Week 12 Thanksgiving Special

Finally got some bounces to go our way last week - hoping the short week hasn't given luck enough time to adjust and it stays on our side. Here we go:

Week 1: +50
Week 2: -1 (+49)
Week 3: +199 (+248)
Week 4: +140 (+388)
Week 5: -530 (-142)
Week 6: -99 (-241)
Week 7: +108 (-133)
Week 8:+22 (-111)
Week 9: No Action
Week 10: -14 (-125)
Week 11: +230 (+105)
Week 12: +121 (+226)

Houston -3                                                                   60 to win 50    (PUSH)

Houston -3, Washington +3, New England -6                  25 to win 151    (PUSH, W, W = +71)

Houston +7, Washington +13, New England +4              60 to win 50    (W)

Miami +3                                                                     30 to win 25

Jacksonville +3.5, Miami +3, Green Bay +3                    30 to win 163

Jacksonville +3.5, New Orleans PK, Green Bay PK         30 to win 221

Week 11 + Updates

Been off the blog a couple weeks after Hurricane Sandy came through and laid pipe to the area. Not a ton of bets in recent weeks, but to update the status here we are:

Week 1: +50
Week 2: -1 (+49)
Week 3: +199 (+248)
Week 4: +140 (+388)
Week 5: -530 (-142)
Week 6: -99 (-241)
Week 7: +108 (-133)
Week 8: +22 (-111)
Week 9: No Action
Week 10: -14 (-125)

Week 11: +230 (+105)

College

• Teaser: Rutgers +16, West Virginia +21, Stanford +30.5
• 48 to win 40 (W)

NFL

• Green Bay -3
• 115 to win 100 (W)
• Green Bay -3, Baltimore -3
• 30 to win 75 (W, BAL push: payout +27)
• Arizona +10, Tampa Bay PK
• 25 to win 63 (W)

Clean sweep of the weekend, feeling pretty good about it. About time we got some bounces.

+230

Week 8 Action

NFL

Straight

• NYG/DAL
• Over 47.5
• 28 to win 25  (W)
• SF/ARI
• Under 38
• 28 to win 25  (W)
• MIA/NYJ
• Under 38.5
• 28 to win 25  (L)

Parlay

• NYG -1 (at DAL), NE -6.5 (in London playing STL), NO +6 (at DEN)
• 25 to win 150  (L)

College

Teaser

• USC +3.5, Ohio St. +9, Florida/Georgia Under 56
• 30 to win 25 (W)

Why Not Picks (SportsBook.com)

Playing the sports lottery, well, all of them except the first one... Oh and these do NOT count against my season record, strictly fun and insane picks that will never hopefully all hit. These are usually all $10 or under

• Teaser: OAK +12 (at KC), NO +16 (at DEN), SEA +13 (at DET)
• 5 to win 4.17 (Hit the wrong button, complete mistake but I'll take the 4.17 if it hits)

• Parlay: MIN -6.5 (vs TB), NYG -1.5 (at DAL), NE -7 ("at" STL), NO +6 (at DEN)
• 5 to win 64.58

• Parlay: SF (at ARZ), MIN (vs TB), SD (at CLE), ATL (at PHI), NYG -1.5 (at DAL), NE ("at" STL), OAK (at KC), PIT (vs WAS), NO +6 (at DEN)
• 5 to win 485.41

• Parlay: Nebraska -2.5 (vs Michigan), Wisconsin -6 (vs Mich. St.), Alabama -24 (vs Miss. St.), Oklahoma -10 (vs ND), S.Carolina -14 (vs Tennessee), Kansas St. -7 (vs Texas Tech)
• 10 to win 464.10

• Parlay: MIA (at NYJ), ATL (at PHI), NYG -2.5 (at DAL), NO (at DEN), SEA (at DET)
• 5 to win 298.57 

Week 1: +50
Week 2: -1 (+49)
Week 3: +199 (+248)
Week 4: +140 (+388)
Week 5: -530 (-142)
Week 6: -99 (-241)
Week 7: +108 (-133)


2012
NFL: 15-16 (-18)
CFB: 3-4 (-115)

Week 7 Action

So last week wasn't a total failure, but it wasn't pretty. The NFL bets look absolutely atrocious at 2-5, but were extremely close to hitting outside of a couple freak plays that didn't let it happen. I can live with that, it's not like they were blowouts (outside of the Indy game).

I was dead on with the Bills all day, and the Ravens as well. Then the Ravens blew their lead and my parlay by winning by 2 instead of 3. That's actually Dez Bryant's fault, he dropped a would-be 2 point conversion to tie the game and send it to OT where Baltimore easily could've won by 3 or more and gotten me points. Instead they win by 2 points and I lose my parlay with Buffalo.

Notre Dame cost me a big payout by pushing ATS when they beat Stanford by 7 points. I'm grateful they pushed instead of lost obviously, but that push instead of a W there cost me $80 off the payout.

My most confident play was the teaser that included the Giants, Bills and Vikings. The Vikings failed to show up and then collapsed late in the game when Washington and RGIII opened up a big lead. I needed them to cover 8.5 points and they got it to within 12. With 30 seconds left, they were knocking on the goal line and Christian Ponder threw a blind rainbow into the end-zone where there were absolutely zero Vikings and it was picked off. A garbage time touchdown there wins me $100. Instead it cost me $120. That was the one play that absolutely buried me this past weekend. Live to fight another day.... On we go..

Week 1: +50
Week 2: -1 (+49)
Week 3: +199 (+248)
Week 4: +140 (+388)
Week 5: -530 (-142)
Week 6: -99 (-241)




College Football

Teaser

• Clemson +2 (vs Virginia Tech), TCU +12 (vs Texas Tech), Florida +6 (vs South Carolina)     30 to win 25  (W)
• BYU +23 (at Notre Dame), Ohio State -9 (vs Purdue), Louisville +4.5 (vs South Florida)     30 to win 25   (L)

NFL

Straight

• Seattle +270    25 to win 68   (L)

Parlay

• Seattle +7 (at SF), Dallas -1.5 (at Carolina), New Orleans -2.5 (at Tampa Bay)   25 to win 146 63  (W)

(SEA pushed, becomes 2-team parlay)


Teaser

• Seattle +17, Dallas +8.5, New Orleans +7    60 to win 50   (W)

Over/Under

• Seattle at San Francisco - Under 37.5    28 to win 25   (W)

SPORTSBOOK

Here are a couple off the wall plays I went half on with TSB Co-Cap TPW Mike - here they are:

Parlay

• Cleveland +2, Dallas -2.5, Detroit +6.5, Baltimore +6.5, Seattle +8, Seattle/SF U 37.5     2.50 to win 187.50    (L)
• Dallas -2.5, Detroit +6.5, Baltimore +6.5, New Orleans -2, Seattle +8    20 to win 500  (L)

Teaser

• Detroit +16.5, Baltimore +16.5, Seattle +18         40 to win 33.33 (L)

DAMN YOU BALTIMORE!!!!

Week 7 NFL Picks

1-3 on the regular picks, but hitting my 3rd Wild Card of the season helped, especially since the other guys hit their WC's as well. I need to start making good picks, starting to wonder what the hell is going on right now.. Might be up near the top in points which is important, but my record looks absolutely terrible. Not up to my standards.

