NFL Playoff Picture Part II: NFC

Where the AFC has 9 the NFC has 8. I’m not going to count the Philadelphia Eagles at 4-7 who currently sit in 9^th as contenders moving forward so we’re going to draw the line at the 8^th seeded New York Giants and their 6-5 record. There hasn’t been a bigger disappointment than the Flopadelphia Eagles and their “Dream Team” – great call by the backup QB and same guy who went A.W.O.L. for 4 days last year after being pulled from the Titans starting lineup. The Eagles thought you could win championships on paper well they were rudely awakened and won’t be drinking playoff champagne this year. But like yesterday with Tim Tebow this isn’t going to be a pile on the Eagles column but rather a look at the entire National Football Conference. Even though the Packers and Niners have sewed up their respective divisions there is still a lot to play for in the other 4 spots. Let’s take a look at the contenders and then break ‘em down from there like we did in the AFC piece, which is linked here in case you missed it. The NFC top 8:

1.      Green Bay Packers (11-0)

2.      San Francisco 49ers (9-2)

3.      New Orleans Saints (8-3)

4.      Dallas Cowboys (7-4)

5.      Chicago Bears (7-4)

6.      Atlanta Falcons (7-4)

7.      Detroit Lions (7-4)

8.      New York Giants (6-5)

The NFC Norris division (that ones for you Chris Berman) and the West races are all over the only race to be watched coming out of those two divisions is whether or not the Packers can be the third team in history and second since 2007, your New England Patriots of course being the first, to play a clean regular season slate. Looking at their remaining schedule I think the Packers have a very good chance of going 16-0 with three of their remaining games at the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field and road games against the suddenly reeling Giants and Kansas City Chiefs. I’m going to take the Packers to finish 15-1 however since every team is destined for a stinker each year and the Packers frankly don’t play much defense at all. One down game from Aaron Rodgers and his WR corps and the Packers chalk one up in the loss column. Out in the NFC West the 49ers really haven’t been challenged all year and can clinch the division with a win this weekend. Jim Harbaugh has brought in a new energy and attitude to a team that desperately needed it and has responded accordingly ripping off 8 straight wins before losing the Harbaugh bowl on Thanksgiving 16-6 to the Ravens. They’ll be your 2 seed and earn a bye through the wild card weekend. Cowboys are running hot Tony Romo is throwing the ball the best he has in the past few years and DeMarco Murray is the feature back the Cowboys thought they had in Felix Jones. Though’ll hold off a surprisingly weak NFC East and wrap up the 4^th seed behind the NFC South winner.

That leaves us with 6 teams vying for 3 spots with only the Saints as clear favorites to get into the playoffs after their 49-24 shellacking of the G-Men on Monday night. Speaking of the G-Men I’m going to start off the elimination process with them, their 6-5 record, and 3 straight losses.

After they beat the Patriots 24-20 a month ago at Gillette Stadium the Giants were sitting pretty atop the NFC East holding a 6-2 record and a 2 game lead over the Dallas Cowboys. Fast forward three weeks and the G-Men are now on the outside looking in losers of three in a row and limping into a matchup with the undefeated Green Bay Packers and all World QB Aaron Rodgers. With their lack of a running game and Eli Manning falling back to Earth after a scorching start to the season the Giants are a team headed in the wrong direction and this isn’t something new. During the Tom Coughlin Era the Giants are 24-34 after the month of October. This year is no different and with a tough schedule down the stretch, Packers, Cowboys twice, Jets, and Redskins, the G-Men are going to be sitting in that 8 spot when the playoffs begin.

In a mild upset the other team I’m going to eliminate is the Caleb Hanie led Chicago Bears. If jay Cutler hadn’t broken his right thumb and been forced out of the rest of the regular season I would’ve taken them over the Detroit Lions were appear to be slightly too green for the playoffs but caught a break, pun, with the Cutler injury. If I write this column two weeks ago after the Bears housed the Lions 37-13 and Cutler was still their starter the Lions would be the pick but alas that’s why they play the games. Matt Forte is a stud but other than the Chicago offense is junk and no one on their offensive line would start for the LSU Tigers or Alabama Crimson Tide. Their defense and return games are still pretty strong but they won’t be able to hide Hanie well enough to hold onto their playoff spot. Lions are in, Bears are out.

Speaking of those Lions I’m just going to write a small piece on them since I’m going out on a limb and saying that their going to make the playoffs for the first time ever. Ok so not ever but in a really really long time. Their offense is explosive to say the least but the team struggles on the defensive side of the ball and their best defensive player, Ndamukong Suh, just got suspended 2 games for being a whack job. The Lions have a decently hard schedule down the stretch but as long as they can win 3 out of 5 they’re in. 10 wins gets them to the promise land they’ve longed to graze in for ages. Matthew Stafford is the real deal and he was the right pick at the top of the 2009 NFL Draft. Keep throwing the ball to Megatron Matty and you’ll be a-ok.

Finally let’s take a look at the NFC South race. Both teams, the Falcons and Saints are going to get in the playoffs but the division is still an open race. After a sluggish game against the putrid Rams the Saints have turned it on big time. They’ve won 3 straight and put up almost 600 yards on the Giants Monday night. Drew Brees is playing MVP caliber and would probably win that award if Aaaron Rodgers hadn’t decided to have a nearly flawless regular season. The true key to finding a division winner will come in week 16 when the Saints and Falcons tussle in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Both teams have a weak schedule besides the matchup against one another and I’m going to give the advantage to the Saints in that game. The Falcons schedule looked tougher before the Texans got forced down to TJ Yates and Jake Delhomme. It’s a home game and the Saints appear to be trending upwards quickly. The Falcons won’t be left out in the cold though they’ll draw the Cowboys in the 4 vs. 5 matchup during the wild card weekend.

There you have it folks the NFC playoff picture just got a little clearer for you let me know what you think. Until the next time we cross paths.

Geoff Jablonski

I Hate Valentine's Day

Alright, look, I'm sick of this dog and pony show. The dog and pony show that I'm talking about is the charade that Ben Cherington is actually the GM when actually Mr. Burns, I mean Larry Lucchino is clearly the one pulling the strings.

Cherington, decidely started out running the process when he had that list of five people (Sandy Alomar Jr., Dale Sveum, Gene Lamont, Pete Mackanin and Torey Lovullo). He also went as far as to say, "our manager will be one of these five candidates." These choices seem logical for a first time GM. You've got a big name former player (Alomar), 2 guys with some, but limited managerial experience but have ties to Boston (Lamont and Sveum), A long-time bench coach (Mackanin) and then the AAA manager in your farm system (Lovullo). Then a mystery candidate was floated about, Valentine, which clearly was Larry's way of saying I'd rather hire my guy but we'll let you run your search. But here's my question, If Cherington is the one that is actually conducting the managerial search why would he bold-face lie to the media? Answer: He wouldn't Larry Lucchino just overruled Cherington's "authority"

Valentine, by all accounts, was Lucchino's guy from the beginning, and I for one hope this blows up so spectacularly in his face that we're not sure if we're watching a baseball game or some crazy porno.

Cherington (we're going to call him Cherry, mostly because I'm done writing out his entire name) is probably wondering what sort of mess he got himself into here. It's basically Theo 2.0. Theo Epstein left because Larry Lucchino wasn't letting him run the team by himself (as the GM should be doing), so the notion that Bill Walsh spoke to his sub-conscious is a little ridiculous. It's very clear to me that Cherry and Theo are extremely similar, look at the managerial process.

It was clear that Cherry's binky was Dale Sveum, but somewhere during that formal lunch with ownership Sveum pissed in Larry Lucchino's minestrone soup and their relationship couldn't be rekindled. I'm not entirely sure who is the person at fault here. Is it Cherry for being a bad judge of character? Or is it Lucchino for being to picky and dismissive of Ben's selection. I'm bias because I think Lucchino is a snake, but I'll lean on Cherington's side especially when Theo immediately offered Sveum a position as the Cubs manager.

