It's getting to be that part of winter where I'm completely sick of the cold and snow. The one thing that get's me thinking about spring and better weather is when catchers and pitchers report. And for those of you scoring at home - that's February 14th. Mark it down.
page and get to the second page (shown on the left - again click for larger view) the last bullet reads "Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery." Unless the holiday they are referring to is MLK observance, you're out of luck.
Wow. 1-4 last week, 1-5 when you count on the double bet. This lackluster showing brings the Truth season to 13-13 in total bets. Pretty pathetic by the Truth's standards. I'm either nailing it each week or on the receiving end. All you have to do is figure out which and you could clean up. Gotta change the mojo again so we're road tripping. 6 road teams to choose from. I'm predicting a 5-1 week.
Texas Tech -7 @ Kansas State. I'd be willing to lay up to 13 or 14 points here so it feels like a value bet. Tech scores at will and K State's D looks a little limp this year.
Kansas -11.5 @ Iowa State. Another spread that surprised me. I thought it would be around 18 or so. More value. The Jayhawks are 12-4 ATS with conference opponents the past 3 years so look for that trend to continue.
Illinois +2 @ Michigan. Yes, I'm picking against Michigan again this week. Unlike Wisconsin, Illinois has a pretty good offense and Michigan has proven over the past 2 years they can't handle an athletic QB. The Juice will be loose in Ann Arbor.
Mizzou -10.5 @ Nebraska. It's a pity both these teams can't lose. But this spread is WAY too low. I could see Mizzou as a 3 TD favority. Their offense is just that good. I'm not sure the Mizzou punter will see the field on Saturday.
Texas -13 @ CU. I'm a bit nervous about this one. Would have loved to see this spread at 10. But UT is 4-0 against the spread this year so let's hop on board.
Ohio State -1 @ Wisconsin. Beanie should be playing the entire game and Wisconsin showed last week they have some issues on offense. I should point out that Ohio State is 0-4 ATS this year. But don't you want to be there when they cover?
Yes it is Cubs fan. Yes it is.
That stupid slogan has been knocking around Chicago for 2 seasons now. Leave it to Cubs fans to pick a slogan that comes back to bite you in the ass. Brilliant. But if you call yourself a Cubs fans, you've pretty much publicly claimed you aren't a genius. And these stupid white flags with a blue W that have been flying around Chicago this year - won't miss seeing those either.
fans turned on theirs last night. In fact, I'm pretty pissed off at Cubs nation right now. You took the pure joy and satisfaction that I receive watching the Cubs lose in the playoffs. My early Christmas disappeared as I started to feel bad for the Cubs players. But the sulking and whining by the Cubs fans brought on a cathartic moment. I realized I don't despise the Cubs. I despise their fans. Truly pathetic. Their self loathing, turn on their team in a moments notice, and general fear of anything good happening would make a Philly sports fan blush.
Cubs fan doesn't deserve a good team. Not from what I witnessed last night. And man, you should hear local talk radio in the Chicagoland area this morning. "What is Lou doing? Cubs are chokers. Why didn't they pitch Z in game 1? D Lee should be released. Sorianno blows. Why did the Cubs print up World Series tickets already?" Cry, bitch, moan. But it made me feel better hearing them complain. It's not a fitting end to a baseball season without Cubs fan crying about something.
As part of the site's mission statement to cause our own pain, the Truth and I will square off in our usual playoff picks challenge. The loser has to write something really, really painful. Scoring is as follows: 20 points for picking the winning team, 10 for choosing the number of exact games, 5 for being one off with the winner. Each round doubles.
While one of us will lose, one of you will win . We'll be awarding a Garment of Greatness (aka, a Five Tool Tool T-shirt) to the commenter with the highest score, so post yours in the comments. It's great for cleaning up spills, scaring small children, and getting you nooky with girls with low self-esteem. (If you are a girl, it'll make your breasts perkier.) So pick already!
