Week Ten

Owning Up


Those tricky, tricky Browns have everybody stumped. Their big win over the Patriots proved me very wrong. I suppose we should be looking out for the Browns.


Well would you look at that. The Chargers have won a couple games in a row and are now back in the hunt at 4-5. Big ups to the Bolts for showing me up.


Along with the tricky, tricky Browns there are the tricky, tricky Raiders to look out for as they upset a solid Chiefs team last week.


The Colts v. Eagles game was close as expected, however, Michael Vick continued his Hollywood story by toppling Peyton Manning.


Predictions


Week Nine marked a good one for me as my picks led me to a 9-4 record for the week, bringing my season record to 54-47. Here is what I have this week:


Lions over Bills This is the battle of the two unluckiest teams in the NFL this season. The Bills have fought every game to lose only by a few in most. The Lions have done the same, with solid play at quarterback from both Matthew Stafford (when he has played) and backup Shaun Hill. One of these teams will catch a break. However, if there is a game to end up in a tie this year, it will be this one. 24-21


Vikings over Bears Last week's victory over the Cardinals should have done enough to energize Brett Favre and the Vikings. Although, the Vikes did not play particularly well they still managed to come back and win showing determination and fight. I like that win to boost their confidence this week. 28-21


Jets over Browns As well as the Browns have played under rookie quarterback Colt McCoy I still cannot bring myself to pick them, especially against a great team such as the Jets. New York's run defense should be able to slow down Peyton Hillis a bit, or at least enough to force McCoy to throw more. 24-14


Colts over Bengals As much as it pains me to continue picking against my hometown team, the Bengals have not proven that they can beat a team like the Colts. They have shown their comeback ability last week against the Steelers and also in Week One against the Patriots. However, they did not win either of those games. Manning and the Colts will not be as easy for the Bengals to contain long enough to come back again. Cardiac Cats fall. 28-17


Titans over Dolphins Even though the Titans have a game-time decision coming at quarterback with Vince Young still a little banged up, I do not believe Chad Pennington has what it takes to lead the Dolphins to a victory. The Dolphins have the weapons in Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams, and Brandon Marshall, but they do not have a good leader at the quarterback position. Young and backup Kerry Collins are able to lead a team. Oh and did I mention the Titans picked up a guy named Randy Moss? That may help. 21-10


Buccaneers over Panthers I stand by my claim that the Panthers are the worst team in the NFL. The Bills, as I mentioned, play hard every game and are a group of winners that just cannot win. The Panthers are far worse than Buffalo and have all sorts of problems. Perhaps they should turn to third-string rookie Tony Pike at quarterback. Pike played well at Cincinnati and was in the Heisman race before he got injured. If Matt Moore and Jimmy Clausen have not been able to do it, why not give Pike a shot? Carolina really has nothing to lose. 31-7


Texans over Jaguars This will be a tight game. The Texans began the year as if they would live up to the great expectations, however, have not as of late. The Jaguars, on the other hand, have not really had many expectations to live up to, so in a sense they have exceeded expectations. With the Jags playing well and the Texans not so much, this is a tough pick. But I have confidence it Matt Schaub's ability to get a W today. 28-21


Chiefs over Broncos Perhaps my biggest screwup of the season, the Broncos are no longer a dark horse in the NFL. They are not playing well at all and do not have much to look forward to as they sit at 2-6. Unless they run the table, this dark horse will stay in the stable for the rest of the year. 14-6


Giants over Cowboys I just love that the Cowboys continue to prove me right week in and week out. It is truly sad that a team with their potential has crashed and burned this season, but you cannot say I did not warn you. Dallas was far overrated coming into this season and has proven it every single game. This one shall be no different as the Giants have seemingly returned to their Super Bowl-winning form. 35-10


Seahawks over Cardinals Another screwup of mine, Seattle is no longer fun to pick in games. They sit at 4-4, the Cardinals at 3-5. The NFC West is shaping up to be exactly what it has been in the past: boring and exciting all at the same time. The Rams and Seahawks sit atop the division at 4-4, followed by the Cardinals, and in the basement is San Francisco who surprisingly is not out of it at 2-6. With dismal records and intense competition all at the same time, the NFC West is just being the NFC West. 17-14


