Maybe You Shouldn't Have Opened Your Mouth

Remember Paul Pierce's claim that he was a better player than Kobe over the past summer?

Can the NBA and Boston Celtics (perhaps it's possible in Beantown?) fans see through the BS that was coming out of Pierce's mouth over the summer?

In a time that the Celtics needed more production, Pierce didn't step up his game. For the long stretch that Kevin Garnett was out, Feb. 22 through March 18, Pierce averaged 22.8 points per contest. Think Kobe would let his average dip to that low if Pau Gasol went out?

Kobe Bryant is averaging 27.2PPG to Pierce's 20.3, and doing so at a higher percentage, .465 (compared to Pierce's .453). Maybe Pierce started to taste the double and sometimes triple-team coverage that Bryant faces every game on the hardwood.

Or maybe Pierce was still not fully recovered from his wheelchair-inducing "injury." Or perhaps, we blame it on the media for holding in Pierce in such high regard after his NBA Finals performance. (We've seen that before with Dwayne Wade, although, Flash has risen back to that Finals form).

It's just becoming extremely quiet from the Pierce camp after trying to convince the world he is the best player in the world. Sad thing for Pierce is that he isn't even the third best player in his conference.

NFL Playoffs Oh Seven

They are upon us. America's favorite sport.

The playoffs of the gridiron after a rough and tough regular season.

Wild card round is upon us.

Colts, Patriots, Cowboys, and Packers are all at home marinating over a bowl of potato chips salivating on who they will play (well Tom Brady is not paying attention because he will be banging Gisele Bundchen all weekend).

Here is what First To Third thinks about the matchups:

Pittsburgh Steelers v. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars are a popular pick as of late to "dethrone" the Patriots in the playoffs, but it will all start against the Steelers. A couple of weeks ago I would have liked the Steelers chances in this game even though they lost at home to the same Jags... not so anymore. I think their Super Bowl aspirations went out the door when they lost Willie Parker and Aaron Smith to injuries.

Fred Taylor has been hot as of late and the Jaguars running game will flourish in the cold weather of Heinz Field.

I like the Jags in this one because of a few factors. Their running game. David Garrard takes care of the football. And they have a solid defense.

Jags win 17-13.

San Diego Chargers v. Tennessee Titans
I think the only way that the Titans pull this off is if their defense keeps the Chargers from turning Vince Young's mistakes into points.

Sure Philip Rivers is just as mistake-prone, but LaDanian Tomlinson and the home-field advantage will help the Chargers overcome his bonehead play. The Chargers have been playing solid ball as of late and will pull this one out.

Chargers win 31-20.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers v. New York Giants
This is going to either be a great game or a puto game (pretty good analysis huh?). But really, who knows what Eli Manning we will get in this game. He showed up big in the Patriots game, but could easily become Ryan Leaf this weekend.

Jeff Garcia is a warrior and had a hand at eliminating the Giants in last year's playoffs. I like both squads' defenses.

If Manning has a better than average game than I think the Giants take this especially with Brandon Jacobs in the backfield.

Giants win 27-21.

Seattle Seahawks v. Washington Redskins
Redskins are the feel good story of the NFL season. Washington has rolled four straight opponents after their tragic loss of Sean Taylor and their immediate loss on the football field.

Besides the Packers, I am pulling for the Redskins to take the NFC. They are the team that no one wants to face. Emotion can carry a squad and I think this Redskins team will beat the Seahawks.

Redskins win 26-23.

The MLB Playoffs Are Set!

The Colorado Rockies completed the job of making me look smart by winning their one-game playoff against the San Diego Padres in 13 innings to punch their ticket to the playoffs with their wild card bid.

Did Matt Holliday really touch homeplate on the winning run though? The camera angles I saw showed that Padres catcher Michael Barrett had blocked the plate and prevented Holliday from tagging the plate. But I think the atmosphere at Coors Field got the better of homeplate umpire Tim McClelland as he gave a delayed safe call to end the game.

The Rockies will now face another team on a hot streak, the Philadelphia Phillies (and the lovable Phanatic).

Series picks:

Philadelphia Phillies v. Colorado Rockies
Both teams come into the series as the hottest teams in all of baseball. The Rockies are coming off an emotional run that included a one-game playoff with the Padres to earn the wild card berth. Meanwhile, the Phillies are coming off a incredible run to catch the New York Mets, who led by seven games on September 12.

Both teams have a great batting lineup that can put numbers on the board, but I think the Phillies have a little more to work with.

I wanted the Phillies in, so I am going to stay with them: Phillies in five games.

Chicago Cubs v. Arizona Diamondbacks
Game one is going to be big for both teams, as Brandon Webb and Carlos Zambrano will be on the mound for their respective teams. I like the Cubs chances because they have the bats in their lineup that make a difference in a game. I also like the two Cubs starters following Zambrano, Ted Lilly and Rich Hill, I think they will be the difference in this series.

Cubs in four games.

Cleveland Indians v. New York Yankees
The Yankees have not faced Indians ace, C.C. Sabathia since 2004, uh oh. In this shorter series I like the Indians based on their pitching. If this series goes the distance the Indians will be able to throw Sabathia twice against big bats of New York. Sabathia will be matched up against Chien-Ming Wang in game one. Pitching matchups: Fausto Carmona will face Andy Pettitte in game two; Jake Westbrook against Roger Clemens in game three; Paul Byrd and Mike Mussina in game four.

