Author Archives: davecouture

Thursday Night Pick ‘Em – Week 15

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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Jaguars @ Falcons 8:20 PM

After a great offense performance by a normally dormant Jaguars offense last week they come in this week to face against a Falcons team that is fighting for a playoff berth. The Falcons can’t afford to lose to a team like the Jags, but if MJD plays like he did last week than anything is possible. The only way the Jags hang around in this one is if MJD can put up a big performance and carry the offense on his back. Matt Ryan has improved over the past couple weeks after starting off the season with a few less than stellar performances. Atlanta needs this one too much to let one slip away to a team like the Jaguars, especially at home.

Prediction: Atlanta 27 Jaguars 14

 

2011 NFL Playoff Seeding Predictions

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Playoff Prediction:

AFC

1. Steelers (13-3) – Pittsburgh has one tough game remaining on their schedule and that’s this weekend against the 49ers. I got them winning that one and also beating the Rams and Browns.

2. Patriots (13-3) – I have the Pats winning out against their rather easy remaining schedule, unfortunately they lose the tiebreaker to the Steelers.

3. Texans (12-4) – They luck out and get to play Carolina and Indy the next two weeks, but then have to face the Titans who I think will be fighting for their playoff lives in week 17. I see them losing that one.

4. Denver (10-6) – They lose this week to the Pats but then win out. If that is the case it doesn’t even matter what the Raiders for Chargers do.

5. Ravens (12-4) – They have two reasonably tough matchups remaining with the Chargers and Bengals. I see them losing one of them and getting the Wild Card.

6. Titans (10-6) – This is the sleeper team that I see passing the Jets. I see both the Jets and Titans finishing at 10-6 but the Titans will hold the tiebreaker by having a better conference record.

Left Out: Jets (10-6), Raiders (8-8), Chargers (8-8), Bengals (8-8)

NFC

1. Packers (16-0) – They should win out and clinch the 1 seed

2. Saints (13-3) – They have a reasonably easy remaining schedule as long as they can beat the Falcons, which I see happening. They steal the 2 seed from the 49ers.

3. 49ers (12-4) – They have two potential losses when they play this week vs. the Steelers, and when they go to Seattle the following week.

4. Cowboys (10-6) – It will more than likely come down to week 17 and I see them holding it together for a full 60 minutes and beating them. The overall conference record will be the tiebreaker.

5. Falcons (10-6) – I see them along with the Giants and Lions finishing at 10-6. Atlanta beat Detroit so they get the tiebreaker here.

6. Lions (10-6) – They will finish 3-3 in their division, as will the Giants, but it looks like Detroit will have the better conference record.

Left Out: Giants (10-6), Bears (8-8), Seahawks (8-8)

Check back in at the end of the Regular Season and I will have a full NFL Playoff prediction including who will win this years Super Bowl.

Xavier, Cincinnati Game Ends With Bench Clearing Brawl

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As I’m sure most are aware, there was a bench clearing brawl with just seconds left in Saturday’s Xavier vs. Cincinnati NCAA basketball game. The game was very physical in the first half, and both coaches were warned during halftime that actions would be taken if it didn’t stop. With just under 10 seconds left in the game, a player from each side started pushing and shoving, which led to Yancy Gates throwing the basketball at a Xavier player along with several punches, one which drilled Xaviers Kenny Frease directly in the face sending him to the floor. That wasn’t all Frease got. While he was on the floor attempting to get up, Cincinnati’s Cheikh Mbodj decided to kick him in the face. The fight eventually ended and the game was called with just under 10 seconds left. Yancy Gates received the longest suspension, six games, while the others got anywhere from one to four games.

What I find most disturbing is Cheikh’s Mbodj’s actions. What a coward. You can see in the video he pretty much had nothing to do with the fight and the only thing he can think to do is kick the guy in the face while he’s down. There is absolutely no room in sports for things like that. That guy is a complete coward and should be suspended longer than anyone else involved. An Ohio prosecutor also said he is considering bringing charges against some players involved.

This brings me to the other two players would made absolute idiots of themselves during their postgame press conferences. Xavier guards Tu Holloway, and Mark Lyons. When asked about the fight they replied by saying “That’s what you’re going to see from Xavier and Cincinnati, we got disrespected a little bit before the game, guys calling us out. We’re a tougher team. We’re grown men over here. We’ve got a whole bunch of gangsters in the locker room — not thugs, but tough guys on the court. And we went out there and zipped them up at the end of the game.”

