Weekly sum up

Last night was tough.  I had this blog’s pick ‘em game and two fantasy leagues impacted by last night.  In one league I had the Steelers D (and was leading by 1) and in the other I had the Ravens D, Heath Miller (and was up by 4) but my opponent had the Steelers D and Rasheed Mendenhall.

So it was one of those days where I was kinda cheering for the Steelers D, but not too much.  I was kinda cheering against the Steelers offense, but needed Heath Miller to do something.  I really thought Mendenhall was going to beat me… The two Ds, I thought, were a toss up and the Mendenhall/Miller matchup worried me.

Imagine my surprise when I see Mendenhall being carted off the field.  I was relieved for my team until the Steelers recovered a fumble and returned it for the a TD about five minutes later.  Ugh.

Here’s how it ended up:  I killed the opponent in the ESPN league where I had the Steelers D.  I remain 4-0, and thanks to the Steelers D I didn’t lose any points on my co-division leader.

I lost an absolute heart breaker in my Yahoo league.  Miller got a chance at a TD late in the game, and I was cheering for that Baltimore DEF right into overtime, but lost by 4 teeny tiny little points.

And I won the rubber matchup here in pick ‘em.  MattJ had the Steelers to cover the 7.5, and I took the points and Baltimore.

That puts MattJ at 5-5 for the week, and I ended up 6-4.  I’m at 26-24-1 for the season and MattJ is 32-18-1.

Pet Peeves

I complain a lot during football season.  Usually I keep it to myself, but then I realized I have a blog so why am I holding it all in.  Here’s some football pet peeves I’ve been thinking about lately:

1. Triangulation.  I really hate this.  Maybe it’s because I got a D in statistics, but I just don’t buy in.  MattyJ does, so here’s another blog debate.  Triangulation is the thing where pundits say “Ohio State lost to USC, USC lost to Oregon State, so Ohio State would lose to Oregon State.”  This logic fails to take into account one minor detail: Among two teams playing any given day, they can outperform or underperform.  For instance, I think USC outperformed against Ohio State and underperformed against Oregon State.  Neither of those games should be used to suggest patterns to USC’s season.  Wisconsin underperformed and Michigan over-performed.  If Ohio State barely beats Wisconsin, we can’t assume they’ll have a tough time against Michigan.

2. People (coaches) who complain (whine) about the clock.  Question: Is a football game 60 minutes in length?  Was it 60 minutes last year.  Then shut up.  “We’re losing plays and series because of the way the new clock is run.”  It’s still a 60 minute ball game, learn to deal.  I remember when Mack Brown complained about this a few years ago – he actually said the football game only lasted 3 hours instead of 3 hours 15 minutes… he was complaining about the clock by using TV time to make his point.  And that’s another reason why Mack Brown is an dope.

3. The polls.  Let me get this straight… The Buckeyes drop 15 spots for “almost losing” to unranked opponents and then dropping one to the #1 team in the nation.  Then, over upset weekend we have teams “really losing” to unranked opponents and they fall 2-5 spots.  It all makes perfect sense.  Mark May, Trev Alberts and Brent Musberger must vote multiple times each.  I would say that this is so blatant that even buckeye-haters have to see how ridiculous it is, but I guess the buckeye haters are the reason for the lack of respect to I will expect no such support.  I heard one person say that they think the Buckeyes will lose to either Wisconsin or Penn State.  Are we really voting based on how we think the rest of the season is going to go?  Really?  Sure, they may very well lose again, but how’s about we rank them based on the previous week and let them play the games.  Just an idea – the AP and USA Today should try it out.

4.  The fantasy field on ESPN.  Have you seen this?  Where they have tom Jackson walking amongst holograms explaining a key play or move for some NFL team.  Good grief.  I thought the EA sports projection of the week was bad in the past, but this is both a little bit freaky and just really bad television.

A mediocre week five in the picks

It was a wishy washy, up and down weekend for the picks. Matt and I kept going back and forth as to who was in the lead throughout the weekend.

After nine games (pending tonight’s Pittsburgh/Baltimore Monday nighter) we both stand at 5-4 but we managed to get here in different ways. Overall, Matt now is above .500 at 25-24-1 and Matty J is 32-17-1. Matt went for Baltimore and the points, while I picked the Steelers to cover, so one of us will be at 6-4 and the other will be at an even 5-5 on the week. We’ll figure that out tonight though. Even though I picked the Steelers to cover, I am hoping Big Ben doesn’t go off. He’s the only player my opponent has left this week and I don’t have any, while I am holding on to a 59-42 lead going into tonight’s game.

The weekend started out with the Ohio State/Minnesota game and Matt was licking his chops as the Bucks held a 34-6 lead early in the fourth quarter. (He picked OSU to cover the 17.5 pt. spread). However, Tressel is more interested in getting his back-ups some much-needed reps than on running up the score, so naturally the Gophers stormed back with 15 fourth quarter points and denied Matt the win as the Bucks held on for a 34-21 victory.

Matt and I both picked Wisconsin to roll. Oops. I guess we both forgot they absolutely suck at the Big House and they failed miserably. That loss to the Wolves is only going to make it that much worse if for some reason the Buckeyes lose at Madison this Saturday night.

