NFL PICK'EM WEEK 17

HERE ARE OUR PICKS FOR WEEK 17

Sunday Jan.1st                        TYLER           DALLIN         CASEY

Washington@Philadelphia                 Philadelphia          Philadelphia            Philadelphia

Tennessee@Houston                         Houston                 Houston                  Tennessee

Chicago@Minnesota                          Minnesota            Minnesota               Minnesota

Buffalo@New England                       Buffalo                   New England           New England

Indianapolis@Jacksonville                Jacksonville           Jacksonville            Jacksonville

Detroit@Green Bay                            Detroit                     Detroit                      Detroit

Carolina@New Orleans                     Carolina                  Carolina                    New Orleans

NY Jets@Miami                                 Miami                      Miami                        Miami

San Francisco@St. Louis                  San Francisco       San Francisco          San Francisco

Pittsburgh@Cleveland                     Pittsburgh              Pittsburgh                 Pittsburgh

Kansas City@Denver                      Kansas City           Kansas City              Kansas City

Tampa Bay@Atlanta                      Atlanta                    Atlanta                      Atlanta

Baltimore@Cincinnati                     Baltimore               Cincinnati                   Cincinnati

Seattle@Arizona                             Seattle                    Arizona                      Arizona

San Diego@Oakland                     Oakland                   Oakland                     Oakland

Dallas@NY Giants                         NY Giants               Dallas                        NY Giants

NBA TWILIGHT ZONE!!! (TYLER)

WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE NBA?

So i took a look into the NBA these last couple of days and couldn't believe my eyes and ears! It was like i was looking into the twilight zone! I mean... The defending champions, the Dallas Mavericks are already 0-2 after losing to a Carmelo-less Denver Nuggets team. The L.A. Lakers are 0-2 after losing to the Sacramento Kings! And three of the teams that analysts are talking about making big splashes in the playoffs are The L.A. Clippers, the Charlotte Bobcats, and the Golden State Warriors!!! Then i stop and think about it.... how is this going to continue? Look at this season for a second... We have 66 games instead of 82 and crammed into a shorter amount of time... meaning there are back-to-back-to-back series, and sometimes these are in 3 different cities. What teams are this kind of season going to benefit and what teams are this season going to hurt. 

1. Young teams are going to have fresher legs during the 3 game series and shorter time frame. Teams like Oklahoma City, L.A. Clippers, Sacramento, Portland, Utah, Golden State, Minnesota, Miami, Charlotte, Chicago, N.Y. Knicks, and the N.J. Nets. The main difference between some of these teams listed is there are some that have gone through very few changes and played together last year which is a huge benefit. (ex.. OKC, Miami, Chicago)
2. Older teams are going to have a tougher time staying in games later in these 3 game series and are going to struggle. Teams like the L.A. Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, and the Boston Celtics. These teams have a lot of veteran players that are savvy and have proven their toughness over and over again, but it's going to be rough on those tired, worn out bodies of theirs.

So maybe this year will be like a year straight out of the twilight zone. Maybe the "bottom feeders" of the last few years make a big splash in the playoffs this year. I don't know but i'm excited to see how it all plays out.

NFL PICK'EM WEEK 16

                            

Here are our picks for the week.

Thursday Dec. 22                   Tyler                 Dallin                   Casey

Houston@Indianapolis             Houston              Houston                Houston

Saturday Dec. 24

Miami@New England             New England        New England       New England

Jacksonville@Tennessee         Tennessee             Tennessee           Jacksonville

Tampa Bay@Carolina             Carolina               Carolina               Carolina

Cleveland@Baltimore             Baltimore               Baltimore            Baltimore

Arizona@Cincinnati                Cincinnati               Cincinnati           Arizona

Minnesota@Washington         Minnesota              Minnesota           Washington

Denver@Buffalo                    Buffalo                   Denver                Buffalo

St.Louis@Pittsburgh              Pittsburgh                Pittsburgh          Pittsburgh

Oakland@Kansas City          Oakland                 Kansas City        Kansas City

NYGiants@NYJets               NYGiants               NYGiants           NYGiants

San Diego@Detroit               Detroit                    Detroit                San Diego

Philadelphia@Dallas              Philadelphia             Dallas                 Dallas

San Francisco@Seattle          San Francisco        Seattle                 Seattle

