Good morning, all! I hope your new year is off to a terrific start!
It is the final weekend of the NFL regular season and a lot is at stake. Above is my final, regular season installment of Picks for Kicks. The season goes by quickly and I am struggling to finish above the .500 mark with my picks. Enjoy!
Here are some other thoughts, as I settle down for an NFL weekend:
If the Jets defense does not come up with an interception against the Bills on Sunday, they will have gone the entire season without making an interception. Incredible.
Here is all you need to know about the college sports situation. The portal for players to declare their intention of switching schools opened at midnight, Jan. 2. By 7:00 in the morning, 1,001 players had declared they were leaving for greener pastures.
NCAA president Charles Baker tells Boston Globe sports columnist Dan Shaugnessy his goal is to expand the field for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament beyond the 68 teams. Baker says teams are snubbed every season and the goal is to make the tournament more “inclusive.” Translation? The goal is to bring in even more money to the NCAA. Who are we kidding here.
Now that it is the new year and several high profile baseball free agents have yet to sign with another team - I am looking at you Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette - beware of the rumors we are hearing, such as the “Yankees have talked to Bichette.” It is possible there have been conversations, but keep this in mind; some of these rumors are started by agents who represent these players to drive up the price. Just saying.
ESPN is reporting former Giant and former Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce is among those on their list to be the team’s next head coach. I still say John Harbaugh or Brian Flores could get a call. I will repeat what I have written and said before: the next Giants head coach will be someone not mentioned on these rumored lists.
Those CFP quarterfinals really upset the apple cart, didn’t they? Except for favored Indiana, the favorites fell by the wayside. Watch out for Oregon against the Hoosiers in the semifinals. That could be better than the national championship game.
Ole Miss really misses Lake Kiffin.
All you need about the changing face of media, the changing face of radio, the impact of technology, can be summed up in one sentence: All-sports radio WFAN is no longer providing sports updates.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. As always, thank you for subscribing and enjoy the games!
DAN