In Major League Baseball, being a manager is 65% managing of egos, 35% baseball strategy. It's going to be tough managing egos when your manager has the biggest ego out of any of the players on the team. Let's look at positives and negatives:

Positives

• He believes in being physically fit. His time in Japan showed him that chicken and beer is probably not the best way to win ballgames.


• He believes in discipline. I am also a believer that players of any sport need structure.


• He is not opposed to sabermetrics and the use of advanced statistics in decision making for his ballclub.

Negatives

• He clearly likes to talk, but when his blabbering throws his players under the bus is alarming to me. You'll remember when Valentine first joined the Mets, Todd Hundley was one of the team's biggest stars. Without knowing the whole situation Bobby Valentine spouted off to the media that he thought Hundley was out boozing at night and needed to get more sleep. Well Mr. Valentine you're right he did need to get more sleep because after games he was driving to see his mother who was battling heart disease, a father with a hip replacement and a pregnant wife. Open Mouth, insert foot, Mr. Valentine.


• To me, he doesn't have the clout that he thinks he has. He has managed 15 seasons in the Majors and only twice has he won 90 games, and he has won one pennant (but lost the World Series 4-1 to the Yankees), while never winning a division title. To those that say, Francona didn't win anything either, Bobby Valentine's Texas Rangers and New York Mets had much better rosters than ANY that Francona had to deal with and Philadelphia.


• His strong personality is his best and worst trait. He has butted heads with management in all of his managing gigs (I'll give him a pass for butting heads in Japan, because they didn't pay him and I'd be pretty miffed as well), which is why I don't see his shelf life being long especially with Joe Maddon being available at the end of 2012 and John Farrell at the end of 2013.

Valentine is hire, and it doesn't look like I can be the voice of reason, because if my name doesn't rhyme with Harry Smoochino than my opinion doesn't matter. Bottom line is that I don't trust him. I want my manager protecting players and keeping things in house, and I don't think Bobby Valentine is capable of taking blame by the media and would rather point fingers. Anyway here is what I would have done and it all starts with the Theo Epstein Compensation, or lack thereof.

The one overwhelmingly positive thing that I will say about the Red Sox during the current ownership's tenure is that they aren't afraid to think big/outside the box. Precisely what they were doing when they tried to pry Farrell away from Toronto. Farrell is the man I would have selected for this job, and stopped at nothing to make it happen.

At first Toronto was going to let him go, and then they (smartly) pulled a 180 and said, we will not allow lateral moves without legitimate compensation. They asked for Clay Buchholz. I would scoff at this too, but then I thought, "Ya know what could help? The Theo compensation."

You could have thrown a few minor leaguers as fillers in the deal (Doubront, Reddick and another pitcher not A+ prospects) because you have the Cubs over a barrell as much as Theo doesn't want to admit it, and demanded Matt Garza.

Then you can propose sending Matt Garza (instead of Buccholz) to the Jays who is battle tested in the AL East, has no-hit stuff, and has been healthier than Clay Buchholz throughout his career. The splits are pretty close

Or maybe you keep Garza and let Buchholz go. "SACRILEGE! HE'S THE BEST PITCHA WE GOT!" *obnoxious Boston-accent* Garza is every bit as good as Buchholz albeit a year older than him, and doesn't have the injury risk that Buchholz has the last 3 years. Garza has always pitched for teams that haven't given him a lot of run support, which speaks to his almost .500 winning percentage but largely better all-around numbers in almost double the amount of appearances. The Red Sox needed quality innings last year and flat out didn't get them. Buchholz has never thrown 180 innings in a year and the starting rotation needs quality length, somethin Buchholz is not a lock for. With Garza you can write it in with Sharpie that he's going to make 33+ starts and throw around 200 innings.

If Farrell was my guy, the guy of the present and the future, a guy that the pitchers respected and feared as much as the staff says he is than I would have made that Priority One and made it happen. So it would have essentially been a three team deal.

Cubs Get: Theo Epstein, Felix Doubront, Reddick and PTBNL

Jays Get: Garza or Buchholz

Red Sox Get: Farrell and Garza or keep Buccholz

If you want something/someone and you have the means to do it, you need to go out and get it done.

Stay Tuned,

Norton

NFL Playoff Picture Getting Clearer: AFC Breakdown

We’re now through 12 weeks and the playoff race in the AFC has started to take a more definitive shape. There are 9 teams vying for 6 spots, the cutoff is the Bills at 10 so sorry Buffalo but losing 4 in a row and your top offensive player in Fred Jackson doesn’t allow you to be vying for a playoff spot anymore. Of those 9 teams the Bengals, Broncos, and Titans all appear to shift from week to week on whether they are pretenders or contenders. I know that Denver starts Tim Tebow at quarterback and shouldn’t really be in this conversation but there’s not much else to say other than he’s 5-1 as a starter and the team, mostly the defense, rallies around him more and more each week. They can’t score a lick and I’m pretty sure John Fox has Tebow running a dumbed down version of the offense from “Football for Dumbies” but a win is a win. Back to the subject at hand this isn’t going to be a rant or rave about Tim Tebow but a look at all the teams, here is how the AFC top 9 line up currently:

1. Houston Texans (8-3)
2. New England Patriots (8-3)
3. Baltimore Ravens (8-3)
4. Oakland Raiders (7-4)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3)
6. Cincinnati Bengals (7-4)
7. New York Jets (6-5)
8. Denver Broncos (6-5)
9. Tennessee Titans (6-5)

Now let’s break these standings down and I’m going to throw at you how I think this race is going to shake out.

You are seeing straight that is the Houston Texans sitting in the top slot. A franchise that has never had a winning record is currently your number one seed though I see that changing in the near future with the news that Matt Leinart is out for the year and the team just signed Jake “Day Light Come And I Wanna” Delhomme. The Texans are still going to win the weak AFC South but I don’t see them holding onto the top spot over the likes of the Patriots and Steelers. They’ll settle in nicely to the 3 seed ahead of the (spoiler alert!) AFC West champion Oakland Raiders. The other shoo-ins as far as this blogger is concerned are the Patriots, Ravens, and Steelers. Those three teams know how to win when the mercury drops below 32 and the calendar turns to January, I don’t see that changing this year. All three sit at 8-3 with each having the possibility of running the table. The Patriots play an extremely weak schedule the last 5 weeks of the year so I see them penciling in as the 1 seed with a 13-3 final tally. The Steelers and Ravens will battle it out for the other bye and the 2 seed. I’m going to lean towards the Ravens since they’ve already beaten the Steelers twice thus owning the tiebreaker. All they have to do is play the Steelers even down the stretch and they get the coveted bye through the wildcard weekend. Steelers will finish either 12-4 or 11-5 securing themselves the 5 seed behind the 4 division winners. Between the Patriots, Ravens, Texans, and Steelers that’s four spots out of six locked down let’s take a peek at who might grab those final two openings.

Handicapping The Rest of the Field

We’ve now decided the definite lets look at who’s left and who is going to punch a ticket to the dance and who’s going to be left out in the cold. I’m going to eliminate the Tennessee Titans from the race right off the bat. CJ1K has been a ghost all year and has only had two really good games all year and they came against the porous run defenses of the Tampa Bay Bucs and Carolina Panthers. Against everyone else he’s struggled to break the 40-yard mark while Matt Hasselbeck has been firing off interceptions like it’s going out of style. They still have games against the Saints and Texans left I don’t see them cracking the 10 wins it takes to even sniff the playoffs. Titans are off the list.

Next team up that I’m going to eliminate is those pesky Denver Broncos. There hasn’t been a simpler offense run in the NFL since the ball was oval shaped and passing was considered awkward at best. The Broncos beat the Chiefs a few weeks ago after attempting only 8 passes, completing 2, and running the ball 55 times. This week they beat the free falling Chargers in OT with Tebow completing 9-18 and running the ball over 20 times. I personally fall under the belief that it’s more of an indictment on the Chargers and Chiefs not playing well than the belief that this high school option offense will have continued success at the NFL level. There’s a reason that option quarterbacks don’t transition from college to the pros if they did the quarterbacks of Army, Navy, and the Air Force would all be top 10 picks. Tebow is winning now but teams will realize he’s not a threat to pass the ball effectively and the magic will run out. Broncos land on the outside looking in.

