PREZ GRABS HEISMAN AFTER ATTENDING COLLEGE GAME
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, New York (CNN)....Mere days after shocking the world by unexpectedly receiving a Nobel Peace Prize, the Commander-in-Chief was in the Big Apple to accept the Heisman Trophy. Obama drew the attention of voters by showing up for Maryland’s game at Wake Forest this past Saturday. The Heisman committee then made a decision to forego the remainder of the season, eliminating previous contenders such as Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford, and presented the hardware to Obama in light of his promises to lead the White House to a national title. Supporters say the award was a coup for the president, who has expressed a desire to have a college football playoff. Critics say it’s too early in Obama’s presidency and he has not even yet taken his staffers to a conference championship. Analysts have predicted even more recognition to be showered upon the president in coming weeks as he’s expected to rent a DVD, order pizza and drop the first puck at a Washington Capitals game, for which he would respectively garner an Oscar, the title of Top Chef and the NHL’s Vezina Trophy for most outstanding goaltender!
We thank longtime friend and former Happy Valley roommate, Dan Antonelli, for providing the main concept for the above news clip! We appreciate the creative assist after the uninspired Week Six 9-7 results (60-47, .560).
NASA crashed a space probe into the moon last week hoping to locate traces of water. Instead, what they found chiseled into the walls of a crater was....
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 7 FORECAST
(That’s G!)
WED. OCT. 14
TULSA over #5 Boise State taking 10: A big non-conference tilt for both sides. If the Broncos are going to fall, it’s probably going to be here, knowing that any reasonable challenger left in the WAC will have to pull the upset on the blue carpet. Boise needs a convincing win and has to hope Oregon continues to excel, because after this, there’s no “Wow” factor left on the schedule. Despite 45-0 loss at Oklahoma, Golden Hurricane still on 7-4 spread run vs. non-C-USA squads. Tulsa, currently sharing the lead in C-USA West with SMU at 2-0 (4-1 SU overall), lost by just 8 here last season to BYU and an upset would obviously improve its credentials when bowl bids are issued. We’ll make the conservative call, but we refer the unbelievers to the USC-UDUB and Houston-UTEP games earlier this season...Boise 38 Tulsa 33
THURS. OCT. 15
#8 Cincinnati over #21 SOUTH FLORIDA giving 3: There’s really nothing impressive about Bulls’ five victories to-date and Tony Pike’s passing game will likely flourish in the warmer weather of Tampa. USF starting kicker Maikon Bonani was hospitalized last July after a 35-ft fall from a gondola ride while working at Busch Gardens in Tampa. Bonani kept up his skills by booting footballs between the bedposts of his fellow patients at the far end of the recovery ward...Cincy 28 USF 20
SAT. OCT. 16
Arkansas over #1 FLORIDA taking 25 1/2: Kudos to the Gator D for preventing LSU from grabbing the cover last week. Florida’s clearly not the same team offensively without Tim Teakwood at full throttle. Mr. T looked mighty tentative, minus one or two plays in the 4th Quarter and Florida scored only 13 points despite punting just once. Former Michigan Wolverine QB Ryan Mallett has helped the Hogs put up a lotta’ points. Hate to go against UF at the Swamp, where they’re on 11-3 ATS run, but....Crocs 37 Pork Chops 16
#22 South Carolina over #2 ALABAMA taking 17: ‘Bama found itself in a field-goal fest last week, even though Ole Missed coughed it up five times. Gamecocks defense is good enough to create the same situation. Steve Spurrier owned up to his preseason voting faux pas, noting....”I made a mistake. Vindy’s not only the best forecaster in Las Vegas, I think he’s the best football prognosticator in the nation!” The Ol’ Ball-Coach chalked-up the error to miscommunication with one of his assistant coaches, who originally favored nationally-known tout Phil Steele! ... Tide 20 Poultry 12
#3 Texas over #20 Oklahoma giving 3 ½ (@ Dallas): An early INT deep in Texas territory led to one of the scores the Bison got en route to the cover last week (as we predicted!). Steers have taken the last four ATS, winning three outright (the past two by 7 and 10 points). Sam Bradford’s return certainly bolsters hope for the Sooner Nation, as does UT’s 1-4 spread record thus far this season. Okies have failed to win or cover against either of the other two ranked teams they’ve faced in 2009. Will Bradford’s return open up the running game? Will the Sooners receivers take off the cement gloves that forced OK into multiple FGs vs. Baylor? Steers offense should be well-rested after the special teams and defense accounted for 21of 38 points vs. CU squad that was busy drawing 20 (count ‘em, 20!) yellow hankies! A Red River Runs Through It....’Horns 27 OK 20
#19 GEORGIA TECH over #4 Virginia Tech taking 3: Where would the Hokies be had they actually lost to Nebraska with only a win over Marshall, a squeaker over Duke and the nice triumph over Miami? Bees lost by a FG in Blacksburg last season. They do come into this one following unexpectedly high-scoring affair vs. the ‘Noles. If VT stacks the line to stop the option, QB Nesbitt will find receiver Demaryius Thomas for big plays downfield... Ramblin’ Wreck 24 Va. Tech 22
#6 Southern Cal over #25 NOTRE DAME giving 10 1/2: USC has outscored its last pair of opponents by total of 57-9. Both clubs got last Saturday off, but Troy gets the edge in covers off a bye. This one hasn’t been a game since SoCal edged then-#9 Irish 34-31 in ‘05. Piggy-backing on last week’s Get Smart reference, Vindy rustles up his best Don Adams impersonation and says, “I have to warn you...lining up across from the Trojans offense will be a crack team of highly-trained defensive specialists...OK...how ‘bout a bunch of really tall, really heavy guys?...Fine. Wouldja’ believe...a couple of cheerleaders and an angry kid in a leprechaun suit???!!!”...USC 34 ND 13
#7 Ohio State over PURDUE giving 13 1/2: Wouldn’t be a bad “lock” choice. Boilers own just one victory in six games this year (3-3 ATS, though just 1-3 last 4), but until last week’s road loss at Minnesota (by 15), hadn’t lost by more than 7 (losing by a deuce at Oregon and 3 to the Irish). Buckeyes on 5-0 spread run and 15-3 in last 18 giving the handicap away from the ‘Shoe. Buckeyes were seriously outplayed by Wisconsin last week (among other things, being held to 184 total yards), but we don’t foresee that kinda’ effort from Purdue... State 38 Purdue 17
CENTRAL FLORIDA over #9 Miami taking 14 1/2: Golden Knights got an extra week to prepare for this and while the trends do not support them in this situation, they did lose by just six in Coral Gables last season (with a +2 turnover ratio and 5 sacks vs. ‘Canes QBs) and have that whole intra-Florida rivalry thing in their favor. UCF is 3-2 SU and 4-0 ATS (managing a mere 4-point win over FCS team Samford to open the year). Miami’s just happy to face an opponent that doesn’t have a Top 25 “#” attached to it...Miami 24 UCF 14
#10 LSU: IDLE (next vs. Auburn)
#11 Iowa over WISCONSIN taking 2 1/2: Badgers 2-1 SU in conference play so far and until last week’s loss at Ohio State, had lurked just outside the rankings. Nonetheless, Wisky has struggled to beat the lesser teams on the slate. Three of Hawkeyes’ six-pack of victories have been by 3 or less and Iowa’s failed to bring home the money two straight weeks. This time, we’ll stay with our darkhorse Big Tentacle champion pick, who will thrive again on the opponents’ mistakes (got 5 turnovers from Michigan) and ruin Homecoming in Madison...Iowa 17 Cheeseheads 16
#12 TCU over Colorado State giving 23: We thought about taking State, who had a final period lead on Utah, and the points. But the Toads have been traditionally dominant as chalk in Ft. Worth, even against MWC teams. Rams are go-against when away from home and lost SU at surprising Idaho. CSU has beaten the line once in last four vs. the Top 25. Frogs floundered a bit last week, yielding three turnovers to Air Force team that excels in that area. Not the same threat here....Frogs 34 CSU 8
#13 Oregon: IDLE (NEXT @ Washington)
Minnesota over #14 PENN STATE taking 16 1/2: Lions got their only spread win two weeks ago at Illinois and have yet to reward bettors when playing at Beaver Stadium. Gophers have covered four of last five in Happy Valley and love getting double-digits. Homecoming for the Nifty Lions, who actually let I-AA Eastern Illinois reach the State 9-yard line prior to returning a pick 91 yards for a score just before the half...PSU 24 Gerbils 13
#15 NEBRASKA over Texas Tech giving 11: Scary laying double-digits with the Huskers against a reasonable opponent. Big Dread scored all of its 27 points in the 4th Quarter at Mizzou after bumbling its way to a 12-0 hole. Raiders return to haunt your host after whacking back-to-back cupcakes New Mexico and K-State. Nebraska’s still perfect 5-0 against the line. They get the vote here as they climb toward a potential Big 12 North title. Tech grabbed a win in extra frames last year 37-31. There’s plenty of room at the Shoppe, fellas!...Huskers 49 Tech 34
#16 OKLAHOMA STATE over Missouri giving 7: The loss of WR Dez Bryant has hurt the Cowboys (as evidenced by mediocre win over Texas A&M) and State’s dropped three straight against the line. Bryant could be back for this one after being forced to watch Jim Carrey’s “Liar, Liar” over and over and over by the NCAA. Tough stretch of schedule for the Tigers, who got Nebraska last week and face Texas after this one. Then-#3 Mizzou lost at home last season 28-23....OKSU 27 Mizzou 16
#17 Kansas over COLORADO giving 9 1/2: Interesting line. Bison led Texas 14-3 at halftime on strength of aforementioned INT vs. perhaps-looking ahead-Longhorns, but then conceded 35 unanswered points. Oklahoma awaits KU, who might come out and just run the ball early to avoid the same first-half debacle. Buffaloes went from 2-4 ATS as home dogs in Coach Hawkins first year to 2-1 last season. Buffs will start a new QB this week as Cody Hawkins grabs some pine for throwing an interception at the Texas 8-yard line...Jayhawks 27 CO 14
#18 Brigham Young over SAN DIEGO STATE giving 17 ½: Aztecs were one of Idaho’s victims earlier this season, losing by two touchdowns as a 3 1/2-point favorite and their only I-A victory came two weeks ago against WAC bottom-feeder New Mexico State. SDSU is, however, 3-1 ATS on the year, but squeaked by two of the three by a half-point. State’s lousy as a home dog getting more than two scores, lost by 21 here in ‘07 and by 29 last year in Provo. Cougars lock in bowl eligibility with a win (like there was any doubt?) and could look ahead to TCU, but are 4-2 ATS this year and 2-0 vs. the conference...BYU 34 SDSU 9
#23 Houston over TULANE giving 17: This got lock consideration too. We’re not sure why this line dropped in favor of Tulane, who lost by 21 last week to Marshall and by 24 in opener vs. Tulsa. Green Wafers have three covers in past 16 overall games. Coogs, who won 42-14 last season, should light it up early and often...Coogs 44 Tulane 20
#24 Utah over UNLV giving 16: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Just a couple reasons to not lay da’ points here...Utes haven’t beaten anybody by this many except Utah State at home to start the year, Utah is 0-2-1 in its last previous three road trips this season and the Rubbles have covered three of the last four in this series. The young Utah offense isn’t scoring a lot....24 points each in three of its five to-date, but UNLV is on 0-4 spread spiral and puts the MWC #2 pass offense on the field vs. Utes #1 MWC pass D (#13 nationally). Rebels own the conference basement across the board in all defensive categories. If, in fact, the D hasn’t quit (as some have suggested), then its’s just really, REALLY bad. In its Sunday breakdown of the UNLV game vs. BYU, the Las Vegas Review-Journal incorrectly noted the Mormons lead at the 8:17 mark of the 4th Quarter as “BYU 529, UNLV 21". It only felt that way... Utes 34 UNLV 13
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
The aforementioned place-kicker for South Florida also occasionally warmed-up alone by kicking the ball into the underside of some guy’s oxygen tent!
The Cincinnati Bengals athlete formerly-known-as Chad Johnson will bears the name “Ochocinco” on the back of his jersey because that’s the way it was written on the form used to legally change his name. Meanwhile, for the same reason, the B-side of your humble narrator’s upper-torso apparel shows.... “Vindy K. Torr”
The stalker who videotaped ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews undressing in her hotel room this past summer was in court recently. Folks at NASA would not return media phone calls, but the space agency did report the mysterious disappearance of yet-another tape, allegedly containing footage of the Apollo 11 lunar landing!
Ever since being busted for using a banned substance, allegedly ingested through a vitamin supplement, Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz has been known to teammates and fans alike as...“Big Poppy-Seed”
In August, Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane and his cousin were ordered to apologize to a Buffalo cabbie, whom they reportedly punched. The cousin contritely complied and Kane even offered to provide some memorabilia, including an autographed puck, which he personally delivered...via slap-shot to the taxi-driver’s mid-section!
Imagine Vindy’s disappointment upon learning this summer’s latest movie foray starring Ashton Kutcher, “Spread”, had zippo to do with sports gambling and was actually just a chick-flick!
Black Shirt: We gift-wrap the ebony undergarment this week for Air Force QB Connor Dietz in honor of his 8-yard touchdown run to give the Pilots the cover vs. TCU with under a minute left.
“Locked in a Box?”: Arkansas’ upset of Auburn drops the lock record to 3-3 (.500).
Shoppe Talk: Texas and LSU finished on the predicted side of the spread to go to 1-4 (.200) and 2-4 (.667), respectively, leaving the Taxidermy Shoppe temporarily vacant. But...uh...don’t leave the state, guys!
Vindy’s Week 7 Best Bets: Last Week: 2-3 Season: 12-13 (.480)
Wake Forest +7 over CLEMSON, Akron +9 over BUFFALO, Navy -8 ½ over SMU, NORTH TEXAS -1 ½ over FLORIDA ATLANTIC
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Vindy's Picks Week 7-2009 Early Edition
Since we have a ranked team playing tomorrow night, we'll offer a few early thoughts on that game and return tomorrow night with our regularly-scheduled programming....
WED. OCT. 14
TULSA over #5 Boise State taking 10: A big non-conference tilt for both sides. If the Broncos are going to fall, it’s probably going to be here, knowing that any reasonable challenger left in the WAC will have to pull the upset on the blue carpet. Boise needs a convincing win and has to hope Oregon continues to excel, because after this, there’s no “Wow” factor left on the schedule. Despite 45-0 loss at Oklahoma, Golden Hurricane still on 7-4 spread run vs. non-C-USA squads. Tulsa, currently sharing the lead in C-USA West with SMU at 2-0 (4-1 SU overall), lost by just 8 here last season to BYU and an upset would obviously improve its credentials when bowl bids are issued. We’ll make the conservative call, but we refer the unbelievers to the USC-UDUB and Houston-UTEP games earlier this season...Boise 38 Tulsa 33
Don't touch that dial!
WED. OCT. 14
TULSA over #5 Boise State taking 10: A big non-conference tilt for both sides. If the Broncos are going to fall, it’s probably going to be here, knowing that any reasonable challenger left in the WAC will have to pull the upset on the blue carpet. Boise needs a convincing win and has to hope Oregon continues to excel, because after this, there’s no “Wow” factor left on the schedule. Despite 45-0 loss at Oklahoma, Golden Hurricane still on 7-4 spread run vs. non-C-USA squads. Tulsa, currently sharing the lead in C-USA West with SMU at 2-0 (4-1 SU overall), lost by just 8 here last season to BYU and an upset would obviously improve its credentials when bowl bids are issued. We’ll make the conservative call, but we refer the unbelievers to the USC-UDUB and Houston-UTEP games earlier this season...Boise 38 Tulsa 33
Don't touch that dial!
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Vindy's Picks Week 6-2009
JUSTICE, PIGSKIN PROPHET SHARE COMMON TV MUSE
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (AP)...Rookie Justice Sonia Sotomayor re-entered the spotlight this week as an unknown quantity or an X-factor as the Supreme Court convened again on Monday for its next term. The Vegas Vindicator, who was in the nation’s capitol interested in the decision on the issue facing the court involving licensing of NFL merchandise, met with Sotomayor and recalled that during her confirmation hearings in July, the then-Supreme Court Justice candidate mentioned she was inspired to become a prosecutor by the Perry Mason show. It was later noted, Mason was a defense attorney, who lost only one case, while the regularly-appearing prosecutor generally got his butt kicked. Vindy revealed the impetus for him taking up football forecasting was Don Adams’ character, Agent 86, on Get Smart! (In fact, the Weber Kid has been quoted apologizing for his blown lock picks and best bets as quipping, “Sorry about that, Chief!” And after losing his ATS bet by a half-point, would babble, “Missed it by that much!”). We also caught Vindy using the cordless rotary-dial phone in his shoe to make bets with his off-shore bookie!
Our prestigious prognosticator was just 4-4 through halftime of the Trojans-Bears game, but rallied to grab 6 of the 8 night games to finish at 10-6 for Week Five (51-40-1, 560). By the way, the Supreme Court Justice later said she “ would hope a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, more often than not would reach a better conclusion on spread picks than a white male who hasn’t lived that life!” after reviewing....
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 6 FORECAST
THURS. OCT. 8
#21 Nebraska over #24 MISSOURI giving 3: Both teams off a bye week, but this is a sandwich home game between a pair of away tilts for Mizzou. Tigers opened last year 3-1 ATS, then went 2-7 the rest of the way. Nebraska’s perfect 4-0 SU/ATS with three wins over the Fun Belt and shoulda’-been-win at Virginia Tech. Mizzou ripped floundering Illini and Furman, Bowling Green and Reno. Huskers look to avenge a pair of outright blowouts by Missouri in ‘07 and ‘08...’Huskers 28 Tigers 20
SAT. OCT. 10
#1 Florida over #4 LSU giving 7 1/2: The only question is whether or not Tim Teeter-Totter will take the field. Bengals have a Top 10 pass defense, but Gators pass D is Numero Uno and they sport a Top 20 rush defense as well. LSU went 1-3 SU/ATS last year vs. ranked teams and lost by 30 in the Swamp in 2008. Sports Illustrated has noted the Gators have been beaten outright by at least one team from the SEC West ten straight years, but Coach Meyer’s teams excel at covering the line following a bye week....Da’ Chomp 24 Bayou Bengals 13
Colorado over #2 TEXAS taking 32: ‘Horns were off last week (and we ain’t crushed about that!). Hats off to Coach Hawkins and his Buffaloes, who kept playing hard when it appeared West Virginia had the game (and the cover) put away late. Bison lost by 11, but posted their second straight cover despite missing three FGs following 0-2 start and open this year 1-0 as road dogs after 4-14-1 spread record in that role coming in. Steers won 38-14 last season, despite giving up 4 sacks to CU...Steers 42 Bison 17
#3 Alabama over #20 MISSISSIPPI giving 6: Crimson Tide’s beaten Ole Miss outright four straight years, but by 3, 3, 3 and 4...with no covers! Rebels have won the rubles nine times in last ten tries vs. ranked teams and are 16-9-1 ATS against fellow SEC teams the past three-plus seasons. The textbooks at the center of Tide’s off-season scandal included ”See Dick Run....the Offense” (subtitled “See Forrest Run...Run, Forrest, Run!”) and a Dr. Seuss-Shakespeare collaboration we like to call.... “Green Eggs & Hamlet”.... ‘Bama 29 Ole Miss 20
#5 VIRGINIA TECH over Boston College giving 13 1/2: No faith in this choice. A dozen flags didn’t help Hokies’ cause in a game against Duke that was entirely too close, with the Devils ending each of the first three quarters even on the scoreboard. Eagles took a 15-point halftime lead to the locker room then hung on against the Injuns. BC seems to reward backers against Tech, covering 7 of last 10 and fares well as a road dog, going 6-2 against the line in last 8 chances... VT 28 BC 13
#6 Boise State: IDLE (next @ Tulsa 10/14)
#7 USC: IDLE (next @ Notre Dame)
#8 Cincinnati: IDLE (next @ South Florida 10/15)
Wisconsin over #9 OHIO STATE taking 14: We considered locking against Ohio State again. Badgers won a wild one last week at Minnesota, who had a receiver gain 140 yards, while 247-lb Wisky RB John Clay countered with 184 yards on the ground. Badgers just 4-9 away from Camp Randall the last two-plus years and lost just 20-17 at home in 2008. Buckeyes have beaten the number four straight times since near-upset by the Midshipmen. Badgers, at 5-0 SU to-date, would grab a Top 25 spot with a victory...State 20 Cheeseheads 12
AIR FORCE over #10 Texas Christian taking 10 : Falcons off OT loss to the Middies and carry 13-5 ATS run vs. other Mountain Best squads (though just 1-1 this year vs. conference bottom-feeders New Mexico and San Diego State). Something has to give here as Frogs take their #1 rushing defense (1.8 yards per carry) into the home hangar of the Pilots, whose #1 rushing offense boasts 4.6 yards per tote (averaging 63 carries a game)! Toads embarrassed the Flyboys in Ft. Worth last year 44-10, but USAF beat TCU 20-17 in OT in ‘07 in Colorado Springs. Given the way the campaign’s gone already this year, an upset won’t be a surprise....Amphibians 17 Aim High 16
Florida A&M @ #11 MIAMI: No line.
Michigan over #12 IOWA taking 8: Those guys that donned the Hawkeyes unis in near-loss to Northern Iowa in the opener showed up again last week vs. Arkansas State. Iowa is unreliable 5-10 the last three seasons laying points at home (1-1 this season) and a crapshoot vs. the rest of the Big Tenderfoot conference. A late rally for Michigan finally came up short at Michigan State. Big Blue just 2-8 ATS vs. fellow conference clubs under RichRod. ASU running back McNutt rushed for 121 yards on 4 carries....Iowa 21 Wolverines 17
UCLA over #13 Oregon taking 6: Trends support the Bruins here as UCLA has the cover in 3 of last 4 in the series. Bruins lost by 8 on the Pond last season and pitched a shutout at the Rose Bowl in ‘07. UCLA fell two points short of Vindy’s best bet nod last week despite being down 24-6 to Stanford after three quarters. Decoys may be without starting QB Masoli, but starter-quality reserve Nate Costa managed the game well last week with Masoli on the bench in the second half. Oregon’s covered three straight since shootout vs. Purdue. UCLA’s 12-5 ATS the last three years against ranked teams and 9-2 as home dogs over that same period....Drakes 23 UCLA 19
Eastern Illinois @ #14 PENN STATE: No line.
