Weekend Viewing Guide 9/14/12

No tennis, no golf, no soccer...no worries.  There is still a glutton of sports to watch this weekend.  I'm not even going to highlight the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears I'm watching as I type that was played last night or the mouth-watering Monday Night Football game between my MVP choice, Matt Ryan and the expected Comeback Player of the Year, Peyton Manning.  If you're a betting person...take the over.  Either of those games would have cracked my top 3 of the weekend, but I push on, there are still enough main courses to satisfy even the Burgerdays crew.

Let's roll our sleeves up and get right into it:

10. James Madison University vs. West Virginia University (FedEx Field)

Okay don't stop reading, I haven't gone crazy.  I went to JMU and I know some guys who went to West Virginia so there's a little more at stake if JMU can keep it close.  If you remember, JMU went down to Virginia Tech just two years ago and won so be careful Mountaineer fans.  In all actuality this will be a 60-17 type score, but you have two schools that have a ton of alumni in the DC/Maryland area and a 90,000 seat stadium to fill.  With a 4:30pm start, the only real question is how many fans will be sober enough to remember to go into the stadium?  Let's go Dukes!

9. St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers

What the hell is going on with the National League Wild Card standings?  The Cardinals suck, the Dodgers stink and the Pirates are terrible.  The only teams that seem to want to play Atlanta in the one game playoff are the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers who have each shaved about 10 games in the standings in the last month.  This four game series that started (right about now) Thursday has the chance to make a gruesome mess of everything.  By Monday there could be five teams within two games of the second Wild Card.  When St. Louis and Los Angeles split these four games they will be at 77 and 76 wins respectively.  The Pirates play the crappy Cubs, the Phillies will crush the abysmal Astros and the Brewers should manhandle the Mets.  This puts all three of them at 75 wins with sweeps.  All five will have either 70-72 losses as well with just over two weeks to go...just how we want it.

8. New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers

Neither team expected to be facing an 0-2 start.  Both teams were given a tasty cupcake of an opening week game by the NFL and yet both lost.  In a division that I expect the Atlanta Falcons to win easily both of these teams are playing for a Wild Card spot in my opinion.  This elevates a rather middling week 2 game into a pretty tasty pressure test.  I'm sure if I had the Elias Sports Bureau working for me I could tell you what the chances are for 0-2 teams to make the playoffs, but I can promise you it's not that good.  Dammit, I'm calling it...the loser of this game does not make the playoffs.  Done.  Final Score:  Saints 31 Panthers 23

7. Florida Gators at Tennessee Volunteers

Welcome back from obscurity Tennessee.  This game used to be the highlight of the SEC schedule.  Then Tennessee disappeared into oblivion while Florida had up and down seasons (with some Tim Tebow greatness as well) and everyone forgot about these teams.  Now even though they are relegated to a Week 3 meeting in mid-September, its good to see both schools getting good again at the same time.  Both teams are ranked, ESPN is headed to Knoxville and they made my exclusive list of things to watch!  Yes rivalry games in college football are exciting and this one has been ignored for far too long.  Final Score Tennessee 31 Florida 21

6. Baltimore Ravens at Philadelphia Eagles

Did you see how good the Ravens looked on Monday?  Did you see how bad the Eagles looked on Sunday?  All that and Philadelphia is still a 2 point favorite at home this week.  A short week and having to play on the road might have a bit to do with that for Baltimore.  Something tell me each team will regress to the mean this weekend even if the Eagles are without Jeremy Maclin or DeSean Jackson or both.  Michael Vick can't throw 4 more interceptions can he?  Joe Flacco isn't going to be an MVP candidate is he?  No I don't think either of these will be true.  I still have the Ravens squeaking out a 23-20 win.

5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Michigan St. Spartans

This is a perfect September game.  Two really good September teams that real fans of college football understand have no frickin' shot at being relevant come mid-November.  The fans can only hope for another memorable finish like in 2010:

 That highlight was made even better with the Star Wars cameo.  Notre Dame has not been in the championship picture since the late 80's and the Big Ten is only good when not playing teams from real conferences like the SEC.  That makes this game a perfect match up...for September. Final Score Michigan St. 30 Notre Dame 24
4. Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees

I don't understand Tampa Bay.  Well I take that back, they can't hit worth a damn.  Even though they resemble the Oakland Athletics both on the mound and at the plate and how bad their stadium is, something is missing.  There is no magic spark.  Time is now beginning to run out on the Rays and unless they walk into New York and win this series, they could be missing the playoffs this year.  Things are not looking much better in New York.  The age of their core players is starting to become an issue as the injuries continue to mount.  Mark Teixeira is injured, Derek Jeter narrowly avoided a bad ankle injury, C.C. Sabathia is hurting and the team just looks sluggish.  This starts a 9 game home stand with both the Rays and the Athletics coming to town and we should know the fate of New York by the end of that.

3.  USC Trojans at Stanford Cardinal

I bet you didn't realize that senior quarterback Matt Barkley has yet to defeat Stanford.  He's 0-3 thanks to Andrew Luck, but unlike Luck, Barkley stayed in school to party, hang out with co-eds, be the big man on campus win a BCS Championship.  This is the game that USC has to have had circled on its calendar ever since Barkley decided to return.  They owe the Cardinal some payback for the recent domination that they have had on their neighbors to the south.  The cupboard isn't completely bare for Stanford as Junior quarterback Josh Nunes has filed in quite admirably, albeit against lesser competition (yup I'm talking about you Duke).  I've got the over/under on Barkley touchdown passes at 4.5...anyone dare to take the under? Final Score USC 45 Stanford 27

2. Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers

Ooooooh I remember how this one ended last year.  The two head coaches jawing at each other while racing off the field and a little shove fest.  Last week the Lions didn't look like the fun 'n gun offensive video game that was 2011.  The 49ers did, on the other hand, resemble their 2011 model of being the best defensive unit in the NFL.  They also added a better passing game and currently have a healthy Frank Gore.  No matter how much I want this to be a good game, I have a feeling this is where the Lions start to crack a bit and the 49ers surge into Super Bowl contenders.  Final Score San Francisco 27 Detroit 13

1. Baltimore Orioles at Oakland Athletics

The two best stories in the American League and possibly the Majors meet in the dump that is the O.co Stadium.  If the Orioles allowed the Athletics to be the home team, I'd petition Bud Selig to move the series to Camden Yards.  Not only would I be able to attend, but it'd be a setting befitting the importance of this series.  I know of nobody who thought this series would receive any national media attention, but with the two darlings of baseball playing in mid-September it will be beat reporters dream for its multitude of story lines.  Each team is playing for a fallen teammate, Nick Markakis of the Orioles lost for the regular season with a broken hand and Brandon McCarthy of the Athletics lost for the season with a fractured skull.  Both teams are currently in the playoffs and have split the season series 3-3 to date so I expect a low scoring series where the team scoring first will win all three games.  The bullpens are just too good and the stadium too big for many comebacks to occur.

*Editor's note* After watching 3 quarters of the Packers/Bears game, I change my mind about it being considered for the Top 10 list.  Yaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnn!  If your best highlight is a punter pitching a ball to a backup tight end, you have not been entertaining.

FCNPFFL: Week 1 Results

Hello loyal readers...or those who have mistakenly clicked on this page looking for WSOP highlights.  I am going to post my weekly recaps of my fantasy football league that is in its 16th year.  We currently have 14 teams and yours truly is the defending champion.  I hope this is entertaining to you as I try to keep things light, but also take shots at struggling teams to create some chatter between the owners.

Here is my email that has been sent out to each owner.  I have been writing these recaps every Monday night/Tuesday morning since 1998 as a Junior at James Madison University.

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We're are now officially underway.  As a reminder there will be a THURSDAY game EVERY WEEK.  Please be attentive to who is playing and make sure you have your rosters set in time.  This weeks game is GREEN BAY VS CHICAGO.  I know we will have plenty of starters from that game.

Waivers will go through on the computer Wednesday night.  Please do not send me any choices as I will ignore them.  After they have gone through you can send me your K/DEF selections via email.

Onto the games:

Matt and I played the closest game of the first weekend and we put up two of the top four highest scores to boot.  We were both led by stellar quarterback play as Matt Ryan scored 34 for Matt and RGIII tallied 32 for me.  Stevan Ridley kept the scoring going for Matt as he scored 19 points, but I answered with 13 each from Andre Johnson and the Patriots D.  We went into MNF tied at 70, but I had 3 players left while Matt had just Ray Rice.  Before I even turned the game on, I was up 4 points as Torrey Smith caught a long bomb, but that was it for him.  Ray Rice took over scoring 19 points and I was suddenly in a 15 point hole.  Darren McFadden tried his best to get me back, but neither him nor Antonio Gates could score and I fell just short in this shootout.

Final Score:  Rainbows & Puppies  89 Escaped Lunatics 84

Our top scoring team of week 1 came from the battle between Alex and Ike.  If you're not new to this league, I'm guessing you already know which team had to most points and which team did not.  Ike unloaded on Alex with 27 from Tony Romo, 19 from Arian Foster, 18 from Billy Cundiff and 13 from Brandon Marshall.  That's a good start.  Poor Alex got 19 from Big Ben and 10 from Robbie Gould, but he was never in this game.  Just for fun...Ike's bench lost to Alex's starters by 2.  Yikes!  Have we found our juggernaut??   Who needs a co-manager anyways, I guess Jason was just hindering Ike all this time.  I would win $10, but he shorted me $12 at the draft so that money is mine.

Final Score:  Myra's College Fund 101 Worthless Peons 65

Luke came out of the game at full speed as he sprinted by Nick G who has a shiny new avatar this season which makes me happy.  Mike Vick threw 4 INT's, but still scratched out 22 points to lead Luke, but it was 19 points from Julio Jones that stands out.  He also got 15 points from Nate Kaeding who stay healthy for more than one play this season.  To round things out, Luke got 10 points each from his RB's, LeSean McCoy and Doug Martin.  Peyton Manning led all scorers with 25 and Frank Gore proved doubters wrong with 17, but the other six starters for Nick G. could only muster 32 more points.

Final Score:  Deathtongue 94 Lollipop Kids 74

Ben and Mike met up this week and they had some ugly outputs, but one team looks to be in much better shape in the upcoming weeks.  Mike only had one double digit scorer, Tom Brady who mustered 19 points, but he also had the years first negative score as David Wilson fumbled on his first carry and was benched scoring -2 points.  MJD got a lot of touches thanks to the injury to Rashad Jennings, but could only score 8 points.  For Ben it was hit or miss with his squad as he had three top producers and two 0's. Demaryius Thomas led his team with 19...16 on one play, 18 from Matt Stafford and 16 from Matt Forte.  On the other side of the ledger he got no production from either DeAngelo Williams or Wes Welker.  The upside for him though is he has CJ Spiller stashed on his bench and with the injury to Fred Jackson, Ben looks to be solid for the next 4-6 weeks at least.  I guess Mike shouldn't have cheated on his Bookoo drinks on draft night.

