Week 11 Picks

Back at cha after a bye week from picking games--Gonna try to bring it strong this week talking NBA--among other things--late

Lions -3.5

Jags -8.5

Chiefs -10

Ravens +1

Giants -7

Packers -6.5

Vikings -10.5

Skins +11

Bucs +11

Rams +9

Pats -10.5

Raiders +9

Bolts -3.5

Eagles -3

Titans +4.5

Week 9 Record 7-6

Season Record 81-47

TV SHOW POWER RANKINGS

Welcome to the first installment of the YOUGOTJC TV show power poll. I will give you the rankings of the current best shows on TV. Seasons and episodes of great TV shows go in and out frequently. So this list will be pretty volatile. For example, Mad Men season 3 just ended. That would have been the number 1 show last week and for the last 13 weeks, but since it is done until August will not be part of this list. A show like Entourage as average as this last season was, still would have found itself in the top 3 every week. To keep this list short, I will not give any breakdown, but there will be some breakdown in the weeks to come. And also let me be clear in saying that I do not watch a lot of these shows live. I record them and watch them when I am bored. The DVR is really one of the seminal inventions of our time. Usually now, unless it's a hoop game or a football game, I only watch TV of shows that I have recorded. For example, the sleepy Sunday morning is usually used very poorly. Waiting for the NFL football games can be much more efficient if you got a quick workout in while at the same time knocking out 2-3 of your favorite, quality 22 minute sitcoms, instead of pounding your head with NFL pregame show analysis. Or at least that is what I have found. Here are the current rankings of shows I currently have on my DVR schedule.

1. Curb Your Enthusiasm

2. 30 Rock

3. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

4. How I Met Your Mother

5. The Office

6. Modern Family

7. Community

8. The Ruins: Real World Road Rules Challenge

9. Southpark

10. The League

11. Parks and Recreation

12. The Soup

13. The Big Bang Theory

Falling out of the lineup this week: Mad Men (season over) ESPN's 30 for 30 (Returns December 12th)

A BROWNS PRESS CONFERENCE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE

I was talking to my buddy Josh and he brought up the Browns weekly press conference, where the "pear shaped loser" Eric Mangini did what he likes to do best: to keep what he is doing with his shitty football team as secretive as possible, botch personnel decisions, and give the loyal fans in this city nothing to be optimistic about.

If I was advising the owner of the team, Mr. Lerner, here is what I would do: I would plant questions in the audience, and have a charasmatic assistant who has some presence in the room answer them on behalf of Mr. Lerner. Since I just described myself as the perfect press conference rep(I forgot great with women), just pretend it is myself who will be handling the questions and presentation.

Question # 1--Is Brady Quinn going to be the starter for the remainder of the season?

Answer: "You can bet your sweet ass he is. He's gonna take every rep in practice and every rep in the game. And were gonna try to build some comraderie and play to win. And were gonna throw it down the field. A LOT. Our line is gonna protect him, and were gonna cut it loose 35-45 times a game for the next 8 games. I don't care if we have to sign WR's from the Tremont flag football league, the ball is gonna be in the air a lot for the next 8 weeks. We gotta see if Brady Quinn can play football in this league. We gotta see if he can throw the ball with some pace in the middle of the field. We gotta see if he can throw the deep comeback route from the other hash. We needs to see if he develops the accumen to read and adjust to what defenses are doing to our offense. We gotta see if he can be accurate with the football. We gotta see if he has some balls, and isn't gonna be hurt like the pussy he's proven to be so far in his career. Bottom line, these next 8 games are gonna determine if he has a future with this organization. And if he proves he cannot play the game at an NFL level, we're gonna take long hard looks at Jimmy Clausen, Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy and Jake Locker. All those guys are really good. And we are gonna need a quarterback who can lead us to another level in the coming years. So bottom line, Brady is gonna have to play pretty fucking good. Cause the guys Mr. Lerner has in his ear now don't think Brady is worth a shit. So it's all on Brady.

