Forest City Fanatics

"Just win, baby"

2012-01-27T20:52:00.004-05:00

I’ve always been a long-term thinker; it’s just how I’m wired. Cleveland sports are so deeply embedded in my DNA that I probably have John Hart to thank for that.

During my elementary school days I was always thrilled to read news that our beloved Wahoos had inked guys like Lofton, Thome, Ramirez, and Vizquel to long-term deals. Those were sound business decisions and in general it’s probably a good policy to forego instant gratification for a bigger payoff down the road. (There’s definitely a PG-13 joke to be made there, but I have too much journalistic integrity to pull the trigger. You’re welcome.)

“Waiting for next year” has long been the mantra of the Cleveland fan. When you’re six years old, that’s no problem whatsoever. After all, very few of us had much perspective or feel for life’s inherent brevity while we were still wearing short pants.
To say that the last few years have been lean for fans on the North Coast isn’t even an understatement – it’s just wrong. The Indians haven’t had a winning season in five years. The Browns are in the same boat, posting a robust winning percentage of .281 during that timeframe. If memory serves, something bad happened to the Cavaliers a couple years ago, but all I can remember is a rage blackout.

Recently, Cleveland has been on the receiving end of countless jokes. Some of them are founded in truth, but as a good friend of mine frequently points out, most people who trash Cleveland haven’t ever visited the city. (Otherwise known as the Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure corollary. Yeah, I’m a dork.)

Regardless, I’m willing to concede that Cleveland’s rough winters and smaller market don’t make it much of a destination for free agents. This is particularly true in the NBA, where players routinely gravitate towards higher-profile cities like New York and Los Angeles.

Cleveland is a great baseball town when the Tribe is competitive, but the state of Major League Baseball leaves smaller markets like C-Town boxing one-handed when it comes to free agency or even retaining their own quality players. In the NFL, free agents are vastly overpriced and the best ones usually never hit the open market.

My somewhat long-winded point is that for each of the Cleveland teams and their respective circumstances, quality drafting and player development is the best (and sometimes only) way to compete consistently. For the last few years, that grim reality has left me – and I know I’m not alone here – hoping to see some of our lousy clubs post inflated loss totals to improve their draft positions and hopefully return to competitiveness more quickly.

As of today I’m tendering my resignation from that club. I just can’t do it anymore.

The 2011-12 Cavaliers have been a big part of this decision. Sure, it would be great if they could add a premier small forward or shooting guard via the NBA lottery, but that possibility doesn’t help me pass the doldrums of winter any more quickly. Sports are meant to be a pleasant distraction and watching the Browns play out their December schedule hoping that they will come up short leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth.

Obviously we’d all go absolutely crazy if one of our ill-fated teams could somehow win a title. A higher draft pick could help, but teams (especially our teams) whiff on top picks all the time. There are no guarantees.

The fact that we have such an inferiority complex built on years of losing has, frankly, made us all a little too title-centric. Getting to the summit is the goal and if we ever reach that point it will be fantastic, but I’m beginning to believe that the ride is much more important.

For something that we as fans have almost zero control over, it just doesn’t make sense to hope your team is going to lose and take no pleasure in their victories. A few random wins during the regular season probably won’t mean much in the bigger picture of winning a championship, but what they will do is give us some excitement on an otherwise boring Tuesday night in February when there’s a foot and a half of snow on the ground.

I’m going to assume that most people reading this have at least played an organized sport in some form of rec league at some point, and if you haven’t then just bear with me. While it’s great to win league “championships,” the reality is that you often end up on teams that are mediocre or downright awful. You know that there’s little or no chance of being number one, but it’s just fun to compete and take a victory home once in a while.

I’m trying to bring that philosophy to my day-to-day fandom, because making championships the sole impetus for following a team just doesn’t seem like a great investment of my time and sanity anymore. Winning championships is still a big part of following a team, but focusing on rings and trophies can’t trump the simple pleasure of enjoying victories.

There are other arguments I planned on making here; teams rarely go from worst to first overnight, building a winning culture is important, and one player can’t win on his own (not even in basketball), etc. In the end it comes down to the fact that I need to enjoy wins. If I can’t do that, then why invest all this time and emotion?

Although the Tribe certainly has a shot to make the postseason in 2012, it’s likely that Cleveland’s playoff drought will stretch another 2-3 years before a team breaks through. Do you really want to spend all that time hoping the Cavs lose 65 games and that the Indians embarrass themselves badly enough to take a chance on the next Stephen Strasburg? Maybe you can live with that and that’s certainly your prerogative, but because my perspective has shifted (and also because I’ve come this far without hitting my self-imposed quota for Star Wars references), “I’m getting too old for this sort of thing.”

Why the Browns should draft RG3

2012-01-23T11:25:00.005-05:00

Disclaimer: When I originally thought of the idea to write this post, Griffin was still a long shot to be drafted by the Browns at pick four. Now, it seems he may not even be available then, and if he is it's almost consensus that Cleveland will take him. But bear with me anyway and listen to my thought process on the whole situation.

Coming into the 2011 college football season, I had heard of Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III. I knew of him from the previous year as being a fun-to-watch, running QB. I watched him in the opening weekend of the season when he dicked all over the vaunted TCU defense in a 50-48 win. At this point I thought, “He’s going to be a very exciting player to watch all season long” - nothing more.

Early in the season, my brother, Joe, said that the Browns should take Griffin in the first round, and I literally laughed in his face. As you know, Joe has an incredible man-crush on Cam Newton, and I guess he was the first to see Cam 2.0 in RG3. Keep in mind, this was well before anyone else was mentioning him as a first-rounder. I, like most people, saw him as more of a mid-round pick that will probably end up playing WR or RB in the pros, if anything.

As Griffin continued to play outstanding football and put up ridiculous numbers throughout the season, he started gaining more and more national media coverage. By the time he was awarded the Heisman Trophy at season’s end, he was legitimately being considered a top-10 pick. I was still skeptical, questioning how his game would translate to the NFL.

Then RG3 went H.A.M. against Washington in the Alamo Bowl - gaining 350 yards of total offense while scoring twice and not turning the ball over once, en route to leading Baylor to 67 points while shattering NCAA record after record. After seeing this performance, I finally started to give him credit, noticing that he was not just a runner, but that he can really throw the ball as well. I now feel that he might be able to develop into a good NFL QB, but I still don’t think he’s worth the #4 pick of the draft...for any team other than the Cleveland Browns.

The reason I’m going against my gut here is simple: what the Browns are doing isn’t working. That much is obvious. We’ve tried to sign veteran QBs - Jeff Garcia, Trent Dilfer, Jake Delhomme, and they didn’t work. We’ve tried to draft guys in the late first and second round - Charlie Frye, Brady Quinn, Colt McCoy, and they didn’t work.

It is time to do something different. Go nuts. Take a chance. What’s the worst that could happen? What do we have to lose? We go 3-13 instead of 4-12? Who gives a shit? How many rhetorical questions can I ask in a row? The Cleveland Browns need to switch things up, and Robert Griffin III presents the perfect opportunity to do just that.

NFL Picks: Championship Round

2012-01-20T12:00:00.004-05:00

Nick came back to Earth a bit after a 6-0 start, but is still enjoying quite a good playoffs. Is anyone else a bit sad that there are only three football games left?

Last Week
Nick: 2-2
Figgs: 2-2
Joe: 1-3

Nick's $ Picks: 2-2

Playoffs
Nick: 6-2
Figgs: 4-4
Joe: 3-5

Nick's $ Picks: 5-2
Figgs' $ Picks: 2-2

Sunday, 3 pm kickoff

PATRIOTS (-7) vs Ravens
Figgs: ratbirds. I had all intentions of picking the Pats here, then I read Nick's comments. I think he is a lifetime 0-35 when he "chalks it up" or "writes it down" before the game begins. I definitely think (and hope) NE still wins, but I'm okay with picking Balt to keep it within a TD.
Joe: Patriots; For three reasons: 1) The Ravens failed to sack TJ Yates even once. Good luck with Tom Brady. 2) Joe Flacco beat Houston simply by not turning the ball over and letting Yates make the mistakes. His play was awful except for the no picks. That was good enough against a 3rd-string QB that was turnover prone. Good luck with Tom Brady. 3) Cam Cameron either has some kind of beef personally with Ray Rice, or he is simply a moronic play caller. Either way, if Rice doesn't get 20-25 touches, the Rats have no chance in my opinion. All that being said, plus the game being at New England, I like the Pats to cover since Baltimore is simply average on the road this year (4-4).
Nick: Patriots. Baltimore got pushed around on both sides of the ball last week and would have lost had TJ Yates just been mediocre. Now we're putting Joe Flacco on the road, in Foxboro, in a revenge game against an opponent that is going to force the Ravens to play from behind. Flacco can't do it, and this is an easy pick. I'm gloating, and I'm already doing my touchdown dance. ($)

Sunday 6:30 pm kickoff

49ERS (-2.5) vs Giants
Figgs: Niners. I consider this one basically a coin flip, so I figured I'd go against these other two on both games just for funsies. I've really enjoyed watching SanFran all year, especially last week's thriller in New Orleans. Looking forward to a great game either way.
Joe: Giants. I am very conflicted in this game. My initial instinct was to go Giants, then I thought about switching it, but I am so unsure that I decided to stay with my initial instinct. Alex Smith played his best game as a pro last week in outdueling Drew Brees, but I don't see that happening again. If he does the same thing against Eli, than the 9ers deserve to be in the Super Bowl. I just love the Giants pass rush, though, and I think they will put enough pressure on Smith to avoid that happening. I don't think being on the road ever affects the Giants, and I think Manning will make enough plays against a great 49ers defense to squeak out a close win.
Nick: Giants. The Giants have been rolling the last three weeks and just embarrassed a Packers team that came within a few dropped passes of going 16-0. Oh, and the Giants did it at Lambeau. This should be a close, ugly game, but I'm banking on Alex Smith failing to play two great games in a row, and the Niners failing to force eleventy-billion turnovers for the second week in a row. ($ +3)

The 2011 Cleveland Browns

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

I'm sure your first thought upon reading this headline was some variety of the simple question "why"? Or perhaps, "really"?

Yes, I'm really doing this. I'm nothing if not dedicated to my craft. After watching two weekends of quality postseason football (though fewer close games than I would have preferred), I've decided to go back and revisit the Browns' 2011 campaign. I'd like to present a few numbers and then a few impressions of a 4-12 campaign that left the Browns mired in the basement of AFC North and showed that Cleveland still has more questions than answers on the football field right now.

The team numbers
Make no mistake: the Browns earned their 4-12 record. Sure, their pythagorean expected record according to pro-football reference was 5-11, but either way they simply didn't perform on the field. The Browns posted an SRS for the year of -5.4, fourth-worst in the AFC and seventh-worst in the entire NFL. They were 30th of 32 teams in scoring offense with a paltry 13.6 ppg (the Packers led the way with 35 points a contest), topping out at 27 points in a week two victory at Indy. Perhaps surprisingly, their scoring defense (19.2 ppg) was 5th in the NFL. That number was no doubt boosted by the fact that their opponents were invariably leading late in games and had no need to score quick points, but it does indicate that there's at least something there defensively.

The offense was 30th in passing yards and 28th in rushing yards. That's a dynamite combination. Colt McCoy finished the year with a Passer Rating of 75.6 while Seneca Wallace clocked in at 65.4. The oft-injured Peyton Hillis led the club in rushing with 587 yards, but picked up just 3.6 per carry. Greg Little was our top wideout despite all the drops, with 61 catches for 709 yards. This is getting depressing.

The defense was a better unit statistically, but with a huge pass/run skew. The Browns were more effective at pressuring the passer this season, something that translated into allowing the second-fewest passing yards in the NFL this season even with safety TJ Ward inactive for most of the season. Unfortunately, their rush defense ranked 30th; both numbers I think are again indicative of the fact that no one really had to win a shootout against Cleveland this year. Call me pessimistic, but the rush number is more concerning to me than the pass defense is encouraging; a stouter run defense and improvement in our offensive output will no doubt cause a drop in our rank defending the pass. The defensive MVP was D'Qwell Jackson, who recovered from some serious injuries to post a whopping 158 tackles, second-most in the league. His 115 solo tackles were the most in the NFL.

I'm not sure how to best quantify special teams, but you all could see that ours were not nearly as good this year as in recent seasons. Brad Seely must be some sort of magician. The new kickoff rules and perhaps also drops in blocking and his own ability made Josh Cribbs less of a kick return threat, though he did take back a punt, one of his team-high five TD's this year. Brad Maynard was solid all year, averaging 40.5 yards per punt and managing to avoid dropping all but one of them in the end zone. I hate punt touchbacks, and Maynard was an artist at avoiding them. Phil Dawson was typical Awesome Dawson, hitting on 83% of his kicks including an astounding 7/8 from beyond 50 yards. Remarkable.

Impressions
The thirteen football seasons since the franchise's return to Cleveland have been one extended fiasco - we all know that. They've won less than a third of their games (.326) over that span. The Packers won more games this season than the Browns have in their past three combined. But even with that backdrop of sustained struggle, I think this was the worst Browns season since the club returned to the Forest City.

It's not the worst record-wise; that distinction belongs to the '99 (2-14) and '00 (3-13) teams. But those seasons were expansion years, and you expected to take some lumps early on. The thrill of having a team back was still fresh, and we had the Tim Couch (first) Hail Mary game in '99 to get us back in the win column for the first time in four years. Plus we beat Pittsburgh in each of those two seasons, a big old ray of sunshine.

There were three (!) other 4-12 campaigns; 04, 06, and '08, and those weren't particularly enjoyable either. But those seasons all had some moments:

2004: The Browns beat Baltimore 20-3 on Opening Day (the Browns have started 0-1 in each of the other 12 seasons since the return) and had that crazy 58-48 shootout against Cincy. They also had a 99-yard touchdown play and the comedic stylings of Terry Robiskie.

2006: At least we had the novelty of the Charlie Frye experiment and the crazy DA-led win over the Chiefs.

2008: Another terrible year, but at least there was that 35-14 MNF pasting of the defending champion Giants, which this blogger attended. It was something.

And that's the thing: even our worstest years - and there have been a lot - always had something keeping fans' attention. 2011 did not. It was a season of Pat Shurmur looking absolutely befuddled on the sideline, of the offense always coming up a yard short, of Peyton Hillis turning into a drama queen, of losing division games, of blocked kicks...of rubbish. It was the most desultory season in memory, and I think that's in part because the Browns couldn't manage even one memorable win. Can you believe they were 2-1 at one point? Look at the four wins the Browns managed, and the final records of those opponents:

Colts (2-14)
Dolphins (6-10)
Jaguars (5-11)
Seahawks (7-9)

We eked out wins over four bad teams, none of them really all that exciting. The Miami comeback was nice, and the goal-line stands against the monumentally inept Jags were fun, but those were aimless wins over aimless teams. I'm someone who obviously cares about the long-term outlook of the franchise, but who also relishes wins as and when they come along, and the cupboard was remarkably bare on that front this year.

It's hard to tell where improvement will come from next season. We'll probably be on our 73rd QB in 14 years, Shurmur will seem rudderless again...I don't know. All I can hope for is that, if the Browns do submit yet another disappointing campaign, that they throw in something entertaining here and there along the way.

Notebook: Warriors 105, Cavs 95

2012-01-17T09:35:00.000-05:00

The game in 300 words or less
Admittedly, I was nervous about this game, which couldn’t have been more of a trap game if Admiral Ackbar had said it himself. Back-to-back games for the Cavaliers and their fourth game in six nights; the scheduling essentially turned this into the eighth game of the road trip.

Injuries played a factor for both teams, as the Warriors' Stephen Curry and the Cavs' Anthony Parker were both late scratches. The Cavs caught a major break by dodging Curry, who has been nursing a bum ankle. As for Anthony Parker, you really only miss him when he’s gone.

Parker is ideally suited to a bench role, and he doesn’t stuff the stat sheet. That said, he brings stability to a position where the Cavs are woefully thin, provides a three-point threat, and plays decent defense.

The Warriors are playing four road games in five days (this is number three) and the mileage was clearly starting to accumulate. Neither team really made a move to grab this game, as a second quarter lead for the Warriors became a slim lead for the Cavs in the third quarter. It really wasn’t until David Lee stepped up for 13 in the fourth quarter that one team came out and made a run at winning this game, and by that point the Cavs just didn’t have enough offense to fight back.

This game would have been difficult for any team, but for a young Cavs team threatening to overachieve it was a sobering reminder of just how much room for improvement remains.

Irving Watch
Kyrie Irving single-handedly makes the Cavs watchable, even on rough nights like this one. Consider that Irving had a little bit of an “off night,” and he still scored 18 points on just 13 shots. Irving had just five assists against six rebounds, and as good as he’s been there will be games like this when he struggles to take care of the basketball.

Overall, it’s tough to be too upset with him. The knock on Irving coming out of Duke was that he wasn’t a true “franchise player” at the point guard position in the mold of a Chris Paul or a Derrick Rose. Those comparisons are unfair and ludicrous at this point in Irving’s career, but I will go so far as to say that he’s much closer to those big name point guards than I thought he would be.

Ultimately, if Kyrie is only what we’ve seen so far, then he’s still a very useful player. But it Kyrie continues improves like most young players do, well, then it’s going to be a fun decade.

Stat of the game

Turnovers: Cavaliers 25, Warriors 12

That’s the story of the game right there. Both teams ended up with similar shooting numbers and the Cavs actually did some nice work on the offensive glass, but that kind of turnover disparity is difficult to overcome. The Cavs aren’t good enough to beat many teams when they turn the ball over 25 times, and we can safely add the Warriors to that list.

No bell cow
I really hate typing the words “this is a night when the Cavs really could have used LeBron James,” because well, that’s true of almost every team every night. However, this was a night when the Cavs needed a guy who could carry the scoring burden and simply will his teammates to victory, especially in the fourth quarter.

Kyrie Irving might develop into the type of player who can score the tough points late in games with consistency, but we can expect this issue to rear its ugly head more than a few times this season. As much as I love the ball movement of Byron Scott’s offense and believe this team has some significant building blocks in place, there will be nights when they simply can’t score enough to win, and for all their flaws the Warriors are a team that can score, and you need to crack 100 to have a good chance to beat them.

Thompson getting sloppy
As excited as we all were about Tristan Thompson a few weeks ago, he’s been a little overshadowed by Kyrie Irving’s development, and rightfully so. However, our other lottery pick has quietly been a pretty consistent contributor and shows serious flashes of athletic ability in almost every game.

For Thompson, this wasn’t one of his better efforts. Thompsons displayed some classic “I’ve come this far, I might as well throw one up” moves on offense, and his game isn’t nearly polished enough for that mindset to work. At least for the time being, Thompson’s role is to clean the glass on both ends and pick up garbage points when they present themselves.

Erden getting comfortable?
Look who decided to have his best game as a Cavalier? That’s right, it’s Lurch, everyone’s favorite Turk!

I wasn’t a huge Semih Erden fan thus far (I mean honestly, who was?), but he showed more tonight that we had seen so far this season. Erden provided some bench scoring, pouring in 14 points in just over 15 minutes, on only 8 shots.

Just like that, it became clear why the Cavs are giving him every opportunity to play his way into a role. Erden clearly has some talent and moves pretty well for a seven-footer, which the Cavs don’t exactly have coming out their ears. Tonight Erden managed to provide some scoring and an inside defensive presence. Ultimately, that’s all the Cavs are looking for; 15 -20 decent minutes off the bench with some rebounding, defense, and 5-10 points. If Erden can become the second center, filling the role that Ryan Hollins never could, he’ll prove to be a steal. Remember, he and Luke Harangody were acquired from the Boston Celtics for just a 2013 second round pick.

Up Next: Friday January 20th, Chicago Bulls, 7:30 pm

NFL Picks: Divisional Playoffs

2012-01-13T12:00:00.005-05:00

Last weekend, Nick boasted inaccurately that he "always slaughters Wild-Card weekend." A quick check of the historical record (.500 overall the past two seasons, both for all picks and money picks) disproves that claim, but credit where credit is due: Nick crushed this year's postseason opening round, rolling to a 4-0 mark and notching a perfect mark on $ games. Well done! Can the magic continue during the Divisional Round?

That Broncos win was awesome, just wanted to say that again. OK, onto the picks.

Last Week
Nick: 4-0
Figgs: 2-2
Joe: 2-2

Nick's $ Picks: 3-0
Figgs' $ Picks: 2-2

Saturday4:30 pm kickoff

49ERS (+3.5) vs Saints
Figgs: Saints. This was a really tough call for me cause I really like this Niner team and it's on the Bay, but I just don't see anyone slowing down this offense. I've been hoping to see a Saints/Packers rematch in the NFC title game ever since their thriller in Week 1, and I'm counting on getting that wish this weekend. (Side note: You'll notice no '$' this week, as Ohio St, the BCS Championship, and last weekends playoffs games officially sent me to brokeville...until I put more money in my account next season.)
Joe: Saints; Their passing attack should be able to move the ball and produce enough points to win. The 9ers have one of the best run defenses in recent memory, but that doesn't stop what Brees and Sean Payton do best, and that's chuck it. I think San Fran holds the Saints well below their ridiculous 40 point mark, but their offense will not score enough. 27-20, Saints.
Nick: Niners. It's a go-against-the-grain pick, and why not? Everyone wants to write off the Niners, but they have the league's best defense and one of the best special teams units. They will be able to move the ball on a weak Saints defense. They have home field advantage, a week off, and a great coach. Did I mention the Saints are outdoors? This is Saints-Seahawks all over again, but with a much better team. San Fran is the number two seed and they should be insulted to be more than a three-point dog at home. Captain Comeback will have his guys ready to go. ($ +4)

8 pm kickoff

PATRIOTS (-14) vs Tebows
Figgs: Pats. Thank you, Denver, for doing what you did last week. All of us owe you big time. But now let's let the real teams close out these playoffs. NE in a big, big way.
Joe: Broncos!; They can lose by 50 and it won't matter, because they already accomplished everything that I wanted them to in these playoffs. I don't know if the magic can continue this week, but this spread seems way too high. If the Broncos cut out the turnovers that killed them in their 41-23 regular season loss to the Pats, I think they have a shot. That said, I'll take New England to win 31-24, but no way I'm giving that many points.
Nick: Pats. The cinderella story ends here in ugly fashion. A healthy Pittsburgh team easily could've beaten the Broncos by double-digits. Thank the gods they weren't healthy, and let's not forget to mention that they suck. Tom Brady surgically dismantled the Broncos in Denver, and now the Patriots are healthy, rested, and have had extra time to prep. John Elway better bring his bib, because it's going to get messy. ($ -13.5)

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

RAVENS (-9) vs Texans
Figgs: ratbirds. With shitsburgh already out, I would love to see Baltimore join them at home, but I just don't see it happening. Yates is going to get eaten up by this defense. The Ravens may only need to score 10 to cover this.
Joe: Ravens; I don't know how to read this Houston team without Schaub. I was set to take them to go to the Super Bowl with him, and then completely jumped off the bandwagon without him. I think I went too far the other way. Truth is, they're probably somewhere in the middle. If this game was in Houston, even with Yates, I would call for the upset, but Baltimore has been unbeatable at home this year (8-0). So I'll take the Rats to cover, 24-13.
Nick: Ravens. I hate this being over a touchdown, but if the Texans get down by two scores the game is over. Baltimore is undefeated at home and Houston just won their Super Bowl by winning a home playoff game. ($ -7.5)

4 pm kickoff

PACKERS (-9) vs Giants
Figgs: NYG. I like the Packers to win, but by a TD or less. The Giants have been a hard team to figure out all year, and I feel like I've usually been on the wrong side. They could come out and pull an Eli and shock the world and knock of the defending champs, or they could come out and pull an Eli and lay a total egg and lose by 25.
Joe: Giants; I think it could be a similar shootout to their regular season meeting. I love the Packers, but the GMen seem to perform their best in the playoffs as road dogs. I won't be at all surprised if New York pulls off the outright upset, but I like Green Bay, barely, 34-31.
Nick: Pack. This is a couple of points too high, as Green Bay has issues on their offensive line and in the middle of their defense. That said, the Giants have been remarkably inconsistent, and we just don't know which team will show up in Wisconsin. I'm banking on a rested Green Bay team that can mask some of its inadequacies with home field advantage and two weeks to scheme. We'll see what happens. ($ -7.5)

Since none of us is writing anything today...

2012-01-12T17:00:00.001-05:00

Buckeyes Get Chomped

2012-01-09T16:59:00.009-05:00

Well, that season wasn't very fun. Ohio St capped off its worst season in memory by losing to Florida in the Gator Bowl, 24-17. The loss dropped the Buckeyes' record to 6-7, their first seven-loss season since 1897. Yes, over 110 years ago. OSU wasn't entirely outplayed, as the Gators' three touchdowns came on a kickoff return, a blocked punt, and a non-reviewed incomplete pass. The Bucks could never really get their offense going, however, and simply didn't put enough points on the board to avoid a sub-.500 finish.

Game Recap
Ohio St got the first break of the game, when Fla QB John Brantley was hit and seemingly threw an incomplete pass on 3rd and 5 from the OSU 25 on the game's first possession. The play was reviewed, and correctly overruled as a fumble. The break came when the officials gave Ohio St the ball, even though there didn't appear to be a clear recovery. Garrett Goebel did end up with the ball, but the whistle had been blown, several players stopped, and it wasn't until several seconds later that Goebel jumped on it. Nevertheless, Ohio St took over and picked up a few first downs, but the drive stalled and Ben Buchanan's punt went into the endzone for a touchback.

Brantley looked very competent on the next drive, leading the Gators right down the field and throwing a 17-yard TD strike to Deonte Thompson for the first score of the game. The second break (and pretty much everything from here on out) went UF's way this time. Upon replay, it was clear that Thompson never really had possession of the ball, and the play should have been ruled incomplete. The referees never decide to take a second look, and the PAT was good before Luke Fickell was able to plead his case. While Fickell was understandably upset, he didn't seem to handle the situation well, as he could have opted to call a timeout to give the officials an extended chance to take a second look.

Boom Herron took the ball on the first play of the next drive with OSU trailing 7-0, and immediately fumbled. This was another close play, actually was reviewed, but ultimately determined to be the correct call and Florida was given the ball deep in OSU territory. Two plays later, Brantley fumbled for a second time, giving the ball right back to the Buckeyes as the first quarter came to a close.

TE Jake Stoneburner was held out of this game due to an injury, and third-stringer Jeff Heuerman (who?!?) came up with a big 25-yard catch to set up a touchdown pass to DeVier Posey to tie the game. The tie didn't last long, as speedster Andre Debose took the ensuing kick 99 yards to the house (pictured above) to immediately regain Florida's lead. Not only was he untouched, I don't think a Buckeye came within five yards of him. Each team then traded punts, with Ohio St getting the upper hand in the field position, leading to a last-second, 47-yard field goal by Drew Basil to make it 14-10 at halftime.

Ohio St got the ball to begin the second half, but a holding penalty after a couple of first downs hindered the drive and Buchanan was again forced to punt. This time RB Chris Rainey came off the edge and easily blocked it. No white jerseys were to be found as a slew of Gators had the opportunity to scoop the ball and walk into the endzone. I mentioned how I was worried about Rainey's speed and playmaking ability affecting this game, but I was not expecting it to come forth in this type of situation. With the Ohio St offense struggling, Florida's second special teams TD of the afternoon just about sealed this one.

After another Buchanan punt, OSU almost got back into it when Tyler Moeller turned Brantley over for the third time with an interception, but the Bucks gave it right back when Posey fumbled three plays later. Florida had a short field to work with, and added three more points to their lead on a Caleb Sturgis FG to begin the 4th quarter.

On Ohio St's next two, basically do-or-die, possessions, they managed only one first down, that coming off a Florida facemask penalty. With the time all but expired and needing a miracle, Braxton Miller hit Jordan Hall for an 11-yard touchdown. Florida recovered the onside kick attempt and a couple of kneeldowns preserved the 24-17 Bowl victory.

Game Ball
While Ohio St's offense sputtered and special teams self-destructed, the defense played very well. The Buckeyes only gave up 263 yards of total offense while forcing three turnovers. Brantley had a good completion percentage on limited attempts (12/16), but only threw for 132 yards with one touchdown and interception apiece. Similarly, while they didn't completely shut down track star running backs Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps, they held them in check to the tune of 71 and 30 yards, respectively (4.4 and 4.3 YPC). The big thing was that they didn't allow the big play that Florida is accustomed to (again, we're talking strictly defense here, as obviously the special teams allowed two HUGE plays). Rainey's longest run was 11 yards and Demps' went for 10, while wildcat extraordinaire Trey Burton was limited to only 4 carries for 23 yards.

Several players deserve consideration, as John Simon was in the backfield often (as always), Jon Hankins made several tackles, and Tyler Moeller had the INT, but LB Etienne Sabino made the biggest impression on me in this game. He was all over the field, making play after play. At one point, he blew by a lineman and made a vicious tackle on Brantley, injuring both players on the play and prompting my friend to text me, "Sab's got a body count going." With Andrew Sweat moving on, Sabino will be called on to be the leader of next year's linebacking corps.
2011 Gameballs: Miller (3), Herron (2), Roby (2), Simon, Sabino

Big Ten
Another year, and another embarrassing Bowl season for the conference the Buckeyes call home. The Big Ten was well-represented, getting 10 teams into a Bowl game this season. The bad part is they finished 4-6. Not a terrible record, but two of the wins came over Western Michigan (to Purdue) and UCLA (Illinois), two teams finishing the year with a combined 13-14 record. Then of course there's that school up north's overtime victory over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. In typical bitchigan fashion, Va Tech had several missed opportunities throughout the game, as well as a crucial call go against them in OT. can't-tie was just dreadful, completing only 9 of 21 passes and rushing 13 times for 13 yards. His two touchdown tosses were the usual jump balls that somehow the defense never gets, and his interception was an absurdly ugly looking pass.

So really the only good win for the conference came in the Outback Bowl, where Michigan St outlasted Georgia through three overtimes to win 33-30 after trailing 16-0 at halftime. The Big Ten was in four other New Year's Day Bowls, dropping each one. In addition to Ohio St, Penn St was embarrassed by Houston in the Ticket City Bowl, BT newcomer Nebraska was smoked by South Carolina in the Capital One, and Wisconsin put up a fight but couldn't slow down Oregon's ridiculous offense in a 45-38 Rose Bowl loss. In earlier contests, Iowa was stomped by Oklahoma in the Insight Bowl and Northwestern's late push came up short against Texas A&M in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas.

Farewell, Seniors
While this wasn't Ohio St's strongest senior class ever, at least seven big time players will be moving on (hopefully to the NFL). The biggest loss will be on the offensive line, where three-year starters T Mike Adams, C Mike Brewster, and T J.B. Shugarts are all graduating. These guys will not be easy to replace. Also departing from the offense are the two best players, RB Boom Herron and WR DeVier Posey. The good news is that these two were suspended for the majority of the 2011 season so next year's starters will have had experience; the bad news is that the offense didn't exactly flourish when Herron and Posey were sidelined.

Things look much better on the defensive side of the ball, where only two starters (LB Andrew Sweat and S Tyler Moeller) will graduate. Sweat is a huge loss, but the Buckeyes always reload quickly at the linebacker position.

I said at least seven, because two big-time decisions loom this off-season. DL John Simon is the only Buckeye with enough talent to leave Columbus early for the NFL, but I have not heard if he is leaning one way or the other. For all I know he already announced he is coming back. The other concerns Simon's fellow lineman Nathan Williams. Williams is a senior, but missed the entire '11 season. Again, I haven't heard anything on whether he will be redshirted or not or even if he is eligible to be. Williams came into the season with more promise than Simon, and we all know how well Simon played. So if they can both come back, opposing QB's will be doing a lot of running for their lives as these two will be constantly wreaking havoc.

Without hearing much from the experts, Adams, Posey, Brewster, Sweat, and Herron (in that order) could all be decent prospects in my opinion. Posey will be hurt by basically not having a senior season, but I could see him and Adams being 2nd or 3rd round picks. I hope they all make it to the pros, and wish them all luck at the next level - as long as they don't play for Pittsburgh (damnit, Cameron Heyward).

Looking Ahead
I am so over talking any more about this season. It was bad enough to live through it once. Next season, Ohio St has a lot to look forward to (a new coach in Urban Meyer, Brax's continued development), but unfortunately cannot compete for a Big Ten Championship or play in a Bowl game. While the second part of that statement really sucks, it still won't stop me from intensely rooting for the Bucks each and every week.

The defense was good in 2011, but expect it to be back at the very top of the nation next year, especially if Simon and/or Williams return. Jon Hankins, Garrett Goebel, and Adam Bellamy are all very talented and will be back on the line - if you add Simon and Williams to that it just doesn't seem fair for other teams. Not to mention two of the top DL high schoolers committed to OSU.

The linebackers will miss Sweat, but Sabino and Storm Klein should be ready to take the reigns. The secondary will be just loaded with talent and experience but also inconsistency. Due to injuries and suspensions, corners Travis Howard, Bradley Roby, and Dominic Clarke and safeties C.J. Barnett, Christian Bryant, and Orhian Johnson all saw significant minutes this season and all showed lots of promise at times. At other times, they all looked like nothing more than backups.

Offensively, everything revolves around QB Braxton Miller. Brax had some great moments this year, but certainly looked like a freshman. His job will get harder next year, as I mentioned three very reliable linemen are gone. Someone will also need to step up as a go-to receiver. Philly Brown, Devin Smith, and Verlon Reed will have the first crack at it.

Boom Herron has played his last game in the Scarlet and Gray, but running back is the position I'm least worried about. Jordan Hall and Carlos Hyde are fine backs, while not particularly flashy. I have no idea what happened with Jaamal Berry this season and why he never saw the field, but he could be back in the mix next season as well as Rod Smith, a promising back who couldn't crack the rotation with so many quality guys on the depth chart. Super fullback Zach Boren also returns for his final season.

As I said, not playing in a Bowl really blows, but it might give the season a "we have nothing to lose" kind of feel to it, similar to what USC did this year. Add that to having Urban Meyer at the helm and Braxton Miller running the offense, we should be in for an exciting 2012 campaign.

GET EM

NFL Picks: Wild-Card Weekend

2012-01-06T12:00:00.007-05:00

Congratulations once again to Joe, who claimed the FCF picks title in his first season of analyzing the matchups. Note that the final scores are only 255 games and not the correct 256 - we didn't get in picks for the Thursday Week 1 kickoff game. Our players might get a shot to run that one back, though, since Green Bay - New Orleans might well be an NFC playoff tilt here shortly.

But now it's time for the NFL's glorious second season and for all of us at FCF to throw our full support behind the great Tim Tebow. WHY DON'T YOU GO HOME, PITTSBURGH??? YOU CAN'T BEAT DENVER!!!

Last Week
Figgs: 7-8-1
Nick: 6-9-1
Joe: 5-10-1

Figgs' $ Picks: 1-0-1

Final Standings
Joe: 132-112-11
Nick: 120-124-11
Figgs: 117-127-11

Figgs' $ Picks: 22-25-2
Nick's $ Picks: 36-29-5

Saturday
4:30 pm kickoff

TEXANS (-3) vs Bengals
Figgs: Bengals. Like Joe said, just can't justify picking Yates in a playoff game. Still not a huge fan of Cinncy, and I'm sure they'll get smoked in the next round, but A.J. Green and co. willl have enough to get by this battered Texan team. ($)
Joe: Bengals; They have a very good defense and Andy Dalton and AJ Green were a fantastic pair of draft picks (at least one Ohio team can get the draft right). Also, (unlike Nick when it comes to admitting he was wrong about the Falcons being good) I will admit I was wrong on this team for most of this season. I'll take the Bungles for these reasons, and because I simply don't feel comfortable taking either TJ Yates or the dreadful Jake Delhomme.
Nick: Texans. Houston is balanced, at home, and that place will be loud. ($)
Andy: Man, do I ever want to see Jake Delhomme in a playoff game this year.

8 pm kickoff

SAINTS (-10.5) vs Lions
Figgs: Saints. Lot of points, but those numbers that Andy gave us are staggering. And to Andy's point, I was going to bet on the game either way, just wasn't sure if I wanted to lay that many points. After a quick debate with myself, I went in the direction of Brees. ($)
Joe: Saints; A lot of points, but this is the worst possible matchup for an exciting Lions team to get. I would have picked them to win outright against the Giants or Falcons, but this is a game I can see the Saints winning like 45-28. I'll swallow the points here and watch New Orleans "Brees" into the next round. (I'll be here all night, folks.)
Nick: Saints. ($ -10)
Andy: New Orleans AVERAGED more than 43 points per game at home this season. Is that even something you can comprehend? Seriously: 30, 40, 62 (!), 27, 39, 31, 45, 45. The MOST points the Browns scored at home in a game this season: 17. Are we sure this is even the same game?

Also, as of me writing this, Figgs has the "$" next to his name but has not entered a pick. Awesome.