#15 Oklahoma State over TEXAS A&M giving 8: Almost locked this one too. First road game of the year for the Cowpokes, who come in rested after blasting Grambling two weeks ago. Aggies, who were demolished by Arkansas last week, have wins over...uh...well...um...New Mexico, Utah State (by 6 points...at home!) and UAB. Okie State is just 1-2 ATS this year, but beat A&M by 28 last season. Again, we ask the same question we posed during Week Five’s Joja’ Tech- Mississippi State analysis...has the gap between these two narrowed that significantly since last year???!!! ...OKSU 37 TAMU 20
#16 KANSAS over Iowa State giving 20: Cyclowns were the other guys to hose Vindy in a best bet role last week., losing SU to Kansas State. Jayhawks got a bye last Saturday, should be fired up to rip State during the Kansas Homecoming week and have missed the cover only five times in last 18 tries giving points at home...Kansas 38 ISU 13
#17 Auburn over ARKANSAS giving 2 1/2 : LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. We tip our helmet to the Razorbacks for blowing out A&M last week, but this is still a young team (though an even younger one beat Auburn 24-21 in 2008). Tigers have quietly made their presence known and now stalk the Top 25 from within. Aubie’s game vs. Tennessee was not as close as the final score suggests given sixteen 4th Quarter points (including final 6 as the clock hit :00) by the Vols....Tigers 31 Pigs 20
#18 Brigham Young over UNLV giving 16 1/2 : Coach Mendenhall let it be known he wants to spend post-season somewhere other than Sin City (after four straight appearances in Vegas Bowl), but we figure this is the first of two trips this year to our fair berg.. Rebels held their annual preseason practices in the little rural town of Ely, Nevada, which is also home to a pair of brothels (and not much else!). The local “industry” was reportedly off-limits to the athletes (no word on restrictions for coaches and staff), but on the last day of training camp, Vindy’s spies watched the UNLV kick-return team practice the last-ditch, gadget play known as the “hooker-and-lateral”!... Church of LDS 41 Rubbles 17
Baylor over #19 OKLAHOMA taking 25: Even if Sam Bradford returns to direct the Sooners offense, how long will he play knowing the Texas games looms the following week? If Vindicator was Coach Stoops, we’ wouldn’t play Bradford after halftime...enough to get back to game-speed, but hopefully not long enough to invite re-injury. Boomer Sooner will also be without useful WR Broyles (out with injury), who averages 6 catches a game for about 86 yards. Bears lowered points-allowed by 8 per game in Coach Briles first season... Okie-Dokie 37 Baylor 15
#22 Georgia Tech over FLORIDA STATE taking 3: Jimbo’s in limbo (for now), but folks in Tallahassee want Bobby to Bow(den) out! ‘Noles mustered another strong second-half effort last week, but too little too little this time vs. Boston College, despite two receivers gaining over 100 yards each. The Bees, too, can throw out of the triple-option, with D. Thomas snaring 174 yards worth last week in between rushes that helped Tech keep possession for 13 more minutes than Mississippi State. Injuns just 7-15 ATS as home chalk...’Jackets 17 ‘Noles 13
#23 South Florida: IDLE (next vs. Cincinnati 10/15)
#25 SOUTH CAROLINA over Kentucky giving 11: Defense has been the weakness for the ‘Cats, while the Gamecocks have held everybody but Georgia to 16 or less. Carolina’s topped 35 three times in five games (including the aforementioned match against the Bulldogs). SC’s enjoying its fourth consecutive home game, while KY faces its third straight Top 25 foe...Poultry 34 Kentucky 16
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
Break up the Vandals!....Idaho, who came into this season with just three total SU victories in the previous two seasons (two of which came vs. I-AA clubs Idaho State and Cal Poly), is 4-1 SU and 5-0 against the spread! The Spudheads are also on a 9-2 ATS run back to October of 2008.
Following the 63-28 trouncing of UNLV, Reno back-up RB Mike Ball, who racked up five scores and 184 yards, was quoted as saying, “My mother could have run through some of those holes.”. In a surprise move, Mike Sanford has offered the Ball family matriarch a short-term scholarship to play on the scout team this week as the Rebels prepare to face BYU!
Three Dallas Cowboys linemen make up the heavy-metal band Free Reign.. Will their music career thrive or will they simply be one illegal-hit wonders???!!! Can’t wait to see the Guitar Hero version hit the shelves of Toys-R-Us just in time for the Christmas... Rush!
After his streak of 185 with at least one winning bet came to an end last weekend, Terrell Owens did his best “broken record” impersonation, responding to each media question with “whether I like ‘em or not, I’m just goin’ with the Vindy’s Picks that are called.”
Stop by Vindy’s B&B this week for a great big Breaded Porkchop-Block...a nice swine dish served below the customer’s knees!
Sarah Palin’s high school career goal was to be a sportscaster, but she passed on ESPN because of the distance between Alaska and Connecticut, though offered a tribute by naming her first-born female child Bristol. Coulda’ been worse. The former Veep candidate coulda’ been a serious fan of the national pastime and in honor of a couple ESPN Baseball Tonight segments, elected to call her daughter ...”Touch ‘Em All” or (GASP!)...”That’s Nasty!”
Black Shirt: We gratefully hand the ebony tee to Utah State QB Diondre Borel, whose 16-yard touchdown pass as time expired vs. BYU secured the cover and Vindy’s first forecast win of da’ week last Friday night!
“Locked in a Box?”: The Nifty Lions covered easily at Illinois and raise the lock tally to 3-2 (.600).
Shoppe Talk: Texas was idle and Miami gets off the schnide with an upset of Oklahoma, but the Bayou Bengals wander in this week at 1-4 (.200).
Vindy’s Week 6 Best Bets: Last Week: 2-2 Season: 10-10 (.500)
Georgia +1 1/2 over TENNESSEE, Texas-El Paso -2 1/2 over MEMPHIS, Idaho +4 over SAN JOSE STATE, New Mexico +10 1/2 over WYOMING, UConn +8 over PITT
Vindy’s now going to log on to CapitalOne.com and upload a photo to create his own VISA parlay card (which will play Rick James’ Superfreak everytime he swipes it at the sportsbook)!
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (AP)...Rookie Justice Sonia Sotomayor re-entered the spotlight this week as an unknown quantity or an X-factor as the Supreme Court convened again on Monday for its next term. The Vegas Vindicator, who was in the nation’s capitol interested in the decision on the issue facing the court involving licensing of NFL merchandise, met with Sotomayor and recalled that during her confirmation hearings in July, the then-Supreme Court Justice candidate mentioned she was inspired to become a prosecutor by the Perry Mason show. It was later noted, Mason was a defense attorney, who lost only one case, while the regularly-appearing prosecutor generally got his butt kicked. Vindy revealed the impetus for him taking up football forecasting was Don Adams’ character, Agent 86, on Get Smart! (In fact, the Weber Kid has been quoted apologizing for his blown lock picks and best bets as quipping, “Sorry about that, Chief!” And after losing his ATS bet by a half-point, would babble, “Missed it by that much!”). We also caught Vindy using the cordless rotary-dial phone in his shoe to make bets with his off-shore bookie!
Our prestigious prognosticator was just 4-4 through halftime of the Trojans-Bears game, but rallied to grab 6 of the 8 night games to finish at 10-6 for Week Five (51-40-1, 560). By the way, the Supreme Court Justice later said she “ would hope a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, more often than not would reach a better conclusion on spread picks than a white male who hasn’t lived that life!” after reviewing....
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 6 FORECAST
THURS. OCT. 8
#21 Nebraska over #24 MISSOURI giving 3: Both teams off a bye week, but this is a sandwich home game between a pair of away tilts for Mizzou. Tigers opened last year 3-1 ATS, then went 2-7 the rest of the way. Nebraska’s perfect 4-0 SU/ATS with three wins over the Fun Belt and shoulda’-been-win at Virginia Tech. Mizzou ripped floundering Illini and Furman, Bowling Green and Reno. Huskers look to avenge a pair of outright blowouts by Missouri in ‘07 and ‘08...’Huskers 28 Tigers 20
SAT. OCT. 10
#1 Florida over #4 LSU giving 7 1/2: The only question is whether or not Tim Teeter-Totter will take the field. Bengals have a Top 10 pass defense, but Gators pass D is Numero Uno and they sport a Top 20 rush defense as well. LSU went 1-3 SU/ATS last year vs. ranked teams and lost by 30 in the Swamp in 2008. Sports Illustrated has noted the Gators have been beaten outright by at least one team from the SEC West ten straight years, but Coach Meyer’s teams excel at covering the line following a bye week....Da’ Chomp 24 Bayou Bengals 13
Colorado over #2 TEXAS taking 32: ‘Horns were off last week (and we ain’t crushed about that!). Hats off to Coach Hawkins and his Buffaloes, who kept playing hard when it appeared West Virginia had the game (and the cover) put away late. Bison lost by 11, but posted their second straight cover despite missing three FGs following 0-2 start and open this year 1-0 as road dogs after 4-14-1 spread record in that role coming in. Steers won 38-14 last season, despite giving up 4 sacks to CU...Steers 42 Bison 17
#3 Alabama over #20 MISSISSIPPI giving 6: Crimson Tide’s beaten Ole Miss outright four straight years, but by 3, 3, 3 and 4...with no covers! Rebels have won the rubles nine times in last ten tries vs. ranked teams and are 16-9-1 ATS against fellow SEC teams the past three-plus seasons. The textbooks at the center of Tide’s off-season scandal included ”See Dick Run....the Offense” (subtitled “See Forrest Run...Run, Forrest, Run!”) and a Dr. Seuss-Shakespeare collaboration we like to call.... “Green Eggs & Hamlet”.... ‘Bama 29 Ole Miss 20
#5 VIRGINIA TECH over Boston College giving 13 1/2: No faith in this choice. A dozen flags didn’t help Hokies’ cause in a game against Duke that was entirely too close, with the Devils ending each of the first three quarters even on the scoreboard. Eagles took a 15-point halftime lead to the locker room then hung on against the Injuns. BC seems to reward backers against Tech, covering 7 of last 10 and fares well as a road dog, going 6-2 against the line in last 8 chances... VT 28 BC 13
#6 Boise State: IDLE (next @ Tulsa 10/14)
#7 USC: IDLE (next @ Notre Dame)
#8 Cincinnati: IDLE (next @ South Florida 10/15)
Wisconsin over #9 OHIO STATE taking 14: We considered locking against Ohio State again. Badgers won a wild one last week at Minnesota, who had a receiver gain 140 yards, while 247-lb Wisky RB John Clay countered with 184 yards on the ground. Badgers just 4-9 away from Camp Randall the last two-plus years and lost just 20-17 at home in 2008. Buckeyes have beaten the number four straight times since near-upset by the Midshipmen. Badgers, at 5-0 SU to-date, would grab a Top 25 spot with a victory...State 20 Cheeseheads 12
AIR FORCE over #10 Texas Christian taking 10 : Falcons off OT loss to the Middies and carry 13-5 ATS run vs. other Mountain Best squads (though just 1-1 this year vs. conference bottom-feeders New Mexico and San Diego State). Something has to give here as Frogs take their #1 rushing defense (1.8 yards per carry) into the home hangar of the Pilots, whose #1 rushing offense boasts 4.6 yards per tote (averaging 63 carries a game)! Toads embarrassed the Flyboys in Ft. Worth last year 44-10, but USAF beat TCU 20-17 in OT in ‘07 in Colorado Springs. Given the way the campaign’s gone already this year, an upset won’t be a surprise....Amphibians 17 Aim High 16
Florida A&M @ #11 MIAMI: No line.
Michigan over #12 IOWA taking 8: Those guys that donned the Hawkeyes unis in near-loss to Northern Iowa in the opener showed up again last week vs. Arkansas State. Iowa is unreliable 5-10 the last three seasons laying points at home (1-1 this season) and a crapshoot vs. the rest of the Big Tenderfoot conference. A late rally for Michigan finally came up short at Michigan State. Big Blue just 2-8 ATS vs. fellow conference clubs under RichRod. ASU running back McNutt rushed for 121 yards on 4 carries....Iowa 21 Wolverines 17
UCLA over #13 Oregon taking 6: Trends support the Bruins here as UCLA has the cover in 3 of last 4 in the series. Bruins lost by 8 on the Pond last season and pitched a shutout at the Rose Bowl in ‘07. UCLA fell two points short of Vindy’s best bet nod last week despite being down 24-6 to Stanford after three quarters. Decoys may be without starting QB Masoli, but starter-quality reserve Nate Costa managed the game well last week with Masoli on the bench in the second half. Oregon’s covered three straight since shootout vs. Purdue. UCLA’s 12-5 ATS the last three years against ranked teams and 9-2 as home dogs over that same period....Drakes 23 UCLA 19
Eastern Illinois @ #14 PENN STATE: No line.
#15 Oklahoma State over TEXAS A&M giving 8: Almost locked this one too. First road game of the year for the Cowpokes, who come in rested after blasting Grambling two weeks ago. Aggies, who were demolished by Arkansas last week, have wins over...uh...well...um...New Mexico, Utah State (by 6 points...at home!) and UAB. Okie State is just 1-2 ATS this year, but beat A&M by 28 last season. Again, we ask the same question we posed during Week Five’s Joja’ Tech- Mississippi State analysis...has the gap between these two narrowed that significantly since last year???!!! ...OKSU 37 TAMU 20
#16 KANSAS over Iowa State giving 20: Cyclowns were the other guys to hose Vindy in a best bet role last week., losing SU to Kansas State. Jayhawks got a bye last Saturday, should be fired up to rip State during the Kansas Homecoming week and have missed the cover only five times in last 18 tries giving points at home...Kansas 38 ISU 13
#17 Auburn over ARKANSAS giving 2 1/2 : LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. We tip our helmet to the Razorbacks for blowing out A&M last week, but this is still a young team (though an even younger one beat Auburn 24-21 in 2008). Tigers have quietly made their presence known and now stalk the Top 25 from within. Aubie’s game vs. Tennessee was not as close as the final score suggests given sixteen 4th Quarter points (including final 6 as the clock hit :00) by the Vols....Tigers 31 Pigs 20
#18 Brigham Young over UNLV giving 16 1/2 : Coach Mendenhall let it be known he wants to spend post-season somewhere other than Sin City (after four straight appearances in Vegas Bowl), but we figure this is the first of two trips this year to our fair berg.. Rebels held their annual preseason practices in the little rural town of Ely, Nevada, which is also home to a pair of brothels (and not much else!). The local “industry” was reportedly off-limits to the athletes (no word on restrictions for coaches and staff), but on the last day of training camp, Vindy’s spies watched the UNLV kick-return team practice the last-ditch, gadget play known as the “hooker-and-lateral”!... Church of LDS 41 Rubbles 17
Baylor over #19 OKLAHOMA taking 25: Even if Sam Bradford returns to direct the Sooners offense, how long will he play knowing the Texas games looms the following week? If Vindicator was Coach Stoops, we’ wouldn’t play Bradford after halftime...enough to get back to game-speed, but hopefully not long enough to invite re-injury. Boomer Sooner will also be without useful WR Broyles (out with injury), who averages 6 catches a game for about 86 yards. Bears lowered points-allowed by 8 per game in Coach Briles first season... Okie-Dokie 37 Baylor 15
#22 Georgia Tech over FLORIDA STATE taking 3: Jimbo’s in limbo (for now), but folks in Tallahassee want Bobby to Bow(den) out! ‘Noles mustered another strong second-half effort last week, but too little too little this time vs. Boston College, despite two receivers gaining over 100 yards each. The Bees, too, can throw out of the triple-option, with D. Thomas snaring 174 yards worth last week in between rushes that helped Tech keep possession for 13 more minutes than Mississippi State. Injuns just 7-15 ATS as home chalk...’Jackets 17 ‘Noles 13
#23 South Florida: IDLE (next vs. Cincinnati 10/15)
#25 SOUTH CAROLINA over Kentucky giving 11: Defense has been the weakness for the ‘Cats, while the Gamecocks have held everybody but Georgia to 16 or less. Carolina’s topped 35 three times in five games (including the aforementioned match against the Bulldogs). SC’s enjoying its fourth consecutive home game, while KY faces its third straight Top 25 foe...Poultry 34 Kentucky 16
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
Break up the Vandals!....Idaho, who came into this season with just three total SU victories in the previous two seasons (two of which came vs. I-AA clubs Idaho State and Cal Poly), is 4-1 SU and 5-0 against the spread! The Spudheads are also on a 9-2 ATS run back to October of 2008.
Following the 63-28 trouncing of UNLV, Reno back-up RB Mike Ball, who racked up five scores and 184 yards, was quoted as saying, “My mother could have run through some of those holes.”. In a surprise move, Mike Sanford has offered the Ball family matriarch a short-term scholarship to play on the scout team this week as the Rebels prepare to face BYU!
Three Dallas Cowboys linemen make up the heavy-metal band Free Reign.. Will their music career thrive or will they simply be one illegal-hit wonders???!!! Can’t wait to see the Guitar Hero version hit the shelves of Toys-R-Us just in time for the Christmas... Rush!
After his streak of 185 with at least one winning bet came to an end last weekend, Terrell Owens did his best “broken record” impersonation, responding to each media question with “whether I like ‘em or not, I’m just goin’ with the Vindy’s Picks that are called.”
Stop by Vindy’s B&B this week for a great big Breaded Porkchop-Block...a nice swine dish served below the customer’s knees!
Sarah Palin’s high school career goal was to be a sportscaster, but she passed on ESPN because of the distance between Alaska and Connecticut, though offered a tribute by naming her first-born female child Bristol. Coulda’ been worse. The former Veep candidate coulda’ been a serious fan of the national pastime and in honor of a couple ESPN Baseball Tonight segments, elected to call her daughter ...”Touch ‘Em All” or (GASP!)...”That’s Nasty!”
Black Shirt: We gratefully hand the ebony tee to Utah State QB Diondre Borel, whose 16-yard touchdown pass as time expired vs. BYU secured the cover and Vindy’s first forecast win of da’ week last Friday night!
“Locked in a Box?”: The Nifty Lions covered easily at Illinois and raise the lock tally to 3-2 (.600).
Shoppe Talk: Texas was idle and Miami gets off the schnide with an upset of Oklahoma, but the Bayou Bengals wander in this week at 1-4 (.200).
Vindy’s Week 6 Best Bets: Last Week: 2-2 Season: 10-10 (.500)
Georgia +1 1/2 over TENNESSEE, Texas-El Paso -2 1/2 over MEMPHIS, Idaho +4 over SAN JOSE STATE, New Mexico +10 1/2 over WYOMING, UConn +8 over PITT
Vindy’s now going to log on to CapitalOne.com and upload a photo to create his own VISA parlay card (which will play Rick James’ Superfreak everytime he swipes it at the sportsbook)!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Vindy's Picks Week 5-2009
SPORTS LURE EASTERN BLOC NAVY PERSONNEL OUT OF HIDING
BRIGANTINE INLET, New Jersey (Reuters)....Russian subs were recently spotted again off the East coast, as they were this past August, and were escorted to the Jersey shore by U.S. Coast Guard vessels. The Soviet sailors initially told officials they were simply filming a re-make of “20,000 Leagues under the Sea”, then later admitted they had heard T.O. was traded to Buffalo and entered U.S. waters seeking some autographs. In addition, the Kremlin issued a formal statement indicating the seamen were planning to take in a few Major League playoff games to determine if a Russian-born player could lead his team to the World Series....or what the media would dub “The Hunt for Mr. Red October”! The Communist sailors later defected, turning themselves over to bookies from the Atlantic City “consulate”, who offered them <>. The newly-freed submariners saluted their newfound freedom, shouting <<“Better ‘spread’ than ‘red’”>>, then broke into a rousing version of the Drifters’ “Under the Boardwalk” before chowing down on a meal of pizza and saltwater taffy!
Vindy suffered his first losing outing, going 9-12-1 (41-34-1, 547) in Week Four. By the way, after meeting with the Russian leader in July, President Obama said he “looked Putin in the eye and I saw a reflection of JFK and....
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 5 FORECAST
(Now without 3G dead-zones)
FRI. OCT. 2
Utah State over #20 BYU taking 24: Coogs took out frustration of unbelievably bad loss to Florida State on the Rams, but were outdone in all statistical categories by Colorado State except rushing yardage and gave up 156 receiving yards to WR Tyson Liggett. USU lost by just 20 last season and though the Aggies are traveling on a short week, the distance is only 104 miles. State covered its first two road games this season, losing by 18 at Utah and just 8 at Texas A&M to bump its current ATS run to 6-0-1 and 16-8-2 over the past 2+ years (including an 11-5 spread record as a road dog). Will Coach Mendenhall care much about this one with trek to Sin City for a MWC game up next? Taking a few creative liberties with a June 09 Conan O’Brien joke...”In a recent speech, Benjamin Netanyahu called for the Palestinians to have their own state. Unfortunately, what the Israeli Prime Minister had in mind was...Utah State!” Aggies get the call in yet-another missionary melee...BYU 38 USU 17
SAT. OCT. 3
#1 Florida: IDLE (next @ Kentucky)
#2 Texas: IDLE (next vs. Colorado)
#3 Alabama over KENTUCKY giving 16 ½: Under Nick Saban, Tide is 5-3 laying points away from home and just 3-3 ATS facing teams from the SEC East. Kentucky mopped up the neutral gridiron with Miami-Ohio, but haven’t been impressive otherwise. ‘Bama travels to Oxford next week and QB McElroy ain’t Tim Tee-Shot, but... Alabama 34 KY 13
#18 (tie) GEORGIA over #4 Louisiana State giving 3: OK, ‘Dawgs have to actually cover a number here, but it’s a small one and Bengals appear ripe for a loss given near-misses at Washington and at Mississippi State, in which Tigers were +4 turnovers in narrow 4-point victory...Joja’ 23 LSU 17
UC-Davis @ #5 BOISE STATE: no line.
#6 Virginia Tech over DUKE giving 16 ½: Hokies ran for better than 5ypc vs. Miami and implemented the usual Beamer-Ball, scoring a TD on a punt return. Duke blasted Army on the Hudson, but that’s about it. Without blowout loss at Kansas earlier, Devils now have a lone cover in last ten vs. ranked teams and have scored 3, 14 and zippo the past three years against Tech....VT 37 Duke 13
#24 CAL over #7 Southern Cal taking 5: Can’t argue much with the line considering the Ducks limited Cal RB Jahvid Best to mere 55 yards rushing, but the Troy offense is struggling under direction of its freshman QB Barkley, as evidenced by almost 34-minute scoring drought vs. Wazzou following early 20-point 1st Quarter lead. Third road game in four weeks for USC, who will miss it’s leading scorer, RB Johnson, who is out after a freak weightlifting accident. We expect a low-scoring affair...USC 13 Bears 10
#17 MIAMI over #8 Oklahoma taking 7 ½: Status of Sooners’ Heisman Trophy candidate QB, Sam Bradford, for this one is unknown. Per Marc Lawrence’s Playbook.Com, Miami is 4-1 ATS following Virginia Tech, but three of those games resulted in SU losses at Joja’ Tech, Boston College and Maryland. Okie defense has posted consecutive shutouts vs. Tulsa and I-AA Idaho State and Tech held Jacory Harris to 150 yards and a pick, but Sooners are just 2-4 ATS in last 6 taking on other Top 25 teams...OK 24 ‘Canes 20
#9 Ohio State over INDIANA giving 17: We waffled on this choice. Buckeyes on 3-0 spread run and have back-to-back shutouts. Hoosiers 3-1 SU and have already matched last season’s win total, limiting three of four foes to 21 or less after yielding 42 points twice by this time last year. Best guess for “wish I had it back”, but we like the Ohio State to grab a few turnovers and keep Terrell Pryor on a short field...OSU 30 Indy 10
MIAMI-OHIO over #10 Cincinnati taking 29: Bearkats haven’t beaten anybody in the I-A ranks by this many since early October 2007. Redhawks (0-4 ATS) have been white-washed twice already to-date, but have to post a spread win at some point right? Why not in their first home game of 2009? Both teams will throw a lot. Cincy pass D is better, but not significantly...UC 34 Miami-Ohhhhhhhhh, noooooooooooooooo 7
#11 TCU over Southern Methodist giving 28: Toads get a home game sandwiched between last week’s winning visit to Clemson and next week’s trip to Air Force for the conference opener. Frogs outdid Clemson in everything but flags and punts to capture nice four-point win and keep the BCS buster talk alive. Ponies lost 48-7 last year, are currently 2-10 ATS on the non-conference road and barely got by I-AA Stephen F. Austin and UAB...TCU 42 SMU 10
UTEP over #12 Houston taking 16 ½: Upstart Cougars will find themselves swapping scores with UTEP squad ( whose only score vs. Texas was first quarter INT return) who lost 42-37 two years ago and 34-31 last season in El Paso. UTEP is crapshoot-worthy 8-8 ATS vs. rest of Conference USA the past two seasons (1-3 overall this year). Both teams are pass-heavy with average defenses...Houston 34 Miners 24
#13 IOWA over Arkansas State giving 21: Red Wolves coming off tough home loss to Troy. Hawkeyes took advantage of four turnovers by the Lions to get big road win and should face little resistance here...Iowa 33 ASU 7
#14 Oklahoma State: IDLE (next @ Texas A&M)
#15 Penn State over ILLINOIS giving 7: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Seven days after being nearly locked-against, Penn State gets Vindy’s vote for best call in one of just four games away from Happy Valley this season. Illini QB Juice Williams, a force last year, has been unable to carry his team by himself and Lions did lead Iowa for three quarters before special teams and QB Daryl Clark came unraveled. State responded to 2008's loss to Iowa by whacking (though not covering against) Indiana, who was +35...Alma Mater 27 Illinois 10
#16 OREGON over Washington State giving 32 ½: Ducks have put together two solids wins after stumblin’, bumblin’ and tumblin’ early on and have looked much more like the team everyone expected in Eugene. Cougars got a cover against floundering USC offense with six total points and smoke & mirrors...Decoys 51 Wazzou 13
#18 (tie) Kansas: IDLE (next vs. Iowa State)
#21 Mississippi over VANDERBILT giving 8: Rebels minor-upset loss to South Carolina coulda’ been worse as dropped passes and penalties plagued the Gamecocks in the red zone a few times. Admirals have covered 7 of 8, winning outright over Ole Miss 31-14 in ‘07 and 23-17 in ‘08 (behind a +4 turnover ratio). Third away tilt in four games for the Rebels...Mississippi 20 Vandy 10
#22 Michigan over MICHIGAN STATE taking 2: Wolverines have been living right in going 3-1 against the line this season behind a couple late comebacks, including last week over Indiana, who won all the categories except final score despite having a RB and WR both over 100 yards. Sparty lost at home to Central Michigan and dropped a pair of shootouts at Notre Dame and Wisconsin. UM wants to avenge last year’s 35-21 loss. They will...Big Blue 35 MSU 31
#23 Nebraska: IDLE (next @ Missouri 10/8)
#25 Georgia Tech over MISSISSIPPI STATE giving 6: This got a long, hard look for lock pick. Bees did nice job playing keep-away from North Carolina, holding the ball for more than 42 minutes while having nearly two backs rush for over 100 yards each. ‘Jackets ripped State last year 38-7. The Bulldogs have improved 25 points since then???!!! MSU almost took out LSU, but we can’t see that kinda’ effort here...Tech 24 Miss State 14
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
“Unnnnnnderrrrr the boarrrrrrrdwalk, down by the seeeeeeeeeeeeeeaa.
