Hey guys. Its been awhile. Just fyi to all of my followers I’ve started a new site called underthebrooklynbridge.wordpress.com ill be writing all content under that page from now on so feel free to follow on there thanks for being patient its been a rough go lately but I’m back with more sports knowledge for ya. Peace and one love
Let’s Get Real Green Bay
Ok, so I know all of you are beyond miffed by this call that cost Green Bay the game on Monday night.
You can’t go anywhere online or turn on any channel without seeing a replay of M.D Jennings and Golden Tate fighting over a Russell Wilson hail Mary with two referees confused on which call to make.
It is comical and controversial and the exact kind of thing that everyone was afraid of when this referee strike began weeks ago. We were all afraid of officials swinging a game due to their ineptitude in understanding the rule book and on Monday night it sort of came true.
ESPN analysts acted as if a funeral had just occurred, Packer nation cried foul, Packer players sent out profanity laced tweets blasting the NFL and its referees and rightfully so.
Everyone has a right to be mad, to scream bloody murder and wish death on everyone in the NFL that doesn’t play on every down…
But can I please bring everyone back down to earth with some logical thinking and understandable banter…
THE GREEN BAY PACKERS SHOULD’VE LOST THAT GAME MONDAY NIGHT BECAUSE THEY LOOK TERRIBLE!!!!!!
We’ve been so caught up in the monster of media that is driving a story making the Packers look like they were robbed a victory when they weren’t worthy of victory before this whole thing happened.
Funny, I hear death threats loading my inbox soon.
Let’s stop talking about the last 8 seconds for at least an hour an talk about the previous 59:52. The Packers were not even a reasonable facsimile of a title contending football team. The Seahawks bruised and bullied Green Bay in every area of the game.
Their front four sacked Aaron Rodgers 8 times, all in the first half with Chris Clemons and the verge of challenging Derrick Thomas for the NFL single game sack record. When Rodgers did have time to throw the ball the Seattle secondary limited all gains and shut down Green Bay’s big play capability.
Even the uber-conservative Seahawks offense was able to find holes in the Packer defense with Marshawn Lynch rushing for 100 yards and Wilson throwing a few beautiful passes including a second quarter touchdown to Tate who beat a confused Tramond Williams on the play.
Throughout the game the Packers were beaten up, beaten down and had very few answers.
Here’s the funny thing though, that’s been the story of the Packers season so far.
This was supposed to be a team that would challenge for another Super Bowl crown with reigning MVP Rodgers expected to torch defenses like he did last year. Unfortunately that has been nothing like the case.
The Packers are 1-2 averaging 100 yards less per game and 14 points less per contest than in 2011. They haven’t been able to replicate their big play ability like last year and they have regressed in all offensive areas with their defense still weak in areas in the pass game.
In short this isn’t a championship contender but rather a middle of the road team fighting for a playoff spot.
The road doesn’t get easier, they have New Orleans this week, who are fighting for their lives as well, tough matchups in the upcoming weeks against a reenergized Vikings team, the best defense in the league in Arizona plus the Giants and Lions looming. That’s 5 playoff caliber teams over the next 8 games.
After watching on Monday night are the Packers for this stretch? Hell no.
“The Fail Mary,” “The Golden Gate,” and “The Immaculate Deception” (whatever you want to call it) did a great job of glossing over a simple fact that Packers fans and players alike know, this is not a very good football and have a lot of work to do if they want to make the playoffs.
So while everyone is crying foul and saying that Green Bay got hosed I want all of you to take a step back, watch some of those highlights and ask yourself a question; did Green Bay really deserve to win that game on Monday?
You might find yourself singing a different tune once you take it all in.
NCAA Week 4 Picks
It’s Saturday so you know what that means… College pick time
YAWN
14 Florida over Kentucky
16 Ohio state over UAB
8 west Virginia over Maryland
17 TCU over Virginia
18 UCLA over Oregon state
21 Michigan state over eastern Michigan
25 Nebraska over Idaho state
1 Alabama over FAU
20 Louisville over FIU
23 mississippi state over south Alabama
MIGHT BE WORTH A PEEK
7 south Carolina over Missouri
13 USC over California
2 LSU over auburn
5 Georgia over Vanderbilt
DON’T MISS IT
18 Michigan over 11 Notre dame
6 Oklahoma over 15 Kansas state
3 Oregon over 22 arizona
4 Florida state over 10 Clemson
Cabrera Outshines His Past
A few years ago it looked like Miguel Cabrera was going to be that run of the mill athlete we all look at and frown with great disapproval.
He was an alcoholic, he was having personal life issues, he gave the normal spiel about how he was changing and was a new man. Then he relapsed.
The numbers didn’t matter, so what he was quite possibly this decade’s best hitter, so what he was one of the top 5 first basemen in the game? It didn’t matter because his negatives were starting to outweigh his gleaming talent.