Sunday
1 pm kickoff

GIANTS (-3) vs Falcons
Figgs: ATL. C'mon, was there any doubt. I don't like the Giants' inconsistency, I do like the Dirty Birds. ($)
Joe: Falcons; I really like the Giants and a lot of their players, but they have been way too inconsistent for me to feel comfortable picking them. ATL, on the other hand, is the model of consistency. Give me Ryan, White and the dirty birds to get the outright win on the road. (Since I nailed the exact score of the Saints game, I decided to add score predictions to the Sunday games as well). 23-21 Falcons
Nick: Giants in a late switch. Everyone's picking the Falcons here and just ignoring that this is an obvious pick for the Giants. Playoff home game giving only the standard three points, outdoors, with the Giants playing pretty well the last four weeks. I'm not going to over think it or get cute, this a classic "take the home team and don't look back" game. ($)
Andy: The conventional wisdom last week was that Dallas would complete their late-season fade, and that the Giants pass rush would cause all sorts of trouble for Tony Romo. Sometimes the conventional wisdom is right. Has anyone ever seen Jerry Jones NOT wearing a suit?

4 pm kickoff

BRONCOS (+9) vs steelers
Figgs: Broncos. Fuck you, pittsburgh. I will be fully rooting for Tebow for the first time ever. ($)
Joe: Broncos; I don't see any realistic way the Broncos pull off this win, but everything Timmy T has done this year has been beyond realistic, so I'm saying there's a chance. Taking emotion out of it, however, (which is impossible to do when the Steelers are involved), I seriously think Denver will keep it within the point spread. Ryan Clark will be missed more than people will give him credit for, and the Donks defense should keep this to a low scoring game. I too will be Tebowing on Sunday hoping they do more than keep it close though. Come on Denver! (14-6 douchers).
Nick: Donks. Yup.
Andy: I will be Tebowing all day long if the Broncos can somehow topple the steelers in this one. Can we PLEASE not have another goddamn Baltimore-Pittsburgh AFC Championship game?

Life's a Brees

2012-01-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

New Orleans QB Drew Brees set the single-season passing record in 2011, throwing for 5476 yards and easily eclipsing Dan Marino's 1984 mark of 5084. Ordinarily, this accomplishment would be highly celebrated, but I've found that this one has come with more caveats than kudos. "Of course someone broke the record," people are saying - the NFL's modern rules make it much easier to pass for a lot of yards. Marino had to do it at a time when more hitting of receivers and quarterbacks was allowed, while today's lax rules have resulted in a proliferation of 4000+ yard passers. Brees' "record" thus isn't nearly as impressive as Marino's. It's a sham. On this topic, Bill Simmons writes:

Was it right that I didn't get excited about Drew Brees' new passing yards record? It reminds me of Oscar Robertson averaging a triple-double, or any of the Bonds/McGwire home run records; it's impossible to separate the era from the accomplishment itself. When Dan Marino threw for 5,084 yards in 1984, you were allowed to (a) pummel the QB every chance you had, (b) dive at the QB's knees as he was throwing the ball, (c) crush any receiver coming over the middle, and (d) jam receivers at the line by any means necessary, even if you had to use a crowbar or a chainsaw. It was impossible to throw for 5,000 yards back then. Only two other 1984 QBs cracked 4,000 yards (Neil Lomax and Phil Simms); nobody else cracked 3,800 yards; and only five guys even attempted 500+ passes (Marino's 564 was the highest). In 2011? Ten QBs will crack 4,000 yards; six will crack 4,500 yards; two (including Tom Brady) will crack 5,000 yards. Heading into Week 17, ten 2011 QBs have already thrown more than 500+ passes, with Brees leading the way with 622. It's a totally different game. Heading forward, we're going to see multiple QBs throw for 5,000 yards every season … right?

All of this is true...except that it's not.

The key misstatement that Simmons makes is that, "it's impossible to separate the era from the accomplishment itself." This is quite simply not true - the league and individual statistics are so readily available that there's no excuse for making a statement like this. Baseball has taken it further, with numbers like WAR and Win Shares that translate across eras. There's a little more heavy lifting to be done in football, but it's very much possible to consider various achievements with respect to their eras. Consider Robertson's triple-double that Simmons cites; I've seen articles explaining how, once you adjust for posessions per game, LeBron's numbers far exceed the Big O's. That's an inverse situation from Brees/Marino, because it's actually gotten more difficult, but the point is that you can readily make that comparison with available information. And Bonds and McGwire did steroids - I have no idea what he's trying to gain there.

Yes, the rules have made passing easier in today's NFL than it was 27 years ago (except, apparently, if you're the Cleveland Browns), and it's fair to discount Brees' gaudy numbers somewhat on that basis. But have those casually dismissing his achievement (and, for that matter, the stellar season of Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers) bothered to actually look at the numbers? This is the kind of lazy non-analysis typically performed by people who can't be bothered to look up or understand an OPS+ - I'm dismayed to see this insidious mode of thinking has made its way into football as well.
First, a quick comparison across eras:

1984
League Average Passer Rating: 73.2
League Average YPG passing: 205.9

2011
League Average Passer Rating: 82.5
League Average YPG passing: 229.7

Again, I'm not disputing that teams have become more adept and efficient at piling on passing yards - they clearly have based on these figures, and the rule changes have no doubt aided that transition. I am saying, though, that you need to make a baseline comparison before just sloughing off a guy who threw for over 350 yards a game. I mean, what if Brees threw for 100000 yards this year? Would it still not be a significant accomplishment? Is Marinos's record always going to be the height of quarterbacking, no matter what, because of these rule changes that took place? Of course not - a shrewd analyst compares across eras and evaluates from that standpoint. Knowing the differences between seasons, let's compare our elite passers to that season's averages:

1984
Marino Passer Rating: 108.7 (+35.5)
Marino YPG passing: 317.8 (+111.9)

2011
Brees Passer Rating: 110.6 (+28.1)
Brees YPG passing: 342.3 (+112.6)

Rodgers Passer Rating: 122.5 (+40)
Rodgers YPG passing: 309.5 (+79.8)

The pro-Marino argument typically rests on how much better he was than any other QB when he set his mark, and indeed he exceeded the league-average YPG by just under 112 yards a contest. That's a lot. Drew Brees, slacker that he was, playing in today's wildly inflated conditions, only managed...just over 112 YPG more than league-average. Inasmuch as the record in question was for passing yardage, this seems the most relevant number, no? I mean, if Brees passed for exactly 5085 yards, then we'd write a different story, but since he outpaced his league by basically the same number as Dynamic Dan, can we maybe give the guy a little bit of credit for passing for 400 more yards than anyone ever?

Rodgers may not have amassed the same yardage (in part because he sat Week 16 while Matt Flynn shredded the Detroit defense for over 500 yards), but his season also compares favorably to Marino's epic '84 campaign. Again, the whole Marino case rests on differences between eras, on how much better his numbers were than his peers', and his advantage of 35.5 Passer Rating points over the NFL average is indeed remarkable. Well, Rodgers' edge was 40, and his yardage disadvantage with respect to Brees and Marino probably has something to do with the Packers firebombing teams week in and week out and running late to seal wins.

The point of this piece isn't to knock Marino - I've liked Marino since I sported a #13 Dolphins jersey as a kid. In fact, I basically feel the same way about Brees now as I did Marino in the '80's. I don't have a horse in this race, other than gaining proper understanding. I actually think Marino's combination of yardage and efficiency, relative to the competition, actually gives his season a slight edge over the NFC's top two gunslingers. The point I'm making is that Brees' accomplishment is impressive after one actually accounts numerically for the differences between 1984 and 2011, instead of simply citing those differences and declaring Marino the unimpeachable best.

The Downtown Report: 2011 in Cleveland Sports

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

That was tough.

By "that," I mean the past 12 months of sports for those of us who support the three Cleveland pro teams and the Ohio State Buckeyes. As I wrote a month ago, this past 365 was the worst collectively for our clubs in the past 25 years with the exception of 1991, a year that 2011 paralleled quite closely. I'm not looking forward to 2031 one bit.

But just because doesn't mean we didn't claim a whole lot of championship hardware doesn't mean we didn't have our share of fun moments in 2011. OK, maybe not the Browns. But generally speaking, a 47-year pro championship drought hardens you to the realities of losing and helps you develop a skill for finding joy in smaller victories. We've got a long way to go before we turn into those steeler fans who can't deal with a team that *only* wins 11 games in a season.

Let's look back on some of the good times we managed to eke out in 2011 and look ahead to a better 2012.

Tribe
The Indians finished 2011 wth an 80-82 mark, second place in the AL Central but a whopping 15 games back of first-place Detroit. But as far as mediocre seasons go, this was one heck of a fun campaign. The Tribe stormed out of the gate, peaking at a stunning 30-15 before falling back to earth and eventually being overtaken by the Tigers (but not the White Sox - ha!) Cleveland was in the division hunt until late August, certainly more than most expected from the young Wahoos.

As I wrote back in October, the Indians' 2011 was filled with magic moments. I'd encourage you to read that article and see if you don't get a little wintertime Tribe fever. Think about the big wins:
- The early sweep of Boston
- The 14-game home winning streak
- The sweep of Detroit with three straight come-from-behind wins including Carlos Santana's iconic grand slam
- Hafner's walk-off home run against Seattle and walk-off Slam against Toronto
- Sweeping Pittsburgh
- Walk-offs from rookies Cord Phelps and Jason Kipnis
- LaPorta salvaging Tribe Weekend with a walk-off
- A July 4 win over the Yankees
- Santana walking off again for victory #80.

Lots of memorable moments for a season that ended up pretty close to .500. It's hard to tell what to expect from the 2012 bunch, but as presently constructed I don't see them besting that mark by much. Masterson and Jimenez should anchor the top of the rotation, but how effective can Carmona, Lowe, Tomlin, and the rest be? Will the Bullpen Mafia maintain their high level of play and avoid the bullpen volatility that seems to strike the Indians every other year? Can they fill their hole at 1st base and get enough production from the lineup? Can Sizemore and Hafner stay healthy?

Some of the questions will probably resolve themselves positively and others negatively, so I see the Indians probably treading water in 2012. Even if that is the case, let's hope that campaign is filled with as many special moments as this one was.

Browns
Back in January, I wrote that, "Nothing about the Browns' Pat Shurmur hire makes me especially optimistic," and I wish I hadn't been so right. Just prior to the season, I wrote a scathing assessment of the Browns in an email to a steeler fan buddy of mine. Let's take a look at how I did:

The Browns are going to suck this year.
Yep.

The only reason they seem like they might be OK is they have a weak schedule, but as I wrote on the blog recently, strength of schedule is pretty much a mirage in the NFL. Last year we opened with KC and TB and those looked like easy W's and then both of them ended up winning 10 games, including one each against the Browns of course.
I stand by this. Teams that looked like potential W's, like Oakland, Tennessee, Cincy, San Fran, and Houston, all turned out to be playoff-caliber teams, and clubs we expected to be tough outs like Pittsburgh and Baltimore turned out to be exactly that. The four teams we did beat have a combined winning percentage of .313, which is terrible.

We hired our head coach Pat Shurmur mostly because our team President used to coach with his uncle Fritz. His biggest accomplishment: O-coordinator on a team that's won 8 games in the past 2 years.
The opening remark there is a glib overstatement, of course, but the nepotism angle didn't sit well with me then or now. Shurmur's work this year has been universally panned, as he's basically looked befuddled and lost all year and shown no indication of above-average leadership. There'll be at least another year for Paddy to prove my concerns unfounded, but signs are not good.

McCoy has some promise, but he's still green and will probably make tons of mistakes, like any young QB with no weapons, running game, or protection.
I wouldn't change one word of this, though I failed to anticipate he'd miss three games after a cheap shot from a player who deliberately violates league rules in an effort to deliver concussions to opponents.

Hillis is guaranteed to be hurt by midseason. He runs too hard and the Browns give him the ball too much. He also has giant arms and fumbles too much. He's a total one-year wonder - anyone who took him in fantasy should be regretting it. Unfortunately we have no other decent backs, and we got rid of our excellent fullback Vickers too.
Um...could I have gotten this any more right?

Joe Thomas' signing was monumentally stupid; he was below-average last year and is probably on the decline, so we lock him up for the most money of any lineman for seven years. We'll do the same for Hillis, I'm sure. Steinbach is hurt. I have no idea who we will fill out the line with. McCoy will be running for his life all year.
Mostly right, though I was too hard on the Thomas signing. I do think we overpaid for #73, but he is a solid, dependable player. My misgivings about the line were well grounded.

Tight end is actually a strength. WR is pathetic though; unheralded rookie Greg Little is probably our #1. Don't expect many points from Cleveland this year.
Check, check, check.

Kick return was a strength for us, and now the NFL effectively banned kick returns. Our punter tore his achilles in training camp and will miss all year. Phil Dawson is awesome at least.
The rule change didn't take as big of a bite out of KR's as I thought, but Josh Cribbs hasn't been as electrifying in years past. Reggie Hodges' injury was worrisome, but Brad Maynard filled in nicely. I can't say enough good things about a punter who committed all of one touchback this year, and that on a weird bounce on a 63-yard kick into the wind. Phil Dawson is, indeed, awesome.

Our D will suck like it does every year. We switched to a 4-3 and don't have the personnel at all for it on the line or behind it. No depth whatsoever, and only two competent d-backs.
D was a little better than I anticipated, although they allow 150 ypg on the ground, 30th in the NFL. Taylor and Sheard were nice additions to the line, and D'Qwell Jackson had a remarkable bounceback campaign. But beyond #52 the 'backers are not strong, and the lack of depth in the secondary was correct and hurt by TJ Ward's absence.

Lucky to win 6 this year.
And......not lucky.

A preview of 2012 is a fairly futile exercise at this point, as we don't know who will be under center or how the draft will shake out. But you'll be able to knock me over with a feather if they improve the talent (and coaching) enough to get above .500 next year.

Buckeyes
Where do I even start?

The basketball team had a fantastic season, cruising to a 32-2 mark and claiming their second straight Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles. They reached the Sweet Sixteen before suffering a heartbreaking loss to Kentucky in the Regional semis. Still, another banner year for the Buckeye hoopsters, who are currently ranked #2 in the nation.

Then there's the football program. Things started great with a thrilling Sugar Bowl win over Arkansas, then all hell broke loose. The suspensions. The departure of Jim Tressel. The self-imposed sanctions. The NCAA-imposed additional sanctions. The guy from Cleveland Strikes Back sending about 10000 psychotic anti-Luke Fickell hate tweets. It was a strange year.

It was, of course, a disappointing year, given the lofty expectations and recent track record of the Buckeye football program, as OSU went just 6-7, posted a losing record in conference play (only the sixth such season in the past 67 campaigns), dropped seven for the first time since '97 (1897), and lost to a school up north for the first time since 2003.

Yet even with all the turmoil and with a young team including freshman QB Braxton Miller, the Buckeyes pulled off a couple of signature victories. First was a 17-7 win in Champaign against then-#16-ranked Illinois, right on the heels of the soul-crushing loss in Lincoln. Notably, OSU claimed the Illibuck by completing precisely one pass.

Then there was the thrilling 33-29 win over #12 Wisconsin, puncutated by Miller's amazing 40-yard go-ahead TD strike to Devin Smith. If nothing else (and there wasn't much), that play made the whole 2011 season of Buckeye football worth it.

Figgs has expertly laid out what the near future holds for Ohio State athletics, so I'll defer to his wisdom there. I will say that optimism is high headed into the New Year for both the hoops and gridiron squads. The basketballers are loaded and should make some noise in the NCAA tournament, while the football team will benefit from Braxton Miller's development and the addition of a top-flight coach in Urban Meyer.

Cavs
The first year for the Cleveland Cavaliers after the departure of their former star player was rocky. Real rocky. Not as rocky as Kelly Dwyer's comical 12-win prediction, but 19-63 is a hard row to hoe. I'll admit it right here: I forgot how long their NBA-record winning streak was and had to look it up. Do you remember how many in a row they dropped?

26.

Yep, it was that many, and that string followed a win that snapped a run of 10 straight losses, meaning the Cavaliers actually had a period where they lost 36 of 37 games. They went four months without winning a road game. Unbelievable.

But weirdly, the 2010-11 season was kinda fun. There were some really memorable games, as I documented in my season recap. Don't believe me? Check it out:
- The season-opening win of the defending East Champion Celtics
- Mo Williams nailing a game-winning J right in Brandon Jennings' face
- The 126-119 overtime win over the Clips that finally snapped the streak, legitimately one of the greatest sporting events I've ever attended. The atmosphere was amazing.
- Toppling the Lakers at the Q in February.
- Handling the Knicks at home in an FCF-attended contest

And, of course, easily the greatest moment of the season, the cathartic 102-90 whipping of the villainous Miami Heat. Warm and fuzzy, all around. Thinking of that game still makes me smile.

There were still the Playoffs to enjoy, and the Dallas Mavericks did everyone in America a solid by denying the Heat a championship by notching a six-game Finals win. Couple that with the Cavaliers nabbing Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson in the Draft. Compared to where Cleveland basketball was in February, the laughingstock of the league with a vitriolically-despised rival on track to win it all, things improved dramatically.

And now that the lockout has ended, we have the new-look 2011-12 Cavaliers on the floor. Expectations are low, and I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the club. This season is really about Irving and Thompson, and seeing if one or two other guys emerge as potential contributors. They'll very likely be a lottery team again, and that's alright, but in the meantime I'll enjoy the action and bask in the wins when they do happen.

And hate on the Heat, can't forget that.

Thanks for reading anything any of us at FCF wrote in 2011, and here's to a prosperous new year in Ohio sports.

Buckeye Roundup

2011-12-31T15:00:00.000-05:00

2011 was far from a banner year from our Buckeyes, but I'm not here to look back. The basketball squad is impressing and the gridiron gang will be looking to kick off 2012 the right way, with a win over Florida in the Gator Bowl.

More like Gay-tor
Even with a lackluster season and 6-6 record, Ohio St will still be bowling on New Year's Day (technically January 2nd, due to the 1st falling on NFL's Sunday). The Buckeyes will be headed to Jacksonville, Florida to take on Florida in the Gator Bowl. No, it's not a coincidence that Florida shares it's nickname with the name of the Bowl - they play their home games a mere 60 miles from where this one will be played. Despite the home-field advantage, I like this matchup for the Buckeyes, because frankly I think Florida blows.

The Gators finished the regular season on a 2-6 stretch, their two wins coming at home against Furman and SEC doormat Vanderbilt. In the finale against arch-rival Florida St, the Gators looked pathetic on offense in the 21-7 loss, with QB John Brantley tossing three INTs before leaving the game with a concussion. Braxton Miller's passing woes have been well documented this season, but he enters the game with more touchdowns and fewer interceptions than his senior counterpart.

With Brantley's struggles, the Florida offense revolves around super-speedsters in the Percy Harvin RB/WR mold - Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps. Rainey comes in touting over 1100 yards of total offense, while Demps has a team-high six TDs. Ohio St has struggled this season containing guys with track star speed (fuck you, can't-tie), so certainly these two will be the focal point of the Buckeye defense.

On the Buckeye side of the ball, you have to think that the five weeks of practice since their last game has helped get DeVier Posey back into the game after missing the first 10 weeks of the season due to multiple suspensions. Ohio St is a different offense with this monster on the field, and I expect Miller to be looking his way early and often. Boom Herron, who missed the team's first six games, was back in full swing by season's end and should get a heavy workload in this one. These two have had fantastic careers in the scarlet and gray, and I expect them to finish strong after tumultuous senior campaigns.

If Ohio St can limit the big plays from Rainey and Demps, Brax and the OSU offense shouldn't have to produce a lot of points to come home with a third straight Bowl win. John Simon will be looking to pressure Brantley into making mistakes, and the suspect but opportune Buckeye secondary could have a field day.
Prediction: Ohio St 25 Florida 13

All-Conference
For the second straight season, the Buckeyes were not well-represented on the All-Big Ten teams. DL John Simon was the lone man on the first-team, with C Mike Brewster, T Mike Adams, LB Andrew Sweat, and DB C.J. Barnett representing on the second-team. RB Boom Herron, G Jack Mewhort, TE Jake Stoneburner, and DT Big Jon Hankins were all thrown a bone for honorable mention.

While it's disappointing to see so few Ohio St players on these lists, you can't really argue the selections. The only one with a real gripe would be Sweat being left off the first team. Without the suspensions, Adams, Herron and DeVier Posey would surely have been first-teamers.

Bowl Ban
Monday's Gator Bowl will be the last Bowl game for the Buckeyes for quite some time, as the NCAA finally levied their sanctions on the OSU football program from the ink-for-merch scandal that broke last December. Ohio St will face a one-year Bowl ban for next year's 2012 season, as well as an additional year of probation and a loss of three more scholarships on top of the two years probation and loss of five scholarships that Ohio St self-sanctioned.

If OSU would have self-sanctioned a Bowl ban this season, which was basically a waste anyway, they may have been let off the hook for next season. But really, it could have been worse. Braxton is still a year away anyway and this will give Meyer two years of recruiting to get his players in. Ohio St may have had a chance at the Big Ten next year, but a National Title was quite a long shot. If Miller can improve next season as he has throughout this season, and Meyer is the recruiting genius we expect him to be, Ohio St could head into the 2013 season as one of the favorites to win it all.

Basketball
With all the attention surrounding the Gator Bowl, Urban Meyer, and the NCAA sanctions, Ohio St's basketball program isn't getting talked about much, but they have quietly put on quite an impressive performance this season. They currently stand at 13-1 (1-0 in Big Ten) and are ranked #2 in the nation. Their only loss came on the road against a very good Kansas team without Jared Sullinger.

In my Basketball Preview, I mentioned how Will Buford and Deshaun Thomas are not shy about shooting, and their shot selection could be a big factor in OSU's success this season. Well, nearly halfway through the season - so far, so good. Buf is using his reputation as quick shooter to his advantage, as he has incorporated an expert pump fake to bait defenders into leaving their feet, and then take a few more steps in for a better shot.

Tank Thomas looks far more experienced, and while he still shoots a lot, his shot selection is much better. When Sullinger injured his foot and had to leave the South Carolina game, Tank took the team on his back, scoring a career-high 30 points on incredible 13-16 shooting. The thing that's really been impressing me about Thomas is his hustle, constantly diving for loose balls and getting sneaky offensive rebounds.

Again going back my preview, I talked about the role players stepping up outside the big four guys. I was dead on with my prediction of the rotation, with Lenzelle Smith continuing to get the starts and Evan Ravenel and Jordan Sibert being the top options off the bench. I really like Ravenel. The Boston College transfer reminds me a lot of Dallas Lauderdale, and we know how much I loved me some Dallas. He's not quite the monster defender (no one was), but he is still very good defensively and provides solid rebounding when Sully needs a break.

Freshman center Amir Williams saw a lot of action when Jared missed those few games, and I liked what I saw. He is definitely really raw, but looks to have a lot of talent as well. Assuming Sullinger can stay healthy (fingers crossed), the Bucks won't need to count on Williams much this year, but could be expected to play a huge role in the years to come once Sullinger opts for the pros. Hopefully he can develop into a great post player.

The only real problem I've noticed this year is the lack of a backup point guard. Thankfully, Aaron Craft doesn't get much time on the bench, but when he is there the Buckeye offense basically comes to a halt. They have tried Buford as an Evan Turner-point forward type role, but a shoot-first PG is not what you want when you have a guy like Sullinger on your team. Freshman Shannon Scott has also seen some action, but doesn't look like anything special.

I love how they are calling Value City Arena the Nuthouse, and I want a t-shirt. In fact, I think I'm going to order one right now...Done.

Anyway, I really think this team has got a good chance to run the table in March.

GET EM

NFL Picks: Week 17

2011-12-31T12:00:00.001-05:00

All Joe has to do is pick four games right, and/or make sure he makes four of the same picks as Nick, and it's wrapped up. Well done, sir.

It's probably worth pointing out here that, had Figgs not gone Costanza on his picks in Week 13 and taken a 5-11, he would currently be leading Nick by three games. Ouch. The runner-up slot is still up for grabs, though, as 2nd and 3rd are separated by just four games headed into the final week.

Last Week
Figgs: 9-6-1
Joe: 8-7-1
Nick: 8-7-1

Figgs' $ Picks: 2-3
Nick's $ Picks: 1-2

Current Standings
Joe: 127-102-10
Nick: 114-115-10
Figgs: 110-119-10

Figgs' $ Picks: 21-25-1
Nick's $ Picks: 36-29-5

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

DOLPHINS (-3) vs Jets
Figgs: NYJ. This is probably the toughest week to pick, because in addition to possible guys sitting (See: Aaron Rodges,)teams whose game is worth something may play harder than teams without anything on the line. That being said, the Jets need this one.
Joe:Dolphins; I like the way they have played in the 2nd half of the season, and sometimes a team like this is far scarier an opponent than a better team with everything clinched and nothing to play for. The fish have nothing to lose and would love to spoil their rivals' shot at the playoffs.
Nick: Fish.

PATRIOTS (-10.5) vs Buffaloes
Figgs: Pats. They're looking to lock up the #1 seed, and they're going to take it out on the poor Jills. ($)
Joe: Patriots; I remember the last time Buffalo had a big early season win vs. the Pats in the "Lawyer Milloy Game," the Pats came back at the end of the season to shut them out. I look for more of the same this year.
Nick: Pats.

RAMS (+10.5) vs 49ers
Figgs: Niners. Very similar situation to New England. SF needs this one to clinch a first-round bye, so I think they leave no doubt against a far inferior club.
Joe: 49ers; Huge mismatch, and as long as SF has something to play for, the fighting Harbaughs should keep their foot on the gas pedal here.
Nick: Niners.

PACKERS (+3) vs Lions
Figgs: Lions. Hate picking against the Pack, but Joe's right.
Joe: Lions; They have something to play for, because there is no way any sane team would want to go to New Orleans in the Wildcard round of the playoffs. Green Bay, on the other hand, has everything wrapped up and may not be playing anyone of significance.
Nick: Packers.

EAGLES (-9) vs Redskins
Figgs: Philly. We're finally seeing the Dream Team we expected. Unfortunately for Eagle fans, it's been about 8 weeks too late.
Joe: Redskins; Philly has the diva type mentality that I could see pouting about not making the playoffs and playing uninspired on Sunday. I think they probably win, but I take the points with the Skins.
Nick: Skins.

JAGUARS (-3.5) vs Colts
Figgs: Indy. Nothing like winning your last three games to lose out on Luck.
Joe: Colts; Blaine Gabbert is not good.
Nick: Colts.

TEXANS (+3) vs Titans
Figgs: Titans. I expected this to be Houston by a couple and had intentions of betting on Tennessee, but Vegas saw me coming. Another situation where they just have so much more to play for.
Joe: Titans; Still in the wildcard race, and Houston, with nothing to play for and a 3rd string QB is a great opponent for them to get here.
Nick: Titans.

SAINTS (-7.5) vs Panthers
Figgs: Saints. They have just been slaughtering teams lately, and won't know the outcome of the Niner game so they'll be playing hard in case they have a shot at the #2.
Joe: Panthers; I am going on record in saying this is a preview of a January 2013 playoff game. I love the Saints to make a Super Bowl run, but Cam and the Cats will keep this one close, like they have most of the year.
Nick: Panthers.

VIKINGS (-1.5) vs Bears
Figgs: Vikes. The Bears are one of the worst teams in the league without Cutler and Forte.
Joe: Vikings; Agreed. Ponder is gonna be pretty good in my opinion, and the Bears season ended when Cutler went down. I don't see them pulling off a road win in their season finale.
Nick: Vikings.

Sunday, 4:15 pm kickoff

BROWNS (+6.5) vs steelers
Figgs: BROWNS. Fuck you, pittsburgh.
Joe: BROWNS; Your Bobdamn right the BROWNS!!!!
Nick: BROWNS

CARDINALS (-3) vs Seahawks
Figgs: 'Hawks. Two teams that have surprisingly come on late. I'm more of a believer that Seattle is for real. Definitely a possible playoff team next year. ($)
Joe: Seahawks; Beast mode is a stud and I would definately take Jackson over Kolb or Johnny Bones. I get the better team, and I get points? Thank you.
Nick: Hawks.

BRONCOS (-3) vs Chieves
Figgs: Denver. Tebow gets back on track this week to clinch the West.
Joe: Chiefs; The magic has ended. I think Kyle Orton might have something to prove in this one.
Nick: Donks.

FALCONS (-11.5) vs Buccaneers
Figgs: Bucs. As bad as the Bucs are, this is too many points for a team that already has their seed set.
Joe: Falcons; They can even play Redman at QB if they want and I'll still lay these points. Tampa, you sirs are a disgrace!
Nick: Falcons.

BENGALS (+2) vs Ravens
Figgs: ratbirds. It won't matter once we beat shitsburgh anyway, but Baltimore will clinch the two seed with this W.
Joe: Bengals; I really hope I'm wrong, but Baltimore is terrible on the road and Cincy needs this game to get in, so I like them to send the Ravens to the wildcard round here. They are better than I've given them credit for all year, and they will show it on Sunday. (Or they will tank it once I finally give them some Dap and prove me right. Either way.)
Nick: Ravens.

RAIDERS (-3) vs Chargers
Figgs: Oakland. Now that they're out of it, San Diego seems to me like a team that would give up easy. My least favorite pick of the week, however, because SD is simply a much better team.
Joe:Raiders; Once the Broncose lose, Oakland will be in the playoffs with this victory. Bolts lost their chance to get in last week, and the term "Pride" doesnt come to mind when thinking about a Norv Turner team.
Nick: Chargers.

Sunday Night Football, 8:20 pm

GIANTS (-3) vs Cowboys
Figgs: NYG. Dallas will be sitting at home in January again.
Joe: Giants; My vote for defensive player of the year, Jason Pierre-Paul, singlehandedly saved the GMen in their first matchup, and combine him with a now healthy Osi Umeniora, and I like Romo to be running for his life.
Nick: Cowboys.

NFL Picks: Week 16

2011-12-22T12:00:00.012-05:00

Time to start engraving Joe's name on the 2011 FCF NFL Picks trophy. (Figgs' note: I think we could have done that after Week 3. Also want to point out that this is two weeks in a row that I've come out on top, would have been three if I made my actual picks instead of Costanza-ing it in Week 13.)

Last Week
Figgs: 9-6-1
Joe: 8-7-1
Nick: 6-9-1

Figgs' $ Picks: 3-3
Nick's $ Picks: 2-4

Current Standings
Joe: 119-95-9
Nick: 106-108-9
Figgs: 101-113-9

Figgs' $ Picks: 19-22-1
Nick's $ Picks: 35-27-5

Thursday Night Football

COLTS (+6) vs Texans
Figgs: Texans. No way Indy does it two weeks in a row.
Joe: Colts; I smell a winning streak coming. They might just win their way out of the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. If healthy, I could have seen Houston make a Super Bowl run. Now, however, they should be the easiest 1st round home playoff out since the 2010 Seahawks. (Of course said Seahawks actually won that playoff game last year, once again proving how little all of us actually know about sports, despite what we may think).
Nick: Texans. Just can't see Indy winning two in a row.

Saturday, 1 pm kickoff

RAVENS (-13) vs Browns
Figgs: BROWNS. You would think Andy would know by now that I like my Browns pick to be in all caps, yet each week I have to change it. To Joe's point, I will never be unhappy with a Browns W, especially over these bitches.
Joe: Ravens; I'm glad I work Saturday and have to miss my 1st Browns game in years, because if we actually pull off this upset, I would never be madder in a Browns win. It would simultaneously screw up our draft pick, AND hand the Steelers the division title.
Nick: Ravens. This is the rare case when it's definitely better for the Browns to lose, for the reasons Joe outlined. Rooting for a win this week is short-sighted, and I just don't see the Browns scoring enough to hang in this one.

CHIEVES (-1) vs Raiders
Figgs: Raiders. Oakland still fighting for something, and as Joe said I think KC is spent after last week.
Joe:Raiders; Classic letdown game for the fighting Romeos after blowing their load against the Pack.
Nick: Chiefs. Can't wait to laugh at you guys over this one. The Raiders are lousy and KC played a great game last week. Arrowhead remains one of the toughest places to play in the league, and the Chiefs can still win the West with some help. These guys clearly like playing for Romeo Crennel and Tamba Hali has established himself as a top-5 pass rusher. ($ -2.5)

TITANS (-7.5) vs Jags
Figgs: Jax. I watched the Jags on Thursday night last week, and boy did they look awful. Then again, Tennessee didn't look so good getting Cam'ed all over last week either, so I'll take the touchdown +.
Joe: Titans; If Locker starts, I'll feel comfortable with this pick. Even if he doesn't, Jacksonville might have the worst group of skilled position players outside of MJD in NFL history, so I will still like this pick.
Nick: Jags. I'm a sucker for that extra half point.

PATRIOTS (-9.5) vs Dolphins
Figgs: Pats. Remember when chad henne started for these guys? I think it's safe to say his career is over. (I realize this has nothing to do with this game, but I haven't gotten much michigan bashing in lately.)
Joe: Patriots; Brady and co. have home field in their sights, so I don't see them letting off the gas against a division rival.
Nick: Dophins. Just on principle. This should be a 6 or 7 point line, but it's bumped by Patriots' inflation.

BENGALS (-4) vs Cardinals
Figgs: Cards. Not a big fan of this pick, but Joe makes a solid arguement.
Joe: Cardinals; Not likely they sneak into the playoffs, but they are red hot right now and I just simply don't buy this Bengals team getting in.
Nick: Bengals. Joe, not sure why you have been so against the Bengals this year. They aren't flashy, but they have one of the league's best defense, the Red Rifle is competent, they have a decent running game, and AJ Green. ($)

BUFFALOES (+3) vs Broncos
Figgs: Broncos. By far my favorite game on the board. The Jackson-less Jills might be the worst team in the NFL. ($)
Joe: Broncos; Tebow lose two in a row? Blasphemy!
Nick: Donks. Can you teach me how to Tebow? ($ -2.5)

STEELERS (-12.5) vs Rams
Figgs: shitsburgh.
Joe: Steelers; To hell with waiting for the spread, the Rams pork. Even if Batch QB's and the offense is flat, they should still win something like 17-0, which would cover any spread they might throw out there.
Nick: Rams. Fuck these guys. Fuck em.

JETS (-3) vs Giants
Figgs: NYG. Right on with Joe. Basically a coin flip, I'll take Eli over the Sanchize.
Joe: Giants; Getting the standard "road" 3 points. But since they play 8 "home" games in this stadium, I might as well take the underdog since I can't seem to get a feel on either of these 2 underachievers.
Nick: Giants. The three is significant here, especially with the Sanchize under center.

REDSKINS (-6.5) vs Vikings
Figgs: Vikes. Peterson seems to be 100%, and it's still Rex Grossman. ($)
Joe: Redskins; Quietly, they have played really well lately, and while the Vikings probably wouldn't pick Luck, the kings ransom they could receive by trading that pick should be enough incentive to lose this one.
Nick: Vikes. The Skins aren't good enough to 6.5 to many teams, even at home.

PANTHERS (-7.5) vs Buccaneers
Figgs: Cats. I never expected to lay this many points for a 5-9 team, but the Bucs are just poop.
Joe: Panthers; Bucs are the most disappointing team this year in my opinion, and Cam has the Cats playing well and ready for a playoff run in the 2012 season. Mark it down!
Nick: Panthers. Boy, there hasn't been a more disappointing team than the Buccos this season.

Saturday, 4 pm kickoff

LIONS (-2.5) vs Chargers
Figgs: SD. The Chargers need this one more, as Detroit is going to get in the playoffs anyway, and Rivers does seem to save his best for this month.($)
Joe: Bolts; No one beats Phillip Rivers in December. NO ONE! Although Charger fans are surely in a Catch 22 because another win or two might actually save Norv Turners job...again.
Nick: Chargers. This is a tough one to pick. I guess I'll grab a couple of points.

COWBOYS (-1.5) vs Eagles
Figgs: Philly. It won't take as much of a miracle as you might think, Joe. Winning in Dallas won't be easy, but they obviously need this one and a W against the Skins next week, and it would just take a Jets win over the Giants this week then the G-men turning around and beating Dallas (at home) next week. Two very distinct possibilities.
Joe: Eagles; Now that they are healthy, they are living up to their hype. It's gonna be too late to make the playoffs (barring a miracle) but no too late to ruin Dallas' season.
Nick: Eagles. Because I'm rooting for the inevitable Dallas collapse.

SEAHAWKS (+2) vs 49ers
Figgs: Niners. I've been (successfully) rolling with the Hawks the past few weeks, but I'm back on the Niner bandwagon after last week.
Joe: Seahawks; They're really rolling lately and I could see a Monday night letdown coming from San Fran.
Nick: Niners. Under 3 points I still think the Niners present some value. They still need to take care of business to earn a bye.

Sunday Night Football

PACKERS (-13) vs Bears
Figgs: Pack. Love this being under two TD's. The Bears have been God awful and now Josh McCown is starting? Rodgers and the crew get back on track in a big way this week. ($)
Joe: Packers; They haven't clinched home field yet, so Rodgers and the boys should play. I figure even if SF loses on Saturday and GB does clinch, I would definately take Matt Flynn as my QB over Hanie/McCown, and GB has so many crazy good WR's that they can't possibly rest all of them.
Nick: Bears. The Packers have some serious issues with their offensive line and defense, and Chicago still has a solid D.