Milwaukee-Philadelphia
Yovani Gallardo works Game One, just the fifth time he'll pitch in this year, for a Brewer team that staggered into the post-season. They'll face Phillies ace Cole Hamels, who should be good here. Game two has workhorse CC Sabathia against second-half superstar Brett Myers, and Game Three gives you Jamie Moyer against Jeff Suppan. Game four is said to be Dave Bush against Hamels in the game where the Brewers will miss Ben Sheets the most, and Five, if necessary, would be Sabathia against Myers.
The Phils have home field, rested aces, and unlike the Brewers, healthy starters. They also have fresh reasons for despair, in that Pat Burrell is having back issues, but the Brew bullpen is just shaky enough to give them late-game magic. Besides, they turned their year around with a 4-game sweep that cost Ned Yost his job just a few weeks ago; they think they can beat this team like a drum at home, and they will.
CC has made himself ridiculous money from his three-month NL sabbatical, but it ends here and somewhat decisively, despite the fact that we're talking about more or less even teams. Oh, and watch for a crippling fielding error from the Brewers; they are better than they were last year since Ryan Braun was banished to the outfield, but still not that good. Phillies in four.
Los Angeles-Chicago
The Cubs were a whopping 13 games better than the Dodgers this year while playing in a tougher division. The series starts with Derek Lowe vs. the suddenly dominant Ryan Dempster, followed by Chad Billingsley against Carlos Zambrano. Game three has Rich Harden against Hideki Kuroda, with Game Four being Ted Lilly against Greg Maddux.
Basically, the Cubs should have an edge in every pitching matchup of this series, along with an edge in the starting lineups. The bullpens are more or less a wash, with both closer situations being less than airtight. Hell, I even like the Cubs in the dugout, as Lou Pinella works against Joe Torre; Torre has more rings, but it's not like any of them have come in this century, and he doesn't usually do as well when his team is just ordinary.
If the Cubs can limit the damage from the ludicrously hot Manny Ramirez and a crippling injury to the very good but very worrisome Zambrano / Harden combo, they should sweep. But Derek Lowe has a history of post-season success, and the Cub fan base is all about me-me-me drama, whereas no one is really expecting that the Dodgers are going to be around for long. I think the series is close and tough, but Greg Maddux in Game 4 is a real worry, as he's just not a big-game pitcher anymore. Cubs in 4.
Los Angeles-Boston
Kind of a mirror to Dodges-Cubs, except that in this case, the better team is out West. The Angels coasted to postseason with a 100-win year, ignited in the second half by the suspiciously low-priced trade of Mark Teixiera to really make that lineup go. Boston failed to catch Tampa in the pennant race and has injury issues to go with some shakiness in the late inning pen, though closer Jonathan Papelbon continues to be one of the game's best.
Pitching wise, this goes Jon Lester versus John Lackey, then an off day before Dice-K against Ervin Santana. Once the series moves to Boston, it's Joe Saunders aginst Josh Beckett, and the off day means that both teams are going to skip their fourth starter, at least at present. Santana at home is a lot better than Santana on the road, but Dice has also been living with great fortune -- you don't often see an 18-2 record and sub 3-run ERA with a 1.32 WHIP, mostly from a lot of walks. Lester and Lackey are both great, and Saunders is serviceable. The wild card is Beckett, who has been awful at times this year and fighting through injuries.
Lineup wise, Boston's beat up, and David Ortiz has not been himself all year. Jason Bay's a good player and not a drama fest, but he hasn't been otherworld Manny in the stretch. (Left aside: Manny wouldn't have been, either.) When your offensive MVP is Dustin Pedroia, that's a nice story, but it's not a great offense.
I like the Angels here, but it won't be easy or pretty, especially since this thing lines up very nicely for a big Boston comeback after falling behind. Whoever wins Game One will win the series, and as good as Lester has looked in big moments this year, that's surprisingly close. Angels in five.
