Friday, December 22, 2006
Since U Been Gone: Return of the Surplus
Hello, Sports Surplus fans. If you have ever existed, and are still faithful, than you must be growing ever more impatient and angry. It’s been a while since the last post, and thanks to law school and a real job by the contributors, well the site has been forsaken. No more! Today’s renewal represents the resolution to bring more fresh sports opinions to your internet start up page.
Since we last spoke, so much has happened. I correctly predicted the AL and NL playoff winners (September Shakedown). Luckily, my postseason predictions came after the blog hiatus, where I actually picked EVERY playoff game wrong. Every single one.
Terrell Owens caused trouble, broke his hand, attempted suicide, accused his teammates of ratting him out and then spit on a player. Hardly news worthy. My favorite part of this year’s T.O. news is after the details of the suicide attempt: his “publicist”, who was strangely at his house at 2 a.m. called the police, after he was passed out, next to an empty pill bottle. I don’t know what kind of publicist that is, but I want one.
The baseball hot stove has been in full coil (?), and my home town Cubbies have been spending money like Michael Jackson in the early 1990’s. More columns in the coming weeks to come on this. But let’s just say there are two type of Cubs’ fans right now: ones that are happy that they won’t be 30 games under .500 this year, and ones that are reinforcing their windows because they Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis have signed.
Jason Whitlock was fired from ESPN, in one of the greatest moments in Sports Surplus history. The writers over here celebrated with a party. I take at least half credit, along with his terrible writing, inappropriate bias, ridiculous claims of unfairness. Never having to see his fat-ass on TV, or reading his terrible columns on ESPN.com is a holiday miracle.
I might also take this time to brag about my bold prediction that the New Orleans Saints would make the playoffs (NFC Preview). Feel free to ignore my NFC Championship prediction.
With many things to reflect upon from the year in sports, let’s first examine what is to come in. Two weeks left in the regular season in the NFL, and very little is decided. Only the Bears, Cowboys, Saints, Colts, Ravens and Chargers have clinched.
While everyone has their own system of sorting through the possible chaos of the next two weeks, I’ll simply break down each game to clarify the NFL playoff picture for you.
Week 16:
KC at Oakland: Despite LJ’s recent disgruntledness, I can’t see Oakland pulling this one out, simply because they are just awful.
Tennessee at Buffalo: My homeboy Vince, the man, take this one, easily. You have got to love the way the Titans are playing. I almost cried when he ran for that overtime TD against Houston. No bias here. Buffalo is eliminated by the loss.
Carolina at Atlanta: Which Vick shows up? My faith in the running QB is not as high as Vince. Carolina pulls the upset, further complicating the NFC picture.
Baltimore at Pittsburgh: Even with the huge disparity in motivating factors between the two teams, Baltimore’s sheer talent on defense comes through. All Kyle Boller has to do is hand the ball off.
New England at Jacksonville: In the game of the week, again the question of which Jaguars team shows up. My gut says Billichek brings his best game plan, and with a battered Fred Taylor and Jones-Drew, the Patriots sneak by.
New Orleans at New York Giants: Saints don’t have much to play for, relative to the Giants, but that talent disparity is huge. Giants lose this one, essentially knocking themselves out.
Washington at St. Louis: Jason Campbell continues his astounding growth, ending the Rams’ dreams of a miracle playoff shot.
Arizona at San Francisco: Frank Gore has got it going, keeps the 49ers in it one more week.
San Diego at Seattle: Seattle gets stomped, even with the Chargers just cruising, because LT knows that this is fantasy owner’s super bowl week.
Cincinnati at Denver: I’ve been a Bengals backer all year, cause I think their offense is too potent when it rolls. If Cutler gets it going, its going to be a shoot-out. The homefield advantage isn’t going to be enough for the Broncos, unless it snows.
Philadelphia at Dallas: What a Christmas gift for Eagles fans—a chance to ruin T.O’s dreams, at the hands of JEFF GARCIA! Not gonna happen, sorry guys. Have a cheesesteak and some eggnog, cause Julius Jones and Barber will run for about 200 yards in this one.
Jets at Miami: Miami’s late season surge continues, as Ronnie Brown comes back. The Jets have gotten to 8-6 by playing mistake free, solid ball. But Dolphins have been playing like a good football team lately, and should win easily.
