Tag: predictions

DKY’s NFL Predictions ’13, Part I


Who wants it bad enough?

Last year I made some horrendous predictions, but just like a weather man, I am back to try again!

Last year I picked only 6 of a possible 12 playoff teams correctly, ultimately picking the Atlanta Falcons to overcome the Pittsburgh Steelers to become Super Bowl XLVI champs.

Yikes.

Nowhere to go but up, right?!

As always injuries can and will play a major role in the season. It happens every year. Peyton Manning, the obvious example, going down turned the Colts from a probable wild card team to #1 choice in the NFL Draft (hello, Andrew Luck).

Who knows how the Buffalo Bills would have performed if Fred Jackson never went down and Ryan Fitzpatrick’s ribs were never injured? They finished 6-10, but when healthy they were 5-2 and to say they could have went 9-7 or 10-6 isn’t a far reach. We’ll never know and that’s the rub with injuries to key players in the NFL.

This year is no different. Michael Vick will always be the prime suspect on everyone’s list to get hurt and ruin his teams season. He is notoriously fragile with his little baby bones and needs to run less recklessly or he will never complete a full season again.

Is Peyton Manning all the way back? He took some good, hard shots in the preseason and popped right back up, but (there’s always a ‘but’) no one has ever had this sort of injury/surgeries before so there’s no way to possibly predict how his neck will react to a full slate of games.

Can the New York football Giants repeat?

Can the Packers repeat a 15-1 type season and win the Super Bowl?

On to my prediction of every teams record; Continue reading “DKY’s NFL Predictions ’13, Part I” →

NFL Predictions ’12, Part II


MVP
Philip Rivers, QB, San Diego Chargers

This is the man who threw for 30 TD’s and 4,710 yards at 66% completions throwing to guys like Patrick Crayton, Legedu Naanee, and Seyi Ajirotutu. Now this season he has Vincent Jackson & Antonio Gates (mostly) healthy. Naanee or Ajirotutu as a 3rd receiver or in the slot is fine, but as a #1 or #2 is not going to end well for most QB’s. Philip Rivers is going to have a ridiculous season. I can see 4,900 yards and 34 TD’s.

Defensive Player of the Year
Ndamukong Suh, DT, Detroit Lions

When you are half way through your rookie season and people are already referring to you as being one of the top 3 DT’s in the NFL you know that man is a special player. Barring injury, Suh is going to rack up a bunch of these Defensive POY awards. Not to mention Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams. Suh is as dominate as position as any player at any position. Man is a beast.

Offensive Rookie of the Year
Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons

In my opinion Jones is the most NFL ready of all rookies this season. He has had his off moments in the preseason and he does drop too many balls, but he’s as ready as they come. He has a true pro at QB throwing him the ball and one of the top 5 receivers on the other side of him in Roddy White.

Defensive Rookie of the Year
Von Miller, LB, Denver Broncos

I could have went in plenty other directions here with Patrick Patterson, Jimmy Smith, Ryan Kerrigan or Adrian Clayborn. I settled on Von Miller because he appears to be the most clean cut and ready NFL prospect.

Coach of the Year
Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans

Finally gets his Houston Texans over the hump and they excise those nightmares of Peyton Manning and the Colts and win the AFC South. With Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, and Matt Schaub on offense and a defense that is certainly improved with Jonathan Joseph & Danieal Manning in the secondary and Wade Phillips can work wonders as a defensive coordinator.

NFL Predictions, Part I


It all leads up to this.

I feel pretty decent on most of my win/loss predictions, with the exception of a few.

One in particular is the Indianapolis Colts. With even a slightly injured Peyton Manning the Colts are a solid 10 win team.

Without him? They are on the clock for a top 5 pick in next years NFL Draft. That is the risk you run with you have a player who accounts for so much of your offensive production. When he’s healthy and right everything is peachy, if he manages to get hurt? Might as well write the season off.

