Wednesday, December 8, 2010

New York State of Mind

Derek Jeter resigns with the Yankees! Big surprise. What was a surprise however, were the comments by Jeter in the aftermath. He blasted the Yankees for their open discretion of information to the public about money and contract terms. He said it made him look greedy and selfish when that was hardly what he was thinking. Whatever, let's put it in the rear view mirror because none of this will matter come April 1. The Yankees are seeking their 28th title and we'll need him to be el capitan in order to get it done, so good work both sides making this charade end early.

Now the questions can begin about when the Yankees will get Cliff Lee. According to sources, the Yankees are unwilling to give a 7th year on the deal and Cliff wants job security. Other places like Washington and Texas are offering that extra year but doubtfully the same amount of money. NYY is looking in the ballpark of 140-150 million for 6 years. Nearly 25 million a year! That's more than CC and that looks to be the highest for any pitcher in baseball. Aside from the Cliff Lee talks, nothing else is really taking place in the baseball world.

Football however, things are heating up. The Giants are coming off two straight wins, over the Jags and most recently over the lifeless Washington Redskins. Good to see the Giants rebounding from bad losses and bad injuries to maintain their place in the NFC east race and the wildcard hunt. The Giants look to be getting healthy at the right time too. Steve Smith practiced today and is questionable for Sunday, Nicks took limited reps and is also questionable. I expect Smith to play 75% of the snaps and Nicks to play half, maybe not play at all. This game while of vital importance is nowhere near as important as next week vs Philly. So getting healthy is a priority. As for the offensive line, Dave Diehl practiced and should be good to go, Shaun O'hara took some reps and is questionable for Sunday. Shawn Andrews looks better but is still likely to miss another game.

This week the Giants go to Minnesota and face a Vikings team that likely will be the first team in fifteen years to have Brett Favre on the roster and have him NOT starting. He hurt his finger, shoulder, and ankle this year and last week took only one snap. Tavaris Jackson is the replacement QB who can make plays with his legs and has a good arm, but makes very poor decisions. Should be a field day for Tuck and the D line, I expect a few sacks, fumbles, and picks. The Giants will also have to use a heavy dose of the run. Although Minnesota sports the 4th best run D in the NFL and has the Williams Wall, Eli Manning has a history of making poor throws and having poor games vs Minn late in the year. I would like to see the same combination of Jacobs and Bradshaw that worked so well the last two weeks continue to shine this week.

With 4 games left on the radar things boil down as follows, The Bears and Packers are 9-3 and 8-4 respectively. The Falcons are 10-2 and the Saints are 9-3 and Tampa is 7-5. The Giants and Eagles are both 8-4. The NFC West is a complete joke and one of those four teams will be in the playoffs by default, the other three will watch from their couches. Of the 7 teams mentioned before, 5 will make the playoffs. 3 division leaders and 2 wild card teams. That leaves 2/7 out. I assume the Buccaneers to be eliminated but you can't guarantee anything. I really look at it as this, Atlanta vs NO, Chicago vs GB, Philly vs NYG. 3 of those teams will get the division to themselves, while the loser has to make the wild card. The giants still get games vs Philly and GB so they have opportunities to put themselves in good position. Unfortunately the GB is on the road in Lambeau and the Eagles have the Giants number. If they drop both of those games, they assure themselves needing help, even if they win vs Minn and beat Wash and go 10-6.