Final Score:  The Magic Wands 69  Bookoo Barbarians 54

Nate and John locked horns in a game that was very similar to the one that Matt and I played.  Nate had the games top two scorers as Drew Brees scored 26 and AP returned from injury to shock everyone with 20 points.  John used team depth to stay in the game with 17 from Matt Schaub, 16 from Matt Bryant, 14 from Ahmad Bradshaw and 11 from Jimmy Graham.  He still trailed by 17 with two MNF players thanks in large part to the -3 scored by the paltry Buffalo Bills defense.  Anquan Boldin did his part in the early game last night tallying 10 points and it was up to Ronnie Brown who needed 8 points for a comeback victory.  Well Brown showed his age and did next to nothing scoring a lone point and John came up short.

Final Score: The Bounchers 75  The Situation 69

Another year, another injury plagued season ahead for Nick B.  This year Fred Jackson has already been lost from his team and that was a big reason to the bad score for The Knacks.  He did get 14 points from Eli Manning and 10 each from Darren Sproles and the Texans defense, but it was not nearly enough to keep up with Adam.  Cam Newton posted 17, Shonn Greene rumbled for 15, DeMarco Murray scrambled for 13 and Jeremy Maclin hauled in 12 points before getting injured to get Adam going in the right direction this season.

Final Score:  Biggums' 'Basers 82  The Knacks 51

Last, but certainly not least, our newest member Joel was rudely welcomed to the FCNPFFL by get toss around by original member Jody.  DoggNutz had five players post double digits with 15 each from BJGE and the Ravens defense.  In fact Jody had more points on his bench (82) than his starting lineup (81) which is never a bad thing.  Joel did get 25 from Aaron Rodgers and 16 from David Akers and his 63 yard field goal, but with four players scoring 3 or less points in the starting lineup and six of his seven bench spots scoring 1 or fewer points...things could get ugly real quick if changes aren't made.

Final Score:  Doggnutz 81  Nikachu 59

No standings post just yet...if you can't figure out where you stand after one week, you have deeper issues that I cannot fix.

Weekend In Review 9/10/12

...and I'm spent.

Thursday night: Burger grand opening at ZBurger w/ Philly cheese steaks, custard, fries, hot dogs, onion rings and some milkshakes (not necessarily in that order).

Friday night: Burger grand opening at Kraze: w/ fries and a milkshake

Saturday: College Football, work, survived a mini hurricane, dodged a tornado and got some pizza (must find veggies this week)

Sunday:  Football, Baseball, Golf, Tennis, Fantasy Football (and still no veggies...do Doritos count?)

If your weekend was like that or maybe you went on Burger Days VI (www.burgerdays.com) you may have missed something...let me catch you up.

10. BMW Championship

I went out on a limb on Thursday and called that Tiger Woods would win this week.   Well that didn't happen as Rory McIlroy continued his recent dominance winning for the second week in a row.  Tiger finished T-4th, three shots behind.  Phil Mickelson remembered that he was once good and came on strong over the weekend tying for second place.  With next weeks Tour Championship starting on Thursday, the golf world will be all abuzz with the three biggest draws finally playing well at the same time.  McIlroy has put his early season distractions aside and is proving to be the prodigy that everyone thought he was going to be.  It will be difficult to go against him winning a third straight and the FedEx Cup in Atlanta.

9.  College Football - Upset Alert

Behind six touchdown passes from Matt Barkley, USC eased by Syracuse in New Jersey (although they didn't cover...sorry Luis, I warned you).  Florida St. was a 70.5 point favorite over Savannah 'thanks for the $' St. and led 28-0 seven minutes into the game.  Then the weather took over.  A couple of rain delays and 27 more points later, the game was mercifully called in the 3rd quarter canceling the spread and saving a lot of people some money because it would have been 80-0 easy.  As for the games I figured were going to be close.  Missouri played a good three quarters, but Georgia played all four quarters, ruining the Tigers first SEC game, losing 41-20.  My upset pick at work (trust me) was Wisconsin losing to Oregon St. outright and they did 10-7, scoring their only points with less than 2 minutes left in the game.  Nebraska went out west to play UCLA and got upended in a great game 36-30.  Of course I can't forget to point out the embarrassment that was Arkansas who got caught looking ahead to #1 Alabama next week by getting utterly shocked by Louisiana-Monroe (who??) 34-31 in OT.  Yikes!

8. Washington Redskins at New Orleans Saints

Control yourself Jason...settle down...SUPER BOWL HERE WE COME!!! Stop that...sorry for the outburst, but did you see RGIII? He looked good, real good.  Of course so did Cam Newton last season after a week and Carolina finished 6-10 and looked pitiful Sunday.  All the gadgets, the speed, the offense that was hidden during preseason was unleashed as #10 led the Redskins to 10 points in each quarter to upend the Saints 40-32.  I give credit to Drew Brees on never giving in and keeping me on the edge of my seat down to the final play of the game, but his brilliance wasn't enough this weekend.  Is it the Super Bowl host city curse?? Maybe, but I'm thrilled to see the Redskins finally show some excitement on the offensive side of the ball. RGIII FOR MVP...NO WAIT HALL OF FAME!!!! Agghhh I can't stop myself.

7. San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers

It appears that the Packers have found their Kryptonite...a really good defense.  Two straight games now (dating back to the playoffs against the Giants) the vaunted Green Bay offense was held in check in a loss.  Both times at home and in relatively similar fashion this time falling by a score of 30-22 (37-20 vs. New York in the playoffs).  The 49ers stuffed the non existent running game of the Packers and pressured Aaron Rodgers just enough to keep him off balance.  Green Bay needs to find some offensive balance or one of two things is bound to happen: either they will lose again in the playoffs or Rodgers arm will fall off by Thanksgiving.  San Francisco is going to be the real deal again this season.  Their offense is leaps and bounds better with Randy Moss and great depth at running back. 

6. Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays

4, 6 and 6.  The total runs scored in each game.  Good pitching won this weekend as it is apt to do come September and October.  Tampa Bay took two of three games keeping themselves close in the Wild Card and the A.L. East races.  The Rangers saw their lead in the A.L. West shrink to 3.5 games over Oakland as the Athletics swept the Seattle Mariners.  Saturday was a great pitchers duel between Yu Darvish and David Price Chris Archer (who stepped in for the injured ace) as they combined for 15 in, 6 H, 4 BB, 3 ER and 19 K's.  Neither received a decision as Texas won their lone game of the series in extra innings.  James Shields lived up to his moniker of 'Big Game James' as he utterly dominated a strong Rangers lineup throwing a complete game 2 hit shutout and was aided by a three home run game from B.J. Upton.

5. U.S. Open Tennis

The weather was the big winner of the weekend as rain caused havoc on the schedule.  The Men's Final has been pushed to 4pm today and it will be...drum roll please...Andy Murray vs. Novak Djokovic.  I am as shocked as you are folks.  As soon as Roger Federer lost, we knew it would come down to the last of the Big 4 and it did.  The women's side was much more tightly contested even though it ended as was expected.  Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka played a wonderful three set match in which the #1 seed Azaranka pulled out winning the last two sets.  Serena Williams continued to cruise through the Open as she crushed Sara Errani in straight sets.  This set up a dream match up for fans and they were treated to some high level, high intensity tennis.  Serena won the first set with ease again and I thought the tournament was over.  Azarenka had other thoughts as she turned the tables, thumping Williams to force a winner take all third set.  Serena was broken early and then broke back.  At 3-3 her serve was broken again giving Azarenka a 4-3 lead which she stretched to 5-3.  Serena fought back, cutting it to 5-4 and then broke Azarenka who was serving for the match to even the third set at 5 games apiece.  Serena held serve and broke Azarenka again to win the championship.  It was enthralling and I'm so happy I brought the small television to the man cave and didn't have to miss it.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants

The Dodgers had a great chance to make the N.L. West a true race with a strong weekend, but things got worse for them as the days went by.  On Friday, Giants starter Tim Lincecum tried everything in his power to let the Dodgers win.  He walked 7 batters in 6.1 innings, but Los Angeles couldn't get the big hit stranding 11 runners in a 5-2 loss where San Francisco scored 4 runs in their final three at bats.   Saturday came and the Dodgers were without Matt Kemp who is suffering from a sore shoulder.  They had to face Matt Cain and fared as expected as they were trailing 2-1 going to the 8th inning.  They tied the score and chased Cain and then got the go ahead and eventual winning run in the 9th.  Knowing they had Clayton Kershaw going on Sunday, the Dodgers had to feel excited about taking the series.  Then word came Sunday afternoon that Kershaw was scratched with an injury.  That must have deflated the locker room as Barry Zito (yes, him) dominated Los Angeles with 6.1 shutout innings as the Giants won 4-0 to extend their lead to 5.5 games.

3. Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Angels

Somebody in the Detroit locker room better send the Kansas City Royals a thank you card.  The Tigers rolled into Los Angeles to face the scorching hot Angels and got swept right out of town.  They only lost a game in the standings to the White Sox thanks to Kansas City winning two of three, but have practically fallen out of the Wild Card race.  The Angels, on the other hand, have won 6 in a row and 11 of 12 as they welcome Oakland to southern California for a four game series after just taking three straight in Oakland.  They are 2.5 games behind the Athletics and 6 behind Texas.  Detroit had best lick their wounds quickly as they fly to Chicago to battle the White Sox in their own four game mega-series. Oh about the Verlander-Trout match up...yeah Trout hit a bomb off of Justin in the 1st inning...statement made.


2. New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles

This was the exact opposite series than that of the Rangers/Rays series.  16, 13, 9, 16.  That's a lot of runs by two good hitting, average pitching teams.  The Orioles won the first game behind 6 home runs, but the Yankees struck back in game two with 3 home runs of their own (as did the Orioles...remember pitching optional) to win.  Game three was the 'pitchers duel' of the series between C.C. Sabathia, who is clearly pitching injured, and Joe Saunders.  Yup, grasping at straws here.  The Orioles hit three more home runs to win another one run game.  They tied the Yankees for 1st again, but lost lead off hitter Nick Markakis to a broken hand.  This must have stung the Baltimore clubhouse because they got thrashed on Sunday 13-3, failing again at their chance to stand alone atop the A.L. East.  Life doesn't getting any easier for Baltimore as Tampa Bay strolls into town with a chance to knock the Orioles to third place.


1. Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos

Welcome back Peyton Manning.  The NFL missed you while you were gone.  After sitting out a year with a neck injury and switching teams, Manning didn't skip a beat.  After each team started slowly, things got going in the second quarter when Knoshown Moreno scampered in for a score.  Big Ben took the Steelers right down the field and hit Heath Miller for a touchdown as the 1st half ended.  Pittsburgh got the ball back to start the 3rd quarter and used 9 minutes to score 3 points.  In real time, Peyton Manning didn't run an actual play from scrimmage (kneel down doesn't count to me) in an hour and now trailed 13-7.  Two plays and 36 seconds later, it was 14-13 Broncos as Manning connected with Demaryius Thomas on a 71 yard score.  Pittsburgh then controlled the ball for the remainder of the 3rd quarter, but still trailed by 1 point.  That didn't last long as the Steelers scored in the first minute to go up 19-14.  Then Peyton took over.  He led the Broncos on back to back scoring drives for 10 points giving them a 25-19 lead and Tracy Porter sealed the deal for Denver with a pick-six touchdown (as he is known to do).

