Comments pulled from the site's home page 09/29/09 - 10/03/09.
The comments below were posted on the ColumbusSports.com home page from Sept. 29 through Oct. 3, 2009.
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Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009
Pigskin Picks - Saturday's picks were just posted, but I'm still upset over the way the West Virginia - Colorado game ended Thursday night. Despite losing 4 fumbles in the first half alone, the Mountaineers were poised for the point spread victory and had Colorado backed up in their own territory with a 4th down and 25 play with less than 2 minutes to go. Next play is 27 yards (!) for a first down, and then after a few more short completions, Colorado throws a long pass on the last play of the game (against single coverage?!) to score an otherwise meaningless touchdown. Meaningless except for the fact that the way it ended made a LOT of money for many bookies around the country. Fortunately I do this "for fun and information purposes only", so my loss was not of the monetary kind. Still, don't let anyone tell you that those kind of losses eventually "even out" over the course of a year. They never do.
Ohio State Buckeyes - The Buckeyes are one of my picks to cover the spread today (-17), as I believe the combination of a resurgent running game, dry weather for Pryor to throw a little more, and an overpowering defense will be enough to easily handle a somewhat surprising but out manned Hoosier team. Barring a few fluke plays on turnovers or special teams, this should be a typical Ohio State - Indiana outcome, meaning the Bucks will win by 24-30 points.
Browns vs. Bengals - I used to look forward to this rivalry game for Cleveland, as it usually meant either a sure Browns win, or at least a good chance for a win. Not this year, however. Unless Derek Anderson can come in and have one of his occasional "I'm on fire" type of games (remember the Browns 51-45 victory in 2007?), this looks to be a fairly easy win for the Bengals. Cleveland will have to show something they haven't shown all year, mainly the ability to limit mistakes and turnovers and come up with a few big plays of their own, to even have a chance to keep this close. Carson Palmer should have a big game as the Bengals running attack keeps the Browns defense on its heels enough for him to complete a few long passes in each half and put this one away in the third quarter.
MLB Playoffs - Paying attention to baseball the past few months has been hard as my Tribe jumped the shark all the way back in June, but one thing that I do know is that whichever team comes out of the AL Central Division, either the Tigers or the Twins, can forget about winning more than a game or two in the first round. And although many have already given the title to the Yankees, keep in mind that in 9 of the last 10 years, the team ending the regular season with the best record did NOT win the World Series. In the NL, I expect either the Phillies or the Cardinals to make it to the Series, where they will match up with the Yankees and make it 10 out of 11 years in which the team with baseball's best record doesn't win the World Series.
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Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009
Pigskin Picks - I posted my pick for the Thursday night game. Hopefully my college picks can get as hot as my pro picks (5-0 last Sunday, 12-4 for the year). Hard to figure out why my college picks are struggling so far. Actually, for the past 3 weeks my second level picks (i.e. the ones that didn't make my final cut, but were close) have a winning record, so there's something I'm doing wrong (or just being unlucky) in the final decision making process. I think I've accounted for that now, and although I can't base any conclusion on tonight's game alone, I'm confident that the next few weeks will show significant improvement.
Columbus Blue Jackets - Just in time for the season opener on Saturday night, welcome to our newest writer: Kayleigh Curtis. She's a huge Blue Jacket fan and a good writer too, so make sure to bookmark her main page or grab her RSS feed and follow her on ColumbusSports.com all season long. Now that the Blue Jackets finally made the playoffs last year, it will be interesting to see just how high the fan's expectations will be this year. I'm sure anything less than reaching round 2 in the playoffs will be considered a disappointment for many.
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Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009
Cleveland Indians - BREAKING NEWS: Tribe fires Eric Wedge. No surprise though, right? He's even allowed to finish out the season. You know this will be presented as one of those "we love him but the team needs a new perspective" type firings. I'm not against it at all, in fact I tend to agree with that sentiment in this case. These players have seen too much of Wedge's management style and probably do need a positive change in perspective and personality from their manager. Hopefully the new manager (John Farrell?) will be able to bring that and at the same time also be a great judge and motivator of talent. As a Cleveland fan, however, I pray that the Indians don't hire the same consultants that helped bring Mangini to the Browns.
Cleveland Browns - Mangini announced this morning that he's gone back to Derek Anderson over Brady Quinn as his starting QB after just 3 games. So what does this say about Mangini? That he made a stupid mistake in picking Quinn in the first place? Or that at least he's man enough to admit that he made a mistake and is trying to salvage something of the season? I mentioned from the beginning of the season that Brady didn't look as smooth or as comfortable playing this year as he did last year. What changed? Did he lose confidence in himself and/or the team? Or did Mangini "mess him up" in some way? Whatever the answer is, Mangini is responsible for this ugly mess he's got the team in. You know it's bad when a new coach is so disliked that he doesn't even get the normal honeymoon period at the start of his regime.
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Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009
Cleveland Browns - I can't say anything more than what's already been said the past few days, but let me say it anyway. What a pathetic excuse for a football team and an NFL franchise! There, I feel better now. When's the draft?
Ohio State Buckeyes - I'm sure Indiana is looking forward to having a "home" night game (OH! - IO!) on the fabulous Big Ten Network this Saturday night (what, ESPN is too good for Indiana?), but they can forget about pulling off an upset. That won't be Michigan's defense chasing them all over the field, the Buckeyes D-line should dominate again, and the Hoosiers haven't played good D themselves since Bobby Knight stopped in to one of the football team's practices 20 years ago and taught a few of the boys some man to man. Look for Terrelle, Boom and Saine to run roughshod all night long and make it a very long night for the Hoosier faithful lucky enough to get tickets in their own stadium.
MLB Playoffs - Can't wait for the regular season to end so I can start paying attention to baseball again.