I can see Russia from my house!

I bet Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is hurting right now. After all, the NY Mets are his favorite squadron. They aren't mine, as you probably know, but I don't know why I find it so amusing that they are blowing their chances for the playoffs yet again. Last year, they were 7 games up over the Phillies in the NL East, and blew their lead, and lost the division and playoff chances on the last day. This year, they didn't have quite the lead they did last year, but they still had a lead. They have since lost it, and are tied for the wild card with the Brewers going into the last day of play. This should be interesting.

I really apologize. I need to come up with a weekly topic other than just rambling on and on. I'm gonna throw in the towel this week; I promise to make a comeback next week.

NFL Picks (home team in CAPS)

Last week: 9-6

Season: 28-17

TITANS over Vikings. The days of me picking the Vikings are over. Well, when they are playing one of the leagues top defenses. I don't like the Titans, but I think they are a top teir team this year, with Super Bowl potential. Now if they just had Vince Young back, this team would return to mediocrity.

Broncos over CHIEFS. The Chiefs are really bad this year. This is week 4. They have started a different quarterback each week. 0-16 anyone?

49ers over SAINTS. Did I hear a niner in there? Anyway, the 49ers are proving that even a drunken Irishman can be a successful quarterback in this league.

JETS over Cardinals. What's with the NFC West? They actually have more than one good team. But that doesn't matter, because they are on the road to play the Favres. I mean the Jets.

Packers over BUCS. Pick 'em. I don't know. This is purely a guess.

...wait. Aren't all of these guesses? I'd like to think some are more educated guesses than others.

PANTHERS over Falcons. There is no gas in Atlanta. How can the Falcons win this game if they can't even get to Charlotte?

JAGUARS over Texans. Jacksonville seemed like a nice town.

Chargers over RAIDERS. Bush watch: 56 yards on 15 carries last week. He will be sharing carries with McFadden this week, so look for about the same number of touches.

Bills over RAMS. Copy and paste description of the Chiefs to the description of the Rams.

COWBOYS over Redskins.  I'm not a believer in Washington.  I watched the first game of the year, and they looked horrible.  Now all of a sudden, they are a playoff team.  I think the real Redskins show up against a very good Cowboys team.

Eagles over BEARS.

STEELERS over Ravens.  I hope the stadium collapses and both of these teams lose.

BENGALS over Browns.  Despite the absence of Carson, I think the Donkeys will pull this one out.  The Browns haven't looked that good either, so this game is really a toss-up.  This football season is beginning to be depressing...

Wrangler. Real. Comfortable. Jeans.

Anyone else tired of seeing Brett Favre advertise Wrangler jeans?  I think this commercial has been on the air for about 17 years.  And I see it at least 3 times a day.  My favorite part is the guy blatantly diving into the mud puddle to make a catch.  Just to demonstrate, that if you too, dove into a mud puddle wearing Wrangler jeans, you might be able to catch a pass from Brett Favre.

Sorry for that...I just had to get that off my chest.  

Bold prediction alert update.  I said last week Louisville would go 9-3 this year.  So far: 2-1.  A solid win over Kansas State on Wednesday.  The defense looks solid.  Especially against the run.  Ron English looks to have imposed a stout defense with this young group.  If he continues to make the Cards a tough defense over the next few years, don't look for him to hang around too long.  Head coaching opportunities will surely be calling.

Ok.  I'm ready to make another bold prediction.  Underline bold.  Emphasize it.  Scream it, if you must.  Ready?

World Series:  Dodgers v. Angels.  An all LA affair.  That was bold wasn't it?  Before you laugh, let me reason with you.  On the AL side, it looks like Boston is going to be making the trip out to LA to face the Angels in the first round.  Point to the Angels.  Rays will most likely face the White Sox.  This one is tough.  I like the Rays.  They have proven themselves to be worthy of their division title (haven't won it yet, but it is inevitable).  None the less, whoever wins this series will lose to the Angels.

Now for the more ridiculous side.  The NL is mediocre.  Everyone thinks the Cubs are great because they have an inflated record against sub-par competition.  Zambrano?  Great, you threw a no-hitter.  Congrats to you.  Then you go follow that up by going 1 and 2/3 innings giving up 8 runs.  Nice.  I guess that elbow problem is back.  I'm not quite sure how the NL matchups are going to play out, but with the NL, it's all about the hottest team.  See: the NL world series participants for the last 5 years.  The Dodgers are 16-4 since August 30.  Therefore, the Dodgers will make it to the series.

Before I go on to my NFL picks this week, I just wanted to tell you to look out for my latest publication (not on this blog).  I have been invited to do a guest column in the TWIB (the University of Kentucky's College of Law premier publication).  The title?  "True Life:  I'm a Law School Boyfriend."  Make sure editor Anna Girard hears from you.  She was a little unsure if she wanted to offer me the column, and I'm still not sure she will.  Send her an email at anna.girard@gmail.com to tell her to let me do this.  If all goes well, maybe a book deal, movie...who knows.

