Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

When you correctly predict an 0-10 team to get their first win against a team that came into the game 7-3, you know it’s going to be a good week!

The Raiders made sure that the Lions remain alone in football misery’s history. No winless season in the bay…at least not this year. And if you read this post and used my picks, you impressed a lot of people last week!

Not only did you have the Raiders getting their first win but you correctly picked 13 of the 15 games! What a week it was!

Let keep the momentum going!

Week 13 – HERE WE GO!!!

(HOME TEAM IN ALL CAPS)

16 – INDIANAPOLIS over Washington – Colt McCoy is back under center as RGIII takes a seat. McCoy has been the most productive of the Redskins quarterback merry-go-round, but there is just no way he can pull out a win in Indy.

15 – HOUSTON over Tennessee – I feel like the Texans are an offensive volcano about to burst and the eruption will come Sunday.

14 – BALTIMORE over San Diego – The Ravens look like the top team in the toughest division in the league. The Chargers have been struggling and this cross-country trip comes at a very inopportune time.

13 – DETROIT over Chicago – Thanksgiving day starts in Ford Field with a classic NFC North battle. The Lions need to get back on track and should be able to do so easily against a team that just can’t seem to find their identity.

12 – PITTSBURGH over New Orleans – I said before that the Saints have been hard to figure out this year. Well it seems like figuring this year’s team is getting easier to do…and it’s not good.

11 – Miami over NEW YORK JETS – The Dolphins nearly pulled out a win in Denver. There is no reason they shouldn’t be able to win in New York against a team that is playing a quarterback that the coach doesn’t want to play.

10 – DALLAS over Philadelphia – My initial BOLD PREDICTION was that the Cowboys would win the East. This is the game where they prove that one to be true.

9 – MINNESOTA over Carolina – While the Vikings showed signs of life against a red-hot Green Bay team last week, this pick is more of a lack of faith in Carolina than confidence in Minnesota.

8 – GREEN BAY over New England – Possible game of the year here. The fact that this game is in Lambeau is a HUGE advantage for the Pack. This week’s BOLD PREDICTION is that this game will be this year’s Super Bowl matchup.

7 – Cincinnati over TAMPA BAY – The Bengals seem to be back on track now. With a healthy AJ Green and a healthy running game whether its Bernard or Hill, they should be able to continue Tampa’s woeful season.

6 – Arizona over ATLANTA – The Falcons round out a clean sweep of NFC South losses this week. If you thought a 7-9 Seahawks team in the playoffs a few years ago was bad, could we see a 6-10 team this year?

5 – Seattle over SAN FRANCISCO – Thanksgiving ends with what has been one of the best rivalries in the last few years. It does seem to have lost a bit of its luster as both team’s haven’t lived up to expectations this year, but the Seahawks have definitely been the lesser of two evils here.

4 – ST. LOUIS over Oakland – Coming off of their first win of the year, the Raiders have to make a bit of a trip this week. The only real interesting question with this game is which of these team’s will end up in LA first?

3 – BUFFALO over Cleveland – It looks like the snow will let up enough for the Bills to have their home field advantage back this week. This game could go a long way in deciding playoff spots down the road and the Bills won’t let that chance pass them by.

2 – KANSAS CITY over Denver – Any time you think the Broncos are going to lose, make sure to have it down pretty low on your list.

1 – JACKSONVILLE over New York Giants – Conversely, any time you think the Jaguars are going to WIN a game, make sure it is on the one point line.

Week 11, well we don’t really need to dwell on that too much!

Luckily last week was so topsy-turvy that it would’ve taken a DeLorean to get a high score. Some people in your league may have been able to call one of the upsets, some maybe two, but it is hard to imagine someone having too high of a score last week.

No point in spending too much time looking at the past – time to go back to the future!

WEEK 12 – HERE WE GO!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

15 – INDIANAPOLIS over Jacksonville – New England may have found some kinks in the Colts’ armor. Lucky for them they get a home game against the lowly Jaguars to work the kinks out.

