Vindy's Picks 10-2008

GOP CANDIDATE RACKING UP ICE TIME AS ELECTION NEARS

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (UPI)....What was supposed to be nothing more than a non-partisan, friendly ceremony this past Friday turned out to be yet-another Palin public appearance gone horribly wrong. As part of the ESPN travel series, called “50 Pucks in 50 Days”, Republican vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin has been dropping the first puck at various NHL venues across the country. But when Blues goalie Manny Legace fell after stumbling on the carpet used by Palin to get to center ice, teammate Paul Kariya skated to the aid of his net-minder, dropping his gloves along the way. Reacting to the charging Blues winger, the Alaskan governor dropped her glasses, hunting rifle and hair out of its bun as she prepared to defend herself. The politician then traded weak, off-balance blows with the 5' 10", 180-pound player before they tumbled to the ice, where the two were separated by officials. Legace started the game vs. the L.A. Kings, but would leave with a hip flexor, caused by the earlier tussle. Kariya finished the game, and Palin was treated for minor cuts and bruises in the Kings locker room and is expected to suit-up for Tuesday night’s election.

Back in Vegas, down 6-10 late in Week Nine, Vin needed to pocket all three remaining Saturday nighters and Sunday’s Tulsa-UCF game to break even. Vindy took the snap and looked for an open receiver deep. Finding none, he pulled it down and called his own number, scrambling enough to grab the final four games, salvaging a 10-10 fortnight (78-77-1, .503).

Your nifty narrator’s fresh outta’ candy, so ya better have the kiddies check their Halloween goodie-bags for Ex-Lax squares, Franken-spreads and...

THE WEBER KID’S 2008 WEEK 10 FORECAST
(May cause elections lasting longer than four hours. In the event of such an occurrence, immediately discontinue use of Vindy’s Picks and call your doctor)

THURS. OCT. 30
CINCINNATI over #24 South Florida taking 3: Oh goody! Another chance to open the week in the red with a Thursday-nighter! We’ve contacted the folks who publish the atlas, because, by golly, there apparently IS a Louisville, Florida! Does anyone wanna’ win the Big Least this year?! Bearkats defense has led the way for Cincy this year. Until UConn laid 40 on UC last week, opponents had averaged just 12 ppg...USF 24 Cincinnati 23

SAT. NOV. 1
#1 Texas over #6 TEXAS TECH giving 6: With minor letdown game outta’ the way vs. Oklahoma State, we feel pretty good about this choice. Cowboys had nice rushing game to compliment the passing game. Red Raiders primarily use their backfield to pass-block until Tech reaches the red zone. Raiders’ lone cover in past four vs. Texas came in a 35-31 loss at Lubbock in 2006. Tech looking for first SU win in six tries. It’s up to the Steers defense to keep this one from rivaling last year’s combined total of 102 points...Longhorns 49 Tech 41

Arkansas State over #2 ALABAMA taking 24: Coming into ‘08, Arkansas State has gone 4-1 ATS last 5 vs. ranked teams, including 2007 21-13 loss at then-#4 Texas. This game won’t help ‘Bama in the BCS polls. We’ll be really happy when the election is finally over because those McCain robocalls extolling the reasons the Crimson Tide should play in the national title game while slingin’ mud at the Nittany Lions’ strength-of-schedule are seriously annoying! ...Tide 31 ASU 13

#3 Penn State: The Lions sleep tonight (next @ Iowa)

#4 OKLAHOMA over Nebraska giving 21 1/2: Big Reddi-Whip on 3-0 spread run, including loss to Texas Tech in the bonus round, but that game “raised” the road dog ATS record to 5-10. Sooners on 12-4 home chalk run and covered both spreads this high this season. Improved Okie kick-coverage teams held K-State to net 6 yards... Sooners 51 Huskers 24

#5 Florida over #8 Georgia giving 5 ½ (@ Jax): ‘Dawgs defeated last five of last six ranked opponents (5-1 ATS), but won’t be facing a true freshman QB this week. Summing up his prediction on Gators-Wildcats game last week (won 63-5 by UF), we offer this commercial: “Beeeeeeep. Hi. This is Vindy’s phone. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have AT&T, so he’s got zippo bars in this offshore Carribean sportsbook. So thanks for those persistent calls you made to tell him about the Wildcats losing their top wideout and starting running back while both were suiting up in the locker room, but “smart guy” here is about to drop a mortgage payment on Kentucky plus da’ points!”...Crocs 24 Joja’ 17

#7 USC over Washington giving 43: UDUB ain’t quite as bad in the points-against department as in-state rival Wazzou, but failure to score until 2:59 left in the game vs. the Frightenin’ Irish prompted the administration to announce Coach Willingham’s departure at the end of this season. Trojans D could put a third shutout in four games in Sunday’s box score. Foliage in the Evergreen State’s lookin’ mighty black-and-blew these days...Troy 52 Sled Dogs 3

