Welcome to the Sin Bin - A Sports Blog

NFL Week 5 picks!

2011-10-09T12:48:00.002-06:00

11-5 once again last week and am now 42-22 for the season. Not bad, and now we have bye weeks so there is less margin for error. Didn't get this out before games started, but these are my legit picks, I promise.

Philadelphia @ Buffalo: Buffalo needs to rebound after a bad loss to Cincinnati last week, and they'll pull it off against the Iggles. I'll take Buffalo.

Kansas City @ Indianapolis: Both teams haven't been very good, but Indy should wake up at some point. Today is that point against a bad Chiefs team. Indy.

Arizona @ Minnesota: Arizona is dropping the ball in this one, but they were my pick, so I'll own it. I picked Arizona.

Seattle @ NY Giants: G-men should beat up on the Hawks. Giants.

Tennessee @ Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh still trying to show that they aren't too old, even though they are. I'll still take the Steelers.

New Orleans @ Carolina: Saints should take this one big time.

Cincinnati @ Jacksonville: Cincinnati has shown some good things despite their record. Against a bad Jacksonville team I think they'll keep going and pull out a win.

Oakland @ Houston: Houston is hoping to continue to prove they're the real deal. They'll have a tough win against the Raiders, but a win all the same.

Tampa Bay @ San Francisco: Both teams are better than they seem, but I think Tampa has the better squad overall.

San Diego @ Denver: San Diego, in a laugher. People will probably get their Tebow wish after this one, and he will show exactly how much he isn't the answer right now.

New York Jets @ New England: The home team seems to do better in this series lately, so I'll give the Pats the edge. Wouldn't be surprised if the Jets did win because they seem to know how to get to the Patriots.

Green Bay @ Atlanta: I'll take the Packers.

Chicago @ Detroit: Detroit needs to play better during the first half of the game, because they can't always come from behind as far as they have each game this season. I'll still take Detroit.

NFL Week 4 Picks

2011-10-02T10:32:00.002-06:00

10-6 last week for a total now 31-17. Hopefully I can do better this week.

Carolina @ Chicago: Carolina could put up a good fight in this one, but Chicago's defense is too good and Carolina's is not nearly good enough. Bears.

Buffalo @ Cincinnati: Buffalo is the real deal, they'll dominate Cincinnati, Bills.

Tennessee @ Cleveland: Not totally sure how Cleveland is favored in this game, I'll take the Titans.

Detroit @ Dallas: Detroit has a tough game here, and they have proven that they can come from behind. I think that Dallas manages to squeak one out at home. This should be a really good game.

Minnesota @ Kansas City: Minnesota really needs to get a win, as does KC. Minnesota has the better offense and should take this one.

Washington @ St. Louis: Washington wins this one in a much closer game than it should be.

San Francisco @ Philadelphia: Not much of a dream team thus far, the Eagles need to play a full game from start to finish. Not sure what happens with Mike Vick in this game, but the eagles really should win anyways. Iggles.

New Orleans @ Jacksonville: Jacksonville stinks, I'll go with the Saints, big time.

Pittsburgh @ Houston: Should be a good game, and this is one that the Texans need to be able to win to get over the hump and into the playoffs. I think Pittsburgh mamages to take this one in a close game.

New York Giants @ Arizona: G-men, easy.

Atlanta @ Seattle: Atlanta gets a gift in Seattle this week and starts to get back on track.

Denver @ Green Bay: Packers are going to kill the Broncos.

New England @ Oakland: Since New England's defense sucks so much, the Raiders could keep this close, but their defense isn't really good enough to keep them ahead. Pats.

Miami @ San Diego: Dolphins too inconsistent, and the Chargers may actually have found a way to start the season well. Miraculously, the Chargers start off 3-1 instead of 1-3.

New York Jets @ Baltimore: Jets have a tough road to run here, and it definitely doesn't get any easier in Baltimore. I'm gonna take the Ravens in this one.

Indianapolis @ Tampa Bay: So hard to gauge how Indy will play. Tampa is much better than they have been in the past, so I think the Bucs will take this one.

Tebow-Maniacs Making it Hard to be a Fan of the Broncos

2011-09-28T14:31:00.004-06:00

Football season is back in full swing and normally that would have me in a fantastic mood, but there is a problem.

No, it doesn't really revolve around the fact that my Denver Broncos are 1-2 and don't seem very likely to pick up any more wins before their bye week. No, it doesn't have anything to do with the team's lack of a running game. No, it doesn't have anything to with the defense being inconsistent as all get out; and no, it has absolutely nothing to do with Kyle Orton.

It doesn't really have anything directly to do with Tim Tebow either, just the flock of nincompoops claiming that they know better than the entirety of the Denver Bronco organization and demand that Tebow be given a chance to start.

I have no issues with Tim Tebow himself. He's a hard working guy that is a great role model and is one heck of an athlete.

The issue I have is that other Denver Bronco fans are making it insanely difficult for many others of us to be Broncos fans. It's embarrassing!

It would be one thing if Tebow had clearly separated himself from the pack as the best quarterback and was still not being given a chance to perform, but that hasn't been the case.

So rather than let the coaches make the decisions we're made to listen to a non-stop parade of drivel that suggests Elway and Fox are playing political games and intentionally holding Tim Tebow down, to the detriment of the team.

One of my favorites involves the Broncos targeting Tebow as a scapegoat for the terrible decisions that Josh McDaniels made during his time as Denver head coach, and they are torturing Tim Tebow by relegating him to a back-up role he doesn't deserve all to punish him for being a draft pick of the boy king.

There are still several more saying that the Broncos are playing anti-Christian games because Tebow is so open about his religion.

I usually try to remain above name-calling and other things of that sort as I wish to keep my pieces professional, but when did Denver fans become so stupid?

Why are people so desperate to decide whether or not anybody knows something based on whether or not they support Tim Tebow?

Yes, Josh McDaniels was a terrible hire by the team and his very brief but all too long tenure as head coach made a lot of fans very skeptical about who was put in the head coaching position, but John Fox has been coaching in the NFL in one capacity or another since Josh McDaniels was still a young school boy.

There is not a single person in the Denver Broncos organization that wants Tim Tebow to fail because there is a lot of money invested in him. Moreover, he's a member of the team, and for anybody to insinuate that members of the front office would want any of the players that put their physical well-being on the line in order to make them money to fail is absolutely ludicrous.

Every single Denver Bronco fan out there wants Tim Tebow to succeed and be great, but that doesn't mean we have to throw him in there right away.

Let the coaches do their jobs, please. Let Tebow develop and learn how to be a pocket quarterback as our system calls for.

And please, stop spreading this divisive garbage that labels anybody critical of Tebow as a "Tebow-Hater" or person who doesn't want the Broncos to do well.

You are the incredibly loud and annoying minority that is making it very hard to be a fan of the Denver Broncos right now.

NFL Week 3 Picks

2011-09-24T19:32:00.003-06:00

10-6 in week 1, 11-5 in week 2. 21-11 overall. Let's keep the good times rolling for week 3 of the NFL season!

New England @ Buffalo: Buffalo has played well to start the season, but they may have issues stopping New England's high powered offense. This will be a better game than people expect, but I'll take the Pats.

San Francisco @ Cincinnati: Cincinnati stinks and San Francisco has a much better team than people think. This may be in Cinci, but I can't really see the Bungles taking this one. Niners.

Miami @ Cleveland: Cleveland is such a hard team to figure. They can play really well or will completely stink. Miami has a lot of weapons and just needs to figure out how to get them all on the same page. They'll beat Cleveland, but not by as much as they should.

Denver @ Tennessee: Tennessee will dominate the Broncs, and the Denver faithful will continue to not shut up about Tim Tebow, though the rest of us who actually understand the game is more than just being a likeable person will wish they would shut up.

Detroit @ Minnesota: Detroit is taking a lot of teams by surprise, and the Vikes can't get it going. Lions continue a march to the playoffs and go 3-0.

Houston @ New Orleans: Should be a good game between some high powered offenses. The Saints D will be more opportunistic and take advantage of the injured Arian Foster who continues to screw my fantasy team.

New York Giants @ Philadelphia: G-men may be able to drive Vick from the game if they are able to hit him hard. Vick should focus more on finishing a full game rather than reminding fans of the score. He may have paid his debt to society, but he's still an arrogant prick, pardon me. Still, Eagles should win this one.

Jacksonville @ Carolina: Newton is playing very well despite the two losses. Jacksonville really is hard to tell what they will do, but they aren't a winning team. Jack Del Rio will be looking for a new job before the end of the year, I think and the Panthers will help that along by beating Jacksonville.

New York Jets @ Oakland: Jets are going to handle the Raiders pretty easily here, in my opinion.

Baltimore @ St. Louis: Baltimore really dropped the ball in week 2 and should be mad coming into week 3. The Rams are going to feel the wrath here.

Kansas City @ San Diego: The Chiefs shocked the Chargers in San Diego last year, but I don't really see that happening this year. Of course, this is the Chargers so stinking in the first half of the season is what they do best. You never know, but I'll take the Chargers in this one.

Green Bay @ Chicago: Packers will be in Cutler's face all day long. Packers will remind everybody why they are the champs once again.

Arizona @ Seattle: Seattle stinks, Arizona should take this one.

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay: Tampa has a good team, but they just can't seem to put it all together yet. I'll take the Falcons in a very competitive game.

Pittsburgh @ Indianapolis: This one is going to be very ugly. No Manning, Steelers will dominate. I'm glad I have their defense as my fantasy defense.

Washington @ Dallas: Dallas pulled off a big comeback win last week, hopefully they don't have the same issues this week. I think they'll have a tough time with the pesky Skins, but will find a way to win.

NFL Week 2 Picks

2011-09-16T20:28:00.001-06:00

10-6 after week 1. Here's hoping for a strong week 2! I think we've got a great line up of games for the week. Check it out and tell me who you got!

Oakland @ Buffalo: Buffalo may be a surprise in the AFC this year. Oakland managed to hold on against the Broncos in week 1, and will need a lot of help from their running game in order to stay unbeaten. The Bills at a team that are going to be overlooked by almost every team in the league and that will be to their advantage. I'll take Buffalo.

Kansas City @ Detroit: Detroit is a strong team this year, there is no denying that. Kansas City stumbled out of the blocks and will be looking to right their ship quickly, but the Lions are ready to prove that they are able to play with anybody. They'll continue to show they are a playoff caliber team with a win over the Chiefs.

Baltimore @ Tennessee: Tennessee will be creamed in this one. Baltimore destroyed the Steelers and will continue to hammer the Titans. This one will be ugly.

Cleveland @ Indianapolis: Cleveland blew it against a Bengals team that is not very good. The Colts had a horrible showing in week 1, but I think that they are still better than the Browns, so long as Kerry Collins can remember the color of his own team's jersey. Colts.

Tampa Bay @ Minnesota: Minnesota had a horrible game plan against the Chargers. Blame McNabb if you want, but when they refused to go away from run, run, third and long they did them. McNabb made a lot of good plays for the Vikes in week one and then the play calling just stunk in the second half. I think the coaches learned their lesson in game 2.

Chicago @ New Orleans: This should be a pretty good game, but the Saints will get to the Bears' QB often. When Cutler is pressured even a little bit he gets very wreckless. Saints take this.

Jacksonville @ New York Jets: Jacksonville is in trouble. It's going to be a long season for them, I think. Jets take this one.

Seattle @ Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh gets the perfect make-up opponent after getting destroyed by Baltimore. Seattle stinks and the Steelers will blow the Seahawks out.

Arizona @ Washington: Washington is favored, but Rex Grossman is probably the most inconsistent quarterback in the league. He played alright last week, but he'll remember who he is this week. The Cards will take this one.

Green Bay @ Carolina: Carolina stinks, the Packers are very good. Another lopsided victory for the Pack.

Dallas @ San Francisco: Dallas is very skilled and San Francisco struggles for consistency. San Francisco has the potential to win this game, but I don't think they will. Boys get the win.

Cincinnati @ Denver: Denver is not very good and have a lot of injuries after just one week, but Cincinnati is still pretty awful. Denver will have to be better against the run, and if they are they will take this one. I see a Broncos win and a big day for Kyle Orton.

Houston @ Miami: Chad Henne played great against the Pats, and will have to repeat that in order to beat the Texans. I don't see that happening. Texans win this one.

San Diego @ New England: Game of the week, right here. Two great offenses and darn good teams. Chargers never win in big games, that just is their MO, and it will continue. Pats win in a good game.

Philadelphia @ Atlanta: Atlanta really HAS to come out and win this one but they go up against a very loaded Eagles team. Philly wins a close one.

St. Louis @ New York Giants: G-men need to rebound and get the right team to rebound against. G-men win running away.

Welcome Back NFL! Week 1 Picks

2011-09-08T20:27:00.003-06:00

After a bit of a long delay on this site, the NFL season is now back upon us which means it's time to get my weekly picks going yet again. So let the fun begin!

New Orleans @ Green Bay: Green Bay will open up the season on a positive note and win their first game as defending Super Bowl Champs.

Atlanta @ Chicago: Chicago still doesn't have an offensive line, and the Falcons are still very good. I think Atlanta gets their season started off the right way, and Jay Cutler gets re-introduced to the turf.

Cincinnati @ Cleveland: Cinci went from being a respectable team to pretty much nothing. No offense, no quarterback, and a weak defense. Cleveland and Peyton Hillis will run over the Bungles.

Buffalo @ Kansas City: KC won the AFC West last year and are a very good team. They will make short work of the Bills.

Philadelphia @ St. Louis: St. Louis got better this year, but Philly went NUTS. Philly is definitely the better team and will prove it early and often in this game.

Detroit @ Tampa Bay: Two teams that could surprise a lot of people this year. I think Detroit's young defense with Fairly and Suh leading the way will make a lot of trouble for Tampa, and Stafford will get megatron a few TDs in a win.

Tennessee @ Jacksonville: Tennessee has to rely on the ever injured Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback. Jacksonville is more complete of a team, and I think they'll take this first one.

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore: One of the best rivalries going today, the home team definitely has an advantage in these defensive battle. I'll take the Ravens.

Indianapolis @ Houston: No Peyton Manning always means trouble for the Colts. He's too important to the success of his team. Even if he does play, he won't be at 100%. Houston always gives the Colts fits, they will start off strong and beat Indy at home.

Carolina @ Arizona: Even with Cam Newton, Carolina stinks. He may be able to get them a few more points they wouldn't get otherwise, but Arizona is still better. Cards.

Minnesota @ San Diego: San Diego is favored big time in this game, but I think this is a prime time upset game. San Diego always starts slow and Norv Turner can do nothing about it it seems. Minnesota will take advantage of this and win game 1 of the Donovan McNabb era.

Seattle @ San Francisco: Seattle is just awful. Tavares Jackson won't solve anything. San Fran isn't much better, but they are better. Niners.

New York Giants @ Washington: Rex Grossman apparently likes where the Skins are, but he's the only one. The G-men take this one.

Dallas @ New York Jets: The Jets never get enough respect, all they've done is get to 2 AFC title games in a row and come up just short. They'll take the Cowboys down this time.

New England @ Miami: New England is too much.

Oakland @ Denver: The Broncos have some really impressive home opener win streak going that I don't think will stop now. They're out to prove that they are a better team, and John Fox will have them ready to go. Tebow WON'T play in a week one victory. Watch VonDoom reek havoc on the Raiders offense.

Colorado Avalanche Fans: Join Burgundy Brigade

2011-07-12T12:24:00.003-06:00

Over the past season for the Avalanche, it became awfully tough to watch the games, especially in the second half of the season when the team only won about 4 games in the last 30.

At one point, later in the season, I had the good fortune of attending an Avalanche game with the Bulldog Support Group that supports the Denver MLS team, the Colorado Rapids. I wrote an earlier piece on them here

Two things happened at this game for me. First, I was absolutely disgusted by some of the fans. There was a kid sitting about five rows down from me who had an iPad that he played for the entire game. Never looked up once, except maybe to eat his food or drink his soda. Never looked at the game at all.

There were also a couple of ladies sitting in front of us who seemed put off by the fact that our whole group wanted to cheer through the game. Apparently the real fans were messing up their chance to have a nice quiet talk. Sorry sister, if you're at a hockey game, you should be there to make some noise.

Second, the BSG is loud, cheers, sings, chants, the whole game, and I had so much fun that they inspired me to get rolling with my own group for the Avalanche.

After tossing an idea or two around the Twitterverse, about 4 of us came up with what we want to call it and what we can to try and do with it. The group is called The Burgundy Brigade.

Our mission is to bring excitement, passion, and a real enjoyable environment back to the Pepsi Center and cheer for the team no matter what.

We've made a lot of progress since the start. We have our own web page, we have a facebook page, we have a Twitter, @BurgundyBrigade, and we're attempting to get some networking going with the Avs.

So this is my call to all Avalanche fans who are tired of being outcheered by the opponents fans. Fans who want to turn the Pepsi Center back into a place feared by opponents.

Let's do this!

Golf Journal: South Suburban

2011-06-25T13:16:00.002-06:00

This was kind of a fun round for me because this was the course that I played on when I was a kid.

I had a bit of a delay in posting about this one, I played the day before Father's Day, due to house-sitting and getting ready to move and doing a lot of writing for Bleacher Report, etc...

It was a perfect day for golfing, no wind or anything, and I felt good.

The day started off really well, I hit greens in regulation on the first three holes right in a row, but couldn't sink a putt to save my life.

There was a bit of a road block when we hit a par 3 at hole number four. Some guys about three groups ahead of us were taking way too long to play, and the group right in front of us was slow for the entire front nine, always waiting until the group in front of them was either on the green or walking off of the green in order to hit (even on the long par 5's.

Hole 4 was bad because we waited about 25 minutes before we could hit our tee shots, and hole 5 I spent trying to get my rhythm back.

By hole 6, I seemed to be more or less back in the swing of things, if you'll pardon the word play.

I ended up finishing the front nine with a 46, not too bad.

The back nine was far better for everybody. It seems the people who were really holding things up got off of the course, and my group didn't have to sit and wait for anything.

Hole 11 was kind of my crowning achievement of the day. It is a shorter par 5, about 490 from the white tees that is pretty tough because the whole left side is bordered by trees and a little ravine. About 250 in, there is a gulch where the ball is playable, but you would play it out of the rough.

I hit my drive just short of the gulch, and a bit on the right side, so I had a straight, clear look at the green and was only about 220 out, according to my little caddie app.

So pulled out my 3 wood and bombed it. The ball clipped the leaves of one of the trees, but if anything that helped me. The ball scooted onto the middle of the green and stopped about 15 feet from the cup, on in 2. Gave it a good putt, and it broke just a bit more before the hole, leaving me a little tap in for birdie. Totally legit!

Next hole stunk, but I kept a pretty consistent game the rest of the back nine, including another birdie on a pretty tough par 4 that has a beast of a green.

I finished up the back nine with 42, and carded an 88 for the day. I was quite happy, all-in-all.

Walked the whole time as well since my wife had just gotten me a nice push cart for my clubs that day. Now I can walk 18 but not have to carry the whole thing on my back, which stinks.

Can't wait to get out again, because I'm really feeling it this summer.

Sin Bin On the Bleacher Report!

2011-06-13T23:50:00.002-06:00

Hey guys,

I know that I've been very sparse posting on the home blog site here. I have been doing a lot of work for Bleacher Report, and haven't had a lot of stories that translate to both places here.

I just posted several stories that I ran on B/R as well, but haven't had a lot of Avalanche/Bronco specific things to do.

I don't believe there will be an NFL season this coming year, but with the NHL draft and the start of a new NHL season, I will be back with much more consistent work.

Plus, I had been hoping that I would see more from A-Mac with the NBA and with MLB as well.

I'll have to get on her about that.

At any rate, if you've been following along, I really appreciate it, and I'll try and do better for you as we go along.

There have been a few projects I've been working on.

First, obviously, is the Bleacher Report. Here is a link to my profile page, please feel free to check out the many other things that I've been writing. I also try to post each of those B/R pieces to my Facebook page.

Apparently FB is redoing their group pages, so I may have to re-invite everybody to this at some point, not quite sure when.

Hope all your summers are off to an amazing start, and will continue that way. We'll see more of you soon!

KG

Chris Drury Being Bought out By NY Rangers? Could This Spark a Return to Colorado?

2011-06-13T23:47:00.002-06:00

According to a report released by NHL.com today, the New York Rangers are considering buying out the last year team captain Chris Drury's contract.

The 34-year-old Drury, who will be 35 before the start of next season, was limited in action this year due to injury.

He played in only 24 games, scored only one goal (which happened to be in the last game of the season to the Rangers clinch a playoff spot) and had four assists. A very disappointing season all-in-all.

If the Rangers were to buy Drury out of his contract, Drury would become an unrestricted free agent, capable of signing with whomever he pleases.

So, if Chris Drury does become available, would it make sense for the Colorado Avalanche to try and snap him up?

The first question to answer regarding a return to the Avalanche would have to be: What kind of contract he would get?

Drury, as I mentioned, is going to be turning 35 this offseason and is coming off of the least productive season of his career.

He is scheduled to make $5 million in the last year of his contract but will very likely not command the same sort of money that he did when he initially signed with the Rangers.

This is due to three things. First, he's coming off the least productive season of his career.

Second, he was injured most of this season.

Third, he's much older and his chances of scoring up to 30 goals are not very good.

That being said, the Avalanche really won't have to worry too much about what kind of contract he is going to want, as they will have close to $30 million in cap space to deal with when free agency begins.

Next question to consider is whether or not this is even a good idea.

Drury's 35, and he doesn't really fit the mold of the Avalanche mantra of "building from within." Plus, the Avalanche are already pretty heavy at the center position.

Sure, he's a former Avalanche player, but he's older and seems to be in the twilight of his career.

On the other hand, he would be accepted by Avalanche fans immediately as many of us were devastated when he was traded away.

He has captained two different NHL teams (Rangers and Sabres), so you know his leadership abilities are completely unquestioned. It might not even be outlandish to suggest that Drury could become the next captain of the Avalanche.

It would help to have another veteran player on the roster for the younger guys to look up to and learn from.

Plus, Drury's career has been a picture of consistency, and not just from a productivity standpoint.

This season was the only season in Drury's entire career that has seen him play fewer than 70 games, and his career low in games played before this was 71.

On a team that was absolutely devastated by injury last year, it's nice to know that there is that kind of consistency.

So in the end, even though he's much older, bringing Chris Drury back to the Avalanche seems to have more positives than negatives.

So let's jump into the future and say that the Avalanche do sign Chris Drury—what would be his role with the team?

Obviously, Drury would not come in and be that first line center that is going to rack up points all over the place.

I would most likely compare his role to be similar to that of Manny Malhotra, for the Vancouver Canucks.

Drury would be a third or fourth line center who sees time on the penalty kill and on defensive zone face-offs.

Drury has always been very proficient at taking face-offs, and it would be good to be able to switch between Drury and Stastny depending on the side of the ice.

This type of role might also give us a bit of an idea about the kind of contract he would get as well, since he definitely isn't the 39 goal scorer he was in Buffalo.

All things considered, Chris Drury could have a positive impact on the Avalanche if he were to be re-signed.

He's a great leader, is already loved by the Avalanche community, has won championships with the Avalanche before, could help improve the horrendous Avalanche penalty kill, and is an all around good guy.

It's possible that the Avalanche might give him a chance to come back to the place where he was not only rookie of the year, but a Stanley Cup Champion, but it might be a bit of a stretch.

Either way, I'll always be a fan of Chris Drury.

Avs and Leafs, Possible Trade Partners? Doubtful.

2011-06-13T23:45:00.000-06:00

We are very close to the month of June, which means a few things are just around the corner.

Free agency, the NHL entry draft and teams being able to wheel and deal again.

Over the past couple of weeks, there have been a couple of stories written that predict that the Avalanche would be ideally suited to trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Both articles outline, and correctly so, that the Maple Leafs could address two of their needs with a couple of the current Avalanche players.

Toronto definitely needs a first line center, and the fact that trade rumors circulated around Stastny around the trade deadline this year makes Stastny look like a possibility for the Leafs.

Toronto also needs to replace Tomas Kaberle on the blue line with another solid offensive-minded defenseman, and the fact that John-Michael Liles ends up in trade rumors every single year no matter how well he is playing also could make the Leaf's organization perk their ears up.

The big question that has been raised in both of these articles is who the Leafs would give up in order to get both of these guys.

As far as Stastny goes, I have two issues with the idea of Stastny being shipped off to the Leafs.

First, the trade rumors only really began to fly around Stastny because his dad, Peter Stastny made critical comments of the Avalanche after they traded young stars Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk to St. Louis in exchange for Erik Johnson and Jay McClement.

Why does the fact that his dad popped off at the mouth mean that Stastny should be traded?

Just because his dad happens to be a former member of that franchise, the old Quebec Nordiques, somehow means that Paul shares the same thoughts as his dad?

Personally, I don't follow that line of reasoning.

Anybody who watches the Avalanche knows that Stastny is a leader on this team, and really has been ever since he came into the league.

He could also very easily be the next captain of the Colorado Avalanche.

Second, you would have to think that Stastny has got to be their second choice for a first line center, considering that Brad Richards is the headliner of this year's free agent class.

That being said, the Leafs may have to do some trading to being with in order to make room for the inevitable large contract that Richards will demand.

Assuming that Toronto keeps all of their other potential free agents, they only have a bit over $3 million of cap space.

This could make signing Richards quite difficult.

That being said, the same sort of challenge comes with Stastny. Times aren't the same as before the lockout, and Stastny's $6.6 million cap hit is a huge consideration that needs to be taken into account when considering who will be going where.

With John-Michael Liles, it seems that trade buzz follows him around every year, yet he is still wearing an Avalanche sweater.

Liles' appeal is obvious as he came very close to hitting 50 points this past season, and might have if he hadn't been injured for the last week of the season.

He quarterbacks the power-play very well, is very fast, is still solid in his own zone despite the fact that he is much smaller than your average defenseman, and is only 30 years old.

He plays very well with solid, stay at home style defensemen with good shots from the point, so he might make a great partner for Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf.

Still, with his successful productivity and experience in the league, he is a very valuable commodity to the Avalanche who boasted the league's youngest team for the last two years running.

Looking at the players the Avalanche would have to give up, personally, I don't see a trade for both of these players ever coming to pass.

That being said, it doesn't mean that it couldn't happen. So, what might be a possible trade to bring all of this to fruition?

Let's look at each team's needs.

Avalanche Needs

Goaltending. If there was anything that the Avalanche absolutely and positively needs, it's a proven number one goalie that they can count on to play 60-70 games a season and not buckle under the work load.

Size. Just a general need that needs to be addressed in several locations.

Both offensively and defensively, the Avalanche are small.

The Avalanche are getting Kyle Quincey back for the start of next season, so he will bring some size back to the lineup, but that far from solves things.

Defense. The Avalanche defense was not only small, they were incredibly inconsistent and quite frequently looked as if they were unable to play without a sense of panic always in them.

Toronto Needs

According to these articles that I am referencing, the Leafs are most in need of a solid first line center, and a play making defenseman.

Here was the most interesting trade referenced out of the two articles.

Colorado trades Paul Stastny John-Michael Liles, 11th overall pick, 153rd overall pick to Toronto.

Toronto trades Nazem Kadri, Jonas Gustavsson, Mike Komisarek, Tyler Bozak, Carl Gunnarsson, Jiraj Mikus, 25th overall pick, 39th overall pick and 86th overall pick.

The draft picks seem to work out here, but let me tell you why this trade is a bad one for the Colorado Avalanche.

The Avalanche are giving up their top line center and number one assist man, Paul Stastny, and one of their most valuable offensive producers from the blue line and get neither of those style of players in return.

Kadri is a prospect that has promise, but only might end up being a first line style player. It isn't even clear if Kadri would end up on a second line behind Matt Duchene.

Gustavsson was drafted with a lot of hype, which he has not lived up to. He played in 23 games for the Leafs this year and ended up with only six wins, and a goals against average of 3.29.

The Avalanche already have two glorified back up goalies, we do not need another one.

Komisarek could add some size to the blue line which is good, and it is possible that Tyson Barrie or Stefan Elliot (Avalanche prospects who both dominated the WHL last year and signed entry level contracts with the Avs towards the end of the year) could make up for Liles' production.

Gunnarsson and Bozak combined for 50 points between the two of them last year, which Stastny surpassed by himself even though he had an low productivity season.

Then Mikus seems to be another defensive center prospect that might be a third line center, second at best.

The Avalanche already have three of those types of centers on their team right now.

Yes, that is a lot of players for the Leafs to give up, but nothing that gives the Avalanche the same type of value that they are sending away.

If the Avalanche are to trade Liles and Stastny to the Maple Leafs, then the Leafs should be prepared to see a name like Grabovski, Kessel, maybe even Phaneuf heading the other way.

Just because the Avalanche were god awful this last season does not mean that they will trade away some of their best players for a slew of third liners.

Personally, I don't see any type of trade like that happening, but it is possible.

If I were to tweak things around a little bit, here is what I might do.

Colorado Trades: Stastny, Liles, 11th overall pick to Toronto (there is an insane amount of trade value there that not a lot of people realize because the Avalanche had such a bad year)

Toronto Trades: Phaneuf, Grabovski, Komisarek 25th overall draft pick, (39th overall draft pick).

Even this trade I don't see as being particularly realistic for either team because of all the leadership that is going from both teams.

Not to mention that it doesn't really address all of the needs that the Avalanche have.

The Avalanche aren't too interested in acquiring depth at the moment, especially if it is in exchange for two of the pillars of their organization.

In conclusion, it is highly possible that the Avalanche and the Maple Leafs could end up doing some kind of a deal over the summer, but the ones listed in the two articles significantly undervalue what the Avalanche are giving up and would need back in order for them to happen.

It seems to me that the best course of action for the Avalanche is to try and augment the team a bit more through free agency and the draft rather than blow up the roster by getting rid of two big time leaders on the team.

Why The Avs Should Pass On Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the NHL Draft

2011-06-13T23:44:00.002-06:00

Only one team in the NHL has a higher draft pick than the Colorado Avalanche this year, who hold the No. 2 overall draft pick.

There is a lot of debate amongst the Avalanche faithful as to who the Avalanche should draft with the second overall pick.

A lot, of course, depends on who Edmonton takes with the first overall pick.

At the moment, the general consensus seems to be that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will go to the Oilers first overall.

Some on Bleacher Report see this as a very bad idea for the Oilers to do this.

Supposing that the Oilers follow this particular advice and pass up on Nugent-Hopkins, I firmly believe that the Avalanche should follow suit, and allow him to slide by.

First of all, allow me to say that I have absolutely nothing against RNH, it's clear that he's going to be a star in the NHL and has an incredibly bright future in front of him, it just shouldn't be with the Avalanche.

Why? There are two simple reasons.

First off, the Avalanche are already incredibly center heavy on their team.

By the end of the year, the Avalanche had five centers on the active roster. Paul Stastny, Matt Duchene, Jay McClement, Phillippe Dupuis and Ryan O'Reilly who will all make strong pushes to stay on the roster.

There are some who think that the Avalanche will trade Paul Stastny away this summer, but I just can't see that happening, as he is a marquee player on the Avalanche and has a huge contract that not too many teams would want to take on.

Add in the fact that the Avalanche signed top draft pick of a year ago, Joey Hishon, to an entry level contract towards the end of the season, and will expect that he will make a serious push to make the roster for next season.

The last thing that the Avalanche are in need of is another center.

Second, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would just add to another one of the greatest weaknesses on the Avalanche from this past season.

Nugent-Hopkins is about 6'0" tall, 165 pounds. This is how he compares to the Avalanche centers that I mentioned earlier.

Paul Stastny: 6 feet, 205 pounds.

Matt Duchene: 5 feet 11 inches, 200 pounds.

Jay McClement: 6 feet 1 inch, 201 pounds.

Phillippe Dupuis: 6 feet, 196 pounds.

Ryan O'Reilly: 6 feet, 200 pounds.

Joey Hishon: 5 feet 10 inches, 170 pounds.

The Avalanche have their fair share of smaller, finesse style players. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would just give them more of what they already have.

What the Avalanche need is a power forward who is big, strong, will get into the dirty areas and bang home the ugly goals.

Since the Avalanche traded Chris Stewart, they have been lacking in that area and Ryan Stoa definitely did not fill this role.

There is another player that has been on Avalanche fan's radar for quite a while because he fills the power forward role perfectly, and has been described as the most NHL ready player in this draft.

Gabriel Landeskog.

If the Avalanche are given a choice between the two, and there is a definite possibility that they could be, I believe that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is not the guy for the Colorado Avalanche.

Golf Journal: Kennedy Golf Course

2011-05-24T12:18:00.003-06:00

Kennedy Golf Course in Denver is quite a nice course. For those of you who haven't played it, they have three regulation sets of 9 holes that they mix and match throughout the week so that the various players that come to play regularly get as unique of an experience as possible every time they are there.

