Weekly Picks

I got royally fucked over by one of the biggest screwjobs in NFL history. Why does it have to be that one crazy game happens every 20 years and I have to have it as my best bet. Very frustrating. But I have noticed a trend. I am 5-0 picking underdogs this year, 2-8 picking favorites. So this week I am picking 5 favorites and seeing what happens.

san francisco -4 1/2 NY JETS
I still think the 49ers are good. And the Jets are not. The 49ers are 2-1 and in second place but they beat two really good teams and just had a letdown. The Jets are 2-1 and alone in first place but they beat two bad teams and really aren't very good. I expect Sanchez to struggle mightily against the 9ers defense.

cincinnati -1 JACKSONVILLE
I watched the Bengals last week and I think they are pretty good. They have a very easy schedule and could be 5-1 in a few weeks. But Jacksonville hasn't been as bad as I thought they would be.

ARIZONA -4 1/2 miami
Believe what you see, not what you believe. The results are telling us the Cardinals are a pretty damn good team and the Dolphins are not. The Cardinals great defense against the weak Dolphins O should lead to a blow out.

GREEN BAY -7 new orleans
Believe what you see, not what you believe. The Saints stink. The Packers don't but due to some bad luck they desperately need this game.

BEST BET
san diego -2 KANSAS CITY
This could go badly but I'm trusting my read here. The Chargers played great for two weeks then got blown out at home by an awesome team. The Chiefs got blown out twice then barely beat a bad team on the road. I'm predicting that will normalize this week.

Last Week: 1-4 (0 points)
Season: 7-8 (4 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (0-3)
Home Favorites: 0-2 (1-5)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (2-0)
Road Favorites: 0-2 (1-3)
Road Underdogs: 1-0 (3-0)

Rectum? Damn Near Killed Him

A University of Tennessee student was dropped off at the local medical center with a blood alcohol content of above 0.40. The legal limit in most states is 0.1. And 0.4 death can occur.
You wouldn’t think someone could drink enough to become that intoxicated, you’d throw up or pass out first. Turns out he didn’t drink that much. The zany brothers in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity were giving each other alcohol enemas, also known as butt-chugging. Police found this out after “extensive questioning” of the brothers.
Here’s how it works: you put a rubber tube in your ass; then pour the alcohol into the tube with a funnel. Why would you want to consume alcohol through your ass? There are a lot of capillaries and blood vessels in the rectum, therefore the alcohol gets into your blood stream faster and it skips the filtering by the liver.
It actually seems pretty ingenious when you think about it, except for the part about nearly dying.

Song of the Week

"Dope Chick" - The Dream featuring Pusha T
This is The Dream's third appearance on SOTW. I believe that is close to Jaheim's record. Bonus points for bring back Pusha T formerly of Clipse.

The NFL is Poop - Week 3

Nightmare Scenario

The worst possible scenario happened: the replacement officials blew a call directly affecting the outcome of the game. Golden Tate and M.D. Jennings wrestled for the ball. The two officials standing next to each other ruled it differently.

This was not the case of simultaneous possession because Jennings clearly had his hands on it first. If that's the case, if one guy catches it first, and maintains possession, even though another player grabs it and possesses it later (exactly what happened here) the first player is deemed to have caught the ball. This is not like the NBA situation, you don't have a tie-up.

But don't put all the blame on the replacement officials. A non-replacement supervisor and non-replacement replay official were both involved, and obviously didn't force the refs to overturn the call. ESPN also messed up saying the play was not reviewable because it was simultaneous possession. It wasn't and even if it had been, it still was reviewable according to Rule 15, Section 9 which says the question of whether a pass was “ruled complete/incomplete/intercepted” is subject to replay review, with no exception for questions of simultaneous possession.

Oh, and they also missed an obvious pass interference call on Tate, though it is rarely called on Hail Marys.

Thank God That Didn't Happen to Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick was angry over a pass interference call (likely the right call) and a field goal that was ruled good even though it went over the upright (almost certainly the right call), the legendary coach assaulted one of the replacement, grabbing him by the arm. He probably wanted to discuss the calls, even though the game was already over. The officiating marred a terrific team between two of the AFC's best teams who are quickly becoming bitter rivals. I can't imagine what he would have done if he had been on the wrong end of that blown Hail Mary call.

