That means we have now have a new site:

WWW.SEXTINGTIGERWOODS.COM

(woo!)

(doesn’t it look pretty without the .wordpress in it?)

So feel free to stop by, although at the moment there are still a few things still under construction. hopefully we can neglect our school work and get that stuff done.

And if by some miraculous happenstance you come across this blog and have no idea what it is and why no one has posted here in forever, feel free to come on over to our new site so we can actually make some money (by you folks clicking on some good ole fashion advertising).

thank you and goodnight.

Penn State 8-6, 0-2

This early in the season and its already a must win games for both of these teams.  Penn State actually comes into this game favored (-2) despite early season back-to-back losses to UNC Wilmington and Tulane and coming off a spanking by Wisconsin.

Penn State relies on one player even more so than the Wolverines rely on Manny Harris.  That player is Taylor Battle who is averaging an impressive 18.8 PPG, 5.7 REB, and 3.6 AST.  I’d imagine newly anointed defensive specialist Stu Douglass will have the tall task of guarding Battle when the Wolverines are not playing their 1-3-1.  After Battle, there is David Jackson and Jeff Brooks, two Juniors who are decent scorers and can pull a few down off the glass.  However if the Wolverines can shut down Taylor Battle, it should be a game Michigan should take.

As for Michigan we know that playing on the road has not been their strong suit.  In their road opener Michigan fell flat on their face to a still rebuilding Indiana team.  Now the Wolverines head to Happy Valley, where they fell last year as well, and look to build off a nice win over Ohio State.  Simply put it’s a game Michigan has to win if they want to even have a shot of an NCAA tourney bid.  Hanging by a thread at the moment, a series of wins in Big Ten play could propel them to grabbing a berth.  At the moment their prospects are slim, but wins over the Penn States of the Big Ten are absolutely essential.

Its clear Michigan can play with any team in the country.  They played #1 Kansas tough the entire second half of that game.  So really its all about execution for this team.  Will they show up in State College with the same intensity we saw against Ohio State?  Will Laval Lucas-Perry remember he is a scholarship athlete?  Can Stu Douglass maintain his shooting momentum?

DONDE ESTA LAVAL LUCAS PERRY!?

If Manny and Deshawn show up like they did against Ohio State, we win.  If not this could be another back breaker for the Wolverines.  I say Beilein has them ready, and Michigan wins, pulling away late.

As always, Go Blue.

New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals (-2.5)

Prediction: All biases aside, I honestly think the Jets are the better team here and I think it showed last Sunday. Nobody really knows how adventurous the Bengals were with their play calling, but I don’t think it matters. The Jets absolutely manhandled them. They have a far superior defense, a better running game, and a better offensive line (all three of which are arguably the best in the league). The only thing that can kill the Jets in this game is a bad performance by Sanchez. That and the home field advantage are the only reasons why I think this game is going to be close. All season the Jets have choked in close games. But the way I see it, I just don’t think the Bengals are that good. Thats why I think the Jets are going to win in a close, low scoring affair.

My Pick: NY Jets

Saturday, January 9th at 8:00pm

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys (-4)

Going into this matchup last week I was pretty certain that the Eagles were going to win easily. And then Dallas came out and absolutely dominated them. I really just don’t see this happening again. Donovan was clearly off his game and missed a bunch of throws that could have changed the game significantly. Tony Romo has shown time and time again that he doesn’t perform well in big games. I think Andy Reid is going to out coach Wade Phillips and the Eagles win.

My Pick: Philadelphia Eagles

Sunday, January 10th at 1:00pm

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots (-3)

As much as I’d love the Ravens to win this game so the Jets could avoid Peyton Manning and the Colts, I just don’t see the Patriots losing in the first round. Even with the loss of Wes Welker and Tom Brady’s rib injury, they’re a better team than the Ravens. Throw in some bad weather in Foxboro and their home field advantage and the Patriots should coast into an intriguing matchup in San Diego.

My Pick: New England Patriots

Sunday, January 10th at 4:40pm

Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals (-1)

Going into this post, I was pretty confident that Arizona would win this game. But after reading about the injury bug that has recently bitten the team, I think I’m going to switch my pick. If Green Bay’s o-line can give Rodger’s time in the pocket and if Charles Woodson can contain Larry Fitzgerald, I think the Packers have a good chance of taking this one home. Expect a back and forth battle of two passing games with Green Bay coming out on top.