Question # 2--What is Bernie Kosar's role in this organization?

Answer: Bernie doesn't know a lot of things, but he knows more about offensive football than 99.9% of this world. And he loves Cleveland. And he loves the Cleveland Browns. The Miami lifestyle has been a thorn in his side for decades. We are trying to give him a role in which he can focus on and take pride in what he knows best, and that is the offensive side of the ball. Bernie was a genius with the ball in his hands. Everyone in this press room knows that. Many of you had the privilege of watching him play back when we the Browns had it going in the late 80s early 90s. Currently, we want to place him in a role where he oversees the football operations. He is going to report to me and to me only. He will be involved in all the offensive meetings. He will be involved in all the meetings leading up to the NFL draft. We hope to give him the autonomy to help us schematically with our offensive philosophy. We all know Bernie liked to challenge defenses vertically down the field. And he was good at it. And he's still good at it, this time not as a player but in a coaching role. He sees the game as a player and always will. And we want to harness that strength. We hope he can make us good at it. Time will tell whether we are going to consider him for an upper management position within our organization. I am sure a lot of you will be delighted if he was overseeing our day to day operations as general manager or director of player personnel. But for now, we are gonna keep him in a role where he has a wide lense view, reports to me and we'll move forward when I see fit.

Question #3--What kinda grade have you given our top 5 draft picks this season, and what kind of things will you want to see out of them in terms of progression in the next 8 weeks?

Answer: There's no question that the guys we drafted in the first five rounds are great kids and great football players. But the bottom line is they haven't performed at the level it takes to be successful in this league. So if you're asking for a grade right now, the answer would be incomplete. We have to keep in mind that they are young players still trying to get accustom to this league, but we also have to take a hard line and make sure they develop to be players that can help this team going forward. We have thrown Alex right into the fire. He plays a tough position, arguably the second hardest position on the field. Luckily he has been surrounded by some leaders who have helped him. But the stats don't lie. We cannot rush the football. And we're having a tough time protecting the QB. And he has been a part of that. We are gonna challenge him to continue to make the right protection calls and move his feet better. He will also have to deal with a lot of shot gun snaps. He knows that he will have to have a very productive offseason doing the things that are gonna make his feet better.

Mohamed Mass has a lot of talent. He has shown signs of being able to make plays down the field. He drops way too many balls. We haven't made it easy on him changing quarterbacks, and calling inefficient plays. We hope that changes. He's gonna be playing almost every snap for us. We would like to see him catch the ball consistently. We are going to try to design plays that isolate him with a coverage he can deal with. The one thing that bothers me is he keeps making the same mistakes he has always made. We want to see consistent improvement.

Same way with Brian. We want him in on a lot of snaps. We want to see if and when he gets one on one coverage, he can win the matchup. If he can't, we might have to move forward. He's gotta play really hard, and make the plays that he should make every time.

Veikune, Maiava and Francies are gonna be involved in several levels of special teams, and we are going to look to plug them in on our defense consistently. We want to see if those guys can make some of the plays necessary to be part of our defense going forward. Coye has to prove he can cover and make plays in space. The other two have show they have the strength and presence to be part of an NFL front 7. So far, we have seen none of that.

Question #4--Has Mr. Lerner been taking his football advice from the bum that sits outside the restaurant he eats lunch at everyday and the school crossing guard at a local school he lives by?

Answer: Haha. We have been getting that question a lot. And the answer is no. Mr Lerner is doing everything he can to surround himself with people that know football. In the past, I think he would admit he's been lazy. Currently, he is working around the clock to communicate with people that could be good for this organization. I know you have all heard Mike Holmgren's name being thrown around. He is just one of several men we are talking to. We want to re-work our organizational setup. We want a President of operations that has been part of successful football. We also want a general manager, and a director of player personnel. We want those 3 positions, as well as a head coach. The model for this organization will be built by those 4 positions, with the President having final say. There are going to be established roles, and decision making on personnel decisions will be given to our general manager. Our organizational behavior has to change. And it has to change immediately.

