PIGSKIN PREDICTIONS

8-23-10

Predictions can be dangerous.  People tend to remember to crush you when you're dead wrong more often than they remember to heap on the praise when you're right.

In fact, maybe I shouldn't even...

Okay, fine.  Just don't forget to remember my good calls.  And while you're at it, feel free to forget my mistakes.  Thanks.  Appreciate it.

AFC WEST

1.  San Diego Chargers  2.  Oakland Raiders  3.  Kansas City Chiefs  4.  Denver Broncos

AFC SOUTH

1.  Indianapolis Colts  2.  Tennessee Titans  3.  Houston Texans  4.  Jacksonville Jaguars

AFC EAST

1.  New England Patriots  2.  New York Jets  3.  Miami Dolphins  4.  Buffalo Bills

What do you think, Fan Nation?  Let me know.

TRAINING CAMP FOCUS WITH MARK HALEY - MORGAN BURNETT

8-16-10

Thanks for reading and listening!  Have a fun day.

Comments?  Email Mark

TRAINING CAMP FOCUS WITH MARK HALEY - SAM SHIELDS

8-9-10

One player I've especially enjoyed watching during Packers training camp is Sam Shields.  Here's a conversation I had with the rookie early on in camp:

This video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLR_7duL72o&feature=related

Thanks for reading and listening!  Have a fun day.

Comments?  Email Mark

TRAINING CAMP FOCUS WITH MARK HALEY - DESMOND BISHOP

8-3-10

Was going to wait on this conversation, but now that the cat is out of the bag that Desmond is upset, I figured I might as well post it.  I'll be interested to see fan reaction on this one.

TRAINING CAMP FOCUS WITH MARK HALEY - RYAN PICKETT

8-3-10

For the first time since I started this blog, I broke away from a title involving two words that start with the same letter.  Sorry about the alliteration annihilation.

But this is also the first time I'm posting a video... well really, it's just an audio clip, but it's much easier to just use YouTube, so enjoy the Fan logo eye candy while listening.  Your welcome for that.

This is my first of five training camp focus interviews - this one with Ryan Pickett.  Each Wednesday at 5:20 PM on Sportsline, Chris and I will play one of these interviews, and then talk about the highlighted player for the rest of the segment.  The segment premieres on Wednesday with Ryan Pickett.

Figured I'd leak it on here first for those that don't want to wait, and for those that miss it on Wednesday.  I'll post the other interviews on here throughout training camp.

This video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O2uHJA3TG0&feature=related

Thanks for reading and listening!  Have a fun day.

Comments?  Email Mark

RISKS REWARDED

7-26-10

I took a step back from sports recently to take a broader look at things.  I asked myself:  what would someone from the outside looking in observe?  Here's what I came up with -

GMs should be more aggressive.  Way more aggressive.  In free agency, in drafts, in trades - everything. 

The examples of risks paying off are plentiful.  The Packers took a risk that Reggie White would take them from good to great.  The Saints were the only team willing to risk signing Drew Brees off of shoulder surgery.  The Bulls risked that Dennis Rodman could keep it together to help Jordan at the end of his career.  The Brewers best year in the past 25 years was the same year they took their biggest risk in trading for CC Sabathia.  The Cowboys risked trading one of the NFL's best players in Hershel Walker and parlayed it into multiple championships.  The Marlins went for it even though they knew they wouldn't be able to keep everyone after their run.  I could go on and on.  In a few years, I'll be able to add the Heat to this list, and how they were the first team to literally strip their team to nothing in favor of doing something no team has ever done - build their core entirely from free agents.  And take advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity instead of sitting on the sidelines.

And the best thing about today's Packers - Aaron Rodgers - came as a result of Ted Thompson's biggest risk as a GM.  His first move was a bold one, and it paid off.  So why is he timid to take another big risk?  Doesn't he think the Packers are ready for phase 2?  Isn't this team on the cusp of winning it all?  If so, it's up to Ted to give them the final push.

There is no reward without risk.  I literally can't think of a single team that won a championship without taking at least one big risk.  And in many cases, the team that wins it all is the one that took the most risks and had it pay off.  The team that plays it safe is the team that makes the playoffs every so often but never breaks through.  At the end of the day, there's nothing successful about maintaining a level just above mediocrity.

It's no surprise that the most aggressive team in sports, the Yankees, also has the most championships.

