Yesterdays Picks

Win - Loss – 11 – 4
RBI Machine - 2 for 15
Winning Pitcher - 10 for 15

Lock Selections

11-4 ...... Come on KC Won two weeks in a row that's real BS
3 for 15 .. Arod lets down again
8 for 15 .. Oswalt, no victory even though huge extension

Seasons Total

Win - Loss - 135 - 90
RBI Machine - 32 for 225
Winning Pitcher – 95 for 225

Weeks Recap

I very good week at 11-4 with a couple RBI Machines and setting the seasons best with 10 of the 15 winning pitchers selected correctly. 0 for 3 on the lock picks with such a good week overall is pretty odd.

Seasons Best

Win - Loss - 12-3 on 6/14
RBI Machine - 5 for 15 on 7/25
Winning Pitcher - 10 for 15 on 8/29

New York Giants

Predicted Record: 10-6
Playoff Seed: 4

Key Player: Tiki Barber, One could have easily made a case for Tiki Barber being the leagues most valuable player last season. With the brutal Giant schedule Tiki is again going to need to be stellar in order for the Giants to again take home the division crown.

Fantasy Player to Eye: Jeremy Shockey, A top 5 tight end, and arguably the second best tight end option behind Antonio Gates. If you can eye him down in the 5th round than he could be a very good selection as he is one of Eli's favorite red zone targets.

Why the Record: I think the Giants are going to have a very similar season to 2005 where they often struggle on the road but dominate at home. I have them winning 7 games at home and only 3 on the road including a victory at home over big bro Peyton in the week 1 NBC showcase clash. The Gigantes have an epic schedule which could easily be classified as the leagues most difficult but the comfort level the Eli has at home and a healthy linebacking core will lead the Giants to another division crown.

Projected Wins: IND, @PHI, WAS, HOU, CHI, @TEN, DAL, PHI, NO, @WAS
Projected Losses: @SEA, @ATL, @DAL, TB, @JAX, @CAR

Dallas Cowboys

Predicted Record: 9-7
Playoff Seed: 6

Key Player: Drew Bledsoe, Many would think TO but Bledsoe to me is the key to the Cowboys success this year. You know TO is going to act like a whinny weasel at some point in time during the season and it will be up to Drew to not take his BS.

Fantasy Player to Eye: Julius Jones, Similar to KJ of Detroit, JJ was terrific in his rookie campaign and not so much last season. He seems to be picked in the mid to early 3rd round in every draft and could become an epic bust if he does not perform and is replaced in the starting lineup by Marion Barber which is a distinct possibility.

Why the Record: I expect the Cowboys to have an up and down season in which they barely sneak into the playoffs. The TO experience is already a roller-coaster ride and while their defense looks terrific thus far in the preseason the Cowboys do have a very difficult schedule. And you Drew is good for atleast one or two 4th quarter collapses.

Projected Wins: WAS, @PHI, HOU, NYG, @ARI, IND, NO, PHI, DET
Projected Losses: @JAX, @TEN, @CAR, @WAS, TB, @NYG, @ATL

Washington Redskins

Predicted Record: 7-9

Key Player: Mark Brunell, As an older QB he played very well last season and did a great job of feeding Santana and Cooley. This season he has been given another receiver option in Randle El, so it is foreseeable that he could put up good numbers yet again.

Fantasy Player to Eye: TJ Duckett, First off if you drafted Portis make sure you get Duckett in the later rounds or on the free agent wire if he's still there because a shoulder injury could create big problems mid season and if given the ball all the time Duckett could be productive. For right now I lean with Duckett more than Ladell Betts, based on past production.

Why the Record: I do not trust old man river Mark Brunell. He had a good season last year, but what can you expect from an old old veteran QB. In addition are you confident that he will stay healthy the full season and do you really trust Jason Campbell as his backup, I didn't think so. The injury to Portis also puts a hampering on their 2006 prospects.

Projected Wins: MIN, TEN, DAL, @PHI, CAR, ATL, @NO
Projected Losses: @DAL, @HOU, JAX, @NYG, @IND, @TB, PHI, @STL, NYG

Philadelphia Eagles

Predicted Record: 4-12

Key Player: Brian Westbrook, He needs to be healthy, he needs to assert himself as at minimum an average in between the tackles back in addition to his great abilities on the edges. The addition of Stallworth is nice but if Westbrook goes down or is even banged up than they will have a limited rushing attack and Donovan will be wishing that TO was back around.

Fantasy Player to Eye: Donte Stallworth, Lets see if what kind of TO impersonation Donte Stallworth can pull off. He goes from splitting the #1 role with Joe Horn to being the most talented and probable #1 target for McNabb. In addition Stallworth is going incredibly late in most drafts and this is for a player that put up good numbers for a team last year that had a QB who had the accuracy of a five year old shooting a rifle while being tickled.

Why the Record: Their time has come and gone. Their two greatest offensive weapons were banged up all of last season and already Westbrook is struggling with injury. Their division is the strongest in the NFL, and the remainder of their schedule is just as difficult. Sorry Philly but you are the Sacramento Kings of the NFL, you were there for years and might have been the best team but you just couldn't get it done and now the door has slammed shut.

Projected Wins: @NO, JAX, CAR, @WAS,
Projected Losses: @HOU, NYG, @SF, GB, DAL, @TB, WAS, TEN, @IND, @NYG, @DAL, ATL

For those of you that are uninformed of this potential epic moment is American Sporting History, the Arizona Cardinals are currently shopping the naming rights to their stadium around. Well the highest bidder currently just happens to be a Mexican Joint named Pink Taco. The Pink Taco's offer is for $30 Million Dollars. I for one think this could be the most hilarious event of 2006. In addition could you imagine the countless amount of gags you could make about the Cardinals organization if they played in the Pink Taco. Please if there's a petition to sign in favor of this let me know and I'll sign it for myself and all of my dead relatives.

I beg of you Cardinals, for once do something beneficial towards society.

Tampa Bay Bucs

Predicted Record: 12-4
Playoff Seed: 1

Key Player: Chris Simms, his immergence will be the jusitifcation to my belief. I hated him at Texas, mostly because he replaced Major Applewhite for no intelligent reason, and the fact that he never beat Oklahoma, but I think this is his breakout year.

Fantasy Player to Eye: Michael Clayton, I feel Clayton is going to have a bounce back year and highly improve upon his bust sophomore campaign. Simms came in last season and placed almost all of his trust in the veteran recveiver Joey Galloway, with an off-season of work to get comfortable with each other Michael Clayton could replicate his rookie season.

Why the Record: This is out on a whim, the Bucs have a very difficult schedule but they have sufficient talent on the offensive side and defensive side to put up one of the best records in the NFL. I bet Phil can't wait to broadcast in the closing weeks of the season and mention how well his son is playing even though it will have nothing to do with the Pats Dolphins game he is broadcasting.

Projected Wins: BAL, @ATL, PHI, @NYG, NO, @CAR, WAS, @DAL, @PIT, ATL, @CLE, SEA
Projected Losses: CAR, @NO, CIN, @CHI

Carolina Panthers

Predicted Record: 11-5
Playoff Seed: 5

Key Player: Steve Smith, His lingering hamstring this preseason is becoming an increasing story. If Smith is healthy than the Panthers have the most explosive widereceiver in the NFL. If he is not healthy than the Panthers have no vertical threat, a running back in Foster who has never played a full season, and their #1 receiving option would become Keyshawn who is best served as a first down and goal line receiver. The Panthers desperately need Smith to stay healthy for the entire 2006 season.

Fantasy Player to Eye: DeAngelo Williams, once DeShaun Foster goes down due to injury which happens every single season Williams will be the #1 free agent pick up. DeAngelo was a steal at the end of the 1st round and a fantastic pick for the Panthers, if/when he gets in he will produce, just watch what Memphis will be this season without him.

Why the Record: The Panthers seem to be every single publication on the planets sheek pick to win the SuperBowl. The Keyshawn Johnson deal will help Smith get open but Smith's hammy injury is not a good start to this season and I just like Tampa to have a slightly better season than the Panthers this year.

