Thursday, September 4, 2008

NFL "Expert" Picks - Week 1

With the start of the NFL season tonight, I am happy to say that the SethSpeaks.net NFL "Expert" Panel will be back again this year. This has always been meant for fun, something to do and keep up with during the offseason. It started small, with six to eight participants. Last year, we had 24. This year, we have even more. Many of the participants are back and you will recognize their names. Some are new. We've got Twins and Twins minor league players. We've got members of the media. We've got Twins bloggers and more. But again, remember these picks are for fun. Maybe we will be able to help you with your office picks. In the past, I know there have been people who wait to turn in their weekly picks until they saw ours. I have had a couple of people wait until these picks were posted so that they could see the selections of specific participants.

The Panel

Before getting to the picks, I would like to introduce this year's panel:

Seth Stohs – It’s me… you can find me here, or at TalkinTwinsBB.wordpress.com, and podcasting at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SethSpeaks and frequently appearing on Marty Andrade’s weekly podcast at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/Andrade. I like baseball, and I like the Minnesota Twins… in case you were wondering.

Kyle Waldrop – Kyle won this league championship two seasons ago. Last year, he dropped in the overall rankings a little bit, but he still was the top performer among the ball players in this group. Waldrop was one of the Twins first round picks in 2004 after an incredible high school career in Tennessee. He gradually has moved up the Twins farm system, but he missed all of 2007 after having shoulder surgery. He has been rehabbing in Ft. Myers most of the season and looks forward to coming back strong in 2009.

Jeff Manship – Jeff is in his second year on this panel. He was the Twins 14^th round draft pick in 2006 out of Notre Dame. He has worked his way up the system pretty quickly. He spent the 2^nd half of 2007 in Ft. Myers. That is where he began the 2008 season and made the league’s All Star game. After the game, he was promoted to New Britain where he experienced ups and downs. But he ended the season strong and will soon be heading to Arizona where he will participate in the Fall League.

Joe Benson – Joe is also in his second season on the NFL “Expert” Picks panel. When it comes to football, he’s probably the most distinguished former football player in the group. The Twins took him with their 2^nd round pick in 2006. In signing, he gave up a football scholarship to Purdue. And the Twins are thrilled. He spent 2008 with the Beloit Snappers until a back injury ended his season prematurely. He too has been rehabbing in Ft. Myers, and hopes to come back to 100% and begin the 2009 season with the Miracle.

Steve Singleton – Steve is new to this panel. Singleton had a very strong high school career and then went on to the University of San Diego. In 2006, the Twins took him with their 11^th round pick, lower than he was expecting. He had a strong pro debut at Elizabethton. He came into the 2007 season with a shoulder injury which he played through but it did affect him. He started this season back at Beloit and hit over .300. At the midseason, he was promoted to Ft. Myers where he didn’t miss a beat. A Web Gem waiting to happen, I would like to see him start next season in between Danny Valencia and Brian Dinkelman in the New Britain infield.

Kevin Slowey – Kevin is back for his fourth year on the panel. To this point, I think it’s fair to say that he’s a much better pitcher than (NFL Game) predictor, but this could be Kevin’s year. The loyal Steelers follower, Slowey moved very quickly through the Twins farm system. In 2006, he pitched for Ft. Myers, New Britain, Team USA (he beat Cuba in Havana to help the team qualify for the Olympics), and then pitched a playoff game for Rochester. He made his big league debut in June of 2007. He missed about a month earlier this season with a biceps injury, but he is back and has been pitching very well.

Dan Slowey – Nothing like manufacturing a little sibling rivalry, huh? Dan is the man behind a very interesting website called Blogonoscopy. This is his first year in the panel.

John Bonnes – John has been involved in the world of Twins blogging longer than any of us. He is The Twins Geek, and he also is the man behind Gameday Magazines. John has been in the panel off and on in previous years.

