Here are the Blogger's picks for this week's matchups. Make sure you get your picks posted by 3 p.m. (CT) on Saturday to be eligible to win. Good luck.

Baltimore +4 over Tennessee
Over 34.5
Arizona +10 over Carolina
Under 48.5
Philadelphia +4 over NY Giants
Over 40
Pittsburgh -6 over San Diego
Over 37.5
Kobe
Howard (Doubler)

This week's Beat the Blogger matchups will feature a heavy dose of NFL games and a pair of proposition picks. All of the games will be on Saturday and Sunday so we should have our weekly winner determined by Monday morning assuming somebody can Beat The Blogger's total.
                                              You Make The Call
As always, make sure to get your picks posted by 1/2 before the start of the first game, which is the Baltimore at Tennessee game, set to kickoff at 3:30 p.m. (CT) on Saturday. Also remember to designate your "Doubler" pick which is the selection you feel most confident in. If you get your "Doubler" pick correct, you get two points awarded to your total. I'll post my picks on Thursday so you know what you're up against. To enter, click on the "Comments" section on this post or do the same to the post I make Thursday with the Blogger picks. Good luck.

NFL Playoffs
Jan. 10
1. Baltimore +4 at Tennessee
2. Total Points Scored Baltimore vs. Tennessee (34.5) Pick Over or Under
3. Arizona +10 at Carolina
4. Total Points Scored Arizona vs. Carolina (48.5) Pick Over or Under
Jan. 11
5. Philadelphia +4 at NY Giants
6. Total Points Scored Philadelphia vs. NY Giants (40) Pick Over or Under
7. San Diego +6 at Pittsburgh
8. Total Points Scored San Diego vs. Pittsburgh (37.5) Pick Over or Under
Jan. 11
NBA
9. Who will score more points?
Dwyane Wade (Miami) or Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles)
10. Who will have more rebounds?
Tim Duncan (San Antonio) or Dwight Howard (Orlando)

Just got done reading the AP NFL Player of the Year results and while I agree with the pick of Drew Brees, I can't for the life of me understand how Brees didn't receive one single vote in the MVP balloting (Peyton Manning won his third such award).

Both awards are voted on by a panel of nationwide media members which makes the results even more puzzling because these are the guys that cover the teams on a weekly basis. How can a guy be named the MVP of the league by a whopping 32-4 vote and then finish second in the POY voting, 22-9? And how can the POY not receive a single vote in the MVP balloting? It makes about as much sense as the Vikings naming Tavaris Jackson their starter in the playoffs.

And while I don't agree with the shared philosophy of many that the MVP has to come from a winning team, let's not forget that Brees and the Saints came withing two points of reaching the playoffs, and the fact that Brees came withing a few yards of breaking Dan Marino's long-standing single-season passing yards record, all while playing without his top three playmakers (Marques Colston, Reggie Bush and Jeremy Schockey) for much of the season. Also consider that Brees threw for more than 1,000 yards more than Manning, tossed seven more touchdown passes, produced more yards per completion and finished with higher quarterback rating than Manning, and it's hard to argue that the voting criteria for these awards is out of whack.

Don't get me wrong, Manning and the Colts rallied from a terrible start and were the fashionable pick to roll through the AFC in the postseason because of their late-season surge. But regular-season success in the NFL is worth about as much as much as a Ryan Leaf rookie card and the high-powered Colts and Manning were one and done come the postseason.

So the question remains, should a player be punished for playing on an injury-ravished team that finishes 8-8 and falls short of making the playoffs? Just because Manning and the Colts played one more game than the Saints doesn't mean he had a better season than Brees, does it? The numbers definitively say "no."

If you believe Manning deserved to win the award, I'd love to hear your thoughts and justification. Click on the comments section below the post and let me hear ya.

I've always been a big fan of Charles Barkley but his recent stretch of dim-witted moves has him slipping on my fav's list.

For those who don't know, Barkley had a tough 2008. First he was forced to admit he had a serious gambling problem (let's call it was it is, an addiction) and was forced to air his dirty laundry after a Las Vegas sportsbook went public that he owed them six figures. Then Barkley capped off the year with a OWI last week in Arizona.