Picture of the Week
The big story of the Ravens win over New England should have been Torrey Smith. Just after midnight Sunday morning, Smith received a call that his 19-year-old brother Tevin had been killed in a motorcycle accident. Smith left the team hotel to be with his family. He came back to the stadium at 4pm and told John Harbaugh he wanted to play. Smith had 127 yards and two touchdowns, after both he kneeled down and pointed to the heavens.

Even Sean Payton Couldn't Fix This Mess
The Saints aren't a distracted team missing its coach. They are a bad team with a bad defense and after Sunday maybe a lack of heart as well. They are perhaps off to the worst start in NFL history. The only NFL team to start 0-3 with all 3 losses to teams that all lost their other 2 games, meaning they are 0-6 against everyone but the Saints. The latest loss (which hurts a little more because I picked them in the Eliminator pool) came as they allowed 21 straight points, the last 14 of which didn't come on two touchdowns, but on four field goals and a safety.
And you can't just blame the defense. After Jamaal Charles went 91 yards to make it 24-13, here are the Saints offensive possessions:
4 plays, 46 yards, interception
3 plays, 2 yards, punt
3 plays, -8 yards, punt
2 plays, -9 yards, safety
3 plays, 0 yards, punt

You are reading that correctly. On their last 11 plays, they totaled -15 yards. They say the best offense is a good defense. But sometimes a good offense can help your defense too. Any kind of sustained drive probably would have at least gotten the Saints a 3-point win.

Game of the Week
Tennessee Titans 44 Detroit Lions 41
I guess I pre-ordained the outcome of this one when I said the Titans couldn't put points on the board to keep up with the Lions. They went out and had an historic game with 5 touchdowns of over 60 yards.
Tommie Campbell 65 Yd Punt Return (off a cross-field lateral.
Jared Cook 61 Yd Pass From Jake Locker
Darius Reynaud 105 Yd Kickoff Return
Nate Washington 71 Yd Pass From Jake Locker
Alterraun Verner 72 Yd Fumble Return

After all that, and losing their QB Matthew Stafford, the Lions still had a chance to win. But on 4th and 1 from the 7, in overtime, the Lions went for it and got stopped, instead of kicking the field goal and at least rolling the dice with their horrible defense. Shaun Hill got stuffed and then thrown under the bus. After the game Jim Schwartz said the play call was to try to draw an off-sides penalty and if not call timeout and kick. Implying that Hill called his own number against the coach's wishes. I would have kicked, but I can understand if he said his best chance to win was going for it, instead of giving the Titans the ball needing only a field goal against his porous defense.

A Brief Rant About the Redskins
The Redskins defense is terrible. 32, 31 and now 38 points allowed. Without Brian Orakpo it is only going to get worse. The secondary is horrible. Three of the Bengals touchdowns were passes of 48 yards or more, including one thrown by a wide receiver on the first play of the game. They spent far too long chasing after the Bengals.

As far as the offense goes, RGIII is still awesome. He played horribly in the first half but mostly because the play-calling was run, run, pass. When they opened it up in the second half he began to hit some passes. I think they ran too much option and I fear he won't be able to stay healthy if he doesn't become more a pocket passer, but the offense is definitely improved. The Redskins didn't score more than 28 at all last season. So far they haven't score fewer than 28.

Picture of the Week
Raiders wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey was on the wrong end of a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit. He was laid out for about 10 ten minutes, strapped to a board and carted off the field. As he was being driven off the field, he gave the thumbs up. Seems good, but Mike Utley did the same thing in 1991. And he hasn't walked since. Heyward-Bey's injury is not thought to be as severe. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Game of the Week
New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers
Ok, so the team's are a combined 1-5. But I still love their offenses and they are still great stories. Imagine if both are 1-3. Very hard to climb back from that. Plus, the Packers took one of the worst beats in NFL history. How will they respond to that.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Atlanta Falcons 31 Houston Texans 23
Two teams that have been thought of as sleepers in the past are finally coming into their own this season. The Falcons look scary-good on offense. I'm still not convinced about the Texans, but the AFC is very wide-open this season and it's very possible the Texans can sweep their 6 division games.

