Turkey Day Sports Musings

It’s Thanksgiving and you know what that means: the annual Thanksgiving snowstorm and sub-par televised football!! (not to mention me eating an obscene amount of food and adding 10 more pounds to my already massive girth).

This week my picks will appear in two segments, the first being today, less than an hour before kick-off:
Atlanta at Detroit:
Just a few weeks ago, the Falcons looked like they were unbeatable and the Lions looked as though they couldn’t win another game. My, how the tables have turned!! The Falcons have lost two straight at home to less-talented teams and now have to travel to cold, snowy Detroit to get back on track…Not happening!! We’ve seen how well teams from the South have fared in the wintry Northern environment so far this year (Carolina and K.C. were destroyed in Chicago and Buffalo respectively) and I expect more of the same in this game, as the Lions take advantage of the 20 degree snowy weather to give their fans something to be thankful for…

My Pick: Lions

Denver at Dallas:
The Cowboys have a solid, athletic defense, but the Broncos offense will be too much for them. Even without Tatum Bell, Denver boasts the most balanced offense in the league and Jake Plummer has matured into a solid, consistent NFL quarterback and earned the permanent starting spot on my fantasy team…

My Pick: Broncos

In other NFL news:

On Wednesday Richard Bloch, the arbitrator in the Terrell Owens case, ruled in favor of the Eagles. The arbitrator found that Owen’s (mis)conduct was “destructive and a continuing threat to the team.” In a word, “duh?” I was surprised by the ruling to be sure, but I’m glad to see that somebody out there has some sense of morality and isn’t ruled by the Benjamins, ratings and fear of the NFL Players Association. We can’t allow childish, disrespectful over-paid athletes to destroy what little sense of morality we have left. Richard Bloch, if I knew how to cook, I would drive myself to your house through this snowstorm and cook you Thanksgiving dinner…
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On Tuesday night, I witnessed one of the most exciting college basketball games I have ever seen, a triple overtime thriller between Gonzaga and Michigan State in Maui. Every time that one team made a basket, it seemed like the other came back on the other end and tied it up. Both teams boast one of my Thurber Preseason All-American picks:
Marcus Ager (Michigan State) is playing with a huge chip on his shoulder after not even being named to the Preseason All-Big 10 team…He hit big shot after big shot on Tuesday, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime, and finished with a career-high 36 points.
Adam Morrison (Gonzaga) showed us why he was a Preseason All-American pick Tuesday night, scoring points in a variety of ways, inside and outside. He stepped it up late in the game, finishing in double figures in the OT periods alone. He finished with a career and Maui Invitational high 43 points as his ‘Zags pulled out the win. (He really needs to lose the Guido ‘stache though…)
I can’t give you two of my All-American picks without giving the other three, can I…
Filling out the other three spots I give you…
J.J. Reddick and Sheldon Williams (Duke)
And last but not least,
Rudy Gay (UConn)

Finishing off my college basketball segment, I give you my preseason picks for the Final Four:
Gonzaga- It’s time for the ‘Zags to shed this label of being under-achieving over-achievers; this is the year they break through and make it to the Final Four.
Junior Adam Morrison is probably the most-talented player that they have had during their recent success under Mark Few. He sees the court really well, is a great passer, and can score in a variety of different ways. He’s also a solid rebounder and defender. Complementing him are senior forward J.P. Batista, who is a great low-post scorer (an excellent replacement for Ronny Turiaf) , and point guard Derek Raivio, who is a great ballhandler/playmaker and a marksman from behind the arc.
Michigan State- What separates this year’s team from last year’s Final Four team is they have a clear leader in Marcus Ager who will take and make the big shots at the end of the game. They lost some guys from last year’s team but they are still balanced, with sophomore Drew Neitzel (now with some experience under his belt) providing stability and playmaking ability from the point, and complementary scorers in junior guard Shannon Brown and senior center Paul Davis. As with all of Izzo’s teams, they are great rebounders and play with heart.
Duke- Blue Devil’s star seniors Reddick (the best shooter in the country) and forward Sheldon Williams (a superb low-post scorer who averaged a double-double last year) get a boost from an excellent freshman class led by forward Josh McRoberts and point guard Greg Paulus who will need to contribute to back up my pick here.
UConn- The Huskies boast the best forward tandem in the country in junior Josh Boone (Big East defensive player of the year) and sophomore Rudy Gay (a highly touted low-post scorer with crazy athletic ability). Denham Brown is a solid scorer from the two-guard position and Rashad Anderson is the best 6th man in the country. The only question mark is at the point…Freshman Craig Austrie is the starter with Marcus Williams suspended.

