Who has the easiest schedule - week 12 wrap-up.

Following the schedule difficulty break-down from the last week, here are the updated charts after week 12. All the teams have played 11 games with 5 games left. The numbers are average win percentage of the opponents (played and left). Enjoy.

*********** Games played *************** 
0.579 Tennessee [4-7]
0.570 Oakland [2-9]
0.562 New England [8-3]
      Tampa Bay [3-8]
0.554 Cleveland [3-8]
0.545 Buffalo [5-6]
      Denver [7-4]
      Pittsburgh [4-7]
0.529 Cincinnati [6-5]
      Houston [3-8]
0.521 N.Y. Jets [6-5]
      N.Y. Giants [6-5]
0.512 Washington [4-7]
0.504 Indianapolis [10-1]
      St. Louis [5-6]
0.496 Green Bay [4-7]
0.488 Kansas City [7-4]
      Philadelphia [5-6]
0.479 Arizona [2-9]
      Detroit [2-9]
      San Francisco [5-6]
0.471 Carolina [6-5]
      Jacksonville [6-5]
      Miami [5-6]
      Minnesota [5-6]
0.463 Baltimore [9-2]
0.455 Atlanta [5-6]
      Chicago [9-2]
0.446 San Diego [9-2]
0.438 Dallas [7-4]
      New Orleans [7-4]
0.430 Seattle [7-4]
*********** Games left *************** 
0.636 Miami [5-6]
0.618 Jacksonville [6-5]
0.600 Arizona [2-9]
      Buffalo [5-6]
      Detroit [2-9]
0.582 Cincinnati [6-5]
      Tennessee [4-7]
0.527 N.Y. Giants [6-5]
      Denver [7-4]
      Kansas City [7-4]
0.509 San Diego [9-2]
      New Orleans [7-4]
      Philadelphia [5-6]
      Tampa Bay [3-8]
      Washington [4-7]
0.491 Carolina [6-5]
      Green Bay [4-7]
      Houston [3-8]
      Oakland [2-9]
      Pittsburgh [4-7]
      San Francisco [5-6]
0.473 Cleveland [3-8]
      Minnesota [5-6]
      Seattle [7-4]
0.455 Dallas [7-4]
      Atlanta [5-6]
      Baltimore [9-2]
0.436 Indianapolis [10-1]
0.400 St. Louis [5-6]
0.382 N.Y. Jets [6-5]
0.364 New England [8-3]
0.345 Chicago [9-2]

You can only go so far without your stars

Giants have lost their third straight, and it's not just the losing, it's the way they do it. First, there was the loss to the Bears with the record-tying 108 TD, then the beating they they took from the Jaguars (at least it was on ESPN, so not everyone watched), and now the complete meltdown in the fourth quarter when they led 21-0 and lost 21-24. And it's not all Eli's fault. You can't just continue playing without your top defensive and offensive players and hold on to the division lead.

LaVar Arrington signed in April 2006 is out for the year. The best wide receiver in Giants history, Amani Toomer is out for the year. Tiki Barber is playing with a broken thumb. Michael Strahan had a sprained ligament. Add Umeniyora, Petitgout, Moss and Hasselbeck to the list... And now they lost the division lead, and most probably will get levelled by Romo and the rolling Cowboys. Manning is in his third season, and he should show some leadership, but it's kind of tough when you have nobody to lead.

Who's that girl? Part 4.

The final regular season game for Longhorns, with the same girl right behind Mack Brown. Very disappointing game for the Longhorns. who most probably won't go to the Big 12 championship game (and to the BCS major games). Even worse, Colt McCoy suffered yet another scary collision and was wheeled away with 0:20 left in the game. He waved his hand at the crowd at the end, so that's one positive thing for now. Hoping he gets well soon...

The new tradition starts today

Hailed by the commercial spots as "the new tradition", tomorrow will be the day of the first game (Broncos at Chiefs) aired live by NFL Network. Not everybody will be able to see it, even if they are willing to pay the money to the cable carrier (according to this Yahoo article). As much as i understand the financial motives behind this decision by the league team owners, i think that in the long run we (as the viewers) will suffer. Not only are we stuck with the local games (which by some stupid league regulation prohibit the other channel to show the game being played in the same time slot), not only do we have to pay 249$ a year for the Sunday Ticket (which as far as i know wasn't made cheaper even when the best week matchups were moved to Thursday night).

