November 24th Picks (Happy Thanksgiving)

November 14^th through November 23^rd Pick results:

November 14^th Picks:

Egypt win, draw, lose by 1- Loss

Hyde win- Loss

Tampa Bay Lightning- Loss

November 15^th Picks:

Hawaii- Win

Drexel Dragons- Win

November 16^th Picks:

Nacional- Win

Alex Carder 179 passing yards or fewer- Loss

November 17^th Picks:

Virginia Tech wins by double digits- Loss

Tim Tebow 150 total yards or more- Win

November 18^th Picks:

Yes, 3-pointer made within first 3 minutes (Duke vs. Davidson)- Win

Alabama Crimson Tide- Win

Buffalo Sabres- Win

November 19^th Picks: No Picks

November 20^th Picks:

Palermo win draw lose by 1- Loss

Buffalo Bills- Loss

LA Galaxy win- Win

November 21^st Picks

Tottenham win- Win

November 22^nd Picks:

Manchester City win- Loss

Kansas wins by double digits- Win

November 23^rd picks

Duke Blue Devils- Win

Pittsburg Penguins- Loss

Streakhelp's Overall record: 35-18

Ryan's record: 2-1

Christian's record: 2-1

Overall blog record for November: 39-20

Christian's Pick:


Pick #1. @ Cowboys: Winning Margin

     At the beginning of the year, everyone projected Brandon Marshall to be an impact receiver but he just hasn't lived up to it. He gets targeted no less than 6-7 times a game beat only catches what seems like 75% of those. Especially with a decent pass rush for the Cowboys, Matt Moore will have difficulty letting his receivers run their full routes and feeding them decent throws with Demarcus Ware breathing down his neck. However, Gerald Sensabaugh is out for Dallas which may pose a few issues in the passing D. The spread on the game is Dallas -7 so it comes down to whether you think they will cover. As a sidenote, Romo is 4-0 covering the spread on Thanksgiving. I see Marshall getting 7 receptions but Dallas will win by 10 or 13 points.

November 23rd Picks

Streakhelper's Picks:


Pick #1 Duke Blue Devils:


   Duke is 14-0 in th Maui Invitational, and looks for their 5th title today against Kansas. Both teams have struggled slighty this season to lesser opponents, but Duke (aside from Belmont) has been able to put away teams better in my opinion. Duke is 6-0 and has shown it can find ways to win. The game against #15 Michigan last night wasn't as close as it looked. Duke took it easy in the second half after dominating most of the game. Kasas goes in at 3-1, with its lone loss coming to #2 Kentucky. This game should be pretty close, but I think Duke prevails.

Pick #2 Pittsburg Penguins: (check Ryan's pick)




Ryan's Picks:

Pick #1: Pittsburgh Penguins.

        The Penguins are playing really good hockey. The Penguins lead the Eastern Conference with 27 points, despite playing without their best player Sidney Crosby. Crosby returned in a big way last night, with 2 goals and 2 assists. I like the Penguins to get the win here against the St. Louis Blues, inPittsburgh. The Blues are in 9th place in the western conference and are just 3-6-1 on the road. This coupled with the fact that the Blues will be on a back to back after playing Tuesday night, makes the Penguins a strong pick for the green.

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November 22nd Picks

Streakhelper's Picks:

Pick #1 Manchester City

I really like Manchester City with the way they have played in their League. At the top of their table, they are 11-1-0, 31 goal difference, and aside from Fulham, they have dominated just about every game with little trouble. Napoli has done pretty well within their league as well. Though not as decorated as Man City, they are a respectable 4-3-3 with a 6 goal difference. Though their 3 losses have come to teams lower than them, they have managed some good fights with top teams in their table; such as a 0-0 draw to Lazio in their last matchup. However, we haven’t seen Napoli play as well as they did against Lazio consistently. We know that Man City on the other hand has played very well all season.

Napoli has a lot going for them being at home and having the draw option, but I would rather take Manchester City. Manchester City has done well on the road thus far, I think they can continue that trend today. Good luck either way.

Pick #2 Kansas Jayhawks win by double digits


     UCLA has looked pretty poor so far this season. They have managed to be blown out by MTSU by 20, as well as an 11 point loss to Loyola (who?). If those team can manage a double digit win over the Bruins, I think Kansas can as well.

Ryan's Pick:

Pick #1 Michigan Win or Single Digit Loss

   As some pickers found out on Monday, Michigan is a solid team. Michigan held Memphis to 33% shooting with a solid defensive effort in a comfortable 73-61 win over the Tigers. They now will play Duke who beat Tennessee 77-67. Michigan is a young team, starting four players who are either sophomores or freshmen, but they play tough defense and are a strong shooting team. I would expect them to give Duke a tougher time than Tennessee did. Go with Michigan to stay within 10 points or to win outright for the green.


   Side note on the pick: At 11 A.M. Tennessee plays Memphis in a consolation game. Look at that game's result as a clue to the Duke-Michigan game. If Tennessee beats Memphis soundly, then I would stay away from this pick. However, if it is competitive or if Memphis wins then I would start feeling even more confidant about Michigan's chances to keep it close or beat Duke. 