Projected Wins: ATL, @MIN, @TB, NO, CLE, @CIN, DAL, STL, NYG, @ATL, @NO
Projected Losses: @BAL, TB, @WAS, @PHI, PIT

Atlanta Falcons

Predicted Record: 8-8

Key Player: Miachael Vick, Come on he's the obvious choice. If he gets injured or stinks then the Falcons will be lucky to achieve a .500 season. The one thing that I have been disappointed with Vick throughout his NFL career is his apparent inability to take anything off the football when he throws passes. Vick has one of the strongest arms in the league and throwing bullet passes is not always the most intelligent move.

Fantasy Player to Eye: Warrick Dunn, With the trade of TJ Duckett it will be interesting to see if Warrick will finally get the majority of touches around the goalline which has been the reason behind his status as a #2 fantasy back at best. His combination of rushing yards and receiving yards has always been a solid total, but because Duckett was always the bruising goal line back Dunn never put up enough touchdowns. If he gets these touches then he becomes a mid round steal.

Why the Record: They have a difficult schedule and are in one of the best divisions. In addition Michael Vick took a step back last season with his production and his running style is always susceptible for injuries. It will be interesting to see if the Lelie deal has any impact on the Falcons receiving core as the Falcons have brought in a high profiled receiver before that turned out miserable, see Pierless Price. If Vick and the Falcons can't develop a consistant passing game than it will be very difficult for them to be better than a .500 team.

Projected Wins: @CAR, TB, PIT, @DET, @BAL, NO, DAL, @PHI
Projected Losses: @NO, ARI, NYG, @CIN, CLE, @WAS, @TB, CAR

New Orleans Saints

Predicted Record: 6-10

Key Player: Doug Marrone/Sean Payton, Ya they're not players at all. I'm unsure as to whether Marrone, the offensive coordinator, or Payton, the head coach, will be calling plays and devising offensive gameplans but I think this is the key to the Saints season. Bush can become the best change of pace player in the entire NFL and I could easily forsee him becoming the gamebreaker that he was in college. Note, Bush is still faster than everyone on defense. This is where succesful offensive coordinators are made, they have very good weapons with Duece, Bush and Horn and a reliable QB in Brees, this team should be top 10 in the NFL in points scored no questions asked. If they are not well then it goes on the play caller.

Fantasy Player to Eye: John Carney, I know what your saying a kicker are you smoking the Mary-J. I think the Saints are going to score a solid amount of points this season and Carney is available in almost every draft in the last round so what I'm saying is do not bother to draft a kicker until the end and pick up Carney who will be just as productive at his position as players such as Mike Vanderweenie.

Why the Record: It's difficult to see the Saints being a a playoff caliber team. I'm not fully sure why the made the Stallworth deal, seeing how it does not appear they have a viable second wide receiver on their roster. Don't be shocked if Bush lines up at WR several times a game. However, with a new coach and a new QB and a new impact running back the Saints should be in a transitional year and i could see them being a much improved team for the 2007 season.

Projected Wins: @CLE, @GB, TB, BAL, CIN, SF
Projected Losses: ATL, @CAR, PHI, @TB, @PIT, @ATL, @DAL, WAS, @NYG, CAR

Chicago Bears

Predicted Record: 11-5
Playoff Seed: 3

Key Player: Rex Grossman, The Bears have once again entrusted the fortunes of their franchise into the hands of Rex Grossman. The Bears won game after game last season despite having game situations where they were praying for mediocrity from their quarterback position. Grossman comes into the season having proven nothing other than he has the physical skills to possibly succeed, in order for the Bears to make a true push towards the Superbowl Grossman must emerge as a top 15 QB to eliminate some of the pressure which will be placed squarely on the shoulders of the defense.

Fantasy Player to Eye: The Running Back Position, Thomas Jones had a terrific season last year and there is no reason to believe that whomever gets the bulk of the carriess will not crack 1000 yards and have close to double digit in touchdowns scored. However, almost two weeks prior to the season there is no clear-cut favorite to who will be the opening day starter. The franchise spent the 4th overall pick on Benson, while the players obviously support the veteran Jones.

Why the Record: A combination of reasons for the Bears record. First and most importantly they play in arguably the weakest division in the NFL. In addition they play the AFC East and NFC West with four teams in the Jets, Bills, 49ers and Cardinals that are in down seasons. Finally the Bears defense should maintain its dominance and with Grossman or Griese at QB their production from that position should improve.

Projected Wins: @GB, DET, SEA, BUF, @ARI, SF, @NYJ, MIN, TB, @DET, GB
Projected Losses: @MIN, MIA, @NYG, @NE, @STL

Green Bay Packers

Predicted Record: 6-10

Key Player: Aaron Rodgers, why is he the key player, well cause the Packers are going to be terrible, in fact I think I would have predicted worse than 6-10 had I done the picks prior to last nights beatdown. Aaron Rodgers better learn up from Favre this season else the Packers are going to be in shambles for not just this year but for the foreseeable future.

Fantasy Player to Eye: Samkon Gado, Currently Gado is lingering as the backup but eye the status of Ahman Green this preseason and during the season to see if he struggles mightily or gets injured and then jump on Gado to see if he can create similar production to his 2005 season.

Why the Record: Sorry Brett but you weren't fooling anyone when you said that this was the most talented team you ever played on. You have a big questionmark as to whether Ahman Green is your #1 RB, you still only have Driver as a great option at receiver and your defense is suspect.

Projected Wins: @DET, @PHI, ARI, NYJ, DET, MIN
Projected Losses:CHI, NO, STL, @MIA, @BUF, @MIN, NE, @SEA, @SF, @CHI

Minnesota Vikings

Predicted Record: 5-11

Key Player: Troy Williamson, with the cut of Koren Robinson and the departure of Burleson in the off-season, Williamson better emerge as the #1 widereceiver for the Vikings else they may end up with zero vertical threats in addition to a poor running game and a mediocre quarterback.

Fantasy Player to Eye: Chester Taylor, Call me a non believer but I don't see why everyone is jumping all over Taylor early on in drafts. He's not having a good preseason and he's never been more than a backup. I'd stay away from him and pretty much every Viking with the exception of a late round Williamson pick up.

Why the Record: Call me one of the few non-believers of the Minnesota Vikings. First many of the wins that the Vikings got in their charge to almost playoff status were completely flukie victories especially the victory against the Giants where their offense had almost no production. Brad Johnson is a below average NFL QB at this stage of his career, there's a reason Chester Taylor has been a backup his whole career he's not that good. And with the cut of Koren Robinson their receiving core looks like Troy Williamson and thats it. So basically its whether or not you believe their defense will be completely dominant and simply put I do not.

Projected Wins: CHI, DET, GB, NYJ, STL
Projected Losses:@WAS, CAR, @BUF, @SEA, NE, @SF, @MIA, ARI, @CHI, @DET, @GB,

Detroit Lions

Predicted Record: 4-12

Key Player:Roy Williams, I'll go with Williams as the key player. Ya its odd to think that Widereceiver could be a teams key player but he's got the most talent of any player on their offense and if he can stay healthy he could have a dominant season. If he doesn't stay healthy than Kitna will have absolutely nobody to throw the ball to.

Fantasy Player to Eye: Kevin Jones, last year he was a roster killer, completely overhyped, this year he might be an underappreciated sleeper. Or he could go out and tweak a hammie and the Lions could keep on throwing Artuse Pinner onto the field.

Why the Record: An uninspiring QB duo of Jon Kitna and Josh McCown, the fact that two of their last three #1 draft choices have been complete failures. Matt Millen is still the GM. Kevin Jones went from stud to bum in one year. Hey Detroit atleast the Tigers are really good right?

