World Series and MNF

These are the things that may happen simultaneously at my local bar on Monday night. If the Rockies can win one damn game.

I've been reading lots of basketball info in hasty preparation for my keeper league. I must admit that I have ignored my NBA team, mainly because I have had lots of injury adversity across my important football leagues. The other thing is that everyone has draft prep up on the Web. And I'm not particularly sure I can offer anything radically different. In this fantasy commodity world, there are lots of people as smart and less smart than me getting paid lots of dough to say that Gerald Wallace is a high-risk, high-reward player. I still may take him with the 2.1 pick. Also, everyone has a "strategy" for any particular league. So, Give Me the Rock has all the requisite knowledge you need, and links to 82Games and Dropping Dimes strategies to boot. I have a few theories about H2H that probably differ from other folks, and I'll post a little about that after my draft. I'm also doing a Roto league for the first time on Yahoo, which should be fun. I need to recap that draft, because it's pretty funny. I think I may live blog from my local on Tuesday since we have 6 TVs.

Anyway, on to the picks.


GIANTS (London) (-9.5) over Miami – This line seems way high for a neutral field game, but Miami has absolutely zero offense right now. Seems like a good opposite pick.
JETS (-3) over Bills – Good for a push at at worst. If you have Thomas Jones, you really should be worried about his ability to lead you into the postseason .
*RAMS (+3) over Browns – Bulger and SJax are back. That's all we really need to know. When was the last time the Browns were a road favorite? Apparently 10-1-06. And 2002 before that.
Lions (+5) over BEARS – I really hate the Bears this year. Have from the beginning. I need to
check, but I think the time I picked them to cover I always felt queasy about it. The Bears always win this one, but I think this is the week.
*Colts (-6.5) over PANTHERS – The extra point on the spread isn't really troubling here because we're not talking 3-4 or 10-11 here. The Colts should easily win by more than a TD, even with Harrison out.
TITANS (-7.5) over Raiders – This is purely a defensive pick. As the Titans have no offense.
Eagles (-1) over VIKINGS – I have McNabb, and this is a must-win for me. Nuff Said.
BENGALS (+3.5) over Steelers – The road team always wins this game, thus I'm taking the home team. Because if the Bengals can't find the fire to win this game, it's time to rebuild.
Texans (+9.5) over CHARGERS – With all the distractions in SoCal, are they really gonna pile it on?
BUCS (-3.5) over Jags – The one-point movement towards the Jags makes this attractive.
*Saints (-2.5) over 49ERS Alex Smith may be healthy and that hasn't affected the line?
PATRIOTS (-16.5) over Redskins – I didn't believe last week, so I'm back.
Packers (+3) over BRONCOS – As the line moves drastically against the Packers, I should stay away, but let's hope for a shoot-out, as I'm starting Marshall and Stokely.


Last Week: 7-7
Season: 45-51-7

Last Week's Best Bets: 0-0
Season: 6-6

Quickie Week 7

I'm off to Omaha in 6 hours for a wedding, but I'm still thinking fantasy. A few quick picks. Drew Brees. Heath Evans. Lance Moore. Brandon Marshall. I'm worried about : Ronnie Brown. Vincent Jackson. Chris Chambers. Falcons.

I will also be using my prodigious airplane time to work on my fantasy basketball strategy. More of that to come.

GIANTS (-9) over 49ers
BENGALS (-6) over JETS
Cardinals (+8.5) over REDSKINS
SAINTS (-9) over Falcons
Ravens (-3) over BILLS
COWBOYS (-9.5) over Vikings
DOLPHINS (+16.5) over Patriots
LIONS (-2.5) over Bucs
Titans (-1.5) over TEXANS
Chiefs (+2.5) over RAIDERS
EAGLES (-5) over Bears
Rams (+9) over SEAHAWKS
Steelers (-3.5) over BRONCOS
Colts (-3) over JAGUARS

Last Week: 3-9-1
Last Week: 7-7-0
Season: 38-44-7

Last Week's Best Bets: 1-2
Season: 6-6

Week Six Picks

A bunch of dogs beat the spread, but there was no craziness like there was in Week Four. We lost yet more players to season-ending injuries, and Dallas took a crazy bounce and two 53-yard field goals to squeak by Buffalo. And thanks to Romo's six turnovers, the Dorkette beat me in our His-'n'-Her Fantasy League for the third straight time. Grrr.

The thumb is still slightly broken, so typing is kind of a pain.

