NFL Picks Week 10

You know, the teams I want to beat the Patriots? 1) NY Jets, 2) Miami Dolphins, 3) Buffalo Bills, 4) Anyone in the NFC.

Green Bay over Minnesota. Favre could beat the Pats single handedly.

Tennessee over Jacksonville; this should be a good one to watch.

Denver over Kansas City, because Denver is hungering for a win. Or should be.

Buffalo over Miami. Dude, you're 0-8, I'm not picking you.

New Orleans over St Louis. See above.

Pittsburgh over Cleveland. In this rivalry, I'd have to go with Pittsburgh. The Pirates, after all, didn't beat us in the bug game.

Washington over Philadelphia, though with the way Washington played last week, this one is about even.

Carolina over Atlanta. Assuming, of course, they can find a quarterback.

Baltimore over Cincinnati. I'm not sure who's the bigger disappointment, the Bengals or the Jets. Well, I guess the Jets. Cincinnati actually won that game.

Chicago over Oakland. Is anyone outside of Chicago or Oakland actually going to watch this one?

Dallas over NY Giants. Spiting the brother.

Detroit over Arizona. Don't look now, but a Detroit--Green Bay playoff game is not only possible at this point, but likely.

Indianapolis over San Diego. Heh, at the beginning of the season, we all thought this would be THE game...

Seattle over San Francisco. Hey, at least the writers for MNF aren't on strike!

Swish! (NHL and NBA Roundup, Week 5 and Week 2)

First, the guys on skates!

NHL

Eastern Conference

New York Islanders: Still thinking it's the 1980s. Which is kind of scary.

Philadelphia Flyers: I have no brotherly love for them, but I am impressed as to what they've done. Lindros is supposed to announce his retirement soon...he was as tough as they came.

Pittsburgh Penguins: C'mon guys, you gotta beat Philadelphia for me!

New York Rangers: Well, going 5-1 in six tends to help your place in the standings, but the Devils SO should have beaten you!

New Jersey Devils: Dude, guys, you aren't the NY Jets, so stop playing like it. Understand?



Ottawa Senators: Thirteen and one? What are you guys smoking and can I PLEASE have some?

Montreal Canadians: A Canadian team is one of the elite in the East. I am down with that.

Boston Bruins: So eventually we're going to have to figure out if it's just the Pats and Sox and Celtics rubbing off on you, or if there really is something to the third place...

Toronto Maple Leafs: Parlez-vous francais?

Buffalo Sabres: Okay, now that it's officially @#$@#$ freezing in upstate NY, d'ya think maybe you might be able to start winning some games?


Carolina Hurricanes: Heh, this Carolina team can actually beat Phoenix.

Florida Panthers: Guess it's too much for Florida to have one .500 team, and no, the Jacksonville Jaguars don't count...(Okay, so maybe the Bucs are better than I thought but my point still remains).

Atlanta Thrashers: All the way up to third...I'm slightly worried that the Devils are still in last, then!

Tampa Bay Lightning: Dude. WTF?

Washington Capitals: You're disappointing my cousin.


Western Conference:


Detroit Red Wings: Sorry, 11-2 isn't 13-1!

Columbus Blue Jackets: Taking my advice, I LOVE it.

St. Louis Blues: Keep singing.

Nashville Predators: Not in last any more, be proud!

Chicago Blackhawks: Normally I'd tell people, hey, you got the Bulls...but, in this case, all I can say is, sorry man. Tough luck.


Minnesota Wild: It'll be really awesome to see these guys win a Cup some day, and it's going to be sooner rather than later.

Colorado Avalanche: Making a move. Guess it finally got cold out there as well.

Calgary Flames: Western Canada just isn't up to the level of Eastern Canada, which is weird, because in the US the West owns the East--athletically speaking, and narrowed to basketball and hockey, at any rate.

Vancouver Canucks: See above.

Edmonton Oilers: No words, just a shake of my head.


San Jose Sharks: Like the Red Wings, I can pen you in here.

Los Angeles Kings: WTF are you doing up here?

Dallas Stars: Yeah, I am so suing for false advertising. If you say you're gonna shave ice, well, shave it!

Anaheim Mighty Ducks: There's no written rule that teams can't win the Cup two years in a row, so why are you acting like it?

Phoenix Coyotes: Go watch the Suns.



NBA

Eastern Conference

Boston Celtics: We all knew it was gonna happen. Get back to me when you pul an Ottawa Senators.

New Jersey Nets: 3-1 and still with a negative point differential? Color me 'so not a fan of Toronto'.