My Pick: Green Bay

Saturday Games

New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys

Sunday Games

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals

My Picks:

I really, really, reaaaaallllllly, hate to say it, but I like the Jets chances.  They matchup quite well against the Bengals.  The Bengals seem to be reeling after a few key injuries, (see Ray Malaluga) and the Jets D should have no trouble containing Chad OchoCinco and Cedric Benson.  Look for a heavy dose of Brad Smith out of the wildcat, a few quick tosses from Mark Sanchez, and a lot of Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene.   The obvious is there, limit Mark Sanchez’s mistakes, I think the Jets are smart enough to not put the game in his hands, and they’ll win by controlling the ball and the clock

Jets 24 Bengals 17

What on earth happened to the Eagles last week?  It was a game that mattered and they simply did not show up.  The loss of their center Jamaal Jackson seemed to have an impact on Donovan McNabb.  Regardless I see the Eagles prevailing this week.  They will certainly fix their mistakes.  Andy Reid has a decisive coaching edge over Wade Phillips and I’d take Donovan over Tony Romo any day.  The Cowboys have their share of weapons but for the third matchup between these two foes this season, I see the Eagles containing them.  Let the Wade Phillips job jeopardy rumors continue, let Tomy Romo’s big game talks begin once again, and I’m sure we’ll see more annoying footage of annoying Jerry Jones.

Eagles 27 Cowboys 17

Sunday Games

Belichick and Brady are a lethal combo.  Especially in January.  The Ravens are good, they are not great.  But that lethal combo of Belichick and Brady faltered some this year.  In the end I still see the Patriots taking this one.  Randy Moss will catch his TD and Edelman would fill in for Welker just fine.  Containing Ray Rice will be key, but the Patriots will pull this out in a close one.

Patriots 24 Ravens 20

Arizona is the mystery team for me in this postseason.  I have no idea what to expect from them.  Sometimes they show up, sometimes they don’t.  You figure this could be Warner’s last hoorah so he’ll be on his A game.  They are at home, which is a big plus in the post season.  The Packers come in hot, Rodgers is playing off the charts, but for some reason I see them laying an egg in Arizona.  If this game was in Lambeau, different story.  But in the desert, the Cardinals take it.

Cardinals 31 Packers 17

So The Berg takes Jets, Eagles, Patriots, Cardinals

Winner will receive a lifetime supply of bouncy balls.

The Bracket

First round predictions coming shortly.

-The Berg

I hope you didn’t expect to sneak this quote by me Mr. Berg.

I’d like to start off my argument against arbitrary declarations with an arbitrary declaration of my own. The Jets could (and should) easily be a 12 win team. The coulda/woulda/shoulda argument is always shaky, but any casual football fan should recognize that Miami ran back 2 kick off returns for TDs, Buffalo needed 5 ints and a botched field goal in overtime and Atlanta needed 3 botched Jets field goals. Those are giveaways, free notches in the win column for other undeserving teams. Regardless, the Jets won 9 games because shit like that happens. But to say that a team with the top ranked defense and run game got a gift into the playoffs is ludicrous. Oh also, those last two games…The Colts were winning by 5 when Peyton Manning was pulled in that game. And I’ve already mentioned what we did to the Bengals. Who deserved to get in…the Steelers? Please. I’ve included 5 reasons here, here, here, here and here.

I’ll leave you with a quote from The Jets Blog that sums up what I’m thinking better than I could say it. All signs point to me attending the next game in Cincinatti so expect a bunch of preview posts in the week to come (because seriously, 2 guys talking about Michigan Basketball is already wayyyy to much).

Apparently, the Jets failure was in not playing dignified football the last two weeks of the season.  Of course, they should have played like the Ravens.

Going into week sixteen, the Ravens only needed a single win to get in the playoffs. In the next two games, they proved what pride and integrity really mean in the NFL. Sure, in week sixteen, they lost the game due to undisciplined play. Sure, they dropped touchdown passes and negated pick-sixes by the bushel-full. Sure they lost to a Steelers team that had, in recent weeks, itself lost to Kansas City, Cleveland and Oakland. But, the Ravens loss to the Steelers was brave and heroic. As for this week, the Ravens’ blowout of the Raiders by a huge eight points ought to make the message crystal clear. The win over the Raiders, an impressive 5-11 team who the Jets barely outlasted 38-0 in week seven, should convince anyone that some teams (unlike the Jets) belong in the playoffs.

Cronin injured his hip before his Michigan career began, and surgery forced him to redshirt last season while he healed. Expectations were high for a healthier Cronin heading into this season, but those were immediately tempered after fans were given a glimpse of him in action during the first few games. It was obvious that he was still bothered by his hip as he awkwardly limped up and down the court.

