2023 Week #17

We tried and tried and tried to connect for our podcast, but the host has had connection issues for weeks now and finally we could not get in at all. No NFL Week 17 preview show, no Week 16 awards show. Jay and I apologize to anyone who wanted to listen. We both tried as hosts and guests to get on the show, but it just would not allow us. Here are our no context picks in absolutely no detail:

 

2023 Week #16

So I got COVID again. I was sitting in front of someone at the bowling alley who was coughing away all night, so I presume that's where I got it. But either way, I got it. You can hear it in my voice on the podcast, which almost didn't happen because BlogTalk Radio has had really crappy connections the last couple weeks. But a Christmas miracle happened, and we were able to get our show in. Jay and I are head to head on six games, not counting Thursday and Saturday. Here are the picks:

 

All (we hope) of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #16: A Late Xmas Present

2023 Week #15

Very frustrating show for us because Jay and I got disconnected halfway through. I honestly don't know if the link to the show will work because Jay said he was hearing classical music on the livestream, so there may be a show there or there may not. But Jay did send me his picks, so here they are. We're squaring off on four games again, but I don't know his thoughts on any of them:

 

My thoughts and opinions might be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #15: Cowboys Stampeded?

2023 Week #14

I guess Jay and I chose this week to go a little crazy because I thought I had some wild picks and he thought he had some wild picks, and it turned out that we had many of the same wild picks. We're only battling on four games, not counting Thursday. How wild were some of our picks? We're in the singles club of a certain website pick-em game, meaning some of our picks are only 7 or 8% agreed upon straight up by the rest of the nation. Invest in our weird leanings at your own risk. Here are the Week 14 NFL picks:

 

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #14: We Need Security From...The Security

2023 Week #13

Jay and I recovered from Thanksgiving to make it to the show, but tech issues and weariness made us a little less peppy than usual. We still gave a hot two-hour football party though. We only disagreed on four games, and we joined together in a Double Lock for the first time this year, so if you think the Lions are a great bounceback candidate, you may think about making a small investment. And if it hits, leave us a tip or something. Here are our NFL Week 13 picks:

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #13: Return Of The Brock

2023 Week #12

It's very late so I won't go rambling in this blog intro. I am enjoying my Thanksgiving week at my uncle's house in the Chicago suburbs, catching up with family and feeling all the feels. Jay and I are head to head on five games this week, all early Sunday games. We've already split the four NFL games between Thanksgiving and Black Friday, so we'll have a clear winner of the week after 3 in the afternoon Sunday. Here are our Week 12 picks:

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #12: Go, Canada

2023 Week #11

Jay and I go head to head on seven games this week. We had a lot of Kumbaya early in our NFL Week 11 picks, but we picked up the dissent as the show went along, including him dumping on my Lock of those crazy Bills. Still don't know how they decide to fire the offensive coordinator after the defense and special teams lost the game last week. Here's our sheet for Week 11:

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #11: Thumbs Up For A Super Rematch

2023 Week #10

It was a quick Sunday podcast for us, as we were picking only twelve games because the Germany game was playing out during the show. You got that pick from us early this morning if you follow us on the bird app. We're divergent on our picks this week, disagreeing on seven of those twelve and crapping on each other's Lock for the second week in a row. Maybe that's the road to a good week. We don't do so hot when we agree on a lot of games. Here is our docket for NFL Week 10:

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #10: Which Defense Will Hold Rank?

2023 Week #9

We are at the halfway point of the NFL season, and one thing Jay and I agree on is the low quality of play outside of the top teams. It seems like there are four or five good games in any given week, and the rest are all trash. Jay and I got to catch up on a lot of football and other talk after he missed last week's show on vacay. We're dueling it out on only four games this week, but we crapped on each other's Lock which is always fun for extra bragging rights. Here are the picks for Week 9:

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #9: Danke, Chiefs

2023 Week #8

I have literally no detail for Jay's picks this week. He's battling weather getting back from family vacation so he texted me his picks with no thoughts on any of the games. So our podcast this week is just me and my thoughts speed racing through the picks, which probably sounded manic but was kinda fun. Here are our picks, which see us head to head on four games, not counting Thursday:

All of my thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #8: Half Detail

2023 Week #7

If you're one of our three podcast listeners, thank you firstly, and you already know that this week's show is done and out there for your consumption anywhere you can find good podcasts. Jay and his family are on their way to Florida for a weeklong vacay, and they're swinging through my neck of the woods in Memphis this weekend, so we had to get our show done Thursday. We're very opposite on our picks, but that happens, so I don't believe picking early made a difference, not for me anyway. Here are our NFL Week 7 picks, where we face off on eight games not counting Thursday (with the rare RB contingency for Jay, who will not take the Packers if Aaron Jones can't return):