Monday Night Football

SAINTS (-7) vs Falcons
Figgs: ATL. I bet against my boys last week and it bit me on the ass. Hopefully they'll forgive me.
Joe: Saints; I love watching Drew Brees play football. If the ATL wants to clinch a playoff spot, they will have to do it next week.
Nick: Saints. I'm still convinced the Falcons secretly suck, and New Orleans has quietly won six straight.

Figgs' Teaser: Houston (+0.5)/Green Bay (-6.5)/Oakland (+9)

Browns QBs

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

It's not a gigantic secret that the Browns have been, well, unstable at the QB position since their return to the NFL in 1999, one of the many reasons why they've so seldom found themselves in the win column over those 13 years. But I wondered: among the motley lot to stand under center for the Brown and Orange since the reincarnation, who's been Browns Good, Browns Mediocre, and Browns Bad? With that, I give you the below chart of Passer Rating, by season, for any Browns QB to start four or more games in a season from 1999-2011, of which there have been 13 lucky fellows (sorry, Spergon Wynn and Bruce Gradkowsi). Click on the photo to enlarge. As a reminder, Passer Rating (not QB rating) measures QB's in the areas of completion percentage, yards per attempt, TD's thrown, and INTs not thrown. The maximum is 158.3 (of course it is) and the league average in 2011 is currently 82.3. For something to aspire to, Drew Brees is currently sitting on a 109.1 while Aaron Rodgers has an absurd 120.1, only the second-best EVER.

That we've lacked an elite QB is clear, but there's a lot more to unpack on this chart than just the obvious.

- Four times, we've had a QB start more than four games and post a passer rating below 60. All incompletions, by the way, is a 39.6. Not good.

- Ken Dorsey, my goodness.

- One of those four clunkers was submitted by none other than the mighty Derek Anderson, whose gray circles show a remarkable decline from 2007 through 2009. DA's 2007 was the best season by a Browns QB since the return, as he started 15 games and posted a 82.5 passer rating, largely abetted by Braylon Edwards catching a lot of badly thrown balls. Say what you want about Braylon, and I have, but he made some extremely difficult catches and often did so in the other team's end zone. Anyway, let me recontextualize what I just said about the Browns' recent quarterback situation: the single best season they had from a quarterback in 13 years yielded a passer rating not quite three percent better than league average. Unbelievable.

- Man did DA ever fall off, though. From that 82.5 he quickly declined to 66.5 in 2008 before being injured and plummeted to a comical 42.1 (recall once again: all incompletions is 39.6) before Brady Quinn replaced him in 2009. Bye, DA.

- Seneca Wallace, you know what? Kinda good. He only started four games last year, but his 86.8 is tops for anyone starting at least a quarter-season for the Brownies since '99. His 102.1 in limited duty this year hasn't hurt that at all. His career mark of 84.0 is, not to put to fine a point on it, still better than the best single-season (or partial season) submitted by any Browns quarterback in the past 13 years.

- I almost ran out of colors.

- All those outliers and part-timers aside, it's kind of amazing how consistently mediocre the Browns' main signal callers have been over all these losing years. Look at Tim Couch's red circles - all five of his seasons fell between 73 and 78, which is almost hard to believe. Holcomb, Garcia, Dilfer, Frye, McCoy, all squarely within that 70-80 zone during their tenures with Cleveland. McCoy's rating this year differs from last year's by all of 0.1. Twelve of the twenty-one circles on this chart lie within 70 and 80, a testament to the steady mild effectiveness of the Browns' passing game over the years. That number would be even higher if you averaged DA's 2007 and 2008 and tossed out the third-stringers (McCown and Dorsey) pressed into regular duty; that leaves you with 14 of 19 right there in the meaty part of the curve.

Someday, hopefully, we'll get our own Brees, Rodgers, or Brady and I'll find another color for his points to lie well above the vaunted 90 mark. It's just interesting to see how over the years how tightly and mediocrely distributed our QBs' passer ratings have been and how the Cleveland Browns' offense seems stuck in neutral year after year.

NFL Picks: Week 15

2011-12-15T12:00:00.018-05:00

I see that the bigger number is in front of the smaller number next to my name, and I'm not sure I remember what that means, but I think it's a positive.

Last Week
Figgs: 11-5 (!)
Joe: 9-7
Nick: 7-9 (including his post-game Browns "pick")

Figgs' $ Picks: 4-1
Nick's $ Picks: 1-3

Current Standings
Joe: 111-88-8
Nick: 100-99-8
Figgs: 92-107-8

Figgs' $ Picks: 16-19-1
Nick's $ Picks: 33-23-5

Thursday Night Football

FALCONS (-11) vs Jaguars
Figgs: Jax. Hate to go against my boys, but 11 is just too high for me. When I just checked it again, it's up to 13.5. ($ - +13.5)
Joe: Jaguars; I still haven't been able to figure Atlanta out yet, even 13 games into the season. I was prepared to pick them, since they are the one of these two teams with something to actually play for, but I thought the spread would be 6 or 7. 11 seems too high for me to trust such an unpredictable team.
Nick: Jags. Too many points for an Atlanta team that struggles to score.
Andy: Nick, I couldn't care less about Atlanta struggling to score. Also your statement isn't particularly accurate - they averaged 24 a game before this one.

Saturday Night Football

BUCCANEERS (+7) vs Cowboys
Figgs: Dallas. If Tampa is playing for pride, they must not have much, because they have been pitiful.
Joe: Cowboys; I don't totally trust Dallas, but I don't see a 4th qtr collapse coming this week. Tampa, already one of this seasons biggest disappointments, has totally mailed it in. 41 unanswered points allowed to the Jaguars? Really? Really? Really?
Nick: Cowboys. COWBOYS, COWBOYS, WIN WIN WIN!
Andy: Was this on NFL Network or something?

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

TEXANS (-6.5) vs Panthers
Figgs: Panthers. Carolina can play some better teams close, and Houston has been inching out victories without Schaub. I expect that to continue here.
Joe:Panthers; Agreed ^^
Nick: Texans. Because Houston quietly remains one of the most complete teams in football, and I think they can ram the ball down Carolina's throat all day. Roethlisberger style.
Andy: I'm kinda bummed that Houston can't go 8-8 this season.

GIANTS (-7) vs Redskins
Figgs: NYG. Washington's terrible, and Eli is quietly having an MVP-caliber year.
Joe: Giants; I love the way Eli is playing, and Jason Pierre-Paul is the latest of the never ending Giant D Line studs. He had one of the single best performances I've ever seen on Sunday night. His safety, blocked FG and sack/fumble all resulted directly in Giant points.
Nick: G-Men. GIANTS, GIANTS, HELP US GOD!
Andy: There is only one professional football team in New York State, and that team sometimes plays in New Jersey.

BUFFALOES (PK) vs Dolphins
Figgs: Fins. The Jills just can't seem to get out of this slide.
Joe: Bills; Another gut feeling. They've shown no reason to pick them since the Fitzpatrick signing. But, I'm picking them anyway. (Note: Erie people without the ticket are being forced to watch Bengals/Rams on Sunday because the Bills couldn't sell this game out. Their fans seemed to have a different take on things when they had their hot start. Can you say Fairweather?)
Nick:
Andy: As in "Fairweather Johnson", Hootie and the Blowfish's second album?

BEARS (-3.5) vs Seahawks
Figgs: 'Hawks. Seattle isn't the same team away from Quest, but I think they have enough to take down a beat up Chicago team. ($)
Joe: Seahawks; Beast mode is playing inspired and believe it or not, Seattle actually has the better QB in this game.
Nick: Birds. Because the Seahawks can sing about how they soar through the air and protect their eggs from predators. ($)
Andy: Stupid fast.

VIKINGS (+7) vs Saints
Figgs: Vikes. The Saints have also had their struggles on the road. 7 is just a bit too high.
Joe: Saints; It is on the road, but in a dome, they should still feel like they are at home. I love watching Drew Brees play football.
Nick: Saints. Because the streets of New Orleans are filled with more vomit-per-capita than the streets of Minneapolis.
Andy: I'm surprised that there are this many teams who wear purple in their uniforms, but only one in all the Big 4 sports has brown at all.

RAMS (+6) vs Bengals
Figgs: Cincy. I don't like the Bungles at all, but the Rams have given me absolutely zero reason to ever pick them against any team with any spread.
Joe: Rams; I don't know why. Just a gut feeling I guess. I think the Bengals are still a year away and, being a young team, I could see them blowing a game on the road that they should win.
Nick: Bengals. The Bengals, because they are way higher on the food chain. ($ -3)
Andy: The Bengals' logo takes up a shocking amount of surface area on their field.

COLTS (+7) vs Titans
Figgs: Indy. If this is just a half point lower I'm probably taking the Titans, but they are just not good enough for me to feel comfortable giving a full touchdown on the road.
Joe: Titans; I suppose this could be where the Colts get their one win, but then I remember that Dan Orlovsky is their QB. So I don't see that win coming at all this year.
Nick: Titans. Because when they moved, they didn't do it in the middle of the night.
Andy: Eddie George was a Titan.

CHIEVES (+14) vs Packers
Figgs: Pack. That's four straight games where the road team is favored by 6+ - that is nuts. I could use a big game from Rodgers in the semifinals of my fantasy playoffs.
Joe: Packers; They are so good, and Rodgers is so fun too watch, it's hard to even break down their games. Every week it's humongous spread, all three of us picking them to cover, and then Green Bay blowing even the huge spread out of the water.
Nick: Pack. Because they have the fattest female fans I've ever seen.
Andy: To Joe's point, the Pack are averaging a 14.5-point victory this season and are 9-4 ATS. The only time they don't cover is when Nick gets cocky with his selection. That and on the road, where they are just 4-3 ATS.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

CARDINALS (-7) vs Browns
Figgs: BROWNS. I know we suck, but SEVEN points to the Cardinals? Johnny Bones has been racking up the W's recently, but I like our chances here. BEER WE GO BROWNIES!! ($)
Joe: Browns; The Cards have been playing very well lately, beating good teams. There's no reason they shouldn't blow us out. That being said, I'm picking the Goddamn Browns.
Nick: Browns. Because they're running the Cyclone Package.
Andy: I love making all of you opt out if you want to go against the Browns. I'm also delighted that Johnny Bones has caught on.

RAIDERS (+1) vs Lions
Figgs: Lions. No McFadden again, I'll take Detroit to stay in the playoff picture while Oakland's hopes fade even more.
Joe: Raiders; Two fading teams, but I'll take the home team. Bush has been great in Run DMC's absense and Detroit doesn't strike me as a team capable of winning in a tough road atmosphere. Maybe they'll prove me wrong, but I have to see it before I'll pick it.
Nick: Lions. Because Tim Taylor roots for them.
Andy: Home Improvement holds up worse than any sitcom I know of. It's remarkable how unfunny it is - it's almost to the point where it would seem more difficult to write something this tragically not funny than to at least stumble upon a few amusing jokes, almost like it's a Neil Hamburger-style deconstruction of sitcom conventions, except it isn't.

BRONCOS (+6.5) vs Patriots
Figgs: Pats. Another home 6+ dog. Tebow magic ends this week.
Joe:Broncos; It is the most inexplicable thing sports has ever seen, but it just keeps happening. They have secondary issues, so Brady should pick them apart. But New England's secondary is brutal, so Tebow should be able to do better in the early qtrs this week. I look more for the Denver/Minnesota 35-32 type game than their 13-10 type games against everyone else.
Nick: Tebow. Because of this ($ +7.5)
Andy: The NFL's broadcasting rules are so insanely fucking stupid that it makes one wonder how the league rose to such prominence. How does it make sense not to have a doubleheader at 1 pm and then one at 4 pm? More games, more viewers. Very wise of the NFL to shut the Cleveland market out of this game after we've flipped off the Browns game by halftime.

I wrote extensively about Tim Tebow on my other blog this week, but let me briefly answer the question Rick Reilly asks in his article about "Tom and Tim," which concludes by asking the reader "Who do you like?" Um...I'll take the two-time MVP who's passed for 4300 yards this season over the guy with the 48.5% completion percentage. Do I have to give odds or something?

EAGLES (-3) vs Jets
Figgs: NYJ. The Eagles are actually somehow still in the NFC East race. If they finish 8-8 along with the Giants and Cowboys, Philly wins all tie-breakers. Their slim hopes end this week.
Joe:Eagles; Vick is back and looked good last week. This would be my 1 point game in confidence points this week, but I'll reluctantly roll with Philly.
Nick: Eagles. Because their fans throw snowballs at Santa.
Andy: Nick, you should have saved the Eagle joke for this game! The Jets play in New Jersey.

Sunday Night Football

CHARGERS (+2.5) vs Ravens
Figgs: SD. It's December, when Rivers apparently doesn't lose, and Baltimore is prone to laying eggs on the road. ($)
Joe: Chargers; I hope I'm wrong, but Baltimore is so much worse on the road than at home, and Rivers loves this time of year. The Bolts have been great the last two weeks. I think they keep it up here.
Nick: Ravens. Because they aren't the fucking steelers. ($)
Andy: Whenever I see the last name Rivers, I think of Val Kilmer as Nick Rivers in Top Secret!, the most underrated of all the ZAZ slapstick comedies. Hilarious movie.

Monday Night Football

49ERS (-2.5) vs steelers
Figgs: Steelers. Ewww. ($)
Joe: 49ers; Suck It Pittsburgh!
Nick:
Andy: I like to imagine James Harrison sitting at home with this game on TV, while assaulting someone for no good reason.

Figgs Teaser: Dallas (PK)/Tennessee (PK)/New Orleans (PK)/Green Bay (-7)
Nick's Teasers
---Seahawks (-1 on Monday night), ATL (-1), Pack (-3.5)
---Bengals (-.5), Titans (-1), Saints (-.5)

Kick me

2011-12-15T07:00:00.007-05:00

I have two central theses to advance:

1) Phil Dawson is very good at kicking field goals
2) The all-time list of kickers by accuracy is a strange place.

First, Mr. Dawson, the only Brown remaining from the return to the league in '99. People joke about how Dawson is our MVP because of how bad Cleveland has been, but the sarcastic praise obscures what a tremendous run he's had in Cleveland. Look at the list and notice that Dawson is 12th all-time in field goal accuracy. All-time. That's impressive enough, but then consider how many of those kicks he's had to execute on the less-than-forgiving fields of the AFC North, not least his home turf by the swirling winds of Lake Erie. Remember, those FG's he made in the snow against Buffalo in '07 (at :35 and 1:50 of the video) count exactly the same as a Mike Vanderjagt 25-yarder in the RCA Dome did.

Look at the 11 guys ahead of Dawson on the accuracy list. We've got domers (Kaeding, Vanderjagt, Hartley), novices (Hartley, Barth), and warm-weather guys (Barth, Bryant, Bironas). The only two tough-weather guys ahead of #4 are Shayne Graham and Robbie Gould, and even Graham had a year in Carolina and Miami to boost the stats. Looking at these numbers, it's hard not to be impressed with Dawson's career (and, for that matter, Gould's).

The other thing this list demonstrates is: kickers have gotten way, way, way better. 23 of the top 27 all-time in accuracy are active kickers. Think about that. The worst active NFL kicker is Washington second-year man Graham Gano, and he's 79th. You know, better than all nine kickers in the Hall of Fame.

Let's run that back: the worst kicker in the NFL today, percentage-wise, is more accurate than any NFL kicker currently enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Amazing. Granted, the others mostly all played legitimate positions in addition to kicking, but my goodness. Legendary Browns kicker Lou "The Toe" Groza was just under 55% - he would get cut from any NFL team in a week kicking like that, forget the nickname.

The only pure kicker in the HoF is Jan Stenerud, who introduced soccer-style kicking to American Football (every kicker now in college and the NFL now kicks that way) and even endorsed a line of kicking tees, one of which I owned as a youngster. In his 19-year career, Stenerud kicked at just under 67%, or two out of every three, again pretty lame by modern standards.

I wonder if another kicker will ever be inducted. I mean, just how good do you have to be? If Dawson puts in another seven years of highly productive, accurate kicking in tough conditions, do you think about him then? What about Matt Stover, 8th all-time in accuracy and 4th in points, and with stints in Cleveland and Baltimore? Adam Vinatieri, 10th all-time in points and 14th in accuracy and with some huge postseason kicks? What about Shane Lechler, easily the best punter of my lifetime? Ray Guy has been a finalist and Lechler's career has been more impressive, after all.

I'm frankly not sure how the HoF should handle this - maybe a separate wing to honor the best specialty players? Either way, I think we can all agree that modern kickers have come a long way, and Phil Dawson stands out among them.

Silverback

2011-12-14T12:00:00.000-05:00

As most Browns fans likely know by now, steeler linebacker James Harrison has been suspended one game by the NFL for his helmet-to-helmet cheap shot in the fourth quarter of last Thursday's game between the Browns-steelers game.

This shouldn't come as a surprise - Harrison is constantly being flagged and fined for his illegal hits, and the league office, having set a precedent with the Ndamukong Suh suspension, decided it had had enough of Harrison's antics. This particular hit was totally unnecessary - McCoy had long since tossed the ball and any semblance of proper tackling form on Harrison's part would have avoided the penalty, but he went clearly helmet-to-helmet and ended up concussing McCoy.

The most amazing thing seems to be Harrison's continued inability, or unwillingness, to understand that what he does is wrong and to take responsibility for it. Harrison afterwards said, "I don't think a suspension is worthy. I don't think it's worthy of anything, but that's just my own personal thoughts" and added, "Well, he took off running with it, and at the last second he, like, chucked and ducked. So, people can see it."

Amazing. Amazing that he could possibly watch that play and think that. There was no ducking - there was a big guy headbutting a smaller guy who had just thrown a pass. It defies all logic. I'm sure some steeler fans are defending him as well, which is of course inappropriate. Yes, I'm a Browns fan and biased in this particular situation, but I condemn foul play no matter who does it, even when my team's players do. Consider Robert Reynolds of OSU choking Wisconsin's Jim Sorgi, or Gerard Warren's stupid cheap shots when he was a Brown - I recognized both of those as wrong and opposed them, just as I do here. I like fair, safe, hard play regardless of rooting interest.

Characteristically, Harrison has remained defiant, telling Jerome Bettis that he won't change the way he plays. Maybe you should change, you stubborn cheap-shotting idiot. Maybe play hard but stop doing things that are illegal and dangerous? Just maybe? His coach, Mike Tomlin, had this to say:

We're disappointed for James because we know how hard he's worked to play within the rules. We accept the judgment rendered by the league office and we'll move forward.

The second part, yes, I give Tomlin credit for being an upright citizen. The first part? Absolutely not. Not only has Harrison not worked to play within the rules, he (a) clearly does not understand the rules and (b) is out granting interviews where he openly says he has no intention of making the necessary changes.

Just another reason to hate the steelers...

I can see where that might confuse you

2011-12-14T07:00:00.006-05:00

I thought in honor of Figgs' birthday I'd toss a little michigan-bashing on the fire here at FCF to keep everyone warm.

First up, we've got michigan Athletic Director and super-genius Dave Brandon, who doesn't like the Buckeyes' NCAA exemption to have Luke Fickell and his staff manage the bowl game while Urban Meyer and his crew work the recruiting circuit. In an email to the AP, Brandon says,

It allows more coaching resources to work on the two primary responsibilities of any staff—coaching and recruiting. I am struggling to understand how this relates to the "level playing field" the NCAA claims it is always working to create.

Keep struggling, Dave. It's not hard to believe that someone from michigan wouldn't be able to grasp advanced concepts. But you've done this twice in four years - shouldn't you have the hang of it now?

Still on the topic of OSU coaches but moving south of that particular border, comes news that Meyer has hired Tom Herman as OSU's QB coach and offensive coordinator.

Paging Mr. Herman...

How Jim Paxson Lost LeBron

2011-12-08T23:29:00.003-05:00

On October 29, 2003 at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, California, the Cleveland Cavaliers took the floor with the starting lineup of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Carlos Boozer, Ricky Davis, Darius Miles, and a rookie out of Akron, Ohio named LeBron James. The Cavs would go on to lose the first game of the 2003-2004 campaign 92-106 to the Kings, but the hype surrounding LeBron James and the Cavs was chiseled in stone until LeBron departed for brighter lights.

Fresh off of a 17-win season and tying the Nuggets for the worst record in the NBA, the Cavs were revered by local and national pundits alike as a team in full rebuild mode with little to no help for LeBron.

Store that away for a few minutes...

The reality with the NBA, moreso than any other sport, is that one superstar can completely turn a franchise around from pathetic to perennial playoff contender. This doesn't necessarily translate to championships - particularly in the era of superteams - but it does end the cycle of lottery picks.

A sudden injection of superstar talent to a lottery team presents a problem. Usually the team drafting a superstar rookie has a top-three pick. Often it is because that team was really bad the previous year. And almost always the lucky team will progressively earn a lower draft pick with each passing year as its record improves.

What all this means is that unless there was an injured or underperforming star already on the team the previous year (see San Antonio, Tim Duncan), an endless cycle of "pretty good" emerges that the team cannot escape until its superstar leaves to join his buddy elsewhere.

The 2002-2003 Cavs were built to lose, and lose they did. On July 30, 2002, the Cavs traded their best player in point guard Andre Miller to the Clippers for Darius Miles and Harold Jamison (footnote - Bryant Stith was also included in that trade from the Cavs).

It wasn't that every player on the 2002-03 Cavs team was horrendous. In fact, the Cavs had just drafted an exciting rookie guard who had once scored 100 points in a high school game. They had also drafted a forward out of Duke in the second round that they hoped could fill some minutes. But this team wasn't being built for the present, it was being built for the future. Sure they only won 17 games in the 2002-2003 season, but Jim Paxson and the Cavs were finally doing something right…sort of.

Jump back to LeBron's opening night in Sacramento.

Much of the Cavs roster was the same from the team that won 17 games the previous year. However, a close examination of that roster is somewhat surprising.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas - Two-time NBA All-Star who went on to become the Cavs all-time leader in games played and blocks. His re-emergence was a welcome surprise for the Cavs as Ilgauskas had been injured for much of his career until this point.

Carlos Boozer - Two-time NBA All-Star and 2008 All-NBA Third Team. Though he has had trouble with injuries, Carlos is considered a top-flight power forward when healthy.

Ricky Davis - Nobody ever accused Davis of making smart decisions, but the truth is that he averaged 20.6 points, 5.5 assists, and 1.6 steals per game the year before LeBron joined the team. Those are near All-Star numbers.

Darius Miles - At the time, Miles was a big deal. He was the third overall pick in the 2000 draft and was the first player coming straight out of high school to be named as First Team All-Rookie. His story has an unhappy ending, but in 2003 Darius Miles was still a top prospect.

Dajuan Wagner - Don't laugh. Dajuan Wagner was so good that he once scored 100 points in a high school basketball game and his college coach, John Calipari, actually revoked his scholarship to force him into the NBA draft. The Cavs drafted him 6th overall in the 2002 NBA Draft and expected Wagner to be a stud for years. Unfortunately for he and the Cavs, Wagner had debilitating health problems that hindered his career from the start and he never met the expectations surrounding him. Still, it's difficult to consider Wagner a bust in the traditional sense in that he didn't suck on his own accord.

Jason Kapono - While not an All-Star, the guy is a crazy-good shooter. He was a contributor on Miami's championship season in 2006 and actually shot over 50% (51.4% to be exact) from three-point range during the 2006-2007 season.

LeBron James - Is this even necessary?

That list contains a legitimate starting center, power forward, and small forward (Davis), most at the onset of their careers, starting alongside one of the greatest basketball players who ever lived. That's a young team with a solid core of pieces to grow together. Without overturning the roster, the Cavs had the opportunity to add a point guard and depth over the next two years and be a powerhouse for the following ten.

Then this happened...

On December 15, 2003, just fifty-four days into LeBron James's career, the Cavs traded Ricky Davis and his potential 15-5-5 stat line to the Boston Celtics along with Chris Mihm, Michael Stewart, and a second-round draft pick for Eric Williams, Tony Battie, and Kedrick Brown. The Celtics had a record of 12-12 at the time and the Cavs were 6-17 and riding a 33-game road losing streak. By the time the Cavs finally made the playoffs in the spring of 2006, none of the players acquired from the Celtics were with the team.

At the conclusion of the 2003-2004 season, Carlos Boozer was released by the Cavs as a restricted free agent with the understanding that he would re-sign a six-year, $39 million deal. Instead, the Utah Jazz offered Boozer a six-year, $70 million deal and Boozer raced to Salt Lake City to sign the contract.

The Carlos Boozer incident was perhaps the worst move by a general manager not named Isiah Thomas or Ted Stepien in the history of the NBA. If Boozer had stayed in Cleveland, the Cavs certainly would have faced harsh penalties from the league for striking their "handshake deal". This was a consideration that Paxson should have anticipated. They were screwed no matter what the outcome. If Boozer re-signs with the Cavs for $39 million, then they would have been answering to David Stern - possibly even giving up their rights to Boozer. If he goes elsewhere, then the Cavs just let a 2nd-round gem walk (or sprint) out of Cleveland for nothing - which is exactly what happened.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the Cavs chose to leave Jason Kapono unprotected for the expansion draft and he was snatched up by the expansion Charlotte Bobcats.

One year after LeBron's first game in Sacramento, the Cavs opened the season at home against the Indiana Pacers with a starting lineup of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden, LeBron James, Lucious Harris, and Jeff McInnis. Stacking the two lineups side-by-side clearly shows that the Cavs didn't just regress, but lost two potential cornerstones of their roster during, or shortly after, LeBron's rookie year.

With Cleveland not being one of the coveted "large markets" with Madison Avenue, movie stars, or year-round bikini-clad groupies, the only way the team was going to pair stars with LeBron was through the draft. While the 17-win 2002-2003 Cavaliers campaign was an abomination of the sport, it did present the team with three critical pieces of information: Ricky Davis could play ball as long as his head doesn't get in the way, Carlos Boozer was the steal of the 2002 draft, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas can make it through a full season and still produce at a high level.

Drafting LeBron was the 4th piece to a young, up-and-coming team that everybody knew was going to take time to figure out how to play with one another. Instead, Jim Paxson allowed two of those pieces to walk out the door with very little in return.

The Cavs were too good from there on out with LeBron to get a high draft pick. All of the building now needed to be done through trades and free agency. The pieces that should have already been on the team from when they were bad had skipped town, and all that remained was a team that could never compete for a championship, despite the best efforts of Danny Ferry and Dan Gilbert.

Thanks to their previous regime, the current Cavs ownership was dealt a losing hand, and no amount of money could fix it.

NFL Picks: Week 14

2011-12-08T12:00:00.013-05:00

Last Week
Nick: 8-8
Joe: 7-9
Figgs: 5-11

Nick's $ Picks: 3-2

Current Standings
Joe: 102-81-8
Nick: 93-90-8
Figgs: 81-102-8

Figgs' $ Picks: 12-18-1
Nick's $ Picks: 32-20-5

Thursday Night Football

STEELERS (-14) vs Browns
Figgs: BROWNS. Tough to lose after hearing Joe's speech. I'm in.
Joe: Browns; No reason to analyze this pick, so I decided to give our Browns a little pep talk. "Come on boys! This hasn't been our season, hell this hasn't been our decade, but all of that goes out the window with a victory against these guys. The steelers and, more importantly their fans, are laughing at us. They think we're a joke. I had a Steeler fan tell me recently that he roots for us when we're not playing each other. Nice Steeler fans infuriate me more than douchebag fans. What I want is for them to hate us as much as we hate them. The only way to do it is to be a competent and competetive football team. So we must go out there and not hold anything back. Play this game as if it is the Super Bowl. A win for us probably keeps them from winning the division, so this game is huge for them. I say, Fuck that! It's huge for us! Next year, we can worry about getting back to competing for division titles and playoff spots, but right now this is the only game that matters. Primetime. National TV audience. If you can't get up for that, then get the hell out. There's only one thing for us to do tonight, and it can be summed up in three simple letters: WIN!!!"
Nick: Browns, clearly.

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

JAGUARS (+2) vs Bucs
Figgs: Jax. Two bad teams, might as well take the home team getting points.
Joe: Jaguars; Eh, home team I guess.
Nick: Bucs, just because they've played a tough schedule and might start to bounce back.

REDSKINS (+9) vs Patriots
Figgs: Pats. It's a sad time when I'm really rooting for NE and Baltimore to make the Super Bowl.
Joe: Patriots; Brady's rolling. No reason to go against him at this point.
Nick: Pats. It's a lot of points on the road, but the Pats are peaking and the Skins are plummeting. ($ -8)

BENGALS (-3) vs Texans
Figgs: Texans. As I've been saying all year, Cinncy just isn't very good. T.J Yates just needs to hand the ball to #23 and Houston should be fine. ($)
Joe: Texans; No QB, but they beat ATL anyway. And I think the Bengals are starting to be exposed for what they truly are, and that is an 8-8 football team.
Nick: Bengals. Rookie fifth round QB in his first road start.

JETS (-10.5) vs Chieves
Figgs: KC. Right on with what Joe said again. The Jets don't seem to blow teams out.
Joe: Chiefs; Too many points to feel confident riding the Sanchize.
Nick: Jets. Tyler. Palko.

LIONS (-10) vs Vikings
Figgs: Vikes. Just like the NYJ game, this line is just a couple points too high for me. Not confident enough in Detroit to lay double-digits.
Joe: Vikings; I like Ponder to keep this close enough to take the points here. The Lions could be a lot better if their coach taught them some discipline instead of purposely letting his doucheyness rub off on them.
Nick: Vikes. Too many points with Adrian Peterson playing.

TITANS (+3.5) vs Saints
Figgs: Saints. Tennessee is the epitome of average. NO > average. ($)
Joe: Saints; See my Patriots comment and insert Brees for Brady.
Nick: Titans. This is the type of game New Orleans blows on the road, right?

DOLPHINS (-3) vs Eagles
Figgs: Philly. I was all about taking the Fins here, but I just can't give points when the talent level is so much in favor of the underdogs. Maybe Vick coming back will give them a little spark.
Joe: Dolphins; Identical records. The difference is one team has been playing like they give a shit instead of throwing in the towel. I'll take that team.
Nick: Dolphins. I'll keep taking them until I have a reason not to.

RAVENS (-16.5) vs Colts
Figgs: ratbirds. I find myself agreeing with what Joe said often this week. Considering our records, I'll take that as a good thing.
Joe: Ravens; I correctly took the Colts with the biggest spread on the board last week, but this week I won't bite. Even if they don't get absolutely slaughtered, Baltimore could still cover, something like 31-14.
Nick: Colts. Orlovsky moved the ball last week, and the Ravens are always prone to letdown games.

PANTHERS (+3) vs Falcons
Figgs: ATL. The Falcons know how much they need this one, and they come out ready.
Joe: Panthers; Home game for Cam playing the spoiler role. Falcons might make the playoffs anyway out of default (Cutler's injury and Lions self-destructing).
Nick: Panthers. One of the toughest games on the board, but I'll take the home dog. Falcons are beat up on offense and have been very unimpressive all year long.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

BRONCOS (-3.5) vs Bears
Figgs: Denver. I hate to do it, but continually picking against them even when I think they will win just out of spite for Tebow is starting to hurt me in the standings (he says as if that's all that's holding him back). No Cutler OR Forte? Stick a fork in these guys.
Joe: Broncos; I see both a playoff appearance AND a Pro Bowl appearance in the future of young Timmy T! The Bears would be 9-3 and coasting into the playoffs right now if it wasn't for Cutler going down. Tough break for them.
Nick: Broncos. TEEBALL! ($)

CARDINALS (+3.5) vs 49ers
Figgs: SanFran. The Niners got back on track against a shitty Rams team last week, they keep it rolling against a shitty Cardinals team here. ($ -4)
Joe: 49ers, although the Cards have played quietly really well lately. Still, the Niners are the class of that division and I think they show it on Sunday.
Nick: Niners. ($)

CHARGERS (-7.5) vs Buffaloes
Figgs: SD. Wasn't too sure about this one, but Buffalo's offense is putrid without Fred Jackson and they're traveling to the West Coast.
Joe: Chargers; Bolts finally came to play on MNF, but this year I think it will be too late to slide into the playoffs. Even still, as long as they are breathing mathematically, they should play inspired and blow out a Bills team that was brought back to earth about 5 weeks ago.
Nick: Bills. Too many points, and the Bills have to wake up sometime.

PACKERS (-11) vs Raiders
Figgs: GB. Since I have a bye this week in the Fantasy playoffs, I'll try to get in touch with Mike Mccarthy and see if we can get Rodgers a day off. Since I will most likely be unsuccessful and he'll play, I'll take the Pack.
Joe: Packers; Aa-ron Rog-ers! clap clap clap-clap-clap
Nick: Pack. The Raiders appear ripe for collapse.

Sunday Night Football

COWBOYS (-3.5) vs Giants
Figgs: NYG. I'm not counting the G-Men out yet either, Joe. Frankly I just think they are a better team than Dallas. ($)
Joe: Giants; Every expert seems to be going the other way, but I'm not counting the Giants out yet. The last time they took an undefeated team down to the wire late in the season, it worked out pretty well for them in the end. Just sayin.
Nick: Giants. Not sure why Dallas is getting more than the standard three.

Monday Night Football

SEAHAWKS (-9.5) vs Rams
Figgs: 'Hawks. This is awful, just awful.
Joe: Seahawks; Is this seriously the Monday night game? Well, I'm not taking the team starting Tom Brandstater at QB, that's for sure.
Nick: Hawks. Defense + Beast Mode.

Figgs $ teaser: New England (-2)/Atlanta (+3.5)/Green Bay (-5.5)
Nick's teaser: Pats (+2) / Jets (-0.5) / Pack (-1.5)

Hey watch this video of the Browns beating the steelers

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Razor's Edge

2011-12-06T07:00:00.001-05:00

The Cleveland Browns' 24-10 loss at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens this past Sunday was bad. It was really bad. It was "I'm glad I have a basketball game tonight so I have an excuse to stop watching early" bad. As they always have done thus far in the Paddy O'Shurmur era, they came out flat, didn't move the ball consistently, and couldn't stop the other team from rushing, in this case to the tune of 204 yards for Ray Rice. Baltimore held the ball for nearly 38 minutes. The score easily could have been more lopsided. But weirdly, I'm not convinced that the offense is that far from being able to move the ball consistently and score points. I'm serious. The mistakes keeping us form success are so minor that I can truly envision the Browns getting on the right side of that razor's edge that separates winning from losing in the NFL, even in games like yesterday's where there's a very obvious talent gap.

Let's consider the plays and moments that stopped and slowed the Browns' offense yesterday and how they very easily could have been productive.

Kickoff
How about the opening kickoff? That stupid thing was headed right for the out of bounds line and managed to sneak itself just inside the pylon. That foot or so of ball motion on a 75-yard kick cost the Browns a free 20 yards. Frustrating.

First drive
The Browns were moving the ball quite nicely (despite another Greg little drop) and had 2nd and 2 at the Baltimore 39. Announcers love to point out the exceedingly obvious fact that teams have more success when they put themselves in "manageable" 2nd- and 3rd-and-short situations yet here and other times they fail to capitalize. In this case, a run for no gain, an incomplete pass, and a 25-yard punt.

There's no reason this drive had to end like that! Punting from the 39 on 4th and 2 is simply a terrible decision. I eschew the "nothing to lose" line of thinking for a bad team like Cleveland; you do what gives your team the best chance to win regardless of record. In this case, punting was not that. Run it twice from 3rd and 2! Play action on 4th down! Not this pathetic punt which, by the way, the Ravens erased in exactly one play. Just indefensible coaching

Second Drive
The Browns had gotten a first down to their 38 on a nice catch and run by Jordan Norwood. After a head tackle from Ed Reed, Norwood tossed the ball up towards a ref, not noticing that a raven had moved into that area. Hits the raven in the face mask, 15 on the Browns. Come on. It was totally innocuous, totally unintentional, and totally a letter of the law call. Even though the Browns kept 1st and 10, that call basically throttled the drive.

I hate the Baltimore Ravens
I really do. Horrible colors, dastardly players (Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs are among the league's biggest and loudest idiots), stole our team, everything. They suck. I saw this bus crap out a whole load of them on Saturday and was just appalled. Among the group was one attention-seeking steeler fan, who, not content to antagonize the Baltimore fan base, had to come to Cleveland to antagonize ours. No one likes you.

Third Drive
Pick up a couple of first downs out to the Baltimore 44, then Norwood fumbles a ball that came inches from the sideline before Reed (of course) scooped it up. Just like that, another promising drive cut short by the fickle roll of the ball.

Fourth Drive
One fucking yard from our 33 was all we needed. Got zero.

The fifth and sixth drives were a hurried INT and a kneel down, so let's skip those and go to the second half.

Seventh drive
Not good.

Eighth drive
After a takeaway by the defense, the Browns get the ball at midfield and immediately lose eight yards. Colt McCoy's job, by the way, is impossible. Yet on second down, thanks to unusually good pass protection, McCoy has time to hit Hillis streaking down the left sideline for a 52-yard gain down to the Raven 4.