Tampa-Chicago
Do you believe in momentum? Then you will love this ChiSox team, who has won multiple elimination games to get the maiden Rays. Tampa was 8 games better in the regular season and has dramatically better pitching, along with a roaring new home crowd and dome that will prove highly irritating to the visitors from Chicago.
Game One has Javier Vazquez going against James Shields, while Game Two gives us Mark Buehrle facing the electric stuff of Scott Kazmir. Game three in Chicago has elimination game hero Gavin Floyd (yes, the Phillies could use him) against Matt Garza, while Game Four has both teams going to Andy Sonnastine versus Jon Danks.
The Rays have the better starting nine, a manager that isn't prone to the crazy talk, a home crowd that will probably clear anything and the better starters. They also will have the usual doubters citing their lack of playoff experience, and at some point in these playoffs, the health of closer Troy Percival and the mental stability of talented head case BJ Upton will prove fatal. I also think they are kind of nuts for trying to turn David Price into Joba Chamberlain at this point in his career, though when you see his stuff, I get why they are falling into temptation.
Anyway, the Rays will lose... but not this early. Tampa in 4.
The Truth is The Truth again after a perfect week 4. I hope you cashed in on last week's picks. We're going to ride our mojo into week 5 and make everyone some coin again. We here at FTT are givers. So hop on board and enjoy the ride. We're now 12-8 for the season after picking 5 games last week and telling you to double up on the Virginia Tech game. The Truth has another Lock of the Week double down special for you. The giving, it hurts!
It's been a tough season for my picks so far. We are struggling at 6-8. Time to turn things around. And how do you change your mojo? That's right, a road trip! So all picks this week will be on road teams. Let's make this exciting.
Vanderbilt +7 @ Ole Miss. Vandy is not only undefeated this season, but is 3-0 ATS. And they have proven the past few years to be great road dogs ATS. So we'll take the 7 points, thank you very much.
LSU -2.5 @ Auburn. Always a fantastic game. Auburn's D is fantastic but their offense just can't put points on the board. So I like LSU on the road here.
Miami -3 @ Texas A&M. Another game where I don't necessarily think the favorite is that good, I just think A&M is that bad. Tough to play at Kyle Field, but I think the Canes will over match the Aggies.
Georgia -7 @ Arizona St. Georgia has turned into this years "We don't get enough respect" team. They are looking to light it up after their tough roadie last week. Arizona St. - verdict is still out on whether they are a contender or a pretender. Let me save you the analysis - pretender.
LOCK OF THE WEEK
Virginia Tech +3 @ UNC. I can't believe I'm betting on the Hokies again and as my lock of the week. But I like them here as a touchdown favorite. But giving them 3 points is too good to pass up. Lay two units on this game.
Okay, off to a good start this season. Even though we went 2-2 on games last week, we went 4-2 on bets (tripling up on the Texas game). There are a lot of games I like this week and my picks are late, so no time for in depth analysis. Just follow my picks if you want to make some coin. Lay 1 unit on each game and 2 on the lock of the week.
Northwestern -6.5 at Duke. Coach Fitzgerald has done a fantastic job of continuing the rebuilding of this program. I like the Cats by 2 TDs in this game.
Boston College -6.5 at Georgia Tech. No analysis, just a gut feel.
West Virginia -7.5 at Eastern Carolina. Am I missing something here? Mountaineers roll in a laugher.
Oklahoma -21.5 vs. Cincinnati. Bob Stoops is gunning for a BCS championship. He's going to run it up on whoever he can. Cincy is the latest victim.
Pitt -13.5 vs. Buffalo. Wanstadt needs to win big. Today, he does.
Wake Forest -7.5 vs. Ole Miss. 7.5 on the road is alot for Wake to give up. I think they cover. Barely.
