NBA Blog

After starting out 9-5, the prognosticating has taken a spill.  I thought all would be well after going 3-0 on turkey day, which was the highlight of the day, not really.  This was my first foray into the holiday season with actual in-laws, but all went well.  I also had one of my closest friends as a backup.  He was a groomsman in the wedding and has since started dating my lady friend’s twin sister.  He took all the verbal-torture this holiday season, so I got a pass.  Good times.  However, I did learn that I am no longer capable of polishing two plates at the in-laws and then the small dessert plate before hitting my ‘rents house four hours later for my ritualistic three plate-fulls of delicious momma-made thanksgiving goodness.  I did not even have any pie or homemade whipped cream this year.  Sad times.  Give me a moment.  Tear.

I’m good.  You know what is not good?  The Dolphins.  They are terrible.  Ricky Williams came back after missing 18 months of NFL gametime, and he probably should have started.  Mr. Chatman (I call him Mr. because I can’t remember if it is Antonio or Jesse, and I won’t take the time to look it up because, well, they’re the Dolphins.) was already banged up, and there is no way he should start in the NFL.  I am not sure at this point if they’ve been relegated to starting their rookie quarterback, John Beck, or if they have been upgrading from Trent Green, to Cleo Lemon, to John Beck.  Flip a coin, and you will get your answer for that one.  They traded their only quality receiver, and by quality I obviously mean extremely talented yet continuously underperforming, in Chris Chambers, who continues to underwhelm in San Diego.  Their first-round pick spent the first half of the season in a walking boot, which is exactly what he was in when they drafted him at least ten picks too early, despite having the opportunity to trade down and get the same guy while still getting multiptle picks to fill some of their ridiculously bad roster.  Their coach appears alive, which is the best thing I can say about him right now.  And, they are on the verge of being the only winless team since the mightily bad Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Even God could not help the Dolphins win by opening the sky for a monsoon in Pittsburgh.  Not good times.  Yet, it could always be worse…

They could be the New York Knicks, have a roster that is nearly $200 million, when calculating in luxury tax dollars, and have no real way to improve without continuing to spend large sums of money to pay people to go away like they did earlier this year (read, Steve Francis).  Then last night, on national television, they got hammered, and I mean HAMMERED, to the tune of 104-59.  Read it again, 104-59.  I watched some of that game, while flipping between the Louisville-Rutgers game and the Dallas-Green Bay game.  You know what was amazing about that score?  It was not even that close.  The Celtics pulled back on the throttle in the third quarter, yet the Knicks still couldn’t climb their way to within 40.  They just flat out suck.  I wish there was another way I could put it, but that is about as basic as it gets.

I mentioned watching the Louisville-Rutgers game last night that was a lot of fun to watch (after halftime).  The amazing thing about that game was that Art Carmody, senior kicker from Louisville, set the all-time scoring record in NCAA history, AND still had the chance to do something he had never done before when the game ended.  He nailed the game-winner.  Good stuff for the former Lou Groza Award Winner.  It was also fitting that the play that set up the senior’s game-winning kick was the pass from supersenior Brian Brohm to supersenior Harry Douglas.  Those three had absolutely awesome college careers, and all will earn a nice, healthy paycheck over the next few years.

Now, back to those dreadful picks.  I would have been much better if Gus Frerotte not fallen all over himself on the one-yard line and fumbled the ball away.  The Rams should have won that game.  Then again, so should the Redskins, but I will not talk about that team right now.  Too much has gone on with the ‘Skins and Sean Taylor’s shooting this past week to even talk about their football right now.

…

TO THE PICKS and some very important questions (I’m mixing it up for new life - home team in CAPS and my picks in bold):

Atlanta at ST. LOUIS (-3.5) -

Is it too late for Steven Jackson to save his season and the season of every fantasy owner playing in the consolation bracket?
Buffalo at WASHINGTON (-6.0) -

I picked this only because it was listed.  Do not wager on this game.  How big of a degenerate would you be for betting this line?

Detroit at MINNESOTA (-4.0) -

Adrian Peterson is back.  Take a look at his stat line thus far.  Yeah, he’s good.  If this year’s draft were held 100 consecutive times from today’s date, could any G.M. be dumb enough to pass on him with the first pick?

