Weekly Picks

Not a bad week except for losing my best bet again.

BUFFALO -2 1/2 new york jets
I don't care when and were this game is being played. As long as there are people assigning value to something that doesn't really matter, I will pick against those schmoes.

CHICAGO -5 tampa bay
The Bears are a hard team to figure but they do have a lot of talent and I could see them rattling off a few wins now that the schedule got a little easier. Plus the ECPs had a big win last week and I don't expect them to win two in a row on the road.

DENVER -6 1/2 miami
You think they're going to hold Peyton Manning to 7 points two weeks in a row? I don't.

HOUSTON -2 cincinnati
I don't like this matchup of Andy Dalton versus the Texans defense.

BEST BET
SEATTLE -7 1/2 arizona
This is probably the biggest spread a team with the best record in the league has ever faced this deep into the season. It makes sense for some reasons but it's also designed to attract those people who are living in the past, evidently, like me.

Last week: 3-2 (2 points)
Season: 24-31 (19 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (3-8)
Home Favorites: 2-0 (6-12)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (2-1)
Road Favorites: 0-0 (8-6)
Road Underdogs: 1-2 (8-12)

Song of the Week

"Don't" - Ed Sheeran
Kind of a cool funky sound that we don't normally hear in pop music.
Video is also different and interesting.

I'd Buy It And Invite Johnny Fontaine Over

The house that served as Don Corleone's home in "The Godfather" is for sale.
The house is located at 110 Longfellow Rd in the Emerson Hill section of Staten Island.
The outside was used for the wedding scenes at the beginning of the movie. They didn't shoot in the interior of the house, but the home owners renovated it to replicate the rooms in the movie.
It is list for $2.895 million.

The Disney Reveal

We sprung a trip to Disney on Chase and Julian right after we got home from trick or treating on Halloween.



So the reaction was very underwhelming to me. Chase reacted just as I thought he would, but I expected Julian to jump and yell like he did in the famous anywhere chair video

How Tall This Fall

2014:

2013:

2012:

2011:



2010:



2009:



2008:



2007:

Weekly Picks

No one ever went broke betting against Mark Sanchez -- except me.

CHICAGO -2 1/2 minnesota
So it hasn't been going too well for our system this year, but after an embarrassing loss in prime time in front of a huge audience I like a team to rebound.

seattle +1 1/2 KANSAS CITY
Are the Chiefs really this good? Are the Seahawks really in trouble despite pounding the Giants last week?

cincinnati +7 NEW ORLEANS
Again, embarrassing loss, but Andy Dalton can't be that bad two weeks in a row, can he?

GREEN BAY -5 1/2 philadelphia
Going to try this Sanchez thing again.

BEST BET
detroit +1 ARIZONA
Normally I have this backup quarterback theory where a team doesn't have the big dropoff we would expect when their starting QB goes down. But I just happen to really like the Lions this season.

Last week: 3-2 (2 points)
Season: 21-29 (17 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (3-7)
Home Favorites: 1-0 (4-12)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (2-1)
Road Favorites: 2-1 (8-6)
Road Underdogs: 0-1 (7-10)

I Just Booked a Two-Week Trip to Hawaii for Any Woman Named Halle Berry

From the Toronto Star:
If you’re a Canadian citizen with a passport and an itch to explore the world, you may be eligible for a free trip around the world. Just one condition: your legal name has to be Elizabeth Gallagher.

Jordan Axani, a 28-year-old real estate development manager with some spare plane tickets, is willing to fund your airfare for a two-week trip around the world, provided that you’re willing to leave a few days before Christmas.

The Cabbagetown resident posted a notice on Reddit looking for a travel companion late Sunday night. He writes that the offer resulted from a break-up with his girlfriend with whom he had been planning to take the trip since March.

His search for another woman who has the same name as his ex began when he discovered what a hassle it can be to make changes to plane tickets.

“Anyone familiar with the archaic system that is modern air travel will know that a name change on a ticket is damn near impossible,” he writes on Reddit. “Moreover, the flights were purchased during a massive blow-up on Priceline and were frankly so cheap and on so many different airlines that they’re not worth the headache or money to cancel.”

Song of the Week

"I'm Your Puppet" - James and Bobby Purify
Major quandary here deciding which version to use. James and Bobby Purify did the original so I wanted to give them credit, but I actually prefer a cover version by the great Marvin and Tammi.
But I decided to go with the original just to point out that the original "Bobby Purify" was actually Robert Dickey. And he was eventually replaced by Ben Moore.

