Point, Counter-Point: Pennycook v. Wilkinson V, NBA Draft Edition

This article has been submitted by Stu Wilkinson and Alex Pennycook.

Y’all know the drill by now, so let’s just get right into it:
Who Is the Biggest Sleeper in the Draft?
Alex: Chris Douglas-Roberts – Sleepers are hard to predict at this stage because so much of a players success depends on the situation they land in, but I’ll go with a guy and I can’t understand why he isn’t projected to go higher in the draft and that is CDR. A first team All-American, CDR is a little undersized for an NBA 2-guard, however he is a proven scorer that has a ton of big game experience. Right now a lot of experts have him going to New Orleans which I believe is a perfect fit. The Hornets already have two sharpshooters in Peja and MoPete, and a slashing wing is exactly what they need off the bench.

Stu: If MoPete’s a sharpshooter then Carlos Delfino is this generation’s Larry Bird. The biggest sleeper in this draft? That’s definitely my favorite question to answer – I’ve got a list of sleepers a mile long. Joey Dorsey, George Hill, Shawn James, Ronald Ramon, they’re all there. The biggest sleeper of them all, however, is my main man Roy Hibbert. He’s an absolutely mammoth big guy that can change the game defensively, score the ball down low when he’s asked to, and he has a little bit of a mid-range jumper to boot. A year ago he was considered a lottery pick, and now he’s a late first rounder behind JaVale McGee, DeAndre Jordan, and some French guy who averages five points per game?! After a very stellar season in college? Am I missing something here?
More after the jump!

The Stamkos Sweepstakes

This article has been submitted by Alex Pennycook. Props go to Blake for dropping the ball and posting this a day late. My bad.

April 7, 2008 is debatably the biggest night in sports history and not because the Final Four finally comes to a close. Tonight, for only the second time ever, the NHL Draft Lottery will be aired on television. It is being billed as the Stamkos Sweepstakes and one lucky team will have to beat the odds and land this prized prospect. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings have the best chance of landing the first overall pick, however only once since 2000 have teams with the two best odds won the lottery.
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You Have to BELEAF

PhotobucketThis article has been submitted by Alex Pennycook.

As the NHL regular season wraps up the big question on everyone’s mind is what is it going to take for the Toronto Maple Leafs to make the playoffs. Currently the Leafs sit in 12th place in the tight Eastern conference but are only 4 points behind the 8th place Bruins with 6 games left. The situation is bleak at best, but for everyone in Toronto you have to BELEAF.

After an incredible weekend performance without their top two scorers, Nik Antropov and captain Mats “I want to die a Leaf” Sundin, Toronto pulled out two gutsy wins to get a much needed 4 points and improved to 12-4-1 in their last 17 games. On Friday night, Toronto jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead. After they took an atrocious 7 penalties in a row they still found themselves in front 2-1 thanks to superb goaltending from team MVP Vesa Toskala and amazing penalty killing from Stajan, McCabe and Kubina. The momentum they built up from these kills helped pace them to a 4-1 victory. Then they traveled to Ottawa for another installment of the battle of Ontario. The Leafs battled back after falling behind twice and came out with a gutsy 5-4 win to pull within 4 points of the Bruins.
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On Deck Circle Podcast Volume 6

A special Thursday posting coming at you. The topic? You guessed it! Everything you need to know about March Madness, featuring myself and Alex Pennycook.

Topic: March Madness
Guest: Alex Pennycook

Listen to it: here!

Or download it: here!

Point, Counter-Point: Wilkinson v. Pennycook IV

This article has been submitted by Alex Pennycook and Stu Wilkinson and is the fourth installment of their best-of-7 Point, Counter-Point series. Anyone who knows Stu or Alex or is a regular reader here knows the drill – they throw down on a few different sports questions, I arbitrarily award a split decision victory to one of them to keep the series alive (a page out of David Stern’s playbook), and they do it again a month or two later. This time, Stu has the added benefit of a victory speech, since he eclipsed Alex in The On Deck Circle’s $100 Sports Gambling Challenge by a closer-than-it-appears $459.60 to $170.37 margin. Kudos to both men for doing with hypothetical money what they’ve been unable to do with real money…make winning bets. Please note also that this is the very last time I will ever post one of Stu’s stupid cat photos, but to the victor gull the spoils, today.

Stuart Wilkinson’s Victory Speech
I’m not good at a lot of things. These include drawing, chugging beer out of bottles, and exercising self-control when I see Sebastian Telfair jerseys on eBay. But I am good at one important thing in life: Gambling on NCAA basketball games with fake money. I’m glad this talent of mine has finally been showcased through The On Deck Circle’s $100 Sports Gambling Challenge.