Stick & Ball Guy – SBG is the creator of The World’s Greatest Online Magazine, one of the top blogs you’ll find on the Twins, but he also is active in discussions surrounding the Timberwolves, Vikings and much, much more.

Nick Nelson – Nick is another long-time Twins blogger who has been part of this panel for a few years now. He is the lasting author of the Nick & Nick’s Twins blog.

Josh Johnson – Josh has been writing at Josh’s Thoughts, a very good Twins blog known, in small part, for handing out Game Balls. Josh recently headed back to college, so hopefully that homework stuff doesn’t get in his way too much! He is on the panel for the second year.

Josh Taylor – Josh is the author behind Taylor’s Twins Talk. The career law student provides Game Notes but also is knowledgeable on the Twins farm system. He is a frequent contributor to the Marty Andrade Weekly Twins Round Table podcast as well.

Parker Hageman – A new entry to the panel this year, Parker is the author of the excellent Over the Baggy blog, a relatively new but very good Twins blog.

Andrew Kneeland – Young Andrew is also in his first year on the panel. He writes about the Twins blog where you can get your Twins Fix. He also writes at times for The Bleacher Report.

LaVelle E. Neal III – LaVelle has been on this panel for several years now. He is the Twins beat writer for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune which includes the blog Twins Insider. He also frequently appears on KFAN radio. He’s always a strong competitor in this competition, however, his success depends largely on his loyalty to the Chicago Bears.

Howard Sinker – Howard provides Twins fans with A Fan’s View from Section 220. The former Twins beat writer (1982-1987) is still working at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Phil Miller – Phil is in his second season of covering the Twins for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and his first year on this panel. He frequently writes his blog for the paper at Twins Now. The former beat writer for the Utah Jazz, Miller is a huge baseball fan. We shall see how that helps him with football picks.

Kelly Thesier – Kelly has been covering the Twins for mlb.com (twinsbaseball.com) for three years now, and this is her first year on this panel.

Jonathan Mayo – Jonathan was on the panel a couple of years ago, but he took last year off to write a book, Facing Clemens. He is also a senior writer for MLB.com and MiLB.com where he blogs on the Minors and the Draft.

Jack Michaels – Jack competes in this panel for the first time. He is the host of The Jack Michaels Show on ESPN 710 The Fan in Bismarck, ND, and has been gracious enough to let me be on his show from time to time. He was the original radio play-by-play guy of the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks where he teamed with former Dodgers great Maury Wills.

Cory Hepola – Cory is currently a sports anchor for WROC-TV in Rochester, New York. You can find much more about him on his personal blog that includes postings and videos and much more. I think it all goes back to some great baseball coaching that he had when he was between the ages of eight and 14!

Vic Quick – Vic has been on this panel for a long time. He is currently a sports reporter/anchor for KOTA-TV in Rapid City, South Dakota and proclaims himself the biggest Texas Rangers fan in South Dakota. The Dallas native is also likely the biggest Cowboys fan in the state too! My former college roommate definitely knows his football, at least anything about Emmitt Smith or Troy Aikman, well, and the Concordia Cobbers!

Roger Dehring – Roger is one of the more knowledgeable people you can meet when it comes to the Twins minor league system. He writes a Weekly Minor League Report for the Twinkie Town website. He also is a regular contributor to this site.

David Bergner – David is… The Baseball Savant. He actually preceded the Twins Pat Neshek at Butler University and got a taste of pro baseball. There are a lot of lawyers in the Twins blogosphere, but David is a Doctor! I don’t know how good of a doctor he is (probably very), but he does a good job talking/writing baseball, and if you’re a college football fan, you’ll definitely want to check out his site!

Marty Andrade – Marty is on the panel for the first time. He hosts a great weekly Twins podcast. He’s currently at the Republican National Convention as a credentialed blogger. I want to be a credentialed blogger!

Eric Olson – Eric is a new panelist this year. Recently he started blogging on the Twins on a site called Call to the ‘Pen.

