NFL Week 14 Picks

Here is my Week 14 Picks, real quick before the games start. Went 11-5 last week, why I believed Cleveland wouldn't blow a game and Houston wouldn't throw a game. Ah well, here we go.

Bengals over the Browns - Yet I'll watch it til the end for Charlie Frye.

Bears over Steelers - Pittsburg doesn't remember how to run apparently, Bears are for real.

Patriots over Bills - Patriots wouldn't need to do much to shut down the Bills this week, just like last week against the Jets.

Panthers over Buccaneers - Better defense + better offense = victory for Carolina.

Colts over Jaguars - Please let me be wrong, I don't want to see Indy go undefeated.

Rams over Vikings - This Minnesota miracle has to stop.

Raiders over Jets - Do the Jets qualify as a real NFL team?

Titans over Texans - 1-15 means Houston gets Reggie Bush. That's REAL easy math.

Redskins over Cardinals - Though Boldin and Fitz will put up big numbers as always.

Giants over Eagles - After Monday night, Philly might want to throw in the towel for the season.

Seahawks over 49ers - After Monday night, Seattle might want to think about playing in Detroit.

Chiefs over Cowboys - Dallas is reeling as bad as Pittsburg.

Broncos over Ravens - Last week, Baltimore won and Denver lost. That really means nothing here, Broncos rout Ravens.

Chargers over Dolphins - Though this game will be close as long as Miami gets their running game going.

Lions over Packers - Detroit at least has a defense, but Favre can pull this out.

::EDIT::
Oh,and I forgot MNF

Atlanta over New Orleans - Thoughtt this was a gimmie. Oh wait, it is.

Indians retooling and MLB teams dealing

The Indians are basically back to par following Tuesday.

After almost getting Trevor Hoffman from the Padres, Cleveland went back to their closer last year, Bob Wickman for a 1-year deal worth $5 million.

A few days prior, they signed Paul Byrd, who will for the next two years at $7 million, replace Kevin Millwood in the rotation.

This is fine, though there has been little change so far. John Kruk on SportsCenter said that the Indians haven't improved except for in experience. Well, they won 93 games last year, that little extra improvement will probably give them seven more victories for an even 100.

I'm not saying the Indians should stop shopping. They declined arbitration on Jose Hernandez, and Juan Gonzalez (who cares), while offering arbitration to Kevin Millwood and Scott Earlton. I don't see either one coming back, but the offer is out there.

What the Indians do need to find still is a bat with power to play first or the outfield. This will in turn fill the void, if you can call it that, Hernandez leaves because Casey Blake plays so many positions.

The Tribe should still have some money to spend, as they have only spent $12 million so far, and both deals were short-term contracts. There is plenty left on the market, and trades seem to be the "in" thing to do right now.

In the past 24 hours alone, Jaun Pierre, Alfonso Soriano, Dan Kolb, Lyle Overbay and Sean Burroughs have been traded. That is three solid bats that have moved already, so there is likely others out there for the Indians to pursue.

The Indians have an abundance of pitching talent in the minor leagues. So they can afford to give up a couple of them, especially when there is only one open spot in the rotation at the moment. And although the lineup is okay as-is, it can be terrifying to opposing pitchers if there is one more potent bat in the lineup.

So here is to Mark Shapiro for getting two of the four pieces back already, get a bat and three out of four is not bad. The fourth that he missed on was not getting back Bob Howry, but like Millwood, that was no surprise.

And on a random note to leave you with... think about the number of free agents that the almighty New York Yankees have signed. Just one - Kyle Farnsworth, who might be one of the most overpaid pitchers in baseball today. Three years for $17 million. He has pitched a solid half-season of good baseball in his career? Look out Yankees, the Toronto Blue Jays are coming for you.

NFL Week 13 Picks

Here are my NFL picks for this week...

Indianapolis over Tennessee - By at least 7 points, Titans have a shaky defense.

Minnesota over Detroit - Jeff Garcia or Joey Harrington? Doesn't matter, they'll find a way to lose whoever is behind center.

Chicago over Green Bay - Are Bears the best team in the NFC? Just maybe. Only hope is that is it’s at Lambou, but that hasn't been much help for Favre and Co. this year.

Atlanta over Carolina - Name the last time Michael Vick lost to the Panthers. Exactly.

Cleveland over Jaguars - Charlie Frye outplays David Garrard. Can you say quarterback controversy for the third year in a row in Cleveland?

Houston over Baltimore - The Texans are due for a win, Baltimore is already looking toward next season.

Dallas over New York Giants - The Cowboys won't let two big games in a row get away. The Giants kicking game might be fatal for a second week in a row.

Pittsburg over Cincinnati - There is no way the Steelers are losing three games in a row.

Tampa bay over New Orleans - It was nice to see the Saints get a win last week, but the Buccaneer defense is just to strong.

Miami over Buffalo - Let me know when the Bills' offense decides to show up this season.

Arizona over San Francisco - Alex Smith is overrated. Look for the Cardinals to light up the scoreboard.

Washington over St. Louis - The Rams can't beat a good defense with third string quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.

New England over New York Jets - The Patriots already have thier division locked up.

