You Get a Free Kick on a Fair Catch? No Way?!

Two Sunday’s ago, I caught myself watching the ESPN pre game show. Kenny Mayne was doing his usual ridiculous segment, this time about the “Little Known Rule” that a team can take free kick after making a fair catch. This happened in the Titans game about three weeks ago. Fast forward to this past weekend. First game I saw this in…KC/Dallas. Phil Simms stated he had “never seen it done in person” and hopes to see it before he is done. They mentioned it in the Philly/NYG game when the overanalyzing beast that is Joe Buck brought it up before the half. Not to be outdone, Mike Patrick mentioned it in the Packers/Lions game. Either the producers all watched the same thing and made sure to put that caveat in the announcers ear or everyopne just magically “remembered the rule”. What a bunch of crap. How Unoriginal can you possibly be? Honestly! Do your own damn research when your trying to keep me interested in Detroit/Green Bay, New Orleans/Atlanta etc. Maybe better matchups of teams would put the focus back on the field instead of a how good a punter Paul Maguire was and how positive Joe Theismann can be.

Moving on, I’d like to thank the Red Sox for actually taking the mess that was co-gm’s in Baltimore, splashing in some “trading for overrated star players” like the Yanks did for 5 years, and giving us this new version of a front office. What’s next, the intern from Harvard runs the team for a week just to get some experience? Theo gets brought in to deliver coffee? Good work guys. You are beyond lucky you brought a title to Beantown in 04, because the way this franchise is getting run now it might be a looooooooong time before they see one again.

Will someone PLEASE shut Anna Benson up? Is she aware that she isn’t the pitcher? How does Doug Christie’s wife feel about not being the biggest B*tch of athlete wives? Does she have to give Anna her golden broom now or will they make a new model? I hear Brenda Warner called to give Anna some tips on how to publicly embarass her husband, she is doing a great job!

I want an investigation on the Houston Texans immediately. That “missed kick” was a joke. I don’t see kicks by college kids that were worse than that one that ended the game. Is this the 97 Spurs all over again? The 83/84 Rockets? I hope they somehow win a game before the “Reggie Bush Bowl” in January vs. San Fran. That might be the worst game in NFL history…

That’s all for now.

Baseball Owners=Pure Genius

Aaaaahhh baseball owners. 2 Days after it is learned that the New York Yankees, who supposedly print their own money, lost around 50 million last year, the days of the Chan Ho Park contract are coming back Wouldn’t you think they would be some type of financial restraint? You would think so, but NOOOOOOOOOOO. AJ Burnett, who has done nothing in his life except for have Peter Gammons praise him for having “No. 1 Stuff” and is now the front runner for the Darren Dreifort award as “Most Likely to Suck and/or get hurt After Singing a Lucrative Deal (Carl Pavano was the winner last year)just got 11 mill a year from the Blue Jays! The Blue Jays? The best two things about Toronto are that that is where Mike Myers is from and the Maple Leafs play there They payed 8 Mil a year for BJ Ryan, he of 42 career saves. The Mariners are going to give Kevin Freakin Millwood 11 mill a year. The Dodgers, who don’t even have a MANAGER in place and have a decent shortstop in Cesar Izturis, throw 13 mill a year at Drunky Furcal? Am I missing something? Is there money coming in that we don’t know about? I am at the point where I truly believe that Anaheim should allow the Rally Monkey to be their GM so he can win executive of the Year in 06. It would be cost effective and, hell, can he do any worse? You would think that these GM’s would have the money to buy their own cars, not ride a short bus to work, but I guess I am mistaken. If you’ll excuse, I am going to teach my 5 month old how to throw a knuckle ball. That must be worth 2 mil a year right?

This Weekend’s Picks and Plays

After watching my new NHL team, the Habs, put out a horrid third period effort in a loss to Buffalo, I realized as the Bruins won 3-0 over Ottawa that it’s probably my fault. Oh well, on the bright side they still sell beer by the gallon in Canadian Bars (long story, some time I will relive my Montreal experience. I love that city)

This is a big weekend for college football and the NFL, as even though there are not a lot of NCAA games, almost all of them have some sort of relevance. Hell even Army/Navy looks like it won’t be the annual Navy rout it has recently become. UCLA/USC and Colorado/Texas have National Title implications, Georgia/LSU is always a good game and even games like West Virginia/ South Florida and Louisville/Uconn have bowl game implications.

In the NFL I have heard a lot of hype about Dallas/New York, Atlanta/Carolina,and thanks to the human hype machine Chad Johnson, Cincy/Pitt. I am staying away from all of those games, as frankly, why bother with that when there are easier games out there? With that said, here are this weekend’s plays…

System Plays

NCAAF

Georgia +1.5

Georgia was a DJ Shockley injury away from being unbeaten and screwing up the BCS again. Georgia has a quasi homefield advantage here AND have a turnover ratio advantage. The wrong team is favored and my system points to Georgia here for the win and cover.

San Diego ST +3

Conventional wisdom says that Hawaii should have a great homefield advantage here. They don’t. This Warriors team is subpar at best and San Diego is an eye popping The Aztecs are 13-2 ATS vs. Hawaii and 8-0 against the number when visiting the islands. System points to the Aztecs, I tend to believe it.

