Bowl Pool Update 12/30 & 12/31

Happy New Year!

Standings:
1. John McKeating 237
2. Tom Maiden 236
3. Joe Hochhauser 224
4. Jeremy Hare #1 209
4. Mike Powers 209
6. Darryl Griffin (Team Wal Mart ) 208
7. Jodi Wallace 1 204
8. Peter Krug. 189
9. Sean Germon 188
10. Gregg Benedetto 182
11. Jodi Wallace 2 179
11. Bob van Nortwick 179
13. Brian Wallace #2 174
14. Clint 172
14. Shawn Mitchell 172
22. Dils 152 (but a big problem with houston and purdue losing. freaking houston!)

12/30 - 12/31 Pick Breakdown (the herd picked all the favorites again)

BC (-6.5) Picks: 50 (slight bias in Vegas to BC, where line is now 7)
Navy Picks: 24

Texas (-11.5) Picks: 46
Iowa Picks: 28 (Strong push in Vegas to Iowa, where line has been bet down to 9)

Va Tech (-2.5) Picks: 46 (slight push in Vegas to Tech, where line is now 3)
Georgia Picks: 28

Miami (-3.5) Picks: 41 (no line movement in Vegas)
Nevada Picks: 33

Name (Points to date) Sat & Sun Picks & Weightings
Michael Albrecht (143) Navy 11 Texas 8 Va Tech 24 Nevada 16
Tom Arnold (120) BC 17 Texas 29 Va Tech 5 Miami 28
Bear (110) BC 31 Iowa 14 Georgia 23 Miami 8
Joseph Beedon (135) Navy 23 Texas 3 Va Tech 29 Nevada 7
Gregg Benedetto (182) Navy 7 Texas 9 Va Tech 27 Nevada 13
Scott Bingham (111) BC 32 Texas 27 Va Tech 29 Miami 14
Bryan Boisi (97) BC 23 Iowa 22 Va Tech 13 Miami 19
Barry Bredt (98) BC 27 Texas 26 Georgia 25 Miami 24
Billy Bredt (103) Navy 14 Iowa 2 Georgia 27 Nevada 24
Brownie (114) Navy 18 Iowa 19 Georgia 20 Miami 21
Clint (172) BC 21 Iowa 20 Georgia 10 Miami 11
Cow (112) BC 23 Texas 24 Georgia 26 Miami 27
Dils (152) Navy 31 Texas 6 Va Tech 32 Nevada 20
Derald Emory (127) BC 22 Texas 23 Georgia 8 Miami 24
Matt Emory (147) BC 10 Texas 9 Va Tech 25 Miami 29
Scott Fiedler (135) BC 29 Iowa 19 Georgia 6 Miami 25
Flummer (123) Navy 24 Iowa 11 Va Tech 12 Nevada 13
Frank G (101) BC 25 Texas 16 Va Tech 28 Miami 21
Sean Germon (188) BC 17 Iowa 16 Georgia 14 Miami 13
Brian Getson (130) BC 23 Texas 29 Georgia 19 Miami 20
William Greenlaw (106) BC 25 Iowa 28 Va Tech 9 Miami 32
Darryl Griffin (Tm WalMart) (208) BC 18 Texas 25 Va Tech 30 Miami 17
Jimmy Grossman (117) Navy 19 Iowa 3 Georgia 4 Miami 2
Kevin Gusinow (144) BC 10 Iowa 31 Va Tech 16 Nevada 7
Max Haber 1 (104) Navy 14 Texas 19Va Tech 32 Nevada 27
Max Haber 2 (100) BC 2 Texas 14 Va Tech 25 Miami 18
Jeremy Hare #1 (209) Navy 15 Iowa 8 Va Tech 5 Nevada 1
Jeremy Hare #2 (154) BC 6 Texas 16 Georgia 5 Miami 22
Eric Haron (122) BC 10 Iowa 28 Va Tech 9 Nevada 8
Joe Hochhauser (224) BC 26 Texas 28 Va Tech 24 Miami 1
Dave Holdsworth (147) Navy 2 Texas 23 Va Tech 24 Nevada 28
Iceman (112) BC 16 Iowa 31 Georgia 1 Miami 25
Rick Kaiser (130) BC 24 Iowa 13 Georgia 12 Nevada 11
KMart (101) BC 17 Texas 26 Va Tech 24 Nevada 6
Peter Krug (189) BC 25 Texas 32 Va Tech 31 Miami 24
Charles Kulbok (44) BC 15 Texas 28 Georgia 27 Miami 26
Laughandwin (164) BC 23 Iowa 22 Va Tech 29 Miami 27
Beth Levine (126) BC 31 Texas 24 Va Tech 21 Miami 3
Dan Levine (101) BC 30 Texas 13 Va Tech 26 Miami 28
Matt Littman (88) Navy 18 Iowa 19 Va Tech 20 Miami 21
Mark Loftus (136) Navy 17 Texas 24 Va Tech 32 Nevada 6
Tom Maiden (236) BC 19 Texas 4 Georgia 11 Nevada 24
Mike Maurer & Jon Reis (150) BC 17 Texas 18 Va Tech 19 Nevada 20
John McKeating (237) Navy 4 Texas 31 Va Tech 15 Miami 13
Rob Mitchell (171) Navy 17 Iowa 2 Va Tech 32 Miami 3
Shawn Mitchell (172) BC 18 Texas 19 Va Tech 28 Nevada 5
Stephen Moss (146) Navy 3 Texas 22 Va Tech 10 Nevada 28
Brian Murphy (85) BC 26 Texas 31 Va Tech 27 Miami 15
Will Nadeau (107) BC 31 Texas 25 Georgia 5 Miami 3
Bobby P (124) BC 9 Texas 10 Georgia 11 Miami 22
Larry Parsons (113) BC 23 Texas 18 Va Tech 24 Nevada 17
Needham Hines (169) BC 8 Iowa 27 Va Tech 2 Miami 26
Glenn Peter (127) BC 28 Texas 11 Va Tech 8 Nevada 3
Mike Powers (209) Navy 11 Texas 32 Georgia 22 Nevada 5
Princess Bitch (124) BC 23 Texas 24 Va Tech 26 Miami 27
Mark Rudofker (95) Navy 19 Iowa 31 Georgia 6 Nevada 9
Jeff Saito (170) BC 21 Texas 30 Georgia 8 Nevada 9
David Scherby (161) BC 32 Texas 8 Va Tech 24 Nevada 6
Greg Shields (140) BC 19 Iowa 31 Va Tech 23 Miami 6
Ed Smeltzer (43) BC 20 Iowa 21 Va Tech 22 Nevada 23
Andy Smukler (90) Navy 21 Texas 14 Va Tech 16 Nevada 6
Matthew Spanjers (64) Navy 1 Texas 32 Georgia 20 Nevada 12
Stitzer (130) BC 24 Texas 17 Georgia 18 Nevada 32
Jon Taylor (92) BC 29 Iowa 8 Va Tech 17 Nevada 2
Bob van Nortwick (179) Navy 5 Texas 21 Georgia 14 Miami 11
Bob Wallace (109) BC 25 Iowa 5 Va Tech 6 Nevada 24
Brian Wallace 1 (156) Navy 26 Texas 7 Georgia 8 Nevada 9
Brian Wallace 2 (174) Navy 1 Iowa 16 Va Tech 18 Nevada 17
Jodi Wallace 1 (204) BC 31 Iowa 32 Va Tech 21 Miami 7
Jodi Wallace 2 (179) BC 31 Iowa 13 Va Tech 12 Miami 11
Dirk Welzien (92) BC 19 Texas 20 Va Tech 21 Nevada 22
Steve Whiteford (110) Navy 18 Iowa 4 Georgia 5 Miami 16
AJ Whitehead (120) BC 14 Texas 15 Georgia 16 Miami 28
Wade Wilson (150) BC 8 Texas 9 Georgia 7 Miami 20

Happy New Year, College & Pro Picks, Bowl Pool Update

Lots of games to pick correctly this week. As always, we will start with college.

NCAA (Last week: 1-2, Overall 41-36, 53%)

Houston (+6) vs. South Carolina. The Gamecocks have played to the level of their competition both ways all year, and Houston has a high powered offense that should keep up if not win outright.

Purdue (Pk) vs. Maryland. The Terrapins did it with smoke and mirrors all year this year, they are just not that good. Hollenbach makes too many mistakles at the quarterback spot. Despite Friedgen's strong bowl record and Tiller's 3-5 mark in bowl at Purdue, take the Boilermakers here.

Navy (+6.5) vs. Boston College. The Eagles are not good enough to separate here, despite havnig a month to prepare for Navy extremely one dimensional offense. The turmoil with the coaching change in Chestnut Hill will not help here.

Iowa (+10) vs. Texas. The 'Horns have not been right the second half of the year. Despite a disappointing season behing senior QB Drew Tate, the Hawkeyes will be ready to play.

Virginia Tech (-2.5) vs. Georgia. Tech has played great the second half of the year, learning again how to run and stop the run. eorgia has improved as well, but the Hokies get it done by 10 or more here.

Nevada (+3.5) vs. Miami (FL). The Wolfpack, despite laying an egg in their season finale against Boise State, are the better team here.

Auburn (-1.5) vs. Nebraska. Look for the Tigers to salvage a bitterly disappointing season against a team that does not have the talent to stay with them.

Georgia Tech (+10.5) vs. West Virginia. The Yellow Jackets will be better off without Reggie Ball at quarterback, and they will rally around each other. West Virginia will not be excited playing in this game.

Boise St (+7.5) vs. Oklahoma. Stoops was the most overlooked coach in the country this year for the job he did, but Boise is playing for respect, and they will keep it close....at least.

Wake Forest (+10) vs. Lousville. Been riding the Wake train for a while, cannot abandon ship now that they have reached the Orange Bowl.

Will have the last three bowl games next week....

NFL (Last Week 6-2-1, Overall 51-41, 55%)

Kansas City (-2.5) vs. Jacksonville. Repeat after me....unless in Philadelphia, Jacksonville cannot win on the road.

Indianapolis (-8.5) vs. Miami. Miami will not be able to slow down Indy enough or score enough to keep up. Indy will want to gain its confidence which is shattered before heading into the playoffs.

New England (+3.5) at Tennessee. New England does not usually take its foot off the brakes before the playoffs, and if anyone can stymie Vinve Young, it's Belichick.

Seattle (+3.5) at Tampa Bay. I know, the game does not mean much to Seattle and Tampa will want to wni their finale, but Seattle is better, and I think Holmgren wants to get this team moving in a better direction before their playoff opener next week.

EAGLES (-7.5) vs. Atlanta. Raucous crowd, team with momentum and they sneed the game to win. Atlanta, once they get behind, will want to get out of town as fast as possible to prepare for Jim Mora Jr.'s firing later this week. And how to trade Michael Vick to get Chaib in th elineup? That is the next challenge....

Now, onto the bowl pool.....

The herd has taken the favorite in all fives games today, which seems to make sense based on how things have gone in the bowl season so far with 9 out of 12 favorites covering so far (which is unheard of by the way). If it keeps up, we will have some very lofty bowl pool scores.

