NFL Picks and an E-Mail Exchange

Tweet Daki: Luka, I just realized that once the NBA starts we may never talk about anything else on this blog. I think this is a perfect time to bust out the time tested gimmick of exchanging e-mails and talk NFL picks (for maybe the last time until playoffs). Just to drive that point home I will sprinkle in random NBA tidbits throughout the post. But first, we might as well start with one of the games of the week in the NFL. The Atlanta Falcons going up against the Eagles of Philadelphia. How do you think your Eagles will do this week against the undefeated Falcons? The line has moved all the way to -3 and it seems that people are trusting Andy Reid off a bye-week vs. Andy Reid in any other game.

Atlanta (+3) At Philadelphia

I gotta say, I love the Eagles to win here, can't really explain why, but I just think that they are too talented to be so mediocre and with Andrew Bunym's knee injury, the people of Philadelphia need hope!

Luka: My favorite Eagles week this year was last week and we had it off. Everyone says the same thing when they talk about this team, that they could win by 40 or lose by 40 any given week and it's true. For this week though, I also am feeling an Eagles win. Reid is inexplicably great after bye weeks and a Falcons team that has practically clinched their division already (Let-Down game!!) adds up to a possible Philly victory that will get all their fans (myself included) praising the likes of Vick and Jackson as the second-coming of Montana and Rice. I'm personally excited to start calling a (hopefully) 4-3 team the Super-Bowl favorites next week. As for Bynum and the Sixers, I don't think any fan will tell you they were shocked when they started hearing Bynum injured stories. That comes with the territory but I do hope he gets better and we  have an NBA season where the Atlantic Division is undoubtedly the strongest (maybe the Mayans were right).

Daki: Yes, for the first time in a long time it seems that the East actually managed to get stronger across the conference. Speaking of strong conferences, how about this NFC? I am making a slightly bold prediction that 11 wins might not be enough for the playoffs and that one team from the NFC East, North, and West will legitimately feel that they could have made the playoffs in almost any other season. Which is what makes games like these:

Carolina (+7.5) At Chicago

So important. Chicago has relatively few "easy" games left and has to win them all to a) keep up with Atlanta for home-field advantage and b) fend off teams like the Giants and Packers for a first-round bye. Am I crazy or does Carolina get random respect from Vegas? Chicago by 2+ touchdowns lock it down.

Luka:I agree with your point on Vegas' unfounded respect for the Panthers and think it has to come from the Cam Newton effect. But is he even that good? I mean don't get me wrong, hes incredibly gifted physically but his team is 1-5 and it seems like every week more and more stories of Cam throwing his teammates under the bus seem to surface. I too like the Bears to cover this game. Chicago is somehow a sneaky 5-1.

Daki: Chicago is playing the old San Antonio Spurs trick of not drawing any attention as they demolish the league.

Indianapolis (+3.5) At Tennessee

Is it possible that one of these two teams could sneak into the AFC playoffs? Have they caught the guy giving Chris Johnson steroids? That has to be the logical explanation of his sudden re-emergence as a running back who can beat teams by himself. Johnson scares me enough to pick the Titans at home here

Luka: Lance Armstrong's guy had to find a new client. As for the game I feel like it'll come down to whether or not you trust Chris Johnson's ability to string consistent games together (Matt Hasselbeck is starting for the Titans. Yes, you read that correctly) and personally I feel like until I see it again, I'm not jumping back onto that ship. So give me Luck and the Colts to somehow be 4-3 after this game. Quick, let's go to the next game though before I change my mind.

Jacksonville (-14.5) At Green Bay

Daki: *sigh* The Jaguars? We have to talk about one of the least interesting franchises in North American sports? CFL teams are more interesting than these guys. At least they get to be one of the teams that the Packers slaughter on their way back to 'Superbowl team' status. Why isn't David Stern running the NFL? He would have moved the Jaguars to Toronto years ago. Even better, nobody would have cared (unlike the Seattle Sonics fans). On that note what do you think of Stern announcing his retirement (15 months early?) I will always remember him as the guy who screwed the 02' Kings out of a title and as a stubborn old man who to this day refuses to acknowledge that his league has a massive officiating problem.