How stupid can two kids that attend Xavier University be? Apparently pretty stupid. The only reason most of these “gangsters” are able to attend these schools is to play basketball, not do what they did back on the streets. Yes, Yancy Gates deserved the six game suspension, but it should not have been the longest suspension handed out from this mess. Just because of their stupidity and unprofessional manners, both Tu Holloway, and Mark Lyons should be severely punished. It was a disgrace that this happened in the first place, but then when they are given a chance to show remorse they acted like the thugs they truly are and referred to themselves as gangsters and basically said Cincinnati had it coming. That’s class at his finest. Both schools ought to send those gangsters a message and show them that their actions are not acceptable by suspending the players involved for a minimum of 10 games.

MNF Pick ‘Em – Week 14

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Monday, December 12, 2011

Rams @ Seahawks 8:30 PM

Tonight the Rams head to Seattle to take on the Seahawks on Monday Night Football. This seems to be the norm for the prime-time schedule this year; two underachieving teams. This certainly won’t live up to the shootout that was on prime time last night when the Giants came from behind to beat the Cowboys. The Seahawks come off a long week after their impressive stomping of the Eagles last Thursday night, and like I said last week, I would not want to be a team that is fighting for a playoff spot that has to face the Seahawks. They have gotten it together later this season and I expect it to continue. It looks like Kellen Clemens will be making the start for the injury depleted Rams and that certainly doesn’t look to fare well for their chances of leaving with a victory.

Prediction: Seahawks 24 Rams 10

 

Blue Hills Regional AD Says Ref made a “Great Call”

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This story has gotten a lot of national attention this week, and its well deserved. I’ve been following a lot of the backlash on it and if you’ve seen some of my recent posts about the Cathedral High School Senior who was called for taunting while scoring the teams would-be super bowl winning touchdown you understand whats going on. When I was reading the article on ESPN today I came across something I hadn’t seen before. Apparently the Blue Hills Regional AD was interviewed after the game and this was his take on it.

Blue Hills Regional Technical School athletic director and head football coach Ed Catabia told The Boston Globe on Sunday that the referee made “a great call, the right call.”We try and play by the rules, and the rule is ‘no celebrating,’ ” he said.

No celebrating? Seriously? Like how big of a pussy could this guy possibly be? I’m sure not a single player on his team has ever celebrated a big play before. I would have loved to see this happen to this idiot and then hear his reaction after the game; my bet is he would have a different opinion on it. I bet you could have interviewed almost any Blue Hills Regional player and they even were mature enough and wouldn’t have said it was a “great call”. This guy has to be one of the most asinine individuals around. It would be one thing to maybe refer to the call as justifiable based on the rules, but after your team steals a super bowl on some BS call you go out and say it was “great”. I would love to see a video of this interview. I can only picture him as some Sandusky look-alike smiling ear to ear after he knows damn right his team just stole a super bowl from the more deserving team. Christ, I really hope he somehow sees this article so he can realize how pathetic he is.

Rondo, Green and Two Picks for Paul is Not Worth it

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ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported earlier today that the Celtics are still in the running for Hornets point guard Chris Paul. Reportedly the Celtics have offered Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, and two future first-round picks.

First off, I am all for the Celtics making a run at Paul but this trade makes absolutely no sense to me unless one thing comes from it; and that is if they are able to get Dwight Howard to join up with Paul here in Boston. I am content with trading away Rondo for Paul, and even including one or two draft picks.

Yes, Paul is better than Rondo, not by a landslide, but he is better. How can you also throw Jeff Green into the deal along with two first-round picks though? Let’s reverse back to last season. The Celtics gave up Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to land Jeff Green, so they must have some faith in him. I was one of the few who were not very upset when that deal went down. Jeff Green is a quality player who has averaged just less than 16 PPG as a starter in the NBA. Then you are also going to throw in two first-round picks? I think the Hornets would be stupid not to take the offer, but that’s not the argument here.

Lets just say that trade does happen. How do the Celtics get Dwight Howard? Does anyone actually think Orlando would deal Howard to the Celtics in exchange for what is left on this roster? Obviously they wont trade Pierce. So what is left? You have no draft picks to trade, and no young talent without Green. Orlando doesn’t want Allen or Garnett. They would much rather ship him to L.A. for a Bynum/Gasol combination. Not only do they get more value for Howard, they also keep him out of the conference. So assuming they can’t land Howard this is what their future will look like in three years or so. Chris Paul. That’s it. Allen, Pierce and Garnett are all on their way out and the Celtics would have no picks to draft a quality player, and no Jeff Green to help build around Paul.