Houston at TENNESSEE (-4.0) -

Vince Young is killing me.  I’m still picking him though.  I never know what they’ll do week in, week out.  If and when Pacman Jones takes LenDale White to a strip club, do you think LenDale is more excited for the buffet or honeys?

Jacksonville (+7) at INDIANAPOLIS -

Jax has played Indy very well in each of the past five games they have met.  I’ll go with the pattern here.  Does anybody remember when Byron Leftwich was a quarterback?

New York Jets (+1.5) at MIAMI -

The Jets also stink, but how could they possibly lose to Miami? 

San Diego (-6.5) at KANSAS CITY -

Norv Turner v. Herm Edwards.  Do you think you can logically pick this one?

Seattle at PHILADELPHIA (-3.0) -

A.J. Feeley almost beat New England, while Gus Frerotte almost beat Seattle.  Sean Alexander and Donovan McNabb might both be coming back, and that is bad news for both teams.  What type of bizarro world are we living in right now?

San Francisco (+2.5) at CAROLINA -

If you had to choose one quarterback to complete a pass that your life depended on, would you choose Trent Dilfer, David Carr, Vinny Testaverde, Alex Smith, or Jake Delhomme (Delhomme is minutes off of the operating table where he had his throwing shoulder surgically repaired), who would you choose? 

Tampa Bay (+3.5) at NEW ORLEANS -

Alliteration question:  How does Tampa keep winning with Gradkowski and Graham while New Orleans continues to play terrible at home with Brees and Bush?

Cleveland (0) at ARIZONA -

Why is Cleveland a pick’em when Arizona has no secondary whatsoever, and what is the max you can put on this game?

Denver (-3.5) at OAKLAND -

Does it even matter which running back from Denver goes for 131 rushing yards on Sunday? 

New York Giants (-1.5) at CHICAGO

Would you prefer that I go with Rex Grossman and the other Adrian Peterson instead?

Cincinnati at PITTSBURGH (-7.0)

Has anybody put out an APB for Rudi Johnson yet?

Baltimore at NEW ENGLAND (20.5)

Is this the first ever NFL game where you have felt completely comfortable picking a 20-point favorite?

STANDINGS THUS FAR

Week 9: 9-5

Week 10: 6-7-1

Week 11: 7-8-1

Week 12: 7-9

Overall 29-29-2

I had a long article typed up for all of you to enjoy, and when I went to upload the article, no dice. 

In short, my wife and I went to the Arizona-Cincy game, sat in the front row, loved every second, got to hang out with my man Urb, and then met several of the players, including Larry Fitzgerald, before going to eat at the Hofbrau Haus.  The original article was much better.

There had to be a few corrections to the standings for the picks, and I now sit 2 games above .500 going into Turkey Week 12.  As always, home teams are in bold.

Week 12 Picks
Green Bay -3.5 at Detroit
Dallas -14.5 v. New York Jets
Indianapolis -12.5 at Atlanta
Denver EVEN at Chicago
Tennessee EVEN at Cincinnati
Jacksonville -7.5 v. Buffalo
Kansas City -5.5 v. Oakland
Cleveland -3.5 v. Houston
St. Louis +3.0 v. Seattle
New York Giants -7.0 v. Minnesota
New Orleans -3.0 at Carolina
Washington +3.0 at Tampa Bay
Arizona -10.5 v. San Francisco
Baltimore +9.5 at San Diego
New England EVEN v. Philadelphia
Pittsburgh -16.0 v. Miami

Week 9 Results: 9-5
Week 10 Results: 6-7-1
Week 11 Results: 7-8-1
Second-Half Results: 22-20-2

Have a great Thanksgiving everybody.

Last week we faltered a little bit going 5-8-1 after the promising second half start.  How do I try to make up for that, you ask? Well, by going half-home/half-road this week.  This is not going to end well.

Since I’m incredibly busy this week, I’ll just give you the lines.  As always home teams are in Bold.

