Cardinal Sin? Yes, Really.

Really? REALLY????? RE-HE-HE-HE-HE-HE-HEALLY?????? Yes.....really. If you know me, you know that I am tired of people that give you that inquisitorial/sarcastic, “really?” all the time. I hate that. Someone needs to put a stop to that, save for situations that actually demand it. This Albert Pujols situation demands it.

Albert Pujols' contract ends following the 2011 baseball season. He will become a free agent unless the St. Louis Cardinals renegotiate his contract with him. Now given the absurdity of major league contracts these days and the lack of a salary cap, there are some contracts out there that are skewing everything up at a crazy rate. Albert Pujols is the best player in the game and with lesser players like Alex Rodriguez and Jayson Werth making more than him, the correct move is to give Albert a contract that exceeds the 27.5 million that A-Rod makes a year. And given what Pujols has done, is doing and could potentially do, he very much deserves to get paid in this broken system.

Contract talks broke down this week and reportedly Albert does not want to discuss his contract during the season which begins in a month. Which means that with no contract agreed upon, Pujols will become a free agent at season's end. Contract talks broke down because Pujols did not like the salary number per year. St. Louis I will put it to you like this, if you do not want to pay Albert Pujols 30 million a year, someone else will. No question.

St. Louis, how would you let this happen? This is a once an era player. Albert Pujols is by a wide margin the best player in the MLB. If you googled “Hank Aaron's daddy”, pictures of Albert Pujols would come up. And in 7 or 8 years from now, Albert is going to be approaching Henry Aaron and Barry Bonds' all-time home run record. He currently sits at 408 home runs and the revenue alone of the world following him chase the record would be worth the 300 million for which Pujols is asking. So St. Louis, given the state of baseball and how you have one of the elite teams in the league and the potential your team has I gotta ask,

Really?

How the Worst Team in the NBA Will Decide the MVP

Recently there has been an NBA fan base that has been very quiet after being the most loud and obnoxious over the summer. I speak of course about the Cleveland Cavaliers and their fans in particular. When LeBron James signed with the Miami Heat, Cleveland fans went crazy like James was supposed to resign with Cleveland like he owed them something. And now it is kind of funny to see how Cleveland's attitude has changed over the season. Currently the Cavs are in the midst of a 25 game losing streak, the longest ever in the NBA. It is like the 5 stages of grief with Cleveland and now they are somewhere in between bargaining and depression. As it stands right now through 52 regular season games, the Cleveland Cavaliers are 8-44. Last year through 52 games the Cavs had the best record in the league at 41-11. And this is largely with the same team they had last year minus LeBron James of course. The Cavs are also down Delonte West and Shaq from last year but their effect would be negligible even if they were still on the team.

Now do not get me wrong, I am not wishing this fate upon the Cavs players. I would never wish that on anyone. I know how losing like that feels bowling for Texas A&M University. I realize most of you people cannot relate to bowling collegiately but just let me tell you, we were the Cleveland Cavaliers of collegiate bowling. But, this situation in Cleveland is interesting to me because I think that team has a major effect on the NBA's MVP voting. With no one really running away with the MVP, most voters will look to how the reigning MVP is doing and if he is doing anything to lose that MVP status. Last year James averaged 29 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds per game when he won the MVP. Through 50 games this year he is averaging 26 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds, numbers comparable to his 2009-2010 MVP season. I realize that Derrick Rose is having a great year, Kevin Love is a double-double waiting to happen and some idiots are even saying that Blake Griffin might make a run at MVP, but none of those guys are doing anything to supplant King James from the top of the MVP standings. And when the voting is close at the end of the year like it is going to be, I think the ineptitude of LeBron's former team is going to put him over the top. The Cavaliers went from being the best team in the league to being one of the historically bad teams in NBA history and the one different thing is LeBron James. I cannot remember when there was such a disparity in a team when a single player was there and then left.

I always tell people that I wish that I paid more attention to the NBA when Michael Jordan was in the league because it is hard for me to imagine someone being better than Kobe Bryant. And now LeBron James is here and he is doing what he is doing and he still has several years left in his prime. All I am saying is pay attention now because guys like him do not come around often. Michael Jordan might have been the best player ever, but I think LeBron James is might the most valuable player ever.......thanks to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Out.

