I may be the worst football prognosticator ever- and I am definitely one of the worst when you consider I have been a fan all of my life. But somehow, last week I got all 4 games right. This week, I'll try picking against the spread:
Seattle (+8) at Green Bay- This reminds me of last year's Seattle at Chicago game. I justdon't think Seattle has the horses to win this one, or cover the spread.
Jacksonville (+13.5) at New England- Everyone is questioning the Patriots, and they do not like that. And they have been saving their running game for the playoffs. Jacksonville is good, but their coaching staff got lucky with clock management last week. They burned their last time out on a challenge they were sure to lose. New England covers.
San Diego (+9) at Indianapolis- I don't like the Colts, so no commentary. Colts will beat the spread.
New York Giants (+7.5) at Dallas- Why don't they make all spreads some derivative of 0.5? Then there would be no ties. Dallas barely beat the Giants twice this year. Even without a healthy TO, Dallas wins, but doesn't cover. Why aren't the sports pundits talking about a gimpy Plaxico Burress- he was in better shape when the Cowboys and Giants played both games, too.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Lives worth living
Stories of 2 men who were on top of the world, Sir Edmund Hillary- the first (known) man to scale Mt. Everest, and Clayton Holmes- member of 3 Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys teams.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5445316.html
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=pearlman/080110&sportCat=nfl
If you knew who Tenzing Norgay was before reading these, I'm impressed.
Seriously, this just makes for an interesting contrast.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5445316.html
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=pearlman/080110&sportCat=nfl
If you knew who Tenzing Norgay was before reading these, I'm impressed.
Seriously, this just makes for an interesting contrast.
Clemens and Enron
Here in the greater Houston area, the airwaves are abuzz with the latest updates on the he said/he said Roger Clemens saga. Many columnists feel that the trainer (McNamee) is telling the truth, because if he is caught lying he will be subject to perjury charges. This blog post from the Houston Chronicle's Enron trial blog addresses truth telling and plea bargains. Food for thought:
http://blogs.chron.com/legalcommentary/archives/2006/02/do_people_reall.html
By the way, did you see where George Mitchell is withholding documents from the AP?
http://blogs.chron.com/legalcommentary/archives/2006/02/do_people_reall.html
By the way, did you see where George Mitchell is withholding documents from the AP?
Friday, January 4, 2008
Another reason we adopted
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5426587.html
Some people shouldn't have kids. They'd have been safer with Britney Spears
Some people shouldn't have kids. They'd have been safer with Britney Spears
Wild Card picks
Remember, I am not good at this. And I don't know the point preads. So if you use this advice- you are dumber than me.
New York over Tampa Bay- TB lost to the Texans when they cared, and they haven't played a meaningful game in 3 weeks. The Giants nearly beat the Patriots and twice nearly beat the Cowboys.
Seattle over Washington- Eventually, the 'Skins are going to have an emotional crash.I hope it's next week, but it's too hard to keep playing on emotion for 6 weeks. Especially with Todd Collins at QB.
Jacksonville over Pittsburgh- Too many injuries for the Steelers. But I'm rooting for them.
San Diego over Tennessee- Too many injuries for the Titans. But I'm rooting for them.
New York over Tampa Bay- TB lost to the Texans when they cared, and they haven't played a meaningful game in 3 weeks. The Giants nearly beat the Patriots and twice nearly beat the Cowboys.
Seattle over Washington- Eventually, the 'Skins are going to have an emotional crash.I hope it's next week, but it's too hard to keep playing on emotion for 6 weeks. Especially with Todd Collins at QB.
Jacksonville over Pittsburgh- Too many injuries for the Steelers. But I'm rooting for them.
San Diego over Tennessee- Too many injuries for the Titans. But I'm rooting for them.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Why I like College Football
Right now there are a lot of people upset that several NFL teams rested their starters during the last week of the season. The Houston Texans had their first season winning as many games as they lost when the Jacksonville Jaguars decided not to play their starters. The Colts, Cowboys, and Buccaneers lost winnable games in order to better prepare for the playoffs.
Meanwhile, with the BCS and lack of playoffs, college football did not have that problem. November games in college are for a bowl birth- so a 7 win Indiana team is playing Purdue as if their life depends on it to honor their late coach with a bowl birth. Instead of resting for a sure fire playoff game, top college teams played all of their starters in dramatic fashion. So West Virginia may have lost to Pitt, but they did it at full strength.
Meaningful regular season games mean that the regular season is the playoffs in college.
Meanwhile, with the BCS and lack of playoffs, college football did not have that problem. November games in college are for a bowl birth- so a 7 win Indiana team is playing Purdue as if their life depends on it to honor their late coach with a bowl birth. Instead of resting for a sure fire playoff game, top college teams played all of their starters in dramatic fashion. So West Virginia may have lost to Pitt, but they did it at full strength.
Meaningful regular season games mean that the regular season is the playoffs in college.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Benazir Bhutto
A few thoughts on the passing of Benazir Bhutto:
1. The official Pakastani government report says she was killed by a skull fracture and a concussion from the suicide bomber blast. That may be different from the eyewitness reports, but hey, it's the official government report.
2. Do you know why everyone here in the States is so sad about this? She represented hope. Lately, President Musharraf's regime has been presented as the corrupting influence, and anyone running against him would be good for a stabilizing democracy. So, with the enemy of my enemy being my friend, Ms. Bhutto was set up to be a friend of the US. Which is what Mr. Musharraf's regime was in the aftermath of 9/11.....
3. I keep hearing people ask if America is ready for a female president. Pakistan had one in 1988. When I was in second grade, Jimmy Carter met with female heads of state in England and Iceland. Argentina just elected a female head of state. I'm OK with people asking if Hillary Clinton is the best choice for President, but if a fundamentalist Muslim state can have a female head of state, why can't an "open-minded" society like ours have one?
4. Just read this and think about unintended consequences of actions:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080107/truthdig
5. Why does the US keep trying to influence elections in other countries when we don't fully understand those other countries?
1. The official Pakastani government report says she was killed by a skull fracture and a concussion from the suicide bomber blast. That may be different from the eyewitness reports, but hey, it's the official government report.
2. Do you know why everyone here in the States is so sad about this? She represented hope. Lately, President Musharraf's regime has been presented as the corrupting influence, and anyone running against him would be good for a stabilizing democracy. So, with the enemy of my enemy being my friend, Ms. Bhutto was set up to be a friend of the US. Which is what Mr. Musharraf's regime was in the aftermath of 9/11.....
3. I keep hearing people ask if America is ready for a female president. Pakistan had one in 1988. When I was in second grade, Jimmy Carter met with female heads of state in England and Iceland. Argentina just elected a female head of state. I'm OK with people asking if Hillary Clinton is the best choice for President, but if a fundamentalist Muslim state can have a female head of state, why can't an "open-minded" society like ours have one?
4. Just read this and think about unintended consequences of actions:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080107/truthdig
5. Why does the US keep trying to influence elections in other countries when we don't fully understand those other countries?
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