Matt got the Notre Dame pick right. I wouldn’t have bet a penny on Notre Dame winning, much less covering a 2 pt spread vs. Purdue. But, I was wrong. Purdue must be terrible.

Matt also got the WVU cover right as the Eers rolled 27-3 over Marshall, who might as well just have stayed home. The Herd literally had to try to be that bad Saturday. 30% compl. percentage for Cann at QB. Terrible penalties and mistakes. Game should have been 14-6 at the half or closer, but WVU managed to roll on and is now .500 on the year at 2-2.

The game that made me smile the most though took place on Saturday night. It was my time. My glory. My game. Yes, the game I finally got right for Georgia to lose.  Yes, the Dawgs got pounded by now-number two Alabama 41-30. (it was 31-0 at the half,but  we won’t talk about the second half). I’m just so happy that Georgia lost. It made me smile all day yesterday. However, what doesn’t make sense is that Ohio State is still ranked #14 in the AP poll. Yes, behind Georgia, Florida, Auburn at 11, 12 and 13. I guess there’s a new rule that OSU can’t be ranked higher than an SEC team. I’m also sure OSU will not move past USC (now number 9 in the rankings) so assuming the Buckeyes win out, they might be the best 11-1 team ever not to be ranked in the top ten. Oh well I guess.

Due to starting J.T. O’Sullivan over Brett Favre yesterday in FFL action, I’m not going to bother discussing the NFL games. I’m going to be very bitter towards J.T. for quite a while.

Week 5 Picks: Ready or not, here we come

And we’re back. No one in America would have predicted these three starts to the season:

Ohio State (3-1). Getting slaughtered at USC 35-3. Boeckman getting benched after just three games and Terrelle Pryor now being the full-time starter. Beanie Wells being out for three games and maybe more due to injury.

WVU (1-2). Having scored a total of 17 points in two losses to East Carolina and Colorado. Bill Stewart in the line of fire after just three games (I mean really. Did anyone think even he could screw this up so fast?? I mean anyone except Matt?). Pat White throwing five TDs in game one vs. Villanova and then throwing a combined zero in the next two games.

Marshall (3-1). Coming into the Friends of Coal Bowl this weekend following a stunning road win over Southern Miss last weekend. Leading Wisconsin 14-0 in the first quarter on the road in week two(before falling in blowout fashion).

Oh and here’s and addendum: Oregon State 27, #1 USC 21 in week five. I guess it’s good at least one OSU team can beat USC. I just figured it would have been Ohio State, not Oregon friggin State. Oh well. I’m always happy to see USC lose, so it’s all good with me.

I’m guaranteeing one thing going into this weekend. If WVU loses to Marshall, Bill Stewart has coached his last game as a Mountaineer.

Heading into this week, the standings go like this:

Matty J: 27-13-1

Matt: 20-20-1

Otherwise, without further adieu here we go:

College Games:

Minnesota at OSU (-17.5) Now that Terrelle Pryor and Beanie Wells will be on the field together for the first time this season, I am feeling a little more confident in our beloved Buckeyes. However, after barely eaking out a 28-10 win over Troy last week (and only being up 14-10 heading into the fourth quarter), I’m not so sure why Vegas thinks OSU can pound anybody. That said, Minnesota has a stronger team than last year and may hang tough with the Bucks just like OU and Troy did. I’m saying OSU wins this 34-17, but they won’t cover.

Marshall at WVU (-14). Question: Does your pizza play DVD’s? Well, probably not. But I guess the real question should be: Who the heck is Bill Stewart and why is he still here? This dude has shown he might be the worst coach in the modern era and was lucky to come out a winner against Div. I-AA (yes, I’m still calling it that) foe Villanova 45-21 in week one. Yes, that Villanova team that beat Penn 20-14 last week. If Stewart and the ‘Eers lose to Marshall, I’m predicting he resigns in the postgame press conference (assuming he’s not shot before he gets off the field). No way WVU covers this spread, especially considering Marshall upset Southern Miss on the road last week and is actually looking pretty decent so far this season. I’m so appalled at WVU right now, I can’t even predict a possible score on this one. I just know for a fact WVU will not win by this whopping spread. Take Marshall and the points.

Wisconsin (-6.5) at Michigan. Ok, this one is very tempting for me to just go ahead and say the Badgers will stomp the Wolves. However, Wisconsin may still have memories of past ‘almost wins’ over Michigan that could hamper them a bit in this game. My mind is trying to play tricks on me, but I’m not letting it. Wisconsin rolls 36-19.

Purdue at Notre Dame (-2). Don’t have a clue how Notre Dame is favored in this matchup. This one’s easy. Take Purdue and the points. Purdue wins this one 31-20.

Alabama at Georgia (-7). Here’s my chance again. Georgia is NOT and I repeat NOT going undefeated and into the BCS title game this year. Mark my words. Even with the Dawgs wearing there threatening black jerseys. Don’t fret the blackout in Athens. Alabama wins this straight up 23-20.

