Look-a-like of the Day 12-31-11

Is it Kentucky basketball player Anthony Davis, or Uncle Leo with painted on eyebrows?

Early look at week 17

The NFL is heading into to its final week of the regular season and that means the final week of pick'em for all of us. Week 17 is always a strange week because of teams resting their starters and this week is no different. Even though teams are resting players it seems like people are still picking the teams with the better record. This gives you a great opportunity if you need to make up a lot of ground.. Also a great week if you are out of it but want a shot to win the week. Very important to do your homework and find out who is in and who is out for this week.

Titans at Texans: 67% of people are picking the Texans in this one even though Vegas has the Titans as a 1.5 point favorite. Not much news has come out yet on who will be sitting for the Texans in this one. The Texans are locked into the 3 seed and have nothing to play for in this one so I would expect them to limit a lot of their stars. Houston has been hit harder than anyone by injuries and should be smart enough here to try to avoid more injuries. I would think the Arian Foster would not see too many carries this week if the Texans are smart. One guy that will play a little is Andre Johnson. Andre has been out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury and they would like to get him some in game reps.

The Titans on the other hand need to win this one to have a shot at the playoffs and should be playing all out. Chris Johnson said that his ankle wasn't feeling very good last week and can be to blame for his poor week. He said he is feeling much better this week and should be able to go all out. TE Jared Cook has also come on as of late and should make the Titans passing game tough to stop. Houston is on a 2 game losing streak and I think this game would be very close even if Houston played all their starters. Titans should be able to roll if the Texans sit guys like expected.

Being Matthew Stafford doesn't look like fun at all.

Lions at Packers: 66% of people are picking the Packers but the Lions are a 3.5 point favorite. People clearly blinded by the Packers 14-1 record here. The Packers are locked into the 1 seed and have no reason to play anyone in this one. Head coach Mike McCarthy has even hinted that Rodgers might not even start in this one saying, "Whether he starts, we’ll talk about that today," said McCarthy. "It’s important for the quarterbacks, we repped all three of ’em this week." Rodgers will most likely only play 1-2 series if he starts and I would expect most of the defensive stars to sit as well.

The Lions have clinched a playoff spot but they still have a lot to play for in this one. If they win the lock up the 5 seed. That means they would play either the Giants or Cowboys in round 1. If they lost and the Falcons won then they would have to go to New Orleans in round 1. That is a much tougher matchup and I am sure the Lions would like to avoid the Saints. Being the 5 seed also gives them the slight chance of dodging the Packers in round 2. Word is that running back Kevin Smith will sit this one out. He has been banged up for a month now and I dont blame them for this one. There was some talk that Calvin might sit because of an achilles injury but he practiced today and should be a go for Sunday. It sounds like the Packers are putting no effort into this one and the Lions should be able to win this one.

Also everyone should take notice of the great year Matthew Stafford is having this year. While Rodgers and Brees have stolen all the headlines Stafford has had a great year. He has 36 TDs on the year which ties him for 3rd in the NFL with Tom Brady. He is also 5th in total yards and 6th in passer rating. This is the 1st year he has been healthy and he is taking full advantage of that. He has been a top 5 fantasy QB this year and should be drafted like it next year. As long as Calvin is there, Stafford will be a stud.

Buccaneers at Falcons: 97% are on the Falcons are they are 11 point favorites. There has not been much attention payed to this game this week but this one might not actually mean anything for the Falcons. If the Lions win on Sunday then the Falcons are locked into the 6 seed. The Lions game is an early game, while the Atlanta game is a late game so the Falcons should already know what they are playing for before the take the field. Falcons head coach Mike Smith has said that he wont rest his starters this week but he might change his mind once he knows he has nothing to play for. With guys like Turner and Julio hurting it would be smart for them to sit some guys down. They cant afford to be without anyone against the Saints in the 1st round.

Tampa is on a 9 game losing streak and I am not sure they can win this one even against the Falcons 2nd team. I am not saying you should pick Tampa but you might want to put this one lower than usual. This could also be a great spot to win the week. No one should be on Tampa and If they were to win it should lead to an easy weekly win.

