“SHOT-CLOCK”
CONCEPT EVOLVES BEYOND COURT
LAS
VEGAS, Nevada (REUTERS)…College hoops has gone to a
30-second shot-clock. Double-and-Triple-A baseball-clubs are experimenting with
twenty-second pitch-clocks. Hurlers are mandated to start their windups in
twenty seconds or less following the preceding pitch or yield a “ball” count to
the batter. In related news, customer-service
be damned, casinos in Sin City have adopted a similar pick-clock, forcing sports-gamblers at the counter to announce their
choices or be given the bookies’ selections at random… meaning a square looking to put a $22 straight bet
on Central Florida, for example, could be forced to accept an eight-team parlay
of equal value if the bettor’s original single-team wager isn’t verbalized
within the required timeframe! By the way, local fast-food restaurants are
exercising the same option….patrons must decide on a burger/sandwich/value-meal
while Final Jeopardy music plays or simply
pay for whatever menu-item the fast-food restaurant-in-question has
over-prepared and needs to get rid-of!
Nearby,
we rode a 4-0 advantage into Saturday before the usually-scheduled squads even
tee’d-up da’ pigskin to what might be a best-in-recent-memory 16-6 final tally (92-88-3,
.511). With precious seconds tickin’ away at the sportsbook counter, we’re badgerin’ bettors into choosin’
between cuttin’ the red wire, black wire or yellow wire to avoid detonatin’…
THE
WEBER KID’S 2015 WEEK 11 FORECAST
(Jackin’
up three-team parlays from beyond the arc!)
SAT.
NOV. 14
SYRACUSE
(+27 ½) over #1 Clemson: Probable letdown spot for CU, who
didn’t salt away the win over Florida State until the final 2 ½ minutes and
gets a breather here. ‘Cuse is 3-1 against the number at the Dome this season,
including respectable 10-point defeat to LSU. Orange has lost by 24 in each of
the past two games (at Tallahassee and at Louisville). There might not be 28
total points scored in this one, but
we’ll offer…Clemson 27 Syracuse 8
ILLINOIS
(+17) over #2 Ohio State: Buckeyes left the Gophers within
striking-distance with two minutes to play last Saturday and the QB-carousel
has led State to rely on the D to bail it out vs. lesser-competition. Illini
have yielded 52 or better to Ohio State in the past three meetings, but have
shown improvement, losing to Iowa by 9 and da’ Badgers by 11. Michigan State
looms for OSU. Collectively, these clubs are 11-6 “under” the total so far.
Illinois is one victory shy of bowl-eligibility and have two home-opportunities to try to get there
(along with a roadie at Minnesota). Doesn’t mean they won’t go all-out here…State 28 Illini 16
#3
Alabama (-8) over #20 MISSISSIPPI STATE: Tide 27 Bulldogs
17
#12
Oklahoma (+3) over #4 BAYLOR: MINOR UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Sooners
have been bullet-proof since loss to Texas. Bears countered late rally at
K-State to stay unblemished and Baylor’s offense gets all the press, but
Okie-Doke has outscored common opponents by 202 points, versus the 136-point
margin set by the Bears. Freshman Jarrett Stidham will make his second start at
QB for BU. Boomer Schooner’s looking for payback after lighting the bulbs for only
26 total points over past two years in this series. Baylor, who’s now won 26 of
last 27 games in Waco, claims victories over I-AA Lamar and 53-point triumph
over…um…Rice. UO beat Tennessee…in Knoxville …Oklahoma 34 Bears 24
#5
Oklahoma State (-14) over IOWA STATE: Cowpokes 38 Dust Devils
19
Wake
Forest @ #6 NOTRE DAME (“over 51 ½”): Irish
now sit precariously as the #4 seed in the playoffs. Deacons are rested and
have been involved in several games “under” the total, but those opponents
weren’t offensive juggernauts. CJ Prosise may not take the field this Saturday,
but stand-in RB Scott Adams went for a buck-forty-seven vs. Pitt. Meanwhile,
Leprechauns have given up 20 or more to everybody but Texas. Wake lost 50-17 at
North Carolina…ND 42 Deacs 19
Oregon
(+10) over #7 STANFORD: We changed our initial pick here.
Consider yerselves duly-advised…Trees 27 Mallards 24
Minnesota
(+11 ½) over #8 IOWA: Best guess fer “wish we had it back”.
Not sure Gilded Gerbils can keep givin’ the current level of effort off tight
ones vs. Big Blue and da’ Buckeyes, but…Iowa 20 Minny 12
#9
LSU (-8) over Arkansas: Bengals 37 Pigs 23
#10
Utah (-5 ½) over ARIZONA: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Short line
probably reflects Arizona’s 8-point loss at USC, who caught Utah on a bad day
earlier and beat the Utes decisively (Utah’s only SU and ATS loss in four road
tilts this year). In addition, Utah took advantage of four Huskies’ miscues get
11-point win in Seattle. ‘Cats also played Wazzou tough, but despite UCLA being
on-deck for Utah, AZ has yielded an average of 41 ppg over its past four games
and has beaten Utah by double-digits in each of the previous three seasons. As
long as Booker and Wilson stay healthy, there’s no reason to think the fave
won’t cover…Utes 41 ‘Cats 24
#11
Florida @ SOUTH CAROLINA (“Under 46 ½”): Gators 24 KFC 13
#13
TCU (-45 ½) over Kansas: Presidential-wannabe Jeb Bush
offered a mia culpa to administrators
in Republican-heavy Lawrence after likening day-to-day operations of da’ Senate
to “a Jayhawks gridiron work-week”. Honorary Black Shirts all-around fer da’ Newts in wake of our predicted loss
to Oklahoma State! Blue Birds supporters have already embraced basketball season!...Frogs 57
Flayed-Hawks 10
#14
MICHIGAN STATE (-14 ½) over Maryland: Sparty 31 Box Turtles
13
INDIANA
(+13) over #15 Michigan: Jim Harbaugh was seen shirtless
while conducting drills at a Prattville, Alabama satellite summer camp. ESPN reported Coach was also sportin’
khakis, which leads us to contemplate yet-another commercial for a certain
insurance company…”Jim…from Michigan? At three in da’ morning? What are you
wearing ‘Jim from Michigan’?” “Uhhhhh….khakis?”