On a blanket with Vin’s bookieeeeeeeeeeeeee...
is where I’lllllllllllllllllllllllll beee...”
Michael Vick was finally eligible to play a live down last week, but during his provisional reinstatement, he was prohibited from attending games of UDUB, UConn and Northern Illinois Huskies, or Joja’, Fresno State or Weeziana Tech Bulldogs. In fact, just to be safe, the Fightin’ Blue Hens of Delaware, Gamecocks of South Carolina and even the Rhode Island Terriers filed a temporary restraining order!
The NFL is allowing teams to trade-in older, salary-cap guzzling wide-outs whose best years are behind them in exchange for up to 4500 reception yards. It’s being called...”Catch for Clunkers!”
This week’s lunch-special.... “The Offside”. Side dishes are brought to the table before the main entree is delivered. The customer gets $5 off the bill and the waiter is forced to retake the order!
That stack of cash with the eyeballs on it???!!! That’s just the money the Weber Kid could be saving with GEICO. (Poor little fella. He’s probably been back there picking up blitzing linebackers all game.) ...”Vin always feeeeeeeeeels like...somebody’s waaaaaaaaaaaatchin’ hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmm!”
Black Shirt: The highly-coveted ebony tee goes to Houston QB Case Keenum for the 4-yard TD run with 49 seconds left that preserved a push against (GASP!)Texas Tech! The Cougar triggerman edged out Nitwit Lion QB Daryl Clark, whose three second-half INTs led to the rally that allowed Iowa to not only cover the spread, but also to beat the alma mater outright and Hawkeyes DL Adrian Clayborn, who blocked a PSU punt and returned it for a TD!
“Locked in a Box?”: Colorado State could not stay close enough to an angry bunch of Mormons, dropping the lock record to 2-2 (.500)
Shoppe Talk: Texas continues to graze at the Bar-V Ranch after chalking up a fourth straight forecast loss (0-4, .000). Hanging out in the gulf off the Shoppe coast are the Tropical Depressions of Miami at 0-3 (.000)! On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Joja’ ‘Dawgs, who’ve posted four forecast wins in as many tries!
Vindy’s Week 5 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-1 Season: 8-8 (.500)
SYRACUSE +6 ½ over South Florida, IOWA STATE -3 over Kansas State, Tulsa -16 over RICE, Auburn +2 over TENNESSEE
Vindicator needs to go update his status on a well-known social-networking site that’s popular among sports-gamblers...Facebookie!
BRIGANTINE INLET, New Jersey (Reuters)....Russian subs were recently spotted again off the East coast, as they were this past August, and were escorted to the Jersey shore by U.S. Coast Guard vessels. The Soviet sailors initially told officials they were simply filming a re-make of “20,000 Leagues under the Sea”, then later admitted they had heard T.O. was traded to Buffalo and entered U.S. waters seeking some autographs. In addition, the Kremlin issued a formal statement indicating the seamen were planning to take in a few Major League playoff games to determine if a Russian-born player could lead his team to the World Series....or what the media would dub “The Hunt for Mr. Red October”! The Communist sailors later defected, turning themselves over to bookies from the Atlantic City “consulate”, who offered them <
Vindy suffered his first losing outing, going 9-12-1 (41-34-1, 547) in Week Four. By the way, after meeting with the Russian leader in July, President Obama said he “looked Putin in the eye and I saw a reflection of JFK and....
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 5 FORECAST
(Now without 3G dead-zones)
FRI. OCT. 2
Utah State over #20 BYU taking 24: Coogs took out frustration of unbelievably bad loss to Florida State on the Rams, but were outdone in all statistical categories by Colorado State except rushing yardage and gave up 156 receiving yards to WR Tyson Liggett. USU lost by just 20 last season and though the Aggies are traveling on a short week, the distance is only 104 miles. State covered its first two road games this season, losing by 18 at Utah and just 8 at Texas A&M to bump its current ATS run to 6-0-1 and 16-8-2 over the past 2+ years (including an 11-5 spread record as a road dog). Will Coach Mendenhall care much about this one with trek to Sin City for a MWC game up next? Taking a few creative liberties with a June 09 Conan O’Brien joke...”In a recent speech, Benjamin Netanyahu called for the Palestinians to have their own state. Unfortunately, what the Israeli Prime Minister had in mind was...Utah State!” Aggies get the call in yet-another missionary melee...BYU 38 USU 17
SAT. OCT. 3
#1 Florida: IDLE (next @ Kentucky)
#2 Texas: IDLE (next vs. Colorado)
#3 Alabama over KENTUCKY giving 16 ½: Under Nick Saban, Tide is 5-3 laying points away from home and just 3-3 ATS facing teams from the SEC East. Kentucky mopped up the neutral gridiron with Miami-Ohio, but haven’t been impressive otherwise. ‘Bama travels to Oxford next week and QB McElroy ain’t Tim Tee-Shot, but... Alabama 34 KY 13
#18 (tie) GEORGIA over #4 Louisiana State giving 3: OK, ‘Dawgs have to actually cover a number here, but it’s a small one and Bengals appear ripe for a loss given near-misses at Washington and at Mississippi State, in which Tigers were +4 turnovers in narrow 4-point victory...Joja’ 23 LSU 17
UC-Davis @ #5 BOISE STATE: no line.
#6 Virginia Tech over DUKE giving 16 ½: Hokies ran for better than 5ypc vs. Miami and implemented the usual Beamer-Ball, scoring a TD on a punt return. Duke blasted Army on the Hudson, but that’s about it. Without blowout loss at Kansas earlier, Devils now have a lone cover in last ten vs. ranked teams and have scored 3, 14 and zippo the past three years against Tech....VT 37 Duke 13
#24 CAL over #7 Southern Cal taking 5: Can’t argue much with the line considering the Ducks limited Cal RB Jahvid Best to mere 55 yards rushing, but the Troy offense is struggling under direction of its freshman QB Barkley, as evidenced by almost 34-minute scoring drought vs. Wazzou following early 20-point 1st Quarter lead. Third road game in four weeks for USC, who will miss it’s leading scorer, RB Johnson, who is out after a freak weightlifting accident. We expect a low-scoring affair...USC 13 Bears 10
#17 MIAMI over #8 Oklahoma taking 7 ½: Status of Sooners’ Heisman Trophy candidate QB, Sam Bradford, for this one is unknown. Per Marc Lawrence’s Playbook.Com, Miami is 4-1 ATS following Virginia Tech, but three of those games resulted in SU losses at Joja’ Tech, Boston College and Maryland. Okie defense has posted consecutive shutouts vs. Tulsa and I-AA Idaho State and Tech held Jacory Harris to 150 yards and a pick, but Sooners are just 2-4 ATS in last 6 taking on other Top 25 teams...OK 24 ‘Canes 20
#9 Ohio State over INDIANA giving 17: We waffled on this choice. Buckeyes on 3-0 spread run and have back-to-back shutouts. Hoosiers 3-1 SU and have already matched last season’s win total, limiting three of four foes to 21 or less after yielding 42 points twice by this time last year. Best guess for “wish I had it back”, but we like the Ohio State to grab a few turnovers and keep Terrell Pryor on a short field...OSU 30 Indy 10
MIAMI-OHIO over #10 Cincinnati taking 29: Bearkats haven’t beaten anybody in the I-A ranks by this many since early October 2007. Redhawks (0-4 ATS) have been white-washed twice already to-date, but have to post a spread win at some point right? Why not in their first home game of 2009? Both teams will throw a lot. Cincy pass D is better, but not significantly...UC 34 Miami-Ohhhhhhhhh, noooooooooooooooo 7
#11 TCU over Southern Methodist giving 28: Toads get a home game sandwiched between last week’s winning visit to Clemson and next week’s trip to Air Force for the conference opener. Frogs outdid Clemson in everything but flags and punts to capture nice four-point win and keep the BCS buster talk alive. Ponies lost 48-7 last year, are currently 2-10 ATS on the non-conference road and barely got by I-AA Stephen F. Austin and UAB...TCU 42 SMU 10
UTEP over #12 Houston taking 16 ½: Upstart Cougars will find themselves swapping scores with UTEP squad ( whose only score vs. Texas was first quarter INT return) who lost 42-37 two years ago and 34-31 last season in El Paso. UTEP is crapshoot-worthy 8-8 ATS vs. rest of Conference USA the past two seasons (1-3 overall this year). Both teams are pass-heavy with average defenses...Houston 34 Miners 24
#13 IOWA over Arkansas State giving 21: Red Wolves coming off tough home loss to Troy. Hawkeyes took advantage of four turnovers by the Lions to get big road win and should face little resistance here...Iowa 33 ASU 7
#14 Oklahoma State: IDLE (next @ Texas A&M)
#15 Penn State over ILLINOIS giving 7: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Seven days after being nearly locked-against, Penn State gets Vindy’s vote for best call in one of just four games away from Happy Valley this season. Illini QB Juice Williams, a force last year, has been unable to carry his team by himself and Lions did lead Iowa for three quarters before special teams and QB Daryl Clark came unraveled. State responded to 2008's loss to Iowa by whacking (though not covering against) Indiana, who was +35...Alma Mater 27 Illinois 10
#16 OREGON over Washington State giving 32 ½: Ducks have put together two solids wins after stumblin’, bumblin’ and tumblin’ early on and have looked much more like the team everyone expected in Eugene. Cougars got a cover against floundering USC offense with six total points and smoke & mirrors...Decoys 51 Wazzou 13
#18 (tie) Kansas: IDLE (next vs. Iowa State)
#21 Mississippi over VANDERBILT giving 8: Rebels minor-upset loss to South Carolina coulda’ been worse as dropped passes and penalties plagued the Gamecocks in the red zone a few times. Admirals have covered 7 of 8, winning outright over Ole Miss 31-14 in ‘07 and 23-17 in ‘08 (behind a +4 turnover ratio). Third away tilt in four games for the Rebels...Mississippi 20 Vandy 10
#22 Michigan over MICHIGAN STATE taking 2: Wolverines have been living right in going 3-1 against the line this season behind a couple late comebacks, including last week over Indiana, who won all the categories except final score despite having a RB and WR both over 100 yards. Sparty lost at home to Central Michigan and dropped a pair of shootouts at Notre Dame and Wisconsin. UM wants to avenge last year’s 35-21 loss. They will...Big Blue 35 MSU 31
#23 Nebraska: IDLE (next @ Missouri 10/8)
#25 Georgia Tech over MISSISSIPPI STATE giving 6: This got a long, hard look for lock pick. Bees did nice job playing keep-away from North Carolina, holding the ball for more than 42 minutes while having nearly two backs rush for over 100 yards each. ‘Jackets ripped State last year 38-7. The Bulldogs have improved 25 points since then???!!! MSU almost took out LSU, but we can’t see that kinda’ effort here...Tech 24 Miss State 14
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
“Unnnnnnderrrrr the boarrrrrrrdwalk, down by the seeeeeeeeeeeeeeaa.
On a blanket with Vin’s bookieeeeeeeeeeeeee...
is where I’lllllllllllllllllllllllll beee...”
Michael Vick was finally eligible to play a live down last week, but during his provisional reinstatement, he was prohibited from attending games of UDUB, UConn and Northern Illinois Huskies, or Joja’, Fresno State or Weeziana Tech Bulldogs. In fact, just to be safe, the Fightin’ Blue Hens of Delaware, Gamecocks of South Carolina and even the Rhode Island Terriers filed a temporary restraining order!
The NFL is allowing teams to trade-in older, salary-cap guzzling wide-outs whose best years are behind them in exchange for up to 4500 reception yards. It’s being called...”Catch for Clunkers!”
This week’s lunch-special.... “The Offside”. Side dishes are brought to the table before the main entree is delivered. The customer gets $5 off the bill and the waiter is forced to retake the order!
That stack of cash with the eyeballs on it???!!! That’s just the money the Weber Kid could be saving with GEICO. (Poor little fella. He’s probably been back there picking up blitzing linebackers all game.) ...”Vin always feeeeeeeeeels like...somebody’s waaaaaaaaaaaatchin’ hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmm!”
Black Shirt: The highly-coveted ebony tee goes to Houston QB Case Keenum for the 4-yard TD run with 49 seconds left that preserved a push against (GASP!)Texas Tech! The Cougar triggerman edged out Nitwit Lion QB Daryl Clark, whose three second-half INTs led to the rally that allowed Iowa to not only cover the spread, but also to beat the alma mater outright and Hawkeyes DL Adrian Clayborn, who blocked a PSU punt and returned it for a TD!
“Locked in a Box?”: Colorado State could not stay close enough to an angry bunch of Mormons, dropping the lock record to 2-2 (.500)
Shoppe Talk: Texas continues to graze at the Bar-V Ranch after chalking up a fourth straight forecast loss (0-4, .000). Hanging out in the gulf off the Shoppe coast are the Tropical Depressions of Miami at 0-3 (.000)! On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Joja’ ‘Dawgs, who’ve posted four forecast wins in as many tries!
Vindy’s Week 5 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-1 Season: 8-8 (.500)
SYRACUSE +6 ½ over South Florida, IOWA STATE -3 over Kansas State, Tulsa -16 over RICE, Auburn +2 over TENNESSEE
Vindicator needs to go update his status on a well-known social-networking site that’s popular among sports-gamblers...Facebookie!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Vindy's Picks Week 4-2009
INSPECTORS LOWER THE BOOM DURING TOUGH WEEK FOR VINDY’S RESTAURANT
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (UPI)...Just two weeks into its existence, Vindy’s B&B was caught“behind the line of sausage” (which is about to be added to the menu in the form of several foot-long pork links on an elongated plate) by officials from the Clark County Health District, who lowered the health department rating from “A” to “B” after issuing citations for ”Illegal Touching” or “Ineligible Line-Cook Downfield” upon discovering the one person on Vindy’s crew handling food who doesn’t have a valid “green card”! The Weber Kid got a few demerits too for “slime on the Gatorade bucket nozzles”. There was also some staff turnover in wake of the inspection as a waiter was cut after he drew multiple personal-foul calls for “roughing the cashier” and “late hit” after giving an extra shove to a patron who was already outta’ the restaurant! Adding insult to injury was an unexpected visit by Hell’s Kitchen chef Gordon Ramsey, who made such comments as “You call this a #$!&%@*!! pancake block???!!!! You’re !@@(^%#@!! bookie can make a better $!!#(#$@!” pancake block than this!!!”
Vindicator avoided the usual Week Three debauchery, going a harmless 10-10 (32-22, .592), but with 22 (count ‘em, 22!) games on tap this time, we’re feeling the need to change the pace by calling to the bench and trotting out Sarah Boyle, who lines up in the Wildcat to take the direct snap for...
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 4 FORECAST
(“Tailgate-tested, tailgate approved” [OK, it was Vindy’s own tailgate])
THURS. SEPT. 24
SOUTH CAROLINA over #4 Mississippi taking 3: The Poultry opened 2007 with six straight-up wins in seven tries and five in seven last year (and coulda’ been 7-0 with a couple breaks). One of the Rebels four losses in ‘08 came vs. the Gamecocks. Carolina has beaten the line three times to-date this year (2-1 SU). Spurrier’s fielding a very young team this season, at least at the skill positions, but hey, it almost got by Joja’. We wouldn’t be totally shocked by an upset. In fact, let’s call it...Gamecocks 23 Ole Miss 21
SAT. SEPT. 25
#1 Florida over KENTUCKY giving 22: First of four games away from the Swamp in six weeks for UF, who actually gets a rest after this one. Gators humiliated the Wildcats 63-5 last season, but while winning the last five outright, have also gone just 3-2 ATS. Kentucky returns just four defensive starters and is on 6-10 ATS slide against other SEC clubs, but has gone 7-4 ATS as a home dog. Tim Tea-Garden did not get a score thru the air for the first time in over two seasons. That’ll change here....Flu-rida? 44 Kentucky 20
Texas-El Paso over #2 TEXAS taking 36: ‘Horns won 42-13 in 2008. UTEP hosts upstart Houston next. Like Vindy’s alma mater, Texas has not been prone to crushing the competition, instead simply being satisfied with a victory. Being in the #2 hole affords the ‘Horns that mentality....Steers 40 Texas El-Pastrami 10
#3 ALABAMA over Arkansas giving 17 : Hogs have covered last three in Tuscaloosa, but are generally a 50-50 proposition vs. the conference. Razorbacks need to sure up the pass protection after yielding 46 sacks last year... Tide 27 Pigs 7
Iowa over #5 PENN STATE taking 9 1/2 : We almost “locked” Iowa here. Oddly, Lions have beaten the Hawkeyes just once in the past seven years. Iowa’s covered 4 of last 5 vs. State, including the only loss PSU would suffer in 2008. All four of Iowa’s losses came by 5 or less last season. Lions just 15-11 ATS giving points at Beaver stadium. Hawkeyes were Vindy’s darkhorse pick to win the Big Tenuous conference. Just win, baby!...Lions 13 Iowa 10
#6 California over OREGON giving 5 1/2: Bears have fired up the scoreboard for more than 50 twice already and covered last three tries vs. the Mallards. Decoys are 21-6 SU on the Pond and have a seeming “gimme” vs. Wazzou next, but Cal hosts USC after this one. Drakes have committed 8 turnovers through 3 games. Bears finished 2008 at +15 in turnover ratio and have bested the Ducks three years running...Berkeley 27 Oregon 20
#7 Louisiana State over MISSISSIPPI STATE giving 13 1/2 : This got a brief look for lock. MSU floundering thru a 2-6 ATS spiral, but upset Vandy last week. Bengals are dismal facing the rest of the SEC, but have brought home the money in six of last seven against the Bulldogs, winning by an average of 42-6 (other than last year’s 10-point victory in Baton Rouge, laying 24). Safety and reliever for the Bengals national title baseball squad Chad Jones had two picks in win over the Ragin’ Cajuns. He also had 3 K’s and hit a batter!...LSU 24 MSU 7
#8 Boise State over BOWLING GREEN giving 17: Broncos had a pair of 100-yard rushers and two scoring plays of 60 or more yards in winning cover at Fresno, but themselves gave up three TD runs of 60+ to Ryan Matthews on his way to 234 yards on the ground. Falcons tend to be more pass-heavy. State won 20-7 last year but had Oregon on-deck at the time. Boise’s obviously already dispatched the Ducks. Bowling Green is 2-1 ATS and the one loss accounted Vindy’s only “best bet” in Week Three. Falcons have 7 covers in last 8 as home dogs, but other than this year’s opener vs. Troy, ya gotta’ go back to November 2003 to find last time Bee Gees were in that role...Boise 40 BGU 20
#9 Miami over #11 VIRGINIA TECH giving 2 ½ : Hokies lost 16-14 last year, but have 7 covers in 8 tries. Third ACC game already for Miami, who had been terrible ATS in conference play, but has two wins and covers this season. ‘Canes QB Jacory Harris has the hot hand. We’ll stay with the surging Pelicans...Miami 24 VT 17
#10 Oklahoma: IDLE (next @ Miami)
#12 USC over Washington State giving 46 : Wazzou entered the year on a 3-0 spread-win run, covering two hefty lines in losses and beating UDUB outright, getting about a touchdown. But unlike their Apple State brethren in Seattle, Coogs have shown no sign of improving on last year’s 2-11 SU campaign, losing by 26 at home to Stanford and by 18 to shaky Hawaii squad on neutral turf, before beating Southern Methadone U.in OT last week. Troy visits Berkeley next week, but we think the Trojans regain some composure here....USC 48 Wazzou 0
Illinois over #13 OHIO STATE taking 14 : Last three years, the bouts between these two have been decided by 7, 7 and 10. Illini off a bye week and have just one winning SU season under Coach Zook. Turnover-margin could be the key for the Buckeyes with Illini losing 6 of 7 games last year in which they were -1 or -2 in turnovers. State now just 4-8 ATS laying points at the Shoe the past two-plus seasons. UI on 1-5 ATS slide back to 2008...OSU 29 Illini 17
#14 CINCINNATI over Fresno State giving 16 : We gave some solid consideration for lock here. Another tough outing for Fresno, who travels again after letting Boise pull away late to get the cover in Bulldogs’ 17-point loss. Wisconsin and Boise were both younger on at least one side of the ball than Fresno. Not so with the Bearkats. FSU West beat Rutgers last year on the Jersey Turnpike, but that Knights squad dropped its first five FBS games straight up...Cincy 38 Fresno 17
#15 Texas Christian over CLEMSON taking 2 : Tigers are 3-0 ATS this season, yet just 2-5 vs. non-conference teams the past two years. Toads are 8-5 ATS vs. non-conference and have only a pair of SU losses to BCS conference schools (Texas and Oklahoma). With BYU and Utah fallen, Frogs get to carry the Mountain Best banner toward a BCS bowl...Horny Toads 20 Tigers 17
Grambling @ #16 OKLAHOMA STATE: No line.