NFL Games:

Washington at Dallas (-11.5). Vegas is really trying to make a statement in this game as well. Fact is the NFC East is undefeated against teams outside the NFC East. Washington’s loss was to the Giants and Philly’s loss was to the Cowboys. Other than that, this division is unbeaten overall. The matchups inside this division always create nasty, hard-fought affairs that usually do not result in blowouts. I’m taking Dallas, but they won’t win by 12 points or more. Dallas 27, Washington 21.

Green Bay at Tampa Bay (-1). I love the Packers. They are my team. They will rebound from their crappy loss to the Cowboys last weekend. Green Bay wins 27-23.

San Francisco at New Orleans (-6). Nope. Don’t even think I’m going back on my word now. I told you after I got burnt by the Niners in week one, I would never pick them to win or beat the spread ever again. You tellin’ me New Orleans is favored by 6? Well played. Saints win by more than that. NO 33, SF 20.

Cleveland at Cincinnati (-3.5). Something has to break in this game. Either Derek Anderson’s neck or Chad “Ocho Blow-oh” Johnson’s shoulder. Oh yeah, and one of these pathetic teams has to win too. Of course I wouldn’t put it past these two squads to go to overtime tied 3-3 and neither team scoring in the extra period, thus resulting in the league’s first tie in who knows how many years. Assuming that doesn’t happen, I’m picking Cincy to win, but not cover, as they are not as hampered by injuries as the Browns are. Cincinnati 28, Cleveland 25.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh (-7.5). This is a toughy. Pittsburgh, quite frankly, may be the toughest team to predict in regard to which team is actually going to show up week in, week out. You could have the one that came out in week one and just clobbered Houston 38-17 or the one that barely put up six points at Philly last week. Usually it comes down to Ben Roethlisberger and how he’s feeling. He’s still banged up, plus Willie Parker is out. We’ll see how Rashard Mendenhall does in Fast Willie’s place. I think Ben and Rashard will do just fine. Pitt wins on Monday Night Football. They may win big. Pittsburgh 30, Baltimore 16.

This has been a heck of a football season. Forgetting about my mediocre picks so far, we have had some great match ups. The NBC & ESPN NFL games have been stellar, and for week 5 we’ve already seen some awesome NCAA games. (I’m watching Oregon State up on USC 21-0 right now, so that might have me amped. Question: Will USC drop to 17th place in the polls after the loss? Based on the Buckeyes fall, that’s where they should go.)

Let’s get to the picks.

College Games:

Minnesota at OSU (-17.5) My mom is from Minnesota. Dad is from Ohio. Even up in Vermont, the Big Ten was prominent. This is a big game in our household, mostly because I get to call my mom and say “Is it hockey season or something? I didn’t realize Minnesota was still playing the foosball” It’s a joke I’ve used about 8 years in a row, but it works every year. Then again, Minnesota is looking better this year. With a good young QB and a new stadium on the way along with some okay recruiting classes the team might just be on the way up in the Big Ten. It’s just not their year. Beanie Wells is back, Pryor is in the driver’s seat (I’m pro-Boeckman, but I’m pro-single QB system more so if Pryor is the guy, Pryor is the guy.) I’ll take OSU to cover at the Shoe.

Marshall at WVU (-14). Hold on a sec… I hear something. Oh, nevermind, that was just Bill Stewart practicing calling timeouts – good work coach, soon you’ll be ready to coach the JV team. How much do I want Marshall to beat WVU? A lot. I don’t think it’s going to happen though. I don’t understand why Lou Holtz is allowed on television? Again, I’m watching TV vicariously through the blog. They’ve got Lou Holtz doing Andy Rooney-esque segments now and it’s just unbearable. Back to WVU. I think WVU is weak and I think their coach is even weaker, but Marshall just isn’t in the ballpark. I’ll take WVU to cover, and I’ll be just fine if I lose this one.

Wisconsin (-6.5) at Michigan. On Wisconsin. I can’t pick Michigan, which is really convenient this year, because they are aweak-ass-team. Their QB stinks, the coach is wrecking the team and the spread offense will take more years to implement than he’ll get before the boosters hang him. I’ll take Wisconsion to roll.

Purdue at Notre Dame (-2). Is Purdue good this year? That’s one team I haven’t seen anything on. I hear more about the basketball team in September than I do about the football team. I’ll take ND to get back into the winner’s bracket by covering this match up.

Alabama at Georgia (-7). This is a great game. Alabama is playing well under Nick Saban, and Georgia should be the unanimous #1 if USC goes down in the second half against Oregon State (forget OK & FL & LSU). I think Georgia is strong this year, and I think they may well win this game – but I’m taking Alabama to beat the spread. I think they keep it close.

NFL Games:

Washington at Dallas (-11.5). It’s amazing that Dallas is an 11.5 point favorite. Washington is not a horrible team this year. I’m not saying they’re going to win – but when a serviceable team is a dog by 11.5 points it’s a good opportunity to go against the spread. I’ll take Washington to keep under 11.5 against the Cowboys.

Green Bay at Tampa Bay (-1). Excuse me? Tampa Bay is favored by 1? I’ll take Aaron Rodgers & Greg Jennings (for about 3 TDs) to beat the spread.

