All I Want For X-mas is Satellite TV

Good afternoon sportsfans, and it will be a good night in sports as long as you have Direct TV.  The NFL is still trying to promte its own network with these Thursday night prime time games.  Tonights game is between two of the NFL’s most disappointing teams in the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers.

The Chargers (-9) have not lost to Oakland since September 28, 2003 and only one of the last seven has been decided by less than ten points.  Their first meeting was not that exception as San Diego won in Oakland 28-18.  Ladanian Tomlinson had one of his best games of the year with 106 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns in that contest.  I expect to see a similar performance in this one as the Chargers win 31-13.

Tonight in college football there is also an anti-climactic game between disappointing teams.  Over the last couple years the game between Louisville and Rutgers has had conference and national implications.  This game however matches two mediocre opponents against each other.  This will be a matchup of Rutger’s (-11) passing game against Louisville’s rushing attack.  Expect Rutger’s air attack to win out in this one, 37-21.

Tonight in the NBA there are two intriguing matchups between perennial Western Conference contenders.  The struggling Pheonix Suns travel to Dallas to play the streaking Mavericks.  Dallas (-4.5) has won seven out of eight since a slow start and should continue tonight against a Nash-less Pheonix team.  Nash sat out yesterday with flu-like symptoms, so if he plays tonight he most likely will not be 100 percent.  Without Nash the Suns have struggled with turnovers and tonight will be no exception.  Mavs win 102-94.

And also tonight the San Antonio Spurs travel to Denver where they lost both trips last season.  The Spurs had all three of there stars in the starting lineup last night for the first time all season when Manu Ginobli played his first game.  The Nuggets (-4) have been on a roll since acquiring Chauncey Billups, winning 12 out of 15.  Tonight they continue that trend and win again, 99-90.

And in college basketball two final four hopefuls square off in Texas.  UCLA travels to play the Longhorns in the Pac 10/Big 12 Hardwood Series.  UCLA has been to three straight final fours and have one of the best backcourts in the country.  Texas (-6.5) is very athletic and experienced and could reach the final four this year.  I expect a great game that comes down to the wire.  Texas wins, 76-74.

Have a great night and the Dragon will talk to you tomorrow.

Tonight the ACC/Big Ten Challenge finishes up with five games, the first starting at 7:15.  The challenge is tied at three coming into tonight after Duke crushed Purdue in last nights marquee matchup.  Tonight the headliner is the game between the top ranked North Carolina Tar Heels and the twelth ranked Michigan State Spartans.

UNC enters tonights game 7-0 with an average margin of victory of 29.7 points.  As a team they’re averaging 96.9 points per game and have scored over 100 three of the last four.  This game is going to be played at Ford Field, the site of this years final four.  If Carolina wants to get back there in the spring, which they are heavily favored to do, it will be their defense that will take them.  Thus far this season they’re giving up 67.1 points per game and are forcing teams to play an up tempo style.  If Michigan State tries to run up and down with the Tar Heels, this game will get out of hand.

The Michigan State Spartans are averaging 78.2 points per game and are likely going to be without their starting forward Goran Suton again.  The Spartans are 4-1 without him, the one loss however was an 18 point defeat at the hands of Maryland.  If they hope to have better success against the ACC and nations best team, they will need significant contributions from others.  One source coud be freshman Delvin Roe, who was recruited heavily by UNC but chose Michigan State instead.  But his minutes have been limited due to a high school knee injury.

I think the Tar Heels (-10.5) will be far too much for the Spartans and win, 96-78.

In Winston-Salem tonight, the Wake Forest Deamon Deacons take on the Indiana Hoosiers.  There are two great freshman in this matchup.  Al-Farouq Aminu for Wake is averaging 13.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.  Indiana’s Tom Pritchard is averaging 15.8 points per game.  However Indiana’s program is in shambles after Kelvin Sampson’s NCAA violations.  New coach Tom Crean will bring it back to prominence but not this year.

