Detroit Pistons Weekly Watch: Making Do Without Rip Hamilton & Tayshaun Prince

During the second week of the 2009-2010 season, the Pistons have gone 1-2 and are 2-4 overall at the moment.

They began with an 85-80 home victory over the visiting Orlando Magic minus both Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, who’d come down with an unexpected lower back strain. Prince’s injury ended his streak of 496 consecutive games played and league-leading mark of 439 consecutive starts.

The loss was the Magic’s first of the season and their 20th to the Pistons in 24 games going back to the 2006-2007 season.

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Sunday Night Football: Dallas at Philadelphia Preview and Prediction

Who isn’t excited for the showdown on Sunday night?

The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles are two franchises that despise one another, which always makes for quality television, as well as a good game too. Yet, let’s not forget the last time these two teams met in December of 2008, which was a complete blowout and hardly a game Cowboys fans want to remember.

Losing to their most hated rival 44-6 on the final weekend of the season clearly was not a happy ending or cherry on top of a topsy-turvy 2008 season. For the Cowboys that game has been erased from their minds and currently the squad focused on the 3-game winning streak that has them at the top of the NFC East standings.

Ever since Tony Romo as been at the helm, the Cowboys are 11-1 in November, which includes a win against the Eagles in Philadelphia in 2007. This game means more for to the ‘Boys than the Eagles, especially with all the hype that surrounded this team last season and the scrutiny they continue to receive on a weekly basis.

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Steelers-Broncos Monday Night Football Preview and Prediction

Editor’s Note: AJ Kaufman’s weekly MNF coverage on MSF is sponsored by Sadler’s Smokehouse, a producer of premium pit smoked meats that are best described by Sadler’s slogan: Legendary since 1948.

Sadler’s premium meats are perfect for tailgating on Saturday, for grilling out at home on Sunday, or for when you are hosting a group of friends, or even just the family, on Monday night.

With a variety of delicious choices (beef, pork, ribs, turkey, brisket, and more) and availability at grocery stores throughout the U.S., Sadler’s meats are the tasty, convenient choice when you want to watch the big game and eat well while you’re doing it.

Check out Sadler’s Monday Night Football Recipe of the Week: Sadler’s Smokehouse Pulled Pork Stew

Visit the Sadler’s Smokehouse website: Sadler’s Smokehouse

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Monday Night Football

Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) at Denver Broncos (6-1)

• Steelers-Broncos Date: Monday, Nov 9th
• Steelers-Broncos Kickoff Time: 8:30 pm
• Steelers-Broncos TV Network: ESPN
• Steelers-Broncos Announcers: Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden
• Steelers-Broncos Point Spread: Steelers -3 (as of Saturday morning)
• Steelers-Broncos Over-Under: 40 (as of Saturday morning)
• Steelers-Broncos Spread Pick by Jerod: Did the glass slipper fall off of Denver last week in Baltimore? Or was it just a one week blip? We will certainly find out Monday night, but I think Denver is good enough to get more respect than being a three point home dog. Pittsburgh has been uneven this year and I think Denver will be able to slow down Big Ben and the passing game. With Rashard Mendenhall’s fumbilitis, I think plenty of opportunities will be there for Denver to get good field position and win a low scoring game. Steelers-Broncos free pick: Broncos +3

Steelers-Broncos MNF Preview and Analysis

While analysts around the league have suggested that last week’s loss against the then .500 Ravens is a “sign of things to come,” Broncos fans need not get wrapped up in such conjecture.

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Could Sammy Sosa’s Pale Appearance Be the Result of Vitiligo Brought on By Steroid Use?

A post that we made here on Friday afternoon regarding Sammy Sosa’s shockingly white appearance (hat tip again to Jimmy Traina) kicked off a flurry of activity around the web (for example: here, here, and here) and rightfully so.

The pictures are jarring.

It’s been a while since Sammy Sosa has been in the public eye, and we all remember a much darker version of him than what we are seeing in this current pictures. (Not to mention, as Big League Stew pointed out earlier this evening, when did Sammy start wearing green contacts?)

The obvious question in the immediate aftermath of these pictures making their way around the web is, what might be the root cause of Sammy’s paleness?

I decided to do a little digging — admittedly with a hypothesis that steroid use might have something to do with it — and found some interesting information.

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NFL and College Picks for November 7th and 8th

The Guru still lives up to his name in the pro game, being 17-11 for the season so far.

Still not so hot with college though. 12-16-1 in a disappointing year so far.

Click here to see Jerod’s picks from earlier this week and then follow after the jump for this week’s college and NFL picks.

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What Is Going On With Sammy Sosa?

After reading this tweet and following the link supplied by Jimmy Traina, I had to quickly post this.

Does anyone know what is going on with Sammy Sosa?

As Traina’s tweet wonders, did Sosa get a facelift? Botox? Is he possibly dealing with vitiligo (the disease Michael Jackson suffered from that causes splotches of pigment-less skin)?

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ESPN’s Pro Football Talk Reads A Lot Like Pro Football Talk’s Pro Football Talk

I just caught a really interesting post by Florio over at Pro Football Talk about how their content had been plagiarized by “someone in the journalism business” other than a “small, no-name blog site.”

I was going to copy/paste it here for you to read, but then I thought to myself, “who in the hell do I think I am? ESPN?”

