NFL Picks: Last week 11-3

Indianapolis -19
Redskins +5
Vikings -7
Saints -7
Packers +3
Patriots -10
Bills +10.5
Carolina -8
Jets +7
Chiefs -3.5
49ers -3.5
Cowboys +2.5
Chargers -3.5
Ravens +4

JEFF BRANTLEY IS A GENIUS

Tigers v Yankees

Game went down how I thought. The only thing missing was Jeter's late inning heroics. If Damon had got on base, Jeter would have had his chance. Ah well.

Cards v Padres

Wells pitched an OK game but Weaver was out of his mind, and the Cards bullpen looks great.

Dodgers v Mets

We'll see how weak the Mets are to left handed pitching. Watch out for Floyd. He struggled all year and is desparate to help his team. Let's Go Mets Go Let's Go Mets.

Awards Show:

The first presentation of the night will be the AL Rookie of the Year.

And the Nominees are:
1. Kenji Johjima - 18 HR 76 RBI .291 AVG
2. Franciso Liriano - 12-3 2.16 ERA 10.71 K/9 1.00 WHIP 1 SV
3. Justin Verlander - 17-9 3.63 ERA 6 K/9 1.33 WHIP
4. Jered Weaver - 11-2 2.56 ERA 7.68 K/9 1.03 WHIP

If it was Rookie of Half-a-Year, it would come down to Liriano or Weaver with my choice being Liriano. The numbers were amazing and projected to a full year, would have been the top contender for AL Cy Young. Johjima had a great year as a rookie catcher, but Verlander was the top pitcher for the best rotation all year. He went out there just about every fifth day and did his job as good as just about anyone.

Now the nominees for the NL ROTY.

1. Hanley Ramirez - .292 17 HR 59 RBI 51 SB .353 OBP 119 R
2. Dan Uggla - .282 27 HR 90 RBI 6SB .339 OBP 105 R
3. Ryan Zimmerman - .287 20 HR 110 RBI 11 SB .351 OBP 84R

Three great, deserving years for all three, but frankly it's an easy choice for me. Hanley was a great all around contributor and Uggla had a great year especially for a second baseman. I'm not sure why everyone is in love with Uggla as the choice here. Zimmerman does just a little bit more. He's my choice.

AL Cy Young

1. Johan Santana 19-6 2.77 ERA 9.44 K/9 1.00 WHIP
2. Everyone Else stats don't matter

Next.

NL Cy Young

1. Chris Carpenter 15-8 3.09 ERA 7.49 K/9 1.07 ERA
2. Trevor Hoffman 46 SV 2.14 ERA 7.14 K/9 .97 WHIP
3. Billy Wagner 40 SV 2.24 ERA 11.7 K/9 1.11 WHIP
4. Wins leaders(avg's) 16-9 3.64 ERA 7.4 K/9 1.25 WHIP
*Smoltz/Lowe/Penny/Zambrano/Harang/Webb had nearly identical stats and you could plug anyone as a 4th nominee.

If a reliever was going to win the Cy Young it would have to be Hoffman over Wagner, but unless it's a completely dominating year(Gagne) I prefer starters. Carpenters stats were barely better with exception to the 1 less win. He was also last years Cy Young. As in boxing tie goes to the champion and Carpenter retains the Cy Young.

AL MVP

1. Jermaine Dye - .315 44 HR 120 RBI 7 SB .385 OBP 103 R
2. Derek Jeter - .343 14 HR 97 RBI 34 SB .429 OBP 118 R
3. Justin Morneau - .321 34 HR 130 RBI 3 SB .375 OBP 97 R
4. David Ortiz - .287 54 HR 137 RBI 1 SB .413 OBP 115 R

If Indians would have been in playoff contention a lot more people woudl be talking about Hafner and Sizemore. A LOT.

Strictly by the numbers I would go with Ortiz. I don't care if he's the DH, that wouldn't stop me from picking him. Morneau carried the team for a while which enabled them to stay in the race and eventually won the division. I also don't care that Dye's team didnt' make the playoffs. MVP means most valuable player.

