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NFL FOOTBALL POOL, WEEK 11

All games for Week Eleven of the 2006 NFL Season are listed at the bottom. The home team is spelled out in CAPS. Please pick five games and assign point totals by writing the name of the team you pick in the blanks below. Also pick the Monday night game if you have not done so.

Favorite Spread Underdog
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 10 Oakland Raiders
Indianapolis Colts 1 DALLAS COWBOYS
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 3.5 Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers 3.5 CLEVELAND BROWNS
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 13 Tennessee Titans
Baltimore Ravens 4 Atlanta Falcons
CAROLINA PANTHERS 6.5 St. Louis Rams
HOUSTON TEXANS 2.5 Buffalo Bills
New England Patriots 6 Green Bay Packers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3 Washington Redskins
Chicago Bears 7 New York Jets
MIAMI DOLPHINS 3.5 Minnesota Vikings
ARIZONA CARDINALS 2 Detroit Lions
Seattle Seahawks 6 San Francisco 49ers
DENVER BRONCOS 2.5 San Diego Chargers

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 3.5 New York Giants

The Old Hot Stove

Jim Leyland and Joe Girardi took home manager of the year honors yesterday. Leyland's win was somewhat less of a surprise than Girardi's. To be fair, though, Girardi finishing at the top of the voting wasn't all that surprising either. The reason I bring it up is because it gives me a chance to rail on the Marlin's evil owner Wayne Huizenga... er... John Henry... er... Jeffery Loria. Right, Jeffery Loria. Hey, Jeff! Great call firing your manager because you're a control freak. I'm sure it won't be hard to start with a $15 million opening day payroll and be so competitive, that you almost make the playoffs next year. Don't worry... at least this year's opening day roster will have more than one batter with over 1000 ABs in the bigs. Maybe.

Boston is thinking about shooting a cool 50 mil over to J.D. Drew. Hey, what's another $50 million? Especially for a player who plays hard and everyone loves. With Manny in left, and Drew in right, are the Red Sox putting together the laziest outfield of all time? Is Bobby Bonilla available to play center? A Boston side note -- I'd like to be there when they tell John Henry that they bid 50 million dollars, not yen, on Megalon. That meeting would be good times.

No major signing activity thus far. Mike Mussina reupped for 2 years, at about 22-24 million. Fair enough. And I hate that I'm saying fair enough. That's an f-load of cash for being a "solid number 2." Heh. Sorry, this entire paragraph was a setup to allow me to use the phrase "solid number 2." Okay, I'll go back to the news now.

GMs are considering instant replay for baseball. You know, this is my favorite game, and I love how there's no clock. But come on people, do we really need to extend the game in an area where for 100 years we've been fine with the occasional missed call? Look at college football this season. Sometimes instant replay can do more harm than good. Although if baseball adopts instant replay and the Oklahoma Sooners somehow get screwed again, I'm all for it.

And finally... you've got to love Philadelphia. Pat Gillick comes in as the new GM last season, and by the trade deadline is trying to convince optimistic fans that the Phillies will not contend in 2007. Nothing like an organization that doesn't even believe in itself.

42 Million, and All I Got Was This Lousy Import

So... 42 million (allegedly!) for the right to sign a Japanese ace. But wait! If you you act now, we'll also throw in East Asian market awareness and a new car. But not really on the new car. Is it really financially sound for the Red Sox to be throwing this kind of cash around? Probably. Isn't that a bit sad? I want to say "who cares" because a) it's cooler to seem apathetic, and b) I really don't have any love lost for the Bosox... but I do care. It's just one more thing the real Evil Empire, Kevin McClatchy, Inc. has never heard of. What's "it"? Oh, that's right... putting together a competitive baseball team. (yes, you read that link correctly... that's a 2004 article.)

