This is the best weekend the NFL has. Wild Card weekend. Well, maybe I’ll get disagreement from the diehards who love the title games. And those are great. But you’ll never get more football than these next two weeks. So let’s get to my picks:
Saturday
Colts over Chiefs- Larry Johnson will destroy the Colts D to the tune of 200+ yards and three touchdowns. It won’t matter because Peyton Manning won’t allow his team to lose at The RCA Dome. Trailing by four, he hooks up with Marvin Harrison late to win it 31-28.
Cowboys over Seahawks- This is just gut instinct. Both these teams have struggled down the stretch. I just like Dallas in this one for some reason by a field goal.
Sunday
Pats over Jets- Grudge Match III will be interesting. Can Eric Mangini’s overachieving Gang Green get the best of Bill Bellichick’s Patriots twice up in Foxboro. It will be tight but look for Tom Brady to make enough plays late as the Pats advance 20-14.
Eagles over Giants- If you contain Tiki Barber, you force Eli Manning to beat you. He hasn’t proven he can. Look for Andy Reid to devise a game plan forcing the third-year erratic QB to make plays. And with Big Blue’s D struggling to stop anyone on the ground or on 3rd down, it could be a long day. We like the Eagles to advance 28-20 over Big Blue.
It’s way past time someone called out this little hypocritical weasel who writes for the Daily News. I can only be referring to the overly biased
Mike Lupica. This is only one of the most accomplished writers out there. But I have had enough of this clown!
This guy is a first rate nerd who shows off his disgusting biases at every turn in his columns. According to Lupica, the Mets have never overpaid for an aging pitcher or two while the BIG BAD Yankees have done it repeatedly breaking some sort of unwritten rule.
Oh really? Didn’t Mets GM Omar Minaya give two years to 50 year-old El Duque? We kid. Nobody really knows the real age of the Cuban pitcher who’s done quite well for himself in the majors, helping the Yankees three-peat from ‘98-00 and of course playing a pivotal role in the White Sox World title a couple of years ago. But let’s be honest. Why would any GM give him two years? At any minute he could breakdown. How come Lupica never mentioned how the same pitcher injured himself in warmups and was done for last postseason? Because that would’ve required this Mets phony to take his own team to task. He would never do it because he has no backbone.
Only an angry Lupica would make his column today solely on bashing the Yankees when they finally came to their collective senses and unloaded the Old Unit back to Arizona for reliever Luis Vizcaino and three prospects. And only this idiot would make some off the wall comment like if Randy Johnson had performed better in October and led the Bronx Bombers to that elusive 27th World championship, then they would’ve treated him differently. Duh!
Are the Yanks going to go after the biggest money grabber in baseball Roger Clemens? They could. But should it take away from what Yankee GM Brian Cashman was able to get for a 43 year-old washed up pitcher coming off back surgery? Of course not. But in Lupica’s warped world, he would never recognize the fact that for the third time this offseason, Cashman has gotten rid of dead weight for younger players cutting payroll in the process and pissing off Mets fans. He has done so much more than Minaya to improve his club this winter. Though Doug Mientkiewicz doesn’t count.
Lupica contended in his column that because Johnson pitched in the AL, he had as good a season as returning 34 year-old Yankee Andy Pettite. Johnson won 17 games and had a 5.00 ERA while Pettite won 14 games with a 4.20 ERA in the Senior Circuit. Considering that the AL has much better lineups, it looks like he has a point. But Lupica didn’t do his homework. While Johnson continued to be up and down all season, Pettite turned it up finishing 7-4 with a 2.80 ERA after the All Star Break. Even more impressive was his 86 strikeouts in 93.1 innings. The best news for Yankee fans was that the southpaw got stronger down the stretch posting a 5-2 record with a 2.40 ERA the final two months to almost vault the Astros over the Cardinals for the NL Central. More than you can say for Johnson, who limped to the finish line with a 5.47 ERA in September before another disappointing October outing in the Yanks’ first round loss to Detroit.