#9 OKLAHOMA STATE over Iowa State giving 30: For tilts in Ames, the Cyclones enter the field by running through a cloud of smoke. Preceding the Nebraska game, one of the ISU players rushed headlong into a goal post. OK, who was the Einstein that let Dolphins RB Ricky Williams generate the smoke that day???!!!... Cowpokes 54 ISU 20

#10 Utah over NEW MEXICO giving 7 1/2: Lobos have beaten the Utes outright four of the last five times and do own a September home victory over Arizona, but Utes are still in the hunt for an automatic BCS berth and beat Air Force by 7 in Colorado Springs...Utes 24 New Mexico 12

#11 Boise State giving NEW MEXICO STATE 20 1/2: Looks like the Land of Enchantment has its hands full this week (or at least its stadiums). Broncos teamed up with San Jose State last week to draw 22 hankies for over two football fields in penalty yards! A June ish of Sporting News reported NMSU was at risk of losing it’s BCS status if it failed to average 15,000 fans this season. This should help that cause, but betting backers won’t find any love in a team that’s gone 4-7-2 as a home dog under Hal Mumme and 2-8-1 in its last 11 WAC games...Boise 45 NMSU 7

#12 Texas Christian over UNLV giving 13 ½: This got lock consideration. Toads managed just a 13-7 win at Colorado State, but other than that, how can the Rebels possibly have anything left emotionally or physically to face the country’s top defense (only 2 of 9 opponents have scored more than 7) after consecutive heartbreakers to Air Force and BYU. If you officially had UNLV’s victory over Iowa State as a push, then the Rebels still have not had a 3-0 spread run since mid-2001 (as noted back in Week Four)...Froggies 34 Sin City 13

#13 Ohio State: IDLE (next @ Northwestern)

BAYLOR over #14 Missouri taking 20 1/2: Bares 2-2 ATS at home, 0-3 vs. ranked foes in 2008 (though 3-0 in Vindy’s Picks on the season!). Bison had just a single turnover and 28 penalty yards. Do ya think Mizzou was just a tad annoyed by nationally-televised 25-point loss in Austin two games ago?! Baylor’s conference spread record woes continue, now standing (crawling?) at 5-15. Tigers beat MAC’s Buffalo at home by 21. Are the Bears better at home than Buffalo is away?...Mizzou 42Bares 24

#15 LSU over Tulane giving 25 1/2: This line opened around 30 and took a major dive in favor of Green Wave, who got clobbered 42-17 last week, bringing home the bacon as the victim in one of the Weber Kid’s “best bets”! Bengals can’t get off the schnide vs. other SEC teams, but have won ATS in 11 of last 14 non-conference match-ups...Tigers 41 Surf’s Up 9

GEORGIA TECH over #16 Florida State taking 1: Ramblin’ Wreck ran into a sizzlin’ Virginia team last week and squandered an early 11-point advantage, while the Injuns overcame 10-0 hole against Hokies second- and eventually third-string quarterbacks. Tech is still 5-1 ATS. A recent study by Aussie scientists concluded honeybees can count to four. Smashing! At least the Yellowjackets will know what down it is!...Bugs 20 FSU 16

COLORADO STATE over #17 Brigham Young taking 14 1/2: Mormons have dropped four straight against the line and have yielded 67 points over last two games. Rams can still be bowl-eligible with two wins in final four games. Vindy is sooooooooooooo hangin’ up those topless calendars we mentioned last week! An upset wouldn’t shock your less-than-omniscient oracle...BYU 24 Colorado State 20

#18 Ball State: IDLE (next vs. Northern Illinois 11/5)

#19 Tulsa over ARKANSAS giving 7: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Hurricane is simply a points-machine, registering less than 45 just once all season (and that 37-31 win cost ‘em their first spread loss a couple weeks ago at SMU). Pigs covering the line on defense lately (3-0 spread run), but not winning outright (margins of 3, 1 and 2 over last three games at Auburn, at Kentucky and vs. Ole Miss, respectively...none of whom are noted for its respective offensive prowess)...Tulsa 38 Razorbacks 21

Northwestern over #20 MINNESOTA taking 6: Gophers haven’t dropped one vs. the line since season premiere over Northern Illinois. Despite nice increase in points-scored from ‘06 to ‘07, Wildcats doing it more on defense than offense this year too. Best guess for “wish I had it back”, but we like...Gerbils 20 NW 17

#21 North Carolina: IDLE (next vs. Joja’ Tech)

#22 MICHIGAN STATE over Wisconsin giving 5: Badgers rose up from the ashes to whack the Illini last week, but at best are gonna’ finish 6-6 and play in some lower-tier pre-New Year’s Day extravaganza sponsored by some household cleaning product. Spartans on the other hand are just one game off the conference lead and won’t meet those Nifty Lions for another couple weeks. Javon Ringer won’t repeat the 194-yard performance he got rushing in Ann Arbor, but he’ll get enough... MSU 24 Wisky 10