This time around, I played on the East Course (called Bett Lind I think) and the Cherry Creek Course.

All in all, things were quite good, again. I still love my Burner Irons and driver. The only real trouble that I had came with my 3 wood. It is a new burner 3 wood that I am still trying to get used to. It has a very light shaft which I am trying to find control of. I hit a couple decent shots with it, but also lost a lot to the right.

My irons are still making good contact, but I'm just slightly off with them as far as my aim goes. That is just something I have work on as much as I can over time, it'll come.

I shot 45 on both the front and the back 9, for an even 90 on a par 71. About average for me right now.

I felt like I probably could have shot in the 80s, but my chipping and pitching were far below average. That is a little weird for me, actually, as chipping and pitching is usually one of my strong points. I just kept catching things heavy coming through, which made the ball go nowhere near as far as I wanted.

I putted quite well, with only two 3-putts all day long, which is very nice.

I only lost one ball all day. Part of that is that Kennedy really doesn't play towards a lot of water hazards, and those that do are in the direction that I do not lose my shots, so I was pretty good to go on that.

The only one I did lose was on the last hole. One of the guys I was playing with convinced me to try and shoot over the small water hazard that ran really close to my driving distance. We both agreed that I should be able to get over it, and I hit a great drive but didn't see it come down and couldn't find it on the other side.

I hope to hit Kennedy again this summer and possibly do better, find my handle on that 3 wood, and bring my average down into the 80s.

So far, I've been out 3 times this year. I've shot an 82, a 93, and a 90. Not too bad, and I am feeling good about playing more golf this summer.

Return to Roller Hockey

2011-04-20T22:41:00.003-06:00

I had an interesting start to my week. First, I found out that my position was being cut for the next school year, so I won't have a job after May. Good times.

Then, later that evening, I went to play in my first roller hockey game in about 5 years. It was quite the experience.

Let me say this, I was expecting to be very tired by the end of the game because I am nowhere near as physically fit as I used to be. But almost nothing could have prepared me for how tired I would end up being.

My team only had 4 people show up to the game, and roller hockey leagues play 4 on 4. So all of us had to play the whole game, without any substitutes. If you've ever played any type of hockey, you know how exhausting just a few minutes can be, let alone the entire damn game.

I tried to take things easy, but after about 10 minutes had passed, I was completely and totally gassed and just kind of glided around until the clock had the good decency to run out of time. We lost in a shootout, so at least we gained a point.

On the plus side, I was happy to discover that I still am capable of skating pretty darn well, and that my positioning and hockey instincts are all pretty much intact. I just have to get back to the point where I can play for a while without feeling like I'm going to die.

What's even better, I actually seem to have a better wrist and slap shot than I did the last time I played, so I can call that a bonus!

Hopefully we'll have a couple more guys show up next week so that we can have some subs. If not, I may not be able to finish the game. I was barely able to stand at the end as it was. Ahh to be 16 and in great physical shape again. **sigh**

I'll keep you up to date on how things go! And if you live in or around Colorado Springs and want to join a roller hockey league, check out the Tour Arena website and sign up. Join the North Stars and give me a break from skating that much darnit!!

More Sin Bin on the Bleacher Report

2011-04-17T09:56:00.002-06:00

The Sin Bin has been quite busy on the Bleacher Report. Come check out some of the stories that have been published by The Sin Bin!

Why the NHL Should Drop the Shootout

2 Big Lessons the Avalanche Must Learn to Make Next Season Better

6 Teams That Would Have Been a Threat in the Playoffs

Ranking the Playoff Team's Power Plays

Ranking the Playoff Team's Penalty Kills

How Will the First Round of the Playoffs Play Out

Who Could Solve the Avalanche's Goalie Problems

15 Major Unrestricted NHL Free Agents

What the Top 10 NHL Draft Picks Should Look Like

Golf Journal: Cheyenne Shadows

2011-04-04T22:05:00.002-06:00

I'm pretty amazed that I have already managed to get out on the golf course twice in the spring. This one I have to thank my neighbor, Bobby, for inviting me to. He is stationed at Fort Carson and some of his buddies were getting together for a round, and they needed a fourth, he kindly asked me to come along.

First off, again, this course was much like Valley-Hi, in that it was suffering from a cold, but very dry winter. A lot of dead grass, and even just dirt in the fairways. Nonetheless, quite a course to behold. It's very picturesque, and also a very challenging course. Not one that you want to walk 18 holes on, as there are a lot of hills.

All in all, a good round. Not quite as solid as my previous 82, but I had some decent moments. I scored par on 2 of my first 3 holes. I drove the ball well, chipped okay, putted pretty decently with only a could of 3 putts. I had trouble with my irons today.

As I had mentioned before, I have a new set of burner irons that I love. I wasn't as consistent with them this time out, for the majority of the round, but found a decent hold of them before the end.

The shot of the day came on the fifth hole. It is a 153 yard par 3 that plays about 40 feet straight down hill. So it's more like a 120 yard hole. Plus, we had a strong wind at our backs. I pulled out my 9 iron and got under one pretty well. Wind took it, but it was drifting a wee bit to the right. It looked as if it was going to land straight in the bunker, but then the most amazing thing happened. The ball landed right outside the bunker, was about to jump to the right, then hit the rake dead on and ricocheted right back. It rolled to about 10 ft of the cup. All four of us could not believe what we had just seen. Sadly I don't have a video of the event to prove it, but I do have 3 good eye witnesses. One of them even called home to tell somebody what they just saw. Sadly, I missed my birdie putt. Had a good roll on it, just sorta rolled over the edge of the cup and off. Nailed a par though.

Again, not as awesome as my 82, but it was still a solid 93. A pretty challenging course that I'd never played before, I'll take it. I still have to enter these rounds into my "handicap tracker" to see what it does for me, but I think that I'll be much lower than I was last year, which is a good thing.

Hoping to get out again here in the next couple of weeks, especially once my play is done. Here's hoping for more good golf!

Sin Bin Gaining Some Recognition!

2011-03-27T19:24:00.003-06:00

For those of you who don't know, I've also been doing some writing for the Bleacher Report. Things have been going very well! Recently, one of my articles got posted on the home page of NHL.com, so here are a few examples of the things we've been writing about over on the Bleacher Report!

Also, The Sin Bin is part of a grassroots fan movement for the Colorado Avalanche! Check us out on twitter @BurgundyBrigade, and check out our page on facebook!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/640774-nhl-power-rankings-the-20-most-clutch-players-among-playoff-hopeful-teams This Article was featured on NHL.com

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/642924-colorado-avalanche-celebrate-milan-hejduks-900th-game-with-a-win

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/641893-martin-st-louis-and-the-best-waterbug-on-each-nhl-team

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/644436-colorado-avalanche-assuming-adam-foote-retires-who-will-be-the-next-captain

Hope you enjoy!!

Golf Journal: Valley-Hi

2011-03-23T22:12:00.002-06:00

Now that we are back into Spring, almost, I'm looking to get my golf journal going again! I went out today, for the first time this year, thanks to the fact that I'm currently on spring break.

I was very uncertain about how things would go, first time playing since about August, but was also kind of excited. I was getting to try out my brand new set of golf clubs that my wife allowed me to buy myself for Christmas. I got a set of Taylor Made Burner irons, and added a 3 wood burner to my collection, so I'm completely burnered up!

At first, I wasn't too happy with things because of the driving range. This particular course has mats set out to hit off of right now, and I HATE hitting on mats. They don't give you really accurate feedback on how you're hitting the ball, unless you absolutely catch it clean. My swing still felt a bit rusty, but after the about 30 minutes of hitting off of the mat, I felt okay about things. Still unsure, because it was a mat, but good enough to give a round a go.

I had been kicked out of the apartment by my wife while she cleaned so I had all the time I wanted to burn, essentially. So I went and signed up for 18 holes and got out. I was joined by a couple other gentleman, and I'm glad I was. They were very fun, laid back, and I really enjoyed the front 9 we all played.

Front 9 started off a bit rough, topped my first tee shot, which happens when it's your first time out for the season, but managed to have an okay next couple of shots. Ended the first hole, a par 5, with a 7. Meh, but I'll take it for now.

As the front 9 kept going, I got into a pretty good rhythm, and I was LOVING the way my new irons were striking the ball. I hit about 3 regulation greens in a row, which NEVER happens, and ended up with a couple good pars on the front 9. Ended with a 44 going out.

Then started the back 9. Something crazy happened to me on the back 9, I was playing really well. First 2 holes were both four pars and I scored a 5 on both of them. On the 12th hole, the shortest hole on the course, I absolutely destroyed my drive and put it to about 65 yards from the green. I've seen this book before, great tee shot, now I have a really short approach which I will no doubt duff off to the right and start swearing for a bit. Nope, caught it clean, with my new approach wedge (Taylor Made, did I mention that?) and landed it about five feet from the cup. Naturally, now I would do my usual 3 putt from 5 feet, right? No. Center of the cup, and a birdie. I'm usually good for a couple birdies every few rounds or so, but on my first time out? Pumped my fist, pulled the ball out, and quickly wrote down my 3 on my score card.

Moving forward, I expected to fold like a cheap suit, because that's what I do. NOPE. Holes 13 - 17 I parred all the way. Making a few pretty solid up and downs along the way. 17 was a short of short par 5 with a water hazard right in front of the green. I was feeling very peckish after a really good drive, and pulled out my 5 wood. I wasn't terribly concerned with hitting the green, just wanted to try and muscle it over the water, which I did! The stars were aligning, or something, because everything was going right.

18 had just an evil green. I was on in 2, and had a downhill putt from about 15 feet. I gave it a pretty gentle stroke and it went by the hole about 25 feet. 2 putted back for a 5 to close out my round. A back 9 38. That's right, 38 on 9 holes of golf. That is something that I have NEVER done. Gave me a grand total of 82 for the round. I was stunned! 82 is my all-time low round. Allow me to say it again, I LOVE my new golf clubs.

There were a couple negatives on the day. First, the driving range mats. Second, I couldn't find my sunhat before I went, so my neck is now totally red (curse you Irish skin!). Third, I lost a few balls along the way, only one into a hazard, but the others because this course was so poorly maintained that the majority of the course was dead grass. As many of you are aware, sometimes when you hit the ball into large areas of dead grass, and don't see EXACTLY where it landed, it is like searching for a needle in a hay stack trying to find your ball. I don't count myself for penalties on that, just drop another one by where I figure it went out, and go from there. Last, first time out, and I walked 18 the whole way. My legs are still yelling for this. Oh, well, I'm joining a roller hockey league that starts in like two weeks, they'll just have to get used to the abuse.

If any of you are avid golfers, and you're in the market for a new set of clubs, get yourself some burners. Those things are amazing. I've never hit so many clean shots before. I'm totally sold on the Taylor Made brand. If they let me do commercials, I would. I have never driven a ball farther or straighter, I've never hit so many greens in regulation. I've never played golf this well, until I got some Taylor Made Burners. Everything I get, from now on, will be Taylor Made, and I will continue to sing their praises.

Thanks for reading. Tell me some of your low golf scores so we can all compare!

MLS Season Begins - Rapids Show Colorado Sports How to do it!

2011-03-19T22:47:00.003-06:00

I had a brand new experience, tonight. Those of you who know me know that I am pretty much a follower of two sports, hockey and football, usually in that order. Recently, however, I have discovered the world's game. Soccer.

It all started when one of my friends in Colorado Springs told me that their Rapids support group, most specifically the Bulldog Support Group, check out their facebook page on that link, was going to go an Avalanche game.

Those of you who follow me on twitter, @TheSinBin, remember how much fun that was. The group was loud, on their feet the whole game, making noise, even when the Avs were down 5-1 and the rest of the building was busy knitting or something. After that event, I decided I had to check them out in their element.

Tonight I went to my first ever Colorado Rapids game as a member of the BSG, and let me tell you something. The rest of Colorado sports fans can learn a thing or two about how to support your team from the Rapids fans. Opening night, PACKED HOUSE. It was also banner night, as the Rapids celebrated their 2010 MLS Cup Victory at the start of the game. Then the game began, and what action it was!

Soccer, coming from a guy who has never really cared for the sport, is exciting as all hell to watch in person. Especially when you are in a group that is standing the whole game, chanting and singing to support the team or dog the visitors, telling the referees what they can do with their whistle, and jumping up and down during every chant and after every goal. There is a lot that goes on! Even the visiting team brought their own supporters who had their own chants. It was an amazing atmosphere.

One thing that people have been complaining about a lot in Colorado Sports this past year is the lack of fan support. Broncos complaining about having more Steelers fans than Broncos fans in the stands, Avalanche fans not filling the Pepsi Center (or playing video games on a tablet throughout the whole game. That's right kid in front of the BSG in 374, we saw you), Rockies never really filling the house, etc... Rapids fans were out in full scale tonight. Dick's Sporting Goods Stadium was filled. Rapids flags waved all game long. Support groups drove the Portland supporters into silence for most of the game. And the Rapids came out with a 3-1 victory.

Seriously, Denver sports fans need to remember what it is like to be rowdy and noisy and to make the team want to put hide under their benches because we're so loud. If you want a reminder of what that feels like, as I was given tonight, you need to go and check out the Colorado Rapids. It is MORE than worth the price of admission. Once Denver fans get the spirit back like the Rapids fans have, people will remember what a great sports town Denver really is.

GO RAPIDS!

NFL Owners and Players Can't Reach A Deal - Legal Battle to Ensue

2011-03-13T16:52:00.003-06:00

Time has come, time has gone. Extension was given, extension has gone. Mediation requested, yet nothing seems to have been accomplished, and Friday the owners made it official by moving forward with locking out the players until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement can be reached.

Now, in case you're not familiar with what it is, or if you live in Wisconsin where there seem to be a lot of people who have forgotten what collective bargaining is, collective bargaining is when the group of workers in a specific field are allowed to have a say in the environment of their workplace. They are also allowed to negotiate things like health benefits, pay rates, etc... This is the whole purpose for having a union.

As with pretty much everything else in professional sports, the main issue revolving around the current work stoppage is money. The owners, claiming that they are losing money, are asking for a larger chunk of the $9 billion worth of revenue generated by the NFL. The players assert that the owners refuse to prove this, though there are many teams who have come forward ready to open their books for all to see. Many teams, however, have not offered to help prove the owner's point.

The players, however, while attempting to play the role of the victim, are doing something that isn't exactly on the up and up either. Knowing that a lockout was possible, the union threatened to decertify so that they can sue the league with an anti-trust lawsuit; claiming the owners are discriminating against a specific group of people. It's a crafty move that, frankly, made it so that they didn't have to make too much of an effort either. If you ask me, if you want to have the rights to collectively bargain, then you need to also accept the possibility of a lock out, not try to pull a little stunt like this so that you can get your way.

Bottom line here, the NFL as a whole is going to suffer from this. $9 billion of revenue, and they can't agree on a way to divide it. I have an idea. Why doesn't the NFL take that $9 billion that they are so indecisive about, and give it to public education. The state of Colorado alone is proposing to cut $300 million from the education budget, I bet that they could find a way to use it. So could the teachers in Wisconsin who now have lost their rights to collectively bargain.

All people involved in this lockout come off looking like greedy millionaires and billionaires crying about needing more money. Not good, especially in the current economy. Once again, until both of these parties can bring their big boy pants to work, both the league and the players will lose money and the fans.

Avalanche Have Hit an All-time Low

2011-03-11T23:16:00.004-07:00

Sorry it has been a while since I've written anything on this site, folks, I've been doing a lot of writing on the Bleacher Report, and have neglected you. Thank goodness A-Mac has been here to help pick up some of my slack.

That being said, if you want a much more hopeful view of what I'm about to write, take a look at the story on Bleacher Report.

Well, the Avalanche have done it again. Now losers of seven straight games, and 17 out of their last 18 games, the Colorado Avalanche are setting a new standard for amateurism in their games. Never before have I seen members of this once proud franchise quit so often, and so fast game in and game out.

I have said to several people that this team may be the worst team in the history of the franchise, and that is worse than the one that earned us the number three overall draft pick three years ago.

This may become a bit of a rant, and I apologize for that, so I'll cut to the chase. Joe Sacco needs to be fired. This guy seems to have one way of coaching. He does not adjust, and he does not attempt to fix anything, he just keeps plugging away with the same things and the team does not improve.

Case and point, he constantly talks about needing to skate in order to play their game. You just watch teams clog up the neutral zone against the Avs and they can't do anything. They are lost, their passing is bad, they make bad plays and boom, the puck is going the other way.

Or, the way he handles his personnel. If Sacco isn't happy with how you're playing, he benches you for a period, or makes you a healthy scratch for the game as his way of "sending a message". It worked for a while last season, and even a bit at the start of this season. Now players seem to be playing scared out of fear of being a healthy scratch! That's not coaching! Part of coaching is showing faith in your players, and Sacco does not do that.

About the only person he has done that with is Matt Hunwick, who is possibly the worst trade the Avalanche have ever made. Hunwick is constantly out for goals against, avoids physical contact at all costs, makes horrible decisions in his own zone, and is frequently found just watching the play yet he is out almost every single short handed situation. It just baffles me.

Sacco did a great job in his first year, but it seems his message has been tuned out by his players. Plus, he comes out for every press conference saying the exact same things about making mental errors and not starting the game on time. All of those things, when they are problems for more than two months of a season, are the fault of a coaching staff. One or two games, those are your players and you make adjustments. No adjustments made, same mistakes night in and night out, coaches. Joe Sacco is a good AHL coach, and he has done all he can do right now. It is time to fire Joe Sacco.

A-Mac Presents The National League Preview

2011-02-28T15:36:00.003-07:00

In a day full of hockey drama, I will write about baseball.. The first real games of spring training have been played and its time to preview the Senior Circuit, The National League.

NL East-
1. Philadelphia Phillies- All they did was shock the world and sign Cliff Lee after trading him away for a season. They now have the best rotation in baseball. They will need to score some runs but we will see how a full season of Cliff and Roy Oswalt do in Philly(Good I am sure).
2. Atlanta Braves- The toughest thing they had this offseason was replacing Bobby Cox. They picked a good character guy to do that in Freddi Gonzalez. If Chipper Jones can have one more good year, the Braves will be the Wild Card team.
3. Florida Marlins- Sneeky good but still not great. Young team like always though Hanley is still the MVP of this team.
4. Washington Nationals- They paid a guy a 100 million dollars because he can grow a good beard. In all seriousness, Jayson was not Werth it. They have upside but without either of their last two Number 1 picks playing in the majors this season, they will once again not be in the playoffs.
5. New York Mets- Money issues, manager issues, every type of issues. They need to prove to everyone they can be good. I mean Wright might as well get traded as his talents are being abused being on that team.

NL Central- This division is tough to predict especially given key injuries to some teams.
1. Milwaukee Brewers- I called it first-Me and a lot of people! Adding Greinke and Marcum, they are built for the short term. If they fade by the trade deadline, they will trade Fielder but I forsee them doing well and winning this division, especially after the debacle in St. Louis.
2. St. Louis Cardinals- They should win this division but losing Adam Wainwright will hurt them. Pujols is pissed and is about to take his talents to the Bronx next year unless they can keep him happy. They will have to rely on Cris Carpenters twice rebuilt arm if they are to be any good.
3. Chicago Cubs- Added some key free agents but are still a few arms away from being awesome. This team is trending upward.
4. Cincinnati Reds- Trending downwards. They are young but the arms are iffy. Dusty worked some magic last season but won't have that this season even with Cuban Fireballer Aroldis Chapman.
5. Houston Astros- Finally in rebuilding mode, but still old in a lot of places. This is a team without an Identity with Berkman and Oswalt gone.
6. Pittsburgh Pirates- This team supports my theory for relegation! Can you even name another Pirate other than Doumitt or McCutcheon. I feel for Pirate fans but not for Pittsburgh fans in general since their other teams are kicking ass.
NL West-
1. San Francisco Giants- Hard to pick against the Defending World Series Champions. They have a great rotation and Kung Fu Panda has come into camp with lots of weight off so hopefully he can regain his form.
2. Colorado Rockies- Kept their core intact. A Full year of Tulo again. This team can be good but need to have a full rotation.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers- Ownership issues muddle the water for this team. They could be good but we will see how first time manager Don Mattignly can handle them.
4. San Diego Padres- Traded their best player but got some great prospects in return. This is a team in rebuilding but they are trying to do it right. Stick with them Padres fans and 3 years from now you will be rewarded. They should trade Health Bell this season and get a few good returns.
5. Arizona Diamondbacks- This is a team who could be good, but lack real cohesion as a unit. Upton will be gone at the trade deadline.

Broncos To Go With Orton...For Now

2011-02-24T23:37:00.000-07:00

After day one of the NFL Scouting Combine, Denver Broncos head coach John Fox was asked about the quarterback situation that is currently brewing in the Mile High City. Fox said, "Right now Kyle is our starter." Echoing statements made by Chief Football Executive John Elway during Super Bowl week.

This has to be something that Kyle Orton likes to hear, as it is no real secret that he didn't want to come back as Tim Tebow's backup. So it has to be nice to know that he will come back into training camp on the top of the depth chart.

However, Fox also said this. "I don’t think we’ll really figure it out until we start competing. It’s a group of three that are very capable...We have a young guy, high draft pick, in Tim Tebow who got his feet wet last year toward the end of the season. And then shoot, Brady Quinn I’m looking forward to seeing.”

Wait a minute, didn't you just say that Orton was the starter? Well yeah, he did. But that is of course saying that if the season started right now, Orton would be the guy. Also, you have to think that with the unknown labor situation, having a seasoned veteran available should the players be out of practices for several weeks as a result of a lockout would be more beneficial than a second year player with only three games of experience.

Slow down, Tebow nation, I can hear you coming a mile away! Really, you should all like what Fox has said here too. Yes, Orton has been declared the starter, for now. But Fox is clearly far from dead set on this. As he said, we all won't know who the clear number one guy is until they start competing for it. One thing that Tim Tebow has never minded doing is competing, that is for certain.

This is something that should make all Bronco fans excited. Provided that there is no labor stoppage to delay off-season OTAs and mini-camps, this quarterback competition should make both quarterbacks better. Tebow is going to be better than he was, no doubts. So that means that Orton will have to work just as hard to stay ahead of Tebow. If he's able to do that, and show that he's still clearly the number one guy, then that has to be a good thing. If Tebow does overtake Orton as the team's number one, then the Broncos will be able to move forward with a guy who proved that he was ready for the position. For Bronco fans, this is a win-win.

This will also help the coaches figure out who has the better attitude and who is the better leader as a result. A true leader will see this as a challenge and rise to the occasion. If one of them sulks about it, it will undoubtedly affect his play. Tim Tebow has never been one to back down from any type of challenge to his ability, so it's pretty safe to say that the sulking won't come from him. Orton may not want to have to go through any type of a quarterback competition, but if he wants to remain the starter in Denver, then that's just too bad.

If Orton does go the sulky route and complain instead of letting his play do the talking, then I'll be the first one saying that we should start Tim Tebow. As of this moment, however, Elway and coach Fox have it right. Let's let these two guys battle it out, and see who gives the team the better chance to win come week one of the regular season.

A-Mac Presents The American League Preview

2011-02-19T16:12:00.004-07:00

It is no secret that I am a baseball fan. I had the luxury of living in a town that had a great minor league baseball team growing up. When I was a child, the Rookie League team was affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers. This allowed me to be able to see a future Hall of Famer pitcher in Pedro Martinez not to mention a few solid MLB players like Erik Karros and Jose Offerman. It stoked my interest in baseball. I grew up a Red Sox and Braves fan. The Red Sox because its family required and the Braves because I adored Dale Murphy. At the time I followed the Braves more because the Red Sox were mired in the last days of the Rocket as a Red Sock. My interest in baseball waned for a few years til I got involved in fantasy sports. Fantasy Baseball is crack to me. The stats in baseball are much more geeky than football and that appeals to me. Football you just need to outscore your opponent with yardage and tds. Baseball you need to have pitchers with great WHIPs, K's, and OAVs and hitters with great OPS, Zone Defensive Ratings, and WARs. Though most still play in the traditional 5x5 leagues, Sabremetrics measure better stats. Wins are pretty much useless as a stat to tell who is a good pitcher. I mean Gil Meche once won 15 games in a season. Quality Starts on the other hand help you figure out who really is a good pitcher. So what does this have to do with my column? Absolutely nothing other than to say, I think I know baseball well enough to make my predictions!

Al East- Some claim this is the hardest division to play in but I think the AL Central is because they eat each other for breakfast. I will say this. Two of the best franchises ever do play in this division and the AL Pennant winner has come from this division most on the last 10 years.
1. Boston Red Sox- added Adrian Gonzalez going from a pitcher's heaven to a hitter's heaven. AGone will be a monster in Fenway. Added Carl Crawford and upgraded their overall defense which was a stated goal last season. The Rotation is solid and Beckett and Lackey are poised for bouncebacks. If Dice-K is the 5th starter, something good is going on.

2. New York Yankees(Yankpires)- They added a great 8th inning guy in Rafael Soriano and kept their Captain. They are due to fall maybe but I still think Captain Crunch(Found out he used to eat full boxes of the cereal every morning) Sabbathia is the 2nd best pitcher in baseball.

3. Tampa Bay Don't Call us Devil Rays- Added two Idiots in the twilights of their career but Manny is cheap for them and all he has to do is hit. Johnny Damon is still a serviceable hitter and should do well in the Trop. They might have lost their bullpen but they have David Price and some solid pitchers up and coming. They win 75 games for sure.

4. Toronto Blue Jays- They might leap frog both the 3rd and 2nd teams on this list and sneak into 2nd if their players turn out well. Who would have thought they could have traded their best pitcher and be headed in the right direction? They win 70 games or better. Jose Bautista Must prove he is real though for that to happen. They are poised to compete in the next few years like the Rays in 2008.

5. Baltimore Orioles- Will actually be close to .500 this year! They signed some good hitters in Vlad Daddy and Derek Lee and have some good young players. The Greek and Adam Not PacMan Jones need to pick it up after last season.

Al Central- They eat each other every year which is why the AL Beast gets the Wild Card.
1. Minnesota Twins- All they did was resign a great lockeroom guy and almost 600 HRs in Jim Thome. They signed a Japanese Import with tremendous upside. They kept Carl Pavano and his weird mustache. If Justin Morneau returns to health, they win 90 games.

2. Chicago White Sox- Added Adam Dunn, kept Mr. White Sock Konerko but lost their closer to the other Sox. Ozzie Guillen knows how to compete though we will see if he keeps his job if him and Kenny Williams keep butting heads.

3. Detroit Tigers- They could switch places with the White Sox if Miguel Cabrera gets his head on straight. But they traded Mr. Almost Perfect for no real reason. They should have kept Gallaraga. They signed Victor Martinez to DH and play 1b when Cabrera needs to rest. We will see if that works out for them.

4. Kansas City Royals- They aren't as crappy as years past even after trading Zack Greinke. They will still suck but Billy Butler will at least make some fantasy owner happy and Joakim Soria will continue to put up ungodly stats when you know he gets in the game.

5. Cleveland Indians- Poor Cleveland, I can't even say much more than that. This is like Major League but you know with no real chance of actually winning something.

Al West
1. Oakland A's- They had one of the best offeasons albeit quiet. Their division rivals all got worse by losing key players or losing out on key free agents. They have a young team and their catcher is sneaky good.

2. California Angels- I refuse to call them by anything other than that because that's what they are to me. I attended an Angels game when Wally Joyner was playing for them. They have a better pitching staff than the Rangers. Still they will suck after not upgrading at any offensive position.

3. Texas Rangers- They Fucked Up. Not only could they not sign their best Free Agent, they upset their Franchise face and signed a guy who is only good in contract years. They have some good young guys but Feliz, Wilson, and Andrus need to prove it to me that they can continue their uptick from last season. They still upgraded their catcher position which was a glaring problem last season, but is Napoli(who might not catch at all), and Torreable really that great of an upgrade. I will say if Brandon Webb is healthy, they might be better. I just forsee a freefall for Colby Lewis especially.

4. Seattle Mariners- They. Still. Cannot. Hit. King Felix will be gone by July and they will be the worst team not named the Cleveland Indians. Another sad summer in Seattle. Ichiro might also demand a trade if they cannot compete.

NFL and NFLPA Headed to Counsoling

2011-02-17T22:44:00.005-07:00

According to an article from yahoo sports, the NFL and the NFLPA have apparently agreed to resume talks about a new collective bargaining agreement. To make matters even more hopeful, both sides have agreed to mediation. What is this we're seeing? Signs of maturity from both sides? Realizing that making sure they get a deal done and don't alienate the fans is more important than that extra billion dollars that they're fighting over.

Nah, they probably just realize that there won't be that extra billion to bicker about if there isn't a season next year. Nonetheless, this is really the first glimmer of hope that we have seen regarding the progress of the new collective bargaining agreement since the owners opted out of the current one.

Will mediation do any good though? I think so. Mediators are great at laying out the wants of both sides and finding places to give and take. The biggest challenge of this is going to be the people on the two sides. Just like the clip I posted, yeah I know, not very journalistic of me, but funny nonetheless, these are two sides that are willing to fight it out tooth and nail to get what they want. I mean, during the last rounds of talks, things did, allegedly, get a little bit touchy.

It will be good for both of these sides to have somebody saying out loud, "if you want to get something done, then you're going to have to compromise." Something the fans, and some of the players, have been saying for a long time. I'm sure there will be many more updates regarding this over the coming weeks. Let's hope that there is something productive to talk about. As for now, looks like both sides have finally found those "big boy pants" and pulled them out of the dresser. We'll see if they are now willing to walk around in them

Peter Forsberg Officially Retires

2011-02-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

In another blow to the Colorado Avalanche, Peter Forsberg announced his retirement from the NHL today. He played only two games with the Colorado Avalanche in his latest attempt at a comeback.

Forsberg played well in the two games he played with the Avalanche. In Nashville, he had 17:32 of ice time and had two shots on goal. He also took two penalties and was minus-two.

In Columbus he had 17:38 of ice time with one shot on goal. He was minus-two in this game as well.

Before signing on with the Avalanche last week, Forsberg was very clear that he didn't know how things would turn out. He said that he didn't know how good he was going to be, but that he wanted to give it a shot. After two games, Forsberg seems to have decided that he is not up to a level of play that would help his team.

Regardless of the fact that Forsberg failed to return to the level of play he wanted, it is important to note the impact that he had on the game.

For a long time, Forsberg was considered the best player in the NHL, and arguably the world. His unbelievable combination of size, finesse and physical play was something that had only really been seen from the likes of Mario Lemieux. Forsberg was often more dangerous as a hitter when he had the puck.

His vision of the game was, and is, unparalleled. Watching Peter Forsberg play, there were always moments in games where you would watch him make a play and just shake your head really fast in that "did that really just happen" manner.

One could easily argue that Forsberg might be the best passer that has ever played in the NHL. I doubt that people like Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk, Claude Lemieux or anybody else who was lucky enough to play on a line with Forsberg would say otherwise.

His career stats show how consistent he always was, even when he was fighting off nagging injuries. In 708 games, he has 885 points—249 goals and 636 assists. That boils down to 1.25 points per game.

Another thing that can't be overlooked is that he is plus-238 for his career. Forsberg never really got credit for his defensive abilities, but that plus-minus ratio helps show his versatility. I find it very interesting that he never won a Selke Trophy.

His postseason numbers were just as impressive. In 151 postseason games, Forsberg had 171 points—64 goals and 107 assists. He just couldn't be stopped.

His awards were many. Two gold medals, two Stanley Cups, the Art Ross Trophy (league's top scorer), the Hart Memorial Trophy (league MVP), the Calder Memorial Trophy (rookie of the year) and the Bud Light Plus-Minus award in 2003. In addition to these honors, Forsberg was a seven-time All-Star and a three-time First Team All-Star.

My hope is that the NHL will not hold his injuries against him when looking to induct him into the Hall of Fame. His value and ability as a player are unquestioned. The only question that should be asked about his numbers is, "Can you imagine how scary these numbers would be if he had never been injured?" Yet the injuries that cut short his brilliant career may keep him out. To me, that would be tragic.

Nonetheless, Peter Forsberg is a remarkable man and a fantastic player. His career was tragically short but immensely wonderful in what he managed to accomplish. His love for the game is unquestioned, and he is adored and respected by hockey fans around the world. He knows where he stands now and is saying a final farewell.

So from me and hockey fans everywhere, thanks for the amazing memories, Foppa. You will never be forgotten.

Avs Can't Decide on a Goalie

2011-02-10T22:56:00.000-07:00

The Colorado Avalanche lost their fifth straight game, last night, to the Minnesota Wild. The Avs are now 3-7-0 in their last ten games, and have fallen all the way to 14th spot in the western conference. Still 16 points above lowly Edmonton.

