Like it or not, the UCONN Women streak is one of the greatest accomplishments in sports

On Tuesday night, the UCONN women's basketball team defeated the Florida State women by 31 points, the 89th consecutive win for Geno Auriemma's squad, surpassing John Wooden's UCLA teams for the longest winning streak in the history of college/professional sports.  But like anything, there needs to be nay-sayers downplaying the streak and how remarkable it is.

The main excuse- its womens sports, the competition is not as great as the men, therefore it is nowhere close to UCLA's streak because it was a lot less difficult as a result of the competition and the lack thereof.

Is the women's game as competitive?  Of course not, in fact I would say there are actually more good mens teams in the Big East (UCONN's conference) than there are in all of women's college basketball.  But the fact of the matter is, is that dominance is dominance, and that is what UCONN has done over the years- dominated not just women's college basketball, but women's basketball in general.  Here are some numbers that dates back to the 1993-1994 season that should prove their dominance:

Record- 584-43
National Championships- 7
Final Four Appearances- 10
Elite 8 appearances- 15
Big East Championships- 14
National Players of the year- 6 (Rebecca Lobo, Sue Bird, Diana Tuarasi (2), Maya Moore, Tina Charles)
WNBA first overall picks- 3 (Sue Bird, Diana Tuarasi, Tina Charles)

Those are the facts.  I don't care what you're playing, who you're playing against, or who you're playing with, 89 straight wins is an extremely remarkable accomplishment, and it should be recognized in that way.

NFL Week 15 Picks

CLE @ CIN, Cleveland- Neither team is very good, but the Browns put up a good fight in just about every game this year, despite being 5-8.  The Bengals have packed it in.
WAS @ DAL, Dallas- The mess in the Landover just got even messier this week with the McNabb saga going to another level, while Dallas has moved beyond Wade Phillips and have played the way everyone thought they would before the season began.
HOU @ TEN, Houston- Tennessee has lost 6 in a row, and I believe Houston will help make it 7.
JAC @ IND, Indianapolis- Peyton Manning and the Colts aren't having the year we are used to seeing them have, but I still say they're more than capable of beating the Jaguars at home.
KC @ STL, Kansas City- I feel the Chiefs are the better team, and will win with Cassel at quarterback.
BUF @ MIA, Miami- The Dolphins are 1-5 at home, while the Bills are 1-5 on the road.  I think this will be another story of the Bills losing a close game.
PHI @ NYG, Philadelphia- Both teams are streaking into this one, with the Eagles winning their last 2 and the Giants winning their last 3, but Andy Reid knows how to beat the Giants, winning their last 7 matchups.
DET @ TB, Tampa Bay- Tampa Bay is the definition of a good, not great team.  They beat up on the bad, and get beat up by the best, and Detroit is a team in the bad category.
ARI @ CAR, Carolina- Not the most anticipated matchup of the week, but I like Carolina winning their 2nd game of the season at home against the Cards, who are 1-5 on the road.
NO @ BAL, New Orleans-The Ravens are 1-3 against current playoff teams, and I love how the Saints have played during their 6 game winning streak.  No Corey Ivy, no problem for New Orleans.
ATL @ SEA, Atlanta- The Falcons have won their last 7 and are the best team in the NFC.  I think they'll walk all over the Seahawks in this one.
DEN @ OAK, Oakland- The Raiders are 4-0 in the division and beat the Broncos by 45 in their first meeting this year.  I don't see how Tim Tebow will help that.
NYJ @ PIT, Pittsburgh- The Steelers have been playing as good as anyone since losing to New England 4 weeks ago, while the Jets seem to have lost their identity since losing by 42 to the Pats 2 weeks ago.
GB @ NE, New England- If the Packers want to win, they'll have to outscore Brady and the high-flying Pats offense.  With no Rodgers, I don't see that happening.
CHI @ MIN, Chicago- With the game being played outside, I like Bears to dominate this one, trying to bounce back from last Sunday's loss to New England.

Walt Dropo 1923-2010

 The New England Sports World suffered received sad news Saturday when it was learned that Walt Dropo passed away at the age of 87.  Dropo, who is most notably known for being the first Red Sox player to win Rookie of the Year, was a person who simply was pure New England blood.

Dropo grew up in Moosup, CT, a small mill village in rural northeast Connecticut, and was a standout athlete a Plainfield (CT) High School before going to UCONN, where he emerged as one of the all-time great Huskies, starring in football, basketball, and baseball.  Dropo was the face of UCONN athletics in a time long before Calhoun, Aurriema, or Edsall.

He would go on to be drafted by the NFL, NBA, and MLB, opting to play baseball.  Dropo would go on to have a lengthy career which spanned over parts of 13 seasons, playing for 5 different teams.  His career numbers was .270 AVG, 152 home runs, over 1100 hits, and was notoriously hard to strike out, with his average strikeouts over 162 games being just 73.  His most notable season came in 1950 with the Boston Red Sox, when he hit .322 with 34 homers, 144 RBI (led MLB), scored 101 times, and had a .961 OPS, good enough for the AL Rookie of the Year.

Walt Dropo was simply a New England kid in every sense of the word, and will be truly missed in the New England sports world.

