9th Edition - 9/15/06

• Blatant Self-Promotion

Have you ever dreamed of writing an article about the Chicago Bears and comparing them with films due out in the next month and a half? Me too... Me too. Click here to read

• Baseball

The Minnesota Twins are dealing with the loss of Francisco Liriano by winning. They are now just a game back from the Tigers in the AL Central.
My Twins insider had this too say, "Twins have been winning without [Liriano] ... They're playing well and are confident, I think they'll pull it off."
So there you go, bet the farm on the Twins. If you don't have a farm, I wouldn't recommend betting anything else. Please keep in mind, the insider is just a guy I know who lives in Minneapolis.

• College Football

Uge college football weekend. Especially considering we have started conference play. And no, the "uge" isn't a typo. I'm just trying out my radio voice on paper. On sports talk, they never say H's, and typically they overpronounce whatever letter follows.
*(6)LSU at (3)Auburn
*(11)Michigan at (2)Notre Dame - which, typically the underdog always covers the spread.
These are two of SEVEN games that have top 25 teams playing each other. If other words, find a bar or friend with a big arse TV, sit and enjoy.

If they prove that Reggie Bush's family did receive $100,000, the school with be sanctioned and Bush's life as a millionaire will continue without any real bumps in the road. Future college kids suffering because of this is ridiculous. If the allegations are true, Bush should be disciplined for not being able to wait, Coach Pete Carroll should be disciplined for not being able to pay attention (a percentage of his salary), and USC (the entire insitutuion) should be disciplined for not keeping a closer eye on their athletes, but future football shouldn't be touched.

• THE PICKS!

Every Friday I make picks on college and NFL games that are can't missed. Except once ... And I've only been doing it for a week, so I guess I could miss again ... proceed at your own caution (odd saying if you think about it, when don't you proceed at your own caution? who else's?)

NCAA - currently 2-1
Syracuse (+3) over Illinois
Oregon (-5) over Oklahoma
Michigan St (+2.5) over Pittsburgh

NFL - currently 3-0
Panthers (-1) over Vikings
Chiefs (+11) over Broncos
Colts (-13.5) over Texans

Later today, look in the comments section for...
NCAA picks by "billy z"
NFL picks by "mike d"

• Stuff

Movies this weeknd
Gridiron Gang: B- (typical sports movie, with the occasional gun)
The Last Kiss: B- (Zach Braff stars in a heavy drama that could be Garden State 2)
The Black Dahlia: B (not a great ending, most smoking in a film - ever)

The new CBS sitcom "The Class" is not worth watching. Mainly because it involves a group of 20 or 30 something's that are WAY to nastolgic for things that happened in the 3rd grade.

8th Edition - 9/14/06

• Golf

Tiger Woods is playing in the World Match Play Tournament this weekend. He's currently down 3 to Shaun Michael after 18 holes. They have 18 more to play. When Tiger was an amateur, there was tons of talk about how dominating he was in match play. This hasn't shown up in Ryder Cup or Match Play tournaments. The PGA has decided this tournament does not affect his five tournament win streak.

• Baseball

The Twins' Francisco Liriano is done for the rest of the season. After resting for five weeks, he pitched into the third inning before slumping over. He said he heard a pop. Now Tommy John surgery is possible, plus the Twins are now only 1.5 games up in the wild card race. Liriano being done might not affect the Twins hopes for the playoffs, but now they won't have the edge in a 5-game series.

• Football

Did you hear the one about a 3rd string punter stabbing the 1st string punter in his kicking leg? The Northern Colorado Bears are finally getting some press, the worst possible kind. Have fun being the running joke that comedians beat into the ground for the next couple weeks.

I can't wait to be a parent. Here's a news video about a parent having the guts to attack a kid, cause his son was blocked on the football field. Dad of the year just got a little easier to win with this guy out of the running.

• Stuff

Whitney and Bobby have seperated. It's a shame we know these two people based on their first names.
Weird Al is still alive. And better than ever, or at least better than he has been the last 10 years. He's posted a free song called Don't Download This Song.

• Coming Tomorrow

It's picks, picks, picks!
I will go up against mike d in NFL picks and newcomer billy z in NCAA picks.

7th Edition - 9/13/06

• NHL

This is the first ... and last time that hockey will lead the day. Consider that my stone cold lock of the year. Anyway, Rick DiPietro is now a New York Islanders for the next 1.5 decades. The goalie signed a 15-year deal worth $67.5 million. This means I could root for the same player on the same team until I'm in my mid 40's. I won't, because I don't root for hockey (players or teams) but I could.

• Baseball

Hideki Matsui has been injured since May 11. Last night, in his first game back, he went 4-4. You got to love that, even if you hate the Yankees. But overshadowed by Matsui's performance was his new teammate Bobby Abreu. Abreu had 7 RBI, six in the first inning. Also, he hit it to the warning tracks in the 4th inning, just missing a grand slam.
The Cubs had six of something last night also, but it wasn't RBI in an inning. It was errors in the game. Yet somehow they managed to beat the Dodgers.

• Basketball

Toni Kukoc is probably going to retire. Teams are interested, but he wants to stay close to home, which means Chicago or Milwaukee are his only choices. Neither team has made an offer. When Scottie Pippen would rub me the wrong way, I used to imagine I was a right-handed Kukoc on the court. Tall, skinny, white and a good left hand, Kukoc is often forgotten when you talk about the Bulls dynasty. He shouldn't be. Here's 13 seconds of magic for you kids.