But you don't come to the site to read more rants about the Pirates, you want uplifting news. Something not so 'Burgh-centric? Sure thing. Did you realize ND was on tv for 169 straight games before USAFA's CSTV contract put an end to it? Kudos to the headline writer on that one, too. At first I was confused. I thought, no way ND has lost 169 games. Ty Willingham was only there for three seasons. Hard to forget when the Talking V*gina (yes, a blog I read only refers to May as this because of his distinctive(ly bad?) facial hair) reminds viewers every Saturday. Speaking of Mark May, we have scientific proof that he is disliked. Universally. Too bad Harold Reynolds decided to harass someone first (allegedly!). I'm not saying that Mark May should be fired, or even that I'm rooting for that. I'm just saying that it's more likely he'll be fired before May features Notre Dame in any of his polls, lists, or otherwise. Unless, of course, that poll is titled, "Teams I Unjustifiably Hate". I'd expect Notre Dame to finish near the top of that one. But not at the top. Because ND cannot be #1 for anything for May.

Don't worry Mark, I'm sure if ESPN ever lets you leave Bristol, you'll get the Corso Treatment in South Bend.

Is This Seriously Going to Happen?

Well, that was a pretty wild weekend of college football. It started, as it often does with me, while I was at a poker game. I'm over at my buddy Sean's house playing a little hold 'em and eight-or-better Omaha (dealer ante, of course), and the Louisville-Rutgers game comes on. Due to my wife being from Louisville, I feel compelled to sit through the horror that is this game. When Louisville is up 25-7, I am feeling pretty good about UofL's championship chances. I figure, at this point, that ND is totally out of the running, so I should root for UofL.

But not so fast, my friend, says Corso. Louisville loses to Rutgers, followed by losses by Texas, Auburn and Cal. Tennessee also lost, which is not necessarily relevant for ND's title hopes, but makes me all warm and fuzzy inside nonetheless. So now ND is ranked #5 in the BCS, with a legitimate shot at the BCS national championship game if they beat USC and Florida manages to lose.

Here is my dilemma. A month ago I bought ticket futures for ND in the Sugar Bowl. If you haven't seen how this works yet, you should definitely check it out. You pay a certain amount of money per ticket, and then if your team makes that particular bowl game, you buy tickets to that game at face value. Before Saturday, all looked to be in line for an ND Sugar Bowl appearance. I don't know if I plan to go to the game or sell the tickets, but the point is that I would have the tickets. Now, if ND goes to the NC game, I am more than happy to forfeit that money. However, if ND goes to the Rose Bowl because tOSU and UM get a rematch, I am going to be pissed.

On to the game recap.....

ND-Air Force, 39-17

Five Things I Liked:

1. Brady Quinn's rocket arm.

2. The sight of the Shark running free in the secondary.

3. Charlie's playcalling on the first two series.

4. Charlie not running up the score just to impress voters.

5. Four touchdown passes to four different receivers.

Honorable mention: Rhema's move after he caught his TD pass. Showed strength and agility. We'll need both against USC.

Five Things I Didn't Like

1. STOP THE RUN FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

2. Continued inability to wrap up by Zibby.

3. Is it that difficult to recruit a kicker? It seems like there are probably lots of kids who would like to come to ND and could kick a fucking extra point. Really. It doesn't seem that hard.

4. Dropped passes. Yes, I am looking at you Darius Walker.

5. Life after Quinn looks bleak right now.


This was again one of those weeks where I was very happy to win, but playing a service academy always is a little depressing because it feels like beating up on someone who is not quite capable of responding in kind. 9-1, though, is very nice.

NFL Week 10 Reaction

Well... that was interesting. It's nice to see the Steelers trying to ruin any chance of getting a good draft pick. Prediction -- they finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs by a game. Since I've predicted it, though, it is sure not to happen. Tune in next week when I predict records of 3-13, 4-12, 5-11, 6-10, 7-9, and 8-8 for the Steelers, too.

It would appear not all is well in Steeler-land (aside from being 3-6), as the defensive line still cannot get any real push on the QB. I'm not convinced Casey "Hungry-Hungry Hippos" Hampton is healthy.

On to the rest of the league...

If we call it the Good Ship Lovie, can we call it the Sinking Ship Marvin? If you're a "defensive mastermind" and your team scores 41 points, shouldn't you win every game? Something to ponder, I guess.

