That's Sports

We have come to the last week of the season. The final couple playoff spots will be decided this week and the Wild Card Round will begin next Saturday (Jan. 5th). Due to some teams having their playoff positions already locked up, we may see some coaches resting some starters. This potentially will make it more difficult to predict outcomes. However, there are still some very crucial match-ups this week with huge implications. Last week was a so-so 11/16 for That's Sports . The Rams surprisingly upset the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay. The Ravens took care of the Giants on Sunday night, while the Seahawks held serve on their home field against the favoured 49ers on Monday night. Without further ado, here are That's Sports' NFL Week 17 Picks... Atlanta Falcons over Tampa Bay Buccaneers Buffalo Bills over New York Jets Baltimore Ravens* over Cincinnati Bengals Pittsburgh Steelers over Cleveland Browns Chicago Bears* over Detroit Lions Tennessee Titans over Jacksonvi...

We are in the second last week of the season. Man, this NFL season has flown by! In the next two weeks the final playoff spots will be decided, so there are some crucial games coming up. Here are some of the headlines from week 15: - The Atlanta Falcons exercised some demons in trouncing the New York Giants at the Georgia Dome by a score of 34-0. - The Washington Redskins continued their winning ways and now have created a log jam atop the NFC East with the Cowboys and the Giants, all with a record of 8-6. - The New England Patriots fell just short of an unbelievable comeback to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night, as it was the Niners who got out of Foxboro with a big win. - Adrian Peterson ran all over the Rams with 212 yards rushing, leaving him only 294 yards behind Eric Dickerson's 2,105 mark. Peterson has the staunch Texans' defense (#5 in stopping the run) this week followed by the Packers in week 17. Last week was a mediocre 10/16 but this week will be a reb...

Well according to NFL.com's Power Poll, the New England Patriots have overtaken the Houston Texans and hold the #1 spot in the league. Those Patriots really brought their 'A' game on Monday night in Foxboro by taking care of the Texans (42-14). The offense has been solid all year but it is the defense that has really stepped up their game. The Pats defense have the most takeaways in the league and of late they have been tough on every down. Kirk Cousins subbed in for RGIII this week and did an admirable job. The 'Skins are rolling now but are hoping that Griffin's knee injury will be easy to recover from. Shanahan is hopeful that he might even start this week against the Browns. Washington are only a game behind the New York Football Giants for the division lead and are really playing some good football. The Arizona Cardinals season has been as bipolar as it could get. They started 4-0, even beating the Patriots in New England! Since the 4-0 start they have lost...

So our overall record for NFL picks to date is 63/87, which works out to about 73%.  We fell a whole 3% due to last week's less than impressive 9/16 mark.  There were some crazy games that had outcomes that I would've never predicated such as: Chiefs over Panthers, Rams over 49ers (OT again), and the banged up Steelers over the Ravens in Baltimore.  Those Detroit Lions have continued to frustrate me this season, and they stayed true to form by blowing a 12 point lead late to the Colts.  Furthermore, some teams have clinched their divisions (New England, Atlanta, Denver), while Houston has clinched an AFC wildcard.  This makes some games more difficult to predict as some of these teams may be resting key players.  This probably won't be the case just yet but it's something to keep in mind. It's almost needless to say that we need a bounce back week but we're saying it anyway.  Here goes our Week 14 Picks... Denver Broncos* over Oakland Raiders (T...

It's no secret that I have been a Carey Price supporter ever since he first stood between the pipes for the hallowed Montreal Canadiens in 2007.  His play seemed to convince me from the start that he was the goalie of the future for the Habs.  It was, and still is his calm and collected demeanor that was most surprising, and is arguably his best quality as a goaltender.  Despite his composed and steady approach to his position, Price's road to this point in the NHL has been anything but.  It has only been in the last two to three seasons when Carey Price has established himself as the Canadiens #1 goalie and a force to be reckoned with. Carey came flying out of the gate during the 07-08 season, going 24-12-3 in 41 games with a 2.56 GAA and a .920 SVP.  I can remember Cristobal Huet looking over his shoulder at this upstart rookie who was turning heads throughout the hockey world.  Let's remember that Price was a highly touted prospect, one who won a World...