#17 HOUSTON over Texas Tech giving 1: First meeting in over a decade. Tech was 11-2 SU last year, but just 5-5-1 against the number (thus Vindy’s nightmare).Coogs got a bye following the upset of Oklahoma State and this has shootout written all over it. Hope Coach Sumlin isn’t still miffed over that whole “lock of da’ week” thing from Week Two!...Houston 45 The Boogie Man 42
#18 FLORIDA STATE over South Florida giving 14 1/2: Yeah, five BYU turnovers helped, but it seems the ‘Noles are done sulking over loss to Miami. Bulls’ season just took a major downturn with the loss of QB Matt Grothe. First challenge of the year for USF, who had beaten only a pair of double-A teams and Sun Belt’s Western Kentucky, who fell last week to I-AA Central Arkansas...Injuns 35 USF 16
Colorado State over #19 BYU taking 15 : LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Break up the Rams! On the strength of opening road upset over the Buffaloes, Colorado State has posted three wins, all as dogs, and lost a shootout to the Cougars last season. With BCS talk done, Coogs can get back to usual run to post-season berth in Sin City. State’s been a more reliable wager at home than away, but...Mormons 30 CSU 24
#20 KANSAS over Southern Miss giving 13 1/2 : Golden Eagles own three outright victories, but no spread wins this year. SoMiss went 3-1 ATS getting points on the road in 2008, but one of those came at Arkansas State and another came vs. very wobbly Auburn team. Jayhawks now 11-1 ATS as home faves. Duke actually led 7-0 midway thru the first quarter last week vs. KU. Unless Reesing goes down with an injury, two scores looks doable...Jayhawks 34 Eagles 17
Arizona State over #21 GEORGIA taking 12 1/2 : Where in the world did the vaunted Joja’ D go after holding Oklahoma State to 24 points???!!! ‘Dawgs and Hogs combined for 193 penalty yards, yet finished with a combined offensive yardage total over the 1K mark! Final totals on Georgia’s last two games have been 78 and 93! Sun Devils have averaged 44 ppg thru their first two (albeit vs. the C-listers). Track meet...Joja’ 35 ASU 33
GEORGIA TECH over #22 North Carolina giving 2 1/2 : Against Miami, the Bees D went quietly back to the hive in the second half for the second straight game. Tech 0-2 ATS thus far and haven’t covered last five vs. the ‘Heels (including last year’s 28-7 loss). Meanwhile, Carolina’s covered five straight vs. ranked teams, including three outright wins in ‘08. Somebody wanted the total to go “under 54" in the Tech-Miami game. The game finished at 50 courtesy of two missed Miami FGs and a procedure call that made the Jackets go for 1 instead of 2 following its own 4th Quarter score. Bees have gone 18-5 SU at home since start of 2006. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me, twice...uh...won’t get fooled again (we think we heard a president say that once!). Fool me a third time...it’s “Get the RAID”!...Wreck 19 UNC 13
#23 MICHIGAN over Indiana giving 20 1/2: Wolverines did not succumb to the letdown last week vs. EMU and appear to have the rushing game in fine form. Hoosiers have three victories in three tries this year (2-0 ATS) and could end up bowl-eligible by season’s end, but have gone 7-11 ATS as road doggies. Indy last faced Big Blue in 2006's 34-3 Michigan win in Bloomington and has exactly one winning SU season and one winning spread season this decade despite being nearly even in turnover ratio the past two years. Michigan had been on 11-4-1 spread run vs. the rest of the conference before last year’s 2-6...UM 38 UI 13
#24 Washington over STANFORD taking 7: Cardinal’s covered four of last five vs. UDUB and can relate to the post-USC-upset mode. Trees suffered a 38-36 home loss to TCU the week after dropping the Trojans in 2007. Stanford got the cover as a 6-point dog. How will the Sled Dogs handle their success going on the conference road? Steve Sarkisian has UDUB believing in itself....Huskies 23 Trees 20
#25 NEBRASKA over Louisiana-Lafayette giving 26 : Two turnovers killed the Huskers in last minute, one-point loss during the field-goal fest at Virginia Tech, but Children of the Corn should have no problem whacking their third Sun Belt foe in last four games....Big Red 41 UL-Lafayette 9
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
Checking out this week’s menu at the B&B, we find...A quad of dishes for the primadonnas in the family...”The Terrell Owens”, The Randy Moss”, “The Keyshawn Johnson” and the “Ocho Cinco”....all consisting of...hotdogs and whine! The All-Out Blitz”...the entire wait-staff brings everything they got to your table! And if you’re thirsty, try a nice, piping hot “Under the Salary Cappucino” (caution: this one may necessitate cutting or trading a person your table to keep it affordable!)
Following the Vols’ loss to the Gators, there was no auditory evidence of Lane Kiffin singing “Rocky Top”, though neighbors in Knoxville say it might have been the coach belting out the Beatles’ “Rocky Raccoon” and select tunes from Rocky Horror Picture Show! (And we’re guessing mere 10-point victory didn’t exactly leave Urban Meyer crooning “We Will Rock You”!)
Bears LB Brian Urlacher has been lost for the season with an injury. Not to worry, Chicago signed Aretha Franklin’s presidential inauguration hat to a one-year contract! BTW, the headgear was credited with four tackles and half-a-sack in Bears’ 17-14 over the Steelers last Sunday!)!
Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Awards, noting the award should’ve gone to Beyonce, who was also nominated in the Best Female Video category for “Single Ladies”. Hey! We know that one. The lyrics go “If ya liked it, then ya shoulda’ put a Super Bowl ring on it.”, right???!!
This spring, the Dolphins renamed their home park to Landshark Stadium as part of the partnership with Jimmy Buffett. In related news, the Detroit Lions and the Oakland Raiders have also gone SNL-retro and changed the monikers of their gridiron venues to Roseanne Roseannadanna Field and Coneheads Park, respectively (with the commensurate concessionaire motto of “consume mass quantities”!). Be sure to stop by the Samurai Deli for a Schwetty Wiener!
Michael Phelps: Part Three- Phelps passed up an August audience at the Vatican to reportedly rest up for an upcoming race. We think he simply backed out after learning the rendevous was to be with a pope, not a pipe! His teammates picked up his slack to win gold at the world championships in the 400-meter freestyle relay. Coulda’ been the hit he stopped to take in the final turn of his part of the relay...just a thought! In July, a medical marijuana facility in the City of Angels was ablaze in a big way. Upon hearing the news, Michael selflessly hopped a jet, flew across the country and dashed into the burning building to...uh... “look for folks trapped inside”! Come to think of it...so did Ricky Williams! Following a comment made by the president related to bed-wetting over healthcare reform, Mike took up residence in our nation’s capitol because all he heard Obama say was “...going into September, everybody in Washington gets weed!”
Last week, Las Vegas Oscar Goodman let it be known he was considering a run for governor next year. Earlier, the Las Vegas mayor actually discussed the possibility with Jesse Ventura, who did so successfully running as “The Body”. We figure Hizzoner, a reputed former mob lawyer, will make a gubernatorial run campaigning as Oscar “Hide Da’ Body” Goodman! (OK, wrestling is a stretch as a “sport”. Work with me here!)
Black Shirt: goes this week to Oregon safety John Boyett for snaring an INT at his own 5-yard line to keep the final margin at 7, preserving a forecast W for Vindy.
“Wish I Had That One Back”: We’d like to rescind our pick of Joja’ Tech over Miami after noting Bees’ vulnerability to the big pass play and pass-catching prowess of ‘Canes WR Travis Benjamin.
“Locked in a Box?”: The Kansas Jayhawks hung enough points on Duke to bump the lock record to 2-1 (.667).
Shoppe Talk: The Cattle of Texas hang around with their third straight forecast loss. Joining them...the team they failed to cover against...(GASP!) Texas Tech (0-1, but now 2-11 back to last season!). We’re also getting a cloth calendar and stuffing the crap outta’ Thursday nights (1-3)!
Vindy’s Week 4 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-1 Season: 5-7 (.417)
Rutgers -2 ½ MARYLAND, Buffalo +2 ½ over TEMPLE, Vanderbilt -8 over RICE, UL-Monroe +4 over FLA ATLANTIC
Until next week...”No shirt, no shoes, no spreads.”
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (UPI)...Just two weeks into its existence, Vindy’s B&B was caught“behind the line of sausage” (which is about to be added to the menu in the form of several foot-long pork links on an elongated plate) by officials from the Clark County Health District, who lowered the health department rating from “A” to “B” after issuing citations for ”Illegal Touching” or “Ineligible Line-Cook Downfield” upon discovering the one person on Vindy’s crew handling food who doesn’t have a valid “green card”! The Weber Kid got a few demerits too for “slime on the Gatorade bucket nozzles”. There was also some staff turnover in wake of the inspection as a waiter was cut after he drew multiple personal-foul calls for “roughing the cashier” and “late hit” after giving an extra shove to a patron who was already outta’ the restaurant! Adding insult to injury was an unexpected visit by Hell’s Kitchen chef Gordon Ramsey, who made such comments as “You call this a #$!&%@*!! pancake block???!!!! You’re !@@(^%#@!! bookie can make a better $!!#(#$@!” pancake block than this!!!”
Vindicator avoided the usual Week Three debauchery, going a harmless 10-10 (32-22, .592), but with 22 (count ‘em, 22!) games on tap this time, we’re feeling the need to change the pace by calling to the bench and trotting out Sarah Boyle, who lines up in the Wildcat to take the direct snap for...
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 4 FORECAST
(“Tailgate-tested, tailgate approved” [OK, it was Vindy’s own tailgate])
THURS. SEPT. 24
SOUTH CAROLINA over #4 Mississippi taking 3: The Poultry opened 2007 with six straight-up wins in seven tries and five in seven last year (and coulda’ been 7-0 with a couple breaks). One of the Rebels four losses in ‘08 came vs. the Gamecocks. Carolina has beaten the line three times to-date this year (2-1 SU). Spurrier’s fielding a very young team this season, at least at the skill positions, but hey, it almost got by Joja’. We wouldn’t be totally shocked by an upset. In fact, let’s call it...Gamecocks 23 Ole Miss 21
SAT. SEPT. 25
#1 Florida over KENTUCKY giving 22: First of four games away from the Swamp in six weeks for UF, who actually gets a rest after this one. Gators humiliated the Wildcats 63-5 last season, but while winning the last five outright, have also gone just 3-2 ATS. Kentucky returns just four defensive starters and is on 6-10 ATS slide against other SEC clubs, but has gone 7-4 ATS as a home dog. Tim Tea-Garden did not get a score thru the air for the first time in over two seasons. That’ll change here....Flu-rida? 44 Kentucky 20
Texas-El Paso over #2 TEXAS taking 36: ‘Horns won 42-13 in 2008. UTEP hosts upstart Houston next. Like Vindy’s alma mater, Texas has not been prone to crushing the competition, instead simply being satisfied with a victory. Being in the #2 hole affords the ‘Horns that mentality....Steers 40 Texas El-Pastrami 10
#3 ALABAMA over Arkansas giving 17 : Hogs have covered last three in Tuscaloosa, but are generally a 50-50 proposition vs. the conference. Razorbacks need to sure up the pass protection after yielding 46 sacks last year... Tide 27 Pigs 7
Iowa over #5 PENN STATE taking 9 1/2 : We almost “locked” Iowa here. Oddly, Lions have beaten the Hawkeyes just once in the past seven years. Iowa’s covered 4 of last 5 vs. State, including the only loss PSU would suffer in 2008. All four of Iowa’s losses came by 5 or less last season. Lions just 15-11 ATS giving points at Beaver stadium. Hawkeyes were Vindy’s darkhorse pick to win the Big Tenuous conference. Just win, baby!...Lions 13 Iowa 10
#6 California over OREGON giving 5 1/2: Bears have fired up the scoreboard for more than 50 twice already and covered last three tries vs. the Mallards. Decoys are 21-6 SU on the Pond and have a seeming “gimme” vs. Wazzou next, but Cal hosts USC after this one. Drakes have committed 8 turnovers through 3 games. Bears finished 2008 at +15 in turnover ratio and have bested the Ducks three years running...Berkeley 27 Oregon 20
#7 Louisiana State over MISSISSIPPI STATE giving 13 1/2 : This got a brief look for lock. MSU floundering thru a 2-6 ATS spiral, but upset Vandy last week. Bengals are dismal facing the rest of the SEC, but have brought home the money in six of last seven against the Bulldogs, winning by an average of 42-6 (other than last year’s 10-point victory in Baton Rouge, laying 24). Safety and reliever for the Bengals national title baseball squad Chad Jones had two picks in win over the Ragin’ Cajuns. He also had 3 K’s and hit a batter!...LSU 24 MSU 7
#8 Boise State over BOWLING GREEN giving 17: Broncos had a pair of 100-yard rushers and two scoring plays of 60 or more yards in winning cover at Fresno, but themselves gave up three TD runs of 60+ to Ryan Matthews on his way to 234 yards on the ground. Falcons tend to be more pass-heavy. State won 20-7 last year but had Oregon on-deck at the time. Boise’s obviously already dispatched the Ducks. Bowling Green is 2-1 ATS and the one loss accounted Vindy’s only “best bet” in Week Three. Falcons have 7 covers in last 8 as home dogs, but other than this year’s opener vs. Troy, ya gotta’ go back to November 2003 to find last time Bee Gees were in that role...Boise 40 BGU 20
#9 Miami over #11 VIRGINIA TECH giving 2 ½ : Hokies lost 16-14 last year, but have 7 covers in 8 tries. Third ACC game already for Miami, who had been terrible ATS in conference play, but has two wins and covers this season. ‘Canes QB Jacory Harris has the hot hand. We’ll stay with the surging Pelicans...Miami 24 VT 17
#10 Oklahoma: IDLE (next @ Miami)
#12 USC over Washington State giving 46 : Wazzou entered the year on a 3-0 spread-win run, covering two hefty lines in losses and beating UDUB outright, getting about a touchdown. But unlike their Apple State brethren in Seattle, Coogs have shown no sign of improving on last year’s 2-11 SU campaign, losing by 26 at home to Stanford and by 18 to shaky Hawaii squad on neutral turf, before beating Southern Methadone U.in OT last week. Troy visits Berkeley next week, but we think the Trojans regain some composure here....USC 48 Wazzou 0
Illinois over #13 OHIO STATE taking 14 : Last three years, the bouts between these two have been decided by 7, 7 and 10. Illini off a bye week and have just one winning SU season under Coach Zook. Turnover-margin could be the key for the Buckeyes with Illini losing 6 of 7 games last year in which they were -1 or -2 in turnovers. State now just 4-8 ATS laying points at the Shoe the past two-plus seasons. UI on 1-5 ATS slide back to 2008...OSU 29 Illini 17
#14 CINCINNATI over Fresno State giving 16 : We gave some solid consideration for lock here. Another tough outing for Fresno, who travels again after letting Boise pull away late to get the cover in Bulldogs’ 17-point loss. Wisconsin and Boise were both younger on at least one side of the ball than Fresno. Not so with the Bearkats. FSU West beat Rutgers last year on the Jersey Turnpike, but that Knights squad dropped its first five FBS games straight up...Cincy 38 Fresno 17
#15 Texas Christian over CLEMSON taking 2 : Tigers are 3-0 ATS this season, yet just 2-5 vs. non-conference teams the past two years. Toads are 8-5 ATS vs. non-conference and have only a pair of SU losses to BCS conference schools (Texas and Oklahoma). With BYU and Utah fallen, Frogs get to carry the Mountain Best banner toward a BCS bowl...Horny Toads 20 Tigers 17
Grambling @ #16 OKLAHOMA STATE: No line.
#17 HOUSTON over Texas Tech giving 1: First meeting in over a decade. Tech was 11-2 SU last year, but just 5-5-1 against the number (thus Vindy’s nightmare).Coogs got a bye following the upset of Oklahoma State and this has shootout written all over it. Hope Coach Sumlin isn’t still miffed over that whole “lock of da’ week” thing from Week Two!...Houston 45 The Boogie Man 42
#18 FLORIDA STATE over South Florida giving 14 1/2: Yeah, five BYU turnovers helped, but it seems the ‘Noles are done sulking over loss to Miami. Bulls’ season just took a major downturn with the loss of QB Matt Grothe. First challenge of the year for USF, who had beaten only a pair of double-A teams and Sun Belt’s Western Kentucky, who fell last week to I-AA Central Arkansas...Injuns 35 USF 16
Colorado State over #19 BYU taking 15 : LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Break up the Rams! On the strength of opening road upset over the Buffaloes, Colorado State has posted three wins, all as dogs, and lost a shootout to the Cougars last season. With BCS talk done, Coogs can get back to usual run to post-season berth in Sin City. State’s been a more reliable wager at home than away, but...Mormons 30 CSU 24
#20 KANSAS over Southern Miss giving 13 1/2 : Golden Eagles own three outright victories, but no spread wins this year. SoMiss went 3-1 ATS getting points on the road in 2008, but one of those came at Arkansas State and another came vs. very wobbly Auburn team. Jayhawks now 11-1 ATS as home faves. Duke actually led 7-0 midway thru the first quarter last week vs. KU. Unless Reesing goes down with an injury, two scores looks doable...Jayhawks 34 Eagles 17
Arizona State over #21 GEORGIA taking 12 1/2 : Where in the world did the vaunted Joja’ D go after holding Oklahoma State to 24 points???!!! ‘Dawgs and Hogs combined for 193 penalty yards, yet finished with a combined offensive yardage total over the 1K mark! Final totals on Georgia’s last two games have been 78 and 93! Sun Devils have averaged 44 ppg thru their first two (albeit vs. the C-listers). Track meet...Joja’ 35 ASU 33
GEORGIA TECH over #22 North Carolina giving 2 1/2 : Against Miami, the Bees D went quietly back to the hive in the second half for the second straight game. Tech 0-2 ATS thus far and haven’t covered last five vs. the ‘Heels (including last year’s 28-7 loss). Meanwhile, Carolina’s covered five straight vs. ranked teams, including three outright wins in ‘08. Somebody wanted the total to go “under 54" in the Tech-Miami game. The game finished at 50 courtesy of two missed Miami FGs and a procedure call that made the Jackets go for 1 instead of 2 following its own 4th Quarter score. Bees have gone 18-5 SU at home since start of 2006. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me, twice...uh...won’t get fooled again (we think we heard a president say that once!). Fool me a third time...it’s “Get the RAID”!...Wreck 19 UNC 13
#23 MICHIGAN over Indiana giving 20 1/2: Wolverines did not succumb to the letdown last week vs. EMU and appear to have the rushing game in fine form. Hoosiers have three victories in three tries this year (2-0 ATS) and could end up bowl-eligible by season’s end, but have gone 7-11 ATS as road doggies. Indy last faced Big Blue in 2006's 34-3 Michigan win in Bloomington and has exactly one winning SU season and one winning spread season this decade despite being nearly even in turnover ratio the past two years. Michigan had been on 11-4-1 spread run vs. the rest of the conference before last year’s 2-6...UM 38 UI 13
#24 Washington over STANFORD taking 7: Cardinal’s covered four of last five vs. UDUB and can relate to the post-USC-upset mode. Trees suffered a 38-36 home loss to TCU the week after dropping the Trojans in 2007. Stanford got the cover as a 6-point dog. How will the Sled Dogs handle their success going on the conference road? Steve Sarkisian has UDUB believing in itself....Huskies 23 Trees 20
#25 NEBRASKA over Louisiana-Lafayette giving 26 : Two turnovers killed the Huskers in last minute, one-point loss during the field-goal fest at Virginia Tech, but Children of the Corn should have no problem whacking their third Sun Belt foe in last four games....Big Red 41 UL-Lafayette 9
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
Checking out this week’s menu at the B&B, we find...A quad of dishes for the primadonnas in the family...”The Terrell Owens”, The Randy Moss”, “The Keyshawn Johnson” and the “Ocho Cinco”....all consisting of...hotdogs and whine! The All-Out Blitz”...the entire wait-staff brings everything they got to your table! And if you’re thirsty, try a nice, piping hot “Under the Salary Cappucino” (caution: this one may necessitate cutting or trading a person your table to keep it affordable!)
Following the Vols’ loss to the Gators, there was no auditory evidence of Lane Kiffin singing “Rocky Top”, though neighbors in Knoxville say it might have been the coach belting out the Beatles’ “Rocky Raccoon” and select tunes from Rocky Horror Picture Show! (And we’re guessing mere 10-point victory didn’t exactly leave Urban Meyer crooning “We Will Rock You”!)
Bears LB Brian Urlacher has been lost for the season with an injury. Not to worry, Chicago signed Aretha Franklin’s presidential inauguration hat to a one-year contract! BTW, the headgear was credited with four tackles and half-a-sack in Bears’ 17-14 over the Steelers last Sunday!)!
Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Awards, noting the award should’ve gone to Beyonce, who was also nominated in the Best Female Video category for “Single Ladies”. Hey! We know that one. The lyrics go “If ya liked it, then ya shoulda’ put a Super Bowl ring on it.”, right???!!
This spring, the Dolphins renamed their home park to Landshark Stadium as part of the partnership with Jimmy Buffett. In related news, the Detroit Lions and the Oakland Raiders have also gone SNL-retro and changed the monikers of their gridiron venues to Roseanne Roseannadanna Field and Coneheads Park, respectively (with the commensurate concessionaire motto of “consume mass quantities”!). Be sure to stop by the Samurai Deli for a Schwetty Wiener!
Michael Phelps: Part Three- Phelps passed up an August audience at the Vatican to reportedly rest up for an upcoming race. We think he simply backed out after learning the rendevous was to be with a pope, not a pipe! His teammates picked up his slack to win gold at the world championships in the 400-meter freestyle relay. Coulda’ been the hit he stopped to take in the final turn of his part of the relay...just a thought! In July, a medical marijuana facility in the City of Angels was ablaze in a big way. Upon hearing the news, Michael selflessly hopped a jet, flew across the country and dashed into the burning building to...uh... “look for folks trapped inside”! Come to think of it...so did Ricky Williams! Following a comment made by the president related to bed-wetting over healthcare reform, Mike took up residence in our nation’s capitol because all he heard Obama say was “...going into September, everybody in Washington gets weed!”
Last week, Las Vegas Oscar Goodman let it be known he was considering a run for governor next year. Earlier, the Las Vegas mayor actually discussed the possibility with Jesse Ventura, who did so successfully running as “The Body”. We figure Hizzoner, a reputed former mob lawyer, will make a gubernatorial run campaigning as Oscar “Hide Da’ Body” Goodman! (OK, wrestling is a stretch as a “sport”. Work with me here!)
Black Shirt: goes this week to Oregon safety John Boyett for snaring an INT at his own 5-yard line to keep the final margin at 7, preserving a forecast W for Vindy.
“Wish I Had That One Back”: We’d like to rescind our pick of Joja’ Tech over Miami after noting Bees’ vulnerability to the big pass play and pass-catching prowess of ‘Canes WR Travis Benjamin.
“Locked in a Box?”: The Kansas Jayhawks hung enough points on Duke to bump the lock record to 2-1 (.667).
Shoppe Talk: The Cattle of Texas hang around with their third straight forecast loss. Joining them...the team they failed to cover against...(GASP!) Texas Tech (0-1, but now 2-11 back to last season!). We’re also getting a cloth calendar and stuffing the crap outta’ Thursday nights (1-3)!
Vindy’s Week 4 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-1 Season: 5-7 (.417)
Rutgers -2 ½ MARYLAND, Buffalo +2 ½ over TEMPLE, Vanderbilt -8 over RICE, UL-Monroe +4 over FLA ATLANTIC
Until next week...”No shirt, no shoes, no spreads.”
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Vindy's Picks Week 3-2009
PREZ COMMENT LEADS TO ANOTHER “BEER SUMMIT”
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (ITAR-Tass)...Apparently forgetting the fallout from his previous utterance of the phrase, President Obama let it be known he thought the Weber Kid “acted stupidly” selecting Oklahoma State, not only laying 15 ½ points, but also as his “lock of da’ week” selection over Houston, who upset the Cowboys this past weekend. Obama later said he could’ve “calibrated those words more carefully...again!” Vindy, in fact, was accused in many sectors of “conference-profiling” (C-USA). The White House subsequently conducted its second “beer-summit” since July. Vindy, the offended Houston coach Kevin Sumlin, the Commander-in-Chief and Vice President Joe Biden, who as former senator in Delaware, Vindy’s one time home, was there in support of the lambasted forecaster, knocked back a few brewskis. Observers of the event say Vindy got a tour of the White House as did Coach Sumlin, and the two adversaries got a little time alone together before Obama, taking advantage of his Windy City ties, led the group in an SNL-like toast to “Da’ Bears!” The President opted for Bud Light, while the Weber Kid “went all international on his NCAA butt” with a Schneider Weiss German wheat brew, but Sumlin settled for a near-beer because of “tomorrow’s 4:30 AM practice start time”! Vin mumbled “What a wuss.”, but as the Cougars O-line, also on-hand, closed in, our fab forecaster quickly retreated, noting “...Uh...What a wuss I am...for not being able to get up that early to go to the sportsbook!” There was no reported tension, yet no apologies were publicly offered.
The Sin City Soothsayer continued his decent start, going a nifty 13-6 (22-12, .647) in Week Two and hopes to avoid the traditional Week Three disaster by baffling the bookies again with parlor tricks and shiny baubles! By the way, Congressman Joe Wilson interrupted the aforementioned meeting by blurting out “You lie!” after Vindicator said illegal immigrants would not benefit directly from....
