Picks of the Week

Last week was amazing watching my Bears live and in person versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even though I selected the Bucs.  I was able to watch the game with my family and lots of friends, and even met up with friend and longtime WeMakeItRain reader Brent Bellinger.  Go Bears.

Last week was horrible as I evidently rushed through my picks and suffered horribly.  Now I have to try to win this week in situations where we don't know if all of the starters are going to play entire games.

As  a reminder, each pick is using the spread (straight up is for wussies), and the betting line is from the same website each week as of the time of typing the entry. I keep a running tally of my record, plus my winnings/losses. We will "pretend" that I bet $100 on each game, with one game each week going for $250. Winnings/Losses will be calculated including a 10% vig, which just makes the math that much simpler. Now, on to the picks.

Chicago Bears +1 v. Detroit Lions
Detroit has no running game at all, and hopefully that will allow the Bears to get to the passer a bit.  Chicago has done fairly well at protecting the football and creating turnovers.  I will take points at home.

New Orleans Saints + 5 1/2 at Atlanta Falcons
Both teams have nothing to play for, and who would have thought that at the beginning of the season.  Each team has a lot of players that might be playing for hobs next year.  For that reason, I will take Drew Brees, who always seems to care.

New York Jets -3 at Buffalo Bills
In Fitzpatrick we believe.  He has the experience and the wherewithal to lead this team into the playoffs.  He is easily the best Harvard player in the NFL since Matt Birk.

Baltimore Ravens + 9 1/2 v. Cincinnati Bengals
Now, I have no doubt that Cincinnati wins this game, I just think it might be by a touchdown.

Pittsburgh Steelers -11 at Cleveland Browns
I know what you are saying, taking a double digit favorite on the road in a divisional game is ridiculous, and you would be correct.  However, Pittsburgh's offense was so horrible last week, that I think they are going to score last week's and this week's points against Cleveland.

Washington Racists +3 1/2 at Dallas Cowboys
This is a ridiculous line likely only because the Racists have nothing to play for and may sit a number of its starters - which may be true.  But with that being said, I don't see Dallas blowing them out, so Washington should keep it close, at least.

Houston Texans -6 1/2 v. Jacksonville Jaguars
If this game was a couple of weeks ago, I would have taken the points with the Jags and the Allen-Allen wide receiver combo (that's Robinson and Hurns). However, this week the Texans have a playoff spot on the line and they come up firing.

Indianapolis Colts No Line v. Tennessee Titans
I will take the Colts trying to make their way into the playoffs versus the Titans who would love another Top 5 pick.

Miami Dolphins +9 v. New England Patriots
Remember when Dolphins nation was all gung-ho about the Dan Campbell era during his first two games?  Yeah, me neither.  New England can clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, but I am not sure they have the firepower to win by 10.  New England 28-20.

Philadelphia Eagles +5 at New York Giants
Firing the coach worked for the first two Dolphins games, so perhaps the Eagles will feel "free" of Chip Kelly.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers +10 at Carolina Panthers
I think the Panthers may be cautious with a lot of the stars/starters.  A late Jameis Winston touchdown pass to cover the spread.

Kansas City Chiefs -7 v. Oakland Raiders
No team in the NFL is hotter as the Chiefs have won 9 straight.  Make that 10 straight.

Seattle Seahawks + 6 1/2 at Arizona Cardinals
These two teams probably don't want to give too much away in case they meet up in the playoffs.  That is why I predict an incredibly close game, so I will take the points.

San Diego Chargers +9 at Denver Broncos
The Chargers are not good, but I am not sure the Broncos can score 9 points right now.  5-3 Denver victory.

St. Louis Rams -3 1/2 at San Francisco 49ers
I have no idea on this one.

Minnesota Vikings +3 at Green Bay Packers
A winner take all battle for the NFC North (Green Bay clinches with a tie).  It is tempting to take the Packers at home, but I think the Vikings control the ball with Adrian Peterson.

Big Bet Game of the Week

Philadelphia Eagles +5 at New York Giants
I hate taking divisional games as the big bet, but there is no choice this week as all games are intra-division games.  So that narrows it down to the times I am taking the points.  New Orleans, Baltimore (because of the number), San Diego (same), Seattle and Philadelphia received a good amount of points, and Philadelphia (along with Seattle and New Orleans) seems like it has the best chance of winning outright.  I am hoping for a post-coach firing bounce for the Eagles.