*Eagles (-3) over JETS - I think the Birds have never lost to the the Jets, and I can't see that changing. Mr. Overrated is starting for me in the big money league, so I expect nothing less than three TDs. And if Pennington continues to stink, Giants Stadium may erupt into a verse of The Clemens Song by halftime.
Bengals (-3) over CHIEFS - This is the kind of game the Chiefs always won. Until herm Edwards arrived.
Texans (+6.5) over JAGUARS - The Jags are like a better Tennessee. They have a few playmakers, their defense is above average, and they win by the skin of their teeth. I'm not spotting them a touchdown just yet.
Dolphins (+4.5) over BROWNS - I love the opening line at 5.5, but I'll stick with the Phish here. We've got a completely unpredictable QB change and the league's best back (Wow! That's hard to write with a straight face.) against a very pedestrian team with a backup RB. Could be a field goal that wins this game either way.
BEARS (-5.5) over Vikings - Money's moving towards the Vikes as well. Neither team really scores on offense, but throw in some special teams scores for the Bears. No one will be watching this snoozefest.
*Rams (+9.5) over RAVENS - My Rams nearly upset Arizona, and these Ravens are susceptible to the long ball. On the offensive side, the Ravens are frankly putrid. I'll take the points.
BUCS (-3) over Titans - This looks like a push.
PACKERS (-3.5) over Redskins - That .5 point burned me last week, but I'll put my faith in a rebound from the Bear disaster.
*CARDINALS (-4) over Panthers - Vinny may start. Time to pick up that Zona defense.
COWBOYS (+5.5) over Patriots - The cheerleader squad had a big gulp on Monday, but since so much money is moving to the Patriots, I fee obliged to go the other way.
CHARGERS (-9.5) over Raiders - LT finally hits paydirt. I can feel it.
Saints (+6.5) over SEAHAWKS - They can't lose every game, right? Plus I'm trying to trade for Brees.
FALCONS (+3) over Giants - This is turning into a joke, but why the hell not?

Last Week: 7-7-0
Season: 35-35-6

Last Week's Best Bets: 1-2
Season: 5-4

Week Five Picks

Finally, I have a banner week, bringing me to a respectable .500 on the season. We've got tons of injuries, both to myself and the rest of the NFL, so really anything could happen this week, and it wouldn't surprise me. Lots of "stay away" games this week, and Best Bets are hard to come by.

GIANTS (-3.5) over JETS - Hey, they're both at home, so who's foolin' who. Inevitably, whichever way I go here, I'm going to lose, and with the line bumping up to 3.5 it takes away a likely push. But didn't Tynes miss a bunch of kicks recently? So, hopefully the Gints score a late TD to win by 4.
SAINTS (-3) over Panthers - Both of these stink right now, but coming off the Bye against a David Carr-led Panthers, the Saints just gotta win by 3 here.
*CHIEFS (+2) over Jaguars - This is another tough one, but the once metaphysically certitude of the AFC West went out the window, I gotta like the Chiefs to show some spunk here.
Lions (+3.5) over REDSKINS - Moss may be out and Portis looks 75%, so lets see Kitna do some damage in D.C.
Dolphins (+5) over TEXANS - Houston has no weapons. Let me repeat that: Houston has no weapons. And much maligned Ronnie Brown has a real possibility to tie Sweetness for a record 200 combined yards in 3 consecutive games.
Falcons (+8.5) over TITANS - Didn't I jump off this bandwagon weeks ago? Titans come off the bye, but Harrington is getting better and better.
STEELERS (-6) over Seahawks - Steelers likely lose Ward again, but are they really going to lose to the whiny Hawks in this Superbowl rematch?
PATRIOTS (-16.5) over Browns - Keep running it up, Belichick.
*Cardinals (-3.5) over RAMS - Didn't AZ just beat Pittsburgh? Sure there's no Boldin, but the Rams are starting Frerotte and Leonard.
Bucs (+9.5) over COLTS - Manning is completely content to just win, and the Bucs just might hang in this thing before finally losing.
*Chargers (+1) over BRONCOS - This is a must must must win for San Diego. LT will throw a TD to himself if he has to to win this game.
49ERS (+3.5) over Ravens - You must be completely insane to put any money on this game. If Trent Dilfer is bad enough, but the Ravens are God awful. This seems like a slam dunk for Baltimore, so I'm going the other way.
PACKERS (-3) over Bears - That half-point of movement downwards is just what we like, but the Pack is at home and seem charmed so far - as long as they keep the ball in the air.
Cowboys (-10) over BILLS - This seems way too low. And Romo owes TO 3 TDs from last week.

Last Week: 9-5-0
Season: 28-28-6

Last Week's Best Bets: 0-0
Season: 4-2

Time to grab Selvin Young--Stat

Note the typo:

Broncos running back Travis Henry sues NFL to withold drug test results

BY ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO 8:01 PM EDT, October 4, 2007

Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry is embroiled in a lawsuit to keep the NFL from using the results of a drug test to suspend him, according to court papers filed in Brooklyn federal court.

Better late than never

So I had a little accident last weekend, which prevented me from getting Week 4 up in time. Now that I can type again, I'll have Week 5 up tomorrow. So quickly, Week 4, no commmentary.

Jets (-3.5) over BILLS
Eagles (-3) over GIANTS
DOLPHINS (-4) over Raiders
FALCONS (+3) over Texans
Ravens (-4) over BROWNS
LIONS (+3) over Bears
Packers (-1.5) over VIKINGS
COWBOYS (-13) over Rams
Bucs (+3) over PANTHERS
Seahawks (-2) over 49ERS
CARDINALS (+6) over Steelers
Chiefs (+11.5) over CHARGERS
COLTS (-9.5) over Broncos
BENGALS (+7) over Patriots

Last Week: 6-7-3
Season: 19-23-6

Last Week's Best Bets: 2-1
Season: 4-2