It’s Rally Time!!

Last week, we blew another college game, but hit 2 out of 3 NFL games, including our BEST BET.  We think we’re going to start spinning this, we’ll separate out the NCAA picks from the NFL picks, that’ll make us look better (for the NFL anyway).  Our NFL record is:  6-6 in throwaway games, and 1-1 in BESTBETS.  Our NCAA record is: 2-6 in throwaway games, and 0-1 in BESTBETS.  Ok, we’ve accepted that we know nothing about college football this season.  Which is good, as we expect the Buckeyes might stumble at Happy Valley tonight.  Which probably means they’ll win by 3 touchdowns.  Who knows?  We’re not even going to offer a prediction there.  What we are going to do is offer 3 solid NFL picks for you!

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CAROLINA +6.5 over indianapolis     We used to make a living on these type of games.  Ok, not really a living, as we always followed up good games like this, with bad games (much as we have been doing this year).  Nevertheless, this is an A++ type game.  A mediocre to good team, at home, getting points, versus a very good team, who is not focused on this game.  The fact it that no team in the NFL can play their best game every week.  There are ebbs and there are flows.  Indy will be ebbing this week.  Coming off a big win at Jacksonville, to establish themselves as still relevant in the NFL, they will be looking forward to next week when they face the most powerful team since the 1972 Dolphins, the Patriots!  We just can’t see a top-notch effort here by the Colts.  The Panthers are not that bad, and should be assisted by Colt mistakes.  Expect the unexpected, as the Panthers cover.

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MINNESOTA +1 over philadelphia          It’s all going wrong in Philly right now.  We’re sure there’s a more mis-managed team somewhere in the NFL, but not one we watch every week, like the Eagles.  Andy Reid insists on maximizing his weaknesses (QB, receivers), while minimizing his strengths (RB’s, offensive line).  The result are losses, losses, losses.  And they’ll lose again Sunday.  The Eagles historically perform poorly before a bye, and before a Cowboys game.  Remember, there is no more hated team in the Delaware Valley than the Cowboys…. bar none.  The Eagles play the Cowboys after Minnesota, so even though they are 2-4, and must win this game to stay alive, they’ll play lousy, and lose.  The last time Reid played a former assistant in the Giants, it was an ugly loss.  Brad Childress will be ready for his former boss as well.

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washington +16 over NEW ENGLAND         This may seem risky, playing against the greatest team to ever lace up the cleats in the great Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, but worry not.  Even the machine-like Patriots have down weeks, and they should have one here, as they too will be looking ahead to the Armegeddon-like showdown in Indianapolis the week after.  The Redskins are a pretty good team, and should be playing free and loose, with nothing to lose in this situation.  They are much more talented than the woeful Dolphins, so if Tom Brady is going to lob jump balls to Randy Moss in double-coverage like last week, the result may very well be interceptions instead of touchdowns. 

Congratulations to Doug Carey, who ran the Columbus Half-Marathon in 2:10 last week.  Big E staggered across in 2:29, which is not that bad considering he ran once in the 2 weeks prior to the race, and he’s carrying about 20 pounds more than Mr. Carey.  Bryan Price (2:16), and Chuck Armstrong (2:23) also defeated the race couse.  There’s even a bunch of loose talk going around about tackling another full marathon.  Good Lord…… not again…..

Big E starts the road back this week!

Running in Place

The Big E stumbled around last week with a 2-2 week, leaving him at a terrible 7-12 record for the year.  Whee.

Well, we think the Big E will stay away from college football for awhile, as clearly he doesn’t know what the hell is going on there.  We thought our Buckeyes would stink this year…  and lo and behold, we’re #1!!!  Oh yes, the whole country still thinks we stink, as we roll over pasty after pasty.  Too bad!  Yeah, we’ll probably lose soon, but what do we know?  GO BUCKS!

So who’s going down in flames this week with the Big E stamp of approval?

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texas tech +3.5 over MISSOURI       Ok, we lied.  Here’s another NCAA game for you!  Kiss of death, Red Raiders!  Well, we think Missouri is coming off an emotional, difficult game versus the class of the Big 12, Oklahoma.  Their top running back will not play.  Plus, Tech has a pretty good record going themselves, at 6-1.  Seems like a good place to look for an upset.

atlanta +8 over NEW ORLEANS    We think Byron Leftwich will give the Falcons a spark after suffering under the perfectly awful Joey Harrington for the whole season.  Falcon-Saint games have some wacky things happen, and why are the Saints 8 point favorites over anyone?  Oh, we know, they finally beat someone, so now the great Drew Brees and Reggie Bush will win the rest of their games.  Maybe not.

new york jets +6 over CINCINNATI   If you have two bad teams playing… take the points.  Chad Pennington playing for his job does enough to lose by less the 6 points.

And finally, this Best Bet, brought to you by the Fat White Bastards, who will be making their triumphant return to the road, running in the Columbus Half Marathon Sunday.  Chuck Armstrong, Doug Carey, Eric Arnold, and new Bastard Bryan Price, will attempt to navigate 13.1 miles without injury or incident.  There’ll be a lot of flab flouncing in Columbus:  it’s going to be ugly!

