2009/10/30

Friday Football Picks


Willard – Overall Record: (18-9-1)
Oregon State (-10) vs. UCLA
Jaguars (+3) at Titans
Vikings (+3) at Packers
Falcons (+10) at Saints

Dr. G - Overall Record (18-10)
Navy (-7) vs. Temple
Cincinnati (-15.5) at Syracuse
Miami (-7) at Wake Forest
Colts (-12.5) vs. 49ers

Roget – Overall Record: (17-14)
Tennessee (-6) vs. South Carolina
USC (-3) at Oregon
Texans (-3.5) at Bills
Ravens (-3) vs. Broncos

Jack Flack – Overall Record: (17-14)
Houston (-7) vs. Southern Miss.
Temple (+7) at Navy
Georgia Tech (-12) at Vanderbilt
Eagles (PK) vs. Giants

C-Money – Overall Record (11-12-1)
Temple (+7) at Navy
Nebraska (-13) at BAylor
Vikings (+3) at Packers
Cowboys (-9.5) vs. Seahawks

Mr. Green – Overall Record: (13-18)
Cincinnati (--15.5) at Syracuse
Michigan (-7) at Illinois
Michigan State (-3.5) at Minnesota
Colts (-12.5) vs. 49ers

Hollywood – Overall Record: (12-19)
Indiana (+17.5) at Iowa
Georgia (+14.5) at Florida
Florida State (-10) vs. NC State
Titans (-3) vs. Jaguars

Overall Winning Percentage
1. Willard (67%)
2. Dr. G (64%)
3. Roget (55%)
3. Jack Flack (55%)
5. C-Money (48%)
6. Mr. Green (42%)
7. Hollywood (39%)

A Call To Fans in Red


So the Phillies lost game 2. How you ask? Most notably because the line-up curled up like a snail in salt. But one thing is for sure: It WAS NOT because of the umpires!

The men in blue are part of the game. They always have and they always will be. The TV cameras showed that they missed a few calls. One for the Phillies and one against. The fans who call up sports talk stations screaming “the umps blew our chances” or “baseball needs instant replay” need to please be quiet.

The Phillies lost because they scored only one run. They lost because Ryan Howard struck out in each of his 4 at bats. They lost because Rollins and Victorino failed to get on base. They lost because Charlie Manual stuck with Pedro a little too long.

Please Phillies, I beg of you, stop complaining about the umpires. It's the kind of thing we should leave to fans who don’t know what its like to be champions. It shows weakness. And right now, the Phillies are still the champs. So we need to stand tall, shake off the loss and come back revved up for Saturday night. Whether we’re dressed as skeletons, muscle heads, nerds, or Seinfeld characters on Halloween night, we still bleed Phillies red.

The umpires did not determine who won game 2. The Phils lost. Lets get over it, stop pointing fingers and prepare for game 3. All eyes now turn to Cole Hamels.

2009/10/28

Cliff Lee is my Father


The Phillies took Game 1 against the Yankees 6-1 to take a 1-0 series lead in the World Series. Cliff Lee was amazing. Lee outdueled the person he calls his best friend in baseball, and got the victory. Lee kept the Yankees hitters off balance all night long. The only run was unearned and came in the 9th inning when Jimmy Rollins threw a potential double play ball into the Yankee dugout. The Phillies have been pretty good this postseason at air mailing double play balls, recording their 3rd of the postseason thus far. Lee's final line was 9 IP, 6 hits allowed, only 1 extra base hit, 0 ER, 10 K, 0 walks. 10 strikeouts and 0 walks is real solid. Lee's curveball was on point all game long and clearly had Yankee hitters off balance all night.

The offense consisted of 2 Utley solo home runs to take a 2-0 lead into the 8th inning, before putting the game away with 2 runs each in the 8th and 9th innings. Every Phillies player had a hit besides Pedro Feliz and Ben Francisco, who was playing in left field, with Raul Ibanez as the DH.