San Diego +3.0 at Jacksonville
Indianapolis -15 v. Kansas City - Brodie Croyle’s first start and on the road in the pumped-in-noise-dome.  Ouch
Oakland +5.5 at Minnesota - Ugly game
Cleveland -3.0 at Baltimore
Pittsburght -9.5 at New York Jets
Tampa Bay -3.0 at Atlanta
Arizona 3.0 at Cincinnati - Arizona demoralized Detroit at home last week, but they are one of the worst road teams in the league.  Cincy got Chris Henry back but still only mustered 7 field goals and 0 touchdowns against the Ravens despite spending nearly every drive in Ravens territory.  I have no clue how this game finished, but there will be plenty of points.
Philadelphia +9.5 v. Miami
New England -16.0 at Buffalo
Dallas -11.0 v. Washington
Houston (pick) v. New Orleans - Houston gets Andre Johnson back who may have four touchdown catches against N.O.’s atrocious secondary.
Green Bay -10.0 v. Carolina
New York Giants +2.5 at Detroit - I have no idea, but I’ve given up trying to figure these two teams out a long time ago.
St. Louis -3.0 at San Francisco
Chicago +5.5 at Seattle - Seattle probably wins, but I don’t think by much.
Tennesee +2.0 at Denver

First he announces that he is going to opt out of the richest deal in MLB history, and potentially end his tenure with the New York Yankees, only to be outshadowed by the Red Sox winnning the World Series on the same night.  Then he decides to return to the Yankees in the new richest deal in MLB history, only to be overshadowed by Barry Lamar Bonds being indicted for allegedly perjuring himself and obstructing justice four years ago in the Balco investigation.  The guy just cannot win, and, you know what?  It just is not fair. 

Obviously, I jest.  He is still one of the most despised robots, I mean, players in the MLB.  His purple lips, talk through you attitude has rubbed everyone raw.  He can salvage an entire career of general disdain by simply blowing Barry’s now frowned-upon homerun record out of the water.  I will continue to acknowledge Barry’s homerun record, because we still do not know the overall number of performance-enhancer abusers, but I believe it to be an extremely high number.  I mean, Paul freaking Byrd took HGH for an ankle injury, yet it was prescribed by a dentist.  In the words of Dr. Evil, Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

In other news: Kobe Bryant wanted to be traded, demanded to be traded, refused to play for the Lakers, decided to show up and play for the Lakers but was not happy about it, still wanted to be traded but only wanted to play for a contender, and you know what, he was traded to the Pistons.  However, Kobe did not want to play for that specific contender, because he chose to refuse the deal.  This should continue to be a fun season for Kobe, who looked absolutely disinterested against the Spurs a few nights ago.  Stay tuned for that.

In other, other news: Oregon lost last night to Arizona ending their shot at a national championship game.  That is sad, because I really wanted to see what the Dennis Dixon-led Ducks would do against the best defense in the country, LSU.  It also would have been great for a Pac-10 team to play Les (Is More) Miles and LSU after the Coach ripped the Pac-10 before the season started.  That was a team that functioned solely on the power of Dixon, because Brady Leaf showed last night that the spread-option offense is atrocious without an athlete at quarterback.  The game also showed the best running back in the country next season if Jonathan Stewart returns to Oregon for one more season.  The man is a beast, and if any of your remember how good Onterrio Smith was as a Duck (long before the Whizzinator incident), Steward makes him look soft. 

I have to work today.  Crazy, I know.  However, I will be back later on this afternoon with the weekend picks for the NFL.  Hopefully, there will be some redemption after faltering slightly last week.

As I’m writing this the Minnesota Vikings have released a statement that they are going to give Troy Williamson his paycheck despite missing their last game for his grandmother’s funeral. 

To withhold Williamson’s paycheck was an exceptionally boneheaded move by that franchise.  They finally rid themselves of all of teh negative press from the previous era, Randy’s multiple run-ins, the Love Boat fiasco, Mike Tice’s stupid decisions, et. al.  Now, when they have some positive p.r. momentum with Adrian Peterson’s success, the big win over the Chargers, talented young players making the right decisions, and a decent record, the franchise withholds Troy Williamson’s paycheck for going to his grandmother’s funeral.  That was atrocious.  Williamson missed the game to go to the funeral of the woman who raised him.  He paid for the funeral, and has been giving money to several members of his family to support them.  Has he lived up to the first-round selection on the field?  No, the drops have seriously hurt him. However, he has put in the work during the offseason and has said and done all the right things throughout his early career.  He’s a good kid, which is something that franchise has been missing for quite some time. 

