The passing of a legend

A real loss in the soccer world, today, as Hungarian Ferenc Puskas died today. For anyone unfamiliar, let's just say that Puskas was like the Mickey Mantle of Real Madrid. A true legend whose due probably won't be recognized here.

On the eve of Freddy Adu's two-week training session with Manchester United, there's another American being linked with the English Football. Eddie Johnson had a bit of a struggle this past year, dogged mostly by injuries and disappointed by a lack of playing time in the World Cup. If he ends up with Reading, the Royals will have quite an American national team faction with Convey and Hahnemann in place.

Liverpool absolutely MUST win tomorrow at Middlesborough. They'll be without the services of Luis Garcia, once again, but as I see it, these next seven league games are all more than winnable.
@ Boro
Man City
Portsmouth
@ Wigan
Fulham
Charlton
@ Watford

If they don't pull at least 19 out of a possible 21 points from these matches, then they may as well cancel the rest of their league season and just focus on the FA Cup and Champions League. Anyway, I'll be watching tomorrow morning when we hopefully get our first away win of the season. The Riverside is a tricky venue (Chelsea stumbled there), but if Liverpool fail now -- after how pathetic we looked against Arsenal on Sunday -- forget a top four finish.

Walk on!

Rebuilding: It sucks

Regardless of whether or not Peter Forsberg is back (and, man, he is definitely back) there's just no excuse for blowing a 3-1 lead to the freaking Philadelphia Flyers. Not this year's Flyers, at any rate. Yet another embarrassing, demoralizing defeat for the Kings and they seem to be all too frequent this season. Our next game versus Phoenix is anything but a gimme, too. Not knowing that playing against Phoenix is... my lord, I can't even tell you how frustrating that is. My dad (a Coyotes fan) and I actually have a $10 bet on which team will finish last in the Pacific, each of us thinking our team is worse than the other's.

As expected, this is shaping up to be a grit your teeth and just bend over and take it type of season for the Kings. We're certainly not pressed for talent, though, and there are some bright spots. As expected, Alexander Frolov is quietly having a very nice season, netting his 10th goal of the year last night, and Anze Kopitar leads all NHL rookies (that would include Evgeni Malkin, even though the Russian Penguin has played nine fewer games) in points and assists (17 and 12 respectively), but the goaltending remains suspect and the power play is terribly weak (ranking 22nd currently).

Adding to the frustration, just one hour south on I-5, Anaheim looks like a bonafide Stanley Cup team. ARGH! THE PAIN! THE AGONY!

I motion that that phrase should be the Kings' rallying cry, this season. "ARGH! THE PAIN! THE AGONY!" I think it fits almost too perfectly.

Another Beane-y offseason

Two big items, this morning, regarding the most likable team (my team) in baseball. Neither of which feel any different than the previous few winters.

First off, Bob Geren got the bump from bench coach to manager of the Oakland A's. Congrats to him, I'm sure he deserves it. Not really at all surprising and, more to the point, kind of inconsequential. Anyone familiar with Moneyball knows that the manager role on this team has virtually nothing to do with strategy and just about everything to do with keeping the clubhouse together. Geren is a pal of Beane from their high school days and a quality character guy. Unlike Ken Macha, he obviously knows the score, here.

In player news, well, seems like we lose big names all the time. As awesome as it would've been to keep Frank Thomas (him being our team MVP last season and all), Beane took an inexpensive flyer on the aging bat just to bring him into the team. A year ago at this time, nobody wanted Big Hurt. 39 homeruns later, people are changing their tune. But consider that Oakland signed him for a deal that, all in all, was about $3.1 million for the season. So to go from that to, all of a sudden, a deal that, after incentives, will probably look like 2yrs/$21 mil (or possibly 3yrs/$28 mil) just isn't cost efficient for one of the most thrifty teams in baseball. The A's have limited financial resources. Thomas' deal isn't breaking the bank, but it's a lot to ask of a 38-year-old DH whose body is steadily breaking down. It's all about value and Beane got the best of it last season.

Trust in Billy Beane, though. Every A's fan has been down this road with him before and we've all learned that he's a man to be trusted. Smartest GM in baseball. As Athletics Nation can tell you, this isn't anything we haven't dealt with before.

NFL Week 11 Picks

Before we get to it, some of you might've heard that there's this pretty huge college football game happening tomorrow. Ohio State and Michigan meet for the first time as #1 and #2 and it's the first time since 1975 that both teams have been undefeaeted heading into the game. Never has there been more at stake in the biggest rivalry in college football than tomorrow. Not often that you'll see a team disappointed to be playing in the Rose Bowl. The Wolverines are definite underdogs heading into Columbus, but they may have just received some devine, albeit tragic, inspiration. Bo Schembechler has died during the same week that ESPN.com ran a story about an Ohio State punk band called "The Dead Schembechlers." I don't know about all of you, but that spells a lot of bad karma for the Buckeyes. Can Troy Smith & Co. ward off the voodoo? Well, facing Lloyd Carr, I think they do it just barely. I'll be pulling for Michigan, but my pick is Ohio State 24 Michigan 23.

