Category: Dailies

Holiday cheer

Xmas-12-24-250.jpgMerry Christmas! Happy Holidays!
Can’t believe it’s Christmas Eve. I swear, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas shrunk this year. Wishing all of you the Happiest Holidays!
And wishing me some upward movement in our season-long picks on “This Week in Football!” The Giants saved me from an 0-fer last week, so I’ll pick them again. Two things: Someone (with help) has to block Julius Peppers and someone (with help) has to keep Steve Smith — the Carolina Panther — from having a monster day.
The Colts will beat the Jets because there is no way Peyton is going to stand and watch an undefeated season go up in flames during the final regular season game in Indy. No way.
And the Patriots will win against the Jags because the game is in New England and because these are the games the Pats always win.
That’s it for now. I’m planning to blog Sunday from the final Giants game at Giants Stadium. See you then!

NFL Picks: Granderson edition

It’s no given that Curtis Granderson is going to hit .300 or 30 home runs as a Yankee, but he certainly appears to be a guy who will have no trouble fitting in. He made quite a first impression at his introductory press conference Thursday. He has a remarkable reputation, as much for the amount of work he does in the community and as an ambassador for baseball as for his play. And if he does, indeed, join Alex for those hitting sessions with Kevin Long in early January, his production against lefties will improve. Long has that kind of track record.

On with my “This Week in Football” picks, made Tuesday and inexplicably delayed until now: Jets over Falcons because they can run the ball as well as anyone, even if they have a rookie QB with two knee braces. The Jets are kind of strange in that they’ve done a lot of talking this season — less lately — yet their best player, Darrelle Revis, is never heard from. Guess he does his talking on Sundays.

Giants over Redskins on Monday night because the Giants simply have no other choice but to play to win the game. Where’s Herm?

And I went with the Saints over the Cowboys. Two reasons: December is in the Cowboys’ heads and Sean Payton will be at his creative best as a play-caller against his former team. New Orleans City Hall closed early when the Saints played the Pats on Monday night. Can you imagine the party on a Saturday at the Superdome?

By the way, Alex told me Thursday that he watches “This Week in Football.” Of course he does! Who doesn’t?

NFL picks: The charade continues

Other than comic relief, there’s really no reason for me to continue to make picks for “This Week in Football.” That and producer Jared Boshnack’s insistence.

I think I’m a single game ahead of Gary Myers for last place. Embarrassing. For me. And, perhaps, Gary.

Anyway, we make our picks on Tuesdays. That I’m getting around to posting on Saturday evening is solely testament to my laziness. On Tuesday, we did not know that Mark Sanchez would not start. Or that Kerry Rhodes would continue tweeting. Or that the Steelers would go into the tank — completely — thus ruining my Survivor pool. (Why I picked them, I’ve no idea.)

So, here goes. My first pick was the Jets over the Buccaneers. The Jets were a unanimous pick on the set, if I remember correctly. If I knew Sanchez wasn’t making the trip to Tampa, I might have chosen the Bucs, just to be different. Really, what do I have to lose?

I went with the Giants over the Eagles. As we went around the table in the production meeting, I realized I was the only person to choose the Giants. As I see it, this is an opportunity for me to pick up a game. As long as Celek doesn’t go all Witten on the G-Men.

And as my wildcard, I selected the Vikings over the Bengals. The Vikings/Favres burned me the week before in Arizona. To some people — like Gary — that game provided evidence that Favre has begun a downward spiral that will continue through the final weeks of the season. I refuse to believe that. So I’m stubbornly sticking with the Vikes.

Enjoy Football Sunday, everyone!

Tired of Tiger? How about some Hot Stove?

I can’t stand the Tiger Woods stuff anymore. Really, I can’t. It was a strange, bizarre accident/incident nearly a week ago and the initial reports — that his injuries were “serious” — were alarming.

And then a few details emerged and you figured there had to be more to this story. (Who would have guessed how much more?) And I think everyone suspected the kind of stuff Tiger and his wife were, uh, discussing on Thanksgiving night.

And now it has become a media obsession that will not die. Talk show hosts who swear they aren’t interested in gossip won’t stop dissecting it. Tabloids have hit the lottery. And it is such a tired topic. Enough already.

So, if you need a diversion, we have “Hot Stove” tonight on YES — 6:30 and 10 p.m. — which includes an interview with Derek Jeter, just after he was presented as SI‘s Sportsman of the Year on Tuesday night.

And there’s always “This Week in Football,” for which I must make my picks. For better or worse. Usually worse, considering last week’s 1-2 effort. (Thank you, Saints.)

I’ll take the Jets over the Bills and look forward — as everyone does — to Revis vs. Owens. If Rogers Centre is indeed sold out, it should be a sight to see. The Blue Jays never see it full, that’s for sure.