Projected Wins: BUF, SF, @ARI, MIN,
Projected Losses: SEA, @CHI, GB, @STL, @MIN, @NYJ, ATL, MIA, @NE, @GB, CHI, @DAL

Toronto  vs. Cleveland             Phillies vs. Nationals
 Winner - Indians                   Winner - Phillies
 RBI Machine - Hafner               RBI Machine - Rollins
 WP - Sabathia                      WP - Wife Beater

Yanks vs. Tigers                   Cubs vs. Pirates
 Winner - Yanks                     Winner - ***Cubs***
 RBI Machine - ***Arod***           RBI Machine - Aramis
 WP - Wang                          WP - Zambrano

Rays vs. ChiSox                    San Fran vs. ATL
 Winner - Sox                       Winner - ATL
 RBI Machine - Konerko              RBI Machine - Chipper
 WP - Freddy                        WP - Hudson

KC vs. Twins                       Florida vs. St. Louis
 Winner - Twins                     Winner - Marlins
 RBI Machine - Hunter               RBI Machine - Willingham
 WP - Garza                         WP - Olsen

Baltimore vs. Texas                Houston vs. BrewCrew
 Winner - Texas                     Winner - Astros
 RBI Machine - Young                RBI Machine - Berkman
 WP - Millwood                      WP - ***Oswalt***

Red Sox vs. As                     Mets vs. Rockies
 Winner - As                        Winner - Rocks
 RBI Machine - Thomas               RBI Machine - Kazuo Matsui
 WP - Saarloos                      WP - BK Kim

Angels vs. Mariners                Dbacks vs. Fathers
 Winner - Mariners                  Winner - Fathers
 RBI Machine - Sexson               RBI Machine - Cameron
 WP - Washburn                      WP - Young

Reds vs. Dodgers
 Winner - Reds
 RBI Machine - Dunn
 WP - Milton

1. Seattle Seahawks

Predicted Record: 12-4
Playoff Seed: 2

Key Player: Floyd Womack, Left Guard: The departure of Steve Hutchinson leaves Floyd Womack to fill in a very big hole on the left side of the line. Hutchinson often regarded as the best guard in the game along with Walter Jones helped Alexander to one of the greatest rushing seasons of all time. The Seahawks last year ran the vast majority of their rushing plays to the right side.

Fantasy Player to Eye: The Seahawks defense, their defense kept on improving last season and this is only helped by their weak schedule.

Why the Record: The Seahawks yet again have one of the weakest schedules in the league which is helped by playing in the weakest divisions. In addition their homefield advantage is underrated as it is one of the loudest stadiums in the country. If you don't believe me just ask anyone on the Giants offensive line who at no point could hear Eli's snap call.

Projected Wins: @DET, ARI, NYG, MIN, @KC, OAK, STL, @SF, GB, @DEN, @ARI, SF
Projected Losses: @CHI, @STL, SD, @TB

2. St. Louis Rams

Predicted Record: 8-8

Key Player: Steven Jackson, if the new Rams coach is going to emphasis ball possession and the run game more than the mad genius Martz did, which won't be difficult considering Martz didn't care about either, than it will be up to Jackson to be the workhorse that accomplishes these feats.

Fantasy Player to Eye: Marc Bulger, Bulger was always a viable #1 QB option behind the gun the ball 40 times a game Martz, if the Rams start relying more on the run than Bulger could lose some of his point value.

Why the Record: The Rams for yet another season will be a mediocre team with a better than average offense but a worse than average defense. In addition they have limited home field advantage in the cavernous dome.

Projected Wins: @SF, DET, @GB, SEA, KC, SF, CHI, WAS
Projected Losses: DEN, @ARI, @SD, @SEA, @CAR, ARI, @OAK, @ MIN

3. Arizona Cardinals

Predicted Record: 6-10

Key Position: Offensive Lineman, the whole offensive line is going to need to perform. First off they have had no, zero, squat, nada, nunca, running production since I've been alive I believe. Edge may be a talented back, but if there are no wholes to run through than he won't be doing anything. In addition Kurt Warner is a brittle sally and if he gets hit he might crumble to a million pieces which would leave an unprepared Matt Leinart at the helm.

Fantasy Player to Watch: Edge, He's going to go in the first round but really all of is stats are really up to debate. He either can turn the Cardinals running game around and put up similar stats to his years with the Colts or he could end up looking no better than JJ Arrington and the other past Cardinal scrubs.

Why the Record: Even with all those weapons do you really trust an offense that is run by Kurt Warner? Ya I didn't think so. In addition they still have massive questionmarks with their offensive line and their defense in general.

Projected Wins: SF, STL, @OAK, @MIN, @STL, DEN,
Projected Losses: @SEA, @ATL, KC, CHI, @GB, DAL, DET, SEA, @SF, @SD

4. San Francisco 49ers

Predicted Record: 4-12

Key Player: This time I'm going with the quarterback as the key player. Usually teams with questionmarks at quarterback or poor play at qb are doomed. And it looks almost certain that the 49ers will have poor play from their soon to be bust #1 pick.

Fantasy Player to Watch: Frank Gore, now that the Niners have dealt Barlow to the Jets Gore is the unquestioned #1 running back which could quite possibly push him into a status of must start. If the 49ers can ever get into the red zone than it is very possible that Gore ends up near double digit tds.

Why the Record: What a waste Alex Smith was as the #1 draft choice. This team is yers away from contending for the playoffs. They have limited building blocks and as much as I like the potential of Vernon Davis, I think that drafting a Tight End in the first round was ill advised for a team with so many weaknesses. Really, I can't imagine any 49er fan is expecting any more than 5 wins. In fact 4 might be a generous tally, to hand out preseason.

Projected Wins: PHI, MIN, GB, ARI
Projected Losses: @ARI, STL, @KC, OAK, SD, @CHI, @DET, SEA, @STL, @NO, @SEA, @DEN

Pavano [puh-vahn-oh]
-noun

1. A weakling, wimp, timid person.
2. A spineless heartless human being
3. A human being whose name when mentioned in front of any Yankee fan will invoke the phrase "F'n Pavano"

Synonyms: Pussy, wimp, wuss, vagina, chicken
Sentence Usage: "Hey son don't be a pavano, get out there and play kill the carrier."


Pavano [puh-vahn-oh]
-verb

1. To Exhaggerate minimal injury or illness in order to avoid work.
2. To Receive ample payment for zero production or worth.

Sentence Usage: "This kid showed up and pavanoed right in my face, needless to say I fired him on the spot."

This is how I did my predictions instead of looking at a team and estimating what I thought the teams record would be like everyone else. Instead what I didn was go through the schedule and make picks for each game and then counted up the Win-Losses by each team and that will decide who I picked for to win each division as well as the Wild Cards. So over the course of the next few days I will give these predictions for each division and then when everything is concluded I will assemble the playoffs based on my predictions and pick a winner.

Why didn't you just estimate? Well, everyone else estimates, this was different and one big difference that I will do is I obviously will store my picks in one entry. Then during the season I will create a pick'em entry on ESPN that I will every week enter my preseason weekly picks to see how I do.

Today NFC West
Tuesday NFC North
Wednesday NFC South
Thursday NFC East
Friday NFC Playoff Prediction

Next Week

Monday AFC West
Tuesday AFC North
Wednesday AFC South
Thursday AFC East
Friday AFC Playoffs & Superbowl

1) I hope you saw the highlights of Tomo Ohka hitting yesterday. Basically the worst hitter in the league with only 11 rbis in his career prior to yesterday he decided to hit lefty and went 2 for 2 with 4 rbis. The best part is that his first at bat he received catchers interference when he swung and hit the catchers mit and his manager admitted to the press that he just hoped that Ohka would strike out that at bat, that way he couldnt bounce into a double play. Great confidence Ned.

2) Jon Garland holds easily the most "huh-what-really-no thats not right" stat of this season. Garland is 15-4. 15-4, did you have any idea he was doing that well this season. He's actually 7-1 since the all-star break maybe its part run production maybe he's getting overshadowed by the struggles of the other 4 starters but I had no no idea he had won 15 games.

3) More comedy from yesterday, with the classic 5-7-3 putout in the tigers game. How embarrasing must it be for Sean Casey to be the first one to ever accomplish this? Not to mention that the guy still has the 1995 Bowl Cut look.

4) My favorite part about the Yankees run, other than the ass whipping given to the Red Sox, is that they are all starting to wear cheezy mucho cheezy mustaches. My favorite is Giambi's because I think he actually has mustache sweat. Maybe he is using the mustache to hide his steroid cream.

5) Ashley Lelie could possibly lose money by playing football this year, due to him missing every single workout known to man prior to him being dealt to the Falcons this week, man is that laughable, I hope he pulls a Sprewell quote and says he won't be able to feed his children.

6) Jermaine Dye has yet to stop hitting this season. The guy is hitting .325 with 37 homers and 99 rbis. This is Jermaine Dye we're talking about, he used to be a Royal, maybe he has been off the Royals long enough that he can perform. He's fully perged himself from all things Royals. I probably should have kept him on my fantasy team this year. Whoops.

7) Is anyone other than me perplexed as to how a kid could possibly be 6 foot 8 250 pounds at the age of 13? What are they feeding this kids in Saudi Arabia, pure 100% Crude Oil?

