Christmas Wishes

The move to Martinsville seems to have worked out well for PJs fantasy picks as he wins his third week in a row, this week sharing the honors with Norm, and holding a one game lead in the overall standings with two weeks to go. Once again he spotted the field the Thursday night game (I have to confess I forgot all about it until I saw the score on my homepage the following day).

Somehow we all knew what Vegas didn't, that the Jags are a pretty good team and their win (as a 4.5 dog) at Pittsburgh has to give them a good shot of confidence going into the playoffs. The Steelers, meanwhile, find themselves needing to win their final two games or a win and a Cleveland loss to take the AFC North crown and avoid going on the road for the playoffs (where they are 2-4 this season) as they have the same record (but hold the tiebreaker) with the resurgent Browns.

We all missed the Raiders only losing by 7 -- I don't think Peyton cares and the Colts are 12-2 , a tremendous record in any season, but completely overshadowed by the Pats this year.

Seattle also managed to stub their toe, giving the Panthers their first win at home since Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House of Representatives.

I somehow went against my Cinderella teams, taking the 10.5 points and the Rams against the Packers; the Packers reminded me why I love them so, wiping out the Rams in the Second half and moving back into a tie for the best record in the NFC and potential home field advantage if they can win out and Dallas loses another game -- a huge advantage for Favre to play at Lambeau instead of Texas Stadium where he is (cue chorus) 0-8 lifetime.

In Atlanta, meanwhile, no one want to take Arthur Blank's money as Bill Cowher and Bill Parcells both turned down offers from the Home Depot magnate to try and turn that franchise around. They are fast becoming the Baltimore Orioles of the NFL.


We have gotten our hands on some Christmas lists and so we share them with you now:
Bobby Petrino -- A Soul
Eli Manning -- to play only road games
Rest of the League -- for Giselle to start going to Pats games and have the same impact on Tom Brady that Jessica Simpson had on Tony Romo. An by the way did last weekend screw up more fantasy football leagues then any other single weekend. Romo, Brady, and Cleveland's Derek Anderson, each of whom had carried their teams to the Fantasy Semis scored a combined 11 Points (Brady and Romo 3 pts each, Anderson 5 in the Snow in Cleveland). Yet one more reason why Fantasy baseball is much truer then Fantasy Football.
Joe Gibbs - one fewer timeout
Jamie Lynne Spears -- A Condom (this has got to be my favorite celebrity story of the year, Britney's sister getting knocked up -- at 16). It was nice of her to take some of the Paparazzi and Tabloid pressure off her sister for a while -- and say what you want but those Spears girls sure are fertile.
FSU -- some better academic tutors
Michael Vick -- Some real friends
Roger Clemens -- fear of needles.
The Lions -- to end the Season in October (when they were 6-2 before losing 6 straight)
College Football -- A Playoff system. Speaking of the College Bowl Season, make sure you sign up for College Bowl Mania. Password is spiders.


Trends -- Home Dogs were 4-2 last weekend, as even the 49ers managed to win outright at home, as did the Panthers.

Lock of the Week is 0n a three game roll, as the Saints took care of the Cards in the Big Easy last week. Lots of big spreads this week, And it's Christmas so maybe this pick is more with my heart, but I'm taking Coach Gibbs, the Skins and 7.5 over the Vikings. The Vikings are good and on a hot streak, but the Metrodome is like a second home to Gibbs. He won his Third Super Bowl there, after the 1991 season and it was also the site of Gibbs' last playoff victory in his first go-round with the 'Skins a 24-7 upset over the Vikings after the 1992 season and his last win before retiring. We'll be watching Gibbs try to find some more of that Metrodome magic on Sunday night.

Make it a good week and a Merry Christmas if you celebrate and enjoy some Chinese food if you don't.

Jono

Rolling

PJ continues to roll -- with consecutive 11 win weeks he is now tied for the overall lead. He continued his winning tradition of not submitting his picks until after the Thursday game, spotting the field a game. The five of us that have submitted picks each week are within three wins of the overall and so, with three weeks left, the end of year Pigskin Pick'em honors are as up for grabs as the final Wild Card Spots in both the AFC and the NFC.