Now we need to pay even more to watch these games. And you can't even pay for a single game (like a real pay-per-view). You have to pay for the entire channel. This is simply outrageous, and i truly hope that NFL Network will have heavy losses not only this season, but in the next few seasons as well. Because otherwise, they will see that they can charge extra money and will transfer more games as the time goes by. Eventually (say in 5-10 years) we wouldn't have any games left on public channels (CBS / FOX) besides the Sunday Night Football. By the way, remember that MNF is already on the cable (ESPN). Sad, sad future.

Who has the easiest schedule - week 11 wrap-up.

Following the schedule difficulty break-down from the last week, here are the updated charts after week 11. All the teams have played 10 games with 6 games left. The numbers are average win percentage of the opponents (played and left). Enjoy.

*********** Games played *************** 
0.570 Tennessee [3-7]
0.560 Cincinnati [5-5]
      Cleveland [3-7]
      Oakland [2-8]
      Tampa Bay [3-7]
0.550 N.Y. Giants [6-4]
0.540 Buffalo [4-6]
      N.Y. Jets [5-5]
0.530 Denver [7-3]
0.520 Houston [3-7]
      Pittsburgh [4-6]
      St. Louis [4-6]
0.510 New England [7-3]
      Washington [3-7]
0.500 Indianapolis [9-1]
      Minnesota [4-6]
0.490 Miami [4-6]
      Arizona [2-8]
0.480 Baltimore [8-2]
      Detroit [2-8]
      San Francisco [5-5]
0.470 Carolina [6-4]
      Green Bay [4-6]
      Kansas City [6-4]
      Jacksonville [6-4]
      San Diego [8-2]
0.460 Dallas [6-4]
      New Orleans [6-4]
0.450 Atlanta [5-5]
      Philadelphia [5-5]
0.440 Seattle [6-4]
0.420 Chicago [9-1]
*********** Games left *************** 
0.583 Tennessee [3-7]
      Philadelphia [5-5]
0.567 Arizona [2-8]
      Buffalo [4-6]
      Detroit [2-8]
      Kansas City [6-4]
0.550 Cincinnati [5-5]
      Jacksonville [6-4]
      Miami [4-6]
      Pittsburgh [4-6]
      Tampa Bay [3-7]
0.533 Denver [7-3]
      Washington [3-7]
0.517 Green Bay [4-6]
      New Orleans [6-4]
      Oakland [2-8]
0.483 Atlanta [5-5]
      Carolina [6-4]
      San Francisco [5-5]
      Seattle [6-4]
      Cleveland [3-7]
      Houston [3-7]
      N.Y. Giants [6-4]
0.450 Dallas [6-4]
      New England [7-3]
      San Diego [8-2]
0.433 Baltimore [8-2]
      Indianapolis [9-1]
      Minnesota [4-6]
0.417 St. Louis [4-6]
0.400 Chicago [9-1]
0.350 N.Y. Jets [5-5]

Have to love the flexible schedule

The flexible schedule that was part of the deal between NFL and NBC is great. Simply great. Not only it allows NBC to have at least one entry in the Nielsens weekly ratings, it gives us an opportunity to watch two good teams play. Of course, the next week's matchup between Eagles and Colts is not the "optimal" one since McNabb is done for the season, but at least on the paper it sounds better than Packers vs. Seahawks on MNF.

The game between Chargers and Broncos was the best i could wish for this Sunday (since i love explosive offensive shootouts), and having LaDainian Tomlinson break quite a few league records never looks better than live in HD. He most probably is going to break the 30 TD / season barrier this year. It's interesting to note the following trend:

Up until 2000, only two-three players have crossed the 20 TD/season mark each decade. And suddenly, the current decade sees the explosion. First, Marshall Faulk does it twice, with 26 in 2000 and 21 in 2001. Then Priest Holmes does it twice, with 24 in 2002 and 27 in 2003. Last year, it's Shaun Alexander with 28. This year, Tomlinson already has 20 with 6 games to go... It can't be attributed only to the 16-game season (which was installed in 1978). Can it be that the defenses are weaker, or the offenses are more specialized? I know that the records are made to be broken, but at this pace we're looking at 30+ TD seasons becoming a normal thing?

