Hello ladies...

Well…That sucked

What a weekend for football!  Peyton looked like he never played the game through the first half, Kentucky completely and utterly regressed back to the days of old losing to teams they have no business even being close with, and Arkansas continued to prove my one good call this year getting drilled by Alabama.  But this weekend is where everyone redeems themselves.  I don’t wager on UK games, but if I did, Saturday’s game in The Swamp is the definition of a trap game.  Coming off an emotional prime time win in a hostile environment, then having the #2 team in the country the week after this game could make for a fun game at Florida.  Look for UK to cover the ridiculous spread and keep it close…seriously.

                I will take a little time this week to laugh at The Ville (they coined their own nickname, isn’t that cute, really, no one calls you that).  After leaving Conference USA and joining the Big East, the Cardinals thought they would be in prime real estate to dominate a pretty weak conference for years to come.  Fast forward seven years, and the Big East is looking like Conference USA.  Everyone that is worth anything is jumping ship to greener pastures, and Louisville is left alone at the party looking for the desperate girl that looks just pretty enough in the dark.  With the latest losses to the conference there is no way they deserve any respect at all in football.  They are even losing all respect they had built up in basketball.  You can look here about halfway down the page to see who is left.  With the upcoming playoffs in college football, the historical bowls are realigning to get the best they can, and the Orange bowl has all but dropped the Big East as an auto-qualifier, and replaced them with an ACC team (not the #1 ACC team) and I believe the #4 SEC team.  That’s just sad that those two get picked over you.

I’m rambling here.  I just wanted to laugh at the commuter school down the road.  Keep drinking your Crown Royal and throwing your “L’s” up and complaining how you get no respect while losing to FIU and Marshall.  Teddy Bridgewater is a good QB, not a great one.  Please win your conference outright before saying you should be ranked in the top 5.  Please beat a ranked team before saying you should be top 5.  Please stop saying “no one will play us”.  They won’t play you because you aren’t worth it.

PICK TIME!!!

Clemson @ Florida St. (-14.5)

This will be a VERY good game in my opinion.  Florida St. will finally be exposed for the good, not great team that everyone thinks they are.  Look for a close game until Clemson’s speed takes over in the 4^th quarter.

Take Clemson at (+14.5)  Bet a healthy amount.  Save sun for Sunday.

Maryland @ West Virginia (-27)

I tend to stay away from spreads this big, but I think West Virginia could play Alabama in the title game in January. 

Take West Virginia at (-27)  Put a little on this to offset some other close ones.

Michigan @ Notre Dame (-4.5)

What little of the Irish I have watched they have looked really good.  What little I have seen of the Wolverines, they looked very beatable.

Take Notre Dame at (-4.5)  That bit you saved from WV?  Unload it plus some.  Night game at ND?  Duh

NFL

49ers (-6.5) @ Vikings                   This can’t be a real line.  49ers…Take out a loan!

Lions (-3.5) @ Titans                      Is Vegas messing with us?  The Titans are AWFUL.  Deed to the house!

Patriots @ Ravens (-3)                  Even money baby!  Ravens by 14 easy!

NCAA Record (2-5)

NFL Record (1-2)

It gets better…I promise!  (Seems like I’ve said that to some women before too…)

this wolf ain't worth the fight

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” --Friedrich Nietzsche

                I have to light up the musica side of this blog since it has recently become overrun with picks and power rankings and the like. I don’t mean to return to Bowerbirds because they’re my favorite band, but they just happen to be who I’m thinking about in this moment, and in many other moments since I first listened to a certain song of theirs. And by listen I mean transcend, so to speak, because until you’ve done that with a song, you’ve really just heard it.

                Let me give you the background—then I’ll give you the song. Two Christmases ago was spent for me in Minnesota, as it was understood that it would be my grandpa’s last. After 4 days of coop in my grandparent’s house, a lot of inane conversation, and 17 rounds of Kings in the Corner, I decided I wanted to get out for a bit. It was late and there was no place to go except the movies. I couldn’t round up a cousin to go with me, so I went by myself. That’s a lie, I didn’t ask anyone to go with me. I fish-tailed my way from the Minnesota border to North Dakota and went to see a midnight showing of Black Swan by myself on Christmas night.