I can’t pick the Giants again until they show something that resembles quality football. So I’ll go with the Cowboys in a game the G-men absolutely have to have.

And my third pick is Vikings over Cardinals in what should be a fun game to watch Sunday night. The MVP debate is going to heat up soon: Who’s it going to be? Peyton, Favre or Brees?

Week 12 NFL Picks

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

Sanchez_275.jpg

Happy Thanksgiving! May your hearts
and tummies be equally full. My “This Week in Football”
picks:


Giants over Broncos because I believe the Giants defense will be better.
The alternative is hard to imagine.

Panthers over Jets because of the
running back tandem of Williams and Stewart. (In fairness, these picks were
made on Tuesday before the guys and I knew Kerry Rhodes had been benched and of
the new code system for Sanchez. Presumably one of those codes translates to
“Throw the ball away. Now.” Not saying either development would have
changed my mind. Just saying.)

And Saints over Patriots in what
should be a tremendously entertaining Monday night affair.


By the way, I’ll still never pick
the Lions again. But what a comeback!

Lions, Yankees and Giants

hughes275.jpgThis is a resolution I will have no trouble abiding by: I will never, ever pick the Lions again. Ever.

So, it’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Giants Stadium, which makes perfect sense on Nov. 22. Better weather than Yankees had on Oct. 22. Figures.

The Giants are plodding along and Tynes somehow just missed a 31-yard field goal. Tynes won’t be back next season. If the Giants had an alternative, he wouldn’t finish this season.

Bronx cheer for Tynes, after he converted the PAT after the Manning-to-Boss TD. Fun times.
 
Phil Hughes: The kid has changed my life. Stay with me. He recommended “The Office” a million times before I finally gave the show a chance. Over the past few weeks, I’ve watched dozens of episodes. Hysterical. Thanks, Phil.
 
Antonio Pierce: Unless he comes back from the bulging disc in his neck this season, he almost certainly has played his last game as a Giant.
 
The Lions: They’ve rallied and trail 27-24 in the third quarter. Yes! Should have taped the Mangini interview with CBS’ James Brown in pregame. Forgot. Considering the number of episodes of “The Office” on the DVR, might not have had room anyway.
 
The Yankees: Whenever anyone asks me if the Yankees will sign a free agent, my response is: “Yes, if they want to.” I mean, is there any other appropriate answer?
 
The Lions again: They’re winning. There’s hope in the Motor City! 

Week 11 NFL Picks

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Bradshaw_275X235.jpgMy picks for “This Week in
Football”:


Giants over Falcons because the Giants are a better team
than they’ve shown since Oct. 11


Patriots over Jets because Belichick’s team
won’t be embarrassed again


And Lions over Browns because it seems like it
should be a competitive game in a strangely captivating kind of way.


More
blogging tomorrow from Giants Stadium.

Week 10 NFL Picks

jones275.jpgIt’s Saturday and I haven’t submitted my picks for “This Week in Football.” Producer Jared Boshnack doesn’t like that.

My picks have stunk most of the season, but here goes:

I’ll go with the Jets over the Jags, for no particular reason.

And for my other pick, the rationale is this: I got burned last week picking the Giants over the Chargers and the Eagles over the Cowboys. So, I’ll take the Chargers over the Eagles on Sunday.

Meanwhile, it seems like a very good Sunday for the Giants not to have a game, wouldn’t you say?

Perfect end to a memorable season

Well, it’s been extraordinary, the length of the season matched by its success, excitement and abundance of compelling story lines.

Today’s parade provided perfect punctuation to a memorable year — and that’s coming from someone who generally loathes parades. This one was fun.

arod286_110609.jpgWhere did the Yankees season turn? There are several reasonable answers, but one ultimately stands out: When Alex Rodriguez returned.

With one swing of the bat he instilled confidence. And regained confidence. You could argue, and I have, that this was his most valuable season as a Yankee. Really.

The MVP always comes down almost solely to numbers, which I find silly. There is an intangible nature to the word “valuable.” Voters never seem to take that into consideration.

(If the award were Most Outstanding Player, I would understand all the obsessive numbers crunching. It’s not.)

And, to be clear, I’m not suggesting Alex should be the league MVP; Joe Mauer’s season was remarkable and the award should be his. Just suggesting that Alex has never been more valuable to the Yankees.

And who could have imagined that seven or eight months ago?

“This Week in Football”: I have been delinquent in making my picks for the week. Giants over Chargers. Why do I continue to pick the G-Men? Because their defense is getting healthier and because they have to win this game. Have to. And the Eagles over the Cowboys. The birds looked like a team ready to take off last week against the Giants. DeSean Jackson in particular.

I’ve been called for jury duty on Tuesday. If I don’t have to go, I’ll see you on “This Week in Football” next week.

I’ll pop up on WFAN in the meantime. And will continue to blog. As always, thanks for reading.