Derek Jeter is the most valuable player in the league. Contributes well above average in every aspect of the game. Gold Glove caliber at the most important position. Hits for power when he needs/wants to, 2nd in the league in batting, 2nd in runs scored, 7th in SB's, 4th in OBP. The only reason he doesn't have more SB's is he doesn't need to run. He had Giambi, Arod, and Abreu batting behind him. (Sheff and Matsui before injuries.) He only got caught 5 times. Only Ichiro had a better rate 45sb-2cs.

If he makes a sensational play nobody bats an eye. It is expected. It's only when he DOESN'T make a sensational play that we are surprised. This along with the way he held together the leauges best team when it could have easily fallen apart is why he's MVP.

NL MVP

1. Ryan Howard - .313 58 HR 149 RBI 0 SB 104 R .425 OBP
2. Albert Pujols - .331 49 HR 137 RBI 7 SB 119 R .431 OBP
3. Jose Reyes - .300 19 RBI 81 RBI 64 SB 122 R .354 17 3B

If reyes had gotten to the 20 HR and 20 3b mark I would give it to him. He was the catalyst for the best team in the NL. Played great defense and put up numbers in every catergory as good as any other leadoff man.

Howard and Pujols are tremendously close. The slight edge goes to Pujols. The Power numbers aren't that far off only 9 HR and 12 RBI less. Avg was 18 points better, he scored 15 more runs. I think the edge goes to Pujols because he struck out 50 times in 535 at-bats (10.7 at-bats/k) compared to Howard 181 K's in 581 at-bats (3.21 at-bats/k).

I know it seems like a small thing to base an MVP award on, but the other numbers were so similar and they both are equally impressive, there has to be something. Pujols outs were more productive. When you put the ball in play anything can happen by moving baserunners up and Strike outs are rally/momentum killers.

Super-quick super-early predictions for 2007

AL Cy Young - Francisco Liriano
AL MVP - Grady Sizemore

NL Cy Young - Roy Oswalt
NL MVP - Jose Reyes

Playoffs:

Tigers v Yankees - Rain out.

A's v Twins- Twins lose a heartbreaker. I just hope Torii Hunter recovers and makes a difference for the Twins in the series. Comes on the same day 4 years ago Durham hit an Inside-the-Park HR after it got past Hunter.

Dodgers v Mets - J.D. Drew what are you thinking? It was gonna be a close play at the plate for Kent, and you were 15 feet behind him. Other than that it was a good showing by everyone involved. Key players made key plays in key situations on both sides. Furcal, Nomar for the Dodgers. Delgado, Wright, Floyd for the Mets.

Todays Games:

Tigers v Yankees - I expect Verlander to do good, but Yankees line-up has too much Jeter, experience, depth, patience, and greatness in it for a him to earn a win. Same prediction as yesterday. In a tie game, Jeter starts a late inning rally. 7-5

Cardinals v Padres - Pujols hits another one, but big game pitcher Wells out pitches underachiever Weaver. 5-1

Dodgers v Mets - Mets "weakness" to left-handed starters is exposed. By the way, in the NL only Houston is more games over .500 than the Mets against left-handed starters. Last night it was Delgado, Wright, and Floyd, tonight it will be Reyes, Lo Duca, and Beltran. 6-4

MLB Playoffs:

A's v Twins - 2006 Santana at home before yesterday. 12-0, 2.19 ERA,
9.76 K/9. Numbers were about the same; 2.25 ERA, 9 K/9. But the only stat that matters. 0-1 Zito on the other hand earned about 5 million more over 7 years from the Wilpon family. If he does it again bump it up to 10 million more.

Cards v Padres - Didn't watch it, but apparently the Cards looked good. Finally.

Tigers v Yankees - De-rrrrrek Jeeeeeee-ter! Simply amazing. MVP!MVP!MVP! Tigers are going to have to figure something out and fast.

Today's picks - Twins even it up by winning 4-2, Yankees take a commanding 2-0 lead with a clutch late inning rally started by Jeter (7-5), Mets and their Maine Man struggle early after cruising for the past month and a half but find a way to win with a walk off RBI by Cliff Floyd(4-3).

Later Tonight/Tomorrow post season awards and picks for Thursday's game.

College Pick Em Seven: (Season record: 3-3-1)

This is gonna be a week for the road teams.

OU +5 OU's D will confuse the young QB.
Texas -5

MSU +16 Embarrassed team in a rivalry game.
UM -16

TENN -2.5 Don't know what to say, other than UGA is terrible. Along with SEC.
UGA +2.5

Oregon +5 Cal lost to TENN, Oregon has to be better than that.
Cal -5

FSU -10.5 Antone "The Dolphin" Smith runs/swims wild.
NC St. +10.5

Arkansas +15.5 Too many points.
Auburn -15.5

LSU - 2 A lower ranked team at away is a favorite. Enough for me.
UF +2

NFL Pick Em:

Records:
Week: 11-3
Season: 11-3

Not too shabby.

College Wrap-Up for fans not in Gamblers Anonymous:

Top SEC teams look vulnerable

Auburn - Barely escapes S.C. (should have went to overtime)
Florida - Tough time at home against the Crimson Tide (Closer than score)
LSU - Rolled over MSU (worst team in SEC, yes even Vanderbilt)
Georgia - Ha.

NEXT WEEK - LSU at UF - I'll set the over/under at 35. I'm not sure what the spread is, but I'm taking the Bayou Bengals.

Big Ten
Top Conference in America

OSU - Dominates every aspect of the game.
UM - Stop single covering Manningham.
Iowa - Had to play best team in the Country.
Purdue - Notre Dame finally looked like the team we thought they would be.
Wisconsin - Destroyed Indiana after making somewhat of a game of it last week against UM.

Other teams
USC - Looks shaky.
Texas - No Competition.
WVU - Bye.
Va Tech - Crushed.
Notre Dame - Just plain outscored Purdue.
Oregon - Match-up with USC will determine Pac-10's champ.
Tennessee - Eh.

Conference Power Rankings
1. Big 10 - Top 2 teams may be top 2 teams in Country, along with depth.
2. SEC - Teams ranked high, but dont' look impressive.
3. ACC - Who knows what's going on there.
4. Big East - Top heavy. Very Heavy.
5. Big 12 - Texas then.........
6. Pac 10 - Always the worst Conference. Put USC in the Big Ten or SEC for a year.
7. Do the others really matter?

Top 10 teams:
1. OSU
2. Michigan
3. WVU
4. USC
5. Texas
6. Auburn
7. LSU
8. Florida
9. Notre Dame
10. Oregon

College Football Results :
3-3-1

Auburn -14
South Carolina +14 S.C. - SEC defense keeps it low scoring. Go Under.

Win. Pretty much what I expected.

Rutgers -4 Rutgers - Best Line of the Week.

South Florida +4

Loss. What the hell? I would have put my house on this one...

Alabama +16 Alabama - See First game.
Florida -16

Win. See first game.

Ohio St -7 Ohio St - Covered every game so far.
Iowa +7

Win. Best team in country with only 7 points?

Purdue +14
Notre Dame -14 Notre Dame - Last weeks 2nd half is catapult for offense.

Push. Catapult wasn't quite strong enough. Atleast the money comes back.

BYU +6
TCU -6 TCU - Underrated

Loss. Overrated.

Ga Tech +10.5
Va Tech -10.5 Va Tech - Not sure about "O", but "D" and "ST" is sick.

Loss. Last time I let my friend pick one. Worst one of the week.

NFL:

Jets +9

Chargers -2.5

Vikings +1

Cowboys -9.5

Chiefs -7

Panthers -7

Falcons -7

Texans +3.5

Rams -5.5

Patriots +6

Redskins +3

Browns -2.5

Seahawks +3.5

Eagles -11

Each week I'll pick 7 college games. A Thursday night game and 6 others in the top 25.

College Spread 'Em Seven: Home on bottom

Auburn -14
South Carolina +14 S.C. - SEC defense keeps it low scoring. Go Under.

Rutgers -4 Rutgers - Best Line of the Week.