Then from the 3 McCoy tosses one right off of Evan Moore's hands in the end zone. Again, this margin between successful and unsuccessful offense is paper-thin, and Moore's drop found Cleveland four points shy of where they should have been.

The rest of the game featured a lot of passing, much of it errant, all of it desperation and somewhat hapless as Baltimore kept applying pressure in the Cleveland backfield. Moore did grab a 22-yard strike from McCoy to make the final margin better, but the game was long since lost.

But the fate of the drives up until the 4th quarter or so show that it's always some little thing keeping the Browns from sustaining drives and scoring points. A missed block here, an inability to gain two yards in three plays there, a dropped pass., etc. The Browns just need to cut out the unforced errors on offense and I think they can actually start to be successful. Let's try it out on Thursday, eh?

NFL Picks: Week 13

2011-12-01T17:33:00.013-05:00

Holy shit, Joe. I'm going to take my annual "I really suck (this season even worse than ever I think)so I'm gonna go George Costanza and pick the opposite" approach. We'll see how it treats me.

Last Week
Joe: 12-4
Nick: 9-7
Figgs: 7-9

Figgs' $ Picks: 2-2
Nick's $ Picks: 3-1-1

Current Standings
Joe: 95-72-8
Nick: 85-82-8
Figgs: 76-91-8

Figgs' $ Picks: 12-18-1
Nick's $ Picks: 29-18-5

Thursday Night Football

SHEHAWKS (+3) vs Iggles
Figgs: Seattle's not as bad as we think, and I think the Eagles have given up on the season. But since I clearly know nothing and am going with the Costanza-method...Philly.
Joe: Eagles; Tempted to go the other way here, but the Eagles should have enough talent to win this game easily, even with the injuries. The question is, will they? No confidence at all, but I'll say yes, they will.
Nick: Seahawks. Beat up Eagles team travelling across the country. Nothing to play for. Embattled coach. The biggest disappointment in the NFL. Playing in the league's loudest stadium. On a short week. At night. Seattle's Super Bowl. Sentence fragments. Classic game to grab the Hawks as the home dog. Let's do it. ($)
Andy: I had so much fun reading Joe and Jason's work that I decided to chime in this week as well. I love how everyone is going to use this Philly team's disastrous year as "proof" of the notion that it's not talent that wins, but you have to play as a team, which is basically nonsense. They just sucked. I guarantee Skip Bayless is loving this Eagle collapse.

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

BUCS (-3) vs Fighting Cams
Figgs: Bucs. Not sure why Vegas is still respecting TB.
Joe: Panthers; Underachieving Bucs team vs. Superman. I'll gladly take Cam getting points in this one. I look for continued improvement from Cam, and next year, who knows? Super Bowl for Superman?
Nick: Bucs. Blount is running the ball pretty well and the Bucs have played a really tough slate so far. Things start evening out this week.
Andy: I feel like, in years past, I would know why there's no line yet. I assume Cam Newton or Josh Freeman is questionable, but who knows. Turns out it's Freeman and the line is Panthers by 3.

SQUEALERS (-6.5) vs Bungles
Figgs: Bengals. Let's go Cinncy!
Joe: Bengals; Why? Because Fuck Pittsburgh, that's why!
Nick: Bengals. Because the Steelers can still easily miss the playoffs, that's why.
Andy: Not much I can add here to what J&J have said, though I'm not above piling on: the steelers suck and I hope they lose. At the very least I hope the Bungles take out half their team so we can clean up the mess on Thursday.

The PERENIALLY 8-8 HOUSTON TEXANS (+3) vs Dirty Birds
Figgs: ATL. Haha, on one of the super rare weeks I'd pick against the Birds, I'm forced into picking them. Funny how the universe works.
Joe: Falcons; I was looking forward to Houston making a Super Bowl run this year. But without Schaub, that just wasn't gonna happen. Without Leinart, a playoff win is probably also out of the question. With Jake Delhomme, may God have mercy on your souls!
Nick: Texans. Houston still has one of the league's best running games and an underrated defense. Gimme the home dog.
Andy: With such a strong start, I wondered how the Texans were going to reach their organizationally-mandated goal of an 8-8 season. With the Jake Delhomme signing, my questions have been answered.

SKINS (+3) vs J!E!T!S!
Figgs: Skins. Lotta home dogs.
Joe: Jets; Sanchez sucks. Grossman sucks worse.
Nick: Jets. My sucker bet of the week. ($)
Andy: michigan sucks!

PATSIES (-20) vs The Artist Formerly Known as the Fighting Peytons
Figgs: Indy. My favorite name from Andy this week.
Joe: Colts; The Pats should easily role here, but I heard a stat that teams that are 20+ point favorites in NFL history are only 2-7. So, I'll go with the %'s and take the Colts getting this many points.
Nick: Pats. Easiest 20-point cover ever. ($)
Andy: I remember in 2007 when the Patriots were just fire-bombing the entire league, they had a line of -22 against the Dolphins and won by 21. This blogger called that one right. Booyakasha.

PHISH (-3) vs Black Hole
Figgs: Fins. Ha, don't worry, Joe, I always have trouble deciphering some of Andy's nicknames.
Joe: Raiders; I am not even sure who is playing in some of these games with these ridiculous names, but I'm guessing this is the Raiders. Anyway, I like the way the Phish have been playing, but I have loved the Raiders all year, and getting points here? Sign me up!
Nick: Raiders. Okay, sucker bet number two. ($)
Andy: Who else would "Black Hole" be?

VIKES (-1.5) vs Donks
Figgs: Vikes. This line baffles me. Denver is beating weak teams (as Andy said, with defense) and Minny is a weak team.
Joe: Vikings; The Tebow magic finally gets cooled off. During his winning streak, he hasn't faced a pashrusher the likes of Jared Allen yet. He's gonna find out what that's like on Sunday.
Nick: Donks. No Peterson = no offense for Minny. TIMMY TEE! ($)
Andy: Just so we're all clear on this: the Broncos' defense and a string of weak opponents are the main reasons for their recent success. I hope we all understand this.

BUFFALOES (-2.5) vs Titties
Figgs: Jills. Has a team fallen more than Buffalo?
Joe: Titans; Still fighting for a playoff spot. Buffalo...not so much.
Nick: Titans. Just can't endorse the Billskis against a moderately competent team.
Andy: Somewhere, Frank Wycheck will be sitting and enjoying this game.

DA BEARS (-7) vs Chieves
Figgs: Push. That's right - I'm picking a push. Suck on that one!
Joe: Bears; Caleb Hanie sucks. Tyler Palko sucks worse.
Nick: Bears. Defense and Matt Forte should be enough in this one.
Andy: If nothing else in the early games this Sunday, I'll be rooting for a seven-point Bears win.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

CLEVELAND FUCKIN' BROWNS (+6.5) vs Ratbirds
Figgs: BROWNS. Even on opposite week, I can't pick against us.
Joe: Goddamn Browns; Baltimore has tanked a couple of road games already this year coming off of big wins, and here's to hoping they do it again. The only thing that worries me is that they have had a long layoff before facing us.
Nick: Ravens. I need at least seven here to consider us. If Baltimore had a big divisional game like Pittsburgh coming up next week, I might look at this as a letdown game. Unfortunately they have Indy next week.
Andy: I am a fan of the Cleveland Browns. Nick said last week that he was "not picking us until we show something on offense" in defending his incorrect pick against the Browns. Does 17 points count as "something"? Will he do the right thing and pick Cleveland this week? Stay tuned.

PHOENIXES (+4.5) vs Pokes
Figgs: Cards. I have nothing to say about this game.
Joe: Cowboys; Johnny Bones standing in the way of a potential division title for Dallas. I wouldn't worry too much about that one.
Nick: Cowboys, although weird things happen in Arizona.
Andy: I'm glad someone picked up on Johnny Bones! Watching Dallas on Thanksgiving, I noticed Jerry Jones (probably because they cut to him almost constantly) and thought about how odd it would be to wear a suit to every NFL game you attend. I mean, you already own the team, you don't need to impress anyone - why not sport something more comfortable?

G-MEN (+7) vs Pack
Figgs: Giants. MORE LIKE DISCOUNT DOUBLE GAY!
Joe: Packers; I think the only way they don't go undefeated is if they bench some players late in the season.
Nick: Packers. Why go against GB at this point?
Andy: Green Bay is good at playing football.

GOLD-DIGGERS (-13) vs Ewes
Figgs: Niners. Yes, I had to look up what an Ewe was. Apparently a female ram. I get it now. I assume that's it, and there isn't a football team named after "an ethnic group in Eastern part of Ghana, Benin and Togo."
Joe: 49ers; Clear mismatch. And with Harbaugh not ever shy about running up a score, I'm not too worried about the backdoor cover here.
Nick: Niners. The Rams are not good, on the road, long week for SF, and no Bradford.
Andy: Ghana, Benin, and Togo are on byes this week.

Sunday Night Football

AIN'TS (-9) vs Megatrons
Figgs: Lions. I tried for about a minute and a half to come up with a good "Suh stomping on someone" joke and came up empty. It's been a long day.
Joe: Saints; Brees and company are rolling right now and I look for them to Ndomastomp all over a Lions team that has come back to earth the 2nd half of the season. (See what I did there?)
Nick: Saints. The backdoor cover scares me, but the Saints are rolling and the Lions are much better up front than in the secondary.
Andy: The Suh thing is totally ridiculous - two games is light. First, he's already firmly established himself as the league's dirtiest player, then he bangs a guy's head into the ground a bunch of times and stomps on his arm. Bad enough. THEN he issues a post-game statement where he claims he didn't mean to step on the guy's arm, which is an absolute flat-out lie. THEN he issues some lame apology, but not to, you know, the guy whose arm he stomped.

AND THEN...he appeals his two-game suspension. That's some nerve right there. What, did you think the NFL was going to re-review the video and say, you know what, we shouldn't suspend him? Do you REALLY think that suspension wasn't merited? Unreal.

Monday Night Football

JAGONS (+3) vs Bolts
Figgs: Jax. Are we really gonna see Luke McCown in primetime? God help us.
Joe: Chargers; They have absolutely lived up to everything I've said about them all year. But if Jason's right about Luke McCown starting, I simply must pick the Bolts here.
Nick: Jags. Just so we're clear - the Chargers have lost six consecutive games and they're road favorites? Yeah, I don't get it either.
Andy: Anyone else remember Luke McCown's last primetime game? It was December 26, 2004, and McCown QB's the Browns to a 10-7 loss in Miami. He made one awesome deep throw for the TD across his body, then...not much else.

Buckeye Basketball Preview

2011-11-30T22:45:00.005-05:00

Even with how disastrous the 2011 year has been for Ohio St football, Buckeye fans have reason for optimism. As has been noted several times on this blog, Urban Meyer is our new football coach and, after a brief one-year hiatus, OSU’s dominance over the Big Ten looks to continue. Also, Ohio St hoops is really, really good. Evidence of this was found in last night’s 23-point shellacking of #3 ranked Duke. I realize we are only a couple of weeks into this season, but if Duke is as good as people say they are (and they usually are), this will probably be the most impressive performance from any team all regular season long. The Bucks dominated from start to finish in every aspect of the game to notch their 29th consecutive home win. I’ll take a look at some of the keys and possible downfalls to an Ohio St title run in March, as well as the usual random thoughts that cross my mind. (If you want to read a more well-written and informed preview, check out Mark Titus’ piece for Grantland, but read mine first.)

Ohio St has a “core-four” of guys that will do the majority of the work this year (See: Duke game, 76 out of 85 points). I’ll briefly break down how each can contribute (or impede) the hopes of cutting down the nets, as well as what we can expect from the rest of squad.

Jared Sullinger, Forward
It really all starts and ends with this guy. He was probably the best player in the nation last year, averaging over 17 points and 10 rebounds a game. Since then he has shed some weight and just looks like an absolute monster. He was quick at 300+ pounds last year, now at 280 I don’t know if there is a quicker big man in the country.

There are a lot of reasons to be impressed with this guy, but two stand out for me. The first is his intensity. He has such a strong passion for the game and the will to win, and you can see it every time he steps onto the court. You can tell he is enjoying himself out there, but cross him and look out. His flexing/best-impression-of-a-mean-ape-face (pictured above) can be intimidating for the opposition as well as motivating/confidence boosting for his teammates. The other thing I really like about Sully is his foul shooting. While his 70% last season wasn’t spectacular, it’s still good enough to take the hack-a-Shaq method off the table. In the small sample size of this season, he’s upped that number to 83%. It is pretty tough to stop this man without fouling, and if he’s hitting from the stripe at an 83% clip, you might as well go home now.

Sullinger’s one slight weakness that I talked about a season ago was that he looked lost at times on defense when fellow big man Dallas Lauderdale wasn’t in the game to back him up. Knowing that Dallas would be gone this year, he has clearly worked on that part of his game as he looks like a much tougher one-on-one defender this season. The key for him will be playing aggressive D without getting into foul trouble, which has never plagued him before but could be more of a factor without the presence of Swat-erdale behind him.

I may not be going out on much of a limb here, but I’m calling Sully hoisting the Naismith Award at season’s end.

Aaron Craft, Point Guard
Last year as a freshman, Craft’s decision-making, defense, and passing ability looked like that of a sixth-year senior. He seems to have only improved each of those traits, as well as adding some range - averaging 15 points on 4/9 three-point shooting the past three games. Ohio St will need someone other than Sullinger and Will Buford to step up as a third scoring option this season, and Craft may be able to lend a hand here and there.

That being said, his game is still about controlling the ball, making expert passes, and playing Steve Wojo-like defense. Now, Craft isn’t and never will be the shooting threat that Jamar was, but his passing game reminds me so much of former OSU PG Jamar Butler. The way he sees everything on the court is astonishing. He makes near-full court passes seem like bounce passes from the foul line. Jared Sullinger is the team’s best player, but Aaron Craft may be the key to the season. (Also, I put the over/under on how many times an announcer informs us that he was the starting quarterback and valedictorian of his high school at 5,000.)

William Buford, Guard/Forward
Buford is a four-year starter and the lone senior on this Buckeye squad. If you want to be entertained, watch Will Buford. He’s never seen a shot he didn’t like, but he’s also never averaged less than 11 points in his four seasons in the scarlet and grey. The man is a scoring machine, and with a fabulous year actually has a chance to become Ohio St’s all-time leading scorer. My friend and I used to laugh watching him as a freshman and sophomore, because I literally don’t think he passed once in two seasons. He still doesn’t like to share the rock, but he has developed his overall game by a significant margin (his rebound, assist and shooting percentage numbers this season are all career highs, while his turnovers are down).

While I have no problem with Buf jacking up shot after shot, I would still like to see him try to get to the basket more. The problem with strictly jump-shooting players is that one cold night could be catastrophic if your team is counting on them. We all remember Will’s 2 of 16 shooting performance against Kentucky in last year’s Sweet 16 all too well.

Deshaun Thomas, Forward
The similarities of Thomas’ game last year to Buford during his freshman season were staggering. He never passed up an opportunity to shoot, even when that clearly was the wrong decision. If he can progress like Buf, however, Buckeye fans are in for a treat the next few years, because the guy can score. He really took over the Duke game when the Devils closed the gap midway through the first half. He has range, but definitely needs to get more selective in his shooting. Watching him and Buford on the floor at the same time is overly comical/enjoyable. Also, I’d like to now formally nickname him “Tank.”

The Rest
With the fabulous trio of Jon Diebler, David Lighty, and Dallas Lauderdale all graduating from last year’s seven-man rotation, no one other than the above four have any real playing experience. Now with the talent level of those four, Thad Matta isn’t asking a lot from the rest of his players, but their contribution, however little it may be, could be the difference between winning or losing a tight game in March.

Seven other members of the Buckeyes have seen decent minutes thus far, and the cast of characters is as follows: junior forward Evan Ravenel, sophomore guards Lenzelle Smith and Jordan Sibert and forward J.D. Weatherspoon, and the freshman class of Shannon Scott (G), Sam Thompson (F), and Amir Williams (C).

The three I expect to be permanent fixtures of the rotation are Smith, Sibert, and Ravenel. The members outside the top four aren’t going to need to score, they’re going to be asked to play good defense and rebound, and these three guys seem to be the best at that. Smith has gotten the start at each game so far, so he obviously has the inside track to see the most minutes. I see him as sort of a David Light. (Get it, as in the watered down version of David Lighty? I am so damn clever.) He’s going to be challenged with the task of being that lockdown perimeter defender that Lighty was, plus he can do a little bit of everything, just not as good as Lighty could obviously (5.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals this season).

Sibert may be the only name you recognize from last season, as he was the 8th man and saw limited action here and there. Ravenel just looks like a beast, and is the only guy with real size other than Jared. Weatherspoon is probably the best scorer out of this bunch, but as I’ve stated scoring isn’t what these guys are needed to do. I understandably haven’t seen much of these freshmen, but Williams was the most highly touted and probably has the most potential.

Predictions
The NCAA field is wide open this year, with North Carolina and Kentucky (along with Ohio St) looking like the heavyweights. The Bucks will make a trip to Kansas on December 10, and then should cruise through the rest of the non-conference schedule into the new year. The Big Ten is perennially tough, and this year is no different. Wisconsin is a top 10 squad and as always virtually unbeatable at home, and teams 3-9 in the conference could beat anyone on any given night (Penn St, Nebraska, and Iowa being the other three that just flat-out stink).

Seeing as the college basketball regular season means absolutely nothing, I don’t think it would hurt the Bucks to lose a game or two throughout the year. It’s always nice to win a conference title and securing a #1 seed in the tourney can’t hurt, but aren’t necessary elements to bringing home a title.

Jared Sullinger just needs to be Jared Sullinger. Barring an injury, he’s going to be a beast - no doubt in my mind. The keys for a Buckeye championship run will be for Aaron Craft to continue playing at an All-American level, Will Buford to be a consistent scorer, Tank Thomas to provide a solid third scoring option, and the rest of the crew playing good enough defense to not blow a game. Chin up, Buckeye fans - this is going to be an entertaining and successful b-ball season.

GET EM

Discount Double Check

2011-11-30T11:22:00.002-05:00

If you've watched any NFL football recently, and if you're reading this you have, then you have no doubt seen the State Farm commercial advertising their "Discount Double Check" service and featuring Aaron Rodgers. I will recap it nonetheless:

- Rodgers is talking insurance with a State Farm agent.

- A couple comes in and thanks said agent for performing a discount double check for them and they make Rodgers' touchdown gesture.

- Rodgers, confused, asks why they're doing his TD move.

- They say it's the discount double check move.

- Rodgers says, no, it's my touchdown dance.

- They laugh and say, "what, you're a dancer?"

- Rodgers says, "no I'm a quarterback."

- They laugh, the guy says, "I'm a robot" and they walk past him sarcastically. Joke's on you, Aaron Rodgers!

- Random Packer fanatic runs by the window, does the move, yells "Rodgers! Discount Double Check!"

First of all, the State Farm agent is a douchebag for co-opting Rodgers' move to sell insurance. I don't think a move is necessary for insurance sales at all, but if you need one, think of your own. Rodgers should throw a football at this guy's stomach.

Second, these customers are real assholes. What kind of idiots don't even recognize Aaron Rodgers? Make hilarious robot jokes all you want, but you're the ones living under a rock. Presumably this takes place in Wisconsin (why else would Rodgers be there?), which makes these peoples' ignorance even more egregious. This just doesn't work. Rodgers should spike them with footballs too.

Aaron Rodgers' team beat the steelers in the Super Bowl.

Urban Meyer quick hits

2011-11-29T12:00:00.002-05:00

Like any Buckeye fan across Ohio and throughout the nation, I'm excited that Urban Meyer has officially agreed to become the head football coach at the Ohio State University, signing a six-year, $24 million deal (plus incentives for finishing the contract). Here are my quick takes on it.

- One day. That's all we gave those losers up north to enjoy their first win in The Game in eight years. One day. Now the spotlight is back on OSU, and the balance of power in the rivalry shifted way the hell back in our favor.

- One day.

- OSU's coach is named after a pope - Notre Dame's, not so much.

- I saw one column about "the problem with Urban Meyer" that was about how he works too hard. Damn, that sucks for us.

- He said at least five times in his press conference that he had "researched" or "done research" into various things. This appeals strongly to the scientist in me.

- Luke Fickell will apparently stay on as an assistant to Meyer, and I'm happy about that. I've picked on TCF's Brian McPeek in the past at times, but he nailed his article today, especially his eloquent essay defending Fickell. You put a guy who's never been a head coach in charge of a major program, in a year where they've lost their head coach to scandal, lost eight defensive starters, had two all-conference-level performers suspended for much of the year, lost a Heisman candidate QB, and started a true freshman QB. How, exactly, was this guy supposed to succeed? He was a fall guy and did the best he could. Yeah, we all can quibble with some of his decisions - taking too long to install Miller at the helm, the Wildcat plays - but I admire the way he handled the season and guided the team through an impossible situation. I'm disappointed at the venom and derision some Buckeye fans have sent his way, and I'm looking forward to him collecting a second championship ring here in a few years.

Go Bucks!

This doesn't make ann arbor any less of a whore.

2011-11-28T14:21:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday, for the first time in nearly 3,000 days, the michigan wolverines were able to celebrate a victory over Ohio St. It sucked - a lot. I felt that the Buckeyes were going to notch their eighth straight win over that school up north, mostly because I thought our defense could slow down can’t-tie and that Boom Herron was going to run all over the scum defense. I might as well have predicted a Kim Kardashian relationship would last and Sarah Jessica Parker would win a beauty contest. can’t-tie had by far the best game of his career - rushing for 170 yards, throwing for 167 more, scoring five total touchdowns and not turning the ball over once. Boom, on the other hand, had 15 carries for just 37 yards, averaging only 2.5 per carry.

robinson played a fantastic game, and I’m going to leave it at that. Ohio St’s defense was the real disappointment in this one. The 40 points the wolverines scored were the most for them in the rivalry since 1946. Andrew Sweat not being out there made a huge difference, but this just didn’t look like an OSU performance. CB Travis Howard got beat time and time again, LB Etienne Sabino was on his ass every other play, and even John Simon didn’t have the impact that I was hoping for. It was just bad all the way around.

Offensively, Braxton Miller did some very good things and some very bad things. He was 14/25 for 235 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT (a desperation heave on 4th down in the final seconds), while rushing 16 times for 100 yards and another score - his best statistical game of his short career. But he missed several wide-open guys, and he missed them badly. I just keep going back to the final drive when the michigan defense somehow let DeVier Posey get behind them and Braxton wasn’t even close. Even after a disappointing 7-5 season, that might go down as one of the greatest plays/wins in this rivalry if he makes that throw.

But instead, the 2011 Buckeyes close the regular season at 6-6, finishing under .500 in the Big Ten for the first time since 1999. With all of the scandals/suspensions/departures in Columbus since last season, this was probably to be expected, but it just seems so foreign to someone who has seen so much Buckeye success in his lifetime.

So the streaks of consecutive Big Ten titles (6), BCS Bowl games (6), and victories over that school up north (7) all come to an end. But all is not lost - Braxton Miller has shown flashes of brilliance, and Ohio St announced this morning that Urban Meyer is officially on board to be the new coach of the program. I’ll leave you with the epic words of Harvey Dent…“The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you - the dawn is coming.”

GET EM

NFL Picks: Week 12

2011-11-26T12:00:00.002-05:00

Last Week
Joe: 9-3-2 (wow)
Figgs: 7-5-2
Nick: 5-7-2

Figgs' $ Picks: 2-2
Nick's $ Picks: 3-1

Current Standings
Joe: 83-68-8
Nick: 76-75-8
Figgs: 69-82-8

Figgs' $ Picks: 10-16-1
Nick's $ Picks: 26-17-4

Thursday Night Football

LIONS (+7) vs Packers
Figgs: Packers. This is the first time since the Barry Sanders era the Lions are playing a meaningful game on Thanksgiving. Unfortunately for them, it means Aaron Rodgers is coming to town. ($)
Joe: Packers; Let me say to everyone that Thanksgiving is my personal favorite holiday of the year. This year, I am thankful for a great slate of games on Turkey Day for once. I think Detroit will score alot of points on GB's defense, but I think Green Bay will score plenty more. Pack in a shootout, something like 45-35 is my prediction.
Nick: Packers. Why pick against the Pack until you have a reason to? ($ -3)

COWBOYS (-7) vs Dolphins
Figgs: 'Boys. Fins win streak ends here.
Joe: Dolphins; I've picked them several weeks in row now, and they haven't burned me yet. The Cowboys should win, but I'll roll the dice with the Fish getting 7 points. (Also, in case you didn't already notice, this game is a rematch of Super Bowl VI. I bet Czonka and the boys are still steaming over that loss, so I look for the revenge factor here).
Nick: Phish. Although I'm told the Dolphins aren't actually fish. Miami has been beating up on some bad teams in recent weeks, and the Cowboys have yet to find the next gear. Wouldn't be shocked to see Miami pull the upset.

RAVENS (-3) vs 49ers
Figgs: Niners. Suck it, Baltimore. San Fran is really good. ($)
Joe: Ravens; Standard home 3 point spread, and I would take whoever was at home in this one and give the 3. Since Baltimore is home, I'm taking them. Not much more to analyze than that.
Nick: Niners. I think the Niners are the second-best team in the league behind Green Bay. They could easily be undefeated, and I love them getting points here. ($ +6)

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

BENGALS (-7.5) vs Browns
Figgs: BROWNS. Let's go ahead and start a winning streak.
Joe: Browns; We're getting more than a TD, so I feel I must pick us here. We tend to have wacky games with Cincy, so maybe we'll shock some people and win this one outright (or maybe not).
Nick: Bengals. Not picking us until we show that we can do something on offense.

RAMS (-3) vs Cardinals
Figgs: Cards. Just an awful team.
Joe: Cardinals; What the hell? Why not?
Nick: Cards. I'll take the points considering that Skelton hasn't been that bad.

JETS (-9) vs Bills
Figgs: Jets. You two talked me into it.
Joe: Jets; With Fred Jackson, the Bills seem to have completely come undone at the seams. Without him, they are quite simply a terrible football team. Jets, big.
Nick: Jets. This feels high, but the Bills have been aboslutely terrible the last few weeks.

JAGUARS (+3.5) vs Texans
Figgs: Texans. Houston's good enough/Jacksonville's bad enough to cover this without any QB.
Joe: Texans; All right, Matt Leinert, here's your 2nd chance. For some reason, he's always been my favorite of the USC QB's, and I'm glad he's getting another shot. The Texans should be able to cover this spread regardless of who's playing under center, quite frankly.
Nick: Texans. No reason for Leinart to even worry about throwing in this one. ($ -3)

COLTS (+3.5) vs Panthers
Figgs: Panthers. I'll join Joe on the Cam bandwagon for a week. ($)
Joe: Panthers; Bad team on their way up, while the Colts are just bad with no hope in sight other than either the Andrew Luck era, or Peyton returning next year to his old form.
Nick: Cats. The Colts can't do anything well, and at least the Panthers can score. ($)

TITANS (-3.5) vs Bucs
Figgs: Bucs. Not real confident here, but I just don't think Tennessee's very good. Then again neither are the Bucs, but I'll stick with them.
Joe: Titans; Honestly, they would be better off if Hasslebeck stays injured, so they can see how good Locker can be. Either way, I'll take them here because I've seen nothing positive out of the Bucs all season.
Nick: Titans. I stared at this one for awhile. Although I hate giving more than a field goal, the Titans have played well for four straight games, so I'll go with them.

FALCONS (-9) vs Vikings
Figgs: ATL. Just out of principal, although this line is pretty high.
Joe: Falcons; I wavered on this game for awhile, but now that Peterson is likely out, I'll take the Falcons to cover.
Nick: Birds. The Vikings were already a lousy team without AP, so I'll go with a Falcons team that's at home and fighting for a playoff spot.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

RAIDERS (-4) vs Bears
Figgs: Bears. Urlacher and the gang are good enough to win despite Hanie. ($)
Joe: Raiders; The Bears have the better team, but this is a QB driven league. And Carson Palmer > Caleb Hanie.
Nick: Bears. The Bears have a strong defense and still might win 12 games sans Cutler. I'll roll with them getting more than a field goal.

SEAHAWKS (-3.5) vs Redskins
Figgs: Hawks. "It don't get no better than solid."
Joe: Seahawks; The Skins have the worst QB situation I can ever remember, and they won too many games early in the season to have a shot at Luck. Tavaris and the Seahawks have quietly been playing very well in recent weeks.
Nick: Hawks. I'm pretty comfortable with the Seahawks defense and they're at home. That's really all I have to say about this one.

EAGLES (+3.5) vs Patriots
Figgs: Pats. Philly made their way back into the playoff picture after last week's win. Today they drop right back out.
Joe: Patriots; Banged up Eagle team still barely on life support. Brady and the Pats have turned it on the last couple of weeks after myself and national experts were starting to right them off. They just won't go away.
Nick: Patriots. The Pats aren't going to lose again unless they decide to rest their starters late.

CHARGERS (-6) vs Broncos
Figgs: Chargers. This is a terrible line, but I simply just won't pick Tebow.
Joe: Broncos; TEBOW! TEBOW! TEBOW! TEBOW!
Nick: Donks. Why are the Chargers better than the Broncos again?

Sunday Night Football

CHIEFS (+10.5) vs Steelers
Figgs: Steelers. Why in the world did KC get back-to-back primetime games? This one should be just as ugly as last weeks.
Joe: Steelers (reluctantly); I was gonna take the Chiefs when they signed Orton, but I realized he won't be starting quite yet (probably next week) so I can't justify taking Tyler Palko against Troy, Harrison and company.
Nick: Steelers. Sadly I just can't see the Chiefs scoring enough to cover this big number. ($ -4)

Monday Night Football

SAINTS (-7) vs GIANTS
Figgs: NYG. I agree with these two - just too many points.
Joe: Giants; I still like the Saints alot, but I don't feel comfortable giving a full TD against Eli and company, who have always been road warriors.
Nick: Giants. Too many points - why isn't this the standard home three?

Yep

2011-11-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

In case you were wondering whether or not my Dad rules, just know that my infant nephew owns this piece of garb.

Moving on

2011-11-23T15:42:00.004-05:00

The reasons I’m going to cut the recap of Ohio St’s loss to Penn St last weekend short are threefold.
1.) I’m on vacation and in a lazy mood.
2.) I hate writing about losses and frankly it’s starting to get old.
3.) We have more important things to talk about - namely playing that school up north in a few days and welcoming a new leader in Columbus.

Game Recap
For the third straight game, Ohio St’s defense put themselves in a 10-0 hole. The D then turned it on and kept their team in the game for the third consecutive contest as well, but the OSU offense was again too anemic to overcome the early deficit. Braxton Miller’s 24-yard TD run at the beginning of the second quarter made the score 10-7, but Stephfon Greene immediately answered with his second score of the game to put the Lions back up by ten. Jake Stoneburner, who has been virtually invisible since his hot start, caught a touchdown from Brax to cut the PSU lead back to three. That was as close as the Buckeyes would get. Penn St added another FG as time expired in the first half to make it 20-14 at the break.

Watching both Ohio St and Penn St’s offense struggle mightily all year long, I mentioned how no matter what the over/under is on this game that the under would be a good bet. The line was set at 38, and after 34 first half points, these two were well on their way to make me look like a fool. Then the inept offenses (as well as the dominating defenses) that we’ve come to expect from these two squads came out in a scoreless second half to hit the under after all.

Both teams squandered golden opportunities, starting with Ohio St when Jordan Hall, lined up in the wildcat, and Boom Herron fumbled the exchange near the goal line. I don’t know who was actually at fault, so I’ll just blame the play call. I talked about how stupid the wildcat is for OSU last week, and they did their best to prove me right in this game. I think it’s safe to say that we will not see this again. While I’m complaining about the play-calling, what the hell where we doing with Carlos Hyde? The man is pushing 250 pounds - he is a “pound it up the middle” guy. Yet Ohio St used him like his was Jamaal Berry in this game. He was returning kicks, catching swing passes, and running the aforementioned wildcat. As much as I hate the formation with Hall or Boom back there, it get’s infinitely worse when you run it with Hyde. It may sound like I’m piling on Carlos here, but I’m more upset with the coaching staff for using him incorrectly (as well as piling on Hyde - he did have a crucial fumble after all).

Penn St blew their chance when they had a first-and-goal and a couple of OSU penalties gave them eight cracks at the end zone. EIGHT. The Lions were unsuccessful each time, including a 4th down from the 1. I am usually aggressive and say teams should go for it on 4th down more often, but I think Penn St blew this call and should have elected for the field goal to put them up two scores. I didn’t matter, however, as Ohio St couldn’t manage even one score. An intentional grounding call on Miller on the game’s final drive halted any chance at a comeback, and the Buckeyes dropped their second in a row.

Urban Meyer
Although it won’t be official until next week, reports are that Urban Meyer has inked a seven-year, $40 million deal to become Ohio St’s next head ball coach. I’ve been saying this was going to happen all year long, and thought it was laughable that Penn St fans actually though he’d choose them over OSU. Critics of Ohio St’s choice say that he will be there for three or four years then leave, and they’d rather have a lifer like Jim Tressel (who would have been if not for the scandal). First of all, Jim Tressel’s just don’t grow on trees - we were very lucky to find him back in 2001. More importantly, if Meyer is only there for four years and brings us four Big Ten titles and a National Championship (certainly a plausible scenario), I’d be on board with that. Welcome to Columbus, Coach Meyer. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

michigan Week
As I write this, it has been 2,923 days since Ohio St has last lost to that school up north. This is always one of my favorite weekends of the year, made even better by being able to celebrate a victory each of the last seven years. As an added bonus this year, I’ll be joining my FCF cohorts Nick and Andy in Cleveland for the Pigskin Classic, a pre-game 5k race and tailgate leading up to us watching Ohio St embarrass those asshole for an eighth straight time.

I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t care for those fellows from Ann Arbor much, but I will give some credit - the 2011 wolverines are a better team than they have been in years past. Add that to the fact that Ohio St has their worst team since 2001, and michigan is favored by eight points. It’s just going to make it that much sweeter when the Buckeyes win in the gay house.

The game plan for Ohio St is clear - stop can’t-tie from running. Andrew Sweat returning to action would go a long way, but that doesn’t look probable. If he’s out, Storm Klein will likely get the task of spying can’t-tie, and his success could determine the outcome. On the offensive side of the ball, it will be a steady dose of Boom Herron. Boom has typically saved his best for his rival, scoring two TD’s as a freshman in a backup role to Beanie Wells in ’08 and rushing for 175 yards in last year’s beat down. I’ll expect a similar performance this weekend, and to keep the streak going.
Prediction: Ohio St 28 michigan 20

GET EM

MVP

2011-11-22T07:00:00.003-05:00

As you may have heard, Justin Verlander Justin Verlander won the AL MVP award.. I support this - I can hear arguments for Ellsbury, Bautista, Granderson, and Cabrera, but Verlander is a solid pick.

So solid, in fact, that he appeared on 27/28 of the BBWA AL MVP ballots, left off of only one: Ohio's Jim Ingraham. Ingraham has "defended" his choice in the above-linked article, a piece of writing so devoid of logic that I had to work it over for a while.

While I'm on the topic of anti-logic, how about Yankee pitcher David Robertson getting a 10th-place vote? Is his Mom on the committee? It's OK, I hadn't heard of him either. Wow.

But back to Ingraham's decision and poorly-reasoned explanation. Let's go.

Jim Ingraham: Why I left Justin Verlander off my MVP ballot
Jim Ingraham: Post-Hoc Reasoning.

I was one of the 28 voters for the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
As we will see, you should be immediately relieved of this responsibility.

I had three Detroit Tigers on my ballot. None of the three was Justin Verlander, who won the award, getting 13 of a possible 28 first-place votes. I was the only voter who didn't include Verlander anywhere on his 10-player ballot.
The only acceptable line following this admission (which I give Ingraham credit for being honest and transparent about, at least), would be, "and I was mistaken."

This was my reasoning:
Taking remarkable liberties with that word.

The short version is I don't believe pitchers should be eligible for the MVP Award.
Oh, Jim Ingraham. It doesn't matter who you think should be eligible; pitchers are eligible. If you have a problem with the rules, take it up elsewhere. It says right on the ballot you were sent that pitchers are eligible.

My not voting for Verlander had nothing to do with evaluating what Verlander accomplished this season.
Well then, you screwed it up, didn't you? That's the entire point of the award. If you didn't evaluate Verlander's season, then you literally could not have done a worse job.

It was one of the great seasons by any pitcher ever. Nobody has to convince me of Verlander's greatness this season.
Awesome.

I cover the Indians, who are in the same division as the Tigers, so I've seen Verlander's greatness first-hand.
Irrelevant. We have TV now - anyone can watch Verlander.

He's the only pitcher I saw this year who I felt had a legitimate chance to pitch a no-hitter every time he took the mound.
Yeah, intellectual concessions, I know this tactic. Get to it, man.

