We decided to get lunch at Five Guys today just for Bob King (shoutout!) to make out NFL picks and we ended up talking a lot about other sports, and bringing up some interesting points. Here’s how the conversation went:
JL: The thing on my mind right now is baseball. Who do you have in the NL?
CM: I like the Phillies in 5. To compare the teams, the Phillies either match or beat the Giants in every category.
JL: The pitching matchups should all be good, now that Joe Blanton is the probable starter for Game 4.
CM: Blanton? He’s garbage!
JL: I disagree, he’s a solid postseason pitcher and he has experience in this situation. Remember the home run he hit against the Rays two years ago?
CM: Okay he’s a decent Game 4 pitcher. But if Tim Lincecum throws against him? It’s no contest.
JL: That’s fair enough. Thoughts on Pat Burrell playing against his former team? God, I love Pat Burrell. I had a dream the other night that he hit a homerun to left-center field in Citizens Bank Park. I guess that counts as a prediction.
CM: Okay, so the Phillies will win that game 9-1? There’s no contest in the bullpens, either. Ryan Madson and Lights Out Brad Lidge for Philly against Guillermo Mota and Brian Wilson and his fake beard for San Fran? This series won’t be close.
JL: How about the AL? I think that’s a much different story. Texas and New York have similar lineups, but the difference for me is the Yankee pitching.
CM: I think the Rangers should think about starting Cliff Lee in Game 3 and then having him come in as a reliever in Games 4 thru 6. They need him to pitch as much as possible.
JL: What does Texas need to do to win the series?
CM: On the pitching end, they need CJ Wilson and Lee to win two games each. That seems do-able for them.
JL: Against CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte? I don’t see that happening because I don’t think Wilson can beat Sabathia in the playoffs.
CM: Texas also needs Josh Hamilton to get over his rib injury and hit better than .111.
JL: You don’t just get over a rib injury. I think they have to play small ball and count on their pitching to hold the Yankees to as few runs as possible – which is a daunting task. I think the Yankees win in 6 games.
CM: I like the Rangers to overcome the odds. I think they’ll win in 7 games, behind a dominant start in Game 7 by Lee.
JL: My mom made me a strange offer the other day. She found out that she can get 76ers-Nets tickets for cheap. They are terrible seats, and they will probably both be terrible teams. But, the young matchup of Evan Turner against Demarcus Cousins is enticing. So I ask you, would you go to a Sixers-Nets game?
CM: Here’s what I would do: pay for the cheap seats and move to better seats. The game won’t sell out; the Nets and Sixers will combine for 70 wins this year. Maybe. Also, hopefully I can use this blog to sell Dave Matthews’ Band tickets for Friday night in MSG in November. $110. E-mail me if you’re interested.
JL: That’s just awful, you can’t sell concert tickets here. What do you think this is?
CM: I’m sorry. I had to. Back to sports: I find it really ironic that Gilbert Arenas faked an injury and got in trouble for it, and then got injured the very next game. That’s karma.
JL: Someone should make a movie about Gilbert’s life.
And sticking with the NBA, keep an eye out for real NBA insight from our NBA expert, Dave (but not Dave Matthews), once the regular season rolls around.
JL: What do you think about JA Adande’s favorite controversial topic, agents in College Football? Because I think agents should be allowed to pay players.
CM: The NCAA is never going to change the rules on that issue. But right now, they don’t actually have a punishment for it.
JL: What about the UNC lineman who just got kicked out?
CM: I mean punishments for the agents, not for the players. They need to set up a licensing system and suspend the licenses of the agents who break the rules and go after college players. If they have to risk not getting paid from their NFL clients, that’d be a huge deterrent. Right now, what does an agent care if a kid gets kicked out of school? He doesn’t.
We just finished out burgers. They are fantastic. We love Five Guys. Maybe they’ll pay us for raving about them? Wish us luck.
CM: Jay, did you know that we have 3 pageviews from Singapore and 1 from Mexico? I think we should pursue that. How do we reach out to this global sports market?
JL: Well Singapore is in Southeast Asia, and they tend to focus more on finance and trade than sports. It does, however, have the best quality of life in all of Asia. They speak English, so I’d assume they follow American sports. If you read this and you are from Singapore, please comment and correct me if any of this is wrong.
CM: But what about Mexico? Can I do a soccer post in Spanish?
JL: Sure. But keep in mind that 99% of the people that read this are going to be English-speaking.
JL:Can we talk about Michael Vick?
CM: He’s been saying that he wants to play this week and that we shouldn’t count him out as the Eagle’s starter.
JL: Obviously he’s going to want to play this week against his former team. But I get the feeling that Kevin Kolb is going to be under center this week. Unfortunately.
CM: Why do you say unfortunately? He’s 21-31 passing this year; he’s not a bad quarterback at all.
JL: I just don’t feel comfortable with him on the field. He doesn’t give off the vibe of a leader.
CM: Vick is just flat-out more exciting to watch.
JL: Vick is the MOST exciting to watch!
CM: Kolb is steady, not exciting. He is a steady pocket passer.
JL: Nobody wants to watch a steady, run-of-the-mill quarterback. If they wanted that level of excitement, they’d watch the first round of a golf tournament.
Five Guys is really filling up. This is clearly the place to be at lunchtime on a Friday. We can totally understand that; the burgers and fries are great.
JL: To close up this conversation, my mom told me that I shouldn’t say “asshole” on the blog.
CM: As long as it’s deserved then I think you’re okay. And Lebron deserved it. He is absolutely a cocky asshole. And he’s also on the cover of the Cavaliers’ team calendar, which I find hysterical.
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