Eliminating the Broncos means that I’m crowning the Oakland Raiders the AFC West champions as I mentioned a few paragraphs above. The Raiders have actually been playing halfway decent with Carson Palmer steering the ship and Michael Bush picking up the slack while Run DMC’s foot heals. When the Raiders get him back and have their entire WR corps healthy the Raiders will stand a punchers chance moving forward. They can hold off the Broncos and their Tebowing. They’re in as AFC West champions and the 4 seed.

Then there were two…the current 6 seed Cincinnati Bengals and the 7 seed New York Jets. It kills me to say this as a diehard Pats fan but I’m going to concede the 6 seed to the Jets in the end. They have an easier schedule down the stretch than the Bengals and though Mark Sanchez has done nothing to show he has a semblance of consistency he’s been to the AFC Championship game twice and can somewhat handle playing under stress. The Bengals are lead by a rookie quarterback who has exceeded all expectations in the redheaded fireball Andy Dalton. Dalton has had an extraordinary season by all accounts but I don’t think he can beat the Texans, Steelers and Ravens down the stretch while the Jets get the likes of the Redskins, Chiefs, reeling Eagles, Giants, and Dolphins. The Jets have a pretty good shot at winning out whereas the Bengals would do well to win 2 out of 3 of those games, their other two games are against the Rams and Cardinals I’m going to chalk those up as W’s. The Bengals have had a much better year than anticipated in year 1 of the Dalton experience and I think next year they’ll be dancing with the big boys but this year they’re going to be left waiting for a prom date. Jets wrap up the 6th seed and if there’s justice for being obnoxious ego inflated pricks they’ll be bounced in round 1 by the Texans. If not then hopefully the Steelers or Ravens can serve them papers in round 2.

There you have it folks that’s why I see the AFC playoff race playing out and stay tuned for my take on the NFC race tomorrow night. Let me know what you think.

Geoff Jablonski

How To Fix A Team in a Month

It took the whole summer and most of fall to figure this whole thing out, but ladies and gentlemen: The NBA lockout is OVER! Thank you Tim Tebow (and God I guess). We now won't be forced to watch an excessive amount of NHL highlights on ESPN the whole winter and I can go back to paying less attention to the Bruins (phew). As we all know, the lockout took forever, and it was announced that players can start signing on Dec. 9th and the season will begin on Christmas day. Not a bad Christmas present if I do say so myself. With that said, that leaves teams with roughly a month to do whatever they need to, to fill out their roster.

The Celtics have some moves to make. We all know the starting lineup is set: Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett and O'Neal. After that the roster is thin. Avery Bradley will be returning for his sophomore campaign and hopes to crack the rotation this season. Rookies JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore will step in and do what they can if need be. That leaves the C's with 6 or 7 roster spots to fill beginning December 9th. The team is still paying money out to "The Big Aristotle" aka "Wilt Chamberneezy" aka "The Big Diesel" aka "The Shaqtus" aka "Shaq Fu" aka Shaquille O'Neal and Rasheed Wallace, so money for quality free agents is going to be hard to come by.

The best scenario for the team in my eyes would be to re-sign Jeff Green, Glen Davis and Delonte West first. Then dish out the remaining money to affordable veteran bench help. Who you ask? Allen Iverson comes to mind. I know the man is controversial and not liked by many, but I think since he is now willing to come off the bench for a team it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world. He could mesh with KG, Ray and Paul and hopefully buy into the team first mentality the Celtics are based around. Last night I asked Celtics insider and Comcast SportsNet correspondent A. Sherrod Blakely on twitter which FA he would put money on the Celtics signing and he replied with Kwame Brown (thanks for replying A. Sherrod!). I like this. He has been widely considered by many one of the biggest busts of all time because of where he was drafted, but Kwame has actually been a productive backup/borderline starter for his career. He provides size and strength down low which is something the Celtics are seriously lacking. Another name I like is Michael Redd, he's had an abundance of injuries over the years, but during his healthy days the man could rain buckets and was regarded as one of the best pure scorers in the league. Redd would be forced to sign at a cheap price because of his injuries and lack of playing time the last few years. If not Redd, I wouldn't mind seeing Marquis Daniels back in town, prior to his neck injuries and trade last season, Marquis was always a very solid and versatile backup for the Celts and it would fit in nicely again alternating between backing up the 1, 2 and 3 spots. With those three veteran signings, the Celtics roster would look something like this:

PG: Rajon Rondo, Delonte West, Avery Bradley

SG: Ray Allen, Michael Redd/Marquis Daniels, Allen Iverson, E'Twaun Moore

SF: Paul Pierce, Jeff Green

PF: Kevin Garnett, Glen Davis, JaJuan Johnson

C: Jermaine O'Neal, Kwame Brown

That wouldn't be too shabby a roster if you ask me. Solid balance of strong minded veterans and young athletic, willing to learn youth. Good depth at all positions with Delonte being able to switch between PG and SG, Iverson the same, Jeff Green is able to play SF and PF depending on the matchup, Baby can play PF and C and Jermaine can switch back and forth between C and PF.

I hope you are reading this Danny Ainge, because this is how the Celtics should be fixed up for this season. Those signings will tide us over til 2012 and hopefully bring us banner #18. As for the 2012 offseason, that one is going to be a little tougher and a lot more exciting. Dwight Howard maybe? He looks great in a Celtics uni.

*Mouth open and watering* *Daydreaming of oops from Rondo to Howard*

We can dream right?

Until next time,

ZHawk

Justin Lang's College Hoops Report: Feast Week

Today I am going to start a new segment which I am going to coin as generically as possible until I think of a new name: Justin Lang's College Hoops Report. I'll recap the week that was and look forward to the week ahead as comprehensively as possible.

FEAST WEEK

As any real college basketball fan can tell you, Feast Week is where college basketball season REALLY begins. This is where most of the season opening tournaments happen, and where the major players in the college game take on each other for the first time. Feast Week this season was particularly entertaining, with two great, widely publicized tournament finals: the Maui Invitational and the Las Vegas Invitational.

Maui Invitational

Duke 68, Kansas 61

In what most consider to be the best game of the early season, the Dukies took down the Jayhawks at Lahania. Thomas Robinson finished with 16 points and 15 boards and seemingly got whatever he wanted down low against the Plumlees, but it wasn't enough for Rock Chalk. This is the fifth time that Duke has competed in the Maui and the fifth time Duke has walked away with the championship trophy. Quite the incredible feat.

Las Vegas Invitational

UNLV 90, UNC 80

This may have been the Heels' Mike Tyson vs Buster Douglas moment. The #1 team in America stormed through Orleans Arena with ease before getting bamboozled by a rejuvenated Runnin' Rebels squad. Under new coach Dave Rice, the Rebs have gone back to their old RUNNIN' Rebels style made popular by Jerry Tarkanian. Hell of a game by the Rebels, who sit pretty at 7-0, could be a major player in the college hoops landscape as the season goes on.

Other Tournaments

2K Sports Classic: Mississippi State 67, Arizona 57

Charleston Classic: Northwestern 80, Seton Hall 73

CBE Classic: Missouri 92, Cal 53

Puerto Rico Tip-Off: Alabama 65, Purdue 56 

NIT Season Tip-Off: Syracuse 69, Stanford 63

Old Spice Classic: Dayton 86, Minnesota 70

76 Classic: Saint Louis 83, Oklahoma 63

Battle 4 Atlantis: Harvard 59, Central Florida 49 (The matchup nobody expected. Harvard beat #22 Florida State and UCF beat #4 UConn)

Another Note From the Week that Was

Ryan Boatright is back for UConn. Suspended six games by the NCAA in the early season due to eligibility concerns, Boatright will be able to be an excellent spell Shabazz Napier at point guard for the Huskies. Boatright, if you remember, Tim Floyd acquired Boatright's verbal to USC when he came out of the womb (later reneged when Floyd was canned), and then verbaled to West Virginia (again, reneged). Now he is at UConn.