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 3 FORECAST
THURS. SEPT. 17
#14 Georgia Tech over #20 MIAMI taking 4: Bees blew a second-quarter 24-zippo lead to miss the spread win vs. Clemson and hung the second Thursday night forecast L on Vindy on his three opportunities to-date. Tech yielded scoring passes of 63, 9 and 77 in the near SU loss. ‘Canes receiver Travis Benjamin racked up 128 yards and a TD in Labor Day win over FSU, who stopped at Miami’s goal line late... Tech 24 Miami 20.
FRI. SEPT. 18
#10 Boise State over FRESNO STATE giving 7 1/2: Broncos are young on both sides of the ball, but seem to be carrying on the Boise State tradition. Not sure Bulldogs can keep up after tanking a 21-17 lead after three quarters at Wisconsin before falling in double-OT. Fresno quarterback Ryan Colburn threw for four scores, but also for three picks. FSU won SU seven times, but covered only twice in all of 2008...Broncos 20 FSU 10
SAT. SEPT. 19
#1 FLORIDA over Tennessee giving 29: Vols new head coach Kiffin uttered some preseason falsehoods regarding Urban Meyer in an alleged effort to “excite” fans and alumni. Call us crazy, but we think the Gators are the last team ya wanna’ provide with bulletin board material. In its last visit to the Swamp, UT lost in a 59-20 beatdown led by Tim T-Square. Florida’s covered 11 of last 13 at home... Florida 52 Rocky Toppled 20
#2 TEXAS over Texas Tech giving 17 1/2: Uh....that screaming you hear is the result of recurring night terrors Vin has been experiencing following the onset of PTSD just a couple months ago, well-after last season’s trauma at the hands of the Red Raiders, who entered the bowls with just one forecast win in 10 tries. Tech pulled off the last minute stunner that would be only blemish on Steers’ record last season. Think the 'Horns didn’t circle this one???!!!...Steers 41 Raiders 20
WASHINGTON over #3 Southern Cal taking 20 1/2: Huskies were horrible 1-5 ATS last year as home dogs, but have shown some promise this season with close loss to LSU and 19-point win over Idaho. Sled Dogs may also get a few extra pointers from head coach Steve Sarkisian, who had previously been Trojans’ OC. Men of Troy not real impressive ATS vs. rest of PAC-10 last 3 years (10-16-1), have one cover in last four vs. UDUB and could be drained after tough last second victory at Da’ ‘Shoe....USC 31 UDUB 13
North Texas over #4 ALABAMA taking 35: Tide now 4-8 against the line laying points at home under Nick Saban. Alabama’s appealing NCAA penalties requiring forfeiture of 21 victories from 2005, 2006 and 2007 as the result of players using their scholarships to get free textbooks for other students (like that’s a bad thing?!). That’s still more 14 wins than North Texas had combined over that period! Mean Green hasn’t topped four ATS wins since grabbing 7 in 2004, but have a pair already this year with a victory over Ball State and an OT loss to Ohio....’Bama 38 North Texas 7
Southeast Louisiana @ #5 (tie) MISSISSIPPI: No line.
Temple over #5 (tie) PENN STATE taking 29: Owls 0-3 SU and ATS last three vs. the Lions and Temple’s only match this season resulted in outright loss to I-AA Villanova. Lions 0-fer-2 ATS thus far, allowing Akron and Syracuse to hang around long enough to beat the line. Playing possum for next week’s game vs. Iowa? Hawaiian volcano Mauna Kea has been voted the next site for Earth’s largest telescope. The visual device will “see 13 billion light years away and get a glimpse into the earliest years of the universe.”...Hey, look....there’s Joe Pa as a freshman at Brown!!!! State hasn’t shown the killer instinct thus far...Lions 34 Owls 7
Florida State over #7 BYU taking 7 1/2: We recognize FCS Jacksonville State is led by a former LSU quarterback, but ‘Noles finally erased a 9-7 deficit with 35 seconds to play. State’s senior-heavy defense didn’t get it done vs. Miami and FSU may not hit the scoreboard against Coogs counterparts. Then again, Injuns could be over the post-loss-to-arch-rival funk and come to play....BYU 27 FSU 24
#8 California over MINNESOTA giving 12: Only four opponents scored fewer than 20 points vs. the Gophers last season. Orange scored exactly 20 and Air Force was held to 13 in Week Two. Minny on 4-2 run against the number when facing ranked teams. Cal recorded just it’s second ATS win laying double-digits vs. non-conference teams in nine tries, pounding Maryland in the opener. Bears would’ve been bigger faves this week, but half the first-string is on one of their three mandatory furlough days for this game and had to stay home!...Bears 34 Minny 13
Louisiana-Lafayette over #9 LSU taking 26: With missed cover at UDUB, Bengals on 1-4 ATS slide vs. non-conference teams and are also 0 for their last 3 vs. Fun Belt squads. Wonder if maybe State’s missing former troubled QB Ryan Perilloux, who led Jacksonville State to that near-upset of the Seminoles. Seriously run-heavy Ragin’ Cajuns, off 17-15 of Kansas State, could make it interesting long enough in I’m-Not-Quite-Dead-Yet Valley....LSU 31 UL-Lafayette 7
Toledo over #11 Ohio State taking 20 1/2 (@ Cleveland, OH): Buckeyes off the heartbreaking loss to USC after controlling most of the game and are just 2-3 ATS vs. MAC teams the past three seasons. Toledo bashed Colorado last week, forcing Buffs head coach Dan Hawkins to replace son, QB Cody Hawkins, with MLB relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins this week against Wyoming!...OSU 23 Rockets 6
#12 OKLAHOMA over Tulsa giving 16 1/2: Golden Hurricane won’t be an easy out here and covered its last trip to Norman (2005), but wasn’t playing its third consecutive road game at the time either. The offense and rush D have both improved under the tutelage of Todd Graham. BYU dominated TOP vs. Oklahoma, holding the ball for nearly an entire quarter more than the Sooners...and did so behind the passing game. Tulsa’s grabbed 7 covers in last 10 vs. non-CUSA clubs, but is also 4-7getting points away. Okies on 13-4-1 ATS run as home chalk....OK 34 Tulsa 14
#13 VIRGINIA TECH over #19 Nebraska giving 4: Huskers have looked good so far in trashing a pair of Datsun Belt cupcakes, but Hokies got battle-tested right outta’ the chute in loss to ‘Bama after leading the Tide through three quarters. Tech now 3-10 ATS in last Baker’s Dozen vs. non-conference, but a win gets it back in the title hunt and maybe garners back a little respect for ACC conference down on its luck this season...VT 20 Big Red 14
Texas State @ #15 TCU: No line.
#16 OKLAHOMA STATE over Rice giving 32: Second choice for “lock” despite getting burned last week. Hooters entered this year on 7-2 ATS run after racking up 10 straight up victories, but most of that offense is gone and it has shown in losses by 20 and 45 (0-2 ATS) thus far in 2009. Rice hasn’t covered against a Top 25 club since 2004 (and that was facing then-#23 UTEP). Even without the starting State QB, It’s “Smoke ‘Em if Ya Got ‘Em time in Stillwater with Cowpokes off the upset by Houston. ...Okie State 48 White Owls 10
#17 Cincinnati over OREGON STATE taking 1: You’d never know the Bearkats only brought back one defensive returning starter from last year’s bowl-win squad in light of just 15 points allowed to Rutgers and a FG to I-AA Southeast Mizzou State in romps over both teams. They’ll need that kind of effort to contain Beavers’ Rodgers brothers, each of whom scored a TD on UNLV. State, who returns only 3 stoppers itself, is 9-4 as a home fave the past three seasons. Cincy won 34-3 in 2007and has a single spread loss in last 8 tries against non-conference foes (that loss coming at Oklahoma in 2008)....Cincinnati 24 Beavers 20
OREGON over #18 Utah giving 4: Some have called Ducks QB Jeremiah Masoli “Tim Tebow West”,but ending the first half against the Broncos with five (count ‘em, FIVE!) three-and-outs does not speak well of a Mallards team expected to challenge USC in the PAC-10 this year, nor does squeaking by the Big Tenderfoot’s Purdue. Decoys are without the services of senior RB LeGarrette Blount after he went “Tom Cable” on a Boise State instigator post-game. It’s after Labor Day, so we’re just hopin’ the Ducks have the good fashion-sense to not wear the same white unis with feathers they sported in the opener! Utes off to slow (winning, but slow) start and this pair has combined to go 0-4 ATS. Somethin’ has to give...Quack Attack 27 Utah 13
#21 Houston: IDLE (next vs. Texas Tech)
#22 KANSAS over Duke giving 22: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Blue Devils rebounded nicely from opening loss to FCS Champion Richmond to belt Army on the road last week. Points-for went up and points-against went down in Coach Cutliffe’s first year. Duke is just 1-8 ATS in last 9 vs. ranked teams (last faced in 2007) and haven’t big this big a dog since mid-‘07, but has certinly lost by more than this since then. Jayhawks are 8-1 ATS vs. non-Big 12 opponents and will throw a whole lot more than Army did (the ground game’s pretty good too)...Kansas 33 Duke 7
#23 Georgia over ARKANSAS (PK): First meeting since Joja’s 23-20 win between the hedges in 2005. Smallish line suggests Dawgs may be headed for another early demise. Penalties and turnovers nearly cost ‘em the victory vs. South Carolina. A lot of sophomores will return to start in Bobby Petrino’s second season at the Hogs’ helm. Again, referencing Joja’s tendency to win SU and no points to cover here, we like....Joja’ 17 Razorbacks 13
East Carolina over #24 NORTH CAROLINA taking 7 1/2: ‘Heels were lucky to get by UConn in yet-another Carolina game decided by 5 or less and get Joja’ Tech next in ACC opener. Sixteen returning starters and a shipload of returning lettermen have turned in not-real-pirate-worthy results, easing past Appalachian State, then suffering a two-score loss at West Virginia after being giant-killers in 2008. ECU has a lotta’ senior starters and needs to start playing like it...UNC 21 Swashbucklers 18
Eastern Michigan over #25 MICHIGAN taking 24 1/2: This got a look for “lock” too. Is it just your omniscient oracle or has anybody else out there noted this year’s trend of the smaller, in-state rivals rising up to wreak havoc against the bigger division/conference? A very late rally by Big Blue over Notre Dame will keep the alumni off RichRod’s back for a bit, but can the Wolverines get up again to decisively whack the Eagles, who forced Northwestern to boot a 49-yard FG with 11 seconds left to survive? Michigan has already matched the two ATS wins it had all of 2008...Wolverines 27 EMU 10
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
The preceding beer-fest was sponsored by ...Dos Equis..”As the most-interesting man in the world, I don’t gamble on sports often. But when I do...I prefer... Vindy’s Picks. Stay thirsty for spread-wins, my friends!”
By the way, after flubbing the original attempt by speaking one word outta’ order, the president conducted a “do-over” of the Bears toast later that day in the White House Map Room in front of just Commissioner Goodell and a handful of reporters!
Speaking of summits, Obama participated in the “Three Amigos” summit in Guadalajara this summer...and why the president decided to meet with a trio of former Denver Broncos’ wide-receivers about issues in Mexico and Canada is anybody’s guess!
This week’s menu specials at Vindy’s Bet & Breakfast....Bet on how many total number of minutes it will take to make the meal today by ordering the “eggs over/under easy” or how ‘bout trying...“The Option”, for which the ordering customer, upon receipt of the meal, can 1) eat it himself 2) hand it off to another member of his party or 3) pitch it to another customer at a nearby table behind him! And regardless of the choice, it’s guaranteed to produce nothing but the runs!
Tennessee turned the ball over four times in last week’s SU home defeat to UCLA. Given the fact a bunch of players bailed on the team in the off-season, we wonder if the gaffes were mistakes or “mistakes” and if Kiffin might become this year’s Rich Rodriguez.
After knocking off San Diego 35-24 in the AFC Divisional playoff match last season, Troy Polamalu called Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau “the Marlon Brando of our team”. Guess that explains the horse’s head found by Chargers QB Phillip River under his sheets on the morning of that game!
In related news, John Madden will be a consultant to Roger Goodell. Said da’ Commish, “He made us an offer we couldn’t refuse”. Aha! We always suspected the Godfather was John Madden, not that Corleone guy! In light of recent swine flu concerns, the traditional French kiss on both cheeks was recently compared to the “kiss of death”. That explains why the bookies keep laying a smooch on each side of Vindy’s parlay card!
Phelps-Part Deux: Playing this week on Mike’s iPod....Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water! Seems the Olympic swimmer was just augmenting his Beijing gold with a little Acapulco Gold! Vindy’s spies leaked his new agents would be Cheech & Chong. He just may star in a remake of Dracula, who smokes a little of the “herb-superb” before killing his victims, called...”Vlad the Inhaler”. Rumor has it his next endorsement deal is for Baked Lay’s. We heard he took up competitive skateboarding after hearing they spend a lot of time with a half-pipe. Are there plans for a whole new “Be Like Mike” campaign for high school swimmers being photographed while holding bongs (because according to South Carolina police, there’s “no law against that” )! He’s already assured his fans he won’t be a “one-hit wonder”! Part Three next week!
More man-love for the little guys: I-AA James Madison (lost 38-35 in OT at Maryland), Jacksonville State (lost 19-9 at FSU after leading 9-7 in the 4th Quarter), Prairie View (lost 21-18 at New Mexico State) and New Hampshire (23-16 winner at Ball State).
Black Shirt: Goes to Gamecocks LB Eric Norwood, whose 35-yard INT return for TD would be the ATS-deciding score vs. Joja’ and a forecast win for Vindicator. Honorable mention to Trojans teammates K Jordan Congdon, who clanged a 44-yard attempt off the crossbar and P Billy O’Malley for missing a high snap in the end zone that led to safety (a collective 5-point turnaround that kept Ohio State in the game and landed Vindicator’s 13th and final forecast victory of the weekend).
“Locked in a Box?”: The record falls to 1-1 (.500) after the Cowboys fell at home to Houston.
Shoppe Talk: The Texas Longhorns officially open Ye Olde Taxidermy Shoppe this week after consecutive forecast losses! Stuffed Bevo burgers anyone? Anyone?!
Vindy’s Week 3 Best Bets: Last Week: 1-3Season: 2-6 (.250)
UCLA -12 over Kansas State, Bowling Green -3 over MARSHALL, Connecticut +10 over BAYLOR, Middle Tennessee State +6 ½ over MARYLAND
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (ITAR-Tass)...Apparently forgetting the fallout from his previous utterance of the phrase, President Obama let it be known he thought the Weber Kid “acted stupidly” selecting Oklahoma State, not only laying 15 ½ points, but also as his “lock of da’ week” selection over Houston, who upset the Cowboys this past weekend. Obama later said he could’ve “calibrated those words more carefully...again!” Vindy, in fact, was accused in many sectors of “conference-profiling” (C-USA). The White House subsequently conducted its second “beer-summit” since July. Vindy, the offended Houston coach Kevin Sumlin, the Commander-in-Chief and Vice President Joe Biden, who as former senator in Delaware, Vindy’s one time home, was there in support of the lambasted forecaster, knocked back a few brewskis. Observers of the event say Vindy got a tour of the White House as did Coach Sumlin, and the two adversaries got a little time alone together before Obama, taking advantage of his Windy City ties, led the group in an SNL-like toast to “Da’ Bears!” The President opted for Bud Light, while the Weber Kid “went all international on his NCAA butt” with a Schneider Weiss German wheat brew, but Sumlin settled for a near-beer because of “tomorrow’s 4:30 AM practice start time”! Vin mumbled “What a wuss.”, but as the Cougars O-line, also on-hand, closed in, our fab forecaster quickly retreated, noting “...Uh...What a wuss I am...for not being able to get up that early to go to the sportsbook!” There was no reported tension, yet no apologies were publicly offered.
The Sin City Soothsayer continued his decent start, going a nifty 13-6 (22-12, .647) in Week Two and hopes to avoid the traditional Week Three disaster by baffling the bookies again with parlor tricks and shiny baubles! By the way, Congressman Joe Wilson interrupted the aforementioned meeting by blurting out “You lie!” after Vindicator said illegal immigrants would not benefit directly from....
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 3 FORECAST
THURS. SEPT. 17
#14 Georgia Tech over #20 MIAMI taking 4: Bees blew a second-quarter 24-zippo lead to miss the spread win vs. Clemson and hung the second Thursday night forecast L on Vindy on his three opportunities to-date. Tech yielded scoring passes of 63, 9 and 77 in the near SU loss. ‘Canes receiver Travis Benjamin racked up 128 yards and a TD in Labor Day win over FSU, who stopped at Miami’s goal line late... Tech 24 Miami 20.
FRI. SEPT. 18
#10 Boise State over FRESNO STATE giving 7 1/2: Broncos are young on both sides of the ball, but seem to be carrying on the Boise State tradition. Not sure Bulldogs can keep up after tanking a 21-17 lead after three quarters at Wisconsin before falling in double-OT. Fresno quarterback Ryan Colburn threw for four scores, but also for three picks. FSU won SU seven times, but covered only twice in all of 2008...Broncos 20 FSU 10
SAT. SEPT. 19
#1 FLORIDA over Tennessee giving 29: Vols new head coach Kiffin uttered some preseason falsehoods regarding Urban Meyer in an alleged effort to “excite” fans and alumni. Call us crazy, but we think the Gators are the last team ya wanna’ provide with bulletin board material. In its last visit to the Swamp, UT lost in a 59-20 beatdown led by Tim T-Square. Florida’s covered 11 of last 13 at home... Florida 52 Rocky Toppled 20
#2 TEXAS over Texas Tech giving 17 1/2: Uh....that screaming you hear is the result of recurring night terrors Vin has been experiencing following the onset of PTSD just a couple months ago, well-after last season’s trauma at the hands of the Red Raiders, who entered the bowls with just one forecast win in 10 tries. Tech pulled off the last minute stunner that would be only blemish on Steers’ record last season. Think the 'Horns didn’t circle this one???!!!...Steers 41 Raiders 20
WASHINGTON over #3 Southern Cal taking 20 1/2: Huskies were horrible 1-5 ATS last year as home dogs, but have shown some promise this season with close loss to LSU and 19-point win over Idaho. Sled Dogs may also get a few extra pointers from head coach Steve Sarkisian, who had previously been Trojans’ OC. Men of Troy not real impressive ATS vs. rest of PAC-10 last 3 years (10-16-1), have one cover in last four vs. UDUB and could be drained after tough last second victory at Da’ ‘Shoe....USC 31 UDUB 13
North Texas over #4 ALABAMA taking 35: Tide now 4-8 against the line laying points at home under Nick Saban. Alabama’s appealing NCAA penalties requiring forfeiture of 21 victories from 2005, 2006 and 2007 as the result of players using their scholarships to get free textbooks for other students (like that’s a bad thing?!). That’s still more 14 wins than North Texas had combined over that period! Mean Green hasn’t topped four ATS wins since grabbing 7 in 2004, but have a pair already this year with a victory over Ball State and an OT loss to Ohio....’Bama 38 North Texas 7
Southeast Louisiana @ #5 (tie) MISSISSIPPI: No line.
Temple over #5 (tie) PENN STATE taking 29: Owls 0-3 SU and ATS last three vs. the Lions and Temple’s only match this season resulted in outright loss to I-AA Villanova. Lions 0-fer-2 ATS thus far, allowing Akron and Syracuse to hang around long enough to beat the line. Playing possum for next week’s game vs. Iowa? Hawaiian volcano Mauna Kea has been voted the next site for Earth’s largest telescope. The visual device will “see 13 billion light years away and get a glimpse into the earliest years of the universe.”...Hey, look....there’s Joe Pa as a freshman at Brown!!!! State hasn’t shown the killer instinct thus far...Lions 34 Owls 7
Florida State over #7 BYU taking 7 1/2: We recognize FCS Jacksonville State is led by a former LSU quarterback, but ‘Noles finally erased a 9-7 deficit with 35 seconds to play. State’s senior-heavy defense didn’t get it done vs. Miami and FSU may not hit the scoreboard against Coogs counterparts. Then again, Injuns could be over the post-loss-to-arch-rival funk and come to play....BYU 27 FSU 24
#8 California over MINNESOTA giving 12: Only four opponents scored fewer than 20 points vs. the Gophers last season. Orange scored exactly 20 and Air Force was held to 13 in Week Two. Minny on 4-2 run against the number when facing ranked teams. Cal recorded just it’s second ATS win laying double-digits vs. non-conference teams in nine tries, pounding Maryland in the opener. Bears would’ve been bigger faves this week, but half the first-string is on one of their three mandatory furlough days for this game and had to stay home!...Bears 34 Minny 13
Louisiana-Lafayette over #9 LSU taking 26: With missed cover at UDUB, Bengals on 1-4 ATS slide vs. non-conference teams and are also 0 for their last 3 vs. Fun Belt squads. Wonder if maybe State’s missing former troubled QB Ryan Perilloux, who led Jacksonville State to that near-upset of the Seminoles. Seriously run-heavy Ragin’ Cajuns, off 17-15 of Kansas State, could make it interesting long enough in I’m-Not-Quite-Dead-Yet Valley....LSU 31 UL-Lafayette 7
Toledo over #11 Ohio State taking 20 1/2 (@ Cleveland, OH): Buckeyes off the heartbreaking loss to USC after controlling most of the game and are just 2-3 ATS vs. MAC teams the past three seasons. Toledo bashed Colorado last week, forcing Buffs head coach Dan Hawkins to replace son, QB Cody Hawkins, with MLB relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins this week against Wyoming!...OSU 23 Rockets 6
#12 OKLAHOMA over Tulsa giving 16 1/2: Golden Hurricane won’t be an easy out here and covered its last trip to Norman (2005), but wasn’t playing its third consecutive road game at the time either. The offense and rush D have both improved under the tutelage of Todd Graham. BYU dominated TOP vs. Oklahoma, holding the ball for nearly an entire quarter more than the Sooners...and did so behind the passing game. Tulsa’s grabbed 7 covers in last 10 vs. non-CUSA clubs, but is also 4-7getting points away. Okies on 13-4-1 ATS run as home chalk....OK 34 Tulsa 14
#13 VIRGINIA TECH over #19 Nebraska giving 4: Huskers have looked good so far in trashing a pair of Datsun Belt cupcakes, but Hokies got battle-tested right outta’ the chute in loss to ‘Bama after leading the Tide through three quarters. Tech now 3-10 ATS in last Baker’s Dozen vs. non-conference, but a win gets it back in the title hunt and maybe garners back a little respect for ACC conference down on its luck this season...VT 20 Big Red 14
Texas State @ #15 TCU: No line.