While on the topic, here's a great piece from Dan Wetzel about how USC (assuming they win out) should unquestionably be in the national title game. All due respect to possibly undefeated Rutgers and Boise State, but I'm with Wetzel on this all the way.

Okay. Let's see what the pros have in store, playing the rare role of afterthought on this football weekend. 8-8 v the spread last week and it doesn't get any easier this go around. Silver and Black...

Oakland at Kansas City (-9.5) - The Raiders nearly caught Denver napping last weekend, but clock management proved to be a mighty downfall. That and, um, Andrew Walter. Back-to-back rivalry games might be asking too much of this team's energy level. Especially playing on the road against a KC squad that'll be inspired by Trent Green's return and desperate to keep in the playoff race. Chiefs 24 Raiders 10

San Diego at Denver (-2.5) - The game of the week has to be Broncos/Chargers. No doubt. The first of two clashes to decide the AFC West. Both teams coming in 7-2. San Diego is the highest scoring team in the league, while Denver boasts one of the stingiest defenses. The Chargers don't have a particularly good history of playing in Denver, though, and the fact that this is the Sunday Night game only makes matters worse for SD. I love Superman, LDT, but I'm not picking against Denver at home. The return contest will likely be a different story. Broncos 20 Chargers 17

Cincinnati at New Orleans (-3.5) - I said after last Sunday that the Bengals are dead and buried after that collapse against the Chargers and I'm sticking to it. Cincy is in too fragile a mental state after devastating back-to-back losses to overcome playing on the road against America's Team. Saints 31 Bengals 21

Buffalo at Houston (-2.5) - Can't really say that you "like" either team, here, but they both played tough last week. Bills nearly clipped the sleeping Colts and Houston did the double of Jacksonville. Texans have more momentum and the home crowd to boost them over the McGahee-less Bills. Texans 27 Bills 16

New England (-5.5) at Green Bay - Patriots have lost two in a row? Is someone slipping me crazy pills or is that actually true? Must win for the Pats who are only too happy to play in the frozen tundra against mistake-happy Brett Favre. Patriots 30 Packers 17

Atlanta at Baltimore (-4.5) - I'm making this one my lock of the week. Vick has looked flat out bad in back-to-back losses against the Lions and Browns. How do you think he'll fare against the Baltimore D, Ray Lewis or not? Ravens 26 Falcons 13

Chicago at New York Jets (+6.5) - Doesn't get any easier for the Bears as they hook up with an overachieving Jets team that has Chad Pennington looking like a Pro Bowler. The Jets are opportunistic and hungry, but Chicago's D will be the difference. Bears 22 Jets 20

Pittsburgh (-3.5) at Cleveland - Steelers showed a lot of heart, hanging on to beat the Saints last week. No QB likes the look of Romeo Crennell's defense, these days, but this could be a momentum builder for the champs. They need to go on a major run if they're to salvage some pride from this season. Steelers 20 Browns 14

St. Louis (+6.5) at Carolina - Despite covering against the Bucs on Monday, the Panthers still haven't proven that they can be consistent. Rams are on a slide, though. Panthers 28 Rams 24

Tennessee at Philadelphia (-13.5) - Nothing would spark this Eagles team like back-to-back blowout victories over crappy teams. Titans have had a few gut punches this season and I think they're due for a bit of a letdown this weekend. Eagles 35 Titans 13

Washington at Tampa Bay (-2.5) - Would you watch this game? Me neither. Buccaneers 10 Redskins 6

Minnesota at Miami (-3.5) - Don't look now, but these two teams are racing in opposite directions. Dolphins are making a lot of progress and the Vikings are going in the tank. Dolphins 27 Vikings 15

Seattle at San Francisco (+6.5) - 49ers are playing tough at home and are looking for three on the bounce. This should be the upset special. But... Seahawks 23 49ers 21

Detroit at Arizona (-2.5) - I can't believe I'm being forced to pick AZ. Cardinals 38 Lions 31

Indianapolis (-1.5) at Dallas - This is the game that people think will be good, but really won't be. Colts still can't stop the run, though, so it'll be interesting... if the Cowboys can exploit that. Colts 34 Cowboys 26

New York Giants (-3.5) at Jacksonville - Maybe the most difficult matchup to call of the season. Both teams have the talent, yet seem to have letdowns at the most inopportune times. Over/under on references Tony Kornholer makes about his stupid fantasy team: 10. Giants 23 Jaguars 17