And is it really that "risky"?  If the Heat win it all, it was worth it.  If not?  Well, they'll still make money, because people will buy the tickets and merchandise to be a part of the process.  Miami cashes in from the journey, not the destination.  None of that money gets returned if they lose game 7.  And what was their alternative?  Keep Wade, and continue to be an above average team that gets bounced in the 2nd round of the playoffs?  Miami knows that the last time they won it all came after they took a huge risk in trading a ransom for the league's best player.  It worked.  But even if they didn't win it all, at least they gave themselves a chance.

So why aren't GMs more aggressive?  One word - fear.  Fear of losing their jobs.  Fear of change.  Fear of being in the spotlight.  Fear of thinking outside of the box.  They're not afraid of losing, they're just afraid.  Ultimately, it's that fear that will prevent them from ever winning, I'm afraid.

Thanks for reading!  Have a fun day.

Comments?  Email Mark

ROUNDBALL RANKINGS

7-8-10

Now that all of the coveted NBA free agents have found a home, it's time to assess the damage and establish power rankings heading into next season.

You're probably wondering if I'm going to overreact and rank the Heat #1 because of the timing of these rankings (just hours after LeBron's "Decision").  The answer to that question is no.

1.  Miami Heat - That's right.  I am ranking the Heat number one, but it's not an overreaction.  In fact, I believe those that aren't picking the Heat as the team to beat are missing the obvious.  By the time the playoffs start in 2011, no one is going to want to bet against the team that has 2 of the best 4 players in the league and 3 of the best 20.  Oh, and I'm convinced at least a couple of decent vets will be willing to sign with Miami for a chance to get a ring.  I'm picking them number 1 under the assumption that they'll be able to pick up a sharp shooter - ideally Mike Miller.

2.  L.A. Lakers - In my opinion, this summer marks the changing of the guard in which the East overtook the West as the best conference in the NBA for the first time this millenium.  That said, the Lakers are clearly the team to beat from the West.  Do we finally get to see Kobe vs. LeBron?

3.  Orlando Magic - Did you realize the Magic had a better regular season record than the Lakers last year?  Miami's top priority should be to pick up someone that can defend Dwight Howard, because if the Heat can't match up with the Magic, nothing else will matter.

4.  Dallas Mavericks - Say what you want about Mark Cuban, but he keeps Dallas in contention year in and year out.  Dallas is deeper than any of the three teams ranked above them, and Dirk Nowitzki gets hungrier for a championship every year.  Mix that with Cuban's willingness to make necessary in-season trades, and I wouldn't be shocked if we see a Heat-Mavs NBA Finals rematch.

5.  Boston Celtics - If last year wasn't Boston's last chance to win a title, this year certainly is.  Boston has a great coach, and of course the big three... KG, Pierce, and Rondo, that is.  Ray Allen is done.  He was a downright liability at times in the Finals last year, and the Celtics will have a hard time surviving his inconsistency.

6.  Chicago Bulls - Derrick Rose is becoming pretty brilliant.  If LeBron wanted a guaranteed championship where he would have been the clear star, he would have gone to Chicago.  Instead, he chose to play with his friends outside of the shadow of Michael Jordan's statues.  Chicago will still be a top four East team without him.

7.  Oklahoma City Thunder - If the NBA started over and had a draft, I'd take Kevin Durant 2nd, behind only LeBron James.  Dwayne Wade would be my 3rd pick, with John Wall 4th, by the way.  The Thunder will be hungry and ready to go, with their crowd keeping their energy up throughout a long season.

8.  Denver Nuggets - Having George Karl back should help keep the misfits in line.  These are my power rankings of teams most likely to win it all, by the way, and not a prediction of regular season standings, because regular season standings are pointless.

9.  Milwaukee Bucks - The most important thing for the Bucks this summer is the progression of Brandon Jennings.  For Milwaukee to reach its full potential, Jennings needs to be the best player on the team night in and night out.  With Luke Ridnour out of the picture, it's time for Jennings to take ownership of this team like Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Tyreke Evans and Derrick Rose take ownership of their teams.

10.  Atlanta Hawks - The talent is there, but I get the sense that this team is made up of a bunch of greedy, lazy ballers.  Josh Smith should be able to take over games, but at this point there's no reason to believe he's ever going to have the drive to make that happen.  Atlanta is a hoping a coaching change can give them new energy.

Keep an eye on - Portland (don't forget Brandon Roy was injured at the end of last year), San Antonio (one last elderly gasp?), Phoenix (sadly, the most exciting team in basketball may have seen its run come to an end), Utah (always are in the mix but lost Carlos Boozer), Houston (is Yao Ming ready to return yet?), Memphis (will Rudy Gay stay motivated after getting paid?), and Charlotte (watch Gerald Wallace play some time, you'll be a fan).

