Archive for the ‘football’ Category

WEEK 70 – Card Sharks

Posted: October 3, 2011 by Keith Stone in 2011 Giants, football, Giants, NFL
0

Giants 31, Cardinals 27

“It hurts because we thought it was a fumble and it should be our ball, and then we probably win the game. Then you get caught up in the emotion and they line up and throw a deep ball. They took advantage of our emotions.”—Calais Campbell

I was at the Yankees game and still reeling from the failed ninth inning comeback when I got to the Yankee Tavern as the Giants were down 10 with a few minutes left. I watched the rest of the game with the sound off. I may watch every game with the sound off from now on. It honestly doesn’t seem like anything happened in the first 55 minutes of the game. From what I can gather, Beanie Wells ran amok and the Giants used their same old conservative offensive gameplan. When they open things up, good things happen. Jake Ballard made an amazing catch in the end of the end zone (about five feet away from where Plaxico won the World Title) and Nicks is fucking unstoppable if he can get the ball in stride.

Of course, the play everyone is going to talk about is Cruz’s “fumble.” Honestly, I agreed with the refs. He made no effort to continue to get yardage. He gave himself up. End of story. Sure, it was stupid for him to take his hands off the ball and I wouldn’t have been surprised if the refs ruled the other way. But they didn’t and the Giants proved they can still win close games. And one more thing, Osi’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.

WEEK 4 Picks: First Mover Advantage

Posted: October 2, 2011 by Keith Stone in 2011 NFL Picks, football, NFL
0

This is the time in the NFL season to really take advantage of the lines. If you’re smart enough to figure out which teams are good and which are bad, you can make a lot of money or get a nice lead in your picks league. Most people are idiots and still haven’t figured out that, say, the Browns aren’t very good. As a result, last week the lines were a bit high so if you took the underdogs, it would have paid off in a big way. Remember: if you think two teams are shity, just take the underdog if they’re getting more than a few points. Eventually, everyone will figure it out and the lines will be harder to read but you still have a few weeks.

It’s like Apple. Sure, the iPod, iTunes, and iPhone are great but it’s not so much the products themselves; it’s the fact the Apple knew where mobile technology was going and got there first. I got to where the NFL is heading first with 12 wins last week. Let’s see if I keep my first mover advantage or go the way of Blockbuster. Here’s the picks:

LIONS AT COWBOYS (-1.5)
Stone: Lions
I hope Suh sits on Romo.

Rodave: Cowboys

Rory: Lions
I never understood why they settled at half points as the fraction of choice.  They could just easily use 0.25 or 0.75.  For this game, I have Lions by +1.637.

DP Animal: Lions
Still waiting for the other shoe to fall, but Stafford and Megatron vs. that banged-up ‘Boys secondary?

Phanatic: Lions

SAINTS (-6.5) AT JAGUARS
Stone: Saints
The Saints are very good. The Jags are very bad.

Rodave: Saints

Rory: Saints

DP Animal: Saints

Phanatic: Saints

(more…)

WEEK 69 – Giant Nightmare

Posted: September 25, 2011 by Keith Stone in 2011 Giants, Dream Team, football, Giants, NFL, Philly sucks
0


Giants 29, Dream Team 16

“They can continue being the Dream Team and keep dreaming.”—Brandon Jacobs

The thing about the Giants is that they’re not intimidated. They might not be the best team out there but they’re never intimidated. It’s not the same cast of characters that won the Super Bowl, but most of the important people are still there and that swagger carries over to the younger guys. It felt great to beat the Dream Team. In Philadelphia. You got seven-year-old kids throwing beer bottles and giving the team bus the finger. Fucking great. This proves that the Giants are a legitimate team. They looked mediocre at best in the first two games but maybe they just needed a little motivation.

Really, the best revelation to come out of the game was Victor Cruz. Having a reliable third receiver is going to open up the offense so much more. He did work against Nnamdi Ashomaskjdhsasakjdhdsjhsa and that’s no joke. His first TD was amazing. Defenders colliding all over the place. Amazing. We still need Manningham but this is a big factor. The running game was also great. Jacobs got the ball a little more and Bradshaw is starting to get those important five- and six-yard runs. The O-line is improving and still isn’t perfect but we’ll take it.

The D was marvelous. JPP continues to be a force to be reckoned with and the Dream Team O-line looked even more pathetic than it is. Mike Vick can whine all he wants about getting hit, but I didn’t see any egregious missed calls. If the guy has the potential to run for 70 yards, then yeah, defenders are going to come at him until the very last second. Don’t blame the refs, don’t blame Chris Canty. Blame your horrible linemen. Then, don’t say you’re not complaining, you’re just pointing out that you never get flags. You know what that’s called? Complaining! Sorry about the boo boo on your hand. Maybe you shouldn’t have killed those dogs. Oh, and did I mention that Osi Umenyiora didn’t play?

McCoy killed us but Andy Reid is so stupid he’d rather run the fullback on the game’s biggest plays. Aaron Ross finally contributed and hopefully this will bolster his confidence in the future but as long as those rushers bring the heat, the secondary won’t get picked on as much. The soft part of the schedule is coming up. The team can’t take anything for granted and needs to continue playing at a high level and get better, especially the offensive line. The best is yet to come.

WEEK 3 Picks: Learning On the Fly

Posted: September 25, 2011 by Keith Stone in 2011 NFL Picks, football, NFL
0

It’s getting to the point in the season where it’s easier to figure things out. It’s like when you start college. At first, you don’t even know where the dining hall is. Next thing you know, you’re fingering a drunk sorority chick at a bar in Alphabet City. As such, our picks have been improving. And yes, the Chiefs are the drunk sorority chick. We all went over .500 last week, with Rory backing up his 9-win prediction by nailing 11 picks to set the pace for WEEK 2. The success may have gone to his head, however, as he has guaranteed to win the overall title, despite not being a football fan. I guess a kid’s gotta do something during the NBA lockout. Onto the picks:

49ERS AT BENGALS (-2.5)
Stone: 49ers
I picked the Niners to win the West. If they’re going to, this is a game they need to win.

Rodave: Bengals

Rory: 49ers

DP Animal: Bengals

Phanatic: 49ers

PATRIOTS (-8.5) AT BILLS
Stone: Bills
I’m officially on the Bills’ bandwagon, which is great because…

Rodave: Patriots

Rory: Bills
I went back and forth on this.  I think this game will be close in the “Cam Newton cheap touchdown to cover the spread against Green Bay last week” sense.

DP Animal: Bills
Figure the Pats will win, but I like the Bills to cover at home.  Biggest game in Buffalo in a few years!

Phanatic: Patriots
Sorry bills fans, they’re not for real and they’re not meant to go 3-0.

(more…)

WEEK 68 – Win Column

Posted: September 20, 2011 by Keith Stone in 2011 Giants, football, Giants, NFL, St. Louis Rams
0


Giants 28, Rams 16

It was an encouraging win for the Giants. Not great but solid. It was looking dicey at the beginning there but the Boley touchdown was huge. Also big was the fact that Eli was able to shake off his bad start. That first interception was horrible and set a bad tone for the game. Hixon and Cruz are gradually working themselves into the offense, which is huge, but the injuries to Manningham and Hixon could nullify that. Can we please get through a few games without losing any more players? The D is improving but still gave up way too much to Bradford. Tuck coming back really helped and Osi’s return should make up for the large deficiencies in the secondary. When Deon Grant got “injured,” I almost started crying. Next week is going to be a dogfight.

WEEK 2 Picks: Nobody Knows Anything

Posted: September 17, 2011 by Keith Stone in 2011 NFL Picks, football, NFL
0

It seemed like it would be easy to figure out. Teams that stayed together through the lockout would come out of the gate flying and defenses would rule the day as offenses struggled to jell. Instead, there were upsets aplenty and it was a near historic week for offenses. It’s kind of like when you start dating a girl. Everything is going well and you think you know what to expect. That was the preseason. Pretty soon, you find out she has night terrors and hits you while you’re sleeping. Not that it’s happened to me before. We all got slapped in the face by a sleeping girl in WEEK 1, with a combined 28-42 record and only I managed to stay above .500. Rory has guaranteed victory this week with at least nine wins, which would equal the win total of the 2011 Nets. Let’s see what lessons we learned for WEEK 2.

BEARS AT SAINTS (-6.5)
Stone: Saints
I can’t imagine the Saints starting 0-2.

Rodave: Saints

Rory: Bears

DP Animal: Saints
Last week’s showing against the Falcons was impressive for Chicago, but they’ll face a different challenge this week against a Saints team looking to put the season opener behind them.

Phanatic: Saints

CHIEFS AT LIONS (-8.5)
Stone: Lions
Detroit looks like a legit threat to make the playoffs. If Matt Stafford stays healthy, that is.

