Who Said Something About the Royals Getting to 3 Straight World Series?

We can now announce the first batsu game of the 2016 MLB season, with less than a week to go.

The defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals have officially been eliminated from playoff contention, being 5 games back of the wild card (behind 6 different teams) and being 10 1/2 back of AL Central champions Cleveland.

Tim picked the hometown Royals to get back to the World Series for the third straight year - remember, they lost it in 2014 (after a 29-year playoff absence) to San Francisco in 7 games, and won it last year over the Mets in 5 - in both sets of picks, and picked KC to win it all in his original set of picks.

Before we get to the announcement, the last team to reach three straight World Series: the New York Yankees, from 1998 to 2001 (4 straight) - and they went 3-1.

Tim, batsu game!

Mike shouldn't feel too comfortable either.  His initial pick to win it all, St. Louis, is a game back of the wild card behind Tim's adjusted winner, San Francisco.

Mike's adjusted winner, Washington, won the NL East and are in the playoffs.

In terms of picks, at the moment:

Mike's originals: 5/10
Both sets of picks for Tim: 6/10
Mike's adjusteds: 7/10

Lastly, as tradition when we talk Royals and playoffs, let's cue "Stan's dad":

And Then There Were 7...

Mike's search for a new NFL team to pull for is a slow and deliberate process requiring lots of input.

That input - mostly from a phone conversation with his brother in Oklahoma - whittled his list of potential NFL teams down from 9 to 7.

Casualty #1: New England Patriots.  One word: Cheating.

Casualty #2: Cincinnati Bengals.  Because Pittsburgh is on the short list, and Mike's family (with the exception of his late mother) have pro-Steeler leanings, it was suggested that both Cincinnati and Cleveland be dropped from the list.  Cincinnati is being dropped out of this consideration... but Cleveland remains, mainly because Mike feels for the Dawg Pounders who had the actual Art Modell to deal with (and Mike sat with the Dawg Pound during the Browns' first game back in existence, the 1999 Hall of Fame Game in nearby Canton).

So, the list of potential teams is now:

• Arizona Cardinals
• Cleveland Browns
• Green Bay Packers
• Houston Texans
• New Orleans Saints
• New York Football Giants
• Pittsburgh Steelers

We may narrow it down further on an upcoming podcast, but for now it is what it is.

Episode 209 - 2016-17 UEFA Champions League Picks

The UEFA Champions League group stage is set, and once again Mike and Tim make their picks.

Group	Mike's Picks	Tim's Picks
Group A	Arsenal Paris Saint-Germain Ludogorets Razgrad Basel	Arsenal Paris Saint-Germain Basel Ludogorets Razgrad
Group B	Benfica Dynamo Kyiv Napoli Besiktas	Dynamo Kyiv Benfica Napoli Besiktas
Group C	Barcelona Manchester City Celtic Borussia Monchengladbach	Barcelona Manchester City Celtic Borussia Monchengladbach
Group D	Bayern Munich Atletico Madrid PSV Eindhoven Rostov	Bayern Munich Atletico Madrid PSV Eindhoven Rostov
Group E	Bayer Leverkusen CSKA Moscow Monaco Tottenham Hotspur	Bayer Leverkusen Monaco CSKA Moscow Tottenham Hotspur
Group F	Real Madrid Borussia Dortmund Sporting Portugal Legia Warsaw	Read Madrid Sporting Portugal Borussia Dortmund Legia Warsaw
Group G	Leicester City Porto Copenhagen Club Brugge	Porto Leicester City Copenhagen Club Brugge
Group H	Juventus Sevilla Lyon Dinamo Zagreb	Juventus Dinamo Zagreb Sevilla Lyon
UCL Winners	Barcelona	Arsenal

We agree on 13 of our final 16 (top 2 in each group).  The exceptions:
- Mike: CSKA Moscow, Dortmund, Sevilla
- Tim: Monaco, Sporting, Dinamo Zagreb

The tie-breaker is third place finishes (dropped to Europa League).  We agree on 4 of the 8.  Exceptions:
- Mike: Ludogorets, Monaco, Sporting, Lyon
- Tim: Basel, CSKA Moscow, Dortmund, Sevilla

The clubs lifting the European Cup are also different, with Mike picking 5-time champion Barcelona, and Tim picking Arsenal, who have never won the European Cup.

As always, picks are subject to batsu game.

Fair use this episode: the return of "Senor Stan," Jack Wilshere, and welcome to the podcast, Young Turks ("Bulgarian hate mail") and the cast of In Bruges.



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Episode 208 - 2016 NFL Preview - AFC and Super Bowl

Let year 4 of the Winning Side Coaches podcast begin!

Mike and Tim made their picks for the 2016 NFL season.  Today we do the AFC.

Please note that until their stadium situations are taken care of, we will be referring to the Chargers and Raiders by team name and not by city.

Here are the picks:

Division	Mike's Picks	Tim's Picks
AFC North	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh
AFC South	Houston	Indianapolis
AFC East	New England	New England
AFC West	Raiders	Kansas City
AFC Wild Cards	Cincinnati Indianapolis	Jacksonville Raiders
AFC Champions	New England	New England

Super Bowl 51 picks:
Mike: New England over Green Bay
Tim: New England over Green Bay



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Episode 207 - 2016 NFL Preview - NFC

Let year 4 of the Winning Side Coaches podcast begin!

Mike and Tim made their picks for the 2016 NFL season.  We start, as always, with the NFC.

Mike's not at all excited about the NFL season - and, honestly, can you blame him?

Here are the picks:

Division	Mike's Picks	Tim's Picks
NFC North	Green Bay	Green Bay
NFC South	Carolina	Carolina
NFC East	NY Giants	Dallas
NFC West	Arizona	Seattle
NFC Wild Cards	New Orleans Seattle	Arizona Chicago
NFC Champions	Green Bay	Green Bay

Next time, we do the AFC and our Super Bowl 51 picks.

Yes, "Senor Stan" makes an appearance.



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Episode 206 - Ichiro Gets 3,000

It's August in Kansas City, and while it hasn't been as hot as Ichiro Suzuki famously says it is, it does give us the opportunity to congratulate Ichiro on 3,000 MLB hits and to have fun with the 3,000 hit club - of which Ichiro is the 30th member.

We also talk briefly on the baseball season, as we approach the end of the season and the possibility of batsu games.

Fair use: We start with the audio of Ichiro's interview with Bob Costas where he tells us his favorite English expression.



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Episode 205 - Cards Against Humanity

The guys had one outstanding batsu game remaining, and get it taken care of this episode.

As punishment for picking the LA Kings to win the Stanley Cup this year, Mike and Tim had to play Cards Against Humanity, an adult-themed highly offensive card game.

We played a two player variant where we drew a hand of 5 white cards, drew the top black card off the deck, and whomever had the funniest answer wins the card.  First player to 5 points wins the game.



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