Friday, September 24, 2010

Enough with the Saints Already!

I can’t possibly be the only person who thinks the NFL is shoving the New Orleans Saints down our throats, am I?  They’re the league champs, they absolutely deserve recognition for that, but I don’t recall any previous Super Bowl winner becoming the league’s spokesteam.  The answer is obvious: it’s hard to hate New Orleans and champions tend to be polarizing, this seems like a pretty unique opportunity to finally have a team be the face of the league.  The thing is… its getting pretty f’n annoying.

First of all, the notion that the relationship the Saints have with their fans is unlike any other is completely ridiculous, EVERY fan base loves their team.  Yet we’re constantly being reminded of how much the Saints mean to the region, as if it were a feeling nobody could ever understand.  And where did all this meaning come from?  New Orleans doesn’t exactly have the most lustrous football history, they’re new rich, at least fans in Cleveland and Detroit can harken back to their championship days 60 years ago.  There’s no need to manufacture tradition, enjoy your time at the top!

Lastly, and speaking of being constantly reminded, enough with Katrina.  There is absolutely no need to remind us about Hurricane Katrina every single time we talk about the Saints.  It was an absolute horrible tragedy and it affected residents in ways I cannot possibly imagine, and yet it doesn’t belong in pre-game analysis of 49ers versus Saints on Monday Night.  Never Forget doesn’t necessarily have to mean Remind Me Constantly.  This is the town of laissez les bons temps rouler, a fun city with joyous people, with the best team in Professional Football, stop painting them in woe-is-me colors!

The Saints are the champs, they have a very good team, they’ve certainly earned their success, let’s not feel sorry for New Orleans, and for cryin’ out loud STOP TRYING TO MAKE THEM MY FAVORITE TEAM!

Speaking of teams being forced upon us, the Delusion Bowl is finally here, “No. 3” Boise State against “No. 24” Oregon State!  I’ll keep my rant short this week: the Beavers moved from 25 to 24 in the AP poll on the strength of a 7 point win at home against 20 point underdog Louisville, quality stuff.  They’re also nowhere to be found in the Coach’s poll, but hey, what do those guys know about football, right?  Nevada had a very impressive win over Cal last week, they play the Broncos on November 26th, I’m thinking they’ll find themselves ranked at least 20th by then.

Another decent round of predictions last week, I picked 7 out of 13 in College Football against the spread putting me at around 53%, which isn’t all that bad considering 60% makes you a handicapper worthy of a phone line, and those folks pick in tiers of 5 games at a time.  Pro football wasn’t as smooth, picked 3 of 8 and pushed 1 against the spread putting me at 42%, but I keep getting non-stop trade offers for Darren McFadden, who I drafted across all my leagues, Booyah!

College Football Predictions – Week 4

  • #5 TCU -18 over SMU – The Horned Frogs are at home, against their cross-town rival, and on national tv, expect a blowout.
  • Georgia Tech -8 over NC State – Yellow Jackets had a big win at UNC last week, NC State isn’t there yet.
  • Kansas State -7 over Central Florida – Nobody’s talking about K-State, but the Wildcats are damn good and they’re gonna end up sneaking up on Nebraska to win the Big XII north.
  • #17 Stanford -5 at Notre Dame – I know the Irish are at home and have only lost their last two games in the last second, but Stanford is head and shoulders a better team, 5 points is quite a bargain!
  • #9 oklahoma -14 at Cincinnati – about time the sooners played an away game!  The Bearcats couldn’t beat them with Brian Kelly and they’re obviously worse without him.
  • Bowling Green +26 at Michigan – Michigan is winning this game, Denard Robinson is a beast, first player to actually remind me of VY, and yet the Wolverines defense won’t allow them to cover.
  • Northwestern -7 over Central Michigan – If it weren’t for Stanford, Northwestern would be the best football team from a Smart People School, they’ve already taken down Vandy and Rice on the road.
  • #18 Iowa -28 over Ball State – I’d hate to be the team that plays the Hawkeyes after that tough lost at Arizona last week, expect a statement game.
  • Virginia Tech -4 at Boston College – Not that the Hokies have done much to inspire confidence, but BC struggled to put away Kent State.  If I picked by tiers this would be a bronze pick, definitely not for executives.
  • Tennessee -14 over UAB – The Vols played Florida tough last week, even though I expected them to elevate their game against the Gators.  They should cover against the Blazers at Rocky Top.
  • Air Force -14 at Wyoming – Falcons will run that option all over Wyoming!
  • Miami (OH) +20 at #24 Missouri – Mizzou will probably win this game, but they have no business giving 20 points after barely beating SDSU at home.
  • Eastern Michigan +44 at #2 Ohio State – The Buckeyes have covered every game this season and I smell a trap, the line is just right for them to fall short.
  • Temple +14 at #20 Penn State – I wouldn’t be surprised if Temple actually won this game, their running game is back in form, PSU is a young team, and its easily Temple’s biggest game of the year.
  • Florida State -20 over Wake Forest – Seminoles still trying to prove they’re better than that beat down they got at oklahoma.
  • #1 Alabama -7 at #11 Arkansas – Mallett looked great last week, but they still barely beat Georgia, I don’t think they’ll be able to hang with Bama.
  • #4 Texas -16.5 over UCLA – Payback’s a bitch!
  • Nevada -4.5 at BYU – The Wolfpack demolished Cal at home and will be looking to stay perfect by the time they play Boise.
  • #8 Florida -14 over Kentucky – Gators won’t be caught looking ahead to Alabama.
  • Baylor -7 at Rice – Baylor will be looking to bounce back from being humiliated last weekend.
  • #15 South Carolina +3 at #14 Auburn – I like Carolina to run all over Auburn, who doesn’t have much outside Cam Newton.
  • #12 LSU -10 over #21 West Virginia – LSU has been getting better and better as the season goes on, playing at home will put them over the edge.
  • Oregon State +18 at #3 Boise State – 18 points? 18 POINTS?! At best the Broncos win by 10.
  • UTEP -11 over Memphis – With Keenum out UTEP has life once again in Conference USA, with Buckram expected to come back, the Miners are gonna win big.
  • #16 Arizona -7 over Cal – A win like the one against Iowa should’ve moved the Wildcats to the top 10, either way, no hangover here.
  • #6 Oregon -12 at Arizona State – I guess the challenge for the Ducks is to see what multiple of 12 they will beat the Sun Devils by.

Pro Football Predictions – Week 3

  • Steelers -3 at Buccaneers – Steelers defense will overwhelm the young Bucs.
  • Falcons +4 at Saints – Atlanta came to life last week, look for them to try and establish themselves as the best team in the division.
  • Titans +3 at Giants – Both teams coming off tough losses, should be a close game.
  • Redskins -4 at Rams – St. Louis has kept it close in their first 2 games, but Washington looked much improved on offense against Houston.
  • Texans -3 over Cowboys – Is Wade Phillips still coaching? =(
  • Bengals -3.5 at Panthers – I think Cincinnati’s offense will finally show up on Sunday.
  • 49ers -3 at Chiefs – San Francisco looked great against the Saints, they'll finally win one.
  • Eagles -3 at Jaguars – Philly trying to prove Vick is the right guy.
  • Raiders +4.5 at Cardinals – Somehow Oakland’s QB situation is better than Arizona’s.
  • Dolphins -2 over Jets – No Revis and a team full of distractions vs a disciplined Bill Parcells team, no surprise Miami is favorite.
  • Packers -3 at Bears – This could be a fun shootout, at the end Green Bay just has more talent.

-Kanan

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