Some random thoughts..version 3

So we already did the pick recap, by the way, check out the scoreboard up in the top right corner, nifty huh? That oughta make things easier to find for those interested in the NCAA pick em. So why not take a look at some other stuff that has been going on in the ever trustworthy bulletpoints I love so much...Game On:

• Knowshon Moreno (UGA) is a freak of nature. Don't believe me? Dude can fly as seen here:
  
  He is going to destroy us all...as long as he stays healthy that is.
• Maybe I was wrong about this being the year UT doesn't get to 10. Yes their schedule through the Big XII is gonna be ugly, but Colt McCoy sure looks a lot more like healthy Frosh version than Sophomore slump version.
• I'm not sure how much to take away from the fact that OSU only beat Ohio by 12, aided by some late Ohio turnovers. Combine the fact that Beanie Wells was out with the obvious "look past" quality of this week's game with USC coming up on Saturday I'm inclined not to put too much into it.
• Why does Vandy own Steve Spurrier? 2 years in a row the Dores get the Gamecocks. This kinda stuff keeps up you gotta wonder how long it will be til OBC decides he's tired of middle of the road SEC talent.
  
• Week 2 of the Radio Farewell Tour ended in amazing fashion. Again, if you haven't seen it, we have the technology:
  
  Was there any doubt once that penalty got called that somehow that XP wasn't going in. Oh Tyrone...at least I hear your chipping has been superb as of late.
• Going over to the NFL...maybe the Giants aren't gonna miss Strahan and Osi all that much, that D Line looked NASTY and Plaxico wrecked shop.
  
• Clearly all of you have heard Tom Brady is doneski for the year. Nothing really more to say except wear it Patriots, I hope you have as much luck running it up with Matt Cassell.
  
• If Diabetes makes all QBs play this well, will someone help me give it to Clausen? WOW did the Broncos look outstanding last night. I have said that I'm tired of Cutler and this year is his last shot...well, if he plays like that here's hoping he stays for years and years. Speaking of spectacular Eddie Royal was a mad man last night against a solid secondary. Just think of what he will do as the 2nd option once Brandon Marshall comes back next week. Definitely makes me feel good about the possibility of this season.
• Aaron Rogers looked good in his first start for the Packers, congrats to him. The guy put up with so much bullshit thanks to the league's most overrated QB ever I'd like to see him do well. Had a running and a throwing TD and should've had a 2nd if it weren't for one of his lineman inexplicably being about 8 yards downfield when there wasnt a route in sight...dumb.
• Speaking of young QB's looking good, Matt Ryan can play. Not only that but so can Michael Turner. 220 yds on the ground....he really did need to get out of LT's shadow.
• In segue mode, speaking of the chargers BREAKING NEWS!!!! Merriman is done for the year. He was being an idiot trying to play, probably wise to sit it down. Either way, I love seeing that roid using cheater gone.
• To finish out the schadenfraude, what a play by the Panthers (sans Steve Smith mind you) to win that game at the buzzer over San Diego.
  

That's pretty much all I've got, thoughts, fears, anything I missed? Let me hear it in the comments. Gooooooood night now

Week 2 Results

For starters, don't worry about ND. No, we aren't really that bad, we are completely sandbagging for Michigan. It's true, Aldridge never got a carry, we hardly blitzed at all, and Floyd only got the ball once, we've got all kinds of tricks up our sleeves so don't worry about the completely planned terrible looking performance. To the results:

Season to date: ATS: 3-4, SU: 3-4

SDSU @ ND (-22)
Pick: ND Cover
Result: 21-13 ND: Loss ATS, Win SU. Like I said, completely planned.

WVU (-8) @ ECU
Pick: ECU cover, WVU win
Result: 24-3 ECU: Win ATS, Loss SU. Skip Holtz is gonna get paid this offseason...yarrrr

Miami @ UF (-21)
Pick: UF cover
Result: 26-3 UF. Win both. Thanks to the fact that Urban Meyer is a huge d-bag who clearly bet on the game, UF covers with a completely unnecessary late FG.

SJSU @ Nebraska (-24)
Pick: Neb cover
Result: 35-12 Neb. Win SU, Loss ATS....So close Bo, so close. A nice start for Neb tho.