LOCK OF THE WEEK
Notre Dame vs. SDSU OVER 43.5. Look, I hate putting two units on the domers. But frankly there D is going to suck again this year. Same with SDSU. Both teams will score early and often. Two units on the over here.
New Season. New chance to make some extra coin. And with the current momentum of B.O., some of us will probably be paying a lot more in taxes next year. So get a head start and make some easy money. Nothing you can do about paying your unfair share of taxes, but you can control the extra cash flow from The Truth's NCAA Winning Picks. Sorry, I digress.
Sergio Garcia gagged another major yesterday, and no one noticed. Padraig Harrington picks up his second straight major, though he probably still has no worries about being stopped at the airport for autographs. It just goes to show you what an Irishman can do when he stops drinking for a few months.
Oh, and a small point, really... why is it that every athlete feels compelled to give the big gaudy trophy a light smooch on the side for the photographers? Tongue that baby, Padraig. She's something you had to fight hundreds of men for over four days and a lifetime of back-breaking labor. Chaste ain't cutting it; drop some trou already. Why let hockey guys have all of the hot man-on-artifact action?
But getting back to Garcia... of course, when you go around in public wearing clothes that Al Czervik would find distasteful, it does tend to distract people from actually noticing the quality of your game. The late great Rodney Dangerfield really was only a waggle away from totally predicting this clown.
Finally, this... what's your nightmare foursome? Mine's Garcia, Colin Montgomerie, and Hitler. Though I'm pretty sure that The Truth might go for Jean Van der Velde instead...
So here it is, mid June -- the time-honored middle of the WNBA season. I've got nothing left to watch in terms of hoops, not unless you count that Olympic nonsense. And while the regular season has huge drama already -- will the Atlanta Dream ever win a game? Are the Connecticut Suns for real? Why aren't the Sacramento Monarchs better? -- I can't help but feel that something is missing.
Namely, where is the fantasy sports support?
Go to WNBA.com -- I know, you're there all the time, but go now anyway. What you won't find, amidst all of the thrilling video, breathtaking photography and gripping game accounts, is support for my fantasy sports jones. You won't find it on Yahoo or ESPN, either.
What's the meaning of this? If I weren't still outraged by the league's inevitable screw job of Seattle out of its beloved Storm -- especially heartbreaking given that team's encouraging 8-6 record after years in the wilderness -- my gast would be flabbered by this. Don't the powers that be know that despite the incredible teamwork of the world's best distaff ballers, statistics still matter... and that it's damned deadly difficult for all of us out here with our WNBA fantasy leagues to do this all by hand?
(I know it's bad blogger form to talk about your roto teams, but I have to just share here for a moment, and tell you just how much Cappie Poindexter of the Phoenix Mercury has meant to my team this year. The Rutgers guard has always been an all-around performer, but this year's 25.7 points a game, albeit only in the first 10 games of the season, is a huge reason why I'm just dominating my leauge. She's really combined with Diana Taurasi to make the Phoenix team fun to watch, and while they might not have the bigs to compete in the West, they have just been fantasy gold. Anyway, moving on.)
For the very few of you out there who aren't already in an WNBA fantasy league that someone's running by hand, let me give you a few pointers. First off, don't target assists. In the WNBA, since everyone moves the ball and isolation plays are rare, the difference in assists per game isn't as great as in the men's game. Even a Ticha Penicheiro won't give you more than one or two more dimes a game than a less accomplished point guard.
Second, since the games have eight less minutes than the men, you have to ratchet your statistical expectations down a little, and pro-rate players accordingly. Lisa Leslie's good for nearly 10 boards a game even in the smaller time, so you can see what kind of monster she's be with the full 48. (You've really got to give it up to Double L, coming back from pregnancy to dominate like this.)
Third, blocked shots are at an incredible premium, with only four players currently racking up more than 2 a game. You can see why so many people who play this game insist on an auction draft, so that the team with Lisa Leslie really has to make do with a short bench. It's just not a good league for a serpentine draft.
