And by "apologies," I am referring not only to the apology from myself for going 1-3 on a playoff weekend, but the one the NFL owes to me and the rest of its loyal viewers. I'm really not even mad about my 1-3 record last week (not even against the spread...yeeesh). I'm just not terribly satisfied with what I saw out of any team this weekend. The Ravens beating the Titans...hey, that's fine. Those are basically the same team anyway, It's nice to see a rookie QB do this well...the game was a little fluky, but fine. The Eagles taking down the Giants...I guess that makes sense. But Arizona CRUSHING Carolina?? Jake! What are you doing!?!? He was playing like he had just thrown up and pooped his pants in the locker room because he was so nervous about playing a team that was WAY worse than his own. You wanted to say, "Hey Jake, why are you doing this when all you have to do is NOT this?" Also, it is fairly unforgivable when Carolina is out-rushing attempted by Arizona...at Carolina....I don't even know what to say. I always used to hear that Jake Delhomme is some kind of big game QB...or like, a good one. Let it be known that Jake Delhomme is not a real player and should never even be mentioned in a scouting report unless it is something similar to, "Well, we always have a chance when Jake Delhomme is on the other team."
Anyway, picks will be coming shortly although I don't even really feel like doing them.
Right now I'd like to ease my readers (I can say "readers" because there are at least two of them) into a new idea. I'm going to try to include guest bloggers, mainly because that would make things easier for old Buddies over here, and it would also give all of my theoretical readers examples of people I talk to and perhaps where I'm coming from (both of these comments come from potential guest bloggers). We'll start with this comment from my good friend, Mr. Bowl Bradington:
Bowl said...
Nice post Buddies... I think the best way to sum up LeBron is the following.
He is the second most unstoppable force I have ever seen on offense, only behind Shaq in his prime, and he obviously brings much more to the table by creating for others. He has perhaps taken the step to best defender in the league this year as he plays passing lanes better than anyone and seems to get a swat from behind at least every other game. He also possesses the size and quickness to guard literally everyone on the court except true centers which can be said about no one else in the league. In my opinion he is a consistent jump shot away from being the best player ever (obviously he also needs to win championships) at the age of 24. I am also extremely excited to see what LeBron does in the playoffs as he has elevated his play for them every year and I am kinda scared to see what he has in store this time around.
I agree with all of your NFL picks except I think the Ravens will beat the Titans. The Titans defense is great at stopping the other team but the Ravens defense is great at scoring on the other team. Ed Reed and Ray Lewis would both be on the first team all-time NFL starting defense.
I wish I had the guts to pick the Cardinals because I love me some Fitzy but Kurt Warner is likely to turn the ball over 27 times and their defense is sub par.
I am confident that the Steelers will win but I would call it a lock if Leftwhich were playing instead of Big Ben.
Keep the posts coming...
First of all, I love that Bowl tells me that my posts are nice. This is obviously why I'm friends with him.
Bowl has some good points about LeBron. My brother and I were discussing this and we decided that he is a combination of three players: Jordan, Magic and Shaq. Jordan because of how insanely efficient he is and future dominance that I am guilty of assuming he will possess in the league (I would hate to jinx him, but he seems to welcome all jinxes and then eat them and grow another inch). The Magic comparisons are sort of obvious. The all-inclusive nature of his super stardom is unusual. While Jordan was basically a perfect singular player when he entered the league, he hadn't yet learned the lesson that baseball taught him, that not everybody's talents were as limitless as his. Magic and LeBron are always friendly and smiling. They are also both great passers and oddly versatile, both being able to play most all positions (mentioned by Mr. Bowl). The Shaq comparisons come from the difficulty officiating him and his physical freakishness. I've never seen two people so large be so proportional at the same time (I think this is why guys like Shawn Livingston, and myself, tear up their knees and LeBron doesn't. If you shrunk LeBron, he would look like a stocky running back while Livingston would just be short and scrawny).
Another thing Bowl mentioned is the jump shot. This year, I've noticed LeBron has improved his spot up jump shooting/in rhythm jump shooting. He used to only make jump shots while fading away or off balance. This is an odd thing to a man like myself, who loves spot up shooting. I've seen plays this year where the ball is just swung to him around the horn and he just knocks it down. That said, his J is still mediocre at best and his elbow is still out. His shooting % this year has jumped from around 48% to 51% which is incredible considering our criticisms of his shooting. LeBron WILL learn to shoot fairly well by the time he is 30 at the very latest to maintain his dominance the way Jordan developed his turn around in his last few years. But before that happens, I still believe his shooting % can stay high and possibly increase just by virtue of the improvement of and possibly the acquiring of new, better teammates.
What all this adds up to is that the world is in trouble...the WORLD.
Bowl looks pretty smart with his NFL picks. Frankly, I'm not terribly happy about it. Next (and last) comment:
Mroush said...
Buddies, I want to hear your thoughts on UF's Tebow. Do you think, like the Fox commentators for the BCS bowl, that he is "an extraordinary young man?" Or do think more along the lines of Matt Mead, and find him more comparable to an ass-face?
The only real opinion I have regarding Tim Tebow's personality is that really religious people make me feel weird. I don't know if that constitutes being called and "ass-face," but I'm also not sure it makes him the other thing. I really can't stand thanking God for sports success and everybody does it, not just Tebow. The thing about Tebow is that God seems to actually be on his side in most match ups, which doubly pisses me off. As you can see, I don't really root for the kid, but I don't really hate him either. Does that answer your question?
Cavs Note:
Delonte West broke his wrist on a pretty violent fall trying to swat the shit out of Derrick Rose the other night on a fast break, and we just found out that he will be out for 4-6 weeks. Ouch. Not only am I unhappy about the Cavs losing their starting shooting guard and resident goofball, I am devastated on a personal level. Delonte is a guy I would normally describe as something like, "my favorite player on the team," or, "favorite player in the league." I think it is now safe to say that he is my favorite person in the world. The only positive about the injury was how the entire bench came over to make sure he was OK. That was so cute and I'm not even being sarcastic.
Anyway, the Cavs won their first game with Sasha Pavlovic in the starting lineup (ighh...) in place of West. This recent rash of injuries happens to conveniently coincide with the toughest stretch of the Cavs' schedule. Whatever...
To Big Z and Brother Redbush: Stay strong.
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