Roy Jones Jr. Gets Knocked Down Under

It’s all over. At 40 years old after a 20+ year career and winning eight belts in four divisions from middle weight to heavy weight Roy Jones Jr. was knocked out in just 122 seconds.

Australian IBO world cruiser weight champion Danny Green laid Jones out with a strong right hand to the head.

It looks to be the end for Jones Jr. He’s only lost six times since 1989 (he won 54) and this blow should knock him out for good.

I doubt Roy will want to go out like that though, getting knocked out in the land down under in an Aussie’s backyard while the man that punished him says that he feels bad because he saw Roy as an idol.

Jones set his self up going to a champion’s homeland to fight and I’d bet Jones’ mentality won’t let him go out like that. I just hope he does the right thing and retires or at least wins his next fight so he can hang his gloves up for good.

We don’t need another Muhammad Ali being wheeled around for the rest of his life because he refused to call it quits until he’s knocked absolutely senseless.

It’s been an illustrious career Roy; please learn from the other boxers that fight for too long. No one will remember you for your last fight, heck I bet barely anyone even knew you were fighting today. What everyone will remember you for is the near flawless career you exuberated so please, do your family and fans a favor and retire while you can still function.

NFL Results

Picking Spreads: 1-3

Season Spreads: 50-37

Picking Winners: 3-1

Season Winners: 64-23

What I Learned This Week

- Dallas may not have a late season collapse after all.

- The Giants must win this Sunday’s game against Dallas to have any hopes at salvaging their season.

- When Michael Turner isn’t 100% the Falcons aren’t a good team.

- It’s got to be depressing being a Dol-fan. The Dolphins defense letting up 24 points to the Bills in the fourth quarter is so reminiscent of that 30 point fourth quarter collapse against the Jets a few years back. Hey, Dol-fans, you can still hang your hats on that undefeated season, well, until New Orleans runs the table this year.

- The Bengals are stacked all around. Who would have ever thought that their passing game would be their least effective tool?

- Houston just can’t get over that hump. It doesn’t help when you play against Peyton twice every year.

- Jacksonville is still as inconsistent as when the season began. They haven’t got any better and that tells me they will miss the playoffs especially considering that the Ravens and Steelers are right on their heels.

- The Saints defense makes them even better than the Patriots when they had their undefeated regular season.

College Football Results

Picking Spreads: 1-3

Season Spreads: 21-25

Picking Winners: 3-1

Season Winners: 32-14

What I Learned This Week

- The ACC can’t compete with the SEC. #7 Georiga Tech lost to unranked Georgia and #18 Clemson lost to unranked South Carolina. That’s not even mentioning Tebow’s final whomping of Bobby Bowden in the Swamp.

- Miami is still easily the second best team in Florida and will compete with UF for top billing next season.

- Arkansas took LSU to overtime and narrowly lost. The Razorbacks quarterback is just a sophomore. If he decides to continue playing college ball they could be a sleeper team waking up to compete for a national title come next season.

NFL Predictions

Season Spreads: 49-34

Season Winners: 61-22

Green Bay (-11) at Detroit: I like the Packers to cover the spread. They defeated Detroit 26-0 in their first match up this season and I don’t think this game will be much closer.

Oakland (+14) at Dallas: The Radiers are playing much better since the benching of Russel, aka Fat Albert. I think Oakland makes this close but a late game turnover will lead Dallas to victory.

Cleveland (+14) at Cincinnati: The Bengals look to avenge that late game break down against Oakland last week. I think Cincy’s defense shuts down the Browns and they cover the spread.

Jacksonville (+3) at San Francisco: A win for the Jaguars gets them looking great for a wild card spot in the playoffs. I think Jack Del Rio will have his men ready and the Jags get a road victory.

Can’t Pick These

Giants (-6) at Broncos: Who knows either of these teams true identities? A lot will be told about the direction of each squad’s season on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay (+13) at Atlanta: The Falcons are struggling. What a perfect time for the Bucs to come to town.

Miami (-3) at Buffalo: It really depends on the weather in this one. Miami should easily win and even if it’s cold the Dolphins starting QB Henne is from Michigan so he’s used to it. Still, if it’s crazy cold crazy things can happen.

Chicago (+11) at Minnesota: The Vikings should win even if they played blind folded but a rivalry game is never a sure thing, especially in the NFL. The spread’s a little high, too.

Washington (+9) at Philadelphia: The Eagles won by 10 in their first meeting but I’m not confident enough to guarantee anything because Philly’s success always depends on their play calling.

Indianapolis (-3) at Houston: This could be the game Indy losses to ruin their perfect season. A road rivalry game against a hungry team hunting for a playoff birth is never easy.

Kansas City (+14) at San Diego: The Chargers should stomp the Cheifs but the way Kansas City played against Pittsburgh last week I can’t count them out.

Arizona (+3) at Tennessee: Tennessee’s a lot like Arizona last year. They got blown out by New England and started playing hard when their season depended on it. The only difference is the Titans started off so bad that I doubt they can reach the playoffs let alone make it to the Super Bowl.

Pittsburgh (+3) at Baltimore: When the Steelers look down and out is when they play their best football. The Ravens are the same way. The loser here looks like they’ll be on the outside looking in come playoff time.

New England (+3) at New Orleans: It’s the old perfect team against the new perfect team. This will be some great Monday Night Football action.