• Football (And self-promotion)

"Gridiron Gang" is a new football film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. I sat down with him to talk about the film and football. Click here -- First link on the top.

6th Edition - 9/12/06

• MNF (if you didn't know that meant Monday Night Football, I question why you are reading this page)

Well, the Vikings beat the Redskins 19-16 and after that, while most of us were sleeping the Chargers knocked off the Raiders 27-0. Philip Rivers only needed 11 pass attempts (8/11) to make the Raiders question their ability in-between the goal posts. LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 131 yards and a score, but more importantly, people calling him "LT" needs to stop. A group of guys can't have two with the same nickname. And the football world already has one LT (Lawrence Taylor). Could you have two guys named Bud in your group? No. I was thinking T2 could work, but it's probably not the best out there. Suggestions? We're standing by to take your calls now.

• Baseball

If you are wondering what is going on in baseball, that is what today is for ...
Most teams have about 18-20 games left. It is possible to make up 5 games in the standing, but pretty unlikely.

This means the Yankees with the AL East, the A's win the AL West ... and the AL Central and Wild Card is between the White Sox, Twins and Tigers.

The Mets have the NL East and the Cardinals the NL Central. The West is tight with Dodgers, Padres and Giants. Those teams plus the Marlins, Phillies, Reds and maybe Astros are fighting for the wild card.

• Selling Out

Two friends have already asked me to start pushing their teams. So now I will try to find something interesting to say about them, in the hopes that they pimp my site throughout their insanely different states (Georgia and New York).

The Mets have a magic number. It is the number 4. Every year, I get confused by the magic number, how it is calculated and what it means. That ends today. I will memorize if it kills me (really shouldn't affect my health though). Click here is learn about magic numbers. By comparisons sake, the Cubs magic number is 39.

Georgia. The Georgia Bulldogs are #10 in the AP Poll. Their former defensive coordinator Erk Russell died last week. This proved as motivation against the South Carolina Gamecocks, and they shut them out 18-0. I love stories like this, even though I am having a hard time focusing knowing some guy had to live his life saving, "No, it's spelled E-R-K, that's it."

Pimping is always easier than you think it will be.

5th Edition - 9/11/06

• NFL

Week one is almost over, except of course for the doubleheader on MNF. If the Redskins beat the Vikings and the Chargers beat the Raiders, I will win my week one office pool.

Who was the best this weekend?
QB
Chad Pennington: 319 yards, 2TD
Donavan McNabb: 314 yards, 3TD, 1 INT
(Fantasy Note: Just a hunch, Pennington is still available in most leagues)
RB
Warrick Dunn: 132, OTD
Stephen Jackson: 121, 0TD
(FN: Everyone who owns Dunn and Jackson are annoyed right now because there was no endzone dancing to go along with the yards)
WR
Laveranues Coles: 153, 0TD
Donte Stallworth: 141, 1TD
(I have both these WR on my fantasy team, and they were both on my bench)

Other NFL notes:
*Joe Buck makes the NFL pre- and post game shows on FOX almost unwatchable. I had no idea how much I liked James Brown until he left for CBS. Now I will try them on for size.
*NBC has a new NFL highlight show on at 6 central. Something called, America loves football, and therefore you now have to love NBC or something like that. Kinks need to be worked out. The main one for me would be the idea of NOT immediately showing all the scores. Show the highlight, then the score in the off chance I didn't know the outcome. Trust me, it adds to the drama.
*The Giants didn't even get a endzone bomb at the end of the game. Terrible clock management. The worst offender was Jeremy Shockey who decided four extra yards were more valuable than a stopped clock. Final score 21-26, losing to the Colts. You probably didn't know the Colts and Giants were playing each other though, it definitely wasn't hyped enough.
*The Bears looked great beating up on the Packers 26-0. Unfortunately it's going to be a couple of weeks before we know if the Bears are good, or their opponents are terrible.

• College Football

The Iowa Hawkeyes survived in the most awful, most exciting football game of the weekend. The Hawks finally showed up to play in the 2nd overtime. With a lead of 20-13, Iowa stopped the Syracuse Orangmen eight times within the two yard line. Iowa is 2-0. Ohio State is 2-0. Yet they are worlds apart.

• Baseball

For the second year in a row, my fantasy baseball team lost 7-7 in the playoffs. How is that a loss you ask? My opponent had a lower ERA, that was the tie-braker. With the Cubs, and now me done, baseball better do soemthing pretty special for me to care. The Minnesota Twins are only 2 games behind the Tigers. And there are still 34 teams fighting for the NL wild card.

• Tennis

In the 3rd set of the U.S. Open Finals Andy Roddick realized he was playing Roger Federer. Roddick lost in 4 sets. The oddest moment was Tiger Woods watching with mild interest while sitting next to Federer's girlfriend. They had just met 20 minutes before the match.

• My Picks

I am not a genius. But I'm close. I missed my most confident pick this weekend, but nothing else.
j - College: 2-1
j - NFL: 3-0
mike d - NFL: 3-0
Using week one's logic, neither j or mike d will lose a game against the spread all year. Brilliant.

I will be looking for someone to go against in College Football as well. Look for mike d's NFL picks in the comments section on Friday. And you can check out more of his wacky life at mike's world.