Vikings/Buccaneers
Evan: I got to see some of the Tampa game. That is not a brand of football that is fun to watch.
Matt: No Adrian Peterson in on the final Minnesota drive? They were doomed right there.

OT
Mike: I’ve never been a fan of the NFL’s OT rules. At least I know the rules, as opposed to most of the players. McNabb seems to be taking the most heat for his comments, but if you watched the post-game interviews, nobody had a clue. I would much rather see a college style finish, only push the starting field position out to around the 40. Or do it tug-of-war style. This was a mini game in Madden. The ball starts at the 50 with the team that wins the coin flip on offense. Each team takes a play from the spot where the last play ended. Eventually one team will push their way to the end zone to win. Much more exciting. If you are going to OT in the NFL, odds are it’s been a boring game up to that point. I was watching ESPNews yesterday, I’m not sure who was on, but he said there were numerous things to do to fix OT. One of his suggestions was to only allow TDs in the 1st OT, but if it went to a 2nd OT, then allow FGs. That is messed up in so many ways.
Ahad: The OT rules in the NFL are brutal. They will not adopt the college system because many people view it is a gimmick. The NFL doesn’t want to remove the kick return from the game because of the “excitement”. The best OT rules are in the NHL playoffs.
Matt: I guess I am adverse to change as far as the NFL overtime goes. If the NFL were to implement the College overtime, I think all the rules should start being the same across both leagues. I don’t like that in College when you are down, you are down and you don’t need anyone to touch you down. There are others, for sure. I guess, maybe in the future, the rules could become more uniform across both leagues.

In case you haven’t heard of Paul Shirley, he’s a basketball player. He’s good enough for it to be his primary occupation. The book, Can I Keep My Jersey?, recounts 4 years of his basketball life as he played for 11 teams in 5 different countries. In fact, that’s the subtitle: 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond. He has a lot to say about everyone involved in the game, from players and coaches to management. A lot of interesting commentary about what goes on behind the scenes.

The entire is him recounting his experiences, sort of like a diary or writing home from the road. It’s written in a very familiar way and makes you feel like he’s really letting you get to know him.

It’s really interesting to see how, even though he gets to play basketball for a living, life isn’t perfect. He has to travel the world to find a job. While some places are nice to visit, many places you don’t want to spend more than 20 minutes in. Not every team in the world is based in a wonderful city. Also, not every team has the finances of an NBA team so traveling and lodging on the road is almost always a good time.

I think a common comment about Paul Shirley is that he’s someone you’d want to hang out with. I mean, why not, he played in the NBA and he seems normal. Two things concern me about him: he might complain more that I do, I don’t need complaint encouragement, and we disagree greatly on his musical tastes. I think we could get past that.

He currently does a weekly podcast with his brother called Off Topic with Matt and Paul Shirley.

That’s all for my book report today. Wagers on when the next one will be? I should point out I had some books on CD and an audible account for a few months. So I listened to Born Standing Up by Steve Martin (which I should really talk about soon, it was excellent) and When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. I’m almost done with Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell and have her newest book, The Wordy Shipmates, loaded on the iPhone and ready to go. I’m also open to suggestions from the crowd.

The guy is AJ Jacobs, apparently he is very bright because he adjusted one of my ideas into something that is actually possible, apparently. He found a company in India that offers ‘remote executive assistants.’ This assistant will do research, memos, emails, etc. He finds another company that offers a concierge service. The cost? The assistant is $1000/month for 8 hour days (although that might be half price, I think he had a coupon) and the concierge is $400/month for 4 hour days. I guess not terrible prices, and I don’t need that much time, I don’t think.

If you read the whole article it goes past just work related to his job. He outsources talking to his parents, dealing with his wife, even reading bed time stories to his kid. He even attempts to outsource his therapy sessions. Too far or too wise?

I’ve been saying for a while that I need an intern. Before you ask, yes, sort of like Darin (Kramer’s intern). Now this intern could do intern-related tasks. I have plenty of web site work that needs to be done. There is also a lot of data entry on ICH. I recently got sick of it all so I’ve been automating it, but once I get the automation done I will still need to check it every once in a while, you never know when part of it will break down. There are also plenty of other features I’d add if I had someone to check it over more often. I’d have time to do this if I didn’t have an actual job, but even then an intern would be nice.