Obviously, it goes without saying to talk about how winning Game 1 is huge. The winner of Game 1 has won the World Series for the last 6 consecutive years, including last year when the Phillies took Game 1. Not only does winning Game 1 give the Phillies the 1-0 series lead, it allows them to take the home field advantage.

The Phillies have the opportunity to really take command of the series if they can win tomorrow night's game in New York. Pedro Martinez will take the mound for the Phillies and will oppose A.J. Burnett. It will be interesting to see how Pedro responds to this huge game. Obviously Pedro is no stranger to this situation or facing the Yankees in Yankee Stadium in big games.

Sixers Lose Opener


In the big Philadelphia sports news of the night............. the 76ers lost their opener to the Orlando Magic 120-106. Marreesse Speights led the way with 26 points for the Sixers, while Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala, and Thaddeus Young had 8, 8, and 8 respectively. What a great start.

New York Post Amateur Hour


As most Philly fans are probably aware, the NY Post yesterday led with a headline article, "Gotham Trembles: The Frillies are Coming to Town,"complete with a doctored picture of Victorino sporting a tutu. The article itself contained such witty gems as comparing the iconic Statue of Liberty to Philly cheesesteaks as an illustration of NY's cultural superiority and,of course, trumpeting the Yankees dominant record in the Series (although,naturally, they failed to mention that such domination took place so long ago that most fans of those teams are now drooling in nursing homes -- and they're the lucky ones!).

Now, Kotite's Corner has no problem with trash talking, and we get the time-honored sporting fan tradition of putting down the opponent's city. It works both ways, so no problemo. But -- there should be some standards of intelligence, wit, creativity, or at least a modicum of cleverness to such displays of homerism. The problem KC has with the Post article isn't that it attempts to trash Philly, but the fact that the attempt is so lame, childish, and brain dead as to be genuinely disrespectful. Hell, if you're going to publicly trash a city, at least have enough respect to bring out the heavy artillery! The Post article is like a little boy in short pants shooting a popgun...But, then, what else would be expected from a raggy tabloid like the NY Post? In this regard, a few observations are in order:

The NY Post: Widely considered a trashy tabloid along the lines of the National Enquirer -- but without the latter's covertly sardonic humor --the modern Post is the brainchild of Rupert Murdoch, the Australian robber baron responsible for the truly un-American atrocity known as Fox (Fixed)News -- that haven of fringe right wing blowhards and nut cases who spew fascist and racist paranoid delusions over the public airways. The NY Posits nothing more than the print version of this nasty, hate-mongering,elementary school-level of bogus "journalism."

The Statue of Liberty: Interesting that NY claims "ownership" of this American icon. Geographically, it's actually located 2,000 feet from Jersey City, NJ, but 2 miles from New York City! While sitting in New York Harbor,Liberty Island is officially federal territory, not an extension of NY.This is simply another case of that boorish city's outrageous sense of entitlement and ego. NY has even dishonestly appropriated the address of this landmark! The federally recognized address by the US Postal Service was Liberty Island, Jersey City, NJ 07305. A bunch of typically dirty NY politicians corruptly engineered a change of address to 1 Liberty Island,New York, NY 10004. This would be like Philly annexing Delaware, and declaring it a section of the city. Pure BS!! And, anyhow, is a statue constructed and donated by the French -- of all people -- really something to get excited about? At least cheesesteaks are home-grown; they weren't concocted and sent over the Atlantic by effete Europeans who couldn't even defend their own county in two world wars...

The Myth of the New York Fan: Unlike Philly, there is no united fan base in NY. A good half of NYers despise the Yankees even more than we do --they're Mets fans. In fact, the majority of Yankee supporters don't even live in NY -- they're from North Jersey. Now this really isn't a surprise since several "NY teams" are actually located in Jersey -- the Giants,Jets, & Nets. But, as with the Statue of Liberty, NY simply declares ownership of whatever it wants.

