That's Sports

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.