Over this past month, pretty much anything that can go wrong for this Avalanche squad has gone wrong. In fact, about the only thing that seems to be moving in the right direction is Peter Forsberg, who may make his return to the ice tomorrow in Columbus.

What seems to be frustrating the Avalanche, especially coach Joe Sacco, the most is the terribly sub-par play coming from Avalanche goaltenders Craig Anderson and Peter Budaj.

Over the past month, going back to January 6th, the two Avalanche goalies have had only two games where they have allowed fewer than three goals. To go even farther back, over the last 30 games, all the way back to December 1st, the Avs have allowed fewer than three goals only seven times. This will not get the job done.

Now, I am far from blaming these two guys entirely for the current down-slide. Watching these games has been horribly painful. The Avalanche are too young, too small, too inconsistent, and too prone to turn overs on defense, and that does not help the goalies at all. In fact, they probably take far too much blame for all that is happening. Still, there is great cause for concern.

The larger issue that seems to have sprouted from the inconsistent play in net is that Joe Sacco now seems to have no faith in either of his two goalies. In the 3-2 loss to Minnesota, Craig Anderson was pulled from the game in the second period. There have been a couple of occasions this season, where Sacco has played Peter Budaj in consecutive games, but pulled him in the second game because he was just too inconsistent. This constant flip flopping of goalies makes it seem, to me at any rate, that Sacco has almost completely lost faith in both his goalies.

A stark contrast from last year, when Joe Sacco was too attached to Craig Anderson, starting him in 71 games and pretty much all of the back to back situations that happened. Has Anderson really been that bad that now he doesn't deserve to start 3 games in a row?

Again, I'm not here saying the goalies have been great. Obviously they're far from it. Andy's full numbers are 13-15-3 with a .899 save %, 3.19 GAA, and zero shutouts.

Budaj's are definitely no better at 12-8-3, .897 Save %, 3.07 goals against, and one shut out. Really, neither goalie has shown that much to be confident in, yet the coach needs to show confidence in somebody. This constant flip flopping of goalies gives the whole team no confidence in these guys. That has to have some type of an effect on them mentally.

Some sort of consistency needs to be established in net. Whether it is by one of these goalies stepping up their game, a lot, and solidifying that position, or coach Sacco just sticking with one of those guys for the sake of consistency. If neither of these happens, then it would almost be better to try to get involved on the trade market and bring somebody in that Sacco feels like he can have some type of consistency with, because the only consistent thing that is going on right now is the losing.

Super Bowl Possibly Last Football For a Year

2011-02-09T20:27:00.002-07:00

The fantastic game played by the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers overshadowed an issue that most fans have been preparing themselves for ever since the half way point of last season. That issue, of course, is the looming potential of a lock out of next season's play.

At the start of the season we say all of the players displaying some union solidarity to show that they stand as one in their conflict with NFL owners. The players union says that it plans to decertify in order to prevent a lockout.

What does that mean, decertify? Well, I found a great article that explained this very well. Back in 1987, there was a strike in the NFL. In order to make sure that there was still a season, the owners decided to play out the season with replacement players, you may have seen a movie about this at some point. After the players came back, they attempted to sue the NFL under anti-trust laws, which it won, but later had overturned. They were told they needed to choose to be a union or not. If they decertified the union, the NFLPA would no longer be a union, but a "trade organization." As a trade organization, they could conceivably sue the NFL for locking them out under antitrust laws that it was being subjected to a group boycott, which is illegal.

It's an interesting ace in the sleeve that they have, but at the same time, it seems to be unfair. If the players want to have a say in their CBA, as a union should, then they need to be a union. You can't just take the things that you like about being a union and then drop it the second you don't like it.

The potential work stoppage has also created issues amongst the players. Several are taking the hard line union stance, while some, like Jets corner back Antonio Cromartie, are calling for the union and the owners to make certain that they get a deal done; saying that the union was not doing its job, claiming leadership was "acting like an a-hole." That prompted a response from Seahawk quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, asking if "Cromartie knows what CBA stands for." Hasselbeck later deleted this tweet, but not without notice from Cromartie, who threatened that he would smash Hasselbeck's face in. Hardly projecting a picture of union unity.

In the end, this comes down to something that us fans cannot stand; millionaires arguing with billionaires about money. They owners say they aren't making enough money, and the players say that they can't verify that and don't believe them. Both groups lobby fans for support, but neither actually listens to what the fans want. The fans are the reason that these millionaires are as rich as they are and, once again, we are being thrown under the bus. The message from the fans is very clear, but since neither side seems to be able to understand it, let me simplify it for you.

**clears throat**
Attention owners. Attention players. Quit whining. Both of you make far more money than you rightfully should. Regardless of who "wins", you have both forgotten that neither of you can do without the fans. Without us, there is no attendance and no revenue to argue about. So, once again, SHUT UP! We don't care how you do it, but you all need to wear your big boy pants to work now, make some concessions, and get a deal done. The only alliance that the fans have is to the game itself. So knock it off.

Peter Forsberg Signs on with the Colorado Avalanche!

2011-02-06T14:29:00.001-07:00

Here we go again!! Yes, Peter Forsberg has announced that he will come back for another attempt at the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche.

This is the most recent attempt for Peter Forsberg to return to the Avalanche since his run in 2007-2008, when he rejoined the team towards the end of the season after an injury plagued year. He played nine games for the Avs that season and had a goal and 13 assists.

Throughout Forsberg's career, he has been a player that has had more than a point per game average. His career numbers are incredibly impressive. Forsberg has 249 goals and 636 assists in 706 regular-season games. A grand total of 885 points. His playoff numbers are equally impressive, with 64 goals and 107 assists in 151 career playoff games.

These numbers are so impressive that it really make one wonder what his totals would have been had he maintained his health.

There's no arguing with his numbers in his past career, the big question is going to revolve around whether or not he will be able to make a big enough difference for this Avalanche team in the rest of the season. The Avs are currently fourth place in the Northwest Division, and sit in 12th spot in the Western Conference. The catch being that they are only four points out of the eighth playoff spot, and seven points out of the fourth seed in the west.

Knowing Forsberg, he wasn't going to come back if he didn't feel as if he could play at the high level he is accustomed to playing. Still, will this be enough to push the Avs over the hump and into the playoffs? Quite possible.

If I am Joe Sacco, I immediately put Forsberg on a line opposite Milan Hejduk. These two played together for several seasons, most notably during Forsberg's Hart and Art Ross trophy winning seasons, as league's MVP and leading scorer. These guys have chemistry, and they will not take a long time to find it again. Throw Matt Duchene in the middle of that line, and you have something that could be very potentially scary.

From seeing Forsberg, if he is on his game, he can make everybody around him a better player and a potential scoring threat.

All in all, the addition of Peter Forsberg definitely can't hurt the Avs. We'll have to see how he feels while he's in the game time situations before we can fully decide whether Forsberg will be able to help push the Avs into the playoffs.

Avs Remind Fans How Far Rebuilding Effort Has to Go

2011-02-05T22:45:00.001-07:00

Last year, the Avalanche were one of the feel good stories of the NHL year. Having finished dead last in the Western Conference, people were excited to see the once proud franchise making a playoff run. So, when this season started, it seemed natural that expectations should be a bit higher for this team. After all, from one season to another, especially with a team this young, generally you expect improvement from year to year.

Start of this season comes around and things were a bit slower than last year. But you can't expect the kind of fast start that the Avs had last season every year. 20 games go by, 30 games go by, the Avs are right there in the conversation and are hanging with the Canucks. We start thinking, ha! Vancouver who!? We're going to hit our stride and then go flying by those guys.

Only something different happens. More and more games go by, and instead of that energetic, never-say-die team that we had become so used to seeing, we start seeing a team that can't start a game to save their lives, play horrible defense, and can't climb back into games the way they used to. We start to think, well, everybody is thinking "hey, they're bound to hit a slump at some point. They'll rebound."

Well, we're still waiting for that rebound. The Avs dropped another today, this time to the Anaheim Ducks. Another game marked by taking bad penalties, poor defensive zone play, and a lack of offensive intensity. It's something that has marked their play for the last month, or more, of hockey. Then I remembered something.

This Avs team is still rebuilding. This is a team that is still nowhere near their full potential, and will probably take a couple of more years to get there. Last year we experienced something that probably shouldn't have happened. If it wasn't for the insanely amazing play of Craig Anderson, last year's Avs would have been nowhere near the playoffs. The defense was just as inconsistent, the offense experienced similar ups and downs, the big difference was that Anderson was able to make all those insane saves that he had no business making. It's like that guy you play poker with that everybody hates because he goes all in with stupid hands, but wins each time. Eventually, you know that guy is going to run out of luck, it's just a matter of time. It seems that time has happened this year.

So, to all Avs fans, and this is just as much for me as anybody else, yes, the Avs are not a very good team right now. Yes, we're most likely going to miss the playoffs with this type of poor play. Let's all remember, we haven't seen the best that these guys can offer yet. Stewie hasn't shown us a full season of what he will be, neither has Duchene. Neither have a lot of these guys, but their talent is there and they are still learning. Eventually, our front office will help us get bigger and more skilled on defense. Eventually, our goalies won't have to know from the beginning that they have to win the game for us.

Rebuilding is not a fun process for a team, but if you do it right, that time will pay off. Just ask the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks. They both spent a decent amount of time at the bottom of the NHL, and have both recently won Stanley Cups. The Avs will get there, I'm convinced, but we, as a fan base, need to make the trip with them and not give up on our boys.

Super Bowl Sunday!!

2011-02-05T11:54:00.003-07:00

Here we are again! The time of the year where everybody looks to the same place for the same 4 hours. Even people who don't care about football are finding the Super Bowl party that they are planning to attend.

What a game we have in store this year. The Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Lots of potential story lines, but the one that I think is going to decide the game is the Packer Defense. Here are what I think are the keys for the Packer defense to win the game.

Tackle Big Ben!

The Steelers offensive line will give up some pressure, that is nothing new. What makes Ben so good is his ability to elude that pressure for just long enough to get something out of the play. If they can prevent him from getting out of the pocket, and force him to take the sack or just throw it away, that will go a long way towards keeping the Steelers offense off of the field.

Get Turnovers

Big Ben is the type of quarterback who will go for that high risk, high reward style pass. An aggressive defense like the Packer defense will get their chances to make a huge difference in the outcome of a game. The Steelers were quite prone to turnovers in their playoff games. If not for their superb second half against Baltimore, there is a great chance this team isn't even in the Super Bowl because of all the turnovers.

Solid Tackling

I was watching Sports Center earlier today when they were showing how many yards after contact the Steelers got against the Jets. It was quite a huge difference that you don't really notice just watching the game. The Packers really have to make certain that they wrap up any Steeler that has the ball and not allow any extra yards after contact. That's the difference between 4th and 3 and a brand new set of downs.

Make the Steelers One Dimensional

The bread and butter of the Packer defense is in the secondary. Everybody knows that the Steelers like to run the ball, and they will do it whether or not it has been working throughout the game. That being said, if you keep that run game in control, then you force long third downs where you know they have to pass. If the Packers are able to get more third and six to third and tens, I'd have to think that they would take that any day of the week. If that does happen, the advantage definitely goes to the Packers.

I think the Packers are good enough on defense to do all of those things. Plus, my gut goes immediately to Green Bay. Last year, I just couldn't see the Saints losing, and this year, I just can't see the Packers letting it get away. Aaron Rodgers is the hot hand right now, and you just can't go against the team that is on the hot streak. And right now, that team is undoubtedly the Packers.

This will be a great game, but I'll take the Packers, 27-21.

Kyle Orton: Being Thrown Under the Bus in Denver

2011-01-30T10:23:00.003-07:00

It started almost immediately upon draft day last season. With the announcement that the Broncos had jumped back into the first round and drafted Tim Tebow, the entire Bronco nation lit up in an insane debate about which quarterback was better.

Then there was training camp, where Kyle Orton didn't just win the starting job, he also clearly showed that he was the best quarterback on the roster, yet there was still the population of Tebow-ites who would not be silenced.

Preseason came around, Orton still the clear number one, and there were still all these news stories revolving around when Tebow will start. As if Kyle Orton has no choice but to be supplanted by this rookie quarterback who has never taken a snap of NFL football to date.

Enter the regular season. Fans are told that there are plans to use Tebow, but that Orton is still the number one. More questions included: when will these smaller roles morph into larger roles? Doesn't Tebow deserve to start? When will people realize Tebow is the real deal?

Amidst all of this constant questioning, Kyle Orton just went about his business, and basically carried this whole team on his shoulders. He almost met his entire passing output from last season in the 13 games that he played. He led the league in passing multiple weeks during the course of the season. Yet we hear that Tebow is the better quarterback?

Orton is probably the worst treated quarterback in the league right now as a result of this unbelievably premature hype that has been thrown to Tim Tebow. Tebow has had three NFL starts in his career, that came about because Orton had a rib injury and the coaches didn't want him to get hurt long term in games that really didn't matter at that point. Tebow did not win the starting job at the end of the season, he was filling in for the started.

Tebow threw four touchdowns in his three games, and had three interceptions. Orton threw 20 touchdowns in his 13 games, and had only nine interceptions. Yes, it is only three games, but averaging an interception per game is definitely not the best way to prove that you're the number one starter.

One of Kyle Orton's brightest spots has always been that he takes great care of the football. Orton may not be the one that will always win you the game, but he definitely isn't the one who will lose it for you either.

So what is it that Tebow has that Orton doesn't? Superb work ethic? Sure, Tebow works really hard, but how can anybody automatically assume that just because Tebow works hard, Orton doesn't. You only get as smart as Orton is with the ball by doing a lot of work. Orton is never given the credit Tebow is for work ethic. Doesn't seem fair.

Leadership qualities? Orton carried this team on his shoulders all year. He had to. There was no running game, a defense that couldn't stop anything, an offensive line that allowed defenses to dominate them. What did he do? He took all of that and made the offense respectable, was still able to sell play action, and got right back up after every hit he took. So he isn't as fiery as Tebow is, that doesn't make him any less of a leader.

People argue that Tebow's intangibles are what should put him over the top. Well, fine, but then let's go ahead and look at the tangibles. Tangibly, Orton has the better mechanics. Orton is more accurate. Orton's decision making is better. Orton's ability to read defenses is better. Yet people want to overlook all of that.

About the only tangible thing where Tebow is clearly better is his mobility. Orton isn't exactly Tom Brady in his inability to run, but he sure isn't anywhere near Tebow as far as that is concerned.

Now let me slow down for a second, because comparing these two quarterbacks is kind of a moot point. Again, Tebow's three games of experience is hardly enough to judge his quality as a quarterback. Which then leads me to this most important question. If three games isn't enough to judge if Tebow has flopped, then why is it enough to decide that Tebow should be the clear cut starter? Because he brings excitement to the stadium? Who cares!?

Football isn't about excitement, football is about winning games, and until Tebow is able to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he is the quarterback that gives the Denver Broncos the best chance to win games, then people should really jump off this train because it is incredibly unfair to Orton, to Tebow, and to the entire Bronco organization.

From a realistic perspective, there does stand a chance that Orton could be traded, and I do understand the reasoning. Orton's value is pretty high at the moment. He was having a career year, up to the point of his injury, he has a reputation as one of the smartest quarterbacks in the league, and he's only coming into his sixth year as a player. Plus, the Broncos have a few more years invested in Tebow, why not figure out what he can do and if it isn't working out, then there's no need to re-sign him.

I understand that point, but I disagree with it. Regardless of whether or not the Broncos are rebuilding, they still want to win games, and will, therefore, get the quarterback who gives them the best chance to win those games. Right now, that quarterback is Kyle Orton.

Conference Championships

2011-01-23T00:42:00.003-07:00

I'll try and keep this pretty short, since it's really late and I need to go to sleep.

AFC:
#6 Jets @ #2 Steelers:
Jets have had a great playoff run, but the Steelers are always prepared. This is probably going to be relatively low scoring, but I'm fairly sure the Steelers are going to take this one down.

NFC:
#6 Packers @ #2 Bears:
Aaron Rodgers is playing out of his mind. 31 for 36 against the Falcons, that is just scary!! As so many people always say about the playoffs, it's all about who is hottest at the time, and nobody is hotter than the Packers right now. Give me the cheeseheads.

That means we will see an amazingly yellow Super Bowl 45!
Steelers vs. Packers.

FORSBERG SIGHTING IN DENVER!!!

2011-01-21T23:06:00.000-07:00

It was reported today that Peter Forsberg will be practicing with the Colorado Avalanche, starting with the Saturday skate before the Avalanche game versus the Boston Bruins. No contracts have been signed, as of yet, and it seems that this is a way for Forsberg to test whether or not he is physically able to make another attempt at returning to the NHL.

Admittedly, when I first saw this reported I nearly jumped out of my chair; but there are so many questions that come along with this. It's important to try and look at all the pros and cons.

Pro:

The return of Peter Forsberg would mean amazing things for the energy level in the Pepsi Center. Forsberg is associated with the golden age of the Colorado Avalanche, and some excitement would immediately return to the building. If you watched the Avs last game, against Nashville, you probably noticed the absolute lack of any crowd noise. Just Forsberg's name would bring that buzz back to the Pepsi Center.

Con:

How much would this really help? Other than getting fans back in the seats, the Avs are still a team that is in the process of rebuilding. Sure, they have a lot of talent, but are the Avalanche really Stanley Cup contenders, even if Forsberg is able to make a return? At the moment the Avs are desperately fighting to maintain a spot in the playoffs. Sure, more excitement might return, but this might not amount to much more than a little bit of lightning in a bottle. Flashy and bright, but not very long lasting.
Just some of the amazing Highlights in Peter Forsberg's Colorado Career

Pro:

Imagine the affect that Forsberg could have on some of the younger players. Matt Duchene watched Forsberg play with the Avs when he was a kid, can you imagine how much he'll learn about the game by playing with him? It could be off the charts. Plus, veteran leadership is something that the Avs are hurting for at the moment. It's no secret that the Avs are a young team, and that youth is starting to show up in mass turnovers and poor defensive play. Forsberg could be a great teacher to many of the players on this team.

Con:

Forsberg's own body. Forsberg's career has been tragically short. He was on pace to have one of the truly great careers in hockey history, but he has been unable to get over that nagging foot injury that has had multiple surgeries. Couple that with the Avs horrible luck with player injuries right now, and it is one of those situations where it's almost like the hockey gods are just toying with us. Who's to say Forsberg wouldn't get on the ice and get hurt again?

Pro:

It really wouldn't cost the Avs that much. Forsberg's presence alone has demanded large contracts in the past. Even back in 2007-2008, when he tried his last come back, he still earned a pretty penny. The Avs salary cap, however, is one that could have handled multiple versions of that insane Kovalchuk contract that New Jersey is currently stuck with. I wonder how that's working out. At any rate, price is definitely NOT an issue when it comes to getting Forsberg signed.
3316419_crop_340x234 Peter The Great, working his magic
Brian Bahr/Getty Images

Con:

Time. We hear the name Peter Forsberg and immediately remember all of the amazing things that this guy was capable of. Even back in 07-08 he had an impact. In nine regular season games the guy had a goal and 13 assists. But can that realistically be expected of him at age 37 with a foot that has been operated on and injured more times than anybody can count? There's no doubt that Forsberg, when he was at his best, could play a mediocre game and still be better than most people's best games, but age has to take a toll at some point.

This is a very interesting situation in which we find ourselves. With all the injuries that have stung the Avs, especially recently, the Avs are desperate for somebody. If Forsberg feels that he could play, it wouldn't be that great a shock if the Avs took a shot with him. Sure, he's older, but you have to think that some of that magic that Peter The Great showcased throughout his brilliant, but all too short amount of time in Denver is still there.

It's very premature to speculate on what is going to happen, but this is one Avalanche fan who can't wait to hear whether or not we will see a return of Foppa to the Colorado ice.

Latest B/R Contribution!

2011-01-19T18:37:00.002-07:00

Check out The Sin Bin's latest contribution to the Bleacher Report! Go leave a comment and read our articles!

KG's Divisional Playoffs Picks

2011-01-14T22:15:00.003-07:00

Well, I think everybody had a rough week last week as far as picks went, so I'll hope to do better this time around. So here we go.

AFC:
Baltimore @ Pittsburgh: Once again, how do you pick a winner in this game? Really. The games are always intense, physical, rough, and so insanely evenly played that a 10 point win is considered winning big. Hard to tell, so I'm just going to go with my gut on this one, and the guy tells me Pittsburgh.

NY Jets @ New England Patriots: There is very little that is more interesting than watching the Jets try and get under the Patriot's skin in the week leading up to their games. You just have to admire the bravado that Rex Ryan brings to his team. You would think after getting their asses handed to them against the Pats a few weeks they wouldn't be so quick to talk trash, but that's just who they are. But we also know that they are capable of beating the Pats. The Pats, however, have about the largest home field advantage of any team in the NFL. They aren't making earthquakes or anything, but the snow in Foxboro is even something that New York teams aren't used to. It really is at least a 2 TD advantage. For that reason, I'll take the Pats.

KG's AFC Championship game: Pittsburgh @ New England

NFC:
Green Bay @ Atlanta: These 2 teams played an amazing game in the regular season that came down to a last second field goal that gave the Falcons the win. I picked against them last time, but I won't do it this time. I'll take the Falcons, even though Green Bay was my NFC Super Bowl team before the season began. Green Bay is very capable of winning this game, and could hurt me again this week, but I just see Matty Ice and the Falcons taking this one down.

Seattle @ Chicago: Another regular season rematch, the Seahawks have a good plan to beat the Bears. It worked during the regular season, and you know that Pete Carroll won't back off when it's all on the line. He is going to bring the heat at Jay Cutler from every single direction you can think of. That has always been Cutler's downside. He panics under pressure and makes horrible throws and turns the ball over all over the place. Look for the Hawks to bring the heat, and look for the bears to try and run the ball for most of the game to try and counter this. If Cutler has to throw the ball more than 30 times, the Bears will not win this game. I'm going to take the surprise Seahawks in this one.

KG's NFC Championship Game
Seattle @ Atlanta.

Should be interesting!

A-Mac's Divisional Round Playoffs

2011-01-13T22:04:00.003-07:00

Well maybe I should have put off my return. I like most people went 1-3 in Wild Card Weekend. Somehow FF Rex and the Jets beat the Manning Face, Pete Carroll took his sub 500 team and beat the Defending champions, The Packers were as good as they should have been while Vick wasn't, and of course the Ravens won like they were supposed to. This has set up for the AFC Round of Hatred and the NFC's wild and crazy.
First the NFC
Seahawks at Bears- It will be a cold one and the Seahawks will be without their vaunted earthquake causing 12th Man. Jay Cutler has never won a playoff game but Mike Martz has coached a few. Matt Hasselbeck must have had a Faustian bargain to win last week so I think they lose badly this week even if Cutler spends a lot of time on his back. Bears 36-21.

Packers at Falcons- This one will be played in a Dome. No weather factor here. Aaron Rodgers had a hell of a game last week and I think he takes Matty Ice to the hole this game too. Though the Falcons have two Montana boys on their team, I will be rooting for the Pack to win. They showed they have a running game and Rodgers is better than Ryan. Packers 27-21

Ah The AFC- Roger Goodell could not have asked for a better round. Though the Colts are out, two of the best rivals in football are getting a rubber match. The Ravens-Steelers game will be interesting to watch as both teams beat each other on the road, so look for the Ravens to try to do it again. FF Rex is taking his J E T S back into Gillette where they lost the laugher during the season. The Jets are certainly fired up but they have also been trash talking the Patriots which is never a good thing. TFB is going to be mighty pumped to throw at Cromartie all day long.

Ravens-Steelers. The Ravens are playing for Ed Reed's family. Their D is still awesome. The Steelers have shown great prowess under She Said No this year but his Offensive Line is missing almost every starter. Its basically trotting out the scout team to protect him. Look to She Said No to be put in the compromising positions he likes to do to others. This game will be won in the trenches and the Ravens will come out ahead 20-17.

Jets at Patriots- The Coup de Grace of the Divisional Playoff Round. The Jets are looking to come in and unseat Super Bowl ambitions in New England. They are looking to make Revis Island relevant and make TFB pay for watching "Lombardi" instead of their game. Cromartie called Brady an asshole. This is an emotional game. FF Rex is looking to win otherwise he's going to have to go home and make more videos with the wife. Darth Hoodie is going to be prepared though and with Brandon Spikes back, the Defense is better. TFB also has Little White Jesus, The Law Firm, The Twin headed Tight End Gronknandez, and White Lightning Wes. I think the Pats beat the Jets but not in the laughfest of last time. 36-28 Pats

Next week will be interesting.
Packers at Bears- Division rivals
Ravens at Patriots-last team to beat New England at home in the playoffs.

Shannon Sharpe; HOF

2011-01-09T22:03:00.001-07:00

In his 14 year career, Sharpe made the Pro-Bowl 8 different times. He was voted an AP First team All-Pro four times, as well as a Second team All-Pro once.

Sharpe was part of three Super Bowl teams. He helpd Denver win back to back titles in Super Bowl XXXII and XXXIII, and was part of the Baltimore Ravens when they won their title in Super Bowl XXXV.

His 62 career touchdown receptions was the most all-time by a tight end at the time of his retirement, which has also recently been past by Tony Gonzales. The same can be said of his 815 career receptions.

It wasn't just the number of his catches, but also the situations. Shannon Sharpe became a favorite target of John Elway, who constantly found him when the team needed a clutch first down. The most notable reception came in the 1997 AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh. Denver had seized control of the game, only to see Pittsburgh storm back in the fourth quarter. Clinging to a 3 point lead, Denver faced a long third down in the late stages of the 4th quarter, and Shannon Sharpe was the one who got open and converted that first down. After that, the Broncos were able to run out the clock, and eventually went on to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history.

If these accomplishments and statistics, which are all in the top 2 of the tight end position of all time, aren't enough, the icing on the cake comes from this final accomplishment. Shannon Sharpe was name a member of the first team All-Decade team of the 1990s. Other players on that roster include: John Elway, Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Cris Carter, Gary Zimmerman, Bruce Matthews, Randall McDaniel, Willie Roaf, and Dermontti Dawson. All but 3 of those players (Sharpe, Carter, Dawson) are members of the Hall of Fame. That is some pretty good company.

The numbers don't lie. His career most definitely speaks for itself. There can be absolutely no argument, Shannon Sharpe is deserving of, and should be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

Bleacher Report!

2011-01-07T21:45:00.003-07:00

The Sin Bin is now a part of Bleacher Report! I just published my first 2 articles on a very well known fan contributor site, the Bleacher Report. Check out my first 2 articles.

Article #1 - Broncos Need to Focus on Finding a Defensive-Minded Coach

Article #2 - The Avalanche Need to Make a Move to Bolster Blue-Line

Hopefully The Sin Bin will be going places this year!

Avs vs. Coyotes Recap

2011-01-06T21:29:00.002-07:00

Avs coming off of a huge win against Buffalo, that they tried to give away but managed to pull out, and needed to keep things going for them on this 5 game home stand. But, once again, the Avs came out just plain flat.

Scoring Summary:
Period 1:
Lots of shots, but the Coyotes had most of the decent chances, and the only goal of the period. Andy stopped a shot from the point, gave a small rebound, that was won by Taylor Pyatt. While kind of being bothered by the Avs d-man, Pyatt managed to backhand it over the glove of a sliding Anderson for a 1-0 lead. Andy was in pretty decent position, just a great shot that he managed to get elevated on the backhand.

No scoring again until about 19 seconds left in the game, when Pyatt put another one in the empty. Game closed out with a 2-0 win for Phoenix.

All in all, this was possibly the most boring game that I have watched in a long, LONG time. Now, that is really Phoenix's style. They are a trap team, and take advantage of turnovers. Transition is their game, and that's how they got their goal. A clear that didn't quite get out, they threw it straight at the net, and boom, suddenly they get a rebound in behind Andy. And this is the the thing that is killing the Avs. They cannot get out of their own zone. They have about 5 shifts a game where they really get buried in their own zone and just can't get out.

Then, there is Matt Hunwick. This guy has been so horrible since getting traded over to the Avs. I think the first game he played with us I was actually a little ok with him because he could skate so well, and actually did a couple decent things in his own zone. Ever since then, it has been a non-stop parade of horrible turnovers, poor defensive play, and getting beat all over the place in his own zone. I cannot, for the life of me, fathom why Joe Sacco, the Avalanche coach, has not cut this guy's ice time, or even made him a healthy scratch. Holos gives 1 away, and I see something on Twitter saying Sacco just cringed, but watch Hunwick give 5 pucks away, and he's one of the first d-men out on the next penalty kill? This makes no sense!! Sacco benched Duchene earlier this year when he wasn't getting it done. He benched Liles, and made him a healthy scratch a few times, last year when he wasn't getting the job done. He's gone to Budaj this year, when Andy has looked shakey. I don't get it. A coach that is well known for holding players who aren't playing well accountable, and allowing somebody else a chance to get the job done, who just won't take this guy off of the ice. Hunwick has no place on the penalty kill, but is out there every kill. He made about 6 really bad giveaways tonight that Andy had to bail him out on every single time. It is time for Sacco to sit him down, scratch him, send him to the minors, or just do something to tell him that what he is doing is not going to keep him on the ice. It needs to happen, or else we can get used to more losses.

Avs play next on Saturday against the Islanders. Time for the Avs to wake up again. This Western Conference is really, REALLY close from seeds 4-13. The Avs are going to find themselves out of the playoff picture really fast here if they don't start playing with some urgency. Hopefully Stewie will be returning soon

Elway is Back!

2011-01-06T18:30:00.003-07:00

That's right, the Mile High Miracle Man is back for the Broncos! This particular come back effort isn't going to be a famed 2 minute drive, but it will pretty much seem like one of his famous 98-yard drives. This current incarnation of the Denver Broncos definitely seems like they are sitting 1st and 10 on their own 2 yard line.

Now, the question that most people are worrying about is whether or not Elway has the chops to do this sort of thing. He is the Chief Football Executive, in charge of day-to-day football operations. Not a role that you would think a Hall of Fame quarterback would be used to. Well, you may or may not know this, but John Elway has done this sort of thing, not in the NFL, but in the AFL. As owner of the Colorado Crush, he brought this team in in 2003, and managed to put a team together that won the Arena Bowl in 2005. So he knows how to manage personnel decisions from an executive's point of view.

As a former quarterback, he obviously knows about the qualities that make a winning team. It will be interesting to see the kind of personnel decisions that he will make, and his very first one is going to be the most important. Now, I grew up watching John Elway make miraculous plays, and I worshiped this guy. It is also one of my greatest childhood memories, going to a party around Christmas one of my father's clients hosted and seeing him. I remember walking up to him, I couldn't have been more than 6 years old, and his wife pointing me out to him. He took the time to shake my hand, ask my name, and to wish me a Merry Christmas. So, you'll pardon me if I'm always ready to believe in this guy, as is the whole city of Denver. They know a winner when they see one, and Elway is a winner.

At any rate, in comparison to Josh McDaniels, Elway is bound to be a veritable master mind. But that's not too hard to do. At any rate, we all sit back and await the result of Elway's great coach hunt. Welcome back to the Broncos John!

The Return of The A-Mac: Playoff Style

2011-01-03T23:05:00.003-07:00

Sorry for disappearing. Between work and losing a computer, life got in the way! I have returned to grace the site once again to do my Wild Card Weekend picks.

AFC:
#1 New England & #2 Pittsburgh both have byes in the first round. This will allow both teams to gets some rest including Little White Jesus(Danny Whitehead) and The Sensational Samoan(Troy Polamalu) recover from their latest injuries. She Said No and TFB will also enjoy some time off. Hey Ben don't assault anyone during your off week ok?

#6 Jets at #3 Colts.
A rematch of last years AFC championship game, these teams are coming in from two different directions. The Jets limped in on Foot Fetish Rex especially Mark I am not very good Sanchez while Peyton Manning and the Colts finished strong to overtake the surprising Jags to win the AFC South again. FF Rex is a good coach but his teams need a strong performance from Revis Island and LDT to stop the trampling colts. This might be Peyton's hardest year given he lost his best players with Austin Collie joining the list in week 16. I still think The Manning Face(TM Bill Simmons) wins this one. It will give Rex a long offseason for him and his wife to film their new HBO series, Tickle Toes.

#5 Ravens at #4 Chiefs.
Todd Haley did the best thing he could do after the Cardinals Super Bowl, jump ship. It was a sinking one plus he got a head coaching job. Little New England seems to be good under his regime even though Charlie Weis is leaving to go to Florida. Explain to me why you'd leave the NFL for College. I don't get it. Thats ok. The Chiefs will hire former Little King as their offensive coordinator next year. The Ravens are still the Ravens. Joe Flacco has won playoff games, Matt Cassell has never played in one. Ray Lewis who must thank the stars every day for Mike Vick is doing ok as is Ed Reed. The Ravens will win a defensive battle and advance to face a rematch of the 09 playoffs in Foxboro with the Patriots.