Last week's picks were decent but it was a snap back to reality (12/16).  After our best week in Week 11 (15/16), we have realized once again how difficult the NFL is to predict.  Some big surprises last week were the Browns defeating the Steelers, and the Giants rebounding after a few weeks of futility by beating the Packers on Sunday night.  The fury of road picks last week (13/16 in all) did not do too bad (9/13 correct).  This coming week has some very intriguing match-ups so let's get to 'em! Atlanta Falcons over New Orleans Saints (Thursday nighter) Chicago Bears over Seattle Seahawks Houston Texans* over Tennessee Titans  New England Patriots* over Miami Dolphins Buffalo Bills over Jacksonville Jaguars Detroit Lions over Indianapolis Colts Carolina Panthers* over Kansas City Chiefs Green Bay Packers over Minnesota Vikings San Francisco 49ers* over St. Louis Rams New York Jets over Arizona Cardinals Denver Broncos over Tampa Bay...

Last week was my best week - 13/14 correct picks!  I was and still am super pumped about it!  My only mistaken was my bold pick, where I overextended myself in picking the Detroit Lions to knock off the Green Bay Packers.  This almost occurred, but alas Rodgers and the Pack held strong. So in light of the overextension with an inconsistent Lions squad, one would think that I would be more conservative this week.  I want to be, but I cannot be.  In these Week 12 Picks I have selected an unprecedented 11 road team winners!  11/14 is quote the fraction and it equals 79% of road teams selected to win.  I am going out on a limb here, given that the most road selections I have made previous is 7/14.  I was 5/5 on road picks last week.  It's a special week in the schedule with 3 Thursday games (American Thanksgiving), so maybe this will be a special week. I think that this is the "week of the road team" and so here are my picks... Texans...

After a stellar 12/14 week we have fallen back down to earth in a hurry.  Last week was a 9/14 week and it's time to pick things up again.  I was so disappointed in the Giants, Lions, Dolphins, and the Falcons (who now are no longer undefeated).  The other shocker was the St. Louis Rams forcing a tie with the San Francisco 49ers.  The Patriots are showing a real weakness in the secondary with a 6-3 record while the 49ers have a concussed quarterback to go along with a 6-2-1 record.  These two teams need to show me something more in the coming weeks if they are to peek at the right time and meet each other in the Superbowl at the Superdome in February. The Washington Redskins have broken my heart a couple times already this year so "come on Redskins, go out there and beat the struggling Eagles at FedExField!" Here is That's Sports' NFL: Week 11 Picks... Buffalo Bills over Miami Dolphins (Thursday nighter) Detroit Lions over Green Bay Packers Atlanta ...

Last week was a good week for us here at That's Sports .  We correctly picked 12/14 games.  The two losses came at the hands of the Panthers knocking off the Redskins on the road and the Saints defeating the Eagles last night at the Superdome.  The marquee matchup this week is the Houston Texans at Soldier Field taking on 'Da Bears in the Sunday nighter . The underlined bold pick of the week is only bold because of how much the Eagles are struggling to put points up on the board.  Having said that, the Cowboys are playing very mediocre as well.  To put it another way, I don't trust the Eagles right now but I trust the Cowboys even less. Before we get too excited about our week last week, we are reminded of how incredibly difficult it is to predict outcomes in the NFL.  This attests to the massive market the NFL has in Vegas. However, let's see if this momentum can continue into Week 10.  Here are our picks... Indianapolis Colts* over Jackso...

Let's be completely honest!  In terms of pure athletic ability, there is no difference between Vince and Kobe.  First and foremost, there are only a handful of players who don their first name as their calling card (Kobe, Shaq, "Magic", Sir Charles, Larry, Michael), and live up to that hype. Vince came into the league with a fire in his bones.  In his first season he only had 18.3 PPG (points per game), but that quickly escalated to 21.9-26.1-24.3 from '99-'02.  He was a force to be reckoned with, slashing to the bucket with reckless abandon, pulling up for tough fade away jumpers (more about those later), and those dunks, oh those dunks! In 2000, we all witnessed the best  Slam Dunk Contest ever, simply because of VC's aerial assault.  That 6 foot 6, 220lb kid from Daytona Beach, Florida, put on a show for the ages!  Whether it was Carter's reverse 360 windmill, his famous elbow in the rim throw down, or his unbelievable between the l...

