Week 8 NFL recap: FAVRE!!!

Brett Favre hit Greg Jennings with an 82-yard bomb on the first play of overtime to defeat the Broncos 19-13 on Monday night. After a rough second half in the loss to Chicago and a poor performance in a win over Washington where a couple of underthrown deep passes had (foolish) critics questioning his arm strength, Favre bounced back against Denver's 6th-ranked pass defense, finishing 21 for 27 with 331 yards and two touchdowns. Even better, Favre torched both of Denver's All-Pro cornerbacks: Jennings burned Dre Bly to win the game, and in the first quarter, rookie James Jones beat Champ Bailey deep with a 79-yard touchdown.

Unlike some of the NFL's other elite teams, the Packers are winning with class, too. Just listen to the humble Jennings in a post-game interview with Suzy Kolber:


Meanwhile, the Pack's win iced dp's best week yet in underdog predictions. Only dp's stubborn refusal to believe that the Bengals actually do completely suck this year prevented a perfect 5-0 mark. While Chincy bungled their way to an seventh-straight home loss against Pittsburgh, dp's road warriors all won: Philly 23-16 at Minnesota, Buffalo 13-3 at NY Jets, and New Orleans 31-10 at San Francisco, and of course Green Bay.

As if capping dp's triumphant week 8 wasn't enough, Favre's dramatic game-winning pass also gave all three of dp's X Country Packbackin fantasy squads improbable come-from-behind victories. That's right: by the end of regulation Monday night, dp trailed his opponents by less than ten points in all three matchups, only to snatch victory at literally the last possible moment.

When it was all over, dp could hardly be happier if he was a member of the Boston Red Sox.
Week 8 record: 4-1 (10-3 overall)
Season: 19-13 (77-39 overall)

Georgia On My Mind: Lemons, Not Peaches

Genarlow Wilson woke up this morning in his own bed to enjoy his third day of freedom since being released from prison. He spent 32 months behind bars for receiving consensual oral sex from a 15-year old sophomore girl (who admittedly instigated the act) when he was a 17-year old senior. He was finally released on Friday when the State Supreme Court ruled that his 10-year mandatory minimum sentence as a sex offender constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

Georgia's State Attorney General Thurbert Baker said he hopes Friday's ruling puts "an end to this issue as a matter of contention in the hearts and minds of concerned Georgians and others across the country who have taken such a strong interest in this case." Back in June, after a judge ruled that Wilson's punishment was cruel and unusual, Baker appealed the decision, and Wilson remained locked up. dp wishes that Friday's ruling put an end to Baker's political and legal career. Hopefully, the good people of Georgia will demand Baker's resignation.

As Wilson was losing nearly three years of his life, the man who prosecuted him, Eddie Barker, had said, "We can set aside his sentence. Legally, it's still possible for us to set aside his sentence and give him a new sentence to a lesser charge. But it's up to us. He has no control over it." In fact, the archaic law under which Wilson was prosecuted was changed in the wake of his trial, but it inexplicably wasn't applied retroactively. dp hopes that Barker's self-righteous megalomania causes his head to explode before he can bark up the wrong tree again.

Barker's boss, Douglas County District Attorney David McDade, said he disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision, but he respects the court "as the final arbiter." dp does not respect McDade, considering him a disgrace to the notion of justice and a menace to Douglas County society.

Meanwhile, Wilson refuses to criticize these madmen who have conspired to make his life a living hell. dp hopes that the former football star, homecoming king, and honor student can reclaim his once-promising potential. Go get 'em, Genarlow. At 5' 9" and 170 pounds, you're a much bigger man than any of the fatcats in Georgia's judicial and legislative branches ever will be.

NFL Week 8 PIcks: Three Dogs, a Coin Flip, and a Shot in the Dark

Examining the Week 8 schedule, dp uncovers triple dog potential. That's right: three underdogs will win outright.

In the first upset special, Cincinnati will knock off four-point favorite Pittsburgh in a high-scoring affair.

Second, the Buffalo Bills, last week's underdog darlings by defeating Baltimore, look to keep their overachieving streak alive at the Jets (-3).

Third, Green Bay travels to Denver (-3) Monday night to pile on more mile-high frustration for Colorado sports fans, who will still be reeling from the Rockies' fall from Rocktober to Rockedtober. (Just as dp predicted, it's all Soxtoberfest this fall.)

Fourth, Philly will win a coinflip at Minnesota. Even the Vegas oddsmakers can't figure this one out, as some sportsbooks have the Vikings and others have the Eagles as a one-point favorite. Either way, Philly's the pick.

Fifth, in dp's Sunday afternoon hangover shot (of Bourbon St.) in the dark, the Saints will win at San Francisco.

Short and sweet, yet packing some wallop. Just like Maker's Mark.

dp's 2007 National League Awards

National League MVP- Jimmy Rollins, Phillies:

Many voters will cry foul and demand that the MVP has to be Rockies left fielder Matt Holliday or Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder. Prince held the Brewers together through every stretch, good and bad, throughout the season, bashing 50 home runs from his cleanup slot. He was clutch when it mattered most: in September, he hit .333 with 11 home runs and a sick 1.211 OPS. But the Brew Crew's playoff hopes went down like Bernie Brewer on the beer slide, with Fielder's MVP chances evaporating like foamy suds in the splash. Meanwhile, Holliday had an even bigger month, hitting .367 with 12 bombs, 30 RBIs, and a 1.244 OPS to ignite Colorado's improbable 14-1 finishing kick to win the wild card (and eventually get to the World Series.) Additionally, Holliday lead the league in batting average and runs batted in. Rollins didn't even hit .300 or knock in 100 runs (though he was close at .296 and 94 RBIs.) But before you cry bloody murder, consider this: first, Holliday benefited from the most pronounced home-field advantage in baseball. At Coors Field, he hit .376 with 25 HR, 82 RBIs, and 1.157 OPS. Away from the hitter's paradise, he managed only .301 with 11 HR, 55 RBIs, and .866 OPS. It's like he was A-Rod at home and Jeter on the road. dp's MVP should get it done consistently everywhere. Second, Rollins had an unbelievable season: he played all 162 games at the premium position of shortstop, hit 30 homers, stole 41 bases and scored a league-leading 139 runs. Additionally, he ripped 88 extra-base hits, more than any shortstop in any season ever other than Alex Rodriguez's 91 in 1996. Third, Rollins literally willed the Phillies into the playoffs, brashly proclaiming back in spring training that Philly would win the NL East. Everyone laughed at him, as the Phillies didn't spend a single day alone in first place this year- until the final days of the season, when they capped the latest, greatest comeback in baseball history to beat out the Mets, whom they trailed by seven games on Sept. 12. The boldness to think big, the audacity to ignore probability, the will to get it done.... That's Jimmy Rollins, the National League MVP.

NL Cy Young- Jake Peavy, Padres:

Despite getting knocked around in the tiebreaker with Colorado, Peavy dominated the NL all year, winning the league's pitching Triple Crown with league-leading totals of 19 wins, 240 strikeouts, and a 2.54 ERA. Peavy was far and away the stingiest starter in the bigs, as his ERA undercut his closest competitor by almost a half of a run per nine innings. Peavy also led the majors in dominant starts (defined as 7 innings with 2 or less runs allowed and 7+ strikeouts) with 12. No other pitcher had more than 10.

NL Rookie of the Year- Ryan Braun, Brewers:

Yeah, it's tough to give it Braun, who didn't get called up to the bigs until May 25, while Troy Tulowitzi got it done all season long for a team in the World Series. It's also true that Tulowitzki plays Gold Glove defense and anchors the Rockies' infield at shortshop, while "E-5" Braun, who committed an amazing 26 errors in 112 games at third base, gets lifted for a defensive replacement in the late innings of close games. But the bottom line is pretty simple: Braun is an extraordinary offensive force, the only player in the league comparable to A-Rod, at least according to his offensive production in 2007. Only A-Rod had a higher slugging percentage than Braun's .634. He bashes the baseball all over the park, hitting for power with 34 homers and 97 RBIs and average at .324. He's also a threat on the basepaths with 15 steals and 91 runs scored. Tulowitzi, meanwhile, is statistically more comparable to another young Brewer, OF Corey Hart. Both Hart and Tulowitzki hit 24 homers; Tulowitzki had more runs, 104 to 86, and RBIs, 99 to 81; Hart hit for higher average, .295 to .291, and slugging percentage, .539 to .479. Troy, congratulations on a great year (and good luck blowing the World Series to the Sox- how many balls did the Sox hit just beyond Tulowitzki's reach in Game 1? Five? Ten?), but dp joins The Sporting News and Baseball America in naming Ryan "The Hebrew Hammer" Braun as the NL Rookie of the Year.