I know Verlander is a great pitcher. I also know, by the nature of his job, he did not appear at all in 128 of the Tigers' games this year. That's 79 percent of the Tigers' season. I can't think of any other sport in which a player who didn't play in 79 percent of his team's games could be voted the Most Valuable Player in his league.
"I lack the imagination and sense to understand the way in which baseball differs from other sports."

Obviously, I'm in the minority in this year's MVP voting. I expected to be.
And you still didn't realize you were making a weak point? Did it at least occur to you that the reason no one agreed with you was that you were wrong? Did you ever kinda want to look at the numbers and see how pitchers' contributions compare to position players'?

I'm sure many wonder why I didn't at least have Verlander somewhere on my ballot — second, third, fourth — if not first. My answer to that is this: If Verlander was going to be on my ballot at all, he was going to be first.
Speechless. I cannot imagine what it is like to write something this illogical. I can't make my fingers do it.

But once I decided I didn't think it was fair to compare pitchers with position players for this award,
"Because I don't understand WAR or any other metric that allows for such comparison, and nor do I care to."

meaning I wasn't going to give Verlander a first-place vote, it would have been hypocritical of me to have him anywhere else on my ballot. He was either going to be first on my ballot or not on it at all.
Wow, you said it twice! This is absolutely insane. Is that more hypocritical than being selected for a prestigious task and putting your own ego before it?

Again, I realize I'm in the minority, and I don't begrudge any of my peers who did vote for Verlander. I can understand their argument for voting for him, and I respect the reasoning of those who did. I just don't agree with it. That's the whole purpose of the voting process. Sorting out opinions.
This is not the purpose of voting on baseball awards. Not at all.

In the 34 games (21 percent) of the Tigers' season that Verlander appeared in, he was obviously overpowering, and in most games virtually unbeatable. But in 128 of the Tigers' games (79 percent), he was no factor at all.
Verlander averaged 7 1/3 innings per start, and I simply won't let you pretend that his going deep into nearly every ballgame didn't help the Tiger bullpen in those other 129 games.

Twenty-one percent of an NFL season is three games.
3.4. You rounded down and I noticed.

I highly doubt an NFL quarterback could be voted MVP if he only played in three games.
This is totally inapt and dishonest. More than anything else in this horrible article, this sentence rankles me. If you don't understand the differences between baseball and football any better than this, then you should not write about sports professionally.

Look, Verlander faced 969 opposing batters this season; MVP runner-up Jacoby Ellsbury had 729 plate appearances. Ellsbury had 394 fielding chances to Verlander's 50 (and Verlander batted four times). That means Verlander was involved in 1023 plays and Ellsbury in 1125, where in nearly all of Verlander's he was far more involved in the outcome (pitching) than many of the routine flyballs Ellsbury no doubt handled. Don't give me this NFL QB "three games" rubbish.

I also believe there is a grind to the 162-game major-league season that position players have to deal with that starting pitchers don't. Position players must be physically and mentally prepared to perform at a high level in 140 or more games per season.
Ingraham just got mauled in the comments, as well he should have. 21/24 negative as of my writing.

It's a great achievement for the position players at the top of the MVP voting to be able to stay healthy and to perform at the high level they did over the long marathon of a major-league season. Starting pitchers aren't required to do that.
Yeah, throwing 100 pitches at ~90 MPH every five days is easy - that's why starting pitchers never get injured or develop elbow/shoulder issues.

That doesn't mean starting pitchers are any less important than position players. But to me, it does mean trying to compare the relative worth of a player who plays in 150 games to one who plays in 34 is very difficult. A pitcher and a position player are two completely different jobs.
WAR. It's not perfect, but it's useful and it blows up your whole spot.

I've been voting on these awards for 27 years.
Sorry, but you should be immediately disenfranchised.

I take this process very seriously.
No, you take yourself very seriously. If you took the process seriously, you would read and follow the instructions.

Verlander is a great pitcher. The best in the majors this year. My ballot is not my way of saying he wasn't. My ballot is my way of saying it's unfair to both groups to have to compare pitchers and position players for this particular award.
Your ballot is self-serving and wrong.
I'm going to add the WAR for each player he put on his ballot here. Know that Verlander's was 8.6.

Ingraham's MVP ballot:
1. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays (8.5 - amazingly, he actually got the best position player right)
2. Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox (7.2)
3. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers (7.1)
4. Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox (6.9)
5. Robinson Cano, Yankees (4.6)
6. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox (6.8)
7. Curtis Granderson, Yankees (5.2)
8. Alex Avila, Tigers (5.4)
9. Michael Young, Rangers (2.4, easily the worst player to crack the Top 10. Every other player to get any vote had a higher WAR than Young. Bizarre. Verlander was worth 6 more wins to his team than was Young.)
10. Victor Martinez, Tigers (2.9)

Hopefully the BBWA finds someone more qualified to handle this voting next season.

Dark Days

2011-11-21T08:00:00.006-05:00

This ain't no fun. Ain't no fun.

By "this" I mean the sports fandom espoused by this blog, being the three pro Cleveland squads plus Ohio State. Things are not well for really any of them and it keeps spiraling worse. Earlier this week I blasted Boston super-dummy Dan Shaughnessy for moronically asking earlier this season "Have there been worse days in the history of New England sports?" less than four months after, for instance, the city's hockey team won the Stanley Cup. It was probably the most egregious instance of ungrateful sports fanhood and lack of perspective I've ever seen, and infuriates me even more when I look at the state of my favorite clubs. Seriously, if I ever write something like that if/when the Tribe wins 90+ games, the Browns are in first place, and the Cavs hold the Larry O'Brien trophy, come here to Cleveland and punch me right in the face. It's things like this that keep my Sam Adams boycott (in place since fall '07) going.

But back to Ohio and teams that humans, with souls, root for. Nick does, too. I'm very, very aware that Cleveland is renowned for its sports futility, but even by those standards, things are remarkably bleak here in northeast Ohio. To steal a bit of Shaughnessy magic, this might be the worst collective time for our clubs that I can remember. The Buckeyes lost their beloved coach who led them to their first title in over 30 years and who was on his way to Icon status to a stupid tattoo scandal and scuffled to a finish in the bottom half of the Big 10 (michigan game pending - that could help); the Browns fucking suck (though I was jacked about yesterday's win), the Indians play in an unfair league and just turned a 30-15 start into a 50-67 finish, and the Cavs...well, you know what happened. They can't even catch a lockout break - Cleveland's two of the top 5 lottery picks will be sitting this year like everyone else.

It sucks, and there's not one single good team to fall back on. Hell, even the Lake Erie Monsters are struggling. As far as I can go back, we nearly always had at least someone who was reasonably good. Check it out, without being overly specific about what "good" constitutes let's say the Bucks had to get 2nd or better in the Big 10, and the pro teams had to make the playoffs.

2010: Buckeyes, Cavs
2009: Buckeyes, Cavs
2008: Buckeyes, Cavs
2007: Buckeyes, Browns, Cavs, Indians (all this right before I arrived in the 216)
2006: Buckeyes, Cavs
2005: Buckeyes, Indians (playoffs or no, 93 wins was a hell of a run)
2004: Buckeyes
2003: Buckeyes
2002: Buckeyes (fuck yeah), Browns
2001: Indians
2000: No one
1999: Indians
1998: Buckeyes, Indians, Cavs
1997: Buckeyes, Indians
1996: Buckeyes, Indians, Cavs
1995: Buckeyes, Indians, Cavs
1994: Buckeyes, Browns, Cavs
1993: Buckeyes, Cavs
1992: Buckeyes, Cavs
1991: No one
1990: Cavs
1989: Browns (Halcyon fucking days of yore - four straight playoff appearances?), Cavs
1988: Browns, Cavs
1987: Browns
1986: Buckeyes, Browns

The only two years in my 25 as a staunch Ohioan sports fan without a playoff club or "good" Buckeye squad were 1991 and 2000 - these apparently happen once every decade or so. But even in 2000, the Tribe won 90 games and battled for the Central title, the Bucks won eight games and played in the Outback Bowl, the Browns' return was still novel, and I got into hockey with Mario Lemieux's return to the NHL.

Really, the only year quite as barren as this one was '91. The Buckeyes won only eight and lost something called the Hall of Fame Bowl, the Indians lost a preposterous 105 games, the Cavs submitted a sixth-place finish in their division, and the Browns notched all of six wins. In fact, the parallels are striking - the Browns will probably win five this year, and 2011 has a better Tribe club but a worse Cavalier club - but 1991 and 2011 are pretty much neck and neck for the title of worst overall Cleveland sports year since I've been on board.

I just hope one of them can get good soon. OSU will soon get a marquee coach and the young guys playing this year will mature, so they'll likely be better soon. If the NBA comes back, the Cavs have some promising youngsters. It's hard to see a path to the top for the Tribe right now, but the cupboard is far from bare. The Browns will always suck, let's face it. Still, we press on, because we are Cleveland fans and we care.

Gameday

2011-11-20T09:30:00.002-05:00

I'm psyched for the game today.

Yes, the Browns game. Yes, the game pitting two 3-6 squads against each other on a potentially rainy Sunday afternoon in Downtown Cleveland. Yes, things are pretty bad across our sports spectrum right now, but what kind of a fan would I be if I couldn't still get excited for a Browns game? So, instead of betting against our boys like certain members of FCF who will go unnamed (it's Nick), I bet on them by purchasing tickets to the game today, where I fully intend to cheer them to victory.

You see, as I'm getting older, I'm finding myself more interested in boiling sports back to their essence - the games and the competition. When I was a kid, that was all that mattered, because I didn't know what the fuck a salary cap or a mid-level exception was. As I moved into my teens and twenties, I of course learned more about the intricacies of the games on and off the field, and now that I know all of that, I'm starting to think: no thanks. I wonder if maybe I'd get more out of the Browns if I just watched the games on Sunday, read the injury reports and box scores, and called it a day. I don't know.

What I do know is that, even though times are tough (as tomorrow's column will detail), my main reason for being a fan is what it always has been, and damnit, I'm excited to win a ballgame today.

NFL Picks: Week 11

2011-11-17T12:00:00.015-05:00

Hey, it's Andy this time. Pretty heated competition this year, with newcomer Joe holding a two-game lead over Nick, and Figgs...hey, how about that Joe and Nick?!

Anyway, I'm enjoying my season off of the competition and checking in on the fellows' picks. This week I thought I'd add some commentary to the games as well because, damnit, I'm a cofounder of this blog. I WILL LOCK YOU OUT IF YOU CROSS ME! OK, that was unnecessary.

Last Week
Joe: 8-8
Nick: 8-8
Figgs: 5-11

Figgs' $ Picks: 1-1
Nick's $ Picks: 2-3

Current Standings
Joe: 74-65-6
Nick: 71-68-6
Figgs: 62-77-6

Figgs' $ Picks: 8-14-1
Nick's $ Picks: 23-16-4

Thursday Night Football

BRONCOS (+6.5) vs Jets
Figgs: Jets. It's time for this Tebow lovefest to die down at the hands (or should I say feet?) of Rex Ryan.
Joe: Jets; I just can't imagine the Broncos will continue winning games running the option and completing 2 passes a game. Going from Brady to Tebow must be a wet dream for Rex Ryan and the Jets defense.
Nick: Jets. The Jetropolitans have always been better at stuffing the run than rushing the passer, and fortunately for them the Donks don't pass. Joe, do you think Rex Ryan wet dreams are brought on by sleeping next to his wife's feet?
Andy: Yeah, I'm here. Do they still show these Thursday things on the NFL Network? Hasn't that thing failed by now? Parks and Rec was solid tonight, as usual. I shut off the TV when The Office came on - just not into it anymore.

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

BROWNS (-1) vs Jaguars
Figgs: BROWNS. Vegas is seriously still picking us? I can't figure out why, but count me in.
Joe: Browns; Not because of confidence, simply out of hope.
Nick: Jags. I'm not proud of this. ($)
Andy: Believe it or not, roughly five days ago, I spent $30 on a ticket to attend this game in person, and I am not Blaine Gabbert's or Colt McCoy's mother.

RAVENS (-7) vs Bengals
Figgs: Cincy. This might be the first time I've picked them all year, but Baltimore is really pissing me off.
Joe: Bengals; They disappointed me bigtime last week against the steelers, but I still like them and think this game could go either way. So if you're giving me a full TD, I'll take it.
Nick: Bengals. Too many points. ($ +9)
Andy: I hate the Ravens, in case I've never mentioned this before. I have total Ohio solidarity when it comes to the AFC North - Baltimore and Pittsburgh can jump in a lake. I mean, obviously I want the Browns to win no matter what, but I'd much rather see another Ohio team take it if Cleveland can't.

FALCONS (-6) vs Titans
Figgs: ATL. I really like this under a touchdown. Tough to win in the Dome, and the Birds need this one to boot.
Joe: Titans; For some reason, I struggled with this game more than any other. I just have a gut feeling Tennessee at least keeps this one to about a FG. (As a bonus, I believe this game got moved to 4:15, so we have another option after we watch the Browns lose.)
Nick: Falcons. The ATL really needs to bounce back to stay in the wild card hunt, and their defense is much better than Carolina's.
Andy: I'm just happy to see Figgs back picking Atlanta every week again, getting back to FCF's roots. I'm also looking forward to my annual post where I mess with the team names and call ATL the "Dirty Birds" and Tennessee the "Titties." I am 14 years old. I was just in Tennessee, less than an hour from Nashville, and no one seemed even vaguely aware that they have an NFL team. There was a bunch of michigan shit all over the place in bars and such from when GM sent people to nearby Spring Hill to launch Saturn, and now there's a bunch of unemployed michigan fans there.

DOLPHINS (-2) vs Bills
Figgs: Jills. Two weeks ago this line is Bills -7. The Fish have proved they aren't totally inept, and Buffalo has proved they're not a playoff contender, but I still think they are the better team. ($ - SU)
Joe: Dolphins; I have sold every one of my shares of Bills stock. The fish have improved every week and Matt Moore is at least serviceable, and I'd argue that he's a better option than Henne anyway (I doubt I'll get any disagreements from this panel on that one).
Nick: Bills. I've been ready to pick the Fish all week, but I'm going to give the Bills one last chance. If they lose this one their season's over.
Andy: I had this sweet Marino jersey when I was like 10, plus this small Dolphins nerf football. I also very much enjoyed Ace Ventura. On the other hand, Buffalo had Mark Kelso and his giant helmet.

VIKINGS (+1) vs Raiders
Figgs: Vikes. Tough call, but I like Minny at home. They are better than their two-win record.
Joe: Raiders; I've loved them all year (perhaps too much at times), and I see no reason to go against them here. Palmer looked great on Thurday night and I think he's found his rhythm.
Nick: Vikings. I'll take the Vikes at home and getting a point against another mediocre team.
Andy: I'm pretty sure I just saw Figgs "Like" a team at home that is currently sporting a 1-3 mark there. I'm also pretty sure I saw Joe forget everything Carson Palmer has done since 2005. Something seems unnatural about this matchup - maybe it's the notion of the Raiders in a dome.

LIONS (-7) vs Panthers
Figgs: Lions. I skipped this one and came back to it because I couldn't decide. I guess I'll take Detriot to bounce back at home.
Joe: Lions; Probably the 1st time I've gone against Cam, but I think the league has started to figure him out somewhat. Tennessee crushed them, and Detroit is better than Tennessee.
Nick: Lions. It's a bounce-back game that they need to stay in the playoff hunt.
Andy: This matchup of two big cat teams reminds me of this girl who lived next door to me in Pittsburgh who had a surprisingly clever plan to realign the NFL by genre of mascot. There would be a Big Cat division (Lions, Panthers, Bengals, Jaguars), an Adventurers division (Bucs, Raiders, Vikings, Patriots), a Birds division (Eagles, Falcons, Cardinals, Ravens), and so on. In a related note, both she and her roommate had really big breasts - I'm pretty sure objects orbited their apartment.

PACKERS (-14.5) vs Bucs
Figgs: Pack. No chance I'm picking against these guys right now, or probably for the rest of the year for that matter.
Joe: Packers; Again, they always have blowout potential, and the Bucs have been a huge disappointment this year in my opinion.
Nick: Packers. This is a ton of points, but I have faith in Green Bay's offense and Tampa Bay's generous defense.
Andy: Hey, did anyone notice that the Packers are good? You realize that they're averaging a 14.9-point win in their nine games and that the Browns are averaging 14.6 points scored a contest? Yes, the Packers' average margin of victory is higher than our total points per game.

While I'm here, every team in the AFC North has at least 100 points in point differential over us. That's rough. Only two other NFL clubs are that far back of the group (Minnesota in a ridiculously strong NFC North, and the hapless Colts). We're fourth-worst in SRS according to pro-football-reference.com, topping only the Rams, Chieves, and of course Colts.

Speaking of the Colts, my goodness are they awful. Their average result is a seventeen-point defeat. AVERAGE. For comparison, the '99 expansion Browns averaged a 14-point loss every time they took the field (and beat Pittsburgh once) and the '00 Browns a 16-point loss every game (also a win over Pittsburgh). Remember those awful teams? Indy is, so far, worse.

REDSKINS (+9) vs Cowboys
Figgs: Skins. Not confident here at all, but a road team giving nine seems too high.
Joe: Redskins; Dallas should win, but they don't seem good enough to give this many points on the road.
Nick: Cowboys. The Redskins suck, and Dallas might be ready to turn a corner.
Andy: Remember when Deadspin posted a link to that article lampooning Redskin owner Dan Snyder on their site for over 200 straight days until he dropped that stupid-ass libel suit against the Washington city paper? That was awesome. I will NEVER support a team owned by that megadoucher.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

49ERS (-9.5) vs Cardinals
Figgs: Niners. Not too sure about this one either, but SanFran proved they were for real last week. Playing in the West, if GB has a slip up or two they could be playing the NFC Championship by the bay.
Joe:49ers; They are beyond for real. I thought the Cards might keep it close, but then I thought about Patrick Willis and company vs. John Skelton, and this decision seemed a lot easier.
Nick: Niners. SF is pretty darn good, I guess Jim Harbaugh was a solid hire.
Andy: If his name was "John Skeleton," do you think we would feel better about him? Would we maybe call him "Johnny Bones"? I would take Johnny Bones on the road getting 9.5. To steal some Nick thunder, Patrick Willis might be the league's most underrated player. Casual fans have no idea who this cat is, maybe because of his nondescript name. What if he was Patrique Willington? You'd know him then.

RAMS (-1) vs Seahawks
Figgs: Hawks. BEAST MODE BABY! ($)
Joe: Seahawks; Tavaris Jackson makes them a pretty good bad team. The Rams have been an even bigger disappointment than Tampa has this year.
Nick: Shehawks. ($ +3)
Andy: Is it weird to anyone else that the 'Hawks' only road win this year was a straight-up pasting of the division-leading Giants? I didn't correct Joe's spelling of Seattle's QB's name because I think it's better than the actual one with its superfluous first "r".

BEARS (-3.5) vs Chargers
Figgs: Chicago. SF wasn't the only team to prove they were a legit contender last week. The Monsters of the Midway are back, and I would not want to play them right now.
Joe: Bears; Until they prove otherwise, I will pick them every week. I've already stated numerous times in previous weeks how I feel about the Chargers.
Nick: Bears. My favorite game on the board. ($)
Andy: I wanted to buy Matthew Stafford a coke after that game in Chitown last week. Goodness did he look bad. Also: it's easy to forget that Chicago was one win away from the Super Bowl last year.

Sunday Night Football

GIANTS (-6) vs Eagles
Figgs: NYG. Vince Young? No thank you.
Joe: Giants; The Eagles have totally tanked this season. After losing to the Cards at home, I can see them completely going through the motions the rest of the way. The G-Men look to be for real. I was impressed with them last week in a losing effort vs. San Fran.
Nick: Giants. This should be over a TD with Vick out.
Andy: As I write this, Joe has already made his pick even though no line is posted. That, my friends, is dedication to craft. I mean, Nick sometimes doesn't even make picks even though the games have kicked off. I haven't made a pick all year, for that matter.

Monday Night Football

PATRIOTS (-14.5) vs Chiefs
Figgs: Pats. Lot of points here, but brady at home in primetime is tough to go against. (I feel like I said something very similar to this last week.)
Joe: Pats; Thought about the Chiefs since this is such a high spread, but they have been awful the past few weeks and Brady was vintage Brady last week against a much better Jets team.
Nick: Pats. Would love to take my boy Tyler Palko, but I can't justify it.
Andy: When the red sox missed the playoffs earlier this year, Boston dorkwad Dan Shaughnessy rhetorically and hysterically (and not obviously jokingly) asked, "Have there been worse days in the history of New England sports?" Fuckity fuck fuck this makes me mad. So your baseball team, which has won two World Series in the past eight seasons, missed the playoffs by one game, your football team, which has won three of the past 10 Super Bowls is leading their division, and your hockey team IS THE DEFENDING STANLEY CUP CHAMPION, and that's your all-time low point? Fuck you.

Figgs $ teaser: Jets (PK)/Falcons (PK)
Figgs $ parlay: Browns (PK)/Falcons (PK)

Blocked PAT spoils Ohio St comeback

2011-11-16T16:34:00.007-05:00

This past Saturday I sat on the couch with my AJ Hawk Gameday jersey on, my Ohio St football in hand, had previously watched the Ted Ginn Highlight Reel and listened to “Welcome to Buckeye City” to get pumped up, and was drinking Yuengling (my OSU Gameday Beer) - just as I have every Fall Saturday afternoon for several years. But despite all of that, I could have sworn I was watching the Cleveland Browns last week.

I just kept waiting and expecting Ohio St to turn it on and start to roll the inferior Boilermakers. But just as if they were wearing Brown and Orange, OSU squandered opportunity after opportunity, the kicker coming when Drew Basil’s extra point was blocked after the Buckeyes scored the not-quite-game-winning touchdown. Ohio St had their chances in overtime as well, having to settle for a field goal on their first possession and not getting Purdue off the field on a third-and-twelve on the Boilers' turn with the ball, which led to the actual game-winning touchdown as Ohio St watched their hopes of a seventh straight Big Ten title slip away.

Game Recap
Ohio St got the ball first and started a trend that we would see often in the first half - rush for two yards, rush for two yards, incomplete pass, punt. Purdue starting QB Caleb TerBush drove the Boilermakers down the field and Lou Groza candidate Carson Wiggs put Ohio St in a quick 3-0 hole. After the Bucks continued said trend Purdue was again set up in good field position, and TerBush again led a quick scoring drive. This time he hit Akeem Shavers for a 4-yard score to make it 10-0 Boilers.

Ohio St switched it up on their next drive, this time going with rush for two yards, rush for two yards, sack, punt. After forcing a punt and getting the ball right back, OSU started from their own 32 and had their lone exciting drive of the half. Braxton Miller found his running backs, completing a pass to Boom Herron that went for 20 yards and a 38-yard touchdown to Jordan Hall to cut into the Purdue lead.

Between two more punts from each team, the Boilermakers sustained the longest drive of the first half, moving the ball 88 yards and scoring on a Ralph Bolden 7-yard TD run. The Buckeyes went to the break trailing 17-7.

After forcing an immediate three-and-out on Purdue’s opening drive of the second half, Hall, Braxton and Carlos Hyde each had rushes of 10+ yards to set up Ohio St’s second touchdown of the day, a six-yard run by Miller. With the score within three and the Buckeye defense finally playing up to their normal level, I thought this game had 28-17 OSU written all over it. But that was not case. While the defense kept up their high level of play, the offense sputtered as a banged-up Boom was continually bottled up at the line of scrimmage. The two squads entered the final quarter with the Boilermakers up 17-14.

The 4th quarter began with Ben Buchanan punting out of his own end zone and Purdue starting with the ball across midfield. Bolden’s 13-yard run was all Purdue could muster, but it was enough for Wiggs to knock in a 44-yard FG to extend the lead. This was the first point in the game where I was legitimately worried that the Bucks were going to blow this. Ohio St’s ensuing six-minute drive led to 0 points and another Buchanan punt, but now it was Purdue’s turn to be in tough field position, and after a three-and-out OSU was looking good set up near their own 40.

Trailing by six with just over six minutes to play, it was do or die time for Ohio St. Boom did, breaking a 21-yard run on the first play of the drive. With the ball in Boilermaker territory, Herron and Hall persistently pounded it on the ground, setting up and 4th and 3 from the 13 with about a minute remaining. Braxton scrambled around, leaped over his own lineman that fell to the turf, eluded several Purdue defenders and made what appeared to be a season-saving play when he hit Jordan Hall for a score. With the game tied at 20-20, Drew Basil had his potential game-winning extra point blocked. Then he compounded his mistake with a short kickoff that was returned to the Purdue 40, and after a 15-yard pass from backup QB Robert Marve to Ralph Bolden, the Boilers found themselves at the OSU 46 with 37 ticks left and one of the nation’s best kickers on their side. Safety Orhian Johnson never gave Wiggs the chance, as he intercepted Marve’s next pass and sent the game into overtime.

Ohio St got the ball first and immediately put themselves in a hole after a Boom 1-yard loss and Braxton 5-yard sack. Miller then hit T.Y. Williams for a completion but was just short of the first down marker, setting up a 4th and 1. The Buckeyes elected to kick, and Basil’s FG gave Ohio St its first lead of the game. On Purdue’s OT possession, Marve ran for a first on 3rd and 4 to keep the drive alive. After a short run and negative yards on a screen pass, they were faced with a 3rd and 12 from the 15-yard line. Marve delivered the backbreaker, connecting with Gary Bush for 14 yards and giving the Boilermakers first and goal. Marve’s game-winning QB sneak on the next play was inevitable - the real killer was not stopping Purdue on that third and long. Ohio St, shocked for the second consecutive time in West Lafayette, loses 26-23 in OT.

Game Ball
Next.

Big Ten
As a surprise to no one, Penn St was defeated at home by Nebraska, 17-14 (of course just missing the 3.5 point cover - it was just that kind of day for me). This set up Ohio St’s opportunity to win the conference, which they of course blew. In a game that was much more of a blowout than the score indicated, michigan dominated Illinois 31-14. Boy are the Illini bad. can’t-tie was injured in the third quarter and didn’t return in this one - his status for this coming week is uncertain, although I bet he plays. Michigan St easily disposed of Iowa, 37-21, to take total control of their half of the Big Ten, while Wisconsin trounced Minnesota 42-13. Northwestern played possibly the most meaningless game of the year, beating the Rice Owls 28-6.

The Nittany Lions propped the door wide open for Ohio St this week, and we promptly shut it. There is still a tiny hope for the Bucks in the conference, needing of course to win out and also get a Wisconsin loss to Illinois this week (fat chance) followed by the Badgers beating Penn St in the finale. This would create at least a three-way (possibly four-way if Purdue wins out) three-loss tie at the top of the Leaders Division, and I would have no idea what would happen then. Of course, all of this will be moot once Wisconsin dicks all over Illinois on Saturday. What we’ll be left with is Michigan St facing next week’s Wisconsin/Penn St winner for the conference title.

Doug Calland was a busy man
Doug Calland, naturally, being Ohio St’s head trainer. WR Philly Brown, DT Jon Hankins, LB Andrew Sweat and RB Boom Herron all left the contest with injuries, with Boom being the only one OK enough to return. Now, I’m certainly not going to blame this loss on these injuries - we absolutely could have and should have beat Purdue with our second-string - but they are significant enough to make note of it. I don’t have any updates on these players’ current statuses, but hopefully they return to health for the upcoming game with Penn St.

Wildcat shmildcat
I really don’t like the wildcat formation from the Buckeyes. I don’t know where it came from, but Ohio St continued to run it throughout this game and I want it gone. It wasn’t terribly unsuccessful, but I just don’t get the point of it. Neither Boom nor Hall is ever going to throw from this formation, so the defense obviously knows what’s coming. Also, while putting a runner in at quarterback may make sense at times, it doesn’t if you do it at the expense of sitting your quarterback THAT’S ALREADY A RUNNER! When Brax is back there with Boom or Hall, the defense needs to be prepared for three options - a Braxton run, a Herron/Hall run, or a Braxton pass/roll out. When Boom or Hall are in the wildcat, they have one option to prepare for - a Herron/Hall run. Does this not make sense to anyone else? Am I missing something here?

Boiler Up
What the fuck does this mean? Several people in the stands where wearing these t-shirts at the game, and I found it quite stupid and irritating. I much prefer Urban Dictionary’s version.

Up Next: vs. Penn St (8-2, 5-1), 3:30, ABC
Man, this game would be a lot more fun if the Big Ten Leaders Division were on the line. When you think about it, this will be Ohio St’s first meaningless game in seven years. Now, hear me out here. Certainly I don’t mean “meaningless” where I’m not going to watch it or cheer hard for OSU or be really pissed if we lose, but in the context of the bigger picture, national and conference championship-wise. This will be the first game since Ohio St didn’t win the conference title in 2004 where whether we win or lose it will have no bearing on a national or conference title race. That is depressing. That being said, I fully expect the Buckeyes to regroup at home and pile on Penn St while they’re at their lowest.
Prediction: Ohio St 23 Penn St 13

GET EM

You are a factory of sadness!

2011-11-11T20:00:00.000-05:00

NFL Picks: Week 10

2011-11-09T21:14:00.013-05:00

Last week Joe stretched his lead while I lost more money and the Browns were...well the Browns. Let's start turning some things around this week.

Last Week
Joe: 8-6
Nick: 7-7
Figgs: 6-8

Figgs' $ Picks: 1-2
Nick's $ Picks: 2-2

Current Standings
Joe: 66-57-6
Nick: 63-60-6
Figgs: 57-66-6

Figgs' $ Picks: 7-13-1
Nick's $ Picks: 21-13-4

Thursday Night Football

CHARGERS (-7) vs Raiders
Figgs: Chargers. No DMC, no run, no win.
Joe: Raiders; I was prepared to take the Bolts when I thought the line would be between 3 and 6, but getting a TD, I'll go back to rolling with the Raiders, although they have looked terrible since Campbells injury. San Diego has been the classic underachiever we have come to see from them in recent years.
Nick: Chargers. The Bolts played their best game of the year in a losing effort last week, and I'm willing to roll with them here considering that Darren McFadden (aka The Raiders Offense) is on the shelf. I'm also teasing the Chargers with the Ravens, FYI.

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

BROWNS (-3) vs Rams
Figgs: BROWNS. We need to do something to make us beleive that we are at least close to being semi-respectable.
Joe: Browns; No good reason to pick us, especially giving points. But we should beat the Rams, right?
Nick: Rams. Not giving points with the Browns anymore. Is it Draft Day yet?

BENGALS (+3) vs Steelers
Figgs: shitsburgh. Other than the Bills (not exactly a Super Bowl contender themselves), Cinncy still doesn't have a quality win.
Joe: Bengals; Toss up game in my opinion. Give me the home team getting points in this one any day of the week.
Nick: Steelers. I like what I've seen from the Bengals, but they've had quite a cupcake schedule thus far. You're going to compete for the North title with a rookie QB? Prove it. ($)

CHIEFS (-3.5) vs Broncos
Figgs: KC. Like I'd ever pick that homo.
Joe:Broncos; The Chiefs may have blown their load during their 4 game winning streak. A 28 point home loss to a winless team doesn't deserve being favorites against a man with Jesus on his side.
Nick: Donks. Not really sure what to make of either club, but I like getting more than three points. Timmy Tee!

COLTS (+3) vs Jaguars
Figgs: Jax. Yeah, this game really blows.
Joe: Jaguars; This might be "That" game Figgs talks about every week. The Jags aren't good, but the Colts have 0-16 written all over them.
Nick: Jags. If you're betting this game, then you might have a gambling problem. ($)

COWBOYS (-6) vs Bills
Figgs: Jills. Like Joe said, just too many points for a team playing as mediocre as Dallas.
Joe: Bills; The Jets might have exposed the Bills for being kind of a fraud, but Dallas certainly hasn't impressed anyone this year and 6 is an awful lot for a team like them to give here.
Nick: Billskis. Remind me why we think the Cowboys are good again? Oh, and Miles Austin is out? I'll roll the bones on the Bills. ($ SU)

BUCS (+3) vs Texans
Figgs: Bucs. Toughest game on the board for me. Houston's a little better of a team, but I don't know if they're -3 on the road better.
Joe: Texans; They are finally living up to expectations this year, and the Bucs have seemed to take a step back this year, instead of the step forward I thought they would take. I like Houston here, maybe in a blowout.
Nick: Texans. Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.

PANTHERS (-3.5) vs Titans
Figgs: Cats. They've been so close in many of these losses, at home against this Titan team seems like a good time to break out.
Joe:Panthers; Tennessee looks very beatable and the fighting Cams are coming off a bye and prime for a big performance at home.
Nick: Panthers. Not wild about giving more than three, but the Titans have lost my trust.

DOLPHINS (-4) vs Redskins
Figgs: Skins. The better of two bad teams I guess.
Joe: Dolphins; Wow, Fish giving 4! And even more surprising, I like them in this one. The Redskins have been brutally bad after a hot start. Matt Moore is still Matt Moore, but that being said, the Fish actually have the better QB in this game. The Mike Shanahan watch is officially on.
Nick: Phish. The Dolphins are rounding into form as a "good bad team." Can John Beck be the man, for Shana-han? I vote "no."

FALCONS (E) vs Saints
Figgs: NO. Definitely the non-Browns game I'm looking most forward to this week. Like Joe said, it's time for the Saints to prove they belong in the top tier of the NFC.
Joe: Saints; They have stumbled a few times this year, but I still think they are the 2nd best team in the NFC behind only the Packers. This is a big one for them to show it, since they would fall behind the Birds in the standings with a loss.
Nick: Falcons. My numbers have the Falcons as the better team, and they're at home. Gimme Georgia Dome.

EAGLES (-14) vs Cardinals
Figgs: Philly. This is a ton of points and I don't feel real confident here, but my gut tells me Eagles win big.
Joe: Eagles; I don't even need to wait for the spread. If they want any shot at the playoffs, they need to basically win out. John Skelton and co. coming out east are prime for being blown out. Even if Kolb plays, I think Philly will do their best to show why they were willing to let him go.
Nick: Eagles. The eagle is a far more fearsome creature than the cardinal. Still, I probably should consult Sean, our resident expert on the birdies.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

BEARS (-3) vs Lions
Figgs: Lions. Another real exciting matchup. The Bears aren't a flashy team, but they can beat some people. I just don't think Detroit this week is one of those people.
Joe: Lions; The Bears are hot, winning 3 in row since losing to Detroit in their 1st meeting, but I still love the Stafford to Megatron connection. Their D physically dominated Cutler once, no reason they can't do it again.
Nick: Bears. Tough call, especially with the Lions coming off a bye. Jahvid Best being concussed sealed the deal for me. Also, I'm definitely going to rant for 30 seconds tomorrow about how Jay Cutler gets to have sex with Kristin Cavallari. She's hot and it's bullshit.

SEAHAWKS (+7) vs Ravens
Figgs: ratbirds. After that atrocious performance against Jax on MNF where I lost $ on them, I didn't plan on betting on them again this season. I just can't seem to stay away from this one though.
Joe: Seahawks; I think Baltimore is several TDs better than Seattle, but I'm playing the %'s here. They have let down twice against bad teams so far this year, once after beating Pittsburgh. I think the same thing might happen here.
Nick: Ravens. Considering that I don't have to give more than seven, I'll roll with the much more talented bunch.

49ERS (-3.5) vs Giants
Figgs: Giants. Wow what a great week, another potential playoff preview. Tough call but Joe talked me into it.
Joe: Giants; Again, they are better on the road than at home. I like what San Fran has done so far, but last week's Giant win in New England was one of the most impressive wins any team has had this year. I believe the Giants are the better team here, so I'll gladly accept points.
Nick: Niners. Probably a fair line, but I think the Niners might be the second-best NFC team. We're lucky we actually get two good match ups with just three late games on the slate.

Sunday Night Football

JETS (-2) vs Patriots
Figgs: Pats. Both of these teams look like Super Bowl teams one week and chumps the next. I guess I'll go with brady in primetime. ($ +2.5)
Joe: Jets; They seem to have corrected alot of their weaknesses, while the Pats weaknesses have gotten worse. I don't love the Jets, but with Buffalo coming back to reality, I think this is the Jets division to lose.
Nick: Jets. Jumping off the Patriot bandwagon and onto the Jets'. No reason why this shouldn't be three at home, but it's good for me. ($)

Monday Night Football

PACKERS (-13) vs Vikings
Figgs: GB. I <3 Aaron Rodgers.
Joe: Packers; The Vikings kept it within the spread in their 1st meeting, but that was in the dome. The Packers always have blowout potential vs. anyone, so I'm not gonna worry about 13 being such a high number.
Nick: Vikes. The Pack is the best team in the league, but their last game was close. Thirteen points is too high, especially because Ponder has been impressive and the Vikes are coming off a bye.

Figgs $ teaser: Chargers (PK)/Ravens (PK)/Packers (-6.5)
Nick's teaser: Chargers (-1)/Ravens (-2)

steeler stupidity!

