Halfbacks PJ Pope and Selvin Young left Sunday’s loss to the Bills with hamstring and neck injuries, respectively.

That brings the carnage to seven - 7 - Broncos tailbacks that have been placed on IR this season.

Seven.

So, who do you turn to when you need your 8th and 9th running backs of the season?  Well, free agent Alex Haynes and practice squad RB Cory Boyd of course.

What?  You were expecting Terrell Davis?

Insult meet injury.  Salt meet wound.

I need a drink.

But he’s turned into the boy who cries wolf.  He’s pulled this same stunt before and now teams are calling him on it.

Once Boras gets Teixeira a new home, Manny can find one.  Then the next tier that includes Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell can find homes, and we can finally light a fire for the Hot Stove.

Boras just has to realize that he isn’t going to find a dumb owner this time around, and get Teixeira to accept a deal for less than he wants.  Regardless, his #1 client this offseason is going to be an extremely rich man.

Another interesting week in the NFL, but my thought for the week revolves around Fantasy Football. I will just say this - anyone who needed Brian Westbrook to do anything on MNF probably figured they won with a 30-10 blowout. Nope. Depending on your league, Westbrook scored anywhere between 5-8 points since they barely needed him in owning the Browns. Ahh, the fantasy football playoffs! In a rush this week, so no large writeups, just picks:

Indianapolis (-6) @ Jacksonville - Colts need the game, Jags need a nap.

Baltimore @ Dallas (-4) - Boys can smell the playoffs now with their win over G-Men, and Ravens don’t travel well.

Cincinnati (+3) @ Cleveland - Bengals have better WRs and better QB play which is saying alot.

New Orleans @ Detroit (+7) - Still fighting for that win, I’ll take them the rest of the way.

Miami (-4) @ Kansas City - Hopefully I’m wrong on this one, but I think the Dolphins will beat the crap teams the way the Jets were supposed to.

Arizona @ New England (-9) - Arizona does not travel well and the Pats need this game in the worst way if they’re going to pass the Jets/Dolphins.

San Francisco @ St. Louis (+5.5) - Gore not 100% and 49ers on the road means they should not be laying this many, even to the Rams.

Pittsburgh (-1) @ Tennessee - Can’t believe Steelers are faves here, though I do expect them to win, if that makes any sense at all.

San Diego @ Tampa Bay (-3.5) - Bucs haven’t lost at home yet and I think they go 8-0.

Buffalo (+7) @ Denver - Desperate Broncos will still find a way to make this game closer than it should be as their D remains porous vs. the run.

Houston (-7) @ Oakland - Houston is showing spunk while Oakland is showing their youth (see Pats game last week). Texans should win big time.

NY Jets @ Seattle (+5) - Jets need to prove to me they can win, let alone cover big numbers, on the West Coast.

Philadelphia (-5) @ Washington - Skins have no offense and no reason to play, while the Eagles are fighting for the playoffs and seem to have it all together.

Atlanta (+3.5) @ Minnesota - Falcons will find a way to run the ball without the big two inside for the Vikes and Ryan will throw on that bad D.

Carolina @ NY Giants (-3) - This is assuming Brandon Jacobs plays, but I don’t see G-Men losing 3 in a row.

Green Bay (+4) @ Chicago - Packers have nothing left except to ruin the Bears’ playoff chances.

That’s it for this week, but check back throughout the coming days for NCAAF Bowl picks as well as NFL Week 17 picks next week. Good luck and as always, bet with your head and not over it.

CC Sabathia is a Yankee - 7 years is an eternity for a pitcher. Sure, Sabathia has never been hurt, but he has already logged 1600+ innings in his 8 year career.

There is no chance the Yankees let him pitch near the number of innings he’s logged the past few years, and they can afford to do so because Mariano Rivera is still Mariano Rivera.

I’m not at all concerned with the size of the deal - $161 million. Moving into their new park, the Yankees are practically printing money at this point and money alone has never prevented them from signing the next big free agent.

Bottom Line: I’m glad they got him, but 7 years is much too long.

AJ Burnett Joined Sabathia in Pinstripes - This deal is just insanity, and shows the Yankees desperation.  Again, the $82.5 million is inconsequential here; it’s the length of the deal.

Burnett is notorious for refusing to start unless he feels 100% - unless it happens to be a contract year.  And apparently, he doesn’t feel 100% quite often.

There’s no doubt he has #1 stuff, and this deal will pay off if he can stay healthy. But that’s a big ‘if’.

Bottom Line: I’d rather have Ben Sheets on a 2 or 3 year deal

K-Rod is a Met - Great deal for the Mets, even with his stuff declining.  The fact they didn’t have to go more than 3 years makes this deal golden.  And K-Rod didn’t fetch near Rivera money, which many thought he would.