Arizona lost again, and I, for one, am excited that with Denny Green's impending firing. We get to hear Denny Green's name come up for every head coach opening for the next three to four years -- with him never actually being hired, of course. Sometimes coaches fail because their teams are bad. Sometimes they fail because they're bad coaches. Sometimes, it's both. And sometimes, you're name is Rich Kotite. I'm not saying that Denny Green is Rich Kotite... but geez man, 1-8? Are you serious? And enough about how you could be 6-3. Guess what? You could be 9-0. But you're not. Stop crying and start working on your resume. (Some advice though, don't list your all-time NFL record.)

Houston, congratulations. I'm sure your quest to finish .500 will fail. But it's fun to watch you try. Somewhat sadly for the Texans, and happily for Houston, the Dynamo (great name by the way -- not) won the MLS Cup yesterday. I know many readers (all five of you) will greet MLS talk with some derision, but I mention it for two reasons -- 1. It was a ridiculously entertaining game if you turned it on halfway into the first overtime. 2. It's that much more embarrassing to Houston that one of its expansion teams won so quickly, and the Texans are still terrible. Kicking a man while he's down you say, in making fun of the Texans? I care.

It's been since Buddy Ryan was coaching that NFL audiences have seen this frosty a handshake. I couldn't quite make out Bill's words... but I think it started with "F*ck" and ended with "your mother."

And finally, from the files of Brett-Favre-Plays-Just-Well-Enough-This-Year-To-Consider-Coming-Back-Next-Year, the Pack won yesterday. Have we ever seen a guy raise a franchise up (won the SB) and kill it (not allowing anyone else to develop, steals away good draft picks by winning a few games a year) like Brett? I doubt it.

NFL Week 10

While ND prepares for Air Force (can we please learn how to defend someone in the first half?!?), the NFL rolls on. Now that my beloved Steelers are all-but-mathematically eliminated from a meaningful game in January, there is no joy in Rockville.


He's supposed to beat the Bears
this weekend. Umm, sure.


On the upside, I am going to Vegas in March, so this blog will likely look more like a police blotter at that time.

Anyway - on to the games for this week. As always, send your five picks to questionablecommentary@yahoo.com. This means you, SpragueND.

Favorite Spread Underdog

Kansas City Chiefs 1 MIAMI DOLPHINS

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 10.5 Houston Texans

San Diego Chargers 1.5 CINCINNATI BENGALS

ATLANTA FALCONS 8 Cleveland Browns

Baltimore Ravens 7 TENNESSEE TITANS

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 11.5 Buffalo Bills

PITTSBURGH STEELERS 4 New Orleans Saints

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 7 Washington Redskins

NEW YORK GIANTS 1 Chicago Bears

MINNESOTA VIKINGS 5 Green Bay Packers

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 10.5 New York Jets

DETROIT LIONS 6 San Francisco 49ers

Denver Broncos 9 OAKLAND RAIDERS

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 3.5 St. Louis Rams

Dallas Cowboys 7 ARIZONA CARDINALS

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

CAROLINA PANTHERS 9.5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Working Too Much

The disaster of the last UNC-ND meeting


and posting too little. QC will try to do better in the future. Anyway, below is a rundown of last week's game against North Carolina plus the updated scores for the NFL pool.

ND 45 - UNC 26

Five Things I Liked

1. Brady Quinn is the man. A good number of the throws he made on Saturday were NFL-caliber (looking off coverage, going all the way through the progression, superior arm strength, etc.)

2. Zibby finally holding onto a punt return. That was nice to see.

3. Scoring seemingly at will in the second half.

4. Shark and Rhema having huge days together. Grimes emerging as a true third threat.

5. The hoodie.


Five Things I Didn't Like

1. The gaping holes in the secondary.

2. Our seemingly endless inability to tackle an opposing player in the open field.

3. Allowing a return touchdown.

4. Allowing Joe Dailey to look like Joe Montana.

5. That games like this somehow damage Brady's Heisman chances. It infuriates me that a QB at tOSU (who, btw, admitted taking cash from a booster a/k/a cheating) can throw for 100 yards and an interception and not be penalized for playing crappy competition.


Scores from this week (a/k/a my eyes are bleeding):

Geaux Irish: 46 points (nice work)
Clown Hater: 11 points
Festering in Dallas: 1 point
SpragueND: 1 point
QC: 0
CU Lions: 0

Updated standings out tomorrow. I don't think they will be favorable for me.