2011-11-09T18:19:00.002-05:00

Two quick things from the Pittsburgh camp, since we don't see them until December:

So it's going to turn into if you're going to fine me $40,000, I might as well put him to sleep for real or I might as well blow his knee out.
- steeler Ryan Clark on a fine issued him by the NFL for a hit

Stupid. Even if the hit was legal: stupid thing to say.

I want to die. This feeling feels like death. Nothing else can describe this. The pain is that bad...[today] will be miserable. I will have to deal with angry people, all because of this game.
- steeler fan Phil Gennaro after their MNF loss to the Ravens

Stupid. Hey Phil, do me a favor and cry me a fucking river. Your team is 6-3 and oh by the way has won two Super Bowls in the past six seasons. Wow, what a sense of entitlement and lack of perspective. You wanna "feel like death"? Try being a Browns fan for one goddamn season, you whiny loser.

Three 100-yard rushers lift Buckeyes past Indiana

2011-11-08T13:13:00.005-05:00

Ohio St didn’t have their best stuff in The Shoe this past Saturday, but it was enough to beat the Indiana Hoosiers for the 17th consecutive time - and that’s all that matters. Braxton Miller had the most inefficient passing game of his young career (5/11, 55 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT), but he combined it with his best rushing game. Brax ran the ball 14 times for 105 yards and two touchdowns, including an Ohio St QB record 81-yard score. Miller wasn’t the only runner able to carve up the Hoosier D, as Carlos Hyde had almost identical stats (15 for 105 and 1 TD) and Boom Herron went buck-wild (14 for 141 and 1 TD). It was the first time since a game against Northwestern in 1989 that three different Buckeyes topped the century mark, when Scottie Graham, Carlos Snow, and Dante Lee did it. I think we all remember that powerful Graham/Snow/Lee attack well.

Occasional off days from your run-first, true freshman quarterback are acceptable - especially when you get the W anyway - but I’m not as quick to give the defense a pass on this one. The typically vaunted OSU defense let Indiana control the ball for over 30 minutes while gaining 333 yards and picking up 19 first downs. While these aren’t game-changing numbers, they are up from IU’s averages, and we have come to expect nothing less than dominance from this Buckeye D. Let’s hope that this was just an anomaly and they are back to top form this upcoming week.

Game Recap
Drew Basil started the game off by kicking the ball out of bounds and setting the Hoosiers up with good starting field position. Indiana’s own true freshman starting quarterback, Tre Robertson, led a good drive deep into OSU territory, but John Simon stuffed Robertson on third-and-short from the 15 and IU was forced to settle for three. Ohio St gave the ball right back to Indiana when Braxton was sacked and fumbled on their third offensive play, giving the Hoosiers another early opportunity to score. And score they did, when Stephen Houston took a draw five yards through a massive hole and into the end zone, putting Indiana up 10-0.

The 105,000 plus in Ohio Stadium (myself included) didn’t have to wait long for another big play. On only the second play of the series, Braxton ran a QB draw up the middle and was quickly off to the races for an 81-yard touchdown to put the Buckeyes on the board. A holding penalty put Indiana in a 1st and 20 hole that they couldn’t get out of, and quickly Ohio St was back in possession. Carlos Hyde saw his first action in two games on this series, which ended with Drew Basil’s 11th straight FG conversion to tie the game. The big play came on a 26-yard completion to Chris Fields on 3rd and 19.

Following another quick Indiana punt, Boom ran 48 yards up the middle on the drive’s first play to set up Basil with another field goal. Indiana kept the ball in Robertson’s hands on their next possession, as he either threw or ran himself on seven out of the ten plays. John Simon had another third down stop, and Mitch Ewald knocked through his second FG of the game to knot it up at 13. After Ben Buchanan’s first punt of the game, the half ran out on the Hoosiers and we went to the break all tied up.

Another long Herron run to start the second half had Ohio St in position to score again, but Miller turned the ball over for the second time in the game when he was intercepted by Alexander Webb on the two-yard line. Indiana didn’t want to take any chances in the shadow of their goal line, and went three-and-out at once. OSU didn’t waste any time once they got the ball back in Hoosier territory. Braxton had a 13-yard run followed by runs of 20 and 15 from Boom, the latter putting the Buckeyes across the goal line and back on top.

Every time I was ready for the Ohio St defense to bury Indiana, Robertson would bring them right back. This time was no different when he hit Kofi Hughes for a 34-yard score to draw even again. When OSU got it back they held it for nearly seven minutes (the longest drive of the game), going 80 yards on 13 plays. Brax capped the drive with another quarterback draw, this time scoring from 20 yards out. The third quarter ended with Ohio St on top 27-20.

Indiana tried to match Ohio St with a long drive of their own, only they couldn’t finish theirs as Ewald missed a FG attempt. Miller had a 13-yard first-down run on third-and-long to run some time off the clock but was later sacked and the Bucks were forced to punt and give the ball back to the Hoosiers with about six minutes to go. Finally, the Buckeye D came up with the big play we were waiting for when Travis Howard picked off Robertson near the OSU 30. It was the only turnover caused by the Bucks, but it couldn’t have come at a more crucial time.

I was hoping for Boom to come in and run the clock out, and was not happy to see Hyde take the field. I’ve liked Hyde all year long and was glad to see him get his carries in this game, but this just felt like a drive that had #1 written all over it. Carlos quickly shut me up, however, as soon as he broke one for 47 yards to set up his own score to put the game away, 34-20.

Game Ball
Obviously the running game won this game for Ohio St, so top rusher Dan Herron will take the honors this week. Herron averaged 10.1 yards per carry in this contest. Yikes. I used to think that Boom was just a very good college running back that benefited from a great line and a run-oriented offense and was too small to make it in the pros. But he has been running with a purpose in his three games since returning from his suspension and really has me thinking that he could be a great value for an NFL team that takes him somewhere in the middle rounds. Even if he doesn’t succeed at the next level, he is rapidly approaching the historic fraternity of great Buckeye RB’s - Eddie, Archie, and Beanie.
Game balls to date: Miller (3), Herron (2), Roby (2), Simon

Big Ten
The biggest headline in the conference over the weekend had nothing to do with the football field, but we’ll get to that in a moment. The headliner (game-related) was Iowa knocking off michigan 24-16. To make things even better, can’t-tie threw three incompletions from the three-yard line to end the game. For the life of me I can’t figure out why he wasn’t running on at least one of those plays, but I’ll take it. Three weeks ago, when that school up north was 6-0, I said I still like my chances on my bet of under 7.5 wins this year. Here they sit at 7-2, traveling to Illinois this week before getting Nebraska and Ohio St in the gay house. I stand by my bet.

Michigan St and Nebraska both got scares from inferior opponents at home - the difference being that Le’Von Bell’s late TD helped MSU defeat Minnesota, where the Cornhuskers weren’t so lucky as they went down 28-25 at the hands of the Dan Persa-less Northwestern Wildcats. The only favorite in the conference that didn’t have a hiccup was Wisconsin, who took their frustrations of a two-game losing streak out on Purdue in 62-17 fashion.

With bitchigan and Nebraska losing, the Legends Division is Michigan St’s if they want it. The Spartans still play at Iowa and Northwestern (with a home against Indiana in between), which will not be cupcakes, but they will certainly be the favorites heading into both. If Iowa were to pull another upset this week over Sparty, a four-team, two-loss cluster-fuck would ensue, which I have no idea and don’t care enough to attempt to figure how that would play out.

The Leaders side looks the same as last week, with idle Penn St still unbeaten at the top and Ohio St and Wisconsin two games behind (which is ironic, seeing as is sounds like PSU is usually the one from behind - FACE!).

More like Pedophile State University
Although I did just get two rips on Penn St there, the scandal surrounding Penn St and former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is no laughing matter. This is one of the worst things I have ever heard involving a college football program. It appears Joe Paterno will be on his way out before these last few games of the season, and certainly the NCAA is going to come down hard on the Nittany Lions (kind of like how Sandusky ca…never mind) once everything is out in the open.

Ohio St may have a situation here similar to when you did something wrong and your parents were pissed at you, then a sibling of yours did something WAAAY worse and they suddenly forgot about whatever it was you did and focused solely on punishing them. C’mon NCAA, free tattoos? Is that really what’s important here?

“Simon and Goebel on the tackle.”
Being at the game often made it difficult to see who was making plays for the Bucks due to being far away from the action and the lack of replays, so I frequently had to rely on the PA announcer. It was unbelievable how many times that he uttered the above phrase. I started keeping a running count at some point in the second quarter, but had been tailgating all morning and forgot what I got up to. Either way, for an overall team defensive performance that I already mentioned was subpar, John Simon and Garrett Goebel were animals out there.

Up Next: @ Purdue (4-5, 2-3), 12:00, Big Ten Network
The Boilermakers are coming off a slaughtering at the hands of Wisconsin, and I don’t see things getting any better for them this week. Ohio St’s defense wasn’t itself against Indiana, and I expect them to come back and completely shut down this weak Purdue team. In fact, I’d be surprised if they allowed a single point.
Prediction: Ohio St 33 Purdue 0

GET EM

Browns! Texans! Blogs!

2011-11-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

There's been a serious dearth of Browns coverage here on FCF so far in 2011, which I think stems from 1) them being one of the dullest NFL teams one could imagine so far, and 2) our lead Browns writer sleeping on the job.

Luckily, I'm here, and after three days of serious birthday partying, I'm fully detoxed and ready for some Browns. Because of said parties, I'm relaxing at home today instead of seeking adventure downtown, and thought I'd liven things up with some real-time observations about the Clevelanders today as they battle the Texans.

Pre-game
By the time you read any of this, the game will long since have ended. It could have been a thrilling Browns win, another desultory loss, who knows. That's one of the reasons sports are so fun - no matter what, they remain unpredictable. Editor's note: having now seen this game, I realize that it was in no way representative of why sports are fun.

The Browns have a habit of using Sunday afternoons as an opportunity to ruin the goodwill built up by a college football Saturday, and today finds them set up nicely to do just that. The Buckeyes scored their third straight victory yesterday, a nice 34-20 win over Indiana, and michigan's ineptitude finally caught up with them in a 24-16 loss at Iowa. I can't think of a sequence epitomizing a player more than Can't-tie tossing four straight incompletions from two yards out to effectively finish off the wolverines' hopes of winning their side of the Big 10. Things are good in the football portion of my mind.

And then there's the Browns, a team that obviously I love, but one that is perpetually looming on Sunday, as Timothy Olyphant's character put it in Go, "just waiting to suck." There doesn't seem to be any amount of Buckeye goodwill they can't erase - even when Ohio State notched the program's biggest win of my lifetime in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl (Jan 3, 2003), the Browns promptly went out and lost their most heartbreaking game of the past 20 years (Jan 5, 2003).

But hey, maybe today will be different, and maybe the Browns will consolidate some of those gains with a surprise win over the Texans. Ed: nope. We're 10.5-point 'dogs missing our top two RB's, so things aren't exactly set up well for the Browns to even their mark at 4-4. But hey, things didn't look great heading into the New Orleans or New England games last season.

On the field
I have no problems with the Ian Eagle - Dan Fouts broadcast tandem.

We've been outscored 44-3 in the first quarter of games this season. How is that even possible?

Someone advanced the theory to me earlier this week that the Browns are the worst team in the NFL, a classic case of someone saying something into which they have put absolutely no thought. I mean, we're not good, but the Browns are 3-4 and have better point differentials than eight other clubs, a quarter of the league. There remain two winless teams in the NFL, both of whom the Browns have defeated head-to-head. At the very minimum, you have to put the Browns ahead of those two clubs. Calling the Browns the absolute worst in the league is just silly.

1st quarter
Texans @ own 18, 15:00
Seeing Lawrence Vickers makes me miss...Lawrence Vickers.

I also miss the days when the Browns used to wear brown jerseys. This all-white all-the-time is nonsense. If Shurmur wants to pay tribute to Paul Brown, wear a fedora or something.

The Texans march 82 yards with ease against the Browns to take a 7-0 lead on a 27-yard TD run from perrennial all-pro Ben Tate. Browns tackling on that drive was absolutely terrible.

Browns @ own 25, 9:43
I didn't even have time to write about how we seem to have more negative-yardage opening drives than positive ones before Ogbonnaya fumbled the Browns' first offensive play. But: we gained three yards!

Texans @ Browns' 28, 9:37
Matt Schaub to a comically-open Owen Daniels makes it first and goal Texans, before noted speedster Schaub runs in a QB draw from the two to make it 14-0 Texans. It's entirely possible that, between the time zone change and Daylight Savings Time ending, the Browns were unclear about the actual start time of this game.

In a related story: the Browns have now been outscored 58-3 in first quarters this season. That's unreal. I'm raiding my fridge already.

Browns @ own 48, 6:59
Not we're getting called for face mask penalties on ballcarriers. This I have never seen. It takes some of the luster out of Cribbs' 66-yard kick return, but still decent field position. Offensive face mask, wow. Nick correctly txts me, "what a crock of shit."

A FIRST DOWN! TEXAN TERRITORY!

We should have plowed into the line there on 3rd and 1, twice if necessary. Shurmur is one of the least bold coaches I've ever seen operate. His sideline manner makes Jim Caldwell look positively histrionic. He (and you) should read Joe Posnanski's article about playing to win from a few days ago.

Thankfully, Phil Dawson is an absolute monster, banging through a 50-yarder to cut the gap to 14-3 while doubling the Browns' season-long first-quarter output. Seriously, between him and the suddenly-amazing Drew Basil, I can't remember the last time I was upset by a missed FG. A blocked FG - that's another story.

Texans @own 25, 3:36
I continue to be amazed by how many holding violations occur in football. You know it's illegal. You know it's a 10-yard penalty that kills drives. So why do you keep doing it? This seems to me like the deterrent provides more than enough incentive to pretty much eliminate holding, but apparently not.

Another dumb punt - thanks, Gary Kubiak. Your club has run the Browns up and down the field all day so far, and you just kick it away instead of trying to get a half yard? The Football Gods duly punished him with a touchback.

That guy in the McDonald's commercial is going to have a horrible rest of his life.

2nd quarter
Browns @ own 20, 15:00
Another punt on 4th and 1. We're bad AND gutless. I actually forgot the game was still happening at this point, probably because we're not particularly interested in winning. Shurmur wants to keep these games close and maybe keep his job another year.

Texans @ ~own 35, ~11:00
Yes, Pat, this is the defense in whose hands you are frequently so eager to put the game.

Arian Foster runs through a bunch of arm tackles an route to a 19-yard TD run making it 21-3 Texans. I'm really, really regretting having started this blog effort.

Browns @ own 31
Three plays, negative one yard. Poor McCoy. I've heard a million times about how this season is about finding out whether McCoy is our guy, but all I've really found out is that it's hard to play quarterback with the likes of Artis Hicks and Jason Pinkston in front of you.

I don't deserve Browns football this bad, nor do I deserve talking baby commercials. This just seems gratuitous.

Texans @ own 40, 5:30
D-Fense!
D-Fense!

Browns @ own 20, 4:55
Third and long seems to be this club's motto.

The Browns collect one nice first down on this offensive drive, then allow a 50-yard return from Houston's Jacoby Jones. Sounds about right.

Hey, can I tell you something? I've been working on this spreadsheet to track my athletic training week by week. It's going to be bad-ass - I've got all sorts of color coding and formulae and stuff. Really cool. I mention this because I didn't want you to think I was only watching the game, because there's three hours gone forever.

A TURNOVER! AN INTERCEPTION! Mike Adams lays the wood to Owen Daniels as the ball arrives; D'qwell Jackson grabs the ensuing pop fly and takes it back to the Cleveland 41. Maybe we can grab a few points and some momentum before half?

Browns @ own 41, 2:13
One-yard rush to start. Then incomplete pass.

I will now stop complaining for a while because the Browns actually went for a 4th and short and got it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I wish to express my sincere hope that Coach Shurmur learned something from having done so.

Bad pick by McCoy (possibly because Little wasn't looking) and moronic penalty from the useless Shawn Lauvao gives Houston three more before half, making it 24-3 Texans at the break. Ugly.

3rd quarter
Not going to lie to you - I zonked out on my couch after Dawson made yet another 50-yarder, woke up and saw the 30-12 final score, and shut off the TV.

Go Browns!

CFB addenda

2011-11-06T15:00:00.002-05:00

Couple of points that need to be added/clarified to my article on college football fandom:

1) I left out a point about people who attended schools that don't compete at the highest level of college athletics. Should those fans be excluded entirely from participating in the experience because of their educational choice? I went to a D3 school - does that make supporting a FBS football squad off-limits for me for life? Of course not, though I should mention that CMU (the one that has www.cmu.edu, not the landlocked jerks in that state up north) just notched the 500th win in the program's history.

2) I made my argument through the lens of being a Buckeye fan myself, but obviously one is free to support whatever team one likes. As with any such situation, picking a far-off team simply because they win a lot is lame ("yeah, I like the Steelers and the Yankees and the Lakers...") but not off-limits.

Except michigan. No one, for any reason, should ever root for michigan.

3) This is only tangentially related, but it does have to do with sports fandom, and I don't have time right now to spend an entire article destroying it, but Chris Jones' article on Grantland criticizing fans for saying "we" was utterly moronic. Here's a quick excerpt:

Here's the deal: If you don't play for, or you are not an employee of, the team in question, "we" is not the pronoun you're looking for.

"They" is the word you want.

Well, thanks for coming down off of your high horse and telling us this, Chris Jones. "We" fans are really glad you took the time to dazzle you with your intellect and staunch pronoun principles!

Aside from the whole thing being incredibly condescending and making a completely inapt analogy with being fans of a band (he says apparently with a straight face that something called the "Weakerthans" is the best band ever), he ignores the obvious communication advantage "we" vs "they" offers, possibly because he's never been a fan of a team, who knows. He completely disregards the community aspect of sports fandom (and takes a shot at non-alumni college fans), making it really seem

Consider, just as one instance, if Figgs and I are watching an OSU game and a penalty flag is thrown. If he says "that's on us," then I know he means the Buckeyes. If the flag is on "them," then I know he means OSU's opponent. But if we adhere to Jones' arbitrary and stupid rules, we've basically taken plural pronouns out of our vocabulary any time fans talk about sports, because everyone just became "them." How does this make anything better?

This is the sort of article one writes to try to look cool, and does not succeed. Not sure why I decided to leave the Simmons-Klosterman section of Grantland, won't happen again.

NFL Picks: Week 9

2011-11-04T12:00:00.008-04:00

With all three of us posting identical 6-7 marks last week, Joe keeps his advantage over Nick, with me continuing to bring up the rear. Don't fret too much over my awful $ record, however, because I've been killing it in college and still in the green for the year.

Last Week
Figgs: 6-7
Joe: 6-7
Nick: 6-7

Figgs' $ Picks: 1-2
Nick's $ Picks: 2-1

Current Standings
Joe: 58-51-6
Nick: 56-53-6
Figgs: 51-58-6

Figgs' $ Picks: 6-11-1
Nick's $ Picks: 19-11-4

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

BROWNS (+10.5) vs Texans
Figgs: Browns
Joe: Texans; I've given up picking us when I know we're going to lose. If you're still in an eliminator pool, here's your pick boys.
Nick: Browns. I actually think the Browns are a decent play here getting more than 10. Our defense is pretty good, and the half point gives us a backdoor cover opportunity even if the Texans dominate.

COLTS (+7) vs Falcons
Figgs: ATL. Falcons are looking better and coming off a bye, and Indy blows.
Joe: Falcons; The Colts are the worst team in football without 18. The ATL, coming off a bye, should roll here.
Nick: Falcons. Like Joe said, the Colts are the worst team in football.

SAINTS (-9) vs Bucs
Figgs: NO. The Saints cost me some dough the last time these two played, they get their revenge in the Dome this week.
Joe:Bucs; I like the Saints to bounce back here, but 9 seems like too many points. I'll take the Bucs getting the 9.
Nick: Bucs. The Saints have been awful the last two weeks, so I'll take the points.

Bills (-2) vs Jets
Figgs: Jets. Buffalo looks to me to be the epitome of average. They are pretty good, but don't quite look like a playoff team. The Jets need this one.
Joe: Bills; I think they are actually for real. I think the Jets are simply mediocre.
Nick: Bills. Why isn't Buffalo getting the typical home three points here? No respect. Jason, this one's going to burn you.

CHIEFS (-4) vs Dolphins
Figgs: KC. Tough one for me because I see the Fish getting a few W's this year, and this one looks like a possibility. I'd go with the home team either way here.
Joe: Dolphins; They keep coming up with ways to blow games it looks like they are going to win, but they always play close. They have to win one sooner or later, don't they? Plus, I see the Chiefs buying into their winning streak perhaps too much.
Nick: Chiefs. Wish this was just three points though.

REDSKINS (+3.5) vs 49ers
Figgs: Niners. The Skins have come back down to Earth after those first to weeks, SF looks for real. ($)
Joe: 49ers; West coast team traveling east for an early start is the only reason I might be nervous about this pick. But it isn't enough to go against Harbaugh here. They are just way more talented than the Skins.
Nick: Niners. It could definitely be a trap game, but it's my favorite game on the board. ($ -3)

COWBOYS (-11.5) vs Seahawks
Figgs: 'Boys. They should have something to prove after last week's debacle, and Seattle is a perfect foe to take out some frustration on.
Joe: Cowboys; If they don't come to prove something after last week's no show, then they might as well throw in the towel on the entire season.
Nick: Hawks. This is a lot of points and Seattle has a surprisingly solid defense. They might actually put a few on the board with Tarvaris in there and Dallas could be on cruise control. Plus, it's never smart to pick against Big Red.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

RAIDERS (-7.5) vs Broncos
Figgs: Oakland. I actually think Denver should probably keep this under a TD, but never can I justify picking Tebow.
Joe: Raiders; Carson looked awful in his debut, but that was with about 3 days to prepare. This week, he is coming off a bye with 2 full weeks to get situated, so the Raiders should roll over the hapless Broncos.
Nick: Raiders. More like Teblows.

TITANS (-3) vs Bengals
Figgs: Titans. Cinncy may be better than I expected prior to the season, but I still think they are just the benefeciary of a soft schedule and they simply aren't very good. ($)
Joe:Bengals; They have a terrific defense and Dalton is much better than I expected. The Titans are simply put, not very good. I think CJ2K got paid, and mailed it in.
Nick: Bengals. Not only is Cincy better than you expected Jason, but they're a bargain getting three points against a Tennessee team that has only one quality win this season. ($)

CARDINALS (-2.5) vs Rams
Figgs: STL. I mentioned last week how there's always that game each week, a game I wouldn't even consider checking on if every other game was halftime. Well, here we are. Both teams played way above their talent level last week, this one could go either way.
Joe: Cardinals; I have no comment to make on this awful game.
Nick: Cards. Yeah, if you're betting this game then you might have a problem.

PATRIOTS (-9) vs Giants
Figgs: NYG. They Giants have had their struggles but I think they can keep this close.
Joe:Giants; They are much better on the road than at home for some reason. I think they keep it within a TD, and I wouldn't be surprised if they pull the upset.
Nick: Pats. Late switch for me with Bradshaw and Nicks out.

CHARGERS (+6) vs Packers
Figgs: Pack. This is one of those games I could see SD randomly winning, but after one of the ugliest performances I've ever seen last week against KC, I'll stick with Aaron Rodgers.
Joe:Packers; The Bolts found another way to inexplicably capture defeat from the jaws of victory on Monday night. They might play up to their competition this week and shock the Pack, but until they prove they are capable of doing so, I can't pick them.
Nick: Packers. Keep riding 'em until you have a reason not to.

Sunday Night Football

STEELERS (-3.5) vs Ravens
Figgs: shitsburgh. A lot has changed since Week 1. Looks like they're hitting their stride while the rat birds are fadding quickly.
Joe: Steelers; Son of a bitch! I absolutely hate picking them. But I thought they would win last week, but went against them simply out of principle. Not gonna happen this week. Come on Baltimore, prove me wrong!
Nick: Steelers. Just can't take Joe Flacco in Pittsburgh at night. Can't play with him, can't win with him...can't do it. ($ -1.5)

Monday Night Football

EAGLES (-9) vs Bears
Figgs: Philly. This game could go a long way in deciding NFC wildcards. I do not want to play the Eagles right now.
Joe: Eagles; I wanted to take the Bears here because I hope the Monday nighter is good, but Philly seems to be hitting their stride and is capable of another Dallas type blowout from the getgo.
Nick: Bears. I don't love the Bears, but this is too many points for me.

Figgs teaser: Atlanta (Pk)/Oakland (Pk)/NY Jets (+9)
Nick's teaser: Falcons (-1), Raiders (-1.5)

Buckeye Bona Fides

2011-11-03T07:00:00.001-04:00

On more than one occasion, I've heard the legitimacy of someone's support for a college football or basketball team challenged, on the grounds that the fan in question did not actually attend said college.

This is stupid, and if you're one of the people who does this, then you are stupid by extension. Let me explain.

In the interest of full disclosure, I find this happening to me more and more frequently, but I have a deep enough connection with Buckeye football that my history usually quells any criticism I might receive on that front. In fact, you might say I'm a Buckeye fan for life, as today is my 32nd birthday and also the 32nd anniversary of Ohio State pasting Illinois 44-7 en route to a Big Ten championship. Now that's a birthday present!

To borrow a phrase from the mighty Phil Davison, "in terms of my biography..." my Dad is an Ohio State graduate and has been taking me to Buckeye games since I was about six, so I've got a pretty good in. Also I'm an Ohio native and current resident (and the Buckeyes are undoubtedly the team of record here), about half of my high school went to Ohio State (the half that didn't go to Kent State), and I have had some professional dealings with the University. Only an insane hard-line exclusionist would suggest that this is an insufficient connection to OSU to merit fandom.

But here's my larger point: even if my Dad wasn't an alum, and even if I'd never been to Ohio Stadium, who gives a fuck? What kind of obnoxious moron tells someone else that they don't have the right to support a sports team? It's not like there's some cap on the number of fans allowed. I don't care if you've never even been in Ohio - if you like to watch college football (it's no NFL, but it's a heck of a game) and if you want to support Ohio State, then by all means do so. Why would I, or anyone, be interested in restricting admission to the community of OSU fans, especially considering the near-universal popularity they enjoy across the state (and, I'm happy to report, areas of northwest Pennsylvania)? Makes absolutely no sense to me.

As far as I'm concerned, if you like college football or basketball or whatever sport and want to root for the Ohio State Buckeyes, welcome aboard.

Buckeyes knock off Wisconsin in thriller

2011-11-01T17:03:00.012-04:00

Last Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, the Ohio St Buckeyes celebrated their homecoming in thrilling fashion by stunning the 15th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers 33-29, in a game that my friend and OSU alum ranked as the third best Ohio St game he’d ever seen (behind the ‘02 title game of course, and the 1 vs. 2 against michigan in '06). Braxton Miller looked like a totally different person from the scared 18-year-old that played against Michigan St last month as he led the Buckeyes back from a halftime deficit only to see Wisconsin score a quick 14 points to regain the lead late in the game. Then Miller made the play of the year for Ohio St when he hit Devin Smith on a 40-yard bomb with 20 seconds left to give the Bucks a remarkable victory. This hasn’t been a poster season for our Buckeyes, but a moment like this would make even Kelly Clarkson blush.

Game Recap
Each team traded punts to begin the game, and on Wisconsin’s second go-round Russell Wilson completed two passes of 15+ yards to get the Badgers near the red zone, where he dumped a swing pass to Montee Ball who took it 22 yards across the goal line to put the Bucks in a hole quickly. Here we go, just what I was worried about. This could get ugly.

Not the case, as the Buckeye defense really tightened up the rest of the first half, recording more sacks (two) then first downs given up (one) en route to stopping Wisconsin on each of their last four possessions of the half. While Braxton had a couple of good runs and a few completions to Philly Brown, the Ohio St offense couldn’t do much in the first two frames either. They continued to pound Boom Herron, but the Badgers knew what to expect and stuffed him time and time again. With an inexperienced QB and a great running game, I’m all for running an overwhelming majority of the time, but we need to pass on first down a few times to keep the defense even a little honest. Thanks to good starting field position on the one drive, the Bucks did manage to get a Drew Basil field goal (nine consecutive makes!) to make the halftime score 7-3 Badgers.

While Braxton made the big plays and will get the bulk of the credit (and rightfully so), Herron was just a horse in the second half. OSU got the ball first and Herron exploded for a 57-yard run on the half’s opening play. He then ran for 18 yards to set up the Scarlet and Gray at the 1-yard line, but was promptly stuffed on the next three plays. The Buckeyes went for it on fourth down and rolled Miller out to the right side. He made the one Wisconsin defender that had a shot at him look like a child then walked into the end zone for Ohio St’s first lead.

Another three-and-out forced by the Buckeye D had Brad Nortman punting in the shadow of his own goal post, and freshman backup linebacker Ryan Shazier blocked the kick. Again finding themselves at the one, OSU tried pounding it in once more. Jordan Hall was the recipient of the carries this time, failing on the first two tries but reaching paydirt on his third attempt to give the Bucks a 17-7 cushion.

Wisconsin once again was forced into a quick punting situation, but Hall fumbled the kick for the second time this game. This time he wasn’t lucky enough to get it back, and the Badgers started with their best field position of the day at the OSU 27. On third-and-goal from the one, Ball scored for the second time to cut into the Buckeye lead. Each team punted as the third quarter came to a close.

The 4th quarter saw Boom carry the ball on six straight plays to put Ohio St inside the ten, but an incomplete pass intended for Jake Stoneburner forced the Bucks to settle for another Basil field goal (ten consecutive makes!). With the score 20-14 in Ohio St’s favor and Wisconsin faced with a 4th and 2 from the OSU 38 with just over eight minutes to play, the first of many huge plays down the stretch that decided this game occurred. The Badgers went for it and Andrew Sweat hit Montee Ball immediately at the line and didn’t let him go anywhere, giving the ball back to the Fighting Brutus’. Let’s run some clock and add another FG here. A two-score lead should end it.

Not only did Ohio St put up points on this drive, but they added a touchdown when Brax broke open a run for a 44-yard score. That should put it away. Eat my dick Bucky!

Then OSU missed the two-point conversion attempt and everything just fell apart. Ohio St’s defense, seemingly invincible for over 55 minutes, let Wisconsin dick all over them for touchdown drives lasting only 51 and 78 seconds, respectively. Ball caught a two-pointer from Wilson after the second score, and the Bucks suddenly found themselves trailing 29-26 with 1:18 left. There’s no way this run-first offense has an 80-yard game-winning drive in them. Another crushing defeat to a great team that we absolutely had and gave away.

Then Jordan Hall, looking to make up for his costly muffed punt, had a great return to put the Buckeyes in position near midfield. Just 20 yards, maybe even only 15 was all that Ohio St needed to give their suddenly Groza-like kicker a shot to send the game into overtime. Braxton never gave Basil a chance. After a seven-yard pass to fullback Zach Boren and a two-yard Miller run, OSU called timeout facing a third-and-one at the Wisconsin 43. Herron rushed for three yards to get the all-important first down, setting up one of college football’s plays of the year. Braxton scrambled in the pocket, began to run with plenty of room in front of him, then just before reaching the line of scrimmage tosses a bomb across his body towards the end zone. There’s no way he would choose to throw like this when he had room to run for no reason. Someone must be wide-open. Someone BETTER be wide-open.

Someone, Devin Smith to be specific, was wide open. With his back to the goal post like he was returning a punt, Smith waited as the ball sailed right into his chest near the back of the end zone. 33-29 Buckeyes…chaos ensues. Then Drew Basil kicks the ball out of bounds, and suddenly Wisconsin’s at their 40 with 20 seconds to work with. Back-to-back pass breakups by Bradley Roby and C.J. Barnett seemingly gave OSU the victory, but a Christian Bryant facemask penalty gave Wisconsin an untimed down from the 45 and one more chance. John Simon, a thorn in Wilson’s side all game long, hit the Badger QB from behind as he threw and the ball fell helplessly to the ground, preserving an astonishing Ohio St victory.

Game Ball
We may be witnessing the birth of a superstar right before our very eyes. I know Braxton Miller still has a long way to go to become a star, but the rate he is maturing and progressing each week really makes me think we might have that special player that Ohio St was hoping they were getting when they recruited Braxton, a high school phenom. Like usual, Miller was most dangerous with his legs, running 19 times for 99 yards and two TDs. As commentator Todd Blackledge pointed out, even when Braxton was about to take off and run he continued to look down field. Most of the time he still didn’t see an open receiver and kept running. One time, however, when he could have ran to set up his kicker for a long attempt at a game-winner, he kept his eyes downfield and discovered the defense creeping in towards him and Devin Smith standing alone in the end zone. It’s plays and decisions like that that have me dreaming of big things (and possibly stiff-arming bronze statues) in this kid’s future.

I know I told Andy I wouldn’t mention our previous quarterback any more this season, but with the way things turned out and their styles of play, Brax will inevitably be compared to Terrelle Pryor throughout his tenure in Columbus, especially these first two seasons. He doesn’t seem to have the brute strength Pryor possessed - TP's stiff arm was by far the best I’ve ever seen from a QB - but he looks shiftier and if possibly maybe even quicker. Obviously the big thing will be for Braxton to become more productive passing the ball. That being said, he was effective throwing in this game, completing seven of his twelve attempts for 89 yards and that epic touchdown. Also, Miller had another zero INT game, which is huge coming from a true freshman. Sticking with the Pryor comparison, this is clearly a big check mark in the Brax column, as we all remember TP’s turnover problems all too well.

It’s tough to argue with Miller receiving the GB, but for the second straight game several players on the defensive side of the ball put on incredible performances. Simon was his usual beastly self, and Sweat made those two huge plays - the stop on Ball on 4th down and the hit on Wilson on the final play. Even with those two easy TD drives late in the game for Wisconsin, OSU’s defensive numbers are alarmingly good. Most notably - holding this dominating Badger running attack to a measly 89 yards. Not only is that the first time Wisconsin has failed to reach the century mark on the ground, but the 208 yards they posted back in September against Oregon St was their previous low. That is staggering.

Also deserving consideration is Boom, who rushed a Buckeye season-high 33 times for 160 yards, and his lead blocker Zach Boren, who laid devastating block after block to open holes for Herron all second half.
Game ball to date: Miller (3), Roby (2), Herron, Simon

Big Ten
There were two other big games in the conference other than the Ohio St contest. The Blackshirts at Nebraska shut down Michigan St for a 24-3 win, giving the Huskers the inside track for the Legends Division. Penn St remained undefeated in Big Ten play, needing a 10-0 fourth quarter and a missed last-second field goal by Illinois to beat the Illini 10-7. Also, michigan cruised past another bad team, beating Purdue 36-14, Northwestern put up over 600 yards of offense to rout Indiana 59-38, and Minnesota rallied to stun Iowa for their first conference win, 22-21.

Andy already laid out the Big Ten scenarios, but basically Ohio St can win the Leaders Division by winning their final four very winnable games, and Penn St losing a second time to either Wisconsin or Nebraska, both definite possibilities. It’s crazy to think that the Buckeyes still have a chance (and a good one at that) to keep their Big Ten streak alive after the Michigan St and Nebraska games.

Quick Hits
- Those uniforms Ohio St wore were just awful. Replacing the buckeyes with numbers on the helmet was a terrible look, and that red semi-stripe down the middle was just crossing the line. They said these were throwbacks, but they seemed to have a much more “modern” look to me, and I didn’t like it one bit. In fact, I vote putting a stop to all these stupid uniform changes so many colleges are doing (except Virginia Tech’s all blacks that they wore last year against Boise, those were grade A bad ass).

- Why were 95% of our plays run from the shotgun? I realize that that’s where Braxton is probably more comfortable taking the snap from, but don’t do it all the time, especially in short yardage situations. I don’t know why you would turn a third-and-one into a third-and-six on purpose by setting up five yards behind the line of scrimmage.

- If Carlos Hyde was thinking of transferring after being upset about the three carries he received against Illinois, he may have already packed his bags after not even seeing the field in this Wisconsin game. I would still rather see Hyde get just as many, if not more, carries then Hall, but I can’t really complain when we’re compiling 268 yards on the ground.

- The Buckeyes were honoring their basketball teams for some reason in this game, and some hardwood legends were in attendance. My three favorite Buckeye ballers of all time - Evan Turner, Mike Conley, and Michael Redd - were all there, as well as…B.J. Mullens. Yes, this B.J. Mullens, who played one forgettable year for OSU, averaging less than 9 points and 5 rebounds. I was totally lol’ing during this. Why was he there?

Up Next: vs. Indiana (1-8, 0-5), 12:00, Big Ten Network
I know I said this about the Michigan St game, but for real this time, I’ll be in The Horseshoe for this one - I even have a ticket. Ohio St is on an absolute high right now, and I don’t see the Hoosiers coming into town and benefiting from a letdown. The Buckeyes roll in this one.
Prediction: Ohio St 39 Indiana 10

GET EM

Taking 'em four games at a time

2011-10-30T11:49:00.002-04:00

What a Halloween Saturday night that was! As you can see, I went out in costume (the blood is fake) and even had the chance to meet a former world champion! I'm actually still wearing that shirt as I type this.