Stanford @ ASU (-14)
Pick: ASU cover
Result: 41-17 ASU. Win SU, Loss ATS. This went about as planned, ASU has a rowdy O but their D will be tested later on in the year in the Pac 10.

Tx Tech (-11) @ Nevada
Pick: TT cover
Result: 35-19 TT. Win both. Much closer than I expected, but Tech takes this one even with Harrel putting up a pedestrian (for him) 297 through the air.

So, thru 2 weeks I stand at:
ATS: 6-7
SU:8-5

And those playing along at home:
Matt: ATS: 6-7 SU: 8-5
Dave: ATS: 3-3 SU: 6-0
Judson: ATS: 4-2 SU: 5-1
Johnny Chan: ATS: 6-7 SU: 9-4

Thanks for playing, altho next week, please spell out your picks instead of saying going w/ me, or going with other people, gets might confusing, especially when people listed arent in the game. Some good showings so far, Hopefully we all start picking better.

Week 2 thoughts and predictions

Week 1 was pretty amusing, but a few teams did some things to make me think they wont be around for the long run. First off is Missouri...yah they put up a ton of points, but any team that lets Juice Williams throw for 5 TD's has some issues to shore up on D. Especially in this year's O happy Big XII, I think they could be in trouble. Georgia also seems to be losing starters at an alarming rate, granted as long as they have Knowshon theyll be good, but in the SEC you cant really afford to lose too many guys.

But that's the past, now is the future. Let's pick some games shall we. As always lines are from centsports, feel free to play along in the comments, I will track your picks along w/ mine

Record to date:
ATS: 3-4
SU: 3-4

SDSU @ ND (-22):
Pick: ND to cover. Come on...like there was any doubt I was picking ND to cover. Aside from me being a huge homer, SDSU just lost to Cal Polytech...that doesn't even sound like a real school. Cover city here we come

WVU (-8) @ ECU
Pick: ECU cover, WVU win. ECU impresesd me last week, and I think Bill Stewart is in over his head. Go get em Skip.

Miami @ Florida (-21)
Pick: Florida to cover. UF looked dirty against Hawaii last week, throw in the fact that they hate the U and Harvin is expected to play...yikes.

Now we can do some requests, cause there aren't that many great games...so:

San Jose St @ Nebraska (-27)
Pick: Nebraska to cover. Marlon Lucky will go off, O wasn't the problem for the Huskers last year and Bo Pelini oughta have the Blackshirts back up to form. Plus, if I didn't pick them Linds would be mad at me...and she scares me a lil bit.

Stanford @ Arizona St (-14)
Pick: ASU cover. I like Jim Harbaugh, I really do, but I don't think Stanford's D is good enough to stop the Sun Devil O, look for Carpenter to put up big #s.

Texas Tech (-11) @ Nevada
Pick: Tech cover. I dont understand why this line is so low, I know Tech still gives up too many points but are you kidding me? Nevada? They may run the pistol but i'm expecting Crabtree to be puttin the guns up at least 3 times this weekend.

So there you go, come play along in the comments. Remember I'm tracking both the record against the spread and straight up, so make sure I can tell if you are picking an underdog if it is to win or just to cover. Thanks

More importantly, in just a few short hours I will be back in Notre Dame Stadium. 9 wins this year for the Irish, there you go, I'm now on the record. The O will be MUCH improved with a much better line and Michael Floyd will be a household name by week 5. Good night, Go Irish!

Results for week 1

Well quite the exciting week 1 of college football. I felt the sunbeams of glory in some forms (Utah) and the stinging lashes of idiocy in others (Tenn) Let's go to the tape:

NCST @ S. Carolina (-12.5):
Pick: S. Carolina cover
Result: NCST 0- SC 34. Win against the spread (ATS) and straight up(SU)

SMU @ Rice (-3.5):
Pick: SMU to win.
Result: SMU 27 - Rice 56. Holy F what a loss both ATS/SU. SMU looked great in the 1st qtr and then just got curbstomped the rest of the way out.

Hawaii @ Florida (-36):
Pick: Hawaii to cover.
Result: HI 10 - FL 56. Loss ATS/SU. UF didn't need Percy Harvin

Utah @ Michigan (-3.5):
Pick: Utah to WIN.
Result: Utah 25- UM 23. Win ATS/SU. WOOOOOOO validation. Wear it Michigan, this game wasn't nearly as close as the score indicates. Utah really controlled this game.

