He’s Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!! Sergeant C4 and his explosive NFL picks along with G$’s NHL and Crit’s NCAA plays of the day

As our loyal followers know, we aim to please. You overloaded our server. We were listening and we heard you loud and clear.  Making his return engagement, and through his agent agreeing in principle to a multi-week contract with Picks4Players, is none other than Myth Busters frequent guest contributor and the show’s resident explosives expert Sergeant JD Nelson, aka JD, aka Clark, but best known as Sergeant C4.  C4 will be delivering his fireworks show via www.Picks4Players.com every Thursday for the remainder of the NFL season and playoffs.  C4 specifically requested Thursdays so he could help protect and serve all the players out there. Whether it’s in the weekly office pool, for Thursday night Football, or really for any and all games on the NFL weekly slate, Sergent C4 wants to help you, ‘Take a bite out of the Line’.  Enjoy his contributions as C4 is one of a kind.

In addition, in today’s update we are featuring G$’s razor sharp NHL play of the day as well as Crit ‘TheGreek’ Hippo’s NCAA Basketball lock of the night.  We feel very strongly about our recommendations and hope they help enhance your enjoyment of tonight’s action as well as getting the NFL weekend kicked off right.  As always, this advice is for entertainment purposes only!!!  

With that being said, enjoy the post…..and here are C4’s NFL picks: 

Alright this should be fun: 
 
Miami +3 at Carolina. I’m not sold on Miami and Carolina keeps winning: Carolina -3
 
Cleveland +3 1/2 at Detroit.  At least Detroit can score: Detroit -3 1/2
 
Buffalo +9 at Jacksonville. Jacksonville keeps winning and Buffalo has the curse of T.O. Jacksonwille -9
 
Pittsburgh -10 at KC.  Pittsburgh should be in full pissed off mode: Pittsburgh -10
 
Indy -1 at Baltimore. I don’t think Indy will go undefeated but they’ll beat Baltimore. Indianapolis -1
 
Atlanta + 6 1/2 at NYG. Hoo boy- two teams that are hard to predict: Giants - 6 1/2
 
SF + 6 at GB. Alex Smith hasn’t proven he can will consistantly: Green Bay - 6
 
Seattle + 11 at Minnesota. Brett Farve has…. Minnesota - 11
 
Washington +12 at Dallas. Washington has life, Dallas should be pissed. Good rivalry game where Dallas wins….but not by 12..Washington + 12.
 
New Orleans - 11 1/2 at Tampa Bay. Does New Orleans ever cover?  Tampa Bay +11 1/2
 
Arizona - 9 1/2 at St Louis. Warner is back the the STL…Arizona - 9 1/2
 
Jets = 10 1/2 at New England. Provided the Pats don’t go on 4th and 2 all game I’d take the Patriots.  Patriots - 10 1/2
 
Cincinnati - 9 1/2 at Oakland. I thought the spread would be 17, so it’s a bargain at 9.5! Cincinnati - 9 1/2
 
San Diego at Denver -NO LINE. San Diego is hotter right now… Chargers
 
Philly - 2 at Chicago. The Bears are who we thought they were!  Philly -2
 
Tennessee + 4 1/2 at Houston. The Titans are rolling! Tennessee + 4 1/2

HOCKEY ….and now here is G$’s NHL pick o’ the day. Columbus +115 @ Dallas. Dallas is playing back-to-back nights coming off a hard fought win @ Detroit last night. Columbus on the road is a respectable 5-4 while Dallas at home is only a .500 team.

COLLEGE HOOPS….and here is  Crit ‘ The Greek’ Hippo’s NCAA College Basketball play o’ the day: Cal travels to NYC  to  play against Syracuse in the Gahden.  Cal is favored by 1 1/2.  Jim Boeheim tends to recruit some knuckleheads and punks, but they won’t be punk’d in this nationally televised game in their backyard.  Syracuse should be in their customary 2-3 zone forcing Cal to bomb away from the perimeter.  Cal was one of the best 3-point  shooting teams in the nation last year and tonight they will have no problem taking the 3-ball, making them could be another story.  Syracuse will constantly have a hand in the Cal shooters’ face and they will own the defensive glass.  Cal will take their role of favorite and in typi-CAL fashion they will not get it done.  Take Syracuse + 1 1/2.

