The Highs and Lows of Sports...

Ah I love sports, there really is nothing like it, sometimes I wonder why I like it so much. I just became attached to it at an early age and have just developed a real unhealthy addiction to it, just about all my free time is devoted to watching sports, reading about sports or even taking my sports nerdiness to the next level and discussing it on the internet. But again why do I like it so much? In the grand scheme of things it's not that important and most of all the payoff is often rare (IE Championships) and in the end more often then not you're left feeling a little demoralized and bummed out almost wondering if your team will ever be successful again. But those moments when you do experience victory that feeling of why you've been watching or playing your whole life comes right back to you.

This past weekend was a great weekend though, for those that don't know I go to Oklahoma State and me and my roomate Cameron drove up to Columbia, Missouri to watch them take on the Missouri Tigers. We have some buddies from high school we were allowed to stay with and we figured why not get hammered and then enjoy some college football on the side. So we made the 6 and a half hour drive up there despite being a heavy underdog to the number 3 ranked Missouri Tigers. Fast forward to Saturday and we're out tailgating among the masses that attend Mizzou, as we're making the way through the parking lot a chorus of boos hits me and Cameron which makes us even more fired up for the game. It was mainly playful aside from one douchebag trying to bait my friend in a fight.

Fast forward to the game, 1st and foremost I was not expecting to win this game, I was really hoping Oklahoma State could just prove they're a legit team, a win was somewhat far from my mind. But man what an intense game, so many twists and turns and back and forth action. We somehow held them to a field goal on the 1st drive when the Tigers were stopped a foot from the goalline and we march down there and score a TD when QB Zac Robinson tucked it and ran it in. Then later we forced them to punt and we also had to punt...or so I thought, on 4th and 18 our punter decided to tuck the ball and try and run for it when we were around our own 35 yard line. Thankfully I found out that wasn't head coach Mike Gundy's decision but the punter has that option when he sees fit. But what was that punter thinking, it's hard enough to run a successful fake punt but to do it where you have to run 18 yards, it's damn near impossible. Not to mention you just gave one of the best offenses in the country fantastic field position and all momentum you had going for you.

So of course they go down and get a quick TD, but the entire 1st half had sloppy special teams play, both teams missed chip shot field goals, one was blocked and one was flat out missed. And towards the end of the half OSU also failed to score some points when Zac Robinson fumbled the ball away costing us another shot at points. So we go into half time down 10-7 even though we clearly out played them and obviously I'm down about it since you're just waiting for the Tigers offense to get going and you feel that we let a giant opportunity slip away. Thankfully we got the ball back in the 2nd half.

So a few plays into the 2nd half and our standout Sophmore Running back Kendall Hunter takes off down the sideline as he dances 68 yards towards the end zone. He did one of those tightrope dances on the sideline and I just think it's amazing how these athletes are able to keep there balance when one is trying to push you out of bounds, same goes for how receivers can get 2 feet down after catching the ball. Then there is some back and forth tug of war for field position as both QB's throw an INT with in a span of 3 plays. Then Mizzou drives the ball 95 yards to retake the lead 17-14, OSU dealing with a ton of pressure follows up with a 40 yard TD pass to Damian Davis, and OSU never lost the lead again, after going up 21-17. Fast forward to after the game where OSU had shocked the country and upset Missouri 28-23 what a great feeling, walking out of the stadium everyone that talked crap after the game were dead silent and not even acknowleding Cameron and I. Our friends didn't want to talk about what they thought would have been a guaranteed victory and all we could do was soak in the sweet feeling of victory with the Oklahoma State fans that walked among us.

Fast forward to the next day where the Dallas Cowboys get down 7-0 on the opening kickoff and continue to trail the majority of the game and me and my friends are cheering our asses off and they complete the miracle comeback to tie up the game on a clutch field goal by Nick Folk. And as sweet as that moment was that was maybe the worst thing that could have happened to this team. The Cowboys win the toss and Tony Romo severely damages his pinkie finger and is noticeably hurt the next 2 plays and obviously the complete screw up by special teams that led to Mat Mcbriar not only damaging his knee but forcing him to miss the remainder of the season. I have said it for the longest time, special teams has been our weak link to this team, it was a large reason why we lost in the playoffs last year and was the reason we lost against Arizona in a game where we should have gained ground on Washington and New York. And on top of the Romo and McBriar injuries Felix Jones, Kevin Burnett, Anthony Spencer are all out for next week, Adam Jones was suspended for 4 games while we still have other people hurt like Pat Watkins and Roy Williams (the safety, who should return this week) and Guard Kyle Kosier.