JJ Putz Lands With the Mets - Another coup for the Mets. Johan Santana must be doing back flips knowing that the back end of the bullpen is solidified by 2 of the best in the game.

The key will be getting Putz to accept not closing. That could end up being a tall task.

Peavy is Still in San Diego - Knowing how much the Padres are asking for in return for their ace, I’m not too surprised here.  I’m convinced he’ll be on the Opening Day roster, and that he’ll be shipped to a contender near the trading deadline next July.

Mark Teixeira - Is going to be a very rich man.  Wherever he ends up, he will make an impact, but not nearly what he’ll get paid for.

The fact is, Teixeira is a great player. But he’s not a once in a generation player, and he’s going to get paid like it.

It was bound to happen sooner or later, but the streak of winning weeks came to a crashing halt as the afternoon games once again burned me. As the weeks wind down, lines get trickier as teams have more or less to play for. As it is, we’ve already crowned several division winners. With that in mind, we move on to the picks:

New Orleans @ Chicago (-3) - Bears at home on primetime should find a way to run with Forte and hit a big play or three vs. a soft NO defense. Brees will get his, but the Bear D should slow them down enough to have Da Bears cover the number.

Tampa Bay (+3) @ Atlanta - Tampa will show that MNF was just a slip-up in their defense and not the way they truly play. Turner will get some yards, but the Bucs will find a way to contain Ryan and slow down the Falcons.

Washington @ Cincinnati (+7) - I don’t know if I trust the Skins offense to cover more than a TD vs. anyone, particularly not on the road. The Bengals may have given up, but the Skins are out of the playoff hunt now as well.

Tennessee (-3) @ Houston - This smells like a trap, but the Titans have been monsters ATS all season and with this win they can basically lock up the 1 seed.

Detroit (+17) @ Indianapolis - The Colts are the new Pats?? When did I miss the memo? The Colts blew out the lowly Bengals last week, but the Lions have shown more fight the past few weeks and are still fighting for their 1st win. They’ll hang in this one.

Green Bay (-1) @ Jacksonville - The Packer season is done, but they will still play hard which is more than I can say about Jacksonville.

San Diego (-5) @ Kansas City - KC is horrendous and while SD isn’t much better, they have explosive weapons and can exploit a terrible KC run defense with Tomlinson.

San Francisco @ Miami (-6.5) - The whole West coast team coming to the East thing has held true all season, and the Dolphins are home and in need of wins to keep this good thing they have going.

Buffalo (+9.5) @ NY Jets - The Bills aren’t as bad as they’ve shown, and the Jets aren’t as good as they’d shown earlier in the season. Jets win, but not by 10.

Seattle (-3) @ St. Louis - The battle of the crap. In this case, I’ll take the surprising crap that almost upset the Pats over the Rams who have been miserable all season.

Minnesota @ Arizona (-3) - Between this and Tennessee, I don’t know which line is stinkier. Still, I can’t lay off the Cards on such a small line at home.

New England (-7) @ Oakland - Cassel should be playing, but if he doesn’t, I don’t know that it matters. NE smells blood with the Jets’ back to back losses, and they should shut down Oakland and pound them with the run all day.

Pittsburgh (+1) @ Baltimore - This one will be ugly, but I think the Steelers have more offensive weapons and a pass defense the likes of which Flacco hasn’t seen in a long while.

Denver (+9) @ Carolina - Carolina isn’t on MNF this time, and they aren’t playing an offense as inept at Tampa’s. This will be a shootout and I like Cutler in shootouts.

NY Giants @ Dallas (-3) - Cowboys are fighting for their playoff lives while the G-Men clinched the NFC East. Jacobs is questionable due to this knee injury, and there’s no Burress for the rest of the season, so the Dallas secondary won’t be under as much pressure.

Cleveland @ Philadelphia (-14) - Can these MNF games be any worse? I just can’t take the Browns and their “who?” QB, so I’ll take the Eagles with newfound life at home on a Monday.

Those are the picks for this week, but check back next week for more NFL picks. Good luck and as always, bet with your head and not over it.

Devendorf has until 5pm Thursday to decide whether or not to appeal the University’s decision.  If he chooses to appeal, he will have until next Wednesday to write a letter to the University notifying the school of his decision.

The school then has 10 days to decide whether to uphold the suspension, reduce the suspension or hold another hearing on the matter.

Until the appeals process is finished, Devo will be allowed to go to class and continue to play basketball.  He attended practice at The Dome on Wednesday and will likely play on Saturday against Long Beach State.

I realize the seriousness of his alleged actions, but let me take a second to talk about basketball.