San Francisco at New Orleans (-6). Man I am conflicted on this one. NO is definitely a better team on paper, but they’ve underachieved thus far, and SF has over achieved. I like what Martz is doing (who thought they’d ever hear me saying those words), and JT O’Sullivan simply has a rocket for an arm, which is exciting about the mediocrity of recent years. I had a paragraph about NO covering, but I erased it. This is not the same match up it would have been in week 1. I hate to think I’m getting invested in the 9ers (it will just end in heart break), but I really think they can keep this game close. 6 points close? Hmmm… What the hell, I bet Joy took NO, so I’ll take the 9ers to beat the spread.

Cleveland at Cincinnati (-3.5). The goose egg bowl. How’s that Derek Anderson decision working now? Freaking dopes. I still think Cleveland is better than 0-3, and I’m not sure Cincy is, so I’ll take Cleveland. BUT. But, they better put Brady Quinn in the daggone game.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh (-7.5). Pittsburgher is beat up and Flacco is doing well for a rook. If Big Ben goes he’ll be brittle and Parker is out. Against that tough Baltimore DEF, I’ll take Baltimore to beat the spread.

Bring on the weekend…

After week four, we’re both still at .500 or above

Well, it’s Monday. The day after the big weekend of college and pro football. The picks are settled after an up and down weekend for Matt and I.

Thanks to the Cowboys coming into the real Titletown and ruining the Packers’ dream of an unbeaten regular season, Matt finishes out at 5-5 on the weekend. I was heading for a 7-3 finish if GB would have managed some offense, but they must have watched too much WVU film leading up to this game. That’s how bad their offense was until the final four minutes of the game.  Oh well, I still eaked out a 6-4 finish for the week. So now, after four full weeks of fun-filled predictions, the standings fall like this:

Matt: 20-20-1

Matty J: 27-13-1

Matt and I both picked the Patriots to steamroll the Dolphins. Doubt if too many people got that spread right, but I figure some pros in Vegas did. BTW, I’m now guilt-free in dropping Matt Cassel off my FFL team. He is downright terrible. If the Pats are going to get into the postseason, they better bring in somebody to play QB, or they are done. For the first time, maybe ever, I actually feel sorry for Randy Moss. That’s saying a lot.

In the breakdown of other games, Matt and I both picked Florida and LSU to cover, which they did. Matt also got the Georgia pick right. However, Matt picked Notre Dame to beat the spread and OSU to cover, which ultimately didn’t happen, while I picked MSU to dominate the Irish and OSU to win, but not cover. I also lost the Arizona St. upset over Ga.

Matt made his resurgence though in NFL action. He picked Philly, Dallas and San Fran all to cover, which they did. His only hiccups were New England to cover and Carolina to beat the spread vs. Minnesota. I had picked Green Bay to beat the spread vs. Dallas, New England to cover and Detroit to beat the spread vs. SF, but those didn’t happen. Otherwise, I had Minnesota and Philly covering, which they did.

Looking ahead to week five, there are some solid matchups in college and NFL action this weekend. Unfortunately my shock of the year pick has already occurred (Arizona St. over Georgia) and that didn’t quite work out for me. But, Alabama rolls into Athens on Saturday for a bigtime matchup with the 3rd ranked Bulldogs. Mark my words: Georgia’s going down. That’s just a tease for the Friday picks coming up later in the week.

Looking ahead to other games on the docket this weekend, we have Ohio State’s first Big Ten battle of the year with a much-improved Minnesota team. Wisconsin heads to Ann Arbor to mangle, I mean, play Michigan. Marshall heads to Morgantown to play WVU and the aptly named Friends of Coal Bowl (which probably will be the only bowl game either team heads to this year). Illinois also heads to State College, PA, to tangle with Penn St. in a game where the winner could be Ohio State’s primary nemesis this year other than Wisconsin.

In NFL action, there’s a few good games as well. Green Bay (2-1) goes to Tampa (2-1), SF (2-1) heads to New Orleans (1-2), Washington (2-1) travels to Dallas (3-0), Cleveland (0-3) heads to Cincy (0-3) (someone has to win this game), Baltimore (2-0) goes on the road to play Pittsburgh (2-1) and Philly (2-1) heads to Chicago (1-2).

Matt and I will determine the 10 best games to pick and display our best guesswork as to what teams will do this weekend on Friday. Don’t miss it.

Week 4 Picks – It’s go time

And we’re back. Can you believe it’s week four already? Good news, bad news. Football is here, the season doesn’t last long enough though. After waiting all those miserable winter/spring/summer months, football arrives not a second too soon, but it seems like the season goes so fast we need a machine to help make it go slower.

Anywhoo, now that I’m done with that intro, here we are, week four of our weekly picks segment. Last night we had the bonus pick of WVU at Colorado. Matt and I both picked CU to win and they did, so that pads our records a bit before the weekend even rolls around. We now stand at:

Matty J: 21-9-1

Matt: 15-15-1

Now on to this weekend’s picks. Half the top ten teams in the polls are SEC teams and they play each other this week, so that accounts for several of our games this weekend. We also have Ohio State returning home against Troy (oh yeah, another set of Trojans) and attempting to forge a major rebound after getting throttled in LA Saturday night.

