SethSpeaks.net

"Expert" Football Picks

2005

Panelists

Overall Standings

Week 1 Picks

Week 2 Picks

Week 3 Picks

Week 4 Picks

Week 5 Picks

Week 6 Picks

Week 7 Picks

Week 8 Picks

Week 9 Picks

Week 10 Picks

Week 11 Picks

Week 12 Picks

Week 13 Picks

Week 14 Picks

Week 15 Picks

Week 16 Picks

Week 17 Picks

Panelists

Last night, Randy Moss and the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots collide in the NFL's first regular season game of the year. It is the second straight year that the defending champs will be playing the season's first game. So, it is time to bring back our NFL "Expert" Picks. This year, we have added a couple of more 'experts' so it should be a lot of fun. Last year, Ryan Maus, who wrote Twins Chatter until earlier this summer, beat out Melissa Olson and Mike Brasel by just one game, and Aaron Gleeman (who won it two years ago) by two games in the overall record.

For 2005, we have added a couple new Twins bloggers. However, I am especially excited to announce two celebrities who will be making picks each week. I feel very fortunate to announce that Twins reliever Grant Balfour, and Kevin Slowey, the Twins 2nd round pick in June, will be on this panel. Here is a quick look at them and the rest of our panelists:

Seth Stohs - Me. I am the writer of this site, www.SethSpeaks.net - Please read the About Me section for a mini-bio of me.

Stick and Ball Guy - writer of the site, you guessed it, Stick and Ball Guy - SBG is one of my favorite writers online. His thoughts and opinions are always smart and sharp and incredibly interesting and thought-provoking. He talks baseball, football and basketball knowledgeably. This is his first year on this panel and will do a good job.

Ben Jacobs - Fantasy Sports Writer at The Hardball Times - If you want great information or ideas about fantasy sports, baseball in particular, your should definitely check out Ben's articles. Ben returns in an attempt to improve over his 157-99 (61%) 2004 season. In 2003, he was accurate on 68% of his picks.

Aaron Gleeman - writer of Aaron's Baseball Blog and the co-creator of and contributor to The Hardball Times. He can also be read at FoxSports.com, Rotoworld and Insider Baseball - In the world of Baseball blogging, there is one name that stands out above all others, and that is Aaron Gleeman. His thoughts and statistical analysis are so well written and thought out that it is a must-read. The 22 year old college student takes classes and still writes up multiple articles a day for his sites. Gleeman returns this year to reclaim his lost title. In 2003, he accurately chose almost 69% of games. Last year, he correctly picked 67% of games and finished in 4th, just two games behind the winner.

Grant Balfour - Relief Pitcher for the Minnesota Twins - Recently, Balfour was kind enough to agree to pick games for this site for the whole year. That is very kind of him. As you can imagine, he has quite the schedule rehabbing from Tommy John surgery that he had in March. In 2004, we saw the incredible pitching ability that he possesses, especially in Game 4 of their playoff series against the Yankees. The 27 year old from Sydney, Australia, will hopefully be back in time for the 2006 season opener to make an already strong Twins bullpen even stronger!

Kevin Slowey - Twins Starting Pitching Prospect - currently pitching for the Beloit Snappers of the Midwest League - Slowey was the Twins 2nd round pick (73rd overall) just this past June after a stellar three year career at Winthrop University. He signed quickly and appeared out of the bullpen in four games for Elizabethton where he struck out 15 in 7.2 innings. He was promoted to Beloit where he stayed in the bullpen for a few outings before entering the starting rotation. He pitched in 13 games (9 starts) there and was 3-2 with a 2.24 ERA. In 64.1 innings, he struck out a very impressive 69 batters while walking just eight. He could be the next Twins 2nd round pick to rise quickly through the organization like Jesse Crain and Scott Baker before him.

Will Young - writer of Will's Minnesota Twins Site - Will's site is great. He has really been making use of the Win Probability charts on his site of late. His incites on the Twins are great. His infamous "Matt LeCroy is my non-sexual man crush" t-shirt got him a few meetings with the Twins burly righty. Will also updates the Twins Organizational Big Board. This is Will's first year making football picks for this site and I am thrilled that he is doing this!