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DENVER +3.5 over pittsburgh     We used to make a living on these type of games.  We have a mediocre to good team, Denver, playing a very good Steeler team.  The Steelers have been going great guns, while Denver has been in a tailspin, coming off their worst home loss since LBJ was in the White House.  But the Broncos have had a bye to think about things, and we think the extra preparation time will be key.  Take the points at home, as the Broncos surprise on Sunday night!

Failure is not an option!

Big E

Can’t Be Any Worse Than This!

Well, we went 0-3-1, last week, including missing our first BESTBET, as Brett Farve threw the game away, leaving us at 5-10 for the year.  Woo-hoo!  Well, if we keep this up, you might be able to make some good money betting against whatever we post.  We’re in a hurry this week, as we’ve been working 80 hours a week at our day job, and have to leave in a few minutes for more work.  On a Saturday no less.

illinois -4.5 over IOWA  The Illini look like the real deal, beating both Wisconsin and Penn State.  Iowa is terrible, so don’t be afraid to lay the points on the road.

wisconsin +7 over PENN STATE  We must be missing something here, what is Penn State doing favored in this game.  Their offense is lousy, their starting RB was charged with rape this week, Joe Paterno was involved in a road rage altercation, it’s all going bad in Happy Valley, and oh yeah, Wisconsin always beats Penn State.  So you get a 7 point headstart this Saturday.

CLEVELAND -4.5 over miami   We think the Browns are a live team this year, and think they will easily beat a Trent Green-less Miami team.

philadelphia -3.5 over NYJ   Andy Reid is very good off the bye.  He always loses going into the bye, spends a week thinking about why the Eagles are losing games they shouldn’t be, and then comes to the conclusion that the rest of the Delaware Valley came to 5 years ago:  You can’t win in the NFL throwing the ball 70% of the time.  Brian Westbrook will play, the Eagles will run, the Eagles will win by more than 3.5 points.

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to teach non-English speaking drivers the DOT safety regulations! 

 

Glimmer of Hope

Big E finally posted his first positive week, going 2-1 last week, bringing the season total to 5-7.  What else is going on in the world of sports?  Well, how about Big E’s Philadelphia Phillies?  After finally making the postseason, after 14 years of futility, they are quickly on the verge of being swept.  Same ol’, same ol’, been there, done that, got the T-shirt.  Hey Dave Montgomery (owner), being swept in the NLDS is not something to be proud of.  Nevertheless, we’ll get Uncle Charlie Manuel back for two more years.  Yea.  More dumb decisions, like pulling our Game 2 starter in the fourth inning in favor of lousy Kyle Lohse.  POW!  Grand Slam to pee-wee Kaz Matsui, who the Phillies are making look more Godzilla-like than Hideki Matsui.  Well, at least the Phillies aren’t paying $25 million a year for A-Rod.  Hee-hee!  We love watching this guy struggle in the playoffs.  There’s just something about A-Rod that we don’t like.  So for this week, it’s GO INDIANS! and GO BUCKEYES! who have another major Saturday night game vs. undefeated Purdue.  Look out, the Bucks are #4 with a bullet!  If we can keep beating up on Big Ten cupcakes, who knows maybe we’ll sneak back into the Championship Game!  That would upset a bunch of people.

But let’s have some NFL guesses for your viewing pleasure!

cleveland +17 over NEW ENGLAND

This is probably a mistake, but no matter how good a team is, sooner or later they play less than their best game.  New England has been going great guns, but they have a big game next week in Dallas vs. the undefeated Cowboys, and we think they might be looking ahead.  Cleveland has been a live team the last three weeks, nearly winning all three games.  17 points is a bunch of points in the NFL, particularly if the team getting them is not a complete joke.  And believe it or not, Cleveland is not a complete joke.

tampa bay +10 over INDIANAPOLIS

Same deal.  Indy has a bye next week, and then divisional opponent Jacksonville.  We think they might be not at their best Sunday.  Plus, Tampa is 3-1, and looking good with Jeff Garcia at the helm.  JEFF COME BACK WE EAGLES FANS MISS YOU!!  Sorry couldn’t resist.  Anyway, 10 points is a bunch of points to a pretty good Bucs team.  And the Colts are not the best home team in the world.  TB surprises, and keeps it close.

seattle +6 over PITTSBURGH

Well, we picked the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl, so maybe time to back them.  They’re 3-1, but this is a big game in the Steel City.  6 points to the Steelers?  We think the Steelers are over-rated.  We believe that this new throw, throw, throw offense of the Steelers will soon make them wish for the days of Cowher and Noll.  Plus, the Steelers have a bunch of injuries.  No Troy Polamalu, no Hines Ward, no Casey Hampton.  We like the Seahawks in the upset. 

And finally: our first BESTBET! 

GREEN BAY -3 over chicago

Oh my, gimme, gimme, gimme this one.  The Bears stink.  They have Devin Hester, Brian Urlacher, and not much else.  Their once powerful defense is a thing of the past.  And they’ve never had much of an offense.  Brian Griese is not much of an improvement over Rex Grossman.  Griese threw 3 picks against the Lions, costing them the game last week.  Hell, Rex could have done that, and probably with more style, too.  The Packers have a very, very good defense, and should make life difficult for Griese.  There will be more turnovers Sunday night, as Packers keep the undefeated season going, winning and covering against the collapsing Bears.

The tide turns this week!  Surf’s up!

Big E