Some Phils, BALCO, NFL and NCAA picks

The Phillies did not play last night and fell out of their share of the wild card lead, with both the Dodgers and Padres winning. 6 of their last 10 games are on the road; 6 of their last 10 games are also against long-time nemesis Florida. Gotta win every series plus the Houston game Monday and go 7-3 in the last 10. That should do it. We are in the home stretch. The Phils also caught a huge break when Houston decided to throw Clemens in the home finale Sunday on three days rest. I think this means the Philberts will face some dude named Albers who is 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA. Of course, careful what you wish for as this franchise has a long history of struggling against guys they are seeing for the first time. Stay tuned, the last 10 days will be fun!

I cannot believe the reporters who broke the BALCO scandal wide open were sentenced to jail yesterday for not revealing their sources. These guys did a great thing by breaking this scandal wide open. Where would reporting be if nobody felt safe revealing information anonymously in certain situations. Bottom line is that the justice system in its infinite wisdom is taking incentive away from people from getting involved with items like this and from people in the know from talking about things like this. We all lose, except for the hard core right wingers that favor censorship.

Enough about politics, let’s get to more important matters….football. Hopefully we can get through a weekend with the refs determining the outcome of any games. Let the players decide the games between the lines.

NCAA (3-2 last week; 8-7-1 for the season):

Nevada (-7) vs. Northwestern. (NOTE: This is a Friday night special) The Wolfpack (no, not THAT wolfpack) look like they have a strong squad led by an experienced quarterback and solid offense. Northwestern, after an emotion opening win to remember their late head coach, is struggling to find an identity. Look for the Wolfpack to win by double figures.

Michigan (-13.5) vs. Wisconsin. Michigan has the mojo going coming off a huge win in South bend, and playing a big rival like Wisconsin minimizes the chances of a letdown. Wisconsin looks like their offense is not good enough to keep up here. Michigan covers the big number.

Minnesota (-2.5) at Purdue. The Gophers have a good running game and an experienced QB who will be able to put up points on Purdue. Joe Tiller’s offense has not been good since Brees and Orton left. Close game, but the Gophs will win and by just enough.

Kansas St (+13.5) vs. Louisville. Take the home dog here. The Wildcats have looked great under their new head coach and can keep it close at home against a back up QB and back RB.

Arkansas (-2) vs. Alabama. Quite simply, my favorite game of the day. Tide gets rolled.

NFL (2-3 last week, 4-5 overall, yuck):

Big game on Sunday for the Eagles. They need to bounce back from the debacle last week or else the season becomes a long uphill climb. They also need to do it despite facing a vastly improved 49er team without their starting corner, their nickel corner or their best defensive lineman. In addition, Westbrook is a gametime decision and my guess is that he will not play. Look for the Eagles to bottle up Frank Gore with the run stopping defense that held Tiki Barber to 51 yards on 21 carries last week, and get enough pressure on Smith to make him make some mistakes. San Fran may get a big play or two in against some weak defensive backs (Joselio Hanson is starting, Dexter Wynn is the nickel, and some guy off the practice squad is the 4th DB), but McNabb will make too many plays and do too much for the 49ers to overcome. Final Score: EAGLES 30, San Francisco 20 (Pick: EAGLES -6)

Jets (+6) at Buffalo. Buffalo is overrated, Jets are underrated. This is a field goal game, one way or the other.

Tennessee (+11) at Miami. Probably (maybe) a safe pick for win or die purposes, but who is Miami to be giving 11 points to anyone this year. Have they even scored 11 in a game yet?

Seattle (-3.5) vs. New York Giants. Everyone knows I think the Giants are good, I picked them to win the NFC and go to the Super Bowl. But this is a tough task. After a huge emotional win over a division rival, to go cross country in a non divisional game against a very good team. Seattle should win by at least a touchdown if not more.

Denver (+6.5) at New England. Denver can’t look this bad three weeks in a row, can they? And New England is just not that good, as the loss of lots of veterans is starting to result in cracks.

That’s all for now. Loof for Win or Die picks posted here Sunday morning.