Christian's Pick:


Pick # 1. Trabzonspor: Win/Draw

     This pick really appeals to me because everyone is picking Internazionale based on their name alone. Trabzonspor is obviously the lesser team in statute but as of recently, they have been doing alright. They have drawn both Lille and CSKA Moskva at home and their most impressive and telling match was a 1-0 win @ Internazionale...... This is a very interesting result and combine that with the fact that Trabzonspor has the draw option and this looks like the right pick. Sure one could argue that Inter is angry from last time and they will try to retaliate but I just don't see it. Plus, Inter is playing pretty badly in Serie A right now, being in 16th with a GD of -4. According to the odds, Trabzonspor is supposed to Win or Draw at 64%. Why is over 90% of people picking Inter....? Because they're uneducated, bandwagon pickers. Trabzonspor 0-0.

November 21st Picks/New Contributors

  I have a couple people I picked out to contribute to Streakhelp from time to time. I've monitored Ryan's and Christian's pick history over the last few days and I was impressed with some of their insight. Today I'll debut some of their picks. Hopefully this will help improve content frequency so I can stay on top of this blog better. Good luck today.

Streakhelper's Picks:

Pick #1 Tottenham win

   Tottenham goes into this game 7-1-2 with a 6 goal difference coming off a 3-1 road win over Fulham. Aston Villa goes in at 3-6-2 with 1 goal difference coming off a 3-2 win over Norwich at home. On the road, Villa has been a drawing machine. On the road they are 0-4-1, with their lone loss coming to Manchester City, who sits at the top of the table. On the other side, Tottenham has played exceptional at home. Going 3-0-1, with their only loss to Manchester City as well in an ugly 1-5 loss. All three of their home wins came to teams that are about as good or better compared to Villa. They include a 4-1 win over Liverpool (6th in table), 2-1 win over Arsenal (7th in table), and a 3-1 win over Queens Park (9th in table). Aston Villa sits at 8th, with all of their draws to teams currently below Tottenham. Considering how strong Tottenham has been (so far) this season at home, I would take them. A draw definitely isn't out of the question, but I like my chances with Tottenham.


Pick #2 Kansas Jayhawks

     Georgetown is a pretty good basketball team, but they have yet to play anyone significant. Kansas is coming off a 75-65 loss on the road to #2 Kentucky. With Kansas at home, I think they should be good. At home against Towson they won 100-54 in their last game. Though it is Towson, Towson has played fairly well (for their level) against some decent opponents such as Kansas, Belmont and Michigan. I would take Kansas.


Ryan's Picks:


Pick Patriots win by 15+ points
 
"The Patriots to win by 15 or more points seems like a safe pick. The game is in Foxboro where the Pats rarely lose. In addition, the Chiefs will be missing their starting QB Matt Cassel. This means that Tyler Palko, who has only thrown 13 NFL passes in his Career, will get the start for the Chiefs. The Patriots struggle in pass defense, but Palko is not good enough to expose them. There should be no doubt that Tom Bady and co. can create enough offense to win by 15 points. The Chiefs have been outscored in their loses by an average of 24 points, including loses by 34, 45, and 28 points. The Vegas line is 17 points in favor of the Patriots, so the streak master is giving you two free points. I would take the Patriots to win by 15+ points for the Green."



 Christian's Picks:

1. Memphis Tigers

     The Tigers have gotten off to a nice start this year against a Belmont team that lost to Duke by one point. Michigan is also starting the season pretty well being 3-0, however their wins have come against teams that would pose no threat to any respectable team, including the Towson Tigers... Memphis is simply a better team which focuses primarily on offense (97 against Belmont) to drive their victories while Michigan's offense (averaging 60.7) is not nearly as potent. Memphis will come out today and put Michigan in it's place 76-68.

2. @ Tottenham Hotspur

     Tottenham sits in 5th place in the EPL with 22 points in 10 matches and a +6 GD. Aston Villa is 8th in the table with 15 points in 11 matches and a +1 GD. Tottenham is 4-0-1 in their last 5 EPL games including a draw at Newcastle. AV is 2-2-1 in their last 5 including a loss at home to an average West Bromwich club. Tottenham is currently at 64.5% to win according to the odds. In my experience, whenever Tottenham is in a pick on SFTC, they always win. However, be wary because Aston Villa can always come out and surprise anybody. Tottenham Hotspur wins 3-2.


More to come... I'll update my record today as well from the past few days.

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November 20th Picks

Pick #1 Palermo Win, Draw, Lose by 1


  Palermo has been a significantly good team this year at 5-1-4, and a 2 goal difference. Also, Palermo has only lost once this year by more than one point, and that was to a very good AC Milan team who is ranked 2nd in their table at 6-3-2 (+9 GD). Juventus goes into this game at 5-4-0 with an 8 goal difference. Juventus has played pretty well at home, including a 2-0 win over AC Milan. Despite the impresseive win however, they have still struggled to much less impressive opponents such as Bologna, Genoa and Catania (all ended in draws) just to name a few. I think this game has a good shot at a draw, but I can't really see Juventus winning by more than 1. I would take my shot with Palermo. Good luck either way.

Pick #2 Buffalo Bills (writeup pending)

Pick #3 LA Galaxy win

The Galaxy have been a dominating team all year in the MLS. They beat Houston 1-0 at home, and then followed with a 3-1 loss in a game with little significance at the end of the year. At 19-10-5 and holding a goal difference of 20, LA has been the better team this season on paper. Houston will go into this game at 12-13-9, 4 goal difference, finishing second in their table behind Kansas. LA is a massive favorite, and after watching them throughout the year I can understand why. Houston has had an impressive run, but without the draw option to back them up, LA is a better option. LA for the win.