14 – PHILADELPHIA over Tennessee – Philly made the mistake of heading into Lambeau to take on possibly the hottest team in the league right now. Hosting the Titans should help the Eagles get back on track.

13 – SAN DIEGO over St. Louis – After pulling off what some could call the upset of the year, the Rams head west to take on the Chargers. It may be close, like the Chargers vs Raiders last week, but the Rams don’t have it in them to pull off two big upsets in a row.

12 – BUFFALO over New York Jets – The Bills are offering $10/hour and game tickets to come out and help shovel out Ralph Wilson Stadium. Geno Smith might want to head to Buffalo early to get in on that, he may need to pad his nest egg.

11 – SAN FRANCISCO over Washington – Washington was kind enough to allow the Bucs back to the NFL and their prize is a cross-country trip for a game that they can’t win.

10 – DENVER over Miami – Peyton had an off day last week. Do you really think he will have two in a row?

9 – Green Bay over MINNESOTA – So Ben Tate goes from one crowded backfield to another. It’s a bit of an upgrade for the Vikes but not nearly enough to stop a team that is playing as well as the Pack are right now.

8 – CHICAGO over Tampa Bay – Lovie returns to Soldier Field and brings with him a gift win for the Bears. Mike Evans should be able to continue the tear that he has been on but the Tampa D won’t have enough to stop the Bears offense.

7 – NEW ENGLAND over Detroit – Tom Brady is playing like Tom Brady again. When that happens the Patriots are hard to top in Foxborough.

6 – Dallas over NEW YORK GIANTS – The Giants have had a chance to win a few more games, but Eli just keeps throwing it away … literally and figuratively!

5 – NEW ORLEANS over Baltimore – Quite honestly this game SHOULD be a lot higher, but the Saints have not given us any real reason to have real confidence in them this year.

4 – Arizona over SEATTLE – A huge battle for the NFC West in Seattle. The Cardinals are legit even with Drew Stanton at quarterback. The Seahawks have just too many questions this year.

3 – Cleveland over ATLANTA – With Ben Tate gone, the Browns will have a more focused running attack that should be able to run over the Falcons defense.

2 – Cincinnati over HOUSTON – A Bengals win will rest on the offense. AJ Green started the process of showing the league he is indeed back last week, but to solidify that fact my BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that AJ Green will have a 200 yard receiving day.

1 – OAKLAND over Kansas City – This may be just a fan with a hunch (and does not deserve to be anywhere higher than the one point line) – but with the national lights on bright and the Black Hold going crazy, this may be the week the Raiders finally get a W.

Every time I talk about this situation, I always preface it with this – I understand that the story-lines in professional wrestling are not real! They are not really punching each other – they are not really kicking each other, for the most part they don’t even dislike each other. Professional wrestling is better described as sports entertainment with an emphasis on entertainment.

This, however, is about the night where wrestling got real.

Most of you who are reading this know what happened on that fateful November evening north of the border. But I’m sure there are some that think something called the “Montreal Screwjob” would not be appropriate for this website. Here is a bit of an overview of the events that led up to the 1997 Survivor Series –

Bret Hart was the top name in Vince McMahon’s WWF in the mid-90s leading what was called “The New Generation” after the likes of Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage left for Ted Turner’s WCW. In 1997, Hart also signed with Turner for what was at the time the largest contract ever for a wrestler. At the time he signed with WCW, Hart was the WWF Champion, so plans were laid out as to how Hart would lose the title before leaving the company.

The main event of the Survivor Series that November was a rematch of WrestleMania 12 with Hart taking on Shawn Michaels. The rivalry between Hart and Michaels didn’t stop when the cameras were turned off. The two had a very heated rivalry backstage – so much so that real fights broke out between the two. Losing the title cleanly to Michaels was something that Hart just did not want to do.

The Survivor Series in ‘97 took place in Canada (Montreal to be exact) where Hart was/is a bit of a national hero. What Hart had wanted to do, to save face in his country, was to end the title match with Shawn Michaels at the Survivor Series with a disqualification, or no contest – something that would see Bret leave that night with the belt. He would then walk on to Raw the following night, thank the WWF fans for everything, and hand the belt over.

