Week 7 Quick Picks

CAROLINA (-2.5) over Washington
CLEVELAND (-3) over Seattle
Atlanta (+3.5) over DETROIT
TAMPA BAY (+1) over Chicago (In London)
Houston (+3) over TENNESSEE
NEW YORK JETS (+2) over San Diego
Denver (PK) over MIAMI
Kansas City (+6) over OAKLAND
Pittsburgh (-4) over ARIZONA
DALLAS (-13) over St. Louis
Green Bay (-9) over MINNESOTA
NEW ORLEANS (-13) over Indianapolis
Baltimore (-8.5) over JACKSONVILLE

(Last Week: 4-7-2; Season: 37-48-5)

Week 6 Picks

The picks have really been struggling the past two weeks and I think it's because I have been over thinking things. Instead of going with what we've seen so far this season and what I thought before the season...I have been thinking things like "the Jets can't possibly be this bad", despite thinking they way were overrated going into the season, or "I thought Detroit was going to be pretty good, but not this good." Well I'm done with that line of thinking...this week's picks are coming from the gut. No over thinking, here we go:

ATLANTA(-4) over Carolina

Indianapolis(+7) over CINCINNATI

DETROIT(-4.5) over San Francisco

St. Louis(+15) over GREEN BAY

NEW YORK GIANTS(-3) over Buffalo

PITTSBURGH(-12) over Jacksonville

Philadelphia(-1.5) over WASHINGTON

Houston(+8) over BALTIMORE

Cleveland(+7) over OAKLAND

New Orleans(-4.5) over TAMPA BAY

Dallas(+7) over NEW ENGLAND

Minnesota(+3) over CHICAGO

NEW YORK JETS(-7) over Miami

Last Week: 4-8-1
Season: 33-41-3

Update: I'm taking the Rangers over the Cardinals in the World Series in six games. I just think the Rangers have a line-up that is deeper than the Cardinals and a starting rotation that is also just a little more complete. The Cards have Prince Albert and Chris Carpenter though, so it wouldn't surprise me if the Cards win in 7 either. Who knows with the way my postseason predictions have gone!

Good Day to be a Pens Fan

Today was a good day to be a Penguins fan. First, we got to laugh at the Philadelphia Flyers’ fans who decided it was a good idea to boo Sidney Crosby despite the fact he was appearing in an anti-cancer promotion on the Flyers’ jumbo-tron. Then, the actual good news started to pour in:

• At 10:30am, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported that the Penguins have signed winger Chris Kunitz to a two-year contract extension that will keep him in a Pens sweater through the 2013-2014 season. The extension calls for an average salary of $3.725 million per season, about the going rate for a 25 goals per year guy. Kunitz has been an excellent addition since being acquired in the 2009 trade that sent defenseman Ryan Whitney to Anaheim and has done mostly good work as a two-way player alongside Sidney Crosby on the team’s top line. I, among many, am excited to see how the Crosby-Kunitz-Neal line performs when Crosby returns to action.

• Around 11am the news broke that captain Sidney Crosby has been cleared for contact in practice. This is the next-to-last step in Crosby’s return from post-concussion symptoms. It was reported that Crosby skated in the Penguins’ morning skate with a regular line and no alternate color helmet that players wear which designates them for no contact. It should not be long now before Crosby returns to game-action, barring no setbacks of course.

• Finally, it was reported that Evgeni Malkin participated fully in the Penguins morning skate and will be a game-time decision for tonight’s game against the Capitals. Even if Malkin is unable to play tonight, the fact that he was a full participant in the morning skate and is seriously considering playing tonight is a big relief for Pens fans who had to be somewhat holding their breath as the team would only classify Malkin’s injury as a “lower-body injury” and that he was “day-to-day”. For a guy who missed most of the previous season with a torn ACL, any lower body injury becomes a concern, especially when the team is reluctant to release further information.

With those three pieces of news coming out today and the season’s first match-up with Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals tonight, it is indeed a good day to be a Penguins fan.

NFL Week 4 and MLB Championship Series Quick Picks

New Orleans (-6.5) over CAROLINA – As well as Cam Newton as played I don’t think he’s ready to keep up with Drew Brees and Co.

Philadelphia (-3) over BUFFALO – Eventually the Eagles are going to figure things out...I think.

INDIANAPOLIS (-2) over Kansas City – Rumor has it that this game is the reason the NFL created NFL Sunday Ticket!

JACKSONVILLE (+2) over Cincinnati – Jacksonville’s defense is slightly underrated and could be a tough match-up for Andy Dalton. Then again, Cincy’s defense is also slightly underrated and could be tough on Blaine Gabbert. That’s too many words for this game already.

NEW YORK GIANTS (-9.5) over Seattle – In no circumstance can we back Tarvaris Jackson on the road.