Luka: I just thought of something, how amazing would it be if the NFL adopted a relegation system with the CFL where the worst two teams in the NFL get replaced by the two best CFL teams each year? You're telling me this game wouldn't be more fun to talk about if Green Bay had to go to Saskatchewan to take on the Rough Riders instead? Goodell and CFL commissioner whose name I didn't even bother googling. Let's make this happen. Green Bay should demolish the Jags at home so i'll pick them to cover although I'm not feeling it's a lock they'll win by 2+ touchdowns. David Stern I'll always remember as this sort of grumpy old bully who despite some missteps (the microfiber ball? that was fun) has made the NBA a juggernaut of a league worldwide. All i ask from him before he retires is to move a team back to Seattle and to give the Kings the 02 title. The early 2000's Lakers were the most unlikable team in that era (Fuck Rick Fox) so who's saying no to this?

Daki: The people who are saying no to that are those moronic Laker fans who think that Kobe is the best player in the league today (sorry, he may not be top 5 anymore). I love the relegation idea, if anything it would single-handily save the CFL. Can you imagine if the Redskins had to go to Montreal (the team who they stole the Expos from) for a playoff game? Nazi Germany would receive a better welcome. If by some miracle anyone in the NFL/CFL is reading this make it happen! All we ask is for credit and royalties. Anyways, on to the next game:

Miami Dolphins (+3) At New York Jets

A perplexing line to me. I think that this Jets team is sneaky underrated and will take care of business in this key division game.

Luka: A good defense combined with a wacky offense and the dynamic duo of Sanchez and Tebow (kidding, obviously) spells trouble for the Dolphins this week. I'll take the Jets too although i wouldn't be surprised if I turn on the game in the second quarter to see a score of 24-0 for the Dolphins while the Jets fans boo Sanchez and plea for Tebow. Also, Rex Ryan has to be in the conversation for coach of the year right? I mean who's on this Jets team?

Daki: Absolutely.

New England (-7) Vs. Rams - From London England!

Perplexing that this game will be on at the same time that Chelsea takes on Man U and Liverpool plays Everton in the Merseyside derby. Just poor decision making from the NFL schedule makers here. I think that the Rams cover this week, the Patriots need to prove that they are a good team before spreads over 4 points are applied to them.

Luka: I`m taking the Patriots, Chelsea, and a draw in the Merseyside derby. I`m not sure anyone in London even cares that they get an NFL game each year. If the NFL was serious in expanding its popularity across the globe, you`d think that this game would be a bigger deal each year and yet it never is. Strange.

Daki: San Diego (-3) At Cleveland A.k.a: Free money!

Luka: It should tell you how bad the Chargers season is going that I was going to pick the Browns this week before  reading that Trent Richardson might be out. Without Richardson I think that Cleveland's offense will be more reliant on Brandon Weeden and no one should have to bet on a team "more reliant on Brandon Weeden". So give me the mediocre Chargers on the road.

Daki: Seattle (+2.5) At Detroit

At first I almost wagered all I had on this game, then I realized that the game is being played in Detroit and not in Seattle. The fact of the matter is that the Seahawks are not a very good road team and I fully expect the Lions to cement that notion.

***The James Harden Trade put everything into flux for this post, so we shelved it and decided to stop here.

2012-2013 English Premier League: Liverpool

Tweet The new EPL season is finally here! It feels like Sergio Aguero's last minute goal that won the premiere league title for Manchester City happened only yesterday (sorry United fans, had to mention it). It was the first instance since 2003 that the premiere league was won by a team not named Chelsea or Manchester United. It showed us that with enough patience (and more money than everybody else) anyone could win the league. Manchester City is set to return the same team from last year and looks poised to capture their second title in a row. Of course Roberto Mancini, Manchester City's coach has already tried to claim that United are the favorites to win the title (maybe they even are with the Van Persie signing, but at least act like you are defending champions Roberto!), kicking off one of the more amusing things about soccer: managers trying to deflect pressure away from their teams. In my opinion, Arsene Wenger is the king of this, nobody complains more than that guy. But enough about teams I dislike heavily, let's talk my favorite team: Liverpool.

Last season, Liverpool's captain Steven Gerrard missed roughly half the season with injuries, in addition to Gerrard, Liverpool's best player (Lucas) tore his ACL and Liverpool fell into a slump of mediocrity without him. To add insult to injury, expensive signings Andy Carrol, Charlie Adam, and Stewart Downing not only failed to perform; but they played so poorly that I openly questioned how good professional soccer players actually are. Liverpool's lone quality signing, Luis Suarez, was suspended eight games for using a racial slur, and this was backed up by video evidence... wait, no it wasn't I'm thinking of John Terry, who got a two game suspension despite the fact that the case against him actually had evidence to support it. Suarez was guilty of not being English. To add on top of all that, Liverpool astonishingly managed to hit the post or crossbar roughly 35 times over the course of the season, and compounded that by missing 6 penalties. Then coach, Kenny Dalglish (club legend, best player to ever wear a Liverpool shirt) still guided the club to two cup finals (winning one) but was unceremoniously dismissed at the end of the year for failing to finish in a Champion's league position, a task that was border-line impossible given all of the above things I mentioned. Needless to say, last season was not a very fun one.