Upcoming Week

This week upcoming is Jimmy V Week in college basketball. For those unfamiliar, Jim Valvano was the longtime head coach at North Carolina State and was the man seen frantically running around for someone to hug after the Wolfpack upset the Phi Slamma Jamma Houston Cougars in the 1983 National Championship (video below).

Valvano is also remembered for, what can be considered by many, to be the "Greatest ESPY Speech of All-Time" while receiving the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

On April 28, 1993, Valvano died of bone cancer less than two months after his famous speech. Shortly before his death, he started the Jimmy V Foundation, which has raised millions of dollars for cancer research in its eighteen years of existence. 

This years event will take place on Tuesday December 6 at Madison Square Garden. The doubleheader will feature Missouri and Villanova at 7pm, followed by Marquette and Washington at 9pm. Donate to the V Foundation at www.jimmyv.org.

Featured Games

(6) Duke at (3) Ohio State (November 29):

A make or break game of the early season with two powerhouses battling it out in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Jared Sullinger is one of the best big men in the nation, averaging 18.8 points and 10.7 rebounds as a sophomore for the Buckeyes. Those are man-sized numbers. When Sullinger didn't leave after last season, the already dominant and physical Ohio State team got that much better, and was immediately thrust into the national champion conversation. The Buckeyes are led at guard by senior William Buford, who is averaging 17.7 points, and at forward by Deshaun Thomas with 12.3 points. Duke, fresh off a Maui victory, comes in with Seth Curry, Austin Rivers, and Andre running rampant on the perimeter to the tune of 15.1, 14.4, and 10.1 points per game respectively. Ryan Kelly, the Maui Invitational MVP, is a force in that 3/4 spot, and will create matchup problems for the Buckeyes. Mason and Miles Plumlee are good, but I don't know how they will fare against the aforementioned Sullinger.

Ohio State has played a fluff schedule thus far, scheduling the likes of Wright State, Jackson State, North Florida, Virginia Military, and Valparaiso (and #8 Florida, whom they beat 81-74), and stands at 6-0. Duke's schedule thus far includes Belmont (win by 1), Presbyterian, Michigan State, Davidson, Tennessee, Michigan, and Kansas. The battle-tested Blue Devils seem to glimmer in my eye a little bit more based strictly on opponents and national exposure thus far.

The Pick: Duke

(11) Wisconsin at (1) UNC (November 30): Another battle of the ACC-Big Ten landscape. UNC just lost to UNLV. Don't expect them to blow two in a row in games they should have won. The Pick: UNC

(9) Florida at (5) Syracuse (December 2): Big East-SEC Challenge. Two ranked teams at the Carrier Dome. Friday night on the big ESPN stage. 'Cuse coming off the NIT Season Tip-Off victory. Scoop Jardine, Brandon Triche, Fab Melo, and Kris Joseph are firing on all cylinders for a program that has something to prove. The Pick: Syracuse

(1) UNC at (2) Kentucky (December 3): Game of the Week. 'Nuff said. The Pick: UNC

Upset Watch GOTW

St. John's at (2) Kentucky (December 1): Kentucky has UNC on Saturday in my Game of the Week. The Johnnies are coming off of a shocking loss to the Northeastern Huskies, while also losing to #16 Arizona, 81-72, and #18 Texas A&M, 58-57. While they sported no shocking wins on their resume, neither did UNLV and they just beat the #1 team in the nation by ten. St. John's was also a solid player in the Big East last year, and has Steve Lavin, who is one hell of a coach. This has all the makings of a trap game. The Pick: St. John's

Mid-Major GOTW

For those unfamiliar, a mid-major is someone outside of the Power Six conferences (Big East, ACC, Pac-12, SEC, Big Ten, Big XII). This is going to be a MM vs. MM game, and not a MM vs. Florida State or something like that. It is important for people to know that there are other teams outside of the Power Six.

Harvard (Ivy, 6-0) at Vermont (America East, 4-2)

December 1, 7pm

Harvard, led by coach Tommy Amaker, just won the Battle 4 Atlantis with victories over Florida State and Central Florida. The Crimson also sport victories over Holy Cross, Loyola Marymount, and Utah (as well as a win over non-D1 MIT, the other "wicked smahhht" kids). Vermont, led by new head coach John Becker, comes into the game with wins over Darmouth, Marist, Old Dominion, and Siena, along with losses to South Florida by two and Long Island by five. Their lone early season tournament was the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament, of which their quest for a championship was ended at the hands of the Blackbirds of Long Island at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT. There weren't many games to choose from, and this looked to be the sparkling diamond of the bunch. Two successful basketball schools in the greater northeast. Should be a good one on Thursday at Patrick Gymnasium up in Burlington. The Pick: Harvard

---

We're looking at a great week for college basketball games. Any four-year-old with a basic knowledge of numbers and a crayon could've told you the games to watch, but if you want good basketball, that is where it's at. I am going to try to write this for every Monday morning so all my devout readers out there can drink it in with their morning coffee, orange juice, or vodka (some people need a stiff Screwdriver to start off the week). But I'll try to keep it interesting. I'll try to keep it enticing. I'll try to pander to all of your needs and loves of college basketball. I will also start writing about the NBA (now that there is going to be a season), so I can provide the Couch Potatoes with all you can ever hope and dream to acquire from a college student talking about basketball. That's all for today.

Good to be back,

JLang

Week 12 Thoughts

Food for thought for pre-Week 12:

1) Most Likely to have a Quarterback Controversy:

• Caleb Hanie / Jay Cutler: 75-1
• Matt Leinart / Matt Schaub: 60-1
• Vince Young / Mike Vick: 40-1
• Mark Sanchez / The Bench: 25-1
• Matt Moore / Chad Henne: 10-1
• Blaine Gabbert / Anyone the Jags draft next year: 10-1
• Tyler Palko / Matt Cassel: Off the Board

2) Whatever happened to Hammerin' Hank Goldberg?

3) When will someone let Terrell "Sizzle" Suggs know he doesn't go to "Ball So Hard University"?

I'd love it if he were a Patriot, but c'mon

4) I have Winnipeg over British Columbia in the 99th Grey Cup today

5) I hate a lot about the Jets, but Fireman Ed really, really gets under my skin

Well that's all I got. It's been a while. I'm trying to work my way back into it like how John Lackey has spent the last two years making rehab starts for the Red Sox...

Wait, those weren't rehab starts? Well nevermind then. Expect something with more substance and more thought/planning within the next couple of days.

-JLang

I’m Thankful for the Boston Bruins 10 game-winning streak and Milan Lucic winning the decision over Paul Gaustad

As most of you know the Bruins won their 10^th straight game last night when they defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 in a shootout at the First Niagara Center. Since losing a home and home to the dreaded Montreal Canadiens leaving them in last place in the Eastern Conference at 3-7 the Spoked B’s have reeled off 10 straight wins and catapulted themselves into 3^rd place in the East and 1^st in the Northeast division. That makes a perfect 10-0 month of November with the always-formidable Detriot Red Wings coming to town tomorrow. Yet of all the wins during the streak the effort put forth last night was the most impressive one during the streak from this bloggers perspective. The reason being that there was more at stake in this rematch than the 2 points.

If you’ve had your TV on NESN at some point in the past two weeks then you’re aware that the last time these two teams crossed paths, it was 5 games ago when the Bruins won their fifth straight beating the Sabres 6-2 in case you weren’t paying attention, Sabres all-world G Ryan Miller and LW Milan Lucic had a nasty collision. The open ice collision led to a minor penalty for Lucic and a trip to the ‘dark room’ and subsequent concussion for Miller. Miller, coach Lindy Ruff, and his fellow Sabres then took on a media crusade calling the collision ‘gutless’ and Lucic ‘a piece of shit’ for having 50 pounds on Miller and ‘running him like that’.  Lucic and the Bruins decided not to fight their battles through the media and even though I’m biased as a Bruins fan I think this was the right path to take. Don’t try to win your battles through the media it’s not the way sports are played, especially not the great game of hockey, and wouldn’t you know the Sabres finally got the message and last night old time hockey lived again.

