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July 4, 2005

Issue #36

Bi-Weekly Publication

Weekly during Football Season

Happy 4th to Everyone

Table of Contents:

Stat of the Week

Carolina Panthers

View from the Nose Bleed Section

Just The Facts

Free Football Picks - New Format

Thehooks Book Special Offers - NEW

Stat of the Week:

Thehooks Free Football Picks page is already ranked #4 on MSN for the popular keyword - Free Football Picks.

Long Shots to Win It All

Staying with the trend that the NFC will produce the next Super Bowl Champion, perhaps the Panthers are the way to go.

Carolina is an 18 to 1 long shot to win it all this year. The Panthers almost crashed the party last year after a horrible start. The momentum could carry over to this year and help kick start the campaign.

Jake Delhomme is the real deal and last year might be a blessing in disguise as far as the maturation of him becoming an elite quarterback. Picking up Mathis in the 3rd round will help the offensive line. Adding the bruising Shelton from Louisville will add insurance behind Davis. Foster will be healthy to add the extra dimension again this year out of the backfield. It will not affect the outcome this year but Lefors could be the next Jim Zorn. He is fast and very accurate when throwing the ball. The Panthers will not wow you on offense but if they run the ball like they did two years ago, this unit could be very special. They need Smith to come back 100% to really have the chance to go all the way.

The defense will be aggressive and should be able to put the offense in scoring position with the ability to cause turnovers. They must be able to shut down the run better than they did last year. The rookie Davis will be a stud no matter where they line him up. He will add another playmaker to the defensive side of the ball.

Carolina should be 7-4 or 6-5 going into December. They host the Falcons and the Buccaneers the first two weeks in December, which will decide how much of a factor all three teams will be at the end. The Panthers turn around and travel to Atlanta the last weekend of the regular season, which will probably decide one or two playoff spots.

From The Nose Bleed Section:

Thoughts and Ponders:

Welcome to the Pharmacy
Drugs in Sports

There are drugs all over the place in today's sports. We aren't just talking about football and wrestling, we are talking baseball and even Nascar now! It is getting ridiculous to think about all the drugs that are going around. Let's not get too naive and believe drugs have never been in sports till just recently. They have been there all along but they have just sprung out all over the place today. Everyone is looking for a little head start over everyone else, or a little boost that will make him or her just that much quicker or stronger than the next person. That little edge that will make you the first pick instead of the 3rd or 4th. The frightening part about it is it's not just in pro sports anymore. College kids are using it to impress scouts so they can play pro ball. High school kids are looking for that edge to make it to their top school. Soon, preschool kids will pop pills so they can be the top dodge ball players in kindergarten. It sounds funny but god knows, it may be happening soon. Well, maybe not preschool but you understand where I'm coming from here.

These kids looking for that edge didn't come up with the idea on their own of course. When you look in professional sports, everyone is getting bigger, faster, and stronger. A high school student sees someone on TV and thinks they want to be just like the pros and will do whatever it takes to become like that person on the playing field. Scary part is that god given talent doesn't always get you to the promise land and that is very sad. Am I saying that any person who pops pills can make it to the big leagues? Of course not because you still have to have that god given talent to take you somewhere. The part that gets bad is that the people that have the god given talent are popping the pills to give them that edge and the people that don't have that talent needed to make it think they can get the talent by using a substance. Popping pills and injecting roids may be giving that certain person that edge now but in the long run, it is ruining sports and most importantly, it is ruining that person. To everyone using a substance please stop. For everyone thinking about using a substance to get that edge, don't do it. Don't ruin the game and don't ruin yourself.

Just The Facts:


No new handicappers to report. The ranking for the new feature continues to rise on MSN while we wait for Yahoo and Google to spider the new page.

Handicappers added so far:

Doc's Football Picks
Maddux Football Picks
Impact Sports Picks
MidWestInsider
Vegas Vic Sports

Special Offers