Standings:
1. Jodi Wallace #1 204
2. Joe Hochhauser 203
3. John McKeating 195
4. Mike Powers 171
5. Brian Wallace #2 164
6. Greg Benedetto 161
7. Peter Krug 159
8. Bob van Nortwick 158
9. Jodi Wallace #2 157
9. Clint 157
11. Rob Mitchell 152
12. Jeremy Hare #1 151
13. Shawn Mitchell 150
14. Jeff Saito 147
15. David Scherby 146
23. Dils 123

Clemson (-10.5) Picks: 43
Kentucky Picks: 31 (Slight Lean in Vegas toward Kentucky, line at 10 in most spots)

Oreg St (-3.5) Picks: 49 (slight lean in Vegas to Oregon St, where line has inched up to 4 in some spots)
Missuori Picks: 25

South Carolina (-6.5) Picks: 42
Houston Picks: 32 (slight lean in vegas to Houston, as line is down to 6)

Maryland (-2.5) Picks:43
Purdue Picks: 31 (strong push in vegas to Purdue; it is now a Pick'Em in many spots)

Texas Tech (-6.5) Picks: 47 (slight lean to Tech in Vegas, where line is now 7)
Minnesota Picks: 27

Name (Points to date), Friday Picks
Michael Albrecht (122) Clem 20 Oreg St 17 South Car 21 Pur 27 Tx Tch 31
Tom Arnold (75) UK 3 Oreg St 20 South Car 19 Md 23 Tx Tch 18
Bear (80) Clem 16 Oreg St 19 Hou 15 Md 30 Tx Tch 27
Joseph Beedon (109) UK 26 Oreg St 24 Hou 10 Pur 4 Tx Tch 8
Gregg Benedetto (161) Clem 22 Oreg St 26 Houst 19 Md 21 Tx Tch 18
Scott Bingham (111) Clem 22 Oreg St 8 Houst 6 Pur 2 Tx Tch 24
Bryan Boisi (67) UK 12 Oreg St 21 South Car 18 Pur 20 Tx Tch 8
Barry Bredt (83) Clem 10 Oreg St 9 South Car 8 Pur 28 Minn 7
Billy Bredt (60) UK 3 Mizzou 25 Houst 16 Pur 28 Minn 15
Brownie (52) Clem 13 Mizzou 14 South Car 15 Md 16 Minn 17
Clint (157) UK 6 Oreg St 30 Houst 7 Pur 8 Minn 9
Cow (79) Clem 21 Mizzou 11 South Car 22 Pur 18 Tx Tch 19
Dils (123) UK 5 Mizzou 24 Houst 30 Pur 25 Tx Tch 9
Derald Emory (100) UK 4 Oreg St 17 South Car 18 Md 5 Tx Tech 19
Matt Emory (130) UK 17 Oreg St 3 Houst 11 Pur 20 Tx Tch 21
Scott Fiedler (89) UK 12 Oreg St 1 Houst 11 Md 24 Minn 10
Flummer (71) UK 27 Oreg St 3 Houst 26 Md 25 Tx Tch 32
Frank G (67) Clem 24 Oreg St 20 South Car 15 Md 17 Minn 2
Sean Germon (119) UK 27 Oreg St 18 Houst 28 Md 11 Minn 31
Brian Getson (72) UK 16 Mizzou 17 South Car 25 Pur 4 Tx Tch 24
William Greenlaw (53) UK 20 Mizzou 6 South Car 27 Pur 12 Tx Tch 17
Darryl Griffin (Tm WalMart) (124) UK 26 Oreg St 14 South Car 31 Md 27 Tx Tch 28
Jimmy Grossman (67) UK 27 Mizzou 6 Houst 14 Md 17 Tx Tech 30
Kevin Gusinow (91) Clem 15 Oreg St 23 South Car 12 Md 30 Minn 11
Max Haber 1 (51) UK 15 Mizzou 30 South Car 8 Pur 7 Tx Tch 18
Max Haber 2 (74) Clem 13 Oreg St 4 South Car 3 Md 23 Tx Tch 32
Jeremy Hare #1 (151) UK 25 Oreg St 7 South Car 27 Md 6 Tx Tch 16
Jeremy Hare #2 (102) Clem 8 Mizzou 10 South Car 27 Pur 7 Minn 15
Eric Haron (99) UK 12 Oreg St 5 Houst 4 Pur 3 Minn 11
Joe Hochhauser (203) Clem 27 Mizzou 3 South Car 14 Md 4 Tx Tch 23
Dave Holdsworth (112) UK 8 Oreg St 22 Houst 21 Md 9 Minn 18
Iceman (55) UK 26 Mizzou 5 Houst 10 Md 20 Minn 11
Rick Kaiser (110) Clem 23 Mizzou 6 Houst 16 Pur 15 Minn 14
KMart (82) Clem 32 Mizzou 12 South Car 3 Pur 15 Minn 4
Peter Krug (159) Clem 29 Oreg St 14 South Car 28 Pur 3 Minn 2
Charles Kulbok (30) Clem 12 Oreg St 29 Houst 13 Md 14 Tx Tech 32
Laughandwin (126) Clem 13 Mizzou 17 South Car 12 Md 9 Tx Tch 25
Beth Levine (104) Clem 15 Oreg St 19 Houst 7 Md 22 Tx Tch 8
Dan Levine (85) Clem 27 Oreg St 31 South Car 11 Md 5 Tx Tch 23
Matt Littman (55) Clem 13 Oreg St 14 Houst 15 Md 16 Minn 17
Mark Loftus (128) UK 8 Oreg St 20 Houst 4 Pur 7 Tx Tech 23
Tom Maiden (132) UK 29 Mizzou 25 South Car 28 Md 22 Tx Tch 23
Mike Maurer & Jon Reis (101) Clem 7 Mizzou 4 South Car 14 Md 15 Minn 16
John McKeating (195) Clem 21 Mizzou 3 South Car 12 Md 25 Minn 2
Rob Mitchell (152) Clem 8 Oreg St 22 South Car 14 Md 5 Tx Tch 11
Shawn Mitchell (150) Clem 15 Oreg St 23 South Car 6 Md 16 Tx Tch 17
Stephen Moss (112) Clem 17 Oreg St 25 Houst 2 Md 29 Minn 5
Brian Murphy (53) Clem 21 Mizzou 10 South Car 22 Pur 11 Tx Tch 6
Will Nadeau (106) Clem 32 Mizzou 1 Houst 10 Pur 2 Tx Tch 13
Bobby P (77) Clem 8 Oreg St 31 South Car 24 Pur 30 Minn 23
Larry Parsons (92) Clem 20 Oreg St 19 South Car 21 Pur 14 Tx Tch 2
Needham Hines (143) Clem 16 Oreg St 11 South Car 9 Md 17 Tx Tch 7
Glenn Peter (104) Clem 25 Oreg St 16 South Car 10 Md 13 Tx Tch 14
Mike Powers (171) Clem 27 Oreg St 21 South Car 19 Md 10 Minn 9
Princess Bitch (84) Clem 21 Oreg St 11 South Car 22 Md 18 Tx Tch 19
Mark Rudofker (39) UK 30 Mizzou 8 Houst 17 Pur 5 Minn 18
Jeff Saito (147) Clem 27 Oreg St 12 South Car 23 Pur 6 Tx Tch 10
David Scherby (146) Clem 18 Mizzou 12 Houst 2 Md 3 Tx Tch 16
Greg Shields (100) UK 25 Mizzou 15 Houst 28 Pur 24 Tx Tch 3
Ed Smeltzer (26) Clem 15 Oreg St 16 South Car 17 Pur 18 Tx Tch 19
Andy Smukler (57) UK 10 Mizzou 23 Houst 27 Pur 26 Tx Tch 4
Matthew Spanjers (25) UK 2 Oreg St 25 South Car 16 Md 21 Tx Tch 17
Stitzer (73) Clem 10 Mizzou 12 South Car 15 Md 14 Minn 16
Jon Taylor (83) UK 9 Oreg St 27 Houst 15 Pur 21 Tx Tch 20
Bob van Nortwick (158) Clem 17 Oreg St 32 South Car 3 Md 18 Tx Tch 12
Bob Wallace (67) Clem 15 Mizzou 12 South Car 3 Md 4 Minn 23
Brian Wallace 1 (135) Clem 13 Oreg St 12 Houst 25 Md 11 Minn 10
Brian Wallace 2 (164) UK 7 Oreg St 4 Houst 31 Md 3 Tx Tch 24
Jodi Wallace 1 (204) Clem 3 Oreg St 22 Houst 12 Pur 10 Tx Tch 9
Jodi Wallace 2 (157) UK 6 Oreg St 15 South Car 2 Md 14 Tx Tch 29
Dirk Welzien (92) Clem 10 Oreg St 6 Houst 15 Pur 1 Tx Tch 18
Steve Whiteford (90) Clem 27 Mizzou 8 Houst 8 Md 12 Tx Tech 28
AJ Whitehead (59) UK 9 Oreg St 23 South Car 27 Md 12 Minn 13
Wade Wilson (67) UK 15 Oreg St 23 South Car 22 Md 29 Minn 17

And the NFL's MVP is.......

My apologies for the lack of actual commentary on the blog lately. Between the holidays and managing the pools, it has gotten a bit hectic. But I have something to say. So here goes. During the course of October and November, I made, among others, the following comments about the Philadelphia Eagles, which in retrospect, make me sound like Merrill Hoge:

“They need to go at least 5-3 if not 6-2 to make the playoffs. Unlikely at best.
it is a shame that this team will be the 92nd straight team to play professional sports for the city of Philadelphia (big 4 sports only) without winning a championship.”

“And now, their fingertips, which had been hanging desperately to the edge for a while, slipped off, leading to a rapid descent that promises a long fall and no quick way back up toward the top….the bottom line is this: Philadelphia, there will be no Super Bowl title this year. There will be no Super Bowl title any time soon”

“The Eagles are done. They have quit. They can’t stop the run. They cannot generate a pass rush. And they cannot throw the ball more than about 5 yards down the field.”

But then a funny thing happened on the way to playing like the Sixers and the Flyers. Jeff Garcia became the league’s most valuable player. That’s right. Read it again. Let it sink in. He will not win the MVP award. He will not even be mentioned as such. But is there any player on any team, including LaDanian Tomlinson and Drew Brees and Vince Young, who has meant more to his team this season than Jeff Garcia? No way.

Garcia’s stats are good. He has had a quarterback rating of over 90 in all five games that he has started. He has 10 touchdowns while throwing only two interceptions. He has completed over 62% of his passes. But that is only part of the story. He plays with a passion and emotion that few in this league, including Donovan McNabb, possess. He has leadership abilities that encourage all his teammates to believe in and support him. He manages a game so effectively and keeps those chains moving in a way that I am guessing (I cannot seem to find these stats online) that the Eagles time of possession has improved by probably somewhere between 5-10 minutes a game since he took over.

The last statement, while not given a lot of press, cannot be underrated. This defense could not generate any pass rush or stop the run at all for the middle part of the season. Now they are playing with passion, making turnovers, getting some heat on the quarterback, and looking respectable against the run. Yes, part of the credit belongs with Andy Reid, Jim Johnson, and certainly Brian Dawkins, who continues to be the lifeblood and spirit of this team. But a lot of that enhanced performance is due to Garcia, his leadership and his ball control. And, yes, it makes me nervous to say Jeff Garcia and enhanced performance in the same sentence.