Who has the easiest schedule?

Madden had an interesting comment during the Bears-Giants game. He spoke about people that say that Bears have a very easy schedule this year, but that is their schedule and they are playing their games. This is indeed true, and unless a round-robin or a similar scheduling is introduced, it's very hard to objectively compare the teams from different divisions (and conferences). However, given that all the teams have played nine games, we can compare the combined strength of the opponents by simple adding the number of victories of all opposing teams. Here is the complete chart, sorted by the opponent strength as taken from the combined number of victories:

49 Tampa Bay [2-7]
48 Cleveland [3-6]
47 Buffalo [3-6]
   Tennessee [2-7]
46 N.Y. Giants [6-3]
45 Oakland [2-7]
44 Pittsburgh [3-6]
   Washington [3-6]
43 Arizona [1-8]
   Cincinnati [4-5]
   Detroit [2-7]
   Houston [3-6]
   New England [6-3]
42 St. Louis [4-5]
41 Denver [7-2]
   Minnesota [4-5]
40 Indianapolis [9-0]
39 Kansas City [5-4]
   Miami [3-6]
   N.Y. Jets [5-4]
38 Baltimore [7-2]
   Carolina [5-4]
   Jacksonville [5-4]
   Philadelphia [5-4]
   San Francisco [4-5]
36 Green Bay [4-5]
   New Orleans [6-3]
   Seattle [6-3]
34 San Diego [7-2]
33 Chicago [8-1]
   Dallas [5-4]
32 Atlanta [5-4]

While Indianapolis may not have the toughest schedule, Chicago has one of the easiest... One other thing to notice - Giants and Patriots are really working hard for that 6-3 record. Projecting the schedule forward (based on the current games), we have:

78 Tennessee [2-7]
77 Cincinnati [4-5]
76 Tampa Bay [2-7]
74 N.Y. Giants [6-3]
73 Oakland [2-7]
72 Buffalo [3-6]
   Cleveland [3-6]
71 Denver [7-2]
   Pittsburgh [3-6]
   Washington [3-6]
70 Arizona [1-8]
   Houston [3-6]
69 Detroit [2-7]
68 New England [6-3]
   Philadelphia [5-4]
67 Jacksonville [5-4]
   Kansas City [5-4]
66 Dallas [5-4]
65 San Francisco [4-5]
   St. Louis [4-5]
64 Carolina [5-4]
   Indianapolis [9-0]
   Miami [3-6]
   Minnesota [4-5]
   N.Y. Jets [5-4]
   San Diego [7-2]
63 Green Bay [4-5]
   New Orleans [6-3]
   Seattle [6-3]
61 Baltimore [7-2]
60 Atlanta [5-4]
56 Chicago [8-1]

Hmmm, if they don't go to 15-1, they're most certainly not worth the hype. The remaining schedule looks the toughest for Cincinnati and Dallas:

34 Cincinnati [4-5]
33 Dallas [5-4]
31 Tennessee [2-7]
30 Denver [7-2]
   Philadelphia [5-4]
   San Diego [7-2]
29 Jacksonville [5-4]
28 Atlanta [5-4]
   Kansas City [5-4]
   N.Y. Giants [6-3]
   Oakland [2-7]
27 Arizona [1-8]
   Green Bay [4-5]
   Houston [3-6]
   New Orleans [6-3]
   Pittsburgh [3-6]
   San Francisco [4-5]
   Seattle [6-3]
   Tampa Bay [2-7]
   Washington [3-6]
26 Carolina [5-4]
   Detroit [2-7]
25 Buffalo [3-6]
   Miami [3-6]
   N.Y. Jets [5-4]
   New England [6-3]
24 Cleveland [3-6]
   Indianapolis [9-0]
23 Baltimore [7-2]
   Chicago [8-1]
   Minnesota [4-5]
   St. Louis [4-5]

The charts will be updated weekly.

Who's that girl? Part 3.

