NFL Week Five picks

A second straight not so great week, going 8-7, now 38-25 on the season.

Bills @ Browns: Pick: Browns
Lions @ Packers: Pick: Packers
Saints @ Bears: Pick: Saints
Patriots @ Bengals: Pick: Bengals
Chiefs @ Titans: Pick: Chiefs
Seahawks @ Colts: Pick: Colts
Jaguars @ Rams: Pick: Rams
Ravens @ Dolphins: Pick: Ravens
Eagles @ Giants: Pick: Giants
Panthers @ Cardinals: Pick: Panthers
Broncos @ Cowboys: Pick: Broncos
Texans @ 49ers: Pick: 49ers
Chargers @ Raiders: Pick: Chargers
Jets @ Falcons: Pick: Falcons

Survivor Pick: Teams used: Colts, Patriots, Seahawks, Titans
I went out on a bit of a limb last week, going with Tennesee as my survivor pick, instead of Denver, which was the popular pick, electing to save Denver and the other elite teams for later in the year. It paid off and for a second straight week Im going with a non-elite team for my survivor pick
Pick: Rams

NCAA Week Six Picks

I went 3-1 in Big ten play (1-1 in interconference games) giving me a 40-7 outside conference record, and 2-1 Conference record. I went 2-1 outside the Big ten giving me an 11-4 record there.

Penn St @ Indiana: Pick: Indiana
Illinois @ Nebraska: Pick: Nebraska
Michigan St @ Iowa: Pick: Michigan St
Minnesota @ Michigan: Pick: Michigan
Ohio St @ Northwestern: Pick: Ohio St

Outside the Big Ten
Washington @ Stanford: Pick: Stanford
Arizona St @ Notre Dame: Pick: Notre Dame
TCU @ Oklahoma: Pick: Oklahoma

Big Ten Standings
Leaders Division
1. Ohio St: 1-0
2. Wisconsin: 1-1
3. Illinois: 0-0
4. Indiana: 0-0
5. Purdue: 0-1

Legends Division
1. Iowa: 1-0
2. Michigan: 0-0
3. Michigan St: 0-0
4. Northwestern: 0-0
5. Nebraska: 0-0
6. Minnesota: 0-1

Week 4 NFL picks

I went a less than impressive 9-7 in Week Three, putting me at 30-18 on the season.

49ers @ Rams: Pick: Rams
Ravens @ Bills: Pick: Ravens
Bengals @ Browns: Pick: Browns
Bears @ Lions: Pick: Lions
Giants @ Chiefs: Pick: Giants
Steelers @ Vikings: Pick: Steelers
Cardinals @ Buccaneers: Pick: Buccaneers
Colts @ Jaguars: Pick: Colts
Seahawks @ Texans: Pick: Texans
Jets @ Titans: Pick: Titans
Eagles @ Broncos: Pick: Broncos
Redskins @ Raiders: Pick: Redskins
Cowboys @ Chargers: Pick: Chargers
Patriots @ Falcons: Pick: Falcons
Dolphins @ Saints: Pick: Saints

Survivor Pick
Teams used: Colts, Patriots, Seahawks
Week Four Pick: Titans

NCAA Week 5 picks

I went 9-1 in picking Big ten games this week (1-0 in Big ten Play) and 3-0 outside the conference, giving me a 38-7 Big Ten record, 37-7 outside conference play, 1-0 inside it, and a 9-3 record outside the Big Ten. Only 4 Big Ten games this week

Miami (OH) @ Illinois: Pick: Illinois
Northern Illinois @ Purdue: Pick: Northern Illinois
Iowa @ Minnesota: Pick: Minnestoa
Wisconsin @ Ohio St: Pick: Ohio St

Outside the Big Ten
LSU @ Georgia: Pick: Georgia
Oklahoma @ Notre Dame: Pick: Oklahoma
South Carolina @ UCF: Pick: UCF

Big Ten Standings
Not much to report so far, and nothing in the legends division. The leaders division has had one game, so technically the Badgers are in 1st place!