So that is why I think Jeff Garcia is the NFL’s most valuable player. And who knows if they will parlay this into anything. The NFC is such that they could lose in the first round of the playoffs, or they legitimately get all the way back to the bowl. And if you get there, you never know. So while you never know what will happen, this is a rare case where anything is gravy. Because Jeff Garcia made the Eagles relevant again in 2006. And that was impossible 4 weeks ago.

So, to the upper deck guy I said “screw you” to in my October 30th post, I now say, I am sorry, this Eagles team has now earned that hour of my time back, and that you were right.

And to Grossy, my good friend who never stopped believing even when (or especially because) I told him he was insane, I say “Our Philadelphia Eagles Put Your Hands Up…BIRDS TO THE BOWL”

Win or Die Final Conclusion, Bowl Pool Update (12/25 - 12/28)

Merry Christmas.

First of all, the Win or Die Pool is over. Congratulations to Akshon Barclay, who stayed alive longer than all other 737 entries to take home the prize. He will take home the $36,900 prize, less $1,000 side deals he made with Brian Getson, John Abshear, Vernon Lee, Ryan Kohrig, Ron P, and Rick Woods. Congratulations to the Akshon Barclay team on a job well done!

Now onto the bowl pool, which is getting hot and heavy....

Overall Standings:
1. Joe Hochauser 134
2. Bob van Nortwick 121
3. Jodi Wallace #1 116 (the only entry to be 7-0 so far!!!)
4. Rob Mitchell 110
5. Tom Maiden 109
6. Mike Powers 108
7. Jeremy Hare #1 107
8. Mark Loftus 105
9. John McKeating 102
10. Stephen Moss 101
T20. Dils 82

Game Breakdowns (Tuesday - Thursday):
Central Michigan (-10.5) Picks: 46
Middle Tennessee St. Picks: 28 (in Vegas, line movement to MTSU)

UCLA (-4.5) Picks: 49
Florida St Picks 25 (in Vegas, line movement to FSU; I picked FSU on the blog)

Alabama (+2.5) Picks: 38
Oklahoma St Picks: 36 (no line movement in Vegas)

Rutgers (-7.5) Picks: 55
Kansas St Picks: 19 (Note: I picked Rutgers in pool, but after further analysis picked Kansas St. to cover on my blog; no significant line movement in Vegas)

Texas A&M (+5.5) Picks: 35
California Picks: 39 (slight line movement in Vegas to A&M)

Name (points to date), Picks & Weighting for Tuesday - Thursday:
Michael Albrecht (63) Cent Mich 5 UCLA 23 Okie St 25 K St 15 Cal 29
Tom Arnold (64) MTSU 2 UCLA 24 Okie St 11 K St 12 A&M 10
Bear (30) Cent Mich 9 UCLA 22 Okie St 21 Rutgers 20 A&M 28
Joseph Beedon (65) Cent Mich 15 UCLA 22 Okie St 11 Rutgers 18 A&M 9
Gregg Benedetto (46) Cent Mich 29 FSU 24 Okie St 25 Rutgers 23 Cal 14
Scott Bingham (40) Cent Mich 20 UCLA 23 Okie St 26 Rutgers 25 A&M 9
Bryan Boisi (23) Cent Mich 30 UCLA 16 Bama 15 K St 17 Cal 14
Barry Bredt (39) Cent Mich 6 UCLA 32 Okie St 15 Rutgers 12 Cal 11
Billy Bredt (39) MTSU 4 FSU 21 Bama 29 K St 12 A&M 18
Brownie (12) Cent Mich 8 FSU 9 Bama 10 Rutgers 11 Cal 12
Clint (98) MTSU 3 FSU 4 Okie St 5 Rutgers 23 Cal 27
Cow (40) Cent Mich 8 UCLA 20 Bama 9 Rutgers 14 Cal 17
Dils (82) Cent Mich 14 FSU 4 Okie St 8 Rutgers 15 A&M 19
Derald Emory (45) Cent Mich 27 UCLA 20 Bama 7 Rutgers 28 Cal 21
Matt Emory (87) MTSU 8 FSU 19 Bama 18 K St 2 Cal 24
Scott Fiedler (35)MTSU 14 FSU 31 Bama 13 Rutgers 23 A&M 20
Flummer (61) Cent Mich 4 FSU 1 Bama 29 Rutgers 5 A&M 28
Frank G (12) Cent Mich 12 FSU 7 Okie St 13 K St 14 Cal 23
Sean Germon (99) MTSU 23 UCLA 22 Bama 21 Rutgers 20 A&M 19
Brian Getson (19) MTSU 10 UCLA 22 Bama 21 Rutgers 27 Cal 26
William Greenlaw (30) Cent Mich 21 UCLA 30 Bama 31 Rutgers 2 A&M 8
Darryl Griffin (Team Wal Mart) (84) Cent Mich 4 UCLA 15 Okie St 20 Rutgers 16 A&M 13
Jimmy Grossman (55) MTSU 16 FSU 12 Bama 13 K St 15 A&M 20
Kevin Gusinow (29) MTSU 3 FSU 13 Okie St 8 Rutgers 14 Cal 27
Max Haber 1 (48) MTSU 4 UCLA 29 Bama 16 Rutgers 3 A&M 26
Max Haber 2 (40) Cent Mich 21 UCLA 9 Bama 10 Rutgers 8 Cal 5
Jeremy Hare #1 (107) Cent Mich 10 UCLA 26 Okie St 14 Rutgers 9 Cal 11
Jeremy Hare #2 (43) Cent Mich 19 UCLA 23 Okie St 12 Rutgers 11 Cal 17
Eric Haron (17) Cent Mich 27 UCLA 13 Bama 6 Rutgers 29 Cal 26
Joe Hochhauser (134) Cent Mich 16 FSU 10 Bama 20 Rutgers 25 Cal 18
Dave Holdsworth (66) MTSU 7 UCLA 27 Bama 11 Rutgers 32 Cal 14
Iceman (40) MTSU 23 FSU 15 Bama 7 K St 6 A&M 8
Rick Kaiser (26) Cent Mich 18 FSU 22 Okie St 19 Rutgers 25 A&M 17
KMart (62) MTSU 21 FSU 20 Bama 1 K St 2 A&M 16
Peter Krug (100) Cent Mich 10 UCLA 18 Okie St 27 Rutgers 15 Cal 7
Charles Kulbok (3) MTSU 7 FSU 8 Okie St 9 Rutgers 10 A&M 11
Laughandwin (39) Cent Mich 28 UCLA 10 Okie St 21 Rutgers 8 Cal 30
Beth Levine (32) Cent Mich 11 FSU 32 Bama 23 Rutgers 29 A&M 16
Dan Levine (20) MTSU 4 UCLA 9 Okie St 17 Rutgers 29 Cal 19
Matt Littman (14) Cent Mich 8 UCLA 9 Okie St 10 Rutgers 11 Cal 12
Mark Loftus (105) MTSU 5 UCLA 29 Okie St 9 Rutgers 14 A&M 15
Tom Maiden (109) Cent Mich 17 UCLA 27 Bama 18 Rutgers 6 A&M 5
Mike Maurer & Jon Reis (32) Cent Mich 3 UCLA 31 Okie St 29 Rutgers 5 Cal 32
John McKeating (102) MTSU 1 FSU 16 Okie St 23 Rutgers 26 Cal 28
Rob Mitchell (110) MTSU 13 UCLA 27 Bama 16 Rutgers 12 Cal 30
Shawn Mitchell (86) Cent Mich 26 FSU 11 Bama 8 Rutgers 27 A&M 7
Stephen Moss (101) MTSU 13 UCLA 15 Bama 1 Rutgers 11 A&M 21
Brian Murphy (36) MTSU 5 UCLA 19 Okie St 8 Rutgers 9 A&M 20
Will Nadeau (79) Cent Mich 27 UCLA 30 Bama 9 K St 11 A&M 17
Bobby P (33) Cent Mich 5 FSU 26 Okie St 6 Rutgers 7 A&M 25
Larry Parsons (31) Cent Mich 11 UCLA 28 Okie St 15 Rutgers 29 Cal 6
Needham Hines (45) Cent Mich 28 FSU 31 Bama 1 Rutgers 24 Cal 15
Glenn Peter (40) Cent Mich 6 UCLA 23 Okie St 31 K St 22 Cal 27
Mike Powers (108) Cent Mich 30 UCLA 12 Bama 1 Rutgers 13 Cal 20
Princess Bitch (50) Cent Michigan 8 UCLA 20 Okie St 9 K St 14 Cal 17
Mark Rudofker (27) MTSU 29 FSU 12 Bama 4 K St 21 A&M 15
Jeff Saito (75) Cent Mich 22 UCLA 11 Okie St 7 Rutgers 28 Cal 15
David Scherby (100) Cent Mich 5 UCLA 9 Okie St 10 Rutgers 31 A&M 23
Greg Shields (62) MTSU 10 FSU 5 Okie St 13 K St 27 Cal 20
Ed Smeltzer (26) MTSU 10 UCLA 11 Bama 12 K St 13 A&M 14
Andy Smukler (34) MTSU 25 FSU 20 Bama 9 Rutgers 3 A&M 19
Matthew Spanjers (18) Cent Mich 7 UCLA 10 Bama 24 K ST 11 A&M 3
Stitzer (19) Cent Mich 6 FSU 7 Okie ST 13 Rutgers 19 Cal 9
Jon Taylor (26) MTSU 1 UCLA 28 Okie ST 23 Rutgers 24 Cal 10
Bob van Nortwick (121) Cent Mich 6 UCLA 7 Bama 16 Rutgers 31 A&M 9
Bob Wallace (45) C Mich 22 UCLA 21 Bama 10 K St 29 A&M 2
Brian Wallace 1 (82) MTSU 16 UCLA 23 Okie St 15 Rutgers 14 Cal 24
Brian Wallace 2 (91) Cent Mich 21 UCLA 6 Okie St 13 Rutgers 27 Cal 12
Jodi Wallace 1 (116) Cent Mich 6 UCLA 24 Okie St 23 Rutgers 29 Cal 30
Jodi Wallace 2 (96) Cent Mich 17 FSU 16 Bama 20 Rutgers 28 A&M 19
Dirk Welzien (72) Cent Mich 11 UCLA 2 Bama 5 K St 8 Cal 9
Steve Whiteford (66) Cent Mich 17 UCLA 21 Bama 6 Rutgers 7 A&M 24
AJ Whitehead (26) MTSU 6 UCLA 20 Bama 7 Rutgers 25 Cal 8
Wade Wilson (67) MTSU 4 UCLA 19 Bama 18 K St 5 A&M 6

Win or Die Week 16

Here are the picks for the Final 4. Good luck to the 4....

The bowl pool update for Sat/Sun appears in the post below this.

Akshon Barclay Kansas City
Andy Smukler Atlanta
Brian Getson Indianapolis
Mike Kickey Atlanta

Bold & Italics means that is the last use of that team for that entry.

Dils NCAA and NFL Picks; Bowl Pool Update (Sat & Sun)

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Below are my NFL and NCAA picks for this week, followed by the bowl pool update.....