Funny Stuff

A letter from the worst rated player on Madden 2007 to John Madden.

No more John L. Smith and other tidbits from around the world

• John L. Smith ("Jonelle" for purposes of this character assassination), was fired Wednesday from his position as head football coach at Michigan State. This development alternatively delights and saddens me. It delights me because Jonelle was, and is, not a particularly good human being. First, he broke his contract with the University of Louisville but was so bad at keeping the secret that his players found out via cell phone during the game. Second, he refused to discipline his players for the flag planting incident last year. I'm not saying the guy is a criminal; just that he is a used car salesman who finally got caught trying to sell another lemon. It saddens me because Jonelle, despite his record against ND, was not likely to beat Charlie again. Ever. This is one guaranteed win we lose each year. MSU might hire someone competent, and that means another difficult game each year.

• Cal and Tennessee jumping ND in the polls in the last two weeks is the best evidence of pollsters' bias I can point to. Neither team played the week before. Cal's movement is particularly egregious, as ND blew out Navy (as expected). Unless ND goes undefeated in coming years, we have no shot at playing for a national title.

• I went to the Navy game, and it lacked something. Don't misunderstand me - I had a terrific time and was glad to see ND look so good (especially on offense). The main thing missing was any animosity for the opponent (and rightly so). I have the ultimate respect for the service academies - they are populated by young men and women doing something I could not have done. It's difficult to be too happy about a win over them; the game feels more like a scrimmage.

• Louisville beat West Virginia last night and should be #3 in the BCS standings on Sunday. They deserve it. I am tired of the SEC apologists who cry that the Big East is undeserving of a NC bid. My answer to them is the same answer I gave about ND - win all your games and it won't be a problem. Unless you're Auburn in '04. That one probably did kind of suck.

• Want to see something from the legal world that is priceless. Harold Reynold's complaint.

• My picks for this weekend's games: Cowboys, Packers, Bears, Falcons, Patriots (Seattle on MNF). Guaranteed to go 2-3 at best.

• Prediction for the ND-UNC game: ND 35, UNC 14.

Performances are Improving..We're Second World Status Now, Baby!

Nice job by the pool participants this week in rebounding from the horror that was the Week 7 picks. We're still not performing "well," but we'll take it at this point. Listed below are the standings. Longer and more detailed post coming tomorrow about the week that was, including Jonelle's firing, Notre Dame's continued prison rape in the polls, why attending games against the service academies lacks something and other a la carte commentary.

Results for Week 8:

SpragueND: 41
CU Lions: 41
QC: 25
Geaux Irish: 25
Clown Hater: 21
Festering in Dallas: 16

With the first pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the Steelers Select... (NFL Pool, Week 9)

So, I'd like to thank the Steelers for killing any hope of making the playoffs with last week's "game". I'm saying that sincerely, too. Usually sports teams will mess with their fans, flirting with rising above the mediocrity line, giving the regular fan hope that things might turn out okay in the end. See 1981-2006 Phillies. Not so with the Steelers.

How long until the Pirates report to training camp?

-----------------------------

NFL Week 9

Green Bay (+3.5) at Buffalo
Miami (+13.5) at Chicago
Atlanta (-6.0) at Detroit
Kansas City (+2.5) at St. Louis
Houston (+13.0) at NY Giants
New Orleans (-1.5) at Tampa Bay
Dallas (+3.0) at Washington
Tennessee (+9.0) at Jacksonville
Cincy (+3.0) at Baltimore
Minnesota (-5.0) at San Fran
Denver (-2.5) at Pittsburgh
Cleveland (+12.5) at San Diego
Indy (+3.0) at New England

MONDAY NIGHT BORING

Oakland (+7.5) at Seattle

Just Desserts

Yeah, that's right. With a cherry on top.

You know, in my experience, when people aren't going to return to their jobs, it's called a "firing."

It's funny, when you choke horribly in the fourth quarter against a team everyone who backed you wanted you to beat, people get upset.

I wonder if ESPN 8 (you know, the Ocho) would hire John to color commentate on D-III games... Oh wait, I'm lying. I don't wonder that. I just don't care.