Weekly Picks

Another frustrating 2 point week because I know how difficult it is to get more than 50% of your picks right. Frustrating I keep picking the wrong ones to be my best bets. Especially because the Giants game ended as a push. Proud of myself for picking Arizona. A lot of underdogs come up early in the season as lines adjust to who is actually good, as opposed to who we think is good.

detroit -4 TENNESSEE
The Lions can put up points quickly. The Titans cannot. Simple as that.

NEW ORLEANS -7 1/2 kansas city
This is when we really find out about New Orleans. Are they really going to crash and burn like this just because they don't have Sean Payton? This game should be a blowout but that pesky half-point could cost me again.

INDIANAPOLIS -3 jacksonville
I really like what I am seeing out of Andrew Luck. Hate what I see from Blaine Gabbert. He's been terrible and hasn't even thrown an interception yet. He'll throw two this week.

OAKLAND +3 1/2 pittsburgh
I've had some good luck with home dogs so far this year and the Steelers are missing a couple key defensive players.

BEST BET
green bay -3 1/2 SEATTLE
Glad Seattle beat a lifeless Cowboys team so I could continue betting against them for a few more weeks before people realize how overrated they are.

Last Week: 3-2 (2 points)
Season: 6-4 (4 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (0-2)
Home Favorites: 1-2 (1-3)
Home Underdogs: 1-0 (2-0)
Road Favorites: 0-0 (1-1)
Road Underdogs: 1-0 (2-0)

Francesa Fights Back

I was driving home the day after the Mike Francesa sleeping incident hit it big and I decided to eschew my usual afternoon soul jams in favor of hoping to hear Francesa address his on-air nap. And I was not disappointed. A caller made a vague reference to it and Francesa got angry. He asked the guy (keeping him on the line but not letting him talk) "how long have I been doing this? 25 years. And how many hours a day? 5 and a half. Add that up. You can't because you don't have a brain in your head. People are jealous and they want to attack me. They can't attack the ratings. Can't attack the performance. So they attack me over 12 seconds. It didn't affect anyone, no one knew about it. Its 12 seconds in 25 years."

Note: that is not an exact quote, but it's pretty close.

Well that wasn't the end of the prank calls and it wasn't the end of Francesa's tirades.



Suggested by Master Bates

The Best Part of Being Sick

As an adult sick days suck. It's not even nice to get a day off of work, and being home is no fun. But as a kid, sick days were joyous. No school, and you could lay in bed watching TV. You could watch shows you had never seen before (remember, we didn't have DVRs back then), if a aired weekdays at 10am, you never ever saw it. I remember watching Press Your Luck on sick days. And I remember, once we got cable, watching ESPN. This was in the early days when monster truck shows and CBA replays littered the airwaves. ESPN also aired classic NFL Films Presents. The man behind those shows (which continue to this day, a great piece on John Amos, the actor, aired recently) is Steve Sabol, who started the company with his father, took over and then hosted the shows until an illness forced him out of that duty two years ago. Steve Sabol died this week.
Sabol played an essential role in the NFL's popularity with NFL Films. It was a great showcase for the game and for the players, as they pioneered the now common practice of miking up players and coaches during games. The music, of course, the music. He used to bring in an actual orchestra to NFL Films to record the music. The voice-overs from John Facenda. All that stuff made NFL Films great and Steve Sabol a legend.

Here is my favorite NFL Films segment: a poetic recap of the 1968 New York Jets Super Bowl championship season. It was called "Joe and the Magic Bean" and it was voiced by Sterling Holloway, who was also the voiced of Winnie the Pooh.

If you prefer a more serious approach. Here is Orson Welles's narration of the same clip:

It's Becoming a Thing

I have been known on Facebook to punctuate particularly fun days with a status update reading "I didn't even have to use my AK," one of the final lines from Ice Cube's classic "It was a Good Day."
Turns out I am not the only one to use this song to express a particular feeling or emotion. Superhot SI Swimsuit model Ariel Meredith did it on twitter. And responded to me reply:

The NFL is Poop - Week 2

A Brief Rant About the Redskins
Josh Morgan is a fuckin moron. He knew Cortland Finnegan is the type of player who tries to get under your skin and draw penalties. And he gave in to him at the worst possible time. And the funny thing is, I was watching "Sound FX: Mike Singletary" on the NFL Network and there are a couple spots devoted to Morgan, a referee telling Singletary to tell #84 to cut it out, and another after Morgan drops a pass. He's clearly an attitude problem, another wide receiver diva, except he isn't even that good. I would cut him right away, to send a message.
Shanahan says he would have gone for it instead of kicking a 47-yard field goal, though I doubt he actually would have taken such a foolish chance.
Another good performance from RGIII. Not as good as last week, and too much running for my liking but he was effective again. It was the defense that stunk (though it got two big fumbles). And now things will probably get even worse from there since Brian Orakpo and Adam Carriker are out for the season.
But I am still targeting the 2014 season after the salary cap sanctions expire and RGIII has had more time to develop.

