This is the last time I speak about Sean Taylor
Tuesday, November 28

I'm getting tired of the same thing written/spoken/complained about this story.

So all I have to say is that for those arguing about the past bring brought up, you are naive, and if one would ignore it, you are ignorant. Mike Wilbon only echoed the same sentiment I wrote about yesterday, in how it would be tragic for society to not examine the "macro" of this situation.

I've actually heard numerous times "this doesn't happen in hockey" .. obviously eluding to white vs. black, urban vs. suburban deal. After thinking about it greatly, its apples vs. oranges and it will only open up the pandora's box of nature/nurture and that whole deal.

But I hardly ever understand the hoopla around some public deaths (last week it was Kanye West's mom.. if anyone understood that please feel free to e-mail me)

All I know is that out of every bad situation, we should look to find the good-- or even a moral. Recent public deaths should elicit not only grief, but questions. Questions about ourselves. Everything from the company we keep, to the reverence we hold up for people that play sports, to how we as a society look to change our appearances.

When I was younger, my role models were all athletes. In my recent years, I have grown to understand my own values better, and therefore my reverences have shifted. Personally, I watch those people making millions of dollars playing sports I love to write about and watch with a certain view-- It's entertainment.

I learned a while ago to look up to teachers, people serving in the armed forces, those who dedicate their lives to worthwhile causes, parents, fellow students, family members.... people like that. The only time I really look up to a pro athlete is when a basketball player is standing next to me.

In conclusion, Sean Taylor, I'll leave you alone because I don't know you, and no one else I know does either.

RIP.

Posted byDa Great White Hype at 5:03 PM 0 comments  

Sunday Picks
Friday, November 17

Last week I went 1-3, bringing me to 24-24-2 on the season for my football picks. But as of late, I seemed to hit a little hot streak. I came from the bottom of the barrel to actually competing in the family fantasy football league (thanks to a nice free agent pick up 2 weeks ago), and I managed to gain a few more readers on Friday thanks to SI.com.

Texans (-1) over Saints
All the way back in Week 2 when the Texans started 2-0, Andre Johnson and Matt Schaub looked like a potent tandem. After last weeks Bye week, Johnson is healthy and the combo will start together for the first time since the middle of September. Before being upset by the Rams at home, the Saints' bandwagon was reaching supersaturation as the reeled off 4 wins in a row. But Houston should be able to throw the ball well against the poor Saint's secondary
Chances of winning: 2 Shirtless Aubrey Huffs out of a possible 3



Bucs (-3) over Falcons
In their last 6 games, the Falcons are +12 in turnovers, which is pretty amazing for a mid-season run. But if you look at those six games, where they basically had the ball two more times a game because of those turnovers, they only scored more than 20 points in a game once (Week 4 against Houston). After coming off an idle week, Tampa is ready to stay in contention for a Division title and I see them winning big, despite their injuries.
Chances of winning: 3 and 1/3rd Brady Leafs out of a possible 5



Raiders (+5) over Vikings
I asked my friend Mike this week, how deep would your league have to be in order to have a Vikings' receiver on your fantasy team. I said about 25 teams. Without Purple Jesus in the backfield, the Vikings' Tavaris Jackson will have to throw to one of those receivers who remains in the shallow side of your free agent fantasy pool. Sure, Oakland is coming off five losses in a row. John Travolta made three of the talking baby movies before he jammed the needle in Uma Thurman's chest in Pulp Fiction.
Chances of winning: 4 Grandmamas out of a possible 11



Rams (-3) over Niners
Marc Bulger is coming off a week in which he was 27 for 33 with 302 yards and a pair of TD passes. But this week, he will most likely be without Isaac Bruce, leaving Torry Holt and Don Beebe Tim Dwight Brandon Stokeley Drew Bennett as his main threats to throw deep. The Niners have scored the fewest points in the league and Trent Dilfer actually looks like an upgrade at this point over Alex Smith.
Chances of winning: 5/6ths of a cute kittnen out of a possible 1 whole cute kitten