The remaining schedules for all NFC contending teams are as follows:

week 14
St Louis at NO
GB at Detroit
NE at Chicago
Philly at Dallas
Atlanta at Carolina
NYG at Minn

NO should roll St louis at home at improve to 10-3. Detroit is improving and at home, but the Packers are hot and good, they win that one improving to 9-4. Chicago is good at home and NE is on a short week after a big division game, I like Chicago to play it tough and keep it close, this is a toss up but I still think NE despite the home field. Chicago moves to 9-4 as well. Dallas is improving and I think they get Philly in Texas Stadium. Philly to 8-5. Atlanta should crush Carolina, no matter where that game is, 11-2 Atlanta looking strong. Giants should win a tough game in Minny, 9-4 with the division lead (for now).

week 15
NO at Baltimore
Atlanta at Seattle
GB at NE
Chicago at Minn
Philly at NYG

NO should be tested here and cannot be expected to win in Baltimore, give them 10-4. Atlanta should handle Seattle even with the 12th man, 12-2 (bye week locked up). GB should play NE tough but its hard to beat Brady in Foxborough, GB to 9-5. Chicago is iffy on the road and the Vikings are a division foe and this is what their season is about, spoiler. Tough game, I think Minn gets it done, 9-5. This is for all the marbles, Giants win---division almost assuredly. If the Giants lose, they will still be in contention for the division but need to win out or get Philly to collapse. Assuming they lose (because if they win no point in planning out wild card games) they will be 9-5 and Philly 9-5.

week 16
Jets at Chicago
Minnesota at Philly
Giants at GB
Atlanta at NO

This week will decide a lot. All of these are premier matchups and will determine alot. I think Chicago bests the Jets at home to go to 10-5. Philly wins at home and also gets to 10-5. GB takes care of biz at home and gets to 10-5, giants to 9-6. No wins at home 11-4, Atlanta 12-3.

week 17
Chicago at GB
Carolina at Atl
Dallas at Philly
NYG at Wash
Tampa at NO

GB should beat Chicago at home and get the division, leaving Chicago at 10-6. Atlanta should roll for their #1 overall status. Philly beats Dallas, gets division. Giants beat Washington and New Orleans beats Tampa. Standings look as follows

Philly 11-5
Giants 10-6

Atlanta 13-3
New Orleans 12-4

GB 11-5
Chicago 10-6

If this were the case, the Giants get in over Chicago because they own the tiebreaker by beating them head to head. However Chicago could easily beat New England this week or beat GB to finish the season getting them to 11+ wins. If GB has 10 but still beats the Giants in week 16 in Lambeau, Giants are toast. So of course SOOOOOO much of what I just said is chance, you cannot predict a week in the NFL let alone 4. But this is an idea of how winning 10 games is no lock. Going 2-2 doesn't mean we get in (especially if those 2 wins are Wash and Minn). I personally believe to feel safe we will have to beat either GB or Philly to help our chances. One of those two must be won. Should be fun down the stretch though.

Speaking of fun, the New York Knicks have been fun to watch. Wait, did I just say that? Yes, it's true! The Knicks have won 10 of their last 11 games since I made my last post trashing them haha. They went from 3-8 to 13-9 and all behind the addition of the pick and roll, more hustle and energy, and finding the right rotation and chemistry. The real catalysts have been Felton and Amar'e. That duo has led to countless pick and roll buckets many of them dunks.

The Knicks have also gotten great play out of their rookie, Landry Fields. Fields is probably the second best rookie in the league (John Wall number 1), third if you count Blake Griffin. He's had 6 double-doubles during the Knick winning streak, and is averaging more rebounds than ANY other guard in the NBA. He's been providing a lot of energy and is doing it on both ends.

The Knicks have also been winning on the road during this improbable streak. It all started on a 4 game west coast swing, where they beat Sac, GS, and LAC and then followed that up beating Charlotte at home and on the road in back to back days. Their only loss in the last two weeks was Atlanta at home. The next few games aren't too bad, Toronto and Washington this week but then things will get tough. It will truly test if the Knicks are as good as their record is starting to imply. Miami, Boston, Denver, Phoenix, these teams will not be so kind to the Knicks. Either way the Knicks have been quite a great team to watch and when the winning streak ends it won't matter as long as they maintain this energy and excitement. We knew they had star potential and we knew if they could get used to playing together and understand the D'Antoni system, they would be good. But 10 in 11 and 7 in a row on the road is beyond impressive. Keep it up Knicks, pummel Toronto tonight!