Dallas -1 @ Carolina: This spread jumped out to me before any other spread. Dallas just went into Baltimore, where Baltimore simply does not lose, and they took them down to the last seconds. It's a game they actually should've won. And they're only a 1 point favorite over the Carolina Panthers? What am I missing here? I don't particularly love Tony Romo, but without DeMarco Murray and having to use a pass catching back in Felix Jones, he should be throwing all day and should burn this Panthers secondary which employs a couple of the worst safeties in the league.
(Source: BETON)

New Orleans -2.5 @ Tampa Bay - The record might not be there, but the Saints are still a dangerous team in desperate need for wins. We might assume they're out of the playoffs, but there's no way Drew Brees thinks they are, and he'll have them going coming out of the Bye Week. Absolutely no way the Saints are only a point better than the Bucs and I don't give a shit where the field is that they're playing on. 1 point should be an embarrassment. The defense also looks a lot better with more time under DC Steve Spagnuolo - Keep in mind it took the 2007 Giants a few games to adjust to him in his first couple of weeks on the job and they ended up leading the league in sacks and beating the 18-0 Patriots and one of the best offenses in history in the Super Bowl. Safe to say I have some faith in them. And their defensive captain should be back this week as well. Although dating back to 2008, this series is at 4-4 and I hate the Saints on the road, but two of those wins came @ Tampa Bay plus there's just too much good that has to be coming after all the bad the Saints have endured to start this season. UPDATE: Line was -1 yesterday when I wrote this, but to be fair I'm posting today and the line has moved to -2.5
(Source: 5dimes)

Seattle +7 @ San Francisco - I'm sure the Seahawks already watched the Giants/49ers game tape from this past Sunday, and I'm pretty sure the Seahawks defense is drooling. If the 49ers "vaunted" offensive line couldn't move the ball against the NY Giants, then sledding will be even tougher against the Seahawks. Here's some stats for you: Seattle's defense ranks 2nd in the NFL in rush defense, allowing just 70 YPG. They're also 5th in the league with 17 sacks which will be tough to deal with without All-Pro left tackle Joe Staley who will be out with a concussion. Most impressive for me? They're 2nd in the NFL in PPG after going up against the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Cam Newton and Tony Romo. All 4 QB's were in the Pro-Bowl last season, one happened to be the MVP of the league. Pretty sure Alex Smith is going to do nothing against this secondary which I think might just be the best in the NFL.
(Source: 5dimes)


Wild Card

Detroit +7 @ Chicago - In the wake of my Jay Cutler is terrible in primetime post, did you expect anything else?
(Source: 5dimes)

How Bad Is Jay Cutler When It Counts?

I don't go out of my way to despise Jay Cutler, it's just every single time I look at him I get angry... I feel like the guy from Step Brothers: I don't know what it is about your face, but I just wanna punch you right in the suck hole. It's not even so much about his play (which is fucking disgusting), it's how he reacts to his mistakes. It's NEVER his fault. I've never seen someone, a professional athlete, whine more like a baby than this guy.

Well anyway I don't care to watch him play football, ever. But sometimes it's unavoidable, the Bears get a lot of hype so they get a good amount of nationally televised games. Every time I watch him he shits the bed more than I thought anyone could possibly ever shit the bed. So I decided to look up his stats in nationally televised games since he came to the Bears for TWO first round picks (2009, 2010) and a third round pick (2009) along with Kyle Orton. A ridiculous haul for one of the most overrated QB's and biggest locker room cancers in the NFL. See the end of the post for the shakeout of that deal.

Here's Jay Cutler's performance in Primetime, and I'm going to show it two different ways.... The first, all games played in Primetime. The second, I'm going to exclude games played against the Vikings and the last Monday Night Football game against the Cowboys, which will effectively exclude all games played indoors.... Let's see the difference:

2009

• 1-4, 55.9%, 8 TD, 13 INT, 62.05 QBR
• 0-4, 55.7%, 4 TD, 13 INT, 52.72 QBR

2010

• 4-2, 58.1%, 6 TD, 5 INT, 81.12 QBR
• 3-2, 58.0%, 3 TD, 4 INT, 74.82 QBR

*Includes 2 Playoff games


2011

• 1-1, 71%, 3 TD, 0 INT, 106.9 QBR
• 0-1, 73.6%, 1 TD, 0 INT, 99.56 QBR

2012

• 1-1, 56.8%, 3 TD, 4 INT, 69.15 QBR
• 0-1, 40.7%, 1 TD, 4 INT, 28.24 QBR

CAREER WITH BEARS

• 7-8, 58.9%, 20 TD, 22 INT, 74.97 QBR
• 3-8, 57.2%, 9 TD, 20 INT, 60.98 QBR

Now I'm not sure exactly what it is about the Vikings, but Jay Cutler obviously just plays well against only them. Unless he's playing the Cowboys in Dallas in a temperature controlled atmosphere. On top of the fact he sucks under the spotlight, he's notoriously unhappy at all times. He was disgruntled when he left Denver and he's constantly disgruntled in Chicago. He claims his calling out teammates and throwing them under the bus on the sidelines is because he wants to win so bad and that he's real competitive... But as evidence in the NFC Championship game, with a Super Bowl berth on the line, he's not all that competitive:

Not long after this "knee injury" which forced him out of the biggest game of his career (when he was 6 of 14 for 80 yards and an INT), stories started circulating about the validity of the injury.... Here's one I found particularly interesting:

An insider who lived in the same building as Kristin and Jay in Chicago tells HollywoodLife.com that the football player was “incredibly rude” to his neighbors and Kristin used to get upset over how mean he was. Even more interesting? She said he faked his playoff injury last year! “Jay was not nice at all. He would not talk to any of us [the neighbors] and was extremely stand-offish. He was all about himself,” reveals our source. So how was his relationship with former fiancee Kristin? “Kristin would call Jay a loser and a p**sy, and she’d scream it at him so everyone could hear. They would have fights about Jay being too conceited. They would also argue over how mean he was to people. She would make a point of saying hello to people in the hall, just to piss him off,” our insider laughingly tells us. In January, they got into a big blow-out argument after Jay injured his knee during the NFL playoffs. He was diagnosed with a MCL sprain. “Kristin called Jay out, saying she thought he was faking the injury and told him he was worthless.”

(Source found here)

I think that tells us about all we need to know about this guy. Just to bury the knife a little deeper, many articles were published about how the same night of the NFC Championship game, in which he was so badly injured that he couldn't come back into the game, he was able to go out to dinner and walk up the stairs with no problem:

The Tribune‘s source said Cutler “limped a tiny bit,” when he came into the restaurant. Cutler and Cavallari were joined by 11 other folks in the private dining room upstairs. Of course they had to make it public that Cutler didn’t take the elevator upstairs, he decided to walk up the stairs. To add more insult to Cutler, we’ve learned that Saints quarterback Drew Brees played six games in 2010 with the same injury. His fullback Heath Evans was on ESPN earlier this week and he let the cat out of the bag when he talked about Brees playing with the same injury.