As I said, in sports you can go from a high to a low in an instance, and what made the loss against Arizona even worse was that me and Cameron were looking ahead to a 6 and a half hour drive back to Stillwater, talk about a kick in the ass. The loss was terrible because this offense hasn't looked good since the Philadelphia game, I'm almost hoping for a Terrell Owens blowup because he deserves to, I've finally realized that he is the real reason this offense goes and when he's held ineffective the team is ineffective. The defense played solid, though Kurt Warner through all over them in the 2nd half but that was due to some spectacular grabs by Larry Fitzgerald and due to Anthony Henry not being able to cover anything that runs faster then a 4.8. But I am tired of the offense, last year we were a downfield passing attack that was pass first, this year it's almost like Jason Garrett offensive coordinator is getting to cute and doesn't always go with what's working and forgets that there is a middle of the field that you are allowed to pass on or that you can move Owens in motion to try and spring him open. I was at least happy to see our defense blitz and not play zone defense much, we were hitting Warner and was surprised at the throws he was making because he was getting absolutely drilled on some plays. Kudos to him and Fitzgerald and the Cardinals defensive line who crapped all over our offensive line who could not stop them if there lives depended on it Sunday, just a downright pathetic display, as bad as the playoff game vs. the Giants last year.

But as I stated Highs go to Lows and Lows go to...the Middle. The trade the Cowboys made to bring in Roy Williams (the receiver) made me happy. We may have given up a little to much but I really don't buy that because ever since we acquired TO everyone has said we need to get a younger legit #2 WR. And guess what, we got him and we didn't need to develop him, we'll have him in the prime of his career rather then take a risk on a player in the draft where a majority of the players bust. He'll be able to pick up the offense as the year goes by and by the time the playoffs come around he should be good to go. This also should help T.O as he's been troubled the past couple games facing constant double teams and teams have been very physical with from the outset since teams will be afraid of Williams on the opposite side whereas a guy like Patrick Crayton and Miles Austin don't exactly strike fear into the other teams. Plus with the amount on draft picks the Cowboys had that is another reason why I am fine with the trade, they still have a 2nd round, 3rd, and multiple 4th 5th and 7th round picks so if they want to they can trade into the 1st round of the draft. And I do not think there are that many positions needed to be adressed for starters, the last several drafts all we have been drafting for are the backup positions or positions to find where the old guys are, the only weak spot we may have is right tackle if we choose to not resign Marc Columbo this off season. I think the 1st round pick is a lot more valuable to the rebuilding Lions then it would be to the Cowboys who would just sit that guy on the bench or he'd see limited time behind the backups.

But so goes the highs and lows and live to see another week...
Here's how I did last week: 8-6 vs. the spread and 2-4 vs. the over/under
On the year: 36-33-3 vs. the spread and 14-8-2 vs. the over/under
And for the games I'd most likely bet on 3-1 vs. the spread and I aced the over/under pick

If there wasn't so much offensive inneptitude I would have won the over/under picks. All New England had to do was get another TD, same for the Ravens and the Raiders/Saints needed 11 more combined points. I knew the Raiders would struggle with a new coach but to the tune of 3 points? Pathetic.

Onto this week:

San Francisco 49ers @ New York Giants (-10.5)
Well for seemingly the 1st time all year I picked the Giants last week and for the 1st time all year Eli was the normal Eli and not the "All-Pro better then his brother Eli" that some moron analysts had hailed him as. But the 49ers defense sucks and seemingly has surpassed the over/under every game they have been in, Giants and over (46.5)

Pittsburgh Steelers (-9.5) @ Cincinatti Bengals
Carson Palmer again appears to be out this game could get ugly, Steelers BIG!

Tennessee Titans (-9) @ KC Chiefs
Last time KC had an undefeated team at there place they pulled off the upset, I think the Titans offense is shaky enough for it to possibly happen despite the Chiefs playing without Larry Johnson. Titans win, but Chiefs cover.

Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears (-3)
Nice divisional matchup between these 2 bitter rivalries, the Vikings coming off a squeaker in Detroit and the Bears coming off a heartbreaker vs. the Falcons. It's hard to imagine this Bears team could be undefeated if not for a few mistakes (like squib kicking last week, it's not like the Falcons have Devin Hester back there) I like the Vikings to march into Soldier field and come out with a victory.