NFC
#1 Falcons and #2 Bears both have byes. Da Bears certainly surprised me this year. I thought Old Horny Perv and the Purple were going to be the best team in the North. Well that was a wrong prediction. Doesn't help that Brad Childress is probably one of the worst coaches ever in the modern NFL. The Falcons have 2 former U of Montana players on their team so go Griz.

#6 Packers @ #3 Eagles.
The last time Mike Vick faced the Pack in the playoffs, it was a cold snowy game in Lambeau. He took out OHP's team back then. Fortunately for Bad Newz Vick, this one is at home with Aaron Rodgers still coming off of a concussion. If Greg Jennings can do this for the Pack in real life they will win. I think Vick and Jackson might be too tough though. Eagles win

#5 Saints @ #4 Seahawks
Its embarrassing that a 7-9 team made the playoffs but it happened. The Seahawks were blown out a lot this year by good teams. They did win the shittiest division in football. Its a home game and the Saints could suffer the effects of the 12th man. Who knows! The Saints win this one 30-12 with the Hawks only scoring FGs.

So, the divisional rounds should look like this.
AFC
#5 Ravens @ #1 Patriots
#3 Colts @ #2 Steelers

NFC
#5 Saints @ #1 Falcons
#3 Eagles @ #2 Bears

NFL Playoffs Set

2011-01-03T21:35:00.005-07:00

Well, the regular season has come to an end, yet again. I finished off the season with a rather mediocre 9-7, but had a grand total of 161-95. I had a 63% success rate in my picks, which is roughly the same as last year, which was just at 61%. So a bit of improvement! Yay!

I also managed to pick the playoffs pretty well last year, so here's hoping I continue. At any rate, here is my initial playoff picture picks.

AFC:
#1 New England & #2 Pittsburgh both have byes in the first round. But we still have some great games on tap.

#6 Jets at #3 Colts.
This has the makings for a great game, depending one which of the teams in the game decides to show up. Colts are always exciting to watch, but have had some inconsistency due to the massive amounts of injuries this season. The Jets have been scary in their own inconsistency this year, and you just can't be inconsistent against Peyton Manning. I think the Colts get the better of things in this one.

#5 Ravens at #4 Chiefs.
First, hats off to Todd Haley and the coaching staff of the Kansas City Chiefs. They took the Chiefs from being one of those circle games, games you circle on your schedule at the beginning of the year because you're fairly positive that you could play horribly and still win by 2 touchdowns, to being a tough team to play against. That being said, I don't know that they'll be able to stick around with the all around skill and toughness of the Ravens. This will be a very close, low scoring game, but I think the Ravens squeak this one out.

NFC
#1 Falcons and #2 Bears both have byes.

#6 Packers @ #3 Eagles.
This should be one of the best games in the whole playoffs. The Packers managed to recover from a down slide, and a couple Aaron Rodgers concussions to play their way into the playoffs. The Eagles have definitely been the most exciting team to watch, thanks largely in part to Michael Vick, with a bit of help from DeShawn Jackson. The Packers aren't flashy, but they can get the job done. I tell ya, I really don't know which way to go with this one. I think I'm going to go with the Eagles because you just never know what Michael Vick can do. He's pretty much permanently in my dog house, pun intended, but you can't deny that the guy has had an awesome year.

#5 Saints @ #4 Seahawks
You have to admire Pete Carroll and his reaction to all the people saying that a 7-9 team doesn't deserve to be in the playoffs. "Get over it." Gotta love it. And I agree, just get over it folks. They won their division, they're in the playoffs. I don't care their record, and you can not like it as much as you want, but division winners, however poor their record is, deserve to have a playoff game. Rest assured though, they'll get creamed by the Saints in this one. Saints should win a laugher, but you never know. That's why they play the game, as Chris Berman loves to say.

So, the divisional rounds should look like this.
AFC
#5 Ravens @ #1 Patriots
#3 Colts @ #2 Steelers

NFC
#5 Saints @ #1 Falcons
#3 Eagles @ #2 Bears

Should be a good week! Let's see what we get!

Avs vs. Canucks Recap

2011-01-02T18:38:00.004-07:00

Well, after a brief 2 game road trip for the Avs, they came home for their first game of the new year to play host to the hottest team in the league, the Vancouver Canucks. The Avs were fortunate to win in Edmonton, after blowing a 3 goal lead; and didn't really start playing until it was too late. Avs need to have something they haven't had in a long time against Vancouver, and that is a complete game. Coming into the game, Vancouver had not lost in regulation in their last 10 games (8-0-2).

Period 1
Avs came out with some jump and had a lot of good chances. Duchene had a good one and was really flying throughout the first period. The teams traded power plays and didn't score. The Avs got a second power play and played well towards the end of it, getting a huge chance, which Luongo stopped. Suddenly, Vancouver had a 2-on-1 going the other way. Hunwick didn't really press the issue, and there was no real support from behind. Andy seemed like he was expecting a pass, and let a pretty weak shot go straight through the 5 hole. 1-0 Canucks. Alex Boulduc, for his first NHL goal. Such a tough game, because not 10 seconds before, it very easily could have been 1-0 Avs if they had buried their chance. Avs outshot Vancouver 10-8 in the first, but entered the intermission down 1.

Period 2
Second period had a good pace to it through the first half. Avs got another PP, but didn't manage to get anything past Luongo who was is clearly on his game for this one. A couple other good chances here and there for both teams, but no goals in the first half of the period. Things really slowed down in the middle of the second, but got quite heated towards the end of the period. A couple of incidents of fisticuffs after the play. No goals in the second, but did have 9 penalties. Still 1-0 Vancouver.

Period 3
Avs came out soft in this one again, and quickly paid the price. 2 bad shifts in a row where the Avs just can't get things out of their zone, coupled with a really weird hop off a seam of the seamless glass, I know weird, right, that just popped out in front of Anderson. Mason Raymond was right there to put it up high for a 2-0 lead. Avs now in DEEP trouble, because Luongo was on his game. With a bit over 6 minutes left, Stastny managed to crack Luongo on a goal that had to be reviewed to be counted. 2-1 Canucks.

Avs realized that they needed to bust their butts at the end of the game, but just couldn't squeeze one past Luongo to save their lives. Their really good chances just didn't get on goal, a big thing that has been hurting the Avs. When they are struggling, they just don't seem to get anything on net.

Andy was good, probably could have been better on the first goal that he gave up, but really kept the Avs in the game. Nothing he could have done about that second goal, just a horrible hop that went straight to the Canucks player in front.

PK has been better. Avs killed all PPs in Edmonton and Calgary, and now against Vancouver tonight. Considering the Avs were last in the league in PK at home coming into tonight, definitely a plus.

Sedins held off the board tonight, and only had 3 shots between the two of them. That is huge, because those guys are just rolling right now. Good signs defensively, though, the Avs are still struggling hard core getting the puck out of your own zone.

Hurts even worst because the Avs are now down 8 points to the Canucks, haven't managed to beat them this year. Avs have a pretty nice January, 12 games, no back to backs, and only 2 games on the road. Avs play Buffalo next on Tuesday, gotta find a way to score. See you then.

NFL Coaches Going Away

2011-01-02T15:11:00.004-07:00

Well, every year seems to be a pretty tough one for coaches in the NFL. We've seen Wade Phillips, Brad Childress, Josh McDaniels, Mike Singletary all get fired in the middle of the season. We've heard that Jon Fox won't be returning to Carolina, and we naturally hear the long list of coaches who are "on the hot seat", as it were. Well, I'm going to touch on a few coaches that I think will probably stay, and a few who I think will almost assuredly go.

Staying, Tom Coughlin. Every year it seems we hear something about people thinking that he's lost the locker room, but then the Giants have a couple of games that show things are more with personnel than bad coaching. The players respect him, and he is a good coach. He took that team to a Super Bowl, and I don't think Coughlin will be going anywhere, unless it is him deciding to retire.

Going, Norv Turner. How can you have a team as loaded as the Chargers, be the team that has the #1 offense and #1 defense in the NFL, and NOT make the playoffs. This, coupled with his absolute inability to get this team anywhere in the playoffs in previous years, makes this pretty much a no-brainer to me. He's one of those guys who makes a really good coordinator, but just not a very good head coach. Every single year, it seems that this Chargers team is always starting slow. 2-3, 2-4, 3-6, etc... This year, they weren't able to make that improbable second half of the season run to get into the division, and Turner is probably going to pay for it.

Staying, Tony Sporano. Yes, the Fins were very up and down this year, but I think you can't let this guy go. He's firey, innovative, and very passionate. More than anything, I think the Fins year was a result of personnel changes in key positions that had a hard time ever getting used to each other because of injuries and not knowing playing styles, things like that. With time, this Dolphins team will only get better. Henne will learn to give Marshall more of a chance, and Marshall might learn how to just shut up and play, it's possible!! Either way, I think Sporano sticks around for one more year. If there isn't improvement after that, then you might see him go.

Going, Marvin Lewis. A HUGE drop off for the Bengals this year when there really shouldn't have been. There weren't any major personnel changes that happened with the Bengals, other than the signing of Terrell Owens, which may have helped take Chad Johnson's (NEVER CALLING HIM BY HIS RIDICULOUSLY STUPID NICKNAME) mind off the game, and put it more on their pathetic excuse of a talk show. At any rate, they go from winning the AFC North, possibly the toughest division in the AFC, to being basement dwellers again. We may even see Carson Palmer out of Cinci now. At any rate, Lewis has had more than his fair share of opportunities to take the Bengals to glory. After this year, I think he's pretty much toast.

Staying, Jeff Fisher. Tennessee was bad this year. I think that this was largely because of the lack of leadership at the quarterback position. Vince Young is a spoiled brat who believes that he is bigger than the team. Kerry Collins is 800 years old. Jeff Fisher needs a mature, team player of a QB. They may draft one this year, but I don't see Jeff Fisher going anywhere.

Going, Gary Kubiak. Everybody, including myself, thought that this was the year for the Houston Texans to make the playoffs. With their fast start this year, the way things have ended this season have probably sealed the fate of Kubiak in Houston. They had a great chance to do something their franchise had never done, but they fell short. As a result, I think Kubiak has seen his last game as coach of the Houston Texans. He'll probably land in Denver, in my opinion.

Love to know what coaches you think are staying and going.

KGs week 17 picks

2010-12-31T14:43:00.003-07:00

The last week of the regular season! Very excited to see what comes of the games this week as there are quite a few with major playoff implications. I've been 10-6 for the past 2 weeks in a row, giving me a grand total of 152-88, for 63.3% correct predictions this year. Not bad, I'll take it! So, here we go!!

Miami @ New England: Pats should win this one pretty easily. A pretty disappointing year for the Fins this year.

Minnesota @ Detroit: Favre isn't playing, or probably won't be playing, and the Vikes have done better without him. I got the Vikes in this one, but wouldn't be too surprised if the Lions take it too. Still, Vikes.

Carolina @ Atlanta: Atlanta, easily. They'll come to play in this one, because a win in this one gives them home field throughout the NFC playoffs.

Oakland @ Kansas City: I think Todd Haley may be the NFL coach of the year. He's done a great job with this Chief's team getting them to a division title. I think the Chiefs will take this one as well, and get to 11 wins on the season. Hats off to Todd Haley.

Pittsburgh @ Cleveland: Steelers.

Buffalo @ NY Jets: I have a weird feeling about this one, and somehow just think the Bills are going to upset the Jets here, who are now more concerned about the playoffs.

Tampa Bay @ New Orleans: Tampa needs a big win in order to get into the playoffs. New Orleans needs a win and has to hope for a Falcons loss in order to steal that #1 seed in the NFC. Will it happen, don't know about that, but I do think that the Saints play to win, and do win.

Cincinnati @ Baltimore: Baltimore definitely needs a win if they want the division title, look for them to come with all their tricks this weekend. Ravens beat the lowly Bungles.

San Diego @ Denver: San Diego should be completely and totally PO-ed at the way that this season has ended up for them, and look for them to take all of that out on a truly horrible Broncos team. I'll give Tebow his due, he played very well against Houston. But I will also remember that he played a bad defense in the Texans. San Diego is going to be something very different for him this time around. Broncos get hammered in this one.

Chicago @ Green Bay: Packers really let one get away last time they played the Bears. The Packers absolutely have to win if they want in the playoffs, and I think they'll get the job done. Packers.

NY Giants @ Washington: G-men also need a win if they are going to get into the playoffs, and they need a Packers loss since they lost the head to head game against the Packers. I think the Giants can take down the Skins in this one, and they will.

Jacksonville @ Houston: This is a must win for Jacksonville. They really have to hope that Indy falls, as well. The Texans are really playing for Coach Gary Kubiak's job, if you ask me. Houston has had a hard time winning, but I think they'll break through in this one, and spoil the Jag's playoff hopes. Though it will still probably be Kubiak's last game as Texans coach.

Dallas @ Philadelphia: Philly needs a big win here to ensure them of the #2 seed, and I think that they'll get it.

Tennessee @ Indianapolis: Indy needs a win, and it is almost impossible to bet against Peyton Manning in a must win situation. Plus, the Colts have suddenly developed a running game, right when they need it, and they'll use that to put the Titans down.

Arizona @ San Francisco: Arizona has found some success with their rookie QB. I think he'll take them to one more win this season over a pathetic Niners team.

St. Louis @ Seattle: Once again, the NFL's weakest division comes through. We will have a team in the playoffs that does not have a winning record. There may even be a first time that a team with less than .500 record making they playoffs. Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think that's ever happened before. I don't think it will happen this year either. Sam Bradford finishes off his rookie of the year season with a win, and a playoff spot. Rams.

Great season of football! I'm looking forward to the playoffs!!

Avs vs. Oilers Recap

2010-12-30T21:13:00.003-07:00

Well, the Avs haven't had the best 3 game stretch. 0-2-1 in their last 3. Heartbreaking loss to the Red Wings last time out, in a game that they really dominated and should have won. Can they turn thing around against an Oilers team that is last place in the Western Conference, or will the Avs come out asleep again?

Scoring recap

Period 1
Avs came out strong in this one. All lines firing. T.J. Galliardi got the scoring started on this one. Good play in the offensive zone, get the puck at the net, and Galliardi put one in off an Edmonton defensive player. That was at 3:22 of the first. A really good, fast start for the Avs on the road.

Paul Stastny was the beneficiary of a fantastic play by David Jones for the second goal of the game. Jones chased a dumped puck into the corner, won the 1-on-1 battle. He worked towards the net, smooth stick work, and made a great back hand pass to Stastny who buried it by the Edmonton goalie. 2-0 Avs.

Probably the best line of the evening was the Duchene-Hejduk-Fleischmann line. After a great shift of a lot of pressure in the Edmonton zone, Matt Duchene forced a bad pass from the Oilers defenseman that trickled right out to Flash who made no mistake putting it behind the Oilers goalie for a huge 3-0 lead.

Period 2
After the team traded power play opportunities, and failed, the Oilers ended up with a decent amount of momentum. Avs struggled a lot getting the puck out of their own zone in this one, and paid the price after Edmonton one a few physical battles to get the puck down low. Gagner made a great pass to Taylor Hall, who was all alone in front of the net, and he pounded it home. Andy had no chance on this one.

Avs had a lot of great scoring chances in this period but either got too cute, just plain missed, or were robbed.

Period 3
After the Avs fail on another golden opportunity to take a strangle hold of the game, Oilers take it down the ice, Hemsky takes it into the middle and burries it top shelf, over Andy's blocker to make it a 3-2 game.

Avs defense continues to fall asleep and just plain lets Edmonton back into the game. After a dominant beginning, the Avs expected the Oilers to roll over, and they didn't. 3-3 as Hemsky comes flying back into the zone, lulls the D to sleep, who just leaves Cogliano alone in front of the net who hammered it home for a 3-3 tie.

OT
The poor officiating continues. Avs got a PP, then the refs gave the Oilers a make up call that was weak, and that is being very, VERY nice. Teams trade PPs, and fail. Shootout.

Shootout
Andy makes first save on Jordan Eberle
Hejduk buries the first one for the Avs.
Andy then stuffs Hemsky
Dutchy gets stopped
Andy then stops Taylor Hall, who earns the Avs the extra point, that they really didn't deserve.

Andy played pretty well during this game. Gave up 3 goals, but was totally abandoned by his defense on this one. The most troubling part about this game is that the Avs blew a 3-0 lead, and constantly had trouble getting out of their own zone. Defensive pairs were all bad in this game, and we pretty much only won because Andy realized he would have to win it by himself this time around.

Avs got outshot by the worst team in the Western Conference and just seemed as if they expected that the game would be done after the first period; and that they really didn't know how to respond when Edmonton just wouldn't go down for good. Coming from a team that seems to pride itself on never giving up on games when they get down, it seems odd that the Avs would just try and put it in cruise control so early. As well as they played in the first, they were really just awful, collectively, in the last 2 periods.

As poor as things went for the Avs in the last 2 periods, you have to put part of this towards the officiating which was just plain awful, and that is putting it nicely. Seemed like since the Avs were up 3-0 at the start of the 2nd period, that meant that there would be absolutely nothing called for the Avs. Multiple times Oilers players barreled into the Avalanche goaltender, Craig Anderson, and somehow the Avs would end up with the penalty out of that situation. I don't understand how players can go crashing into the net, especially when the goalie is deep in his crease, and the penalty is not called. Pretty pathetic officiating, it definitely something that the NHL does not want. You never like it when it is so obvious that the officiating had such a strong impact on the game. That's a larger picture thing that the NHL needs to deal with.

In the end, the Avs end up with a win. Tomorrow night, the Avs are in Calgary. They'll have to come with a more complete game in order to beat a Calgary team that is always tough.

Oh, also, Hunwick was -1 again tonight. This guy has been a huge trade bust thus far. Think the Bruins would be willing to take this guy back?

KGs week 16 picks

2010-12-25T13:09:00.003-07:00

Merry Christmas everybody! I certainly hope that your holiday season was fantastic, and that you all got a lot of great rest! College bowls are still running around, and I'm doing pretty decently thus far. Anywho, on to week 16!

I got the Steelers over the Panthers, continuing to improve my Thursday records!

Dallas @ Arizona: This is being played tonight. I didn't think the NFL had games on Christmas day. Guess I was wrong. At any rate, Cardinals stink worse than the Cowboys right now, so give me the Boys.

New England @ Buffalo: New England wins this one as they continue trucking through their schedule.

New York Jets @ Chicago: Bears have been playing well, and the Jets have been super inconsistent. I gotta go with the Bears.

Baltimore @ Cleveland: Baltimore should take this one, though Cleveland will make this competitive.

Tennessee @ Kansas City: Tennessee has self-destructed this year. KC should win this one, and get one step closer to the AFC west title.

San Francisco @ St. Louis: St. Louis should beat the Niners here. Kudos to the Rams for a great turn around this year. They are a respectable team, though still not that good of a team.

Detroit @ Miami: Miami is another team that has just been so inconsistent that you can't really trust them week in and week out. Lots can depend on whether or not they bother to show up to the game. I think they take this one off, and get upset at home by the Lions.

Washington @ Jacksonville: Once again, I must ask, WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND PUTS REX GROSSMAN IN OVER DONOVAN MCNABB?!!? WHO!???! Makes no sense Shanny. Jags.

San Diego @ Cincinnati: Cinci stinks, and is now without TO, who has really been their best receiver all year long. On the plus side, for TO anyways, now he can focus on his insanely ridiculous TV show with fellow egomaniac and career underachiever Chad Johnson (still refuse to call him Ocho cinco). Lord knows that's the more important thing to both of those guys. Chargers win.

Houston @ Denver: Denver's next coach, possibly, Gary Kubiak, will beat down the current Broncos. Tebow gets another start, though it doesn't make sense, and no matter what happens, too many people in Denver will act as if he was the second coming of Elway. Remember though, Denver fans (remembering that I'm a die-hard Bronco fan as well), what happened to the last guy that we all deified as the next incarnation of John Elway?

Indianapolis @ Oakland: Oakland has a shot in this game, but they really need to run the ball well. I still take the Colts who are almost always able to win when they need to.

New York Giants @ Green Bay: Giants should be severely pissed after the way they let last week's game get away from them. Aaron Rodgers is back after another concussion. What will give? I'll take the Pack on the Frozen Tundra!

Seattle @ Tampa Bay: Seahawks are better than they were, but will lose to the Bucs.

Minnesota @ Philadelphia: Philly, easily. Thank goodness, we should NOT see Brett Favre in this game, or hopefully ever again in the NFL. He got exactly what I, and many other people, said he would get if he kept coming back. His legacy as a great QB is gone, completely. He is not the little old man who wouldn't retire until he got hurt by 2 no-name rookies that eventually put him out. I'm sure that's exactly how he wanted to go out of the game.

New Orleans @ Atlanta: This will be the game of the week. Big time battle with playoff implications. Saints have regained much of their form from last year, and the Falcons have been finding ways to continue winning. Atlanta gets a slight edge since they are hosting this one, and I'll take the Falcons at home. These 2 may end up playing a third time in the playoffs.

Avs vs. Wild Recap

2010-12-23T19:35:00.002-07:00

Well, the Avs had a 6 game win streak snapped by the Kings last game. Snapped is the nicest way to put it, as the Avs were completely dominated in every aspect of the game in a 5-0 beat down. So they were definitely in need of a good showing against the Wild just before a brief Christmas break for the league. Plus, it's a divisional game, so you'd think that they would be rearing and ready to play tonight. Well, you'd think that.

Period 1:
Avs came out with a good pace, and even had an early power play. Unfortunately, Shattenkirk wiffed on a simple D-to-D pass, giving Clutterbuck a breakaway on Andy. Save on the breakaway, but no hope for the early Christmas present right in front of the net. Hammered home by Matt Cullen for a 1-0 lead, Shorthanded.

Avs don't wait long to even things up, as David Jones hammers home a weak rebound on the remaining PP to even it up at 1. Backstrom thought he had the puck covered, but Jones managed to find it and slam it in.

Then, the Avs gave up another one as a shot from the point was sent intentionally wide. Andy seemed to overreact to this puck, slid way of the net and tried to cover it as it came sliding back through the crease, but couldn't turn himself fully around. He actually knocked the puck into the post, and then it sat in the crease, once again, awaiting the stick of Matt Cullen who put home his second goal of the night. Period 1 ended 2-1 in favor of the Wild.

Period 2:
Avs came out looking pretty decent in the second, until David Koci, the biggest waste of a roster space in the NHL, took an incredibly stupid penalty, pile-driving a Wild player into Backstrom about 10 seconds AFTER Backstrom had covered the puck.

Ensuing power play, a one timer from the point went a bit wide, and Andrew Brunette, a former member of the Avalanche, put a little backhander over the unnecessarily sprawling body of Craig Anderson. Andy looked horrible on goals 2 and 3. Out of position, unable to move back once he had committed anywhere, and just flopped all over the place. Andy was pulled after this goal, very deservedly so.

Avs were very soft for the rest of the period, with the exception of the last 3 minutes. Budaj made some good saves in this period, and a few other really good ones in the third to keep the Avs close.

Period 3:
No scoring, but lots more action. Avs got very brave, out of necessity, with their D jumping up in the play. Budaj played very well in relief of Anderson, and really was the only reason it stayed at 3-1. Avs just couldn't buy one offensively. Backstrom was on his game, the Wild blocked a ton of shots, and they just missed a ton of shots wide, high, wherever. Game ends with a 3-1 Wild victory.

Things to note.
Craig Anderson has looked AWFUL the last few games. He has had 1 or 2 goals against in the last 3 games where he just flops around in hopes that he might be able to grab it. Makes a lot of us following the Avs think that there might still be something wrong with his leg, his hip, his groin, or something because he has not been sharp.

Greg Mauldin knocked himself out of the game late in the game when he went head first into the glass when tripping himself over a Wild player. He left the game. Looked like he might have lost a tooth in this one.

Cal Clutterbuck, the league leader in hits, had a couple of questionable hits, most notable on Kevin Porter. Porter had turned his numbers very clearly out to the players, which means you aren't supposed to hit them, out of safety. Clutterbuck hit Porter, probably a bit softer than he could have but still a bit harder than he should. Adam Foote stepped in to protect his teammates, and Clutterbuck cowered away when he was challenged. Martin Havlat also took a few cheap shots. Was called for a blatant slash on Duchene early, then took a couple of little swipes at Foote throughout the rest of the game. Then, again, when Foote stepped up into his face, Havlat scooted backwards and started yapping once 3 of his teammates were between him and Foote. Some lack of class there. Though you expect tempers in a divisional game.

Speaking of divisional games, with this loss, the Avs are now 2-6-1 against teams in the Northwest Divison. That is not going to be good enough if you want to get to the playoffs. The Avs also have a lot of divisional games coming up. The play Edmenton and Calgary on back to back nights, and then host Vancouver. They need to play better within their division if they want to go anywhere in the post season.

Avs defense continues to hurt them. Shattenkirk had a horrible giveaway on their first goal. D unable to clear people from the front of the net in several situations. That has to improve. Avs also need to get healthy. They are seriously missing the likes of Chris Stewart and Milan Hejduk. Stewarts power and versatility is always tough for teams to deal with, and Hejduk just has so many intangible that he can always do what is needed.

Avs now get a few days off to think about what needs to get fixed, and then come back against Detroit on Monday.

Avs vs. Kings Recap

2010-12-21T21:09:00.005-07:00

The Avs came into this game with the longest active win streak, at 6 games. Could the push it to 7? We would see.

Scoring Recap
The Kings got things going on a pretty weak goal. Rob Scuderi put a shot on Anderson from the point. Andy made the save, but kicked the rebound right back to Scuderi. Scuderi put it to the back hand and put it past Andy on the short side. Andy reacted very poorly to that move, waiting until after Scuderi had made the move and shot the puck before he reacted. 1-0 Kings

Second period
The whole second period belonged to the Kings. The Kings had a few shifts that lasted a long time in the Avs zone. Brad Richardson got his 4th goal of the year against the Avalanche, he has 5 total in the season by the way. He redirected a pass by Doughty who made a great move after the Avs were unable to clear the puck from their zone. That has been one of the things that the Avs have struggled with, quick, efficient clears to get the puck out of their zone.

Third period
Avs just couldn't get anything going, at all. Dustin Brown got a goal where he basically was picking up the scraps. Kopitar made a great move to the front of the net and muscled his way past Kevin Shattenkirk. Andy stopped that one, but couldn't control the puck, or himself. The puck stayed still, and Andy slid out of the way, allowing Brown to just put it home uncontested. I say uncontested because Hunwick just stood there and watched as Brown scored. 3-0 Avs.

Dustin Brown scored again with about 5 minutes left. Cut to the middle, just sort of threw it at the net, and Andy gave up another soft one through the wickets.

Later, the Avs took a late penalty, and immediately gave up a one time power play goal by Justin Williams. Kings finish off the Avs and their win streak with a 5-0 beat down.

This was the first game that the Avs were shut out all season long. Mark Rycroft said that the Avs competed tonight but just didn't get the breaks. That is not really the case in my estimation. The Avs were clearly the slower, weaker team tonight. The big difference came when the Avs got down. In the past couple of games, when the Avs were scored on, they immediately came back and got on their opponents to even up the game. That did not happen at all tonight. Instead of rising up to equal the game, it really seemed like they were actually deflated by these goals. It was almost like they were so used to getting a tying goal when down that they just expected it to happen, but it sure did not.

The other big thing that happened in this game, and happened a lot when the Avs have been struggling, was the amount of shots that missed the net. There were a lot of those tonight that just went high, or wide. It's hard to score goals when the pucks aren't going on the net. Only 23 shots on goal tonight, and that is just not going to do it against a team that is scoring and is very solid defensively like the Kings.

Andy has also been very weak of late. Yes, he won his last 6 before this, but he has been giving up a lot of goals in those games. He's been soft, and needs to regain some of that form from last year, even a little of it, in order to make sure the Avs don't go on the wrong kind of streak.

One thing that you know is going to happen is that Sacco will be all over the guys about this. Sacco is not the type of coach that lets this type of play just go and assume that things will get better. You better believe the Avs are going to be worked in their next practice. My hope is that Sacco will stick with is form of holding players accountable. Hunwick has hurt this team since being here. Tonight you saw it again, where he goes and stands in front of the net, and watches as the other team crashes aggressively and scores an easy goal. Since joining the Avs, Hunwick is -5, and has only had a plus rating in 2 games. That doesn't necessarily mean he's playing poorly, but it does mean he's on when we're scored against. And many of the plays that we saw tonight, where he just stands and watches, has become a regular occurrence.

Well, Avs next game come on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. Avs hoping that Santa leaves an early Christmas gift under the tree and gets the Avs another big win against a divisional rival! Need a bounce back game!

Avs vs Canadiens Recap

2010-12-20T00:21:00.004-07:00

Well, what a game tonight for the Avalanche! After a rather up and down game against the Ottawa Senators a couple of nights ago, the Avs played host to one of the top teams in the Eastern conference, the Montreal Canadiens. Well, before I recap this game, let's give a bit of lead up, shall we?

Coming into tonight, the Avs had won 5 straight games. Not only that, but they were 6-0-2 in their last 8 games. The Avs were quite fortunate to pull out the win that they did against Ottawa, an overtime win 6-5, because they were sloppy defensively, and Craig Anderson was not very solid in net. But, the Avs were firing on all cylinders offensively, and managed to answer Ottawa at every turn. They had to know that if they came out with that same kind of sloppiness against Montreal, they would be made to pay for it. Well, they definitely responded in kind.

Scoring recap.
Mike Cammalleri got the scoring started for the Habs, on the PP. 3 of the Avs PK all went to the same spot to try and clear the puck, and failed. Leaving Foote alone on a 2 on 1. Cammelleri made a very pretty give and go and fired it right over Andy's glove. Never had a chance.

Avs answered on a PP of their own. Ryan Wilson scored this one from the point, through a ton of traffic in front with about 7 seconds left in the first period. Price probably never saw the shot.

Habs went back on top with another PP goal in the second. A shot rebounded off of Anderson right to the waiting Alexander Picard, distant relative of Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and pounded it home.

The Avs responded just over a minute later when Kevin Porter slipped one by Carey Price on a backhand as he rushed towards the net. This was a pretty weak one, by Price's standards, and I'm sure he would like to have it back. 2-2.

Then T.J. Galliardi put the Avs up to stay late in the 2nd period when Ryan O'Reilly but a very hard wrister on net. Price made a great save, up high, but the puck bounced straight up. Both Galliardi and Mauldin were crashing the net, and the Avs got a fortunate bounce off of Galliardi's leg, and past price. Proving the old saying true that "if you go to the net, good things happen."

The Avs survived an assault of shots in the third period, 14 to be exact, to hold on to the win. Anderson looking very good late, especially, to help the Avs hold on.

The Avs improved to 11-0-0 when leading after 2 periods, and the Habs fell to 0-11-0 when trailing after 2 periods, remaining the only team in the league to not come back and gain any type of point when trailing after 2 periods of play. The Avs also extend their win streak to 6 games, once again pulling ahead of the Vancouver Canucks by 2 points in the Northwest Division, and sit in 3rd position in the Western Conference. Where they will be by the end of tomorrow is anybody's guess in the crazy, crazy West.

Sadly, Matt Duchene's point streak was snapped in this game, but I don't think that will bother him too much. This guy is a huge team player. Galliardi returned to the lineup against Ottawa, after missing 17 games with a wrist injury, and has goals in both of his games. Not a bad way to come back. Since Anderson returned against Florida a week and a half ago, his only loss has come in OT, against those Panthers. Since then, he has not lost a game, and neither have the Avs. The Avs are in a current stretch of 19 games, where 15 of them will be played at home, and they have gotten off to a good start. As time goes on, this could prove to be a very crucial stretch of games for the Avalanche, where they very well could pull away from the Canucks as long as the continue to find ways to put the puck in the net.

One bit of bad news for the Avs tonight. Defenseman Kyle Quincey is to undergo season ending shoulder surgery after he was hurt in Washington against the Capitals. Obviously it is bad, because you never like to see a member of your team go down and out for the season. At the same time, Quincey has been very suspect, defensively, this year. He's made a lot of bad plays that have led to goals, and has been on the ice, just kind of standing and watching goals go in this year. He has been virtually invisible offensively, especially in comparison to what he did last year. Definitely hope he is able to fully recuperate from this injury and come back and play well.

Avs record now stands at 19-10-4, First in the NW Division. They play again on Tuesday when they host the LA Kings. Should be another good one as they try and push their win streak to 7 games! Go Avs!

Tebow Time in Denver

2010-12-20T00:00:00.004-07:00

Well, thanks to some soreness in the arm of Kyle Orton, the millions of Tebowites in Denver finally got their wish. Tim Tebow had his first start of his NFL career today against the Oakland Raiders in a 39-23 loss. Now, let's break down Tebow's performance.