I knew they would give him his check eventually, which is what should have happened from the start.  I could not believe how completely unaware the team was when they docked his pay.  The negative p.r. sting has already occurred, and they will continue to be ripped as a franchise for their stupidity and lack of awareness of what their fans care about off the field. 

They have earned the first ever NBA Hoops Bonehead of the Week Award.  I created this award just for them, so the boneheads out there have their work cut out for them to meet the Vikings organization stupidity.

After a pretty solid first week out of the box, the NFL picks are back for a second week.  We are sitting at 9-5, and feeling pretty good, not great, but overall it was a solid effort at 9-5.  Let’s see if we can roll that momentum into Week 10.

As always the home team is in bold.

Jacksonville +4.5 at Tennessee  (teaser alert)
I just cannot see Tennessee blowing out a decent Jacksonville team.  In week 1, Tennessee hammered Jax, and I think the Jaguars will look for a little redemtion.  This should be a low scoring game, because neither team has really shown an affinity towards moving the ball in the air. 

Kansas City -3.0 v. Denver
Even without Larry Johnson, I think Kansas City will be able to move the ball against Denver.  I really do not like what is going on with that ball club.  Plus, I am a little biased and rooting for Priest Holmes to do well.

Buffalo -3.0 at Miami
Expect at least one Lee Evans touchdown, which should be more than enough to beat up on Miami.

Cleveland +9.5 at Pittsburgh (teaser alert)
Take that week one blowout with a grain of salt.  This is a very, very different Browns team.  (Typically, I am against the use of very, much less the double use because of the poor appearance.  This time, however, it was warranted).  Derek Anderson has done an exceptional job of getting Cleveland in the hunt for a playoff birth.  This should be a fun, high scoring game.

St. Louis +11.0 at New Orleans
St. Louis does not have a shot to win this game, but I still do not think they lose by 11.  They can pass the ball a little bit now that Bulger and Holt are moderately healthy.  New Orleans also cannot cover anybody.  They may lose by 10, which is highly likely, but I ah, who am I kidding…New Orleans -11.0 v. St. Louis.  St. Louis is terrible.

Carolina -4.0 v. Atlanta
I want to personally thank Warrick Dunn for having his first productive week all season.  He was a last second addition to the Great White Hope in one of my fantasy leagues, and his performance paved the way for a GWH victory.  That being said, Vinny Testaverde is playing and DeAngelo Hall says dumb things, so we will see the Return of Steve Smith.  He is going to have a BIG day.

I cannot believe I just tied a receiver’s positive production to Vinny Testaverde.  This has been a strange season

Washington -3.0 v. Philadelphia
Since I have absolutely nothing positive to say about this game, let me tell you about a trade that two members of my law school fantasy league (the problem with going to multiple universities for multiple degrees means multiple fantasy leagues and teams).  One guy traded Brian Westbrook for Leon Washington.  Obviously, the Cobra Kai (my team) automatically called shenanigans on this.  I’m leaning on taking this to the Fantasy Court.  The trade was overruled, but it still pisses me off that someone would do such things.

Minnesota +6.0 at Green Bay
Once again, I don’t think Minnesota will lose, but I think it will be a 3-4 point victory for Green Bay.  Although, if Green Bay lines all 11 defenders up in the box, which they should with the Billy Joe Quarterbacks that Minnesota uses (quick reference to terrible quarterbacks like New Orleans once had, Billy Joe Tolliver and Billy Joe Hobert) and then throws for 500 yards, which is also possible, this could be a blowout.  I will still back All Day Peterson for the cover.

Cincinnati -4.0 at Baltimore
Two coaches who may be out of a job after the season.  The Bungles look atrocious all the way across the board.  However, I think that they will be able to air it out with the return of Chris Henry to the lineup.  That is as scary a three wide set as I have ever seen.  Although Cincy cannot stop anyone’s offense, the potential loss of Willis McGahee kills, repeat kills, the Ravens offense.  Get ready for a lot of Steve McNair bounce passes and/or Kyle Boller throws out of bounds.

Chicago -3.5 at Oakland
Who knows, and quite frankly, who cares. 

Dallas -2.0 at New York Giants
This is the game where we see how good New York truly is.  Eli should be able to have a great game, and so should Brandon Jacobs, but Romo’s movement in the pocket and Dallas’ solid o-line may be enough to slow down the NYG pass rush.

Detroit EVEN at Arizona (teaser)
Detroit has shown an impressive ability to run the ball each of the last two weeks.  Sure they do not play well on the road or on grass, but Arizona showed a complete inability to do anything well last week.  They have barely been hitting 17 points per game in each of their last three games, and Detroit leads the league in takeaways.  Detroit will win this game, and if you tease it, there are no worries whatsoever because you get them at +7 (if and only if gambling is legal where you live).

Indianapolis -4.0 at San Diego
I thought that whole good versus evil thing was complete B.S. last weekend.  Sure, Bill Bellicheck is a grumpy old man, but so what.  Sure, they got caught videotaping the first game of the season.  They have also openly called out Indianapolis for pumping in crowd noise for years.  Oh, and go ahead and add the fact that the Patriots had multiple issues with the fact their communication equipment, which may have added to the fly-by handshake after the game.  This hatred of the Patriots has been amazing.  I absolutely love watching them play football right now, and it is a shame the officiating was so terrible last weekend that it took away from some of there mastery.

San Francisco +10.0 at Seattle
I do not care how terrible the 49ers are, Seattle is not beating anybody by double-digits.  This may be the lowest rated MNF game of all time.

RECORD:
Last week - 9-5
Season - 9-5

We are one week into the NBA season and there have been some interesting occurrences thus far.  Let’s get to it:

The Chicago Bulls are winless!  This is crazy, because the entire core returns with one more year of experience.  You would expect a team fielding such great, young talent to get rolling after playing together for a couple of years.  What is equally shocking is the fact that a Scott Skiles team is giving up over 96ppg thus far.  I guess the trade rumors and the contract situation for Deng and Gordon are taking a serious toll on the team.

New Jersey cannot score!  Through their first four games, the team is only averaging 90 ppg, yet they are 3 - 1.  What is not surprising?  Vince Carter’s terrible start.  Too many jumpers.  Told you so.

Indiana is winning!  At the time I was putting this list together, the Pacers were undefeated.  Well, the lost last night, but they are still playing very good basketball.  If Danny Granger continues to go for 22 points per night, you can just go ahead and pencil him in for Most Improved.

Washington’s entire ugliness!  Their point differential has been dreadful, and the concerns about Agent Zero’s knee are legitimate.  I would be very concerned about my picks if this were not the first week of the season.

Morris Almond really did go to classes at Rice!  Check out his blog, and you will understand what I am getting at.  It is well written and sharp.  I would really like the guy if he were not a member of the Utah Jazz.

The Los Angeles Clippers!  Not just their undefeated start, which has been amazing, but the way they are doing it.  Cat Mobley is coming off the bench and averaging 23.3 points per game.  Quentin Ross is not even playing, and he used t be their defensive guru.  Chris Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Kaman is averaging over 16 rebounds per game.  I know it is early, and they cannot keep this up, can they?

New Orleans record and point differential!  They are 4 - 1 and Peja has actually been healthy enough to play through five games.  What is equally as shocking is the fact that their point differential through their first four games was 13.3 points.  They were not just winning, they were blowing the doors off their competition.

Milwaukee’s Defense!  I will never understand how a team with Michael Redd, Chairman Yi, Andrew Bogut and Charlie Villenueva will lead the league in points allowed per game.  Redd is a pure shooter and I love him, but his defense is not exactly awe-inspiring.

NBA.com has a really cool fantasy game out there that is free to everyone.  If you are into money/finance/the stock market/etc. as well as the NBA, this game is perfect for you.  It is called NBA Stock Exchange, and I have created a league.  If you would like to join, click here.

Create a team, and then register for the NBA Hoops Blog League:

League Name: NBA Hoops.Blog.com
League ID: 134076
League Password: nba

Who knows, if we can get enough people in this thing, there might even be a prize.

