Bik's Week 4 Picks: Saying Goodbye To Greatness

Regular readers of The Extra Period will know by now that I take a lot of digs at baseball. Partially because baseball gives us so many opportunities to, partially because I’m not a fan and the sport does tend to catch some of my ire. It’s important NOT to read that last part as “I hate baseball” because I don’t. It’s just not for me is all. In the wide spectrum of sports, some are bound not to catch you the way others can, for me that’s baseball. But at the end of the day it is a sport, and given the remarkable degree of difficulty to play any sport at a top level, it has my respect in that regard. It’s not easy to do what they do, this I know. I’ll also appreciate greatness in sports, no matter my feelings towards the sport.

Bik's Thursday Night NFL Week 4 Pick: Under The Weather

So I’ve been under the weather....... Then under the sea..... Then under the Earth..... Then under the next 150 Earthly elements that exist that come next till we get to “hell”.... because I was on FIRE!!! Or as the Spanish would say: ¡En Fuego!

11-4-1 Last week. Now let’s get more of that goodness.  But really I’ve been sick for most of the week so this week might be really awkward and also we’re just going straight to the pick.

Home team in CAPS:

49ers (-3) over RAMS

I wrote in Week 2 that if the Falcons had any plans on going to the playoffs they couldn’t afford to go 0-2. They avoided the catastrophe as they won that game. The same scenario applies here. It’s early I know, but it’s not exactly ideal to pay catch-up in the NFC especially since some other decent teams are also 1-2 (See: Atlanta, Carolina, and Green Bay). San Fran despite the myriad of problems is still the better team, and their designs are for championships whereas the Rams, while rapidly developing, are still in a fact-finding mode as a franchise. It’s a backs to the wall game for the 49ers. They can’t be cute by not showing all their cards and have to employ everything they got in their arsenal. Back to the Atlanta analogy for a second... who did they play when they needed that win? ST. LOUIS RAMS!

I picked against the Rams last week as well vs. the Cowboys because I said it was a bad scheduling spot as they’d be gearing up for it and then didn’t apply that same logic to the 49ers who then watched the Colts walk all over them. The Niners came out flat and looked lost on Sunday, can’t afford to have that happen 3 games in a row. It’s a hockey team that good teams don’t lose 3 in a row, and you especially don’t hear it in football because it’s only a 16 game season, but this is the defining mark now for the 2013 49ers. I’m gonna bet on them to show something here and resurrect their season otherwise it’s essentially kaput for them this season.

With the receiving core woes as they are, the team isn’t totally built to play from behind with a double digit deficit which is what they’ve had to go up against the past 2 weeks. Enter St. Louis that has held a lead for all of 40 seconds this year. Gimme the ‘Niners.

Last Week: 11-4-1

This Season: 22-24-2

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Bik's Week 3 Picks: Over-Reacting

Now that we’re 2 weeks into the season, it should have given NFL team fan bases enough time to digest what they’ve seen and begin to over-react. So let’s examine some over-reactions through 2 Weeks.

Home team in CAPS

UFC 165 - Predictions and Preview

Two title fights, a stacked card, this is gonna be great!! Not just any title fights either but two of the most exciting champs to watch in Jon Jones and Renan Barao. After that exhausting period of 3 fight cards in 8 days it was nice to slow things down, catch a breath and get refreshed for what promises to be an exciting fall and winter in MMA. All right lets get to it.

Bik's Week 3 Thursday Night Pick

Just straight to the pick this week.

Home team in CAPS:

Chiefs (+3.5) over EAGLES

Here are some things we know so far 2 weeks into the season. The Eagles can score. The Chiefs can defend. The Eagles can’t defend.  The Chiefs can’t move the ball at a consistent successful rate.

How does this all play out into tonight’s game that features the return of Andy Reid to Philadelphia? Well, the biggest thing we know is not only can the Eagles not defend – they have to stay on the field a REMARKABLE amount of time. It’s great that you can score 30 points on a bad Chargers D in 22 minutes, but it’s meaningless if your D then has to be out on the field for 40+ minutes. And that’s against Phillip Rivers and the Chargers. Now you get to face Alex Smith who won’t turn the ball over, Jamaal Charles who is a historically great rusher in yards per attempt, and you have to do this all in a short week? I have a bad feeling that things are going to turn on Chip Kelly on the defensive side of the ball real quick.

Last Week: 7-9

This Season: 11-20-1

Bik's Week 2 Picks: Detailed Analysis of the Greatest Football Play so far This Season

As I described yesterday, Week 1 of the 2013 NFL Season was not flattering to me. I needed to go back to the drawing board. Back to the basement. Re-crunch the numbers. Re-examine everything and find the correct formula for success. Maybe watch some game film. But then it occurred to me.... What I needed was to get back to when this game was fun. Just being a kid, and running around. Forget the fanfare, the high production value of the NFL. Grabbing a pigskin and calling some friends.... and just playing. Playing the game for fun. So I’m going back to when football was fun. Here’s a detailed analysis over the most important football play of the 2013-14 Season:

Bik's Week 2 Thursday Night Pick: The Coin Flip

In the middle of Sunday’s games between my fantasy teams laying the proverbial egg and my picks turning to red faster than a cartoon character eating 5-alarm chilli, it was posed to me by a friend that perhaps next week I should take to flipping a coin for my picks.

Seeing as how I went 4-11-1 last week and I’m in no position to scoff. I’m open to ideas. So after a horrendous start to the 2013 NFL Season, and a thorough examination of how I plan to succeed with these picks (more on that tomorrow)..... I’m keeping Thursday’s pick nice and short.....Let’s go with the coin: Heads with the Home team, Tails with the road team.

Bik's Week 1 NFL Picks: Back to the Future

So last night, I saw Michael J. Fox on TV promoting his new show on NBC – also there was football.... There was a sign here – because last night was essentially “Back to the Future.” If you had told me that Peyton Manning was going to have a historically great night with Dallas Clark and Brandon Stokely on the field, I’d assume it was 2006 and I’d ask you for your copy of the “Grays Sports Almanac.” Wow – just wow about Peyton.

Bik's Week 1 Thursday Night Pick: Welcome Back

Hey so did you see that highlight in the baseball season – where that player dove and caught the ball, then got up and tossed it to first base for an out??? Yea me too... I saw it about 200 times. As I’m sure you did too. Or the one where the guy hits a home-run. Or the one where the player jumps up against the wall to make a grab and save a home-run. I guess it was impressive stuff especially since baseball has no cheaters and did all those plays cleanly. Needless to say, I gladly welcome one of the best days on the calendar as it’s the return of NFL Football and the end of having to watch baseball.