Well, early on, things weren't looking so good, until Tebow had a huge break of 40 yards, on a 3rd and 23, for a touchdown. Immediately, I could hear all of Denver explode in a huge roar!! The savior is here!! Why didn't we do this earlier?! Orton could never do that!! It's all Tebow!! Well, slow down folks. First, this was a designed QB draw that isn't meant to get more than 5 yards. The effectiveness of the play didn't come from Tebow going Michael Vick on everybody and making tons of people miss. The play worked because the Raiders didn't expect it. They dropped back in a soft zone, rushed 3, and before anybody realized it, Tebow had the first down. Was it a sweet run? Sure! But don't get so excited quite yet. That play was much more the Raiders being shocked than Tebow being awesome. That should be evidenced by the fact that that same style Tebow Draw play was run several more times throughout the game, each of the rest of them not for more than 5-9 yards.

Next, Tebow and the Broncos took the lead in the first when Tebow floated a pass that Brandon Lloyd snatched out of nowhere for a touchdown. It was initially ruled incomplete, but was reversed after coach Studley, I mean Studesville, challenged the play. Once again, I hear the explosions of the Bronco faithful. They said Tebow can't pass! What a perfect throw! You see how that just fit right in! Orton can't make that throw! Once again folks, slow down. Look at the play again. Tebow underthrew the ball into double coverage. One Oakland cornerback had it go straight through his hands, and Lloyd made one hell of a catch. Again, this had far less to do with Tebow than it did with the Broncos being fortunate the Raiders corner was too propelled by his momentum to react fully and make the catch; and still required that Lloyd make one hell of a catch, keeping his eyes fixed on that ball through several arms.

The rest of the Broncos points all came from field goals. Tebow finished the game 8-16 for 138 yards, 1 TD. 8 rushes for 78 yards, and 1 TD. Yet, one review of the game that I saw was that Tebow "shined" in his first game. Umm, if by shined you mean didn't completely and totally give the game away, then sure. Don't get me wrong, I like Tim Tebow. Good kid who loves to compete that has won everywhere he's ever been. It's never bad to have a guy like that around, but let's slow down here folks. This was barely even a full start. He was not put in there to go and win the game, he was put in there to not lose the game. He threw the ball 16 times. Kyle Orton has 498 attempts in 13 games. Do the math. That comes out to 38.3 pass attempts a game. Tebow didn't even have half of that. I don't even remember the last time the Broncos had a QB only complete 8 passes in a game, and that is shining? No, no, no, no, no folks. Tebow did not shine. What he did was go out and not suck. Now, I do realize that, given the latest incarnation of our beloved Broncos, not sucking looks a whole lot like being awesome, but we need to call it what it is. The coaching staff did not want to put this game, or this team, on Tim Tebow's shoulders, so they didn't.

So before I hear another crazed, disillusioned Bronco fan say that Tebow needs to start right here and right now, please look at this game and take this simple fact away from it. Tim Tebow is not ready to be an NFL starter. And if people have learned anything from starting players before they were ready, it is this; if you put a player in that position, especially the QB position where the whole game depends on you, they will crumble. They will crumble in that season, and they will crumble beyond. Allow Tebow to develop. He showed some good things. But he mostly showed that he isn't a threat to throw the ball, and that his coaching staff did not trust him to do so. Back off on Tebow Time, Denver, it is not here, and it is now now.

KGs week 15 picks!

2010-12-18T16:52:00.002-07:00

I have been on FIRE the last few weeks. 12-4 again! My winning percentage is definitely climbing! 132-76, and hoping to keep the good times rolling! Make sure to check out my college bowl picks as well! Looking forward to those! So, here we go for week 15!!

Got San Diego over San Francisco for the first pick. Been doing much better since missing both of the first 2 Thursday games, though most of the choices have been pretty simple. So already off to a good start!

Cleveland @ Cincinnati: Cleveland hasn't been much help to me the last couple of weeks. I've picked them, and they keep losing. So I'm going to say that, in a close game, the Bengals pull this one out, Because Cleveland keeps losing.

Washington @ Dallas: So, the Skins have benched Donovan McNabb. I don't get this, at all. It isn't as if McNabb has been Haynesworth like in the way he has interacted with his teammates and coaches, and Rex Grossman sure as hell isn't a better quarterback. I don't know, maybe Shanny knows something that we all don't, or maybe Shanny actually doesn't have what it takes to coach in the NFL anymore. That would be very sad. But, nonetheless, Cowboys win this one.

Houston @ Tennessee: Houston lost in heartbreaking fashion last week. After such an amazing comeback, to have things end like that just hurts. Again, this is a must win for both teams, and Tennessee has been really not competitive in many of their recent games. Wondering what the odds are on another Finnegan vs. Johnson slug fest. You know eyes will be fixed on them. I take Houston in this one.

Jacksonville @ Indianapolis: Gigantic game for Indy. With a win in this one, Jacksonville pretty much wins the division. Peyton is clutch, and helps rally the Colts in a come from behind victory at home to keep their bleak playoff hopes alive.

Kansas City @ St. Louis: So we all know that Cassell was important to the Chiefs, but I don't think any of us realized that the Chiefs would completely fold without him. We don't really know if he's going to play in this one, but if he doesn't, hopefully they will be more prepared. St. Louis is playing decently, and needs a win to stay close in the NFC West, but they won't get it done here. KC wins in a competitive game.

Buffalo @ Miami: Buffalo's is really a much better team than they are given credit for, they just can't find a way to fully get it done. Best solution for that, playing the Broncos. Sadly, they have the Fins in this one, who take this one.

Philadelphia @ NY Giants: This has potential to be the game of the week. Will the G-men be able to even the score against the Eagles for the season? Can anybody stop DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick? The winner of this game probably wins this division. In a really, really close game, I give the edge to the home team to just squeak by in this one. G-men.

Detroit @ Tampa Bay: Tampa is for real, give me the Bucs.

Arizona @ Carolina: Toilet Bowl!! **Flush** Nobody cares about who wins this one except for the teams all gunning for the top 5 draft picks. I think that Carolina continues to stink, Arizona takes this one.

New Orleans @ Baltimore: This should be a good game as well. Hard to tell. If this were last year's Saints team that was lighting up everybody in the league, I'd go with them, but since they are definitely not as dominant as they were, I have to give the edge to the Ravens.

Atlanta @ Seattle: Atlanta will destroy the Hawks in this one.

Denver @ Oakland: Well, apparently Tim Tebow is going to get the start in this game. I don't predict this to go very well for him. I don't think he's going to come out and forget how to throw a football or anything, but I don't think that anybody in Denver is realistic about his skill level right now. People believe Tebow will save the Bronco's franchise. I'm definitely not there yet, and I'll need a hell of a lot more than the one and a half pre-season games he's played in, 1 touchdown pass, and couple of other runs to sell me otherwise. Right now the Broncos are one of the biggest jokes of the NFL, and the Raiders have their number. I'll take the Silver and black in this one.

NY Jets @ Pittsburgh: When did this Jets team become such sissies? I mean, seriously. They don't have nearly the fight that they did at the start of the year. They used to be the clear pick to win the AFC East, now, they are holding out hopes for a wild card. Steelers should take this one.

Green Bay @ New England: Without Aaron Rodgers, the Packers have no chance in hell. Pats.

Chicago @ Minnesota: This is going to be a cold, boring game being played outdoors in glacier covered Minneapolis right now. I forsee a very run heavy game, and the Bears will take this one. I hope Favre starts a new streak, of sitting games out.

30 games in, Avs outlook

2010-12-15T20:40:00.002-07:00

Well, what an interesting last 10 games it has been for the Avs! The Avs have had some serious injury issues, some very long road trips, a lot of tests, and there are definitely a lot of questions still to answer about this team.

At the beginning of the evening, the Avs were ranked 1st in the NHL in goals scored, with 108, so there has really been no issue with this team scoring goals. The only issue is that they are also up there in the goals allowed, with 95. All things said, however, they have held tough.

Once again, the Avs began to face adversity when Craig Anderson got injured a second time, with a groin pull this time around. Chris Stewart got injured while beating an opponent to a pulp in a fight. The Avs promptly had a streak of 5 games where the Avs seriously struggled. Especially defensively. There have been some seriously questionable defensive plays by the likes of Ryan Wilson and Kyle Quincey and our new acquisition, Matt Hunwick. But, coach Sacco addressed the issues, switched up some pairings, and the Avs, with a win in Chicago tonight (and it looks like they are headed that way right now with a 4-2 lead in the third) they will take the division lead in the northwest division. Yet, questions remain!

Questions
Can Craig Anderson stay healthy!?
He's looked good since he came back from his injury. With the win (that just now finished in Chicago) he's 4-0-2 in his last 6 games. He's really got to stay healthy to give the Avs some consistency because, as good as Budaj was in the first time that Anderson got hurt, Budaj was HORRIBLE in the second round of starting for the injured Andy. We've got to keep him in the net.
If he can stay healthy, can he maintain the form from last year?
Then, we need that form. The Avs have played much better defensively than last year. Last year, they were outshot badly in MOST of their games, they have been far more assertive this year.
Why has it taken so long to bring Jonas Holos back to the line up?
The Avs were having defensive issues earlier in the year as well, and then Jonas Holos came up with a couple of injuries and so much happened! The Avs called up Holos, and suddenly the Power play picked up, Holos was a +5 while he was up, and the Avs were really playing well. Then he got sent down when people were coming back from injury, and we saw some pretty awful play **quincey, wilson** cough cough.
Is there any hope of getting more size back on that blue line?
In one of 2 trades that the Avs made, they picked up a carbon copy of Kyle Cumiskey in Matt Hunwick. In exchange, we gave up a pretty good sized, young defensemen with a huge shot, Colby Cohen. We got smaller, which is one of our biggest issues. Yes, Hunwick can skate like the wind, but put him down behind his own net fighting for the puck against a strong power forward, and who do you think is going to come out with it?
What will be done with the likes of Kyle Cumiskey and Kyle Quincey?
Kyle Cumiskey has been out with a concussion for a while, and while he was in the line-up, everybody always had to hold their collective breath while he is on the ice. He makes VERY bad decisions with the puck, and stands no chance against anybody in front of his own net, or down low. So, with a little guy, who has a big concussion, whose really only redeeming trait is that he can skate really, really fast. So, we either send him down to Lake Eerie, the Avalanche minor league affiliate. The Avs could use him as trade bait, but who would bite on a guy like him? Undersized, no real shot, bad in his own end, but really fast.

Pluses!
Tomas Fleischmann. This guy has exploded in the past couple of games. Hat-trick tonight against the Hawks, and seems to have great chemistry with Matt Duchene, which can be all you really need to jumpstart things. He was struggling in Washington, but is now proving to be more than worth what the Avs gave up, Scott Hannan, to get him.

Matt Duchene
This guy has really started scoring. After tonight, with 2 more assists, he is now tied for the team lead in scoring with 32 points. This kid is going to be, and I mean very soon, the next great leader for the Avs. Next year is the end of his rookie contract, expect the Avs to tie him up LONG term.

Greg Mauldin
Wait, who?!? That's right, Greg Mauldin. Just watch this guy play, and you will be a fan of him. From the second he jumps on the ice to the moment he gets off the ice, he is going full steam; attacking the puck and everybody that has it. In the last 10 games he has 2 short handed goals. He's great defensively, is physical, and surprises people with his speed. Reminds me of a lot of the things that Dan Hinote used to do for the Avs. Lots of good stuff is coming for Mauldin.

Kevin Shattenkirk
Lots of people were expecting him to make the team out of camp this year, but he didn't. He came up with some of the injuries, and was immediately effective. This guy isn't big, but he plays much bigger than he is, and he's so smart. His body position is always good, he reverses the flow at the right times, and he has some serious speed as well! In 19 games, he has 16 points. He's active offensively, but still smart and effective defensively. Something that our D has been lacking. Very happy with his play, and don't expect to see him leaving the line-up any time soon.

So what is to come? Well, in the next 19 games, the Avs play 15 at home. This could be a HUGE time for them to try and keep themselves atop their division, and possibly the conference. They have played quite well at home, and hope to continue their great offensive position. The only thing they could do to improve where they stand right now is to get a little bit bigger and more intimidating on the blue line. Other than that, keep the goals coming, the Avs could be in for a lot of wins right now. This could be a defining stretch for this team. Are they going to establish themselves as a top tier team in the Western Conference? Or will they stay in the middle of the pack? I suppose we will see.

College Bowl Picks!

2010-12-11T19:52:00.023-07:00

The college bowl season is upon us! Last year, I went with a formula that changed half way through because I kinda ran out of time. THIS year, we are going to go with a few ways of figuring these out. 1. I will simulate each bowl game on my NCAA 11 PS3 video game, at the highest level of difficulty. 2. I will tell my wife the 2 teams, and she will chose who she thinks will win based solely off of the mascots. I will also take some direct quotes from her for her reasoning 3. I will look at the two teams, do a little bit of looking, and make my own actual choices for each bowl game. At the end, we will see which method is the most accurate. So, here are our Bowl Matchups!

There are a lot of games happening, so I will have to update this post as the games come along. So please don't think I've given up. I just want to make sure that I do each game justice in the amount of work I put into it, so for now you can see some of my individual picks, as well as all my wife's picks, and all the NCAA 11 picks. Enjoy!

New Mexico Bowl:
BYU vs. UTEP:
NCAA 11: UTEP manages to get the first down and kill BYU's final time outs. UTEP escapes with a 27-21 victory.
Wife: Wife likes the Miners because it makes her think of the 7 dwarfs.
Me: BYU is heavily favored in this matchup. Add that with the fact that UTEP hasn't won a bowl game since 1967, and I'll take the Stormin' Mormans in this one pretty easily.

Humanitarian Bowl:
Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State:
NCAA 11: FSU manages to kill the clock, and takes a 10-0 victory in a very uninteresting game.
Wife: "Huskies all the way, they are much better"
Me: Well, we have 2 teams from not such great conferences. Northerin Illinois has 10 wins, but never really played a real decent team. Fresno State has played some decent teams, and lost to most of them. The one opponent these 2 had in common was Illinois, a Big 10 school. NIU lost, but FSU won. Neither team is really favored, and they seem pretty evenly matched. So, in a coin toss, I'll go with Northern Illinois.

New Orleans Bowl:
Ohio vs. Troy:
NCAA 11: Lots of turnovers in this game. Biggest one was a pick-6 for Ohio. Final score. Ohio 23-Troy 3
Wife: **Wife laughs** Trojans.....cuz it reminds me of the condoms. sings: **trojan man!!**
Me: Ohio doesn't really pass the ball, and Troy has had a zillion people passing and rushing the ball. That could be confusing for Ohio. Who's going to do what? Troy's D, however, gives up about 31 points per game. I don't see them sticking with Ohio in this one. I'll take the Bobcats.

Beef O'Brady Bowl:
Southern Miss vs. Louiville:
NCAA 11: What started out looking like it might be a very high scoring game, slowed down a bit. But Louisville pulled out a close win in the end. 20-14, Louisville.
Wife: Cardinals. "My mom's favorite bird is a cardinal, so therefore they are better."
Me: Southern Miss had the best run defense in Conference USA, allowing only 1360 yards all season. Not bad. Also, they had over 2000 yards rushing on offense. Not too shabby at all. Louisville lead the Big East in rush yards, also with over 2000. And their defense gave up only 18 points per game. Hard to believe that they were 6-6. This looks like it could end up being a pretty high scoring game. Another one that's hard to tell. But I think I'll go with Louisville, who plays in the much tougher conference.

Maaco Bowl:
20 Utah vs. 10 Boise State:
NCAA 11: Boise State holds on in a close one. 23-21.
Wife: Broncos, that and it's boise state and I have friends that went there. I don't even know what a Ute is, really.
Me: I'll take Boise State in this one without hardly thinking about it. They should win this pretty easily.

Poinsettia Bowl:
Navy vs. San Diego St.
NCAA 11: SDSU wins big. 23-3
Wife: Aztecs. Blood and gore and human sacrifices trump the shipmen.
Me: 2 rush heavy teams that have had pretty decent years. Navy is option based, and San Diego St. has a bit more balance with the pass, but still relies on the run most of the time. So count on this being pretty heavy on the run. This will pretty much be a home game for SD St. though, so I'll give them the advantage there.

Hawaii Bowl
25 Hawaii vs. Tulsa
NCAA 11: What a game this one was! Tulsa rallied from 2 TDs down in the last quarter to tie it and send it into OT! Then they won in OT on a pick-6. Hell of a game, with Tulsa winning 37-31
Wife: Hurricans can be gold? Well, they can be pretty traumatic, so I'll go with the Hurricane. Is it worse if it's a gold hurricane?
Me: Another couple of teams that don't play in the strongest conferences. Hawaii is in the WAC, and get demolished by Boise State. Though they put up quite a number of points on USC at the start of the year, and even beat Nevada. Hawaii put up amazing offensive numbers, averaging just about 40 points per game, and was first in the WAC in passing yards with over 5000. Making this quite an unfortunate match up for Tulsa, who gave up the most passing yards in Conference USA. Hawaii is heavily favored, and with the advantage in passing offense to passing defense, I can't see any other way to pick but with them. I'll take Hawaii.

Little Caesar's Bowl:
Florida International vs. Toledo:
NCAA 11: Toledo wins in a blow out. 33-7
Wife: Rockets! What's with the golden thing!?
Me: Toledo has the better record, and has played a couple tougher opponents, even gaining a victory against Big 10 school Purdue, who isn't doing so great themselves this year. However they don't really shine in any one place. Their run defense is probably the best stat that they have, but their defense does still give up points in the high 20s per game. Florida International, however, has rushed for over 2000 yards this year, in 12 games that's pretty darn good, but have had a much weaker schedule than Toledo. FIU does have games against the Big 12 (Texas A&M), ACC (Maryland), Big East (Rutgers and Pitt), and were competitive in most of them. That might help them against a team like Toledo. Tough one to pick, but I'll take Florida International in this one, and defy EA Sports. :-)

Independence Bowl:
Air Force vs. Georgia Tech:
NCAA 11: Georgia Tech wins a somewhat close game. 24-17
Wife: Falcons. I hate yellow jackets. I hate it when they sting and my hand swells up....
Me: Air Force is at 8-4, and Tech is at 6-6. Air Force made big news when they nearly beat Oklahoma earlier in the year. Air Force played, and lost to, 2 other top 10 teams this year as well, TCU and Utah. Georgia Tech pretty much just struggled all year long, and was never able to find any kind of consistency. Both of these are option style offenses, so a big ground game will prevail in this one. Georgia Tech rushed for almost 4000 yards this year, but gave up more than 2000. Same with Air Force. These teams are almost carbon copies of each other, except their wins and losses. I look for a high scoring game, with lots of options. Perhaps the team that can mix in the pass the best will win this one. I think that I'll go with Air Force.

Champs Sports Bowl:
22 West Virginia vs. N.C. State:
NCAA 11: NC State pulls off the upset in this one. 21-20
Wife: Mountaineers.
Me: NC State was 2nd in the ACC in points scored per game, which is pretty darn good. They also earned a pretty good victory against a strong Florida State team. They have a very good passing offense that was tops in the ACC. Their defense was pretty average, neither great nor horrible, and was right in the middle of the ACC all year. They have a good run defense, allowing the 2nd fewest rushing yards in the ACC. West Virginia was 3rd in the Big East offensively, and was incredibly stingy on defense, allowing the fewest points (12.8 per game), and fewest rushing yards (just over 1000) in the Big East. Defense is clearly their strong point. Their offense was very balanced, as well. Their run offense was slightly more efficient, nearing 2000 yards for the season, but they still had good success through the air as well. All that combined, the stingier defense will prevail, and it's hard to pick against West Virginia in the case.

Insight Bowl:
14 Missouri vs. Iowa:
NCAA 11: Iowa wins a high scoring game. 48-35
Wife: Tigers. I'm not sure if they are actually meaning a hawks eyes or a type of flower.
Me: Missouri had some very good success this year, defeating Oklahoma in a big upset. Iowa showed promise at the start of the year, but lost 3 in a row, a couple that they probably should have won, at the end of the year. Iowa's biggest problems from the year came against the pass, which does not bode well for them against a Missouri team that runs a spread offense. So I guess the big question is which Iowa team will show up? The one that lost 3 in a row at the end of the year, or the one that completely dominated Michigan St. and Penn State? Tough to say. Missouri has been more consistent, so I'll go with Missouri.

Military Bowl:
East Carolina vs. Maryland:
NCAA 11: ECU takes a very uninteresting game. 14-10
Wife: What the hell is a terrapin?? Pirates!! Skull and crossbones baby!!
Me: Maryland should take this one pretty easily. ECU did have a decent offense, but their defense was last in Conference USA. Giving up more than 3000 yards passing, and more than 2500 yards on the ground. Maryland was pretty average all around, but against such a poor defense, the average begins to look pretty darn good. Terps, easy.

Texas Bowl:
Illinois vs. Baylor:
NCAA 11: Baylor wins huge 35-3
Wife: Bears. At least we can pronounce that!!
Me: Well, neither of these teams had stellar years. Both teams lost to any and all ranked opponents that they faced. Illinois definitely had some good success running the ball this year, with almost 3000 yards. Their defense was pretty average. Middle of the pack in the Big 10. Baylor's offense was more balanced. Throwing for more than 3000 yards, and rushing for almost 2500 yards. Baylor's defense was where their biggest issue was, allowing nearly 4000 yards passing, but still under 2000 rushing. Baylor is also the most penalized team in the Big 12, both in number of penalties, and in penalty yards. They have to be more disciplined against Illinois. This is also almost considered a home game for Baylor, as it is still in Texas, which can have an effect on the way the game is played. I think Baylor's tendency for penalties may hurt them in this game, and I'll take Illinois in a close game.

Alamo Bowl:
16 Oklahoma State vs. Arizona:
NCAA 11: Arizona pulls away late for a 42 - 21 victory
Wife: Gonna have to go with Oklahoma!
Me: 10-2 Oklahoma St. is a heavy favorite over their Pac-10 opponent. Ok. State has only 2 losses this year, both to very good Big 12 teams, Nebraska and OU. In both losses, they scored more than 40 points. Arizona won all of their non-conference games, but struggled mightily within the Pac-10, going 4-5. Oklahoma State had the most points and yards per game in the Big 12, which is not an easy thing to do. Strong balance on offense, passing for more than 4000 yards and running for more than 2000 yards, both very, VERY impressive in a 12 game season. Defense was a bit soft against the pass, but held its own vs. the run. This may be the only place Arizona can compete, because they are a very pass heavy offense, though they did struggle with that this year. I will take Oklahoma State in this one by 2 touchdowns.

Armed Forces Bowl:
Army vs. Southern Methodist University:
NCAA 11: SMU wins big 38-3
Wife: Don't they go together anyways?! Mustang and Black Knights?! When it comes down to it, I'll take the Mustangs because of that horrible blue Bronco outside of DIA.
Me: Army has had an average season, at 6-6. SMU was also average, at 7-6. SMU has more balance than Army, which is exclusively run in their option offense. SMU wasn't great against the run, but their offense did pretty darn well all year. I just think there's too much SMU in this one, and Army takes another loss.

Pinstripe Bowl:
Kansas State vs. Syracuse:
NCAA 11: Syracuse takes a close one. 24-21
Wife: Wildcats. Cuz an Orange is a fruit and, unless it has developed a way of poisoning the wildcat, I don't see how it can win!
Me: Big 12 and the Big East collide in this one. Not a lot of excitement here, again. Both teams are 7-5. K-State ran the ball pretty well this year, but were equally bad in their defense of the run this year, giving up close to 3000 yards on the ground. Syracuse's offense was particularly bad this year. 3rd worst passing in the Big East, and 2nd words rushing. Perhaps K-State's defense is in for a good game! Either that, or the Wildcat's sieve-like defense will be just what the Orange needed. Syracuse's defense was actually pretty stingy, especially against the run, so something is going to have to give. This should be a close one, and a tough call. So I will go with K-State, mostly because it is my first impulse based on how well they ran the ball. Their defense will have to be much improved though.

Music City Bowl:
North Carolina vs. Tennessee:
NCAA 11: Tennessee squeaks this one out. 17-16.
Wife: I think the Tar Heels are going to be stuck to the ground because of the Tar on their Heels, so Volunteers. Nothwithstanding that I have family in Tennessee.
Me: SEC and ACC here. Could be another close game. Tennessee has had a very frustrating year, to say the least, going 6-6. They have lost to every ranked opponent that they have faced. Carolina managed a victory over Florida State this year, which was their only win over ranked opponents. NC's offense and defense were respectable, staying in the middle of the pack of the ACC most of the way. Tennessee was towards the bottom of the SEC, especially their offense. I'll take Carolina in this one.

Holiday Bowl:
17 Nebraska vs. Washington:
NCAA 11: Washington, in a huge upset 28-25.
Wife: Huskies. They're prettier than a cornhusker.
Me: I don't see any way for the Huskies to win this one. They are better than their record suggests, but they are no match for a very tough Nebraska team. Huskers.

Meineke Bowl:
South Florida vs. Clemson:
NCAA 11: South Florida takes this one. 24-21
Wife: Bulls. Meaner. If they gore you, you will die a slow, painful death.
Me: 2 mediocre teams, again. Clemson had pretty decent showings against both Auburn and Miami (FL) this year, but still only managed a 6-6 record. South Florida actually beat that same Miami team, but is only 7-5. South Florida was well towards that bottom of the Big East offensively, but was respectable on defense. Clemson gave up the fewest points in the ACC, but was less than stellar offensively as well. I'll just take the stronger conference in this one, which is the ACC. Clemson.

Sun Bowl:
Notre Dame vs. Miami (FL):
NCAA 11: Miami wins by 2 TDs. 28-14
Wife: Fighting Irish! They have the luck on their side!
Me: This game, if played 10 years ago, would mostly likely be for the national championship. These 2 programs have definitely gone down hill in the last 10 years, but are both on their way back up. Both teams are 7-5, and finally back in a bowl. Miami's big strength this year, by far, was pass defense. They didn't allow even 2000 yards through the air all season. But their run defense leaves much to be desired. That may be Notre Dame's path to victory right there. Notre Dame's offense has been pretty balanced, but will have their work cut out for them against Miami. Based on defense, I'm going to have to go with Miami in this one.

Liberty Bowl:
UCF vs. Georgia:
NCAA 11: UCF stole one late. 28-21
Wife: Knights.
Me: UCF is 10-3 but is a big underdog. They had a much weaker schedule than Georgia, and that's one big reason, I'm sure. Georgia was pretty good, all in all, offensively, but were just ok on defense. They gave up close to 2000 yards on the ground, and that is a strength of UCF. Again, strength of schedule needs to be a bit of a consideration in this, and there is no denying that Georgia had the stronger opponents. Based off of that, I'll take Georgia.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl:
19 South Carolina vs. 20 Florida State:
NCAA 11: Florida State takes it in OT. 47 - 39
Wife: Florida State. Gamecocks?? I could say something really naughty, but I'm not gonna!
Me: This should be a very, very good game. South Carolina played for the SEC championship, and FSU played for the ACC championship. Both lost, but are still quite formidable teams. South Carolina has some very impressive victories over Florida, Georgia, and (most notably) Alabama (who was ranked #1 at the time). Florida State will have to be ready for anything against these guys, because SC is a very balanced team, with a lot of ability. Florida State did the best on the ground, and South Carolina's D is best on the ground. This will be quite a good game. Lots of scoring, I think, with the Gamecocks prevailing in the end.

Ticket City Bowl:
Northwestern vs. Texas Tech:
NCAA 11: Texas Tech owns this one, big time. 45-10
Wife: Red Raiders. For no other reason than it sounds like "redrum", and that's fun!
Me: Texas Tech is a 9.5 point favorite in this game. Northwestern has a rough last game, allowing 70 points to Wisconsin. You know they're going to want to do better than this. Texas Tech had the 3rd best passing offense in the Big 12, and Northwestern had the 4th worst pass defense in the Big 10. Texas Tech is a primarily pass offense, so things may be a bit long for Northwestern. I'll take Texas Tech.

Capital One Bowl:
15 Alabama vs. 7 Michigan State:
NCAA 11: Bama wins 23-7
Wife: Spartans (After a coy smile and shrug of shoulders)
Me: Many people have highlighted this game as the one that will be the best non-BCS bowl game, and who can blame them. Last year's national champions vs. one of the most unpredictable teams in college football. This has excitement written all over it. Michigan St. has been very balanced offensively and defensively. They were 3rd best in points allowed in the Big 10. Bama's defense has been very stingy, giving up the fewest points in the high powered SEC, with an equally powerful offense. This game may be able to go either way. In recent history, the Big 10 has not had a lot of success against the SEC, so I will keep running with tradition here, and say Roll Tide!

Outback Bowl:
Florida vs. Penn State:
NCAA 11: Penn State takes a very competitive game. 23-19
Wife: Gators.
Me: Florida has had a rough year. Pretty much any time they played against a team where people thought they would measure how good the Florida team actually was, they fell flat. They were hammered by Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida State. Penn State didn't have a great year, and it's amazing to still see Joe Pah still coaching. Florida has been very run heavy, barely getting over 2000 yards passing this year. Penn State had better success passing, but not by a ton. They were very similar in running the ball, with 1700+ yards. Penn State was pretty strong against the pass, but gave up nearly 2000 yards on the ground this year. Florida could be able to exploit that. Florida's D was pretty good. The better D will take this one, so I'll take Florida.

Gator Bowl:
21 Mississippi St. vs. Michigan:
NCAA 11: Mississippi St wins by 8. 28-20
Wife: Wolverines (after a moment of thought)
Me: Another SEC vs. Big 10 matchup. Michigan has a very versatile QB and an exciting wildcat style offense. Their offense put up almost identical rushing and passing yards, at almost, or just slightly above 3000. Michigan's defense was the big let down for them, allowing almost 34 points per game. They also gave up the second most rushing yards on defense. Mississippi St.'s defense has been quite good, allowing the 3rd fewest points in the SEC, which is quite something in that conference. Also the 3rd fewest rushing yards. That's the way to beat Michigan, force them to pass. Mississippi St.'s rushing offense had more than 2500 yards this year, which might make things difficult for a weak Michigan rush defense. Looks like another win for the SEC. Mississippi State.

Rose Bowl:
4 Wisconsin vs. 3 TCU:
NCAA 11: TCU wins 27-21
Wife: Badgers, because the Horned frogs just makes it sound like the "Christian Students" are a little randy and want to do it.....in a pile.....like frogs......going **interesting hand motions and sound**
Me: I had a conversation online with somebody about this the other day. They were asking if I thought TCU could hang with Wisconsin. I said, I think that they probably can, but we don't know. I mean, how many people thought Boise State would even be in the game at the end of the half against Oklahoma a few years ago when they shocked everybody? TCU has a great defense, there is no doubt about it, but they haven't had that opportunity to show us all that they are completely for real yet. Is that their fault? No, they've played 2 good bowl games in the last 2 years against a good Boise State team, but never anybody like Wisconsin. Do I think they can hold with Wisconsin, sure, I think they can. But this is their chance to show it for sure. Until they do, I'm going to have to go with the big guys on this one, and take Wisconsin.

Fiesta Bowl:
Connecticut vs. 10 Oklahoma:
NCAA 11: Oklahoma easily. 31-14
Wife: Sooners? What, do they just do it Sooner? Ok, sure, why not! The Sooners! Get it done Sooner! Whatever it is!
Me: I'm going with the vast majority of everybody here. Oklahoma has been there and done that, and has also been upset by the team that nobody expects to win. UCONN has never been to a BCS bowl in their history. It's a nice story for them, but don't expect a Cinderella story in this one. Sooners in a landslide.

Orange Bowl:
5 Stanford vs. 12 Virginia Tech:
NCAA 11: Stanford gets a last minute TD to take it. 31-24
Wife: Hokies. What the hell is a Hokie? Ok then, we'll go with the Tree.
Me: Stanford only had one game all year in which they scored less than 35 points. Very impressive within the Pac-10. Only loss for them came against Oregon, who is playing for the national championship. Va. Tech won the ACC this year with a strong running game, and scoring the most points in the ACC. High scoring team. Their Defense was 2nd best in points allowed, but weren't particularly stingy in yards given up, especially in the running game, giving up nearly 2000 yards on the ground. Stanford had the top defense, as far as points allowed, in the Pac-10. Their defense was not super stingy either, but they were very good against the pass, and respectable against the run. Stanford's offense was well balanced, and lethal, with one of the better QBs in college football running it. I think this is going to be a good day for the Cardinal. I'm gonna take Stanford.

