Greg Oden Injury, A Patsy of a Penalty, Week 2 Prognostications
Note: Win or Die Picks will be posted here by end of day Friday, assuming picks come in on time
Greg Oden is out for the year. This is unfortunate for the NBA, the Portland Trailblazers, Blazer fans, and anyone who is getting tired of Bill Simmons and his (maybe non-sexual) crush on Kevin Durant. Oden showed flashes last year, most notably in a fantastic (but losing) effort in last year's NCAA Championship game. This guy had the tools to become a dominant center in this league, except apparently his health. Can Kevin Durant be an exceptional pro? Absolutely? But you don't pass on a center who has the tools to be an all time great for a combination small/power forward. Of course, I guess Bill Simmons is smarter than just about every general manager, almost all of whom would have taken Oden with the first selection. It is amazing that none of these owners, all of whom have deep pockets which were likely dug with some sort of intelligence, are smart enough to see Simmons' brilliance and hire him. Puh-leaze.
Speaking of Simmons, the team he likes to fawn over almost as much as Kevin Durant, The Patriots, have been found guilty of cheating by NFL judge and jury Roger Goddell. Goddell, who has assumed office during a difficult time and handled everything close to flawlessly, has just made his first big blunder by handing down a penalty that is not nearly harsh enough. The punishment is as follows:
- $500k fine on Belichick
- $250k fine on the team
- Forfeit of 1st round choice next year (assuming team makes playoffs this year, a safe bet)
- Suspension of Belichick for 4 games (certainly this is as serious as a first time steroids offense)
- Suspension of Belichick for the second Jets game of the year, and venue change of that game from New England to New Jersey
The Phillies responded to my Tuesday pleading with them to win their way into the playoffs by getting outscored 20-2 Tuesday and Wednesday. They appear to be bouncing back tonight just to stay within spitting distance. So goes the life of a Philadelphia sports fan. Honestly, if you can throw strikes and occasionally hit 65 on the radar gun, there could be a spot for you in their bullpen.
Coming off a terrible inaugural week in my college and pro selections, I am determined to recover this week and get back to my traditional winning ways. So here they are, the winners for the week....
NCAA (Last Week: 1-4, Season 1-4). Thank God for my ridiculously horrendous Dukies covering the number by only losing by 11 or I would have been winless. How much does it say about what I think about Notre Dame that I will not even pick them, getting more than a touchdown against a horrible Michigan team who is missing their quarterback?
North Carolina (-3) vs. Virginia. Butch Davis has the Heels playing with renewed enthusiasm. And, let's face it, U Va is bad. Yates has been good enough to keep Greg Paulus' brother on the bench, and should have no problems picking apart a weak Cavalier secondary.
Washington (+4) vs. Ohio State. Buckeyes struggled at home against an inferior opponent last week. This week they travel cross country to play a team that can match them athletically.
Navy (-7) vs. Ball St. Too much strength on the ground for the Middies. Ball St has gotten off to a disappointing start. And no chance for a look ahead for Navy with the Blue Devils coming to town next week.
Georgia Tech (-6.5) vs. Boston College. BC is just not in synch yet with the new coaching staff. The Jackets are playing well and will be inspired by a loud Georgia crowd.
Colorado (+4.5) vs. Florida State. Hawk has Colorado playing a little better this year. Florida State has looked bad two weeks in a row, and Drew Weatherford has to be the most disappointing player in the country.
NFL (Last Week 2-3; Season 2-3)
Houston (+6.5) at Carolina. Don't sleep on the Texans.
St. Louis (-3) vs. San Fran. The 49ers showed they aren't quite there yet on Monday night. St. Louis will lay all the cards on the table in a must win game for them.
New York Giants/Green Bay UNDER 37.5. Green Bay will struggle offensively, even against a team that gave up 45 last week, and the Giants are starting Jared Lorenzen.
Denver (-9.5) vs. Oakland. Josh McCown on the road is not keeping this a single digit game.
New England (-3.5) vs. San Diego. Even without the visual aides, Belichick can outcoach Norv Turner. And look for the Patriots to circle the wagons and play with a purpose after all the cheating talk this week. They want to show this has nothing to do with their ability to dominate.
