As I stated last week... I'm going to continue to publish a weekend 'feature' game (NCAA or NFL) here in this space (as well as a link to the blogspace I'm running now which deals exclusively with NCAA/NFL Football & Fantasy Sports)...
WEEK 5 - FEATURE GAME - NCAA
PREVIEW: After going 11-5 the week before I stumbled a bit last week... Forget about the 'picks' for a minute & I'll tell you a few things I'm seeing & look ahead to see who are 'for real', who are 'pretenders', & who are 'middle of the road'...
- Wisconsin, to me, is the cream of the Big 10... I believe the Wisconsin-Nebraska match-up this weekend will foreshadow the 1st ever Big 10 Championship game... I still have Wisconsin as a potential candidate to make it to the BCS Championship...
- LSU is probably the most impressive team I've seen (even first hand) overall... They've still got a tough SEC schedule to manage, but I'm on their train until they stumble...
- I really like Florida (who plays Alabama this week)... I may be underestimating Alabama (because they really play their cards close to the vest... They'd better be careful in this spot... I'm going to be taking Florida & the points at home in that contest & see where the chips fall)...
- Clemson is really surprising me thus far... We'll see how far that goes (maybe not beyond this week), because they have to travel to Blacksburg to play Virginia Tech... VT has not impressed me as much this year, yet they're not doing anything wrong either... The ACC is still up for grabs...
- Oklahoma is annoying to me... Ball State??? Are you kidding me??? Get a #1 ranking and keep it by playing teams like Ball State at home (well - basically that strategy just dumped you to #2 last week - so the joke's on YOU)... BIG WHEELS out there in Norman...
- Boise State continues to do what they do... They have to face Nevada thius week (who ruined their season last year)...
- Stanford is the cream of the West... I can't see Oregon competing with them for the PAC 12 title... & nobody is going to come out of the Pac 12 South to challenge them in the conference championship... It'll either be Az. State or Utah... BOTH teams Stanford could wax...
Early picks for conference championships...
ACC - Florida State can make it if it gets it's pieces back... VA Tech & Clemson are for real... GA Tech is a pretender...
SEC - Gotta go with LSU at this point (before the real fun begins)
BIG 10 - Wisconsin
PAC 12 - Stanford
Big 12 - Oklahoma STATE (I just think they're better than Oklahoma)
Big East - West Virginia (but Pitt really impressed me on Thursday & won me 5 units)... Anyway, it's no wonder the Big East is bleeding schools to the ACC... I look for WVU to join the SEC eventually...
Boise State will be 'in' the BCS mix... I think Florida joins the party & Alabama might risk shuffling back... Nebraska, Oregon, & South Carolina will all pack their bags before all is said & done...
I'll tell you right now what the BCS 'gods' prolly want to see is LSU - Stanford in the Championship game... They want to see Andrew Luck go against a ferocious defense... It could happen if both teams run the table...
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Before I get to the game of the week... I have to put up this re-cap of yesterday matchup... Read my 'write-up' on that one (especially the TAG at the end)... It was TRUE what happened... Funniest moment of the week for me...
I just think that Utah State is the more entertaining team to watch here... I'm starting to get worried about seeing all these BYU games on Friday Nights... (Especially facing an "in state" foe)... I'm going to have to start recording the telecasts and watching them 'backwards' or peering in between the frames to make sure there's not any hidden messages going on here...
Wait... I just heard a knock at the door so I gotta go... Looks like two guys in white shirts & black ties holding some book or something... Now if they were only selling "Girl Scout Cookies"...
UTAH STATE for (0 units)
The 'spy' says:
(result)
EDIT - No lie... 10 minutes after I typed that, the doorbell rings and there are 2 Girl Scouts (& one mother at the door)... I sh** you not!... Either GOD is trying to send a message to me, or, I don't know... Maybe he just wants me to buy some Girl Scout cookies?... I think I need 7 years in Tibet... or Provo...
EDIT - No lie... 10 minutes after I typed that, the doorbell rings and there are 2 Girl Scouts (& one mother at the door)... I sh** you not!... Either GOD is trying to send a message to me, or, I don't know... Maybe he just wants me to buy some Girl Scout cookies?... I think I need 7 years in Tibet... or Provo...
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Box Score | Recap
You kind of have to read my overall descriptions (& rankings) of teams thus far to get a sense of this pick... The bottom line here is that these two teams seem fairly evenly matched...
I think what gets my attention most is the fact that Florida seems to be more "up & coming" at the moment... Alabama graduated a lot of seniors to the NFL last year & while the heart & soul of the squad still exists... I think they're marginally less effective on offense... OTOH, Florida has some wild playmakers that are NFL prospects which might make a difference here if their inexperience doesn't force them into mistakes...
