7:25 a.m., December 11, 2011
All stats and records compiled from baseball-reference and Yahoo! Sports. I went to the Temple game. Not to rub it in, just so you know how I know what happened…and cause I wanted to rub it in a little.
1. Ryan Braun – Roger Clemens’ career stats rank among the greatest right handed pitchers of all time. The Rocket averaged a Cy Young Award for every three season he pitched (7 in 24) while compiling a 118-46 record with 4,672 strikeouts. Clemens cheated and the fact that he is lying about it is plain as the red that appears on his face every time he is asked a question about PED’s. Rafael Palmeiro never hit less than 38 homers in an eight year stretch (1995-2003) and finished his brilliant career as a .288 hitter with 569 homers, 1,835 RBI, five more walks (1,353) than strikeouts and well on his way to Cooperstown. He cheated and pulled a phony macho act, pointing his right index finger at Congress in defiance and shouting “I have not taken steroids – period” that was just as transparent as McGwire’s “I’m not here to talk about the past” nonsense. And now, Ryan Braun, fresh off an MVP-winning season that validated his status as a top 5 hitter in baseball, and it was completely fraudulent. This goes beyond Bud Selig; these players are capable of selling their own false bill of goods and the public has wised up to the elementary school-level “I didn’t know what I was doing” refrain. They all know what they are doing, especially Braun, since a guy like him has had the advantage of watching all dirt that’s been shoveled out to uncover the still-hot trail of dishonest wreckage the Steroid Era continues to leave in its wake. Perhaps we should stop referring to that era as dead.
2. Great basketball game at the Liacorous Center yesterday where Big 5 rivals Temple and Villanova fought to the finish. Temple, on the backs of Ramon Moore’s 30 points and Anthony Lee’s tough-as-nails-defense in the paint, Nova was never able to get easy looks. When Scootie Randall and Michael Eric come back, there is no question who the class of college hoops in Philly is this season. Also, a strong win for St. Joe’s over 17th-ranked Creighton. The Joe are led by sophomore big man C.J. Aiken (4.8 blocks per game) and sophomore guards Carl Jones (19.4) and Langston Galloway (15.6).Good to see the Big 5 having a strong season.
Week 14 Predictions
1 O’clock Games:
Baltimore 24, Indianapolis 14. Expect some rust from Baltimore and a tedious and boring football game.
· Cincinnati 19, Texans 14. On 12 out of T.J. Yates’ first 16 possessions, Houston has had to punt. We shall see how a great running game and defense can hold up without Matt Schaub.
· Packers 42, Raiders 28. The game will not be as close as the score will indicate but Carson Palmer will continue to pad his 2011 stats in garbage time while Oakland pretends everything is OK, It’s not.
· Jets 21, Chiefs 13. A close game throughout; the team with more weapons on offense pulls out a win to stay in the Wild Card hunt.
· Lions 31, Vikings 17. Minnesota has some things to build on but they are too banged up to knock off a team that desperately needs a win to boost their confidence.
· Titans 24, Saints 23. The Saints followed up a 62-7 drubbing of Indy with a 10 point loss to the freakin’ Rams. After two straight passing clinics by Brees, the Saints slip up.
· Dolphins 30, Eagles 21. Michael Vick comes back after three games off. Who cares? These teams are going in completely opposite directions these last four weeks which only means that the Eagles will get a better draft pick. (And then trade up for an undersized DE, naturally.)
· Patriots 48, Redskins 14. Being embarrassed by giving up 350+ yards to 0-11 Indy + the playoffs approaching + home field and a bye up for grabs = I feel sorry for whoever the Patriots are playing.
· Falcons 27, Panthers 24. Atlanta has lived on the edge all season and I don’t expect anything different in this one; Cam Newton plays great but has a critical turnover as another experience for the future.
· Tampa Bay 19, Jaguars 17. Tampa needs this way more than the Jags do. Jacksonville is well aware of their own futile nature while the Bucs need to know if they should seriously consider a quarterback in the upcoming draft. Also, if the Bucs reach a new low for the season with a loss to the worst offense in football, the howls for change will be louder than ever…from the 43 Bucs scattered across pockets of America.
4 O’clock Game Predictions· Cardinals 20, Niners 19. A classic trap game with San Francisco just clinching their division and having the Steelers on prime time as the 49ers get their third loss, putting home field in jeopardy.
· Broncos 23, Bears 10. The Caleb Hanie experiment has been as inspiring as watching Andy Reid in a wing eating contest. Stick a fork in the Bears; they’re done.
· Chargers 34, Bills 30. Two teams playing out the stretch, waiting to hibernate for the winter.
Sunday Night Matchup· Cowboys 38, Giants 35. For all intents and purposes, Dallas ends the Giants season and continues a long history of heartbreakers for the G-Men in Big D.