Bears at Vikings: 70% are on the Bears but the Vikings are a 1 point favorite. This game has nothing to do with resting starters but I wanted to point out the odd number of people on the Bears. This game is on of the 3 games this week that means nothing but both teams should still be going all out. I know the Vikings are 3-12 but they have played better over the past month. Adrian Peterson is out for this one but Toby Gerhart is a capable RB who should have a pretty good day. The Bears have been terrible without Cutler and Forte and I don't expect that to stop. I tend to think Vegas knows more than we do about these things so I am going with them on this one and picking the Vikings.


random tidbits about week 17: There has been some talk about the Saints resting starters but they have said there is no chance of that and expect the Saints to murder the Panthers on Sunday. Tom Brady has a shoulder injury that you might want to keep on eye on but he should be playing this week. Pats need the win and should get it against the Bills. Reggie Bush is rules out for the Dolphins this week. I am not really sure what to do with that game. Miami has played great but they dont have much to play for while the Jets need to win to still have a chance. No matter who you pick this should be on a 1 or 2 in confidence. Romo has been limited in practice with a bruise on his right hand but he is expected to go Sunday Night. Felix Jones, Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham are also banged up but should be able to play in that game. this game is a toss up but 75% of people are on the Giants.

If you need to make up ground in confidence this week go big on the Lions and Titans. Also not a bad idea to go big on Minnesota. As I have said before you don't have to go crazy on a big underdog to make up ground. All 3 of those teams are the favorite and picking them should be able to help you out this week.

Kyle's NBA Pick of the Night

Rockets and Grizzlies OVER 196

With the Rockets playing their second game of a back to back, they will seemingly be nice and tired for this one. Add that to the fact that they are already a sub par defensive team, the Grizz should be able to score at will in this one. If we look at some individual matchups, a few seem to favor a high scoring game. The power forward position calls for some serious lack of defense, and in turn, tons of offensive production. Z Bo should dominate Scola on the offensive end, but Scola will also be able to score tons on the lack of defensive effort from Z Bo. Both teams are fairly up pace teams, and can score quickly off turnovers. Look for Houston to step up their putrid shooting of late, and I think both teams should be in the 100's in this one.

Brett's NBA Bet of the Night

Orlando vs. Charlotte OVER 183

Yeah, this guy is going to score...only if he could make some FTs.

Well, the Nuggets/Blazers game last night was a comedy of errors. The Blazers turned the ball over 25 times and still won the game. The teams combined to shoot 12 of 40 from the three point line and were both pretty awful from the field, but the game still went over pretty easily. I'm going to stick with my system, to remind you, "Teams that score a bunch won't play any defense in back to backs against teams that can score a little system." This applies to a few teams tonight, my favorite line of which being the Magic. They won pretty easily last night against the Nets and have a multitude of scoring options. I look for the Bobcats to keep up the tempo and try to avoid Dwight Howard in the paint. The Bobcats have some decent outside scorers, Boris Diaw can stretch the floor at the 5, and can score a little (96-95 games in their first 2 to start the year). This may be an ugly one, but look for some points.

Season Total: 1-0-0

Look-a-like of the Day 12-30-11

Is it Steelers' D-lineman Brett Keisel, or Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean?

Two Va Tech Kickers Suspended before Bowl Game

Virginia Tech Kicker, Tyler Weiss, was suspended for the upcoming All State Sugar Bowl after missing a 1 AM team curfew this past Tuesday. The best part about this story is that Weiss isn't even the first kicker suspended on his team in the past month.

Starting placekicker, Cody Journell, was suspended after an arrest for breaking and entering. When asked about the recent kicker problems, coach Frank Beamer said, "My kickers aren't bad guys. They just made some bad decisions."

Weiss and Journell are just a few in the long line of bad-ass kickers in the ACC. This group of thug kickers is obviously headlined by the legendary Sebastian Janikowski from FSU, who has been cited for multiple bar fights, vandalism, and drunken driving charges. And kickers don't get any credit for being tough? Psh.

Look-A-Like of the Day (12/29/11)

Is it ex-Celtic Luke Harangody or The Office's Toby Flenderson?
(Credit goes to Corey Chenevert for the idea)

Brett's NBA Bet of the Night

Does this look like a guy who wants to play defense?

Denver vs. Portland OVER 202

I'm gonna try to put up some ATS or O/U NBA bets. As stated before, I'm not the biggest fan of the NBA. However, with the shortened-season and little time to prepare for the season, I think there will probably be some exploitable lines out there. For tonight's games, I would like the over in the Denver/Portland game. Both teams are coming off of blowout wins here. Denver's bench is extremely deep and allowed the starters to get some serious rest last night in a blowout win against Utah. Nonetheless, they are probably still tired, as this is a back to back. Portland, on the other hand, won big against the Kings on Tuesday night. Portland will have loads of trouble stopping a high-powered Nuggets team, while the Nuggets probably won't spend what little energy they have left on the defensive end (do they ever?). Points are going to come in bunches. This game fits into a little system I'll try to use called: "Teams that score a bunch won't play any defense in back to backs against teams that can score a little system." Yeah, it's a long title, deal with it.