Week 14 Picks

Cleveland @ Buffalo, Buffalo- Feel Buffalo will rebound from last week's embarrasment to Minnesota, beat Cleveland in a close one.
Green Bay @ Detroit, Green Bay- Detroit still one of the NFL's worst teams, just not as bad as a couple of years ago.  Green Bay is one of the best, with a 5-1 record in their last 6 games, the only loss coming in OT to Atlanta, who I feel is the NFL's best.
Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh- Cincinatti has mailed in the season, while Pittsburgh is coming off an impressive come from behind win against Baltimore on the road.
Tampa Bay @ Washington, Tampa Bay- I say Tampa gets back on track this week with a win against Washington, a team I feel remains in limbo.  Still say the Bucs aren't legit, but showed me alot in the last 2 weeks against two of the NFL's best in Atlanta and Baltimore.
Atlanta @ Carolina, Atlanta- I'm not going to waste my time talking about this one.
Oakland @ Jacksonville, Jacksonville- Wouldn't say the Jags are a great team, but Oakland is 0-4 against AFC teams outside their division, and 2-4 on the road.  Jaguars are certainly good enough to win this one.
St. Louis @ New Orleans, New Orleans- The Saints have looked like the team we saw win the Super Bowl last year over their 5-game winning streak, I feel they will be too much for the Rams who take a 2-4 road record into the Superdome.
Seattle @ San Francisco, San Francisco- This is a game where neither team is any good yet their both playing for a playoff spot, but I like the niners in this one, who have a 2-1 division record, and are looking to make up for the 25-point blowout in week one.
New England @ Chicago, New England- Was thinking Chicago at first, but I feel the Tom Brady and the Pats are on such a roll right now that its going to take alot to beat this team.  The Bears are going to need to out-discipline the Patriots, which I don't see happening with Cutler at QB.  Theres also snow and wind in the forecast, which is Tom Brady weather.
Miami @ NY Jets, Miami- Miami has been the NFL's best road team (5-1), and I think the Jets are emotionally crushed from a Monday night loss.  Miami always gives the Jets a hard time, and I think this will be no different.
Denver @ Arizona, Denver- Arizona is a mess right now, and I think Denver will have the new coach factor in this game.
Kansas City @ San Diego, San Diego- Kansas City will have to play this one without Matt Cassell against a San Diego team that I feel will want to make up for their home loss to Oakland.
Philadelphia @ Dallas, Philadelphia- Dallas has played well under Garrett, but will come up short against Michael Vick and the high-flying Eagles.
NY Giants @ Minnesota, Minnesota- It seems like the Vikings are finally playing to their fullest potential with a 2-0 record under Leslie Frazier, and the final quarter of the season is where we have seen the Giants fade in past years.  I like Minnesota in an easy victory at the Metdrodome.
Baltimore @ Houston, Baltimore- Not sure what I think about Houston, but I see Baltimore as one of the NFL's best, and will be able to win this one on the road.

Sox 2011 Lineup will be lethal

Tito's job, after being seemingly one of the hardest managing jobs in 2010, could be one of the easiest managing jobs in 2011 with the Christmas shopping that Theo did this week--a $296 million trip to Walmart that brought two of the game's best players to Boston.  It should be interesting to see how this team does in 2011, I'd say this is a potential 100-win team. 
Lets begin the lineup.  Adrian Gonzalez brings one thing with him, and that is everything the Sox lost when Manny left.  In the 2+ seasons since Manny brought his talents to Chavez ravine, the Sox have scored lots of runs, but it is the timely hitting that has killed them.  Adrian, a guy I see as a 40 homers-40 doubles guy playing 81 a year at Fenway, now puts that beast back in the middle of the order, making the Sox lineup once again a pitcher's worst nightmare, much like it was in 2004 and 2007.
Now all they need is solid pitching, which I believe they have.  To begin, Jon Lester is their ace and in my opinion the best lefty in baseball, Clay Buchholz emerged as one of the game's most dominant starters in 2010, and someone I see as the close runner-up ace to Lester.  Ohh and by the way, they have Josh Beckett and Jon Lackey who were terrible last year, but I see them having solid bounce back years this year, and at their best, I see both them being legit #2 guys, maybe aces.
This how I see the Sox lineup panning out:

Carl Crawford, LF- Prefer him 2nd, but I feel the speed at the top of the lineup is important.
Dustin Pedroia, 2B- Good player, but I feel Laser Shows happen when Pedroia is batting 2nd.  This is also a great guy to put behind Crawford and Jacoby, given his grinder-like ability at the plate and ability to move runners along.
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B- Put your best power hitter and run-producer third.  He is one of the best power hitters and run-producers in baseball, I feel this guy will put up monster numbers as a result of not playing at Petco.
Kevin Youkilis, 3B- .311 AVG/.972 OPS hitting cleanup, plus sticks a righty between Papi and Gonzo.
David Ortiz, DH- Still say he can hit third, Gonzo is just the better option..wouldn't be surprised if he were to hit 40 home runs this year.
Jed Lowrie, SS- Scutaro deserves to be a starter, but could also be a great 10 position player like he was on the A's.  I just feel Lowrie needs to be in the lineup as a result of his ability to switch-hit and hit LHP (.309 career AVG vs. lefties), and it takes away the opposing manager's ability to bring in a lefty late in the game to face Papi and Drew back-to-back.
JD Drew, RF- Like Drew in the 7-hole, not quite a top of the order guy in my opinion.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C- This can allow him to quietly have a great season, not having to be the young up and coming superstar at the top of the order.  Instead, it allows him to test some things out, and I can honestly see him finding his stroke and being a 20-homer guy.
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF- A .363 career hitter in the bottom third of the order, brings a second leadoff hitter to the bottom of the lineup, not to mention NFL running back-like speed.  It also makes for a nice Jacoby-Crawford-Pedroia-Gonzalez batting order in the lineup.