Saturday, October 9, 2010

NFL week 5 picks against the spread


An experiment that failed miserably last year: Da Man picks games against the spread for the NFL. One of the toughest thing to do, I hear.........I've been VERY right in the MLB playoffs......guessed Phillies, Yankees, Rangers, and Giants getting through and will probably be right on all of those.........I figure if I get 60% of the NFL picks, I'm really good (Last year I went something dope like 3-15 and gave up). People, do NOT try this at home.

Denver +7 at Baltimore ......Going with Denver, 7 points is too much in the NFL unless talent gap is huge...plus Orton can lead his team back through the air even if he doesn't win it.

Buffalo -1.5 v. Jacksonville.........In pretty much a coinflip, with both teams pretty even, I'm betting on Jacksonville having huge letdown on road after beating Indy last week.

Indianapolis -7 v. KC: Going with my rule, 7 points is fine if the talent gap is huge, and talent gap IS huge.....just think Peyton Manning v. Matt Cassell......yea. N


Detroit -3 v. St. Louis: Still too young, still too unseasoned, still got some work to do for Sam Bradford and the St. Louis Rams (and James Laurinitis, former THE Ohio State university star).

Atlanta -3 at Cleveland: Potential upset, but my rule has always been: Pick the better team( I mean, seriously, how can you BET for the worst team?) and worry about the points later....Here, -3 is tolerable.

Tampa Bay +6.5 at Cincinatti: Man, picking against the spread is NOT easy......The Bengals have trouble scoring in the red zone, so they could have problems putting away the Bucs despite being the better team. Ugh. This is harder than I expected.

Carolina -3 v. Chicago: Gotta pick the Panthers against Todd Collins: Collins and the O-line looked HORRIBLE last weekend, and Da Bears have never done well in Carolina.

Washington +2.5 v. Green Bay: To me this is the classic home team upsets a slightly better, more hyped-up team scenario, and it's at least 50-50 Redskins win this game outright. I'll take the extra 2.5 points.

Houston -3 v. NYG: Looks like an old-school Wild West shootout in Houston......a lot rests on Andre Johnson's health, who is a major playmaker in a game that will be decided by one or two big plays. Bet is off if AJ is out.


New Orleans -6.5 at Ariz: This looks like the lock of the week......Cardinals starting a rookie CB, team in disarray, the Saints much superior and very capable of blowing people out.


Oakland +6.5 v. San Diego: In contrast, Oakland has it more together and has a history of keeping it close against the Chargers.....Chargers not necessarily the best it can be.

Tennessee +7 at Dallas: Way too many points Dallas is laying, this should be more of a -3 or -4, very likely Tennessee could win this outright.

San Francisco -3 v. Philadelphia: Please, please, let this be the time for the Niners. Philly has troulbe historically out West.

NYJ -4 v. Minnesota: Vikings not nearly as good as last year.

Final note: sports is unpredictable, man. That's why they play the games!!!!!


I've taken up studying some Spanish recently. Some basic stuff, nothing too serious, just trying to get some bread-and-butter vocabulary, and I've noticed something: It's VERY similar to French. People told me in high school how all those romance languages have similar structures and same words, but it's true. I wish I had studied Spanish and French at the same time in high school, or college even; you learn one and you got a good handle on the other. I'll keep up with it and see where I am in a year or so.

Robert's random stock pick for the rest of the year: John Deere. I've been in this stock for 3 weeks and wish I was in it for 3 years. It consistently rises every period, and the recent news of the U.S. declaring a shortage in corn and wheat is just gonna make farmers plant more, spend more, and buy more machines made by...you guessed it, John Deere. I'm lovin' it.

Last year was a VERY VERY poor draft for me in the NBA. I was SO wrong about most of my picks. The worst? betting against Brook Lopez and betting FOR Shawn Marion. Wow that was fatal. This year, I have a new principle for NBA drafts ( applies in most other sports too): AVOID GUYS WHO JUST SWITCHED TEAMS IN THE OFFSEASON. Obviously this doesn't apply if you're comparing 2 players of different calibers like LeBron James and Aaron Brroks, let's say, but when you're choosing between 2 guys, choose the one that stayed put last season. There's a lot of factors here:

1. The player who moved in the offseason probably got more hype and is fresher in people's minds, prompting him to be overvalued

2. New system, new coaches, gotta establish the trust level.

3. most likely, player who moved just signed massive contract that makes him complacent, the opposite of the contract-year effect. (not the case every time, apply on case-by-case basis).


USC fans, we got a keeper in Matt Barkley. He's good.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

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