NFL

Buffalo +4

Yes, Buffalo has been horrific on the road this year, BUT, in their last DIVISION road game, vs Pats, they easily covered the 10 point spread. The Phins are coming home off a straight up win against the Raiders and will be without Junior Seau and Zach Thomas. 4 points is too much to give up when Gus Frerotte is your starting QB. System points to the Bills

TB -3.5

At first this looks like a trap line, but I have watched this same situation a couple of times this year and when you think the spread should be -6, Vegas puts it at 3 1/2. You think you are on to something, New Orleans is coming off of consecutive ATS wins and the Bucs played horribly in a loss to Chicago. Vegas puts it 3.5? This is an easy field goal game! Not quite. Tampa has the turnover edge, and the system points to an easy Tampa cover.

Oakland +11

This game will be the one that suckers in everyone. San Diego has been on fire lately, and Oakland looks like it needs to be set on fire. Two weeks ago in this same situation San Diego wasted the Bills by 38. How many people will tease this game down to San Diego -5? My guess is most of America. System points to Oakland for the cover, I don’t disagree. In fact I would not be shocked if they won outright.

Capping Plays (The use of common sense and GAMBLING common sense)

NCAA

UConn +15

Louisville is great, but even when they had Brian Brohm, who is out with a knee injury, they couldn’t cover a book on the road. Now they are supposed to do it against a UConn team that needs one win for bowl eligibility in an injury plagued year. Take the points on the live home dog, here…

Army +6.5

Army has won 4 straight ATS, and they have had two weeks to prepare for this game. This game has been due for a close one for a LONG time. Being an ex Army Vet, I will take the Golden Knights to cover here.

South Florida +9

West Virginia is awesome, but South Florida has played great this yer and had 5 turnovers last week vs UConn and STILL only lost by 5. I think this squad got caught looking ahead to this week’s game. South Florida with the Points, here…

Virginia Tech -14

The Hokies have one of the best defenses in the country. If not for a flat, stumbling performance against Miami I think they would have given USC or Texas fits. Florida St can’t score in Heidi Fleiss massage parlor with a $100 bill on their head. their O-Line is decimated, Weatherford is STILL playing like a freshman, they can’t run, the D will be worn out in the 2nd half trying to keep them in it. Unless the Noles score 2 defensive TD’s and a special teams TD, Va Tech should lay them out.

USC -21

Why? UCLA has been sluggish out of the gate all year. They have had to come back from 20 point defecits against the likes of Stanford, for god’s sakes. USC will come out in the first half and thump the living hell out of a Bruins team that has been lucky and overrated all year. I hate to lay this many points in a rivalry game, but everyone I have listened to has UCLA losing a close one. Unless USC lets them back in the game in the second half for the backdoor cover, they should take it easily.

Colorado +29

This line keeps going up and up and up. Texas and Colorado are both coming off of flat performances. Why the 29? Simply put Colorado has played this team once. I expect a completely different game plan than last time. I see an under here (Texas’s first of the season) and 29 points is to much to give in an under game.

Florida International +8

MTSU is not very good on the road (win vs. Vandy aside). This line is Waaaaay too high.

NFL

Bal -8

Houston is awful and Baltimore is looking to save Coach Billick’s job. Alot of bettors will see this line and take the 8 points. This game screams take Houston. I like Baltimore to force some turnovers and cover easily.

Pats – 10

The Jets are awful. Corey Dillon is coming back. The Pats defense is slowly improving (they played decent bend but don’t break d vs KC last week) If Brady doesn’t throw 4 picks, they come back and win last week. They completely handcuffed the Chiefs in the second half last week outside of a 52 yarder by Dante Hall. The Jets are awful and are dying to lose every game and have a chance at Reggie Bush. the League wants Bush in New York. Can you imagine the headline in the Post and Daily News? Eli and Bush competing for cover time? I see a flat effort by J-E-T-S here.

The Newest Member of The Canadiens Fan Club….

Congratulations Mike O’Connell, Jeremy Jacobs, Harry Sinden and Satan (because I think you might be behind this). You finally did it. You finally angered me so much that I am leaving the fan base. I was too young to realize you were too cheap to put a second-line behind Cam Neely in the late 80’s early 90’s. I bought into your propaganda that the Bruins couldn’t afford to keep their big names when they got too expensive (Bill Guerin). I even was happy to see Ray Bourque go to Colorado and get his Stanley Cup (something that never had to happen if you weren’t so damn cheap in the first place). There is NO excuse for the latest move, though. None. Zero. As soon as I saw that Joe Thornton was traded last night my Bruins Jersey went up on E-Bay. Wayne Primeau? Brad Stuart? Marco Sturm? I am an avid hockey fan and know this about these three. Primeau has made a living off of being Keith’s little brother for years. Bread Stuart is OK at best. Sturm is at best a poor man’s Sergei Samsonov. You traded the Face of the Franchise and this is all you get in return? You mean to tell me that you told teams that Joe Thornton was available and this is the BEST offer you got?! This is ridiculous.
I am coming home, Youppi, I am coming home!

Alot I have heard on local sports radio this morning is making me even more angry. So far Joe Thornton has been labeled in so many words as lazy, uncoachable, and a disappointment. The guy has flourished when he has been surrounded by talent. When a cheap owner that has the second highest seating price in the NHL constantly flushes away good players like they are his morning terds, the franchise player isn’t going to look as good. Mike O’Connell should lose his job over this. Period. End of story. So with that I have to say goodbye, Bruins. There were some good times, there were a lot of bad times, and there were no times (strike year). I am moving on, Youppi needs me….

Viva Les Expos!