1. Wisconsin: 1-0
2. Ohio St: 0-0
3. Illinois: 0-0
4. Indiana: 0-0
5. Purdue: 0-1

http://touristdirect.blogspot.com/

NFL Week 3 picks

I went 10-6 in picking week two games, putting up a 21-11 start to the year through two weeks

Chiefs @ Eagles: Pick: Chiefs
Packers @ Bengals: Pick: Packers
Rams @ Cowboys: Pick: Cowboys
Chargers @ Titans: Pick: Titans
Browns @ Vikings: Pick: Vikings
Buccaneers @ Patriots: Pick: Patriots
Cardinals @ Saints: Pick: Saints
Lions @ Redskins: Pick: Redskins
Giants @ Panthers: Pick: Panthers
Texans @ Ravens: Pick: Ravens
Falcons @ Dolphins: Pick: Falcons
Bills @ Jets: Pick: Bills
Colts @ 49ers: Pick: 49ers
Jaguars @ Seahawks: Pick: Seahawks
Bears @ Steelers: Pick: Steelers
Raiders @ Broncos: Pick: Broncos

Survivor Pick: Seahawks

NCAA Week Four Picks

I went 8-4 in Picking Big Ten Games this week, putting me at 29-6 for the season, and went 1-2 outside the Big Ten, putting me 6-3 there. Big Ten Conference play starts this week with just one game, otherwise its still out of conference games for the entire Big Ten for one more week

San Jose St @ Minnesota: Pick: San Jose St
Florida A&M @ Ohio St: Pick: Ohio St
Western Michigan @ Iowa: Pick: Iowa
Maine @ Northwestern: Pick: Northwestern
Michigan St @ Notre Dame: Pick: Notre Dame
SDSU @ Nebraska: Pick: Nebraska
Kent St @ Penn St: Pick: Penn St
Michigan @ UConn: Pick: Michigan
Missouri @ Indiana: Pick: Missouri
Purdue @ Wisconsin: Pick: Wisconsin

Outside the Big Ten
Arizona St @ Stanford: Pick: Stanford
Kansas St @ Texas: Pick: Texas
Clemson @ NC State: Pick: Clemson

Yet another magical moment in a magical season

If there is a team of destiny in baseball this year, it has to be the Boston Red Sox. There is no other explanation for the sheer amount of magical moments they have put together this season. From huge ninth inning comebacks, to walk off wins on an opponent error, to their closer having the most dominant season for an MLB pitcher EVER, its been an incredible season.

It continued last night, when in a tie game in the tenth inning and the bases loaded with two outs, manager John Farrell called on pinch hitter Mike Carp who on the first pitch of the at bat hammered a grand slam to dead center field. It was the first pinch hit grand slam for the Red Sox in 10 years. The slam clinched a 7-3 win for the Sox who now hold an insurmountable 9.5 game lead in the AL East, and a four game lead over any other team in the Entire American League for home field advantage in the playoffs.

And finally, its team to recognize just how earth shattering the Red Sox closer, Koji Uehara has been this season. Since taking over as closer he has a 0.36 ERA, he has retired 36 batters in a row, thats a perfect game , plus 3 more innings of another game! Opponents have just 6 hits against him over the last 104 batters faced, for an .093 batting average against. Finally, for the entire season he has allowed an average of 0.53 base runners per inning, which would be an MLB record for any pitcher in MLB history if it lasts. The previous record belong to Dennis Eckerlsey, who one season compiled an average of 0.60 baserunners per inning. its been an amazing ride.

15 games left in the season, and its time to rest some guys and get them energized for the playoffs. Yes, were talking about playoffs.

NFL Week Two Picks

I went 11-5 in picking week one NFL games, not a bad start to the season considering week one is the toughest week to predict.  I also got my survivor pick right in the Colts over Raiders

Jets At Patriots: Pick: Patriots
Redskins At Packers: Pick: Packers
Rams At Falcons: Pick: Falcons
Panthers At Bills: Pick: Panthers
Vikings At Bears: Pick: Vikings
Dolphins At Colts: Pick: Colts
Cowboys At Chiefs: Pick: Chiefs
Chargers At Eagles: Pick: Eagles
Browns At Ravens: Pick: Ravens
Titans At Texans: Pick: Texans
Lions At Cardinals: Pick: Cardinals
Saints At Buccaneers: Pick: Bucanneers
Jaguars At Raiders: Pick: Jaguars
Broncos At Giants: Pick: Broncos
49ers At Seahawks: Pick: Seahawks
Steelers At Bengals: Pick: Bengals