For comparison purposes, this was taken right from Philip Rivers' Wikipedia page:

In the 2007 AFC Championship Game, Rivers' was lauded by his teammates and the press for playing the entire game with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, which later required surgery and was ranked among the NFL Top 10 Gutsiest Performances. Chris Harry of the Orlando Sentinel said "I don't think anyone will ever accuse Philip Rivers of being soft." Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune said, "To go out there and put his knee, and ultimately his career, on the line. It has to go down as one of the gutsiest performances."

Cutler: NFC Championship Game. MCL Sprain. Out.
Rivers: AFC Championship Game: TORN ACL. PLAYED THROUGH IT.

And anyone that knows me knows that I'm not even a fan of Philip Rivers, but Goddammit do I respect him. I think by now we all know how I feel about Jay Cutler, for your sake I hope that we now share those same feelings.



For a funnier look at the douchiest face in all of sports, please check out http://smokinjaycutler.tumblr.com/ it's absolutely hilarious.




*The picks were wheeled and dealed since then but here's a quick overview: In 2009 the Broncos used the first round pick on DE Robert Ayers. The third round pick was packaged with their own third rounder to jump back into the second round to take TE Robert Quinn and for a 4th round pick which they used on G Seth Olsen. Both have since been released. The first round pick in 2010 was used on Demaryius Thomas, who after returning from an Achilles injury last season is now a top flight WR in Denver. They also got Eric Decker in that draft.

Chicago ended up getting Jay Cutler and used the fifth round pick to take Johnny Knox.

Week 6 NFL Picks

So last week I waited until the injury report came out, barely used it, went against the picks I loved all week, and in the end I went 1-3. Coming off a miserable betting weekend on top of it, I'm ready to go with the instincts here and get after it.... Let's go.

(L) Pittsburgh -6 @ Tennessee - Although they didn't cover the spread, they ended up getting the W last week in a real physical battle with Philadelphia, containing Mike Vick and LeSean McCoy and forcing some turnovers. They're a hungry team and desperate for wins before getting into a brutal AFC North schedule. I like them to take care of business on TNF against a Tennessee team that's struggling badly to move the ball.

(W) Green Bay +3.5 @ Houston - Speaking of desperate, 2 and 3. Aaron Rodgers & Co. are coming off a brutal collapse to the Colts. Up 21-3 at the half, the Packers went to sleep and allowed Andrew Luck to take his team back for the W. Green Bay is starting to get questioned, and at 2-3 they're in a pretty big hole with the Vikings sitting at 4-1 atop the division. If Green Bay is the Super Bowl favorite we all imagined they were, then a nationally televised game against the new best team in the NFL would be a great time to show up. Aaron Rodgers really needs to step up and have a monster game to get this team back on track.

(L) Minnesota +1.5 @ Washington - The Vikings have been impressive, namely Percy Harvin. The guy has been carrying the offense and taking pressure off of AP while the defense has stepped up to become one of the toughest in the league. None of this bodes well for the Redskins who are coming off a crushing defeat to the Falcons where they laid it all on the line. They didn't just lose the game, but lost their starting franchise QB as well - RGIII was concussed and is questionable at best this week. Redskins have also lost their last 8 home games.



Wild Card:

(W, +3 pts) NY Giants +7 @ San Francisco - Going to be a tough, physical, close game that I think will ultimately be decided by a last second field goal. If the Giants want to make sure they're the one's on the winning side of that FG, they'll need their pass rush to show up and make Alex Smith uncomfortable.

Week 6 Action

I think the only thing to do after an epic losing weekend, is to get right back on the horse and go back after it. This is after a full 36 hours of being able to clear my head and make more rational decisions. I'm going to stay small this week and grind out a decent weekend...

Week 1: +50
Week 2: -1 (+49)
Week 3: +199 (+248)
Week 4: +140 (+388)
Week 5: -530 (-142)

Last week wouldn't have been as bad if I didn't make a monster addition to a decent bet I already had on the Texans, but like any knee-jerk reaction to a losing Sunday, the add on Monday didn't work out. So after a real nice couple of weeks I'm back to the start, time to grind it back out and get myself into the green.


College Football

Teasers

(L) Michigan State PK (vs Iowa), Florida +1.5 (at Vanderbilt), Kansas State +3.5 (at Iowa State)    30 to win 25
(W) Notre Dame PK (vs Stanford), Washington +21 (vs USC)    33 to win 25

Parlays

(W) Florida -9 (at Vanderbilt), Notre Dame -7 (vs Stanford), Boise State -7 (vs Fresno State)   25 to win 145
ND pushed - total win = 65


NFL

Straight

(L) Indianapolis +160 (at NYJ)    25 to win 40

Teasers

(W) Baltimore +3.5 (vs Dallas), Green Bay +10.5 (at Houston)    33 to win 25
(L) Pittsburgh +1.5 (at Tennessee), Atlanta -2 (vs Raiders)        33 to win 25
(W) Pittsburgh +4.5 (at Tennessee), Baltimore +6.5 (vs Dallas), New England +6.5 (at Seattle)     60 to win 50
(L) Kansas City +13.5 (at Tampa Bay), Atlanta +1 (vs Raiders), Buffalo +14.5 (at Arizona)         30 to win 25
(L) Buffalo +14.5 (at Arizona), Minnesota +8.5 (at Washington), NY Giants +17 (at San Francisco)      120 to win 100

Thanks Ponder. Nice throw.


Parlays

(L) Baltimore -3 (vs Dallas), Buffalo +4.5 (at Arizona)    25 to win 59

Are you kidding me Baltimore? Won by 2?

Season Record
NFL: 10-10 (+28)
CFB: 0-2 (-170)

Week 5 Recap and Season Update

Rough week. Just so many great spreads and so many disappointing finishes. It was that ONE week of the season, like the Jaguars beating the Ravens last year on MNF type of week. Blaine Gabbert in his rookie season, beating Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.... That kind of weekend. So I'm glad it happened early and it's out of the way.. Now here's the carnage, I went 1-2 with my picks. I had ATL all week, hyping them to death in our email chain and even betting heavily on them, but didn't put them in my picks? I don't know where my head was on that one... Got caught up in the Giants usually sucking at home as heavy favorites which they only proved was the case when they were down 14-0 before I could scratch my balls and open a beer for the game. They rebounded though and ended up blowing out the Browns so that pick was a waste.

Bears -4.5 over Jags (W)
Steelers -3 over Eagles (L, won by 2 so gay)
Browns +10 over Giants (L)

WC Pick: Broncos over Pats (L)


Standings Update:

Mike - 12 (11-8-1)
Craig - 10 (9-11)
Ricky - 10 (8-12)
Jimmy - 9 (8-12)

Chad Jones: Inspiration

I have a blog that's in progress, and it's about Chad Jones. His story hasn't ended, so I guess that blog hasn't ended either, waiting for the day he finally made the Giants roster and took his first professional snaps... But that never happened.. In May the Giants had to cut Chad Jones nearly two years after he almost lost his left leg, due to a failed physical. This was anticipated, but didn't deter his resolve. At the time, he wasn't ready... Yet. But he believes he will be, and so do I. I don't know what it is about him, or about the story - but I've followed it religiously since the day it happened. And it doesn't matter if the story is a Twitter update short or it's 3 pages long, without fail I end up with tears in my eyes. I don't think I've ever wanted someone to succeed more than this guy, but with everything he's gone through and all the work he's put in how could you not root for him? Much like I wanted the Giants to sign Mark Herzlich, it's almost a no-brainer to resign Chad Jones when he's ready. He deserves that chance and it's only right his first professional snaps come as a New York Giant, the way they were meant to be.