Partying with celebrities aside, this night belonged to the Ohio State Buckeyes, by virtue of their dramatic 33-29 toppling of the Wisconsin Badgers. I was at a house party for the 4th quarter, and this girl (possibly a Wisconsin grad) who knew almost nothing about football (forward progress, for instance) was loudly and obnoxiously rooting on the Badger rally that put them ahead by a field goal with 78 ticks of the clock left. You just don't do that, especially in a pro-Buckeye room. I don't often feel the need to tell people out loud to shut up, but those were the circumstances. I didn't need to say anything after Braxton Miller's 40-yard chuck to Devin Smith put the good guys up on top to stay; I only wish I had the phone number of the guy who took a photo of her looking distraught after the Buckeye TD, so I could share it with you.

I'll let Figgs recap the game in greater, less party-centric detail later, but I have two things to discuss related to this huge win.

Item #1: Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema. It's been hard for me over the past few years to adjust to Wisconsin no longer having a coach who, like Barry Alvarez, himself looked like a badger, but I admire Bielema's program, and at least he doesn't coach michigan. I did not approve of his comment following his club's second-straight last-minute defeat, however:

"The replay booth has definitely not been our friend the last two weeks."

Don't play the victim here, Bret. If there was no replay in college football, both of your games would have turned out exactly the same, because replay (correctly) upheld both of the crucial calls that were made on the field, not to mention Philly Brown's first-half sideline catch. The MSU Hail Mary last week was ruled a touchdown on the field and rightfully upheld by the replay official, and the Buckeye game-winner was correctly ruled a touchdown before the video booth confirmed that Miller was comfortably behind the line on his final toss. Let's not pretend that the refs were in any way at fault in Wisconsin's recent troubles, because both times they got calls right initially, and then through the review process. This is a weak, weak comment from Bielema.

Item #2: There is absolutely no reason Ohio State cannot win the Big 10 this season. Yeah, I know the Miami, Nebraska, and MSU losses all blew, but that's behind us. A look at the current situation and the remaining schedules shows that the Bucks are very much in contention for their seventh straight Big 10 crown.

At this point, I'd like to talk a bit about the overused cliche about taking things "one game at a time." Can we stop saying this? Can we just assume that's what every athlete and coach is doing, and have them advise us only when they're taking a different approach? Also, I'm not sure where the evidence is that this venerated perspective is so great for winning games. Might it be possible that teams would have more success if they took a higher view of the season? Possibly not, but it's natural for football players to look ahead to the rest of their schedule, even though I have no doubt their focus will be squarely on their next opponent.

Fortunately, I'm in no way encumbered by a need to conform to this cliche, so I can lay out for you why I think Ohio State can and will grab the Big 10 again. Let's first look at the conference standings in the dumbly-named "Leaders" half of the Big 10 (hey Big 10, have you noticed that no one else does this?):

Big 10 Leaders
Penn State (5-0)
Ohio State (2-2)
Wisconsin (2-2)
Illinois (2-3)
Indiana (0-5)

Obviously the Nittany Lions are the biggest hurdle for Ohio State right now, sitting two games above the Buckeyes in the standings as I write. OSU holds tiebreakers over Wisky and Illinois, so Ohio controls their own destiny with respect to those two foes. The Buckeye remaining schedule shakes out like this:

Indiana
@ Purdue
Penn State
@ michigan

Again, unencumbered by the directive to go one game at a time, I can freely look ahead to games over the horizon. Indiana is horrible and (sorry, JHH) Purdue just got hammered by michigan of all people, so unless Joe Bauserman gets on the field we'll be 4-2 in a couple of weeks heading into a showdown in Columbus with Penn State. I think Ohio State will win this marquee matchup for a few reasons:

- Penn State is 5-0, yes, but they've grabbed those wins against Indiana, Purdue, Iowa, Northwestern, and Illinois. Somehow they've managed to avoid the three top teams in the Legends division and their top two opponents in Leaders this far, but those bills are about to come due as they finish against the Cornhuskers, Buckeyes, and Badgers.
- The game is in Columbus. It is not easy to win football games in Columbus.
- Ohio State is peaking and confident. Our QB position is stabilized, the defense has really started to step up, and after a rocky start the team is hitting its stride at the right time

And there's no way we lose to michigan.

So yes, I'm saying there's a very good chance OSU runs the table here and finishes 6-2 in conference play. One of those games will have handed Penn State a conference L, but the current two-game deficit means that the Buckeyes will need help to catch PSU. I'll take my chances on the Badgers handling the Lions in Madison on the final day of the regular season (assuming Nebraska hasn't already done it in Happy Valley, a distinct possibility), elevating the Buckeyes to first in the Leaders division with all the head-to-head tiebreakers in hand. Granted, this is what I want to happen, but I also think there's a more-than-fair shot of it coming true. There is an elaborate scenario in which OSU can actually suffer a 3rd loss and still come out on top: Penn State drops their remaining three, Wisconsin loses to the Illini, and the OSU loss is to either Indiana or michigan. But that's very unlikely, not least because it involves michigan beating the Buckeyes, so let's stick with the win-out scenario.

Half-conference title secured, our thoughts can then turn to a prospective Big 10 Championship between OSU and the winner on the Legends side. At present we have:

Michigan state (3-1)
Nebraska (3-1)
michigan (3-1)
Iowa (2-2)
Minnesota (1-3)
Northwestern (1-4)

The funniest thing that could happen for Buckeye fans would be this: michigan topples Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska, then loses to Ohio State as usual. This puts Nebraska out of the running (um would own a tiebreaker) and MSU somehow loses two games to the motley lot of Minny, Iowa, Indiana, and Northwestern. This would give michigan the Legends title with the tiebreaker over Nebraska, setting up an Ohio State - michigan rematch in the inaugural championship game.

That's not going to happen, though. michigan sucks and they're simply not going to win their half of the conference. Michigan State has no excuse not to finish 7-1 with the creampuffs they have remaining, and Nebraska is going to pummel michigan whenever they play. As I see it, Penn State - Nebraska will decide that side of the ledger; if the Lions hold serve at home, then MSU probably gets a berth in the title game; if not, Nebraska runs the table and edges Michigan State via the tiebreaker they earned by hammering the Spartans last night. My guess is the Huskers will be taking a trip to Indianapolis later this fall, hopefully to play Ohio State.

Take-home messages:

- Ohio State can very well win out, and I see PSU as their only real obstacle to doing so.
- If they do, and either Nebraska or Wisconsin beat Penn State, OSU wins the Leaders division.
- The Leaders winner will probably face Nebraska for the Big 10 championship

Go Bucks!

NFL Picks: Week 8

2011-10-29T12:00:00.009-04:00

Looks like there's a new sheriff in town.

Last Week
Joe: 6-6-1
Figgs: 6-6-1
Nick: 4-8-1

Figgs' $ Picks: 0-1
Nick's $ Picks: 4-1-1

Current Standings
Joe: 52-44-6
Nick: 50-46-6
Figgs: 45-51-6

Figgs' $ Picks: 5-9-1
Nick's $ Picks: 17-10-4

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

RAVENS (-13) vs Cardinals
Figgs: ARZ. The Ravens probably win this one big, but I'm not sure I can pick Joe Flacco at any point the rest of the season after what I witnessed last Monday night.
Joe: Ravens; Should be angry after Monday night's embarrassment, and the Cardinals really pork.
Nick: Cards. Too many points.

PANTHERS (-3.5) vs Vikings
Figgs: Cats. Not real confident about this one, guess I'll go with the home team.
Joe: Panthers; Surprisingly, probably the most entertaining 1:00 game with the 2 rookie QB's. Was there really any doubt on which one I would take here?
Nick: Panthers.

TEXANS (-9) vs Jaguars
Figgs: Houston. Not sure where that performance came from last Monday from Jax, but I don't see them doing it again.
Joe: Texans; I think the Jags blew their load on Monday night. Houston should roll here.
Nick: Jags.

GIANTS (-9.5) vs Dolphins
Figgs: NYG. Miami lost to Tim Tebow - 'nuff said.
Joe: Giants; It looks like I'm rolling with the favorites this week. Miami has to do their best to fight off the Colts in the Luck sweepstakes. A trip up north should continue them on their way to do so.
Nick: Dolphins.

RAMS (+13.5) vs Saints
Figgs: NO. Bradford is out, I doubt STL scores more than 10 in this game. The Saints should have no problem putting up more than 24.
Joe: Saints; I'm going with another huge favorite, but this one is the mismatch of the week, regardless if Bradford plays or not. Maybe not quite 62-7, but it could be close to that.
Nick: Saints.

TITANS (-9) vs Colts
Figgs: Titans. I've been picking the Colts often because I figured they'd get a win soon, but after that game against the Saints I'm starting to think that's less likely.
Joe: Titans; I absolutely can't figure Tennessee out still, but I'll take whoever is playing Indy right now. Is it possible that Peyton wins MVP without taking a snap this year, because it's looking obvious how truly valuable he really was.
Nick: Colts.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

49ERS (-9) vs BROWNS
Figgs: BROWNS. Is San Fran for real? I'm not buying it. No reason we can't win this game. Although The Niners do rock my second favorite uniforms (behind Oakland, if you were wondering).
Joe: Browns; Finally picking an underdog, albeit not out of confidence, simply out of pride.
Nick: Browns.

BRONCOS (+2.5) vs Lions
Figgs: Lions. I'm 100% with Joe on this one. Is this line serious? Of course, whenever a game seems this obvious, Vegas always ends up being right and I always lose, but c'mon, Denver? On a related note, I think I found something I hate more than The Dougie. ($)
Joe: Lions; I think Vegas must be drinking the Tebow KoolAid, because this spread should be no lower than 7. Miami's defense shut Timmy down for 57 minutes last week. Meet Ndomakong Suh. Blowout, and my lock of the week.
Nick: Lions.

Bills (-6) vs Redskins (in Toronto)
Figgs: Jills, I guess. Toughest one on the board for me this week. Both teams seem equally mediocre.
Joe: Bills; Washington is starting to look like the last place team everyone thought they would be. Buffalo coming off a bye should have no problem here.
Nick: Bills. ($)

SEAHAWKS (+1.5) vs Bengals
Figgs: 'Hawks. I've mentioned before how there's always a game each week that is just pathetic, and they seem to typically involve the Bungles. Are they gonna play anyone good this year?
Joe: Bengals; If Whitehurst plays, this is a lock. If Jackson plays, I'll still take my chances. Seattle lost to us 6-3. Period.
Nick: Bengals.

STEELERS (+3) vs Patriots
Figgs: Pats. Watching Pittsburgh lose is one of my favorite things to do. ($)
Joe: Patriots; Not confident at all here, but I'm sticking to my pick against Pittsburgh no matter what mentality simply out of principle.
Nick: Pats. Alright Tom, let's do this. ($)

Sunday Night Football

EAGLES (-3) vs Cowboys
Figgs: Philly. After last week's debacle, thankfully we're back to a primetime game that I'm really interested. Could see it going either way, but I'll go with the Eagles at home.
Joe: Cowboys; Finally, an underdog that I feel comfortable taking. I'll go even bolder and say Dallas wins outright and on top of that, they will win the NFC East.
Nick: Cowboys.

Monday Night Football

CHIEVES (+3.5) vs Chargers
Figgs: SD. Looks like I spoke too soon about those primetime games. While you're right, Joe, KC is not one of those good teams. ($)
Joe: Chiefs; San Diego has proven nothing this year. 4 wins vs. bad teams and 2 losses vs. good teams. KC has quietly won 3 straight. They still suck, but this has a typical Charger underachiever game written all over it.
Nick: Chiefs. ($)

My thoughts on today's OSU game vs Wisconsin

2011-10-29T11:49:00.001-04:00

NFL Picks: Week7

2011-10-21T12:00:00.009-04:00

Another rough week for our prognosticators, as no one went about the .500 mark. Joe gained another game on Nick, setting up a tie for first place, while I continue to occupy a stranglehold on the basement.

Last Week
Joe: 6-6-1
Nick: 5-7-1
Figgs: 5-7-1

Figgs' $ Picks: 1-2
Nick's $ Picks: 0-3

Current Standings
Joe: 46-38-5
Nick: 46-38-5
Figgs: 39-45-5

Figgs' $ Picks: 5-8-1
Nick's $ Picks: 13-9-3

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

BROWNS (-3) vs Seahawks
Figgs: BROWNS. If we lose to Seattle at home, it's time to pack it up for the year.
Joe: Browns; We better win this one for Christ's sake.
Nick: Browns. ($)

Bears (-1) vs Bucs (in London)
Figgs: In honor of playing this game across the pond, I'll type in English. Bucs. Two teams that have had some pretty drastic highs and lows this year, so it's tough to get a feel for either one. TB I suppose.
Joe: Bucs; That 48-3 loss to San Fran still seems inexplicable. Beating the Saints last week was more of what I expected out of this team this year.
Nick: Bucs. ($)

PANTHERS (-2.5) vs Redskins
Figgs: Cats. Going against Jon Beck, now's the time for Cam to finally win one of these close ones, right?
Joe: Panthers; Tough losses all year for Carolina. But when times are tough, just keep your heads up boys. I THINK I CAM! I THINK I CAM! I THINK I CAM!
Nick: Panthers. ($)

JETS (+2.5) vs Chargers
Figgs: SD. Should be one of the most interesting matchups of the week. Great offense vs great defense, bad offense vs bad defense. The Jet offense just isn't good enough to keep up with the Bolts.
Joe: Jets; They need this one and I think they will get it at home. San Diego is so unpredictable, I don't feel comfortable picking them here.
Nick: Jets. ($)

TITANS (-3.5) vs Texans
Figgs: Texans. Even without Johnson, Houston's too good of a team to keep sliding like this.
Joe: Titans; Coming off a bye, I like them this week. I guess last week I underestimated just how banged up Houston is.
Nick: Titans.

DOLPHINS (-1) vs Broncos
Figgs: Fish. It seems like each week there's a game that is just pathetic. If henne was still in, it'd be a matchup of two of my all-time least favorite players, and I would refuse to pick either QB and just take the loss. But since he's on the sideline, I'll go against Tebow.
Joe: Broncos; If I could just spend 5 minutes with Tebow, my life would be so much better.
Nick: Dolphins.

LIONS (-3.5) vs Falcons
Figgs: ATL. I haven't hit on a Falcons game yet this year. Twice I said I was giving up on them and picked against them, and they won easily both times.
Joe: Falcons; I fully expected to take the Lions, as I have all year, but I just have a gut feeling about the Dirty Birds pulling the upset here. Even if I'm wrong, they can still lose by a field goal and give me the win, so I'll go with my gut.
Nick: Lions.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

RAIDERS (-5) vs Chiefs
Figgs: Oakland. KC is bad enough where I'd take either Boeller or a rusty Palmer to cover this. (a "rusty Palmer" sounds awfully sexual)
Joe: Raiders; Yeah, as rusty as Palmer may be, either of the three of us would be able to hand the ball off to Darren McFadden enough times to beat KC.
Nick: Raiders.

CARDINALS (+4) vs Steelers
Figgs: shitsburgh. Next.
Joe: Cardinals; Despite sweating out a late charge from the talented Jaguars last week (obvious sarcasm), I still have seen nothing from Pittsburgh to prove to me they don't suck.
Nick: Steelers. ($)

COWBOYS (-13) vs Rams
Figgs: 'Boys. A.J. Feeley? No thank you.
Joe: Cowboys; Alot of points here. I don't feel comfortable, but they are much better than the Rams, so I'll give the large spread.
Nick: Cowboys.

VIKINGS (+9) vs Packers
Figgs: Pack. They could seriously make a run at 16-0.
Joe: Packers; Aaron Rogers>Chritian Ponder. Done.
Nick: Packers.

Sunday Night Football

SAINTS (-14) vs Colts
Figgs: NO. If Indy can't stay with Cinncy, a pissed off Saints team should blow them out of the water. Peyton Manning cost NBC and ESPN so many ratings.
Joe: Saints; Don't know what to add to what Jason just said. I agree 100%.
Nick: Colts.

Monday Night Football

RAVENS (-7.5) vs Jaguars
Figgs: ratbirds. Just awful primetime games again this week. This one's over by halftime.
Joe: Ravens; Despite Jacksonville's near miss against the great Pittsburgh Steelers (there's more sarcasm here if you weren't aware), I like the Ravens to cruise here. Blaine Gabbert, I'd like to introduce you to Ray Lewis and his good buddy Ed Reed.
Nick: Ravens.

Figgs teaser: Steelers (+3)/Packers (-2)/Ravens (PK)
Nick's Teaser: Steelers +2.5 / Packers -1.5

Magick

2011-10-20T07:00:00.002-04:00

Come on, you all know me. It's Andy, your friendly local Cleveland sports fan and advocate of all things Cleveland. I've lived Downtown for four years now - I've got the cred. I'm laying this out at the beginning here because I have to, once again, defend LeBron James. I know. Trust me, I'm as disdainful of #6 as anyone - my lone appearance on espn.com consisted of two anti-#6 statements, one serving as a Trojan Horse within which I hid a dig at the Steelers. Score.

But Magic Johnson's recent comments while speaking at the University of Albany have me rallying to the former Cavalier's defense, because, well, I can't stand bad logic.

There's going to always be great players in basketball.
No wonder ABC pays this guy so much.

There's going to always be guys who win championships in the NBA, except LeBron ..."
Does this make any sense? The first part is obvious - there will always be guys winning championship, with the possible notable exception of this season. Yes, a championship team emerges every year and guys are usually on that team winning. But the second, part, "except LeBron" - does that mean every guy in the NBA but LeBron wins? This is horribly phrased.

Everybody's always asking, "Who is better between Kobe and LeBron?' I'm like, Are you kidding me? I'm like you're kidding me ... Kobe, five championships; LeBron, zero.
This tiresome thing again, where ability and success are measured only in championships, as if basketball were not a team game. Put Shaq in his prime on the last few Cavs teams #6 played on and see if there aren't a few more banners in the Q.

Plus, he's not being very specific here. If the person asks Magic who's had the better career, then clearly it's Kobe Bryant, and the five championships do indeed have much (not all) to do with that. I can't see anyone arguing otherwise. But if the person says, "who's better?" meaning who's better now, it's obviously #6, championships be damned. Magic himself has five - does that mean he's better than LeBron today? Of course not, though he indisputably had a better career. I guarantee you even an ego fiend like #6 would acknowledge that he hasn't matched the careers of either Laker great.

And trust me, if anyone's asking Magic the question he references, they mean at the present time, and his answer and reasoning are way, way off base.

I love the young man though. I know he's going to get better in the fourth quarter this year.
The fourth quarter of what, pickup games?

I'm not hating on LeBron
A statement like this is usually a sign that you are indeed hating on someone.

Come on, man, six championships for Jordan. You know that Michael averaged over 30points every playoff series? Don't try to touch that."
'96 Finals vs Seattle: 27.3 ppg. I only looked up one to prove Magic wrong. Gotcha journalism! Also, if Kobe wins one more, is he exactly as good as MJ by your simple-minded metric?

But that's not the point. Johnson's arguing a straw man here - not one person thinks #6 is better than was #23. Seriously, find me one. But I don't like the close here, "don't try to touch that." What if #6 steps it up, wins seven titles, and matches Jordan's performance? He's not even supposed to try? I hope the guy wins zero, of course, but Magic's totally lost me here.

Reason to cheer again

2011-10-18T16:46:00.005-04:00

At the beginning of the 2011 calendar year, Ohio St was celebrating a thrilling Sugar Bowl victory. In the 10 months following, fans of the scarlet and gray have not had a whole lot to cheer about. We’ve witnessed scandals, departures, suspensions, embarrassing losses, historic collapses, and Joe Bauserman. But for three hours in Champaign, Illinois last Saturday, we were able to forget all of that and root our Buckeyes on to victory on the strength of one of the most impressive defensive performances in recent memory.

A less-than-100% Braxton Miller did not do a whole lot, but he didn’t have to, as Ohio St became only the second team in the past decade to win a game while completing just one pass. Braxton made that one completion count, however, hitting Jake Stoneburner for a TD. Boom Herron returned from his five-game and one-game suspensions in tremendous fashion, gashing the Illini D for 114 yards and a touchdown. But the real story was the defense, which forced three turnovers (leading to 14 Buckeye points) and did a fantastic job bottling up one of the most explosive offenses in the nation.

Game Recap
Luke Fickell told the press last week that he didn’t want to rush Dan Herron back, that Herron wouldn’t start, and he wasn’t sure how much he was going to play. He must have changed his mind, as #1 was in the backfield on the game’s first play, and was a major factor in taking the Bucks into field goal range on their first possession. Jordan Hall and Miller ran it a few times as well, and Drew Basil knocked in a 43-yarder through the powerful wind to give OSU a quick lead. I’m still far from 100% sold on Basil, but he’s come a long way (seven consecutive makes, I believe) from his poor start.

I said last week that in order to win this game Ohio St would have to keep Nathan Scheelhaase in the pocket and limit the big plays from WR A.J. Jenkins. That’s precisely what they did, particularly in the first quarter, holding Scheelhaase to only 6 yards rushing and blanketing Jenkins to 1 catch for 2 yards. Illinois moved the ball a little better in the second frame, reaching OSU territory twice, but the Buckeye D held tough and forced punts on each of the Illini’s five first-half possessions.

Meanwhile, the Ohio St offense also sputtered, as Braxton didn’t throw a pass until midway through the 2nd quarter and finished the half 0/2. Boom and Hall basically split the carries and ran fairly well, but couldn’t consistently keep a drive going after that first series and the Bucks went to the break nursing a 3-0 lead.

The game took its first big turn as soon as the teams came out of the tunnel. On the second play of the half, Scheelhaase was picked off by Bradley Roby, who had a great return and set the Bucks up at the 12-yard line. On the next play, Boom bounced off the left side and found pay dirt, giving OSU a 10-point advantage. Jenkins caught a couple balls on the ensuing possession, again setting up Illinois across the 50, but couldn’t break one loose. A John Simon sack pushed them out of FG range and the Illini were again forced to punt. With the ball back, Braxton broke a 35-yard run, the longest by either team in the game, but when the OSU drive stalled at the Illinois 30 Fickell decided to punt rather than give Basil a shot at a 48-yarder into the gusty wind.

Just as the INT on the second play of the third quarter put the Buckeyes in control, the second play of the fourth just about sealed it for them. After another Jenkins grab, Tyler Moeller caught him from behind and jarred the ball loose. Storm Klein recovered and Ohio St again found themselves deep in Illinois territory after a turnover. The similarities to the start of the third quarter continued as the Bucks wasted no time capitalizing when Stoneburner caught his sixth touchdown of the year on the team’s only completion of the day to put OSU up 17-0.

The Buckeye D let up a little with a comfortable lead, and Scheelhaase took advantage, driving 80 yards and making it a 10-point contest with a TD pass to Evan Wilson. OSU quickly went three-and-out and gave the ball right back to Illinois with about four minutes left to play. The defense was not about to be on the losing end of another epic comeback, and Travis Howard picked off Scheelhaase’s next pass to clinch the Ohio St victory.

Game Ball
Because of some poor performances this year, I have an excess of game balls to go around, so I’ll give out a couple here as there were several players deserving of the honor. First, let’s talk Bradley Roby. The freshman was originally slated as the nickel back coming out of camp, but the early suspension to Travis Howard thrust him into the starting role. He went through some growing pains in the first few games, but has really come on as of late. Facing A.J. Jenkins was the biggest test the youngster has faced, and he passed with flying colors. Sure, Jenkins had eight grabs, but you can’t expect to completely shut out a talent like Jenkins. The key is to keep him from making the big, game-changing plays, and that’s just what Roby did, holding him to only 80 yards on those eight catches. Roby also added a few tackles, pass break ups, and that huge interception and return that set up Ohio St’s first touchdown. I also like how Roby didn’t shy away from the spotlight of going up against Jenkins, as he was talking shit during the week, saying A.J. was “nothing special” and “just a product of the system.” I like when guys talk a little smack, as long as they back it up as Roby did.

While there wasn’t very much offense in this contest, one player on that side of the ball certainly stood out - Dan Herron. Boom was forced to watch the season’s first six games at home, and you know the All-Conference performer was dying to be out there. He announced his presence loud and clear on Saturday, rushing the ball 23 times for 114 yards and a touchdown while picking up 5.0 yards per carry, all game highs. Even with DeVier Posey being out and the mess that has been the QB situation this year, you gotta think that we don’t blow that Nebraska game and probably beat Michigan St with this guy in the lineup. It’s going to be fun to watch him and this team down the stretch.
Game balls to date: Miller (2), Roby (2), Herron, Simon

Big Ten
They say it takes a big man to admit when he’s wrong, but I’m more of a fan of gloating when I’m right. And boy, was I right about michigan. That school up north finally faced a good defense when they played Michigan St last week, and they were completely shut down, losing 28-14. can’t-tie looked worse than ever throwing the ball, completing 9/24 passes for 123 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. If you watched this game, you saw can’t-tie miss open receiver after open receiver, and miss them badly. The Spartans also did an excellent job keeping him from beating them with his legs, holding can’t-tie to a mere 42 yards on 18 carries, only good for 2.3 ypc. brady hoake’s allegedly “bad ass” defense was dominated on the ground, letting Edwin Baker and company run for over 200 yards. Finally, we see bitchigan for who they really are.

The rest of the conference saw Northwestern blow their third 4th quarter lead in as many weeks as they fell to Iowa 41-31; Penn St win another nail-bitter against an awful team, beating Purdue 23-18; and Wisconsin continue to roll as they pounded Indiana, 59-7. The Badgers still have some tough foes on their schedule (starting this week in East Lansing, and don’t forget the Buckeyes!) but still appear to me destined for an unbeaten regular season. Regardless of Michigan St’s outcome with Wisconsin this week, their trip to Lincoln, Nebraska in two weeks will most likely decide the Legends Division, and who earns the right to get beat by Wisconsin again in the inaugural Big Ten Championship.

Not Hyde-ing your emotions
Carlos Hyde was not happy about only getting three carries in this game, and he wasn’t afraid to let people know. He was visibly frustrated on the sidelines, then tweeted after the game something along the lines of “if I’m not gonna play, why am I even on the team.” I don’t have the direct quote because he promptly took the tweet down after posting it, but it’s message was pretty clear. He later tweeted that he was joking, but that was obviously not the case. I totally see where he was coming from, as he has been very productive this season, but with Boom returning and playing with a run-first quarterback, there are not a lot of carries to go around. I would like to see more of a share between him and Hall to spell Herron, however, as opposed to the 12-3 carry edge that Hall had over Hyde in this contest. It will be interesting to see how the coaches find ways to get everyone involved as we move forward.

I can’t think of a clever pun/alliteration for the title of this section
I just feel the need to talk more about this defensive performance, because it was something special. There were times where I swore I saw A.J. Hawk and Mike Doss roaming around out there. This high-powered Illini offense came into the game averaging nearly 450 yards and 38 points, and this Buckeye unit shut them down to the tune of 285 yards and 7 points, while forcing three turnovers. I already gushed over Bradley Roby, but there were three others on the defensive side of the ball that got strong consideration for the game ball - DE John Simon, DT Jonathan Hankins, and DB Tyler Moeller.

Simon has been disrupting quarterbacks all season long. The numbers don’t show it, but it’s crazy how many times he is in the backfield chasing the QB out of the pocket and either setting up a sack for a teammate or forcing the QB to throw it away. This game was no different, as he had Scheelhaase running for his life on several plays, including one time where he got to him and recorded a sack. Big Jon Hankins lived across the line of scrimmage in this one, blowing up plays left and right. Moeller had his best game since his injury at the beginning of the 2010 season, constantly being around the ball and forcing a fumble. It didn’t seem like there was a play in this game where one of these four guys (including Roby) wasn’t involved.

Up Next: 10/29 vs. Wisconsin (6-0, 2-0), 8:00, ABC
The Buckeyes head into the bye week on a high note, but it likely won’t last long, as their next opponent is the powerhouse Badgers. Wisconsin has looked pretty much invincible this year, but will face their toughest test this week while Ohio St sits at home and rests while Wisconsin travels to East Lansing to face Michigan St. Hopefully the Spartan defense will bang these guys around a bit, but I’m not holding my breath. Wisconsin is lead by their two-headed monster at running back, Montee Ball and James White, plus Heisman hopeful QB Russell Wilson. As good as OSU’s defense has looked this season, I just don’t see them stopping this Badger attack as many times as will be necessary to win this game.
Prediction: Ohio St 17 Wisconsin 33

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Downtown Report with nothin' to report

2011-10-17T07:00:00.004-04:00

My Dad has a theory that he advances periodically, despite my strenuous objections, that the major American sports seasons shouldn't overlap, that once, say, baseball ends, football begins, then once that's over, basketball ends, and then baseball starts again and so on. His "reasoning" is an unsupported assertion that "the seasons are too long," whatever that means. I really can't seem to convince him of the vacuity of this notion.

Anyway, I think we're seeing right now that only having one sport active isn't the best thing. Yeah, it's still fun to watch the Bucks and Browns every Saturday and Sunday, but it's so much more fun to have more than one season going on. Football season, in particular, really benefits from having some midweek baseball or basketball games going on, which we lack at present.

One other consequence of single-seasoning it: not a whole lot for me to write about here. I did want to check in with a couple of thoughts on our teams, however, so let's get to it.

Tribe
Did you catch Part I (the players and numbers) and Part II (the highlights) of my Indians season in review articles? I hope that you did.

As of now, I have only two Tribe-related tidbits:

1) Our comrade Paul Cousineau at The Diatribe is taking a well-deserved hiatus. If anyone's earned it, it's Cousineau. At least he'll stop making us look like such hacks for a while.

2) I went to Harpo's in Parma last night and totally was sitting right near John Adams of Tribe drumming fame. He did indeed have on an Indians sweatshirt.

Browns
Can't say that I'm particularly eager to write about the past few weeks of Browns football. They just seem to make an inordinate amount of avoidable errors, and teams like that can't afford to allow two special-teams TD's and think they're going to win. It's still hard to get a read on Colt McCoy as a prospective long-term solution, especially when he's constantly under siege from defenders and doesn't have much of a WR corps to work with. This could be a long year.

Buckeyes
Consider that, despite how difficult this season has seemed for the Buckeyes, that they were a twisted ankle away from beating two ranked conference opponents on the road in consecutive weeks, after toppling Illinois 17-7 last week in Champaign. Rumors of OSU's death have been greatly exaggerated.

The headline from Saturday's win was, of course, that they won a game in which they registered exactly one pass completion, a rather unorthodox route to victory in major college football. Of course this brought out a cavalcade of cliche about "old-school" and "smashmouth" football and evocations of Woody Hayes' pass-eschewing philosophy, and how great rushing the ball is and blah blah blah.

The fact is, Ohio State did what they had to do on a day where they had an inexperienced QB playing in strong wind. Their gameplan was enabled by two things: 1) a tough defense that yielded just seven points and forced three turnovers, two of which led directly to OSU's two touchdowns and 2) a much-improved rushing game highlighted by the return of Dan Herron. Wax philosophical about three yards and a cloud of dust all you like - without Herron and that monster defensive performance, this win doesn't happen. This win isn't some sort of validation of an all-rushing offense, because you need balance to be successful against good teams. To continue to compete this year, they will need to develop some success in the passing game. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later, with powerful Wisconsin coming to Columbus after the Buckeye bye week.

Cavs
As you've likely heard, however, NBA games aren't going to be forthcoming right away, possibly for a long time. As a sports fan, I'm going to miss basketball a bit because it's a good game and I enjoy watching the competition and heading down to the Q for a game here and there. But it's not really going to bother me and, based on the deafening quiet that greeted the NBA's announcement of games being canceled, the rest of the nation is going to shake it off pretty easily too. I'll catch a few more hockey games, find other stuff to do - like a high percentage of Ameican sports fans, this is a whole different thing than if the NFL had lost time. So go ahead, NBA, cancel all you want and watch your fan base's indifference grow.

Seriously, guys, keep overestimating the extent to which America's sports fans care. It won't even be a challenge for me to get behind the Monsters and Penguins.

There's one angle I haven't seen mentioned yet about the NBA ~~greedfest~~ lockout. Maybe they're tacitly acknowledging the superiority of football in the hearts of the nation's fans. Even if they miss the first few months of the season, those are months where football is going on, reducing the urgency to get a deal done. May as well bide their time, let football do its thing, and get things rolling in January or so.

NFL Picks: Week 6

2011-10-13T18:36:00.012-04:00

After making a push for the top spot in our 2010 picks, I'm back to where I was the first two years we did this - sucking hard. It's not only hurting my pride, it's also hurting my wallet, as my $ picks have been off this year as well (although I've had two different games where a player was tackled at the one-yard line in the closing seconds where a TD would have given me a cover). Anyway, Joe's big week pulls him within one game of Allburn - those two appear to be headed for a close race all year. The Browns are back on the schedule this week, where I'm sure they'll find some excruciating way to lose, but I did miss watching them last week.

Last Week
Joe: 8-4-1
Nick: 6-6-1
Figgs: 5-7-1

Figgs' $ Picks: 1-2
Nick's $ Picks: 2-1

Current Standings
Nick: 41-31-4
Joe: 40-32-4
Figgs: 34-38-4

Figgs' $ Picks: 4-6-1
Nick's $ Picks: 14-6-3

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

PACKERS (-15) vs Rams
Figgs: Pack. That's a lot of points, but GB is a lot of good, and STL is a lot of suck.
Joe: Packers; What he said^
Nick: Pack. Lots of points, but hard to see the Rams hanging in.

STEELERS (-12.5) vs Jaguars
Figgs: Jax. I've been gaining game's on these two by picking shitsburgh this year, but I like the Cats to keep this closer.
Joe: Jags; I guess. They're still banged up and still overrated, so I can't give this many points, even against a bad team.
Nick: Steelers. Feels like their typical 35-7 game against a lousy team.

REDSKINS (+1.5) vs Eagles
Figgs: Philly. It doesn't seem to make sense to me why Vegas still loves the Eagles, yet I stupidly keep picking them. The bookies know what they're doing.
Joe: Eagles; reluctantly. They may completely tank the season, but if they have any heart or fight in them at all, this is the week they have to show it, or else it will be too late.
Nick: Skins. Going to fade the Eagles till I have a reason not to.

LIONS (-4) vs 49ers
Figgs: Lions. They burned me the last two weeks. I'm officially on board. (note to Joe/Nick - pick SanFran. If I'm on board, that means it's time to get off.) (haha "get off")
Joe: Lions; Tough one. Going against the 49ers has burned me this year, but going with the Lions has helped me, so something's got to give for me in this one. I'll stick with the team that Megatron plays for(9 TD catches in 5 games! Look out Randy Moss' record of 23 in a season).
Nick: Niners. Monday night hangover + overrated.

FALCONS (-4) vs Panthers
Figgs: Carolina. I'm so over the ATL.
Joe: Panthers; Unbeaten vs. the spread. I look for this to finally be the week they take that step to not only cover, but actually win one of these close games.
Nick: Panthers. See: Eagles. ($ +9.5)

BENGALS (-7) vs Colts
Figgs: Indy. It looked like I was going to be right about the Colts finally getting that W last week, then they collapsed in the 4th quarter. Maybe they get it this week. ($ - straight up)
Joe: Colts; I got over thinking the Bengals suck and I wanted to take them here, but not giving a full TD. Less than 7, sure. But giving 7, I'll take my chances with the Colts getting those points.
Nick: Colts. Too many points.

GIANTS (-3) vs Bills
Figgs: Jills. NYG showed last week that they really are who we thought they were.
Joe: Giants; Just because they are so unpredictable, as I said last week. They lose when you expect them to win, so now that everyone is jumping off their bandwagon, I look for an inspired perfomance against a quality Bills team this week.
Nick: Bills. Remind me why the Giants are favored here.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

RAIDERS (-6.5) vs Browns
Figgs: Browns. Why not? We were banged up and really needed that bye week. Can't let McFadden bust the big one. BEER WE GO BROWNIES!!
Joe: Raiders
Nick: Raiders. No comment.

RAVENS (-7.5) vs Texans
Figgs: ratbirds. That half point really scares me, but Houston just looks lost without Johnson.
Joe: Texans; This spread seems really high. Houston is still a playoff team(right?), so I'll gladly take those points.
Nick: Ravens. Houston is too banged up.

PATRIOTS (-6.5) vs Cowboys
Figgs: Pats. That half point is really helpful. Don't see NE losing this game.
Joe: Cowboys; I switched this from originally taking the Pats. I just think their defense is very vulnerable and has to catch up with them at some point. Romo and the other banged up Pokes had a bye week to recover and should be able to exploit some of these weaknesses.
Nick: Pats. I need a td to think about Dallas.

BUCS (+4.5) vs Saints
Figgs: NO. I've been really hesitant will all of these 4:00 games. Really don't feel great about any of them. TB just looked awful last week though, and while the Saints didn't look great, they're simply a better team.
Joe: Saints; Jason, they didn't look great only because they ran into a freight train named Cam. The Saints could win this one huge, but even if TB keeps it close, I still think they don't keep it closer than a TD.
Nick: Saints. The Bucs are not good.