Survivor Pick: Patriots

NCAA Week Three Picks

I went 9-2 in Picking Big Ten Games last week, and 2-1 outside the Big Ten. Overall I have a 21-2 Big Ten record and 5-1 record outside of the conference. Thank God we only have a couple weeks left of cupcake games before the conference season kicks in and we can focus on the standings.  Here are the picks

Bowling Green at Indiana: Pick: Indiana
Akron @ Michigan: Pick: Michigan
Western Illinois @ Minnesota: Pick: Minnesota
UCLA @ Nebraska: Pick: Nebraska
Youngstown St @ Michigan St: Pick: Michigan St
Iowa @ Iowa St: Pick: Iowa St
UCF @ Penn St: Pick: Penn st
Washington @ Illinois: Pick: Washington
Ohio St @ Cal: Pick: Ohio St
Notre Dame @ Purdue: Pick: Notre Dame
Western Michigan @ Northwestern: Pick: Northwestern
Wisconsin @ Arizona St: Pick: Wisconsin

Outside the Big Ten: A Texas sized edition of outside the Big Ten this week.
Alabama @ Texas A&M: Pick: Alabama
TCU @ Texas Tech: Pick: TCU
Ole Miss @ Texas: Pick: Texas

Three straight Magical nights has Red Sox fever going strong

Its late March 2013, and my sports excitement is literally at an all time low. I was still thinking about a disastrous ending to the Packers season, a somewhat disappointing Badgers season, and disastrous seasons for both the Lightning and Magic were about to come to merciful ends. And baseball was right around the corner, with the Red Sox coming off their worst season in 47 years, there was little to no optimism. Every expert around had the Red Sox finishing in last place this year. All I wanted was to have one sports team to be excited about, because it seemed like it had been so long since Ive had that "fever" for one of my teams, but I did not see the Red Sox providing it to me this year.

Then the season started and the team took off. Not only were they winning, but often doing so in hearstopping exciting fashion. A scrappy resilient bunch, with a never say die attitude, often winning games they had not much business winning. They played strong all the way to September 1st, where they entered the month in first place.

Ah yes, September, just the mention of the month sends shivers up Red Sox fans spines. The last 3 Septembers have been nothing short of horrendous for Boston. In 2010, tied for a wild card spot on September 1, the Sox fizzled and went 13-15 in the month, finishing 5 games back. Of course there's 2011, the most epic collapse in baseball history. The year the Red Sox entered September with a NINE game lead over the Rays, and went 7-20 in September, losing a playoff spot the last day of the year. Then last year, already out of the playoff race, the Sox looked lifeless all month long, finishing the year with a 4-23 record over the final 27 games.

So even though the Sox entered September this year in first, everyone was skeptical if they could hang on through the final month. Wonder no more, these last 3 nights have proven this team isnt losing their hold on first place, this is a different team, with every intention of winning the division.

Its hard to recall for me three games in a row that were as exciting and amazing as these last three, especially so late in the year.

It started Tuesday, with Boston taking on the best pitcher in the league, Max Scherzer with a 19-1 record on the year, nealry unbeatable. Thanks to a huge two run single by Will Middlebrooks, and a masterfully pitched game by Jon Lester, the Sox handed Scherzer just his second loss of the year in a 2-1 game.

Then Wednesday night, the Sox put on a show mashing a team record 8 home runs, and scoring 20 runs overall, their most runs scored in a game in 10 years. The offense looked relentless and it was fun to watch every second of it.

Then last night, against the hated Yankees, probably the most exciting, heart stopping Red Sox game in years. Boston opened up a 7-2 lead through seven innings and looked like they would coast to an easy win. The pitching imploded however, allowing 6 runs to the Yankees in the eighth, all of a sudden losing the lead 8-7. The Sox teams of the last three years would have folded up like a tent and took the loss without a fight after that. But in the top of the ninth, with two outs and nobody on, Mike Napoli laced a single to keep the game alive. Then a steal of second and a base hit by Stephen Drew tied the game 8-8. Down to their last strike twice, Boston pulled out another comeback. In the top of 10th, The Red Sox took the lead 9-8 off a Victorino single, and Uehara closed out a 9-8 sox win, the most exciting win in years.

With just 20 games left, Boston now has a 6.5 game lead in the division. I have complete faith they will hang on, and at a time where I couldn't get excited about any of my sports teams, these Sox gave me that fever back, and hopefully that fever carries all the way to the World Series.