Weekend Viewing Guide 9/6/12

Last week welcomed College Football back and this weekend it is all about the NFL.  Wednesday night got it all started as the Dallas Cowboys went into New York and stunned the Giants.  I predicted the Cowboys to make the playoffs and the Giants not to, so good start through one game!!

The week in baseball has been a crazy one with the Orioles and Rays continuing to inch closer to the New York Yankees in the A.L. East.  The Detroit Tigers stumbled a bit against the lowly Cleveland Indians as the Chicago White Sox regained a one game advantage in the A.L. Central.  The Texas Rangers took advantage of playing the Kansas City Royals by extending their lead out west to 5 games as the Los Angeles Angels swept away the once hot Oakland Athletics in Oakland.  Not only did the Athletics lose, but they also lost starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy after he took a ball off the head hit back at him.  There are now five teams within 3 games of the two Wild Card spots in the American League.

In the National League, the Washington Nationals are in total cruise control even with the impending shutdown of Stephen Strasburg.  Their lead is 7.5 games and a divisional crown is only a matter of time now.  The same can be said in the Central where the Cincinnati Reds continue to maintain a sizable advantage over both the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates.  Needless to say, both of those divisions are sewed up, but that can't be said about the N.L. West.  The Los Angeles Dodgers are trying to hang in the race with the San Francisco Giants with their new $8 billion roster.  The Wild Card has four teams within 1.5 games and two others on the fringes at 6.5 games back.

This weekend will continue to paint the playoff picture for baseball fans, but all of that will get overshadowed by the first weekend of the NFL.  Mix in some PGA playoffs, the end of the U.S. Open and the second weekend of College Football and boy do we have a fun 72 hours ahead in the world of sports.

Here's what you should be watching:

10. BMW Championship

Last weekend Rory McIlroy won the Deutsche Bank Championship for his 3rd victory of the season and tied Tiger Woods for top spot in that category.  He also took the lead in the FedEx Cup standings with this weekend and next weekend as the final two events.  I am predicting that Tiger Woods answers back and finally puts together a complete tournament to win this weekend.  That should set up a glorious final weekend in Atlanta to decide the Cup winner.  Take advantage of this moment in time with both McIlroy and Woods playing high level golf because the window could close anytime as Woods hands the torch to McIlroy as the World's greatest active golfer.

9. College Football-Upset Alert

No marquee games this weekend with the NFL starting, but there are a couple of teams that should be on high alert for an upset.  No, I am not talking about Florida St. who is a scant 70.5 point favorite to beat Savannah St. (not that I was looking or anything).  Southern Cal might be traveling cross country, but they should handle Syracuse with ease.  Missouri is welcomed to the SEC by hosting #7 Georgia and it should be a good test for the Bulldogs.  #13 Wisconsin struggled to beat Northern Iowa and now has to go west to face Oregon St. who has yet to play this season.  The final game that could bring an upset is #16 Nebraska who heads to Los Angeles to take on UCLA.  Not the greatest slate of games, but its still better than nothing.

8. Washington Redskins at New Orleans Saints

Okay I admit this was has a bit of personal backing to it, but I think everyone is eager to see what RGIII can do in the NFL.  With apologies to Andrew Luck, Indianapolis is not Washington D.C. and a match up against New Orleans who is wrought with dramatic story lines themselves is too tasty to pass up.  Washington kept the playbook for Griffin under wraps during the preseason which just adds to the intrigue.  On the other side of the ball, the Saints will be without head coach Sean Payton and linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the season due to 'Bountygate'.   They are also the host city for the Super Bowl and all the curses that go along with that so it will be interesting to track each team this season for two totally different reasons.

7. San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers

The defensive stalwart of 2011 versus the offensive juggernaut of 2011 who both came up short last season thanks to the New York Giants.  Both teams expect to be in the hunt for this years Super Bowl with the same formula that got them to the playoffs last season.  San Francisco did add Randy Moss and Mario Manningham in an attempt to solidify some of their offensive woes, but it will be their defense that wins them games this season again.  The Packers will continue to air the ball out and play just enough defense to win, but they had better try and find a running attack for when the weather turns cold or else it could be another early exit for them in the playoffs.

6. Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays

The league's best offense against the league's best pitching staff.  Yes this is playoff baseball in September.  Yu Darvish who has regained his dominant form will face David Price on Saturday and on Sunday 'Big Game' James Shields will face underrated Matt Harrison.  This will be a tough series for hitters and pitchers alike and excellent for fans to watch.  If only they could find a better stadium than the dump that is dubbed 'The Trop' for it to take place.  Speaking of showing up...where are you Tampa fans?  Your team tries so hard and you don't give a damn.  (Now if this is not the pot calling the kettle black, as my Athletics constantly play in front of small crowds).  Common denominator: crap stadiums. 

 5.  U.S. Open Tennis

Yes it was sad to see the career of Andy Roddick come to an end.  Mardy Fish had to withdraw and thus no American male made a run to the title once again.  Instead, outside of the unending rain, the story shifted to which of the 'Big 3' would win the seasons final Grand Slam event.  But a funny thing happened on the way to glory for Roger Federer.  He was upended by Tomas Berdych in the Quarterfinals.  That left just Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic left as expected finalists.  On the Women's side of the draw three of the top four seeds are still alive in the Semifinals.  Maria Sharapova is playing the best tennis of her career and she will face #1 seed Victoria Azarenka while nobody seems to be able to stop Serena Williams on the bottom half of the draw.  She has yet to drop a set and will face 10th seeded Sara Errani with a trip to the Finals on the line.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants

The lone notable series in the National League deals with the only division that has yet to be decided.  Of course all that could change if the Giants, who have a 4.5 game lead, sweep away their rivals from the south.  It all starts with two pitchers who have had their share of controversy this season as new arrival Josh Beckett goes for LA and Tim Lincecum starts for San Francisco.  Nobody knows what to expect from either pitcher, but they have both pitched big games and it should be a treat...a San Francisco treat (groan).  The other two games appear to be mismatches with Matt Cain toeing the slab for the Giants on Saturday against Chris Capuano, while Sunday the tables are turned with Clayton Kershaw having the obvious advantage against Barry Zito.


3. Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Angels

With the White Sox hosting the Kansas City Royals, this could be a very bad weekend for the Tigers.  The Angels have found their groove again as they push back into playoff contention.  With a half game separating the two and 3 teams to climb over to secure a playoff spot, neither team can afford to have a bad series.  Detroit does have Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander going while the Angels will be without the services of All-Star Jered Weaver who is nursing a bruised shoulder which gives Detroit a much needed advantage on the mound.  The Angels can play small ball with their team speed and long ball with the likes of Albert Pujols and Mark Trumbo.  Oh and don't forget Mike Trout.  Verlander vs. Trout...yes please.

2. New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles

In what can only be described as the biggest series at Camden Yards since 1997, the Baltimore Orioles could conceivably be all alone in 1st place in the A.L. East by Sunday night.  Going into the huge four game series, Baltimore stands only 1 game back of the Bronx Bombers.  I only hope fans of Baltimore can forgive Peter Angelos for just one weekend and turn out at the best ballpark in the land and give the Orioles a true home field advantage.  If they don't, I'm sure there are plenty of Yankees fans that will flood into Baltimore and turn the city into New York south...show up or shut up Orioles fans.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos

The game that everyone is interested to see is on prime time Sunday night.  The return of NFL spokesman Peyton Manning, this time in a Broncos jersey, is here.  The NFL didn't do him any favors as he tests his oft surgically repaired neck against the always dangerous Pittsburgh defense.  The Broncos are trendy favorites to come out of the AFC to be in the Super Bowl, but fans realize that Peyton Manning's career could be over with one James Harrison hit on the first series of the game.  Everyone will be holding their breath each time Manning steps back to pass.  For Pittsburgh, they have plenty of question marks with the health of Big Ben, the multiple injuries at running back, a new offensive coordinator and a disgruntled diva wide receiver in Mike Wallace.

NFL Crystal Ball 2012

I'm back with another year of fearless predictions of the upcoming NFL season.  Last year I had Green Bay defeating New England so I was halfway home, but since I didn't have the New York Giants even making the playoffs I feel I failed.

I did correctly predict that Aaron Rodgers would win the MVP award and that Jamaal Charles would be a disappointment, so not everything was a loss.

Once again I played out every game 10,000 times on my XBOX (what a long weekend it was) and I have seen surprises and disappointments and everything in between.  Just to let you all know, RGIII will play in all 16 games.  It won't help the success of the Redskins, but it was still amazing to see him stay upright.

My predictions only had 4 teams not make the playoffs that were in it last year which would actually be lower than the minimum of 5 that the NFL has seen over recent years.  The biggest surprise was that the Philadelphia Eagles were able to keep it together and win the NFC East, but of course I thought the same last year too.  Out west Norv Turner doesn't last as Chargers head coach through their Bye Week in Week 7.

Here are how the standings will shape up this season:

NFC EAST:

Philadelphia 12-4
Dallas 10-6
New York 9-7
Washington 6-10

NFC NORTH:

Green Bay 14-2
Chicago 11-5
Detroit 8-8
Minnesota 4-12

NFC SOUTH:

Atlanta 13-3
New Orleans 10-6
Carolina 7-9
Tampa Bay 3-13

NFC WEST:

San Francisco 11-5
Seattle 5-11
St. Louis 5-11
Arizona 4-12

AFC EAST:

New England 13-3
New York 10-6
Buffalo 6-10
Miami 6-10

AFC NORTH:

Baltimore 12-4
Pittsburgh 9-7
Cincinnati 9-7
Cleveland 2-14

AFC SOUTH:

Houston 12-4
Tennessee 7-9
Indianapolis 6-10
Jacksonville 2-14

AFC WEST:

Denver 11-5
Oakland 8-8
Kansas City 7-9
San Diego 4-12

MVP: Tom Brady 2nd: Matt Ryan

Surprises/Breakouts: Jake Locker, Jeremy Maclin (2nd year in a row for this pick), Donald Brown, Torrey Smith, Vernon Davis

Disappointments: Maurice Jones-Drew (hamstring issues due to holdout), Ryan Mathews, Vincent Jackson, Victor Cruz (freak salsa dance injury in Week 4), Matthew Stafford (11 games played which saddens me)

Playoffs:

 NFC:

1. Green Bay 14-2
2. Atlanta 13-3
3. Philadelphia 12-4
4. San Francisco 11-5
5. Chicago 11-5
6. Dallas 10-6

Wild Card:

Philadelphia over Dallas
Chicago over San Francisco

Semifinals:

Green Bay over Chicago
Atlanta over Philadelphia

Conference Championship:

Atlanta over Green Bay

AFC:

1. New England 13-3
2. Baltimore 12-4
3. Houston 12-4
4. Denver 11-5
5. New York 10-6
6. Pittsburgh 9-7

Wild Card:

Houston over Pittsburgh
Denver over New York Jets

Semifinals:

New England over Denver
Houston over Baltimore
 

Conference Championship:

Houston over New England

SUPER BOWL:

Houston over Atlanta 24-20 Arian Foster Super Bowl MVP 115 yards rushing, 2 TD's 

Weekend Viewing Recap 9/3/12

The weekend for most isn't technically over.  You still have the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship (Golf, kids) with both Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods in the hunt, U.S. Open Tennis, Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech in college football later that night and the start of the Athletics/Angels and Yankees/Rays series in baseball.  That plus a good barbeque should be enough to tide you over until Wednesday when the NFL begins with the Cowboys heading to New York to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Giants.