Sunday Night Football

BEARS (-3) vs Vikings
Figgs: Vikes. The Bears really pissed me off last week. Their O-line looked like one of the worst in football, and no one on their defense seemed to be able to tackle. I like Minny to keep their momentum from last week going.
Joe: Bears; Megatron will tend to make defenses look bad. I don't like either one of these teams, but if I have to pick one, I'll go with the home team. Urlacher still has some pride and wants to bounce back from last week.
Nick: Vikes. ($ straight up)

Monday Night Football

JETS (-7) vs Dolphins
Figgs: Jets. If anyone could possibly be worse than chad henne, it's whoever is chad henne's backup. ($)
Joe: Dolphins; Horrendous MNF games the next several weeks. I'll take the Fish here only because they play everyone close and I think the Jets are simply mediocre this year. (I hear their QB can surf with the best of them though, so he's go that going for him).
Nick: Jets. Matt. Fucking. Moore.

Figgs teaser: Patriots (Pk)/Saints (+1.5)/Jets (Pk)
Nick's teaser: Steelers -6, Ravens -1, Saints -0.5, Jets -0.5.

Braxton leaves with ankle injury as Buckeyes complete epic collapse

2011-10-11T16:38:00.007-04:00

Just when you think Ohio St can’t disappoint you any more this season, they go and blow a 21-point second half lead to 14th-ranked Nebraska. Going into this game in Lincoln, I had no expectations - I was perfectly content with a loss. If they would have lost this game 38-10 like I had predicted, I would have been upset, but okay with it. Instead, they get our hopes up by straight dominating the Huskers for two-and-a-half quarters en route to a 27-6 lead. Then Braxton Miller, having an outstanding game, gets injured, Joe Bauserman enters, and everything goes to hell. Riding the legs of Rex Burkhead, Nebraska scored the game’s final 28 points to cap the biggest comeback ever for the historic program. It just seems to be one heartbreak after another for the 2011 version of our Buckeyes.

Game Recap
Ohio St got the ball first, and Braxton led a methodical 13-play drive to set up a Drew Basil FG. Brax had a couple of good runs on the drive, as well as completing a deep pass to Philly Brown, just returned from injury. A good return from Ameer Abdullah followed by a 15-yard face mask penalty set up Nebraska inside the Buckeye 40, but OSU’s defense held and forced the Huskers to a 50-yard field goal attempt. Brett Maher’s kick was true and the game was tied at three.

Miller brought the Bucks right back, hitting TE Jake Stoneburner for a 32-yard touchdown. It was good to see Stoneburner back in the action after struggling the past two games. Not unlike a fellow Big Ten foe we are quite familiar with, NU QB Taylor Martinez is a terrific runner, but isn’t the world’s most accurate passer (although still much better than that other guy), so the Buckeye game plan was simple - do not let Martinez and Burkhead beat us on the ground and force Martinez to put the ball in the air. They executed this very well in the first half. After stuffing Burkhead on 4 and 1, OSU got the ball back and took all of one play for Carlos Hyde to scamper 63 yards to open up a two-touchdown advantage.

Both teams traded punts, with Nebraska (shockingly) gaining the advantage on field position between the two, setting up a second Maher FG to cut the deficit to 17-6. With under a minute to go and the Cornmen having the ball at their own 20, I would have thought they’d consider themselves lucky to go to the half trailing only 11. Instead, Martinez was throwing and was subsequently intercepted by Orhian Johnson, giving the Bucks one last shot from midfield. Braxton broke a terrific 29-yard run, going down in time to call time out and giving Basil a shot at another field goal, which he nailed. The Buckeyes took a 20-6 two-touchdown lead into the locker room to the dismay of the shocked crowd at Memorial Stadium.

The Buckeye defense picked up right where they left off, forcing a three-and-out to start the second half. A short field to work with and another long completion to Brown set up Hyde’s second TD of the game. The whole game I was waiting for the Buckeyes to implode, but at this point, I was thinking we were actually going to win this game. Turns out I just needed to wait a bit longer for that implosion.

All-American linebacker Lavonte David stripped Braxton on the next Buckeye offensive series and Martinez made quick work of the short field, running it in himself from 18 yards out. Then with about 5 minutes to go in the third quarter came the play that changed everything. Miller rolled out, faced a couple Nebraska defenders, reversed his field, was hit and went down, twisting his leg in the process. The official report was an ankle sprain, but at the time it didn’t matter, we all knew it just didn’t look good. Then things looked worse, when we watched Joe Bauserman step onto the field.

Needless to say, Bauserman was completely inaccurate and just downright awful for the duration of this game, but I was thinking if the defense could keep up their great play and the running game could pick up just a few first downs, we should still be alright. Well, when it rains, it pours, as the defense decided this would be a good time to stop tackling people. Martinez threw a perfect pass to Quincy Enunwa for a score to end the third quarter 27-20, then the last fifteen minutes of this contest belonged to Rex Burkhead.

Burkhead caught a screen from Martinez and once he made Christian Bryant miss right at the line of scrimmage, he was off to the races to tie the game. He then ran in the game-winner on the next series from 17 yards out. When Nebraska got the ball back with four minutes to go and a chance to run out the clock, Rex carried it six out of the seven plays to seal the deal. It appeared Ohio St had the Huskers stopped on third down with a few minutes left, but a personal foul penalty moved the chains and basically ended all hope. The Buckeyes find another devastating way to lose, 34-27.

Game Ball
If Braxton Miller plays 60 minutes in this game, Ohio St isn’t winless in the Big Ten. Miller absolutely played well enough to beat a very talented Nebraska team, but the Buckeyes just fell apart when he went out. He wasn’t asked to do much through the air again, especially once they got out to a big lead, but was effective in the limited time he was passing, going 5/8 for 95 yards and a touchdown. Where he was most dangerous, though, was once again on the ground, rushing 10 times for 91 yards. And just as in the Colorado game, his decision-making was every bit as impressive as his athleticism. If Ohio St has any chance to even be halfway decent the rest of this season, they are going to need #5 on the field.
Game balls to date: Miller (2), Roby, Simon

Big Ten
With Wisconsin on a bye week, all eyes in the conference were on this Ohio St/Nebraska game. In other news, Northwestern blew a 24-14 halftime lead to that school up north, where again I didn’t see any of it so don’t have much to rip michigan for in an 18-point victory. can’t-tie actually threw for 337 yards, but also threw three picks. Too bad the Big Ten didn’t decide to stop playing at halftime this week.

Penn St’s defense completely shut down Iowa in a 13-3 win, and is quietly 5-1 (looking at 6-1 facing Purdue next week) despite looking pretty horrendous throughout most of this season. JoePa clearly doesn’t agree with the Coach Reilly philosophy. Illinois stayed among the ranks of the unbeaten with a 41-20 pounding of Indiana, and in a battle of the dregs of the Big Ten, Purdue beat Minnesota.

Play-calling
I’ve expressed my displeasure with how Luke Fickell and the rest of the coaching staff has been running the offense this year, but this game took it to a whole new level. Let me set the scene - there is three minutes left in the third quarter, you are winning by two touchdowns, your running back is having a career game and your defense is playing great, and your star quarterback injures his leg and is done for the game, leaving you with a QB that has shown his incredible inefficiency time and time again. I could give this scenario to any football coach at any level, and 99% of coaches would come up with the same game plan - run, run, and then run some more. I don’t care if the other team is putting nine guys in the box and daring you to throw, you still run. The staff at Ohio St apparently falls in that other 1%, as they called 11 pass plays compared to seven rushing to close out this game. Bauserman wouldn’t have dropped back one time if I was coaching this game - he might not have even entered the game. How soon can we get Urban Meyer down here?

Looking Ahead
The Buckeyes are now midway through the season, and find themselves with a .500 record and winless in the conference. It hasn’t been a very fun first half. Looking at the rest of the schedule, the next two games (@Illinois, Wisconsin) provide two tough opponents, but the last four (Indiana, @Purdue, Penn St, @michigan) present four very winnable games. The key to the rest of this season will just be getting their star players on the field. Presently, I don’t know Braxton’s future status; stay current with FCF’s twitter feed for updates. DE Nathan Williams has been out since the first game of the season, and I haven’t heard any new news on him either. Philly Brown came back against Nebraska, providing the receiving corps with a much needed boost.

Then of course there is the situation with all the suspensions. RB Dan Herron, WR DeVier Posey, LT Mike Adams, and DE Solomon Thomas each missed the first five games, but were reinstated before last week’s contest. Adams and Thomas came back, but Herron and Posey, along with starting RG Marcus Hall, were suspended indefinitely for a separate incident. It came out this week that Posey’s suspension will last five games, but Boom's and Hall’s were only for the Nebraska game, provided they repay whatever they were “allegedly” overpaid. If that holds true (we’ve seen the NCAA un-reinstate OSU players already this season), then the team will get a huge boost this week by having the full offensive line intact for the first time all year. An already impressive run game will also benefit greatly from having 2010's top rusher, Herron, back. It’s really tough to see Posey out for basically the whole year. I was expecting an All-American type season from him. I’m not sure if he can be redshirted or not. I would doubt it because the suspensions would probably just be enforced next season, but it’s something to look into.

Up Next: @Illinois (6-0, 2-0), 3:30, ABC
The Illini come into this battle unbeaten, but relatively untested. They survived an early scare in September when they narrowly beat Arizona St at home, and needed a Dan Persa injury and a 21-point 4th quarter to edge Northwestern two weeks ago. The rest of their opponents have been as good as Sarah Jessica Parker is attractive. That being said, they certainly have some playmakers. QB Nathan Scheelhaase is putting together an All-Conference worthy season and WR A.J. Jenkins’ numbers (46 catches, 815 yards, 7 touchdowns) are unworldly. Scheelhaase, like most of the signal-callers in the Big Ten, does the majority of his damage with his legs. The key to this one will be containing him in the pocket and making him throw downfield, preferably to someone other than Jenkins. I’ll make two predictions for this one, one if Braxton is healthy and one if he’s not, as they will be drastically different. I think the defense makes enough plays and Boom’s return will be enough to help Brax leave Champaign with a W, but not enough to overcome Bauserman’s sucktitude.
Prediction (w/ Miller): Ohio St 25 Illinois 20
(w/ Bauserman): Ohio St 10 Illinois 27

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NFL Picks: Week 5

2011-10-07T12:00:00.011-04:00

Another average week from us here at FCF, as we collectively barely reached .500. Nick and I did however cash in with a combined 6-2 on our $ picks. The Browns are off this week, so at least we don't have to suffer through another loss there. Let's make with the picks.

Last Week
Joe: 9-7
Nick: 9-7
Figgs: 7-9

Figgs' $ Picks: 2-0
Nick's $ Picks: 4-2

Current Standings
Nick: 35-25-3
Joe: 32-28-3
Figgs: 29-31-3

Figgs' $ Picks: 3-4-1
Nick's $ Picks: 12-5-3

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

COLTS (-2.5) vs Chiefs
Figgs: Indy. The way their D has been playing, they have to get a win here sooner or later. KC at home presents a perfect opportunity.
Joe: Colts; Their D has been great and Painter is at least servicable, unlike the horrendous Kerry Collins. Plus, the Chiefs pork.
Nick: Colts. What those guys said.

VIKINGS (-3) vs Cardinals
Figgs: Vikes. The way they have been playing in the first half of games, they have to get a win here sooner or later. Arz at home presents a perfect opportunity.
Joe: Cardinals; What an ugly game. I guess I'll go with the team not trying to win the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.
Nick: Cards. No feel for this one, so I'll take the three.

BILLS (+3) vs Eagles
Figgs: Philly. One of the most interesting games of the week. Looking at this matchup at the beginning of the year, you expected a 1-3 team vs a 3-1 team, did not expect the Bills to be the 3-1. I think the Eagles start to turn it around here.
Joe: Bills; The Eagles' run D has been horrendous, and Fred Jackson is running the ball great. I'll go with my gut feeling and take the Bills to bounce back from a tough loss.
Nick: Bills. Why do we think Philly is good again?

TEXANS (-6) vs Raiders
Figgs: Texans. I'm officially a believer. This is a good team.
Joe:Raiders; I bought into them too much last week and perhaps I am doing it again. But I love the way McFadden's running the ball and even if they don't win, I'll take those 6 points.
Nick: Raiders. This is a lot of points to give when you're a team that's struggled to put teams away, is missing Andre Johnson, AND is playing against Darren McFadden.

PANTHERS (+6.5) vs Saints
Figgs: Saints. NO is quietly 3-1 after a last second loss to the best team in football. They may in fact be the league's second-best team.
Joe: Panthers; I wanted to take the Saints here since I see them being on a clear collision course with GB for the NFC championship game. However, Cam and Co. is undefeated so far vs. the spread and until Vegas realizes this and starts giving them more credit, I'll continue to roll with them.
Nick: Saints. As much as I like the Panthers as a back-door cover team this year, I think the Saints will win by double-digits.

JAGUARS (-2) vs Bungals
Figgs: Cinncy? What a gross game this is.
Joe: Bengals; After 4 weeks, I guess I'll finally admit they aren't as bad as I thought they would be.
Nick: Bengals. I feel like the Bengals should be playing 25% better than they are.

STEELERS (-3) vs Titans
Figgs: shitsburgh. I highly enjoy picking these guys and being wrong. Let's make it happen again Tenn.
Joe: Titans; Tough, physical team. That is usually Pittsburgh's fatal flaw (see Baltimore in Week 1). Steelers have the worst offensive line in football and Ben and Rashard Fumblehall are both banged up. Titans win outright, perhaps easily.
Nick: Titans. Fuck you, Steelers.

GIANTS (-9.5) vs Seahawks
Figgs: Seattle. Giants should win (hopefully, as they're my Knockout pick) but 9.5 is a lot of points.
Joe: Seahawks; I don't want to take them here since the G-Men could win a 38-10 type game, but just when you think you've figured the Giants out, they throw another curveball at you. 9.5 is too many points for me to give with such an unpredictable team.
Nick: Giants. The Seahawks are terrible, on the road, and playing an early game.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

49ERS (-3) vs Bucs
Figgs: Bucs. I would have guessed this at SanFran +3. I know they're 3-1, but I think Tampa is the better team. ($)
Joe: Bucs; I had to skip this game and come back to it. I have no feel for it. They are both decent, but not great teams. 9ers should win their division by default, but they aren't a bad team. I hate to go against Harbaugh, but the Bucs keep pulling out hard fought victories.
Nick: Bucs, although SF scares me as the team that could screw up a lot of bets this year.

PATRIOTS (-9) vs Jets
Figgs: NYJ. Too many points, this should be a close game.
Joe: Patriots; The Jets D is no longer dominant and Sanchez does not appear anywhere close to being capable of winning games on his own. Alot of points, but with Tom Brady on my side, I'll take my chances.
Nick: Pats. You basically have to concede that the Pats can drop 35 on anyone, and I don't think the Jets can get in to the high 20s.

BRONCOS (+4) vs Chargers
Figgs: SD. Betting on the Chargers scares me, because they tend to play down to their competition, but if Denver is a mess. ($)
Joe: Bolts; FYI, don't ever bet on this team. Just my opinion. They are probably about 20 points better than Denver, but that's when they usually either lose or squeak out a last minute win. Reluctantly, I'll pick them anyway.
Nick: Chargers. THEY HAVE LIGHTNING BOLTS ON THEIR PANTS! ($)

Sunday Night Football

FALCONS (+6) vs Packers
Figgs: ATL. They've burned me each of the first four weeks, and GB looks untouchable so far. But I'll go with the Falcons one more time to keep it close at home.
Joe: Packers; I keep saying their the best team in football, and they've done nothing to prove me wrong. The Dirty Birds are the league's most disappointing team so far. 2-2, but they could easily be 0-4.
Nick: Packers. See Patriots, New England. Also: Eagles, Philadelphia.

Monday Night Football

LIONS (-5) vs Bears
Figgs: Bears. Detroit can't keep making these insane comebacks, and Chicago isn't a bad team. ($ +6)
Joe: Lions; If there's ever a time for a primetime game to get the home team jacked up, it's this game in the D. 1st Monday nighter there since Barry Sanders should feel like a college type atmosphere. No way I'm picking this week to finally go against them.
Nick: Lions, reluctantly. I still think Chicago sucks, and hope we'll see it right here.

Figgs teaser: Giants (Pk)/Saints (+3.5)/Packers (+4.5)
Nick's teaser: Giants (Pick) / Saints (+3.5) / Packers (+4)

Tribe season wrap Part 2: The Highlights

2011-10-06T07:00:00.002-04:00

Well, as we know, the Indians' season didn't end in the postseason glory that their 30-15 start made seem possible, as they ended at 80-82. But for a team that ended just shy of .500, the 2011 Tribe generated a lot of memorable moments. Here are some of them:

Beating up on Boston
I'm sure all five of you readers enjoyed the demise of the Red Socks this year, and it wouldn't have happened without the Indians posting a 6-4 mark against the big-money Bostoners. Cleveland beat up on Boston early and often, winning their first four against their AL East rivals, including two memorable games. First was the 1-0 win on April 7, where Fausto Carmona dominated and Asdrubal Cabrera's sacrifice squeeze gave the Indians an early sweep of Boston. Later, on May 23, the Tribe rallied from a 2-1 deficit with two in the 8th and hung on with a game-ending double play in a game I was forutnate enough to attend. This win took the Tribe to 30-15, which sadly would be the high point of the season.

Home cooking
The Indians were stupid-good at home in the early stages of the season, posting 14 straight home wins from April 3 through May 11.

Within that highlight was a shorter, brighter highlight, that being the series from April 29-May 1 where the Indians notched all three wins in come-from-behind efforts. The Saturday game saw Cleveland win a 3-2, 13-inning decision on an Orlando Cabrera RBI single - if that seems odd, keep in mind it would ordinarily have been a routine flyout. The Indians closed out the sweep of Detroit with a 5-4 Sunday decision that saw them tally three runs in the 8th inning to erase a 3-2 deficit and then hold on for the victory.

And even THAT highlight had a more specific, awesomer component, that of course being Carlos Santana's titanic grand slam into the right-field seats to send the Indians home 9-5 winners. Definitely the iconic moment of the season - watch the Indians in the dugout and on the field react to it. Fantastic.

Fast-forward that video to :41 to get Hamilton's call, btw

This random awesome double-hot dog I was served
See photo at right.

Hafner's Seattle walk-off
In a game that a few FCF'ers attended (along with a guy wearing a Mariners Jay Buhner jersey), Hafner turned a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 victory with a clutch two-out, two-run bomb to centerfield that sent the crowd home happy and gave the Indians a one-game sweep of their series with Seattle.

Sweeping Pittsburgh
Hell, we never do it in football, may as well enjoy it in baseball.

Rookie walk-offs
Injuries and other performance issues meant that a lot of first-year players saw time with the Indians this year, and two of them delivered key walk-off hits. First up was Cord Phelps, who on June 19 delivered a three-run game-winning home run, the first homer of his career, in a rain-delayed 11-inning affair that gave the Wahoos a sweep of the Pirates.

Not to be outdone, rookie phenom Jason Kipnis made his first major league hit really count, sending the Indians to a 3-2 win over the Angels on July 25

Hafner's walk-off grand slam
Didn't we already see this guy?

Midway through the season, the Indians started to struggle a bit, justifiably worrying Friends of the Feather. They seemed to only win games they had to win to stay afloat - of these, Travis Hafner's walk-off grand slam on July 7th against Toronto was one of the most memorable. Trailing 4-0 heading into the 9th, the Indians managed to load the bases and plate one run on Asdrubal Cabrera's RBI single. Hafner came to the plate and just belted one, immediately making one of the coolest gestures I've seen on a diamond, before trotting around to score. How often do you see a team walk off on a play where they had trailed by three before the game-winner was struck?

LaPorta walk-off on Tribe weekend
This year's Tribe Weekend started off really, really badly, with a 12-0 pasting at the hands of the lowly Royals. Things didn't look too good for our heroes the next night either, as they trailed 1-0 headed into the 8th and 2-1 going into the 9th. Kosuke Fukudome's sac fly tied things, setting the stage for Matt LaPorta, whom we'd derided pretty much all game, to deliver a line-drive three-run game-winner. Pretty sweet fireworks, too.

2 out of 3 from the Yankees
To be the best, you gotta beat the best. Actually, that's not true - you can totally win a championship without beating the top player or team, if injury or another team knocks them out first.

Nevertheless, from July 4-6, the Indians did beat the best, taking two out of three at Progressive from the stupid yankees. I was lucky enough to attend the July 4 game, where Austin Kearns' three-run blast in the 7th game the Indians new life and a lead at 4-2, and Santana's home run to the porch in left put it away. Solid.

Catching up to Detroit
Though we didn't quite make it, there were some fun moments in Cleveland's chase of eventual division-winner Detroit, most notably a 10-3 pasting of the Tigers on a beautiful night in Cleveland at a game attended by much of the FCF team. The Indians pulled to within two games of the Tigers after that win - they drew to within 1.5 a week later and that was the story of them. But on that August evening, there was pennant fever in the air.

Any time we didn't play against Texas
Word.

Santana walks off AGAIN
Just for good measure, the Indians made their 80th and final victory on the season a memorable one. Having already claimed a win over hapless Minnesota earlier in the day, and with Nick and I manning the Tribe Social Suite, Cleveland rallied form down five and put the Twins away on Santana's second walk-off homer of the season. Oh yeah, also we had free tickets in a suite and it was Star Wars Night. Check out the photos below if you're interested in seeing me rocking on the field and/or Michael Cuddyer (#5) inexplicably and kind of awesomely being the only Twin to stick around for the fireworks.

Definitely no shortage of fireworks from the always-exciting 2011 Tribe. Hopefully we can populate the 2012 record book with as much fun, and hopefully I don't write this particular post until mid-November.

Anemic offense, poor play-calling dooms Buckeyes in Big Ten opener

2011-10-04T18:09:00.009-04:00

I took this past Saturday’s 10-7 loss to Michigan St better than any I’ve taken in a long time, probably dating back to 2001. While this was a good thing for the family and friends that had to deal with me the rest of the weekend and any breakables within my immediate grasp, this reaction does not sit well with me. The fact that I was not irate about an Ohio St loss can only mean one thing - I expected it. It felt just like a Browns game for me. Sure, I was really into the game while it was going on and cheering my ass off, and was not at all pleased with the outcome, but when it was all said and done it kind of had that Browns “eh, what did you expect?” feel to it. That feeling has not happened in Columbus in over a decade, and it’s sad to think that way now.

When I think about it, my hopes shouldn’t have been as high to begin with. While I wasn’t thinking National Championship, I thought a 9- or 10-win season and possible Big Ten title was not out of the question. Clearly it was, and an unbiased, outside observer probably would have noticed that. Take the top RB, top WR, and second-best OL out of any team’s lineup due to suspensions, and you’re going to have some hiccups. Add this on top of a defensive that graduated eight starters and your QB and head coach leaving the team, and things could get ugly, which they have in Columbus.

It’s not just that Ohio St has lost two of its first five games; it’s the way they lost them. I didn’t think it could get any worse than the Miami loss, but this was close. The defense played great - they shoulder none of this blame. Michigan St’s offense has been underperforming this year, but they are still loaded with talent, and the Bucks held them to only ten points. The offense on the other hand, I don’t know if I can even think of a word bad enough to describe it. Braxton Miller was 5/10 for 56 yards and an INT, and the team collectively ran 39 times for 35 yards. That includes five sacks in there, but regardless, less than one yard per carry is not going to cut it. I don’t necessarily blame the running backs for this ineptitude, I put the majority of it on the offensive line and the play-calling. For all the credit I gave the O-line last week, they deserve just as many demerits for this game. There was nowhere for the backs to run all game. It also didn’t help that Michigan St was putting nine guys in the box every single play, because they knew OSU was not going to put the ball in the air. I supported playing Braxton for this game (and I still do going forward), but if the coaching staff believes that he is that bad/not ready that they won’t even pretend to let him look like he’s going to throw, then he shouldn’t be in the game. This game is just as frustrating to write about as it was to watch, so let’s blow through this recap real quick.

Game Recap
Ohio St’s offensive woes began immediately, going three-and-out on their first two possessions. MSU capitalized quickly when Kirk Cousins threw a TD strike to his favorite target, B.J. Cunningham. I knew that Cunningham was pretty good, but does it shock anyone else that this guy is the Spartans’ all-time leading receiver? A school that boasts such greats like Andre Rison, Charles Rogers, and Plaxico Burress? It surprised me to hear this. I was also surprised to know that when Cunningham caught that touchdown seven minutes into this game, that it was over. On the last play of the first quarter, Chris Fields caught a 12-yard pass for OSU’s first first down of the game, so there’s that.

The second quarter was more of the same, with both teams doing a lot of punting. The big play came about midway through the frame after a Fields 33-yard completion. Miller tossed what was probably his best ball of the game between two MSU defenders to Devin Smith inside the 10-yard line. It appeared Smith came down with it, until Spartan DB Darqueze Dennard stood up with the ball. (Seriously though, Darqueze?) After seeing the replay, Smith jumped up and had the ball in his hands, but on his way down Dennard snuck a hand in there and pulled the ball out, keeping control of it as the two players hit the turf. At the time, I thought that Ohio St maybe had just lost their only scoring opportunity. Other than a meaningless last-second score, I was right. Big Jonathan Hankins forced and recovered a fumble late in the half, but of course the Buckeye offense did nothing with the opportunity.

The third quarter was about as exciting as a vacation to Delaware, the most interesting play coming when Michigan St missed a 51-yard FG.

After MSU connected on a 50-yarder in the 4th to go up 10-0, Joe Bauserman entered the game. I’ve said that I just wanted to see Ohio St go with Braxton and stick with him, but I understand this move. It was most likely their best chance to get a quick score to get back in the game. The only problem I’ll have is if the coaches want to stick with Bauserman because his stats (7/14, 87 yards, 1 TD) were better than Miller’s. This only happened because the Buckeyes finally opened the playbook up a little bit at this point and Michigan St was playing a softer defense. On the last of five Bauserman-led drives, Joe hit Evan Spencer for a 33-yard score, at least keeping the Bucks from being shut out for the first time since 1993. Michigan St recovered the onside kick, ending the game at 10-7.

Game Ball
I typically don’t give game balls for losing efforts, but the way this season is looking if I don’t start then we’re going to end the year with only a few given out. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the defense really didn’t play bad. In fact, they were pretty good for the most part. One bright spot in particular was DB Bradley Roby. Roby has had his struggles early in this season, but he showed some great progress against Michigan St. He made several plays defensively, making a few tackles, breaking up some passes, and intercepting a pass. It wasn’t the best GB performance we’ll see, but hey, I didn’t have much to work with here.
Game balls to date: Roby, Miller, Simon

Big Ten
Last week was the first of intra-conference matchups, and it didn’t quite live up to the hype. The big game was in Madison where Wisconsin welcomed Nebraska to the Big Ten. And by welcomed, I mean slaughtered. Wisconsin rolled the Huskers 48-17, and looked damn good doing it. Taking a peek at the Badgers’ remaining schedule, I don’t see any way they lose. Their toughest game looks to be what would most likely be a rematch with Nebraska in the inaugural Big Ten Championship, and unless something drastically changes, we just saw what the outcome of that should be.

In addition to the Ohio St game, Penn St’s 16-10 win over Indiana set offensive football back about 20 years. Purdue was embarrassed at home by Notre Dame, and michigan stomped Minnesota, 58-0. Can’t say much negative about a 58-point win, other than it was Minnesota. I’m still a believer that this team won’t win more than seven or eight games. The most exciting clash this weekend came in Champaign, IL, where the Illini won a thrilling 38-35 victory over Northwestern. Wildcat QB Dan Persa returned for the first time since tearing his ACL late last season, but was forced to leave a big lead in the second half with another injury. Illinois used that momentum to rattle off 21 unanswered points, only to see Northwestern score to regain the lead with under two minutes to go. Nathan Scheelhaase responded by marching Illinois right down the field and running in the game-winner himself.

Yet Another Blow
After being reinstated for less than 48 hours, RB Boom Herron and WR DeVier Posey were again suspended indefinitely for a separate incident. After sitting out the first five games along with OT Mike Adams and DL Solomon Thomas for the tattoo scandal, Herron and Posey, as well as starting RG Marcus Hall, are being suspended for receiving too much money for too little work in their summer jobs. Seriously, guys? Just when it looks like this lifeless team might get a little spark by their two best players rejoining the team, they go right back out. What a fucking mess. To add even more insult to injury, an incredibly thin receiving corps, already missing Posey and Corey Brown, lost Verlon Reed for the season with a torn knee ligament. It doesn’t matter who’s under center - who the hell are they going to throw to?

UR-BAN MEY-ER! (clap, clap, clap clap clap!)
Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means blaming Ohio St’s poor start solely on interim head coach Luke Fickell. He inherited a mess of a program; I wouldn’t expect anyone to succeed in this situation. That being said, Fickell hasn’t exactly showed me that he’s head coach-quality (at least certainly not Ohio St head coach-quality). Let’s be honest, he was a lame-duck coach to begin with as soon as he took this job last summer. Ohio St is going to try to entice a big-name guy to come in next year, and at the top of everyone’s list is former Utah and Florida head man Urban Meyer. Meyer is currently doing play-by-play for ESPN, and he’d be back to coaching next week if broadcast partner Chris Spielman has anything to say about it (doesn’t it seem like there’s a ton of tension between those two?). If not Meyer, OSU alum and current Big Ten coaches Bo Pelini and Mark Dantonio (the man who just beat us and former OSU coach) look to be the top choices. I would love to see Fickell return to his old gig as defensive coordinator, where he was fantastic, but that rarely seems to happen after a guy has been interim head coach.

Up Next: @ #14 Nebraska (4-1, 0-1 Big Ten), 8:00, ABC
The offense has one of the worst performances in recent memory, WR Verlon Reed goes out for the year, and Boom and Posey get suspended again. There is no conceivable way things could get worse, right? Wrong, as the Buckeyes head to Memorial Stadium, where 14th-ranked Nebraska will host their first-ever Big Ten game, under the lights, after being pissed off because of the Wisconsin loss. This is my fourth season writing Ohio St game recaps for this blog and my third predicting the following week’s score, and for only the second time (USC in 2009 being the other) I will have to pick against the Buckeyes. Thankfully, this is a night game and it’s my alma mater's Homecoming weekend, so hopefully I won’t remember this game anyway.
Prediction: Ohio St 10 Nebraska 38

GET EM

NFL Picks: Week 4

2011-09-30T16:00:00.010-04:00

Last Week
Figgs: 10-6
Joe: 8-8
Nick: 10-6

Figgs' $ Picks: 1-1
Nick's $ Picks: 3-2

Current Standings
Nick: 26-18-3
Joe: 23-21-3
Figgs: 22-22-3

Figgs' $ Picks: 1-4-1
Nick's $ Picks: 8-3-3

Sunday, 1 pm kickoff

BROWNS (Pk) vs Titans
Figgs: BROWNS! No Kenny Britt, just load the box and slow down Johnson.
Joe: Browns; 3-1 going into the bye week sounds phenominal. Let's go Let's go!
Nick: Browns, although this would be different if Kenny Britt were in there.

COWBOYS (-1.5) vs Lions
Figgs: Cowboys. The Lions are deffinitely better and may have a shot at the postseason, but they're still not as good as Dallas at home.
Joe: Lions; Just call me Davy Jones, cause "I'm a Believer!"
Nick: Lions. Dallas is decent, but the Lions should be favored here. I'll keep riding them until they burn me.

BEARS (-6.5) vs Panthers
Figgs: Bears. Cam Newton can blow me.
Joe: Panthers; On the 7th day, God created mankind. That's because He spent the 1st six days trying to perfect CAM!
Nick: Panthers. Too many points, and the Bears have yet to convince me that they don't suck. ($)

JAGUARS (+7) vs Saints
Figgs: NO. Seeing the Jags the past few weeks makes me even more made I lost $$ that first week when they beat the Titans. How did they do that?
Joe: Saints; Since their near miss in the opener against Green Bay, the Saints seem to be rolling on all cylinders. The defense might be a concern, but a good remedy for that is the anemic Jags offense.
Nick: Saints. It's a lot of points on the road, but the Jags are pretty bad.

BENGALS (+3) vs Bills
Figgs: Bills. I could see them taking a step back this week, but Cinncy is really bad.
Joe: Bills; This could be a textbook trap game for Buffalo, but I'll continue to pick them anyway because I just think Cincy is awful.
Nick: Bills. Buffalo just had an emotional victory over New England, and they're playing the Eagles next week? TRAP. GAME. I still like them though. ($ +2.5)

CHIEVES (+2) vs Vikings
Figgs: Vikes. This is the week they finally keep a lead and get a W.
Joe: Vikings; Best 1st half team in football, worst 2nd half team in football. I don't see the hapless Chiefs mounting a comeback against them though if they get out to another big lead.
Nick: Vikes. Happy to go against KC with a line <3 points. ($ -1.5)

EAGLES (-9) vs 49ers
Figgs: Niners. I feel the same as Joe. Philly should win this game, but this spread is too high for a team underachieving as much as the Eagles are.
Joe: 49ers; I've been overestimating Philly so far (as has Vegas). I wanted to take them here, but until they prove they be worthy of such a high spread, I can't give that many points.
Nick: Niners. Too many points.

RAMS (+2) vs Redskins
Figgs: Rams. The Skins do look much better than I originally gave them credit for, but I think the Rams finally start living up to expectations and get a win here.
Joe: Skins; They seem to be a pretty decent team and St. Louis looks absolutely dreadful.
Nick: Skins. Washington has 8-8 written all over them...St. Louis looks like 3-13. ($)

TEXANS (-3.5) vs Steelers
Figgs: shitsburgh. Still not 100% sold on Houston. If they cover this one I'll buy them.
Joe: Texans; I'd like the Texans even if this spread was between 7 and 10. Pittsburgh might have the worst O-line in football. This week they won't have the inept Kerry Collins to bail them out. Matt Shaub should put up more than enough pts to win comfortably here.
Nick: Steelers. I hope I'm wrong, but I've seen this too many times to declare these assholes dead yet.

Sunday, 4 pm kickoff

SEAHAWKS (+4.5) vs Falcons
Figgs: ATL. C'mom guys, you're starting to make me look bad.
Joe: Seahawks; Just a gut feeling. ATL looks very shaky so far and I see Seattle at least keeping it close against the stuggling Falcons traveling cross country.
Nick: Falcons. Really wanted to pull the trigger on Seattle here, but this is a must-win for a Falcons team that can still turn things around.

CARDINALS (+1) vs Giants
Figgs: Giants. Shouldn't this up 5 or 6? ($ -1.5)
Joe: G-MEN; I think I really underestimated New York this year. The Cards are pretty bad and I like the Giants to win sort of handily on the road this week.
Nick: Giants. I'll happy to take an NFC East team over an NFC West team, thank you. ($ -1.5)

PACKERS (-12.5) vs Broncos
Figgs: Pack. Looking forward to riding Aaron Rodgers to a Fantasy Football title. (Did he just say "riding Aaron Rodgers?")
Joe: PACK; To quote Ric Flair, "To Be the man, you gotta beat the man!" The Packers are the defending champs and still look to me to be the best team in football. Denver is bad, regardless of who their QB is.
Nick: Packers. Big number, but no faith in Denver.

RAIDERS (+4) vs Patriots
Figgs: Pats. I'd be very surprised if Oakland can put it together two weeks in a row to beat teams that are better than them.
Joe: Raiders; I thought they would beat the Jets last week and they proved me right. I look for more of the same this week against a suspect Pats D. Even if Brady and Co. are hitting their stride, I still like the Raiders to outscore them.
Nick: Pats. I don't see NE losing twice in a row, and I don't think that the Raiders offense can hang with the Brady Bunch.

CHARGERS (-7) vs Dolphins
Figgs: Fins. Exactly what Joe said. SD wins but by less than a TD.
Joe: Fish; Miami keeps losing, but playing everyone close. And the Bolts continue to play down to their competition year after year. With all their talent, just think what they could be capable of if they had a real head coach.
Nick: Fish. Chad Henne has actually impressed me so far (?!), and the Chargers have struggled mightily on defense.

Sunday Night Football

RAVENS (-3.5) vs Jets
Figgs: Ravens. Tough one to call here, should be a real good game. I'll go with Baltimore at home, but wouldn't be surprised at all to see the Jets win.
Joe: Jets; I'm not sure if they pull off the win, but I look for a really tight game, so I won't give more than a field goal either way here.
Nick: Jets. I'm still not convinced that Joe Flacco is ready for prime time, and that extra half point is enormous.

Monday Night Football

BUCS (-10) vs Colts
Figgs: Colts. They'll get a win sooner or later. Probably not here, but they might keep it close.
Joe: Bucs; I think the Colts defensive performance last week was one of the best I've ever seen, yet the lack of QB play still cost them a victory. I think the hangover from that loss will leave them flat this week and Tampa should roll.
Nick: Colts. Ten is a key number and all of Tampa's games have fallen within a 10-point margin.

Figgs Teaser: Packers (-5)/Patriots/Saints
Nick's Teaser: Saints -0.5, Packers -6.5