ENJOY THE ACTION PLAYERS

Crit’s Quick Thoughts from the Throne-NBA Playoff opportunity 2night

While everyone has penned the Cavaliers and the Lakers into the finals, the NBA playoffs are filled with story lines within each series and your partners here at P4P are always looking for opportunities for you, the player. After Yao Ming, Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola and the rest of the Houston Rockets absolutely demolished the host Portland Trailblazers in Game 1 of the series, Crit couldn’t believe his eyes when he looked at this morning’s odds and saw Rip City was still favored by 5 1/2 points over the Rockets. Sure Houston is without T-Mac, but this veteran and worldly team is seasoned perfectly like a piece of the Colonel’s Fried Chicken (original recipe). They are built to execute in the half court around Yao which is what playoff basketball in the Association is all about and do not underestimate the return of Aaron Brooks to Oregon, his old College stomping grounds. Don’t get the Critster wrong though, he loves the Trailblazers and in particular Brandon Roy, but we just don’t see the Blazers winning by more than 3 or 4, if at all tonight. It will be a hard fought and scrappy game all the way down to the wire and the Blazers will need everything tonight to pull this one out in their final possession. This year’s version of the Rockets seem to be road tested, proven, and hungry to advance and Crit doesn’t envision them getting punked in Game 2 like Dallas did last night against San Antonio. Picks4Players feels strongly about this recommendation: Houston Rockets + 5 1/2

NCAA Final- North Carolina vs Sparty and Michigan State

Hard to believe that College Basketball has come and gone once again with the conclusion of the season following tonight’s final between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Michigan State at Ford field in Detroit. What a great year and a great tournament once again. With the Final 4 in Detroit Michigan State will enjoy an enormous home crowd advantage and they are playing so well and so solidly at this time, the right time. The Spartans have made a point of rebounding and running all year long coupled with Tom Izzo’s usual gritty defensive philosophy, they have proven to be a beast from the mediocre Big Ten. North Carolina, as long as Ty Lawson is healthy are simply a cut above any other club in the country. Lawson’s toe has improved as the tourney has progressed and the Heels are a solid 8 point favorite heading into tonight’s tip-off at 9:21 pm EST. The total for the game tonight is resting at 153 1/2. While Michigan State will rebound and run and score in transition, so will North Carolina. In fact, this plays more to Carolina’s strength and could result in a Carolina blow out tonight. Your team here at Picks4Players likes North Carolina to win by more than 10 points and look for this total to go OVER 153 1/2. The game will be very entertaining but it is of course much more entertaining when you roll with the right side of the spread.

On other notes, it’s opening day in the MLB and the NFL is not far away. The NHL playoffs are about to start and the NBA playoffs are right around the corner. Check back with us regularly and feel free to become a P4P teammate to receive free alerts and updates. Sign up it’s free and easy. As always, enjoy the games.

NCAA Round 2, Saturday Specials and a look ahead to tomorrow

In our opening NCAA tournament posting the team here at Picks4Players offered up 8 opportunities where we saw the lower seeded team as having real opportunities to win their first round games. Of those 8 opportunities we selected 5 outright winners in Maryland over Cal, USC over Boston College, Wisconsin over Florida State, Michigan over Clemson, and the Siena Saints ousting Ohio State. Of the 3 upset selections that did not come through Utah State battled Marquette down to the wire before falling by one point. Our upset special of the day, Portland State battled in the first half before finally being worn down by a bigger, deeper, and more athletic Xavier squad.