NL Comeback Player of the Year- Barry Bonds, Giants:

Barry could very well be indicted for perjury and tax evasion any day now, but there's no denying he's still a one-of-a-kind talent. In part due to his 132 walks in 126 games, he led the majors again in OPS at .480, 35 points ahead of David Ortiz in second place. You may say, "Wait a minute... Shouldn't Bonds have won the Comeback Player Award last year, when he hit 26 home runs after missing all but 14 games in 2005?" Yes, it is unconventional (and probably unprecedented) to honor a player whose 2007 statistics are nearly identical to his 2006 stats (.270 with 26 homers in '06, .276 with 28 homers in '07), but it's a legal miracle that Bonds even played at all in 2007, what with his personal trainer sitting in jail for refusing to disclose info about Bonds' peformance- enhancing dug (PED) use and the accompanying cloud of controversy constantly swarming around wherever his enlarged head sulked. Yet Bonds maintained both his indignant innocence and his unparalleled concentration long enough to break Hank Aaron's all-time home run record. dp's odds on Bonds returning to play baseball in 2008? About 50/50 (or the same as his chances of a criminal conviction when George Mitchell's report on PEDs in baseball comes out in the next month or two.)

NL Manager of the Year- Bob Melvin, Diamondbacks:

Thanks to Melvin's managerial magic, Arizona compiled the best record, 90-72, in the National League, despite being outscored by 20 runs for the season. Yes, Clint Hurdle deserves credit for getting the Rockies into the playoffs. Yes, Lou Piniella deserves credit for helping the Cubs overtake the Brewers to win the NL Central. Yes, it is a bit silly to even give out a manager's award considering that baseball is the most individualized of the major team sports and the players factor more heavily in deciding the outcome of games than in football or basketball. dp says don't protest, just give the flicking thing to Melvin and close the curtain on the lesser league's 2007 season. There will be no more Mountain Highs in Colorado, as the Rockies have hit rock bottom, down in a 2-0 hole to the AL (Actually Legit)'s best, the BoSox.

Week 7 NFL Recap: Perspective on the Art of Picking

Courtesy of Indy's thorough 29-7 thumping of the Jags, dp salvaged a mediocre round of picks in Week 7, going 3-3 in his bid to select six road winners. Not quite the donkey prognosticator, dp merely broke even in picking the week's toughest games.

But that's the nature of this prediction business. dp's priorities for making five or six picks each week are plain and simple:

1) Remember that dp only picks outright winners; he doesn't mess around with the point spread because he's philosophically opposed to what it represents. True competitors only care if they won or lost. For example, Green Bay is a 3-point underdog at Denver in Week 8. Suppose the Pack, trailing 28-20 with a minute left, drives down the field for a touchdown, but then fails to score the game-tying two-point conversion and loses 28-26. Well, Green Bay may have covered the spread and pleased a few heartless gamblers, but no one in the Packer locker room or any self-respecting cheesehead is happy with the loss. (By the way, as the astute reader has no doubt surmised, Green Bay over Denver will be dp's first upset special for Week 8.)

2) dp scours each week's schedule for upset specials, going against the grain to select underdogs. If he can't find five upsets, he then picks the games with the lowest point spreads and hence the most uncertainty. In fact, other than Indy's Monday night blowout, the games dp picked this week were decided by one score or less: Baltimore lost 19-14 at Buffalo (incorrect), Tampa lost 23-16 at Detroit (incorrect), Tennessee escaped with a 38-36 win at Houston (correct), Kansas City won a 12-10 squeaker at Oakland (correct), and Philly lost 31-28 at Denver (incorrect) on a last-second field goal. All of these games went down to the wire. dp could have just as easily gone 1-5 or 5-1 with a few (un)lucky breaks.

In short, dp's choices are risky business. It's easy to only back the big favorites and rack up a superficially impressive record. Actually, while dp is 15-12 (55.6% accurate) in his documented upset special and coin flip games, he's 52-24 (68.4% accurate) in all other games in 2007. But I don't bother writing about these ones because the relatively big favorites generally win.

To put dp's performance in perspective, compare his 67-36 (65% accurate) overall season record to some other benchmarks. In ESPN's weekly SportsNation poll, voters have chosen the winner 59% of the time, compiling a 61-42 record. Meanwhile, ESPN's AccuScore computer projection has picked 64 winners for 62% accuracy. Finally, of ESPN's panel of 9 NFL experts, only Mark Schlereth (69 winners picked) tops dp. With the season not yet halfway completed, we'll see where it all ends up, but dp, like original Flicksters Johnny Cash and Tom Petty, won't back down.




Week 7: 3-3 (10-4 overall)
Season: 15-12 (67-36 overall)

Dustin Pedroia Powers Red Sox to World Series: dp's 2007 American League Awards

American League Champions

AL Rookie of the Year- Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox: .317 BA, .822 OPS, 86 runs
Ladies and gentlemen, dp devotedly presents another DP, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, as your American League Rookie of the Year. Pedroia batted .317 and provided excellent defense, displaying vast range and a knack for the spectacular at second base. If there were any doubters out there who were tempted to vote for Florida's Delmon Young (whose OPS was nearly 100 points lower than Pedroia's) or a pitcher like Dice-K or Joba Chamberlain, Pedroia's clutch performance in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, an 11-2 Boston victory over Cleveland, sealed the deal. Leading off the bottom of the first, Pedroia singled and later scored the game's first run. Pedroia has excelled in setting the table for the Sox, scoring eight runs in the ALCS, but he himself had zero RBIs through six games. Well, only until Sunday, when Pedroia got five RBIs in two innings in Sunday's Game 7. In the seventh inning, he broke open a 3-2 game with a huge 2-run bomb over the Green Monster off Rafael Betancourt, who had given up zero runs through 8 2/3 postseason innings until that point. Then in the eighth, Pedroia rocked Betancourt again, this time with a bases-clearing 3-run double. Dustin Pedroia, we really like to knooow ya! Kevin Youkilis followed with his own 2-run jack over the Monster to push the lead to 11-2 and totally crush Cleveland's hopes. Jonathan Papelbon recorded a six-out save for the first time in his career, aided by spectacular catches by Jacob Ellsbury and Coco Crisp, who ended the game by robbing Casey Blake of extra bases to send the Sox on to face the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.

What an amazing team victory in this series for the Sox. Slots 1-9 in the lineup all contributed about as evenly as is realistically possible in a seven-game series. In fact, dp struggled to decide upon the ALCS MVP. With his .345 BA and Game 7 heroics, Pedroia merited consideration, but so did Manny, who hit .409 with 2 HRs and 10 RBIs, and Youkilis, who hit .500 with 3 HRs and 7 RBIs, and Mike Lowell, who batted .333 with 8 RBIs, and JD Drew, who hit .360 and ripped the game-breaking grand slam in Game 6 off Fausto Carmona, and of course usual suspect David Ortiz, who scored seven runs and posted a .966 OPS.

With this wealth of production, dp was still waffling when Josh Beckett received the MVP. Duh. Beckett posted a stingy 1.93 ERA with 18 Ks in 14 innings to win both Game 1 and Game 5.
AL Cy Young- Josh Beckett, Red Sox:
20-7, 3.27 ERA, 194 Ks
















Ladies and gentlemen, your AL Cy Young, Josh Beckett. Making menthol-smoking, scruffy skater dirtbags everywhere proud, Beckett utilized a lethal mix of power pitching and pinpoint control (a rare Clemens-Maddux hybrid) to become the majors' only 20-game winner. Throw in a grade-A post-season legacy (2003 World Series MVP with Florida; 5-2 with a 1.78 ERA and three shutouts in eight career starts) that includes three dominating wins this October, and the 26 year old looks to be a good bet to keep adding more hardware to his trophy case. Beckett is good for at least two more World Series victories and very well may repeat as MVP in helping the Sox fulfill dp's perfect post-season predictions.