Question #5--Is Eric Mangini's job as head coach safe?

Answer: Absolutely not. Have you seen the guy? He's a pear shaped loser. Have you heard him talk? He sounds like a slow 5th grader whose in the bottom reading group. I can't believe he was on the Sopranos. We will critically evaluate him, and what he has done over the last 18 months at the end of the season. But make no mistake, his job is not safe. We want a coach this town can BELIEVE, and BELIEVE IN. Period.

John Carroll at Cleveland State

"I try not to think with my gut. If I am serious about understanding the world, thinking with anything besides my brain, as tempting as that might be, is likely to get me into trouble." -Carl Edwards Sagan

The John Carroll basketball team plays Cleveland State downtown tonight. It is the first exhibition game for both teams. Carroll has a lot of good players, and if a couple things go right for them, they might be in a good position to possbily beat a CSU team that lost a lot of its leaders and good players from their NCAA tournament team of last year. I expect Carroll to improve on their effort from last year and be ready to play hard. They gotta be patient and work hard to get great looks on every offensive possession and slow down Cleveland State in transition.

For me, are a lot of unknowns for the Cleveland State team, so I can't really go too in depth on the matchups. I know that if the Vikings are trotting out Joe Latas and Tim Kamchick anywhere near the court, Carroll's chances are getting better by the minute. Carroll's first unit can match up pretty competitively with whoever the Vikes put out there. Carroll has to make sure they get great looks, and attack the basket under control and with confidence. They have to slow the ball down when CSU gets it and not allow them to dominate athletically, going from point A to point B without resistance.

It really depends on how into the game CSU will be. This is usually a "go through the motions" game for them. But I am sure they have a lot of guys who are trying to win playing time and spots in the rotation. So that can be good and bad for Carroll. Good because they won't have great chemistry and will struggle doing some of the things that make them good. Bad because there might be some dominant athletes on CSU, who are sick of 4 hours practices, who will be ready to prove their worth and get busy.

For Carroll, it would be great to win, but more importantly it is just the first step in what could be a very fun and exciting year. This is a game that puts you between the lines with some really good players who are playing at the highest level. It allows you to measure yourself, and also see what it's like to play against some of the better basketball players floating around this country. But Carroll's focus should remain on playing with max effort, communicating well with each other, being unselfish and preparing for a long day in and day out journey. Win or lose, the journey begins tonight. And it is important that for the guys at Carroll to appreciate the opportunity to play these guys and take advantage of the opportunity to propel themselves on the path to being a winning basketball team.

WEEK 9 ON THE SPOT PICKS

FIRST TIME ALL WEEK I HAVE LOOKED AT THE LINES--BEEN HOTTER THAN JANUARY JONES THE LAST TWO WEEKS SO I'M GETTING A LITTLE COCKY--NEVER A GOOD THING WHEN PICKING A HARD LEAGUE

JAGS -6.5

RAVENS -3

TEXANS +8.5

SKINS +9

BEARS -3

FINS +10.5

PANTHERS +13

HAWKS -10

BUCS +9.5

49ERS -4

CHARGERS +5

EAGLES -3

STEELERS -2.5

Last Week 9-4

Season Total 74-41

STREAM OF CONSCIOUS THOUGHTS

"I BELIEVE, AS LONG AS THERE IS PLENTY, POVERTY IS EVIL." -BOBBY KENNEDY

Browns

George Kokinis is a smart man, that came from a great organization in the Ravens. He agreed to leave his nice position with the Birds, where he was rising fast, based on the belief that he would have FINAL say on the players that would be drafted and play for the Browns. But from the very second he stepped on the Browns campus, he was completely kicked to the curb and had no say in anything that involved football operations. GK might not have been the right guy for the job, but he was never given the opportunity to show his skills, because the big fat loser named Eric Mangini was too busy running this great organization into the ground. From the very beginning, the big fat loser has mismanaged every facet of football operations and organizational behavior. From not saying hi to people in the hallways, to hiring imcompetent coordinators, the laundry list of errors is too long to talk about. And unfortunately for Browns fans, it seems like this nightmare might not be over just yet.

