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      2009 College Football Week 12 Point Spreads & Odds

      November 17, 2009 /

      Along with a complete list of odds for the top 25 games, here are quick-hit previews for some of the marquee matchups for Week 12 in college football.

      No. 8 LSU at Ole Miss, 3:30PM Saturday
      The Tigers travel to Oxford this Saturday to take on an Ole Miss team that has won four of its last five games. LSU’s excellent front seven will have its hands full with running back Dexter McCluster, who is coming off an eye-popping four-touchdown, 282-yard rushing performance against Tennessee last weekend.

      No. 12 Ohio State at Michigan, 12:00PM Saturday
      This rivalry has certainly lost a lot of its luster over the past two seasons as the Wolverines continue to flounder under Rich Rodriguez. One would think that this game would be over by halftime, but never underestimate the power of a rivalry. For the most part, the Buckeyes struggled with a depleted Iowa team last week, so you never know if Tate Forcier and company can rise to the challenge and shock Jim Tressel’s team. Michigan certainly has more than enough offense to contend, but its defense has often been abused this season and might suffer a similar fate this weekend. (Of course, if Tressel continues to play things ultra-conservative with his offense, then maybe the Wolverine defense can keep UM in the ballgame.)

      No. 25 California at No. 17 Stanford, 7:30PM ET Saturday
      Of all the games on the Week 12 schedule, this might be the best matchup, although Cal will once again be without star running back Jahvid Best (concussion). Jim Harbaugh has his team playing as well as anyone in the country right now and is coming off impressive back-to-back wins over Oregon and USC. Running back Toby Gerhart has been a one-man wrecking crew for the Cardinal while compiling 1,395 yards and 19 touchdowns on 262 carries. Can the Golden Bear defense stop Gerhart or will they be yet another victim?

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      College Football

      Rex Grossman’s dad rips Bears organization

      November 17, 2009 /

      Rex Grossman’s dad took the opportunity recently to rip the Chicago Bears organization for how they mishandle the quarterback position.

      From the Chicago Tribune:

      “It’s a self-perpetuating problem that is not Jay Cutler’s fault,” said Dan Grossman, who played quarterback at Indiana in the ’60s. “It’s not Rex Grossman’s fault. It’s not Kyle Orton’s fault. It’s not every other quarterback who has been through that system’s fault. It’s the fault of the organization for not understanding what a quarterback needs.

      “What’s amazing to me is, here we go again with Jay Cutler. He came in and he was going to be the franchise quarterback and lead the Bears. I heard some people say they were going to the Super Bowl this year. And here we are, back in the situation where … because the team is not really built around a passing game, he has struggled. I don’t really blame it on Jay Cutler.

      “Jay Cutler, first-round draft pick. Rex Grossman, first-round draft pick. I mean, you’re telling me these guys were terrible? They did bad scouting? No,” Dan Grossman said. “You can connect the dots pretty easily when you just look. I am just amazed at how infrequently people in the media look at it. Their evaluation is that it is always the player. That’s not right.

      “I believe that the NFL is a passing league. It has been for the last 20 years. Chicago continues to use the phrase, at least Lovie Smith continues to use the phrase, ‘We get off the bus running.’ They need to abandon that concept. Running is obviously a very important part of the offense. But the best teams in this league are prolific passing teams.

      Grossman’s daddy makes a good point that the best teams in the league are prolific passing teams. The Saints, Colts and Patriots are three teams highly regarded as the best in the NFL and all of them can throw the ball.

      But what Grossman misses the fact that all three can also run the ball. It’s not the teams with prolific passing games that win: It’s teams that have a balanced offense. He’s right in that the Bears’ offense isn’t working right now and that it’s not Cutler’s fault. But the reason why it isn’t working is because they have zero balance. Cutler feels like he has to do everything himself because he has no running game to support him. That’s the problem.