NFL Week One Picks

A new NFL season is upon us, and this one promises to be a good one. The division races in the AFC North, NFC West and NFC East will be the most exciting races to watch in my opinion, but all division races, with the exception of maybe the AFC East will have some intrigue. To start off this week one, I will give my standings predictions for the season, then my game by game predictions for week one. A star by a second place team equals a wild card berth

NFC East
1. New York Giants
2. Dallas Cowboys*
3. Washington Redskins
4. Philadelphia Eagles

NFC North
1. Green Bay Packers
2. Chicago Bears
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Detroit Lions

NFC South
1. Atlanta Falcons
2. New Orleans Saints
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4. Carolina Panthers

NFC West
1. Seattle Seahawks
2. San Francisco 49ers*
3. St Louis Rams
4. Arizona Cardinals

Playoff Order
1. Seattle Seahawks
2. Green Bay Packers
3. Atlanta Falcons
4. New York Giants
5. San Francisco 49ers
6. Dallas Cowboys

Divisional Round: Packers defeat Falcons, 49ers defeat Seahawks
NFC Championship: Packers defeat 49ers

AFC East
1. New England Patriots
2. New York Jets
3. Miami Dolphins
4. Buffalo Bills

AFC North
1. Cincinnati Bengals
2. Cleveland Browns*
3. Baltimore Ravens
4. Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC South
1. Houston Texans
2. Tennesee Titans
3. Indianapolis Colts
4. Jacksonville Jaguars

AFC West
1. Denver Broncos
2. Kansas City Chiefs*
3. San Diego Chargers
4. Oakland Raiders

Getting pretty bold here, picking the Browns and Chiefs to make the playoffs, and the Steelers to finish last

Playoff Order
1. New England Patriots
2. Denver Broncos
3. Cincinnati Bengals
4. Houston Texans
5. Kansas City Chiefs
6. Cleveland Browns

Divisonal Round: Patriots Defeat Texans, Broncos defeat Bengals
NFC Championship: Broncos Defeat Patriots

Super Bowl: Packers defeat Broncos

Yes Im a homer, Oh well.

Week One Picks
Ravens @ Broncos: Pick: Broncos
Packers @ 49ers: Pick: 49ers
Patriots @ Bills: Pick: Patriots
Bengals @ Bears: Pick: Bengals
Dolphins @ Browns: Pick: Browns
Vikings @ Lions: Pick: Vikings
Raiders @ Colts: Pick: Colts
Falcons @ Saints: Pick: Falcons
Buccaneers @ Jets: Pick: Jets
Titans @ Steelers: Pick: Steelers
Seahawks @ Panthers: Pick: Seahawks
Chiefs @ Jaguars: Pick: Chiefs
Cardinals @ Rams: Pick: Rams
Giants @ Cowboys: Pick: Cowboys
Eagles @ Redskins: Pick: Redskins
Texans @ Chargers: Pick: Texans

Survivor Pick: Colts

NCAA Week Two Picks

So I had a pretty good first week of the season, going 12-0 In Big ten games and 3-0 outside the Big Ten. Ok, so it wasnt the most challenging week, but I still nailed a couple upsets picking Northern Illinois to knock off Iowa, and Clemson to defeat Georgia. So, onto week two.

South Florida @ Michigan St: You thought Michigan losing to Appalachain state was bad? South Florida may have just suffered the most humiliating college football defeat ever, losing to a D-2 school, Mcneese St, by THIRTY TWO points! The 32 point drubbing was the largest ever by a D-2 school over a D-1 school. Im scares to think what Michigan ST will do to them. Pick: Michigan st

Eastern Michigan @ Penn ST: Pick: Penn st
Tennessee Tech @ Wisconsin: Pick: Wisconsin
Cincinnati @ Illinois: Pick: Cincinnati
Missouri St @ Iowa: Pick: Iowa
Indiana St @ Purdue: Pick: Purdue
San Diego ST @ Ohio St: Pick: Ohio St
Syracuse @ Northwestern: Pick: Northwestern
Navy @ Indiana: Pick: Indiana
Southern Miss @ Nebraska: Pick: Nebraska
Notre Dame @ Michigan: Pick: Michigan
Minnesota @ New Mexico St: Pick: Minnesota

Outside the Big Ten
South Carolina @ Georgia: Pick: Georgia
Florida @ Miami: Pick: Miami
Texas @ BYU: Pick: Texas