I thought about this after watching Cabrera launch 3 home runs in the last 2 games as he has put the Detroit Tigers on his back and might lead them to a division title even though they are 2 games back with 15 to go.
Cabrera is putting together a monster season in one of the leagues toughest ballparks for hitters and after a position change that saw him shift from first to third base with the acquisition of Prince Fielder.
The numbers are awesome to us but the norm to Cabrera; .333 batting average, 41 home runs, 130 RBI. He leads the American League in average and RBI and is only 1 home run behind Josh Hamilton. We have had runs at the triple crown before but Cabrera’s run is very serious.
His performance has overshadowed a disappointing year for Detroit up to this point. With the Fielder transaction Detroit was supposed to run away with the AL Central and contain for the World Series.
If they didn’t have Cabrera they wouldn’t even be a playoff contender.
Cabrera is without question the league’s MVP. I know Mike Trout has been outstanding putting up historic numbers and Josh Hamilton has put together another outstanding year. However, Cabrera beats them both with his consistency, and clutch performance in recent weeks.
Cabrera hasn’t let the Tigers down in any situation that’s been placed in front of him this season. He’s picked up the slack for the early season loss of Victor Martinez, the loss of power in stretches from Fielder, and the loss of everything from Delmon Young.
Most importantly Cabrera has stuck to his word, he’s become the rare athlete that hasn’t let his demons consume him. As well as he’s performed on the field his biggest accomplishment has been not letting the Tigers down off of it.
Because of that we can now appreciate Cabrera for his great numbers that place him in the top five hitters of the last decade and had him on pace for a call to Cooperstown when it’s all said and done.
As the season winds down look for Cabrera to continue to pulverize pitching, carry the Tigers on his back and bring home a division title and mostly the AL MVP.
He deserves it. After years of watching athletes go back on their words and continue to travel down bad roads it’s good to see one that sticks to his words and lets his positives outshine the negative.
Hopefully Cabrera continues to reap the benefits of his good work on and off the field.
Schiano’s Poor Decision
This is not the Big East, this is not Rutgers, the NFL game is different from the college game and Greg Schiano should know that
His explanation for rushing his entire D-line at Eli Manning at the end of yesterday’s Giants win over the Buccaneers is plain old silly.
While I agree with the notion that you keep on playing until the end, what Schiano did was unacceptable.
Telling your defense to make a last second jail break in hopes of getting a late fumble is stupid and it could’ve resulted in injuries on both sides of the football.
Tom Coughlin was right to chew out Schiano afterwards for his unethical tactics. After losing three important players to injury Coughlin wasn’t trying to have another one of his guys hurt.
Hopefully Schiano can find more creative ways to cause turnovers instead of using bush league tactics. Not wanting to lose is one thing, but sometimes it’s better to learn when to call it quits rather than using poor judgement.
Welcome to the NFL Greg Schiano. Your next opponent is the Dallas Cowboys, not the Temple Owls.
Here We Go Again
So here we are, 12 hours from the third NHL lockout in my lifetime… Third.
There wasn’t a lockout in the previous 70 plus years in the league, but since the reign of terror know as the Gary Bettman era the NHL has set a record in futility of the collective bargaining agreement.
You would think the league would’ve learned after the last lockout which cost them the season and alienated an entire fan base. The sport had already been blasted out of the national spotlight and was passed in popularity temporarily by NASCAR.
It took the NHL a while to get their feet back under them but they did with the birth of the Winter Classic, and a young core of stars that has brought new fans to the game.
And here they are about to throw it all away… Again.
Seriously?
So no one cares about the fans here I guess. No thought is given to the fans in Columbus who’ll miss out on an all-star game, or the fans in L.A. waiting to raise a banner on a long sought after title.
The greed of the owners in this league is sickening.
Seven years ago yes the league needed a proper financial structure. Contracts were getting out of hand and the big guys were eating up the little ones. That lockout was worth it in a sense. The NHL in a better financial state than years prior even though most teams in the southern states continue to lose money.
Here’s a thought for the owners, stop giving out these ridiculous ten plus year deals and have normal contracts then you can save yourselves money. The contracts given to guys like Ilya Kovalchuk and Roberto Luongo don’t make a lick of sense and will eventually kill the owners pockets.
However, that’s not even the largest crime here, it’s the lack of urgency in the owners or Bettman to make anything happen.
Three days ago the Bettman ok’d an agreement to lockout the players if a greener wasn’t reached by tonight. Nothing has happened since. There has been little bargaining and little caring.
Why isn’t Bettman putting pressure on either side? Doesn’t he realize another lockout would possibly kill the sport for good? Losing the Winter Classic this year would be a huge blow especially since in Michigan where the Red Wings are king.