Bet Your Haus Winners: Super Bowl Edition

Well we are 15-20 on our picks this year. I guess that is what you get for taking both underdogs in the championship games. Ahh me. Anyway now is not the time to get down. You try betting ATS and we will see what happens. Stop yelling at me!!!!! Whatever. The Super Bowl is this week and in my opinion, picking this game right will put me back at .500. I was hoping the line would move from 2½ and force my pick, but alas it has not. And if you anything about lines, 2½ is really bunk.  I know I said that I hate the Super Bowl because it means football is over but it is the biggest game of the year and I really believe that this year the best two teams in the NFL are playing in the game. Confidence is low but here it is.

Green Bay (-2½) over Pittsburgh. Like I said I was hoping the line would move. Anything over three and I would have taken the Steelers but it is stuck at 2½. And given how the last 10 Super Bowls have gone, I am not surprised. I expect a very close game with more offense than you might think. I do want want to get all football geek on you...oh wait...yes I do. Everyone is looking at what happened the last time the Packers and Steelers played which was a 37-36 shootout that the Steelers won in the final play. In that game, Aaron Rodgers threw the ball almost the whole game. (48-12 passing attempts to rushing attempts) The Steelers run defense is so stout that the Packers decided to not even try it. And it worked. The Pack effectively took Troy Polamalu out of the game by spreading the field with several wide receivers forcing him into coverage as opposed to doing whatever he wants and causing havoc all over the field. And I believe this same thing is going to happen again in this game. The difference is going to be the Packers defense. The way I see it going is like this: the Steelers are going to get the ball back down late and the Packers defense is going to win this game, just like they have all throughout the playoffs with late picks against the Eagles and the Bears and a defensive score against the Falcons. I respect Big Ben greatly, but this is Aaron Rodgers' coming out party.

Take the Packers and lay the points, Green Bay 29-26. Count it. Bet it. Out.

 

Why the Super Bowl is the Best and Worst Thing About the NFL.

Hey people who think the Super Bowl is awesome, shut your freaking mouths or I will find you and I will destroy you. Yes it is the biggest game of the year. And yes it is going to complete yet another great year of professional football. All the lights and the glamor and the commercials and the celebrities and the Hall of Famers and legends of the game are there on top of the two best teams in a game to decide who is champion based on 17 regular season games and two or three playoff games, depending on their regular season record. And at the end of the game either the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Green Bay will be the Super Bowl champions, leaving no questions on who the best team in the NFL is....except for the 2007 Super Bowl in which I am still convinced the entire country saw the game wrong and the Patriots actually completed their perfect season.....it happened, trust me.....I am sure our universe skewed into a different universe and back, changing our view of the actual outcome. I digress, sorry. Whether it be the Packers or the Steelers, I am sure the game is going to be very close and very competitive, which has been the trend over the last decade or so. And yet with all this being said, the Super Bowl makes me more sad and depressed than anything does all year. Do you want to know why??? Keep chirping little birdies because here it comes.

I want you people to ask yourselves what happens once the Super Bowl is over. Where you might feel glad that a champion has been crowned or happy that you saw a great game, I realize that there is seven months until I get to see football again. Seven excruciating months of 162 baseball games, March Madness and the NBA Championship which are all good, but let us be honest people, none of that can take the place of the NFL. The Super Bowl marks the end of the season and even saying that makes me get a little nauseated. What am I going to do with myself? Get a job? Child please. Just look what happened to my number of entries during the Bye week between the Championship games and Super Bowl. My site turned into a ghost town. (BTW, the Bye week before the Super Bowl is one of the stupidest things ever, but that is an argument for a different time.)

So is it wrong for me to want football year 'round? Maybe some of the players would be seriously injured. Does that make me a bad person? Maybe, but I am alright with that because I LOVE FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So no one try to contact me the week after the Super Bowl because I will be under a rock in some corner of the world in the deepest, darkest depression. Given what actually happens in the Super Bowl, it might be simultaneously the best and worst thing to happen to me each and every year. And yet I always come back....damn you football...

Bet Your Haus Winners!

Championship Edition

Well after a 2-2 week thanks to Drew taking the Shehawks to cover for me, he has been banished henceforth from the bet your Haus winners. We are 15-18 on the year and this championship weekend I am giving you two dawgs on which to bet your Haus. I know you think I am crazy, but that is just how Haus rolls. Count it!!!

Chicago (+3½ ) hosting Green Bay. Home underdogs are the scariest thing in the NFL. It is going to be very cold and very crappy on that field in Chicago and both offenses are going to suffer regardless of how well they are both playing. Both defenses are stout which is just going to keep this game close and the way I see it, down to the last drive. The Bears have been getting no respect all year and they are the real deal......and saying that, they are still going to lose.