Final Four:
Michigan State over Gonzaga-
The Spartans avenge the Maui loss to the ‘Zags with a game winning shot from Ager seconds after Morrison had tied the game up.
Duke over UConn-
The experience and heart of Williams and Reddick is integral as the Blue Devils pull of the close victory over Rudy Gay and the Huskies.

Championship:
Michigan State over Duke-
Tom Izzo’s teams are traditionally slow-starters and they already look pretty good right now; they are going to be scary in March. Their depth and aggressiveness will prove to be too much for Duke, and they will have no answer for Marcus Ager and the Spartans.
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Finally, we make a quick turn to the world of baseball, where the GM-less Red Sox have pulled off a huge trade. Well, it’s not so much a great trade as it is being the first to arrive at the Florida Marlins’ fire sale auction (where everybody not named Dontrelle or Miguel is available for a couple prospects). The Marlins have already let go A.J. Burnett to free agency, traded Carlos Delgado to the Mets and are reportedly shopping Juan Pierre, Paul Lo Duca, Luis Castillo and basically anybody on the team with a salary over a million dollars a year…Anyway back to the Red Sox deal. Here are the details if you aren’t familiar with them already:
The Marlins trade third baseman Mike Lowell and SP Josh Beckett to the Red Sox for two average minor league pitching prospects and top shortstop prospect Hanley Ramirez.

Surprisingly, many questions have been raised about this deal from the Red Sox’ standpoint. Mike Lowell, as most baseball enthusiasts know, had a batting average hovering around the Mendoza line for most of the season and has a huge salary. However, he is a huge upgrade at third base defensively over Bill Mueller (he won the NL gold-glove last year) and has proven in past years that he can be a 30 HR, 100 RBI middle-of-the-lineup hitter (his struggles last year can be attributed to various injuries that plagued him for the first half of the season). Josh Beckett is a pitcher with obvious top-of-the-rotation talent but has never made 30 starts in a season or pitched 200 innings. However, a physician who checked out Beckett for the Sox found no lingering problems with Beckett’s shoulder and I think he should have a breakout year this season. Another supposed drawback to this trade was Boston giving up their top shortstop prospect Hanley Ramirez in the trade; however, last season the Sox made it clear with the ridiculously inflated contract that they gave Renteria that he is their shortstop for at least the next 5 years. The Red Sox have to be praised for making a move for Beckett now, rather than trying to out-bid the Blue Jays and Yankees for the services of less-talented and more injury-prone A.J. Burnett. Their rotation next year will be much improved, looking something like this:
A healthy Curt Schilling
Josh Beckett ( proven Yankee killer in the Marlins’ 2003 World Series win)
Jonathan Papelbon
Tim Wakefield (the always steady knuckleballer….well as steady as a knuckleballer can be)
Matt Clement ( still a question mark after the way he pitched in the second half of the season…)

The Sox have started off the off-season committed to improving their team; let’s hope this trend continues. They still need to shore up the bullpen and look for a second baseman, and maybe try to sign another hitter, possibly Paul Konerko?
As for now, I can go and eat my turkey contented, knowing that my Red Sox are working hard to bring home another World Series trophy next year…
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