Week 4 Recap

I knew as soon as I wrote the sentence "If the world makes any sense" when talking about the Falcons game, I was fucked. Obviously they weren't gonna cover after I wrote that. Luckily in real life I teased them down to -1 and was okay.

The Giants game really f'ed me because I wrote this before news of Nicks being doubtful hit the internet. The line moved up to +2, which would've given me a push there.

I did hit on the WC pick, so in the standings that keeps me up near the top in points.

This week there are already a ton of enticing games I plan on going in on, and I can't hardly wait for Sunday to roll around. Been a couple shitty Thursday night games the last couple weeks and this week is no exception, so that whole Thursday night game breaking up the week thing kind of sucks lately. Oh well. Even though it sucks, it does still break up the week at least.

Pushing my picks back until Friday or Saturday this week to wait for the injury news - give myself a fighting chance here! 4-0 this week let's go!!!

Sucker Free Sunday: Week 4 LOCKS

Cincinnati -1 @ Jacksonville - I picked this same game Week 5 last season, basically all the Bengals had to do was take care of MJD and they would be fine. They did that, they won by 10. Really not a whole lot has changed since then, the only offense they have runs through MJD. Bengals should have a pretty good idea on a game plan headed into this one.

NY Giants +1 @ Philadelphia - I hate that I keep picking road teams, but the Giants simply don't play the Eagles well at home - the only times they beat them is in Philadelphia so this seems like a no brainer. LeSean McCoy has started talking again and all he did was probably fire the Giants defense up. I'm sure the offense with 12 turnovers in the first three games really needed to do that.

Atlanta -7 vs. Carolina - Not sure if anyone remembers what the Giants just did to Carolina minus three key offensive starters... If you didn't see it just look at the final score (36-7) and that should tell you about all you need to know. Atlanta, by the way, is not down three key offensive starters and they look downright scary on offense. Carolina might score some points (I don't think their offense is as terrible as it looked last Thursday night) but I really don't see them keeping up with Atlanta in the dome. If the world makes any sense, Atlanta should win this game by two touchdowns.



Wild Card Pick:

St. Louis +3 vs. Seattle - Short week for Seattle, not to mention the insane MNF Massacre they were directly involved in, that shouldn't have created any distractions for the team or anything. They're only trying to prepare, practice, travel and game plan on a short week with interviews about if they won last weeks game or not. I also like St. Louis at home, think they're a tougher defensive team than many give them credit for. I really just don't see Seattle fully focused while trying to plan and play week 4 with their head turned around wondering if they really won week 3. Has upset written all over it.

Week's 2 and 3 and Season Update

Week 2

Week 3

Obviously Week 1 was an utter disaster for me. Probably the most unpredictable week of the season, but no one should go 0-5 out of the gate. Well here is where we see what kind of mental make-up I've got, how can I dig myself out of this hole? I went into Week 2 looking to chip away, came out of it with 2 wins, took an L in the Wild Card but so did the rest of the group. Week 3 I chip away some more, with 2 more wins I'm looking good and I also hit on my Wild Card game to give me some points. So after two weeks here are the standings:

 

Regular Picks:

    Mike - 6-2-1

Craig - 5-4

Ricky - 4-5

Jimmy - 4-5

Wild Card:

 Mike - 1-2

Ricky - 1-2

Craig - 0-3

Jimmy - 0-3

Overall Points Standings

(Regular Pick 1pt, WC 2pts)

   Mike -      8 (7-4-1)

Ricky -     6 (5-7)

Craig -      5 (5-7)

Jimmy -     4 (4-8)

Mike is looking solid so far this season, but we all need to step our games up. Not too hot to start off, but we're about to hit our stride.. Week 4 picks will be posted up sometime after noon..

HOLY SHIT!!!!

0 and 5 to start the season!!!! What the fuck was that?! Are the Saints kidding me?? I know the Bills were kidding, but holy shit Saints!! Wild Card picks weren't even close, regular picks weren't even close, I want to forget about this week so fast I can't even stand it. Moving on....

2012 Record: 0-3
2012 WC Rec: 0-2

NFL KICKOFF WEEK!! 2012 LOCK PICKS!! SUCKER FREE SUNDAY'S ARE BACK!!

It's like Christmas around here with the NFL season upon us, and what better way to get things going than betting money on games amongst friends? Between shit like this and fantasy football, I'm willing to bet I lose my job within the next 3 months, would also take side-bets that I'm living on the street in less than 6. While I'm here, I offer you my picks:

New Orleans -7.5 vs. Washington - Normally I'd be weary of that little half point, but I'm not right here. The Saints are an offensive hurricane at home (too soon?). They tend to struggle on the road, but since that doesn't apply here I'll take them in a home opener against a suspect defense and rookie QB. With all the uncertainty surrounding their coaching staff and defense, the one thing that is certain is Drew Brees. That's really all that matters.

Buffalo +3 @ NY Jets - I hate to go against the Jets here, I think they have a rabid fan base that should make MetLife Stadium pretty crazy for their home opener... But I believe in the Bills. Since they signed this guy Mario Williams, I believe in them. I never thought I'd say this back in 2006, but Mario Williams justifiably went #1 in that draft. Guy is an absolute beast, and according to my mom and dad who met him at Yankee Stadium a couple months ago - the guy is nice as hell, too. I think he tremendously improves a defense that wasn't THAT terrible last season. They also stole Mark Anderson from New England, further strengthening their edge rush while weakening a division opponent, love that move. They have Marcell Dareus back for a full offseason in his second year paired with Kyle Williams inside, making this what I think will be an elite defensive front in 2012. Pair that with the extremely well documented troubles the Jets offense has been having and I find it extremely difficult to believe the Jets can spot anyone points right now..



NY Giants -4 vs. Dallas - I hate to pick against the Jets and then go pick for the Giants, but it's just that kind of "Perfect Storm" kind of scenario, if you will. I think with all the talk about Victor Cruz (and deservedly so), people are forgetting just how good Hakeem Nicks is, sometimes I think he's almost too quiet for his own good. The Cowboys are riddled with injuries to key guys, most notably Jason Witten. He probably won't play which severely hurts Dallas. Miles Austin is one mistep away from his hamstring permanently exploding, and Dez Bryant is about one backhand to a woman away from being banned from the NFL. The Cowboys are starting two new cornerbacks in 2012. One, a cornerback who has never faced top-flight WR's and comes from a pretty small market, was a 5th round pick and has somehow parlayed 8 career interceptions in 4 years into a $50 million dollar contract and all the expectations in the world. Two, a rookie who has an IQ which matches up pretty well with his jersey number whose teammate in college who went up against him every day in practice now plays for the Giants and knows all his weaknesses. Good luck guys. Should be fun trying to defend Eli Manning during NFL's Kickoff Game while the entire world watches you get torched. The more I think about this, the more I love it. And I didn't even talk about the Giants defensive line, wow. #JPP #DPOY

Wild Card Games

Indianapolis +9 @ Chicago - I don't want to miss the Luck bandwagon. I honestly like what I've seen from him, if he plays like he has throughout the preseason, then he's already a solid starting QB. I think that makes Indianapolis a little more respectful than the spread indicates. I like them to hold their own.