First to worst? - LeBron leaving Cleveland is devestating for that city.  They're already the most tortured sports city in America, and now there's no reason for any optimism in that city.  After posting the best regular season record two years straight, I would not be surprised one bit if Cleveland posts the NBA's worst record in 2010-2011.  You know all the people that said LeBron had enough of a supporting cast to win a championship in Cleveland?  I don't think you'll hear too much out of those people after seeing what his former supporting cast does without him next year.

Thanks for reading!  Have a fun day.

Comments?  Email Mark

MARK'S MOCK

6-24-10

Here's my updated and final NBA mock draft.  I'm not going to put team names because teams trade their picks so often, but the nice thing about the NBA is that draft picks have their contracts slotted so the best players usually get drafted the highest as opposed to football sometimes where guys like Dez Bryant can fall to the 24th pick.

I do think the Bucks will keep their pick though, which is 15th overall.

1.  John Wall
2.  Evan Turner
3.  Derrick Favors
4.  Wes Johnson
5.  Al-Farouq Aminu
6.  Demarcus Cousins
7.  Ed Davis
8.  Greg Monroe
9.  Luke Babbitt
10. Gordon Hayward
11. Xavier Henry
12. Paul George
13. Cole Aldrich
14. Ekpe Udoh
15. James Anderson (Bucks - same pick I've had all along for Milwaukee)
16. Patrick Patterson

Thanks for reading!  Have a fun day.

Comments?  Email Mark

FANTASY FOOTBALL FORECAST

6-14-10

We don't talk about fantasy football too much on The Fan, mainly because no one cares about other peoples' teams.  But the fact of the matter is that most of Fan Nation plays fantasy football, and summer is the most interesting time to taalk about it.

Why?  Because for us non-keeper league owners, all of our rosters look the same.  Blank.  The best part of fantasy football is the draft (or auction), when we get to reveal what players we have the strongest feelings about.

The fantasy football magazines are starting to hit the newsstands, which means it's time to figure out which of those players we're going to put our faith in come draft day.  Here are my early thoughts on who I'll be targeting in my draft, with a reason why you should consider targeting him as well.  In no particular order:

Darren Sproles, RB, San Diego - LT is out of the picture, which made Sproles the starter.  Well, for about a month anyway.  The Chargers drafted Ryan Matthews in the 1st round of the draft, and Matthews will start for San Diego and get the goal line carries.  But people are overreacting.  Matthews is being drafted as a high 2nd rounder in 12 team leagues.  Sproles is a 10th rounder.  I'll take the guy who can run and catch in a passing offense.  A guy who also happens to already know the offense.  Think Leon Washington early 2009 season production before he got hurt.  If Sproles stays healthy, I think he'll be a steal for me.

DeSean Jackson, WR, Philadelphia - In the two games Kevin Kolb started, Jackson had 101 and 149 receiving yards, with a touchdown in both games.  He's headed into his 3rd season, which is the year wide receivers break out, even though you could argue that he already has.  He and Chris Johnson are clearly the two most explosive players in the NFL.  If you want Chris Johnson in fantasy football, you better hope you pick first.  If you want Jackson, all you've got to do is spend a 3rd round pick.

Jermichael Finley, TE, Green Bay - You've got to be careful with this one if you're drafting in Green Bay with Packer fans.  Finley, like Rodgers, will go higher than usual in leagues with Packer fans, but in Finley's case, I'm okay with reaching a round or two.  I expect Finley to be a top two fantasy tight end, and he could easily be first on that list of two.  The Packers offense revolves around him even more than the 49ers does with Vernon or Dallas does with Witten or Indy does with Dallas, etc.  He's been going at the end of round 5 on average.  I wouldn't scoff at anyone for taking him in the 4th.

Jahvid Best, RB, Detroit - I basically founded the Jahvid Best fan club, declaring him my choice for who the Packers should draft back in January.  Well, the Lions got him, and Jim Schwartz might be the only guy on the planet that loves him more than I do.  Every year, there's a rookie that has a unique skill set, and often times it's a player that fell to pick 20 or later for whatever reason.  In 2008, it was Chris Johnson.  In 2009, it was Percy Harvin.  In 2010, it will be Jahvid Best... just hope he stays healthy.