We really went out on a limb on Thursday and as predicted, North Carolina took it to Radford, putting up 101 points without starting point guard and tempo controller Ty Lawson. Look for LSU today to give North Carolina all they can handle today and whether or not they win, look for Trent Johnson to immediately be the front runner for the position at ACC rival Virginia. The timing isn’t great for Trent, but Virginia will give him tens of millions of reasons for multiple years to make it the right time and not have Trent burn too many bridges at LSU. Trent’s path from the WAC, to the Pac-10, to the SEC, to the ACC? All coaches should take that expressway.

Today also look for Connecticut, Villanova, Washington, Duke, Memphis, Oklahoma, and Gonzaga to move forward. We’ll check back later today with an update and prep for tomorrow.

NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, Crit’s March Madness Musings and other pearls you want to know

Let’s be clear here, the first two days of the 64 team NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball tournament are the best two days of reality television for the pure sports fan. That’s saying a ton because, as you well know, we here at Picks4Players love the NFL, each and every Sunday, but make no mistake, this Thursday and Friday from 12:20 pm EST or 9:20 PST (you lucky b*stards out West) until the conclusion of play at the end of a long day, College Basketball reigns supreme.

The first round games are littered with potential upsets every year. The number of kids who are putting on a uniform for the last time, playing their last truly competitive game far outweighs the number of kids we’ll ever see move on to the NBA. Seeing these kids selling out and giving every thing they’ve got for their team in what could be there ’shining moment’ is beautiful and all too realistic. The genuine emotion on both ends of the spectrum make for the most captivating and compelling reality TV there is, and it’s on all day long. That’s right, all day long.

As far as the 2009 Field of 64, this is going to be an outstanding tourney because every single team is beatable. Connecticut looked unbeatable for a good portion of the season, but with the loss of Jerome Dyson, they have come back down to earth. North Carolina should crush Radford in their opener, but Ty Lawson’s toe will not be healthy at any point in this tourney and at some point along the way it will cost them. My prediction is that UNC goes down in the second round to Trent Johnson’s LSU Tigers. In fact look for Trent to take LSU to the Sweet 16 and once again be the subject of ridiculous speculation about every major job opening in the country. While only being at LSU for one season, the rumors will swirl about Trent jumping ship for a higher profile program, but look for Coach Johnson to sit tight for a year or two so he can follow through on his commitment to the administration and his recruits at LSU.

My Elite 8 consists of Louisville, West Virginia, Connecticut, Missouri, Pitt, Villanova, Gonzaga, and Oklahoma. While Bob Huggins’ West Virginia team will make a great run, Louisville will advance, beat Connecticut in the semi-finals and face Gonzaga in the finals. The Zags are deep. The Zags are talented. All five starters are capable of scoring 20 points on any given night and Picks4Players feels that it is Gonzaga’s time to shine. The Louisville vs. Gonzaga final will be fun to watch. Pitino’s pressure defenses will definitely force some turnovers, but it will also allow Gonzaga to get a lot of easy baskets in transition as they carve up the pressure at times. While we don’t know yet what the spread will be, I’d lean heavily toward the OVER as both teams will thrive in the fast paced playing environment.

If you’re looking for upsets in the first round, Picks4Players likes the following underdogs to rise up and shock the nation: First and foremost we here at P4P love #13 seed in the East, Portland State to smack Xavier today in the first round. Strong guard play is so important in the tournament and Xavier will surely overlook Portland State point guard 5′ 6″ stud Jeremiah Dominguez. That will be a costly mistake for the Musketeers as Dominguez coupled with all world scorer Dominic Waters will have Portland State giving Xavier all it can handle today. Look for Waters to explode today for more than 30 points with a beautiful array of threes, runners, and floaters in the lane, and he’ll probably go 9-10 from the line. He’s a special talent that reminds this Crit of another great scorer, current Celtic Eddie House. Other upset specials we like in the first round include Maryland over Cal. This game is at 2:50 EST, that’s 11:50 am in California. The Bears will sleep walk through the first half before finally getting acclimated late in the game and making a surge with a barrage of threes, but it will be too little too late. USC on the other hand is peaking at the right time and the travel to the Midwest bracket won’t bother them at all. Who knows which BC team will show up, is it the team that beat North Carolina or the team that then came home and lost to Harvard? I’m looking for BC to lay an egg and for USC to advance. Other first round upsets should include #11 seed Utah State over #6 seed Marquette, #12 seed Wisconsin over a spent #5 Florida State squad, #10 seed Michigan over #7 seed Clemson, #10 seed Minnesota over #7 seed Texas, and the #9 seed Siena Saints in a mild upset over # 8 Ohio State.