He's Not Here Anymore

"I'm here, and I'm there. I'm Big Bank Hank and I'm everywhere."
One of the originators of hip-hop, Big Bank Hank from the Sugar Hill Gang died today at the age of 57, which means he was only 22 when he revolutionized music with Rapper's Delight.
And don't forget Apache (SOTW, 8/22/07)



And the worst part is, now he will literally be rolling over in his grave when he sees what has become of rap music.

The Person Who Did This is a Dipshit

Funny typo from Fox 4 in Dallas where the lack of a space between temps and hit turned a weather report into an internet gag.

Another Mistake

The Mets will never learn. Mike Cuddyer is the latest old (36), injured (48 games last year), overpaid ($21M over two years) veteran the Mets hope will finally hit for them.
Cuddyer is coming to them from the Rockies where his stats were obviously inflated by the ballpark. And like all the others he will surely suffer in CitiField.
And even if he were to hit pretty well, he is an absolute butcher defensively, perhaps a worse outfielder than Lucas Duda was.
I grant you that the Mets didn't have many better options to play left field, but my my concern is that he won't be much better than a Nieuwenhuis/den Decker combo would be (including defense and baserunning) and his arrival will result in fewer at bats (and defensive chances) for Juan Lagares -- because Terry Collins is a moron who thinks you need to keep guys fresh (and he has a crush on Eric Young Jr).
Once again the Mets have turned to free agency to improve the problems with their team because they think that is what they are supposed to do and they think that showing the fan base you're committed to winning is important even when doing so actually makes it less likely that you will win.
So Cuddyer is old, unlikely to be healthy for two years, terrible on defense and likely to see a significant decrease in offensive production based solely on home parks.
The Mets will never learn.

Weekly Picks

Another -1.

DETROIT -2 1/2 miami
I think I am just have trouble adjusting to teams I thought were bad or good, suddenly changing and staying that way for weeks. The Dolphins may actually be good. But I like Detroit anyway.

pittsburgh -3 1/2 NEW YORK JETS
Last week I picked against the Steelers because they were coming off a monumental performance. I picked the Jets because they had just turned in a monumentally bad performance. Now let's try something different.

atlanta -3 TAMPA BAY
I cannot believe how awful the Falcons have turned out to be.

denver -12 OAKLAND
A huge road spread for the Broncos but they got smoked last week and the Raiders hung in against the Seahawks.

BEST BET
carolina +6 1/2 PHILADELPHIA
Mark Sanchez is the starting quarterback for the Eagles.

Last week: 0-5 (-1 points)
Season: 18-27 (15 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (3-6)
Home Favorites: 0-2 (3-12)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (2-1)
Road Favorites: 0-0 (6-5)
Road Underdogs: 0-3 (7-9)

Song of the Week

"Changes" - Faul & Wad Ad
80,000,000 youtube viewers can't wrong

Weekly Picks

A slight bounceback last week. I am posting these picks from DisneyWorld so maybe I will have a magical week.

DALLAS -2 1/2 arizona
Dallas had a profile stinker against a bad team on Monday night. Arizona had a shocking high-profile victory and got a lot of attention.

new york jets +9 KANSAS CITY
Ok, so this sounds crazy but the Jets can't possibly be that bad every week, can they? Jets fans? Plus, this is a lot of points for a team as mediocre as Kansas City to be giving up.

san diego +2 MIAMI
The Dolphins are seriously flawed. The Chargers are seriously good.

SEATTLE -14 oakland
A visit from the Raiders is good for what ails the Seahawks.

BEST BET
baltimore +1 PITTSBURGH

This is just a bet against Ben Roethlisberger having a game anywhere close to the one he had last week.

Last week: 3-2 (4 points)
Season: 18-22 (16 points)
Best Bets: 1-0 (3-5)
Home Favorites: 0-0 (3-10)
Home Underdogs: 1-0 (2-1)
Road Favorites: 2-1 (6-5)
Road Underdogs: 0-1 (7-6)

Song of the Week

"Always Together" - The Dells
These guys just get me
"When the years have turned your hair to silver
And the days of our youth have left us so very far behind
Golden, golden memories we'll keep in our mind
And we'll always be
always be
Always together"

So Long Mrs. Kotter

Actress Marcia Strassman died at the age of 66 after a long battle with cancer.
Strassman was best known for playing Julie Kotter, Mr. Kotter's wife on "Welcome Back, Kotter."
Most of her role consisted of listening to Mr. Kotter (Gabe Kaplan) tell bad jokes about his "uncles."