The final weekend before the return of profession football did not let us down.  Let's take a look back just in case you hit the beach one final weekend and missed out.

7. College Football (Non ranked vs. ranked games)

The most eye opening score came from Pittsburgh as the Panthers lost to I-AA (eff that FCS crap) Youngstown St..  It's not the first Division I team to lose to the smaller schools recently (JMU vs Virginia Tech, Appalachian St. vs. Michigan), but it still is shocking when it happens.  Navy went to Ireland to battle the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and got blasted 50-10.  Clemson retains the 'Tigers' moniker for this season as they beat Auburn who will now be called the 'Pumas' for the remainder of the year.  That would have made the game much more interesting.  Penn St. lost on the field after an off season of losing off the field.  As noted on Twitter, they lost again Saturday to extend a losing streak that dates back to 1998. USC (not the Gamecocks who are neither USC nor Carolina...just South or Cocks, your choice) rolled over Hawaii in their first game as #1 in the nation.  West Virginia claimed their state title as they whooped Marshall and my two favorite colleges (UNC and JMU) won by a combined scored of 117-7.

6. Boise St. Broncos at Michigan St. Spartans

In one of two ranked vs. ranked match ups this weekend, two new look teams squared off in a surprising defensive battle (of sorts).  Michigan St. jumped out behind Le'Veon Bell who scored early en route to 265 total yards on the night.  Boise St. couldn't muster much offense at all and it was a credit to their defense, who scored their lone touchdown of the night, that the game was as close as it was.  In fact Boise St. held the lead going into the 4th quarter, but after Bell scored his second touchdown of the game, Michigan St. took the lead back for good.  Both teams looked offensively challenged, save for Bell and he was the difference on Saturday.

5. St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals

What a series these two teams gave us.  After a miserable start for the Cardinals, losing the 1st two games by a combined 18-1 score we got two classic games to end the series.  After seeing their bats go dormant for 48 hours in Washington, St. Louis spotted Washington 4 runs before scoring 8 over the next three innings to take an 8-6 lead.  The Nationals answered back with a three run inning, but gave up single runs in the eighth and ninth to lose 10-9.  Sunday, Nationals fans got one of their final looks at Stephen Strasburg this season and he was masterful throwing six scoreless innings and left with a 2-0 lead.  That didn't last long as Sean Burnett promptly gave up a 2 run homer to light hitting David Descalso who had previously been 5 for his last 58.  This time it was the Nationals that were able to respond as they scratched out two runs in the bottom of the 7th and held on for a 4-3 victory and a 3 games to 1 series victory.

4. Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees

This close.  The Orioles were this close to walking into Yankees Stadium and sweeping New York.  Mark Reynolds hit two home runs in both the Friday and Sunday games as the Orioles outscored the struggling Yankees  14-4 in those two games.  In the middle game, Baltimore was up 3-0 in the 4th and 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh when it all fell apart for them.  With two outs and only one man on base, starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen walk a guy and gave up a hit to cut the lead to 3-2.  Pedro Strop 'relieved' him and walked the first two batters he faced to knot the game up at 3.  Then when he finally threw a hittable pitch, Nick Swisher hit a ball to shortstop J.J. Hardy who booted it and allowed the go ahead, and eventual game winning run to score.  Baltimore wins the series and creeps to within 2 games in the A.L. East as their dream season continues with the 4 game rematch in Baltimore starts Thursday.

3. U.S. Open Tennis

Nothing of note happened this weekend, which is good for the upcoming quarterfinals.  Andy Roddick is still alive and plays next on Tuesday.  The closest major upset was Maria Sharapova down 2 games to none in the third set, but she stormed back to win.  Because of the length of that match and the rain delay last night, American John Isner was forced to start playing after 10 pm local time and of course his match against Philipp Kohschreiber went the full five sets and 3+ hours ending right around 2:30 in the morning.  That seems quite ridiculous if I must say so.  I don't understand why they can't just bring them back at 8 am because you won't get the television ratings you were expecting either way.  Today another American is expected to be ousted as Mardy Fish has to play Roger Federer.  Miracles can happen can't they?

2. Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers

I asked for a Detroit sweep and by God I got a Detroit sweep.  The Tigers held serve on their home field behind strong starting pitching and a timely home run last night.  The marquee match up was between Chris Sale and Justin Verlander yesterday and into the 6th inning it lived up to the billing.  Tied at one in the bottom of the 6th inning, Sale threw one too many sliders (slurves if you listen to ESPN) to Delmon Young without changing his eye level with a high fastball (who am I to judge?) and he hit a 3 run home run.  Even though Detroit has underwhelmed all season, they are still my choice to represent the American League in the World Series.  Behind the one-two punches of Verlander and Max Scherzer on the mound and Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder at the plate, if they can play good enough defense I don't see anyone being able to beat them in a short series.  Chicago may have seen their cushion slip away this weekend, but they will get their chance to strike back one week from today when they welcome Detroit to town for a huge 4 game series.

1. Michigan Wolverines vs. Alabama Crimson Tide

I tried to time it right on Saturday night as the wife and I watched The Dictator for our weekend movie which was actually disappointing.  I figured I'd missed about 15-20 minutes of this game and that would be hardly enough to worry me, but that turned out to be quite incorrect.  I flipped the game on and it was already 14-0 Alabama with 5 minutes left in the 1st quarter and I knew it was over.  By the time I got back from the bathroom (too much information???) it was 21-0 and that was the last I saw of the game.  Michigan kept it within 20 into the 4th quarter which sparked my curiosity knowing one of my friends had a small $1500 wager on Alabama and the 13 1/2 point spread, but the Crimson Tide scored again and he was safe.  Lunch on him on Tuesday!!!!!  Wake me when Alabama plays in the SEC Championship game which will probably be the BCS Championship game as well (sorry USC).