Last week's picks were not stellar by any stretch (8/13 correct). I was pleased with the Lions' win as well as the Bears' comeback win. However, there is much room for improvement. Some stats were consulted this week in hopes of a better record and more informed decisions for readers. Here goes the second attempt at NFL picks... San Diego Chargers over Kansas City Chiefs (Thursday nighter) Green Bay Packers over Arizona Cardinals Detroit Lions* over Jacksonville Jaguars Chicago Bears* over Tennessee Titans Denver Broncos* over Cincinnati Bengals Washington Redskins over Carolina Panthers Baltimore Ravens* over Cleveland Browns Indianapolis Colts over Miami Dolphins Houston Texans over Buffalo Bills Seattle Seahawks over Minnesota Vikings Tampa Bay Buccaneers* over Oakland Raiders Pittsburgh Steelers * over New York Giants Atlanta Falcons over Dallas Cowboys (Sunday nighter) Philadelphia Eagles* over New Orleans Saints (Monday nighter) * ind...

I know the Thursday night game is already finished, with the Bucs taking care of business against the Vikings.  However, there are still 13 more games and here I go predicting the outcomes... Chicago Bears over Carolina Panthers San Diego Chargers* over Cleveland Browns Detroit Lions over Seattle Seahawks Green Bay Packers over Jacksonville Jaguars New York Jets over Miami Dolphins Atlanta Falcons* over Philadelphia Eagles Washington Redskins* over Pittsburgh Steelers New England Patriots* over St. Louis Rams (in London) Tennessee Titans over Indianapolis Colts Kansas City Chiefs over Oakland Raiders New York Giants* over Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos over New Orleans Saints ( Sunday night) San Francisco 49ers* over Arizona Cardinals (Monday night) - * indicates away team victory (so I have 6/14 road teams winning this week) - no odds were consulted on these picks (hopefully that won't bite me in the butt) Enjoy the games folks!

This is the first instalment of "Would You Trade...?" on That's Sports .  We are hoping to spark some debate and create some buzz on a few different venues.  Firstly, in light of the impending and heart-wrenching NHL lockout, we are hoping to have something substantial to talk about.  Secondly, we think that this is something that many fellow sports fans probably think about from time to time, and finally we think this is an amusing thought experiment.  It probably should also be said that this is a fun exercise based on the NHL.  Although it could be fun to engage with other sports, we feel that for our purposes the NHL is our proper platform. So to speak as Michael Scott, "...without further ado" I give you the inaugural "Would You Trade...?" Trades a. Dion Phaneuf & Joffrey Lupul (TOR)           FOR          Cam Ward (CAR)? b. Sidney Crosby (PIT)           FOR  ...

How can three brothers all have stand out careers in Major League Baseball?  This seems to be so outlandish that it could not be true.  However, Bengie (born July 20, 1974 - age 38), Jose (born June 3, 1975 - age 37), and Yadier (born July 13, 1982 - age 30) are three brothers who are living this reality.  In fact, all three brother played and two continue to play the most gruelling position on the diamond, that being catcher. Benjamin (Bengie) or "Big Money" broke into the Majors on September 21st, 1998 for the Anaheim Angels.  He had a career batting average of .274, knocked out 144 home runs to go along with 711 RBI's.  He played for the Anaheim Angels and stayed with them as they became the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, then played for the Toronto Blue Jays (2006), the San Francisco Giants (2007–2010), and finished in the heat of Arlington with the Texas Rangers (2010).  He was a two time Gold Glove Award w...

Those pesky Cardinals!  They've done it again.  Just when you get all excited, especially as a former Montreal Expos fan... when you think that the Washington Nationals are going to make it to the NLCS,  those St. Louis Cardinals are back on their perch singing away! Washington goes up 6-0 after the 3rd inning, they have Gio Gonzalez (21-8, 2.89 ERA) wheeling on the mound, and one would think "oh man, this is it!"  Evidently it was not the time for the Nationals.  "Nattitude" will have to wait again until next season, and oh how GM Mike Rizzo will feel the wrath of the Washington fanbase and media in light of his decision to bench Strasburg. The St. Louis Cardinals scored 1 run in the 4th, 2 in the 5th, 1 in both the 7th and 8th, and capped it all off with 4 in the 9th!  How does this team do it?  I thought that last years' heroics with David Freese, Lance Berkman, and Matt Holiday were beyond memorable and certainly only repeatable after many ye...