Victory Formation
Bush league play by Rutgers, I mean Tampa Bay ExpensiveCornPrices coach Greg Schiano, sending his players charging into the Giants formation when the game was already over. I understand about playing hard until the end of the game, but there are generally accepted practices in the NFL and even if the chance of injury was very minimal, it was still a damn stupid thing to do. I'm glad Tom Coughlin gave him a piece of his mind after the game.

The Best Team So Far
In my preseason and Week 1 predictions I suggested the 49ers were due for a falloff after their unexpected 13-3 season last year. So far they are looking to top last year's record. They beat an good Lions team at home and a very good Packers on the road. And they did it with a good combination of offense and defense. They can run the ball and pass it. They have a very weak division and half already knocked off what figures to be two of their toughest opponents.

The Only 0-2 Team in the NFC
I usually don't ascribe much value to coaching, and even less to intangible made-up terms like distraction. I heard going into Week 1 that the Redskins were in trouble because the Saints were going to be "angry." Now I hear they are "distracted." Maybe an incident like what happened to the Saints distracts some teams, angers others, and some are unaffected. Or maybe it's completely meaningless and the Saints are just having a bad year. And they do miss Sean Payton a little. Very tricky situation with them and I would avoid betting on them all season.

Game of the Week
Arizona 20 New England 18
I won't say I knew this was going to happen, because I didn't. But I will say that I felt sufficiently concerned that I picked Arizona to cover the spread. And I did not pick the Patriots in espn.com's eliminator pool (I picked the Giants and became one of 122,000 to advance to Week 3, about 30% of the starting field). But I still don't know how they lost. They couldn't score a touchdown at home against a good but not great Cardinals defense. And then when the game was almost gifted to them, they missed a game-winning field goal. Those kinds of things don't happen to the Patriots.

Game of Next Week
Atlanta at San Diego
The Falcons look really great on offense so far and the Chargers just look really great. I really believe in San Diego though they have had great starts before and folded down the stretch. But so far so good this season for the Chargers.

Weekly Ref Update
The absence of regular referees became a much bigger problem in Week 1 than Week 2. I still suspect the strike will be settled soon, possibly before Week 3. The NFL just needs to pony up extra money to keep their principle (no defined benefit retirement plans). Not that the regular refs are so great, but even the perception that the game is being compromised by replacements should be enough to get the NFL to cough up the small amount (to them) of dough needed to get the deal done.

Picture of the Week
Clay Matthews poses after making a play against the Chicago Bears.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
San Francisco 24 San Diego 17
The 49ers look awesome and the Chargers are off to a good start as well. Though I am worried about San Diego carrying this through until December. The 49ers look like the most complete team in the NFL. They have a running game, a passing game and an unspectacular defense that plays with solid fundamentals and sure tackling.

Song of the Week

"Fish Ain't Bitin" - Lamont Dozier
Evidently he wasn't a big fan of Pres. Nixon. But I still enjoy this soul classic.

Weekly Picks

Starting the season off with my most common result, 3-2, lose my best bet, 2 points. This week I will go with a couple teams that looked bad last week playing opponents that looked good.

SAN DIEGO -6 1/2 tennessee I really like the Chargers this year to fly under the radar. I know they got a little lucky against the Raiders but I think the Titans stink.

arizona +13 1/2 NEW ENGLAND
I actually like that Kevin Kolb is the starter. I think he is better than John Skelton. Patriots had a blowout last week, could be a closer game this time.

INDIANAPOLIS +3 minnesota
I really like Luck and think he is going to be much better this week. The Vikings looked bad in a win. I am going to try to take more home dogs this year.

PHILADELPHIA -2 1/2 baltimore
If you based this on last week alone, Baltimore should be favored by 10. But this is not last week and Vick is not going to throw 4 more interceptions.