Bettman is the ultimate owners pawn. He has no backbone to tell them anything and offers no real solutions in any form other than sitting there and doing what they say.
He is once again the champion of the world as the worst sports commissioner, possibly of all-time. His constant bumbling is about cost the NHL more fans, more credibility and more money.
And we can’t do anything about it because the owners would be stupid to fire him.
So here we are hockey fans looking at another lockout shortened season.
No banner raising in L.A., no Rick Nash debut in New York, no excitement in Minnesota with the acquisitions of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise… Nothing.
For the third time commissioner Bettman and the owners will cost us hockey for an extended period of time and we have to sit here and take it.
If Gary Bettman doesn’t fix this and soon then he’ll be another fan short. As much as I love my Rangers I won’t go through this again, I’d rather take my jersey throw it away and never look back.
Yeah, I’m at that point with the NHL right now.
Week 2 NFL Picks
Here’s my recap of last nights bears-packers game… Jay Cutler’s performance earned me .10 points in fantasy last night… Yup on tenth of a point…
On to week 2
Buffalo over Kansas city
In a battler of two QB’s that should be benched Ryan Fitzpatrick “outduels” Matt cassel
Bengals over Browns
If Brandon Weeden has another game like last week Colt McCoy will be looking mighty fine to pay shurmer
Vikings over Colts
The Vikings can become an early season surprise with a 2-0 start and I think it’ll happen.
Raiders over Dolphins
Carson Palmer versus Ryan Tannehill… Both defenses can’t wait for this
Patriots over Cards
No explanation needed
Giants over Buccaneers
Even if the Giants lose they’ll still win five straight, lead the NFC EAST then tank in the second half before eeking out a wild card and making a super bowl run. The usual.
Ravens over Eagles
Two good defenses, two suspect QB’s, two great run games. Expect overtime from the game of the week.
Saints over Panthers
Who’ll snap out of their week one funk and avoid 0-2, Cam Newton or Drew Brees? I’d go with Drew and company.
Texans over Jaguars
Blaine Gabbert looked like a real NFL QB last week. That can’t continue can it?
Redskins over Rams
Rams revamped D meet RG3. This should be fun.
Seahawks over Cowboys
Too much was made of Dallas’s week one win versus a depleted Giants secondary. Expect a letdown.
Steelers over Jets
No James Harrison no Darrelle Revis, but plenty of defense still remains
Chargers over Titans
Attention Chris Johnson… Earn your money, sincerely football fans everywhere
49ers over lions
Has a postgame handshake ever been so anticipated?
Broncos over Falcons
Peyton proved he’s back last week. The redemption tour continues Monday night.
Week 3 NCAA Picks
So I’m back with college pick em this week… It’s been a minute so forgive the rust
MOVE ALONG NOTHING TO SEE HERE
11 Clemson over furman
17 Michigan over umass
9 WVU over JMU
8 south Carolina over UAB
15 Kansas state over UNT
7 Georgia over FAU
3 LSU over Idaho
24 Arizona over Scst
22 UCLA over Houston
MIGHT BE INTERESTING… BUT I’LL PASS
14 Texas over ole miss
19 Louisville over UNC
16 TCU over Kansas
5 Florida state over wake forest
INTERESTING ONLY FOR THE UNIFORMS
4 Oregon over tntc
WOULD HAVE BEEN INTERESTING BUT… YA KNOW
1 Alabama over Arkansas
DON’T BE SHOCKED IF…
California over 12 Ohio state
Pittsburgh over 13 Virginia tech
YOU BETTER WATCH THIS IT’LL BE A WHILE BEFORE YOU SEE IT AGAIN
Utah over 25 BYU
MUST SEE TV
23 TENNESSEE over 18 Florida
2 USC over 21 Stanford
10 Michigan state over 20 Notre dame
The Oriole Revival
I knew this day was coming it was bound to happen.
The signs were everywhere, things were changing, I wrote about the possibility of it coming to fruition two years ago.
Even still the pessimist in me didn’t quite believe it, but now I do… The Baltimore Orioles are back and they are the most dangerous team in the American League.
We’ve been around this black before a bunch of times. The O’s start hot, look competitive, then around late May or early June they get left in the dust by the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox.
It was happening again this year, you saw that Jason Hammel was their “ace”, the improvement of Matt Wieters, how Adam Jones was bouncing back from a bad year and the rumors of Manny Machado being a cant miss prospect.
But these were the Orioles, how could I possibly take this seriously? Ever since I lived in Maryland I’ve seen this story.
Melvin Mora was their missing piece, Miguel Tejada would help turn the franchise around, Adam Loewen and Daniel Cabrera were aces in the making, and they all fell flat.
I could imaging O’s fans faces when after getting their hopes up early this season again that the team was beating blown past by the Yankees during a blistering June.