The Luminaries of NY: Here's a partial list of great Americans born in NYC (thanks to the Inky's Gonzo for pointing this out): Al Capone; pop culture disasters Mariah Carey; Vin Diesel; shameless self-promoter Sean Combs/Puff Daddy/Puffy P/Diddy Diddy, etc., etc.; IQ-challenged Fixed News wingnut Sean Hannity; pitiful ex-NBAer Stephon Marbury; Nazi hate-mongerer Ann Coulter; father of the atomic bomb Robert Oppenheimer; and possibly the most toxic of all -- Lindsay Lohan. Thanks, New York, for your sterling contributions to American society!!

As Mark Twain once noted, there are generally two types of people: those who accomplish things and those who claimed to have accomplished things --and the first group is less crowded. Given the population of that city, I think we know to which group New Yorkers belong...

2009/10/23

Friday Football Picks


Willard – Overall Record: (17-7)
Michigan (+4.5) vs. Penn State
Duke (-4) vs. Maryland
Bears (+1) at Bengals
Bills (+7) at Panthers

Dr. G - Overall Record (15-9)
Rutgers (-10.5) at Army
Miami (-4.5) vs. Clemson
Saints (-6.5) at Dolphins
Colts (-13.5) at Rams

Roget – Overall Record: (15-12)
Temple (+3) at Toledo
Miami (-4.5) vs. Clemson
Bears (+1) at Bengals
Jets (-6) at Raiders

Jack Flack – Overall Record: (13-14)
Georgia Tech (-5.5) at Virginia
Colts (-13.5) at Rams
Eagles (-7) at Redskins
Packers (-8) at Browns

C-Money - Overall Record: (8-11-1)
BYU (+2.5) vs. TCU
Mississippi State (+22.5) vs. Florida
Steelers (-4.5) vs. Vikings
Cowboys (-4) vs. Falcons

Mr. Green – Overall Record: (11-16)
Notre Dame (-7.5) vs. Boston College
Oklahoma (-8) at Kansas
BYU (+2.5) vs. TCU
Chargers (-5) at Chiefs

Hollywood – Overall Record: (10-17)
Auburn (+7.5) at LSU
Michigan State (-1.5) vs. Iowa
Boise State (-24.5) at Hawaii
Steelers (-4.5) vs. Vikings

Overall Winning Percentage
1. Willard (71%)
2. Dr. G (63%)
3. Roget (56%)
4. Jack Flack (48%)
5. C-Money (42%)
6. Mr. Green (41%)
7. Hollywood (37%)

2009/10/16

Friday Football Picks


Willard – Overall Record: (14-6)
Georgia (-7.5) at Vanderbilt
West Virginia (-21) vs. Marshall
Seattle (-3) vs. Cardinals
Bills (+9.5) at Jets

Roget – Overall Record: (14-9)
UCLA (+3.5) vs. California
TCU (-22) vs. Colorado State
Steelers (-14) vs. Browns
Chargers (-3.5) vs. Broncos

Dr. G - Overall Record (12-8)
Temple (-10.5) vs. Army
Southern Miss (-15.5) vs. Memphis
Bengals (-5) vs. Texans
Broncos (+3.5) at Chargers

Jack Flack – Overall Record: (12-11)
Ohio State (-14) at Purdue
Notre Dame (+10) vs. USC
Vikings (-3) vs. Ravens
Eagles (-14) at Raiders

C-Money – Overall Record (8-8)
Texas (-3) vs. Oklahoma
Kansas (-10) at Colorado
Jets (-9.5) vs. Bills
Chargers (-3.5) vs. Broncos

Mr. Green – Overall Record: (9-14)
Pittsburgh (-6) at Rutgers
Temple (-10.5) vs. Army
Steelers (-14) vs. Browns
Chargers (-3.5) vs. Broncos

