My Suicide Pool Picks So Far

After 10 weeks, here are the teams I have counted on to keep me “alive”:

1. Minnesota Vikings
2. Washington Redskins
3. New York Giants
4. Indianapolis Colts
5. Philadelphia Eagles
6. Pittsburgh Steelers
7. New England Patriots
8. Dallas Cowboys
9. New Orleans Saints
10. Baltimore Ravens

In week 10, there was also a “roadblock game”, which basically means you have to pick a very tough game as determined by the guy running the league in order to try to thin the number or contestants still remaining.  They chose the Patrio/Colts game, and I went with the undefeated Colts.  Luckily, Peyton had my back and squeezed out a 35-34 win in the last seconds (literally).

I have to confess, getting this far wasn’t that hard, and it shouldn’t be for anyone with a little big of football knowledge.  The real test is at the end of the season, when you’ve used all the good teams and you have to start taking some chances.  I have 7 more weeks to survive, and in my opinion there are only a few good teams left.  What that means is I’ll have to eventually pick some games that are either very closely matched or even an upset or two.  This is the first year I’m doing this, and I don’t have any delusions of winning.  But, I’m still proud of getting this far and I guess it’s possible to get lucky a few times and see what happens.  The teams left that I consider to be decent are:

• Arizona Cardinals
• Denver Broncos
• San Diego Chargers
• Green Bay Packers

I wouldn’t exactly say they are worthy of being counted on to win any given week, but I will most likely have to depend on them at some point in the rest of this season if I’m going to have a chance.

Anyone else in a suicide pool?  Let me know what teams you had and are still holding on to for later in the year, as well as what kind of pool you are in.  And good luck (unless you’re in mine)!

I Got 99 Problems But Being A Yankees Fan Ain’t One

One thing I certainly got tired enough of during the World Series were shots of celebrities in NY.  The only place worse than New York is LA.  To combat the in-game agitations I did not watch a single second of the pregame shows.  In fact I actually missed the first pitch to Rollins in Game 2 because I wouldn’t turn the TV on until I was sure I wouldn’t be wasting any additional time watching the non-baseball parts of the coverage.

While I know I’m in the ever shrinking minority, I do not want or need any of the “fluff” that comes with professional sports coverage.  I would love to be able to go to a game and hear nothing but the crowd noise instead of random rap songs in between pitches.

So this year I had to resort to turning the volume down to 0, which had the bonus effect of also not being able to hear the commentators.  It’s become increasingly easy to bash them, which should tell Fox something about the quality they are putting out there in front of a national audience.  This year, I even heard people complaining about them who aren’t really baseball fans.  That’s when you know it’s time for a change.

Back to the title of this article.  I could talk about a lot of things but I pretty much covered everything I hate about the Yankees in the last post.  All I really wanted to add is that I do not think I would want to be a Yankees fan.  I’m not sure I would be able to root for a team who, year after year, tried to buy championships.  What enjoyment can you take in rooting for a player in the playoffs who you’ve only since pitch 20 or 30 times for your team?  I know we brought in Lee and Ibanez late in the season this year, but knowing they will part of this team for a few years makes it easy to root for them.  And when you trade for a player instead of just overpaying him to bring him to your club, there is definitely a sense of appreciation you can have for what your club was willing to risk giving up to get him.

Anyway, maybe I’m just bitter.  Maybe if I grew up in NY I would be a Yankees fan.  Maybe I would hate myself, too.  Or, maybe I would be lucky enough to move to Philadelphia and be adopted by this great city so I could root for the teams who go out and work hard to earn everything they get.

What’s Not To Hate About The Yankees

Position players:

SS – Derek Jeter – he is the poster boy for New York.  All through the World Series we had to watch that annoying commercial for razors of him diving into the stands and getting bloody, while Cole Hamels was standing on the mound when some random guy came out of the stands who thought he was a manager.  Hate him.

The Split in New York

After 2 games, the Phillies certainly sit in a comfortable position, having taken 1 game and home field advantage from the Yankees.  But, are you satisfied with the split?  I am not, nor should the Phillies be either.

How the Magic will beat the Sixers

Ed Stafanski supposedly likes the Sixers’ first (and probably only) round match-up against the Orlando Magic, even though Kevin Garnett will not play for the Celtics (who the Sixers would have played if they had lost their last game of the season). Never mind the fact that they lost all three games to the Magic this season, or that they are limping into the playoffs without Brand and a 100% healthy Thaddeus Young.

That leaves Dalembert, Ratliff, and Evans to try to guard Dwight Howard (key word there is try). All he has to do if/when (believe me they will try) they double him in the paint is to kick it out to Turkoglu and Lewis who will inevitably knock down a ton of 3’s.

The Sixers have no answer = No shooters + No defense.

Outcome: Magic in 5.

4 Reasons why the Eagles will NOT trade for Boldin

1. Draft Picks – The Cards are asking a steep price for any player to be traded in the NFL. A first and third rounder, really? They will probably be willing to negotiate if a team is very interested, but the Eagles usually aren’t that friendly with that sort of thing.
   

In the neighborhoold again

Another AWESOME Philly Sports blog is Phinally Philly. They are constantly rolling out great articles on everything going on in Philly Sports. I’m following them on Twitter (@Phinally) and recently responded to them asking for questions. My question was, “Which Phillies starter will win the most games this year?”.

Here is their response to my question. They picked Hamels – here’s my comment on their site:

Thanks for answering my question, that’s awesome! My pick is Brett Myers, mostly because we NEED him to be consistent and hopefully he won’t get sent down to the minors this year if he can keep his head on straight!! Not Hamels just because of injury questions, although he would be my second pick assuming he gets and stays healthy. I also have questions about Moyer’s age, but I think the main reason he won so many games last year was great run support. Blanton should fit in nicely in the 4th spot, and who knows if Park will even remain the 5th starter all year? I’d love to see Happ back in that role at some point. Here’s my breakdown (completely random guess):

Wins by starters:

Myers: 16
Hamels: 14
Blanton: 11
Moyer: 10
Park: 7

And hey if you want another question, How likely is it that Lidge will be perfect again this year? Looks good so far.

Make sure you leave a comment and let them know what you think about your team!

Young out 2-3 weeks

With the news of Thaddeus Young being out for 2-3 weeks with an injured ankle, I can’t help but wonder how far the Sixers will fall in the standings.  We know if they finish with the 7th or 8th seed, it’s basically a guaranteed one and done again this year, since they will have to face the defending champion Celtics or the Cavaliers.

Even the 6th spot gets you Orlando, who will likely win a round no matter who they play.  So that leaves 5th place as the spot they need to get the Hawks in 4th, who I actually like(d) them matching up against.  That is, until Young is no longer in the lineup.  If he comes back for the playoffs, who knows if he’ll be 100%?

So, that begs the question, are we supposed to give up on this season?  Should we pack it in and wait for the NFL draft?  Next year, with Brand back, hopefully this team will be more ready to make a real run and be able to get out of the first round (ideally sitting in the 4th or 5th seed).

Young has not only been a force to be reckoned with in nearly every phase of the game this year, he has been the spark, along with Iguodala, that has made this team so much fun to watch.  Hopefully Speights will continue to get a lot of playing time, and continue to use it to grow and learn and find his role on this team.  But, I’m afraid to say that’s the only thing left worth watching for the rest of this season.

Anyone else feeling more optimistic?