The Arizona Cardinals have posted a mark of 22-42 straight up over the past four seasons which is by far the worst win/loss record of any team in the NFC West, however, that’s all about to change in 2005 as I fully expect these Cardinals to win this division and make the playoffs, remember that you heard it here first!
Cardinal HC Denny Green had another fantastic draft highlighted by picking CB Antrel Rolle and RB J.J. Arrington with his first and second choices followed by selecting CB Eric Green and LB Darryl Blackstock with his third and fourth picks, Rolle and Arrington will in all likelihood be immediate starters while Green and Blackstock will add depth to a defense that improved from 26th overall in 2003 to 12th overall in the league in 2004.
Denny Green got a draft steal in the forth round by picking up OG Elton Brown out of Virginia who may very well be another immediate starter, Brown is a mountain of a man at 6’4 and 339 lbs and was a two time recipient of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy which is given annually to the ACC’s top blocker.
The Cards did very well in the free agent wars by signing two time league MVP Kurt Warner to lead the offense and play catch with WR’s Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin who comprise one of the best WR tandems in the NFL, to help protect Warner in the pocket the Cards signed OG Oliver Ross away from Pittsburgh and for good measure also brought in OT’s Ian Allen and Adam Haayer for added depth.
Arizona has managed to interject a lot of young talent on their roster via excellent drafting as evidenced by the fact that 13 of the Cards 14 draft choices from 2003 and 2004 are on the roster for 2005, and to think that 7 of those 14 draft picks from 2003 and 2004 are starters!
Seattle can’t seem to get out of their own way with regard to posting an overall win/loss mark of 35-31 over the past four years which has led to them being what is referred to as a “middle of the road” team, not bad enough to be in line for higher draft picks but yet not good enough to capitalize on opportunity when it knocks on their door.
The Seahawks finished 2004 with an offense ranked 8th overall in the league but defensively fell from 19th overall in 2003 to 26th overall in 2004, the Hawks really didn’t help themselves too much in the draft and instead concentrated on free agency to shore up their defense as 8 of their 11 free agent signings were defense related as they picked up two DE’s, two LB’s, two CB’s, a DT, and a Safety.
The Hawks brought in WR’s Joe Jurevicius and Jerome Pathon to ease the release of problem child WR Koren Robinson who had an off season DUI, the loss of backup QB Trent Dilfer to Cleveland will hurt the Hawks tremendously if QB Matt Hasselbeck goes down to injury and RB Shaun Alexander is threatening to sit out most of training camp in protest of the Hawks not honoring him with a new deal, ahhhhhhh nothing but problems problems problems for HC Mike Holmgren.
St. Louis by far has the best four year record of any team in this division with a win/loss mark of 44-26, however, the continued bad play calling and terrible clock management by HC Mike Martz has led to this team falling well short of expectations given this teams immense talent level over the past few years.
The Rams have made the playoffs four of the past five years during Martz’s tenure, however, bone headed play calling in 2000 led to a first round loss at the hands of the Saints 31-28 and to think the Rams were 6.5 point road favorites playing at New Orleans, the following season saw these Rams completely out coached when they were installed as 14 point favorites in the Super Bowl against New England but lost 20-17.
2003 saw these Rams once again exit the playoff picture in a 29-23 first round loss to Carolina in a game played at St Louis with the Rams installed as 7 point home favorites, then of course how can we forget the 47-17 pasting the Rams absorbed last season in the playoffs against an Atlanta team that was nowhere near as talented as the Rams?
The Rams had a very average draft and didn’t really help themselves in the free agent wars other than picking up LB’s Dexter Coakley and Chris Claiborne to help shore up a defensive unit that ranked a shoddy 29th in rushing yards allowed in 2004. I fully expect to see these Rams finish below the .500 mark in 2005 and if Georgia is smart she will give Martz the ole boot at seasons end.
The Niners had a pretty good draft but they are still at least two years away from being able to compete for the divisional crown, HC Mike Nolan has already stated that his intention is to go ahead and start the NFL’s first overall draft pick QB Alex Smith under center and let him gain experience, meaning of course that the Niner organization is expecting nothing from this team in 2005 and neither do I.
In closing, obviously I am very high on Arizona this season and expect big things from them in 2005, with that being said I will recommend two “Futures wagers” on the Cardinals,( A.) To win the NFC West and (B.) To go OVER the posted seasonal win/loss total of 7.5.
In addition to the reasoning I laid out above as to why these Cards will win this division its also noteworthy that Arizona will face the league’s 2nd easiest schedule when considering that the Cards 2005 schedule is comprised of teams that tallied a combined straight up win/loss record of 120-147 last year which equates to a winning percentage of only .449.
Jim Campbell is one of the nations most respected Sports Handicappers, he specializes in College and Pro Football, you can visit Jim at his website located at footballforecastor.com for all of your handicapping needs including free play selections, College and NFL stats, trends and award winning analysis on upcoming games.
With over 30 plus years experience in the handicapping profession Jim has built a solid reputation, his web based handicapping service at footballforecastor.com as been in existence since 1997 and year after year proves to be one of the very best handicapping services in America.
Football Forecastor is home to the nations most prolific sports handicapper, we specialize in NFL and College Football handicapping and take sports betting to a whole new level by treating sports wagering as an investment.
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Skateboarding - One of
the Most Exciting and Skilled Board Sports
by: Ben Ruhland
If you’re looking to get into a board sport why not try out
skateboarding? Let me guess you and your friends go out on weekends
looking for something to do but you’re bored stiff. Well I can guarantee
you skateboarding is a sport you’ll never be able to give up on once you
get into it. It’s a board sport that can have a steep learning curve
depending on the person but most people can pretty much master the basics
within a couple of months.
Skateboarding has developed quite a bit in recent years. For decades
when skateboarding was in its infancy, it was seen as an activity
performed by youngsters, mainly rebel kids. In these earlier years
skateboarders were perceived as outcasts who went around vandalizing other
people’s property by skating on it. It is becoming more understood these
days but it still has a long way to go before people will fully understand
the skill and dedication that goes into this sport.
The basics of skateboarding like pushing yourself along the street are
easy to learn but once you get into the tricks and manoeuvres such as the
most basic trick, the ollie, it takes quite a bit more practice to master.
You need to learn the ollie as it’s a fundamental move that is combined
into the majority of tricks where the board leaves the ground. The ollie
is what could be considered a “jump” where the skateboard and the rider
leave the ground with the board under their feet. To really master this
basic move it can take a natural skater up to a year to really get it
down.
When learning to skateboard some protective gear can go a long way to
ensuring your safety as you can expect to take many falls when first
starting out. A decent helmet, some elbow pads and knee pads will give you
the safety you’re looking for and a little extra confidence knowing you
won’t get too hurt when you fall. You can buy this protective gear fairly
cheap from most skate shops and even some general purpose stores.
It’s easy to get nervous when first starting out on a skateboard
because your balance will most likely be very out of tune. But don’t
worry, every single skater you see out there on the skate park doing all
those big moves, grinding rails, doing big grabs on the half pipe, they
were all just like you when they started out. It’s a sport that takes a
lot of dedication, and it relies on practice. If you put in the hours
you’ll be popping kick flips in a matter of months. So go out there and
get practicing, it’ll keep you busy for many years to come.
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