Without futher adieu, here we go:

NCAA

Florida (-7.5) at Tennessee. The only thing that gives me apprehension about picking the Gators to roll in this matchup is that the game is being played at Tennessee. The Volunteers usually have a great raucous crowd and provide a difficult environment for visiting teams. However, that won’t matter.  After a couple more years, the University of Florida may change its nickname from Gators to Tebows. Tim rocks n rolls in this one. Florida 35, Tennessee 17. (Bonus info: UCLA beat Tennessee 27-24 in week one. BYU beat UCLA 59-0 last week. How do you think Tennessee feels?!?!?)

Georgia (-6.5) at Arizona St. Since I predicted a Georgia loss in this game way before the season even started, I can’t back down now. Even after ASU somehow lost to UNLV of all teams last week, I’m picking the Sun Devils to step up, rep up and pull out the shocker on ABC’s Saturday night football broadcast. Plus they are at home. And, did I mention I’m not a fan of Georgia? Not sure if I had mentioned that. And I would personally love it if Georgia failed miserably on Saturday night, one week after OSU failed miserably vs. USC. The real question here is that when Georgia loses to Arizona St., will they drop nearly as far in the polls as OSU did? ASU 28, Ga. 24.

Notre Dame at Michigan St. (-8.5). Michigan State (3-0) has Javon Ringer, who has rushed for roughly 2,000 yards in three games so far this year. Well, in actuality, he only has 498 rushing yards, but that’s still a lot for three games. Notre Dame (2-0) has, well, won a couple games versus two very pathetic programs: San Diego St. (21-13) and Michigan (35-17). Those games were at home. (As an aside, USC could probably put up 100 points on Michigan.) This game for the Irish though is on the road. Michigan State is better than San Diego St. and Michigan combined. Michigan State could destroy the Irish. Final score: MSU 31, Notre Dame 16.

Troy at OSU (-21). Word is that Terrelle Pryor is getting 65 percent of the snaps with the first team offense this week in preparation for Troy, while Todd Boeckman is getting only 35 percent. That from Jim Tressel yesterday in his weekly news conference. Whoever starts, OSU is still wounded and Troy is a good football team that has been to a bowl game in something like 2 or 3 consecutive years. OSU wins but not by 21+ points. OSU 31, Troy 21.

LSU (-3) at Auburn. Judging by Auburn outpointing Mississippi State 3-2 last week and probably coming out with a win they shouldn’t have, I have no trouble picking LSU to win this game. The only issue is by how much. LSU has looked a lot more efficient and dominant than Auburn. Over the past few years, this game has been very low scoring and only won by a few measily points. LSU changes that trend. LSU 24, Auburn 13.

NFL

Dallas (-3) at GB. Interesting, interesting game. These may be the two best offenses in the league. Both defenses are also very athletic and tend to make bigtime plays at opportune times. I hate the Ryan Grant is not healthy. He’s a stud and during the final half of the ‘07-08 season, he was just about unstoppable. However, he’s basically running with a flat tire and I don’t have as much confidence in Brandon Jackson and Kregg Lumpkin. In fact, Mike McCarthy has said already that he may just sit Grant down this week so he can try to effectively heal his hammy and be healthy for the remainder of the year. My heart says pick the Packers. My gut says pick the ‘boys. This may be my downfall but I’m contradicting what I said earlier this week and I’m going with my heart this time. If the game was in Dallas, I’d be picking the ‘boys. Green Bay 34, Dallas 31.

Detroit at SF (-4). I laughed a week or so ago when someone on ESPN said the Seahawks reign in the NFC West was over and that the 49ers could be the team to surpass them in the division. Frankly it still makes me laugh. The Lions finally found a team they can compete with. Detroit 26, SF 23.

Miami at NE (-12.5). Is this one too easy? Probably. That’s why Vegas makes a ton more money than they lose. If Tom Brady is starting this game, the Pats may have been a 20+ point favorite. However, Matt Cassel is now the starter. He has been suitable at best and does not seem to show any flash. It’s not a good thing when the Pats have to rely on Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan week in, week out for their primary offense. My gut says Randy Moss is going to promise a major beating to Cassel if he doesn’t at least throw to him 10+ times this week and give him at least one TD (Randy’s also on my fantasy football team, can ya tell?). Pats roll. NE 30, Miami 13.

Pitt at Philly (-3.5). Philly is hot right now, despite losing a tough, high scoring game in Big ‘D’ Monday night. Key words: high-scoring. McNabb is back to form and the Eagles have scored 75 points in their two games this season. Roethlisberger is now well and his shoulder is definitely not 100 percent. That may be the key. I like the Eagles in this matchup. Philly 27, Pittsburgh 20.

Carolina at Minnesota (-3.5). I’m sorry Vikings fans. It’s really hard being right so much. Particularly with me predicting how bad Tarvaris Jackson would handicap this run-oriented team this season. 15 points on five field goals almost got the Vikes past Indy last week thanks to their defense only. You pencil in any of the top 10 quarterbacks in the league as the Vikings starter and this team wins 12 or 13 games. Fact is Adrian Peterson is a top-notch runner and is hard to tackle. However, when the defense knows the opposing QB sucks and the Vikes pretty much have to run 70 percent of the time, that puts A Pete in a tough spot. It’d be much easier if the QB would be able to stretch the field and open up the passing game. That said. Coach Brad Childress took my advice and benched Tarvaris. In comes Gus Frerotte. Go Gus!! Vikings 24, Panthers 20.

