More Liny Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- How the Raiders-Ravens trade of Maxx Crosby fell apart. Still say Baltimore acted sketchy here.

- A somber Royal Navy update.

- NASA plans a permanent base on the moon.

- Everything you need to know about Gin.

New Year's Day Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Note to future self - never bet week 17 NFL games again. And also never, ever bet on or against the Ravens. They find a way to screw me every time... Interesting look at how Canada's foreign policy had a horrible year. Horrible year... Has to be noted that Baltimore has not made the playoffs since Deflategate. The karma is very real... This is true... My New Year's resolution is if I see anyone driving a new luxury car with a big red bow - I'm going to do my best to run that car off the road... USA! USA! USA!... Today is Elin Nordegren's 38th birthday. I'm there for you Elin if you need any comforting. I'm there for you baby!...

Playing the Middle

One of my favorite sports bets is called playing the middle. And this Sunday's Patriots / Ravens game seems like a perfect time to do it. Here's how it works - playing the middle is actually 4 bets - in this case you would take:

Tease Patriots -8.5 with the over 51
Tease Patriots -8.5 with the under 51
Tease Ravens +8.5 with the over 51
Tease Ravens +8.5 with the under 51

A tease gives you six points so the Patriots would only have to win by 2.5 (less than a field goal), the over would become 45, the under would become 57 and the Ravens would be getting 14.5 points (more than 2 touchdowns). You are guaranteed to win at least one of the 4 bets so if you bet $100 on each bet the most you could lose is $200 but with the middle there's a very good chance you win all 4 bets and pocket $400.

So let it be written - so let it be done.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I don't think it will come to this because I think Newt Gingrich will either self-destruct or people will see him for the ego-maniacal fraud that he is but if it did come down to Gingrich vs. Obama in 2012 - I might just skip voting altogether to catch a movie... Very cool - the scale of the Universe... Vinny Testaverde was also only mentioned once in Reagan's diary. I would much rather vote for Vinnie than Newt Gingrich... Pretty amazing - Tom Brady has played in 10 full seasons (he did not play in a game in 2000 and only 1 game in 2008) and today will be his 6th AFC Championship game. If that's not Jordanesque I don't know what is... If Gingrich was President - would a "Wag the Dog" scenario involving Newt starting a war to cover up a mistake surprise anyone?... On this day in 1973 LBJ passed away taking with him to the grave the secret of how he had JFK killed...  Who knew? According to Mental Floss: "Cheerios and Circus Peanuts Candy" may not sound like a winning formula but that's the combo that inspired Lucky Charms... Today is Baltimore Ravens' Ray Rice's 25th birthday. I'd like to wish him a Happy Birthday but instead I really hope his playoff hopes are dashed by an onslaught of Patriots offense. Besides - his first name isn't Ray - it's Raymell. What kind of name is Raymell?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I guess as long as you're not the guy who got blown up this is pretty funny... Jimmer Fredette is averaging just over 34 points per game for BYU. As a senior Danny Ainge averaged just over 24 PPG... Not a fan of Michael Jackson by any means but I found this Dueling Cellists Play "Smooth Criminal" to be very cool. If I owned a baseball team - I'd invite these two to play the National Anthem just to see what they could do with it... Bartolo Colon (4.10) and Pat Hentgen (4.34) are the only two pitchers with a career ERA over 4.00 to win AL Cy Young Awards. Bartolo Colon did not deserve his award... Joe Flacco sounds off on the firing of Jim Zorn. Interesting... File this under you can't always believe what you read - Baseball-Reference.com lists Bartolo Colon's weight at 185 pounds... "Taco party outside Bill's office" has to be some sort of sexist code... Penn Jillette is one interesting SOB... Danny Ainge is the only person to be a high school first team All-American in football, basketball, and baseball... A Match Made In Heaven...

NFL Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous NFL thoughts and observations.

I think there must be a zombie in the Baltimore Ravens organization. This zombie feasts only on the part of people's brains that allow them to come up with offensive play calling. Brian Billick was supposed to be an offensive genius when he arrived in Baltimore - then the zombie ate that part of his brain. Jim Fassel had so much of his brain eaten that he got fired as offensive coordinator. Rick Neuheisel was an innovative offensively minded college coach but have you seen any evidence of that in his time in Baltimore? I blame the zombie.... I've been reading Peter King a lot this season and with the historic season the Patriots just had you would think King would speak with coach Belichick about the historic season and yet I've not seen any first hand comments to King from Belichick. I guess that's the price you pay for getting on your fat high horse.... Grumpy old men. Can members of the 1972 Dolphins be any more annoying? Do you know the fortune cookie game where you read your fortune cookie and then add the words "under the sheets"? I now see a comment from a member of the 72 Dolphins and add in the words "and get off my lawn."...

AFC North Preview

Here's what I predict for the AFC North

Cincinnati Bengals 10-6
Baltimore Ravens 10-6
Pittsburgh Steelers 8-8
Cleveland Browns 6-10

I already explained that I think Cincinnati will go 10-6 this year. I also earlier explained my reasoning in picking Baltimore to do the same.

Ben Roethlisberger is not a top level quarterback in my opinion and he has a new offensive coordinator and new offense to learn. Big Ben has said that he looks forward to being a "rookie" this year and I think we will see him make some "rookie" mistakes in some close games that will ultimately cost the Steelers a playoff spot. I won't make many friends in Pittsburgh by saying this but I consider Roethlisberger to be just an over-hyped Jon Kitna. I see them going 8-8 in coach Mike Tomlin's first year.

Brady Quinn will probably start his career at QB for the Browns against the Dolphins in week 6 because Romeo Crennel just won't throw his future franchise QB to the wolves by having him start against Bill Belichick and the Patriots in Foxboro in week 5. I'm just as curious as the next guy to see how the Notre Dame star fares in the NFL and I bet the Browns are happy to have the anticipation to Quinn's ascendancy be the top story instead of stories of how bad they have been or stories of flesh eating bacteria in the locker room.

Infections are a serious problem but I can't help but think of how far our medical knowledge has come. Back is 1924, President Calvin Coolidge's son - Cal Jr. - played tennis on the White House lawn with shoes but not socks and got a blister on his foot. The blister became infected and Calvin Coolidge Jr. died from the infection. Less than 85 years ago our medical knowledge was such that even the President's son could be killed by an infected blister while staying at the White House! We've come a long way since then but bacteria are still a major health issue (as the Cleveland Browns could attest).

Baltimore Ravens

It seemed like Baltimore had a perfect storm of opportunity to get them to 13 wins last year. They had a pretty easy schedule last year, Pittsburgh and Cincy had off-years and they won some close games that may not go their way in 2007. In 2007 Bodog has their over/under for the Ravens at 9.5 wins. I wouldn't touch that bet (although - gun to my head - I'd take the over).

I'm not a fan of the Ravens. In fact - Ray Lewis and Brian Billick set my nerves on end. For some Ravens' fans it is the defense of Samari Rolle that is bothersome. Looking at their schedule - I could see them splitting the games versus the Bengals and Steelers. Against the Pats, Indy and Chargers - they will lose 2 of 3. I also see them losing 2 more games from the rest of their schedule. That puts them at 10-6 but I may be being optimistic.

I'm thinking that the success of the Ravens rests squarely on Steve McNair's shoulders. If McNair gets hurt for any length of time then the Ravens are done and will be lucky to have a .500 season. McNair may not put up great numbers but he knows how to win and that is one very valuable commodity in the NFL.