Sugar Bowl:
6 Ohio State vs. 8 Arkansas:
NCAA 11: Ohio State wins big. 38-13
Wife: I like the Buckeye flower, they're pretty!
Me: Just hearing the school names, I think most people would just straight out take Ohio State, but Arkansas has had a great year this year. Arkansas really hung with both Alabama and Auburn this year, really pushing both teams. Ohio State has had another great year, with just one loss to Wisconsin. If Ohio State has a weakness, it's their passing game. Terrel Pryor can throw the ball well, but it really isn't his first instinct, and 2700 yards passing vs 2600 yards running the ball definitely shows what the Buckeye's bread and butter is. Defensively, however, there was nobody better in the Big 10 as far as points, pass yards against, and rush yards against. Ohio State definitely has a dominant defense. Arkansas is a big time pass first offense. They led the entire SEC in pass yards, with more than 4000. Even though they were lower on the scale running the ball, in the SEC, they still had over 1800 yards, but we are certain where they make their money. Defensively, Arkansas is still pretty solid, though they struggle a bit against the run, where they have given up 1800 yards on the ground. This should be a pretty exciting game, which could get pretty high scoring. Ohio State has had issues against SEC teams, but I think that they should be able to take this one.

GoDaddy.com Bowl:
Middle Tennessee St. vs. Miaimi (OH)
NCAA 11: Middle Tennessee State wins on the last drive of the game. 24-20
Wife: Gonna have to go with the Red Hawks. Cuz Blue Raiders just make it sound like the Blue Man Group dressed up as pirates. And that's not scary, that's just funny.
Me: Frankly, you know there are too many bowl games when this is one of your post New Year's Day matchups. Sun Belt vs. Mid-American conference? Not a bowl game that too many people are going to care about. Falls into the filler period between new year's day and the actual BCS National Championship game. Anywho, I'll go with Miami (OH) in this one.

Cotton Bowl:
11 LSU vs. 19 Texas A&M:
NCAA 11: LSU wins late. 30-23
Wife: I might have to go with the Aggies. Mostly because I actually know that team a little bit. May have heard of them. Friends and family that went there.
Me: This should be a very good game. Both of these teams are very tough and incredibly intense! A&M is very balanced offensively and defensively. They shine against the run especially, only giving up 1400 yards all year, which was tops in the Big 12. LSU is also great defensively, but especially against the pass, tops in the SEC. Offensively, they basically do nothing but run the ball. LSU didn't even break the 2000 yard mark in their passing game. This is going to be quite the game. I'm going to choose based off of balance, and A&M is slightly more balanced. This should be a hell of a game, and could just as easily go the other way. But give me the Aggies.

BBVA Compass Bowl:
Pittsburgh vs. Kentucky:
NCAA 11: Pitt runs away at the start of the second half. 38-6
Wife: I have to go with Panthers, my brother goes to Pitt.
Me: Another filler bowl game that really holds no significance. Kentucky's big win this year came against South Carolina, but otherwise they were pretty much trounced in the SEC. Pitt didn't have much more success in the Big East, which isn't anywhere as good as the SEC. Kentucky is very weak against the run on defense, and Pitt has a pretty darn good run game. Might be close, but again, not too many people are really going to care here. I'll go with Pitt.

Fight Hunger Bowl:
13 Nevada vs. Boston College:
NCAA 11: BC takes it in a lot of overtime. 50-47
Wife: Wolf Pack.
Me: Nevada is definitely the better team here. Give me Nevada.

BCS National Championship Game:
2 Oregon vs 1 Auburn:
NCAA 11: Oregon wins 29-17.
Wife: I have to go with the Ducks. Even though I have friends that went to Auburn, I have to go with the Ducks. Quack quack!!!
Me: This will be an amazing game!! How do you pick this one!? The #1 offensive team in the country, Oregon, vs. the Heisman Trophy winner who may or may not have received a whole bunch of money to play for Auburn this year. Whether he did or didn't, there's no doubt he was the best player in college football this year, he just shouldn't win an award with his involvement in this scandal. I bet he has to return his too. Anywho, to the game. Oregon had a pretty good game plan for a similar running QB last year when they played Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Newton is more straight forward about his run first mentality though, so that could be tougher. Oregon, however, does have a very able run defense, who can tackle, and that is the big key against Newton. You have to make sure you tackle him, not just try and hit him, because he is huge! The key for Oregon here is to make Newton throw the ball, which he still does pretty well. Auburn struggled against the pass, however, and that can mean bad news against a seriously high tempo offense that loves to throw the ball, like Oregon. Either team will have a hard time running away from the other one. I wouldn't be shocked if both teams manage to get over 40 points in this one. Man will it be exciting. I'm going to go with Oregon in this one just because there is no offense in the country like theirs.

KGs week 14 picks!

2010-12-11T19:32:00.002-07:00

Had another good week last week. 12-4 again, except I forgot to put my picks in to my pick'em league. Silly me. Went from 1st to 4th. Here's hoping I make a bit more ground this week. 120-72 now. Moved up to 62.5% correct!

Picked the Colts this Thursday and was right on that one. So another good start to the weekend. Already 1-0, let's see if I can't get 15 more! :-)

Cleveland @ Buffalo: Cleveland has actually shown that they can beat tough teams this year, Buffalo has shown that they can get close to tough teams, but then let it get away at the end. Bills move closer to the #1 pick after they lose to Cleveland.

Green Bay @ Detroit: Green Bay, easy.

NY Giants @ Minnesota: G-men, whether or not Favre starts. The game will be closer if Favre is NOT playing. Giants are the team to beat in the NFC east right now.

Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh will be tested in this game, Bengals always play them well, but the Steelers take this one and move closer to another division title.

Tampa Bay @ Washington: Tampa is for real, and has a really competitive team. The Skins, on the other hand, are really struggling. They may keep it close, but the Bucs prevail.

Atlanta @ Carolina: Carolina stinks, Falcons move closer to their division crown with this one.

Oakland @ Jacksonville: Should be a good game here, but I think Jacksonville eeks this one out in what will be a closer game than the 10 point victory suggests.

St. Louis @ New Orleans: St. Louis is playing well, is doing well, has exceeded everybody's expectations. But no way they beat the Who Dats in their house. Give me the Saints.

Seattle @ San Francisco: Seahawks have fallen off their impressive start, but since both these teams play in the worst division in football, nobody is really out of it. I'll take the Niners in this one.

New England @ Chicago: Bears get a real test here, and will FAIL, miserably. I definitely hate the Pats, we all know this, but they'll be the Bears. Look for Cutler to spike in picks in this game. Take away his running game, and he'll throw 3-4 INTs a game.

Miami @ NY Jets: Jets need to win this one, and I think they will. They now have to count on the wild card after being embarrassed by the Pats.

Denver @ Arizona: Broncos did the first smart thing that they have done since hiring McD, and got rid of him. Now their former RBs coach is the head coach. This will probably be an ugly, UGLY game, but it's weird how the players will execute so much better after the head coach gets canned. Broncos win their 4th, and possibly last, of the year.

Kansas City @ San Diego: A good game here. KC holds their playoff destiny in their own hands. Win, and they pretty much clinch the AFC west, lose, and they still are the favorites to win the AFC West. What a job Todd Haley, Charlie Weiss, and Romeo Crenell have done with this team. They are creating a culture of winning in a team that has come close in the past, but never gotten over the hump. I like the Chiefs, but think that the Chargers will take this one since they are at home.

Philadelphia @ Dallas: Philly will embarrass Dallas in this one. I look for this one to get out of control in about the 3rd quarter.

Baltimore @ Houston: Absolute must win for Houston if they want to have any chance of getting to the playoffs. They'll put up some points against an older Ravens team that has its good weeks and its off weeks. In the end, Ravens take this one, and possibly move Gary Kubiak one step closer to taking over the Broncos job.

Hoping for 15 more correct guesses this week! Enjoy football this weekend! I will! Look out for my College Bowl picks VERY soon.

And Just Like That....

2010-12-06T22:09:00.005-07:00

**poof**....He's gone. No, not Keyser Soze, Josh McDaniels. The short lived tenure of, now former head coach, Josh McDaniels, came to an unceremonious end on Monday when Pat Bowlen "relieved McDaniels of his head coach duties." I guess that's a nicer way to put it.

Pat Bowlen then names Running Back's coach Eric Studesville, who immediately gets points for having an awesome name, as interim head coach. This move makes sense for the time being. Studesville has a lot of experience, coaching running backs since 1997 with several teams. Wink, Denver's defensive coordinator, is too busy dealing with being in the Bronco's revolving door of defensive coordinators to possibly take on the head coaching position. And I don't know that anybody can actually name Josh McDaniel's offensive coordinator, since he was so insistent on calling all of the plays and running the offense. Plus, I don't see this as a long term move. Studesville definitely doesn't have the chops, quite yet, to hold a head coaching job, and this is pretty much a just finish things out as strongly as you possibly can situation. Nobody is expecting anything from the Broncos the rest of the way, so 4 more losses would definitely not say anything bad about Studesville.

So, now that the boy king is gone, where do the Broncos go from here? Well, the obvious names will immediately pop up. If the Broncos don't at least make a run for Bill Cowher, they are fools. One thing you can always say about a Bill Cowher coached team is that they are tough, and will be ready to play. That guy knows how to motivate a team. Next, Jon Gruden. Gruden built up the Raiders to be a dominant force in the AFC, and then was traded to Tampa Bay, where he took an already pretty loaded team to a Super Bowl Championship. He helped them get over the hump. Gruden has the same type of fire that McDaniels has, but Gruden won't be caught screaming and fist pumping after 1 touchdown early in a game. Plus, a Super Bowl ring as a head coach will earn you immediate respect.

Then, we might have the not so obvious names. Two names have come up this year as possibly being done in their respective locations. First, Jeff Fisher, another guy who prepares his teams every single week, and holds his players accountable. They guy is great defensively, which should be a HUGE attraction point for the Broncos, whose defense has been inconsistent every single year for the last 7 years. The next is a form Bronco and former Bronco coach, Gary Kubiak. Rumored to possibly be in his last year in Houston if he can't get that team into the playoffs. A Denver guy who was our offensive coordinator for 2 super bowl championships, doesn't hurt! He would be embraced by the fans and organization immediately, and might get us a running game again. Remember when everybody said that you could plug anybody into the Bronco's backfield and they could run for 1000 yards? Well, that was a Kubiak coordinated offense.

Those are my top names for possible Bronco coaches, and I would love to hear anybody else's ideas as well! I will close with the greatest image of the year thus far. Ta, ta, Josh. Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!

All Is Not Well...

2010-12-05T18:46:00.005-07:00

Just as Marcellus, that well known Shakespearean character (you know, that guard that Horatio sort of knew in Hamlet? No?), once said about Denmark, I now say about the Denver Broncos. "Something is rotten in the state of the Denver Broncos." Doesn't have quite the same ring as Denmark, but it doesn't make it not true.

6 games into last season, everybody in Denver, including me, was made into a Josh McDaniels believer. Since that time, things have definitely changed. After their 6-0 start, the Broncos quickly regressed from their very impressive start, went 2-8 in their last 10, and missed the playoffs showing very little, if any, backbone in the process. Flash forward to this year. Not only did we not have the same great start we had a year previous, it seems this team just plain forgot how to win. After a very pathetic display in Kansas City, losing 10-6, the Broncos are now 3-9. Making us 5-17 since that amazing 6-0 start from last year. Simply put, that just won't do it. This dismal effort really needs to be credited to one man, Josh McDaniels.

Obviously, it is still the player's job to come out and play the games well, but if the coach isn't respected, and isn't able to prepare his team every single week, no matter who you're playing, then your coach bares the brunt of the responsibility. The crystal clear demonstration of this came between weeks 6 & 7for the Broncos this year. Week 6, the Broncos lost a heartbreaker the the NY Jets, whom many expect to win the AFC East, if not the AFC itself, on a last second pass interference call that put the Jets on the Broncos 1 yard line with less than a minute to play. Not disputing the call, but it was heart breaking. The following week, at home no less, the Broncos come out against a Raiders team that really wasn't showing too much to a lot of teams, and got thrashed. Gave up 59 points to a team, at home, and showed absolutely no fire at all. In fact, McDaniels left the starting team in the entire game, instead of holding them accountable for their obscene lack of effort. The team was not prepared, and that is a direct reflection of coaching.

Just recently, McDaniels was, once again, caught up in a scandal involving his videographer taping the 49ers practice for the game in London. Now, considering he came from the Patriots, where this is pretty common place, I suppose we should have expected something like this, but it is not something that a franchise like the Broncos has ever gotten caught up in in the past. This is a team that has been to 6 Super Bowls, and won 2 for crying out loud. This is a proud franchise, or it was, anyways, and cheating was never something it had been associated with.

Couple these two things (the horrible inability to prepare his team, and the alleged cheating), with his horrible personnel decisions, and you have possibly the worst coach in the NFL. People asked questions about trading Cutler, but not too many people would want him back after what Orton has done. But since then, there has been terrible move after terrible move. In the 2009 draft, he traded away a 2010 first round pick to move up and get Alphonso Smith, an undersized corner back who barely played last year, and then was traded to Detroit this year. Sure glad we gave that pick up. Then he traded Peyton Hillis to Cleveland for Brady Quinn. Hillis is leading the Browns in rushing and is making a SERIOUS difference for that team. The Broncos have the worst running game in the NFL, and Brady Quinn is our 3rd string quarterback. Brandon Marshall was sent to Miami for a 2nd round draft pick, which we then traded to Baltimore during the draft. And Tony Scheffler, our outstanding receiving tight end, was traded away to Detroit because McDaniels basically didn't like him. We haven't had a decent receiving tight end this year as a result of this. Let us also not forget the dismissing of Mike Nolan, the defensive coordinator that turned our laughable defense into a respectable one. Probably because Nolan was a better coach than McD was. Now, one or two of these types of moves are forgivable, but put all of these together, and you just get a guy that doesn't understand personnel. I'm not including the drafting of Tim Tebow in this because we have yet to see how that is going to play out.

Now, Pat Bowlen has said that he was going to have McDaniels as coach again next year, and then back tracked, saying that he wasn't locked in and would do what was in the best interest of the team. Well, I think it's pretty safe to say that an 11-17 record is not what this team expects. The Denver Broncos expect, and are expected, to compete for the playoffs. This is a proud franchise with a lot of really good history. This team, and its fans, do not take well to being the laughing stock of the NFL, and we generally run the people out that attempt to make us that. Dan Reeves hinted at trading John Elway, and he was run out so fast it isn't even funny. Shanny led us to 2 Super Bowls, and when he didn't get us to the playoffs 3 years in a row, he was let go, because we expect to compete for the playoffs. The Boy King has shown himself to be arrogant in his relationships with his staff and players, incapable of making personnel decisions that positively impact the team, unable to prepare his players week in and week out, and all around incapable of leadership.

People say that you need to give rebuilding time, but the time for rebuilding has just begun. The Broncos, under Shannahan, always competed for playoff spots. McDaniels's version of the Broncos barely compete in every game. The time to rebuild is here and now, and it starts with getting rid of the coach. There is some great potential for some amazing coaches to come in who will command respect from their team right away. The top of the list is Bill Cowher. He comes into the room, and you immediately listen to him. His teams are always tough, prepared, and are no nonsense. Another potential coach is Jon Gruden. Things ended badly for him in Tampa, but he led the Raiders to their only Super Bowl appearance in a long time, and won a Super Bowl with the once lowly Buccaneers. You flash your ring to these players who don't have one or haven't even seen one, and you immediately gain their respect. You have been to the promised land, so your methods are legit. There are others to look at as well, I'm sure, but those are my top 2 choices. These may also be affected by the potential work stoppage of next year, but whether there is a season next year or not, one thing is certain, Josh McDaniels should NOT be the coach of the Denver Broncos next year.

KGs week 13 picks

2010-12-04T20:15:00.002-07:00

108-68 after another 12-4 week. Very nice. Here's hoping for another good week!!

Houston @ Philadelphia: I chose Philly in this game, and was right! Finally, after the first 2 Thursdays flubbing for me, I have been 4-0 on Thursday for the last 2 weeks. So good way to start the week.

Denver @ Kansas City: Denver absolutely hammered KC the last time these two played. Since then Denver has lost the last 2 in a row, in rather embarrassing fashions. KC is on the road to the playoffs, and Denver is on the road to a top 5 draft pick. Chiefs beat the Broncos in this one.

Cleveland @ Miami: Browns have been spoiling a lot of team's parties, though probably still don't have a shot at the playoffs, and the Fins are playing desperate right now because they are in a tough division and will probably be the odd team out. This is kind of a tough one to pick, because Cleveland is so surprising, yet at the same time, not really all that good. And the Fins are a team that really should be better, with all their talent, but have been a pretty big disappointment. This is kind of an eenie meenie type game for me, but I'll take the Browns in an upset. We miss you in Denver Peyton Hillis, and we'd like to trade Josh McDaniels to get you back.

San Francisco @ Green Bay: Green Bay, easy.

Buffalo @ Minnesota: This could be another very interesting game. Another team with huge expectations that has pretty much dropped the ball from the get go, and Buffalo, who has been bad, but not that bad all at the same time. They've been in most of their games of late, and have lost some serious heart breakers. I have a feeling that they could push over the Vikes here, but I just don't think they'll fully manage it. Vikes in a close one.

Chicago @ Detroit: Bears will take this one.

Jacksonville @ Tennessee: Jacksonville is playing well, and Tennessee is not doing so great. Nobody really expected to see the Jags on top of the division right now, but they are. And Moss has been a no factor for Tennessee. He's not doing a great job selling himself to other teams for the end of his contract. Jags keep going.

Washington @ NY Giants: G-men. Shanny hasn't quite gotten over the hump with these guys yet, and the giants are setting up for a playoff run. G-men should take this one down.

New Orleans @ Cincinnati: Well, once again it is time to begin calling them the Bungles. Saints should take this one. Lots of passing against a very weak secondary.

Oakland @ San Diego: I don't know what it is about San Diego and the way the play a season out, but they suck early, and they're good late. Oakland managed to take one from these guys earlier in the year, but I don't think that this is going to happen this time around. San Diego is playing too well, but they'll disappoint in the playoffs again and finally fire Norv Turner. You know, the Chargers might have actually won a super bowl if they had kept Marty Schottenheimer.

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay: Atlanta is the real deal, and has the inside track to home field advantage in the NFC playoffs, and they keep going today.

Carolina @ Seattle: Panters stink, Seahawks are ok, Hawks take this one.

St. Louis @ Arizona: St. Louis has a possible track into the playoffs, which would be amazing after their previous year. Arizona is awful, I'll take the Rams.

Dallas @ Indianapolis: Give me the Colts bouncing back in this one. They know that they have to work hard to make the playoffs this year. Manning won't let this one get by. Give me the Colts.

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore: Always a good match up between these guys. Two teams at 8-3, always running for the top of the division. Hard to pick a winner, they just know each other so well. Baltimore took the first one in a close one, and I think the same is bound to happen here. But these ones are always close games, so you never know.

NY Jets @ New England: GAME OF THE WEEK!!! Easily. Jets are the better team here, in my opinion, but the Pats are hot now, and I've rarely seen a top team so affected by playing at home versus on the road. I believe that the Jets will end up taking this one, mostly because I hate the Patriots, but Rex Ryan just seems to know how to beat these guys.

KGs week 12 picks!!

2010-11-27T14:32:00.002-07:00

Had a much better start to my weekend this time, going 3-0 on Thursday. Had the Pats, the Saints, and the Jets winning, and they finally came through. Much better last week as well. I recovered from my pitiful 5-9 showing to go 12-4. With the exception of Thanksgiving, I have never liked Thursday night football. Wrote about that last year. Check it out if you like. Anywho, 96-64 after my 12-4 week, looking to keep on the up trend.

As I mentioned, I got New England over Detroit, the Saints over Dallas, and the Jets over Cincinnati. So 3-0 already, here are the rest.

Green Bay @ Atlanta: Green Bay has been playing so great lately, and they have one of the better secondaries in the league, plus a good pass rush. Atlanta is also playing great, but I just think that Pack prove to be too much.

Pittsburgh @ Buffalo: Pittsburgh, no question. Though the Bills may make it closer than people think. They have surprised several teams that nobody really expected them to be much of a factor against.

Carolina @ Cleveland: Carolina stinks, and Cleveland has discovered a leader in Peyton Hillis. I look for Hillis to have a big day in beating up the Panthers.

Jacksonville @ NY Giants: The g-men should be able to take this one in what will be a pretty exciting game.

Minnesota @ Washington: This is one of those games where I really can't tell one way or the other. It is pretty much a coin flip for me, as both of these teams aren't playing very well. I gave it to the better running game, which is AP and the Vikes.

Tennessee @ Houston: This division is actually up for grabs for the first time in a really really long time. Both of these teams have a possibility of winning it. I think the Texans have to win this in order to keep their division title hopes alive, and I think that they will squeak it out.

Miami @ Oakland: Another interesting match up here. The Fins have been up and down, and now they're kinda banged up. They are struggling to find some really good consistent offense, and the Raiders are sort of surprising people with some good wins. I think that Oakland should be able to take care of business at home here.

Kansas City @ Seattle: Good game here, but I think KC is too much for the Seahawks in the end.

Philadelphia @ Chicago: Bears have a much better record than they rightfully should. Bad quarterback, old defense. They are going to get picked apart in this game. Lots of people have been throwing around Vick's name for MVP. I seriously hope not because I find him an absolutely reprehensible human being, but he's playing some seriously awesome football right now. Iggles, easy.

St. Louis @ Denver: Well, if you look at it, Denver should win this game. I have the Broncos picked to win, but I won't be shocked one bit if they blow this one too. I'd almost be happier if they did blow this one. The more they lose, the faster the boy king, who apparently wants to be so much like Bill Bellichick that he will even cheat the same way that he does, will get run out of town. At any rate, I pick the Broncos, but secretly hope that they will lose.

Tampa Bay @ Baltimore: Baltimore has let some teams stick around this year, which isn't something that they have a history of doing. Their defense hasn't been nearly as dominant as in the past, so they could have their hands full against the Bucs. Full or not, they are still a group of veterans who have been there and done that, and will end up with a W against the Bucs.

San Diego @ Indianapolis: Another tough one for me to pick. Colts are favored, and are playing at home. Colts have Peyton Manning, whom I almost NEVER bet against. Colts are, however, quite banged up and are without several of their weapons. Colts have also always had issues beating San Diego, no matter how much better they actually are than them. San Diego also has the #1 offense and defense in the league. Put all those things together, I have to pick the Chargers. I hate doing it, because I despise Phillip Rivers and Norv Turner, but that's just how it is.

San Francisco @ Arizona: This has become kind of a who cares type of game. Both teams are out of any realistic type of contention for anything. It's hard to pick this one. Tweedle Dee, or Tweedle Dumb? I'll simply take the 49ers because they are the only of these two teams that have played with any type of desperation this year. The cards have pretty much been like a balloon very quickly deflating. With the same sound as well.

Check us out on Facebook, if you haven't already!! Join our group there, and follow us on twitter @thesinbin1. Be seeing you around!

Vancouver Woes

2010-11-24T22:29:00.004-07:00

The Avs are having issues in Vancouver. Not just troubles of the winning kind either. Though the Avs just did lose tonight, 4-2, they lost a bunch more than just a game. For the second time in as many trips to Vancouver, the Avs lost goalie Craigh Anderson, this time to an apparent groin injury. Then, later in the game, Adam Foote went down with a leg injury that sure didn't look too nice in the replay. A knee to knee incident where you immediately saw that Foote couldn't support his weight anymore, and had to be helped off of the ice.

As if that wasn't enough, the game winning goal for Vancouver was scored when Tambellini, #10 for the Cannucks, hit backup goalie, Peter Budaj, in the head with his stick, which then bopped an airborne puck straight back into the net. This was the second game in a row where Vancouver scored a goal off of Budaj's head. You just can't ask for luck this bad against a team.

Plus, after the Avs had pulled back to within one goal, they managed to give the puck away at their own blue line which lead from one Sedin, to the other, then the Alex Burrows, and then to the back of the net. This was definitely more about poor puck possession than bad luck, but the whole night was just off for the Avs. Poor play in their own zone, constantly making bad attempts to clear the puck which resulted in several shifts where they were pretty much just running around in their own zone, not getting enough offensive pressure, and still taking too many penalties (though they did manage to keep Vancouver's #1 rated power play off of the score board tonight) led to this loss.

The Avs play tomorrow in Edmonton, and they had better look better than they did tonight. Joe Sacco said in the teams pre-game skate that these three games, which started with the Cannucks tonight, should be easy ones to motivate for. Well, while they weren't as horrible as they were the last time they played the Cannucks, they sure didn't look as if they were ready to come out and beat the Cannucks tonight. Tomorrow against the Oilers, a team that they should definitely beat, and then again on Saturday against the Wild, another team that has been bottom dwelling, that they should beat. Let's see how motivated and prepared this team is, because games against those kinds of teams, the teams that you really should be whenever you play them, is one of the things that will make you or break you when it's time to see who makes the playoffs.

History to be Made in College Football

2010-11-23T18:23:00.005-07:00

Not so much that it looks like a PAC-10 team is going to be represented in the national championship game, we've seen that a lot, though rather exclusively with one team in recent history. But it does look as if Oregon is going to be making its first ever appearance in the BCS Championship game. The biggest questions, and possibly the most history making answer, will come in who is going to be their opponent?

I went to school in Washington, so I knew a lot of people who were very passionate about Oregon college football, but it has really been a long time since I have had a team to care about. As a kid, growing up in Colorado, I definitely had a thing for CU, and remember watching the amazing Orange Bowl game in which CU won its first, and only, national championship. That lasted up until the days of Kordell Stewart, and the Miracle in Michigan, and Rashan Salaam winning the Heisman Trophy. Since then Colorado College football has been kind of boring. I do always like to watch the bowl games on New Years, and saw the Oregon vs. Ohio State game last year. Even though Oregon lost that game last year, I could not get over how much fun it was to watch that team. So, since then, Oregon has become my college football team of choice. So I am quite happy to see Oregon sitting atop the college football rankings.

Now, if I had my choice of teams to pick for who I would want to play against Oregon in the national championship game, it would be Boise State. Not a hugely flashy team, but they do have some very fun trick plays up their sleeves that just makes things fun to watch. I mean, who can forget that hook and ladder play against Oklahoma that put them on the map. They still pull out some gems every now and their unpredictability, against the speed and excitement of an Oregon team would make for the most interesting game.

The most likely game to happen, and this pretty much depends entirely on what happens this week against Alabama, is Oregon vs. Auburn. Now, Auburn's QB, Cam Newton, has been in the news a lot recently about possible violations while he was at Florida. Depending on the outcome of these allegations, as well as whether or not they are able to beat the defending national champs, could definitely affect whether or not Auburn makes it that far. We must, of course, remember that Auburn does still need to play a South Carolina team that handed Bama its first loss of the year in the SEC championship. Auburn, while I believe the most likely choice, is still far from a sure thing, and will have to continue to play its impressive brand of football in order to get there, especially if they may end up without their team leader at QB. It's definitely hard to picture Auburn winning out without Cam Newton.

Now, should Auburn lose, we could see TCU end up in the national championship game, which would still provide us the history that so many people are aching for when it comes to the BCS system never giving non-automatic teams the time of day, but it lacks quite the following that Boise State has. TCU is a great team, but just aren't quite as sexy as Boise State is. I mean, it isn't like TCU plays on purple turf or anything like that.

Potential darkhorse teams. Other than Boise State and TCU, the only other team that really has much of a chance to squeak in, and they would need a lot of help from all the teams in front of them, is Wisconsin. Wisconsin is looking to assure themselves of the Big 10 Title with a win over Northwestern this week. If nothing else, Wisconsin, with a win, will manage to make it back to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 2000. Considering that Northwestern is a far inferior team, there is not much of a reason for Wisconsin to not claim the Big 10 Title this year, but most likely will fall short of the national championship game.

Whichever way it ends up, the road up to the national championship game is going to be one that is filled with twists and turns, and some seriously exciting football! I know that I am looking forward to it.

KGs week 11 picks!

2010-11-21T00:07:00.003-07:00

Trying to get my picks in, and I have had wine, so we'll see how well these come out in my slightly tipsy version of my picks. Please excuse any typos that you might see. :-) 84-60 after a horrible 5-9 week last week. Looking for an improvement.

Miami @ Chicago: I chose Miami in this one, and missed. 0-2 in my Thursday picks. Boo.

Buffalo @ Cincinnati: This is an interesting match up. I honestly wouldn't be that surprised if Buffalo wins, but I just think that Cinci's receivers are too good for Buffalo's secondary. I'll take the Bengals.

Detroit @ Dallas: Sometimes a change in coach will light a fire under the player's rear ends to. Seems that that happened in Dallas. I think the boys will win 2 in a row, but still won't be going too far too fast. Cowboys.

Washington @ Tennessee: Skins are in disarray. Titans will take this one, but it could be a pretty close game.

Arizona @ Kansas City: Arizona is in transition, and KC needs to rebound after a horrible week against the Broncos last week. I think that KC will bounce back and take this one.

Green Bay @ Minnesota: Favre is still hobbled, and Green Bay has the NFL's sack leader. I think the Pack are finally ready for a regular season win against their arch rivals. Give me Aaron Rodgers and the cheese heads.

Houston @ NY Jets: Tough one here. Both of these teams have been making it hard for people to decide which way they are going. The Jets are doing well, and Houston should definitely be a threat in the playoffs, but both teams have had some let downs in the not too disatant pass. I'll give the edge to the Jets since they are playing at home, but won't be surprised if the Texans take this one. Jets.

Oakland @ Pittsburgh: Steelers. No question.

Baltimore @ Carolina: Ravens, not even a small hesitation. This one will get ugly fast.

Cleveland @ Jacksonville: This one could be deceptive. Jacksonville is a traditional run team that seems to be moving towards more passing. And Cleveland now has a pretty stellar run game, led by Peyton Hillis (whom I still desperately wish was in Denver.). I have a funny feeling about this one. I've picked against Cleveland the last 2 weeks, and been punished for it, so I will stop. Give me the Browns.

Atlanta @ St. Louis: St. Louis is much improved, but not enough to take out a very talented Falcons team. Atlanta.

Seattle @ New Orleans: Seattle needs to get better fast, but won't happen against the Saints.

Tampa Bay @ San Fran: I believe that Vegas has San Fran as the favorite in this one. If I'm a betting man, give me that bet. I'll take the Bucs in this one, easily.

Indianapolis @ New England: The one that everybody will be worried about. I'll tel you my main reason for this pick, injuries. I almost never will pick against Peyton Manning, especially against the Pats, but I just think that Colts have too many injuries to overcome the Pats this time. It makes me feel dirty, but give me the Pats.

NY Giants @ Philadelphia: A very good game in the making here. G-men looking to rebound against a Philly team that DESTROYED the Skins last week. If there is a D that is good enough to stop Vick, it's the G-men, but Vick is too hot right now. Give me the Iggles.

Denver @ San Diego: Denver played great last week, stemming the tide of McDaniels hot seat talk, but that won't continue. I forsee another pretty bad beating from the Chargers in this one against my home town boys. Please, fire McD. The Broncos run game is a disgrace because of this guy, get him the hell out of town. Chargers.

The Avs Start to Get Healthy

2010-11-19T23:03:00.004-07:00

10 games after my last post on the Avs, and a lot has gone on. The night I made my last post, Craig Anderson went down with a knee injury and nobody knew how long he would be out. Well, he returned tonight and helped the Avs to a 5-1 victory over the New York Rangers.

Over the past 10 games, the Avs have seen a lot of faces come up and contribute, due to necessity from injury. Adam Foote went out, Kyle Quincy, Kyle Cumiskey, TJ Galliardi, Craig Anderson, David Koci (though nobody really noticed his absence as all he does is come out for a couple of minutes and then sits for 5 minutes). Normally, a team this hit by injury, you would expect to crash and burn, but in the last 10 games, that have been without Craig Anderson, the Avs are 7-3. Why the success? The young blood that has come in, and, strangely enough, Peter Budaj. I mean, this is the guy that didn't manage to stay ahead of Jose Theodore, and assisted the Avs to a 14th place Western Conference finish, yet he's helped the Avs to a 7-3 record in their last 10. Why?

Well, here's my theory. Last year the Avs allowed more shots on goal than any other team in the NHL. And Craig Anderson bailed them out A LOT! There were very few games in which the Avs actually out shot their opponents last year, and they were quite frequently badly outshot. In the last 10, the Avs out shot their opponents 4 times, were exactly even in shots twice, and really only badly outshot once, against the Sharks in an OT victory. Something seems to have happened to this Avs team that took a full season and 20 games to catch on.

In the last 10 games, the Avs have scored 40 goals, and only given up 24. Once Craig Anderson went down, then Adam Foote, and other defensemen, it seems as if this team realized that they couldn't actually rely on their goalie to steal games for them, and realized that some serious offense was in order. Suddenly, the Avs have realized that the best way to win the games is to score against your opponents. And the young blood that was brought in has definitely helped.

