Out of Bounds: The Answer is back, Week 14 NFL Picks, and more

Posted On: December 10, 2009
Posted By: therowdyone
Comments: 0

sixers58_resize

Hot Rod! The Rowdy One

With all of the commotion of Tiger-gate dominating the world of sports last week, many of us ignored some of the other big sports stories that took place last week. Well never fear, your old boy, The Rowdy One, is here. Before I get into some of the headlines from last week, I would like to ask a favor from you. Please checkout Planet Ill’s newest member of the family, A Negro and a Keyboard and their thoughts on the Tiger Woods situation. It’s both insightful and hilarious.

During the last 2 weeks, a lot has gone down in the sports world. Philly’s prodigal son found his way home. The Fighting Irish let go one of their leaders and at the same time, showed they don’t have much fight in them. The world of college football lost one of it’s greatest coaches, and the sports world remembered Jimmy V.

Oh, by the way, down in the south, the Saints and the Colts are still undefeated going into Week 14 of the NFL. The New Jersey Nets are no longer defeated. This year’s 2009 Heisman Trophy candidates are set for this weekend and College Bowl season is set and ready to go for next weekend.

Yeesh, it’s enough to make a sane person crazy and we didn’t really touch on the NBA, NHL, College Basketball, or the MLB Hot Stove. However, that’s why we’re called “sports fans”. We’re fanatics, and we can handle all of this craziness. So sports fans, lets start talking.

Riddle me this: What do Mick Foley, Brett Favre, and Allen Iverson have in common?

Answer: They put their bodies on the line for the sport they love and they can’t keep their asses retired.

A week after A.I. announced his retirement from the NBA, The City of Brotherly Love called one of their favorite sons to come back home. The Philadelphia 76ers signed A.I. to a one-year deal and A.I. was appreciative to the Philly faithful.

With A.I. only receiving a one-year deal, I believe his time in Philly this season is the last stop of his NBA career and that’s great because if he does call it quits this season, he’s doing it where he started it, in Philadelphia. We’ve seen the likes of Jerry Rice, Michael Jordan or Tom Seaver finish their careers on teams they didn’t start with and sometimes it’s a sad sight for most sports fans who had respect for the athlete, while they were still playing, whether they like them or not. With A.I. coming back to Philly, all seems right with the world of basketball. I’m happy he’s back in the city that has shown him much love and if this is it for his career, it’s a fitting way to go out.

Speaking of people going out, Bobby Bowden is out as head coach of the Florida State Football program and like Frank Sinatra, he did it his way.

To bad, I can’t say the same about Charlie Weis and his dismissal as head coach from Notre Dame’s Football program.

Now coaches come and go when people involved in the organization feel that there’s time for a change. I respect that. Moreover, as I have said before, I’m not a big fan of firing a person during the season. The college season may end in November, but teams do receive invitations to play in Bowl Games. When Bowden announced his retirement, he asked that if the Seminoles were invited to play in a Bowl Game, that their Bowl Game is one of the games played in Florida. The Bowl selection committee honored his wishes and on New Year’s Day, the Seminoles will meet the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish let it be known that they would respectfully decline any bowl bid they were offered. I’m not even sure if a person can “respectfully decline” anything, but they throw that out there. It seems that with their feverish search for a new head coach, the Fighting Irish decided to throw the kids on their team under the f*&#ing bus and not have them go to a Bowl Game. Oh, you can also throw Charlie Weis under that same bus because they could have at least let them man finish his job at N.D. with a Bowl Game visit of some sorts.

We understand that the season didn’t go the way you would have liked for it to have gone, N.D., but these kids and this coach tried damn hard to give your school the best possible season they could produce. If the football team was invited to a Bowl Game, then they should have gone and played. Now you have seniors on your team who will miss the opportunity to play in a Bowl Game in their final year. Way to go there pal, you stay classy Notre Dame.

Finally, I wanna share this with you. All last week and continuing this week, ESPN and the V Foundation have celebrated the life of Jim Valvano, who passed away of cancer in 1993. Valvano, who’s known for his North Carolina State Wolfpack upsetting the University of Houston Cougars in the 1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament, was the recipient of the 1993 Arthur Ashe Award during the ESPY Awards that year. Dying of cancer, Valvano gave one of sport’s and America’s greatest speeches. I’m not asking you yo make a donation to the foundation, although that would be nice, but I am asking you to listen to Valvano’s words. It goes to show that no matter the fight or fights that goes on in life, there’s always a way to persevere and Don’t Give Up… Don’t Ever Give Up.

If you would like to learn more about the V Foundation, just click the highlighted link. Now that I’ve got that off of my chest, here are my picks for Week 14 in the NFL.

Thursday Night Football 12/10/09, 8:20pm
Pittsburgh Steelers 6-6 @ Clevland Browns 1-11 (NFL Network), My Pick:

Sunday, 12/13/09, 1pm
New Orlean Saints 12-0 @ Atlanta Falcons 6-6 (FOX), My Pick:
Green Bay Packers 8-4 @ Chicago Bears 5-7 (FOX), My Pick:
Denver Broncos 8-4 @ Indianapolis Colts 12-0 (CBS), My Pick:
Buffalo Bills 4-8 @ Kansas City Chiefs 3-9 (CBS), My Pick:
New York Jets 6-6 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1-11 (CBS), My Pick:
Miami Dolphins 6-6 @ Jacksonville Jaguars 7-5 (CBS), My Pick:
Detroit Lions 2-10 @ Baltimore Ravens 6-6 (FOX), My Pick:

Seattle Seahawks 5-7 @ Houston Texans 5-7 (FOX), My Pick:
Cincinatti Bengals 9-3 @ Minnesota Vikings 10-2 (CBS), My Pick:
Carolina Panthers 5-7 @ New England Patriots 7-5 (FOX), My Pick:

Sunday, 12/13/09, 4pm
St. Louis Rams 1-11 @ Tennessee Titans 5-7 (FOX), My Pick:
Washington Redskins 3-9 @ Oakland Raiders 4-8 (FOX), My Pick:
San Diego Chargers 9-3 @ Dallas Cowboys 8-4 (CBS), MY Pick: