$25 million a season for six years for a 37 year old shortstop. Clearly Derek Jeter is all about the pride of playing for the pinstripes and not the zeros in his check. I don't even like the Yankees but I've always had a little bit of respect for Jeter. If I was the owner or GM of the Yankees and his agent came at me with this contract demand I would politely respond with this:
Yesterday if you went with my three NFL picks and my one bonus college game you had perfect 4-0 Thanksgiving Day. You should be rolling in the money. Oh and you are welcome by the way. Nothing but winners here folks so go ahead and roll those winners into today's games.
THE IRON BOWL: AUBURN (+4) AT ALABAMA
Maybe Vegas knows something but I don't understand why Auburn is an underdog. I know it's a hated rivalry game but Auburn is clearly the better team this season. I don't believe we are going to see a letdown game from Cam Newton and company. There is too much riding on this game and from what I have actually seen don't expect Cam to have an off game. Bama is good but too many people think they are still the team from last year. They are not you fuckheads.
Prediction: Auburn 31 Alabama 28
COLORADO (+16.5) AT NEBRASKA
Listen I know Colorado is terrible and they are playing without a head coach and they are going into a very difficult place to play in Lincoln. But I just have this feeling the Buffs will play their best game of the year. Nebraska is in a little bit of turmoil too with Bo Pelini going ape shit on his star quarterback Taylor Martinez last week. Listen up Pelini, without T-Magic you are a very average team. In fact I would say you are just a step over Texas without Martinez. I still think the Cornhuskers win but I don't see them blowing out Colorado.
Prediction: Nebraska 38 Colorado 34
ARIZONA AT OREGON (-19.5)
Holy shit this a huge spread between two good Pac-10 programs. Oregon got a scare a couple of weeks ago vs. Cal and barely survived. They got an off week to prepare for Mike Stoops and the Wildcats. It should help tremendously. Oregon is playing for a spot in the BCS Title game. They are going to run up the score.
Prediction: Scoregon 49 Arizona 20
BOISE STATE (-14.5) AT NEVADA
I don't think this game will be close. The Broncos are too powerful for the Wolfpack and Kellen Moore is going to tear up their defense.
Prediction: Boise State 56 Nevada 13
BONUS NBA PICK: Lakers (-2) over Utah
Happy Turkey Day everyone! Today is the day we can celebrate being with family and friends* and it's perfectly normal to be completely shit face by 5 pm on a Thursday. God I love the Holidays.
Anyways if you are like me you probably need some extra cash to pay for the delicious Winter 12 pack you just bought when really you should be spending it on the gas bill so you can start taking hot showers again. So here are my NFL Picks for today. Get it while it's hot people.
New England (-7.5) at Detroit
It's a crime the NFL insists on putting Detroit on Turkey Day despite them actually never being good but whatever, it's all those people got. If this game was in New England the Pats would be 13 point favorites easy. Even in Detroit I think Tom Brady goes nuts and throws minimum 4 touchdown passes.
Prediction: Patriots 35 Detroit 21
New Orleans at Dallas (+5)
The Cowboys look like a completely different team with Jason Garrett as the head coach. In other words they don't look like a blind retarded monkey trying to fuck a wet football anymore. These two teams I genuinely don't like because they are the two biggest bandwagon teams in the NFL. Nobody gave a shit about the Saints till last year. Hurricane Katrina...blah blah...Drew Brees...blah blah...the city deserves a championship...blah blah. Fuck em. Fuck em all I say. I'm taking Dallas with the upset.
Prediction: Cowboys 21 Saints 20
Cincinnati at New York Jets (-9.5)
The Bengals are playing god awful football right now. The Jets are one of the 5 best teams in the NFL. It's in New Jersey at night with a bunch of drunk fat Yorkers screaming obscenities at Ocho Cinco. Blowout City.
Prediction: Jets 28 Bungholes 12
Bonus College Football Pick: Texas A&M (-3.5) at Texas
I never thought I would be taking the Aggies on the road in Austin but Texas is fucking terrible this season. I still have no clue how you go from BCS Championship game to being the laughingstock of college football. Texas might have the beer and steers but they play like a bunch of _________.
Prediction: Aggies 35 Texas 20
*=alone with Scotch
Photo C0urtesy of GregPanzer.com
With less than 3 games left in the regular season the major college football award selections have officially narrowed down their lists to a final 3. I've watched a ridiculous amount of college gridiron action again this season and if I had a vote these would be my selections. I obviously don't have a vote which is a crime in itself.
Chuck Bednarik Award (best defensive player)
Da’Quan Bowers, Jr., Clemson-Bowers gets my vote. He has twice the amount of sacks and TFL as Fairley but with a lot less fanfare. He will be a top 5 NFL pick.
Nick Fairley, Jr., Auburn-The JUCO transfer has literally been the one bright spot on the Tiger's defense and he has dominated every game I've personally watched. He probably will win the award because Auburn is undefeated but I will still take Bowers over him.
Patrick Peterson, Jr., LSU-Peterson is another incredible talent but I would have to pick Fairley over him as SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
Fred Biletnikoff Award (best receiver)
Justin Blackmon, So., Oklahoma State-Blackmon in a landslide vote. The guy has been incredible and has made Cowboy fans forget about Dez Bryant real quick.
Ryan Broyles, Jr., Oklahoma-I'm not a huge fan of Broyles and I personally think he is more a product of the system but whatever, his stats look great on paper.
Alshon Jeffery, So., South Carolina-Jeffery made some huge clutch catches for the Cocks and benefitted from the AJ Green suspension to earn SEC WR of the year.
Lou Groza Award (best kicker)
Dan Bailey, Sr., Oklahoma State-22-for-25 this season but not perfect.
Danny Hrapmann, Jr., Univ. of Southern Miss.-23-for-25 this season but then again not perfect.
David Ruffer, Sr., Notre Dame-They have to give the award to Ruffer, or Rufner as Tom Hammond always calls him. The walk-on never even played organize football till he tried out for Notre Dame through the intramural program. He is a PERFECT 15-for-15 this season and literally every one of his kicks have been right down the middle. It will be a crime if he doesn't win.
Ray Guy Award (best punter)
Drew Butler, Jr., Georgia-Butler has been a little inconsistent with his punting.
Ryan Donahue, Sr., Iowa-No fucking clue honestly.
Chas Henry, Sr., Florida-With Addazio calling the plays Henry has gotten a ton of work. In fact he deserves to win it and should personally thank Addazio for the piss poor Gators offense.
Maxwell Award (best all-around player)
First off let me say that this is a crying shame that Denard Robinson is not on this list. I hate Michigan but if you have watched college football this year there should be little doubt Robinson is one of if not the best all-around player in the game. He has literally carried Michigan all season and probably saved DickRod's job in Ann Arbor. If they had any defense he would be the Heisman frontrunner. Oh yeah and he is the only guy in college football history to rush for 1500 yards and throw for over 1500 yards in a season. He also is the all-time leading rusher for a QB in one season. Shoelace deserves to be on this list.
Andrew Luck, Jr., Stanford-Luck is the best pure quarterback in the nation. Unfortunately for him Newton is having a better overall season in a tougher defensive conference.
Kellen Moore, Jr., Boise State-Moore is a great player but Shoelace should have been a finalist instead of him.
Cam Newton, Jr., Auburn-Newton has carried Auburn all season. He is their team. Without him Auburn has 4 losses minimum. He deserves the award.
Davey O’Brien Award (best quarterback)
Andrew Luck, So., Stanford-If Luck gets Stanford to the Rose Bowl with an 11-1 record with the only loss being to #1 Oregon then I think he is the best quarterback in the nation and deserves this award. I know it's confusing but if I had to pick one guy who I would want behind center with less than two minutes to go and could drive us down the field for the winning score it would be Luck. Luck is a franchise QB and he has running/scrambling ability.
Kellen Moore, Jr., Boise State-Good for him for being a finalist but I would rather have Newton, Luck and Robinson right now.
Cam Newton, Jr., Auburn-Luck is a better passer in my opinion. Nothing against Newton because the Heisman is basically his but I think Luck is the better QB.
Outland Trophy (best interior lineman)
I can't honestly pick a winner here because I've seen very little of these guys play. So I will just leave it up to you the reader to pick.
Gabe Carimi, Sr., Wisconsin
Rodney Hudson, Sr., Florida State
Nate Solder, Sr., Colorado
Jim Thorpe Award (best defensive back)
Prince Amukamara, Sr., Nebraska-I know I'm going to get some flack from Husker Nation but Prince is kinda overrated. Or maybe he just didn't have a great season. He got burnt a lot.
Tejay Johnson, Sr., TCU-Looked good but it's pretty obvious who wins this award.
Patrick Peterson, Jr., LSU-Without a doubt the winner. Peterson will be the first CB taken in the NFL draft.
Doak Walker Award (best running back)
This has been a rather shitty year for running backs. In fact I would rather take Cam or Shoelace as a running back then any of these three finalists. All of these guys have holes in their games. So in conclusion I don't like any of these guys for the Doak Walker but if I had to pick one I would say....Shoelace.
John Clay, Jr., Wisconsin
Kendall Hunter, Sr., Oklahoma State
LaMichael James, So., Oregon
HEISMAN TOP 5
1. Cam Newton
2. Denard "Shoelace" Robinson
3. Andrew Luck
4. Patrick Peterson
5. Justin Blackmon
Photo courtesy of Scout.com and Dean Legge
Skidmarks image via TheBigLead
Matt Ryan led the Atlanta Falcons to a 34-17 win in the most violent city in the nation in St. Louis and apparently it caused him to shit his pants. Matty Ice is usually cool under pressure but when it comes to the buffets in St. Louis it can cause a little Mississippi River action...
My team cemented the best record in our conference, but just before halftime the pregame buffet caught up with me. Why do we wear white pants again?
Week 12 picks are going to be short and sweet. Sorry guys, but haven't had any time at all in the last few weeks to do much. Here it comes...
Nebraska vs Texas AM
Huskers are bigger and badder. Take nothing away from the Aggies, they've had a great run at the end, but they don't have the team to beat the Huskers.
Huskers 38 vs Texas AM 17
Ohio State vs Iowa
I said earlier in the year that this would be the Buckeyes biggest test and I still think Iowa is very good, but I'm not convinced they are ready for a Buckeye team on cruise control right now. Terrell Pryor is playing much better near the end of the season and while I still think the Hawkeyes are very good, not sure they will be good enough today.
Buckeyes 21 vs Iowa 17
Arkansas vs Miss State
I would say this is an important one in the West, but this is more of a battle of the bigger bowl. Arkansas is good and should be at full strength this week. I think it's fair to say Mississippi State has been a huge surprise in the SEC this season. While this may be a great game, Arkansas has more firepower and will win this shoot out.
Hogs 42 vs Dogs 31
Miami vs Va Tech
The Hurricanes have a new starting QB and fourth string Morriss is going to have a huge test today against a strong Hokie team. The Hokies have Ryan Williams back and are looking like the future winners of the ACC. Even though Miami is playing at home, the Hokies are too good for the Hurricanes this year. Look for a tough match and if special teams have anything to say about it, we all know Beamer Ball is the best in the nation.
Hurricanes 10 vs Hokies 28
Another new SportsCrack tee creation called Scoregon: Quack Attack.
Get it SCOR-E-GON. They are only $17 and as always a portion of all sales go to the American Cancer Society.
The greatest thing about King Felix Hernandez winning the Cy Young is the thought of Peter Gammons farting out a mixture of C.C. Sabathia and Jon Lester baby batter right now in shock. Hernandez was the obvious winner yet there are jackasses everywhere on Facebook (staring you down Kige Ramsey) whom bitch and moan about him not deserving it because he played on a losing team. Idiots.
Is this guy's name really MoonPie? What was Oatmeal Cream Pie taken or something? Holy fuck I use to love MoonPie back in the day but I think if I had one now I would be shitting for days on end. The song is actually decent. Kind of funny too. As long as Cam Newton keeps playing he will always have the last laugh. Personally I hope he does keep playing. The kid is fun as hell to watch. He's the black version of Tim Tebow except Tebow probably made twice as much as Cam did in college considering he was a three year starter.
I've been frantically looking all over the internet trying to find out when the newest Danny Boyle flick hits Atlanta theaters and I've had no luck. Can somebody please find out for me? The true story about Aron Ralston getting trapped under a boulder and somehow surviving by unimaginable ways is sure to be a great movie with director Boyle putting his touches on it. Some of my favorite movies include 28 Days Later, Trainspotting, and Slumdog Millionaire so you know Boyle will do a kickass job on this one. So somebody help a brother out. I'm not an idiot but for some reason this movie was released back in September or some shit and I can't find it playing anywhere.
Yesterday the Biletnikoff Award announced their 10 semifinalists for the best receiver in the country. And for some bizarre reason they left Notre Dame's Michael Floyd off the list. Yep, somehow Floyd is not considered a top 10 receiver in the college game. Holy shit I hate these fucking awards. Here are your semifinalists and their stats compared to Floyd:
Oklahoma State Justin Blackmon-84 catches 1430 yards 16 TD's
Blackmon should be the run away winner. Despite the one game suspension because of a DUI he has dominated every game. He isn't the best receiver in the college game but he is having the best season and deserves to win it.
Oklahoma’s Ryan Broyles-94 catches 1196 yards 11 TD's
Broyles is a good possession receiver and his stats are unreal this year. He is more a product of the system though.
Texas A&M’s Jeff Fuller-61 catches 923 yards 11 TD's
What a shock, another fucking Big 12 receiver. Fuller has good numbers but nobody in their right mind would take him over Floyd.
Kentucky’s Randall Cobb-66 catches 839 yards 7 TD's
Cobb's stats are about identical to MF. He has a few more catches and a few more yards and MF has more TD's. Ask any NFL GM who would they rather have and 99.9% would say Floyd.
Georgia’s A.J. Green-41 catches 674 yards 9 TD's
Green is the best in the game, no doubt. Even with Blackmon's season I would still say Green is the most dominant receiver. But shouldn't a suspension of 4 games for violating NCAA rules (albeit dumb rules) void you from contention for an award?
South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffrey-65 catches 1087 yards 7 TD's
No argument here. Jeffrey is having a solid season and is one of the nation's best. I would still take Floyd over him though.
Alabama Julio Jones-58 catches 799 yards 4 TD's
Floyd has the same amount of catches and yards receiving but he has 5 more TD's with a freshman QB in a first year system. There is no fucking way Julio should be on this list above Floyd. Julio is a good player but ever since high school he has been a little overhyped.
SMU’s Aldrick Robinson-50 catches 994 yards 10 TD's
SMU still has a football team? Robinson is putting up great stats in June Jones offense. So does every other receiver.
Hawaii’s Greg Salas-83 catches 1246 yards 8 TD's
No one is going to take a pineapple fucker over Floyd. No one. Nice stats though.
Western Michigan’s Jordan White-72 catches 1057 yards 8 TD's
I mean you got to be shitting me right? A Western fucking Michigan receiver! Notre Dame played them this year and Michael Floyd ran circles around White.
Notre Dame's Michael Floyd-59 catches 767 yards 9 TD's
Granted Floyd's stats are not as incredible as last year's winner Golden Tate but then again Golden was catching balls from Jimmy Clausen who was deadly accurate. Dayne Crist when healthy was streaky at best and now Floyd is catching balls from a true freshman in Tommy Rees under a first year spread offense under coach Brian Kelly and still is putting up comparable stats to the ten semifinalists. I'm not saying Floyd is the best receiver in the country (I would rather have Green and Blackmon right now) but he is definitely top 5. There is no reason he should be left off this list. The one game he missed this season was the Navy game. Notre Dame's offense was anemic because of it.
Floyd's combination of size (6'3 235 lbs) and speed (I'm banking he runs a solid 4.4-4.5 even on the shitty field conditions of Notre Dame) plus his hands makes him one of the top 5 receivers in the college game. Some people will want to point out a drop here or there or a fumble but every single player on this list has had those this season. In conclusion Floyd got screwed of the recognition he deserved. Now he needs to take out his frustration on Army and USC the next two weeks and show the country he deserves to be in the same discussion as the other semifinalists.
