Random Notes, Vol. 4

Too many topics to cover. You know what that means, loyal reader? Yep, Random Notes are back with a ven… nah, too early for clichés. And not to explain my own writing or anything, but I like to use clichés in ye old blog just because they are so overused in sports announcing and commentary. Letting you in on an inside joke that no one else but me knew about or would think is funny. Anyways, the fourth installment of Random Notes is brought to you unofficially by Titleist golf products. Think about it.

- Was going to do a midseason check on my NFL predictions as a full post, but we’ll do this quick hit style. “Airmailed it”: Cowboys to win the NFC East (ouch), My Beas to finish last and the Lions to tie for 2nd in the NFC North, Tampa Bay last in the NFC South, Pats to take a step back, Chiefs last in the AFC West; “Nailed it”: Packers good, Saints good, Redskins really bad (giving up 59 at home on Monday Night? Yikes…), NFC West all bad, Buffalo bad, Ravens good, Raiders mini-sleeper, and “Chiefs having any offensive or defensive line, I’d move them up” hits because, well, it turns out they do have a decent offensive and defensive line… which is contrary to what I thought… hmmmm… we’ll call this a push. Sticking with my Ravens over Colts, Saints over Packers, and Saints over Ravens Championship and Super Bowl picks, mostly out of principle and because all could still happen. Seriously, have you ever seen an NFL season where the “best teams” seem to change week to week?

- Can we get a memo out to all NFL announcers calling Jets games: MARK SANCHEZ IS NOT A GOOD QUARTERBACK. He was 27-44, 299 yds, and 2 TD against the Browns. Decent numbers, right? Considering that the last 40 or so plus a TD was the last, dumb luck play, they’re down to okay. Did anyone else notice that the Jets had 50 seconds, 2 timeouts, and about 40 yards to get into field goal range to win in regulation, and that the Jets chose to play for OT? What sort of confidence is that in your QB? The announcers were raving about how he won the game for them in OT… uh, yeah, okay, not even going to waste my fingers on that one. And last year’s playoff run (as well as them taking over in the 2nd half against Cleveland), was all about the defense and/or running game. He’s not horrible, don’t get me wrong, but the announcers make him sound like a top 10 QB. And he’s not. Let’s get over it, let the kid develop, and move on. Moving on. (LB Note – that was written before Sanchez engineered a pretty damn impressive final drive against the Texans. He will now be considered an average QB until further notice.)

- The wife read online somewhere that Time’s Person of the Year is down to the Chilean miners (worthy) and, and I’m not making this up, LeBron James. We spent a good 10 minutes trying to come up with just one reason why he should win it, and the best we came up with was his donation to the Boys and Girls Clubs during the infamous Decision show, one of the most arrogant and self-destructive things an athlete has done to his image in recent memory. If you can come up with another reason, I’m all ears, but if he wins this, I think it discredits anyone who’s won in the past or future.

- As I’m sure you remember from my baseball preview, I predicted that Roy Halladay would win the NL Cy Young and Felix Hernandez would take it home in the AL. Just as I correctly predicted LeBron to the Heat, both Halladay and King Felix were named Cy Young winners last week. Sometimes it’s difficult being this good. Oh, I made some predictions about the MVPs of each league, too, but all of the sudden I can’t find the old post. I’ll go back and check that out another time.

- Always loving to throw in a little random sports pop quiz so here goes one for ya: At 2nd overall, Karl Malone has scored the most points in NBA history without winning an NBA title (eat it, 2004 Lakers). At 10th overall, who has the next highest total points scored in NBA history without winning an NBA title?

- I’m warming up to the idea that Michael Vick is being somewhat redeemed in the sports world, though contend that it’s only because he’s winning. Couldn’t resist this crack while watching the Eagles/Redskins blowout the other night: right after the Iggles kick returner fumbled the ball, though recovered, he was coming off the field and Vick called him out and yelled at him. I told the wife, “I think he just threatened to electrocute him.” The wife, who is now a Vick supporter (I think, I didn’t confirm that with her, but she’s calling me a Vick hater, so I’m guessing she’s on board), couldn’t resist a chuckle. Seriously, though, consider this… Vick grew up in the ghet-to, I mean, real ghetto, in Virginia, living a life of God-knows-what. He then becomes this superstar quarterback, maybe the most gifted football player in NCAA history to date. He goes on to make millions of dollars in the NFL, including an NFC title game appearance and, at the time, a record contract. He then gets caught up in this dogfighting/murdering scheme, does prison time, and is forced to file for bankruptcy, which he’s still in. He gets out, manages to sign with the Iggles of all teams, hangs out a year, trying to lay low (“trying,” i.e., nearly got his brother shot at his birthday party). Donovan McNabb, who lobbied the franchise hard to get him, ends up being traded so that his anointed successor, Kevin Kolb, can take over. Kolb proceeds to get hurt in the 2nd quarter of the first game of the year, Vick lights it up, and is now a frontrunner for the MVP. And he just turned 30 years old. Anyone smell a book deal in his future?