Crazy.  This busy time of year is crazy.  Here’s the good news from Thursday (non-sports related) – I lost another 10 pounds (over 40 now total), I got a new phone – a blackberry curve, and my electricity is back on after 4 days!  So it was a pretty good day.  I’m feeling good about my picks, too… I’m sure I’m going to turnaround my abysmal record (I don’t mind Joy mentioning it – I’m embarrassed and deserve it.

NCAA

Florida (-7.5) at Tennessee.  I have a buddy who’s a Tennessee grad, and I really want to pick rocky top for his sake.  Then I remember that he’s a dope who cannot be understand… he must speak some weird alien language they teach in Tennessee.  I’m taking FL to cruise in this matchup by 8 points or more.

Georgia (-6.5) at Arizona St.  I don’t want USC or FL to win, and with OSU in the loser’s bracket at this point, I’ve got to jump on board the Georgia bandwagon.  Plus, Dennis Erickson coaches AZ ST and he’s the bum that ran the 49ers into the ground, so he gets no love.  I’ll take Georgia to cover.

Notre Dame at Michigan St. (-8.5). The best news of last weekend was ND winning, and what a trooper Coach Weis is.  I feel his pain in more ways than one.  If they beat Michigan, they can surely beat state… aren’t those famous last words?  Still I’m taking ND to beat this ridiculous spread.

Troy at OSU (-21). Ohio State covers.  At this point I feel like I need to pick OSU out of morale support. I saw one person say fire Tressel and that person is a moron.  I’m taking the Buckeyes to roll.

LSU (-3) at Auburn.  I don’t like LSU.  My reasoning is so solid.  Matter of fact, I’m going with the George Constanza opposite method here and actually taking LSU despite my dislike.  I’ll take LSU to cover.

NFL

Dallas (-3) at GB.  This is an intriguing matchup.  By the way, as I type this Bill Stewart just watched the clock click from :22 to :05 before finally calling a time out in regulation.  If WVU loses, you can blame the coach.  And Ed Pastilong.  And Pat White.  But back to GB/Dallas.  The fact that Dallas is only a 3 point fav tells me that Aaron Rodgers has already earned his stripes.  that said, if Philly can’t be Dallas, I’m saying GB doesn’t do it either.  Then again, I hope Mason Crosby & Greg Jennings have good weeks.  I got a trade offer for Greg Jennings in a fantasy league and turned it down this week, so not I’m hitched to his fortunes irreversably.  I’ll take Dallas by more than 3.

Detroit at SF (-4). San Fran wins a game and I miss the end of it because of the freaking electricity.  I’m still ticked about that even five days later.  I’m a believer in JT O’Sullivan at this point.  He’s no Joe Montana – but I’ll take improvement at this point.  I’ll take SF to win and cover at home.

Miami at NE (-12.5). Matt Cassel.  The new Tom Brady.  Against Miami.  The new… Miami.  Ha.  They suck.  And all their fans suck.  Especially fans of Miami in Roanoke, VA.  Chad Pennington.  Ha.  What a joke.  I’ll take NE to cover at home.

Pitt at Philly (-3.5). Another fun matchup.  I think about all these games in fantasy football terms, and all of them are good matchups.  This is classic AFC against classsic NFC.  I have the Pitt DEF & McNabb in the same league, so that’s never good.  I tend to go against Pitt in most cases, and I like what McNabb & his rag-tag group of receivers have going on this year, so I’ll take ANOTHER cover (I’m not feeling as confident about these picks anymore… rarely do this many teams cover).

Carolina at Minnesota (-3.5). Minnesota changed QBs… and they picked “broken neck Gus” Ferrotte.  Really?  Was Rick Mirer not available?  Honestly, I’d rather start [NO GOOD... WVU misses a 1 yd FG.  I'm not sure I could be any happier] Tarvaris Jackson.  Steve Smith is back, Jonathan Stewart has things working.  I’m taking a beat-the-spread here and picking Carolina… even in the dome.

[Has www.FireBillStewart.com been reserved yet?]

The Mountainers are done…

Stick a fork in ‘em. This year’s WVU squad may just turn out to be last year’s Louisville (A team that was destined for greatness but somewhere along the way didn’t even end up making it to a bowl game) I had a crazy feeling after the loss to ECU a couple weeks ago that Bill Stewart just isn’t the guy to lead WVU into the future. Last night confirmed that feeling. A 17-14 overtime loss at Colorado simply proves the point.