Now for the picks.

Last week: 9-6

Season: 19-11

FALCONS over Chiefs.  The Chiefs looked bad last week.  Especially playing at home.  Those Chiefs fans are crazy.  One of the guys I worked with in Indiana was a Chiefs season ticket holder.  He would drive to KC every other weekend to go the games (8 hour drive).  Like I said, Chiefs fans are crazy.

BILLS over Raiders.  I wish I could watch this game.  My boy Michael Bush had 90 yards and his first NFL TD last week (a 32 yard run; fast forward to about 3 minutes in to see the run).  Justin Fargas and Darren McFadden missed practice this week, so Bush could be the featured back against the Bills.

BEARS over Bucs.  Kyle Orton has a funny lookin beard.  It looks like he just came out of the Jumanji.

VIKINGS over Panthers.  No way the Vikes start 0-3.  Wait, I forgot.  Gus Ferotte is the QB.  I hope he doesn't try any left handed passes).

PATRIOTS over Dolphins.  This is too easy.

TITANS over Texans.  Have I picked a road team yet?  The Titans look Super Bowl good, except for their QB.  We'll see how Kerry Collins holds up over the course of the season.

Cardinals over REDSKINS.  The Cardinals look solid this year.  Kurt Warner is old.

49ERS over Lions.

SEAHAWKS over Rams.  The Seahawks look worse than anyone thought so far this year.  But they are playing the Rams.  As bad as they have played, they are still favored by 7.

BRONCOS over Saints.

EAGLES over Steelers.  "Just pick Philly because it's not Pittsburgh." -Court.  Consider it done.

COLTS over Jags.  Another tough one.  But I can't see the Colts losing two straight at home.

RAVENS over Browns.  I hate both of these teams.  I shouldn't have to pick this game.

PACKERS over Cowboys.  The Pack is surprisingly good this year, and the Cowboys are on the road.  Edge to the Packers.

Bengals over GIANTS.  I just can't pick against my team.  I know they are overmatched.  But I've got to believe they are going to play better than they have the first two weeks.

Summary:  I picked two road teams.  And one of them was my team, which I don't really believe can actually win their game.  This could blow up in my face.

He's gonna wake up in a smoothie

The Big East is horrible. I'll be the first to tell you, I'm a huge Big East homer. I'll tell you that they really aren't that bad, and they have good depth (see up and coming UConn/Cincy/USF). But after watching WVU get pounded by East Carolina...I can't even come up with the words. They are treading in dangerous territory. The first two weeks of the season, they have 1 win over a team from the artist formerly known as Division 1-A. The team? UConn beat Temple. 12-9. Yikes. Let's hope that some credibility can come to the conference in the form of South Florida beating Kansas this weekend.

So much going on in the sports world right now, I can't even think about what to write. I guess it goes without saying that the Bengals looked as bad as Big East football on Sunday. Joe Flacco ran for a 40-yd touchdown. Ran. I thought Mike Zimmer was supposed to fix this defense. They gave up 200 yards to a rookie running back, and some other no namer. Did I mention that 6 foot 5 inch, not fast Joe Flacco had a 40 yard TD run? I don't think I did.

You heard it here. Louisville will finish 9-3 this season. I think they will rebound from the 2 point showing. The receivers will come around. Cantwell will settle in. And the defense will play well enough to give the offense the chance to win. They have four very winnable games (Kansas State, UConn, @Memphis, Middle Tennessee), before their game at home vs USF.

I like football and everything, but I'm really looking forward to basketball season. What the Big East lacks in football prowess will be made up in a huge way in basketball. At least 4 teams will be ranked in the top 10 to open the season (Louisville, UConn, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh). Dick Vitale picked the Cards as #2 behind UNC.

Enough with the rounds. Let's get to what I wanted to talk about.

Sports fans are crazy. I mean absolutely insane. There is nothing like a devoted fan. Within the course of their team's season, each fan experiences a wide range of emotions:
-Anticipation. Every season starts out the same. Everyone is optimistic. Even Raiders fans. There is nothing like the anticipation to start a new season. Much like a crappy golfer anticipates his best round coming up this weekend, or the compulsive gambler that thinks he's gonna hit it big on the pick-6 at the track this weekend.
-Depression. This can sometimes immediately follow the anticipation (Louisville losing to UK to start the year), or can be a gradual realization that your team just isn't gonna make it that year (for some reason, my teams make me feel this a lot).
-Jubilation. Usually follows a big win over a big rival. Many times this win has playoff implications. Examples: Louisville over WVU in 2006. Any time the Bengals beat the Steelers.
-Outrage. This is usually directed at the coach(es). Like many people are (wrongly) at Steve Kragthorpe right now.