- NCAA hoops started up recently. Dick Vitale made an argument the other day that they shouldn’t start til after Thanksgiving cause it kinda gets lost, and you miss out on a lot of good early matchups. This is true, you do miss some great games because, unlike NCAA football, teams can actually schedule good competition and not be penalized for it because of some lame ass computer system that determines a national championship game. They actually get to decide things on the court. Novel concept. And yes, that was the obligatory shot at the BCS. Getting warmed up for this year’s “Most Ridiculous Bowl Games” post. And unless Boise and TCU both lose, and Oregon and Auburn win out, you can assume the BCS title game will be on the list.

- On a related note, the president of Ohio State recently came out and declared that Boise State and TCU were unworthy of playing in the BCS title game. Glad you feel that way. We all look forward to you scheduling both Boise and TCU for home-and-homes in the non-conference season starting in 2012. If you’re going to say stupid s**t, then man up, a**hole. Just another reason to hate that school.

- If anyone in the Vikings organization had any stones at all, Brett Favre would be benched the rest of the year. He had the 31st passer rating coming into that terrible outing against the Packers. He looks pathetic. Fake an injury and give it up already. No one cares anymore except for the poor announcers who have to try and make you relevant each week.

- One more Vick thing… would it be wrong if during an Eagles game the announcer said, “Vick is barking out signals”?

- The NHL season started up, and the Red Wings and Flyers are both out to strong starts. Did you notice? Thought not. I have a need to promote the NHL here as much as possible since, you know, they don’t do anything to promote themselves. Sigh…

- Looking forward to another Army/Navy game this December. Mojo and I will be ditching the women and children in the parking lot this year, meaning we can get drunker during the game. Love this game for many a reason, most notably the chance to see Mojo again, and hang out with his dad for a minute, but I always admire how much respect these rivals have for each other and how badly they want to win this game. In the parking lot beforehand, in the stadium, everywhere… there’s just this sense of the players and fans being a part of something bigger. And for those who play in that game, go to the schools, are alums, or whose family are alums, they are. It’s really an honor to be at that game, and if you ever get a chance to go, you gotta take it. Get it on your Sports Bucket List. Yeah, that’s a clichéd column, and yeah, I’ve kicked around writing it. King of Cliché’s over here. Oh, there’s another one!

- In similar news, Mojo texted at the end of the Army/Notre Dame debacle that Fah was “much classier than I would have been if we won.” As a quick follow up to the Week 11 picks, the ladies saw that we had posted (Mrs. Mojo got the email), but luckily didn’t read the post, so they were both surprised and delighted to find that Mojo had picked them up from their evening in his ranger panties. Also, Fah requested a name change on the blog. He is actually down 14 lbs., and working hard at it (sort of) and looking svelt (jeans were much looser, as he showed me). Mojo and I hesitated at first, then agreed that if he lost all the weight he was trying to, we would change his name to Craig, i.e., Jenny Craig. Fah T. then vowed he would stay within one pound of his weight goal to avoid that fate. Yes, we support good health here at Logical Betting, but apparently don’t like to incentivize reaching your goals.

- Pop quiz answer: With 26,668 points scored, some of the craziest dunks on record, and legendary slam dunk competitions against Michael Jordan back when players really cared about beating each other and not playing on the same team, the Human Highlight Reel, Dominique Wilkins is 10th in NBA history and points scored and, sadly, 2nd overall in players who have not won a title.

Time to sign off, so comments on the blog, Facebook, or to my email. Suggestions for posts to my email. And if you dare challenge my near invincible locks, you can do that on email or Facebook, too. Until then, be well and good to each other. Hasta.