Eric Mangini missed his career move big time. He should be making millions of dollars, not coaching football, but teaching MBAs and business students how to sell themselves in the interview chair. I mean the guy could sell ice to eskimos. Why isn't this guy doing marketing for a hedge fund? This is a guy who stepped into a Jets board room, and duped them after his stint as a defensive coordinator in New England completely deteriorated. A tenure that saw the Pats D get worse and worse, to the point where BB had to take over the play calling. That didn't stop the Jets from welcoming him aboard with open arms. A Sopranos cameo, and several shitty seasons later, his next stop was Al Lerner's office. In his greatest moment, he delivered an oscar worthy performance and yet again duped a shy private man, who will not do live interviews.

NBA

You look at a guy like Leoul Deng, and you just see this tin man who is constantly hurt. You see a guy who is overpaid by many many millions, and wonder how and when this guy was EVER worth 80 million. But then he has a night like he did the other night, with 24 points on 70% shooting and brings down 20 rebounds. And a game like he did last night against the Cavs, where he just checked LeBron like he was just another guy in the league. A fantastic defensive display by Deng last night. Bron finished with 24, but 6-8 of those were in transition, and 6-8 were in situations where Deng was out or on a stone cold switch. Every time I picked my head up, I saw Bron settling for a bad look, and I think you gotta credit Deng with a solid effort.

I have a very soft spot for Jo Noah. I was a huge fan of his game coming out of Florida, and thought he was gonna be a great pro. I would have taken him inside the top 10 if I had a shot at him. And I have ended friendships with those who don't think he's good. There's been many occasions of that. He played pretty shitty last night, but he gives you just a ton of value at a low price. I watched him in the first quarter when they beat the Spurs and it was just a clinic. Hard wide ball screens. Hard rim runs. Deflections. Assists. Offensive rebounds. Hard helps. Runs the floor. Talks on D. Energy. Focus. Hustle. He's a beast.

Here is where I would put the power rankings after a week and a half of games:

1A Lakers

1B Celtics

2 Magic

3 Nuggets

4 Spurs

5 Cavs

Brandon Jennings has brought the League to it's knees early in the season, as I predicted earlier this summer. He's doing whatever he wants, albeit on a crummy team, and making guys like Donnie Walsh and other guys that passed on him want to slit their wrists. I mean, if you're Donnie Walsh, how are you justifying this to your stakeholders. You gotta team going nowhere, that can't afford to miss a guy like BJ and he totally whiffs and takes a bum like PJ Hill, who can't even get on the floor for one of the shittiest teams in the league. OUCH. Jennings is gonna hit that rookie wall, but the guy lives in the key, and does anything he wants to do with no jump shot to speak of.

Rajon Rondo might be on steroids. His chest is starting to look like Derek Smith's and John Reese's.

The Houston Rockets, one of my favorite teams in the league, are off to a hot start. They don't have a blue player on the roster, but are built with players who have tremendous intangible value. Darryl Morey, one of the best GMs in the league, continues to amaze me with his ability to find guys who are undervalued, and plug them into a team. You gotta give Rick Adelman a lot of credit as well. Hopefully, they will be able to get a contribution from Tmac somewhere down the line, and keep enough juice to sneak into the playoffs.

I feel for CP3. His situation is bad. They'll struggle to make the top 8 in the west. Good for my fantasy team because I have Paul, but bad for his morale.

WEEK 8 SPREAD SELECTIONS

RAVENS -3.5

PACKERS -3

49ERS +13

FINS +3

COWBOYS -9.5

EAGLES +1

CHARGERS -16.5

RAMS +4

TITANS -3

PANTHERS +10

BEARS -13

BILLS +3

SAINTS -10.5

Last Week 10-3

Season Total 65-37