Earlier this year, the WNBA was giving a very cheap handjob kind of fantasy game, with single player head to heads, but dammit... my league goes 8 teams with 12 players, which means we're really going deep into the talent pool. I'd hate to see the level of play diluted by expansion, but it really would make a difference in having a better league.
Finally, I'd like to really thank site contributor The Truth for getting me into the WNBA fantasy league. His insistence that watching the WNBA would be just like rooting for the Lakers (especially Radmanovic and Gasol) in our NBA picks game, the payment of which is posting something spectacularly humiliating... well, it's given me a brand-new fantasy love, just in time for the summer dead season. Expect Great!
Staff writer The Truth and I compete in a head-to-head playoff predictions battle to see who is the bigger idiot. The loser has to do something that is deeply shameful and personally repugnant on this blog. Last year, Truth had to write a love post to the type of fantasy sports owner that he hates; it was 500 words of enema for him.
This year, I think the loser might have to watch TBS after the playoffs are over, or just stab ourselves in the kidney. TBS IS VERY FUNNY. OBESE BLACK MEN DOING MINSTREL SITCOMS ARE VERY FUNNY. SMUG BLOATED WHITE MEN DOING SITCOM DAD CRAP IS VERY FUNNY. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY.
Rules: Pick all playoff series. 10 points for getting the winning team right, 10 more for calling the right number of games, 5 if you are one off. Each subsequent round doubles the points on each pick. That's it.
Fighting his way through the chill of my Macbethian witch predictions, Truth is tied in the early going, and has an edge in the Celtics series. But once the Jazz closed out the Rockets, we took the big lead.
Shooter Picks / Truth Picks
Boston in 4 / Boston in 5 -- Pending
Detroit in 6 / Detroit in 4 = 20 to Shooter, 10 to Truth
Toronto in 6 / Orlando in 5 - 20 to Truth
Cleveland in 6 / Cleveland in 6 -- 20 to both
Lakers in 5 / Lakers in 5 = 15 to both
Hornets in 7 / Mavericks in 7 - 10 to Shooter
Phoenix in 6 / Phoenix in 6 - 0 to both
Utah in 6 / Rockets in 6 -- 20 to Shooter
Second round picks:
Shooter Picks / Truth Picks
Lakers in 5 /
Pistons in 5 /
Spurs in 6 /
Celtics in 7 /
I don't get it. I just don't. Why was Roy Williams in the stands rooting for KU last night? And sporting a Jayhawk sticker on his shirt. I get the fact that Roy can't stand the thought of somebody not liking him, but this has gone on too far. Let me get this straight:
I also wanted to point out that my favorite coach, on any level, Larry Brown was in attendance last night. I got a kick out of Billy Packer pointing out that Coach Brown was rooting for Carolina to get back on D at one point. Now Packer gets a lot of things wrong - but this was just ridiculous. Coach Brown was rooting for KU to keep attacking. How do I know? He was sitting in the KU section all night. Nice work Packer.
With the upcoming game pitting Kansas against North Carolina on Saturday, there has been a lot of coverage on Roy Williams having to play the school he formerly coached for 15 years.
95% of the coverage has been about poor Ol' Roy and how the KU fans have mistreated him since he left to go coach UNC. Unless you are a KU fan and followed Roy the 15 years he coached at KU, things he said about never leaving KU, how he couldn't abandon the kids he recruited, it's hard to understand the feelings and the viewpoint. It's also been pointed out how KU fans are just bad fans - they should appreciate the time Roy put in at KU. That they vent and rage on their message boards having nothing but negativity to spew about upcoming appointments. I think every school's sports message boards have this element. Don't believe me? Check out http://www.insidecarolina.com/ to see what the UNC fans have to say. And while you're there, state anything that doesn't say that UNC is the best basketball team in the WORLD and you will be instantly banned. And you thought China was tough on internet dissenters.