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #7: Ribs On The Road

2023 Week #6

Those smart enough to be following me on Twitter (which I will never call X because that's a dumbass name) got my Lock of the Week already. I got Kansas City laying 10½ against Denver in a game they won by 11, showing off my geniousness. I would now like to apologize for those following my picks this season because outside of that closest of shaves, they've been crap. Jason and I are chopping the rest of the NFL Week 6 slate right down the middle, going heads up on seven of the remaining 14 games.  There are some interesting games out there, even the bad ones. Here are our picks:

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #6: A Coach's Long Fall

2023 Week #5

Jay and I differ on five games this week, which is way more than last week's two. If Jay sweeps me this week as he did last week, it will actually hurt me some. But we both feel in the middle confidence wise about this week's picks, more moderate than anything. See if you agree or disagree on our selections for the NFL's first week with byes this season:

 

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #5: RIP Dick Butka

2023 Week #4

Hilariously, there's no grand dissection about games Jay and I disagree on this week because...there's only two of 'em! We laid out all these big points and counterpoints about each game and eventually we'd discover that we had the same viewpoints on almost all of them. So without any further ado, here's the very twinsie-looking spreadsheet of NFL Week 4:

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #4: Suite Emotion

2023 Week #3

NFL Week 3 has some turning points that could define a team's season. If Chicago gets wasted in Kansas City, that coaching regime might get ran out of town after the tumultuous week they had. If Cincinnati sends franchise QB Joe Burrow and his massage gun back into the fire and Aaron Donald steamrolls him, that may be the end of the Bengals this year. If Denver finds another L in Miami, Sean Payton and Russell Wilson will be looking at 0-3 and can't blame Nathaniel Hackett. And of course, the former San Diego Chargers and the Vikings are brawling for the right to avoid 0-3. A tie would be most fitting there. Here are our picks, which aren't very different (Jay and I differ on five) but did result in spirited discussions, including Jay crapping on my Lock:

 

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #3: The Agony Of De Knee

2023 Week #2

I was glad to see that Jay and I didn't overreact too badly to the NFL happenings of Week 1. It's easy to overgeneralize the results after not having football to analyze for so many months. That's the biggest lesson from Week 1 every year: Don't let wild outcomes dictate your thoughts on a team you thought was  good or bad before the season began. Jay felt great to go 8-8 for that first week, while I felt good to be 5-11 because it actually could have been worse. Here are our Week 2 picks, which have us face-to-face on six games:

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #2: Jet Blew Flight 8 Grounded

2023 Week #1

Time to kick this season off right! Jay and I have our picks for NFL Week 1. We're going heads up on eight games, so right off the bat, we'll have a lot to figure out once the dust settles. And in the aftershow of our podcast, we have some DFS and betting lines advice as well. Here are our picks:

 

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2023 Week #1: Ham Off The Bone

2023 MLB Hall Of Infamy Inductions

Welcome to the official 2023 baseball Hall of Infamy inductions! I've got a couple of interactive pieces in the A/V section and a historically (for us) infamous game, so let's get started.

• Tom Emanski - Baseball skills guru. Infamous for: An endearing kitschy '80s commercial featuring a future Hall-of-Famer. 
  