The other team I am wholly unsure of is the Philadelphia Eagles, the supposed Dream Team of the NFL. It’s true they amassed a king’s ransom of talent in some spots, but they left others completely alone. With the additions of Nnamdi Asomugha, Ronnie Brown, Vince Young, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, etc… they strengthened themselves greatly. Now they have a game ready backup QB, a talent rich secondary and defensive line. Continue reading “NFL Predictions, Part I” →

MLB 2K11: The Predictions


AL East
Boston Red Sox    93-69
New York Yankees  90-72
Tampa Bay Rays    84-78
Toronto Blue Jays 76-86
Baltimore Orioles 69-93
AL Central
Minnesota Twins  88-74
Chicago White Sox 87-75
Detroit Tigers          82-80
Cleveland Indians 67-95
Kansas City Royals      59-103

AL West
Oakland Athletics 90-72
Texas Rangers          87-75
Los Angeles Angels      83-79
Seattle Mariners  72-90

NL East
Philadelphia Phillies  96-66
Atlanta Braves          91-71
Florida Marlins        81-81
New York Mets          80-82
Washington Nationals    68-94

NL Central
Cincinnati Reds        87-75
St. Louis Cardinals    87-75
Milwaukee Brewers 84-78
Chicago Cubs            76-86
Pittsburgh Pirates      72-90
Houston Astros          65-97

NL West
Colorado Rockies  88-74
San Francisco Giants    87-75
San Diego Padres  77-85
Los Angeles Dodgers    75-87
Arizona Diamondbacks    64-98 Continue reading “MLB 2K11: The Predictions” →

Thoughts on Bradley-Alexander (post-fight update)


This is a must see fight. Two of the best technical boxers in the sport going at it.

It’s also a fight that we as American boxing fans haven’t seen in some time. This fight will mark the first time in the last 24 years that two undefeated American fighters will fight to unify titles (in any weight class).

Surprising I have to admit.

As soon as this fight was announced I was overly excited for it. It’s not too often these days that two young fighters either in or near their prime (Bradley is 27, Alexander 23) have faced off in such a critical fight.

(Side note: I despise the fact that fighters and their promoters seem to be more worried about money than legacy and so they mortgage their current prime by facing a smorgasbord of mid- to low-level talent, think Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, or Andre Berto.

It’s not that I hate on fighters or their promoters for wanting to make money, but if you are as good as you say you are you’d put that money where your mouth is.)

I believe two things to be near certainties in this fight. Continue reading “Thoughts on Bradley-Alexander (post-fight update)” →

2010 NFL Awards!


The 2010 NFL regular season is in the books so that means it’s time for some awards! Who doesn’t love some awards?

NFL Coach of the Year
Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers – I know all teams suffer through injuries in this league, but the Pack had injuries to some major players (Ryan Grant, Jermichael Finley) and when you can coach a team into the playoffs where the person with the most rushing TD’s (four, tied with John Kuhn) is your quarterback (and that QB is not named Vick) that’s something of a tremendous accomplishment.

Honorable mention:
Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles

Comeback Player of the Year
Michael Vick, QB, Philadelphia Eagles – Who else could it be? Two years out of federal prison and the man is a strong candidate for NFL MVP in his first season back as a regular starter. The numbers simply speak for themselves;

Rushing
100 carries, 676 yds, 9 TD, 6.8 ypc

Passing
233-372, 62.6% cmp, 3018 yds, 21 td – 6 int, 100.2 QB rating

At times Vick was almost quite literally unstoppable at times, i.e 59-28 win over Washington and the 2nd half in 38-31 win over New York Giants. Continue reading “2010 NFL Awards!” →

Steward: “You are going to see a much more aggressive Wladimir.”


You did it now Mr. Dereck Chisora.

You should have just let a sleeping giant lie. You should have just kept your mouth shut and took your chances against a just normally motivated Wladimir, but you couldn’t do it.

Oh how bold some young fighters can be these days. Chisora, 26, he of the mere 14-0 (9 KO’s) record, needs to zip those lips. Not for my sake though, I love that he is running his mouth. It will make for a much more dangerous and exciting fight, in my opinion. But because of his mouth he is in for mounds of punishment.

Has he seen any of Wladimir’s fights? This man is completely capable of putting you in the hospital for an extended stay.

Mr. Chisora says Wladimir has only fought “taxi drivers”? Maybe so, but his taxi drivers have been more like limo drivers compared to what Chisora’s fought.

Klitschko has dominated this entire division and fought and defeated nearly every top contender, with the exception of his brother, Vitali, for reasons we can all guess.

Klitschko has taken on the likes of Chris Byrd, Sam Peter, Jameel McCline, Eddie Chambers, Sultan Ibragimov, Tony Thompson, et al.

Chisora’s notable opponent? Danny Williams.

That’s it. That’s the list. That was also just this past May.

I, for obvious reasons, love Klitschko in this fight. Too strong, too big, too talented to lose to someone that has logged a mere 63 rounds in his entire career.

Prediction:
Wladimir Klitschko by KO in the fifth round.

My Disasterous (NFL) Picks, Week 3


Maybe I should give up at this point.

