On Pujols to the Angels… This was the
“wow” story of the day Thursday until the botched Chris Paul trade blew it off
the headlines (what does that say for the state of baseball when the movement
of it’s best player to another team is overshadowed by a screwed up NBA
trade?). A ten-year deal sounds crazy for a 31-year-old first basemen (who may
really be 35, if conspiracy theorists are to be believed), but it’s more
sensible when you consider Pujols will be in the American League. Use of the DH
spot should allow the Angels to get six or seven good Pujols seasons as opposed
to just four or five. Throw in the signing of C.J. Wilson away from the rival
Rangers, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim/California/Orange County/San
Andreas Fault are the prohibitive favorites in the AL West, and maybe even the
entire American League.
RAVENS (-16.5) over Colts
I don’t trust Flacco enough to cover this many points to stick this game in my top-5, but have already plugged this game into a 10-point teaser.
Baltimore 34, Indianapolis 10
Confidence Score = 11
Texans (+3) over BENGALS
The
Bengals bubble has burst.
Houston 24, Cincinnati 10
Confidence Score = 9
On Colt McCoy continuing to play last Thursday after
suffering a concussion… I can understand how Cleveland missed that their
quarterback had his bell rung against Pittsburgh. McCoy plays every week like
he’s suffering the effects of a concussion.
JETS (-10.5) over Chiefs
Mark
Sanchez will pull something out of his ass to allow the Jets to cover.
New York 17, Kansas City 6
Confidence Score = 7
On Dwight Howard flirting with the Nets… This story
only makes sense if two scenarios are in play. The first one is that Howard
(and more likely, his agent) were pissed that the Lakers tried to get Chris
Paul first, and wanted to float it out among the masses that Howard’s
“preferred” the New Jersey/Brooklyn/New York Lite Nets over any other team.
Sure he gets to run the pick and roll with Deron Williams (which by the way,
would be devastating), but does he really want to play on the second fiddle New
York team over the Lakers? I don’t think so.
Scenario
two is that the mutant multi-billionaire owner of the Nets offered Howard 30
virgins who look exactly like Anna Kournikova. I’m leaning towards scenario two.
Vikings (+10) over LIONS
Peterson’s
return against the still Suh-less Lions should keep the score close.
Detroit 24, Minnesota 21
Confidence Score = 4
TITANS (+3.5) over Saints
I
don’t feel great about this pick, but this game is much more important to
Tennessee than it is to the Saints.
Tennessee 27, New Orleans 21
Confidence Score = 3
DOLPHINS (-3) over Eagles
Miami
has been a point spread covering juggernaut for almost two full months. Expect
that to continue against the hapless Eagles.Miami 27, Philadelphia 20
Confidence Score = 10
On the two hockey parlays I wrote about the other night… We’ll
skip the parlay I did with Phoenix and the Rangers, because you read enough
depressing stuff everyday and don’t need to hear about how both teams lost, or
how Phoenix was down 5-1 at one point against Detroit. Lets skip the negative,
and hit the positive. The Panthers-Bruins game went exactly as I thought it
would (which is weird, because things work out the way I think I should roughly
6.8932949% of the time). Lost in all the talk in Beantown about Tyler Seguin’s
desperate need for a functioning alarm clock was the fact that the Florida
Panthers are a damn good hockey team. From what I can figure out, anytime you
can get a good team at anything better than +150, you take it.
As for the
second leg of the parlay, New Jersey appeared to have the win in the bag
against Ottawa until giving up a shorthanded goal with four seconds left in the
third period. Thankfully 95% of hockey games are not on cable television, or
else I surely would’ve clogged an artery over this game. Thankfully, New Jersey
was able to pull it out in overtime. After that overtly exciting (and
emotionally taxing win) I think I’ll take a few days off from betting hockey.
Patriots (-8) over REDSKINS
New
England doesn’t need to cover a three touchdown spread, so I like them this
week.
New England 41, Washington 24
Confidence Score = 13PANTHERS (+3) over Falcons
It’s hard not to bet the over (only 47) on this game.
Carolina 38, Atlanta 35
Confidence Score = 6
Buccaneers (-2.5) over JAGUARS
The
only game on the schedule worse than the Monday night game this week.
Tampa Bay 27, Jacksonville 10
Confidence Score = 2
On the Chris Paul saga… Bill Simmons pretty much
wrote all of my thoughts on this debacle
here, but let me again list my primary gripes.