Weekly Picks

Minus-1. I stink. I actually think I will stop doing these next season. No one participates in the pool upon which this is based and it ruins my Sunday that I get every game wrong all the time. And the picks aren't helpful unless some studious Poophead wants to bet against me.

houston -3 1/2 TENNESSEE
The Titans stink and playing a QB who looks like a joke is not going to help. I would have gotten the Texans right last week if not for some fluky disastrous run of plays. This week they will rebound.

seattle -5 CAROLINA
There could actually be something seriously wrong with the Seahawks. But a three-game losing streak for the world champs? I doubt it.

CINCINNATI +2 baltimore
Have the Bengals really regressed this much this quickly?

green bay +2 1/2 NEW ORLEANS
Aaron Rodgers has been on fire and Drew Brees has been mortal.

BEST BET
miami -6 JACKSONVILLE
The Dolphins aren't that good but teams as bad as the Jaguars generally win 2 games a season, not 2 games in 2 weeks.

Last week: 0-5 (-1 points)
Season: 15-20 (12 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (2-5)
Home Favorites: 0-2 (3-10)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (1-1)
Road Favorites: 0-1 (4-5)
Road Underdogs: 0-2 (7-5)

What Do You Give Me For? Frankie Carbone and Louie from "The Simpsons"

What do you give me for Frankie Carbone and Louie from "The Simpsons?"
Actor Frank Sivero is suing the creators of the "The Simpsons" for $250M saying Louie is based on his character from "Goodfellas."
Sivero says in 1989 he lived in the same apartment complex as some of the writers for the show. During this time he developed the character of Frankie Carbone. He says he told the writers about his character and that they based "Louie" on Carbone.
Louie first appeared in 1991 and has had 15 appearances in total, including as recently as April 2014.

Song of the Week

"Sultans of Swing" - Dire Straits

The Twitter Trolls Have Pushed Mike Goldberg Too Far

Mike Goldberg, UFC's regular announcer, has been removed for one week from his gig doing NFL games on Fox.
What happened is long and complicated and begins with your faithful friend, The Poop.
Apparently I have never written about my hatred for Goldie on the blog so I will explain it all.
Bruce Buffer normally ends his pre-fight schpiel by announcing the name of the referee. Without fail Mike Goldberg would repeat the name of the ref right afterwards. So it would go a little something like this:

Buffer: The referee this evening, Herb Dean.
Goldberg: Herb Dean is our referee.

This drove me insane, but on its own, not enough to make me take action. But when you add in all the other stupidity he spews (TON says at least once a fight card Joe Rogan basically has to tell him to shut up because he's saying something blatantly wrong), that would be enough to drive anyone to his breaking point, but not me.

I didn't start trolling him on Twitter until he missed an event while dealing with a "complicated health issue" which many people believe was rehab.

His replacement Jon Anik was so bad I actually tweeted my support for Goldie.

Note: The ashes is a cricket match between Australia and the United Kingdom. The Ultimate Fighter between Australia and the United Kingdom was dubbed "the Smashes." Anik said this 100 times, at least, every time he had the chance.

Here is my original tweet to him and the conversation it started:

Fast forward to last Sunday when Mike Goldberg was calling the Vikings-Lions game. According to all reports it was one of the worst broadcasts ever, with Goldberg constantly misidentifying players (like saying a Teddy Bridgewater pass was intended for Golden Tate -- who plays for the other team) to just not being able to correctly identify down and distance (he said a clear first down was "close," an obvious loss was a gain of "one maybe two" and 2nd and 9 was "3rd and 17"). All in all it seemed like Goldie was back on whatever it was that sent him to rehab in the first place.

As people on twitter are known to do, they gave Goldberg the business after the game. Calling him out for his inept performance. Goldberg wasn't having it though, responding to the twitter trolls with gems like this:

And this:

So that's what got him benched for this week. Let's see if Fox has the temerity to send him back out there. Let's see if Goldberg has the serenity to ignore the trolls. And let's see if I can provoke him into calling me a douche.