One Of My Favorite Times Of The Year

     One of my favorite times of the year is upon us-Opening Day for baseball. Not just Opening Day, though. For DirecTV owners who are baseball fans it's even more special. MLB Extra Innings is free for the next 11 days. That means every game, every day, will be on TV, for no extra charge. Every night for the next week and a half I'll be planted on the couch, remote in hand, going game to game. It's gonna be nothing short of awesome.

    It's great for those who play fantasy baseball, as I do, because it provides a chance to watch all of your players live. Even for those who don't, it's still cool to be able to see games one wouldn't normally be able to see. Viewers quickly become familiar with NESN, MASN, and all the various FOX Sports affiliates around the country. It's a chance to listen to different announcers and get different perspectives. A chance to see all the different stadiums and different traditions throughout baseball.

   So why don't I just order MLB Extra Innings and have it all summer? Look, I'm not made of money here. Plus I can't make a 100% commitment. A TV junkie like me always has a lots of things to watch. Anyway, DirecTV will do it again in early July. I'll enjoy it while it lasts, and check it out again later in the summer. In the meantime, I'll still have the Tribe, WGN, TBS, ESPN, and the MLB Network.

    It's going to be another great summer.

NFL Playoff Picks-Divisional Round

Well, last week I went 2-2. I really didn't see the Denver win coming, despite what happened during the regular season. Cincinnati? I thought they'd put up more of a fight than that. This week:

NFC Saturday-New Orleans at San Francisco. I think this one's the toughest call. The 49ers have had one of the NFL's best defenses all year, and they've got the Saints on grass. Ultimately, I think the Saints are too good to bow out now. Pick: New Orleans

AFC Saturday-Denver at New England. The Broncos can certainly win this one, but I see a game similar to the one they played earlier this season. Denver will go up early, the Patriots will rally and win. Pick: New England

AFC Sunday-Houston at Baltimore. The Texans' run ends here. They might keep it close, but definitely go with the Ravens. Pick: Baltimore

NFC Sunday-NY Giants at Green Bay. No question the Giants are on a roll, and some think they'll beat Green Bay. The Packers are still the best until someone beats them. (I know KC did, but that game doesn't matter now).They'll be ready for the Giants.  Pick: Green Bay

NFL Playoff Picks-Wildcard Round

I finished last week 10-6, and will end the regular season with a record of 163-93, about 64%. Against the spread my record would most likely not have been as good, but we'll see maybe next year. This weekend's playoff games:

AFC Today-Cincinnati at Houston. This seems like an evenly matched game in many ways, but I like the Bengals, despite an 0-7 record against playoff teams and a loss to the Texans. Pick: Cincinnati

NFC Today-Detroit at New Orleans. Seems destined for another shootout, and it very well may be. Detroit is a sleeper pick of many, but no way can I go against Drew Brees and the Saints. Pick: New Orleans

NFC Tomorrow-Atlanta at NY Giants. The most intriguing game of the four, I think. Giants seem to be peaking at the right time. Pick: NY Giants

AFC Tomorrow-Pittsburgh at Denver. Looking for a low-scoring game here. Denver's defense is good, Pittsburgh's is better. Hobbling Roethlisberger and missing Mendenhall will hurt Steelers, but not enough that they'll lose. Pick: Pittsburgh

NFL Picks-Week 17

Last week I went 12-4, giving me a record of 153-87 this year. This week:

SUNDAY

Philadelphia over Washington
Atlanta over Tampa Bay
San Francisco over St.Louis
Chicago over Minnesota
Detroit over Green Bay
NY Giants over Dallas
New Orleans over Carolina
Houston over Tennessee
Baltimore over Cincinnati
Pittsburgh over Cleveland
Jacksonville over Indianapolis
NY Jets over Miami
New England over Buffalo
Oakland over San Diego
Denver over Kansas City
Seattle over Arizona

NFL Picks-Week 16

Last week I went 9-7, to give me a record of 141-83. For this week:

THURSDAY

Houston over Indianapolis

SATURDAY

Oakland over Kansas City
Denver over Buffalo
Tennessee over Jacksonville
Cincinnati over Arizona
New England over Miami
Baltimore over Cleveland
NY Giants over NY Jets
Washington over Minnesota
Carolina over Tampa Bay
Pittsburgh over St. Louis
San Diego over Detroit
San Francisco over Seattle
Philadelphia over Dallas

SUNDAY

Green Bay over Chicago

MONDAY

New Orleans over Atlanta

College Football: If it were up to me....