Wake Forest (-23.5) wins tonight behind Aminu and Jeff Teague, but Tom Crean’s boys fight valiantly.  Wake 78-61.

Penn State travels to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech.  The Yellow Jackets (-7.5) win a close one 69-67.

Michigan at Maryland (-6).  The Terps get back on track with a close win, 75-72.

Florida State at Northwestern (-2).  The Seminoles will be a sleeper team this year and win this one on the road, 71-67.

The ACC sweeps tonights games and wins the challenge 8-3.  The Big Ten is getting better but is still no match for the ACC and Big East.  Enjoy the games, peace.

Hello sportsfans, it’s Monday, the day that 73 percent of paper jams occur.  Well good thing I’m not a legitimate writer in print and I’m coming to you via the web.  I took yesterday off because I’ve had a lot of trouble handicapping the NFL this year and I had a feeling my Redskins bias would lead me astray.  Give credit to the Giants as they continue to win big games even with all of the distractions with Plaxico Burress.  But coming off of my 6-0-1 performance on Saturday I think the wheels are in motion for a very productive winter.

Tonight in Houston, the Texans (-3) welcome the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football.  These two teams are tied for last place in the AFC south division at 4-7, and are all but eliminated from playoff contention.  This comes as a surprise to most as both teams were expected to continue to improve on last year’s impressive seasons. 

This game appears to be a matchup of two good running games.  The Jaguars have a two-pronged attack with Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew.  MJD has become the focal point of the running game with 503 rushing yards, 393 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.  Expect him to have another big game tonight for the Jags.

For the Houston Texans, rookie running back Steve Slaton has done a great job filling in for injured Ahman Green.  Slaton has 774 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per carry.  The former West Virginia star appears to be on his way to a productive NFL career as well.

However, I think that the Jaguars defense will be able to contain the Texans running game and force Sage Rosenfels to make some plays in the passing game.  This is certainly feasible with a weapon like Andre Johnson in the receiving core.  But the Jaguars have one of the better secondaries in the NFL, and will create turnovers as Rosenfels has only 5 touchdowns to go with 9 interceptions.  I like the Jaguars to win this one 27-21.

Tonight in the NBA, two of the Eastern Conferences elite battle in Boston.  The Celtics (-9) face the Orlando Magic and superstar big man Dwight Howard.  Boston is the leagues best team at home, boasting a 28-2 record in their last 30 home games.  But Orlando is becoming the leagues best road team winning six straight away from home and are 13-4 overall.  The Magic have been doing this despite injuries to starting guards Jameer Nelson and Mickael Pietrus.  This mostly because Dwight Howard is averaging 25.8 points, 15.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in his last four games.  I expect him to have another big game even against the Celtics staunch defense.  The Celtics have won eight straight and they make it nine tonight in a close one.  Boston 99-95.

I also like the Charlotte Bobcats (-3.5) at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Don’t ask me why, just a hunch.

And in college basketball, the ACC/Big 10 Challenge gets under way tonight as Virgina Tech (-2.5) takes on Wisconsin in Blacksburg, Va.  The ACC has dominated this event, having won every year since it began.  That trend will continue this year, most likely by a resounding margin.  In tonight’s game, a young Wisconsin team has its first road game after a tournament in the Virgin Islands and a couple home games.  The Badgers are 3-6 all-time in this event and are 0-5 on the road.  The Badgers haven’t exactly been impressive as they needed overtime to beat Iona.

Virginia Tech (4-2) comes into this game after losing two games in Puerto Rico Tipoff Classic by a combined five points, including one to a half-court shot at the buzzer from Xavier.  The Hokies are an improved team and should have a solid year.  I expect Wisconsin to succeed this year in the Big 10 as well, but the quality of teams in the ACC is by far superior to that of the Big 10.  Tonight the Hokies get the ACC off to a good start with a 67-58 victory.

Hope your week and month gets off to a good start.  The Dragon will be back tomorrow as college basketball begins to heat up.