Alabama @ Clemson (-4.5):
Pick: Clemson cover.
Result: Bama 34 - Clem 10. Loss ATS/SU. My pick was based on Spiller and Davis carrying the load...so Tommy Bowden gave them 8 carries total....are you freaking joking me??

Michigan St. @ California (-4.5):
Pick: MSU to WIN
Result: MSU 31 - Cal 38. Loss ATS/SU. A late 81 yd TD run sealed my fate here.

Illinois @ Missouri (-9):
Pick: Missouri to cover
Result:Ill 42 - Mizz 52. Win ATS/SU. Close cover in a shootout.

Record to date:
ATS:3-4
SU:3-4

Commenters records to date:
Matt: ATS: 3-4 SU: (same picks except had Utah Covering not winning, Cal winning not covering)
Johnny Chan: ATS: 4-3, SU 4-3 (same except Cal to cover)

We will be back with more later in the week, probably Thursday. Hopefully more people join in week 2, and hopefully I dont suck as bad week 2 haha. Got em coach.

College Football Picks Week 1

Welcome back kids, the greatest sport in all the land, college football, returns to us tomorrow. If you know me at all you know I love college football to a fairly unhealthy degree. I've got a few ideas of how this season will go down...will I be right? clearly no, but it is always fun to take some shots. So here are some random college football thoughts:

• Notre Dame will win at least 9 games. I will have a full post on this next week, but bank on it.
• Michigan will finish .500 at best. Wishful thinking, somewhat, but when you lose that much of your team (I think only 10 starters returning) and try and put in a new system, which is fairly niche w/o the right personnel...you are f'd.
• Texas finishes under 10 wins for the 1st time in God knows how long. They could still get there, if they do it will be a 9 win regular season and a bowl win, but I think the team is too young this year and still dont trust Colt McCoy to A) stay healthy and B) get the job done. In the interest of full disclosure, I also think they will be top 5 next year, possibly challenging for the title with a better schedule and great experience, just not this year.
• Tebow doesn't repeat for Heisman. There are too many talented players out there this year, and I feel like the voters will be less likely to award a repeat this year, my early pick now is Beanie Wells with Knowshon Moreno right behind.
• Auburn wins the SEC. They are going to lemur the league so bad this year it's not even funny.
  
• The National Title game will be OSU vs OU. I really think OSU makes a ridiculous 3rd straight trip, luckily for them, not against an SEC team this time around. OU's D is stacked, their OLine will be arguably the best in the land, and a lot of talent around Sam Bradford who led the country in Pass Efficiency last year. If he can avoid the soph slump...yikes. OSU's main test comes week 3 in everyones preseason pick for game of the year against USC. Since 1/2 of the Trojans are dealing with jock itch (literally) and injuries to Sanchez and Joe Mcknight I think they are going to start the year slow while Beanie Wells will run amok. I expect UGA and Auburn to be in the hunt but for the SEC to kill everyone off.
  

In a throw back to my good old days on the radio I'm gonna pick 5 games against the spread each week. My goal is to end the season above 65%. Knowing me, I wont come close, but it will be fun. One of the games will be ND every week they play cause I'm a homer. The other 4 will be the best/most interesting games IMO. I may pick more than 5 if there is a stacked week, just cause I can. I'm going to get my lines based off of centsports.com's lines. I think I told you all about this before, but it's a site where they give you $.10 to start betting for free, if you lose it, they reload, if you win, you keep going. Get above $20, cash out cash money. That's right kids, free money. If interested: http://www.centsports.com/?opcode=95841. If not, here we go, feel free to play along in the comments, I'll keep track of people that play along as well. Ill be keeping track of W-L and against the spread as I plan on calling out both, just for kicks. Picking more than usual for this week since I gotta pick the Thursday game and why not, football's back:

NCST @ S. Carolina (-12.5):
Pick: S. Carolina cover. I told ya they could go...yah click clack. The Ol Ball Coach is gonna have his boys ready to go and we all know Spurrier loves putting up points.

