Upon Further Review - Week 9 in the NFL (Part 3)

I'm going to burn through the rest of the NFC predictions right now - because I don't feel like spending hours in front of the computer today. I'll give you my predictions and the current records and you can draw your own conclusions. This segment really didn't turn out how I anticipated, I should have just left well enough alone.

NFC East
Dallas... My prediction was 11-5 and they're 7-1
NY Giants... My prediction was 6-10 and they're 6-2
Philadelphia... My prediction was 9-7 and they're 3-5
Washington... My prediction was 7-9 and they're 5-3

NFC South
Atlanta... My prediction was 6-10 and they're 2-6
Carolina... My prediction was 9-7 and they're 4-4
New Orleans... My prediction was 11-5 and they're 4-4
Tampa Bay... My prediction was 6-10 and they're 5-4

NFC North
Chicago... My prediction was 9-7 and they're 3-5
Detroit... My prediction was 4-12 and they're 6-2
Green Bay... My prediction was 5-11 and they're 7-1
Minnesota... My prediction was 6-10 and they're 3-5

NFC West
Arizona... My prediction was 6-10 and they're 3-5
St. Louis... My prediction was 10-6 and they're 0-8
San Francisco... My prediction was 9-7 and they're 2-6
Seattle... My prediction was 9-7 and they're 4-4

Ok, I'll be back in about 5 minutes for this weekends predictions - I must brew me some coffee.

NHL Headshot of the Week

I'd like to thank everyone who keeps me informed of all the goonery around the league. NHL Headshot of the Week is sweeping the nation and it wouldn't be possible without you.

Cooper called me while I was out last night, just to make sure I was aware of this one. Montreal's Francis Bouillon elbowed Boston's Aaron Ward in the head as he was skating past. Apparently there was a stretcher on the ice but Ward was able to get off with some help. This video doesn't really show it - but it's the best I could find. If you've seen a better one let me know.

Here's another great one - it's a compilation video put together by CBC that sums everything up very nicely.

The Links

I think I've got enough clips to put together into a Links column today.

...I wanted to put up the beginning of the Conan O'Brien Jub-Jub Saga. But it looks like the clip has been taken down from You Tube. The short version is that Conan agreed to donate $1000 to the charity of Joe Buck's choice if Buck would say Jub Jub during the World Series.

...And here's what happened.

...Ok, here's Conan's follow-up to the World Series Jub Jub - and it actually explains the whole thing.

...And now here's the first part of the new Jub Jub challenge that Conan put out to Charles Barkley.

...Here's part two of the Barkley interview - this actually contains the Jub Jub portion.

And now a couple non-Jub Jub clips for you...

...Here's the 15 laterals play from a couple weeks ago that you might have seen - I still can't believe that nobody could make one tackle or knock the ball down.

...And the CFL on PTI - who knew?

Artist of the Week

This weeks Artist is Lukas Rossi. If you've never heard of him, he was the winner of the Rockstar Supernova reality TV show - and if you can get past that, he's actually a very talented guy. I've always thought his look is a little contrived but he's got an unbelievable voice and he's a great songwriter.

If you've ever got a chance to see him live - you must do it. I had the opportunity to see him do an acoustic show at The Pump last night and it was pretty fantastic. He definitely has the biggest voice I've ever heard.

And let me tell you this - women apparently love this guy. They were falling all over themselves last night like he was a Backstreet Boy - only there was vast amounts of alcohol involved. It was quite the spectacle. There was so much estrogen in the room last night that I'm pretty sure I got pregnant... I wonder how Mrs. Sports As Life is going to feel about that.

Anyway, you can check out his music at:

www.lukasrossionline.com
or
www.myspace.com/lukasrossitv

His recorded music does not really do justice to what he can do live.

Upon Further Review - Week 9 in the NFL (Part 2)

A few quick things this morning before I get to my preseason picks for each team.

First of all, I wanted to let everyone know that Sports As Life now has its very own domain name - we are now: www.sportsaslife.com - you can still get here using the old Blogspot address. But I think the .com address is a little snappier.

Also, the first incarnation of the official Sports As Life store is now up and running. The website for the store is: www.cafepress.com/sportsaslife - and with the strong Canadian dollar, there's no time like now to buy. There are only a couple of things up there right now but I'm hoping to add more in the next couple weeks - remember Sports As Life merchandise makes great Christmas gifts. There isn't a T-shirt design yet - I'm almost thinking I'm going to have a contest to design the official shirt.

The last thing I want to say is that Trebor, Sports As Life's Head Fantasy Writer, and I were having a discussion last night and he brought up who is going to be the Comeback Player of the Year - it's gotta be Randy Moss. I'm upset with myself for not thinking of him.

Ok - now for the look back at the pre-season predictions for each team. I'm still not sure how to approach it. I really have no desire to get caught up in a 4,000 word epic - so I'm going to try and keep it short and sweet.