#23 Oregon over CAL taking 3: Seattle Times writer Dwight Perry recently pondered the hubbub over Sarah Palin’s $150K fashion makeover, noting he generally didn’t give a flyin’ rat’s until her wardrobe caught up to the Ducks available gameday threads. On a positive note, the White House wanna-be still outshines most of the Mallards players in the swimsuit competition and is still farther down the late Mr. Blackwell’s worst-dressed list than a half-dozen of Oregon’s green-and-yellow home-tilt combos!...Quack Attack 29 Berkeley Bears 23

#25 Maryland: IDLE (next @ Virginia Tech 11/6)

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS

BTW, the vending machine in the Cyclones locker room was immediately sold-out of brownies and Twinkies right after the first half ended!

NASA noted an unusual alignment of Jupiter and Mars last week as Vindicator called the exact score in Ball State’s 38-16 win over Eastern Michigan!

We’re thinking the Obama camp could’ve locked in the NFL and college pigskin fan votes by tweaking the campaign motto just a bit to...”Change-of-possession we need!”

Those who actually wagered with Vindicator’s Week Nine preferred picks (lock and/or best bets) are doin’ the happy dance this week because they won some money (or what Mrs. Palin would refer to as “moose pelts!”).

The Tennessee Titans’ Chris Johnson took a $10K hit to his wallet recently as the result of repeatedly striking Kansas City pep band drums following his long TD run vs. the Chiefs earlier this month. Gotta’ figure opposing stadium operators on the Titans road schedule will be blaring Todd Lundgren’s “Bang the Drum All Day” each time Johnson gets a touch (or at least Little Drummer Boy as the season moves into December!)! Meanwhile, the creators of Guitar Hero are now planning a Drum Hero: The NFL Tour. Folks like Tommy Lee, Charlie Watts, John Henry Bonham and, yes...even Ringo Starr....should be afraid....very...afraid!

This week on the silver screen....Peyton Manning, in between singing show tunes, hones the craft of checking off at the line of scrimmage in his final prep season before going to off to college in...”High School Audible 3"!

Note to self: Do not back the Buffaloes! Do not back the Buffaloes! Do not back the Buffaloes!

Earlier this year, Barack Obama, who said his “first love” is basketball, scrimmaged with the North Carolina Tarheels hoops team. If he’s injured as president, there’d be a distinct drop-off in points and boards with Joe Biden comin’ in off the bench! As previously-noted, Palin played some half-court ball too. If behind late on Election Day will she foul and send Obama to the charity stripe? BTW, there’s no truth to the rumor Obama briefly considered Tyler Hansbrough as a running mate.

As the NBA season gets underway, we revisit the story of former official Tim Donaghy, who was to sentenced to 15 months last summer. Damn...Vindicator had money on the “under 13 ½"!!!

Jose Canseco apologized last week for blowin’ the whistle and namin’ names of steroid-using players in his book. In April, the Feds wanted to question the former Bash Brother about a 1998 photo of Roger Clemens at a pool party at his house. The person in that photo turned out to be...the Weber Kid! (Oh sure....like the title of Canseco’s book, “Vindicated”, was a coincidence???!!)

Black Shirt: For the second straight week, the Nittany Lions’ Pat Devlin grabs the coveted Black Shirt for coming in off the pine to quarterback the Alma Mater to the winning TD at the Horseshoe! Also snaring a few votes...Fresno State kicker Kevin Goessling, who hit a 58-yard FG as time expired, on the road, to rally the Bulldogs over feisty Utah State and Idaho kicker Tino Amancio, who split the uprights from 52 and 51 in the second half to give the Vandals their first FBS win on the year!

“Wish I Had That One Back”: Vindicator called himself “a glutton for punishment” as he took Colorado and the points at Missouri! We’d also like to revisit (though not nearly as much as that Bison prediction!) the Texas -13 over Oklahoma State call as the Steers left Vindy wondering “about a fatigue....factor”

“Locked in a Box?”: Many thanks to the Arizona Wildcats, specifically the UA defense, for taking USC to the wire and taking our “lock” tally up to 8-1 (.888).

Shoppe Talk: Texas Tech returns to join BYU, both at 1-5. Vindicator stuffs a Florida State Seminole full of Cuban cigars (which were actually rolled by Hondurans! [Seinfeld fans in the readership will follow that one!]) for posting a 7th forecast loss in the last 8 appearances going back to ‘07!

Vindy’s Week 10 Best Bets: Last Week: 6-0 (That bears repeating...six-and-freakin’ ohhhhh!) Season:
27-14-1 (.659)
VIRGINIA +1 over Miami, San Diego State +3 over WYOMING, Rice -2 over UTEP, Florida International +7 over UL-LAFAYETTE