Kevin Porter has scored some great goals, and actually has the GWG in the last 2 games for the Avs. Kevin Shattnekirk has proven to be very effective defensively, and has 2 goals in his last 2 games. Colby Cohen was involved in a lot of scraps in the time that he spent, and even managed to get under the skin of Jarome Iginla. Jonas Holos jumpstarted the Avs power play with his big shot, and helped with his physical play.

Now, the Avs are getting healthy. Adam Foote is back in the line-up, Craig Anderson is back in the line up, and it is obvious that those two should be brought right back into the line-up. Both great leaders for this team, but now there is a real question about what to do with the 2 Kyles, Cumiskey and Quincey, when they get back. If you ask me, at least one of them needs to go. We have a better offensive defensemen right now, and it would be a huge mistake to send him back down. Shatty is ready for the big time, and has already proven that he is more reliable than both of the Kyles in his own zone. I'm quite interested to see where this Avs team goes. They are now tied for first in the NW division, and if the type of offense keeps coming around that we have seen in the last 10, and Andy and Boods actually get the support that they have needed, we could possibly see a big move up in the standings for these Avs.

As the giant homer that I am, I will keep rooting for my Avs to make a return to the top of our division.

KGs week 10 picks!

2010-11-13T22:04:00.002-07:00

9-4 last week, not half bad. My fantasy teams continue to tank, with the exception of my pick'em league. Grand total of 79-51. Hoping to keep my rolls going.

Baltimore @ Atlanta: Happened Thursday. I chose Baltimore, and was wrong. **sigh**, oh well.

Cincinnati @ Indianapolis: Cinci has been so inconsistent this year, and Indy has been hammered by the injury bug. Cinci's inconsistency is worse in the end. Colts win this one.

NY Jets @ Cleveland: Cleveland pulled off another huge win last week. They are better than people give them credit for, and have a strong possibility of winning another big one. I think the Jets come well prepared enough to squeak out a close win. But give the Browns their due. They have risen about the poor Cleveland designation.

Minnesota @ Chicago: Well, 2 teams that both aren't playing very well. Bears have definitely slowed since their hot start, and the Vikes have never really gotten going, but with that exciting come from behind victory they got over Arizona last week, they may have found a rallying point. Their defense especially seemed to have gotten a shot in the arm. I think they will ride that momentum past the Bears this week.

Tennessee @ Miami: Randy Moss's debut with the Titans. He has played the Fins very well in the past. The Fins have also had a very difficult schedule, and the Titans won't make things any easier. Fins will keep it close, but will fall short again.

Houston @ Jacksonville: Houston got screwed on a bad call last week. That full catch rule is ridiculous. If it is no longer a touchdown when a guy catches the ball, crosses the plane of the goal line, and has control of the ball the entire time he's crossed the goal line, then I don't know what is. Jacksonville still isn't very good, and Houston is on the rise. They have to show that they can bounce back, and they will.

Detroit @ Buffalo: Bufallo stinks, Detroit is flirting with relevance. I'll take the Lions.

Carolina @ Tampa Bay: Tampa Bay has shown that they have a legit chance to win their division. Carolina has shown that they can't really do much of anything this year, I'll take the Bucs.

Kansas City @ Denver: I love my Broncos, but they have no ability to really do anything this year, other than get hammered. They couldn't stop the Raiders run game, and they won't be able to stop the Chief's run game. Broncos take another step towards a new head coach this week, and lose another division game at home.

St. Louis @ San Francisco: Rams have played very well this year, far exceeding expectations. San Fran has been the exact opposite, and are coming off a bye after beating the Broncos in England. This could be a close one, but the Rams should be able to pull this one out.

Dallas @ NY Giants: Dallas is going nowhere fast, but down. The G-men are moving closer to another division title. G-men.

Seattle @ Arizona: Arizona totally blew it last week. They had the Vikes right where they wanted them, and, in the immortal words of Dennis Green, they let them off the hook. They can't do that again. I do, however, believe that the Seahawks will take this one down.

New England @ Pittsburgh: New England can't play on the road against anybody, and the Steelers are much tougher than Cleveland. She Said No will definitely have his way with the girl in the Pat's huddle (apologies for that).

Philadelphia @ Washington: Good win for Philly last week, and maybe Vick will finish this game out this time. I think that if Vick stays in all 4 quarters they will take this one. Too much drama in D.C., Iggles prevail.

Here's hoping things go well this week!

KGs week 9 picks

2010-11-06T16:30:00.005-06:00

Crazy NFL season continues!! My fantasy teams have been a pretty huge disappointment at this point in time. The only exception has been the excellent picks that I have made. I am currently number 1 in my yahoo pick'em league. Very happy about that! So, with that said. Here are my picks for week 9 of the NFL season. By the way, 8-5 from last week, not great but still a winning record, puts me at 70-47 for the season. Just barely under 60% correct. Hoping to get better!

Tampa Bay @ Atlanta: Tampa has played quite well this year, but Atlanta is really starting to find their rhythm. Atlanta will take this one in a very good game.

Chicago @ Buffalo: Buffalo has shown some life in this season, but never on defense. Bears should win this one.

New England @ Cleveland: Cleveland has the biggest shocker win of the year when they beat the Saints. I think they will be more competitive than people expect during this game, but still can't take down the Pats.

NY Jets @ Detroit: Detroit finally got a win last week, but are they able to win 2 in a row for the first time in what seems like a decade? Not this time. Jets bounce back and take this one.

Arizona @ Minnesota: Inconsistent vs. inconsistent. The inconsistent Vikes will take this one.

New Orleans @ Carolina: Saints got a HUGE win last week against a very good Steelers team. I think that they will keep things rolling against a not very good Carolina team. Saints.

Miami @ Baltimore: Miami has been so up and down this year. They can play tough teams, as shown against the Steelers, when a very questionable call kept them from winning the game. So don't rule them out against Baltimore. But, I do think that Baltimore is going to take this one. Ed Reed will ball hawk like he always does and will make a big play against Chad Henne.

San Diego @ Houston: San Diego showed some heart last week, coming back to beat the Titans. Houston needs to bounce back after losing to Indy. Houston has shown great resolve this year, and I just haven't seen much of anything that has shown San Diego is consistent enough to hold the Texans offense down. This will be a good one, but I have a feeling Houston will take this one late.

NY Giants @ Seattle: Seattle needs to show what they are made of after getting killed by Oakland. They may play decently, but will still not beat the G-men.

Kansas City @ Oakland: Oakland has tons of confidence after scoring a total of 92 points in the last 2 weeks. Kansas City needs this win to keep moving a head of the rest of the very mediocre AFC West. Oakland will probably lead early, but KC will prevail in this one.

Indianapolis @ Philadelphia: This will be a great game. Vick is coming back for the Iggles. And the Colts are still short a lot of people. But, if there is a person who can deal with injuries in their team, it is Peyton Manning. This guy is just so efficient. Had some tough games this year, but I just can't pick against Peyton Manning. Give me the Colts.

Dallas @ Green Bay: Cowboys are going nowhere fast, except for down. Packers win this one.

Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati: Cinci has so many question marks, just can't really ever seem to put the whole thing together. They will play the Steelers tough, just like always, but She Said No and crew will take this one down. Steelers.

KGs week 8 picks

2010-10-30T16:07:00.004-06:00

Well, here we go again! It appears that A-Mac sat out last week for one reason or another, so I've cushioned my stats. I believe that I was 9-5 last week, getting both the Sunday night and Monday night games in order to assure a pretty good week, putting me up to 62-42 for the season. Still looking for that awesome week of picks, but man oh man has the league been a tough one to choose this year. Well, here we go.!

Miami @ Cincinnati: Cinci's secondary stinks, and their offense is anemic. Miami has a very underrated receiving core, and I have a feeling that the Bengals are going to get shredded in this one. Fins.

Jacksonville @ Dallas: No Romo, bad defense, stupid penalties, Cowboys just have everything running against them. I have a feeling that the Cowboys are going to just keep falling down. I think the Jags may have this one.

Washington @ Detroit: Last year, Washington was a winless team's best friend. They are better this year, and the Lions have been ever so close to pulling things out, but just can't. This could be a good game, and I think it will stay close, but I think the Skins will take this one.

Buffalo @ Kansas City: Buffalo has random weeks where they score a ton, but still lose because their defense stinks. They just aren't going to go anywhere this year. Bills lose again.

Carolina @ St. Louis: St. Louis is so improved this year, and actually have a fighting chance to make the playoffs. They keep those chances pretty healthy this week and beat a horrible Panthers team.

Green Bay @ NY Jets: Packers just can never seem to pull away, and if you let the Jets hang around, they'll beat you. Home field doesn't hurt either, give me the Jets.

Denver @ San Francisco (kinda): This one is out in England, in a game that nobody actually cares about back in the states. The niners are this year's biggest disappointment, and the Broncos just plain suck. I have a feeling that this team has quit on the boy king again, and I may be fairly shocked if the Broncos win 2 more games all year. So the players clearly don't care about McD, so I won't be surprised by how bad things will get for the Broncos. Niners win across the pond.

Tennessee @ San Diego: How bad does San Diego have to play in order to no longer be favored? These guys have forgotten how to win. Tennessee is too tough for them. Phillip Rivers will get hammered, but still not nearly as badly as he deserves to get creamed. Titans.

Seattle @ Oakland: Was Oakland really that good? Or is Denver just really that bad? I'm going with the latter. Seahawks move closer to an NFC West title with a win in Oakland.

Minnesota @ New England: I bet Favre plays, because his ego is too huge, and continues to hurt his team. Then, if Jackson plays, he's just not that good of a QB. Pats, either way.

Tampa Bay @ Arizona: Arizona is in disarray. Who'd have thought that Kurt Warner held together that team this much! Give me the Bucs.

Pittsburgh @ New Orleans: I am officially off the Saints wagon. These guys have forgotten how to dominate. And that is not a good thing to forget when you are playing a team like the Steelers. You turn the ball over that many times against Cleveland, it makes people scared about what will happen to you against the Steelers. No need for a blown call in the endzone this week, the Steelers will win.

Houston @ Indianapolis: Houston shocked the league with a huge win against the Colts in week 1. I don't think that the Colts will let that happen again. Colts take this one at home.

9 games in, my thoughts on the Avs thus far.

2010-10-26T20:34:00.006-06:00

Well, we're nearly 10 games into the NHL regular season, and we are once again seeing some great action from the Colorado Avs. Craig Anderson has been good, although we are now awaiting word on his injury from warm ups in Vancouver (other than it is a knee injury), and the team has its skating legs. But there is definite room for improvement.

First off, bright spots. John Michael Liles has been a HUGE bright spot. 0 goals, but 11 assists in 9 games, with a record setting assist in each game. He's not a big guy, and he doesn't have a huge shot, but he's a very fast skater who can get the puck to the net and let the bigger guys get things done. With 11 points in the first 9 games, you have to think that cracking 40 points will be a no brainer. Could be a career year for Liles.

Daniel Winnik was possibly the best offseason pickup by the Avs this year. This guy is fast, and smart. He's great defensively, and is able to contribute offensively. He logs a bunch of penalty minutes, and may get you 15 goals, great contribution from a 3rd line guy. I have been amazingly impressed by this guy, and won't be surprised to see his ice time continue to go up.

Chris Stewart. Always wonder about a guy who really busts out in a contract year. Wonder if he can put out that same type of effort now that he got a raise. So far, so good. 5 goals, including that amazing bomb (at 33 seconds) that beat the great Martin Brodeur. This guy is the real deal. I'm expecting 30 goals from him.

Minuses.
Special Teams.
As pointed out by several people, such as Adian Dater, have pointed out that the Avs are very undersized on the blue line, which hurts both your special teams. Hard when you don't have a big guy to get a big shot on the PP, and then you also can't keep your crease clear on the PK. Avs PK is located towards the bottom of the league, and the PP has given up 4 short handed goals, which you just can't do. This could be a big deciding factor in whether or not the Avs make the playoffs.

Defense
Again, thus far, the Avs D has looked about the same. Giving up tons of shots against, and just not getting involved enough offensively (with the exception of Liles of course). They're small, and very young. Holos has been a great surprise, and has even helped out the PP a bit, but this team lacks a really big #1 style shut down defensemen that isn't in his 20th year in the league. I love Footer, but that guy is old, and not long for this league.

4th line.
Really, we don't have one. They play, but we really don't get much productivity out of them. And, again, they are small. Our biggest guy, David Koci, is also our most worthless guy. He was a healthy scratch almost all of last season, and when he was on the ice, his job isn't to play, it's to fight. We lack a strong checking, very physical, and intimidating 4th line.

Question marks.

Craig Anderson
Slow down, I love this guy! The question is definitely not about his ability, it's more about whether or not he can handle the same type of load that Joe Sacco gave him last year. He faced more shots than anybody in the NHL, and made more saves, last year. Had 7 shutouts, and was just amazing. I'm more questioning how he will be used, because I think he was tired by the time we were giving up 50 shots each playoff game to the Sharks. He needs help. edit: Of course, now the question has become when is he going to be back for the Avs?! Currently, he is being listed as indefinitely out. This, needless to say, is bad. So now the bigger question is how will Budaj respond, and will we try and make any moves to get another goalie to help shoulder the load?

Matt Duchene
He's playing well, and has decent numbers (2 goal and 6 assists), but he seems like he is trying to do too much at times. He's getting chances, but really looks like he's trying to be too cute sometimes. I think he'll get through it, but you gotta hope that this Calder finalist won't fall victim to the sophomore slump.

All in all, my general assessment of this team is that they are, by and large, exactly the same as last year. Lots of shots, will rely heavily on their goalie and on a bunch of really young players that we aren't totally sure are going to be able to live up to their expectations. I'm not going to write them off yet, but I do believe that the Avs will be fortunate to make the playoffs this year. So here's hoping. GO AVS!

KGs week 7 picks!

2010-10-23T11:20:00.003-06:00

Well, I was 10-4 last week, for a season total of 53-37. Of course, on my best week, A-mac also had her best week, going 11-3. Well, here's hoping that I can keep the spread between us. Week 7!! Let's do it!

Jacksonville @ Kansas City: Jacksonville got absolutely smoked last week, so we know that they are going to want to come out and put their best foot forward. Kansas City is coming off a heartbreaking loss to Houston, a game they really should have been able to put away. But that's what happens to teams while they are learning to win. I'll take KC bouncing back at home in this one.

Philadelphia @ Tennessee: Kevin Kolb is playing very well, and the Titans may have to go back with Kerry Collins again. Not that that is a horrible thing, we know Collins knows how to get things done with that offense. And the Tennessee D is always in people's faces. This has the makings of a very good game, but I'll take Tennessee at home in this one.

Buffalo @ Baltimore: This isn't a tough one at all. I feel bad for Buffalo, they are going to get hammered in this one.

Cleveland @ New Orleans: New Orleans had a great game last week, and now gets another team with absolutely no secondary to speak of. This should be another route for the Saints.

Washington @ Chicago: Yeah, Washington's secondary isn't that great, but they have a very good pass rush, against a really, REALLY bad offensive line. Cutler will get to know Brian Orakpo pretty well during this game. I think we can expect another 7+ sack game for the Bear's offensive line.

Cincinnati @ Atlanta: This could be a good game, here. Cinci is struggling, but it coming off of their bye week. Also, chances are decent we may not see Dunta Robinson this week, as he is still recovering from his mutual concussion that he shared with Desean Jackson last week. That will weaken their secondary a bit. This is one of those swing games. I look for the Bengals to get back to .500 in this game.

Pittsburgh @ Miami: Steelers head into Miami, fresh off of James Harrison's sparsely attended pity party. She Said No had a great game last week, throwing for 3 TDs. Miami's D probably won't let him do that, but the Miami offense is going to have to be at their unpredictable best if they want to have any shot in this game. Again, potential for a hell of a game here, because Miami's offense can keep lots of people guessing, nonetheless, I'll pick the Steelers in this one. I wonder what the odds are that Harrison gets fined again, or suspended after this week is.

San Francisco @ Carolina: The Niners have a chance to win 2 in a row, and this is the team to do it against. Definitely need to keep giving Crabtree a chance to make the big plays, and Carolina doesn't have much of a run D, so that could open things up for play action and such. Niners win 2 in a row, and the heat continues underneath Mike Singletary's rear end.

St. Louis @ Tampa Bay: Hats off to St. Louis this year, they have definitely over-achieved. I don't think anybody expected them to do any better than they did last year, and now they're in playoff discussions (because the NFC west is really weak again). Tampa has done better than expected as well, but has still shown how bad they are at times. St. Louis still has a good running game, and that has really helped keep Sam Bradford comfortable. That will be the key again here, give me the Rams.

Arizona @ Seattle: Arizona is struggling, understandably so. They need to get that chemistry built up again between Anderson, or whoever is quarterbacking this week, and the wide receivers. Seattle is another team overachieving. Nobody expected anything from them, but they are also in playoff discussions. I think the Seahawks keep things going against the Cards.

New England @ San Diego: San Diego is favored in this one, though I'm not terribly sure why. San Diego has played the choke artist all year. Granted, that's all this team has really ever done, but still. These are probably the 2 teams that I like to see lose the most right now. Sadly, in this game, only 1 team can lose. I would love to see them tie, because I can only imagine the fit that Brady would throw after that. Well, Tomara Brady and her (sorry, it's the hair) Pats should win this one.

Oakland @ Denver: Well, Denver should win this game, but they have this weird habit of always looking past the Raiders, even when they are having bad years like this (the broncos) and getting beat by them at home. Again, they should win, but seem to usually find a way to lose. I'll still take the Broncos, but it won't shock me if they choke this one away. I'm still wondering what week they will quit on McD this year.

Minnesota @ Green Bay: Well, we're still waiting for the Packers to be the clear cut NFC leaders that everybody expected this year. I think they need to give themselves more balance before that will happen. Favre is old, and nowhere near as good. He will hurt himself and his team in this game once again. Packers.

NY Giants @ Dallas: I have the perfect solution for how the Cowboys can avoid those stupid celebration penalties they seem to keep giving themselves. Don't score any touchdowns. This team continues to beat itself, and then wonder why they lose. Until they grow up, they'll just continue to spiral downwards. And the G-men have definitely risen back up to where they should have been all year. Look for Romo to get beat around in this one, and for a good Giants victory.

Here goes another good week!! Bring it on A-Mac!!

NFL and the Head Hits

2010-10-20T12:50:00.003-06:00

The only thing that I can say here is wow. The players are going absolutely nuts with the NFL's newest points of emphasis here when it comes to the hits to the head. Now, this was an especially brutal weekend, as many people have brought up, where there were 4 pretty darn serious hits that would make any of us cringe a little bit. I was also watching Sports Center last night, and they were also reporting that, to this point in the season, there has been a jump of 14 concussion/head related injuries amongst players, from 21 to 35. Now that is pretty significant.

That jump, as well as the rather brutal weekend, led the NFL to say that they may begin to do more than just fine people for those particularly violent hits to the head. They may begin suspending players for this. So here's the long lasting, and very heated, debate that is going to be looming with players now. Is the league going too far in their punishment of these types of violent hits?

We certainly know where many of the players stand on this debate, as mentioned here by Yahoo Sports contributor Chris Chase. By and large, of course, the defensive players are going to be more riled up, as you see with Urlacher's comments in the article above. James Harrison has even threatened to retire because he isn't sure how to play football anymore. The players certainly have hit the right note of overly dramatic reactions to this whole situation.

The players are insinuating that the NFL is trying to take out one of the inherent attributes of football, the big hit. They are saying that people should expect injuries in football, that it is violent by nature, and to take this kind of a stand on hits to the head is analogous to, as Urlacher said, just putting flags on everybody and making it the National Flag Football League instead of the National Football League.

Now, I teach high school, so I am very familiar with the concept of people blowing things out of proportion when it doesn't work for them. Personally, I'm with the league on this; and I have a feeling that if the players think about this, instead of going with their initial, emotional reactions, then they will see this as well. The NFL is not out here saying, don't tackle hard, don't make big hits, don't make the play that you've always been taught to make in this situation. The NFL is saying respect your fellow players, and don't go for the kill, so to speak. There is a difference, no matter what the players say, between good, hard tackling that adheres to the fundamentals everybody is taught, and trying to hurt people.

Look at that hit that Brandon Meriweather put on Todd Heap on Sunday. That hit is exactly the kind of thing the NFL is trying to get rid of. That is an incredibly dangerous hit on a play where Meriweather had to have seen that the ball was already out of Heap's hands and the pass was incomplete. Then there was the Dunta Robinson hit on Desean Jackson. I understand the flag during the game because it was bang bang, and if you see the hit, you see Jackson's head fly back, as if his head got nailed. But the fine for this one, I have to believe, will be overturned because he clearly lead with his shoulder, not his head. This type of hit is the one that is not illegal, and that people are not trying to get rid of.

Then there's James Harrison. I feel that the announcers do a good job of differentiating why the hit on Cribbs was not flagged, versus why the hit on Massaquoi was. Here are both of the hits. So, people against these new points of emphasis are to tell me that Harrison wouldn't be able to make a legal tackle that doesn't involve him driving his forearms through Massaquoi's chin and still prevent him from making the catch? Really?

Now, let's also be realistic about this. The NFL has made these types of hits a point of emphasis in the last few years, doing more fining and flagging things like this more often. Yet, as I said at the beginning, there has been this spike of head injuries on these types of hits. What is the NFL supposed to do, just allow it to continue? Here's why I think the NFL is in the right on this. People say that this is what makes football exciting. Well, in my opinion, if the excitement comes from the types of hits that can end people's careers, or even their lives, then there is something wrong in the sport. If there aren't people willing to play the sport, because this injury gets out of control, then there won't be a game at all. Your players are what make the game exciting, and the NFL is doing the absolute right thing in protecting them.

I am open to other's opinions on this, so please share away!

BCS Drama...Already!?

2010-10-18T22:28:00.004-06:00

It's no secret that most people in the world of college football cannot stand the BCS ranking system. Every year there seems to be somebody left out, or just completely screwed over, for lack of a better term, by the BCS. This year, we've only had one poll brought out by the BCS, and there is already controversy.

Even though they are ranked #3 by both of the "important" human polls, Oklahoma has managed to grab the #1 ranking in the BCS system, with Oregon #2 (but #1 in both important human polls), and Boise State (#2 in both important human polls) rounding out the top 3. People say it every single year, but this BCS system makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, and people have been calling for its head almost since it began! The original intent was that it would get rid of the controversy and provide a clear cut national champion every single year. Well, that hasn't happened.

Why does this happen, you might ask. Well, that's a fantastic question. I've actually been trying to pay attention to college football this year so that I can be a better informed sports writer, and I've looked into the whole system for creating the BCS ranking. If you dare read on, I warn you, you will be confused by the end of this.

As best as I can understand it, the BCS ranking is figured by averaging 3 rankings. One coming from the Harris Interactive Poll. The second coming from the coaches poll. The third from the computer ranking system. They will then take all 3 of those rankings, and average them. Seems straight forward enough, I suppose, but here's the problem, none of the 3 of these use the same criteria. Some of these polls are influenced by things like margin of victory, or rank of your opponent. Others are not.

Then, the big issue that jumps out at me with this is that the computer rankings take 6 other people's ranking systems, which are also not the same, and use those to calculate its rank. Plus, the explanation for it is ridiculous and incredibly difficult to follow. Here is the explanation I got from a web page saying it was explaining all of this for us all to understand.
"The computer rankings percentage is calculated by dropping the highest and lowest ranking for each team and then dividing the remaining total by 100, the maximum possible points. (Example: the 6 rankers have Team A ranked 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, and 4. Take away the 2 and 4 which leaves an average of 3rd place. The BCS quotient of this component would be 0.92. (23 / 25 = 0.92)."

Here's what I understand. Each rank has a qualifying number of points to go along with it, 1-25. Rank #1 has 25 points, and the points descend by 1 until they get to the #25 team, which only gets one point. So, how does this relate to the BCS computer formula. Well, let's look at it this way. Back to the same problem. We have the ranks as follows from our 6 computer guys. 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4. 2 & 4 get dropped for an average of 3. Meaning out of the 25 possible voter points, they get 23. 23/25 = .92. Then we get to average the others out here. So if they are #1 in the other polls, they would get the solution of 25/25, which is 1. So, 1 + 1 + .92 / 3 = .973. Then, whoever has the highest point total is the #1 rank.

Now I know what you're thinking. How can something this clear possibly cause any type of controversy whatsoever? Seriously, this thing is insane!!! How can anybody possibly understand this!? There are far too many cooks in this kitchen! 3 polls, with multiple pollsters in each of them using different criteria to rank the teams. There is no way this can match up.

Solution? There's a few. First, since college football will almost never go to a playoff system, which would be the clearest way to fix this, means there just needs to be a better way of ranking these. Now, I have no idea why there are so many polls, but one of the simplest solutions, to me anyways, seems like we should just get rid of, or at least not recognize officially, some of these polls. For years there was the Coaches Poll and the AP Poll, which created several split championships. Why not just trust the coaches? Aren't they the ones that know the most about all of this? If you just went by the coaches poll, then you only have one team to recognize. You can keep the whole national title game where #1 plays #2, but that way there aren't any convoluted formulas, which vary by person and computer, to screw you up. Or maybe just go with the AP, but come on, people want a clear cut, no questions asked, national champion. You could even throw a special clause in for a just in case and 1 game.

All I know is that fans of college football, and of sports in general, are sick and tired of the garbage that the BCS has put us through several times. The BCS will never, EVER, give love to teams that deserve legit shots at the national title like Boise State and TCU and others because it doesn't take into account things it should. So let's get something that is straight forward, transparent, can be understood by everybody, and that gives all schools an equal shot at things. Come on NCAA, it's long past time.

AMacs week 6 picks

2010-10-17T01:27:00.002-06:00

A Mac has been experiencing some technical difficulties, so I am going to post her picks for her. They have been texted my way. So, here they are.

Winners will be as follows, according to a-mac.

Seattle
Miami
San Diego
New England
NY Giants
Falcons
Pittsburgh
Saints
Chiefs
Jets
Vikings
Colts
Titans
San Francisco

KGs Week 6 Picks

2010-10-16T14:54:00.002-06:00

I was a respectable 9-5 last week, which has brought my season total to 10 games over .500. I'm still pretty short of my really awesome record from last year (146-78 for a percentage of 62% right), but my record thus far is 43-33 (56%) but there is still plenty of time left. So here we go with our week 6 picks!

Atlanta @ Philadelphia: This is sort of a tough one to pick because both teams have played well and not so well. Nobody really seems to be able to tell who these teams are quite yet. Vick is still out, so it's still Kevin Kolb. Falcons are 4-1, but haven't exactly been terribly convincing, with the exception of their beat down of Arizona. Philly is still struggling to find out how to play consistently with either of those 2 QBs. Atlanta has more stability, and, as a result, will take this one.

Cleveland @ Pittsburgh: Cleveland has played teams very tough, but no team comes tougher than the Steelers. Even with She Said No back in the lineup, and all the distraction that will be brought on by the media from his "extra curricular activities" that got him suspended in the first place, the Steelers know how to stay focused and win football games. They will beat the Browns.

Seattle @ Chicago: The Bears are the worst 1st place team in football. After a truly pathetic game in Carolina, and the Panters are included in that pathetic description, Bears get QB Cutler back. He's still a turnover waiting to happen, and the Seahawks have new energy under Pete Carroll. I'm going out on a limb and taking the Hawks.

Miami @ Green Bay: Green Bay has been very underwhelming this year. They are supposed to be the team that comes out, moves the ball at will, and scores a ton of points, but they haven't been doing that. Aaron Rodgers is going to play after the concussion that he got last week, but he hasn't been that great either. They're very inconsistent, and are facing a team that really knows how badly they need a win. The Fins have got to start winning if they want to get into the playoffs since they currently trail both the Jets and the Pats. They'll be ready to play, but I think GB's defense is the big difference maker here. They've played well enough to win, and have been let down by the offense. I think they will continue to make good plays, and will probably get some special teams help this week to get by the Fins.

Detroit @ NY Giants: Detroit absolutely clobbered St. Louis, but the G-men have found their feet and are starting to play like the team we always expect them to. Eli will have a field day against Detroit, and the G-men will win big.

New Orleans @ Tampa Bay: What is up with the Saints here? Give up the game against Atlanta, barely beat Carolina, and then lose to Arizona!? Who are these guys and where is the group that won the Super Bowl last year? Tampa has surprised everybody, and has really made the teams that are inconsistent pay for being inconsistent. I'm going to go with the Saints on this one because they've got to know how bad it would be to lose to this team. That will make their road just to get back to the playoffs extremely difficult. I'm not jumping ship yet, but I'm pretty close. Still, Saints win.

San Diego @ St. Louis: San Diego has been allowing teams that shouldn't beat them, beat them. They are definitely missing LT and Vincent Jackson, though their offense does still continue to produce. Nonetheless, I still have a hard time picking St. Louis in this game, so give me the Chargers.

Kansas City @ Houston: Now here's a tough game to pick. KC is coming off their first loss of the season, and Houston is looking to avoid losing 2 in a row here. Both of these teams have legit playoff hopes for the first time in a while, so who will play like the better playoff team? My gut tells me to go with Houston on this one, but it's going to be a really close game. If they can get their run game going against this suddenly stout KC defense, then it will be a good day for the Texans. I'll take Houston.

Baltimore @ New England: This one was a good game last year, that got spoiled by some late, really stupid calls against Baltimore since the league has to always protect girly man Tom Brady. The Ravens are stingy as ever on defense, and have made some offensive improvements. The Pats are still old on D, just traded away their biggest receiving weapon, and resigned another undersized receiver. The Pats are always tough at home, but, just like last year, I will take the Ravens in New England.

Oakland @ San Francisco: Man oh man, San Fran has fallen so far. I completely over-estimated the Niners this year when I predicted that Mike Singletary could very well be coach of the year. I suppose he still could, but they'll have to win every remaining game. Oakland is riding high after beating the Chargers in San Diego, so there may be a bit of a let down in this game. So, I'll take the Niners in a squeaker at home.

NY Jets @ Denver: My Broncos showed how they responded to a tough team that doesn't take penalties, they fold like a cheap lawn chair. The Broncos had an absurd amount of penalties, and never really had a chance. They also got run all over by Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. Look for that to be the same type of formula that the Jets follow. Run it hard, and let your tough defense beat up the other team. Orton will get his passing yards, only because they'll be playing from behind early on. Oh yeah, that and they have absolutely no running game. McD has definitely been a step backwards for the Broncos. Look for this team to quit on McD again very soon, just like they did last year.

Dallas @ Minnesota: 2 teams that we all expected a lot from, that are now going to be very lucky to even make the playoffs. Both teams are 1-3, and both have just killed themselves at times. Moss is back for the Vikes, which is a good thing for them, and Favre seems like he might not play this week, which may be better for the Vikes with all of the distraction from Favre's "sexting" that he's doing (allegedly). The Cowboys just keep doing stupid things to themselves. I know they weren't happy with that penalty from last week, but you have to know the rules regarding celebrations. But then you can't blame the fact that your special teams gave up a 73 yard run, and your defense couldn't stop the other team when they needed to, on the stupid penalty that you took. Dallas, to me, will find another way to beat themselves, and the Vikes will improve to 2-3.

Indianapolis @ Washington: Washington has been perplexing. They haven't really been that great, but they haven't given up a lot of points and have stayed in games. Indy has been moving pretty well, but hasn't scored a lot of points. They had a gutsy win against a much improved KC team last week, and I look for them to build on that this week. Colts win.

Tennessee @ Jacksonville: Tough division this one. All teams sitting at 3-2, and all in need of a win. Jacksonville has managed to hang around, and Tennessee has lost some close games. I still see Tennessee as the superior team here, so I'll go with them on my Monday night game.

Here's hoping for 14-0!! Let's see your picks A-Mac!

NHL Season Preview: Eastern Conference

2010-10-15T19:45:00.003-06:00

A couple of days ago we dealt with the Western Conference, and tonight we get to deal with the Eastern Conference. So, here we go!

Atlantic Conference:
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins

When you talk about this division, you have so much to talk about. Crosby, Malkin, Kovalchuk, Parise, Fleury, Broduer, Tavares, Richards, Lundqvist. This is a loaded division. The Pens have had a rough start in their new arena, but you know that they'll rebound. Though the loss of Sergei Gonchar is not something that should be taken lightly. Philly, you know, must be brimming with confidence after their playoff run. And if their new young goalie continues on his good beginning, then they could be the next cup champs. Islanders will still stink, and the Rangers could sneak in if they are very, VERY lucky. We could probably see 3 playoff teams from this division again. But, in the end, I think our division winner may be the one returning to the cup finals. Most people are going to ride the Pens or the Devils;

Division Winner: Philadelphia Flyers

Northeast Division:
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Montreal Canadiens
Ottowa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs

Another very decent division. Though the Leafs have been down and out from the beginning, I think that they may be THE Eastern Conference dark horse that comes out to play. J.S. Giguere is an outstanding goalie that has won a Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe (of course not in the same year). Hard to look down on the Sabres while they have Ryan Miller, thought their offense has a lot left to be desired. The Habs, I bet, will still probably make the playoffs, but I doubt they win this division. Look for the Bruins to repeat.