It was another poor week of picking games for me. Just as poor as Week 1. Technically it was the same result!

This is my breakout week though, I can just feel it.

Last Week: 9-7
Season: 18-14

(Home teams are in all CAPS)

Sunday, Sept 26
Tennessee over NY GIANTS
Pittsburgh over TAMPA BAY
Cincinnati over CAROLINA
BALTIMORE over Cleveland
HOUSTON over Dallas
San Francisco over KANSAS CITY
MINNESOTA over Detroit
NEW ENGLAND over Buffalo
NEW ORLEANS over Atlanta
Washington over ST. LOUIS
Philadelphia over JACKSONVILLE
Oakland over ARIZONA<—–upset of the week
San Diego over SEATTLE
Indianapolis over DENVER
NY Jets over MIAMI

Monday, Sept 27
Green Bay over CHICAGO

Reasoning behind my upset of the week:

The Raiders aren’t that good, but Arizona is a little worse than that.

If the Raiders can run the ball at even 80% of what they did last week they stand a great chance of winning this game. Arizona lost their best DB and their best LB to free agency last year and they have replaced them with serviceable, at best, players.

I like Oakland to establish the run with Darren McFadden which will in turn allow for at least some semblance of a passing game. That combined with Arizona’s lack of a defense will lead to a Oakland win on the road.

My Disasterous (NCAA) Picks, Week 3


So, I have no defense for my picks last week.

Dreadful would be the best word for it.

I had Cal (-2.5) over Nevada. Nevada crushed them 52-31.

I had East Carolina (+19.5) over Virginia Tech. Tech won 49-27.

I had Hawaii (+10.5) over Colorado. Hawaii completely fell apart in the second half (they were up 10-0 at the half) and lost 31-13.

Finally, I had Boise State (-23.5) over Wyoming. Boise State completely obliterated the Cowboys, 51-6. Thank you Boise State, thank you so much for being my lone win for the week.

So….

Last week: 1-3
Season: 3-5

Now onto my NCAA week 4 picks (say a prayer for me)…

Air Force (-14) over Wyoming

I’m banking on the fact that the combination of Air Force’s running game and Wyoming’s awful defense create a larger than 14 point victory for Air Force.

Alabama (-7.5) over Arkansas

I think Alabama is going to win this one going away. Ingram is back and looked fantastic against an admittedly bad Duke team, but still to put a performance on after being out the first two weeks is something. Ryan Mallett can be forced into bad throws and I think ‘Bama will do just that.

Notre Dame QB Dayne Crist (#10) (Photo from nbcsports.msnbc.com)

Notre Dame (+5) over Stanford

The Fighting Irish need to have a bounce back game after two incredibly tough losses. I really do believe Notre Dame QB Dayne Crist (851 yds, 7 TDs) is special and if the Irish can even slow Standford’s QB Andrew Luck (674 yds, 10 TDs) down it could be an upset in the making.

Boise State (-17) over Oregon State

I’m riding this Boise State horse until it kicks me off. Boise State QB Kellen Moore is a ridiculous 28-1 as the starter with 69 TDs against only 14 INTs.

In conclusion, it would be in your best interest to not use my picks for anything. I mean, only 3 wins out of 8 games? I suck!

My Disasterous (NFL) Picks, Week 2


OK so the first week of the NFL season seemed easier to pick than it was.  Regardless, I still managed a winning record, certainly nothing to write home about though.

I shouldn’t even mention it in this post, but what the hell…

Last week: 9-7
Season: 9-7

Week 2

(Home team in all CAPS)

Sunday, Sept 19
ATLANTA over Arizona
Baltimore over CINCINNATI
Kansas City over CLEVELAND
DALLAS over Chicago
Philadelphia over DETROIT
GREEN BAY over Buffalo
TENNESSEE over Pittsburgh
MINNESOTA over Miami
CAROLINA over Tampa Bay
DENVER over Seattle
OAKLAND over St. Louis
New England over NY JETS
SAN DIEGO over Jacksonville
Houston over WASHINGTON
NY Giants over INDIANAPOLIS<—-upset of the week

Monday, Sept 20
New Orléans over SAN FRANCISCO

Reasoning behind my upset of the week:

The Giants aren’t earth movers defensively and I do expect Peyton Manning to have a field day, just like Week 1 against the Texans, BUT I believe that if the Colts are going to contend this year they simply cannot allow their defense to be a sieve like it was in week 1.  The Giants have very good running backs (Jacobs & Bradshaw) and a, potentially, exceptional passing attack.  If they can hold onto the ball that is.