8) Deion Branch has just gotten permission to seek a trade. I don't really see why he is A) Asking for Reggie Wayne and B) Why the Pats don't just pay him.

Extra Random Thoughts

1) Watched Open Water last night, they both die in the end, pathetic. The girl drowns herself after her bf/husband bleeds to death then gets eaten by sharks.

A Long awaited Rebus, this rebus is categories, every person per question has one thing in common give it a guess. They're pretty easy.

First of all I'll play basically any sport if you come up to me and ask me to play something and I don't have something else to do I'm going to say yes. So occasionally, when there's really nothing else to write about, I'm going to write about why I enjoy playing a given sport. This summer I have been playing Ultimate Frisbee basically every sunday night and here are some of the positives and negatives of Ultimate Frisbee from my perspective:

Positives

1) The more athletic you are the better chance you have to be good at frisbee. The only reason I'm decent at this sport is because I'm a solid athlete. I'm pretty quick which helps me get seperation from a defender as well as playing defense, I can jump relatively high for a short 5 foot 8 white man.

2) Frisbee is basically whatever workout you want it to be. If you want to play one half of the field, either offense or defense, than you can minimalize your workout. However, if you want you can run up and down the field for the whole game playing both defense and offense and get a really good workout. Plus, playing sports and running with additional adrenaline, in my perspective is a lot more enjoyable than simply running around the streets.

3) The deep throw. Nothing is more fun than trying to come down with or defend the deep throw. It is usually the dumbest throw to make in the game, unless you are incredibly skilled, but its like going up for a Hail Mary in football, the offensive player usually never comes down with it but when he does its sweet.

4) I enjoy how we play on sundays, we allow a little physical contact, typically you're not going to get killed if you go up for the frisbee but a little bump to get you away from the frisbee makes the sport less wussy. If there is no physical contact at all which is the real rules than thats a little weak.

5) I also, don't like the official throw off rule, where after every touchdown the team that scores throws off to the other team, basically that rule slows down the game, and I'm glad we don't do that.

Negatives

1) The kids that show up and get on the field and refuse to do anything. Basically the kids that you wonder why the hell they are even there if they don't want to run at all why are they playing. Last week there was a kid on my team that sat in the defensive zone so he made it look like he was playing but he never made an effort to defend the frisbee.

2) My Throwing skills, you see all the kids who show up and they can throw every which way, not me I can throw old school backhanded style thats it. Those are the limits of my abilities. If I try to throw forehand, think side arm baseball throw, my frisbee dives like a one winged duck.

These are the 11 People in Sports who tend to tick me off the most. Some of them are on my favorite teams, others are on the enemies and are so god damn good that they never seem to fail.

Lloyd Carr - Lloyd Carr for the past 7 years has been a kick in the groin to my College Football fandom. Granted Michigan has never been completely terrible since 2000 and they have made a few Rose Bowls (They were crushed by USC and then couldn't stop the unstoppable Vince Young in the 2005 game), but he crushes the Wolverines chances of a National title on the first road game of every season. They haven't been undefeated in October since 1999, and to add to that they have lost 6 of 8 to Notre Dame, who haven't even been good, and friggin Ohio St, cheaters U.

The Cocky Trash Talking Guy - You know who you are, you're the guy that isn't any good but you sit there and trash talk anyway. Whether you're getting schooled on the court and think your great or are in last place in a fantasy league and proclaim yourself a genius, if aren't really really good at something leave the trash talking to someone who is.

Brian Scalabrine - The guy sucks, he gives Red heads around the world a bad name and Danny Ainge goes out and gives him a five year fifteen million dollar deal to basically rot on the bench and occasionally pollute the Celtics court with his presence. Scalabrine has a +/- of negative 1000 points a season I believe.

Chone Figgins - First of all this guy kills I mean absolutely kills the Yankees, he gets hit after hit steal after steal he's basically a mosquito. Secondly he tries to pronounce his name Shawn, no CHONE thats not how you pronounce your name, your mother was snortin som rock candy and couldn't spell when she gave birth to you live with it.

Carl Pavano - He wasn't worth the contract the Yankees gave him even if he pitched every game he was supposed to pitch instead he gets put on the DL with a sore buttocks and other nonsense injury. How Cashman and the Yankees tier and all the baseball analysts on ESPN ever proclaimed him the best Free Agent Pitcher on the market is beyond me. He had one good season on his contract year, name me one person that had one great season that happened to be their contract year and then went on to be worth their next fat contract.

Tom Brady - Obviously if I was a Patriots fan I would be in love with this guy, but I'm a Jet fan so he sucks. In addition to him winning three superbowls, he won basically nothing at all with Michigan. So he went from a guy who split time in college with Drew Henson, to the greatest QB of his generation with a chance to be the winningest QB in history. While my QB gets his shoulder ripped to shreds every year and I have to watch whatever horrible backup QB they have, Tom never gets hurt and he has yet to get hit by a truck like I have been hoping for, for the past 5 years. Hopefully he took massive amounts of Balco Steroids.

Joe Buck - Oh I can not stand Joe Buck. Every important boradcast he is there to bother me with his annoying whit and comments directed to a person who has never watched a professional sporting event in their lives. If Joe Buck announces the BCS title game, people should protest watching it to get someone who cares about the sport to announce it, and should ban the game entirely if the Buckeyes make it.

David Ortiz - I think he's passed Tom Brady as the most annoying player in professional sports. Without him and Manny the Red Sox have no lineup this year, zero lineup. Throw out any other Red Sox player they are insignifcant offensively. Ortiz and Manny are gods. Ortiz is always up in the 9th and always gets a hit, instead of letting him hit the ball how about someone hit him in the jaw, please hit him in the jaw. It's not even like he gets up in the 9th and you think well he's got a good shot to get a hit now, no it's he's going to get a hit, he's going to win the game, there's no if ands or buts, its automatic, and its terrible.

The Fake Sports Fan - You know who they are the ones that pretend to know everything and they really know absolutely nothing. The guy that proclaims the Yankees are dead because they are 3 games back on June 1st, or the guy who celebrates to no end when his team hits a homer even if they are still down by 5 runs. The flaky sports fan that won't like his team until they are a contender. These guys tick me off.

Pollsters - Especially idiots like Jason Whitlock, who voted for teams that he thought "would" win the national title, instead of voting for who is the best team in the country. Pollsters are so predictable with how they move teams around and even if a team like Auburn is blatantly better than Oklahoma, the year they got jobbed from the championship game, they won't be moved ahead of the other team because they were ranked so low in the preseason. And man do I hate the preseason polls, what a useless pile of crap.

Tele-Media Cable - They kill my baseball watching, it would be great to catch all the Red Sox games that are broadcast on ESPN but no, Tele-Media is a d-bag. I love baseball, but first I want to watch the Yankees, then I want to watch the Mets & Sox and then the rest of the league. And Tele-Media blocks the Mets & the Sox, they blow.

Yesterdays Picks

Win - Loss – 11 – 4
RBI Machine - 0 for 15
Winning Pitcher - 6 for 15

Lock Selections

11-3 ...... Come on KC Won that's BS
3 for 14 .. No big boom for DUnn
8 for 14 .. Capuano brings it home

Seasons Total

Win - Loss - 124 - 86
RBI Machine - 30 for 210
Winning Pitcher – 85 for 210

Weeks Recap

A Solid week for pick'em but no RBI Machines? Ouch. I even had Delgado who had five RBIs but I got shafted by Pujols who had 7, man thats a kick in the groin. No records and 1 for 3 on the locks. So not a bad week but not great either.

Seasons Best

Win - Loss - 12-3 on 6/14
RBI Machine - 5 for 15 on 7/25
Winning Pitcher - 9 for 15 on 5/30 & 6/6

I, as a Yankee fan, am completely thrilled and shocked by this sweep. I know the Red Sox are depleted with some injuries and have been struggling mightily but a sweep this was completely unexpected. A 6 1/2 game lead only a month since they were down 3 1/2 games? How as a Yankee fan could you not be thrilled right now? After all that midseason talk about how the Yankees weren't going to make the playoffs how they weren't going to surpass the Red Sox in the division and how the wildly card was definately coming out of the central. Well guess what the Yankees, are only 4 back of having the best record in all of baseball and are currently tied with the cross-town Mets for the second best record in baseball. One thing that people need to learn is that no one should be said done at the all-star break. And even now I don't believe the Red Sox are done, but I am certainly enjoying holding up a broom.