Denver (-2) over Tennessee
In what was VY's best passing day of his career in terms of yardage (257 yards while adding 1 TD), he still gift-wrapped 2 INTS to the Jax D. The Broncos have gone just 2-3 at home, where the will host the Titans, while allowing the fourth-most points in the AFC. But this game basically will rely on how well the Titans can run the ball (Broncs are allowing 151 rush yards/game) and of course, if Albert Haynesworth is good to go for the Titans. Without WR Javon Walker, Denver will be looking for Henry to carry the load, while he is being nagged by a knee problem (as well as the league office). Denver is toeing the rope toward the plateau of the playoffs, and they will need to win out at home to make the postseason a reality. Look for them to win by a touchdown at home.
Chances of winning: 2 Herman Moore Starting Lineup figures currently in my closet from Christmas 1997 out of a possible 3




And the Lock of the Week:

Jax (-3) over San Diego
The Chargers are coming off 4 wins out of their last 5, including a win against the Colts. They showed off excellent special teams play, while also picking off Peyton six times. David Gerrard according to Jags' coach Jack of the River. Phil Rivers hasn't passed for over 200 yards in any of his last 4 games. But he will look to throw to LT on a lot of screens, as they face the leagues 27th pass defense in Northern Florida. But Jacksonville does have an excellent run defense, and they will look to challenge Rivers to throw longer passes, which he has been unable to do as of late. Rivers will need to have a great day to keep the D off balance, which he has been unable to do for the past month.
Chances of winning: 1 Stone Cold Stunner out of a possible 1 HELL YEAH!!!

Posted byDa Great White Hype at 2:25 PM 3 comments  

Posted byDa Great White Hype at 1:37 AM 0 comments  

Post Fight Wrap Up
Wednesday, November 15

Last night, Miguel Cotto and "Sugar" Shane Moseley threw down at the Garden for Cotto's Welterweight belt, and the fighters did not disappointed. The fight was pretty even, as both I and Washington D.C.'s own Fuzzy Byskitz scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Cotto. The judges basically saw the same as the pride of PR retained his title in a close decision. Most freakishly was how both Cotto and Moseley landed the same amount of punches: 248.




Cotto is now 31-0, and may possibly face either Floyd Mayweather or even Paul Williams to come. While Cotto showed flashes, especially in the beginning of the fight, he seemed to tail off... evidence of either fatigue or a lack of a finishing punch for this up-and-coming fighter.



Any event with Fuzzy is bound to produce some quotes, as well as which strip clubs to go to in any major city in the Northeast.

On D.C. Sports:

Hype: Would you cut off a finger to ensure a Skins Super Bowl championship and a Nats World Series?

Byskitz: It depends. Yeah, I would cut off my index finger, but not my thumb. Opposable thumbs are what separate us from other mammals. Without them, we are just monkeys.

On Jessica Alba:

Hype: Without any legal repercussions.... would you shoot Jessica Alba in the face to ensure a Skins Super Bowl win?

Byskitz: Hell yeah, I mean I don't know her so what's the difference?

Hype: Would you shoot a baby for a Skins championship?

Byskitz: No. If it was fucked up then maybe. But no.

On O.J. Simpson:

Byskitz: [from one of his joints] Every now and then we've all done a dumb thing, 2000 yards in a season gotta count for something.

Be sure to check out Fuzzy's freshness here at his myspace page, featuring some new ish. Never have you heard a rapper mention Bob Bachlund, Nook Logan, and a 40oz. bottle of Night Train in the same line.
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After the upset bug bit Ohio State, LSU moves into the top spot in the BCS where they belong, along side Oregon.

Michigan can still prove me right and win the Big Ten after starting 0-2, even with the loss against Wisconsin. With a win at Ohio State, they will be BCS eligible.

Players of the Week:
Tim Tebow

In yesterday's 51-31 win over SC, he accounted for 7 touchdowns (5 rushing) and 424 total yards.