While all that would be very helpful and make the internship moderately legit, there are other things I’d like my intern to take care of. Prior to needing an intern, in college, I decided I needed a stenographer to follow me around all day and take down all my conversations. I found I was forgetting many of my genius ideas as school work got in the way. My roommate had originally applied for the position. So the intern could serve this purpose. They would just need to be alert during the day and jot down notes of what I say. Then I’d be able to quickly look through the notes and they would jog my memory about whatever idea or story I had mentioned earlier in the day.

The issue is that I can’t get an intern (it would be hard enough to get the 1st one, but after they told their story, no way I’d get another) and I don’t have the money to pay for an assistant. So he really didn’t solve my problem. He just had the funds to do so. I’m curious how this guy survived after the outsourcing experiment ended. He seemed to become quite reliant on them.

Florida
Mike: I think the Gators are good.
Ahad: Judging only by the final score, the Gators seem to be clicking at the right time.
Matt: No one has even challenged the Gators since Ole Miss beat them. Florida is really, really good. Counting down to the SEC title game vs. Alabama now.

ACC
Mike: Right now the ACC Championship matchup is Maryland vs Miami. That could all change as both teams can lose the top spot by losing (Maryland vs Florida State and Miami vs Georgia Tech). Can we have the ACC Champ play the Big East Champ? It looks like most bowl projections are picking that matchup. Thrilling.
Ahad: If the ACC doesn’t play the Big East in a BSC bowl, that would make two games worthless. I don’t think even fans of both conferences think they deserve a BSC bowl.

CBS College Sports
Mike: I just got his channel today. I had CSTV in my Comcast days, but never watched it as nothing was ever on worth watching. Any thoughts?
Ahad: I only watched this channel in the dorm and haven’t missed it. Maybe if Comcast Sportsnet wasn’t around I would watch it.

Scores from Week 12

The baseball part starts at 1:42, but the rest of it is great as well.

Ravens @ Giants, Sunday 1pm
Mike: Can you pick against the Giants straight up right now? Especially at home? There is still that bad loss to the Browns in their rear view mirror that should be some concern. How did that even happen? The Ravens come in ‘hot’ with 4 straight wins. Those wins being Miami, Oakland, Cleveland, and Houston. Hense the ‘hot’. The most that can be hoped for by the rest of the league is that the Ravens show how to slow down the Giants running game. Pick: Giants
Evan: I think the Ravens pull off a stunner here. I still think the Giants are the most mediocre 1 loss team I’ve seen in a long time. It doesn’t appear that they dominate any one facet of the game. I’m more or less just really hoping for a Ravens win here. Pick: Baltimore
Matt: This is shaping up to be a very, very good game. The only concern I would have is how Flacco fares against the Giants D. He has been playing beyond his years, but this will be a new test. If the Ravens D plays the way they have so far this season, I like the Ravens chances. It should be a low scoring affair. Pick: Baltimore
Ahad: The Giants are on a roll right now. I don’t like them, but they are winning games. They will have trouble running the ball against the Ravens, but the Ravens are banged up in the secondary and that could be the difference in the game. Flacco could be in some trouble against the blitzing Giants defense. Pick: Giants

Vikings @ Buccaneers, Sunday 1pm
Mike: Tampa Bay has yet to lose at home this year. They also get Cadillac back this week. It looks like Dunn and Graham (the Bucs top 2 RBs) are questionable. I’m not sure Garcia can continue to carry the load. I like the Vikings here but look for the Bucs to be strong the rest of the way and make the playoffs.
Evan: Bucs home field advantage is one of the most underrated in the NFL. I’m not sure why they play better there, the fans are not super passionate, and the place does not get ridiculously loud. Still, Gruden finds a way. Pick: Bucs
Matt: This looks like another, tough, defensive game. Will the Bucs be able to bottle up Adrian Peterson? I am not so sure. I feel like he will be the difference. Pick: Minnesota
Ahad: I expect to see AP run wild in this one. Home field or not, I like the Vikes. Pick: Vikings