No matter what side of the debate you lay your allegiances one thing is clear: the Sabres didn’t do anything in that November 12^th matchup to stand up for their star goalie. After Miller got ‘run’ by Lucic and was forced out of the game after the 2^nd period with that concussion the Sabres didn’t touch Lucic outside of a few shoves and pushes but the gloves weren’t dropped and Lucic wasn’t challenged. After complaining through the media after the NHL didn’t discipline Lucic the Sabres finally realized that the best course of action was to appease the hockey Gods and drop the gloves with Lucic. On Lucic’s first shift on the ice last night resident goon Paul Gaustad followed him to the faceoff dot and immediately challenged him to the much-anticipated showdown. Like a man Lucic accepted the fight and decided to take it one step further by landing a few good rights on Gaustad while only taking a hit or two and winning the decision by an unanimous vote.

This is the way is supposed to be played. If the opposing team goes after or knocks down your star player whether he’s a defenseman, forward, or goalie you show that you aren’t going to stand for that and send out your goon to get the point across. The Sabres failed to do that the first time around but they got it right this time around and I give them credit for that. The energy that standing up for your star players injects into the team and the building is palpable and that’s why I give the Bruins credit for rising to the challenge and withstanding the momentum gained by Buffalo after the opening fight and coming away with a hard fought 2 points. The Sabres jumped out to a 2-0 lead that the Bruins shaved to 2-1 only to see the Sabres open it back up to 3-1 yet the B’s stood tall and worked it back to a 3-3 tie that would be settled in a shootout. A shootout ended in the Bruins favor by a Benoit Pouliot roofed wrister.

It was a good game by all parties involved and another example of how well the hometown Bruins are clicking right now. During their winning streak they’ve won games all different kinds of ways whether it’s by jumping out early or coming back late, winning with offense (they scored 30 goals in one five game stretch) or winning with defense (1-0 defeat of the Canadiens at the Bell Centre). Whatever it takes to win the Bruins have been done it in the past month. Tyler Seguin becoming a bona fide superstar right in front of our very eyes doesn’t hurt either. I’m now a full believer in the Stanley Cup hangover after watching the Bruins sluggishly drag through October only to pick it up like a juggernaut in November. That’s all for now Bruins fans don’t forget to tune in tomorrow at 1:00 pm on NBC to see if the Bruins can extend their hot streak to 11 straight against the Detroit Red Wings. To you and yours Happy Thanksgiving!

Geoff Jablonski

Conventionalism Finally Thrown out the Window

With the announcement of Justin Verlander as the AL MVP something struck me: the BBWAA is finally swaying the other way from conventionalism. Justin Verlander is the first pitcher to win the MVP since 1992 (Eckersley) and the first starting pitcher to win since 1986 (Clemens). It shows me that the crochety staunch baseball writers are being more objective and starting to come around to more statistical analysis than conventional wisdom.

The people that live by the "pitchers have their own award" mantra are clearly ill-informed, uneducated and narrow-minded. Position players have their own awards too: Hank Aaron Award (Most Outstanding Offensive Player in each league), Silver Sluggers (Top Offensive Performers by position), and Gold Gloves (Best Fielders by position). The Most Valuable Player Award should be given to the player that represents the most overall value to their team and this year their was no player who provided more value than Justin Verlander.

Here are Justin Verlander's peripheral stats:


Justin Verlander made 34 starts. He pitched in 251 of 306 possible innings in his 34 starts, assuming a 9 inning game. (55 innings that Verlander didn't pitch divided by the number of starts (34) is approximately 1 2/3 or five outs). Detroits bullpen was asked to get five outs per game on the days he pitches. That is tremendously valuable both on the day that he pitches and for the two days after it. Think about that Red Sox fans, he threw into the 8th inning on average every start this year, that is by definition, a Horse.

I am a believer that leading a team to the postseason should weigh heavily on your candidacy for Most Valuable Player. The Tigers had the second best record in the American League and won their division by 15 games. If an average pitcher wins 10-12 games (we'll say 10 for arguments sake) he won 14 more games than a regular pitcher and propelled his team to the post season. He was 16-3 after a Tigers loss. Unfortunately for Ellsbury, his team finished 3rd in the division and did not qualify for October baseball. Maybe Ellsbury should head out and by a few pale ales for Beckett and Lester for all their help in his MVP campaign?

Another (weak) argument against Verlander is that he pitched in a light-hitting AL Central division and therefore padded his stats. You can't discount a player for his schedule, he didn't choose it. You wouldn't take Ellsbury's numbers against Baltimore's AAA pitching staff and throw them out the window, would you? Here are Verlander's averages against the other 3 playoff teams and the Red Sox from 2011:

Just for kicks and grins, let's look at Ellsbury's numbers with and without the Baltimore numbers just to see the stat padding at the hands of the Uh-O's.

With Baltimore

Without Baltimore

While still a fine statistical season, Baltimore bolstered his statistics spectacularly and his sans-Baltimore numbers look far more good, than great. So the schedule nazi's should probably pipe down.

I will not even begin to argue that pitching every 5 days is more grueling and taxing on the body than playing 162 games (or close to it), because it's not. But it should take a special case for a pitcher to win the MVP award and Verlander was that special case. And everyone here at The Couch, knows it.

Stay Tuned

Norton

Fantasy Forum Week 11: Studs/Duds with a little Sleeper action

Last week: 5-1

Season totals: 8-4

Week 11 has arrived folks and its time for this week’s Studs/Duds here at the Fantasy Forum brought to you by Views from the Couch. Last week was a strong week for yours truly nailing 5 out of 6 picks, thanks for not showing up for your meeting DeSean Jackson making me look like a genius appreciate it. This week we’re going to be bringing you a special edition with 4 studs, 3 duds, and 2 sleepers.

STUDS

Carson Palmer QB Oakland Raiders vs. Minnesota Vikings inadequate pass defense

Since being acquired from the Bungals and Mike Brown for 2 future 1^st round picks (nice trade Oakland) Palmer hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire. He’s thrown 5 TD passes as opposed to 7 interceptions and fumbled twice for good measure. Expect all of that to change this week however. Palmer has managed to sling the rock for 332 and 299 yards the past two weeks respectively and he’s now facing the 31^st ranked pass defense. Denarious Moore also appears poised to continue his ascent up the Raiders WR depth chart and Palmer loves lobbying it up deep to him. Expect big things this week in Minnesota for Carson.

Stats: 30-44, 325 yards 3 TD 1 INT

Brandon Marshall WR Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills pass defense

Buffalo is 25^th against the pass this year and is 31^st against opposing teams #1 wide receivers, which is exactly what Marshall is for the Dolphins. Since coming out of the gate on fire in the first 2 weeks and then slowing down for a few games Marshall has picked it up the past 2 games going for 8 rec, 106 yards and a score and 7 rec for 98 yards. He gets targeted on more than 50% of the Dolphins pass plays so opportunities are aplenty on a weekly basis for the man with the notorious case of the dropsies. He’ll get his yards every week the question as always is can he find the end zone and grab those 6 extra fantasy points. This week I’m going to go with yes.

Stats: 7 rec, 112 yards 1 TD

Brandon Jacobs RB New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles atrocious run defense

With Ahmad Bradshaw already having been ruled out for the 3^rd consecutive week Jacobs is in line to get the lion’s share of the carries against the Eagles this week. The Eagles can’t stop anyone on the ground and Jacobs used to be a good back. I see the possibility of him regaining some of that old form this week against a run defense that is surrendering over 20 fantasy points a game to opposing backfields. He’s received 18 carries in each of the last two games I think he’ll get around 20 this game and make the most of them while finding the end zone to boot.

Stats: 20 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD, 2 Rec, 12 yards

New England Patriots D/ST vs. Kansas City Chiefs and starting QB Tyler Palko

The Patriots defense has struggled all year to stop anyone, which you already know if you live in the New England area and read the paper, watch TV, or listen to the radio. It’s well documented how the Patriots lack elite personnel on defense to create turnovers at the same clip they did last year when they finished a league best +28 in takeaways/giveaways. Insert the Kansas City Chiefs sans QB Matt Cassel and RB Jamaal Charles and viola all your defensive ills are cured. Last week against the Sanchize and the Jets the Pats D/ST racked up 17 points I think they can approach that number again this week. Palko was cut from NFL Europe a few years back, enough said. The Patriots defense will have a strong day for the second straight week.