Chase Daniel

In Mizzou's win over Texas A&M, Chase had 364 yards and 3 passing TDs.

Joe Ganz

Nebraska bounced back, scoring 73 points this week against K-State. Ganz had 509 yards and 7 TDs, snapping the Cornhuskers 5-game losing streak.

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My Manhattan Jaspers avenged their opening-day loss of 2006 to NJIT by blowing them out of the water, 70-28. And as ESPN hockey commentator and mullet-afficinato Barry Melrose would say, you don't walk out of Newark expecting to walk out with a win (and your wallet). Antoine Pearson had a nice game (game high 19 points) and Devon Austin, one of the team's best outside shooters, went 3-6 from outside the arc. They play next against Wagner in the heart of Shaolin.

Posted byDa Great White Hype at 11:37 PM 0 comments  

Where In The World Is Stephon Sandiego?

Tuesday night, Knicks PG Stephon Sandiego went missing from the team, hours before their heavily-anticipated match up against the Phoenix Suns.

Can you help us find the missing PG in the case of...

"THE FLOWN FLOOR-GENERAL"



Hit it Rockapella!!!

Well he's been around the block from Coney Island to Arizona
Playin defense like a bullfighter from Tijuana, Mexico
Now he's missing from the team, maybe with his cuz' Sebastian
Tell me where in the world is Stephon Sandiego?

Listen up, gumshoe. We have no clues to where Stephon as to where could be. Let's go to the Knicks locker room, and maybe you can find something there...



Look! Steph left behind a single Starbury shoe. Lets take a closer look, shall we?



We found our first clue from inside the shoe! Let's go to Stephon's sweatshop in Guatemala, where he produces those crappy $15 Starburys (or is it Starburies)...






Wow! It smells like despair in here! Looks like these guys are unaware the Knicks are paying Jerome James $30 million over 5 years after averaging 4.6 ppg and 3.2 rebounds in 325 career games!

One of the friendly locals just said me might be able to find Senor Marbury where the intern's hang out, in a shed behind the sweatshop. Hmm, sounds familiar.

Let's walk out to the shed..



Another clue!!! It's a turnover. You know whenever there are turnovers, Stephon isn't too far away!




We found Stephon Sandiego! He was outside of a Guatemalan sweatshop coppin some dome from an intern! Good job, gumshoe. You get the reward of $190,000 that Steph had to pay as a fine for missing the Phoenix game (which as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, has to be 1/110th of his yearly salary). Unfortunately, your reward has to go to a base salary of a overpaid free agent for the 2008-2009 season. Speedy Claxton $12 mil/ 2 years sound good??

Posted byDa Great White Hype at 11:34 PM 1 comments  

D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-Damnnnn

The Giants continued their trend of crapping all over big games under Tom Coughlin (no homo). Like the Seattle game two years ago (Feely's missed kicks), and last year's debacle at home against Chicago, the G-men can't seem to separate themselves from the middle-of-the-pack teams in the NFC.

After reeling off 6 straight wins, the Giants now find themselves 2 games behind the Cowboys after last night's 31-20 loss at the Meadowlands, and effectively 3 games behind after losing the tie-break. The Cowboys are now 8-1, their best start since the 1995 season, also the last year of their Super Bowl run of the 90's.

So what's the aftermath?

-The NFC has only two top teams right now, Green Bay and Dallas. And these teams will meet to play for possible home-field advantage at Dallas at the end of this month.

-Many members of the media stated that the Giants/Cowboys game would provide answers to questions surrounding this Giants team. Is Eli an elite quarterback? Will the Giants bounce the trend of second-half of the season under Coughlin? Are the Giants for real? No.