The Picks4Players selection for the NCAA National champion for 2009 will be Louisville who will beat Gonzaga in the Tournament Final 91-84. So our recommendation would be Louisville and the OVER.

Enjoy the next few days of College Basketball. For the true sports fan this is pure joy.

Please check back in during the course of the tournament for updates, last minute selections, and information from your team here at P4P. Also, please sign up and become a Picks4Players team member. It’s free and easy and you’ll get update alerts e-mailed to you directly. Check it out.

NBA Sunday: Is this a finals preview?

With Terry Porter run out of town for preaching defense to the Phoenix Suns, the new-old look Suns have scored 140 points in 3 straight games. Look for the extremely defensive Celtics to slow down the Suns a little today. Both teams will be without their stud power forwards today as Kevin Garnett is out for 2-3 weeks with a strained knee and the Suns will be without Amare Stoudemire for the remainder of the regular season after having surgery on his eye to repair a partially detached retina. As much as Amare is excelling in the Suns new/old uptempo style, the Celtics will miss KG more today. His long and lanky presence on the floor anchors the C’s defensive scheme. His replacement is likely to be Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis who is a very gifted offensive player but should struggle with the pace of today’s game. Leon Powe and Brian Scalabrine will also be forced to log extra minutes to make up for KG’s absence, but they will do very little to slow down the Suns. The Suns will score at least 120 points today and look for the Celtics to keep up. We expect Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Eddie House to have big offensive days. This game could go down to the wire and whichever team is able to execute best in the half court late in the game will win. This game will be very entertaining but the clear choice and the PICKS4PLAYERS recommended play is:
OVER 221 1/2

Don’t look now but it’s a Fabulous Friday P4P Double Dip ‘Freebie’ NBA Super Special Spectacular

With the NHL selections department from P4P presently on fire, those of us in the NBA division are tired of waiting around holding on to winners. We’ve lobbied our bosses at the top and pleaded with them to let us break out with some NBA selections a little ahead of our original schedule. Knowing the importance of pleasing our customers, the Players out there, management has agreed. With their blessing, tonight, Friday night is the first of many NHL/NBA Free Double Dip Fridays. We’re looking to build on our huge NFL success with our diversified portfolio of picks in both Hockey and Hoops.

After a tough, heartbreaking OT loss to the Lakers last night, the Boston Celtics travel to the Big Apple for a Madison Square Garden Showdown with Mike D’Antoni’s uptempo Knickerbockers. The Celtics are a 6 1/2 point favorite on the road and the point TOTAL is 207. No denying, the Knicks are getting better and for once in the last decade they are actually watchable. Look for Al Harrington to have a big offensive night and Nate Robinson will keep the home crowd electrified and into the ball game from the opening tip to the final horn. The Celtics have been on a roll themselves, winning 12 in a row until last night’s disappointing loss to Kobe and the boys. The fact of the matter is that the C’s lost as a direct result of Kevin Garnett fouling out with a little less than 5 minutes remaining in regulation on a cheap loose ball foul after KG had been HACKED to create the loose ball situation. If KG stays in the game, the Celtics win their 13th in a row going away, but that isn’t how it played out. The last time the Celtics dropped a game to the Lakers it started a downward spiral of play that resulted in follow up losses to Golden State, and Portland and their only negative stretch this season. A stretch of games that exposed two major flaws in this season’s version of the Big Green. First, when you lose James Posey, who was your best perimeter defender and capable of locking up the oppositions best player, you just can’t replace that. Also, as old and rickety as PJ Brown was, his interior presence on defense along with his uncanny ability to knock down clutch no arc jumpers is sorely missed and will need to be addressed down the stretch. We look for the Celtics to be tired, have a little bit of a post Laker let down and it will be an electric MSG tonight: OUR RECOMMENDATION: KNICKERBOCKERS + 6 1/2 AND OVER 207

