OMG!! Did U see what Dr. Z said?!?

You may remember a few days ago, when we reminded you that sometimes editors don’t make the best decisions.

However, sometimes those botched editorial field goals aren’t SO wide right.

Such is the case with the “Look at Us!” Sports Illustrated pulled today in the “1″ spot on their Web site.

The headline? “Dr. Z: Giants Will Win”

Seriously Paul? You’re really are putting your money on the Giants? I mean, sure they are on a hot streak and Eli’s playing well, but you are going to pick against the team that’s 18-0?

Give me a break.

This is a ploy to pull in readers via “Did you see what they’re saying over at SI?”

Furthermore, Z’s main reason for picking the Giants is that he didn’t trust his instincts and pick the Jets over the Colts in Super Bowl III almost 40 years ago:

I had a feeling about the Jets, not a strong one, but Joe Namath working against that strong side rotating zone? Gee, he’d never had trouble with it before. Could it be that … ? Do I have the courage to … ? Nah, I’ll pick the Colts to win, but by under the spread. That’ll make everyone happy. So I did and it made no one happy, least of all me when the Jets scored the biggest upset in Supe history. Who was happy? Leonard Shecter of the Post. He picked the Jets. I kicked myself for the coward I was. No longer. Today, I am a man.

(Funny story, actually. Remember that U.S.-Soviet Union hockey game in the 1980 Olympic games? I had a hunch the United States would prevail, but I just didn’t feel like telling anyone.)

Basically, Dr. Z says the Patriots will lose because A) the Giants are more confident and B) the Pats have looked beatable lately.

A) I think winning every regular season game might give a team a touch of confidence — just a smidge — and B) Which game was it the Pats actually lost? Must have missed that one.

If a writer gave me some real reasons the Giants are going to win the Super Bowl closer to the game (Belichick out of sweatshirts, Brady stabbed by Moynahan, Harrison caught shooting up for the 8th time, etc.), I’d be all ears. But saying the Giants are going to win this stage in the game is just a sad attempt at drawing attention to yourself.

Kind of like comparing weekly football picks with a model, I guess.

Buy this book!

This is going to be our shameless plug for the day.

Although heaping accolades on Deadspin’s Will Leitch is kind of like critiquing Stephen A. Smith, we owe the dude a lot (Will, not Stephen).

Even though we were late in the blog game, he’s given us several links that have led to numerous readers visiting our little site.

For that we are always indebted.

And part of that debt comes from buying his most recent book, “God Save the Fan.”

So get over to Amazon and check it out. (You probably can’t count the number of books you’ve read on one hand, anyway).

And besides, if you don’t like it, you’ll get a full refund*. Happy reading, Fynal Cutters!

*This statement not approved by Mr. Leitch.

Upset suburb, baby!!

Oh the glories of being jobless. More sleep, less showering, less changing out of pajamas, and a lot more ESPN First Take. That is, until you pass out from beating yourself over the head with the remote.

But alas, that’s what this morning amounted to. I only could handle about 20 minutes of those rousing morning roosters cackling and cawing this morning, but that was more than enough time to get my daily dose of made-up story lines to help promote ESPN telecasts.

Today brought us the college basketball edition, which analyzed the CRRRAAAZZZY start to the college basketball season and why the amount of upsets are beginning to mirror the football season. And as my mind wandered, I wondered, “Wait a second, that can’t be true? But T.V. said it was true. More than that, Jay Crawford said it’s true. Hmmm, I could sure go for some Eggos.”

So after the segment my waffles, I decided to do a little research. [Note: This is when somebody who is writing something goes back to archives, interviews or any other piece of factual information that helps give weight and validity to a story. And yes, it is, in fact, possible for bloggers to partake in this ancient writing ritual] And as it turns out, T.V. was lying.

Actually, this season is far more normal than previous years (But if it’s more normal than recent history doesn’t that make it abnormal? What is normal anyway? Why do we exist?). First Take’s claim was that upsets are riddling the top teams in the nation. But actually, when you look at the AP polls from the past three years, you see far less losses among ranked teams this year than years past. The present Top-25 has two undefeated teams (none at this point in the past two seasons), six one-loss teams (three in ‘07 & four in ‘08), nine two-loss teams (seven & four), six three-loss teams (nine & six), two four-loss teams (two & seven), and not a single five-loss team (four and four).

Further, seven of the top-10 teams have one loss or less this year. The past two years combined had seven one-loss-or-less teams. And to cap it all off, the highest ranked team with four losses this year is Marquette at No. 21. Last year at this point there was a No. 17-ranked five-loss team and the No. 1 team (Florida) had two losses. In 2006, Michigan State had five losses and they were No. 12.

The big closing number on the Fake Take segment likened being a conference leader to being the No. 2 team in college football — a kiss of death in that sport this year. Well, the big six conference leaders (Big East, Big 10, SEC, ACC, Big 12 & Pac 10) have a combined six losses this year. Last year at this point, they had 11. Year before that — 13.

I acknowledge that this is a long post just to prove that something nobody really gives value to in the first place is wrong. But this is really just a tiny glimpse of the lengths media members/writers are willing to go to in order to promote games and try to generate frenzy. Fact is, this season is unfolding quite normally no matter how much the media may want it to mirror the football season. But there is no problem in that.

Sorry “Mayhem Monday,” and “Super Tuesday,” and “Whacked-Out Wednesday,” and “Thriving Thursday,” and “Freaky-Fun Friday” … but you’re just going to have to stick to promoting good ol’ honest basketball. Cuz, frankly, that’s all we really want.