Nick’s Picks: Examining One Of My Many Flaws
I regret to inform everyone of this, but I feel you should all know that I am technologically challenged. I had an intro piece written for this week’s article about basketball and my love for the game, but my browser crashed and my long-winded profession of love for hoops was not saved.
We can chalk up the lack of preparedness as one of my many flaws. Another flaw I boast quite frequently is poor time management. I sat on my couch writing this week’s article when the browser crashed earlier today. I decided to skip right into doing my picks. Once again, my browser crashed, but I thankfully learned from my last screw up and had everything saved.
All of this bad luck and poor time management led to such a late posting of the picks this week. So, instead of my original story, I give you the not-so-refreshing lemonade story that I produced after life gave me a bunch of lemons today.
The eventual posting was delayed even further as I started to save my story sentence by sentence.
*save*
That timely, yet effective method ensured that I would have at least some jargon for my readers to, well, read, once they (you) opened the story.
*save*
There was also a small hang-up when I forgot that I was sitting at my desk, post lunch break and had forgotten to clock in for work.
*save*
*checks fantasy football lineup*
So, yeah, it’s been one of those days.
*save*
The gist of my original intro was that I really like the sport of basketball and I truly feel that it’s something that runs in my blood being an Indiana native.
*save*
*buys Sprite from vending machine*
I have few regrets in life, but one of them is definitely opting to not play high school basketball after playing it all through middle school.
*save*
*realizes high school hoops conditioning would have been the literal death of me*
I also regret not kissing my date to the junior prom.
*save*
*Facebook stalks junior prom date*
I can’t change the past, but I can sincerely wish all of our players the best of luck this season as the schedule starts to heat up. High school sports are a once in a lifetime opportunity, don’t miss out on the memories with a bad attitude or lazy demeanor. You’ll end up regretting it down the road.
Another piece of advice (if you haven’t caught on yet), regularly save your papers as you write them. This article was not the first time I made the mistake of forgetting to save my work.
I know, I didn’t save after the last few sentences, I’m such a bad boy.
*save*
Last Week: 7-4
Overall: 76-40
High School Boys Basketball 12/2
Wawasee (1-1) at Manchester (0-2), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: It’s the start of a big weekend for the Wawasee boys basketball team. Wawasee plays tonight and tomorrow against two beatable opponents. Between these two winnable games and the next two against very talented teams in Whitko and Warsaw, the next four games will be a very good measuring stick to see where the Warriors are at under new head coach Jon Everingham. What I like most from Wawasee so far is the arrival of Trevon Coleman. It’s just been two games, but Coleman has shown the talent that so many knew he had.
If the Warriors can bring the effort and intensity seen in the Fairfield game and in the second half of the Angola game, I think they sweep their games this weekend.
Nick’s Pick: Wawasee 58, Manchester 49.
Whitko (1-0) at Wabash (1-2), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: The Wildcats whooped up on county rival Columbia City last week. I picked the ‘Cats to win but never thought they’d roll by 19. Whitko starts its Three Rivers Conference schedule tonight with a trip to see the Apaches. Wabash played things tight last year but fell 53-45 to Whitko. I saw Wabash in its scrimmage with Wawasee early in November and I did not see much to be impressed with. (Not that I ever do at a scrimmage.) I think Nate Walpole and River West are going to cause issues for many teams this year, along with Spencer Sroufe, and I don’t see Wabash being an exception.
Nick’s Pick: Whitko 63, Wabash 47.
Knox (2-1) at Tippecanoe Valley (1-1), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: Valley picked up its first win of the season Tuesday night over Argos. The Vikings host the Redskins (gasp!) tonight at Death Valley. Valley beat Knox on the road a year ago and I expect the same result this time around. I am a sucker for Valley basketball and Coach Patrick usually has his teams in a position to win ballgames. This is a winnable game for Valley so I expect the Vikings to get it done, most likely in a low-scoring contest.
Nick’s Pick: Valley 47, Knox 43.
Warsaw (2-0) at Homestead (1-0), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: The Tigers roll into Summit City with a 2-0 record and the memories of a 65-50 win over the Spartans last December. I like Kyle Mangas, I like Doug Ogle and I like Warsaw. I have The Tigers going at least 7-0 and having a minimum of eight wins going into the Hall of Fame Tournament against New Albany. Tonight will not be an easy game, Homestead historically has a tough environment to play in, but it should be a win for Warsaw. The Tigers are simply better, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Also, the Warsaw cheer block has been promoting for its members to put down money for a banana suit for a game in January. If you’re a student and you haven’t done this yet, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? Get in on this. I’m debating joining in just because I like looking ridiculous in public settings.
Nick’s Pick: Warsaw 59, Homestead 46.
Triton (0-2) at NorthWood (0-), 7:45 p.m.
The Scoop: There’s just certain games you don’t want to be a part of, that’s happening for Triton tonight. NorthWood is not just having its home opener, its the season opener for the Panthers and their basketball crazed community. I would expect there to be a good crowd on hand for NorthWood tonight and I definitely don’t expect the Panthers to lose. Triton has had two rough games to start its season, including Tuesday’s 25-point loss at Plymouth. Plymouth should play spoiler against a few teams this year, but the Rockies/Pilgrims/Big Red/etc. are not the same level as this Panther team. This could be another long night for the Trojans.
Nick’s Pick: NorthWood 62, Triton 40.
NFL Week 13
San Francisco (1-10) at Chicago (2-9), 1 p.m.
The Scoop: Well, this is not quite the exciting matchup it was back in the mid-1980s. Yikes. So, the Bears are bad and, uh, the 49ers are bad. Neither team has a competent quarterback. It’s questionable whether either has a competent coach, to be fair. Not much to say about this dumpster fire of a matchup. Loser gets a better draft pick!
Nick’s Pick: Bears 27, 49ers 22.
Indianapolis (5-6) at New York (3-8), 8:30 p.m. Monday Night Football
The Scoop: Another week to give Colts fans false hope of relevance as Indy finds itself well within reach of the AFC South title. This week’s opponent is the lethargic J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS! It’s a rematch of Super Bowl III and Joe Namath might actually start under center for New York in this one.
Seriously, I’m just so depressed even writing about this matchup. I bet ESPN was so excited for this game when they first scheduled it, now they’ve probably fired half of that department for not realizing just how bad these two teams could be. Football is disappointing me at the professional level.
Nick’s Pick: Colts 34, Jets 25.