#16 OKLAHOMA STATE over Rice giving 32: Second choice for “lock” despite getting burned last week. Hooters entered this year on 7-2 ATS run after racking up 10 straight up victories, but most of that offense is gone and it has shown in losses by 20 and 45 (0-2 ATS) thus far in 2009. Rice hasn’t covered against a Top 25 club since 2004 (and that was facing then-#23 UTEP). Even without the starting State QB, It’s “Smoke ‘Em if Ya Got ‘Em time in Stillwater with Cowpokes off the upset by Houston. ...Okie State 48 White Owls 10
#17 Cincinnati over OREGON STATE taking 1: You’d never know the Bearkats only brought back one defensive returning starter from last year’s bowl-win squad in light of just 15 points allowed to Rutgers and a FG to I-AA Southeast Mizzou State in romps over both teams. They’ll need that kind of effort to contain Beavers’ Rodgers brothers, each of whom scored a TD on UNLV. State, who returns only 3 stoppers itself, is 9-4 as a home fave the past three seasons. Cincy won 34-3 in 2007and has a single spread loss in last 8 tries against non-conference foes (that loss coming at Oklahoma in 2008)....Cincinnati 24 Beavers 20
OREGON over #18 Utah giving 4: Some have called Ducks QB Jeremiah Masoli “Tim Tebow West”,but ending the first half against the Broncos with five (count ‘em, FIVE!) three-and-outs does not speak well of a Mallards team expected to challenge USC in the PAC-10 this year, nor does squeaking by the Big Tenderfoot’s Purdue. Decoys are without the services of senior RB LeGarrette Blount after he went “Tom Cable” on a Boise State instigator post-game. It’s after Labor Day, so we’re just hopin’ the Ducks have the good fashion-sense to not wear the same white unis with feathers they sported in the opener! Utes off to slow (winning, but slow) start and this pair has combined to go 0-4 ATS. Somethin’ has to give...Quack Attack 27 Utah 13
#21 Houston: IDLE (next vs. Texas Tech)
#22 KANSAS over Duke giving 22: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Blue Devils rebounded nicely from opening loss to FCS Champion Richmond to belt Army on the road last week. Points-for went up and points-against went down in Coach Cutliffe’s first year. Duke is just 1-8 ATS in last 9 vs. ranked teams (last faced in 2007) and haven’t big this big a dog since mid-‘07, but has certinly lost by more than this since then. Jayhawks are 8-1 ATS vs. non-Big 12 opponents and will throw a whole lot more than Army did (the ground game’s pretty good too)...Kansas 33 Duke 7
#23 Georgia over ARKANSAS (PK): First meeting since Joja’s 23-20 win between the hedges in 2005. Smallish line suggests Dawgs may be headed for another early demise. Penalties and turnovers nearly cost ‘em the victory vs. South Carolina. A lot of sophomores will return to start in Bobby Petrino’s second season at the Hogs’ helm. Again, referencing Joja’s tendency to win SU and no points to cover here, we like....Joja’ 17 Razorbacks 13
East Carolina over #24 NORTH CAROLINA taking 7 1/2: ‘Heels were lucky to get by UConn in yet-another Carolina game decided by 5 or less and get Joja’ Tech next in ACC opener. Sixteen returning starters and a shipload of returning lettermen have turned in not-real-pirate-worthy results, easing past Appalachian State, then suffering a two-score loss at West Virginia after being giant-killers in 2008. ECU has a lotta’ senior starters and needs to start playing like it...UNC 21 Swashbucklers 18
Eastern Michigan over #25 MICHIGAN taking 24 1/2: This got a look for “lock” too. Is it just your omniscient oracle or has anybody else out there noted this year’s trend of the smaller, in-state rivals rising up to wreak havoc against the bigger division/conference? A very late rally by Big Blue over Notre Dame will keep the alumni off RichRod’s back for a bit, but can the Wolverines get up again to decisively whack the Eagles, who forced Northwestern to boot a 49-yard FG with 11 seconds left to survive? Michigan has already matched the two ATS wins it had all of 2008...Wolverines 27 EMU 10
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
The preceding beer-fest was sponsored by ...Dos Equis..”As the most-interesting man in the world, I don’t gamble on sports often. But when I do...I prefer... Vindy’s Picks. Stay thirsty for spread-wins, my friends!”
By the way, after flubbing the original attempt by speaking one word outta’ order, the president conducted a “do-over” of the Bears toast later that day in the White House Map Room in front of just Commissioner Goodell and a handful of reporters!
Speaking of summits, Obama participated in the “Three Amigos” summit in Guadalajara this summer...and why the president decided to meet with a trio of former Denver Broncos’ wide-receivers about issues in Mexico and Canada is anybody’s guess!
This week’s menu specials at Vindy’s Bet & Breakfast....Bet on how many total number of minutes it will take to make the meal today by ordering the “eggs over/under easy” or how ‘bout trying...“The Option”, for which the ordering customer, upon receipt of the meal, can 1) eat it himself 2) hand it off to another member of his party or 3) pitch it to another customer at a nearby table behind him! And regardless of the choice, it’s guaranteed to produce nothing but the runs!
Tennessee turned the ball over four times in last week’s SU home defeat to UCLA. Given the fact a bunch of players bailed on the team in the off-season, we wonder if the gaffes were mistakes or “mistakes” and if Kiffin might become this year’s Rich Rodriguez.
After knocking off San Diego 35-24 in the AFC Divisional playoff match last season, Troy Polamalu called Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau “the Marlon Brando of our team”. Guess that explains the horse’s head found by Chargers QB Phillip River under his sheets on the morning of that game!
In related news, John Madden will be a consultant to Roger Goodell. Said da’ Commish, “He made us an offer we couldn’t refuse”. Aha! We always suspected the Godfather was John Madden, not that Corleone guy! In light of recent swine flu concerns, the traditional French kiss on both cheeks was recently compared to the “kiss of death”. That explains why the bookies keep laying a smooch on each side of Vindy’s parlay card!
Phelps-Part Deux: Playing this week on Mike’s iPod....Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water! Seems the Olympic swimmer was just augmenting his Beijing gold with a little Acapulco Gold! Vindy’s spies leaked his new agents would be Cheech & Chong. He just may star in a remake of Dracula, who smokes a little of the “herb-superb” before killing his victims, called...”Vlad the Inhaler”. Rumor has it his next endorsement deal is for Baked Lay’s. We heard he took up competitive skateboarding after hearing they spend a lot of time with a half-pipe. Are there plans for a whole new “Be Like Mike” campaign for high school swimmers being photographed while holding bongs (because according to South Carolina police, there’s “no law against that” )! He’s already assured his fans he won’t be a “one-hit wonder”! Part Three next week!
More man-love for the little guys: I-AA James Madison (lost 38-35 in OT at Maryland), Jacksonville State (lost 19-9 at FSU after leading 9-7 in the 4th Quarter), Prairie View (lost 21-18 at New Mexico State) and New Hampshire (23-16 winner at Ball State).
Black Shirt: Goes to Gamecocks LB Eric Norwood, whose 35-yard INT return for TD would be the ATS-deciding score vs. Joja’ and a forecast win for Vindicator. Honorable mention to Trojans teammates K Jordan Congdon, who clanged a 44-yard attempt off the crossbar and P Billy O’Malley for missing a high snap in the end zone that led to safety (a collective 5-point turnaround that kept Ohio State in the game and landed Vindicator’s 13th and final forecast victory of the weekend).
“Locked in a Box?”: The record falls to 1-1 (.500) after the Cowboys fell at home to Houston.
Shoppe Talk: The Texas Longhorns officially open Ye Olde Taxidermy Shoppe this week after consecutive forecast losses! Stuffed Bevo burgers anyone? Anyone?!
Vindy’s Week 3 Best Bets: Last Week: 1-3Season: 2-6 (.250)
UCLA -12 over Kansas State, Bowling Green -3 over MARSHALL, Connecticut +10 over BAYLOR, Middle Tennessee State +6 ½ over MARYLAND
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Vindy's Picks Week 2-2009
NFL SEASON STARTS AMIDST WEBER EATERY GRAND OPENING
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (BBC)...As professional football players start to take the field in earnest and fans enter stadiums around the country to watch games that count in the standings this week, a sign on the door of a small, local shop reads, “Welcome to Vindy’s Bet & Breakfast”. Nope, that’s not a typo. No overnight stays, but patrons can enjoy flapjacks and a cup of Frightenin’ Irish coffee or a tall glass of Syracuse Orange juice while placing their wagers each morning. Think IHOP with a sportsbook. Previewing some of the menu items, we note the 3rd-and-short stack, a blue plate full of pancake blocks, some Arkansas Sooooeeey Pigs-in-a-Blanket with a side of Cleveland Hash Browns and “The Belichick”...any number of dishes made from recipes illegally acquired from videotapes of chefs at other restaurants! Restaurant-goers can keep their options open with “The Peyton Manning” (the customer can change the order at the last minute after quickly looking over the staff in the kitchen!), but should beware of “The Audible” (the chef has the option to change your order just before the server brings it out to you after surveying the people at your table). Truly adventurous eaters can request “The Safety”...what the order really becomes after the original meal is fumbled by the cook in his own kitchen and he falls on it himself or kicks it out the back of the restaurant before anyone else takes possession (By the way, the cook then gets to make whatever he wants from his own 20-yard line without pressure from the receiving customer!). Vindicator said if all goes well with the new endeavor, he plans to campaign for an eventual spot on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” on the Food Network!
Following Week One’s 9-6 (.600) to kick-off the year, Vindy avoids having to go to detention and clap erasers. Meanwhile, principals around the Vegas Valley this week agreed that students not wanting to listen to Obama’s 18-minute “back-to-school” speech could move into the cafeteria, where they would participate in an alternative class assignment, do other homework or improve their vocabulary and literacy skills by reading.....
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 2 FORECAST
(shovel-ready and still awaiting stimulus funds)
THURS. SEPT. 10
#15 GEORGIA TECH over Clemson giving 5: Seven of last ten between these squads have been decided by 10 or less (six of ‘em by 5 or fewer). OK, RB C.J. Spiller returns for Coach Sweeney’s first full campaign at the helm, but Tech’s won four of past five, going 3-2 ATS. Tigers gotta’ do something about last season’s overall minus-20 sack differential. Bees 24 Name That Bowden (oh wait...) 17
SAT. SEPT. 12
#1 FLORIDA over Troy giving 36: Trojan defense made some nice strides last season stopping the run. Unfortunately, the offensive production fell too. UF has had little trouble covering vs. out-of-conference foes in the Swamp (or anywhere else for that matter), going 7-1 ATS in the last 8 and 16-4 against the line since 2004. Troy, as the flagship of the Sun Belt in recent seasons, is an inspirational 5-2 ATS vs. ranked teams over the last three seasons (but lost to a MAC to open 2009). Volunteers up next for UF, but we like...Crocs 52 Troy 10
#2 Texas over WYOMING giving 33 1/2: Sixteen starters return for the Cowpokes, but Wyoming is dismal 4-18-1 against the number the past two seasons, have new faces at head coach and offensive coordinator and have gone 0-fer-four ATS against the Top 25. ‘Horns allowed a meaningless TD to Weeziana-Monroe last week with about three minutes left to give up the backdoor cover. It ain’t that cold in Laramie yet...Steers 45 Wyoming 7
#8 OHIO STATE over #3 Southern Cal taking 7: As always, this week’s Game of Da’ Year. Troy embarrassed State in 35-3 rout last year at the Coliseum. USC is 11-1 ATS in last dozen facing non-PAC-10 opponents. Terrell Pryor showed good touch on most of his passes and for three-quarters, State always seemed to be one step away from blowing it open. SoCal will, however, field bigger and better tacklers on defense than Navy did and contrary to Weber’s Week One analysis, the Sailors did uncharacteristically turn the ball over three times to give more State additional touches on offense. The pressure will be on the USC true freshman QB in his first big game on the road on national TV. That might be enough for the Buckeyes to turn the tables. ESPN will be trying out a 3D broadcast of the game at theaters in LA, Dallas and Columbus. Nice. If it works out, you’ll eventually be able to experience being sacked by a defensive end, catching a bag of peanuts tossed by a vendor in the stands and having cheerleaders fall from the top of da’ pyramid into your lap while shaking their...uh...pom-poms...right in your own livingroom! Let’s hope one of the two teams doesn’t end up being one-dimensional...USC 29 OSU 24
Florida International over #4 ALABAMA taking 34: In Coach Mario Cristobal’s second outing, Golden Panthers beat the line in 8 outta’ 12 and have covered a five of last eight tries against Big Six clubs in the month of September. Might be a letdown spot and too much to ask from Tide facing rising , run-first FIU....’Bama 35 Florida International 7
#5 OKLAHOMA STATE over Houston giving 15 ½: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Cougars D, never a strength to begin with, took a step backward in Kevin Sumlin’s first year, but the offensive production, almost always a positive aspect for the team, increased. State’s gotten the money in 9 of last 11as home chalk. Houston hadn’t squared off against a Top 25 team in over three seasons before meeting...and beating...then-#23 East Carolina (by 17 away) and then-#25 Tulsa at home (by [GASP!] 40!)...Cowboys 45 Coogs 20
#6 Mississippi: IDLE (next vs. SE Louisiana)
#7 PENN STATE over Syracuse giving 28 1/2: Lions won 55-13 last season at the Carrier Dome and ‘Cuse has one cover in six tries against ranked foes over the past two years. New Orange coach Doug Marrone came from the NFL. We know how well that transition works, don’t we??!! Former Blue Devil hoopster Greg Paulus managed to keep his team in the game despite a negative assist-to-turnover ratio by apparently hitting all ten of his free-throws in the OT loss to Minnesota! Happy Valley faithful breathed a sigh of relief after Obama recently reassured them that under his proposals for healthcare reform, he “wouldn’t pull da’ plug on JoePa”!...Lions 42 ‘Cuse 7
#9 Brigham Young over TULANE giving 17 1/2: After getting blasted by Tulsa, Green Wave is carrying a 2-8 spread-loss slide. Tulane is another club that floundered to 2-10 SU record in 2008 and gets starting RB Andre Anderson back from injury (Wave managed decent 4-3 ATS prior to losing him). Tulane brings the A-game for Top 25 opponents, covering last five tries over past three seasons. Coogs just 3-6 ATS vs. non-Mountain Best teams over past two years. Yeah, it’s a letdown spot for the Mormons, but BYU gets a chance to show-off that explosive offense this week...Cougars 40 Green Waifs 10
Eastern Washington @ #10 CAL: No line.
Vanderbilt over #11 LSU taking 14 1/2: Early conference match-up for these two. Bengals have been seriously ugly 8-22-4 ATS facing other SEC squads, while Commodores have been mighty respectable 17-5 getting points on the road and have 18 guys back from team that beat Boston College outright in a bowl last season. Tigers didn’t exactly put the big hurt we predicted on UDUB, yielding almost 500 yards of offense in the 8-point victory...LSU 27 Commodores 13
#12 BOISE STATE over Miami-Ohio giving 36 1/2: Broncos were sloppy, but got the win and the cover against an ineffective Oregon offense. Redhawks coming off opening whitewash loss to Kentucky following last season’s 2-10 disaster. Miami-O plays six of its first seven away. Ugghh!...BSU 48 Miami-Oh, nooooooo 3
Idaho State @ #13 OKLAHOMA: No line.
#14 VIRGINIA TECH over Marshall giving 20 ½: Herd has yet to post more than 4 spread wins in any of Coach Snyder’s four season’s at the helm (and more than four straight-up victories more than once). Marshall is horrible as a dog away from home coming off an SU win and not real impressive getting points on the road altogether (6-15 ATS). Hokies won’t be happy about yielding Tide rally to lose the opener...VT 27 Marshall 0
#16 Texas Christian over VIRGINIA giving 11: We looked at this for “lock”. Toads are down to four returning defensive starters after making seriously-good strides on that side of the ball in 2008, but have lotsa’ lettermen back to provide some depth. TCU was idle in Week One and Cavs have covered seven of last ten getting points at home. Cavs try to rebound on heels of 12-point loss to FCS club William & Mary. Froggies travel cross-country and struggle thru first quarter of first game, then it’s...TCU 28 Virginia 9
#17 Utah over SAN JOSE STATE giving 14: This got major consideration for “lock”. Utes were minus-2 in turnovers and got a fight from in-state rival Aggies. SJSU will open 0-3, but will be in decent shape for WAC play. Per Marc Lawrence’s Playbook.Com, Utah, who has a trip to Eugene on-deck, is 17-3 against the number after playing Utah State. Gotta’ figure opening game jitters are gone for Utah QB Terrence Cain and even if SJSU holds Utah to half what it granted USC and triples its own points-scored, it’s still...Utes 28 Sparse 9
MICHIGAN over #18 Notre Dame taking 3 1/2: Here’s this week’s “no faith” selection and another good candidate for “wish I had it back”. Wolverines just 5-13 ATS the past four-plus seasons vs. non-Big Tepid clubs. While RichRod gets 10 of 11 offensive starters back in his second year as coach, the newbie is....taking snaps under center! UM did hammer Western Michigan team in the opener, while the Catholics pitched the goose-egg vs. pretty good Reno offense. One of the Big Blew’s nine (count ‘em, NINE!) straight-up defeats in ‘08 came in South Bend. A little ball-security this year would go a long way in avenging that loss.... Leprechauns 13 Wolverines 10
CONNECTICUT over #19 North Carolina taking 5: We flipped-flopped a couple times on this one. Third-year head coach Davis gets to work with a seasoned defense, but has a whole new offensive backfield. Huskies just 2-4 ATS last six vs. ranked teams, but are solid 8-2 versus the line in home dog role. Tarheels won it 38-12 last season, laying 7 ½ (and belted Rutgers in NJ taking 6). Sled Dogs brought home Weber’s only “best bet” victory last week, though not decisively. One more thought...UNC was involved in six games decided by 5 or fewer last season...UNC 19 Dogs 16
#20 Miami: IDLE (next vs. Joja’ Tech 9/17)
South Carolina over #21 GEORGIA taking 7: Another early SEC pairing. Games have been decided by a TD or less in four of the last five years (with average margin of 4.25 points). Dawgs have won four of those outright, but covered just one. Joja’ owns one winning spread season in past five despite DD SU victories in six of last seven years. Gamehens have a winning spread season in last seven. Something has to give. Pick yer poison. Even though, the Wolfpack had a TD pass dropped in the end zone and another deflected late in loss to SC, we’ll take KFC and da’ points. BTW, Sandra Bullock in “All About Steve” took a backseat at the cinema to “Final Destination” over the Labor Day weekend. We’re thinking box-office gold coulda’ been raked-in had the title been “All About Steve Spurrier” (or for the UDUB fans out there, “All About Steve Sarkisian!”)!....’Dawgs 17 Poultry 13
Arkansas State over #22 NEBRASKA taking 23 ½: Senior-heavy Red Wolves won’t be intimidated by the Chitlins of the Corn having upset Big Twelve’s Texas A&M, 18-14, on the road last year and losing just 21-13 at then-#4 Texas in 2007...Not-Quite-Big-Enough Red 30 ASU 20
SE Missouri State @ #23 CINCINNATI: No line.
#24 Kansas over UTEP giving 11: Miners are a crapshoot ATS, but with just a dozen returnees last year, they missed a cover in Austin by just a field goal. The Weber Kid has a futures bet on the Jayhawks, led by senior QB Todd Reesing, to win the National Title at 150-1 (yes...we know that means beating Texas and Oklahoma, then likely knocking off one of those two again in the conference championship game just to get a shot. We ain’t oblivious, just aware of the fact that college pigskin happens!)...Kansas 31 UTEP 10
Bowling Green over #25 MISSOURI taking 18 1/2: Tigers got 110 more passing yards and two more turnovers than Illinois in 37-9 win with all other categories being mighty close. Falcons also coming off nice dog win by more than two scores over favored Troy and have covered twelve of last 15 road games. Not a lotta’ returning starters on the stop-squad, but a ton of ‘em are seniors..QB Sheehan has also been around and led the Bee Gees to an upset of then-#25 Pitt in the Keystone State last season’s debut...Mizzou 34 BG 20
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
And the Sylvester Stallone boxing fans on a diet who patronize Vindy’s fining dining establishment can order da’ “Rocky”, so they can “eat lightning...and crap thunda’”....at no extra charge!!!!
Yeah, Vindy had “quarterback scrambled eggs” too, but since the actual IHOP folks did the commercial with Eagles QB Donovan McNabb first, we’ll concede THAT one!
Let’s Hear It for Da’ “Little Guys” (FCS/I-AA squads that made da’ “big guys” reconsider their choices to schedule them this past week)...”YOU DA’ MEN”: Richmond 24-16 over DUKE (“Mr. Paulus...Mr. Greg Paulus...to the white courtesy phone!), Villanova 27-24 over TEMPLE and William & Mary 26-14 over VIRGINIA. “SERIOUS ACCOLADES” in light of: EAST CAROLINA 29-24 over Appalachian State (no shame in this one!), HAWAII 25-20 over Central Arkansas, INDIANA 19-13 over Eastern Kentucky, IOWA 17-16 over Northern Iowa (whom we know for hoops more than gridiron), KANSAS STATE 21-17 over UMass, MARSHALL 31-28 over Southern Illinois (see our reference to Northern Iowa above), SMU 31-23 over Stephen F. Austin (yep, free throws, not free safety!) and WYOMING 29-22 (yet-another team we associate more with hardwood than hard-count). Honorable-mention to...WEST VIRGINIA 33-20 over Liberty!
In addition, we salute the service academies for stellar performance last weekend....Army, getting points, beat Eastern Michigan 27-14 on the road, Air Force strafed FCS Nicholls State 72-0 and the Ensigns of Annapolis nearly netted a major upset over Ohio State in a 31-27 loss1
Vindy just missed an opening week perfect-score call as the Utes beat Utah State 35-17 (your fab forecaster said 34-17) and didn’t mss the Penn State-Akron tilt by much, calling 31-10 (31-7 actual)!
The NCAA is promoting pre-game exchange of handshakes. Florida State and Miami simply exchanged pre-game handcuffs on Labor Day!
In the “Sorry, no relation” department....some guy named Weber kicked five field goals and five XP for Arizona State...and earlier in the day led the Golden Gophers to the aforementioned victory in extra frames over Syracuse by throwing for 248 yards and a pick. (And while we’re at it....Kansas has a reserve QB named “Pick”. Yeah...THAT’S da’ guy Vindy wants slingin’ da’ rock!!!!
A June 09 ish of Sports Illustrated indicated Matt Leinart was training in mixed martial arts. Great. The first blitzing safety that puts Leinart on his back will experience the Arizona QB’s full-butterfly guard followed by a guillotine choke until he submits by tapping out! Matt won’t be leading his teammates outta’ the huddle...he’ll be leading them outta’ the Octagon!
Comcast viewers in Arizona caught 30 seconds of porn during the 4th quarter of last season’s Super Bowl. Steeler fans laying the points, to include your humble host, thought the two final-period touchdowns by Larry Fitzgerald were obscene enough! (But Vin is considering uploading half-a-minute of sex-on-film to his blog site just to expand the readership!).
This summer, the four major sports leagues filed and eventually won an injunction to prevent Delaware from implementing sports betting. Two thoughts...1) betting is allowed only on a parlay of at least 3 NFL games. So, we can plunk down a mortgage payment on da’ Raiders, Lions and Niners, but an attempt to drop a Jackson on any given individual side results in “security” launching said bettor thru a pane-glass window????!!! Wussies! 2) Industry-insiders say opponents of the sports-betting legislation have stirred-up a (Del State) Hornets’ nest and da’ First (Half) State ain’t goin’ down without a (University of Delaware) Fight(in’ Blue Hen!)!!!!!
Thoughts on Michael Phelps (Part One of a Three-Part Miniseries): In February, a pic of Phelps smoking a bong while visiting the University of South Carolina was published by British tabloid News of the World, causing sponsor Kellogg’s to dump him. Kelloggs did, however, donate the already pre-printed boxes to a food bank (thank goodness all that cereal wasn’t wasted...even if the guy pictured on the box was!), but passed up the opportunity to target an unusual market by putting Mike on their box of Rice Krispies with Smack, Crackhead and Puff. (BTW, Rice Krispies treats are handy when those attacks of the munchies occur...or so we’re told!). Fellow sponsor Rosetta Stoned stock increased as thousands bought the language software to learn how to utter a few words while holding in their smoke and how to say, “Dude, pass the roach” in various dialects. Phelps claimed he had water in his ears and thought someone at University of South Carolina offered to show him his “stroke”. Playing on his iPod right now? War’s “Why Can’t Weed Be Friends?”
Black Shirt: The highly-coveted ebony tee given to the individual(s) for most outstanding performance on Vindicator’s behalf the previous week goes to....the officiating crew that changed the momentum of the Ohio State-Navy tilt by not calling a blatant Middies face-mask penalty that would’ve extended a late Buckeyes drive into the red zone with State already leading 29-15 and could’ve cost Weber a forecast win and lock of da’ week pick! “Honorable Mention” to Crimson Tide RB Mark Ingram, who rushed for 150 yards and caught the spread-win-deciding 18-yard touchdown pass vs. Virginia Tech!
“Locked in a Box?”: Following last year’s 13-3 lock record, Vindy opens 1-0 behind the Ensigns’ near upset of Ohio State!
Shoppe Talk: Ye Olde Taxidermy Shoppe remains closed this week as last season’s forecast troublesome Red Raiders of Texas Tech (2-9 in 11 forecast appearances) and Wisky Badgers (1-7) did not enter the season ranked (but we’ll be watchin’!), while BYU (2-9) came through with the nice upset (despite Vindy’s Week One note that Coogs were “not BCS-busters”).