Week 17:
NY Giants at Washington: Giants, in a must win game, win against a pretty bad opponent. Gibbs retires after the game? Think about it.
Seattle at Tampa Bay: This one goes down to the wire. Tampa has shown a little heart toward the end of this season, but needing a win to advance, I’ll take Seattle in a last second FG.
Atlanta at Philadelphia: In what might become basically a play in game, Andy Reid will be forced to figure out how to contain Vick. Vick should bounce back, exposing Philly’s weak run defense. A shoot out for sure, but I expect Atlanta to walk out winners.
Oakland at the Jets: Jets, see the above prediction of KC vs Oakland.
Detroit at Dallas: Dallas has no problem here. Only question is if Millen still has a job afterwards.
Green Bay at Chicago: The Packers have a shot at the playoffs and the Bears are resting, but no way the Bears allow the Packers to get a spot with a win. Bears big.
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati: Could be a great matchup, especially if my week 16 predictions are off (un-bloody likely). Cincy still needs a win, but Pittsburgh gives them hell. Cincy wins late.
New England at Tennessee: VY is mis-matched, and it finally looks like the Titans win streak comes to an end. Wrong! Vince leads the Titans passed a resting New England, finishing with a 9-7 record.
Jacksonville at Kansas City: Maurice Jones-Drew and company right the ship, and play past the lifeless Chiefs, calling for a miserable offseason in KC. At least there is Gil Meche.
San Francisco at Denver: The 49ers make this close, but will probably have trouble putting up any points. Denver locks up a playoff spot with the win.
The final picture:
NFC:
Bears
Saints
Dallas
Seattle
Philly (8-8)
Giants (8-8)
Atlanta (8-8)
Looks like the Giants would be the odd-man out using the NFL’s tiebreaker methods (needing to take only one wild card from each division, in a tie, then using conference records).
In the AFC:
San Diego
Indianapolis
Baltimore
New England
Cincinnati (10-6)
Jets (9-7)
Jacksonville (9-7)
Tennessee (9-7)
Denver (9-7)
Tennessee’s superior division record trumps Jacksonville so they are out. Denver, by virtue of their conference record moves on.
So there you have it folks.
I want to wish everyone a happy holiday and healthy new year. I plan to write more in the coming few weeks and months, until law school gets hard again. I’ve missed writing, and its good to be back. Thanks for reading.
Since we last spoke, so much has happened. I correctly predicted the AL and NL playoff winners (September Shakedown). Luckily, my postseason predictions came after the blog hiatus, where I actually picked EVERY playoff game wrong. Every single one.
Terrell Owens caused trouble, broke his hand, attempted suicide, accused his teammates of ratting him out and then spit on a player. Hardly news worthy. My favorite part of this year’s T.O. news is after the details of the suicide attempt: his “publicist”, who was strangely at his house at 2 a.m. called the police, after he was passed out, next to an empty pill bottle. I don’t know what kind of publicist that is, but I want one.
The baseball hot stove has been in full coil (?), and my home town Cubbies have been spending money like Michael Jackson in the early 1990’s. More columns in the coming weeks to come on this. But let’s just say there are two type of Cubs’ fans right now: ones that are happy that they won’t be 30 games under .500 this year, and ones that are reinforcing their windows because they Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis have signed.
Jason Whitlock was fired from ESPN, in one of the greatest moments in Sports Surplus history. The writers over here celebrated with a party. I take at least half credit, along with his terrible writing, inappropriate bias, ridiculous claims of unfairness. Never having to see his fat-ass on TV, or reading his terrible columns on ESPN.com is a holiday miracle.
I might also take this time to brag about my bold prediction that the New Orleans Saints would make the playoffs (NFC Preview). Feel free to ignore my NFC Championship prediction.
With many things to reflect upon from the year in sports, let’s first examine what is to come in. Two weeks left in the regular season in the NFL, and very little is decided. Only the Bears, Cowboys, Saints, Colts, Ravens and Chargers have clinched.
While everyone has their own system of sorting through the possible chaos of the next two weeks, I’ll simply break down each game to clarify the NFL playoff picture for you.
Week 16:
KC at Oakland: Despite LJ’s recent disgruntledness, I can’t see Oakland pulling this one out, simply because they are just awful.