College Picks (Overall: 40-34, 54%)

These are my best bowl picks between now and next Friday, when I will be back with my picks for most of the rest of the bowl season.

East Carolina (+4.5) vs. South Florida. Skip Holtz has done a great job with this program, and there is no reason that South Florida should be favored by this many. The public has been fooled in this one, take the points.

Florida State (+4.5) vs. UCLA. FSU underachieved all year, but they have more talent than UCLA and are getting a healthy amount of points. UCLA peaked emotionally in their real bowl game when they upset USC. The Seminoles cover and probably win outright.

Kansas State (+7.5) vs. Rutgers. K St. has played better the second half of the season and this will be a building block under their first year coach. Rutgers cannot help but avoid a letdown after they had been primed for a BCS game all year and then lost an emotional 3-OT game in Morgantown to end the regular season.

NFL Picks (Last Week 4-1; Overall Season: 45-39, 54%)

Carolina (+6.5) at Atlanta. I don't care how much Carolina has packed it in, no way you can lay this many points with the Falcons and Michael Vick.

St. Louis (-1.5) vs. Washington. The Skins with Jason Campbell will come back to earth after a big road win last week.

Indianapolis (-9) at Houston. They have owned Houston since they became the Texans.

Pittsburgh (-3.5) vs. Baltimore. Still do not believe in Baltimore. Pittsburgh is coming on strong.

Chicago (-5) at Detroit. Grossman is playing better. Lookk for an inspired Bears defense after a putrid effort last week. And the Detroit fans are planning the Millen Man March during the game.

Cincy (+3) at Denver. Denver has a banged up secondary. Look for Palmer to put up the points.

Seattle (+4.5) vs. San Diego. I d not care how bad Seattle has been, and how great the Chargers have looked. I am always taking Seattle at home getting 4.5 points. Always.

EAGLES (+7) at Dallas. Dallas has a banged up secondary. Their 3-4 defense is going to be tough to slow down Westbrook. Garcia is playing great mistake free football. Birds at least keep it close in their third straight road game, and have a shot to win it outright.

Jets (+2.5) at Miami. After picking the Jets to make th eplayoffs on the George Rogers show this week, I better pick them to win this one.

Now to the bowl pool. Here are standings, stats and picks for games Saturday and Sunday. Will be back with the next update Monday or Tuesday morning.

Standings (Top 10; points for all participant are shown in parentheses next to their names where individual picks are displayed):
1. John McKesting 62
2. Jodi Wallace #1 59
3. Bob van Nortwick 54
4. Brian Wallace #1 53
5. Jeremy Hare #1 52
6. Stephen Moss 51
7. Peter Krug 49
8. Mike Powers 47
9. Sean Germon 45
10. KMart 43
T15. Dils 30

Stats (South Florida (-3.5) vs. East Carolina):
South Florida Picks: 55 (the most yet)
East Carolina Picks: 19
Avg Weighting of South Florida Picks: 17.6
Avg Weighting of East Carolina Picks: 10.4
Avg. Overall Weighting of game: 15.8
The public AGREES with the herd here, as the line in Vegas has been driven up to 4.5

Stats (San Jose St (+4.5) vs. New Mexico):
New Mexico Picks: 31
San Jose St Picks: 43
Avg. Weighting of New Mexico Picks: 12.1
Avg. Weighting of SJSU Picks: 12.2
Avg. overall Weighting of the game: 12.2
The public AGREES with the herd here, as the line has been driven down to 3.5 in Vegas

Stats (Utah (-2.5) vs. Tulsa):
Utah Picks: 37
Tulsa Picks: 37 (how about that, a split right down the middle)
Avg. Weighting of Utah Picks: 15.5 (the half picking Utah have stronger opinions)
Avg. Weighting of Tulsa Picks: 13.1
Avg. Overall Weighting for Game: 14.3
There is no herd here, but the public had driven line down to 1.5.

Stats (Hawaii (-8.5) vs. Arizona St.):
Hawaii Picks: 46
Arizona St Picks: 28
Avg. Weighting of Hawaii Picks: 16.8
Avg. Weighting of Arizona St. Picks: 14.6
Avg. Overall Weighting of the Game: 16.0
The public DISAGREES with the herd here, as the line has been driven down to 7 in Vegas.

Name (points to date), Picks & Weighting for Saturday and Sunday:
Michael Albrecht (28) So Fla 18 SJSU 7 Utah 9 Hawaii 1
Tom Arnold (1) So Fla 32 New Mexico 30 Utah 31 Az St 15
Bear (4) So Fla 25 Nex Mexico 5 Utah 1 Az St 18
Joseph Beedon (28) So Fla 17 SJSU 1 Tulsa 13 Hawaii 19
Gregg Benedetto (3) So Fla 6 SJSU 2 Utah 5 Hawaii 30
Scott Bingham (13) So Fla 10 SJSU 17 Tulsa 7 Az St 11
Bryan Boisi (10) ECU 9 SJSU 7 Tulsa 3 Hawaii 6
Barry Bredt (14) So Fla 13 SJSU 3 Utah 4 Hawaii 5
Billy Bredt (17) ECU 26 SJSU 22 Tulsa 30Az St 9
Brownie (5) ECU 4 New Mexico 5 Tulsa 6 Hawaii 7
Clint (17) So Fla 28 New Mexico 25 Utah 24 Hawaii 29
Cow (3) So Fla 5 New Mexico 6 Utah 7 Hawaii 25
Dils (30) ECU 18 SJSU 23 Tulsa 3 Hawaii 29
Derald Emory (3) So Fla 16 New Mexico 11 Tulsa 6 Hawaii 26
Matt Emory (25) So Fla 28 New Mexico 26 Utah 27 Hawaii 7
Scott Fiedler (0) ECU 4 SJSU 32 Tulsa 15 Hawaii 3
Flummer (17) So Fla 7 SJSU 31 Tulsa 30 Hawaii 6
Frank G (1) So Fla 8 SJSU 3 Tulsa 10 Az St 11
Sean Germon (45) So Fla 29 New Mexico 26 Utah 25 Az St 24
Brian Getson (9) So Fla 8 New Mexico 3 Utah 2 Az St 11
William Greenlaw (0) So Fla 26 SJSU 4 Tulsa 1 Az St 10
Darryl Griffin (Team Wal Mart) (8) So Fla 23 New Mexico 2 Utah 32 Hawaii 21
Jimmy Grossman (37) So Fla 11 New Mexico 8 Utah 7 Az St 25
Kevin Gusinow (1) ECU 5 SJSU 6 Utah 22 Az St 28
Max Haber 1 (25) So Fla 22 SJSU 1 Tulsa 17 Az St 28
Max Haber 2 (27) ECU 22 SJSU 6 Tulsa 11, Hawaii 7
Jeremy Hare #1 (52) So Fla 23, SJSU 19 Tulsa 20 Hawaii 13
Jeremy Hare #2 (1) So Fla 24 SJSU 18 Tulsa 25 Az St 13
Eric Haron (0) So Fla 2 SJSU 1 Tulsa 15 Hawaii 14
Joe Hochhauser (26) So Fla 32 SJSU 30 Utah 17 Hawaii 29
Dave Holdsworth (22) So 15 SJSU 29 Tulsa 26 Az St 20
Iceman (0) ECU 2 SJSU 22 Tulsa 28 Hawaii 18
Rick Kaiser (4) ECU 3 SJSU 2 Tulsa 1 Hawaii 20
KMart (43) So Fla 19 New Mexico 31 Tulsa 14 Az St 22
Peter Krug (49) So Fla 17 SJSU 1 Utah 13 Hawaii 20
Charles Kulbok (0) ECU 16 New Mexico 6 Utah 3 Az St 4
Laughandwin (1) So Fla 31 New Mexico 24 Tulsa 3 Hawaii 7
Beth Levine (6) So Fla 20 SJSU 4 Utah 2 Az St 9
Dan Levine (0) So Fla 20 New Mexico 2 Tulsa 6 Az St 15
Matt Littman (3) So Fla 4 New Mexico 5 Tulsa 6 Hawaii 7
Mark Loftus (37) So Fla 31 New Mexico 18 Utah 27 Hawaii 10
Tom Maiden (42) So Fla 16 New Mexico 7 Utah 30 Hawaii 21
Mike Maurer & Jon Reis (9) ECU 8 SJSU 11 Tulsa 2 Hawaii 12
John McKeating (62) So Fla 10 SJSU 6 Tulsa 22 Hawaii 24
Rob Mitchell (30) So Fla 31 New Mexico 15 Utah 28 Hawaii 21
Shawn Mitchell (30) So Fla 22 SJSU 9 Utah 13 Hawaii 12
Stephen Moss (51) So Fla 30 SJSU 8 Tulsa 26 Hawaii 12
Brian Murphy (3) So Fla 30 New Mexico 29 Utah 3 Az St 4
Will Nadeau (24) ECU 12 SJSU 18 Utah 22 Hawaii 15
Bobby P (0) So Fla 2 New Mexico 3 Utah 4 Hawaii 27
Larry Parsons (0) So Fla 4 New Mexico 3 Utah 27 Az St 1
Needham Hines (23) So Fla 12 SJSU 10 Tulsa 14 Az St 29
Glenn Peter (21) ECU 7 New Mexico 20 Utah 19 Az St 4
Mike Powers (47) So Fla 15 SJSU 14 Utah 6 Hawaii 26
Princess Bitch (13) So Fla 5 New Mexico 6 Utah 7 Hawaii 25
Mark Rudofker (16) ECU 7 SJSU 11 Tulsa 3 Az St 24
Jeff Saito (40) So Fla 1 SJSU 3 Tulsa 2 Hawaii 31
David Scherby (4) So Fla 30 SJSU 22 Utah 17 Hawaii 27
Greg Shields (8) So Fla 26 SJSU 16 Utah 12 Az St 30
Ed Smeltzer (9) ECU 6 New Mexico 7 Utah 8 Hawaii 9
Andy Smukler (24) So Fla 1 SJSU 7 Tulsa 22 Hawaii 2
Matthew Spanjers (4) ECU 22 SJSU 8 Tulsa 9 Hawaii 6
Stitzer (8) ECU 1 New Mexico 3 Tulsa 5 Hawaii 11
Jon Taylor (0) ECU 6 New Mexico 5 Tulsa 18 Hawaii 26
Bob van Nortwick (54) So Fla 24 SJSU 15 Tulsa 23 Hawaii 28
Bob Wallace (17) So Fla 28 New Mexico 19 Tulsa 1 Az St 27
Brian Wallace 1 (53) ECU 30 New Mexico 18 Tulsa 17 Hawaiii 29
Brian Wallace 2 (29) So Fla 14 SJSU 5 Utah 28 Hawaii 15
Jodi Wallace 1 (59) So Fla 5 SJSU 1 Utah 26 Hawaii 25
Jodi Wallace 2 (25) So Fla 23 SJSU 30 Utah 18 Az St 1
Dirk Welzien (7) So Fla 25 SJSU 26 Utah 14 Az St 4
Steve Whiteford (25) So Fla 26 SJSU 15 Tulsa 14 Az St. 11
AJ Whitehead (1) So Fla 4 New Mexico 5 Utah 10 Hawaii 11
Wade Wilson (27) So Fla 16 New Mexico 3 Utah 24 Az St 2

Dils Bowl Pool; Standings. Picks for Thursday & Friday Games

By the way, we ended up with 74 entries for the pool. I have gotten off to my usual 0-1 start, and will look forward to playing catch up the rest of the way.