BEST BET
NEW YORK GIANTS -7 tampa bay
This is the classic matchup I'm looking for. A good team coming off a bad loss and a bad team coming off a big win. The 7 points is a little more than I want to give but I still have confidence. And no I am not trying to jinx the Giants into an 0-2 start.

Last Week: 3-2 (2 points)
Season: 3-2 (2 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (0-1)
Home Favorites: 0-1 (0-1)
Home Underdogs: 1-0 (1-0)
Road Favorites: 1-1 (1-1)
Road Underdogs: 1-0 (1-0)

The Princess's Tits

An unscrupulous French magazine called "Closer" used a telephoto lens to capture Princess Kate Middleton sunbathing topless on the balcony of a huge estate in France where she was staying with Prince William.

While I feel badly that her privacy was invaded I also know you rely on me to find and deliver these pictures. So here they are.

Picture of Princess Kate Middleton topless 1
Picture of Princess Kate Middleton topless 2

I really don't think this should be such a big deal, because the pictures are so grainy, her tits look great, her body looks nice and she has nothing to be ashamed of. And no one ever got hurt from looking at a couple of breasts. But this is the world we live in, so this will be the biggest scandal ever for the next couple days until it dies down. And knowing how ruthless the paparazzi can be I think poor Kate has to give up nude sunbathing forever.

Fat Mike Francesa Falls Asleep

Few people I hate more than Fat Mike Francesa, though I do enjoy his show in small doses. But my favorite part is when he gets embarrassed. Usually it's when he doesn't know something, and tries to play it off like he does. But this time he literally fell asleep on the air while Sweeny Murti was talking. You can tell he is asleep because he stops rubbing his arm, and his head slowly falls farther away from the mic. And all of the sudden he snaps his head up, looks toward his producer and then talks to him on the talkback microphone.

What I Should Have Said Theater

Here are the first two paragraphs of President Obama’s statement on the attack in Libya:

I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America's commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives.

I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe. While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.

The first part is fine. Here is what he should have said instead of the last sentence he did use:
The United States will always stand up for freedom, especially freedom of speech for Americans. A movie is not sufficient provocation to attack a consulate and kill four people. Mitt Romney and his fellow Mormons aren’t burning down the theater for “Book of Mormon.” No one killed Bill Maher after “Religulous.” There were mild, non-violent protests over the ABC show “Good Christian Bitches.” We must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.

Song of the Week

"We Are Never Getting Back Together" - Taylor Swift
Not sure which one of her famous boyfriends (not sure America's sweetheart should get around this much) this song is about, but I kind of like it.

The NFL is Poop - Week 1

A Brief Rant About the Redskins
This is the first time I've ever started an NFL is Poop with the rant about the Redskins. But there is good reason. I think we have the franchise QB I have been pining for since a drug-addled Lawrence Taylor broke Joe Theismann's leg. Robert Griffin III played an unbelievable game, clearly outplaying Brees. He ran only when necessary and when he passed he was spot on.
The pass to Garçon for the first touchdown was almost right on target (a little high) to hit Garçon in stride and lead him away from defenders. Maybe his best play of the game was the first one of the second quarter. He scrambled, threw to Fred Davis right on the sideline for a 26-yard gain to set up the second touchdown.
The offensive and defensive game plans got a little too conservative, allowing the Saints to get back in the game. But the schedule is pretty easy coming up (@ Rams, Bengals, @ExpensiveCornPrices) and if Griffin continues to play this well, this could turn out to be a better season than I thought. And if not this year, maybe next, or further down the road, but eventually this guy is going to develop into a great quarterback. And I don't think I'm getting ahead of myself.

Maybe Jets Fans Overreacted to the Preseason
The New York Jets just ended the most scrutinized preseason ever. And if you believe the experts, and the over-dramatic fans, you would have thought the Jets would never score a point, let alone win a game. They scored 1 touchdown in the preseason, 6 in Week 1 (4 by the offense). There is still reason to doubt Mark Sanchez, I am sure he will throw some dumb interceptions, but Tim Tebow is not going to be the reason why. And speaking of Tebow, he was in on a handful of snaps, but contributed nothing meaningful. Even though he can't be a QB, he does have value, and when the Jets figure out how to use him their offense will be even better.
But I should also caution against overreacting to Week 1.