Those are just a few examples. As you can see, it's quite the roller coaster. But these emotions are precisely the reason that sports fans are so crazy. These things cause people to literally fall in love with their teams; as soon as a team begins to betray them, they go absolutely nuts.

A perfect example of this occurred last week. I was listening to the Afternoon Underdogs on 790AM. In light of Louisville's poor start to the season, people were calling and emailing the show claiming to have a fix of the team. Their fix? Fire Steve Kragthorpe. This is so completely outrageous, I don't even know where to begin. The man has coached this team for 14 games. Give him time, let him get his players. This man came in here with players he didn't recruit. He had to convince these people here that he was the coach for them. Last season was the try on period. A lot of players left, some players were dismissed. But who is left has really rallied behind him. Give him a few more years and you'll see good things. If we don't, then we can talk firing. People, however, are impatient. This reasoning just doesn't work for them. So let me give you another. Firing college coaches mid season does no good at all. None (execption: Syracuse). In fact, it only sets the team back. The players left are usually the players that were loyal to the coach. Players that came to that school because of the coach. With that coach gone, what do the players have to play for? The incoming coach only has a harder job to win over these players, and the season is now lost.

Firing coaches mid-season can work in the NFL. Players don't pick their teams like they do in college. Players aren't emotionally involved in their teams. But in college, it's just different. Firing Kragthorpe will do this season no good.

These people that are calling for Kragthorpe's job are the same people that called in and told UK fans to take it easy, give Gillispie time to get his players, and they will be good. Sports fans are hypocrites. Add that to the emotions list.

Why people hate Cubs fans. Be sure to read some of the comments to refute some of the arguments this guy makes against Cincinnati. I don't want to waste your time more than I already did today.

On to the NFL Picks

Last week: 10-5. Pretty good for my first attempt. Home team in Caps.

Who Cares?
CHIEFS over Raiders. When in doubt, take the home team. Talk about a toilet bowl pick of the week. Note: when Damon Huard is backing up Brody Croyle, you don't have a good quarterback situation.

Giants over RAMS. The Rams scored 3 points last week. I'm not sure they are going to get much more against the G-men.

Cardinals over DOLPHINS. Kurt Warner goes against Chad Pennington in the NFL's largest retirement community.

SEAHAWKS over 49ers.

BUCS over Falcons. Matt Ryan was a fluke.

Saints over REDSKINS. The Redskins are bad. I mean, bad. Not like when the urban people say bad and it means good. I mean they aren't a good football team.

PANTHERS over Bears.

TEXANS over Ravens.

Slight Caring
Steelers over BROWNS. I would love to see the Browns win this game. But I just don't think it will happen.

BRONCOS over Chargers. I called it. Shawn Merrimans knee stopped working. Their defense will have a hard time recovering.

Packers over LIONS. Jon Kitna has small hands. Like a carney.

VIKINGS over Colts. Colts start 0-2. Whoda thunk it? Bandwagon Colts fans get what they deserve.

Patriots over JETS. Matt Cassell's first start since high school. When you have Randy Moss on your team, you are instantly better. See Daunte Culpepper.

Bills over JAGS. The Bills looked scary good last week. Look for them to continue dominating.

Eagles over COWBOYS. Andy Reid is 6-3 vs the Cowboys. The Eagles are a good team this year. Deshaun Jackson adds another level, and Donovan McNabb might be the best fantasy QB in the league this year.

The Bengals
BENGALS over Titans. Vince Young's emotional issues drag down the team. I'm confident the Bengals will rebound from an ugly outing against the Ravens. I'm predicting a 15-1 finish.

What to watch for next week: The Ryder Cup in Louisville. How cool is it that a worldwide event is being held in Kentucky? Anyone have tickets?

Hear them Bengals growlin, mean and angry...

WOW. So it's been a while. Glad to be back. Thank you for your warm welcome.

Please, please, be seated. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Well, I'm back. It seems as though the sports world has once again provoked my interest in writing. Funny how this weird interest of mine corresponds to one of my favorite teams beginning a new season (see my first post about the Reds). Let's hope that my teams do better than the Reds. I've learned my lesson. I think.

In light of how much is going on now, I've decided to expand my sports interest (well, writing) beyond the Reds, Bengals, and Cards. I will make my broad observations about sports as whole. I hope this makes my blog more universally appealing. I will, however, point out that at no time, ever, will the school that I now live nearby be mentioned as the subject of a post (unless it's to call out how ridiculous their fans are). I don't like UK. The one thing I like about UK is the fact that they are educating the one that I hope will support me one day (as in 5 years from now, when I retire). Otherwise, nothing good can be said. I went to the University of Louisville. Deal with it.

