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 4 Picks: Replaced?

Following the debacle that was Monday Night Football, you probably heard 2 *thuds*. It was near impossible to not hear it because both were so loud and so evident.

The first was every fan’s palm meeting their face.... the second was Roger Goodell’s heart sinking to the ground. After ticking for 47 games, the bomb that was his gamble for replacement refs finally blew up in his face on Game 48 of the NFL Regular Season with the entire continent watching on Monday Night Football no less. Twitter erupted, his office number was posted, and his e-mail was released by a Wisconsin radio station. Pandemonium. The world had witnessed enough.

Bik's Week 4 Thursday Pick: Replacing Life

HUZZAH! THE ORIGINAL REFS ARE BACK (more on this tomorrow in Friday’s feature). But after the debacle that was Monday Night Football and the rapid resolution of the situation, here’s a What If list of other Replacement Scenarios, along with an estimated timeline:

• Replacement Reindeer (Dec 26^th): Imagine trying to explain to kids that Santa was too cheap to front some cash for Rudolph and the crew so in the meantime we have replacement reindeer that don’t have the power and precision that the original reindeer have. No guarantees they get to your house in time for a kid to wake up.

• Replacement Pilots (About 15 flights worldwide): It’s almost immeasurable how much of a catastrophe this would be. Remember that scene in “Snakes On A Plane” when Russ Tyler (the actors name is actually Kenan Thompson and he’s great on SNL but he’s forever Russ Tyler to me from his D2: Mighty Ducks days)  takes over the plane when its careening towards the ground. Now imagine every flight being like that – but without Samuel L. Jackson

• Replacement Cops (2 weeks): Those first few days would be hilarious because the public wouldn’t know how far they could push the limits, and the cops with really no fear of reprimands could really push the limits their own way. But after a while the public would realize, much like we did with the replacement officials, that they don’t know all the laws and it would be chaos.

• Replacement Players (A Month): Wait – DON’T GIVE GARY BETTMAN IDEAS! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!

Onto the Week 4 Picks.

Home Team is in CAPS.

Browns (+12) over RAVENS

I want to rate this game as a loss for everybody. The Browns are maybe the worst team in the league. If you don’t have anything nice to say about a team you shouldn’t say anything about them.

So why am I taking the Browns? This is the Ravens 4^th game in 17 days. Take a second to read that again. 4^th National Football League Game in 17 days. What an immense toll that puts on your body. To compare that to let’s say Arizona who will finish their 4^th game this Sunday in a span of 28 days. The physical toll that is going to have on the beleaguered Ravens could result in some sloppy play allowing the Browns to flirt with that 13 points long enough to keep them in it. Not to mention the potential let down game after a Sunday Night Game versus New England that was controversial in its own right. So with the regular officials back, we might not see the home teams be the beneficiary of scared replacement refs (Seriously – what if the Official on Monday Night was just scared to say it was an interception?) What better way to welcome them back with some favourable calls to the away team leading to another spirited chant by the Ravens Fans.

Last week: 7-8-1

Season: 24-22-2