Chavalyez's Weekend Viewing Guide/Locks of the Week

Final weekend of the regular season. Another slate of college games that will have huge a impact on the Postseason, including a potential all-timer Saturday night at Cameron Indoor. Last week was definitely a trial run for the Weekend Viewing Guide/Locks of the Week. There was some great games and good viewing all weekend and the picks slowly improved through Sunday. We ended up around the 50% mark and will improve on that for sure. To make this an easier read, the picks will be separated each night instead of in paragraph form. As always, look for a solid TBS/TNT/USA pick or two. So without further ado…

(Note: Several of these picks are made without spreads available yet. The pick is made based on the educational guess of Chavalyez in regards to what he thinks the spread might be. Feel free to check back throughout the weekend as picks may be updated.)

Friday – ESPN must think it is 1987 as they have picked up Bulls/Celtics for the 1^st half of its doubleheader. No, Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish are not walking through that door. Unfortunately for Chicago, neither is MJ, Pip or even Toni Kukoc. Bulls fans would be happy enough to have Bill Cartwright and Cliff Livingston to come through that door. This one could get real ugly, real quick. The C’s are coming off a HUGE win against The Guide’s pick to win the East, Detroit Pistons. They have now 6 in a row after losing three straight and are looking to extend their Eastern Conference lead. No spread right now, but if it is anything less than 12, it is a 5 star for this guy (Editor’s note: Spread is -11). Look for a possible update by Friday. Closing out the doubleheader is actually a decent matchup with a lot of playoff implications (Just realized that this could be said for 90% of the Western Conference games for the rest of the season). The Big Fundy and the Spurs head to the Rockies for a battle with AI and Melo. Denver has to be the most televised non-playoff team in the history of the NBA. I guess that can happen when a team could win 50 games and be one of the most exciting in the league and still not make the playoffs. That’s how fucking hard the West is. The East is a joke and should only be allowed 4 teams in the playoffs, and that’s only because Lebron is on that 4^th team. That’s another story for another day. Unfortunately, the Guide has the Spurs picked to win the West and to give us the NBA Finals we are all dreading. Look for Denver to make this close though as they have the 8 spot in their sights and playing at home (This feels like it has been said before). The pick is Denver in a minor upset as they could even be favored by 1 or 2 by Friday (Editor’s Note: Spread is -2)…You would think with a not-so-hot night of sports going on, the cable nets would have supplied the viewers with some solid flicks. TBS will be trotting out the Will Ferrell BOMB “Kicking and Screaming.” Due to the recent reviews of “Semi-Pro,” Ferrell might need to be looking for some new scripts. The last few years have consisted of comedic classics such as “Bewitched,” “Talladega Nights,” and “Blades of Glory.” TNT gets all date night on you with “Hitch” and some Hillary Duff film that went straight to DVD. For true Hollywood cinema, check out on FX, the all-time classic and personal favorite of The Guide, “Home Alone.” Luckily, C-Yez will be in the States drankin it up and won’t be forced to rent something on PPV.
-Chicago/Boston – Boston -11
-Denver/SA – Denver, -2
-Home Alone, “Look what you did you little Jerk!”

Saturday – For the second week in row, CBS tosses everyone a solid bone and gives another tripleheader full of storylines and impact. Only 2 games all day involved ranked teams, but they are both don’t miss on this guy’s list. Georgetown hosts Louisville in a game that will basically determine the Big East regular season champ. Pitino’s boys are playing as well as anyone in the country and with a 2^nd win over the Hoyas, will clinch the title and #1 seed at the Garden next week. JTIII will be looking to improve off of their pull-it-out-of-their-ass win at Marquette. The Hoyas, playing about as bad as they possibly could, still came away with the W on the road and that impressed The Guide. Plus it is a revenge game along with being in DC. All this should lead to a G’Town victory. As for the pick, wait for the spread to come out. If anything more than 4 or 5, look to take the Cards and the points. The Gus Game of the Week (For those who don’t know, that’s Gus Motherfuckin Johnson, a Tanight.Blogspot.com and Viewing Guide favorite) will be doing the Stanford/USC game in LA. As much hatred as there is towards the Lopez brothers (Ace and Gary from SNL come to mind), Stanford is playing pretty damn well right now. Coming off a complete choke job AT UCLA means this team has the talent to play with anybody and should be ready to stop OJ (Mayo, not Orenthal James Simpson). CBS ends their tripleheader with Kansas traveling to College Station. KU still needs Texas to lose to have a chance at the Big 12 title so there is still something to play for. The spread should be something like KU -5 or so. The Aggies NEED a win like this and would definitely wrap up a spot in the tourney with it. The team/crowd will be rockin and it will be a big time atmosphere. Look for it to be close and possibly even an upset by the Aggies. Take the points and even look at the money line. Could be some good odds on it. Finally, Saturday night renews one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports. Duke-Carolina. 8 miles apart on Tobacco Road. Carolina Blue vs. Duke Blue. It doesn’t get bigger than this. Gameday will be live, Dickie V will be crowd surfing and a #1 seed is on the line. Being an outsider to the rivalry, it began to take notice in the mid-90s after both teams had clearly established themselves as top tier programs in the country. The one game that pops out is the ’95 contest at Cameron that was a 102-100 OT victory by the Heels. This game had the “Stackhouse Dunk,” Jeff Capel running 30 footer to send it to OT, and a Jeff McInnis’ clincher. I believe it was a Musberger and Dickie V ABC broadcast on a Sunday afternoon. The next year was even better when UNC prevailed at home this time…Wojo slapping floor at half court in perfect D stance, Zwikker vs Big Greg Newton, and a tip-in game winner by none other than Dante Calabria. These are just 2 of the classics that encompass this rivalry. Now on to this year’s game. Everyone knows the circumstance of the first meeting in Chapel Hill. Clearly the absence of Ty Lawson was the deciding factor in the game. Now, Lawson is back and Carolina is atop the polls again. They have been rolling since the Duke lost, having not lost and won 6 in a row by double digits. The Dukies on the other hand, have lost two road games to ACC bottom feeders Miami and Wake since the UNC victory but are still hovering around the top 5. The ’96 Bulls would have trouble going into Cameron and coming out with a W so don’t think that because Ty is back, this is an easy win. The crazies will be…crazy, and Coach K will have his boys ready to play. Both teams know what’s at stake, but also realize that this probably won’t be the last time they meet each other. The ACC tourney will all but supply a third matchup of the season. The pick is Carolina, but with very little confidence. They are in this guy’s opinion, if healthy, the #1 team in the country. They were able to build/establish depth at the PG position while Lawson was out, which in the end, could have been a blessing in disguise. Psycho T plays with as much heart and effort as any player since Brian Cardinal was patrolling the Big 10 for Gene Keady’s Boilermakers. Add in the smoothness of Wayne “You Stay Classy” Ellington, and this is a serious Final Four team. If the Dukies are hitting the 3’s like game 1, it could be trouble. UNC needs to establish Tyler early and often, while also trying to push the ball any chance they can get. The athleticism advantage is clearly with the Heels (Just look at how many white guys play for Duke), so as long as they can keep the tempo up and then go inside when running the half court O, they should be alright. With all of that, expect this to be a typical Duke-Carolina classic…If for some reason you do not care to watch any of these games (I wonder why you are even reading this site), then TBS will be showing another disgrace in remakes in “Bad News Bears” (Billy Bob version) and TNT will go with “Air Force One” for the 756^th time. ABC counters that with a primetime network premiere of “Road to Perdition,” a great film starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman. A Best supporting actor nomination was given to Newman in this very underrated, Prohibition-era story revolving around the mob and a father/son connection. Definitely recommend recording this while watching the games.
-Georgetown, if 5 or less
-Stanford, big time
-Tx AM, upset pick (straight up)
-Carolina, just because a pick has to be made
-“Road to Perdition”