Last Week's Record:  6-10

Year-to-Date Record: 113-104-5
Big Bet Last Week: 0-1
Big Bet Year-to-Date: 12-4
Winnings/(Losses) Last Week: ($665)
Winnings (Losses) Year-to-Date: $630

The Ole College Try

So Sinickal has called me out about my post that Terrence Cody deserves the Heisman Trophy. He absolutely does. PERIOD!!! However, I know how the whole Heisman voting works, so Cody doesn't have a prayer. So, given that the season is beginning to wrap up with Rivalry Weeks being this weekend and next weekend, I will replace my usual Heisman Watch/Recap of games with an actual sample of what my Heisman ballot would look like if I had a vote (and if I could vote for 5 spots rather than the usual 3).

Despite the fact that I believe Cody deserves the award, he will not get my 1st place vote, as I want to maximize the points for the most deserving candidate out of those that actually have a chance to win. Here is my ballot, bottom to top.

5. Kellen Moore, QB - Boise State. He leads the nation in passing efficiency with a 172.49 QB rating. He has thrown for a nation leading 32 touchdowns, despite 214 fewer passing attempts than second place Case Keenum of Houston (31 TDs in 514 attempts compared to 32 TDs in 300 attempts for Moore). Plus, Moore deserves to get some votes to offset the fact that Boise State has absolutely no chance to play in the BCS championship game, despite its undefeated season (although it should be in a BCS bowl game, likely the Fiesta again).

4. Terrence Cody, DT - Alabama. Please see this column, where I exalt the virtues of Mr. Cody.

3. Mark Ingram, RB - Alabama. Ingram is Sinickal's selection for Heisman at this point, and a strong case could be made for Ingram, as he is 5th in nation in rushing yards and, more importantly, leads the SEC in rushing. He has 1297 yards at a 6.7 yards clip. However, he only has 10 touchdowns, which is significantly less than other top Running Backs, and Alabama's offense is not that scary in total, anyway. He looks like he will be phenomenal next year, and an early season Heisman favorite. However, this year, he isn't even the best running back. That title belongs to ...


2. C.J. Spiller, RB - Clemson. Spiller only has 836 yards rushing this season, but he also has 382 yards receiving, and 1.2 million return yards. (OK - only 734 yards). He also has 4 return touchdowns this year. You read that correctly - 4! And in every game he plays, he is the best player on the field. But he isn't the only multi-threat player in the game. The best multi-threat player in the game is also my Heisman winner to date. This year's Heisman Trophy should go to ...


1. JORDAN SHIPLEY, WR - Texas. Shipley has the statistics: 81 receptions (6h in the nation), 1,096 yards (5th in the nation) and 8 TDs (14th in the nation), as well as 303 punt return yards and 2 punt returns for TD. But more importantly, he is in control of every Texas game. You may turn on the television to watch Colt McCoy, but your eye will migrate to the apparently always open Shipley. He is the one guy every Longhorn opponent has to account for, otherwise it will be a long game, and Texas opponents have had several long games.

Notice that none of my top 5 include the pre-season top 3 of Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow.

Onto the rest of the college football world.

MY NEW FAVORITE PLAYER

DeAndre McDaniel - S - Clemson - I still think that Eric Berry is the best safety, and most likely the best defensive player, in the NCAA, but I have seen McDaniel play 2 whole games, and snippets of others. He is a ball hawk in the true sense of the word, He has 8 interceptions, but he also has 70 tackles, showing he isn't afraid to stick his nose into the running game.

PREDICTED BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME MATCHUP

Alabama v. Texas - Not sure anybody can stop Texas, and obviously, barring a huge upset of Alabama by Auburn or Florida by Florida State, the SEC Champion will be in this game. Right now, that looks like Alabama.

WHAT SEMI LIKELY EVENT TCU, BOISE STATE AND CINCINNATI NEED TO OCCUR THIS WEEK

My assumption of Iowa losing occurred. So now that they are out of the picture for the Championship, TCU, Boise State and Cincinnati all need this to occur this week (Keep in mind other parameters can be met in subsequent weeks, this is just for this week).

Kansas, whose players rally behind Coach Mangino, halt a 5 game slide and defeat Texas. Let's face it, this is much more likely that Chattanooga defeating Alabama or Florida International defeating Florida.

PREDICTED BCS BOWL GAMES

BCS Championship Game - See Above.