The Toronto Maple Leafs haven`t purposely sought incapable goaltenders but it seems like since the Curtis Joseph glory days the team has struggled in net. Some might argue that Ed Belfour had a few good years after Cu-Jo left, but at his age he clearly wasn`t going to be the long-term solution. Andrew Raycroft wasn`t the guy either. It`s true he holds a franchise record for 37 wins in a seasons but he played in 72 games that season(06-07). It`s easy for those who hate Leafs nation to point out that the Leafs traded Tuukka Rask for Raycroft, but don`t forget that Raycroft was rookie of the year when he came into the NHL. The problem is that right now Raycroft plays in Italy while Rask is on the verge of becoming a superstar goalie for one of the best teams in the NHL... Vesa Toskala, Jonas Gustavsson and others couldn`t get the job done. Toronto is one of the most difficult cities to play hockey in. I don`t doubt that these goalies might have had the athletic ability to be a consisten...

The Oakland Athletics have just won the American League West division.  The A's payroll is $55,372,500 , which puts them only ahead of the San Diego Padres and behind every other team in the Majors.  For the sake of perspective I must speak of the polarizing New York Yankees, who maintain a payroll of $197,962,289 .  The A's knocked off their division rivals, the Texas Rangers, who enjoy a payroll of $120,510,974 .  The Phillies and Red Sox are 20 million behind the Yankees, while the Angels are 40 million poorer than those Yanks.  But back to the A's, they are $142,589,789 less than New York on their payroll!   So, all of this being said, what can really be said?  In light of Hollywood's production of Billy Beane and the Oakland A's in Moneyball , popular culture has a general sense of how the A's operate.  What I find so fascinating is that we learn from the movie that the rest of general managers in the game have imitated Beane's stat...

What a game right?  It started off so bleak... getting down 21-7 is never ever a good thing on the gridiron.  Then the Patriots head into the locker room, regroup, recompose, and then magically erupt!  They scored 45 points in the second half and waltz out of Ralph Wilson Stadium with their heads held oh so high... ...And yet, we all know what the media will say and what the response has already been.  New England is back to being the Patriots of the last decade.  "Back?  Really?"  Did they ever leave?  Sure it was great to see not only one, but two running backs rush for over 100 yards (Ridley and Bolden), especially against a so-called "bulked up" front seven for the Bills.  Sure it was fantastic to see two receivers (Gronkowski and Welker) both catch for over 100 yards.  Tom Brady too was on point with 340 yards and 3 touchdowns.  The defence created takeaways, all systems were a go (at least in the 2nd half), and "all bets...

This is a typical late night NHL video game, when we come up with new ideas for posts... We do realize that we are probably the only people who find this kind of narcissistic humour funny.

Ok, I know that my last few posts have only been on baseball, but I make no apologies for this.  Baseball is a game that few appreciate.  Or as Leo Durocher ("Leo the Lip") astutely pointed out, "Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand." Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates last night in Pittsburgh.  Ryan Hanigan anchored Bailey through nine innings of brilliance behind the plate. What is most remarkable is that Bailey only allowed one ball to leave the infield through the first 6 innings! This is the 7th no-hitter in the majors this season, so does that make this season "the year of the pitcher?"  As a former pitcher who threw a stellar 6 inning perfect game as a 12 year old, I am as happy as a clam in mud to see pitchers taking charge again, fresh off the the heels of a steroid stricken decade. I was sitting in the youth room after a typical Friday night youth group when I noticed an intriguing tweet -...

So this is the first season that Bud Selig and Major League Baseball have implemented 2 wild card teams from each league (National and American).  The announcement was made on November 11, 2011.  Prior to this season there was only ever 1 team who could attain the coveted honour of being the wildcard for their respective league.  This is a very exciting development, and I look forward to how this postseason might unfold in light of the 2nd team added. So this is the breakdown now: NL East - division winner (Washington Nationals) NL Central - division winner (Cincinnati Reds) NL West - division winner (San Francisco Giants) Wildcard 1 (Atlanta Braves) Wildcard 2 (St. Louis Cardinals) *L.A. Dodgers - 3.5 GB; Milwaukee Brewers - 3.5 GB (games back) AL East - division winner (New York Yankees) AL Central - division winner (Detroit Tigers) AL West - division winner (Texas Rangers) Wildcard 1 (Baltimore Orioles) Wildcard 2 (Oakland A's) *L.A. Angels -...