Kansas City +3 vs. Atlanta - Behind Chicago, my most hated team due to hype and overratedness has got to be the Atlanta Falcons. Again, they come into a year with a ton of hype, can they deliver? We'll see what this overrated defense can do against Jamaal Charles and Peyton Hillis. I think KC will control the ball, and they've got a very underrated pass rush that can disrupt Matty Ice. I love me some Julio Jones, but a WR isn't winning you games on the road all by himself. Wouldn't be surprised if KC wins this one straight up. Should be week one of sixteen on the road to Comeback Player of the Year for Jamaal Charles.

2012 Record: 0-0 (Wild Card 0-0)

11 Month Pregnant Olympic "Athlete" No Big Deal

No seriously, that's her. PS - what the HELL is in the background?

Malaysia's pregnant shooter, Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi, has made the trip to London and will compete in next week's 10m rifle event, just one month before she's due to give birth to a baby girl. Doctors say Nur Suryani is fine to compete. In a sport that requires precision, calm and concentration, how will Nur Suryani compete with a child moving around her womb? "I will talk to the baby before I compete," she said in April. "[I'll say] no kicking, stay calm for one hour and 15 minutes only please." She understands that some may criticize her Olympic quest but isn't fazed by it. "Most people said I was crazy and selfish because they think I am jeopardizing my baby's health," she told reporters. "My husband said grab it as this is a rare chance which may not come again. Also, I am the mother. I know what I can do. I am a stubborn person." Nur Suryani is the 47th-ranked shooter in the world and a long shot for a medal. She also qualified for the 50m rifle competition but can't compete in it for obvious reasons.

I wish they'd elaborate on what the "obvious reasons" are. Because I'm pretty sure being pregnant obviously disqualifies you from competing in the Olympics. Every other "athlete" in this event is obviously pissed, because now people say "athlete" in quotes because obviously this isn't a very athletic "sport" when huge pregnant bitches can just stroll in and try and win some medals.

Seriously though, you're 47th in the world? But it's okay you know what you can do because you're the stubborn mother? Okay, so go ahead, pass Go collect $200 do your thing. But give credit where credit is due - anyone who can just command a newborn baby to stay calm for precisely an hour and 15 minutes when the kid isn't even really alive yet is pretty outstanding stuff.

PS - I hope they televise this event, and I hope this baby waits until her finger is on the trigger to unleash a fucking roundhouse on her kidney and an errant rifle blast goes rogue. Talk about television!

Is Canadian Crimestoppers For Real?

Yahoo - A motorcyclist turned himself into Canadian police earlier this week, after a video that seems to show him traveling at speeds up to 186 mph on a highway in British Columbia went viral. Randy George Scott, 25, surrendered to authorities at the Kelowna, B.C., police department on Tuesday. Canadian law enforcement had issued a warrant for Scott's arrest earlier this month. "The man allegedly responsible for the infamous YouTube video 'Victoria Highway Run 299km' is in custody," Kelowna police said in a statement. Scott was charged with reckless driving. The speed limit on the stretch of the the Trans-Canada Highway where Scott was allegedly speeding is 50 mph.

This is a joke right? Ha okay British Columbia, almost had me. Because no way is Crimestoppers actually putting up WANTED posts on TV for alleged speeders, right? Jesus Christ, just when I'm about to lose all faith in the United States and how far we've fallen, I'm proud to be an American right now. At least our Crimestoppers show is filled with meaningful criminals - people that rob and steal, rape and murder. Speeders are a bunch of pussies, they don't deserve any burn in primetime, save that shit for YouTube.

Back

So apparently I'm still getting hits on this site, don't know from where or why but I don't really care - I'm bored at work and my friend who I normally email with is actually going places in life and doing important things so looks like this is all I've got. Lucky for you guys. Anyway I'm probably going to throw some posts up now that I've got nothing better to do.

Doorman Has Perfect Work Attendance For 26 Straight Years

Yahoo - When Antonio de Sousa's car broke down on the way to work, calling a tow truck didn't enter his mind. Instead, he left the car beside the highway and ran five miles through downtown Tampa, Fla., to get to his job as a doorman at the Hyatt Regency hotel. "I was all sweaty, but I made it on time, at exactly 3 o'clock," he says. That sprint years ago kept him on track toward his current record: 26 years of perfect attendance. It may be hard to believe in an era of floods, flu epidemics and flexible schedules, but some people haven't missed a day of work in decades. They buck up when feeling ill and schedule events and activities around weekends and vacation days. They say, of course, that they keep coming for one reason: They love their jobs. Some own up, too, that streaks are just irresistible. Even so, fewer employers these days are rewarding perfect attendance with cash or gifts, partly because they don't want people coming to work sick. Also, growth in jobs that can be done from anywhere has shifted employers' focus away from stressing face time, toward "getting them to do their best work possible" from wherever they are, says Bob Nelson, an author on employee motivation and president of Nelson Motivation in San Diego.

Cool story bro. Why do you want to be at work? Enough of this "I love my job" bullshit, no one's buying that. You're a doorman. Holding doors for rich snobs is your dream job? Get real. Something doesn't add up here. I'd be real fuckin' concerned if I'm the Hyatt Regency, like there's dedicated then there's lunatics and your doorman is a lunatic. 26 years in a row of holding doors? Running to work 5 miles because your car broke down? I mean imagine the horror if he didn't get there to open those doors? People just walking right through plate glass windows and shit. Getting up screaming "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?! WHERE THE FUCK DID THAT DOOR COME FROM!?" This guy doesn't make sense, he's into something bigger I just haven't figured it out yet...

THE HUSKY'S THE MIKE - HUSKY'S THE MIKE! RED 7 RED 7 HOT ROUTE!

Where's the blocking here? Amateur hour, but dude you gotta keep your head on a swivel, can't have blitzers running free through the line like that bulldozing the quarterback. Audible to a run play next time? When you wipe the husky hair from your asshole spend some time in the film room or you won't be stepping foot off that patio anytime soon.

Giants. Don't Fuck Around - Resign Terrell Thomas Immediately



Giants 101 - Recently, New York Giants cornerback Terrell Thomas discussed how he and the Giants organization were "on the same page" with regards to resigning for the 2012 season and beyond. Thomas tore his ACL in a preseason game against the Chicago Bears at the inception of his contract year with the team. In 2010, Thomas was a very productive player for the defense, recording 108 tackles, five interceptions, and four forced fumbles. If totally healthy, he is an absolute asset to any defense, particularly the Big Blue defense. On February 8th, Thomas began running at full speed. Tuesday, Thomas worked on some agility drills that displayed significant progress in his rehab process. Thomas has reiterated on a number of occasions that his goal is to be ready to play come week one of the 2012 season. Hopefully it will be with New York.

Look, I know everyone will have expectations for the Giants next season, they just won the Super Bowl so that's natural. I'm not going to sit here and say they were the best team in the league, in reality they had a myriad of problems and overcame them showing insane character and will to win. They got hot at the right time and exposed weaknesses of other teams while coming together and playing over their heads in their areas of weakness. That being said.....