Heat/Celtics and Rondo: What we've Learned

Though it's only two games into the NBA season, I think we've learned quite a bit from what we've seen. The Heatles have looked scary good, dominating both the Mavs and Celtics for the better part of each game.

Lebron and D Wade seem to be playing relaxed and loose basketball, which looks to be bad news for the rest of the NBA. Most importantly, the dudes are playing D. I think they've realized that the more defense they play, the more playground alley oops they can chuck up to each other off of fast breaks. That's kind of what we all imagined the Heat would be when the big 3 first signed together. Couple that with some role players stepping up for the Heat like Cole, Battier, and Anthony, the Heat seem to be ready to rip apart the league. It all seems to be gelling early, which is scary.

On the other hand, the Celtics have looked unsurprisingly mediocre. Though they're 0-2, they have played two really good teams on the road. Those are two games where they are expected to lose, especially without a healthy Paul Pierce. One shining sore spot for the C's has been the play of Jermaine O' Neal. In 22 minutes last night, JO went 0-1 from the field and pulled in only one rebound. Why bother even being out there? They are much more effective with KG at the 5 and Brandon Bass at the 4, who has been a pleasant surprise thus far. Bass is a knock down 15 foot jump shooter who fits in perfectly to the Celtics offense. In the long term, however, the C's are going to have to make a move to get some size in their front court.

So the Heatles are out for a revenge season, and the C's are poised for a rather mediocre regular season. What else did we learn?

The big 3 for the Celts are going to be who they are. Ray Allen is going to be one of the best knock down 3 point shooters in the league. KG is going to bury teams on the pick and roll and be the defensive heart of your team. Pierce is going to be a potent scorer (somehow) when he comes back, and he'll also be your go to guy down the stretch. But what about the wild card, Rajon Rondo?

Rondo is going to put up the stats. He'll get his ~10 assists per game. He even looks like he's going to be a lot more aggressive and try to score more this year. He'll get his rebounds, he'll get his steals. A lot of that has to do with playing with knock down shooters all over the court. But my question is, what happens in crunch time? In the past couple seasons, Rondo has been hiding in the corner at the end of games, leaving the Celtics playing essentially 4 on 5.

And once again, in each of the first two games, Rondo has shown no guts in the 4th quarter. In the Knicks game, where Rondo got much praise for his play (31 pts 13 assists), he shied away during pressure moments, scoring only 2 of his 31 points in the 4th quarter. In the Heat game last night, it was the same old story. Rondo had only 2 of his 22 points in the final quarter, turning the ball over 4 times in the 4th. Not is it just the stats that tell the story, Rondo looks petrified at the end of games, afraid to advantage of opportunities and be aggressive.

If Rondo wants to be considered one of the better point guards in the NBA (he is already is by some), then he has to be able to perform when the game is on the line. He has to give Harry Potter his invisibility cloak back and show up in pressure spots. Or else, the Celtics struggles at the ends of games will leave themselves troubled in the playoffs, watching the Heatles and Lebron hoisting the O'Brien Trophy.

Early Week 17 Thoughts

Good vs. Evil: I know who I'm siding with.

Week 17 is shaping up to be an interesting one. All but 2 playoff spots are already locked up, but seeding could be greatly affected by the games on Sunday. The NFL has done a very good job of moving the schedule around such that teams that could possibly affect each other all play at the same time. For example, the Saints, who are locked into the 3 seed with a 49ers win, play at the same time as the 49ers. This should ensure that not too many teams rest their starters, which should make for an entertaining set of games.

The final spots up for grabs are the AFC West and the second Wild Card team in the AFC. Hilariously enough, there is a chance that two AFC West teams could make the playoffs, neither of which is San Diego or Kansas City. I wonder how much money you could have made if you bet that before the season started. What would those odds have been? 15,000:1? There are too many scenarios to go through, so if you want to check them out go to ESPN... plus I'm sure we'll go further in depth later on in the week.

For now, just root for the Tebows to win at home against the Chiefs. If they win, they're in. Then, all will be right in the world.