In addition to a (hopefully) weekly post, I will be making NFL picks this year, mostly just to see how bad I am at them. I won't be picking against the spread, I'll just be giving the winners, and maybe a short explanation as to why I think a particular team might lose to the Bengals that week. By the way, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced today that the Ultra Bowl will no longer be played. His reason was that the Bengals just end up dominating every team they play anyway, so he went ahead and crowned them Undefeated Champions of Life.

So I think that a nice topic for my glorius return would be a recap of the summer that was in the world of sports.

-The Reds looked promising (as usual) then quickly faded into the bottom of the NL. I don't think the leadership of this club knows what they are doing. At least there is plenty of young talent there to be optimistic about the future (I sound like a broken record).

-Griffey and Dunn got traded. Many people were mad. Many were happy. I...well, I don't really know how I feel about it. Griffey being traded was a long time coming. The Reds weren't going to pick up his option for next year anyway, so might as well get something in return. I'm happy for Dunn and Griffey. They are getting the chance to play for a playoff team. And I will be rooting for them as the season wraps up.

-The Olympics. I've got to say, I actually cared about the Olympics this time around. It was cool. It provided nightly entertainment for 2 weeks. And the American athletes were pretty impressive to watch, especially in 2 sports (which I'm sure you can guess). Swimming was legitimately entertaining. Weird, I know. But watching Michael Phelps do everything from dominate the field to make a last second (well, hundreth of a second) comeback was amazing. I'm not going to lie. I got chills when the relay team came back in the last 50 meters to beat the French team. Their excitement was fun to watch. The second was the men's basketball. I've never seen a team of superstars play like this. Coach K did a phenomenal job of bringing this team together, getting them focused, and playing great defense. I believe that this only solidifies coach K as one of the great basketball minds and coaches of our generation (sorry UK fans, you know it's true).

-The Cubs blew the doors off the NL this summer. Then September came along, and they decided that they were the lovable Cubs who weren't ever gonna get to a World Series. They are falling apart faster than you can say "curse" (or goat). Many of their players are slumping or injured. Lou Pinella's teams have a way of doing this late in the season (with the exception of that fabled wire-to-wire season in which he helped bring a title to Cincinnati). Not to say that the Cubs aren't gonna make the playoffs, because they will. They just won't make it past the first round. Plus, Cubs fans are lame, and bandwagon. If I was from Chicago, I'd be a Sox fan. They are the only ones from Chicago that actually appreciate baseball.

-The NBA Finals. Wait. Does anyone actually care? No? I didn't think so. Who won anyway?

Okay. Enough of the past. Let's move on to the future, like what will happen this weekend across the NFL. Here is my first attempt at the NFL picks (home team in CAPS).

Games Currently Underway
-GIANTS over Redskins. The Giants currently lead 17-6 with 2:00 left in the 4th quarter and the Giants have the ball. I think I'm gonna get this one right.

Games I Care Nothing About
-PATRIOTS over Chiefs. Apparently, Tom Brady's good looks can't win his team Super Bowls anymore, but I think the Chiefs will still be drooling. I'm taking the Pats.

-Jags over TITANS. See the title of this section. I have nothing to say.

-Lions over FALCONS.

-EAGLES over Rams

-SAINTS over Bucs.

-CHARGERS over Panthers. Sean Merriman's knee will fall off, to no surprise of 4 doctos.

-Cardinals over 49ERS. Toilet bowl. Plus the 49ers have a Irish quarterback named O'Sullivan. He'll probably have a flask hidden somewhere in his jersey. There's a reason he was a 3rd string quarterback for the Lions last year.

-COLTS over Bears. Kyle Orton gets that frustrated look on his face when he throws interceptions, and it's quite funny.

-Vikings over PACKERS. The Vikings are a sleeper team this year. Adrian Petersen is good.

-Broncos over RAIDERS.

Games I'll Check the Score of
-Jets over DOLPHINS. This is interesting. Brett Favre (God knows ESPN will be eating this up) takes on former Jets QB Chad Pennington.

-STEELERS over Texans. I hate the Steelers. But they will win here.

-BILLS over Seahawks. I like Buffalo. They need to win this year to keep the team from moving to LA or Toronto.

-Cowboys over BROWNS. I hate Cleavland. They are overrated. Who names their team after a person anyway?

The Bengals
-Bengals over RAVENS. Obviously. The Bengals are going 16-0, hence they will win this game. Plus, Ray Lewis will try to shoot one of the Bengals on the field, and accidentally end up killing one of his own teammates. Plus for the Bengals.

Let's see how this goes. I'm already 1-0 (just kidding, I won't count that first pick). Glad to be back. See you next week.