                After the movie, I decided I wanted to smoke a cigarette, so I went to a gas station on sort of a remote road, because that’s what you do when you’re in unfamiliar territory at 2 o’clock in the morning. I bought the cigarettes, felt guilty about it, and returned to the car. I sat in the driver’s seat and took out my iPod, because I didn’t want to fool with my grandma’s AM stations. I put on Bowerbirds’ The Ticonderoga, and just sat in the car and listened, the sky black and the dirty snow a pale resemblance, wondering about the people who trucked in and out of that gas station. The lyrics didn’t pertain to anything or anyone I knew or ever had known, but I thought about my life in those 4 + minutes, then played it again because sometimes you need more than 4 minutes. I thought about how strange it was that it was Christmas and I was in a parking lot in my grandma’s ’97 Park Avenue, wearing her boots because I hadn’t packed appropriate shoes for a winter in Minnesota. I thought about how 5 days ago I had been home with my husband, folding laundry and watching something on cable television, walking my dog, the norm. And now I was in Fargo, Fargo of all places, listening to my iPod, freezing despite the heat emitting from the giant leather seat beneath me. I thought about my grandpa, and my parents, and wondered if any of them had ever had a moment in a parking lot or a room or a bus where they thought about their lives, and who they were, and what they still wanted to be. Maybe this is weird, that I listened to this song alone with my thoughts and too-tight shoes in the middle of this random place. But life is weird, and music can be weird, and I don’t know how living daydreams without music or not seeing life in terms of notes could ever be regular.

                So each time I hear The Ticonderoga, I’m brought back to that night, when too afraid to be outside of my car in that lot, I smoked my one cigarette outside of my grandparents' garage, later praying for more snow to screen the ash. I do love Bowerbirds, especially their softer cuts, in particular this one, a tale of destruction and willingness to allow it, or something like that.  It isn’t just a hymn for a dark horse, but for a 26-year-old girl completely satisfied with the life’s she’s in, but also welcoming of a parking lot in Fargo, where for 8 minutes she can reflect a little, then go back.

SHARPsquares NCAA Power Rankings - Week 3

Watch out now! In a very sneaky way, the computer picks have become a go-to. 9-3 over the last two weeks on the 6 biggest line discrepancies each week. I know you can't tell, but I'm smiling.

So here you go with Week 3. Some movement around some of the upsets last week. Sneak peak says there are some huge discrepancies to play with for the upcoming week. Add 2.75 points to any spread to account for home-field advantage. Best of luck.

1	Alabama	89.872
2	LSU	84.325
3	USC	83.928
4	Oklahoma St	81.024
5	Oregon	80.807
6	Oklahoma	80.554
7	Florida St	77.512
8	Arkansas	76.525
9	Wisconsin	75.680
10	Notre Dame	75.479
11	Stanford	75.232
12	West Virginia	74.477
13	Ohio St	74.179
14	TCU	74.136
15	South Carolina	74.114
16	Nebraska	74.029
17	Georgia	74.012
18	Michigan St	73.926
19	Boise St	73.856
20	Texas	73.770
21	Michigan	72.049
22	Florida	71.713
23	Baylor	71.546
24	Texas A&M	71.486
25	Missouri	71.424
26	Virginia Tech	71.351
27	Kansas St	70.929
28	Clemson	70.102
29	Tennessee	68.855
30	BYU	68.844
31	Auburn	68.553
32	Utah	67.957
33	Mississippi St	67.747
34	North Carolina	65.826
35	Georgia Tech	65.660
36	Miami (FL)	65.382
37	Cincinnati	65.068
38	Louisville	64.926
39	Vanderbilt	64.474
40	Nevada	64.429
41	Iowa	63.950
42	Washington	63.822
43	Texas Tech	63.768
44	USF	63.755
45	Iowa St	63.409
46	Louisiana Tech	63.226
47	NC State	63.160
48	California	62.662
49	Illinois	62.638
50	UCLA	62.346
51	Rutgers	62.270
52	Houston	62.061
53	Oregon St	61.777
54	Connecticut	61.138
55	Purdue	61.095
56	Arizona St	60.981
57	Tulsa	60.902
58	UCF	60.761
59	Southern Miss	60.388
60	Arizona	60.155
61	Ohio	59.948
62	Boston College	59.759
63	Northern Illinois	59.241
64	Temple	59.237
65	Northwestern	59.031
66	Virginia	58.429
67	Pittsburgh	58.134
68	Penn St	58.026
69	Toledo	55.801
70	Duke	55.747
71	Air Force	55.479
72	Wake Forest	55.262
73	San Diego St	54.862
74	Utah St	54.776
75	Syracuse	54.208
76	Washington St	54.188
77	Mississippi	54.101
78	Western Michigan	53.835
79	Arkansas St	53.756
80	Fresno St	53.560
81	SMU	53.395
82	Kentucky	53.363
83	East Carolina	53.122
84	Wyoming	52.963
85	Bowling Green	52.745
86	San Jose St	52.329
87	Minnesota	52.318
88	Louisiana	52.117
89	Navy	51.523
90	Maryland	51.336
91	WKU	50.527
92	Marshall	50.468
93	Kansas	50.193
94	Army	50.097
95	UTEP	49.798
96	Ball St	49.633
97	FIU	49.419
98	Kent St	49.253
99	Hawaii	48.606
100	Colorado	48.599
101	Miami (OH)	48.504
102	North Texas	48.372
103	ULM	48.027
104	Colorado St	46.865
105	Troy	46.653
106	Indiana	46.206
107	Eastern Michigan	44.442
108	Central Michigan	44.185
109	Buffalo	44.176
110	Rice	42.729
111	New Mexico St	40.963
112	Texas St	40.616
113	Idaho	39.585
114	UNLV	39.274
115	UAB	38.018
116	Tulane	37.664
117	New Mexico	37.233
118	Middle Tennessee	34.754
119	Massachusetts	33.462
120	UTSA	33.322
121	Florida Atlantic	33.182
122	Memphis	31.924
123	South Alabama	31.511
124	Akron	25.819