Check out ESPN.com's sweet 10 question World Series poll to see how America views Red Sox Nation versus Rocktoberfest: POLL

AL MVP- Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: .314, 54 HR, 156 RBIs, 143 runs
Sometimes the MVP is a guy who singularly outperforms everyone else in the league by a wide margin. Sometimes the MVP is a guy who single-handedly carries his team on his back into the playoffs. Once in a while, the MVP is both guys, like A-Rod this year. A-Rod batted .314 and led the majors with 54 home runs, 143 runs, 156 RBIs, .645 SLG, and 1.067 OPS. His ridiculous output paced the Yankees' second-half charge to make the playoffs. Magglio Ordonez hit .363 with 139 RBIs for the Tigers, but he picked the wrong season to have a career year. Rodriguez picked the right year to max out, as he has the right to opt out of his contract and potentially sign a $300 million deal as a free agent. Whether he returns to New York is one of the big baseball questions to be settled after the conclusion of the World Series.

AL Comeback Player of the Year- Carlos Pena, Devil Rays: 46 HR, 121 RBIs, 1.038 OPS
In another no-brainer, Carlos Pena is hands-down the 2007 AL comeback player of the year. If the D-Rays were a bit better, Pena would be a legitimate MVP candidate. After appearing in only 18 games for Boston in 2006, he rebounded in a big way in 2007, batting .282 with 46 HR, 121 RBI, 99 runs, 103 BB, and an outstanding 1.038 OPS. What an amazing turnaround for a career .252 hitter who hit more than 20 homers in a season just once before 2007. What a sleeper for lucky fantasy baseball managers who stole him late in their drafts.

AL Manager of the Year- Eric Wedge, Indians: 96-66, 1st in Central Division
Joe Torre, Mike Scioscia, and Terry Francona all deserve congratulations in leading their teams to the playoffs, but then again, the Yankees, Angels, and Red Sox all enjoy perennially high payrolls and high expectations. In other words, back in spring training these teams were supposed to make the playoffs, while the Indians looked to be fourth behind the Tigers, White Sox, and Twins in the AL Central. For expertly guiding a young team to within one game of the World Series, Eric Wedge (pictured with Indians GM Mark Shapiro) wins the award for top AL manager in 2007. At least one fan in Cleveland appreciates the job the Indians have done this year.

Check back Tuesday for dp's 2007 National League awards.

Week 7 Picks: Flick Six Road Warriors

dp takes the double secret dirty dog dare to pick only road winners in Week 7. Most gambling experts say this is the donkey pinning the tail on the NFL schedule, but dp, like LL below, is doing it, and doing it, and doing it well (with three road dogs). Doing it, and doing it, and doing it well (with three road faves).

That's right, dude, mark it "6." In the first frame, notch "3" slight road underdogs- Tampa Bay at Detroit, Tennessee at Houston, and Kansas City at Oakland- three winners, good as gold.

And in the second frame, mark "3" road favorites- Baltimore at Buffalo, Pittsburgh at Denver Sunday night, and Indy at Jacksonville in the game of the week Monday night- 3 more gold strikes.

To commemorate the Risky Six in Week 7, dp, he of the perpertual free High Five, is supersizing an extra 20% to produce an even 6-fingered, mutant-ninja-turtled, on-the-road-winning High Six.

So FLICKsters, be sure to flick an extra digit in your hand jives this week. That's right y'all: FLICK SIX.

FLICKsport Poll: Who win will the World Series?

The Rockies, peaking on a 21-1 run, are in. Cleveland, leading Boston 3 games to 1 in the ALCS, is close. (In other words, the Sox got 'em right where they want 'em.)

FLICKsters, who do you think will prevail in the fall classic?

Who will win the World Series?
Rockies
Indians
Red Sox
Poll starter: dp See Results

Answers to Life's Biggest Questions

Check out this great clip of "crazy sports scenarios" brought to life by writer Todd Gallagher. If you've ever wondered how much of a head start you would need in order to beat an Olympic champion in a sprint, or if you could convert a sumo wrestler to an NFL player, you will find your answers here.



Check out Todd's book, Andy Roddick Beat Me With a Frying Pan, for more strange encounters of the sporting kind and more answers to questions like these: Can I beat Andy Roddick in tennis if he plays with a frying pan? Do professional darts throwers make great beer pong partners? Why don't NHL teams employ the absurdly fat goalies who simply cover the entire net with their flesh?

Yo flicksters, do you have any questions of your own for the sequel?

NFL Week 6 Recap

Thanks to the Giants' Monday night 31-10 dismantling of the Falcons, dp turned in a season-best 4-2 mark in Week 6 picks. Granted, the Titans upset special didn't quite materialize. And the Chincinatti Bungles blew it again in Kansas City, losing 27-20 to drop to 1-4.


As Michael Vick knows, when you play with underdogs, you're bound to git bit in da butt now and again, but dp otherwise definitely proved to be downright prophetic.

dp breathed a deep sigh of relief after Charles Woodson's 57-yard scoop and score gave the Packers a 17-14 victory over the Redskins. Coming off a bye week spent dissecting 5 games of Green Bay film, the Redskins unleashed a great defensive game plan designed to stop Brett Favre. First, to prevent the efficient, quick-hitting short passes Mike McCarthy favors, the Skins rolled up cornerbacks Shawn Springs, Fred Smoot, and Carlos Rogers to play tight man-to-man coverage on Packers WRs Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, and James Jones. With his outside options jammed at the line of scrimmage, Favre couldn't throw the quick slants, outs, and hitches the Packers have exploited for great gain all year. Second, Washington blitzed often, gambling that with Favre's receivers tied up at the snap, the 'Skins could sack him or force him to throw before anyone came open downfield. It worked about as well as defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo could expect, as Favre didn't have a touchdown pass and served up two interceptions. Luckily, Woodson justified his expensive contract with a single game-breaking play. Strike the Heisman, C-Wood! Take that arm, and FLICK, just let it go....



Despite Green Bay's sputtering offense, dp thinks the Pack will utilize the bye week to rest, recover, regroup, and reload. McCarthy and Favre will be able to plot some new looks and come out with a reinvigorated offense in Week 8. Tellingly, the Packers adjusted at halftime by planning to throw deep and make the Skins pay for their aggressive pass coverage. Unfortunately, safety Sean Taylor picked off Favre's deep pass on the Packers' first 3rd quarter drive. dp actually felt relatively good when Favre threw his second interception. On a counterstrike option designed to expose the 'Skins aggressive press coverage, Favre pump-faked a quick slant to Jones, who then burst to the outside past a badly burned corner. Unfortunately, rather than lasering a 20-yard line drive pass, Favre fluttered a 40-yard floater, giving Taylor enough time to move across the field to snatch his second leaping pick. dp is confident that Favre will smooth out these and other new wrinkles and rebound with a great Week 8 performance on Monday night in Denver.


New England is hotter than Gisele Bundchen on a runway in Paris after Sunday's 41-27 FLICKing of the Cowboys in Big D. With a career-best 5 TD passes against Dallas to extend his NFL-leading total to a record 21 through six games, Tom Brady is hitting his receivers like they were supermodels- that is to say, in stride with great frequency of endzone penetration.

Seriously, at 6-0 and boasting a 230-92 total point differential, Belichick's cheaters are threatening to go unbeaten this year. The only way the Pats' lovefest gets broken up is if Brady gets sacked and buried by a wild pack of steaming A-list divas. Who knows, perhaps Gisele actually will intercept Bridget's baby....
Finally, in a less photogenic game, Philly defeated the Jets 16-9 to move to 2-3 (and 9-0 in games following a bye week under Andy Reid.) dp is once again Doctor Predictor, already off and looking for five Week 7 winners.

