AGAINST THE MAT
This week we’re going to start it off a little different. UFC 104 was this weekend and boy, was it a doozy. The main event saw a controversial decision win for the champ Lyoto Machida over Shogan Rua. Having watched it, I am not surprised by the judge’s decision. Neither fighter showed tenacity or a huge drive to win. It was a technical battle in every sense of the word. Each fighter picked their shots; Lyoto with his fists and Rua with his legs. I genuinely think the main difference was the two or three take downs Lyoto defended in the 2nd and 4th round. At any rate, the fight was way too close to call and when that happens, the judges favor the champ. But lucky for us, Dana White already has said there will be a rematch, and it’s likely to be both fighters’ next fight.
Cain Valesquez continued to look impressive with his dismantling of Ben Rothwell. I think once this man beats a Top 10 fighter, he’ll get his title shot. Also during that night, Joe Stevenson picked apart Spencer Fisher for his 31st win. Spencer needs a win or he’s destined for undercard status.
Also this week it was announced Brock Lesner’s next match has been pushed back until January. It’s kind of a shame; I really want to see this man get beat.
And now for the pigskin….
TOP FIVES
NFL
1. Saints. Let’s play the numbers game. Down by 21 points in the first half. Brees had three interceptions, one lost fumble, and five sacks. Score 36 points in the second half. Win by 12. Drew Brees had his worst game of the season and they still won. If they’re not your Super Bowl favorites, you’re not seeing what the rest of the world is seeing.
2. Broncos. Let me pose a question: Who got the better end of the deal, The Bears who got Cutler, or the Broncos who got Orton and some draft picks. Ding, Ding, Ding, those of you that answered the Broncos are correct. Those of you that answered the Bears are in denial.
3. Colts. Manning looked a little shaky, at least shakier then he should have been while playing the Rams.
4. Steelers. They have just checked off four wins in a row and also knocked off an undefeated before going into their BYE week. Now they have two weeks to prepare for the undefeated Broncos. If I were a Denver fan (I am), I would be worried (I am).
5. Patriots. They have scored 94 points in the last two weeks. What, couldn’t score six more? Losers!
NCAA
1. Florida. Another win that shouldn’t have been that close. Either they get their stuff together or they will lose to Georgia this week.
2. Texas. I refuse to acknowledge that they have reached this high.
3. Alabama. How many Alabama fans had a heart attack on Saturday? That blocked field goal at the end of the game may very well have been the play that saved a national title. These top teams are having too many close calls and need to be careful, because there are some good teams ready to pounce if they’re not careful.
4. USC. If they beat Oregon this week, in their last remaining test, they should run the table and be ready when one or two of the top teams fall.
5. TCU. The Horned Frogs get some love this week. If they can win out, which is highly reasonable given the remaining schedule, they should jump Boise State (blue field) and claim the non-automatic qualifier for a BCS bowl game.
AWARDS
This week we are going to hand out gold stars for outstanding or noteworthy accomplishments (like grade school).
- The first one goes to Duke for winning its first consecutive conference games since 1994. Can we say basketball school?
- The second will go to Northwestern. In the last month they have launched comebacks from 18 points and 25 points down to win both ballgames.
- The next gold star goes to the throwback jerseys. Mainly because I love the nostalgia for an era I wasn’t even alive for.
- Rashard Mendenhall is the man in Pittsburgh now. He is slowly becoming a force of nature. He gets a gold star for that. Good Boy.
- Did anyone see that six yard leap Reggie Bush made for a touchdown while flying out-of-bounds? He gets an extra shiny one for that, you go Super Man.
- A special gold star goes to ESPN news. Without them I wouldn’t get to see constant replays of the Jet’s Mark Sanchez sitting on the bench and eating a hotdog during last week’s game. Apparently, as ESPN pointed out, Mark likes mustard on his ‘dog. So do I Mark, so do I.
- And lastly I want to give two gold stars to the Illini for never ceasing to suck. At this point they are like the kid in the back of the class that eats play-doh and jams square pegs in round holes. You just ignore him and hope he is better next year.
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION
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NBA
All right, I may not follow the NBA that much (or at all), but I figured I’d make some preseason predictions.
MVP: Lebron James. You can be living on a deserted island for the last 8 years and still have heard of this man. After successfully incorporated Shaq into the lineup, James is a shoe-in.
NBA Finals Winner: Cavs over Lakers. Kobe is great. But the combination of Diesel and LeBron is greater.
That’s all for NBA coverage this week but check back next week when we will have a week of regular season play under our belt.
WEEKEND PICKS
Last week saw me go 3-2 in the pros and 2-0-1 in NCAA.
Season: Pro (9-4); NCAA (4-4-1)
Home team in CAPS
Broncos (+3) over RAVENS: Guaranteed!
BILLS (+3) over Texans: The Bills are underrated and the Texans are overrated.
Jaguars (+3) over TITANS: At this point it’s wise of me to note that both this and the Ravens game up there are essentially rated a coin flip when the lines come out. What happens is that when the oddsmakers start making lines the home team almost always starts out as a three-point favorite. Since I get my lines at the start of the week, they haven’t had too much time to be skewed by the majority of the betting public. That my friends, is your betting lesson for the day.
Giants and EAGLES over 44: Another one from the file of “I got a feeling.”
Georgia (+17) over FLORIDA: Florida has been struggling too much lately. They may win but it’ll be a struggle against a Georgia team that has coaches playing for their jobs.
Indiana (+18) over IOWA: Indiana is better than their .500 record and Iowa is coming off a huge game. This is a perfect catch game. Even if Iowa wins, you got 18 points to pad your money with.
Michigan (-7) over ILLINOIS: I have no faith.
Eggs over Easy: Neither team gets home field advantage being as how this game is being played in my belly.
Cow over Moon: The cow gets the jump on this one.