NFL Week 2

O'hoolix will be posting analysis and selections for week 2 Friday evening or Saturday afternoon.

I first wanted to say a big posthumous thank you to Mel Simon who passed earlier this week. Indy sports fans(in fact the whole city) owes a huge debt of gratitude to the Simon's, specifically Mel who came to Indy first. If it were not for the Simon's buying the team in 1977 the Indianapolis as you know it would not exist. The thinking to revive Indy during that time was to create a vibrant downtown. This was no simple feat when industry was drying up and the economy was in big jeopardy. The Simon's helped keep the Pacer's franchise in Indy, thereby keeping in place a main cog in the big league status potential of Indianapolis. The rest is history. O'hoolix suggests you toast Mel the next time you: walk by Conseco Fieldhouse, go to a Colts game or eat in a nice restaurant downtown or a myriad of other things. All of these were in part due to Mel and Herb Simon's commitment to Indianapolis, how lucky we are!

Week 1: 6-5

Week 2 Picks: People pay much more money to touts to score worse records than 6-5. O'Hoolix is ready to go for week 2 and hopes you are ready to fire away.

RAIDERS +3: Raiders look improved they should be able to score on KC defense. They would have put up a few more points if its weren't for an overturned TD.
TITANS +7: Somebody is going 0-2, I'll bet its going to be Texas. The Texas gave up over 450 yards at home to the Jets last week, I like the Tenn defense better. 21-10.
JETS +4: I really would like this at 4.5 or 5.5, but +4 is decent. The JETS d is good and NE's isn't. The PATS seem a bit overrated in this spot and they will have a rowdy home advantage here.
SAINTS PK:2x Unit bet! Ok, O'Hoolix really likes this one. The Saints have the best O in the league and will show it on Sunday. Without McNabb, Philly's offence will not be its best and they will need every point just to stay close. Philly was a recipient of 7, yes I said 7 Carolina turnovers last week, not this time.
PANTHERS +6.5: If you can get 7 points here even better. Everyone is crushing Delhomme, I hope he destroys the Hawks. O'Hoolix loathes modern societies lack of loyalty and quickness to jump ship, activate Space Monkey's. The Hawks beat a crappy Dolphins team who had 3 fumbles and 1 interception.24-21 Carolina.
BROWNS +3: I don't like the Browns this year, but Denver has to prove to me they can lay points with anyone. Yes, they had a decent performance last week, but I am interested in seeing them as a favorite.
RAVENS +3: Baltimore racked up over 500 yds in offense last week. They should be able to put enough up on SD to win outright. They had a blocked punt for a TD and a pick to their own 6 to make the score closer last week, their D actually played well. The Ravens D should hold Rivers in check enough here.
BILLS/TB OVR 42: Both of their offenses put up decent numbers last week against top tier teams. Both of their defenses gave up a shit load of yards as well, O'Hoolix likes the recipe for an over here.

COLTS -3: -3 is a safe bet here. The Colts are the better team and have the better offense for sure. The fish have two rookie corners who will have a long night against Reggie Wayne's return to Miami and the Colts D. should be able to get a few
turnovers off of Miami.

GOOD LUCK ALL!

Let It Out (Pffffht)

My what an interesting smell you've discovered. No, it that is not manure that has recently thawed, it is another Bob Kravitz article.

It's been a couple of weeks since we've picked on Bob Kravitz and I was beginning to go through some withdraw symptoms. Thankfully, Bob wrote another of his typical articles and I get to calm my shakes by tackling some hack journalism.

Let It Out (Sports):

Or

I have nothing to write, so I am pulling from any and everything I have heard or read from other people better than me (Sports):

A word of advice for Pacers coach Jim O'Brien, who, I'm quite sure, treasures my input on all things hoops: Play the rookies.

No, I imagine that Coach O’Brien thinks your as much as a fucktard as we do!

Seriously, get Roy Hibbert and Brandon Rush out there and let's see how they develop.
I understand O'Brien wants to get to the playoffs -- as do Herb Simon and Larry Bird -- and he's merely doing what he is paid to do. But after those terrible home losses to the Knicks and Timberwolves, it's apparent that even in the woeful Eastern Conference, this team isn't going to make the playoffs.