SMU @ Rice (-3.5):
Pick: SMU to win. What the hell...pony up! June Jones is coming out in his first game with the very dangerous Justin Willis at QB. Yes, Rice has one of the best WRs in the year in Jarrett Dillard but I wanna see the reclamation project get off on a good note. Slightly homer pick but like the billboard says, June's not just a month, it's an era. hahaha

Hawaii @ Florida (-36):
Pick: Hawaii to cover. I think the game will be a beatdown, but the line intrigues me. Hawaii has to move on after losing Jones and Colt Brennan while Florida tries to bounce back from last year behind Tebow. With several guys, especially Percy Harvin, a lil banged up, I expect Urban to stay a lil conservative in this game and the final to end up about a 28 pt win.

Utah @ Michigan (-3.5):
Pick: Utah to WIN. That's right I said it. Seriously, 10 starters total returning, your entire O production gone, and as of 3 days away still no idea who the starting QB is? Utah meanwhile is one of the best teams in the Mountain West. Upset me.

Alabama @ Clemson (-4.5):
Pick: Clemson cover. Davis and Spiller are too ridiculously good to contain. I expect them to put up #s like McFadden and Felix Jones last year. The overlord Nick Saban will be able to do nothing to shut it down

Michigan St. @ California (-4.5):
Pick: MSU to WIN. I think MSU could end up being the 3rd best team in the Big Tenleven behind OSU and Wisco and I dont really see Cal doing much this year.

Illinois @ Missouri (-9):
Pick: Missouri to cover...handily. I'm sorry, Missouri is gonna be nasty this year. Yes the Zookster still has Juice Williams and Arrelious Benn (turncoat) but no Mendenhall, Williams still good for 2-3 picks a game, and we haven't even gotten to the absurdity that will be the Tiger O this year. Kansas was a flash in the pan last year but expect Mizzou to be up there all year.

So there it is kids, thoughts, predicions, hopes, fears? Play along in the comments, it's much more fun that way.

Olympic gold and College football...what a week

Hey kids,
Luckily Team USA (no i will not play your lame ass nickname game assorted sports media) got the job done in a surprisingly close game against Spain in the gold medal game on saturday night. After curbstomping them by 37 earlier in the tourney, the fact that it was a 4 point game with 2 minutes left, with Calderon riding the bench, was very surprising. The good news tho is USA came through and got the win. Hopefully we can continue to rattle of golds before the rest of the world gets uppity again.

More importantly, College Football comes back on Thursday. I'll talk about my ND thoughts next week, but I'm gonna (pretend at least) start to pick some games each week once they get the lines up. So stay tuned. The only thing that really matters is football is back baby, get excited

~Eddie

Olympic thoughts

~Michale Phelps is a freak of nature, he has arms like a gorilla and the killer instinct of..umm..idk, a cheetah or something else that has a really good killer instinct. The guy won a gold, set a world record, and was pissed off because he knew he could have gone faster and was only slowed up because his goggles got water in them. That is scary

~If you haven't watched team handball, get on the damn bandwagon cause it is awesome. It is also the only olympic sport i think i could possibly compete in...well, that and air rifle, cause its just shooting a gun. Any sport that you could train for with duck hunt shouldn't be in the olympics.

~Synchronized diving off the high platform is awesome. Synchronized diving off the 3M springboard...not so much

~The USA is so infinitely better in softball than anyone else i almost feel bad....almost

~I'm really glad Natalie Coughlin is back, but what happened to Amanda Beard??

~I've watched a TON of volleyball, M and W beach volleyball and girls indoor Vball, it's a fun sport. Thoughts so far: Brazil's beach W team...YES, May and Walsh are ridiculously good, as good as our girls indoor team is...wow Cuba's is so much better, and seriously guys beach are gonna lose to Latvia?? What the F??

~Finally the most important to me: Baskteball...Yes yall beat the hell out of China and Angola, and you clearly didn't try the 2nd half of Angola. Does that asauge my fears about having to few big guys? no. Does the fact that Kobe only has 21 points in 2 games combined make me feel good about playing Greece, a team that beat us 4 years ago...no. Am I still confident? Yes. I am the poster boy for blind enthusiasm when it comes to USA bball. I have no clue how any team could possibly step up to us. However..i'm still crazy paranoid about foul trouble and what happens if we dont hit the 3. Please do me a favor boys and just crush Greece.

Let me kno what yall think. Goooooooooooooooooooooodnight now

~E