Tennessee at Buffalo: My homeboy Vince, the man, take this one, easily. You have got to love the way the Titans are playing. I almost cried when he ran for that overtime TD against Houston. No bias here. Buffalo is eliminated by the loss.
Carolina at Atlanta: Which Vick shows up? My faith in the running QB is not as high as Vince. Carolina pulls the upset, further complicating the NFC picture.
Baltimore at Pittsburgh: Even with the huge disparity in motivating factors between the two teams, Baltimore’s sheer talent on defense comes through. All Kyle Boller has to do is hand the ball off.
New England at Jacksonville: In the game of the week, again the question of which Jaguars team shows up. My gut says Billichek brings his best game plan, and with a battered Fred Taylor and Jones-Drew, the Patriots sneak by.
New Orleans at New York Giants: Saints don’t have much to play for, relative to the Giants, but that talent disparity is huge. Giants lose this one, essentially knocking themselves out.
Washington at St. Louis: Jason Campbell continues his astounding growth, ending the Rams’ dreams of a miracle playoff shot.
Arizona at San Francisco: Frank Gore has got it going, keeps the 49ers in it one more week.
San Diego at Seattle: Seattle gets stomped, even with the Chargers just cruising, because LT knows that this is fantasy owner’s super bowl week.
Cincinnati at Denver: I’ve been a Bengals backer all year, cause I think their offense is too potent when it rolls. If Cutler gets it going, its going to be a shoot-out. The homefield advantage isn’t going to be enough for the Broncos, unless it snows.
Philadelphia at Dallas: What a Christmas gift for Eagles fans—a chance to ruin T.O’s dreams, at the hands of JEFF GARCIA! Not gonna happen, sorry guys. Have a cheesesteak and some eggnog, cause Julius Jones and Barber will run for about 200 yards in this one.
Jets at Miami: Miami’s late season surge continues, as Ronnie Brown comes back. The Jets have gotten to 8-6 by playing mistake free, solid ball. But Dolphins have been playing like a good football team lately, and should win easily.
Week 17:
NY Giants at Washington: Giants, in a must win game, win against a pretty bad opponent. Gibbs retires after the game? Think about it.
Seattle at Tampa Bay: This one goes down to the wire. Tampa has shown a little heart toward the end of this season, but needing a win to advance, I’ll take Seattle in a last second FG.
Atlanta at Philadelphia: In what might become basically a play in game, Andy Reid will be forced to figure out how to contain Vick. Vick should bounce back, exposing Philly’s weak run defense. A shoot out for sure, but I expect Atlanta to walk out winners.
Oakland at the Jets: Jets, see the above prediction of KC vs Oakland.
Detroit at Dallas: Dallas has no problem here. Only question is if Millen still has a job afterwards.
Green Bay at Chicago: The Packers have a shot at the playoffs and the Bears are resting, but no way the Bears allow the Packers to get a spot with a win. Bears big.
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati: Could be a great matchup, especially if my week 16 predictions are off (un-bloody likely). Cincy still needs a win, but Pittsburgh gives them hell. Cincy wins late.
New England at Tennessee: VY is mis-matched, and it finally looks like the Titans win streak comes to an end. Wrong! Vince leads the Titans passed a resting New England, finishing with a 9-7 record.
Jacksonville at Kansas City: Maurice Jones-Drew and company right the ship, and play past the lifeless Chiefs, calling for a miserable offseason in KC. At least there is Gil Meche.
San Francisco at Denver: The 49ers make this close, but will probably have trouble putting up any points. Denver locks up a playoff spot with the win.
The final picture:
NFC:
Bears
Saints
Dallas
Seattle
Philly (8-8)
Giants (8-8)
Atlanta (8-8)
Looks like the Giants would be the odd-man out using the NFL’s tiebreaker methods (needing to take only one wild card from each division, in a tie, then using conference records).
In the AFC:
San Diego
Indianapolis
Baltimore
New England
Cincinnati (10-6)
Jets (9-7)
Jacksonville (9-7)
Tennessee (9-7)
Denver (9-7)
Tennessee’s superior division record trumps Jacksonville so they are out. Denver, by virtue of their conference record moves on.
So there you have it folks.
I want to wish everyone a happy holiday and healthy new year. I plan to write more in the coming few weeks and months, until law school gets hard again. I’ve missed writing, and its good to be back. Thanks for reading.
