Category Archives: sports

NFL, sports

My NFL Picks For Week 3

Here are picks for week three in the NFL.  I have made picks for the Thursday, Sunday, and Monday night games.  Since this is a west coast blog, I have made my picks for the NFC Western Division games.  Then I threw in one game that I thought interesting. So here we go.

In last night’s matchup between the Giants and the Redskins, I had the Giants who beat Washington 32-21.  I have to  admit that I reluctantly pick the Giants.  I was not sure they would be able to over power Washington’s defense that looked really impressive in their game against the  Rams. But, I picked the Giants anyway because I had to admit that the Rams’ offensive line  made Washington look good, and I walked away with a win.

The Sunday and Monday night games were pretty easy to pick for me.   In the Sunday Night game, I took the Broncos over the Lions, and in Monday Night game, I went with the Packers over the Chiefs.

The NFC West Division Picks

Even though I like the Rams, I went with the Steelers’ defense to handle the Rams’ struggling offensive line. I am not that optimistic that Gurley’s will have much of impact in this game for the Rams, as much highly prophesied.  Do not forget that he has not played in a NFL game, so far this season, so we do not  know what to expect from him.  Also for me, the jury is still out in Nick Foles.   So at the end of this game, I expect the Rams to have another loss.

This will be the NFC West’s first interdivision game. It pits the Cardinals against the 49ers. I like Carson Palmer much better than Colin Kaepernick in this game, so I am going with the Cardinals.

In this next game, unfortunately I have to go with the Seahawks to get their first win over the Bears who have their problems.  Also, a Seahawks’ loss could mean there could be a new western division leader this year.

The game of interest:

This game is a rather interesting game because it has the Jets(2-0) up against the Eagles(0-2).  So far, the Jets have surprised me. Who would have thought that they would win their their first two games  .

But, the Eagle have me perplex.  I anticipated a much more solid performance in their first two games. I expected flawless play from Sam Bradford, but his performance has left me rather disappointed.  He has thrown four interceptions, so far.

So, who did I choose? I picked the Eagles for two reasons. First, I trust Kelly will make the adjustments needed to produce the Eagles first win. Second, I do believe that the Jets will produce a third win.  I believe the Jets are good, but not better than the Eagles.

This is my picks for week three. Some of the picks were straightforward while others were made grudgingly. I do hope I am wrong about the Seahawks because being a Rams fan, I would like to see them dethrone as NFC West Champions.  While, I hope that I am surprised by a Rams win.  I guess I’ll have to wait for Sunday evening to find out.

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College Football, Rutgers, sports

Rutgers Is Not The Same School That I Knew When I Was Younger-Now It’s A Disgrace

I know that this is west coast sports blog and I should be writing a post about USC instead of Rutgers, so forgive me as a I gloat a little at some close family members’ expense.  It  all begins with non-USC Trojan fans calling the school a semi-pro college while I would agree with them to agree to agree.   Yet, USC has never gone slow low as Rutgers, NJ State’s University.

The low started in 2012 when Rutgers self destroyed a nine game winning streak and a chance for BSC bowl bid after accepting an invitation to join the Big Ten by losing their last three games.

And the downward spiral continued when they fired their basketball coach Mike Rice for physically and verbally abusing his players only to hire Julie Hermann as their new Athletic Director in 2013, who was also accused of emotionally and verbally abusing Tennessee’s women’s volleyball team she coach.

Now in 2015, you have wonder if the downward spiral has finally hit a new low with the three more scandals now hanging over them.  First scandal- they had to suspend five football players after they were arrested for robbery and home invasion,  The next scandal- another football player was arrested after their game with Washington State for domestic violence and he was also suspended. The last but biggest scandal- they had to suspend their football coach Kyle Flood for trying to fix a grade of one his players who would be part of the group of five players to be suspended in the first scandal.

To be honest with you this situation is nothing that I should be gloating over because this is a very sad and disgraceful situation bought on by someone’s bad decision to say that the school would make money off it sports programs especially football, and the only way to make this money in college football is put your team in bowl games especially the BSC Bowl game where the big money looms.

So this person thought it would be wise to accept a Big Ten invitation where Rutgers would have a shot at playing in the Rose Bowl.  But what this person did not accept or care to accept is the pressure that you put on players and coaches when you put them in a situation way over their heads.

The first tell sign of this pressure is back 2012 when the football team blew a nine game winning streak after finding out about playing in the Big Ten.  There is  pressure because there is a big difference between playing in the Big East and the Big Ten.  The competition level is lot higher in the later.

The second tell tale sign pressure is when Flood attempted to get his player’s grade change because he is under to pressure to win and he needed that players to win.

You know why I consider this so disgraceful is because this college was never like this when I grew back in the seventies.  How do I know this?  I grew up near New Brunswick where the school is located, so that is why this whole mess makes me angry.

You went to Rutgers for a good solid education back when I grew up.  The school was known for good grades over sports.  Now, its money over everything else, and that is disgraceful.

You know what is never mention or taken pride in?  How many New Jerseyans even know that Rutgers played an important part in the development of college football.  That is right.  Rutgers and Princeton played the first ever college football in 1863.  Every year until Rutgers went into division one football, those two school played each other.  Now this has also gone the way of good grades.

As much as I would hope all these scandals would change the direction of the school, I seriously doubt it because there is too much money to made to seriously consider to change. So, do not be surprised when you see NCAA sanctions coming Rutgers’ way in the future.

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