      Grossman doesn’t want to come off like a bitter parent, but that’s exactly what he sounds like. He does offer a nugget of truth in that the Bears seldom set their quarterbacks up for success (look at their receivers and offensive line), but that’s because they’re a cheap organization and they often rely on has beens like Orlando Pace and Muhsin Muhammad to address their needs. It’s not that they don’t want to help the quarterback; they just don’t want to spend any money.

      Rex Grossman wasn’t the sole problem in Chicago, just as Cutler isn’t the sole problem now. That’s why they call it a football team – all phases have to produce on both sides of the ball in order to be successful.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Waiver Wire Watch: Week 11

      November 17, 2009 /

      Every week, I highlight a few players that you should target in waivers. I use the ESPN league data when filtering players, so the only players eligible for discussion here are those that are available on the waiver wire in at least 50% of ESPN’s leagues. I’ll list each player’s percentage-owned after their name so you have an idea of how available they are in leagues around the country. I’ll always try to mention a few players that are available in 90% of leagues for those of you in 12-team leagues or leagues with big rosters. I’ll rank them in the order I’d pick them up in a league with a high-performance, PPR scoring system.

      Please note that these rankings are for total value through the end of the year. Players with particularly good matchups this week are in bold.

      Alex Smith (17.0)
      Of this group, I’d still take Smith first despite a bad outing against a suspect Bears secondary. He has a great upcoming schedule and has a few good options in the passing game in Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree.
      Vince Young (6.6)
      Young has been very solid of late, and with the Texans and Cardinals up next, he has a chance to post decent fantasy numbers.
      Mark Sanchez (46.4)
      The rookie has been pretty good over the last three weeks, but with the Pats and Panthers up next, that may not last.
      Jason Campbell (19.2)
      Matthew Stafford (5.8)
      Marc Bulger (3.7)
      Josh Freeman (3.4)
      Chad Henne (5.2)

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      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Quinn, Browns give putrid effort in another putrid loss

      November 17, 2009 /

      Eleven first downs, 160 total yards and zero points.

      After two weeks to prepare for their opposition, that’s what the Cleveland Browns produced on Monday night in a 16-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

      Nobody should be surprised by the outcome of Monday night’s game in Cleveland. Everyone knew that the Browns were awful entering the game, but to actually watch that miserable excuse of a team stumble over themselves for 60 minutes is rather amazing. It’s like a car wreck – you just can’t look away.

      Brady Quinn is bad, so bad that it’s safe to say that he has zero chance of becoming anything resembling a decent starting quarterback in the NFL. I’m fully aware that he has no talent around him, but I dare anyone to watch that kid play for entire game and tell me he has any shot of success in this league. His own coaching staff doesn’t trust him to throw the ball further than two feet and I wouldn’t either. The Monday Night Football crew kept begging for the Browns to throw the ball vertically and whenever Quinn did, he was either picked off or was so far off the mark with his passes that there wasn’t a receiver within 20 yards of where the ball ended up.

      Again, I know that he doesn’t have anyone to throw to but there’s just no excuse for being that inept. The Browns didn’t even reach the Ravens’ 40-yard line tonight and don’t forget that this was a Baltimore defense that has struggled at times this year stopping the pass. On multiple occasions late in the game when he was trying to make a feeble attempt at throwing deep, Quinn tossed the ball completely out of bounds. That means he’s so inaccurate with his throws that he can’t even keep the ball in play. He even overthrew a receiver on a screen pass, which is so mind-boggling that it pisses me off just thinking about it.

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      NFL

      Grizzlies, Iverson agree to part ways

      November 16, 2009 /

      Per NBA.com…

      The saga of Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies lasted less than two months. Monday, the two sides agreed to release the 34 year old from his one-year contract, meaning Iverson will become a free agent when he clears waivers.

      Iverson, who’d signed a $3.5 million contract in September, had been away from the team for the past 10 days, taking a leave of absence from the team to deal with what both he and the team called a private family matter. But it also was crystal clear that Iverson was not going to abide by the team’s decision that he come off the bench instead of start, and that meant a long-term relationship between the two was ultimately going to be impossible.

      Is anyone surprised by this turn of events?

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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