Let’s start with the offense. How can you expect to beat anyone when the longest completion you have in the entire game is 8 yards? Heck, if I’m Pat White, I’m embarrassed to have a coach and coordinator who won’t trust me enough to allow me to throw anything other than a friggin’ screen pass all night long. White was 10-14 for 43 yards. Anyone can do the math at home on that. 4.3 yards per completion. AKA pathetic. How can you expect the defense not to stack up against the run when all you do is throw laterally across the line of scrimmage and don’t go downfield at all? It was embarrassing to watch. The one promising pass play of the night even failed miserably. Late in the fourth quarter, White did the inevitable and threw a  lateral (ie. screen behind the line) to third string QB Bradley Starks. It was a trick play and Starks had plenty of time to throw. He ‘launched’ the ball downfield towards a wide open Jock Sanders. The ball lands 7 yards short of Sanders. Nice arm. No wonder you’re third string! No one was within 20 yards of Sanders. That would have put the Eers up 21-14 and probably would have won the game considering it went to overtime deadlocked at 14-14.

Speaking of overtime. How many times can kicker Pat McAfee screw up a daggone season? Last year it was TWO makeable misses against Pitt that would have given WVU a 15-13 win (and a BCS title game appearance), but instead brought the Eers down with a 13-9 loss. Last night it was McAfee who simply needed a 23 yard FG to put the Eers up 17-14 in overtime before giving the ball back to CU. However, McAfee couldn’t manage to do anything other than hit the left goal post, missing yet another chipshot that will go down in Mountaineers’ history. Naturally Colorado cruised into field goal range and their kicker dropped in a 25 yarder for the win just moments later.

My stomach was turning the entire time as I watched the WVU offense last night. Sure White and Noel Devine combined for 281 yards on the ground, but that’s not the point. The point is WVU could not convert a third down all night. How many third and ones did they have and not convert? How can one of the nation’s most potent offenses turn so bad in one year? The answer: coaching. Here’s a hint Bill, you don’t run laterally on every third and one. Instead of getting a yard up the middle, you have to run 8-10 yards just to get back to the line of scrimmage. Colorado knew that. Why do you think they stopped you on the run on literally all but one 3rd and one situation? YOU HAVE TO THROW THE BALL DOWNFIELD AT SOME POINT BILL!

Sad thing is, WVU is now 1-2 on the season and unless they reel off 5-6 wins in a row, they won’t be ranked again anytime soon. The nation’s media and fans kind of let the Eers off easy after they got dismanted by ECU 24-3 two Saturdays ago, but after this loss, they won’t be so kind when it comes to voting for the rest of the season.

The one bright spot last night, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, was the WVU defense. It was 14-0 Colorado before anyone could even get the popcorn ready at home. But the Mountaineer ‘D’ shutout the Buffaloes for essentially three and a half quarters the rest of the way. Sadly, the Mountaineer offense kept getting shut down and couldn’t come up with the big play to give the team a much needed ‘W.’

Now the team returns home to play Marshall. Good luck.

The Bonus Pick: WVU (-3) at Colorado (Thu. night)

After the Mountaineers’ miserable, pathetic showing at East Carolina (24-3 loss) two Saturdays ago where they could do nothing right, I guess Vegas is thinking WVU can’t get any worse. It’s surprising – at least to me – that the oddsmakers have established the Eers as a 3 point favorite heading into this matchup in Boulder, CO, tonight.

Initially when it was announced last year WVU would be traveling to Colorado during the ‘08-09 season, I didn’t think twice about this being anything but a 15-20 point Mountaineer win. However, as we all know now, things have changed and frankly I am amazed WVU is favored even by one point.

Colorado (2-0) hasn’t been a world-beater, but they did clobber in-state rival Colorado State in week one. Then in week two, the Buffaloes trailed FBS Subdivision member (IE. Div. I-AA) Eastern Washington 17-0 early  AT HOME before storming back to win 31-24.

Long story short: if Bill Stewart’s team does not show a dramatic improvement this evening, I will go directly on the record and say the six year contract agreement he just signed last Friday may be shredded by mid-season.

Based on what I saw two weeks ago, WVU may be in for a long season. This team could lose five or six games based on what the defense has shown in two games so far. You’d think the offense led by Pat White and Noel Devine would be able to put up some major points. But they couldn’t even manage a touchdown against ECU. I’m hoping for a WVU win, but I’m going into this game prepared for a massive Buffalo ambush. Colorado 34, WVU 24.

And… I’m back.  Whew.  MattyJ has really had to pick up the slack around here.  I lost electricity Sunday night at 6pm and I’m still without electricity as of this moment.  That has put a substantial cramp in my style… plus I missed the rare Ohio televised 49ers game AND THEY WON.  Plus, I missed the Zambrano no-no.  Thank goodness it’s not premiere week – THAT would have been a real tragedy.

But that isn’t why you called… you want to know what I think about WVU.  Let me tell you what I think about WVU.  I think it’s funny that Ed Pastilong still has a job.  This guy could foul up a one-head cattle drive (That’s a line from my dad… but he used more colorful descriptors).  So Pastilong loses the basketball coach to Michigan, resigns Rodriguez to some sort of weirdo contract that Rodriguez breaks and the school gets all kind of bad press.  Then he picks Bill Stewart on the spur of the moment after a bowl win, hug, kiss and call from the Governor.  After all that, it’s only natural that Pastilong announces a contract extension for Stewart the Friday AFTER THE LOSS TO ECU.  Of course.  You can make the case that negotiations had been going on, but Ed Pastilong should have taken a lesson from Abe Lincoln.  Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation early, but waited for a union victory to make the announcement.  Wait a week, moron.