AFC East
Buffalo... My prediction was 5-11 and they're 4-4. If not for 2 last second losses they would be 6-2. Unless they tank down the stretch, looks like this is going to be a little off.
Miami... My prediction was 6-10 and they're 0-8. I knew they were going to be bad - but who knew they'd be this bad.
New England... My prediction was 13-3 and they're 9-0. Just like the bizarro Miami, I knew they were going to be good - but who knew they'd be this good.
NY Jets... My prediction was 7-9 and they're 1-7. Yeesh, I guess this year's schedule was harder than I thought.

AFC South
Houston... My prediction was 4-12 and they're 4-5 right now. Unless they lose their last 7 games this one is going to be off. Houston is better than I thought they'd be - but not by much.
Indianapolis... My prediction was 11-5 and they're 7-1. I really underestimated the way Indy's defence was going to play this year. Indy and New England are just head and shoulders above every other team in the league.
Jacksonville... My prediction was 8-8 and they're 5-3. I honestly have no idea about this team - they could end up right around that 8-8 mark.
Tennessee... My prediction was 3-13 and they're 6-2. Wow, I was way off on this one. Vince Young hasn't been anything to write home about but their defence is just smothering.

AFC North
Baltimore... My prediction was 12-4 and they're 4-4. If they don't run the table, and they won't, I'll be off on this one. Both their offence and defence look old and tired.
Cincinnati... My prediction was 11-5 and they're 2-6. And I can't get over how bad this team is, especially defensively.
Cleveland... My prediction was 3-13 and they're 5-3. Alright, they're better than I thought they were going to be - I admit it. Just switch my Cleveland and Cincinnati predictions and we'll call it even.
Pittsburgh... My prediction was 11-5 and they're 6-2. This is the one prediction in this division that I might actually come close to.

AFC West
Denver... My prediction was 10-6 and they're 3-5. This team should probably be 0-8, if not for 3 last second field goals. I don't even mind that I got this one wrong.
Kansas City... My prediction was 5-11 and they're 4-4. Thankfully they're better than I thought they were going to be - although not by much.
Oakland... My prediction was 5-11 and they're 2-6. The Raiders are who we thought they were.
San Diego... My prediction was 13-3 and they're 4-4. The Chargers could still end up winning the division but I can't believe how bad they look at times.

Ok - that's it for the AFC. The NFC should be up later today, or possibly tomorrow.

You Know What I Hate... Prosperity

... So I'd like a new government please.

This is the only time I plan on mentioning politics on this site - but tonight seems like a good night, what with the Provincial Election and all - so bear with me. I know you don't care what I have to say about provincial politics and I sort of care that you don't care - so I won't get heavily into personal opinions here. I will only say this - seems like, in the midst of a strong economy and job growth, voting for change, purely for the sake of change is a very strange thing to do. From what I can tell this election came down to a couple bad highways and a football team that hasn't won anything in almost 20 years.

Anyway, enough of all that. Since I didn't listen to Lorne Calvert's concession speech tonight, this is what I'm hoping it sounded like. None of that gracious loser garbage - I'm talking fire and brimstone - think Richard Nixon, circa the early 1960's. And I really shouldn't have to tell you that this is satire, this is not an actual quote - and yes, I did create that picture myself:

Good evening,

I'm here tonight to concede the race for the Saskatchewan Legislature. Global News just called the election in favour of the Sask Party 15 minutes after the polls closed, and who am I to argue?

First of all I'd like to thank the people of Saskatchewan for allowing me lead them for the past 6 years. And I'd also like to say to everyone in Saskatchewan, I hope you know what you've gotten yourselves into. I don't think you do - otherwise things probably would have worked out differently tonight. All I know is that you people better not come crying to me in three years when the treasury is bankrupt, the C. Montgomery Burns Corporation owns SaskPower and is only providing 3 hours of electricity per day, and your livestock are dropping dead from a highly communicable, airborne anthrax. Maybe you'll know who to blame then - cause it won't be me buster, ho ho... you better believe it won't be me.

(Stunned silence from the crowd)

And to the "fair and impartial" (Calvert makes air quotes) media in this province - especially Murry Mandryk and Bob Hughes at the Leader-Post and the three trained chimps that put out the Star Phoenix - thank you for always providing election coverage without bias. It wasn't enough that I had to run against the Sask Party but I had to overcome the print media in this province too. Don't worry Wall - they'll turn on you too soon enough. Unless of course you follow through with whatever you promised when they gave you those campaign donations.

What... no Betty, I'm not through yet. (Calvert shakes off his wife Betty, who tries to get him off the stage) If I'm going down, everyone's coming with me! (Calvert slams his fist on the podium)

You people probably think I'm done don't you? Well I promise that you haven't seen anything yet. I'm still a member of this legislature and I'm going to make every minute we're in that chamber a living hell. I'll be going old school on these guys - no cheap prop gags like rubber boots. I'm talking about things like filibusters and gerrymandering. I don't even know what that stuff means - but I know it's sure to piss some people off. You should have voted me right out Saskatchewan, cause now I still have a seat and I'm bitter.