Blake Meyer – Blake is the originator of an incredible Twins website, Twins Cards. If you go there, you can see Twins baseball cards back to the team’s inception. You can find autographs and memorabilia and much more. Blake provides us an international flavor to the panel!

Michael Brasel – Long time friend (closer to 30 years than either of us want to admit), Mike was listed among the best players I have played ball with. He was one of the original panelists.

Missy Lien – Long-time friend (over a decade), Missy was another original panelist. She has helped make this website what it is today, setting up the site, doing some editing and much more.

The Week 1 Picks

With that introduction out of the way, here are our picks for the Week 1 games:

	Seth Stohs	Kyle Waldrop	Jeff Manship	Joe Benson	Steve Singleton	Kevin Slowey	Dan Slowey
	SethSpeaks.net	Twins Pitching Prospect	Twins Pitching Prospect	Twins OF Prospect	Twins IF Prospect	Twins Starting Pitcher	Blogonoscopy
Washington @ NY Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants	Redskins	Giants	Giants
Cincinnati @ Baltimore	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals	Ravens	Bengals	Bengals
NY Jets @ Miami	Dolphins	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets	Dolphins
Kansas City @ New England	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots
Houston @ Pittsburgh	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers by 17	Steelers
Jacksonville @ Tennessee	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars
Detroit @ Atlanta	Falcons	Lions	Lions	Lions	Falcons	Lions	Lions
Seattle @ Buffalo	Seahawks	Bills	Seahawks	Seahawks	Bills	Bills	Seahawks
Tampa Bay @ New Orleans	Saints	Saints	Saints	Saints	Buccs	Saints	Saints
St. Louis @ Philadelphia	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles
Dallas @ Cleveland	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys
Carolina @ San Diego	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers
Arizona @ San Francisco	49ers	Cardinals	49ers	Cardinals	49ers	Cardinals	Cardinals
Chicago @ Indianapolis	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts
Minnesota @ Green Bay	Vikings	Packers	Vikings	Vikings	Packers	Vikings	Packers
Denver @ Oakland	Raiders	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Raiders	Broncos	Raiders

	John Bonnes	Stick & Ball Guy	Nick Nelson	Josh Johnson	Josh Taylor	Parker Hageman	Andrew Kneeland
	TwinsGeek & MNGameday	Stick & Ball Guy	Nick & Nick's Twins Blog	Josh's Thoughts	Taylor's Twins Thoughts	Over the Baggy	Twins Fix
Washington @ NY Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants	Redskins	Giants	Giants	Redskins
Cincinnati @ Baltimore	Bengals	Ravens	Bengals	Ravens	Bengals	Ravens	Bengals
NY Jets @ Miami	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets
Kansas City @ New England	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots
Houston @ Pittsburgh	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers
Jacksonville @ Tennessee	Jaguars	Jaguars	Titans	Titans	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars
Detroit @ Atlanta	Lions	Falcons	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions	Falcons
Seattle @ Buffalo	Bills	Bills	Seahawks	Seahawks	Bills	Seahawks	Seahawks
Tampa Bay @ New Orleans	Saints	Saints	Buccs	Saints	Buccs	Saints	Saints
St. Louis @ Philadelphia	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles
Dallas @ Cleveland	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys
Carolina @ San Diego	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers
Arizona @ San Francisco	Cardinals	49ers	Cardinals	Cardinals	Cardinals	49ers	Cardinals
Chicago @ Indianapolis	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts
Minnesota @ Green Bay	Vikings	Packers	Vikings	Vikings	Vikings	Vikings	Packers
Denver @ Oakland	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos

	LaVelle E. Neal	Howard Sinker	Phil Miller	Kelly Thesier	Jonathan Mayo	Jack Michaels	Cory Hepola	Vic Quick
	Twins Insider/ Star Tribune	A Fan's View/ Star Tribune	Twins Now/ Pioneer Press	twinsbaseball.com/ mlb.com	JonathanMayo.net/ milb.com	The Fan am710	Sports Anchor WROC-TV	KOTA-TV Sports
Washington @ NY Giants	Giants	Giants	Redskins	Giants	Giants	Redskins	Giants	Giants
Cincinnati @ Baltimore	Ravens	Ravens	Bengals	Bengals	Ravens	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals
NY Jets @ Miami	Jets	Dolphins	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets
Kansas City @ New England	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots
Houston @ Pittsburgh	Steelers	Steelers	Texans	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers
Jacksonville @ Tennessee	Jaguars	Titans	Titans	Jaguars	Titans	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars
Detroit @ Atlanta	Falcons	Falcons	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions
Seattle @ Buffalo	Bills	Bills	Seahawks	Seahawks	Seahawks	Bills	Bills	Bills
Tampa Bay @ New Orleans	Saints	Saints	Saints	Saints	Saints	Buccs	Saints	Saints
St. Louis @ Philadelphia	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles
Dallas @ Cleveland	Cowboys	Cowboys	Browns	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys
Carolina @ San Diego	Chargers	Panthers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers
Arizona @ San Francisco	49ers	49ers	49ers	Cardinals	49ers	Cardinals	Cardinals	49ers
Chicago @ Indianapolis	Colts	Bears	Bears	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts
Minnesota @ Green Bay	Packers	Packers	Vikings	Packers	Vikings	Vikings	Packers	Packers
Denver @ Oakland	Broncos	Broncos	Raiders	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos

	Roger Dehring	David Bergner	Marty Andrade	Eric Olson	Blake Meyer	Michael Brasel	Melissa Lien
	Twinkie Town	The Baseball Savant	TCBurgerTour	Call to the ‘Pen	Twins Cards	Fantasy Football Guru	SethSpeaks.net
Washington @ NY Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants
Cincinnati @ Baltimore	Bengals	Bengals	Ravens	Ravens	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals
NY Jets @ Miami	Jets	Jets	Jets	Dolphins	Jets	Dolphins	Jets
Kansas City @ New England	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots
Houston @ Pittsburgh	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers
Jacksonville @ Tennessee	Titans	Titans	Titans	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars
Detroit @ Atlanta	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions
Seattle @ Buffalo	Bills	Bills	Seahawks	Bills	Seahawks	Bills	Seahawks
Tampa Bay @ New Orleans	Buccs	Saints	Saints	Saints	Buccs	Saints	Saints
St. Louis @ Philadelphia	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Rams	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles
Dallas @ Cleveland	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys
Carolina @ San Diego	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Panthers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers
Arizona @ San Francisco	Cardinals	Cardinals	49ers	49ers	49ers	Cardinals	Cardinals
Chicago @ Indianapolis	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts
Minnesota @ Green Bay	Packers	Packers	Packers	Vikings	Vikings	Vikings	Packers
Denver @ Oakland	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Raiders	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos

Thursday – Sept 4

Washington @ NY Giants – Giants 24-5

Sunday – Sept. 7

Cincinnati @ Baltimore – Bengals 20-9

NY Jets @ Miami – Jets 24-5

Kansas City @ New England – Patriots 29-0

Houston @ Pittsburgh – Steelers 28-1

Jacksonville @ Tennessee – Jaguars 21-8

Detroit @ Atlanta – Lions 23-6

Seattle @ Buffalo – Bills 15-14

Tampa Bay @ New Orleans – Saints 23-6

St. Louis @ Philadelphia – Eagles 29-0

Dallas @ Cleveland – Cowboys 28-1

Carolina @ San Diego – Chargers 27-2

Arizona @ San Francisco – Cardinals 16-13

Chicago @ Indianapolis – Colts 27-2

Monday – Sept. 8

Minnesota @ Green Bay – Vikings 15-14

Denver @ Oakland – Broncos 24-5

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