MINNESOTA (-3) over Arizona – If McNabb doesn’t find a way to win this one it could be the beginning of the Christian Ponder era in Minnesota.

PITTSBURGH (-3) over Tennessee – Not having Casey Hampton and Aaron Smith might just be a good thing as both have struggled early in the season. Not having James Harrison is a different story.

Oakland (+6) over HOUSTON – Can we say letdown game for the Texans? And no Andre Johnson to boot...

Tampa Bay (+3) over SAN FRANCISCO – Imagine this one will come down to the wire and the 3 points could come up big here.

San Diego (-4) over DENVER – The Chargers are good, the Broncos are not.

New York Jets (+9) over NEW ENGLAND – Too many points here.

ATLANTA (+6.5) over Green Bay – Atlanta should be fired up to revenge their embarrassing loss in the playoffs last year. Plus the Packers can’t go undefeated, can they?

Chicago (+5) over DETROIT – Not taking anything away from the Lions but they have been extremely lucky to win their last two games. This line is about two points too high.

MLB Championship Series Picks

Detroit vs. Texas – Going with my heart instead of my head here despite the Tigers’ game one loss with ace Justin Verlander on the mound. Texas has a much better line-up and a deeper pitching staff but these Tigers just keep finding a way and Jim Leyland keeps pulling all the right strings (aka getting lucky!). Seriously, Don Kelly batting 2nd and he hits a home run! You can’t make these things up. Tigers in seven.

Milwaukee vs. St. Louis – Probably my two least favorite teams in all of baseball. Team arrogant in Milwaukee versus the most arrogant man in baseball in Tony La Russa. Still, you have to appreciate the swagger the Brewers are playing with right now and I have to root for someone. Since Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder helped lead my fantasy baseball team to a championship this year, I’ll go with the Brewers in what is a virtual coin-flip between these two teams. Let’s just hope the postseason continues to be as fantastic as it has been so far. Brewers in seven.

Ten Questions on the Pens Season

As I write this the Penguins are squaring off with the Vancouver Canucks on opening night of the 2011-2012 NHL Season. Here are ten questions on the upcoming season that I will be following now and as the season progresses.

1. When will Crosby return? Obviously this is question #1 for every Penguins fan but all signs point to Sid not missing a significant part of the season. If Sid misses the first month or less, I expect the Penguins to compete for the top seed in the Eastern Conference and maybe even the top point total in the NHL. If Crosby misses a significant portion of the season, I still expect the Pens to compete for a top four or five seed in the Eastern Conference but the season will start to take on a much different tone with continuing questions about their captain. More important, however, is question number two.

2. Will Crosby remain healthy? I think everyone believes that it is inevitable that Crosby will return at some point and now it is only a matter of when. Nobody, however, knows what will happen when he does return. It’s just my own observation but it seems that those who suffer a concussion either recover quickly and never really have problems with them again or there are those that suffer long-term and lingering effects that result in multiple concussions and careers that are never the same. Guys like Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Eric Lindros and a handful of others were never the same after experiencing lingering symptoms and multiple concussions. I sure hope Crosby returns with no lingering effects, suffers no further damage to his head and goes on to the career that we all expect him to have.

3. How will Evgeni Malkin bounce back from his own injury? Crosby won’t be the only one returning this year from a season ending injury. The Penguins, and maybe the NHL’s, second best player in Malkin returns after missing much of the Pens 2010-2011 season with a torn ACL. Malkin was playing possibly his worst hockey since entering the league before the knee injury ended his season last year. That being said, all indications are that Geno is in the best shape of his career, is more determined than ever before and is poised for a monster season. His preseason sure backed those sentiments and now he must carry that momentum into the regular season and playoffs. With the fantastic depth up and down the line-up that Ray Shero has assembled and with Fleury in net, a healthy Crosby and Malkin make the Penguins the team to beat from where I am sitting.

4. Will Marc-Andre Fleury become an elite goaltender? This question is a bit misleading as most, including myself, already consider Fleury an elite netminder. I’m not sure I would trade him straight up for any other goalie in the league once the playoffs begin. That being said…Fleury’s lackluster statistical regular seasons, both by regular and advanced metric measurements, keeps Fleury from being mentioned with the truly elite goaltenders in the league. I think this is mostly attributed to an absolutely terrible streak that he seems to have every season. Last year you might remember that he got off to an abysmal start. It’s time for Fleury, now 26 years-old, to put together that complete season and begin to get mentioned in that class.

5. Will the Penguins actually have a power play this year? Ha, well if the first period of tonight’s game is any indication they certainly will as James Neal and Matt Cooke converted on the Pens’ first two opportunities of the season. Last year, however, the Penguins finished 25th in converting power play opportunities and it was not just a matter of missing Malkin and Crosby as the Penguins power play struggled even with the two stars in the line-up. The problem was highlighted even further by the fact that the Penguins had the fifth most opportunities in the league. Converting on only a fraction more of their power play chances would make the Penguins a complete team and nearly impossible to compete with through the course of a season.

