Former Bulldogs Figure Into Championship Sunday?

I suppose I could've seen Bernard Berrian playing an important role in yesterday's NFC title game. Five catches for 85 yards is a pretty good day for anyone, but that sick touchdown catch not only pretty much ensured victory for the Chicago Bears, but it also ensured that I lost 20 bucks on the New Orleans Saints.

Now, the question becomes what he can do for an encore. That depends entirely on Sexy Rexy Grossman, of course, but since we all know he's in love with the deep ball, is it out of the realm of possibility to imagine something like a 70-yard post pattern behind that Indianapolis Cover 2?

Congratulations to Berrian! I'll be rockin' his jersey two weeks from now, at least when I'm not working.

I offer my condolences to Logan Mankins and James Sanders as well. You can't blame Mankins for New England's loss last night, seeing as he managed to fall on a loose football in the end zone for the Patriots' first six points. I'm sure they would've manhandled that Indy defensive line, too, if Belichick had given the running game a chance. Sanders, on the other hand, had 8 tackles trying to fill in for Rodney Harrison. That couldn't have been an easy task, but he had a solid performance. Knowing that team, though, I'm sure they'll retool and be back in the Super Bowl picture next year.

Also somewhat involved (or not involved at all) were Cameron Worrell and Omar Stoutmire. Worrell, a backup safety for the Bears, will be headed to Miami. Stoutmire didn't play much, I don't think, since I'm not seein' his name in the boxscore. That's too bad, I'm sure he would've done a better job than Fred Thomas.

Look Who's Back!

Well, well, well... Russ Ortiz, how the hell have you been?

To anyone who may be concerned about re-signing our old friend, why would you be? It's only a one-year deal and it's only $380,000! I'm pretty sure that's the league minimum, correct me if it's not. And he's only 32 years old, so the guy isn't too far removed from his prime, either. The Arizona Diamondbacks are on the hook for another $8 million and change, so I'd definitely give the guy a whirl, too.

Let's not forget the guy averaged over 200 innings a season during his first stint in San Francisco, and with a bullpen that has as many questions are ours, innings from our starters will be crucial. There isn't much pressure, either, seeing as the front four in the rotation are likely to be Zito, Cain, Lowry and Morris. I expect he will get at least 10 wins if he can crack the starting five... for less than half of what Jamey Wright made last year!

Also, give it up for Rich Aurilia. Why did we ever let him leave, anyway? I'm not going to expect another season like 2001 (although that'd be real nice of him), but this was another low-risk signing that'll make Brian Sabean look like the God damn genius he is if Richie can approach his numbers from last year. Actually, I just read that Aurilia's probably gonna be the Opening Day first baseman, so if he hits 20 homers we should probably name him King of San Francisco or something.

(Fun fact! The Giants got only 19 homers out of Mark Sweeney, Shea Hillenbrand and Lance Niekro last year... 2003 was the last time we got 20 homers out of first base, I think, between the luscious J.T. Snow and El Gato Andres Galaragga.)

(Also... I really miss Andres Galaragga.)

It's good to have you two back. You took us toward the promised land once upon a time, now do it again, damn it! We want to win just as much as you do.

David Beckham: Still a Better Buy Than Gil Meche

Okay, so David Beckham is getting $250 million dollars over the next five years. Wow.

I've been a little lax on my soccer enthusiasm since getting back from London, but can one guy really transform the nation's mindset on the sport? Even a guy as huge as Beckham is still much bigger in Europe and Japan than here in the States. And I'm pretty sure we've tried this already with a guy named Pele.

I do remember the World Cup, though, and being very impressed with other guys like John Terry, Francesco Totti and Sulley Ali Muntari. Yeah, I know all these guys are locked up with various European clubs, but I think if Major League Soccer is serious about becoming a major player alongside the Premiership and La Liga, they'll continue to push for the star power to come Stateside. People love stars. Hell, if they're willing to throw Beckham that much coin, why not? It's not much different than MLB luring Japan's biggest stars across the Pacific.