Vindy’s Week 2 Best Bets: Last Week: 1-3 (OUCH!) Season: 1-3 (.250)
UAB -12 over Southern Methodist, Stanford +2 1/2 over WAKE FOREST, Ohio -3 over NORTH TEXAS, NAVY -7 ½ over Weeiziana Tech
Next week...more on (moron???!!) Mr. Phelps and a look at Vindicator’s expanded menu! (Meanwhile, it’s “no shirt, no shoes, no spreads!”)
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (BBC)...As professional football players start to take the field in earnest and fans enter stadiums around the country to watch games that count in the standings this week, a sign on the door of a small, local shop reads, “Welcome to Vindy’s Bet & Breakfast”. Nope, that’s not a typo. No overnight stays, but patrons can enjoy flapjacks and a cup of Frightenin’ Irish coffee or a tall glass of Syracuse Orange juice while placing their wagers each morning. Think IHOP with a sportsbook. Previewing some of the menu items, we note the 3rd-and-short stack, a blue plate full of pancake blocks, some Arkansas Sooooeeey Pigs-in-a-Blanket with a side of Cleveland Hash Browns and “The Belichick”...any number of dishes made from recipes illegally acquired from videotapes of chefs at other restaurants! Restaurant-goers can keep their options open with “The Peyton Manning” (the customer can change the order at the last minute after quickly looking over the staff in the kitchen!), but should beware of “The Audible” (the chef has the option to change your order just before the server brings it out to you after surveying the people at your table). Truly adventurous eaters can request “The Safety”...what the order really becomes after the original meal is fumbled by the cook in his own kitchen and he falls on it himself or kicks it out the back of the restaurant before anyone else takes possession (By the way, the cook then gets to make whatever he wants from his own 20-yard line without pressure from the receiving customer!). Vindicator said if all goes well with the new endeavor, he plans to campaign for an eventual spot on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” on the Food Network!
Following Week One’s 9-6 (.600) to kick-off the year, Vindy avoids having to go to detention and clap erasers. Meanwhile, principals around the Vegas Valley this week agreed that students not wanting to listen to Obama’s 18-minute “back-to-school” speech could move into the cafeteria, where they would participate in an alternative class assignment, do other homework or improve their vocabulary and literacy skills by reading.....
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 2 FORECAST
(shovel-ready and still awaiting stimulus funds)
THURS. SEPT. 10
#15 GEORGIA TECH over Clemson giving 5: Seven of last ten between these squads have been decided by 10 or less (six of ‘em by 5 or fewer). OK, RB C.J. Spiller returns for Coach Sweeney’s first full campaign at the helm, but Tech’s won four of past five, going 3-2 ATS. Tigers gotta’ do something about last season’s overall minus-20 sack differential. Bees 24 Name That Bowden (oh wait...) 17
SAT. SEPT. 12
#1 FLORIDA over Troy giving 36: Trojan defense made some nice strides last season stopping the run. Unfortunately, the offensive production fell too. UF has had little trouble covering vs. out-of-conference foes in the Swamp (or anywhere else for that matter), going 7-1 ATS in the last 8 and 16-4 against the line since 2004. Troy, as the flagship of the Sun Belt in recent seasons, is an inspirational 5-2 ATS vs. ranked teams over the last three seasons (but lost to a MAC to open 2009). Volunteers up next for UF, but we like...Crocs 52 Troy 10
#2 Texas over WYOMING giving 33 1/2: Sixteen starters return for the Cowpokes, but Wyoming is dismal 4-18-1 against the number the past two seasons, have new faces at head coach and offensive coordinator and have gone 0-fer-four ATS against the Top 25. ‘Horns allowed a meaningless TD to Weeziana-Monroe last week with about three minutes left to give up the backdoor cover. It ain’t that cold in Laramie yet...Steers 45 Wyoming 7
#8 OHIO STATE over #3 Southern Cal taking 7: As always, this week’s Game of Da’ Year. Troy embarrassed State in 35-3 rout last year at the Coliseum. USC is 11-1 ATS in last dozen facing non-PAC-10 opponents. Terrell Pryor showed good touch on most of his passes and for three-quarters, State always seemed to be one step away from blowing it open. SoCal will, however, field bigger and better tacklers on defense than Navy did and contrary to Weber’s Week One analysis, the Sailors did uncharacteristically turn the ball over three times to give more State additional touches on offense. The pressure will be on the USC true freshman QB in his first big game on the road on national TV. That might be enough for the Buckeyes to turn the tables. ESPN will be trying out a 3D broadcast of the game at theaters in LA, Dallas and Columbus. Nice. If it works out, you’ll eventually be able to experience being sacked by a defensive end, catching a bag of peanuts tossed by a vendor in the stands and having cheerleaders fall from the top of da’ pyramid into your lap while shaking their...uh...pom-poms...right in your own livingroom! Let’s hope one of the two teams doesn’t end up being one-dimensional...USC 29 OSU 24
Florida International over #4 ALABAMA taking 34: In Coach Mario Cristobal’s second outing, Golden Panthers beat the line in 8 outta’ 12 and have covered a five of last eight tries against Big Six clubs in the month of September. Might be a letdown spot and too much to ask from Tide facing rising , run-first FIU....’Bama 35 Florida International 7
#5 OKLAHOMA STATE over Houston giving 15 ½: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Cougars D, never a strength to begin with, took a step backward in Kevin Sumlin’s first year, but the offensive production, almost always a positive aspect for the team, increased. State’s gotten the money in 9 of last 11as home chalk. Houston hadn’t squared off against a Top 25 team in over three seasons before meeting...and beating...then-#23 East Carolina (by 17 away) and then-#25 Tulsa at home (by [GASP!] 40!)...Cowboys 45 Coogs 20
#6 Mississippi: IDLE (next vs. SE Louisiana)
#7 PENN STATE over Syracuse giving 28 1/2: Lions won 55-13 last season at the Carrier Dome and ‘Cuse has one cover in six tries against ranked foes over the past two years. New Orange coach Doug Marrone came from the NFL. We know how well that transition works, don’t we??!! Former Blue Devil hoopster Greg Paulus managed to keep his team in the game despite a negative assist-to-turnover ratio by apparently hitting all ten of his free-throws in the OT loss to Minnesota! Happy Valley faithful breathed a sigh of relief after Obama recently reassured them that under his proposals for healthcare reform, he “wouldn’t pull da’ plug on JoePa”!...Lions 42 ‘Cuse 7
#9 Brigham Young over TULANE giving 17 1/2: After getting blasted by Tulsa, Green Wave is carrying a 2-8 spread-loss slide. Tulane is another club that floundered to 2-10 SU record in 2008 and gets starting RB Andre Anderson back from injury (Wave managed decent 4-3 ATS prior to losing him). Tulane brings the A-game for Top 25 opponents, covering last five tries over past three seasons. Coogs just 3-6 ATS vs. non-Mountain Best teams over past two years. Yeah, it’s a letdown spot for the Mormons, but BYU gets a chance to show-off that explosive offense this week...Cougars 40 Green Waifs 10
Eastern Washington @ #10 CAL: No line.
Vanderbilt over #11 LSU taking 14 1/2: Early conference match-up for these two. Bengals have been seriously ugly 8-22-4 ATS facing other SEC squads, while Commodores have been mighty respectable 17-5 getting points on the road and have 18 guys back from team that beat Boston College outright in a bowl last season. Tigers didn’t exactly put the big hurt we predicted on UDUB, yielding almost 500 yards of offense in the 8-point victory...LSU 27 Commodores 13
#12 BOISE STATE over Miami-Ohio giving 36 1/2: Broncos were sloppy, but got the win and the cover against an ineffective Oregon offense. Redhawks coming off opening whitewash loss to Kentucky following last season’s 2-10 disaster. Miami-O plays six of its first seven away. Ugghh!...BSU 48 Miami-Oh, nooooooo 3
Idaho State @ #13 OKLAHOMA: No line.
#14 VIRGINIA TECH over Marshall giving 20 ½: Herd has yet to post more than 4 spread wins in any of Coach Snyder’s four season’s at the helm (and more than four straight-up victories more than once). Marshall is horrible as a dog away from home coming off an SU win and not real impressive getting points on the road altogether (6-15 ATS). Hokies won’t be happy about yielding Tide rally to lose the opener...VT 27 Marshall 0
#16 Texas Christian over VIRGINIA giving 11: We looked at this for “lock”. Toads are down to four returning defensive starters after making seriously-good strides on that side of the ball in 2008, but have lotsa’ lettermen back to provide some depth. TCU was idle in Week One and Cavs have covered seven of last ten getting points at home. Cavs try to rebound on heels of 12-point loss to FCS club William & Mary. Froggies travel cross-country and struggle thru first quarter of first game, then it’s...TCU 28 Virginia 9
#17 Utah over SAN JOSE STATE giving 14: This got major consideration for “lock”. Utes were minus-2 in turnovers and got a fight from in-state rival Aggies. SJSU will open 0-3, but will be in decent shape for WAC play. Per Marc Lawrence’s Playbook.Com, Utah, who has a trip to Eugene on-deck, is 17-3 against the number after playing Utah State. Gotta’ figure opening game jitters are gone for Utah QB Terrence Cain and even if SJSU holds Utah to half what it granted USC and triples its own points-scored, it’s still...Utes 28 Sparse 9
MICHIGAN over #18 Notre Dame taking 3 1/2: Here’s this week’s “no faith” selection and another good candidate for “wish I had it back”. Wolverines just 5-13 ATS the past four-plus seasons vs. non-Big Tepid clubs. While RichRod gets 10 of 11 offensive starters back in his second year as coach, the newbie is....taking snaps under center! UM did hammer Western Michigan team in the opener, while the Catholics pitched the goose-egg vs. pretty good Reno offense. One of the Big Blew’s nine (count ‘em, NINE!) straight-up defeats in ‘08 came in South Bend. A little ball-security this year would go a long way in avenging that loss.... Leprechauns 13 Wolverines 10
CONNECTICUT over #19 North Carolina taking 5: We flipped-flopped a couple times on this one. Third-year head coach Davis gets to work with a seasoned defense, but has a whole new offensive backfield. Huskies just 2-4 ATS last six vs. ranked teams, but are solid 8-2 versus the line in home dog role. Tarheels won it 38-12 last season, laying 7 ½ (and belted Rutgers in NJ taking 6). Sled Dogs brought home Weber’s only “best bet” victory last week, though not decisively. One more thought...UNC was involved in six games decided by 5 or fewer last season...UNC 19 Dogs 16
#20 Miami: IDLE (next vs. Joja’ Tech 9/17)
South Carolina over #21 GEORGIA taking 7: Another early SEC pairing. Games have been decided by a TD or less in four of the last five years (with average margin of 4.25 points). Dawgs have won four of those outright, but covered just one. Joja’ owns one winning spread season in past five despite DD SU victories in six of last seven years. Gamehens have a winning spread season in last seven. Something has to give. Pick yer poison. Even though, the Wolfpack had a TD pass dropped in the end zone and another deflected late in loss to SC, we’ll take KFC and da’ points. BTW, Sandra Bullock in “All About Steve” took a backseat at the cinema to “Final Destination” over the Labor Day weekend. We’re thinking box-office gold coulda’ been raked-in had the title been “All About Steve Spurrier” (or for the UDUB fans out there, “All About Steve Sarkisian!”)!....’Dawgs 17 Poultry 13
Arkansas State over #22 NEBRASKA taking 23 ½: Senior-heavy Red Wolves won’t be intimidated by the Chitlins of the Corn having upset Big Twelve’s Texas A&M, 18-14, on the road last year and losing just 21-13 at then-#4 Texas in 2007...Not-Quite-Big-Enough Red 30 ASU 20
SE Missouri State @ #23 CINCINNATI: No line.
#24 Kansas over UTEP giving 11: Miners are a crapshoot ATS, but with just a dozen returnees last year, they missed a cover in Austin by just a field goal. The Weber Kid has a futures bet on the Jayhawks, led by senior QB Todd Reesing, to win the National Title at 150-1 (yes...we know that means beating Texas and Oklahoma, then likely knocking off one of those two again in the conference championship game just to get a shot. We ain’t oblivious, just aware of the fact that college pigskin happens!)...Kansas 31 UTEP 10
Bowling Green over #25 MISSOURI taking 18 1/2: Tigers got 110 more passing yards and two more turnovers than Illinois in 37-9 win with all other categories being mighty close. Falcons also coming off nice dog win by more than two scores over favored Troy and have covered twelve of last 15 road games. Not a lotta’ returning starters on the stop-squad, but a ton of ‘em are seniors..QB Sheehan has also been around and led the Bee Gees to an upset of then-#25 Pitt in the Keystone State last season’s debut...Mizzou 34 BG 20
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
And the Sylvester Stallone boxing fans on a diet who patronize Vindy’s fining dining establishment can order da’ “Rocky”, so they can “eat lightning...and crap thunda’”....at no extra charge!!!!
Yeah, Vindy had “quarterback scrambled eggs” too, but since the actual IHOP folks did the commercial with Eagles QB Donovan McNabb first, we’ll concede THAT one!
Let’s Hear It for Da’ “Little Guys” (FCS/I-AA squads that made da’ “big guys” reconsider their choices to schedule them this past week)...”YOU DA’ MEN”: Richmond 24-16 over DUKE (“Mr. Paulus...Mr. Greg Paulus...to the white courtesy phone!), Villanova 27-24 over TEMPLE and William & Mary 26-14 over VIRGINIA. “SERIOUS ACCOLADES” in light of: EAST CAROLINA 29-24 over Appalachian State (no shame in this one!), HAWAII 25-20 over Central Arkansas, INDIANA 19-13 over Eastern Kentucky, IOWA 17-16 over Northern Iowa (whom we know for hoops more than gridiron), KANSAS STATE 21-17 over UMass, MARSHALL 31-28 over Southern Illinois (see our reference to Northern Iowa above), SMU 31-23 over Stephen F. Austin (yep, free throws, not free safety!) and WYOMING 29-22 (yet-another team we associate more with hardwood than hard-count). Honorable-mention to...WEST VIRGINIA 33-20 over Liberty!
In addition, we salute the service academies for stellar performance last weekend....Army, getting points, beat Eastern Michigan 27-14 on the road, Air Force strafed FCS Nicholls State 72-0 and the Ensigns of Annapolis nearly netted a major upset over Ohio State in a 31-27 loss1
Vindy just missed an opening week perfect-score call as the Utes beat Utah State 35-17 (your fab forecaster said 34-17) and didn’t mss the Penn State-Akron tilt by much, calling 31-10 (31-7 actual)!
The NCAA is promoting pre-game exchange of handshakes. Florida State and Miami simply exchanged pre-game handcuffs on Labor Day!
In the “Sorry, no relation” department....some guy named Weber kicked five field goals and five XP for Arizona State...and earlier in the day led the Golden Gophers to the aforementioned victory in extra frames over Syracuse by throwing for 248 yards and a pick. (And while we’re at it....Kansas has a reserve QB named “Pick”. Yeah...THAT’S da’ guy Vindy wants slingin’ da’ rock!!!!
A June 09 ish of Sports Illustrated indicated Matt Leinart was training in mixed martial arts. Great. The first blitzing safety that puts Leinart on his back will experience the Arizona QB’s full-butterfly guard followed by a guillotine choke until he submits by tapping out! Matt won’t be leading his teammates outta’ the huddle...he’ll be leading them outta’ the Octagon!
Comcast viewers in Arizona caught 30 seconds of porn during the 4th quarter of last season’s Super Bowl. Steeler fans laying the points, to include your humble host, thought the two final-period touchdowns by Larry Fitzgerald were obscene enough! (But Vin is considering uploading half-a-minute of sex-on-film to his blog site just to expand the readership!).
This summer, the four major sports leagues filed and eventually won an injunction to prevent Delaware from implementing sports betting. Two thoughts...1) betting is allowed only on a parlay of at least 3 NFL games. So, we can plunk down a mortgage payment on da’ Raiders, Lions and Niners, but an attempt to drop a Jackson on any given individual side results in “security” launching said bettor thru a pane-glass window????!!! Wussies! 2) Industry-insiders say opponents of the sports-betting legislation have stirred-up a (Del State) Hornets’ nest and da’ First (Half) State ain’t goin’ down without a (University of Delaware) Fight(in’ Blue Hen!)!!!!!
Thoughts on Michael Phelps (Part One of a Three-Part Miniseries): In February, a pic of Phelps smoking a bong while visiting the University of South Carolina was published by British tabloid News of the World, causing sponsor Kellogg’s to dump him. Kelloggs did, however, donate the already pre-printed boxes to a food bank (thank goodness all that cereal wasn’t wasted...even if the guy pictured on the box was!), but passed up the opportunity to target an unusual market by putting Mike on their box of Rice Krispies with Smack, Crackhead and Puff. (BTW, Rice Krispies treats are handy when those attacks of the munchies occur...or so we’re told!). Fellow sponsor Rosetta Stoned stock increased as thousands bought the language software to learn how to utter a few words while holding in their smoke and how to say, “Dude, pass the roach” in various dialects. Phelps claimed he had water in his ears and thought someone at University of South Carolina offered to show him his “stroke”. Playing on his iPod right now? War’s “Why Can’t Weed Be Friends?”
Black Shirt: The highly-coveted ebony tee given to the individual(s) for most outstanding performance on Vindicator’s behalf the previous week goes to....the officiating crew that changed the momentum of the Ohio State-Navy tilt by not calling a blatant Middies face-mask penalty that would’ve extended a late Buckeyes drive into the red zone with State already leading 29-15 and could’ve cost Weber a forecast win and lock of da’ week pick! “Honorable Mention” to Crimson Tide RB Mark Ingram, who rushed for 150 yards and caught the spread-win-deciding 18-yard touchdown pass vs. Virginia Tech!
“Locked in a Box?”: Following last year’s 13-3 lock record, Vindy opens 1-0 behind the Ensigns’ near upset of Ohio State!
Shoppe Talk: Ye Olde Taxidermy Shoppe remains closed this week as last season’s forecast troublesome Red Raiders of Texas Tech (2-9 in 11 forecast appearances) and Wisky Badgers (1-7) did not enter the season ranked (but we’ll be watchin’!), while BYU (2-9) came through with the nice upset (despite Vindy’s Week One note that Coogs were “not BCS-busters”).
Vindy’s Week 2 Best Bets: Last Week: 1-3 (OUCH!) Season: 1-3 (.250)
UAB -12 over Southern Methodist, Stanford +2 1/2 over WAKE FOREST, Ohio -3 over NORTH TEXAS, NAVY -7 ½ over Weeiziana Tech
Next week...more on (moron???!!) Mr. Phelps and a look at Vindicator’s expanded menu! (Meanwhile, it’s “no shirt, no shoes, no spreads!”)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Vindy's Picks Week 1-2009
SPORTS NOT FORGOTTEN IN “FIRST 100 DAYS”
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (MSNBC).... Throughout his first hundred days, in fact, more than seven months in, the new president’s actions on such things as the economy, healthcare, the war and foreign policy have gotten all the ink, but the early achievements of Obama’s presidency will not be lost on sports fans across the globe. Obama made his desires known for a playoff over the current BCS system, correctly picked North Carolina to win the 2009 NCAA dance (correctly picking 14 of the Sweet 16 and 5 of the Elite 8 of this year’s NCAA Tournament along the way) and later named Memphis star Tyreke Evans among the recommended picks for the Sacramento Kings (owned by local Las Vegas Palms hotel owner George Maloof, who made the former Tiger the 4th overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft). The accuracy of his foresight has fans, bettors and touts alike clamoring for more predictions and already submitting formal requests to the White House to acquire the Commander-in-Chief’s choices for the 2010 BCS national title holder, Super Bowl winner and World Series champion. Shortly after taking occupancy of the White House in February, Obama passed on the chance to create a “car czar”, but did name Vindy as his “Wager Major” (which is better than Duke Duke, Screen Queen, Pass Brass or....Puck Schmuck [which woulda’ been his appointed position had Sarah Palin made the West Wing roster last November!]). Perhaps among the president’s more significant achievements since unloading the Ryder truck at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was the revision of the inscription on Statue of Liberty to read “Give me your poor, your tired, your huddles and your passes” and the renaming of the presidential plane (to which the former hoopster referred as his “spiffy ride”) to “Air Force ...and One!” (Editor’s note: That’s for you, Brendan!), which got a few more votes from Congress for “having a better ring to it” than Republican Senator John McCain’s suggestion of “Air Force One-and-Done”!
Following an off-season spent achieving the high-score on Guitar Hero: Vienna Boys Choir Tour while following the weekly drama on “Real Housewives of Ann Arbor”, Vindicator takes the field with his 2009 Preseason Forecasting Strategy Team of... Bernie Madoff, Paul Blart-Mall Cop, A-Rod’s cousin, Obama’s aunt, Susan Boyle, Capt. Richard Phillips, “me..Minnesota Senator Al Franken”, “Sully” Sullenberger, Carrie Prejean, Capital One’s “Spaghetti Jimmy”, “me...Al Franken”, Mr. Irrelevant 2009...kicker Ryan Succop, Smilin’ Bob from Enzyte.Com, Spirit the live hawk mascot of Atlanta’s NBA squad , Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, Kate Gosselin, Lady Gaga and “me...Al Franken”...to throwdown, Bobby Flay-style, against the college pigskin lines-making pantheon with....
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 1 FORECAST
(AKA “Vindy Doin’ Work”...a Spike Lee joint!)
THURS. SEPT. 3
#16 Oregon over #14 BOISE STATE taking 5: Ducks count their starting backfield among the 10 total returnees from last season’s squad. The offense shouldn’t suffer much with former Mallards OC Chip Kelly taking over the head coaching spot. Boise has three spread wins in last five tries vs. ranked teams, including last year’s straight-up victory in Eugene over then-#17 Oregon...Decoys 33 BSU 30
Utah State over #19 UTAH taking 20 1/2: Uh-oh! Not one, but TWO Thursday-nighters to open the year on the coattails of last season’s 4-9 Thursday night forecast record (before Vindy turned in a near-miraculous 5-1 post-season record for that day of the week!). Aggies enter the season on a 4-0-1 ATS run and return 17 starters from last year. Utes are rebuilding the offense and have no QBs who’ve taken a live-fire snap, but bring back a truck-load of experience and have covered 5 of last 7 versus their in-state brethren. State’s gone 14-8-2 against the line the past two seasons and despite a new coach, we think it’s now or never to post another spread win in last shot before these two hook-up again in the 2013 season....Utes 34 State 17
SAT. SEPT. 5
Charleston Southern @ #1 FLORIDA: No line.