Stats: 275 yards against, 7 points, 2 INT, 1 FumRec, 3 Sacks

DUDS

Andy Dalton QB Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens

Last week Dalton somewhat came back to earth against a strong Steelers defense in an AFC North showdown. This week is another AFC North battle against a Baltimore Ravens defense that always brings the pressure and heat on opposing QB’s. In none of the past 3 weeks has Dalton thrown for more than 217 yards twice finishing under 200 I see that continuing this week especially with star rookie and favorite target WR AJ Green banged up and approaching the rookie wall. UPDATE: Green has been ruled doubtful for this weeks tilt against the Ravens making Dalton’s task even taller against the league’s number one pass defense.

Stats: 15-33, 167 yards 1 TD 2 INT

Beanie Wells RB Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers stout run defense

The 49ers have the top ranked run defense in the league and Wells is an enigma. After a few big weeks early in the year and a solid game against the Ravens 3 weeks ago (83 yards, 1 TD) juicy matchups against the Rams and Eagles seemed like great opportunities to rack up major points. Wrong. Bells ran for 20 yards and 62 yards putting 3 and 6 points, respectively, on the board fantasy wise. If he couldn’t run all that well against the weakest run defenses on the league I don’t see much reason why he’ll torch the best run defense. UPDATE: Wells has been ruled Questionable for this weeks matchup so if you have him I wouldn’t run the risk of starting him.

Stats: 14 carries, 34 yards, 0 TD

Darrius Heyward-Bey WR Oakland Raiders vs. Minnesota Vikings

Even though his QB, Carson Palmer, is in the studs category I’m going to put Heyward-Bey in the duds section. Since Palmer took over the starting job in Oakland Heyward-Bey has disappeared. He doesn’t appear to have any chemistry with Palmer causing him to put up back to back goose eggs. What’s so frustrating about that for fantasy owners is that the previous 4 weeks with Jason Campbell under center Heyward-Bey actually seemed like a guy worthy of being drafted 7^th overall in the NFL Draft, news flash he wasn’t. He had put up 11, 15, 8, and 8 points making it look like he was trending upwards but alas he is back to the Darrius Heyward-Bey who recorded to goose eggs thru the first 3 weeks.

Stats: 1 Rec, 7 yards, 0 TD

SLEEPERS

I’m not going to put up any stats predictions for the following two players but I am going to put a brief blurb on why the Couch thinks that it might be wise to grab the following two players for the stretch run.

Kendall Hunter RB San Francisco 49ers

If you own Frank Gore in any of your fantasy leagues I’d suggest picking up Hunter quickly before someone else scoops him up. With Gore ailing and the 49ers already having seemingly wrapped up the NFC West, they own a 5 game lead on the 2^nd place team with 7 to play I like their odds, Hunter is going to get some carries going forward. He managed to rack up 40 yards and a TD on 6 carries last week. He’s been getting 8 or 9 carries pretty consistently all year and I think that number will actually trend upwards in the coming weeks. Hunter’s going to see carries while the 49ers attempt to keep the ever-fragile Gore healthy for a playoff run.

Damian Williams WR Tennessee Titans

When Kenny Britt went down in week 3 with a torn ACL the Titans #1 WR spot was vacant waiting to be taken. At first it appeared that Nate Washington would step in and fill that role but he’s been somewhat of a disappointment and Williams is slowly catching up to him. QB Matt Hasselbeck is targeting and gaining more and more confidence in Williams each and every week. Williams has found paydirt in each of the last two weeks while also racking up 107 yards last week. He has 4 scores on the year and I don’t see Hasselbeck decreasing his targets moving forward. If he’s available in your league, he probably is considering he’s only at 7.2% ownership, scoop him up and reap the benefits.

There you have it folks another week here at the Fantasy Forum. We’ll see you next week for week 12’s Studs/Duds.

Geoff Jablonski

And on the 6th day God Created: Tim Tebow

We'll get to that beautiful Adonis, Tim Tebow in just a few short bars here, but like always, I had a few sports thoughts that have been percolating in my head. And forgive me if they ramble because the hamster that runs on his wheel up there has been running low on food for about 2 weeks now so you never honestly know what's going to come out. So, without further ado…

• One of my esteemed cohorts wrote a great piece chronicling the big news in the MLB that broke yesterday including the addition of 1 more playoff team per league. While he liked the addition I do not. It takes away from the race for that one elusive non division-winning playoff spot. Ask yourself this: With the way the Red Sox played down the stretch in September do you think they should have been entitled to that 5^th and final spot? That would seem to really have watered down the improbable feat that Tampa accomplished. Don't get me wrong, I love "Game 163" when two teams are tied and I believe a one game playoff is the right move. But, let's say the Red Sox win 95 games next year and the next closest is the Tigers at 88 and because the Tigers know they are going to get in, they save Verlander for that one game playoff. Seems flawed. However, mark me down as in favor if it's a 3 game series. Baseball isn't like football and shouldn't be decided after one game, you play 3-4 game series' all year why would you change it for the playoffs? You start the 3 game series the day after the regular season (always ends on a Sunday) and it would be Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. You give the team with the better record the option of having Games 1 and 3 or 2 and 3 at home. That way both teams are at least guaranteed one playoff game at their respective home parks. Also you would start the next round on Thursday so it would give a decided advantage to the Division winners that they don't have to play potentially 8-10 games in a row leading up to the end of the season.
  




• For anyone who has been concerned about my health, thank you! It's been a rough go since Heidi Watney left but the Zoloft and Jack Daniels has really been a great coping vehicle. Good bye, sweet Moon Goddess.
  




• Maybe I'm reading too much into this (who, me?) but why let Ben Cherington go through an entire process of interviewing people if Larry Lucchino is just going to impose his own opinion on who should be the next manager of the Sox? Why hire a GM if Larry Lucchino is going to once again be the one running the show? It's awfully telling that Cherington will be in Cuba next week scouting Yoenis Cespedes, while the Sox brass is going to hold their own interviews with Bobby Valentine.
  




• Speaking of Cespedes if you haven't seen the spectacle that was his recruit video it's quite amusing. Horrible editing and special effects aside this guy has tools. I said on our fan page that he reminds me a LOT of Vladimir Guerrero in his prime. He has a plus arm, good speed and power to all fields. He says he's 26, you never quite know with some of their Crayola written birth certificates down there, but odds are he's definitely on the right side of 30 and he'll probably cost less than most of the other outfield options available. (Speculation is that his deal will be somewhat comparable to Aroldis Chapman's deal from 2 years ago, 6 years 30.25 million). Best of all he's right-handed. I expect the Red Sox to be big players for his services.
  




• I loved Ryan Miller playing for Team USA, he was phenomenal. But is he serious about the Lucic hit? You come out of your crease by 20 feet, and expect to not get railroaded? You're a hockey player, act like one.
  




• Rob Gronkowski, best tight end in football?
  




• I am not just saying this because I don't like the Jets but at what point do they have to think about drafting a new quarterback? Sanchez is just flat out horrible. Are Patriots fans spoiled because you have one of the top 3 quarterbacks all-time on their team? Yes, absolutely! But Sanchez can't get out of his own way. He is a horrible time manager, he has trouble hitting wide open receivers, and tries to force balls into double coverage regularly. He was taken out of college too early and didn't get the time to develop some of those attributes. That may ultimately be his downfall.
  




• As much as I wanted Jonathan Papelbon to stay as part of my plan, I am glad they let him go for the exorbitant contract the Phillies they just gave him. I do not want to get in the business of paying a closer 13 million a year for 4 innings of work per week. I'm also not comfortable (yet) with anointing Bard as the closer. I say we bring in a stable of power arms and let them duke it out in Spring Training. Although he isn't the power arm he was, I would also like to take a flyer on Joe Nathan who said he doesn't necessarily have to be a closer.
  