San Diego Chargers @ Buffalo Bills
It looks like there's not really a line set on this game, I've seen a Bills favored by 1 so I'll go with that. It looks like Trent Edwards will start in this game for the Bills which is good for this team coming off there bye week vs. a notable opponent. I liked that San Diego came out with some fire last week vs. the Patriots and they need to continue doing that this week and not come out flat like they did vs. the Dolphins. I'll give them some credit and pick the Chargers, the over/under is set at 44.5, if the Chargers plan on winning it will be somewhat high scoring OVER.

Nawlins Saints @ Carolina Panthers (-3)
Well the Panthers got there butts beat last week, the game was over before it even started, so much for thinking the Bucs weren't for real (why do I continue to doubt Jon Gruden's team?) Drew Brees has been the MVP so far and will continue to play like it vs. this divisional foe, Saints.

Dallas Cowboys (-7) @ St. Louis Rams
I think Tony Romo will get the start, he may not be in very long but in the end I think he will start, the Rams will be fired up since they are coming off a huge upset vs. the Redskins in there own house. The key is for the O-line to block, whether it's for Romo or backup QB Brad Johnson, both are brittle, one has a hurt pinkie the other is coming from a retirement home, they both need max protection. They need the QB to be a game manager vs. the Rams, Washington clearly outplayed them last week but won because of a few costly Redskin mistakes (like that fumble by the 'Skin guard which led to a 60+ yard fumble return for a TD with less then 20 seconds left in the half) I also hope this game doesn't come down to a field goal because Josh Brown is as clutch a kicker as Nick Folk. I'll take the Cowboys, but they haven't covered the spread in a while, maybe since week 1.

Baltimore Ravens @ Miami Dolphins (-3)
What a crappy game, I hardly want to pick this, but so far Miami has looked legit, look for them to contine this nice display at home.

Detroit Lions @ Houston Texans (-9.5)
The Texans have looked like a good team the past 3 weeks though they only have 1 win to show for it. It's hard to believe they're favored by this much but I'll still take it. What's sad is this is probably Detroit's easiest game the rest of the season, there schedule is just brutal. Aside from this week here are probably there easiest opponents: @ Carolina vs. Tampa Bay, vs. Minnesota and @ Green Bay the final week of the seaosn. Those are there easiest games, all their remaining games are vs. playoff contenders. If they're up for moral victories they did cover a significant spread last week vs. the Vikings, they could seriously go 0-16 though.

New York J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS (-3.5) vs. Oakland Raiders
Favre coming off a bye week, he could have another week off and they'd still win this game, JETS! and the over/under is 41, I'll predict Favre puts on a show in the black hole.

Indianapolis Colts (-2) @ Green Bay Packers
The Colts offense looks to finally be back so I'm tired and ready to wrap this up, I'll take them, despite Aaron Rodgers doing fairly well for himself and his team.

Cleveland Browns @ Washington Redskins (-7)
The Browns moved the ball at will on the Giants last week and there defense (which was the key to there game) actually played decent for once. If the normal Giants defense would have shown up they probably would have stomped them because of the sole fact that the Browns killed themselves with penalties, almost as if they were trying to lose the game (and for awhile I was sorta convinced they were) I'll take the Redskins this week for the bounce back, but I'd be more then happy to be wrong.

Seattle Seahawks @ Tampa Bay Bucs (-10.5)
Hard to believe the Seahawks would face a game where they're double digit dogs this year, but they've been decimated by injuries and as soon as there WR's got healthy, Matt Hasselbeck got hurt, so much for the magical sendoff that Coach Mike Holmgrem was hoping for. I guess I'll take the Bucs, albeit reluctantly.

Monday Night
Denver Broncos @ NE Patriots (-3)
The Patriots are going to fall out of the race if they lose this game, so I forsee this as being one of the games Coach Bellichick wins and shocks people since this Broncos team should be able to put points up at will against this team. So I'll go for the surprise with the Pats (though they're favored).

3 most likely matchups that I'd bet
Take the Jets vs. the Raiders, Colts on the road vs. the Packers and the Redskins at home vs. the Browns

Over/under of the week is the Jets vs. Raiders (41)

Until next week, where I'm probably writing to myself