Probably not with the way they are playing, but Larry and Herb are trying to put and keep butts in the seats. Trotting out Hibbert and Rush mean the Pacers are announcing they are throwing in the towel for the season and might easily scare away what gains the team has made attendance-wise this season.

If we are seemingly eliminated with a month or so to go, then you might re-address this issue, but right now, the Pacers have to live in the now and not in making the future.

No knock on Rasho Nesterovic, but what's the point in giving big minutes to a guy who won't be a part of the Pacers' future? If the Pacers are going to lose, lose with Hibbert and Rush and give them the opportunity to grow in game situations -- which, I'm happy to say, has been the case the past two games against Philly and Orlando.

Wow! And we sucked in both of those games! Now might not be the time to make sure everyone plays.

>I swear, Tony Dungy could write a casserole recipe on a bar napkin and have it debut at No. 4 on the New York Times bestseller list.

I don’t know about you, but I would be interested in a Tony Dungy casserole recipe.

Yeah, I'm bitter: My book on the Colorado Rockies' first year is now available on Amazon.com for one penny.

Huh, I would have thought someone would have to pay me in order to get your book. I would say a penny for your thoughts, but I don’t care about your thoughts.

>I'm not forgiving Michael Phelps for forgetting that with big money comes big responsibility, but aren't there more heinous crimes being committed in South Carolina than one involving a 23-year-old taking a bong hit?

Yes, your writing could be considered a heinous crime against journalism.

I'm hesitant to drop the bomb on a young guy who did some of the stupid things I did during my wayward youth, but Phelps needs to understand that with all those millions in promotional dollars comes added responsibility.

There are worse crimes, but Phelps is a big household name and it made for big amounts of press. Was it blown out of proportion? Possibly. But when you are getting paid MILLIONS of dollars, you have to keep that squeaky clean lifestyle or pay the consequences.

>The more I hear about all the NFL job cuts -- and that includes the Colts -- the more I wonder, "Why was this necessary?''

While the economy is a shambles, it seems to me the NFL is about as recession- proof as any business in this country. The teams are still getting their TV money, still selling out, still getting sweetheart leases from their local municipalities.

The NFL is not recession-proof. The Colts have an advantage of having a long run of 12+ win seasons, a recent Super Bowl win and a brand new stadium. If the Colts had gone 8-8 or 7-9 this year, you could have had a mass exodus in the backing of the team and left Colts really struggling financially. Even with all of the good times for the team, this is still a small market and I’m sure the Colts are trying to gear up for some possible rough times ahead.

And when businesses like the Colts decide to cut costs, why is it always the lesser-paid employees who get the axe?

We’ll, generally those lesser-paid employees are either expendable and/or in jobs that the team can live without. I did not see a breakdown of the job titles that were being cut, but some of them may have been for season ticket sales, promotions, and public relations or places where they had duplication that they no longer needed. Since the Colts have a long (at least for now) waiting list for season tickets and no problems filling the arena, the Colts may have felt they could do some cost cutting.

I'm not buying the NFL's poor-mouthing act. It is nothing more than a transparent attempt by the league to position itself more favorably before the collective bargaining agreement expires in 2010.

Even if they came out and said that, it makes good economic sense to do so.

At some point, I want a coach or a player to step up and agree to bear some of the financial load. That's how it happens elsewhere. At our newspaper, everybody must take an unpaid, one-week furlough. At my radio station, everybody is taking a 3 percent cut.

Why should a player or a coach take the pay cut? Without them, the team doesn’t make any money. Why don’t you ask the executives at your newspaper to contribute more so you wouldn’t have to take your unpaid furlough? They would just laugh as they had you escorted out the door. Your readers can only hope that your job will be cut, preferably sooner than later.

How about the players who make millions? When do they start to shoulder some of the load?

For now, most of the NFL teams are probably doing well enough to at least get by. If teams really start struggling financially, then I would expect some players and coach to shoulder more of the load.