I love to gamble, too, so I know how that can overcome even the best of us, but the OWI is simply inexcusable. While almost everybody over the age of 18 has driven after drinking and most have gone unscathed, I still don't understand why wealthy people such as Barkley don't simply hire someone to drive them on a night when they know they'll be getting their drink on. You see it all the time, whether it's Kiefer Sutherland, Mel Gibson, Joba Chamberlain or whoever, they can all afford to pay somebody $100 to drive them around for the night. My theory is that these celebs think they'll be able to provide the arresting officer with a signed 8-by-10 photo and drive off with a warning but as the list continues to grow and grow, we see that those tactics aren't working anymore.

 Once I make my first million, the first thing I'll do is hire one of my buddies to drive me from one club to the next while I sit in the back, drunk as a skunk, care free, waiting for the next stop. I'll happily pay the money I need to to make that a reality because the stress-free nights out on the town would simply be priceless. Now if somebody can just get the Chuckwagon to understand that, the roads will be safe for the rest of us.

First off, hope everybody had a great holiday and here's wishing everybody has a great, but most importantly, a safe New Year's eve. Lot of crazies out that night so drink and be merry, but do so responsibly.

After watching more football than is legally allowed in the last two weeks, I came away with blurred vision and a few thoughts. For starters, how is it possible that the Cowboys and Patriots didn't make the playoffs and the Dolphins did? I've never once seen a team loaded with so many superstars seem so disinterested as the Cowboys looked Sunday in Philly. It seems as though players were waiting for bad things to happen just so they could point the finger and blame somebody else for their shortcomings. Even the woeful Lions looked more competitive than the boys from Big D and as any of the three remaining Detroit fans can attest to, that's saying something.

As for Miami, I've never been a big fan of Bill Parcells but you have to give the Big Tuna credit for helping turn around the 1-15 Dolphins in just one year. Miami will likely be one and done in the playoffs but Parcells continues to do what Al Davis hasn't done since the 80s and that's just win baby.

Has anybody informed the Jags, Bucs or Browns that the NFL schedule was expanded from 14 games to 16 more than 20 years ago? Because it seems none of the three teams ever got the memo. The Bucs were outscored 85-58 in the last thee weeks and went from playoff lock to just plain locked out, while the Browns were outscored 75-10 over that span and have been phoning it in for weeks.

While my playoff predictions from three weeks ago were as off as a Brett Favre screen pass with Dallas missing out and San Diego sneaking in the back door, that won't stop me from giving it another shot.

Atlanta 37, Arizona 31
Indianapolis 34, San Diego 30
Baltimore 27, Miami 10
Philadelphia 23, Minnesota 14

With the NFL season winding down, I was forced to come up with another way for our readers to win some of the great items we have in our prize vault. For those of you who have been playing Beat the Blogger, you know the drill. Each week I'll post several games and their corresponding point spreads. From there, you pick your winners factoring in those point spreads and sit back and see how many picks you got correct. If your total is higher than the Blogger's (ie..me) and is the highest among all of the other entries, you win an authentic signed 8-by-10 photo featuring stars such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Gale Sayers, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, DeAngelo Williams and others.

While the game has only consisted of NFL matchups in the past, the new version will feature College Bowl games, NBA games, College Basketball, NHL and basically anything else you can wager on. The other new twist is that I'll only list 10 matchups each week. But of these 10 matchups you can designate one matchup as your "Doubler" with that matchup earning you you a bonus point if picked correctly. So if for example you pick eight games correct but one is your "Doubler" you would score a nine for the week. Just remember to designate your "Doubler" or you won't receive the bonus point. The other new feature will be if any player can pick all 10 games correctly, they will win two authentic signed 8-by-10 photos. 

Each Thursday (Wednesday this week), that week's Beat The Blogger matchups will be posted right here on the 7th Inning Stretch Blogzone. I will always list the start time of the first game of the week so remember to get your selections posted 1/2 prior to the start of the first game to be eligible to win. Then check back to see how you did and if you were able to Beat The Blogger and win.