A professional basketball player cheated on his wife. Holy shit! Why Tony? Why?
Maybe because she made him do this stupid ass Grease musical. Shame on Eva Longoria. Now go wax that mustache short stuff and start sluttin it up again.
Thank god the NFL doesn't use bullshit ranking systems and computers when it comes to deciding the SuperBowl Champion but it is refreshing to see so many experts pick the Atlanta Falcons as the best team in the "power rankings."
The latest is ESPN. They got the Falcons #1 followed by the Patriots, Jets, Ravens, and Steelers. Right now the Falcons are in the driver's seat for the #1 seed in the NFC at 7-2. Getting homefield advantage throughout would be huge. Matt Ryan is 18-1 in the friendly confines of the Georgia Dome. 4 of the next 5 games are on the road with Green Bay being the lone home game next Sunday. If the Falcons can go 3-2 (beat St. Louis, Tampa, and Carolina) then there chances of locking up the #1 seed is good. If they can go 4-1 (beat all the above mentioned and one of Green Bay or Seattle on the road) then homefield is pretty much guarenteed with the final two games (New Orleans and Carolina) of the season being in the Dome.
13-3 gets it done. 12-4 and you could be looking at a road playoff game in Philly, New York, or Green Bay.
Just win Matty Ice!
Atlanta Braves General Manager Frank Wren knew going into this offseason that his ball club had a major gaping hole in it's lineup: power right handed bat. Yesterday he accomplished one of his goals by acquiring second baseman Dan Uggla from the Florida Marlins for Omar Infante and Mike Dunn. In the last 5 seasons only one right handed National League player has more home runs than Uggla. His name is Albert Pujols.
Uggla will more than likely start at second base with fellow All-Star Martin Prado moving to third base. With the infield complete (Freddie Freeman at 1B, Alex Gonzalez at SS and Brian McCann at C) the Braves will now look to make a drastic improvement to the outfield. The only player penciled into new coach Fredi Gonzalez lineup is Jason Heyward in RF. Nate McLouth could be the starting CF which would be absolutely horrible in my opinion. There is no left fielder unless they resign Matt Diaz. The Diamondbacks have made it known that 23 year old budding superstar Justin Upton is on the market. He would be the perfect left fielder for the Braves. He's young, steals bases, has power, and is signed through 2015. It would take a lot to get Upton and the DBacks are looking for arms. If I'm the Braves there is no way in hell I trade Tommy Hanson, Johnny Venters, or Craig Kimbrel. Everyone else is available for Upton. I would think Julio Teheran and Jair Jurrjens gets the deal done easily. If I'm the Braves I would try to trade Mike Minor, Brandon Beachy, and one of Teheran/Jurrjens for Upton and see if they would put Stephen Drew in with the deal.
If this deal could go through you are looking at this potential lineup:
LF-Justin Upton
3B-Martin Prado
RF-Jason Heyward
2B-Dan Uggla
C-Brian McCann
1B-Freddie Freeman
SS-Alex Gonzalez
CF-Nate McLouth/anybody else
This is a lineup that would score a shitload of runs. The pitching would still be excellent with Huddy, Hanson, and Lowe anchoring the staff and one of the best bullpens in the league.
What do you think the Braves and Frank Wren should do to improve the ballclub?
I can excuse the girl for not knowing the answer but the guy from Georgia Southern is just flat out embarrassing. "Who is Carmelo Anthony?"...are you fucking kidding me kid? Everyone knows it's Lebron James. Idiot.
Once the lights came back on at Giants Stadium all hell broke loose. I would be fired up too if I paid good money to see my team get their asses kicked by the 1-7 Cowgirls.
With the Giants losing here are my top 5 NFC Teams in terms of Power Rankings:
1) Atlanta Falcons
2) Green Bay Packers
3) Philadelphia Eagles
4) New York Giants
5) New Orleans Saints
Come on Georgia fans. You are better than this. Please stop complaining about Auburn playing dirty. It's football. You lost. Deal with it. Now go stomp on those Nerds and make a bowl game.