This year brings new hope to Liverpool (mostly in the form of, it can't possibly be worse than last year). Unlike last year, Steven Gerrard will be healthy to start the season along with Lucas. New coach Brendan Rodgers is bringing an attacking, fun style that the club sorely needs (so hey, if they suck again at least it will be fun to watch), and management seems to have finally put some quality signings together (which I will talk about in future posts). In all honesty, despite the crap pile that was last year, I am excited that soccer is back on and that I can watch my favorite team play again. For now I will leave it at that.

Liverpool Vs. Everton a Running Diary

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Alright! Having some free time on my hands, I decided to watch the mersyside derby today and do a running diary of it. As you may or may not know, I am a huge fan of Liverpool so this diary will be very biased, so Everton fans (all six of you) you have been warned. Before I begin I do feel that I should mention that this Liverpool season has been the worst. Yes, I am referring to it as simply 'the worst'. Liverpool finally got owners who were willing to spend some serious money to improve the team, only to see players like Andy Carrol, Charlie Adam, and Stewart Downing (combined cost: over 60 million!) get out-performed by the likes of Kuyt, and Craig Bellamy (combined cost: less then 10 mil, and that is only the cost of Kuyt who was bought over 5 years ago, kill me now). To top it off, Liverpool's best players (Suarez, Gerrard, Lucas-not up for debate, he is a phenomenal player) all missed games due to freak injuries, lingering injuries, and suspensions. To make maters even worst than that, as we continue down the well of misery, Liverpool has managed to hit the post or crossbar this season a staggering 28 times. That is not a typo, if even half of those go in I am pretty sure Liverpool is locked into a champions league spot. I have not even talked about penalties yet. It has gotten to the point where every time Liverpool wins a penalty you wonder how they are going to fuck it up. My personal favorite miss so far was when Charlie Adam, the so called 'set piece master' pulled a Beckham. I can not describe how sick to my stomach I am that the only defense I have against other fans (casual or otherwise) is to hold up five fingers and try to ignore their quips. This culminated when people asked me why I am even still a fan and that I should look for a new team. Okay, nothing makes me more mad then hopping onto a band-wagon, I am a fan for a reason, and I know that one day it will be worth it (see: 49ers of San Francisco) so Chelsea fans: your golden boy Mourihno got clowned by Rafa every single time they played in a cup, and Rafa was operating with one third the budget, Arsenal fans: your cup drought is longer then ours, City fans: you might not win shit this year, and United fans: I respect you (the die-hard ones at least) enough to wish you luck in the title race. Whoa that felt good, the next 90 minutes probably will not, but let's get on with it anyways.

4pm: Kickoff, we begin...

1' Form apparently does not matter in Derbies, Good, because Liverpool's form can best be described like the Toronto Maple Leafs: garbage

2' Carrol and Suarez combine nicely, but Everton clears the ball. Andy Carrol has been unbelievable this year, and I use that word in the worst possible way. He took a massive dump on Liverpool when he played for Newcastle, so I was ecstatic when Liverpool got him. The result? ugh... He is incredibly frustrating, has all the tools, but refuses to use them for some reason.

6' After some incredibly dull play, Suarez sets Gerrard up for a one on one with the keeper. Read my introduction to this, then take a wild guess at what happened. Here ill make it even easier: multiple choice.

a) Gerrard scored
b) Gerrard hit the post
c) Everton's goalie made a wonder-save, then an Everton defender made an even better block.

What's coming to Millennium

Tweet With the NFL season fast approaching and little to no NBA news (unless you want to hear about a player 'thinking' of going to China for the 10,000th time) we here at millennium will focus our attention mostly on the NFL with the crew of writers, and myself each covering a team, and having weekly articles about the most interesting aspects of the 2011-12 NFL season.  We will still be covering the entertainment portion, but with the sports season kicking into full gear our focus will shift.  In addition, the NBA's ongoing lock-out will force me to expand my horizons as a sports fan and I will begin to follow the NHL for the first time.  Until now I never really enjoyed hockey, but through the years I've slowly grown used to it and even watching some games.  The last season was so good that I would be foolish not to jump into it (bandwagon move by me).  I will write about being a new fan and the team I have chosen is the Toronto Maple Leafs, apparently they never win, should be fun.  Of other major sporting events such as the EPL and champions league, we will cover those to the best of our abilities; after all, nobody wants to read an article by guys who don't know enough to be able to write solid articles, and believe it or not we care about quality.  We hope to exhibit this quality once the European basketball championships roll around, as it may be the last basketball that is easily available to watch, we will cover it.  The tournament looks to be stacked so it should be a lot of fun.  To those who are regular readers, there will likely be no articles in the following 7 days due to a staff vacation (yes I am insisting on calling us a staff)  So just be patient and know that good things are coiming