Homedogs went 2-5 last week, with only Houston winning outright against the enematic City of Tampa.

The last of those homedogs to lose were the Falcons, whose coach left the following day. The only player sorry to see him go is Brian Brohm who now cannot be guaranteed to go so early in the first round.

This got us to thinking about why you would leave the College ranks for the Pros. Within the past few years many high profile College coaches have left to the Pros, only to return back to playing on Saturdays within a year or two. Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier and now Petrino. But isnt' the College gig just better -- fewer games, including a few cupcakes whatever conference you play in, the ability to get the players you want (and those players not having ungodly amounts of money), no salary cap. So why go to the Pros -- sure some of them might be competitive enough to need to prove they can do it in the Pros. But now that taxpayers and boosters seem more then happy to give millions per year for multiple years to these coaches, plus all of the endorsement and extras (radio and tv shows etc) why go pro?

Other thoughts:
We have complained about the number of crappy games this year -- but all of those crappy teams have left us with five top teams, creating some of the most anticipated regular season matchups in a long time -- NE@Indy, Pitt@NE,NE@Dallas, GB@Dallas. So do those great games every few weeks make up for the crappy ones that we've endured?

If the answer is 'Brock Berlin' aren't you asking the wrong question? If there are only enough quality quarterbacks for half of the teams, that shouldn't we make the position easier somehow -- either through coaching or easier progressions are something? On that same idea, if Belichick can turn Jabar Gaffney into Randy Moss for a game -- the same Jabar Gaffney who sucked when Spurrier was coaching the 'Skins -- then we ought to be able to do the same for QBs.

The Packers inexorable run to the Super Bowl (we conveniently left out their loss to the Cowboys last week; meaning that Brett Favre is likely going to have to win for the first time ever in Texas Stadium for the Packers to fulfill their Super Bowl destiny) continued as they squashed the Raiders.

This week's most intriguing game just might the battle of Lake Erie as the Bills head down I-90 to play the Browns. Now the Browns remaining two teams are the Bengals and I think the Erie, PA Little Sisters of the Poor (actually the Niners, although the Sisters would be favored over the Niners and the Mormon QB Alex Smith). Still a Bills victory will enable them to control their own destiny for the final AFC wild card spot.

Many eyes will be focused on New England to see what kind of embarrassment the Pats have in store for the Jets -- but perhaps the football gods will step in, as the predicted blizzard on Sunday in New England could keep the Pats under the 24.5 spread. Or it just might not matter.

Lock of the Week is on a bit of roll, with two straight correct as the Giants fulfilled my prediction and beat the Eagles here in the 'iladelph. This week we'll go with the Saints over the Cardinals in the Big Easy.

Make it a good week.
Jono

Crunch Time

Week 13 saw a dominating performance from PJ who took time out from moving to get his picks in on Friday (missing the GB game, though he assured me he would have taken Brett Favre in Primetime -- like the rest of us suckers).

and Still his 11 correct picks put him three ahead of the pack and moved him to within two of the overall lead, occupied by James and Norm. No single pick stands out, but he consistently ziggedzagged for his third double-digit win total of the year. James deserves special mention for seeing beyond the Pats hype machine in New England (where he lives) and taking the Ravens and the points. With the Pats now having failed to cover on consecutive weeks (and making the money line bettors rather nervous) they can no longer be considered a weekly lock.

As for Trends, well home dogs were 2-2 and double digit dogs were 1-0. And strange things continue to happen in the Arizona desert.

We're sick of the BCS, and quite frankly more excited about the more traditional Jan 1 games like Michigan-Florida and Missouri-Arkansas (with two Heisman finalists on the field).

Lock of the Week got it right with the Titans over the Texans in Tennessee. This week we'll go with the Giants getting 2.5 in Philly in the NFC East QB Hater Bowl -- although with his four interception performance last Sunday, AJ Feely reminded Eagles Fans why he is a backup.


And for all of the haters out there -- Kanye West leads all comers with 8 Grammy nominations.
alright, so it is not the most interesting blog ever...


Make it a good week
Jono