#2 TEXAS over Louisiana-Monroe giving 40 ½: The return of QB Colt McCoy, 50 lettermen coming back, a road schedule whose only challenge appears to be Halloween’s trek to Oklahoma State and last season’s diss over the Big 12 Championship game will likely put the Steers on a National Championship mission. Unless Troy is ranked the same week of the aforementioned game in Stillwater (or UL-Monroe shows up in the Best Bets column), this will be the only appearance in the forecast this season for the Warhawks, who are 5-5 ATS in last ten-spot vs. BCS conference clubs...Texas 52 Weeziana-Monroe 6
#20 Brigham Young over #3 Oklahoma (@ Arlington, TX) taking 21 ½: While the spread wins have fallen each of the last 3 seasons for BYU, who also hasn’t fared well getting more than a TD against non-MWC clubs and who only returns four to the offense, the Sooners only bring back five to the O (though some local Vegas kid named Murray should be back from injury...and then there’s that guy named Bradford at QB!). Coogs just 1-4-1 vs. other ranked squads under Coach Mendenhall, but we like the three touchdowns...Okie-Dokie 34 Not a BCS Buster (This Week) 24
#4 USC over San Jose State giving 34: No faith in this pick. Southern Cal has big game at Ohio State next week and Spartans covered last year at Nebraska as 27-point doggie. Trojans good, but not great 4-2 ATS in last half-dozen openers. They did, however crush Virginia last year right before the Buckeyes game and have missed just a lone cover in last eleven non-conference match-ups. We’re not usually in favor of the Trojans (and not a big fan of the SoCal football team either) and the Romans will start an opener with a true frosh at triggerman for the first time since Germany and Japan lost to the upstart American squad in the early 1940's. We did more waffles on this than IHOP and left it up to the hard currency. And da’ coin likes...USC 38 SJSU 0
#5 Alabama over #7 Virginia Tech (@ Atlanta) giving 6 1/2 : Probable early National Title elimination game, more for Tech than for Tide. A ton of trends support the Hokies here, but we figure ‘Bama is anxious to erase the sting of back-to-back losses (SU and ATS) in the SEC title game and the bowl vs. Utah. If this one was a Thursday-nighter, we’d side with Tech , but we like the fact Tide increased its points-scored by 3 ppg and decreased points-against by (GASP!) 8 ppg in Saban’s second year. Best call might be “under” the total (39). It’s defense and special teams winning the day for...Alabammy 19 Va. Tech 11
Navy over #6 OHIO STATE taking 22 ½: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Sailors have lost by more than 22 only four times in the last five years. Electric sophomore Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor is getting a lotta’ love, but doesn’t have a lot of returning offensive starters around him. As noted previously in USC-SJSU breakdown, State may look ahead to hosting the Troy Boys next week and may not wanna’ tip too much of the gameplan. Expect well-disciplined Middies to grind it out with nationally-ranked rushing game and to avoid costly turnovers that would give the Buckeyes extra tries to blow it open...OSU 27 Ensigns 12
Akron over #9 (tie) PENN STATE taking 27 ½: While Akron might be a better pick a couple weeks from now when hosting Indiana (3-2 ATS last 5 vs. the Big Tent Peg Conference), and Zips are 0-3 SU/ATS against the Nifty Lions, they just missed the cover by a half-point in their last last opportunity (2006). Lions have just nine starters back, including none in the secondary...an ongoing sore point. Zips have experience at QB and WR. They also covered at Wisconsin last year getting 27 and in ‘07 at Ohio State getting 28. We’ll accept a nice three-TD victory from the alma mater...Lions 31 Akron 10
#9 (tie) OKLAHOMA STATE over #13 Georgia giving 6: State is just 3-7-1 ATS over the last two years vs. ranked teams, but a straight-up victory over Joja’ might just send the message we’ve been hopin’ for...that the Cowboys are ready to challenge in the Big 12. Phil Steele noted State hasn’t lost a home opener since (GASP!) 1995 and the Cowpokes would love to avenge a 38-14 drubbing “between the hedges” in 2007. ‘Dawgs lost their starting backfield to the NFL in April. “Under” the total (62) wouldn’t be a bad option...OKSU 38 Joja’ 24
#11 Louisiana State over WASHINGTON giving 17: This one got serious “lock” consideration. Huskies have beaten the number just once in six season debuts. The good news for the Sled Dogs? Quarterback Jake Locker returns from last season’s injury, sustained just four games into last season. The bad news? UDUB only covered one of those first four tilts, en route to a 2008 FBS-worst spread record of 1-11. That will change this year, but not against LSU squad that demolished a mighty-fine-otherwise Joja’ Teck team in the bowl. Bengals spend this Saturday doin’ laundry...LSU 38 Wash, Dry and....Fold 13
#12 CAL over Maryland giving 21 1/2: We looked at this for lock too. Ralph Friedgen reportedly dropped 105 pounds during the off-season. Did da’ Fridge revoke the Terps’ fourth-string punter’s scholarship or what????!!! (In all seriousness, we tip our helmet to Coach Friedgen for his Herculean effort and wish him a continued, healthy life!). Bears get a little payback after giving up five sacks en route to last season’s 35-27 loss in College Park. Terps haven’t covered an opener since 2001. Despite an offensive yardage production that’s gone up each of the past two years, we expect that spread trend to carry on...Berkeley 42 Box Turtles 9
Jacksonville State @ #15 GEORGIA TECH: No line.
#17 TCU: IDLE (next @ Virginia 9/12)
Citadel @ #21 NORTH CAROLINA: No line.
Northern Iowa @ #22 IOWA: No line.
Nevada-Reno over #23 NOTRE DAME taking 14: This Spring, Catholic faithful protested Obama’s invite to speak at Notre Dame’s commencement in light of his views on abortion and stem-cell research. We think they’re just upset because the Commander-in-Chief called for another 7-6 year for the Frightenin Irish football team! Meanwhile, former ND skipper Lou Holtz has predicted a title game berth for the Leprechauns. Hmmm...this would make one helluva’ upset, don’tcha think??? And if the game was being played closer to the Moonlight Bunny Ranch than to Touchdown Jesus, we’d call UNR straight-up, but it’s not, so we’ll just go with ...Wake Up the Geckos 34 Reno 27
#24 NEBRASKA over Florida Atlantic giving 21 ½: Just lay the lumber with the Big 12 North contender because the math ain’t pretty for da’ Owls...one cover in a dozen tries getting double-digits in non-conference tilts, just three back on defense, 1-4 ATS in the last 5 vs. ranked teams, 4-11-1 ATS slide as a road dog and 0-5 SU/ATS against the Big 12 the last 4 seasons...losing by better than 36 ppg....Children of the Corn 37 Hooters 7
Northern Colorado @ #25 KANSAS: No line.
SUN. SEPT. 6
MEMPHIS over #8 Mississippi taking 17: We appreciate what Ole Miss accomplished last season, especially that outright upset of Vin’s arch-nemesis Texas Tech in the bowl game, but the Rebels were probably fortunate in a few of their 2008 victories and we think a Top Ten spot might be a tad generous. Nonetheless, we’d take much joy in seeing a Magnolia State rep continue to prosper. Elsewhere, the last time the Tigers had this few starting returnees (11 in 2005), they went 7-5 SU and 6-5 against the line. Until last year’s 17-point defeat (one of only two losses by a TD or more), Memphis had beaten Mississippi SU or lost by no more than 4 in the previous five meetings since the start of the 2003 campaign....Ole Miss 34 Memphis 20
MON. SEPT. 7
#18 FLORIDA STATE over Miami giving 5 ½: While Vindicator would obviously love to see Joe Paterno edge Injuns’ head coach Bobby Bowden for most all-time victories, vacation of 14 Semimoles’ wins in the wake of academic scandal (involving a music history test) ain’t the way we wanted to see it go down. Gotta’ wonder if that hit will fire-up State to beat the ‘Canes by more than 3 for the first time since 1999. Miami lost a 41-39 shootout last year. New coordinators on each side of the ball keeps us from taking the Pelicans and da’ points. No change in the FSU deficit this week as PSU and FSU post SU wins...Da’ Chop 20 Tropical Depressions 13
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, longest-shot-in-the-field Mine That Bird’s original moniker was Mime That Bird, but jockey Calvin Borel was embarrassed to wear the beret, face paint and striped shirt, and never did quite get da’ hang of pretending to spur his steed with the imaginary riding crop!
On the big screen this summer...The Nittany Lions head coach recovers from injury and returns to patrol the Penn State sideline, sporting camouflage and Kevlar body armor while armed to the teeth with more high-tech military weapons than you can shake a stick at...in...”G.I. JoePa: Rise of Da’ Coordinator”!!!
Sampling the aforementioned FSU music history exam, we find the following questions: #12 Disco Duck and Convoy were popular in which decade? a) 1860's b) 1920's c) 1970's d) 2050's? #54 Eight-Mile was a biography about what rapper? a) Eminem b) M Night Shyamalan, c) S&M d) Auntie Em. #101 The movie “The Jazz Singer” featured what 1920's entertainer? a) Weird Al Yankovic, b) Albert Pujols, c) Al Jolson, d) Alvin & the Chipmunks, e) Fat Albert. #139 Fill in the blank....“1985" was a song by Bowling for Soup based on what year? #160 Fill in the blank...”Who let the _______ out?!” a) hem b) air c) snakes d) dogs.
As we noted this time last season, in all but one season from 1993 to 2008, at least two teams unranked in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll eventually finished in the AP Top 10 that same season Utah and fellow Mountain Best squad TCU [which was nowhere on the AP preseason radar] managed that feat last year. Your mission...should you choose to accept it...is to figure out who the 2009 season interlopers will be. Our guess?...Two of three from Pitt, Rutgers or NC State (watch da’ Wolfpack at least on a ATS basis!).
Obama admitted to sporting “frumpy” jeans while throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of July’s All-Star game. Looked more like he was ready for an NBA shoot-around session! At least his Michael Jordan Hanes weren’t showing! The Commander-in-Chief launched a sweeping, lolly-pop curve ball right down the middle. Democrats worried it showed him as “too moderate”, but Republicans saw it as “too far to the left”!
Jon and Kate Plus Eight???!!! Damn!....Vindicator only got them with 7 1/2!!!!!!
Shoppe Talk: Will Texas Tech, who showed up only twice on the predicted side of the spread in eleven forecast opportunities (the second win coming in this past January’s Cotton Bowl!), continue to be the bane of the Weber Kid’s existence or will another contender rise up to torment our hero???!!!
Vindy’s Week 1 Best Bets: Last Year: 42-25-1 (.627) Last Week: 0-0 Season: 0-0 (.000)
NC STATE -4 over South Carolina, Rice +5 1/2 over ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM, Middle Tennessee State +19 1/2 over CLEMSON, Connecticut -4 over OHIO
Vindicator came out conservative in this forecast, but don’t touch that dial! Next week...thoughts on Michael Phelps, the NFL, more of the off-season silliness and a new football-themed facility for consumption of “mass quantities” yer not gonna’ wanna’ miss!!
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (MSNBC).... Throughout his first hundred days, in fact, more than seven months in, the new president’s actions on such things as the economy, healthcare, the war and foreign policy have gotten all the ink, but the early achievements of Obama’s presidency will not be lost on sports fans across the globe. Obama made his desires known for a playoff over the current BCS system, correctly picked North Carolina to win the 2009 NCAA dance (correctly picking 14 of the Sweet 16 and 5 of the Elite 8 of this year’s NCAA Tournament along the way) and later named Memphis star Tyreke Evans among the recommended picks for the Sacramento Kings (owned by local Las Vegas Palms hotel owner George Maloof, who made the former Tiger the 4th overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft). The accuracy of his foresight has fans, bettors and touts alike clamoring for more predictions and already submitting formal requests to the White House to acquire the Commander-in-Chief’s choices for the 2010 BCS national title holder, Super Bowl winner and World Series champion. Shortly after taking occupancy of the White House in February, Obama passed on the chance to create a “car czar”, but did name Vindy as his “Wager Major” (which is better than Duke Duke, Screen Queen, Pass Brass or....Puck Schmuck [which woulda’ been his appointed position had Sarah Palin made the West Wing roster last November!]). Perhaps among the president’s more significant achievements since unloading the Ryder truck at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was the revision of the inscription on Statue of Liberty to read “Give me your poor, your tired, your huddles and your passes” and the renaming of the presidential plane (to which the former hoopster referred as his “spiffy ride”) to “Air Force ...and One!” (Editor’s note: That’s for you, Brendan!), which got a few more votes from Congress for “having a better ring to it” than Republican Senator John McCain’s suggestion of “Air Force One-and-Done”!
Following an off-season spent achieving the high-score on Guitar Hero: Vienna Boys Choir Tour while following the weekly drama on “Real Housewives of Ann Arbor”, Vindicator takes the field with his 2009 Preseason Forecasting Strategy Team of... Bernie Madoff, Paul Blart-Mall Cop, A-Rod’s cousin, Obama’s aunt, Susan Boyle, Capt. Richard Phillips, “me..Minnesota Senator Al Franken”, “Sully” Sullenberger, Carrie Prejean, Capital One’s “Spaghetti Jimmy”, “me...Al Franken”, Mr. Irrelevant 2009...kicker Ryan Succop, Smilin’ Bob from Enzyte.Com, Spirit the live hawk mascot of Atlanta’s NBA squad , Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, Kate Gosselin, Lady Gaga and “me...Al Franken”...to throwdown, Bobby Flay-style, against the college pigskin lines-making pantheon with....
THE WEBER KID’S 2009 WEEK 1 FORECAST
(AKA “Vindy Doin’ Work”...a Spike Lee joint!)
THURS. SEPT. 3
#16 Oregon over #14 BOISE STATE taking 5: Ducks count their starting backfield among the 10 total returnees from last season’s squad. The offense shouldn’t suffer much with former Mallards OC Chip Kelly taking over the head coaching spot. Boise has three spread wins in last five tries vs. ranked teams, including last year’s straight-up victory in Eugene over then-#17 Oregon...Decoys 33 BSU 30
Utah State over #19 UTAH taking 20 1/2: Uh-oh! Not one, but TWO Thursday-nighters to open the year on the coattails of last season’s 4-9 Thursday night forecast record (before Vindy turned in a near-miraculous 5-1 post-season record for that day of the week!). Aggies enter the season on a 4-0-1 ATS run and return 17 starters from last year. Utes are rebuilding the offense and have no QBs who’ve taken a live-fire snap, but bring back a truck-load of experience and have covered 5 of last 7 versus their in-state brethren. State’s gone 14-8-2 against the line the past two seasons and despite a new coach, we think it’s now or never to post another spread win in last shot before these two hook-up again in the 2013 season....Utes 34 State 17
SAT. SEPT. 5
Charleston Southern @ #1 FLORIDA: No line.
#2 TEXAS over Louisiana-Monroe giving 40 ½: The return of QB Colt McCoy, 50 lettermen coming back, a road schedule whose only challenge appears to be Halloween’s trek to Oklahoma State and last season’s diss over the Big 12 Championship game will likely put the Steers on a National Championship mission. Unless Troy is ranked the same week of the aforementioned game in Stillwater (or UL-Monroe shows up in the Best Bets column), this will be the only appearance in the forecast this season for the Warhawks, who are 5-5 ATS in last ten-spot vs. BCS conference clubs...Texas 52 Weeziana-Monroe 6
#20 Brigham Young over #3 Oklahoma (@ Arlington, TX) taking 21 ½: While the spread wins have fallen each of the last 3 seasons for BYU, who also hasn’t fared well getting more than a TD against non-MWC clubs and who only returns four to the offense, the Sooners only bring back five to the O (though some local Vegas kid named Murray should be back from injury...and then there’s that guy named Bradford at QB!). Coogs just 1-4-1 vs. other ranked squads under Coach Mendenhall, but we like the three touchdowns...Okie-Dokie 34 Not a BCS Buster (This Week) 24
#4 USC over San Jose State giving 34: No faith in this pick. Southern Cal has big game at Ohio State next week and Spartans covered last year at Nebraska as 27-point doggie. Trojans good, but not great 4-2 ATS in last half-dozen openers. They did, however crush Virginia last year right before the Buckeyes game and have missed just a lone cover in last eleven non-conference match-ups. We’re not usually in favor of the Trojans (and not a big fan of the SoCal football team either) and the Romans will start an opener with a true frosh at triggerman for the first time since Germany and Japan lost to the upstart American squad in the early 1940's. We did more waffles on this than IHOP and left it up to the hard currency. And da’ coin likes...USC 38 SJSU 0
#5 Alabama over #7 Virginia Tech (@ Atlanta) giving 6 1/2 : Probable early National Title elimination game, more for Tech than for Tide. A ton of trends support the Hokies here, but we figure ‘Bama is anxious to erase the sting of back-to-back losses (SU and ATS) in the SEC title game and the bowl vs. Utah. If this one was a Thursday-nighter, we’d side with Tech , but we like the fact Tide increased its points-scored by 3 ppg and decreased points-against by (GASP!) 8 ppg in Saban’s second year. Best call might be “under” the total (39). It’s defense and special teams winning the day for...Alabammy 19 Va. Tech 11
Navy over #6 OHIO STATE taking 22 ½: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Sailors have lost by more than 22 only four times in the last five years. Electric sophomore Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor is getting a lotta’ love, but doesn’t have a lot of returning offensive starters around him. As noted previously in USC-SJSU breakdown, State may look ahead to hosting the Troy Boys next week and may not wanna’ tip too much of the gameplan. Expect well-disciplined Middies to grind it out with nationally-ranked rushing game and to avoid costly turnovers that would give the Buckeyes extra tries to blow it open...OSU 27 Ensigns 12
Akron over #9 (tie) PENN STATE taking 27 ½: While Akron might be a better pick a couple weeks from now when hosting Indiana (3-2 ATS last 5 vs. the Big Tent Peg Conference), and Zips are 0-3 SU/ATS against the Nifty Lions, they just missed the cover by a half-point in their last last opportunity (2006). Lions have just nine starters back, including none in the secondary...an ongoing sore point. Zips have experience at QB and WR. They also covered at Wisconsin last year getting 27 and in ‘07 at Ohio State getting 28. We’ll accept a nice three-TD victory from the alma mater...Lions 31 Akron 10
#9 (tie) OKLAHOMA STATE over #13 Georgia giving 6: State is just 3-7-1 ATS over the last two years vs. ranked teams, but a straight-up victory over Joja’ might just send the message we’ve been hopin’ for...that the Cowboys are ready to challenge in the Big 12. Phil Steele noted State hasn’t lost a home opener since (GASP!) 1995 and the Cowpokes would love to avenge a 38-14 drubbing “between the hedges” in 2007. ‘Dawgs lost their starting backfield to the NFL in April. “Under” the total (62) wouldn’t be a bad option...OKSU 38 Joja’ 24
#11 Louisiana State over WASHINGTON giving 17: This one got serious “lock” consideration. Huskies have beaten the number just once in six season debuts. The good news for the Sled Dogs? Quarterback Jake Locker returns from last season’s injury, sustained just four games into last season. The bad news? UDUB only covered one of those first four tilts, en route to a 2008 FBS-worst spread record of 1-11. That will change this year, but not against LSU squad that demolished a mighty-fine-otherwise Joja’ Teck team in the bowl. Bengals spend this Saturday doin’ laundry...LSU 38 Wash, Dry and....Fold 13
#12 CAL over Maryland giving 21 1/2: We looked at this for lock too. Ralph Friedgen reportedly dropped 105 pounds during the off-season. Did da’ Fridge revoke the Terps’ fourth-string punter’s scholarship or what????!!! (In all seriousness, we tip our helmet to Coach Friedgen for his Herculean effort and wish him a continued, healthy life!). Bears get a little payback after giving up five sacks en route to last season’s 35-27 loss in College Park. Terps haven’t covered an opener since 2001. Despite an offensive yardage production that’s gone up each of the past two years, we expect that spread trend to carry on...Berkeley 42 Box Turtles 9
Jacksonville State @ #15 GEORGIA TECH: No line.
#17 TCU: IDLE (next @ Virginia 9/12)
Citadel @ #21 NORTH CAROLINA: No line.
Northern Iowa @ #22 IOWA: No line.
Nevada-Reno over #23 NOTRE DAME taking 14: This Spring, Catholic faithful protested Obama’s invite to speak at Notre Dame’s commencement in light of his views on abortion and stem-cell research. We think they’re just upset because the Commander-in-Chief called for another 7-6 year for the Frightenin Irish football team! Meanwhile, former ND skipper Lou Holtz has predicted a title game berth for the Leprechauns. Hmmm...this would make one helluva’ upset, don’tcha think??? And if the game was being played closer to the Moonlight Bunny Ranch than to Touchdown Jesus, we’d call UNR straight-up, but it’s not, so we’ll just go with ...Wake Up the Geckos 34 Reno 27
#24 NEBRASKA over Florida Atlantic giving 21 ½: Just lay the lumber with the Big 12 North contender because the math ain’t pretty for da’ Owls...one cover in a dozen tries getting double-digits in non-conference tilts, just three back on defense, 1-4 ATS in the last 5 vs. ranked teams, 4-11-1 ATS slide as a road dog and 0-5 SU/ATS against the Big 12 the last 4 seasons...losing by better than 36 ppg....Children of the Corn 37 Hooters 7
Northern Colorado @ #25 KANSAS: No line.
SUN. SEPT. 6
MEMPHIS over #8 Mississippi taking 17: We appreciate what Ole Miss accomplished last season, especially that outright upset of Vin’s arch-nemesis Texas Tech in the bowl game, but the Rebels were probably fortunate in a few of their 2008 victories and we think a Top Ten spot might be a tad generous. Nonetheless, we’d take much joy in seeing a Magnolia State rep continue to prosper. Elsewhere, the last time the Tigers had this few starting returnees (11 in 2005), they went 7-5 SU and 6-5 against the line. Until last year’s 17-point defeat (one of only two losses by a TD or more), Memphis had beaten Mississippi SU or lost by no more than 4 in the previous five meetings since the start of the 2003 campaign....Ole Miss 34 Memphis 20
MON. SEPT. 7
#18 FLORIDA STATE over Miami giving 5 ½: While Vindicator would obviously love to see Joe Paterno edge Injuns’ head coach Bobby Bowden for most all-time victories, vacation of 14 Semimoles’ wins in the wake of academic scandal (involving a music history test) ain’t the way we wanted to see it go down. Gotta’ wonder if that hit will fire-up State to beat the ‘Canes by more than 3 for the first time since 1999. Miami lost a 41-39 shootout last year. New coordinators on each side of the ball keeps us from taking the Pelicans and da’ points. No change in the FSU deficit this week as PSU and FSU post SU wins...Da’ Chop 20 Tropical Depressions 13
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, longest-shot-in-the-field Mine That Bird’s original moniker was Mime That Bird, but jockey Calvin Borel was embarrassed to wear the beret, face paint and striped shirt, and never did quite get da’ hang of pretending to spur his steed with the imaginary riding crop!
On the big screen this summer...The Nittany Lions head coach recovers from injury and returns to patrol the Penn State sideline, sporting camouflage and Kevlar body armor while armed to the teeth with more high-tech military weapons than you can shake a stick at...in...”G.I. JoePa: Rise of Da’ Coordinator”!!!
Sampling the aforementioned FSU music history exam, we find the following questions: #12 Disco Duck and Convoy were popular in which decade? a) 1860's b) 1920's c) 1970's d) 2050's? #54 Eight-Mile was a biography about what rapper? a) Eminem b) M Night Shyamalan, c) S&M d) Auntie Em. #101 The movie “The Jazz Singer” featured what 1920's entertainer? a) Weird Al Yankovic, b) Albert Pujols, c) Al Jolson, d) Alvin & the Chipmunks, e) Fat Albert. #139 Fill in the blank....“1985" was a song by Bowling for Soup based on what year? #160 Fill in the blank...”Who let the _______ out?!” a) hem b) air c) snakes d) dogs.
As we noted this time last season, in all but one season from 1993 to 2008, at least two teams unranked in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll eventually finished in the AP Top 10 that same season Utah and fellow Mountain Best squad TCU [which was nowhere on the AP preseason radar] managed that feat last year. Your mission...should you choose to accept it...is to figure out who the 2009 season interlopers will be. Our guess?...Two of three from Pitt, Rutgers or NC State (watch da’ Wolfpack at least on a ATS basis!).
Obama admitted to sporting “frumpy” jeans while throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of July’s All-Star game. Looked more like he was ready for an NBA shoot-around session! At least his Michael Jordan Hanes weren’t showing! The Commander-in-Chief launched a sweeping, lolly-pop curve ball right down the middle. Democrats worried it showed him as “too moderate”, but Republicans saw it as “too far to the left”!
Jon and Kate Plus Eight???!!! Damn!....Vindicator only got them with 7 1/2!!!!!!
Shoppe Talk: Will Texas Tech, who showed up only twice on the predicted side of the spread in eleven forecast opportunities (the second win coming in this past January’s Cotton Bowl!), continue to be the bane of the Weber Kid’s existence or will another contender rise up to torment our hero???!!!
Vindy’s Week 1 Best Bets: Last Year: 42-25-1 (.627) Last Week: 0-0 Season: 0-0 (.000)
NC STATE -4 over South Carolina, Rice +5 1/2 over ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM, Middle Tennessee State +19 1/2 over CLEMSON, Connecticut -4 over OHIO
Vindicator came out conservative in this forecast, but don’t touch that dial! Next week...thoughts on Michael Phelps, the NFL, more of the off-season silliness and a new football-themed facility for consumption of “mass quantities” yer not gonna’ wanna’ miss!!
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