Maniac's NFL Picks:Week 3

My picks went 10-6 in week 2. So far I am 20-11. 

Week 3 Picks. My pick is in Bold

Chiefs @ Eagles

Texans @ Ravens

Giants @ Panthers

Lions @ Redskins

Chargers @ Titans

Cardinals @ Saints

Buccaneers @ Patriots

Packers @ Bengals

Rams @ Cowboys

Browns @ Vikings

Falcons @ Dolphins

Bills @ Jets

Colts @ 49ers

Jaguars @ Seahawks

Bears @ Steelers

Raiders @ Broncos 

Maniac's NFL Picks: Week 2

I didn't make picks until after the Thursday night game. Outside of that game I went 10-5 View Week 1 Picks

Week 2 Picks. My pick is in Bold

JETS @ PATRIOTS

RAMS @ FALCONS

CHARGERS @ EAGLES

COWBOYS @ CHIEFS

DOLPHINS @ COLTS

TITANS @ TEXANS

REDSKINS @ PACKERS

BROWNS @ RAVENS

PANTHERS @ BILLS

VIKINGS @ BEARS

SAINTS @ BUCCANEERS

LIONS @ CARDINALS

JAGUARS @ RAIDERS

BRONCOS @ GIANTS

49ERS @ SEAHAWKS

STEELERS @ BENGALS

Maniac's NFL Picks: Week 1

Denver has already dominated Baltimore so I will give my picks on the remainder of  Week 1
My picks are underlined and in bold.

Patriots @ Bills

Titans @ Steelers

Falcons @ Saints

Buccaneers @ Jets

Chiefs @ Jaguars

Seahawks @ Panthers

Bengals @ Bears

Dolphins @ Browns

Vikings @ Lions

Raiders @ Colts

Packers @ 49ers

Cardinals @ Rams

Giants @ Cowboys

Eagles @ Redskins

Texans @ Chargers

NFL vs The World: International Bowl

A friend and I were talking sports the other day when we stumbled upon an idea that I wanted to get some feedback on. We both the NFL. He is a die-hard Steelers fan and I am a die-hard Cowboys fan. It's fun to raze each other about the others team. We were talking about how the NFL team that wins claims to be the World Champion. My part of the argument was that they would be because its the biggest organization for professional football. He said that they weren't because they didn't beat world competition.

When he said that it really got me thinking. NFL had NFL Europe from 1998-2007. It was used sorta like a developmental league like the NBA has with the D-League. NFL also plays a game or soon two over in London each season. Those games have had pretty good turnouts and have led to the NFL thinking about expansion over there. It would be really tough on that team as well as the teams they played because of the obvious home field advantages because of jet lag.

At first my friend mentioned that maybe they could do another league overseas and get other countries involved and have them play just like the league in America and then the winners of each Super Bowl would play each other for the World Championship. At first I thought that was a really cool idea but then I got to thinking that the NFL wouldn't want to do anything that could water down the Super Bowl. It would however create a true World Champion.

 So we got to talking some more and I came up with and idea that could get close to that and revamp another part of the NFL that is lacking these days. It seems like the players could care less about playing in the Pro Bowl except for the extra pay that goes along with it. What if the NFL could create an International League overseas and at the end of each season have a NFL All-Stars vs International All-Stars. It would create interest in the football All-Star game again and give the players some pride in playing in the All-Star game. They could trade off each year holding it on each of their side of the ocean. It will probably never happen but it is something worth talking about.

What are your thoughts? Would you like to see a championship game between the two leagues to get a true champ? Do you like the All-Start idea?

My Fantasy Team: Wherefore art thou Romo

Its that time of year again. Football season is just a few short weeks away. I have decided to do 4 teams. This is one of those teams. This team is in a 8 team league in which I am the commissioner. Thoughts on how I might do this year based on this team?


Update (12/20/12): This team was by far my best. A lot of the players are gone but I manged to put together a roster to make it to the playoffs. I lost in the first round and I am going for third place this weekend. 

QB	RB	WR	TE	K	DEF
Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers	LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles	Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers	Aaron Hernandez, New England Patriots	Garrett Hartley, New Orleans Saints	New York Giants
Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears	DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys	Jordy Nelson, Green Bay Packers	Coby Fleener, Indianapolis Colts
Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts	Frank Gore, San Francisco 49ers	Marques Colston, New Orleans Saints
	Donald Brown, Indianapolis Colts	DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles

Saints and Jets, and Bears! Oh, my!

Today Commissioner Roger Goodell came down hard on the Saints for the "bounty" program. Saints head coach Sean Payton got suspended for a year starting April 1^st. His suspension goes through the end of the upcoming season.  Current Rams and former Saints Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams has been suspended indefinably. The Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis got an eight game suspension as well. Assistant coach Joe Vitt will have to miss six games without pay for his role. The organization also got fined 500,000 and lost some draft picks. There is a lot of outrage because of the force of the Commissioner. Most people feel that this punishment is too harsh. I say it’s a little harsh but I can understand why he did it. The NFL has been working very hard on player safety and its importance. That’s why the harshness. He is trying to prove a point that the NFL is about player safety first and foremost.