McMahon, however, was very weary of that idea. WCW had been beating the WWF in the ratings war for over a year at that point. The war between the two companies was intense. On an episode of WCW’s Monday night show “Monday Nitro” Medusa, who at the time was the WWF Women’s Champion wrestling as Alundra Blayze, walked on to the Nitro set and dropped the WWF Women’s belt into the trash live on national television. Allowing Hart to leave the Survivor Series as champion, while NOT under contract, created a déjà vu situation that McMahon wanted to avoid…at ALL costs.

Hart wouldn’t budge though. In a final meeting to go over what would happen in the match, McMahon agreed to Bret that the match would end how he wanted and he would make his last appearance with the WWF the following night to hand the belt over.

At least that is what Vince told Bret.

After Bret left the meeting, Vince sat with Michaels and Triple H, who were also in the meeting, in a silence that said everybody was thinking the same thing. It was Triple H who made the initial statement, “F*** it! If he won’t do business, we’ll make him do business!” The match was supposed to end with Michaels putting Hart in his own finishing move, the SharpShooter, which Bret would reverse and lead to allies of both Michaels and Hart to come out and the match would end in a no-contest.

Unbeknownst to Hart though, McMahon had instructed the referee to call for the bell as soon as Michaels had Hart in the SharpShooter and awarded the match and the title to Shawn Michaels. Hart spat in McMahon’s face in the arena, went to the backstage area and punched him in the eye, and proceeded to head down south to WCW. With the exception of a Hall of Fame induction in 2006 and a quick interview spot in 2007, the WWF would not see Bret Hart again until hatchets were finally buried in 2010.

So that’s the story behind wrestling’s most controversial night. Everyone has questioned the events of that night and pointed the finger at each side. For the sake of discussion, I would like to throw out a couple simple “WHAT IF” scenarios.

WHAT IF Bret never signed with WCW and stayed with WWF?

Quite honestly, I think Bret leaving the WWF would be inevitable. The WWF was going through the transition from “The Next Generation,” a time where the show was almost completely made for children to the “Attitude Era,” a time where the show was something that some parents were trying to keep their children from watching.

Hart showed a little attitude during his run as a heel before he left the WWF in 1997, but I get the sense that Bret Hart the man would want nothing to do with the antics that were happening during the Attitude Era. In no way is that a shot at Bret though – guys like Bruno Sammartino disassociated themselves completely from the WWF during this time and they’re still considered to be amongst the greatest of all time. It’s just a clash of styles. Bret was great for the mid 90s, may not have been as great for the late 90s.

WHAT IF McMahon stuck to the original match plan and allowed Bret to leave Survivor Series with the title.

To me, this would have been a near fatal blow to the WWF, and it has nothing to do with what would happen the next night. Whether Bret would simply drop the belt the next night on Raw or if he would drop the belt…in a trash can…the next night on Nitro is irrelevant.

Without the events of that night and the one-on-one sit down interview that aired on Raw eight days later that gave us the infamous “Bret screwed Bret” line, we may not have been introduced to the biggest villain character of the attitude era – Mr. McMahon. With no Mr. McMahon, there would be no Austin/McMahon rivalry which ruled 1998 and basically saved the company.

Although he probably wasn’t thinking about it at the time, Vince needed the heat that was generated from the Montreal Screwjob to create the character that would give the WWF fans someone they were longing to see be stopped. In one of the DVD documentaries, Vince said that his reaction to the heat was “you hate me – ok, let’s go with that then.”

And go with it he did.

A few months after the Montreal Screwjob, a Monday Night Raw main event of Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Mr. McMahon gave the WWF their first win over WCW’s Monday Nitro in the ratings in over 85 weeks and they never looked back. I am sure that the Vince Russo, Ed Ferrara and the rest of the writing staff for the WWF would have come up with other ideas for 1998, but it’s hard to imagine they would have come up with something that had the success that the Austin/McMahon feud did.

