NBA playoffs predictions

Since my NHL playoffs picks are doing so well (shaking my head) I figured I might as well look even smarter and pick the NBA playoffs. I'll keep it pretty short and sweet

Spurs over Jazz in 5 - Congrats to the Jazz, they showed a lot of potential for the future. I like Derrick Favors a lot, but the Jazz have no chance barring any major injury to the Spurs. San Antonio has been the most consistent team all year, and their biggest strength (3 point shooting) is the Jazz biggest weakness. If the Jazz would've matched up with the Thunder, I honestly think they had a chance, but this series will be over quickly. The only question is how long it will take Jazz fans (Steve) to start blaming the refs for the losses. Jazz have a bright future, but not this year.

Thunder over Mavericks in 7 - I don't trust Russell Westbrook, but the Mavs are too old to pull off the upset
Lakers over Nuggets in 5 - Praying for a huge upset here, but I don't see
Grizzlies over Clippers in 7 - Grizzlies are just a better overall team than the Clippers outside of Chris Paul.

Bulls over 76ers in 5 - Even without Rose, Bulls are way too good for the Sixers
Heat over Knicks in 5 - Hope I'm wrong and Miami gets pushed, but I think the Knicks are highly overrated
Pacers over Magic in 4 - No Howard = no playoff wins
Celtics over Hawks in 6 - umm, yes

Spurs over Grizzlies in 5 - These two teams are not the same two that met last year when the Grizzlies upset the Spurs. San Antonio gets revenge in a big way

Thunder over Lakers in 7 - Again, I don't trust Westbrook, but I think Durant will take over this series and Ron Artest (I refuse to call him his other stupid name) will get thrown out of at least one game.

Celtics over Bulls in 6 - With a healthy Rose, Bulls win. They still might without, but I think the Celtics experience helps them take out Chicago

Heat over Pacers in 5 - Lebron will dominate Indiana every game, and the series won't be close.

Spurs over Thunder in 7 - San Antonio gets it done on home court in game 7 as Westbrook finally comes unglued and shoots 3/19 and single handedly destroys the Thunder's chances.

Celtics over Heat in 6 - 2 months ago I didn't even think the Celtics would make the playoffs. Now, if I was being completely unbiased, I'd still pick the Heat to win this series. But the fact that I honestly wouldn't be shocked if Boston were to upset them gives me enough to pick them to win. Miami doesn't have anyone to guard Rondo and he has repeatedly torched them. Boston gets it's revenge from last year

Celtics over Spurs in 6 - Spurs are the better team, but Bostons defense will be able to do just enough to bring home banner #18.

Go Celtics :)

NHL Playoff Predictions

Hello everyone, it has been a couple months since I have written anything. Partly because I have been very busy and partly because I have had no motivation to write about any sport but football. Now that playoff time is upon us for a couple sports, I figured I'd bust out some quick predictions.

First Round

Rangers over Senators
Bruins over Capitals
Devils over Panthers
Penguins over Flyers
Kings over Canucks
Blues over Sharks
Blackhawks over Coyotes
Red Wings over Predators

Second Round

Devils over Rangers
Penguins over Bruins
Blues over Kings
Blackhawks over Red Wings

Conference Finals

Penguins over Devils
Blackhawks over Blues

Stanley Cup Finals - Penguins over Blackhawks - My theory, Penguins are finally healthy and by far the best team in the league. Their toughest series will be the first round, after that they cruise to the cup.

Super Bowl Prediction

I am extraordinarily sad that today is the last day of football. I was already hoping for the Patriots to lose, but after they cut Tiquan Underwood last night, I really hope the Patriots get slaughtered. I am a little worried that the Giants are as cocky as they are, but I'm hoping it will help them more than hurt them. Here it is, my final NFL prediction for the next six months.

Giants 31, Patriots 27 - Eli Manning MVP

Til Next Time,
Dallas

Championship Week picks

I went 2-2 last week, not so good. I wasn't completely surprised by the Broncos game, but the Packers game shocked me. I thought they would come out firing on all cylinders. This week I am once again going to go against the majority. Everything I have seen this week has the Patriots and the Giants rematching from 4 years ago. I am going opposite that and taking the Ravens and the 49ers. Guess we will know in just a few hours, but I'm saying that Super Bowl XLVI will be the Harbaugh Bowl.

Ravens 31, Patriots 27 - I know that the Patriots offense is fantastic and the Ravens have looked pretty bad against mediocre teams even, but I love the way the Ravens match up with the Patriots. They will be able to get enough pressure on Brady to force him into some mistakes, and Rob "caveman" Gronkowski will have his first bad game of the season and the Ravens pull the upset. The only thing I can see screwing this up is Joe Flacco. He seems to wilt under pressure and if he has a couple turnovers, this game could be a blowout the other way.

49ers 20, Giants 17 - This game will be a lot of hard hitting, probably 4 or 5 turnovers, and will end with Alex Smith leading the Niners down for a game winning field goal from the never aging David Akers.

Til Next Time,
Dallas

NFL Divisional Round

I got 3 of 4 last week, although I'm still upset at myself for picking the Bengals; should've known better. This week there are two games I'm very confident about, and two that I am completely torn, but after last week I am all in with picking with my heart the rest of the way. That being said, here goes:

49ers 22, Saints 20 - I think if this game was in New Orleans the Saints would win by 20. Even though San Francisco isn't exactly the coldest place on earth, the Saints are just a different team away from home, and the Niners defense is going to force Drew Brees to make some mistakes he hasn't been making. The MVP of the Niners this season, David Akers, makes a late 50 yarder to win it.

Broncos 31, Patriots 27 - This is another one that my head says can't happen. The Patriots beat Denver a month ago by 18 in Denver. This is in Forborough, and the Patriots usually find a way to win big games. Like I said though, I'm picking with my heart, and my heart very much wants the Broncos to win. In my opinion, for that to happen it will come down to two things. If Denver can take care of the ball and not have any turnovers, they will have a good chance to control the clock and keep the Pats offense off the field. The other thing that must happen is Denver has to find a way to get pressure up the middle on Tom Brady. If he has time to throw, that offense will kill the Broncos all game long. Pressure Brady, don't turn the ball over, and this crazy improbable run continues another week.

Ravens 20, Texans 17 - This game comes down to one thing: Joe Flacco. If he doesn't screw it up like he has the past two playoffs, the Ravens win this game and might win it easily. If Flacco has turnovers, the Texans could pull the upset. I'm banking on the Ravens just giving the ball to Ray Rice 30 times and not giving Joe the chance to lose it.

Packers 34, Giants 17 - I think this game will not be as close as people think. The Packers have to be the least respected 15-1 defending super bowl champs of all time. They have been far and away the best team in football this year, and Aaron Rodgers is the best QB in football. The Giants have been running their mouth all week after stomping the pathetic Falcons, but now the butt kicking will be against them. Rodgers will play near perfect, and the Packers defense will force a couple Eli turnovers and the Packers roll.

This time next week I expect (and hope) to see a Ravens-Broncos and Packers-49ers championship weekend. Only time will tell.

Til Next Time,
Dallas

Wild Card Weekend

For the year, I went 185-71 on my NFL picks, good enough for 72%, not too shabby. I did horrendous on my college picks so I will just leave it at that. I am genuinely excited for wild card weekend, even though part of me thinks that none of the four games will be close. The other part of me knows that in the NFL, anything can happen and in the playoffs it usually does. I can't wait for the Broncos-Steelers game most of all and am hoping that the Broncos pull it off and Tebow plays well. I am not a Broncos fan, but I am a Tim Tebow fan, and in a sports world where we have so many punks and players who are flat out not good role models, I love being able to cheer for someone who is by all accounts a genuinely good person. Is he the best QB? Far from it. Will he even be playing QB next season? I honestly don't know, but I hope he is. Is he a little like Ned Flanders with how much of a goody two-shoes he is? Sorta. My full feelings of the Tim Tebow situation are too long to put into this, but to sum it up, I hope he does well. Now, onto my picks

Bengals 23, Texans 17 - This is a very difficult game to pick, because I don't know which Texans team will show up. The Texans are the better team in my opinion, and if they play how they can, they should win this game fairly easily. The problem is that I don't trust their play calling. I think the Bengals will load up to stop the run, and the Texans will not allow T.J. Yates to take control, and they'll be too conservative and fall behind a good Bengals team that won't allow them to make another late comeback the way they did last month.

Saints 41, Lions 23 - I don't see this game being close. The Lions had something to play for last week and yet still gave up a ton of yards and points and lost to a Packers team playing mostly backups. Now they have to go on the road to the Superdome to play arguably the best offense in the NFL. Bad matchup, and I think the Saints jump on them early and never let up.

Giants 27, Falcons 13 - This is another game that I don't think will be as close as the "experts" do. The Falcons beat up on bad teams and mostly at home. They struggle any time they play even decent teams on the road. The Giants are playing well right now, and that will continue as Matt Ryan goes to 0-3 in the playoffs.

Broncos 16, Steelers 13 - My head says 27-9 Steelers, but I'm picking this game with my heart. I can't stop picturing Big Ben having no mobility and the Broncos getting after him all game long. The defense or special teams will come up with one or two huge plays, and Tebow will protect the ball, and do just enough to get the Broncos down the field for Prater to kick a game winning field goal.

Til Next Time,
Dallas

Week 17 NFL picks

The final week of the NFL season is here and I am very excited. Even though my team has been terrible since about week 6 this year, the NFL has been very intriguing all season, and should continue throughout the playoffs. There are plenty of things still up for grabs, including the final playoff spots and playoff seeings as well. Here's hoping the last regular season week doesn't disappoint.


Sunday, January 1st, 2012
Lions 24, Packers 13
Dolphins 23, Jets 16
49ers 23, Rams 3
Vikings 20, Bears 14
Patriots 41, Bills 23
Saints 38, Panthers 27
Eagles 34, Redskins 17
Jaguars 20, Colts 17
Titans 23, Texans 13
Falcons 34, Buccaneers 13
Ravens 27, Bengals 20
Steelers 31, Browns 13
Raiders 30, Chargers 17
Broncos 20, Chiefs 10
Cardinals 23, Seahawks 20
Giants 38, Cowboys 34

Happy New Year, and Til Next Time,
Dallas