Week 6: 4-2
Season: 12-9

College Football Midseason Report: Aughtoberfest for California Sports Fans

We are officially in the midst of the time students across the country know simply as "midterms." Likewise, the first BCS rankings, college football's midterm report card, were released today.

BCS Ring Game

Taking stock of the California sports scene, former teacher dp finds failure everywhere. It’s been a brutal month. The A’s, Giants, and Dodgers missed the post-season completely, the Padres were eliminated by the Rockies in the wild card tiebreaker, and the Angels were unceremoniously swept by the Red Sox in the Divisional Series. Worse still for football fans, UCLA, USC, and Cal have all recently endured appalling losses that damaged their BCS dreams.

First, riding high at 2-0 and ranked #11 in the country on Sept. 15, UCLA got trounced 44-6 by a Utah team that was winless at the time and still possesses a losing record in the mighty Mountain West Conference. Worse still, on Oct. 6 the Bruins travelled to 0-5 Notre Dame and were thoroughly embarrassed in a 31-7 loss. Notwithstanding these two black eyes, UCLA is in second place at 3-0 in the Pacific-10 and may statistically have a chance to win the conference, but with upcoming games against #12 Cal, undefeated Pac-10 leader #8 Arizona St., #10 Oregon, and #14 USC, the Bruins are bound to take a few more blows to the chin and topple further down the standings.

Astoundingly, USC’s season was also spoiled on Oct. 6. Pete Carroll’s juggernaut, which was a 41-point favorite against lowly Stanford, suffered the biggest upset in college football history in losing 24-23 at home in the Coliseum to Jim Harbaugh’s geeks. The Cardinal, who at 1-3 in conference play (2-4 overall) have yet to win again in the Pacific-10, somehow tamed the Trojan horse despite the fact that quarterback Tavita Pritchard entered the game having thrown all of three passes in his collegiate career. The Trojans are battling through a slew of injuries that have forced 11 starters to miss games yet remain in a three-way tie for third in the Pac-10. Up next for the Trojans? The (meekly) Fighting Irish of notorious shame.

Finally, Cal visits the Rose Bowl to face UCLA this Saturday and looks to rebound from its own crushing defeat last week, when the Golden Bears dropped a 31-28 heartbreaker at home to Oregon State. Entering the game undefeated and ranked #2 in the country, Cal stood to move into the top spot in light of #1 LSU’s triple-overtime loss to Kentucky, but clock mismanagement in the final seconds cost Cal a chance to kick a field goal and force overtime.

With all the craziness across campus gridirons this fall, it’s likely that a one-loss team like Cal or USC could still play in the BCS title game. Yet at this point, Oregon is a stronger candidate than either USC or Cal. Granted, Cal did defeat Oregon 31-24 on Sept. 29, but the Ducks have blown out all of their other opponents and have to be considered the best candidate to unseat Arizona St. at the top of the Pac-10.

At least California college football fans can commiserate in beautiful weather. The Pac-10 is not the Big 12, after all....

NFL Week 6 Picks: Road Warriors Rule

In Week 6's second-best matchup, NFC East leader Washington visits Lambeau Field, home of NFC North leader Green Bay. Despite the fact that the inside report from Scouts, Inc. and the minds of many experts favor Washington, dp backs the Pack, a field-goal favorite at home, denying plausibly a distinct possibility of the Redskins as upset specialists.

Sunday's biggest showdown in Big D features two unbeaten teams, New England and Dallas, in what could very well be a Super Bowl sneak preview. Again, dp drives parallel to the Vegas oddsmakers, who have installed the Pats as a 6-point favorite.

Meanwhile, in this week's upset special in Tampa Bay, dp definitively predicts that the Tennessee Titans's three-pronged rushing attack of Chris Brown, LenDale White, and Vince Young will trample the favored Bucs.

Finally, dp doggedly pushes three more road warriors in Week 6, expecting Cincy to streak past Kansas City, Philly to shoot down the Jets, and the Giants to ground the Falcons.

Five road teams to win in the closest games of Week 6? Is that the sound of a donkey braying five times? No, it's just dp, laughing all the way to the bank.


Week 5 record: 11-3 (all games)
2007 Season record: 49-27 (all games)

From the Green Blazer: Happy Birthday, Michelle Wie!

Today's post comes courtesy of original FLICKster the Green Blazer.

Happy 18th Birthday, Michelle Wie. What better way to celebrate than participate in a repackaged Skins Game?

Two weeks ago Superhero Columnist dr, aka the Desert Rat (www.professionaldesertrat.blogspot.com) made a great point about the fading (lack) luster of the Skins Game. He suggested that, in the absence of big names like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, perhaps an all-women format could reinvigorate an essentially meaningless November golf event that gets killed in the television ratings by Saturday college football games and Sunday NFL games.

Not only does The Green Blazer agree with The Rat, he demands further action: let's turn it into a real Skins game and have these beautiful ladies not only win Skins but lose clothes along the way. The LPGA has admittedly taken its sex appeal up a notch. The ladies could end up in bikinis, and if one were to lose yet another hole, she could either opt to cut her losses and quit, or plunge into the nearest body of water and keep playing.

With Michelle Wie recently turning 18, what better way to celebrate than by participating in the ultimate Skins Game threesome with Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer?

Ok Ok… just kidding. This will never happen, but with 74 percent of all golfers being male, the last article of clothing coming off at the real Skins Game would be the rating’s socks. Until that time, I guess it's just another Green Blazin' pipe dream.

Posted by The Green Blazer, the Superhero Columnist of Golf - at 5:35 PM

The Wednesday Hump: Happy Birthday, Brett Favre; Sad Goodbye, Marion Jones

Did you hear that? What? No? Me neither. That's the sound of baseball not being played today. With the NBA in exhibition mode and the pro football season a quarter of the way through but stuck on the slowest day of the week, the professional team sports world has hit the ultimate Wednesday hump: zero meaningful games played. (Sorry, NBA, a handful of exhibitions don't count, especially considering that the Memphis Grizzlies, in Spain to capitalize on Pau Gasol's popularity, actually lost to Unicaja yesterday.)

Navy did knock off Pitt 48-45 in OT in tonight's wildly entertaining and incredibly defenseless NCAA game, but dp hardly knew what to do on a day without baseball. As we await tomorrow's resumption of the playoffs with the National League Championship Series, it's worth noting that NeutralMilk, whose predictions based on closer songs correlated with dp's perfect round of Divisional Playoff picks, has departed from dp's ALCS and World Series pick, the Boston Red Sox. It seems he has misread Jonathan Papelbon's occasional use of "Wild Thing" (seen here in the video at the bottom of the post). He equates Papelbon entering to "Wild Thing" with the Patriots' stealing of opponents' signals. Further, because this song is inherently Indian territory (it did originate as Rick Vaughn's song in Major League) and is current Cleveland closer Joe Borowski's full-time anthem, he chooses Cleveland to win both the ALCS and the World Series. However, dp knows this test to be a false positive. In reality, Papelbon has actually negated Cleveland's edge (by employing laser tag tactics of holding up a mirror to reflect back enemy fire,) and the BoSox will go all the way. Better check your B-sample, NeutralMilk.

Speaking of drug tests, the sad saga of Marion Jones' disgrace continues to unfold.

When the confirmation of Jones' long-suspected drug use broke last Friday, Scoop Jackson spoke for many when he lamented how his girl Marion crushed his heart. Jones admitted in District Court that she not only lied to federal agents in her 2003 grand jury testimony in the BALCO case, but she also lied about her involvement in a fraudulent check-cashing scheme involving her agent, another former coach, and former boyfriend Tim Montgomery.

Victor Conte, BALCO's founder, has been saying for years that Jones used performance-enhancing drugs before and after her amazing performance in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where she won five medals, including three gold. Yet even the gold standard has proved counterfeit, and now Jones has returned those medals to the International Olympic Committtee. It turns out that Conte was right all along.