If you think about it, the real culprit in this situation was WCW and the Monday Night War. If WCW Executive Producer Eric Bischoff hadn’t played several underhanded tricks against his competitor (such as giving away Raw results and the aforementioned championship belt trashing) McMahon would probably have no issue with allowing his company’s most prestigious prize, the championship belt, to be in the hands of a wrestler who was under contract to another organization.

Simply put, McMahon had his back against the wall and needed to make a difficult decision. The decision he made was the right one. In the infamous “Bret screwed Bret” interview, Vince also made reference to the “time honored tradition” that Bret didn’t follow. It’s simple – to put it in the terms of the old territory days, Vince was the promoter. It is the wrestlers job to perform based on what is laid out by the promoter.

It’s not the way that Hart, McMahon, and even Shawn Michaels should be remembered. Shawn said it best that night in 2010 when hell froze over and Bret Hart was back on Raw. When you think of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, you shouldn’t think of Montreal, you should think of Anaheim and the two putting on an unprecedented WrestleMania performance in the 60-minute Iron Man Match at WrestleMania XII.

Montreal is not how they should be remembered, but it was a night that will forever be etched in the stone of wrestling history.

Professional Wrestling is scripted – but life isn’t.

Not too much to talk about this week – other than we hit on the top six lines last week. That is definitely worth mentioning.

No time to waste! Week 11! LET’S GO!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

14 – SAN DIEGO over Oakland – The Raiders get a rematch of the game that they came closest to winning. Unfortunately it’s now on the road against a fresh Chargers squad.

13 – Denver over ST LOUIS – Denver showed last week what they can do when they turn on the juice. The Rams just don’t have the offense to keep up with the Broncos.

12 – WASHINGTON over Tampa Bay – This is definitely more confidence in a team losing than a team winning. Tampa has showed us this year that changes are needed again. This time, make it more than just the uniforms!

11 – NEW ORLEANS over Cincinnati – Boy oh boy what has happened to the Bengals? It’s gotten so bad that it seems the old “Bungles” name may need to be dusted off and brought back out. Like the Rams against Denver, the Bung…no, not yet…the Bengals just don’t seem to have the offensive fire power needed to keep up with the Saints in the dome.

10 – MIAMI over Buffalo – The week starts with an AFC East matchup that may have the most meaning since the old Jim Kelly vs Dan Marino days. Both teams are fighting for a playoff spot and the Dolphins should be able to take advantage of playing at home.

9 – GREEN BAY over Philadelphia – A lot of the Eagles success can be attributed to points put on the board by their defense and special teams. Aaron Rodgers won’t give Philly the opportunity.

8 – CLEVELAND over Houston – Cleveland needed a big road division win last week and they got it. Look for them to use that momentum to top a team starting a new quarterback.

7 – Pittsburgh over TENNESSEE – The Steelers were brought back down to earth in a big way in New York last week. It is hard for me to think the Pittsburgh can lose two straight against a lowly opponent, even if it is another road game.

6 – KANSAS CITY over Seattle – The champs simply have not been playing like the champs as of late. They almost lost to the Raiders and Giants at home in consecutive weeks and now have to go on the road to one of the toughest stadiums to play in. This week’s BOLD PREDICTION is that the Seahawks will NOT make the playoffs this year.

5 – Detroit over ARIZONA – Detroit heads to the desert at a very opportune time. Carson Palmer led the Cards to the best record in the NFL, signed a $50 million extension, and then tore his ACL days later. Drew Stanton won’t be able to keep up with a healthy Calvin and friends.

4 – CAROLINA over Atlanta – Everybody is wondering what is going on with Cam these days. He’s been struggling, but still should be able to pull out a home win against a weak Falcons offense.

3 – INDIANAPOLIS over New England – Wouldn’t be surprised to see this as the AFC Championship this year. Andrew Luck has been the MVP so far this year and to take the next step, he needs to win big games like this.

2 – NEW YORK GIANTS over San Francisco – Two straight weeks of the 49ers traveling to the eastern half of the country, this time all the way to Jersey, will prove to be too much.

1 – Minnesota over CHICAGO – Give me one good reason why I should have any confidence in the Bears right now? It’s a home game? Nope! They haven’t won a game at Soldier Field yet!