New York Knicks: Two wins already? Color me impressed! Though, uh, in the future you might want to play a little defense.

Toronto Raptors: I still think it's weird you're in this division.

Philadelphia 76rs: Being labeled the only Eastern Conference team a certainty not to make the playoffs? OUCH!


Indiana Pacers: Welcome back to the top of the division.

Detroit Pistons: Doing better than Cleveland, you must be happy!

Milwaukee Bucks: I still don't think I know a single player on your team, sorry.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Huh? Didn't you like win the East last year?

Chicago Bulls: 0-4? Dang. Even the Jets didn't go 0-4. Though I guess the Dolphins and the Rams did...


Orlando Magic: Say hi to my brother for me. Which is a fancy way of saying that I really know nothing about your team, except you once eliminated the Nets from playoff contention.

Charlotte Bobcats: Last night's lost is going to sting, so it's a good thing you've already got some wins.

Atlanta Hawks: Thanks for letting the Nets beat you last night =D

Washington Wizards: Okay, the goal of the game is to win. 'Skins won't be playing in January. Trust me.

Miami Heat: ...Can it be possible for a city to go winless in two sports? That'd be...uhh...interesting...


Western Conference

Denver Nuggets: MELO!!!!

Utah Jazz: See my entry for St. Louis Blues.

Portland Trail Blazers: See my entry for Washington Wizards.

Minnesota Timberwolves: See my entry for Washington Wizards.

Seattle Supersonics: See my entry for Chicago Bulls. Also, not a good idea to announce a move to OKC while being winless.


LA Clippers: So the question is, how long can you remain THE team in LA?

Phoenix Suns: I imagine basketball is somewhat more popular in the desert than hockey.

LA Lakers: Trade Kobe already, okay?

Sacramento Kings: Well, one win is still one win.

Golden State Warriors: See entry for Chicago Bulls. Also, weren't you guys like actually good last year?


New Orleans Hornets: I am impressed, but seriously, what are they doing in the West? If you're east of the Gulf, you're EASTERN!

Houston Rockets: Yao, these guys are good. Sorry, that was my bad pun for the day.

Dallas Mavericks: 3-1 and third place? Damn, that's a good division.

San Antonio Spurs: See above.

Memphis Grizzlies: You guys got shafted. Sorry.

End 2008 at Yankee Stadium!

Okay, so as you know, a while ago I had a poll up about whether or not you would sign a petition to end the 2008 baseball season at Yankee Stadium.

I know it took a while to get it done, but I present:

Petition to End 08 at Yankee Stadium

So, if you are into keeping your word and all that, go sign it!



Back later with NHL and NBA roundups!

What's In a Name?

As I promised Ibrahim and Josh, an explanation of character and team names from The Season.

Please don't laugh. Too hard.

You have not met all the characters yet.

Pete Towers: When I first came up with the idea of doing a baseball story, I was thinking of doing a story on a manager. I was in the bathroom, when I saw this book my dad was reading, Management by Pete Drucker, and the idea of 'Pete' as the name for a manager just stuck.

Paul Green: I remember “green” from the movie The Perfect Storm to describe a guy on his first fishing trip. As Paul is a rookie, he’s still…well…Green!

Ben Abraham: Named after my grandfather and my grandfather’s brother. Neither of them, to my knowledge, were athletes, but if they had played baseball, I imagine they would have played catcher.

Damien Riley: Damien’s got a lot of demons, the name just seemed to fit. Riley, as a last name, rolled right off of the tongue.

Terry Jones: Terry’s an older player, and not many young people nowadays are named Terry. Jones is one of the most common American surnames, and Terry’s not a commonplace character, but one that’s supposed to be a bit of Americana.

Richie Haus: Charlie Haus’s son. I don’t know where the name Haus came from, but Charlie Haus seemed to fit. I also don’t know where Richie came from, but again it fits.

Micah Garcia: I think I came up with his name right when Micah Owings had that gigandamundous game of his, but I might be wrong.

Daniel Lewis: After one of my brothers.

Monty Allison: I apparently once had an uncle named Monty, who was as wealthy and fabulous as the name Monty would imply.

Kent Andrews: My thesis advisor is a kiwi, and my SO is also a kiwi (my love life is complicated), so I wanted a kiwi character, and Kent just feels like a Kiwi name. Even if it’s an English name, and Andrews is a Scottish one. I want to get married at the castle in St. Andrews.

Bran Stromer: In one of my all time favorite series, a character is named Bran. However this Bran is completely different—that Bran is a six year old boy, this Bran is kind of like a young version of Vlad the Impaler Guerrero.