Weekend Viewing Guide 8/31/12

Finally.  The summer doldrums are just about over and the best time for sports fans is upon us.  Not only is baseball headed towards the playoffs, but both college football and the NFL are beginning.  In a months time the NBA will be back and hopefully the NHL will be as well.

Let me say thank you to the Olympics, Euro Cup 2012, Golf majors, Tennis Grand Slams, the College World Series and last but not least Major League Baseball for getting us through a very hot summer.  Baseball has been especially exciting for me as an Oakland Athletics and Washington Nationals fan.  I will definitely not forgot about them come September, but with so many other options to choose from I will certainly have plenty of story lines to crow about in the next couple of months.

But enough about the next couple of months...we have a three day weekend ahead of us as the summer torch unofficially changes into the fall torch.

7. College Football (Non ranked vs. ranked games)

The first weekend of College Football is feast or famine when hoping to see a competitive game.  Not every game will be LSU winning by 40 points against North Texas.  There are some fun match ups to whet our palettes here in late August/early September.  Teams that don't like each other very much meet up as Marshall and West Virginia square off.  Clemson and Auburn will fight over which mascot gets to keep the name Tigers.  Penn St. tries to return to normalcy as they begin their life post-Joe Pa and scandal against Ohio.  USC starts the season #1 and welcomes Hawaii in for a warm up.  One game I'm intrigued to watch will be Navy and Notre Dame playing in Ireland.  With a perfect 9am start time it will be a great way to start the weekend (while at work for me).

6. Boise St. Broncos at Michigan St. Spartans

Gone are Kirk Cousins and Kellen Moore for the respective schools.  With both teams starting from scratch it will be interesting to see if either team will be able to be a national contender this season.  Whether successful or not this year, it is a fact that Boise St. will be leaving the Mountain West conference and heading to the Big East as of next year.  Geographically challenged issues aside, it will be good for their school to finally face better competition to try and prove if they are actually as good as they think they are.  This should be a rebuilding year for Boise St., but with a preseason ranking of 13 for Michigan St., hopes are high for a smooth transition from Cousins to senior quarterback Andrew Maxwell.

5.  St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals

A possible playoff preview in the Nation's Capital.  The defending champions against a team primed to be in contention for the foreseeable future.  This is a huge 4 game set for both teams.  The Cardinals have been chased out of contention in the N.L. Central due to the continued excellence of the Cincinnati Reds, and are currently trying to fend off both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the L.A. Dodgers for the 2nd Wild Card spot.  The Nationals have been slumping of late with a recent 5 game losing streak but starting last night, they have 11 straight games at home.  They look to have a comfortable five game lead over the Atlanta Braves, but with the distraction of the Stephen Strasburg shutdown and the fact that they have never been in this position in September anything is still possible.

4. Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees

I don't think anyone had this series circled in April one that could hold the key to who will win the A.L. East, but that's why they play the games.  The Orioles sit only 3 games back of the might Yankees and with a miraculous weekend they could be tied by Labor Day.  The Tampa Bay Rays are right there as well sitting one game behind Baltimore and are playing lowly Toronto with hopes of keeping this a 3 way race all the way until the end of the season.  Maybe this will be the weekend where New York starts to build towards the playoffs.  Since going to Oakland in mid-July the Yankees are only 18-21 and have nearly squandered the 10 game lead they had at that point.  Nobody seems to understand just how Baltimore is winning.  I'll put it simply...their bullpen has been fantastic.  Without a great bullpen you can't go 24-6 in one run games and 12-2 in extra innings like the Orioles currently are.


3. U.S. Open Tennis

 With the first couple of rounds out of the way, the real tournament can now begin.  Even though he probably won't be around much past this weekend, American Andy Roddick has announced he will be retiring after the U.S. Open.  For nearly a decade he was the best hope for the U.S. to win in Men's Tennis Grand Slam event after Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi retired.  After winning the U.S. Open in 2003, Roddick could never climb that mountain again in a Grand Slam event.  As for people who could win this year all the usual suspects are around (save for Rafael Nadal who is once again nursing injuries).  Federer, Novak, Serena and Sharapova are all alive and are expected to contend, but when the lights are on in New York City magical things sometimes happen and that is why we watch.

2. Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers

I'll admit it, I called the A.L. Central over long ago.  I thought for sure the Tigers would have run and hid from the White Sox by now.  What do I know anyways?  Heading into this series Chicago still holds a 3 game lead with no signs of wavering.   This series also brings us Chris Sale vs. Justin Verlander on Sunday night.  As the final Sunday without the NFL to compete with, MLB has given fans the ultimate treat as a send off.  Two Cy Young candidates facing each other with the division title at stake...niiiiice.  I'm still saying the Tigers win the division and I still say it will be by around 4 or 5 games so sweeping Chicago this weekend might be a good start to make me look less foolish.

1. Michigan Wolverines vs. Alabama Crimson Tide

The defending champions get a real test right out of the gate as Alabama and Michigan head to Dallas Cowboys Stadium to get the first weekend of College Football started off with a bang.  This will be the first time that these two school meet outside of a Bowl Game and only the fourth time ever.  Senior quarterback Denard Robinson will need to be more like he was in 2010 than 2011 for Michigan to keep close.  After breaking onto the scene, Robinson regressed in almost all statistical categories last season.  Alabama may have lost some key pieces, but they don't rebuild, they just reload and the defense that was NFL worthy last season should be extremely stingy once again.