SportsCrack

Back in time for Turkeyday

I know, it's been like 4 years since my last post. My bad. I just wrote an informational e-book that will hopefully make me some greenage. And no, I will not whore it out on this blog because it has absolutely nothing to do with football.

Or... maybe I will, I don't know. Anyway, back to football!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and for the first time since I can remember, the Lions are actually playing in a meaningful game. I was looking forward to putting some money on them, but then I lost all of my money that I had left (until this Friday) this past Sunday when New Orleans shit the bed and the Jets beat the Steelers. Seriously, how did that happen? I took the Steelers and they were GIVING ten points! And they lost! I thought this team was the heir apparent to end the Patriots undefeated season attempt? I guess not.

Oh well. Here are the picks:

Lions over Packers.
Cowboys over Jets.
Falcons over Colts. (Upset!)

On a quick side note, I would like to wish Priest Holmes a happy retirement. I would also like to thank him for effectively ruining my shot at making the playoffs in my fantasy league.

You see, we only get two waiver wire moves for the whole season. This is to prevent faggots having an ever-changing starting line up like a waiver wire whore house. Anyway, not surprisingly, I used my two pickups within like, the first six weeks of the season. By week 10, everyone had used there's up except the commish.

My running back situation was dire and the Jack Daniels in my blood stream was telling me to make a move or lose. So, I stopped over my commishes house, busted out a trade that looked a bit like this:

I gave up: Plaxico Burress and LaMont Jordan and I got: Chris Chambers, Jerrious Norwood and a FA pickup (Priest Holmes).

Yes, I know, in the light of the recent Holmes re-retirement this looks like perhaps the worst trade in fantasy football history. But I didn't know Priest was going to retire after two games! I thought L.J. was done for the season and I was making a sneaky, genius deal.

Guess not. Thanks though, Mr. Holmes. I'm going to get fucking HOUNDED all through the Super Bowl party. Well wishes, though. I admire your efforts and am thinking about buying your jersey just to parody the whole thing and make fun of myself. I'm cool like that.

Power rankings and random ramblings to come. Stay tuned.

Adrian Peterson - A Mini Biography

Adrian Peterson. Who is he? Is he who we think he is? While I think it’s a bit premature to be awarding him the title of the ‘next LaDanian Tomlinson’ or the ‘next Eric Dickerson’ let’s delve into his history a bit and see if we can discover why he’s one of the most talented and exciting rookie running backs we’ve ever seen.

Adrian Peterson was born on March 21st, 1985 in Palestine, Texas. He had a rough childhood, with his father, Nelson Peterson being sentenced to ten years in prison when he was thirteen and his brother Brian being killed at the age of nine by a drunk driver.

Adrian participated in track and field and basketball from early on and up until his high school years. He excelled at both. However, it was his junior and senior years when he played football where people begin to realize he was going to be very, very good.

His senior year in high school, he was voted the Consensus national player of the year after racking up 2,960 yards on 252 carries and 32 touchdowns. This dwarfed even his stellar junior season where he rushed for 2,051 on 246 carries and 22 touchdowns. Suffice it to say, The Oklahoma Sooners were quite excited to have him on board.

They were even more excited when he broke several NCAA rookie rushing records and finished second in the Heisman balloting, all in his freshman year. He finished with 1,925 yards on 339 carries and 15 touchdowns.

A.D. (or ‘All Day’ – his nickname) led the Sooners to the national championship game against the U.S.C. Trojans. The Trojans won however, in a rout, 55-19.

A.D. injured his ankle early in the 2005 season and ended up missing four games. Even so, he rushed for 1,108 yards on 220 carries and 14 touchdowns. He was included on the All-Big 12 Conference team.

Here's Bob Stoops commenting on how Adrian Peterson compared to other running backs he’s seen, as said at a Big 12 media day.

“I can’t compare him to anyone else; I haven’t seen anyone like him. He’s a powerful, explosive back with great speed and great style. He’s a tough, physical runner. Bottom line, until he was hurt, he’s had a lot of success. It’s not his fault that he got hurt. We plan to give him the ball a lot and hopefully he has a great year. He’s incredibly physical. He’s a guy who can run a 4.3 and weighs 220 pounds. He absolutely destroys a weight room.”

Peterson’s final season in 2006 allowed him to play in front of his father, Nelson, for the first time when he was released from prison. He also broke his collar-bone in said game, ending the rest of his regular season.

He returned in the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State, needing only 151 yards to pass Billy Sims to be Oklahoma’s all-time leading rusher.