Rookie Quarterbacks
For the first time in history 5 rookie quarterbacks started on Opening Day. Robert Griffin III was great. Andrew Luck was bad (3 INTs) but I still believe in his long-term potential. I have no confidence in Ryan Tannehill, he seems like a classic reach, especially because his old college coach probably begged for him. Brandon Weeden sucked, he may be in over his head. But he doesn't have the luxury of time, because if the Browns let him start the season on the bench, he'd be 30 by the time he got in the game. Russell Wilson is more of an enigma. I know people like his intangibles, but I like tangibles a lot more. I suspect Colt McCoy and Matt Flynn will be starting by Week 9.

Who's The Manning?
I'm pretty sure I heard something in the offseason about Peyton Manning having been injured. ESPN didn't cover it much but I'm sure it's true. He didn't look rusty at all in leading the Broncos to a win over the Steelers. Manning his getting old, and his day will come, but not right now.
Poor Steelers, their last two games, both losses, both to the Broncos to the two most disparate QBs in NFL history.

Replacement Refs
The replacement referees did just fine in Week 1. There were a few blown calls but nothing affecting the outcome of a game. And just remember, the regular officials screw up sometimes too.
There were no incidents of violence, of games getting out of control. I thought player safety was a specious argument in this case anyway. We were supposed to believe that a player would try to take advantage of inexperienced referees and deliver an illegal blow? First of all that's assuming the players are their own worst enemies. And it also ignores the fact that the league office is still reviewing those plays and has the ability to levy fines for those offenses. I think the NFL referees will come to their senses and be unwilling to risk their jobs. I predict the strike will end before Week 3.

Picture of the Week
Detroit Lions offensive lineman Jeff Backus stretches his pants so much that they become see through. Thankfully, there is a center panel sewn in there.

Game of The Week
Minnesota 26 Jacksonville 23
This could be the last time I mention these teams in this column this season. But a couple interesting things here. First of all, Maurice Jones-Drew ended his holdout, Adrian Peterson came back from injury, which was nice. Also this was the first regular season game with the new overtime rules. And the new system worked out fairly well, with the Jaguars getting a chance in OT after the Vikings kicked only a field goal on their possession. I think this is a more fair overtime system which should produce some more exciting games in the future.

Game of Next Week
Denver Broncos at Atlanta Falcons
Peyton Manning looks back. Julio Jones looks awesome. This game could be a real shootout.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
San Francisco 49ers 24 Baltimore Ravens 20
This would play well in the Harbaugh household. Both defenses looked good. Both quarterbacks looked good. I think the Harbaugh Bowl is a real possibility.

Is He Better Off Than He Was Four Years Ago?

On September 27, 2008, Ryan Reynolds married Scarlett Johansson.

On September 9, 2012, Ryan Reynolds married Blake Lively.

Weekly Picks

Back for another season of mediocre picks and my frustration at never getting my best bet. Week 1 is often very difficult to figure. Teams we think are pulling off upsets actually turn out to be good, and teams we thought were good had disappointing seasons.

philadelphia -9 CLEVELAND
I would have made this my best bet but didn't want to start off with a big road favorite. I really like the Eagles this year. They have a lot of talent and suffered a lot of injuries last year. Should be better this year. Also the Browns stink and Brandon Weeden may be in over his head.

atlanta -2 1/2 KANSAS CITY
The Falcons are another team I think will be better this season. They have a lot of weapons on offense and could put up a lot of points. Kansas City is always supposed to be improved, but seems like they never are.

ARIZONA +2 1/2 seattle
Seems like everyone is going nuts over the Seahawks, but I think it's a bit premature.

san diego +2 OAKLAND
I'm banking on the Chargers to finally fulfill their promise this year now that no one is expecting them to do much. They still have a lot of talent and I love Philip Rivers.

BEST BET
GREEN BAY -4 1/2 san francisco
I think the 49ers will have a hard fall back to earth this season. The Packers also will lose a few more games than they did last year but not starting with this game. The 49ers play good defense, but won't be able to shut down Rodgers.

The Incredible Shrinking Backpack

I guess Mrs. Poop put Chase's doggy backpack into the dryer.

first day of preschool

last day of preschool

But of course the doggy backpack is too immature for our kindergartner so this is what he will be sporting this year, and because of the cost, until high school.

Ready for the First Day of Kindergarten

But Mrs. Poop is going to have to get her own.