Week 2 ATS: 20-25
Season ATS: 39-47

Week 2 SU: 30-15
Season SU: 63-23

I'm BACK!!!

We want Picks!  We want Picks!  We want Picks!

                I have to apologize…Sorry to leave you waiting for an entire week for my nuggets of wisdom only to be disappointed by the lack of a post.  I hope your endeavors last weekend were fruitful and you made good choices without my brilliance.  I promise to try to never do it again until the next time I get so lazy I can’t switch between word and Firefox.

                No rant this week.  Between Billy Gillispie losing his damn mind and hiding in Texas from another athletic department that wants to fire him (take note ESPN, you called out UK for firing him, do you finally see that the man is an alcoholic psychopath?), and Duke players taking $100k jewelry loans, I just don’t care about the news this week.

Let’s all just take a moment to say thank you on this day for the heroics displayed 11 years ago by a great number of men and women.  Thank you for serving your country both domestic and abroad.  Let’s pray the police officers, firefighters, and men and women in uniform never have to do it again, and come home safely very soon.

On to a lighter note, the temperature is coming down here in Kentucky which means beautiful Saturdays for drinking in public (only if you’re 21) and screaming at 18-22 year olds to do their job.  College football is back and last weekend we got to see the first real upset of the season.  Arkansas, who was vastly over ranked *cough* scroll down and look at my last post *cough* showed their true colors and lost to Louisiana Monroe.  Not even a directional school.  A school, for the purpose of this post, was named after a state and our 5^th president, James Monroe (I don’t feel like looking it up).  The loss was so bad that College Gameday made a last minute decision to go to Knoxville this Saturday for Florida and Tennessee.  That is a pretty bad loss if you’re counting.  Arkansas is coached by John L. Smith who used to coach the ghetto commuter school down I-64, and if you listen to UL fans, John L. Smith likes to lose to nobodies, then become a world beater the next game.  The game will be close, mark my words.

PICK TIME!

Virginia Tech (-10) vs. Pitt

Take Virginia Tech at (-10)…Unload on Virginia Tech

I normally heed the advice of my fellow contributor MBZ and stay away from the ACC, but Pitt is bad.  Really bad.  Look for a close game through half time and Va Tech to take over after Pitt gives up on their 2^nd 3^rd 4^th coach in 2 years (I think).

USC (-7.5) vs. Stanford

Take USC at (-7.5)…Unload everything left

USC has looked like the world beaters we were promised at the beginning of the season.  If Alabama escapes the hell known as Arkansas, USC and Bama could be the game everyone sees in early January.  Stanford really poses no threat.  Andrew Luck isn’t walking through that door.

Tennessee (-3) vs. Florida

Florida hasn’t looked good in either of their games this season.  Tennessee looked pretty good in their first test of the season and I just don’t see Florida going into Knoxville for a night game walking away with anything less than a beat down.

NFL Picks now!

Cardinals @ Patriots (-13.5)  Take Patriots at (-13.5) for an easy win

Saints (-2.5) @ Panthers  Take Saints at (-2.5) and laugh the whole way to the monopoly bank

Texans (-7.5) (+100!) @ Jaguars  Take Texans for that lovely (+100) spread (They win by 20 I say)

That’s it for this week!  Good Luck!

NCAA Record (2-2)

NFL Record (0-0)