The Lon's Picks (a little late)

Disclaimer: using Glantz-culver line instead of sportingbetusa.com line

Today
Favorite Underdog
N.Y. Jets +3.5 over Minnesota

Baltimore -11.5 over Cleveland

New England -11 over Houston

Miami +1 Buffalo

Pittsburgh -3 over Carolina

New Orleans -9.5 over Washington

Jacksonville -3.5 over Tennessee

Chicago -13.5 over Tampa Bay

Philadelphia +5.5 over N.Y. Giants

Green Bay -5 over Detroit

Arizona +2.5 over Denver

San Diego -8.5 over Kansas City

Oakland -3 over St. Louis

Cincinnati +3 over Indianapolis

The Lon is back with his Phat picks!

Ravens (+3) over Chiefs
I'm tired of the Ravens screwing me. I'm taking the Ravens on the road!

Falcones (-3.5) over the Bucs
I'm a little worried here....it seems OBVOIUS that the Falcones win here, and they've been losing those games all season.

Vikes (+1) over Lions
It's the freakin' Lions.

Titans (+1) over the Texans
It's the freakin' Texans.

Giants (-2.5) over Panthers
What is Weinke??? 39 yrs. old???

Cowboys (-7) over Saints
This is a LOT of points, but I like the 'Boys.

Jets (-4) over Bills
Geux Jets!!!!!!

Colts (+1) over Jags
10-2 team getting a point?

Eagles (-2) over Skins
Jeff Garcia is driving a gay bandwagon!

Bengals (-11) over Raiders
This line really needs to be doubled to be tempting.

Pats (-3.5) over Dolphins

Niners (-4) over Pack

'Hawks (-3) over Cards

Broncos (+7) over Chargers
I think the Broncos keep it close.

Bears (-6) over the Rams
The Lon's sources tell him Brian Griese took half the snaps in practice this week!

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES

In case you couldn't figure it out, the Title of this post is where UK finds itself in the Nation's Top 25. Here is the current top 5 in the Top 25:

1.UCLA
2. Pitt
3. North Carolina
4. Alabama
5. Ohio State

Unranked UK has hung in with 2 of those top 5 away from Rupp Arena, eventually losing both games, with the loss to UCLA being a razor thin margin regardless of what the scoreboard said at the end. Yet the Commonwealth is FREAKING OUT because of those 2 losses. Message boards are buzzing and daily columns staking out different positions are being written.

And The Lon has a message for everyone: CALM THE FUCK DOWN!!! Based on everyone's early-season (over)reaction, I thought I had forgotten about 30-40 National Titles UK had won. But then I checked out the records(http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/mens/history), and saw that UK went 20 years between their 1958 & 1978 Titles, followed immediately before an 18 yr. gap before their 1996 Title. UK won a Title 8 years ago, in 1998, under the very same coach they have now, meaning that if UK "lives up to its history," we are a least a decade away from UK's next National Championship.

"They" say Tubby doesn't get enough McDonald's All-Americans, when almost all the McDonald's All-Americans we have gotten recently (Jason Parker, Rae Carruth, anyone!) have been disasters, AND Tubby's best teams since 1998 rarely had McDonald's All-Americans playing prominent roles. "They" say Tubby can't recruit...and in the same breath campaign for Tubby to play the freshmen...that he JUST RECRUITED.

This is not to say we should not demand success from UK Basketball, of course we should. But Tubby is not posting a losing record (like under Eddie Sutton), Tubby runs a clean program and graduates many of his players, and until the emergence of a national powerhouse in Florida, Tubby was dominent in the SEC, so lets not throw the baby out with the bath water, folks. Take a deep breath, root for (not bash) the team you purport to love, and wait and see how things play out.

UK Loses, but Not Because of Morris

This is Randolph Morris. He was pretty much the only player that should be holding their head up high after Saturday's game in Chapel Hill. Actually, Bobby Perry, you had a good game too. Everyone else? Well, at least they kept the internets busy. Let's look at my Big Five keys to victory and try to see where UK went wrong.

1. Force Turnovers- This was what I thought would be the most important, and it turns out I was right. UK had a season high 22 turnovers (including a record tying seven from Joe Crawford) and UNC only had 8 (or 9, don't remember). This is what cost UK the game, period. They executed enough of their game plan to win, but the margin of error was small and giving the ball away like you were Santa Claus visiting an orphanage was a killer. How to fix it? Not sure, but I continue to be completely under impressed with Ramel Bradley and Crawford. More playing time for the freshmen sounds like a broken record, but at the very least Jasper needs to be out there. And if the 3's are not falling, like for instance on Saturday, Porter should be out there as well. Meeks did not do so hot, but he had very little time.

Stay out of Foul Trouble- Mission Accomplished. And although there were some questionable calls (Bradley's intentional foul, allowing loose balls to become rugby scrums, waiving the dribble rule for Tyler Hansbrough) the refs did not lose this game. In fact, if we could have gotten the ball into Morris more, perhaps Hansbrough would have fouled out, or at least been in more foul trouble.