I will be back tomorrow with Week 2 of the 2nd Half NFL picks.  We are off to a good start after going 9-5 last week.

Right now the usual suspects are on the list of every Heisman poll in the country.  I’m referring to Dennis Dixon (my personal choice), Tim Tebow, Mike Hart (too many injuries?), Matt Ryan (FSU killed his shot), Chase Daniel and Colt Brennan.

However, there is one name that has been left off of every list out there, and I do not understand it.  That name is Todd Reesing. 

Reesing is the sensational sophomore quarterback at Kansas, and he has put up some outstanding numbers thus far this season.  Take a look at his ESPN.com page.

He is having a great season, and he completely destroyed Nebraska this past Saturday, which should help Kansas football fans everywhere (all twelve of you) get over some of the years and years of torture that they suffered at the hands of the ‘Huskers. 

Just keep an eye on Reesing for the rest of the year.  If he can defeat Mizzou in what should be a great game, and get Kansas into the Big XII championship game, he should certainly garner some national recognition.

Before I got to the NFL picks, I thought I would offer some NBA insight from the first three days of the season along with my picks for the All Stars.

WESTERN CONFERENCE ALL STARS

Starters: (G) Steve Nash, (G) Kobe Bryant, (F) Tracy McGrady, (F) Carmelo Anthony, (C) Yao Ming

Reserves: (G) Allen Iverson, (G) Baron Davis, (G) Tony Parker, (F) Dirk Nowitzki, (F) Tim Duncan, (F) Kevin Durant, (C) Amare Soudemire
Note: Boozer not on list because of injuries

EASTERN CONFERENCE ALL STARS

Starters: (G) Gilbert Arenas, (G) Dwyane Wade (voted ondespite injuries), (F) LeBron James, (F) Kevin Garnett, (C) Shaq

Reserves: (G) Michael Redd, (G) Joe Johnson, (G) Chauncey Billups, (F) Luol Deng, (F) Chris Bosh, (F) Paul Pierce, (C) Dwight Howard

Quick Hits:

During a four-minute span against the Suns last night, Jeff Green finished a half-court alley-oop, took a charge, stole two passes, and hit Durant for an open jumper, while Kevin Durant knocked down three jumpers, two of them threes, and grabbed two rebounds.  The Sonics are in good hands for a looooooooong time.

Shawn Marion really looks like he doesn’t want to be on the Suns roster right now.  He will probably get dealt before the trade deadline, and my guess is that it involves some type of convuluted deal with either Kobe Bryant or Andrei Kirilenko.

Dwight Howard should average 20 rebounds per game, because nobody on his team can rebound.  Seriously.

The Spurs look just as good as they did at the end of last season, which means bad news for the rest of the NBA.

The Mavs roster without Josh Howard looks pretty thin.  Did you know that Devin George was already hurt? Shocking (sarcasm). 

The Cavs are so incredibly thin, some of their starters look like 12th men on good teams (read, Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes).

I do not like the Lakers chances of success at all this season.

NFL PICKS:
On to the thing all of you have been waiting for so patiently (unless of course you scrolled to the end, which means you did not read anythng above this).  Since I missed so many of the first couple of weeks, we are at the halfway point of the season, and I can make up whatever rules I want for this thing, I thought I would go ahead and set my record at 0-0-0 for the season.  Let’s see how many games above .500 I can get to in the second half of the season (or if you are relying on last year’s ineptitude, how many games below .500 I can reach).

As always, the home team is in Bold, and my pick is listed first.

Washington (-3.5) at New York Jets
The Jets stink and this is not a good week for Kellen Clemens to get his first start.  He will get hit a lot, and if he forces anything deep or over the middle against Washington’s cover-2, either the ball will get picked or Santana Moss or Antwan Randle El will get decapitated.  Ouch.

Green Bay (+2.0) at Kansas City
The Chiefs have been deceptively solid, almost like Herm Edwards was fooling us on “Hard Knocks.”  However, I believe something special is going on with the Packers, and their young talent has played incredibly well.  Jennings, Lee, Jones, Hawk, Barnett, and several other key players are playing tremendous football.  Also, don’t think for a second that Damon Huard or Brodie Croyle’s hair can throw on uber-agressive Al Harris and Charles Woodson.  The Packers front line should be dining on Huard all game, because Kampman and KGB are serious pass rushers.