Big Ben’s role was reduced to providing a few spot minutes at the end of a half if both Zach Gibson and Deshawn Sims were in foul trouble. Now that his season is officially over, one would expect that Coach Beilein would consider inserting one of Michigan’s 2 freshmen big men in Jordan Morgan or Blake McLimans. However, both appear to be on the track to redshirt which is a situation that I am having a hard time comprehending. The Michigan basketball team is not exactly known as a stable of big men with Zack Novak and Anthony Wright as its 2 power forwards, and another body to give five to ten minutes a game would be of great help to this team. 

I understand that the naysayers will describe McLimans as a raw talent with high upside potential, and Morgan suffered a knee injury over the summer and doesn’t have a full grasp of the offense. These are all fine points, but if these two guys redshirt then it means that they will be under scholarship for four additional years after this one. With the way that Beillein has improved his recruiting, I’d expect that he’d be able to find more talented big men in the future classes that fit his system. Jordan Morgan is thought to be a physical bruiser that grew up in Detroit, and I feel that he would provide a swagger and toughness to this team that is desperately needed THIS season. 

And of course we can’t forget that Eric Puls has quit the team to focus on his engineering degree. Eric, we wish you all the best, and were glad to see that you did not come out and bash the family values of Michigan athletics as some of your football buddies decided to do. It’s not like we see Courtney Sims during the NBDL All Star Game introducing himself as a former member of Tommy Amaker’s Michigan Wolverines. 

The silver lining in the Ben Cronin fiasco is if he decides to end his career, Michigan will have another scholarship to hand out for the high school class of 2010. High school senior Jon Horford (yes that Horford), has claimed he would love to play for Michigan and at 6 foot 9, would be able to contribute right away for next year’s undersized roster. 

-HB

During his Sunday Night Football introductions he opted to make a point.

“Braylon Edwards, Lloyd Carr’s University of Michigan.”

Therefore, Braylon not only does not like Rich Rodriguez, but he also is not a fan of all of Michigan Football other than the years of 1996-2007 (Llyod Carr’s Tenure). Tom Harmon, not a fan.  Gerald Ford, not a fan.  Bo Schembechler, not a fan. 

Braylon, please do what the Jet fans need to do, and shut up.  You got a gift by making it into the playoffs and this is not the type of thing that will help Michigan Football regain its glory.

Go Blue

The Berg

Michigan: 73

Ohio State: 64

At a time when the season seemed to be teetering on its last lifeline, Deshawn Sims and Manny Harris resuscitated the Wolverines in resounding fashion, reminding Wolverine fans of last year’s squad and what could be for this year.

Unstoppable.  Deshawn Sims received the ball down low time and time again and with a bounty of moves from his repertoire, he found ways to make buckets.  He evaded double teams, he made jump shots, and made emphatic slams.  He was an all around force for the Wolverines in a rivalry game they had to have.  The only negative: He has the capability to do this in most contests, so why does he seem non-existent every now and then?

Ohio State also made the mistake of trying to lure Manny Harris into taking shots he did not want to.  If he was going to drive, the Buckeyes wanted him to go to his left.  He went left, with confidence, and made a series of easy baskets to go along with his circus shots that also found the bottom of the net.  His hamstring must be back to full strength.

Stu Douglass has made tremendous strides from both last year and the start of the year.  In the last two games he has played 79 out of 80 minutes.  He runs the offense the way Beilein likes it, makes some key 3’s every now and then, and despite some physical limitations, plays decent D.

Zach Novak was Zach Novak.  Laval was once again somewhere other than the Crisler Arena.  Darius is becoming a Berg favorite.  Vogrich with an ugly first shift, but a momentum second shift in spelling Manny Harris. Zach Gibson is all 6’10 of the goofy white boy he is.  And Anthony Wright, well, his newborn son will be proud a Michigan fan.

For their effort I will reward the Wolverines with a Bloody Zach (This is a good thing, and I will reward the Wolverines with a Bloody Zach for all solid efforts, hustle, and strong efforts.)

Some Key Stats:

3 Point Attempts

Ohio State: 32  Michigan: 16;  That seems backwards

Offensive Rebounds Ohio State: 18 Michigan: 7;  That sounds about right

Field Goal Percentage

Ohio State: 36.9 Michigan: 55.8; Shocking.

Go Blue

The Berg

I’ll give a game recap and talk a little bit about next week when I get back to Ann Arbor later today. Go Jets.