Trevor Born - writer of The Twins Junkie - Trevor is a 16 year old high school student who started his website last year. He has done an excellent job on his site, particularly in securing some very good interviews. I met Trevor and The Twins Geek down at the State Fair as they invited us to appear on-air for part of the Twins Talk show. He tells me that football ranks as his third favorite sport behind baseball and basketball. He prefers the Gophers, but is still a rabid NFL fan.

Brent Hanson - writer of BrentNet - I coached Brent in baseball about ten years ago when he was a 13 year old in Perham, MN. A couple of years ago, he started his blog, BrentNet, which discusses sports, the Twins, the Vikings, politics, music, and pretty much anything and everything. It is certainly a site I check daily. Currently, Brent is working on another blog, the Minnesota Sports Blog (click here if you want a quick preview of what you can expect. Understand that the site is still under construction) which will cover all Minnesota sports from professional to the college ranks and probably more. I look forward to seeing that site!

Cory Hepola - Sports Anchor at KTVH-TV in Helena, Montana, also see coryhepola.com - I coached Cory for a few years, from Little League through Babe Ruth. He was one of the good kids. He was also quite the basketball player in high school. After four years at my alma mater, Concordia College, Cory is now a sports anchor. He has a strong relationship with members of Helena's rookie league team. But it does seem that football is Cory's best sport. How much does he know? Well, last March, when I was vacationing in Florida, Cory wrote a guest column for me in which he discussed the Vikings offseason moves at that time. Well, I guess we'll see how he did. This is Cory's first year on the panel.

Mike Brasel - One of my best friends since we were both about 6. He is listed as the left fielder for my Best Players I’ve Played Ball With team. After serving in the Navy for 6 years, Mike went back to school and became an engineer.  He’s also a pretty smart football person, who I turn to for fantasy football advice!!

Melissa Lien - editor, proofreader of www.SethSpeaks.net - Missy is a great friend and big football fan. She was instrumental in the development of this site and originally was the publisher of the site. After finishing eighth out of nine two year ago, Missy came back to finish just one game behind the winner last year.

 

STANDINGS

Final Standings	Total	Week	17		Over	All
Name	Site	W	L	Win%	W	L	Win %
Trevor Born	Twins Junkie	9	7	56.3%	185	71	72.3%
Cory Hepola	KTVH-TV Sports	10	6	62.5%	182	74	71.1%
SethSpeaks Panel		8	6	57.1%	169	74	69.5%
Seth Stohs	SethSpeaks.net	12	4	75.0%	177	79	69.1%
Aaron Gleeman	Aaron's BB Blog	9	7	56.3%	176	80	68.8%
Stick & Ball Guy	Stick & Ball Guy	9	7	56.3%	174	82	68.0%
Mike Brasel	Fantasy FB Guru	10	6	62.5%	174	82	68.0%
Melissa Lien	SethSpeaks.net	10	6	62.5%	166	90	64.8%
Will Young	Will's Twins Blog	8	8	50.0%	165	91	64.5%
Brent Hanson	BrentNet	10	6	62.5%	164	92	64.1%
Ben Jacobs	Hardball Times	9	7	56.3%	163	93	63.7%
Grant Balfour	Twins Relief Pitcher	9	7	56.3%	160	96	62.5%
Kevin Slowey	Twins Pitching Prospect	8	8	50.0%	148	108	57.8%

WEEK 1

Summary

Looking at the selections of the 12 panelists, here is who the collective "We" think will win each game:

Oakland @ New England - Patriots 12-0
Chicago @ Washington -Redskins 10-2
Cincinnati @ Cleveland - Bengals 10-2
Denver @ Miami - Broncos 12-0
Houston @ Buffalo - Bills 10-2
New Orleans @ Carolina - Panthers 12-0
NY Jets @ Kansas City - Chiefs 8-4
Seattle @ Jacksonville - Jaguars 10-2
Tampa Bay @ Minnesota - Vikings 12-0
Tennessee @ Pittsburgh - Steelers 11-1
Arizona @ NY Giants - Giants 9-3
Dallas @ San Diego - Chargers 10-2
Green Bay @ Detroit - Packers 8-4
St. Louis @ San Francisco - Rams 12-0
Indianapolis @ Baltimore - Colts 10-2
Philadelphia @ Falcons - Eagles 6-6

WEEK 2