Fiesta Bowl - Boise State v. Penn State
Orange Bowl - Georgia Tech v. Cincinnati
Rose Bowl - Oregon v. Ohio State
Sugar Bowl - Florida v. TCU

The Fiesta Bowl will need a big travelling team to counteract Boise State's presence. Penn State is just too attractive of a candidate. Much more attractive than Iowa or Pittsburgh. Oklahoma State could be an option if the beat Oklahoma next week, but without Zac Robinson, that is much less likely.

The Orange Bowl is hoping for a Georgia Tech victory over Clemson in the ACC Championship game. That could pit an undefeated Cincinnati against a one-loss Georgia Tech team. Remember Cincinnati beat Virginia Tech here last year. Of course, Cincinnati needs to beat Pittsburgh in the league, and season, finale to qualify as the Big East Champion.

The Rose Bowl will pit the Big Ten Champion (Ohio State) versus the Pac-10 Champion (likely Oregon, but Stanford, Oregon State and Arizona still in the mix - with Arizona and Oregon playing this week.

The Sugar Bowl will take the SEC second place team (in my scenario Florida), and pit a one loss SEC team against the likely undefeated TCU.

TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

C.J Spiller has 4 total return touchdowns (both kickoff and punt returns combined) this season, and 7 for his career. What is the NCAA record for most return touchdowns in a career, with at least one touchdown return for kickoff and punt? Bonus if you can name who holds the record. Place your guesses in the comments.

LAST WEEK'S TRIVIA ANSWER

Last entry's trivia question was, "USC was torched by Oregon on Halloween evening, October 31. Losing on Halloween allowed USC to keep one streak alive. How many consecutive games have the Trojans won in the month of November?" The answer was 28, before last week's obliteration at the hands of Stanford.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH

3. California v. Stanford - Not only is this a big rivalry game, Stanford needs it to stay in the Pac-10 championship hunt.

2. Oregon v. Arizona - Oregon can win the Pac-10, and they are simply exciting to watch. Arizona has come out of nowhere.

1. Harvard v. Yale - THE GAME! Enough said.

Little League Legend

I am a little late to the editorializing about this situation, but it took me awhile to figure out who exactly was to blame.

Jerricho Scott is a 9 year old little league [editor's note - not Little League, but rather a different organization for developing players] pitcher in New Haven, Connecticut who happens to throw around 40 miles per hour. Apparently, he was scaring opposing hitters to the point where he was told that he could no longer pitch in his league, but that he could continue pitching if he moved up an age bracket. (It is my understanding that 40 mph is not necessarily fast for 9 - 10 year olds, and that Scott has not hit a batter all year). Scott did not pitch in his first game after being told not to pitch, as it was not his usual game in the rotation. However, in the following game, his coach told Scott that he was going to pitch. Upon taking the mound, the competing team's coach had his players leave the field, despite the protestations of the player's themselves. (One of the stories is that the team was 0-8 and their coach wanted the forfeit victory).

One of the allegations is that Scott turned down an offer to play on a different team in that league (the defending champs apparently), and that a board member that banned Scott from pitching was an employee of the defending champs' sponsor.

That, of course, is the Cliff's Notes version, and I am sure that as the (sure to be filed) lawsuit progresses we will hear all types of allegations and excuses, but for right now, I want to figure out who to blame. Here are my 5 people that I feel are the most to blame.

5. Overzealous parents who want their teams to win at all costs. Their ridiculous attitude has led to the development of sports and leagues where nobody wins, nobody keeps score, and everybody just has a good time. This is sports. Kids need to learn how to win, and how to lose. It's part of growing up. If you want your kid to have fun only, then take them somewhere else.

4. Ridiculous parents who don't want to hurt anybodies' feelings, let alone the children. Your kids' feelings will not be permanently damaged because one pitcher is better than them. Your kid won't be permanently damaged if all the pitchers are better than them. Your kids will bounce back. If they aren't good at baseball, try music, soccer, art, pick-up-sticks, whatever. Hell, try all of them. Let the kid figure out what he is good at. It might not be baseball, it might be photography. Who cares.

3. Johnnie Bell of Stuart, Florida - Because he was the pitcher that threw 1000 miles per hour and was the first to have the wicked curve ball that scared everyone in my league. I don't blame him for being good or for the Jerricho Scott situation, but I blame him for ending my baseball career.

2. Parents and bureaucrats that think it is alright to skirt the rules, or change them altogether. If Scott was allowed to pitch at the beginning of the season, let him pitch at the end of the season. The board members of that little league should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

1. YALE! - It was New Haven, after all.