Terrell Thomas is a fucking game changer. He was a lock Pro-Bowler this season, our only pure cover corner and the only corner who knows how to tackle. 108 tackles as a CB?! That's linebacker range. Replace someone like Aaron Ross, who I'm PRAYING leaves as a free agent, and plug in this guy? You're going from easily the WORST tackler on the roster to one of the best, not to mention upgrading the coverage skills by about a million. Thomas strengthens the secondary by a lot, takes the stress off the safeties which in turn allows them to do much more. You'll see Kenny Phillips and Antrel Rolle with a lot more freedom than they had all season and this could turn into an extremely dangerous secondary. Add to that, the better the coverage means the defensive line has much more time to get to the QB. Not like they needed it, but that will force throws and we'll also see an increase in turnovers. Crazy how much difference a solid CB can make, but when you replace someone like Aaron Ross it's almost like you're playing with 11 on defense instead of 10.

PS - If Jerry Reese is smart, he gives Thomas a one year deal to re-establish his value.... Thomas will play this year looking for a long-term extension and I wouldn't be shocked if he becomes an All-Pro.

Floyd Mayweather Is A Racist. Weird.

ESPN NY - Boxer Floyd Mayweather believes that New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin is getting national attention because of his race, rather than his exceptional play. "Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise," Mayweather wrote on his Twitter account on Monday afternoon. Lin's agent, Roger Montgomery, didn't immediately respond to a text message sent by ESPNNewYork.com. Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's top adviser, didn't return a phone call from The Associated Press. Mayweather, however, responded to the story later Monday via a series of tweets. "Its OK for ESPN to give their opinion but I say something and everyone questions Floyd Mayweather," the boxer tweeted. "I'm speaking my mind on behalf of other NBA players. They are programmed to be politically correct and will be penalized if they speak up. "Other countries get to support/cheer their athletes and everything is fine. As soon as I support Black American athletes, I get criticized." Lin has become the talk of the NBA -- and the sports world at large -- for his unprecedented play over the last five games. Lin is the first player in league history to have at least 20 points and seven assists in each of his four career starts. The former Harvard grad has scored 109 points in his first four career starts, which is the most by any player since the NBA and ABA merged in 1976. In his last five games -- all Knicks wins -- the 23-year-old is averaging 26.8 points and 8 assists. Mayweather has drawn attention for racially insensitive remarks in the past. Mayweather went on a profanity-filled racist and homophobic rant against Manny Pacquiao in September 2010. In a video posted on UStream, Mayweather told Pacquiao, a Filipino, to "make some sushi rolls and cook some rice." He also said "we're going to cook him with some cats and dogs."

I honestly don't know what could possibly piss me off more, Floyd Mayweather talking again being the money greedy attention whore he always has been, or him playing the racist but saying he's not because he's black card. I'm so fucking tired of shit like this it's not even funny. So let's comb through these absolutely hilarious accusations from a boxer talking about basketball:

Racist Boxer: "Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise"

Stats from the article were pretty clear: "Lin is the first player in league history to have at least 20 points and seven assists in each of his four career starts. The former Harvard grad has scored 109 points in his first four career starts, which is the most by any player since the NBA and ABA merged in 1976."

So compared to black players, white players, orange players, purple players, green players, Lin is the ONLY player to do what he's done. Sorry was that racist? To provide statistical information about the league as a whole and not base it on race? Just that Jeremy Lin is doing things no one has done before 1976, but we shouldn't recognize that, we should talk about a LeBron dunk that happened in a meaningless regular season game like he's never dunked a basketball before.

Angry Racist Non-Basketball Player: "Its OK for ESPN to give their opinion but I say something and everyone questions Floyd Mayweather."

When you complain about race and refer to yourself in the third person, you're an asshole. ESPN gives their opinion's on sports because that's their job and that's what they get paid to do. You're a boxer who knows as much about basketball as I do, only difference is I appreciate numbers and don't give a fuck what ethnicity you are. I don't give a fuck if a space martian came from another planet and played point for the Knicks, as long as someone could run the goddamn point.

So bottom line, I don't know what Mayweather is expecting. The first of anyone to do anything always has and always will get attention. I guess we should blame his Eastern Conference Player of the Week on his race, and not the fact he just posted averages of 27.3 points, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals. Definitely racism all the way, right?

PS - If Mayweather ever saw this blog I'd guarantee his response would be "I GOT 23 HOUSES AND 93 CARS WHAT YOU GOT", guy is a bajillionaire but money could never buy respect. Guy is a clown.

Looks Like That Victory Celebration Tom Brady Promised Went Well

NY Daily News - Patriots fans packed the lower level of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Sunday to give the AFC champions a raucous Super sendoff. But it was nothing compared to the party Tom Brady expects to have back in New England next week. “We’re going down there for one reason,” Brady said before the Patriots boarded their charter flight to Super Bowl XLVI. “We’re going to give it our best and hopefully we’ll have a lot more people at our party next weekend.” And with that, the cocky QB sent the estimated crowd of 25,000 into a frenzy, sending the Patriots off to their fifth Super Bowl in the last 11 years. It’s their first trip back, of course, since Super Bowl XLII, when the Giants spoiled the undefeated Patriots’ party plans with a shocking 17-14 win.

I wonder what it's like to promise 25,000 fans a victory celebration and then put up a 28.7 QB rating in the 4th quarter of a Super Bowl.

2 Of The Most Annoying Downfalls Of Your Favorite Team Winning A Championship

Haters and bandwagon fans. I know a couple of my friends who are huge Jets and Mets fans would love to have this problem, but I can't stand it. These two go hand in hand. The Giants haven't been World Champs for ten minutes and I'm getting bombarded with "Giants are lucky" texts and Facebook posts. Same people who send those are putting up huge defensive Facebook statuses about "Giants fans" in quotes like people who are Giants fans aren't Giants fans? And it's funny because who provoked them to do that? It's like this huge defensive hate filled post about wanting people to die but meanwhile no one actually said anything to you? It's confusing.

Then the reasons why they won become nothing about football or the fundamentals of the game and all of a sudden all about luck. Luck is what wins Championships now a days. Tom Brady actually not being good is lucky? How about the fact he's been unclutch since 2004? Why do people still think he's good? He chokes, end of story. He had Branch wide open and threw it right at Kenny Phillips, that's why Branch didn't catch the ball. If Brady had led him with the ball, that play might've gone for 40 yards, instead he threw it behind him and the ball actually should've been picked off. The Welker drop was an awful pass. He's wide open, he throws it to his back shoulder and high, just a shitty pass from someone who cannot possibly live up to the pedestal he's been placed on. After cruising through the first 3 quarters, Brady put up a passer rating of 28.7 in the most important part of the game. Not real sure how we can keep calling this guy clutch when he's done nothing to help his team win lately, and 2-4 in your last 6 postseason games is about as unclutch as you can possibly be.

But whatever, haters gonna hate and Eli's gonna beat Brady, just the way of the world. Haters do your thing.