6. Will James Neal become the scoring winger the Penguins have been searching for? As I mentioned, Neal scored on the Pens’ first power play chance of the season five minutes into the game. That means it took him all of five minutes to match his goal total in 27 games wearing a Penguins sweater a year ago. I won’t harp too much on this one as it has been written about plenty in the local papers but the Penguins need the player we all thought they were getting when Shero traded for Neal at last year’s deadline.

7. Can Matt Cooke continue to be effective? Hopefully game one of eighty-two is a preview of things to come as the last three questions have been answered positively in an emphatic way (Cooke added to his power play goal with a sweet short-handed goal in the 2nd period). This, too, has been a heavily talked about subject in local news circles but I actually think it is being asked backwards. Cooke is a good two-way player, always has been, but the question isn’t whether he can continue to be without his former agitating ways but if he can truly avoid going over that imaginary line once again. Cooke’s history of questionable tactics and dirty hits will be punished severely by the league if another incident occurs and he could easily be on the first plane out of town if that happens as I suspect the Penguins have probably grown a bit tired of that old act.

8. What will Ray Shero do at the trade deadline? Shero has assembled a deep and talented roster that should be on the short list of Stanley Cup favorites if its stars can stay healthy. Shero has also proven that he isn’t afraid to tinker, or make a big splash, at the trade deadline. It will be interesting to see how Shero assesses this team as the season progresses and if he needs to bring in some complimentary pieces or if he needs to make that bigger move to try and recapture Lord Stanley’s Cup.

9. Can the team remain healthy? The biggest obstacle facing the Penguins franchise as they try to win another Cup is the health of its own players. Crosby has missed 76 games over the previous four seasons, Malkin has missed 54 and Chris Kunitz has missed 48 over the past two seasons, Jordan Staal missed 40 a season ago and even tough-man Brooks Orpik missed 19 games last year and 9 games the season before. Sure, hockey is a brutally tough game but the Pens have had some significantly bad luck when it comes to their stars getting injured. The biggest thing I will be watching and rooting for as the season goes along will be the health of the Penguins top players.

10. When do the playoffs start? Seriously, is there anything more meaningless in professional sports for an elite team than the NHL regular season? Maybe the NBA’s regular season but at least in hoops home court advantage is significant. As we saw last year with Tampa Bay beating the Pens in game seven in the first round and Boston winning the cup in game seven on Vancouver’s home ice, seeding and home ice advantage means very little in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The only thing to root for, outside of individual accomplishments and team and player records, is for the team to stay healthy. That hasn’t been the case for the Penguins the last few years and that’s why, especially considering Crosby’s concussion issues, health is the most important factor I will be watching for this year.

No Time to Panic for Steelers

I planned to write a piece on how it’s not time for Steelers fans to panic. We’re four games into the season and while it’s true that the defense hasn’t looked like its former dominant self and the offensive line looks horrendous, to put it mildly, I remind you again that it is only four games into the season! Instead of writing a couple thousand words myself, however, K.C. Joyner of ESPN did a fantastic job of beating me to the punch yesterday.

The only thing that I would add to Joyner’s points about this season’s team is that how quickly we forget “panic times” from the past few seasons. It was week 10 just a year ago when the Steelers were dismantled by the Patriots on Sunday Night Football on their way to a Super Bowl appearance. In 2008, it was week 16 that the Steelers were destroyed by Tennessee, losing home-field advantage in the process, on their way to Lombardi Trophy #6. Even going back to 2005, the Steelers lost three straight games from week 11 through week 13 before reeling off seven straight victories for their Super Bowl victory that year. So remember folks, it is only week four, this Steelers team is going to be fine in the long run…as long as Roethlisberger stays alive behind that offensive line!

Here is an excerpt from Joyner’s column and a link to the full column below…it does require ESPN Insider Access so I do apologize for those without that availability. For those without Insider access, I’ll sum it up: Don’t panic Steelers fans, the odds are heavily in the Steelers’ corner to make the playoffs!

The Pittsburgh Steelers also have a long and successful history of managing advanced roster age (four of their eight Super Bowl teams had at least eight starters who were 30 or older).

This is a fact that seems to have been forgotten following the Steelers' 2-2 start. Pundits and fans have criticized Pittsburgh for keeping so many veterans, especially on the defensive side of the ball, where the Steelers ranked as the oldest group in the NFL coming into the season.

That may have prompted some to write off the Steelers' chances of repeating as AFC champions, but a review of their first four games provides evidence that shows this team is still playing extremely well and has a strong chance of making it to the postseason.

Link to the rest of the story.