Keys to The Yankee Sweep

3. Taking Walks - The Red Sox whole pitching staff was wild and this was made more evident by the patient Yankee hitters. This was essential in the comeback on saturday against Beckett where he walked 9 hitters and the bullpen walked followed by walking two Yankees with the bases loaded.

2. Johnny Damon - In this return to Boston Johnny was en fuego. He dominated Red Sox pitching all weekend.

1. Scott Proctor - He gave up one homer in the 5 game set and threw 6 innings. The difference between the Yankees in the Red Sox was a difference of bullpens and Proctor pitching in 4 games and and only giving up one run was essential.

The Main Red Sox Culprits

5) Covelli Crisp - Coco your job is to get on base for Ortiz and Manny to knock in, and he failed miserably, perhaps the move from Francona to lead him off and move Youkilis, who sucked in the 5-hole, was a very bad idea.

4) Bottom of the Order - Limited production from the bottom of the order especially those hitting behind Manny who failed to knock the On Base Machine in time after time.

3) Starter Pitching - Who would have thought that Boomer would have thrown by far the best outing. Schilling was good himself. But between Beckett, who sucks, the cut Jason Johnson, and Lester all they needed was one good outing and they could have taken home a win, nope they all got rocked, big time.

2) Theo - Theo's holding pat with the Youth in the pen and not bulking up the starting rotation has obviously turned into the death of the 2006 Red Sox. Delcarmen, Hanson even Lester are not going to get you the division title and the Wildcard looks really really grim.

1) Bullpen - This really is the downfall of the Red Sox in this series. They gave away leads in games 2,3 and 4 due to the piss poor bullpen. I don't even have to pinpoint the players in the pen that were bad, they all were. This bullpen isn't going to get any better this season.

You Can't Blame Manny

If there is one person that this series can not even be close to being blamed on its Manny. Manny has played the part of Zues against the Yankees this season. Prior to his early departure in the series finale, which was weak, Manny was 8 for 11 with 9 walks. So his On Base Percentage for the series was .850, its almost unthinkable for anyone to have a better percentage over 5 games. Here's what killed the Red Sox, despite being on base 17 times in 5 games, Manny only score 3 runs. Two of them being on his own home runs. So 1 for 15, the Red Sox hitters below him were only able to knock Manny in once in fifteen different occasions. That is absolutely positively pathetic.

Manny's line against the Yankees this Season thus far:

25 for 45 with 17 walks 7 HRs, 21 RBIs, 11 runs, 1.778 OPS.

Manny is a better hitter than Ortiz, I fully believe this, sure I'd rather face him in the 9th, but at any other point in time I'd rather face Ortiz.

Aftermath

Now each of these teams has to go on a west coast trip with no days off. Lets be honest both of these teams killed their bullpens during this series and if either or both struggle mightily on this road trip would not be surprising in the slightest. It's just that the Yankees can now afford a few game swoon while the Red Sox are on desperate times.

Minnesota  vs. Baltimore           Marlins vs. Nationals
 Winner - Orioles                   Winner - Florida
 RBI Machine - Roberts              RBI Machine - Cabrera
 WP - Loewen                        WP - Johnson

ChiSox vs. Tigers                  Astros vs. Reds
 Winner - ChiSox                    Winner - Reds
 RBI Machine - Dye                  RBI Machine - ***Dunn***
 WP - Buehrle                       WP - Lohse

As vs. Jays                        Cards vs. Mets
 Winner - Jays                      Winner - Mets
 RBI Machine - Reed Johnson         RBI Machine - Delgado
 WP - Burnett                       WP - Maine

Rangers vs. Drays                  Pirates vs. Braves
 Winner - Drays                     Winner - Braves
 RBI Machine - Crawford             RBI Machine - Chipper
 WP - Kazmir                        WP - Ray

Indians vs. KC                     Rockies vs. BrewCrew
 Winner - ***Indians***             Winner - BrewCrew
 RBI Machine - Hafner               RBI Machine - Mench
 WP - Lee                           WP - ***Capuano***

Red Sox vs. Angels                 Phillies vs. Cubs
 Winner - Angles                    Winner - Phils
 RBI Machine - Cabrera              RBI Machine - Rollins
 WP - Saunders                      WP - Moyer

Yanks vs. Mariners                 Dodgers vs. Fathers
 Winner - Mariners                  Winner - Fathers
 RBI Machine - Sexson               RBI Machine - Cameron
 WP - Meche                         WP - Peavy

Dbacks vs. Giants
 Winner - Dbacks
 RBI Machine - Quentin
 WP - Webb

No Doubt

I forgot who I got into an argument with but he was basically saying that Tiger comes back to win on sunday and I was saying no typically he usually plays himself into position on thursday and friday takes over on saturday and then dominates on sunday. Well I didn't no it was to that extent. Tiger has been shared or in sole possession of a major lead 12 times. Each time he has won. So thats 12 wins or all of his 12 major victories. So it was a no brainer that he was going to win this tourny on sunday before he tee'd off and as soon as you saw that Luke Donald wasn't going to be playing to contend you could see that it was time for the engraver to start scratching Tiger's name into the trophy.

Expectations for 2007

Would you be shocked right now if Tiger won another Tiger slam? He typically plays well at Augusta even when his game isn't in his top-tier level. I would be completely and utterly shocked if he doesn't win a major next season. In fact I think I would be surprised if he doesn't win two. If Vegas had to put a line I think the over under for Tiger Majors in 2007 would be 2. Right now Tiger is again better than everyone on the tour by lengths and bounds. He plays well, he wins, period.

Collapse

As bad as Sergio played in the final round of the British he still actually shot a 1-under, Donald on the other hand finished sunday +2 or 6 strokes worse than Tiger. It certainly wasn't just Donald, Weir made a push on the front 9 than disappeared, same with Geoff, Sergio bogeyed a par 5 which is completely unacceptable for a player with his length, no one who was within striking distance played well. It's amazing how the only player that has seemingly looked Tiger in the eyes and fought him during a major was Chris Dimarco at the Masters, and I think thats why I and so many other people like Dimarco, because he unlike all the other pansies doesn't get intimidated. He's just not as good as Tiger.

Predictions

My predictions weren't bad this week. I went with the safe Tiger pick to contend wow thats a tough one. Sergio finished tied for thirsd so thats not bad for the winner you pick. And Lehman didn't make the cut, Phil didn't really contend, and Scott was up their on the leaderboard all sunday. But even better on my Best Ball Challenge Team, consisting of Tiger, Sergio, JJ and Hideto Tanihara finished 100%, meaning I had the best score in the country. I was 99.9% until Sergio Eagled the last par 5 to move me into 100%. So, thats basically the best score in about 20,000 people.

My Golf Game

In the spirit of the PGA Championship I went out and played on sunday morning for the first time in around two months. I shot a 43 on a par 36 for 9 holes. Which isn't that bad for me, but considering I hit the ball lights out it was terribly annoying. I had 20 strokes through 9 holes and 23 putts. So almost 3 putts per hole. That is miserable. I hit the first 6 greens in regulation was on the fringe on the 7th, and only needed a short chip to get onto the green on both 8 and 9. I even had one Jimmy Bones special, the 4-putt. The Poker phrase on Tilt applies much more significantly to my golf game than my poker game. Wow was I frustrated.

Biggest Series of the Season

Simply put this is the biggest series of the Major League Baseball season. Both in game size and impact and media coverage, everything. First off its the biggest and best rivalry in sports, secondly both teams are fighting for perhaps only one playoff spot. Don't think its the biggest series, well how about the fact that 4, yes 4, of the 5 games are on national television. This afternoon, Sunday night and monday on ESPN and tomorrow afternoon on FOX.

Bereavment List

The Yanks pulled a fast one by using Major League Baseball rules. The Yankees placed Lidle on the bereavment list, due to the death of his grandmother. Lidle's grandmother died a week ago and he is not even going to miss a start. This move allows the Yankees to bring up a much needed extra pitcher for the first four games of the series.

AROD

I'm sorry but I really think any big success Arod has in the regular season will only give him a temporary reprieve from Yankee fans. Even if he hits 4 HRs bats .380 and knocks in 10 this weekend, I still see a few weeks from now when he comes back from sucking it up on a west coast trip getting booed. Simply put until he wins a title he's going to be hot and cold, mostly cold, with the fans. That being said if he is terrible this series, he is going to get brutally booed when he returns to the stadium. I think it would be ironic if the Red Sox fans had Arod chants after he struck out.

