Sixers, Flyers, Michigan St, Boxing, Nascar, and, of course, NCAA and NFL Picks

As I mentioned the other day, the flyers have been the worst team in hockey this season, so what do they do? They promptly travel 3,000 miles across the country, and on back to back nights win games, one against Anaheim, who has the most points in the Western Conference. If they win a third straight on Saturday night in the Shark Tank against San Jose, then we may have a story. Stay tuned.

The Sixers, on the other hand, have exceeded early expectations, going 4-3 in their first seven games (kind of tells you what expectations were to be exceeding them at 4-3 huh!) And Chris Webber is now complaining that he is not getting enough time. Webber is playing just over 30 minutes a game and is averaging about half his career average at only 10 points and change per game. A message to Chris: you are not good enough to play any more. The only reason you are playing at all, and not cut, or at the very least traded, is that you are scheduled to make $43 million between this season and next. You should kiss your agent every day and the GM that gave you that deal (was it Geoff Petrie in Sacto?) because otherwise you would be home sitting on the couch. You are playing on one leg. You are shooting way under 40% from the field. You cannot or choose not to play defense any more. If Jim Mora, Sr. were your coach, he would tell you that “you can’t do diddly poo.” So stop whining. Be thankful that you are still getting 30 minutes a game, and try to figure out what you can do to help your team win instead of complaining about what you are not getting to do.

Some great early college hoops as Michigan State beat Texas in the Garden last night by 2. Drew Nietzel looks like one of those guys who improved a lot in the offseason. He may actually be able to make an occasional jump shot this year and looks like a much better floor general than in year’s past. As for the early game of that doubleheader, Maryland thumped St. John’s by 32, but it could have been 50 (it was 37 at the half). Stitzer cannot be pleased with that start. It will be interesting to see if the Johnnies can bounce back with a win against a ranked Texas team tonight. I am thinking that will be a very close game.

Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales are battling for the third time on Saturday night. If you are not a boxing fan and not familiar with these names, I can honestly tell you that they are two of the greatest pound for pound fighters of the last 25 years. They are true warriors. And they, especially Pacquiao, fight with such speed and precision that it is truly amazing to watch. They split their first two battles, and while I think Morales has been a true warrior and champion, I cannot see how he can defeat the stunning speed and power blend that Pacquiao brings with him from the Philippines. Do not be afraid to purchase this one on pay per view, as you will be guaranteed an action packed fight.

Look for Jimmy Johnson to win the Nextel Cup championship Sunday at Homestead. Johnson needs to only finish 12th or better to win, and after five straight superb races, only a mistake by himself or someone else could cost him at this point. The interesting thing about NASCAR, which has enjoyed unbelievable growth and success over the past 15 years, as that its popularity has plateaued. Only about 1/3 of the races sold out this season (granted, their grandstands fit more people than any other sport), and television ratings are flat. Two takeaways from me on this: first, their season is too long with too many races. Go from 36 to 28 races, and run the season from March through September. Then you will get away from so much direct competition against the NFL, and people can keep their interest longer and build more anticipation in the offseason. Second, this is another example of Disney/ABC paying too much to televise a property. They paid a huge premium to begin televising the sport next year. Soon, every sport will be on ESPN. Too much ESPN, too much Chris Berman. Make it stop.

Anyway, enough of boxing and racing, let’s get to the football picks for the week.

NCAA (Last Week: 2-2-1; Overall: 32-30, 52%)

Cincinnati (+7) vs. Rutgers. Letdown city. Look for a low scoring close game here as Rutgers will struggle all day to keep their heads above water.

Wake Forest (Pick) vs. Virginia Tech. This line opened at Va. Tech by 2. Wake is still getting no respect after beating FSU on the road by 30. Jim Grobe for coach of the year!!! Unless he let’s me down in this spot.

Vanderbilt (+8) vs. Tennessee. Rivalry game. Vandy knows they can win cause they did it last year. Ainge is banged up. Take the Commodores.

Michigan (+7) at Ohio St. The Wolverines front seven is powerful. They will neutralize OSU’s running game and make Troy Smith singlehandedly beat them. Chad Henne and Michael Hart will be able to put up points of their own. You already knew all this if you listened to my George Rogers appearance this week.

Kansas (-1.5) vs. Kansas St. Hmmm, a team that is not very good favored over a team that has been hot and beat the #4 team in the country last week. I will play with Vegas, Rock Chalk Jayhawk baby!

Maryland (+8) at Boston College. Another team that plays close games and wins them not getting any respect.

Cal (+5.5) at USC. The Golden Bears loss in Tucson last week makes this game too easy! Take it to the bank.

NFL (Last Week: 4-3; Overall: 32-25, 56%)

Indianapolis (-1.5) at Dallas. Peyton Manning. Tony Romo. Plus, we need Indy to win this week so they are unblemished when the Eagles shock the world next week in the RCA dome.

Cincinnati (+3.5) at New Orleans. Repeat after me…Dils is an idiot. I just cannot get off the Bengals, especially when they are playing a team about to implode.

Atlanta (+4.5) at Baltimore. Atlanta should be able to run the ball a lot against a banged up defense with no Ray Lewis. Enough to at least keep it a field goal game.

New England (-6) at Green Bay. I know I have been off New England all year as I do not think they are good. And I know Green Bay has been playing pretty well. But Belichick will figure out how to make Favre make mistakes and they will win and cover here.

Denver (-2.5) vs. San Diego. Tomlinson never plays well in Mile High. If Tomlinson doesn’t play well, that offense shrivels up like Costanza in the ocean.

No pick on the Eagles, because they are giving a ton of points. They should handle Tennessee. Jim Johnson should be able to design a scheme to contain the Titans simple offense designed for Vince Young. My guess is they will flood 8 in the box to stop Travis Henry and make Young beat them with his arm. Of course, I thought that against Jacksonville and it did not work out too well. This is a have to have for the Birds as they head into the brutal part of their schedule.

Have a great weekend.