EAGLES (-7) vs. Washington. The Eagles play well in prime time (unless the game is in Seattle). They are going to play well Monday. They will score at least in the mid 20s, and Washington just does not have the offense to keep up on the road. Reno Mahe may be terrible, but he has always been able to catch the ball. Eagles in a game that will be over by halftime....
posted by Dils @ 9/13/2007 09:36:00 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Trying not to sound biased here, but agree with Dils that NE penalties were not severe enough/inconsistent for a few reasons
1) They were warned about this last year in GB
2) If Belichick was fined $500K, (which Kraft will find a way to get back to him), how can team only be fined $250K? $250K to an NFL team is a drop in the bucket.
3) Definitely think Belichick should have been suspended for 1-2 games
4) had JETS kept final score respectable, I might lobby for a forfeit or at least a "re-do" when both teams have their Bye Week
Is part of the reason why Goodell did not reward the JETS with anything due to the fact that he was a JETS intern in 1983 and did not want NE & NE media to play that card? Althoug, a precedent was set in 2003 when a Redskin season ticket holder was allowed to arbitrate the Chad Morton fiasco between JETS & Skins - 1 guess as to he ruled in favor of?
Here is a JETS fans stance on Cheatgate. Outcome would not have been any different - you give up a 108-yd KO return, andyou get dominated at line of scrimmage, you are not going to win regardless of defensive sigs being stolen.
Finally, and this is not meant as a general stereotype for NE fans, but a handful of them decided to flood the JETSBLOG with "sore loser" talk & "jealousy" talk & "everyone cheats" talk. I have to laugh, because the aforementioned Bill Simmons stereotyopes all Yankee fans "as thinking they are better than everyone else" just because they happended to be born in the NY metro area. Ironically, it is NE fans who I have found to be the biggest "elitist/sore winners" since Bulls fans.
This will piss you off even more. The Pats have the rights to the Niners first round pick this year. Of course that pick will end up being higher than the Pats pick. SO, the Pats lose their pick, but not the one they received from the Niners. Nice job Goodell.
You really think BeliCheat will be paying that 500K out of his own pocket?!?!?
Goodell should have gone F1 on him and dropped a $100 million fine!
BTW - the silence from Simmons is deafening. And an e-mail exchange with a sympathetic writer in lieu of a column does not count.
I love your NC and your Washington calls for very similar reasons....and I'm right there with you on the Texans pick. Those that have Carolina in the WorD be afraid...be very afraid. Matt Schaub just may be worth the hype (if it's really hype. C'mon...it's Matt Schaub)...Andre Johnson is a beast....and they may be able to play defense. Other picks include:
USC (-9.5) I know the chemistry isn't there yet and the men of Troy play their best ball at the end of the season, but there is just too much talent for the Cornhuskers to handle. Plus Carroll is tough with an extra week to prepare. SC will open up the playbook and win going away. There's a chance it's close at half time, so if that's the case empty your piggy and bet SC for the 2nd half.
Stanford (-7.5) Traditionally a close game but SJSU's running back did not play last week (ankle) and their QB left the game last week (shoulder) but is expected to play. Stanford looked surprisely competitive (though the scoreboard doesn't indicate) and was able to move the ball against a stout UCLA defense. Two terrible teams, so it's a small play.
Other than Houston....Tenn (+7) It's only taken a solid Rose Bowl performance, a very long winning streak with a team that was supposed to be miserable, and a 1st week W in Jacksonville to become a V. Young believer. Combine that with incredibly larger and faster Chris Brown (it's only a matter of time until MLB tells the NFL to test him for HGH) and the Titans give the best team in football a run for their money. Everyone will be on the Indy wagon again after Thursday night's perfomance, but the weak on the road run defense will show up and leave the Titans in the game.
ATL (+10) Joey makes fewer mistakes and the Jags offense remains stagnant. Jags win but not by enough.
CHI (-12) KC won't be able to move the footbal in Chicago, Benson shows he's not that bad, and Rexy connects on a few deep balls.
I'll say it first....I SUCK. 0-5 on college, taking my record to 1-9. That is actually pretty hard to do. At least I can't do worse on the pros. Uphill climb to get back to .500 in NCAA, but I will take the challenge. Now you have to decide to play with me or against me!!!
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