Arizona (+3.5) at Tampa Bay (Teaser special)
So I’m a little biased because my man Jerheme Urban is on the Arizona Cardinals.  (Speaking of Urban, did you know that he played at Trinity University who had the greatest play in all of college football this past weekend?  Just checking.)  I think that Tampa Bay will struggle to move the ball against Arizona, and the finally healthy receiving corps of Arizona will serve as a great complement to Edge James on the ground.  If I were a gambling man, which I am where it is legal, I would be tempted to take the ‘Zona money line.

Tennessee (-4.0) v. Carolina
I chose a home team! What is that all about?  David Carr on the road against a really good defense.  Even the Titans bizarre offense can cover this one.

San Francisco (+3.5) at Atlanta
This has to be the worst game of the season thus far.  Perhaps this will be the week that we get to see the All Pro Frank Gore bust loose for 130+ yards.  He needs it.  Plus, John Joseph Harrington is starting, and yes, that is his real name.

New Orleans (-3.5) v. Jacksonville
Quinn Gray on the road, even against a terrible defense is not a good thing.  I think this will become a shootout, so consider taking the over.  You know, if you live somewhere where gambling is legal.

Detroit (-3.0) v. Denver
Denver has trouble scoring, while Detroit lights it up at home.  Denver can’t stop the run, while Kevin Jones has been absurdidly dominant since he came back from his injury.  I like Detroit here.

Buffalo (even) v. Cincinnati
Much like the San Francisco/Atlanta game, I don’t want to be associated with this game.  However, this would be a good week to reinsert Lee Evans into your fantasy lineup.  He is J.P. Losman’s favorite and only receiver (at least I’m convinced J.P. does not know he has any other receivers), and the leaves have started to change, which is what causes Evans to wake from his slumber.  Turn back the clocks and turn on Lee Evans 80-yard touchdown catches.  It must be a tide thing.  I have no idea.

San Diego (-7.5) at Minnesota (Teaser special)
Minnesota can’t cover anyone, which means Antonio Gates will run freely up the middle of the field while Chris Chambers patrols the deep sidelines and L.T catches 10 passes underneath.  Not a good thing for the Vikes, especially with a third stringer starting when their first and second string quarterbacks already play like third string quarterbacks.  That leads me to my next question, how bad do you have to be to be the third string quarterback for the Vikings?  Do they just pick some random fan from the stands to dress as the emergency quarterback each week?  They should make that a reality show in Minnesota, because it cannot turn out any worse than the current QB situation.

Cleveland (-1.0) v Seattle
Alexander can officially be called washed up at this point.  I never thought I would back Derek Anderson and Jamal Lewis over Matt Hasselback and Shaun Alexander.  Scary season

New England (-6.5) at Indianapolis
This is the game where you get to see how truly pissed off Bill Belicheck is.  It should be a one touchdown game though, so you could potentially tease this game either way and feel safe.

Houston (+3.0) at Oakland
Oakland does not really do anything well, and if Andre Johnson comes back this week, he will have a huge game even with Sage Rosenfels at the QB spot. 

Dallas (-3.5) at Philadelphia
I think Dallas takes the opportunity to take out some of the frustration of recent years’ past in this game.  Philly should get beat up in this game.  But then again, who knows with this Eagles team.  One week McNabb is awesome, and the next their offense is completely inept.  I do not get it.

Pittsburgh (-9.0) v. Baltimore  (Teaser special)
I never in my life thought I would take a nine point line against Baltimore, but I really do not like what that team has going right now.  They cannot run the ball, despite having a great running back, and they cannot throw the ball because Steve McNair continues to throw bounce passes all over the field. 

Take note of the three teaser special’s on the board.  If you could take a 6.5-point, three team teaser, you would have Arizona (+10) at Tampa, San Diego (-1.0) at Minnesota, and Pittsburgh (-2.5) versus Baltimore.  I like those odds.

2nd Half Record: 0-0-0

Enjoy the weekend and I will be back on Monday or Tuesday with some more exciting stuff.