Keys to the Series

1. Starting Pitching - Lets face it the starters for both of these teams are completely unreliable. Ponson & Johnson got cut by mediocre teams and are terrible. Lidle was a throw in in the Abreu deal. Lester never makes it past 5 innings it seems. Boomer is an old old man. Randy is an old old man. Beckett has an ERA over 5. Wang has been miserable his last two starts. The only people you expect to pitch well are Muss and Schilling but really they have had their own piss poor performances this season.

2. Bullpen - I think the Yanks have a more reliable bullpen. First Farnsworth is good on rest. He didn't pitch yesterday so he'lll be good today. Proctor has been great, although Manny did castrate him earlier this season. The Red Sox really have no reliable setup guy. And even Papelbon has been a little shaky this season. And anyone who says that Mariano has struggled against the Red Sox more than any other team isn't that off base. However, the guy on the Red Sox that absolutely positively killed Mariano was Bill Muehler. That guy killed Mo.

3. Double Header - If either team gets swept in doubleheader, which I don't expect, than they are completely behind the 8 ball. A Yankee sweep puts them up 3 1/2 games a Red Sox sweep puts them back in first and would make for an overly pressurized saturday, sunday, monday.

Predictions

I say they split today then the Yanks take Saturday and Monday for a 3 to 2 series victory. I really would be surprised to see any team take 4 games, it just never seems to work out that way, and both of these teams are too flawed pitching wise to dominate the series. Went out on a limb on that one didn't I? Ouch I don't think the kid liked my prediction.

Team defense is a tricky thing to judge. First the majority of the points come from turnovers and the completely unpredictable defensive touchdowns. Many times I'll lean towards shedule strength when projecting the values of team defense. Personally, I think if you do not get one of the top three defenses then I would just wait til the end of the draft, get two defenses and play the matchup game from week to week.

1. Chicago Bears - The Bears are a really the only defense I would jump on early. First, they play in a weak division secondly they play the AFC East and therefore get the Jets and the Bills whose offenses should be weak.

2. Indianapolis Colts - Sure their defense isn't the greatest in the world but it helps being in a putrid division. Jax, is known more for their defense than offense, and the Texans and Titans stink.

3. Carolina Panthers - The Panthers forced a lot of turnovers last year and always have a better than average defense consider them a solid pick.

4. Seattle Seahawks - How's 2 games against the 49ers sound? Great ya I thought so. The Seahawks had an underated defense last season and their offensive ground game keeps the opposition off the field which limits the points they give up.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers - Pitt won the Superbowl, eh I probably won't draft them.

6. NY Giants - The edition of Lavar Arrington will help solidify a linebacking core that was mauled late in the season and most importantly the playoff game. Their schedule is brutal but a lot of the games in the NFC East will end up being low scoring brutal football games which don't kill the defensive points.

7. Minnesota Vikings - Ya, Minnesota is not a sexy pick, but their division sucks. The Lions will have turnover after turnover, Favre is good for about 3 picks per game and the Bears can't score points. Not to mention they play the Jets and the Bills. Their defense carried them to an almost playoff spot last year and they should be decent this year but their schedule is filled with bad offenses. Too bad their offense stinks.

8. Tampa Bay Bucs - Their defense is typically good right. Their offense should be much better this season and despite the difficult schedule I project them to have a very good season.

9. Baltimore Ravens - Ya, I'm pretty down on the Ravens this year, I think their one of those teams thats going to be completely overhyped so there's a good chance that someone will snatch them up well before I think of taking them.

10. Miami Dolphins - Jason Taylor is still a beast outside and will probably be pissed off now that he's divorced Zach Thomas' sister.

11. Jacksonville Jaguars - Forced a minimal amount of turnovers last year, like I said turnovers are unpredictable, but they were closer to the bottom of the league. But still they have a solid low scored against defense.

12. New York Jets - Their defense is actually going to be good this season, they have one if not the leagues weakest schedule its just their offense is going to blow, especially their running game if Curtis is on the shelf so they won't win more than a handful of games.

13. Atlanta Falcons - I love the fact that they have pure VT thuggery and the cornerback position with DeAngelo Hall and Jimmy Williams, love it.

14. Cincinatti Bengals - These guys forced about 5 turnovers a game last season or atleast thats what it seemed like. I doubt this will be replicated but a flier on them would not be a bad idea.

15. San Diego - Shawn Merriman is a beast and their schedule won't be as hard as it was last year.

Lets be honest, kickers will not win or lose you a fantasy season, if you get upset because you lose a week because your kicker only put up 2 points well then your an ass. Just draft a kicker based on which teams you think are going to score a lot of points. And really there is no need to jump out and rush to get a kicker. It's better to have solid backups for when your players get injured than the #1 kicker in fantasy. Hell they really don't even dserve pictures.

1. Adam Vinatieri - 8th Round - He's really the no-brainer #1 kicker. First of all he's an outstanding pro bowl caliber kicker, secondly he's on a team that will score a boatload of points.

2. Shayne Graham - 9th Round - The Bengals will obviously score a ton of points plus he's a red-head and the automatically shoots himself up a few spots.

3. Neil Rackers - 9th Round - The Cards have a ton of offensive weapons and Rackers put up mucho points last year, really no reason to think otherwise.

4. Josh Brown - 10th Round - 4 Games against the Cards and 49ers equals lots of points for the Seahawks.

5. Jeff Wilkins - 10th Round - Look at me I also have 4 games versus the Cards and 49ers.

6. Lawrence Tynes - Last Round - The Chiefs have been an offensive juggernaut ever since the takeover of Vermeil, but Herm's a lieing douchebag so I'm not going to draft any Chiefs.

7. John Carney - Last Round - Maybe I'm the only Saint believer on the planet but they have always had offensive weapons, now they have a brighter quarterback and the most dynamic rookie offensive weapon in decades.

8. Mike Vanderjagt - Last Round - Someone is probably going to snatch him up well before the guys listed above are selected, I just don't expect the Cowboys to score as many points as the teams listed above, and his better kicking skills will not be that valuable.

9. Jason Elam - Last Round - The benefit of Elam is that he kicks in the high altitude and can make long field goals. However, the Broncos offense is a bit questionable with Mike Bell at the running back helm.

10. Jay Feeley - Last Round - The Gmen should score a solid amount of points despite their difficult schedule. Just make sure you have him on the bench when they play in Seattle.

11. Nate Kaeding - Last Round - The defenses in the AFC West are not the best and if Philip Rivers clicks like I think he will than Kaeding will be a good option at the kicker spot, although LT never fails to get into the end zone.

12. John Casey - Last Round - A reliable long time employed kicker, not great at the long kicks but the Panthers should score a decent amount of points despite their tough division.

13. Jeff Reed - Last Round - The Steelers scored a lot of points in the playoffs and without the Bus they could possibly struggle at the goalline and that would result in several chip shot field goals.

14. Olindo Mare - Last Round - The AFC East has morphed from the best division in football to a weaker division the Dolphins have the potential to be the best offense in that division and thus score the most points for their kicker.

15. David Akers - Last Round - Probably the last kicker thats really worth drafting, a veteran who was injured last year and could return to form this year.

Token Jet - Mike Nugent - Ya I don't expect the Jets to score a ton of points but in the slim opportunities he should be good. As much as I would like to advise taking Jets, it's really really hard to.

For Tight Ends either spend big and get Gates or Shockey or wait around til it seems like everyone else is starting to snatch up all the other Tight Ends and then grab yourself up one. The Mid Tier of tight ends will end up with very similar stats and really it will be tough to accurately predict which player will end up with more TDs. In almost every league I've ever played in there has been only 1 TE so I am only going to rank the top 15.

1. Antonio Gates - Mid 3rd - The unquestioned #1 TE in fantasy. Do not fret the emergence of Philip Rivers as the starting Quarterback, the difference in Gates' stats will be negligible.

2. Jeremy Shockey - Mid 4th - Shockey in my opinion has moved into the #2 TE spot in fantasy football ahead of Tony Gonzalez due to the fact that he actuall did get into the endzone last year unlike Togo, and another year of Eli should get Shockey more receptions.