    If I had any say, I would make a few changes in college football. First of all, I would get rid of the BCS. That's a pretty good place to start, right? (Pause to let the applause die down.) I would institute a 16-team tournament in place of the bowls; actually I would use 15 of those bowl games as part of the tournament. I would institute one binding rule-no expansion of brackets. I know it wouldn't be long before someone suggested a 24-team tournament, and so on. That can't be allowed.

    Next, I would note the fact that there are currently 120 teams in FBS (or Division I-A) and institute a freeze. No more teams. Sorry Texas State, Texas-San Antonio, and whoever else thinks they're moving up in the next couple of years. Then I would abolish conference championship games and two-division set-ups. I would make 12 conferences of 10 teams each. Everybody would play a full round-robin schedule, 9 league games, plus 3 non-conference games. This way a true champion for each conference will be crowned-no one can say that this team didn't play that team, and so on.

     Each conference champion would  receive an automatic bid to the tournament, for a total of 12 bids, plus 4 at-large teams would be added to make 16. This means that every conference will have a representative and a fair shot at the title-even the MAC, Sun Belt, and WAC. The emphasis would be on winning one's conference, not on a BCS ranking. I would put the Championship Game in the Rose Bowl, the Grandaddy of them all, every year, as close to New Year's Day as possible. The Final Four games would be played in the Orange Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. The quarterfinal games would be the Fiesta Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Gator Bowl and the Liberty Bowl. Eight more bowl games would make up the first round, which would start the second weekend of December. Remember, if playing throughout December is OK for the smaller divisions, who also have finals to worry about, it's good enough for the big boys also.

     These would be the new conference alignments. Some would be the way they were in the 1980s, some others would be returning to conferences that they have left. Some would be in new homes altogether.

ACC-Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, South Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest

Big Central (formerly the Big 12)-Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M

Big East-Boston College, Connecticut, Maryland, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, West Virginia

Big Ten-Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin

Conference USA-Army, Buffalo, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Louisville, Marshall, Memphis, Navy, Northern Illinois, Temple

Gulf Coast Conference (new league)-Baylor, Houston, Lousiana Tech, Rice, Southern Methodist, Southern Mississippi, South Florida, Texas Christian, Texas Tech, Tulane

Mid-American Conference-Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio U., Toledo, Western Michigan

Mountain West-Air Force, Boise State, Brigham Young, Colorado, Colorado State, Idaho, UNLV, Utah, Utah State, Wyoming

Pacific 10-Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State

Southeastern Conference-Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Lousiana State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

Sun Belt-Alabama-Birmingham, Arkansas State, Central Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee, Troy, Western Kentucky

Western Athletic-Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, New Mexico State, North Texas, San Diego State, San Jose State, Texas-El Paso, Tulsa

   Thanks for reading my respectfully submitted wishful thinking. We'll never see any of this, of course, but it would be nice. In the meantime, I'll wait for tomorrow's exciting Beef O' Brady Bowl.

NFL Picks-Week 15

Last week I had another pretty good week, going 12-4. That gives me a record of 132-76 on the season. This week it'll be:

THURSDAY

Atlanta over Jacksonville

SATURDAY
Dallas over Tampa Bay

SUNDAY

Washington over NY Giants
Green Bay over Kansas City
New Orleans over Minnesota
Seattle over Chicago
Buffalo over Miami
Houston over Carolina
Tennessee over Indianapolis
Cincinnati over St. Louis
Oakland over Detroit
New England over Denver
NY Jets over Philadelphia
Arizona over Cleveland
Baltimore over San Diego

MONDAY

San Francisco over Pittsburgh