Hollywood – Overall Record: (9-14)
Idaho (-8) vs. Hawaii
Middle Tennessee (+4.5) vs. Mississippi State
Minnesota (+17.5) at Penn State
Eagles (-14) at Raiders

Overall Winning Percentage
1. Willard (70%)
2. Roget (61%)
3. Dr. G (60%)
4. Jack Flack (52%)
5. C-Money (50%)
6. Mr. Green (39%)
6. Hollywood (39%)

2009/10/09

Friday Football Picks


Willard – Overall Record: (11-5)
Alabama (-4.5) at Mississippi
West Virginia (-10) at Syracuse
Northwestern (-18.5) vs. Miami (OH)
Browns (+6) at Bills

Roget – Overall Record: (11-8)
Florida (-7.5) at LSU
Tennessee (-1.5) vs. Georgia
Patriots (-3.5) at Broncos
Falcons (+2.5) at 49ers

Dr. G - Overall Record (9-7)
Michigan State (-4) at Illinois
Steelers (-10.5) at Lions
Colts (-3.5) at Titans
Vikings (-10) at Rams

Jack Flack – Overall Record: (10-9)
Wisconsin (+16) at Ohio State
Indiana (+6.5) at Virginia
Michigan (+8) at Iowa
Colts (-3.5) at Titans

C-Money – Overall Record (6-6)
Pittsburgh (-7) vs. UConn
East Carolina (-6.5) at SMU
Colorado (+32.5) at Texas
Colts (-3.5) at Titans

Mr. Green – Overall Record: (8-11)
Pittsburgh (-7) vs. UConn
West Virginia (-10) at Syracuse
Steelers (-10.5) at Lions
Ravens (-8.5) vs. Bengals

Hollywood – Overall Record: (7-12)
Mississippi State (-2.5) vs. Houston
Florida (-7.5) at LSU
UCLA (+3.5) vs. Oregon
Eagles (-15) vs. Buccaneers

Overall Winning Percentage
1. Willard (69%)
2. Roget (58%)
3. Dr. G (56%)
4. Jack Flack (53%)
5. C-Money (50%)
6. Mr. Green (42%)
7. Hollywood (37%)

2009/10/02

Friday Football Picks


Willard – Overall Record: (9-3)
Virginia Tech (-16.5) at Duke
Vikings (-3.5) vs. Packers
49ers (-9.5) vs. Rams
Titans (-3) at Jaguars

Dr. G - Overall Record (7-5)
South Florida (-6.5) at Syracuse
Tennessee (-2.5) vs. Auburn
Bengals (-6) at Browns
Giants (-8.5) at Chiefs

Roget – Overall Record: (8-7)
Navy (-2.5) vs. Air Force
LSU (+3.5) at Georgia
Patriots (-2) vs. Ravens
Cowboys (-3) at Broncos

C-Money – Overall Record (4-4)
Virginia Tech (-16.5) at Duke
Oklahoma (-7.5) at Miami
Giants (-8.5) at Chiefs
Colts (-10) at Seahawks

Jack Flack – Overall Record: (7-8)
South Florida (-6.5) at Syracuse
UNC (-13) vs. Virginia
Mississippi (-10) at Vanderbilt
Giants (-8.5) at Chiefs

Mr. Green – Overall Record: (5-10)
Pittsburgh (-6.5) at Louisville
USC (-4.5) at California
Giants (-8.5) at Chiefs
Cowboys (-3) at Broncos

Hollywood – Overall Record: (5-10)
Washington (+12.5) at Notre Dame
Syracuse (+6.5) vs. South Florida
Nevada (-4.5) vs. UNLV
Ravens (+2) at Patriots

Overall Winning Percentage
1. Willard (75%)
2. Dr. G (58%)
3. Roget (53%)
4. C-Money (50%)
5. Jack Flack (47%)
6. Mr. Green (33%)
6. Hollywood (33%)