Offensive Execution- UK shot a high percentage, but that was mostly b/c of Morris. The 3-point shooting was atrocious, and Bradley.......well, he is trying so hard to NOT be a shoot first point guard that he is not looking for his shot at all. This could be solved by moving him from PG, but at this point I don't think Tubby will do that. This gets a C. UK actually just needs more shots in general, even at a slower pace.

Defense- They played good D in that UNC shot a low percentage, BUT they did not force turnovers and allowed a large number of wide open 3's. If UK continues to allow wide open 3's, they will continue to lose to good teams.

Upperclassmen, push, pull, or get out of the way- Perry helped. That's it. Woo was worthless and Sheray Thomas. I just can't even talk about him right now. I cannot think of one good reason why he played twice as many minutes as Perry Stevenson. None, zip, zero.

UK did out rebound UNC and Morris completely and utterly dominated Tyler Hansbrough. He may very well win the National Player of the Year, but consider me unimpressed. In TH's defense, he is only 6'9'' and is more of a "4" than a "5". Morris's height really got to him, and even without Morris I think Carter would have also held him to a below average game. That is how much I think taller people bother him. In fact, the best player on UNC, without a doubt, is Brandan Wright. Hopefully, he will be in the NBA next year.

UK plays Chatanooga on Tuesday and has an opportunity to rattle off a couple weeks worth of quality wins, provided they can take care of Indiana and louisville. And if they can't? It's going to be a long, long year.

The Michael Strahan/Hot Dog Picks

This is Michael Strahan. He is an asshole. Let there be no doubt. Strahan is a straight up asshole, calling Plaxico Burress a quitter on his radio show and then lashing out at a reporter for asking Plax for a comment. The reporter did not create the controversy, Strahan did. And if you are going to yell at a reporter in front of a bunch of cameras, at least put your hotdog down for a few minutes you giant douche. Anyway, Jeremy Shockey may make some outrageous comments, but at least he stands by them. I like Shockey. I don't like anyone else on the Giants, including Tiki Barber, who I suspect is a giant douche.

So, here are the picks!

Cowboys -3 over Giants

Now, Shockey thinks they will win. And if he said it, then you know he believes it. However, the Giants are imploding and the 'Boys, with Tony Romo, are exploding. TO will have two TDs, Shockey will have one, and Eli will have at least one horrific pick, probably coming at a key moment in the game. When will the Giants turn to J-Lo?

Vikes +9 over Bears

I just feel like the Vikes think they have something to prove. The story about Rex Grossman smack talking gurantees a couple of picks. The only thing that worries me is that Brad Johnson is still the QB for the Vikes. He is not playing that well. And that is a polite understatement.

Steelers -7 over Bucs

Two bad teams playing what will be a bad game. I think Pitt is looking to save a little face after the embarassment at Baltimore.

Rams - 6.5 over Cardinals

Two more bad teams, although the Rams are less bad. As long as Dennis Green is still coaching the Cards, I will not be picking them. Look for Steven Jackson to have a good game.

Titans +7.5 over Colts

This is risky. Last time the line was much larger and the Titans were a surprise. But, after watching Vince Young play like college Vince Young is exciting. And since the Colts cannot stop the run, look for VY to do a little running. The Colts really don't care as long as they win. And they will win.

Jags in a pick'em over Dolphins

Peter King thinks the Fins are one of the best teams. I disagree. The Jags had a stinker of a game in Buffalo. They won't have back to back stinkers.

49ers +7 over Saints

The New Orleans magic is fading fast, and despite the best efforts of U2 and Green Day, the Saints are not going anywhere. Frank Gore will have a good game, and although it will be almost seven years too late, at last Gore will defeat (Reggie) Bush.

Falcons +1 over 'Skins

Could this be a TJ Duckett revenge game? Not likely. The better question is if Vick will have more yards passing or rushing. I am going to go with passing, but just barely.

Chiefs -5 over Browns

Cleveland- This ship be sinking. If Larry Johnson is done whining about Dick Vermiel's lack of blackness, then he will be all over Cleveland like fire on a like.

Pats -13.5 over Lions

Maybe, just maybe, this will be the week they fire Matt Millen. Not likely, but I refuse to think Jon Kitna is going to light up a Belichick defense.

Chargers -6 over Bills

Shawne Merriman returns from a steroid suspension. And no one cares. If this was baseball this would have been on the cover of Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Mag.

Jets in a pick'em over the Pack

Brett Favre plays just bad enough to lose. But not so bad that the commentators stop slurping him.

Texans +3 over Raiders

The Raiders have a good defense, but they shouldn't be giving points to anybody in the NFL or Ohio State.

Seahawks +4 over Broncos

I don't think Jay Cutler will be successful in his first start, but in the long run this is the best choice. Hasslebeck and Alexander continue to be healthier and improve.

Panthers -3 over Eagles

The Eagles may start AJ Feely. It shouldn't matter, but Carolina is kind of Jekyll and Hyde. Regardless, without McNabb the Eagles are not going to win a lot of games.

There you go. I am off to IHOP. When I get back, I will look back at the UK/UNC game.

The Kid