A Significant Addition

How much better can a day get than waking up and hearing your favorite team has signed the top remaining free agent on the market? That was me yesterday.

Barry Zito. Fat contract, to be sure, but in my opinion this was something the Giants had to do. At the very least, our top three in the rotation is set for the next three years: Zito, Matt Cain and Noah Lowry. Lowry's the wild card, because is the 2005 version going to show up or the 2006 rendition? We gave him a reasonable extension last year, but he got hurt and I suspect he was just never right after hurting himself early. But we can slot him into the #3 or #4 role behind Matt Morris, no pressure there, and it gives us a servicable rotation.

And before anyone gives us grief about forking over $126 million, just remember: It's better than giving Gil Meche $55 million.

The Dream Lives On

Oh, yes, indeed it does!

After shaking off the offensive rust in the first half on Thursday, the 49ers pretty much dominated the second half and beat Seattle 24-14. I don't mean to alarm anyone, but the 49ers STILL HAVE A SHOT AT THE PLAYOFFS.

And really, wouldn't that be phenomenal? Well, maybe not so much for the folks who love to hate the 49ers and their successes (I know quite a few), but screw you guys. There are winnable games at home against Arizona and on the road in Denver, combined with loseable games for the Seahawks at home against San Diego and in Tampa Bay... If it really happened, wouldn't have you have to give Mike Nolan some serious consideration for Coach of the Year? I understand Sean Payton and his uber-Saints absolutely destroyed us a few weeks ago, but come on. You'd have to put Nolan and Payton on equal footing in this case.


Losing Eric Heitmann will hurt a lot, though, as I was listening to the game on the radio and Joe Starkey had pointed out Heitmann had not missed a single snap all season before he broke his leg. Ouch. The silver lining is that now we have 10 days for the offensive line to get cohesive around the new guy, Tony Wragge. Come on, fellas, get cohesive!

If the headline of the game was "Frank Gore Owns Seattle", the subtitle would have to be "How the Prototype Got His Groove Back". I didn't see the New Orleans game due to my travels, but Alex Smith was struggling mightily against Green Bay last weekend. It was good to see him overcome the early difficulities with the rain and the low passes and baffle Seattle with that ludicrous escape from Kelly Herndon and his beautiful bootleg TD to seal the deal. With Gorefest in the backfield (nickname courtesy of Matt Torres), that kind of confidence will go a long way toward fulfilling the Dream.



The ludicrous escape from Kelly Herndon at 1:22, Deion Branch getting destroyed by Keith Lewis at 2:44... just beautiful.

I love the fact that, two weeks ago, all of the talking heads at ESPN were dismissing the Super Bowl curse since it was oh my God SO obvious that the Seahawks were going to the playoffs. There's two weeks left, we'll see what's up.

Let's Just Be Completely Honest

Think about this very carefully: .270/.454/.545, 26 home runs, 77 runs batted in, 74 runs scored in 130 games.

Even if it is Barry Lamar Bonds, is that worth sixteen million dollars? I didn't think so, either. I love the guy just as much as anyone else, but let's call it like it is... Brian Sabean panicked.

I don't really know what was up with Carlos Lee, someone will have to fill me in on that, but I was floored when Sabean was willing to back a dump truck full of money into Lee's driveway to sign him. That Lee took less money (if $100 mil instead of $112 mil is any more than splitting hairs) to sign with friggin' Houston strikes me as a bit surprising in this offseason of guys like Gil Meche suddenly making as much as... oh, Idunno, he'll be making more than a bunch of last year's All-Stars, that's for sure.

If we're trying to move forward that badly, though, why make this investment? Haven't you pretty much resigned yourself to doing what you said you weren't going to do in making Bonds the focus of the batting order? I mean, who else is there: Ray Durham? Rich Aurilia? In failing to sign any other big boppers, that's essentially what will happen. The whole thing smells like mediocrity.