Thus, I shall do what the rest of us small, no-name blog sites are required to do: provide a short excerpt to the story and a link for attribution:

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NFL Betting: Week 9 Odds and Picks: Chiefs-Jaguars, Panthers-Saints, Pittsburgh-Denver

Goodbye baseball, hello NFL betting.

OK – the end of the baseball season doesn’t mean we all have to start betting on football. But we sports fans sure will be watching it and some of us will wager on it for office pools, friendly bets and so on. Let’s try a few more Week 9 NFL picks.

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The Circle City Holds its Collective Breath (Update: Indy Now Hyperventilating)

If an entire city holds its breath, does everything in that city turn purple?

Will the city ultimately “pass out?” (Which I guess would be manifested in power outages, stalled cares, and the like…)

Will bloggers strain to adequately develop forced metaphors instead of getting right to the point?

Well, we’re going to find out, because the entire city of Indianapolis is about to hold its collective breath while it awaits the results of yet another Bob Sanders visit to see Dr. James Andrews.

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Pete Rose Will Sit on You, But Refuses to Eat Your Hair

Pete Rose has been train wreck for a long time. And part of the reason why people cannot refuse to look away is the sad fact that Pete rarely realizes that the joke is on him.

As he is wont to do, Sacha Baron Cohen took that to the extreme.

Via SportsbyBrooks (via Chris Littmann at The Sporting Blog), we get never-before-aired footage of a scene from the movie Bruno that featured baseball’s all-time gambling hit king using laborers as a chair and taking issue with eating sushi off of a naked man.

(Whatever happens from here on out in my life, I will be forever thankful that I had the opportunity to write that sentence.)

Video after the jump. And yes, it is as hilariously horrific as it sounds.

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Week 9 Injury Updates: Devin Hester, Calvin Johnson, Roddy White, Donald Driver, More

As we do every Friday, let’s roll through the NFL injury report and assess the carnage from a fantasy perspective.

Cardinals-Bears Injuries

Devin Hester injury update: Hester has missed two straight days of practice because of an ankle malady. As with Boldin, Hester’s participation on Friday will help determine whether he plays on Sunday or not.

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MSF’s NBA Polls: Part 1

Welcome to MSF’s first ever NBA Poll.

What is it? Well, this is a poll we will be having 3 times during the year, and it will include a variety of questions most NBA fans would be intrigued to answer (Such as MVP, Rookie of the Year, etc).

Then you will be able to look back to our previous polls, and see how the polls may have changed. Then finally, when awards and answers are out, you can compare our polls to reality.

Welcome to my first NBA Poll. Are you nut-heads ready? Well let the voting begin!
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Notre Dame-Navy Preview

This Saturday, the 19th ranked Fighting Irish will take on their long-time rivals, the Navy Midshipmen.

Notre Dame’s game last week against Washington State was the first boring game the Irish have played all year as they swamped the Cougars 40-14. Even though it was a boring, one-sided game, I was happy.

For one time in the season the Irish dominated a team they should have dominated.

This week the Irish play the Midshipmen in a rival that began in 1927. The Irish have a 71-10-1 edge on the rivalry.  The Irish had a NCAA record of 43 straight wins against the Navy, but that was broken in 2007 when the Midshipmen won in OT. Even though the rivalry has been one-sided both teams hold this game in high regard. Both teams respect each other, and that’s what gives this game a little extra meaning.

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LeBron vs New York: Chapter 3

On March 5, 2008, LeBron James lights up Madison Square garden with a spectacular showing, dropping 5o points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 steals.

A near jaw jolt to the face of Spike Lee.

Spike probably rubbed off the boo-boo, forgot about it, then moved on.

Wrong.

On February 4, 2009, LeBron James comes back to New York for the second time. But this time, he feels like putting on a show for everyone, including friends as Jay-Z, Beyonce, etc. LeBron dazzles the New York arena with 52 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2 blocks, barely missing the last 50-point-triple double since Kareem.

Simply, as the NBA says, amazing.

Oh, and I think that this blow to Spike Lee’s jaw, probably left a couple bones broken.

So, with the Cavs heading into New York on Friday (11/6), will LeBron put on another show? Will Spike Lee be able to handle another blow? Will the Knicks be able to take another blow?

I think not.

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The Debate by the Lake: Browns Fans Disagree on Planned MNF Protest

Before we get into the heart of this post and this week’s podcast, let me just type something that all of our Browns readers can agree on:

Pittsburgh sucks.

Everyone nod in agreement, put down the Stadium Mustard, and now prepare to be separated into two distinct camps (both of which still hate Pittsburgh, no worries there).

In one corner: supporters of Dawg Pound Mike Randall and the walk-in-late protest that he and Mobile Dawg Tony Schaefer are planning for next Monday’s Browns-Ravens game in Cleveland Browns Stadium. If you side here, you most likely think Eric Mangini should have been shown the door with George Kokinis.

In the other corner: supporters of the opinion held by fellow die-hards like Peter Pattakos of ClevelandFrowns.com, who do not understand what will be accomplished by purposefully settling into their seats after kickoff. If you are on this side, you most likely believe that the correct next step for the Browns is something other than a knee-jerk firing of the head coach.

And now we bring you what I am officially dubbing The Debate by the Lake in which Dawg Pound Mike and Cleveland Frown Peter go head to head discussing their beloved Browns.

Two men with the same ultimate goal, but vastly different opinions on what the franchise and its fans should do next in an effort to get there.

Enjoy.

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