(Fantasy) Playoffs Approaching

Another strong week for everyone -- well except Walt's Cicada Swarm which has collapsed like his beloved Philadelphia Eagles.

Norm and Hyman share the weekly honors with 11 wins each. The week marks back-to-back 11 win weeks for Norm, enough to vault him into the overall lead, two clear of Craig. It is worth noting that James had a ten win week. Right on time, now that Elin is more then three months old we suspect that the Thomas family is getting a bit more rest.

The week proved that New Orleans is for real (at least sort of), that the Colts can still score, a lot, and that you still don't bet against Brett Favre on National TV, though it was awfully close. Also, Detroit must be that bad, as they were the only Thanksgiving Day home team to not only fail to cover, but lose outright. It is a big advantage to be home for the short week.

Two of the three Sunday homedogs also not only beat the spread but won outright -- the Redskins and Bills.

And LotW took care of things early as Cinci trounced the cross state rival Browns 30-0.

Now the fantasy playoffs are looming, and I need a win this week to guarantee myself another playoff spot. Of course I'm likely to be the last seed for the third year in a row which basically means I'll lose but still not get a good draft pick next year either. And I have too many potential keepers that I need to trade.

This week we'll take Atlanta over Washington but none of the games jump out at you.

And don't forget there is a game tonight so get those picks in.

Make it a good week.

Week 11

Well Otero should be on his way to Vegas after a 13 win week, and quite frankly the rest of us should go with him as all of us finished at 50% or better and 4 of us in double digits. The week tightened up the overall as well with Norm's 11 picks tying him for the lead with Craig and one ahead of Walt. Your own intrepid blogger has crept into the hunt as well. Eric, who has two of the top three overall weeks would most likely have a lead if he had joined us for week one.

Overall things fell into place (well except for the Colts who lost their first meaningful regular season game in two seasons). The Bears, Cardinals and Niners thwarted the most of us, but overall a very solid week.

It still leaves some unanswered questions:

Where did Tony Romo come from?
Why does Matt Millen have a job, I mean any job, in football? Does this explain why Ford and the American Auto industry are doing so poorly as well?


BTW - I am currently reading Michael Lewis' "The Blind Side" and loving it. It is the story of the eveolution of football and the importance of the Left Tackle and at the same time it is the story of a freak of nature who goes from living on the streets of to Ole Miss and in all likelihood a top pick in the NFL draft. Aak for it for Christmas, or the third night of Hanukkah or just order it on Amazon. I guarantee you'll enjoy it, with an even stronger guarantee then the admittedly struggling Lock of the Week.

This week we will trust that Cinci has figured things out even though they go across the state to play in Cleveland -- give the 3,5.

But are the Pack 10.5 worse then the banged up Seahawks, with Favre playing in prime time?

Don't forget to get those Thanksgiving Picks in before tomorrow's games -- and remember it is a big advantage to be at home on Turkey Day. So have a great holiday even if you don't have NFL Network

BCS vs. Playoffs

Normally we focus on the NFL but there is a great Sports Saturday this weekend that demands our attention.

The Showcase game is of Course No. 2 Michigan at No.1 Ohio State at 3:30 Eastern. But there is also Cal at USC Saturday evening.

And you can start things off with Liverpool looking to improve their recent shoddy away form at Middlesborough at Noon on Fox Soccer Channel.

Of course, I'll be lucky to see any of those games because Saturday is Martha's birthday and I doubt watching twelve hours of sports is what she has in mind.

Hyman raised the BCS vs. playoffs issue. I have favored the 12 team playoff since graduate school. This gives the top four teams byes, rewarding conference champs and limiting (in most cases) the extra games being played. I think the first two rounds would have to be at the home site of the higher seed so there would be travel only for the semis and the Championship. When I was at Miami thee was some opposition because of back-to-back weekends of travel and the difficulty that would place on fans getting to games, especially not knowing if your team was going to advance. Perhaps keeping teams in the East or West if possible would help things, though it could impact the seedings in some ways.

Still it would be better then the current system which could put an undefeated Rutgers team on the outside looking in. If Rutgers is able to beat West Virginia then deserve to go to the front of the line, ahead of all the one loss teams.

On to the Pick'em, where we had worse then usual attrition I suppose Adam is sad because the Steelers have been so bad, though they upset Lock of the Week with a seven point win over the Saints. PJ was in Hawaii so we have no sympathy for him.

Jeff's poor showing looks bad on paper, but he forgot until after the early starts. Still he submitted picks for the late, Sunday Night and Monday games. Effort points (if there were such things) are well deserved.

Otero and the mystery faux James team win the week with 8. The real James and I both got seven right to tie for third.

In the overall Walt picked up a game on Craig for the overall lead. Both men had extra reason toe celebrate as the Jets upset the Pats -- apparently Mangini also knows where the soft spots in the infamous Gillete Stadium field are. The Pats responded by replacing the grass with field turf. And Walt's Eagles dismantled the Redskins who are throwing in the towel, putting Portis on IR and starting Jason Campbell.

Again apologize to the group for leading everyone astray since you all joined me in taking the Saints who promptly made Willie Parker look like Barry Sanders. At least I was right about the Lions.

Otherwise there was no real consensus, though Hyman stands out as being punished for not having faith in the Panthers at home. Steve Smith really is that good.

Also, all three teams favored my double digits failed to cover, with two (Jags and Pats) losing out right.

This week features the Texans as favorites over the Bills. The Saints hope to punish the staggering Bengals and Arizona risks the number one overall pick at home against the Lions.

Still we'll take Peyton and the Colts giving 1.5 to the Cowboys in Big D.

Next week -- do you get the NFL Network? You'll be sad on Thanksgiving night if you don't.

Look Who's Back

It's unbelievable to me that I have gone almost a month without posting. At least I've been getting my picks in, which is more then some of you can say.

But with the Dems big win, covering the spread of -5 in the Senate and -20 in the House has me in a better mood.

Somehow this season is flying by -- we'll be eating Turkey leftovers in two weeks. And at that time the football world will be divided into the haves (with NFL Network) and the Have-Nots (w/o NFL Network like me, because Time Warner doesn't want all subscribers to have to pay for it). Now come on, who doesn't like football?

Anyways, the mid point of the season finds Craig with a three win lead in the overall standings after Walt managed only two correct last week -- the worst showing by anyone this season. Still for those that have submitted picks every week there is only a 8 game spread between top and bottom. And even if you have missed a few weeks you should stil partake for the weekly honor role.

Mid-Term questions:

Is Indy that good with a run defense that is so bad?
How did the Redskins get to be so bad?
Why does Dennis Green have a job?
Why does everyone continue to take the defending champion Steelers seriously when they are 2-6. They are favored again this week against a 6-2 Saints team. We're going with the Saints, though we can;t imagine Detroit is 6.5 points better then anyone. Denver was the free money pick of the week -- geting 2.5 in the Steel City which they covered easily.

If Rutgers beats West Virginia and remains undefeated, should they get to play the winner of Ohio St.-Michigan in the BCS championship?

English Premier League update: tomorrow Liverpool goes up against Arsenal 11am eastern on Fox Soccer Channel -- I guarantee it will be more enjoyable viewing then any football pre-game show you choose to watch.

Make it a good week