The bandwagon thing fucking sucks, though. It's literally unavoidable, just nothing a fan can do about it. I am now clumped in to the millions of Giants fans around the world, no telling me apart from the rest now. There are going to be tons of fans coming out of left field and the ones who endured 15 degree wind chills in the parking lot and the ones who went to Indianapolis on a whim with no tickets just to be in the city the Giants were playing the Super Bowl in are left to get trampled and run over by the madness of these bandwagon fans.

Never bad to add new fans and followers, but it sucks to have they represent us as a whole. I had to go through this as a Yankees fan, and now Yankees fans have an awful reputation because of loud mouth attention seeking assholes who wear Yankees shit because they think it's the cool thing to do. They try to have arguments about sports and make the rest of us look like assholes. Celebrities who will become Giants fans will get interviewed and completely butcher someones name or basically admit they know absolutely nothing and it will reflect our fanbase as a whole. It's honestly the WORST. I think what's worse than a bunch of celebrities are the nobodies, the friends we have on FB that get into sports arguments with someone that actually has knowledge of the sport. It's so infuriating to watch them crash and burn while claiming Giants fandom, just crushing our fans reputation. Luckily for me, I've been overly public of my love affair with the Giants well before 2007, so that my friends actually appreciate these times for me. I just hate random people saying things like "WE DID IT!" when someone like myself, who's a die hard fan, had no clue this person even watched football let alone rooted for the Giants (not to mention the fact that "WE" didn't do anything, we're not on the team). Things like that bother me to no end because it just makes us all look like a bunch of assholes when you represent yourself as a Giants fan. If you don't know shit about sports just stay out of the conversation, it's in the best interests for everyone.

So Indianapolis Was Fun

Obviously I have a lot to get to in relation to the Giants win over the Patriots on Sunday. I've been so busy being in Indianapolis that I haven't gotten time to settle down and even think about what happened yet. Thing is, I don't get paid to do this stuff but if I did I'd more than likely be the best blogger in the world, but I don't so you're only getting about 31% effort 100% of the time. Trip was as flawless as a trip could get when planned and orchestrated within one hour of the creation of the idea, I'd say the biggest trip up for me was my phone dying at the end of the game. We brought chargers with us to the bar on Sunday morning, but left them in the car, so in other words we might as well not have brought them. Well we got to the bar at 9am and were there until about midnight, so the phone shut down right around the end of the game. I wanted to take video of the celebration that ensued but even if my phone wasn't dead I was busy recovering from a game winning nose bleed and hugging everyone in sight. It was pure madness, the place had be inexplicably 70% Patriots fans at the start of the game, with 3 minutes left and the Patriots up 17-15, there might've been 2 Pats fans left in the entire place. They all knew it was over and didn't wanna be around to get trampled in the celebration, can't blame 'em. Anyway I'll get into more details about the trip, the game, thoughts, reactions, all that stuff. But I don't get paid to do this so you'll get all that stuff when I feel like doing it.

BURGER HEAVEN!

It's like a never ending struggle to not be obese in this country. I say I'm going on a diet and BOOM someone decides at that very moment it's time to litter Downtown Brooklyn with the biggest and best burger places ever. If you were around to see my last piece on this, I was obviously really excited to be in the middle of this mayhem. But let's face it, can't eat this shit everyday, which is kind of good because you eat shit like that all the time, it kind of loses it's excitement. Imagine Christmas morning every single day? Fuck that, shit would just become like every other day, then a shitty day would be like how Christmas is now, you'd almost enjoy having a crappy day at that point. Only so much cheer and joy you can take before you need to flip out, well same goes for burgers.

Anyway, I try this new place today called 67 Burger. Zero idea what it is, never heard of it but the menu looks bangin' and the title has the word burger, so I'm game. Well turns out the place is legit, music blasting like I'm rolling into Against All Odds looking for throwbacks at the Palisades. So it got me thinking, where do I rank this undrafted free agent burger joint among the greats in the game?? Here we go:

Click to keep going:

Typical, Mets Fans Writing Articles Saying Yankees Are Better Because Their Stadium Doesn't Suck Like Theirs Does And It's Not Fair

What Mets Fans Have Resorted To While They're Team Goes Down In Flames, Writing Articles Blaming The Yankees For Everything:

WSJ - Ever since Citi Field opened before the 2009 season, the Mets' new home has drawn the ire of players and fans for its cavernous dimensions, making hitting a home run a Ruthian challenge. The situation became so dire that in January former Mets outfielder Jeff Francoeur called the stadium a "joke." That same year, a new ballpark opened in the Bronx. Yankee Stadium quickly earned a reputation as a launching pad, with home runs flying out at a record pace. In the stadium's second month of existence, first baseman Mark Teixeira shattered his bat—and sent the ball soaring over the fence. With that in mind, and the Subway Series set to resume in Queens this weekend, we decided to try a little experiment. Just how well would those Yankee sluggers do if they had to play half their games at Citi Field? The answer is striking. With the help of HitTrackerOnline's Greg Rybarczyk and the ESPN Stats and Information Group, we looked at every home run hit at the new Yankee Stadium by seven key Yankees (through Sunday). Of the 242 homers, only 120 (49.6%) would have cleared the fence at Citi Field, assuming average weather conditions. Rybarczyk, an engineer, tracks the distance of all home runs hit in the major leagues, using software that accounts for trajectory and atmospheric conditions. Using his data, he is able to estimate the number of parks in which any round-tripper would be a home run. Shortstop Derek Jeter would have been affected most, with just four of his 20 homers leaving Citi Field. For Robinson Cano, who hits most of his home runs into Yankee Stadium's short right field, the number is 18 of 40. Even Alex Rodriguez, one of the all-time best home-run hitters, would have lost 41% of his homers if he played his home games at Citi Field. The Mets' inability to hit homers at Citi Field immediately sparked a fierce debate among fans: Was the new ballpark to blame for their team's power outage, or did the Mets simply lack firepower in the lineup? After all, no team in baseball has hit fewer homers than the Mets in the past three seasons—something had to be held responsible. Statistically speaking, there's no doubt that Citi Field has played a tangible role. Wright, for example, hit 10 homers in his first season there after swatting at least 30 in the previous two years. Jason Bay has hit exactly 10 home runs in two seasons with the Mets after compiling 181 in the six years prior. Then there's the effect of psychology. In 2009, Atlanta's Chipper Jones said he thought Wright was becoming frustrated with the stadium's dimensions. Though Wright denied it, other players have acknowledged that hitting at Citi Field requires a certain mental makeup. "If you try to hit home runs at Citi Field, a lot of them are going to be flyouts and your average is going to go down, and you're not going to be that effective," outfielder Scott Hairston said. "You really have to battle yourself to stay within yourself and hit line drives." Wright may have been hurt by Citi Field more than anyone because of his propensity for hitting home runs toward right-center field—a trait he shares with many of the Yankees' best hitters. Cano, Teixeira and Curtis Granderson all hit a majority of their home runs in that direction, and Rodriguez also has power to the opposite field. None of the Yankee Stadium homers hit by Jeter or Rodriguez into right or right-center in the past three years would have left Citi Field. With three games scheduled this weekend, the Yankees hope to survive—and quickly head back to their bandbox in the Bronx. "Yankees' hitters are obviously excellent hitters," Hairston said, "and it makes them even better when they're playing in a ballpark like Yankee Stadium."