Jones went so far as to file a $25 million libel lawsuit against Conte in 2004. (It was later settled out of court.) For a woman who has never failed a drug test (though she narrowly escaped with a false-positive for EPO in June 2006 when her B-sample came back negative) and has always categorically denied drug use, dp can't help but wonder why Jones finally decided to come clean about playing dirty. Many, including ESPN.com's Patrick Hruby, think that she's a pathological liar who "leaked" her admission in a letter to family and friends only to try to put a positive spin on an inevitable booking by the Feds. In this letter, Jones claims she thought that her coach, Trevor Graham, was giving her flaxseed oil, not realizing until years later that she'd actually been taking "the clear," a designer steroid at the center of the BALCO case.

Was the evidence so overwhelming against her that she had no choice except to craft one last convenient lie in a desperate attempt to save a bit of face? Or is it possible that a singularly focused world-class sprinter just did what her coach told her to do and didn't ask too many questions about the little drop of liquid on her tongue to help her "recover" faster after workouts? Jones, just one of about two dozen professional athletes to testify in the BALCO case, is certainly not a chemist, and probably couldn't tell the difference between a placebo and a painkiller, much less between a permissible "supplement" and an undetectable but illegal steroid. Barry Bonds also claimed under oath that he believed "the clear" to be flaxseed oil. Could this be a corroboration of truth, or is it again simply that smug wink of plausible deniability?

Or is it possible that there really is no real "truth" in a cutthroat competitive landscape in which individual success is only possible through a supreme self-confidence that borders on self-delusion? I mean, how realistic is it to think you are the fastest person on earth? It's preposterous, except perhaps for a very select few. Is it so surprising then to think that one of these megalomaniacs may actually reject, distort, qualify, or ignore anything which threatens her righteous faith in her talent and ability? By sheer force of will, can athletes like Jones and Bonds simply rationalize shady decisions?

The only certainty we have is that Jones, for one, couldn't live with her own guilt. In mourning her fall, we can only wonder whether countless other superstars like Lance Armstrong and Roger Clemens have benefited from a little extra boost as well. As more and more incriminating evidence mounts, it's getting more and more difficult to give our heroes the benefit of the doubt. As for Bonds, a lawyer familiar with his case ominously speculates that prosecutors will now shift their focus to investigating whether he committed perjury and tax evasion.

Although ESPN.com's Bomani Jones has a few ideas to consider on this dark sports Wednesday, dp can do no more than to wish original FLICKster Brett Favre a happy 38th birthday.

FLICK test

If poop stains aren't always brown, then the silver lining of dp's Columbus Day weekend football dump would be today's much-anticipated home installation of DIRECTV. Goodbye, bitter hangover; hello, NFL Sunday Ticket. dp awoke this morning (okay, it was noonish) knowing that he would finally be able to watch the Packers (and FLICK over to the Patriots, Lady Flick's Redskins, and every other team to boot) every single Sunday guaranteed. Not to mention a sick cable package with HBO (plus the free premium pack of second-tier movie channels like Stars, Skinemax, Showtime, etc.) For the first time since leaving L.A. last month, dp and Lady Flick could dvr Flight of the Conchords, and catch Bret and Jemaine beyond YouTube clips like the one below.

Alas, for the second time in two weeks, the technician failed to show up during the appointed 12-5 pm window. For the second time in two weeks, the dharma prince sensed something was fishy at 4 pm, when there was still no sign of the techie's arrival. For the second time in two weeks, dp's telephone inquiries were rebuffed first by an automated hold machine, second by a Halsted Communications rep who claimed the techie claimed there was no one home (while I've literally been sitting in the window seat above the front door since 12:30) and then would only offer to reschedule again, and third by DIRECTV's nonexistent customer service. Today, flaky Lacey, after seemingly trying to help by intervening in a conference call with Hallsted, lost dp in a deadend phone loop, and the signal eventually went busy. At this point, dp was deeply pissed.

Steaming mad on full tilt, dp was definitely poised to do something crazy, much like this angry grandma:
Sick_Of_Waiting_75_Year_Old_Woman_
Smashes_Up_Comcast_Office_With_A_Hammer

But then dp remembered his damn philosophy (pertaining to both dignified protest and due process), and... FLICK, dp just let it go. If Albi the Racist Dragon can learn to rise above discriminatory persecution, so too can dp.

Really, that's the only test a prospective FLICKster must pass: s/he should be able to live and let be. So, dp will flick away DIRECTV insanity... until we meet again Oct. 16 for take three.

In the meantime, here's a fun test to measure another important FLICKster characteristic, gambling instinct:

Gambler's quiz

Week 5 Fissures and Fizzles: Sports Illustrated Jinx Af-flicks dp

Well, the dharma prince isn't immune to superstition. By referencing (translation: mocking) Sports Illustrated, it seems dp contracted a mutant version of the infamous SI cover jinx, poisoning this ill-fated football weekend. dp's beloved Wisconsin Badgers lost to Illinois on Saturday, the Packers lost in Lambeau to the Bears on Sunday, and Jason Witten's final 6-yard reception Monday night allowed Toby's Business Time squad to squeak past dp's heartbroken fantasy phantoms, X-Country Packbackin. In single positive sporting moment, at least the Indians restored a bit of karmic balance by slaughtering the Yankees on Columbus Day.

Five turnovers doomed the Packers. Rookie WR James Jones lost two fumbles in Bears territory in the first quarter, but the Packers still led 17-7 at halftime. Nonetheless, dp had a bad feeling about this one even when the Packers were still up 20-10 in the third quarter. In a game that eventually ended with an end-zone interception to tie George Blanda for a record 277 (now and counting), Favre 's 1st pick, a vintage boneheaded flick to Bears MLB Brian Urlacher, stuck out like a bad sunburn as the game-changing play. The Bears reeled off 17 straight points to win 27-20, ending the Pacers' win streak and handing dp his first losing week of the year.

It's small solace that dp did pick the big upset special of the week, San Diego's 41-3 blowout at Denver. As predicted, Chargers RBs LT and Michael Turner devoured Denver's run defense. Unfortunately, New Orleans, despite outplaying Carolina in every facet of the game, couldn't score more points in order to throw off the yoke of their own SI cover jinx. Meanwhile, dp vows to never again pick anything involving Kansas City unless it's a bottle of KC Masterpiece for a barbecue with Lady Flick.

Week 5 Record: 2-3
Season Record: 8-7

Billy Mitchell Watch at Goonies.com Hits 11 Days: Hang Tough, Noahbk, for the Right Stuff

Just as dp feared back on Sept. 26, Billy Mitchell, aka Mr. Pacman, has indeed given goonies.com the slip. But Noahbk deserves better than Blinky, Pinky, Inkey, and even Clyde. If B-Mitch is in fact a true champion, he should grant goonies.com an interview and remain true to his word. Never surrender your good name, Billy. Never. Likewise, never FLICK somebody over who didn't have it coming to him. And the only thing coming to Noahbk is a rabbit's foot rush and a pile of the house's chips at the blackjack table. B-Mitch, dp suggests you listen to original FLICKster Tony Montana.

Seriously, B-Mitch, sack up and deliver the good word to goonies.com. Or risk the wrath of FLICKsters and Goonies the world over, from Noah Big Kat, to Scarface, to Bret, Jemaine, Murray, and the dharma prince himself, who FLICKs karmic bolts of justice from his high post in Mount Olympus (er, New Haven.)

Week 5 NFL Fantasies

Thanks largely to Brett Favre, the Packers are off to a 4-0 start and will win their 9th straight game (dating to last season) on Sunday night at home against the Chicago Bears, preseason favorite to repeat as NFC North Division champions. Incredibly, Dr. Z, in his preseason predictions for SI, rated Favre the 113th most valuable player in the NFL, just behind Pacman, who is suspended for the season for violating the Player Conduct policy. dp would also like to point out that Dr. Z's predicted Super Bowl teams, the Saints and the Chargers, are a combined 1-6 through Week 4. Thanks largely to Favre's outstanding play this season (he's currently the 4th best fantasy player in Yahoo leagues, behind only Tony Romo, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady), dp's two X-Country Packbackin squads have accumulated a combined 7-1 record in his two Yahoo fantasy leagues (okay, actually 9-3 in three leagues).