Probably the BIGGEST angle of this game is the former relationship between Florida coach Will Muschamp & his 'mentor' (Nick Saban) of Alabama...
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| Muschamp... On being a "padowan"... (click to see video)... |
Any guy who can deliver a press conference like that before, arguably, the most important game of his career, deserves to have a few units tossed in his direction...
FLORIDA for (3 units)
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WEEK 4 - FEATURE GAME - NFL
New Orleans Saints at Jacksonville Jaguars (1:00 EDT)
Line: Saints by 7
Let's go back to my PRESEASON 'predictions' to make it to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis... I picked the SAINTS vs. the PATRIOTS...
In Week 1... I cautioned everyone that the Saints would have to prove their mettle (through a series of 'tests' - or otherwise 'baptism by fire' - if they were to attain that objective)... I took them (& the points) in week 1 vs. the defending SuperBowl Champion Packers, but 'warned' that I thought the Packers might win...
The Saints came within a goal line stand as time expired of pulling off that upset... In Week 2, the Saints hosted the Bears (who were 'hosts' of last years NFC Championship)... They demolished the Bears... Last week, they came impressively back from a double digit defecit to defeat a high powered Texans squad...
If you ask me, the Saints are "on schedule" (but perhaps not FEELING IT yet - becaused I think in their minds their foes are the Packers - and that matchup might not happen again until this years NFC Championship)...
Frankly, the Saints... Despite improving week to week, are not really at full speed yet... They're still just getting Will Smith back into game shape on the defensive front, and their secondary has been having it's same health ups & downs... On offense, they're shuffling receivers in and out of the inactive list, and their running game, though slightly improved, still is a committee...
Speaking of a 'committee'... Has it occurred to anyone but myself that, IN PRACTICE, a 'committee' functions as the exact polar opposite of it's name?... To C-O-M-M-I-T is a decisive action...
"Committees" (you know - the kind of things that Obama seems to love to assemble, basically all just sit around & eat doughnuts have beers, & compare PhD's and never agree on anything or get anything accomplished... Then, when they finally do push something through (& it predictably fails), everyone basically says that NOBODY COULD HAVE EVER EXPECTED IT (after all - the 'committee' was a panel of EXPERTS)...
I'm going to UNEXPERTLY COMMITT to laying the points with the Saints here... Blaine Gabbert (rookie QB for Jax), will be facing the 'kitchen sink' type blitz packages from a Greg Jennings defense... Maybe Jax will be able to pound the rock with MJD a little and keep 3rd down distances manageable, but the return of Will Smith will make it harder than it would have been in weeks 1-3...
SAINTS keep rolling for (1 unit)...
Note (to FANTASY owners out there):
In one of the big money leagues I'm in... This week I was offered a straight up trade... Mojo for Mike Wallace... I turned it down (& this is a league that I'm a little hurting for a marquis RB)... The 'psychology' of that decision is worth noting... Basically, it means that I still think the NFL is morphing into a passing league (again) & I value WR#1 players over RB#1 players... Much of it also has to do with "injury potential"...
The NFL goes through these PHASES from time to time (which can last a decade or more - where either offense or defense gets highlighted)... Right now we still seem to be increasingly on an 'offensive' swing...
I'll give you an example... The 70's was all about DEFENSE ('Purple People Eaters' - MIN; 'No-Name' defense - MIA; 'Orange Crush' - DEN; 'Over the Hill Gang' - WAS; 'Fearsome Foursome' - LA; 'Steel Curtain' - PIT; & of couse the 'Silver & Black' crew in Oakland)...
It took an innovator like Joe Walsh to bring about the "West Coast Style offense" to the 49ers (in the 80's), and the scoring opened up again... That basically lasted throughout the entire 80's & 90's (interrupted, only occasionally, like in 1986 by the Bears & Buddy Ryan's "46" defense)... The OFFENSIVE thrust culminated in 1999 by the "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams team...
By 2001... Defense was back in vogue as the Ravens managed to win a Super Bowl with a chump like Trent Dilfer at QB... Oddly, the rest of the 2000-2010 period was characterized by a lack of a specific identity (an effort to be balanced - which usually failed in the end - because instead of trying to DO SOMETHING - it was like all teams were simply trying to AVOID having bad things done to them)...
The teams that are ON TOP (as we speak)... Are the ones who have basically just said... "FU** it!"... This is who we are, & we're gonna roll with it... & the emphasis is on OFFENSE...
I'll let the "socioeconomists" figure that one out...
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Note: I'll continue to use the other blog only as a 'pick' resource for quite awhile (Comments are disabled there)... Whether any of you like it or not... I like to hang around HERE to yuk it up... Why?
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| Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name... |