I cannot begin to tell all of you how excited I am for this NBA season.  There are so many teams that I want to watch play for various reasons.  Off the top of my head, there are only a handful of teams that I will avoid, like Sacramento (even though Reggie Theus is cool as hell.  You may remember my story about flying to Las Vegas with him), New York (I cannot stand them), Minnesota (there is some upside to watch Brewer, Foye, and Jefferson develop), New Jersey (Vince on cruise control, exciting!), and both Los Angeles teams.  Although, I must admit, the idea of the Black Mamba (Kobe) totally flipping out and doing some crazy stuff in LaLa land is very enjoyable, as is the fact that Dr. Jerry Buss, the 74-year old team owner, was SUSPENDED by David Stern for pleading guilty to drunk driving.  Gotta love Los Angeles.

Sidebar:  Speaking of New Jersey, did anyone see that Richard Jefferson injured himself celebrating during opening night last night.  Man, he is going above and beyond this season.  The first game, and he injures himself.  That is impressive.

Since we have gotten underway with the first slate of games, I thought I would hit you with who I believe are the front-runners for the major awards this NBA season:

MVP
1. Gilbert Arenas - I think Agent Zero, with the help of Jamison and Butler can win the Eastern Conference outright, especially in a contract year.
2.  Carmello Anthony - The Denver Nuggets should have an awesome season, and ‘Melo will get a lot of the recognition.
3.  Nash - At this point, he gets thrown into the conversation every year for the next three seasons.
4.  LeBron - See Nash above.

Most Improved:
1.  LaMarcus Aldridge - With all the Oden hype, Aldridge was sort of forgotten as a #3 overall pick.  This kid is going to be awesome, especially with his beautiful 15- to 17-foot jumper.  Aldridge should put up at least 17 ppg, and 8 rebounds this season.
2.  Nobody else if Aldridge has that good of a season.

6th Man of the Year
1.  Manu Ginobili - Don’t rob him this season.
2.  Jason Terry - Dallas will be good, so he will get some love

Comeback Player of the Year
1.  Charlie Villenueva - After a tremendous rookie year, Charlie V. was hurt for most of last season.  Once people realize Chairman Yi is not ready, Charlie V. will become the starter and post low-end double-doubles (read, 11 and 11).
2.  Bobby Simmons - After signing a fat contract, the hard working baller spent all season injured.  Hopefully, he will get back to playing excellent defense, and posting very efficient numbers.
3.  Dwyane Wade - Sounds weird, but Wade was injured a lot last season.  After he comes back from his shoulder surgery, Wade will be a monster to remind everyone of how awesome he really is in this ‘quick to forget’ sports world.

Defensive Player of the Year
1.  Bruce Bowen - I’ve been pining for this for years.  It looks like his last shot to win, so for crying out loud, give the man his due.
2.  Tyson Chandler - He should continue to thrive in the paint in New Orleans.  High energy, blocked shots, a lot of rebounds, what’s not to love?

Coach of the Year
1.  Isiah Thomas - Just kidding.
1.  Rick Adelman - Seriously, I’m joking.
1.  P.J. Carlesimo - This one is serious.  P.J. calmed down a lot while being the lead assistant under Popovich, and he should do big things with all the young talent in Seattle.  If they sneak into the playoffs this season, P.J. deserves the love, especially after being blackballed for some many years.  How can a guy be the victim of the assault, and get less love than the person doing the choking?  Craziness.

The NBA Cares program has never received the recognition it so rightfully deserves, which is sad.  It is the best program at giving back to the community in all of professional sports.  Well, David Stern has upped the bar once again with a new program to help the rebuilding efforts for the great city of New Orleans, and it was kicked off last night at the Hornets first home game.  Check out a little bit more info on the program.

One last note for those of you who have enjoyed the video of the Trinity University win in Millsaps.  Obviously, you know what I’m talking about at this point.  Well, there has been so much publicity, the tremendous parent organization, PAWS, has set up a special website as a tribute to the play and the great players of Trinity University.  As a proud former TUF (that’s Trinity University Football) player, I am happy to see the recognition that this great program is getting.  Check out the website, and give the program some love.

Have a great afternoon, and I’ll see you again tomorrow when the NFL picks return.