For 6 years... you've had a lot of - a lot of fun - that you've had an opportunity to attack me and I think I've given as good as I've taken... But as I leave you I want you to know - just think how much you're going to be missing. You won't have Lorne Calvert to kick around anymore, because gentlemen, this is my last press conference.* (Calvert knocks over the microphone with his hand as he walks off stage)

*Paragraph from Richard Nixon's 1962 Farewell/Concession speech.

Upon Further Review - Week 9 in the NFL (Part 1)

Well my ears are still seriously ringing from the Modest Mouse concert last night - which is throwing off my equilibrium - which is making typing a little more difficult than normal. So if there are more typos today than normal, that's what I'm blaming it on. But suffice it to say that if you weren't there last night, you missed out in a big way.

While I have a couple of quiet minutes here I thought I would put together a little mid-season NFL review - even if it is a week or so late. My plan is to look back at my pre-season predictions and see how they stack up so far. I'll start with the award winners and then I'll go through the individual teams.

NFL MVP: My prediction was Tom Brady... and I gotta say, I'm feeling pretty good about that pick right now. Through 9 games Brady has thrown for almost 2,700 yards, 33 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions. Right now, this is a mortal lock... but trust me, the prediction weren't all this good.

Offensive Player of the Year: My prediction was Anquan Boldin... and in my defence - who knew that Matt Leinart would A) be a really bad quarterback and B) get hurt, thus ushering in the Kurt Warner Era 2.0 - plus Boldin has been hurt this season as well. Right now this could be Tom Brady or Randy Moss... but my darkhorse pick is Adrian Peterson (that's the Minnesota Adrian Peterson - not the Chicago one).

Defensive Player of the Year: My prediction was DeMarcus Ware... and while he's having a nice season with 7 sacks and 42 tackles so far - unless he has a monster second half, he's probably not going to get the nod. But I'm hard pressed to think who should win this award. How about this - Jared Allen of the Kansas City Chiefs. He is half a sack off the league lead with 8.5, plus he has 2 forced fumbles and 29 tackles. And he's been able to do this despite missing the first 2 games of the year because of a suspension. (Editor's Note: It just came to me who should win this award - Indy's Bob Sanders. He flys all over the field and pretty much single-handedly makes that defence viable)

Offensive Rookie of the Year: My prediction was Adrian Peterson... and might I say - boo ya! This is a slam dunk, mortal lock. My prediction was based on one run in the pre-season against the Jets and he hasn't disappointed so far. Peterson is like a monster reincarnation of Bo Jackson and Herschel Walker - he's fast and runs low, hard and angry.

Defensive Rookie of the Year: My prediction was Patrick Willis... and I guess I should just add another boo ya! Not only is Willis the leading rookie tackler - he's the top tackler in the league with 83. Of course San Francisco's defence is always on the field - so that helps with the tackles number. Willis also has one sack and one interception.

Comeback Player of the Year: My prediction was Donovan McNabb... and like the man said, sometime you eat the bar and sometimes the bar, well, he eats you. It's not like McNabb has had a really bad season - he just hasn't had a good season. He's got 9 touchdown passes to 4 interceptions - that looks ok until you remember that he had 4 touchdown passes in one game against Detroit. Ask any McNabb fantasy owner how they feel about him and their reaction will sum up how his season has gone so far. So who is it going to be you are asking yourself? Well now with Larry Johnson gone for the year, if Priest Holmes plays well down the stretch he's got a good shot.

The First Annual Shaun Alexander Anti-Comeback Player of the Year Award: Ok, so I didn't predict this one in the preseason because I just made it up - but of course the winner is the man the award is named after. I know that Alexander has been banged up all season but I've never seen someone run so tentatively in my life. I've also never seen a player get booed by his home fans with such venom... well, a player outside of New York anyway.

Coach of the Year: My prediction was Mike Nolan... and you can put that one straight into the NO column. The 49ers are terrible and it's pretty clear that Norv Turner is not only killing the San Diego Chargers but his departure as offensive co-ordinator in San Francisco is killing the 49ers as well. As much as I hate Cleveland - right now my pick would be Romeo Crennel. Or possibly Jeff Fischer in Tennessee.

First Coach to Be Fired: My prediction was Tom Coughlin... and that's a no. There are so many bad teams that you can pretty much take your pick in this category: Scott Linehan, Cam Cameron, Eric Mangini, John Fox (although he probably gets a pass because of the injury to Jake Delhomme). And even some big names could be on the hot seat: Lovie Smith, Andy Reid, Brian Billick, Mike Shannahan, Norv Turner. But it's got to be Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati, right? I thought he was supposed to be a defensive guy. They are a terrible team.

Biggest 1st Round Draft Bust: My prediction was Ted Ginn Jr. in Miami... and that looks pretty solid so far. He's got 7 receptions and 1 touchdown - but those 7 receptions have gone for 141 yards. Should we count JaMarcus Russell in this category? Probably not just yet eh. But how bad are the Raider quarterbacks going to have to play for Russell to get into a game this year. I know he missed all of camp and some of the season but surely by the end of the year they've got to give him a look.

Well that was pretty much it for my predictions and I don't think I did too bad. I'm no smooth talking Emmitt Smith but hey - I try my best.