By the way – Colin Cowherd agrees with me.  Cowherd says that a guy who has been an assistant for 400 years shouldn’t be a head coach.  The assistant is a #2, and the head coach needs to be #1.  Bill Stewart isn’t a #1, and I think that will continue to be proven.

I’m taking Colorado to upset WVU.  I just don’t think this WVU team is as scary as they used to be.  Colorado surely watched the tape of ECU and saw that all you need to do to stop White is to get in his face.  The end.  Colorado wins.
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For all of you keeping score at home, here are the other games we’ll be picking this week (check back on Friday for more):

NCAA

Florida (-7.5) at Tennessee

Georgia (-6.5) at Arizona St.

Notre Dame at Michigan St. (-8.5)

Troy at OSU (-21)

LSU (-3) at Auburn

NFL

Dallas (-3) at GB

Detroit at SF (-4)

Miami at NE (-12.5)

Pitt at Philly (-3.5)

Carolina at Minnesota (-3.5)

I’ll take it…Cowboys win 41-37

Well, it turns out Tuesday is a good day in my household thanks to Dallas’ come-from-behind 41-37 win over the Eagles last night. I was right in that Philly came to play and almost knocked the ‘boys off. Thanks to picking the Cowboys to win, but not cover, I finished 5-4-1 this week. After the first three weeks  my record stands at 20-9-1, not too shabby for someone who has rarely picked vs. the spread over the years.

Unfortunately for Matt, he not only lost last night’s game prediction (picked Dallas to cover), but he also lost power Sunday and is unsure when it will be turned back on. So not all is well in that abode. After three weeks, Matt is 14-15-1, finishing with a 6-3-1 mark in week three. By my calculations, that only gives me a six game lead in the standings. When your competing against someone like Matt that margin is way too small, so I’ll need a better week this time around.

Just to give a little tease, we are going to go with a bonus pick for thursday’s WVU at Colorado game (this will be an eleventh game on our predictions this week, but the other ten games will be posted on the blog on Friday).

Check back in for more on the ‘Eers traveling to Boulder and how that game will turn out on Thursday.

More mediocrity in the week 3 picks…

Well, this is sort of a post in progress if you will since we still have the Monday Nighter (Dallas vs. Philly) that still has to take place before the week three picks are officially complete. However, it’s never too early to post on our ‘fun’ weekly predictions.

Unfortunately, it has been another weekend of mediocrity for me. So far, I’m 4-4-1 on the picks. Yes, that includes a push, thanks to Georgia’s not-so thrilling 14-7 win over S. Carolina as the Dawgs were a (-7) favorite in that affair. Also not-so thrilling was Ohio State’s threshing by USC Saturday night. The only thing good out of the whole affair was I picked USC to cover. I would have gladly accepted an OSU win and to lose that bet. But as my friends know, I usually bet with my head, not my heart. I’ve gone down miserably in the past two BCS Title games with OSU, so my expectations vs. USC were very, very low. Thankfully. Bring on Terrelle Pryor and keep Boeckman on the daggone bench. He’s already proven against Illinois and LSU last season and against USC Saturday night that he can’t play well in bigtime games. The time is now for Terrelle.

Assuming Dallas wins but doesn’t cover, I would finish at least above .500 this week. I’m not holding my breath though. I almost wish I would have just picked the Eagles straight up as I have a strange feeling they are going to play really well tonight in Big D. Oh well.

So after almost three full weeks, i am 19-9-1 vs  the spread. Matt was 8-12 after two weeks and according to my calculations, he is currently 6-2-1 (including the Georgia push), so as I predicted, Matt is inching up on me quickly. He now stands 14-14-1. Only the OSU/USC and Steelers/Browns games caught Matt off guard this week. Unlike me, Matt is picking the Cowboys to cover tonight, so one of us will take a hit on the Monday Nighter.

FANTASY NOTES/MUSINGS

In otherwise ‘fun’ fantasy football news, it appears I have been duped again by ’studs’ I drafted with high hopes who have utterly failed miserably so far. Seems like this happens year in, year out.  All in all between the three FFL leagues I’m in, I have Chad Ocho BLOW-OH, Randy Moss (who is no doubt in decline thanks to the disappearance of Tom Brady), Ryan Grant who will be lucky to be healthy by Thanksgiving at this rate, LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates (both ’studs’, both injured, both not getting any points…) Marvin Harrison and Kevin Smith, who I figured was going to be the main back in Detroit until they signed Rudi Johnson.

Oh well, I don’t have any money on these leagues, so I won’t be sweating it too much. Although the pride does take a major hit from time to time. IE, I lost to a team in one league starting almost the entire Colts offense who scored a measily 18 total points vs. the Vikings (Manning, Wayne, Gonzalez and Dallas Clark, who didn’t even play due to his injured knee). Yep, still lost that one, thanks to Gonzalez’s 100+yds, Wayne’s yds and a TD and oh yeah, the fact that the dude had Anquan Boldin and his studly 140 yds, 3td effort vs. the hapless dolphines yesterday.  That’s my luck.