Bob Uecker, take it: "The Indians win it, the indians win it! Oh my God, the Indians win it!"
Indians in five games.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim v. Boston Red Sox
Due to superstitious beliefs, I cannot and will not pick the winner of this series. Sorry.
Pitching matchups:
Game one - Beckett v. Lackey
Game two - Matsuzaka v. Escobar
Game three - Schilling v. Weaver
Game four (probables) - Beckett v. Lackey
Game five (probables) - ? v. Escobar

All I know is Josh Beckett just said "asshole" in his press conference that was aired on ESPN News, awesome! He also seemed like he was in a bad mood as well.

If you want to tailgate in Anaheim for game one, I will be there at 8 a.m., cooking morning burgers, sausages, and dogs.

National League Craziness

Willie Randolph what is going on? If you did not know, Randolph is the manager of the New York Mets, and his squad is about to be on the "worst collapse ever" list.

Thanks to the Mets, my dream of the Phillie Phanatic making it to the playoffs is alive and kicking. Last night the Mets lost of course, and the Phillies won, bring them into a tie in the NL East division. It also created more drama for the NL wild card race.

San Diego still holds the lead in the wild card chase, but is now being chased by three teams! Philadephia, Colorado, and New York are all a game behind San Diego for the wild card. And San Diego trails the Diamondbacks by one game in the NL West. The D-Backs are lucky enough to face the hottest team in the majors, the Rockies.

It is going to go down to the final day indeed.

The Cubs have a two game lead in the NL Central and I can guarantee that they will win the division. The Milwaukee Brewers are chasing the Cubs, but will face San Diego to end this weekend. They are going to beat themselves out of the playoffs.

This is what is going to happen... D-Backs win the NL West, Cubs win the NL Central, Phillies win the NL East, and Colorado gets the wild card. Can that happen? Yes, because I said so.

Anyone that wants to get me a ticket to Chicago is more than welcome to... I need a Chicago dog, bad. Da Vienerschnitzel just will not cut it.

Oh and the AL teams are fighting for the best record. The Yankees and Angels are two games behind the Indians and Red Sox for the best record. It is probably going to stay that way. Yanks are going to Cleveland, and the Angels are going to Chowder-town.

Ugh Boston fans.

He Has October In His Sights...

The Philadelphia Phillies won for the sixth consecutive game while the Mets lost their fifth consecutive outing to move the Phillies within 1 1/2 games out of the NL East. They also trail the San Diego Padres by 1 1/2 games in the NL wild card.

The Phanatic is salivating at the chance to showcase his dance moves during the playoffs. The Phillies have one more game against the St. Louis Cardinals and four in DC against the Washington Nationals before they close out their season at home with three games against the Atlanta Braves and three more versus the Nationals.

While the Mets face the Florida Marlins seven times, St. Louis once, and four more against Washington. A week ago I would have picked the Mets to take it for sure, but the way they have been playing lately makes it hard to say they will pull it out. Should be interesting, but I definitely want to see the Phanatic doing his dances like a wild man.
Plus, it is always good to have a former Cal State Fullerton player showcase his skills on a national stage.

Don't look now, but could Boston possibly be choking away the AL East lead? Their loss, along with the Yankees win, dropped their AL East lead to 2 1/2 games.

Boston losing also provides hope to the Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels who now trail Boston by a 1/2 game for the best record in the AL and all of the majors after both putting up W's last night. Home field advantage would be particularly valuable to the Angels who hold the best home record in the majors at 51-25. They are the first team in the majors with 50+ wins at home this season.

Oh, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers again are tied for first in the NL Central.
Zambrano, you let me down my man.

Phanatic Wants October!

Being in Southern California and the fact that I primarily watch AL games, I never get to see the antics of the Phillies Phanatic. Watching him on youtube does not do him justice, he needs to be in the playoffs! If someone can make a Phanatic costume please call me ASAP, I need to be him for Halloween.

I doubt the Phillies will beat out the Padres for NL wild card, but a man can dream right?
The Dodgers, Phillies, and Rockies all trail the Padres by 2.5 games for the NL wild card race. Los Dodgers still have a game left against the Pad-Squad so they can close that gap to 1.5 games by tomorrow.

ESPN is not happy right now because the Tampa Bay Devil Rays keep giving games away to the Red Sox. Tonight it was David Ortiz being David Ortiz by dropping a two-run walk-off HR on Rays pitcher Al Reyes.
Stuart Scott is crying right now because the Yankees won their 7th in a row but could not gain ground on the Red Sox. I cringe every time I hear "cooler than the other side of the pillow" come out of Scott's mouth during Sportscenter.

Did you know that they face each other this weekend? I am surprised that ESPN has not bought the rights to all three games of their series.

Angels magic number is now down to nine after Kelvim Escobar picked up his 17th win in an 18-6 victory.

The Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers are tied again in the NL Central. I would continue to write about them but it will be like this for the next couple of weeks. Like I said before, the Cubs will take it based on the Brewers schedule.

Oh and Cleveland has pretty much locked up their division, as has the Mets, and dare I say Diamondbacks.

*And the final OH!: The Royals will not have a 100-loss season for the first time in four years. That is awesome. Poor Royals fans.

A month ago when the Royals were playing the Angels in Anaheim I clapped for seeing a gentleman wearing Royals gear. That is a true fan right there. I wish I could buy that man a beer right now, oh well, I will have one in his honor today.