Author Archive for Jake

2008 NFL Season Predictions

Published
by
Jake
on September 4, 2008
in NFL and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

What could compel me to post on this oft-neglected little blog? Why the start of the 2008 NFL season of course. Might as well get some predictions on record before the kickoff tonight, so here you go:

NFC

East: A challenging division to predict, due to the quality of the teams and my inability to suppress my homerism for the Skins. Pretty much everyone thinks the Giants will be mediocre after their miraculous playoff run and the Cowboys will be good. I agree on both counts. People are hyping the Eagles but I just don’t see it. McNabb is going to get hurt, like he always does. Relying on a rookie WR seems dubious to me. As for the Skins….I’m not really sure what i think of them. Call it: Cowboys, Skins, Eagles, Giants

North: Some intriguing teams with glaring holes. The Minnesota and Green Bay defenses are pretty nasty. Chicago has potentially the worst QB situation in the league. The Lions are, well to be cliche, the Lions. I’d take the Vikings running game and D over the Packers, so lets say Vikings, Packers, Lions, Bears.

South: Outside of Atlanta, who are awful, I think this whole thing is a tossup. Tampa seems like a 9-10 win team to me, the Saints have a kind of under the radar sick offense and Carolina has their QB back. I’m going with New Orleans to win, followed by Carolina, Tampa and Atlanta but I could just as easily see Tampa or Carolina winning it.

West: Usually this is an easy one, just pick the Seahawks and move on. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the Arizona Cardinals win the division. Defense is pretty good, the QB drama scares me but if they can settle on Warner I think they’ll be alright. Cardinals, Seahawks, Rams, 49ers.

AFC

East: Anyone in the world not picking the Patriots to win? Didn’t think so. Patriots, Jets, Bills, Dolphins

North: I’ve seen some weird picks for this division, people picking the Ravens, which I don’t see at all. I know they’ve taken some hits on the offensive line but people are sleeping on the Steelers. I’m going Steelers, Browns, Bengals, Ravens.

South: Like everyone else I think this is the Jaguar’s year. Manning’s dinged up, Harrison is coming off injury, same with Freeney, this is the year Jacksonville gets over the hump. Also maybe the year Vince Young gets exposed as a non-NFL QB. Jaguars, Colts, Texans, Titans.

West: No way Shawn Merriman makes it through the year and its borderline criminal he’s being allowed to play. Having said that, very much like the offense and the D will be alright once Merriman’s knee explodes. Even still, my sleeper team this year is the Broncos. I’m on the Cutler bandwagon, that defense is underrated, screw it the Broncos are winning this division. Broncos, Chargers Raiders, Chiefs.

To recap:

NFC Division Winners:Cowboys, Vikings, Cardinals, Saints

NFC Wild Cards: Skins, Packers

AFC Division Winners: Patriots, Jaguars, Broncos, Steelers

AFC Wild Cards: Colts, Chargers

For the actual playoffs I’m saying it’ll be the Cowboys over the Vikings to represent the NFC and the Jaguars over the Patriots to represent the AFC. Cowboys win it, 34-27. There you have it. And yes I would be more then happy to have the Skins win it all instead.

Tejada two years older then he was yesterday

Published
by
Jake
on April 17, 2008
in MLB
. 0 Comments

I thought the O’s did well when we sent Miguel Tejada to the Astros. Now I like the trade even more:

The Houston Astros shortstop told the Oakland Athletics when he was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 1993 that he was 17. But he was actually 19, meaning he is now 33, two years older than his listed age in the Astros’ media guide and other baseball records.

“I’m a poor kid that wanted to sign,” Tejada told the Houston Chronicle about how he followed a coach’s advice in shaving two years off his age. “I’m feeling free now. It’s something that I had in my mind.”

I applaud the man for his honesty, certainly, but sucks for the Astros. This might explain why his offense has declined in recent years (although there are other, more nefarious reasons why that might be).

Quote of the Day

Published
by
Jake
on April 8, 2008
in Quote of the Day
. 1 Comment

We’re going to win the World Series this year. I told you guys that in spring training. I mean, we’re here to win baseball games. Every day is a different day and a different game. And you try to go out there and try to win that game. That’s it. That’s the season. That’s the way we approach things. You’ve got a long way to go. Tomorrow, we’re going to go out there and compete against the Rangers. That’s why you play the games on the field and not on the stat paper

-Kevin Millar

Published
by
Jake
on March 31, 2008
in Odds and Ends
. 1 Comment

The insults continue: Peter King, who DOESNT EVEN COVER BASEBALL FOR SI, says the Orioles could have historically bad pitching and lose 105 games. Fox Sports has the O’s 30th in their power poll. We’ll see, we’ll see…

Published
by
Jake
on March 29, 2008
in Odds and Ends
. 0 Comments

What is is with these SI people? John Donovan thinks the O’s will have the worst record in the AL.

Published
by
Jake
on March 28, 2008
in Odds and Ends
. 1 Comment

Jon Heyman says the Orioles will be the worst team in baseball this year, though possibly the Giants or Pirates could be worse. Here’s hoping he’s wrong!

Published
by
Jake
on March 27, 2008
in Odds and Ends
. 0 Comments

Scouts, Inc. list of the top 64 WR in the NFL. Redskins, rather pathetically, have only one representative: Santana Moss at #33. No love for Antwan Randle El?

Published
by
Jake
on March 26, 2008
in Odds and Ends
. 0 Comments

David Thorpe says Nick Young should study Dwyane Wade this off-season. He also says Young might be “almost as talented” as Wade. Key word there is probably “almost” but works for me.

Arenas, max money and hurt feelings

Published
by
Jake
on March 19, 2008
in Wizards
. 0 Comments

Ivan Carter answered one of my questions in the WaPo Wizards/NBA chat today regarding Arenas coming back next season:

1900 L St: Ivan, in a recent blog post you said Arenas wasn’t going anywhere, that the Wizards could offer the most money and the other teams with cap space sucked to begin with.

My question then is whats your best guess on how this plays out? Does he get max money from the Wizards and thats it? Or does Arenas have to settle for less thanks to the knee injuries.

Ivan Carter: My best guess is that Arenas is back here with a new contract next season but I have no idea whether Abe Pollin and Ernie Grunfeld are going to cough up the max. The market is thin but few teams have money and, Arenas is coming off of two knee injuries. The big question is this: if less than the max is offered, who will Gilbert react? My gut tells me: not well. He has a number in his head and he feels he’s worth that number. It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

While I appreciate the answer, this just leads to more questions. Like what are the chances that Pollin and Grunfeld offer less then the max? If offered less then the max here, would Arenas be so angry/upset as to take even less money elsewhere? I wouldn’t want to be in Grunfeld’s shoes, thats for sure. The smart business (and maybe even basketball) decision would be to offer Arenas a fair, but probably less then max, deal. A guy coming off back to back knee surgeries that have caused him to miss a large portion of 2 seasons, even a guy as good as Arenas is at his best, is hard to invest max money in.

As Carter says, its going to be interesting to see how this plays out. My fear is that it could get pretty ugly but there is a surprisingly little amount of opinion on how this will all turn out, other then a general feeling that Arenas wants the max. Has Grunfeld spoken on the matter?

Stat of the day

Published
by
Jake
on March 18, 2008
in Wizards
. 0 Comments

DeShawn Stevenson has made 118 3 pointers this year. In the previous 3 years combined he made 101.

Inspired by the WaPo