCLA at Pauley, and a national ranking of 14; then this week happened. Welcoming the Washington schools into town, ASU should have come out with a split and probably a sweep, but instead ended up getting swept themselves. The loss to Washington State comes as the bigger shock, since the Cougars have just three wins in the conference, against Stanford and the two shitty Oregon schools. The loss to Washington isn’t nearly as big a shock, since the Huskies are one of the top teams in the conference, but since the WSU game came first the Sun Devils knew they needed this one. Worried? Nope, any team with James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph is still in good shape, but I wouldn’t have thought they’d drop an entire weekend to the Washington teams. Side note: Mychal’s son Klay Thompson is looking pretty damn good, putting up a career high 28 against Arizona State (which he, of course, then followed up with 8 points on 3-13 vs. Arizona)
5. Wisconsin. I’ve sort of been trying to keep from putting the Badgers here, due to my own bias, but at this point I think it’s pretty much impossible to avoid after Bucky lost to Northwestern on Saturday to run their losing streak to six straight games and pretty much wipe out their 3-0 start as well as any hope to get to the NCAA tournament. Like I called, the Badgers are at the bottom of the Big Ten (ninth to be exact) sitting at 3-6 and ahead of just Iowa and Indiana. Their inability to win on the road (1-4 in the Big Ten, 2-6 overall) and loss of home invincibility (2-2 in the conference at Kohl) have mainly come about by a shocking loss of defensive toughness and/or ability. This season, the Badgers rank 107th in the country in defensive efficiency (including 309th in turning the opponent over), putting them 8th in the Big Ten in that category. This follows seasons where they ranked 2nd and 6th in D-efficiency. And they haven’t just fallen off, they’re overall terrible. Northwestern shot 57% against them and earlier in the week Purdue nearly broke 60% (59.5%) and Illinois shot 50% the week before that. As a matter a fact, the Badgers have only held two of their nine Big Ten opponents to under 40% shooting, and none since January 7th. For Wisconsin, a team where if you broke 40% shooting the last several years you had a pretty good night. This team has now become total garbage, and is completely and totally unsalvageable. The should probably disband the team, and probably the entire university. Then go ahead and put walls around the state, so that none of the morons from the state can ever escape – or put them on an island like in that movie with Ray Liotta.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Super Bowl Bets
In case you're curious:
OVER 47 Total Points
Arizona +3.5 (pays 1.5-1)
Warner will NOT throw an INT (pays 1.7-1)
Warner OVER 260.5 passing yards
Roethlisberger UNDER 1.5 passing TDs
JJ Arrington WILL score a TD (pays 3.5-1)
T. Hightower UNDER 9.5 receiving yards
W. Parker OVER 0.5 receiving yards
T. Hightower OVER 6.5 rushing attempts
Mewelde Moore OVER 15.5 rushing yards
A. Boldin -6 receiving yards vs. S. Holmes
Boldin OVER 5.5 catches
Boldin OVER 68.5 rec. yards
L. Fitz OVER 6.5 catches
Boldin to win MVP (pays 15-1)
Coin toss will be heads
No team will score 3 straight times - xtra pts don't count (pays 1.5-1)
1st half total points -6.5 vs. Kevin Garnett points
Ray Allen three pointers made -0.5 vs. Warner TDs + INTs
Cardinals total points -0.5 vs. largest lead in Celtics/Wolves game
Boldin rec. yards +14.5 vs. Michigan State total points
Cardinals to win (pays 2-1)
National Anthem length OVER 2 minutes, 3 seconds
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Super Bowl, Homeboy
Here's to hoping the Giants make the Patriots dream season shoot straight down the toilet. And with that guy above at quarterback, it seems like no problem.
Also here's to hoping the Gophers take down the Badgers. I'm not really sure what this is, but it looks like some kind of Madison online newspaper, and they grabbed a quote from DWG to use under Madison Miscellany about the Badgers. So, I'm pretty famous I guess.
I won't be able to write a recap of the game until Monday, since I'm going straight from the game to study for the GMAT to go watch the Super Bowl. There'll probably be some drinking mixed in there as well.
Anyway, here are the things I'm rooting for in the Super Bowl, other than a Giants victory of course, since I hate all things Boston other than the actual city which is actually a really cool place to visit. But the fans suck.
NY Giants +11.5
NY Giants +12
Burress over 5 catches
Brandon Jacobs to score last TD
Welker under 7.5 catches
Gaffney over 2.5 catches
Stallworth over 2.5 catches
Faulk over 3.5 catches
Burress over 78.5 receiving yards
Moss under 90.5 receiving yards
Faulk over 32.5 receiving yards
Jacobs over 62.5 rushing yards
Jacobs +23.5 rush yards vs. Maroney
NY Giants tied or leading at half
Dan Coleman total points +4.5 vs. total Giants+Pats points in 2nd quarter (seriously)
and, of course, we have basketball as well:
Wisconsin -1.5 @ Minnesota
NC State -4 vs. Wake Forest
North Carolina -10 @ Florida State
Yesterday: 11-8
Season: 283-263
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