Standings (Top 10; points for all participant are shown in parentheses next to their names where individual picks are displayed):
1. Tom Maiden 32
2. Mike Powers 31
2. Brian Wallace #1 31
4. K-Mart 30
4. Peter Krug 30
6. Jeff Saito 29
6. Brian Wallace #2 29
8. Jodi Wallace #1 28
8. Jeremy Hare #1 28
10. John McKeating 27

Stats (Oregon vs. BYU (-5.5) ):
Oregon Picks: 46 (first 'dog picked by majority)
BYU Picks: 28
Avg Weighting of Oregon Picks: 16.2
Avg Weighting of BYU Picks: 14.5
Avg. Overall Weighting of game: 15.6 (highest so far, but still less than average)
The public AGREES with the herd here, as teh line has been bet down to 3 in Vegas

Stats (Troy vs. Rice (-6.5) ):
Troy Picks: 30
Rice Picks: 44
Avg. Weighting of Troy Picks: 9.9
Avg. Weighting of Rice Picks: 13.5
Avg. Overall Weighting of Game: 12.1 (the lowest yet)
The public DISAGREES with the herd, as the line has been bet down to 4.5 in Vegas

Name (points to date), Picks & Weighting for Thursday and Friday:

Michael Albrecht (0) Oregon 32 Troy 28
Tom Arnold (0) BYU 1 Rice 13
Bear (0) Oregon 29 Troy 4
Joseph Beedon (5) BYU 2 Troy 21
Gregg Benedetto (0) Oregon 4 Troy 3
Scott Bingham (13) Oregon 12 Rice 28
Bryan Boisi (10) Oregon 11 Rice 1
Barry Bredt (0) BYU 14 Rice 2
Billy Bredt (0) Oregon 19 Troy 17
Brownie (0) BYU 2 Troy 3
Clint (17) Oregon 1 Rice 2
Cow (3) Oregon 10 Rice 4
Dils (0) BYU 28 Troy 2
Derald Emory (1) BYU 2 Rice 3
Matt Emory (0) BYU 12 Troy 13
Scott Fiedler (0) Oregon 8 Rice 5
Flummer (0) BYU 9 Troy 8
Frank G (1) Oregon 6 Rice 4
Sean Germon (15) Oregon 3 Troy 30
Brian Getson (9) Oregon 28 Rice 7
William Greenlaw (0) Oregon 19 Rice 18
Darryl Griffin (Team Wal Mart) (3) Oregon 10 Troy 5
Jimmy Grossman (9) BYU 28 Rice 10
Kevin Gusinow (1) Oregon 29 Rice 2
Max Haber 1 (0) Oregon 20 Troy 25
Max Haber 2 (15) Oregon 16 Troy 12
Jeremy Hare #1 (28) BYU 24 Rice 31
Jeremy Hare #2 (1) Oregon 14 Rice 26
Eric Haron (0) Oregon 17 Rice 16
Joe Hochhauser (15) Oregon 19 Troy 11
Dave Holdsworth (17) BYU 5 Rice 10
Iceman (0) Oregon 9 Rice 3
Rick Kaiser (0) Oregon 21 Troy 4
KMart (30) Oregon 18 Troy 13
Peter Krug (30) BYU 19 Rice 16
Charles Kulbok (0) Oregon 5 Rice 2
Beth Levine (0) Orgeon 5 Troy 6
Dan Levine (0) Oregon 10 Rice 22
Matt Littman (1) BYU 2 Rice 3
Mark Loftus (25) BYU 12 Rice 30
Tom Maiden (32) BYU 10 Rice 31
Mike Maurer & Jon Reis (0) BYU 9 Rice 1
John McKeating (27) BYU 30 Troy 5
Rob Mitchell (0) BYU 29 Troy 1
Shawn Mitchell (20) BYU 10 Rice 25
Stephen Moss (20) BYU 31 Rice 19
Brian Murphy (1) Oregon 17 Troy 2
Will Nadeau (20) Oregon 7 Troy 4
Bobby P (0) Oregon 28 Rice 1
Larry Parsons (0) Oregon 8 Rice 9
Laughandwin (0) Oregon 20 Troy 1
Needham Hines (23) Oregon 32 Rice 22
Glenn Peter (21) Oregon 15 Rice 32
Mike Powers (31) BYU 16 Rice 17
Princess Bitch (3) BYU 10 Rice 4
Mark Rudofker (0) Oregon 14 Troy 16
Jeff Saito (29) BYU 11 Rice 16
David Scherby (0) Oregon 26 Troy 4
Greg Shields (0) Oregon 29 Troy 8
Ed Smeltzer (0) BYU 4 Troy 5
Andy Smukler (0) Oregon 31 Troy 24
Matthew Spanjers (4) Oregon 23 Rice 5
Stitzer (0) BYU 8 Rice 4
Jon Taylor (0) Oregon 25 Rice 7
Bob van Nortwick (25) BYU 29 Rice 19
Bob Wallace (0) Oregon 20 Troy 17
Brian Wallace 1 (31) BYU 22 Rice 19
Brian Wallace 2 (29) Oregon 23 Rice 22
Jodi Wallace 1 (28) BYU 27 Troy 4
Jodi Wallace 2 (25) Oregon 24 Rice 21
Dirk Welzien (7) Oregon 3 Rice 16
Steve Whiteford (25) Oregon 23 Rice 22
AJ Whitehead (0) Oregon 2 Troy 1
Wade Wilson (27) Oregon 1 Rice 26

Dils Bowl Pool, Picks for Tuesday 12/19

We have 73 people signed up so far. If I get a few stragglers, I will let them in, as long as I receive the email with their picks before kickoff of the game tonight. The blog will be the source of information throughout the pool, so check back each day for standings and picks for that day's games. If I get an off day, I may even try to get a column posted! Good luck to all and enjoy...

Here are everyone's picks for tonight's game.

Stats:

Northern Illinois Picks: 33
TCU Picks: 40
Avg Weighting of Northern Illinois Picks: 10.6
Avg Weighting of TCU Picks: 19.4 (so the TCU people have a lot more conviction on this one than the Northern Illinois backers)
Avg. Overall Weighting of game: 15.4 (if the average game will have an average weighting of 16.5, this is just below average)


Individual Picks and Weighting:

Michael Albrecht Northern Illinois 13
Tom Arnold Northern Illinois 21
Bear Northern Illinois 10
Joseph Beedon TCU 5
Gregg Benedetto Northern Illinois 1
Scott Bingham TCU 13
Bryan Boisi TCU 10
Barry Bredt Northern Illinois 1
Billy Bredt Northern Illinois 1
Brownie Northern Illinois 1
Clint TCU 17
Cow TCU 3
Dils Northern Illinois 1
Derald Emory TCU 1
Matt Emory Northern Illinois 1
Scott Fiedler Northern Illinois 21
Flummer Northern Illinois 10
Sean Germon TCU 15
Brian Getson TCU 9
William Greenlaw Northern Illinois 15
Darryl Griffin (Team Wal Mart) TCU 3
Jimmy Grossman TCU 9
Kevin Gusinow TCU 1
Max Haber 1 Northern Illinois 2
Max Haber 2 TCU 15
Jeremy Hare #1 TCU 28
Jeremy Hare #2 TCU 1
Eric Haron Northern Illinois 24
Joe Hochhauser TCU 15
Dave Holdsworth TCU 17
Iceman Northern Illinois 24
Rick Kaiser Northern Illinois 5
KMart TCU 30
Peter Krug TCU 30
Charles Kulbok Northern Illinois 18
Beth Levine Northern Illinois 12
Dan Levine Northern Illinois 1
Matt Littman TCU 1
Mark Loftus TCU 25
Tom Maiden TCU 32
Mike Maurer & Jon Reis Northern Illinois 10
John McKeating TCU 27
Rob Mitchell Northern Illinois 20
Shawn Mitchell TCU 20
Stephen Moss TCU 20
Brian Murphy TCU 1
Will Nadeau TCU 20
Bobby P Northern Illinois 29
Larry Parsons Northern Illinois 5
Laughandwin Northern Illinois 2
Needham Hines TCU 23
Glenn Peter TCU 21
Mike Powers TCU 31
Princess Bitch TCU 3
Mark Rudofker Northern Illinois 32
Jeff Saito TCU 29
David Scherby Northern Illinois 14
Greg Shields Northern Illinois 21
Ed Smeltzer Northern Illinois 3
Andy Smukler Northern Illinois 13
Matthew Spanjers TCU 4
Stitzer Northern Illinois 2
Jon Taylor Northern Illinois 4
Bob van Nortwick TCU 25
Bob Wallace Northern Illinois 16
Brian Wallace 1 TCU 31
Brian Wallace 2 TCU 29
Jodi Wallace 1 TCU 28
Jodi Wallace 2 TCU 25
Dirk Welzien TCU 7
Steve Whiteford TCU 25
AJ Whitehead Northern Illinois 3
Wade Wilson TCU 27

Win or Die Week 15 Picks

Here are the picks for this week. Good luck to those remaining.

Akshon Barclay Baltimore
Andy Smukler Baltimore
Brian Getson Baltimore
John Abshear New Orleans
Mike Hickey Baltimore
Nomanerz x-Seattle
Ron P x-Seattle
Ryan Kohrig x-Seattle

If New Orleans wins and Batimore loses, the pool is over with Abshear winning.
If both win, 5 will advance to next week.
If Baltimore wins and New Orleans loses, 4 advance to next week.
If New Orleans and Baltimore both lose, the pool is technically over and split 8 ways. However, if some or all want to continue, they could choose to do that (if all 8 chose to continue, it would be as if this week never happened. If anyone wanted to cash out, they could for 1/8 of the pot and the people that wanted to continue would do so for the remaining money.)

Lashinsky & Some NFL Picks

On August 8, 1994, I started my long and (as I would describe it) illustrious career with General Mills. When you start in the marketing group at the General, they start you with a half-day orientation that teaches you important stuff like the history of the company, fun stuff to do in Minneapolis (like watching boiling water evaporate in mid-air in January), the secret corporate handshake, etc. I sat through that orientation with one other person: J. Patrick Lashinsky. Besides learning that General Mills did indeed make both Gold Medal AND Robin Hood Flour, a great friendship was born that day.

Almost immediately, as we sat and made fun of the people giving us these welcome presentations, Pat and I realized we would get along just fine. Pat, or JPL as I call him (not sure if I coined that one or not; I know, not that creative either way, it’s just his initials) is a West Coast guy, growing up in Sacramento. What I did not realize when I met him, based on his 6 foot, 230 (give or take) lb. frame, was that in high school Pat was one of the fastest sprinters in the state of California. In addition, he was a good enough football player that the USA Today once called him “the next David Fulcher.” Of course, if that does not prove the lack of journalistic quality of that rag, I do not know what would.

Striving to capitalize on his athletic prowess, Pat got involved right away Mills intramural football, immediately tearing his Achilles and needing surgery. He died during that surgery. Seriously. Flatlined. Somehow, in a Jack Bauer-like heroic moment (I would use House as a more accurate reference, but nobody would know what in the world I was talking about), they brought him back and we became great friends.