Previewing: Liverpool Vs. Sunderland

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If you  are expecting this article to be objective forget about it.  I consider myself a very passionate fan of Liverpool FC and writing about them objectively (especially when it comes to games that matter) is impossible.  Throughout the Premier League season, I will be writing about Liverpool on occasions that are appropriate, this being the start of the season seems like such an occasion.  Instead of previewing the entire season (of both the league and of Liverpool) I think it makes more sense to preview Liverpool’s opening game against Sunderland.  If you want full season previews, there are blogs devoted to Liverpool and the EPL which will offer far more insight than I can.

Liverpool comes in to this season with a sense of renewed hope.  I say renewed because the last two years have been nothing short of hell with awful defending, injuries, a terrible ownership situation, the worst big club manager ever (Hodgson), and allowing goals in the last 5 minutes at a rate that would make Arsenal blush.  Last year a new ownership group (also owners of MLB’s Red Sox) took over and in just a few months in charge made things much, much better.  They showed that they did their research when they brought over Luis Suarez from the Erdeviese, easily the best signing of last year.  They fired Roy Hodgson whose eye-gouging brand of soccer and insistence on playing dead-weights Joe Cole and Christian Poulsen made him one of the least popular managers in Liverpool history.  Of course, as the British media would have you believe, it was all Liverpool’s fault that Roy could not succeed, not his own incompetence and inability to manage a big club.  Lastly, they hired a guy who truly bleeds Liverpool red and actually won some titles as a coach to be the new manager, Kenny Dalglish (the best player of all time for Liverpool).   Those changes were made mid-season and Liverpool finally started playing well again, and had they not lost their last two (pretty meaningless) games, they would have finished with the best record vs. The top 6 sides of the table that year.  This summer Liverpool has spent cash like never before, actually signing a lot of players while selling none (something that was impossible in the Benitez era).  How the new signings will fit in remains to be seen, as do a few transfer sagas, but those are for another article and another time. 

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, on to the preview:

First of all, I hate Sunderland, I really do.  I hate their manager Steve Bruce (and his obvious racism to foreigners, best seen by how he spoke of Benitez vs. Any British manager), at one time rumours had him being the Liverpool coach, and I would seriously have considered not following the team any more.  I hate how recently, every time they play against Liverpool some sort of controversy must happen as this video, and this one will show you.  The fact that in the last two years Liverpool have not been able to get points off of them easily adds to the hate.  I do not know much about Sunderland (nor do I want to) but from the various previews I’ve seen experts have them anywhere from the top 8 to being relegated, basically, they have no clue either.  As for Liverpool they come into this game without captain Steven Gerrard who will be available after August.  This is a blow to them as Gerrard on form can win games by himself (sadly, these games are getting more and more rare as his age and injuries begin to pile up).  They also come in with a very scary Left-Back problem.  When Fabio Aurelio is fit (never) he is all class at the position, but in the last 4-5 years Liverpool have not really had anyone who could play there, guys were either too young or playing out of position as a result they have been routinely torched by opposing wingers.  The last time Liverpool had Fabio Aurelio play a lot of games they had an amazing season with this game being the cream of the crop.  Update: During the writing of this, Liverpool went ahead and signed Jose Enrique from Newcastle...so ah that left back situation now looks great!  Another thing Liverpool has now that they never had (slight exaggeration) is a true wing-player in Stewart Downing.  Having watched his performances in pre-season games I can safely say that I will really like him and what he brings to the side.  He should be an excellent compliment to Andy Carroll.  It remains to be seen how Dalglish will manage the team or even what the first 11 will be, but it is important for Liverpool to kick things off on a winning note, as this will be a very tight year in the EPL in my opinion.  I do not expect Liverpool to contend for the premier league crown, but a top 4-5 finish would be nice to see, and if they start the campaign off with a 5-0 trashing (wishful thinking by me, I really hate Sunderland) all the better.  My prediction for this game: There will be controversy.