• Did anyone else hear the ludicrous statement that Time Wakefield's agent spewed the other day? "He loves being a Red Sock but if for some reason they don't feel like he can play, well he's going to win 15 games somewhere else and show them that, once again, they've underestimated him." Tim Wakefield, 15 game winner, verbal diarrhea at its finest.
  




• The other big announcement was that the Astros will be moving to the AL which creates two 15 team leagues. You know who this will adversely affect? David Ortiz. There are going to be more Interleague games now with a more balanced schedule and a player that is solely a DH is going to have a difficult time to find a home unless you can find a team willing to put him at first base regularly. The Red Sox will not be that team unless he takes a humongous hometown discount.
  

Alright I've put it off for too long. Tim Tebow is an absolute demi-god. Look here, I'm not gay or anything, but if my wife told me she was going to leave me and hook up with Tim Tebow I would demand vivid details and listen to them while eating bon-bons and probably consider throwing on some Lauper.

As far as just the passing part of his game, it's subpar, Tim himself will admit that. But, he knows what his skill-set is and he utilizes his specific skills more than just about any player in the entire league. But the one thing he is particularly skilled at is decision making, we'll call this, The Jesus Trait. He doesn't force balls anywhere they shouldn't go, Jerry Sandusky take note of that (too soon?). He knows that his team doesn't lose the ball if he throws an incompletion but if he forces a ball into tight coverage and it gets intercepted, he can't use his superhuman powers to win everything that comes into his grasp.

Another positive of the inauguration of the Tebow Era is that the SPCA can rejoice in the fact that there is a new running quarterback in town (yes, that was a cheap Mike Vick dog joke, sue me). His running style will inevitably take a toll on his body, but last night won him a game against the Jets whose questionable up the middle blitz forced Tebow out of the pocket (shouldn't they be attempting to keep him in the pocket? Blitz from the edge not the gut, just a thought.) Side note: Darelle Revis called out Tebow leading up to the game saying he'd be "bored" and that last run for the go-ahead TD he was thinking about going out of bounds and saw Revis and took it right at him. Pretty much a middle finger right to the best defensive player in football, but Lord knows a good Christian boy like him would never actually do that.

Ok, all this hob-knobbing aside, I can do without his press conferences after the game, which are more like sermons and inspirational Richard Simmons movies than that of a player delivering his postgame synopses. His dreamy eyes are enough to melt my heart but when he opens his mouth I'd rather gauge my ears out with a rusty spoon.

Whether he's Richard Simmons or Steve Young-reincarnate he and his team know that if the game is within reach Tim Tebow will find a way to win it. Who cares if the way he does it is uglier than sin, I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty.

Stay Tuned

Norton

Theo’s last gift to the Red Sox and the Astros head West

Today was a big day for Major League Baseball with three major announcements coming out within a few hours of each other. I know I know three announcements doesn’t sound like much but during football season anytime MLB can grab headlines it’s a win. As a Red Sox fan the biggest news of the day was probably former Boston great Theo Epstein flanked by Jed Hoyer offering the managerial position of the Chicago Cubs to Brewers bench coach Dale Sveum. The Red Sox and Cubs list of managerial candidates were carbon copies including Sandy Alomar, Jr., Mike Maddux (who withdrew his name from both jobs), and Sveum. It was no surprise then that both teams targeted Sveum as their leading candidate for the job considering that GM Ben Cherington and Epstein are old pals with identical organizational philosophies, don’t believe that malarkey the Sox came out with today that they didn’t offer Sveum the job yesterday because they want a guy with experience they made it clear Sveum was their man all along. The Cubs took the leap yesterday and Sveum said yes today. Thank god and thank you Theo from saving the Red Sox from making a horrible decision. Dale Sveum was not the answer to this teams problems he would’ve been a stopgap guy who was forced out of town quicker than Wendell Kim could have waved him in from third. During the 2004 and 2005 seasons Sveum was the 3^rd base coach for my beloved Red Sox and he managed to become the butt of many a joke during his short stint in beantown. He was an aggressive third base coach with a slight problem of knowing when to and when not to send runners home.  I’ll say it again Dale Sveum isn’t the right guy for the Boston Red Sox manager position. I personally would’ve liked to see Mike Maddux in here cleaning up this pitching staff but we’ll see what direction they choose to go. One last time thanks Theo for saving the Red Sox from themselves.

In other news around the Majors the Houston Astros sale to Jim Crane was finalized with his agreement to move the ‘Stros to the AL West in 2013. This shift is a big one because it leaves Major League Baseball with a 15/15 split meaning an interleague series being played every day of the week. It makes sense to move the ‘Stros to the AL West because it finally creates a balance between all 6 divisions. Instead of the NL Central teams having to deal with 5 adversaries and the AL West teams only have to beat out 3 other teams for a playoff spot all divisions now have balance. It also makes sense from the standpoint that there is a natural rivalry within America’s best baseball state that’s been waiting to be exploited. The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are only 3 hours apart but only played once a year during interleague play with people barely caring about the outcome now these games are important division games. I see this rivalry becoming a good one down the line, much better than any ‘rivalry’ the Rangers had with the Mariners, Angels, or Athletics. The only drawback is that the Astros now have to travel to the west coast instead of playing teams all within their time zone but I think it’s a sacrifice worth making for the good of baseball. Now for the final news of the day and probably, no definitely, the most controversial…

Bud Selig announced today that MLB is going to expand their playoffs from 8 teams to 10 teams with an additional wild card in each conference. This final piece is contingent on the Players Union agreeing to it but all indications are that they will agree to include it in the next CBA. Just for information purposes: the current CBA is set to expire on December 11 but I like baseball’s chances of agreeing especially after watching the self inflicted wounds the NBA is suffering from currently.  People are pretty split on whether or not it’s a good idea for baseball to introduce an extra wild card I personally am ok with it as long as it’s a one game winner take all playoff between the wild card teams. A one game playoff doesn’t deplete either team and adds a little bit more excitement to the end of a regular season that far too often is dull and drawn out. This year was an exception with the Rays and Cardinals punching tickets to the dance on the final day but when else has the final day of a regular season been anywhere near that exciting? A one game wild card round would provide some excitement and allow another team a chance at glory. Baseball’s biggest problem for years has been finding a way to increase excitement in markets like Kansas City and Pittsburgh when they know that they have no chance at getting a playoff spot maybe now that’ll change a little bit. In the end though everyone knows that the MLB big wigs due to the Tampa Bay Rays emergence are necessitating this extra playoff spot. Major League Baseball can’t afford to have either the Red Sox or Yankees and their massive TV markets sitting home for the playoffs. The Rays are a great story every year but they don’t bring in the cake like Boston and New York. Most years unless the Angels or White Sox crash the party you’re going to get the Sox and Yanks into at least the wild card showdown round. 

Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think folks.

Geoff Jablonski

The Sandusky Files

I've let it go long enough. After hearing Jerry Sandusky try and profess his innocence in an interview, I got goose bumps from hearing this sick son-of-a-bitch's voice. This Penn State scandal is turning into easily the biggest sports scandal in history. This is bigger than the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, anything Pete Rose has ever done, bigger than the steroid scandal in baseball, and bigger than any of the multitudes of women that Tiger Woods was slaying. This episode far transcends sports and shows that true evil is not a fabrication of one's mind but could be right down the road at your local collegiate gridiron.

I feel as if the only way that you can be fully informed is to make sure that you read the Grand Jury Testimony, (for the rest of this post we'll refer to this as GJT) before anything that I write. It's long, descriptive, bone-chilling with some of the most heinous immoral acts being committed, and I believe this is only the tip of the iceberg. The only way I can think to tackle such a topic is to break it down by involvement, let's start with Beelzebub himself.

Jerry Sandusky

After reading the GJT there is only one word that is coming to my mind regarding Jerry Sandusky, evil. Pure, unadulterated evil. Look I'm in the business of believing the old "innocent until proven guilty" mantra but as far as I'm concerned the testimony of a Grand Jury is enough proof for me to gather an educated opinion.