Chargers @ Steelers, Sunday 4:15pm
Mike: I caught the end of both of these teams games last week. The Chargers won on a failed 2pt conversion attempt by the Chiefs. The Steelers continue to be banged up, which is why this game may even appear to be close on paper. There has been a lot of talk about west coast teams coming east. I haven’t seen any hard numbers. The Chargers are 1-4 on the road, the win being at Oakland. Pittsburgh is a long way to travel, and not friendly to opposing teams in general. Even if Roethlisberger’s shoulder falls off, I still think the Steelers can get it done. Pick: Steelers
Evan: I’m pretty sure I heard that west coast teams coming east are 1-12. Pick: Steelers
Matt: I don’t know what is up with the Chargers this year. They barely got by the Chiefs last week, and have been seriously struggling. I think the Steelers would win this one even if it were played in San Diego. Pick: Pittsburgh
Ahad: The Steelers are pretty banged up but Parker is supposed to be back for this game. Evan mentioned how teams coming east don’t fare well. The Chargers aren’t as good as expected. Pick: Steelers

Cowboys @ Redskins, Sunday 8:15pm
Mike: Romo will be back. Felix Jones might be back. This is a tough game to jump back into, at Washington. I think the Cowboys were already beginning their struggles before Romo went down. The Redskins won the previous matchup in Dallas 26-24, and Romo was healthy in that game. As Dallas gets healthy they could be a threat later in the year, if they haven’t fallen too far already. Pick: Redskins
Evan: Romo comes out shooting so he can help out my fantasy team. Dallas needs to win to make the East’s wild card chances that much more complicated. Pick: Cowboys
Matt: Romo is back. This will help out the offense immensely. I think the key to this game is Clinton Portis’ absence more so than Romo’s return. Without Portis, I think the Redskins will struggle to run the ball, making them one dimensional. This gives the advantage to the Cowboys defense, and they need all the advantages they can get. The Cowboys really need to win this one to keep their postseason hopes alive. Pick: Dallas
Ahad: Romo or not, things aren’t going well for the Cowboys. If Portis doesn’t play, the Redskins are in trouble. I believe Jerry Jones guaranteed a playoff berth for his squad so they have to win this game. I expect TO to have about 15 touches in this game. Pick: Cowboys

Eight teams participate in the Classic. The teams are divided into two brackets: Liberty and Independence. It starts off with each team playing 2 games against teams from the other bracket at one of schools. Thanksgiving weekend at the Palestra there are 4 games on Friday. The winners and losers match up on Saturday for another 4 games. It is a little odd that it ends there. Each bracket winds up with a winner, they don’t play each other. Still, I like that its lots of basketball each day at The Palestra.

Last year was the first year for the Classic. Seton Hall beat Virginia to win the Independence Bracket. Drexel topped Loyola to win the Liberty Bracket.

This year’s teams:
Liberty Bracket
Hartford
Monmouth
Niagara
NJIT

Independence Bracket
Penn State
Rhode Island
Towson
Villanova

Penn state will play home games against NJIT (Nov 17) and Hartford (Nov 20). Before the bracket portion they have a home game against New Hampshire (Nov 23) and a game against Penn (Nov 25) at The Palestra. Then they will play the 2 bracket games at The Palestra. So Penn State will play 3 games in a row at The Palestra.

The season will start on Week 3 of the season, which is November 24th. I looked at the games for the first 2 weeks and saw that a total of 5 games qualified, based on my ratings, to be picked.

There are 2 problems with the first few weeks of the season. First, even more than college football, good basketball teams warm up with cupcakes. Second, most of the good games this early in the season come in early season tournaments. Those matchups are only known a day or 2 in advance. So there would be no way to pick those games. The easiest way to handle things was to just say that picks would begin in Week 3.

I mentioned that some early games didn’t qualify for my ratings. These are the ratings I use to determine which games will be picked each week. The ratings mostly use the rankings. I tried to find the best matchups with the better teams in Division 1. This comes out to about 10 games per week for Weeks 3-8 and about 20 games per week the rest of the season. These estimates came from the ratings at the end of last season, using this season’s schedule. The numbers for this year should wind up being just about the same.

You can choose to just make picks that will count toward your ICH Score or create your own group. Creating your own group will let you add things like wager points or drop lowest scoring weeks.

The first set of picks should be ready to go mid-next week. Get started creating your groups and getting your friends to sign up now!

College Basketball Picks

I’ve also created the following pages to help you follow college basketball. These pages include my favorite feature, the team info pop-ups. They will show the team’s record as well as recent and upcoming schedule.
Scores/Schedule
Standings
Teams
Rankings

Also, if you click on any of the schools, it will take you to the school’s page. These are still being worked on. Right now it will show you the basketball schedule and football schedule, if that school has a D1A team.

Here is the first episode, which was the better of the two out so far …

There was also Bonus Content from the first episode posted, I hope they do these for every show.

And here was the first one …