College Football Predictions

There’s only a few weeks left to get my season spread winning percentage to .500 so I can at least say I’m bowl eligible. College spreads are way tougher to pick than the NFL. Below are my results thus far.

Season Spreads: 20-22
- Winning Percentage: .476

Season Winners: 29-13
- Winning Percentage: .690

Florida State (+25) at #1 Florida: The Gators will win but there’s no way they cover this spread. FSU wants to remain over a .500 ball club and shut Bowden critics up by defeating their in state rival Florida. The Seminoles haven’t been blown out yet this season and Florida hasn’t blown out a quality opponent yet. FSU will play hard and keep the game close but won’t have the talent to win at Florida.

#9 Pittsburgh (PK) at West Virginia: There’s no spread for this game so picking the winner and spread is all tied into one for me. I’ll take Pitt to give WVU their first loss at home this year. Pitt’s playing great and if they can win here and defeat Cincinnati at home next week then Pitt may get a BCS Bowl bid. There’s a lot looming for the Panthers and this game could be a trap but I think their head coach Dave Wan-stache will keep his team focused on the game at hand.

#17 Miami (-6) at South Florida: It’s USF’s chance to gain bragging rights as the second best team in the state behind Florida. Miami can only beat good teams when their struggling and USF isn’t struggling. Still, I think Jacory Harris will show why he was an all state player in high school and keep bragging rights with the Hurricanes by winning and covering the spread. I'll be there to watch!

Syracuse (+14) at Connecticut: Nearly every game UConn played this season was close and this one will be no different. I think UConn gets the win but won’t cover the spread. This will be a highly emotional game for UConn as they try to become bowl eligible with a win in the midst of grieving their murdered team mate Jasper Howard. If the Huskies lose they still have a chance at bowl eligibility the following week when South Florida comes to town but that game will be much more of a challenge. The Huskies want to get this one in honor of their friend.

Can’t Pick These

#3 Texas (-21) at Texas A&M: A&M is all over the place with how they play week to week this season. They’ve been blown out, blown teams out, and been in close games. All I know is Texas better come to play because this is like A&M’s championship. If they can somehow ruin the Longhorns chances at a national title on national television during Thanksgiving night, A&M will proudly hold that moral victory as their trophy.

#2 Alabama (-10) at Auburn: This is the game before THE GAME for Alabama. There’s nothing Auburn would love more than to spoil their SEC rival’s national championship hopes before Florida gets the chance to in the SEC Championship game the week after. ‘Bama better not get caught sleepin’.

#18 Clemson (-3) at South Carolina: This would be a great bowl game. Both these teams play a lot alike and the reason for their difference in records is that one plays in the tough SEC and the other plays in the weak ACC.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

New Mexico (+45) at #4 TCU: I wonder if TCU will complete their undefeated season? Great scheduling Horned Frogs a 1-10 team to end the season with! I really hope New Mexico somehow pulls the upset that would be great.

Georgia (+8) at #7 Georgia Tech: Oh how Georgia would love to kill Georgia Tech’s hopes at a BCS bowl game while at the same time proving the SEC is a far superior conference than the ACC.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Young Vince; The Tennessee Titan

All it took was getting injured, being replaced as the starter while watching his team succeed, and contemplating suicide for Vince Young to mature and realize his potential.

The agonizing weeks that turned into months and ultimately a full year helped Vince Young make the transition from a great college quarterback to a quality NFL QB. Learning defensive schemes and coverages on the sidelines from the ultimate veteran Kerry Collins and the tenured leader Jeff Fischer fought off Young’s insecurities and over confidence in his athletic ability.

Young’s realization that unique athleticism doesn’t automatically convert into a successful NFL career saved his NFL life. It had to be painful watching his team play much better without him last year and even worse watching his team go win less while being told he isn’t even good enough to start on a terrible team.

Vince Young has been through some of the highest of highs and lowest of lows a football career can possibly take and he’s only 26 years old. Vince is still Young and his rebirth into the successful quarterbacking world proves he can overcome the most titanic obstacles.

He boldly predicted and guaranteed being inducted into the Hall of Fame. If he achieves leading the Titans to the playoffs after their 0-6 start, something that has never been done before, then his previous words and actions won’t seem so crazy. In fact, he can literally be heralded as Vince Young; The Tennessee Titan.

NFL Results

Picking Spreads: 2-2

Season Spreads: 49-34

Picking Winners: 3-1

Season Winners: 61-22

What I Learned This Week

- The Dolphins don’t need the Ronnie Brown run wildcat offense for success.

- It’s in Tony Romo’s DNA to struggle after the first week of November.

- Detroit and Cleveland do have offenses they just need to play against a terrible defense to show their skills.

- When a team’s special teams isn’t special, eehemmm… Steelers, it can hurt the team even more than a bad offense or defense.

- Indy knows how to win no matter what it takes in all aspects of the game. That mentality leads to playoff success.

- The Jets should be renamed the Stealth Bombers because they’ve flown off the radar.

- The AFC North lost their tough swagger.

- Denver’s done. Daniels, their head coach, doesn’t have the experience to get his team out of this slump. They do have veterans to help turn this around, but Kyle Orton is proven to be a loser and below average quarterback so that won't happen.

- Titans fans never have to worry when Jeff Fischer's at the helm. Even after a 59-0 stomping and losing their first six games some how Fischer got the team back in the playoff hunt and that somehow is the reemergence of Vince Young.

- The Houston Texans need a witch doctor to reverse their never better than average curse.