Eli's stats weren't that bad. But questionable throws, including missing receivers wide and high, as well as poor game management (3 delay of game penalties) and holding on to the ball for too long, resulting in sacks and a fumble. He was greatly outplayed by Romo, the undrafted quarterback without the pedigree or SEC college foundation. Although it may be unfair to compare the two because they are surrounded by a different corps, this has been Eli's 4th "big game" (Seattle '05, Chicago '06, Carolina '06 playoffs, Dallas '07) where he has played a poor game, unable to lead his team to a victory.

Giants have accomplished the first criteria of what the top-tier teams need to do: beat the teams they should beat. But they have not been able to cross that wide divide that separates the best from the rest: show up in big games. Costly penalties, such as the TE Kevin Boss holding call on the Ahmad Bradshaw return TD that was called back, as well as the G Chris Snee holding call which brought back the Brandon Jacobs' rushing TD cost the Giants opportunities to hang with the Cowboys in the second half.

The Game Was Over When... Although the Giants did manage to shut down the force from their first meeting with Dallas, limiting the opportunities for TE Jason Whitten, the biggest [mis]play of the game came when Marion Barber III broke a tackle from rookie S Michael Johnson on a key third down. Barber was able to elude the attempt of Johnson and ran for the first, which led to a Romo/Owens hookup (no homo) in the end zone.




Play of the Game...Tony Romo was able to hit Tony Curtis on a 15 yard pass while scrambling from the Giants' tenacious D-Line. The pass was ugly, but the result was not, as Dallas took an early 7-0 lead in the game.

Game Ball Goes To...Terrell Owens, whose six receptions went for 125 yards, and two touchdowns, including the score that put the 'Boys up for good. He was able to take advantage of one-on-one matchups against Sam Madison, and blew by the help of SS Gibril Wilson for another score.

Did you notice that...CB Corey Webster was inactive for the game (coach's decision), and while wearing the redshirts, the Giants only have 1 win in 4 attempts (they look like used tampons in those things anyways).

I was quite perturbed by...the three delay of game penalties called on the Giants. Each penalty resulted in a massive amount of "Eli Face" + up-turned palms and shoulder shrugs by Manning.



On the Bright Side...Shockey had a super sexy game last night. Without various spiked balls (no homo) and helmet tosses (big no homo), Shockey made some key blocks on Roy Williams, springing Jacobs for some good gains. But he also had a career day in receiving. Shockey had 12 receptions for 129 yards, and 1 touchdown on the Giants' first offensive drive.



Next Game: At Detroit. Giants still have a long way to go before we throw in the towel. At 6-3, they still stand to have a great chance to make the postseason, providing they don't have another second-half collapse like last year, when they were fortunate enough to slide into the playoffs.
____________________________

Let's go to Ollie Williams for the highlights of Sunday's NFL games...



Vikings 0 Pack 34- BRETT PASSES DAN AGAIN!! LACES OUT, DAN!

Indy 21 San Diego 23- SAN DIEGO ON FIRE!!!!

Bengals 21 Baltimore 7- BENGALS DEFENSE?? HOLY SH*T!!

Atlanta 20 Carolina 13- VINNY'S OLD!

Denver 27 Kansas City 11- Denver defensive coordinator Jim Bates crowded the line of scrimmage with multiple eight-man fronts, which restricted running space for Kansas City running back Priest Holmes and forced the Chiefs to become one-dimensional!!!!!!!!!
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Offensive Player of the Week- Brian Westbrook.
The Eagles should do this more often...get the best player on their team the ball as much as possible. Brian Westbrook and his 25 touches accounted for 3 TDs yesterday (2 receiving), and 183 yards total offense. His performance, as well as McNabb (who averages 1 killer fantasy game per every 4 starts) helped bring the Eagles back into the NFC playoff picture at 4-5. But unfortunately, it took until Week 10 for the Birds to get their first NFC East divisional win.

Defensive Player of the Week- Antonio Cromartie. This guy is steadily making a case for Defensive POY in the AFC. In his last four games, Cromartie has 6 INTS (and 2 TDs), including 3 last night off Peyton Manning in the Bolts' win last night.


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Posted byDa Great White Hype at 11:32 PM 0 comments