Larry Johnson, RB, Washingon - Keep in mind that a lot of this has to do with value based on where you'd have to draft these guys.  In Johnson's case, his average draft position is 177th, which is a late round flier.  Let's look at this.  The Redskins picked up Willie Parker, who is clearly done.  They looked at Brian Westbrook, but it looks like Westbrook might end up elsewhere.  They still have Clinton Portis, but what does brining in every free agent running back possible say about their confidence in Portis?  Johnson is already getting the goal line carries, and could easily be a starting running back for a .500 or so team.  Not bad for a 13th rounder.  I'm thinking Ricky Williams from last year.

Chris Cooley, TE, Washington - I don't think Washingtno will be all that great in 2010, but I'm hoping to have two Redskins on my fantasy football team.  Mike Shanahan is obsessed with tight ends, and Chris Cooley fits perfectly with what he'll want to do.  Donovan McNabb went to Brent Celek plenty last year, and I expect Cooley to have a big year as long as Fred Davis doesn't vulture too many catches.

Other guys I like:

Fred Jackson, RB, Buffalo

Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay

Dez Bryant, WR, Dallas

Brandon Jacobs, RB, New York Giants

Jay Cutler, QB, Chicago

Johnny Knox, WR, Chicago

Percy Harvin, WR, Minnesota

Joshua Cribbs, WR, Cleveland

Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore

Mike Wallace, WR, Pittsburgh

Arian Foster, RB, Houston

Kenny Britt, WR, Tennessee

Knowshon Moreno, RB, Denver

Dwayne Bowe, WR, Kansas City

Thanks for reading!  Have a fun day.

Comments?  Email Mark

FINALS FODDER

5-31-10

This year's Lakers-Celtics is a rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals, but this time the Lakers are going to come out on top.  The reason might surprise you.  Let's look at the matchups:

CENTERS – Kendrick Perkins vs. Andrew Bynum – Neither guy is a scoring threat.  Perkins will be able to shade off of Bynum to help on Gasol, and Bynum will be able to shade off of Perkins to help on KG.  ADVANTAGE: PUSH

POWER FORWARDS – Kevin Garnett vs. Pau Gasol – Gasol has been called the best PF in the league (Dwight Howard is a center), and probably rightfully so, but KG used to be the best PF in the league and effort won’t be a problem.  KG will focus on defense and probably won’t score much in any of the games.  KG will outrebound Gasol, but Gasol will outscore KG.  What tips the favor to the Lakers though is that Lamar Odom can come off the bench and give KG a different look on both sides of the floor, while Glen Davis will come into the game for the Celtics and Gasol will have no problem with Big Baby’s “hustle” bit. ADVANTAGE LAKERS

POINT GUARDS – Rajon Rondo vs. Derek Fisher.  Rondo wins this of course, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind.  Fisher isn’t going to be dreading this matchup.  Fisher is coming off of facing Steve Nash, the best passer in the NBA, and before that, Deron Williams, the best scoring PG in the league.  So to move on to Rondo is actually a reason for Fisher to take a deep breath.  Fisher will make some shots like he always does, and try to keep the gap between he and Rondo as close as possible; but Rondo’s clearly better.  ADVANTAGE CELTICS

SHOOTING GUARDS – Ray Allen vs. Kobe Bryant.  Ray Allen is ridiculously streaky and a huge wild card.  Will he explode for 30 points for a game or two?  Or will he be the complete liability he was last year in the playoffs?  Obviously this is the biggest position disparity in the series.  Too bad the Celtics don’t have a designated stopper to put on Kobe at times.  ADVANTAGE LAKERS

SMALL FORWARDS – Speaking of stoppers, I saved small forwards for last because I think this will be the difference in the series, and the reason this series goes differently than the 2008 Celtics/Lakers NBA Finals (which the Celtics won 4-2).  Paul Pierce vs. Ron Artest.  In 2008, Lamar Odom guarded Pierce.  Pierce avered 21.8 PPG in the series, leading the Celtics.  This time around he’ll face Ron Artest, who will bother Pierce and focus on defense.  The Celtics won’t play zone so the Lakers won’t have to worry about Artest jacking up 3’s every night like he did against Phoenix.  Instead, Artest will play good enough defense to make someone else on the Celtics beat them.  And with KG focusing on defense in his Gasol matchup (KG has been focusing more on defense that offense at this point in his career anyway), it’ll be up to Ray Allen or Rajon Rondo to score consistently.  That’s not going to happen.  Ray Allen is too streaky (he scored less than 15 points in half of the games during both the Magic and Cavs series') – and Rajon Rondo isn’t a scorer as much as he is a pace setter.  Pierce will score more than Artest, but this is my pick to be the difference in the series.  BOTTOM LINE - LAKERS WIN IN 6

Thanks for reading.  Have a fun day.

Comments?  Email Mark