Then I wanted to post them yesterday, but had to work the Northeastern football game against URI. For the record, it was the coldest experience of my life. I now know what hikers/climbers are going through ascending Mount Everest, Kilimanjaro, whatever. It was awful. The only positive that came of the weather was that the two teams rushed a combined 74 times. That clock just kept burning and the game only went 2:50.
After the game I parlayed that by working a CAA women’s volleyball tournament game between Delaware and Towson. It pays bills so relax. Northeastern won the regular season and claimed the rights to host the tournament. I’m going to make a bold prediction right now. You may not care, but four years from now when you catch wind of it, you’ll have this tucked away and you’ll go, “Wow, Besse from The Sports Brief called that.” Here it is:
Delaware may or not win the tournament this year. After watching them yesterday, they’ll pose a tough challenge to the other remaining three teams. But I’m predicting that after this season, they’ll win the CAA title three consecutive years. And here’s why. Two All-CAA rookies Kim Stewart and Elena Delle Donne. For those of you that follow women’s college basketball, Delle Donne is former high school player of the year in basketball out of Ursuline (Del.) Academy that committed to UConn, then abruptly left to play volleyball at Delaware citing she was burned out and no longer wanted to play basketball. She’s 6’5 and an absolute smokeshow.
I also went ahead and pulled a YouTube video that highlights her career at Ursuline. She started as an 8th grader and dropped 2,818 points in her career, a state record. Oh and she missed most of her senior year with mono. Go to the 8:20 mark of this video and watch her drop 51, a career high, in a game her senior year with eight 3-pointers. 6’5 and she’s sniping 3’s like it’s NBA Jam.
Oh and if that wasn’t enough, she was also on ESPN’s “NEXT”.
I guess it goes to show that no matter how good you may be it’s not worth playing if you’re miserable. I applaud Delle Donne for making the decision. You can only hope other young student athletes can use her as a guide in assessing their situations and making a similar decision. Parents and coaches are getting increasingly overbearing on young players in all sports these days, vicariously living through them and pushing for college scholarships and professional contracts; it’s becoming more about their egos than the success of the players, and athletes burning out as Delle Donne did will not be uncommon. Nonetheless, Delle Donne and Stewart are absolutely ridiculous volleyball players, especially as freshmen. If they don’t win three straight after this year something had to have gone horribly wrong.
Onto the picks…
Keefe’s picks:
Last week: 12-4; overall: 81-79
Steelers -10.5 over Bengals
Panthers +1.5 over Falcons
Browns -3.5 over Texans
49ers +10.5 over Cowboys
Lions +8.5 over Buccaneers
Titans -5.5 over Jets
Chiefs +3.5 over Bills
Rams +7.5 over Bears
Patriots +1.5 over Dolphins
Vikings +2.5 over Jaguars
Ravens -1.5 over Eagles
Raiders +9.5 over Broncos
Cardinals +3.5 over Giants
Redskins -3.5 over Seahawks
Chargers -2.5 over Colts
Packers +2.5 over Saints
Besse’s picks:
Last week: 11-5; overall: 85-75
Steelers -10.5 over Bengals
Panthers +1.5 over Falcons
Texans +3.5 over Browns
Cowboys -10.5 over 49ers
Buccaneers -8.5 over Lions
Jets +5.5 over Titans
Bills -3.5 over Chiefs
Rams +7.5 over Bears
Patriots +1.5 over Dolphins
Vikings +2.5 over Jaguars
Eagles +1.5 over Ravens
Broncos -9.5 over Raiders
Cardinals +3.5 over Giants
Seahawks +3.5 over Redskins
Colts +2.5 over Chargers
Saints -2.5 over Packers
Random Rob’s picks:
Last week: 8-8; overall 91-69
Steelers
Panthers
Browns
49ers
Lions
Jets
Chiefs
Rams
Pats
Jags
Ravens
Raiders
Cardinals
Seahawks
Chargers
Packers
-Besse
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