South Florida +4

Alabama +16 Alabama - See First game.
Florida -16

Ohio St -7 Ohio St - Covered every game so far.
Iowa +7

Purdue +14
Notre Dame -14 Notre Dame - Last weeks 2nd half is catapult for offense.

BYU +6
TCU -6 TCU - Underrated

Ga Tech +10.5
Va Tech -10.5 Va Tech - Not sure about "O", but "D" and "ST" is sick.

Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, Tiger - That's the list of the last 6 winners on the PGA tour. Wait he's only won the last 5. If you were like me and woke up to ESPN expecting to see one of eleventy Sportscenter episodes, you saw something almost nearly as frequent... Tiger atop the leaderboard.

With a tournament as prestigious as these WGC events Tiger won't let the lead slip away. There was a chink in his armor today, when he bogeyed 17 losing momentum and possibly the low score for the day. He eagled 18. Start the engraving.

Yes he lost the World Match Play Championship and yes he lost in the Ryder Cup as a team but those were match play events. As far as stoke play, and the PGA is concerned the streak is alive. Critics may not consider it a true streak, including is toughest critic, himself. "I'm going for six in a row on our tour, but not six in a row tournament-wise because I've played two since then and lost both," Tiger. He may not be pushing it, but I am.

If he wins 18 straight stroke play tournaments, I don't think anyone is going to say but he didn't win those two match play tournaments 8 months ago. I can't imagine one person bringing that up. It will be the greatest individual sport achievement I've ever seen or heard of. Because depending on which tournaments he enters the 18th or 19th tournament could be next years PGA Championship and obviously he would have swept the previous three majors of 2007 and the last two of 2006.

So let's not worry about debating and just enjoy what Tiger is doing. You'll be sorry if you don't.

T.O. - A day late? Maybe, but it's better than blowing the whole thing out of proportion and then having to hear everyone deny it. T.O. was the only thing on the ESPN from 11:30 to 4:00. For what, an allergic reaction?

You had to know as soon as you read the ESPN.COM headline "Suicide Try" that you would never know the complete truth. Who knows if he tried to kill himself? Only one person. T.O. He said he didn't, that's enough for me.

What if he came right out at 3:30 and said, "I ingested 35 hydrocodone pills with the purpose of taking my own life". People would suggest if he really did attempt suicide why would he just come out and say it, there must be something else.

I haven't seen anyone the day after they tried to commit suicide. Or anyone after consuming 35 hydrocodone pills. However if I did, it would be someone still in a hospital and certainly not smiling and talking about getting ready to hopefully play an NFL Football game in 4 days. He smiled and looked ready to play.

One more thing, T.O. loves himself. Perhaps more than any athlete in recent memory. T.O. may be the most sculpted player in the NFL. It makes no sense that he would want to harm himself or his body. Only one person knows what happened and what the intent was, take his word for it.

Dear Michelle,
Can we stop with this charade. You have missed 8 or so cuts on the PGA Tour, and are in the process of bombing out and posting the worst score in this weeks 84 Lumber. You haven't qualified for a mens tournament yet.

I have some advice to you. Win something. I'm not talking about Hawaii State Divisional Opens or whatever those were. Win something on the LPGA Tour. Anything at all. Annika Sorenstam has dominated the LPGA for years and she couldn't compete with the men. That's not a sexist remark or a diss to women, just a fact. I don't understand how you continue to get exemptions. The first time you played a PGA event I was interested. I wanted to see how big the gap was. The second time it was already old. Now, the 9th or 10th time whatever it is, it's just outrageous.

Do more people watch because your name is in the tournament? Do the sponsors make more money? I don't understand. Stay in the LPGA. Win something. Let's say you do barely squeeze yourself in and make the cut one day. It's not gonna be enough, your critics will say, "Yeah but it was in the 84 Lumber where only 4 of the top 30 golfers entered". If you stay on the LPGA and win tournaments you could be considered the best woman golfer of all time when all is said and done. You are embarrassing yourself over and over again. Give it up.

Sincerely,
Everybody sick of hearing about your tired ass