Now I know my close friends who are Mets fans are going to be up in arms about this, but let's just read an email I sent to the guys who sent me this at work. First of all, this was back in July before I started this blog and I just came across it.. With all the Super Bowl hype and football talk, figured I'd break it up with some good old Yankees/Mets shit:

Long article/write-up/response so hit the jump:

I Cannot WAIT To Get To Indy

Ummmm Peyton who?! 100% understand the Luck jersey, probably a million of those floating around by now... But an Eli Manning Colts jersey?! I mean that's music to my fucking eyeballs. Talk about a home game for the Giants. I cannot wait to get my ass into Indy on Saturday and be flooded with Colts/Giants fans. Just couldn't ask for a better scenario for the Giants. All Colts fans obviously hate the Patriots, and hate Tom Brady.... but they all fucking LOVE Peyton Manning, except this guy who really wants Andrew Luck to play QB - talk about completely abandoning ship on the one guy who literally made your franchise what it is right now, what a jerk right???? But anyway, so if they love Peyton they have to have a soft spot in their heart for his little brother who's about to pass him in ring collection rankings. OOOOHHH BOY this weekend is going to be so fucking outstanding I can't even stand it! If we got Colts fans making personalized Eli jersey's, we've got a serious homefield advantage - but technically it's still a road game in the postseason so the Giants should be golden.

I Used To Respect WebMD

Then I realized they sanctioned, and likely paid for, a study into the sugar content of children's cereal:

Thanks Kathleen and Louise. You really cracked the case here. Incredible field investigation on your part. Way to use your medical degree for something useful Louise. Your colleagues, parents, and friends must be so proud right now.

Who would have ever though something aimed for consumption by children would have SUGAR in it?

Amazing.

WebMD, if you are reading this and looking to hire your next Pulitzer Award Winner, I would love to study the effects alcohol has on kidneys if you'll pay me the same amount you paid to the Kathleen and Louise.

Next time I need medical advice, there is zero chance I'm using WebMD.

Giants. Patriots. Super Bowl. Eli Better Than Brady?

Who would have thought Week 9 was a preview of Super Bowl XLVI, huh? Sure, record wise you would think two 5-2 teams was a good match-up, but the Patriots hadn't beaten anyone with a winning record and the Giants first half schedule was as easy as it gets and also included losses to the Redskins and Seahawks. Well they were both different teams back then, Patriots still figuring things out coming off a loss to Pittsburgh and the Giants having huge problems both running the ball and stopping the run. Another problem for the Giants at the mid-way point was that they hadn't had a consistent pass rush because of injuries to Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck, leaving Jason Pierre-Paul to fend for himself - had it not been for his overly rapid development, who knows where the Giants would be right now.

The Giants won the game 24-20 on another Eli Manning game winning touchdown drive, which I'm sure Pats fans are sick of seeing by now. They also did it without starting RB Ahmad Bradshaw and #1 WR Hakeem Nicks. The Patriots could have folded up shop, but instead reeled off 10 straight wins. The Giants, lost 5 of their next 6 games before catching fire flames when it counted, including narrow losses to the last two teams they knocked out of the playoffs. Giants entered that game in Foxboro 9 point underdogs, they'll enter the Super Bowl somewhere in the range of 3 point dogs.

The Patriots are finding different ways to win each week. At the start of the season, it was Tom Brady looking like he was going to throw for 10,000 yards and another 50 TD's and the offense was going to be 2007 all over again. Rob Gronkowski (the greatest 6th round fantasy draft pick of all-time, fuck it though because my team still missed the playoffs thanks Darren McFadden, never mind) decided to put together one of the nope actually THE greatest season for a TE in the history of the game. Guy was an absolute machine, straight up uncoverable. Giants won in Week 9 yet Gronk put up 8 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. That's about the best you could hope for against him. Once teams keyed on Brady and the passing game, The Law Firm, Woodhead and some other no name backs started to run the ball on teams. Last week in the AFC Championship, that's exactly what they did to the Ravens. With the Ravens using mostly Nickel packages, the Pats went no huddle, not allowing the Ravens to substitute and match personnel, and the Pats ran it on a softer group than we're used to seeing. Not only did the Ravens not have the matchups they wanted, the main cogs out there (Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata) were gassed by the non-stop movement. The mix up in game plans is what won the Pats that game, and will pose a serious challenge to a Giants defense that likes to mix up personnel along the defensive line to keep their defensive line fresh and their pass rush constant. Without them being able to sub in and out, it could render their entire defensive scheme useless.

The Giants are a completely different team than they were when these two teams met. Eli Manning has been playing at a high level all season, but has taken it even higher in this postseason. Whereas Tom Brady has looking pretty human after throwing for no touchdowns and two picks last week against the Ravens - being outplayed by Joe Flacco. The Giants are as healthy as they've been all season long, they'll have the two starters they were missing in Week 9, Bradshaw and Nicks. And their defensive line is fully healthy, which is a main reason they are where they are. The regular season stats are a bit misleading, listing the Giants 32nd out of 32 teams running the ball, averaging just under 90 yards/game. That's changed since the regular season, and Manning now has a running game to work with which makes it easier to pick apart opposing defenses. He'll be going against an uncharacteristically bad Bill Belichick defense in Indy, the Pats ranked 32nd against the pass and were just shredded by Joe Flacco. Manning will have his weapons on a turf field in a controlled environment, unlike last week in San Francisco where they dealt with dreadful field conditions and constant rain and wind. Scary to think what they can do on a speedy surface against a suspect pass defense. If this does turn into a shootout, advantage has got to go to the Giants.

Eli Manning. Guy has been an absolute monster in this postseason. Big reason? 3rd downs. In situations the Giants have faced a 3rd and 6 or longer - The Giants converted 15 of 25 times (60%). Eli in those situations? 18 of 21 (86%) for 287 yards with a TD and no INTs, calculate that out and that's good for a 134.6 QB rating.

Against Atlanta: 7/7, 113 yards.

Against Green Bay: 5/5, 79 yards.

Against San Fran: 6/9, 95 yards and a TD.

That's just fucking nuts. The guy is widely praised for being a certifiable film junky, and he shows it with his adjustments at the line. He reads the defense and goes through his progressions like he knows exactly where the defenders are going to be. That wasn't the case his first 7 seasons, this comes with experience, and he has it now. This isn't a case of him being hot, this is Eli now, this kind of performance and level of play is here for good now. There's nothing he hasn't seen in this league, and going into a game in which he's already won (against a much, much better version of the Patriots) there's no reason he doesn't have an absolute field day against their awful pass defense. The Giants don't even need the run as they proved against the extremely solid SF defense. He threw the ball 58 times in piss poor conditions while getting hit and bullied on nearly every single snap, and it never phased him. Late in the game, he stood in the pocket on a 3rd and 15 and threw a fucking laser to Mario Manningham in the end zone against an 8-man coverage for the TD. Another huge 4th quarter play to put the Giants in position to put the game into OT and put them into the Super Bowl. This guy plus a dominating pass rush should have the Patriots extremely nervous going into this game, Week 9 I said this was a terrible matchup for the Patriots, and now? It's much worse. Because calling Eli Manning "elite" is becoming borderline disrespectful.... But it's okay, he's used to it.