The game, arguably one of the best in Bowl Championship Series history, was eventually won by Boise State in overtime 43-42. Peterson finished with only 77 yards, 74 yards short of Sims school record. For his career, he had 4,045 yards on 648 carries and 41 touchdowns.

Peterson kept mum about his future plans until January 15th, 2007 when he announced he would enter the NFL draft, not returning for his senior season. Mel Kiper Jr. a draft analyst said of Peterson,

"You can make the argument, [Peterson] is the best player in this draft, if not, certainly one of the top three.”

Comparisons were made to Eric Dickerson as well, when coming out of college. Funny, that halfway through his rookie season, it’s being predicted he has a realistic shot at breaking Dickerson’s single season rushing record.

Tragedy struck again when Peterson’s step-brother Chris Paris was shot to death in Houston, Texas a day before the NFL Combine.

Still, he trudged on, becoming a Minnesota Viking when they took him with the 7th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. Upon breaking Jamal Lewis’ single game rushing record on November 4th, 2007, many NFL teams who passed on Peterson in the draft wished they hadn’t done so due to his injury concerns. Doing so meant they perhaps passed on what could be the greatest back in NFL history.

We’ll conclude with a quote from Deion Sanders about Peterson:

“He has the vision of a Marshall Faulk, the power of a Terrell Davis, and the speed of an Eric Dickerson. Let’s pray he has the endurance of an Emmitt Smith.”

All day, all day.

Power Ten - Week 10

I know this is supposed to be a Power Sixteen, but way too many teams are just horrible right now. It actually pained me to try and rank some of the teams from 11-16. As in, I got a feeling in my stomach as if to say: "Why are you trying to rank teams that suck so much?" So, I decided to go back to a Power Ten. It will be better this way, I promise.

1.) New England - A unanimous number one. Even if you don't like them, if you argue that they are not the number one team in the league right now, then you are a fucking dumb ass.

2.) Indianapolis - It took a while to pick a number two. I was going to put Dallas there but how would that make sense? The Patriots beat the Cowboys easily, while the Colts gave them some trouble.

3.) Dallas - I think Dallas would beat Green Bay if they played today, so the Cowboys win the three spot.

4.) Green Bay - I'm beginning to believe that the inevitable Green Bay slump is never going to come. Maybe last year was a fluke. They need to get the running game going, though. Favre's arm will not carry them to the Super Bowl alone.

5.) Pittsburgh - Yes, Pittsburgh destroyed Baltimore last night. But that Baltimore team we saw last night was horrible. It sucked. They shit the bed. Once they beat a quality team, I'll give them some credit. And they can start by taking care of Cleveland this week.

6.) New York Giants - Coming off a bye week to play the division and conference leading Cowboys. Are the Giants for real? I think so. And not just because of this book.

7.) Detroit - More than halfway to the ten game win prediction by Jon Kitna, I finally believe they are actually a good team. They sure do give up a shitload of sacks, though, which is apparently Mike Martz's fault and not the O-Line.

8.) Tennessee - The Titans D wanted that shutout against Carolina. From cornerback Nick Harper:

"We wanted the goose egg."

A tough defense and a strong running game. Just think what they can do when Vince Young has a decent game.

9.) New Orleans - The Saints are on a roll. Don't expect them to stop either, with the Rams coming up.

10.) Cleveland - Easily the most suprising team of the year. Right now, I'd give Romeo Crennel coach of the year.

Monday Night Football preview - Ravens @ Steelers

With several of the previous Monday Night match ups being unsavory to say the least, it’s nice to see one that both looks good on paper and means something division wise. While I’m leaning towards a Steelers win, you just never know. So, in the interest of fun, let’s take a look at some factors and storylines for tonight’s game.

Let’s start with a quote from Ray Lewis, the heart and soul of the Baltimore D and probably the only person ever to get barred from being on a Wheaties box:

“I think this game sums up, really the National Football League, and I really think it sums up our division. Nothing is a secret about the way these two teams play against each other. We know it’s going to be physical. They’ve got the No. 1 defense; we’ve got the No. 2 defense. It’s going to be one of those classic games.”

The games last year were certainly not classics, however. Pittsburgh got destroyed 27-0 in Baltimore and then spanked 31-7 in Pittsburgh. But with Ben Roethlisberger’s dome piece apparently feeling much better than last year, and his appendix too, will this year be different? What say you, Mr. Roethlisberger?

"You know how you felt afterward. You got embarrassed twice, once here, once there. It's not a good thing. It leaves a taste in your mouth. They roughed us up, a lot. We need another all-around performance like we had last Sunday, in all phases of the game."