3. Tony Gonzalez - Late 4th - Togo was a fantasy team killer last year, for anyone that drafted him in the 3rd round or earlier, namely me, you were destroyed with his 2 TDs. I will probably avoid him because I am bitter, but selecting him in the Late 4th early 5th isn't a bad move.

4. Todd Heap - Mid 6th - Heap has been an injury risk since his one breakout season and has not fulfilled potential. With McNair QBing the Ravens the passing attack should be more dynamic and Heap should again emerge as a weapon.

5. Randy McMichael - Mid 7th - I think the Dolphins with a healthy Culpepper will have a strong offensive season and McMichael is a formidable weapon near the goalline.

6. Alge Crumpler - Mid 7th - If anyone is going to catch passes for the Falcons it's going to be Crumpler. The Falcons receiver core is putrid and Crumpler remains by far Vick's best and favorite target.

7. Jason Witten - Mid 7th - There are two ways to look at the addition of TO's affect on Witten's performance. #1 The offense will be better therefore Witten will get more goal line touches. Or #2 TO will be a ball hog at the goal line. I lean towards #2 which is why I pushed Witten down a few notches.

8. Dallas Clark - Early 8th - It used to be he had to fight with Pollard for numbers than it was injuries but a healthy Clark with sole possession of the position and with the chance that Peyton will have to gun like 2004 make Clark an intriguing option.

9. Chris Cooley - Early 8th - White boy came from no where last season to put up solid stats. Honestly, he is another player that could put up some big numbers.

10. Kellen Winslow - Mid 8th - A Risk/Reward guy, he could be a guy that turns himself into a 800 yd 8td guy which is very good TE numbers or he could not assimilate into the offense and give you nothing from week to week. Not a bad risk.

11. Vernon Davis - Mid 8th - I think his Risk/Reward is slightly worse than Kellen Winslow. First they both have terrible offenses, they both were high picks, they are similar in many ways. However, Eric Johnson has put up good numbers for the 49ers in the past and Winslow really has the job to himself.

12. L.J. Smith - Early 9th - I'm not as much of a fan of LJ as many others are in fantasy. I think his yardage numbers will be better than some top end TEs but I don't see him getting too much action near the end zone.

13. Heath Miller - Mid 9th - Heath had some very hot numbers at the beginning of te 05 campaign then kind of slowed down. He is not a bad option at TE, but his numbers will be less consistent than those ranked ahead.

14. Ben Watson - Mid 9th - Ben is a beast of a man and as you could see when he ran down I believe Chump Bailey in the AFC playoff game he's a fast man. If the Pats decide to solely focus on him at TE and weed out Daniel Graham than he will be a very good #1 TE option.

15. Alex Smith - Last Round - By this time you should already have a #1 TE, Smith is an ideal candidate if you plan on drafting a backup due to his high upside possibilities.

Token Jet: Chris Baker - Backup Necessity - Baker actually had a few good games last season before he like every other Jet got injured for the remainder of the season, Tannenbaum, the Jets GM, specifically pointed him out as being vastly improved from last season. He would not be a bad option to store on your bench and see what he does for the first few weeks.

4 People to Watch to Contend

Obvious - Tigger Woo - Returning back to a place he won in 1999. If you look at some of Tiger's major success you will notice that he typically does well at courses he previous won a major at, see Augusta National and St. Andrews, if Tiger doesn't get off to a slow start and can control his driver he will win.

A Diffenet Aussie - Adam Scott - It's time Adam, you haven't busted through yet, unlike Ogilvy, and it's time for you to take it to the next level and see your name up there on the leaderboard with a few holes left.

Go Irieman - Padraig Harrington - Ya he didn't contend in the British like I said he would but I think he will in the PGA. If not simply for karmas sake, he is donating all of his winnings in honor of Darren Clarke's recently diceased wife Heather, due to breast cancer.

Ryder Cup Push - Stewart Cink - Look at the Ryder Cup standings and you'll see some odd names that are currently on the roster, watch out for Cink who currently stands on the outside looking in. He will be highly motivated this week to both have a great tournament but in addition get himself onto that Ryder Cup roster without the necessity of a Captains pick.

3 People to Hit the Fan

Adios Capitán - Tom Lehmen - Tom played extremely well last week in the International losing out in a playoff but he's not gonna make the cut this week so says I.

Petrified - Phil Mickelson - I don't think Phil will miss the cut, but it will be highly interesting to see how he deals with playing with Tiger and with every fan on the course surrounding them. Typically everyone wilts with Tiger by their side on sunday, we'll see if the same happens for Phil on Thursday and Friday.

Note: Phil and Tiger will not, I repeat will not, be televised by TNT on thursday according to talk on Mike and the Maddog. How stupid is this, not like its going to effect me considering I will be behind a desk but still, wow is that stupid.

Piece Out Africa - Retief Goosen - I said this last time for the British and I think I'm going to repeat it until it comes to fruition "Struggling Retief is going to miss the cut I repeat miss the cut. Possibly."

2 People to Root For

Get The Card - David Duval - His British Open Championship leash is finally done this year. He is playing for his card. He currently sits about 30 spots out of qualyfing for the tour next season. I really hope he does well makes the cut and finishes in the top 30 to get move him up the money list. How can you not root for those sunglasses? Man those are sweet.

Locale Boy - JJ Henry - It's still a common weekly theme. JJ sits at #8 in the Ryder Cup standings. Top 10 get in. This is the last week of Ryder Cup qualifying and a top 10 performance would get him in no problem. Here's hoping JJ qualifies.

1 Winner

Sergio - Ok, I know he sucked in the final round in the Open, and I know he hasn't been able to put, and I know that I am jinxing him ridiculously considering I think my last two major picks didn't make the cut, I know Vijay didn't, but I'm going with Sergio relieving his almost glory in 1999. He's due, he's easily the best player on the tour without a major and I just think this is his time. Unless he gets paired with Tiger on sunday and then we'll see another steamrolling. Basically I think Sergio's matching shoes technique will be too intimidating for any soul other than Tiger.

Running Backs are the biggest position in fantasy football. If you can lock up two #1 backs to hold down the fort then you will be in a very good position to make the playoffs in your league. If you end up trying to fill in holes in your Running Back slot good, well then good luck getting production from the Tyrone Wheatley's of the world.

1. Shaun Alexander - First 3 Picks - I'll take Shaun Alexander first. Well really this is me talking this second. Honestly, the top three running backs you could easily make a case for being deserved of the #1 selection and some of it depends on your point value setup. But you really can't go wrong. I'd lean towards Alexander due to the fact that you know he's going to score one TD every week.

2. LaDainian Tomlinson - First 3 Picks - Next I'd lean towards LT. He's proven the past years he's the most talented running back in the league. If your league values receptions highly than he jumps up to the #1 spot. Don't worry about Philip Rivers at QB that won't hurt his production in the slightest in fact it may end up getting him more responsibility at the goal line and more dump off receptions.

3. Larry Johnson - First 3 Picks - Out of the three I would take Larry last, only because he's really done it for one season and the loss of Roaf will hurt. In addition I'm probably going to want the Chiefs to suck because Herm is a lieing piece of shit.

Note: If you have a top 3 pick and you do not use it on one of these three guys you deserve to be kicked in the scrotum, if you have one.

4. Tiki Barber - Mid 1st - Tiki put up his best season last year and towards the end of the season he was given almost all of the goal line touches which has been a killer for past Tiki owners. Keep an eye out this preseason on how Brandon Jacobs does during goal line situations, if he is incredibly succesful than move Tiki down on your board a few spots. If this picture makes you uncomfortable you might want tto go ahead and grab somebody else though.

5. Edgerrin James - Mid 1st - I know the Cardinals line is suspect, but their receivers are so darn good that the opposing defenses will have to play soft run defenses which should allow Edge to have similar production to what he has achieved in a Colts uniform.

6. Clinton Portis - Mid 1st - Make sure his shoulder he dislocated in the first game is fine. If it is then you will get a 1300 yd back with probably around 10 tds this season. If it isn't then steer clear and let someone else take the risk.

Note: I highly suggest that if you have a top 6 pick that you take one of the above players, you could grab Peyton but personally I would wait until the last pick of the 1st round or the early 2nd.

7. Steven Jackson - Mid 1st - The new Rams coach vows he's going to run the ball more. Well with more consistant touches Jackson should be able to do some solid damage and easily warrants your first round pick if you have one in the latter half of the round.