After the all-star break the Yankees were up by ten and the O’s were looking at adding another year to my favorite Orioles taunt…
What’s the difference between Yankee Stadium an Camden Yards? You can always get a hot dog in October in Yankee stadium.
(my favorite thing in life is to taunt Orioles fans. I absolutely love it. It was the only joy I got out of living in Maryland. Their fans are so bitter, so salty and so bad that their Yankee hate ticked me off.
The worst was when the Red Sox took off and O’s fans adopted them as their second team. Watch Camden Yards in a sea of red was beyond sickening. Baltimore fans never understood sticking with your team through thick and thin and I killed them for it every single time. I kind of miss it actually.)
Then all of a sudden Buck Showalter started working his magic coinciding with the Yankees catching the injury virus. It started with A-rod going down with a hand injury and has forged ahead with a string Wieters big hits, Jones’s MVP like clutchness, the revival of JJ Hardy and a rotation that I could tell you nothing about.
Their top guy is a dude called Wei-Yei Chen, he has a 4.06 ERA and 12 wins. Their closer Jim Johnson is someone the Yankees used to kill and he has an ERA near 3. I have to stop looking at stats because based off of stats alone I’m getting ticked off that this team climbed back into the race for the AL East.
There’s no way that a team with a shoddy rotation and a lineup without a guy batting over .300 should be ahead of the Yankees or Rays for that matter.
However, that’s the case.
With 20 games left the Orioles and Yankees are tied for the division lead and the Yankees have become a mash unit.
A-rod, CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Mark Teixiera and a cast of thousands have been on the DL in the last month. David Robertson hasn’t been the same since injuring himself earlier this season and now Derek Jeter has an ankle sprain.
I know Jeter said he isn’t panicking but he’s gotta be thinking what next?
With these injuries, lack of clutching hitting and a banged up rotation consisting of David Phelps and Freddy Garcia, how much longer can the Yankees hold on to the slimmest of leads?
This is an Orioles fan dream. A suffering Yankees team, a pennant race 16 years in the making, baseball fans around the country pulling for them and all the bounces seem to be going their way.
The real telltale sign was this weekend during a four game set at Camden Yards. Since I was a kid I called it Yankee Stadium south because there were always more Yankees than O’s fan packing the stadium.
Not this time. It was all orange everything, deafening noise and you couldn’t see a speck of blue.
That’s when it really hit me, the Orioles are back. Thank god I’m in not Maryland to be a part of it.
It’s All About The Name
Another Big East school bolting for the ACC, fine, no sweat off of my rear. However, the ACC and the NCAA for that matter missed the biggest part of Notre Dame joining the ACC today…
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are still a football independent. Really?
Is the NCAA ever actually going to man up and make the Irish join a conference.
Notre Dame has gotten the same football privileges as other schools in high powered conferences for years even though they have been living off of their name more than their game.
Notre Dame has become a glorified mid-major in recent years, which seems disrespectful to Boise State and TCU. The Irish are not the powerhouse they used to be yet they still receive the royal treatment when it comes to football.
It’s so bad that on ESPN Notre Dame has its own section in College Football conference wrap-ups. Really? Notre Dame following the PAC-12?
To make matters even sillier the ACC agreed that the Irish have to play 5 teams from the conference a year. Ap what you’re telling everyone in the ACC is that even though they’re not part of the conference they are still part of the conference. Ok, got it. Great idea.
(by the way, how pissed off do you think the Big Ten is right now? The Big Ten has been trying to lure Notre Dame for years due to its major rivalries with Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue and Penn State and to watch them make this agreement with the ACC? If I were Jim Delaney I would throw a Moscow Mule in Jack Swarbrick’s face next time I see him.)
Why is it so hard for the NCAA to make Notre Dame join a conference? Why can’t someone in the hierarchy of the NCAA tell Swarbrick “look, unless you join a conference you essentially are BYU. You have to win all of your games to become a BCS qualifier and if you don’t then you’ll play in the Tony’s Pizza Bagel Bites Bowl in Butte, Montana every year like the rest of the little guys.”
Let’s cut the crap. Notre Dame doesn’t deserve special treatment when they haven’t been as good UConn in the last few years. In the last twelve years the Irish are on average a 7-5 team. That deserves special treatment?
They aren’t Alabama or LSU or USC or Boise State for that matter. Their lack of success and relevance doesn’t add up to all of the things that they get for being just being Notre Dame.
There’s no bitterness from me as a Big East guy that they are bolting for the ACC. What gets me is that Notre Dame as small as they are in relevance when it comes to football still get treated like kings.
The ACC just cow-towed to them like the NCAA has for years. Will anyone get the nerve to stand up to them and say enough’s enough?
The Brooklyn Buckeye 