It's pretty obvious the Giants aren't going to be front-running World Series contenders, but then the question of what exactly we will be remains. If the team is supposed to be building for the future, then why are we bringing back so many faces from the past? No disrespect to Durham, Aurilia and Pedro Feliz, but I fear we're spinning our wheels with illusions of grandeur... The whole "let's win the division because anything can happen in October" thing. I could be wrong, I guess we shall see.

A Ricky Proehl Sighting!

Right now, I envy Wake Forest football. I never thought I'd say that, but those guys have had a lot more to cheer for lately. Between the BCS Bowl game (even if it is against Louisville) and the triumphant return of the immortal Ricky Proehl, why wouldn't they be happy?

It's a little weird seeing Proehl rockin' #11, but I'm pleased to see he's latched onto another contender, even if it is the Colts. I can imagine him coming up big in the postseason again, and then everyone wondering whether he or Peyton Manning is the bigger hero. Of course, I know better. We know better.

Back With a Vengeance

So I realize you all must've missed me dearly, but I've got a good excuse, I swear. Actually, I've got a few excuses, not the least of which is the fact I've moved into a new house and went damn near a month without any internet... or at least it felt like a month. Whatever the case may be, I suppose I've got a lot of ground to cover.

Anyway, inbetween working and moving and unpacking and all that other crap, I seem to have missed a lot. I took a trip to London as well -- more on that in a moment -- and when my friend Patrick told me that Carlos Lee took less money to sign with Houston (less than $112 million, really?), I was stunned. The fact that my Giants missed on Alfonso Soriano (disappointing) and Gary Matthews Jr. (somewhat of a relief), too, were really kinda like blips on the radar that just kinda passed me by. I came home to discover that Sabean had re-signed Ray Durham and brought back Rich Aurilia, signed Dave Roberts, and that Jason Schmidt had turned into a damn traitor by signing with Los Angeles. A couple days later, Bonds re-signs for far too much money. More on that later, too.

We'll go back to London for a moment first. It was a fantastic trip and I highly recommend it for everyone, but it gave me an idea for the blog. Before you jump on me for being Simmons-esque, bear with me. I have a lot of good friends who live in the United Kingdom, many of which are rabid fans of many different football clubs: Arsenal, Everton, Manchester United, Liverpool... After watching a Champions League match between Chelsea and Levski Sofia, I realized that it was just as addicting as the World Cup that rolls around every four years. Of course, as an American it's somewhat difficult to find European soccer on television, but I know I'd rather watch that than basketball or the World Series of Darts or something. Come on, ESPN, make it happen!

I happened to catch another match as well, an FA Cup tilt between Salisbury City and Nottingham Forest, and it reminded me of a baseball cap that my good friend Kat Downes had sent to me a while back. She's a Forest fan and since I'd told her she needed to be a Giants fan, I had to return the favor and be a Forest fan, too. And man, let me tell you, I didn't know what I was missing. I've come to the conclusion that English soccer is pretty awesome, and I hereby declare that Nottingham Forest will be the official football club of Central Valley Cowbell.

I'll leave it at that for now, but rest assured that I'm back. We've got a lot to discuss, don't we?

Week 13

Week 13 Straight Up: 8-4
Week 13 Vs. Spread: 2-2
Week 13 Bets: +1

Season Straight Up: 87-49
Season Vs. Spread: 19-18
Season Bets: +2
Season Upset Special: 7-3

As usual I don't do Thursday games. Actually this week I forgot there was a Thursday game. Also, as semi-usual I'm typing this as the games are being played. But don't worry, I'm not paying attention to them so these picks are clean.

Minnesota at Chicago
Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh
Arizona at St. Louis
Indianapolis at Tennessee
Jacksonville at Miami
San Francisco at New Orleans
Atlanta at Washington
Kansas City at Cleveland
Detroit at New England
San Diego at Buffalo
NY Jets at Green Bay
Dallas at NY Giants
Seattle at Denver
Carolina at Philadelphia

Upset Special: Atlanta

Bets
Carolina -3 at Philadelphia, bet = 2
San Diego -5 at Buffalo, bet = 2
Seattle at Denver -4, bet = 1
Kansas City -4 at Cleveland, bet = 1