  Tom Emanski hit the motherlode for youth baseball coaches. He had success winning youth tournaments, as touted in his ubiquitous commercials, and parlayed that into instructional videos where he taught defensive drills. A couple of deals pushed these videos into infamy: The deal Emanski struck to have the commercials for these videos in constant rotation on ESPN in the 1990s and 2000s, which reportedly kicked back one-third of the sales of the tapes to ESPN, and the deal to have poofy-hat Crime Dog McGriff point at the camera and endorse the videos. This may have, no kidding, contributed to McGriff keeping his name top-of-mind for HOF voters, who eventually gave him the call this year. The irony: McGriff admitted he never watched the instructional videos. But as we know, any publicity is good publicity, and McGriff and Emanski both benefited from the endless airplay of those commercials. It's estimated that 50,000 spots for his videos aired on ESPN in a ten-year span. That will get you recognized as the worldwide leader in baseball instruction, whether you were any good at it or not.
• Steve Howe - Relief Pitcher - Yankees, mostly. Infamous for: Losing his way over and over and over again. Howe is the poster child for athletes getting second chances because he got SEVEN, count 'em, seven chances to redeem himself in the eyes of Major League Baseball. He kept choosing to find comfort in his substances, forcing the league to ban him for good. Howe was a successful pitcher, saving 17 games in his Dodgers NL Rookie of the Year campaign in 1980 and helping them beat, ironically, the Yankees in the '81 World Series. By '83 he was checking himself into rehab for alcohol and cocaine, and was suspended for the entire season in 1984. Howe kept making comebacks and getting suspended again, and by the time he got busted for the seventh time in 1992, MLB had enough and banned him for life. An arbiter overturned the ban, however, and Howe was back pitching again for the New York Yankees from '94 through '96. The story of someone so determined to turn back to drugs after so many opportunities was destined to end badly, and thus Howe flipped his truck in 2006 and died at age 48 with meth in his system, naturally. Howe became the face of athlete privilege because in no other occupation could someone get caught abusing drugs and alcohol on seven different occasions and still be considered employable. It's not a stretch to link the harsher punishment and lesser chances for guys today to the multiple wasted chances on infamous basket cases like Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, and Howe.
• Lee Elia Wing of Quotes: Rick Sutcliffe's Drunken In-Game Interview. Infamous for: Crowning Sut as an honorary King of Non-Sequitur.
  There is no better example of someone needing to have his live mike cut off than Rick Sutcliffe deciding to transition from talking about his daughter to some celebrity gossip. Sutcliffe, the former Rookie of the Year and Cy Young winner, was winding down what sounded like a really fun day golfing with Bill Murray on May 10, 2006, when some jackass decided to mike him up during the Brewers-Padres game in San Diego. Above is the infamous three-minute result. Sutcliffe had a good post-playing-days broadcasting career going for himself before burning it all down on this evening. Similar to Fred McGriff getting possible positive momentum towards the real Hall of Fame thanks to his videos, I can't help but wonder if Sutcliffe has suffered negative momentum because of his video. I think he's got more of a HOFer case than Scott Rolen and maybe as much of one as McGriff, but it's not conceivable that he's getting that call before he passes on because so many people think of this incident when they think of Sutcliffe at all. That's too bad, because his 15-1 record in 1984 for the Cubs is one of the most dominant stretches of pitching I've ever seen still, and he deserves to be remembered for more than "Matty!" and "George Clooney!" But he's one of many to learn that one too many can destroy anything that came before.
• Jose Canseco - Outfielder - Athletics, mostly. Infamous for: Using and abusing steroids for all he could and telling the world about it later. Talk about a guy who doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jose Canseco hasn't met a bridge he wouldn't burn. He's one of the most famous baseball players and was one of the best of his time, but Canseco won't ever be immortalized in Cooperstown, not just because he juiced, but because he decided to come clean in his book and call out other juicers in the process. Canseco burst into the sport as the 1986 AL Rookie of the Year in Oakland with 33 HRs and 15 SBs, then won the AL MVP in 1988 unanimously after going 40-40 in HRs and SBs. He and Mark McGwire comprised the "Bash Brothers", and their prodigious home runs propelled the As to two AL pennants and a World title in '89. He was eventually traded to Texas as the As wearied of his perpetual absences due to injuries. A long list of stops followed as a number of teams tried to recapture the MVP magic with little or no luck. In 2005, Canseco decided to release a scandalous autobiography entitled Juiced. In it, he claimed that as much as 85% of the sport was using steroids, he named McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, and many others as users, and even said that he personally stuck the needles in some of their asses. The book was quoted by some of the lawmakers during the infamous Mitchell Report. His new identity as an honest gatekeeper led him to write a second book, titled Vindicated, and more players like Albert Belle and Alex Rodriguez were named in that one. Canseco is the epitome of infamous because he used his souped-up baseball skills to aggrandize himself into a Madonna-fucking, reality-show starring, celebrity-boxing uber-celeb, all while being able to claim a level of redemption and purity because he happened to be the first of the roided-up freaks to sing about it in order to sell a book. But there will always be a shadow over him because, as he has consistently proven, he'll say anything to keep people talking about him.
• 2003 NLCS Game 1. Infamous for: Making Jay the angriest I've ever seen him. There was once an excruciatingly painful playoff series for Chicago Cubs fans before they witnessed a World championship in 2016. The way they managed to lose to the then-Florida Marlins feels like something Jay should address when he's ready to immortalize that chain of events. But we were there Oct. 7 live at Wrigley Field for the manner in which they lost the first game of the NLCS, and it was unforgettable. It starts with the lineup decision by Marlins manager "Trader" Jack McKeon to bench power-hitting 3B Mike Lowell for this 20-year-old kid you may have heard of named Miguel Cabrera. Curious, but the offense didn't suffer because the wild game was tied 6-6 in the 9th. The Fish got to Cubs closer Joe Borowski for a couple runs, but in the bottom 9th Marlins closer Ugueth Urbina served up a two-run dong to Sammy Sosa that would still be travelling upward if the center field scoreboard didn't get in the way. They played a scoreless 10th, then the big head-scratcher happens. Cubs manager Dusty Baker sends out lefty reliever Mark Guthrie to face the 9-1-2 hitters. The 9 would be the pitchers spot in this ancient time when the DH wasn't in the NL. We all knew Lowell was still sitting there on the bench. We all knew Lowell crushed left-handed pitching. We all knew the Marlins would use Lowell to pinch-hit for the pitcher. What do you think happened?? Yep, home run. Jay was absolutely livid. He saw all this coming as soon as Guthrie came in to the game, and said so loudly. And when Lowell blasted what would become the game-winning jack, Jay's face was beet red and the string of expletives was as long and prolific as the homer itself. In the forty years I've known him, I've never seen him that mad. But he had a right to be. Basic baseball knowledge would dictate not to use a lefty in that spot, but Dusty gonna Dusty. So remember folks, any discussion of the legendary collapse of the Cubs in 2003 needs to include the mismanagement of In Dusty We Trusty, particularly in the very first game of the NLCS, or else it's not a complete discussion.