That isn’t the only sports story of the day. Sports fans are aware that Peyton Manning is now officially a Denver Bronco. Denver’s old starting quarterback Tim Tebow has now left town. Tebow was traded today to the New York Jets. The Jets got Tebow and a seventh rounder. The Broncos got a fourth and sixth round picks.  Tebowmania was crazy in Denver. There is no telling how wild it could get in the Big Apple. Time will only tell why the Jets want an even bigger circus around their program. Tebow most likely will be used in wildcat plays.

Lastly today was Robert Griffin III’s pro day at Baylor. I feel kind of bad for the kid. He moved his pro day to get more attention but no one could have seen all of this coming on the same day. His pro day would have been a top story on a regular sports news day but it is just an afterthought at this point. He will make tons of money so I won’t feel bad for him long. RG3 is projected as the second pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Peyton Manning loves horses: Goes from Colts to Broncos

 By Ron Chenoy, US Presswire 

It's finally official, Peyton Manning is a Denver Bronco. With Peyton now in the fold in Denver what does it mean for the Mile High Messiah, Tim Tebow? If Peyton is 60% or better Tebow will be backup if he is allowed to stay in Denver. It has to be tough for him right now knowing he has no control over his NFL fate at this point. There are tons of rumors as to what will happen with Tebow. The most likely scenario puts Tebow either at a team in Florida or as a backup to a prominet team where he can learn to be more like a pro typical quarterback. No matter what happens to Tebow the Broncos have hitched their wagon to Peyton in hopes what he did for the Colts he can do for the Broncos. Once the news broke Denver went from being a pretender for a AFC title and Superbowl run to a contender. With free agency its almost impossible for a player to play a long time and stay with the same team. Manning joined a list of great players that didn't stay with their teams including legends Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, and others. There is another man getting a lot of publicity due to Manning signing with the Broncos. That man is Frank Tripucka. Who is that you say, well that is the the first ever quarterback for the Denver Broncos and the only man till now to wear the number 18. He has given his blessing and the Denver Broncos will un-retire the 18 jersey for Manning. Only time will tell if this was a great move by the Broncos and possible bad one for the Colts. With a little Luck it will be a great move by both parties. 

2012: Year of the Hog

The stars seem to be aligning for the Arkansas Razorbacks to make a run at a SEC title and National Championship. Knile Davis has decided to stay at Arkansas at least one more year to give his all to Razorback Nation. Knile could have left for the NFL and started his career but choose to return to see how he could help the Hogs. Another piece of the puzzle decided to stay at Arkansas as well. Tyler Wilson will return to lead the Hogs. Colbi Hamilton and Chris Gragg also decided to stay. The offensive line should only improve. The defense showed promise in the short time with new defensive coordinator Paul Haynes. The Hogs are losing a lot at the wide out spot. All world receiver Joe Adams, Greg Childs, and Jaruis Wright all are gone to the NFL. Even with all those losses the Razorbacks have the players ready to step up in their place. Hogs are also chasing a major recruit in DGB. He is a guy that would be able to come in and play immediately as a freshman in the SEC. Even if DGB doesn't choose the Hogs they still have the weapons compete for the SEC and National Titles. 2012 should be the Year of the Hog. I am going to start a twitter campaign using the hash tag #2012YearoftheHog. If you agree use the hashtag to get the word out.

Tebow Mania is OVER!

Al Bello - Getty Images

The New England Patriots have done the impossible and beat the all might Denver Broncos and their mile high messiah Tim Tebow, 45-10. It is no surprise that the Broncos get blown out with the defense playing horrible. Brady looked like he was playing catch out there. I'm not sure he even broke a sweat with his six touchdown passes. Tebow has made some great plays at times and put the Broncos in a position to win. If it wasn't for the defense and special teams then the Broncos lose several more games this past season and wouldn't have made the playoffs.Tebow needs to take some of that bonus money he got for the fluke win last week and send Matt Prater all expenses paid on a nice vacation.  I hope they put the Tebow and Tebowing talk to rest. He proved tonight he isn't ready for the big time. The Pats defense has one of the worst secondaries in the league and Tebow had horrible stats. I am sure for the next week we will hear all about the loss, but after that he should fade away for a while.