Less importantly, but more relevantly, dp throws some love towards the much-maligned Dr. Z, and picks both the Saints and the Chargers to turn their seasons around with big wins in Week 5. In dp's upset special, the Chargers win will their tough AFC West showdown at Denver. LaDainian Tomlinson will post a monster game, running circles around struggling MLB D.J. Williams. LT will break off consistent gains in piling up yardage against Denver's porous front seven, meaning that QB Phillip Rivers won't have to challenge Denver's shutdown corners Champ Bailey and Dre Bly.

Other picks: Redskins over Lions and Chiefs over Jaguars.

Sabermetrics Analysis Supports dp's MLB Playoffs Picks

Incredibly, shoutmouth.com's master of ceremonies, Neutralmilk, ran an advance study to predict the Divisional Playoff series winners, and the results corroborated with dp's poker instincts. Check it out here:

Predicting the Baseball Playoffs by Closing Pitcher Songs

Flick, flick, hooray to sg who alerted dp with the key karmic connection.

Check out this sick tribute to Jonathan Papelbon, biggest badass wicked killa closer in the game.

Here's what it feels like at Fenway when Pap enters the game.

AL Ring Game: Predictions for Baseball's Postseason Poker Showdown

With the postseason heating up this week, here’s a preview of each Divisional Playoff series. Matchups are evaluated logically (Head), emotionally (Heart), and instinctively (Gut). [dp's note: all predictions were made before Thursday’s games]

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Yankees-Indians: Game 1 at 6:30 ET Thursday

Head: Conventional wisdom favors the Yankees, who beat the Indians all six times they played this year and boast a vast advantage in postseason experience. Plus the Yankees feature the scariest batting order this side of Murderer’s Row, leading the majors in nearly all batting statistics and outscoring second-best Philly by nearly half a run per game. The Indians have some great young players like C Victor Martinez, CF Grady Sizemore, and DH Travis Hafner, but even this trio can’t compare to the likes of C Jorge Posada, LF Hideki Matsui, SS Derek Jeter, and 3B Alex Rodriguez.
Heart: Still, everyone outside New York loves to hate the Yankees, making Cleveland the sentimental choice. Cleveland did post the best record in the AL, and does have the best two starters in the series in C.C. Sabathia (19-7, 3.21 ERA) and Fausto Carmona (19-8, 3.06 ERA). Starting at home at Jacobs Field, these two could quite possibly stake the Indians to a huge 2-0 series lead.
Gut: In playoff baseball, much like poker, it’s best to be holding pocket aces. Indeed, great pitching beats great hitting in October. Sure, the Yankees have the better closer in Mariano Rivera versus Cleveland’s shaky Joe Borowski (45 saves but a 5.07 ERA), but this edge won’t matter if the Yankees starters can’t keep it close against Sabathia and Carmona in the early going. Indians win series in 5.

Angels-Red Sox: Boston leads series 1-0

Head: After Wednesday’s 4-0 victory, Josh Beckett now has 3 shutouts and a 1.74 ERA in 6 career postseason starts. The smart money's on him to win again in Game 4, meaning Boston only has to win one other game to move on the ALCS. With two of those chances at Fenway, where Anaheim is just 2-6 this year, it doesn’t look good for the Angels. Furthermore, with Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis fully recovered, Boston’s lineup is in top form, while Angels CF Gary Matthews is still out and RF Vladimir Guerrero is only able to DH on account of his bad elbow.
Heart: Sorry, Californians, even in Los Angeles there are more of you in the Red Sox Nation than in the Disney Kingdom. For proof, witness the teams’ only series played in Anaheim in early August: Sox fans arrived early to tailgate in the parking lot, while Angels fans finally settled into their seats by the fourth inning before stretching and leaving in the seventh. Finally, it’s hard to go on about the Red Sox without mentioning reigning MVP David Ortiz. Big Papi is probably the most beloved player in all of baseball, and he seems to have recovered his knack for delivering clutch hits.
Gut: Theo Epstein built this team around power pitching. That’s what enabled Boston to beat out the Yankees for the AL East crown, and that’s what will launch them toward postseason success. With dazzling rookie Dice-K to complement big-game pitchers Beckett and Curt Schilling, plus closer Jonathan Papelbon waiting in the wings to lockdown the ninth, it’s going to be tough for anyone to beat the Sox in a best-of-7 series, much less a best-of-5. Red Sox win series in 4.

AL Championship Series: Sox beat Indians in 6

NLCS: Rockies beat D-backs in 7

World Series: Sox beat Rockies in 7

NL Ring Game: Predictions for Baseball's Postseason Poker Showdown

Tonight: Red Sox to go up 1-0; Rockies to go up 1-0; Diamondbacks to go up 1-0; all to win series.

In California baseball this season, it's better to be divine than merely pious, as Anaheim's cherubs of Los Angeles are in and San Diego's priests are out of the playoffs. In postseason baseball this October, it's better to be lucky than good, as the tough-luck Padres discovered on Monday in the wild card tiebreaker against the Rockies.

With an 8-6 lead in the bottom of the 13^th and all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman on the mound to close out the win, the Padres could taste the champagne of the imminent post-game celebration. Yet the Rockies capped an improbable 9-8 comeback victory when, despite not crossing home plate, Colorado's Matt Holliday was fortuitously called safe with the game-winning run. Replays showed that after Holliday tagged from third base on Jamey Carroll’s shallow fly to right and slid headfirst into home, catcher Michael Barrett blocked Holliday’s left hand from touching the plate. Regardless, umpire Tim McClelland signaled safe, ending San Diego’s season in dramatic walk-off fashion. Check out the replay below.

With the postseason heating up this week, here’s a preview of each Divisional Playoff series. Matchups are evaluated logically (Head), emotionally (Heart), and instinctively (Gut). [Editor’s note: all predictions were made before Thursday’s games]

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rockies-Phillies: Colorado leads series 1-0

Head: The Phillies have the best starter in the series in Cole Hamels and the NL's most potent offense, led by the majors' best-hitting infield with SS Jimmy Rollins, 2B Chase Utley, and 1B Ryan Howard, all of whom are MVP candidates. With CF Aaron Rowand and LF Pat Burrell having career years, it would seem that the Phillies have too much firepower for the Rockies to contain. Yet Jeff Francis did just this in Wednesday’s Game 1, allowing only 4 hits and 2 runs to out-duel Hamels and give Colorado a 4-2 victory.
Heart: In spring training Jimmy Rollins predicted the Phillies would win the NL East. Until the last day of the regular season, no one believed him. Rollins believed and, through the force of his will, pushed the Phillies all year long to get there. That's an MVP. Plus, the Phillies made the latest, greatest comeback in baseball history to beat out the Mets, whom they trailed by seven games on Sept. 12. That’s heart.
Gut: But all logic aside, in the end, how can you bet against a team that's won 15 of 16 games? Even though Philly also stormed back to make the playoffs, these Rockies just seem to have an extra special something. They made it this far only because Matt Holliday proved that you actually can score without hitting home. That kind of good fortune is priceless. Weigh the overwhelming evidence favoring the Phillies, then flick, let it go. As any tournament poker player knows, in the short term- like a 5-game series- it's good to be the guy on a rush. Colorado will ride it all the way to the World Series. Rockies win series in 4.