Division Winner: Boston Bruins

Southeast Division:
Atlanta Thrashers
Carolina Hurricanes
Florida Panters
Tampa Bay Lightning
Washington Capitals

I don't think that there is any secret about who is going to win this division. The Capitals have been one of the best teams in the NHL for the last few years, yet always come up short in the playoffs. The question isn't whether or not that Caps win this division, it's whether or not they will win the President's tropy, the entire Eastern Conference, and the Stanley Cup. Plus, 2 teams from Florida in the NHL? I mean, come on. Move one of these guys back to Canada where they appreciate their hockey. Easy choice.

Division Winner: Washington Capitals.
Though watch for tampa to make a run at the playoffs. This team is much better than they were.

NHL Season Preview: Western Conference!

2010-10-10T19:56:00.006-06:00

We are still plenty early in the season, so I thought that I would take a moment to give my season preview for the NHL. People are quite familiar with my feelings on hockey, as I do believe that it is currently the most exciting game to watch in the world right now, and I certainly hope that you all will join me and my excitement for this exhilarating game! Now, let's have a look at each division and conference. Starting with the best conference, the Western Conference.

Central Division:
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Detroit Red Wings
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues.

All of these teams, except for the Preds, have colors in them. Fun fact, but completely irrelevant to the conversation. Now, as many people know, the Blackhawks are the reigning Stanley Cup Champions. They just raised their Stanley Cup Championship Banner the other night. But their offseason was not pretty. Serious salary cap issues forced them to get rid of a number of the players that were key to getting them to that Stanley Cup. Most notably, Dustin Byfuglien and Antti Niemi. Niemi played incredibly on their way to the cup, and Byfuglien could not be stopped from in front of the net. They did pick up Marty Turco, life-long good regular season goalie but playoff choke artist, to help them out in goal, but the physical presence that Byfuglien brought will be sorely missed.

The Detroit Red Wings made waves by signing long time rival Mike Modano. Jimmy Howard played great for them in goal last year, and was a Calder finalist, NHL rookie of the year award, the big question will be about whether or not he can avoid a sophomore slump. They didn't really do too much, otherwise, to make themselves any younger, and the question for the Wings does revolve around whether or not they remain too old. There is no doubt of their skill, with players like Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and others, but will they be able to push past other teams in their division.

The sleeper team in this division is the St. Louis Blues. Now, you might say what about Nashville, well they've been the sleeper in this division for a while. Usually competitive, but just not quite there. The big thing that makes the Blues a possibility is their big goalie acquisition this year. Jaraslov Halak. Now, Halak played OUT OF HIS MIND in last year's playoffs with the Montreal Canadiens. The big question is was this just a random fluke, or can he be the real deal? Now, people are fare too excited about him right now, claiming that he is this absolutely legit goalie, but one decent playoff run does not a franchise goalie make. He played scary good last year, no denying that, but we'll see what he's made of with a young Blues team that has a lot of talent, but a lot of shortcomings too. This team could be a surprise.

Columbus is the sad story in this division. Mainly because they just are never able to get over that hump. They have never been able to build a solid foundation around Rick Nash, and probably won't. Nash's contract keeps him in Columbus until 2018, but he may want out before that since he will never, EVER win a Stanley Cup in Columbus.

Division Winner: I hate to do it, but I think Detroit will benefit from Chicago's losses. Chicago will play well, and make the playoffs, but I think Detroit will take this division.

Northwest Division:
Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
Minnesota Wild
Vancouver Cannucks

This is always one of the most difficult divisions to win. Each team, regardless of how well they are playing that season, always plays the others very hard. Vancouver has had a stranglehold on this division for the last few years, and I really don't see that changing this year. I'm a bit perplexed though. Vancouver is over the salary cap, and I'm not certain what the penalty is for that. You would think they would be forced to comply, but it doesn't look like anything is happening. I'll have to try and figure more of that out.

Edmonton managed to win their opening game of the season, and they will be quite exciting to watch, with a lot of really young talent, but I wouldn't count on them getting out of the basement this year. They may be ahead of Minnesota, but they won't make the playoffs by a long shot.

The big question, in my mind, in this division revolves around the Colorado Avalanche. Not just because they are my favorite team, but because they had a huge turn around last year, and everybody is curious about whether that was a fluke, or if they will be the real deal. Matt Duchene is the real deal, and that kid will only get better. Chris Stewart showed some amazing game last year, but the contract year question lingers around him. Did he play that well because it was a contract year, or because he's really that good? I think it is the latter, but we will see. And, of course, Craig Anderson. Last year, no goalie saw more shots, or stopped more shots, than Craig Anderson. Can he be as lights out as he was last year? In my opinion, they aren't going to want to play him as many games as they did last year. If they can get 10 more quality starts than last year out of Budaj, Anderson should stay fresh. Anderson, as it happens, is now in a contract year as well. So count on him playing his best so that he can lock up a long term deal with the Avs.

Division winner: Vancouver.

Pacific Division:
Anaheim Ducks
Dallas Stars
Los Angeles Kings
Phoenix Coyotoes
San Jose Sharks

San Jose has dominated this division for years, but are they now yesterday's news? They are still loaded, there is no doubt about that. Marleau, Thorton, Heatley, plus the likes of Pavelski and Setoguchi, and Dan Boyle. Now a Stanley Cup winning goalie in Antti Niemi. People seem to think that San Jose managed to life their stigma of choke artists last year. I disagree. When you are the best team in the conference, you should be expected to win your conference. They have yet to do this. Should we say that they aren't choking just because they managed not to lose right away? To me, they are still chokers, they just didn't choke as bad as they usually do. Here's the cookie that you so richly deserve.

A lot of other interesting things though. The LA Kings are hot on the heels of the Sharks, as are the Phoenix Coyotes. The Kings are young, but have great veteran leadership as well. Ryan Smyth isn't what he used to be, but that guy will always work his guts out for you, and is a great stabilizing presence on the power play. The youth of this team is insanely gifted. Led by Drew Doughty, a finalist for the Norris Trophy (NHL's best defenseman last) last year, they also have the best scorer that nobody knows about, Anze Kopitar, on their team. Jonathan Quick also had a great year last year, in goal, and, should he improve, may be able to push the Kings to places they haven't seen since The Great One was in town.

The Coyotes are also quite talented. They finally have a stable goalie in Ilya Bryzgalov, who is also in a contract year. They also have an amazing core of young talent. A great acquisition from the Avs, Wojtek Wolski brings size, speed, and ability. Then add in the wiley veterans Shane Doan and very savvy offseason pick up of Ray Whitney, and you have a dangerous team. They're quite big and powerful on the blue line, as well, and really have great potential for this division. They are kind of the sexy pick to win the division.

Divison winner: I can't resist the sexiness, Phoenix wins the division, but people in Arizona still don't care about hockey. Sorry Gary Bettman.

Tune in next time for the preview of the Eastern Conference! Should be a good one!

NFL Season Predictions by 11points!

2010-10-10T14:47:00.002-06:00

We've had the good fortune of being featured, as A-Mac mentioned in her picks for the week, in a very fun blog called 11points. A-Mac was a guest prognosticator for the site, and his 11 ways of picking certain games on Sunday (always a very entertaining read, his parent's dog is quite adept at picking games!). The writer of said blog has honored us with some predictions for the NFL for the rest of the season. Who's going to take the divisions, conferences, and Super Bowl. We're hoping that this will become a regular thing between the 2 sites! So, without further ado, here is the 11points predictions for the NFL!

I feel like you can't really make predictions about the NFL season until the quarter mark. No one knows anything. And I choose not to appear like a fool. But now, after four weeks, I feel far more confident in making my NFL picks, and will assuredly NOT look like a fool because of any of these.

AFC North - Baltimore was supposed to emerge and might, but I've never bought into the Joe Flacco thing -- he has a similar last name to one of my late grandmother's next door neighbors who never liked me (seriously). Pittsburgh was supposed to struggle without Roethlisberger but had a cake schedule and an easy ride. Cincinnati has the league's two best talkers... and they're going to lead to Carson Palmer getting benched later in the season. Cleveland is far, far worse than expected and can't put anyone away. Pick: Pittsburgh. Wild card: Baltimore.

AFC East - The Jets may just win by default. New England showed unreal cracks in the foundation by first not throwing to, then eventually trading Randy Moss. Miami is whatever Miami is -- somehow, of the 32 teams, every single year I have the most difficulty paying attention to Miami. Buffalo is looking worse than expected, and quarterback and running back switches have already happened. Pick: Jets.

AFC South - Houston is surprisingly in first, looking strong with Arian Foster... who will inevitably let everyone down. Jacksonville seems shaky at best (and while I hate being one of those guys who talks about fantasy football, Mike Sims-Walker is going to singlehandedly cost me hundreds if not thousands of dollars). Tennessee has flown under the radar into a very quiet .500 record. Indianapolis is technically in last place at 2-2 with both losses in the division... and yet, would anyone in the world pick against them to take this thing? Pick: Indianapolis. Wild card: Houston.

AFC West - Kansas City is the lone remaining undefeated team in the NFL; that's too weird to even write. Denver looks like a middle-of-the-pack team and has for quite some time. San Diego shows signs of promise, but always shows signs of promise, so that's boring. Oakland's latest plan worked out just as well as all of their previous plans -- and no one's drinking their Kool-Aid (or cough syrup). Pick: San Diego.

Prediction for conference champ: Pittsburgh.

NFC North - Chicago and Green Bay are both 3-1, but Green Bay feels much, much more convincing. This season of Favre in Minnesota has "legacy murder" all over it. Detroit has had some close calls on wins but always -- and I mean always -- knows how to lose. Pick: Green Bay.

NFC East - Biggest mess of any division. The Giants look good one week and terrible the next. Philadelphia is playing quarterback roulette which is never, ever, ever the way to make a real run. Washington looks OK one week, really not OK the next. Dallas looks weaker than usual but doesn't quite feel out of it. Pick: Philadelphia. Wild card: Washington.

NFC South - Atlanta looks good but doesn't seem to be inspiring confidence. New Orleans is a very shaky 3-1. Tampa has put together some wins but doesn't seem to have close to the talent necessary to make a run. Carolina misses Jake Delhomme, which is yet another very strange thing to write. Pick: New Orleans. Wild card: Atlanta.

NFC West - As promised -- and harped on by Bill Simmons -- it's a tragic scene. Right now Arizona is tied for the lead at 2-2, but could readily finish 2-14. Seattle had a chance to step on the division's throat but lost to St. Louis. St. Louis has won two in a row but just doesn't feel right. And San Francisco, who was the sexy preseason pick, is 0-4 and looks every bit of it. Pick: Seattle by default.

Prediction for conference champ: Green Bay.

Prediction for Super Bowl champ: Green Bay.

Straight Cash Homey- Aly's Week 5 Picks!

2010-10-09T13:57:00.002-06:00

With the Return of the Randy Ratio to Minnesota, this week's Monday Night Game got juicy!!!
Our lowly blog was featured in a link on 11 points as I was a guest picker for the Carolina-Chicago game.

Jags@Bills- Wow. This game depresses me on the lowliest level. I think Jags win. But who cares? Poor Buffalo.

Bucs@Bengals- Bucs are a scrappy team and Carson Palmer isn't being himself. I think the Bucs win in a close game. Is this the week Ocho and Owens get into it? Probably!

Falcons@Browns- Well the Falcons are continuing to impress but they did have a gimme win over the 49ers. This should be another gimme win. All of Cleveland will now commit ritual suicide.

Rams@Lions- A better game than most would think. Lions are scrappy and the Rams are continuing to prove me wrong. Still, I am taking the Lions in this game.

Chiefs@Colts- Wow who would have thought KC would be the last remaining unbeaten team. It helps that the AFC East, North, and South have cannabalized each other already. KC will go down and this year will not see a long run undefeated team. Manning will trash the KC defense aka NE Light in Indy.

Packers@Redskins- Rodgers=MVP, Shanahan is losing his team. I think the Packers defense will harass McNabb and Rodgers will light up the Skins D.

Bears@Panthers- Captain Pampers is out. Panthers are a mess but guess what. I am doing it anyway, taking the Panthers. Williams, Smith, and Stewart will have good games.

Broncos@Ravens- Somehow the Broncos are still in it, but this week they play the Ravens in Baltimore. I want to take the Broncos but am going with the Ravens.

Giants@Texans- Arian Foster and CO. will have the pleasure of defeating both Mannings this year as the Giants mess cannot stand up to the united Texans offense. Matt Schaub is looking great and the Texans have found they can use anyone in their back field.

Saints@Cardinals- The Saints are looking pretty darn well, the Cardinals aren't. Derek Anderson has been serviceable but they are missing Dancing Kurt Warner. Saints take it to the hole and win.

Chargers@Raiders- Wow Raiders still suck and the Chargers are worse than I thought. Philip Rivers though should help them defeat the evil Robot's team.

Titans@Cowboys- Both teams are still looking for an identity and both coaches potentially could be on their last legs. Romo needs to prove he can be an elite QB. Roy Williams emerged from Cryo freeze last week to kick some ass. I think the Titans still win it though.

Iggles@Niners- Eagles win even with the crazy QB situation there. The Niners have disappointed me this year. I thought Singletary was a good motivator but instead it looks like he motivated too much. Loosen the reigns a bit, Mike and let them fly!!

Onto the Monday Night Game,
Oh wow the Return of Randy Moss to Purple and Gold. The return of Brett Favre to his middle home. Revis Island is back. Revis Vs Moss, Favre Vs His Sexual harassment allegations, Ryan vs Childress Its Monday Night! I think the Jets win though with Randy not being quite integrated back into the Vikings office.

KGs week 5 picks!

2010-10-09T12:20:00.003-06:00

Welcome back ladies and gents! I was a measly 7-7 last week, but that's ok. Had a lot of surprises happen. Also had a heartbreaking fantasy loss last week. My yahoo team lost by slightly more than 1 point thanks to the monday night football game. Ah well, another week to try and rebound. So here we go!

Denver @ Baltimore: I give my Broncs credit for hanging in there against Tennessee and having the physical and mental toughness to pull it out. I don't think that they can do that 2 weeks in a row though, especially against a team like the Ravens that has a lot of offensive weapons. I see the Ravens taking this one.

Chicago @ Carolina: This could be a tough one. The Bears showed more of who they are last week, being completely manhandled by the G-men. The Panthers still have that 2 headed run monster, but their defense is definitely suspect. Cutler is out, which might actually be a better thing for the Bears, the big questions is how will the respond this week. Until Carolina proves that they know how to win, I can't really bring myself to pick them, though this one wouldn't surprise me if the Panters did upset the Bears, I will still take the Bears.

Tampa Bay @ Cincinnati: Cinci had good offensive numbers last week, but came up shorts against a really bad Browns team. Tampa has performed much better than most people thought that they would, however, they definitely need to improve on their pass defense if they even want to have a hope of winning this game. Charlie Batch SMOKED them, and we know what kind of a pass game Cinci has. I think the Bengals rebound in this one on the power of the pass game.

St. Louis @ Detroit: Detroit just can't seem to find out how to win. St. Louis is a very tough team to figure out. They have been quite consistent, surprisingly, but have played quite well! This could end up being a pretty good game. I think that the thing the Lions really need is a shaky defense to play against, and they have that against the Rams. Their offense has been quite good, and I think they'll get over the hump, kind of, against the Rams. Give me the Lions.

NY Giants @ Houston: Which NY Giants team is going to show up to this game, is the big question. Texans O-line is nowhere near as bad as the Bears, so I don't see another 10 sack game happening. Houston is not the team they were in the past, and are earning respect. I'll take the Texans in this one.

Atlanta @ Cleveland: Cleveland still stinks, despite a good performance against Cinci. Atlanta really should have no trouble with this one, Dirty Birds.

Kansas City @ Indianapolis: Is KC for real? I think so. Indy has struggled, but they will handle a much better Chiefs team in a game that will be much closer than anybody thinks.

Jacksonville @ Buffalo: Buffalo stinks. Jacksonville wins.

Green Bay @ Washington: Green Bay needs to have a strong performance for a full game in this one. Washington also needs to get that offense going more. They pretty much disappeared after the one touchdown they scored against Philly. They'll need more than that against Green Bay, but I don't see them getting it.

New Orleans @ Arizona: 2 inconsistent teams right now. But Arizona is far more inconsistent. Saints aren't nearly what they used to be, and really need to find that swagger. Weird that you have to say that about the defending champs. I will take the Saints again.

Tennessee @ Dallas: Dallas is still in desperation mode. They really need to find more of an offensive rhythm. I have been impressed with Tennessee, though they just need to not beat themselves and keep those fingers in their pockets on the sidelines. This team does have the most personal foul penalties called against them in the league right now. They are a very tough, physical team, we'll see if the Boys can stick around with that. I don't think that they can. Titans.

San Diego @ Oakland: Oakland stinks, San Diego will win this one.

Philadelphia @ San Francisco: Niners are just playing for respect right now, Philly still has a shot in their division, but they need a big game here. Niners are such a big bust right now it isn't even funny, and their bust of a season continues with another loss this week. I'll take the Eagles.

Minnesota @ NY Jets: This will be a great game. Moss is now back in Minnesota. But will that be enough to get this team going? They definitely need that big receiver threat that they lost with their injury to Percy Harvin. I don't know that he'll be enough. Jets D is still among the best that there is, and I think that they will take this one at home. Jets are looking like a very good bet to win the AFC East, and quite possibly win the AFC!

Tough week of picks! Let me know what you think!

Hockey Is Back!

2010-10-07T19:05:00.003-06:00

Great time of year! Early in October, we see the return of the toughest gladiators in sports. Yes, that's right, hockey is back baby!! I know that I'm one of the minority in the United States that believes hockey is the sport to watch, but I am okay with that. I make my case yearly to people, and I'm fairly certain that I've made it on this blog before. I just believe hockey is the fastest, hardest hitting, most exciting game there is.

Plus, you have the players that are the most athletic that there are in sports. These guys all have to be in incredible shape to play this game. You watch how these guys skate, they are going all out the second that they step on the ice. Also, these guys are the classiest athletes in professional sports. You hear these guys making the Randy Moss comments after their first regular season game for their contracts? You see these guys making their own talk show because they simply can't stand to hear anything other than the sound of their own extremely annoying voice? No, these guys are all business. They go out, do their thing, play their game, and then they are good role models in the community. How many of these guys are dog fighters, or gang bangers, or other types of convicted felons? Hockey players have their head in the right place.

I will close by saying my usual comment. In this world where everything happens so fast; e-mail, food, music, news, everything, it shocks me more people aren't into this game. The thing people need, is education. Let me tell you right now, if you feel you can't understand the game of hockey, drop by my place, or A-Mac's place, and we'll teach you the ins and outs. Once you know it, you will be a fan for life. Bring on the pucks! LET'S GO AVS!!!

A-Mac's Week 4 Spectacular

2010-10-02T12:46:00.003-06:00

Denver @ Tennessee: Ok So the Titans are worse than we thought they were and the Broncos are doing ok. But The Broncos need to stop All World RB, Chris Johnson and I don't know if that can happen. It depends on who is playing QB for the Titans. I will take the Titans in a squeaker.

San Francisco @ Atlanta: Well the Niners have officially blown my NFC west pick. Falcons looked good against the Saints. Matt Ryan needs to show me he can be consistent which he should do as long as he stays away from Patrick Willis. Falcons win.

NY Jets @ Buffalo: Wow the Bills cut their Week 1 starter finally and Harvard Alum Ryan Fitzpatrick has the job full time now. But with all that said, no Revis Island is necessary this week as the Jets romp.

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh: Wow are the Steelers really going to go 4-0 without She Said No. I think they will. Baltimore is good but Troy Big Hair has restarted the Pitt Defense to be awesome. Steelers win 10-9

Carolina @ New Orleans: Well the Panthers can't figure out how to use their talented RB duo. Its a shame but the Saints kick their puny butts.

Cincinnati @ Cleveland: Poor Cleveland is the theme of my picks this year and should be the name of the Browns fan club! The Bengals win this won fairly easily even with the Browns showing some life.

Detroit @ Green Bay: Detroit showed their division rivals they can play after doing well against the Vikes. They won't be able to handle the awesome defense of Clay Matthews though. Aaron Rodgers continues his march to MVP with this game. Packers win again.

Seattle @ St. Louis: Seattle is good, not great. They might even be just slightly better than mediocre. That is still enough to beat the Rams. Rams won't have Steven Jackson this game so that even hurts their chances more.

Indianapolis @ Jacksonville: Peyton Manning generally does well against the Jags even though the Jags can get close. David Garrard has regressed as a QB the last two weeks and Jack Del Rio is probably the first coached fired this season. Colts win.

Houston @ Oakland: Raiders can't play O. Raiders can't play D. Texans win.

Arizona @ San Diego: San Diego sucks without V Jax but the Cardinals still miss Kurt Dancing with the Stars Warner. I think the Cardinals win this game though as Rivers is still floundering without LT and V Jax.

Washington @ Philadelphia: Vick. McNabb. All the juicy storylines this week are in Philly. McNabb won't be booed because he was the one shown the door much like Brian Dawkins. Philly fans remember the good times but they are having a bit of a good time with Michael Vick. Philly wins at home and McNabb wonders what might have been.

Chicago @ NY Giants: This game smacks of Take the Giants at home game. They have been floundering but Jay Cutler is due for a bad game. So Giants at home it is.

New England @ Miami: Pats are awful in Miami especially early in the season. Straight Cash Homey has been enjoying a nice few weeks though but White Wes Welker has disappeared. In order for the Pats to win, Tom Terrific has to hit both WRs. The real questions are on the defensive side. Can the Pats stop Ronnie Brown? I don't know if that is the case. I think the Dolphins win in a close shoot out game.

KGs Week 4 picks

2010-09-30T20:26:00.002-06:00

KG is getting his picks in a little bit early this week. Did pretty well last week. 10-6 again. Moved my record up to 27-21 for the season. Now the bye weeks begin, let's hope my percentages improve. Bring the noise!

Denver @ Tennessee: Well, my Broncos definitely put up far more of a fight against Indy than I expected last week. But the team can't run the ball, and can't score touchdowns when the get inside the 20. Tennessee still has the game's best running back, and Vince Young has shown pretty good poise. He's still pretty much managing a game, but if you have a 2000 yard back, why not give it to him for 33 our of your 49 plays? Tennessee beats down the Broncos, though Orton probably throws for another 300 plus.

San Francisco @ Atlanta: What is up with San Fran? People, including myself, expected them to move forward and take the division this year. I thought Mike Singletary might end up being the coach of the year this year, but so much for that! Atlanta had a great game against the defending champs. They keep going against a reeling Niners team. Give me the dirty birds.

NY Jets @ Buffalo: Buffalo put up 30 on New England last week, but they won't get anywhere near that against a very good Jets team. Jets in a runaway.

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh: Baltimore has finally found their offense, but they have definitely had a case of the forget how to scores. Not a good thing to have against an amazingly good Steelers D. I believe that the Steelers will win this one by about 10, which is a lot for these 2 teams.

Carolina @ New Orleans: Carolina stinks, and New Orleans needs this type of game to remember how to be the supremely dominant group that won the super bowl and averaged over 30 points a game. Panthers will help them out with that one. Give the the Saints.

Cincinnati @ Cleveland: Browns did better against the Ravens, but they still stink. Bengals will win this one without too much of an issue.

Detroit @ Green Bay: Detroit is so close to being a halfway decent team, but Green Bay is going to be wanting to redeem themselves after basically giving the Bears a Monday night game. Packers will win this one pretty handily. Rodgers will throw for a couple and probably run for another TD.

Seattle @ St. Louis: Seattle is a surprising 2-1, but still pretty mediocre. Nobody is really expecting the Rams to do much better than they did last year, and they already got their 1 win. This actually could be a pretty decent game. Seahawks are riding high after beating the Chargers, and St. Louis is believing after beating a Skins team that people are expecting a lot from. Bradford has performed admirably well as a rookie. This is kinda tough to choose a winner, but the Rams have been my bugaboo team. I choose them, they lose, choose against them, they win. Been that way the last 2 weeks. Well, I'll take the Rams again this time.

Indianapolis @ Jacksonville: Jacksonville traditionally plays Indy pretty tough, but haven't really ever gotten over the top against them. Won't change this time either. Colts.

Houston @ Oakland: Houston needs to get back to winning and fast. Lucky for them, they get the Oakland Raiders! Raiders still stink. Give me the Texans.

Arizona @ San Diego: San Diego is back to their September of crapiness, but they are still usually pretty good at home. Arizona is very inconsistent right now. I hate Phillip Rivers, but they'll take this one.

Washington @ Philadelphia: Will the Philly fans boo McNabb? Of course they will. They booed Santa, and pelted him with snowballs!!! Why wouldn't they boo the guy that pretty much turned their franchise into a perennial competitor? Vick has been playing well, though I still am not very happy he is still playing but that's a personal thing, and the Eagles should take this one.

Chicago @ NY Giants: Bears are probably the worst undefeated team remaining. Cutler is still a turnover waiting to happen, and the defense is still pretty much entirely dependent on the health of Brian Urlacher. That being said, the G-men are in complete disarray. They keep beating themselves with tons of stupid penalties, and silly left handed throws to the other team from the 5 yard line. Bears stay undefeated, but I still don't count on them winning their division.

New England @ Miami: This will definitely be the game of the week. The Fins played the Jets very tough this last week, and pushed that defense. Marshall and Henne are starting to click, and I think that this spells lots of trouble for an aging, slower Pats defense that has trouble on the road. I'll take the fins!

Make sure you check us out on the youtube page! Stay tuned for my first weekly picks video! Should be coming up soon! Bring it A-Mac!

KG's Week 3 picks

2010-09-25T20:12:00.002-06:00

Well, I improved last week, going 10-6. Hopefully I will continue to take down the A-Mac Attack. Lots of good matchups this week, so here we go!

Indianapolis @ Denver: Broncos will be playing emotionally with the loss of their teammate. Moreno is out, and the Broncos D always seems to have questions. Peyton Manning always has a field day against the Broncos. I love my Broncos, but there is pretty much one way that they beat the Colts, and it's if Peyton Manning mysteriously disappears before the game. Colts win, in a big way. And people will immediately call for Tebow because they are foolish.

Cincinnati @ Carolina: Man, Carolina does not look good. And Cinci had a great game and win against Baltimore last week. They don't stop rolling here. Bengals take this.

Buffalo @ New England: Well, I can already hear the stories after this one. People love to talk about how the Pats are back after they beat a team that stinks. This will be no different. Pats win, but let's all remember who they're going to beat.

San Francisco @ Kansas City: This could be a good game here. San Fran is better than they seem, and KC is playing pretty well this year. What is going to give? Hard to tell. But since KC is the only team that has shown that they're going to win this year, I'll take KC.

Tennessee @ NY Giants: Tennessee's D is playing great, and the G-men just got thrashed by Eli's big brother. Though, we once again have the Vince Young or Kerry Collins saga, and that can take a toll. But you still got a great run game. So I'll take the best running game and the better defense, and that is the Titans.

Cleveland @ Baltimore: Poor Cleveland. They're going to get hammered in this one. Baltimore's defense may score as many points as the offense. This will be ugly, in a Ravens win.

Pittsburgh @ Tampa Bay: Steelers D is playing out of their mind, and they won't be intimidated by a surprising Tampa team. Steelers.

Atlanta @ New Orleans: New Orleans is still the team to beat. Saints all the way.

Detroit @ Minnesota: If there is a team that is vulnerable right now, it is the Vikings. The Lions are so close to respectability but just can't figure out how to win!! I think that they've got the balance now, and the Vikes are definitely reeling. I'm going to go along with A-Mac here, and I'll take the Lions in a close one.

Dallas @ Houston: Houston is the real deal, and they will continue to roll and become the best team in the state of Texas.

Philadelphia @ Jacksonville: No denying that Mike Vick is playing well, but how consistent can he be? He gets a favor in another not very good team. A-Mac seems to be ready to forgive and forget with Vick, I'm not so ready. People need to learn how to do things right the first time around. Nonetheless, Eagles win.

Washington @ St. Louis: St. Louis let me down against the Raiders, so I will go against them this week. Skins beat the Rams and begin to find their team identity.

Oakland @ Arizona: Oakland still stinks, Arizona is struggling, but they are still too much for the Raiders.

San Diego @ Seattle: Seattle stinks, San Diego is usually horrible in September, but they'll beat a sorry Seahawks team. Chargers.

NY Jets @ Miami: This will be good. The Jets D is playing so great, and Miami is also playing pretty well, but won't be enough to get over the Jets dominant D. J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets!

Green Bay @ Chicago: Cutler has been better than advertised, but this will be the big test to see if he has really learned his lessons. Pack has a great D, and an amazing offense. Packers are too complete for the Bears, and take this one.

Here's hoping for a great week!

Week 3 NFL Picks

2010-09-25T14:56:00.002-06:00

I haven't done so well in the last few weeks on picks. I am thinking a trained monkey could do better but here they are.

49ers@Chiefs- This is the make it or break it week for the 49ers and this is the week the Chiefs can prove they can hang in the AFC West. I think the Chiefs are for real and the 49ers suck unless they get a real QB. I hear Jeff Garcia is floating around in the UFL.

Browns@Ravens- Bring your bags, Cleveland fans. Ravens win this one with Flacco throwing 2 TDs. On an interesting note, Cleveland fans have donated a bunch of Lebron jerseys to homeless shelters in Miami.

Cowboys@Texans- See ya Wade Phillips, don't let the door hit you on the way out. Jerry Jones gave poor Wade the dreaded vote of confidence this week. Texans win this one by at least 2 TDs. Dallas is just falling apart worse than Michael Jackson's last nose.

Lions@Vikings- Holy Relevance, Batman! The Lions could put a nail in Brett Favre's retirement party. Lions will win this game in a close squeaker. Watch All Pro Rookie Suh squish Brett twice.

Bills@Pats- Don't bet against Bill Bellichek and Tom Brady at home. Does it even matter? Bills fans might be more depressed than Browns fans right now.

Falcons@Saints- Close game but i think the Super Bowl Champions win this one on grit and a few Matt Ryan turnovers.

Titans@Giants- Two teams who want to be playoff contenders but are more pretenders. Vince Young was benched again last week and the Giants have had player vs coach issues again. I still think Eli wins this one in a close game, 24-21.

Steelers@Bucs- Another surprise game here. Both teams are 2-0 and the Steel Curtain 2.0 has not needed She Said No. Charlie Batch starts this game for the Steelers and Josh Freeman looks like a decent Qb for the Bucs. Expect this game to be a grinding, defensive game if the Steelers can control the pace. Steelers head home with a 3-0 record and a good chance of playoff hope with the return of She Said No in two weeks.

Bengals@Panthers- The Cats face off here. The Panthers should be better then they are but they need to settle the QB position. Lets hope former Irish QB Claussen is the answer. I think the Bengals win after both heads of the T Ochocinco monster score touchdowns. Look for a good matchup though between TE Jermaine Gresham and the Panthers LB core.

Eagles@Jags- Mike Vick runs over the Jags in this game and Andy Reid helps the Mike Vick redemption train along. Yes he is a former felon, but he has been nothing but humble and grateful this time around. Look I will jump on him if he steps out of line, but why ruin a good story now. Vick or Welker could be the comeback players of the year, but its only Week 3.

Redskins@Rams- Maybe Shanahan finally gets control of his team here and wins another game. Its a pretty easy gimme game what with Bradford still being a rookie and all.

Colts@Broncos- Kevin, I have your bag ready for you. Peyton continues on his quest to prove the Texans game was a fluke. Colts win in a no contest. Poor Broncos fans. Great post by Woody Paige about depression and suicide the other day though. Pretty moving.

Raiders@Cardinals- Wow both teams made it to the Superbowl in the last decade and both teams are pretty crappy right now. Raiders benched their supposed answer at Qb last week and will start Bruce Gradkowski again. Cardinals win but barely.

Chargers@Seahawks- Chargers will win this game on the back of Phillip Cry Baby Rivers.

Jets@Dolphins- Fins win as the Jets are still on a hangover from the Sex Scandal, the Braylon Edwards DUI and their victory over the Pats last week. The AFC East is a 3 team race all season long.

Packers@Bears- Not even close. Rodgers continues his push to MVP and the erasing of Brett Favre from the collective Wisconsin memory. Jay Cutler gets sacked at least 3 times this week and throws one INT.

New Sin Bin Vlog Video!

2010-09-21T21:49:00.003-06:00

This one deals with Reggie Bush's Heisman, and Michael Vick's new job!