One time early on (we were Assistant Marketing Managers, which translates to a Coffee Fetcher title or something), I was talking to someone and Pat’s name came up, and the guy says “it is pretty cool that he has the General Mills corporate jet at his disposal.” I said something like “it sure is.” Anyway, after Pat ended up, all expenses paid, going to like six straight Super Bowls, some other all-star events, and assorted of high profile activities, I realized a very important life lesson that was reinforced by Pat’s best man at his wedding: “When Pat tells me something, I take it at face value.”

To illustrate Pat’s considerable street smarts, I like to point to a dinner that he hosted at his house for several of his friends. We had a great dinner, and as we were sitting around the table talking afterwards, Pat lamented that he was unsuccessfully trying to lose a few holiday pounds he had put on. So we asked him what he was doing. He told his he was working out. He also said he was really watching what he ate. And he was so dedicated, he had stopped drinking soda and was drinking juice instead. When we probed on that, he went right to the refrigerator, and pulled out a gallon of juice (or sugar water), and says “look, I drink a gallon of this stuff every day.” Each jug was like a ten-day supply of sugar. Problem solved.

JPL and I (and an assorted group of buffoons) go to Vegas every year in March to celebrate March Madness and just catch up in general. One year, we are watching hoops in the sports book, when the big man comes running in, and says to my buddy Mikey “Can you come with me? I was trying to break up a fight in the lobby and security detained me. I told them I had to go get my lawyer in the sports book.” Needless to say, Mikey was pretty happy. Not sure if we saw JPL again that day.

On a serious note, One of my saddest days during my six-year stint was the day when Mr. Lashinsky told me that he was moving back to California to work for Del Monte and be closer to home. He lasted I think less than a year at Del Monte, and called and told me he was considering going to a dot-com called ziprealty.com, and online realtor. I then told him all the reasons that was a bad idea, how the company could not survive in that industry, how you need the intimate experience of a brick and mortar realtor when you buy or sell a home, yada yada yada.

As an aside, as I read back through this, I realize that at this point, you could assume JPL either died or something good happened. And while I may keep some of these stories handy for the next time he has Achilles surgery, I am happy to report that these words are to celebrate a tremendous accomplishment. Now back to the story…

Fortunately, Pat did not listen to me and joined the company (www.ziprealty.com, ZIPR, NASDAQ). He has been there for about seven years I think. And yesterday, the company announced that my friend, J. Patrick Lashinsky, was being promoted to President. This was truly a proud moment for me. I will tell you one thing. Zip made a wise selection. Pat is a great person, a smart person, and he will be a charismatic leader for that company. I recommend everybody reading this support this company, either by buying stock (so you can be his de facto boss) or, next time you buy or sell a house, by using their service if you live in one of the many markets they serve.

The only other thing that I will say here about JPL as he embarks on this exciting new role is that, trust me, I understand this is a public forum, so the material at my disposal is somewhat (i.e., extremely) limited. But, in all serious, congratulations and best wishes for every possible success to the guy I met exactly five years after the Cubs were scheduled to play their first night game at Wrigley (against the Phils, the got rained out and had to play the next night).

Now onto the football picks. Based on the last two weeks, I am not sure if anybody wants these, except to go the other way, but I am still clinging to a better than .500 record, but we need to pick it up now. One other football note for those interested in the Win or Die, we lost 3 of the 8 remaining with the Seattle loss last night. Picks will be posted here as soon as I get the other 5 picks.

NFL (Last week: 4-5; Overall: 41-38, 52%, YUCK)

Dallas (-3) at Atlanta (SATURDAY). Dallas is a better team, coming off an embarrassing home loss. Atlanta is not very good. Look for Dallas to get a win before their big showdown with the mighty Birds next week.

Tennessee (+3.5) vs. acksonville. Vince Young is the man! Tennessee is playing great ball, and at home against a team who is not good on the road and coming off a huge emotional win. Take the home dog.

EAGLES/Giants OVER 43. Not sure who will win. Garcia will have to play a perfect game to pull this off. But I think both teams will score some points.

Denver (-2.5) at Arizona. A battle of rookie quarterbacks. Take the guy with the better defense supporting him.

Kansas City/San Diego OVER 46.5. Doesn’t San Diego score this many by themselves each week. Plus, they will put up points cause I am not starting Philip Rivers in my fantasy playoff game.

The Birds are Back (if you ask their Fans), A.I. vs. T.O., and the Cameron Cowards

There is a lot of stuff that I won’t get to today as I just want to focus on three items: the Eagles, the Iverson situation, and the so-called Cameron Crazies. I will be back tomorrow with focus on many additional items.

O.K. So now the Eagles have won two in a row behind strong to quite strong play from Jeff Garcia (first QB in franchise history to have a QB rating of at least 100 in each of his first three starts), and the fans here are drinking the Kool Aid again. People all over town are talking about how the Birds now control their own destiny and, as scary as it sounds, will win the division if they win the rest of their games. Of course, I could counter by telling them that the 76ers will also win their division if they win the rest of their games. Not going to happen! Look, the Eagles very well may limp into the playoffs at 8-8. All they pretty much have to do is beat the Giants on Sunday OR the Falcons in the end of season finale. There is one problem with that. Their defense stinks. I know they stepped up and made some timely big plays this week (Gaither interception, Lewis TD, Dawkins), but the bottom line remains that they cannot get pressure on the quarterback and they cannot stop the run. At all. Their run defense may be the second worse of all time, behind the 2006 Indianapolis Colts, but that is another issue. So, yes, the Eagles may eke their way into the playoffs, but they will not go anywhere once they get there. Is that good enough in a year when your franchise QB goes down for the year (again)? I argue no, that the QB play has not been the problem. That the defense has come up woefully short, and they need major talent upgrades everywhere on that side of the ball. On the bright side, the Eagles are sending out invoices to their season ticket holders today for two home playoff games. Now there is about a .000001% chance that this team could host two playoff games. But enjoy it while you can. With the clip at which this defense is fading, it may be the last such invoice you could see for a couple years.

The Allen Iverson era is all but over. The comparison that I have not seen, but that is fascinating, is A.I. vs. T.O. The similarities are many. They are both superstar players in their sport. They both give 110% every time they are on the court/field. They could be viewed by some as selfish and immature. They were both responsible for, at times, leading their teams close to the mountaintop (T.O. helped the Birds get to the Super Bowl two years ago, A.I. led the Sixers to the 2001 NBA Finals). And, ultimately, they were or will be unceremoniously suspended then ushered out of town. So the big question is, why is T.O. hated on an Osama bin Laden level, while A.I. is still held in relatively high regard. Why do I believe that most fans would be happy for A.I. if he went somewhere and won a championship while fans would sooner suffocate in their own vomit than watch T.O. win a championship? As you might guess, I have some theories.

• First, I think fans tend to give the Eagles the benefit of the doubt, a privilege the Sixers lost a long time ago. The fans look at the Eagles management and see that they have done everything they can to put a winning team on the field. They have not won a Super Bowl, but they have had a lot of success on the field. They have put themselves in a position to succeed, and while that has not resulted in hoisting a Lombardi Trophy, they have been to four championship games and a Super Bowl this decade. The Sixers, on the other hand, have no credibility as an organization because they have bungled the salary cap, made terrible signings, bad trades, and bad draft choices. In short, they have not earned the fans’ trust. So who can blame A.I…..
• Iverson may be a pain in the ass, but he is OUR pain in the ass. We drafted him 10 and a half years ago, and he has played every game of his career in our uniform. T.O. was nothing more than a rented part who could not keep his stupid mouth shut.
• A.I. embraced the city and the team. He repeatedly said he wanted to be in Philadelphia, that he loves the team and loves the city. T.O. put his house up for sale months before he was gone. He never cared about Philadelphia, it was just where his paycheck was coming from.
• A.I. represents more of what Philly is all about. He is a little guy who is not afraid to get in there and mix it up with the big fellas. He is a blue collar guy with some flash to his game. T.O. would not know blue collar if it hit him in the face.
• A.I., while his style of play sometimes made it hard to co-exist with, always thought team-first. He was always quick to laud his teammates during interviews and clearly thought himself part of a team. There has never been a more “I-focused” athlete than T.O.

A.I. may be on his way out, but he will always be a Sixer to us. And I, like most, hope they do him the service of trading him to a team with whom he can help win a championship. It would be about as close as us Philly fans get to one for a while. And, as for T.O., I will continue to hope he shatters his leg or something, and continue to root against any success or happiness for that scumbag.

I am a Duke alumnus. As any of you who either know me or read this blog on a regular basis are aware, I am as a result a huge Duke basketball fan. I believe that Coach K is one of the two best coaches of all-time (along with Wooden) and has built America’s best program (you may disagree with me, but this is not really my point here). Anyway, with that being said as background, it is time I come out and bash the Cameron Crazies.

First of all, the Crazies are not as creative, fun, or loud as we were 15, 20, 25 years ago. And they take themselves way, way too seriously. Nowadays, they distribute a list of cheers for each game. That is not spontaneous. And to make matters worse, they have gotten so spoiled by the success of the program that they have started taking for granted their right to sit in the best seats in the best arena in the world for free. For example, in a couple of there recent games, the student section has not even been close to being filled. I guess there is not reason to camp out for weeks when students are not even using their full allotment of tickets. The fact that Duke gives up sizeable income opportunities to provide these tickets to their students for free also means these students have a responsibility to show up and represent the university well and make a difference in the game by being loud and creative.

Now all of this has been bugging me for a while, but the latest controversy puts me over the edge. Duke and North Carolina have a joint scholarship program called the Robertson Scholars. These students are given scholarships and have full student rights and both Duke and North Carolina. Well, some of these folks showed up to the Duke/Carolina game last year in light blue shirts, and that did not sit well with the Dukies. So the student government (not sure why they have autonomy in this area but apparently they do) has now banned Robertson Scholars from camping out in “Krzyzewski-ville”, and subsequently from receiving any free student tickets to the hoops games. As a Duke alum and a huge Blue Devil fan, I find this censorship outrageous. How can we decide who attends these games? And how can the administration sit idly by and watch as the students make such a stupid decision? What’s next, students with red hair are barred because they may be mistaken for rooting for Virginia? The administration needs to step in and overrule this decision. It is terrible. And how about showing up for the ALL the games before you get any say in deciding who can and cannot show up? These Duke students are embarrassing and appalling. If something like this happened in a different circumstance with political overtones, we would all be up in arms. Well, it always starts small and builds. The time to nip it in the bud is now.

The Birds are Back (if you ask their Fans), A.I. vs. T.O., and the Caeron Cowards

There is a lot of stuff that I won’t get to today as I just want to focus on three items: the Eagles, the Iverson situation, and the so-called Cameron Crazies. I will be back tomorrow with focus on many additional items.