- Where can a better offer from Chris Paul come from? The Clippers had already resisted trading Eric Gordon. Golden State already had said Stephen Curry was untouchable. Boston was offering a package built around Rajon Rondo, but do you really want to build your team around a point guard who can’t shoot (here’s a quick answer to that question Celtics fans…NOPE)? Rumor has it that the Knicks had worked out a similar three-team deal that the Lakers tried to make (which would’ve resulted in Amar’e Stoudemire ending up in Houston), but New Orleans wouldn’t of gotten a player of Lamar Odom’s caliber back. The point is, the Hornets had pursued all avenues. They knew that Chris Paul’s value would be at its highest before the season when no clubs had added any free agents yet. What they can get for him will only go down as the season progresses. That three-way deal looked like the best package New Orleans was going to get.
- Just because a bunch of small-market owners wine means that a trade in a professional sports league gets nixed? Do NBA owners get the same option to veto trades as fantasy sports owners do? I wasn’t aware that was the case. Other owners had every right to gripe about the Lakers acquiring Paul (who wants to see a rival team getting a top-5 point guard), but to let that griping lead to a veto is insane.
- David Stern just needs to go away. The man seems to have forgotten that the success of teams in urban markets is what has made his league what it is. Apparently according to Stern, the needs of owners of teams like Cleveland and Minnesota are more important than the needs of owners of the leagues most important franchises (Lakers, Celtics, Bulls). I’m not sure when Stern morphed into a hardcore socialist, but it is not healthy for the league.
49ers (-4) over CARDINALS
People
are little too excited about Arizona after their fluky win over the Cowboys.
San Francisco 20, Arizona 3
Confidence Score = 15
BRONCOS (-3.5) over Bears
Caleb
Hanie is not the man to defy God and His QB.
Denver 17, Chicago 7
Confidence Score = 14
PACKERS (-11.5) over Raiders
Review
Oakland’s performance against New England earlier this season to see the most
likely outcome for this game.
Green Bay 35, Oakland 14
Confidence Score = 12
On Hanley Ramirez not wanting to play third base… This
scenario reminds me of a classic male-female relationship battle. Let’s say the
male (we’ll call him Ted) asks his girlfriend what she thinks if he goes to a
friend’s house to play poker on a Friday night. The girl (we’ll call her Molly)
says, “sure if that’s something you want to do.” (EDITORS NOTE: Hey guys, I
know virtually nothing about women, but I do know that when they throw out the
“if that’s what you want to do” line, that means they think whatever it is that
you want to do is retarded). Ted says he’ll think about it for a day or two
before deciding if he’ll go.
Friday
rolls around, and Ted tells Molly he’s going to play poker. Molly freaks out,
saying things like, “Why don’t you want to spend time with me on Friday night?
We usually watch a movie every Friday and eat popcorn and cuddle.” Ted says,
“Just the other day you said it was cool if I played poker.” Molly then rolls
her eyes and walks out of the room.To make a long story short, that’s essentially what happened with Hanley Ramirez. The Marlins reached out to Hanley two weeks ago and asked if he would mind switching to third. Hanley apparently said something to the extent of, “Well, if it would make the team better I’ll do it.” (EDITORS NOTE: For those still following along, “if it would make the team better” is the equivalent of “if that’s something you want to do”) He must not of thought the Marlins were serious, but quickly realized they were when the signed Jose Reyes for $106 million. Ramirez has already spoken to the media and said he never okayed a switch to third, and was never on board with it.
How will this all play out? I see Ramirez getting traded. Ozzie Guillen is not a guy that will put up with shit like this, and I’m guessing the new owners of the team aren’t very happy about it either. There are certainly enough teams looking for a shortstop, so expect Miami to get a king’s ransom for him.
CHARGERS (-7) over Bills
I’ll
buy a San Diego resurgence for at least one more week.
San Diego 34, Buffalo 17
Confidence Score = 16
Giants (+3.5) over COWBOYS
I
have no idea what’s going to happen in this game, so we’ll play it safe and
take the points.
Dallas 27, New York 24
Confidence Score = 1
SEAHAWKS (-10) over Rams
Marshawn
Lynch looks like the front-runner for the “surprise fantasy runningback that
will swing championships” award.
Seattle 24, St. Louis 10
Confidence Score = 8Thursday Pick = 1-0 (good job Browns only losing by 11)
Season Record = 95-89-8S Top-5 = 33-30-2
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