Thursday, December 11, 2008

The Sports Brief's Week 15 NFL picks

So Keefe and I are involved in a league on NFL.com which we’ve been affiliated with for several years now; it dates all the way back to our teenage years at St. Paul’s. So three years ago I took down the championship before losing to Keefe’s dad in the finals the following year. It was all good, my name was first on the plaque and after losing to Pocket Hercules, I drove up to NH and we had a ceremony in which I handed off the plaque to the new king of our FFL. It was like Tiger Woods helping Lefty get his new green jacket on. The whole thing was moving, really. But last year, a dark cloud was cast over our league. Woody came out victorious and everyone was left with a bitter taste in our mouths. The only got worse when Keefe and I joined a Fantasy Baseball League with him and his friends on ESPN. Neither of us realized it was rotisserie style, and after a month we realized we were playing it the wrong way. Woody, meanwhile, shot out to an insurmountable lead and never looked back. It was our goal to dethrone him in football this fall.

Last week, Keefe won his final regular season match, as did Sharkey, meaning Sharkey took down the division and Keefe edged Woody for wildcard spot via points. It was truly a glorious day. Even more exciting is the fact that I take on Shark and Keefe takes on Vaughn, setting up a potential Sports Brief blockbuster in the finale. And tonight’s game will have major implications. I have Brees starting at QB, Bush at RB and Greg Olsen at TE. I’m leaving Pierre Thomas on the bench tonight b/c I believe the Saints will pass the ball and utilize Bush out of the backfield and in the slot. Meanwhile, I have Bush going on two other playoff teams, as well as Colston in two other leagues, one of which is a playoff team. What makes the situation a little sticky is that I have Lance Moore going for my ESPN league team (which is in the championship against my cousin Matt, nonetheless). That’s one of the teams Bush is also on. However, Sharkey has Moore going in our NFL.com league. It’s ugly. I guess that’s what I get for having six fantasy football league teams this year. I’m thinking of cutting it down to four next year, but we’ll see. It’s made the weekends quite dramatic over the last several months.

Oh and Vaughn has Forte going tonight. So here’s to hoping Forte gets shut down, Brees lights it up with Bush and Colston, Moore doesn’t have many receptions but has a modest evening, Olsen has a TD receptions and Forte takes the night off.

Seems pretty simple, right?

Anyways, if you didn’t check out the UFC Fight for the Troops card on SpikeTV last night, you may have missed what was arguably the most action packed, exciting card in UFC history. Four of the five main televised bouts were absolutely brutal stoppages, while the one decision was awarded fight of the night honors and giving an extra $30K to each participant. Ridiculous. I e-mailed my buddy Scotty this morning and said the following:

“Of the following fights, let me know the order in which you’d like to view the corresponding videos…”
a) Knockout of the Year and arguably one of the most brutal, if not THE most brutal KO in UFC history
b) A vicious right hook followed by an absolute flurry of punches ultimately putting a man to sleep
c) An arm being snapped and bent backwards
d) One of the most ferocious and overwhelming attacks via Muay Thai clinch that Joe Rogan claimed was more impressive than Anderson Silva over Rich Franklin

Scotty chose C, B, D, A and that’s how I’ll give them to you here. There’s a bonus video of Corey Hill at the end that wasn’t televised last night. And for good reason. It’s a clip that will live in infamy.









And finally, the Corey Hill video…



In closing, I had one of the most incredible realizations yesterday. Please spell out the name of the object show below:




If you’re like me, you didn’t realize that it’s actually wheelbarrow and not wheel barrel. What I struggled with the most was that I feel like I knew this, but every time I went to say it yesterday it sounded like wheel barrel. For some reason I can’t get myself to pronounce it properly. What the hell is the barrow, anyway? Ridiculous. I can’t believe Merriam and Webster screwed this up.

Onto the picks…

Keefe’s Picks:

Last week 9-7; overall: 104-104

Saints +2.5 over Bears
Buccaneers +2.5 over Falcons
Redskins -6.5 over Bengals
Colts -16.5 over Lions
Chargers -5.5 over Chiefs
Packers -1.5 over Jaguars
Texans +3.5 over Titans
Seahawks -3.5 over Rams
Dolphins -6.5 over 49ers
Jets -7.5 over Bills
Vikings +3.5 over Cardinals
Panthers -7.5 over Broncos
Ravens -1.5 over Steelers
Patriots -7.5 over Raiders
Giants +2.5 over Cowboys
Browns +14.5 over Eagles

Besse’s Picks:

Last week 12-4; overall: 117-91

Saints +2.5 over Bears
Falcons -2.5 over Buccaneers
Redskins -6.5 over Bengals
Colts -16.5 over Lions
Chargers -5.5 over Chiefs
Packers -1.5 over Jaguars
Texans +3.5 over Titans
Seahawks -3.5 over Rams
Dolphins -6.5 over 49ers
Jets -7.5 over Bills
Cardinals -3.5 over Vikings
Panthers -7.5 over Broncos
Steelers +1.5 over Ravens
Patriots -7.5 over Raiders
Cowboys -2.5 over Giants
Browns +14.5 over Eagles

Random Rob’s Picks:

Last week 8-8; overall: 116-92

Bears -2.5 over Saints
Buccaneers +2.5 over Falcons
Redskins -6.5 over Bengals
Lions +16.5 over Colts
Chargers -5.5 over Chiefs
Jaguars +1.5 over Packers
Texans +3.5 over Titans
Rams +3.5 over Seahawks
49ers +6.5 over Dolphins
Bills +7.5 over Jets
Cardinals -3.5 over Vikings
Panthers -7.5 over Broncos
Steelers +1.5 over Ravens
Patriots -7.5 over Raiders
Cowboys -2.5 over Giants
Eagles -14.5 over Browns

Enjoy the weekend.

-Bess

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