NBA: No Basketball Allowed

The NBA has officially canceled the first two weeks of the season. The big issue I take with all this is that everyone loses. I'm not sure who the NBA thinks they are but they are no NFL. The fans have not and will not be as vocal as those were for the NFL. NBA fans will not be as likely to return as quick as the NFL fans. Another thing hindering the NBA right now is that its third fiddle behind the NFL season and the MLB playoffs.  The owners and the players both think they are right and it doesn't sound like they will be budging anytime soon. From what I understand the Finals last year were a major ratings hit. Its amazing that the NBA wouldn't want to keep that momentum going. Have none of the major sports learned from the NHL's example. Owners and Players need to come to the table make realistic compromises and get back to doing what they do best, playing basketball. They need to realize who it is that is really hurting. What about those folks that sell the concessions, merchandise, and other things. What about the ticket takers, security, parking folks. Yes most of those people will make some money doing other events and concerts. Without NBA games though their revenue will be significantly lower. Most NBA arenas host NBA games and other smaller events. The NBA games should bring in the most income. While the Owners and Players are bickering over who will control the most money, I hope they realize that they are not the only ones affected.

It's almost time for Football

Football is just around the corner. NFL Lockout is over and Pro football can move on and will begin on time. College football is getting ready to fire up as well as some teams are getting ready to start fall practices. Over the next week or so I will be putting out blog posts going over my predictions for the upcoming Arkansas Razorback season. I will use EA Sports NCAA 12 for PS3 to simulate the games and report those results as well as my opinion on those results and whether I feel that is the prediction for that game. I hope to also do the same for the Dallas Cowboys using Madden 12.  I should have the first game up later today or tommorow so stay tuned.

Pryor proves NCAA can no longer let schools police themsleves

Terrelle Pryor has helped add further proof that the NCAA needs to change many policies. Pryor was set to be suspended for the first five games of the upcoming season. By leaving school he will not have to serve that suspension or have to answer to the NCAA on any an all violations that he had. The NCAA could have and should have suspended Pryor and the rest of the violating Ohio State players before the Sugar Bowl. I was in the group of people that did want them to play so if the Hogs had won we could have said we beat them at full strength with no excuses. However as a fan of the Hogs I knew it was a risk for the guys to play because they would be able to leave school for the NFL Draft before the season, but they promised their coach and school they would be back and serve the suspension.
 Fast forward six months and Terrelle Pryor and Coach Jim Tressel have both moved on from Ohio State. By going to the NFL both can avoid any punishment from the NCAA. More and more information keeps coming out. The latest is Pryor getting paid to sign memorabilia for large sums of money. The slip up came by payment by check. To find out more about violations just Google Pryor, Tressel or Ohio State.  This OSU debacle is just another proving that the NCAA can no longer allow schools to police themselves. OSU should and most likely will be more severely punished than USC. Its not a matter of when will it happen again but a matter of who will it be. Auburn, I am looking your direction.

Ryan Mallett: Give the kid a break

The National Media continues to knock down Ryan Mallett. The NFL Draft is just a week away tomorrow and talk of Mallett's character seems to be revving up again. Razorback fans are very passionate about the Hogs but are no way protecting him. People should remember just a few short years ago that some fans went so far as to get Houston Nutt's phone records so I would think that here in the state we would have heard about some of this stuff. We all know about some trouble that he got in when he was at Michigan and the year he sat out because of the transfer. But as much heat that is coming out about him you would think we would hear more here in Arkansas. My personal opinion is the National Media has a bias against Arkansas and Coach Petrino. They also have a bias against Ryan for the way he talks. Ryan speaks they way he does because of where he grew up. He is only doing what we all do and develop our language and other traits based on our environments we grew up in. Because Ryan Mallett is a Razorback he is lumped in with all the haters of the Hogs. The latest incident for Mallett comes from a visit with the Carolina Panthers where it was said that he partied all night the night before the meeting and then canceled because he was sick the next morning. The reports were put out by some fairly credible newspapers. Ryan's agents put out a statement which you can read here: http://www.arkansassports360.com/24588/agents-carolina-panthers-issue-statements-regarding-mallett-partying-report Carolina officials also denied the story. I understand that the teams have to find out everything they can about a possible draft pick because of the investment. I think the teams should also make sure they are getting their information from multiple credible sources.

All these so called "draft experts"that have been dragging Mallett through the mud every since he declared for the draft should really be ashamed of themselves. What has he done to them to deserves the hate that he gets. No I am not saying Mallett is perfect and he does have a few incidence that prove he is not, but come-on where is all the hate for Cam Newton that was there during the season. Cam Newton is projected to be a possible number one pick yet he was heavily scrutinized during the season with the cheating scandal and the pay to play scandal. Mallett has been by far one of the most scrutinized players in this years draft. A lot of those so called "draft experts" also talk about how much pro ready Mallett is because of the pro style offense he ran at Arkansas. All it takes is for one team to like him to take him and I still think the is a first rounder. I also feel Mallett has a pretty good head on his shoulders and will not waste the opportunity the NFL provides unlike former QB Matt Jones. Someone will give the kid a break and I strongly feel he will prove all of the doubters wrong and make some teams fans very angry because their team could have had him.