Kansas City over Denver - The Chiefs need the win more, and they are at home, where they rarely lose.

San Diego over Oakland - LT is a dangerous, dangerous man.

Seattle over Philadelphia - It was nice to see the Eagles win last week. It won't happen again.

It's Charlie Frye's Browns now

Today, Charlie Frye will have a chance to prove he's not just a regular guy.

Thanks to a knee injury to Cleveland Browns' quarterback Trent Dilfer, rookie Frye will get his first NFL start today against the Jaguars. Cleveland fans have been waiting for this for weeks, and their badgering and nagging toward Browns' coach Romeo Crennel has paid off.

Frye will face the Jaguars, who are without their starting quarterback and another former Mid-American Conference quarterback, Bryon Leftwitch. So that should give him some type of advantage. Frye is also at home, so he won't have to worry about dealing with crowd noise.

Can he do it? Can he be the future quarterback of the Browns? Everything I have seen on him says yes. I covered him last season when he played for the University of Akron, and the things he did were incredible. He found ways to win games, and he did it without even an average line and only one consistent receiver, Domenik Hixon.

So to take a team full of misfits and lead them to a 6-5 record, only two quarters away from the MAC championship game says something about Frye. He has the intangibles that you want in a quarterback. You know, those things Tom Brady has, and Peyton Manning doesn't.

And what is good for Frye is that Cleveland has weapons for him to utilize. Ruebon Droughns, Braylon Edwards, Dennis Northcutt, Steve Heiden, and an average offensive line. He will have more weapons than ever before. He should be able to produce today, even against a tough Jaguar defense and in inclement weather, since he has played in it all his life.

So I don't feel like I'm going out on a limb here when I say the Browns will win. It will be close. It might come down to a game-winning drive, but Frye will show that he should be the Browns' starting quarterback from here on out.

And come next year, when the Browns get back Kellen Winslow II, hopefully, the Browns can go back to being what the fans in Northeast Ohio want - a winner.

ZIPS Win! MAC CHAMPS!

Akron Zips are the 2005 Mid-American Conference Champs!

I've never been so happy to be wrong. It looked bleek, especially after an interception with only two minutes to go, but the Zips defense stood tall and Domenik Hixon, who was sick throughout the game, came and caught the game winning TD.

31-30 Zips win! Now it's soccer's turn on Saturday, they beat Maryland and they are heading to the final four! Go Akron sports!

Akron Zips Football - MAC champs?!

The Akron Zips could be Mid-American Conference champions.

It seems inconceivable. About a week ago, they seemed dead and buried. Then, with some luck and a lot of help, the Zips found themselves in Detroit tonight playing Northern Illinois, the MAC West champs.

If the team wins, it would be the first MAC championship for the football program. This would be a huge step not only for the football team, but for the University of Akron itself.

The school has already captured two MAC titles this fall, as the men's soccer team, who is currently in the elite eight of the NCAA championships, and the women's cross country team have both already won.

But they have won titles in the past. Football has never even been to the championship game, until tonight. So this is a stepping stone in itself, because a school’s football team is sometimes a barometer of how successful the team is in sports. A loss tonight can almost wipe out everything they’ve done, since they are 6-5, as they were last season.

And that was team that had Charlie Frye, Domenik Hixon, and not much else. This team is more of a team, so to disprove record-wise from a year ago would be a definite set back.

This is because six wins makes a Division I-A team bowl eligible. But if the Zips lose tonight, they will be 6-6, and NCAA rules state a team must be above .500 to be bowl eligible. So the Zips must win tonight to keep their eligibility. NIU has the advantage of making a bowl game even with a loss.

The Zips do have a couple of things going for them. Akron beat NIU 48-42 in overtime earlier in the season. Though the Zips blew a 42-21 lead in the fourth quarter, so that game might not be a good barometer to judge tonight's game on.

NIU is also without starting quarterback Phil Horvath, who torched the Zips secondary for 483 yards and six touchdowns in that Sept. 24 game. His backup, Dan Nicholson, has filled in nicely though, completing 67% of his passes this season, with five touchdowns and only two interceptions in seven games. So not having their starting quarterback might not be a problem for the Huskies.

Can the Zips win? Sure, they could. It's not like NIU is undefeated or anything. But this is the Zips. They have this tendency to underachieve. Examples of this would be the game against Ball State earlier this season, where the Zips spotted the Cardinals a 16-3 lead in the first half and could not recover in time, losing 24-17 when they where stopped at the goal line to finish the game. The Cardinals finished 4-7, and 4-4 in the MAC, which is not bad, but the game was certainly one that nearly cost the Zips a chance to play tonight.

My guess is that Akron will take an early lead, and the defense, which has been eye sore for years at Akron, will do what it does best - give up the lead. The game will be high scoring, but the Zips are going to come up short. My prediction is 41-38 NIU.

I could be wrong. Being an Akron Zip athlete myself, I hope I'm wrong. But the Zips haven't been here before, and getting over two humps in one season is asking for a lot.

But this still can be seen as a step in the right direction. Head Coach J.D. Brookhart has shown he knows what he is doing. Let's just hope he can have another good recruiting class this off-season to continue to steer this team in the right direction - the direction of respect.