Super Duper Bowl LVII

It's the Super Bowl so close that we had to bring back the Coin! Yes, Jay flipped the official IMLD quarter to see where it would land after we discussed the Big Game between the Chiefs and Eagles. (Did you know that the Eagles had a 50% chance to win the game??) I had the honors of picking my winner and Jay had to go against it no matter what, so the pressure was on me in the last game of our handicapping contest. I am going with the man who has been in this game twice before, Patrick Mahomes. Hey, maybe he won't get battered like he did the first two Super Bowls. Here is the pick for all the world to see:

 

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

Super Duper Bowl LVII: The Young And The Rested

Conf. Finals '23

Sincere apologies, the Sunday podcasting threw me completely off and I forgot to post our picks. You should have been listening live to the show. Jay is choosing to mirror my picks so that I have to pick the Big Game correctly in order to win the handicapping contest. I'd have done the same thing, choosing between these close games. Here are the picks, and I know Philly won the first one already:

 

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL Conf. Finals 2023: "See Y'all At Burrowhead Stadium"

Conf. Semis '23

The NFL Divisional Round is this weekend, and Jason and I see it going the same in every game but one. I had to talk my way through the Giants-Eagles pick, but we both came to the same conclusion. The Chiefs and Bills are destined to roll through and meet next week in Atlanta. I went all chalk and finished the round with my man crush Kyle Shanahan and the Niners, but Jay is actually siding with the annual contenders for Dumbest Team in the League, the Cowboys. Sunday evening will be a ball. Here are the picks in print:

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL Conf. Semis 2023: Hurts So Good?

Wild Card '23

Playoff football is upon us, and so is our annual tradition at In Much Less Detail: Me going on too long on the podcast with too many stats, causing paralysis by analysis and leaving us no time at the end of the live portion. As always, I'll try to do better next time. We also had a weird connection issue which ate into our time. But we navigated through and got our stuff in. Jay and I will take on each other on the last three games of Super Mega Wild Card Weekend. With the new scoring system putting much more emphasis on the later rounds, this makes the first weekend of NFL playoffs more for fun and getting into postseason mode. We'll really challenge each other next weekend. Here are our picks:

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL Wild Card 2023: All Backups On Deck

2022 What I Learned About Each Team In One Sentence

Cowboys--That mix of Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons, and Mike McCarthy is perfect to achieve above-average play and guaranteed failure at the exact wrong time.

Giants--Brian Daboll brought out the best in Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley, but their ceiling is capped by lack of deep weapons.

Eagles--One of several offenses that soared to new heights with coaching and top WR acquisitions, their veteran defense is key to taking the next step.

Commanders--Ron Rivera has run his course, and so has the shit owner.

Bears--They shockingly pushed Justin Fields to one of the greatest QB rushing seasons ever while trading enough defenders to tank the season and achieve the top draft pick.