Just in the GJT there were seven victims, (he was arrested for 40 counts over a span of 15 years) all of them associated with the Second Mile organization, a charity that he founded in 1977. This is an organization that takes "at-risk" youths and tries to give them advantages that their home life would not afford them. Think about it, what better place to try and prey on young people, in this case boys, than ones that have a broken home life more specifically boys with no male presence at home.

This man used his position of power, Defensive Coordinator at PSU and founder of Second Mile, to try and force his way into these boys' lives. Buying them gifts, taking them to games, giving them money, being a "mentor" and even going so far as to guarantee one of his Victims a spot on PSU's football team as a walk-on.

The one constant with every victim in the GJT was, the Second Mile. Seems like the perfect cover-up for a pedophile no? Start a foundation to help kids when really it's just a feeding ground for a pervert to stalk and victimize children.

Back in 1998 he was brought up on charges for showering with his first victim but it never went to court. Seems strange, no? Maybe it's because the DA on the case went mysteriously missing in 2005 and had his computer destroyed. Don't believe me? Check it out. You would be foolish not to think these things are related. Maybe district attorney Ray Gricar got really close to uncovering a bombshell and Sandusky was having none of it. Sounds like something out of Scorcese's playbook.

Mark Madden also reported on Dennis and Callahan that an investigative report is being done on the Second Mile that pointed to him "pimping out young kids to rich donors".

Joe Paterno

Joe Paterno was an assistant at Penn State all the way back to 1950, but has been the Head Coach since 1966. Jerry Sandusky had been on his staff since 1969. You can't run the kind of program that Paterno has at least portrayed he runs, (a totalitarian program, where he knows everything that goes on, think Big Brother in 1984) and not know what you had as a person in your Defensive Coordinator for the last 30 damn years.

I'm not going to libel Joe Paterno, not yet anyway, and say he was diddling children as well because that's not what this is about. What this seems most likely about is legacy. The Legacy of Joe Paterno. He knew it was going on, he knew all of it was going on, but he was focused on one thing, himself. So he did what any narcissist would do, sweep it under the rug and put on a happy face for the crowd,

The problem with this was that too many people started finding out about the black mark on Joe Paterno's staff. Joe Paterno was made aware of Sandusky's acts of indiscretion and to Paterno's credit he did tell his superior, but when his superior essentially gave Sandusky a slap on the wrist by barring him from the showers with children he should have done more. A lot more.

There are certainly a few questions that Paterno needs to answer:

• Why was Sandusky still allowed to recruit for PSU? He was in the facility as late as the fall of 2011 using PSU showers (this time not with young boys).
  


• What exactly was said to Paterno by McQueary?
  


• Why not involve the police?
  


• When did Paterno first find this out, because what McQueary witnessed was probably not the first act of this nature?
  

It also seems strange that all of this suddenly comes out the day after Joe Paterno gets win number 409, one victory more than Eddie Robinson, to take sole possession of first place on the all-time list.

Mike McQueary

Mike McQueary is slowly being crucified, when in reality he isn't the villain here.

Mike McQueary according to the GJT walked into the locker room at around 9:30 PM to drop off a pair of shoes when he heard "rhythmic slapping" coming from the shower. We all know the kind of sounds he's talking about, skin on skin. He peered into the shower to see a young boy who looked to be about 10-11 years old with his palms on the shower wall and a naked Sandusky behind him. I will not elaborate any further.

Immediately he left, called his father, and left the premises. Here's his first mistake, at the time, McQueary was 27 not very recently removed from playing college football and Jerry Sandusky was in his mid-50's. He should have confronted Sandusky. More than confronted, he should have beaten him within an inch of his life, but at the very least he should have gotten the child out of harm's way. He didn't do that.

He told his superior, point for McQueary, but when his superior really didn't do much of anything either he should have gone to the authorities. If he was worried about his job it shouldn't matter. It is about moral integrity. He would have been made a hero and would have found work somewhere else.

The simple fact that he didn't help a clearly, helpless child was a cowardice act. Not punishable by law, but cowardice. It is about respect for yourself and fellow man, and McQueary is seriously lacking in this department.

Penn State Custodial Staff

On different occasions throughout the GJT, members of the custodial staff at PSU saw Sandusky committing the acts in question, and although they reported them to their superiors they did nothing further when their superiors really did nothing further. They didn't commit a crime, but like McQueary they needed to do more. One of the custodians who alleged that Sandusky performed oral sex on a young boy can no longer testify because he suffers from Dementia…the plot thickens.

Penn State Board of Directors

The Penn State Board did the right thing in firing Paterno. They need to cleanse the entire football program. Everyone on the staff needs to be gone. It doesn't matter if they had nothing to do with it. If you want to show fans, boosters, and potential recruits that you mean business you need to purify the water at State. Anyone and anything affiliated with the former regime needs to go.

I also don't like that they played last Saturday or for the rest of the season. This is so far beyond football that they should not be playing. If the players had any integrity they wouldn't want to don the PSU colors either. This will affect players that have scholarships for the next year and incoming recruits. Most recruits were allowed to back out of PSU if they had already committed to PSU because JoePa is no longer going to be there. But the NCAA should allow the players to transfer to another school without affecting any of their eligibility statuses.

Conspiracy Theory(s)

After listening to the Mark Madden interview (referenced above) in its entirety, the whole notion of a cover-up makes the most sense. Madden noted that the timeline works out perfectly. Sandusky was "fired" and they offered this up in exchange for a cover-up. But why are they offering this. Why are they so attached to this monster?

The Second Mile is the key to everything here. This could very well have been basically a petting zoo for pedophiles, sorry for being graphic.

Maybe I can answer, in part at least, the questions that Paterno should be answering

• Why was Sandusky still allowed to recruit for PSU? Paterno knew about everything from the start and is/was always very much affiliated with Sandusky. Maybe the totalitarian view is a lot closer to the truth than previously thought. I don't want to call PSU "the Mob" but maybe it's like that. Maybe Paterno is Corrado Soprano Jr. to Sandusky's Tony Soprano. These guys have a couple of legitimate-seeming ventures (PSU Football and Second Mile) but are doing the most odious acts behind closed doors that no one else knows about. Joe Paterno has a cult-like following, Penn State clearly was covering everything up for whatever was going on behind closed doors on the football team, and why would someone let a coach run a program for that long without 1, winning a national championship since 1986 and 2, if there wasn't something fishy going on in there the entire time?
  


• What exactly was said to Paterno by McQueary? Ultimately this is "he said, she said". But I bet McQueary was truthful when he went to Paterno back in 1998 but then realized the kind of world that he was getting into. Perhaps the reason that he didn't say anymore was due to one thing, Money. Penn State is a monolith. There is over 95,000 students enrolled at State College, that means if you multiply it by 20K (the median of in-state and out of state students, just for arguments sake) you're looking at a 190-million dollar establishment without even taking in what athletics or anything else is bringing into the school for money. So they could afford to offer McQueary some hush money, but now that everything else is coming out it's time for him to save face.
  


• Why not involve the police? Simple, money. JoePa was making more than just his salary, no doubt about it. He was getting whatever he wanted, when he wanted it, but involving the police would have crushed his operation with The Second Mile, which is a charity but is also bringing in plenty of money. If the accusation of "pimping out young kids" is true, you're looking at some of the most detestable stuff in the history of mankind, and what is worse yet, is that it was probably lining their pockets with more money than they could dream about. Because the warped individuals that would want to abuse these innocent children would pay a premium to do it and not be caught.
  

In summation, I hope this issue doesn't go to court. As people have seen with OJ and Casey Anthony all you have to do is put doubt in the mind of a jury that these acts took place and they will go scot-free. There is clearly a lot of money involved in whatever is going on here.

As if moral fiber wasn't already dwindling in this case, there's this excellent character whom is representing Jerry Sandusky. Jerry Sandusky's attorney clearly feels like he can plant that seed in a jury's mind for him to be able to plead absolute innocence, because he is going to have the "victim" in question from '98 up on the stand. How does a victim give his deposition in the GJT, then all of a sudden have a testimony that will credit Sandusky and damn the rest of the victims?

I'll let Randy Moss' words speak for me, "Straight cash, homie!"

Stay Tuned

Norton