Cubs-Diamondbacks: Arizona leads series 1-0

Head: The Diamondbacks, despite having the best record in the NL at 90-72, were actually outscored 732-712 for the season. Credit manager Bob Melvin for making all the right moves to win a lot of close games. He’s handled his pitching staff like a wizard, as was the case again in Wednesday’s Game 1, when he preserved ace Brandon Webb’s 3-1 win by getting two scoreless innings of relief from Brandon Lyon and Jose Valverde. The Cubs also rely on excellent pitching, with the NL's second-best ERA of 4.04. Yet Webb, last year's Cy Young,, who will definitely win again in Game 4, meaning the Cubs will have to win Games 2, 3, and 5 to advance.
Heart: It's a no-brainer to pull for the Cubs. Since 1908, from the curse of the goat to the meddling of Steve Bartman, it's been nothing but heartache for Wrigley's faithful. No one deserves to win more than Cubs fans. The Red Sox finally got their title in ’04 after 86 years, and the cross-town White Sox got theirs in ’05 after 88 years, so why can't the Cubs join them this year, right?
Gut: Wrong. The Cubs never win. Ever. Not in 99 years. Usually in Texas Hold ‘Em, no matter how bad you're beat on the flop, you have that one-out miracle left in the deck, perhaps that fourth ace, or a royal flush filler, or runner-runner to a straight. Unfortunately, sometimes you're the Cubs, who, after a century of heartbreak, are drawing dead. Diamondbacks win series in 5.

Check back Thursday for dp's American League preview.

Milwaukee Brewers 2007 Report Card

Although the Brewers did record their first winning season since 1992, 2007 still must be considered disappointing given that the Brew Crew spent 133 days in first place in the NL Central before ultimately falling 2 games short of the Chicago Cubs and missing the playoffs. (A small consolation for dp: with Sunday's victory over the Padres, the Brewers not only helped pave the way for Colorado to complete its incredible stretch run to secure the wild card spot, the Crew also won their 83rd game of the season, nudging just past the over-82.5-season-wins bet a former colleague placed for dp back in March.)

Steven Colbert knows brat-loving Brewers fans won't forget the Brew Crew's September blues.


With the Milwaukee Brewers' 2007 season over and nothing left to do but overeat comfort food and dwell on such a sad finish, dp, the discerning professor, hands out report cards for all the Brewers' regular players, pitchers, and principal decision makers.

STARTING LINEUP: B

The Brewers led the majors in home runs, bashing a club-record 231 bombs, yet were only 11th in runs with 804 and 21st in batting average at .262, revealing an over-reliance on the longball to score runs. The Brewers hit for power but need to do a better job in 2008 playing small ball. First, the defense, ranked 25th with .982 team fielding percentage, needs to tighten up. Second, the Brewers need to learn how to manufacture runs in low-scoring games. To do so, the Brewers need to improve their 21st rank in OBP, and exhibiting more patience at the plate is the key that can drive this development. Better pitch selection will lead both to more walks and more favorable pitches to hit when pitchers get deeper in the count. In turn, more baserunners plus a higher batting average equals more runs. If young free swingers like J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun can lead a team revolution in better pitch selection, the Brewers could join the offensive elite with the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, and Tigers.

1. 2B Rickie Weeks: C-
Rickie deserves a lot of credit for working back into the leadoff slot and providing the Brewers with a September spark. In his last 39 games, he was arguably the best leadoff hitter in baseball, as he hit 11 home runs, stole 13 bases, scored 40 runs, drew 33 walks and posted a .429 OBP. During this stretch over the final quarter of the season, Weeks hit .292 to raise his average from .206 on August 18 to .235 on September 30. Still, if it weren't for this late resurrection, Rickie would've gotten an F for the season. He hit 5 homers in April, then batted only .193 in May, June, and July. He bottomed out on July 31, when, sporting a .212 BA and in the midst of a horrible 7 for 66 slump, he was demoted to the minor leagues to work on his swing. A lingering wrist injury that ended his 2006 season may partially explain Weeks' midseason swoon. His strong closing burst in September suggests that he has finally fully recovered and could be on track for a breakthrough performance in 2008.

2. SS J.J. Hardy: B
J.J. Hardy was hot in April and May, even drawing early MVP talk back in mid-May when he briefly led the NL in homers. Through 2 months, J.J. was hitting .302 with 15 HR, 46 RBIs and a .917 OBP. He began cooling off in June, and after sustaining a back injury on June 20, Hardy was hardly the same: he hit a home run in his return 4 games later, then went on a 35-game homerless drought, finally connecting again on August 10. He did bounce back to post solid numbers in August and September and regain his role batting second in the Brewers lineup. Overall, Hardy hit .277 with 26 HRs, 80 RBIs, and 89 runs. While Hardy's struggles at the plate in June and July corresponded with the Brewers struggles to win games, dp can hardly complain about a solid comeback season in which Hardy played 151 games to dispel the notion that he's injury-prone. He's not Hanley Ramirez or Jimmy Rollins, but Hardy looks to be an above-average run producer at shortstop for a long time.

3. 3B Ryan Braun: A-
Although Colorado SS Troy Tulowitzki will warrant closer consideration now that the Rockies have furiously fought their way into the playoffs with last night's thrilling victory over San Diego in the wildcard tiebreaker, Braun should be a lock for NL Rookie of the Year. Despite not being promoted to the majors until May 25, Braun led all rookies with a .324 BA, 34 HRs, .634 SLG, and 1.004 OPS. Additionally, Braun amassed 97 RBIs, 91 runs, and 15 SBs, comparing favorably to stud fantasy third basemen like David Wright, Chipper Jones, and Miguel Cabrera. Braun even won the NL Player of the Month award for July. Still, Braun, whom Ned Yost often lifted for a defensive replacement to protect a lead in the late innings of close games, has room to improve. With 26 errors and a horrible .895 fielding percentage in 112 games at third base, Braun has to work hard this offseason to shed the derisive "E-5" nickname critics have coined. If Braun can mirror the defensive upgrade that Rickie Weeks has achieved on the other side of the infield, he will help bolster a Brewers defense that ranked 13th in the NL with a .982 fielding percentage.

4. 1B Prince Fielder: A
While Fielder's hopes of the NL MVP may go unfulfilled in light of the Brewers' playoff elimination, he nonetheless logged a positively princely 2007, becoming at 23 the youngest player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs in one year. On a young team marred by inconsistent performances, Fielder cemented the cleanup slot in a shifting lineup and consistently produced big hits all year long, finishing at .288 BA/.395 OBP/.618 SLG with 50 HRs, 119 RBIs, and 109 runs. Fielder won the NL Player of the Month Award for May, and may very well be in line for another award for September, when he hit .333 with 11 home runs and a Bonds-like 1.212 OPS. (Then again, dp wouldn't be surprised to see Colorado LF Matt Holiday, the catalyst for the Rockies' improbable playoff run, win both the September and the MVP award.) Although we have to say, "Good night, sweet Prince" for now, the sky is the limit for Fielder in 2008.

5. RF Corey Hart: B+
Corey Hart provided a real offensive boost once he earned a full-time starting role in the outfield. With 24 HRs and 23 SBs, Hart became the fifth Brewer to join the 20/20 club, and his .295 BA (an even more impressive .339 w/RISP) was the team's second-best. He hit well all over the lineup, finally settling into the 5-hole and providing good protection for Prince Fielder. Hart is also 6' 5", ridiculously good-looking, eminently lovable to fans and teammates alike, and the fastest man in Milwaukee. Add in a 22-game hit streak, a clutch September (.330 with 6 HRs and 20 RBIs), and a sweet FLICKname (forthcoming), and the future gleams bright for Corey "Bigtime" Hart.

6. LF Geoff Jenkins: C+
Jenkins, the resident grandpa of the Brew Crew with 10 years' experience in Milwaukee, provided just about what could be expected of a 33 year old who doesn't hit lefties well (.215 BA in 2007). A consummate professional, Jenkins accepted a reduced role this season, appearing in 132 games and platooning in left field, mainly against right-handed pitchers. Though Jenkins' .319 OBP was his lowest since his rookie year, he did belt 21 home runs, exactly his career average, to rise to 2nd on the Brewers' career homers leaderboard, trailing only Robin Yount. With a $9 club option on Jenkins for next year, it's unclear whether he'll be back for an 11th season in Milwaukee. With the Brewers' glut of young talent, he may be expendable enough for the club to try to trade, or even simply buyout his contract for $1 million and let him become a free agent.