>Somewhere, the late, great Paul Newman is turning over in his grave.

Yes, because you mentioned him in one of your articles.

His race team, Newman/Haas/Lanigan, has signed the spectacularly unprepared Milka Duno to drive for them. There is only one reason -- well, many millions of reasons -- why the Venezuelan got this gig: She is bankrolled by the country's deep-pocketed oil company.

Considering how hard it has been for racing teams to find or keep sponsors lately, the fact that Milka is bringing sponsors and backing money to the team, I really can’t blame them. I’m sure that she was not the team’s first or probably second choice.

I REALLY do not care for Milka “The Dangerous Back Marker” Duno as a driver. Although part of that may have been her previous team. With a better team now, she may be able to excel and become just “The Back Marker” Duno.

>News: David Beckham says he wants to stay in Italy and does not want to come back to Los Angeles.

Have you seen American soccer? Compared to England, Spain and Italy, most U.S. soccer teams would be in the second or third tier leagues. The only reason he came here originally was the money ($25 million per year) and the fact no one in Europe really wanted him at the time. Now that AC Milan is interested in keeping him, I would want out too!

Views: David Beckham was in Los Angeles? Really?

Shut up, fucktard! You’re not funny. Stop trying.

>It's going to be interesting to see how these most recent Purdue and IU football recruiting classes turn out.

The Hoosiers' Bill Lynch filled his class with in-state talent. Conversely, first-year Purdue coach Danny Hope hit Florida hard -- Purdue had more Florida signees than any non-Florida school -- and did not sign a single Indiana high school player. It was Hope's contention recently that Indiana just didn't have many worthy players, and the few that were opted to go elsewhere.
If Purdue improves, Hope will be lauded for extending the school's recruiting scope. If he loses, fans will howl at the lack of home-grown talent.

Overall, most of the nation’s high school football talent comes out of Texas and Florida. So that may actually be a good thing. I don’t think most alumni care where their players come from, just that their team wins. I’m sure they’ll be pissed if the team loses regardless.

>For the record, I remain completely in agreement with the Pacers' decision to turn Jamaal Tinsley into a non-person.

Damn! I sadly have to agree with him on the one. Ouch, my head hurts now.

You say it hurts his marketability? I've got news. Everybody around the NBA knows he's got issues, the most important issue being his inability to stay healthy. If he'd been allowed to stay around the team, it would have turned into a Stephon Marbury-like circus.

Tinsley is under contract, but that doesn’t mean the team has to play him, just pay him. Tinsely has known his fate since the end of last season. Unfortunately, no other team really wants him, at least at his current salary. So I agree (Fuck that hurts!) that making him persona non grata at the Pacers facility was the best for the team.

Plus, the Pacers management had to make a statement to its fans, just as they did by unloading all the other jokers: They weren't going to let Tinsley's presence poison the focus of this year's locker room.

[I refuse to comment on this as it may cause my head to explode if I agree again.]

>News: Lisa Leslie said she will retire from the WNBA after this year.

Views: Good timing. There might not be a WNBA at this time next year.

The WNBA is still around?

>With a healthy Robbie Hummel, Purdue is an Elite Eight team or maybe better.

Without him, the Boilers can lose the first week of the NCAA Tournament.

News flash, the Boilers can lose the first week with him! Yes, they are a better team with him, but any team can lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Butler has a better chance of being an Elite Eight team than Purdue does, even with Hummel at this point.

>Now that Larry Coyer finally has been named the Colts' defensive coordinator, a quick piece of advice (and I'm sure Larry will appreciate my input): It's OK to blitz once in a while. Really.

If they can shore up the secondary a little bit more, then the Colts should blitz more often. If they had tried blitzing more last season, I think we would have gotten burned more often than we succeeded.

Thus, we end another trashing of Bob Kravitz’s attempt at an article. Bob, don’t quit your day jo…no, wait, please quit your day job! Pretty please?!?