These quotes and stuff are all cool and good, you say, but who fares better in the major football categories? Well, fuck, let’s find out! And without the wise cracks.

Offense

Baltimore – There has been talk of poor offensive play calling effecting Baltimore, but we’ll get to that later in the coaching section. The Ravens are 17^th in the league in offensive YPG (326.7) and 24^th in PPG (17.7).

They have one of the more dynamic backs in the league in Willis McGahee and a proven but aging QB in Steve McNair. The receivers have been less than stellar, with Derrick Mason making up for an under the radar year for the rest of the corps.

The offensive line has been effective blocking for McGahee who’s fifth in the league in rushing yards with 639. They’ve been even more effective protecting Steve McNair, allowing only 4 sacks on the season, tied for first in the league. Not a bad year so far for the Baltimore offensive line, I say.

Pittsburgh – The Pittsburgh offense has been much more potent this year, and it seems they are back to the Steelers smash mouth football of yore. They are 6^th in the league in offensive YPG (361.1) and 5^th in PPG (26.3).

Ben Roethlisberger is having one of the best years of his career with a 102.2 passer rating thus far. Willie Parker is having a spectacular year as well and if it were not for the rookie beast, Adrian Peterson, he might have won the rushing title. As for Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes… while not having monster years, they both are both threats and always viable passing options.

The big men up front, while doing a great job run blocking for Willie Parker, haven’t been as good protecting Ben Roethlisberger. He’s tied for taking the sixth most sacks in the league.

Edge: Steelers. While I would give the nod offensive line wise to the Ravens, the Steelers are running the ball well and passing the ball well. They are back to the smash mouth football they are known for, with a little bit extra.

Defense

Baltimore – The Ravens are 2^nd in the league defensively in YPG (268.0). They are 6^th in the league in PPG (17.0). Obviously they are having another great year defensively, and with Samari Rolle back from an injury, they should get even better. They will have a huge test against the Steelers offense, especially since the only team they’ve played with a great offense was Cincinnati, giving up 27 points in a loss.

Pittsburgh – The Steelers are 1^st in the league in YPG (256.9) and 1^st in PPG (13.0). They are also a lot more proven than Baltimore’s defense, having played Cleveland, Seattle and Cincinnati which were all wins and gave up only 20 combined points to all three.

Edge: Steelers. Easy pick.

Special Teams

Baltimore – Matt Stover has hit 18 of 21 of his kicks going 12-12 under 39 yards and 6-9 from over 40 yards. Not bad. The kick returning team is averaging 27.7 yards per return with 0 touchdowns.

Steelers – Jeff Reed on the other hand has only kicked 11 times, but he’s connected on 10 of them. He’s made all of his kicks that were not over 50 yards. The kick returning team is averaging 25.8 yards per return with 1 touchdown.

Edge: Steelers. Although Reed hasn’t kicked as many as Stover, he’s been more efficient. And the kick return team for the Steelers has the touchdown edge. Done.

Coaching

Baltimore – Brian Billick hasn’t been the most popular play caller this year, even with his own defense. Let’s here what Ray Lewis had to say about him:

“We knew he [Willis McGahee] should have touched the ball when you have a fourth-and-one. Old-school football is old-school football. If there is a yard I need to get, there is a running back, a fullback and an offense that is meant to get that.”

Very true, Ray, very true. He goes on:

"You can't make oranges be peaches. It doesn't change. It will never change. That's what Billick has to ask himself, why we keep putting ourselves in those situations. In the Cincinnati game, that cost us with those same decisions."

Are these accusations true? Thankfully, I know first hand, from my friend 'Killamed' who has Willis McGahee on his fantasy team. Here is what he has to say about Brian Billick's antics:

"He's retarded. I hate him. Who throws twice on the goal line, then brings in Musa Smith on third down when McGahee has been having such a monster day? A pussy, that's who."

Too harsh? Maybe. But what do you expect from someone who has the word 'Killa' in their nickname.

Steelers -- Compared to Billick, any coach could get the nod. But Mike Tomlin has lived up to expectations and brought the Steelers the identity they seemed to lose last year. Plus, he looks exactly like Omar Epps.

Edge -- Steelers.

And... the overall edge goes to the Steelers, in a sweep.

Steelers win 24-13.

Week 9 picks

Unfortunately, couldn’t get to most of the posts I was planning this week. I’ll definitely get to them this week, though. Week 9 picks real quick with rankings to follow on Tuesday:

Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Tennessee, K.C., San Diego, New Orleans, Washington, Arizona, Cleveland, New England, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh

Stay tuned, all two of my readers.