Congratulations to the Anaheim Angels for the best free agent pickup of the year. No, not Albert Pujols - C.J. Wilson. Getting C.J. means that they take the best pitcher from their top division rival, the Texas Rangers, and add a solid pitcher to an already solid pitching staff. To me, the Anaheim Angels are the front runner for the World Series title, but let's not put too much stock in this because I had the Red Sox last year at this time.
Kudos to the St. Louis Cardinals for not breaking the bank on the best player of this generation. Yes, Albert is a stud among studs, but paying someone 22 mil when he is 41 years old is just bad business. The Cardinals are a well-run, medium market organization that will survive this.
Mark Buerhle will continue to do what he did for the White Sox over the past 11 years - eat innings and be a model of consistency - but now that he's in the National League, he will do it a little bit better. A year ago, Hanley Ramirez was considered the best shortstop in the game, and now the Florida Marlins just traded for Jose Reyes to play shortstop. New manager Ozzie Guillen will have to earn his keep early and often.
Message to NBA commissioner David Stern: blockbuster trades are good for all sports! The NBA trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Rockets, and Lamar Odom along with a gang of Rocket players to New Orleans was rescinded, and my initial reaction was, "Ooooh, I can't wait to see that episode on Keeping up with the Kardashians." My second reaction was, "The Lakers are better off for it." I think Chris Paul is great, but the Lakers were giving up waayyy too much for him. He's had durability issues, and the Lakers would've become incredibly thin in the front court, having not nearly enough talent left to trade for Dwight Howard. Another thing is that the Hornets would have been a better team with the trade. To me, this a clear attempt to protect small market teams from losing star players to big market teams, but isn't that one of the main reasons there was a lockout to begin with? I smell a clusterf**k!
I hear that it is inevitable that College Football is headed for a Final Four format, and that would be the smartest move in all of sports since the NFL expanded to 12 playoff teams. I already put my wager on Oklahoma at -15 over Iowa in the I-don't-know-what-Bowl, but I'm gonna make money. They will win by 40.
As I'm typing this blog, I'm watching a TV commercial promoting a movie that comes out on Christmas Day, The Darkest Hour, which is about the annihilation of the human race. Ironically, Christmas Day is the celebration of a dude who stopped the annihilation of the human race. That truly is a random thought!
I had big money on the Packers/Giants game last week, but I still kept turning back to see how Tiger Woods was doing. He's still the most captivating athlete on the planet.
Last week was a really tough week for me. I had several games in the bag, and they somehow fell apart for me in the 4th quarter. I look to bounce back this week. In my defense, I am just now recovering from my Thanksgiving weekend eating/drinking debacle. Thanksgiving Eve is the new New Year's Eve, but waaayyyy cheaper and without false promises of ridiculous resolutions like no more coke binges and only sleeping with 8's or better. (BTW, those clearly are not my resolutions.)
Jets/Chiefs under 37 - The Chiefs, excluding a BS hail Mary, haven't scored an offensive TD in ages. I expect that to stay the same against a stingy Jets defense, unless KC runs a whole lot of hail Mary plays.
Titans +4 over New Orleans - The titans are playing solid football, and the Saints are not the same football team on the road.
Dallas/Giants under 49 - This game is huge for both teams, and these offenses will sputter under the Sunday night spotlight.
49ers-4 over Arizona - The 49ers will wear down an underwhelming Cardinal team.
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