Lions--Ankle Biters have something brewing as they try to match the attitude with the talent level and schemes.

Packers--Predictably struggled to mount a consistent passing game after trading their All-Pro WR and still came a game away from sneaking in to the playoffs.

Vikings--Can't beat any decent team by more than one possession due to awful defense, yet still pose a threat to anyone thanks to stud skill players.

Falcons--Arthur Smith is king of coaching around the QB position and not through it, which stunts any growth for the offense.

Panthers--The owner quit on the team but the team didn't quit on interim coach Steve Wilks, providing some tough games when they should have been rolling over.

Saints--Tough year thanks to key injuries on both sides of the ball and the decision to put QB Jameis Winston on ice.

Buccaneers--So odd to see Tom Brady look more and more impotent all season and then break out game-winning drives to save the day.

Cardinals--Total dissolution of any union between Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray, and that was just a symptom of organizational dysfunction.

Rams--The unluckiest, injury-riddled season for a defending Super Bowl champion that one could imagine may send the architect Sean McVay running for the nearest TV gig.

49ers--Kyle Shanahan continues to build a culture of high-quality football in all phases regardless of who's under center.

Seahawks--Geno Smith and the Hawks were written off, but they didn't write back, and his career season propelled them to the playoffs, though they fell off late.

Bills--Josh Allen's ability to be the best player on the field regardless of style or conditions puts Buffalo in prime position to win it all for Damar.

Dolphins--Dramatic career turnaround for Tua Tagovailoa to the good--Mike McDaniel's coaching--and to the bad--Miami's inattention to Tua's concussion predilection.

Patriots--May be Bill Belichick's biggest career misstep--trusting Joe Judge and Matt Patricia to guide Mac Jones and the upstart New England offense through the wilderness.

Jets--If not for the collapse of Zach Wilson and injuries to other position players, the young D may have led Gang Green to the postseason.

Ravens--As smart as the organization is, there's only so much they can work around between another year of defensive injuries and the star QB "healing up."

Bengals--Dangerous squad seemed to follow last year's blueprint of taking the regular season to figure out how to best proceed despite lack of pass protection.

Browns--Aside from Nick Chubb's excellence, the unholy marriage between the Haslams and Deshaun Watson came to fruition and didn't produce a lot of good football.

Steelers--Strange season between the QB carousel and Franco Harris keeling and Najee Harris finding his groove afterwards, they somehow rallied to 9-8 for Mike Tomlin.

Texans--Save for a few late efforts, the team was the worst in the league, deficient in all phases, and have exactly one bright spot on the entire roster, rookie RB Dameon Pierce.

Colts--The laughingstock of the league thanks to Jim Irsay's appointing Jeff Saturday as HC and watching Indy blow multiple 33-point leads on the way to hell.

Jaguars--They all took a step forward after jettisoning Urban Meyer and bringing in Doug Pederson, proving a difficult matchup especially as QB Trevor Lawrence leveled up.

Titans--Winnin' Ugly wasn't enough with the barrage of hurt defenders, the slight decline of RB Derrick Henry, and the liquefying of the QB position.

Broncos--Rode with Russell Wilson as long as they could, but his terrible play contributed to the axing of coach Nate Hackett before his 1st year could end.

Chiefs--Point spread bettors can't stand Kansas City's lack of killer instinct, but they're unquestionably one of the best teams in football and posted the top passing game sans Tyreek Hill.

Raiders--Josh McDaniels didn't get off to a good start running a franchise again, poisoning the gift-wrapped Davante Adams-Derek Carr connection and wasting a powerful year by RB Josh Jacobs.

Chargers--Tremendous toughness shown by QB Justin Herbert kept the Bolts afloat and make them a threat in the playoffs, even as they consistently field an atrocious run defense.

2022 Week #18

Jay and I will go head-to-head on seven games to finish up the last week of this season. It felt like we agreed on more because the guest picker, Coin, was opposing us so much. That's usually a bad sign. Historically, if the coin picks against Jay and me when we agree, the coin comes out on top. We shall see how it goes for this week's games. Oh, and Jay flipped the coin for the Saturday games after the games were over, just to see if Coin would have beat us anyway. The coin, like us, split the two games...a coin flip, if you will. Here are our picks for NFL Week 18:

 

All of our thoughts and opinions can be heard here (except mine, I had a bad wifi connection):

NFL 2022 Week #18: Heart-Stopping Television