Week 9 Predictions

Sunday, Nov. 2
New York Jets (+5.5) at Buffalo
Detroit (+13) at Chicago
Jacksonville (-7.5) at Cincinnati
Baltimore (+2) at Cleveland
Tampa Bay (-8) at Kansas City
Houston (+5) at Minnesota
Arizona (-3) at St. Louis
Green Bay (+5.5) at Tennessee
Miami (+3.5) at Denver
Dallas (+8) at New York Giants
Atlanta (-3) at Oakland
Philadelphia (-7) at Seattle
New England (+5.5) at Indianapolis

Monday, Nov. 3
Pittsburgh (+2) at Washington

2008-09 NBA Predictions

Western Conference
Southwest
(2) Houston: 61-21
(3) New Orleans: 59-23
(5) San Antonio: 50-32
(6) Dallas: 48-34
Memphis: 26-56

Northwest
(4) Utah: 57-35
(8) Denver: 41-41
Portland: 38-44
Oklahoma City: 31-51
Minnesota: 30-52

Pacific
(1) LA Lakers: 63-19
(7) Phoenix: 47-35
LA Clippers: 39-43
Golden State: 36-46
Sacramento: 18-64

Eastern Conference
Atlantic
(1) Boston: 58-24
(5) Toronto: 48-34
(6) Philadelphia: 47-35
New Jersey: 41-41
New York: 33-49

Central
(2) Cleveland: 53-29
(7) Detroit: 46-36
(8) Chicago: 44-38
Milwaukee: 37-45
Indiana: 28-54

Southeast
(3) Miami: 52-30
(4) Orlando: 50-32
Atlanta: 43-39
Washington: 39-43
Charlotte: 27-55

MVP
LeBron James

Rookie of the Year
O.J. Mayo

Coach of the Year
Rick Adelman

Western Conference
First Round
LA Lakers over Denver, 4-0
Houston over Phoenix, 4-1
New Orleans over Dallas, 4-1
Utah over San Antonio, 4-3

Second Round
Houston over New Orleans, 4-1
LA Lakers over Utah, 4-0

Eastern Conference
First Round
Boston over Chicago, 4-3
Cleveland over Detroit, 4-1
Miami over Philadelphia, 4-3
Toronto over Orlando, 4-2

Second Round
Boston over Toronto, 4-2
Cleveland over Miami, 4-2

Western Conference Finals
Houston over LA Lakers, 4-2

Eastern Conference Finals
Cleveland over Boston, 4-3

NBA Finals
Houston over Cleveland, 4-1

NBA Preview...

I finished it, I promise...but I'm going to have to find time to post it.

Week 8 Results

Week 8
Straight Up: 10-4
Against the Spread: 9-5

Season
Straight Up: 63-52 (.553)
Against the Spread: 54-61 (.474)

Week 8 Predictions

Sunday, Oct. 26
Oakland (+7) at Baltimore -- OAK to cover
Arizona (+4.5) at Carolina
Tampa Bay (+3.5) at Dallas
Washington (-7.5) at Detroit
Buffalo (-1.5) at Miami
St. Louis (+7) at New England
San Diego (-3) vs. New Orleans
Kansas City (+13) at New York Jets
Atlanta (+8.5) at Philadelphia -- ATL to cover
Cincinnati (+9.5) at Houston
Cleveland (+7) at Jacksonville
New York Giants (+3) at Pittsburgh
Seattle (+5) at San Francisco

Monday, Oct. 27
Indianapolis (+4) at Tennessee

Week 7 Results

Week 7
Straight Up: 7-7
Against the Spread: 3-11

Season
Straight Up: 53-48 (.525)
Against the Spread: 45-56 (.456)

Week 7 Predictions

Sunday, Oct. 19
San Diego (PK) at Buffalo
New Orleans (+3) at Carolina
Minnesota (+3) at Chicago
Pittsburgh (-9.5) at Cincinnati -- CIN to cover
Tennessee (-7.5) at Kansas City -- KC to cover
Baltimore (+3) at Miami
San Francisco (+10.5) at New York Giants
Dallas (-6.5) at St. Louis
Detroit (+8.5) at Houston
Indianapolis (-1) at Green Bay
New York Jets (-3) at Oakland
Cleveland (+7) at Washington
Seattle (+10.5) at Tampa Bay

Monday, Oct. 20
Denver (+3) at New England

Week 6 Results

Week 6
Straight Up: 8-6
Against the Spread: 7-7

Season Totals
Straight Up: 46-41 (.529)
Against the Spread: 42-45 (.483)

What to Watch For

NBA Preseason Predictions will be posted on Monday, Oct. 27 -- the day before the start of the season. The real season begins Wednesday, Oct. 29 when the Rockets play Memphis, though. Thursday's even better as the Rockets travel to Dallas for the Mavs' opener.

Simple Politics

I prefer to use logic instead of polls during the election season.

I just figured out why Barack Obama will be our next president:

There's no way you could put Sarah Palin and Ukranian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the same room with a bunch of horny, perverted old men (I believe they're called politicians) and expect to accomplish anything.