7. CF Bill Hall: D
Easily the biggest disappointment for the Brewers, Hall hit only .254 with 14 home runs and 63 RBIs after hitting .270/35 HR/85 RBIs in 2006. His .OBP dropped 150 points to a pedestrian .740; he hit only .227 after the all-star break; and by season's end he wasn't even a full-time starter, platooning in the outfield and hitting 7th or 8th in the order. Hall did lead the Brewers in doubles with 35, but he also led them in strikeouts with 128 and finished 9th in slugging percentage, even trailing pitcher Yovani Gallardo. Hall wins dp's personal Worst Fantasy Pick Ever award, as dp, thinking he'd get a lot of lineup versatility with Hall's 2B/3B/SS/OF status, selected him in the 2nd round of the Empyreal Dynasty's draft. Hall went on to post the 706th-best fantasy performance of the season. In one small whiff of positivity, Hall did make a successful position change, transitioning from SS to CF to allow for J.J. Hardy's return, but if Hall's bat doesn't regain its pop in 2008, he may not have a spot in the lineup at all.

8. C Johnny Estrada: C-
Scheduled for arthroscopic surgery on Thursday to repair knee cartilage damaged on Sept. 22, Estrada disappointed in his first year as the Brewers' backstop. To be fair, Estrada played through a nagging hamstring strain that bothered him for months. nonetheless, dp would think that a catcher should have good knowledge of the strike zone and could theoretically differentiate balls from strikes, but Estrada proved dp wrong, managing to draw only 12 walks in 120 games. It's not like he was knocking the cover off the ball and didn't have to exhibit patience: he managed only a .278 average with 10 homers. He didn't fare very well behind the plate, either, throwing out only 11 of 84 attempted base stealers. The Brewers would benefit from a new look at catcher next year but will probably have to settle for the hope of a healthy Estrada whose improved offense compensates for his weak defense.

STARTING PITCHING: C+

Overall, the Brewers starters were decent, going 60-47 with a 4.80 ERA (8th in NL). While no one was especially good, no one was exceptionally bad, either. Ben Sheets went 12-5 with a 3.82 ERA but missed 10 starts due to injury. Jeff Suppan, signed in the offseason to be the #2 starter, was predictably average, soaking up 200+ innings to go 12-12 with a 4.62 ERA. Dave Bush was no better, going 12-10 with a 5.12 ERA. Chris Capuano struggled and had some bad luck, including a 20-game winless streak, to go 5-12 with a 5.10 ERA. Claudio Vargas managed to go 11-6 but also posted a 5.00+ ERA. Considering that the Brewers' original top three starters-Sheets, Suppan, and Capuano- went almost two months (late June to late August) without a victory, it's amazing the Brewers were able to contend for the playoffs at all. That realization alone is enough to generate optimism for a first-place finish in 2008. Combine it with Yovani Gallardo's impressive rookie campaign (9-6 with a 3.67 ERA in 17 starts), and the 2008 Brewers should pitch more like the staff that accumulated a 4.10 ERA before the all-star break.

BULLPEN: D+

Milwaukee lost a major-league leading 16 games in which they blew a lead of three runs or more. Even worse, the Brewers lost a whopping 10 games during August and September in which they held a lead entering the 7th inning. (To be fair, they did manage to win four games after trailing in the 7th inning. Still, a 4-10 record in comeback situations isn't the mark of the playoff team. Had the Brewers simply gone 7-7 in these games, they would have surpassed the Cubs.) Unquestionably, the bulk of the blame for these self-induced defeats lies in the Brewers' faltering bullpen, which, ironically, was once lauded as a lockdown, airtight force earlier in the season. Indeed, other than closer Chad Cordero, who posted a 2.98 ERA, a .213 BAA, and 86 Ks in 63.1 IP while converting 44 of 51 save opportunities, every key Brewer reliever struggled down the stretch. After breaking Pedro Lopez's jaw with a pitch on July 26, 7th inning setup man Matt Wise fell apart, posting a 9.00 ERA in August and September. Derrick Turnbow, normally the 8th inning link to Cordero, blew up for a 9.35 ERA in September. Scott Linebrink, acquired in late July from San Diego, gave up 14 runs (10 earned) in 23.1 innings in August and September. Ned Yost didn't have any reliable relief options in close games, so it's hard to totally blame him for the Brewers' slew of come-from-ahead losses.

MANAGEMENT: B-

Understandably, manager Ned Yost hasn't escaped criticism for his perceived contributions to the Brewers' fall from first. Owner John Attanasio gave Ned a vote of confidence last Tuesday, but Yost has taken a lot of heat from the media for his constant lineup changes, among other things. Yet part of the reason he’s shuffled the lineup so much lies in the fact that many Brewers, as noted above, have had inconsistent years. Both Attanasio and GM Doug Melvin value stability and continuity, so Yost's post looks to be safe for another year. Meanwhile, Melvin had a mediocre year in terms of his personnel moves. Melvin's big in-season trade, obtaining RHP Scott Linebrink from the Padres to bolster the bullpen, didn't really work out. In terms of the free agents he signed, the picture is still underwhelming. Johnny Estrada underperformed and now requires surgery, while Jeff Suppan, a dependable starter to be sure, isn't really worth $65 million.

Yet in terms of finances, Attanasio cashed in this year as the Brewers set a new attendance record, attracting 2.8 million fans to Miller Park. Additionally, with increased corporate sponsorship brought about by the team's success, the Brewers may even be able to increase a $68 million payroll a bit further to add a missing piece or two.

2008 OUTLOOK

If only the Brewers can stop hemorrhaging runs after the sixth inning (they were outscored by 65 runs in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings), reaching the playoffs seems a realistic goal for 2008.

Be sure to check the FLICKsport Rap frequently for dp's Brew Crew updates throughout the offseason.

Will Ferrell Goodbye Dan Marino

Good bye, Dan Marino. The world already knows that Brett Favre is better than you ever were, but now it's official. Pushing his career TD passes total to 422 on Sunday,Favre has surpassed nearly all of Dan Marino's records. Only Marino's career yardage mark remains, but Favre lurks within reach, needing 2,657 yards in 12 games to surpass 61,361 this season.

dp FLICKs two thumbs up for Will Ferrell's moving farewell to the great Dolphin flinger.

It seems sad to look ahead and realize that Favre is only holding the torch momentarily before passing it on to Peyton Manning.

But it seems to dp, that if you live your life like a candle in the wind,

you can FLICK your way to all kinds of records. And then just let it go.

Brett Favre's 421st Career TD - Record-breaking TD pass

Check out Favre's record-setting toss to Greg Jennings yesterday.

Brett Favre is the greatest QB of all Time!!

Check out duffbeer421's tribute to #4.

Week 4 NFL recap: Packers Ride Favre to 4-0

In the picture here Brett Favre scoops up Greg Jennings to celebrate his record-breaking 421st TD pass. Fittingly, the 1st quarter FLICK gave Green Bay a 7-0 lead in an eventual 23-16 win at Minnesota. Favre added another TD pass to rookie WR James Jones in the 4th quarter as the Pack moved to 4-0.

Meanwhile, fulfilling dp's NFC North prophecy, Detroit exploded for an NFL-record 34 4th quarter points to surprise Chicago 37-27.

Once again, dp demonstrated deadeye precision...

slightly over half the time. Once again, the NFL demonstrated remarkable volatility, as the underdogs went a ridiculous 9-4 (Green Bay was actually a 2-point favorite at most sports books.) Despite dp's reluctance to back any underdogs this week, there were actually plenty to choose from. dp did correctly predict Seattle's victory at San Francisco, but he missed the mark badly in backing Philly(McNabb sacked 12 times?!) and Carolina (dp should have known better, as he violated his own never-bet-on-a-backup-QB policy.) Even more embarrassingly, these teams were actually slight favorites, and although dp correctly backed Seattle, he only assigned the Seahawks three points, the lowest index of confidence possible in a bye week, in the FLICKsters NFL Picks Pool.

Then again, 60% isn't so bad, even with a theoretical 5% vig, especially considering that dp is almost always picking underdogs to win, thereby capitalizing with the higher moneyline payout (if gambling were legal).

In any case, dp, the digital producer, will un-dauntedly proffer daring picks in Week 5. Check back Saturday for the upset special.

Week 4 record: 3-2
Season record: 6-4