The fact that they are willing to trade Rajon Rondo and his underpaid $11 million a year contract, along with the only other player on the team with some upside, and include two first round picks just to have a somewhat minor upgrade from Rondo to Paul just doesn’t make any sense to me. Not to mention they will have to sign Paul to a deal paying him almost double of what Rondo makes.

Some people will try to say if we get Paul, Howard will follow here next season when he is a free agent. The only issue is that Howard won’t be a free agent. If he won’t resign in Orlando they will trade him. There is no way they take the chance Cleveland took and just let their star player walk away and get nothing in return.

 

 

Thursday Night Pick Em’ – Week 14

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Thursday, December 8, 2011

Browns @ Steelers 8:00PM

Thank god its Thursday. Tonight the Steelers take on the Browns on Thursday Night Football. It just doesn’t get any easier for the Browns after taking a beating from the Ravens last weekend. The Steelers look drastically better than they had at the beginning of the season and look poised to make a serious playoff push. James Harrison had 3 sacks last week and looks like he hasn’t lost a step. The Browns have one of the best secondaries in the NFL and if they could just get some support from their offense they would at least be able to put up a fight in their defensive minded division. Colt McCoy is still young, but I’m just unsure he will be the long-term answer as the signal caller for the Browns. As I’m sure most of you predict; the Steelers take this one.

Prediction: Steelers 24 Browns 10

 

 

Pujols Earns 1/4 Billion Dollar Contract With the Angels

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Earlier this morning former Cardinal Albert Pujols; the MLB’s most coveted free agent signed a 10 year $250 million contract to play for the Angels. Making it the third largest contract in MLB history; behind Alex Rodriguez’s Rangers and Yankees contracts. The contract will more than likely be the last of Pujols’ career, as it will take him to the age of 41. The Angels just landed the guy their offense needed after finishing 19th in the MLB in runs scored last season. He’s arguably baseball’s best hitter and has been since he emerged into the league as a 21 year old back in 2001. Pujols is regarded as one of the few clean stars during the tainted steroid era, and is a lock as a first ballot Hall of Famer. Pujols is well respected in the MLB because of his style of play and the way he conducts himself on and off the field. This signing will put the Angels back as the favorite in the A.L West in place of the Rangers, who will more than likely also lose their top pitcher C.J. Wilson this offseason; who is rumored to potentially be heading to South Beach to join the Marlins. The Angels finished 86-76 in 2011 and 80-82 in 2010, both their worst seasons since 2003. Pujols, who averages slightly fewer than 41 homers a season is going to completely turn this offense around as it puts a bat in the line-up that pitchers really fear since Vladimir Guerrero was in his prime. Although a quarter of a billion dollar contract is a lot to fathom, I see this is a great signing by the Angels as they land the MLB’s best all-around player.

Crazy Fan Gets Tebow Tattoo

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So while browsing the web today I came across something I found to be a little bizarre. Ya I am on the Tim Tebow bandwagon. The guys a winner and has completely turned around the Broncos season.

I came across a Tebow fan that loves the guy so much he got a tattoo to prove it. I’m all for getting a tattoo of your favorite team or something along those lines, but a tattoo of a player that’s proven himself for 7 games? Come on’ guy. Not only is this borderline ridiculous, but the tattoo just looks terrible.If you look at the tattoo closely you can see there is just a helmet sitting on top of the guys chest. The guy doesn’t even have a head. Hopefully the name of the artist that did this tattoo doesn’t get released for the sake of his career.

Mayor Menino Speaks Out on Cathedral’s Fist Pumping Loss

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Mayor Thomas Menino bashed the MIAA this morning when asked about his opinion on the Cathedral High School Super Bowl loss last Saturday. If you missed the story check it out here(https://tullysportsblog.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/fist-pump-costs-owens-cathedral-h-s-super-bowl-title/). Menino stated, “I think sometimes these rules are written by frustrated athletes,” Menino said on a visit to the high school. “They never participated in a sport, and they don’t know what it is to be excited. You play in a football game, you run for a touchdown, and you do something special.”

Mayor Menino even offered to take the Cathedral football team out to lunch to help ease the pain; although I’m sure it would help much. Of course the MIAA will stand up for the referee that made the call, but what I really want to know is how do they really feel about the situation? Do they honestly think the call on the field was the correct call? The MIAA must adjust these rules. Texas and Massachusetts are the only states in the U.S. that have adopted the NCAA’s rules on taunting. If the NCAA took away touchdowns every time a player so much as raised his hand running into the end zone, all games would end up like the LSU v. Bama’ game earlier this season. Bottom line: This referee took away a Super Bowl title from the more deserving team, and every single possible action needs to be taken to make sure this never happens again.