Getting Red!

With Sunday's debacle now behind us, how quickly the Houston Rockets are to come to the rescue. As a whole, I do love the NFL and I love the Texans; however, there is no team I love more than the Rockets.

I do not like or have respect for other teams in the NBA like I do the NFL. There are the Rockets and there is everyone else. I have some objectivity when it comes to the NFL. I have none in the NBA -- I am illogical, unrelenting and unapologetic.

I've never looked forward to a preseason game so much in my life. This only on the heels of what happened at Reliant Stadium just two days ago. I actually looked at ticket prices for tonight's game, then I read T-Mac is not playing so I came to my senses.

I will watch it on TV, though. I can't wait to see Ron-Ron, Scola and Yao. This is going to be a special team. I just hope they can stay healthy.

Week 6 Predictions

Sunday, Oct. 12
Chicago (-2.5) at Atlanta
Miami (+3) at Houston
Baltimore (+4.5) at Indianapolis
Detroit at Minnesota
Oakland at New Orleans
Cincinnati (+6) at New York Jets
Carolina (+2) at Tampa Bay
St. Louis (+13.5) at Washington
Jacksonville (+3.5) at Denver
Dallas (-5.5) at Arizona
Philadelphia (-4.5) at San Francisco
Green Bay (+3) at Seattle
New England (+6) at San Diego -- NE to cover

Monday, Oct. 13
New York Giants (-8) at Cleveland

Day of Infamy

I was really looking forward to this season. The Texans looked to be turning the corner last year, I got a new Andre Johnson jersey for Christmas, I got the NFL Sunday Ticket, I got a great fantasy team, I got a brand new grill. Everything was optimistic. Then Sunday happened. I haven't felt like that since Jan. 3, 1993(Oilers-Bills playoff game).

One minute I'm texting my friend, who's a Cowboys season ticket holder and a Steve Slaton owner in our fantasy league, that Slaton had just scored again and the Texans are "drilling the Colts 27-10." He was already on his way to Texas Stadium, so the next minute I'm telling him Rosenfels just fumbled the ball twice and the Colts won 31-27.

I am convinced that this is all happening for a reason. Every bad scenario possible is happening in one season to Gary Kubiak so he knows for the rest of his career what to do and, more importantly, what not to do during the course of a game. As painful as it is -- you learn.

My senior year in high school, we were the No. 1 team in Houston and we were leading our second-round playoff game 3-0 with about a minute-and-a-half left in the fourth quarter. The opposing team had negative total yards for the game and I think one first down. Our defense was awesome. We had an all-city punter. It was third and long from their 35, we just needed to take a knee or run two QB keepers -- our QB was a great dual threat. He rushed and threw for 1,000 yards. What do we do? We run a toss, our running back never catches the ball and it's picked up by a linebacker and returned for a 73-yard touchdown. We lost 7-3.

I went to Baylor, and in 1999 the Bears led UNLV 24-21 in the final seconds. Baylor had the ball at the UNLV 8 and then-head coach Kevin Steele wanted to "create an attitude" or "make a statement" by punching it in for one more score. Well, Darrell Bush fumbled the ball at the 1 and the Rebels returned it for a 99-yard touchdown and the clock expired during the return. The statement or attitute you created: it defined your coaching career and Baylor football for the past 14 years.

I'm not a head coach, so those events don't help anyone. It's just painful to watch your favorite team put themselves in a position to lose. You can see what's coming and there's nothing you can do about it. Give yourself the best chance to win. Give the ball to your running back and get out of the way. Make the other team use all three of its timeouts. After the Texans recovered the onside kick, the game should have been over. Run (Colts timeout), Run (Colts timeout), Run (Colts Timeout), Punt. Run, Run, Run, Punt. Peyton Manning is awesome, but even he shouldn't have been able to have time to drive for three scores in the last 4:04.

The Texans got the ball back at the Colts 42 with 4:03 left. They should've had 4th-and-2 at the 34 with around 3:56 left. Punt. Worst case, Colts get the ball at the 20 with 3:50 left. Let's say Manning hits Reggie Wayne for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play. The Texans still get the ball back after another failed onside kick with about 3:30 left. And the Colts already used their timeouts on the last drive! Run. 2:50 left. Run. 2:10 left. Run. Two-minute warning. Punt. Worst case: Colts get the ball at the Colts 20 with about 1:45 left and no timeouts. That's the absolute worst case scenario. Because Kubiak panicked, Rosenfels was put in a place to choke. They share equal blame. The ball should never have been in his hands.

All that to say, I will remember yesterday's game for the rest of my life. The day we should have turned around and salvaged a respectable season. What could have been 9-7 or 8-8 is probably more realistically 6-10 or (gasp) 5-11. Here's to another high draft pick. Hope they can find a guy who can make an impact on defense. Probably need another good linebacker. We've already invested too much in the line and we'll have a decent secondary when Dunta Robinson returns.

Week 5 Results

Week 5
Straight Up: 5-8
Against the Spread: 4-9

Season Totals
Straight Up: 38-35 (.521)
Against the Spread: 35-38 (.479)