I have a lot of people to thank for this victory, so bear with me. First of all, the Austin Peay Governors were the horse that I rode to victory. I couldn’t have done this without them. Second, those funny pictures of cats were truly an inspiration to me during this pressure-packed week. Third, and finally (I can hear The On Deck Circle’s orchestra drowning out speech) I’d like to thank my opponent, Alex Pennycook. As a token of my appreciation I will now mock his opinions and embarrass his family in this edition of Point, Counter-Point.
Continue to Point, Counter-Point!

Introducing The ODC $100 Sports Gambling Challenge

If I’ve learned anything from professional wrestling, it’s that I should never admit to watching professional wrestling. If I’ve learned a second thing from professional wrestling, it’s how to plan and market a serious storyline (see: my constant threats to turn on people or deliver Sweet Chin Music to people’s families, friends, etc). But if I’ve learned a third thing from professional wrestling, it’s that friendships never last.

Shawn Michaels turned on Marty Jannetty for greater individual fame. ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage turned on Hulk Hogan over a woman. Christian turned on Edge out of professional jealousy.

And now, for a greater role at The On Deck Circle, Alex Pennycook has turned on Stu Wilkinson.
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Thursday Top Tens - Top 10 Games of the 2007-08 NFL Season

This article has been submitted by Alex Pennycook, as it will be every Thursday.

10. Cleveland 33 at Baltimore 30 (OT) (Week 11) – It’s a shame this Cleveland team didn’t make the playoffs this year. They had an explosive offense, playmakers on defense and game-changing special teams. A rare overturned FG pushed this game into overtime where the Browns eventually prevailed to improve their record to 6-4 and put themselves in immediate playoff contention.

9. NY Giants 21 at Chicago 16 (Week 13) – This game may not have registered on many people’s radars but I feel that this was the true TSN turning point in the Giants’ season. With the Bears deep in their own zone Devin Hester dropped a wide open TD bomb from Rexy and after a sack and a 30 yard punt, the Giants took over at the Bears’ 30. They quickly punched it in and took control of the game. A loss in that game would have put the Giants on the playoff bubble but the win helped them secure their 5 seed, distancing themselves from the rest of the pack.
More After the jump!

March Madness - Odds and Mid Majors

This article has been submitted by the probably now well-bronzed Alex Pennycook.

Top 5 Best Odds
Washington State (40-1) – Before Saturday’s demolition of USC, Washington State had lost 4 of their last 5 and now is the perfect time to buy low on these guys. This team hasn’t had a “bad” loss all season (albeit they had a very soft non-conference schedule) and the backcourt combo of Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver is extremely dangerous. Last year this team was new to the dance but now they know what it takes to win come March.
More after the jump!

March Madness - Contenders and Pretenders

This article has been submitted by the Frank Stallone of the Pennycook family, Alex Pennycook.

Top 5 Contenders
Memphis – The only unbeaten team still has their toughest game of the season remaining when they square off against Tennessee (which should be just an amazing, fast paced game that should be watched by every basketball fan as a tune up for tournament time). Everyone criticizes their weak conference schedule but that hasn’t hurt them lately, easily beating Georgetown and Arizona this year and barely missing the Final Four last year after a tough loss to Ohio State. There is a ton of NBA-ready talent on this team and it’s hard to imagine this squad not making it at least back to the Elite Eight again. Free throw shooting is their achilles heel but I can’t see that being the main reason why they lose a game.
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The Ultimate SuperBowl Preview Panel

Note: This article is a collaborative piece from Blake Murphy, Stu Wilkinson, Alex Pennycook, Samuel Cassady, Dave Power, Trevor Smith, Deven Hiscock, and Kyle Norton.

This Sunday while I’m deep into a medium pizza and a pound of wings ($20, Double Double Colossus Deal, what it do!) and an intense NBA Jam Session rematch with Stu (last year I defeated him in my rookie contest, this year we will be posting our box-score and a review article), the rest of the world will be watching the SuperBowl. Have you heard of it? Every television station and website (sports or not) has been covering the event non-stop for two weeks and I’ve actually made an active attempt to limit the amount of football coverage on the site to this Super Article. Upon launch of the site, I e-mailed all of our writers (potential or legit) with five questions they had the option to answer as part of an enormous SuperBowl panel. Well, here is my space- and time-saving brainchild come to fruition, with the responses of eight different writers to five burning SuperBowl questions. All the hype you need in just one article.
More after the jump!