Cory Daniels: Named after my friend Cory, who was the first friend I made at Syracuse and remains one of my closest, and my friend Dan, with whom I share a passion for baseball, even if he cheers for the wrong team.

Steven King: The character is supposed to look a bit like another Steve you may have seen on ESPN, though certainly not the same personality. However, I couldn’t give him that Steve’s surname for obvious reasons, and when King came to mind I wasn’t even thinking of that Steve, but the name stuck and now it’s not right to change it.

TJ Redd: TJ to me are baseball initials. I don’t know where Redd came from, but Redd it is.

Eliot Zephyr: Zephyr is just a really cool last name, and I was astonished to find it is, in fact, a surname.

Dennis Howard: Like Ben Abraham, but the other side of the family, and these guys I do imagine as being coaches more than catchers.

Eduardo Gomez: Guys with the last name Gomez make good relief pitchers.

Adrian Martinez: Originally named Alfredo Martinez, and then I realized that the character looked way more like an Adrian than an Alfredo.

Dylan Offers: I don’t know if a three month relationship in high school can be called a romance, but Dylan did get me The Natural for Valentine’s Day.

Jeff Martin: NO idea where this came from, to be honest. Sounds more like a hockey player…

Leo Castiglione: The night I came up with all the characters, I was reading The Book of the Courtier by Baldesar Castiglione. The surname was fine but I needed to bring the first name to the 21st century.

William Tully: I have no idea why a pitcher that’s supposed to be under the radar a la Chien Ming Wang has the name William Tully, but he does. Somewhere in my mind this makes perfect sense.

Liam Laurens: After my friends Bill T, who I met first online under the username liamstliam, and my friend Laura, also a fellow New Englander. Both, I’m afraid, root for the wrong team, but Bill actually knows Pete Abe, which is just weird.

Li Ming: I don’t know Chinese names well, so I kind of tried to go with something fairly commong—obviously, given Yao Ming, and Chien-Ming Wang, Ming is a common enough name, and I vaguely remember seeing Li before. Like the rest, once this name hit, it stuck, so I just really hope it’s not a girl’s name….I’ve done something like that in my writing before, and those who know me know I am notoriously bad at associating names with genders.

Graeme Johnson: Something about Graeme Lloyd, but I’m not sure what.


Team Names

Hope City Spartans: Hope City is supposed to be one of the dying industrial cities of the Northeast. Spartans came to me fairly easily---I am in love with the movie 300, and anyway, when I was 12 and learned about Ancient Greece, the class was divided into Athens and Sparta, and I went to Sparta. The love affair continues. THIS IS SPARTA!

New York Knights: Homage to Bernard Malamud. Plain and simple.

New England Tribe: I believe one of the earliest teams to play in Boston was known as the Boston Braves.

Washington Sox: I don’t really like teams named ___ Sox, and I don’t really like Washington, so there you go.

Florida ‘Canes: Hurricanes when they win, sugarcane when they lose.

Minnesota Berserkers: Vikings was already taken.

St. Louis Gold: Golden Gate Arch.

Chicago Lakemen: Well, the city sits on the lake, doesn’t it?

Cleveland Rivermen: See above and substitute “River” for “Lake”

Detroit Moose: Okay, so there probably aren’t moose in Detroit, but I imagine there might be a few in the upper peninsula.

Memphis Jazz: I needed one more team to make the league have an even number of teams, and when I said Memphis, my friend Dan said that I had to name them the Memphis Jazz.

Seattle ‘Nauts: Space Needle.

California Diablos: I really, really don’t like the Angels. I do like Vlad though.

Texas Stampede: Well, it’s Texas, and Rangers and Cowboys have been taken!

Denver Mustang: Broncos was taken, and if it was Detroit Mustang everyone would have thought I named the team for a car.

Kansas City ‘Nadoes: I am TERRIFIED of Tornadoes, and Texas Twisters just plain sounds bad.

I know a sixteen team league is a small league, but dude, YOU should try coming up with a complete, April-September schedule…took me about two days straight to do it.





NBA and NHL roundups in about 16-18 hours, and possibly another post between now and then, or after. I live a confusing life. I have no concept of time any more.

Yankees' Classic Moments, Week Four

I was looking for something Pettitte-related for this week, and then I found out that he was the MVP of the 2001 ALCS, so today's Yankees' Classic Moment is concerning the 2001 ALCS.


Now, we all know how crazy the 2001 Postseason was: just a few weeks after 9/11, most of New York still in a catatonic state, the Yankees were a way for the Yankees to heal.