Something's Gone A-Foul

One bad call deserves another. At the end of the Pacers-Cavaliers game last night, Lebron James, NBA superstar, was the object of an extremely rare occurrence. He was actually called for a foul in the last second that cost his team the game! I know, it is totally shocking, huh?

Honestly, the Pacers were the beneficiaries of a make-up foul call at the end. Why, do you ask? Because Bennie Adams, one of the referees, called a foul against Danny Granger because he touched Lebron on an alley-oop pass. Granger did make contact with James, but it did not seem significant and Lebron got the "star" call. He made both free throws to tie the game with 0.4 seconds remaining.

On the Pacers inbounds pass, Lebron might have had better position because the inbounds pass was a little short, but he ran into Granger and was actually called for the foul by Joe Crawford. Lebron's foul seemed to be more legitimate that Granger's but I don't think either one should have been called. Crawford's call on Lebron seemed to be more of a make-up call due to the poor call on the other end. Or you can look at it as if the other ref is going to call it with 0.8 seconds left, then I am going to make the same call with 0.4 seconds left.

Cleveland coach Mike Brown was livid about the call. Evidently he feels that his star player should get the Jordan superstar treatment. Brown went on a tirade that will likely get him a hefty fine from the league.

"I don't care if I get fined. It is what it is. I saw the two plays; just a bad call determined the outcome of that game," Brown said. "If they want to fine me for telling the truth, fine me. This isn't me. I never do this."

"It was predetermined from the call that was made at the other end of the floor, and it is very unfortunate," Brown said. "We got the game taken away from us. Absolutely horrible."

OK, Coach. So you are willing to admit that the call at your end of the floor was a bad call and the refs were predetermined to make another bad call to even things out and take the game away from you?

It is just nice to see that the refs can actually call a foul at the end of the game and against a "star" even!

Mike Wells Wrote a Crappy Article, Bad Writing Blamed

In another year of the Indiana Pacers continuing struggle to win a game, let alone close games, I can understand that the Pacers' beat writer at the Indianapolis Star, Mike Wells, might have a difficult time coming up with new article titles to say how the Pacers lost. However, this one takes the cake.

Pacers lose to Spurs 99-81, lack of offense blamed

(NOTE - This is the headline for the article online last night. The headline was evidently changed overnight for the print edition and now reads, "Offense leaves Pacers." Someone must be reading this site!)

Lack of offense blamed? No shit, Sherlock! That is similar to saying the Pacers lost because they didn't score as much as their opponent. Or, Bob Kravitz is a hack. Or even, Tony Kornheiser is a fucktard. What a shocking revelation!!!!!

What little momentum the Indiana Pacers had going into their trip came to halt the past couple of nights.

The Pacers, who have a lot of ground to make up to make the playoffs, started the second half of the season the same way they finished the first half, with a loss.

The Pacers are the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference at 15-27. Amazingly, they are only 4 1/2 games out of the 8th playoff spot. I don't see 4 1/2 games are a lot of ground with 40 games remaining. Do you?

The San Antonio Spurs outplayed the Pacers in every facet in their 99-81 victory at the AT&T Center on Tuesday night.

So it was more than just lack of offense then, huh?

The 81 points were the Pacers' lowest total in more than two months. They've lost seven straight to the Spurs in San Antonio.

OK, so it was just shitty offense?

Couldn't you also blame the defense for letting their opponent score 99 points?

The Pacers had no answer for Tim Duncan and guard Manu Ginobili.

Duncan scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in just 27 minutes. Ginobili made the Pacers pay for slow defensive rotations by making all four of his 3-point attempts. He finished with 26 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Yep!

I think Mike would have been better off to say, "poor offense blamed." The only real "lack of" in this article is good writing.

I know this is a Pacers article and a Pacers beat writer, but I am offended that Mike couldn't spare a sentence to mention that the Spurs' George Hill, formerly of Broad Ripple High School and IUPUI star, scored seven points in 22 minutes or even get a quote from the Indianapolis-native? Come on, Mike! I know you have a tougher job dealing with the losing Pacers than some of your colleagues who cover the Colts, but quit being a fucktard and do your job right.