8. Cadillac Williams - Late 1st - So much hype is surrounding Ronnie Brown this offseason and how he's going to break out. I like Ronnie I really do, but I just do not see him as having a beter season than the Cadillac. Cadillac was really good last year and barring injury I believe he will have another very good season.

9. Rudi Johnson - Late 1st - Rudi is going to have another solid steady low end #1 running back season. He'll rush for around 1100 yards and score about 10 tds. He's a fine late 1st round pick.

10. Ronnie Brown - Late 1st - Now having said I like Cadillac better, its not as if I dislike Ronnie I think he's going to have a good year especially without

11. Lamont Jordan - Early 2nd - Some people have hyped him up to a top 5 selection, I just don't see it. First off he is not going to put up over 1200 yards secondly the Raiders are probably going to be terrible. With that being said, he has the job for the whole season will put up consistent points and will catch more balls then the average back. With that being said if I had pick 11 or 12 I would really hope that one of the above players mentioned slips to me.

12. Brian Westbrook - Late 2nd - Sure he isn't a between the tackles running back but he is the Eagles most dynamic player and he might be their best receiver.

13. Domanick Davis - Late 2nd - Surely the team that passed up on Reggie Bush knew what they were doing right? He's going to have a big season right?

Note: Davis and Westbrook are big time injury risks, make sure you get a decent third option if you select either.

14. Willis McGahee - Late 2nd - McGahee has more tons of potential and if he was on a good team he would be a top 10 pick but instead he's on the bills and they are miserable so I would not spend more than one of the last picks of the 2nd round on him.

15. Jamal Lewis - Mid 3rd - Alright maybe I'm going too much on past performance but without spending all those months in jail and without the lingering injuries he had last season Jamal Lewis could return to form. If he returns to his old form then you got yourself a steal in round 3 if he doesn't than you're going to need a replacement. His Risk/Reward factor is one of the most intiguing in the league. I wonder if thats his "The Cops are Coming After Me Face".

16. Willie Parker - Mid to Late 3rd - Willie Parker if he can carry the full load for the Steelers will put up incredible TD numbers without the Bus taking them away. For this reason he could be a terrific second running back, if for some reason they start using Duce Staley at the goal line then his value wil shrink mightily.

17. Kevin Jones - Mid to Late 3rd - KJ killed my team last year, absolutely killed my team. So with that ringing endorsement I'd say wait on him til the late 3rd and if he's still there take a gamble, this is a player who could put up numbers close to his rookie season or he could be the bust he was last year. Don't overpay.

18. Julius Jones - Mid to Late 3rd - The other Jones pulled the same trick as Kevin last season the only difference his Julius has a more viable backup than Kevin does (Marion Barber). So there are a ton of question marks surrounding him.

19. Warrick Dunn - Mid 4th - Dunn had a very good season last year and his numbers will be that much better if the Falcons trade away TJ Duckett, but if they don't then Dunn isn't going to score enough TDs to be an incredibly valuable running back.

20. Duece McAllister - Early 5th - Don't worry about Reggie Bush being on the team Duece will still get a bunch of carries and will still rush for close to 1000 yards in addition to getting the bulk of goal line carries. He's no longer an option at the #1 fantasy back but not bad for #2.

21. Reggie Bush - Early 5th - I have him just behind Duece because he probably won't score as many TDs but Bush will be the most electric player on the football field for a Saints team that should score a large amount of points. Expect Bush to gain around 1300 total yards this season with a little more than a handful of touchdowns.

22. Rueben Droughns - Mid 5th - Ya, I am not a believer in Droughns, partially because I am not a believer in the Browns offense. The Browns have even more questionmarks than the Jets do which is amazing. They have Edwards who is coming back from a torn ACL, the Soldier Winslow coming back from his accident and Charlie Frye at QB, this team might not score any points.

23. Cedric Benson - Mid 6th - Benson was sandwiched in between Ronnie and Cadillac and if he can win the starting job, which it looks like, and put up numbers similar to them its a steal. But him starting isn't a lock, and backup running backs are the killers to fantasy squads.

24. Ahman Green - Late 6th - At this point in time in the draft you're not going to get anything thats automatic. So hopefully this will be your 3rd running back, but if this is your second running back then start splooging your picks on running backs so that come week 8 you still have 2 reliable RBs. Ahman was a at one point in time a solid first round pick, but he fell off the map the last two seasons. Basically, he's Jamal Lewis with a little less potential and the same risk. The man does fumble a lot though.

25. Chester Taylor - Early 7th - Never been a full time running back, never deserved to be one, still really doesn't unless he slips a lot faller than I think he will I won't be grabbing him. I'll watch someone overpay for a classic backup thrown into starters role on a team with minimal offensive weapons. The Vikings have never had a back that deserved to be started in fantasy, the trend continues.

26. Corey Dillon - Early 7th - Corey still has the job and I don't see Maroney taking away too many carries from him. Corey should still get around 18 to 20 carries a game and gain around 80 yards a game with maybe a td. If he gets hurt though and allows Maroney to gain moment than see you later to his job.

27. Fred Taylor - Mid 7th - Freddy would be an all-time elite fantasy back if he could ever stay healthy. If you draft Fred, just make sure you draft DeAngelo just so that you have something viable to go back to when he gets hurt mid season, cause if you don't have fun searching for a RB to start midseason.

28. Deshaun Foster - Late 7th - Basically he's turned into Fred Taylor in that he gets hurt every season but he's never put up the seasons Taylor has, basically I hope I'm not stuck drafting him as my 3rd RB. I just don't trust him.

29. Frank Gore - Late 7th - He's probably going to win the 49ers job, which really doesn't say that much, but Kevan Barlow is terrible and Gore did have some solid games last season. But you really just want him as a backup and not necessarily in your lineup on a consistent basis.

30. LenDale White - Early 8th - I truly believe that within a few weeks of the seasons start LenDale will win this position thus eliminating any value for Chris Brown and giving LenDale solid status it just may take up to the midway point of the season for this to happen.

31. Joseph Addai - Early 8th - This is also questionable if he will every constistently be the starting running back but if he is watch out, its the Colts and that equals large sums of points for every offensive player.

32. Denver Broncos Running Back - Late Night - Alright its anyones guess who will be the starter week 1 week 2. This could be a platoon, Shanahan could actually consistently give the ball to Mike Bell. Basically don't jump on any Bronco RB until really late cause they are too unpredictable.

33. Jets Starting Running Back - Late Night - Yeah if its a healthy Curtis bump this pick up a good amount. If its not then the Jets pick is certainly a low end substitute. Certainly isn't going to be Suggs after he failed a physical.

Rookie Parade

One rookie always breaks through and has a very good season.
1. Reggie Bush - He doesn't need to be an every down back to make a huge impact.
2. LenDale White - Chris Brown is a bitch, LenDale should win this job.
3. Joseph Addai - If he can beat out Rhodes he'll be stellar.
4. Lawrence Maroney - If he can crack the rotation at running back or Dillon can get injured Maroney will put up yards and receptions for the Pats.
5. DeAngelo Williams - Watch out for the inevitable Fred Taylor injury.

Yesterdays Picks

Win - Loss – 9 – 6
RBI Machine - 2 for 15
Winning Pitcher - 6 for 15

Lock Selections

11-2 ...... Blue Jays the winner
3 for 13 .. Not only did Konerko not have RBIs the ChiSox lost to the Royals
7 for 13 .. Dreamweaver crumbled in the 6th

Seasons Total

Win - Loss - 113 - 82
RBI Machine - 30 for 195
Winning Pitcher – 79 for 195

Weeks Recap

Another mediocre week man have I been on a slump, last night I did pretty well on the east coast getting almost all of the 7 o'clock games right but I shat the bed on the West Coast.

Seasons Best

Win - Loss - 12-3 on 6/14
RBI Machine - 5 for 15 on 7/25
Winning Pitcher - 9 for 15 on 5/30 & 6/6

Detroit  vs. Boston                Atlanta vs. Nationals
 Winner - Tigers                    Winner - Nats
 RBI Machine - IROD                 RBI Machine - Zimmerman
 WP - Bonderman                     WP - Cordero

Os vs. Yanks                       Phillies vs. Mets
 Winner - Yanks                     Winner - Phillies
 RBI Machine - Arod                 RBI Machine - Howard
 WP - Muss                          WP - Wolf