Rodave: Lions

Rory: Lions

DP Animal: Lions
Detroit’s dismantling of Tampa Bay might just be the sign of a Lions team ready to actually push for the playoffs.  Meanwhile, the Chiefs are coming off their worst home loss ever, with question marks up and down their roster.  If momentum can kick in after one week, this one looks pretty straightforward.

Phanatic: Lions

(more…)

The Giants Better Not Lose Monday

Posted: September 15, 2011 by Keith Stone in football, NFL, St. Louis Rams, the fans
0


The St. Louis Rams created a video teaching their fans how to cheer. It’s almost as embarrassing as the Miami Heat’s Fan Up campaign last year. The Rams’ video includes five classic rules such as “on third down…make some noise” and “leading up to kickoff, let’s slow clap it out.” They did, however, managed to leave a few out including:

Ram Rule #6: When the Rams score a touchdown, cheer
Ram Rule #7: If you need to urinate, go to the bathroom

The Rams won the Super Bowl like 10 years ago. It’s not like this is an expansion team or something. If your fans don’t know what to do during a game, then I’m sorry but you shouldn’t have a team. How long until that stadium in Los Angeles is built?

NOW LET’S SLOW CLAP IT OUT!!!

WEEK 67 – Scalped

Posted: September 12, 2011 by Keith Stone in 2011 Giants, Deadskins, football, Giants, NFL
0

Redskins 28, Giants 14

This game was a disaster from start to finish but it was still fairly evenly matched. The big difference was Eli’s TAINT. The Skins also got a huge advantage on Antrel Rolle’s questionable unnecessary roughness penalty, and converted a 4th down while the Giants failed on theirs. The injuries killed us, especially Justin Tuck’s. Rex Grossman was able to get tons of time with only JPP coming after him. The offensive line wasn’t great, as could be expected, but they will improve. I would’ve liked to see the ball get thrown downfield more. The few times they did, good things happened. Not even so much long bombs, but more in the 20-30 yard range. The running backs looked fairly solid but I would have liked to see Jacobs more.

Overall, a horrible way to start the season. I’m very discouraged. At the same time, the Giants are good at making adjustments, nobody got injured, and the Rams may be even more banged up. Although I still don’t think the Redskins are very good, it was a division game on the road and those are very hard to win. Remember: the last time the Giants lost to the Skins, they were holding up the Lombardi Trophy two months later.

WEEK 1 Picks: A Fashionable Beginning

Posted: September 9, 2011 by Keith Stone in 2011 NFL Picks, fashion, football, NFL
0

The Saints-Packers game was a real barnburner last night. Didn’t catch it. I was at Fashion’s Night Out. It might have been better than Halloween. I know that’s sacrilegious but it’s true. Tell a girl they need to look fashionable and they will dress like a whore. They’re so competitive. It’s like who can dress like the biggest whore in New York. Plus half the chicks were taller than me and still about half my weight. It was a fantastic time. You also can’t underestimate how fun it is to go into a store with a DJ blasting club music. And that, my friends, is my expert analysis of the Saints-Packers game. Onto the WEEK 1 picks!

STEELERS AT RAVENS (-1.5)
Stone: Steelers

Rodave: Steelers

Rory: Steelers
Pittsburgh is known for its gay steel mills.  Therefore, they should win this game.

DP Animal: Steelers
I don’t buy the Ravens this year: too old on defense, and Joe Flacco seems just good enough to lose a lot of close games to good teams.  Meanwhile, Pittsburgh remains one of the league’s best teams.

Phanatic: Steelers

FALCONS (-2.5) AT BEARS
Stone: Falcons

Rodave: Falcons

Rory: Falcons
Falcons can fly.  Bears can’t.

DP Animal: Falcons
Playoff flameout or not, the Falcons were one of the two or three best teams in the league last year, and I don’t expect much to have changed.  Matt Ryan is among the best quarterbacks in the league, and the Bears won’t get every lucky break like they did a year ago.

Phanatic: Falcons

(more…)

NFL Cheerleaders: Dayyyyyyyyyyyyuuuuuuuuuuuuum

Posted: September 9, 2011 by Keith Stone in cheerleaders, dayyyyyyyyyyyyuuuuuuuuuuuuum, football, NFL
0

Nothing is better than football cheerleaders. Except maybe, maybe basketball cheerleaders. These girls embody everything that is great about the game: class, intensity, rocking abs. Plus, they give Bengals fans something else to do during the game than wonder where their life went terrible wrong. To think, we have 16 more weeks of this. Dayyyyyyyyyyyyuuuuuuuuuuuuum!

Older Entries
Newer Entries