Sunday Dec. 25

Chicago@Green Bay            Green Bay               Green Bay           Green Bay

Monday Dec. 26

Atlanta@New Orleans          New Orleans           New Orleans       New Orleans

Why Sports? (Casey)

 So as I sat yesterday and watched my beloved Steelers fall in a game they needed to win I began to think, Why is it I watch sports and cheer for specific teams? Why is it I put so much emotion, so much pride, so much money into supporting a bunch of people gathered together to play a game? Why is it when my favorite teams lose I take it so personal or when the teams I despise wins I get so upset?
Its because at a young age I began grabing onto things like sports I looked for reasons to cheer.One of my favorite things to do was go to BYU football games with my Dad. We would get up early on any given saturday morning, pack up the car with treats and head up to mighty Provo dressed up in our BYU gear ready to cheer. I remember listening to Paul James on the Radio as we headed up the freeway, I actually remember hearing some garden show on KSL that always came on before the pregame show. I remember getting there and parking at the old Daily Herald Building on Freedom Boulevard and being so excited to go into the stadium where we sat on the north endzone close to the top. I remember the guy behind us who would yell "DDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEE" every time the Defense would take the field, I could never figure out how he was able to yell that long without taking a breath. I remember cheering untill I couldnt talk and when the game was over I would always ask Dad to buy me some BYU garb. Then we would get back to the car and turn on KSL for the post game show on the way home fighting traffic to the freeway. I loved every minute of it and to this day still do. I loved every sunday turning on the TV and watching the NFL, and the NBA. I loved watching the Jazz play on tv. I, like all Jazz fans was jumping up and down in my living room when John Stockton hit the shot in Houston that sent the Jazz to the NBA finals. And then how mad I was that they couldn't beat Jordan and the Bulls 2 years in a row. I was laying on my parents couch when the announcement came down that Utah would get the 2002 Winter Olympics and how excited I was for that untill I did the math and realized I would be on my LDS mission and would miss it. I remember being heartbroken when the Steelers lost to the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX, and how excited I was when they beat Seattle in Super Bowl XL and the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. I think the reason I love sports so much is that it is a way to express joy and sorrow. To be able to grab ahold of something and cheer and get excited for them to do well. Sports has a way to provide a incredible high and it also has a way to provide incredible lows. As long as we keep sports in prespective in life it can be a very very enjoyable thing as well as a great way to create memories., To this day I am greatfull to my Dad and my family for getting me involved with sports and to my wife and kids for allowing me to continue my passion for sports no matter how nutty I get when I watch. I love hearing my kids cheer for the teams they watch, my daughter cheering for GO BYU, and my son jumping up and down and  clapping his little hands whenever his Dad cheers, and my beautiful wife for coming and sitting by me telling me sorry that my team is losing and the way she laughes me off when I do some silly dance when my teams score. In other words, Why Sports? Why Not!

Bowl Season Begins! (Casey)

Well folks its bowl season and I for one can't wait. This is one of my favorite times of year! It all starts Saturday December 17th with the Gildan New Mexico Bowl and will end January 8th with the Allstate BCS National Championship Game. And with nearly a Bowl Game or more a day its going to be some great TV. But there are a couple of games beside the ones involving local teams that Im especially excited to watch.

• The first of these games is the Outback Bowl on January 2nd where #16 Georgia (10-3) will play #17 Michigan State (10-3). Both of these teams are coming off loses in there respective conference championship games but these teams are both really good. Georgia came on late in the season starting 0-2 but didn't lose another game till they played #1 LSU in the SEC Championship Game. Michigan State played some great football this season as well and without a running into the kicker penalty late in the game could have had the ball and possibly won the game against Wisconsin and be playing in the Rose Bowl. But this game will be a great one to watch, an offensive team with alot of weapons (Georgia) against a Defensive team that will smash you in the mouth and not even look back (Michigan State). I have this game being real close but Georgia pulling it out 34-28.