Take the Bears plus the points to cover and lose, 26-23.

New York Jets (+3½ ) at Pittsburgh. Now the Jets are a team that I have not bought into all year. And yet they keep beating Hall of Fame Quarterbacks....say it aint so Tom....say it aint so. You can only go into someone's house and beat them a certain number of times and now it stops. Now the Jets can D up so I expect this game to be close but this is Big Ben and this is the Steelers defense and this is the end of the road for the Jets. This game is going to come down to Ben Roethlisberger getting the ball late and winning it close.

Jets cover but lose, 19-17.

Texas:  A Basketball State???

Disclaimer: This article is going to warn all Texans of the new trend sweeping the state. This trend will scare most of you conservatives, but here me out and Ye Shalt Be Saved.

Believe it or not people, but college basketball is not just isolated to Durham, North Carolina and New York, New York. There are schools in this very state that have basketball teams. Yeah I know. Crazy. And here is the thing, these schools have good teams. In fact, Texas A&M University and the University of Texas have been good for pretty much the last decade. UT has been good ever since Rick Barnes took over the team in 1998, and A&M has been relevant since they went 0-16 in conference play in the 2003-2004 season, having made the NCAA Tournament every year since then and winning at least one game in the tournament every year they have qualified. Both schools have put players in the NBA also, most notably Kevin Durant, T.J. Ford and DeAndre Jordan. Both schools have also made deep runs in the last decade with UT making the Final Four in 2003 and A&M making the Sweet Sixteen in 2006.

I am willing to bet that almost no people that live in Texas actually knew that us Texans had two viable college basketball teams. And given how awesome the fans are here in Texas, it is a shame that no one notices these teams because if people actually paid attention to these teams, I really think that the fans in Texas could turn these teams into successful basketball programs like Duke, North Carolina and Michigan State, universities that have an extremely devoted national following. Just because Texas is known as being a football state does not mean that it cannot be a basketball state also. I really feel that there is a niche here in Texas for some great basketball teams and rivalries, all we have to do is turn on the TV.

I will put it to you guys like this: I am fairly stupid (which actually makes me question why you people read this but that is an argument for another day), but I am not so stupid to not realize that Texas is now and will always be a football state. But if we do not start following these basketball teams with a passion, these two coaches and by extension, these teams, will not be around long. This is less likely for Rick Barnes at UT, but for Mark Turgeon, head basketball coach at A&M, when some other big basketball school comes calling, he is going to have no choice but to leave if attendance and ratings and money do not increase. And then we will slip back into the mediocre state that Texas college basketball was in before these teams started winning. Call me crazy, but I like having something exciting to watch between the Super Bowl and the start of the baseball season.

Also I know that UT smoked A&M last night 81-60. Both teams are in the top 11 in the country and it looks like they will be there for the rest of the year. UT was probably just upset about the beat down A&M put on the Horns in football last year.....who knows....Haus out.

Bet Your Haus Winners

Divisional Round

I want to again apologize to the people that might have bet on the Saints last week. Who could have seen that coming? Like Carl said today, “only Matt Hasselbeck's mother thought the Seahawks were going to win.” So we went 1-3 last week thanks to the Packers. We are 13-16 on the year and again feeling really good about this weeks winners.

Pittsburgh (-3) hosting Baltimore. Game of the weekend? Yes please. Be careful while watching this game because your head might get knocked off by just witnessing it. This is just a home-field thing for me. Also the Steelers got the week off to get healthy and Troy Polamolecule is going to play which means he is going to terrorize Joe Flacco. Baltimore is playing on a short week and traveling all over which is never good.

Lay the points and bring your chin straps, 20-16 Steelers.

Green Bay (+1½) at Atlanta. Everybody is talking about how the Packers found a running game but that is not going to be the reason they win this game. This Aaron Rodgers' game. He is going to carry the Pack over the Falcons. The only reason that the Packers lost this year against the Falcons was because of some crazy fumble in the end zone that will not happen again. This game is going to be Aaron Rodgers' coming out party.

Packers win outright, 26-20.

Seattle (+10) at Chicago. This is Drew's pick. I am giving him a second chance after that atrocity two weeks ago when he picked the Browns over the Steelers and lost 41-6. Go Drew.

Drew says Seahawks win outright, 24-20.

New England (-8½) hosting the New York Jets. This is easy. The Jets talk too much crap. Tom Brady don't play that. This is your Bet Your Haus pick this week.

Take the Fightin' Bradys minus the points, 33-20.