*************************************BONUS SELECTION******************************************************
AFTER SMASHING DALLAS AT HOME LAST NIGHT LOOK FOR UTAH TO HIT THE ROAD TO SACRAMENTO AND BEAT THE KINGS. OUR PICK UTAH JAZZ - 2 1/2

GOOD LUCK NBA FANS. FEEL FREE TO HIT US BACK WITH YOUR COMMENTS!!!!!!!!!!

National Football League Conference Championship Sunday

After today, let the football withdrawal begin.  Yes we have Super Bowl Sunday, but that’s more of an event than a hardcore day of real entertainment.  Conference championship Sunday is where everyone is laying it on the line just to be a part of the Super Bowl festivities, an honor that no one can take away from these guys.  Just ask Dan Marino, you better enjoy the experience while you’re there.  With the exception of the NFL’s model organization, the 49ers (5 wins and zero losses in the Super Bowl), most teams that make it have ended up on the short end of the Super Bowl stick.  You never know if you will ever return.  The Patriots for example have had a great 8 year run, but the dynasty talk is nothing short of hilarious.  Let’s see, the first Super Bowl win is a farce because of ‘the Tuck rule’. It continues to be a sham with their documented cheating prior to that game.  Fast forward to last year’s ‘perfect season’.  It’s perfect for the rest of us because now we never have to hear your organizational wide Mercury Morris act for the rest of our lives.  Instead, the 2007-2008 Pats are firmly planted as the 3rd best 18-1 team of all time behind the 1984 49ers and the 1985 Bears, two teams that could close the deal.  Enough of the dialogue, let’s get on with some selections.

Your team at picks4players likes the following selections in today’s Championship games:

Game 1, 3 pm EST: The Philadelphia Eagles are a 3 1`/2 point favorite over the home team Arizona Cardinals.  Kurt Warner has been praying extra hard this week and that along with the 3 1/2 points makes us like the Cardinals.  We do think that the Eagles will most likely win the game, but that extra 1/2 point, or ‘hook’, strongly sways us to the home team.  The Cards played great last week and we don’t expect Kurt Warner to be phased by any Eagle blitz packages.  For Warner this will be back to the Arena league where he mastered the quick read and was dominant as an Iowa Barnstormer.  The real pick here is the OVER the total of 47.  Our Selections:  Arizona + 3 1/2, OVER 47

In the nightcap at 6:30 pm EST, the Baltimore Ravens visit the Pittsburgh Steelers as a 6 point underdog.  What more can be said about this game?  Yes these two teams hate each other.  Yes it will be exteremely physical and hard hitting.  Baltimore has had an unreal season and they will go down fighting today, but the Steelers have a healthy Willie Parker running well for the first time all year which will only complement Big Ben’s play action opportunities.  While this will be a great defensive battle, 34 is too low a number.  The Steelers will get out in front and the Ravens will have no choice but to take the reigns off of Joe Flacco.  He will put up some points, but it could be a Flacco mistake late in the game that seals their fate.  In the AFC Conference Championship, your consultants at www.picks4players.com recommend: Pittsburgh - 6, OVER 34

Enjoy the festivities and look for our postings throughout the lead up to Super Bowl Sunday and look for our upcoming postings on Pro and College Basketball along with the National Hockey League.  Your team at www.picks4players.com has you covered.  Have a great day Players!!!