Sunday – A pretty fair day of basketball as most teams will have wrapped up their regular season. CBS trots out a weak tripleheader which includes a neither ranked matchup between Florida and Kentucky. It has been too long to even remember when a game between these 2 teams on the last Sunday of the season involves both being unranked. This doesn’t mean that it still isn’t important. Both are very Bubblicious, and a loss here is much more impactful than a win. It’s Senior Day for what seems like 12^th yr players Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford. Both these guys came in as big time pickups for Tubby and could end their career in the NIT. Patrick Patterson was living up to the hype until a season ending injury (For him and the Cats). Florida on the other hand, is living off of an embarrassing non-conference schedule and sitting above 20 wins. A loss here, and they end up at .500 in conference. Not exactly what Billy Donavon had in mind when turning down 30 mil from the Magic. He knew his team was not on the level of the past 2 years, but he had to have thought that they eventually would have turned the corner by now. It appeared to be happening last night, but an absolute choke job by the Gators allowed UT to come back from 16 down in the first half. You can thank Jeremy Foley and his scheduling staff if the Gators somehow make the Tourney. The pick is definitely UK, even though they are a mediocre-at-best team w/o Patterson. It’s Senior Day, and “you don’t boo seniors.” Also on the CBS docket is the Missouri Valley Championship game, which if Drake does not win, then that is one less team Dancin. The Cuse, UK, Florida, and many others will have as much interest in this as Drake fans. Stick with Drake to win it, even though they have lost 3 of their last six after going 22-1. Finally, Purdue travels to Michigan in a game that The Guide will probably even skip. Purdue lost its chance at the Big 10 title with a loss to Ohio St Tuesday night, so look for Michigan to at least cover at home. ABC’s afternoon Pro game is another one of those Western Conference playoff deciders. Phoenix hosts San Antonio, while Suns GM Steve Kerr will look on wondering who the hell rufied him and allowed the Shaq trade to happen. This is beginning to look a lot like the Randy Moss to NE trade…Except the exact OPPOSITE. Take Phoenix as this is a statement game and if they lose, you can just start betting against them the rest of the season as they will begin to unravel…Oh yea, and FUCKING Chicago is on ESPN again. Hey WWL suits, the Bulls fucking blow. Take Detroit, lay the ranch…The Winston/Nextel/Sprint/Keg Cup race will be in the dirty dirty on Sunday. Hot Carl Edwards has won 2 in a row, even though he cheated last week. You gotta love NASCAR. Fantasy Nascar friend of the Guide, The Die Hard Dick Trickle’s are going with Matt Kenseth. His word is the bible in this regard…Final episode of The Wire on HBO. Looks like McNulty is going down and who knows if the charges will be able to stick on Omar and his crew. Should be a good one, just like the entire season. A double dose of “Kicking and Screaming” on TBS, as their ratings drop to record lows (By the way, what a terrible fucking weekend of movies by TBS. Where’s Uncle Buck or King Ralph? It’s been like 3 months since they were on). That wraps up your weekend and another version of The Guide.
-Kentucky, Senior Day for Bradley/Crawford
-Drake, if in the final
-Purdue, big time
-Phoenix, statement game
-Detroit, cause we are sick of Chicago being on TV
-The Wire, final episode