O.K. So now the Eagles have won two in a row behind strong to quite strong play from Jeff Garcia (first QB in franchise history to have a QB rating of at least 100 in each of his first three starts), and the fans here are drinking the Kool Aid again. People all over town are talking about how the Birds now control their own destiny and, as scary as it sounds, will win the division if they win the rest of their games. Of course, I could counter by telling them that the 76ers will also win their division if they win the rest of their games. Not going to happen! Look, the Eagles very well may limp into the playoffs at 8-8. All they pretty much have to do is beat the Giants on Sunday OR the Falcons in the end of season finale. There is one problem with that. Their defense stinks. I know they stepped up and made some timely big plays this week (Gaither interception, Lewis TD, Dawkins), but the bottom line remains that they cannot get pressure on the quarterback and they cannot stop the run. At all. Their run defense may be the second worse of all time, behind the 2006 Indianapolis Colts, but that is another issue. So, yes, the Eagles may eke their way into the playoffs, but they will not go anywhere once they get there. Is that good enough in a year when your franchise QB goes down for the year (again)? I argue no, that the QB play has not been the problem. That the defense has come up woefully short, and they need major talent upgrades everywhere on that side of the ball. On the bright side, the Eagles are sending out invoices to their season ticket holders today for two home playoff games. Now there is about a .000001% chance that this team could host two playoff games. But enjoy it while you can. With the clip at which this defense is fading, it may be the last such invoice you could see for a couple years.

The Allen Iverson era is all but over. The comparison that I have not seen, but that is fascinating, is A.I. vs. T.O. The similarities are many. They are both superstar players in their sport. They both give 110% every time they are on the court/field. They could be viewed by some as selfish and immature. They were both responsible for, at times, leading their teams close to the mountaintop (T.O. helped the Birds get to the Super Bowl two years ago, A.I. led the Sixers to the 2001 NBA Finals). And, ultimately, they were or will be unceremoniously suspended then ushered out of town. So the big question is, why is T.O. hated on an Osama bin Laden level, while A.I. is still held in relatively high regard. Why do I believe that most fans would be happy for A.I. if he went somewhere and won a championship while fans would sooner suffocate in their own vomit than watch T.O. win a championship? As you might guess, I have some theories.

• First, I think fans tend to give the Eagles the benefit of the doubt, a privilege the Sixers lost a long time ago. The fans look at the Eagles management and see that they have done everything they can to put a winning team on the field. They have not won a Super Bowl, but they have had a lot of success on the field. They have put themselves in a position to succeed, and while that has not resulted in hoisting a Lombardi Trophy, they have been to four championship games and a Super Bowl this decade. The Sixers, on the other hand, have no credibility as an organization because they have bungled the salary cap, made terrible signings, bad trades, and bad draft choices. In short, they have not earned the fans’ trust. So who can blame A.I…..
• Iverson may be a pain in the ass, but he is OUR pain in the ass. We drafted him 10 and a half years ago, and he has played every game of his career in our uniform. T.O. was nothing more than a rented part who could not keep his stupid mouth shut.
• A.I. embraced the city and the team. He repeatedly said he wanted to be in Philadelphia, that he loves the team and loves the city. T.O. put his house up for sale months before he was gone. He never cared about Philadelphia, it was just where his paycheck was coming from.
• A.I. represents more of what Philly is all about. He is a little guy who is not afraid to get in there and mix it up with the big fellas. He is a blue collar guy with some flash to his game. T.O. would not know blue collar if it hit him in the face.
• A.I., while his style of play sometimes made it hard to co-exist with, always thought team-first. He was always quick to laud his teammates during interviews and clearly thought himself part of a team. There has never been a more “I-focused” athlete than T.O.

A.I. may be on his way out, but he will always be a Sixer to us. And I, like most, hope they do him the service of trading him to a team with whom he can help win a championship. It would be about as close as us Philly fans get to one for a while. And, as for T.O., I will continue to hope he shatters his leg or something, and continue to root against any success or happiness for that scumbag.

I am a Duke alumnus. As any of you who either know me or read this blog on a regular basis are aware, I am as a result a huge Duke basketball fan. I believe that Coach K is one of the two best coaches of all-time (along with Wooden) and has built America’s best program (you may disagree with me, but this is not really my point here). Anyway, with that being said as background, it is time I come out and bash the Cameron Crazies.

First of all, the Crazies are not as creative, fun, or loud as we were 15, 20, 25 years ago. And they take themselves way, way too seriously. Nowadays, they distribute a list of cheers for each game. That is not spontaneous. And to make matters worse, they have gotten so spoiled by the success of the program that they have started taking for granted their right to sit in the best seats in the best arena in the world for free. For example, in a couple of there recent games, the student section has not even been close to being filled. I guess there is not reason to camp out for weeks when students are not even using their full allotment of tickets. The fact that Duke gives up sizeable income opportunities to provide these tickets to their students for free also means these students have a responsibility to show up and represent the university well and make a difference in the game by being loud and creative.

Now all of this has been bugging me for a while, but the latest controversy puts me over the edge. Duke and North Carolina have a joint scholarship program called the Robertson Scholars. These students are given scholarships and have full student rights and both Duke and North Carolina. Well, some of these folks showed up to the Duke/Carolina game last year in light blue shirts, and that did not sit well with the Dukies. So the student government (not sure why they have autonomy in this area but apparently they do) has now banned Robertson Scholars from camping out in “Krzyzewski-ville”, and subsequently from receiving any free student tickets to the hoops games. As a Duke alum and a huge Blue Devil fan, I find this censorship outrageous. How can we decide who attends these games? And how can the administration sit idly by and watch as the students make such a stupid decision? What’s next, students with red hair are barred because they may be mistaken for rooting for Virginia? The administration needs to step in and overrule this decision. It is terrible. And how about showing up for the ALL the games before you get any say in deciding who can and cannot show up? These Duke students are embarrassing and appalling. If something like this happened in a different circumstance with political overtones, we would all be up in arms. Well, it always starts small and builds. The time to nip it in the bud is now.

Week 14 Pick Distribution & Individual Picks

Remember to get your bowl pool spreadsheets filled out and sent in....

As for the Win or Die, it all comes down to the Cincinnati Bengals. If the unreliable but currently hot Bengals can pull it out against Oakland today, the pool continues with all 8 alive and unscathed. Otherwise, it is all over but the whining about Carson Palmer and Marvin Lewis.

I try to get the update out Monday with a post. Lots to talk about this week....

Pick Distribution:
Cincinnati 7
Pittsburgh 1

Individual Picks:
Akshon Barclay Cincinnati
Andy Smukler Cincinnati
Brian Getson Cincinnati
John Abshear Cincinnati
Mike Hickey Pittsburgh (the remaining contestants were all notified of this pick before Thursday's kickoff)
Nomanerz Cincinnati
Ron P Cincinnati (Second and last pick of the Bengals)
Ryan Kohrig Cinncinnati

Good luck to all....

A New Stitzer, Pro Picks for Sunday

First and foremost, congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Stitzer, who became parents yesterday for the third time. They had a healthy baby boy (Joseph), which leaves Ann with three boys and a girl to take care of…..

Obviously, my college pick are on hiatus until the Bowl Season begins. My record for the regular season finished at 40-34 for 54%. Not bad (good enough to win some $), but not as good as we need to do in the Bowl games. I will make Bowl picks for each game, beginning with the Poinsettia Bowl on December 19th. Don’t forget to get your picks in for the Dils Bowl pool!!! No such hiatus on my NFLK picks, which is good as we need to get right back on the horse after a dismal performance last week, which is my own fault for picking against the Birds!

NFL (Last Week: 2-5; Overall: 37-33, 53%)

Kansas City (-2.5) vs. Baltimore. This is a matchup of a team that was not as good as the record indicates against a team that is tough to beat at home and coming off a ridiculous choke job last week. The Chiefs will score and Baltimore will not be able to keep up.

Tampa Bay (+3.5) vs. Atlanta. This is more of a “I don’t trust Michael Vick to win two in a row on the road” than a “Bruce Gradkowski at home is unbeatable.”

New York Giants (+1.5) at Carolina. What is the opposite of an immovable object meeting an irresistible force? Eli Manning matching up with Chris Weinke. But the Boys in Blue (darker shade) should end their embarrassing skid. Not sure if it will be in time to save Coughlin’s job or his sanity, but they will get it done this week.

Dallas (-7) vs. New Orleans. Tony Romo should feast against this banged up Saints secondary.

Buffalo (+4) at New York Jets. Purely a line play here. Why are the Jets only favored by a few here. Should be 7….

Jacksonville (+1) vs. Indy. The Colts are reeling, can’t sop the run, and Jacksonville will be sky high for this one.

Miami (+3.5) vs. New England. This is a field goal game.

Denver (+7.5) at San Diego. Must win, revenge game, Denver at least keeps it close.

St. Louis (+6.5) vs. Chicago. Jackson will be able to run on the Bears and help create a time of possession advantage, and if Bulger can avoid the big mistakes, St. Louis may just pull an outright win in this one.

Eagles, Are they Back? Plus, Joe Gibbs commentary, Steroids, College Hoops Parity, Bowl Season, & Baseball Fiscal Irresponsibility

First of all, if anyone reading this did not receive my Dils Bowl Pool, and is interested in joining, shoot me an email or put a comment in the comments section at the bottom of this post and I will get you a copy of the rules….

The Eagles are now like the mob: just when you try to get out, they suck you back in. I actually think the Eagles win on Monday is more a testament of how the Carolina Panthers have been huge underachievers all year than about any real resurgence in the Birds. Some Bird fans that I know are getting all excited that the team may make the playoffs (which they would if the season ended right now), and then, the NFC is so bad that who knows. I counter that argument by saying who cares if the team goes 8-8 or 9-7 and ekes out a wild card spot. Despite the lack of great teams in the NFC, this team is simply not good enough to win three straight games on the road against some combination of the Cowboys, Bears, Saints, and Seahawks. No chance. And being that the goal is to get to and win Super Bowls, not just get to the playoffs (they have done that plenty), I refuse to get overly excited. Second, they still have to go on the road for three straight divisional games, and that still makes getting to the playoffs a long shot, even if this conference with the depth of a wading pool.

Now, does my attitude make me less of an Eagles fan, as some claim that I have become? I would argue absolutely not. I still follow the team just as closely. I still watch and dissect every play of every game. They still aggravate me when they do something stupid. No, it does not make me any less of a fan. It simply makes me a realist. I am not sure when some fans a) became optimistic, which is not what has been ingrained in us as a collective group after 23 years of failure in all sports, or b) when an 8-8 record that happened to back you in to the playoffs became an acceptable result for a team whose fans thought could win a Super Bowl this year. So, I point back at those fans, and remind them that this team has been extremely disappointing, and that a wild card first round playoff loss does not cut it. So, unless this team is going to pull a St. Louis Cardinals and go all the way once they back into the playoffs, what’s the point?

A couple of Redskins fans have asked me to comment on Joe Gibbs and what is going on with the Redskins. People could argue whether or not they think Joe can still coach in this league. From my standpoint, I think he can, but that he has a couple of factors that are tough to overcome. He has talent that is simply not good enough to win in this league, first and foremost. Next, he has a guy (Daniel Snyder) playing fantasy football for big stakes that is making way too many football decisions. What is it with owners these days? Even Arthur Blank is looking like a major putz, but that is another story for another day. So, I would say the verdict of whether Gibbs can still be an effective coach is still out, but that I think it is more likely that not that the answer is yes. My bigger question on Gibbs is why in the world does he still want to do this? He has won Super Bowl titles. He is in the pro football Hall of Fame. He has a passion in stock car racing at which he has had a lot of success, winning two championships there as well. And he has enough money that he does not need Daniel Snyder’s $5 million per year (and the headaches that come along with it on and off the field) and can continue to compete in Nascar at the highest level. So, while I think Gibbs can probably still coach, I urge him to remember that life is short, and so is Dan Snyder. Walk away and do what you love, racing.

