NFL
By Ryan McGowan
God bless Notre Dame.
You’d think with my last name that I’d be a bigger Fighting Irish fan, but I’m not. I’m not a Notre Dame hater, just more of a Notre Dame agnostic; I am basically indifferent to the institution. (As opposed to a Notre Dame atheist, who believes that Notre Dame doesn’t exist.) But God bless them today. I love Notre Dame.
Tom Coughlin should be fired for benching Warner and putting in a rookie in the heart of a playoff chase.
Last week, Guru Ganu started talking trash to me about how he would overtake me in the picks. Not with a 9-7 week you won’t, bitch! I’m having one of those breakout seasons like I’m a third year wide receiver. My locks are actually locks and my record speaks for itself. Too bad I can’t be like Sports Guy and tout my barely above .500 record. I’ll just have to point to my 65% winning percentage. Ok, enough of that. I just hurt my arm patting myself on the back.
Here we go with the Week 14 Picks. If you want to see how well the experts here at SC stack up against the competition, check out this excel file.
This season if nothing else has proved to be one that shows the Minnesota Vikings moving on from the past. Very few players are left from the Denny Green era with another two possibly going next season. Chris Hovan who was benched last week is unhappy and from all indications is not expected to return next season. His production over the last two seasons has dropped off (though some might suugest he never really had outstanding numbers to begin with) and Mike Tice finally benched him after already considerably cutting his playing time. His days in a Viking uniform are numbered. He’s sold his home in Minneapolis which is always a sure sign he plans on moving on.
This is the best time in the NFL. The Playoff races are red hot. Dominant teams are asserting themselves. Fraudulent teams are falling by the wayside. And peaking teams are trying to dig out of early season holes. This doesn’t make the Power Rankings any easier to compile but it does make for great channel surfing with NFL Sunday Ticket.
Last week was one of the best weeks we’ve ever had at Sportscolumn with the crew going 80%. Not too shabby eh? Is the NFL that predictable straight up? Maybe… but we still like to celebrate our picking prowess.
Here we go with the Week 13 Picks. If you want to see how well the experts here at SC stack up against the competition, check out this excel file.
In a wonderful moment from the play Death of a Salesman; Willy Loman states simply “Attention must be paid.” On November 29th 2004 Brett Favre made his 200th consecutive start at quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. This is easily the most impressive streak going in sports. It is irresistible to write the article on this story, because it couldn’t happen to a better guy. Brett Favre represents everything good in professional sports; he has played virtually every down of his career with one franchise. Like Willy, Brett isn’t flashy, he isn’t outrageous. He’s simply the fiercest competitor in football, attention must be paid.
Things are just as muddled this week as they’ve always been. We see four legitimate contenders (Pit, NE, Phi, Ind) and a handful of teams that might or might not be frauds. The rest of the teams are unbearable to watch. The NFL should be ashamed for making us watch Krenzel vs Henson on everyone’s favorite holiday.
Football fans remember Dale Hackbart as a defensive back who played for the Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Cardinals, and Denver Broncos from 1960 through 1973. However, things could have been extremely different. He could have been known today as a prominent major league baseball player. Hackbart spent a season playing baseball for the Grand Forks, North Dakota Chiefs, a Class C minor league team in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
These picks are from 2004. Check out the 2005 picks here.
Last week was a great week for picks as Vegas Vinny, Mile High and Guru Ganu had 12, 13 and 14 picks correct. We won’t mention Mr. X’s record. We’re hoping to keep the hot streak alive this week.
Here we go with the Week 12 Picks. If you want to see how well the experts here at SC stack up against the competition, check out this excel file.