Here’s a question to New York baseball fans. Who would you rather have? Thirty-eight year-old Mike Mussina or 41 year-old Tom Glavine? Who’s more durable? Pettite or El Duque? You decide which staff is older and has more question marks. Oh btw…26 year-old real Yankee ace Chien-Ming Wang won 19 games with a 3.63 ERA in his second year and finished second to Johan Santana for the Cy Young. Is that young enough for Lupica?
Was it my imagination that while Lupica’s Amazins added another 40+ year-old outfielder in Moises Alou who won’t play more than 100 games, the Yanks got rid of 38 year-old knucklehead Gary Sheffield and somehow managed to get three prospects including highly rated pitcher Humberto Sanchez?
So who’s had the more productive offseason? You decide.
It’s a New Year! So where to start other than my outspoken long suffering Chicago Cubs buddy JPG who is still on Winter vacation from Stanford, which btw is a good thing since all the nutty professors there have been doing is corrupting his mind with statistics.
With it being a new year and all, I thought I’d make some wishes for this year. In no particular order:
1.NHL commish Gary Bettman and Dumb and Dumber VP of Operations Colin Campbell abducted by aliens. Replaced by Brett Hull and Ken Daneyko.
2.The Mets sign Sammy Sosa and then rename their team the Latino Metropolitans. Angry Met fans immediately pepper Mike and The Mad Dog in protest after Omar Minaya justifies the move.
3.After the Giants are eliminated by the Eagles, Tom Coughlin is fired. Replaced by Jim Fassel as enraged Michael Strahan protests and challenges a reporter.
4.Newly “retired” Tiki Barber finds out he doesn’t have a job lined up with a network and then unretires realizing he has some unfinished business.
5.After finally unloading Randy Johnson, the Yankees sign Roger Clemens to the richest one-year contract worth a cool $30 million. Don’t worry Yankee fans. Hot dogs will only cost 8 bucks and beer will cost you ten!
6.For Britney Spears’ skanky drunken falling apart circus to not make the front page anymore. She’s so over.
7.Terrell Owens shockingly announces retirement after Cowboys upset Seattle by a field goal because “he didn’t get enough looks.” Not surprisingly, he is hired by ESPN, who immediately teams him up with Michael Irvin.
8.For the NFL Network to just go away completely and stop ruining football.
9.Jets upset the Patriots on a last minute interception returned by Pro Bowl snub Kerry Rhodes, who dedicates it to John Lynch. Afterwards, a fuming Bill Bellichick puts out just his pinky when meeting Eric Mangini, who just laughs in his face.
10.For people who proclaim Peyton Manning the best QB they’ve ever seen to realize that his legacy will always be turning into the Tinman.
11.Chargers win the Super Bowl defeating the Eagles 55-10. LaDainian Tomlinson rushes for 227 yards and four touchdowns to win MVP. Afterwards, the NFC is officially renamed the MFC (Mediocre Football Conference).
12.Rangers wake up and get rid of Karel Rachunek. Replace him with Brian Leetch, who helps run their power play and rallies the team to its first Atlantic division since they won the Cup.
13.For the Devils to stop playing that boring style which drives almost every NHL fan nuts.
14.Sabres defeat the Ducks in thrilling seven games to finally get the monkey off the city of Buffalo, bringing home a real championship. No. The Buffalo Bandits don’t count.
15.After another disappointing season, St. John’s fires Norm Roberts and rehires Lou Carnesseca. The 81 year-old coaching legend wears his trademark sweater to press conference.
16.In late August with their pitching running thin, Cubs sign Jeff Weaver to add to their payroll in hopes of finally winning their first World Series in a century.
17.Suns defeat the Bulls in seven up and down action packed games for their first NBA title, exacting a little revenge on Chicago. Steve Nash wins MVP. Most importantly, there are no brawls.
18.Roger Federer wins the French Open defeating two-time defending champ Rafael Nadal in a five set classic, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5, 6-7 (9), 12-10. The epic lasts over five hours.
19.For Miami Hurricanes football to be relevant again with new Coach Randy Shannon running a respectable program.
20.One home run shy of tying Aaron, Barry Bonds suddenly retires.
21.For Guns N’Roses to finally release the long anticipated Chinese Democracy album after over a decade. Miraculously, it still sells real well proving to music that the GNR name is greater than any current act even with almost all different members.