After losing Devo to a knee injury last year, the ‘Cuse struggled all year to replace his production and versatility.

This season, he’s been a consistent 3-point threat, and his ability to penetrate has created open shots for everyone on the floor with him.

His suspension would deliver a huge blow to a team that is off to an 8-0 start, including wins over Kansas and Florida.  It shouldn’t be understated either.

The Orange will definitely miss him once the brutal Big East schedule starts next month, and his absence could ultimately cost the team a birth in the NCAA Tournament.

So to recap my year:

• The Nets missed the playoffs for the first time in 7 years
• The Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time in 15 years
• Syracuse’s football team played another year under G-Rob
• And a different Broncos player gets hurt every time I get off the couch

Now this crap with Devendorf.

Awesome.

A promising week went down the tubes when I missed both SNF and MNF plays, the first time that’s happened to me all season. Still, continued to plug away and move another 1-over for the season. Week 14 has some serious games on tap, so without delay here are the picks:

Jacksonville @ Chicago (-6) - Jaguars on short rest, on the road again, and off of a huge blowout vs. a great run defense. I don’t see it.

Minnesota @ Detroit (+10) - Detroit can’t continue to get blown out at home, and they might even win one. I’ll be on them when they do!

Houston @ Green Bay (-6) - Packers at home with their season on the line. Rodgers and Co. should bounce back and stave off NFC North elimination another week.

Cincinnati (+14) @ Indianapolis - Colts couldn’t smash the Brownies, and while I expect them to win convincingly, I think the Bungals can put up a solid fight.

Atlanta @ New Orleans (-3) - Saints are basically dead but can stay alive with 4 straight wins. It begins this week, and it begins by shutting down Turner.

Philadelphia (+7) @ NY Giants - Another one of those NFC East games where the spread is too big. G-Men will win, but Eagles keep it close.

Cleveland (+14) @ Tennessee - I don’t even know who is QBing for the Browns, but they won’t lose by this many points.

Miami @ Buffalo (-1) - Buffalo’s season is done, but they still want to play for pride and play tough at home. Cold weather for the Fins should equal a Buffalo win.

Kansas City (+10) @ Denver - Everyone will be on the Broncos big, but they beat the Jets since the Jets didn’t keep running the ball. KC will run the ball and will put up a fight.

NY Jets (-3.5) @ San Francisco - Jets will bounce back and should win this one by 7+. They’re the better team with the better talent, and that loss last week should wake them up.

New England (-5.5) @ Seattle - This line has risen from 4 all week, and should rise more by game time. Pats are still in AFC East hunt, so they will be tough till the end and should silence the 12th man.

St. Louis (+14) @ Arizona - Another huge spread for a team that really doesn’t need to play too hard with their division title all but wrapped up.

Dallas (+3.5) @ Pittsburgh - Barber is officially out but I think Dallas can still pull it out SU. Big Ben gets sacked enough for me to worry if I was a Steeler fan.

Washington @ Baltimore (-5) - Skins are a bad team with Portis down, and the Raven defense might shut them out entirely.

Tampa Bay (+3) @ Carolina - Tampa is the best overall team in the NFC South, and while this has been a Home-team division, the Bucs will buck the trend on MNF.

Those are the picks for this week, but check back next week for more NFL picks. Good luck, and as always bet with your head and not over it.

Back to the winning ways last week, and I thought I had a really solid card with a chance for 4-1 - until the Gamecocks failed to show any fight whatsoever and got rolled. With the season winding down, it’s time for teams to step up and get ready for their Bowl push. With that in mind, here are the picks:

Louisville @ Rutgers (-10) - Rutgers is hitting their stride at the right time while Louisville is going in the opposite direction and has lost to Syracuse. Scarlet Knights should hang a big number tonight.

Alabama (+10) @ Florida - Florida put up big numbers vs. a good defensive squad in FSU last week in a mud-bowl. However, the Tide has an impressive defense and this game may be tighter than most think. I don’t think Alabama will win it SU, but I don’t know if the Gators win by more than 1 score.

Boston College @ Virginia Tech (pick) - BC has been bad away from home all season and I see no reason to break with tradition in making this pick vs. a very good VaTech defense.

Missouri @ Oklahoma (-16) - I know, almost all favorites this week, but after Missouri’s horrendous showing last week vs. Kansas at home, I can’t believe they’ll keep this one remotely close vs. the Sooners who are on their way to a National Championship game with a win.

Oakland (+10) @ San Diego - After last week’s disappointing, and season-ending loss for the Chargers at home, I just can’t believe they have their heads on straight enough to blow out a slowly improving Raider squad.

Those are the picks for today, but check back tomorrow for the rest of the NFL picks for Week 14. Good luck and as always, bet with your head and not over it.