The ALDS was one for the ages--the Yankees lost the first two games at home to the Oakland A's, went on the road, won game three 1-0 behind a superb effort from Mike Mussina (yes, THAT Mike Mussina) and a play from Derek Jeter (yes, THAT play). The Yankees took games four and five, and were right back in the ALCS, like they belonged.

The Yankees' ALCS opponent, however, was not supposed to be any easier: The Seattle Mariners, in their first post-A-Rod year, had won 116 regular season games, beating the Yankees' 1998 mark.

The Yankees still managed to take the first two games, before losing game three at Yankee Stadium by the mauling score of 14-3, so when game four rolled around, the Yankees needed a win to keep their series lead.

The game was the epitome of a pitcher's duel--a scoreless affair until the eighth inning, when Bret Boone and Bernie Williams traded solo home runs.

In the top of the ninth, the Yanks' Mo Rivera sat Seattle down in order.

In the bottom of the ninth, Shane Spencer ('member him?) grounded out. Scott Brosius singled afterwards, and then Alfonso Soriano came up to bat. Remember how good he was as a kid when he wasn't striking out? Yeah, he was good here--hitting a home run that won the game.

The call: "Soriano into deep right, Ichiro back, at the wall...Yankees win!" Joe Buck, FOX.

Yankees took a three games to one lead, and clinched in game five.

Nothing Petty About This One, Either

It would seem that the Yankees have a thing against Victorian literature.

See, any time I sit down and try to get some reading done for my English class, something happens with the Yankees. It happened with Joe Torre, with Alex Rodriguez, and when Joe Girardi went official.

Anyway, as you probably know by now, Andy Pettitte has declined his player option for 2008.

Now, before you go freak out about how he’s not returning to the team, keep in mind that he declined the option not because he wants to explore the free agent market, but because Andy has yet to make up a decision as to whether or not he wants to continue to pitch—this according to Pete Abraham, as well as SI and ESPN.

Now, Andy Pettitte is what many of us consider to be the embodiment of a true Yankee. He’s a gamer, and at his best when it means the most—there’s no one else I want pitching after a loss. He’s got tremendous heart, and grit. Most important, he’s class in a true form—he didn’t have to say he’d play only for the Yankees or retire, but he did, as just one example.

He has given the Yankees so much over the years—on the team in 1995-2003, which are (not) coincidentally the years of the Yankees’ late 1990s dynasty. Yes, he did go off to Houston for 2004-2006, but he came back to the Yankees.

That tells you something.

Whatever decision Andy Pettitte makes, he needs to do for himself.

Yes, I’m a Yankees fan and I really really really want him to come back and will be a little depressed if he doesn’t, but I would much rather have him retired and happy, finally getting to spend time with his family, than I would him pitching unhappy at Yankee Stadium.

He has given the Yankees so much, both on field and off field, that unless he suddenly bolts for another team (which I just plain can’t see him do), that we—the fans do owe him this in return…that is, we owe him the ability to take his time to make the judgment. We owe him the time for him to figure out if one more year is in his best interest, and his family’s. We know it’s in the Yankees’ best interest for him to come back, but on this occasion his wants are more important.

When he does decide to finally call it quits, I expect the works: Andy Pettitte day at the Stadium, plaque in Monument Park… I’d also mention the number retiring, but I have a feeling the Yanks will retire #46, #21, #51, #42 and #20 all on the same day (and possibly #18 as well).

You know, the Old Timers’ Day when we honor the 1998 Yankees?

That’s going to be something. I will so be there.

A Game of Third Basemen

So I'm sitting here, reading my Victorian lit for class, and a completely unrelated idea pops into my mind.

As I seldom exercise patience, I found this one too hard to pass up.

Presenting the first ever Purist Bleeds Pinstripes Blog Contest!

A Game of Third Basemen

This is a contest to see which one of you wonderful readers can correctly guess who will be the main third baseman for the New York Yankees in 2008.

How to play:

In a comment, name the player (first name, last name, previous team if applicable) you think will be manning third for the Yankees in 2008. You need not post anything else, but you are welcome to post your reasonings if you wish.

Rules (Read these!):

1) You may submit only ONE name.

2) You may not submit a name already listed, so submit early!

3) The name you submit does not have to be currently active, or even have played professional baseball at all, but it will probably help.

4) Submissions are welcome until a trade is made or FA signed to the position, whenever that happens.


Prize:

The winner will get a prize, not sure what yet, but something Yankees-related. The more that play, the higher value the prize will end up being!