• The Rose Bowl is the next game that Im excited about. This game will feature #5 Oregon (11-2) against #10 Wisconsin (11-2). These two teams are on 2 completely different sides of the spectrum but they are the same in that they are both running teams. Oregon its very flashy/high tempo running style behind LaMichael James against Wisconsin and there methodical/smashmouth running style behind Montee Ball. With that said you would think this game would be a quick, low scoring game but in the words of Lee Corso "Not So Fast!" these teams can score points. Against UCLA Oregon scored 49 points in fact in all but one game this year Oregon has scored more than 34 points the exception was against LSU who has one of the best defenses in the country. And Wisconsin scored 42 against Michigan State in the Big 10 Championship and has scored more that 40 points 9 times. This game including all that comes with it is one of my favorites games each year and will not dissapoint, I have Wisconsin winning in its second try in as many years in a high scoring affair. 43-38 Wisconsin.

So there you have it, my picks for the games I'm looking forward to but there are plenty of great games coming up so im curious what everyone elses games would be. So pop the popcorn and get your favorite chair ready its BOWL SEASON!

NFL PICK'EM WEEK 14

Here are our picks for this week.

Thursday Dec. 15th                       Tyler                  Dallin                  Casey

Jacksonville@Atlanta                   Atlanta                 Atlanta                  Atlanta

Saturday Dec. 17th

Dallas@Tampa Bay                   Tampa Bay           Dallas                   Dallas

Sunday Dec. 18th

Cincinnati@St. Louis                  Cincinnati               Cincinnati             Cincinnati

New Orleans@Minnesota          New Orleans         New Orleans       New Orleans

Miami@Buffalo                            Buffalo                  Buffalo                 Buffalo

Carolina@Houston                      Houston                 Carolina              Houston

Green Bay@Kansas City            Green Bay              Green Bay           Green Bay

Washington@NY Giants           NY Giants              NY Giants           NY Giants

Tennessee@Indianapolis          Tennessee              Tennessee            Tennessee

Seattle@Chicago                         Chicago                  Seattle                 Seattle

Detroit@Oakland                        Oakland                  Detroit                Detroit

Cleveland@Arizona                   Arizona                  Arizona                Arizona

NY Jets@Philadelphia                Philadelphia           Philadelphia          NY Jets

New England@Denver               New England          New England       New England

Baltimore@San Diego                San Diego               San Diego            San Diego

Monday Dec. 19th

Pittsburgh@San Francisco        Pittsburgh              Pittsburgh             Pittsburgh

Thug Life! (Casey)

Xavier vs Cincinnati Fight

So Saturday instead of College Football (other than the great Army vs Navy Game) we got to watch some great College Basketball. I mean #1 and #2 fell on saturday, and locally BYU and Utah played. But all the college world can talk about is the fight at the end of the Xavier vs Cincinnati game. I was watching the BYU vs Utah game when Dallin happened to see on the ticker that the Xavier game had been cut short because of a bench clearing brawl. So of course I turned the channel to ESPN News to see what happened and after I saw it I was amazed. It all started early in the week and during pregame when both teams were jawing back and forth and at half time Xavier Junior #10 Mark Lyons got into it with a bench player from Cincinnati as the teams left the court. Then in the final seconds of the game with the ballgame well in hand a Xavier Player and a Cincinnati player came nose to nose, someone was pushed and it all quickly went down hill from there. It was an embarrassment for both school and to watch #34 Yancy Gates from Cincinnati throw a sucker punch at #32 Kenny Frease then watch another Cincinnati player #13 Cheikh Mbodj stomp on Frease's head while he was down was actually criminal! So why is it that this kind of behavior is ok on the court or on the field when in real life those men (I use the term loosely) would have been thrown in Jail. Now I did hear that some criminal charges could be brought down on some of those that threw punches, which i hope they do, but this whole "Thug" mentality in sports especially in basketball needs to go away. After that fight and during the press conference Xavier SENIOR guard Tu Holloway said this:

"We are grown men over here, we got a whole bunch of Gangstas in the locker room, not thugs but tough guys on the Court!"

This mentality has to change, these guys are not gangsters they are BASKETBALL PLAYERS and they represent an Institution or City. When something like this happens I think these players should be kicked off any team until time comes that they realize that its more than street ball they are playing. If you want to play like a thug you should not be able to get a free education and represet a school. Now there were suspensions handed down and I was greatfull to hear the Cincinnati coach say that none of the players involved would be allowed to return to the team untill they apologized on tape and the coach deemed it an appropriate and truthfull apology. I hope these guys will begin to remember what they are playing for and how this can effect them later on in life, and stop with this stupid thinking and just play the game that we all love to watch.