Speaking of the NFL, my friend Ari makes a great point that we go ballistic when baseball players cheat by using Steroids but it barely makes a blip when a football player gets suspended for the same offense. Why is that? Shawne Merriman is one of the best defensive players in the NFL, and it barely caused a murmur when he was suspended. Hollis Thomas is having a career year with the Saints. Now we find out it is because of his steroids use (er, asthma medication). Is does seem to be a double standard, and I would love to stir some debate as to why that is.

Last week, I raved about Kansas, Florida, and Maryland (among others) when discussing college basketball. Of course, Florida promptly lost to Florida St (which has been abysmal early this season), Kansas lost to DePaul (also not good so far), and Maryland lost to a Notre Dame team which was manhandled at home by Butler and lost most of its good players from a team that could not make the NCAAs last year. My natural response to all this is twofold. First, it just reiterates the point I made last week about unprecedented parity in the world of college hoops, and second, North Carolina is absolutely unbeatable (wink!).

As for college football, we have less than two weeks until the bowl season starts and a record 32 bowls, including perennial powers Rice, Troy, Northern Illinios, and San Jose St., among others. On the George Rogers show yesterday (http://georgeorgersradio.com), we hypothesized that the should add a 33rd bowl game called the Toilet Bowl, and let the Nation’s two winless teams, Duke and Florida International, battle it out to see who trult is the worst team in the country.

This BCS selection really proved that we desperately need a new system and that this is not working. Please let us have a playoff. It is not that Michigan should be in and Florida should be out (as you saw, I argued that Florida should be in given the ridiculous system we have in place); it is just that Michigan, Boise St., and Louisville can all make an argument they got screwed. And if we had a playoff, we could decide it on the field once and for all.

By the way, Michigan and Southern Cal may make the Rose Bowl th ebesat bowl game of all for the third straight year.

Has baseball completely gone insane? I thought the 3 year, $34 million deal that the Rangers gave to Vincente Padilla was the worst deal I would ever see (topping the absurd $24.5 million that the Philberts gave Adam Eaton over the same time period), but then I saw the most overrated man in baseball, Mr. Theo Epstein, use his stupid stats only analysis to give J.D. Drew $70 million for five years. This is a guy who is a career .286 hitter, has hit 30 home runs exactly once, does not steal bases any more, and plays so-so defense. This is a guy who wilts under the spotlight like week old flowers. This is a guy who does not play hurt. It is amazing that Theo gets a lifetime pass because he made one good move (Schilling) then got lucky (say what you want, but coming back from 3-0 down has never happened before or since, it was lucky) and won a world series. I look forward to seeing what Bill Simmons says about this awful signing. And Julio Lugo for 4 years and $36 million. At least when New York makes signings and buys high priced talent, it makes strategic sense.

Check back tomorrow and/or Friday for more ramblings.

Week 13 Win or Die Picks; Dils' National Championship Matchup

Before we get to the picks and pick distribution for week 13, I want to go on record as saying this is further proof that we need a freaking playoff system in college football. I mean what is so hard about this? There would be more money to be made for the schools and the NCAA, the fans would be happy, and more teams would have a chance at the National title, which would be decided on the field, where it should be. You can certainly make arguments for Florida and Michigan that have merit, and even Boise State and Louisville have an argument, even though most people will not listen to them. And only one team gets to play Ohio State. How is it that these decision makers are so dumb to screw this up for so long? And do not say the season is too long for the student athletes. Puh-lease.

Based on the system and how screwed up it is, and based on the fact that we can only pick one team to play the Buckeyes, I would pick Florida. Bottom line is that, while both teams are deserving, Michigan had their chance at Ohio State and lost. In addition, Florida is the champion of the best overall conference while Michigan did not win theirs. Florida has played a tougher schedule. Florida deserves it more than Michigan. We will see what happens later today.

Speaking of college football, my bowl pool wilkl be sent out tomorrow. If you want the information on it and do not get an email from me, send me an email and I will get it out to you.

Now for the win or die picks for this week...

Pick Distribution:
Kansas City 1
New England 6
New Orleans 1
Pittsburgh 1
St. Louis 1

Individual Picks:
Akshon Barclay New Orleans
Andy Smukler New England
Brian Getson New England
John Abshear New England
Mike Hickey New England
Nomanerz New England
Rick Woods St. Louis
Ron P Pittsburgh
Ryan Kohrig New England
Vernon Lee Kansas City

Good luck to all!

College Hoops Tidbits, College & Pro Football Picks

College basketball is going to be fantastic this year. There is a higher level of talent because of the rule prohibiting high school players from going straight to the NBA (Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Brandon Wright, etc.) as well as some players that could have been picked highly last year but stayed in school (Joakim Noah, Brandon Rush, Tyler Hansbrough, Josh McRoberts). While it is still November, we have already seen a ton of upsets (Missouri State over Wisconsin, Oral Roberts over Kansas, Butler over about half of the ranked teams) and some epic games (Florida/Kansas, North Carolina/Ohio State). After just a few weeks, here are some of my key insights:

There are five great teams at this point in the season: Kansas, Ohio State, Florida, UCLA, and North Carolina. For the National Champion to be a team other than one of these five, it would take a program making a leap between now and March, and even then it would take a big upset. Wisconsin, LSU, and Marquette are the group behind the group.

Speaking of Marquette, they are a really good team that nobody is talking about, except me, who told you in this space before the match-up was even cemented that they would be too athletic and quick for Duke to handle. Dominic James (the next Nique?) is the best guard in the country. He can shoot, he can defend, he has the desire to win, he has the ability to carry his team on his back, and he potentially the quickest player in the country. This team with their hustle, great coaching staff, and ability to work well as a unit, will be a lot of fun to watch in March.

It is kind of ironic that the guy that put Gonzaga on the map, Dan Monson, is out as coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. It just goes to show that despite the grass looking greener on the other side, sometimes there is pee in that field. Are you listening to me, Greg Schiano?

Look for the following teams to return to their rightful place in the NCAAs after multiple year absences: Maryland and Purdue. The Terps are a mortal lock at this point. In fact, this may be the second best team in the ACC (behind Carolina) heading into the ACC conference slate. They are playing with heart, getting great point play from their two freshmen, and Ikene Ibekwe is a new player this year. It is great to have Maryland back at a high level, although hopefully their fans can behave themselves this year. As for Purdue, you can see Matt Painter rebuilding this program before your eyes. He has Landry back playing at a great level, and the win over Virginia was important. He has already secured the best recruiting class in the Big 10 for next year, so this will not be a one year flash.

The NCAA tournament will see a record number of upsets this year. The gap between mid major teams and power conference squad is diminishing each year, as evidenced by the slew of upsets early this season. It will create an amazing level of excitement around this year's madness. (I guess it is too bad we do not have the football system, where we could pick two teams instead of 65 and just play one game for the title....)

As for Duke….this season will be a process. They are playing the best defensive basketball that they have played in years, but the offense is struggling mightily. It comes down to two main factors. First, Greg Paulus is playing like crap. I do not care if he was injured in the pre-season or not. His play, offensively and defensively, has been unacceptable. He needs to improve or this team will be a 5th place or so ACC team and lose in first round of NCAAs. I think he will improve however. Second, Josh McRoberts has not properly embraced his role as the go to guy. He needs to demand the ball in big spots and put the team on his back when need be. He needs to get more aggressive offensively. He can not have games where he only takes three shots. The good news is that if Paulus gets back to playing good ball and McRoberts becomes more assertive, this team will stay under the radar and then have a chance to surprise some people come March. DeMarcus Nelson needs to keep doing what he is doing, but try to play an entire game more consistently, as he plays too much is bursts. It will be interesting to se how this Duke team plays against a Georgetown team that has played poorly early in the year but is a tough match up for Duke, as they proved when they beat the Devils last year.

That is all for now on college hoops. More next week. Let’s get back to football. We have games to win this week.

NCAA (Last week: No Picks made; Overall: 36-33, 52%)

First of all, let me say that I would normally hop on Army getting 19.5 points against Navy in a game that represents one of the great rivalries in college sports. It is one of those rivalries where you throw the record books out the windows. That being said, I just do not trust Bobby Ross’ crew enough to make a recommendation.

And before I get to my picks, I should, at risk of sounding like a broken record, reiterate that college football desperately needs a playoff. Why should we debate between Michigan, Southern Cal, Florida, etc. Let them decide it on the field. Based on the way the stupid rules are set up in college football, I favor letting USC get their shot at the Buckeyes in the National Championship game, if they are victorious against UCLA this weekend.

Friday Night game: Houston (-4) vs. Southern Miss. Kevin Kolb means too much offense for Southern Miss to handle. Look for Phi Slamma Jamma to win the Conference USA title.

UCLA (+13.5) vs. USC. Don’t get too excited, I think USC will win the game. But I think UCLA has a good enough defense and enough pride in this rivalry that they can keep the loss to about 10.

Wake Forest (+2.5) vs. Georgia Tech. Wake is just too good a story for me to pick against. Tech has been up and down all year. Jim Grobe is my National Coach of the Year.

Arkansas (+3) vs. Florida. McFadden is the best player in college football. You heard me. The Hogs pull the upset here.

Oklahoma (-3.5) vs. Nebraska. Paul Thompson has been better than Rhett Bomar would have been this year. The back up running back for OU is looking like Adrian Peterson. Bob Stoops against Bill Callahan in a big game.

NFL (Last week: No Picks Made; Overall: 35-28, 56%)

Indianapolis (-7.5) at Tennessee. No way Tennessee surprises Indy twice this year. After scaring the Colts in the Dome, the horseshow heads will be ready. And Peyton is rarin to throw after running the ball 80 straight times last week against the Eagles.

Miami (-1) vs. Jacksonville. Is it Groundhog’s Day? Didn’t Miami do this exact same winning streak thing last year?

Washington (-1.5) vs. Atlanta. The Skins are playing hard. The Falcons are a mess with their owner sticking his nose where it does not belong. And Michael Vick is no Jason Campbell.

Green Bay (+1) vs. New York Jets. I do not think I have ever picked against the Jets in this space before. Sorry Stitz. They just seem to play well about every other week. And they were good last week.

New York Giants (+3.5) vs. Dallas. They are better. They are getting points at home cause of over-publicized incidents. They have their backs against the wall. They are getting some people back in their lineup. G-Men.

Seattle (+4) at Denver. Seattle has Hasselback and Alexander back. They will at least keep it close against a reeling team with a guy making his first start.

Carolina (-3) at EAGLES. This is depressing, picking against the Eagles in a home game in which they are getting points, but....The Eagles are done. They have quit. They can’t stop the run. They cannot generate a pass rush. And they cannot throw the ball more than about 5 yards down the field. Note: It is OK if you are an Eagles fan to wager against your club at this point since, at this point, losing means a better draft choice (to screw up)….