49ers over Rams Two compelling games right in a row. How lucky am I? I like Troy Smith at quarterback as I always have. He is getting his shot and it is his job not to screw it up. Sports Illustrated's Peter King thinks that Smith will hold onto the job for the rest of the year at least if he plays well this week. I am right along with my fellow Bobcat, King, in that thinking. 24-20


Steelers over Patriots This could be the game of the year. Both the Steelers and Patriots sit at 6-2 and are playing completely lights out. It has shown how much Troy Polamalu means to the Steelers as he has provided a huge spark to that defense. New England has played well all around too. The one factor that caused me to swing toward the Steelers for this one was the Browns. The Steelers managed to defeat Cleveland, whereas the Patriots were trounced by them. It was the deciding factor for me. 35-28


Eagles over Redskins As I said earlier, Michael Vick is continuing his Hollywood story. This week should be no exception as he goes against the former Eagles quarterback Donavon McNabb. It should be a close one, but I like Vick in this battle. McNabb will either have a confidence boost or kill after being benched for Rex Grossman by coach Mike Shanahan in their previous game against the Lions. We'll see how that plays out on Monday night. 27-21


BONUS COVERAGE: Kanye West


This does not pertain to sports, but I have felt some extremely strong feelings about Kanye West's recent spouting-off about the media. West was angry at Matt Lauer and the Today Show for what West said was them trying to "force" his answers. I was curious as to what he meant, so I watched the interview online. All Lauer really did was ask West tough questions and he had no way to respond to them. It was a great journalistic triumph for Lauer to be able to give Kanye a question that he would have a lot of trouble answering.


In the aftermath of the interview, West went on Twitter and rattled off a whole lot of things in an attempt to defend his inability to answer tough questions. Here is what he said in multiple tweets:


"I went up there to express how I was empathetic to Bush because I labeled him a racist and years later I got labeled as a racist....


While I was trying to give the interview they started playing the "MTV" under me with audio!!!!!!!


I don't mess with Matt Lauer or the Today Show ... and that's a very nice way for me to put it!


HE TRIED TO FORCE MY ANSWERS. IT WAS VERY BRUTAL AND I CAME THERE WITH ONLY POSITIVE INTENT."


West went on to describe how he is "tortured," "forced," and "misunderstood." That is not exactly it, Kanye West. We understand you perfectly.


Kanye West has taken his blunder and is attempting to blame it on everyone else. Why would it be his fault? West described later on Twitter about how he is a creator and said, "I just want to create." Nobody is trying to stop him from doing that. However, as his job is to create music, it is our (the media's) job to tell stories. Kanye needs to realize that as he is only trying to do his job, that is the same thing we are trying to do. Matt Lauer was doing his job by asking questions, however, West is trying to make up for his inability to answer coherently by saying that Lauer is in the wrong for "forcing" his answers.


Also, West was angry that the producers at the Today Show played the footage from the MTV Video Music Awards when West had taken the microphone away from Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech. What he does not realize is that this is a regular practice. Somebody should explain to Kanye West that b-roll is used every single day in the media. It is video that pertains to what is being said that keeps the viewer from becoming bored with the same picture. West took it as the producers trying to make him look bad and addressed it on camera.


If only Kanye knew that he too is a member of the media before he took so many shots at us. He, along with other musical artists, is an editorialist and storyteller. He puts his views on things into his music and also tells stories through song for the public to see. If we break it down as such, Kanye West was taking shots at himself by taking shots at the media. He truly is troubled.


p.s. I am a huge fan of Kanye West's music, but he should not be trying to tear down the journalism field because he was made to look like a fool.


p.p.s. I am sorry for not providing a pick for the Thursday game. I probably will not be providing those picks any time soon. It throws off my schedule.


p.p.p.s. For more senseless babble, follow me on Twitter. twitter.com/bradley_w_parks