“She..sounds..hideous.”
“Well…she’s da’ Wolverines football coach,
sooo….”…Wolverines 34 Hoosiers 27
#25
Memphis (+7) over #16 HOUSTON: Coogs gave up 523
passing yards to Gunner Kiel, but played good D for the final five minutes last
week to stave-off upset-bid by Cincinnati. Tigers had committed just six
turnovers all year, but picked a bad time to add three more vs. Navy. Houston,
no bargain as home-chalk, needs a win to keep pace atop the AAC West with
aforementioned Middies and should use nation’s #9 rushing game to accomplish
that, but Memphis, who has just 6 fewer ground scores than UH and country’s #9 passing attack, will put it up enough to
stay close…if they protect the ball…Houston
41 Tigers 38
#17
NORTH CAROLINA (-12) over Miami: Tarheels 34 ‘Canes 16
Washington
State (+9) over #18 UCLA: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Since
2015-opening victory over currently 2-7 Virginia (whose pair of wins includes on
over FCS William & Mary), the Rose Bowl has not been a place of comfort for
the home team as Bruins show a 16-point triumph vs. then-ranked Cal, flanked by
narrow-escapes from BYU and Colorado and a two-touchdown defeat by ASU. UCLA
got its whitewash on last Saturday,
smoking Oregon State (led by a quarterback starting under center for just the
second time), but Wazzou has won 3 of 4 road matches thus far , losing by 2 at
current-#7 Stanford…Cougars 41 UCLA 34
#19
FLORIDA STATE (-10) over NC State: Seminoles 29 Wolfpack
17
#21
Temple (-2 ½) over SOUTH FLORIDA: Second choice for “lock
of da’ week”. Might be sorry we didn’t
designate this one as our primary selection in that category…Owls
27 USF 20
Southern
Methodist (+21 ½) over #22 NAVY: Ensigns 41 Ponies 31
#23
Wisconsin: IDLE (next vs. Northwestern)
#24
NORTHWESTERN (-14 ½) over Purdue: NW 34 Boilermakers 17
BETWEEN
THE HASHMARKS
BTW, the closest best-effort we could find in the
not-too-distant past was the 12-3-1 outing we recorded in Week 12 of 2010!
Late last month, with tongue-in-cheek, Jeb Bush
expressed his desire to rule Marvel
Comics before subsequently espousing his affinity for Supergirl and identification
with da’ Caped Crusader. As the comic-book
geeks in the readership know, both those folks live their adventures as part of
the DC Comics universe. Campaign
staffers were quick to determine if da’ presidential candidate knew da’ Gators
played in the SEC rather than the ACC or…the Sun Belt!
On this Veterans’ Day, we
remember that back in April, Seahawks QB Russell Wilson upgraded a U.S. Army
serviceman to first-class on a flight
back to Seattle. Three words…Classy. Thank you!
During the off-season, RG
III was quoted as sayin’, “They (the New England Patriots) operate like a high
school team …players take a knee and look at Coach like what he’s saying is the
most important in the world.” Kinda’ like John Travolta’s friends at Rydell High in “Grease”!?
With the college
basketball regular-season underway, we note that if the NCAA Tournament meets Walk the Moon, “One Shining Moment” gets replaced by “Shut
Up and Big Dance With Me”!
Rumor has it Louisville
staffers forked-over a few Benjamins
to employ hookers to entertain possible basketball recruits. Did the
players-in-question ultimately end-up with Cardinal
knowledge of their partners???!!! Independent investigator Ted Wells found
that Coach Pitino was “at least generally
aware of the inappropriate activities” and has been subsequently suspended
for the first four games of the season!
“Locked
in a Box?”: Following
a tight first-half, Mississippi
State clocked Mizzou as predicted, raising our record to 3-7 (.300).
Black
Shirt: Will be gift-wrapped this week for Northwestern
kicker Jack Mitchell for missing two field goals and a point-after, allowing best bet Penn State (+3) to finish
within 2! And fer the second time
this season, Honorable Mention to the
quarter we flipped to get our ‘BAMA -6 ½ over Weeziana State!
Shoppe
Talk: The Spartans make an appearance this week on current
1-4 slide (.200). Joining the ‘Noles (who get a hall pass for posting a
forecast win…barely) at 2-5-1 (.285) are the Aggies of A&M (which
mercifully fell outta’ the rankings this week!).
Vindy’s
Week 11 Best Bets: Last
Week: 5-1-1 Season:
28-22-1 (.511)
LOUISVILLE-Virginia “under” 49, Washington +3 over
ARIZONA STATE, AIR FORCE-Utah State “over” 51 ½, RUTGERS-Nebraska “under” 64,
Southern Miss -8 over RICE, Florida International +11 ½ over MARSHALL, Brigham
Young -5 ½ over MISSOURI, Tulsa +18 over CINCINNATI
No comments:
Post a Comment