Yet another game with the same girl right besides Mack Brown. The Longhorns lost in a shootout to Kansas State and can pretty much forget about the trip to the National Championship game (as well as Louisville, Auburn and California, unless something extraordinary happens in the next two Saturdays). My wife's theory about her (the girl) being the coach's daughter was strengthened by the fact that she pulled Mack Brown away from the sidelines when a Wildcat was forced out of the field and was right on a path to collide with the Texas coach...

Santa Clara 49ers?

The 49ers have announced that they are planning to move to Santa Clara by 2012. The main reason is the high cost of infrastructure improvements around the planned site for the new stadium, so they may be just trying to put a little pressure on San Francisco officials to chip in on that cost, especially since the city can have huge investments rolling in if the 2016 Olympics will be held there (i just can't imagine having an extra few hundred thousand / million people on the streets, but that's another story).

Which brings me to an interesting point. I live in the area, and i see the people. One of the main reasons why San Jose has the biggest per capita income is very simple - a lot of high tech companies. Who works there? Not a kind of people who'd go to a professional football game (few of them do, but it's not like it's Green Bay, let's face it). Many are immigrants who could care less about the sports and many are simply not interested in sports because of the internal inclinations (ever see somebody good at sports and computers - shouldn't be a lot). The Sharks arena is rarely sold out (according to one of my co-workers), and there is only one shop that sells non-Sharks jerseys that i've been able to find in the area. Granted, ice hockey is not as popular as football, but still. They can't assume to boost ticket sales just by moving into a rich area, and corporate sponsorship / luxury boxes alone can't save the day, especially in the post-bubble era. Some other good questions raised here.

Why Colts won and Patriots lost

There is a very good reason why Colts won at Foxboro. I can't say they were better, not with the worst rushing defense in the league. The reason is very simple - they played their game while New England tried to change theirs specifically for the Colts. Manning threw for 44 yards on 3rd and 15 in the first quarter because this is what he does. Patriots went for 4th and 3 in the first quarter because they were afraid to be outscored. Guess what, Colts only twenty seven points, but it was enough.

Patriots' offense was constantly changing the tactics and it was more disrupting them than the Colts' defense. Just take the ball and rush it. You get one of the best rushers in the league - just give him the ball. Don't throw like you're playing against Vikings. Do what you do best, do what brought you three rings. Now Colts are on track to have all playoff games at home (which doesn't really say that they're going to go to SuperBowl).

And last but not least - one of the most quiet and effective players in the league. The incomparable Marvin Harrison just does what he gets paid for. No sleeping on the ball, no barking at the WR coach, just catching one ball after another. Simple incredible.

This has finally happened

Finally, Bears got what their offense really deserves. The Dolphins team may not be as good as in 1985, but Bears most certainly didn't deserve to go unbeaten this far. The defense is the best by far, but the opposing defenses finally have cracked Rex Grossman - pressure him. The last interception was particularly ridiculous. Now it's up to Giants on next Sunday night - should be fun to watch, especially since Eli Manning has matured much quicker than Grossman.

The most ridiculous measuring device in the world

OK, it may not be the most ridiculous in the world, but it is by far the most ridiculous and inaccurate in the professional sports. A guy carries the ball, another guy tackles him and drags him to the ground, another six fall on top of them and then what? Two guys come from the opposite sides of the field and "mark the spot". The accuracy varies from nanometers to a whole foot (and perhaps more). If you're lucky, you get the first down. If you're not, the bring in "the device". The device is two sticks chained together. The first stick is placed somewhere in the vicinity of the previous "spot", the second stick is placed somewhere in the vicinity of the current "spot". If the point of the ball is a micron away from the second stick (which in itself is a sizeable object), you get "... and inches". Inches? Say what?

Perhaps it should be renamed to "... and some distance that we can't really measure but we're to embarrassed to acknowledge the fact of it, so it's the best that we can give you unless you throw your red flag and then we'll have to take one of your precious little timeouts, so back to the topic at hand, let's call it inches and be done with it".

Who's that girl? Part 2.

A follow-up to the Who's that girl part 1 - a picture of the same girl during the game against Oklahoma University. My wife says that she's the coach's daughter. I doubt it. What say you?